Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 147

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 147

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his county or state escapes his attention or lan- guishes for his active aid and encouragement. In fraternal relations he is affiliated with Ridgeley Lodge I. O. O. F., at Butte.

ALEXANDER PAMBRUN .- Among the earl- iest of pioneers to visit the vast, unsurveyed territory now called Montana was Mr. Pambrun, now a prosperous cattlegrower and ranchman on the Blackfoot reservation, near Browning, Teton county. He was born in Northwest Territory, British Columbia, on April 30, 1829, the son of P. C. and Catherine Pambrun. The father was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1790, and during his active career he was the chief trader for the Hudson's Bay Company, having his headquarters at Walula, Wash. He was a Federal soldier of the war of 1812, enlisting as a private and attaining by his valor to the rank of captain. He was killed by a fall from a horse at Walula in 1841. His widow died at Newburg, Ore., in 1896, at the venerable age of ninety years. The winter schools of the Hudson's Bay Company supplied the education re- ceived by Alexander Pambrun, and during the summer months he worked industriously for his father at Walula. He early secured employment from the Hudson's Bay Company, and served two years as an apprentice to a carpenter. In 1848, before he had attained his majority, he went to California, where for two years he was engaged in mining, then for ten years he was in the cattle business on a ranch he secured at Fort Vancouver.

Having passed seven months in the Orofino placer mines Mr. Pambrun passed the spring of 1861 in prospecting in Idaho, in the summer going to Deer Lodge, Mont., and conducting freight- ing between Deer Lodge, Fort Benton, Fort Charles and Salt Lake City until 1867. Mr. Pam- brun subsequently removed to Manitoba, where, in company with John F. Grant, he engaged in stockraising and general farming. In 1870 he was for a time at Lake Lac La Beach, Northwest Ter- ritory, and in 1871 came to French gulch, Mont., where he followed freighting, securing a ranch in 1873, that then comprised homestead, pre-emption, desert and timber claims, 540 acres in all, on Sun river, and continued stockgrowing until 1895, when he located on the south fork of the Milk river in Teton county, where he now has a large and finely improved property, devoted principally to the rais-

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ing of cattle and horses. He still owns his Sun river ranch. By his marriage in 1862 Mr. Pam- brun has two children, Cecil, wife of Charles F. McKeloy, of Sun River, and Louis, a rancher on Willow creek. His first wife, whom he married in 1852, died in 1860, leaving one child, Emily H., now the wife of Mr. Frank Toncho, of Choteau county. Mr. Pambrun is a highly respected man, who has had a long, eventful and successful life in the west and deserves the best there is in life in his declining years.

W ILLIAM O. PARKER .- Among the success- ful farmers and stockgrowers of Yellowstone county is Mr. Parker, who comes of stanch old Colonial stock, and is recognized as one of the able and enterprising men of this section of the state. He was born in Franklin county, Vt., on January 15, 1844, the son of Orin and Julia (Dickinson) Parker, natives of Vermont, where the former was born in the year 1807 and the latter in the succeed- ing year. S. D. Parker was the father of twelve children, seven by his first wife, Nancy (Shaw) Parker, and five by his second wife, Nancy (Harding) Parker. Orin Parker was a son by the second marriage. S. D. Parker was born in Can- terbury, now Andover, Mass., in 1764, and the mother of Orin Parker was a native of Rhode Is- land. The great-grandfather of William O. was Joshua Parker, a native of Massachusetts, who was born in 1718 and died at Putney, Vt., in 1812. He married a Miss Davenport, of Massachusetts, and they were the parents of seven sons and three daughters. The maternal grandparents were Job and Rebecca (Spencer) Dickinson.

William O. Parker was reared on the homestead farm in the Green Mountain state, where he at- tended public schools and assisted in the farm work until attaining the age of twenty-four years, when he purchased the homestead. In 1884 he engaged in the stove and tin business, in the town of Shel- don, Vt., for two and a half years, moving thence to Billings, Mont., on April 16, 1887. His initial enterprise was conducted on what is known as the Dr. Parker farm, he passing his winters in Billings, where he had charge of the drug store owned by G. W. Shoemaker. In 1891 Mr. Parker purchased his present ranch of 160 acres, located about six miles west of Billings. Here he is successfully en- gaged in farming and stockgrowing, and also de-

votes special attention to dairying. His methods have ever been progressive, and have gained for him a merited position among the representative men of this section of the state.

