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 52
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spot. The sight was indeed a ghastly one! They buried four men that day and the next day bur- ied the fifth. They followed the Indians thirty miles and found them in camp early the next morning, where they gave them a hard whipping. At Burned river they fell in with the Grimes party, with whom they found a Mr. Johnson and the wife of one of the dead men above referred to. These two were all that were left of the party in the two wagons attacked by the Indians.
Mr. May went to Walla Walla and there built the first two brick stores of the town, these being his first contracts in the west. Afterward he traveled about considerably, and was variously employed at different places. In the Boise Basin he made adobe brick and built ovens. He also burned brick at the Buena Vista Bar. From there he came to Boise and took charge of the building of the fort, where he remained a month, after which he took a claim of one hundred and sixty acres of government land near by, and on it cnt and cured hay, which he sold for one hun- dred dollars per ton. Selling his claim shortly afterward, he returned to Boise and began the manufacture of brick where Mr. Redway's house now stands. Here he built a small dwelling, which is still standing, and soon afterward he erected a store building, twenty by fifty feet, of adobe brick, for Mr. Jacobs, its location being on the ground now occupied by the McCarty block at the corner of Seventh and Maine streets. Since then he has done a large amount of build- ing. both for himself and for other parties, and many of the handsome buildings of Boise, in- cluding his own brick residence, are monuments to his skill as a builder. Also he laid the stone of the custom-house at Portland, worked on the Market street front of the Palace hotel in San Francisco, and aided in the erection of the capitol building in Salem, Oregon.
In 1871 Mr. May was married to Miss Eliza- beth Williams, the daughter of Mr. Barret Will- iams, a pioneer of Idaho who is now ninety-six years of age and in the enjoyment of all his facul- ties. Mr. and Mrs. May have two daughters,- Rosa and Edith Virginia. The former is the widow of Professor Webber and since his death she has resided with her parents. The whole family are identified with the Episcopal church and he has served as vestryman of the same.
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Mr. May was made a Mason in Boise Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 2.
In 1875 Mr. May went to Australia to visit his parents, and on this trip visited Honolulu, New Zealand, Melbourne and Sydney, his people liv- ing in the last named city. While there he su- perintended the building of the first dry pressed- brick works in Sydney, and had charge of the building of the aqueduct that carries the water to that city. He remained in Sydney until after the death of his parents, when he returned to Boise, Idaho, which has since been his home.
WILLIAM A. COUGHANOUR.
For almost fourteen years Payette has num- bered William A. Coughanour among its most prominent and progressive citizens. He may well be termed one of the founders of the city, for he has been the promoter of many of its lead- ing business enterprises, and the growth and de- velopment of a city depend upon its commercial and industrial activity. His connection with any undertaking insures a prosperous outcome of the same, for it is in his nature to carry forward to successful completion whatever he is associated with. He has earned for himself an enviable reputation as a careful man of business, and in his dealings is known for his prompt and honor- able methods, which have won him the deserved and unbounded confidence of his fellow men.
Mr. Coughanour was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, on the 12th of March, 1850, and is of Pennsylvania Dutch lineage. His father, H. S. Coughanour, is still residing in that county, at the age of eighty-four years. He followed ship-building as an occupation through the period of his active business career. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Caroline Conkle, was likewise a native of his neighborhood, and be- longed to one of the old Dutch families. They became the parents of four daughters and a son, and all are yet living.
