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 67

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 67

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About ninety per cent of the inhabitants are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and they have erected a large church and a splendid stake academy, the latter built at

a cost of nearly fifty thousand dollars. Preston also supports a well equipped and uniformed company of the Idaho State Militia, known as Company B, and composed of forty-five of the representative young men of the place. There is also a good district school in Preston, and the people are an intelligent, enterprising and pro- gressive class, readily supporting all measures and movements for the public good.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

INDIVIDUAL RECORDS.

AMASA B. CAMPBELL.

T HE rapid development of all material re- sources during the closing years of the nineteenth century has brought business enterprises up from the day of small things to gigantic proportions, where millions of dollars take the place of hundreds and where men are required to handle millions as coolly, as carefully and as successfully as their grandfathers handled hundreds. All the history of the world shows that to grapple with all new conditions, to fill breaches in all great crises men have been de- veloped and have stood ready to assume new and great responsibilities and have discharged them well and profitably. Many youths now tak- ing their first lessons in practical business will work up gradually from one responsibility to one higher, and then to still higher ones, as did . Amasa B. Campbell, Idaho's great mining mag- nate, and will be, as he was, the right man for the place, when, in the march of advancement, the place is ready and they are needed in it.

Amasa B. Campbell is a son of John and Re- becca (Snodgrass) Campbell, and was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, April 6, 1845. His father, a native of Pennsylvania, died in Illinois in 1845, aged forty-five years, and his mother, whose life began and ended in Ohio, died in 1892, at the age of eighty-six. Mr. Campbell's boy- hood was passed in his native county, where he attended public school until he was seventeen years old. Then he went to Alliance, Ohio, where he entered the employ of the firm of Pettit & Nixon, commission merchants, as a clerk. There he remained five years, gaining a thorough and practical knowledge of business and the methods best calculated to insure its success. He went west in 1867, where he was employed by the Union Pacific Railway Company until 1870. His work here gave him broader ideas of busi- ness and fitted him to consider larger and more important commercial and financial propositions

than had been represented to him hitherto. He was drawn away from the employnient, how- ever, by the mining excitement which was then beginning to make Utah the Mecca of venture- some men who sought to achieve fortune by a short cut, and he went to the country in 1871 and was engaged in prospecting in Utah, Colorado and Idaho until 1882. At that time he returned to Ohio and located at Youngstown, but, as events have proven, not with the intention of giving up mining. He remained there five years and, meantime, in association with John A. Finch organized at Youngstown a syndicate of capital- ists to purchase and operate mining property in the Coeur d'Alene country, Idaho. Those who are at all informed concerning the mining his- tory of the Coeur d'Alene district know that Mr. Campbell's enterprises and their successes have made him one of the leading mining men of the great west and that through his influence and exertions some of the greatest mining properties in the world have been developed, have yielded their treasures for the enrichment of Idaho and the improvement of the commerce of the nation and have long afforded and are now affording profitable employment to thousands of men.

A self-made man in all that the term implies, Mr. Campbell has won his great success by legiti- mate methods and by the exercise of sagacity, foresight and business capacity of the highest order, and another factor potent in his successes has been labor, early and late, hard and unceas- ing. In his views of affairs of public moment, Mr. Campbell is a Republican, adhering strictly to the principles of that party as enunciated by Abraham Lincoln. But in Lincoln's time the silver question, as it is now understood, had not arisen, and Mr. Campbell believes, with Senator Teller and other distinguished Republicans of the west, that he made no departure from Repub- licanism when, as delegate to the national Re- publican convention, at St. Louis, in 1896, he

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with Senator Teller and others, refused to sup- port the gold platform, and left the convention hall. Mr. Campbell has risen to a high place in the Masonic fraternity. Education has ever commanded his best thought, and his dearest wish is for the thorough and general education of the American people. In recognition of his interest in this subject, so vital to our national progress, he was in 1899, appointed by Governor Steunenberg a member of the board of regents of the University of the State of Idaho, but fear- ing that his important private interests would prevent his giving due attention to the duties of this office he declined it appreciatively but firmly.

In 1890 Mr. Campbell married Miss Grace M. Fox, of Youngstown, Ohio, and they have a daughter, named Helen. They lived at Wallace from 1890 to 1898, but have since had their home at Spokane, Washington.

FRANK STEUNENBERG.

