USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II > Part 13
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On the 3d of April, 1915, Mr. Owen was married to Miss Elizabeth Griffiths, and they have become the parents of a daughter, Rena Beth, who was horn April 5, 1919. Mr. Owen is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and the Woodmen of the World. His political allegiance is given to the demo- cratic party and his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church, in which he is serving as elder. He is a capable and conscientious lawyer, a progressive and patriotic citizen, and wherever he is known commands the respect and good will of all.
FRANK W. JORDAN.
Frank W. Jordan, of Idaho Falls, who is the county clerk and recorder of Bonne- ville county, was born in Amador City, California, August 13, 1874, being a son of Jo- seph T. and Jane (Murdock) Jordan. the former a native of England, while the latter was born in Scotland. The father was a millwright hy trade and ahout 1852 came to America, settling at Council Bluffs, Iowa. In 1860 he resumed his westward journey, making his way to California. where he continued until 1883. He then went to Ogden, Utah, where he lived for two years, and in 1885 he came to Idaho Falls, Idaho, where his remaining days were passed. He worked at his trade throughout the intervening period and established a mill at Rexburg, which was the first of its kind in this part of the state. He died January 15, 1895, but the mother is still living and now makes her home at Idaho Falls.
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Frank W. Jordan was reared and educated in California, Utah and in Idaho Falls. After attending the public schools he continued his education in the Brigham Young College at Logan, Utah, and was graduated therefrom with the class of 1896. He after- ward taught school in Bingham county, Idaho, until 1905, and in 1906 he was elected to the office of assessor and collector, in which position he served for one term in 1907 and 1908. In 1909 he was appointed to succeed Harry Curtis in the office of district clerk of Bingham county, which then included what is now Bonneville county. In 1910 he was reelected and in the spring of 1911 the county was divided. Mr. Jordan then resigned his position and was appointed by Governor Hawley to the office of county clerk and recorder of the newly created county and has been reelected at each succeeding election, his fellow townsmen recognizing in him one who is most competent and capa- ole in discharging the duties that devolve upon him. While thus active in office, he is also a stockholder in the Iona Mercantile Company and is the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of well improved land situated about eleven miles from Idaho Falls.
In November, 1899, Mr. Jordan was united in marriage to Miss Pearl Riches, and they have become the parents of four daughters: Theora A., who was born December 6, 1900; Bessie A., born March 30, 1903; Donnetta G., October 6, 1905; and Maxine L., March 10, 1909.
The religious faith of the family is that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, and fraternally Mr. Jordan is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. His political endorsement has al- ways been given to the republican party and he is loyal and progressive in everything that pertains to citizenship, seeking ever to advance the civic interests and uphold the civic standards of his community.
F. H. KNICKERBOCKER.
F. H. Knickerbocker is the general superintendent of the Oregon Short Line, with headquarters at Pocatello, and no history of the development of this section of the country would be complete without extended reference to him owing to the active part which he has played in the construction and promotion of railway interests, which con- stitute a basic element in the development and upbuilding of the state. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, December 10, 1875, and is a son of Addison E. and Agnes (McGann) Knickerbocker, both of whom were natives of the state of New York. Having removed to the middle west, they lived for some time in Illinois and in 1883, when their son, F. H., was about eight years of age, they removed to Omaha, Nebraska. The father was a hotel man well known in Chicago, Illinois, Omaha, Nebraska, and Spearfish, South Dakota, in connection with the management and operation of hotels. He passed away in the year 1903 and the mother is now living with her son, the Rev. A. E. Knicker- bocker, who is a minister of Christ Episcopal church at Red Wing, Minnesota.
