Sunday, August 27, 2017

People living in Philipsburg in 1870

The U.S. Federal Census of 1870 affirmed the population in Philipsburg was less than robust. The month and day of the census taken by Wm. W. Jones is left blank and he numbers 195 residences in the town. At the time Jones made his tally there were only 30 people interviewed. In contrast there were 137 people living in 81 residences in Emmetsburg, with 24 buildings vacant. Cable had a large population with 250 men, women and children. This number included 68 Chinamen and 7 Chinese women. There were 46 residences vacant the day (unrecorded) the census was taken. While thinking about this data I decided to determine who the 30 residents in Philipsburg were and if their families remained in the area. The first person registered had a name that was hard to decipher. Fortunately, when I researched the resident living in the second dwelling, somehow it was recorded with the first family and allowed me to determine the correct spelling. A name that looked like Conn, Cunn, or Carin was recorded as Caven. His first name was Jeheil or Jehiel. At the time of the census he was 40 years old with an occupation of Toll House Keeper. Mr. Caven was born in Ohio and gave his personal wealth at $600. He was married to Flora age 24 whose birth place was England and they had three children all born in Montana Territory: Kate age six, Thomas F. Meagher (honoring the Territorial Governor) age three and Maude one year of age. Caven was in Wayne, Ohio and single in the 1850 census, but no other census years disclose Jeheil (Jehiel) Caven, spouse Flora or the children. There are no records in the Philipsburg or Valley cemetery with the name of Caven. The resident living in dwelling number two was Hugh Bell. He was born “on the sea”. His age was 27 and occupation was Druggist. “Find a grave” has a record of a Hugh Bell born in 1843 and died in 1934 at Eau Claire, Wisconsin with burial at Lake View Cemetery. An obituary has not been found for Hugh. Henry Inkamp was living in the 18th residence. Born in Prussia, occupation saloon keeper, He was 37 with a monetary worth of $1,700. In the 1880 census Henry is still in Philipsburg working as a saloon keeper and married to Caroline aged 24. They have a one month old baby girl named Lilla. Henry arrived in Philipsburg in 1867 probably from California. The Pioneer Association records state he arrived there in 1856. Henry built the Inkamp building in 1887 in what was referred to as a business block. While researching Book One of “Mettle of Granite County”, I found where that block in 1892, included a Gentlemen’s Clothing Store, a Grocery store, a Grocery and Fruit Market, A Tailors Shop, Doctor Offices, Printing Office, Utility Office and Post Office. Reviewing Sanborn Insurance maps of 1890 this could be referring to the block on the north side of Broadway between Montgomery and Sansome. Newspapers at various times reported Henry to be the only resident present in Philipsburg. He made certain that traveler’s had the opportunity to rest and wet their whistle before riding on down the trail. On August 27, 1875, the New Northwest referred to Henry as “running the best saloon west of Deer Lodge.” In this same article the writer stated that in 1869, “silence and solitude reigned almost unchallenged. Of 1500 people, only three remained: Henry Inkamp, E.B. Waterbury and J. M. Merrill.” At this time no obituary or grave site has been found for Henry. Josiah Merrill (Merrell), spoken of in a previous paragraph was interviewed while living in the ninety-sixth dwelling in the 1870 census. His worth was $1,000. He was born at New York in 1834 with the occupation of grocer. When the Philipsburg Pioneer Association was formed in 1880 the roster stated Josiah M. Merrell arrived in California in 1848. He was known to the townspeople as “Doc” and had a shop with supplies for the ‘sick and infirmed.” Josiah was also credited by the Anaconda Standard, to be the “mill assayer” when the ore for the Hope Lode was discovered in 1867, In October 1893 Merrell bought the entire stock of the Freyschlag, Huffman and Company from the Granite and Philipsburg store at a sheriff sale for about $27,300. the property was to be sold later and obviously bought by Merrell. In November Merrell placed Frank Durand as general manager at the Philipsburg store. It is believed the property remained in