Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 155

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 155

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On May 22, 1888 they were ordered out on a summer expedition, camping at Fort Maginnis dur- ing the summer and then going into winter quar- ters at Fort Shaw. The next spring they were ordered to Fort Ellis, where they remained until June, 1886, Mr. Schneider having in 1885 been granted a six months furlough, in which he visited his old home and other portions of Europe. He was honorably discharged from the service on Feb- ruary 28, 1887, after which he located in Billings as a shoemaker. In 1891 he was elected city mar- shal, and was chosen as his own successor in the following year, his term expiring in 1893. While he was incumbent of this office his business estab- lishment was burned out, leaving him again at the foot of the ladder, but he resumed business at his trade, in which he still continues, being esteemed as an industrious and enterprising business man, while his integrity is above question. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, being past chancellor of his lodge of the Ancient Order of the United Workmen, of which he is master workman at the time of this writing; and of the Royal High- landers. On May 22, 1875, Mr. Schneider was united in marriage to Miss Christina Day, born in Pennsylvania, the daughter of Anthony and Catherine (Weidman) Day, and to them four sons have been born: William P., now a printer in the office of the Billings Gazette; Charles B., in the shop with his father ; and Joseph F. and Benjamin G., who are attending the public schools.

A LBERT SCHULTZ .- The development of the agricultural and stockgrowing industries in Montana within the past decade has been almost marvelous, and through these lines of enterprise many ambitious and sterling young men are rapidly

forging onward to positions of independence and definite prosperity. Among the successful young men of the northern part of the state is Mr. Schultz, whose ranch is located on the Fort Belknap Indian reservation. He is a native of the beautiful Pen- insula state, for he was born at Eagle Harbor, Mich., on December 16, 1864. His father, Conrad Schultz, was born in Germany in 1840 and came to America when a young man, locating at Saginaw, Mich., whence he came to Helena, Mont., as a pioneer of 1867, there continuing in the jewelry business, in which he had been engaged in Michi- gan. He was one of the honored business men of Montana's capital city, and there his death occurred in 1871. His widow, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Spitzley, eventually became the wife of George Ringwald, of whom individual mention is made on other pages of this work. In the pioneer schools of Helena Albert Schultz secured his edu- cational training, and he resided in Helena until the fall of 1879, when he went to Fort Benton and thereafter was occupied in herding cattle in various sections of the state until 1885, when he located on a squatter's claim near Cleveland, in the Bear Paw mountains, where he was engaged in stockraising for nearly ten years. In 1895 Mr. Schultz located on his present ranch, at the mouth of People's creek, on the Fort Belknap Indian reservation, where he is successfully engaged in general farming and cattleraising. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party. On his former ranch in the Bear Paw mountain district, in 1890, Mr. Schultz was united in marriage to Miss Julia Ereaux, who was born on September 2, 1872, the daughter of Legre Ereaux, a well known pioneer of the state, to whom reference is made elsewhere in this volume.

0 SCAR A. SEELY .- Born at Rochester, N. Y., September 29, 1841, and losing his mother within the same year, Oscar A. Seely entered early in his busy life upon a career of toil and self-denial, and by his own industry, perseverance and indomit- able energy, has compelled fortune to smile upon him and yield up a goodly portion of her golden store for his personal possession and use. His father, David R. Seely, was a native of Ohio, born at the opening of the nineteenth century. He is a blacksmith and has worked at this trade in New York, Illinois, Iowa and other states. And now, after a long course of diligent and productive labor,

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he is living a retired life at Fayette City, Iowa, where he has the cordial regard of all. His wife, Mary Ann (Van Alstyne) Seely, was a native of Pennsylvania and died at Rochester, N. Y., in 1841.

Mr. Seely attended the public schools at Roch- ester until he was twelve years old. He then re- moved to Whiteside county, Ill., and worked on a farm until 1875, excepting three years which he served in the army. In the fall of 1876 he went to the Black Hills and prospected until 1880. Dur- ing the winter of 1880 he worked for Broadwater, Hubbell & Co., and from that time till 1882 he was prospecting at Maiden, Mont. In 1882 he was in the employ of the Broadwater firm at Fort As- sinniboine, and after a year in their service, went back to prospecting at Maiden, remaining there till 1888. In 1889 he took up a 240-acre ranch in the Bull Hook basin, twelve miles from Havre, where he has since been engaged in farming and stock- raising. In this venture he has prospered abund- antly, commanding a good market for his products, and securing the good opinion of his friends.

