Broadwater-Lewis And Clark County MT Archives Obituaries.....Beatty, George April 1935 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mt/mtfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Teresa Taramasso califiadesigns@yahoo.com April 28, 2008, 5:52 pm The Helena Independent, Tuesday, May 1, 1935 GEORGE BEATTY, 97, OLDEST MASON IN U.S. AND PIONEER OF STATE, CALLED BY DEATH --George Beatty, 97, the oldest Mason in the United States and said to be the oldest Montana, pioneer, whose life in this state exemplified the sturdiness and romance of its history, died yesterday afternoon at 2:25 at his ranch home on Beaver creek near Winston, where he had resided for 69 years. He was the last living charter member of Morning Star lodge No. 5, A.F. and A. M., of this city, which was organized in 1866. He took his Masonic degrees at Virginia City in 1865, making the long trip from his homestead on Beaver creek to the colorful mining center by horseback, a distance of more than 100 miles. Funeral services will be held at the Opp and Conrad chapel Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clcok, with the Rev. Edward Smith, Pioneer Methodist minister of Butte, and the Rev. Alexander P. Alton, pastor of the Methodist church of this city, officiating. Burial will be in Benton Avenue cemetery, where his two former wives are now resting. He is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Alice Fisher of 536 North Davis street, and Miss Belle Beatty of Winston; seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Two years ago officers of the Masonic brotherhood in Helena checked the records and found that he was the oldest living Mason in the United States and possibly in Canada. Thought to be the oldest pioneer in the state, he came to Montana in 1862, first settling in Bannack. He homesteaded on Beaver creek in 1865. Held in high esteem by his neighbors, one of his most characteristic utterances was "I never worked an hour on Sunday in my life and I never had to borrow a dollar to pay my taxes." He was vice president of the Montana Pioneer society for Jeffeson county and in 1899 was president of the Broadwater County Pioneer society. Besides his Masonic affillations, he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and for may years prominent in temperance work. He was bron in County Tyrone, Ireland, May 11, 1837. In 1847 his father and family came to the United States, landing in New York in June. There the parents resided until they died, the father in 1876, the mother in 1880. Because a doctor thought Beatty had an affection of the heart, he was advised to have constant out-door exercise. In 1856 he enlisted in the United States Dragoons at New York and was sent to Fort Riley, Kansas and detailed for duty at Fort Leavenworth. His career for the next few years was full of adventure as his company was detailed to run down horse thieves and other nefarious characters of the West, and on one occasion near Fort Laramie had charge of the hanging of a horse thief. On receiving his discharge from the army, he secured permission from the government to work on the reserve of the Arrapahoe Indians. He went to Bannack in 1862 and prospected. The next spring, hearing of the strike at Three Forks, he and five others departed for that territory. On their way they met a band of Crow Indianas, who forced them to go to camp. The Indians released them in the morning after some dickering, but they were followed and their horses surrounded and driven off. Three of the party followed the Indians and after an exchange of shots the horses were recaptured. At Bannack he joined the stampede to Three Forks but Crow Indians stole all the horses. Al Nichols, A. K. Stanton, and Mr. Beatty crossed the Missouri, and three miles from where the Bozeman trail ran under the bluff, they came upon the Indians. After an exchange of shots the Indians raised their hands and dove back the stolen horses. He raised a crop near Three Forks that year and did some prospecting and mining work. He worked in the placer mines at Alder gulch and in the fall of 1863 hauled hay from Madison valley to Virginia City. In the spring of 1864 with five yoke of cattle and a large wagon he engaged in freighting from Fort Benton, after which he travelled to the mouth of Milk river. Here his party engaged in a spirited battle with a band of Indians, three white men being killed and every horse in their party stolen but Mr. Beatty's. Later in Fort Benton he fought with a man who was abusing the Yankees and was shot through the hip. In the spring of 1865, he and his late partner, C. A. Falen located on Beaver Creek where he took up the homestead which had been his home ever since. On Jan. 1, 1868, he married Miss Mary L. Waddell, a native of New York. She died in October, 1876, leaving three children. The second wife was Maggie Meletia Beatty. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mt/broadwater/obits/b/beatty122gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mtfiles/ File size: 5.2 Kb