Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 33

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 33

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Mr. Moore's mother, Esther Chestnut, was the daughter of Abraham and Esther (Evans) Chestnut, both born and reared in Laurel county, Ky., where they both died. His great-grandpar- ents, John and Lucy (Gratlif) Ferris, were English by nativity. The former was a captain in the Revolutionary war and was a slave-owner.

Our subject's wife, Belle R. (Brown) Moore, was born near Warsaw, Iowa, September 16, 1858. She is the daughter of Joseph Nelson and Jane (Sebastian) Brown, the former of whom was born at Vevay, Ind., November 17, 1816. He was a volunteer in the Blackhawk war, although but a boy of fifteen at the time it broke out, and for a number of years was leader of a celebrated church choir at Springfield, Ill., was widely known as "the sweet singer of Springfield," and also sung in Har- rison's campaign. Mrs. Moore's grandfather, Amos Andros Brown, was born in Onondaga county, N. Y., in 1779, and died at Warsaw, Iowa, April 25, 1863. He was a prominent Mason, a member of the Royal Arch chapter and treasurer of the lodge at Corydon, Iowa, and in company with John Page, John Perry and others, organ- ized the first Masonic lodge ever held at Meta- mora, Ill. He lived respected by all who knew him and warmly cherished by his close friends, among whom he had the pleasure to number Abraham Lincoln. At his death he left consider- able wealth. His wife was Ruth Nelson, of Ve- vay, Ind., to whom he was married in 1806.

JasMr Moose

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Mrs. Moore's great-grandfather, Asa Brown, was born in London, England, in 1754. His wife was Sarah Andros, whom he married in England, was a relative of the first governor of New York. The mother of our subject's wife, Jane (Sebastian) Brown, was born at Vevay, Ind., February 19, 1822, and was married there October 23, 1847, and her golden wedding was celebrated in Oregon City, Ore., October 23, 1897. Her father, Alex- ander Sebastian, was born in Garrard county, Ky., January 31, 1795, and died in Madison county, Ky., April 13, 1857. He was probate judge of his na- tive county for eight years ; was a missionary Bap- tist minister, and was widely known as an eloquent orator. At the age of seventeen he joined Gen. William Henry Harrison's army, and fought at the battle of "Dudley's Defeat," where he and George Clarke were captured by Tecumseh's warriors. They were compelled to run the gauntlet, in doing which Clarke was struck down and killed, but Sebastian escaped unscathed. He afterward married George Clarke's sister. He was an elector for William Henry Harrison when he was elected president. At the reunion of the sol- diers of 1812, held at Lawrenceburg, Ind., there was a Sebastian present to represent him. Jane Sebastian's grandparents, William and Sarah (Ware) Sebastian, were born near Halifax, N. C., the former in 1767 and the latter in 1769. He was killed by the Indians and she died in Kentucky. She became familiar with life among savages. When she was eleven years old the British troops were in the neighborhood of her father's home, foraging, and she remembered seeing him hide the family supply of meat in the chimney to keep them from taking it. The Sebastians were of Spanish and Italian ancestry, who located in Wales about 1550, and immigrated to America, settling in North Carolina in the early Colonial days, and were slave-owners. One of their de- scendants, Sebastian Brown, was a prominent law- yer in Baltimore, Md., and recently died there full of years and enjoying the respect and esteem of everybody. He was a relative of Mrs. Moore. Mrs. Moore's maternal grandmother, Nancy (Clarke) Sebastian, was born in Garrard county, Ky., October 20, 1790, and died September 10, 1842. Her father, John Clarke, was a native of Virginia, where he was born in 1763, and died in Kentucky in 1840. His wife, Ludicia (McMillen) Clarke, was born in Rhode Island in 1761 and died in 1826. The McMillens came from Scotland, the

Clarkes from England, and both families were slave-owners. Ruth Nelson, Joseph Nelson Brown's mother, who died in Wayne county, Iowa, in May, 1865, was a native of Maryland, and was born near Snow Hill in 1782, whither her father, Joseph Nelson came from England. He plotted owned and named the city of Snow Hill, and died seized and possessed of it, as he never sold it. It is thought his heirs would have a good claim to the land on which it stands. His wife was Sarah (Parsons) Nelson. His father was born near London, England, and a member of the family, by direct descent, of Admiral Nelson, the hero of Trafalgar. Sarah (Parsons) Nelson came from Dublin, Ireland, where she was born in 1742. She died in 1825. Her father, Charles Parsons, was born near Dublin and her mother, Rebecca (Keith) Parsons, in Scotland. Two of Mrs. Moore's grand-uncles, Samuel and Nathan Nel- son, brothers of her maternal grandmothers, Ruth Nelson, fought in the war of 1812 under Gen. Will- iam Henry Harrison.

