Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 132

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 132

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G USTAVUS F. GREISER .- Called to sur- render his trust by the Great Disposer when he was but sixty years old, while all his faculties were yet vigorous, and there seemed before him many years of usefulness, the death of Gustavus F. Greiser, was universally regretted, for he had so conducted himself in his active and serviceable life as to win the commendation and esteem of all who knew him. He was a native of Germany. where he was born in 1840, a son of Joseph and Sophia Greiser of the same nativity. He attended

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the government schools of his native land until he was fourteen years old, and then became a sailor, and followed the hazardous life of those who "go down to the sea in ships" for the next ten years. In 1864 he landed in America, and, locating in Cali- fornia, engaged in mining in that state and Idaho for a time, later following the same enterprise at Beartown and Confederate gulch in Montana until 1872, when he located the ranch that was his home at the time of his death, on April 27, 1900.

The ranch consists of pre-emption and homestead claims, and has a total of 280 acres, much of which is under cultivation and yields abundant annual crops of hay and grain, and supports large herds of cattle. It is pleasantly situated about twenty miles north of Helena, and is well improved with good buildings and other necessary appliances. On August 20, 1872, Mr. Greiser was united in mar- riage with Miss Sophia Miller, a native of Ger- many, and the daughter of Frederick and Lenora Miller, also natives of Germany, she being one of three surviving children of a family of nine. Her father was a prosperous farmer, and both her par- ents were members of the Lutheran church. Mr. and Mrs. Greiser were the parents of one child, Emma L. Greiser. Her mother is a zealous mem- ber of the Lutheran church, as was the father in his lifetime. Fraternally he was allied with the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and in political relations he was identified with the Republican party, in whose success he was always deeply in- terested. Mr. Greiser was successful in business undertakings, and yet was never indifferent to his duties as a citizen and member of society. Every good enterprise for the advancement of the com- munity had his active support, and he illustrated in public and private life the best attributes of a lofty and exemplary citizenship, in consequence of which he was universally respected and esteemed.

CAPT. JOHN HALLAHAN is a descendant of D

the Emerald Isle, being born in Cork, Ireland, in 1846. He came to this country in his eight- eenth year, and with the chivalrous spirit of thic true Irishman, enlisted at once in the Forty- seventh New York Infantry, and saw much active service under Gens. Terry, Sherman and Scho- field. He was mustered out in August of 1865 and in the fall of that year re-enlisted in the Fourteenth United States Infantry, going to the Presidio,

California, from whence he was sent to take a part in the most uncertain and desperate of all cam- paigns, a warfare against the Apache Indians. In our late war with the Philippines he proved that his gallantry and patriotism had not been exhausted in his former hard service, by being one of the first to respond to the Montana governor's call. He re- cruited and organized Company N, became part of the governor's staff and was in active service nearly all the time up to the mustering out of the regiment in 1899. In peace, as well as in war, he was actively engaged in the advancement of his adopted country and in the development of the state, holding for himself many valuable mining claims. In the political field he is a Republican, and socially belongs to the Masonic lodge at Reno, Nev., and to the Ancient Order of the United Workmen and Elks of Anaconda. His father, Daniel Hallahan, was born and died in Ireland, but his mother, Jane Hartley, also born in Ireland, now lives in Anaconda. A busy, genial, public- spirited man, the Captain is one of the reliable and prominent men of the state.

THE HALES BROTHERS are associated m11 the sheep business in Valley county and are forging rapidly forward to a position of promi- nence in this great industry. Joseph R. Hales, tlie senior member of the firm, was born near Port Hope, Ontario, Canada, on August 25, 1872, the son of Henry and Susan (Bane) Hales, both of whom were born in Canada in the same year, 1842. In 1884 Henry Hales brought his family to Min- neapolis, Minn., where he for many years engaged in manufacturing brick, conducting a prosperous business. Mr. Hales is now living retired in Mel- brook, Ontario, where his cherished wife was called from earth in 1900. Joseph R. Hales received his education in the public schools of Essex Center, Ontario, and was fourteen years old when his par- ents removed to Minneapolis. There he remained for six years, being an employe in his father's brick-yards. In 1890 he came to Laramie, Wyo., and engaged in teaming until 1892, when he came to Cascade county, Mont., where he rode the range for four years. In the spring of 1896 he came to Valley county, and thirty miles from the town of Malta he and his brother Charles each took up homestead and desert claims on Beaver creek, thus securing a handsome ranch property of 640 acres.

