Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 115

Author: Bowen, A.W., & Co., firm, publishers, Chicago
Publication date: [19-?]
Publisher: Chicago : A. W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1092

USA > Montana > Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2 > Part 115

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ferent success, and at the time of the gold excite- ment in Alder gulch he made the long trip to the new gold fields with an equipment consisting of a yoke of oxen and a wagon. After his arrival he found profitable employment in the construction of drains, receiving $12 per day for an eight-hour shift. In December, 1864, he started on a pros- pecting tour through various parts of the north- west, and in the following spring purchased a claim and conducted mining until he lost about $4,000. The following summer he accumulated $2,700 as a result of a prospecting trip in Deer Lodge county, but ill luck had not yet been pla- cated, for in the fall of 1866 he bought a claim at Diamond City, where he "went broke," re- tiring from the venture with naught but his blank- ets. The following spring he started for the Blackfoot district, where he remained until 1869, meeting with fair success. He then invested $3,000 in the purchase of fifty head of cattle; and the fol- lowing year disposed of the stock for double the amount of his investment. After that he went to Salt Lake City, and in the fall bought 150 head of cattle which he drove overland to the Prickly Pear valley, where he wintered his stock, devot- ing his time to mining in the summer. In the fall of 1872 he drove a band of cattle through to Chest- nut valley in Cascade county, later driving the stock back to the Prickly Pear valley, and there remaining until 1875, when he came to his pres- ent location, nine miles north of the village of Cas- cade. In 1880 he took up a pre-emption claim of 160 acres, to which he added 320 acres by purchase, and has since devoted his attention to the rais- ing of cattle with excellent results. He is held in high regard in the community, and is known as a man of ability and sterling worth of character. Mr. Johnson has been an active worker in the Democratic party, wielding no little influence in local councils; fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order.

D ANIEL R. JACKSON, a prosperous and enter- prising ranchman and farmer, is a native of Waldo, Me., where he was born in 1843, the son of Benjamin and Esther (Roberts) Jackson, also na- tives of Maine, where the father was an industrious farmer. Their family consisted of nine children, of whom our subject was the second in order of birth. Two of his brothers, Frank and John, like himself,

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are prosperous farmers in Yellowstone valley, Mont.

Mr. Jackson attended the public schools in his native town until he was sixteen years old, and spent the next five years working on his father's farm, after which he hired to other farmers in the neighborhood for about eight years. In 1879 he came to Montana, and locating in the Musselshell valley, where he engaged in the sheep business for six years, and then in ranching on the South Fork of the Musselshell for a few years, having a large number of horses and cattle. These he sold, and moving to the Yellowstone valley took up a desert claim of eighty acres, which he has all under culti- vation, raising profitable crops of oats, potatoes and hay. He has also a few horses and cattle. The farm, situated about two miles east of Park City, is all fenced, irrigated and improved with comfortable and convenient buildings. Its appearance indicates that its proprietor is a skillful and progressive farmi- er, with a good knowledge of the best methods and intelligence in applying them.

In politics Mr. Jackson is a Republican, but is not an active partisan or office seeker. He is much esteemed in the community, and has the respect and confidence of all who know him.

DWARD JOHNSON, a Scandanavian by birth, is a worthy descendant of the bold Norsemen who centuries ago held northern Europe in terror and laid many lands under tribute to their military and naval power. He also is a con- queror, but on the peaceful and pleasing field of productive industry and in the battle for construc- tion rather than that of destruction. He was born in southern Norway, twenty Norwegian miles north of Christiana, in the year 1849. His parents, John and Mary Johnson, were also natives of Norway, as their forefathers had been for ages before. The father was a farmer in his native land, but moved by the promise of greater op- portunity in America he brought his family to this country in 1858 and settled in Vernon county, Wis. There were four children in the family, of whom Edward was the youngest. Three of them are still living.

