An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 277

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1524

USA > Idaho > Kootenai County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 277
USA > Idaho > Nez Perce County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 277
USA > Idaho > Shoshone County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 277
USA > Idaho > Latah County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 277

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Mr. Matthew has one brother, Richard, a promi- nent mining engineer at Johannesburg, Africa. He also had one brother, Thomas, who was a well known mining man at Johannesburg, but he died in 1899. aged

forty-three. Mr. Matthew also has one sister, Eliza, widow of R. J. Richards, formerly foreman on the dock at Plymouth. Mr. Matthew is in single blessed- ness and is also a reliable and well informed Demo- crat. Mr. Matthew has the esteem and respect of all and has shown himself a man of worth and in- tegrity.

WILLIAM P. WILKINSON is one of the young men of Kingston, whose labors have met with good success and who has so conducted himself that he is held in high esteem by all. He was born in Lancashire, England, on October 21, 1870, the son of George and Mary (Postlethwaite) Wilkinson, natives of the same place and their deaths occurred in 1892 and 1903, re- spectively. Our subject was reared in his native land and received his education in a private school. In 1889, in company with a brother, he came to the United States, and after a short stay in New York he went to Providence, Rhode Island, and wrought in the shoe business. Later a few weeks were spent in Nebraska, Texas, Colorado, and settlement was made in Butte, Montana, where he wrought for five years as fireman and four years as engineer on the Great Northern. In 1900 he came to Kingston and settled on school land and since then has devoted himself to developing and im- proving his farm and to handling timbers. His brother is running a foundry in Salt Lake City, at present.

On September 22, 1895, in Helena, Montana, Mr. Wilkinson married Miss Emma S., daughter of Theo- dore L. and Anna (Boehme) Schmidt, natives of Germany. Mrs. Wilkinson was born in Dubuque, Iowa, on February 24, 1872, and has two brothers and one sister: Theodore, Benjamin, Sophia, who reside with their mother in Kingston. She crossed the coun- try from Iowa to Colorado during the mining excite- ment in Colorado, with her parents in prairie schooners and settled in Lake City, where she graduated from the high school in 1889, after which she taught school in various parts of Colorado and Montana. Mr. Wilkin- son is a member of the M. W. A. Our subject and his good wife are well respected and have many friends in all sections where they are known.

ELBERT C. ROBY is associated with the French Creek Mining and Development Company, nine- miles east from Pierce, and they own one of the promising properties of this section. Mr. Roby also owns a quarter section of fine land on the reservation and is interested further in mining properties in different parts of the Pierce district.

Elbert C. Roby was born in Landsgrove, Vermont, on December 10, 1856, being the son of Daniel W. and Jane (Lampson) Roby, natives of Vermont and Hartford county, Connecticut, respectively. The father was a merchant in Vermont and his father, Moody Roby, served in the war of 1812. The father and mother live in Gilroy, California. Elbert was raised

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in Vermont and New Hampshire, and there educated, and when he was eighteen he came to Illinois, where he wrought on a farm for two years, after which he went to Yamhill county, Oregon. Puget Sound was the place where we see him next and in 1060 he came to Idaho and took up mining. His placer property consists of one hundred and sixty acres. His farm lies six miles from Orofino and is rented. He has no brothers or sisters living. Mr. Roby is affiliated with the A. F. & A. M., Kendrick Lodge No. 26, and also with the I. O. O. F., in the same place. Mr. Roby is a stanch Republican and intelligent in the principles of his party.

On January 23, 1883, Mr. Roby married Miss Emily, daughter of Henry L. and Susan (Campbell) Patterson, natives of Maine, and also their ancestors were natives of the same state for many generations. They now live on Cedar creek, Latah county. The wedding occurred in Nez Perces county. Mrs. Roby was born in Maine and has the following brothers and sisters: James and Edward, in Nez Perces coun- ty ; Bert F. and Harry, in Boise; Carrie, wife of Ed- win Robinson : Mabel, wife of Elmer Jackson ; Lillian, wife of Roy Whitinger. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Roby. Pearl, Maud, and Dean be- ing the only ones living.

Mr. Roby lost heavily in the panic of 1893-4, and during that time he was also farming extensively in Nez Perces county.

CHARLES A. LAFAVRE is the engineer in the rockhouse of the Bunker Hill mill in Kellogg. He is a man of good qualities and a substantial and patri- otic citizen, always allied with the enterprises that are for general good and improvement.

