An illustrated history of the state of Idaho, containing a history of the state of Idaho from the earliest period of its discovery to the present time, together with glimpses of its auspicious future; illustrations and biographical mention of many pioneers and prominent citizens of to-day, Part 106

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1014

USA > Idaho > An illustrated history of the state of Idaho, containing a history of the state of Idaho from the earliest period of its discovery to the present time, together with glimpses of its auspicious future; illustrations and biographical mention of many pioneers and prominent citizens of to-day > Part 106

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The year 1856 was memorable in Mormon emi- gration. Five hand-cart companies crossed the plains-Mr. Woodward was attached to the fourth company, and was captain of the third hundred. In the Sweetwater valley snow fell, and hardships were endured by the people till they arrived in Salt Lake valley. Relief trains with supplies of food and clothing were sent to the rescue of the emigrants, and Brigham Young was foremost in starting these expeditions. After Mr. Woodward's arrival in Salt Lake City-after an absence of four years and nearly two months -he went to work at anything he could find to do, finally teaching school and "boarding around."

He was first married in 1857, and is the father of twenty-two children, eight boys and fourteen girls,-and thirteen children are still living.

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HISTORY OF IDAHO.

Mr. Woodward came to Franklin April 14, 1860, with a few others, and they were the first real settlers of Idaho. They built the first school house in the state, and labored diligently to make homes, building their houses in a square fort, for protection against Indians, who were numer- ous at that time.

Mr. Woodward has been a lifelong Democrat in politics; has been postmaster, justice of the peace, city councilor, and once was elected to the legislature, but was not seated through two of his party selling out to the opposition. Mr. Wood- ward is a farmer, raises some one hundred tons of liay yearly, and in 1898 raised over three thou- sand bushels of grain. He lives on his farm of ninety acres, has other lands in this state and in Utah, keeps cows and other domestic animals, and might be said to be fairly prosperous. He is a devoted Mormon and a lover of the Declara- tion of Independence and the constitution of the United States; is strictly a temperance man, does not use strong drinks, or tobacco, nor use tea or coffee. He believes in honest government for the people, and is a full believer that all men should worship God as they please, without mo- lestation. He is a president of the eighteenth quorum of Seventies in the church, and a full be- liever in the divine mission of Joseph Smith as a prophet.

On his farm he has been greatly assisted by his family, who are models of industry and thrift.

JOB FRANCIS DYE.

Among the figures who stand prominently forth on the pages of western history is the gen- tleman whose name introduces this review. His was a marvelous record of long connection with the events which go to make up the annals of the Pacific coast. He was one of those honored pioneers who blazed a path for future cavalcades to follow; who bravely turned their faces from the cities of the east, with all the advantages of wealth and civilization, and cast their fortunes with the western frontier, in all its wildness and primitive modes of life; who, rather than enjoy the comforts of their former homes, chose to en- dure the hardships of a wider and freer country; and who made out of those very obstacles, which, to a weaker class of men would have been stum- bling blocks, the stepping stones to wealth and

renown,-none of these great men are more noted for untiring perseverance and steady prog- ress which have resulted in the acquirement of wealth and the well merited esteem of their fel- low men than the gentleman whose name heads this memoir. He realized with great prophetic foresight the magnitude of the prospects of the west, and that at a time when this section of the country gave but slight signs of her future great- ness. If, as is maintained, the history of a coun- try is best told in the lives of her prominent men, then certainly any history of Idaho or the Pacific coast would be incomplete without recognition of the salient points of the life record of this man, who was for many years a most influential and respected citizen of this part of the Union.

Mr. Dye was born in Hardin county, Ken- tucky, January 17, 1807, and, spending his boy- hood days in that state, started westward on at- taining his majority, going to Arkansas in 1828. That state was then an almost unbroken wilder- ness, inhabited only by Indians. Buffalo, deer and other wild game roamed through the forest, and the lodges of the hunter and trapper were almost the only places of human abode, except the wigwams of the Indians. For two years he remained in that territory,-for Arkansas had not then been admitted to the Union,-and in 1830 went to New Orleans, where he joined a party of trappers who were going to the Rocky moun- tains to collect furs. Mr. Dye remained witlı them for two years, during which time he expe- rienced many of the hardships and trials of such a life. Traveling where white men had never before been, spending many a night by the camp- fire in the forest, there was nevertheless an ex- citement and interest about such a life that lent it great zest. He became an expert trapper and hunter and also an expert mountain-climber. In 1831 he started for California with a party of thirty-five, who traveled from Taos, New Mexico, across the mountains to the Golden state, reach- ing their destination in January, 1832. There were immense herds of cattle and horses all through the country at that time, and it was cus- tomary for the traveler to take all the cattle that was needed for food.

