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 113

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 113

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CHAPTER XLIII.

INDIVIDUAL RECORDS.

FRANK SIGEL DIETRICH.

T HE day of the lawyer who depended upon inspiration, and whose chief preparation for forensic victory was the acquisition of alcoholic stimulants, is past. The lawyer of to-day depends not alone upon inspiration, but also upon hard work in preparing his cases for trial, and upon their careful presentation and handling in the courts. Usually he has to con- vince hard-headed business men of the merits of his case, which involves nothing of sentiment or of sensationalism and much of pecuniary interest and of commercial right and wrong, pure and simple. He goes before a judge and jury cool, collected, alert, bristling with business, equipped with a thorough knowledge of principles and decisions applicable to his case, ready for emer- gencies, and with the persuasive oratory of reason and precedent clearly expressed and logically arrayed, but having little need for mere theatrical display. Thus equipped, thus discharging his duty to his client, to the court, and to himself, he wins upon the law and the evidence, ably interpreting the one and bringing out the full force of the other. Such a modern, successful lawyer is the subject of this sketch, concerning whose life we have gathered the following facts.

Frank Sigel Dietrich was born near Ottawa, Kansas, January 23, 1863, and came of German ancestry. Both his father and his mother were born near Frankfort, in Germany, where they spent the early portion of their lives, but, imbued with that strong desire for personal liberty and personal rights characterizing so many Germans, they emigrated to America in 1855. For two years they lived in the city of Chicago, but still desiring greater freedom, and being touched by the stirring drama then being enacted upon the border territory, they moved further west, set- tling at Ohio City, Kansas, where, as a pioneer, Jacob Dietrich, the father, began to till the soil, an occupation for which he was little fitted either

by training or experience, but of which he made a success.

Kansas was then passing through a critical period in her history. As an abolitionist and as a Union man, after the question of disrupting or supporting the Union of the states became an issue, Mr. Dietrich passed through the vicissi- tudes of those years in "bleeding Kansas," living as he did on the very scene of the careers of Quantrell and John Brown, not without great personal danger, until his death in September, 1863, when his son, Frank Sigel Dietrich, who had been named in honor of the German patriot Franz Sigel, prominent as a general in the civil war, was only eight months old. He left a widow and, besides the subject of this sketch, two chil- dren, John Dietrich, now superintendent of the public schools of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Charles F. Dietrich, still residing near the old homestead and employed as a traveling sales- man. Mrs. Dietrich remarried, becoming the wife of Jacob Puderbaugh, and by that marriage. had one child, a daughter, Addie, who, as the wife of George M. Hill, resides at Arkansas City, Kansas.

Such education as was obtainable in the com- mon schools during the winter months, the boy Frank acquired, working upon the farm during the summer, and then, through the sacrifices of his devoted mother, the second time a widow, and through his own industry, he was fitted for college in the academic department of Ottawa University, and took the classical course at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, graduating with honors in the class of 1887. Two years thereafter he passed at the Ottawa Uni- versity, as instructor of history and political economy. In July, 1891, he came to Idaho to practice his chosen profession, and in January, 1892, was admitted to the bar of the courts of that state and of the United States. He has since carried on his work with such success as has

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HISTORY OF IDAHO.

brought to him what is doubtless one of the best practices in the state, the law firm of Dietrich, Chalmers & Stevens, of which he is the head, maintaining offices both at Blackfoot, where Mr. Dietrich formerly resided, and at Pocatello, his present residence. In January, 1899, he was ap- pointed attorney for the Oregon Short Line Rail- road Company, with jurisdiction over Idaho and Wyoming, which position he now holds.

Mr. Dietrich has always been a Republican, participating actively as a citizen in politics, never, however, being a candidate for office until the fall of 1898, when he was put forward by the "silver" wing of the Republican party as a candi- date for the office of district judge, and, though running ahead of his ticket, yet, because of the almost equal division of the Republican strength on the "silver" issue, he failed of election, the vote he received giving ample evidence of the public confidence reposed in him.

September 27, 1893, he was united in marriage to Miss Martha Behle, a daughter of Dr. William H. Behle, now of Salt Lake City, and to them has been born one child, a daughter, named Margaret Kathryn, now aged two years. Mr. and Mrs. Dietrich are both members of the Bap- tist church, taking an active part in the social and religious life of the community in which they live. While in college Mr. Dietrich was a mem- ber of both the Delta Upsilon and Phi Beta Kappa societies and he has since become also an Oddfellow and a Mason.