Merrell’s possession until his death in Groveland, California on April 28, 1913. Earlier Josiah Merrell (Merrill) was discussed and I omitted the fact that while still “the assayer of Philipsburg” he ran for Joint Councilman July 1874 and lost the race to William Graham by 716 to 926 votes. Walter Kroger, active at the First State Bank as cashier and vice president, managed Merrell’s businesses and property after Josiah moved to California around 1900. The obituary stated Merrell made fortunes out of the Granite Mountain when he sold it at $45 a share. He was survived by a wife and children that were not named in the news article. Archives disclosed 22 newspaper articles on Henry Inkamp, also discussed earlier. Included was information Henry sent a 48# brick of silver worth $800 to Helena to be shipped by Murphy, Higgins and Company to the east, in the December 25, 1873, Weekly Herald. On September 29, 1876, Inkamp was elected to be chairman of the Committee on Credentials for the Democratic Convention. In 1881, 1884, and 1885 Henry was still running a saloon. He left Philipsburg for St. Louis on a long needed vacation from the saloon on December 20, 1888. The last article found was written by a correspondent regarding Philipsburg and a Mr. Carson who was credited for setting up the Good Templar’s Lodge. Henry Inkamp, E. Holland, G. Hammond and M. Kaiser were blamed for the whiskey that the correspondent felt caused the demise of the Lodge. Where Henry’s obituary is one can only wonder. Maybe in a newspaper that has not been archived. The 1870 Census listed as residing in dwelling number 121, Edwin B. Waterbury, (spoken of earlier as one of three lonely residents in 1869), born in Connecticut; aged 27 and “Justice of the Peace” in 1870. There were no assets of value listed during his interview. Edwin had been elected an officer of the Third District Council at the House of Representatives Montana Legislative Assembly in October 1866. He continued to be involved in Justice and Politics and in 1876 won an election against William Graham for Joint Councilman at the Democratic Convention by a vote of 48 to 37. In August of 1876 the property of lot 9, Block 4 in Philipsburg was transferred from Bryne to E.B. in the amount of $97.50. Plus Edwin sold to J.M. Merrell part of the Algonquin Lode for $1,000 and another part of the Algonquin, plus parts of the Franklin and Acquilla Lode for $4,000 during this same time period. Edwin was superintending along with the Brown brothers and others in developing the Boulder mines, according to the Helena Herald, April 27, 1876. In September 1878 he was elected Council with A.H. Mitchell and Joseph Hyde at the Democratic Convention in Deer Lodge. Edwin was on the Committee for Credentials for Silver Bow at the Territorial Democratic Convention according to the Butte Semi-weekly September 6, 1882. Judge Waterbury was public administrator of Silver Bow County in 1882 and 1883. He was a member of the First Constitutional Convention in 1884. Waterbury ran ads in the Butte semi-weekly May 9, 1885 for his business of Notary Public and Conveyancer. Judge Waterbury served as Police magistrate in Anaconda and held the office of school trustee. Judge Waterbury’s obituary in the Anaconda Standard September 19, 1893, stating he arrived in Montana about 1863; mined in Alder Gulch; conducted a successful business in Helena; mined in Elk Creek and arrived in Philipsburg with the first settlers. Moving to Butte he was in real estate with Judge Caleb E. Irvine. He died in his residence at the age of 69, on September 18th in Anaconda. The Judge had been in failing health for some years. He was a widower with two children surviving: E.A. Waterbury and Mrs. S. A. Kinnicott, both of Anaconda. The funeral was held at St. Mark’s Church on the 20th. Homer Cogswell lived in dwelling 46. Born in Pennsylvania, miner was listed as his occupation and he was 44 years old. His worth was valued at $100. I have been unable to find him in any census before or after 1870. Maybe this name was an alias. Dwelling number 47 lists Hugh Drummon (Drummond). Hugh, age 44, with assets of $150 was born in Connecticut. Hugh has been credited as being the namesake of the town of Drummond and described as an old trapper. Research has failed to substantiate this story. Census results for 1850 show Hugh living in Blackfish, Crittendon, Arkansas, age of 