Mr. Dye traveled northward from the pueblo of Los Angeles to Santa Barbara, where he thought to engage in otter hunting, and formed

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a partnership with Don Roberto, who, together with the Mexican authorities, robbed him of all his money. At this time all California belonged to Mexico, and was largely settled by a wealthy class of Spaniards, who owned immense ranches, containing thousands of acres, each household, with their many slaves and servants, constituting quite a little settlement. After losing his money Mr. Dye continued on his northward way to San Louis Obispo, where he continued in the fur business, meeting with splendid success. Later he went to Monterey, where he married and es- tablished his home. He engaged in the distill- ing business near Santa Cruz, conducting a suc- cessful business until 1840, when the Mexicans, believing that a revolution was about to break out among the people, confiscated his property. Not daunted by this adversity, he removed to Monterey and engaged in merchandising, again accumulating quite a fortune. He received a land grant from the Mexican government of twenty-six thousand, seven hundred acres, lo- cated on the Sacramento river in what is now Tehama county, and including the site of the city of Red Bluff and several other now flourishing towns. He called his place the Antelope Valley Ranch, and on it had two hundred head of horses and one thousand head of cattle. This property became quite valuable in 1848, when gold was discovered in California. In 1849 he was still engaged in merchandising in Monterey, but af- terward removed to his ranch, where he carried on stock-raising and mining. In 1850 he con- ducted a mercantile business in Sacramento.

In 1863 Mr. Dye sold his ranch and removed to Silver City, Idaho, engaging in business in Idaho City and afterward at Silver City, where he resided until 1869. He then went to Mountain City, Nevada, where he was engaged in merchan- dising for about two years, when he went to Cor- ralitos, California, where he departed this life on the 4th of March, 1883. He had been one of the first Americans to locate in that state, and was well known to the pioneers of the Pacific coast from Mexico to British Columbia. He soon learned the Spanish language and became ac- quainted with all the prominent Spanish and Mexican families on the coast. His first wife was a Spanish lady of great culture and refine- ment, a relative of Governor Peco. He was ac-

tive in the war which secured California to the United States, was present at the raising of the Bear flag and also took an active part in raising the stars and stripes in California. He was inti- mately acquainted with General Sutter, General Bidwell, Major Reading and General Fremont, and during his early life was one of the best known and most active citizens, being promi- nently connected with the mining interests and having gold in such abundance that it was al- most a waste of time to count the cost of little things. He gave as high as fifty head of cattle at one time to feed the Indians, and no stranger who knocked at his door to seek food or shelter was ever turned away. Hospitality there reigned su- preme, and was accompanied by the sister virtue of generosity. He was a man of kindly impulses, of sterling worth, honest in all his dealings, and devoted to his family. He not only watched the wonderful development that transformed the west from the wilderness to one of the richest sections of the country, and brought it from un- der the sway of Mexican rule to the liberty of the American republic, but aided in many movements for the public good and thus enduringly in- scribed his name on the pages of its history.

Four of his children survive him: Mrs. John S. Butler, of Oakland, California; Rebecca L., who was married in 1868 to Charles M. Hays, their home being in Boise; and James and Newton, now of Santa Cruz county, California.

HON. JOHN S. BARRETT.

The pluckiest men, those who may go down temporarily in the world's great battle, but who will never give up the fight and are certain to overcome all obstacles and win the victory soon- er or later, are those who have gone into the battle while yet in their childhood, and as boys have done the work of men, and have been men before their time. An illustration of this fact is afforded by the career of Hon. John S. Barrett, of Montpelier, Idaho.

