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 32
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CHAPTER XVIII.
INDIVIDUAL RECORDS.
GEORGE H. STEWART.
P ROBABLY every state in the Union has contributed to the quota of prominent men in Idaho. Among the number furnished by Indiana is Judge George Har- lan Stewart, who is now presiding over the third judicial district of the state. He was born in Connersville, Indiana, on the 26th of February, 1858, and is of Scotch and English lineage, his ancestors having located in Pennsylvania at a pioneer epoch in the history of the Keystone state. Representatives of the family were also early settlers of Ohio, where, in 1821, occurred the birth of Mathew Stewart, father of the Judge. Having arrived at the years of maturity he married Miss Nancy Harlan, whose father was a Baptist minister and an early settler of the state of Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart took up their residence near Conners- ville, Indiana, where he industriously carried on farming. He was an ardent Republican, a lover of civil liberty and a hater of every form of op- pression. He died in 1887, at the age of sixty-six years, and his wife departed this life in the fifty- eighth year of her age. They were the parents of eight children, of whom four are living.
Judge Stewart is the second eldest survivor of the family. In the common schools he acquired a sufficient education to enable him to engage in teaching, and in that way he won the means which enabled him to continue his studies in higher institutions of learning. He attended the Northern Indiana Normal school, located at Val- paraiso, Indiana, where he graduated in 1879, on the completion of the scientific course, after which he took up the study of law in the same institution and was graduated in the law depart- ment in 1881, and the same year he was admitted to practice before the supreme court of his native state.
and his business steadily increased as he gave evidence of superior ability in the handling of intricate law problems. In 1886, on account of failing health, he removed to Stockville, Nebras- ka, where he practiced law until 1890, during which time he was elected and served as county attorney of Frontier county. He was retained as counsel either for the defense or prosecution in nearly every case of importance tried in south- western Nebraska, and gained prestige among the members of the bar in that section of the state. In 1890 he came to Idaho and for a time was associated in the practice with Hon. John S. Gray, and later he formed a partnership with Hon. W. E. Borah. He rapidly gained a com- manding position at the bar of the state, and his clientage constantly increased in volume and im- portance. In 1893 he was elected to represent Ada county in the state senate and served in that position with marked credit to himself and sat- isfaction to his constituents. In 1896 he was ap- pointed judge of the third judicial district upon the resignation of Judge Richards, and in 1898 was elected to the same position.
His campaign and election constitute one of the brightest pages in the political history of the state. He was nominated upon the straight Re- publican ticket in a district where the silver vote was in the majority by several thousand. In addition to this, there was a fusion of silver Re- publicans and Democrats, while the Populist can- didate withdrew and permitted the fusion candi- date's name to go upon the Populist ticket. So far as the party was concerned, the three silver parties were combined and practically united on one candidate, this apparently uniting the entire silver force in an overwhelming silver district. Notwithstanding this, Judge Stewart was elected by a large majority, the vote of his home county being one of the rarest compliments ever paid to the personal worth of a candidate. Men of all
In 1882 Judge Stewart opened a law office in Fowler, Indiana, and soon won a fair clientage, parties voted for him simply because they had
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HISTORY OF IDAHO.
discovered in the two years he had sat upon the bench that he not only possessed exceptional ex- ecutive ability and invincible moral courage in the discharge of his duties, but also what was and is perhaps more difficult to find, that peculiar turn of mind without which a man may be strong in the pit but can never be a great judge. He had won and held so firmly the people's confi- dence that the party lash was used in vain.
From the beginning of his career as a legal practitioner, his efforts have been attended with success. He has mastered the science of juris- prudence, and his research and thorough prep- aration of every case committed to his care en- abled him to meet at once any contingency that might arise. His cause was fenced about with unanswerable logic, and his arguments were strong, clear, decided and followed in natural sequence, forming a chain of reasoning that his opponent found very difficult to overthrow. His record on the bench has been most creditable, his rulings ever being those of a just and impartial judge, while his charges to the jury are clear and concise, and his decisions plain and incapable of being misconstrued.
In addition to his law business, Judge Stewart has other business interests. He is the owner of some valuable realty, including a forty-acre or- chard of winter apples near the city of Boise. He has other property interests in different parts of the state, having made judicious investments of his earnings at the bar.
