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 119
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The last named was reared on his father's farm and assisted in the labors of the fields. He also worked in the mines and in his father's smelter, and was thus in a measure prepared for his present important position. He was married January 25, 1863, to Miss Susan O'Neil, of Wis- consin, and the following day started with his bride for Colorado. The Indians were on the war-path, but Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson crossed the plains in safety, traveling by stage most of the way. They arrived at Central City, on the 12th of June, 1863, and Mr. Hutchinson took charge of the celebrated Gregory lode, the first mine discovered west of the Missouri river and east of the Rocky mountains. He was its super- intendent for twenty years, throughout which time it proved a paying investment. He was also superintendent of the famous Robinson and Aspen mines, and was appointed state inspector of mines for Colorado, by Governor Cooper, in 1889.
Later Mr. Hutchinson accepted the superinten- dency of the mines of the Manhattan Company, in Montana, and sold the property for them. He arrived at Silver City on the 6th of December, 1893, and took charge of the works of the Trade Dollar Mining & Milling Company on the 17th of January, 1894, since which time the business has paid regular dividends and the mines have become one of the most valuable properties of the kind in the northwest. In 1897, with a ten- stamp mill, the net profits were four hundred thousand dollars.
In 1889 Mr. Hutchinson was called upon to mourn the death of his wife, who had been most faithful and devoted to him and her family and who was a member of the Catholic church. They
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had a family of six children : Joseph H., Mary E., Margaret A., Nellie A., Charles J. and Eleanor A. The older daughters are keeping house in Denver, where they occupy a nice residence, and the younger children are attending school there. Socially Mr. Hutchinson is a Knight Templar Mason. He was raised to the degree of Master Mason in St. Louis City Lodge, No. 6, A. F. & A. M., in 1865, and is also a member of the tem- ple of the Mystic Shrine in Boise. He is a gentle- man of lifelong mining experience, of the highest probity of character and has always enjoyed the esteem of those who have known him, wherever he has resided.
CHARLES W. BERRYMAN.
Charles W. Berryman, a prominent citizen of Blackfoot, Idaho, a member of the well known firm of Berryman & Rogers, stock-raisers and dealers and loaners of money and dealers in county and city bonds, is a native of Wisconsin, having been born at Hazel Green, October IO, 1843, of English ancestry. His parents, Richard and Martha (Williams) Berryman, were born in Cromwell, England. They came to the United States and in 1840 located in Grant county, Wis- consin. There Mr. Berryman became a farmer and lead-miner. He died at the age of seventy- three, in 1877, his wife having passed away many years earlier, in her forty-seventh year. They were devout and active members of the Metho- dist Episcopal church, in whose interests Mrs. Berryman was a tireless worker, while Mr. Ber- ryman performed the varied functions of trustee, class-leader and Sunday-school superintendent. They had eight children, of whom six are living.
Until he was nineteen years old, Charles W. Berryman remained at home, attending school and devoting himself to the work of the farm. In 1862 he joined a large band of western-bound emigrants and went overland to Oregon. In- dians were numerous and aggressive in those days, and the emigrants, a large party, consoli- dated their one hundred and sixty wagons and many horses in one big caravan and banded to- gether for mutual protection. There were so many of them and they were so well armed and so determined and presented such a warlike ap- pearance that they had little difficulty with the "Bedouins of the Plains." But the Indians were
watchful for opportunities, ready to attack any straggling member of the party who was delayed Or went too far ahead. At Green river, on Land- er's cut-off, two of the wagons which had fallen behind were surrounded and attacked by the red- skins. There were only two men with them. One of these, one Campbell, was killed. The other man escaped. The wagons were plun- dered and burned before Mr. Berryman's party could get back to the place, and the Indians es- caped unpunished. The "train" left Wisconsin May 4, 1862, and arrived at Powder river Sep- tember 7, this journey having consumed four months and three days. Mr. Berryman engaged . in mining but was not successful, and he went with the Jesse Stanford outfit to Boise basin, Idaho, and was among the first to arrive there. Here, too, fortune turned her back on him, and he engaged in packing supplies for miners from Umatilla, Oregon, to Boise basin. He was suc- cessful in this enterprise, and in 1864 was the owner of a pack train of thirty-seven mules and such accessories to the business as were necessary for use in connection with them. During that year that whole train was stolen by Indians at a point on the Snake river, and Mr. Berryman never afterward saw hoof or tail of one of the animals. He was ruined, but went, bravely, hopefully and full of days' work, back