In politics Mr. Parker gives stanch allegiance to the Republican party and its principles, and while a resident of Vermont was called upon to serve as a member of the board of selectmen of his town, an office analogous to that of commissioner in the state of Montana. In November, 1900, Mr. Parker was elected county commissioner of Yel- lowstone county, and would have assumed the du- ties thereof November 1, 1901, but owing to a va- cancy on the board he was appointed to fill the unexpired term in February of the year noted. During the last eight months of the Civil war Mr. Parker was a member of the Ninth Vermont In- fantry, and served in the Army of the James. In 1877 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Parker to Miss Lila A. Smithi, of Enosburg, Vt., who was born June 9, 1848, the seventh of the eight chil- dren of Isaac H. and Sarah (Clark) Smith. They are the parents of two children : Ray, who died in infancy ; and Perley, who died at the age of six years. Perley was adopted in infancy, and was the child of Mrs. Parker's brother, the mother dying when Perley was but a few days old. Mr. and Mrs. Parker are members of the Baptist church in Billings, and are held in the highest esteem.

OHN F. PATTERSON, who is one of the ex-

tensive sheepgrowers of Montana, has served the state in offices of trust and responsibility and is recognized as one of her representative business men. The lineage of our subject is of distingushed order, and bespeaks long identification with the an- nals of American history. Mr. Patterson was born in Harford county, Md., August 6, 1861. His father, James O. Patterson, was an extensive planter and slave-holder, having been born, reared and educated in the city of Baltimore. He served for a number of terms as county commissioner of Carroll county, and during the Civil war he natur- ally supported the institutions under which he had been reared, fully sympathizing with the cause of the Confederacy. He married Anna Jane de la Roche, who was born at Georgetown, D. C. Her father was of French Huguenot extraction, and served on the staff of Gen. Lafayette in France. He was a sea captain, operating a merchantman

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jointly owned by himself and his brother. He came to America about 1780, still continuing to follow the sea, and during the progress of the war of 1812 his vessel was destroyed. A claim was en- tered against the United States government to secure reimbursement for the loss, and, singularly enough, just at the opening of the twentieth cen- tury his heirs received a portion of the amount due on this claim for damages in the destruction of the vessel nearly ninety years before. Our subject's uncles in the maternal line were all military men, among them being Gen. Greenleaf, now assistant surgeon-general of the United States army.

John F. Patterson received in his native county a public school education, and graduated in the Baltimore high school as a member of the class of 1878. In 1880, when nineteen years of age, he came to Montana and identified himself with the sheep industry in Choteau county, organizing in 1898 the J. F. Patterson Sheep Company, and subsequently purchasing the interest of one of his partners. Here he has since been identified with sheepgrowing upon a most extensive scale, being one of the lead- ing representatives of this branch of industrial en- terprise in the state, having at the present time about 6,000 head. He owns more than 2,000 acres of land, and controls 6,000 acres of state land which is utilized in his operations. He maintains his home in the city of Fort Benton and is well known in the state, particularly among stockmen.

In 1888 Mr. Patterson was elected county com- missioner of Choteau county on the Democratic ticket, but in 1893, having the courage of his con- victions, he transferred his political allegiance to the Republican party, whose principles and policies he has since been a stalwart advocate. He was the Republican candidate for representative in the lower house of the legislature in the fall of 1900 and was successful at the polls, serving in the ses- sion of 1901 with ability and to the credit of himself and his constituency. He was appointed sheep inspector for Choteau county in 1897, and is still serving in that capacity. Fraternally he is a mem- ber of Benton Lodge No. 25, A. F. & A. M., in which he has held the office of senior deacon; and is also a consistent member of that notable organi- zation, the Helena Lambs' Club. On June 8, 1892, Mr. Patterson was united in marriage to Miss Edith May Buck, who was born in the city of St. Paul, Minn., where she was reared and educated. They have one daughter and one son : Elizabeth T., born March 7, 1893 ; Edwin F., born July 6, 1896.

