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 116
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Idaho, where they have a herd of cattle and also a herd of horses. They began to import Short- horn cattle about thirty years ago, as a means to the improvement of their own stock, and as a re- sult they have been instrumental in improving to a degree the stock of the whole county. They are breeding a fine grade of horses, and are among the most successful farmers in their part of the state.
July 22, 1885, Bishop Clark married Miss Pa- melia Dunn, a native of Plain City, Utah, and a daughter of John Dunn, a prominent citizen of that town. They have had eight children: Wil- ford Woodruff, Jr .; William O .; Vera Pamelia; Royal D .; Ernest, deceased; Elmer R .; Homer, and Howard, twins, born on their mother's thir- ty-fifth birthday.
JAMES WITT.
Since 1861 Mr. Witt has been a resident of Idaho, and is now a representative of the agricul- tural and stock-raising interests of the state. He was born in Tennessee, July 7, 1837. His great- grandfather, Caleb Witt, was a native of Eng- land, and became the founder of the family in America. He located in the south and after a time removed to Tennessee, where he reared his family and made his home until his death. His son, James Witt, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Tennessee and loyally served his country in the war of 1812. He married a Miss Hann, a lady of German extraction, and their son, Caleb Witt, was a native of Jefferson county, Tennessee, where four generations of the family were born. He married Miss Margaret K. O'Marcus, a native of Anderson county, Tennes- see, and two children were born to them, a son and daughter. The father died in 1882, at the age of sixty-seven years, and the mother passed away in 1856, at the age of forty-six. They were Baptists in religious faith, and were people of the highest worth and integrity.
James Witt, whose name introduces this re- view, is now the only surviving member of the family. He obtained his education in the com- mon schools, and by reading while in the monn- tains. In 1859 he started with his father to cross the plains to Pike's Peak, but on the Platte river they met a pleasant party en route for Oregon and joined them on their trip. At length they reached Portland, spent the winter there, and in
the spring of 1860 our subject went up the Co- lumbia river, a distance of one hundred and ten miles above the mouth of Snake river. He then returned to Wallula, and engaged in freighting, with bull teams. to Walla Walla. In the late fall he made his way to the Cascades, where he spent the winter months with his father, and in the spring of 1861 they went to Greer's ferry, on the Oro Fino road, on the Clearwater river, there remaining until the spring of 1862, when they went to Elk City. They purchased three claims on Buffalo Hill, one mile west of Elk City, and then joined with others in digging a ditch which supplied water to six or eight companies. As they went forward into the hill they required more water, and in 1872 Mr. Witt and his father purchased the whole claim. Half a million dol- lars were taken out of that hill, which is now owned by a company in Butte, Montana, of which Mr. Leggat is a prominent member. This was what was called a "wages camp," that is to say the miners made fair wages, some taking away with them from two to ten thousand dollars.
In 1876 Mr. Witt's father took up lands on Camas prairie, and in 1880, wishing to be near his father in his declining years, our subject also went there, acquiring lands and engaging in stock-raising. He and his nephew, J. B. Sloan, have nine hundred and sixty acres of land and are raising hogs on a very extensive scale, ship- ping large numbers each year. His life has been one of activity, in which he has met many diffi- culties, but these he has overcome by determined purpose, and has risen to a position among the substantial citizens of his adopted county.
In 1874 Mr. Witt became a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity, taking the degrees of the blue lodge in Mount Idaho Lodge, No. 9, F. & A. M. He traveled from Elk City to Mount Idaho for that purpose, and though the trip cost him sev- enty-five dollars he has always considered it a good investment. He at once became a student of the tenets of the order, and has ever endeav- ored to conform his life to the ennobling princi- ples, so that, being a good Mason, he is a good citizen. He is a most active worker in the order. has filled nearly all the offices of the lodge, and has been past master for a number of terms. The Mount Idaho Lodge was removed to Grange- ville, where it is now located, numbering among
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its members many of the best citizens of the town. In politics Mr. Witt has always been a Democrat, , and while not a politician in the sense of an office- seeker, he has served for several terms as county commissioner, in a most capable and commend- able manner. He is quite widely known through- out the state, and well deserves mention among the honored pioneers.