James M. Moore, the immediate subject of this review, was reared on the parental farm, and early became inured to the labors pertaining thereto, laboring earnestly even as a child in the farm work. His early educational advantages were extremely limited in scope, being only such as were obtain- able in the primitive district school in the vicinity of the homestead farm in Missouri. Through per- sonal application and reading in later years, and through his practical association with men and af- fairs, he has, however, built a superstructure of knowledge which effectively supplements the rudi- mentary foundation laid in boyhood days. In the spring of 1864 Mr. Moore left home and started for the far west, coming in company with Maj. Forbis and his party. They set forth on the long journey across the plains in the month of May, and in September arrived at their destination, Alder gulch, the site of the present Virginia City, Mont. Mr. Moore remained but a short time in that famous mining camp, whence he made his way to Gallatin valley, where he remained until the fol- lowing spring, and then removed to the North Boulder country and finally to Helena, where for two years he was employed by Maj. Forbis in the construction of buildings. He then returned to the valley of the North Boulder river and there took up a claim of land, on which he was engaged in ranching until the spring of 1870, when he came again to Gallatin valley and located on a ranch not

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far distant from his present fine farm. In 1872 he purchased his present fine homestead located four miles and a half northeast of Belgrade. When he took the place a few improvements had been made, and the first home was a little log cabin, 16x24 feet in dimensions. He has made permanent improvements of the best character, including a commodious and sub- stantial residence of pleasing architectural de- sign, and he has brought the entire place to a very high state of cultivation. It is devoted to general farming and the raising of livestock, though the latter branch of his ranching enterprise is subordinate to the agricultural phase. Mr. Moore has attained marked success in his efforts since locating in this section of the state, and has achieved the same entirely through his own indus- try and determined application, having started with practically nothing in the way of financial re- inforcement, and by hard labor earned every dol- lar represented in his fine homestead and all other forms of property that he owns. He is a man of the highest honor and integrity in all the relations of life, and commands the confidence and esteem of the entire community, where the family enjoy a distinctive popularity. He is progressive in his methods, is public-spirited in his attitude, and is known as a man of wide information and sound judgment. In politics he gives his support to the Democratic party and its principles, though he has never sought public office. He is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees. In 1878, while Mr. Moore was making a visit in Iowa, he was mar- ried to Miss Belle Rosalthe Brown, a native of Wayne county, the ceremony being performed on March 5, 1878. Of this happy union three chil- dren have been born, namely: Ellie James Sebas- tian, born January 7, 1879, graduated in 1901 from the Montana State College, and entered Yale University September 26, of that year; Gertrude M. C., born December II, 1881, and Icie E. B., born May 31, 1883; the two last-named are stu- dents at Bozeman College. Mrs. Moore's old home was near Warsaw, Iowa, and was known as "Maple Grove." Her parents now reside at Ore- gon City, Ore. Mr. and Mrs. Moore are mem- bers of the Baptist church, belonging to the con- gregation of Gallatin valley church, to the erection of which Mr. Moore made liberal contributions and in which Mrs. Moore was the first person to be baptized and in this connection they are highly valued.

FUGENE MEYER, the proprietor of the Hot

Springs Hotel, Alhambra, Jefferson county, is one of the pioneers of Montana who participated in some of the most stirring events of the old days. He was born in Strasburg, Germany, in 1854. Michael Meyer, his father, was a native of Stras- burg, who, in 1858, emigrated with two children to the United States and located in Brown county, Ill., where he engaged in lumbering and conduct- ing a sawmill.

Eugene Meyer received his education in Quincy, I11. Following his graduation from the high school he entered the drug business as an appren- tice, and continuing this occupation for five years he thoroughly mastered pharmacy. In the spring of 1874 he came to Montana and the first employ- ment he secured was at the Broadwater Hot Springs, near Helena, and after a year's service he purchased the property, remained at its head suc- cessfully for four years, then disposed of it and re- moved to Helena. Here he engaged in the min- eral water business for three years, and was its pioneer in Montana. After retiring from this he returned to the Broadwater Hot Springs and was burned out eighteen months later. He then re- moved to Helena and became a manufacturing druggist, in which he continued ten years. He has but recently removed to Alhambra, where he is proprietor of the hotel at Hot Springs. The polit- ical affiliations of Mr. Meyer are with the Republi- can party, in whose welfare he has ever taken a patriotic interest. He is a member of the United Workmen and is past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. On February 13, 1878, he was united in marriage to Miss Emma Kirshner, a native of Germany. Their children are twins, Charles E. and Cora E. Mr. Meyer's life has been one of activity and enterprise. He is a progressive man, of broad views and strict probity of character. Throughout the state he numbers a large circle of warm personal friends.

