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 118
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Mr. Wilson married Miss Anna Daniels, De- cember 22, 1886. Mrs. Wilson was born in Jack- son county, Iowa, August 31, 1867, and was educated in the public schools of her native state and at the state normal school at Kirksville, Mis- souri. She taught school in Missouri for one year after her graduation. Her parents died in 1879, and in 1884 she came to Idaho, bringing with her Thomas Daniels, her brother, then only seven years of age. In 1884-5 she taught suc- cessfully in Elmore county.' Mr. and Mrs. Wil- son have had four children : James, Ida, Maggie (who died March 17, 1899, just past her fifth birthday), and Lloyd.
Everything that conduces to the welfare of his town, county and state receives Mr. Wilson's unqualified support. He is an influential Demo- crat and is widely popular as a Mason and a Knight of Pythias.
JESSE W. RANDALL.
A leading representative of the agricultural in- terests of Latah county is Jesse W. Randall, who owns and operates a fine farm pleasantly situated nine miles southeast of Moscow. He is most practical and yet progressive, and his untiring industry and capable management have brought him a handsome competence. He was born in Wisconsin, October 3, 1855, and is of Scotclı descent, his paternal great-grandfather having emigrated from Scotland when this country was still a British possession. He settled in New York colony, and when the attempt was made to throw off the yoke of British tyranny he joined the American army and valiantly aided in the struggle for independence. The grandfather, John Randall, was born in the Empire state and married Emily Wasson, also a native of New York. By trade he was a blacksmith. With his wife and six children he removed to Illinois in 1847, locating in Boone county, where he died at the age of sixty years, his wife surviving him until she had passed the eightieth milestone on the journey of life. They were earnest Christian people, and their rectitude of character won them high regard.
Almeron Randall, the father of our subject, was born in New York, in 1827, and married Miss Mary Ann Wright, a native of Maine, by whom he had a family of eleven children, eight of whom are yet living. The father was a farmer and also a contractor and builder. He served his fellow townsmen in the office of county com- missioner and was a reliable and trustworthy citi- zen. He and his wife were members of the Bap- tist church, and he died at the age of sixty-eight years, while her death occurred in her sixty-sixth year.
Jesse W. Randall, the fifth in order of birth in their family, was a youth of fourteen when the parents removed from Illinois to Missouri. There he remained three years, and in the spring of 1872 made the overland trip to Oregon, locat- ing in Douglas county, where he worked as a farm hand for six years. He was married in the Sunset state, in 1877, to Miss Frances Suther- land, a native of Douglas county, and a daughter of Fendel Sutherland, an Oregon pioneer of 1848. Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Randall came to their present home in Latah county, whither his brother, John E. Randall, had preceded them. He told them of the rich and fertile land to be procured from the govern- ment in what was then Nez Perces county, and making his way to this section of the state our subject obtained both a pre-emption and a home- stead claim, which he has transformed into a fine farm. As time has passed he has also pur- chased other property until his landed posses- sions now aggregate seven hundred acres, all in one body. He has upon the place a com- modious frame residence, large barn and all the accessories and conveniences of the model farm of the latter part of the nineteenth century. He has three hundred acres planted to wheat, and the alluvial soil has yielded as high as fifty-five bushels to the acre. He also raises other grain, vegetables and fruit and has a good orchard, in which he is cultivating many varieties of fruit, principally for the consumption of his family. He also raises some high-grade sheep, cattle and Percheron horses, and introduced into the county some Norman-Percheron horses, thereby improv- ing his own and his neighbors' horses. He is a very industrious man, and though he employs others to aid in the operation of his farm, he also
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works with them, and the present fine condition of the place is largely due to his personal labors.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Randall have been born seven children, five of whom are living: Ernest, John, Rena, Edith Pearl and : -. The two eldest sons assist their father in the operation of the farm. Ernest is a graduate of the high school of Moscow and carried off the honors of the class of 1898. The mother of this family holds membership in the Christian church.
In his political affiliations Mr. Randall is a Republican and keeps well informed on the issues of the day, but has no time or inclination for public office, preferring to devote his attention to his business interests, in which he is meeting with gratifying success. He and his family are very highly spoken of by all who know them, and their record is deserving of a prominent place in the annals of Latah county.
