Famous Montanans
Dorothy Baker author, Missoula
Dirk Benedict actor, Helena
W. A. Tony Boyle labor union official, Bald Butte
Dana Carvey comedian, Missoula
Gary Cooper actor, Helena
Chet Huntley journalist, TV newscaster, Cardwell
Will James writer, artist, Great Falls
Evel Knievel daredevil motorcyclist, Butte
Jerry Kramer football player, author, Jordan
Myrna Loy actress, Helena
David Lynch filmmaker, Missoula
George Montgomery actor, Brady
Jeannette Rankin first woman elected to Congress, Missoula
Martha Raye actress, Butte
Michael Smuin choreographer
Lester C. Thurow economist, educator, Livingston
REPRESENTIVES AND SENATORS, State and U.S. Congress:
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THE HONORABLE SAMUEL McLEAN OF MONTANA and Summit Hill, Carbon County, Pa. Samuel McLean was the prosecuting attorney for Carbon Co., PA in the period 1855-1860. He was born at Summit Hill, PA on August 7, 1826, he attended the select schools of Wyoming Valley, PA and then Lafayette College in Easton, PA, where he studied law.
In 1849, he was the first Carbon County native to be admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar after which he established a practice in Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe), PA. He read law in the offices of Andrew H. Reeder. In 1852, he moved briefly to California, then returned to marry Jane Gray Wilson of Easton on January 23, 1855. They settled in Mauch Chunk on November 27, 1857. After his term as prosecuting attorney for Carbon Co., he moved west and in 1860, Samuel McLean was the attorney-general of the provisional Territory of Jefferson (later Colorado), and it is believed he resided in Denver [Wolle (1963), pp. 61].
In 1862, he moved to Bannack, Montana where he joined the Montana Territory gold rush. According to Wolle (1963), it was the discovery by John J. Healy and George Grigsby in 1861 of the placers on the Salmon River near Florence, Idaho Territory, that brought men to the area, including Samuel McLean, who at the time was in Denver, then part of the Jefferson Territory. He organized a party of men and set off for Idaho by way of the Overland Trail and Fort Hall. Another party, organized by Captain Jack Russell, also left Denver about the same time, and eventually met McLean's party at Fort Hall. The two parties went together to Fort Lemhi, Idaho Territory, and while they were still more than 125 miles from Florence they discovered that the Salmon River was too wild to use to go downstream to the placers. Thus they joined about a thousand other miners who were also stranded in the Lemhi Valley.
When Montana entered statehood in 1864, Samuel McLean was elected as a Democrat to the 38th and 39th Congresses of the U.S. and served from January 6, 1865 to March 3, 1867. He was not a candidate for re-election in 1866. He was president of McLean Silver Mining Co. in 1870, and after expiration of his term in Congress, he returned to Easton, PA seeking local investors in his McLean Silver Mining Company. After living in Montana several years, he moved to Virginia in 1870 and settled on a plantation near Burkeville, Nottoway, Co. He died in Burkeville, VA on July 16, 1877 at the age of 51 years, and was interred in the churchyard of the Presbyterian Church there. [U.S. Government Printing Office, House Document No. 442, (1961), BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF THE AMERICAN CONGRESS, 1774-1961, pp.1310-1311; Lavelle, John P. (1996) "The Hard Coal Docket," pp. 203].
