Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 27

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 27

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PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

in January, 1877, by the supreme court of the territory, and within a remarkably short time se- cured a large and profitable clientage ; and so well was he equipped in both the theory and the prac- tice of the law, that he at once took rank as one of the ablest and most successful attorneys and counsellors in the whole northwest. In 1869 he was elected a member of the territorial legislature for the counties of Missoula and Deer Lodge; but there being some doubt of the legality of the ses- sion which followed he did not attend. In 1892 he was nominated by the Democratic party of his county for the office of judge of the Fourth judicial district of the state, and was elected over- two competitors by a handsome plurality. In 1896 he was again nominated and elected by a hand- some majority to the same office for another term of four years. His record on the bench was but a logical sequence of his long and distinguished public service. It is a veritable thread of gold in the jurisprudence of the state, and a pleasure to the sight of all who know him.

In 1871 Judge Woody was married to Miss Liz- zie Countryman, a native of California, daughter of Horace and Elizabeth Countryman, but at the time a resident of Missoula, where the nuptials were celebrated. They have one son and two daughters, namely: Frank, Alice M. and Flora P. Woody, all of whom are still living at Missoula.

Nearly fifty years of toil and triumph for the state tell the story of his life. It is a record worthy the pride of any mortal man, and it involves a duty well performed in every line of work. The Judge has met all the due demands in every sphere, and by his merit dignified his guild. Every public office he has filled brought credit to himself and profit to his kind ; in legal forums he has won just honors and high rank; commercial life has felt his potent hand in fostering and developing affairs; and in social circles he has ever been an orna- ment, a tonic and a guide. The people he has served know not among them all a truer, nobler, manlier man.

D AVID BLAIR MCCRACKEN .- A fine speci- men of the sturdy Scotch race, with the char- acteristic energy and push of that people, David Blair McCracken, of Laurel, Mont., by persever- ance, intelligence, skill and diligence, is working out his own fortune and destiny in the new world

when, if he chose, he could enjoy the luxuries of life in the old. He was born in Ayr, Scotland, De- cember 20, 1863, the son of Prof. John and Esther (Blair) McCracken, and grandson of Rev. Andrew McCracken and Sir Edward Blair, of the same town. His ancestors on his father's side were of noble ancestry and went from Norway to Scotland in 1218. The Blairs are among the oldest, best known and most famous families in Scotland. Their estate, known as Blarquhan, is entailed and has been in the family for many centuries, and their lineage is recorded in Burke's Peerage. The grandfather McCracken was a preacher in the old established church until the disruption in 1843, in which he was a leader, and after that he became a leader in the Free Church of Scotland, and re- mained one until his death in 1872. He and his wife, nee Wilson, were both born in 1801. She died in the early 'sixties. Mr. McCracken's father was a practicing physician until 1875, when he ac- cepted the professorship of physics in the Univer- sity of Edinburgh, which he held until his death in 1890, and in which he was associated with Prof. Mackie, LL.D., of Dublin University .. He was one of Scotland's leading men of letters, and received the degree of LL.D. from the University of Edin- burgh. At his death he left a family of two sons and one daughter. One of these sons was the Rev. Thomas McCracken, a distinguished divine of Stobhill, Edinburgh, who died in 1883. The daugh- ter was married to Arthur Balfour, a barrister of Glasgow. She died in 1882 by accident, having been thrown from her horse while hunting with a party of members of the Ayr Hunt Club.

David Blair McCracken received his elementary education in the public schools of Ayr, and later entered the University of Edinburgh, from which he was graduated in 1881 with the degrees of A. M., A. F., and P. F. G. K. The last is a degree in an agricultural course conducted in the Royal Ag- ricultural Hall. At the time of his graduation he was the youngest man who had ever been gradu- ated from the institution with such honors. After leaving the university he became land steward for the Marquis of Aisle, a position which placed him second in authority over the immense landed es- tates of the Marquis, which yield an income of $485,000 a year. Mr. McCracken held this posi- tion for seven years and a half. He then visited Canada as a commissioner and emigrant agent for the Dominion government, and in the discharge of his duties made a trip through the Canadian north-