Our subject attended the schools of Wisconsin at intervals between the requirements of labor on the farm until he was twenty years of age. At twenty-one he left home and traveled by rail to Denver, Colo., and found employment in a lumber

camp near Georgetown, where he worked seven years, at the end of which he went to Utah and lingered around Salt Lake City and Bingham canyon for a few months, working in the silver mines. In 1877 he came to Montana, located at Bozeman and worked on a farm through the summer. In the fall he took a consignment of potatoes from Bozeman to Fort Custer for use of the soldiers, making a trip that was full of dan- ger at the time because he was just in the wake of the Nez Perces raid and liable to be caught by hostile Indians at any time. From Fort Custer he went to Miles City and worked for McCormick & Buckhart until the spring of 1878, then re- moved to old Coulson and spent the summer rafting logs to that place and cutting them into lumber, which he rafted to Miles City in the fall and sold it during the winter. He continued this business until 1881, when he homesteaded 160 acres of land two miles west of the present site of Billings. After remaining on this land about three years he sold it and went into the lumber business at Bull Mountain, where he owned and operated a sawmill, hauling its output to Billings thirty miles distant, selling it there at good prices. In 1883 he had charge of a threshing machine for McAdow, the first one ever operated in the Yellowstone valley. The next year he bought one for himself in partnership with Sam Young, and has been engaged in threshing extensively every fall since that time, having now a com- pete steam machine. He enjoys the business, al- though it is not without hazard, as he realized in the fall of 1900, when his arm was caught in the separator belt and broken.

Mr. Johnson in 1891 purchased 435 acres of land four miles east of Park City, which he has converted into an attractive and productive ranch. He has it all well fenced and irrigated, and in- proved with good barns, sheds, granaries and other necessary outbuildings, and has recently put up a handsome dwelling house of modern style and all equipped with modern conveniences. He has about fifty cattle and a dozen or more horses, has 100 acres of the land under cultivation and has an orchard of 300 fine fruit trees. Everything about the place indicates thrift, enterprise and progressive farming.

In politics Mr. Johnson is a Republican, and while not an active party worker he is deeply con- cerned for the welfare of his party and for the advancement and proper government of the com-

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munity in which he lives. Fraternally he is allied with the Maccabees, and in religious matters leans to the Lutheran church. He is an active, useful citizen, whose contributions to the progress and development of Montana have been generous, sub- stantial and lasting in effect, and whose standing among his fellows is justly high and creditable.

A LLEN B. JOHNSTON, of South Libby, is one of the men of northwestern Montana who has successfully proven his right to be a pioneer by in- itial operations in various fields of activity and in- dustry. He is a "down east Yankee," being born in the alert little city of Houlton, Aroostook county, Me., on January 21, 1862, of stock that goes back to titled English ancestry and claims connection with the famous admiral, Sir Francis Drake. His father, Zadock Johnston, born in 1833, a native of Wood- stock, N. B., was for many years a leading business man of Houlton, engaging in merchandising, stock- raising, hotel-keeping and the like. In 1877 he emi- grated to Prescott, Wis., two years later to Lang- don, from there to Fargo, N. D., where for eight years he was a popular landlord. From there he changed his residence to Moorhead, Minn., and after four years, in 1892, he made his home at his present beautiful location at the foot of Swan lake, in Flat- head county, Mont., twenty-seven miles east of Kalispell. This is an ideal spot for a summer re- sort, and here Mr. Johnston and his wife extend a pleasant greeting to all visitors who seek this charming location, and here they have developed a fine fruit farm. In 1848 occurred the marriage of this couple, and four daughters have gladdened their home: Lizzie (Mrs. William Nickus), of Ta- coma, Wash .; Isabel (Mrs. W. A. Marvin), of Far- go, Minn .; Effie G., also of Tacoma, and May B. (Mrs. W. A. Hillis), of Libby. Mrs. Johnston, a native of Frederickton, N. B., was a daughter of Rev. W. E. Pennington, for fifty years a prominent Free Baptist minister of Maine and New Brunswick.

Allen B. Johnston received the educational ad- vantages of the noted Houlton Academy, and was from early youth trained in business methods in connection with his father's operations. When but sixteen he conducted merchandising one year at Langdon, Minn., on his own account, and then ac- companied his parents to North Dakota. His next appearance for himself was in 1879 when he and an uncle took a band of horses to the vicinity of Fargo

