Matthew McAdam aka "Mac" McAdam, not to be confused with his father also named Matthew McAdam

First off, is this not a wonderful photograph? If I were titling it I'd call it "Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, and a Friend".  Well it isn't but the style of clothing and the jauntiness of the men involved reminds me of the aforementioned outlaws.  In actuality this photo is labeled "McAdam, Young and Merton, Cleveland Montana".  Matthew McAdam is standing in the back.  I assume Young is on the left and Merton on the right.  And this concludes my long preamble to introduce Matthew McAdam (the younger) to those of you reading this blog.

Matthew McAdam was born 11 March 1877 in Westfield Township, Dodge County, Minnesota.  He was the 2nd son and the fourth child of Matthew McAdam (yes, he was named for his father and his father's uncle) and Mary Burnet McAdam.  Our great-grandmother, Janet McAdam Waning was the 3rd child - sandwiched between her sister Margaret and her brother Matt. Anyway Matthew the younger apparently had a bit of wanderlust in his blood, and some time before 1900 he high-tailed it out of Minnesota and off to the wilds of eastern Montana. 

I cannot find him in the 1900 census, but by 1910 he in Cleveland, Chouteau County, Montana - married for two years to Magna Larson and is a self-described "stock rancher" - cattle.

   

This photo was titled "Matthew McAdam and Hounds Cleveland, Montana 18 August 1924" 

Matthew spent the rest of his life ranching in Blaine County, Montana where he is shown in the 1920 census.  He bought land through the Bureau of Land Management beginning in 1913 and ending in 1954.  His wife Magna, bought 320 acres in 1935 and our great-grandmother, Jeanette McAdam Waning (how her name is listed in the document) bought 320 acres for him in 1918.  All together he amassed over 1900 acres in Blaine County Montana if my math is correct.  He certainly could have bought land more through private transactions, and leased even more acreage.

   

Matthew McAdam Land Patent

Janet McAdam Waning Land Patent

This photo was taken in October 1935 when Matthew returned home to Minnesota for his sister Margaret's funeral.  He is 58 years old. 

Though Matt and Magna never had children, other members of the extended McAdam family lived with or near him - for months and years at a time. Magna died in 1948, so when the Waning family visited "Uncle Mat" in 1957 he was a widower of almost 10 years.  His niece, Lillian McAdam Gillette (Thomas McAdam's daughter) acted has his housekeeper for many years.  In 1962 Thomas McAdam's widow, Mayme McAdam lived with him the last eight months of her life.  Matthew died the 22nd of May 1965. He left a substantial estate -  a goodly share of it went to his niece, Lillian McAdam Gillette.  Some members of his family decried that decision and thought that Lillian had exercised undue influence in the last months of his life.  Other family members felt simply that it was Matt's to do as he please and as he saw fit.

Matthew McAdam did leave some land to two of his nephews, Waldo Caufield and James Waning.  They paid the taxes on the property for decades until finally selling it in the 1990's.