History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II, Part 19

Author: Hawley, James Henry, 1847-1929, ed
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1024

USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II > Part 19

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).

D. J. Graves was educated in the schools of his native state and throughout his entire life until the present time has largely followed the occupation of farming. In 1887 he went to Nebraska, where he cultivated four hundred and eighty acres of land for eight years but success did not crown his efforts there. Removing to the northwest, he spent six months in Oregon and in 1895 came to Idaho, first settling about a mile west of New Plymouth, where he purchased twenty-six acres of land. Eight years ago he sold that property and homesteaded one hundred and twenty acres three and a half miles southeast of New Plymouth. This he improved and sold and then invested in forty acres in the same locality, which he still owns. This tract has been planted to alfalfa and grain. In the fall of 1918 he purchased a fine residence in New Plymouth, where he and his family now reside. He is largely leaving the development and improvement of his farm to others and is giv- ing his attention mainly to hee culture, now having about three hundred and forty hives.

On the 26th of January, 1892, Mr. Graves was married to Miss Loretta Con- ners, of Wisconsin, who removed to Nebraska with her parents in 1884. They were married in Nebraska and have a daughter, Pearl, who is the wife of W. G. Hurley, proprietor of the Ford Garage at New Plymouth. Mrs. Hurley is of great assistance to her father in the care of his bees. She is a very bright and intelligent young woman, possessing excellent business ability and sound judgment. Mr. Graves came to the west with very limited capital, having sustained losses in Nebraska. Here he found the opportunities for retrieving his fortunes and is today one of the prosperous and representative residents of the community in which he makes his home.

HON. RALPH STEPHEN HUNT.

Hon. Ralph Stephen Hunt, president of the Rexburg State Bank, representative in the Idaho general assembly from Madison county and a prominent farmer and live stock dealer residing at Rexburg, has made his home in Idaho since 1894, when he came to this state from Weber, Utah. Since the year 1900 he has lived in Madison county, spending most of the time upon his ranch. He was born in Weher, Utah, July 20, 1869, being the elder of the two sons of Ralph H. and Sarah (Skelton) Hunt, who are natives of New York and Pennsylvania respectively. They came to Idaho from Utah in 1900 and make their home at Rexburg, where the father is a retired farmer. In early manhood he followed the occupation of carpentering. His family numbered eight children, two sons and six daughters, of whom Ralph S. is the eldest. The only other son, John J. Hunt, died of influenza in October, 1918, at the age of thirty-six years.

The two brothers were associated in the conduct of large farming and live stock interests in Madison county, owning the largest irrigated farm in the district. They were also extensively and successfully engaged in wool growing, the flock of sheep now numbering about six thousand ewes.

Mr. Hunt belongs to one of the old families identified with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was reared upon a farm at Weber, Utah, and since 1894 has lived continuously in southern or southeastern Idaho, taking up his abode in what is now Madison county nineteen years ago. He is president of the Rexburg State Bank, being one of its organizers and its second president, and in addition to the duties of that position he devotes considerable attention to his hay ranch and to the management of his large stock raising interests, being regarded as one of the foremost. factors in connection with the sheep industry in the state. During the first twenty years which he spent in Idaho he rode the range and herded both cattle and sheep. This gave him valuable knowledge and experience along the line to which he now gives his attention and with the passing years his success has steadily grown until he is now a prominent figure in connection with wool production in the north- west. He is a member of the Idaho Wool Growers Association and also of the Na- tional Wool Growers Association.

Mr. Hunt has always been a republican and more or less prominent in political circles. He served out an unexpired term as county commissioner and for five years

HON. RALPH S. HUNT

157

HISTORY OF IDAHO

was a member of the city council of Rexburg. In 1912 he was elected to represent his district in the lower house of the Idaho legislature, was again called to that posi- tion in 1916 and for a third term in 1918. He was not a candidate, however, in 1914. He is now chairman of the live stock committee and is serving on other important committees. Fraternally he is connected with the Odd Fellows and he finds his recreation in hunting and fishing. Throughout his entire life he has been actuated by a spirit of progress which is as manifest in his public career as in the conduct of his private business affairs.

HON. WILLIAM H. WITTY.

