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 83
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From 1868 to 1876 he was a farmer in Nebraska. Then after two years' residence at Sacramento, California, he went to Astoria, Ore- gon. The steamer Great Republic, on which, with his wife and two daughters, he took passage, was wrecked. The disaster occurred unex. pectedly, at four o'clock in the morning, when
all the passengers were asleep in their state- rooms. They were a day on the wreck before they were taken off by life-boats. Mr. Owen lost all he had, even to his family records, and was so glad that he and his wife and daughters were alive that he felt little like finding fault. He went with his family to Knappa, Oregon, and from there, in 1885, they removed to Moscow, Idaho. Two years later he came to Genesee. When he arrived here only one little shanty had been erected in the town, and on a lot which he purchased he proceeded to put the first building dignified and made habitable by a shingle roof. This was Genesee's pioneer hotel, which he suc- cessfully managed four years, or until he was appointed industrial teacher in the Indian agency. Two years later the school was discontinued and Mr. Owen returned to Genesee, took his hotel off the hands of a lessee who had been running it in his absence and again assumed its personal direction, which he retained until he sold the property.
In 1897 Mr. Owen was appointed postmaster of Genesee, then a fourth-class post-office. Not long afterward it was advanced to the third class, and he received his appointment from President Mckinley. He has added greatly to the facilities of the office and, with the assistance of Mrs. Owen, who is his deputy, he is giving Genesee the best mail service the city ever had.
Mr. Owen married, in 1867. Miss Thalia L. Krunn, a native of Ohio, and a woman of many virtues and accomplishments. She has borne him three daughters, Mettie E., now Mrs. A. W. Conway; Nettie, wife of Captain A. McKing, of the United States signal service, Philippine islands ; and Cora Matilda, who is a member of her father's household. Mr. Owen is a Knight of Pythias and an Odd Fellow and a comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic. Mrs. Owen is a member of the Relief Corps, an adjunct of the local Grand Army post, and of the Rathbone Sisters, a woman's organization connected with the Knights of Pythias. In the Grand Army work Mr. Owen has been especially prominent, and he has been elected to many important offices in his post. He has been a lifelong Republican and has served as city marshal of Genesee and was a member of the first city council. Mr. and Mrs. Owen have a home where comfort and quiet
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elegance prevail, and its generous hospitality is partaken of by the best people of Genesee and all the country round about. Mr. Owen is a popular citizen, and in the best sense, he wears the honors of a pioneer of the day of small things for Genesee, and is prominently identified with the leading interests of the modern progressive city.
PETER ADAMS.
For a third of a century Peter Adams has been a resident of Owyhee county, and has been identified with the important work of taking from the mountain side the rich mineral deposits and securing the valuable metals that they may be used in connection with the commercial activity of the nation. He came to the west from the far- off Empire state, his birth having occurred in Dunkirk, New York, on the 24th of February, 1837. The Adams family is of Scotch origin, and the parents of our subject were Peter and Jane (Brodie) Adams, residents of Buffalo, New York. The father followed the business of stone-cutting and contracting, and died in the forty-seventh year of his age. His wife, surviving him many years, was called to her final rest at the age of seventy-six. They were members of the Presby- terian church, and were people of the highest in- tegrity and respectability.
Peter Adams, who was one of their family of seven children, was reared and educated in New York, and in 1864 crossed the plains to California, where he engaged in the butchering business for two years. In 1866 he went to Silver City, Idaho, and soon afterward formed a partnership with T. W. Jones, since which time they have done a large and profitable business as contractors and builders. They have constructed many of the hoisting works and erected many of the resi- dences of Silver City and vicinity, and substantial and attractive structures stand as monuments to their skill and enterprise. For a number of years they were also in the furniture business. Mr. Adams is now the owner of the Garfield group of mines, located in the Corson `district, one-half mile from De Lamar. Here he has the Garfield, Gold Hill, North End, and Chief mines, and he was the shipper of the first ore sent from the De Lamar district over the Short Line Railroad to Salt Lake, Denver and Omaha. He also built the first quartz mill in the De Lamar district.
