Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 156

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 156

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In politics Mr. Smith was a stanch Republican and always took an active interest in the affairs of his party, being considered wise in counsel as well as courageous in action. No public interest es- caped his notice, and none of merit sought in vain his earnest and helpful support. He was married

at his native town in 1872 to Miss Adelphia Tyler, a member of the distinguished old Virginia family of that name, whose branches are found among the leading people in many places in the west. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were the parents of three chil- dren, namely : Daniel D., born December 28, 1873; Eugene Tyler, born March 6, 1875, and Ruth Bar- bara, born February 5, 1877. Their mother died June 9, 1886, and on August 29, 1888, Mr. Smith again married, on this occasion with Miss Catherine Turner, of St. Louis, who came to Montana in 1885 and engaged in school teaching, first at Deer Lodge and later at Philipsburg.

In his editorial work Mr. Smith exhibited talents of a high order, and commanded the respect of his brethren in that line everywhere. He was well educated, had a delicate and graceful fancy coupled with strong logical powers, and an extensive and flexible vocabulary. His contributions to the maga- zine literature of the country were numerous and superior. And, withal, he was the soul of honor, as modest as he was accomplished and entertaining.

B ERT SHOREY, of Billings, progressive and enterprising ranchman and stockgrower, pub- lic-spirited citizen and congenial neighbor and com- panion, has carved out of adverse and obdurate con- ditions the career of successful business achieve- ments and public and social popularity for which he is noted. He is a native of Belfast, Me., where he was born September 7, 1862, the son of Welling- ton and Louisa (Durham) Shorey, both natives of Albion, Me., the former born in 1825, and the latter in 1828. The father, who was a well-to-do farmer, died in 1899 at Belfast, where the mother resides.

Mr. Shorey was educated at the public schools of his native town, and remained at home until he was eighteen years of age. In 1882 he came to Montana; and after passing three months at White Sulphur Springs he went to the Judith basin in Fergus county, where he engaged in freighting and working on the Charles Clary ranch for a year and a half. In 1884 he went to the Musselshell country and worked on the stock ranch of Mr. Severence for two years. In 1886 he located perma- nently in Lake basin, fifty miles northwest of Bill- ings, where he has one of the finest stock ranches in the state, consisting of 24,320 acres, all fenced and improved, devoted to raising sheep and cattle, hav- ing an average of 29,000 sheep and 400 cattle. This

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basin is well irrigated by a number of springs within itself and by snow water from the mountains. Mr. Shorey started his successful career in the west without capital except his strong heart, hopeful nature, indomitable will and unyielding industry. He purchased with money earned by hard labor the thirty-eight sections of land that compose his ranch, and has steadily forged ahead to his present promi- nent position in the ranching and stockraising in- dustries of the state. In 1901 he completed a hand- some residence in Billings at a cost of $10,000. In politics he is a Republican, but has never taken an active share in party work, or sought office of any kind. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias, holding membership in Rath- bone Lodge, at Billings. He was married at Bill- ings August 11, 1890, to Miss Helen Simmons, who was born at Belfast, Me., in 1869. They have one child, Adelaide, aged seven years.

F M. SMITH .- Of German ancestry and exhib- iting in his career the salient points of the Ger- man character, F. M. Smith, of Absarokee, Mont., has made valuable contributions to the civilization and development of the northwest. He was born in Kent county, Mich., on October 7, 1842, the son of James M. and Lovinda (Burton) Smith, the former a native of New York and the latter of Ver- mont. His grandfather, G. F. Smith, was a Ger- man who came to America when a young man, set- tling first in New York and later becoming a pioneer of Michigan. The father of F. M. Smith re- mained in Michigan until 1856 when he started for Colorado, but changed his mind and located at St. Peter's, Minn., where he remained until 1860, when he joined the stampede to Pike's Peak. He and his family remained in that neighborhood until 1876, he being engaged in farming and raising stock and in mining. From Colorado he removed to Wash- ington, and from there to Montana, where he still resides at the age of eighty-six, making his home with his son, F. M. Smith. His family consists of four sons and two daughters. F. M. Smith passed his early days in Michigan, remaining with the family until January, 1869, when he was mar- ried to Miss Agnes Ward, of Wisconsin. Their children are J. E., married to Miss Ida Roach and located at Minneapolis; L. H., married to Miss Mabel Parker, and ranching on property adjoin- ing his father's; Frances, now Mrs. Walter Parker,

a brother of the wife of L. H., they being children of A. E. Parker, of Clark's Fork; Grant M. and Sherman. Mr. Smith remained in Colorado until 1874 engaged in mining and raising stock. He then removed to Oregon, where he bought a farm, but the weather was so wet that he became rheu- matic and sold his place. He then removed to Washington and bought a farm adjoining the Idaho line, and also engaged in the livery business and handling machinery. In addition he had a gristmill, but, after losing it and another one which re- placed it by fire, he built a finer one and carried on an extensive business. This mill is still standing at Palouse.

