Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 58

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 58

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The educational facilities afforded Alexander D. Weaver in his youth were only such as were offered by the district schools. At the age of eighteen he left his home in Boone county, Ky., his worldly cap- ital represented in the sum of fifty cents. He found employment in cutting cordwood at seventy-five cents per cord, and boarded himself. He next en- gaged in splitting rails, and for three weeks de- voted his attention to this arduous labor, averaging

400 rails a day, being paid fifty cents a hundred and his board. He next joined his brother in carpentry work, at which he was employed for some time, but returned to Virginia, and soon afterward his mother died. He was employed at farm work in Virginia until 1860, when he returned to Kentucky and worked all summer for fifty cents a day, having never received more than $15 per month for his services. He saved nearly all the money which he thus earned through unremitting toil, and within five years accumulated $1,000. On his trip from Virginia to Kentucky he walked the entire distance, with the exception of the first thirty miles, and reached his destination at the expiration of five days. Eventually he rented a tract of thirteen acres in Boone county, Ky., paying $150 for a lease of one year. He put in a crop of tobacco, and was fairly successful in his operations, retaining the land for three years. In January, 1864, Mr. Weaver started for Montana, coming as far as St. Joseph, Mo., where he remained until spring, when he purchased an outfit and set forth on the long trip across the plains, arriving in Virginia City, on August 24, He there disposed of his outfit, and soon thereafter returned eastward as far as Salt Lake. City, where hê secured two loads of flour and returned to Vir- ginia City. He stored the flour until the following spring, when he disposed of it for $30 a sack. Flour was very scare at the time and two weeks later he could have obtained $50 to $60 for each sack of 100 pounds. Soon afterward he came to the Gallatin valley and took up a tract of land, the original claim being his home for two years. Later he took up another claim and purchased adjoining ground until he now has a ranch of 840 acres of fertile and prolific land. He and his brother Frank were partners, and lived together for several years; but in 1868 they divided their property, and our subject then settled upon his present place. His first domicile was a pole cabin, but later erected a more pretentious dwelling of hewed logs. He has continued to make improvements from year to year until he has one of the finest farms and most attractive homes in this section of the state. He devotes his attention to general farming and to the raising of high-grade live-stock, and his success has been exceptional, his judgment and industry insur- ing this result. The residence is a frame building of modern design and is substantial and commo- dious. It was erected in 1873, and later enlarged and improved. Mr. Weaver employed the best me- chanics to be had in the state, and also paid toll for

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two months in order to secure better sand than was accessible without going to a point on the toll road. In 1874 he erected from his own plans a fine barn, which has been pronounced by competent judges to be the best farm structure of the sort in Montana.

In politics Mr. Weaver renders allegiance to the Democratic party, and at the first election after Montana was admitted to statehood he cast his presi- dential vote for Grover Cleveland. He is ever ready to lend his aid and influence to any project or un- dertaking which will promote the material or moral welfare of the community, and has given tangible assistance in the building of churches of various de- nominations. Honored and esteemed by all, he is recognized as one of the representative men of his community and as one worthy the success and pros- perity which attend him. On January 5, 1871, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Weaver to Miss Eliza H. Martin Statler, the ceremony being per- formed at Brideham, on Crow creek. Of this union three children were born, namely: Rosetta, Vir- ginia, S. B. and Mity Alice. All of the children are married and well established in life. Mrs. Weaver is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and has been active in all good works, re- taining the friendship of all with whom she comes in contact and proving to her husband a true help- meet and companion.

JACOB B. WEAVER .- On another page of this work will be found a sketch of the life of Alex- ander D. Weaver, a brother of the gentleman whose name initiates this paragraph, to which the reader is referred for data touching the genealogy of the subject of this review. Jacob B. Weaver is one of the pioneers of Montana, where he has attained suc- cess through the medium of agriculture, his finely improved and extensive estate being located in the beautiful Gallatin valley, three miles northwest of Belgrade, his postoffice address. Mr. Weaver is a native son of the Old Dominion, having been born in Botetourt county on July 9, 1847, the son of John and Eliza (Cainer) Weaver. He was reared on a farm and received such educational advantages as were afforded by the schools of that period. When in his fourteenth year he began to depend upon his own resources, first working six months for his clothes and board. Later he received $7.50 per imonth. In 1864 he started west in company with his brother, Cyrus L., and they drove a distance of 200 miles, to Nebraska City, having missed their

