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 69
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129
His ancestors came to America in colonial days, and the maternal great-grandfather of our sub- ject, Major Norton, fought throughout the strug- gle for independence. Joseph Baird, the father of our subject, was born in New York, and married Miss Sally Ann Gifford. For many years he engaged in the operation of a flouring mill, but in 1849 took up his residence upon a farm near Binghamton, New York, where he spent the re- mainder of his life. He took an active part in public affairs, and held various county offices, discharging his duties with marked promptness and fidelity. Both he and his wife were faithful members of the Episcopal church. The former departed this life in the fifty-ninth year of his age, the latter in her seventy-seventh year. They had a family of four sons and three daughters, of whom five are living.
Ezra ·Baird was reared and educated in Bing- hamton, New York. With the hope of more rapidly acquiring a competence in the west, in 1861, when twenty-two years of age, he went by way of the isthmus of Panama to San Francisco, where he remained for a year. The following year he arrived in Lewiston, where he has since made his home. He engaged in placer mining on Newsom creek and in the vicinity of Elk City, meeting with fair success, and taking out at times as high as one hundred dollars per day. After these early mining experiences he engaged in the stage and express business between Lew- iston, Warren's, Elk City and other places, and met with prosperity in that undertaking, which he continued for ten years. He was then called to public office, being elected sheriff of Nez Per - ces county in the fall of 1874. So fearlessly and efficiently did he discharge his duties that lie was elected for three successive terms and served in all for eight consecutive years, proving a most capable officer and true to the public trust. He was also United States marshal for the territory of Idaho, appointed by President Cleveland. He is now largely interested in quartz mining in Montana, British Columbia; and, in Idaho, at Buffalo Hump, Dixie, Florence and on the Snake river, where he has rich copper mines. He is also engaged in buying and selling mines on his own account. At Lewiston he was also en- gaged in the livery business for several years, and has uniformly met with success in the various
381
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
undertakings to which he has devoted his ener- gies.
In 1873 Mr. Baird was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Odle, a native of Oregon and a daughter of James Odle, a pioneer of the Sun- set state. They have two children, Edna May and Lewis Lawrence. They reside in a very at- tractive home, which stands on the hill near the State Normal School, and the household is noted for its genial hospitality. Socially Mr. Baird is connected with the Masonic fraternity, being connected with the blue lodge, chapter and cont- mandery, and has also attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish rite. In addition to his service as county sheriff, he has filled the office of alderman of Lewiston and has also been its mayor. He has exercised his official prerogatives for the upbuilding and development of the city, and at all times gives a hearty support to all measures intended for the public good. For thir- ty-seven years he has been a resident of Idaho and is widely and favorably known throughout the state.
BENJAMIN F. HASTINGS.
It has been the discovery of the rich mineral deposits of the northwest that has led to the de- velopment of this section of the country, and among those who have been prominent in pro- moting the mining interests of Idaho is Benjamin F. Hastings, late mining inspector of the state. An excellent judge of the value of ore, and a man of unimpeachable integrity, he was well quali- fied for the position which he so acceptably filled, and all concerned commended him for the straightforward, prompt and reliable manner in which he discharged his duties.
A native of Mississippi, Mr. Hastings was born in the city of Vicksburg, on the 31st of August, 1848. His ancestors were English peo- ple who took up their abode in Pennsylvania at an early period in the history of the Keystone state. They took an active part in the affairs which shaped the destiny of the colony, and rep- resentatives of the name aided in the struggle for American independence. Benjamin Franklin Hastings, father of our subject, was born in Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania, and when a young man removed to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where he married Miss Ann Caroline Baker, a native of Somersetshire, England, and a daughter of
Amos Baker, Esquire. On the discovery of gold in California, in 1849, Mr. Hastings, Sr., made a voyage around Cape Horn to the Pacific coast and became prominently engaged in the banking business in Sacramento, Virginia City, Nevada, and in San Francisco. He died in the last named place in 1882, at the age of sixty-five years. He was a man of excellent business ability and un- questioned integrity and left to his family the priceless heritage of an untarnished name as well as a goodly competence. In the family were ten children, but only two are now living, Benjamin F. and James, the latter now a resident of Cal- ifornia.
