Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 24

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 24

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On February 12, 1897, William A. Smith passed away, of pneumonia, at White Sulphur Springs. Since the year 1864, the two brothers had been asso- ciated together in all business enterprises, and were much devoted to one another. The death of the younger of the two was a severe blow to the sur- viving brother. William A. was born in Williams county, Ohio, in 1843, his wife being Nannie (Hodges) Smith, since deceased. Three children survive them, and are attending school. At the . time of the death of William A. Smith, his interest in the firm business of Smith Brothers was ap- praised at the sum of $62,000, and two years later the subject of this sketch purchased the same, pay- ing therefor the sum of $85,000.

Since that time, the business, through the careful and able management of Mr. Smith, has grown very largely, and he is now one of the heaviest and most prosperous stockowners in the state. In 1902 he sheared 43,000 sheep, and raised 20,000 lambs. He is now the owner of 25,000 acres of patented land, and holds 35,000 acres in addition under contract, besides 20,000 acres which he holds under lease from the state in Park and Meagher counties. An older brother of Mr. Smith, Dr. James P. Smith, who was a distinguished physician of Moulton, Iowa, passed away March 9, 1897, aged sixty-nine years.

On October 6, 1887, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Mary Hoffman, a native of Ger- mantown, Ohio. To them one child was born, John Stanley Smith, who is a very promising young man.

Politically, Mr. Smith is identified with the Re- publican party, and takes an active interest in pub- lic affairs. Fraternally he is a member of the Ma- sonic Order and is a Knight Templar. In the year 1900, Mr. Smith erected a beautiful home in the city of Pasadena, Cal., at the cost of over $20,000, and he resides there with his family during the winter season, spending his summers in Montana, looking after the management of his varied business interests.

Mr. Smith is one of the worthy pioneers of Mon- tana and has well earned the title of a self-made man. He is recognized as one of the most sub- stantial and successful business men of the state of Montana. By his integrity, attention to business and keen ability, he has built up one of the largest stock properties of the state. His home ranch, situ- ated near Martinsdale, in Meagher county, has the proportions of a small village. His interests are enormous, and extend throughout the state.

JOSEPH LAVOIE, one of the pioneer cattle- raisers and general ranchers residing near Kib- bey, Cascade county, was born in Montreal, Canada, July 3, 1852. His parents were Joseph and Esther Lavoie, residents of Montreal, where the father was engaged in the grain threshing business, meet- ing with good success. He passed away in 1886, a devout member of the Catholic church, as is his wife who survives him.

Until the age of twelve years Joseph Lavoie was an industrious student in the public schools of Montreal; he then began to assist his father in

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the threshing machine industry, and with him re- mained until he attained his majority. Two years subsequently, in 1874, he went to Nevada and there secured a contract to cut wood, and in this employ- ment he continued seven years, meeting with fairly remunerative success. In 1881 he removed to Butte, Mont., purchased an interest in a saw mill and conducted the business for three successive years. Disposing of his mill interest he settled on his present home ranch near Kibbey, comprising three quarter sections of land, for one of which he paid $2,600. Three hundred acres of this land are fit for cultivation. Mr. Lavoie is considered a success- ful cattle and grain grower. The first twelve years of his residence on this property he was engaged in the threshing machine and saw mill business, both of which enterprises proved remunerative, and he has taken them up again for the last few years and continues to operate them both.

Mr. Lavoie was married November 7, 1886, to Miss Mary Gehan, of Wisconsin, daughter of Pat- rick and Elva Gehan. Her mother was born in New York and her father in Pennsylvania, the latter being by occupation a farmer. They are both members of the Catholic church; politically the father is a Republican. Mr. and Mrs. Lavoie are the parents of seven children : Joseph, Wilfred, Clara, Mary, Florence, Blanche and George.

P ETER LE BEAU .- This gentleman has seen a great deal of life in the west and has lived to enjoy a "good bit" of financial prosperity. This is fully attested by the handsome residence he has built on his ranch near Salesville, Gallatin county, where he is living in the enjoyment of a high place in the estimation of the public. He is a native of Three Rivers, Quebec, born July 16, 1829, the son of Augustus and Dorata (Sicard De Carufel) Le Beau. Both his paternal and maternal ancestors were for many generations prominent in France, and the De Carufels, a noble family, emigrated from France to Canada during one of the early French revolutions, and his maternal grandfather was a Sicard De Carufel. His paternal grand- father was named Augustus Le Beau.