A review of the map of Burkeville, VA shows a street named McLean as well as a street named DIMMICK. There is a Dimmick MemorialLibrary in Jim Thorpe, PA where Samuel McLean practiced law. While in Montana, Samuel McLean lived in Bannack and in Virginia City where he was known as "Colonel" McLean. James Knox Polk Miller, in his diary, edited by Andrew Rolle (1960), includes an entry for September 1, 1865:
"For five hours last evening I wrote a copy of the Montana Territorial Laws Regulating Elections, without intermission finishing at one o'clock this morning, for which I received from Col. McLane [McLean], the Democratic candidate for Congress, 7th District, $7.00 in gold dust." [Rolle, Andrew (1960) THE ROAD TO VIRGINIA CITY: The Diary of James Knox Polk Miller, pp.80]. Spence (1889) claims that as a member of the 39th Congress, Samuel McLean was known as Montana's "Talking Delegate," a hard-drinking, fun-loving, and "gay old boy." He was reported to weigh 300 pounds. [Spence, Clark C. (1975),
TERRITORIAL POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT IN MONTANA, 1864-1889, pp. 41-42. Dimsdale, in Chapter 12, in discussing the settlement of Virginia City and the discovery of gold at Alder Gulch says: "Colonel McLean brought the first vehicle to the Gulch." He doesn't say what kind of vehicle, however. Samuel McLean may have been connected with the McLeans of the Dunboe District, Co. Londonderry, Ireland through James McLean of Summit Hill, PA, who is believed to have been a brother or a cousin to Alexander McLean, founder of the First National Bank of Wilkes-Barre. As a young man, Alexander McLean emigrated from the Dunboe District of Co. Londonderry, Ireland ca. 1820, and settled at Summit Hill, PA where he joined the First Presbyterian Church of Mauch Chunk, then under the leadership of Rev. Richard Webster. Alexander McLean was an early contractor of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company (LC&N) and before the advent of the Switchback Railroad, Alexander McLean hauled coal by mule team from the mines at Summit Hill to the Lehigh River at Mauch Chunk (Jim horpe) where the coal was floated downstream to markets south. He eventually became a mine operator under contract with the LC&N and became wealthy as a result. He retired to Wilkes-Barre where he and his sons founded the First National Bank of Wilkes-Barre. One of his sons, James McLean, was elected the first president of the bank, but he served only a short time before being killed in a railroad accident between Summit Hill and Wilkes-Barre in January of 1864. He was succeeded by Alexander Gray of Wilkes-Barre, who also had coal interests [Harvey, (1930)].
Jane Gray Wilson, wife of Samuel McLean, may have been related to Alexander Gray, second president of the First National Bank of Wilkes-Barre, and to Rev. John Gray pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Easton 1822-1866, and of long time elder of the Church, James Wilson of Easton [Records of the First Presbyterian Church of Easton, PA]. She may also have been related to Rev. Thomas McKeen Gray, pastor of the Bridge-Hampton Church. She is listed in the records of the Brainerd Presbyterian Church, Easton, PA, and those records indicate that she transfered to the Presbyterian Church of Burkeville, VA. in 1874, so that'sprobably when Col. Sam also moved to Burkeville.
Obituary
The following obituary on Samuel McLean appeared in the HELENA WEEKLY HERALD, May 29, 1879.
"Col. Samuel McLean, our Delegate in Congress from 1864-68, died in Nodaway county,Virginia, August 16, 1878. It is a strange comment on the mutability of human affairs and a striking example of the tireless whirl and restless activity of the American People, that the First Delegate from Montana, who represented it for three years in the Congress of the United States, should have passed so utterly out of the sight of our people in four or five years, and whose death ten or eleven years later should remain unknown to our _____[illegible] for months after that event occured.
Col. McLean was a native of Pennsylvania, whence he came to Colorado, and in 1862 to what is now Montana. He was widely known among the early settlers of the mountains, was engaged in various mining enterprises, and by a fortunate turn in affairs was elected in 1864 and again in 1865 to Congress. Without great mental activity, he was nevertheless a genial, kindly man with a noble impulse(?) and his death will come to the knowledge of his old friends with sincere regret. He had become the owner of a considerable tract of land about thirty miles west of Richmond, where in recent years he resided, and where his estimable wife and children now are now.
REFERENCES
Davies, Edward J.(1985). THE ANTHRACITE ARISTOCRACY: leadership and social change in the hard coal regions of northeastern Pennsylvania, 1800-1930. DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois Univ. Press, pp.56. Dimsdale, VIGILANTES OF MONTANA, pp.59, 63. Harvey, Oscar Jewell and Smith, Ernest Gray (1930). A HISTORY OF WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, Volume VI.