John S. Barrett was born in London, England, February 8, 1854. In 1860, when he was eight years old, he and an older sister were sent to the United States with a company bound for Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1864 his father, Henry Barrett, came over and made a home at Salt Lake City. He was a carpenter by trade, an indus-

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trious and reputable citizen and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He died at Salt Lake City in 1897, aged eighty-four years. John S. Barrett had little opportunity for schooling, but he has gained much knowledge by the way he has gone through life and is a well informed man, with special ability for important business affairs. He attended district school a little and was sent to a night school a while. He began his active life as a farmer's boy-of-all-work, drove team and labored in the harvest field, and at length got a chance to clerk in a store, where hie soon developed ability to sell goods. This was the beginning of his real career. He perse- vered in it and prospered in it, and in 1889 opened a somewhat pretentious store at Mont- pelier. He was successful until the panic of 1893 caught him unprepared and compelled him to dis- continue the enterprise. He was offered and ac- cepted a position as bookkeeper in the store of the Co-operative Wagon & Machine Company, and held it until 1899, when he relinquished it to become manager of the Sidney Stevens Imple- ment Company, dealers in all kinds of farm im- plements, wagons and carriages. The home plant of this company is at Ogden, Utah, and it has branches at Logan. Utah, and Preston and Montpelier, Idaho, and many agencies in differ- ent states. It is one of the oldest and largest concerns of its kind in Utah, has an extensive capital and is operating successfully on a mam- moth scale. At Ogden it has large shops, where it manufactures some of the products it handles. Under Mr. Barrett's management the business of the Montpelier branch is prosperous and steadily increasing, and his success is gratifying alike to his employers and to himself.

In politics, from the Democratic point of view, Mr. Barrett has taken an active interest, and he has several times been elected to the office of school trustee, has been a member of the city council of Montpelier, has been mayor of the city and in 1894 was elected to the state legislature, where he was influential in securing the passage of the law under which the state supplies text- books to pupils in the public schools, a very ex- cellent plan, and one which puts Idaho far in advance of many older states in the matter of placing education in the reach of even the poor- est children. He was also active in securing the

passage in the lower house of a bill providing for the removal of the county-seat of Bear Lake county from Paris to Montpelier. Though this bill failed in the senate, it was favored by a large portion of the population, as the location of Montpelier, in the geographical center of the county and on the railroad, was a strong argu- ment for the proposed removal. Mr. Barrett is the owner of a sawmill at Liberty and has an established insurance business, with as good a line of companies as are represented at Montpel- ier. He is a Woodman of the World and is a zealous member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, holding the office of elder and working forcefully in the mutual-improvement society of the church which has been made a power for good.

In 1876 Mr. Barrett married Miss Eliza Ann Stewart, a native of San Bernardino, California, and they have five children: Alfred, Minnie, Cyn- thia, Edward and Hannah. The people of Mont- pelier have come to regard Mr. Barrett as one of the most public-spirited men in the city. He is progressive and generously helpful to every measure which in his judgment tends to the gen- eral good.

HON. JAMES E. HART.

Faithfulness is the surest stepping-stone to suc- cess. Faithfulness in small things begets confi- dence in one's ability to undertake more consid- erable tasks; and in business life, in professional life, in the church and in public affairs, faithful- ness and thoroughness have carried thousands and are carrying thousands up from the day and place of small things to places of higher and still higher responsibility and honor. These thoughts have been suggested by a consideration of the successful career of the man whose name appears above.

James E. Hart, clerk of the district court and ex-officio auditor and recorder of Bear Lake county, Idaho, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, January 17, 1857, descending in both lines from old English families. His parents, James H. and Emily (Ellingham) Hart, were born in England and married there, and came to America and took up their residence in St. Louis, in 1854. They had embraced the faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and Mr. Hart had done missionary work in England and France

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for seven years, under President John Taylor. He had learned the use of the French language and had been sent to St. Louis on account of the goodly percentage of French residents there, and from 1854 to 1857 had charge of a local branch of the church, as its president. He organized a colony for Utah in the year last mentioned, and was naturally chosen its captain. It was joined by others until it became a large party, which re- quired about forty wagons to cross the plains to Utah. Oxen were their draft animals. Besides their provisions and outfit, they had a number of sick, old and weak people, and women and chil- dren. For a considerable time after his arrival in 'Utah Mr. Hart was in charge of a nail factory. Later other interests claimed his attention until his final retirement from active life. He lives near Paris, aged seventy-four years, highly re- spected by a wide circle of acquaintances. His wife died in 1892, aged seventy-one years. They had six children, of whom James E. Hart was the youngest, and is the only survivor.