Peter Le Beau passed his early years at private schools in Quebec until he was fourteen. He then was employed as clerk in a general store for nine years. In 1852 he went to California by the Panama route, arriving at San Francisco in May, where

he found his uncle, one of the Argonauts of 'forty- nine, who had desired his nephew should join him. For four years Peter Le Beau remained with his uncle, employed in successful mining enterprises, and on June 1, 1856, he returned to Quebec for a visit of six months, going thence to St. Paul, Minn., where he passed eight years in active business and farming. June 7, 1864, Mr. Le Beau started over- land for Montana, accompanying one of the histor- ical trains of Capt. Fisk. Fifteen miles from the Little Missouri they were surrounded by a war party of 1,000 Sioux, and for three days a hotly con- tested engagement continued, in which Capt. Fisk's party lost thirteen men. Scouts were sent by night to Fort Rice for reinforcements, but be- fore they arrived the Indians sent a letter to Capt. Fisk, written by a Mrs. Kelly, who had been cap- tured by the Sioux in July, 1864, near Fort Lara- mie. In this letter she stated that the Indian loss in the three days' fighting was about 300, and that they also were trying to secure aid. They desired peace and certain provisions of Capt. Fisk, which he agreed to give if the captive woman was liberated the next morning and delivered to his party. An Indian chief came the next morning and said that the woman did not want to join the Fisk company, preferring to go with the Indians to Fort Rice. The Indians received the desired provisions and no more trouble occurred. Seventeen days later, when the soldiers from the fort arrived, the commanding officer removed Capt. Fisk from charge of the expedition, and ordered all to go to Fort Rice. There Gen. Sully told them that if they de- sired to go down the river he would send a com- pany of soldiers with them. A number of the party accepted this proposition, among them Mr. Le Beau, who went to Omaha, where he remained four months. He then accompanied United States Mar- shal Hunt to Denver, where they arrived on April I, 1865. Here, with three others, he purchased a mule team, started for Montana, and after a pleas- ant trip arrived in Virginia City on June 1, 1865. Three days later he went to Butte, where the sole signs of civilization were twelve men washing dirt in the creek and two cabins. That season he passed in mining there with fair success, and then went to · French gulch, Deer Lodge county, worked until September, 1866, and "went broke." He then, with a partner, worked the placers at Highland gulch successfully until 1870, when he removed to Cedar creek, made some money and remained until September, 1871, when lie located in Gallatin

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PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

valley and secured the homestead where he is now living, near West Gallatin river, one mile from Salesville, where he is developing one of the finest estates to be seen in many a mile of distance. Here he has 310 acres of well irrigated land, upon which he raises bounteous crops of wheat, barley, oats and hay. He enjoys the hearty friendship and re- spect of the best people of the valley. On March 7, 1859, Mr. Le Beau married Miss Mary Ploudre, daughter of Edward Ploudre, of Three Rivers, Quebec. Their only child, Peter Arthur, is dead, while his mother also passed from earth on Febru- ary 1, 1862. Near Mr. Le Beau's residence is a large pond which he has stocked with 30,000 trout that are amply provided with food by the crawfish which swarm in the pond. It is his intention to ship from this pond to the city markets in the near future 50,000 trout annually.

J JOSEPH S. LEITEL is numbered among the en- terprising farmers and stockgrowers of Lewis and Clarke county, his ranch being located in the Prickly Pear valley, nine miles north of Helena. Mr. Leitel is a native of Bavaria, Germany, where he was born on March 9, 1863, the son of Michael and Monacka Leitel, who emigrated from the Fatherland in 1873, located in Carroll county, Iowa, and there continued to reside until 1881, when they removed to Los Angeles, Cal., which has since been their home, the father devoting his attention to agricultural pursuits. Both are devout members of the Catholic church. Joseph S. Leitel received his education in the common schools of his native land and assisted his father in his farming operations until attaining the age of twenty-two years. In 1887 he located in the state of Washington, and was employed in a logging camp for eight months, removing thence to Helena, Mont., where he pre- empted a claim of eighty acres nine miles north of the city, and devoted his attention to farming and stockraising, making excellent improvements on his ranch.

