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 94
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to New England and was the friend and rival of Miles Standish, was the progenitor of the family in America. Doctor Conant's grandfather was born in Berkshire, Massachusetts, and his son, Clark Conant, who was Doctor Conant's father, was a native of the same town.
Clark Conant married Samantha Grandy, of Vermont, and moved to Jackson county, Michi- gan, at a comparatively early date. Thence they removed, in 1878, when somewhat advanced in life, to Los Angeles, California, where Mr. Conant died at the age of ninety-eight, and Mrs. Conant at the age of ninety-six. They were of the highest character and were almost lifelong members of the Baptist church. They had six children, of whom four are living. George Clark Conant died in defense of his country during the civil war.
Doctor Jesse Lyman Conant was educated in a general way in the public schools and profes- sionally in Rush Medical College, where he stood third in a class of eighty. He entered upon the practice of his profession and pursued it success- fully in Jackson county, Michigan, for a number of years. Then for eight years he ministered to the sick at Blair, Nebraska, where he became well known as an able and successful physician and surgeon. The succeeding eight years were passed.
with similar results, at Buffalo Gap, South Dakota. From there he came to Genesee, where he and his son, Dr. J. L. Conant, Jr., erected a two-story and basement store building, twenty- five by eighty feet, which he so planned that he has one of the most attractive as well as one of the most convenient drug stores in northern Idaho. He carries a large stock of drugs, paints, oils, and stationery, and has an extensive and constantly growing trade. He has prospered in a professional way also, and has a large practice among the best citizens of Genesee and its sur- rounding country.
Dr. Conant was married, in 1854, to Miss Julia Rock, a native of Clinton county, New York. They have had three children, of whom two are living. Their daughter, Helen Elizabeth, is the wife of Frank Standish. Doctor Jesse L. Conant, Jr., their son, received a thorough medical educa- tion and became his father's partner and gained an enviable professional reputation. At the be- ginning of the Spanish war he tendered his
services to his country and was appointed sur- geon of the First Idaho Regiment, and is now serving with it in the Philippine Islands.
Doctor Conant's first vote was cast for Win- field Scott, Whig candidate for president, and when the Republican party was formed he attached himself to it and has voted for every one of its nominees for the presidency, from Fremont to McKinley, and has been a warm supporter of its party at all periods of its history. He never was an office-seeker, and has often refused posi- tions of responsibility which might have been his for the taking, but in 1899 he was prevailed upon to become the nominee of his party for the mayoralty of Genesee. His election followed, and the choice was so good a one that it was satisfactory to the citizens of all classes and parties. He was made Mason many years ago and is a past master of his lodge.
CARMEL C. CARPENTER.
One whose faith in the magnificent agricultural possibilities of Idaho was such as to lead him to become identified with this great basic industry is Carmel C. Carpenter, who is one of the prom- inent and representative farmers of Latah county. Results have amply justified his confidence, and he to-day maintains his residence on his fine farm, which is located seven and one-half miles south of the thriving town of Moscow. Mr. Carpenter is a native of the state of Iowa, having been born in Dubuque county, on the 27th of April, 1845. His lineage traces back to stanch old English stock, the first American representa- tives of the family having been numbered among the early settlers in Vermont, from which state the great-grandfather of our subject went forth to valiant service for the cause of independence in the war of the Revolution.
Cephas Carpenter, grandfather of Carme! C., was born in Vermont, and, as a colonel in the militia of that state, saw active service in the war of 1812, participating in the battle of Platts- burg Heights. He attained remarkable longevity. being ninety-six years of age at the time of his death and being active and in full possession of his faculties even to the day of his demise. It is a matter of record that he walked a distance of seven miles the day before he passed away,-an honored patriarch, in whom there was no guile.
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He was by profession a lawyer, was a man of high intellectual gifts and sterling integrity, and that as a prototype his influence on heredity has been altogether beneficial may be inferred from the fact that one of his grandsons was Matt. H. Carpenter, the celebrated lawyer of Wisconsin and for many years a representative of that state in the United States senate.
