Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 65

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 65

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THOMAS ALEXANDER CHURCHILL, one of the representative and prosperous farm- . now owned by his family. He was a Republican ers of the Flathead valley, descends from an English family that for generations has held high rank in that country and has been noted for its admirable qualities of intellect and moral character. The first American residence of this branch was in the Old Dominion and from there the immediate Thomas A. Churchill passed his early life on his father's farm of 960 acres lying in the heart of Al- bany prairie, the best farming land in Oregon, and the best farm on the prairie. This is in the Will- amette valley, 100 miles south of Portland. Here Mr. Churchill remained until 1880, the later portion of his residence managing the farm with his brother. His health failing, he took a horseback trip with a packhorse northeasterly through the Rocky mountains in search of health, fortune and adventure, to the Yellowstone valley. From this valley he drifted into the Judith basin, where he lo- cated and engaged in woolraising. His health im- proved, but after four years he sold out and went to New Mexico, intending to locate there in the same business, but on looking over the ground con- cluded not to remain. Returning to Montana, he was in the livery business at Helena for five years. Here he embarked in matrimony on February 13, 1887, with Mrs. M. M. Schoch, widow of August Schoch, and daughter of Gilvert and Finetta (Ship- pi) Merritt ; she was born and educated at Dubuque, Iowa. In 1889 Mr. Churchill sold his business in Helena, retaining and still owning his home, and removed to the Flathead valley, there purchasing and locating on his present handsome property, 160 acres, for which he paid $1,200. He took posses- sion of this on November 22, 1889, the year before ancestors of our subject emigrated to Kentucky and endured the many privations and dangers of the pioneer life, when that state was truly described as the "dark and bloody ground." Mr. Churchill's father, Willoughby Churchill, born and reared in Kentucky, when a young man went to Peoria, Sang- amon county, Ill., married Elizabeth Humphreys, settled on a farm and was an agriculturalist until the fame of the Willamette valley in Oregon in- duced him to take his family over the long road across the continent to that land of promise. The journey was an eventful one, the weary way across the plains being accomplished by ox-wagons, con- taining the household effects and family. Indian bands were frequently met, and the wild buffalo and the Indians were often the sole denizens of the al- most limitless prairies. Through dangers seen and unseen the emigrant train moved slowly on, months passing on the way. During a short stay at a camp at Bear river, Utah, Thomas A. Churchill, the youngest of six children, was born on July 27, 1851, and shortly afterward the frail mother closed her earthly journeyings and her resting place was made at the Dalles, Ore. The bereaved family continued the journey to its original destination and located on a farm in Linn county, Ore., in the Willamette valley. Three years later Willoughby Churchill

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the Great Northern reached the valley. He has since added 160 acres to his land by purchase of Nathaniel Scott's pre-emption. He leases 320 acres from the state and cultivates about 450 acres. His staple crop is oats, of which he threshes annually from 14,000 to 16,000 bushels. This ranch lies in one of the loveliest sections of this famous valley and Mr. Churchill has developed here an ideal home. Mr. Churchill is fully identified with the interests of his young county. In the act of the legislature creating Flathead county he was named as one of the county commissioners and held this office until his successor qualified after the first regular elec- tion. He ran for the legislature as the Republican candidate in 1900, but shared defeat with the other candidates on the ticket.

Religiously Mr. Churchill was raised by Disciple parents. He is strongly opposed to secret organi- zations. The family circle is graced by three chil- dren, Pearl, born December 26, 1888; Mollie, born May 12, 1891, and Thomas A. Churchill, Jr., born October 10, 1892.

AMES A. CORAM .- This enterprising business man of Kalispell, who has in charge commercial and industrial interests of great number and magni- tude, has exhibited both a grasp of large affairs and an accurate knowledge of details in his various business pursuits. He is a native of New Bruns- wick, Canada, where he was born April 29, 1848, on the north branch of the Oromocto river. His par- ents, George and Ann (Bond) Coram, were natives respectively of New Brunswick and Ireland, the former of English and the latter of Scotch descent. They settled at Lowell, Mass., about the year 1881, and there the father was engaged in the manufacture of soap for a number of years. He died in Maine November 6, 1901, having survived his wife about two years, her death occurring at Lowell in 1899.