26 with spouse Mary age 24. At this time I have been unable to find an obituary or grave for Hugh. Interviewed in Philipsburg residence 40 for the 1870 census was Isaac Davis. A miner from Wales aged 33, Issac claimed no assets. He was living in San Francisco in 1880 and married with 9 other adults living in the household. Obviously the life as a miner was not paying very well. Living in residence 66 was George Sandy, a 42 year old grocer worth $700, whose birthplace was Washington D.C. By the late fall of 1870 George was running a “gin mill” in Superior, Montana according to Leeson in “History of Montana.” Research fails to disclose anymore information about George. William Barrett was interviewed in dwelling 120. His occupation was listed as “mail carrier” with $100 in assets; age 19; born in Ohio. The August 1870 census in Lewis and Clark County shows William as a “Herder” living with the Downer family. I found two William Barrett’s in the 1880 census. One was living in Kentucky with the occupation of printer, married to Josie with a male child under one year of age. The other Barrett was in Columbus, Ohio, married to Anna with the occupation of “Saloonist.” Research fails to show any history of William remaining in Montana. Cole Sanders was living in dwelling 156 when interviewed for the 1870 census. Cole age 31 was born in Missouri and with the occupation of miner listed assets as $3,000. In 1870 Cole secured property from Charlie Frost and Dan and Sandy (Emmanuel) Brown that included the Speckled Trout for $15,000. The Imperial Gold and Silver Mining Company was incorporated with New York investors and Cole was elected trustee. Operations were commenced for the Trout ore by a smelting process. This process did not work so they built a five stamp mill. In 1874 this area was re-organized into the Northwest Company and the five stamp mill was torn down according to two different articles in the Philipsburg Mail (1889 and 1901). Cole was a passenger on the Steamer Lacon and Guidon according to the Montana Post June 12, 1868. The passengers had left St. Louis on April 16. Cole must have been traveling for his merchandise as numerous advertisements are in the Montana Post during 1867 for Cole’s Novelty store in Helena. The Helena Weekly Herald listed Cole and his wife as passengers from Corinne, Utah on June 14, 1873. He was also not afraid to speak out against the governor of Montana concerning the possibility that the Governor was really not opposed to the railroad schemes. Granville Stuart as representative for the estate of James Stuart filed lawsuits against Cole for $4,500 in unpaid debt on April 18, 1874 (The New Northwest). Research fails to disclose the results of this lawsuit. By 1881 Cole was very involved in placing many valuable mines around Helena into the hands of capitalists (especially from New York). The last news articles research revealed about Cole was June 22, 1883 (The Helena Herald) when Cole was made trustee of the Alta Mining Company composed of New York investors. Obviously heavily involved in mining ventures, Cole probably made a large amount of money, but research does not uncover his obituary or grave anywhere in the Montana archives. Emmanuel “Sandy“ Brown was interviewed in dwelling 178. A miner age 50, born in Pennsylvania, Sandy and his brother Dan arrived in the Philipsburg area with Charlie Frost shortly after Hector made his Cordova discovery. They were discussed in an earlier article. We know Emmanuel and Dan had cabins that were used as claim locators in early claim documents, but do not know what happened to “Sandy.” Dan is the only one of this group of prospectors buried in the Philipsburg Cemetery. The Granite County Historical Society has placed a granite engraved plaque on his grave as there is no longer a headstone. Charlie Frost lived in dwelling number 157 in 1870. He was a miner born in Michigan aged 22 with no assets claimed. Apparently the deal with Cole Sanders had not yet occurred, because he should have had a share of the $15,000 paid the group for the Speckled Trout. Charlie moved to Santa Rosa, California by the 1880 census and was a mining engineer. Married to Kate age 28 they had children: Jennie, five, Walter, two and Arthur 2 months of age. By the 1900 Census Charlie was divorced, working as a real estate agent, with children Arthur (in the military) age 20 and Katie age 16 