An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 68

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 68
USA > Idaho > Nez Perce County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 68
USA > Idaho > Shoshone County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 68
USA > Idaho > Latah County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 68

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).

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HISTORY OF NORTH IDAHO.

in life insurance. The brothers and sisters of our subject are Katherine, Fredericka, Richard A., Rosa, Marie, all in Germany. The children of Mr. Schatt- ner are named as follows: Gretchen and Guy W. Mr. Schattner is a thirty-second degree Mason and in politics a Republican. He has never accepted nomina- tion, but has always worked faithfully for the election of the other good men. He has property in Lewiston and in Leland. On July 25, 1902, he was appointed United States deputy marshal, by ( Marshal) Hon. R. Rounds.

ALFRED W. KROUTINGER. This well known and representative business man and financier of Nez Perces county is today holding one of the most re- sponsible offices within the gift of the people of the county, that of sheriff, and he is discharging the duties thus incumbent upon him with efficiency and a display of uprightness and wisdom.

Alfred W. was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 29, 1859, being the son of Adolph W. and Anna W. (Jacobs) Kroutinger. The father was a major in the regular army for thirty-five years; was born in 1830 and died in Idaho county, Idaho, in 1893. His an- cestors were military men in Germany ; he came to the United States, enlisted in the army and was retired in 1889. The mother was born in England on March 3. 1842, and came to the United States in infancy. Al- fred was educated in the Chickering Institute, in Cin- cinnati, and the Washington University, in St. Louis. In 1877, when our subject was twenty years of age, he came with his father, who had been ordered to quell the Nez Perces, to central Idaho. He at once began bookkeeping for John P. Vollmer & Company. Sev- eral years were spent in this labor and then he was selected as cashier for the First National Bank in Lewiston, and was later appointed receiver in the United States land office by President Cleveland, and served from 1892 to 1806. He was also deputy auditor and recorder from 1884 to 1888, and the last two years of this period he was city treasurer. In 1896 he acted as practicing attorney before the United States land office and continued in that capacity until 1900, when he received the nomination on the Democratic ticket for sheriff of Nez Perces county, and was elected. He is still filling that office in a creditable manner.

On May 3, 1881, in Lewiston, Mr. Kroutinger was married to Miss Anna E. Vollmer, a sister of John P. Vollmer, who had raised this sister after the death of her parents. Mrs. Kroutinger was born on November II, 1864, at Indianapolis, Indiana; her brother and sister are as follows: J. P. Vollmer and Mrs Corine Truscott. Mr. Kroutinger has no brothers or sisters. Our subject and his estimable wife have become the parents of one child, Anna L., who was nineteen years of age on January 15, 1902, is a graduate of the high school at Lewiston, and a very proficient musician. Mr. Kroutinger is a member of the Masons, Scottish Rite Chapter, and has taken all the degrees in that order but one. He and his family affiliate with the Episcopal church. Mr. Kroutinger is active in poli-

tics and is also a vigilant business man. He is in partnership with B. F. Morris, one of the best known men in Idaho, and they handle considerable real estate.

JOHN F. POWERS has been a resident of Nez Perces county since February 5, 1902, at which date he purchased his present farm, four miles southwest from Melrose. But he has lived in the west all of his life, and a large portion has been spent in the vicinity of Nez Perces county. He was born in Saltese Junc- tion, Washington, on December 19, 1874, being the son of William L. and Rebecca (Davis) Powers. The father was born in Pike county, Illinois, in 1842, and now lives on the Sound. The mother was born in Iowa in 1844. In 1853 the father came to the Will- amette valley and seventeen years later removed with his family to Saltese, in the Palouse country. Our subject was born there, being the first white child born in the northern part of Whitman county. The father did merchandising and was one of the most successful salesmen in the entire eastern part of the state. He and his brother, John G. Powers, now of Palouse City, were wealthy and influential merchants and were part- ners for years. The father retired from the store and dealt in timber and later went into the stock business extensively. In 1896 he sold out and went to southern California for his health. Our subject remained at home in attendance at school and assisting his father until of age, and then started for himself. He went to southern California with his father, but after three years in the vicinity of San Diego and tiring of the country, he returned and settled in Palouse. Later he came to Nez Perces county, as noted above.

On June 5, 1895, Mr. Powers married Miss Mary Bures, in Palouse. Her parents died when she was an infant. Mrs. Powers was born in Bohemia, on September 22. 1874, and came to the United States in 1878. She has one brother, Benjamin Bures, in Spokane. Mr. Powers has one sister and three broth- ers,-Benjamin, Clifford, William and Annie Kincaid. To Mr. and Mrs. Powers there have been born two children, Delmar and Nelson. Mr. Powers is a mem- ber of the W. of W. In political affairs he is an active Republican, attending the conventions and caucuses. He has been clerk of the school board for some time and he is always on record for good schools and the betterment of educational facilities.