James A. Coram attended the public schools of his native place until he was fourteen years old. He then engaged in the lumber and sawmill business and has been connected with it ever since, with the exception of a period of ten years which he passed in mica mining. During his first years after leaving school he was an employe in the lumber districts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. After giving five years to the service of others in this line, he went into business for himself, remaining in Canada until 1879. In 1880 he removed to Groton, N. H.,

and there followed mica mining for ten years. In 1890 he came to Montana and located at Helena as the representative of the lumber department of the Butte and Montana Commercial Company, and dur- ing the next two years was in the employ of that company with headquarters at Great Falls. In 1894 he removed to Kalispell, where he has ever since been the general superintendent for the same com- pany. In addition to this he is superintendent of the Kalispell Water and Electric Light Company, manager of the Smith Valley Lumber Company and of the Davis Lumber Company, proprietor of the Kalispell Milling Company, half owner of the Worcester Lumber Company, of Sylvanite, Mont., and manager of the Nye Lumber Company. He takes an active interest in politics as a stanch Republican, and fraternally holds membership in Kalispell Lodge No. 42, A. F. & A. M.

Mr. Coram was married at Grand Lake, New Brunswick, in 1869, to Miss Sarah J. Murray, who died at Apple River, Nova Scotia, in 1877. He contracted a second marriage at Point Wolfe, Nova Scotia, in 1880, being united on this occasion with Miss Susan J. Lunn, who died at Kalispell in 1894. On the 17th of September, 1899, he was united in marriage with Mrs. Flora B. (Herrington) Ferris, who died December II, 1900. He has ten children living, Lucy Ann, Charles Melbourne, Florence Ma- bel, Edith Lorell, Edmund Fenton, James Everett, Uta Maud, Iola May, Earl Roy and Rachel Sarah.

ARTIN M CRAMER .- This gentleman who is of foreign birth, and who has depended upon his own resources from his early childhood, has evinced the possession of that force and deter- mination which will not recognize the word fail- ure and there are in his life career a number of salient features which will add to the interest and value of this brief review.

Martin Cramer is a native of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, where he was born on the 22d of Feb- ruary, 1842, the son of Joseph Cramer, who was likewise born in Germany. Joseph Cramer was twice married and of the first marriage there were three children, Martin, the subject of this sketch, having been the youngest. In fact, his mother died shortly after his birth, and as his father died while he was still a mere child he has never learned even the name of his mother and has very little recollection of his sire. His father consummated

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a second marriage in Germany, and when our sub- ject was three years of age the family emigrated to the United States, the father dying here within the following year. Martin had practically no educational advantages, so far as formal privileges were concerned, for he attended school only six months as a child. However, he has not failed to learn the valuable lessons which are ever to be gained in the broad school of experience, and he is today a man of mental strength and wide informa- tion. He remained with his step-mother until he had reached the age of thirteen years, when he began his independent career and has ever since had only himself to look to as the court of final resort in the struggle of life. At the age men- tioned Mr. Cramer was residing in Waukesha county, Wis., and there he was engaged in farm work until there came the higher duty of assist- ing in the suppression of armed rebellion and in perpetuating the integrity of the Union. Mr. Cramer enlisted as a private in the Seventh Wis- consin Volunteer Infantry, with which he served for eighteen months, when he was so severely wounded as to render him ineligible for further active service and he was honorably discharged. He returned to Wisconsin, took charge of a farm for one year, and in the fall of 1864 he came to Montana. He made the trip across the plains, and after arriving in this section of the Union turned his attention to placer mining, in which line he was engaged in various localities, including Alder gulch, McClelland gulch, Ophir gulch and Lincoln gulch. In the last mentioned locality he purchased claims, paying for the same the sum of $5,000, and at the expiration of three years he left the place $1,000 in debt, showing that his success had run in a negative direction. Mr. Cramer next went to Moose creek, Idaho, and thence to Bear gulch, where he remained seven years. He had the misfortune to break his left leg, whereupon he abandoned his mining ventures and purchased a farm in what is now Granite county, this state, the same having been at that time still a portion of Deer Lodge county. His place was near the present village of Bonita, and there he continued to give his attention to farm- ing and stockraising for a period of fourteen years, during which time he also conducted most successfully the stage station at Bonita, which was on his ranch.

