BAKER, THOMAS T
Age 66
b. 1839 - Barbour County, West Virginia
d. 4/30/1906 - Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana

 

CO. F. 14th & 15th WEST VIRGINIA

Mount Moriah Cemetery
Butte, Silver Bow Co., MT
Find-a Grave: Thomas T Baker
Block L Lot 9E Grave 1

Spouse
Mary Isabella Hobart Baker
1847-1912
(Married 1884)

 

 

 

THOS. T. BAKER ANSWERS CALL

OLD-TIME RESIDENT OF MONTANA AND VETERAN OF CIVIL WAR SUCCUMBS

DEPUTY U. S. SURVEYOR FOR TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS

Dies of an Attack of Erysipelas
After Illness of Nearly a Month.
Was Member of Montana Engineers’ Society and G. A. R.

  Death last night claimed as its victim Thomas T. Baker, one of the oldest residents of Montana and a veteran of the civil war.  Mr. Baker passed away at his home in this city, 414 West Quartz street, from an attack of Erysipelas, after an illness of twenty eight days.  The deceased had been for many years deputy United States mineral surveyor and had a host of friends throughout Idaho and Montana.  He leaves a wife, a son and a daughter.

   Thomas T. Baker came to Montana in 1875, making the trip by wagon at a time when railroads had not yet reached this state.  For several years he taught school in Virginia City, later receiving the appointment to the United States mineral surveying corps.  At the time of his death Mr. Baker was the oldest man in the corps and during his term of service had surveyed many of the most valuable mines of this city.  It is said that Mr. Baker surveyed more claims for patent than any other United States surveyor in the western country.

   The deceased had been in the employ of the government for more than twenty-eight years.  His territory included Idaho and Montana and there will be hundreds of pioneers in both states who will mourn his loss as a personal bereavement.

   Thomas T. Baker was born in Maryland sixty-six years ago.  The funeral will be held from the family residence in this city Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 o’clock, the Rev. E. J. Groeneveld officiating.

The Butte Miner
Butte, Montana
5/1/1906

PIONEER LAID IN THE GRAVE

LAST RITES HELD OVER BODY OF LATE THOMAS T. BAKER

IMPRESSIVE SERVICES AT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Scripture Reading by Rev. Groeneveld—Deceased 
Was Highly Respected Resident of Butte—Won Recognition as Civil Engineer

    With many of his old-time friends present to pay him a final tribute of respect, the last rites over the body of Thomas T. Baker, an esteemed pioneer of Butte, were held yesterday afternoon in the First Presbyterian church.  The services were conducted by Rev. E. J. Groeneveld and were impressive.  The funeral cortege proceeded to the church from the family residence, 414 West Quartz street.  The services began with a reading from the scriptures, “It Is Well,” the beautiful burial service of the church.  The choir then sang “Nearer, My God, to Thee,” after which Miss Frances Harte sang “Face to Face.”  A prayer by Rev. Mr. Groeneveld concluded the services, the friends of the deceased being privileged to view the body before the march to the cemetery was resumed.  The pallbearers were James A. Davidson, James Maloney, Judge McHatton, John Forbis, C. P. Drennan and Judge E. N. Harwood.

Highly Respected

   Mr. Baker was one of Butte’s most highly respected citizens.  He was born in Barbour county, West Virginia, and at the outbreak of the civil war he enlisted in the Fifth West Virginia regiment, fighting on the union side.  He served through the war and was mustered out with the rank of second lieutenant.  After the war he went to Iowa and there attended the college at Grinnell, being graduated from that institution in 1873.  He taught in the college for two years and came to Montana in 1875, teaching school in Virginia City for two years.  He came to Butte in 1877, following the profession of civil engineer and surveyor until his last illness.  He was county surveyor of Silver Bow county for one term.  Most of the time, however, he was engaged in practicing his profession for himself, being accounted one of the most expert civil engineers in the state.  A widow, a son, Jacob, and a daughter, Julia, survive him.  A sister, Mrs. T. Z. Johnson, resides in Missoula, a sister in Kansas, three sisters in Missouri, and two brothers and a sister in West Virginia are also left to mourn his death,  Mr. Baker was sixty-six years old.  He died Monday afternoon.

