Celebrating History: Long-delayed Lewis memorial held

By Emily Mayer

The long-awaited memorial service for the late R. X. Lewis, former owner and editor of The Havre Plaindealer and The Havre Daily Promoter, was finally held, and many dignitaries from Montana attended the event at the Hill County Courthouse. The following article was on the Plaindealer’s front page in its Dec. 2, 1916 issue:

LEWIS MEMORIAL AT COURT HOUSE SUNDAY

Honor Paid to Memory of Late Newspaper Man of Havre

Memorial services for the late R. X. Lewis, who marked “30” upon his life work early in September last, were held in the court room at the court house last Sunday afternoon, and were attended by many of the friends and admirers of the man whose life effort was expended in the upbuilding of the Treasure state, particularly the northern section.

Among the Speakers were Hon. E. S. Cooney, editor and publisher of the Great Falls Leader, who was intimately associated with Mr. Lewis over a period of years; Harry Cunningham of Great Falls, A. J. Broderick of Havre, a former business partner of Mr. Lewis, and others. At the last moment Hon. C. N. Pray, Hon. Lee Mantle of Butte and others had to wire regrets that they could not appear at the meeting owing to the stress of urgent matters.

Rev. L. J. Christler of this city was memorialist at the services which brought out in detail the hard work that Mr. Lewis had undergone in helping to make northern Montana the empire it is today, and which paid earnest tribute to one who will be missed for many years because of his genial manner and his virile pen.

To “mark 30” is the traditional way journalists indicate the end of a story.

Perhaps one of the reasons some could not attend the service was the fact that election results were still being tallied. One of the hottest issues on the ballot was Prohibition in Montana. This article was also found on the Plaindealer’s front page:

PROHIBITION CARRIES IN MONTANA BY 29,000 VOTES

Drys Poll 1,000 More Majority Than President Wilson

Prohibition carried in Montana by over 1,000 more votes than did president Wilson in the recent election. Official figures compiled from every county in the state give prohibition 102,776 against Wilson’s poll of 101,063. The wets polled 73,890 votes, giving a margin of 28,886 for the drys.

The boxing bill lost in the state by over 4,000 votes, while the constitutional amendment giving the state board of equalization power over the county boards to equalize assessments as to the counties, passed by 13,417. There were 74,257 for the amendment and 60,840 against it.

It is not anticipated that any change will take place in the results as previously announced.

What this news means is that Hill County carried the Prohibition initiative, but at this time I don’t know by how much because the exact figures were not published in the newspapers. Montana would be one of the first states to enact Prohibition before it went national with the Volstead Act, and one of the first to move to repeal it, again by initative, in 1926. National Prohibition would remain in effect until 1933.

Several weddings were announced in the Society column, as well as other gatherings. Here is one from St. Marks Church:

Guild Entertained.

Rev. and Mrs. L. J. Christler royally entertained the St. Agnes Guild at the parlors of St. Marks church last Monday evening. The room was artistically decorated and the tables were laden with little dainties and mementos in keeping with the spirit of Thanksgiving week. The vested choir which met at the church that evening for practice were invited and joined the young ladies in luncheon. During the evening arrangements were perfected for the holding of the Build’s annual Christmas bazaar to be held at the Lyceum at some date in the near future which will be announced later. The function was largely attended by the young people of the congregation.