In 1890 Mr. Cramer came to the beautiful Bitter Root valley, locating three miles east of Victor,

Ravalli county, where he had a fine farm of 360 acres, which he continued to operate until June I of the present year, 1902, when he disposed of the property and purchased a residence in Victor. He expects to practically retire from active labors and pass the residue of his life in the enjoyment of the prosperity which is the result of past toil and endeavor. Mr. Cramer has been inflexible in his devotion to the Republican party, in whose ranks he has been an active worker, and fraternally he is a prominent member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, of which he is past master workman of his lodge.

On the 7th of August, 1867, in Helena, Mr. Cramer was united in marriage to Miss Mary Kuntz, daughter of Michael and Elizabeth Kuntz, of Des Moines, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Cramer became the parents of five children, of whom two are deceased. Their daughter, Anastasia, is now the wife of Ray W. Marsh, who is farming at Victor, Mont .; while each of the two sons, William H. and Frank S., is the owner and operator of a fine ranch in the Bitter Root valley. Frank S. Cramer and Ray W. Marsh have recently purchased fine ranches near Victor.

EV. PETER J. DE SMET, S. J .- No history of R those who have lived and wrought goodly works within the confines of the state of Montana would be consistent with itself were there failure to make honorable mention of the true and noble man and self-abnegating missionary whose name initiates this paragraph and whose services were an honor to the holy Roman Catholic church, to humanity and to the Divine Master in whose foot- steps he followed with humility and absolute con- secration. An appreciative writer, concerning the man and his work, spoke the following beautiful words: "And now, at the sound of the Angelus, a nation wakes from sleep and, kneeling in prayer, mingles its Hail Marys with the mercies for the soul of the beloved Father De Smet, who made them forget the extortions of the medicine man and the worship of demons of war, in the lessons he taught them of brotherly love, probity, moral- ity and light of hope everlasting." The name of no missionary to the Indians is held in deeper reverence than that of Father De Smet, and while it is impossible within the pages of this work to enter more than a cursory review of his career, we are glad to present a brief tribute.

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Peter John De Smet was born in Termonde, a "neat little town of East Flanders," Belgium, on the 31st of January, 1801, and his death occurred in the city of St. Louis, Mo., in May, 1872. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1823, early becom- ing identified with the Society of Jesus. In 1828 he crossed the ocean to America and went to St. Louis, Mo., where he was instrumental in found- ing the University of St. Louis, later becoming a member of its faculty. He returned to his native land on account of impaired health, and after re- cuperating came to the United States, in 1837. The first plenary council of the church, held in Baltimore, had confided the Indians to the Society of Jesus, and in 1838 Father De Smet was sent to open a mission among the Pottawatamies in Kansas. He established a school and effected the conversion of the tribe. In 1840 he begged the Bishop of St. Louis to permit him to labor among the Flatheads of the Rocky mountains. He left St. Louis on the 5th of April, and was the only emissary sent forth, as not sufficient money could be secured to defray the expenses of other mis- sionaries. He journeyed with a party of about thirty men identified with the American Fur Com- pany, as far as Green river, at that time the ren- dezvous of all western travel, and in July he ar- rived in Peter valley, where 1,600 Indians assem- bled to meet him. They had retained traditions concerning the French missionaries of two cen- turies before, and Father De Smet was received with marked favor and was able to convert the Indians to the cause of the Master. With the aid of an interpreter, he translated the Lord's Prayer, the Creed and the Ten Commandments, and within a fortnight his dusky converts had memorized the same. He eventually returned to St. Louis, and while en route was occasionally surrounded by Blackfeet Indians, but when they .recognized the black gown and crucifix they showed him marked veneration. In 1841 Father DeSmet re- turned to the northwest, and for 800 miles of his journey he was escorted by a party of Flathead Indians. They reached the Bitter Root river on the 24th of September, and St. Mary's mission was founded by the planting of a cross. Finally the good Father decided to visit Fort Vancouver, Wash., hoping to there find supplies which would enable him to make St. Mary's a permanent mis- sion. Failing to receive the requisite support, he returned to Montana and thence made his way once more to St. Louis, where he laid the condi-