Charles A. Lafavre was born in Shelbyville, Indi- ana, on November 8, 1866, the son of Elias and Ellen (Adams) Lafavre, natives of Indiana and Illinois. respectively. The father was a farmer, descended from the French Hugenots and died in 1892, aged forty-nine. His father and grandfather were born in Maryland. The mother of our subject comes from the noted Adams family of New England, and one of the most prominent families in the American cause in days of the formation of this great republic. She died on December 27, 1875. aged thirty-two, the demise occur- ring in Illinois. Our subject was reared in Indiana, graduated from the schools of his native town and when seventeen went with his father to Wisconsin, where he labored on a farm. Later he came with his father. stepmother and the balance of the family to Montana, and when they went to Spokane he went to Rathdrum. where he worked in sawmills for some time. In 1897 he came to Kellogg and since then he has been en- gaged in various capacities in the mines and mills. Mr. Lafavre has two brothers and one half sister: Rich- ard E., Frank B., Mamie.

At Coeur d'Alene, on June 6, 1893, Mr. Lafavre married . Miss Sadie E., daughter of John and Fanny Shafer. The father is engaged in farming near Rath-

drum and the mother is deceased. Mr. Lafavre is a member of the Panhandle Lodge of the K. of P. in Rathdrum. He is a Republican in political persuasion and takes an interest in the questions of the day. Mr. Lafavre owns three dwellings in Kellogg and rents two. He is one of the industrious and substantial men of the town and stands well.

WINFIELD S. WILKINSON, a prominent mining man near Pierce, and half owner of the Wild- rose, one of the best, if not the best paying mine in the Pierce district, was born in Meadville, Pennsyl- vania, on January 10, 1864, being the son of William H. and Lucinda (Carmichael) Wilkinson, natives of Scotland, where also they were married. They came to the United States in the early sixties. The father inined in Helena and all over the west until 1885. and then went to Queensland. Australia, where he is en- gaged in Placer mining. The mother died on Novem- ber 4, 1897, at Titusville, Pennsylvania. Her people were ship builders. Winfield was rearcdl in Meadville and educated there until thirteen, and then he came to Fort Benton and commenced his mining career, which has extended to every camp of prominence between Mexico and Brittsh Columbia. In May, 1901, he came to the Pierce district and discovered the Wildrose on the twenty-fifth. It has a true fissure vein and there is a streak of six inches to two fect that is extremely rich. The output up to January I. 1903, was $25,000. Mathew, a partner, was grub staked by M. A. Ellis and so held one fourth of the property. He sold that for six thousand dollars, John L. Dunn buying. They have a three stamp mill and are doing well. They have a shaft one hundred and seven feet deep and two drifts of one hundred feet each and now are driving a draining tunnel. Mr. Wilkinson is a stanch Re- publican and has been deputy sheriff both in Decr Lodge county, Montana, and in Shoshone county.

On February 8, 1896, Mr. Wilkinson married Miss Lillian, daughter of Alexander and Emma (Bird) McIntosh, natives of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Penn- sylvania, respectively. The father was of Scotch ex- traction and came to San Francisco in 1852 and straightway went to Plumas county mining districts. where he remained until his death on December 8. 1894. He was a prominent man and held many public of- fices at the hands of an appreciative people, being clected county supervisor the last time just before his death. He was a member of the A. F. & A. M., and master several times of the lodge. The mother of Mrs. Wilkinson was taken to Fort Wayne with her parents when she was eight, and her brother was a drummer boy in the Civil war. Her granduncle, James Bird, was the hero of the famous ballad sung by every school boy. Bird had fought with great valor on the frontier and supposing the war all over he was going home and was arrested for desertion. It was fully established that he was innocent of that crime, but a jealous captain, who feared displacement be- cause of the promotion of Bird, which was sure to

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follow, pushed the matter hurridly to an issue and shot Bird while the bearers of the reprieve were in sight. Mrs. Wilkinson has the following brothers and sisters: William, Edward, Melville, Douglas, John, all in California ; Hattie Wilsey, Mary Dorser, Rosa, Emma, Kate Brown. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson have two children : Annie R. and Emma W.

PHILIP BAUMAN, who is one of the substantial agriculturists near Kingston, was born in Germany, September 29, 1851, the son of Christoph and Chris- tina Bauman, natives of Germany. The father died when Philip was smail. The mother came to the United States in 1870, and died in Illinois on February 18, 1900, aged eighty-one. Our subject came to the United States in 1866, and followed the confectionery business in St. Louis until 1873, then went to San Francisco; two years later we find him in Virginia City, as pastry cook in the International Hotel; later he started a restaurant there and afterward went to Montana, where he did busines for some time. In 1887 Mr. Bauman came to Wardner and opened a bakery and restaurant, and one year later sold out and came to Kingston : soon thereafter he bought a squat- ter's right on his present place, and he has a fine farm well improved and productive of good dividends annu- ally. Mr. Bauman has one brother, Jacob, and the three sisters, Helen Pagan, Margaret Betz, and Chris- tina Smith.

