Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 32

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 32

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Marco Medin, Jr., one of the progressive young men of Butte, is attending to the settlement and management of his father's estate. He supports the Democratic party, and was for two years rep-

resentative of the Fourth ward in the city council, and in 1901 was the Democratic candidate for city treasurer, only being defeated by divisions in the party ranks, which made the contest an unequal one. He has been connected with merchandising and banking from the time of his entering the active duties of life, having been an executive in the Wells-Fargo bank in Virginia City, Nev., and being a bookkeeper in Butte for the Anaconda Company. He was president of the Finley-Medin Drug Company until the business was sold and still retains an interest in the business.

DETER MATSON .- This industrious rancher is a native of Sweden, where he was born on the 4th of February, 1856, the son of Swanson and Sarah Matson, both of whom were born in Sweden where his father, a shoemaker, still lives. He is a member of the Lutheran church, as was his wife, who died on the 17th of November, 1900. Of their six children, Charles and Ellen died, the others are Peter, Hannah, Elsie and Nels.

At the age of twelve years, Peter Matson entered his father's shop to learn shoemaking. He became an expert workman and worked at this trade until he was twenty-six years old. In 1882 Mr. Matson emigrated to the United States and first located in Polk county, Minn., securing employment on the Manitoba Railroad where he worked two years, after which he was for six months employed in farm work. At the expiration of that period he then was appointed engineer in the electric light plant at Crookston, Minn., and held this position two and one-half years. He then came west to the Black Hills and was employed in mining, receiv- ing $4.00 per day. He remained at the Black Hills two and one-half years and returned east, going to Chicago and securing work in connection with the preparing of Jackson Park for the great Columbian Exposition of 1893. Owing to the strike of the workmen Mr. Matson severed his connection and left Chicago for the west, making Montana his destination. He located in Great Falls, engaged in general labor for two years, then was for a time engaged in a sawmill. Visiting various parts of the state, he at last entered the employ of William Fergus, at Fort Maginnis, for eight months. He then devoted his attention mainly to ranch work, and thus he continued work for various individuals until June, 1901. when he purchased

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a ranch of 320 acres, located one mile south of Utica, in Fergus county. Thus far he has given his attention to raising hay, but will soon engage in cattleraising. He has a good property and is now established in an independent position. Mr. Matson supports the Republican party, and frater- nally is a member of the Knights of Pythias.

On the 22d of November, 1898, Mr. Matson wed- ded Miss Mary Olson, who was born in Sweden, the daughter of Magnus and Mary (Johnson) O1- . son, both long since dead. Both of her parents were members of the Lutheran church, as is also Mrs. Matson. Of their six children four are yet living, John P., Aubrom, Mary and Lena. Mr. and Mrs. Matson have two children, Josephine and Charlie.

)OBERT W. MEISENBACH, one of the pros- R perous cattlemen of Cascade county, came to Montana in 1889. He was born at Waterloo, Monroe county, Ill., the son of Edward and Caro- line Meisenbach, and he was born on July 15, 1865, and much of the time of his boyhood being passed on his father's farm in Kansas, where he displayed great industry and enterprise while he diligently attended the public schools. In 1882 he began farming on his own account, taking full charge of seventy acres of land. Here he raised good crops and fine cattle, and although so young a man was quite prosperous.

In 1888 he went to Walla Walla, Waslı., where he worked three months on a farm, and then was for three months employed in a sawmill at Tacoma. He then returned east to East Grand Forks, Minn., where he was for another three months engaged in harvesting. He next joined his parents at Marys- ville, Kan., in the fall of 1888. The next spring he came to Great Falls, Mont., and at once took up a tree claim near Eden, while in May, 1898, he purchased 320 acres of improved land and in Sep- tember, 1900, his wife bought 120 acres, which gave them an estate of 640 acres. Four hundred acres of this land are under bountiful cultivation, and he also raises cattle. On December 29, 1896, Mr. Meisenbach married Miss Rosina Regina Morlock, daughter of Jacob and Rosina Regina Morlock, natives of Wurtemberg, Germany. The mother died in 1874 and the father in 1898. Of the three children of this worthy couple one died in infancy and the others are Edwin Arthur and Emma Rosina. Mr. Meisenbach is a man of ex-

cellent business abilities, enjoys the confidence of a large circle of acquaintances, and holds a com- mission as postmaster of Eden postoffice.