JOHN B. THATCHER.
John B. Thatcher, assessor and tax collector of Bannock county, and the owner of a valuable ranch on Bear river, where he carries on general farming and stock-raising, was born in Clark county, Ohio, October 22, 1834, being of English and German descent. At an early epoch in the history of Virginia, his ancestors, having braved the perils incident to ocean voyages at that day, took up their residence in the Old Dominion, and representatives of the family fought for the inde- pendence of the nation in the Revolutionary war. The parents of our subject, Hezekiah and Alley (Kitchen) Thatcher, were both natives of Vir- ginia, and the father was an industrious and sub- stantial farmer. He lived to be sixty-nine years of age, and his wife passed away at the age of eighty-two years. They were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and were people of the highest integrity of character. In their family were thirteen children, eight of whom reached years of maturity, while five are still living.
John B. Thatcher was the fourth child and is now the eldest surviving member of the family. He was reared and educated in Illinois and in Salt Lake City, Utah, and afterward engaged in mining in El Dorado county, California. On the Ist of January, 1858, he returned to Salt Lake City. In 1860 he went to Logan, Utah, where he engaged in clerking in the Mercantile House, being there employed for fifteen years. In the fall of 1881 he came to Idaho and purchased three hundred and sixty acres of land, upon which he has since made his home. He has devoted his energies to general farming and stock-raising, and his diligence, practical methods and energy have brought to him success. As his financial resources have increased he has extended the boundaries of his ranch until it now comprises six hundred acres,-a valuable property, on which he
raises hay, grain and stock. Upon his place are found all the modern improvements and acces- sories of the model farm, and the neat and thrifty appearance of the place well indicates the care- ful supervision of the owner.
In addition to his business cares Mr. Thatcher is ably discharging his public duties and is a most trustworthy official. In politics he has been a lifelong Democrat, and on that ticket was elected a member of the territorial legislature in 1882. On the 8th of November, 1896, he was elected assessor and tax collector, and in November, 1898, was elected to the lower house of the Idaho general assembly, where he has ably represented his district and labored earnestly for the best in- terests of his constituents. He has long been a close student of political questions, of the needs and demands of the public, and has taken his place among the foremost legislators of Idaho.
On the 9th of March, 1858, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Thatcher and Miss Rachel H. Davis, a native of Ohio. Their union has been blessed with six sons and two daughters, namely: John B., a farmer of Wyoming; Milton H .; Na- than D .; Lulu, now the wife of Frank Thirkill; Lettie, at home; Howard E .; Gilbert, who is his father's deputy; and Henry K., who com- pletes the family. The mother was killed in an accident, in January, 1882. She was a most es- timable lady, held in high regard by all who knew her, and her death occasioned great sadness in the community as well as in her own home. Like her husband, she belonged to the Church of Lat- ter Day Saints. Mr. Thatcher has the esteem and unlimited confidence of the citizens of his county, and is well known as a man of sound judgment and sterling rectitude of character.
JOHN B. GOODE.
The readjustment of the national affairs after the civil war led to conditions under which the people of the north and the people of the south began to mingle, and became acquainted and ratified the feeling of mutual admiration which their prowess during the four years' struggle had compelled for foemen who wore the gray and foe- men who wore the blue. Men of the north took part in the southern business and politics; men of the south began to have a hand in the national and local affairs at the north. A paternal senti-
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ment has resulted which has buried old animosi- ties and raised numerous mutual interests, and to-day east, west, south, southwest and north- west, southern men and northern men are work- ing hand in hand for the greater prosperity and the gradual but certain attainment of the splendid destiny of the American people. Idaho is not without its prominent men of southern birth and education, and one of the most highly regarded of these is John B. Goode, of Coeur d'Alene.