Mr. Hart was in the first year of his life when his parents took him to Salt Lake City, and had attained only to the age of six years when the family came to what is now Bear Lake county, Idaho. He was educated in the public schools of Bloomington, Idaho, and at the University of Utah, and was graduated, in 1890, in the law de- partment of the University of Michigan. He practiced his profession three years at Paris and at Logan, with increasing success, and was then called by his church to a mission in the southern states, where he labored successfully for twenty- seven months in Tennessee and for two years of that time was president of the East Tennessee Conference, which embraced forty counties in eastern Tennessee and about the same number in western North Carolina. He directed a very ex- tensive work there, which was signally productive of results, and at its termination returned to Ida- ho, where he was called to take charge of the Bear Lake stake as the president of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association,-an office which he still holds. For about one year he was in the implement trade at Montpelier, but gave most of his time to farming and stock-rais- ing. He was elected to the thirteenth session of the territorial legislature of Idaho and repre- sented the interests of his district ably and most

conscientiously. A lawyer of praiseworthy at- tainments, an able man of affairs, a churchman devoted to all the interests of his church, he is peculiarly fitted to fill the ecclesiastical and sécu- lar offices of high responsibility of which he is the incumbent, and he is discharging his duties with success.

July 28, 1881, President Hart was united in marriage with Miss Elmira Beirdneau, of Ken- tucky ancestry, and a native of Logan, Utah. They have three daughters and two sons: El- mira E., Ermie B., Alta A., James B. and Clifford E. The family home of the Harts is one of the cosiest and most hospitable in the county.

HENRY H. HOFF.

The German character has impressed itself upon our American progress by the inculcation of lessons of thrift, industry and respect for the law. It has made itself felt in the development of our public educational system. In the pos- session of a goodly number of citizens of German parentage Idaho is fortunate. One of its lead- ing representative German-American citizens is Henry Herman Hoff, of Montpelier.

Henry Herman Hoff was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 16, 1849, a son of John G. and Catharine (Pfitzenmaier) Hoff, who were born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1814, were married in the Fatherland, and came to the United States in 1835. Mr. Hoff became a wholesale boot and shoe merchant at Philadelphia, where he died in 1891, aged seventy-seven. Mrs. Hoff died in 1861, aged forty-seven. They had seven sons and two daughters, of whom only four are living. Henry Herman Hoff, the sixth son in order of nativity, attended the public schools of Philadelphia until he was twelve years old, and then took up the battle for bread on his own ac- count. He spent six years in acquiring a knowl- edge of the butcher's trade and business, in which he has been employed almost continuously since, latterly as the proprietor of extensive interests in that line. He was at Chicago four years, until after the great fire of 1871, of which he has a vivid recollection; at San Francisco, California, four months and then went to Salt Lake City, where he met two of his brothers, whom he had not seen for thirteen years. After an interval in which he hauled ore for smelters and was em-

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ployed by a railroad company, he filled out the balance of a year at Salt Lake City as manager of the wholesale slaughter-house of B. A. Stevens. He spent the ensuing fifteen months at Evans- ton, Wyoming, then went to Pleasant Grove, Utah, where, on March 8, 1875, he married Miss Harriet Bacon, a native of that place, born De- cember 22, 1856, a daughter of Chauncey Bacon. During the first year of his married life he lived at Salt Lake City. He then went back to Evans- ton, Wyoming, and for four years was employed by Crawford, Thompson & Company, the firm with which he had been at the time of his previous residence there, and for another year by Jay McDonald. He then removed to Georgetown, Idaho, where he took up one hundred and sixty acres of land. He has since added to his landed possessions until he has at this time four hundred acres, on which he pastures his stock and raises hay and grain. He is a breeder, on an extensive scale, of Cotswold sheep, Clydesdale horses, Dur- ham cattle and Berkshire hogs, and has a large, well equipped meat market at Montpelier. He is entitled to the credit of having been the pio- neer meat-market proprietor of Bear Lake county. His lifelong experience renders him an expert in every detail of this business, and he is known as a bright, active and capable business man.

