Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 141

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 141

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PHILIP MAYER .- The career of this prosper- ous and popular farmer and stockgrower of Lewis and Clarke county, is one which has been at- tended by unremitting industry and it is pleasing to note that the rewards of his labors have not been denied. Mr. Mayer is a native of the city of Bloomington, Ill., where he was born on the 7th of September, 1858, the eldest of the four children of Conrad and Katherine Mayer, both of whom were born in Baden, Germany, where the father acquired his carpenter trade, to which he devoted his attention in his native land until his emigra-

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tion to the United States, in 1855. He located in Bloomington, Ill., where he followed his trade un- til his death, which occurred on the 28th of August, 1866, his widow surviving until August 6, 1897. Conrad Mayer was an active supporter of the Re- publican party, and his religious faith was that of the Catholic church, while his wife was a devoted member of the Lutheran church. Their four children are Philip, John, Lizzie and Solomon. Philip Mayer was afforded good educational ad- vantages in his youth, attended the public schools of his native town, though he began to be independ- ent at the early age of fourteen years, when he engaged to operate a stationary engine at the Sol- diers' Orphans' Home, Normal, Ill., and was thus employed for a year. He was thereafter employed in a chair factory, served in clerical capacities, de- voted two years to making models for castings, and finally, in 1876, went to Minnesota, where he was identified with agricultural pursuits until 1881, when he returned to Illinois and there was engaged in farm work for the succeeding two years. In 1885 he went to Nebraska, where he rented a farm for a term of one year, and then took up a pre- emption claim of 160 acres, continuing to devote his attention to agriculture in that locality for five years, but meeting with rather poor success. He finally disposed of his interests for the sum of $600, and in the spring of 1888 came to Montana, lo- cating in the vicinity of Augusta, Lewis and Clarke county, where he was engaged in sheepherding for five years, being in the employ of his brother John for four years and the remaining year being with Joseph Bartlett. During this time Mr. Mayer took up homestead and tree claims of 160 acres each, at a point seven miles south of Augusta, and there finally engaged in farming and raising cattle. He eventually traded this property for his present ranch, which is located three and one-half miles northeast of Augusta and comprises 480 acres. He disposed of his cattle in 1889, and has since devoted his attention to raising sheep and the dairy busi- ness, for which latter enterprise he keeps a small but select herd. He has been careful and discrimin- ating in his business undertakings, and his suc- cess has come as the natural result. In politics he supports the Republican party, and fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.

On the 6th of February, 1882, Mr. Mayer was united in marriage to Miss Caroline M. Vogel, who was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, the daugh- ter of Christian and Caroline Vogel. The father

has always followed the meat market business, and is still a resident of Wurtemburg. His wife passed away in 1870. Both became members of the Lu- theran church in early life, and Mrs. Mayer is also a member of that church. To our subject and his estimable wife have been born eight children : Pearl L. and Ethel being deceased, while the surviving children are John C., Frank C., Katie M., Letta M., Pearl L. and Oscar H.

AUGENE C. MEANS .- This progressive and successful young merchant of Rochester, Madison county, was born in Clark county, Mo., in 1860, the fifth of the six children of William H. and Sarah (Osgood) Means, both of whom were born in Maine. In his earlier manhood the father followed a seafaring life, and was captain of a ves- sel. About 1847 the family removed to Missouri, where he engaged in the hotel business until 1862, when, with his family, he set forth for Montana, thus becoming a pioneer of this commonwealth. He located at Sheridan, and engaged in mining, becom- ing the owner of the Klondike mine, which has been a good producer. He continued to make his home in Madison county until his death. Eugene C. Means is indebted to the pioneer schools of Mon- tana for his early educational advantages and the discipline thus secured was effectively supple- mented by a course of study in a business college at Quincy, Ill., where he was graduated as a mem- ber of the class of 1887. After leaving school he secured a clerical position in the gold mill of a mine at Sheridan, and thereafter was identified with the mining industry in Madison county until 1896, when he engaged in the mercantile business in Sheridan for eighteen months when he erected a commodious store in the village of Rochester and thither removed his stock of goods. He carries a complete and select line of general merchandise and shelf hardware and controls a trade of extensive ramifications. Mr. Means also owns mining inter- ests which are destined to become valuable. He is not married, is a thorough sportsman and makes a hunting excursion into the wilds each year. His political support is given to the Republican party, and fraternally he is prominently identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of the Maccabees, having passed the chairs in his lodge of the former and being at the pres- ent time adjutant of the latter organization. In

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1892 he represented his lodge in the grand lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Mon- tana, and served as doorkeeper of that supreme body. He is a man of genial and gracious manner and enjoys marked popularity in the county where he has passed so great a portion of his life.