Alfred Carpenter, the father of the subject of this review, was born in the state of Vermont, his birth having occurred in Washington county, in the year 1812. He was a farmer by occupation, and his efforts were attended with a due measure of success. He married Miss Mary K. Cheney, a native of Milford, Massachusetts, and they be- came the parents of thirteen children, all of whom reached mature years and of whom only two are deceased at the present time. The father lived to attain the age of seventy years, and his widow has now reached the venerable age of seventy-seven years.
In this large family of children, who grew up under the invigorating influences of the old Green Mountain state, Carmel C. Carpenter, of this sketch, was the third in order of birth and is the eldest of the survivors. He was reared on the parental farmstead, early becoming familiar with the duties incidental to its cultivation, while in the winter seasons he was accorded the ad- . vantages afforded by the district schools. Mr. Carpenter was a youth of seventeen years when the dark cloud of civil war cast its pall over the national horizon, and his patriotic ardor was quickened to the point of action. In response to President Lincoln's second call for volunteers, he enlisted in Company G, Twenty-third Missouri Volunteer Infantry, with which he served in the Army of the Tennessee and later in the Army of the Cumberland. He participated in many of the important conflicts which marked the prog .. ress of the great war of the Rebellion, among the number being those of Shiloh, Peach Tree Creek, New Hope Church and Jonesboro, Georgia, while he also was an active participant in the almost continuons fighting of the Atlanta campaign, including the taking of the city. His regiment accompanied General Sherman on the ever memorable "march to the sea," and he took part in the battles at Louisville, Georgia, and Waynesboro. Mr. Carpenter was too young to
secure promotion, but his military record was one of splendid order and one in which he may justly take pride. It is worthy of note in this connection that the youthful soldier did not re- ceive a wound during the entire course of his service, nor was he ill for even a day, his sturdy vigor and his intrepid bravery making him a valuable addition to the ranks of "boys in blue" who perpetuated the integrity of our nation. Mr. Carpenter received an honorable discharge at Savannah, Georgia, on the 24th of January, 1865, a youthful veteran who had rendered to his coun . try the valiant service of a loval son of the republic.
His army service thus ended and victory hav- ing crowned the Union arms, Mr. Carpenter returned to his far-distant home, where he forth . with resumed the vocation of farming. In 1869 was consummated his marriage to Miss Amy M. Randall, who was born in Iowa, the daughter of Almeron Randall.
In the year 1880 Mr. Carpenter disposed of his farm in Missouri and turned his face toward the "shining mountains" of Idaho, the Geni state of the Union. Upon arriving here he located three hundred and twenty acres of rich farming land in Latah county, where he has since main- tained his home and where success has crowned his indefatigable and well directed efforts. He has given his attention to the improvement and cultivation of his property, bringing to bear the most approved methods and carrying on opera- tions according to scientific principles. His suc- cess, as taken in connection with the natural benefices which soil and climate afford, has been a natural result, and he is to be numbered among those who have done much to advance the agri- cultural interests of a state whose prestige is ever increasing. Wisely interpreting the possibilities for successful production, Mr. Carpenter has de- voted his attention principally to the raising of wheat, having secured a yield of as high as forty bushels per acre, as an average for the entire crop. Of barley he has raised seventy-eight bushels per acre, the entire crop being sold at the rate of one cent a pound and returning to him twenty-five dollars per acre. Upon his place Mr. Carpenter has also a fine fruit orchard, the prod- ucts of which are principally retained for home use.
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To our subject and his wife seven children have been born, and of this number five are living. The eldest daughter, Nellie, is the wife of Ralph L. Hall, of Coeur d'Alene; and the younger children are Jessie, Arthur, Jennie and Leona.