WILLIAM W. WOODS.

Idaho is fortunate in having an able bar. The importance of the legal business growing out of mining enterprises early drew to the state lawyers of ability and experience in large affairs and liti- gation involving big sums and values. As a result, there is at every important business center of the state legal talent which would do credit to Chicago or New York. Major William W. Woods, one of the leading lawyers of Idaho, was born in Burlington, Iowa, January 24, 1841, a son of James W. and Catharine (Wells) Woods. His father was a successful lawyer, and was born in New Hampshire in 1810, settled in Iowa in 1836 and died at Waverly, Iowa, in 1880. His mother was born in New York in 1825 and died at Burlington, Iowa, in 1864.

Major Woods received an academical educa- tion at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and at nineteen began the study of law in the office and under the preceptorship of J. C. & B. J. Hall, of Bur- lington, Iowa. He was called from his legal studies by the demand for soldiers to protect our national interests in the civil war, and in August, 1861, enlisted as a private in Company L, Fourth Iowa Volunteer Cavalry, with which he served until September, 1865, when he was mustered out, with the rank of major, after having made an admirable record as a soldier. He resumed the study of law, and in June, 1866, was admitted to the bar, at Burlington, Iowa. He began the practice of his profession immediately thereafter at Sidney, Fremont county, Iowa, and remained there four years. He then took up his residence and practice at Council Bluffs, lowa, where for two years he had Robert Percival as a law' part- ner. In February, 1872, he went to Salt Lake City, Utah, and there gained a high standing at the bar, and remained there until 1887. He first came to Coeur d'Alene region in 1884, but not to remain, and it was not until 1888 that he lo- cated with his family at Murray, then the seat of justice of Shoshone county. Since 1890 he has lived at Wallace. Major Woods has given attention to general practice, but has devoted himself especially, and with much success, to litigation growing out of mining business. He has taken a high place at the bar wherever he has practiced, by reason of the fidelity with which he serves his clients and the honorable and straightforward methods of his practice.

Politically Major Wood is a Democrat, but he has never cared for office for himself, preferring to devote himself entirely to his profession. He was a member of the constitutional convention in 1890, and a presidential elector in 1896. He is a Mason, an Elk and an active member of Tecum- seh Post, No. 22, of the Grand Army of the Republic, at Wallace. He was married in 1874, in Salt Lake City, to Mrs. M. C. Dunford, a native of Utah.

GEORGE GUMBERT.

The proprietor of the city meat market and the pioneer butcher of Boise, where he has been in business since 1864, is George Gumbert, who is a native of Pennsylvania, his birth having

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HISTORY OF IDAHO.

taken place in Pittsburg on June II, 1835. Of German extraction, his ancestors were early set- tlers of Pennsylvania and his great-grandfather, -Gumbert, fought in the colonial army during the Revolutionary war. His paternal grandfather was a farmer in Westmoreland county. His father, George Gumbert, was born in Pittsburg, where he followed the meat business nearly all his life, having attained the advanced age of ninety years. He was in politics first a Whig, later joining the Republican party upon its or- ganization. He married Miss Amelia Turner, who was born in Pennsylvania, and both of them were members of the Baptist church. They be- came the parents of nine children, of whom three sons and a daughter are now living.

George Gumbert, the immediate subject of this sketch, was educated in the public schools of Pittsburg and in 1850, when but fifteen years old, he crossed the plains to California, later removing to Nevada and engaging in the butcher business at Virginia City. He volunteered in the war against the Piutes, furnishing his own horse and complete outfit, and assisted in driving the Indians back to the reservation. In 1863 he came to Boise, which at that time consisted of a few canvas tents, and opened a meat market in a shanty, where he continued until 1876, and then returned to Virginia City, remaining there two years. Once more coming to Boise, he again started a meat market, which he has con- ducted ever since, and by his thoroughly reliable and honorable business methods has secured the good will and patronage of a large number of his fellow citizens. His market is located on Main street, in the business part of the city, which is now handsomely built up and in a flourishing condition.

