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 82
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
DR. HOMER D. JONES.
In nearly every community the leading dentist divides with the family physicians a public con- fidence which is accorded him to a degree that is little understood outside the profession. If a dentist cannot inspire such confidence he never becomes a leading dentist. The experience of Hailey emphasizes these facts. Hailey's leading dentist is Dr. Homer D. Jones, who is also its oldest dental practitioner in point of years, of residence and practice.
Dr. Jones was born in Jeffersonville, Oregon, April 12, 1867. His father, Ansel Cromwell Jones, a native of Ohio, was one of the bold and hardy pioneers who crossed the trackless plains in 1850 to the then isolated territory of Oregon. He was one of the first settlers in the beautiful Willamette valley, and there he met and married Miss Elizabeth Smith, a native of Pennsylvania, who had found an abiding place in that far-away land. He was a successful lawyer, influential in public affairs and was elected to numerous offices, representing his people in the Oregon legislature and otherwise serving their interests with ability and integrity. He is now living retired at San Diego, California, and the wife of his youth is spared to him in his declining years. He is sixty-seven and she is fifty-one years of age. They had five children, three of whom are living.
Dr. Homer D. Jones was educated at Albany College, Oregon. After completing his classical
450
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
course he studied dentistry three years under the preceptorship of Dr. N. W. Davis, of Roseburg, Oregon. He practiced his profession in his native state until the summer of 1888. June I, that year, he located at Hailey, where his skill as a dental surgeon was at once recognized and where he has built up a large and successful practice, which extends to all the country round about. He has never married.
N. P. NIELSON.
N. P. Nielson, treasurer of Bannock county, and a pioneer grocer of Pocatello, is a native of Denmark, his birth having occurred in that country, September 17, 1852. He was the second in order of birth in a family of two sons and two daughters, whose parents were Peter and Mary (Henson) Nielson, also natives of the same coun- try. The subject of this sketch came to America in 1868, and four years later the rest of the family also crossed the Atlantic, taking up their resi- dence in Utah, where the father died at the age of sixty-four years, the mother passing away several years previously. The brother of our subject is also deceased, but the two sisters are still living.
N. P. Nielson acquired his education in the schools of his native land, and after coming to the United States took up his residence in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he secured a position as clerk in the old Townsend House. Later he occupied a similar position in the Keeney House, in Ogden, Utah, and in 1880 he came to Black- foot, Idaho, where he assisted in opening a hotel, also known as the Keeney House. There he remained until 1885, when he took up his resi- dence in Pocatello. Here he served as clerk in the Pacific Hotel for a time, but was soon afterward elected constable of the town and served in that capacity for two years, in a most efficient and acceptable manner. It was then a rough railroad town of twenty-five hundred pop- ulation, and his duties were difficult and arduous, but he discharged them without fear or favor. In 1888 he established a grocery store, and now has the distinction of being the oldest in years of consecutive connection with the trade of any grocery merchant in Pocatello. He established this enterprise with but little capital, but he had the necessary requisites of industry and in-
tegrity, and by means of a credit which he never abused he was enabled to stock his store and begin operations. Success has attended his efforts from the beginning, and in the conduct of his store he is now assisted by his wife and son. He now has a large patronage from among the best citizens of Pocatello and the surrounding country, and not only owns the grocery stock, but also the store building in which he is carrying on business. In addition he has a pleasant residence and other city property, all of which has been acquired through his own well directed and honorable efforts.
In 1881 Mr. Nielson was united in marriage to Miss Hattie Jackson, a native of England, and a daughter of William Jackson, of Ogden, Utah. Their union has been blessed with nine children, and the family circle vet remains unbroken. They are William E., Niels P., Elvira Pearl, Joseph Leroy, Mary Ethel, Arthur H., Charlotte Kate, Matie Cumorah and John Harmon Gilbert. The parents are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and Mr. Nielson is past master workman of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In politics he is a Populist, and on that ticket was elected county treasurer, in which capacity he is now serving. His admin- istration of the financial affairs of the county is characterized by the same ability which marks his business affairs, and the public money has certainly been entrusted to worthy hands.
JAMES N. STACY.