J JOHN E. PAXTON is recognized as one of the progressive and successful farmers and stock- growers of Choteau county, his well improved ranch being located two and a half miles east of the village of Chinook, his postoffice address. He was born at Stockton, Utah, on October 11, 1872, the son of Benjamin F. and Sarah A. (Smith) Paxton, both of whom are now deceased. Thus our subject is a native son of the west, and has passed the greater portion of his life in Montana, whither he accompanied his parents on their removal to the city of Butte in 1877. In the public schools of that city John E. received his educational training. In 1889 he purchased seventy-five head of cattle and twenty-five horses, bringing them to his present ranch, where they served as the nucleus for the extensive stock business which he now conducts. In 1891 he made permanent settlement on his pres- ent homestead of 160 acres, while he also utilizes 400 acres of state land, having his entire ranch un- der fence and equipped with the best improvements, all of which have been made by Mr. Paxton. Here he raises both cattle and horses, devotes consider- able attention to general farming, and is held in high esteem in the community.

In politics he is a Republican, but has never been an aspirant for public office. On St. Valentine's day, 1899, Mr. Paxton gave observance of the oc- casion by taking unto himself a wife and helpmeet in the person of Miss Nettie Davis, a daughter of James Davis, of Landusky, Choteau county. They have one son, Walter.

0 LE B. PEDERSON, who is engaged in farm- ing and stockraising on his excellent ranch, located eight miles south of Belt, Cascade county, is a native of Norway, where he was born on April 17, 1856, the son of Peter and Martha Pederson. both of whom were born in Norway, where they passed their entire lives, the former being suni- moned into eternal life in 1872, and the latter in 1895. Peter Pederson was a gunsmith and black- smith by occupation. They were devoted mem- bers of the Lutheran church, and were known as people of sterling character.

Ole B. Pederson received a common school edu- cation, and upon taking up the practical duties of life he assisted in caring for his parents until he at- tained the age of twenty-four years, when he came to America and made his way to Minnesota in

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1880, where he worked on a farm for two years. In 1882 he went to Miles City, Mont., where he was employed in the construction of the Northern Pa- cific Railroad for two years. In 1884 he located in Helena, where he worked at the carpenter trade and also devoted some time to prospecting, but with poor success. In 1887 he removed to Great Falls and assisted in the building of the old smelter and later worked as a bridge carpenter on the Montana Central Railroad. In the fall of 1889 Mr. Pederson took up a pre-emption claim of 160 acres, and in the spring of 1892 he added to his ranch a homestead claim of 160 acres, while in 1897 he took up forty acres of desert land. Within the past two years he has purchased 240 acres, for which he paid $560, this bringing the area of his ranch up to 600 acres, 150 of which are available for cultivation, while the remainder is utilized for grazing purposes. He has been careful in his methods and very successful in his farming and stockraising operations, so that he feels well satisfied with his action in having located in Mon- tana. In politics Mr. Pederson gives his al- legiance to the Republican party.

W ALTER H. PECK .- Among those who have been identified with the industrial activities of Montana is Mr. Peck, the successful merchant of Garneill, Fergus county, this being a new town which promises to become one of no slight im- portance in the near future. Mr. Peck is a native of Cook county, Ill., where he was born on August 28, 1853, the second of the three children, William, Walter H. and Helen, of Rev. John and Sarah Peck, who were born in Connecticut and New York state, the father being a clergyman of the Presbyterian church, who was called to those ac- tivities that have no weariness in September, 1868. his widow surviving him until 1879. when she joined him in the Silent Land. Their son, Walter H. Peck, diligently applied himself to study in the public schools, and at the age of twelve years, was given employment in the general offices of the Erie Railroad, he continuing to devote as much time as possible to his studies. By his readiness to labor. his desire to please and the powers of assimilation of his duties, he gave the best of satisfaction, was frequently promoted, and continued in the railroad service eleven years. In 1881 he came to Montana where, until the spring of the following year, he 111

devoted his attention to herding sheep on the ranch of Peck & Lacy on Belt creek. He thereafter engaged in the sheep business on his own respon- sibility, starting with a band of 600 head. He lo- cated twelve miles north of Fort Maginnis, Fergus county, taking up homestead, desert and timber claims, and his acreage he subsequently augmented until he had 800 acres, while he continued in the business until his sheep increased to 7,000 head. He finally sold his ranch and thereafter for one year engaged in the sheep business in the Bad Lands, running them on the range, but meeting with but little success.