One of the most exciting events in the career of Mr. Meyer was the part he took in the Nez Perces war. For some time there had been rum- blings of discontent in that tribe, with occasional hostile demonstrations. In August, 1877, the news of a general uprising of the Indians was flashed over the state. Outrages had been com- mitted by various predatory bands. The excur- sion party of George F. Cowan, a leading lawyer of Boulder, had been assaulted in the Yellowstone Park, and Mr. Cowan shot three times by hostile

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Nez Perces. (See Mr. Cowan's sketch elsewhere in this work.) Like the old minute men of the Revolution, swift riders were flying over the coun- try, warning settlers of the impending danger. The United States troops did not appear able to cope with the savages. Able generals were in the field, but there was an admitted scarcity of pri- vates, and Gov. Potts issued an urgent call for volunteers, that met with a ready response. Many prominent citizens who have since won dis- tinction in state and national affairs became lead- ers. Companies were rapidly organized at Hele- na, at Butte, in Jefferson county, all over northern Montana. £ Business was suspended and brave men hastened to the protection of homes and fami- lies. Among the earliest to volunteer was Eugene Meyer. He became a member of the light artil- lery company commanded by Capt. Curtis, of Helena. For nearly two months the war con- tinued, accompanied by all the horrid details of Indian savagery. Mr. Meyer's company was scouting, watching the movements of the Indians and warning the people of approaching danger. For six weeks Mr. Meyer and his brave com- panions trailed the Indians from the National Park to the Missouri valley, and thence to Judith basin. Here they fought the last, the fiercest and the decisive battle of that memorable war, and as a result Chief Joseph, Lookingglass, some lesser chiefs and 350 Nez Perces braves surrendered to Gen. Miles. Gen. Gibbon notified Gov. Potts of the surrender on October 8, three days after the battle was fought, but, in the summer of 1878, the savages who escaped from this decisive action, re- turned via Cardotte pass, killed a settler at Bear gulch, escaped pursuit and safely reached the camp of their tribe in Idaho. During this war Mr. Meyer was thrown from his horse and received a serious injury in the knee from which he still suf- fers. " Subsequently the members of the volunteer company received from the United States govern- ment an honorable mention and a small financial recompense.

F FREDERICK W. MEYERSICK .- Mr. Meyer- sick has been a resident of America from child- hood and came to Montana nearly thirty-five years ago and is now a successful rancher of Fergus county, having achieved prosperity through his own assiduous efforts and determined purpose.

Mr. Meyersick was born in the province of

Hanover, Germany, in 1838, a son of Joab and Clara Meyersick, who emigrated from the Fatherland to the United States in 1844, locating in St. Charles county, Mo., where both he and his wife died within a year after their arrival in this country, leaving Frederick an orphan at the age of six years. Joab Meyersick and his wife were members of the Lu- theran church and folk of sterling character. They had eight children, only two are now living.

Frederick W. Meyersick, after the death of his parents, went to live with his sister, Mrs. Mary E. Eggerson, in St. Charles county, Mo., attended the public schools and for a time the college at St. Charles, Mo. Early in life he became identified with farming in Missouri, and continued to be identified with this line of enterprise until 1863, after which he passed an interval in various occupa- tions but eventually resumed farming in St. Charles county, where he remained until 1866, when his health became impaired and he removed to Rock Island, Ill., remained about a year, and re- turned to St. Louis in March, 1867, and there boarded one of the Missouri river steamboats for Montana, arriving in Fort Benton in due course of time. He first located on the Missouri river in Meagher county, where he found employment on a ranch, receiving $50 per month. Later he was engaged in getting out timber and in burning char- coal, and during the winters of 1867 and 1868 he found employment in cutting drift timbers at $75 a month. Mr. Meyersick next purchased a freight- ing outfit and conducted operations in freighting between Diamond City and the Missouri river from the spring of 1868 until the fall of 1869, when he went to White Pine, Nev., where he was employed as a brakeman on wagons used in transporting ore down the mountains, returning to Montana in July, 1869. He was then ranch hand in the Missouri valley until the fall of 1870, and in the following spring he purchased a ranch upon which the vil- lage of Canton now stands. He there devoted his attention to farming and cattle raising until 1883, when he sold out and moved to his present ranch, two miles south of Cottonwood, Fergus county, and which comprises 154 acres of exceptionally arable land, yielding fine crops. Mr. Meyersick also gives attention to cattleraising, in which lie has been successful. In politics he is a Democrat, and his religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his cherished and de- voted wife was likewise a member.