One of the most straightforward, ener- getic and successful business men of Lew- iston is James N. Stacy, who has also attained distinction in political circles and is now the honored state senator from his district. He is president of the Gold Bar Mining Company, a director in the Golden Gate Company and is also extensively engaged in real- estate dealings. In studying the lives and char- acters of prominent men we are naturally led to inquire into the secret of their success and the motives that prompted their action. Success is not the result of genius, as held by many, but is the outcome of experience and sound judgment, for when we trace the career of those who stand highest in public esteem, we find that in nearly
451
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
every case they are those who have risen gradually, fighting their way in the face of all opposition. Self-reliance, conscientiousness, en- ergy, honesty,-these are the traits of character that insure the highest emoluments and greatest success. To these may we attribute the success that has crowned the efforts of Senator Stacy.
He was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, March 10, 1839, and is of English and Scotch lineage. His ancestors were early settlers of the east, and the family gradually spread through New York, Vermont and Massachusetts. His parents were Ezra and Sophia (Gleason) Stacy, both of whom were natives of Vermont. The father was a Methodist in religious faith, and the mother belonged to the Presbyterian church until late in life, when she became a Methodist. Both reached a very ripe old age, and the Stacy family is one noted for longevity, many of its represen- tatives reaching ages between ninety and one hundred years.
James N. Stacy was the eighth in order of birth in a family of nine children, and when a little lad of six summers accompanied his parents on their removal to West Virginia, where he received a common-school education. In Decem- ber, 1856, they went to the territory of Minnesota, locating in Wright county, where for some years our subject engaged in land surveying.
In 1862, when the Sioux war broke out in Minnesota, he enlisted in the First Regiment of Mounted Rangers, for one year, and served for thirteen months in the Indian war, holding a commission as second lieutenant. He then received an honorable discharge, and in August, 1863, he enlisted in Company F, Eleventh Minne- sota Volunteer Infantry. He was again made second lieutenant, and with his command was in active service in the army of the Cumberland until the close of the war, when he returned to his home in Wright county. In 1867 he began business as a general merchant in Monticello, Minnesota, conducting his store until 1877, after which he engaged in iron and manganese mining until 1894. In this enterprise he was very successful and also extended his operations into other fields, being a man of resourceful business ability and carrying forward to successful com- pletion whatever he undertakes. He was the organizer and served as president of the Minne-
sota Mining Company. He engaged in the manufacture of dry pressed brick and was instrumental in forming the company which con- ducted the Minneapolis and the Monticello brick works. He was also its president, and in addition to his connection with these interests he dealt quite extensively in real estate.
His splendid executive ability and his knowl- edge of the public needs also led to his selection for political honors. He was elected and served for six years as auditor of Wright county, was for two years a member of the house of repre- sentatives and for a similar period represented his district in the state senate. He declined the nomination for congress in the convention of the fifth congressional district, because of his having been instructed for another aspirant. He was a member of the national convention, held in Chicago, which nominated James G. Blaine for the presidency, and also of the Republican con- vention which made Benjamin Harrison its nominee. He was also offered the position of United States marshal of the district of Minne- sota, but declined in favor of another applicant, and signified his willingness to accept an appoint- ment as chief of the secret-service bureau instead, from the secretary of the United States treasury, William Windom. That appointment was to be made at the expiration of the term of the then incumbent, but before the term expired Secretary Windom died, and his successor did not redeeni the pledge which had been made Mr. Stacy.
In 1894 Mr. Stacy came to Lewiston. He spent two years in gold mining and then organ- ized two companies, the Golden Gate and the Golden Bar Companies. From one of the placer mines ten thousand eight hundred dollars were taken, and a number of nuggets were valued from twenty-three to fifty-two dollars, while five nuggets were worth one hundred and one dollars and fifty cents. He is still devoting his attention to mining and to the real-estate business, and his capable management is bringing him excellent financial returns. He is president of the Gold Bar Mining Company, and one of the directors in the Golden Gate, which have a capitalization of one million dollars and a treasury stock of four hundred thousand. He has always taken a deep interest in politics, as every true American citizen should do, has made a careful study of
452
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
political matters, and no citizen of Idaho is better informed on the issues of the day. He has always been a stanch Republican and on that ticket he was elected to the state senate from Nez Perces county in 1898. He soon took a prominent place among the leaders of his party and was largely instrumental in securing much needed legislation. He served with ability as chairman of the com- mittees on rules and public lands, and was a member of the committees on appro- priations, judiciary and mines and mining. He introduced and secured the passage of a number of important bills, made an important record, and though strongly partisan, won the warm friendship of many of the Democratic members.