Hon. William H. Witty, state senator from Bannock county and a well known rep- resentative of the Pocatello bar, where he has practiced since 1895, was born in Mc- Cracken county, Kentucky, February 3, 1872, and after attending the public schools of that place continued his education in a normal school. He then took up the profession of teaching, which he followed in a graded school for three years, thereby acquiring a sufficient sum of money to pay his expenses as a student in the Blandville Baptist Col- lege at Blandville, Kentucky, from which he was graduated in 1895 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Immediately after his graduation he was elected to the presidency of that school and there remained for a year, but the opportunities of the west drew him to Idaho and he established his home in Pocatello. After remaining for a few months, however, he returned east and was a teacher in Clinton College for three years. For a considerable period he was widely known as a capable educator of the middle west. He spent two years as one of the teachers in the Ohio Valley College and at the same time was a teacher in the Blandville Baptist College.

With his return to Pocatello in 1904 Mr. Witty entered upon the practice of law, in which he has since remained active. He was associated with Robert M. Terrell in a partnership relation under the firm name of Witty & Terrell until 1915, when his part- ner was appointed district judge of the fifth judicial district. Since 1915 Mr. Witty has practiced alone and his practice has steadily grown as his ability has become recognized. The thoroughness with which he has ever prepared his cases, the clearness with which he presents his cause, and his logical deductions and sound reasoning are the salient elements in his continued success. He has frequently been called upon to fill public offices along the line of his profession. He was formerly deputy county attorney of Bannock county and for four years he filled the office of city attorney of Pocatello.

On the 9th of June, 1895, Mr. Witty was united in marriage to Miss Annie Christian, a daughter of Dr. and Mrs. James D. Terrell, the former a prominent physician of Blandville, Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Witty have become parents of a daughter, Mary Elizabeth. Their religious faith is that of the Baptist church.

Mr. Witty belongs to the Pocatello Commercial Club and to the Fifth Judicial Bar Association. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party, and in 1910 and again in 1912 he was chosen chairman of the Bannock county republican central committee and has contributed in marked measure to the success of the party in his section of the state. Recognition of his capable service to the party and to the state, and his public-spirited devotion to the general welfare led to his election to the office of state senator from Bannock county and he is now serving in the upper house of the Idaho general assembly.

MRS. LUCY HARRIS SALISBURY.

Mrs. Lucy Harris Salisbury, filling the position of county treasurer of Fremont county, with office in St. Anthony, was born in Richmond, Utah, March 23, 1887, a daughter of Eli and Elizabeth (Gammell) Harris, the former a native of Kentucky, while the latter was born in Salt Lake City. The father was a farmer by occupation and in 1849 went to Utah, driving across the plains with ox teams and meeting with all the hardships of such a trip and the experiences of frontier life. He took up land in the Cache valley and continued to cultivate his fields until 1898, when he removed to Fre- mont county, Idaho, and secured a homestead claim near Ashton. With characteristic

158

HISTORY OF IDAHO

energy he began at once to break the sod, turning the first furrows upon his place. He continued in the work of tilling the soil and cultivating the crops throughout his re- maining days, passing away on the 3d of September, 1902, at the age of fifty-eight years. The mother died in July, 1919, at the age of sixty-three years. They were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mr. Harris had first made his way to Utah with his parents in early life and afterward returned to the Missouri river to assist the handcart people in crossing the plains. He was ever an active and earnest worker in the church, in which he served as an elder.

The daughter, Miss Lucy Harris, was reared and educated in the Cache Valley and for two years taught school in Teton and in Marysville, Fremont county, Idaho. She afterward became connected with the dry goods business and for ten years was at the head of the dry goods department of the Fogg & Jacobs Mercantile Company of St. Anthony, filling that position until her election to the office of county treasurer in No- vember, 1918. She also has farming interests in Teton county, having purchased state land, which she now leases.

It was on the 14th of November, 1904, that Lucy Harris became the wife of William J. Salisbury and to them was born a son, Guy William, who passed away in October, 1905. Mrs. Salisbury has always been active in public affairs and for four years she served as assistant postmaster at Marysville, Idaho. Her religious faith is that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and she was called to a mission but was re- leased on account of her mother's health. She is now president of the Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association of the Yellowstone stake. Her activities are thus broad and varied, and she is making a most creditable and excellent record as county treasurer.

