The following persons were members of the constitutional convention:
William A. Clark,
Walter M. Bickford,
J. F. Brazelton,
Peter Breen,
E. U Aiken,
Simon R. Buford,
William Mason Bullard,
Walter A. Burleigh,
Alex. F. Burns,
Andrew J. Bums,
Edward Burns,
James Edward Cardwell,
B. Piatt Carpenter,
Milton Canby,
William A. Chessman,
Timothy E. Collins,
Charles E. Conrad,
Walter Cooper,
Thomas F. Courtney,
Arthur J. Craven,
W. W. Dixon,
D. M. Durfee,
William Dyer.
William T. Field,
George O. Eaton,
J. E. Gaylord,
Paris Gibson,
Warren C. Gillette,
O. F. Goddard,
Fielding L. Graves,
R. E. Hammond,
Charles S. Hartman,
Henri J. Haskell,
Luke D. Hatch,
Lewis H. Hirshfield,
Richard O. Hickman,
S. S. Hobson,
Joseph Hogan,
Thomas Joyes,
Allen R. Joy,
J. E. Kanouse,
A. R. Joy,
W. J. Kennedy,
H. Knippenberg,
Hiram Kuowls,
Conrad Kohrs,
C. H. Loud,
Llewellyn A. Luce,
Martin Maginnis,
J. E. Marion,
Charles S. Marshall,
William Mayger,
P. W. McAdow,
C. R. Middleton,
Samuel Mitchell,
William Muth,
Alfred Myers,
William Parberry,
W. R. Ramsdell,
G. J. Reek,
John C. Robinson,
L. Rotwitt,
J. C Rickards,
Francis E. Sargeant,
Leopold F. Schmidt,
George W. Stapleton,
Joseph K. Toole,
J. R. Toole,
Charles S. Warren,
William H. Watson,
H. R. Whitehill,
Charles M. Webster,
George B, Winston,
Aaron C. Whittier,
David G. Brown.
Helena Independent, Aug. 27, 1889.
J. E. Rickards was born in Delaware in 1848. In 1873 he went to Colorado, where he resided until 1879, when he removed to San Francisco, remaining there until 1882, when he came to Montana, making his home at Butte. He was chosen a member of the Butte City council in 1883, and elected member Territorial Senate in 1887. He was, after the adoption of the constitution a candidate for the place of Lieutenant Governor, which he obtained.
W. W. Dixon was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1838, and migrated with parents to Illinois in 1842. He received his education at Quincy, Illinois, and Keokuk, Iowa. In 1862 he went to Nevada, where he remained until 1866, when came to Montana, and entered upon the practice of the law. He was a member of the legislature in 1871, and of the state convention of 1884. Although interested in mining, later he continued to practice his profession, avoiding office.
John R. Toole, born in Maine in 1849, removed with his parents to Madison, Wisconsin, in 1855, where he was educated. In 1873 he went to Utah, where worked in the mines for five years, going to Idaho in 1878, where he again mined until 1884, when he came to Montana, settling at Anaconda, Deer Lodge County, his present home. In 1880 he was elected to the Territorial Legislature, reelected in 1888, and was nominated for the state legislature in 1889.
H. Knippenberg, born in Germany in 1843, immigrated with his parents the U. S. in 1848. He was a manufacturer in Indianapolis, when, in 1881, accepted the position of superintendent of the Hecla mines, in Beaverhead. When he came to Montana the Hecla Company was $77,000 in debt, under his management the company built $300,000 worth of improvements, and paid dividends of over $1,500,000 in cash. He made his residence at Glendale, Beaverhead County.
Edward Cardwell, born in Wellington County, Canada; in 1841 went to Michigan, and in 1878 to Utah, whence he soon came to Montana. He first mined at Virginia City for six years, after which he settled on a ranche on the Yellowstone, near Stillwater.
