Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 29

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 29

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JAMES McGRAW. - From County Down, Ireland, where he was born August 28, 1844, to Rosebud county, Mont., where he now lives, is a wide sweep of longitude, but it was bravely com- passed; and the steady advance from poverty to affluence, with its variety of incidents of adventure and experience, has well shown the wisdom of our subject. Mr. McGraw is the son of Richard and Grace (Wilson) McGraw, natives of Ireland, where the latter died in 1853. Two years later the father brought his family to the United States, located near Leavenworth, Kan., and engaged in farming until his death, which occurred in 1883. His son,

our immediate subject, remained at home assisting on the farm and attending the neighboring district schools as he had opportunity until he was nearly nineteen years of age. In 1862 he took service with a government outfit from Leavenworth to Fort Union, N. M., driving a mule team, returning home in October of the same year. He then bought a freighting outfit and followed the busi- ness from Leavenworth until the fall of 1864, hav- ing Forts Riley, Harney, Dodge, Larned and Kearney, and the cities of Julesburg, Denver and others on his route. In 1864 he joined the Union army at Kansas City as a member of the Nine- teenth Kansas Cavalry, under Gen. Blunt, and was discharged from the service November 26th of the same year at the same place. He then resumed freighting for a few months, and in 1866 rented a farm near Leavenworth, but in 1867 went to freighting again. Soon after starting out he and his companions had one day's fight with the Indians at Little Blue river, Neb., the Indians capturing his outfit. On July 4 he was again attacked by the Sioux near Julesburg, Colo., and had a stubborn fight with them. After this he went to North Platte and furnished ties for the Union Pacific Railroad. He had another encounter with the Sioux that fall, in which six of his party of ten were killed. In 1868 he hauled supplies for the Union Pacific from Green river to Fort Bridger, Utah, and the next year went to Fort McPherson, Neb., where he participated in a severe battle between a big war party of Sioux and Cheyennes, in which eighty volunteer citizens under "Buffalo Bill" (William Cody), the scout, and several companies of United States troops, all under Col. Carrington, were engaged. From 1870 to 1873 he was en- gaged in freighting in the Indian Territory and Texas; in the summer of 1873 he was employed on construction work on the Texas Pacific Rail- road from Longview to Dallas; later he took a contract on the Arkansas Central, at Pine Bluffs, Ark .; and again, while engaged on a contract on the Texas Central, his mule teams were stolen, and he abandoned railroad work and engaged in the sawmill and lumbering business in eastern Texas for the next three years. In 1877 he went to the Big Horn mountains, Custer county, Mont., and located a ranch on Sand creek, where he en- gaged in prospecting for gold and hunting buffalo from 1878 to 1881. The following spring he re- moved to Big Porcupine creek, six miles from For- syth, Rosebud county, where he has since made his

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home. In addition to his home ranch of 200 acres, Mr. McGraw has 320 acres in Froze-to-Death bot- tom, 160 acres on the Yellowstone river and 2,000 acres on Little Porcupine, forty miles north of Forsyth. He devotes his attention entirely to raising cattle and hay, being one of the most ex- tensive producers in this part of Montana.

Politically he is a Republican, but is not active in party affairs. He was married at Fort Keogh, July 26, 1881, to Miss Rose McKay, a native of County Antrim, Ireland, where she was born in 1847. They have six children, namely : John, aged nineteen ; Henry, seventeen ; Mary, James, Thomas and Anna. Through his sterling qualities he has steadily grown in the esteem and regard of his fel- lowmen. While he devotes his time and energies to his ranches and other business interests he has not neglected those duties which belong to the household, as is evidenced. by his handsome resi- dence in Forsyth, occupied by the family in order that his children may have better school facilities than are attainable in the country. This is a cen- ter of pleasing and genial hospitality, and a popular resort for the hosts of friends he and Mrs. McGraw have attached to themselves.

K 'ENNETH B. McIVER, one of the enterpris- ing and successful ranchmen and stockraisers of Montana, is a resident of Great Falls. When he came into the country in 1878 there was not a building on the site of this now flourishing city, and practically he is its earliest pioneer. He was born in Winslow, Canada, on November 20, 1859. His father, Angus McIver, was a native of Scot- land, and his mother, Effie (Campbell) McIver, was also born in that country. They are dead, and on April 17, 1898, his brother Hector died in Great Falls. The other members of the family, seven brothers and sisters, still reside in Canada.

