John F. Kavanagh
1871 – 1937

Inducted June 13, 1992

John Francis Kavanagh, a merchant, farmer, politician, printer and newspaperman, became one of the strongest and most respected voices on the Hi-Line of Montana when it was being settled. He eventually became a respected leader and strong supporter of Shelby until his death in 1937.

Kavanagh was born Jan. 19, 1871, in Guelph, Ontario, the son of Irish immigrants.

In 1894 he became editor and publisher of the Clear Lake Courier in Wisconsin, which he published for more than two years. He rode horseback or drove a buggy all around Clear Lake to acquire enough subscriptions to start a newspaper. He paid $500 down for the type and press to begin operation. He did all the writing, and it was highly praised. He was active in politics, being elected chairman of the country board of supervisors when only 21.

In 1894 he married Mary Edna Augusta Thatcher. Four children were born: Cecil Thatcher, William Carroll, Marjorie Catherine and Chester Francis.

Always a pioneer, in 1910 he heeded the call of Montana, then attracting settlers from all over the nation, and in April of that year established the Galata Journal. Within three years he was publisher of four papers, including the Journal, the Dunkirk Times, the Devon Register and the Lothair Ledger.

During this period he was active in Republican politics. He served as chairman of the Hill County Republican Central Committee, and in 1912 he was a candidate for the legislature. The Bull Moose uprising that year, coupled with opposition from the Anaconda Copper Co., which had no use for a legislature it could not control, brought about his defeat. He also lost the 1926 race for state representative.

In 1916 Kavanagh sold his publications to Henry Woare, who later became secretary of the Montana Press Association. Kavanagh returned to Minot, N.D. for a time but came back to Montana in 1922 and purchased The Shelby Promoter for $8,000.

As business and the town of Shelby boomed during the roaring '20s, the Promoter kept pace. In 1928 Kavanagh bought the first automatic press in the area, a Miehle Vertical, on which the bulk of job printing was done. It was fast for the times – 3,600 impressions an hour at top speed.

On May 1, 1929, Kavanagh purchased the Havre Independent and sold the Promoter to his sons Cecil and Carroll. He called his youngest son, Chet, who was majoring in journalism at the University of Washington, to come to Havre and assist him. He also changed the name of the paper to the Hill County Journal. United Publishers, who owned rival paper the Havre Daily News, approached Kavanagh on buying him out. He eventually sold the paper to United and resumed ownership of the Promoter in the spring of 1931. 

Except for the two-year interlude during which he published the Hill County Journal at Havre, Kavanagh was a resident of Shelby until his death on April 16, 1937.

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