F. H. Knickerbocker was largely reared in Omaha, where he pursued his educa- tion in the public schools, passing through consecutive grades to the high school. When his textbooks were put aside he accepted employment as a stenographer with the assist- ant general freight agent of the Oregon Short Line Railroad at Salt Lake City, Utah, on the 16th of March, 1897. He has been continuously in the employ of this corpora- tion to the present time, serving in various capacities. After filling a stenographic position for some time he was made secretary to the assistant general manager and so continued until May 15, 1902, when he became secretary to the vice president and general manager, filling that position until January 1, 1909. His next advancement made him assistant to the vice president and general manager, a position which he filled until August 15, 1916, at which date he became general superintendent of the road, with headquarters at Pocatello, Idaho. During Mr. Knickerbocker's association with the executive officers at Salt Lake City from 1902 until 1916 the entire property of the Oregon Short Line was reconstructed, heavy rails being laid, the road ballasted, grades and curvatures eliminated, a second track constructed and the railroad gen- erally brought up to its present efficiency. Both Messrs. Bancroft and Calvin, with whom Mr. Knickerbocker was fortunate enough to be associated for years, had full appreciation of the resources and necessities of Idaho, and it was due to their fore- sight and confidence that hundreds of miles of branch line railroads were constructed in this state to assist in the development of agriculture, mining and other resources re- quiring transportation to make them successful. Thus the road became a potent force
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in the upbuilding of Idaho and the utilization of its wonderful resources. Many of these branches at the time of construction were known as pioneers and it was fully un- derstood that they would not be on a paying basis until the territory they served had been more adequately developed and traffic built up; but their construction was given the same careful consideration as other branches where it was known in advance that the traffic would more than justify the cost of construction. The efforts of the com- pany at this time are being devoted to enlarging and extending present facilities to handle the rapidly growing business of Idaho, and it is with this particular branch of the work that Mr. Knickerbocker is now identified, displaying most progressive meth- ods in the further development of the railroad interests and the task of making it adequate to the demands placed upon it for the transportation of Idaho's wonderful crops and other productions.
In 1902 Mr. Knickerbocker was married to Miss Marian L. Knickerbocker, who, though of the same name, was not a relative and whom he wedded in Salt Lake City. They have two children, Louis and Floyd, aged respectively fourteen and twelve years.
While a most active business man, Mr. Knickerbocker finds time to devote to other interests which are vital forces in the life of every community. He is a member of the Episcopal church and a director of the Railroad Young Men's Christian Associa- tion. He is also a member of the Pocatello Rotary Club and the Commercial Club and of the Bonneville Club of Salt Lake City and is a thirty-second degree Mason and mem- ber of the Mystic Shrine. In these membership connections are indicated the nature of his interests and the rules which govern his conduct, making him a well developed man, broad-minded and an intelligent supporter of all those forces which work for the uplift of the individual and the advancement of the community at large.
JOHN B. ARCHABAL.
John B. Archabal, one of the well known wool growers of Boise, who belongs to the Spanish. or Basque colony, was born in Spain, June 24, 1873, and became a nat- uralized citizen of the United States in 1903. His Spanish ancestors had been shepherds for generations and as a boy John Archabal herded sheep, beginning the work when a mere lad. He came to the United States in 1893, making his way direct to Boise, where he arrived in the midst of the great financial panic of that year. He was then a young man of twenty and he had nothing but the clothes upon his back and the con- tents of his pockets, amounting to hut a few dollars and a jackknife. On his way across the Atlantic the steamer on which he was making the trip met with disaster and sank in midocean, twenty-five of the people aboard being drowned, but the ma- jority of the five or six hundred passengers were picked up by another vessel and taken to Galveston, Texas, although the vessel on which Mr. Archabal originally em- barked was destined for New York. He was thus far off the route which he intended to take. With good luck he would have landed at New York in about six or seven days, and as it was he was thirty-six days on the water before being landed at Gal- veston. He had lost all his clothes but those which he wore when the ship sank and had barely money enough to pay his railway fare to San Francisco, California, and buy a change of clothing. Again ill fate seemed to overtake him. It was his inten- tion to go to Boise instead of to San Francisco, but a misunderstanding in arrange- ments took him to the California metropolis, where he remained until he could send to a friend in Boise for money enough to continue the journey. He reached Idaho's capital on the 18th of November, 1893, and during the first few months worked for his board for Bill Howell, remaining in Mr. Howell's employ as a ranch hand for five months and being paid wages after the first three months.