Frank Steunenberg was born in Keokuk, Iowa, August 8, 1861, and in the public schools of his native state acquired his literary educa- tion. In early life he learned the printer's trade, and until January, 1887, was engaged in the printing and publishing business in his native state. He then came to Idaho, locating at Cald- well, where he began business along the same line. In 1889 he was chosen a member of the convention that framed the state constitution, and served upon several of its important com- mittees. In 1890 he was elected a member of the house of representatives, on the Democratic ticket, from what was then Ada county. He also served as chairman of the board of trustees of Caldwell for two terms.

In politics he has always been a Democrat, unswerving in his allegiance to the party, and laboring earnestly to secure the adoption of its principles. Since his arrival in the state he has been a prominent factor in its circles. He was chosen secretary of the Democratic state central committee; in 1896 he became the nominee of the People's-Democratic party for the office of governor, being elected over the Republican candidate by a good majority. In his first mes- sage to the Idaho legislature Governor Steunen- berg called attention to some abuses that needed correcting, and also indicated the economic lines

upon which he meant to conduct the administra- tion of the affairs of the state. This policy was closely followed, and so acceptable were his services that in 1898 he was renominated by the bimetallists of the state, the Democrats and sil- ver Republicans, and was elected.

CHARLES F. BURR.

The trite saying that "blood will tell" does not depend for its illustration on the achievements of distinguished members of the family so much as upon the sum of the achievements of the rank and file of the family in all generations and amid varying circumstances, few of which are condu- cive to what the world is pleased to call greatness. There has been one great man in America named Burr and there have been countless representa- tives of the name in many communities who have performed well their part and added to the suni total of greatness by quiet work where work has been needed and has counted. Such a man was the late Rev. Samuel Prentice Burr and such a citizen is his son, the subject of this sketch, who is more truly a representative American than the Burr whose name is prominent on the printed pages of our early national history. And the Rev. Samuel Prentice Burr and his son Charles F. count for only two of thousands of the family who have made their ranks in the communities in which their lot has been cast, and in doing so have advanced the interest of their fellow citizens.

Judge Charles F. Burr, an early settler and an influential resident of Genesee, Idaho, was born in Momence, Illinois, March 31, 1857, a son of Samuel Prentice and Almira J. (Evans) Burr, and lineal descendant of Rev. Jonathan Burr, who was born in Redgrove, Suffolk, England, in 1604. He came to New England in 1639 and settled in Dorchester, New Hampshire. He died in 1640, aged thirty-seven years. He was the founder of the American family of Burrs. One of his sons was the progenitor of the branch of the family of which Aaron Burr was a member, and another was the ancestor of the family of Burrs of which our subject is a representative.

Laban Burr, the grandfather of the Judge, was born in New Hampshire, and in 1820 located in Ohio. In 1821 he removed to Illinois. The Rev. Samuel Prentice Burr was born in Hing- ham, New Hampshire, September 8, 1809, and

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came west with his father's family. He married Miss Almira J. Evans, a native of Virginia and a daughter of Joshua Evans, who came of one of the old Virginia families and was one of the earliest pioneers in Illinois. He was a Methodist and a circuit-rider of the pioneer days; he spent forty-four years of his life among the pioneers and in the service of the new anu struggling churches of Illinois, and his work was crowned with signal and permanent results. After this long experience in Illinois, he continued the work in Nebraska, always busy, always achieving, to the very day of his death, which occurred sud- denly, November 28, 1881, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. He had preached the day before, with all his wonted energy and forcefulness. He is remembered as a friendly man with a hand- shake and encouraging word for those in trouble or in doubt, a preacher of sermons sound, vigor- ous and brilliant, and a tireless worker in the cause to which he gave his life. Living, he was long and widely popular; dead, he will be long and widely mourned. His wife survives him, aged seventy-four years. They had eight chil- dren, five of whom are living.