The Butte Miner
Butte, Montana
5/3/1906

 

 

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BARRETT, FRANK M
Age 81
b. 5/10/1846 - Newark, Licking Co., OH
d. 11/23/1927 - Butte, MT


9th INDEPENDENT BATTERY, 
OHIO VOLUNTEERS
 Mount Moriah Cemetery
Butte, Silver Bow Co., MT
Find-a Grave: Frank M Barrett
Block G Lot 42 Grave 1

Spouse
Clara Lanterman Barrett

  


  Frank M. Barrett was only 16 when he offered himself for enlistment. His enrollment report gives his enlistment height as “five feet five inches,” but he stood on his toes to add and inch to his stature.

   Mr. Barrett was born at Akron, Ohio, May 10, 1846. He enlisted in 1863 in the Ninth Independent battery, Ohio volunteers, for three years, and served until July 25, 1865, when he was discharged under General Order No. 105 of the war department.

   He came out of the service in sound condition and his discharge carries the notation, “No objection to re-enlistment.” Barrett came west a year after his discharge, driving an ox team across the plains, and located at the Highlands. He has been continuously a resident of Montana since the placer days.

The Anaconda Standard
Anaconda, Montana
5/31/1926

 

VETERAN OF CIVIL WAR DIES 
AFTER LENGTHY ILLNESS

 Served Three Years in Struggle, Between Confederacy and Union.

   Frank M. Barrett, Montana trail blazer, veteran of the Civil war, past commander of Lincoln post and quartermaster at the post for the current term, died last night at 9:40 o'clock in his apartment in the Shiner block, surrounded by his family and friends. The veteran, who had been ailing for several months, dropped quietly into his last sleep.

   The body is at the White undertaking parlors. The date of the funeral will be announced later.

   Mr. Barrett is survived by his wife, Clara, who is past department president of the Ladies of the G. A. R.; his daughter, Mrs. Clyde P. Reed, and his two grandchildren, Billie and Marion Reed.  

Enlisted When Boy

   Frank M. Barrett was born in Newark, Ohio, May 10, 1846. He enlisted at the tender age of 17 in Company 9 of the Independent Battery of Ohio Volunteers to serve a period of three years in the war between the States.  He was discharged at Camp Cleveland, Ohio, July 25, 1865 under general orders.

   Mr. Barrett participated in two major engagements during the war. These were the last battle of Nashville and the fight at Battle Creek, Alabama, just before the collapse of the confederacy and the flight of Jefferson Davis from Richmond.

   The major portion of his three years' service was devoted to warring against the bushwackers who abounded in the mountains of Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama. The war between the Union soldiers and the bushwhackers was to the death. Neither side gave nor asked quarter. A soldier captured by the bushwackers was shot incontinently. The bushwacker caught by the soldiers was hanged.

   Almost immediately following his discharge young Barrett started for Montana. He went to Omaha from St. Louis by boat and there accepted a place in the train of Langworthy and Wallis, who were headed for Virginia City, Mont.  He drove an ox team across the plains, arriving in Montana territory in 1866.  

Pipe of Peace

   On his first trip he experienced a taste of Indian fighting. This was at a point where the city of Livingston is now located. In the engagement three men were killed. Despite the battle the whites and the Indians arrived at an agreement to compose their differences and become friends. Young Barrett was called on to participate in the ceremony of smoking the pipe of peace—although in those days he used no tobacco—with the Sioux Indians, and found the red marauders engaged the next morning in trying to run off his team.

   While encamped on the Yellowstone a preacher and his son, enroute from the East, paused at the camp. Young Barrett, his mind full of the thought of the violated truce, endeavored to induce the minister to remain and join the train, but the man of God would have none of it, placing his reliance on his faith. Two days afterward the wagon train came upon the scalped bodies of the preacher and his son. There were 13 arrows buried in the minister’s body.