Kenneth B. McIver was raised as a farmer boy and received his education in the public schools of Winslow. When he was eighteen years of age, in 1877, he went to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he remained a year. In 1878 he came to Montana, worked for Robert Vaughn, of Sun River, for five years. However, in 1882, Mr. McIver went into business on his own account in stockraising and farming in the Sun river valley. To this he added in 1894 a profitable dairy business on Sun river, six miles west of Great Falls, and this successful

industry he has since continued. He feeds an average of 100 cows and finds a ready market for the product of his dairy in Great Falls. At pres- ent he employs nine men on the ranch. In 1890 Mr. McIver was married to Miss Viola Vaughn, at this time a resident of Chenoa, Ill., a niece of Robert Vaughn, one of the most prominent citizens of Great Falls, an individual sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. They have two children, Angus, aged eight, and Grace, aged six years. Fra- ternally Mr. McIver is a member of the Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World. In the commun- ity in which he resides and throughout Cascade county Mr. McIver has built up a substantial repu- tation for integrity and fair dealing, as well as for business tact and good judgment.

CHARLES McDONNELL is one of the sturdy sons of the Emerald Isle who, in Montana, by his progressive and well directed efforts, has gained a place among the successful stockgrowers of Sweet Grass county. Mr. McDonnell is a na- tive of County Mayo, Ireland, born on April 16, 1850, the son of John and Mary (Hefferon) Mc- Donnell, who were the parents of two sons and two daughters, and both representing stanch old Irish stock. The father was a farmer and mer- chant, so continuing until his death.

Charles McDonnell was educated in the national schools and a private academy, and devoted his attention to agriculture in Ireland until 1870, when he came to the United States, and was engaged in sheep growing in California until May, 1880, when he drove a band of sheep to Montana, going di- rectly to Big Timber creek and being the first to drive sheep over the Bozeman pass to the Yellow- stone river, this feat causing quite a sensation. In 1881 he removed to American Fork, and took up a pre-emption claim, to which he has since added until his ranch has now 26,000 acres. From the time of leaving California Mr. McDonnell has maintained a partnership with Edward Veasey, and they have had as many as 20,000 sheep at one time, and have raised hay extensively, the land being un- der most effective irrigation. The water is se- cured from two ditches, one five and the other two miles in length, and carrying respectively 1,000 and 1,500 inches of water, sufficient to properly ir- rigate three sections of land. The partners have on the ranch large bands of sheep, and give special

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attention to a cross between the Cotswold and Merino.

Mr. McDonnell is one of the progressive and successful sheep growers of the state, and has conducted operations upon an extensive scale. He is a man of marked executive ability, and his gen- ial nature and sterling character have won him the respect and friendship of all. He is enterpris- ing and public-spirited, ever ready to lend his aid to the best interests of the county and state. In politics he supports the Republican party, and fra- ternally he is an Odd Fellow.

On December 22, 1891, Mr. McDonnell was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Feeley, born in County Roscommon, Ireland, the daughter of Patrick Feeley, who still resides in Ireland. Mr. McDonnell and wife have four daughters and one son : Bella, Anna, Edith, Evaline and Alexander Ranald. The family home is a fine dwelling of modern architecture, where a gracious hospitality is dispensed.

P J. MCINTYRE .- Occupying positions of public trust and responsibility and identified with an important line of business enterprise, the subject of this review is known as one of the repre- sentative and progressive citizens of the attractive village of Havre, Choteau county, Mont., while his prestige is due to his ability and unswerving integ- rity of character. Mr. McIntyre is a native of Arnprior, Ontario, Canada, where he was born May 28, 1861, the son of Philip and Ellen (Cava- nagh) McIntyre, both of whom were natives of the Dominion of Canada, where they passed their en- tire lives, the death of each occurring in 1863, when the subject of this review was a child of but two years. The father was a wheelwright by trade, but devoted the greater portion of his life to agricul- tural pursuits. P. J. McIntyre, the subject of this sketch, was reared in his native town, completing a course of study in the local high school, where he was graduated at the age of fifteen years. Upon leaving school he entered a drug store in Arnprior and there served an apprenticeship of three years' duration and then remained two years as assistant, thus completing the practical course in pharmacy and gaining title to registration as a fully qualified pharmacist. In 1883 Mr. McIntyre removed to St. Paul, Minn., where he secured a position as bookkeeper for Langdon, Shepherd & Co., rail- road contractors, and remained with the firm for a