E 'DWARD MEISENBACH, a prosperous cat- tleman of Cascade county, first came to Montana in 1889. He was born in Prussia 011 November 27, 1836, the son of William and Anna (Christina) Meisenbach, natives of Prussia. The father was a farmer and a blacksmith. The mother died in Prussia in 1838, and within a year the father married Henrietta Stotzberg, of Prussia, and after ten years residence in Prussia in 1849 they emi- grated to the United States, locating at St. Louis, Mo. Here he engaged in blacksmithing until 1851, when he removed to Waterloo, Monroe county, Ill., and engaged in farming, dying at the age of sixty- eight and his second wife at the age of fifty-eight.

The son, Edward Meisenbach, came from Prus- sia in 1850 to Peru, Ill., where his aunt, Regina Otto, who had come to America in 1850, was resid- ing. For one year he followed teaming in St. Louis, and in 1854 went to Waterloo, Ill., where he engaged in farming until 1861. Mr. Meisenbach served fourteen months in the Civil war in Com- pany B, Third Missouri Infantry, and was honor- ably discharged. Passing the next winter at St. Louis, he returned to his farm.

In 1864 Mr. Meisenbach wa married to Miss Caroline Probst, born in Hanover, Germany, the daughter of Henry and Louisa (Kauffmann) Probst and had come with her parents from Ger- many. Her father died in 1849 and her mother in 1847. In 1870 Mr. Meisenbach removed to Mar- shall county, Kan., and again followed successful farming for nineteen years. In 1889 he came to Great Falls, Mont., and going out on the bench and trying farming there without irrigation. He has demonstrated that this land is highly productive and was the pioneer of the thrifty German settle- ment of Eden. He has the finest residence of the community, and he and his estimable wife stand in a parental relation to the colony, being highly esteemed for their many useful characteristics. He took up tree and pre-emption claims, cultivat- ing 150 acres, and raising cattle. Subscquently he purchased eighty acres which he now utilizes for pasturage. In all he has 600 acres of land. The family has eight children : Robert W., Bertha, Julia A., Emma, Julius S., Lena, Daniel and Walter.

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J AMES R. MENDENHALL .- One of the fine ranch properties of Carbon county is that owned by the subject of this review, a represent- ative of one of the pioneer families of the state and recognized as one of the progressive and ca- pable young business men of Carbon county, be- ing the present postmaster of the thriving little village of Absarokee, receiving his appointment in the month of January, 1901. He is devoting his attention to farming and stockraising and such is his position in the community that he is well worthy of representation. James R. Men- denhall is a native of Iowa, having been born in Marshall county, January II, 1866, the son of C. B. Mendenhall, a pioneer of that state, now an honored resident of Springdale, Sweet Grass coun- ty, Mont. He made the long and hazardous over- land trip to Montana, with a freighting outfit in the year 1865. While en route he encountered no little trouble with the Indians, one man in the party having been killed, while Mr. Mendenhall had all of his mules stolen. After his arrival in Montana he disposed of his stock of goods and provisions and returned to his home in Iowa. In the spring of 1866 he again started for the north- west, accompanied by his family. They made the overland journey to Utah and thence turned back and located at Greeley, Colo., where they remained about one year and then removed to Virgindale, where he was engaged in stockraising for some time. Thereafter the family resided for two years at North Park, Colo., and then came to Montana, making the overland trip and locating in Spring- dale, Sweet Grass county, where the father of our subject engaged in farming and stockraising and where he still maintains his home. Concerning him an individual sketch appears on another page of this work, and to this reference for data can be made concerning the genealogy and detailed in- formation in regard to the early career of this honored citizen of Montana. James R. Menden- hall received such educational advantages as were afforded in the somewhat primitive public schools in Colorado and Montana in the earlier days, and remained at the homestead ranch in Sweet Grass county until he had attained his legal majority, having had charge of his father's extensive cattle outfit for a number of years while the latter was operating the resort at Hunter's Hot Springs.