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Here they have since been successfully engaged in the raising of high-grade sheep and they secure large yields of fine hay from their ranch, which is very eligibly located for the securing of water. In politics Mr. Hales gives allegiance to the Republi- can party. Charles Hales, the junior member of the firm, was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1876, and his educational advantages were given in the fine public schools of Minneapolis. He continued at the parental home until 1891, when he went to Iowa, where he was variously employed until 1896, when he joined his brother in the enterprise noted. Like his brother he is a Republican. Both are alert and enterprising young men, and hold public confidence and regard, being honest and industrious and aiming to gain a place among the leading sheepgrowers of this favored section of the state.

THOMAS E. HAMMOND .- One of the most prominent and progressive ranchmen and sheepgrowers in the new county of Rosebud is Thomas E. Hammond, who was born in Kane county, Ill., on April 1, 1855, the son of John and Margaret (McDonald) Hammond, the former a native of Washington county, N. Y., and the latter of Kane county, Ill., where she died in 1858, and where the father is still living a retired life from active business. Thomas E. Hammond was edu- cated in the district schools of his native county and at an excellent high school at St. Charles, Ill., from which he was graduated in 1872. In 1877 he went to Boulder county, Colo., where he farmed for two years, and during the second year he was in charge of a large irrigating ditch. In the fall of 1879 he came to Montana and passed the winter in the Gallatin valley and removed in the spring to Custer county. Two years later he engaged in the cattle business on Sweeney creek, passing the winter of 1880-81 in hunting buffalo in the Yel- lowstone valley. In 1883 he commenced the sheep business on a ranch on the south side of Big Porcu- pine creek and ten miles from the town of Forsyth. In 1887 he moved to the north side of the Porcu- pine, where he now has a ranch of 2,140 acres, having an average of 10,000 head of superior sheep. An irrigating ditch, completed in 1901, in which he owns a one-half interest, covers 700 acres of his land, and has transformed this whole area into a garden. In political relations Mr. Hammond is a Republican, and as such was elected to the

office of county commissioner for Custer county in 1893, serving until 1897; and when the new county of Rosebud was formed, in the spring of 1901, he was appointed to the same office for that county. As he expresses it, he belongs "to all the Masonic bodies, from the Knights Templar down," and hold- ing membership in Hiram Lodge No. 52, at Forsyth, the Royal Arch Chapter at Miles City, and Da- mascus Commandery at Glendive. He and his wife are also active and valued members of Yellowstone Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, located at Glendive. He is besides a member of the Lodge at Forsyth of the Ancient Order of United Work- men, and that of the Elks at Miles City. But much of a "joiner" as he seems to have been, the pleasures and benefits of domestic life have not es- caped him. He was married at Miles City, July 23, 1885, to Miss Adelaide Livernash, a native of Sauk Center, Minn., where she was born on June 25, 1869, and where she also was reared and educated. They have four children, Mamie, J. Ethelbert, Wal- ter and Marvel. In addition to the superior build- ings and equipments of their ranch property and the home comforts contained therein, they have a fine residence in Forsyth, built in 1901, which is one of the architectural adornments of the city.

THOMAS A. HARNEY .- Before settling down to ranching and stockraising, Mr. Harney had a wide experience in mercantile life as a commercial traveler, and studied human nature from the stand- point of a man who saw many phases of it in most intense activity. He was born at Plattsburg, N. Y., on April 21, 1854, the son of James and Eliza- beth (Fay) Harney, both natives of Ireland, be- longing to families long resident there and identi- fied with the history of the country. The paternal grandfather came to America when a young man with his family, and located in Glengarry county, Ontario, while the maternal grandfather settled at Plattsburg as a pioneer in that section. The father removed to Plattsburg as a young man, there mar- ried and for a time conducted blacksmithing. After the death of his father-in-law, James Harney, he removed to the Fay homestead which he made his home until his death in 1898, at the age of ninety, his wife having died in 1896 at the age of eighty-seven. Their son Thomas was the youngest of their eight children. He remained at home until eighteen, attending the public schools and assist-