In 1852 Benjamin F. Hastings of this review was taken to California by his parents. He was then only three years of age, and since that time he has resided in this section of the country. He attended the public schools of the Golden state, continued his studies in Philadelphia, and com- pleted his education abroad, studying both in England and in Paris, France. In 1868 he came to Idaho and for a year engaged in mining near Silver City, but at the expiration of that period returned to San Francisco and accepted the po- sition of receiving teller in the banking house of John Sime & Company. At the time of the Pioche excitement, in 1870, he went to that region, where he spent four years, and in 1875 he returned to Silver City, where he has since made his home. He has made judicious and extensive investments in mines, has operated a number successfully, has sold others at good profits, and still has valuable mining property in the vicinity of Silver City. He also has some good residence property here, and is one of the substantial citizens of this section of the state. He was elected to the office of state inspector of mines in 1896, and his term expired in January, 1899.
He has always been a stanch Democrat in his political affiliations, and in 1886 was elected on that ticket to the position of sheriff of Owyhee county. On the expiration of his term of service he received his party's nomination for re-election. Mr. Hastings was united in marriage to Mrs. Anna Kimberly, of Dallas, Texas. They are both members of the Episcopal church, and are very highly esteemed in the community in which they make their home. Mr. Hastings has a wide
382
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
acquaintance throughout the state, especially in mining circles, and his election to an important office indicated the confidence reposed in him and the high regard accorded him.
HON. BURDICE J. BRIGGS.
There are few men in southern Idaho better or more favorably known than Hon. Burdice J. Briggs, a lawyer of ability and success, an up- right and patriotic citizen, and the constant promoter of the best interests of the state and its people. His effective work in the legislature in behalf of irrigation entitles him to a prominent place in any volume which purports to give an account of Idaho and her leading useful citizens.
Hon. Burdice J. Briggs was born at Bellevue, Nebraska, November 21, 1859, a son of Alpheus N. and Harriet (Green) Briggs. The Briggs family in America is of English origin and Bur- dice J. Briggs' ancestors came over previously to the Revolution and located in New England and New York. Alpheus N. Briggs was born in Vermont. While yet a young man, unmarried, lie settled with his parents in Michigan, where he was a pioneer. He married Miss Harriet Green, of Allegan, that state. Judge Henry C. Briggs, of Kalamazoo, long a legal light in Michigan, was his brother. The family were Baptists for a long period in their earlier history. Later some of them became Congregationalists. During his younger and more active years Alpheus N. Briggs was a carpenter and a farmer, and he has always proven himself a man of good knowledge and understanding and influential as a citizen. He has attained the age of sixty-four years. He lives at Council Bluffs, Iowa, with his daughter, Mrs. H. C. Compton, whose husband is battalion sergeant of the Iowa volunteers in the United States service at Manila. His wife died at Georgetown, Montana, in January, 1891, aged forty-nine.
Alpheus N. Briggs removed with his family to Nebraska in 1853, and located at Bellevue, where Burdice J. was born. The future lawyer gained a common-school education at Columbus, Neb- raska, and began his legal studies in Nebraska and finished them in Idaho. He came to this state in 1881 and was so fortunate as to secure as a preceptor F. S. Dietrich, a man thoroughly grounded in the law and now a prominent legal
practitioner at Pocatello. Mr. Briggs was admit- ted to practice in 1887 and located at Idaho Falls, and he has built up a large and lucrative business in Bingham and adjoining counties. He is a member of the popular law firm of Briggs & Reeves, Judge William T. Reeves being his part- ner, and they have offices at Pocatello and at Idaho Falls.
Politically Mr. Briggs is a Populist, and he is active and influential in the inner circles of his party. Mr. Briggs was a Republican unti! 1896, when he became a Populist because he could no longer support the financial theories of the Republican party. He was elected to the first legislature as a Republican and to the fourthi legislature as a Populist, and was prominent in connection with much important legislation. He took deep interest in the passage of a bill to pro- mote the irrigation of the state, on which the fortunes of southern Idaho greatly depend. He is a prominent Mason and is now (1899) filling an important office in Eagle Rock Lodge, No. 19. A. F. & A. M., of Idaho Falls. He has a beautiful residence at Idaho Falls and a hundred and sixty acre farm, seven miles north of that place.