He has three thousand feet of tunnels and has large quantities of gold and silver ore in sight, so that there is every evidence of continued pros- perity.
In 1863 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Adams and Miss Etta Wells, and to them was born a daughter, Jennie, who is now the wife of James L. Napier. The mother died in 1891, at Salt Lake, and Mr. Adams has not remarried. In his political affiliations he is a silver Repub- lican and has given close and earnest study to the issues and questions which now demand the public attention. He has been honored with office, having represented his district in the terri- torial legislature in 1872, while in 1898 he was again the nominee for that position. He is a progressive and public-spirited man, deeply inter- ested in the welfare of his county and state, and withholds his co-operation from no movement for the general good.
FRANZ L. KOEHLER.
The sturdy German element in our national commonwealth has been one of the most import- ant factors in furthering the substantial and normal advancement of the country, for this is an element signally appreciative of practical values and also of the higher intellectuality which trans- cends all provincial confines. Well may any person take pride in tracing his lineage to such a source. As one of the able and enterprising citizens whom the German Fatherland has con- tributed to the United States, and as one of the prominent and progressive citizens of the flour- ishing town of Moscow, Latah county, Idaho, Franz Louis Koehler is worthy of distinct recog . nition in this work.
Mr. Koehler is a native of the province of Bavaria, Germany, where he was born on the 8th of October, 1859, coming of stanch old German stock. He received his educational discipline in the excellent schools of the Father- land and there instituted his association with the practical affairs of life by learning the brewing business, a line of enterprise in which the sons of the German empire have ever been the leaders. He was employed in the leading breweries of his native land, becoming thoroughly familiar with every detail of the business and with the methods employed to secure the maximum excellence in
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products. Finally determining to try his for- tunes in the New World, Mr. Koehler embarked for the United States in the year 1883, the vessel on which he secured passage dropping anchor in the harbor of New York city in due course of time. Upon his arrival here he was entirely unfamiliar with the language of his adopted country, but was amply fortified by strong men- tality, industrious habits, a thorough knowledge of the brewing business, and by a cash capital of one thousand dollars, with which to make a start for himself. Mr. Koehler readily secured employment in the line of his trade, and worked in leading breweries at Cincinnati and St. Louis prior to removing to the far west. He eventually became a resident of Portland, Oregon, where he was engaged in work at his trade and whence he came to Idaho, becoming foreman of the Boise City Brewery, where he remained until 1890, when he came to Moscow, where he effected a lease of the Moscow Brewery, which he con- tinued to operate on this plan until 1895, when he purchased the property. He forthwith remodeled the plant, supplying it with the most modern and approved facilities, increased its capacity to meet the demands of his rapidly expanding business, and has made the brewery a model, both in its equipment and in the super- iority of its product. Mr. Koehler is an expert in the brewing business, and in addition to this is not satisfied with anything short of the highest grade of products, so that he spares neither care nor expense in his efforts to insure desired results. He utilizes the finest Darley grown in the Palouse valley and the best Oregon hops, while every process of the manufacture is con- ducted with the single view of securing the highest possible excellence. Adulterated or improperly matured stock he will not tolerate, and this fact is recognized and appreciated by the public, whose patronage is thus freely accorded, so that the business is constantly increasing in extent and importance, the products of the brewery being sold principally in Moscow and contiguous territory. The product is pro- nounced by competent judges to be equal in flavor and permanency to the best eastern beers, and there is a perceptibly increasing demand for it. The capacity of the brewery is two thousand barrels per annum.
In the city of Spokane, Washington, in the year 1891, Mr. Koehler was united in marriage to Miss Bertie Herman, a native of Switzerland, and their happy home has been brightened by the presence of a son and a daughter,-Adolplı Louis and Freda Emma. Mr. and Mrs. Koehler are communicants of the Roman Catholic church and in politics our subject gives his support to the Republican party. He is a man whose relia- bility and integrity are beyond question, and he merits the respect and esteem which are so uni- formly accorded him in the community where he . lives and in whose advancement he maintains a lively interest.
CHARLES W. SHAFF, M. D.