Mark, Rev. James, B.A. (1936). THE FIRST DUNBOE: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. Coleraine: Chronicle Office, Abbey Street.
Rolle, Andrew (1960) THE ROAD TO VIRGINIA CITY: The Diary of James Knox Polk Miller, pp.80. Norman, Oklahoma: The University of Oklahoma Press.
Johnston Robertson (Joe) Boyd
Republican State Senator from Big Horn County:
Big Horn County, Wyola,MT. Joe came to the U.S.A. from Glasgow, Scotland, when he was two years old.He was the youngest of four boys. They settled in Johnston, P/a. He survived the ill famed "Johnstown Flood" May 31, 1889 by being wrapped in the American Flag and clinging to a church steeple as the church was washed two blocks down the street. The family's two story home was filled with silt, and fine, fragile glassware remained on the shelves,undamaged, surrounded by tons of silt.
Young Joe attended N.Y. Military Academy, there met and courted MissCecile Kissam Phillips from Albany, N.Y.
In 1905, Joe came to Sheridan, WY by train. He worked at the KendrickRanch, broke horses for a Mr. NcNabb. Later he went to work for Mr. GeorgeTschirgi, where he made a life long friend of George's son, Matt Tschirgi. At the Tschirgi ranch, he met a wolfer named"Buck" Smith, a brother of Bob Smith who ranched near Wyola, MT many years.He went into partnership with "Buck" Smith. They became such goodtrappers and expert marksmen, they were allowed to hunt on the Crow Indian. White men were banned from the reservation without a permit. He showed his son “Sonny” Boyd the hole in the Little Horn Canyon near the entrance-where Buck and Joe had their "dug out" and spent the winter--keep in mind the temperatures dropped to 40 below zero!!)
The partners build a cottonwood log cabin on the Little Horn. In 1910 Joe purchased some Indian Land on the Little Horn. He owned a few cattle, a grizzly bear and a wolf he had chained for pets. In 1909, he left for Albany,NY to marry Miss Cecile Kissam Phillips, but made Buck Smith promise to get rid of his pets as he deemed them a little dangerous for an Eastern bride.
They were married Nov. 17, 1909 and moved onto the ranch on the Little Horn. There was no post office nearer than Parkman, WY . (40 miles)An engineer by the name of "Bill Toy: would pick up their mail at Parkman, put it in a sack and throw the sack from the engine into a choke cherry patch on certain days. Joe would pick up the mail as he came by while running a trap line.
A son and a daughter were born to Joe and Cecile Boyd. Johnston Phillips was born Feb. 24, 1914 and Mary Anna was born Aug.28, 1917 both atSheridan , WY.
In 1923, a fine new home was built on the Boyd ranch, a place that later became famous for the quality of flowers Joe raised. Some of his dahlias were as large as dinner plates. Exceptional gladiolus receivedprizes at many flower shows when displayed.
The Chinese Pheasant was introduced as a wild game bird in this area by the efforts of Matt Tischirgi and Joe Boyd. In 1926, Cecile underwent an appendectomy, followed by a stroke on her left side. She passed away June 27, 1927.
In the early twenties, J.R. Boyd and Henry Stevens of Sheridan formeda ranching partnership called "Boyd and Stevens" which lasted until Joe;sdeath, Dec. 23, 1945. H.C. Steven then formed a partnership with Joe's son J.Phillips Boyd which lasted until Steven's death Jan. 5, 1951.
J.R. boyd ran cattle on the ridge between the main canyon of the LittleHorn river and the West fork of the Little Horn before there was a forest reserve.When the forest preserve was created, J.R. Boyd was the first permittee on that range. The range is know on the forest reserve maps as the Boyd range.
Joe Boyd served in the 29th Legislature of Montana as Senator from BigHorn Country, from Jan. 1945 until his death.
He as a Mason, thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Consistory member and a
Shriner. Since 1938, Joe occupied top position for production and improvement of Poland China Swine,. He was President in 1944-45 of theMidland Empire Swine Association, also instrumental in getting the SouthSide Livestock Yards in Billings, underway. He as director for the CentralLivestock Exchange. He also raised excellent Percheron horses.
