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 110
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Illinois Infantry. He served in southwestern Missouri, Arkansas and at Vicksburg, and par- ticipated in nine battles and sieges, together with many skirmishes, the principal engagements in which he participated being at Prairie Grove, Vicksburg, Fort Morgan and Spanish Fort. He was very fortunate in that he was never wounded by an enemy's ball, and after loyally and faith- fully serving the Union until the cessation of hos- tilities he returned home with a most creditable military record. He entered the service as a pri- vate, but after six months was made corporal and when a year had passed was promoted to the rank of sergeant.
Returning to his home in Illinois, Mr. Lang- don there carried on agricultural pursuits until 1866, when he removed to Crawford county, Kansas. In 1874 he crossed the plains with a team of horses and a team of cows. Mrs. Lang- don and one of their daughters had died in Kan- sas, in 1872, which was a most severe blow to the husband and father. On starting westward he left his other children in Kansas and came to the Pacific slope in search of a better location. It was his first intention to go to New Mexico, but the Indians were so hostile that he stopped at Salt Lake and spent the winter in Grass valley, there remaining for a year and a half, engaged in stock-raising. From that point he wrote to his children to join him, and when they were re- united they continued their travels to the north- west. They spent a winter in the Walla Walla country, and in 1877 came to their present loca- tion, Mr. Langdon taking up a claim of one hun- dred and sixty acres. Here he with partners en- gaged in the sawmill business and manufactured most of the lumber used in the early building of Moscow. He continued milling and lumbering until 1888, and during a part of that time resided in Moscow, where he served as deputy assessor of the county and later was elected assessor. He also filled the office of deputy sheriff for two terms, and that of sheriff for one term, and was a member of the territorial legislature in 1880, having also served four terms in the legislature of Kansas. In the meantime he gave the land on which he first settled to his daughter, while his present home place, comprising three hun- dred and twenty acres, is pleasantly located eight miles south of Moscow on the Potlatch creek.
There he is passing the evening of a well spent life, superintending his farm and raising large quantities of wheat and other cereals, also fine fruits, unsurpassed for excellence in any fruit district of the Union. His business affairs have been capably managed, and his diligence and en- terprise have brought to him a handsome compe- tence.
When the Republican party was formed Mr. Langdon became one of its stanch supporters and continued to affiliate therewith until Presi- dent Grant's second administration, when, be- coming dissatisfied with the policy of the party, he joined the Democracy. He followed its ban- ner until President Cleveland's second adminis- tration, and then became a Populist, but is now independent, supporting the men and measures that he believes best fitted to promote the general good. Socially he is a representative of the An- cient Order of Pyramids, the Knights of Pythias and the Grand Army of the Republic, and has served on the staff of two of the national com- manders of the last named organization. He has ever been as loyal and true to his country as when he followed the starry banner in the south.
WILLIAM E. HEARD.
William E. Heard, clerk of the district court of the fourth judicial district of Idaho, and ex- officio auditor and recorder in and for Blaine county, Idaho, is a native of Missouri. He was born May 21, 1865, in a part of Benton county which has since been set off to form Hickory county, where John Heard, his grandfather, set- tled in 1832 and died in 1864. John Heard was a typical southern gentleman, born in the south in 1796. He lived in the south until about 1830, when he moved to Benton county, Missouri, be- coming one of its first settlers. Earl Heard, son of John Heard and father of William E. Heard, was born in Hickory county, Missouri, May 8, 1837. He has been a successful farmer and is a decided Democrat and a member of the Mission- ary Baptist church. He married Mary Miller, also a native of Hickory county, Missouri, and a member of the same church, and they are both living, contented and respected, in their native county.
