Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 61

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 61

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In 1892 Mr. Young remarried with Miss Sophie Scheit, a native of Russia, daughter of Alex. and Margaret Scheit, whose mother died at the age of forty-two, while her father is still living. By this marriage Mr. Young has three living children, Frank, Dora and Joseph, and two, Florence and Sophia, have died.

In 1888 Mr. Young came to Montana, locating at Great Falls. He there worked industriously for eight months, during this time taking up a home- stead of 160 acres. One hundred acres of this land he cultivates. In 1895 he took up a tree claim, and bought forty acres of government land in 1899. Of the tree claim he cultivates eighty acres. Mr. Young has now 280 acres of land, twenty-eight head of cattle and twelve horses. Since coming to Montana he has wrought willing- ly and industriously, and has gained financial independence.

W TILLIAM W. ALDERSON, of Bozeman, was born at Arkendale, North riding of Yorkshire, England, February 28, 1831, being the eighth of a family of twelve children. He was allowed to attend the parish school for about five years, but as soon as he was able he was obliged to do his share towards supporting the large fam- ily and therefore, at the age of thirteen, went to work in the lead mines. He continued in this oc-

cupation until he was seventeen years old, when lie emigrated to America with his parents in 1848. They settled in the lead mining district of Illinois, near Galena, and until 1854 William was most of the time in the employ of his oldest brother, Simon, who was extensively engaged in mer- chandising, mining and smelting at and in the vi- cinity of Council Hill, Jo Daviess county, Ill. In 1854 the subject was united in marriage with Miss Frances, daughter of Edward and Mary Weather- ly, prosperous residents of Shullsburg, Wis., where he subsequently located and engaged in merchandising on his own account. Four years later he removed to Winona county, Minn., re- maining about eighteen months, when he returned to Illinois and again took charge of his brother's business at Council Hill station. Later he en- gaged in farming until 1864, at which time, in company with his younger brother John, he started across the plains for Montana, then a part of Idaho, making the trip by the Bridger route, then newly opened, arriving about the middle of July, 1864, on the site of the present city of Boze- man. He settled down at once on a claim one mile south of that proposed town and engaged in farming. That year the first grain and vegetables were raised in Gallatin valley and farming was a paying business. In 1865 a small patch of winter wheat, the first in Montana, was grown near Boze- inan and sold at $25 per bushel. But it required capital to get a start. Mr. Alderson sent a team to Cache valley, Utah, to get seed wheat, oats, etc., which cost him on his ranch twenty cents per pound. His plow, transported by team from Galena, Ill., was bought at Virginia City for $150 in United States currency ; harrow teeth, forged from old wagon tires, cost forty cents per pound ; seed potatoes thirty-five to forty cents, flour fifty cents to one dollar a pound, and other things in proportion, so that the outlay was great before even a small crop could be raised. In 1865 Mr. Alderson made a trip to Fort Benton and Cow island to receive a Woods self-raking harvester which had been shipped up the Missouri river from Fort Benton to Gallatin valley at a cost of twelve and one-half cents a pound, the wagon haul costing an equal amount. This was the first machine of the kind used in Gallatin valley, if not in Montana. He combined the dairy business with farming, and took the highest premiums for butter and cheese at the first territorial fair in 1868. In 1866 his family, consisting of his wife

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and four children, joined him on his ranch, coming via the Missouri river from St. Louis to Fort Ben- ton, and gave him once again the comforts and the domestic happiness of a home.

Although Mr. Alderson had never had the ad- vantage of schooling except attendance at the old English parish school for a few years, he had by constant study qualified himself to take a leading part in the young commun ty with which he had cast his lot. He saw farther than most of the other citizens of the growing and thrifty little town, and realized the necessity for schools and churches for the community whose permanence and prosperity were already assured. He gave much valuable time to those interests, and if Boze- man is noted today for its excellent schools and live, prosperous churches, much of the credit for that fact belongs to the early labors of Mr. Alder- son in this behalf. He held the first religious ser- vices in the valley, organized the first Sunday school in Bozeman, and built there in 1868 the first church edifice, which was also the first frame building. He was twelve years a member of the public school board. In 1873 he was appointed United States Indian agent of the Milk river agency, comprising the Yanktonnais and Unc- pappa Sioux and the Canoe band of the Assinni- boines. While he occupied this post no serious difficulties occurred except the shooting of the government interpreter, Benoit, by a number of Sitting Bull's band. They were treacherous In- dians and difficult to manage, but in spite of all their obstinacy and treachery his efforts to induce them to become dwellers in houses and tillers of the soil were successful to a degree. In 1876 he resigned and, returning to Bozeman, gave his at- tention to his real estate and other interests there. A good part of the present flourishing city of Bozeman stands on his additions to the town.