On May 9, 1878, at Virginia City, Nevada, Mr. Bauman married Miss Bertha, daughter of Henry and Katherina Nickel, natives of Germany, where the father died when Mrs. Bauman was a child. The mother came to the United States in 1874, and died in New York City on January 1I, 1875. Mrs. Bau- man was born in Germany on January 15, 1856, and came to the United States in 1873. She has five brothers: Carl, Adolph, Robert, Hermann, Gustave, and one sister, Pauline Fortried. Fifteen children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bauman, of whom the fol- lowing are living: Ella Brown, Bertha, Otto, Philip, Pauline, Robert, Frederick, Thelma, Helen. Mr Bauman is independent in politics and a man of good stanch policy. He and his estimable wife are very highly respected people and have the confidence and good will of all.

GEORGE F. BITNER is a heavy property owner in Wardner and other portions of the Coeur d'Alene country, while at the present time he is conducting a wholesale business in Kellogg, handling the goods of the Sunset brewery of Wallace, and being local agent for Gall & Burke of Spokane.

George F. Bitner was born in Pensylvania on March 17, 1857, the son of Henry and Nancy (Glass) Bitner, natives of Pennsylvania and of German ex- traction. The father served in the Civil war with a Pennsylvania regiment for nine months. At the second

battle of Antietam we was wounded by a shell. He fought in many engagements and skirmishes. He was a prominent business man and for years conducted a large nursery. He died in Pennsylvania in 1894, aged sixty-eight. The mother of our subject died in 1882, aged fifty-six. Her mother lived to be ninety-eight years of age. Our subject was educated and remained in his native state until 1877, then came to Ohio and engaged in various businesses until 1880, in which year he came west to Colorado. He worked for the Denver & Rio Grande, on the first line into Leadville and in 1881 opened a saloon in Antonito. This he sold in 1883 and came to Montana in the same business. In 1884 Mr. Bitner came to Murray and prospected and mined until the fall of 1889, when he opened a saloon in Wardner, which he conducted until 1900, when he sold the business and opened in his present line. Mr. Bitner took a trip east between selling and opening in this line and now is devoting his attention to handling the goods of these breweries, with mineral waters and so forth. Mr. Bitner owns three business buildings and six dwell- ings in Wardner, owns business and residence prop- erty in Kellogg and other property. He has one brother and one sister : William H., a retired capitalist ; Mrs. Lizzie Collaton.

On October 16, 1901. Mr. Bitner married Miss Lizzie Krebs, of Wardner. She has three brothers. Two children, Ella M. and William H., have been born to this union. Mr. Bitner is a member of the K. of P. and Eagles, and in political alliance is with the Republicans.

LOUIE. W. STEDMAN, who is well known in min- ing circles in the Coeur d'Alene country, is descended from some leading families and is a man of excellent native ability and is always dominated by skill and *a keen sense of honor. He was born in Dixon, Illinois, on August 27, 1861, the son of Asa W. and Nellie (Wood) Stedman. The father was born in New York and was one of the best known traveling salesmen in Chicago for forty years. His father was a well-to-do farmer near Owego, Tioga county. New York, and came from the old Stedman family. His mother was a Wolverton and came from England, her father being a son of Lord Wolverton of England. The mother of our subject lives in Los Angeles, California. Her fa- ther came from Fayetteville, New York, to old Fort Dearborn with ox teams in 1830 and located at Oregon, Illinois, one hundred miles west from where Chicago is now. He was a prominent politician and stumped the state with Lincoln, driving by team. He was president of the Old Settlers' Association at the time of his death. His father was a prominent man in the Revolution and the surrender of Burgoyne was on his farm. The mother of our subject is a leading member of the Daughters of the Revolution. Her mother, Sophie Bennett is a first cousin of ex-Governor David B. Hill, of New York, and is descended from Joel Barlow, the poet friend of George Washington and our first minister to France. Mrs. Stedman, the mother of Louie, possesses the will of this gentleman. She

LOUIE W. STEDMAN.

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was delegate to the last convention of the Daughters of the Revolution and is a prominent member of the Colonial Dames.