In politics he gives his allegiance to the Demo- cratic party ; in religion he and his wife are mem- bers of the Catholic church. On September 30, 1890, Mr. Leitel was united in marriage to Miss Louisa Yunz, who was born in Switzerland, the daughter of Urs and Louisa Yunz. The father em- igrated from Switzerland in 1882, his wife having died in 1880. He is a carpenter by trade, and has

devoted his attention to work in this line. To Mr. and Mrs. Leitel four children have been born, two being deceased-Clara and an infant son; the two surviving are Eugene C. and Georgiana.

J AMES T. LEE, who is recognized as one of the leaders in the Montana sheep industry, now re- sides at Great Falls. He was born on Septem- ber 18, 1855, at Kansas City, Mo. His father was born on March 8, 1808, in Yorkshire, England, where for fourteen years he was engaged in ministerial labors and coming to the United States and locating at St. Louis, Mo., in 1850. He joined the Missouri conference, and was first stationed at Kansas City. In 1854 he married Mrs. Mary Ann Perkins, nee Cook, born on June 21, 1818, in Salem county, Mo. She was the niece of Capt. John Cook, the eminent Eng- lish navigator. Rev. Mr. Lee died on March 12, 1872, his wife surviving him until November 10, 1888.

James T. Lee received his early education in Kansas City, and supplemented this after the death of his father by one year's attendance at Lewis College at Glasgow, Mo. In 1873 he and his mother went fifteen miles south of Kansas City to a farm, where for two years he worked for wages and later he conducted farming on his own account with fair success. In 1878 he embarked on the steamer Red Cloud for Fort Benton, Mont. He was forty-three days on the journey, and upon reaching his temporary destination he hired a wagon to haul his trunks to Sun River Crossing. With the other men of the party he walked the entire distance. On May 20 of that year he went to Chestnut valley to visit his half-brother, a wealthy cattleraiser, and finally entered his em- ployment and in June, 1878, he took charge of his ranch and business until 1881.

Mr. Lee then went to Sand coulee, and took up a pre-emption claim, which he began to improve into a productive ranch. As illustrative of what labor this involved it may be mentioned that he hauled the lumber necessary to build four miles of fence, a house and stock buildings twenty-five miles. In 1882 Mr. Lee made a visit to Kansas City, where he purchased quite an amount of furniture and farm implements, and, on his return to Montana, built a six-room frame house on his

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ranch. In 1883 he made an application to have township No. 20, range 4 east, surveyed, which was done in the spring of 1884. That fall he pur- chased 1,000 sheep at Pendleton, Ore., and shipped them to Montana. Upon unloading them at Horse Plains, for feeding purposes, 400 were poisoned and died, the remaining 600 were brought to Sand Coulee and in 1887 had increased 3,000 head. In October, 1890, he sold his sheep, then numbering 6,400 head, for $18,240. He then engaged in real estate, buying considerable city property and also· more land, turning the latter into a hay ranch. In 1892 he bought the Great Falls livery barn, which property he retained until 1897. Since then he has confined himself to the superintendence of his ranches.

The Montana life of Mr. Lee has been eminently successful. He is a selfmade man, who while he has encountered obstacles, has by force of char- acter and superior business ability, overcome them all and gained a considerable share of prosperity.

On January 13, 1884, Mr. Lee was united in mar- riage to Miss Ella Belle, of Utica, Ohio, daughter of James and Nancy Belle. Her father died in 1858 and her mother now lives in Great Falls. Mr. Lee's home is graced with the presence of his two daugh- ters, Anna Bell, born on March 12, 1885, and Bes- sie, born January 13, 1889.

P ATRICK H. LUDDY, of Jefferson City, Mont., one of the successful mining operators of the state, is essentially and pre-eminently a self-made man. His pathway through life, for a considerable portion of it at least, has been strewn with obstacles and difficulties, but with manly self-reliance, con- tinuous perseverance and commendable energy, he has overcome thein and won in his fight with ad- verse circumstances a substantial and highly gratify- ing triumph. His parents were William and Bridget (Pendergrast) Luddy, both natives of Ireland, who emigrated to America in 1825, and settled in Troy, N. Y., where their son, Patrick H. Luddy, was born on January 1, 1847, one of nine children. He was an early arrival in Montana, and from that time he has been actively engaged in mining and other business ventures. At present one of his lead- ing properties is the Benecia Shea mine, a very val- nable possession located two miles west of Jefferson City. In this city in which he makes his home, Mr. Luddy has one of the most attractive and admired residences in the county.