In 1881 the Judge married Miss Elizabeth School, of Connersville, Indiana, and to them were born two children,-Charles L. and Ethel C. In 1885 Mrs. Stewart departed this life, and in 1888 the Judge married Miss Agnes L. Sheets, a native of Fowler, Indiana. They have a de- lightful home in Boise and their circle of friends is only limited by their circle of acquaintances.
In his political connections the Judge has al- ways been a Republican and warmly advocates the principles of that party. He is president of the Bar Association of his judicial district, and is a valued member of the Masonic fraternity. He was made a Master Mason in Fowler, Indiana, in 1883, and has filled most of the offices in the blue lodge, and is now an acceptable member of Boise Lodge, No. 2, A. F. & A. M., and Boise Chapter, R. A. M. He is also a charter member
of the Elks and is past exalted ruler of Capital City Lodge, No. 310.
His life record commends him to the confi- dence and regard of all and no man occupies a higher position in the public esteem than Judge Stewart.
MILTON G. CAGE.
Among the practitioners at the Boise bar hold- ing marked prestige among the members of the legal fraternity is Milton G. Cage. A native of Tennessee, he was born in Tipton county, near Covington, that state, January 26, 1862, and is descended on both sides from prominent old families of the south. His paternal ancestors came originally from Wales and established a home in America at an early period in our coun- try's history. His father, Gustavus Adolphus Cage, was born in Middleton, Tennessee, and married Miss Charlotte A. Green, a native of North Carolina. His father was formerly a planter and during the greater part of his life has been identified with the ministry of the Methi- odist church. He is now living in Colorado, at the age of eighty years. His mental faculties remain unimpaired, and he is still occasionally seen preaching in different pulpits, as opportunity calls.
Milton G. Cage was only ten years of age when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Colorado. He was graduated in the high school of Greeley, that state, in the class of 1882, and then, determining to make the practice of law his life work, he became a student in the office of his brother-in-law, Hon. Samuel P. Rose, a prominent attorney of Denver. Under his pre- ceptorage he continued his reading until the fall of 1883, when he was matriculated in the Michigan State University, where he was gradu- ated, on the completion of the law course, in 1885. He then began the practice of his chosen profession in Denver, and in 1886 was appointed assistant United States attorney under Henry W. Hobson, serving in that capacity until July, 1889.
The following year Mr. Cage came to Boise, and at the bar of this city has won distinction as a most able lawyer, well versed in the principles of jurisprudence, and is especially skilled in the handling of the points in evidence and the force- ful presentation of his cause before judge or jury.
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HISTORY OF IDAHO.
In March, 1894, he was appointed receiver of the United States land office. He proved an efficient and capable officer, giving good satisfaction. He is in politics an active Democrat, and in 1898 was acting secretary of the Democratic state cen- tral committee and president of the Jefferson Democratic club. He was a very active worker in the campaign of 1896, and his labors were most effective.
On the 5th of May, 1894, Mr. Cage married Miss Caroline C. Sweet, a native of Iowa, and they have two sons,-Richard M. and John P. The family occupies a prominent position in so- cial circles and Mr. and Mrs. Cage have a circle of friends almost coextensive with their circle of acquaintances.
NATHAN C. DELANO.
Nathan C. Delano is the oldest merchant of Bellevue, when years of active and con- secutive connection with business interests are considered, and is a most reliable rep- resentative of the commercial welfare of the town. He is now enjoying a large and con- stantly increasing trade and his prosperity is the reward of his well directed efforts and untir- ing diligence. A native of New York, he was born in Allegany county, October 31, 1852, and on the paternal side is of French-Huguenot an- cestry, while on the maternal side he is of English lineage. Both families were founded in America at an early period in the history of the country, and the great-grandfather Richardson participat- ed in the Revolutionary war, while the grand- father, William Richardson, fought in the war of 1812. Nathan C. Delano, Sr., the father of our subject, married Maria Richardson, daugh- ter of William Richardson. She, too, was a na- tive of the Empire state. Nathan C. Delano, the father of our subject, died in New York state, and five years later his widow married Thomas H. Young. This couple, with their family, crossed the plains in 1849, and for a time resided in Den- ver, Colorado. They afterward returned to Lea- venworth, Kansas, where the father engaged in business for fourteen years, then removed to Texas, and in 1874 came to Idaho, locating near Glenn's Ferry.
