Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 49

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 49

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In politics Mr. Sprague gives his support to the Republican party and its principles and policies, his first presidential vote having been cast for Rutherford B. Hayes, in 1876. He has ever mani- fested a lively interest in educational affairs and all other worthy causes touching the general welfare, and has served for a number of years as a member of the school board. Fraternally he keeps alive the memories of his military service and his inter- ' est in the old comrades in arms, hy retaining mem- bership in William English Post No. 10, G. A. R., at Bozeman. He and all the members of his fam- ily are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church, and are zealous and active workers in the parish at Bozeman. On December 22, 1872, Mr.

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Sprague was united in marriage to Miss Ann Se- bern, who was born in Marion county, Ind., the daughter of John and Deborah (Smock) Sebern, natives of Indiana. The father died in Kentucky, while there on a business trip, and the mother's death occurred in Iowa. To Mr. and Mrs. Sprague four children have been born : Walter H., Robert H., Kate M. and Dora M. Robert H. is now deputy sheriff of Gallatin county. He served as first ser- geant of Company C, First Montana Volunteers, in the Philippine islands, rendering effective duty in this capacity for a period of eighteen months, after which he received an honorable discharge. He had previously been a member of the National Guard of Montana. Each of the four children re- ceived excellent educational advantages. The family hold a prominent position in social circles, maintaining the highest esteem of all who know them-each aiming to do well their work in life.

G EORGE W. SPRING .- This well known and progressive stockgrower and farmer of Gal- latin county claims as the place of his nativity that cradle of much of our national history, the Old Dominion, since he was born in Loudoun county, Va., on October 3, 1856, the son of Jefferson and Sophia (Etcher) Spring, who were married May 10, 1853, both of whom were born in Virginia, where they are still living on the old plantation ; the father, born March 18, 1817, having attained the venerable age of eighty-six years, while the mother, born January 20, 1832, is sixty-nine years of age. Her father, Peter Etcher, was born August 18, 1798; died July 18, 1884. The Spring .family were of German descent. The grandfather, Casper Spring, was born in Loudoun county, Va., April 16, 1788, and died January 30, 1869. He married Elizabeth Slater in 1809, who was born October 9, .1791, and died September 11, 1883. The educa- tional advantages received by our subject were those afforded in the public schools of his native county, and he assisted in the work of the home farm until he attained his majority. On April 24. 1879, he left home and started for the far distant territory of Montana, where he arrived in the following month. He secured work by the month, and was thus employed about a year and a half, when he purchased horses and devoted his attention to freighting for one year. He then went to the east- ern part of the territory, seeking a location, and finally returned to Bozeman, his original desti-

nation, and here resumed work and was employed for a number of years. In 1882 he located the ranch which he now owns, taking up his abode in a little log house, 12x14 feet in dimensions, which continued to be his home until the erection of his present attractive and commodious residence in 1890. His ranch, comprising 480 acres, is located seven miles northwest of the city of Bozeman, where he is successfully engaged in the raising of high-grade thoroughbred shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs. He has been very careful in the breeding of both cattle and hogs, and done much to improve the grades in this section of the state, and it is doubtful if a better line can be found elsewhere in Montana. He devotes but little atten- tion to the raising of grain, finding it more profit- able and satisfactory to confine his efforts exclu- sively to the stock interests. He kills and ships stock, finding a ready market for his products, and is known as one of the able and enterprising busi- ness men of Gallatin county. He has attained suc- cess entirely through his own efforts, and it has been achieved by such worthy means that he has ever held the confidence and esteem of all with whom he has been thrown in contact. Ever influ- enced by the strictest integrity of purpose, his life serves as an example well worthy of emulation by those who have depended upon their own re- sources in making their way in the world. His business acumen is such that his advice and coun- sel are held in high estimation by many older than himself, and in his particular line of enterprise he holds a foremost position.

In politics he gives his support to the Democratic party, and his first presidential vote was cast in 1892 for Grover Cleveland. Fraternally Mr. Spring is identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. On February 11, 1891, Mr. Spring was united in marriage to Miss Ella S. Pierpoint, who was born in Loudoun county, Va., the daughter of John and Mary (Shrigley) Pier- point, natives respectfully of Virginia and Ohio, the Pierpoint family being one of distinction in the annals of American history. Mr. and Mrs. Spring have three sons and one daughter : Roger E., Wil- bur P .. Elenora and George V.

