Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 161

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 161

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CHARLES B. TABER .- Born in the old whal- ing port of New Bedford, Mass., and by in- heritance at least, belonging to the sea, Charles B. Taber is far from the scenes and expectations of his childhood, both in distance and occupation. His life began January 20, 1860, he being the son of Marcus Taber, a native of Acushnet, a small town near New Bedford, where he was born in 1819, his ancestors having come over in the Mayflower in 1620. He was captain of a

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whaling vessel in the Arctic and in the Antartic seas for thirty-five years, but is now living re- tired at New Bedford. One of his ancestors was Mary Cook, who came to America in the good ship Ann, a year after the arrival of the May- flower, and married into the Taber family. In 1861-2 he made a trip to Virginia City, Mont., and from there went to the mining regions of Colorado and Idaho, but returned to the East in 1865. He is an old and prominent Mason. His wife, the mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Olive C. Ashley, also a native of near New Bedford, was born in 1833, and is still living.

Charles B. Taber, the immediate subject of this review, was educated at the public elementary and high schools of New Bedford, finishing at a com- mercial college in Boston. After leaving school he worked for a year in the city engineer's office of his native city. In the spring of 1881 he came to Montana, where for the first two years he was employed in the engineering department of the Northern Pacific Railroad during the construction of the line west from Glendive to the National Park. In 1882 he took up a ranch in Rosebud valley, twelve miles from Forsyth, where he en- gaged in stockraising for eight years, at the same time following his profession of surveying on rail- road construction on lines in Montana, Washing- ton, British Columbia and Manitoba. From 1884 to 1888 he held the office of county surveyor for Custer county. In 1889 he rented his ranch to a tenant and removed to Forsyth, which has since been his home.

In political allegiance Mr. Taber is a Republi- can, and as such has rendered good service to his party, having been its representative in various offices of trust and responsibility. He was deputy assessor of Custer county in 1894, under assessor George Newman, and in 1901 occupied the same office in Rosebud county under William Chossier. He was also deputy sheriff under Sheriff Savage in 1900, and in the spring of 1901 was appointed surveyor of Rosebud county.

Mr. Taber was married at Glendive in 1889 to Miss Emily C. Chossier, who was born in Illinois in 1864, came with her parents to Miles City in 1885, soon afterward removing with them to a ranch in Rosebud valley. She was educated in the east and is an accomplished and scholarly lady. .She taught the first school ever opened at Lame Deer. This was in 1886-7, and she continued teaching in the schools of Custer county until her marriage. They have one child, Jessie.

TESSE F. TAYLOR is a progressive young stockgrower of Teton county and a scion of one of the sterling pioneers of Montana, and thus it is signally compatible that a review of his life be incorporated in this work. He was born in Helena, Mont., on December 3, 1871, the son of Jesse F. and Eliza J. (VanDeren) Taylor. The former was born at Pine Grove, Ky., and upon attaining his legal majority removed to the west, being thereafter engaged in stockraising and freighting in Texas, Illinois and Missouri, while for a time he was in the mercantile business at Denver, Colo. In 1865 he came to Montana, lo- cating in Helena, and from that city as headquar- ters engaged in a successful freighting business for eight years. He also served several terms as treasurer of Lewis and Clarke county. [For more extended family history the reader is re- ferred to the article reviewing C. Wallace Tay- lor elsewhere in this work.] Jesse F. Taylor at- tended the schools of Helena and continued his studies at Chatham, Ill., and in Richmond, Ky., eventually matriculating in the Washington and Lee University, at Lexington, Va., where he com- pleted his scholastic training at the age of twenty years, and in 1891 came to Choteau, where he has since been prominently engaged in the sheep busi- ness, running about 4,000 head. Mr. Taylor makes his home in Choteau, and is one of the popular young business men of the county. In politics he gives his allegiance to the Democratic party.