Joe and Cecile are buried in the Sheridan WY cemetery. Joe said, as he bought the cemetery lot, "Here he would feel at home, as he could rear up on one elbow and see the elk in the Sheridan Park across the valley. (the elk can still be viewed-(not the same ones of course, it is a beautiful spot).
Johnston Robertson Boyd, State Senator from Big Horn County:FROM SHERIDAN PRESS, DEC. 24, 1945 (Sheridan, WY)
BOYD, WYOLA STOCKMAN, DIES AT HIS RANCH. J.R. BOYD, 59, PROMINENT WYOLA STOCKMAN AND BIG HORN COUNTY STATE SENATOR, DIED OF A HEART ATTACK LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT HIS LITTLE HORN VALLEY RANCH HOME.
Boyd had been in a ranching partnership with Henry C. Stevens of Sheridan for approximately 20 years specializing in purebred Hereford cattle and registered Poland China hogs on the extensive ranch holdings. His son Johnston Phillips Boyd owned a ranch nearby and was with his father at the time of his death.
Boyd was born No.v 17, 886 in Glasgow, Scotland and came with his parents to American when a small boy. The family first settled in Pittsburgh. Boyd came to the west when a young man and settled on the ranch, located about10 miles from Wyola, about 40 years ago. His was the first white family tosettle on the land then owned by the Crow Indians.He was a member of the Masonic Lodge and of the Shrine Temple of Sheridan. He is survived by two children, his son and daughter, Mrs. HaroldMcGovern, both of whom live at Wyola; two brothers in Pa and one in NY and five grand children. His wife preceded him in death a number of years ago.Funeral arrangement, not yet complete, are under the direction of Champions' funeral home.
From SHERIDAN JOURNAL, FRI. JULY 1, 1927 Sheridan,WY.
PASSING OF FIRST WHITE WOMAN ON DEEDED LAND IN THE UPPER LITTLE HORN VALLEY:
At the ranch home on the headwaters of the Little Horn, above Wyola, onWed. evening of this week, Cecile Phillips Boyd, 42, wife of Joe R. Boyd, passed away, During January last, Mrs. Boyd was overcome with paralysis of such a nature that little hope was held for her recovery. However, she was contented back at the ranch and was making a strong rally up to two weeks ago, when her last severe illness came.
Mrs. Boyd was resigned and calmly awaited the end, knowing it was coming, talking and helping to plan for the future of their children, Johnston Phillips, age, 13 and Mary Anna, aged 10. Mr. and Mrs. Boyd were married in NY in 1910, her home and coming west was immediately taken to the mountain ranch, where she was the first white woman on deeded land in the upper Little Horn Valley.Mrs. Boyd's parents preceded her in death and she has two half-brothers living in NY and no sisters.The funeral will be held from the Reed mortuary Fri. afternoon at 2:00 with interment being made at Mount Hope. It was her desire that burial be made in Sheridan.
Senate Years of Service: 1923-1947 Party: Democrat
WHEELER, Burton Kendall, a Senator from Montana; born in Hudson, Middlesex County, Mass., February 27, 1882; attended the common schools; worked as a stenographer in Boston, Mass.; graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1905; admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Butte, Silver Bow County, Mont.; member, State house of representatives 1910-1912; United States district attorney for Montana 1913-1918; resumed the practice of law in Butte; unsuccessful Democratic candidate for governor of Montana in 1920; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1922 for the term ending March 3, 1929; unsuccessful candidate for Vice President of the United States in 1924 on the Progressive Party ticket; reelected to the United States Senate in 1928, 1934 and 1940 and served from March 4, 1923, to January 3, 1947; unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1946; chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs (Seventy-third Congress), Committee on Interstate Commerce (Seventy-fourth through Seventy-ninth Congresses); resumed the practice of law; died in Washington, D.C., January 6, 1975; interment in Rock Creek Cemetery.