period of two years. From 1885 until 1891 he was individually engaged in contracting in connection with the construction of the Great Northern Rail- road in Dakota and Montana, and after the com- pletion of his contracts, in 1891, he took up his permanent residence at Havre. Within the first year of his residence here Mr. McIntyre was ap- pointed to the office of justice of the peace by the county commissioners, and as a candidate of the Democratic party he has been consecutively chosen as his own successor at each election since that time. He has been a notary public since 1894 and United States land commissioner since 1896, and in each of these positions he has shown himself to be a capable and conscientious executive, gain- ing and retaining the respect and confidence of all with whom he is thrown in contact. In 1895 Mr. McIntyre engaged in the insurance business in Havre, and he has secured a large and represent- ative clientage, being one of the most successful underwriters in this section of the state.

Politically he has taken an active interest in the cause of the Democratic party, being prominent in its local affairs and a stanch advocate of its prin- ciples and policies. Fraternally he is identified with Allendale Lodge No. 35, Knights of Pythias, and Assinniboine Lodge No. 56, I. O. O. F., at Havre. At Arnprior, Canada, in December, 1880, Mr. McIntyre was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Marten, who was born at Pembrook, Canada, in 1863, and of this union have been born two children : Emma Jane and Lauretta.

F ORESTER McGREGOR, one of the promi- nent and enterprising ranchmen of Flathead county, with a beautiful and highly productive ranch on Lake McGregor, which was named in his honor, was born at Sterlingshire, Scotland, June 21, 1836. He attended school in his native place until he was sixteen years old, and then, in 1852, came to the United States. He passed the first five years of his life in America working in the coal mining regions of Pennsylvania. In 1858 he came west to California, and for four years was engaged in prospecting and mining in that state. In 1862 he removed to the mining districts of Nevada, and remained there four years. In the summer of 1866 he visited various mining sections of Montana, but returned to Nevada in 1867, and from that time until 1881 was engaged in mining at Virginia City

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.and Gold Hill in that state. During his mining experience in California and Nevada, he was at different times the owner of valuable claims, which, however, were always disposed of at nominal prices without bringing him such fortunes as fell to the lot of James G. Fair, John Mackay, Marcus Daly, and others who were his associates and intimate acquaintances in the early mining days. In 1881 he came to Montana, and after living three years at Tobacco Plains, went to the Flathead reserva- tion, where he made his home until 1887, at which time he located his present home ranch at Little Bitter Root and Thompson rivers, on McGregor lake, adjoining the reservation. To his original 160-acre homestead he has added adjacent lands which have increased his ranch to 800 acres of good meadow and timber land, which is devoted to raising cattle and hay, his average herd of cattle being from 600 to 1,000 head. McGregor lake is a fine body of water, six miles in length by one mile in width. It affords a desirable adjunct to Mr. McGregor's ranch, which is a model in location, improvement, cultivation and pleasing variety of scenery and soil.

In politics Mr. McGregor is a Republican. In 1899, at Kalispell, he was united in marriage with Mrs. Kate Wallach, who was born in New York state in May, 1837. Her father, John T. Campbell, of Caledonia, was a pioneer in the Genesee valley, in that state, and both he and her mother (Elinore McPherson) were of distinguished Scotch lineage.

Mr. McGregor's parents, Alexander and Ellen (Henderson) McGregor, were natives of Scotland, where the former was born in 1797. He was a carpenter by trade, and after his arrival in the United States in 1852, settled in Luzerne county, Pa., and worked at his trade until his death in 1863. His wife died in Scotland in 1841.

AVID S. McLEOD, the present assessor of Gallatin county, is recognized as one of the able and representative young business men of this section of the state, and his executive ability, pro- gressive methods and sturdy integrity of character are certain to secure him a place of still greater distinction in the industrial and public activities of Montana. Mr. McLeod comes of good old Scottish ancestry in the agnatic line, and the same is true in regard to the maternal ancestry. He was born on Prince Edward's Island, Canada, on April 22, 1864, the son of William and Mary (McDou-

gal) McLeod, the former a native of Scotland, whence he came to America as a boy, accompanying his parents. The father of our subject passed the remainder of his life on the old homestead on Prince Edward's Island, where his widow still re- tains her home. They were the parents of ten children, six of whom are still living. The pater- nal grandfather of Mr. McLeod was Roderick Mc- Leod, and his maternal grandfather was Allan McDougal, both natives of Scotland.