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west which lasted three months. At the end of this he returned to his former position and re- mained in it until 1889, when, in company with Walter Clifford, the second son of Lord Clifford, he returned to Canada. They had large capital and practically unlimited backing, and locating at Star Buck, Manitoba, they took up a large tract of land and engaged extensively in raising cattle and wheat. Later they formed the Roblin Milling Co., of Winnipeg, with mills and elevators at Winni- peg, Brandon, Austin and Mooseman. The finan- cial depression coming on soon after, this enter- prise proved unsuccessful and Mr. Clifford re- turned to Scotland. Mr. McCracken, however, concluded to remain in America, and came to Mon- tana. He passed two years at Glendive in the cat- tle business, then sold out and removed to a ranch of 320 acres in Yellowstone county, near Park City, where he has since been extensively engaged in raising cattle and also conducting a large freight- ing outfit. He is now ( 1902) making a survey for a ditch from the Yellowstone, which will be fifteen miles in length and carry a large volume of water. Mr. McCracken has frequently been solicited to return to his native land and associate himself in business with his former friends, but he prefers to remain in America and make his own way in the world. He is a man of resolute perseverance and great energy, and is winning a gratifying success in his operations.

H ON. JOHN MACGINNISS .- Nature is no laggard in her work and seldom does things by halves. When she has a special work to do she provides a man for the purpose, and when the man is ready for the work, if need be, she has at his hand the lieutenants he may require for its execu- tion. To Caesar she gave Mark Antony and La- bienus; to Napoleon, Lefebvre and Ney; to Wash- ington, Knox and Hamilton. And in our day, in a less ambitious sphere, she has given John Mac- Ginniss, of Butte, to Mr. Heinze, whom we have called elsewhere in this work one of the great captains of industry. Mr. MacGinniss was born at Homer, Iowa, October 10, 1867, and in early life removed to Chicago. After his graduation from a Chicago high school he was employed as a stenographer and bookkeeper in a wholesale hard- ware and mining supply house, and later became its western traveling representative, in which capacity

he continued to serve until 1890, when he resigned his position, came to Montana, and was made man- ager of the Tuttle Manufacturing & Supply Com- pany, of Anaconda. He remained with this com- pany three years, and then removed to Butte to take the management of the Thompson Falls Land & Lumber Company. When that company sold out to the Bitter Root Development Company in 1894, he entered the employ of the Montana Ore Purchasing Company as purchasing agent and ore buyer, and in 1895 was made its vice-president and manager. In that capacity he has aided materially in enlarging its powers, multiplying its resources, ·systematizing its work, and generally promoting its interests. For he does not confine himself to office duties or matters of general adminstration, but, having a genius for details in large measure, gives to every phase and feature of the business his personal attention. He is familiar with all branches of mine and smelter work, and capable of performing and directing others in performing any part of either. In 1896 he co-operated with Mr. Heinze and others in the development of the Rossland mining district in British Columbia, and thereby became vice-president and assistant man- ager of the British Columbia Smelting and Refin- ing Company. This company made possible and helped bring about the great development of the mines of that country. Before the erection of its smelter in that section, only such ores as would stand transportation to Montana or Tacoma could be mined with profit. While connected with the affairs of this company he was also purchasing agent for the Columbia & Western Railroad, and was actively engaged in its construction and opera- tion until the Heinze interests were sold to the Canadian Pacific. During his career in the Can- adian province he had much to do with the gov- ernment forces in the provincial legislature, in se- curing rights and franchises for the railroad, and also with the banking interests of eastern Canada. The broadening and actuating effects of these various duties to him in new and untried fields of intellectual effort, have been demonstrated in his subsequent career in Montana politics and legisla- tion. Given the faculties in any line and respon- sibility therein educates rapidly. Mr. MacGinniss had the needed faculties, and his Canadian experi- ences and · responsibilities soon made thiem sub- servient to his will and fruitful of good results for the interests he had in charge. He has also been engaged in litigation on a scale of magnitude.