In politics Mr. Seely is an active and ardent Re- publican. He is a veteran of the Civil war, enlist- ing, in 1862, as a member of the Seventy-fifth Illi- nois Infantry, and having served for three years. He served in the Army of the Cumberland and was in all the engagements of that department. He was seriously wounded, February 22, 1863, at the battle of Buzzard's Roost in Georgia, but rejoined his regiment as soon as he was able. He was mar- ried in Whiteside county, Ill., in 1867.

G USTAVE C. H. L. SIEGLING, of Armington, Cascade county, is one who did his first work in Montana for the present United States Senator Paris Gibson, who has done so much in the upbuild- ing of Great Falls. He, too, can be justly termed one of the pioneers of that wide-awake city, and since then he has achieved financial success in the cattle industry. He was born in Germany on January 25, 1840, a son of Christopher and Christina Siegling, both natives of that country. His father was a timber merchant who came to the United States with his family in 1868, located in Johnson county, Iowa, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. The mother died in 1894, and her husband in 1896. They were Lutherans and, politically, he was a Republican. They are survived by three children, Gustave, Carolina and Albertine. Gustave

attended the public schools until he was fourteen and made the most of the slender opportunities they afforded. During the fourteen subsequent years he was a teamster. In 1866 he came to the United States, and, stopping in Johnson county, Iowa, en- gaged in farm work for $20 a month. This em- ployment he continued industriously for four years, then removed to Dubuque, where for five years he drove an ice wagon, receiving $50 a month. From Dubuque he went to Minneapolis, Minn., in 1873, and for eight years was employed in flour mills. In 1881 he came up the Missouri river to Fort Benton, Mont., and was employed by Paris Gibson, working for $40 per month and board.

Mr. Siegling had long entertained a desire to work for himself instead of laboring for other peo- ple, so, in 1882, he secured a homestead claim of 160 acres lying eight miles south of Armington, and here made his home. Later he added to this a desert claim and began ranching with no capital, but, by good management and judicious invest- ments, he has succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectations. He is interested in successful cattle- raising, farming and gardening. His ranch now embraces 900 acres of land, 200 of which he culti- vates. Mr. Seigling was married to Miss Chris- tina Mollstadt on November 21, 1880. She was a native of Germany and died on June 7, 1890, a devout member of the Lutheran church. Their children are Dora and Ernst. The second mar- riage of Mr. Siegling occurred on September 17, 1890, when he was married to Miss Annie Am- brosen of Germany, a daughter of George and Helen Ambrosen, both natives of that country. The father was a farmer and they were both members of the Lutheran church. The mother died on Feb- ruary 10, 1885, leaving five children : Helen, Mary, Augusta, Fred and Annie. Mr. and Mrs. Siegling have five children : Fred, Robert, Herbert, Harry and Clara. Mr. Siegling is an active Republican and has served nine years as school trustee, and was a delegate to the county and state conventions of his party in 1900. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow and a United Workman.

G USTAVUS V. SHERMAN .- One of the early arrivals in the great northwest, and following the seductive smiles of fortune in various places within the favored region, Gustavus V. Sherman has witnessed many phases of its changing life and

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has been identified in a leading way with its growth and development. He was born at Columbus, Ohio, December 1, 1835, a son of William W. and Lucy Sherman, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Ohio. They were the parents of four chil- dren, of whom our subject was the first born. He received his early education at the public schools of his native city, and finished at the Girard (Pa.) high school and academy. In 1857 he removed to the west, making the trip by the isthmus route, locating near Stewart, Wash., on the Puylup river, where he spent three years at farming in connection with his father, the latter having removed to Cali- fornia in 1849. He then went to the Orofino mines in Idaho, and worked a year, after which he spent about ten months in the Florence mining district of that territory. From there he returned to Stew- art, remained a year and then came to Montana, locating at Virginia City for a year and working at carpentering. He next settled on White Horse creek, British Columbia, where he worked with a pack train for about three years, after which he returned to Montana. Subsequently he became in- terested in a livery business in Beartown, in what was then a part of Deer Lodge county. Two years later he sold out his interest and removed to Phil- ipsburg, where he began operations in the same business which he conducted with success for a year and a half, and then worked as a millwright in quartz mills for some months. In 1881 he formed a partnership with William T. Allison in the fur- niture and undertaking business, with which he has been connected continuously ever since, and at which he has achieved a gratifying success. In politics Mr. Sherman is a consistent Democrat, but is not a seeker after the rewards of active party ser- vice for himself, although deeply interested in the welfare of his party and the success of its candi- dates. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons and the Knights of Pythias, in the former being a member of the grand lodge, and in the latter a past vice-chancellor. Among his friends and neigh- bors Mr. Sherman is looked upon as a progressive and enterprising man, a good friend, a useful and representative citizen.