   Mr. Barrett mined for a time at Virginia City, but the winter of 1867 found him in the Highlands mining camp.  He soon tired of the struggle with the well-washed ground of the previously rich placer camp and set out for Helena on snowshoes in the spring of 1867. Out of Helena he drove a stage until the latter end of the 60s, when he moved to Nevada.

   He followed the life of a miner for a number of years and made and lost much money in mining ventures. He returned to Butte in 1882 and has been a resident of this city since that date.

   In addition to his stage-driving experiences Mr. Barrett had a brief connection with the newspaper business. He served as combined printer’s devil and paper carrier on the Helena Herald in 1867, during the time of Bob Fisk and Charles Stewart.

  Despite his advanced age and the pulmonary trouble from which he suffered in recent years, Mr. Barrett was a remarkably well-preserved man and worked at this employment of watchman at the North Butte until a short time ago.

  Genial and kindly, with a young man’s outlook on life, Frank M. Barrett was highly popular with his associates in his work and also with the members of Lincoln post, G. A. R.  He was loyal to his organization and punctual in his post attendance until recent months, when his ailment somewhat interfered with his activities.

  Mrs. Barrett and Mrs. Reed have the sympathy of a large number of friends in the loss of their husband and father.  Mr. Barrett was an extremely domestic man and deeply devoted to the welfare of his family, on whom his loss falls with great severity, notwithstanding the fact that they have been preparing themselves for the inevitable for some weeks.

  In his death the post loses another of the tiny band of whom Colonel Roosevelt said, during his Butte visit: “If it wasn’t for them we members of the American Legion wouldn’t have had any country to fight for.”

   Lincoln post was the second of 30 G.A.R. organizations founded in Montana.  There are now said to be only 12.  Of the active members of Lincoln post there now remain only the commander of the post, Charles S. Shoemaker, Simon Hauswirth, H.H. Makinson and George Dimnent. There are a few others, Peter Green and Frank Benoit of Butte and John Marchion and D.I. Brenneman of Anaconda, who occasionally attend. They are the remnant of a membership in excess of 200 in the Butte post.

   Mr. Barrett’s death will be felt deeply by the survivors of Lincoln post as well as by the Ladies of the G.A.R. and Women’s Relief Corps posts, at which he was a frequent and a welcome visitor.

The Anaconda Standard
Anaconda, Montana
11/24/1927

 


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BATEMAN, JAMES "FRANK" (Corpl)
Age 53
b. 1847 - New York
d. 7/12/1900 - Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana
 


KILLED BY A RUNAWAY

Frank Bateman Received Mortal Injuries
in a Frightful Collision

TWO LADS THROWN OUT AND HURT

Accident Happened on North Montana—Team Drawing a Milk Wagon 
with Two Boys Ran Into Bateman’s Buggy—Latter’s Skull Fractured 
and One Boy’s Shoulder Dislocated

    Frank Bateman, residing at 154 East Boardman, corner of Montana street, got into his buggy to take his usual evening ride about 7 o’clock last night.  He started the horse at an easy trot up North Montana.  Mr. Bateman had proceeded but a block from his own home when a spring wagon, pulled by two maddened animals, came tearing along behind him, and before the occupant of the buggy could turn out of the way of the runaway a collision ensued and Mr. Bateman was thrown violently to the ground. In the fall his skull was fractured, and the injured man died from the wound without regaining consciousness at 9:15, on a table in the operating room of the Murray & Freund hospital.

   The occupants of the spring wagon were two lads, sons of John Darragh, who resided in Centerville, and they were delivering milk at the time of the accident.

   In front of Joe Dillon’s place on North Montana street, near Woolman, some break occurred in the harness, and the nervous horses got beyond the control of the boys.  Archie, the eldest lad, aged 15, was thrown out of the wagon almost immediately, sustaining a dislocated shoulder.  His brother Joe, aged 11, clung to the tailboard until a moment before the collision with Bateman’s buggy, when he leaped and reached the ground without serious injury.

