An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 78

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 78
USA > Idaho > Nez Perce County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 78
USA > Idaho > Shoshone County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 78
USA > Idaho > Latah County > An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho > Part 78

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.

standing six feet, ten inches in his stocking feet, and as prominent in politics, business and social circles in Scotland county, Missouri, as he is large physically. Dr. Shawley is a member of the A. F. & A. M., Mount Idaho Lodge, No. 9, at Grangeville.

In Memphis, Missouri. Dr. Shawley married Miss Mary A., daughter of James A. and Angeline (Roole) Sayers. She was born in Illinois in 1853 and died December 7, 1887, leaving two chil- dren, Inez L., wife of Charles Pomeroy, in Nezperce ; John G., with his father. Dr. Shawley contracted a second marriage, the date was January 9, 1889, and the lady Hulda A. Langrish, and a native of Saxony. Her parents, Christian and Minnie C. (Carter) Langrish, brought her to this county when she was fourteen and they lived in Nebraska and Kansas. Four children have been born to this union : Cora D., aged twelve; Mary D., aged ten ; William G., aged seven ; Charles F., aged three. Mrs. Shawley has two sisters, Minnie C., widow of Bartholomew O'Rourke, in Oklahoma ; Ida, wife of Frank C. Smith, also in Oklahoma.

LEWIS A. SIMMONS was born in Warren coun- ty, Iowa, on October 16, 1849, being the son of Will- iam C. and Mary B. (Allen) Simmons, natives of Indiana and Kentucky, respectively. They are men- tioned elsewhere in this volume. Our subject grew to manhood in Iowa and there received his education. He labored with his father until he was twenty-eight and then began to do for himself. He bought a farm in his native place and wrought there until 1884, when he journeyed westward to Oregon, whence he moved to Washington, and then to Latah county, near Gen- esee, where he rented land. Later Mr .. Simmons bought a farm and in the fall of 1895 he came to the reservation and took land for himself. His place is situated about three miles southeast from llo, and the winter following his filing, he removed the family there. This has been the family home since and Mr. Simmons has displayed both wisdom and industry in handling his estate. He has a large number of im- provements and raises grain for the market. Novem- ber 18, 1895, was the date of taking this claim.

On February 24, 1876, Mr. Simmons married Miss Charity, daughter of James E. and Rebecca ( Nice) Smith, natives of Ohio and Indiana and were born in July, 1814, and November, 1814, and died in 1893 and 1865, respectively. Mr. Smith was a pioneer of Indi- ana and his parents were of Kentucky. Mrs. Smith's parents were pioneers of Indiana and her grandfather, William Nice, was a soldier in the war of 1812. Mrs. Simmons was born in Carroll county, Indiana, on No- vember 9, 1852, and has three brothers, John W., Erastus J., and Isaac N. Mr. Simmons has the fol- lowing named brothers and sisters: Elizabeth, James C., and Deborah, all deceased ; Mehalia, John B., Sam- uel J., Lucinda R., and William T. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Simmons: Etha, Me- genity, William O., Alta M., Samuel J., deceased, Lot- tie E., Gustave, Isaac A. Mrs. Simmons is a member

of the Primitive Baptist church. Mr. Simmons is a member of the school board and has always been active in labors for good schools. Mr. Simmons is a man of exceptional qualifications for getting along peaceably in this world, having never been sued and never has he resorted to the law in any case. He is respected by all who know him and is a good, substantial citi- zen.

CHARLES E. WILLIAMS. This noted front- iersman is now a resident of Spalding, and to give a full account of the thrilling adventures, the weary and trying journeys, the terrible hardships, the difficult explorations of many years on the very outposts of the frontiers and in the almost impenetrable wilds would take an entire volume and therefore we will be obliged to touch on only the salient points in this re- view. Mr. Williams is a man of staunch character and uprightness and all those qualities that make the hardy pioneer.