JOSIAH SHULL is the third of eight children, J' a product of the districts around Auburn, Ind., and he was born January 20, 1855, receiv- ing his education largely in the public schools and

making deliberate choice of Philipsburg, Mont., as his permanent home and the place for a career upon which he entered with but little capital ex- cept what was to be found in his good health, high hopes, daring spirit and resolute will. He is dis- tinctively one of the progressive men of Montana, whose contributions to the growth and development of the state are well worthy of emulation. His parents were Henry A. and Rebecca (Bear) Shull, natives of Ohio, but spending nearly all of their mature lives in Indiana. After a preliminary prep- aration in the public schools of Auburn he at- tended the State Normal School at Valparaiso, Ind., and in 1879 entered the preparatory department of the University at Ann Arbor, Mich., where he spent one year. In the spring of 1882 he came to Mon- tana and taught school for a year at Beartown; served as private tutor in Martin Kramer's family ; and again taught at New Chicago. Later he was manager of a branch store at Drummond, Mont., for J. B. Featherman, and was postmaster at the same time. In June, 1885, he took a partnership interest in the store at Philipsburg, which he con- tinned to manage until 1889, when he sold his in- terest and resumed teaching for a year. Previously he had been elected justice of the peace, but re- signed to accept the school to which he had been appointed. On relinquishing the profession of teacher he engaged in the insurance and real estate business until 1893. At this time the county of Granite was organized, and Mr. Shull was ap- pointed clerk of the court until the next general election, in 1894, when he was elected to office for a full term, which expired in 1897. During his tenure of office he studied law through a corres- pondence course and was admitted to practice by the supreme court of the state in June, 1897. From that time on he has been in active and diligent prac- tice at Philipsburg. In 1898 he was elected county attorney on the Fusion ticket, there being no Re- publican ticket in the field that year ; but Mr. Shull has always been a Republican, and is at this writ- ing secretary of the county central committee of that party. He is a zealous member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and has represented his lodge in the grand lodge of the order for sev- eral years, having passed through the chairs of the lodge. He is now holding the office of financier, and has been receiver since 1893. He also belongs to the Independent Order of Foresters and the Degree of Honor. In religious connection he is identified with the Christian church. Mr. Shull was married

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April 5, 1885, to Miss Mary E. Conn, daughter of John and Patience Conn, the marriage being solemnized at Deer Lodge. Mrs. Shull's father died when she was a small child; her mother is living on a ranch in Granite county. Mr. and Mrs. Shull have six children, five daughters and one son : Zona May, Edith A., Mary Patience, Florence J., Helen E. and Josiah Theodore. Mr. Shull has recently purchased an attractive home in Missoula for the purpose of educating his children.

S EVER SIMONSON .- This progressive ranch- man, sheepgrower and business man, who has had a great variety of experience in the numerous phases of frontier life, was born in Dane county, Wis., on February 28, 1847. His parents were Ole and Leva (Sebertson) Simonson, natives of Nor- way, where their families had lived for generations. They came to the United States in 1845 and settled in Dane county, Wis., being pioneers in that region. They remained there until 1852, the father being profitably engaged in blacksmithing and farming. In 1852 they removed to Minnesota and located in what is now Mower county, but was then a remote frontier, their nearest market being Decorah, Iowa, more than sixty miles distant. They made this place their home, and there in 1865 the father was killed by a horse. He was a highly respected citi- zen and his accidental death was much regretted. Sever Simonson passed his school days in Minne- sota, remaining on the homestead until 1864, when, on July 16, he enlisted in the Eleventh Minnesota Infantry under Col. Gilfillan. He was mustered in at Fort Snelling, and was sent to Nashville, Tenn., from whence his regiment went as a train guard to Chattanooga. From there they were transferred to Gallatin, Tenn., where they acted as guards of the railroad and also watched the guerrillas, cap- turing a number. They were then ordered to Nash- ville, but before they started received word of the surrender of the Confederates, and therefore re- mained at Gallatin until June, 1865, when they returned to St. Paul, where Mr. Simonson was honorably discharged, after which he returned to the homestead and engaged in the real estate busi- ness until 1868. In that year he came west and was employed by the railroads, the Northern Pa- cific and later the Michigan Central. In 1872 lie engaged in iron mining, shipping the first iron ore from the Michigamme mine. After passing a year

