Paulsen and McConnell
The manager's residence and the general offices of the smelter were constructed by the architectural firm of Paulsen and McConnell from Helena, Montana. John C. Paulsen was born in Germany and was trained there. He worked in Vienna, Zurich and Paris before coming to the United States where he became the state architect of Montana. His partner, Noah McConnell, was not formally trained.
Paulsen was trained in the
Moorish style of architecture and built many impressive buildings, not only in
Montana, but elsewhere as well.
One was the Hotel Broadwater and Natatorium in Helena in 1889. At the time
of completion, it boasted of having the largest indoor "plunge" in the
world. The pool was 300' x 100' and had a maximum depth of 12'. More
than one million gallons of water per day of hot and cold mountain spring water
flowed through the redwood pipes from the source, 1 1/2 miles to the west. The
natatorium was considered the most important example of Moorish architecture in
the Northwest.
The hotel is at the left and the natatorium is at the right.
Corruption at the highest levels
In 1895, the Fourth Legislative Assembly created the first Capitol Commission. Its responsibility consisted of overseeing the design and construction of the statehouse in Helena. Unfortunately, the Capitol Commission was corrupt and so was John C. Paulsen. When representative, Fred Whiteside, met with the then state architect, John C. Paulsen, he learned of a verbal agreement Paulsen had with the Commission. According to Paulsen, he was asked to design the capitol building, bearing a price tag of $5,000,000; however, once the contract was let, he could change the cost to $2,000,000. According to Whiteside's journal account, "This was to be done without making any change in the general appearance of the building. The principal saving was to be made by using cement, terra cotta and other cheap materials in place of the cut stone, bronze and copper specified." The remaining $3,000,000 would be pocketed or used for kickbacks.
In 1896 the Commission held a nationwide architectural contest. The winner would design the capitol building. Of the 59 plans submitted, the Commission chose the plans from George R. Mann of St. Louis. The second place winner claimed he lost because he would not pay the Commission $20,000 in bribe money.
In 1897, Fred Whiteside, the freshman legislator from Kalispell, introduced a resolution to investigate the Commission. He was a member of a legislative committee that found no irregularities in the Commission's dealings; however, he filed a minority report detailing the corruption. When the House accepted the majority report, the Commission sued Whiteside for libel, which Whiteside won. A Lewis and Clark grand jury then began their own investigation into the dealings of the Commission.
The grand jury was relying primarily on the testimony of John C. Paulsen. In the beginning, he would not reveal any knowledge of the goings on of the Commission; however, after Whiteside testified, Paulsen began to tell the grand jury all that he knew.
On the evening before he was to testify again, he reportedly appeared at Whiteside's door and said, "God, they've got me, they've got me". (It is important to note that Paulsen had taken bribes before on state jobs and that the Commission's attorneys had copies of checks given to Paulsen that were clearly endorsed by him). Whiteside tried to calm him down, but after about two hours, Paulsen "struck his clenched fist into the palm of the other hand and exclaimed, "By God, I'll not do it, but I know what I can do". When Whiteside called for Paulsen the next day, Paulsen's wife indicated she had found her husband's body in the bathroom and that the doctor had ruled his death heart failure.
According to Whiteside, Paulsen's wife told him that she knew her husband had "reached a crisis in his affairs and....might have done something to escape it all". Supposedly, a funeral was hastily arranged for the next day, although one report indicates that after his death he was seen in Great Falls and Denver. Because of the rumors and suspicions surrounding his death, the local lodges to which Paulsen belonged would not pay his insurance claims until they saw his body in the vault. According to this same report, about one month after his death, the undertaker along with the lodge representatives viewed his body in the vault.
In November 1898, property belonging to the estate of John C. Paulsen was sold at a sheriff's sale. The Daily Independent, Helena, 24 November 1898
"Butte Has
Sensation.
Supposed Suicide Said to be
Living In Germany"
Minnesota Duluth News, 30 March
1902
"Butte, Mont., March
29 - A sensation has been caused here by the declaration in court of attorneys
and a former associate and business partner of John C. Paulsen, former state
architect, that the latter had not committed suicide five years ago, as reported
and generally believed, but that he is still alive and probably residing with
his family in Germany.
Mr. Paulsen was charged with having collected nearly
$10,000 in bribe money from contractors, who built the state educational
building and subsequently promised to make restitution. He went to his
home in Helena for the alleged purpose of procuring the money, but the following
day he was reported dead, the statement being made that he committed
suicide. The body was at once placed in a vault. There was no
inquest and friends were not permitted to see the remains. A few days
later the widow departed for Germany, taking with her to New York the coffin
that was supposed to contain the remains of her husband. An insurance
company paid a policy for $6,000 of life insurance carried by the
architect.
The statements that Paulsen still lives was made during
the trial of a case growing out of the alleged building frauds".
This same news release was reported by other national newspapers. Those currently found online are: The Grand Forks Daily Herald and The Fort Worth Register.
Research conducted by Sandra:
In 1899 a Mrs. M. E. Von Paulsen was listed in the Bridgeport, Connecticut city directory, working as a teacher. (John C. Paulsen's wife's name was Margaret Elizabeth Wilson Paulsen).
After conducting extensive census and other records research, the name of Margaret or M. E. Paulsen/Von Paulsen is not common. Given that the initials listed in the city directory match the widow's name and that her occupation was that of teacher, which matches the occupation given in the 1910 census (see below), it is very likely the individual listed above was the wife of John C. Paulsen.
An extensive search of the United States 1900 census was conducted to try to locate John Paulsen's widow, Margaret E. and her son, Karl. To date, no entry has been located.
Did they leave the country? Where they enumerated under a different name? Did they deliberately avoid the census taker?
A search of the United States 1910 census was also conducted for Margaret and her son. They were found living in Los Angeles, California with the surname of Von Paulsen. Margaret was listed as a widow and working as a teacher at a private school. Her son, Carl, was working as an insurance collector. (It is not known at this time if the prefix of Von was added to the surname by the widow or if John C. dropped it).
Since Margaret and her son were located on the 1910 census, an extensive search was done of online immigration records to locate Margaret and her son Karl returning from Germany, if in fact they did leave the country after John C.'s reported death. To date, no entry has been found.
So....did he or didn't he??
Bibliography:
The Hotel Broadwater and Natatorium:
http://www.lifelikecharm.com/Broadwater_natatorium.htm
Ms. Liberty - http://www.metnet.mt.gov/Special/Quarries%20From%20The%20Gulch/HTM/MsLiberty.shtml
The Montana Capitol - http://www.montanacapitol.com/history/1890s.html
Montana
Magazine-November/December 2004 -
(2004 issues no longer online)
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