and "broke" land. This was only a short episode in his life, and in 1880 he was in trade at Mapleton, N. D. After one year he was for a short time a dealer in wood in Fargo. In the spring of 1882 he was one of three to construct the mammoth skating rink in Minneapolis, so long a feature of that city and an unfortunate financial venture. In 1883 he established a wholesale cigar and tobacco trade in Lisbon, N. D., in connection with the sale of fruits and confectionery. This trade attained quite large proportions and Mr. Johnston continued here for . five years. He came to Montana in January, 1889, was in business a few months in Helena, closing it out to become a permanent resident of Flathead county. He located at Demersville and was the fourth merchant to open up a stock of goods in the limits of the present county. While here he was ap- pointed by the great tobacco house of P. Lorillard & Company their agent in and for the county. In 1892 he moved his business and residence to Libby, becoming the third of its pioneer traders. After three years he relinquished merchandising for the more active operations of real estate dealing and mining, and he is now devoting his attention to these business fields. In 1896, in connection with W. A. Hillis, he created the town of South Libby, to which he has since laid out an addition. Here he is, by the proper application of water, showing what irrigation will do for the plains of this section, by developing a modern ranch. He has over 300 thrifty fruit trees showing wonderful growth and the whole of his ground can be flooded at any time as occasion demands, and his home is an unusually attractive one. He married on August 4, 1885, Miss Ida M. Clark, of Minneapolis, Minn., a daughter of C. W. and Eliza E. (Bliss) Clark, who comes of old New York stock on her father's side. Her mother belongs to the distinguished Bliss family of Massachusetts. Two children, Henry A. and Effie May, grace the home of Mr. and Mrs. Johnston.

Mr. Johnston has been quite active in the Repub- lican party of Flathead county, has been a member of the central committee, a frequent delegate to conventions, and was a member of the Republican state convention that met in Butte to nominate dele- gates for the national convention that nominated William McKinley for president. Mr. Johnston is president of the Choteau Mining & Milling Com- pany, incorporated in 1900 for operations in Silver Cable gulch, and also president of the North Mon- tana Gold Mining Company, organized in 1901 to operate in the West Fisher district. In 1894 Mr.

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Johnston made the first sale of mining property in the county. He was working a placer mine seven- teen miles above Libby, on Libby creek, and this he sold to the Kalispell Hydraulic & Mining Com- pany. In 1894 also he shipped the first carload of ore ever sent out from Flathead county, taking it from the Buzz Saw mine and sending it to the Great Falls smelter. In 1895 he sent the first shipment of ore from the West Fisher mines, packing this on horses to Libby, and there loading it for Great Falls.

W ILLIAM BIRKENBUEL .- A native of the kingdom made glorious by the military achievements of Frederick the Great and of Gen. Von Moltke, where he was born on January 6, 1848, William Birkenbuel has exhibited in his interesting and suggestive career the sterling characteristics of his countrymen. His father, Frank Birkenbuel, was also a native of Prussia and was born on Janu- ary 3, 1815. He emigrated to the United States in 1850, and located at Peru, Ill. He was a stone- mason, skillful in the craft and diligent in working at it. He followed the business for about twelve years in different parts of Illinois, and in the mean- time engaged in farming on land that he rented near St. Paul, Mo. In 1862 he enlisted in the First Missouri Reserve Corps of the Federal army, and served ten months. In March, 1886, he came to Montana and resided with his son, William, on Sun river until his death in April, 1896. His wife, Susan (Potts) Birkenbuel, also a native of Prussia, died at Peru, Ill., in 1853.

William Birkenbuel had but few educational ad- vantages, never having opportunity to attend school for more than a few months, but he is a gentleman of culture and wide general information. At the early age of fourteen he began the battle of life for himself, and, since that time, although the struggle has often been arduous, the issue has never been doubtful. His progress has been steady, constant and substantial. At the age named he enlisted as a drummer boy in the Missouri command to which his father belonged, and when his service ended he returned to his old home at Peru, Ill., and for the next five years made that his residence. He learned the trade of a harnessmaker and worked at it until 1871. But that did not satisfy his aspirations. He heard and hearkened to the voice of the west- ern wilderness, promising large opportunity to the thrifty. So in 1871, at the age of twenty-three, he

came to Montana behind a large herd of Texas cattle belonging to Robert S. Ford. He made his home for the winter on the site of the American brewery near the mouth of Sun river. He re- mained with Mr. Ford one year, and after another year, returned and then remained with Mr. Ford four years, working at butchering and the stock business.

