Page 50 - Cornelius Hedges Story

37 The Cornelius Hedges Story

It was a bitter cold morning on January 9, that Helena suffered
the worst of her great fires. It was the last of nine destructive blazes in
a five-year span. The fire began in the Chinese section of town when
a cook reportedly mistook a bucket of oil for water while trying to
extinguish a stovepipe fire. Strong winds fanned the resulting flames
through a large part of the town, destroying many businesses, 150
homes and all the records of the Montana Historical Society, and
much of the records of the Grand Lodge of Montana. One man died
when he couldn’t escape from the second floor of the International
Hotel, which burned to the ground for the second time. Helena’s fires
were abetted by the many fragile wooden buildings crowded close
together, as well as the narrow main street through town. In 1886,
a fire watch tower called the “Guardian of the Gulch” was built on
Tower Hill overlooking downtown Helena and remains there today.

Again the sweet came with the bitter, another son was born to
Edna and Cornelius on March 14, 1874. He was named Cornelius,
Jr., nicknamed “Toby”, and succeeded his father as Grand Secretary
of the Montana Grand Lodge in 1907 after serving several years as
Assistant Grand Secretary.122 And in late spring and early summer
he returned east for a family reunion on the occasion of his parent’s,
Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Hedges, Golden Wedding Anniversary on May
13, 1874.123

He left Helena for the east on April 15, and arrived in Corinne,
Utah Territory, on the 21st and traveled by rail to Massachusetts,
visiting for about a week in late April in Independence, Iowa. He
returned to Helena in early July to learn he had been nominated
on the Republican ticket for Territorial Delegate. For the remaining
twenty days prior to Election Day, he campaigned vigorously.124

However, he was a Republican in a predominantly Democratic
Territory, and that off-set even his highly respected character and
acknowledged ability. Hedges himself, the day after the Election
Day, acknowledged the final verdict, “news comes in discouraging
- Trying to reconcile myself to disaster.”125 A brief account
Hedges’ political sentiments and affiliations is helpful since it has
bearing with the preceding account of his defeat for the office of
Territorial Delegate. From early manhood until about 1867, he was
a Democrat.126 Progressive Men of the State of Montana, of which
Cornelius Hedges was a compiler, and Will Hedges in an article
on his father ascribe the point of change as the Civil War and
Lincoln’s election.127