In June, 1899, Mr. Peck, with a partner named Hassett, opened a general merchandise establish- ment at Garneill, but soon Mr. Peck acquired the entire ownership of the enterprise, which he has since conducted most successfully, having a well equipped store and securing a representative pat- ronage. His political support is given to the Re- publican party and fraternally he holds membership in the Modern Woodmen of America. He is true to the varied duties of citizenship and casts his influence for worthy objects and in the support of good government. On September 22. 1885, oc- curred the marriage of Mr. Peck to Miss Zelinda Stuart, who was born in South Carolina. Her par- ents removed to Illinois in the pioneer days in that state, where the father has since devoted his at- tention to agricultural pursuits. He is a Republi- can in politics and both he and his wife are men- bers of the Methodist church. They have seven children : Zelinda, Julia, Margaret, Rebecca, Willa, Grant and Thomas. Mr. and Mrs. Peck have these three children : Helen, Harry and John. Ever zealous in good works and appreciative of the re- ligious privileges afforded, Mr. and Mrs. Peck are consistent in their life work and manifest their faith by retaining membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.

P ATRICK PEOPLES .- Born in County Done- gal, Ireland, on June 1, 1866, and having made his own way in the world without the help of for- tune's favors or adventitious circumstances, Patrick Peoples, a resident of Butte, one of the popular county commissioners of Silver Bow county, is es- sentially a selfmade man. His parents were William and Mary (McGonegal) Peoples, also natives of Ireland where their families had flourished for

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generations. The father came to America in 1872, locating first in Pennsylvania, thence removing in 1878 to Bismarck, Dakota, and in 1881 coming to Montana, settling at Glendive, where he has since been connected with the Northern Pacific Railroad. His wife is also still living. Their son, Patrick, was educated in the schools of his native county until he was eighteen when he accompanied his mother to the United States, she coming over to join her husband at Glendive. Here he worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad from 1884 to 1888, when he was employed in the mines at Granite, Mont., from 1888 to 1893. In the spring of 1893 he came to Butte where he again engaged in mining until December, 1898, when he was elected secretary of the Butte Miners' Union, which position he held until the fall of 1900 when he was elected county commissioner of Silver Bow county as the candidate of the Fusion party. He is a mem- ber of Butte Lodge No. I, A. O. U. W., and was married at Butte on June 1, 1899, to Miss Mary Burns, a native of Austin, Nev. Their family con- sists of two children, William J. and Dorothy. Mr. Peoples has come up from the ranks of the laboring masses, and his success in life is the work of his own capacity, industry and attention to business. For the superior qualifications he has exhibited he is well esteemed by all classes of the people, and his force among his fellowmen is potential and to be found on the side of the public weal.

JOHN M. PEERS .- This prosperous and en- terprising ranchman of the new county of Powell, was born in Cumberland county, Nova Scotia, in 1843. His parents were James D. and Nancy (McDougal) Peers. The father was a na- tive of Nova Scotia, of English descent, the family having originally come from England and located first in New York and next in Nova Scotia. James Peers was a farmer, but combined other enterprises with his vocation and at various times operated lumber, saw and grist mills. He died at his Nova Scotia home in 1895. The paternal grandfather, Daniel Peers, was a native of New York, who, re- moving to Nova Scotia, assumed the contract to build old Fort Cumberland, which enterprise he carried to successful completion. The mother of John M. Peers was born three miles from Glasgow, Scotland. She died in Nova Scotia in 1890. In 1892 John M. Peers left his Nova Scotia home and

came to Montana. There was an air of prosperity in the new country that attracted many settlers and he at once located in his present home in the Cot- tonwood valley, where he has built up a fine prop- erty, consisting of a ranch of 400 acres, and the postoffice for Woodworth is located at his home. The wife of Mr. Peers was Miss Nancy Morrison, a daughter of William McLelland and Letitia (Chute) Morrison, the former of Scotch and the latter of English descent. They were married in Nova Scotia where Mrs. Peers was born, and both of them are deceased. To John M. Peers and wife seven children have been born, William M., the postmaster of Woodworth; James, living in Massachusetts; Elisha, of Butte; Mrs. Mary McKnight, of Ovando; John A., Arthur G. and Jeannette Peers. Fraternally Mr. Peers is a Ma- son. Since coming to Montana himself and family have been prospered in their diligent labors and occupy an enviable place in the regards of a large circle of acquaintances.