On the 5th of December, 1871, Mr. Meyersick

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was united in marriage to Miss Alice Steele, who was born in Cooper county, Mo., the daughter of Ewing and Anna E. Steele, natives respectively of Missouri and Kentucky and both members of the Methodist church. Mrs. Steele's death occurred in 1897 and that of her husband in April, 1901. Mr. Steele was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. To Mr. and Mrs. Meyersick twelve children were born, two of whom died in infancy, and William R., who was killed while serving as a soldier in the Philippines, February 13, 1899. The surviving children are Edgar, Albert, Charles and Frank (twins), Annie, Ada, Eva and Verney. Mrs. Meyersick died on the 27th of June, 1888, deeply mourned by her large circles of friends.

ATELSON APPLETON MILES, soldier, was born at Westminster, Mass., August 8, 1839, son of Daniel and Mary (Curtis) Miles. His earliest American ancestor was Rev. John Miles, a Baptist minister and educator, who emigrated from Wales in 1662 and settled at Swansea, Mass .; he served in King Philip's war. Nelson A. Miles was reared on his father's farm, and received a district school and academic education. In 1856 he went to Boston, where his uncles, George and Nelson Curtis, obtained a position for him in the crockery store of John Collamore. Having attended a military school in Boston, conducted by N. Salignac, a French colonel, at the outbreak of the Civil war he raised a company of volunteers and offered his services to his country. In Sep- tember, 1861, he was appointed a captain in the Twenty-Second Massachusetts Volunteers, but was considered too young for the responsibility of that command, which he was required to re- sign and to accept a lieutenant's commission. On May 31, 1862, he was commissioned by Gov. Morgan lieutenant-colonel of the Sixty-first New York Volunteers. He was promoted colonel Sep- tember 30, 1862 ; was made a brigadier-general May 12, 1864, and major-general October 21, 1865. He received the appointment of colonel of the Fortieth United States Infantry March 15, 1866; was trans- ferred to the Fifth Infantry March 15, 1869; pro- moted brigadier-general United States army De- cember 15, 1880, and major-general April 5, 1890. He saw severe active fighting during the seven days fighting on the peninsula of the James river and before Richmond in the summer of 1862, and

was severely wounded at Fair Oaks; and on the change of base to Harrison's Landing Gen. Miles acted as adjutant-general to the First Brigade, First Division, Second Army Corps. At Freder- icksburg he led his regiment, the Sixty-first New York Volunteers. In the battle of Chancellors- ville he was so severely wounded that he was not expected to recover, and was breveted brigadier- general "for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Chancellorsville"; and August 25, 1864, was breveted major-general "for highly meritorious and distinguished conduct through- out the campaign, and particularly for gallantry and valuable services in the battle of Ream's Station, Va." He fought in all the battles of the Army of the Potomac, with one exception, up to the surrender of Lee at Appomattox court house, Va. He was breveted brigadier-general and major- general, United States Army, both dating March 2, 1867, the latter for "gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Spottsylvania." After the close of the war, Gen. Miles, in command of his regiment, was employed in Indian service, and defeated the Cheyenne and Comanche Indians on the borders of the Staked Plains in 1875, and in 1876 broke up the hostile Sioux and other tribes in Montana. His successes in warfare on the plains were so great and so continuous that Gen. Miles became known as the "Indian fighter." He drove the celebrated chief Sitting Bull across the Canadian frontier, and dispersed extensive bands led by Crazy Horse, Lame Deer, Spotted Eagle, Broad Tail and other chiefs well known in the far west. This was in the years 1876-77, the In- dian outbreak becoming general, the cause being the disaffection of the Dakota Sioux, of which Sitting Bull was the principal chief. It was in June, 1876, that Gen. Custer's party was defeated and massacred on Little Big Horn river, an event which was followed by the prompt and decisive campaigns of Gen. Miles. In September, 1877, another outbreak, this time on the part of the Nez Perces Indians under Chief Joseph, was met by Miles and speedily overcome, and in 1878 he captured a party of Bannacks near Yellowstone Park. But perhaps his most difficult campaign was that against the fierce chief Geronimo of the hostile Apaches, doubtless the most bloodthirsty and cruel tribe of Indians in the whole of North America. After innumerable depredations and raids on the part of the Indians, Gen. Sheridan, commander-in-chief, determined to have Geron-