living with him. He was a California Democratic delegate in 1892 and 1898 and a registered voter through 1912. So far research has failed to find an obituary for Charlie. Continuing the list of names on the 1870 Philipsburg Census: Louis Schenple (Schnepel) was interviewed in dwelling 76. Born in Hanover, with both parent’s foreign born, Lewis was 19 years old, with the occupation of “Herder”; no assets were reported. When trying to reproduce the 1870 data the name comes up as Louis Schenplr. Obviously the data recorder misinterpreted the E as an R. It stands to reason that Louis was related to Henry and Henrietta Schnepel, but I am unable to research any information about him before or after the 1870 census. Henry and Henrietta came west from Missouri in 1862. They resided first at Bannack, next Virginia City and then Last Chance Gulch in Helena. About 1866, they moved to the lower Flint Creek Valley as “squatters” where the Alex Wight Ranch now is, by Hall. In 1867 the family moved to Philipsburg and in 1868 homesteaded a part of Section 26, T7N, R 14, which is the section adjoining Philipsburg. Also in 1868 Henry leased and operated the North-west Mill in Tower, plus owned numerous mines. The saying goes “He mined hard and fast but not always successfully. He sank money into mines almost as fast as his wife, who operated the ranch could make it.” Henry died in 1886 and the homestead was sold to the St. Louis and Montana Company. By this time the family had moved to the “upper ranch.” Henrietta was an astute business woman and resolved all the mining debt and claims; her grandsons legal problems, plus operated a successful ranch. She insured the ranch would continue in the family by selling it in 1899, to J.J. McDonald the husband of her niece Louisa. Henrietta died in 1908 at the age of 80. The ranch continues to be owned by family, currently John “Pat” McDonald and his wife Esther. They continue to use Henrietta’s cattle brand, one of the earliest in the area. The Schnepel family are buried in the Deer Lodge cemetery. Interviewed in dwelling number 32 was Benjamin and his brother Lee Degenhart. Both were listed as “Stable Keepers”; born in Prussia; total assets $800.00. Ben was 35 years of age. Ben came west in 1852 and arrived in the Philipsburg area in 1867. He owned and operated a ranch at the mouth of Spring Creek for a number of years. This property is currently part of the Mitchell Munis Ranch, three miles south of town. Research revealed a law suit in April 1879, where Ben was defendant and plaintiff, Patrick Donahan. The suit was heard in the District Court December 1879 with the following comment found in the April 9, 1880 Philipsburg Mail: “Among the latest arrivals we note that of the very fortunate individual Benjamin Degenhart. By the reception he gets from former friends and neighbors we judge his stay will be short.” Research has not revealed what the suit was over or who won. Ben is listed in the 1880 census as living in Pipestone, Jefferson County, Montana with Mark and Margaret Delany and their one year old son Mark. He never married. Ben died in a Butte hospital on July 22, 1911 of paralysis at the age of 78. His brother Lee was with him at the time of passing. Survivors were: three brothers (the only known residence was Lee’s in Philipsburg) and a sister that lived in Tacoma, Washington. Ben was buried by the Modern Woodsmen at Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Butte. Lee Degenhart was 26 years old at the time of the 1870 Census. He was one year old when his parents immigrated from Prussia and settled in Fountain, Wisconsin. Lee joined the Wisconsin Volunteer Army when the Civil war started, serving in Company F of the Sixth regiment as a Corporal under Captain Henry Schildts. He was honorably discharged July 14, 1865 and returned to Wisconsin to join the harness trade with brother Peter. In 1868, Lee left for Montana via the Missouri River route to Fort Benton; then continued on to Philipsburg where his brother Ben was. On arrival he owned a saddle horse and had twenty five cents in silver. Lee married Mary Ellen O’Neil (daughter of Hugh and Margret O’Neil) on December 31, 1877 in Philipsburg. While freighting from Helena, Deer Lodge and the Bitter Root, Lee established a ranch near Philipsburg and became very involved in horse racing. Retiring from ranching in 1913, he continued in banking and