brother, Alexander D., at Fort Kearney, where they expected to meet him. Jacob B. continued his jour- ney to Colorado, where he remained for two years, and crossed the plains five times before taking up his permanent location in Montana. In July, 1866, he arrived in Gallatin county, where his brother, Alexander had previously located and was engaged in farming, and was employed on his brother's ranch until 1868, when he purchased a squatter's right to two government claims and settled down to farming. His first house was a log cabin, 14x14 feet, which continued to be his domicile until 1871, when he erected a double log house, that the family occupied until 1891, when Mr. Weaver erected his present attractive and commodious residence. His original ranch comprised 320 acres, to which he has added until he now has a fine property under a high state of cultivation, excellently improved through- out and embracing 1,010 acres. Large crops have been secured as the result of his effective and well directed endeavors. He also raises livestock upon an extensive scale, being known as one of the pro- gressive and straightforward citizens of the com- munity, thoroughly public-spirited in his attitude. Mr. Weaver has been the architect of his own for- tunes. When he arrived in Gallatin county he had only $2.00 in cash and a pony of minimum value. Self-reliance, energy and perseverance were his, however, and through these he has risen to a posi- tion of independence and attained that prosperity which is the just reward of his labors.

In politics he gives loyal support to the Demo- cratic party ; in 1871 he was elected assessor of Gal- latin county, serving for a term of one year. His first presidential vote was cast in 1892 for Grover Cleveland, the first general election subsequent to the admission of Montana to the Union. The re- ligious faith of the family is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, and no residents of the commun- ity are held in higher esteem. On March 19, 1874, Mr. Weaver was united in marriage to Miss Mis- souri McDonald, the ceremony being performed in Gallatin county. She is the daughter of John E. and Lucy E. (Keith) McDonald, natives of Ken- tucky, whence they came to Montana in 1864, the father having been a carpenter by trade, but de- voted the greater portion of his life to agricultural pursuits. He died at the home of Mr. Weaver at the age of sixty-three, and here also his wife passed away at about the same age. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom six are yet living. To Mr. and Mrs. Weaver have been horn fourteen chil-

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dren, four of whom died in infancy, the others be- ing as follows: Edgar J., Ella and Jennie (de- ceased) ; Jessie M., born April 14, 1879, is the wife of Joseph C. Gowin ; Minnie B., born July 6, 1880; Charles E., born November 22, 1881 : Jacob A., born January 27, 1883 ; Carrie E., born August 21, 1884; Lulu E. (deceased) ; Lillie L., born January 25, 1890; Lester J., born December 23, 1891 ; Olla E., born May 27, 1895; Alice E., born July 22, 1897; and Marjorie F., born June 10, 1899.

H OYT J. WELLS .- Not alone are those worthy of biographic honors who have moved along the loftier planes of action ; but to an equal extent are those deserving who are of the rank and file of the world's workers, for they are equally the conservators of public prosperity and material advancement. Throughout all the grad- ations of life recognition should be given of true values and full appreciation be manifested. Within the pages of this work will be found specific men- tion of many young men who have come to Montana and worked their way to success and independence, and of this number is Mr. Wells, one of the representative young stockgrowers and farmers of Carbon county.

A native of the Badger state, Mr. Wells was born in Portage, Columbia county, Wis., on July 17, 1864, being the son of Isham and Sarah (Pel- ten) Wells, the former born in Burlington, Vt., of stanch old New England stock, while the latter was born in the state of Ohio. Isham Wells, the father of our subject, removed from the old Green Mountain state to Wisconsin in the year 1863, becoming a pioneer of that commonwealth, and moved to Minnesota in 1864. He was en- gaged in freighting at the time of the Madelia massacre, notable in the history of Minnesota, and then continued his pioneer experiences by removing to Winnebago City, Martin county, Minn., where he still retains his residence, hav- ing been engaged in farming and stockraising since taking up his abode in the state. His wife is also living, as arc all of their six children, of whom the subject of this review was the second in order of birth.