In his political adherency Mr. Carpenter is stanchly arrayed in support of the Republican party and its principles. For two years he has been chairman of the board of trustees of Latah county, and for the long period of eighteen years he has served as one of the trustees of his school district, while for three years he was a member of the board of trustees of the Soldiers' Home, at Boise, having been appointed to this position by Governor McConnell. He keeps alive the associations and memories of his military life by retaining membership in the Grand Army of the Republic, and in addition to this valued fraternal connection, he is also identified with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. Carpenter is recognized as one of the rep- resentative citizens of the county, being a man of marked intellectuality and inflexible integrity and holding the respect and confidence of all who come in contact with him. He and his family enjoy a wide acquaintanceship and distinct popu- larity in Latah county, where they have resided for so many years, and they merit consideration in any work which has to do with the history of the fair state of Idaho.
SAMUEL O. TANNAHILL.
Samuel O. Tannahill, of the law firm of Tanna- hill & Tannahill, of Lewiston, is a native of Iowa, his birth having occurred in Van Buren county, that state, August 10, 1868. In colonial days the family was founded in New England, and the great-grandfather of our subject, Henry W. Tannahill, was one of the heroes of the Revo- lution, valiantly fighting for the independence of the nation. He afterward became one of the pioneer settlers of Ohio, and there occurred the birth of Henry and John L. Tannahill, the former the grandfather, the latter the father of our sub- ject. When a young man John L. Tannahill emigrated to Iowa, and became an industrious and successful farmer of that state. He married Miss Elmira Jones, a native of Iowa, and to them were born three sons, all yet living. At the time
of the civil war, the father responded to the coun- try's call for aid and served in the Seventh Iowa Cavalry until the cessation of hostilities. Later he removed to Kansas, in 1872, where he died in the thirty-third year of his age. His widow still survives him and is now forty-nine years of age. She belongs to the Presbyterian church, as did her husband.
Samuel O. Tannahill, the eldest son, acquired his preliminary education in the public schools of Kansas, and later was a student in the Kansas State Normal School. He was reared on the home farm, and when seventeen years of age began to earn his own living by teaching school. He was employed as a teacher of country schools until 1888, when he came to Idaho and continued his labors along educational lines, in Nez Perces county, until 1892, when, by popular ballot, he was elected to the office of assessor and ex-officio tax collector. He then came to Lewiston to reside, and filled his position in such a satisfactory manner that in 1894 he received the nomination of his party for clerk of the district court and. ex-officio auditor and recorder of the county. He was also clerk of the board of commissioners, and his public service was most acceptable and commendable. In the meantime Mr. Tannahill had read law, and having passed the necessary examination was admitted to the bar. He then entered into partnership with his brother, George W. Tannahill, who is a graduate of the law school at Valparaiso, Indiana, and they have rapidly acquired a good practice, now retaining a distinctively representative clientele. They have a nicely appointed office, a good library and also own a set of abstract books.
Samuel O. Tannahill has always been an advo- cate and supporter of the Democracy, has attended many of the county and state conven- tions and has a wide acquaintance in the party throughout the state. He had the honor of being appointed by Governor Steunenberg a member of his staff. He keeps well informed on the issues of the day and is therefore able to give an intelligent support to the principles in which he so firmly believes.
. Mr. Tannahill was married, in 1897, to Miss Alice Cox, a daughter of W. S. Cox, a prominent Lewiston merchant. She is a lady of culture and refinement and is a valued member of the
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Presbyterian church. Mr. and Mrs. Tannahill have a nice home in Lewiston, where he has acquired considerable property. He belongs to the Odd Fellows society, has passed all the chairs in all its branches, is a blue-lodge and royal-arch Mason and has taken the Scottish-rite degrees up to and including the eighteenth. He is a young man of worth and ability, and has the happy faculty of making friends and drawing them closer to him as the years pass by. At the bar he has attained an enviable position. Deeply in - terested in his profession he spares no pains in perfecting himself in his chosen calling, and has a wide and accurate knowledge of the prin- ciples of jurisprudence.
CARTER W. BURNS.