Reared on his father's farm, William E. Heard attended the public schools near his birthplace
I. Iheard
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in Missouri and later was a student at the Mis- sionary Baptist Institute at Macedonia, Missouri. For five years after his graduation he divided his time between working on the farm and teaching school. He came to Hailey, Idaho, in 1890, and for four years afterward taught near that place. In 1894 he was elected probate judge of Logan county, Idaho, but not long afterward Logan county was legislated out of existence as a civil division of the state, and Mr. Heard found him- self in the anomalous position of an officer with- out an office and again gave his attention to "teaching the young idea how to shoot." In 1896 he was nominated on the Populist ticket for the office of assessor and ex-officio tax collector of Blaine county, and was elected by a majority of three hundred and seventy-six, and in 1898. again on the Populist ticket, he was elected clerk of the district court of the fourth judicial district of Idaho and ex-officio auditor and recorder of Blaine county, by a majority of one hundred and forty-three. His election to the last mentioned office was regarded as a pleasing demonstration of his personal popularity and the fealty of his friends.
August 1, 1886, Mr. Heard married Miss Ad- die M. Bartsche, and they have two sons, Har- mon C., born July 2, 1889, and Herman C., born August 15, 1892. Mrs. Heard is the only child of George and Clarrissa Bartsche, and was born in Hickory county, Missouri, where her parents settled in 1841, though they now live at Hailey, members of their daughter's household.
Mr. Heard is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Modern Wood- men of America, and he and Mrs. Heard are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, to all the interests of which they give most generous support. Mr. Heard is a public-spirited citizen who has at heart the progress and prosperity of the town of his adoption and who gives his help- ful encouragement to every movement having for its object the enlancement of the welfare of its people or any considerable class of them.
GEORGE F. MOORE.
The professional politician, clamorous, aggres- sive and spectacular, may appear more often in public and in the public print that the quiet, un- assuming, judicious business man who takes a
patriotic interest in politics because of the effect of politics on the prosperity of the people, but he is usually not so potent a factor in political move- ment and his influence is not so lasting, because it is likely to be exerted spasmodically, when the politician has in view some alluring official re- ward for political service, and it loses part of its effect upon the public because the public is al- ways a little in doubt as to its disinterestedness. Yet the able man of affairs who does not seek office is often taken from his desk and given im- portant public responsibilities because the people know that he will discharge them with an eye single to the public good. One of the most con- spicuous examples of this kind in Idaho was in the election of Hon. George F. Moore to the office of lieutenant governor in 1896.
George F. Moore was born in Lewisburg, Preble county Ohio, March 9, 1861, a son of Newton and Belle L. (Fall) Moore, natives of Ohio. The family removed to Kansas in 1868 and thence to Colorado in 1877. Newton G. Moore died ten years after that, aged about fifty- two. His widow lives at Wallace, Idaho. Hon. George F. Moore gained a common-school edu- cation in Kansas, and after the family went to Colorado helped his father in a freighting enter- prise in which he was engaged there for a time. Later he mined and devoted himself to different enterprises with good success until 1891, when he came to Wallace and established a business in the furniture line, which he has built up to such a notable success that he now has the larg- est store and the largest stock of household goods in the city.
For the last twelve years Mr. Moore has been an earnest supporter of the principles of the Peo- ple's party and his intelligent efforts for its suc- cess have not been without recognized results. In 1896 he was elected lieutenant governor of Idaho on the People's-Democratic ticket, by a plurality of five thousand five hundred votes, and filled that important office in 1897-8. Through his political prominence and through his men- bership in the orders of the Free Masons, Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen of the World and of the Knights of Labor he lias gained a wide acquaintance with the leaders of thought and action throughout Idaho and adjoining states, and his hearty interest in the welfare of
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Idaho and her people has made him very popu- lar wherever he is known.
JUDGE EDGAR C. STEELE.
Edgar Clarence Steele occupies as enviable a position in the public esteem as the most ambi- tious could desire or as any of our prominent men have achieved. To the citizens of Moscow and the second judicial district he can only be known as being a reputable, prominent man and an honest, able and efficient officer. At the bar he manifests all the qualities of the successful lawyer, and on the bench he displays a rare com- bination of talent, learning, tact, patience and industry. The successful lawyer and the com- petent judge must be a man of well balanced intellect, thoroughly familiar with the law and practice, of comprehensive general information, possessed of an analytical mind and a self-control that will enable him to lose his individuality, his personal feelings, his prejudices and the peculiari- ties of disposition, in the dignity, impartiality and equity of the office to which life, property, right and liberty must look for protection. All these qualities Judge Steele displays.