Mr. Briggs was married October 7, 1885, to Miss Isabelle W. Gordon, a native of Scotland and daughter of James Gordon, of Castle Doug- las, Scotland. They have four children: Ethel Gordon, Milroy Green, DeForest Graham and Jane. Mrs. Briggs is a member of the Presby- terian church.
PERRIN BEŻA WHITMAN.
The nanie of Perrin Beza Whitman is indeli- bly inscribed on the pages of the history of the northwest, for throughout the period of its de- velopment he was an active factor in promoting its interests and is numbered among the honored pioneers who made possible its later-day prog- ress and prosperity. The lot of the pioneer of the northwest has been a peculiarly hard one. The Indians, driven from their hunting grounds farther east, have cherished the resentment char- acteristic of the race, and have met as foes the brave band of white men who came to the west- ern wilderness to reclaim the lands for purposes of civilization and to garner the riches of nature for themselves and families. Not only were the
By Briggs
383
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
pioneers met by the hostility of the Indians, but vast stretches of sandy plains and almost impass- able mountains separated them from the com- forts and conveniences of the east, and their lot was one of danger, difficulty, hardship and toil. A courageous spirit, an unconquerable deter- mination and steadfast purpose,-these were the qualities demanded of the pioneers, and such characteristics enabled Mr. Whitman to meet conditions before which many another man would have quailed.
He was the adopted son and nephew of the · renowned Indian missionary, Dr. Marcus Whit- man, who was massacred by the Indians in 1847. His birth occurred in Danville, Illinois, March 4, 1830. In 1840 he went to New York, and in 1843, when thirteen years of age, he crossed the plains to Oregon with his uncle and the first wagon train that made its way over the plains to the Columbia river. When Dr. Whitman was killed and the mission burned, the papers of his adoption were destroyed. His life was spared only through chance, he being at The Dalles when the massacre occurred. His uncle had sent him to that place to take charge of some property which he had purchased of the Methodist mission, and sixteen days intervened before our subject heard of the tragedy. A Mr. Hinman had gone to Vancouver, where he learned the news, which had been carried to that point by a Frenchman, and on learning of the sad event Mr. Hinman at once hurried back to The Dalles. While a con- sultation was being held to decide what had bet- ter be done about the matter, five Indians rode up, saying that they were hungry, and Perrin Whitman went to the barn with them and gave them in their blankets nearly half a bushel of wheat. They had placed their guns by the fence. and all at once they gave a tremendous yell, scat- tered the wheat out of the blankets and rode away, for they had discovered that the white men had learned of the killing and were in a measure prepared for them. At three o'clock on the fol- lowing morning the pioneers at The Dalles started for Oregon City, knowing they were no longer safe at the former place, but after pro- ceeding only sixteen miles on their way, a severe wind caused them to have to push ashore, and they were forced to remain at that point for six- teen days longer,-days fraught with danger and
suspense. After reaching Oregon City Mr. Whit- man joined a party of volunteers that started out to arrest the Indians that had committed the crime, and also to relieve and protect the white men at the other mission. When all the volun- teers had assembled there were several hundred of them, and Mr. Whitman piloted the boats up the Columbia river and also acted as interpreter to the Indians. Many of the savages who had been connected with the murder were killed, and five were tried, convicted and hung. At the time the volunteers were mustered out, it was re- quested that fifty should continue in service, and Mr. Whitman was one of the number who ac- ceded to the request. He was in the upper coun- try when the Indians who had murdered his uncle were hanged, at Oregon City, and though he made all haste to reach the scene he arrived a day too late.
Later he secured a clerkship in a store, where he remained for two years, and on the expiration of that period he began buying and selling horses. He was married February 5, 1854, to Miss Priscilla M. Parker, of Salem, Oregon, a daughter of Samuel Parker, who was born in Virginia and crossed the plains in 1845. He was a lawyer of ability, a man of much prominence in the early history of Oregon, and was instrumental in securing the establishment of the capital at Salem. In his religious connections he was a Methodist, and in his political views he was a Democrat, but was a strong advocate of the Union cause during the civil war. He died in 1887, and the community in which he resided mourned the loss of one of its most valued citi- zens.