Looking for a wider field of usefulness, he bought in 1877 a moribund local paper, the Boze- man Avant Courier, of which he has since been proprietor and editor. This paper he soon put in the front rank of Montana journals, although he had no previous experience or training in jour- nalistic work. As an editor he was naturally drawn into politics and has been an active and in- fluential member of the Republican party. He was for many years a delegate to the county, terri- torial and state conventions, and along every line of public interest has shown himself to be a pro- gressive and public-spirited citizen, keenly alive

to the welfare of the community in which he lived. When Bozeman was incorporated in 1883 he was elected alderman of his ward, and was re-elected in 1884 for two years. In 1885 he was the Repub- lican candidate for mayor. Mr. Alderson was twice elected to represent his county (Gallatin) in the Montana legislature, being a prominent and in- fluential member of the house of representatives in the Fifteenth territorial legislative assembly two sessions, and serving in a like capacity in the Fourth legislative assembly of the state of Mon- tana with marked credit to himself and his con- stituents. In the Fourth state legislature he was chairman of the house committee on state institu- tions, buildings and grounds, and did much towards shaping legislation for the establishment and maintenance of the state's institutions of learning, which already stand so high and give promise of stability and surpassing utility in the education of the coming generations.

Mr. Alderson's family consists of nine children : Matthew W., mining expert and operator, Lewis and Clarke county, married to Miss Mary Long, of Braintree, Mass .; Edward C., former postmas- ter at Bozeman, now hunter and mountain guide, still a resident of Gallatin county ; Elizabeth Lina, who was married to Stafford Houston about eighteen years ago and was soon thereafter left a widow with one child, Edith, both now reside with her parents at the old homestead; Mary Frances, now married to Dr. Charles J. Deitz, and residing in Chicago, Ill .; Anna Gold, married to James S. Hammond, resides at Whitehall, Mont .; Margaret Helen, married to Stephen A. Ulmer, resides at Mansfield, Ohio; Charles R., manager of the Avant Courier, still resides at home with his parents; Willie Bowman died at Bozeman ten years ago; George Franklin, married to Mar- guerite Sears, of Canada, is cashier of the Avant Courier Publishing Company, residing in Bozeman.

JACOB A. YUND .- In the subject of this brief biographical sketch we find a most pronounced illustration of the fact that no social prejudice, no class distinction, no differences of birth, can prevent the man of true merit from obtaining reward in this our land of personal liberty. Mr. Yund is of French extraction, his grandfather, Nicholas Yund, being one of the little band of 12,000 French soldiers who, on November 9, 1812, reached Smilensk, the tattered and wornout rem-

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nant of the once glorious army of 102,000 men, who, by the reluctant order of Napoleon, set out from Moscow, October 18th preceding, after the memorable fire of the great Russian metrop- olis, on that memorable and historic retreat. Nicholas Yund was born at Barr, Alsace, France. He was a woodworker and died at Barr at the age of fifty-three years. His wife, who survived him, was also a native of Barr, and attained sev- enty-three years. The maternal grandfather of Jacob A. Yund, Mr. Sheets, was born at St. Peter, Alsace, and died while still young. His wife died at St. Peter at the age of fifty-five years.

