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 30

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 30

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His business interests have been conducted with marked ability, and he is widely recognized as one of the leading stock dealers of the state. His realty holdings are very extensive, including about three thousand acres of rich farming lands, together with an entire block in the city of Payette, on which his residence is situated. He also owns a half interest in the Garie addition to Payette, is largely interested in the irrigation

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ditch known as the Lower Payette ditch, which supplies water in the lower Payette and Snake river valleys to the Weiser river, a distance of twenty-two miles, and is at present president of three ditch incorporations. He is also vice- president of the Payette Valley Bank. The var- ied nature of his business interests indicates his resourceful business ability. He is quick to note a favorable opportunity, is energetic and enter- prising, and in matters of business management his judgment is rarely at fault. His property has been worthily acquired and is a fitting reward to one who has experienced all the hardships of pioneer life in the northwest.

On the 6th of October, 1873, Mr. Pence mar- ried Miss Anna Bixby, who was born in Mis- souri, but was reared in Nebraska. Her father, Seth Bixby, was a prominent California pioneer. Mr. and Mrs. Pence have six children, four sons and two daughters: Emma Belle, wife of F. M. Satoris; Edward, Lloyd, Harry, Walter and Grace. The three eldest children are all college graduates, and it is the intention that the young- er ones shall receive equally good educational privileges, that they may thus be well fitted for the practical and responsible duties of life.

Mr. and Mrs. Pence are charter members of the Methodist church of Payette, and have ever taken a most active interest in its work. They contributed liberally toward the erection of the house of worship in Payette, and also the Meth- odist church in Weiser. The cause of education has likewise found in them trustworthy friends, and no worthy movement seeks their aid in vain. He is at present a member of the school board in Payette.

In his political views Mr. Pence is a stalwart Republican. He served as the first mayor of Payette, proving a competent and faithful offi- cial, and is now a member of the town council.' He is a charter member of the Masonic lodge of the town and has taken the Royal Arch degrees of the order. Thus has he been prominently con- nected with the business, social, educational and moral interests of his adopted state, and that, too, from the earliest period of its development. He came to Idaho at a time when perils and hard- ships were on every hand, when the pioneers built for their protection at different points along the river stockades to which they escaped from

the savages. Many a night Mr. Pence has slept with his family in the bushes for fear the Indians would attack them in their home and murder them all. On other occasions he has hastily placed wife and children into the wagon and driven with all speed to the stockade. Atrocities, committed by Indians, and often by the lawless element usually found in a new community, are too terrible to relate; but that period in the his- tory of the state has long since passed; law, order and peace hold dominion over this beauti- ful region, rich with the bountiful gifts of nature, and Mr. Pence, with many others of the brave pioneers, is now enjoying the fruits of his former toil.

DAVID HERON.

In a pleasant, attractive brick residence in a de- sirable section of Boise City, are living to-day David Heron and wife, esteemed citizens and pioneers of Ada county. Mr. Heron has fre- quently served his neighbors and friends in offi- cial positions of much responsibility and trust, and has won their highest praise for the able and conscientious manner in which he discharged the duties resting upon him. For a period of two years he was the recorder and auditor of this county, for a similar length of time was the county assessor and during some six years was one of the commissioners of Ada county. He has just reason to be proud of his record as a public official, and no breath of criticism or doubt of his strict integrity and impartiality has ever diminished his fair fame.

The parents of David Heron were David and Jennie (McGee) Heron, both natives of Scotland. They emigrated to the hospitable shores of America in 1820 and settled in Pottsville, Penn- sylvania, where for many years Mr. Heron was engaged in the coal business. In 1857 he re- moved to Jefferson county, Iowa, where he turned his attention to milling and was thus em- ployed until the time of his death, in the sev- enty-second year of his age. His good wife sur- vived him, her demise taking place when she was in her eighty-third year. In religious faith they were Presbyterians, but for some time they were members of the Baptist church. Of their seven children four are living.