there in profitable mining a fire destroyed his build- ings and timber, and he then returned to Minnesota for a year. In 1874 he removed to Bismarck, in- tending to go to the Black Hills, but the government stopped his party and he went to Winnipeg and en- gaged in freighting. His cattle died and he re- turned to Bismarck.

In February, 1876, he went to the Black Hills, in the spring of that year joined Gen. Custer's ex- pedition with a freighting outfit, and was relieved of this service at Fort Buford February 1, 1877, and then took his outfit up to the Big Horn where the doctor of the party was killed by the Indians, after which they returned to the Rosebud, and later joined Gen. Crooks for a short time and then at Fort Keogh he engaged in freighting between the fort and the region in which Glendive now is. Mr. Simonson experienced considerable loss from the depredations and thefts by the Indians, but con- tinued the business with profit until the spring of 1877, when he began building the stage road from Bismarck to Miles City and also the station houses along the route. In 1878 he went into business in Bismarck, and also engaged in freighting between that place and Miles City. From 1880 to 1892 he was engaged in various capacities in different places, railroading in South Dakota, keeping hotel in Pierre and Butte, mining in Madison county, Mont., running a sawmill at Big Timber, hand- ling sheep, mining at Castle, etc. In 1892 he lo- cated his present property at Absarokee, a portion of which is leased by Ross & Runner, who have a store and hotel on it. Mr. Simonson was mar- ried in January, 1868, to Miss Frances Jennie Clark, a native of New York. Their children are Leonora, now Mrs. J. V. Bogert, of Missoula, and Lee, who married Miss Myrtle Suydam, and is raising sheep at Stillwater, Mont. Mr. Simonson has been postmaster at Absarokee since 1893, and for a time conducted a store. He is now engaged in the sheep business. His residence is a fine mod- ern building, and the other improvements on his ranch are in keeping with it. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias, is a man of influence in local affairs, and is a good representative of the better class of Montana citizens.

A LMON SHOREY .- The life story of this ener- getic, enterprising and successful man is that of many Americans all over the land, similar in outline but differing essentially in individual char-

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acteristics. It is an oft told tale, but is none the less interesting in its representation when the indi- viduality of the subject is properly denoted. Mr. Shorey was born at Albion, Kennebec county, Me., October 8, 1830. His parents were Phineas and Betsey (Smiley) Shorey, the former a native of Maine, born in 1790, the latter also born in Maine in 1793, of Irish ancestry. The ancestors of the father were pioneer English settlers on the New England coast, and he was a farmer and mill- wright. He died at Albion, Maine, in 1869. His widow passed away at the same place in 1877, sur- viving her husband but eight years.

Mr. Shorey attended the common schools of his native town until he was eighteen years old, assist- ing between times on the farm. He was then ap- prenticed to a shoemaker at Unity, Me., and passed two years learning the trade. From 1852 to 1863 he worked on a farm near Detroit, Me., then re- turned to Albion and worked at his trade until 1883, when he came to Montana, settling in Pease's Bot- tom, in the Yellowstone valley; he was employed on the ranch of John C. Guy for four years. In 1887 he bought a ranch at the south end of the Bottom, where he engaged in farming until June, 1901. Since that time he has been connected with the Cottage Inn at Junction City, owned by Mrs. Mary Griffin, an old Montana pioneer. In his var- ious business undertakings Mr. Shorey has been successful, and among his fellow men he is well esteemed. He was married in 1853, at Detroit, Me., to Miss Elizabeth Jordan, who was born at Bangor, Me., in 1829. She died at Albion, in that state, in 1878. They were the parents of three children : Edna, died at Albion in 1872, aged eighteen years ; Thomas A., died at the Pease Bottom farm in 1890; Betsey M., now wife of E. F. Shaw, of China, Me.