to Boise basin, and in the placer mines made another stake. In 1865 he went to Virginia City, Mon- tana, where he bought two mining claims, a "number one" and a "number two," of Fair- weather, for two thousand dollars. There he made more money, and in 1869 he returned, comfortably fixed, to his old home and friends in Wisconsin. In the spring of 1870 he went back to Montana, and, with a view to again en- gaging in packing, formed a partnership with George B. Rogers, which association, in various enterprises, has existed continuously since. They began operations between Corinne, Utah, and different mining camps in Montana, and prose- cuted this business successfully and with profit for about ten years. They ceased giving it their personal attention in the spring of 1880 and took the "Custer contract" to build a large quartz mill and smelter, for the performance of which they were paid five thousand dollars. In 1883 they sold their teams to the Idaho Forwarding Com-
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pany, and turned their attention to ranching, purchasing property on the north side of Snake river, where they have since been extensive horse and cattle breeders and dealers. They now own more than three thousand acres of land, on which they raise hay and grain on which to feed their stock. They import horses from England, and an important result of their enterprise in this way has been the improvement not only of their own stock but that throughout eastern Idaho. As cattle-breeders they have introduced enough Durham and Hereford blood to produce a grade of beef cattle that is unsurpassed anywhere. They are the richest stock breeders and dealers in Bingham county, and their operations are more extensive than those of any other firm, and no one has done more than Messrs. Berryman and Rogers to give Idaho supremacy in this profita- ble industry. They have a mercantile business at Park City and have built several of the best blocks in Blackfoot.
Mr. Berryman has also built and fitted up a delightful home in Blackfoot. He was married in June, 1875, to Miss Mary N. Toombs, a native of London, England, and a daughter of James Toombs, now of Ogden, Utah. Their children are Elva, Harry, Frank, Flora and Edith. A lifelong Republican, Mr. Berryman takes an ac- tive interest in public affairs. He has twice been elected chairman of the board of county commis- sioners of Bingham county, and has served his fellow citizens in other responsible positions.
WILLIAM KILDE.
No element in the complex personnel of our national commonwealth has had a more vitalizing and permeating influence than that contributed by the hardy sons of the Norseland. From the fair shores of Norway and Sweden, with their beautiful fjords and quaint cities, have come to the United States men and women of sturdy integrity, alert mentality and unflagging indus- try, and these have furnished to our country a most valuable order of citizenship. In the early settlement of Latah county, Idaho, there came to this part of the territory a number of the am- bitious and industrious sons of Norway, who sought to here establish homes for themselves and their families and to attain a due measure of success by honest toil and endeavor. They se-
cured tracts of government land, and set vigor- ously at work to develop and improve the same. The results have been alike creditable to them and of distinct value to this section of the Gem state, which they have honored by their presence and labors. Of this number is William Kilde, who is known as a man of unimpeachable integ- rity and as one of the prosperous and representa- tive farmers of the county.
William Kilde comes from a long line of sturdy Norwegian ancestors, his birth having occurred in the far distant land of the north on the 23d of November, 1848. His family were Lutherans in their religious faith, and his father was an officer in the army of Norway, being a farmer by occupation and standing as a representative of one of the worthy families of that country. He attained the venerable age of ninety-five years, and his estimable and devoted wife passed away at the age of sixty-five years. They became the parents of ten children, of which number eight are still living, the subject of this review having been the youngest in the family.
William Kilde received his educational dis- cipline in his native land, and at the age of seven- teen years severed the tender ties which bound him to the home and friends of his childhood and came to the United States, for the purpose of making a home for himself in the "land of the free." That the young emigrant was animated by a courageous spirit may readily be understood when we revert to the fact that when he arrived in this distant land he was ignorant of the lan- guage of the country and was without financial reinforcement. He was, however, amply fortified by marked intelligence, a large, strong and healthy body, and by habits of industry,-these have been the forces by which he has wrought out for himself a gratifying and worthy success in temporal affairs, and his life has been so ordered that in his adopted country he has won and retained the respect and esteem of all with whom he has come in contact. No one can look without admiration upon a success and prestige thus won by the emigrant lad who faced the problem of life and its duties without flinching.