David Heron was born in Blossburg, Pennsyl- vania, February 11, 1833, and received his educa-

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tion in his native state. For several years after he embarked in business he was engaged in the manufacture of lumber, in the state of Iowa, and in 1860 he removed to Colorado, of whose mining industries he had heard glowing accounts. He mined in Gilpin county for some time and car- ried on a stamp mill, but, not meeting with the prosperity which he desired and had anticipated, he came to try his fortunes in the mines of the Boise basin, this being in 1863. Mining opera- tions, however, did not seem to be his special field, and he ultimately became a farmer and stock-raiser, in which line he was eminently suc- cessful. He selected fertile, productive land, on which he raised as high as eighty bushels of oats to the acre, and one season he sold his crop of oats at fifteen cents a pound. The prices of other things were in proportion, and it cost a dollar to get a letter here from Salt Lake City. As the years rolled away Mr. Heron wrought out suc- cess and is now the owner of several farms, ag- gregating about five hundred acres. From time to time he has branched out into other lines of business or investment, and is at present a stock- holder in the Artesian Hot and Cold Water Com- pany of Boise City, an enterprise which has been of great benefit to this community.

Mr. Heron is a man of deep convictions of right and duty, makes up his mind on all mat- ters of moment independently, and then acts in strict accordance with what he believes is best. He has been a lifelong Republican, and it was with keen regret that he felt impelled to step out of its ranks in 1896, when the party took the at- titude which it did on the money issue. He is frank and outspoken in favor of bi-metallism, and believes that this principle will eventually tri- umph, and that the people of this democratic country will be greatly profited thereby. In the meantime he is content to wait, as hopefully as may be, having the courage to remain with the minority.

In 1861 Mr. Heron married Miss Fidelia A. Canfield, who was the first school-teacher in Cen- tral City, Colorado, and a pioneer in that state, as well as in Idaho. The only son of our subject and wife, Frank E., is now managing one of their farms, he being a practical, progressive young agriculturist. Mary T., the elder daughter, is now the wife of William F. Yaryan. Alice I. is

a graduate of the Boise high school, subsequently graduating in the Michigan State Normal school; was for three years principal of the schools of St. Louis, Gratiot county, Michigan, and is now occupying a similar position in the Whittier school of Boise City. She has had ex- cellent advantages and seems specially qualified, both by nature and training, for her chosen work.

WILLIAM F. SMITH, M. D.

The state of Idaho, with its pulsing industrial activities and rapid development, has attracted within its confines men of marked ability and high character in the various professional lines, and in this way progress has been conserved and social stability fostered. He whose name initi- ates this review has gained recognition as one of the able and successful physicians of the state, and by his labors, his high professional attain- ments and his sterling characteristics has justified the respect and confidence in which he is held by the medical fraternity and the local public.

A representative physician and surgeon of Mountain Home, the county seat of Elmore county, Idaho, Dr. William F. Smith has main- tained his residence here since the year 1889, having acquired an enviable professional pres- tige and built up a successful practice. Dr. Smith is a native of the Old Dominion state, having been born in the beautiful old southern city of Richmond, on the 11th of August, 1863, being a representative of one of the old and honored families of Virginia,-a family which was prom- inently identified with the early annals of that patrician old commonwealth. The Doctor's grandfather, Hiram M. Smith, and his father, Isaac T. Smith, were prominent manufacturers of Richmond, and during the late civil war were extensively engaged in the manufacturing of arms and munitions for the Confederate service, their sympathies being naturally with the cause of the south and the institutions which time and custom had amply sanctioned in that section of the Union. The grandfather is still living, hav- ing attained the venerable age of ninety-one years.

The Doctor's father, Isaac T. Smith, was like- wise a native of the old capital city on the James river, and there he was reared and educated. He married Miss Philomena Clew, a native of New

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York, and of French ancestry. They became the parents of seven children, all of whom are liv- ing but one. The father departed this life in 1884, at the age of forty-four years, and the mother and all the children, with the exception of the subject of this review, still have their home in Richmond. William F. Smith was the eldest son in the family, and he grew to maturity in his native city, in whose schools he received his edu- cational discipline, completing his more purely literary training in the Richmond College, after which he pursued his medical studies in the Rich- mond Medical College and in the local hospitals, where he secured excellent clinical work.