D AVID MEIKLEJOHN .- Through many dan- gers and thrilling adventures, through a varie- ty of important duties in private life and official station, and through a knowledge of men acquired in many states and localities, David Meiklejohn, of Butte, Mont., has attained his present intellectual and manly stature, and has gathered his fund of general and special information. He was born in Scotland on February 29, 1848, the son of David F. and Esther (Martin) Meiklejohn, also natives of Scotland, from whence they came to America in 1850, locating for a time in Missouri, but soon coming west. In 1861, Mr. Meiklejohn, being then only a young boy, joined Gen. Connor's command (United States California Volunteers) in Sacra- mento, Cal. After many skirmishes with the In- dians in California, Utah, Nevada and Montana, they came to Salt Lake City, Utah, where they established what is now Fort Douglass. After the battle of Bear River in the winter of 1862-3, ob- taining his honorable discharge from the army, Mr. Meiklejohn joined a party bound for the gold fields of Montana and Idaho, and in company with Jim Gambell, Charles Carver, Hayes Lyons and others, landed at the now old site of Bannack, on March 26, 1863 ; from there he attended the differ- ent gold excitements in Montana until the fall when he was employed by the Oliver-Peabody Express Company to take charge of their stock on Rattle- snake creek, fifteen miles from Bannack, at the notorious Bunton and Pickett ranch, where he be- came acquainted with a great many of the road agents who were afterward hanged by the Vigi- lantes. Removing to Decr Lodge in the winter of 1863-4 with the stock of the Oliver-Peabody Ex- press Company, and others, he became personally acquainted with the noted Bill Bunton, who then had become a partner of Cook & Campbell in the saloon and grocery in the old town of Cottonwood, now Deer Lodge, Mont., living in the same cabin with him. About this time, Bill Bunton was sus- pected of being connected with a band of road agents, and Mr. Meiklejohn was sleeping with him

on the night of his arrest. He was tried during the night and hanged the following morning at 10 o'clock by the Vigilantes. Mr. Meiklejohn has never believed Bunton guilty of the crimes charged against him.

Mr. Meiklejohn left Deer Lodge in February, 1864, and started north, being one of the Fisher party, the first discoverers of gold in the Kootenai country, British Columbia, where he did successful mining. After spending a year or two in extensive traveling along the western coast, he joined in the gold excitement on the upper Columbia river. Leaving Colville, Wash., in March, 1867, he trav- eled up the Columbia river for three months in boats, crossing the Great and Small Arrow lakes on the ice and finally landed at the supposed gold fields in snow between fourteen and fifteen feet deep. After many thrilling adventures and untold hard- ships experienced in that region, he returned the same year to Colville, where he was appointed dep- uty sheriff, and began his career as an officer, which occupation he has followed ever since, hav- ing been connected with Wells-Fargo Company in Nevada, and as a deputy marshal in Utah. In 1875 in Salt Lake City, he was married to Miss Annie Clark, who was born in England in 1849, coming with her parents to America in 1852. They have four children, David Forbes, Esther M., Edward Clark and Archie B.

In 1879 Mr. Meiklejohn returned to Montana, locating at Butte, which has ever since been his home. He has been engaged in handling mines and real estate in and around the city, and is inter- ested in a number of valuable properties. He is an earnest worker in the Republican party and takes an active interest in public affairs. He was a member of the first police force of Butte; street commissioner under Dr. O. B. Whitford in 1884 and 1885; chief of police from 1886 to 1888; was the first city detective from 1889 to 1890, and was again the city detective in 1895 under the Thomp- son administration. He was appointed deputy United States marshal for the district of Montana in 1895, and has held the office continuously from that time. In fraternal relations he is prominently and actively connected with the Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows, being past grand patriarch of the Grand Encampment of Montana, and past noble grand of his subordinate lodge. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, being now chancellor commander of Oswego Lodge No. 9, of which he has been a member for eighteen years.

