Old Missoula

C. E. Woodworth Widely – Known Montanan, Dies

Pioneer Resident of State Since Coming of N. P. in 1880’s

Chancy Erastus Woodworth, civil engineer, surveyor, Wild West show proprietor, abstractor, mining engineer, school teacher, railway land agent, stenographer, bookkeeper, theater manager, rancher, sawmill operator and early-day photographer of Montana, died yesterday in Missoula, his home most of the time for more than a half century.

Mr. Woodworth, who was 84 years of age, was one of Missoula’s best-known citizens and a pioneer of the state, coming to Montana when the Northern Pacific railway was built in the 1880’s.

Born in Jamestown, New York, May 26, 1856, Mr. Woodworth graduated from the Jamestown Collegiate institute, then entered Cornell university. He left the university to follow the profession of civil engineer, working [for] the Pennsylvania oil industry, then in its infancy.

He came West when the Northern Pacific railway [was] being rushed across the continent. He worked as a mail messenger, riding horseback from the nearest town to the “end of steel,” and late as a surveying engineer. Mr. Woodworth surveyed the pass route when Railroad Tycoon Jim Hill planned to build the road over that route to Portland. Portions of the grade still remain in Lolo canyon, besides the ruins of log buildings used to house the crews. This route was abandoned in the midst of construction in favor of the present route.

In later years, Mr. Woodworth was land agent for the road for Montana, working out of St. Paul. It was then that he worked as a mining engineer in connection with the classification of the lands granted the road in Montana.

During his many years of residence in Western Montana, Mr. Woodworth established a ranch near Ovando in the Blackfoot valley, where he also operated a sawmill.

While in Missoula, Mr. Woodworth for many years was proprietor of a cigar store in the early-day Florence hotel building, the predecessor of the one which burned in 1936. He also was treasurer of a wild west show organized in Missoula by the late William A. Simons many years ago. Mr. Woodworth recently recalled that there was considerable trouble with the buffaloes knocking down fences, but that this was remedied by using canvas fences, which the buffaloes would not approach. The show operated under almost continuous rain and finally failed in the Twin Cities.

Mr. Woodworth was also manager of the Harnois theater, later rechristened the Liberty, which when it was built was the finest in the Northwest. He also worked as a stenographer and bookkeeper for G. D. Forssen, local contractor who was long a close friend, and was an abstractor in the office of the county clerk and recorder.

An early-day photographer in Montana, Mr. Woodworth had preserved much of his equipment, which included a portable tent-darkroom such as that used by Brady, the famous Civil war photographer, a large view camera and other equipment. With no photographic supplies available at the corner drugstore in those days, Mr. Woodworth sensitized glass plates for negative material and made hundreds of pictures in Western Montana by the now-obselete wet-plate process. He made printing papers by grinding up silver coins, making a silver nitrate solution, and floating the paper on the surface of the solution to sensitize it.

Mr. Woodworth married Jennie Van Dusen in New York state in 1877, and for three years after traveled back and forth to the West, working for the railroad in the summer and teaching school in the winter. Mrs. Woodworth came with him to Montana in 1880, and two children, Erastus and Dorothy, were born at the Blackfoot valley ranch home. Both died of diphtheria in 1899. Mrs. Woodworth died in Missoula in 1936.

Mr. Woodworth remained in complete possession of his faculties to the end, which came peacefully. An avid follower of the news, he was intensely interested and usually well-informed on the local, national and international affairs.

Until he was taken to a hospital four days ago, Mr. Woodworth took daily walks and was a familiar figure in downtown streets. He frequently visited the courthouse, where he was last employed. He was secretary of the Missoula Country club.

Mr. Woodworth possessed outstanding collections of old coins and rare books, 10 of which he presented to the Montana State University Northwest Historical library in 1933. At that time Dr. George Finlay Simmons, University president, said that the books were an “impressive addition” to the collection of which “the University is very proud.”

Mr. Woodworth traced his genealogy to Walter Woodward, who came to Massachusetts from Kent, England, in 1628. The family name was changed to Woodworth in the second generation. The line is traced through the Colonial period with the family residing in various parts of New England. A son of the fifth generation served in the Revolutionary war and was at Valley Forge.