Hiram Knowles, born in Hampden, Penobscot County, Maine, in 1834, removed with his parents to that part of Hancock County, Illinois, which is now Warren County, but afterwards to Iowa, from which state, in 1850, he went with his father to California, returning the following year to Keokuk, Iowa. In 1854 he entered Denirk Academy, and subsequently Antioch College, after which he studied law with Judge Miller of Keokuk, and was admitted to the bar in 1859. He attended lectures at Cambridge Law School, graduating in 1860, when he began practice. In 1802 he went to Dayton, Missouri, and was appointed district attorney for Humboldt County, and elected probate judge. In 1805 he moved to Idaho City, but the following year came to Montana and engaged in mining for a few months, when he returned to Keokuk to practice law. In 1868 he was appointed one of the Supreme Judges of Montana, which position he filled with distinction until 1879. In 1881 he formed a law partnership with John F. Forbis of Butte, and took up his residence there.
L. H. Hershfield, born in Oneida County, New York, in 1830, went to St Louis in 1854, and in 1859 to Leavenworth, Kansas, whence he migrated with the gold seekers to Colorado, going into merchandising at Central City. In 1804 he came to Montana with a train of 20 wagons, which he sold out on arriving at Virginia City, to engage in buying gold-dust. In 1865 he established his present banking business in Helena, being also at the head of the firm of L. H. Hershfield & Company, of Virginia City. In 1882, with his brother, he organized the Merchants’ National bank, with a capital stock of $150,000. He also, in 1880, established a bank at Benton, and in 1883 another at White Sulphur Springs, in which property he is largely interested. He became one of the chief capitalists of Montana.
Martin Maginnis, a native of Wayne County, New York, was born in 1840, but removed to Minnesota when young, where he was educated by an academic and university course. He left college to take charge of a democratic journal, but when the rebellion broke out, left his desk to join the Union Army, enlisting as a private in the 1st Minnesota vol. inf. in 1801. After the battle of Bull Run he was commissioned 2d Leut; promoted to 1st Leut in 1862, and to captain in 1863. In 1864 he was commissioned major of the 11th Minnesota vol. int., and transferred to the army of the Cumberland, serving under Gen. Thomas until mustered out in 1865. The following year he came to Montana and edited and published the Helena Gazette, a political paper, through which means he was elected to the 43d congress in 1872, remaining in this office until 1885, when he was succeeded by J. K. Toole, another democrat.
Conrad Korhs, born in Holstein, Germany, in 1835, shipped as a sailor in 1852, reaching New York and locating in Davenport, Iowa, in the following year. In 1857 he removed to California, and in 1862 to Montana, where he engaged in buying, selling, and butchering cattle for market. That he was successful in acquiring a fortune was apparent by the following general inventory of his property in Montana: 840 acres of land adjoining Deer Lodge, 2,500 acres of stock range, 1,000 acres, 4 miles above Deer Lodge, of rich bottom land, 300 shorthorn cattle, 5,000 to 10,000 common stock worth $28 to $30 per head, imported bulls worth $2,500, a herd of several thousand sheep, and a band of fine horses. Besides, he owns shares in the largest ditch ever constructed in the country for mining purposes, and in the mines operated by it. Mr Korhs was elected county commissioner in 1869, and helped to bring the county out of debt by able management.
Perry W. McAdow, born in 1838, in Mason County, Kentucky, of Scotch ancestry, in 1839 removed with his parents to the Piatt Purchase, Missouri, and in 1850 to California, but his father dying. Perry returned to Missouri and entered the Masonic college. In 1857 he went to Fort Bridger, joining Gen. Johnston s expedition to Utah in 1838, where he entered the service of Gilbert & Gervish as salesman until 1860, when he again returned to Missouri. In the spring of 1861 he took passage on a Missouri River steamer for Fort Benton, which caught fire and exploded at the mouth of Poplar River, 350 miles below that place. By this disaster he lost all he possessed, and was compelled to walk to Fort Benton, whence he went to Fort Owens to winter. The following spring he discovered Pioneer gulch, taking out $1,000. From here he went to Bannack, and was one of the party which discovered Alder gulch, where he erected a sawmill, which he sold in 1864, and with the proceeds located himself in the Gallatin valley, and erected the first gristmill in the territory, selling flour for $25 per 100 pounds. He is still a miller and farmer, as well as a stock-raiser, and dealer in real estate in Billings and Bozeman.