The subject of this review was reared in the place of his nativity and acquired his education in the public schools. The year 1870 witnessed his arrival in Idaho, where he has since made his home, becoming prominently identified with the development and advancement of the state. The last two hundred and eighty-five miles of his journey hither were made by stage, and upon
his arrival he assumed the management of the Gold Hill mine, at Quartzburg, acting as secre- tary and treasurer of the mining company for fifteen years, and being also superintendent of the same for an equal period of time. This is one of the richest and most celebrated mines in Ida- ho. Under Mr. Coughanour's management ore to the value of three million dollars was taken out, yet the mine is only partially developed. He is still one of the stockholders, and his income is materially increased thereby. In 1885 he came to Payette and has been associated with many business enterprises, which have not only proved profitable to himself but have also ad- vanced the general welfare. He has large landed interests in Oregon and Idaho and is conduct- ing an extensive lumber business in Payette, where he has large yards that supply anything in his line that the public may demand. He is a director in the Payette Valley Bank and a stock- holder and the secretary of the Lower Payette Ditch Company, which has been an important factor in irrigating the lands in this section of the state. His realty holdings, aggregating twenty-seven hundred acres, are about equally divided between Oregon and Idaho. He has a fine orchard of thirty-three acres near this city and is also interested in stock-raising, having as high as five hundred head of cattle at one time. It demands superior executive ability, keen dis- crimination and sound judgment to manage such extensive and varied business interests, but Mr. Coughanour controls all with a steady hand, and gains therefrom very gratifying financial returns.
In politics he is a Democrat, and before com- ing to Payette was elected and served as county commissioner of Boise county. In 1896 he was elected a member of the state senate, from Can- yon county, and introduced the horticultural in- spection bill, securing its passage, together with an appropriation of ten thousand dollars, in order that the horticultural board, established through the measures of this bill, might be able to carry on its work of protecting the fruit interests of the state from destructive fruit pests. Our subject is now president of the state board of horticul- ture, and is interesting himself in effective meas- ures for the protection of Idaho's fruit industry. He is now serving his third term as mayor of Payette, and his administration of the affairs of
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the city is most progressive, as he exercises his official powers to promote all interests and measures which will prove of public benefit. He was also postmaster under President Cleveland, and at all times has been most true and faithful to the trust reposed in him, discharging his dut- ties with marked promptness and fidelity.
Mr. Coughanour was married in 1874 to Miss Galena Bunting, a native of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and they now have a daughter and son, Emma L. and William M. The former was the efficient enrolling clerk in the state senate at the session of 1896-7. The family occupy an enviable position in social circles and enjoy the hospitality of the best homes of Payette. Mr. Coughanour has one of the finest museums in the state, including many specimens of quartz and gold nuggets, one of which is valued at one hundred and eighty-five dollars. Socially he is connected with the Order of Elks and he is also a very prominent representative of the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has the honor of being grand marshal of the grand lodge of Idaho. He is widely and favor- ably known throughout the entire state, his po- litical, fraternal and business prominence gain- ing him a wide acquaintance. He is a man of integrity and splendid business ability, through the medium of which he has acquired consider- able wealth. He is a gentleman of exceedingly fine address, possessing that natural geniality of temperament and affability of deportment that, united to a heart full of sympathy, make him an easy winner of friends, and he is ever welcome in the best social circles.
RICHARD H. BENNETT.
The proprietor of one of the fine sheep ranches of southern Idaho, Richard H. Bennett main- tains his residence in Mountain Home and from that point superintends his extensive business in- terests, in which he is meeting with good suc- cess. He is truly a self-made man, for he came to America empty-handed and through his own labors has worked his way steadily upward. He was born in England, March 19, 1850, a son of James and Jane (Sanders) Bennett, also natives of that country. In 1868, at the age of eighteen years, he severed the ties which bound him to his native country, and crossed the Atlantic to begin
life in the New World as an employe in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. He received for his services two dollars and a half per day, and thus he gained a start in life. He continued his resi- dence in the east until 1871, when he came to Idaho, and has since been identified with the in- terests of this state.
In 1878 Mr. Bennett married Miss Flora Anna Benney, a native of England, who had come to the United States in 1859. Her father is John Benney, now a resident of Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett took up their abode in Silver City, Idaho, where our subject engaged in mining for several years. He located the Stormy Hill mine, afterward sold it, and his last connection with the mining interests of that locality was in the Gold- en Chariot mine. On leaving Silver City he went to Castle Creek, Owyhee county, where he secured a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, and for a short time was engaged in the cattle business, after which he sold his stock. He is now the owner of an excellent ranch of two hun- dred acres near Mountain Home, on which he raises hay for his sheep, feeding as high as one hundred and fifty tons of hay annually. For his first flock of sheep he paid three thousand dol- lars. For eighteen years he has been engaged in the business, and at times has owned as high as six thousand head. His income from the sheep industry in one single season was nine thousand dollars, receiving nineteen and a half cents per pound for the wool. He raises prin- cipally Merino sheep, which he finds are well adapted for the climatic and forage conditions of southern Idaho. He is accounted one of the leading and most successful sheep-raisers of this part of the state, and his opinions on such mat- ters are received as authority.