John B. Goode was born in Bedford county, Virginia, August 18, 1864, a son of John Goode, long one of the most prominent men in the Old Dominion, and conspicuous in national politics since the days before the war. This distinguished son of Virginia was born in May, 1829, and be- came an able and successful lawyer and a factor in the state affairs. A Democrat of Democrats and a patriotic lover of the south and all its insti- tutions, he early identified himself with the public questions which were engaging the best talent of the country previous to the war of 1861-5, and as a member of the Virginia legislature and as an advocate of the southern cause, he became prominent and influential among his fellow citi- zens. He was a member of the secession con- vention at Richmond, and later a member of the Confederate congress. During the war he served with the rank of colonel, on the staff of General Early and that of General Breckenridge. After the war, with influence unabated, he was sent to the national congress four times as the represen- tative of the second congressional district of Vir- ginia. President Cleveland, in his first term, ap- pointed him solicitor general for the United States and later a member of the Chilian claims commission. He now lives in Bedford county, Virginia, and enjoys the distinction, besides his political honors, of being one of the ablest and most successful lawyers in the state. His wife was Miss Sallie Urquhart, a native of Southamp- ton county, Virginia, who died in Norfolk, Vir- ginia, in 1890.
John B. Goode received his education in the schools of Norfolk, Virginia, and by private tu- tors until the fall of 1880, when, at the age of six- teen years, he entered Washington and Lee Uni- versity at Lexington, Virginia, where he re- mained as a student for two years.
After leaving college he was engaged for a time in business in Norfolk, Virginia, and upon work connected with the United States coast and geodetic survey. In 1885 he entered the law de- partment of the Columbian University, from which he was graduated in 1887. During the en- suing two years he was an assistant in the depart- ment of justice of the United States and was en- gaged in the defense of the United States in the settlement of the French spoliation claims. In the fall of 1890 he was admitted to practice in the supreme court of the United States. Having some time before resigned his connection with the department of justice, in the fall of 1890 he re- turned to Virginia and entered actively into the practice of his profession. During Mr. Goode's residence in Virginia he became a member of the Virginia State Bar Association and served upon several of the important committees of the asso- ciation. In May, 1895, he was appointed by President Cleveland chairman of the United States Mineral Land Commission for the Coeur d'Alene land district, Idaho, and took up his residence at Coeur d'Alene City. After retiring from the Mineral Land Commission he began the practice of his profession in Idaho, and has also become largely interested in developing the min- ing resources of the state, and has become widely known in connection with the mining interests of the northwest.
His opinion of mining investments is regarded as valuable and is received with entire confidence, and he has been instrumental in bringing much eastern capital to Idaho for the development of local mining enterprises. He has evinced a help- ful interest in educational matters in Idaho, and is known as an influential advocate of popular education. In June, 1897, he delivered the uni- versity oration at the Idaho State University, at Moscow, speaking on the subject: "Citizenship, Its Privileges and Responsibilities in the Re- public." In February, 1899, he was appointed by the governor a member of the board of re- gents of the University of the State of Idaho. In 1898 he was, as a Democrat, elected county attor- ney for Kootenai county, an office which he is filling with an ability and success that have won him the admiration of his fellow citizens of all shades of political belief.
In October, 1888, Mr. Goode married Leila S.
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Symington, of Baltimore, Maryland. They have four children: Leila S .; John, Jr .; Clare Ran- dolph and Stuart Symington.
JOEL B. HARPER.
History has long since placed on its pages the names of those who, coming to the Atlantic coast, planted colonies in the New World and opened up that section of the country to civiliza- tion. As the years passed, and the population of that region rapidly increased, brave pioneers made their way into the wild districts farther west. The names of Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton were enduringly inscribed upon the rec- ords of Kentucky, that of John Jacob Astor upon the history of Michigan and other states of the upper Mississippi valley. Later Kit Carson and John C. Fremont made their way into the mountainous districts west of the "father of wat- ers," and subsequently the explorers penetrated into the vast wildnesses of the Pacific slope. The development of the northwest, however, is comparatively recent, but when time shall have made the era of progress here a part of the his- tory of the past, the names of men no iess brave and resolute than those who came to the shores of New England or made their way into the Mis- sissippi valley will be found illuminating the an- nals of this section of the Union, and on the list will be found that of Joel Beauford Harper, who is numbered among the early settlers of both California and Idaho.