Mr. Archahal next went to work for W. C. Cleveland as a sheep herder and after being thus employed for four years he bought a half interest in Mr. Cleveland's busi- ness and the two men were partners in sheep raising and in the wool business for eighteen years, sometimes having many thousands of sheep on hand. At one time their flocks numbered thirty thousand head. In 1916 Mr. Archabal purchased the interest of Mr. Cleveland in the business and has since continued alone, although at. the present time he has twelve men associated with him in the sheep raising indus- try as side partners. His plan since buying Mr. Cleveland's interest in the business has been to provide these side partners with a certain number of sheep-from two thousand to six thousand head, the men to care for them on the shares. During the
JOHN B. ARCHABAL
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last three years, while the great European war was in progress, Mr. Archabal's profits have been large and he is now numbered among the wealthy men of Boise. Following out his present plan of business, he does all the buying and selling and is general manager of the dozen or more sheep industries of which he is the head, maintaining general supervision over all.
In Boise, on the 1st of December, 1901, Mr. Archabal was married to Miss Benecta Aldecoa, also of Spanish birth. She came to the United States two years prior to her marriage and to them have been born five children, two sons and three daughters: Hazel, who is sixteen years of age; John, a lad of thirteen; Matilda, who is nine years of age; Pidel, who is seven years old; and Juanita, a little maiden of four summers.
The family have membership in the Roman Catholic church. Mr. Archabal is a member of the Boise Commercial Club. Only once since coming to the new world has he returned to his native country, having made the trip to Spain in 1907, accom- panied by his wife and two children. After six months spent in his native land, how- ever, he again came to the new world, where he had found the business opportunities which he sought and which have brought him to success. He is the owner of a ranch of one hundred and sixty acres seven miles from Boise and another of equal size in Oregon and he also owns considerable valuable income property in Boise. He has been a most liberal contributor to all worthy enterprises, giving generously to the Red Cross, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Associated Charities, the Salvation Army and other projects looking to the benefit of the soldiers or the amelioration of hard conditions of life for the unfortunate. He has been a liberal buyer of Liberty Bonds and War Savings Stamps and belongs to the Boise Limit Club, having bought one thousand dollars' worth of stamps in his own name, while his purchases altogether amount to about fifty thousand dollars. America, which afforded him his business opportunities, is the land where his interest and his affection centers and he is put- ting forth every effort to advance the welfare and progress of community and com- monwealth.
HUBERT J. McGIRR.
Hubert J. McGirr, director of the Falk Mercantile Company, whose prominent con- nection with the business interests of Boise is indicated in the fact that he has served as president of the Boise Commercial Club, was born at Lewiston, Fulton county, Illi- nois, April 27, 1869, a son of William and Winifred (McEvely) McGirr. The father was a woolen mill operator in early life and later followed farming. He was born in Scotland and came to the new world when fifteen years of age. His wife was born in Ireland and was brought to the United States by her parents during her infancy. They were married in New Hampshire in 1864 and their last days were spent in Illi- nois, where Mrs. McGirr passed away in 1896, while Mr. McGirr survived until 1912.
Hubert J. McGirr was the second of their seven living children, three sons and four daughters, and is the only one in Idaho. One is now living in Iowa, another in California and the others in Illinois. After pursuing a course in the public schools of his native county, Hubert J. McGirr, when sixteen years of age, became a clerk in a grocery store at Canton, Illinois, and when a young man of nineteen years went upon the road as a traveling salesman for a cigar house. He continued his commer- cial travels in Illinois and Iowa for seven years and in 1895, at the age of twenty-slx. he established his home in Wall Lake, Iowa, and embarked in the cattle business. He also owned and conducted a meat market there and another at Lake View, six miles distant, owning a large ranch nearby. In 1908, however, he disposed of his interests in Iowa and removed to Boise, attracted by the irresistible lure of western opportuni- ties. He then purchased the interest of A. E. Cunningham in the Falk Mercantile Com- pany, of which he has since been one of the directors and the manager of its large grocery department. This company is without a rival in Boise, owning a very ex- tensive department store which would be a credit to a city of much greater size. Throughout the period of his residence here Mr. McGirr has put forth every possible effort to advance the business interests and extend the trade relations of the city and has therefore been a cooperant factor in the Boise Commercial Club, of which he is now a director and of which he served as president in 1915. He has been one of its
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most efficient and valuable members, constantly putting forth effective effort for the accomplishment of its purposes.