HON. ROSS P. MASON.

Hon. Ross P. Mason, of New Plymouth, well known in local circles as a banker and in the public life of the state as a member of the Idaho senate from Payette county, has resided in the northwest since 1912, at which time he came to Idaho from Kanawha, Hancock county, Iowa. Settling at New Plymouth, he entered banking circles and since 1915 has been cashier of the Farmers Bank. He was born at Clarion, Wright county, Iowa, September 23, 1891, and is the youngest member of the state senate, being but twenty-eight years of age. His parents, George W. and Abigail (Pinkham) Mason, are now living at New Plymouth, having removed to Idaho in 1914 to be near their son. The father is a retired banker fifty-one years of age, who was forced to put aside business cares because of impaired eyesight, resulting in almost total blindness. There were four sons and a daughter in the family, Henry Clay, George William, Theodore Roosevelt, Ross P. and Maude May. The two first mentioned were in the United States military service when the war closed, Henry Clay being at Camp Funston, Kansas, and George William with the student army training corps in the University of Idaho. The daughter is a teacher at Bancroft, Idaho.

Ross P. Mason, the eldest son of his father's family, was reared in Iowa, spending his youthful days in two or three different towns. He acquired a high school education and for a year was a student in a military college when sixteen years of age. He had the choice of continuing his college course or going to work and chose the latter. He at once entered the Farmers State Bank at Kanawha, Iowa, of which his father was president. He started in a minor position but steadily worked his way upward through merit, becoming bookkeeper and eventually assistant cashier. He-has since continued in the banking business, and in 1912 he and his father purchased the controlling in- terest in the Farmers Bank at New Plymouth, Idaho, of which he at once became assistant cashier, while in 1915 he was advanced to the position of cashier. The father and son own seventy-five per cent of the bank's stock and George W. Mason is president. The bank was capitalized for ten thousand dollars upon its organization, but since the Masons have been identified therewith the capital stock has been increased to twenty- five thousand and a general banking business is being successfully conducted.

In Kanawha, Iowa, Mr. Mason was married on the 31st of December, 1912, to Miss Minnie Cora Johnson, a schoolmate of his boyhood days. They had two children but lost one son, Donald John, who was but a year and a half old at the time of his death. The younger son, Homer Charles, was born October 27, 1917.

In politics Mr. Mason is a republican and is now holding his first political office,

159

HISTORY OF IDAHO

having been elected state senator in the fall of 1918 by a good majority on the re- publican ticket. He is now serving as chairman of the printing committee and is serving on the committees on banking, corporations and railroads. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons. In war work- he was keenly interested and was chairman of the Liberty Loan campaign in his vicinity. For recreation he turns to hunting and fishing. greatly enjoying a period in the open. Having attained success in business and prominence in public life while still a young man, the future career of Ross P. Mason will be well worth the watching.

CLINTON EMMETT ROSE.

Clinton Emmett Rose, superintendent of the public schools of Boise, was born at Quarry, Marshall county, Iowa, May 20, 1875, and is the only living child of Benjamin F. and Esther (Coate) Rose. The father at one time was owner of a general store at Quarry, where he also served as postmaster and justice of the peace. He was born in Ohio, on ground now occupied by the city of Dayton, his natal year being 1841. With his parents he removed to Iowa in his youthful days and at twenty years of age he responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting in 1861 as the youngest member of Company B, Eleventh Iowa Infantry. While he joined the army as a private, he was afterward promoted to orderly sergeant and ultimately became captain of his company. He was wounded at Shilch and again at Atlanta and at the latter place was captured and sent to Charleston, South Carolina, where he was held as a hostage for a time but later was exchanged. During a two months' imprisonment at Charleston his weight fell from two hundred and forty-six to one hundred and fifty-one pounds, owing to the limited amount and poor condition of the food given him. With the close of the war he returned to his Iowa home and there remained until 1882, when he removed to Cloud county, Kansas, where he engaged in farming and in merchandising until his death, which occurred in 1908. He had served as clerk of the district court of Cloud county for four years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Esther Coate, is also a native of Ohio and is now living near her son's home in Boise, having re- moved to this city in order to be near her son, following the death of her husband in Kansas. She is a well known Woman's Christian Temperance Union worker and was formerly county president in that organization. Although she has now reached the Psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten, she nevertheless recently won in a knitting contest in Red Cross work.