CHARLES BOMBERG.
Idaho owes much to her sturdy German and German-American population, whose thrift and industry have made success in every field of en- deavor. Prominent among the business men of Genesee is Charles Bomberg, raiser and buyer of cattle and a butcher and dealer in meat. Mr. Bomberg is of German parentage. He was born in Huron county, Michigan, May 25, 1862. His father, also named Charles, was born in Germany and came to America with his parents in his childhood. He grew to manhood and established himself in Michigan, and there married Miss Kate Weaver, a native of Huron county, and also of German ancestry. They reared to useful- ness and honor a family of nine children, and are living out their declining years at their old home in Michigan, happy and respected. They are members of the Lutheran church.
Mr. Bomberg was reared on his father's farm and did his part of the work after he was old enough and as long as he remained at home. He gained a practical education in the public schools and had some business experience before he left Michigan. In 1884 he went to Dakota, and from Dakota he went to Washington, from Washing- ton he came to Idaho, in 1888, accompanied by his present partner, and the two opened a modest meat market to cater the trade of the then infant town of Genesee. The growth of the town was
no more rapid than the growth of their enterprise, which has always kept pace with every new de- mand upon it. As at first Mr. Bomberg's con- cern has the entire trade of the city. Mr. Bom- berg and his partner own five hundred and fifty- two acres of land adjacent to Genesee, on which they raise as much of the stock they kill as is possible. But the supply thus obtained is small in proportion to their needs, and they have estab- lished a market for cattle which brings to Gene- see a large part of the stock raised in the city's tributary territory. They have erected fine resi- dences and other necessary buildings on the land mentioned, and have put up a large market build- ing, which is as well adapted to the purposes for which it was planned as any similar establishment in the state.
Mr. Bomberg is a Knight of Pythias and was made a Master Mason in Unity Lodge, No. 32, of Genesee, and of this he is treasurer. In politics he is a Republican, but he is too busy and too little inclined to public affairs to give much more time to political matters than is necessary to meet the responsibilities of citizenship. He is popular in business circles, a successful man who counts his friends by the hundred, and is generously helpful to all public interests. He is, as yet, a sin- gle man, and it is not impossible that there is a very interesting phase of his life yet to be en- tered upon and yet to be written of.
JOHN KRALL.
Few lives have been more active or more thor- oughly filled with incidents of interest and of unusual nature than has that of John Krall, one of the pioneers of Idaho, and for about thirty-five years a resident in the vicinity of Boise City. " Now a wealthy man, he is indebted to himself alonefor his fortune, for he started out in youth to fight the battle of life, a poor boy, and by the exercise of industry and perseverance, in the face of great difficulties, he came off victor over all.
Mr. Krall is a native of Germany, born Decem- ber 10, 1835, his parents and ancestors likewise being of German birth. His father owned a flour- ing mill and the lad early learned the business. When he had mastered the branches of learning taught in the government schools he went to England, and there, at sixteen, took up the study of the English language and customs, while he
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worked as a baker and confectioner. Desiring to see something of the world, and well equipped to earn a living, as he was familiar with two languages and had mastered two trades, he shipped aboard a vessel and in the next few years sailed to various parts of the world. Once, when sailing around Cape Horn, he was shipwrecked, and the disabled vessel was towed to Valparaiso by an English man-of-war. From that city Mr. Krall went to Honolulu, and thence to San Fran- cisco, where he remained until 1856. He then went to Oregon and Washington, and rented a mill at Dallas, Oregon, and also carried on busi- ness near Salem until 1859. The following two years he passed at Vancouver, in Washington.