Charles F. Burr, their only son, was educated in the public schools of Illinois and followed agricultural pursuits most of the time until 1876, when he came to the Pacific coast and traveled extensively through California, Oregon and Washington, looking the country over carefully, with a view of changing his location. He came west to stay in 1880 and for a time was in the government employ at the Cascade locks. He then went east and settled up his father's estate, and in 1888 came to the site of the present thriv- ing town of Genesee. He arrived April 10 and found just two structures to foreshadow the future prosperity of the locality. One of these was a "shack" occupied by Mr. Larrabee, the other was John J. Owens' little frame hotel. Mr. Herman was erecting a small building for a store. The possibilities of the locality were ap- parent to Judge Burr and he engaged in the real- estate, loan and insurance business and was largely instrumental in advancing the interests of the town. He was of material assistance to its business enterprises, and naturally succeeded in his own undertakings. Besides handling real estate he has erected a number of the good build-

ings in Genesee, and in addition to his local interests he has valuable mining property in the Pierce City district. With others he owns a rich group of mines there, and all are in various stages of promising development. Judge Burr was one of the incorporators both of the town and city of Genesee and was the first city clerk. He has served as its police judge and justice of the peace, and was its postmaster for four years, through the appointment of President Harrison. He was also one of the founders and the cashier of the Bank of Genesee, and his influence has been exerted to further the public interests in every way. He has always represented a line of the largest and strongest insurance companies and has been instrumental in settling all losses to the entire satisfaction of his patrons.

Judge Burr was married November 30, 1876, to Miss Mary E. Wigg, a native of Elgin, Illinois, and their children are as follows: Samuel P., the eldest son, is now serving his country in the Philippine islands as a member of Company D, First Regiment of Idaho Volunteers; Fannie is now the wife of Gilbert C. Crawford; William is first sergeant of Company D, First Regiment of Idaho Volunteers, now in active service in the Philippines; Daniel C., LeRoy, Dora B., Alta and Marie are all at home with their parents.

In his political views the Judge is a stalwart Republican. He has passed all of the chairs in all of the branches of Odd Fellowship and the grand encampment and is now serving his second term as representative to the sovereign grand lodge. He was made a Master Mason in Unity Lodge, No. 32, F. & A. M., and his wife is an influential member of the Congregational church. He has erected and occupies one of the finest res- idences in the city, and he and his family are held in the highest esteem by a wide and constantly enlarging circle of acquaintances.

JOSEPH R. SHEPHERD.

This is an age when the young man is prom- inent. He is at the head of many important enter- prises and is bringing others to the front whichi åre bound to startle very many who have per- mitted themselves to be buried under superannu- ated ideas. At an age when the average business man of two generations ago was considered but a child, the boys of the end of the century have

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acquired the foundation of a practical knowledge of successful business methods, and with broad ideas, in harmony with the spirit and opportu- nities of the age, are planning their work for the future with a view to achieving success and retir- ing early in life. The west is full of young business men, and Idaho has its share of those who have made their marks early in life. One of these, the narrative of whose career will serve as an illustration pertinent to these remarks, is Mayor Shepherd of the city of Paris.

Joseph R. Shepherd was born in Hampshire, England, March 18, 1865, a son of William and Mary Ann (Tracy) Shepherd. His parents came of old English stock, and his father was a shoe- maker by trade. They became converts to the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and in 1877 they emigrated to this country, bringing with them their ten children, and located at Paris, Bear Lake county, Idaho, where Mr. Shepherd worked at his trade until he retired from active life, and he died in 1898, aged seventy-three. His wife survives him and is now (1899) sixty-nine years old. He was a high priest in his church, having done valuable missionary work for it before coming to the United States, and his exertions in its behalf were continued with good results after he took up his residence in Paris. His children, except one, all live in Paris. Joseph R. Shepherd, the seventh in order of birth, attended school in England from his fifth to his twelfth year, when he was brought to Paris. Here he entered upon the work of earning his own living as a boy clerk in the store of the Paris Co-operative Institution, with which concern he was employed about five years. He then accepted a position with the Wooley Brothers, and was employed in their store about three years. He was then engaged as manager of the co-operative store of the town, and had charge of all its interests about five years, during which time he bought and sold large quantities of goods. In 1891, in connection with others, he organ- ized the Paris Mercantile Company, in which he was a large stockholder and of which he was made business manager. At the expiration of two years he bought out the other stockholders and he has since that time owned and conducted the business of the concern.

He deals in every kind of merchandise for which there is any demand at Paris, and is a large buyer of the produce of the country round about. He is the owner of the large frame building in which his business is conducted and which is now too small for its adequate accommoda- tion, and is now erecting a large double brick block, with rock basement and steel roof, which will be as nearly fire-proof as it is possible to make it.