real estate (example: The Degenhart Building). Lee died after a run-a-way horse accident March 25, 1922. Burial was a Military funeral (as the second to last Grand Army of the Republic member) at the Philipsburg Cemetery. Son Chris sold the ranch to the Dupont’s and Veitor’s in 1952. As I was attempting to replicate Henry Timbermaster’s record in the 1870 census archives, I uncovered two other Timbermaster names living in Philipsburg. Low and behold when they are searched for, two more pages of names for the P’Burg, next to Pikes Peak and Pioneer interviews appear. Research always is a humbling experience. So instead of only 30 people living in the ‘Burg there are 69 and 263 total dwellings. The Timbermasters were: Henry (20), born in Baden, Germany, in dwelling 181; Henry (21), born in Missouri a miner and Frederick his father (50), born in Hanover also a miner, in dwelling 224. Included in the new names are Henry, Henrietta and twelve year old Matilda Schnepel (spelled Scneple on the record) living in residence 241. They were discussed in week twenty-nine. Assets claimed were $10,000 for both Henry and Henrietta, with Henry listed as a “drover.” Living in dwelling number 158 was William whose last name is difficult to read. Could be anywhere from Burwin to Eurwine, and I am unable to replicate the report. He was a miner born in Tennessee, age 32 , without assets. Besides the first Timbermaster listed without an occupation there was Samuel Fishel (26) from Bavaria; Alfred Greew (40) from Indiana; and Augustus Sherman ( 33) from New York with $500 in assets. Augustus Nen age 35 from Poland is without assets or occupation but I thought maybe the name was Neu instead. Nen is the spelling registered for 1870 and is not available in any other census, nor does research produce any Augustus Neu. Dwellings 196 through 224 lists eighteen miners: John Calling age 33 from Ohio; Patrick Shew (?Schuh) age 24 from Illinois; David Haacke age 27 from Canada; the two Timbermaster’s; Frank McAndrews age 38 from Ireland with $150 in assets; Elias Lytle age 40 from Ohio; John Daly age 32 from England with $75.00 in assets; Elias Eihinge ( ? spelling) age 39 from Georgia with $50.00 in assets; Samuel Swan age 24 from Scotland; George Calderwood age 46 from Maine with $500.00 in assets; Charles Gaylord age 45 from England with $200.00 in assets and his twelve year old son Terry also listed as a miner born in Illinois; Jefferson Niles age 40 from Michigan with $400 in assets, who had moved to the Bitter Root and was married to Josephine (age 27) with Maggie age six and Wallace age one, by the 1880 Census; James Wilson age 35 from Kentucky (there was also a James Wilson in Lincoln and at Blackfoot in the 1870 census. None remained in Montana by 1880); William Reed (30) and Edward Smith (32) were both from Illinois without assets; and Samuel Keating age 28 from England with $100 in assets. Eli Holland and his partner James Estill, both miners will be detailed later. James Martin (34) from Ireland was a stone mason; John Crutchfield (45) from Ohio was a millwright; Henry Rowley (62) from New York was a carpenter; Henry Sherman (31) from Hanover was a farmer (unknown if related to Augustus); Ferdinand Kennett age 30 from Missouri was a book keeper with assets of $1,000. Somehow he became manager of Granite Mountain, Hope Mining Company, for a short time, when Horace Countryman left. According to the April 25, 1889 Mail story he had little or no knowledge of silver mining; Charles H. Hagar (31) was an engineer from Vermont, with $75 in assets; John Sanders (40) living with Holland was a blacksmith from Pennsylvania and apparently not the Johan Erik (John) Sander’s buried in the Philipsburg cemetery as he was born in 1855; and two were “keeping house” (Henrietta Schnepel [42] and Lydia Gaylord [40] ).Matilda Schnepel (12), born in Missouri did not have an occupation listed. Miner, Eli Holland (40 ) from Ohio with $750.00 in assets is a familiar name. He was important to the Flint Creek Mining history along with his frequent partner James Estill (34), in dwelling 205, without assets. Eli, James and Josiah Merrell (Merrill) spoken of earlier, were the original claimants of the Granite Mountain lode. The story goes that the silver lead was first found by Eli while hunting elk in 1873. Nothing was done with the discovery until Eli, James and Josiah recorded the claim