Growing up under the kindly discipline of the homestead farm, Hoyt J. Wells waxed strong in mental and physical vigor, his educational privi- leges having been such as were afforded in the

public schools. He remained on the homestead until attaining the age of sixteen years,. when he assumed the practical duties of life and was vari- ously employed until 1882, when he came to Mon- tana, making Billings his destination. There he remained for a brief interval and then removed to Judith basin, where for two years he was iden- tified with the sheep business. He then made a trip through Idaho, and on his return settled in the vicinity of Gardiner, near the boundary of the Yellowstone National park. There he engaged in business, but in the second year his building and stock were destroyed by fire, and he then turned his attention to the vocation of shearing sheep, which he followed for fourteen years, traveling through Montana and Oregon as an expert in this line. In 1894 Mr. Wells came to Carbon county and located on his present ranch, situated on Beaver creek at a point two miles east of the village of Absarokee, his postoffice address. Here he has a valuable ranch of 160 acres, well improved and devoted principally to the raising of sheep. He has been very successful in his enterprise, which he is steadily expanding in scope and im- portance, and he runs an average band of about 7,000 head, giving his preference to the Merino type crossed with the Cotswold. He has a good residence, a fine modern barn, 50x150 feet in dimensions, and the necessary equipment for car- rying on his business with facility and success. In politics he gives his support to the Republican party ; fraternally he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. By his straightforward course and inflexible integrity he has gained the confidence and good will of the community, and is known as a progressive and able representative of the stockgrowing activities of this section of the state. Mr. Wells is a nephew of Gov. Heber M. Wells, of Utalı, and a brother of S. G. Wells, a prominent member of the St. Louis (Mo.) bar, where he holds a fine and representative practice.

JAMES D. WATTS .- Born on February 1, 1860, in Greene, now Webster county, Mo., on the neu- tral ground for which both sections contended in our terrible Civil war and which was wasted by the armies of each in turn, James D. Watts may almost be said to have begun his childhood amid the smoke of battle. His father and three uncles were soldiers on the Union side, suffering many of

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the horrors of the contest. His father was dis- charged on account of sickness after nine months service and then was captain of the home guards until the close of the war. One uncle was killed in battle, one died after he came home from disease contracted in the service and one went through the war without mishap. Mr. Watts, an only child, attended the public schools until he was twenty-one, then farmed for himself for two years and came to Montana in the spring of 1883, and worked for wages on a farm in the Bitter Root valley for a year. Then he began farming and stockraising on his own account near Corvallis, which he contin- ued until 1891 and then engaged in butchering at Hamilton, conducting the business successfully and profitably until 1900.

Mr. Watts is an active Republican and has always been influential in the councils of his party. In 1896 he was elected county commissioner, in 1898 asses- sor, and in 1900 sheriff. Fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen and is an active and zealous member of the Christian church. He was married on September 14, 1884, at Corvallis, to Miss Rosa M. Chaffin, daughter of Elijah and Mar- garet Chaffin, her father being a prominent farmer near the town. Mr. and Mrs. Watts have three children, Elijah J., Laura Blanche and Andrew J., the last being an adopted child. Mr. Watts has been nearly twenty years among this people and he has shown such qualities of head and heart as to win their confidence and esteem to an unusual degree. In his business he is fair, upright and considerate ; in political and religious matters broad and toler- ant, in public affairs an example of fidelity, breadth of view and conscientious devotion to the general welfare. In social life he is genial, companionable and benignant.

EWRIGHT BROTHERS .- Jerome and Eu- L

gene Lewright, prominent and progressive ranchmen in Fergus county, are natives of Franklin county, Mo., where Jerome was born May 8, 1848, and Eugene, January 17, 1853. Their parents were William P. and Mary Lewright, the former a na- tive of Virginia and the latter of Alabama. They were early emigrants to Missouri, and engaged in farming. The father was an ardent Democrat in politics, and both parents were zealous members of the Baptist church.

The brothers were well educated and after school

days remained at home assisting their parents until they reached years of maturity, then engaged in farming together. In 1881 Jerome sold his interest in the farm and went into the meat business, con- tinuing in it two years with good success. In 1883 he sold this business and, in company with his brother Eugene, came to Montana, and went to ranching, Eugene having also disposed of his farming interests in Missouri. When they arrived in Montana they located the ranch on which they live, using all their rights in securing land, and they have since added by purchase until they now 'have 1,120 acres, 320 of which are cultivatable, and are in a high state of fruitfulness and supporting generously large herds of cattle, until 1896, since which time they have devoted their attention to sheep, finding the business very profitable.