Mr. Kilde located at first in Wisconsin, where he found employment at farm work. He was economical in his habits, saved his wages and ever had in mind his cherished ambition of own-
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ing a home of his own. He was eventually able to realize his aim, for he became the owner of a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, in La- Crosse county, Wisconsin.
In 1869 occurred an important event in the life of Mr. Kilde, for he was then united in marriage to Miss Carrie Paulson, who like himself was born in Norway, the daughter of Gilbert and Ann Paulson, whom, as a child, she accompanied on their emigration to the United States. Our sub- ject and his wife continued to reside in Wiscon- sin for several years after their marriage, and there two children were born to them,-Annie M. and Lena A. After their removal to Idaho other children came to brighten the family circle, namely: Henry, Mary, John, Gilbert, Paul, (who died in infancy), Matilda, and Paul, (2d). Mrs. Kilde's mother is still living, having attained the venerable age of eighty-six years.
In the year 1878 Mr. Kilde removed with his family to Idaho, and they took up their abode on their present farm, in what is now Latah county, the original tract comprising one hundred and sixty acres of government land. Here our sub- ject built a little log house, having completed this work while his wife, with her two little daughters, was coming to him from Portland, Oregon. While Mrs. Kilde was in the city men- tioned, however, she was called upon to bear a burden of great grief and care, for the little daughter Annie there died, from an attack of diphtheria. She continued her saddened journey and in due time reached the little home prepared by her husband.
As prosperity attended the efforts of Mr. Kilde he added to his landed possessions, until he now has a valuable and highly productive farm of two hundred and forty acres, well improved. For a number of years the family continued to reside in the primitive house of logs, but they have now a commodious and attractive farm residence, sup- plied with all necessary conveniences, while a large barn has also been erected. The stock on the place, as well as the fertile fields, shows the care and attention of the discriminating pro- prietor. Mr. Kilde raises all kinds of crops, in- cluding vegetables and fruits, but makes the cul- tivation of wheat his principal line, having se- cured as high a yield of this cereal as forty-five bushels to the acre.
In politics Mr. Kilde is a Republican, and he has served as a trustee of his school district for a number of years, doing all in his power to pro- mote the legitimate interests of this section of the state. He is a man of strong physique and the fine climate of Idaho promotes continued good health to him and his family.
Living goodly lives, industrious in habits, kindly in all their relations with their fellow men, they enjoy the cordial esteem and good will of a large circle of friends and acquaintances, and the success which has been achieved has been won by none but worthy means.
GILBERT G. WRIGHT.
One of the most prominent business men of Idaho Falls is Gilbert G. Wright, manager of the Co-operative Wagon & Machine Company and of the Idaho Falls Milling Company. Mr. Wright is a native of Ogden, Utah, and was born September 28, 1867. His father, Gilbert J. Wright, was born in England and came to New York, whence he removed to Ogden, Utah, where he married Miss Annie Odell, also of Eng- lish birth. He became a successful hardware merchant, and late in life he retired to Idaho Falls, where he and his wife are now living. The family are devoted members of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Gilbert G. Wright, the eldest of their seven children, attended the public schools of Ogden until he was sixteen years old, and then entered the employ of the Co-operative Wagon & Ma- chine Company, with the important interests of which he has since become prominently identi- fied. After five years' experience in the estab- lishment of the corporation at Ogden, he was, in 1889, sent to Idaho Falls to open a branch estab- lishment at this place. The company has its headquarters at Salt Lake City, Utah, and there, and through its several branch stores, it does a wholesale business in vehicles, agricultural imple- ments and stoves. Some idea of the magnitude of its transactions may be gained from the fact that it is capitalized at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Mr. Wright started in business at Idaho Falls somewhat modestly. His sales for the first year aggregated thirty-six thousand dollars, which was certainly a good beginning. Notwithstand-
Thomas Grana
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ing the country has since passed through a long period of severe financial depression, Mr. Wright has pushed this enterprise to the front with great certainty and great rapidity. In 1898 the busi- ness of the Idaho Falls branch of the Co-opera- tive Wagon & Machine Company amounted to four hundred and sixty thousand dollars. Some of this great success is due to the rapid settlement and development of the country; but it is all due in a large measure to the wise and energetic pol- icy of Mr. Wright, who has been indefatigable in pushing the enterprise in all departments and ex- tending its operations in all lines and in every di- rection, and who is regarded as a man of remark- able foresight and talent for handling extensive interests.