Holding marked prestige as a member of the medical profession of Idaho is Dr. Charles W. Shaff, of Lewiston, now the honored president of the State Medical Association. In the learned professions advancement depends upon the man, his talents, his skill and his ambition. The phy- sician's power is especially his own; not by pur- chase, by gift or by influence can he gain it. He must commence at the very beginning, learn the very rudiments of medicine and surgery, con- tinually add to this knowledge by close study and earnest application, and gain reputation by merit. If he would gain the highest prominence it must come as the result of superior skill, knowl- edge and ability,-which qualifications are pos- sessed in an eminent degree by Dr. Shaff. He is known throughout the state as one of the most eminent members of the profession in Idaho, and his opinions are widely received as authority.
The life history of such a man is always of profit as well as interest. The Doctor has spent his entire life on the Pacific coast, his birth hav- ing occurred in Eldorado county, California, July 6, 1855. During the colonial history of New York his ancestors, natives of Germany, located in the Empire state, and representatives of the family loyally served their country in the Revo- lutionary war and in the war of 1812. The Doc- tor's father, Joseph Shaff, was born in New York and married Miss Betsy Matilda Scott, a native of Vermont, and a descendant of two of the prominent families of the Green Mountain state, -the Scotts and the Woods. Some of her ances- tors were among the Green Mountain boys who
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won fame for their daring and gallant conduct in the struggle for independence. The Scott fam- ily was founded in America in 1622, a settlement being made on Manhattan Island. The Doctor's parents were married in Prairie du Chien, Wis- consin, in 1848, and in 1852 went to California by way of the isthmus route. The father was en- gaged in mining there until 1857, and the follow- ing year removed with his family to Oregon, purchasing a farm near Salem, where he made his home until his death, devoting his energies to agricultural pursuits. He died in 1880, at the age of fifty-nine years, and his wife, now sixty-seven years of age, is still living on the old homestead, near Salem. They had four sons, of whom only two are living.
Dr. Shaff, the second in order of birth, began his education in the common schools, later pur- sued a three years' course in the Willamette Uni- versity, and also took a full course in the Pacific University, at Forest Grove, graduating from the last named institution in the class of 1877. Deter- mining to devote his attention to the practice of medicine, he became a student in the medical department of the Iowa State University, where he was graduated in 1881. Immediately after- ward he began the practice of his profession in Brownsville, Oregon, where he remained for two years, but becoming favorably impressed with Lewiston, its location and its prospects, he deter- mined to locate here, and in 1883 opened his office. From the beginning he has met with very marked success, and the volume of his practice is an indication of his ability. He has put forth every effort to perfect himself in his chosen life work, and took a year's post-gradu- ate work in the New York City Post Graduate School. His careful diagnosis of a case, his comprehensive knowledge of the science of medi- cine and his marked skill in applying medical principles to the needs of suffering humanity have gained him a foremost place among the representatives of the medical fraternity of Idaho. He enjoys a large practice, which comes from the best families of Lewiston and the surround- ing district, and his standing among his profes- sional brethren is shown by the honor conferred upon him by his election to the office of presi- dent of the Idaho State Medical Society.
The Doctor is also a prominent and active
Mason and Odd Fellow, and is past master in the formier organization and past grand in the latter. He has been a lifelong Republican, has served for two terms as regent of the State University, and is now serving his second term as a trustee of the State Normal School. For eight years he has been a member of the school board of Lewis- ton, and his deep interest in educational matters is shown by his efficient efforts in behalf of the schools, which owe not a little of their progress to his labors and influence.
The Doctor was happily married, in 1888, to Miss Rena M. Poe, the stepdaughter of Judge Poe, a prominent lawyer and citizen of Lewiston. They now have a lovely little daughter, Terressa Louisa. Mrs. Shaff is a lady of great refinement and culture, and a graduate of the Boston Con- servatory of Music. She has superior talent as a musician, and her accomplishments in that direc- tion form an important feature of many social functions. The Doctor and his wife are both very agreeable, genial people, and have drawn about them a host of warm friends, including Lewiston's best people.
JOSEPH R. NUMBERS, M. D.