THE STATE NURSERY COMPANY, of Helena, Mont., now one of the most successful business ventures in the country, is the joint cre- ation of three enterprising and progressive gentle-

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men, T. E. Mills, W. E. Mills and Arthur Judges. In the heart of the Rocky Mountains, isolated from the congested population of the east, the State Nursery Company in 1890 successfully established an institution of which any state might be proud. Their .nursery is located on the extreme western boundary of Helena, close to the celebrated Broad- water natatorium. It is difficult to associate Mon- tana with the cultivation of delicately perfumed flowers, for the natural ruggedness of the country is foreign to the eastern idea of culture and re- finement, which renders possible the sale of beau- tiful flowers, many of them rare exotics; yet it would surprise people in the far east or indeed the middle west, to know that the society people of Montana use as many or more flowers for deco- rative and other purposes as do the people of any section of the land. The American Beauty roses, grown by this company, have given Helena an enviable reputation, and people coming here from abroad are shown as fine, or perhaps finer, roses and carnations as can be found elsewhere. One novel feature in this Montana. enterprise is the heating of the greenhouses during the winter months. About a mile from the nursery natural springs well up on the mountain side, from which water of a high temperature rushes forth. This water is led from the springs into pipes and, hav- ing a good pressure, circulates through the conserv- atories as artificially-heated water does, with the exception that there is no return to the boilers, as it courses away to freedom after having performed its duty. With the exception of about thirty of the coldest days the natural heat of the water is sufficient to keep the houses at a proper temper- ature. During the extremely cold days the natural hot water is connected with boilers, which run the temperature up to the desired point. This method of heating has been in successful operation for three years, and it is believed to be the first case known of heating greenhouses by water coming from hot springs. The enterprise is now incorporated as the State Nursery Company. The corporators and of- ficers are T. E. Mills, president ; W. E. Mills, vice- president ; Arthur Judges, secretary and treasurer. The company commenced business in 1890 with 600 square feet of glass, and in eleven years they in- creased the surface capacity to 46,000 square feet.

It is appropriate in this connection to present short biographies of the three men who had the foresight to grasp and utilize the great natural ad- vantages of this location and to build up an institu- tion that is a credit to Montana.

THOMAS E. MILLS was born at Middlesex, England, in 1869. At the age of four years he came to the United States with his parents, who settled in Hampton, Va. He received his education in the public schools of that city, and at the age of eighteen returned to England and was three years in London, during which time he attended and studied at the Royal Horticultural Society Institute. In 1890 he returned to the United States and be- came identified with the State Nursery Company at Helena, his present home.

ARTHUR JUDGES is also of English nativity, having been born in Essex in 1858. He came to the United States at the age of twenty-one and en- gaged in stockraising in Idaho. In 1887 he came to Montana, and was in the banking and mercantile business at Dillon until 1894. He then came to Helena to fill the office of secretary and treasurer of the State Nursery Company, and here he has giv- en ample demonstration of his capability to compe- tently fill this responsible dual office.

WILLIAM E. MILLS, born in Middlesex, England, in 1866, came to America with his par- ents when seven years old. He received his com- mon school education in Hampton, Va. In 1883 he went to Wisconsin, locating at Milwaukee where he was a member of a military band. In 1886 he took a course at the famous Boston Conservatory, at Boston, Mass. He followed music as a profes- sion for several years, until 1890, when he became a member of the State Nursery Company, of which he is vice-president. During 1901 the company added a seed department, and established them- selves in their own store in Helena. This last venture has proved successful beyond their expecta- tions, and promises a good future. Although this concern is not officially a state institution they claim the state for their business and reach nearly every point.

R )ICHARD STANTON .- The life of this promi- nent ranchman and useful citizen began in the Province of Ontario, Canada, in 1850, just as the nineteenth century was turning into its second half. He is the son of James Stanton, who left his native England at the opening of his promising manhood and immigrated to Canada, where he is still living the life of a peaceful, independent farmer and stockraiser. His wife was Agnes

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(Hea) Stanton, also a native of England; she died near Toronto many years ago.