The concern at Idaho Falls occupies a stone building with an area ninety by two hundred and twenty-five feet, besides four hundred square feet of yard room, employs twenty-seven men, and ships goods to points within an average limit of one hundred and fifty miles in all directions from its center of operations.
Mr. Wright was also the builder of, and owns a controlling interest in, the large roller-process steam and water power flouring mill at Idaho Falls, which has a capacity of two hundred bar- rels a day. He is also the owner of considerable farm land and of a great deal of town property, including a large and well appointed residence, one of the finest and most attractive in the city. His character as a business man is one of which many men of more pretensions might be proud, for it comprehends every good quality which makes for the best and highest reputation, and is illumined by successes which are important among the conspicuous successes which have marked the development of Idaho.
In April, 1890, Mr. Wright was happily mar- ried to Miss Tillie Bailey, a native of Ogden, Utah, and a daughter of Joseph Bailey, a highly respected citizen of that city. They have a son and a daughter, named Gilbert O. and Florence A. Wright.
Closely as is Mr. Wright bound down by the imperative demands of the great and growing in- terests which by tireless energy he has built up and which with consummate sagacity he is direct- ing to the certain achievement of still greater success, he finds time to discharge the political
duties of the patriotic citizen, for he holds that every man should be a practical politician to the extent of doing his part toward securing good laws and their honest administration; and as a Republican he interests himself actively in all af- fairs of public moment. He was elected county treasurer of Bingham county and served his fel- low citizens faithfully in that capacity. He was also for four years a member of the common council of Idaho Falls, and in office and out of office he has, by every means at his command, done all that was possible for him to do to foster and advance the best interests of Idaho Falls, Bingham county, and the state of Idaho.
THOMAS CRANE.
The manifestation of superior business talent at an early age is always a good sign. It usually marks a young man who will care less for pleas- ure than work, who will keep trying and will try intelligently, and who is pretty apt to come out strong financially sooner or later. The career of the late Thomas Crane, of Soda Springs, Idaho, was an illustration of these claims. He began early and endeavored always; he despised not the day of small things, and he died successful and honored.
Thomas Crane was born in Canada, July 4, 1843, and died at Soda Springs, Idaho, May 15, 1896. His parents, who were natives of New Jersey, had taken up farming in Canada. His father, Isaac Crane, died in the prime of life, and the widowed mother removed with her children to Michigan, where she died in 1899, aged eighty- six. Of their family of nine children Thomas was the sixth in order of birth. He attended the public schools near his home in Canada and made good progress with his books. When but a boy of seventeen, he demonstrated his possession of extraordinary business talent by establishing a match factory, in which he employed several men. Information is wanting as to how this enterprise terminated, but it is safe to state that it was not a failure. After some years of business expe- rience as traveler for a wholesale drug house, in Canada, he went to Oregon in 1863, being then only twenty years old. For some years he mined in that state and in British Columbia, with the fluctuating fortune peculiar to mining, making money and sinking it and making more and sink-
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ing that. Then he made some money in the Carriboo mines, and not taking another chance of sinking it, bought, with part of it, a stock of gen- eral merchandise at Soda Springs. When he opened his store he had no idea of remaining at Soda Springs longer than might be necessary to sell his stock, but he made money and his honor- able methods pleased his patrons and laid a safe foundation for greater operations, and he staid and became the largest merchant and wealthiest man in the place, with money invested in bank stock, and other money which he profitably loaned. In 1885 he built a good store building, in which his mercantile business is continued successfully by his widow, and later he bought a fine residence, which has since been the family home.
Mr. Crane was early married, and his wife died, leaving him one son, Engene Crane, now a resident of Detroit, Michigan. In August, 1871, he married Miss Flora Goodwin. They had eight children, five of whom are living: Bert, Elliott, Albert J., Robert Roy and Elva Teck. The youngest of the family, Flora Cuba, who was but three months old when Mr. Crane died, died in 1898, only about two years later, and the family feel a sense of double bereavement. Mr. Crane gave close attention to his business and took little active interest in politics, but at all times did everything in his power to promote the welfare of his adopted town and its people. His loss to the community is one not easily repaired.
Mr. Crane was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Canada. In the man- agement of his estate and mercantile business, Mrs. Crane has developed unusual business abil- ity. She is bending all her energies to the suc- cessful realization of her late husband's plans and to the education and establishment of her chil- dren in life.
