Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 78

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 78

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man who was moving north with beef and got as far as Indiana and into Illinois, from where they returned later into Kentucky, and finally after many hairbreadth escapes and much exposure, traveling by night and hiding by day, they all got across the Cumberland and joined the Ninth Ken- tucky Mounted Infantry, under command of Col. W. C. P. Breckenridge. With this command they joined Bragg's army and went on south, being in the retreat from Murfreesborough to Chatta- nooga, skirmishing on the way and around the latter place previous to the battle of Chickamauga. At this time Mr. Moore was taken ill with typhoid fever and sent to a hospital in Georgia, where he remained six weeks, after which he rejoined the regiment, then in Alabama. They soon after re- united with Gen. Bragg's army which they caught up with a few days after the disastrous battle of Chickamauga, but in time to take part in that of Missionary Ridge, after which they were fighting almost every day for thirty days. They spent the winter in scout and picket duty, in which, while intercepting a baggage train, Mr. Moore was shot in the leg and in consequence was laid up eight weeks in a hospital. He again joined his regiment in the spring of 1864, and from that time was in very active service under Gens. Wheeler and John- son, advancing and retreating, always fighting, from Dalton to Atlanta, and then following Sher- man, making the last stand at Bentonville after Lee's surrender. They were then ordered to meet President Davis and his cabinet at Greensborough and remain as their escort until they crossed the Savannah river about seventy-five miles above Augusta, Ga. There they were told by John C. Breckenridge to stop and surrender, after they had been paid $28 each in specie for services on the Davis escort, which was the last money paid out by the Confederate government, one dollar of which Mr. Moore still retains as a souvenir of the occurrence.

After the war Mr. Moore returned to his old home in Missouri, and in July, 1865, started for Montana from Nebraska City, having engaged to drive an ox team from there to Denver. He win- tered near Denver, and in the spring of 1866 came on to Montana, arriving at Bannack in July, push- ing on to Last Chance and from there to Diamond City, where he remained two years teaming. At the end of that time he removed to Smith river valley, and in partnership with his brother bought a sawmill and furnished lumber to Fort Logan.

In the fall he sold out his interest to his brother and spent the winter in California. Returning in 1872, he remained on Smith river for some years en- gaged in stockraising and furnishing fuel for Fort Logan, and in 1878 located on his present property near Two Dot, in Meagher county, where he has a large ranch. This yields abundant crops of grain and hay and . supports generously his stock of herds and flocks, he having usually from 100 to 500 head of Hereford cattle and some 6,000 sheep. His ranch is well supplied with the necessary barns, corrals and other appliances for its pur- poses and is improved with a good residence.

Mr. Moore was married August 17, 1881, to Miss Nellie Robertson, of Prescott, Ontario, daughter of George F. Robertson, an emigrant from Scotland to the Dominion. They have four children living, namely: Nellie, Perry J., Mar- guerite and George F. The oldest child, Pearl, is deceased. Mr. Moore is a past master in the Ma- sonic order and a Knight of Pythias. He was a member of the legislature in 1885, and has been school trustee for many years. He is in all re- spects a representative citizen and enjoys in an eminent degree the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens.

T HOMAS NOBLE .- A native of the old county of Inverness, Scotland, where he was born October 5, 1847, and where generations of his family had lived, flourished, taken their part and performed their duty as tillers of the soil in peace and gone forward in defense of their country in war, and died after long and creditable careers, Thomas Noble, the subject of this review, came into the world with every incentive in family his- tory and tradition for the development of a sturdy and heroic character, such as he has shown in all the relations of life. His parents were Hugh and Elizabeth (McDonald) Noble, both natives of Inver- nessshire, where the father was a farmer and is still living in vigorous health at the age of seventy- eight years. The mother died in 1900, aged eighty- one, after fifty-five years of happy wedded life.

