USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II > Part 34
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The Indians were very troublesome at that time, and as the country was sparsely settled, Mrs. McGlinchey was in constant fear for her life; so after eighteen months, the required time to prove up on their claim, they were induced by A. B. Moss, an old and intimate friend of Mr. McGlinchey, whom he had formerly known in Wyoming, to remove to Payette. As an inducement Mr. Moss built them a house to live in. From the time that Mr. McGlinchey took up his residence in Idaho he gave considerable attention to the cattle business in connection with various other interests. He was a self-made man and deserved great credit for the success which he achieved in busi- ness. Whatever he undertook he carried forward to successful completion, for in his vocabulary there was no such word as fail and his integrity was at all times above question.
At San Francisco, California, in 1878, Mr. McGlinchey was married to Mrs. May (Noggle) Alvord, the widow of Major Alvord, who had served as United States marshal of Idaho and also conducted stores at Florence and at Slate Creek, Idaho. Subse- quently he sold his business interests and accepted a position as land appraiser with the Central Pacific Railroad Company, officials cf which were among his personal friends
JOHN McGLINCHEY
MRS. MAY E. McGLINCHEY
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from the time when they had all been residents of the east. Major Alvord died at Hollister, California, in 1876. His widow, Mrs. Alvord, was a daughter of David Noggle, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Boise, Idaho, in 1869 as chief justice of the state, receiving his appointment from President Grant. He was reappointed, but ill health caused him to resign. After spending some time in California he took up his abode at Janesville, Wisconsin, where his death occurred. He moved to Beloit, Wisconsin, from Pennsylvania in 1837, making the journey with his family by ox team. The Judge was a man of rigid uprightness and of very strong character. He served as postmaster of Beloit in the early pioneer times of Wisconsin and afterward became a distinguished representative of the har. He was a great admirer of James H. Hawley and predicted a splendid future for him. Mr. Hawley was the only man who ever accused Judge Noggle of perpetrating a joke, for the Judge never indulged in levity and in fact regarded this as almost unforgivable. While a man of stern character, his entire life was guided by the most upright principles and he commanded the high regard of all who knew him. His wife was one of the oldest twins in the United States, living to the age of ninety-two years, when death called her at Monroe, Wisconsin. Their son, Major Dorman L. Noggle, born at Beloit, Wisconsin, volunteered in the Twelfth Battery of Janesville, Wisconsin, and served under General Grant through- out the entire period of the Civil war, taking part in some of its most sanguinary battles and rising from the ranks to the position of major. He came west with his father in 1869 and served under him in Boise as clerk of the United States court, while at the same time he was interested with his brother-in-law, Major Alvord, in the ownership and conduct of stores at Slate Creek and at Florence, Idaho. He resigned his official position in 1874 to take a position in the United States mint at San Fran- cisco, California, there remaining until his death in 1914, during which time over two billion dollars passed through his hands. Mrs. McGlinchey, like her brother was born at Beloit, Wisconsin. She can relate many most interesting incidents and re- miniscences of the early days. At the first dance which she attended after removing to Idaho, the violin was played by the governor of Idaho, whose attire was hy no means conventional, as his great long boots were worn one on the outside and the other on the inside of his trousers' legs. Major Alvord left a widow and one son, D. D. Alvord, who is the present treasurer and manager of the Idaho Department Store, Ltd., located at Twin Falls. He is a self-made man and deserves much credit for what he has accomplished in business. Mrs. Alvord, following the death of her first hus- band, met Mr. McGlinchey while on a visit to a sister who was the wife of a railroad employe at Evanston, Wyoming. By her second marriage she became the mother of a daughter, Anna May, who on the 7th of July, 1902, became the wife of W. B. Gil- more, a native of Reynolds, Illinois, born March 9, 1879. In 1881 he went with his parents to Salt Lake City, Utah, and thence by stage to Boise, Idaho, from which point they traveled to Silver City and finally to Sinker creek in this state, where lived an uncle, George Gilmore, who after going to California in 1865 had settled in Idaho, where he took up the business of stock raising. W. B. Gilmore is now farming the McGlinchey homestead, raising potatoes, hogs and hay. He received the bronze medal at the Panama exposition for the largest yield of corn in the western states, the medal being presented to him in Payette at the Commercial Club, November 5, 1915, by Governor Alexander. During 1910 the Oregon Short Line Railroad offered a prize to the grower of the largest yield of potatoes per acre. The second prize of two hundred and fifty dollars was won by Mr. Gilmore, whose acre of potatoes produced six hundred and twenty-four bushels and thirty-six pounds, from which sixty-five bushels and twenty pounds were deducted as culls, leaving five hundred and fifty-nine bushels and sixteen pounds of marketable potatoes. The following year he raised twenty-four tons of potatoes on one acre, and to prove his veracity has an affidavit to that effect. He believes it possible to raise thirty tons of potatoes per acre on good Idaho soil with plenty of water and sunshine. He has received many congratulatory letters from men of prominence, including Governor Haines and others. To Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Gilmore have been born two children: May Eileen and John D.
