Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 81

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 81

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Mr. Poorman was united in marriage with Miss Lulu Bird, of St. Paul, Minn., on March 20, 1896. She was born near Atlantic City, Iowa, where she was educated. Like his parents, Mr. Poorman's religious preferences are for the doctrines of the Disciples church. He is a vigorous and forceful speaker and possesses the elements of popularity. As a lawyer, he relies upon the merits of his case and is an indefatigable worker in drawing out its strong points. In social life he wins and main tains the friendship of the best citizens, with whom he actively works in harmony for everything tend- ing to the moral and educational advancement of the community.

SAMUEL BRIGGS PRATT, of Libby, Mont., the genial agent of the Libby Townsite Com- pany, comes of an early American ancestry, al- though his birth occurred in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. He was born on November 1, 1847, and his parents were David and Matilda (Nelson) Pratt. His paternal grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1812, a native of New York and an early settler of St. Lawrence county. He later moved to the eastern shore of Lake Champlain in Vermont, where he died at a venerable age. David Pratt, born in Vermont, was in early life a tanner and later a millwright. His last occupation brought to him large contracts of bridge-building and heavy framing. In this work he continued for years in Vermont, also in New York and Canada. After living some years in the province of On- tario, he moved to Bay City, Mich., where his death occurred at the age of eighty-one years. He was possesed of great strength of character and for years was deacon of the Presbyterian church. His wife, nee Matilda Nelson, was a scion of the distinguished Briggs family of Massachusetts and her father was a cotton manufacturer of Fall River, Mass., who, failing in business in that city, estab- lished a flourishing line of trade in cotton in Baton

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Rouge, La., and died there of yellow fever. Mrs. Pratt was reared and educated in her native state of Massachusetts, survived her husband two years and died at Bay City, Mich., at seventy-three years of age.

Samuel B. Pratt remained at home until 1864, when he accompanied his older brother, Paul D. Pratt, to New Orleans, where he was one of the owners of the steam packet Fashion, plying on the Mississippi. He passed six years in steam- boat operations and for the three succeeding years was a planter on a sugar plantation. The winter of the Chicago fire was a disastrous one for the South as well as the North, for almost simultan- eously with the burning of Chicago heavy frosts killed the sugar cane of a large area of the south- land, and Mr. Pratt, with many others, relinquished planting operations, coming north. In company with his brother Paul, he constructed an iron fur- nace near Elizabethtown, Ill., but the panic that paralyzed the entire business of the country at that time put an end to their operations just as the plant was about to commence manufacturing. Crossing the Mississippi into Missouri, Mr. Pratt then had charge of the labor and accounts of the Midland Blast Furnace Company at Steelville, dur- ing which time he constructed their present large furnace and put it into operation. The St. Louis, Kansas City & Northern Railroad, afterward the western division of the Wabash system, was then in need of a man of the skilled ability of Mr. Pratt to take charge of its stores and attend to the ac- counts of its machinery department, and for eleven years he filled the responsible station successfully. He left this post to accept the equally important one of accountant of the supply department of the Union Pacific Railroad, with headquarters at Omaha. While engaged in this duty he became in- terested in the reports he received of the opening up of northwest Montana, particularly of the Flat- head valley, and on March 4, 1891, he removed to Demersville, and had entire charge of the Butte & Montana Company, under Frank Miles, who was heavily investing for the company in the Flathead valley. The Libby Townsite Company was organ- ized in 1892, the town laid out and plotted, and Mr. Pratt was secured as their accountant, under F. M. Leonard, the secretary, and has remained in the company's employ from that time as account- ant, and later as agent, having the entire charge of their operations and business. His home has been in Libby from the time of its incorporation

in 1892. In that same year he was elected county commissioner of Missoula county to succeed A. C. Sheldon. In this office he served until the erection of Flathead county and in the legislative bill creat- ing the new county was named one of its first county commissioners. This office he held for two years. Ever and at all times stanchly a Demo- crat, Mr. Pratt is now a state committeeman of his party and is chairman of the county committee. He belongs to the Red Men and was a charter mem- ber of Iroquois Lodge No. 9, of Libby, chartered in 1898, has been its representative in the state lodge and held the important office of deputy great sachem.