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He has been a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen for nineteen years, and has held high rank in that order.

HARLES P. MENDEL .- This gentleman was C born on July 4, 1870, at McConnellsville, Ohio, the son of Thomas and Irene (Parker) Mendel, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of Virginia. There were five children in the family, of whom Charles was the first born. He attended the public schools until he was sixteen years old, then worked on his father's farm for four years, after which he came west, locating at Colfax, Wash., where he worked at lumbering for two years. In 1891 Mr. Mendel came to Montana and settled in the Bitter Root valley. There he worked at lumbering two years and then engaged in farm- ing two and a half miles east of Victor, where he has since been residing and where he has one of the finest farms in the valley. It consists of 860 acres, supports large herds of cattle and yields abundant crops of hay and grain. The property is improved with an excellent residence, large and convenient barns and other necessary appurten- ances, and tastefully arranged grounds adorned with trees and shrubbery. Everything indicates that it is in the hands of an intelligent and pro- gressive farmer, who knows its possibilities and is bent on developing them. Mr. Mendel is an ardent Democrat, zealous for the welfare of his party and loyal in his support of its candidates. He was married in October, 1896, to Mrs. Elzora Goff. They have one child, their son, Earl F. Mr. Men- del pursued dame fortune's winning smile with undoubting faith, although she did not immediately yield to his persuasions, but all at once she relented and rewarded his devotion with a gracious gen- erosity which still abides with him. He also has the cordial regard of his friends and fellow citizens wherever he is known.

JOSEPH W. MILLEGAN .- The patronymic - borne by the subject of this review is one that gave title to the locality in which he resides, since the postoffice designated as Millegan, in the soutlı- ern part of Cascade county, was named in honor of his father, who is now a resident of the capital city of the state. The subject of this sketch has 109

attained a marked success in the line of cattlerais- ing and general ranching, and it is but consistent that he be given due representation in this work.

Mr. Millegan was born at Sparta, Monroe county, Wis., on the 19th of September, 1858, his parents being Reuben A. and Mary Millegan, na- tives respectively of the states of New York and Ohio. The father has devoted his attention to farming and stockraising and for a time to hotel- keeping, but is now practically retired from active business. They came to Montana in 1880, and two years later located at the place which was named in the father's honor, Millegan, the same being thirty miles southeast of the village of Cascade. There Reuben A. Millegan continued to devote his attention to ranching until 1897, when he leased his place to a tenant, and thereafter removed with his wife to Helena, where they now maintain their home. Both are members of the Baptist church.

Joseph W. Millegan, the immediate subject of this review, received his education in the public schools of Wisconsin and Michigan, in which latter state he pursued a high-school course. He re- mained at the parental home until he had reached his legal majority, rendering his father valuable assistance in his work. In 1872 the family located in Michigan, where they remained until 1878, after which he made his way by degrees through Kansas and eventually to Texas, where he remained in the Panhandle district until 1882, when he came over- land to Helena, Mont., with an eight-mule teanı and outfit. He thereafter devoted four years to freighting between Livingston, Helena and Fort Benton, after which he located on his present ranch, three miles north of Millegan, where he took up a squatter's claim of 160 acres. Since that time he has secured a homestead and desert claim, each of the same acreage as his original entry, which they adjoin, while he has also purchased forty acres and leased 2,880 acres of railroad land, so that he has ample pasturage accommodations for his cattle. which he raises in large numbers. One hundred and thirty acres of his ranch are utilized for ag- ricultural purposes, as need be. It is gratifying to note that he has been particularly successful in both branches of his ranching enterprise.

On the 26th of January, 1888, Mr. Millegan was married to Miss Etta Johnson, who was born in Michigan, being the daughter of George B. and Eliza Johnson, natives of New York state. Both were members of the Baptist church, and the father followed farming until his death, which occurred

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in 1877, his wife passing away twenty years later, in 1897. Mr. and Mrs. Millegan are the parents of four children : Guy J., Nora D., Homer D. and Mary E. Our subject and his estimable wife are members of the Baptist church, and in politics he exercises his franchise in the support of the Re- publican party.