Our subject was reared and educated in Chicago until ten, then went to live with his paternal grand- parents in Owego and later attended the Cornell Military College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. In 1878, Mr. Stedman went to Leadville for his health and mined. Three years later he went east and for six years was with the American Rubber Company. After this he took charge of their store in St. Paul for four years. Subsequent to this he came west and prospected all over the British Columbia country and adjacent dis- tricts. In September, 1898, Mr. Stedman came to Murray and later organized the Paragon Mining Com- pany of which he is manager at the present time. Their property is in the Summit mining district six miles east from Murray and in addition to this Mr. Stedman has much other property. Mr. Stedman has one brother, Homer A.

On February 20, 1897, at Hudson, Wisconsin, Mr. Stedman married Miss Ida, daughter of August Wille, who died when she was young. The mother is still living in St. Paul. Mrs. Stedman was born in St. Paul on March 29, 1878. She has one brother, Ed- ward, and two sisters, Ella, Carrie. She also has one half-brother, Herbert Schmidt. Mrs. Stedman is an accomplished musician and artist and is a leading and cultured lady in this section where she has hosts of warm friends. Mr. Steadman is a member of the Elks, the K. of I'. and the A. O. U. W. He is also a member of the Republican state central comittee. It is of note that Enoch Wood, the maternal grandfather of our subject, brought John Farwell and C. B. Farwell, ex-United States Senator, to Chicago on a load of wheat.

Mr. Stedman is at the present time managing one of the best properties of the district, the Paragon, and is deeply interested in the development and advance- ment of the surrounding country and is an enterpris- ing man in this line.

WILLIAM B. WADSWORTH, a successful and leading business man of Kellogg, and junior member of the firm of Gilbert & Wadsworth, general merch- ants of that town, is a young man of fine capabilities, marked integrity and worth and comes from one of the most prominent American families. He was born in Marshall, Missouri, on August 15, 1874, the son of Burton and Abigail (Crockett) Wadsworth. The father was born in Maine and came from a very promi- nent New England family, the progenitors, William and Christopher Wadsworth, coming to the wild shores of New England in the good ship Lion, in 1624. They were of the stanch old Puritan stock and their descendants were prominent in the various wars, especially so in the Revolution and the war of 1812. The father died in Missouri in 1882, aged forty- nine. The grandmother of our subject on his father's side was a lineal descendant of William Bradford,

second governor of the old Plymouth colony. The Wadsworth family are leading people in New Eng- land and in numerous cases have shown themselves great public benefactors. The mother of our subject, a native of Maine, now living in Missouri, is also a descendant of a prominent New England family. Will- iam B. was raised in Missouri until 1897, having graduated from the high school in his native place and also served as salesman in the Bullen department store in Kansas City. In 1897 Mr. Wadsworth came to Kellogg and for two years was principal of the town schools. Then he entered partnership with Henry T. Gilbert, husband of his sister, and they are now oper- ating a thriving establishment. Mr. Gilbert and his wife and her sister are mentioned elsewhere in this work.

On June 26, 1902, Mr. Wadsworth married Miss Edna V., daughter of Wallace and Lenore Anderson, of Wallace, the wedding occurring there also. They have one child, Morris B., born March 28, 1903. Mr. Wadsworth and his wife are members of the Congre- gational church in Kellogg. He is a Republican and well informed.

SAMSON SNYDER, JR. A business man of ability and keen discrimination that have led him to succeed well in all his undertakings, and now at the head and owner of a thriving general merchandise establishment in Pierce, a public minded and patriotic citizen, and always ready to aid any enterprise that is for the welfare of the town or district, and a pro- gressive and stirring man of sound principles, we with pleasure accord an epitome of his career space in the history of his county.

Samson Snyder, Jr., was born in Randolph county, West Virginia, on August 9, 1868, being the son of Samson and Elizabeth (Boner) Snyder, natives of West Virginia. The father was born on August 19, 1835, and now lives retired in Harmon, West Virginia. He served three and one-half years in the Civil war and the details of some of his life are intensely interest- ing. He enlisted in the Home Guards and was elected! captain of his company, having been chief spirit in organizing it. They enlisted in a body and were joined to the Thirty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He had many narrow escapes and was wounded several times. Once his leg was broken. He was in the bat- tles of Rich Mountain and Carricks Ford, and in very many skirmishes. His company was largely in skirmish duty and was under McClellan. He was a scout for the general on numerous occasions. His father, the grandfather of our subject, was in sympathy with the Confederates in the commencement of the war, but later changed his mind and enlisted in the Union forces, in his son's company. He was detailed on scout duty most of the time and the Confederates had a heavy reward placed on his head. He was captured many times, but always succeeded in eseaping. He was a man of intense spirit and rendered valuable service to his country. Captain Snyder was captured once and was tortured by being forced to remove his