After his twentieth year our subject engaged in freighting and was identified with other enter- prises, showing himself to be a self-reliant and ca-

pable young business man, and thus continued until 1892, when a portion of the Crow Indian reser- vation was thrown open to settlement. He then lo- cated his present property, on the west bank of the Rosebud river, in what is now Carbon county, the place being near Stillwater river, hence the land is of exceptional fertility and value. Mr. Menden- hall has one of the finest locations in the county, and has recently completed arrangements for the opening of a town site on his property, whose ag- gregate area is 160 acres, all being available for cultivation. Here he is giving his attention to the raising of cattle of high grade, giving his prefer- ence to the shorthorn type, and is also securing excellent results from the cultivation of his ranch. He has recently erected a modern and attractive residence of two stories, making one of the best homes in this section of the county, his ranch be- ing contiguous to the little village of Absarokee, his postoffice address, and he is the postmaster.

In politics Mr. Mendenhall gives support to the principles of the Republican party ; fraternally he is identified with the Woodmen of the World. Through his energy and well-directed endeavors he has attained definite success and is held in the highest confidence and esteem in his home com- munity, being a worthy type of the young men who have contributed in so large a measure to the legit- imate development and material advancement of the commonwealth. On July 5, 1888, Mr. Mendeu- hall was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Cos- griff, who was born in Iowa, the daughter of John Cosgriff, a successful farmer and stockgrower of Sweet Grass county, Mont., where he located a few years ago. At the time of his arrival in the state he was in greatly impaired health by reason of rheumatic troubles, but the fine climate has given him release and he is now in rugged health and very active, though he has attained the advanced age of seventy-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Menden- hall have three sons, Dean, Harry and Alfred.

J B. MAXFIELD, of Boulder, Jefferson county, is the leading meat and provision dealer in that locality and has one of the finest and most perfectly equipped establishments in the west. It is in every way up-to-date and he practically supplies all Jef- ferson county with meat. Although he is a young man his success in this line, which has been the business of his life, is emphatic and pronounced.

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He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on June 4, 1862. His father, James A. Maxfield, is a native of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and was born on January 14, 1837. He was a son of John Maxfield, of Yorkshire, England, who settled in Prince Edward Island early in the nineteenth cen- tury, taking up a large tract of land which he de- veloped into a productive farm. In 1851 he re- moved with his family to Salt Lake City, and se- curing land in the beautiful Salt Lake valley, he continued farming until his death in 1872, adding lumbering also to that occupation. The family remained in the same place until 1901, then re- moved to Idaho.

J. B. Maxfield thoroughly learned the butcher's trade in Salt Lake City and in 1882 came to Glen- dale, Beaver Head county, Mont., where he im- mediately secured employment at his trade, re- maining until 1885, when he accepted an offer from the Butte Butchering Company, with whom he remained two years. Thence he removed to Boul- der, and formed a partnership with William Wolter. In April, 1893, Mr. Wolter disposed of his in- terest to Alexander Gilliam and he and Mr. Max- field continued together until Mr. Gilliam's death in 1897. Mr. Maxfield then bought his deceased partner's interest and has continued the business alone. He married Miss Amy Dunks, a daughter of Monroe and Martha (Collins) Dunks. Her father came from Ohio in 1866 and settled near Boulder, where he engaged in stockraising. Mr. Maxfield is the eldest son of a family of four chil- dren : James Benjamin, William Appleton, Emma J. and Chauncey, the latter dying in infancy. In 1897 his brother William came from Salt Lake City and has since assisted in the business. Mr. Maxfield joined the Odd Fellows in Salt Lake City in 1884, and has passed the chairs. He joined the United Workmen in 1894. Politically he is a Demo- crat and has ever been an earnest supporter of his party.

RTHUR W. MERRIFIELD .- Born in Erdley A township, province of Quebec, July 22, 1855, the son of Stafford and Almyra (Watts) Merrifield, also Canadians by nativity, and reared and edu- cated in his native land, Arthur W. Merrifield, of near Meadow, Flathead county, has passed most of his mature life in the United States and has con- tributed materially to the advancement and develop- ment of his adopted country. His father made his

home in Ontario about 1855, and since that time has followed farming in that province. His wife died there in 1896.