Nathan C. Delano, whose name heads this re- view, was educated in Leavenworth, Kansas,
and is a graduate of Bush's Commercial College. He afterward engaged in clerking in Leaven- worth and then removed to Texas, where he was engaged in farming. From the Lone Star state he removed to Idaho, taking up lands from the government on Cold Spring creek, eight miles west of Glenn's Ferry. That property he im- proved and sold, after which he came to Bellevue, where he engaged in the lumber business for a year. He then opened his general mercantile es- tablishment, and with the exception of one brief interval has carried on business in that line con- tinuously since. In 1883 he formed a partner- ship with H. H. Clay and they were thus asso- ciated for fourteen years, the relation proving mutually pleasant and profitable. In 1893 Mr. Delano was elected treasurer of Logan county, and served two years, and was also elected as- sessor and collector of taxes; but soon after this the county was consolidated with Alturas, and the act which created the new county of Blaine made him collector and assessor of Blaine coun- ty. While in office the second year he sold out to his partner, Mr. Clay, and was not connected with the store through 1896. He has also served as treasurer of the city of Bellevue. In 1897 he re- purchased his interest in the store, and has since successfully conducted the mercantile enterprise which he established in 1882. He has a large and well equipped store, and carries a well as- sorted stock of goods in order to meet the varied tastes of the public. His methods are honorable, his manner courteous and obliging and his prices reasonable, and he has thus secured a liberal and lucrative patronage. He also has valuable mining interests in Nevada.
In 1883 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Delano and Miss Jessie Fisher, and their union was blessed with a daughter, Della. In 1891 the wife and mother was called to her final rest, and in 1894 Mr. Delano was again married, his sec- ond union being with Miss E. Church. They also have an interesting little daughter, Helen. Theirs is one of the pleasant and hospitable res- idences of the town.
In his political views he was formerly a Re- publican, and gave to the party a stanch support until its policy as a "gold" party was announced. He then withdrew his allegiance, and has since allied himself with the Populist movement, be-
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lieving that its position on the great financial question best embodies the general good. He is a charter member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and is now financier of that lodge. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has filled all the chairs in that order. He ranks very high as a good citizen and reliable merchant, and his sterling worth com- mends him to the confidence and good will of all.
JOHN BRODBECK.
One of the representative business men of Boise, Mr. Brodbeck, is a pioneer of Idaho, hav- ing come to this state in 1865. He is a native of Switzerland, where he was born April 4, 1833. and was reared and educated in his native land and there learned the brewing business. His parents were Nicholas and Elizabeth (Hagler) Brodbeck, the former of whom was a miller by trade, and he and his wife were members of the Lutheran church and were people of high re- spectability in the old country. He died in his fifty-third year and his wife survived him until attaining the advanced age of eighty-five years. They had five sons and two daughters, one of the latter and our subject being the only ones now living.
After leaving school Mr. Brodbeck entered a commercial house, remaining there four years and then became connected with a brewing house. Subsequently he came to America, land- ing at New York, whence he journeyed to Cali- fornia in 1857 and settled at Scott Valley, where he had a brother living near Fort Jones. General Crook was then a second lieutenant at the fort and Mr. Brodbeck became intimately acquainted with him. Our subject was engaged in farming for a few years, but hearing of the silver discov- eries in Nevada he sold out and went to that state, where he remained a year and then decided to come to the gold fields of Idaho. He pur- chased an ox-team outfit, and with the pioneer Sommercamp he set out for the "Gem of the Mountains," walking all the way and driving one of the teams, while his young wife came also at this time. When they left Nevada the Indians were on the war path and emigrants were killed both in front and behind them, but they were not molested and arrived at Boise late in May, 1865, and in Idaho City on the first of June, residing in
the latter place for thirteen years. Finding noth- ing better to do, Mr. Brodbeck bought a dray and engaged in draying for two years, and then purchased a brewery, which he conducted suc- cessfully from 1867 to 1872. In 1871 he was elected county treasurer of Boise county and served with efficiency in that capacity for two terms of two years each, and he was also engaged in mining. In 1878 he came to Boise and pur- chased from Mrs. Missed what is now the city brewery of Boise, which he has since most suc- cessfully carried on. It is one of the oldest brew- eries in the state and under Mr. Brodbeck's able management has attained an enviable reputation for its high quality of home-made beer. Mr. Brodbeck also owns the City Brewery saloon. He built his present brick brewery in 1890 and during the twenty-one years he has been in busi- ness in Boise he has interested himself in many of the improvements of the town, with other busi- ness men, and has rendered valuable aid to many public enterprises. He is thoroughly reliable in all his transactions and possesses the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens.