The above obituary appeared in the Daily Missoulian on February 27, 1941.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/352370317/

Below is one of several interesting Chauncey Woodworth stories that can be found in the Missoulian newspaper:

Flag from Fort Sumpter

Prized Possession of Chancey Woodworth Taken 70 Years Ago.

Amid the din of Civil war, 70 years ago Wednesday, Colonel Harrison of the Confederate states army captured the first United States flag at Fort Sumpter, South Carolina. That was on April 15, 1861.

Among the prized possessions of Chancey Woodworth, Missoula pioneer, is a fragment of that emblem that was taken by a brave officer from his enemy. It was given to Mr. Woodworth by a boyhood friend in Jamestown, N. Y., one Charles Bishop on December 25, 1872, 11 years after its capture, and nearly 60 years ago.

Little more than a decade after Mr. Woodworth became the owner of that tattered piece of red and white cotton, a souvenir of one of the most important events of United States history, he was in Missoula, a representative of the Northern Pacific railway, which was building through Missoula on its westward expansion.

Meets Colonel.

He met a tall, aged but rugged Southern gentleman, with a long flowing white beard and the twinkle of indomitable spirit in his eyes. It was “Colonel Harrison, suh, late of the Confederate forces, but now one of the three members of mineral commission, appointed by the president to separate the mineral lands from the agricultural lands of the vast northwest.” Colonel Harrison was the member from Georgia, and well known to old timers of Missoula.

Mr. Woodworth remembered his bit of flag, its history, and showed it to Colonel Harrison. The aristocratic Southerner’s reserve melted, and the two became devoted friends.

Within the frame with which the flag is enclosed is a card on which is written the history of the valuable souvenir.

Notation.

It says, “This is a piece of the first United States flag captured by the rebels. It was taken from Fort Sumter, S. C., at the time of its evacuation April 15, 1861, and captured by Colonel Harrison of the C. S. army and presented by him to T. Kafman of Augusta, Ga. After which it passed into the possession of E. Peck, Esq., of New York city; thence passed into the possession of B. Benjamin of Jamestown, N. Y., and presented by him, December 15, 1869, to Charles Bishop of Jamestown, N. Y., and presented by him December 25, 1872, to C. E. Woodworth.

“Colonel Harrison and I became acquainted when we worked together in the early ‘80s, he a member of the mineral commission and I, as a representative of the Northern Pacific railway. We were classifying lands of the district.

“Colonel Harrison was past 70 years of age then, and as active as a man half his age. He was a devout rebel, and in his life was never ‘reconstructed.’

Wants to Fight.

“I remember one incident when we were camped near where Libby is now located. Trouble had been brewing between the United States and Spain but none of us thought seriously of it. Then came the time when some old papers were received in our camp, announcing the declaration of war with Spain. Colonel Harrison was the first to read the news. Like thunder, his voice suddenly boomed out, ‘By God, if Colonel Williams can fight for that flag, so can I.’

“And this from a man, past 70 years of age, who believed with all his heart that the federal government had sinned against him, had taken everything he had, and whose soldiers he had fought against.

“Colonel Williams, then a general, I learned, was Colonel Harrison’s commanding officer during the Civil war. That evening the old man wrote a letter to Washington, offering his services in the war.”

Colonel Harrison headquartered in Missoula for four years.

The above article appeared in The Daily Missoulian on April 20, 1931.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/352090434/

Chauncey Woodworth’s name is spelled variously in Missoula history. More often than not, he seemed to prefer using his initials. Woodworth Avenue in Missoula is no doubt named for him, although I cannot find proof of it. Same thing with the tiny village, Woodworth, up the Blackfoot Valley, not far from Ovando. He ranched there for a while. It was also the location of a large logging camp for the ACM Company at one time. He was very active politically, acting as secretary of the Democratic City Central Committee in the early 1900’s. He was defeated several times while running for the office of Missoula County Surveyor.

The University of Montana archives has a collection of several hundred photographs taken by Chauncey Woodworth – listed at the link below: Some are available on line at Montana Memory Project.

http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv52671