on July 14, 1875. Apparently there was to be a fourth owner added named William McIntyre, if he would dig a fifty foot shaft. “The shaft was sunk fifty five feet and the contract thrown up in disgust” (Philipsburg Mail, November 14, 1889). The deeds show Charles McLure acquired title October 18, 1880. Eli remained in Philipsburg after the 1870 census and was living with John Brophy when the 1880 census was taken. The census records were not correct on Eli’s birthplace. He was born in Alabama in 1832 and in the 1850 Census his parents William and Sarah were living in Panola, County, Texas with Eli and his three siblings. By 1900, Eli had been married for 16 years to Annie, maiden name unknown and was residing in Deer Lodge. After selling the Granite Mountain claims, Eli continued in mining. He sold the Salmon and Cliff Lodes to the Algonquin Company for $25,000 in 1880. Then by 1887 was involved with the Little Tom Mine; in 1888 with the Henrietta Silver Mining company; then by December 1888 was superintendent of the Hatta in the Dunkleberg District. According to the New Northwest, Eli was an incorporator in the BiMetallic Extension Mining and Milling Company in December 1892. His partners were John A. and J.B. Featherman, Joseph Hyde, Josiah Shull and E.C. Freyschlag with the capital stock valued at $4,632,500.00. At that time Eli paid taxes of $9,400. Eli, John Duffy, Parker, Leavens (and others) sued the Granite Mountain Mining Company over the Company running mill water down Douglas and Frost creek. They won with a $5,000 settlement according to the New Northwest , December 24, 1886. There were numerous ads in the Newspapers about Eli and James Estell’s livery stables in Deer Lodge and in March of 1883, Eli dissolved his interest and James took over all of the business. In September of 1889 a news article stated Eli was building two four bedroom cottages on B street between third and fourth and then the newspapers are very quiet about any happenings with the Holland household. Eli was an active Mason and is buried in the Deer Lodge Hillcrest cemetery. He died on September 24, 1908 at the age of 78. Research has failed to produce an obituary or photograph of Eli. He surely had an estate yet the archives do not reveal anything about it or his wife Annie’s whereabouts after 1900. James apparently did not continue in the mining business after he sold his part of the discovery claims one and two east of the Willard Lode to Holland et al for $100 in April of 1880. He married Mary, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Levengood of Anaconda in 1874. They had at least six children. Four of the children excelled in school and were on the Deer Lodge school honor rolls every semester during the late 1800’s. Besides the livery stable, James also owned a barber shop and there are want ads for a barber at the shop during the 1880’s. In 1884 James (and others) filed a lawsuit against D.C. Irvine over water rights in Tin Cup Joe Creek and this was settled on June 6, 1890. The final judgment was published May 16, 1891 in favor of Irvine for his court costs. James was a democrat and involved in all of the democratic conventions. Often he served as delegate or alternate. He was a founding member of the Democratic Cleveland and Hendrickson Club and elected a member of the Bylaws and resolutions committee. In 1896 the New Northwest listed 125 members of the BiMetallic Free Silver club with James Estell listed as one of the 125 members. He sold his Transfer Omnibus to Warfiled and Company of Butte in January 1885 and in April 1888, in The New Northwest, offered up for sale all of the horses and equipment from the livery stable, 400 acre ranch, 30 head of stock and his personal residence. In 1889, James purchased a ranch from Peter Valiton. The Estell family moved to that ranch south of Deer Lodge in August of 1890. Obviously James wanted to get his family settled before his death, as he died of “Dropsy” at the age of 50 years and 6 months on November 15, 1890. The funeral was held at the family residence south of Deer Lodge. Mary placed a notice of sale in the July 16, 1892 New Northwest, listing: work horses, brood mares, single trotters, yearling colts, multiple ranch and farm equipment plus “I also have four fine ranches” to sell. James once a miner without assets left a large estate and the Estell name continues to live on in Deer Lodge.