In 1863 Mr. Whitman came with his family to Idaho, locating in Lapwai, where he was et- ployed by the government as an interpreter in the Indian schools, anl also had charge of the Indian agency for a time. In 1883 he removed to Lewiston, where he was employed during the greater part of the time as a salesman. He was most trustworthy in business circles, reliable and honorable, and his enterprise made him a valued factor in the promotion of any business concern with which he was connected. In his religious belief he was a Presbyterian, and was a man of the highest integrity of character, who gained and retained the respect and confidence of all
384
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
with whom he came in contact. He was at all times a loyal citizen of his adopted state, and did all in his power to promote its growth and advance its interests along educational, material, social and moral lines. He departed this life January 26, 1899, and his many friends mourned the loss of not only a valued citizen but of a gentleman whom to know was to esteem and honor.
Mr. and Mrs. Whitman were the parents of seven children, namely: Marcus S., who died in his eleventh year; Katherine, who became the wife of Mr. Barber and departed this life in her twenty-second year; Frances, wife of Charles E. Monteith, who is United States consul to Can- ada and resides in Chatham; Elizabeth K., wife of Henry K. Barnett, of Lewiston; Sophia, wife of William E. Mallory, a resident of Lewiston; Ethel, wife of Dr. Ashford, of Canyon City, Ore- gon; and Jennie, wife of T. D. Barton, of Lew- iston, an ex-sheriff of Nez Perces county. There are now two granddaughters and seven grand- sons. Mrs. Whitman survives her husband and makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Mallory. She is one of the noble pioneer ladies of the state, and her splendid qualities of mind and heart have endeared her to all who have the pleasure of her acquaintance. The family is one of prominence in this community and the history of Lewiston would be incomplete without reference thereto.
MATTHEW H. TRUSCOTT.
The leading merchant and efficient postinaster of Mount Idaho, Matthew H. Truscott, has been a resident of this state since 1865, and has there- fore been a witness of the greater part of its growth and development, has seen its wild land reclaimed for purposes of cultivation, its rich mineral storehouses give forth their treasures, and the forests yield their trees to be converted into the homes of white men, who thus replaced the tents of the Indians. He was a young man of only twenty years when he arrived in the terri- tory, his birth having occurred in England, March 20, 1845. He was educated in the schools of his native land, there learned engineering and was for some time employed in that line of in- dustry and at mining. In 1861 he went to Chili, and two years later proceeded up the Pacific coast to California, where he was engaged in mining and engineering until the spring of 1865, when
he came to Idaho, making the journey on horse- back through the Indian country, Nevada and the valley of the Humboldt river, to Idaho City, in the Boise basin. He remained there only a montli or two, when, attracted by the gold excitement at Coeur d'Alene, he went to Clearwater station and mined in the different camps of Elk City and Newsom. He met with a fair degree of success and still has mining interests on the Clearwater.
On coming to Camas prairie he was employed as engineer in a saw and flouring mill until 1883, when he accepted the position of clerk in the Mount Idaho Hotel. In 1886 he was appointed by President Cleveland to the position of post- master, an office which he has since filled most satisfactorily to the people of the town and most creditably to himself. He was also agent for the Wells-Fargo Express Company for two years, and in 1892 he entered into a contract with the firm of Vollmer & Scott to manage their general mercantile store in Mount Idaho. The following year he purchased that store, and has since car- ried on the business on his own account, having the principal establishment of the kind in the town. He is now enjoying a good trade and is meeting with excellent success in his undertak- ings.
In addition to his duties in the post-office Mr. Truscott has performed other public service, hav- ing been deputy sheriff, deputy county assessor, deputy county treasurer and deputy school super- intendent, and at the present time he is capably filling the position of county superintendent of schools. In his political affiliations he is a stal- wart Democrat, and keeps well informed on the issues of the day, doing all in his power to pro- mote the growth and insure the success of the party. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and has attained the twentieth degree of the Scottish rite. In his life he exemplifies the benevolent and inspiring principles of the order, and throughout northern Idaho he is widely and favorably known.