Born in the town of Ribeauville, department of the upper Rhine, province of Alsace, then one of the French possessions, on May 14, 1857, of industrious and thrifty parents, he spent his youthful days in attending the common schools until the age of fourteen, when he was appren- ticed to the brushmaking trade. War was then raging between Germany and France, and by a treaty signed by the two powers Alsace was doomed to become a German province. Mr. Yund's father, with true French instinct and pa- triotism, and not wishing to submit to Prussian rule, resolved to take advantage of the "option" laws and immigrate to America, whither two sons had already preceded him; and on December 3, 1873, we find Mr. Yund in company with his father and mother landing at Castle Garden. Soon joining the two brothers in Fort Hunter, N. Y., where they were profitably engaged in the man- ufacture of brooms, the happy family was once more. united. Here Mr. Yund also engaged in the same business, and ere many years the family earned quite a competency. Seeing his parents comfortably settled in a nice home of their own in the then village of Amsterdam, to which town they had previously removed, Mr. Yund set out to seek his fortune on his own account; and on January 19, 1879, we find him on his way to St. Louis, Mo., where he accepted a position with the firm of Samuel Cupples & Co. in the manu- facture of brooms. Later we find Mr. Yund in Melvern, Kan., engaged in the same calling. Not finding that occupation remunerative enough, in his desire for more rapid advancement he resolved to emigrate, and on June 21, 1881, we find him in company with R. D. Flood, a fellow employe, boarding a train for Bismarck, N. D., from which point they soon embarked on the old river steamer, "Nellie Peck," bound for Fort Benton, Mont.

Many incidents could here be narrated about the trip up the river, but suffice it to say that on ar- riving at Fort Benton, July 14, 1881, Mr. Yund and companion realized the necessity of relin- quishing their old calling. A deal was soon made with an agent of the firm of C. A. Broadwater & Co. for an engagement in Assinniboine, where he remained for two years in various capacities, directly under the charge of that eminent frontiers- man and man of affairs, Samuel Pepin. To the latter, and to the kindness shown by him and the firm, Mr. Yund ascribes his future successes. In August, 1883, he determined to visit his parents, friends and brothers in the east. He went by stage to the Coal Banks, a freight depot about forty miles below Fort Benton, with a view to taking a down-stream steamer, but was disap- pointed, owing to shallow water which prevented the steamer coming up as high as the Coal Banks. Nothing daunted, Mr. Yund, in company witlı William Mason, a discharged soldier whom Mr. Yund had known in Assinnaboine, purchased a small row boat and, regardless of inexperience in the art of rowing, launched their craft on August 5, 1883, amidst a shower of laughter and good wishes from those remaining behind, who knew what a dangerous trip Mr. Yund and part- ner were undertaking. The dusk of the first day found the voyage at Fort Clogget, a fur-trading post 100 miles down the river from their start- ing point. The rapids between Coal Banks and Clogget are justly regarded as the swiftest and most dangerous on the Missouri river, and not again on their trip could they equal their first day's record for distance. Here they supplied them- selves with provisions, and after passing the night on a small island resumed at an early hour their perilous journey. To relate all the reminiscences, adventures, hair-breadth escapes from drowning, attempted hold-ups and disastrous results from attempts to use improvised sails would in itself fill a book. August 16th found the travelers at Poplar River agency, camping for rest and to witness a sun dance, for which the Indians were making elaborate preparations. For their loss of time we find our travelers repaid in a well- earned rest, and the knowledge that the sun dance is really practiced with a brutal, fiendish exhibition of endurance and self-torture, believed by them to have existed only in the minds of dime novel writers. Arriving at Fort Berthold on August 24th, Mr. Yund and partner decided it prudent to con-

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tinue their journey by stage; accordingly they asked for and received from the Indian agent a permit to remain on the reservation until the 26th, when they took the stage and arrived at Bismarck on the eve of the 27th. In St. Paul Mr. Yund and his friend separated, the latter going to Bal- timore, and Mr. Yund to New York. Urgent en- treaties by his folks kept him at home until the spring of 1885, when thoughts of the fresh Mon- tana air cut the bonds of friendship, and March, 1885, found Mr. Yund in the employ of Sklower & Lissner, proprietors of the International hotel in Helena, erstwhile porter, then clerk, and many will remember the genial form of "Jake" perched on top of the International bus upon the arrival of trains seeking patronage for the hostelry he was representing. In June, 1887, his desire for start- ing in business overcame all others. With only good judgment, coupled with a good reputation for honor and integrity, we see Mr. Yund start- ing in a loan and jewelry business, only to re- ceive a severe check one year thereafter by a disastrous conflagration. Unable to secure a proper location at once, owing to the great de- mand for business locations in those days, Mr. Yund took advantage of the opportunity, and, go- ing to Amsterdam, N. Y., was married August 15, 1886, to Miss Ida Anders, daughter of John and Sophia Anders, of that place, and an acquaint- ance from almost childhood days. The union has ever proved a most happy one, and was favored with three children, Walter S., born Nov. 27, 1889; Lauretta V., December 19, 1890; Marguerite F., born July 7, 1892. Mr. Yund again resumed busi- ness, and to his success all who know him can attest. He is now comfortably situated with his family in their lovely home at 213 Fifth avenue. As Catholics the members of the family are de- voted communicants of the Cathedral of the Sac- red Hearts. Mr. Yund makes no pretense at poli- tics, never having affiliated with any party, pre- ferring to be independent. He is still young, being only forty-four years of age at this writing, and his declining years should be fraught with un- bounded happiness.