In 1861 Mr. Krall came to Idaho, and for some time he was more or less interested in mining at various places. He took out seven thousand dol- lars' worth of precious minerals in six weeks at Florence, and supposing that he had nearly exhausted the resources of the claim he sold it for a thousand dollars, but subsequently seventy- five thousand dollars or more were made fron this property. During the winter of 1861-2 Mr. Krall lived in Lewiston, and in the spring opened a bakery. He sold bread at fifty cents a loaf, as flour and other materials were extremely high- priced. In the autumn of 1862 he located in Placerville, Idaho. In 1864 he sold out and opened a bakery in Boise City, continuing in this enterprise until his store was destroyed by fire, in 1870, his loss at that time amounting to about twenty thousand dollars. The year after that unfortunate occurrence Mr. Krall bought four hundred acres of land from the United States government and planted eighty acres with different kinds of fruit trees. He has made a specialty of raising fruit and has been exception- ally successful. His farm extended to the original limits of Boise City, and when the town devel- oped Mr. Krall platted a portion of his orchard and sold the lots to citizens. As he made a point that no buildings should be erected save good and substantial ones, the result is that this sec- tion of the city is one of the most beautiful and desirable as a place of residence in Boise. Still actively concerned in fruit-growing and other business enterprises, Mr. Krall is as industrious and busy now as he has been in the past. Until of late he has been connected with the Demo-
cratic party, but is now independent. Socially he is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
In 1865 Mr. Krall married Miss Barbara Queen, who died in 1883, and left two children. The daughter is the wife of W. Scott Neal, a well known business man of this city, and the son, John, Jr., is also a citizen of this place. In 1885 Mr. Krall, Sr., married Miss Eva Ayers, daughter of Peter and Mary (Dausch) Ayers. The former was born in Wisconsin and the latter in New York state, and both are now deceased. Mrs. Krall was born in Denver, Colorado, June 20, 1859. She is a member of the Methodist church. The three sons born of this union are named respectively Frank E., Albert R. and Louis V. The family is one of prominence in the community, the members of the household occupying a high position in social circles. In business and social life Mr. Krall commands the respect of all, for his reputation is above ques- tion, his word being as good as any bond that was ever solemnized by signature or seal. His labors in the development of the natural re- sources of the state have been of great benefit to the city, and his public-spirited interest in all measures pertaining to the general good lias been a potent factor in promoting educational, moral and material welfare.
WILLIAM J. McCLURE.
To the pioneer rightfully belong the honors of the land which he finds out and enriches and beautifies. The sturdy manhood which animates the pioneer is the kind that is required in the administration of the laws which have been made operative over his territory chiefly by his enter- prise and devotion to the course of civilization. The makers of the new country should be, and if they want to be usually are, the governors.
William J. McClure was born in Canada, in 1843, a son of Theophilus and Maria (McCrack- en) McClure. His parents, of Scotch-Irish de- scent, were natives of Ireland. They came to Canada about sixty years ago and lived out their lives there. Mr. McClure gained a scanty educa- tion in the public schools in the vicinity of his boyhood home. As he grew up he began a career as sailor on the great lakes, which occupation he followed for some years. It was an adventurous
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life, quite to his liking in many ways, and afforded him an experience which has availed him well in more recent years. In 1871 he went to Texas and from there came to Idaho, in 1879, locating within the present limits of Kootenai county, where he has since lived. He helped to organize the county and has been prominent in its affairs from that time down to the present, as a leading citizen and influential Democrat. In 1884 he was elected assessor and tax collector for Kootenai county, and in 1886 was appointed re- ceiver of the United States land office at Coeur d'Alene, serving in that capacity for four years, under the administration of President Cleveland. In 1890 he was elected sheriff of Kootenai coun- ty. In 1893 he was appointed deputy collector of customs at Bonner's Ferry, Idaho, which office he resigned, December 1, 1898, to enter upon that of treasurer of Kootenai county, of which position he is the present incumbent and the duties of which he performs in a manner that has won the approbation of observant citizens of all shades of political belief. For twenty-three years Mr. McClure has been a Freemason, and he is widely known in the fraternity throughout the west. His position upon all questions of public moment has been such as to give him an enviable reputation for public spirit. and his citizenship is of the highest order. He married Mrs. Mamie Kercheval, of Coeur d'Alene, in 1895.
Mr. McClure was a pioneer in Kootenai coun- ty, and in his earlier life in Idaho experienced all the trials and hardships incident to life in a re- mote and undeveloped country. He had known before that time how to "rough it," however,- first on the great lakes separating his native Canada from "the states," next in Texas among the cowboys, "greasers" and Indians of a period that has closed, and still later in a long, weary journey by wagon from Texas to Idaho, a de- tailed account of which would make a book voluminous, interesting and edifying.