Mr. Luddy has been deeply interested in the wel- fare of the county and state in which he has taken up his residence, and has given much of his time and energy to local public affairs. He has been for a number of years a prominent member of the Jef- ferson City school board, and in 1898 was elected to the lower house of the state legislature. In the ensuing session he took an intelligent part in the proceedings and gave his constituents good ser- vice. He was united in marriage with Miss Rose Daley, a native of Maryland, the marriage having occurred in Schuylerville, N. Y., on October 13, 1876. They are the parents of five children, Wil- liam, Frederick, Josie, Rose and John. In fra- ternal relations Mr. Luddy is allied with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Politically he is an ardent and zealous Democrat, and to that party has given loyal and faithful service, both in the ranks of its workers and as a candidate and chosen repre- sentative.

M ORTIMER N. LEASE, one of the leading con- tractors and builders of Great Falls, and thus identified with an enterprise which has important bearing upon the industrial progress and substan- tial upbuilding of any community, is distinctly one of the progressive young business men of the city. Mr. Lease is a native of Forest City, Mo., born on May 10, 1869, the son of Tobias and Mary ( Powe) Lease. His father, a native of Virginia, accompan- ied his parents to Ohio when he was a small boy. After his school days he learned the carpenter's trade, and upon attaining maturity removed to Mis- souri, where he worked at his trade until the out- break of the Civil war, when, in 1861, he enlisted in the Union army, in Company F, Thirty-third Mis- souri Infantry. On December 16, 1864, he was wounded at Nashville, Tenn., and was then dis- charged by reason of disability. Returning to his home in Missouri, he there engaged in agriculture and merchandising until his death, on December 28, 1898. His wife still maintains her home in Forest City.

Mortimer N. Lease attended the public schools of his native town, and upon attaining the age of nineteen entered upon a three-years apprenticeship at the carpenter trade, under the effective direction of his brother, Newton T. Lease. In 1888 he came to Cascade, Mont., where he worked at his trade

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until 1890, when he came to Great Falls and en- tered the employ of his brother Newton, with whom he remained until 1896, when he himself began con- tracting and building. Mr. Lease has met with excellent success, and is known to be ever faithful to the terms of a contract and to utilize only the most straightforward business methods. He erected the Boston Heights school building, the North Side fire station, the Minot block, the Thompson block, the Taylor hotel, and a large number of private dwellings in Great Falls, and his business is con- stantly expanding through his energetic and well directed efforts. In political matters Mr. Lease maintains an independent attitude, giving his sup- port to the men and measures which his judgment best endorses. Fraternally he is identified with the Odd Fellows, retaining membership at Cascade.

On July 20, 1892, Mr. Lease was united in mar- riage with Miss Catharine Munro, a daughter of Hugh Munro. She was born in Elgin county, Ont. Of this union have come two children, Belle May and Clista Lizzie.

T `HOMAS LEWIS, now practically retired from active business life, maintains his residence in the attractive city of Bozeman. He is a native of the state of Ohio, where he was born in 1842, the son of John and Naney Lewis, who emigrated from Wales about the year 1838, settling first in Ohio, whenee they removed to Missouri when our subject was a mere child. There the mother died, and within a short time afterward the boy was doubly bereaved, his father dying at Emporia, Kan. Thus at a very early age Mr. Lewis was left dependent upon his own resources. His schol- astic advantages were meagre in the extreme, at- tending the district school in a desultory way until he was nine years of age, since which time it has never been his privilege to enter a school-house as a student. He began work at the early age of ten, and at thirteen figured as a full-fledged "hired man," working by the day or month at any kind of farm labor he was fortunate enough to secure, and the courageous qualities thus early developed have been the dominating characteris- tics of the man. In 1859 Mr. Lewis determined to try his fortune in the west, and as the Pike's Peak country was attracting much attention he made his way thither. That he had to endure periods of