He is a man of liberal methods, who is willing to invest money to make money and who treats his employes so generously that they work for his interests faithfully and tirelessly. His public- spirited helpfulness is recognized by all his fellow citizens. In politics he is a Republican. He was one of the organizers of the city of Paris, was one of the first councilmen and is its present effi- cient and popular mayor. All the members of his household are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was married, in 1885, to Miss Rose Budge, daughter of State Senator William Budge of Paris, and they have six children: J. Russell, Alfred Will- iam, Clarence, David, Eva and Harold.

WALTER ALLEN JONES.

This gentleman is the senior member of the law firm of Jones & Morphy, of Wallace, and holds a position of distinctive precedence at the bar of northern Idaho, by reason of his eminent ability as counsel and advocate. He was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, May 5, 1855, and is a son of Joseph D. and Catherine A. (Kaercher) Jones, both of whom were natives of Pennsyl- vania and spent their entire lives in that state, as had their ancestors since early colonial days. The father died at the age of forty-five years, and the mother was called to her final rest when seventy-three years of age.

The subject of this review was reared and edu- cated in the common schools of Pottsville and further continued his studies in the Paschal Insti- tute, at that place. Determining to prepare for the bar, he began familiarizing himself with the principles of jurisprudence in 1874, as a student in the law office of the Hon. W. H. M. Oram, of Shamokin, Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the bar at Sunsbury, Pennsylvania, Janu- ary 15, 1878, and immediately afterward began

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practice, spending one year in Mount Carmel, and then removing to Shamokin, where he practiced from 1879 until the close of the year 1885. In January, 1886, he came to the Coeur d'Alene country and took up his abode in Murray, Shoshone county, where through the summer he engaged in mining. Since the autumn of that year he has been in active practice in all of the civil and federal courts of the state, and in November, 1897, was admitted to practice in the United States supreme court, and in October, 1892, had been admitted to practice in the United States circuit court of ap- peals, at San Francisco, California. He is re- garded as one of the leading lawyers of the north- west, and much important litigation has been en- trusted to his care.

In politics Mr. Jones was a Republican until 1892, since which time he has been identified with the People's party. He has been honored with a number of official positions,-he was elected city auditor of Shamokin, Pennsylvania, in 1875. serving for two years; in 1879 was elected police magistrate of the same city, and acceptably filled that position for five years; and he received the unanimous nomination of the Republican party for state senator from the fourteenth dis- trict of Pennsylvania, but declined the honor proffered him. In 1886 he was elected district at- torney of Shoshone county, Idaho, and during his term of service prosecuted some of the noted criminal cases of the state. He conducted the prosecution at the trial of ex-Sheriff Teddy Guthrie and of Patrick McGown, county com- missioner, both of whom were convicted. In 1889 Mr. Jones removed to Wallace and con- ducted the litigation which arose from the locat- ing of the town site by Colonel Wallace. He has been elected city attorney of Wallace for four successive terms, and in addition to his official duties has all the time carried on a large and important private practice. He prepares his cases with great care and precision and in the court-room marshals his facts and evidence with all the ability of a general on the field of battle. His manner is always courteous to judge, jury and witnesses, yet he never loses sight of a point that will advance his client's interests, and has won many forensic triumphs.

On the Ist of January, 1880, Mr. Jones mar-

ried Miss Frances M. Thomas, at Wilkesbarre, in the famous Wyoming valley of Pennsylvania, which was the home of her parents and had been the ancestral place of residence of the family for more than a century. She is a member of the Episcopal church and is a cultured lady who shares in the high regard in which her husband is uniformly held.

MARCUS D. WRIGHT.

One of the most successful and progressive business men of Idaho, and the leading land- owner of Kootenai county, is Marcus D. Wright, of Rathdrum. He was born in Kentucky, April 16, 1851, and is a son of John W. and Mary (Gipson) Wright, both of whom were likewise natives of Kentucky. The father died in Illinois, at the age of sixty-four years, but the mother is still living, at the age of eighty-seven, and is a resident of Germantown, Kentucky. Of their seven children six yet survive.