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ing with the farm work, and in 1872 went on the road as a dry goods salesman, at the end of a year, however, removing to Canada, where for two years he traveled for a hardware house. He then engaged in lumbering in Michigan, at which he passed two years. From there he moved to Illi- nois and followed railroading for seven years in the employ of the Chicago & Alton, during the last four furnishing fuel under contract. Coming then to Montana and buying a flock of sheep, he began feeding them on the Crow reservation. He con- tinued in the sheep business until 1898, and when the Crow reservation was thrown open to settlers in the fall of 1892, he homesteaded his present lo- cation on Willow creek, about twelve miles north of Red Lodge, and there made his home. All of his land is under irrigation, being supplied from Rock creek, a distance of over ten miles, and is under good cultivation, yielding large annual crops. The ranch is well provided with good buildings, fences and other necessary appliances. In 1901 he began operations in cattle, purchasing over 100 head of fine Herefords and shorthorns. Frater- nally Mr. Harney is a Knight of Pythias, and so- cially he is well esteemed wherever he is known, being in business matters strictly upright and very progressive. His acquisitions are the result of his intelligent application of good business methods, his thrift and his excellent judgment.

J OHN HALL .- Numbered now among the suc- cessful stockmen of Teton county, his postoffice address being Dupuyer, Mr. Hall was born on February 19, 1857, at Goliad, Tex., where his father, David Hall, was an extensive farmer and stockgrower and where his mother, whose maiden name was Ada Wilson, died in 1872. John Hall attended the public schools of his native town un- til he was large enough to ride a horse, when he was assigned to the duty of herding cattle, and later assisted in driving herds through to Kansas City. He passed all of the year of 1880 on cattle ranches in Colorado, and in 1881 came to Custer county, Mont., where he engaged in the stock busi- ness until 1886. Coming to Choteau county in 1887, he was employed on stock ranges until 1893, when he took up a homestead claim of 160 acres on Birch creek, and here he has since devoted his attention to the raising of cattle and horses and to farming. He has been successful and is one of the 106

valued citizens of his county. He has always shown interest in the cause of the Democratic party, and keeps well informed upon the issues of the day. In 1894, in the village of Dupuyer, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hall to Miss Jose- phine Monet. They have three sons and one daughter, John P., David, William and Daisy.

F 'RED. W. HANDEL .- Handel Brothers are dealers in general merchandise at Musselshell and also large stockmen and ranchmen. This firm was organized in 1889, and now owns 2,360 acres of valuable land in the famous Musselshell valley, having it devoted to the raising of high grade horses and cattle. Their ranch is one of the best improved in the valley and includes the Musselshell townsite, and wherever known the firm of Handel Brothers has the entire confidence of the people. They are progressive, charitable and broad-minded gentlemen. Fred W. Handel, the elder, was born at Meriden, Conn., on September 26, 1862, the son of Jacob and Catherine (Wuterich). Handel, na- tives of Germany who came to the United States when young, settling first at East Hartford, Conn., and later at Meriden, where the father died in 1875. The mother is living at Webster City, Iowa.

Mr. Handel was educated at the public schools of Meriden, Conn., until he was fourteen, when he entered the grocery of R. T. Cooke of that city, and was a clerk and salesman from 1876 to 1882. Then he and George W. Ives bought the business and conducted it until February 15, 1885, under the firm name of Ives & Handel. They came to Montana and purchased the Healy and Fattig ranch of 160 acres on the Musselshell, to which they added adjacent lands until they owned a large tract. They also engaged in merchandising at Musselshell crossing.

In 1889 Mr. Ives died, and soon thereafter Geo. W. Handel purchased Mr. Ives' interest and the firm has since been Handel Brothers. In addition to Mr. Handel's interest in the Musselshell valley he has been postmaster for fourteen years. He stands high in the esteem of the community, and is frequently called upon to adjudicate and administer trusts of a private character in which the rights and interests of others are involved. In 1897, as instance of the kind, he was appointed administra- tor of the estate of James H. Schnall, a wealthy rancher of the Musselshell country, and closed the

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estate in 1898, a fact worth mentioning, as it was the largest personal estate ever settled in Yellowstone county, involving over $100,000. Mr. Handel was married at Davenport, Iowa, March 14, 1893, to Miss Mae Stockwell, who was born on November 14, 1868, near Rock Island, Ill. Fraternally he is a member of Ashlar Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and Edna Chapter R. A. M., at Billings, and also of Billings lodge of Elks, of which he was one of the founders and a charter member. On February I, 1902, Mr. Handel was commissioned and qualified as a United States commissioner for his section of the state, accepting the office for the convenience of the people living around him, and, from his well known capacity and constant interest in the wel- fare of the state, it may be confidently asserted that he will perform the duties of this office in the same creditable and satisfactory manner that he has those of other positions he has held.