ill-luck is true, but, like the true philosopher, well knew that the pathway to success is not strewn with flowers, hence his experience at Pike's Peak was not an unsatisfactory one. In reference thereto he says : "After I 'got broke' I was glad to return to old Missouri." There he remained until the spring of 1863, working industriously and saving his wages, being still convinced that he could win success in the west, to which he decided to return. Securing his outfit at St. Joseph, Mo., he set forth on the weary journey across the plains to Mon- tana, driving four mules. The trip consumed nine- ty-three days, and in the spring of 1866 he arrived in Gallatin valley, which has since practically been his home, although in 1864-5 he was engaged in mining in Alder gulch, near Virginia City, and also about two miles below the site of the present city of Butte, then marked only by a few log cabins. In the spring of 1866 Mr. Lewis came to Bozeman, where he was employed in a saw mill and at other work until the fall of 1868, when he rented and operated a threshing machine during the season. In the following spring he traded his outfit for a farm, with erops all in, disposing of this property after harvest. In 1870 he resumed mining opera- tions, but in the spring following he assumed the management of a ranch in Gallatin county. In 1872 he took charge of a wagon train for the firm of Willson & Rich, with whom he remained until the fall of 1877, when he purchased the mules and wagons and continued operations in freighting during one season. He seems to have had the Yankee facility of driving a good bargain, being always ready to sell out or buy, usually profiting by the transaction. Thus, in 1878, he sold his wagon train and purchased an interest in the mercantile business of Gen. Willson in Boze- man, this association continuing about a year, when he gave another evidence of his business versatility. In 1880 he was associated with Maj. l'ease in a trading post at the mouth of the Still- water river. In 1881 he took over 600 head of cattle to the Chicago market, being associated in this enterprise with J. H. Wells. In the spring of 1882 he entered into partnership with L. H. Carey, and began the manufacturing of brick at Bozeman. After his marriage Mr. Lewis felt that for the first time he was in a position to assume a fixed habitation, and in the fall of 1883 he pur- chased the interest of the junior partner of the firm of Willson & Rich, conducting a grocery busi- ness until the succeeding fall, when the partner-

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ship was dissolved by mutual consent. On the organization of the Bozeman National Bank he became a member of its directorate, and upon re- tiring from the grocery business he was chosen vice-president of the bank, resigning this office and disposing of his stock in the fall of 1888. Since that time he has been practically retired, though his extensive real estate and financial inter- ests still engross much of his time and attention. A life of so marked activity could scarcely merge into one of absolute quietude, and Mr. Lewis is, in the truest sense, still to be considered as one of the world's workers, as he will doubtless be until the close of his long and useful life. In 1890 he purchased his present beautiful home in Bozeman, and here enjoys that reward which is not denied to those who have a true regard for the dignity of honest toil and integrity of purpose.

In politics Mr. Lewis has always given his sup- port to the Democratic party, his first presidential vote having been cast in favor of Grover Cleve- land; and while he has always manifested reluct- ance to accept public office of any description, he has not been entirely able to avoid public respon- sibilities. In 1889 he was appointed a member of the board of county commissioners of Gallatin county to fill a vacancy, and such was that body's appreciation of the value of his counsel and prac- tical business methods, that he was elected chair- man of the board. In the spring of 1896 he was elected a member of the municipal council of Bozeman. Mr. Lewis is a valued mem- ber of the State Pioneers' Society, and in 1894 he was chosen first vice-president of the local county organization. Fraternally he is a mem- ber of the Masonic order, and he and his family are regular attendants of the Protestant Episcopal church. It has been well said that "His record as a man of honor is untarnished, and wherever he is known his word is as good as a gold bond." On July 16, 1882, Mr. Lewis was united in mar- riage to Miss Kate N. Martin, a daughter of Judge Josephus P. Martin, of whom individual mention is made on other pages of this work. They are the parents of one daughter, Edna, who is now a student in the State University at Boze- man. Mrs. Lewis is a graduate of the California State Normal School at San Jose, in the public schools of which she was a teacher for five years, also teaching in the Bozeman schools two terms prior to her marriage.

H UGH S. LEWIS .- The ancestry of the sub- ject of this narrative was of good Welsh stock long serviceable in the civil and military history of that country. His father, John Lewis, emigrated from there to the United States when a young man, settling at Rome, New York, where his widow, Elizabeth (Morris) Lewis, also a native of Wales, still lives, and where their son Hugh was born January 25, 1863. The father was an industrious farmer, pursuing that occupation with success until his death in 1876.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 24

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