Mr. Pratt was married in November, 1877, at New Orleans, La., to Mrs. Annie (Dunbar) Man- deville, a native of Natchez, Miss. She was finely educated in the schools of New Orleans, and was held in high regard by a numerous circle of friends until her death, on September 8, 1884. The chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. Pratt are Amelia M., now Mrs. Hiram Ashley, of Nebraska, and Paul David Pratt, now a student of the School of Mines at Butte, Mont.

JOHN M. PRICE .- Length of tenure is an ex- cellent proof of a man's capacity and fitness for his place, especially if it be a business position and one that involves versatility, executive ability and knowledge of men. For twenty-three years, nearly a quarter of a century, John M. Price, the subject of this sketch, has been connected in a leading way with the Missoula Mercantile Com- pany, beginning as a clerk and rising through special merit to the post of manager, with an in- terest in the business.

Mr. Price is a native of Ukiah, Mendocino county, Cal., where his life began January 4, 1860. His parents are Dr. Joseph B. and Martha H. (Arnold) Price, natives of Pennsylvania, who are the parents of seven children, of whom our sbject is the sixth. He attended the public schools in dif- ferent places, in Oregon, in Seattle and near Stevensville, Mont., until he was sixteen years of age, then worked at mining for awhile. In 1878 he started as a clerk in the employ of the Missoula Mercantile Company, Stevensville branch, working for the concern at that place for three years. From there he went to Missoula for awhile, and has since managed branches for the company at several

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different points, notably at Hope, Idaho, and De- mersville and Corvallis, Mont. He has also been on the road for the concern and has done good work for it as a commercial traveler. Mr. Price is now, and has been during the last five years, manager of the company's branch store at Victor, in Ravalli county, and has made a very gratifying success of its business, greatly enlarging its trade and popu- larizing its methods by his close attention to its needs, his judgment in suiting the taste and his energy in supplying the wants of its patrons, and his uniform urbanity in dealing with all classes of persons. In addition to his mercantile interests, Mr. Price is somewhat engaged in the cattle busi- ness and in other enterprises.

Mr. Price was married in March, 1890, to Miss Josephine Martin, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Martin, of Helena. Both Mr. and Mrs. Price stand high in social circles in the community, and have a host of devoted and admiring friends. In politics he is an ardent Republican, but is not an active partisan.

JOHN B. WETZEL, who is recognized as among the pioneers of Cascade county, has by diligence and superior business judgment acquired one of the handsomest and most lucrative proper- ties in his neighborhood. The success that he has achieved in stockraising is fully deserved, and he possesses public esteem and confidence. He was born in Perry county, Pa., on April 6, 1846, the son of John and Anna Wetzel, both natives of the Key- stone state. The father in early life was a carpen- ter and operated a sawmill, but in 1858 he removed to Iowa and there until his death he was a success- ful farmer. Himself and wife were members of the Methodist church; he was a Freemason and a Democrat. He died on June 23, 1873, and was sur- vived by his wife until August 9, 1900.

John B. Wetzel received an excellent high school education in Pennsylvania and Iowa, continuing his studies until he was twenty. He then rented his father's farm in Iowa, where he was profitably employed for six years. In 1878 he removed to Montana, locating at first on Belt creek, where he operated a sawmill and conducted lumbering for a year. In 1879 Mr. Wetzel purchased the Morton ranch, his present residence, seven miles north of Belt, then comprising 160 acres. To this property he has added until he now possesses 880 acres, of which 700 acres are susceptible of cultivation.

Here he carries on general farming and stockrais- ing, the agricultural products being chiefly wheat, hay and oats. On June 1, 1871, Mr. Wetzel mar- ried with Miss Martha R. Garrett, a native of Ohio and daughter of Walter B. and Matilda Garrett, who were born in Ohio, where the father was reared and educated. In 1866 he removed to Iowa and engaged successfully in agriculture, possess- ing one of the finest farms in the state. He is now living a retired life, his wife having passed away several years ago. He is a devout Methodist, as was his wife, and he has been a stanch Republican from the organization of that party. Mr. and Mrs. Wetzel were parents of five children, Emma M. (Mrs. W. H. Hood), Charles E., Grace E. (Mrs. J. P. Thaxter, of Fergus county), May and Clar- ence J. Mrs. Wetzel was called away by death on February 28, 1891. Mr. Wetzel has been an active member of the organization of Good Templars ever since his residence in Iowa, and his political sympathies are strongly with the Republican party. He is one of the positive agencies for good in the community, and, in consequence thereof, all things tending to the betterment of humanity re- ceive an added uplift from the force of his char- acter. The home circle has been kept intact since the death of her mother by the deft administrative ability of Miss May Wetzel, who well maintains her mother's reputation for housewifery and hos- pitality.