Mr. Stanton attended the public schools at Lon- don, Canada, until he was fourteen years of age, and then worked as a farm hand for two or three years. The next five years he spent in the lumber business at Orville, Canada ; and during the next four was employed by the Canadian government on the construction of the Winnipeg & Dawson Railroad. In the summer of 1874 he was rafting on the river at Winnipeg, and in the fall of 1875 removed to Sun River, Mont., where he worked for Robert Vaughn for about three years. Until 1883 he was freighting from Fort Benton to Hele- na and the northwest territory, but tiring of this in the spring of 1883 he bought a squatter's claim on Shonkin creek in the Highwood mountain dis- trict, where he now has a farm of 360 acres and large free range adjoining, on which he raises a fine grade of horses and cattle with success and profit.

Mr. Stanton was married at Johnson's residence on Shonkin creek, in 1889, to Miss Jennie Johnson, a native of Montreal, in the Dominion of Canada. They have six children, namely : Samuel James, William Henry, Albert Leroy, Warren, Richard and a baby, Charles. In politics he has always been a Republican, and has done what he could in a quiet way for party success, but has never sought an office or an honor at its hands. He is esteemed as a very worthy citizen. Mr. Stanton is deeply interested in the welfare of his communi- ty, and ever willing to make some sacrifice of his personal convenience for the general weal. He has served as school trustee for many years, and is still doing good work in that capacity. He has also been road supervisor for eleven years. His life is peaceful and prosperous now, but has not been without adventure and danger in times past. The Indians took away his horses several times while he was freighting, and he had a number of exciting experiences with them.

TILLIAM L. STEELE, M. D .- A record of the experiences of all worthy pioneers should be perpetuated, for the passing years will other- wise obliterate data of much historical value which they alone can impart. One of the distinguished members of the medical profession in Montana, where he was among the first to become estab-

lished in practice, a man of strong individuality and unbounded benevolence, and one conspicu- ously identified with the pioneer history of Mon- tana, Dr. William L. Steele is justly numbered among the representative citizens of the state. He comes from stanch old southern stock and was born near Pendleton, Anderson county, S. C., on February 17, 1833, the son of William and Margaret (Guyton) Steele, natives of the same county. The father was a midshipman in the United States navy, and was in the Chesapeake-Shannon naval battle when Capt. Lawrence was killed. After his service he was a planter until his death and was honored with several offices of public trust, serv- ing the legislature and being tax collector for sixteen years. His original American ancestors, of Scotch-Irish stock, located first in Pennsyl- vania, whence descendants removed to South Caro- lina before the Revolution, in which the family were active for freedom. The maternal grand- parents of Dr. Steele were named Watson, and extant records show that Grandmother Watson, passing through, the camp of Lord Cornwallis, carried a dispatch to Gen. Greene during the siege of Yorktown.

William L. Steele was one of sixteen children, and three of the brothers became residents of Montana. The Doctor received his academic edu- cation in the John L. Kennedy Classical School and at Thalion Academy, S. C., where he gradu- ated and then for two years he was engaged in pedagogic work and in the reading of medicine. In 1854 he matriculated in the South Carolina Medical College at Charleston, and, completing a three-years course, he was graduated in 1857 as M. D. His initial practice of medicine was as contract surgeon with the Rabun Gap Railroad, in which po- sition he served two years. In 1859 Dr. Steele made the journey across the plains to Colorado, locating in Missouri City, where he secured a placer claim which he worked until 1862 with fair success, doing such professional service as came to him. In Colorado he became superintendent of the consolidated ditch, which supplied water for the placer mines, being largely interested in the enterprise, and he also devoted considerable attention to stockraising.

He became a resident of Montana in 1863, lo- cating first at Bannack City and next at Alder gulch, of which place he was the first president. This incumbency, under the conditions then exist- ing, implied his presiding over the local court

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of justice, the powers being practically supreme. The Doctor in this judicial capacity presided at the trial of several outlaws and passed the death sen- tence upon one or more criminals condemned to execution. In 1864 he brought a stock of goods to Alder gulch, soon disposed of them, and in November located in Helena, then a mere mining camp, and from that time his strongly marked in- dividuality has been a valuable factor in its prog- ress. He purchased a large interest in mining properties in Grizzly gulch, and in 1865 others in Ophir gulch, Deer Lodge county and McClellan gulch, and operated them with success. He also engaged in cattleraising and in 1867 and 1868 conducted freighting from Fort Benton as headquarters. In 1869 he was elected sheriff of Lewis and Clarke county, during his two years of service doing much to suppress lawlessness and crime, this office then demanding of its incum- bent great tact, much discrimination, incessant watchfulness and dauntless courage. From 1871 until 1898 the Doctor. was in active medical prac- tice, he then retiring largely from its active duties, though his services are in frequent demand for consultation, while the families to whom he has ministered for years naturally turn to him for aid when sickness enters their homes.