On February 29, 1860, Mr. Brodbeck was mar- ried to Miss Sarah Grattiger, and of this union one daughter has been born. She is now Mrs. T. P. Woodcock. In 1865 Mr. Brodbeck was made a member of Pioneer Lodge, No. I, I. O. O. F., at Idaho City, and since then has passed all the chairs in that order.
CLARENCE W. BROOKS.
A little thoughtful consideration of the career of Clarence W. Brooks, proprietor of the Brooks House, Idaho Falls, brings one to the conclusion that he has in most of his business operations been impelled by the spirit of the pioneer. He has sought out new plans and new conditions likely to favor his projects, and after he has made them available and profitable, he has sought out still others, and after those others. The wisdom of his selection has been proven by the success which has crowned his efforts. Not only is he one of the boldest, most venturesome and most successful hotel men in the west, but he is one of the best all-round hotel men "to the manner born" and experienced in the best houses in the country, with a comprehensive grasp on the hotel business, as such, and an intimate knowl-
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edge of all the details of .good hotel-keeping.
Clarence W. Brooks was born in Royalton, Vermont, June 22, 1848. His ancestors came from England and settled early in New Hamp- shire. His paternal grandfather was a Revolu- tionary soldier, and lived for some years after American independence, for which he had fought, was an established fact. Austin Brooks, his son and the father of Clarence W. Brooks, was born in Vermont, and there married Miss Susan Smith, and they lived and were farmers at Roy- alton for fifty years, until his death, in July, 1880, at the age of eighty-one years. His widow lives at their old home and is now (1899) seventy- eight years old, still active in her interest in the Congregational church, of which her husband also was a lifelong member. They had seven children, three of whom are living. Clarence W. Brooks was educated in the public schools of his native town, and at the age of eighteen took a position in a grocery house in Boston. After three years there he went to New York city, where he se- cured his first experience in hotel life, and for five years was employed in leading houses. In 1874 he went to Denver, Colorado, and was connected with the Sargent House for six months. After that, for six years, he managed the hotel at Ante- lope Park, Colorado. For a time he was at Butte, Montana, then, in 1884, he bought the Eagle House at Idaho Falls and renamed it the Brooks House. In August, 1886, he sold it and went to Kansas, where he remained three years, during that time building two hotels, in two different towns, and at the end of that time took control of the St. James Hotel, Ogden, Utah. In 1892 we find him in Chicago, making extensive prep- arations for a hotel enterprise during the World's Fair. After the close of the Columbian Exposi- tion of 1893 he went to San Francisco, Califor- nia, and, after taking in the Mid-winter Exposi- tion there, returned to Idaho Falls. In 1895-6 he was the lessee and manager of the hotel there, and later, during the Omaha exposition, and until May, 1899, he was proprietor of the Brooks House in that city. At the date last mentioned he bought the Brooks Hotel at Idaho Falls and closed it and remodeled and largely rebuilt it, and re-opened it as a first-class house with modern accessories and conveniences. In all these hotel enterprises Mr. Brooks has been successful, and
he has never given up a house except to improve his fortunes elsewhere and has never disposed of one which he had not placed on a paying basis. He is the owner of four hundred acres of choice farming land, on which he raises hay and grain and vegetables in great variety, and which has proven a valuable auxiliary to his hotel at Idaho Falls.
Throughout the entire west Mr. Brooks is known as a genial and successful man, and Mrs. Brooks' reputation as a model "landlady" is co- extensive with his. She was Miss Mary Wallace, of Butler, Pennsylvania, and she is a woman of education and refinement, having taken such a hearty, sensible and helpful interest in many of his enterprises that he has attributed their success to her in no small degree. Mr. Brooks is known as a voting Republican who does not work at politics.
JOSEPH GEIGER.