L LEWELLYN TAYLOR .- Diversified as are the industries of Montana, it is quite certain that the sheep industry is among the most profit- able, and in importance it ranges alongside the lead- ing enterprises. The territory tributary to Great Falls, Mont., is largely devoted to sheepraising, and prominent among those who have achieved suc- cess in this line is the subject of the following biographical sketch. He is a New Englander by birth, having first seen the light of day in the old town of Saco, Me., his parents being Jolin and Martha (Harmon) Taylor. His immediate ances- tors were Maine people, but his grandfather Tay- lor was a native of England, who settled in the Pine Tree state at an early date. Although at a rather advanced age, this grandfather participated in the Civil war and fought gallantly for the pres- ervation of the Union, being a member of a regi- ment of Maine volunteers. He was killed in

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battle, his first engagement with the enemy. The father of Llewellyn Taylor was a member of the Seventeenth Maine Volunteers; was captured by the Confederates and died in Andersonville.

Our subject, born on the eve of the war of the Rebellion, was reared on the old Maine home- steaded and received a common school education. In 1876 he was entered as an apprentice at the blacksmith trade, in which he continued until he was nineteen years of age when, in 1880, he came to Montana. The first employment that he secured was with the Hon. S. S. Hobson, in the Judith basin, Fergus county. With him he remained ten years, subsequently locating in Great Falls, where he opened a blacksmith shop which he successfully conducted for three years. Following this Mr. Taylor was employed as foreman for the Bear Paw Pool Cattle Company, which position he satisfactorily filled three years. In the spring of 1893 he settled in the vicinity of the Bear Paw mountains, interested himself in the development of a ranch of 440 acres, now completely fenced and otherwise improved. The fine buildings upon this property are in every way adequate for all the practical purposes of ranching. Sheepgrowing is the principal industry in which he is engaged, and it is one in which he has attained prominence and a competence. The estate now comprises 1,200 acres, and there is a band of 7,200 sheep now ranging upon the land. He also raises consider- able grain, but farming is with him a decidedly secondary consideration.

On July 12, 1896, Mr. Taylor was united in mar- riage to Miss Augusta C. Johnson, daughter of Karl Johnson, of Fergus county. Their union has been blessed by three children: John C., Loren B. and Elmer E. Politically the sympathies of Mr. Taylor are with the Republican party on all national affairs, although he is inclined to be quite independent in local issues.

C WALLACE TAYLOR is one of the heaviest sheepgrowers in Montana, and resides at Cho- teau, Teton county. He was born in Jackson county, Mo., on December 6, 1856. His father, Jesse F. Taylor, who had much experience and was very successful in the live stock industry, was born on January 2, 1829, in Pine Grove, Ky., and resided there until he was twenty-one years of age. In 1852 he married with Miss Eliza Van Deren, daughter of

Cyrus W. and Margaret VanDeren, of Spring- field, Ill. The same year with his wife he went to Jackson county, Mo., purchased a farm, and for four years was profitably engaged in buying and shipping horses and mules to eastern and southern markets. He then removed to Denver, Colo., where he formed a partnership with Col. White and engaged in the grocery and freighting business. This firm handled a large amount of freight for four years, transporting by means of bull teams all descriptions of supplies from Den- ver to Salt Lake.

In 1865 Jesse F. Taylor came to Last Chance gulch, Mont., and was one of the original found- ers of the water company of that camp, now trans- formed into the city of Helena. (The company hauled the water in barrels to supply their cus- tomers.) From 1867 until 1878 Mr. Taylor was treasurer of Lewis and Clarke county. At the same time he held interests in some valuable mines in the "Old Dan Tucker" gulch in partnership with Jerry Smith and George Cleveland. Upon retiring from the county treasurer's office in 1878 he formed a partnership with Abraham and Mor- ris Sands, of Helena, and Julius Sands, of New York, the firm name being Sands & Taylor. This company established a ranch three and one-half miles east of the town of Choteau (at that period in Choteau, now in Teton county), where they en- gaged extensively in sheep and cattleraising. Mr. Taylor was the active manager of the business un- til his death, which occurred at the Park Hotel in Great Falls on May 4, 1892. While he was in business in Choteau county he served one term as a representative in the Montana legislature. His wife died in Helena in 1874. His paternal grandparents were among the pioneers of Ken- tucky, cotemporary with Daniel Boone and the other founders of the state.

