The epic life of John Wellcome

A young man heads west from New York, intent on settling in the Montana Territory. A law degree in hand, he has a desire to help bring law and order to the wild west city of Butte. He meets a beautiful woman, has a family; but, runs headlong into dirty politics, clandestine meetings, front page news stories, and a lengthy trial. It could be the foundation for a Hollywood drama. The tale of John Wellcome; however, is not fiction. It happened right here in Montana and the Whitehall valley was part of the story. The following information is taken from the 1914 "History of Montana" by Sanders, notes on file at the Jefferson Valley Museum; and a number of Butte and Anaconda newspapers published between 1898 and 1904.

John Ball Wellcome was born in the state of New York in 1857. After completing his law degree there, he headed west in 1887 and settled in Butte. He met fellow attorney Frank Corbett and their partnership led to a successful law practice. When Mr. Corbett died, Mr. Wellcome joined with Jesse B. Roote and they were in practice together until 1898, an end not planned by either gentlemen.

Not long after settling into his new life in Butte, Mr. Wellcome met Miss Emily Irvine, a lovely Montana born lady who was also living in Butte. Miss Irvine was born at Yamhill, an early day placer mining camp about 20 miles west of Deer Lodge. Her father died when she was young and her mother remarried to Reverend J. R. Russell, a pioneer Presbyterian minister and early circuit rider. Emily would become a charter member of Butte's First Presbyterian Church as well as a trustee and a Sunday school teacher. This would be the church where friends and family would pay their last respects when she passed away in 1942.

John and Emily were married on December 17, 1891 and began to raise a family; but, events in 1898/99 brought a dark cloud over the Wellcome household. He had met and secured a very lucrative and powerful client, the copper baron W. A. Clark. It would prove to be the downfall of his blossoming career as an attorney. W. A. Clark was running for the U.S. Senate and in 1898, this seat would be elected by members of the 6th Legislative Assembly. Mr. Clark was apparently not totally convinced he could win the seat and so set in motion dirty politics that would consume and destroy the passion that Mr. Wellcome had for being an attorney.

On November 7, 1899, a preliminary hearing was held in Helena with Montana Attorney General Nolan presented his case before the Montana Supreme Court to have Mr. Wellcome disbarred for the role he played in delivering money to a list of members of the Legislative Assembly. In total, it was alleged that $100,000 was paid out in 1898 and early in 1899, mostly in parcels of $10,000 to $15,000, as insurance that Mr. Clark would be the winner of the U.S. Senate seat. Unlike today, in the late 1800s, a Legislative Assembly selected the U. S. Senator for Montana. One news article indicated that a reverend from the Whitehall area solicited the money in return for his vote. Mr. Wellcome was supported by a very good team of attorneys and a large number of citizens who were staunch friends and believed in his integrity. Newspapers of the day noted in many articles that W. A. Clark was conveniently missing on dates he was supposed to present his testimony. Despite a valiant effort, Mr. Wellcome was found guilty and disbarred by the Montana Supreme Court. Although W. A. Clark was elected to the Senate, the information revealed during the hearings for Mr. Welcome and Mr. Clark led to Mr. Clark being pulled from his ill-won seat. His attempt to buy and hold that senate seat turned out to be a very bad "investment".

Because Mr. Wellcome had made so many friends and earned the respect of many influential Montana business men, a campaign was stared immediately to have him reinstated as an attorney. The effort took several years. In a March 1901 news article, a large headline read "ALL FOR WELLCOME, Three great Petitions to Have Him Restored to Place of Honor Among Montana Attorneys." A subtitle read, "Peace Will Reign Over Montana Politics – Burying the Hatchet That Flourished Two Year Ago. Good Men on the Petition." The Montana Supreme Court took the petitions under advisement and in late April, a small article announced that the Court had decided to grant the request of the petitions. Mr. Wellcome and his family were now living in the Jefferson Valley near Fish Creek at what was then known as Creeklynne. His ranch would grow to at least 12,000 acres in Jefferson and Madison counties. Their original home had been a stage stop built in the late 1860s. To accommodate the Wellcomes and their five children, the house was expanded into a spacious 22-room, 3-story mansion that remained a landmark in the valley for more than half a century. The house was lost to a massive fire in February, 1957.

Mrs. Wellcome was not without notoriety. Her photo and those of two of her children and a young neighbor, Frances Russell, appeared on the front page of a Butte Inter Mountain paper on May 23, 1902. Fish Creek in 1902 was at times a raging torrent, flowing from the Highland Mountains to the Jefferson River. On this particular day, Frances Russell, about 10 or 11 years old, jumped into the churning water to try and save her younger niece. Fortunately for both of the young girls, Mrs. Wellcome was nearby and risked her life to save both of them. Mrs. Wellcome was preparing to leave for Butte to visit her mother and step-father when the near tragedy occurred.

Although Mr. Wellcome had released his passion for the law, he found a new one in raising prize winning livestock. Cattle were his specialty and he became a very skilled breeder. His cattle were exhibited in Chicago where other stockmen from around the world were duly impressed. The positive showing helped to give Montana the prestigious standing as a top breeding place for cattle. He won numerous awards for his cattle at Montana State Fairs in numerous years. In 1903, he was appointed by the county commissioners to be their delegate to the National Livestock Convention in Portland. He incorporated the Montana Packing Company in July 1905. It was located in Butte and had authorized capital stock valued at $100,000. In 1906 he presented six purebred Hereford heifers to the Montana State College in Bozeman which help them develop a highly respected herd.

While livestock was a main interest for Mr. Wellcome, he expanded into other area that helped to develop the Jefferson Valley, one of which was his part in helping to creating the Montana Coop Telephone Company that would bring telephones to homes in rural areas. He also spent large sums of money reclaiming land in Madison County to make it productive. For many years, he also invested in various mining operations and was involved in coffee and rubber growing in Mexico. Mr. Wellcome had many other projects planned that would have helped the young state of Montana; but, a sudden illness struck him that was stronger than his resolve and on March 23, 1908, John Wellcome passed away at the age of 50. News of his death was a great shock to many in Montana. Prominent citizens from across Montana attended his memorial service. The Butte Miner ran a special editorial that stated in part, "The over-full heart is apt to remain all but speechless and the hand which should write, paralyzed in the face of great personal sorrow. Thus it is that The Miner today feels incapable of doing complete justice to the worth, the lovableness and amiability of Mr. John B. Wellcome, who so unexpectedly passed away yesterday. There was nothing small about the man; he thought big thoughts and executed great things. After he stopped practicing law and took up ranching, his broad, generous spirit was again exhibited for he built a palatial residence upon his home ranch, installed his electric lighting and water systems and stocked his fields with the finest Hereford cattle to be purchased in the United States. He never did anything by halves, for such was not his whole-hearted nature."

Mr. Wellcome, his wife Emily and several of their children are buried in the Fish Creek Cemetery south of Whitehall. The beautiful bench shaped memorial can be seen from where their home once stood. The many descendants of John and Emily can be very proud of the Wellcome contributions to our valley and the State of Montana. Few people of such prominence gain and maintain the true respect and admiration of those with whom they interact.