JOHN J. MILLER is a prominent citizen of Teton county, Mont., well and favorably known in that community for more than twenty years, being one of the oldest settlers in that portion of the Marias river country. He is recognized as a man of marked ability and deservedly retains the confidence of all with whom he is associated in a financial, political or social way. He was born at Prince Edward Island, Canada, on June 4, 1851. His father, Alexander Miller, who was a farmer, was also a native of Prince Edward Island, where he died in 1895. The wife and mother, Mary ( Farquharson) Miller, was born at the same place and died there in 1881. Until he was sixteen years of age John J. Miller worked on his father's farm and attended the public schools, improving his op- portunities to the best of his ability. In 1867 he made quite a tour of the country, going to Boston, Mass., Winnipeg, Canada, and through the North- west Territory, finally locating near Choteau, Mont. Here he secured a desert claim upon which he resided two years, and for the following years was engaged in the cattle business on the ranges north of Choteau, later locating a ranch of 1,000 acres on the Marias river, eleven miles northwest of Shelby, and he is now recognized as one of the largest stockgrowers of that district, carrying an average of 6,000 sheep, with cattle and horses. The political affiliations of Mr. Miller are with the Re- publican party, and he served a four-years term as commissioner of Teton county from 1894 until 1898. His fraternal relations are with Choteau Lodge No. 44, A. F. & A. M., and with the Ma- sonic chapter of the same place.

- AMES L. MILNER .- The active manager and controlling factor of the Arkwright Sheep Com- pany, of Milner, Meagher county, and the owner of a large rice plantation in Texas, a man of many adventures and wide experience, James L. Milner,

the chief resident of the town named in his honor, shows in his financial condition and the esteem in which he is held by his fellow men the sterling stuff of which he is made. He is a native of Grant county, Wis., where his life began on May 22, 1861. His parents are John and Selina (Bark) Milner, natives of England, from whence they came to America and became pioneers of Wisconsin, where they made their home until 1870, thence moving to Cass county, Iowa. In 1894 they removed to Salt Lake City, where they are now residing. Until 1880 the father, a public-spirited man of superior attainments, was engaged in farming, stockraising and lumbering.

The son, James L. Milner, one of a family of nine children, remained on the homestead attend- ing the schools of Cass county, Iowa, until 1877, when he engaged in lumbering in an adjoining county, and eight months later returned to Cass county and took charge of a lumber yard at Gris- wold, where, at the end of a year, he started a hard- ware business in company with his brother, C. W. Milner. At the end of three years and a half they sold the business and engaged for a few months in handling lumber. In 1884 James L. Milner came west seeking a location for a stock industry, travel- ing by team through Colorado and Wyoming into Montana, where, in the fall of 1884, he bought a ranch six miles above his present location. He then went east, formed the Blue Mountain Cattle Company, and bought 1,400 cattle and shipped them to their Montana ranch. The company con- ducted business until 1895, when they sold both land and stock.

In 1892 Mr. Milner individually started a band of sheep which was the beginning of his present flock, and after the company sold its interests he was able to continue this industry. For that pur- pose he located and bought the ranch which he now conducts for the Antwerp Sheep Company, to which he sold the land in 1899, retaining the sheep. In 1900 and 1901 he bought a controlling interest in the company and took the active management of its affairs in which he continues. The company has by ownership and lease fully 15,000 acres of land and frequently runs 20,000 sheep, always preferring the Merino breed. The ranch is well supplied with water, a portion of it is irrigated and it produces 1,000 tons of hay a year. It is also improved with good buildings, fences and other necessary appliances, and is equip- ped with telephonic connection with Billings. Mr.

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Milner has determined to retire from the manage- ment and make his home in Salt Lake City, still retaining, however, his stock in the enterprise. The management will in the future vest in Mr. Milner's cousin, Holbeche Corfield, a native of England and a young man of energy and ability. Mr. Milner and one of his brothers has recently pur- chased a rice plantation in Texas containing 3,380 acres of valuable land, and they have a very prom- ising outlook for success. On November 6, 1884, Mr. Milner was married to Miss Anna L. Kelsey, of Albia, Iowa, a daughter of John Kelsey, a mer- chant of that place. Their children are Thomas Alfred, Hay King (deceased) and Vernie Lucille. Mrs. Milner and the children live at Salt Lake City that the children may receive school advantages.