On the 14th of October, 1894, Mr. McGirr was married at Wall Lake, Iowa, to Miss May Elma Simpson, a native of that state, and they have become the parents of seven children, two sons and five daughters. The family circle yet remains unbroken. The children are Horace Donald, Thelma S., Wilma, Lucile, Marian, Richard Gordon and Helen, whose ages range from twenty-three down to nine years. Horace Donald, the eldest, when a student in the University of Idaho, enlisted in the Idaho militia for border service in the spring of 1916 and served as first sergeant in the Medical Corps. He was connected altogether with the state militia for three years and for six months was upon the border, after which he was mustered out. When America declared war with Germany in May, 1917, he went to San Francisco and took the officers' training course, being commissioned a second lieutenant in September. He was then sent to Camp Lewis, Washington, and in Tacoma, that state, on the 24th of November. 1917, met with a serious automobile accident. Thelma S. occupies a good position in the First National Bank of Boise, while Wilma is occupying a position in the Overland National Bank. The other children are all pupils in the public schools of Boise.
Mr. McGirr is a Knight Templar and thirty-second degree Mason and also a mem- ber of the Mystic Shrine and of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He like- wise belongs to the Country Club and is appreciative of the social amenities of life, but outside of business the greater part of his time, attention and energy is devoted to the Boise Commercial Club, the city finding in him a stalwart champion of all of its interests and a promoter of those measures which are a matter of civic virtue and of civic pride.
SAMUEL E. BLAINE.
The bar of Boise probably claims its representatives from every state in the Union. Of this number Samuel E. Blaine was born on a farm in Grant county, Wisconsin, July 24, 1878. His father, James F. Blaine, was a farmer of Scotch-Irish descent who passed away September 22, 1888, when his son Samnel was but ten years of age. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Johnson, was of Norwegian birth and died on the 4th of December, 1903.
Samnel E. Blaine was reared upon the old homestead farm in his native county, where he attended the country schools to the age of seventeen years and afterward completed a high school course at Montfort, Wisconsin, doing four years' work in three. He was there graduated when twenty-one years of age and afterward pursued a scien- tific course and his law course in the Valparaiso University of Indiana, winning the B. S. degree in 1901 and his professional degree in 1903. In February, 1904, he came to Idaho and after making a survey of the field for a favorable location settled in Boise, where he entered upon active practice in April of that year. Through the intervening period, now covering sixteen years, he has continued an active member of the har, enjoying a good clientage. In 1919 he was appointed by Attorney General Black as assistant attorney general, and he belongs to the Ada County, the Idaho State and the American Bar Associations, thus keeping well informed concerning the trend of mod- ern professional thought and judgment.
On the 20th of May, 1908, Mr. Blaine was married to Miss Ruth D. Rose, a native of Iowa, who, however, was reared in Kansas and was a music teacher prior to her marriage. They have become parents of three children: James W., Marjorie Ruth and Mary Elizabeth. The only brother of Mr. Blaine is John James Blaine, also a lawyer, now residing in Boscobel, Wisconsin, where he formerly served as mayor and also represented his district in the state senate and is now attorney general of Wis- consin. The Wisconsin family of Blaines is related to the Maine family of that name, of which James G. Blaine was a representative.
Like his illustrious kinsman of the Pine Tree state, Mr. Blaine has always been a republican and an active party worker, although never an aspirant for office. He served as chairman of the republican county central committee from 1912 until 1914 and again from 1916 until 1918, and his opinions carry weight in party councils through- out this section of the country. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is fond of tennis, the
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game furnishing bis chief recreation, but nothing is allowed to interfere with the faithful performance of his professional duties, which he discharges with a conscien- Lious sense of obligation that has made his service most valuable to his clients.
RUSS W. ALLRED.