In 1893 Mr. Smith sold his property in Wash- ington and came to Montana in 1894, locating at the mouth of Midnight canyon on the Stillwater, where he is engaged in raising cattle. He has a number of fine, thoroughbred stock, consisting mostly of Polled Angus and shorthorns. Mr. Smith has a fine place, all well irrigated and highly improved. He belongs to the Woodmen of the World. But all of Mr. Smith's life has not been passed in the work of peaceful production. He has rendered good military service and seen some of the hor- rors of war. In 1864 he enlisted in Company D, Third Colorado Infantry, and, after being mustered in at Denver, his regiment went down the Platte to intercept the Indians and Southern jayhawkers who were giving trouble. After a few months they returned and were sent to Sand creek, where they had a serious battle with the Cheyennes, Arapahoes and Sioux, the regiment losing about fifty of its 400 troops and killing 750 of the 800 Indians. Mr. Smith counted 147 scalps of white men in one Indian lodge, some of them not yet dry. On the next day he and his brother were with another party looking up their horses, when they were nearly surrounded and had a running fight, killing sev- eral Indians. On another occasion their company of thirty men was sent out after a band of Big Wolf's men and killed them all, about eighteen in number, Big Wolf being among the slain. Mr. Smith received an honorable discharge at Denver.

EDWIN B. SIMPSON, one of the well known stockmen and ranchers of Cascade county, re- siding near Geyser, has been very prosperous in the raising of horses, to which industry he has of late years devoted his attention. He was born in St.

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Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, on January 3, 1844, the son of Joel and Elizabeth Simpson, the father a native of the United States and the mother of New Brunswick. During his earlier life the father was a sailor but later he profitably engaged in lumbering. Until the age of sixteen Edwin B. Simpson divided his time between attendance on

the public schools and in working in his father's sawmills and in the woods. He then went to driving logs in the river, the wages varying between fifty cents and $2.00 a day. He remained in the lum- ber business in New Brunswick until 1869, when he came to Montana, and went to work in the mines at Butte for $7.00 per night.

This arduous employment he continued for eight years and in 1880 exchanged the pick and shovel for the saddle and lariat and began ranch life in which "cattle punching" was the principal work in hand. In this rough school he acquired valuable experience and preparation for his later success. His salary was $600 per year, with all equipments furnished. For three years he diligently gave hon- est service and then decided to start out for him- self in the same business. Mr. Simpson selected his ranch twenty-four miles from Belt, on Davis creek in Cascade county, and began raising cattle and horses, principally the latter. To his homestead of 160 acres he has added timber and desert claims, and now has a fine range of 480 acres and all conveniences for his business. Fraternaly he is a Mason, and politically a Republican.

C 'HARLES B. SMITH, of Helmville, Powell county, Mont., is of old New England Colonial stock, and has contributed his full share in doing for the west what his distinguished ancestors did for the rough Atlantic coast. His life work has been varied in its numerous enterprises, but the results have been satisfactory and he can look back upon the dangers and trials of the past with no regrets for present or future. He was born in Rhode Island November 13, 1843, and is the son of Hon. Martin and Mary E. (Smith) Smith. They sustained no relation, however, previous to mar- riage, although their names were identical.

Hon. Martin Smith, father, was born in 1800 in Rhode Island in the same house in which our subject first saw the light. He was a farmer by occupation, a prominent local official in his native town and county, a member of the Rhode Island legislature, a Whig and afterward a stanch Re-

publican. He died in 1870. The paternal grand- father of our subject was Israel Smith, distin- guished by Colonial fame. The mother and wife of Hon. Martin Smith was a native of Rhode Island, where she died in January, 1858. She was a native of Rhode Island, where she died in Janu- ary, 1858. She was a daughter of Ziba Smitlı, and she was a lineal descendant of the eminent and historical Roger Williams. The present relatives of the subject of this article, in Rhode Island, are very wealthy people, manufacturers, merchants, etc. His niece, Mary E. Smith, was elected and served a term as county superintendent of schools of Gran- ite county, Mont. Edward Smith, a brother, made the Californian trip around Cape Horn, in 1849, in a sailing vessel. He continued to reside in the Golden state until 1865, when he came to Montana and engaged successfully in merchandising in Black- foot City. He was in those early days a noted packer and did much of the freighting in and around the territory. He died in 1889.

