Emily Emilia Mackel Hughes (b 3/19/1887, d 11/5/1971)
EMILY'S STORY, covering the years, 1903, 1908.
Emily was born March 19, 1887, at Pleasant View, Norman County, Minnesota. She was l6 years old when she came by train from Ada, Minn., to Butte, Montana.
The picture EMILY MACKEL, Age sixteen
Both her mother and older brother Frederick (Fritz) had died the same year, l903, at Ada. Fritz had been one of the mainstays of family support since their father died (kicked by a horse) in l888. (Emily was only one year old when her father died). In 1903 the Ada portion of the Mackel family was tragically depleted. Her sister, Florence, also came to Montana in l903, but apparently at a different time as one of Emily's memories was of arriving in Butte alone and, due to a misunderstanding, nobody was there to meet her. Other members of her family had already migrated to Montana. Bertha and Alex were in Butte. Joe and Tony had a ranch out in the Madison Valley. Fritz had been there, helping his brother’s move in the Madison. He went back to Ada, Minnesota, and died there. His widow, Della, later married his brother, Joe, in Montana. Dorothy Helgeson, a fourth generation granddaughter, visited the Ada cemetery and did considerable research into Mackel history. Her research revealed that Fritz's death certificate listed cause of death as cancer.
We do not have much information about Emily from the time of her arrival in Butte, Montana, to the date of her marriage in l908. We know she worked for her brother Alex and his law office partner, Burton K. Wheeler, who later became the U. S. Senator from Montana. Ed thought that she lived with the Brinton family, at least part of the time, because sister Bertha moved to a small apartment (called a "flat"). Marjorie wrote in an article that Emily lived with Bertha (Mrs. McClernan), but she doesn't say for how long. It was inevitable when Emily went to the Madison to visit her brothers that she met the fiddle playing cowboy, Thomas Hughes. who lived and worked just across the road from the Mackel ranch. They were married in 1908 and Emily became a housewife.
About 1920, Emily moved with her family onto a barren piece of desert land just one mile south of McAllister on the Ennis/Norris road. Tom and Emily devoted the next 48 years of their lives to making the desert into a productive cattle ranch and raising a family of five kids. At retirement time they moved down to the old fish hatchery property on South Meadow Creek and turned the ranch operation over to their youngest son, Thomas and his wife, the former Darlene Harris, of McAllister, MT.
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Emily and first son Edwin (cir 1909)
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EMILY'S STORY
(Before marriage, 1903, 1908)
Photo at left Christmas, 1904. She was seventeen.
Emily Mackel, 1887-1979
Emily (Mackel) Hughes (1.6) had been living with her mother and older brother Frederick (Fritz); who both died the same year, l903, at Ada, Minnesota. Fritz had been one of the mainstays of family support since their father died (kicked by a horse) in l888. Emily was only one year old when her father died. With both her mother and Fritz gone, Emily was sent to Butte to live with an older sister, Bertha McClernan..
Her sister, Florence, also came to Montana in l903, but apparently at a different time as one of Emily's memories was of arriving in Butte alone and, due to a misunderstanding, nobody was there to meet her. The other members of her family that had already migrated to Montana were Bertha and Alex in Butte, and Joe and Tony had a ranch out in the Madison Valley. Fritz had been in the Madison, helping his brothers move and the story goes that he also, like his father, got severely injured by a horse kick to the kidney. He went back to Ada, MI and died there. His widow, Della, later married his brother, Joe, in Montana.
Dorothy Helgeson's research into the Mackel family geneaology revealed that Fritz's death certificate listed cause of death as cancer.
Other Mackel history from Dorothy is that Ignatious Mackel, the father, reportedly came from Paderborn, Germany, to Cook County, Illinois, in l858. He filed for naturalization in Cook County but the great Chicago fire (Mrs. O'Leary's cow) destroyed the courthouse and all records, so the status of Ignatious's citizenship is not clear. Legend has it that he was Catholic, was University educated, and was a cousin to the Krupp family. (The Krupps owned a German steel empire and provided cannons, known as "Big Bertha's", for World War One.) His daughter, Bertha, said that Ignatious could speak Latin fluently, drunk or sober.
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The photo of Florence and Emily (right) was taken in Ada, Minnesota, when the girls were about ten and twelve years old
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Dorothy's research shows Ignatious living in Goodhue County, Minnesosta, in l870, with his wife Mary and family.
Ignatious had moved close to Ada Minnesota prior to his death. Strong family ties and German discipline ruled this family, and older brothers, Henry, Frederick, and Joe, took over family support responsibility, and must have dedicated most of their younger lives to this end. Especially Henry, as his name always came up as being the authority figure. It is remarkable that, under the circumstances, so many educated people came out of this family. Bertha had a medical degree from the University of Minnesota, and became one of Montana's first female doctors. Louis was a civil engineer and had a career with the U. S. Geological Survey.(Bureau of Land Management.) Florence was a school teacher and taught in the Madison near where her brothers ranched. Our Mother (Emily Hughes - 1.6 ) had enough business training to become secretary in Alex's and Burton business… Wheeler’s law office in Butte. Alex had a law degree, becoming both city attorney and county attorney in Butte, later practicing law in Yakima and Centralia, Washington. He was City Attorney in Butte, MT during the struggle between the Daly's and W. A. Clark, for ownership of the rich copper claims, known as the "War of the Copper Kings
The Mackel family, about 1892. Back row, left to right, Fred (Fritz) , Bertha , and Henry. Second row: Minnie, Joe, holding Florence, Mom (Mary), and Alex, holding Emily. Front row: Lou, Francis, Tony.
There were sixteen recorded births to this couple, only eleven survived to adulthood. Four dying prior to age two, and one at age eleven.
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Emily's brother, Louis, five years older than Emily, was in Butte at the same time she was, and got his degree from the Montana School of Mines. They seemed to be quite close and corresponded for many years. As a youngster, she said, I was quite impressed when the mail came with his letter bearing the U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY letterhead.
We do not have much information about Emily from the time of her arrival in Butte, Montana, to the date of her marriage in l908. We know she worked for her brother Alex and his law office partner, Burton K. Wheeler, who later became the U. S. Senator from Montana. Ed (1.6.1) thought that she lived with the Brinton family, at least part of the time, because sister Bertha moved to a small apartment (called a "flat"). Marjorie Hughes (1.6.3) wrote in an article that Emily lived with Bertha, but she doesn't say for how long. (Bertha's husband was a district Judge in Butte during the hectic copper mining heyday).
My own recollection (R R Hughes (1.6.4) is that Mother told me, when I decided to go to Fort Peck to look for work, to see Owen "Cap" Brinton (Engineer in charge of tunnel construction) because she knew him from having lived with his family in Butte. It was good advice because he got me a job and let me stay at his house for a few days until I got a room in the barracks.
Emily's brothers, Joe and Tony, and sister, Florence, lived in the Madison Valley in the upper Meadow Creek area. It was inevitable that she meet Tom Hughes when she came out from Butte to visit, since he worked at his Uncle Tom Vincent's place, just across the road from the Mackel ranch.
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Emily – June 2053 - and Granddaughter Dean Cowan