In his political affiliations Mr. Gumbert is a stanch Democrat, and, without any solicitation on his part, he was nominated by his party for one of the county commissioners. Such was his popularity that he ran far ahead of his ticket, and he is now serving his county in a business-like and efficient manner.

Mr. Gumbert was united in marriage in 1865 to Miss Mary C. Turner, a native of Kentucky, and one daughter was born to them. She is now Mrs. L. Pefley. Socially Mr. Gumbert is an active member of the uniformed rank of the

Knights of Pythias, and holds the office of treas- urer of his lodge.

JOSEPH BUCKLE.

Joseph Buckle represents all that is best in German-American blood, which in war and peace, in all stages of the history of the United States, has fought for and encouraged the causes of liberty, public education and good govern- ment. He was a pioneer in Kootenai county, Idaho, and has become a popular and influential citizen because he possesses those qualities of head and heart which make men useful and patriotic.

Joseph Buckle, assessor and tax collector of Kootenai county, Idaho, was born in Stark county, Ohio, April 3, 1857, a son of Anthony and Mary (Datyler) Buckle, natives of Germany, who were brought to the United States in child- hood and married and lived out their days and died in their son's native county.

The future Kootenai county official gained a primary education in the district schools near his home and, in 1877, when he was about twenty years old, he went to California and farmed suc- cessfully in that state until 1882. He came to Kootenai county in the year last mentioned and was engaged in farming until 1897, when he was appointed deputy sheriff, which position he held until January, 1899, when he resigned it to as- sume the duties of assessor and tax collector of Kootenai county, an office to which he was elected November, 1898, upon a fusion ticket of Populists, silver Republicans and Democrats, by a majority of four hundred and eighty-two. This important office, in which all the taxable property of the county is involved, and which comes nearer to the private interests of the whole people of the county than any other, is administered by Mr. Buckle in a thoroughly business-like manner, and with that conscientious regard for the rights of the property owners which has made him very popular with his fellow citizens of all classes. He has an able deputy in the person of H. J. Bosth- wick.

Mr. Buckle is a member of Panhandle Lodge of the Knights of Pythias of Rathdrum. He married Miss Mary Casey, a native of Wisconsin, in 1892, and they have three daughters, named Agnes, Lilian and Florence. He has demon-

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strated his public spirit in many ways and is re- years, he determined to try his fortunes in the far garded as one of Rathdrum's most useful and progressive citizens.

CHARLES D. ARMSTRONG.

In a record of those who have been promi- nently identified with the development and progress of Latah county it is imperative that definite consideration be granted to the subject of this review, for not only is he a prominent representative of the agricultural interests of this favored section, but has the distinction of being one of the pioneers of the golden west, with whose fortunes he has been identified for fully forty years, concerned with varied industrial pur- suits and so ordering his life as to gain and retain the confidence and esteem of his fellow men.

Charles Dexter Armstrong is a native of the old Buckeye state, having been born in Knox county, Ohio, on the 22d of January, 1834, and being a representative of sterling old southern families. His father, John Armstrong, was born in Owen county, Kentucky, and did valiant service as a soldier in the war of 1812, being a member of an Ohio regiment. As a young man he married Miss Melinda Hinton, a native of the state of Maryland, and soon after their marriage they removed to Ohio, where they established their home and reared a family of eleven chil- dren. They were members of the Methodist church and were conscientious and upright in all the relations of life. The mother departed this life in the fifty-fourth year of her age, and the father lived to attain the venerable age of ninety years. Of the immediate family only four are living at the present time, so far as known to the subject of this sketch. Charles D. was the youngest of the children, and his educational training was secured in the primitive log school- house in the vicinity of his home, in Knox county, and this rudimentary institution he was enabled to attend only during the winter months, as the boys in the pioneer settlements had to assist in the development and cultivation of the farms, in which line our subject recalls the fact that he contributed his due quota of hard work. He assumed the individual responsibilities of life at the age of eighteen years, and in 1859. when he had attained the age of twenty-five

west. He accordingly made the long, weary and dangerous journey across the plains and over the mountains to the golden state of California. The party of which he was a member comprised eleven families, and the little band of emigrants plodded its way across the continent with ox teams. After reaching his destination Mr. Arm- strong was for some time engaged in mining in Eldorado and Nevada counties, California, in which operations he met with only modest suc- cess.

