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Ancestors of John Jacob Hastings

Generation No. 1

1. John Jacob Hastings, born August 10, 1892 in Fort Totten, ND ¹; died June 28, 1957 in Fort Steilacoom, WA¹. He was the son of 2. Howard Warren Hastings and 3. Frances Adelma "Della" Harbaugh. He married (1) Jeanie MacDonald October 10, 1916 in (Try Grand Forks, ND)². She was born April 7, 1894 in Union St., Broughty Ferry, Scotland ³, and died July 23, 1966 in Portland, OR³. She was the daughter of John E. MacDonald and Margaret Small Nicoll.

Notes for John Jacob Hastings:
John J. Hastings was born at Fort Totten Military Fort in Benson co., ND. His father, Howard Warren Hastings was the Music Director and teacher at the Fort. Howard taught John a love of music at a very early age. At age 5 he performed at a recital on his violin. He also played the piano well. He had a "big-band" at some time in Los Angeles, Ca. I was told he wrote the state song for IOWA and just gave it to them.
Howard, John's father died when John was only 10 years old. It is my belief he went to live with Howard's parents in Pecatonica because he did not attend the schools in Oberon where his mother lived. Mention is made of him occasionally, in local news but nothing of significance. Once he was mentioned as having a fancy car. He certainly did not earn money enough to buy a fancy car while living with his widowed mother in Oberon. ??
It is a puzzle to me how he achieved so much wealth by the time he was such a very young man. By 1919 when my mother was born, he was a wealthy banker living in an estate in the poshest part of Minneapolis. He attended Univ. of ND law school.
John was one of 13 men who started the Non-Partisan League. It is my understanding that the 'powers that be' were 'threatened' by this young man, my grandfather, and they sent him to federal prison on some 'trumped-up' charges. While there he was raped and subsequently contracted syphillis.
After his release from prison, he came to Portland. While in Portland, he owned the "Alameda Mining" company. He had a gold mine in CA. He would go off for long periods of time to his Gold Mind. He took his son, John with him a lot. John did not graduate from High school as he was cooking for the mining crew at the gold mine. It must have been a sizeable mine if it required a 'crew'.
John J. Hastings last years were spent at the Western State Hospital, 9601 Steilacoom Blvd., SW., Tacoma, WA 98498-7213 (253) 582-8900 where he died of Syphillis.
I have contacted the Federal Bureau of Prisons archive and they do not have any records of John Jacob HASTINGS having been in a federal prison yet the woman in charge is 'stumped' because the only way he would have died at the Fort Steilacoom hospital is if he had been in a Federal Prison. Why are there no records of his imprisonment?

Obituary: Hastings Rite Set
Word has been received in Portland of the death Friday of John J. Hastings, 64, of Ellensburg, Wash., who formerly operated the Alameda Mining company's branch office in the Spalding building here.
Members of Hastings' family said the former banker was once known as the "boy wonder of North Dakota" and amassed a fortune while still in his 20s. He founded the Scandinavian National bank which later merged with a chain of North Dakota banks to become the Bank of North Dakota.
Born at Fort Totten, Benson co., N.D., Hastings attended the University of North Dakota law school. His family said he was one of the 10 founders of the Non-Partisan league of North Dakota, a powerful political group in the early part of the century. He founded co-operative grain elevators and co-operative general stores for farmers.
Hastings first came to Portland in 1933, maintaining offices and a residence here until World War II.
Survivors include his wife, Jeanne, 1014 SE 15th avenue; a daughter, Mrs. Carl Wagner, Portland, and a son, John, Eugene.
Services will be at the Mount Scott funeral home Tuesday at 11 a.m. Cremation will be at Lincoln Memorial park.

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The funeral program reads as follows;

In memory of
JOHN J. HASTINGS

Date of Birth
August 10, 1892
Fort Totten, North Dakota

Passed Away
June 28, 1957
Fort Steilecoom, Washington

Service at the Chapel of
MT. SCOTT FUNERAL HOME
JULY 2, 1957 11:00 A.M.

Officiating
Reverend F.W. Merhaut
Zelma Rutan, Organist

Private Committal
Lincoln Memorial Crematorium

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John was jailed and put on trial in South Dakota. He acted as his own attorney and cleared his name.

More About John Jacob Hastings:
Cause of Death: Coronary occlusion
Comment 1: Alameda mining co., ofc. in Spalding bldg.
Comment 2: Attended Univ. ND law school
Comment 3: Played violin when 4, also played the piano
Comment 4: One of 13 fndrs of Non-Partisan league/ND
Ethnicity/Relig.: German/English
Event 1: He broke the "blue sky law" & went to jail
Occupation: Banker, politician, mining business
Personality/Intrst: A handsome man with much charisma
Residence: Fort Steilacoom, Ellensburg, WA

Notes for Jeanie MacDonald:
When Jeanne came to America in 1902, she and her family lived for a while in New York where John, her father worked as a groundskeeper on Long Island.
By 1910 the family was in Grand Forks, ND and her father was working as a groundskeeper at University of ND. She met and married John Jacob Hastings and they went to live in Minneapolis, MN. They were very wealthy and lived in a glamorous estate. They had servants, a butler and a chauffeur. Jeanne was part of Minneapolis society and never learned to work. Jeanne's husband, John J., was working as a Banker, Stock Broker and was a political 'hopeful'. He, with 12 other men, started the 'Non-Partisan League'. He also helped to form Co-ops to help the farmers. Political powerfuls pulled strings to tangle him in "trumped up charges" (quote from cousin, Marcene Pfiffner) and he was sent to jail. He was a big political threat to the powers that be at that time. Jeanne found herself alone and unable to support herself, her children or their luxurious lifestyle. It must have been a horrible experience for all involved. In all actuality, John J. was a kind, loving, gentle man and was brutally victimized for his altruistic, idealistic visions.
After leaving prison, he moved his family to Portland Oregon. It was in Portland that Jeanne began working at the University of OR Medical school as a Receptionist/file clerk until she retired.

Obituary for Mrs. Jeanne (MacDonald) Hastings;
"Funeral for Mrs. Jeanne M. Hastings, 1013 SE 15th ave., Portland, OR will be Thursday at 10 a.m. at Caldwell's Colonial Mortuary, with private entombment in Riverview Abbey Mausoleum. She died Saturday in Good Samaritan Hospital
Born April 7, 1896, in Broughty Ferry, Scotland, Mrs. Hastings came to the United States 60 years ago and to Portland 37 years ago. She was a retired receptionist at the University of Oregon Medical School
Survivors include a daughter, Helene, and a son, John, both of Portland; a brother, Douglas MacDonald, St. Paul, Minn.; four sisters, Mrs. Margaret Gilby, Cedar Lake, IND., Mrs. Ella Pedersen, Grand Forks, N.D., Mrs. Beatrice West, La Crescenta, CA., and Mrs. Florence Wilson, Stillwater, Minn; and four grandchildren."
On Jeanne's Social Security card, she listed her d.o.b. as 7 April 1896, when in actuality according to her birth certificate, she was born in 1894.

More About Jeanie MacDonald:
Burial: SS# 542-38-7085
Cause of Death: Emphysema
Medical Information: Jeanne smoked and could not stop. She also had a problem with alcohol.
Occupation: Retired, recept., Univ. of Ore Med'l Scl.
Residence: Portland, OR 97214

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