B. Piatt Carpenter, ex-governor of Montana, was born at Stanford, Dutchess County, New York, in 1837. He graduated from Union college in 1857, and in 1858 was admitted to the bar. In the same year he was elected district attorney of Dutchess County, and in 1864 was appointed Internal Revenue Assessor for the 12th (now 16th) Congressional District, holding the office until 1869. He was elected a member of the New York state Constitutional Convention, and in 1872 of the Republican State Convention at Utica, where his talents attracted the attention of the party, which published his speech as campaign document of that year. In 1875 he was elected state senator, and in 1877, declining reelection, was chosen county judge. He was commissioned governor of Montana in 1884, succeeding Gov. Crosby, and preceding Gov. Hauser.
James E. Callaway was born in Kentucky in 1835. His progenitors were all southerners, and his grandfather one of the Boone colony which settled in Kentucky, while his father was a minister of fine culture. James had a collegiate education, and studied law with Gov. Yates of Illinois, being admitted to the bar in 1857. He became also a member of the bar of the U. S. Supreme Court. During the civil war he served from April 1861 to the close, entering the service as captain of company D, 2lst Regiment Illinois Volunteers – Gen. Grant’s old regiment – rising to the rank of colonel, and part of the time commanding a brigade. He came to Montana in 1871, and served several years a territorial secretary. In 1884 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives from Madison County, of which he was elected speaker, enjoying the distinction of being the first republican who ever presided over a legislative body in Montana.
B. F. White was born in Massachusetts in 1838. When 20 years of age he shipped as a seaman before the mast for a voyage to San Francisco, and liking California, remained there, finding employment on a fruit-farm in Napa County until 1878, when he went to Idaho, where he was appointed clerk of the U. S. District Court, which position he filled until 1878, when he removed to Montana, settling at Dillon, in Beaverhead County. He was elected to the territorial legislature in 1882, serving one term. On the organization of the First National Bank of Dillon he was elected cashier. He was appointed governor March 1889. He is described in the Northwest Magazine of May 1889 as being “a man of distinguished appearance. His thin face, gray hair, moustache, and imperial give him the look of a French General.”
Clark was also president of the Constitutional Convention of 1884. He was born near Connellsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and educated in the public schools and Laurel Hill Academy. He removed with his father to Iowa in 1856, where he engaged in farming and school-teaching during one year, after which he attended an academy one term, followed by a term at the university at Mt Pleasant, where he began the study of law, which he prosecuted for 10 years, after which he again resorted to teaching. In 1862 he drove a team across the plains to the South Park, Colorado, and worked in the quartz mines at Central City until 1863, when he came to Montana, arriving at Bannack July 7th, sixty-five days from Central City, with an ox- team. His career in Montana has been one of remarkable activity and success. Mining, fighting, merchandising, mail-contracting, cattle-trading, gold-dust buying id selling, and all the various avocations of a new country were in turn tried to yield their profits, and sometimes also their losses. In 1868 he assumed a partnership with K. W. Donnell of New York, and opened a wholesale mercantile house at Helena, which was removed in 1870 to Deer Lodge, and consolidated with a large house owned by Donnell, when S. E. Larabie was admitted to the firm, and a banking-house established by them, to which, finding it necessary to give their whole attention, they sold out the merchandise, and in 1872 organized a national bank, of which Clark was elected president. In 1878 they surrendered this charter, and continued the business under the former name and style, with a branch at Butte, where they erected an elegant bank building. In 1884 Clark and Larabie purchased Donnell’s interest in all their Montana business.
Mr Clark had in the mean time become interested in the quartz mines of Butte, owning in the Original, Colusa, Mountain Chief, and Gambetta mines, and had spent a year in the school of mines of Columbia College, New York, where he acquired a knowledge that was of the greatest service to him in his subsequent extensive experience in mining. In 1879 he organized the Colorado and Montana Smelting Company. He later became part owner in about fifty mines of copper, silver, and gold, and of very valuable concentrating, calcining, and smelting works, and also owner of a one-third interest in the Shoshone Falls property in Idaho; besides having large interests in water and electric-light companies and real estate. The offices held by him at various times were that of state orator to represent Montana at the centennial exhibition in Philadelphia; of Grand Master of Masons; of Major of the Butte Battalion of Volunteers in the Nez Percé war of 1877; president of the state convention of 1884; Commissioner to the World’s Industrial and Cotton Exposition at New Orleans in 1885; and lastly, President of the State Constitutional Convention of 1889. He is very wealthy, and having been the maker of his own fortune by legitimate means, is justly regarded as a shining example of a “great westerner.”