Their son Arthur received his scholastic education in the public schools of Burritt's Rapids, Ontario, and remained at home assisting in farm work until he was twenty-one years of age. In 1880 he re- moved to Fargo, Dak., and was engaged for a year in farming in that neighborhood. From there he went to the Bad Lands of Dakota, and locating on the Little Missouri river, was ranching and rais- ing stock until 1891. From 1881 to 1883 he was in partnership with S. M. Ferris, conducting two ranches, one, known as the Chimney butte, six miles south of Medora, and the other on the Elk- horn ranch, Little Missouri river, forty miles north of Medora. In September, 1883, Theodore Roosevelt, the present president of the United States, visited the Bad Lands and purchased a one- third interest in the business of Merrifield & Fer- ris. He was a member of the firm until the business was sold out in 1891, spending considerable time on the ranches throughout these years, and always per- forming his part of the work, whatever it might be. In his writings Mr. Roosevelt refers to Mr. Merrifield, who was the active manager of the busi- ness, as his "manager and close personal friend and associate." The business was extensive, the cattle herds numbering from 2,000 to 4,000 head, in addition to large numbers of horses. After dis- posing of his interests in that locality in 1891, Mr. Merrifield removed to Pleasant Valley, Flathead county, Mont., where he had previously secured a ranch of 2,000 acres at the headwaters of the Kootenai on Pleasant Valley creek and on the Great Northern Railway. In June, 1901, he formed the Pleasant Valley Land and Cattle Company, in- corporated, with J. H. Gordon as president ; A. W. Merrifield, general manager ; and James Keith, sec- retary. Since then 1,000 acres have been added to the ranch which is now one of the finest in the state, with 1,000 acres of excellent meadow land in one body. The business of the company is raising cattle and horses on an extensive scale.

In politics Mr. Merrifield is a Republican, and for years has taken an active interest in local and state affairs. He is a member of Kalispell Lodge No. 42, A. F. & A. M., and of the Royal Arch chapter and Knights Templar and the organization of the Eastern Star of the same place. He is also a life member of the Kalispell Lodge No. 725, B. P. O. E. He was married in 1878 to Miss Har-

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riet Jameson, of Leeds, Ontario, who died there in 1880. In 1887 he was united in marriage with Miss Miriam Purcell, of Erdley township, Quebec. He has one child, B. Frank Merrifield, a son of the first wife.

CHARLES L. MERRILL .- Belonging to a vice to his country, both in military and in civil life, and himself a successful operator in various fields of commercial and mental activity, Charles L. Merrill is a typical progressive man of Mon- tana, with the traits of his ancestry fully exem- plified in his character and career. He was born at Burnett, Wis., April 25, 1859, a son of Lorenzo and Mary (Fisk) Merrill, natives of New Hamp- shire and belonging to old Colonial stock. Mr. Merrill's grandfather Fisk was a trusted and gal- lant soldier under Washington, and followed the great commander all through the Revolution. His father, Lorenzo Merrill, removed to Wisconsin, while it was yet a territory and was one of its pio- neers. He achieved distinction and influence in the state, being a member of its first legislature and successively returned to the body for a num- ber of terms. He was for eight years superintend- ent of the public schools in his county. He was a valued member of the State Pioneers' Association, and was held in high esteem everywhere for his pub- lic spirit and progressiveness, as well as for his sterling traits of character. In 1861 he was elected captain of a company of volunteers in Wis- consin enlisted for service in the Union army, but being over the legal age for the service was not accepted by the government. In consideration of his enlistment, however, and the desire of his fellow-citizens, he was appointed deputy United States marshal, a position in which he served throughout the war. He died in 1898, aged seven- ty-eight.

His son, Charles L. Merrill, received his educa- tion in Burnett, Wis., after which he accepted a position in a bank at Depere, where he remained three years, and was there employed in the office of the division superintendent of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, remaining three years and receiving within that time several pro- motions. He then accepted an offer from the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad to work in its em- ploy at Salida, Colo., and later was agent for the company at Poncho Springs. He passed two

