A Pioneer Carpenter

William Clowes

William Edward Clowes was born in New Brunswick in 1852 of Dutch ancestry. He became an apprentice carpenter at age 16, worked in Boston and points west until finally arriving in Butte in 1884. In an exploding city—en route from fewer than 4,000 residents in 1880 to 23,000 in 1890—Clowes found plenty of work.

By about 1901 he was not only a carpenter but also a real estate marketer, owning 20 of the houses that he built.

His wife of eight years, Cora (also a Canadian), died in 1891 leaving Clowes with three children. They lived at 324 S. Montana about 1905, locating at 211 West Porphyry in 1907, before Clowes moved to Silver Bow, west of Butte, in 1908-1910.

Photo from Progressive Men of the State of Montana, ca. 1901.