WILLIAM C. WAIDE was a stanch supporter of the flag in the time of internal strife and did valiant service in this capacity. He has since proved himself as worthy in civil life and is now one of the prosperous farmers on Central ridge, being about nine miles south- east from Peck.

William C. Waide was born in Mason county, West Virginia, on December 22, 1843. being the son of Sam- uel and Mary (Greenlee) Waide. He was reared on a farm and educated in the log cabin school houses of

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that day, and when the war was at its height he en- listed in Company I, Ninth West Virginia Volunteers. His father had enlisted in the Ninth also, but was obliged to retire from active service on account of his advanced age. He was a colonel in the state militia. Our subject started his military career on February 25, 1864, and fought at Clyde Mountain, Winchester, Lynchburg, Fisher Hill, Charlotstown and was al- most constantly in action all the time he served. He was in the Eighth Corps under General Crook and later under General Sheridan. He was captured three different times, but was not in prison. He served until the close of the war and was then honorably dis- charged to return to quiet life in his native place. He farmed for a time there and then moved to Lawrence county, Ohio, where he married Miss Rebecca Suiter, on February 29, 1867. Her parents were William and Martha Suiter. Mr. Waide removed to Miami county, Ohio, in 1870, and in 1885 he came to Portland and farmed close to that city for a decade and more. He sold his farm of one hundred and twenty acres there in 1898 and came to his present location, which he secured as a homestead. He has good improvements, raises general crops and some stock and is on the list of the prosperous farmers of his section. He and his estimable wife are members of the German Baptist church and are devout in the path of the faith they have espoused. Eight children have been born to this household, named as follows: Mrs. Martha Pope, of Butte, Montana ; Mrs. Dora Day, of near Southwick ; John F., at home; William N., near Russell, Idaho; Mrs. Emma Bashor, in this county; Charles E., of Yamhill county, Oregon; Mrs. Ida Hackett, near Steele; and Mary A.

JAMES H. WANN. Among the capable and successful business men of Nez Perces county we are constrained by force of right to mention this gen- tleman, whose name initiates this paragraph, and who is well known as a merchant at Spalding and an orchardist.

James H. Wann was born in Lawrence county, Missouri, on November 11, 1849, being the son of Daniel and Sarah J. (Hague) Wann. The father was a farmer, born in Tennessee, in 1815 and died in 1850. He was one of the very first settlers in Lawrence county, Missouri, was county commis- sioner and chairman of that body. The mother was born while her parents were crossing the ocean from Scotland to the United States, in 1818. Her parents were both Scotch, the father being born in Edin- burgh, a descendant of highlanders of note, and him- self being a graduate of Edinburgh University. Our subject remained at home until of age. The mother came to Cass county in 1856 and to Kansas City in 1862, she having married a second time a gentleman by the name of A. J. Farmer. At the time of his majority, James went into the mercantile bus- iness with his brother, Dr. J. B. Wann, in Lawrence county. Ten years were spent there and then he went to Halltown and started a store and a drug

store in Mt. Vernon. In 1881 he sold the entire business interests there and came west and in company with his brother he went to farming extensively in Garfield county, Washing- ton. Later our subject went to Pataha and em- barked in the hardware business on his own respon- sibility. He did well and remained there until 1887, when in October of that year he went to Camas prai- rie. He took up the mercantile business there and in the fall of 1892 he was elected county assessor and tax collector of Idaho county on the Democratic ticket. From 1888 to 1896 he was engaged in raising sheep and cattle, which he sold and bought a fruit ranch in the vicinity of Spalding. He now handles this in connection with a general merchandise store and assistant postmaster.

In 1871 Mr. Wann married Miss Sarah F. Neil, in Greene county, Missouri. Her parents, Benjamin A., and Nancy ( Wallace) Neil, were natives of Ten- nessee and the mother of Scotch extraction. Mrs. Wann has one sister and three brothers, named as follows : B. G. Neil, Prior, David B., Jane West. Mr. Wann has two brothers, John B., a physician in Mis- souri : Daniel J., at Pullman, Washington. The fol- lowing children are the fruit of this marriage: Charles A., merchant at Mohler, Idaho; William D., at home ; Loren B., in Culdesac; Della O'Conner, in Spokane ; James Norman, at home. Mr. Wann is a Mason, having taken the highest degree obtainable. He is a notary public, handles cattle in addition to his other labors and is an active Democrat, and good man. His brother, William M., was killed in the Civil war.