C. Wallace Taylor was educated in the public schools of Helena and at the age of nineteen years, having completed his studies, he became a compositor in the office of the Helena Herald for two years, and later for the same length of time in the composing room of the Helena Independ- ent. In 1879 he removed with his father to the ranch in Choteau county. They began their ac- tivities by driving 2,000 head of cattle to the ranches his father had purchased in Beaverhead county and other localities in that vicinity. From 1879 until the death of his father Mr. Taylor was fore- man on the ranch and since that event he has been

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the manager of the company. In 1889 this com- pany went heavily into the sheep, as well as cat- tle, business, but in 1893 the cattle were sold and the capital and energies of the company directed entirely to sheep. The original ranch operated by Mr. Jesse F. Taylor comprised 160 acres. This realty has been increased to 11,000 acres, and the 2,500 sheep purchased in 1889 have in- creased to 20,000.

From 1893 until 1899 Mr. Taylor served as county commissioner of Teton county. He was first appointed by the Montana state legislature on the establishment of the county, and subse- quently was elected on the Democratic ticket. During 1900 and 1901 he was a member of the Montana Democratic state central committee .. His marriage with Miss Maggie Jackson, daugh- ter of John Jackson, of Illinois, occurred in 1887, and their family consists of four daughters, Peg- gie Patton, Mattie S., Louise and Helen. Frater- nally Mr. Taylor is a member of Choteau Lodge No. 11, I: O. O. F., and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Mr. Taylor is a robust, hearty and popular young man. He is universally es- teemed and is regarded everywhere as a man of integrity and honor.

A MOS TEAGUE is one of the pioneers of the state, has long been prominently identified with its industrial development, and is now one of the prosperous farmers and stockraisers of Cascade county. Mr. Teague was born at Mor- ganton, Burke county, N. C., on March 2, 1833, the son of Ezekiel and Rachel T. Teague, natives respectively of Virginia and North Carolina. In 1835 when about two years of age, his parents removed to McMinn county, Tenn., where the father engaged in farming until 1850, when he removed to Blount county and there devoted his attention to agriculture and stockraising. Both he and his wife were consistent members of the Baptist church. His death occurred in Georgia at the age of seventy years. His widow long sur- vived him, attaining the venerable age of ninety- two years, her death occurring at the home of her son, Franklin Teague, in Texas.

Amos Teague attended the public schools in Tennessee until the year 1847, after which he was employed at farm work until the fall of 1852, when he went to Arkansas and remained during

the winter. On March 5, 1853, he started over- land for California, and located in Shasta county, where he engaged in mining until 1860, when he turned his attention to raising live stock and de- voted his energies to that business until 1863. He again engaged in mining, but eventually dis- posed of his placer mines for $5,000, and in 1865 moved to Helena, Mont., where he purchased placer claims, but could not successfully operate them for want of water. Thereafter he was for five years employed by the Cooper Brothers on the cattle range. In 1872 he started on a pros- pecting tour, visiting different sections, and was thus engaged until the fall of 1874, when he went to the Musselshell river and devoted his atten- tion to hunting with excellent success and greatly enjoyed the sport ; and thereafter made a hunting trip on Deep creek. In the fall of 1876 he joined a party of sixty men and proceeded to Fort Keogh on the Yellowstone river, expecting to cross that stream and proceed to the Black Hills, but as the Indians were then quite hostile the party decided it was unsafe to proceed, so they remained at the fort during the winter, being em- ployed by the government. On March 2, 1877, Mr. Teague left for Bozeman, where he was lo- cated during the summer and fall. In the winter of 1877 he was in company with William Ander- son, who was herding a band of cattle on the banks of the Yellowstone river in the vicinity of the present city of Livingston; and in the fall of 1878 he was associated in driving a band of 4.000 cattle to the big sag of the Missouri river south of Benton. This band they commenced to gather on the Yellowstone and kept adding to it all the way to the Chestnut valley. He was as- sociated at this time with A. W. Kingsbury, with whom he remained until the fall of 1879, when he started on a prospecting trip in the Judith basin, where he took up two mining claims, disposing of the same the following spring for $300. He then purchased a ranch in the vicinity of High- wood, Choteau county, and there devoted his at- tention to farming for two years. In the spring of 1882 he came to his present location near Evans, Cascade county, where he took up a pre- emption claim of 160 acres, and in 1896 he added to this a homestead claim of equal area and pur- chased a tract of government land, 100 acres of which are susceptible to cultivation. Mr. Teague has been successfully engaged in the rais- ing of cattle and horses, having sold III head of

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cattle in the fall of 1900. In 1872 he was initiated into the mysteries of the Masonic fraternity, in whose work he takes a deep interest, holding membership in Valley Lodge No. 21, Townsend, Mont. Politically he is a Democrat.