   Both vehicles were entirely wrecked by the collision, the animals escaping serious hurt.

   On each side of the table at the hospital, where lay Frank Bateman in his death agonies about an hour before he breathed his last, were his son-in-law, Mr. McDonald, and his brother-in-law, J. H. Jurgens.  The breathings of the injured man were hard as if he suffered excruciating agony, although he gave no signs of consciousness.  Blood and what appeared to be brain matter slowly oozed from his left ear.  No injuries other than the death wound in the head were discovered on his person.

   In another room, prostrated with grief, and awaiting the end in tears, were his wife and daughter, Mrs. Pearl McDonald, his sister, and Mr. Guy Newkirk, a nephew.  Mr. Bateman’s mother, a very old lady, was left at home, and the other members of the family in the hospital looked forward with dread to the effect the news of the death of Frank would have upon the old mother.  Only last week Frank Bateman’s mother and sister arrived at his home on Boardman street from Helena.

   Frank Bateman is well known in Butte.  For some time past he has acted as bailiff in the federal court.  He learned the carpenter trade and worked at this occupation as well as mining at different intervals.  He has been an active member of the Masonic fraternity, and his age is along 55 years.

   Mr. Bateman’s family are natives of New York state, and came west to Minnesota when Frank was yet a lad.  On the breaking out of the civil war, he was only 19 years of age, but his patriotic boyish impulse rebelled against the quiet of home life while his country needed soldiers; so he enlisted in the Fifth Minnesota and participated in the severest engagements in which that famous regiment was engaged.  Young Bateman was taken prisoner, and for some time endured all the horrors of a living death in the Andersonville prison.

   In 1965 Frank Bateman left Minnesota for Montana, at that time an almost trackless wilderness.  He joined Capt. Fisk’s bull train that came over the plains to Fort Benton by what was then known at the northern route, reaching Helena in due time.  Mr. Bateman, lived in Helena about 10 years then came on to Butte, and has resided in and around this city for the past 25 years.  At one time he was employed by A. J. Davis, and managed the old Silver Bow quartz mill, near where the grocery house of A. J. Bray now stands.

   Mr. Bateman married one of the daughters of Doc. Beall, who conducted the Centennial hotel, where Hennessy’s block now stands.  Out of that union, one daughter survives, Mrs. Pearl McDonald.

   Last evening Harry Doering went to German gulch to apprise Doc. Beall and his son Perry of the terrible fatality.

The Butte Miner
Butte, Montana
7/13/1900

 

 

 

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BECKWITH, GEORGE GRIFFIN (Sgt)
Age 60
b. 9/11/1839 - Cazenovia, Madison County, New York
d. 1/15/1900 - Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana

 


CO. D. 44th NEW YORK INFANTRY & 
140th NEW YORK INFANTRY


Mount Moriah Cemetery
Butte, Silver Bow Co., MT
Find-a Grave: George Griffin Beckwith
Block K Lot 4 Grave 3

Spouse
Georgia W. Weaver Beckwith
1846 - 1914

 

 

  

 

DEATH OF G. G. BECKWITH

He Was an Old Resident of the State and Had a Wide Circle of Friends

   G. G. Beckwith, proprietor of the Novelty bakery on West Park street, died last night at 11:30 o’clock of typhoid pneumonia.  Mr. Beckwith was 60 years of age, and was quite well known in Butte, having many friends here.  He was only ill a week, and it was not until the last two days that the serious nature of his illness was realized, and as a consequence all the members of his family were not present at his bedside when the end came, although they were all on their way to Butte.

   He leaves several children to mourn his death, among whom are Mrs. Gaffney of Boulder, Miss Pearl Beckwith of this city and two sons, Ned and Bruce Beckwith.  Ned Beckwith is a conductor running on the railroad between Missoula and Hope, and he was expected to arrive in the city on the delayed passenger last night.