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In the suit of MacGinniss & Forrester against the Boston & Montana Copper Company, beginning in 1898, the plaintiffs secured a judgment, a fee of $50,000 was awarded to their lawyers, and the re- ceiver appointed in the case was allowed fees amounting to $200,000 with $34,000 for expenses. This case has been to the supreme court oftener than any other in the history of Montana litigation. In 1901 a new suit, on much the same grounds as the former, was brought by Mr. MacGinnis alone. It is entitled MacGinniss vs. the Boston & Mon- tana Copper Company, and is being vigorously prosecuted. In addition to the interests already enumerated with which he is connected, Mr. Mac- Ginniss is vice-president of the Nipper Copper Mining Company, which operates the Nipper, the L. E. R., the Parnell and the Cora mines ; and he and ex-Gov. Rickards are operating the Polaris mine in Beaverhead county. He is a member of the Montana Society of Engineers, and takes great interest in everything practical or technical con- nected with mines and mining. He has been for years in close and direct contact with labor from day to day and under almost every variety of cir- cumstances. He has learned its needs and is in deep and earnest sympathy with it and in every forum where he has had opportunity he has cham- pioned the cause of the toilers in mine and smelter, and so vigorously and wisely that he has secured for them substantial benefits in legislation and otherwise. He was the originator of the eight- hour movement in their behalf, and as a member of the Miners' Union committee did such effective work that both Mr. Heinze and Senator Clark agreed to an eight-hour day for the workmen, as announced at the twenty-second annual meeting of the Butte Miners' Union at the Butte opera house on June 13, 1900. This movement resulted in the success, at the election of 1900, of the Demo- cratic-Labor legislative ticket, on which Mr. Mac- Ginniss was a candidate, and the enactment of a suitable law on the subject at the ensuing session of the legislature. A resolution was enthusiastic- ally passed by the Butte Miners' Union thanking him for his services in this behalf.

In politics Mr. MacGinnis is an ardent Demo- crat, and has served his party well in the ranks and in conspicuous and responsible positions. In the Democratic national convention of 1900 he was Montana's national committeeman, and was large- ly instrumental in securing the seating of the regu- lar Democratic delegates from Montana. His

majority that fall as a candidate for the lower house of the Montana legislature was more than 8,000 votes, and in the session that followed he sur- prised and delighted his friends and discomfited his enemies by his readiness, directness and force in debate, his shrewdness, resourcefulness and skill as a tactician, his aggressive yet courtly character as a fighter, and his diplomatic ma- nipulation of all elements to the ends he had in view. His fight for the United States sen- atorship, in which he held up the election un- til the last night of the session, is one of the most remarkable exhibitions of parliamentary adroitness known to our history. In business relations and in private life he is one of the most accessible and obliging of men, although one of the busiest. However oppressed, or one might say, over- whelmed, with the multitude of matters which claim his attention, he can always find time to lis- ten to a miner or laborer who may have a grievance or need assistance ; to confer with a man on busi- ness, or to exchange a pleasant word with a friend or acquaintance; and to all alike he is affable, genial, considerate and attentive. He well de- serves the popularity he enjoys with all classes and conditions of men; for the engaging social quali- ties he exhibits toward all are the spontaneous off- spring of his generous nature and not the studied efforts of self-seeking policy or time-serving sycophancy. He is young, able, upright and sym- pathetic-such a man as the great Treasure state needs for her proper development, and for such she has in store ample rewards and worthy honors.

W TILLIAM WESLEY McCALL, one of the most enterprising and wide-awake business men in Whitehall, Jefferson county, was born in Millersburg, Holmes county, Ohio, on November 15, 1845, the son of Thomas and Mary (Otis) Mc- Call. The father was born on the shores of Chesa- peake bay, Maryland, in 1792. The mother was a native of Ireland and the paternal grandfather was John McCall, a native of Scotland, who had emigrated early to Maryland. Thomas McCall, the father of W. W. McCall, removed from Mary- land to Ohio, and engaged in farming in Holmes county. In 1846 he went to Iowa, where he was a prosperous farmer, dying in 1864.