George W. Handel, the junior member of the firm, was born on December 23, 1868, in Meriden county, Conn., where he received his early educa- tion and while a boy in his teens he moved to Web- ster City, Iowa, with his mother. Here he studied pharmacy and passed a good examination, remain- ing at Webster City until 1889 when he came to Montana and engaged in merchandising and stock- raising with his brother, Fred W., and they today rank high among the best business firms of the state, and they have an exceptionally bright future before them. George W. Handel was married on June 9, 1898, with Miss Daisy I. Stockwell, a sister of his brother's wife. They have two sons, George W., Jr., and Fred. Fraternally he is a member of the Billings Lodge of Elks, also a charter member of and holds office in the Modern Woodmen of America, a lodge recently organized at Musselshell.

D EFOREST HEDGES .- Born in New York state on March 30, 1833, in Tioga county, Mr. Hedges has seen life in many longitudes and under a great variety of circumstances, it being almost always the destiny of the pioneer to experience hardship and privation as well as the pleasures un- known to civilization. Mr. Hedges is the son of Christopher E. and Mary Hedges, both natives of New York and both now deceased, having paid nature's last debt in 1891. The father remained in New York until 1867, when he removed with his family to Illinois, locating at Belvidere. His

entire life was devoted to farming, in which he was very successful. Both parents were members of the Episcopal church and in political relations the father supported the Democratic party. Their five children were DeForest, Lydia, Philip, Mary and Irene. Mr. Hedges received a good educa- tion, beginning it in the public schools and finishing at Charlotteville Seminary, in Schoharie county, N. Y. He then assisted his parents on the home farm until he reached his seventeenth year, at which time he was attacked by the "Pike's Peak fever," then raging with violence, and started westward in the gratification of his desire. He stopped for a time at St. Joseph county, Mich., then went to Mt. Pleasant, Neb., at both places teaching school, and lingering in his journey until the fall of 1859, when he journeyed overland from Omaha to Pike's Peak. The party in which he was traveling had considerable trouble with buffalo, which were num- erous and aggressive. Mr. Hedges drove a four- horse team which hauled freight for Clark & Mc- Cormick, of Omaha, and thirty days were occupied in the trip.

On his arrival at his destination he engaged in placer mining independently and with a fair degree of success, continuing at the business until 1860. From 1861 to 1863 he was engaged in freighting on various routes among the principal towns of New Mexico, always doing well in the enterprise. He then yoked up five teams of cattle and began freighting between Denver, Colo., and Virginia City, Mont., in which he was very successful. In the summer of 1865 he sold out his teams and went to mining in White gulch with disastrous results, spending in a short time the accumulations of his former labors, and returned to Last Chance with $20 and an old horse. Mr. Thompson, of Thomp- son & Co., gave him employment on Bed Rock at $6.00 a day, at which he steadily continued during that fall, when he had accumulated quite an amount. He next took charge of the night shift at $7.00 a night, and continued at this for three seasons, at the end of which he went to French bar, where he remained several years. Later he located a pre-emption claim and a homestead, consisting of 320 acres in all, of which a large portion is fit for profitable cultivation and produces fine crops of hay and grain. He is also successfully engaged in raising cattle. The ranch is located twelve miles east of Helena on the Spokane creek, and is in an inviting situation, with pleasant surroundings, and it is well improved with good buidings. Mr.

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Hedges is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Pioneers of Montana. He has lived a useful life and is highly esteemed.