Charles E. Williams was born in Springfield, Illi- nois, on April 22, 1847, being the son of Cornelius and Mary J. (Harvey) Williams. The father was a native of Pennsylvania, of Welsh extraction, and died in Illi- nois, having been a miner in the coal regions. The mother of Charles E. was also a native of Pennsylvania as were her ancestors, and she died at Cascade Locks, Oregon, in 1901. Our subject was brought by his mother across the plains to Cascade Locks, in 1852. She took a donation claim and. he remained with her for fifteen years. She married R. G. Atwell in 1853, an attorney of an old Virginia family. Mrs. Williams' grandfather fought in the Revolution. Charles E. was educated in Portland at the academy and when that part of his life was done, he commenced the operation of a pack train. He packed from Walla Walla to Hel- ena and Fort Boise, which latter he helped to build in 1864. In 1871, Mr. Williams did the herculean task of taking a pack train of flour from Helena to Cassier bar in the Fraser river country. He had six men and seventy-seven mules. The start was made on March 18, 1871, and they arrived at the destination on July 18, 1871, the goods being for Perry Kent, an old Cali- fornian. In this trip, Mr. Williams built two hundred miles of road and came over the land where Spokane now stands. Following this, he took charge of a train for the Canadian government and for several years did excellent service in this capacity, much of the time handling the supplies for the engineers of the Cana- dian Pacific. In this work he packed across glaciers where they had to cut steps for the animals in the ice and thus get them down the precipitous sides. Fol- lowing this service Mr. Williams settled down to ranching and a commercial life in British Columbia and seven years were spent in that labor. Selling this business for eighteen thousand dollars to James Stil- livan he came to the Flathead reservation in Mon- tana and embarked in the stock business. A hard winter killed all his stock and then he went to Spald- ing, where land was allotted his wife and children. Mrs. Williams has two granddaughters, Maggie B.

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and Ida K. Elliot, who are good musicians and own eighty acres of land each.

Mr. Williams started to dam the Clearwater for the purpose of mining the Webfoot bar, but after spending three thousand dollars he failed, although he found considerable gold. Since that time he has been prospecting all over the country and now he has located the Lost creek, known as the Bill Rhodes property, which he has been searching for for twenty years. It is doubtless a bonanza for Mr. Williams and his asso- ciates.

At Kamloops, on December 25, 1877, Mr. Will- iams married Mrs. Christina, widow of James Mc- Kenzie and daughter of Angus and Kathrina McDon- ald. Mr. McDonald was chief factor in the Hudson Bay Company at Fort Colville. In a time of great trouble between the Indians and the whites, Kathrina stood nobly with the whites and not only did many things for their advantage but in the fight she loaded the arms of the white man and never flinched from the trying dangers. This brave and noble action so touched the heart of McDonald that he later married the maiden, she being a beautiful woman. Mrs. Will- iams was highly educated and given every advantage that her wealthy father could supply and she is a gra- cious and accomplished lady of refinement and culture. She has five brothers and one sister, Duncan, Angus, Joseph. Thomas, Donald. and Margaret, a noted busi- ness woman on the Bitter Root river in Montana, who has an immense stock ranch and who is styled the "Cattle Queen." To Mr. and Mrs. Williams have been born children: Charles, married and farming his allotment ; Mary, wife of George Campbell, owner of a hotel in Spalding and a portion of the townsite. Mr. Williams has one brother and two half-brothers, Cassius M., James and John Atwell, the former a marine engineer and captain on the Columbia boats and the latter a contractor and builder at Cascade Locks. Mr. Williams is a member of the Methodist church while his wife and children are members of the Presbyterian, except Kate, who is an adherent of the Catholic faith. By her former marriage Mrs. Will- iams has two children, Alexander D: Mckenzie, farm- ing on the allotment; Kate, widow of W. Elliot, and now wife of Louis Forrest, a mechanic at Lapwai.

Recently Mr. Williams cut thirty-five miles of trail in the Eldorado country and is interested in mining.

JOHN C. JACKSON. Among the successful and well-to-do men of the vicinity of Dublin, we must men- tion the subject of this article, whose estate of three hiin- dred and twenty acres of fine land lies about one mile southwest and has been made by his wise and industri- ous labors one of the most valuable of this section. Mr. Jackson has a fine residence, good barn and outbuild- ings and a general air of thrift pervades the premises. He pays attention to diversified farming and raising fine Berkshire and Poland China hogs.

John C. Jackson was born in Carroll county, Ohio, on March 18, 1855, being the son of Hugh and Mar-

garet (Crawford) Jackson. The father was born in Pennsylvania on February 22, 1815, and died in August, 1885. He was a pioneer in Ohio, Illinois, and Iowa, dying in the last state. His grandparents were all natives of Ireland and were among the earliest settlers in Ohio. The mother of our subject was born in Ohio. on March 7, 1815, and died in December, 1898. John C. was taken by his parents to Illinois when four years old, and the family settled in Mon- mouth, where he received his education. In 1871 they all went to Warren county, Iowa, and there our sub- ject labored with his father until he had reached the age of twenty-one, when he started the battle of life for himself. He visited the old home in Ohio, then re- turned to Iowa and took up farming and handling stock. In 1800 Mr. Jackson moved to Genesee, where he farmed until 1895, at which time he took up his present place. This has been the family home since that time and the scene of the wise labors of Mr. Jack- son.