WILLIAM M. EVANS. At Willola, in Nez Perces county, is located the enterprising gentleman mentioned above, and there he is the present incum- bent of the postoffice, does a general merchandise busi- ness and handles a ferry, the last two industries in partnership with his brother-in-law, Charles W. Wright.

William M. Evans was born in Linn county, Ore- gon, in 1867 and remained with his parents until 1886. Being then about nineteen, he started for him- self and various employments engaged him for two years. Then stirred by the tales of wealth in the British Columbia regions, he mined two years in the vicinity of Nanaimo. After this venture he was employed for some time in railroading and bridge construction. In 1893 he made his way to Juliaetta, hired land from his brother, mention of whom is made in another portion of this volume, and there farmed for three years. At that time, the reservation was opened and he came to his present placed and filed on a quarter section. In connection with his brother, Mr. Evans built roads for the ferry which they op- erated and later he bought the ferry from his brother and is still operating it. In addition to this and the merchandise mentioned above, Mr. Evans has been busy in the sawmill business, erecting the first mill on the reservation. Two years he devoted time and en-

JAMES H. WANN.

WILLIAM M. EVANS.

MRS. WILLIAM M. EVANS.

MRS. CHARLES W. WRIGHT.

CHARLES W. WRIGHT.

JESSE H. FANSLER.

BERTRAM W. TEFFT.

MRS. BERTRAM W. TEFFT.

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ergy to this industry and made a success of it as is the custom of Mr. Evans in any line that he at- tempts.

On August 3, 1894, Mr. Evans married Miss Minnie M. Wright, daughter of William A. and Ella ( Emrick) Wright, of Dublin, this county. Mrs. Evans was born in Columbia county, Washington, on December 19, 1878. To this happy union there have been born three children, Lola, Willie and Henry.

Mr. Evans and his gracious wife are among the most valuable additions to society. in this section. They are highly respected people, and the business ability, integrity, energy and wisdom manifested by Mr. Evans have given him a place of influence and prestige, while he has also gained a gratifying success in his business enterprises.

In politics, Mr. Evans is a Republican and is an active worker in the county conventions, and always stands by his convictions. The postoffice was named for his two children, Willie and Lola.

CHARLES W. WRIGHT. The stirring and ge- nial young man mentioned at the head of this article is one of the successful business men of the reserva- tion portion of Nez Perces county, being now equal partner in the mercantile and ferry business owned by Evans & Wright at Willola.

Charles W. Wright was born in January 2, 1874, being the son of William A. and Ella (Emerick) Wright, natives of Ohio and Washington county, Ore- gon, respectively. They now live at Dublin, this county. Our subject has the following brothers and sisters, Harry S .; Henrietta, deceased, wife of Robert Hall, of Latah county, who had two children, Roy E. and Vera; Earl, with parents ; Myrtle, wife of William Evans ; and Cora, wife of Oliver Anderson of this county. He has also one adopted sister, May, with his parents. Charles was educated in the public schools in Dayton, Washington, graduating at the age of nineteen. Then he farmed for a time and in 1894, came to the reservation and rented Indian land, hand- ling three hundred acres for three years. After this he located a homestead sevn miles west from the town of Nezperce and that was the scene of his labors until 1902, when he sold out and after a visit to Washing- ton, he returned to the county and purchased a half interest in Mr. Evans' business at Willola, where we find Mr. Wright at this time rapidly building up a good patronage. His skill, good judgment, business tact and kind and pleasant ways have added strength to the firm and the partners are now the recipients of a first-class patronage.

On September 30, 1893, Mr. Wright married Miss Annie, daughter of Elijah and Minerva (Farris) Da- vidson, pioneers of Oregon. Mrs. Wright was born in Josephine county, Oregon. Four children have been born to them, Charles R., Jesse J., Levina A. and an infant. Mrs. Wright has the following brothers and sisters : Winter L., in Bandon, Oregon; Summer, in Culdesac ; Thomas B., at Bandon, Oregon ; Frank

F., at Grants Pass, Oregon : Pearl, single, living with her parents. Mr. Wright is a member of Phinney Camp No. 492, of the W. W. at Fletcher. He and his wife also belong to the auxiliary. Mr. Wright is a Republican in political matters, but is not desirous of personal preferment.

Mr. Wright's eldest son had eleven grandparents at one time and was the fourth generation living.