W. W. McCall was reared and educated in Iowa, and here he engaged in farming until 1866. Then

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he was twenty-one years old and turned his face toward Montana. He came to Ireton by train and thence by coach to Council Bluffs. At that time the Indians were threatening and troublesome, and he was detained at Fort Kearney until enough people had gathered to form a self-protecting train. When 130 men had arrived at the fort the train was made up and started across the plains for Montana. On reaching Big Horn they had three cattle stolen and not by Indians. They were found in the possesion of a Frenchman. No ques- tions were asked, but the Frenchman was quiet- ly and expeditiously hanged. The train then con- tinued on its way and was not molested by the Indians nor had any more cattle stolen. It reached Alder gulch on August 9, 1866, and here Mr. Mc- Call engaged in ranching for two years at the mouth of the gulch. In 1868 he purchased a ranch three miles below Silver Star, where he was pros- pered and remained until 1875. This ranch he bought from Israel Davis, and one day R. O. Hickman, who had worked for Davis, came in bare-headed, and told McCall that a road agent had attempted to hold him up, and he had shot at him and missed him. He then demanded possession of the ranch, saying it was his claim and that he had built a cabin on it, but Mr. McCall declined to give it up, and after explaining the details of his purchase, Hickman renounced his claim.

In 1875 Mr. McCall removed to Butte, engaged in teaming and was also the proprietor of the Cen- tennial boarding house. Here for three consecu- tive weeks he daily drove nine miles, chopped two cords of wood, returned and delivered the wood. This broke all previous records of the millmen and was considered a performance not likely to be eclipsed. In 1878 he removed to Fish creek, where lie profitably engaged in farming and stockraising until 1880, when he purchased the Half-way house, on the Little Pipestone, of which he continued pro- prietor until 1885, when he removed to Silver Star. Here he engaged extensively in the meat business, having shops at Silver Star, Twin Bridges and Sheridan and also bought a hay ranch. In 1889 he sold all these enterprises and removed to White- hall, his present home. Here he soon opened the first hotel of the place. He also went into mer- chandising, starting a general store which, in 1892, he sold to W. M. Fergus and the hotel to Henry Schmidt. Then engaging in the livery business for eighteen months, he sold this also and entered into partnership with Noble & Noble in butcher-

ing. This was continued one year and then for two years he was engaged in a brick-making en- terprise. In March, 1898, he again became a ho- tel proprietor, and later removed to the Jefferson hotel and restaurant, where he has a most lucrative and successful trade. A new building was recently completed, giving fifteen additional rooms.

On March 16, 1873, Mr. McCall was united in marriage to Miss Celeste Grace Jordan, born on January 21, 1854, at Joaquin, Cal. She is the daughter of Harrison Jordan, of Pleasant Valley, Mont., especial mention of whom is made on other pages of this work. Mr. and Mrs. McCall have seven children, Ernest R., married Miss Annie R. Houghton, and living at Whitehall; Ida Maude, now Mrs. F. E. Houghton, living in Whitehall; Fay E., now in business in Whitehall; Chester G., Floyd H., Pearl Blanche and Ethel Lucile. For three years Mr. McCall has been a school trustee, while fraternally he is a member of the United Workmen, Freemasons and Odd Fellows, in which body he has passed the chairs. Mrs. McCall is a member of the Eastern Star and of the Daughters of Rebekah. Mr. McCall came to Montana when it was necessary for a man to take his life in his hands on the long and perilous trip, and has de- voted himself diligently to the improvement of the advantages offered here so lavishly, and he has achieved success. He has gained many friends and, with the characteristics of the old-timers, he is highly esteemed, and also numbers many new friends in a wide and pleasant range of acquaint- ance.

JAMES D. McCAMMAN .- The old Keystone state figures as the birthplace of the venerable and highly honored Montana pioneer whose name initiates this paragraph; and in his attractive home in Bozeman he is enjoying a measure of rest from active cares after a long life of useful endeavor that has brought a success worthy the name, since it has been achieved by indefatigable effort and fos- tered by an inflexible integrity of purpose. In the agnatic line Mr. McCamman traces his ancestry to Scottish origin ; in the maternal line the stock is of pure German extraction, the original American ancestors having emigrated in the early pioneer epoch. Mr. McCamman was born in Mercer county, Pa., on January 30, 1822, the son of John and Sarah (Wagner) McCamman, natives of Penn- sylvania. The father with his family removed to

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Ohio, where he and his wife passed the residue of their days, the father attaining the age of more than four score, and the revered mother passing away at the age of eighty-three.