JOSEPH H. HUTCHINSON.
Joseph H. Hutchinson, lieutenant governor of Idaho, is one of the distinguished young men of the west who by reason of his marked individu- ality, strong mentality, honorable purpose and laudable ambition has risen to a po- sition of eminence. A native of this sec-
tion of the country, his interests are close- ly allied with those of the northwest, and he is deeply interested in all that pertains to the ad- vancement, growth and prosperity of the "Gent of the Mountains." He was elected to his present office in 1898,-an honor well merited and worthily worn.
Mr. Hutchinson, who for some years has been a resident of Silver City, was born in Central City, Colorado, on the 21st of May, 1864. He is a son of James Hutchinson, superintendent of the Trade Dollar Mining & Milling Company, and one of the prominent men of the state. When sixteen years of age Joseph H. Hutchinson re- moved to Denver, Colorado, and attended the high school of that city, during which time he was twice honored by election to the presidency of the Lyceum, and in 1883 he won the Wood- burn medal for oratory. The elemental strength of his character was also shown forth by his actions during this period, for desiring to acquire a good education and at the same time finding it necessary to provide in a measure for his own livelihood, he acted as janitor of the Twenty- second avenue primary school and as route car- rier on the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Times, while pursuing his high-school course. His enterprise and energy found recognition in business circles, and in 1890 he was elected chair- man of the board of the Colorado Mining Stock Exchange and later was made its secretary and treasurer, but left that position to become his father's assistant in business in Idaho. The Colo- rado Springs Mining Stock Association making him a handsome offer to preside over the board in 1896, he returned and handled their stock through the Cripple Creek stock boom, but again came to Idaho January 1, 1897, and accepted the position of foreman of the Trade Dollar Consoli- dated Mining Company. In that capacity he has rendered his father very efficient aid, and is an able representative of the mining interests of the state. His diligence, resolution and executive power would make him successful in almost any line of business, and prosperity will undoubtedly mark his future career.
Mr. Hutchinson was united in marriage to Miss Helen Hays, a native of Silver City, and a daughter of Hon. Charles M. Hays, district attor- ney and a prominent pioneer of Idaho, now re-
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siding in Boise. Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson have many warm friends in the community in which they reside. In his political affiliations Mr. Hutchinson has been a lifelong Republican, but differs with his party on the great financial ques- tion, to which he has given close, earnest and systematic study. He has the honor of being secretary of the first silver club formed in the United States; was also secretary of the first national bimetallic convention, held in Chicago in 1893, and secretary of the Bimetallist Union, formed at Salt Lake City, in 1895. All unsolic- ited by him came the nomination for lieutenant governor in 1898, he being chosen as the candi- date of the silver Republican and Democratic parties. His patriotic devotion to the best in- terests of the state, his business ability, calm judgment and thorough trustworthiness all ren- der him well qualified for the office, and his course has awakened commendation throughout the state.
WALTER HOGE.
Walter Hoge is one of the most prominent representatives of the industrial interests of southeastern Idaho. He makes his home in Paris, where he is connected with the lumber business, both manufacturing and selling lumber. The volume of his trade enables him to furnish employment to a large force of workmen and thus he adds to the general prosperity of the community and to the welfare of the town.
Mr. Hoge was born on the 18th of November, 1844, and is of English lineage. His parents, Walter and Elizabeth Hoge, were also natives of the same land, and the father supported his fam- ily by working at the blacksmith's trade. In his religious belief he was a Presbyterian, and died in that faith in 1866, when sixty-six years of age. His wife long survived him and departed this life in 1882, when eighty-three years of age. They were the parents of eleven children, but only four are yet living.