In 1862 the subject of this article enlisted in Company I, Twelfth Rhode Island Infantry Volun- teers, under Captain George A. Spink. The regi- men was commanded by Col. George H. Browne. The service was confined to the army of the Po- tomac, mostly in Virginia and Kentucky. In 1865 Mr. Smith started west and drove cattle across the plains from Atchison, Kan., to Central City, Colo. Here, for the period of one year he engaged in min- ing, and in 1866 he went on to Salt Lake, where he remained two months working in the lumber woods. He then came on to Montana, stopping at Vir- ginia City for only a short period, and pushing on to Blackfoot City, where he joined his brother. Edward, who was engaged in business at that point. Here he divided his time between working in the store and mining in various placer claims. He has continued to reside in the Blackfoot valley ever since 1871. He is now the possessor of 920 acres of most excellent land, lying three miles north of Helmville. At the rear of his commodious resi- dence is a large spring from which flows an inex- haustible volume of pure mountain water which never freezes. Owing to this advantageous fact he is enabled to carry on a dairy business without the expensive use of ice, the water from the spring being conducted directly beneath the dairy room.

Mr. Smith's wife was the widow of the brother, Edward, with whom her present husband was in partnership at one time. Her maiden name was Evaline Smoot, a native of Bloomington, Macon

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county, Mo. She is the daughter of Humphrey and Levina (Fletcher) Smoot. Her father was born in Kentucky and died in California. He crossed the plains in 1864. In 1865 he was followed by his family, they coming up the Missouri river by steamboat. The mother of Mrs. Smith was born in Kentucky and is still living in Los Angeles, Cal., having removed from Montana several years ago. Her husband died there in 1882. The wife of our subject was the first white woman to locate and reside permanently in the Blackfoot valley.

Mr. Smith is an unusually intelligent and cul- tured gentleman. He has made a success of life and that, too, against difficulties.

C HARLES S. SMITH .- The subject of this brief sketch has had to fight the battle of life on his own responsibility from the tender age of nine years, being denied those early advantages ac- corded to the average boy, and compelled to sur- mount obstacles which would have daunted many older and more experienced individuals. He is now one of the prosperous stockgrowers on the Fort Peck reservation, Valley county, and for the suc- cess he has attained by indefatigable industry he is deserving of all praise : while he has not failed to gain the confidence of those with whom he has been thrown in contact.

Mr. Smith was born at Holden, Worcester county, Mass., in the year 1857; and as his parents died when he was a mere child he knows but little concerning them, and even less of his remote gene- alogy. He attended school until he attained the age of nine years, when he was thrown upon his own resources, having no influential friends when thus starting out to make his own way in the world. At the age mentioned he began his individual en- deavors, and, about the year 1876, made his way to Sauk Center, Stearns county, Minn., he was en- ployed on a farm in that vicinity for one year. In 1877 he came to the northwest, locating at Fort Bu- ford, N. D., just east of the line of Valley county, Mont., and was employed in that vicinity chopping wood along the Missouri river and supplying fuel for the various steamboats until the advent of the railroads brought about the practical cessation of navigation on the upper river, about the year 1885. In the meantime he spent the winter seasons on hunting expeditions in the country lying between the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, and was en-

able to realize considerable profits from his efforts, being at all times ready to undertake any honest work which came to his hand. In 1886 Mr. Smith took up a squatter's claim in Valley county, Mont., located about six miles from the present thriving town of Culbertson, where he devoted his atten- tion to farming and stockraising until 1898. In the spring of 1900 he located his present ranch, on the Fort Peck reservation, in the famous Sauer- kraut coulee, where he has a tract of arable and eligibly located land, and is now engaged in raising cattle and horses, his energy and capable manage- ment winning him definite success in his enterprise. In politics he exercises his franchise in support of the principles and policies of the Republican party. In the year 1886 Mr. Smith was united in marriage to a woman of the Assinniboine Indian tribe, and they are the parents of five children : John, Nancy, Charles, Frank, the youngest an infant.