Mr. Harper was born in Georgetown, Scott county, Kentucky, October 15, 1837. His fath- er, Benjamin Harper, was a native of Delaware, and was of English descent. In 1821 he removed to Kentucky and was married there to Miss Han- nah Moore. They were people of the highest respectability, were representatives of the indus- trious farming class, and continued their resi- dence in that state until called to the home be- yond. The father lived to be eighty-five years of age, and the mother passed away at the age of eighty-four. In his native state Joel B. Harper acquired his education, and at the age of four- teen crossed the plains to the Pacific coast with five young men. They traveled with various companies and had much trouble with the In- dians. They were first attacked in Thousand Springs valley, on the sublet cut-off. They
fought all day and succeeded in driving the In- dians off, but were attacked the next day at the head of the Humboldt river, killing several of the Indians, while two of their own number were wounded. Such was the daring of the Indians that they had five fights in a distance of three hundred miles. All the time the red men were on the war-path, but the emigrants were well armed and defeated the Indians in every skir- mish, else they would have been completely mas- sacred by the wily foe.
The party with which Mr. Harper traveled ar- rived in California July 1, 1853, and he began work in the American valley. He engaged in mining, in operating a sawmill and in carrying on the butchering business. He followed mining there for five years, and ran the first tunnel in the rock to turn the river in an old channel. In the operation of his claim he was very successful, he and his partner, Tim Shannon, taking out from three to four hundred dollars per day. In 1858 he sold his interest in order to go to the Fraser river, where gold had recently been discovered. He fitted out a boat with supplies and started it up the river, but it was capsized, and three men and three hundred dollars' worth of supplies were lost. Mr. Harper then returned to Puget sound and crossed to Pendleton, Oregon, where he en- gaged in carpenter work for ten months, receiv- ing excellent wages for his services. He next went to Dayton, Oregon, and established a sash and door factory, but it did not prove a paying investment, and he afterward clerked in stores in Dayton and in Baker City.
In May, 1863, Mr. Harper arrived in Idaho City, Idaho, then known as Bannock, where he engaged in mining. He paid three thousand dol- lars for two claims and took out on an average of two hundred and fifty dollars per day to each rocker, getting out ten thousand dollars in all, but seven thousand dollars was stolen from him. In 1865 he removed to Silver City, where he re- mained fifteen years. He operated a sawmill, built the Owyhee county court-house and jail, together with many other buildings, and was prominently connected with the development and improvement of that section of the state. In 1882 he came to the Wood river valley and set- tled at Ketchum, on a government claim of eighty-seven and one-half acres, upon which he
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erected a commodious and pleasant home,- which stands as a monument of his own handi- work. He improved the farm by piping water from a spring on the hillside, and the house is thus continually supplied with cool and pure water. On the place he has both a blacksmith and carpenter shop, his superior mechanical skill enabling him to make anything in wood, iron or steel. He can make a good edged tool, and has upon his place everything in that line necessary in his work, taking a commendable pride in keep- ing everything about his place in first-class order. In 1883 he erected a saw-mill and built a chute, at a cost of fifteen hundred dollars, in which to bring logs from the mountain to the mill. He is accounted one of the most enterprising and pro- gressive business men of this section of Blaine county, and is meeting with well deserved suc- cess in his undertakings.
On the 17th of November, 1867, Mr. Harper was united in marriage, in Nevada, near the Cali- fornia line, to Miss Edna E. Lanbeth, a daughter of Aaron Lanbeth, of Davis county, North Caro- lina. She crossed the plains to California in 1859, across the southern Butterfield route, and was the second woman to traverse that route to San Francisco. She accompanied Mr. Harper in all his pioneer travels on the Pacific coast and indeed was to him a faithful companion and help- meet. . They were comfortably situated in the pleasant home in Ketchum, in the enjoyment of the high esteem of many friends in that com- munity, but within the present year, 1899, the devoted and cherished wife has been called into eternal rest, leaving to her sorrowing husband the benediction of a faithful and beautiful life.