In 1869 Mr. Stacy was united in marriage to Miss Augusta E. Granger, a native of Illinois, and a daughter of Joseph Granger, of that state. Their union has been blessed with three children, but only one is now living, Emma A. Mr. and Mrs. Stacy and daughter are valued members of the Methodist church, contribute liberally to its support and take an active part in its work. Mr. Stacy is also a valued representative of the Masonic fraternity, the Order of the Eastern Star and the Grand Army of the Republic. He is a genial, cordial gentleman, and his ready wit and fun make him a most entertaining companion. He is also a most interesting and fluent speaker, and, well informed, progressive and enterprising, he stands to-day one of the leading representative men of the state,-a man who is a power in his community.
MICHAEL C. NORMOYLE.
In the olden days the kings and rulers of countries erected palaces, temples or shrines in honor of themselves and to serve as monuments perpetuating their memory after they had passed away, but how much more does one do for civilization and his fellow men who aids in the substantial upbuilding of a city, the promotion of enterprises that add to its prosperity or the establishment of movements that produce prog- ress and improvement along intellectual, social and material lines. Such Michael Charles Normoyle has done. No resident of Kendrick through the past nine years has done more for the city than he, for through the establishment and conduct of private business interests he has
led to the improvement and growth of the town. He is a most loyal and public-spirited citizen, and is now the possessor of a handsome capital, which has come to him through his own labors. A bell- boy in a hotel at the age of ten, he is now proprietor of the St. Elmo Hotel, one of the best in the state of Idaho, and has other extensive and profitable investments which render him the heaviest tax-payer in Kendrick.
A native of Troy, New York, Mr. Normoyle was born September 8, 1853, and is of Irish lineage. His parents, John and Bessie (Clancy) Normoyle, were both born in Ireland, and came to the United States with their respective parents in 1834. They were reared and married in Troy, New York, where the father followed his trade of stone-cutting. He departed this life in the forty-third year of age, but his wife survives him and now resides in Kendrick, with her son Michael, at the age of seventy-five years. They were devout members of the Catholic church. Of their six children three are now living.
Michael C. Normoyle, whose name introduces this review, was educated in the city of Denver, Colorado, and began his present successful career as a bell-boy in a hotel in Washington, D. C., when but ten years of age. He was then an active, bright, good-looking little fellow, who became very popular on account of his obliging ways, and by his fidelity to duty he steadily worked his way upward, becoming successively waiter, steward and clerk, and when but eighteen years of age was proprietor of the Lindell Hotel, in Denver, Colorado. He successfully conducted it for five years, and then conducted all the eating houses on the Rio Grande Railroad for five years. Subsequently he was actively engaged in the hotel business, conducting two hotels at a time for three years, after which he went to Palouse City, where he was in business as proprietor of the St. Elmo Hotel for two years, meeting with gratifying prosperity in his undertakings.
In 1890 Mr. Normoyle came to Kendrick, and has been identified with the growth of the town almost from the beginning. He built a frame hotel-the first in the place-and therein enter- tained the visitors to Kendrick until 1892, when the building was destroyed by fire, entailing a loss of fourteen thousand dollars, the accumula- tion of many years of active business life. With
453
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
remarkable enterprise, however, he continued to care for his patrons in tents until more substan- tial quarters could be secured. Men of means, believing implicitly in his business ability and integrity, offered to advance him the means with which to erect a new hotel, and thus he was enabled to build the St. Elmo, a fine brick structure, together with the St. Elmo block, a two-story brick. These are the finest buildings of the town and the confidence in the future of Kendrick which Mr. Normoyle thus displayed by the erection of these substantial structures has been an important factor in the further upbuilding of the place, by causing others to invest in realty here. The hotel, two stories high, is built in the form of an L, sixty by ninety-two feet, the first story with sixteen feet between joists, the second eleven feet. It is fitted up with fine offices and parlors and twenty- four handsome sleeping apartments, and supplied with every modern convenience which will min- ister to the comfort of the guests. His patronage is so large that he also utilizes several rooms on the second floor of adjoining buildings. He is a most popular landlord, and his earnest desire to please his patrons, his genuine interest in their welfare, and his cordial, genial manner have gained for him many friends among the visitors to Kendrick.