On January 1, 1880, Mr. Jackson married Miss Lucinda R., daughter of William and Mary (Allen) Simmons. The wedding occurred in Warren county, Iowa. Mr. Simmons was born in Kentucky in 1819 and died in 1876. He was one of the very first settlers in Iowa. His wife was born in Spencer county, Indiana, in 1821. Her grandparents settled in Kentucky with Daniel Boone and her great-grandmother was a niece of that noted frontiersman. Mrs. Jackson was born in Iowa, on October 30, 1861, and has the following named brothers and sisters : Louis, John, Joseph, William, Elizabeth, Mary and Mahala. Mr. Jackson has the following named brothers and sisters: Eliza- beth, Nancy J., James M. Mrs. Jackson is a member of the Presbyterian church ; Mr. Jackson affiliates with the Masons and the M. W. A. He is a Republican and takes the part of an intelligent citizen. He is a member of the school board and has always evinced a great interest in these matters, laboring for advance- ment and progress.

CHRISTOPHER C. MILLER. The home of our subject is about six miles west from Nezperce and is one of the promising farms of the section, having been taken from the raw by homestead right and brought to its present state of cultivation and improvement by the ardnous and careful labor of Mr. Miller, whose in- dustry, thrift, integrity and uprightness have been pat- ent to all.

Christopher C. Miller was born in Mercer county, Illinois, on June 30. 1842, being the son of George and Elizabeth (Hyatt) Miller, natives of Indiana. In 1847 the family came across the plains with ox teams in a large train captained by Jonathan Mulkey. Some trouble was experienced with the Indians and when they came to The Dalles, Mr. Miller floated his family and their goods down the Columbia and up the Will- amette to Oregon City in Indian canoes. Arriving in Oregon City without means, he was confronted with the proposition of caring for a family of ten children,

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of which our subject was the eighth : the first venture was to cut the tents up and make clothes for the little ones. He soon went to California in the mining excite- ment and in 1851 moved to Lane county, where he died in 1853. Our subject remained with his mother until her death, and on December 27, 1872, he was married to Sarah, daughter of James and Elizabeth Lee, who came across the plains in 1863 from Missouri, in which state Mrs. Miller was born. Settlement was made in Lane county, where the father died, the mother hav- ing passed away in Missouri. Our subject remained on the old donation claim until 1878 and then came to the vicinity of Dayton, Washington, whence he re- moved to Pomeroy in 1880. He followed farming and raising stock until 1898 and then located his place and the result of his labors since that time is apparent in the excellent holding that he has wrought out, as he came here with very little capital and all he now pos- sesses is the result of his wise labors. A good windmill with a well one hundred and twelve feet deep, orchard, shrubbery, garden and buildings are among the im- provements in evidence.

The following named children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller : Dora, wife of Buel Ables, near Mohier : Elizabeth, wife of F. Morgan, in Garfield county ; Clara J., wife of Lewis Harris, in the vicinity of Nezperce: Nellie, wife of Wilber Rawnsley, near Nezperce ; Annie, deceased ; Nettie : Bessie, deceased ; John and George.

ALEXANDER MCCUTCHEN. This genial and pleasant gentleman is one of the successful farmers in the vicinity of Melrose, his ranch joining the town on the east. Mr. Mccutchen is a man of excellent qualities of intrinsic worth, as integrity, industry and upright- ness, and is secure in the esteem and confidence of his associates.

Alexander McCutchen was born in Floyd county, Indiana, on October 12. 1852, being the son of Alex- ander and Mary (Johnston) Mccutchen. The father was also born in Indiana and his father, Samuel J. Mc- Cutchen. was a pioneer of Indiana, from his native state, Kentucky, and was one of the stanch members of the Christian church in early days. The mother of our subject was born in Indiana, in 1821, and died in 1880. Her parents were natives of Pennsylvania and were pioneers to Indiana. Alexander grew up on the farm, attended school in the winter and assisted his father in the work until he was twenty-two, when he came to Macoupin county, Illinois, where he remained for six years, being employed by J. F. Roach, one of the largest shippers and feeders in Illinois. Mr. Mc- Cutchen became expert in this art and is considered one of the first men in this line in the county. From Illinois he came to Portland and then made his way to the vicinity of Walla Walla, where he farmed for sixteen years, having arrived there in 1882. During this time Mr. Mccutchen prospered, owing to his in- dustry and wise management. He states that in many cases he has headed field after field of wheat that averaged fifty bushels to the acre. He became one of