Thomas Noble, their son and our immediate sub- ject, spent his school days in his native county, and when he was a young man accepted a position as conductor on the Caledonian, London & North- western Railroad, the position being given him as a reward for his heroism in saving the life of

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the child of Mr. Ward, general superintendent of the road. The little girl had fallen across the track in front of an approaching train. He jumped to her rescue, got her away in safety, but was struck by the train himself, but fortunately he was not seri- ously injured. He served the company as conductor for ten years, and at the end of that time was sent to Canada to take a position as conductor on the Grand Trunk line between Toronto and Chicago. This position he filled for six years, and then ac- cepted the assistant superintendency of the Forest Lawn cemetery in Erie county, New York, where he remained until 1883. In that year he came to Mon- tana, and locating at Melville, Park county (now Sweet Grass), engaged in cattleraising. After three years of successful operation at that place he re- moved to Big Elk and located on his present ranch, where he has some 3,000 acres of good land, 300 of it being fine meadow which produces abundant crops of hay to feed his large herds of cattle and stud of horses. In cattle, of which he has usually over 400 head, his preference in breed is the short- horn, and his horses are well-bred Clydes from an imported stallion of that line, which he owns. After locating at Big Elk Mr. Noble engaged in mer- cantile business in addition to his ranching and farming. He kept the store at Big Elk until 1900, when he removed it to Two Dot and formed a part- nership with a Mr. Orr, the firm being known as the Noble & Orr Mercantile Company.

Mr. Noble was married in his native land, August 25, 1870, to Miss Violet Elliot, a daughter of Walter Elliot, of Dumfries, Scotland, who is ex- tensively engaged in sheepraising in that country. They have four children living and four deceased. Those living are John T., a student at Bozeman Col- lege; Elizabeth, the wife of Joseph Bethard, a prosperous farmer and merchant of Glencoe, Okla., and Christina and Alexander, who are still living at home. Hugh, Eliza, Walter and Mary are de- ceased.

In public affairs Mr. Noble has always taken an active, prominent and influential interest. He was postmaster at Big Elk for ten years, was also a school trustee for a number of years, and has been frequently solicited by friends and party leaders to allow the use of his name as a candidate for some important office, either county or state, but as he is averse to public life and finds enough in his busi- ness and the care of his family to properly occupy his mind, he has always declined. Fraternally he is identified with the Ancient Order of United

Workmen. He is a representative citizen in every good sense of the term, illustrating in his service- able career and his exalted character the best traits of American citizenship and the most forceful and manly qualities of the great race from which he sprang. And as in his native land and in Canada he stood high in the good will and esteem of all who knew him there, so in Montana he is well spoken of everywhere throughout the state and has the cordial regard of his fellow citizens at home.

W ILLIAM WALLACE, Jr., one of the leading members of the Montana bar, is a resident of Helena. He was born in Syracuse, N. Y., Jan- uary 28, 1864. His elementary education was re- ceived in the public schools, and in the Syracuse and Brooklyn high schools, following which he passed Harvard examinations in July, 1879. Com- ing to Montana in that year, he read law at Helena, in the office of Toole & Toole, and was admitted to practice in 1883. Since that time he has continued to enjoy an extensive and lucrative practice in city, county and state.

In September, 1884, he became associated in the practice of his profession with the accom- plished gentlemen with whom he had read law, under the firm name of Toole, Toole & Wallace. In May, 1885, the firm became Toole & Wallace ; in 1887, Wade, Toole & Wallace, and in 1890 Toole & Wallace, which was continued until 1897, since which period Mr. Wallace has practiced alone. In January, 1897, he assumed charge of the business of the Northern Pacific Railway Company, in Mon- tana. Mr. Wallace was elected a member of the house of representatives of the First Montana state legislature, and was county attorney of Lewis and Clarke county from December, 1886, until De- cember, 1888. During the session of the First legislature Mr. Wallace served on the reorganiza- tion committee, and was chairman of the judiciary committee. Mr. Wallace is a brother of the late Col. Robert Bruce Wallace, who was wounded in the Philippine war, and died at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., March 13, 1900. Their parents were Will- iam and Helen (Carpenter) Wallace, both of New York. The family came to Montana in 1879, and located at Helena, and then in Meagher county.

Poliitically William Wallace, Jr., has been a life- long Democrat and has eloquently and success- fully stumped the state and territory in numerous

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campaigns up to 1891. On December 4, 1889, Mr. Wallace was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Flowerree, daughter of D. Flowerree, of Helena. They have one child, Bessie F. Though still a young man the Montana life of Mr. Wallace has been successful, eventful and influential. His su- perior legal abilities have received prominent rec- ognition, and he possesses the esteem of a wide circle of friends and associates.