Russ W. ,Allred is the cashier of the Citizens State Bank of Buhl, Twin Falls county. Prior to coming to Idaho he was engaged in merchandising and banking at Garner, Hancock county, Iowa, and removed from that state to the northwest in 1907, establishing his home in Buhl. Here, in connection with J. W. Hayward, of Iowa, he organized the Citizens State Bank with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars. The bank began business in the building where the Peck Store is now located. From the beginning the institution prospered, and in 1910 the capital stock was increased to fifty thousand dollars and in the same year the Citizens State Bank building was erected. Year after year the business steadily increased and in 1918 the capital stock was increased to one hundred thousand dollars. The bank building is one of the finest in Buhl. The officers of the bank are: J. W. Hayward, of Iowa, president; C. C. Griffin, of Iowa, vice president; R. W. Allred, cashier; and Glen F. Fritcher, assistant cashier. From the beginning Mr. Allred has been active in the management and control of the institution and no stronger testimony of his business ability, his enter- prise and his executive powers could be given than the fact that the bank has found it possible to quadruple its capital stock within a period of eleven years. This speaks volumes for the business methods and thorough systematization instituted by Mr. Allred and his associates, and his name is now well known and honored by the bank- ing fraternity of Idaho.
ELBERT S. DELANA.
Elbert S. Delana, prosecuting attorney of Ada county from 1916 and reelected in the fall of 1918 and senior member of the law firm of Delana & Delana, of Boise, was born upon a farm in Iowa county, Iowa, November 17, 1876, a son of James H. and Sarah M. (Jones) Delana. The father, who was a veteran of the Union army, having served for three years and four months in defense of the stars and stripes, passed away at Norway, Iowa, in 1906, at the age of sixty-two years, and the mother there passed away November 12, 1919, at the age of sixty-nine years. There were four sons in the family, the brothers of Elbert S. being Charles E., Benton F. and Frank. The first and last named are still in Iowa, while Benton F. is a law partner of Elbert.
Reared upon an Iowa farm of four hundred acres owned by his father, Elbert S. Delana had the usual experiences of the farm bred boy who divides his time between the acquirement of an education and the work of the fields. He attended the coun- try schools to the age of fourteen years, after which he concentrated his efforts upon farm work to the age of twenty-three. He then again took up his books, becoming a student in Cornell College at Mount Vernon, Iowa, spending seven years in the pre- paratory department and in the college work. He was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1907 and in the fall of that year became a law student at Har- vard, spending three years in the university and winning his professional degree in 1910.
In the fall of the same year Mr. Delana came to Boise and in the following May was admitted to practice at the bar of Idaho, since which time he has steadily followed his profession in the capital city. He belongs to the Ada County and the Idaho State Bar Associations. No dreary novitiate awaited him in bis practice. He soon won recognition of his powers as an attorney and in 1916 was elected prosecuting attorney of Ada county for a two years' term, which he has but recently completed.
On the 30th of December, 1914, Mr. Delana was married to Miss Mildred V. Poteet, of Ada county, who was born in Oregon and comes of French ancestry. They have two children: Marion Estelle, whose birth occurred March 8, 1916, and Elbert Sum- ner, Jr., born December 3, 1919.
In politics Mr. Delana has always been a champion of republican principles. He belongs to the Boise Chamber of Commerce and is an active worker in behalf of the
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projects put forth by that organization for the benefit and improvement of the city. He belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and in Masonry has attained high rank, being a Knight Templar and member of the Mystic Shrine. His religious faith is evidenced by his connection with the First Methodist Episcopal church of Boise and the trend of his thought and activity has always been along upward lines, his record being characterized by intelligently directed effort toward high ideals.
HON. JOHN HAILEY.
There is no man more familiar with the pioneer history of Idaho than John Hailey, not only by reason of his long residence in the state and his identification with every phase of frontier life, but also owing to his deep research and investigation into the annals of the state. His own life story is a most interesting one in that it has brought him into close connection with the upbuilding and progress of the northwest. He was born on a farm in Smith county, Tennessee, August 29, 1835, his parents being John and Nancy (Baird) Hailey, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Smith county, Tennessee. John Hailey was largely reared upon a farm and when a small boy was put to work and was kept busy most of the time, with little opportunity to attend school. He accompanied his parents on their removal from Tennessee to Dade county, Missouri, in the fall of 1848, when again the family took up their abode upon a farm. He assisted in the development and improvement of the place and remained under the parental roof until April 18, 1853, at which time he started across the plains for the territory of Oregon, driving a five-yoke ox team for James Tatom. After a long and tedious trip across the stretches of hot sand and through the mountain passes they arrived at Salem, Oregon, on the 18th of October, having been exactly six months upon the way.
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