G EN. BENJAMIN F. POTTS was born in Carroll county, Ohio, on the 29th of January, 1836, his father having been a farmer by occupation and one of the worthy pioneers of the Buckeye state. In the public school of Ohio Mr. Potts received an excellent English education, and when seventeen years of age found employ- ment in a mercantile establishment for a year. Having ever in mind a determinate object-that of securing a more complete education-he ma- triculated in Westminster College, at New Wil- mington, Pa., where he continued his studies dur- ing the years 1854-5, when his finances com- pelled him to abandon his collegiate work and return to Ohio, where he was engaged in teach- ing school. In the meanwhile the young man had formulated definite plans for the future, and thus we find that while in the midst of his peda- gogic labors he gave careful and assiduous atten- tion to the reading of law. From his youth he had

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marked vitality and earnestness and, though only twenty years of age at the time, he took an active part in the stirring political contest of 1856, addressing numerous assemblies in the in- terests of the Democratic party. In 1857 he en- tered the law office of Col. E. R. Eckley, of Car- rollton, Ohio, colonel of the Eighteenth Ohio Infantry during the war of the Rebellion, and subsequently a member of congress. Under this effective preceptorship the young man continued his reading of law until May, 1859, when he was admitted to the bar of Ohio, forthwith opening an office in his native county, where his ability and determined application soon won him a good practice. In November of the same year he was elected a delegate to the Democratic national conventions of Charleston and Baltimore, and throughout the sessions gave his support to Stephen A. Douglas as candidate for the presi- dency. The crucial epoch of civil war was soon ushered in, and our subject followed the lead- ership of his political chief, declaring for the Union and advocating strenuous war measures that the integrity of the nation might be maintained. He set vigorously to work to organize a company of volunteers, with which, in the capacity of cap- tain, he was mustered into the Thirty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, on the 29th of August, 1861. He at once proceded to the front with his regi- ment and was a participant in the engagements at Cheat Mountain and Greenbrier, W. Va. During a portion of the winter of 1861-2 he was engaged in scouting with his company, and in the spring his regiment was with Gen. Milroy in the bat- tles of McDowell and Franklin. He was with Gen. Fremont in his Shenandoah valley cam- paign, and was present in the engagements at Cross Keys and Port Republic. In July, 1862, his company was placed on detached service, being stationed at Winchester until the evacuation of that place in September, when he fell back with his army to Harper's Ferry. For gallant con- duct during the siege of this place, Capt. Potts' company was transferred to the artillery arm of the service, being thereafter known as the Twen- ty-sixth Ohio Battery. Our subject was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the One Hundred and Twen- ty-sixth Ohio Infantry in August, 1862, but de- clined to leave his company in the face of the enemy, and on the 15th of September was cap- tured at Harper's Ferry, being soon afterward paroled and eventually sent to Camp Douglas.

Owing to unavoidable official changes his old regiment, the Thirty-second Ohio, had become demoralized and many of the men had returned to their homes. Capt. Potts requested that the regiment be ordered to Cleveland for reorganiza- tion, and it arrived in that city on the Ist of December. Capt. Potts was commissioned lieuten- ant-colonel and the reorganization was effected within twelve days, with 800 men in camp, ready for the field. On Christmas day our subject was commissioned full colonel, and on the 20th of January, 1863, he left Cleveland with his regiment under orders to report to Gen. Grant at Memphis, Tenn., at which point the regiment was assigned to the Third Brigade, Third Division, Seventeenth Army Corps. As thus placed it moved forward and took part in the Vicksburg campaign, being at the front during the entire siege, Col. Potts being in command of the skirmish line on the day that the surrender was negotiated. Incidental to this campaign Col. Potts was complimented for gallantry by his brigade commander, and at Cham- pion Hills received the thanks of Gen. Logan. In August he was assigned to the command of his brigade, with which he joined an expedition to Monroe, La., and in November he was transferred to the command of the Second Brigade, and on Gen. Sherman's Meridian expedition Col. Potts led the advance of the Seventeenth Corps across Baker's creek, routed the enemy under Wirt Adams, and drove them into Jackson. He com- manded the forces that destroyed Chunkeyville and the railroad from Meridian south.