Mr. Hoge, of this review, the youngest of the family, accompanied his parents on their removal to Scotland in his early boyhood and was there educated. He served for four years as an appren- tice to the butcher's trade and followed that busi- ness until his emigration to America in 1862. Having come to the New World he took up his abode on Vancouver's Island and began work in
the mines of British Columbia, but at the time of the Cariboo excitement he went to that dis- trict, where he was paid ten dollars per day for his labors. In 1864 he went to Portland, Oregon, and from there to Walla Walla, where he worked at his trade for sixty dollars per month until the spring of 1864, when he removed to the Kootenai country, carrying on the butchering business there on his own account and meeting with fair success. Subsequently he engaged in mining at Alder Gulch, now Silver City, Montana, and at Helena, and on returning to Idaho settled at Salmon City. His partner, Godfrey Knight, was one of the discoverers of Leesburg, and Mr. Hoge lost considerable money in his mining ven- tures there. Leaving that place he came to the Cache valley to spend the winter and during that season embraced the faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to which he has since faithfully adhered.
For two years Mr. Hoge engaged in teaching school in Utah, and in 1870 came to Bear Lake county, locating in Paris, where for some time he had the contract for carrying the mail and also ran a stage route between Evanston and Cariboo, a distance of one hundred and forty-five miles. Success attended his efforts in that direction and his capital was thereby materially increased. When called to public office he abandoned the stage route and for some time devoted his ener- gies to public service. He is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, well versed on the issues of the day. Many years ago he was appointed deputy district clerk of the third judicial district and later he was elected sheriff of the county, in which office he was continued, by re-election, from 1882 until 1888, discharging his duties with marked promptness, fearlessness and fidelity. In 1884, seing the need of a sawmill in this locality, he erected a steam mill with a capacity of ten thousand feet of lumber per day, and also built a sawmill, operated by water power, the latter having a capacity of eight thousand feet of lum- ber per day. In addition he also owns and ope- rates a planing-mill and a shingle mill. He saws yellow and white pine, getting his timber from the mountain side, and employs from twenty to thirty men. He has a good local demand for the products of his mills, and also ships to differ- ent towns in Idaho. In addition he owns a fine
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ranch and raises excellent Durham cattle, and has greatly improved the grade of cattle raised in this locality.
In 1876 Mr. Hoge erected a one-story cottage, but afterward remodeled it, making it a two- story residence with a mansard roof,-an attract- ive home, pleasantly furnished, and surrounded by beautiful shade-trees.
He was happily married, in 1869, to Miss Amelia Smith, a native of England, and to them have been born five children, three daughters and two sons, namely: Rhoda, at home; Ella, wife of Alfred Budge; Lizzie ; Walter Smith and William Smith. Mr. Hoge and his family are valued members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and he served on a mission to England, where for a year he was in the emi- gration office in Liverpool, during which time he sent fifteen hundred people to Utah. That year he was ordained high priest, and for twenty-five years has been the first counselor to the bishop of the second ward of Paris. He is a citizen of the highest probity of character, is a reliable and suc- cessful business man, and is greatly esteemed throughout the community.
JAMES HUTCHINSON.
Many theories have been advanced as to the best method of winning success, but the only safe, sure way to gain it is by close application, perseverance and careful consideration of the business problems that are continually arising. Investigation will show that the majority of men who have started out in life with little or no capital and have won a competency if not wealth, have to attribute their prosperity to just such causes, and it is those elements which have made Mr. Hutchinson one of the leading business men of his state. He is now superintendent of the Trade Dollar Consolidated Mining Company, at Silver City, and is numbered among the repre- sentative residents of that place.
A native of Yorkshire, England, he was born November 17, 1837, his parents being Joseph and Eleanor (Spencley) Hutchinson, both of whoni were natives of the same county, where their ancestors had lived for many generations. The father was a miner and shepherd, and with his wife and eight children he crossed the Atlantic and took up his residence in Iowa. The voyage
was made in 1848, on a sailing vessel, which dropped anchor in the harbor of New York nine weeks after leaving the European port. Locating in Dubuque, Iowa, the mother there died in 1851, at the age of forty-one years, being stricken with cholera. The father began working in a smelter and eventually became possessed of a large farm in Iowa. Later he removed to Wisconsin, where his death occurred in his eighty-second year. Seven of his children are yet living, four of the number being residents of Wisconsin, while one is in Klondyke, another in California, and James in Silver City, Idaho.
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