Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 21

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 21

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The life of Maj. Campbell and his family was well epitomized in the following tribute from the pen of Right Reverend Bishop Tuttle :

"In December, 1867, when I was chaplain of the house of representatives of the Montana legislature. I first met James Gallagher, who was a member of that body. He had married Helen, daughter of Maj. Campbell, and she passed part of the winter in Virginia City where the legislature was sitting. On December 8, in the hall on Jackson street in which we were holding religious services, I bap- tized Cornelia and James, two of the Gallagher children. I remember well Mr. Gallagher's intelli- gence and philosophical imperturbability. On July 8, 1868, I made my first visit to Gallatin City, and held services in Maj. Campbell's cabin, and there on that date baptized Donnie Shafer, an adult, and Fannie Campbell Dunbar and Susetta Rosaline, a young Indian girl. At this time I first met Mrs. Campbell. Strength of character and sweet- ness of nature were wonderfully blended in her. A lady in every sense of the word, a Christian of holy and humble devotion, a glad and generous minister of hospitality, with a queenly dignity to her friends and all benighted wayfarers, she was withal a motherly helper of unfailing kindness and won- derful efficiency to all around her, far and near. Gentle of touch, sympathizing in soul, skilled in nursing, almost expert in medicine and surgery, she was an angel of mercy and succor to all. Her active, untiring and loving unselfishness and help- fulness caused her to be warmly and gratefully loved by all who knew or heard of her. For several years I stopped at the Campbell cabin on my jour -. neys. Mrs. Campbell was always good and kind to me and it is a pleasure to me to drop this tear of grateful remembrance to her memory. The Major was kind and generous, but bold and fiery, with a loving admiration for his wife that was really

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chivalrous devotion and reverence. Gurdon Camp- bell, the son, who kept the store at "The City," had been injured in infancy, a slight deformity of neck and spine was resultant. But he was a most intelligent man and highly educated. It was a pleasure and a profit to converse with him and evoke the treasures that were stored in his well- disciplined mind and memory. Mrs. Gallagher, Mrs. Dunbar and Fannie Campbell were the three daughters. They all inherited the strength and sweetness of character of their mother, and the standard of society for the entire Gallatin valley was elevated and purified by their presence. The vigor, impetuosity and forcefulness of Maj. Camp- bell; the gentleness, grace and sufficient helpfulness of Mrs. Campbell; the superior ability and accom- plishments of Gurdon Campbell; the patience and philosophy of Judge Gallagher ; the cheery industry of Frank Dunbar; the culture and refinement of the three daughters; and the happy and buoyant lives of the Gallagher and the Dunbar children in the days of their early childhood, how the picture, sweet and strong and gracious, comes over me now, softened in the light and memories of thirty-four years. Ah, how the years do fly, and the loved friends disappear. Daniel S. Tuttle. St. Louis, .Mo., November 18, 1901."

J AMES E. KANOUSE, one of the represent- ative business men of Broadwater county, is a pioneer of Montana. Prior to locating in this section of the west he rendered valiant service in the war of the Rebellion. Mr. Kanouse is a na- tive of Woodstock, N. J., where he was born on December 18, 1845, the son of Jacob A. Kanouse, a native of New York. The father removed with his family to McLean county, Ill., in 1855, locat- ing in Lexington, where our subject continued his studies in the public schools until the outbreak of the war, when he promptly gave evidence of his patriotism by going to Peoria and there enlisting as a member of Company D, Eleventh Illinois Cavalry, under Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, and forthwith went to the front with his regiment, participating in the battles of Pittsburg Landing, .Corinth, Iuka, Jackson, Tenn., and all the minor cavalry engagements in which the regiment took part up to his final muster out, December 19, 1864, at Memphis, Tenn., as sergeant of Com- pany D. He then returned to Illinois, and in 1865 was solemnized his marriage to Miss Nancy