In the year 1887 Dr. Smith left his southern home and journeyed to the far distant northwest- ern coast of the United States. For a time he was located at Pendleton, Oregon, where he be- gan the practice of his profession, but after a short interval he came to Mountain Home, where he has since continued in active and successful practice. At the time of his arrival here there was no physician in the town, and as the pioneer of his profession in the locality he received the heartiest of receptions and welcomes. That this cordial welcome was merited has been shown in the work he has accomplished and in the popu- larity which he has retained, his devotion to his profession and his kindly nature having gained him the friendship and support which have so conserved his success and reputation. Enthusi- astic in the technical study of his profession, and desiring to keep fully abreast of the advances made in the science of medicine, the Doctor took a post-graduate course at the New York Poly- clinic in 1895, being essentially a student and maintaining a lively interest in the progress of the profession to which he is devoting himself.

Dr. Smith is a member of the Idaho State Med- ical Society, the American Medical Association, and is the local physician and surgeon of the Oregon Short Line Railroad, having also the railway practice at Glenn's Ferry. He served as coroner of Elmore county for several years, has also been physician to the county poor and has in every way endeavored to make his professional work a power for good in the community. He is animated by a broad sympathy and charity, and in his care and solicitude for the afflicted has had recognition of neither poverty nor riches, his ser-

vices being accorded with equal promptitude and devotion in either case. His kindness and sym- pathy have endeared him to all classes of citizens, and as a man he justifies the reputation borne by the people of Virginia for never-failing courtesy and intrinsic refinement.

In his political adherency the Doctor has been stanchly allied with the Democratic party, in- heriting the loyalty to the Jeffersonian principles and policies from his ancestors. He has taken an active part in the work of his party in the state, and he was one of the electors of Idaho during Mr. Bryan's campaign, in which connec- tion his was the distinction of bearing to the na- tional capital the results of the election in his state. He is conspicuously identified with a num- ber of the principal fraternal and social orders. He is past chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias; has passed the chairs in the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has represented his lodge in the grand lodge of the state; is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and is a prominent and valned member of the Masonic fraternity, being past master of his lodge, and having passed the capitu- lar and chivalric degrees, thus securing member- ship in chapter and commandery, while his iden- tification with that popular adjunct of Freema- sonry, the Mystic Shrine, indicates that he has crossed the burning sands of the desert and gained distinction as a noble of the temple of that ancient Arabic order.

Doctor Smith has a conveniently located and well equipped office in Mountain Home, and also owns other property in the thriving little city where he makes his home, and in whose progress and material prosperity he is deeply interested. He is well known throughout the county, and his personal popularity is unmistakable.

GARNER MINER.

For thirty-eight years Garner Miner has been a resident of Idaho, having come to the territory in 1861, when the development of this great northwest was in its incipiency and the fron- tiersmen had to meet many privations and dan- gers. The Indians were frequently on the war path, carrying deatlı and devastation wherever they went; and separated from the base of sup- plies, from the comforts and luxuries of the east,

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the pioneers endured hardships undreamed of by the present generation. In those days brave hearts were necessary, indeed, but the same spirit of Anglo-Saxon daring, fortitude and stability, which has characterized the people of this fair land from its earliest colonization, and has car- ried the English language and English suprema- cy to all parts of the globe, found renewed mani- festations among the mountains and valleys of Idaho, and thus were laid the foundations of the state, which now occupies a prominent place in the great galaxy of states west of the Mississippi.

In all the work of progress and development, in the task of subduing the wild land to the pur- poses of civilization, Garner Miner bore his part, and now in the evening of life is living retired at his pleasant home in Caldwell, enjoying a well earned rest.