The career of this successful business man has been crowned with results which must be taken as another evidence of the progressive quality of the German-American character. Joseph Gei- ger was born in Baden, Germany. July 28, 1853, was educated in the Fatherland and came to the United States at the age of seventeen years, poor in purse and ignorant of the English language. After spending six months in New York city, he went to Texas, where he remained two years. Then he lived two years in Iowa. By that time he was pretty thoroughly Americanized, for he was a studious and observant young man, with everything to accomplish and with an indomita- ble determination to make his way in spite of any and all obstacles.
From Iowa he came to Genesee valley, in Idaho, and took up a government ranch of three liundred and twenty acres. There were not, at that time, more than half a dozen settlers in the valley, and Lewiston and Walla Walla were the nearest towns. Mr. Geiger built upon and im- proved this holding, sold it at a profit and bought other lands, and he still owns one hundred acres of rich clover land, about a mile from the center of the city of Genesee. He is the owner also of considerable town property, including one of the most cosy and comfortable homes in Genesee.
In 1888 the firm of Geiger & Kambitch built
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HISTORY OF IDAHO.
and established the Genesee brewery, one of the pioneer concerns of the town. The plant has been enlarged from time to time to meet the re- quirements of the increasing trade of the growing town, and it has been kept always adequate to the demands upon it. The beer made by Messrs. Geiger & Kambitch is of superior quality, and finds ready sale in Genesee and throughout the surrounding country.
In 1889 Mr. Geiger married Miss Meta Smith, and their union was blessed by the advent of one child, a daughter, whom they named Ann. His young wife died when they had had but two years of happy married life. In 1893 Mr. Geiger mar- ried Miss Charlotte Brager, and to them have been born two children, Tillie and Fred. Mrs. Geiger is an admirable woman, an affectionate wife and mother and helpful in the woman's work of the city. The family are members of the Cath- olic church.
A stanch Democrat, Mr. Geiger is influential in the public affairs of Genesee. He has been for two terms president of the city council and in other ways has done the community good service. In every sense of the term, he is a public-spirited citizen, and his generosity has been manifested not only in the building of his own church, but in the establishment and material advancement of the other churches of Genesee. He is always ready to aid to the extent of his ability any move- ment which has for its object the promotion of the public good. He is unostentatious in his pri- vate helpfulness, but it is known that more than one man has found him "a friend in need."
BENJAMIN A. JENNE.
Character and ability will come to the front anywhere. As boy and man, many a man has been buffeted by fortune and had almost insur- mountable obstacles thrust in his path, but per- severance has cleared them away and he has gone on to success. Such has been the experience of the subject of this sketch, one of the rising and popular citizens and public men of Bingham county, Idaho, a man with a heart for any ven- ture, and a smile for friend and foe.
Benjamin A. Jenne, deputy sheriff and jailer of Bingham county, Idaho, was born at Poor Man's Gulch, California, October 22. 1855, and is descended from English and French ancestry.
His grandfather, Benjamin P. Jenne, was born in France, whence he emigrated to the United States and settled in St. Lawrence county, New York. There his son Benjamin P. Jenne, 2d, was born and reared. He went, while yet a young man, to California, and there married Miss Annie Ann Richardson, who died in giving birth to her only child, the subject of this sketch. Benjamin P. Jenne, 2d, died, aged eighty-seven, in 1894.
When he was four years old, Benjamin A. Jenne was taken to Ohio to live with his uncle, Ansel Jenne, and remained there, attending school after he was old enough, until he was twelve. He then went back to St. Lawrence county, New York, where he had a home with relatives, and at fifteen began to earn his own living. For two years he was a sailor on the great lakes between Ogdensburg, New York, and Chicago, Illinois. Then he went into the Michigan lumber country and worked in the woods in the winter months and in a sawmill at Muskegon during the balance of the year. After that he was a farmer in DeKalb county, Illinois, until 1878, when he came to Idaho and found employment as a stage-driver between Echo and Park City, Utah. After two years of such ex- perience he took up the hotel and restaurant business, in which he has since heen continuously successful. His first venture of this kind was at Soda Springs, Idaho, and he was encouraged by its success to go to Idaho Falls. There for a time he kept the Burgess House. Then he built the Grahel House and still later finished and ran the Berry House. As a hotel man he is known widely and favorably.
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