Clinton E. Rose was reared on a farm in Cloud county, Kansas, from the age of seven years. In the pursuit of his education he was graduated from the high school of Concordia, Kansas, with the class of 1893 and afterward taught school for two years. In 1895 he entered the University of Kansas, where he won his Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation with the class of 1899. Later he was teacher of mathematics at Beloit, Kansas, for two years, after which he became principal of the Beloit high school and continued to serve in that capacity for three years. In 1904 he came to Boise and has been connected with the public schools of the city continuously since. He was principal of the Boise high school from 1904 until 1915 save for the year 1912-13, which he devoted to post-graduate work in Columbia University, pursuing the teacher's course there. In May, 1915, he was promoted to the superintendency of the Boise schools and is serving for the fifth year in that position. He has ever held to the highest standards in his profession and his work has been productive of splendid results. He is a member of the Idaho State Teachers' Association, which has honored him with election to the presidency, and he also belongs to the National Educational Association. For several years past he has conducted a teachers' summer normal in Boise, covering a period of six weeks, which has an attendance of about two hundred and fifty teachers from all parts of Idaho.

On the 31st of May, 1900, in Concordia, Kansas, Mr. Rose was married to Miss Minnie A. Lawrence, who was born and reared in Pennsylvania. They have two sons, Clinton F. and Lawrence Emmett, aged respectively seventeen and ten years.

Mr. and Mrs. Rose are members of the First Presbyterian church, in which he is serving as a trustee, and in the work of the church they are deeply and helpfully in- terested. He is also a member and one of the directors of the Boise Commercial Club and he is a Master Mason and a member of the Boise Country Club. He served on the Ada County Council of Defense and was a member of its executive committee. He thus

160

HISTORY OF IDAHO

performed his part in solving war problems, and at all times he stands for those in- terests and activities which are most worth while to the individual, to the community and to the country at large.

HON. JAMES HEBER RICHARDS.

Hon. James Heber Richards, attorney and jurist, who for two years presided over the third district court, when he would no longer consent to remain upon the bench and resumed the private practice of law in Boise, where he ranks as one of the ahlest and most distinguished members of the Idaho bar, was born in Fredericktown, Knox county, Ohio, May 5, 1852. He was one of a family of eight children, four sons and four daughters, born to Daniel and Clarissa (Allen) Richards, both of whom were natives of the state of New York and have now passed away. Four of their eight children are still living, all being residents of Idaho, namely: Clara H., a resident of Boise; Wilson P., also of Boise; James H .; and Arthur P., of Emmett.

Judge Richards was reared upon a farm in Knox county, Ohio, to the age of four- teen years, and during that period pursued a country school education. He then started out to provide for his own support and has since been dependent entirely upon his own resources, so that he has justly won the proud American title of a self-made man. Energy, industry and ambition have actuated him at every point in his career. He was first employed upon a dairy farm for two years and later went to Bellville, Ohio, where he worked for his board and attended school for two years. . He was ever desirous of advancing along intellectual lines and throughout his entire life has manifested studious habits that have kept him in touch with the trend of modern thought and progress. At eighteen years of age he went to Huron county, Ohio, to become manager of a large four hundred acre stock farm and spent one year in that position. He afterward resided for two years in Seneca county, Ohio, where he was engaged in farm work, and from 1872 until 1878 he was engaged in teaching school in Mount Vernon, Ohio. In the latter year he became a student in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, and in the meantime he had begun the study of law. Returning to Mount Vernon, he again taught school for a brief period and in 1879 made the initial step on his westward journey, removing to Denver, Colorado. There he entered the law office of Markham, Patterson & Thomas, well known attorneys of that city, who directed his reading for two years and who paid him sixty dollars per month for his services as a law clerk. In 1881 he was admitted to the har and for five years thereafter engaged in active practice in Denver. He then removed to Breckenridge, Colorado, where he practiced his profession from 1886 until 1890.