The St. Elmo block is sixty by seventy-five feet, two stories in height, the lower floor making a fine double store, while the second story is fitted up with scenery, stage and chairs, making a most pleasing little opera house, where many attractive entertainments are offered the citizens of the town. Mr. Normoyle takes a deep interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of Kendrick, and lends an active support to all measures for the public good. He was one of the founders of the First National Bank of Ken- drick, one of its stockholders and a member of the directorate. He is the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and forty-eight acres of land adjoining the town, whereon he raises cattle, hogs, poultry, vegetables and fruit, thus supply- ing the hotel with nearly everything demanded by the table. He is president of the company which has furnished Kendrick with its splendid water system, the water supply being obtained from a spring on his property, four hundred and five
feet above the town. They have a reservoir with a capacity of six hundred thousand gallons, three hundred feet head and on the main street a pressure of one hundred and sixty pounds to the square inch. He also has large and valuable mining interests. He furnished food and pro- visions to the miners who, it is believed, rediscovered the lost Robinson gold quartz mines. To operate this mine a large corporation has been formed, composed of many of the leading capitalists of Spokane, under the name of the Syndicate Gold Mining Company, and Mr. Normoyle was elected its vice-president and is one of its heavy stockholders. The mine is located in Shoshone county, in what is known as the Burnt Creek mining district, three and a half miles north of the north fork of the Clearwater river, thirty-two miles from Kendrick and twenty miles west of Pierce City. There has been over six hundred feet of work done, and competent experts estimate more than one thousand tons of high grade ore in sight, an average of eighty dollars in gold being obtained. Mr. Normoyle is entitled to the credit for the assay and develop- ing work that has been done in this mine.
In 1872 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Aggara, and to them was born a son, Thomas Francis, who is now clerk of the district court at Butte, Montana, and a member of the Montana state legislature, and he is now only twenty-five years of age. The mother died in 1885, and Mr. Normoyle was again married, in Kendrick, in 1891, his second union being with Arra Nichols. They have two very bright little sons, George W. and Edwin N. The father is a valued member of the Masonic fraternity, the Eastern Star and of the Odd Fellows society, of which he is representative for Idaho to the grand lodge of the state of Louisiana. He is a charter member of Kendrick Lodge, No. 26, F. & A. M., formerly served as master and is now its efficient secretary. In politics he is a Democrat, but has had neither time nor inclination to seek office, although he served as a member of the first city council of Kendrick. He possesses marked busi- ness and executive ability, keen discrimination and sound judgment, and his resolute purpose has enabled him to carry forward to successful completion whatever he has undertaken. His life has been well spent and successful, and his
454
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
capital is the merited reward of indefatigable effort. In manner he is free from all ostentation and display, but his intrinsic worth is recognized and his friendship is most prized by those who know him best, showing that his character will bear the scrutiny of close acquaintance. He is a generous-spirited, broad-minded man, a true type of the American spirit and an embodiment of that progress which in the last few years has drawn to this country the admiring gaze of the nations of the world.
FREDERICK GRETE, SR.
One of the most successful pioneer citizens of Silver City is Frederick Grete, who is a native ot Hanover, Germany, where he was born in August, 1833. He is a brother of John Grete, Sr., whose sketch will be found elsewhere in this volume. While still a young man Mr. Grete de- cided to try his fortunes in the New World, of which he had heard so much, and bidding adieu to the Fatherland and all its happy associations, he embarked on a vessel which landed him in New York city in 1852. From there he found his way to Attleboro, Massachusetts, where for some time he worked at the jewelry business.