B RITT F. SMITH .- Nearly every state in the Union has contributed to the personnel of Mon- tana's social make-up, and the acquisition from Ar- kansas in the person of our subject, the young business men of the town of Culbertson, Valley county, may well congratulate themselves for the valuable service he has rendered as a teacher.

Mr. Smith was born in Benton county, Ark., May 4, 1876. His father, William Smith, was born in Washington county, Ark., in 1843, a thorough rep- resentative of one of the pioneer families of Ar- kansas. He still maintains his home in the old state, engaged in agricultural pursuits. His wife, whose maiden name was Jane Morrison, was born in Tennessee. Britt F. Smith received his pre- liminary education in the public schools of his na- tive county, completed a course in the high school at Bentonville, graduating with the class of 1897. He matriculated in the Mason Valley College, at Mason Valley, Ark., where he was a student for three years, and in 1896 passed examination for a second-grade certificate, and taught in the Martin school, in Benton county, for one term. The fol- lowing year he secured full recognition, being granted a first-grade certificate, and taught his home school in Douglas, Benton county, for six months, and in 1898 was teacher in the Hazel Valley school.

In March, 1899, Mr. Smith arrived in Valley county, Mont., and taught one term in the Spring . dale school, making his home at the Dod Williams

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ranch, where he was employed during the summer months. In the spring of 1901, in partnership with Bovell Grimsley, he engaged in the cattle business, near Culbertson, the venture proving successful, being carefully managed. In the spring of the same year Mr. Smith took up a homestead claim adjoin- ing the town, which is devoted to the raising of hay. In politics our subject gives allegiance to the Democratic party, and fraternally is identified with Mason Valley Lodge No. 150, I. O. O. F., at Mason Valley, Ark. He is one of the popular young business men of Valley county.

M RS. CATHERINE SMITH first saw the light of day among the mountains of Wales on May 13, 1846, and her early imagination was filled with the picturesque scenes of that country to such an extent that she was impelled, as soon as she had finished her education in excellent private schools, to go abroad and see what the rest of the world was like. At the age of eighteen she made an ex- tended tour of Europe, and her appetite for travel growing by what it fed on, she made a trip to America. In 1864 she sailed on a return journey in a ship of which her cousin was captain and had his family with him on the trip. On this return trip the ship was captured by the Confederate cruiser Alabama, and all were made prisoners of war and held in captivity for fifty days on the cruiser, until June 23, when they were landed in France and still held as prisoners until after the battle between the Alabama and the Kearsarge two weeks later. Mrs. Smith saw the battle and remembers with in- terest its thrilling scenes. Being released after the battle, she returned to her old home in Wales and remained there two months.

She then made a second trip to the United States, stopping first at Portsmouth, N. H. Here she heard from her brother in Montana, whom she had not seen for twenty years, and came out to see him, traveling to Corinne by rail and thence by stage to Helena, where she arrived in March, 1871. She was so pleased with the country that she de- cided to make it her permanent home. She re- mained with her brother about four years. In 1874 she was married to Mr. W. J. Smith, of Helena. Her husband had mining interests at Park City, near Helena, and they resided there about eight years, then, on account of ill health, Mr. Smith purchased a ranch on Park's gulch, ten miles north

of Helena, to which they removed and on which they lived for the next nineteen years, having charge, for a portion of the time, of the Three Mile stage station near their home. After the death of her husband on October 15, 1888, Mrs. Smith re- turned to the home at Park's gulch, and, expecting to spend there the rest of her life, made extensive improvements. Tiring of life on the ranch, how- ever, she sold her interest in it in 1901 and re- moved to Butte. In that thriving city she is en- gaged in business and winning golden opinions by her accurate and skillful attention to her mercantile affairs and her worth and usefulness to the com- munity. She is a member of Hedges Lodge, Order of the Eastern Star, in Helena, in whose progress she takes an active interest. In church affiliations she is a prominent and useful member of the Metho- dist church. She has three children living : Celia, wife of Andrew Hegg; Albert I. and Laura E.