In the year 1882 Mr. Armstrong started for the Camas prairie of Idaho, but became im- pressed with the attractions and prospects of the northern section of the state and determined to locate in what is now Latah county. Accord- ingly, in 1883, he established himself upon his present fine farm, a hundred and sixty acres, which he secured from the government, and here, by industry and discriminating effort, he has de- veloped one of the most valuable farming prop- erties in this section of the Gem state.

At Virginia City, Nevada, in the year 1867, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Armstrong and Miss Mary E. Johnson, who was born in Polk county, Oregon, the daughter of Nelson Johnson, an Oregon pioneer of 1847. Mr. and Mrs. Arm- strong had nine children at the time of their removal to Idaho, and since that time seven more have been added to the family circle. It is a fact worthy of note that of this large family all are living with the exception of one, the youngest child being four years of age and the oldest thirty-one. Of the children we offer the following brief record: John Nelson; Melinda, who died in her seventeenth year; Maud Alice, now Mrs. Chas. A. Edwards ; Ida May, the wife of Newton Lile; Charles Hinton, who was a bright student in the University of Idaho, enlisted in the ranks at the time of the inauguration of the Spanish- American war and is now serving his country as first sergeant of his company, in the Philippine islands ; Walter Benton ; Rosalind; Joshua Will- iam ; Edwin Forrest ; Elmer James; Mabel Flor- ence; George Wallace; Albert Dexter; Percy Newton; Clyde D .; and Sallie Hazel. The parents have every reason to be proud of their children, all of whom are bright, intelligent and good-looking, representing the best type of

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American youth. Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong are both in excellent health, are of genial nature, and, blessed with the goodly gifts of temporal fortune and with the filial devotion of their children, they may well feel that their lines have fallen in pleas- ant places.

Mr. Armstrong is a man of strong mentality and has taken a very lively interest in the cause of education and in all other objects which tend to further the advancement and well-being of his county and state. He has served as a school trustee for many years, and has been indefati- gable in his efforts to afford the best possible educational advantages to his own and his neigh- bors' children. In his political adherency he has been a lifelong Democrat, and he is known as a man of unbending integrity and sterling worth. The family enjoy a marked popularity in the community where they have lived since coming to Idaho, and this tribute is well merited.

EDWIN F. GUYON, M. D.

Edwin F. Guyon, M. D., who has become known as county physician of Bear Lake county, Idaho, assistant surgeon for the Oregon Short Line, member of Idaho and Oregon State Med- ical Associations and of the American National Medical Association, and as author of the law to prohibit illegal medical practice in Idaho and co- author with Dr. C. J. Smith of the law to prevent illegal medical practice in Oregon, is one of the leading physicians in Idaho and is doing much to elevate his profession and augment its useful- ness throughout the northwest. Dr. Guyon be- gan the practice of medicine in Pendleton City, Oregon, in 1891, and continued it there success- fully for five years, when his health began to fail and he sought a higher altitude and a dryer at- mosphere at Montpelier. The colder climate agreed with him, and he regained his health, and by the time he had done so he had built up a large and rapidly growing practice, in which he has been successful professionally as well as financially.

Dr. Guyon was born at New Orleans, Lou- isiana, November 7, 1853, of Huguenot ancestors, on his father's side, who came early in our history from France and settled in New York and New Jersey. John Guyon, his father, was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and married Miss

Emily Shattuck, a native of St. Louis, but a descendant of an old Virginia family, her mother having been prominent at Richmond, socially and otherwise. John Guyon, who was a con- tractor, built many wharves in the south and died there, of yellow fever, when Dr. Guyon was a child. His widow, who married again, died in California, in the forty-ninth year of her age.

Mrs. Guyon went to California in 1856, with her second husband, and Edwin F. was a mem- ber of the moving household. The journey was made by the way of the isthmus of Panama. Dr. Guyon was educated in the public schools of California and Oregon and at Whitman College, Washington, and was graduated from the med- ical department of the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1891.

Politically Dr. Guyon is a Democrat, and he wields no uncertain influence in party affairs in the county and state. He is a prominent Odd Fellow, having passed all the chairs in the subor- dinate lodge and in the encampment, and he is a member of the Woodmen of the World. As a citizen he is public-spirited and progressive and takes an active and helpful interest in all meas- ures for the public good. He was married, in 1879, to Miss Maggie Jones, a native of Missouri, and they have a son named La Fayette and a daughter named Maud. Mrs. Guyon is a Baptist. The Doctor was brought up in the Methodistic faith.