The Doctor has been a prominent figure in the public life of the city, county and state since lo- cating in Helena. He was a member of the state senate in the legislature of 1896, was county cor- oner for ten years, mayor of Helena three times, and in 1898 was elected treasurer of Lewis and Clarke county, in which capacity he has served ably and acceptably. In 1898 he was strongly urged to permit the use of his name as a candi- date for governor of the state, and in many other ways have the leading people shown dignified evi- dences of the high esteem in which he is held in both his city and his state. In politics Dr. Steele has ever done much successfully to promote the Democratic party in the various campaigns which the years have marked. Professionally he holds membership in the state and county medical societies, and in fraternal relations he is also a valued member of the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Work- men. Dr. Steele was united in marriage in 1865 to Miss Agnes Forbis, a native of Missouri. Their children are Turner A., Frank F. and Agnes B. The Doctor is president of the Association of Montana Pioneers and all honor is paid him as a

man of strong and pronounced activities, of the highest personal honor and faithful in all the rela - tions of life and as one of the best types of the sterling pioneers.

SOLOMON F. SOLBERGER. - There is

scarcely a lot in life more essentially peaceful and blessed than that of the man who has done his duty well and sees growing and thriving around him the wholesale and beneficial fruits of his la- bor, in an interesting family for which he has well provided, in an advanced state of thought and development in the community to which he has largely contributed, in a vigorous activity of all the moral and social forces of his people, which he has fostered and encouraged. Such as this is the lot of Solomon F. Solberger, who resides near Ham- ilton, in Ravalli county. He was born on June I, 1839, at Cleveland, O., the son of John and Eliza- beth Solberger, both natives of Switzerland. The family consisted of five children, Solomon being the first born. He attended the public school at Mt. Eaton, Ohio, until he was ten years old, then lived with his grandfather on his farm for four years, until his parents removed to St. Genevieve county, Mo., whither he accompanied them. There he farmed and learned the trade of a machinist under his father, with whom he remained until 1859.

In 1859 Mr. Solberger went to Pike's Peak and mined until 1863, and then came to Mon- tana. For two years he mined at Bannack, Alder gulch and Helena, where he worked two and a half years mining and running a quartz mill until 1871. From that time until 1877, he worked for Keaton & Blacker at Raders- burg at mining, when he removed to Butte and built the old Lexington mill for A. J. Davis, then taking charge of it for two years. After that he mined for himself, worked at his trade and fol- lowed other occupations, including running a shop for himself until 1887, when he came to the Bitter Root valley and located on a ranch two miles north- west of Hamilton, where he has been residing since. He has a ranch of 160 acres on which he has a fine orchard in good bearing condition and raises numbers of superior cattle and abundant crops of farm produce. He has also eighty acres of timber land a mile and a half west of this ranch. In politics Mr. Solberger is an ardent Republican, always giving its candidates and policies his earn-

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est support. He has served as school trustee for a number of years, and taken a lively interest in all local matters. Being among the pioneers of the state he is an active member of their association. He was married in May, 1872, in St. Genevieve county, Mo., to Sarah Ann Williamson, a daughter of Lindley and Tillie Ann Williamson, and five of his seven children are living : Daniel, Chance, John, Mary and Sarah. Mr. Solberger is an ornament to the community, has been of great service in every department of its useful activities and he is secure in the cordial regard, the full confidence and the universal esteem of his fellow citizens.