In 1877 Mr. Birkenbuel began business for him- self. He located his first quarter section of land two and a half miles east of the Sun river valley, and since then has added to it 160 acres, and owns another quarter section four miles east of the village of Sun River, where he has a fine residence and an attractive home, with everything in and about it to complete its comfort, convenience and adornment. In politics he is an ardent and active Democrat and has rendered good public service in official stations of prominence and responsibility. In 1884-5-6 he was road supervisor for the Sun river district and in 1896 was elected assessor for Cascade county, and was re-elected in 1898. He discharged the duties of this important office in a way that won him high and general commendation. He was married on August 25, 1884, to Miss Net- tie H. Gibb, daughter of James Gibb, at one time the proprietor of the Largent hotel at Sun River, and later a ranchman eight miles west of Great Falls, his ranch lying attractively along the river. Mr. Gibbs died on November 8, 1896, and his widow is still living on the homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Birkenbuel have four children, James G., aged sixteen; Frank P., thirteen; Margaret S., nine; and Wilhelmina, three. Fraternally Mr. Birkenbuel is identified with the Odd Fellows, being a charter member of Sun River Lodge No. 25. In all the essentials of sterling manhood and good citizenship he is conspicuous and widely noted. He is looked upon as one of the leading men of his section in business, in social life and in every serviceable line of thought and action.

T *HOMAS G. WOODS .- Montana has been the home and scene of labor of many men who have led lives that should serve as an example to those who come after them and rendered important service · to their state through various lines of usefulness. Among them must be named Thomas G. Woods, who passed away on August 12, 1897, after a life of industry and one rich in those rare achievements

Wm. Birkenbuel

J. C. Woods

T. G. Woods

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PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

which only a high character can secure. For many years he labored with the strength of a great nature and all the earnestness of a true heart for the bettering of the world about him, and when he was called to the rest and reward of a higher world, his best monument was found in the love and respect of the community in which he lived for so many years. He was the founder of the village of Augusta, Lewis and Clarke county, where he located in the year 1879, and made his home until called upon to answer the inexorable summons, and it is but simple justice to here record for coming generations, residing in what will be a large com- mercial center, that the founder of their town was an honest man.

Thomas G. Woods was born in England on April 5, 1848, the son of James and Hannah Woods, also born in that "tight little isle," whence they came to America in the year 1868, locating in Rhode Island. The father was a cigar manufacturer, and to this line of enterprise he devoted his attention until the time of his death, in 1874, his widow sur- viving until April, 1900. James Woods espoused the cause of the Republican party ; was a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he attained high degree, and both he and his wife were devoted members and communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church. The education that Thomas secured in his youth was inadequate, but with hin education was not limited to either school or col- lege; it extended throughout his whole life. To such a man the will to learn is more than a pre- scribed curriculum. His diploma was signed by the wise head-master, experience. At the age of thirteen years Mr. Woods began a seafaring life, securing a position as cabin boy, and after making nineteen trips he was compelled to remain in Eng- land one year on account of rheumatic difficulties. He came with his parents to the United States in 1868, and in 1870 removed to Iowa, where he was employed in farm work, also serving in the office of constable. Subsequently he taught school, a sig- nificant fact, showing to what extent he had im- proved himself through self-application. He had ever a distinct respect for the dignity of honest toil, and at this time he waited on table in a hotel at Prairie City, Iowa, in order to defray the expenses of his board, while he devoted his evenings to study until 1875, when he removed to Taylor county and levoted his time to the vocations of teaching and farming. In 1878 Mr. Woods became a resident of Montana, which continued to be the scene of his

earnest and well directed labors until death set its seal upon his mortal lips. He first located in Helena, where he followed the business of brick- laying for a year, and then he turned his attention to that enterprise which was ever afterward his voca- tion. At a point five miles east of the village of Augusta, of which he was the originator, he pur- chased two claims of land, comprising 320 acres, the consideration involved being $225; later adding 120 acres, and the place now shows the care which he gave in improving the same. Here the family have since maintained their home, and the ranch is considered one of the most valuable in this sec- tion of the county, the entire tract being available for cultivation. For five years after locating upon his ranch Mr. Woods not only conducted the ranch, but continued teaching at intervals; he also held the mail-route contract between Fort Shaw and Cecil, now known as Augusta. During the latter years of his life he conducted an insurance business in Augusta ; for eight years he was identified with the work of surveying lands in Lewis and Clarke county, and was also a justice of the peace.