Ballard. He and his wife joined his father and with several others started for Montana, organiz- ing a train at Omaha, and thence coming up the north side of the North Platte river. At Big Horn they were joined by another train, and soon afterward had trouble with the Indians, who stampeded and 1un off the mules of one of the trains. The party then built a fort and awaited the arrival of ox teams from Bozeman. After the teams arrived they continued their journey to Bozeman, where the company disbanded. Mr. Kanouse remained in Bozeman and vicinity until the spring of 1867, devoting his attention to farming, and then removed to Virginia City, where for several months he acted as agent for the A. J. Oliver Overland Express & Stage Line. He then located in New York gulch, where his father had secured some mining properties. They prospected the same with poor success, ex- pending both time and money without any ma- terial returns. In the spring of 1868 Mr. Kan- ouse removed to Deep creek, where he effected the purchase of the ranch of W. Burris, in Mis- souri valley. Here he has since been extensively engaged in the raising of livestock, his home ranch being well improved and located three miles south of Townsend, his postoffice address. In company with J. R. Marks Mr. Kanouse also en- gaged in opening mines in the Duck creek and Park districts, and has also devoted considerable attention to the freighting business since 1868. Mr. Kanouse is a mar of business ability, and his well-directed and progressive methods have given him prestige as one of the leading business men of his county. He is one of the interested prin- cipals in the Townsend Mercantile Company. and is president of the State Bank of Townsend. Mr. Kanouse has always manifested a lively inter- est in all that concerns the progress and material prosperity of the state. He was a member of the constitutional convention which formulated the present constitution of Montana. Politically his support is given to the Democratic party, and was elected to represent his county in the Elev- enth assembly of the territorial legislature. He was admitted to the bar of Montana in 1882, but has never given his attention to the active prac- tice of the law as a vocation. Fraternally he is identified with Knights of Pythias and the Order of Pendo, in the former of which he passed all the official chairs. He has one son and two daugh- ters : Charles, Alice and Clara.

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J P. KEARNS, cashier of the State Bank of Townsend, and nephew of Hon. W. E. Tier- ney, was born at Benton, Wis., on December 29, 1871, the son of James Kearns, a native of Ire- land, who emigrated to the United States in 1848, where he engaged in the grocery business for a number of years, dying in 1893. J. P. Kearns was educated in the public schools of Benton and Bayless Business College in Dubuque, Iowa. Returning to his Wisconsin home he passed some years with his father and later himself and broth- er, Samuel J. Kearns, took their father's business, which they successfully conducted, at the same time engaging in farming.

J. P. Kearns was postmaster of Benton from 1893 to 1897, and remained in business with his brother until the spring of 1899, when he re- moved to Montana, leaving considerable real estate in Wisconsin, but selling his interest in the grocery to his brother, who still conducts it.

Mr. Kearns came to Townsend in the spring of 1899, purchased a home and in June of that year established the State Bank of Townsend, he being one of the corporators and a stockholder. He has ably filled the position of cashier from the organization of the bank, and through his finan- cial ability has added to the pronounced success of this solid financial institution. On November 7, 1894, Mr. Kearns was united in marriage to Miss Sadie Curley, a native of Galena, Ill., a daughter of A. B. Curley. They have two chil- dren, Mary Kathryn and John Claire.

M ARTHA A. KEARNS .- It is gratifying to note the conspicuous position which wo- men hold in educational work in Montana, and the precedence which is theirs can not but prove an object lesson to those older commonwealths where such privileges are largely denied them. Determinate executive capacity, indefatigable effort and a deep and unwavering interest have characterized their work here, and the result has been manifest progress of the schools. Mrs. Kearns, who is superintendent of public schools in Cascade county, with her home in Great Falls, is a native of Westernport on the Potomac river, Maryland, where she was born on May 20, 1872. Her father, A. P. McAnelly, is a native of the Emerald Isle, who, coming to the United States in 1840, located on a large plantation near West-

ernport, which he conducted for many years. In 1877 he removed to Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he leased coal mines from the Fort Dodge Coal Company, successfully operating them until 1885, when he was for five years in the mercantile busi- ness at Angus. From Angus Mr. McAnelly re- moved to Montana in 1889, and he is now living retired, in Belt. . Mr. McAnelly married Miss Agnes Coleman, also born in Ireland, though reared and educated in Glasgow, Scotland. At the age of twenty she came to the United States, living first in Pennsylvania and then in Maryland, where her marriage to Mr. McAnelly was sol- emnized in 1858 at Westernport. She has been the cherished companion of her husband for more than two score years and is now sixty-five years of age, her husband having attained that of sev- enty-seven years.