David S. McLeod was reared on the old farm- stead in Canada, and his educational advantages were those afforded by the district schools; but his vigorous mentality has enabled him to effectively supplement the rather meagre early training. At the age of sixteen Mr. McLeod made his way to Massachusetts, for the purpose of learning the trade of a monument polisher, but at the expiration of eighteen months he came to Gallatin county, Mont., arriving in September, 1883, which has since been his home and field of operations. Here he secured work by the day and later by the month on various ranches. Finally he rented land and for five years was engaged in farming and stockraising. He then took up a claim of government land in this county, improving the same and making a fine ranch. He made additions to his landed estate from time to time, and at the present time is the owner of nearly 800 acres. His efforts have been admirably directed, and he is considered one of the most progressive ranchmen in Gallatin county.

In his political proclivities Mr. McLeod has ever been a stanch supporter of the Democratic party in his principles, and his first presidential vote was cast for Grover Cleveland, in 1892. At the election of November, 1900, his name was placed on the party ticket as a candidate for as- sessor, in which position he is now serving, having secured a flattering endorsement at the polls. He is a man of fine physique, is genial and courteous in bearing at all times, and his character shows the rugged integrity and sturdy intellectual vigor for which the fine old Scotch type is notable. He is well known and distinctly popular in Gallatin coun- ty, and is worthy of all the public honors which may be conferred upon him. On January 29, 1891, Mr. McLeod was united in marriage to Miss Daisy McBroon, who was born in Decatur county, Iowa, the daughter of Robert and Susanna (Winters) Mc- Broon, natives of Ohio, whence they removed to Iowa, where the mother passed away June 20, 1900; the father is a resident of Bozeman. The

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parents of each were numbered among the early pioneers of the old Buckeye state. Mr. and Mrs. McLeod have four sons : Elmer C., Ward S., Robert and William.

A RCHIBALD A. McMILLAN .- Leaving home at the early age of seventeen to make his own way in the world, and developing, by being thus early thrown on his own resources, breadth of view, resourcefulness and good judgment, Archi- bald A. McMillan, of Butte, has a record of con- tinuous success and progress to his credit, and has built himself up in the esteem and confidence of his fellow men while winning the smiles of fortune under adverse circumstances. He was born in Glengarry county, near Alexandria, Ont., July 18, 1853. His parents were Allen and Mary (Camp- bell) McMillan, the former born in Glengarry county, Ont., and the latter at Inverness, Scotland. The father was a farmer and died in his native place in 1878, where the mother also died in 1900.

Mr. McMillan was educated at the public schools at Alexandria, Ont., and when seventeen went to Potter county, Pa., and engaged in the lumber busi- ness for eight years. The next two he passed on the home farm in Ontario. On June 9, 1880, he located at Butte, Mont., where he established a blacksmith shop on East Park street, near Main, which he conducted for four years. He then bought property on Park and Wyoming streets and opened a grain and feed store, remaining in that business ten years, at the end of which time he closed the business, but still owns the property. At the spring election in 1895 he was elected city clerk and served two years during Mayor Thompson's ad- ministration. After the winter of 1897, passed in California, he returned to Butte and has since de- voted his attention to his extensive real estate busi- ness, erecting dwellings and business blocks on numerous valuable lots which he owns in different parts of the city, having invested largely in real es- tate when the city was in its infancy. His residence on West Granite street is a model structure, planned and mostly built by himself, and cost about $10,000. In addition to his property within the city proper he owns 160 acres on the flats, which will some day become a community of homes. In 1898 he engaged in the real estate business in partnership with John Floyd, continuing until June 1, 1901, when they sold out to Conroy & O'Brien. Mr. Mc- Millan has also numerous mining interests, includ-

ing a one-third interest in the Pacific mine located near the Columbia Gardens, Butte (which is now be- ing successfully worked), and numerous undevel- oped claims in different parts of the state. His ven- tures in real estate have always been successful and immensely profitable. He buys with judgment and sells in the same way. The bulk of his holdings were purchased when the property was very cheap, and have been kept until it has advanced enor- mously.

In politics he is a Republican, and as such repre- sented the Third ward in the city council as alder- man in 1883 and 1884, and was a member of the board of education from the First district in 1892 and 1893. He is a member of Oswego Lodge, K. of P., and Butte Lodge, A. O. U. W. On Sep- tember 21, 1897, he was united in marriage with Miss Elma L. Passmore, a native of Maryland. They have two children, a boy and a girl.