the best header drivers in the country and doubtless takes the lead in this important industry in Nez Perces county. In 1898 Mr. Mccutchen purchased his pres- ent ranch and has devoted himself to its improvement since. He raises many hogs and has his farm fenced hog-tight so that he can feed them from the field. Mr. Mccutchen is now planning to erect a commodious barn and fine residence and is one of the leading and progressive men of the county. September 30, of the year mentioned, was the date of his settlement and much has been done since by his thrift and labor. Mr. Mccutchen has the following brothers and sisters : Jacob M., William M., George W. and John B., de- ceased. Mr. Mccutchen is a Bryan man and always interested in political matters. As yet, our subject has not elected to desert the ranks of bachelordom, but is enjoying the choice pleasures of a life of celibacy.

ALANSON FARMER. The subject of this ar- ticle has exemplificd in a striking manner both his ability and the possibilities of this country. For, com- ing here with no money, having only two horses and two cows, lie is now possessed of a fine farm, one of the choicest of the vicinity, comfortable improvements, a good holding in stock and good orchards, shrub- bery gardens, and all that goes to make a farm both a valuable and pleasant abode. These things speak in emphatic terms of the industry and wisdom of Mr. Farmer and because of these qualities, together with real moral worth and integrity, he is of excellent stand- ing in the community and is the recipient of the re- spect of all.

Alanson Farmer was born in Tazewell county, Virginia. on January 2, 1856, being the son of Alanson .and Charlotte (Graham) Farmer, natives of Virginia. Near the close of the war the father enlisted in the Confederate army and a few weeks later he was killed in the battle of King's Salt Works. The mother is now living in Palouse, aged eighty-three. Our subject was the seventh of a family of nine children and was edu- cated in his native place. There, also, on January 2, 1878, he married Miss Georgia Ann, daughter of Nathaniel and Susan (Webb) Puckett. The father died when she was a child, while the mother is now liv- ing in Wayne county, West Virginia. Thither our subject removed in 1880 and in 1887 came to Moscow, Idaho. The following year found him in Palouse, whence he went again to Moscow and at the time of the opening of the reservation he was on hand to take a claim and his push and energy secured for him one of the very choicest claims on the reservation. He filed on November 22, 1895, and in May, 1896, he brought the family. He had erected a house and seeded eighteen acres of grain before he brought them and when they were well settled he went to the harvest fields of the Walla Walla country to gain bread for their sustenance. He has wrought with a faithful and win- ning hand since that time and the result is the goodly holding that is his now to enjoy. Mr. Farmer has two wells, one sixty-five feet deep and one seventy feet deep. and in neither did he encounter any rock. He

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has plenty of good water and his place is fine in every respect.

Mr. Farmer is a member of the M. W. A., and his wife is a member of the Baptist church, both being devout in the support of their faith. Nine children have been born to this happy family, Vicey, deceased ; Reba E. Bailey, Albert S., Nevada S., Emery, deceased, Lena C., Edith H., Aressa I. and Evert W.

PERRY E. MILLER. This successful young business man of Nezperce is associated with Thomas Mockler in a large furniture business which is both successful and well managed.

Referring to his personal career, we note that Perry E. Miller was born in Scio, Linn county, Oregon, on May 23, 1868, being the son of John and Amanda (Redman) Miller. The father was born in Illinois, in 1841, and came to Oregon with his parents in 1849, who took a donation claim of one section, where he was reared and lived until his death in 1878. Perry's mother was a native of Iowa, born in 1846, and now lives at Freeman, Washington, being the wife of P. J. Wycoff. Shortly after his birth our subject's parents came to the old donation claim near Albany and he was educated in the district school there until he was twelve. Then a move was made to Sprague, Wash- ington, and for two years Perry E. attended graded school. Following this, he went to Adams, Oregon, and lived with an uncle, J. T. Redman, a prominent merchant and stockman. Two more years in the graded schools and then four years were occupied in the foremanship of the I. R. horse ranch. Mr. Miller then accepted a position with Reese, Crandall & Red- man, wholesale grocers in Tacoma. Two years later he came to Freeman, Spokane county, Washington, and bought a farm, which he handled for years and then, on account of the panic, he was unsuccessful and after much hard work succeeded in settling all indebtedness and had a four-horse team and one dollar and twenty-five cents left. Then Nez Perces reserva- tion was the mecca of those who had energy to start again, and our subject is blessed with plenty of pluck. He came straightway, took a ranch, one of the best in the county, thanks to his good judgment in selecting it, and in a short time Mr. Miller had a crop of wheat growing. He freighted between times and in a few years had the entire quarter growing fine crops of the cereals. The fourth year he bought a threshing out- fit with his brother, Norton B., and they operated it for two years, being successful. On February 16, 1901, Mr. Miller bought the interest of E. L. Parkers in the small furniture business in Nezperce and in- mediately he and his partner built a large twenty-four by one hundred and twenty structure and filled it with a well selected stock. Since then Mr. Miller has de- voted himself to this business and is doing well. He personally manages the establishment and is a man of energy and successful business capabilities. This house is the largest in this entire section of country and is favored with a rapidly increasing patronage.