Mr. Bennett is also the owner of a ten-acre block of ground in Mountain Home, and has thereon erected a very pleasant dwelling, in which he and his family reside. They have sev- en children, namely: Joseph S., Richard H., Lil- lie E., Frederick W., Flora E., Elmer J. and James Gordon. The parents were reared in the Methodist faith, but now attend the Episcopal church. In politics Mr. Bennett is a Republican, and in the Odd Fellows lodge he has passed all the chairs. He is a worthy, reliable citizen, a progressive and enterprising business man, and
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having been the architect of his own fortunes is deserving of great credit for his success.
ROBERT E. LOCKWOOD.
The editor and proprietor of the Weiser Sig- nal was born in Kirbyville, Josephine county, Oregon, February 15, 1858, and is of English de- scent. His grandparents were William and Lucy (Lord) Lockwood, and his father was Rob- ert Lockwood, Sr., a native of Australia, in which country he married Miss Clara Sophia Belknap. They became residents of Oregon in 1853, and the father engaged in mining on Rogue river. In 1871 he removed to Albany and later located in Canyon City, in the John Day valley of Ore- gon, where he continued his mining operations and also acted as deputy sheriff of the county, which position he ably filled for twelve years, under both Republican and Democratic admin- istrations. In 1887 he declined to longer fill that office, but consented to remain three days under the newly-elected sheriff. On the night of the third day there was a fire in the town. After it was extinguished Mr. Lockwood remarked that he would lock the prisoners in the cells and de- liver the keys to the sheriff in the morning, but while performing that duty he was murdered by one of the prisoners. He was then in the forty- fourth year of his age,-a brave man and a highly esteemed citizen who never faltered in the per- formance of any duty, no matter how hazardous. He left a widow and ten children, and Mrs. Lock- wood is still living, while six of the children also survive.
Robert E. Lockwood, whose name introduces this review, acquired his education in Canyon City, Oregon, and at an early age began to learn the printer's trade and to make his own way in the world. On learning of his father's death he returned to the funeral and remained at home until after the execution of the murderer. In 1878 he came to Idaho, where he was employed at tamping ties on the railroad, and afterward worked in the office of the Weiser Leader. He was for three months at Caldwell, in the employ of Steunenberg Brothers, and then began the publication of the Weiser Signal, with which he has since been connected. On the 31st of Au- gust, 1882, a neutral paper, called the Weiser Leader, had been established, with Messrs. Stine
& Mitchell in charge. The county had been created only three years previously. There had been only six issues of the paper when J. W. Haworth purchased Mr. Mitchell's interest, and the firm of Haworth & Company was formed, while S. M. C. Reynolds was made editor. For a time the paper was published as an independent political journal, but later was changed to a Re- publican sheet. On the 25th of August, 1883, Judge Henry C. Street became its manager; March 22, 1884, William P. Glenn became pro- prietor and editor, and in 1890 H. S. King, C. D. King and Frank Harris became its owners. Mr. Harris and H. S. King had editorial charge, while C. D. King was business manager. On the Ist of September, 1890, Mr. Harris discon- tinued his connection with the paper, but the King Brothers continued its publication until September 1, 1891, when Robert E. Lockwood became its owner, editor and publisher. He had worked on the paper for some months prior to the fall of 1890, at which time he had severed his relations therewith, and on the 18th of Decem- ber, 1890, issued the first number of the Weiser Signal. Both papers were then published until September 1, 1891, when Mr. Lockwood pur- chased the Leader and merged it into the Signal, since which time he has made his paper a large and valuable weekly, independent paper, devoted to the advancement of the interests of Weiser and Washington county. Its editorials are apt, concise, readable and instructive, and the Signal is now enjoying a large circulation and an ex- tended advertising patronage. Mr. Lockwood is a man of strong mentality and broad general in- formation, and has made his journal one of the best in southwestern Idaho.