G EORGE I. SMITH .- The ancestors of this gentleman, in both the paternal and maternal lines, were among the early settlers of New Eng- land, and Mr. Smith is a native of Maine, born in the city of Portland, on September 8, 1861. His father, Aaron B. Smith, was born at Ware, Mass. Coming to Maine in early life he removed to Ohio and later was for many years a manufacturing sta- tioner in Chicago and Minneapolis. In 1883 he came to Montana and has since made his home with his son, George I. Smith. His wife was born near Eastport, Me., and her death occurred in Minne- apolis in November, 1887. George I. Smith re- ceived his educational discipline in the schools of Chicago, being graduated from the high school with the class of 1878. He was thereafter a book- keeper for Field, Leiter & Co. for two years. In 1880 Mr. Smith came to Sun River, Mont., and was for three years in the employ of Clark & Ulm, extensive stockgrowers, and in July, 1883, he pur- chased a claim of 120 acres, located on Willow creek, twelve miles west of Choteau. He has since increased his holdings, by pre-emption and pur- chase of adjoining tracts, until he now has a fine ranch of 4,500 acres. He was extensively engaged in sheepgrowing for about seventeen years, but in 1900 he changed base and is now devoting his at- tention to the raising of cattle, being one of the representative operators in this line in the county. In politics Mr. Smith pays allegiance to the Re- publican party.

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ĮJENRY J. SMITH .- One of the representative young business men of the state who is the prime factor in an industry of importance and some- what unique character, Mr. Henry J. Smith, is the general manager and chief stockholder of the Mon- tana Paris Plaster Company, whose valuable gyp- sum mines are located in Carbon county and whose operations are constantly expanding in scope and importance, making the enterprise one worthy of consideration. He was born on June 22, 1867, at Atchison, Halls county, Mo., the son of William and Martha (Book) Smith, who were born in the same county, as was his paternal grandfather, An- drew Smith, who was a son of William Smith, a native of Pennsylvania, who become one of the pioneers of Missouri, where he passed the residue of his life, engaged in farming and stockraising. He died in 1873, having attained the patriarchal age of ninety-three years. Andrew Smith passed his entire life in Missouri, and his occupation was that of his father, and he was a prominent and influ- ential citizen. He married Barbara Harmon, who was born in Pennsylvania, and he lived to the age of eighty-six years, so that it may be seen that the family is one of distinctive longevity. The father of H. J. Smith likewise devoted his active business life to the basic industries of agriculture and stockgrowing, his death occurring when his son Henry was but three years of age.

Henry J. Smith received his early educational discipline in the public schools of his native county, and supplemented the same by a course of study in the institute at Farmington, Mo. Upon leaving school he proceeded to Memphis, Tenn., and six months later he went southward to Natchez, Miss., eventually returning to Missouri, after which he passed about eight months as a news agent on the Union Pacific Railroad, his run being in Kansas. He then located in Linn county, Mo., where he was identified with agricultural pursuits about four years. He next went to San Francisco, passing about nine months in the Golden state, after which he returned to Missouri, but in a short time he came to Montana. His first location was at Big Timber and later he was located for short inter- vals in Helena and Butte. Thereafter he was iden- tified with ranching near Melville, Sweet Grass county, for eighteen months, and he then, in 1893, visited the World's Columbian Exposition, in Chi- cago, returning to Montana in the spring of 1894. He located in the gypsum-mining camp in Carbon county, and forthwith became identified with the

manufacture of stucco work from gypsum and lime, the mine being opened by George P. Urner.

The strata of gypsum show leads of from two to twelve feet in width and the supply of this valu- able product is practically unlimited, while its qual- ity is of the best. In the process of manufacture the gypsum is crushed, pulverized and then calcined, thus becoming eligible for practical use in the pro- ducing of manifold architectural and ornamental designs. The company has erected a fine plant, having large and commodious buildings with the most improved mechanical equipment, and in the prosecution of manufacture an adequate corps of workmen and artisans is retained. The company is incorporated as the Montana Paris Plaster Com- pany, and Mr. Smith is the principal stockholder and the general manager. A man of distinctive executive and business capacity and sterling integ- rity, Mr. Smith commands unqualified confidence and esteem in the county, and a token of this was rendered in November, 1900, when, without per- sonal overtures or active work in the campaign, he was elected to the responsible officer of county com- missioner, in which he is giving his best efforts to the promotion of the interests of the county. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party. Fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks and the Woodmen of the World. To such young men of enterprise and abil- ity is Montana largely indebted for the gigantic strides which she has been enabled to make in the avenues of legitimate enterprise and normal in- dustry, and Carbon county claims Mr. Smith as one of its representative citizens, and a man who is worthy of the success he has won.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 156

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