Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 138

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 138

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For seven years he resided at Deer Lodge, and in June, 1877, he removed to Butte and built the log cabin which has been since his home. It was erected on a government claim and originally stood near the present corner of Main and Mercury streets. When Mercury street was laid out the cabin fronted on that street. He moved it into the center of the block and sold the front lot, and still owns the cabin and the ground on which it stands. He has been an industrious collector of curios, and owns many articles of interest. After locating in Butte he followed for many years the dital pursuits of nurse and carpet-layer, being es- pecially skillful in both, but since 1896 he has been so crippled with rheumatism as to be incapacitated for any active work. In his early travels on the western plains he participated in many Indian fights, then of almost daily occurence, and had many thrilling adventures and narrow escapes. He was in the government service for ninety days in

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1854 in the Rosin River valley, Ore., and the Pitt River valley, Cal., campaigning with Capt. Lock- hart. In politics he is a Democrat, and, while not an active partisan, takes lively interest in the suc- cess of his party. He never married and has done his own housekeeping and cooking since 1852. He is one of the best known men in Butte, and has the respect of all classes.

R ANE J. McCONNELL, one of the commis- sioners of Sweet Grass county, resides near McLeod on an extensive and thoroughly irrigated cattle ranch which has been substantially improved in every way. His parents were Alexander F. and Eliza (Carter) McConnell, natives of Indiana, and he was born in Mahaska county, Iowa, on August 25, 1847, one of a family of seven sons and two daughters. The paternal grandfather, Robert Mc- Connell, and the maternal grandfather, Rane J. Carter, both were born and raised in Kentucky. The father removed to Iowa from Indiana soon after his marriage, and was there engaged in farm- ing and stockraising. In 1862 he enlisted in Com- pany G, Twenty-third Iowa Volunteer Infantry, fought throughout the war, was honorably dis- charged, but died within nine days of his return home from disease contracted in the service. One of his sons enlisted in the same regiment and com- pany, and he was killed at Vicksburg, then holding the rank of sergeant. Several of the maternal uncles of R. J. McConnell also served valiantly in the Civil war. Of his mother's family eleven of the twelve children held a reunion in Indiana a few years since, the youngest present being forty-seven years of age, the twelfth child, an infant, having died in infancy. Mahaska county was the scene of Mr. McConnell's education, and of his early employment on his father's farm. Later he re- moved to Kansas for a five years' residence. On September 20, 1890, he arrived in Livingston, Mont., and immediately went to the Boulder river, in Sweet Grass county, where he purchased a ranch of 320 acres, on the west fork of the Boulder, eighteen miles from Big Timber, the stream cours- ing through the land and affording excellent irri- gation facilities, and supplying two ditches carrying a sufficient volume of water for all practical pur- poses. The stock enterprises of Mr. McConnell are confined almost exclusively to the raising of cattle, and he generally winters 200 head of Here-

fords. The marriage of Mr. McConnell to Miss Emma Koozer occurred on October 10, 1867, she being a native of Clearfield county, Pa., the daugh- ter of Jacob Koozer and Anna Rosabel Koozer. Her parents removed to Iowa in 1864, but within a short time her brother died and her father returned to Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. McConnell have five children : Elmer, who married Miss Mabel Bak- er, residing on East Boulder river; Anna ( Mrs. Peter Decker), living on the main branch of the Boulder; Nellie (Mrs. Benjamin Miles) ; James Curtis and Merlin. Mr. McConnell was elected commissioner of Sweet Grass county in 1896, and re-elected in 1900, his incumbency of the office giv- ing the highest satisfaction. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, a popular gentleman and a valuable citizen.

W ILLIAM H. MCELWAIN, one of the lead- ing stockmen of the Blackfoot valley, near Helmsville, Powell county, comes of fine old Rev- olutionary stock, his paternal uncle, John Allen McElwain having served throughout the war for independence, and being present at the surrender of Burgoyne's army at Yorktown. William H. McElwain was born at Warsaw, N. Y., in 1844, the son of Hon. John A. and Lomira (Sutherland) McElwain, and the father was born at Palmer, Mass., in 1794. He acquired an excellent edu- cation considering his limited advantages, and at the age of twenty-one years removed to Batavia, N. Y., going later to Warsaw, where he made his home until his death, in 1875. He left behind him honors and property, having become wealthy through habits of industry and application. In succession he occupied all the public offices of his home city, became sheriff of Wyoming county, N. Y., and its county treasurer, was elected to the legislature and was a general of militia. In all projects of civic and public improvements he was an acknowledged leader, helping to build up his locality in many ways and proving himself a phi- lanthropist and a Christian gentleman. Mrs. Lomira (Sutherland) McElwain was born at Batavia, N. Y., and died at Warsaw on November 26, 1884. In Warsaw William H. McElwain mar- ried with Miss Frances Chaffee, also a native of New York, and the daughter of Leonard L. and Julia (Thorpe) Chaffee, who too were born in New York. Her father died in 1898; her mother