Senate Years of Service: 1934-1961
MONAGHAN, Joseph Patrick, a Representative from Montana; born in Butte, Mont., March 26, 1906; attended public and parochial schools; graduated from Mount St. Charles (Carroll College), Helena, Mont., in 1928; member of the State house of representatives 1929-1931; studied law at Montana State University at Missoula; was admitted to the bar in 1931 and commenced practice in Butte, Mont.; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1930 to the Seventy-second Congress; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third and Seventy-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1933-January 3, 1937); did not seek renomination in 1936, but was unsuccessful both as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator and for election as an Independent candidate for the same office; resumed the practice of law; unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination to the United States Senate in 1964; was a resident of Butte, Mont., until his death there on July 4, 1985; interment in Sunset Memorial Park.
Senate Years of Service: 1934-1961
Party: Democrat
MURRAY, James Edward, a Senator from Montana; born on a farm near St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, May 3, 1876; attended the public schools of Canada; graduated from St. Jerome’s College, Berlin, Canada, in 1897; came to the United States in 1897, settled in Butte, Mont., and was naturalized in 1900; graduated from the law department of New York University in 1900; admitted to the bar in 1901 and commenced practice in Butte, Mont.; also engaged in banking; county attorney of Silver Bow County, Mont., 1906-1908; chairman of the State advisory board f the Public Works Administration 1933-1934; elected on November 6, 1934, as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Thomas J. Walsh; reelected in 1936, 1942, 1948 and 1954 and served from November 7, 1934, to January 3, 1961; was not a candidate for renomination in 1960; chairman, Committee on Education and Labor (Seventy-ninth Congress), co-chairman, Joint Committee on Labor-Management Relations (Eighty-first Congress), chairman, Committee on Labor and Public Welfare (Eighty-second Congress), Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (Eighty-fourth through Eighty-sixth Congresses); died in Butte, Mont., March 23, 1961; interment in Holy Cross Cemetery.
MONAGHAN, Joseph Patrick, a Representative from Montana; born in Butte, Mont., March 26, 1906; attended public and parochial schools; graduated from Mount St. Charles (Carroll College), Helena, Mont., in 1928; member of the State house of representatives 1929-1931; studied law at Montana State University at Missoula; was admitted to the bar in 1931 and commenced practice in Butte, Mont.; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1930 to the Seventy-second Congress; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third and Seventy-fourth Congresses (March 4, 1933-January 3, 1937); did not seek renomination in 1936, but was unsuccessful both as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator and for election as an Independent candidate for the same office; resumed the practice of law; unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination to the United States Senate in 1964; was a resident of Butte, Mont., until his death there on July 4, 1985; interment in Sunset Memorial Park.
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We would like to help you find, preserve and remember your ancestors and record the role they played in creating this great state of Montana. My name is Jo Ann Boyd Scott and I grew up in this great state and my heart is still there. I do lookups, e-mail me.Because we are a new website, we are looking for county hosts. If you would be interested in volunteering, 
please visit our Volunteer Information Page and get in touch with Kim. Enough html knowledge to build a basic webpage is required, along with a desire to transcribe data. I will help you get started or help me as a co-host on any county. Subscribe to mailing list.This site is continually growing, check back. Photos by Joe, a Montana Photographer, thanks Joe.
Unless otherwise stated, all photos are contributed by the Boyd, Scott, Beranek, or Lervick families.
*Note: Unless otherwise stated, ALL DATA and INFO are donated, transcribed and submitted by JoAnn Boyd Scott and the "Friends of Free Genealogy" I keep a folder in the computer which had all "Friends of Free Genealogy" which includes names, date, email and copy of the data sent. Here at Genealogy Trails, we will always give contributors the credit they deserve when they contribute data to our sites. And we will ALWAYS abide by a researcher's request to remove their contributed data if ever asked to do so. THIS APPLIES TO ALL COUNTIES AS WELL.
This flower is commonly called the “wind flower” It is the first flower blooming next to snow drifts.
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MONTANA The Treasure State