On March 4, 1864, Col. Potts and his regiment left Vicksburg for Columbus, Ohio, on furlough, at the expiration of which he reported to Gen. Crocker, at Cairo, where he was assigned to the Second Brigade of the Tennessee river expedition in pursuit of Gen. Forrest, who made his escape prior to the arrival of the Federal forces at Cliff- ton, Tenn. From the latter point the expedition marched to Huntsville, Ala., where the Seventh Corps, to which our subject was now attached, was ordered to join Sherman's army in Georgia, in which connection it participated in the movements at Big Shanty and Kenesaw Mountain. On the 10th of July, 1864, Col. Potts was assigned to the command of the First Brigade, Fourth Division, Seventeenth Army Corps, in which connection he participated in the battles near Atlanta, on the 20th, 21st, 22d and 28th of July, Col. Potts re- ceiving extremely high compliments in the official

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reports of Gens. Blair and Smith. The official report of the campaign that closed with the cap- ture of Atlanta showed that Col. Potts' brigade had been in the thickest of the fray, and that within ninety days it had been reduced in num- bers by more than one-half. Thereafter Col. Potts participated in the battles of Jonesboro and Love- joy Station, after which, at East Point, he was de- tailed as president of a court martial at Gen. Smith's headquarters. He thereafter moved with the army to the seacoast, taking an active part in a num- ber of skirmishes and engagements. On the 10th of December he commanded the advance brigade of Gen. Sherman's army, rendering very effective service, and during the siege of Savannah he commanded the post at King's bridge. He was present at the review in Savannah, on the 24th of December, and at the taking of Pocotaligo Sta- tion, S. C., on the 15th of the succeeding month. At this point, after having been repeatedly recom- mended for promotion, he received his appoint- ment as brigadier-general of volunteers. He was thereafter with Sherman's army through the Caro- linas, his brigade being in active service until the surrender of the Confederate forces, after which he led his brigade in the grand review at Washing- ton. On the 7th of June he started with his troops for Louisville, Ky., where he was assigned to the command of the Fourth Division of the same corps, his command being mustered out on the 22d of July, 1865, and the General was discharged from the service on the 15th of the following January. Although a volunteer officer, he was recommended by Gens. Sherman, Howard, Logan, Smith and Blair for a colonelcy in the regular army. He was a man of exceptionally fine phys- ique and great muscular strength, and was a typical military man in appearance.

Upon his retirement from the service of his country, Gen. Potts resumed the practice of his profession and became a prominent figure in the political life of Ohio, taking an active part in the campaign immediately following the close of the was as a stalwart upholder of the Republican party. He was elected to the state senate of Ohio, and was prominent in public affairs when, in the summer of 1870, he was appointed by Presi- dent Grant to the office of governor of the territory of Montana, where he ever afterward maintained his home, laboring without ceasing and with a truly paternal spirit for the best interests of the territory. He at first located at Virginia City, and

when the seat of government was transferred to Helena, in 1875, he moved to the capital city, which was his home until the close of his life. He held the office of governor for the long period of twelve years, and one who knew him well and intimately has thus written concerning him: "He administered the duties of his office with a rugged uprightness and faithfulness to the interests of the people seldom excelled by any administrator of public affairs. After the expiration of his termn as governor he was elected a member of the terri- torial legislature, and his strong character and great experience were of signal benefit to the territory."

At the time of the Nez Perces Indian insur- rection of 1877, when the doughty Chief Joseph passed through Montana and menaced all within his path, Gov. Potts took an active and aggressive part in bringing the savages once more under subjection, proceeding at once to the scene of action and, when the exigency of the case de- manded, took the personal responsibilities of author- izing the mustering in of volunteers to defend the various towns and settlements which were en- dangered by the proximity of the three chiefs, Joseph, White Bird and Lookingglass, with their bands of hostiles. The Governor remained near headquarters nearly two weeks and his policy did much to ward off the dangers which so threatened the people of the territory. His actions in this connection are a part of the general history of Mon- tana and are duly recorded in specific compil- ations, noting the details of his public career in the territory and state.