In politics he has taken a deep and active in- terest and was a member of the state convention which nominated Frank Steunenberg for gov- ernor.
In the fall of 1898 Mr. Lockwood was the nominee of the Democratic, Populist and Silver- Republican parties for the office of state senator, a fact which indicated his personal popularity and the confidence reposed in him by people of dif- ferent political faith throughout the district.
Mr. Lockwood was married March 17, 1891, to Lealı Norah Wilson, a native of Illinois. She is a cultured lady and a valued member of the
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Congregational church. By their marriage there is one son, George Edwin. Socially Mr. Lockwood is a representative of the Masonic fraternity, and he is recognized as a most promi- nent and influential citizen.
SELDEN B. KINGSBURY.
The profession of the law, when clothed with its true dignity and purity and strength, must rank first among the callings of men, for law rules the universe. The work of the legal pro- fession is to formulate, to harmonize, to regu- late, to adjust, to administer those rules and principles that underlie and permeate all gov- ernment and society and control the varied rela- tions of men. As thus viewed there attaches to the legal profession a nobleness that cannot but be reflected in the life of the true lawyer, who, rising to the responsibilities of his profession, and honest in the pursuit of his purpose, em- braces the richness of learning, the profound- ness of wisdom, the firmness of integrity and the purity of morals, together with the graces of modesty, courtesy and the general amenities of life. Of such a type Selden Bingham Kings- bury is a representative. For eighteen years he has practiced law in Idaho, and for five years has been a resident of Boise.
Mr. Kingsbury was born in Camden, Lorain county, Ohio, on the 29th of October, 1842, and is descended from New England ancestry. Mem- bers of the family became early settlers of Brock- port, New York, and also of Lorain county, Ohio. Lemuel Kingsbury, the grandfather of our subject, valiantly aided the colonies in their struggle for independence, and lost a limb in battle. He attained the age of ninety-six years, and thus long enjoyed the advantages of the re- public for which he made so great a sacrifice. Charles B. Kingsbury, the father of Boise's well known lawyer, was born May 5, 1812, and be- tween the ages of eleven and thirty-five years sailed on whaling vessels. Later in life he be- came a prosperous farmer. In his early political affiliations he was a Democrat, but being a great lover of liberty he aided in organizing the Re- publican party, formed to prevent the further ex- tension of slavery, and voted for Fremont in 1856. He held various county offices and was an influential citizen in the community in which
he lived. He married Betsey Tenant, who be- longed to a family of western New York, and to them were born seven children, of whom six are still living.
Selden B. Kingsbury acquired his early educa- tion in the public schools, later attended the academy in Oberlin, Ohio, and in 1859 entered Oberlin College, where he continued until the great civil war fell upon the country. At the first call of President Lincoln for volunteers, he, in company with many of the students and one member of the faculty of the college, entered the country's service, in April, 1861. He was assigned to Company C, Seventh Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, which had an enrollment of one hundred and twelve-all students of said college and officered by members of its faculty, and on the 20th of April was mustered in at Camp Tay- lor, Cleveland, Ohio. Three days later they were ordered to Camp Chase, thence to Camp Dennison. Mr. Kingsbury aided in surveying that camp, which afterward became one of the finest and largest camps in the United States. In July, 1861, under the call for three years' troops, he re-enlisted and almost immediately was sent to West Virginia, his regiment being on the advance under General Cox, in charge of the brigade, and General McClellan, in command of the corps. After a forced march of fifty-two miles and a light skirmish, his regiment captured the city of Weston, took a number of prisoners, deposed the rebel forces and captured state funds of Virginia amounting to fifty-seven thousand dollars in specie. This was afterward turned over to Governor Pierpont and was the money with which he was first supplied to carry on the business of the new state of West Virginia, which at that time was organized as a state of the Union. Mr. Kingsbury later participated in the battles of Summerville and Cross Lanes, where his regiment fell into an ambuscade of the Con- federate forces under Generals Floyd and Wise. The Union forces were driven from the field and his company, covering the retreat, was badly cut to pieces, most of the men being either killed, wounded or taken prisoners. Mr. Kingsbury was captured and so was every officer of his com- pany who was not killed, and after being incar- cerated in Libby prison for a month was sent to Parish prison, New Orleans, where he remained
Selelento, Kingsbury
Residence of S. B. Kingsbury, Boise, Idaho.