It was in 1887 that Mr. McGlinchey took up his residence at Payette. The follow- ing year his wife purchased the forty acres upon which she now resides from the orig- inal homesteader, who relinquished his claim to her for a consideration. The tract is now a part of the finest residential district of Payette and her home is at No. 1226 Seventh avenue, North, a street that is more familiarly known as Lovers' Lane. Fol- lowing his removal to Payette, Mr. McGlinchey became a director of the Moss Mercan- tile Company, one of the oldest and best known mercantile establishments in Idaho,
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and at all times his business affairs were guided by sound judgment and unfaltering enterprise that brought to him a gratifying measure of success.
Mr. McGlinchey was a devout Catholic in religious faith and was a man of unques- tioned integrity as well as business ability. He ranked for many years as one of Pay- ette's most energetic and progressive citizens. He served as county treasurer of Canyon county, which at that time included Payette county, and he for many years filled the office of school trustee of Payette. His aid and influence were ever on the side of progress and improvement and his labors were far-reaching, effective and resultant.
Mrs. McGlinchey has long been a prominent figure in the social circles not only of Payette hut of Idaho. She was appointed by Governor Gooding one of the hostesses at the Lewis & Clark exposition held at Portland, Oregon, and was one of the few hostesses who were reappointed. She has held the most important offices in women's clubs and organizations in the state and is the present director for Idaho of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. She was instrumental in the organization of the Red Cross of Payette and was county chairman of the Women's Liberty Loan Club of Pay- ette county. She is a devout member of St. James Episcopal church and, associated with Mrs. A. B. Moss, has been untiring in her efforts to upbuild the church, which is still in a flourishing condition under the rectorship of the Rev. Thomas Ashworth. Her aid and her influence have constituted a most potent factor in the moral progress of the community and in the advancement of all of those interests which make for civic virtue and civic pride.
MARY ELIZABETH DONALDSON, M. D.
A modern philosopher has said: "Not the good that comes to us hut the good that comes to the world through us is the measure of our success," and judged by this standard the career of Dr. Mary Elizabeth Donaldson has heen a most successful one. Her life has been largely devoted to the welfare of others and in all things she has maintained the highest standards of living and of service. Two splendid institutions, the Donaldson Home for the Aged and the Idaho Sanitarium of Boise, are largely the outgrowth of her love for humanity, combined with her comprehensive knowledge of the science of medicine and the demands of nature.
Dr. Donaldson was born in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, January 12, 1851, a daughter of Zachariah and Elizabeth Delia Craker. Through the paternal line she is a cousin once removed of Charles Dickens, the great English novelist. Her father was born at Wadsdam, Buckinghamshire, England, February 22, 1811, and in the early '40s crossed the Atlantic. For twelve years he followed the occupation of farming in Erie county, New York, after which he brought his family to what was then the new west, settling at Spring Prairie, Walworth county, Wisconsin. After the death of his first wife he wedded Mrs. Elizabeth D. Brown, née Marcher, whose father was an Englishman by birth and a Baptist clergyman by profession. Her mother bore the maiden name of Delia Wilson and was a lady of southern birth and deep religious convictions. Mrs. Craker was thus reared in an atmosphere tending to develop beautiful traits of character and was a woman of many splendid qualities. Mr. Craker, too, was a man of genuine personal worth and both were devoted and faithful members of the Baptist church. His death occurred March 13, 1881.