R OBERT BRUCE WALLACE .- The follow- ing biographical sketch presents in brief the outline of a noble and heroic young life, a life given to his country in the line of a soldier's duty. The subject is Robert Bruce Wallace, late of Helena, Mont., who was born in Chicago, February 7, 1869, and died at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., March 13, 1900. "Bruce," as he was always called from childhood, was descended from Scotch and English ancestors. Shortly before the great Chicago fire, while he was an infant, his family removed to Woodstock, fifty miles away. Here he gained his first childish impressions of life amid green orchards and the peaceful quiet of a country home. In his fourth year the family went east to Geddes, a suburb of Syracuse, N. Y., and here for the first time he at- tended public school. His summer vacations he passed at Frenchman's Island, in the picturesque Oneida Lake, varied once by a visit to the Phila- delphia Centennial Exposition in 1876. From his earliest days he was of an enterprising and ad- venturous disposition, and as illustrative of the former trait, he started a small bank account de- rived from the profits of chicken raising; and of the latter, he was in the habit of clearing sidewalks of pedestrians by the evolutions of a team of half- broken goats which he drove recklessly.

While he was still in knickerbockers, "Bruce" Wallace's family removed to Helena, Mont. This was in the spring of 1879. Until he was twelve years of age, in 1881, he attended the public schools in this city. At one time, mounted on a small "cayuse" pony, purchased of the Flathead Indians, he rode alone 170 miles to his father's sheep ranch in the Judith Basin. The following three years he passed his summers on this ranch, and his win- ters at school at Faribault, Minn., or Notre Dame, Ind. Thus he gained a combination of sturdy self- reliance and studious habits that grew with his growth and strengthened with his strength. Re-

turning to Helena at the age of fifteen he worked a year in stores. But his nights he reserved for his own improvement, thus carrying on a course of study which he hoped would enable him to pass a satisfactory examination for a cadetship at West Point. Thus equipped young Wallace presented himself to the board empowered to recommend an appointee to the Montana congressman. He passed the rigid examination, secured this appointment and was admitted as a cadet of the class of 'ninety. During one of his vacation trips to Oneida, N. Y., he narrowly escaped drowning owing to the cap- sizing of a boat on the lake. Young Wallace gradu- ated fifteenth in a class of fifty-four, and was en- abled to obtain the ranking cavalry appointment of his class. He was assigned to the Second Regu- lar Cavalry, which he never left.

The first station of the young officer was at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., where, by a strange coincidence, death overtook him ten years later. Until No- vember, 1894, he served at different posts in Arizona and New Mexico. In 1891, during the troubles with the Oreibes Pueblo Indians, at Keams Can- yon, he performed a noteworthy act in transporting two mountain howitzers, on mules, at night, across a stubborn mountain range, and getting the guns to the Indian village in time for use had they been required. Afterward he took the captured chiefs of the tribe down to Florida, where they were to serve a term of imprisonment. During this period his fondness for life afield was gratified by much scouting service, so, that scarcely one-half of his time was passed in garrison duty. His longest single detached service was nine months, spent in pursuit of the renegade "Apache Kid." During this time he travelled extensively over southern Ari- zona and New Mexico.

In November, 1894, Lieut. Wallace was detailed to Montana as instructor of militia. Here he made his home until as lieutenant-colonel of the First Montana Infantry, on May 25, 1898, he departed for California with the regiment on its journey to Manila. Previous to this, as militia instructor, he had organized schools of military instruction in every county in the state where a company was located, attending them constantly. He took upon himself most of the duties of the office of state adjutant-general, and framed entirely the system of military legislation now in force in the state. In this he gained a wide acquaintance with the people, and with him acquaintance soon ripened into friendship, and his friends were legion.