ALEXANDER R. MCKENZIE .- Having charge of the converters of the great B. & M. smelter in Great Falls, and a recognized expert in his voca- tion, Mr. Mckenzie is a man of progressive ideas and marked practical ability. He comes from the clan Mckenzie, long honored in Scottish song and story, and was born in County Inverness, Nova Scotia, on April 30, 1852. His father, John Mc- Kenzie, was a native of the same place, and died in West Virginia in 1897, in the fullness of years and honors. His wife, Jane (Ross) Mckenzie, likewise of Scottish lineage, was born in Inverness county, N. S., where she died in 1890.

Alexander R. Mckenzie received his education in the schools of Inverness, graduating in the high school class of 1870. He was employed at the coal mines of Nova Scotia until 1875, when he came to Eureka, Nev., and for two years worked in the Richmond Consolidated Smelters. In 1877 he went to the Martin White smelter, at Ward, Nev., and two years later was feeder and tapper in the Horn Silver smelter at Frisco, Utah, holding this incum- bency also for two years. In 1882 he located in Butte, where, as he states, he "packed a hod for about five months," after which, in February, 1883, he was nine years with the Parrott Mining Com- pany. He was at first foreman of the reverberatory and calcining departments but, when converters were installed, he successfully introduced the Bes- semerizing of copper and is known as one of the

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leading experts in this line. In 1890 Mr. McKen- zie ran the converters at Sudbury, Ont., for the Canadian Copper Company for one year, and in the fall of 1891 he came to Great Falls, where he has since had charge of the converters at the Bos- ton & Montana smelter. He was made a citizen of the United States in 1882, and has since given support to the Republican party. Fraternally he is identified with Enterprise Lodge, I. O. O. F., at Butte, and with Cataract Lodge, K. of P., in Great Falls, joining the latter by card from Oswego Lodge of Butte. In 1885 Mr. Mckenzie was married to Miss Mary Mckenzie, daughter of John Mckenzie, an extensive farmer of Nova Scotia, and their children are Jane, Bryant and William.

HANSON H. BARNES .- The eldest of the family of Amos, Jr., and Mary (Andrews) Barnes, Hanson H. Barnes was born in Camden, Me., on June 15, 1835. The lineage is that of New England's earliest citizens, and of good English stock. His grandfather, Amos Barnes, of Cam- den, was, like others of the family, a typical Yan- kee, energetic, resolute, quick in thought and action, and a man well-to-do. Amos Barnes, Jr., carried on a sterile Maine farm until the early 'fifties, when he came to California, where he died about 1864. The early childhood of Hanson H. Barnes was characterized and dominated by two thoughts, to investigate and go to the bottom of every unknown thing, and make his own demon- strations rather than accept the ipse dixit of an- other; the second was an ardent love of primitive nature in all forms, including a passionate fond- ness for the sea. Under the right conditions and in the right environment he might have been a poet-not a dreamy society warbler, but an in- spirer of action-an interpreter of nature's wild- est expressions in ocean, mountain, the far- stretching western plains, and the ice-bound shores of lone, vast, wave-washed continents. His published letters from Alaska are graphic, minute and wonderfully attractive.

At the age of twelve he became a sailor, and for four years followed the sea in coasting voyages, some of them reaching South America. When sixteen he went to California from Camden, via the Panama route, sailing from New York. He arrived at San Francisco in December, 1852, when the gold excitement ran so high that entire crews

of vessels deserted to go to the mines. Within an hour after his arrival he was offered $100 a month to ship on a return voyage with five $20 gold pieces paid in advance. Witness the maturity of the boy! He thought that if his services were worth that in San Francisco, they must be worth more at the mines. He declined the offer and devoted himself to mining, which became his life work. His operations were principally in Tuol- umne county, and were pursued with vigor and not confined to mining; before he was nineteen he purchased and successfully conducted a store at Stevens' Bar. Before he was of age he had earned a competency and in 1856 he returned to Maine, passed six months in school, cast his first vote for James Buchanan for president, not as a Democrat, for such he never was, but because he did not approve of Fremont's actions in Cali- fornia, married and went back to Tuolumne coun- ty, and resumed mining and other activities. Suc- cess was attending his efforts when he was treated to one of those plays Dame Fortune sometimes gives to men. By the first great flood of the mining days in California he was brought from affluence to poverty in a night. The swollen river reduced the prosperous camp to chaos, carrying off bridges, tearing out the houses, and leaving in place of the rich placer beds which it swept away, an immense deposit of rocks and sand. A gigan- tic boulder, washed down from the mountain im- mediately back of his house, crashed through it as if it were an eggshell.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 29

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