G 'EORGE W. THOMAS .- In the year 1843 there arrived in the United States a young married couple from the city of Cork, Ireland, filled with hope and ambition, determined to make their way in the new world and secure by industry and frugality the full benefit of the opportunities the great land of promise held out to the worthy of all countries. This aspiring young couple, Richard and Emma Lyon (McCarthy) Thomas, settled in Fulton county, Ill., and profitably en- gaged in tilling the virgin soil during the rest of their lives. They were the parents of two sons, now living: George, the subject of this review : Lafayette, a prosperous business man at Basin City in his native state.

Our subject was born in Fulton county, Il1., in 1862, and attended the schools of his district until he was fourteen years old. He spent the next fifteen years working in sawmills, three in his native county, four in different parts of Mis- souri, and eight in Arkansas, at Black river, where he lost one of his little fingers. In 1885 he returned to Saline county, Mo., where he had formerly lived, and made hunting trips through that state, Illinois and Mississippi, securing otter, raccoon, muskrat and opossum and other game. finding the business very profitable, sometimes making $18 in a day shooting duck.

In 1892 he came to Montana and spent five years at various occupations. In 1897 he bought eighty acres of land two and a half miles east of Park City, on which he has since resided, turning it from a desert into almost a garden. It is a well fenced, well irrigated and productive farm, on which he raises fine crops of alfalfa, orchard fruits, and horses, cattle, pigs, etc.

Mr. Thomas was married December 19, 1900, to Miss Lydia E. Thomas, of Fond du Lac, Wis., the daughter of a prosperous farmer near that town. Mrs. Thomas taught school in her native state for twenty-five years prior to her marriage. She has a fine general library, which is the pride of their roomy, well-furnished house, and a great source of entertainment to herself and husband, both of whom are esteemed as among the most

intelligent and cultivated people in their vicinity. In politics Mr. Thomas is a Republican, but is not an active partisan or a particularly zealous party worker. He has no aspirations for official life, finding plenty to occupy his mind and time in his business and home duties. He is held in high . regard as a leading citizen.

Jº JOHN R. THOMAS .- Amid the stern and rugged hills of New England, where have cen- tered many important events in the annals of the nation, occurred the birth of the gentleman whose name initiates this review, and he is a worthy representative of the stanch old New England stock, and a good type of that progressive and self-reliant element which has been a prime factor in the development and upbuilding of the great west. He is now one of the extensive farmers and stockraisers of Cascade county, where he at- tained success through his own efforts and is known as one of the pioneers of the state. Mr. Thomas was born in the town of Wells River, Orange county, Vt., on June 18, 1850, the son of Benjamin and Betsey Thomas, natives of New Hampshire. The father was engaged in railroad work until his death in 1851 ; his widow survived him until 1857, so that their son, the subject of this review, was left an orphan at an early age. He was taken by his guardian, Lemuel Martin- dale, to Cornish Flats, N. H., and lived in that state until he attained his majority, securing such educational advantages as were afforded by the common schools and early becoming inured to the work of the farm, in which connection he worked for five years for wages prior to becoming 'of age. On March 20, 1872, Mr. Thomas arrived in Hel- ena, Mont., and soon found employment on a farm in Prickly Pear valley, where he remained until 1878, when he removed to Nevada Creek and there engaged in raising cattle and horses, and general farming on a tract of 320 acres, which he had purchased. His efforts yielded him a profit, and he also realized a considerable amount when he sold the property in 1880. He then lo- cated ten and a half miles southeast of Craig, taking up a homestead claim of 160 acres and there continuing operations in farming and cattle- raising until the fall of 1896, when he removed to Craig and engaged in general merchandising until the fall of 1900. At that time he traded his busi-

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ness for a ranch located sixteen miles southeast of Cascade and turned his attention once more to those industrial enterprises with which he had so long been familiar. His ranch property original- ly comprised 400 acres, well improved and stocked with 3,000 head of sheep and excellent grades of cattle. Mr. Thomas has since pur- chased an additional 160 acres, filed entry on an equal amount of desert land, and has effected the lease of 960 acres, so that he has a large avail- able range for his stock. Here he is conducting operations on a large scale, and his success is assured, since he brings to bear a thorough knowledge and the most approved methods.