Mr. Harper has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1857, when he joined Plumas Lodge, No. 60, F. & A. M .. of Plumas, Califor- nia. He has taken a very active interest in the work of the fraternity, has filled all the offices of the lodge, and is now past master. In politics he has been a Democrat since casting his first vote, and is a reliable citizen who supports all measures which he believes will prove of public benefit. He has a wide acquaintance, and by all who know him is held in high regard, for his life has been well spent. He has never indulged in drinking or gambling, as have many of the pio- neers in the new mining regions, but has lived
an honorable and upright life, and his example is in many respects well worthy of emulation.
NICHOLAS BROCKE.
Nicholas Brocke, one of the prominent farm- ers and fruit-growers of the Potlatch country, is pleasantly located three and a half miles west of Kendrick. He was born in Michigan, July 24, 1855, a son of John and Christine (Webber) Brocke, both of whom were natives of Germany, whence they crossed the Atlantic to the United States in 1849. . They were then single, their marriage being celebrated in Baltimore, Mary- land. Mr. Brocke spent three years in the em- ploy of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company and three years in the Lake Superior copper mines, and then emigrated to Iowa. In 1858 he went to northwestern Nebraska, and in 1877 be- came a resident of South Dakota, where he indus- triously and energetically carried on farming until his death, which occurred when he was in his sixty-fifth year. His wife still survives him, and is now in her sixty-eighth year. They had five children, four of whom are living.
The second child, Nicholas Brocke, was reared in his parents' home, obtained his education in the public schools and accompanied his parents on their various removals until after their arrival in Nebraska. In that state he was married, in 1877, to Miss Annie Geiser, a native of St. Louis, Missouri. They came to Idaho and located on a farm nine miles south of Moscow, Mr. Brocke improving his property and making his home thereon until 1888, when he sold his farm and came to his present location. In June of that year he entered a claim of one hundred and sixty acres, which he has transformed into a very de- sirable and valuable farm. The buildings upon the place stand as monuments to his enterprise, and the neat appearance of everything indicates the careful supervision of a practical and progres- sive owner. He has a good residence, large barns and all the appliances for successful farm- ing. He has secured a pumping outfit which conveys water to his residence and all over the farm wherever wanted, and thus the fields arc well irrigated. He raises both grain and fruit, and his harvest and fruit crops well attest the business ability of Mr. Brocke, who is most ener- getic and resolute in carrying on his work.
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Unto our subject and his wife have been born eight children, namely: John, Frank, Ettie, Carrie, Amelia, Joseph, Charles and Nicholas. The parents and children are valued members of the Catholic church, and Mr. Brocke belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and to the Woodmen of the World. In his political connec- tions he is a stalwart Democrat, and has been school trustee and highway commissioner, filling both offices with ability and fidelity. To all the duties of citizenship he is true, and is ever reliable in all life's relations. The success he has achieved is the result of his own well directed efforts, and he may justly be called a self-made man.
HENRY K. HARTLEY. :
The middle portion of the nineteenth century might properly be termed the age of utility, especially in the northwest. This vast region was then being opened up to civilization, and the honored pioneers who found homes in this rich but undeveloped region were men who had to contend with the trials and difficulties of frontier life. Theirs were lives of toil. They were en- deavoring to make homes to cultivate farms, establish stock ranches, develop mineral re- sources, found business enterprises, and from early manhood to old age their lot was generally one of labor; but their importance to the com- munity cannot be overestimated, and the com- forts and luxuries to-day enjoyed by the younger generation are largely due to the brave band of pioneer men and women who came to the north- west during its primitive condition. It is also encouraging and interesting to note that many who came here empty-handed have worked their way upward to positions of affluence; that as the years have passed and the country improved prosperity has attended their efforts and wealth rewarded their earnest endeavors.
To this class of honored men belongs Henry K. Hartley, who has been a resident of Idaho since 1864, his home being in Caldwell, Canyon county. He was born in Grearville, Illinois, March 15, 1833, and is of English lineage, the original American ancestors having settled in the south, prior to the Revolutionary war, in which they participated, thus aiding in the estab- lishment of the republic. James Hartley, father of our subject, was born in Augusta, Georgia,
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