Mr. Miner was born in New Haven, Connecti- cut, on the 5th of November, 1822, his parents being John and Mary (Marshall) Miner, also na- tives of the Nutmeg state. In their family were five children. Garner Miner attended school in New Haven and in New York and subsequently removed to Ohio, where he worked at the car- penter's and millwright's trades. He was mar- ried in that state, in 1847, to Miss Ann Eliza Willson, whose birth occurred in Wood county, Ohio, in 1827, her father being Almon Willson, of that state. The young couple removed to Michigan, locating in Branch county, where they resided until 1852, when Mr. Miner started on the long and perilous journey across the plains to California, the usual dangers of which were augmented by the cholera, which struck down many a company of the emigrants, the new-made graves of its victims being seen all along the way. Arriving in the west, Mr. Miner engaged in min- ing enterprises in Sierra and at Dry Creek, after which he turned his attention to agricultural pur- suits. He purchased a farm in the fertile valley of the Sacramento river and, meeting with suc- cess in his ventures. sent for his wife, who, mak- ing her way to New York, sailed thence to Nicaragua, October 2, 1854. On reaching San Francisco she was met by her husband, and to- gether they proceeded to their new home, where they continued to dwell for some years. In 1861, attracted by the gold discoveries at Florence, Idaho, they came to this state, and later made

their way to the Boise basin. Mr. Miner became the owner of two-sevenths of seven claims in Illinois Gulch, the company of which he was a member employing twenty-one men, at six dol- lars each per day, and seven dollars each night, to operate the mines. Excellent returns were gathered from their labors, Mr. Miner's net divi- dend being one thousand dollars per week. After some time he disposed of his mining interests, and purchased three hundred acres of land on the Payette, where he successfully engaged in farm- ing. He had ten acres planted to vegetables, which at that time brought very high prices, onions selling for ten dollars per hundred pounds and other things in proportion. Mrs. Miner and her three little daughters made the journey to Idaho, by way of steamer to Portland, where they were met by Mr. Miner, who with ox teams brought them to the farm. Their place bordered an old Indian trail, along which bands of red men frequently passed. During periods when the savages were on the war path, Mrs. Miner and her little girls spent many a night in the wheat field, while the husband and father like- wise slept out under the stars, where he could see both up and down the trail, his rifle within reach in order that he might protect himself in case of attack. He carried on his farming opera- tions until 1892, when he removed with his fam- ily to Caldwell, where he now resides.

The eldest of the three daughters of the fam- ily is Mary Francelia, who was born in Ohio, and during her early girlhood came with her mother to the Pacific coast. She grew to be a beautiful young lady and then became the wife of William Lynch. He died in 1877, and she is now the wife of a Mr. Fisher. The second daughter, Ada Caroline, also an accomplished and cultured woman, was born in California, married Will- iam H. Isaacs, and died in 1895, at the age of thirty-eight years. Her death was deeply de- plored by all who knew her, for her excellencies of character had endeared her to many friends as well as to her husband and parents. Her daughter, Ada Norine, is now living with Mr. and Mrs. Miner. The third daughter, Martha Ellen, who was also born in California, died at the age of twenty-eight years, and thus only one of the children is left to the parents in their declining years.

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For more than forty years Mr. and Mrs. Miner have been faithful and consistent members of the Methodist church. They have passed the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding day, on which occasion they were visited by many friends in Caldwell, who, unknown to them, arranged to celebrate the occasion and to express their esteem for the worthy couple by presenting Mr. Miner with a gold-headed cane, and his wife with a gold badge and chain,-gifts which are greatly prized by Mr. and Mrs. Miner as evidences of the spirit which prompted their bestowal. With the consciousness of lives well spent, and with pleasant memories of good deeds performed for their fellow men, they are nearing the end of the journey of life, but their influence on their gen- eration cannot be measured, nor can their value as pioneers in the great state of Idaho be over- estimated. They well deserve mention in this his- tory, and with pleasure we present to our readers this brief record of their lives.