In the latter year Judge Richards arrived in Boise, where he has practiced con- tinuously since save for the period of his service upon the bench. In politics he has always been a stalwart republican. The docket of the third district court having become hadly congested, in 1894 Mr. Richards consented to become judge of the district in order to clear up the docket and did so with great sacrifice to his personal interests. He remained upon the bench for two years, during which time he accomplished his purpose of clearing the docket and then retired, resuming the private practice of law. It required three years for him to catch up with his private practice and he was harder worked during that period than in any other time of his life.

The following resolutions by the bar of the third judicial district of Idaho were passed :

"Whereas, the District Court of the Third Judicial District of the State of Idaho, in and for Ada County, and presided over by Hon. J. H. Richards, District Judge, has now been in continuous session about sixty days, and during which time over one hundred cases have been disposed of, many calling for the solution of intricate and novel legal propositions and the adjustment of strongly disputed facts, and,

"Whereas, Hon. J. H. Richards, as Judge, has speedily, fearlessly, impartially and with ability tempered with justice and right, met and decided each matter of dispute presented to him,

"It is therefore Resolved: That the members of the Bar of this District hereby express their high regard for the dignity, fairness and ability of Hon. J. H. Richards, as Judge of said Court, and his kindness and courtesy extended to each member of the Bar, as well as the jury in attendance and the litigants.

"Resolved: That an engrossed copy of these resolutions be presented to Hon. J.

HON. JAMES H. RICHARDS

Vol. II-11

163

HISTORY OF IDAHO

H. Richards, and that the same be spread upon the records of the Bar Association of said District.

(Signed) GEORGE H. STEWART O. E. JACKSON ALFRED A. FRASER

Committee."

In 1905 Judge Richards was a member of the state legislature, being the only lawyer in the house, and he was made chairman of the judiciary committee. Other political offices could have been won by him if he had so desired. He has frequently been urged to become a candidate for the office of governor and for member of the supreme court but has always declined, his ambition being in other than political lines. He prefers the private practice of law and he keeps in close touch with the trend of professional thought and practice through his membership in the Idaho State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

On the 29th of November, 1881, Judge Richards was married in Winona, Minne- sota, to Miss Fannie Howe. They are members of the Christian Science church and Judge Richards is a Master Mason and also an Elk. He served as the first exalted ruler of Boise Lodge, No. 1, B. P. O. E. He is likewise a member of the Boise Com- mercial Club and is interested in all those activities and projects which have to do with the upbuilding of the city and the upholding of high civic standards.

HON. JAMES H. BRADY.

There are few lines of activity which have touched the general interests of society and led to the development and progress of Idaho with which Senator James H. Brady was not connected. He left the impress of his individuality for good upon many im- portant public movements in his state, and at all times his course was of such signal dignity and honor as to win the confidence and respect of all with whom he was associated.

James H. Brady was born in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, June 12, 1862, the son of John and Cathrine (Lee) Brady, who were of Scotch-Irish descent. His great- grandfather, Hugh Brady, was a colonel in the War of 1812, and his great-uncle, Captain Samuel Brady, was a hero in Indian warfare during the early years of the history of Pennsylvania.

The subject hereof moved with his parents to Johnson county, Kansas, where he attended the public schools of the district and the Leavenworth Normal College. He taught school for three years after receiving his diploma, fitting himself in the mean- time for the practice of law. After editing a semi-weekly newspaper for two years, he embarked in the real estate business, with branch offices in St. Louis, Missouri, Chi- cago, Illinois, and Houston, Texas, and in this business was very successful. While thus engaged. he became acquainted with the wonderful irrigation and power pos- sibilities of the state of Idaho and moved here in 1895. He at once became identified with the development of the Snake river valley and was the moving spirit in the con- struction of the Idaho canal, the Marysville canal, and the Fort Hall Indian Reservation canal. In fact, he did more for irrigation and the agricultural development of Idaho than any other man who has ever lived within its borders. He also became interested in the development of water power in southern Idaho and organized the Idaho Con- solidated Power Company, which harnessed the waters of American Falls from which light and heat are supplied widely over the southern part of Idaho.

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.

History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II, Part 19

Author: Hawley, James Henry, 1847-1929, ed Publication date: 1920 Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 1024

Author: Hawley, James Henry, 1847-1929, ed
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1024