Martha A. (McAnelly) Kearns was excellently educated in the public schools of Fort Dodge, the high school at Angus, Iowa, and at the Drake University at Des Moines, and continued her special technical studies in the normal school at Fremont, Neb. She had engaged in pedagogic work while yet a student, and after leaving col- lege she continued it, meeting with exceptional success. She gave one year of educational ser- vice in Iowa and five years at Red Lodge, Mont .. and during this time she was for two years super- intendent of schools of Carbon county. From Red Lodge Mrs. Kearns came to Belt, Cascade county, where she was a valued teacher for one year and she was in the midst of her appreciated labors here when, in 1900, she was elected county super- intendent of schools of Cascade county on the Democratic ticket. For this position she is emi- nently qualified, not only from her high educa- tional standpoint, but also from her possession of those highly desirable elements of success, marked executive ability and definite experience. The important educational work of Cascade coun- ty is certain to be greatly advanced in her effective tenure of office. She is popular with the teach- ers, and has their hearty co-operation in her plans. In a fraternal way Mrs. Kearns is identified at Belt with Methbette Circle of the Women of Woodcraft. On June 17, 1887, Miss Martha A. McAnelly was united in marriage at Fort Dodge, Iowa, to James Kearns, who was associated with her father in the coal business, and four months after their marriage Mr. Kearns was summoned to those activities that have no weariness.

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F 'LAVIUS J. KEENE .- Among the pioneer farmers and stockgrowers of Montana is Mr. Keene, an honored citizen of Broadwater county, where he has resided on one ranch for more than a third of a century. His birth occurred in Loudoun county, Va., in 1838. His father, New- ton Keene, and grandfather, John Keene, were ex- tensive planters in the Old Dominion. The mother of F. J. Keene was in girlhood Elizabeth Dulin, and she too was a Virginian, being the daughter of John Dulin, in recognition of whose services in the war of 1812 the government issued a warrant for 160 acres of land in Missouri. Mr. Keene removed to Missouri in 1859, and was en- gaged in farming in St. Charles county until the Civil war. On September 5, 1861, in response to Jackson's first call, he enlisted in the First Mis- souri (Confederate) Volunteers for six months at Lexington.

He duly received an honorable discharge, and did not re-enlist, because he was physically unable to pass the examination. He returned to Mis- souri, took the oath of allegiance in May, 1862, and resumed farming, which he continued about two years, disposing of his interests in March, 1865, and soon afterward starting for Montana. He took the steamer for Atchison, Kans., the day after the assassination of President Lincoln, and from Atchison he came overland with a four- horse team, not being molested by the Indians, though trains ahead of and following his party had great trouble with the Indians. Passing through Virginia City, Mr. Keene went to the Missouri river and took up a homestead claim of 160 acres, the nucleus of his present home, and here he has resided engaged in farming and stock- growing, being successful in his efforts and hav- ing made excellent improvements on his property, which is located ten miles from the village of Townsend.

Mr. Keene is a strong supporter of the Demo- cratic, party and before the erection of Broadwater county served three years as a county commis- sioner of Meagher county. He held the office of school trustee for a number of years and at the present time he is stock commissioner of his county, this being his second term of office. Fra- ternally he is a member of the Masonic order. On October 2, 1862, Mr. Keene married with Miss Harriet B. Davis, born in Virginia, on Sep- tember 21. 1841, the daughter of William and Elizabeth (Jett) Davis, likewise Virginians. The

father was a miller, and operated a large flouring mill in Loudoun county, Va. His death oc- curred in 1849, and that of his widow in 1851. Mr. and Mrs. Keene have had eight children, Hattie died in Missouri; Thomas J. died in 1887; Mary Laura (wife of E. L. Lee, who has charge of the ranch and stock of Mr. Keene) is the mother of six children, Hattie, Annie Laura, Flavius O., Eugene L., Jr., Gertrude and Jesse W .; Emma May, wife of Joseph H. Lourie, a successful ranch- man on Sheep creek; Anna L., wife of Morris L. Duckett, who died, leaving one daughter, Lulu M .; Elizabeth D .; Alpha J., wife of Frank Ball, who has been for two years in charge of the public schools at Globe, Ariz. (they have one son, Howard T.), and Elva Mabel.

B ISHOP B. KELLEY, M. D., is a native of the old Buckeye state, having been born Feb- ruary 28, 1846, the son of John and Charity (Bee- son) Kelley, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Virginia. The paternal grand- father of the Doctor was John Kelley, who emi- grated from the Emerald Isle and located in Con- necticut, whence, after his marriage, he removed to eastern Ohio, becoming one of the pioneers of that state and for many years was engaged in the furniture business at New Lisbon. His son and namesake was reared and educated in Ohio, and made his home in Hancock county, where the Doctor was born, while his early business life was successfully devoted to contracting and building. His death occurred in 1870, and his widow died in 1895. They were the parents of six children, of whom five are now living.