A member of the medical fraternity of Weiser, Washington county, Dr. Numbers was born in Lexington, Ohio, May 30, 1864, and traces his ancestry back to some of the early colonists of Pennsylvania, who were of German lineage. His father, Esau Numbers, was born in the Keystone state, November 1, 1816, and became one of the pioneer farmers of Ohio, whither he removed in 1840. He married Miss Anna Smith, of western Ohio, and to them were born eight children, but only three are now living. Their eldest son, Will- iam Numbers, died in the service of his country in the great civil war, losing his life at Cumber- land Gap. The mother departed. this life in 1877, at the age of fifty-six years, and in 1888 the father accompanied Dr. Numbers to Idaho, spending his last days in Weiser, where his death occurred when he had reached the advanced age of eighty-two years.
Dr. Numbers acquired his literary education in the Ohio Central College and prepared for his profession in the Eclectic Medical Institute, of Cincinnati, where he was graduated in the class of 1885. He entered upon the practice of his
J.RNumbers U.S.
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chosen calling in Kansas, where he remained one year, and then went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, being a representative of the medical fraternity of that city for two years. Since 1888 he has been a resident of Weiser, where he has built up a large and lucrative practice that many an older physician might well envy. He has a broad, com- prehensive and accurate knowledge of the prin- ciples of the science of medicine and by the faith- ful performance of each day's duty he finds strength and inspiration for the labors of the next. His efforts have been attended with excel- lent success, and the public and the profession accord him a foremost place among the able prac- titioners of this section of the state. He is a valued member of the Idaho Medical Society, the National Medical Society, and of the board of medical examiners of the state. Through these connections, as well as through the perusal of some of the leading medical journals of the coun- try, he keeps abreast with all the advancement that is continually being made in methods of medical practice.
In 1887 the Doctor was united in marriage to Miss Mary B. Swartz, of Topeka, Kansas, and by their union have been born three children; Donald S., Joseph Reno and Josephine. The Doctor and his family occupy a high place in the esteem of their fellow-citizens. In 1886 he was made a Mason in Carbondale Lodge, No. 72, A. F. & A. M., of Kansas, and is a past master. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias fra- ternity and to the Modern Woodmen of the World. He devotes his time and energies almost exclusively to his profession and his ability has gained him a gratifying degree of success.
LOUIS ELG.
The man who first used gas for illumination at Idaho Falls, who put in the first telephone and who set up the first soda fountain in the town, is Louis Elg, druggist, Front and Maine streets. In other respects Mr. Elg has been a pioneer as well. His life has been a busy and eventful one and its important details are well worth the writing and the reading. He was born in Swe- den, June 8, 1853, and is descended from a long line of Swedish ancestors. His father, also named Louis Elg, was an iron-worker and was frozen to death, at the age of forty-eight, in 1867. His
son Louis was then fourteen years old, and on him devolved much of the task of providing for the widow and her seven other children. He worked in a nail factory and in due course of time learned the blacksmith's trade. In 1874, when he was twenty-one years old, he came to America. His mother is still living in her native land, being eighty years old.
When Mr. Elg came to the United States he found himself seriously handicapped in his efforts to get on by reason of his total ignorance of the prevailing language of the country, but that was only one of the difficulties which he overcame as time passed. He stopped for a while in Chi- cago, and then located in Boone county, Iowa, and worked for a time in the coal mines there. After that he made his way to Omaha, Nebraska, where he found employment as a blacksmith. Later he worked in Van Dorn's machine shop and after that the vicissitudes of fortune made him in turn the driver of a grocery wagon and a barkeeper. In 1879 he went to Rollins, Wyo- ming, and again worked at his trade. Then he attached himself to the work gang that was constructing the railroad which connects Idaho Falls with the outside world, and worked in the building department until operations had ex- tended as far as Dillon, Montana. From that point he returned to Red Rock and opened a saloon and ran it for a time at a profit. From Red Rock he came to Idaho Falls, where he accepted a situation as barkeeper and later bought a half interest in the saloon in which he was employed. Still later he engaged in the saloon business alone and continued in it successfully until 1895, when he abandoned the enterprise to open his drug store. He has erected a build- ing at Front and Maine streets, which contains two large stores, one of which he rents and one of which he occupies. He carries a large stock of drugs, medicines, toilet articles, paints, oils and such other goods as are usually found in the best drug stores. He also deals extensively in coal and ice and is the owner of considerable town property and a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres.