A native of Indiana, he was born November 15, 1857, his parents being Samuel A. and Mary Amnie (Beem) Steele. The father was born in Indiana about 1830, has followed farming and stock-raising throughout his entire business career, and is now living in Romona, Indiana. His wife also is a native of the Hoosier state, and is still living. The paternal grandfather of our subject was Samuel Steele, a native of Ircland, who on coming to the United States located in Maryland. Subsequently he removed to the blue-grass region of Kentucky, and thence to In- diana, where he died at the age of seventy-two years.
Judge Steele is a graduate of the high school of Spencer, Indiana, and also pursued his studies in the State University, at Bloomington, Indiana. Determining to engage in the practice of law as a life work, he spent two years in the Indiana Law School, at Indianapolis, where he was grad- nated with the class of 1879. He practiced law in that state until the fall of 1889, and for four years was in partnership with James H. Jordan, who is now a member of the supreme bench of that state. In 1889 Judge Steele was appointed
law examiner of the general land-office at Wash- ington, and served until January, 1893, when he resigned and came to Idaho, having in the mean- time formed a partnership with Hon. Willis Sweet, of Moscow. That relationship was main- tained until 1898, when Judge Steele was elevated to the bench.
The Judge is a stalwart Republican in his po- litical views, and in August, 1898, he was nomi- nated for judicial honors in the second district, being elected by a plurality of eight hundred. He has proved a most competent officer, strictly fair and impartial, weighing the evidence care- fully and framing his decisions with due regard to the law and to precedent. He is proving him- self to be one of the best district judges of the state, and his judicial actions are in entire har- mony with the opinions of the leading members of the bar.
In November, 1889, in Logan, Ohio, Judge Steele was united in marriage to Miss Jessie L. White, a native of Ohio, and their pleasant home is a popular resort with Moscow's best citizens. In his social relations the Judge is a Mason, and in professional and political circles he is regarded as one of the leading men of his adopted state.
ALEXANDER STALKER.
In the days of the early development of south- eastern Idaho Alexander Stalker came to the state, and is therefore numbered among its pio- neer settlers, but he has not only witnessed the changes that have since occurred, for in all that has tended to the development, progress and ad- vancement of the section he has ever borne his part, and may therefore well be called one of the founders of his county and town. In later years he has been somewhat prominent in political af- fairs, and at all times he has been a loyal citizen, deeply interested in everything pertaining to the welfare of the community.
A native of bonnie Scotland, Mr. Stalker was born November 21, 1829, and is of Scotch lin- eage, his parents, Robert and Janet (Tanslı) Stalker, having also been natives of that land. They were married in Scotland and six children were born to them there. Their son Alexander preceded them to America, in 1848, and three years later the father, mother and three children, also crossed the Atlantic, taking up their abode
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on the boundary line between Monroe and Or- leans counties, New York, about twenty miles from Rochester. There the father engaged in farming, but in Scotland· he had been a mer- chant. After a time he returned to Scotland, disposed of his houses and other property there, and again became a resident of New York, whence he subsequently removed to Kansas. His wife and sons took passage on the Northern Indiana, and when crossing the lake the ship took fire and was burned to the water's edge, but the passengers were saved. Mr. Stalker and his family located near Fort Scott, Kansas, where he died at the age of sixty-five years, the mother surviving twenty years and passing away in 1895, at the age of eighty-six.
Alexander Stalker acquired a good Englislı education, attending the public schools of Scot- land until fourteen years of age. He afterward learned the cabinet-maker's and ship-builder's trades, and after coming to America located in St. Louis, Missouri, where he engaged in boat- building. He also followed the same business in Kentucky. In Scotland, when but eighteen years of age, he was converted to the faith of the Latter Day Saints, and in 1850 he crossed the plains to Utah, driving a team for a Mr. Johnson, who died at Fort Kearney, while en route to the west. Mr. Stalker continued on to Salt Lake City, and there worked in a sawmill for Dr. Rich- ards, who was one of President Brigham Young's first counselors. Subsequently he engaged in erecting houses and was also employed on the construction of the state house at Fillmore. Later he worked in a cabinet shop, until the spring of 1853, and in the meantime, in 1851, he was married to Miss Ortencia H. Smith, a daugli- ter of Warren Smith, who was killed in Missouri by a mob.