In 1858 Mr. Grete became a victim of the California fever and took a trip to the land of gold by way of the isthmus of Panama, sailing on the steamer John L. Stephens. He remained in California until 1865, during that time study- ing and practicing dentistry, and then removed to Silver City, where he carried on his profession for some years. He also had a store at a place called Fairview, on Eagle mountain. This town was burned out in 1875 and Mr. Grete lost all his property. Soon after this the great excite- ment caused by the discovery of gold in the Black Hills swept over the land, and our subject started with hundreds of others to test the truth of the reports. He traveled as far as Cheyenne, Wyoming, but on reaching there received some intelligence from Silver City which caused him to return, and soon afterward he started the Silver City brewery, which he has since carried on with great success. He is also the owner of the Brewery saloon. Mr. Grete is largely interested in the San Juan group of mines on War Eagle mountain. They are now running a tunnel under- neath the veins which they have been working.
and from which many thousands of dollars have been taken. Three hundred feet of this tunnel have been completed and two hundred remain yet to be excavated, when it is expected that very rich ore will be struck.
Mr. Grete was married in 1862, in the old town of Shasta, California, to Miss Wilhelmina Korn- mann, a native of New York city, born in 1843, and a sister of Mrs. John Grete, Sr. She has been a resident of California since 1861. Of this union six children have been born, of whom three are living namely: Charles H., a well known mer- chant of Silver City; Ida, the wife of Severon Moe, a jeweler of Silver City; and Edward, who is associated with his father in business.
Mr. Grete is a silver Republican, but does not take a prominent part in politics. He is a much esteemed member of the Odd Fellows fraternity, receiving the degrees in Owyhee Lodge, No. 2, in 1869. He has passed all the chairs and has several times represented his lodge in the grand lodge. Mrs. Grete is past noble grand in the lodge of Daughters of Rebekah, and is also a member of the St. James Guild. She is highly esteemed for her kindness and benevolence, and with her husband shares the regard of a large circle of friends.
JOHN J. OWEN.
The history of the first things is always inter- esting. In any town the first settler's is the name most carefully preserved. The places where he established his home and first worked at his primitive vocation are carefully noted, and his deeds and words are recounted often and witn increasing interest as generations succeed one another. There lives in Genesee, Idaho, a man, now the postmaster of the city, who was its pioneer in more ways than one, and it is the purpose of the biographer to record now a brief statement of the facts of his life and of his resi- dence in the town with whose progress he has been so long and closely identified.
John J. Owen is of English and Welslı ancestry and was born in Birmingham, England, January 30, 1843, a son of John and Matilda (Jordan) Owen. In 1849, when he was six years old, the family came to the United States. It consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Owen, John J. and two sisters. Charles, an older son, had been lost at
455
HISTORY OF IDAHO.
sea. WV. H., the youngest of the family, was born after the others came to this country and is now living in Minnesota. The family settled at Jacksonville, Illinois, where the elder Owen found work as a tinner, a trade which he had learned and at which he had been employed in England. Later the family lived successively in Mason county and in Iroquois county, Illinois; and there John Owen died at the age of seventy- seven, after having survived his wife several years. They had been reared in the Baptist faith, and later in life allied themselves with the Seventh-day Adventists. Their two daughters married well.
John J. Owen was educated at the Grand Prairie Seminary, in Illinois, and at Milton Academy, at Milton, Wisconsin. He was in school when the civil war began, and threw down his books to respond to President Lincoln's first call for troops. He enlisted in Company C, Fifty- seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, while yet a boy in his 'teens, served with this regiment until the end of its term of enlistment, and was the only member of it who made himself a veteran by re-enlistment. As a member of Company I of the same regiment he served until the close of the hostilities. His regiment was attached to the command of General John A. Logan, who was in charge of the Western Department, and young Owen fought at Fort Donelson, Altoona Pass, Goldsboro, Shiloh, Corinth (second regiment), Buzzard's Roost creek, Bee creek and Resaca. After that the regiment was transferred to the command of General W. T. Sherman and fol- lowed him on his famous march from Atlanta to the sea. When the war was at the end he participated in the grand review of the victorious army at Washington. He received an honorable discharge from the service and was mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, and returned to his home, a victor and a veteran, and at once settled down to the peaceful vocation of a tinner and hardware dealer.
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.