tions before his superior, who directed him to pro- ceed to Europe and there apply for the necessary aid. He was successful in arousing enthusiasm in his cause and in the securing of funds, and upon his return he was accompanied by several other priests of the Jesuit order and by six sisters of the order of the Congregation of Our Lady. Upon reaching the land of the Flatheads they established schools and devoted themselves with all earnest- ness to the noble work which lay before them. In 1845 Father De Smet began missions among other Indian tribes of the northwest, and later he visited Europe on several occasions, in search of further aid in carrying on his work. Indeed, he calculated that his journeys were greater in length than five times the circumference of the globe. His ability and influence were often sought by the government in preventing outbreaks on the part of the Indians, and through his influence the Sioux war was put to an end, while in Oregon he pursuaded the Yakimas and other tribes to cease hostilities. He was chaplain of the expedition to Utah and opened missions among several tribes there. During his last mission to Europe Father De Smet sustained an injury. by accident, the effect of which was to cause a general break- ing down of his hardy constitution after his return, and the noble priest slowly wasted away. His life was one which realized its maximum possibilities at every transition and his death was but a transla- tion of consistent order, though his services in his earthly sphere could not have but continued in exercise for good in cumulative process. Father De Smet was made a knight of the Order of Leo- pold, by the king of the Belgians, and was honored and admired by many men prominent in public life abroad and in the United States. He wrote a number of valuable works, among the most prom- inent of which are the following: "The Oregon Missions and Travels over the Rocky Mountains," "Indian Letters and Sketches," "Western Mis- sions and Missionaries." His was the faith that made faithful and he rests from his labors.

W ILLIAM DALLAS .- The pen of the volum- inous biographer has many subjects to deal with, varying in their interests and attractiveness, but none presents a more engaging theme than the man whose life has flowed on in a constant stream of active usefulness and elevated character,

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doing nothing by fits and starts, but ordering all movements by system and due consideration for all the proprieties.

Such a theme is found in the immediate sub- ject of this sketch, who was born November I, 1853, at Lagrange, Ind. His parents were Lor- endo and Sarah Dallas, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Canada. They had a family Ci six children, of whom our subject was the fourth. He attended the public schools until he was eighteen years old, and after leaving school remained with his father on the farm four years longer. When he was twenty-two he left home for Colorado, and after spending a year working on a farm for wages in that state he came to Mon- tana in the spring of 1878. He located near Hel- ena and again went to work on a farm for wages, but before long he bought a farm of his own, and sold it the next year for twice what it cost him. This was in Prickly Pear valley, and two years later he bought another farm in the same neigh- borhood, which he farmed for three years. He then sold this one also and, removing to the Bit- ter Root valley, bought the ranch on which he now lives, two miles north of Victor, and which he has improved with a fine brick residence, sup- plied with every modern convenience, and surround- ed by all the necessary outbuildings and other appli- ances that belong to a well equipped farm. Here he has a desirable home and lives in comfort, secure in the respect and esteem of his neigh- bors and the cordial regard of his many friends.

In politics Mr. Dallas is an unwavering Republi- can. He was one of twelve who voted for Presi- dent McKinley in 1896 out of a total vote of 215 in his precinct. Fraternally he is allied with the Modern Woodmen of America. He was married September 26, 1885, to Miss Mattie Bower, daugh- ter of Philip and Mary (Yeager) Bower, the mar- riage occurring at Helena. They have two in- teresting children, Blanch, aged thirteen, and Floyd W., aged eight, who cheer and brighten the atmos- phere of the family circle.

OSEPH DAVIS, one of the best known min- J ing operators and capitalists in Montana, is a highly esteemed resident of Helena. He was born on November 24, 1845, in Chester county, Pa. It was amid the picturesque scenes along the banks of the Brandywine river that he passed his boyhood

days, and all the influences of his home life made for culture and refinement. And it was here, in the excellent public schools of the place of his na- tivity, that he received his education.