In politics both of these gentlemen are Democrats. Jerome was married February 14, 1894, to Miss Ellen Parker, a native of Jackson county, Mo., and a daughter of Zacharias and Mary Parker, Ken- tuckians by birth, who removed to Missouri when they were young. Her mother was a zealous men- ber of the Baptist church. The Lewright brothers stand well in the good opinion of the entire com- munity.

T THE WESTERN MONTANA NATIONAL BANK .- Scarcely any form of industrial en- terprise is more generally or more unostenta- tiously useful in a community than a bank or banking institution. It is at once a conservator and a promoter- a storage battery and a motive power-the depository and safeguard of the bread- winner, the home-maker, the business man and the manufacturer- the vital breath of trade, the inspiration of commerce, the strong sinew of pro- ductive enterprise. In business circles times come in every country which try men's souls, and shake the very foundations of civilization. Great fiscal agencies wither and die. Institutions of magni- tude and power topple and go down. Men of mercantile genius are crushed in the falling ruins. Firmly built and wisely managed indeed are the concerns which withstand such seismic disturb- ances. One such appears in the Western Mon- tana National Bank, of Missoula. It has shown facilities broad in scope, responsive in action and adapted to specific needs. And, in the gloomiest hours of fiscal depression, it has been a reservoir of monetary strength, averting disaster from in-

J. Lewright

Eugene Lewright

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PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

dividuals, quieting the feverish pulse of the com- munity and keeping in vigorous motion all the wheels of productive energy. This bank was founded in 1889 with a capital stock of $75,000. Its first directorate was composed of Ferdinand Kennett, L. J. Fisk, Charles Otto, G. A. Wolf and J. H. T. Ryman. Of these Mr. Kennett was president, Mr. Ryman, vice-president, and Mr. Wolf, cashier. The present board is the same except that Charles Otto has died and J. C. Lehsou has been chosen in his place. The officers at this writ- ing (1901) are: President, G. A. Wolf; vice- president, J. C. Lehsou ; cashier, J. H. T. Ryman. The capital stock is the same as at the begin- ning. The bank has a surplus of $15,000, undivided profits amounting to $15,000 and annual deposits reaching the sum of $525,000. While the insti- tution is not a large one, it is manifestly sound and well managed. It carries on a general bank- ing business.

It is a member of the American National Bank- ing Association, and has a high reputation wher- ever it is known, for financial soundness, a spirit of wise accommodation and adaptability to cir- cumstances and conditions.

Į UDGE J. R. WESTON, of Townsend, Broad- water county, is not only prominent as one of Montana's earliest pioneers, but is recognized as a man of high integrity, superior intelligence and progressive views. In the stirring history of the early settlement of the territory he was an im- portant factor, and it is to men of his sterling character and undaunted energy that the state owes its rapid advance. He was born in Onondaga county, N. Y., on April 24, 1824, the son of Ed- ward and Clarissa (Rathbone) Weston, the father a native of Maine and the mother of New York. The paternal grandfather was Cornelius Weston, also a native of Maine. The first representative of the family in America was Edmund Weston, the English emigrant, who came to the Plymouth colony in 1636, in the ship "Ann and Elizabeth." Later two Weston brothers settled, one in Cum- berland county, Me., the other in Massachusetts. The Rathbones were also among the earlier pil- grims to this country, and the maternal grand- father of the Judge, James Rathbone, was a col- onel in the Continental army under Gen. Wash- ington, and his paternal grandfather was the pro- 82

prietor of a line of coasting vessels, plying be- tween Portland and Manhattan island, and, dur- ing the exigencies of the Revolution, congress ap- propriated these vessels and paid Capt. Weston in continental money, a portion of which is now in the possession of Judge Weston. The elaborate cane now used daily by the Judge has a most ro- mantic history. It was presented to him on the day of his birth by his grandfather, James Rath- bone, and it was given to him by a William Rus- sell, who was imprisoned for a debt of $600 in Herkimer county, N. Y. James Rathbone, a brother Mason, paid the debt and freed the pris- oner. In token of remembrance of this fraternal act Mr. Russell gave him this cane, on the con- struction of which he had expended six months' time. The grateful debtor also wished to refund the $600, but this James Rathbone refused to accept. The cane is handsomely carved with quaint designs, birds, fishes, Masonic emblems, etc. The cane is eventually intended to be presented to Mr. Benjamin Folsom, a cousin of Mrs. ex-President Cleveland, and a nephew of Judge Weston.