Bishop Kelley is indebted to the public schools of Nebraska for his education, his parents having removed to that state in 1857, locating in Doug- las county and there devoted his attention to farming and stockraising. The Doctor con- tinued his educational work in the high school at Columbus, Neb., and then began the work of pre- paring himself for the profession upon which he had fixed his choice. He matriculated in the cel- ebrated Rush Medical College, of Chicago, where he graduated as a member of the class of 1870, re- ceiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Soon after his graduation he located in Grand Island, Neb., where he was a successful practitioner for six years. The gold excitement in the Black

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Hills, however, proved sufficiently alluring to cause him to join the stampede to that section in 1876, where he engaged for six years in the prac- tice of his profession, but also was interested in several unsuccessful mining enterprises. In 1882 Dr. Kelley came to Billings, Mont., and en- gaged in the practice of his profession until 1888, when he made another trip to the Black Hills, joined in various stampedes of gold-seekers and remained in that locality for four years, two of which he acted as physician and surgeon for the Cambria Coal Company, near New Castle. He then entered into contract practice for one year with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, in connection with the con- struction of the line from the Black Hills to Sheridan, Wyo., remaining in Sheridan about eighteen months. In 1894 the Doctor returned to Billings, resumed his practice and superin- tended operations on a farm he had purchased near the city, but in 1897 he came to Red Lodge, where he now controls a representative practice.

In politics Dr. Kelley gives his support to the Republican party. While a resident of Yellow- stone county he served for a number of years as coroner ; was elected to the same office in Carbon county in 1898 and chosen as his own successor in 1900, being coroner at the present time. In 1899 he was appointed county physician. Fra- ternally he is identified with the time-honored or- der of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. On December 14, 1888, Dr. Kelley was united in mar- riage to Mrs. Elizabeth M. Burt, who was born in Manchester, England, the daughter of John Davis. One son was born to her first marriage- Charles J. Burt, now engaged in mining at Austin, twelve miles west of Helena. The Doctor and Mrs. Kelley have no children.

C J. KENCK, one of the leading ranchmen and stockdealers of Broadwater county, was born in Baden, Germany, on October 1, 1858, and came with his parents to the United States when he was thirteen. He was the son of George J. and Mar- telaine (Herd) Kenck, both natives of Baden, which had been the family home for generations. The family immigrated to this country, landing on May 1, 1872, and came immediately to Montana, locating in Beaver Creek valley, and on the ranch now oc- cupied by C. J. Kenck. In the family there were

two sons and three daughters. In January, 1893, the father and mother removed to San Diego county, Cal. Mr. Kenck continuing on the ranch, purchased 160 acres of land from Isaac Hall, pre- empted 160 acres, and under the timber culture law acquired another quarter section. He then bought 160 acres of his father and also the Tony ranch. This increased his landed estate to 800 acres,

Here he has engaged profitably in stockraising and general farming, usually wintering between 150 and 200 head of cattle. On November 20, 1890, Mr. Kenck was married to Miss Tracey Leophold, daughter of George Leophold, of Baden, Germany. The ceremony was performed in the United States. For seventeen years Mr. Kenck has been clerk of the school district in which he resides, a position he has capably and creditably filled. Fraternally he is a member of the United Workmen and the Odd Fellows, of which he is treasurer of Lodge No. 18, of Winston. Mr. Kenck is highly esteemed in the community in which he resides, and is a man of sound business judgment, safe and conserva- tive in his views. His financial and social success are due to sterling qualities of head and heart, and he is enterprising, broad-minded and progressive.

TILLIAM J. KENNEDY, one of the enterpris- ing business men of Great Falls, was born near Oquawka, Ill., on January 28, 1863. He is the son of Stephen and Sarah (Marble) Kennedy, both natives of Knox county, Ohio. The father was born in 1841 and came to Illinois when he was twenty and settled at Rosetta, where he was engaged in the hardware and agricultural implement business until his death in July, 1897. The mother was born in 1844 and is now residing at Belt, Mont. There were three brothers and two sisters. Two of the sons, Walter and Benjamin, are at Belt. The former is manager and one of the proprietors of the Belt Hardware Company. Benjamin Kennedy is associated with the Belt Coal Company. Both the paternal and maternal grandfathers were born in Ohio, where the first died. The other came to Rosetta, Ill., in 1864. and is also deceased.