On December 23, 1889, Mr. Miller married Miss

Annie E., daughter of Lewis M. and Emma Simpson. Mr. Simpson was a merchant in Adams, where this wedding occurred, but now he is a farmer near Cotton- wood. Mrs. Miller was born on November 15. 1872, and on September 6, 1901, she was called by death to the world beyond. She left three sons, Vonley J., Verona LeRoy, Darl V., and one daughter, Madge Leona. Mr. Miller is a member of the W. W., Nez- perce Camp No. 445, also of the auxiliary, being man- ager of the latter. In politics Mr. Miller is a Demo- crat and in 1899 he was elected county commissioner by a good majority, although the county was Re- publican. His own district gave him one hundred and forty-two majority, notwithstanding that it was a Republican precinct. Business matters pressed so closely that Mr. Miller could not devote the time to the office that he deemed it deserved and consequently he resigned. He was a delegate to the state convention this year.

On February 19, 1903, Mr. Miller entered a corpo- ration composed of T. M. Mockler, J. H. Mockler and P. E. Miller, doing business under the name of Mock- ler, Miller & Mockler, of which Mr. Miller is secre- tary and treasurer. This firm is the largest on the Nez Perce prairie, handling a complete hardware business, farm machinery, furniture and being the only under- taking establishment outside of Lewiston, in the Nez Perces county.

JOHN LEROY SANFORD. A prosperous farmer. an upright man, a scion of a substantial and old family, and a man who is doing a commendable work in developing this country, it is fitting to give an epitome of the subject of this article.

John L. Sanford was born in Lincoln county, South Dakota, on September 24, 1878, being the son of John and Mary (Nelson) Sanford. The father was born December 16, 1837, in Clark county, Illinois. He lived a time in Putnam county, Indiana, then removed to Boone county, Iowa. In the summer of 1861 he en- listed in Company D, Tenthi Iowa Infantry, in the Fifteenth Army Corps. He was in both battles of Corinth, at Iuka, Chattanooga, and the siege of Vicks- burg, at Atlanta and several other battles and many skirmishes. Mr. Sanford was in the hottest of many of these awful conflicts when bullets were like hail, while hundreds of men were falling all around. He fought with a display of great courage and bravery and endured unflinchingly the terrible ordeals of hard- ship and trials of the soldier's life. In August. 1865. he was mustered out at Little Rock, Arkansas, and re- ceived his discharge at Davenport. He returned to Boone county and on March 1866. was

married. In 1872 he went to Lincoln county. South Dakota, and in 1889 came to Moscow. Mrs. Sanford was born in Van Buren county, Michigan, on Novem- ber 9. 1848. Seven children were born to Mr. Sanford and are named as follows: Violet S. Carley, Charles M., Ella Olson, John Leroy, Mary A. Millage, William S. and Jesse H. Our subject came to the reservation in 1898 and as soon as he was of age secured his pres- ent homestead of forty acres. He lias a good house,

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first-class improvements, besides handling three hun- dred acres of rented land. He raises flax and the cereals and is prosperous and well respected.

The Sanford family is one of the oldest in America. They descended from John Sanford, a wealthy Eng- lishman, who came to the colonies in 1631. His son was William, and from him to the present, the geneal- ogy is unbroken and they have many men of note among them and are a strong, vigorous and prominent family. Some of them have lived to be one hundred years of age and some even older than that. Abraham Sanford, a great-uncle of our subject, died in 1897 aged one hundred and one. Mr. Sanford's parents are now living on the place with him and they are highly respected people.

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An illustrated history of north Idaho : embracing Nez Perces, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, state of Idaho, Part 78

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