   Mr. Beckwith was a member of the G. A. R., being a member of the New York regiment, known as “Elsworth’s Avengers.”  He was also a member of the A. O. U. W.  He came to Montana in 1884, and resided in Deer Lodge for some time, afterward running the Boulder Springs hotel for several years, but for some time past he has made his home in Butte.  He was a man who was thought well of by everyone who knew him, and he will be greatly missed by a wide circle of friends.

The Butte Miner
Butte, Montana
1/15/1900

 

 

 

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BYRON NELSON BEEBE
Age70
b. 12/5/1839 - Ohio
d. 12/26/1909 - Darby, Ravalli County, Mountana

 
CO. D. 12th KANSAS INFANTRY
 


Mount Moriah Cemetery
Butte, Silver Bow Co., MT
Find-a Grave - Byron Nelson Beebe
GAR Plot:  Block F Lot 3 Grave 1

 

Spouse
Martha Henry Beebe
(Married 1859)

Debbie Cooper Beebe
1857 - 1930
(Married 1887)

 

 

 



B. N. BEEBE
Commander Montana Department G. A. R.



PIONEER PASSED AWAY

 B. N. Beebe, Veteran 
of the Civil War, Called by 
Death at Darby Sunday

    Another of the old times of Montana has passed away.  Bryon Nelson Beebe succumbed to intestinal tuberculosis at his home near Darby Sunday morning at 6 o’clock.  He had been ailing for some time and death was not unexpected,  He fought bravely against the grim reaper, but a short time before dissolution realized that the end was near, and his last request was that his body be taken to Butte for burial.  

   Mr. Beebe was a native of Ohio and 70 years and 21 days old.  He moved to Kansas in 1860, and two years later enlisted in the Twelfth Kansas regiment and served till the end of the civil war.  

After the war he was appointed pay master in the regular army, serving six years.  In 1882 he moved to Butte, where he resided until two years ago, when he moved to Darby.

   He was a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic, filling all the office of the Butte post and serving one term as commander of the Grand Army of the Republic for Montana.  The deceased is survived by  widow and a daughter, Miss Maude P. Beebe, a teacher to the Butte schools.

   The body was shipped to Butte Monday, being accompanied by Mrs. Beebe and daughter, and Veterans J. B. Overturf and Hiram Platt.  The funeral was conducted under the auspices of the old soldiers at the Butte First Presbyterian church Wednesday afternoon.

Ravalli Republic
Hamilton, Montana
12/31/1909

Special Dispatch to the Montana Standard  - 12/27/1909

   The body of Byron Nelson Beebe, who died yesterday morning at Darby, was shipped to Butte this afternoon for interment. He was an old Montanan, coming to Butte 27 years ago. Two years ago he came to the Bitter Root Valley and had since made his home near Darby.

   He was a veteran of the civil war and a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic, occupying all the offices of the Butte post, of which he was a member, and the office of department commander of the state. The cause of death was intestinal tuberculosis, with which he had been sick several months. He was 70 years and 21 days old. He leaves a wife and a daughter, the latter being Miss Maud Beebe, a teacher in the Butte schools. His last request was that he be buried in Butte, where the funeral will be held under the auspices of the Grand Army tomorrow.

   Mr. Beebe had been a resident of Butte for fully 25 years and was greatly respected in the community. He was one of the oldest members of Lincoln Post Grand Army of the Republic, having joined 20 years ago. His wife and daughter live in Butte, his daughter being a teacher in the Webster school. Several weeks ago she obtained a leave of absence and went to her father’s bedside, nursing him until the end.

   Mr. Beebe was in business in the city, dealing at various times in hay and grain, vehicles, etc., but a few years ago ceased active business and took the position of truant officer of the school district. He held this position until two years ago, when his health failed him and he went to his ranch near Darby. He was better for a time, but about two months ago began to decline and sank steadily until yesterday.

   Mr. Beebe served through the war in the Twelfth Kansas regiment and came to Butte from Kansas. He was honored by his comrades 10 years ago with the position of department commander.  

 

 

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