Dr. Donaldson was the eldest of nine children born of her father's second marriage. Her home environment was such as developed the noblest traits of character and the teachings of father and mother left a never to be eradicated impress upon her life. She completed her early education as a high school pupil at Reedsburg, Wisconsin, and following her graduation she took up the profession of teaching in the schools of that locality. She devoted four years to the work of the school room and then turned to home duties, while in 1871 she became the wife of a Mr. Hesford, from whom she was later separated by the process of law, the marriage having proved an unhappy one. She had one daughter, Zella, who was a most precocious and lovahle child, the embodiment of unselfishness, gentle- ness and filial devotion, hut death robbed the home of its priceless jewel. Not long afterward Dr. Donaldson accompanied her hrother James to Idaho and concen- trated her thought and efforts upon the task of restoring him to health. Her services were resultant and she had the satisfaction of seeing the young, slender
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and sickly boy develop into a robust and vigorous man, weighing more than two hundred pounds. While caring for her brother she again resorted to the pro- fession of teaching and her service in this connection in the newly developed region of the northwest was most acceptable. Later she became the wife of Thomas L. Johnston, a prominent early resident of Idaho, who was born at Millers- burg, Ohio, in 1833 and became a resident of the territory of Idaho in 1862. He was closely associated with the development of mining interests in the state and served for several years as postmaster at Bellevue, Idaho. He possessed various substantial and admirable traits of character and was a man of most benevolent and charitable spirit but death called him in Boise in 1898.
In the meantime Dr. Donaldson had carried out long cherished plans of taking up the practice of medicine. At that period few women were devoting themselves to medical practice and she had the appreciative encouragement and assistance of her husband, Mr. Johnston, and in 1889 she entered the medical department of Wooster University at Cleveland, Ohio, being the only woman to graduate and re- ceive the M. D. degree in the class of 1892. Her medical course had been pursued with the same thoroughness that characterizes everything that Dr. Donaldson under- takes and with her return to Boise she opened a sanitarium and employed two nurses. It was not long before her establishment was most liberally patronized and later she opened an office and conducted a large private practice in Milton, Oregon, and also established the first sanitarium in that part of the state, retain- ing the active direction thereof until it had become a well established and paying institution, after which she removed to Portland, Oregon, and founded the first sanitarium in that city. For four years she remained at its head and again success attended her efforts in this new venture. On the expiration of that period she returned to Boise and in the spring of 1898, with the assistance of her husband, she built and opened the Idaho Sanitarium Institute, with which she has since been closely associated. Her professional services have been given to the institu- tion without charge, prompted by a love of humanity that is causing her constantly to extend a helping hand where aid is needed. In the private practice of medicine she has been accorded a most liberal and remunerative practice but in this field, too, her broad humanitarianism is constantly manifest in her professional assistance to hundreds who were unable to compensate her in a financial way for her services.