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is still living. To Mr. and Mrs. McElwain has been born a son, Lee C. McElwain. In 1879 William McElwain left his native state and sought a home in Montana. He first located in Beaver- head valley, but later in Blackfoot valley, where he now resides. His ranch is four miles west of Helmville, a splendid property of 480 acres, well stocked with sheep, cattle and horses. Mr. Mc- Elwain has been one of the school trustees of Lincoln township, Powell county. Success has come to him in every way, and among a wide circle of acquaintances the popularity of himself and family is unbounded.

G EORGE McCONE .- Among the progressive men of Montana, the tireless and daring pioneers, and their immediate followers, no less tireless and daring, this enterprising ranchman, successful farmer, vigilant and conscientious legis- lator and genial gentleman is entitled to honorable mention. He was born on April 4, 1854, in Liv- ingston county, N. Y., and his father, Isaac Mc- Cone, was also a native of New York, but in 1855 removed to the neighborhood of Herricksville, Mich., where he died in 1863, leaving a widow who still survives and lives at Herricksville. Her maiden name was Polly Griswold, and she was born near Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1823. Mr. Mc- Cone was educated in the public schools and when he was seventeen years old began life for himself as a farm laborer and also worked in the pineries of Michigan. In 1877 he went to the Indian Terri- tory and carried the mails from Fort Reno to Fort Sill for a year. The next spring he went to Bismarck and engaged in carrying the mails from that city to Fort Keogh until the fall of 1881, at the same time having charge of the government hay, grain and wood teams between the two places. In the spring of 1882 he embarked in the cattle business on Burns creek, about forty miles from Glendive, and since that time has been one of the most extensive shippers of cattle, sheep and horses in his section of the state. In July, 1882, he was given the contract for carrying the mails from Glen- dive to Fort Buford and from that place to Wolf Point, and he performed the work faithfully for six years and until the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1888.

In politics Mr. McCone is a zealous Republican, and has rendered good service to his party in many a hard fought battle. He has also brought credit

to it by faithful and intelligent service in official positions of great responsibility. He was appoint- ed a member of the first board of county commis- sioners for Dawson county, and at the first general election after his appointment, which occurred in 1882, he was elected to the office, and has continu- ously been re-elected until 1900. In the fall of that year he was chosen as one of the representatives of his county in the state legislature, and in that body was conspicuous for close attention to its business, a wide knowledge of the needs and conditions of the state, his stern adherence to what he believed to be right, and his fearlessness and vigor in en- forcing his views. Fraternally he is identified with the Masonic order in several of its branches, being a valued member of Glendive lodge, Yellowstone chapter and Damascus commandery, all of Glen- dive. Mr. McCone was married in 1884, at Sidney, Mont., to Miss Mattie Newlon, a native of Peoria, Ill., and daughter of W. W. Newlon, who came to the Yellowstone valley in 1879. He was a soldier in the Civil war and now lives at Ridgelawn, Mont. Mr. and Mrs. McCone have three children, LeRoy, born in 1886; Lydia, born in 1890, and Alice, born in 1896. In addition to his property in Montana, Mr. McCone has a farm of 157 acres in Branch county, Mich., near Herricksville, where his mother now resides.

J JOSEPH C. McCUAIG .- Among those who have contributed to the promotion of the stock- growing interests of Montana is Mr. McCuaig, and it is with pleasure that we incorporate a review of his operations in this compilation. Mr. McCuaig was born in the picturesque old city of Quebec, Canada, on March 20, 1861, the son of Joseph T. and Annie (Haile) McCuaig, the former of whom was born in Picton, Canada, in 1829, and the latter at Plattsburg, N. Y., in 1833. The father was in the employ of the dominion government until his death, which occurred in Ottawa in 1869, his widow surviving him until 1885, when her death occurred in Richville, N. Y. Joseph C. McCuaig, after his early training in the public schools, en- tered the Collegiate Institute at Ottawa, where he completed a literary and business course, gradu- ating with the class of 1878. In 1879 he removed to Minneapolis, Minn., for two years was state grader for the Minneapolis Millers' Association, and for one year held the position of president and secretary of the Norcross Elevator Company.