years in this service, and in 1884 removed to Mon- tana, where he was appointed deputy county treas- urer of Custer county, served four years and was then elected treasurer. At the end of his term he engaged in the hardware business, also handled sheep with profit until the panic of 1893. Having always had a strong natural aptitude for and in- clination to the legal profession, and having de- voted his spare time to the study of law for two or three years, he concluded to enter the profession, and to that end took a course of instruction at the law department of the Nebraska State University, from which he was graduated in 1896. He then returned to Montana and began practicing at Miles City, where he was successful in winning many ex- tremely intricate and difficult cases, notably that of the State against Spotted Hawk, a Cheyenne In- dian, who was tried for the murder of Hoover, Mr. Merrill being associated with George W. Farr in defending the Indian. They took an appeal to the supreme court after their client had been sentenced to be hanged, and, to the surprise of everybody, secured for him a new trial, which resulted in the dismissal of the case. This success won him great praise and general commendation as a young law- yer of unusual parts and promise, a reputation which his subsequent professional career has am- ply justified. He continued in practice at Miles City until 1898, when he removed to Bridger, where he has since been engaged in an expanding and profitable practice, and where he has been very successful in many important cases. He is lo- cal attorney for the Bridger Coal Company.

On April 9, 1881, he was united in marriage with Miss Matilda Hubbard, a native of Iowa. They have two children: Edward B. and Lorenzo B., both of whom are students at the State University at Seattle, Wash. Mr. Merrill belongs to the Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. He is a progressive, wide-awake and representative man, with breadth of view, fine public spirit and excel- lent judgment concerning enterprises for the ad- vancement of the community, to all of which that he approves he gives substantial assistance.

S 'TEPHEN H. MENDENHALL .- This impres- sive example of the hustling, up-to-date and enterprising ranchman, stockraiser and dairyman of Montana, who occupies one of the most attract- ive and best developed ranches in that portion of Carbon county, was born in Marshall county, Iowa,

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December 29, 1865, the son of James and Gerald- ine (Parsons) Mendenhall, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Virginia. The family genealogy is recorded at length in the sketch of C. B. Mendenhall, of Park county, Mont., which appears elsewhere in this volume.

Mr. Mendenhall's father removed from Ohio to Illinois and later to Iowa. He remained in the latter state until 1882, when he came to Montana and located in Meagher county, where he lived six- teen years, engaged in raising stock and rearing a family of eight children. Since 1898, when he sold out his interests there, he has been living with his son, who was educated in the schools of Iowa, and after coming to Montana remained with the family until 1886. He then engaged in the stock business on his own account in that part of Meagher county which is now Fergus, and there operated extensively until 1899, having at times 500 head of stock. In 1899 he bought the Cowan ranch, one mile east of Bridger, on which he now lives and conducts an extensive dairy business, milking from twenty-five to forty cows. His place is well lo- cated for his business, and is improved with a fine modern residence, recently erected and equipped with every necessary appliance. It is un- der good fencing, is irrigated, and is in a high state of cultivation, producing excellent crops of alfalfa, and showing evidences of good manage- ment and skillful farming. Among the buildings which plentifully adorn it is a stone creamery of ample dimensions and furnished with the best modern machinery known to the business.

At Crown Point, Ind., on February 5, 1902, Mr. Mendenhall led to the altar Miss Bertie May Lee, the ceremony occurring at the home of the bride.

Mr. Mendenhall is a representative citizen of his section and is highly esteemed by all classes of people throughout the wide scope of territory in which he is known.

AMES M. MOORE .- The true western spirit -:

of progress and enterprise is exemplified in the life of the subject of this review, and he has an honored place among the pioneers of Montana, whither he came as a mere boy and where he has attained a position of prominence as one of the reliable and successful farmers and stockgrowers of the beautiful Gallatin valley. He is essentially a self-made man, and his energetic nature and

laudable ambition enabled him to conquer many adverse circumstances, while he has so ordered his life as to gain and hold the esteem and confidence of his fellow men.

Mr. Moore is a native of Plattsburg, Clinton county, Mo., where he was born November r9, 1847; his present home is known as Birch Glen, located in Gallatin valley, Mont. His father, John F. Moore, was born in Laurel county, Ky., Jan- uary 29, 1814, and is still living in Benton county, Ark. His wife, to whom he was married in Davis county, Mo., was Esther Chestnut, and of the same nativity as himself, was born in 1817, and died in Clinton county, Mo., in 1853. The grandfather of our subject, Nathaniel Moore, was a native of Grant county, Ohio, and married Jane Ferris in Laurel county, Ky., where they both died. His great-grandfather, Moses Moore, was born near Dublin, Ireland, came to Ohio, and there died at the great age of 103 years. Prior to his departure from his native land he married Elizabeth Davis.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 32

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