The early days of William J. Kennedy were passed in Oquawka, Ill., and here he was educated in the public schools. At the age of nineteen years, in 1881. he left his native town for the far west. After he arrived at Fort Benton in

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the same year, he located there and remained four years engaged in the meat business. In the spring of 1885 he came to Great Falls. Here he was engaged with the Murphy-McClay Company, in the hardware business for three years. In 1888 he succeeded Dodd & Kennedy, butchers, which he merged in 1890 with the Great Falls Meat Company, and remained with the company until 1895. In 1896 Mr. Kennedy established the Cascade Soap Company for the manufacture and wholesaling of soap, and this and the one at Helena are the only two in the state. The company is doing a most profitable business and the outlook for the future is prosperous. In 1892, at Anoka, Minn., Mr. Kennedy was mar- ried to Miss Winnifred Goss, of that place. They have a bright little daughter, Ruth. Mr. Ken- medy is a Democrat, although he manifests no active part in political manipulations. In local affairs he invariably takes the position of a pa- triotic citizen who has at heart the municipal welfare of the community in which he resides. He is not connected with any secret society.

ILLIAM F. KESTER, who is prominently identified with one of the leading industrial enterprises in the state, as vice-president of the Montana Implement Company, of Great Falls, is one of the progressive young business men of the city, and he has here attained a notable success. He comes of German stock, although he was born in Preble county, Ohio, on Decem- ber 8, 1865. His father, Henry Kester, came to America from Germany when a young man, locating at Eaton, Ohio, where he followed the cooper's trade, but from 1872 until 1884 he was manufacturing carriages in that place, where his death occurred in 1889 at the age of sixty years. He married Wilhelmina Kester, who was born in Germany, who came to the United States in early womanhood, their marriage being solemnized soon after her arrrival. She still maintains her home in Eaton, Ohio.

William F. Kester attended the public and the high schools of Eaton until he was sixteen years of age, when he engaged in farm work for two years, after which he served an apprenticeship of three years at the trade of carriagesmith in his father's shops, becoming a skilled workman. In the spring of 1886 Mr. Kester came to Hel-

ena, Mont., and entered the employ of the Weisen- horn Carriage Company, for whom he worked until the winter of 1889, when he returned to Eaton, Ohio, to settle his father's estate, remaining there about eighteen months, after which he re- sumed his position with the Weisenhorn Com- pany, with whom he continued until 1892. In the fall of that year he came to Great Falls, and was one of the four partners who established the Great Falls Carriage Works. In the spring of 1898 this firm was consolidated with the J. H. McKnight Company, and the enterprise incor- porated as the Montana Implement Company.

Mr. Kester is the vice-president and general manager of the company, the president being T. L. Martin, of Helena. Under Mr. Kester's effec- tive and discriminating direction the company has advanced to a foremost position among the industries of like nature in the state, and its affairs have been signally prospered. AIr. Kester exercises his right of franchise in the various elections, but takes no active part in politics. Fraternally he is identified with Queen City Lodge No. 42, I. O. O. F.,. at Hel- ena, and the encampment at Great Falls, while he is also connected with Kenbrae Castle No. 201, R. H., at Great Falls. On December 8, 1896, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Kester and Miss Estella Wantz, of Midcanon, Cascade county, she being a daughter of James Wantz, an extensive and influential stockraiser of that place.

OSEPH KIRSCHER, one of the leading ranch-

men of Broadwater county, in the Missouri valley, near Townsend, is an early pioneer, and, in 1864, while coming on the long westward jour- ney he found it necessary to fight hostile Indians who disputed his advance. He was born in Erie. Erie county, Pa., on May 3, 1840, the son of Peter Kirscher, a scion of an old French family, his ancestors coming from France about 1800. Peter Kirscher with his wife and twelve children settled in Polk county, Iowa, in the spring of 1853. Here they developed a fine estate and the old farm has since been regarded as the family homestead. On May 10, 1864, Joseph Kirscher left Iowa for Montana with his brother Peter and his brother-in-law, William Miehle and wife. Their outfit consisted of three yokes of oxen,

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 21

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