JESSE H. FANSLER was born in Randolph county, West Virginia, on April 25, 1849. This was later Tucker county, West Virginia. He was reared on a farm and educated in his native place, where he remained until 1887. Then came a journey to eastern Tennessee and Mr. Fansler farmed there for two years. After this he went to Knoxville, Ten- nessee, and acted as salesman for a furniture house, then was with the Eureka soap company for a time. He left Knoxville in May, 1892, and landed in Lewis- ton on June 6. He engaged with his brother in cut- ting cord wood and then went at the business him- self and also took his present place as a homestead. This was in 1897 and since then it has been the fam- ily home.

In Randolph, West Virginia, in 1879, Mr. Fansler married Miss Amanda Roy, a native of Virginia. Eight children have been born to this union, Camden B., Zadie, Zernie, Manning G., Jessie, Roy, Golden, William T. On May 10, 1900, Zadie married Charles C. Miles.

The paternal grandfather of our subject, Henry Fansler, was a drummer boy in the Revolution. He later married Miss Stone, a native of Pennsylvania. Their son, named Solomon, was born in 1800 in Ran- dolph county, Virginia, and married Miss Flanagan, a native of the same county, and they became the pa- rents of the subject of this sketch. The mother's an- cestors were among the first settlers in New Jersey. Mr. Fansler is at the present time engaged in the mer- cantile business at Webb, Idaho.

BERTRAM W. TEFFT. The thrifty farmer and stockman, who is mentioned at the head of this article, is one of the builders of the reservation coun- try, having taken his present home place about two miles northwest from Morrow at the opening of the section to settlement. He has persevered here in the good work of improvement and is now a leading man of the section.

Bertram W. Tefft was born in Elgin, Illinois, on December 2, 1867, being the son of Thomas W. and Emily (Jolls) Tefft. The mother was born in Elgin and djed about 1868. The father was born in New York state on October 30, 1824. He went to Califor- nia in 1849, when he went to Elgin. He filled the office of chief of police there and was in Company A. One Hundred and Forty-First Illinois Infantry and now lives in Elgin. Our subject received an academic

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education, and when nineteen came to Nez Perces county and settled on unsurveyed land and proved up later. He took his present place at the opening of the reservation and has now a fine six-room residence, a first-class barn, and other improvements to match. He was here when there were but four votes cast in his precinct, thus being a real pioneer in this section.

On this prairie, on June 22, 1892, Mr. Tefft mar- ried Miss Catherine, daughter of Lemuel and Sarah A. Hendrickson, who came to Oregon in 1843. Mrs. Tefft's uncle, Milton Doan, was the first white child born in Multnomah county. Her father died in the Potlatch country in 1887 and her mother died May 16, 1901. Mr. Tefft has the following brothers and sis- ters. Harvey W., Albert P. and Emma Mead. Mr. Tefft has brothers and sisters named as follows: Mar- garet Slaven, William, Elizabeth Miller, Grace Sharp, Mary Park, Nellie Stevens, Benjamin. Five children have been born to this couple, Victor, Evelyn, Ruth, Loris and Ray. Mr. Tefft is a Democrat and a pro- gressive and public-minded man, well liked and of good standing.

JACOB N. GWIN is a man of stirring activity and integrity, and has made a good name for himself in Nez Perces county and adjacent sections ; he is de- serving of consideration in the volume that mentions the leading men of the county. He was born in Washington county, Tennessee, on March 4. 1853, being the son of James K. and Mary A. (Whistler) Gwin. The father was of Welsh extraction, was born in Tennessee and died in 1874, having wrought at till- ing the soil. The mother was born in Tennessee, in 1824, and now lives in this county. Her father, Jacob Whistler, was born in Virginia, and her mother, a Miss Swecker, was a native of that state also. The Swecker family were pioneers of Virginia, and some of its members were massacred by the Indians. Mr. Whistler died at the age of eighty-five and his wife was eighty-seven when she passed away. Our subject re- mained at home working on the farm and gaining a good education, both from the public schools and Washington College, until manhood's estate. At twen- ty he came to Trinidad. Colorado, with his parents. There he was interested in carpentry. They made the trip from Kit Carson, Colorado, to that city with Mexi- "can freight outfits. Trinidad was his home until 1883 ; during that time he had taught school and been inter- ested in various businesses. Then he came to Wash- ington, settling near Dixie, where he assisted in thresh- ing wheat that yielded forty bushels per acre without rain after May 12. He taught school after settling there. then removed to the vicinity of Garfield, and later came to Moscow to educate his children. There he was chosen to preach in the German Baptist de- nomination, and at this he labored faithfully for some years, also doing carpenter work. In 1896, on account of bronchial trouble, he went to Ashland, Oregon, with team. where he found relief. Three years were spent there and then he came to Nez Perces county and bought land. On the election of Mr. B. F. Bashor to the

assessorship of the county, in 1902, our subject be- came deputy, and is acting in that capacity now and giving general satisfaction.