Marcus D. Wright was reared in Kentucky and acquired his education in the public schools there. At the age of seventeen he left his native state and went to Missouri, making his home in St. Joseph until he had attained his majority. In 1871 he went to Montana, in which state he lived for six years, and in 1877 he removed to Spokane, Washington. In 1881 he came to what is now Kootenai county, Idaho, locating on the present site of the town of Rathdrum, with whose interests he has since been prominently identified. He was one of the first merchants of the place, and for thirteen years he has been engaged in furnishing railroad ties, under contract, to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, which he has supplied with more than three million ties in that period. The period of his mercantile career here covers eleven years. He has a well selected stock of general merchandise, and commands an excellent patronage by reason of his courtesy, his enterprise and his reliable business methods. He is also the most extensive land-owner in Kootenai county, having four thousand acres, of which eight hundred acres are planted to wheat, oats, hay and potatoes. His agricultural interests add materially to his income, and the various depart- ments of his business have proved profitable. owing to his sound judgment and capable busi- ness management.

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In 1881 Mr. Wright married Miss Bertie Piper, a native of California, and they have eight chil- dren, as follows: Florence A., May W., Elida R., Zella Z., John J., Bertie D., Stella H., and M. Gordon.

In his political adherency Mr. Wright is a Democrat, and he keeps well informed on the issues and questions which affect the public pol- icy and the national welfare. He aided in organ- izing Kootenai county, and served as its first collector and assessor, yet has never been an office-seeker, preferring to devote his energies to his business interests. He belongs to that class of representative American citizens who promote the general prosperity while laboring for individual success, and is a man of pleasant de- meanor and genuine worth, having gained the confidence and regard of all whom he has met.

JOHN COZZENS.

The man whose name appears above is one of the most prominent citizens of Montpelier, Bear Lake county, Idaho, and is entitled to the distinction of having been a pioneer and a leader of pioneers on the site of the present town, where he first arrived a third of a century ago and where he has lived since, active in all good works tending to development and prosperity.

John Cozzens was born in South Wales, at High Cross, Penbrookshire, May 17, 1833, of Welsh, Scotch and Irish ancestry. James Coz- zens, his father, was a farmer and a member of what was then the Independent Presbyterian church. His wife was Diana Thomas. He died in the thirty-seventh year of his age, she at the age of forty-two. They left nine children, of whom only three are living. John Cozzens, the eldest of the family, was educated in Wales, learned the butcher's trade there and, at the age of nineteen, married Miss Martha Cozzens, a distant relative and one of the pioneers of Mont- pelier. They were converted to the faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and sailed, the year after their marriage, for America, with Utah as their destination. That was in 1856. Mr. Cozzens took up government lands in Weaver valley and lived there until the church called for volunteers to settle Bear Lake valley. Then he was one of the fifteen men, who with their families, responded to the call. After stop-

ping for a while at Paris, they came to Mont- pelier in 1864. There was not at that time a rod of iron rail within the limits of the present county of Bear Lake and the settlers had to go seventy-five miles for their supplies and bring them in with ox teams. They lived simply and cheaply in the poorest apologies for log houses, and had to rely on the most primitive means for everything. Mr. Cozzens brought along a big coffee mill, and this was used to grind the grain for the colony. It was hard enough for the pio- neers to procure the necessaries of life for them- selves and their families, but they fed the Indians also when opportunity presented, as a means to gaining and retaining their good will. Mr. Coz- zens early took up a quarter-section of govern- ment land, and most of his companions secured land in the same way. He was the president of the colony during the first ten years of its ex- istence. For a time the hardships and discour- agements were numerous and diversified. They took the form of early frosts, which killed every- thing that had been planted and had appeared above the ground, and of crickets and grasshop- pers, which destroyed the crops when the harvest time approached. But the pioneers were patient and were upborne by their faith. The winters were colder than any winters have been in the same locality since, and this brought many dis- comforts. The mail was brought in irregularly by men on snow-shoes and it was necessary to burrow down under the drifts for the fuel which was indispensable. But better things came by and by. The wilderness disappeared, a beautiful agricultural country was developed and a thriving town grew up as if by magic. Mr. Cozzens is now the owner of two hundred acres of land which, even if he had nothing else to show for his years of toil and self-denial, would in itself be a small fortune. Modern improvements and appliances are to be seen everywhere. The pests of the early days are for the most part gone. The Indians are gone, but this blessing has a shadow. The Indians formerly ate ground-squirrels in such large numbers that those pests were killed and frightened off so thoroughly as to be no ob- struction to successful farming. The squirrels have now multiplied to such an extent that, though many are killed every year for the bounty, paid by the county, of two cents on each tail

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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 67

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