Having promised his father and the family that he would visit them when they came to America, Mr. Stalker returned to the east in 1853 and remained with his relatives until March 4, 1854, when he started with a two-horse team from New York. He had a light wagon, con- taining a few dishes and needful articles, and alone he made the perilous journey across the country. When he reached Shell creek he camped near a company of California emigrants, who invited him to join their party and to turn
his horses out with theirs, but lie declined the in- vitation and tied his horses to either end of a long rope, which he then fastened, near the mid- dle, to a stake. He then lay down to rest at the stake for the night, and in the darkness, several times hearing noises, he pulled his horses up to him by means of the rope and so kept them in safety. In the morning it was found that the Indians had stolen all the horses belonging to the California emigrants. When he arrived at Coup Fork many teams were there to be ferried across and the ferryman was charging five dollars a team. Mr. Stalker did not have the money, but he learned that if he went farther up the stream he could ford, and consequently drove about twenty miles to a place where a few tracks turned into the water. He unhooked one of his horses and rode in to look for a crossing, but had only proceeded a short distance when his horse sank and with difficulty was extricated. He then decided that if he drove up the stream in a diagonal way he could reach the opposite bank, and so hitching his horses he made the trial and was nearly across when one of the horses fell . struggling in the quicksand. Mr. Stalker then jumped in, unhitched the horses and got them out to the bank, but looking up the river he saw a large company of Indians in war paint. Know- ing something of their habits he decided instant- ly that his best course was to put on a bold front. so he motioned to the Indians to come and help him get the wagon out. They had a long rope, and with their aid the wagon was secured, after which he gave them each a cracker from his scanty store and proceeded on his way unmo- lested by the Indians, who were in search of an- other party of red men. Mr. Stalker's method was to travel most of the day, but before dark he would stop, build a fire and prepare his supper, after which he would move on a mile or two and spend the night in as sheltered a place as he could find. At length he completed the journey in safety, and in the fall he located at American Forks, about thirty miles from Salt Lake, where he followed farming and also worked at his trade. In 1852 he was in the Indian fight in Skull valley, where twelve Indians were killed, and partici- pated in other engagements with the red men in the early history of the country.
In the spring of 1860 Mr. Stalker left American
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Forks, and on the 14th of April arrived in the Cache valley, being one of the first settlers of Idaho. That district, however, was then thought to be a part of Utah. About fifty families came first and built their log houses in the form of a hollow square, the rear of the houses forming a part of the fort. Openings were made at each corner of the square and for three years a guard was maintained at each place both night and day. The settlers also made a ditch to convey water to their land, and in this way they made the desert a favored garden spot in the midst of which a beautiful town, with numerous pleasant homes. has been built. By his thrift and industry Mr. Stalker has prospered. He became the pioneer small-fruit grower of the valley, first cultivating blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries and cur- rants, and successfully demonstrating the adapt- ability of the soil for horticultural purposes. He has since planted a fine orchard of apple, pear and plum trees. He became the owner of two liun- dred acres of land, but has since sold a portion of it, retaining possession of a valuable tract of eighty acres. He also has a good residence in Franklin.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Stalker was blessed with fourteen children, eleven of whom are liv- ing, namely, Alexander: Amanda; Janet, wife of Louis Hook; Warren; Wallace; Ortencia Anna; James; Alvira, wife of John D. Ellis; Sardinus S .; Willard; Theresa D., a teacher; Alma S .; Elizabeth, wife of Ambrose Shorten, and Joseph, who is still with his parents. The family is one highly respected in the community.