The father of Joseph Davis, our subject, was Lewis Davis, a native of Pennsylvania. He was a devout Presbyterian and a farmer. His ances- tors came to this country prior to the Revolution- ary war, in which struggle for American independ- ence they took an active part. The mother's maiden name was Mary Elizabeth Markley, and her ancestors were also patriotic soldiers in the Continental army under Gen. Washington.

Neither military ardor nor the spirit of patriot- ism died out with the passing of the elders of the Davis family. At the early age of fifteen years Joseph Davis responded to his country's call for volunteers and enlisted in the Twenty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, having been as- signed to the Army of the Potomac. He served gallantly until after the battle of Gettysburg, when he was mustered out and returned home for a brief period. Subsequently he re-enlisted and served to the close of the war. He then went to the oil fields of Pennsylvania. Being dissatisfied with that section he tarried but a short time, teaching school in the western part of the state in the winter of 1865-66. In 1866, at the age of twenty years, he started for Montana, in company with his brother Lewis, crossing the almost boundless des- ert from St. Joseph, Mo., to Helena, Mont., a perilous trip and fraught with danger and expos- ure, by means of a span of mules and a wagon. The monotonous journey lasted four months, and it was not an unusual occurrence to be awakened from sleep by the shrill warwhoop of hostile sav- ages, who by this means sought to stampede their stock and, amid the confusion ensuing kill as many of the white emigrants as was possible. It was an experience that will be readily recalled by hundreds of Montana pioneers today living prosperous and happy lives in the commonwealth they did so much to reclaim from the domination of these warlike Indians. On July 15, 1866, Mr. Davis arrived at Helena. Since that date the social and business life of Mr. Davis has been passed in the Rocky mountains. He at once engaged in mining, at times in Last Chance gulch and at other localities, sometimes with a fair degree of profit and at others under adverse circumstances. But he gained steadily year by year and accummulated property. As time waned and the city of Hel-

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ena began to assume metropolitan airs, he became one of its most energetic and public spirited citizens, engaging in various occupations and en- terprises. The present business of our subject is confined principally to realty interests and min- ing, in the latter of which he has quite heavy hold- ings, both in Montana and in Dawson City, Yukon territory. Mr. Davis went to the latter place dur- ing August of 1897. In 1898 he acquired con- siderable real estate in that locality, and about that period put in the first plant for hydraulic mining in the Klondike country. In 1877 Mr. Davis was a prominent factor in the organiza- tion of Custer county and the establishment of Miles City. In this he was greatly encouraged and assisted by Gov. Potts, of Montana. In poli- tics Mr. Davis is a radical Republican. During the last quarter of a century in which he has been a resident of Lewis and Clarke county he has been called by the people to various positions of honor and trust. He has served two terms in the legis- lative assemblies of Montana ; in 1876, from Lewis and Clarke county, being one of the first Repub- licans elected from that county to that position, and again, in 1888, he was returned, serving through both terms with distinction and with conscientious fidelity to the interests of his constituency. In 1882 he was elected as probate judge of Lewis and Clarke county and in 1886 was re-elected to the same office. For a number of years Mr. Davis was chairman of the Republican county central committee, and was for one term secretary and act- ing chairman of the Republican state central com- mittee. In 1894, during the stormy capital fight, he served as city marshal of Helena. Mr. Davis was one of the original owners and developers of the famous Jay Gould mine, which has been such an abundant and opulent producer.

In 1876 Mr. Davis was united in marriage to Miss Flora A. Marsh, youngest daughter of Prof. Marsh, a man distinguished for his profound erudition and exalted Christian character. Prof. Marsh was one of the first civil engineers in the state of Montana. He also ran the first line of railroad through Indiana that headed toward St. Louis. This marriage has been a happy union of the hearts of a loving woman and a manly man. Mrs. Davis is a woman of rare intellectual attainments, having had the influence of her father's classical training in her girlhood days, as through her life. For intellectual pursuits she early evinced a decided fondness, and her trained habits of

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 65

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