JAMES M. SITTON .- A native of Lawrence county, Ind., where he was born June 25. 1835, and a descendant on both sides of North Carolina families who had lived in that state for generations, James M. Sitton, of Gallatin county, Mont., is far from the homes of his ancestors, yet does not fail to exemplify in his life the lessons of upright man- hood their teaching and example inculcated. His father, Joseph Sitton, with his mother, Rebecca (Rickman) Sitton, and the other members of their immediate family then living, removed to Indiana early in their domestic life and, ten years later,

settled in Missouri, living the first three years in Clay county and the rest of their lives in Nodaway, where they were engaged in farming.

J. M. Sitton remained with the family until 1857 and then married Miss Susan Cox, a daughter of Andrew Cox, an old settler of Missouri, and began operations in farming and raising livestock. Seven years later his first great sorrow overtook him in the loss of his faithful wife who died in 1864, leav- ing four children, Rebecca, Mary Elizabeth, Joseph Andrew and William, as a comfort to him in his bereavement. He continued farming, and in No- vember, 1865, married Mrs. Rachel Miller, a widow with four children, herself a native of Mis- souri, but a daughter of Solomon and "Grand- mother" Yates, emigrants from Virginia when Mis- souri was a part of the remote west. Her mother, "Grandmother Yates," was a prominent character in the early history of both Missouri and Montana. Her record as told by herself is briefly :

"I was married in Lee county, Va., and started in at pioneering as soon as the ceremony was con- cluded, for I left the church on horseback and rode all the way through to the far west, arriving in Jackson county, Mo., where we remained for two years, and then moved into the Platte purchase, settling near Platte City, where we lived several years. From there we moved to Nodaway and An- drews counties, where we lived fifteen years, and from Andrews county moved to Gentry. where I buried my husband and struggled through the Civil war. Constant discouragement made me leave the land I had found a wilderness and for thirty years had seen blossom as the rose, and again seek fron- tier life. On May 5, 1864, with my unmarried child. I started for Virginia City, Mont., up the South Platte, through old Forts Kearney, Laramie, Hal- leck and the Bitter Creek valley, on the California overland route. Our train being large the Indians gave us no trouble. I made and sold butter all the way across the plains. I also had fresh eggs on the trip, as I had brought a number of chickens along. * *

* I have crossed the plains thirteen times, have raised eleven children, have fifty grand- children and over forty great-grandchildren."

By his second marriage Mr. Sitton has five daughters and two sons: Susan, now Mrs. Al. Righte; Addie, now Mrs. Wm. Freeman : Millie, now Mrs. James Wiler : Dora and Lottie, still single, and Benjamin and John. On May 1, 1870, he started with his family for Montana, coming over- land to Omaha, then by rail to Ogden, Utah, and

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then by teams to Radersburg, in Jefferson county, where they arrived June 17, and remained until 1895, Mr. Sitton engaging in teaming and other work. In 1893 he homesteaded on his present lo- cation, and has since been engaged in farming, making a specialty of fall wheat. He has brought the land to a good state of productiveness, and has beautified the grounds around his comfortable and commodious house with abundant shade trees and ornamental shrubbery. He has also started a fine orchard which will be soon in bearing condition. His home is one of the attractive and comfortable ones of the neighborhood.

E UGENE SMITH .- Born at Milton, Wis., April I, 1846, and dying at Philipsburg, Mont., Feb- ruary 22, 1890, the late Eugene Smith, in his brief career, showed great promise and fine quality of achievement rather than completed work, although what he actually accomplished is worthy of all praise and gives him rank among the useful and productive forces of this great commonwealth. Mr. Smith's parents were Daniel F. and Lucy Smith, natives of New York, who removed to Wisconsin in their early married life and there reared their fam- ily. Their son, Eugene, the immediate subject of present consideration, was sent to the public schools until he reached the age of twelve, and then pursued an exhaustive course of training at a business col- lege in St. Louis, Mo., where he was graduated when nineteen years old. From the business col- lege he went into a St. Louis bank as a bookkeeper, and later, at Stillwater, Minn., was employed in various capacities by a lumber company at St. Croix. In 1880 he engaged in the lumber business on his own account at Clam Falls and here he carried on the manufacture of shingles, and previously he filled a position on the editorial staff of the Lumberman at St. Paul, and was a contributor to the Scientific American and other journals for a number of years. Soon afterward he accepted an engagement with the San Francisco Consolidated Mining Company, Montana, and was superinten- dent for that organization until his death.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 155

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