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War with Spain was declared. The declaration found him prostrated and seriously ill with pneu- monia. From his sick bed he wired Washington asking to be relieved from detail duty and to be per- mitted to rejoin his regiment for service. At that time, it being thought that Montana would only be permitted to furnish a squadron of cavalry, the governor and his staff came to Wallace's bedside and offered him its command. Subsequently it was announced that it would be asked for an infantry regiment only, and Wallace was detailed to muster it into the service. With characteristic energy he planned for a speedy mobilization of troops. As a result the Montana regiment was the first to be enrolled for service in the Spanish war. In this regiment Lieut .- Col. Wallace took great pride. He early saw that there would be a better chance for campaigning in the Philippines than in Cuba and caused telegrams to be forwarded to Washington asking an assignment for the regiment in the far east. He personally brought to Fort Smith, the telegram announcing that his request had been granted and the news was greeted with a yell of approval from the enthusiastic troops.

The records of Gen. Arthur's division of the Eighth Army Corps will reveal what this gallant regiment accomplished. What Col. Wallace had to do in making it the most effective regiment in the field is best revealed by quoting Surgeon Adams :

"Arriving at Manila ten days after the taking of the city his letter expresses deep regret that they had been too late to participate. He immediately began the study of the Spanish language under a native instructor, realizing that it would prove of great benefit to him in the duties that lay before him. During the thirty days preceding the outbreak of the rebellion he made a number of visits inside the insurgent lines. The outbreak occurred on Feb- ruary 5th, and subsequently he was in every battle and skirmish until the regiment was withdrawn from service and returned home."

Lieut .- Col. Wallace was wounded at Caloocan. The regiment lay in the brush from February 10, the day he was wounded, until March 25. He was shot through the left lung, but on the fourth day after this he sat up, walked about the room, and on the ninth day left the hospital. This was a phe- nomenal, if not an unequalled recovery, in hospital records, considering the nature of the wound. But dearly he paid for it later on. On March 12th he rejoined his regiment and was afoot during all the

trying work of forward movement, from Caloocan to Malolos, March 23d to April Ist, 1899. About July Ist Gen. Otis was empowered to organize a veteran regiment in the Philippines and officer them there. In recognition of his splendid service the command of one of them was offered by Gen. Otis to Lieut .- Col. Wallace. He accepted and thus be- came colonel of the Thirty-seventh United States Infantry. He entered arduously on the severe work attending the organization of the regiment and un- der this severe strain his old wound troubled him and his condition finally resulted in his being called before a medical board who ordered him home. He nearly strangled several times on shipboard, was carried on a stretcher to Presidio hospital, taken to Los Gatis, but anxious to hasten recovery he went to Arizona, where at Fort Huachuca, he was suddenly taken worse, and died before any of his family, save one, could reach his bedside. He was the youngest colonel in the army. He was a social favorite as well as a most popular army officer and his memory is revered as the ablest military hero of Montana.

JAMES NAGUES .- Left an orphan at the age of fourteen by the death of his parents only twelve hours apart, the double affliction being caused by an epidemic of cholera which also car- ried off a sister the day his father and mother were buried, and a brother three days later, and compelled thereafter to make his own way in the world, James Nagues, of near Copper, in Meagher county, demonstrated that he was equal to any fortune or condition, and by his own innate force of character and business qualifications could com- mand success, whatever the circumstances.

He was born in June, 1838, in Cornwall county, England, of which county his father, John Nagues, and his mother, Priscilla (Jewell) Nagues, were natives also. The family removed to America when he was only two years old, locating in Jo Daviess county, Ill., where they remained some ten years, then removed a few miles across the line into Grant county, Wis.

Our subject was one of six children who sur- vived the cholera epidemic referred to above. He remained in Wisconsin until April 19, 1861, when he enlisted in Company I, Third Wiscon- sin Infantry, under command of Col. Hamilton. The regiment was mustered into service at Fond du Lac, and remained there until June 29, when