On the 9th of January, 1912, Dr. Mary E. Johnston became the wife of Captain Gilbert Donaldson, a man long known and highly esteemed in the business circles of Boise and one whose philanthropy and large social service made between them a great bond of sympathy and interest. It was subsequent to this marriage that Dr. Donaldson saw the fulfillment of a hope which she had entertained from 1881 on visiting an institution for the care of aged men and women in Philadelphia. The splendid work made strong appeal to her and it was her desire that at some time she might found an institution of like character in Boise. As the years passed she never lost sight of the project and utilized every opportunity to promote its fulfillment. She won 'the cooperation and assistance of many benevolent people in Boise from all walks of life and at length the Donaldson Home for the Aged, as it was called in her honor, took tangible form. It is located on Donaldson Heights in Boise and to the public Dr. Donaldson sent out this beautiful appeal: "Let the whisper of love and plenty, in the ears of loneliness and want, dry the tears in eyes bedimmed with age, and the sweet fragrance of these flowers of love will perfume all the air of Boise and every county in the state, catching the sweet incense thereof, will bring their offering for this 'Home for the Aged,' their gold and their silver, and lay them on Boise's altar of love." It would be impossible to enumerate all of the kindly deeds and noble actions of Dr. Donaldson, for many of these have been known only to the recipients thereof. It is only when her work could not be hidden from the public that she has spoken of it and at all times she has been actuated by the spirit of Him who commanded that the left hand should not be allowed to know what the right hand doeth. Free from ostentation and display, recognizing in every individual a brother or sister who had claim upon her thought and love, Dr. Donaldson has brought not only health but the blessings of companionship, of cheer and inspiration into many lives. Bereft of her own beautiful little daughter, she has been a mother to five orphaned children, directing their development in such a way as to make for the highest standard of physical, mental and moral progress. She was one of the charter members of the American Woman's League and has been a constant contributor to its litera- ture. In December, 1903, she. assisted in founding and assisted in conducting the
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Idaho Magazine, making it a journal of much importance to the state. She also edited and published the Reform Appeal, which was established to do away with existing public conditions, and its clear presentation of affairs was largely instru- mental in bringing about the election of a democratic mayor of Boise although the normal republican majority was fifteen hundred. Dr. Donaldson also organized and superintended the Prohibition Alliance and her work in behalf of temperance is now reaching fruition in the nation-wide ratification of the prohibition amend- ment. It is impossible to measure the extent and influence of her activities in behalf of humanity but all who know aught of her history acknowledge the great worth of her work as a valuable contribution to physical, intellectual and moral uplift in the state in which she has so long been an honored resident.
HON. ROY L. BLACK.
Hon. Roy L. Black, former member of the bar of Coeur d'Alene and now attorney general of Idaho, making his home in Boise, was born on a farm near Topeka, in La- grange county, Indiana, September 25, 1878, a son of William Henry and Dulcina (King) Black, both of whom are now living at Topeka and in good health. The father is a well-to-do retired farmer, who was born in Delaware county, Ohio, February 22, 1848, while the mother's birth occurred in Noble county, Indiana, December 2, 1850. Her parents removed from Pennsylvania to Indiana, driving an ox team across the country, and became early settlers of Noble county in the latter state. To Mr. and Mrs. William Henry Black were born seven children, four sons and three daughters, all of whom are living with the exception of the youngest daughter, but Roy L. Black is the only one now in Idaho.
Reared upon his father's farm, upon which he was born, Roy L. Black early at- tended the country schools and thus pursued his education until he reached the age of fourteen years. He afterward was a pupil in the high school at Topeka, Indiana, about two miles from his home, there pursuing his studies for two years. At the age of six- teen he took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for seven consecutive winters in Noble county, Indiana, spending the first five years in the country schools and during the last two years he taught the eighth grade in the Wawaka graded schools of Noble county. In the meantime, while engaged in teaching, he had become a student in the Valparaiso University, pursuing his studies there for seven months in 1900. Later he matriculated in the Ferris Institute at Big Rapids, Michigan, where he spent a year. In the fall of 1904 he entered the law department of the University of Michigan and after three years was graduated with the LL. B. degree in June, 1907. In his senior year he was president of his class, which numbered three hundred and thirty-four members. During his junior year he was associate editor of the Michigan Law Review, published at the university.
In July, 1907, Mr. Black came to Idaho, settling at Coeur d'Alene for the practice of law, and has since been prominently and actively connected with the profession, remaining at Coeur d'Alene until the fall of 1918, when he removed to Boise to assume the duties of attorney general of the state of Idaho, to which office he was elected on the 5th of November of that year as the republican candidate, defeating the Non-Par- tisan League candidate by a vote of fourteen thousand, four hundred and eighty. In 1905, while attending the University of Michigan, Mr. Black spent the summer vaca- tions as an interurban railway conductor on the line between Kent and Barberton, Ohio, and during the summer vacation of 1906 he drove a stage in Yellowstone National Park, thus utilizing every means to provide for the expenses of his university course. This was indicative of the elemental strength of his character, and the same resolute spirit has carried him steadily forward in his practice. He is a lawyer of marked abil- ity who has ever prepared his cases with great thoroughness and care, and his presen- tation of a cause has ever been clear and cogent, while the soundness of his reasoning has brought desired decisions. The high standing which he has won as a member of the bar of Coeur d'Alene and his well known loyalty in citizenship combined to make him a logical candidate for the office of attorney general.