James D. McCamman was reared under the wholesome influences of the old homestead, at- tending the public schools until he reached the age of eighteen, when he began to learn the tailor's trade. He became skilled in all its details, and in 1845 removed to Charlotte, Mich., where he was employed at his trade until the fall of the following year, when he was elected clerk of Eaton county, and served with signal efficiency. In 1850 he re- turned to Ohio, and from there started on the long and weary overland trip to California at the time when the memorable gold excitement was at its height. The journey was a difficult and tedious one, but he finally arrived at his destination. After three years spent in mining and working on a stock farm he returned to Ohio and thence to Michigan, locating at Battle Creek, where was solemnized on February 15, 1853, his marriage to Miss Melvina Rice, who became the mother of three children, all of whom are now married and established in homes of their own. Mr. McCam- man has ten grandchildren. His second marriage was consummated December 31, 1891, to Nannie J. Steele. He remained in Battle Creek until 1860, and then removed to Charlotte, Mich., where he was engaged in the tailoring business until 1864, when he came to Montana, locating in Virginia City. He there engaged in mining for several months, but in 1865 he settled on land in Gallatin county, taking up government claims on what is now known as Mc- Camman creek, so named in his honor, he being the first settler on the creek. Here he engaged in active farming and stockraising, as one of the pioneers in this line in Montana, and still retains possession of the old homestead.

In 1875 Mr. McCamman was appointed county treasurer of Gallatin county, and removed to Boze- man, which has since been his home, and which he has seen advance from a mere hamlet to a popu- lous and thriving little city of most attractive or- der. At the election of 1876 he was chosen as his own successor in office, serving three years, and was then tendered the nomination for representative of his county in the territorial legislature, an honor which he declined. He was re-elected on an inde- pendent ticket as county treasurer, and his entire term of service in this responsible office aggre- gated five years and nine months. His administra-

tion of the finances of the county was signally able and conservative, and gained the endorsement of all classes, regardless of political affiliations. Mr. McCamman's first presidential vote was cast for James K. Polk, and he is now as ever a stalwart supporter of the Democratic party. His first home in Montana was a diminutive log house, 14x16 feet in dimensions, with dirt floor-a dwelling radically dissimilar to his present beautiful cottage home in Bozeman, erected in 1879, and Mr. McCam- man was the first secretary and the treasurer of the new Gallatin County Pioneer Society on its re-organization in 1894, and he is one of its valued members and when the local grange of the Patrons of Husbandry was first organized many years ago, he was the first master. He stands as one of the most honored pioneers of Gal- latin county, has ever been ready to aid in forward- ing all worthy enterprises and projects for the pub- lic good, and no man in Bozeman is held in higher veneration and esteem.

D J. MCCARTHY, of Canton, Broadwater coun- ty, one of the prominent and successful mer- chants of this locality, first came to Montana in 1882. His business career has been prosperous from the first, and he is now very largely interested in a valuable ranch as well as in the general store he so judiciously conducts. Mr. McCarthy was born at Brasher Falls, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., on April 15, 1858. He is a son of Jeremiah McCarthy, a native of Ireland, who emigrated in 1847 and located at Brasher Falls, where he re- sided until his death at the advanced age of ninety- three years.

D. J. McCarthy was educated at Brasher Falls, and in 1882 came to Montana and located in Broad- water county. He immediately commenced work- ing at ranching for wages, and within a short time after his arrival he purchased a ranch in partner- ship with one Jerry Mahoney, the partnership con- tinuing pleasurable and profitably until March, 1898, when Mr. McCarthy sold his interest and opened the general store, and in connection with this he conducts another ranch, and is prominently engaged in raising hay. On September 19, 1889. Mr. McCarthy was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Murray, a daughter of Thomas Murray, and a native of Macomb, McDonough county, Ill. They have five children, Lynn Joseph, Louise Jane,

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Vincent, Anna Marie and Irene Cecelia. Politi- cally Mr. McCarthy is a Democrat, and in 1884 he was elected constable and served four years, while he has been clerk of the school board for the past six years, postmaster since 1888 and also member of the Democratic county central committee, and socially he is a member of the United Workmen. His career in Montana has been eminently suc- cessful. He has won his way by great industry and sagacity in business affairs and most certainly deserves the high position which he has attained socially and in business.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 27

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