LORENZO R. THOMAS.

There are some men in every community who appear to have been born to succeed, but their success is not by any means a matter of chance. They are born with those qualities of mind and heart which, if cultivated and applied to the affairs of life, will produce success as surely as wheat well sowed and fertilized will produce its kind. Men who make vigorous and judicious use of these talents are the successful ones.

Lorenzo R. Thomas, one of the enterprising men of Idaho who has continually advanced in the affairs of life, was born in Hanley, Stafford- shire, England, May 31, 1870, and is of Welsh ancestry. His father, James Thomas, was mar- ried in Wales to Elizabeth Richardson, and after- ward removed to England, whence they came to the United States in 1873, bringing with them their daughter and son. The family located in

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Salt Lake City, Utah, and there Mr. Thomas engaged in the same business that he had fol- lowed in England, that of merchant tailoring. In 1877 they removed to Logan, Utah, and in 1882 took up their abode at Idaho Falls, where Mr. Thomas is now carrying on an extensive business as a dealer in clothing and men's fur- nishing goods. He is now in his fifty-second year and is a respected bishop of the Church of Latter Day Saints.

In Idaho Falls Lorenzo R. Thomas early learned the basic principles of · successful mer- chandising. He acquired also a good practical education in the public schools of Logan, Utah. His abilities were early recognized and he was given the management of the mercantile business of the Zion Co-operative Mercantile Institution. at Rexburg, Idaho, and controlled that important interest two years and a half. While a resident of Rexburg he was elected a member of the third Idaho state legislature and served in that body with great ability and credit. Upon the expira- tion of his term in the general assembly he re- signed his position with the mercantile company to accept the appointment as deputy state treas- urer of Idaho, in which capacity he had charge of the state treasurer's office under Hon. Charles Bunting, and during a portion of the term of Hon. George H. Storer. These officials had such faith and confidence in the honesty and integrity of Mr. Thomas that he handled the state funds without bonds. Mr. Thomas resigned his posi- tion and returned to his home at Rexburg, but was soon afterward appointed United States com- missioner, which position he held from April, 1897, until October of the same year, when he was appointed by President Mckinley register of the United States land office, at Blackfoot. The success which has attended Mr. Thomas' efforts from boyhood has been somewhat remarkable, and the more so because it has been won entirely through honest effort-the result of his diligence, capable management and straightforward deal- ing.

On the 6th of January, 1892, Mr. Thomas was united in marriage to Miss Lillian Elliott, a native of England. Her father died in that coun- try, and in 1887 her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Elliott, with her family of four sons and four daughters, came to the United States, and settled

in Rexburg, Fremont county, Idaho, where Mrs. Elliott now resides. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have three children: Grace Lavinie, Willis Shoup and Lawrence Myrddin. The elder son was named in honor of Congressman Willis Sweet and United States Senator Shoup, who are among Mr. Thomas' warmest friends. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are zealous members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, in the interest of which he has long been an active worker. He traveled for three years in England and Wales as one of its missionaries and his labors were crowned with abundant success. In politics he has long been an active Republican, and was treasurer of the Republican state central committee in the cam- paign of 1896. By his honorable methods and courteous manners he has made many personal friends throughout the state, and he is universally regarded as a model official.

ALEXANDER I. WATSON.

A third of a century has passed since Alex- ander Irwin Watson, of Grangeville, took up his abode in this section of Idaho, and for thirty- seven years he has been a resident of the state. He was born in Darke county, Ohio, June 2, 1830, a representative of one of the pioneer fam- ilies there. His paternal grandfather was a native of Ireland, and on leaving that country crossed the ocean to America. He became an industrious farmer of Darke county, and served his adopted country as a soldier in the war of 1812. He was almost one hundred years of age at the time of his death. His son, Robert Watson, the father of our subject, was born in Pennsylvania, and married Miss Nancy Stanford, a native of Vir- ginia, by whom he had six sons and two daugh- ters, our subject being now the only survivor of the family. Late in life the parents removed to Indiana, where the father died at the age of sixty-five years, and the mother at the age of fifty-five.

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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 113

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