Mr. Black has always given his political support to the republican party and in 1909 was elected city attorney of Coeur d'Alene and served for two years. In 1910 he was elected to the state legislature and for one term was a member of the house, during which he was chairman of the judiciary committee. It was subsequently that he was
HON. ROY L. BLACK
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chosen for his present office, in which he is making a most creditable record. Fra- ternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
On the 20th of December, 1911, Mr. Black was married to Miss Stella Bartels, a native of Ohio, who at the time of her marriage was residing in Wallace, Idaho. They are parents of two children: John R., born December 17, 1912; and William Augustus, born January 27, 1916. Both Mr. and Mrs. Black have gained a wide acquaintance dur- ing the period of their residence in Boise and are highly esteemed wherever known.
HON. JOHN TRACY MORRISON.
Able lawyer, sagacious business man, a wise and incorruptible governor, a devoted husband and father, a faithful friend and sincere Christian-in these words are summed up the life record of one who for twenty-five years labored for the material, intellectual, social, political and moral progress of the commonwealth of Idaho. His life's journey compassed practically fifty-five years. He often re- marked that he had never reached his ideals- but who of us does-and through- out the state there are many who bear testimony to the worth of his influence and his work upon the development of the state. A modern philosopher has said, "Not the good that comes to us, but the good that comes to the world through us, is the measure of our success," and judged by this standard John Tracy Morrison was a most successful man. At memorial services held in Boise two weeks following his demise, which occurred on the 20th of December, 1915, Dr. Boone, president of the College of Idaho at Caldwell, said: "The year 1860 brought a glad Christmas time to the home of John and Sophia Morrison, of old Jefferson county, Pennsyl- vania, for, as at Bethlehem of old, a son was born. The child grew and developed amid the favorable physical, moral and spiritual environments of a Christian Amer- ican home. John Morrison, Sr., was a hardy pioneer of the early west and lived to the ripe age of over four score and ten. Sophia was his second wife. She had given a considerable portion of her life to teaching in our public schools. They were a very intelligent, high-thinking, religious couple, with most worthy ambi- tion for the success of their two sons-John Tracy and William Zalmon. Thus our friend was favored with a most noble parentage, an asset for true success that can- not be estimated.
"Having finished his education as far as the schools of his home community could carry him, the school year 1880-1881 found John Tracy Morrison a student in Wooster University, Wayne county, Ohio. And it was here that our lifelong asso- ciation and friendship began, and while we were not classmates yet we were thrown together in various student organizations, and with the one exception of the pastor of this church, Dr. Donaldson, John Morrison was the longest time my personal friend, close as a brother. It is said that more than half the value of one's edu- cation consists in the friendships formed during one's school days, for, after all, the living book is the most closely read.
"In studentship, Morrison was far above the average, and took high rank in essay, oratory and debate, yet he was neither bookworm nor mollycoddle; he had time to play baseball, and often occupied the pitcher's box, and in the gymnasium when he donned the mitts his adversary knew that he was there. After staying out a year to teach, he graduated in 1887, taking the A. B. degree, and we next find our friend an LL. B. from Cornell Law School. As one Abram in the olden time in the highly fertile valley of the Euphrates heard the call of the Lord, 'Get thee up from thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house unto a land I shall show thee,' so, John T. Morrison, standing conscious of his young manhood's strength, well equipped for efficient service through his chosen pro- fession, the law, was ready for a call. He heard, and July, 1890, found him in Caldwell amid the sage plains of Idaho, and later in the year he was joined here by his wife and infant daughter. Just how God made known his will to Abram we may not know, but Abram was certainly most human in executing his call as he loitered along the road. Just how the call to Idaho came to Mr. Morrison we do not know, but I remember that early in 1890 he wrote me inquiring about the opportunity for a young lawyer in Idaho. My reply was not that of the orthodox real estate new country boomer, but was to the effect that I saw nothing but hard foundation work with little pay for any kind of professional man. But a man with
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