In politics he gave a zealous support to the Re- publican party and its principles, and in all his la- bors in Montana his efforts were attended with gratifying success. The ranch is now conducted by Mrs. Woods, under the management of her eld- est son, and in addition to the growing of cattle upon an extensive scale', excellent crops of hay are to be noted among the valuable products of the place. On July 4, 1870, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Woods to Miss Clara Elliott, who was born in Ohio, the daughter of Elijah and Clara E. Elliott, natives respectively of Ohio and Pennsyl- vania. In his early manhood the father taught school and was also engaged in the practice of law, and later still he was for eight years in the mer- cantile business, and at the time of his death, Feb- ruary 1, 1873, was engaged in agricultural pursuits, to which he had given his attention for a num- ber of years. The mother of Mrs. Woods is now residing at Prairie City, Jasper county, Iowa, at the age of sixty-nine years. To Mr. and Mrs. Woods eight children were born, and of this num- ber one died in infancy, while Thomas A. died at the age of five years. Those surviving are Clara E., James E., John E. H., Arthur H., Rex E. and Kenneth C. The family enjoy marked pop- ularity in the community, and their home is a cen- ter of gracious hospitality and a rendezvous for their large circle of friends.

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E DWARD JONES .- Left an orphan in child- hood by the death of both parents and com- pelled to make his own way in the world, Edward Jones, of Rosebud county, has, through the discip- line of hardships encountered, developed the self- reliance, fertility of resources, strength of will and industry which have proved his real capital in life. He was born in Wales, May 15, 1844, the son of parents in moderate circumstances. In 1858, when he was fourteen years old, he came to the United states in a "kangaroo" steamer from Liverpool, and in 1861 went from New York to San Francisco on the steamer Uncle Sam, and from there to Sacra- mento within the same year. He remained in Cali- fornia about two years, and in 1863 went to Fort Boise, Idaho, from whence he went with Gen. Ma- gruder's command to Bannack, one of the first min- ing camps in Montana. In the spring of 1864 he changed his base of operations to Virginia City, where he mined for a year. In the summer of 1865 he went to Big Blackfoot; in the fall of that year to Last Chance gulch and engaged in mining at these places with varying success. In 1866 he was prospecting on Flathead lake at the head of Big Blackfoot in company with Barney Hughes and William Ferriweather. In 1867 he returned to Bannack and in the fall of that year to Helena, and there remained a year. He then passed two years in the Lincoln and McClellan mines, after which he went to Packer's ranch, then owned by John Ed- wards, and was engaged for two winters in packing hay to the Bear gulch mines. In 1870 he was freighting and packing in Deer Lodge valley and mining at French gulch. After 1871 he quit mining and began operations in the cattle business in Beav- erhead county, in partnership with Thomas Davis. The latter moved a portion of the cattle to the Yel- lowstone valley, Custer county, in 1884, and two years later Mr. Jones followed with the rest. They continued the business as partners until 1890, when they dissolved and divided the stock. Mr. Jones then settled on his present ranch in Froze-to-Death bottom, twenty-one miles north of Sanders station on the Northern Pacific Railroad. He has in- creased his original pre-emption claim of 160 acres to a ranch of 2,000 acres, all fenced and well im- proved with a good dwelling and commodious barns, sheds and other necessary outhouses ; is one of the largest producers of cattle and hay on the Yellow- stone.

In politics Mr. Jones is a Republican ; fraternally he is identified with the Odd Fellows Lodge at

Forsyth. His career has been a checkered one, full of incident and adventure, and presenting many phases of fortune but through it all he has borne himself with fortitude, and has never been without a resort and the energy to make use of it. In the main he has been successful, and is now well settled in life, with a competence in worldly wealth and an enduring estate in the esteem of his fellow men.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 115

Author: Bowen, A.W., & Co., firm, publishers, Chicago Publication date: [19-?] Publisher: Chicago : A. W. Bowen & Co. Number of Pages: 1092

Author: Bowen, A.W., & Co., firm, publishers, Chicago
Publication date: [19-?]
Publisher: Chicago : A. W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1092