In 1882 Mr. McCuaig came to Teton county,

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then a portion of Choteau county, and took up homestead, pre-emption and timber-culture claims on the Dry Forks of the Marias river, nine miles east of Dupuyer. To this original estate he has added until his ranch now has an area of 2,800 acres. Here he has since been successfully engaged in the raising of livestock, bringing to bear a marked discrimination and the most progressive methods. He gives special attention to sheepgrow- ing, running from 7,000 to 10,000 head. In poli- tics Mr. McCuaig gives a stanch allegiance to the Republican party, and holds a prominent position in its local councils. He served as under sheriff in 1894-95, under Sheriff John Zimmerman. Fra- ternally he is identified with Choteau Lodge No. 44, A. F. & A. M., and is a charter member of the lodges of the Woodmen of the World and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, at Choteau. In December, 1889, at Washington, D. C., Mr. McCuaig was united in marriage to Miss Euphemia Smith, who was born in Scotland, and they are the parents of two children, Margaret F. and Josephine Euphemia. Among the many pleasant homes of Montana ranch life this is a fine type.

M ALCOLM McCORMACK, a prominent tim- ber expert and farmer of the Flathead valley, head river, is a native of Niagara, N. Y., where he was born on December 4, 1844. His parents were Malcom and Mary (McLean) McCormack, both natives of Scotland, where the father was born in 1801 and the mother in 1805. They came to the United States when young and located at Niagara, where for many years the father was the local representative of a large English loan and trust company. He died in Wellington county, Ontario, in 1893, and his wife followed him the next year. Their son Malcolm was educated in the schools of Wellington county until he was fourteen years old, then he left school and went to Grand Rapids, Mich., and for thirty-five years made this place and Big Rapids his home, being employed in locating timber land, putting in logs and kindred work. In this business he soon became an expert and found his services in great demand. Later he secured an eighty-acre homestead near Big Rapids, where he resided until January, 1891, when he came to Montana and located in the Flathead valley. There he leased and later purchased the 160-acre farm on which he has since resided. His son William is the manager of the farm, Mr. McCormack being con- 108

stantly occupied as an expert in estimating and appraising timber. In politics Mr. McCormack is an earnest Republican, and while living in Michi- gan took great interest in political affairs. He was married at Grand Rapids in 1867 to Miss Catherine McCallum, who was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1846. They have seven living chil- dren : Mary, wife of Thomas Loucks, a farmer at Big Rapids, Mich .; William, manager of the home farm ; Elliot, an expert bookkeeper ; Margaret, Roy, Mary and John, who are all living at home. The oldest daughter, Nettie, married at Grand Rapids with Elmer Sanders, and died there in 1889. James, the oldest son, died in 1888, aged twelve, at the Big Rapids home.

THOMAS McCORMICK. - For more than twenty years a prominent and successful ranch- man near Helmville in Deer Lodge, and progress- ive and resourceful in other lines of productive ac- tivity, Thomas McCormick has been of substan- tial aid in the development of the state of his adoption and has exemplified in his useful career the best traits of his ancestry and of American citi- zenship. His life began in 1850 in the Emerald Isle, where his parents, Michael and Bridget (Mul- len) McCormick, were born and where their fami- lies had lived and prospered for generations. His father was a lifelong fariner in Ireland. His widow came to the United States with her family, and died in 1900. Mr. McCormick reached the United States in 1870, and, after making a trip through the Southern states with a view to securing a good lo- cation for business, came to Montana in 1871, by way of the Missouri from St. Louis to Fort Benton, and located at Lincoln gulch. He at once went to mining and followed that business for a number of years with varying success, then, re- moving to Helmville in 1892, he has been since then continuously occupied as a ranchman on one of the best developed and most attractive properties in his neighborhood, which consists of 480 acres, a mile and a half west of the town, and improved with every necessary appliance and a modern resi- dence recently erected, one of the most artistic ranch dwellings in the northwest. Mr. McCormick was united in marriage with Miss Mary A. Coug- lan and they have four children, Frances, Annie. Bertha and Thomas. Circumstances have aided in bringing great prosperity to them.

