1863 Settlers in Lewis and Clarke County, Montana

The following data is extracted from Bancroft Works, Volume 31, History Of Washington, Idaho, and Montana, 1845-1889, Hubert H. Bancroft, 1890. The History Company, Publishers, San Francisco..

Nicholas Kessler, Helena, born in Germany, May 26, 1833, immigrated to the U. S. in 1854, going first to Ohio and then to Illinois, where he was in the grain, flour, and general produce business. In 1800 he went to Pike's Peak, Colorado, where he mined in different localities until 1803, when he went to "Virginia City, where he kept a bakery and a drinking-saloon for a few months. In 1864 went home to Germany, returning to Montana in 1804 and establishing a brewery within two miles of Helena. He also made brick at the rate of 2,000,000 or 3,000,000 yearly, with old-fashioned hand-moulds, employing in brewery and brick-yard 45 men, at wages varying from $40 to $210 per month, with board and rooms. Used 9,000 bushels of barley in 1883, most of it raised in Montana, some coming from Cal. Made 2,852 barrels of whiskey. There being no facilities for education, his school district being poor, Kessler erected a brick schoolhouse at a cost of $700, and employed a teacher at $65 per month.

William James English, Prickly Pear Valley, was born in Ireland, in August 1834, and emigrated to Canada at the age of 9 years, removing to Nebraska 3 years afterward. From Nebraska he went to Colorado by mule-team, and thence "to Virginia City in 1863. Was employed mining at wages, which were from $6 to $11 per day, according to the work. He owned the first cooking-stove brought to Alder gulch. In 1868 he settled on a farm of 160 acres near Helena. He married Margaret Neuman in 1863.

I find mention of Peter Daly, wife, and 2 stepdaughters of this year's immigration, with no information concerning them.

Source: Bancroft Works, Volume 31, History Of Washington, Idaho, and Montana, 1845-1889, Hubert H. Bancroft, 1890. The History Company, Publishers, San Francisco.

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