On January 31, 1883, Mr. Thomas was united in marriage to Miss Sarah E. Billups, a native of Evansville, Ind., and a daughter of Jesse C. and Mary A. Billups, who were born in England, whence they came to the United States, event- ually becoming residents of Montana in 1886. (See sketch on another page of this volume.)

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have one child, David A. In politics Mr. Thomas gives his support to the Republican party so far as national issues are involved, but locally he is independent.

A LBERT TETRAULT .- It cannot be doubted that the free and inspiring life of the plains and mountains quickens the spirit of self-reliance and independence, and many young men engage in individual business ventures in Montana, rather to continue in the employ of others. Among those who have taken advantage of the oppor- tunities here afforded in the great industrial re- sources of Montana is Mr. Tetrault, who is one of the enterprising young stockgrowers of Val- ley county. He comes of stanch old French line- age, and is a native of Ontario, Canada, where he was born on July 13, 1863, his. mother being Celina (Tibadeaux) Tetrault, who was born in Ontario in 1835, where she is now a resident of Chatham. The father, who was born in Quebec province, in 1836, devoted his life to agricultural pursuits, and lived his life and died in the. Domin- ion of Canada. His son, Albert Tetrault, had no more than nominal educational advantages, and he has acquired his knowledge in practical ex- perience and by personal application. He as- sisted in the work of the homestead farm in Can- ' ada until he was eighteen, when, in 1881, he came

to Missoula county, Mont., and was employed on ranches and in lumber camps near Missoula and Frenchtown until 1894, and was then enabled to engage in business on his own responsibility. . He accordingly came to Valley county and lo- cated on his present ranch of 320 acres, on Beaver creek and fifteen miles from the village of Malta, which is his postoffice address. His ranch has been nicely improved and with his cattle and sheep business he also uses the open range sur- rounding his place, and is not limited in his operations. Mr. Tetrault exercises his franchise in support of the Republican party, and is one of the progressive young men of this section.

THOMAS THOMAS, of near Avon, is the son of parents who were among the earlier emi- grants from the old country to the untrodden fields west of the Mississippi, and knows from their oft-told tales, if not from his own experience, much of the privation and suffering which at- tended a journey overland from eastern civiliza- tion into the almost trackless wilds of the far west. His father was Reese P. Thomas, who was born in Wales, on February 7, 1815, and when about twenty-four years old, in 1839, came to America in a party of over 100 persons, and in- cluding his sister Margaret, who afterwards mar- ried Albert Davis and lived in California. The party included also another bright-eyed lassie, whose charms won the heart of our hardy ad- venturer. This was Mary Evans, who subse- quently became his wife and the mother of Thomas Thomas. Landing at New Orleans they took passage by boat up the Mississippi and Mis- souri to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where they bought oxen to operate 100 wagons, which they took with them across the plains to Salt Lake City, Utah. In this territory the parents of Thomas Thomas were married, and here also, at Brigham City, he was born on February 1, 1858. In 1865 he was removed with the rest of the family to Idaho, where his father engaged in farming. The childhood and youth of Mr. Thomas were spent in the two territories of Utah and Idaho, and all the carly educational advantages he had were what their primitive schools supplied. He has gathered on his life path, however, a large stock of that worldly wisdom which is gained only in the school of experience, a school which trains the

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faculties to quickness of perception and accuracy in action. When he was sixteen years of age he was employed by ex-Gov. White, of Montana, to haul salt from the Oneida salt-works in Idaho to Philipsburg. In passing back and forth he made his headquarters in Montana, and when he got ready to settle down he became a resident of the state, and after doing so he carried on freight- ing and mining for a number of years, and in 1889 took up a homestead of 160 acres about four miles northwest of Avon. Here two brothers, Alexander, now deceased, and Arthur, soon joined him, who later took up homesteads adjoining his, and the three entered into partnership in raising stock. They have the ranch all enclosed by one fence. It consists of 480 acres of good land, and they have a herd of about 150 cattle and thirty horses. Their father spent the last years of his life here with them, and in 1892, after a long and useful earthly career, died amid their kindly minis- trations. The family now consists of the aged mother, Arthur, Miss Ettie and Mr. Thomas him- self. Their labors have brought them a compe- tence in this world's goods, and the confidence and esteem of their neighbors and friends.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 161

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