C HARLES H. PEARSON, the younger of two wide-awake and enterprising brothers, success- ful sheepgrowers of Teton county, is of English ancestry, and born in Erie county, Pa., on Jannary 30, 1849. His father, Joseph Pearson, born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1818, when five years of age came to the United States with his parents, who settled in Pennsylvania, and here he was edu- cated and learned the carriagemaker's trade, which he followed in Pennsylvania and Illinois until his death in Cherry Valley, Ill., on January 20, 1895. His wife, Mary (Barton) Pearson, was also a na- tive of Lincolnshire, Kent county, England, and died in Cherry Valley, Ill., in 1897.

Charles H. Pearson received a common school education in the various district schools of Illinois, whither he came with his parents in 1852, until he was sixteen years old, and when he was seventeen he crossed the plains from Omaha, Neb., in the employment of a freighting train, arriving in Hel- ena, Mont., in the autumn of 1866. He was then engaged in prospecting and mining for a number of years and during the next nine years he was in the same labor at Gold creek, Deer Lodge county. The winter of 1875-76 Mr. Pearson passed at Yel- lowstone lake, and in the spring went to the Black Hills, of South Dakota, where he prospected and mined until 1880. In the spring of 1880 he went to

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Tombstone, Ariz., for the summer. In the fall of that year he came to the Yellowstone valley and engaged in freighting between Emigrant gulch, Butte and Bozeman. From July, 1881, until the spring of 1882 he was employed in hauling wood in Butte, and during the summer of 1882 he was engaged in freighting for Nelson Bennett, a con- tractor for the Northern Pacific.

About that time, in company with his elder brother, Herbert L. Pearson, he located a ranch in Teton county, on Big Blackfoot river, where they engaged in stockgrowing until the fall of 1889, when they came to the Dry fork of the Marias river, secured desert claims and purchased adjoining lands until they had a valuable ranch of 1,280 acres. Here they have since gone extensively into sheep and horseraising, carrying an average improvements on this ranch are many and various, especially adapted to an economical prosecution of their enterprise. Both of the brothers have a military record, they both served in the Union army during the Civil war, enlisting at Cherry Val- ley in the One Hundred and Forty-seventh Illinois Infantry in February, 1865, and serving in the Army of the Cumberland, under Gen. Stedman. They were honorably mustered out in 1866. Po- litically the brothers are in line with the principles of the Republican party. Charles H. Pearson is a member of Cherry Valley Lodge No. 173, A. F. & A. M., at Cherry Valley, Ill., and a comrade in Nevis Post No. I, G. A. R., Rockford, Ill. Her- bert L. Pearson, the elder brother, was born at Mayville, Chautauqua county, N. Y., in 1847, com- ing to the northwest in 1877. The brothers have been successful partners in business since 1881.

G EORGE W. PELZER, D. D. S., one of the ablest and most eminent members of the den- tal profession in Montana, is a resident of Great Falls, and was born in Joliet, Ill., on May 31, 1866. His parents were Charles J. and Frederika (Berth- ka) Pelzer. The father was a native of France; the mother of Russia. They came to the United States in the early 'fifties, and the father subse- quently pursued the manufacture of woolen goods. He died in Joliet when George W. was of tender years, and before his death he had encountered financial reverses and his young son was left with small means and a mother and two sisters to sup-

port. The early education of the young man was acquired in the public schools of Joliet, and upon quitting he removed to Grand Rapids, Mich., and found employment in a drug store, eventually be- coming a registered pharmacist. In 1885 Mr. Pelzer began the study of dentistry under the able instruction of Dr. L. F. Owen, and from the lat- ter's office he was admitted to practice in 1890, suc- cessfully passing the Michigan state examination in dentistry, one of the most severe in the United States, while later he attended the Northwestern University and the Haskell Post-graduate School, of Chicago. Mr. Pelzer first began dental practice in Michigan, where he remained until 1893, when he came to Great Falls, Mont., and here he has since resided in the enjoyment of a lucrative and successful practice. Dr. Pelzer is largely inter- ested in a number of mines in the vicinity of Nei- hart, where he passed the first eight months of his residence in Montana. Dr. Pelzer is a member of the Montana State Dental Board, and served ef- ficiently as its secretary in 1898, and in 1899 he was elected its president, and throughout the state he is well known and highly respected. In 1894, at Grand Rapids, Mich., Dr. Pelzer was united in mar- riage to Miss Alice C. Seyffeath, a native of Michi- gan and of German parentage.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 147

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