Mr. Stalker is a stalwart Republican, and on that ticket was elected to the eighth session of the territorial legislature. He was also journal clerk for the session of forty days, and was a member of the Idaho territorial council. When elected to the latter office his connection with the Latter Day Saints was terminated. Since then he has not been a church member, but retains his faith in Christ, and adheres in a degree to the belief of the Presbyterian church, in which he was reared.
CLINTON T. STRANAHAN.
Important official work has been done in Nez Perces county by Clinton T. Stranahan, now fill- ing the office of United States Indian agent at Spaulding, and it was because of his faithfulness
in smaller things that he was entrusted with these broader responsibilities, which he is discharging in a truly patriotic spirit.
Clinton T. Stranahan was born in Clayton, Contra Costa county, California, in March, 1859, and is descended from Irish ancestry. His fore- fathers settled early in the state of New York, and there his father, Ebenezer Stranahan, was born. In 1852 Ebenezer Stranahan went to California. He engaged in mining in Tuolumne county and met with much success. In 1858 he went back to New York and married Miss Ellen Terry. He returned to California with his wife and settled in Contra Costa county, where he died as the result of an accident, in the forty- fourth year of his age. His wife survives him, aged sixty. She is a devout member of the Presbyterian church, with which her husband was connected during his life.
Ebenezer and Ellen (Terry) Stranahan had six children, of whom Clinton T. was the first born, and four of whom are living. Clinton T. Strana- han was educated in the public schools of Oak- land, California, and came to Moscow, Idaho, in the spring of 1878. He took up and improved one hundred and sixty acres of government land near where the city of Juliaetta has since grown up. Later he acquired a forty-acre fruit farm just at the border of the city of Lewiston, which he has planted and cultivated with such care and skill that it is universally conceded to be one of the best fruit farms in the state. On this prop- erty Mr. Stranahan has built and furnished a de- lightful home, which is admired by all who see it and in which a hearty hospitality abounds. Mrs. Stranahan was Miss May Bostwick, and is a native of Gallatin valley, Montana. They were married December 23, 1884, and have a son named Clyde and a daughter named Thora. Mrs. Stranahan is a communicant of the Episcopal church.
Politically Mr. Stranahan has always been an active and influential Republican. He has worked ardently for the success of the principles that party advocates. He has looked after the local advancement of Republican interests and has attended the state and county conventions of his party. He has done this from principle and with a desire to do his full duty as a citizen. He has not been an office-seeker, and if he has held
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official positions it has been because he was the man for them, logically and by reason of his manifest fitness for them, and because he was urged to accept them by others, who desired to see them administered honestly and economi- cally. He was deputy assessor of Nez Perces county four years, was under sheriff two years, was United States deputy marshal, under United States Marshal Joseph Pinkham, four years, has served as chairman of the Republican central committee of Nez Perces county, and was ap- pointed United States Indian agent by President McKinley, in June, 1899, and given charge of the Nez Perces agency at Spaulding, Idaho. To the duties of this office and to his personal affairs, he gives his whole attention; and whatever gratifi- cation other successes may have brought him, his chief pride is in the knowledge that he has brought a valuable and beautiful agricultural property out of a wilderness of sage-brush, and has been potent in demonstrating the capabilities of this part of the state for profitable cultivation and its advantages for labor and investment.
WILLIAM SEVERN.
An interesting book might be written about the early settlement of Montpelier, Idaho, to which no one could contribute a more edifying chapter of personal experiences than the man whose name appears above, and some account of his venturesome, busy, useful and successful career is necessary to the completeness of this work.
Williamı Severn was born in Hucknell, in Not- tinghamshire, England, October 4, 1836, of an ancestry English in all known lines of descent. His parents were Enoch and Ann (Allen) Severn. They were married in England and were there converted to the faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Somewhat more than ten years ago they came to Montpelier, where their son William had come as a pioneer and had become a prominent citizen, and there M .. Severn died in 1890, his wife having passed away a few years earlier. They had five children, of whom three are living. William the eldest was educated in England and learned and worked at the trade of weaving ladies' hose. In 1856 he sailed for America, on board the ship Orrison. and was married on the voyage to Miss Mary
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