A NGUS McMILLAN .- The sturdy Scottish lineage of Mr. McMillan is plainly indicated in his name, and in his character are those sterling at- tributes which have made the Scotsman noted in

all parts of the world. Mr. McMillan is one of the sterling pioneers of Montana and is one of the prosperous stockgrowers of Fergus county.

He is a native of Alexandria, province of On- tario, Canada, where he was born on the 15th of November, 1843, the son of Donald and Mary ( Mc- Millan) McMillan, also natives of Canada and of Scotch extraction. They passed their lives in Can- ada, where the father was a farmer. He was a Liberal in his politics, and both he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church, people of intrinsic integrity. Four of their ten children are deceased, their names being Donald, Hugh, Dugald and Veir. The cherished mother died in 1881, the father surviving until 1896. The living children are : John, Mary, Flora, Margaret, Angus and Archie.

Angus McMillan received his education in the public schools of Ontario, and remained at the parental home until he was eighteen, when he se- cured employment in the lumber woods of western Canada, his first wages being $12 per month. In 1865 Mr. McMillan went to Minneapolis, Minn., and was employed in sawmill and lumber work for one year. In June, 1866, he joined the party of Capt. J. L. Fisk, destined for Montana, coming by way of the northern route, the trip occupying three months. They encountered no Indians, but saw many buffalo. After his arrival in Montana Mr. McMillan engaged in placer mining until the spring of 1867, when he moved to the Blackfoot country for a short time, after which he took up land near where East Helena now stands, and engaged in farming and stockraising. In 1880 he removed to the Judith basin and formed a partnership alliance with R. H. Carsine, and engaged in sheepraising, and continuing this until 1882, when Mr. McMillan came to his present location, and took up a pre-emp- tion claim eight miles west of Lewistown. This was the nucleus of his present fine landed estate of 1,680 acres. Of this 800 acres are available for cultivation. Mr. McMillan has been peculiarly successful in the raising of cattle both in the selec- tion of grades and in the extent of his operations. Mr. McMillan is public-spirited and has ever given his influence to the advancement of the material prosperity of his section. His politics are those of the Republican party. He has never aspired to public office, but has consented to serve as road commissioner and as trustee of his school district.

On the 26th of March, 1884, Mr. McMillan was united in marriage to Miss Annie McMillan, who

Angus me millan

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was born at Kirkhill, Glengarry county, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of Angus and Flora Mc- Millan, both natives of Canada and of Scottish lineage. The father devoted his life to agriculture and supported the Liberal party, and both he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church. He passed away in 1898, his wife preceding him in 1891. Of their eight children Alexander and Christiana are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. McMillan have six children, namely: John E., Florence, Mary, Annie, Alexina and Judith. Mr. McMillan has recently erected one of the best residences in the country districts of Fergus county, where a true Scotch hospitality is extended.

W S. YOUNG .- The pleasing subject of this sketch is living the quiet, peaceful and in- dependent life of a prosperous farmer and stock- raiser, with no suggestion in his present con- dition and surroundings of the toilsome and varied experiences through which he has passed. He was born at Morristown, Morris county, N. J., September 23, 1854. His industrious parents, Thomas and Lydia B. Morris, were natives of the same county, and are still living there in com- fortable retirement. Mr. Young attended the pub- lic schools of his native town until he was eighteen years of age, and from that time until he was twenty-two worked on the home farm. In 1876 he went to Princeton, Ill., and worked on a farm for two years. In 1878 he went to Leadville, Colo., and followed prospecting for three years. In 1882 he took a jaunt to Socorro, N. M., where he remained two years engaged in mining and prospecting ; and in 1884 removed to Durango, Colo., and followed the same pursuit for another year. From August, 1885, to May, 1886, he was quarrying stone at Salt Lake, and in the summer of 1886 changed his residence from there to Butte, Mont., where he put in four years prospecting and mining, dividing the time between that place and Bannack and Dillon. In the summer of 1890 he turned from this wandering life and set- tled on the ranch he now occupies, which is a pleas- ant home on Clear creek in the Bearpaw moun- tains, about half way between Havre and Chin- ook, where he is successfully engaged in rais- ing cattle, hay and grain, in good quantities and of superior quality.