After retiring from public life Gov. Potts de- voted his attention to stockgrowing and other business interests, but always maintained a lively interest in all that touched the public welfare and the advancement of the state. After a long and painful illness, he died at his home in Helena, on June 17, 1887, secure in the admiration and affection of a people whom he had served long and faithfully and with distinguished ability.

On the 28th of May, 1861, Gen. Potts was united in marriage to Miss Angeline Jackson, who was born in Carrollton, Ohio, in the year 1846, the daughter of Kendall and Ann (Hemming) Jackson, the former of whom was born near Chesapeake bay and the latter in Baltimore, Md., both being of English lineage. Mrs. Potts still maintains her residence in Helena, and here her friends are in number as her acquaintances.

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C HARLES T. RADER .- The scion of an old Virginia family whose history is closely and creditably interwoven with that of the Old Domin- ion, his branch of it being also identified with the early and later history of Indiana, where his grandfather was a pioneer, Charles T. Rader has carried the family name and altar to another great state and given it an honorable place in the annals of the north- west. He was born March 30, 1844, at Jonesboro, Ind., the son of Silas G. and Keziah (Jenson) Rader, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Indiana. The father was a farmer and merchant, prosperous in business and standing well in the community. Our immediate subject grew up and was educated in his native place, and dur- ing the first year of the Civil war enlisted in Company F, Forty-third Indiana Volunteer In- fantry, under Col. George K. Steele. His term began on October 12, 1861, and after spending three months at Terre Haute, where the company was mustered into the service, it was sent to Calhoun, Ky., and from there, a month later, to Fort Donelson and soon afterward down the Mis- sissippi to the bank opposite Island No. IO. From there the command was sent to Cairo, thence to Point Commerce, and on to New Madrid, where it took part in the siege. When the Confederates evacuated that place these troops were ordered down the river to Osceola, and from there to Fort Pillow, where they were engaged as sharp- shooters to protect the mortar boats. They spent some sixty days bombarding Fort Pillow and re- connoitering, and after the Confederates evacu- ated the fort on the conclusion of a sharp en- gagement with the gunboat fleet, Mr. Rader and his companions in arms were sent to Memphis, Tenn., and were in the thick of the fight of June 6 near that place. From there they were ordered to Helena, Ark., and garrisoned the town for nine months. At the end of that time they were transferred across the country to Duval's Bluff, where they met Gen. Curtis and with him advanced to Little Rock, and there had a serious engage- ment. They were fighting against fearful odds at Helena, Ark., when Vicksburg fell, having about 3,500 troops against 10,000 Confederates, but were successful in holding the post. Soon after they were ordered to Camden, Ark., to re- enforce Gen. Banks on the Red River. They had a number of engagements on the way, and, run- ning short of supplies, were ordered back to Pine

Bluff. At Mark's Mill they were attacked and taken prisoners, but Mr. Rader and some twenty others made their escape after the Confederates had closed in on them, by following a company of the First Indiana Cavalry that cut its way through the lines. Those who escaped made their way back to Pine Bluff, and the regiment was taken to Tyler, Tex., where it was held in cap- tivity, Mr. Rader being one that escaped.

From Pine Bluff Mr. Rader and his companions were taken to Little Rock and organized into a new company, and then sent to Indianapolis, Ind., where his regiment, which was soon after exchang- ed, joined them and they were kept guarding pris- oners until the close of the war. Mr. Rader was honorably discharged from the service April 17, 1865, at Indianapolis, coming out as a sergeant. He remained at home until January, 1866, when he enlisted in the regular army, and wintered with his regiment at St. Louis, Mo. In April, 1866, he was transferred to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and after a few weeks spent there was sent to Salt Lake City, where he remained until 1870, doing garrison duty. They had numerous skirmishes with the Indians while crossing the plains, but no very serious trouble. At the end of his term he was honorably discharged as a sergeant, and two months later re-enlisted, this time in the Thirty- sixth Infantry. He left Salt Lake April 25, 1870, for Camp Baker, now Fort Logan, serving as quartermaster sergeant until he was again mus- tered out at the end of a three-years term, dur- ing which he was engaged in numerous skirmishes with the Indians.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 81

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