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P ETER McDONALD .- The land of Scott and Burns, of song and story, of philosophy and patriotism, that gave the world the dynasty of the Stuarts, princely in their fortunes and imperial in their misfortunes, has also given America a sturdy, resolute, self-reliant and resourceful element of her population, one that has thriven wherever it has been planted, and has communicated an upward trend and an accelerated force to all active tenden- cies of civilization. In good standing on the list of her contributions to American progress is Peter McDonald, of Carbon county, Mont., a native of the Scottish Highlands, and a member of the cele- brated family of his name that has been so conspic- uous for deeds of patriotism and courage in the annals of his native land, where he was born in 1847, the son of John McDonald. Mr. McDonald came to the United States in 1869, and being im- pressed with the enlarged opportunities for good returns from industry and thrift offered by the far west, made his way to Colorado, and there passed six years in mining and freighting. At the end of that time he came to Montana, overland with wagons, and locating at Bozeman, remained there a year and a half engaged in various pursuits. He then began freighting, which he continued with good success until a portion of the Indian reserva- tion south of Bridger was thrown open, when he took up his residence on the ranch which he now occupies about two miles south of the town. He has his land well improved, all under irrigation and in a high state of cultivation. He raises alfalfa and grain, and vegetables of all kinds in quantities. He has a good residence and other necessary build- ings in keeping with it, and his farm shows in every respect the thrift and good management char- acteristic of the better element of the Scotch people. Mr. McDonald was united in marriage in 1899 with Miss Cora Allen, whose family lives on Clark's Fork. Both she and her husband are highly es- teemed in the neighborhood, and have proven them- selves worthy of the regard of their fellow citizens.

G EORGE W. MAGEE .- This gentleman has

proved his potentiality in several fields of en- deavor and is at present the editor and publisher of the Acantha, an attractive weekly paper, published in Dupuyer, Teton county, with whose industrial life he has been identified for a number of years. As one of the distinctively representative men of

Teton county, we here enter a brief record of his life and accomplishment. Mr. Magee was born in East Douglas, Worcester county, Mass., December 2, 1858. His father, Thomas N. Magee, was born in Vermont of Scotch-Irish lineage, and after at- taining a suitable age was employed in the forging department of the Hunt ax factory at East Doug- las, Mass., up to the outbreak of the Civil war. He then enlisted in the Third Rhode Island Cavalry, with which he was in active service until 1864, when his term of enlistment expired in New Or- leans. His life was, however, sacrificed in the cause of his country, since in December, 1864, he was drowned by the sinking of the transport North America, off Roanoke, Va., while on his way to Washington to be mustered out of service. The maiden name of Mr. Magee's mother was Mary Buffum, and she was born in Massachusetts, her lineage running back to early Pilgrim stock of Welsh extraction. She died in a New York hospi- tal in 1862, so that Mr. Magee was doubly or- phaned when a mere child.

George W. Magee, after his early educational training in the public cshools of Pawtucket and Providence, R. I., continued his studies in a nor- mal school in the latter city, in the meantime put- ting his acquirements to practical test by teaching. He continued in pedagogic work until 1879, when he read law for a time at Worcester, Mass., and in 1880 came west, remaining one year in Iowa, where he varied his experience by acting as clerk in a hotel. He then came to Montana and was a resident of Fort Benton until 1884, and from that time to 1886 was engaged in ranching on a squat- ter's claim, located midway between Fort Benton and Choteau. In the fall of 1886 Mr. Magee located a homestead claim of 160 acres on Birch creek, and there devoted his attention to the rais- ing of cattle in connection with a freighting busi- ness until the spring of 1899. In the fall of 1899 he purchased the plant and business of the Acantha at Dupuyer, and has made the paper an able ex- ponent of the principles and policies of the Re- publican party and of local interests. He is a writer of force and individuality, and the editorial utterances of the Acantha have had marked in- fluence in shaping local politics, while the job de- partment of the office is well equipped and duly appreciated.

Mr. Magee is one of the leaders of his party in the northwestern section of the state, and his ef- forts in behalf of the cause have ever been timely

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and effective. He has served as notary public and justice of the peace for a full decade, and since 1899 has been United States commissioner for the dis- trict of Montana. In 1898 he was elected to the lower house of the state legislature, in which he served with marked discrimination and ability dur- in the Sixth general assembly, in 1899. Fraternally he is a member of Mountain Meadow Lodge No. 234, Woodmen of the World. The marriage of Mr. Magee was solemnized in Great Falls on September 3, 1900, when he wedded Miss Katherine Landin, who was born in Sweden in 1883. They have a pleasant home in Dupuyer and enjoy a marked pop- ularity in the community, whose interests Mr. Ma- gee has done much to advance.