Mr. Elg is a Democrat, but devotes little time or attention to practical politics. He is an en- terprising and public-spirited citizen, who takes a deep and abiding interest in the development and
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prosperity of Idaho Falls, and there is no measure for the enhancement of the public weal that does not have his generous support. He is a Master Mason, an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias.
In 1887 Mr. Elg married Charlotte Salstrom, a native of Sweden, and they have a son, named Edward August. Mrs. Elg is identified with the Lutheran church.
DONALD S. McCREA.
Mr. McCrea, who is a hardware merchant of Kendrick, and one of the early settlers of the town, dates his residence here from August, 1891. A native of Minnesota, he was born February 10, 1862, and is of Scotch-Irish descent, his ancestors having been early settlers of New Brunswick. His parents were both natives of that country, and were reared, married and educated there. The father was Andrew McCrea and the mother bore the maiden name of Lydia Jane Murphy. Soon after their marriage they removed to Min- nesota, where Andrew McCrea became a promi- nent lumberman. He was a gentleman of abil- ity and influence and served as a member of the Minnesota legislature, both in the house and senate. Later in life he removed to Spokane, Washington, where he was connected with the Great Northern Railroad Company until his death, which occurred in 1894, at the age of sixty- one years. His wife departed this life in 1876. at the age of forty-seven years. They had a fam- ily of ten children, eight of whom are living.
Donald S. McCrea, the fifth in order of birth, was educated in the public schools of his native state, and there learned the hardware business. In 1881, at Warren, Minnesota, he established a store of his own in that line, conducting the same for three years, when he removed to Rock- ford, Washington, where he carried on a hard- ware store for eight years. On the expiration of that period he came to Kendrick, in 1891, and organized the hardware firm of McCrea Brothers & Company. After some time he bought out his partners, and is now the sole owner of the busi- ness. He has a good brick store building, in the center of the business district, and by close attention to his store, by honorable dealing and by courteous treatment of his patrons he has secured a large and constantly growing trade,
which extends all over the rich Potlatch country and even comes from a distance of sixty-five miles. He carries a large stock of shelf and heavy hardware, doors, window-glass, iron, steel, farm- ing implements and coal, and his sales have now reached a very desirable volume. In addition to his store building he has a large warehouse, in which to place the stock until needed. .
Mr. McCrea exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Repub- lican party, and has served as a member of the city council of Kendrick. He has been a trustee in the Knights of Pythias lodge and is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of the World. He was married, in 1883 to Miss Dora M. Davies, a native of Wisconsin, but after three years of happy married life she was called to the home beyond, leaving a beautiful little daughter, Dora Viola, who is now attending school at Spokane. Mrs. McCrea was a most estimable lady, and her many admirable qualities endeared her to all who knew her. Mr. McCrea has maintained a most honorable record throughout the whole of his business career, as well as in private life, and is a useful and popular citizen of Kendrick. He has been the architect of his own fortunes and has builded wisely and well. His honorable methods and indefatigable industry formed the foundation of the structure, which is substantial and endur- ing.
FRANK L. MOORE.
The junior member of the prominent law firm of Forney, Smith & Moore, of Moscow, is Frank Latham Moore, who was born in Olm- stead county, Minnesota, February 8, 1863, and is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. The family was early founded in Canada, the great-grandfather of our subject being its progenitor there. The grand- father, Chauncy Moore, was born in Canada, and when a young man removed with his family to Rochester, New York, where Reuben Billings Moore, father of our subject, was born in 1826. The grandfather removed from Rochester to Put- nam county, Illinois, where he secured land from the government and made his home until his death, in 1844, when he had reached the age of forty-three years. His wife was a cousin of Cap- tain Johnson, who fought in the war of 1812, and is credited with having killed the Indian chief and warrior. Tecumseh. Her people were of Ger-
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