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until that city was captured by General Butler, in the spring of 1862, when with some five hundred other prisoners, he was then taken to Salisbury, North Carolina, in which prison he was held un- til the following July, when he was paroled. Re- turning north, he was sent to Camp Chase, near Columbus, Ohio, and there discharged on ac- count of disability, a year and a half before his complete exchange was effected.
On leaving the army Mr. Kingsbury returned to college and on the completion of the classical course, in 1864, was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Later the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by his alma mater. Previous to his graduation he had charge of the Union school of Mentor, Ohio, and after graduation was for two years principal of the city school of Flint, Michigan. He was then elected principal of the Union school of Con- stantine, that state, a position which he filled with general satisfaction for eight years. Dur- ing that time he read law, was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of law in Constan- tine, Michigan, where he remained until 1881. In that year he came to Idaho, locating in Hailey, whence he removed to Boise, where he now re- sides.
Mr. Kingsbury has always been a tireless stu- dent, and after choosing the law as his profes- sion he read almost nothing else for three years, giving his entire attention to the mastery of the principles of jurisprudence. While engaged in teaching he attained considerable distinction as a lecturer on scientific subjects, and had the hon- or of securing and sending to the University of Michigan the skeleton of a large mastodon now on exhibition in the museum of that institution. It is considered the finest specimen of its kind in the United States, and hence was a very valuable acquisition to the museum .. Mr. Kingsbury has one of the finest law offices and largest law libra- ries in the west. He has attained prestige among the legal practitioners of Idaho, his abili- ties securing him high rank. As a lawyer he is sound, clear-minded and well trained. The lim- itations which are imposed by the constitution on federal powers are well understood by him. With the long line of decisions from Marshall down, by which the constitution has been ex- pounded, he is familiar, as are all thoroughly
skilled lawyers. He is at home in all depart- ments of law from the minutiæ in practice to the greater topics wherein is involved the considera- tion of the ethics and philosophy of jurispru- dence and the higher concerns of public policy. His fidelity to his clients' interests is proverbial, and therefore his clientage is very extensive.
While in charge of the schools in Mentor, Ohio, Mr. Kingsbury became acquainted with Miss Hulda C. Corning, a native of that town, and in 1865 they were happily married and began residing at Flint, Michigan, where Mr. Kings- bury was engaged in teaching. They have had five children,-three sons and two daughters: Nathan C., who is engaged in business in Co- lumbus, Ohio: Lizzie Alice, who died at Con- stantine, Michigan; Fred and Helen, who are attending Oberlin College; and Ross Selden, a pupil at the public school of Boise. Culture, re- finement and intellectual activity characterize this family, and in social circles they occupy a very prominent position. They have a com- modious and elegant home, which was erected by Mr. Kingsbury. Socially he is a Knight Templar Mason, a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and also of the Grand Army of the Republic. As a citizen and lawyer he stands among the first of the residents of Boise, and his name should occupy a prominent place on the pages of the history of his adopted state.
L. A. YORK.
The present popular editor and proprietor of the Owyhee Avalanche, at Silver City, Mr. L. A. York, is a native of Lewiston, Maine, born March 13, 1866. His parents were Jerome W. and Martha (Read) York, both natives of that city, and his father of Scotch ancestry. The first representatives of the family in America settled in Maine very early in its history. On the maternal side this ancestry is English, trace- able back to Sir John Read, an English noble- man born in the year 1600. Mr. York's father died in North Dakota, in 1894. at the age of sixty-five years; and his mother is living, being now in her fifty-eighth year. In religious faith they were Universalists.
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