In politics Mr. Young is an active Republi- 83

can, always bearing a forceful and influential part in local campaigns, and giving to party matters close and earnest attention. He was married at Minot, N. D., January 2, 1899, to Mrs. Emma Whittier, a native of Canada, and a widow with two children, namely: Gordon, aged seven years, and Genevieve, aged five. Both Mr. and Mrs. Young are well esteemed in their neighborhood and have hosts of friends. Mrs. Young's maiden name was Emma Perrett. Her father, Robert D. Perrett, is now a resident of Chinook, Mont., having come there in 1890; he is a carpenter by trade. Mr. Young has a ranch of 420 acres, and has from 150 to 200 head of cattle; also has good open range on both sides. While prospect- ing in New Mexico Mr. Young had a number of exciting experiences with the Apache Indians.

B AKER W. BADGER .- The subject of this re- view comes of distinguished old Colonial ancestry, and the name has been prominently identi- fied with the annals of American history from the early epoch down to the present time. Mr. Badger was born in the old city of Elizabeth, N. J., where was centered so much of interest during the Revo- lutionary days, the date of his nativity having been June 6, 1844. His father, George S. Badger, was born in New Jersey, being a son of Richard S., a native of Haverhill, Mass., and a son of Moses S. Badger, who was a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal church (or the Church of England), being rector of an important church in Boston in the Colonial epoch. The original an- cestors came from England, some of them settling in New England and others in North Carolina. George E. Badger, of North Carolina, an uncle of the subject of this review, was a judge of the su- preme court of the United States in the early part of the nineteenth century and was an intimate friend of Daniel Webster. Richard S. Badger, grandfather of our subject, was a prominent mer- chant in New York city for many years, being en- gaged in the merchant marine trade and having large and important commercial transactions with Europe and East India. He continued to reside in the national metropolis until his death. George S. Badger, the father of Baker W., of this review, continued in the same line of business which his father had established and was thus engaged until 1860, when he removed to Kentucky, which con- tinued to be his home until his death, in 1870. He

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married Miss Sarahı M. Buell, who was born in New Jersey, a representative of one of the old and influential families of that state, and they became thic parents of three children, of whom our subject was the only survivor at the time of his father's death. His mother passed away in 1891. At the time of the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion George S. Badger gave his support to the cause of the Union, but his son, Richard S., took a most active part in the conflict as a member of the Con- federate army, having enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Tennessee Regiment, a crack or- ganization mustered in the city of Memphis and having in its personnel a number of the most patri- cian sons of the south. At Shiloh this regiment was literally cut to pieces, but Mr. Badger escaped serious injury. He participated in many of the most memorable conflicts of this great internecine war and died shortly after its close, from disorders caused by exposure and privation while in the service.

Baker W. Badger, the immediate subject of this sketch, received his preliminary educational dis- cipline in Kentucky, and was thereafter matricu- lated in the State University of Missouri, at Colum- bia, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1867. He then returned to Kentucky, where he continued to reside until 1874, when he went again to Missouri, where he was engaged in the lumber business until 1880. In that year he came to Montana and located in White Sulphur Springs, Meagher county, where he turned his at- tention to the ranch business, continuing in the same until 1884, when he was elected to the benchi of the probate court of the county. He remained the incumbent of this office until the admission of Montana to statehood, in 1889, when he was elected to the office of clerk of the court, of which he has ever since continued in tenure. He was elected justice of the peace soon after his arrival in the state, and served for a number of years as a men- ber of the board of school trustees, ever maintain- ing a lively interest in all that makes for the ad- vancement and well-being of the community and the state. In politics Judge Badger has ever given an unequivocal allegiance to the Republican party, whose cause he has done much to promote. Fra- ternally he is identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is a man of strong intel- lectuality and generous nature, being held in the highest regard by all classes and being thoroughly democratic in his attitude at all times.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 61

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