F AUGUSTUS HEINZE .- In this connection we herewith briefly present for the considera- tion of the student of American history an inspiring example in the career of F. Augustus Heinze, of Butte, who admittedly stands in the front rank of not only the great captains of industry, but of the aggressive, resourceful, versatile and creative minds of the nation. His career, which would have been possible in no other country, is like that of a meteor in its suddenness and brilliancy and like that of a fixed star in the steadiness and enduring character of its radiance; and it is all the product of Montana, in that she has supplied the material and the conditions to his ready hand, and all his own work, in that he had the genius, the skill and the energy to successfully use them. Mr. Heinze was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., on December 5, 1869. a son of Otto and Eliza (Lacey) Heinze, the father being a native of Germany and the mother of Con- necticut. His father, an importer of dry goods to this country, having his headquarters in New York city, died there in 1891, after years passed in successful commercial activity, his widow still surviving him. Their son had the best of ad- vantages for an education, not only in the cele- brated Columbia University and School of Mines in New York city, but also in those educational insti- tutions established for centuries in Europe and re- nowned for their brilliant opportunities for stud- ents, and they were heartily availed of and became of unusual value to a mind as subtle, far-reaching and assimilative as the one possessed by their future king of financial operations.

Coming to Butte in 1889 at about twenty years of age, with scarcely any equipment for the arduous struggle, exacting toil and stern resistance which were between him and his future acquirements, except a most valuable and technical education in all the essentials to scientific mining, a good con- stitution, a wonderfully keen, quick and active mind and an unyielding will that bends circum- stances to its purposes and makes them its slaves, Mr. Heinze entered the mining field in a capacity that was comparatively humble-that of mining en- gineer for the Boston & Montana Mining Company -but within the first year of his service he grasped

a thorough knowledge of the intricate mineral for- mations of the entire mining district, and, seeing his opportunity, with a faith that laughs at impossi- bilities, he went to moneyed centers of the east for the necessary means to seize and use it. Manhood had scarcely "darkened on his downy cheek" at this time, and yet, before another year had passed he came back with capital enough to build, equip and put in operation a large smelter at Butte for the service of independent mines not provided with such a plant, and at once organized the Montana Ore Purchasing Company, of which he was made the official head. The mining circles of Montana stood aghast at his daring venture, the frivolous ridiculed his temerity and the wiseacres shook their heads ; rival capital, keen-scented always for goodly quarry and scenting danger with a sense as keen, vainly tried by every method, persuasion, force and combination, to drive him from the field. Before his smelter was completed he had mines in lease and in operation, was meeting obstacles with bolder schemes, and soon had enough mines under his di- rect control to keep his smelter working at its full capacity without regard to other sources of supply. Since then he has been a recognized potency in the domain of mining industries-a factor to be reckoned with in every phase and feature.

A man of Mr. Heinze's make up, environment and immense business operations, could not, in this country, and especially in this state, avoid being drawn into the vortex of politics, either to secure or prevent policies and legislation affecting his interests and of those of others who lean upon him. It must be said of him, however, that all his ef- forts in this field have been for the benefit of the many-not for the aggrandizement of one. He was the originator of the cight-hour movement in behalf of labor in this state, and its earnest, con- stant and forceful champion. From successful championship of a policy to masterful leader- ship of a party, is oftentimes a short and easy step, and many a man is compelled to take it, even against his will. But whether this will be Mr. Heinze's fate or not we do not know.

HRISTOPHER C P. HIGGINS .- From the early pioneer days the life of Capt. Higgins was inseparably identified with the history of Missoula, and he exercised a potent influence in the develop- ment and advancement of the city. He was a lead-

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ing spirit in many of the. public and business en- terprises of this section of Montana, was a man of the highest integrity of character, honored by all who knew him. One of the earliest pioneers of Missoula, he was also one of her sterling citi- zens. Christopher P. Higgins was a native of the Emerald Isle, born on March 16, 1830, the son of Christopher and Mary Higgins, who were likewise born in Ireland, whence they emigrated to America and to Michigan, where the mother died, the father coming to Missoula late in life to pass his declining years. They were the parents of three sons and four daughters. Capt. Higgins remained in his native land until he had attained the age of eighteen years, receiving his educational training in the public schools. In 1848 he came to the United States, soon making his way to the far west, where he enlisted in the United States army and served five years in the dragoons. In 1853 he joined Gov. Stephens' expedition and assisted in the first survey of the Northern Pacific, and continuing in that employ until 1855, at that time accompany- ing Gov. Stephens to form a treaty with the Nez Perces Indians, which resulted in a treaty with the Flatheads and Pend d'Oreilles. After this the party went to Fort Benton to treat with the Black- foot tribe, and, returning to Olympia, disbanded.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 132

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