L OUDEN MINUGH .- Practically each of the older states of the Union has contributed its quota to the population of the new and virile com- monwealth of Montana, and in the case of the suc- cessful stockgrower and business man, Mr. Minugh, we find that Montana is indebted to the good old state of New Jersey for his acquisition, while his residence here covers more than a score of years. He was born in Jersey City, N. J., on October 16, 1860, the son of James Minugh, who was born in New York city in 1828, and was for many years identified with the fishing industry on the Atlantic coast, but is now retired from active business, own- ing a number of cottages at Jersey City, Seabright, Long Branch and other summer resorts on the east- ern coast. He married Mary Ann Cooper, who was born in Jersey City and died about 1867.

Louden Minugh attended the public schools of his native city until he had attained the age of sixteen, and thereafter devoted his attention to fish- ing along the coast for about three years, having that inherent love of the sea which is felt by nearly all who grow up on its shores and court its friend- ship. In 1879, at the age of nineteen, Mr. Minugh came to Fort Benton, Mont., and thence within the same year to Fort Assinniboine, where he main- tained his headquarters for six years, devoting him- self to hunting and fishing and acting as scout and guide, in which connection he had many thrilling experiences. . In 1885 he went to Fort Belknap, where he remained four years, dividing his attention between hunting expeditions and working for Thomas O'Hanlon, who conducted T. C. Power's

post store at the fort. Early in 1889 he became head farmer on the Fort Belknap reservation, and in Jan- uary, 1890, he established a trading store at the new Belknap Indian agency, later opening a branch store at St. Paul's mission, conducting both of these en- terprises about six years and disposing of them in the summer of 1900. In the fall of that year he located on his present ranch at the mouth of Peoples creek on the Fort Belknap reservation, and near Dodson, a station and village on the Great Northern Railroad.

Here he has a well improved and valuable ranch of 1,000 acres, and is engaged in raising cattle and horses upon a quite extensive scale. He also owns a good hay ranch of 320 acres five miles east of Harlem, and has valuable business and residence property in the village. Mr. Minugh is one of the wheelhorses of the Republican party in this section of the state, and has been a delegate to all county conventions of his party for the past twenty years, under both territorial and state government. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias, holding membership in Allendale Lodge, at Havre. In 1884, at Fort Dunlap, Mr. Minugh married a woman of the Gros Ventre Indian tribe, whose death occurred in 1889. In 1890, at Dawes (now Chinook), he married a half-breed woman of the same tribe, securing a divorce from her in 1894. By her he has three children: Edward, James and William. In the spring of 1894 Mr. Minugh consummated a third marriage, being then united to Miss Cecilia Ereaux, a daughter of Legre Ereaux, of whom individual mention is made eise- where in this work. She died in July, 1900, leaving two children, Alfred and Mary Ann.

J ISRAEL MENARD is numbered among the progressive ranchmen of Lewis and Clarke county, and is worthy of individual consideration in this work. He was born in St. Athanse, Canada, January 26. 1850, being the son of Peter and Angele Menard, both of French lineage. The father followed farming as a vocation. and his re- ligious faith was that of the Catholic church, dying in the faith September 6, 1901, at the age of eighty- two. His wife also was a strict church woman, her death having occurred October 8, 1893, at the age of seventy-four. J. Israel Menard had limited educational advantages in his youth, attending the public schools at irregular intervals and early be-

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ginning to assist his father in the work of the farm. At the age of seventeen years he began work as a sailor on the lakes, being thus engaged for a period of five years, and for an equal length of time was engineer on a steamboat plying Lake Champ- lain. He then came to Montana, arriving in 1877, secured employment in the mines of Last Chance gulch, near Helena, and in the winter seasons con- tracted to supply wood. In 1888 he rented a tract of eighty acres, located twenty-six miles north of Helena, and there has since engaged in farming and cattleraising. Realizing the imperative need for more land he purchased, in 1896, a tract of 160 acres, located twenty-nine miles north of the capital city. On this place he has made good improve- ments, having sixty acres under cultivation and raising an excellent grade of cattle. In politics Mr. Menard supports the Republican party, while in religion he is a member of the Catholic church, as is also his wife.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 141

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