JOSIAH K. SQUIRES .- Ravalli county, whose organization dates back comparatively few years, has enlisted in her official affairs the services of men of distinctive ability and integrity, and among those who have ably administered the county's finances is Mr. Squires, who was county treasurer for four years and whose course met with unquali- fied endorsement. He is now serving as deputy in the same office. He is also a capable dentist. Mr. Squires is a native of New Brunswick, Canada, born on November 10, 1857, the sixth of the ten children of William and Elizabeth (Kearney) Squires, the former of whom was born in England, his father having been a captain in the British army, while the latter was born in New Bruns- wick, a descendant of the ancient Kearney family of Ireland. Mr. Squires had the most meagre of educational advantages in his youth, but his is a nature that could not have been held down to a low level through adverse circumstances, and he is today a man of broad and definite information, speaking and writing three languages with facility, and still being a close observer and careful student. He has educated himself by self-application, by observation and by association with the practical affairs of life. He assisted in the cultivation of the homestead farm until he was fourteen, after which he was for two years employed in a machine shop at Lewiston, Mainc. He next was a filer in a large sawmill in Maine until 1879, when he came west to Leadville, Colo., where he engaged in mining and prospecting for two years, and after a year of work in a sawmill he began to study dentistry, and became an expert workman, while he thoroughly reinforced himself in all the required theoretical knowledge.

In 1885 Mr. Squires opened a dental office in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the next year he came to Montana and opened dental parlors in Missoula. The following spring he removed to Stevensville, and there he continued to practice dentistry until 1891, and thereafter he was similarly engaged at Hamilton until the fall of 1896, when he was elected treasurer of Ravalli county. He was chosen as his own successor in 1898 and served until March. 1901, since which time he has consented to remain in the capacity of deputy, being thoroughly familiar with the routine of the office and its financial con- ditions. He gave a careful and economical ad- ministration which met with uniform approval. He has a wide circle of acquaintances and he has never failed to retain the confidence and high regard of those with whom he has come in contact. In his political adherency Mr. Squires originally was a Republican, but later gave his allegiance to the Populist party, on which ticket he was elected treasurer. In 1896 he was the only Populist elected in the county, being endorsed by the Silver Republi- cans. Fraternally he is past noble grand in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

/ ALENTINE STAUBACH, one of the sub- - stantial stockraisers and pioneers of Montana, resides on a valuable ranch in Broadwater county, near Winston. He was born in Folda, Prussia, on December 18, 1829, the son of Conrad and Eva (Nichter) Staubach, both natives of his birthplace. Their family consisted of six sons and two daugh- ters. Valentine Staubach attended the govern- ment schools and learned the tailor's trade. When attaining his maturity, in 1850, he came to the United States, landing in Baltimore, Md. He soon went to Pittsburg, Pa., thence after eighteen months to New Castle, Pa. Here he remained two years and then passed one year in Pittsburg, subsequently locating in St. Paul, Minn. Here he followed tailoring for one year, and then be- came a farmer. Mr. Staubach early made the dis- covery that working for wages is not the most advantageous way to lay the foundation of world- ly prosperity and that the agricultural pursuits of the great, new west offered superior inducements to the young, the adventurous and the ambitious.

Valentine Staubach possessed all three of these personal characteristics, and in 1866 he started across the plains for Montana, joining a large par-

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ty under the guidance of the celebrated Capt. Fisk. There were 140 wagons and 400 men and women in the train, and on September 13, 1866, they ar- rived at Beaver creek, Mont. Here Mr. Staubach took up government land where he is now located, purchased some cattle at Helena, and wintered sixty-five head. In 1867 he started in farming and stockraising, in which profitable industries he has continued, some years wintering 400 head of cat- tle. He has added to his original land by pur- chase, taking up 640 acres under the desert land act, buying 400 acres from the Northern Pacific and purchasing 160 acres from Charles King, un- til he now owns 1,400 acres, upon which he has erected a handsome brick residence in an eligible location. In Allegheny, Pa., in 1853, Mr. Staubach married with Miss Julia Margaret, a native of Bavaria. Six children have blessed their union, Catherine, who was Mrs. King, but has since died, leaving one child: Julia, who resides with Mr. Staubach; John, deceased; Henry, a prosperous rancher : Barbara, Mrs. Henry Ingalls, of Cincin- nati; Lizzie, Mrs. Ross Deegan, living on the homestead, and Annie. Since his first arrival in Montana Mr. Staubach has steadily progressed, yearly adding to his fortune and his income. He is recognized as a man of the highest character and strictest probity, and justly merits the con- fidence reposed in him.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 49

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