Page 60 - Cornelius Hedges Story

47 The Cornelius Hedges Story

Again in August and September, 1885, Hedges was involved
in another activity for the benefit of the community. On August
10, along with Colonel Samuel Bird, John W. Eddy, William B.
Reed and A. E. Bunker, Cornelius Hedges was instrumental in the
organization of Helena’s Young Men’s Christian Association. On
August 12, he was elected a Vice-President of the Y.M.C.A. The
object of the Y.M.C.A. was to work closely with the churches of
the city and maintain reading rooms and facilities of like nature for
the young men of the city. The formal opening of the “Y” in rooms
over Fred Gamer’s store on South Main Street was September
1st, but Hedges was unable to attend because of a Knight Templar
Commandery meeting that evening.182

In October of 1885, in the “Conclusion” section of his “Report
on Foreign Correspondence” in the Grand Lodge Proceedings, he
apologized for the slowness of publication and adds “But to tell the
truth, we have been having our first encounter with rheumatism,
in which we come out second best for about three weeks.”183 This
affliction continued to irritatingly hinder him from time to time in
his active schedule for the remainder of his years.

After experiencing the grief of losing three children of childhood
diseases, Dennis, Langford, and Ellen, Cornelius and Edna again
experienced the sorrow of the death of a beloved child. This time it
was their first grandchild, Hattie Layette Hedges, daughter of Will
and his wife Ida. News of her death due to the croup, on January 6,
1886, was received in Helena on January 9, 1886.184

Cornelius, in a spirit of independence that he very much
enjoyed, had practiced law alone for many years, but on February 1,
1886, he formed a new partnership with a Mr. Miller. However, the
partnership was to last less than nine months. On October 20, the
notice of Hedges’ dissolution with Miller appeared in The Helena
Herald. The source of friction was Miller’s unending passion for
financial experiments; after the failure of a butter company scheme,
Miller immediately became enthusiastic about investment in a new
quartz mining scheme and wanted Hedges to invest also.185

Because of his dedication to and belief in the future of education
in Montana, it was a source of great persona; pride for Cornelius
when his daughter Emma became the first of the Hedges’ off-spring
to be graduated from a Helena High School, on June 3, 1887. The
Herald termed it “one of the largest classes in the history of the
school,” it had a total of eight members.186