A Democrat who has always voted his party ticket and worked for the triumph of the Demo- cratic principles, Mr. Hoff has attained much in- fluence in political circles and has been entrusted with work of great public importance. In Feb- ruary, 1893, he was appointed by Governor Mc- Connell a member of the second board of regents of the University of the State of Idaho. He en- tered upon the work of the position with char- acteristic promptness and thoroughness and brought to bear upon it all his trained business ability. When he became a member of the board of regents, only the west wing of the university building had been erected, and during his term of service the main building and east wing have been built. The structure is a credit to the state and to those who had the supervision of its erec- tion. He has since been appointed by Governor Steunenberg a member of the board of the State Normal School at Albion. An Odd Fellow of many years' membership, Mr. Hoff has passed the

chairs of both the subordinate lodge and the en- campment, has represented his lodge in the grand lodge and has the honor of having been grand patriarch of the order in the state. For nine years he was secretary of his lodge. He is a Woodman of the World, and for three years has been secretary of his lodge of that order. Mr. Hoff and his family are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in which he holds the office of elder. Public-spirited to a marked degree, he has done very much toward the propagation of religion and education throughout the county and state, and has assisted by every means at his command every movement having for its object the enhancement of the hap- piness and prosperity of any considerable num- ber of his fellow citizens. There have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hoff six children, named as fol- lows: Beatrice H., H. Herman, Edward C., Ern- est P., Myrtle Desant and Frank Emanuel.

MOSES ALEXANDER.

The sturdy German element in our national commonwealth has been one of the most impor- tant in furthering the substantial and normal ad- vancement of the country, for this is.an element signally appreciative of practical values and also of the higher intellectuality which transcends all provincial confines. Well may any person take pride in tracing his lineage to such a source. Moses Alexander is one of the worthy sons that the Fatherland has furnished to America, and Boise now numbers him among her leading mer- chants, while in the office of mayor he is capably handling the reins of city government.

He was born in Obrigheim, Germany, on the 13th of November, 1853, and acquired his educa- tion in his native country. He came to the United States in 1867, and after spending one year in New York city, went to Chillicothe, Mis- souri, where he was employed as a clerk in the store of Jacob Berg & Company until 1873, when he became a partner in the enterprise, the firm name, however, being changed at that time to Wallbrunn, Alexander & Company. He was thus engaged in business until February, 1891, and on the 14th of July, of the same year, he opened a store in Boise, where he has since car- ried on operations as a dealer in men's clothing and furnishing goods. His establishment is lo-

IN alleraudu

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cated at the corner of Seventh and Main streets, and he has a large and well selected stock, which enables him to retain an extensive patronage. His business methods are commendable, and suc- cess has crowned his enterprising efforts.

For many years Mr. Alexander has taken quite an active interest in political affairs, giving his support to the Democratic party on questions of national importance. In 1886 he was elected to represent the second ward of Chillicothe, Mis- souri, in the city council, and the following year was elected mayor of that city on the non-par- tisan citizens' ticket. In 1897 he was elected mayor of Boise on the Citizens' Silver-Improve- ment ticket, by a plurality of more than three hundred. He has been a progressive mayor, and during his administration many important im- provements have been inaugurated and carried forward to successful completion. He ever places principle before party, and the general good be- fore self-aggrandizement, and his public service has been that of a trustworthy and practical busi- ness man.

On the 5th of November, 1876, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Alexander and Miss Helen Keastner, the wedding taking place in St. Joseph, Missouri. The lady is a native of Crimmitzschau, Saxony, and crossed the Atlantic to Ameri- ca in 1868. To Mr. and Mrs. Alexander have been born three daughters and a son. Mr. Alex- ander is a member of Chillicothe Lodge, No. 333, F. & A. M., and is a man of social qualities. His genuine worth and freedom from all ostentation have won recognition in the friendly regard which is so uniformly extended him.

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An illustrated history of the state of Idaho, containing a history of the state of Idaho from the earliest period of its discovery to the present time, together with glimpses of its auspicious future; illustrations and biographical mention of many pioneers and prominent citizens of to-day, Part 106

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 1014

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1014