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boots and walk over frozen ground. Captain Hutton, a Rebel officer, was holding his arm in this barbarous proceeding, and as they came to the edge of a stream, Captain Snyder shoved the unwary Kebel down the bank and took to the woods. More than a hundred shots were fired at him, but he escaped them all and got away. But he was in a rebel settlement and had to go thirty miles barefoot over two mountain ranges to get to the Union lines. It is of note that Hutton, the rebel who was tumbled down the bank, is now living in the same county with Captain Snyder and it speaks volumes for the honor and noble manhood of the latter that he is friendly to his former persecuter. The mother of our subject was married in West Virginia and came from Scotch ancestry. She is now living, aged sixty-three. Our subject was raised in his native place and educated in the district school and later in the West Virginia University, and was appointed ca- det by Hon. T. C. Green, regent of the University. He returned to his parents before graduation and in 1891 came to southern Idaho, spending six months at Nampa. Then he came to Moscow and thence to Fraser, where he homesteaded a quarter section. He farmed and raised stock until 1901, then opened a hotel in Pierce and in the fall of the same year started a miners' supply store, which has become one of the leading general merchandise establisments of the town. Mr. Snyder has seven brothers and four sisters. He was married on November 2, 1892, at Fraser, Eliza- beth C., daughter of John W. and Adell (Tupper) Clark, natives of Michigan, becoming his bride on that occasion. Mr. Clark and his family now reside at Weippe. Three children have been born to this union : Vergie, Erma P., and Oro Lolo. In addition to his business, Mr. Snyder has four hundred and eighty acres of land, of which one hundred acres are hay and orchard and the balance in fine yellow pine timber. Mr. Snyder is an active Republican.

THEODORE BROWN has spent a life of con- stant and stirring activity in various portions of the west, and the salient points of his career will be inter- esting to the readers of this history. He was born in California, April 1, 1863, the son of Peter A. and Emma Brown, natives of Sweden and Germany, re- spectively, and now living in California. The father was a sea captain and our subject was contented with the land only until he was seven years of age, when he slipped away and became cabin boy on the Blue Jacket. He sailed the seas until 1876, being in all portions of the globe ; while on board the Blue Jacket young Brown learned to read and write and although he never attended school one day in his life, he suc- ceeded in securing a very fine education and is a very well informed man. From 1876 until 1880 he rode the range for Carr and Tevis : next we see him at the Placer fields at Baker City, Oregon, where he lo- cated a claim from which his partner afterward became very wealthy. On December 23. 1883, Mr. Brown landed at Eagle City, and prospected until 1886; he re-

mained there and in the vicinity of Murray doing mining and prospecting, and on one claim he and his partners took out twenty-five to fifty dollars per day for each man; this continued for a year; then he worked in the Golden Chest and afterward came to what is now Wardner. While working in the Idaho he grubstaked Ben Thompkins, who located eleven fine claims in the Libby creek district, in Montana. Mr. Brown went thither, but as the Indians killed Mr. Thompkins he was unable to secure the claim. Later Mr. Brown located some fine properties in Spring Gulch, also on Flat creek. In Spring Gulch he had a fraction between the O. R. and N. and the Keystone. He spent seven thousand dollars in developing this property, but in the crisis of 1893 lost it all. Then came a trip to California overland with a photographic outfit. In 1894 he was again in Wardner, working in various mines. He has been foreman or shift boss in the Bunker Hill, Tiger, and Poorman and other prop- erties of the mines. Mr. Brown is interested in the Shoup, the Idaho, the High Up, the Teddy and the Brown Fraction, on Pine creek, while he has a half interest in nine claims in southwestern Oregon, from which they have received assays from one to nine thousand dollars. . Mr. Brown has two brothers : Oscar, Harmon, and one sister, Lilly.

On June 22, 1898, Mr. Brown married Miss Ella L., daughter of Phillip and Bertha Bowman, natives of Germany, now living near Kingston. Mrs. Brown was born in Virginia City, Nevada, on November 14, 1878. They have three children: Theodore, Eleanor and J. Olive. Mr. Brown is a member of the K. of P. at Wardner, and a strong Republican.

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An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 277

Author: Publication date: 1903 Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1524

Author:
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: [S.l.] : Western Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1524