C. W. WERNICKE.

The county treasurer of Lincoln county, Idaho, C. W. Wernicke, is also the pioneer hardware merchant of Shoshone, and throughout the eight- een years of his residence here has been prom- inently connected with the various interests which have contributed to the growth, prosper- ity and advancement of town and county. He belongs to that class of progressive German citi- zens who have severed the ties binding them to the old world in order to seek homes in the land of the free. He was born in Goldburg, Ger- many, on the 13th of January, 1847, and in the land of his nativity acquired his literary education and learned the tinsmith's trade. He was a young man of nineteen years when he decided to come to America. Hearing of the advantages afforded by the United States to young men of energy, diligence and ambition, he crossed the Atlantic resolved to try his fortune among new scenes. He had only money enough to pay his passage, and landed in New York city almost penniless, ignorant of the language and customs of the peo- ple among whom his lot was to be cast. With resolute heart, however, he started out to seek work and secured employment at his trade in Lyons, New York. Later he worked as a tinsmith in Jackson and in Paw Paw, Michigan,

and after a time began business on his own ac- count on a small scale. As the days passed his industry and economy added to his capital, his business was proportionately increased, and for twelve years he successfully carried on opera- tions in that line. The excitement over the gold discoveries at Leadville, Colorado, drew him to that state, and in 1881 he came to Idaho, first locating in Blackfoot, where he carried on the hardware business for two years.

On the expiration of that period.Mr. Wernicke came to Shoshone, and as there was not a build- ing in the town he slept in a tent until he could erect the frame structure in which he has since conducted his store. The rough lumber with which he constructed the building cost eighty dollars per thousand feet. As soon as it was com- pleted he put in a stock of shelf and heavy hard- ware and has since enjoyed an extensive trade throughout Shoshone and the surrounding coun- try, his patronage steadily increasing and bring- ing to him a well merited success. In addition to his mercantile labors he is also discharging the duties of county treasurer of Lincoln county, to which position he was first appointed, entirely without his solicitation, by Governor McConnell. Since that time he has twice been re-elected by popular vote, and is now acceptably and credita- bly serving for the third term.

Mr. Wernicke is a valued and prominent mem- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, has passed the chairs in both branches of the order and is past grand master of the state and past grand representative to the sovereign grand lodge. In politics he has been a life-long Re- publican, and keeps well informed on the issues and questions of the day, both political and other- wise. His honorable business methods, his trust- worthiness in public life, and his cordial, genial manner have gained him a lost of warm friends, who will, we feel assured, gladly read this review of his career.

DAVE ADAMS.

While "the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong," the invariable law of destiny accords to tireless energy, industry and ability, a successful career. The truth of this as- sertion is abundantly verified in the life of Mr. Adams, who, though he has met many difficulties and obstacles, has overcome these by determined

ewwquicke

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purpose and laudable endeavor, working his way steadily upward to success. He is now account- ed one of the leading business men of Silver City, and has been prominently identified with the de- velopment of many of the leading business in- terests of Idaho since his arrival in the territory in 1868.

Mr. Adams was born in Clark county, Illinois, on the IIth of April, 1843, and his ancestors, who were of Scotch and German birth, were early settlers of Kentucky and Ohio. His father, Abner Adams, was born in Ohio, and in 1851 crossed the plains to California, engaging in mining at different camps in that state until 1860, when he returned to his old home for his family. He had gone to the Golden state by way of the northern route, but took his family by the south- ern route, traveling through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona to Watsonville, Santa Cruz county, California, where he made a location. There his death occurred in 1882, at the age of seventy-one years, but his wife is still living and is now in her seventy-ninth year. Their children are Re- becca, deceased; Dave; Green, who resides in Silver City, Idaho; Amanda, Isabella, George and Albert, all residents of California.

Dave Adams received but limited educational advantages in his youth. He pursued his studies in a little log schoolhouse, but the instruction was of a primitive character, and in the school of ex- perience most of the valuable lessons of his life have been learned. In 1857 he emigrated with his uncle to Pocahontas, Arkansas, and a year later went to Fort Smith, that state, where he was employed for a year or two as "devil" in a printing office. Subsequently he spent a short time in the Indian Territory and then located in Sherman, Texas, where he worked in a printing office until the 4th of March, 1861. On the day on which the lamented Lincoln took the oath of office as president of the United States, he started to join his father and family, who were then en route for California. They were frequently at- tacked by Indians while in Arizona, and Mr. Adams accordingly learned something of the inhuman methods of warfare as practiced by the savages. Late in the fall, however, they reached their destination in safety, and the subject of this review soon secured a position in a printing office. Such establishments have often been

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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 30

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