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imo suppressed at any cost. An expedition under Gen. George Crook was fitted out early in 1886, but, as it was unsuccessful, Gen. Crook asked to be relieved, and Gen. Miles was ordered to take his place. The result was that, after one of the longest and most exhausting campaigns known in Indian warfare, the Apache was forced to yield. Miles and his troopers gave them not an hour of rest, but followed on their trail, forcing them to keep moving until even their dogged endur- ance could bear it no longer. The whole band was captured, and Geronimo and his principal followers were sent to Fort Pickens, Fla., in the latter part of 1886. Following these brilliant suc- cesses, Gen. Miles received the thanks of the legislatures of Kansas, Montana, New Mexico and Arizona for his valuable services, and on No- vember 8, 1887, the citizens of Arizona presented him at Tucson with a sword of honor in the presence of a large gathering of citizens. In 1890- 91 Gen. Miles suppressed a fresh outbreak of Sioux and Cheyennes. In 1894, under orders from President Cleveland, he commanded the United States troops sent to Chicago to suppress the serious rioting and threatened rebellion which occurred there. This difficult duty he accom- plished with the celerity and completeness which have always characterized his obedience to the orders of his superior officers. Gen. Miles was in command of the Department of the Columbia from 1880-85; July, 1885, to April, 1886, commanded the Department of the Missouri; April, 1886, was as- signed to the command of the Department of Arizona, and in 1888 was given com- mand of the Division of the Pacific. In 1897 Gen. Miles represented the United States at the jubilee ceremonies in London of Queen Victoria, and also visited the seat of war between Turkey and Greece. On his return he published a volume on "Military Europe," having previously given to the public a volume of "Personal Recol- lections" (1897). On the retirement of Gen. Scho- field, in 1895, Gen. Miles became commanding general of the United States army, with head- quarters at Washington, D. C. He was in general command of all the troops in the movements and operations against the enemy during the Spanish- American war and in the succeeding war against the Philippine insurgents. He appeared with re- inforcements before Santiago fell, and was in charge of the negotiations and terms of surrender of the Spanish army under Gen. Jose Toral. On

February 2, 1901, he became, by selection and promotion, under the army reorganization act, the lieutenant-general commanding the Army of the United States. On April 9, 1898, war with Spain was imminent, he recommended the equipment of 50,000 volunteers, and on April 15th recom- mended that an additional force of 40,000 be pro- vided for the protection of coasts and as a re- serve. In a letter to the secretary of war, April 18th, he asserted his belief that the surrender of the Spanish army in Cuba could be secured "with- out any great sacrifice of life," but deprecated the sending of troops thither in the sickly season to cope with an acclimated army. War having been officially announced, he (April 26th) addressed another letter to Sec. Alger, declaring that the volunteer troops called into service ought to be in camp in their respective states for sixty days approximately, in order to be thoroughly equipped, drilled and organized. As soon as definite infor- mation came that Cervera's fleet was inclosed in the harbor of Santiago, Gen. Shafter was ordered to place his troops on transports and go to the assistance of the navy in capturing the fleet and harbor. Gen. Miles, then at Tampa, expressed to the secretary of war his desire to go with this army corps, or to immediately organize another and go with it to join this and capture position No. 2 (Porto Rico). The next day he was asked by telegram how soon he could have an expedi- tionary force ready to go to Porto Rico large enough to take and hold the island without the force under Gen. Shafter, and replied that such an expedition could be ready in ten days. On June 24th he submitted a plan of campaign for Cuba; on the 26th was ordered to organize an expedition against the enemy in Cuba and Porto Rico, to be composed of the united forces of Gens. Brooke and Shafter, and to command it in person. He was not sent to Cuba, however, until two weeks later, arriving opposite Santiago with reinforcements for Shafter on July 11th, at the time Sampson's fleet was bombarding the Spanish position. Conferences with Sampson and Shafter were then had and arrangements made to disembark the troops, and on the 13th Gen. Miles, with Gens. Gilmore, Shafter, Wheeler and others held a conference between the lines with Gen. Toral. The Spanish commander was informed that he must surrender or take the consequences, and on the same day the secretary of war tele- graphed Gen. Miles "to accept surrender, order

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 33

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