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it was sent to Hagerstown, Md., and after ten days to Sandy Hook, in that state, opposite Har- per's Ferry, but after a few months removed to Frederick, Md., and from there to Ball's Bluff, arriving soon after Gen. Baker was killed. They then made camps at several places in Maryland, returning after a time to Frederick, where they did provost guard work until the spring of 1862, when they crossed the Potomac and went up the Shenandoah valley as far as Strasburg, camp- ing there for some days and having a number of skirmishes with the Confederates. They were in no serious engagement until attacked one night by the commands of Gens. Stonewall Jackson and Ewell, in which the Federals were defeated and compelled to proceed by forced marches to Win- chester taking part in the battle there, and after- ward falling back to Williamsport, Md. Later they recrossed the Potomac, went on to Front Royal, and reached Cedar Mountain in time to take part in the battle fought there, under com- mand of Gen. Pope, and the second battle of Man- assas or Bull's Run. Gen. McClellan succeed- ing to the command, they went with him to the sanguinary fields of South Mountain and Antietam, from which they returned to Sandy Hook, and soon after proceeded to Stafford Court House, Va., under Gen. Burnside. Here they wintered, and in the spring crossed the Rappahannock and ad- vanced to Chancellorsville, taking part in the bat- tle of that name. From that time the service was particularly active and arduous, made up of forced marches, daily skirmishes and great battles, until the decisive contest was over, when Mr. Nagues was sent to the hospital at Annapolis, Md., where he was confined for nine months. At the end of that time he was sent west, but his time expired before he reached his regiment, and he was hon- orably discharged at Atlanta, Ga., July 22, 1864, having risen to the rank of corporal.

After his discharge Mr. Nagues returned to Wisconsin, and April 4, 1865, started to Mon- tana, making the trip overland with mule teams and having repeated skirmishes with the Indians, in one of which two men of the train were killed. He arrived at Virginia City in July, 1865, but did not linger there, going on to Last Chance gulch, where he remained two years engaged in mining with moderate success. At the end of that time he returned to Wisconsin, and after spending three years there, removed to Illinois, then went to Kansas and farmed a year, and from there

come west again, landing in Colorado, where he mined for two years. During the next four or five years he alternated between Iowa and La Salle, Ill., carrying on a meat business and clerking in a store, at the end of the time mak- ing an expedition to the Black Hills, and from there coming to Helena, where he spent four years in the harness business. His next venture was mining in Cave gulch, where he had no success. He returned to Helena and remained until 1881, when he removed to White Sulphur Springs and followed dairying for seven years, finally locating the ranch which he now occupies. It is located two miles and a half below Copper, and here he has successfully engaged in stockraising, in part- nership with his son, George B. Nagues, the firm name being Nague & Son. They control some 1,500 acres of good land and raise annually a large number of cattle. The ranch is a very desir- able one in location, quality of land and improve- ments. Recently copper has been discovered in valuable deposits and some of the land has been leased to Ely, Dickman & Ely, of Cleveland, Ohio, for mining purposes.

Mr. Nagues was married March 15, 1864, to Miss Amelia J. Rule, a native of Wisconsin, of English ancestry. Their children are Emeline E. (now Mrs. B. R. Sherman), George B. (rancher), Minnie (now Mrs. U. T. Robertson) and Jesse R. (still at home). Mr. Nagues is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and takes an active inter- est in its meetings.

JOHN S. M. NEILL .- It may be said without fear of contradiction that no man in the state of Montana has wielded a more potent influence in connection with political affairs than John S. M. Neill, the proprietor of the Helena Independ- ent. His policy has ever been aggressive ; his con- ception of the political exigencies has been clear and decisive; he has shown marked power in the manipulation of politic agencies for the further- ance of the cause of his party; and the Demo- cratic contingent in Montana has ever found its affairs materially furthered through his timely and effective interposition and efforts. In a work of this nature it is consonant that a brief review of his career be incorporated.

John S. M. Neill was born in the city of St. Paul, Minn., on the 25th of March, 1860, being the

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son of Rev. Edward D. and Nancy (Hall) Neill, natives respectively of Pennsylvania and Mary- land. The father was a clergyman of the Presby- terian church and was a man of signal intellectual ability. Two years after the birth of the subject of this review the family removed to Philadelphia and later to the city of Washington. In 1869 Edward D. Neill was appointed consul to Dublin, Ireland, by President Grant, and in that city our subject received his preliminary educational dis- cipline. In 1872 the family returned to America and located at Minneapolis, where Mr. Neill con- tinued his studies in the public schools, being graduated in the high school as a member of the class of 1877. Later he was matriculated in Dela- ware College, at Newark, Del., where he was grad- uated in 1881, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. For the following two years he was a stu- dent in the law department of the Columbian Uni- versity, at Washington, D. C., and at the expir- ation of the time noted he came to Montana, locating in Helena, where he has ever since main- tained his home.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 78

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