Among the public officials of Elmore county is Carter W. Burns, of Mountain Home, who is now acceptably serving as sheriff. His entire life has been spent west of the Mississippi, his birth having occurred in Jackson county, Iowa, on the 5th of April, 1856. The family is of Scotch descent and was early founded in the state of Missouri, the paternal grandfather of our subject having taken up his residence there when the region was an almost unbroken wilderness Jerome Samuel Burns, the father of our subject, was born in Missouri and wedded Miss Mary Kuntz, a native of Pennsylvania, and of German descent. They are now residents of San Jose, California, the father having attained the age of sixty-seven, the mother fifty-seven years. They are both valued members of the Methodist church, and are people of the highest respectability and worth. In their family were twelve children, ten of whom reached years of maturity, while nine are still living.
Carter W. Burns, whose name introduces this review, acquired his education in the public schools near his Iowa home, and spent his boy- hood days upon his father's farm, assisting in the work of plowing, planting and harvesting. His time was thus occupied until he attained his majority, when he left home and went to the Black Hills, where he engaged in prospecting and mining. During the Leadville excitement he went to Colorado, where he again engaged in mining and also followed freighting for some time. He carried supplies for the miners into
the state of Durango, Mexico, and while in that land took a contract for building a portion of the Rio Grande Railroad. On the completion of that work he returned to Colorado, and in 1882 came to Idaho, locating on Wood river, where he engaged in prospecting, mining, freighting and in furnishing railroad ties for the railroad between Shoshone and Ketchum.
In 1884 Mr. Burns arrived in Mountain Home and opened a meat market, which he conducted with excellent success for ten years. He also had the contract for carrying the mail from Mountain Home to Rocky Bar, and is now quite exten- sively interested in mining claims, having made judicious investments in mining property. In 1896 he was elected on the silver Republican ticket to the office of county sheriff, which posi- tion he has filled with marked capability. He is prompt and reliable, discharging his duties with- out fear or favor, and the high commendation of the public is accorded him.
In 1886 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Burns and Miss Emma Jane Bluett, a native of Walla Walla, Washington. Their union has been blessed with two children, Mary L. and Charles J., who are still with their parents. Mrs. Burns is an acceptable member of the Protestant Epis- copal church, and both our subject and his wife are held in the high regard of an extensive circle of friends and acquaintances.
CHESTER P. COBURN.
Among the well known and highly respected citizens of northern Idaho who have borne an important part in the development of the state is Chester P. Coburn, of Lewiston, whose name is enrolled among the pioneers who came to this section of the country in 1862. He aided in the organization not only of the state but of the territory, and has ever been a prominent factor in the progress and advancement which have wrought a marvelous transformation here. It is a well attested maxim that the greatness of a state lies not in its machinery of government, nor even in its institutions, but in the sterling qualities of its individual citizens, in their capacity for high and unselfish effort and their devotion to the public good. Regarded as a citizen, Mr. Coburn belongs to that public-spirited, useful and helpful type of men whose ambitions and
6. 9. Coburn
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desires are centered and directed in those chan- nels through which flow the greatest and most permanent good to the greatest number, and it is therefore consistent with the purpose and plan of this work that his record be given among those of the representative men of the state.
A native of Vermont, Chester P. Coburn was born in Rochester, that state, May 3, 1832. His ancestors were early settlers of New Hampshire and the Green Mountain state, and his grand- fathers, Abraham Coburn and Benjamin Stone, fought for the freedom and independence of the colonies in the Revolutionary war. His father, Thomas Coburn, was a native of New Hamp- shire, and in early life learned the tanner's trade, but in later years became a farmer. He married Miss Amelia Stone, and they removed from Ver- mont to Potsdam, New York, where the father departed this life at the advanced age of eighty- six years, while the mother was called to her final rest in her eighty-fourth year. They were lifelong members of the Congregational church, and in his political views Mr. Coburn was first a Whig and afterward a Republican. Both he and his wife enjoyed the high regard of many friends and their lives were exemplary in all respects. They had a family of nine children, three sons and six daughters, but four of the daughters are now deceased.