N A. MACDONALD .- This gentleman, the pro- prietor of the Braund House in Butte, one of its leading hostelries, is a successful and captivat- ing boniface whose comfortable hearthstone is much sought and enjoyed by the traveling public, and es- pecially by those modern knights errant, the com- . mercial travelers. He was born at Cape Breton Island, N. S., on August 2, 1860, and was educated in the schools of his native place and the excellent academy at Pictou. In 1878 he went to San Fran- cisco, Cal., and passed a number of years in that city, San Jose, Sacramento, Fresno and other towns in the state, always being employed in hotels and oc- cupying various places from bell boy to chief clerk. He remained in California until 1885, then came to Montana, locating at Butte, where he has achieved a notable and well deserved success. His first year in the city was passed as clerk in a hotel at the lower smelting works. In the fall of 1886 he went to Granite in Deer Lodge county and took charge of J. J. Farrell's hotel there for two years. From 1888 to 1889 he was manager of a boarding house at Ramsey, Mont., and thereafter for a short time was at Spokane, Wash., and Granite, Mont., in the restaurant business. In 1890, in partnership with Messrs. Mckay and Carmichael, he purchased the Braund House, on Talbot and Watson avenues, in Butte, a comfortable hotel named for a miner, Braund, who erected the original building.

Mr. MacDonald was manager of this enterprise until September, 1894, when he purchased the in- terest of his partners. In 1897 he enlarged the house from ten to sixty-five rooms, in 1899 added ten more, and in 1901 put a third story on the house

with forty-one additional rooms. The house is nicely kept, well furnished and well equipped with all modern improvements and being a well ordered, conveniently arranged and very skillfully conducted house of entertainment of a character and standard compatible with the progressive city in which it is located. Mr. MacDonald is a Republican of the stalwart kind. He is a member of the city central committee and always active in the campaigns of his party, city, county, state and national. He is a prominent and active Freemason and has as- cended the mystic ladder to the thirty-second round, holding membership in lodge, chapter, commandery and consistory of the Scottish Rite and in the Mys- tic Shrine. He also belongs to the Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows. He was married at Butte in 1894 to Miss Jennie Murray, who was born in Scot- land in 1870. They have two children, Helen Mar- garet and Margaret Christy.

W ILLIAM McDONALD WRIGHT .- Born and passing his youth amidst the scenes of the rugged highlands of Scotland, Mr. Wright is now numbered among the enterprising and

successful stockgrowers of Teton county. He was born in Argyleshire, Scotland, on July 29, 1862, the son of Alexander and Eliza (McDonald) Wright, they both coming of sterling Scottish lineage. The father, who was born in Stirlingshire, was an officer in the British civil service, and was thus engaged at the time of his death in 1880. The mother was born in the western highlands of Scotland, and her death occurred in 1866. William McDonald Wright received his early education in the government schools, supple- menting this training by instruction in a private school in Glasgow. In June, 1879, he came to the United States, coming in 1880 to Hugo, Colo., and being there employed for a year on a cattle ranch. He then went back to Scotland, and in 1884 returned to America, coming directly to Montana, where he was located on the Clark Brothers' property in Choteau county for three years, while for the succeeding three years he was in the employ of the Cooper-Martin Sheep Company. He then bought a band of sheep from this company, and engaged in raising this line of stock with James Malone, under the firm name of Malone & Wright, locating on the Middle Dry Fork. In 1897 Mr. Wright purchased his partner's

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interests and continued the business individually until 1900, when he formed a partnership associa- tion with Hon. John A. Kennedy, which they are conducting upon an extensive scale, usually running an average of 6,000 sheep. They have 800 acres of desert lands in Teton county, besides utilizing large tracts of adjoining ranges. Mr. Wright gives a stanch allegiance to the Republican party, taking an active interest in the local work of the party. In 1892, at Great Falls, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Wright to Miss Maggie Peterson, who died in 1894, leaving one daughter, Ellen Kyle, now eight years of age. Mr. Wright is held in high regard as one of the enterprising citizens of Teton county, his postoffice address being Dupuyer.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 138

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