The marriage of Mr. Gwin and Miss Margaret J., daughter of Jacob and Anna (Arnold) Nead, was solemnized in Tennessee on January 5, 1881, by J. B. Pence. They have the following children : Ethel A .. Laura M., Dora A., Emma J., Edgar J., deceased, Bertha A., Lois, deceased. Mrs. Gwin was born in Washington county, Tennessee, on December 16, 1854, was educated there and taught school. Her father was born in Virginia in 1829 and died in 1862, while her mother was born in Virginia in 1828 and died in Tennessee in 1880. Mrs. Gwin had three uncles in the Confederate army. Her brothers are deceased and are named as fol- lows: James, Benjamin and Jacob; and one sister, Cornelia Hopkins, who lives at Dayton, Washing- ton, and two-Mary and Rebecca-are deceased. Mr. Gwin has brothers and sisters as follows : Phoebe I. Sipe, Mary J. Bashor, Joseph A., James F., Margaret E. Boyles, Emma M. Whitney. Mr. and Mrs. Gwin are members of the German Baptist Breth- ren church and are devout supporters of their faith. They have a good ranch in Nez Perces county and have raised as high as eighty-six and one-half bushels of grain per acre.

FRED RUCHERT is one of the sturdy and enter- prising men whose nativity is in the Fatherland, but whose spirit and energy have led to this prosperous country. His estate lies two and one-half miles east from Lapwai and he is numbered with the substantial and reliable men of the community.

Fred Ruchert was born in Prussia, on July 15. 1842, being the son of Charles and Minnie ( Croppe) Ruchert. The father was a carpenter, born in Prussia in 1801, and died in 1874. He was in the German army. The mother was born in 1808, and died in 1873. Our subject was educated in the schools of his own country and then farmed there until 1872. At that time he decided to come to the United States and accordingly we see him in Door county, Wisconsin, soon working with his brother in the timber. He bought a piece of land the second year, cleared it and settled to farming there for fourteen years. Then he sold out and came to Wallowa county, Oregon, pay- ing attention to farming there also. Later he was in the Grande Ronde valley and there farmed and raised stock until 1898. He sold again and settled next time in Anatone, Asotin county, Washington. He did well in the stock business there until he was burned out by some jealous companies. Then he was forced to leave that section and purchased land in Nez Perces county as mentioned above.

In Germany, on October 2, 1872, Mr. Ruchert married Miss Minnie, daughter of John and Minnie Grabbart, and the next day they started for the United States. Mr. Grabbart was an attendant on a wealthy duke in Germany. Mrs. Ruchert was born in Ger- many in 1849, and has one brother and three sisters,-

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Morris, Karalina, Austina and a baby. Mr. Ruchert has the following brothers and sisters : Theodore, who participated in the Danish, Austrian and Prussian war in 1864. in the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian war in 1870-72: Charlie, Christ and Sophia. To Mr. and Mrs. Ruchert there have been born eight children,-Frank, Lizzie, Albert, Otto, Ed- die, Emma, Henry and William. Mr. Ruchert was in the Austro-Prussian war. In political matters he is allied with the Republicans and always takes an intelli- gent interest in political matters. He and his family are adherents of the Lutheran church.

ARTHUR SKELTON. This young and indus- trious farmer resides five miles southeast from Peck, on a quarter section that he secured by his homestead right, filing on it in January, 1897. Since that time Mr. Skelton has devoted himself to its culture and improvement, and he has a good farm and tills it in a skillful manner.

Arthur Skelton was born in Calhoun county, Ala- bama. on June 5, 1872, being the son of James J. and Mattie J. ( Stewart) Skelton, natives, respectively, of Calhoun county and St. Clair county, Alabama. They were married in the latter county and resided in the former, where Mr. Skelton was a furniture dealer and also county treasurer. He served in the Civil war, all through. The grandfather, Stewart, of our subject, was a general in the Confederate army. Arthur was educated in the common schools and the state normal at Jacksonville, and in 1892 he went west to Texas and Colorado. The following year we find him in Walla Walla, then later in Colfax, and soon in Pierce City, where he sought the smiles of fortune in mining labors. Later Mr. Skelton visited Lewiston and afterwards settled in the Potlatch country until the date mentioned, when he came and secured his present home place.

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An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 68

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