Chester P. Coburn, the eighth in order of birth, was reared and educated in Vermont and New York. He left his home in August, 1849, at the age of seventeen years, and went to New York, where he remained until 1852, when he sailed for California, going by way of the Nicaragua route. He was for some years engaged in mining and merchandising in Placer and Yolo counties, where members of his party took out nuggets worth seventy-five and eighty dollars. The larg- est one he ever secured, however, was worth ten dollars. He also engaged in stock-raising in California, and had been in the latter business four years when, attracted by the Florence gold discoveries, he came to Lewiston, Idaho. During the first summer he engaged in mining, and then established a livery business, for there was a large demand for pack and saddle horses. He carried on operations along that line until 1864, when he sold his barn and went to Oregon, where he purchased one hundred and seventy-five head of
cattle, which he brought to Lewiston. He then en - gaged in stock-raising and in the dairy business, and subsequently carried on the butchering busi- ness in Lewiston for fourteen years. In 1890 he went to the Salmon river country, took up gov- ernment land and continued in the stock busi- ness, meeting with gratifying success. He is a man of great industry, and his sagacity in business affairs and his untiring energy resulted in securing a handsome competence. In 1898 he sold his ranch and stock, and just as he was concluding the transaction lie was robbed of three thousand dollars worth of stock. He never found the thief or cattle, although he traveled in every direction, searching for months, but without avail. He is now retired from active business life and resides in his home in Lewiston, which he has owned for thirty years.
In 1866 Mr. Coburn was united in marriage to Miss Martha Chauncy, a native of Illinois, who crossed the plains in an early day. Their union has been blessed with seven children, four sons and three daughters, all yet living, namely: Albert C .; Howard S. and Herbert E., twins; Ransom M .; Alice M .; Flora G., wife of Frank Sears; and Cora E.
Mr. Coburn cast his first presidential vote for Winfield Scott, and was one of the organizers of the Republican party in California. He remained as one of its most stalwart supporters for many years, but is not in harmony with it on the financial question, and is therefore independent at the present time, placing the country's good before party advancement. He has attended various conventions of his party in Boise, when the fare by stage was one hundred and five dollars each way, and several weeks were re- quired for the transaction of business and the accomplishment of the journey. Few, if any, of the pioneers have manifested greater devotion to the best interests of the state or performed more effective labor in behalf of the general progress and advancement of Idaho. He has left the im- press of his individuality upon the social, moral, business and political life of the state, and is regarded as one of Idaho's most valued citizens. He is very prominent in Masonic circles and has attained distinction in connection with the official labors of the organization. He was made a Master Mason in Nez Perces Lodge, No. Io, F. & A. M., was a charter member of Lewiston Chapter, No. 4, R. A. M., and was chosen its first high priest, serving in that capacity for seven years. He is also past master of the lodge and past grand master of the order in the state. His life exemplifies the ennobling principles of the fraternity, which through countless ages has inculcated charity and kindliness among men.
CHAPTER XXXV.
POLITICAL, RESUMED.
I N 1890 there were two important supreme- court decisions rendered which were of popu- lar interest. The legislature remained in session for a time beyond the sixty-day limit pre- scribed by the constitution, and the question was raised as to the validity of the laws passed after that limit was passed. The supreme court of the state decided that they were valid, and this decision was finally affirmed by the supreme court of the United States.
The other decision concerned the great Mor- mon question and the test oath so stringently adopted by the early settlers of the territory. The territorial statute provided that no person should be entitled to vote who was a "member of any order, organization or association which teaches, advises, counsels or encourages its members, devotees or any other person to commit the crime of bigamy or polygamy, or any other crime defined by law, as a duty arising or resulting from membership in such order, organization or asso- ciation, or which practices bigamy, polygamy or plural or celestial marriages as a doctrinal rite of such organizations."
To enforce this provision it was further en- acted that every person applying for registration should take a stringent oath, known as the "test oath," to the effect that he "does not and will not practice bigamy or polygamy, and is not and will not be connected in any way with the Mormon organization or aid it, or teach its doctrines." It was claimed by the Mormons that these statutes violated the first amendment to the constitution of the United States, which forbids the passage * of any law "respecting the establishment of re- ligion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The decision of this court, rendered February 3, 1890, denied this contention and fully established the constitutionality of such legislation. The document contains the following statements of the law:
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