After his earlier school days Judge Weston at- tended the Friends' School for three years, and then the famed Homer Academy in Cortland county, N. Y. Pursuing first the literary course of Geneva College, he was there duly graduated and then he availed himself of the advantages of the medical school of the same institution, graduating in 1846. In 1847 he removed to Allegany county, locating in Bolivar, where he practiced medicine three years. At the time of the completion of the Erie Railway in 1851 he opened a drug store, was appointed postmaster and engaged in other mer- cantile pursuits for twelve years. In 1863 he joined a train of seventy wagons drawn by mules, oxen and horses, and bound for Montana, and was chosen captain of the outfit. At Fort Laramie, where the train had camped for the night, a cor- poral demanded from them all government uni- forms, one of the trainmen wearing such cloth- ing, but an interview between Captain Weston and the commander of the fort resulted in the uniform being kept. The train went by Lander's cutoff and at Blackfoot they celebrated the Fourth of July. Bill Hickman, the celebrated Mormon, was camped on the other side of the river, and crossed over to join in the celebration, continuing with the Weston party as far as Snake river.

Soon after their arrival at Bannack, in July, 1863, Judge Weston and three partners prospected

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on Yankee flat, occupying a cabin adjacent to the notorious Plummer gang. Judge Weston speaks of Plummer as a sociable, courteous, blonde young man, and not one that would be selected as a blood- thirsty desperado. Later the Judge witnessed the hanging of this same Plummer, executed on a gibbet which himself had erected while sheriff for the punishment of others. Following this event Judge Weston went to Omaha for the winter, returning in the spring to Virginia City, Mont., ac- companied by Benjamin Folsom and a train of supplies, which were exchanged at a good profit for gold dust. In the fall of that year he went to Last Chance gulch and located a claim on Sixteen Mile creek, which he soon sold and re- moved to Diamond City, where he remained three years in an unprofitable hotel business. Until 1883 Judge Weston remained at Radersburg, where he served as postmaster, and he then en- gaged in the drug business at Townsend. He rep- resented Meagher county in the territorial legis- lature at Virginia City in 1867. On the attain- ment of his majority, in 1845, Judge Weston was united in marriage to Miss Adelaide D. Clarke, of New York, a daughter of Zora A. Clarke. Fra- ternally he is a thirty-second-degree Mason, and an Odd Fellow, and personally he is held in the highest esteem in the community in which he resides, and is well and favorably known through- out the state.

W ILLIAM WHALEN .- He to whose life his- tory we now direct attention is one of the successful farmers and stockgrowers of Sweet Grass county, where he is associated with his brother in conducting one of its most valuable ranches, their selection of land having been par- ticularly fortunate, since they control an individual system of irrigation and can place under effective irrigation their entire tract of nearly 1,000 acres, more than one-half of the ranch now being thus supplied. Mr. Whalen comes of stanch old Irish stock, being the son of Timothy and Mary (Maloney) Whalen, both of whom were born in the Emerald Isle, whence the father emigrated to America in 1850.

Timothy Whalen settled on a farm in John- son county, Ia., and there William Whalen was born on October 4, 1861, one of six children. He received his education in the public schools and

continued to assist in the cultivation of the home- stead until 1885, when he came to Montana and settled upon a ranch on the American Fork, where he remained three years, returned to Iowa and en- gaged in farming until 1898, when he once more came to Montana, and with his brother Michael, who had located here in 1880, engaged in ranch- ing upon an extensive scale in Sweet Grass county. William Whalen located a homestead about four miles from Melville, his brother having one one mile above his. They then purchased the section lying between the two homesteads, thus making a fine ranch of 960 acres, and here they have dili- gently improved their time in farming and stock- raising, having now more than 100 head of cattle, mostly shorthorns, in which line they have largely contributed to the improvement of the stock of their vicinity.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 58

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