HENDERSON ORCHARD.
Each community is judged by the character of its representative citizens, and its social, intellec- tual and business standing is determined thereby. The sterling worth, commercial ability and en- terprise of the leading men are mirrored forth in the public life of the town, and therefore the
385
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
history of the people of prominence is the his- tory of the community. No account of Grange- ville would be complete without the life record of Henderson Orchard, the popular president of the board of trade and a man whose public spirit is manifested in his many efforts to improve the conditions and promote the upbuilding of the town.
A native of Oregon, he was born in the city of Monmouth, November 22, 1857, his parents being Jesse C. and Minerva (Medford) Orchard, natives of Virginia and Illinois respectively. They crossed the plains with oxen to Oregon in 1852, making that long and perilous journey with their family of five little children. While residing in Oregon six more children were added to their family. Mr. Orchard secured their' donation claim of six hundred and forty acres where the town of Monmouth now stands,-a beautiful tract in one of the richest and loveliest valleys of the northwest. There the family resided until 1859, when the father sold that property and purchased a homestead seven miles west of Portland, where he now resides, at the age of eighty-one years. His wife passed away in 1886, in her sixty-fifth year. This worthy couple were the parents of eleven children, all of whom are yet living.
Henderson Orchard, the sixth in order of birth, acquired his education in Portland, learned the plumber's trade in early manhood, and for the past twenty-five years has devoted nearly his en- tire time and attention, through business hours, to putting in water systems in various towns in Oregon, California, Washington and Idaho, which work has gained for him the title of "The Water King." He put in and owns the fine water system which is so valuable an acquisition to the business interests of Grangeville. The water is obtained from springs three and a half miles up in the mountains, and is piped under pressure to the town and through Grangeville in all direc- tions. Mr. Orchard is also engaged in the hard- ware business here and he was one of the organ- izers of the board of trade and was elected its first president. One of the principal objects of the board is to promote the building of good roads in all directions, and other improvements receive its encouragement and support.
.
In 1878 Mr. Orchard was united in marriage, at Portland, to Miss Emma Jane Mason, a
daughter of M. B. Mason, one of Oregon's brave pioneers. They now have four sons,-Hollie, Thane, Vance and Tesla Edison. In his social relations Mr. Orchard is connected with the Odd Fellows lodge, and with the Modern Woodmen of the World. In politics he is a stalwart Republi - can and friend of the administration. His life has been one of activity in the industrial world, and the success which he has achieved is the fitting crown of well directed labors.
ROBERT L. NOURSE, M. D.
Dr. Robert L. Nourse, a prominent citizen and leading physician of Hailey, was born at Clo- verport, Kentucky, September 27, 1864. He descended from English ancestry, and his Amer- ican progenitors were among the early settlers at Salem and Nashua, Massachusetts. History tells how Rebecca Nourse, a member of his family, was burned at the stake at Salem on a charge of witchcraft, and the story forms one of the darkest and most painful chapters of our American history. One of the sights of Salem is the monument erected to her memory by mem- bers of her family of a later generation, and there is no other shrine on the continent at which so many tears have been shed.
Dr. Nourse's father, Charles Augustus Nourse, was born at Salem. He came west to Illinois with his brothers and was married at Quincy to Miss Frances Bridges, a native of Kentucky, re- lated to the Bullard and Murray families of that state, members of whom, as did some of the Bridges, participated in the war of 1812-14 and the war with Mexico. He died in 1880, at the age of sixty-one; his wife, at the age of forty- one, in 1867. They had nine children, of whom five are living, and so far as possible reared their family in the strict Presbyterian faith, of which they were lifelong adherents.
Dr. Robert L. Nourse, their youngest child, was educated in the public schools and at all academy, and received his degree of M. D. from Rush Medical College, Chicago, in 1889. He practiced his profession in Chicago and at Ash- land, Wisconsin, until he came to Hailey. Al- most from the day on which he opened his office in the flourishing Idaho town he may be said to have had a successful practice. It has grown constantly and extended into the country sur-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.