ALEXANDER D. MCKINLAY.
The west is peopled with brave men, as men's bravery is measured, but it has some notable citi- zens whose experiences extend back into the days of constant adventure and ever present peril. Could the exploits and dangers of such men of the west be written down and put into book form, they would form a series of narratives of more absorbing interest than the most exciting ro-
mances of western life and adventure that have ever been penned. A fair representation of this class is Alexander D. Mckinlay. He is a son of Henry and Barbara Clarke Mckinlay, natives of Scotland, and was born in Clayton county, Iowa, February 20, 1853. His father was born in Edin- burg in 1823, and died in Clayton county, Iowa, in 1872. His mother, who was born in Sollen, in 1815, lives on the old family homestead in Iowa. They came to America and to Iowa in 1847 and became successful farmers, highly respected by reason of their high character and upright lives. Of their nine children, Alexander D. Mckinlay was the fifth child in order of birth. He was
reared to help at the work of the farm, and for a time attended school in a primitive log school house, and remained in Iowa until 1877, when, at the age of twenty-four, he emigrated to Idaho and located in Idaho county, where he lived until 1885. He farmed until 1882 with sufficient suc- cess to acquire some capital and commercial standing, and then bought thirteen hundred head of cattle and drove them over the old Mullan road to Montana, where he turned them over to Jack DeMar. In 1884 he bought a drove of cattle and took them some two hundred and sixty miles, to Eagle City, Shoshone county, and sold them to Moffit and Bender. He removed to Wallace in 1885 and with the profits of these and other en- terprises engaged in business in that city, where he is a member of the firm of Holohan & Mc- Kinlay, dealers in tobacco and cigars and the owner of considerable real estate, including an interest in the Holohan & Mckinlay block.
Politically Mr. Mckinlay was an ardent Re- publican until 1892. He then saw reason to es- pouse the Populistic cause and did so. In 1880-81 he was a justice of the peace of Idaho county; in 1894 and 1896 was elected justice of the peace at Wallace, and, in 1898, judge of the probate court of Shoshone county. In the spring of 1896 he was elected a member of the city council of Wallace, and in 1898 he was re-elected to the same office. He has al- ways been a public-spirited citizen of much in- fluence. As an instance of his work for the pub- lic good it may be stated that he went, in 1885, to Murray, then the county-seat of Shoshone county, and prevailed upon the county commis- sioners to create a road district of the part of the
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old Mullan road and along the side of the South Fork river in Shoshone county. Upon the estab- lishment of the district he was, in recognition of his efforts in its behalf, appointed supervisor over it. Mr. Mckinlay is an Elk, a Knight of Labor and a member of the order of Maccabees.
There is one chapter of Mr. Mckinlay's life which is of especial interest and which deserves to have more space than can be allotted to it. That is the narrative of his experiences as a sol- dier in the Nez Perces Indian war of 1877 and in the Bannack Indian war of 1878. He is a fear- less man who has demonstrated that he will most cheerfully risk his life in any cause to which he may devote himself, however hazardous it may be. During the Bannack war a wagon was loaded at Lewiston, Idaho, under the direction of the late lamented Major McConville, with guns and ammunition, which it was desired to convey to Grangeville, a somewhat distant point of strategic importance. There was much proba- bility that the Indians would attempt to capture this valuable freight, and the driving of the teams attached to the wagons was not a job to be sought by a man who valued his life above his duty. Mr. Mckinlay volunteered for this service and was gladly entrusted with it by Major Mc- Conville, who knew very well the character of the man he was dealing with. Four large cans of coal oil were placed in the wagon where they could all be set on fire immediately if the wagon should be surrounded by Indians and its capture should appear inevitable. Their ignition would ex- plode the ammunition and destroy the wagon and every living thing in it or near it, including Mr. McKinlay, of course, and the teams. With a full understanding of the perilous duty he assumed, Mr. Mckinlay set out at ten o'clock at night with his dangerous cargo and was probably saved from terminating the adventure with a fatal ex- plosion by the timely appearance of a guard of eight men at Spring Ranch, twenty miles out of Lewiston, who protected him during the re- mainder of the journey to Grangeville. Such a service is sufficient to stamp Mr. Mckinlay as a man of the most desperate courage and of the highest order of patriotism. The exploit of Hob- son and his comrades in peril during the recent Spanish war did not call for more moral and physical courage.
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