USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II > Part 38
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On the 11th of July, 1888, in Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. Barber was married to Miss Fannie May Hobson, whose birth occurred in Brownstown, Indiana. They have two daughters. Eunice, now the wife of Chester Greene, of American Falls, Idaho; and Florence, who is a student nurse in Holy Cross Hospital of Salt Lake City. The religious faith of Mr. Barber is that of the Methodist church and his life has ever been guided by high and honorable principles. As a newspaper editor he has been the champion of many interests which have had direct bearing upon the welfare and upbuilding of the state and his aid is ever on the side of improve- ment, reform and civic progress.
WILLIAM J. HALL.
In forming his cabinet Governor D. W. Davis has drawn around him men of capability who are accustomed to looking at vital questions from the standpoint of broad-minded citizenship and high civic ideals. These qualities he believes to be in William J. Hall, who therefore received from him appointment to the position of commissioner of public works. Mr. Hall's connection with Idaho dates from 1906, at which time he took up his abode in Wallace and there he served as assist- ant general manager of the Federal Mining & Smelting Company, continuing in the office until called to his present position save for a period of two years, from 1914 until 1916, during which time he was secretary and treasurer of the same concern. His appointment as commissioner of public works came to him on the 31st of March, 1919, and on the 1st of April following he took up his duties in his new position.
Mr. Hall is a Canadian by birth. The place of his nativity is Hamilton, On- tario, and the date February 7, 1872. His parents are Thomas and Ann (Taylor)
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Hall, the former a native of England, while the latter was born on the Isle of Wight. Both were of English lineage. William J. Hall is the eldest of their four children, three sons and a daughter, of whom one son passed away in infancy. The living brother is Charles Edward Hall and the only sister is Mrs. Caroline Hall, who married a man of the same name as her own, though not a relative. Both the brother and sister are still residents of Hamilton, Ontario, where all of the Hall children were born. Both Charles E. Hall and his brother-in-law, Percy Stuart Hall, are manufacturing jewelers of Hamilton, being members of a large cor- poration.
William J. Hall was reared in Hamilton, Ontario, and was graduated from the public schools of that city and also from the Hamilton Collegiate Institute, com- pleting a course as an accountant in the latter institution. He then practiced his profession in his native city for several years and in 1900 he came to the west. For six years he maintained his residence in Spokane, Washington, and in the year in which he took up his abode there he entered the employ of Charles Sweeny, a prominent mining man of Spokane, as an accountant. He served as an accountant not only for Mr. Sweeny individually but also for the Sweeny interests generally, which were large and of varied character. In 1903 Mr. Sweeny hecame the chief organizer of the Federal Mining & Smelting Company, a large concern formed to develop and operate extensive mining interests near Wallace, Idaho. Mr. Hall, having been closely associated with Mr. Sweeny, was made accountant for the new corporation and in 1906 he was transferred to the operating department as assist- ant to the general manager. He then removed to Wallace, where he continued to make his home until called to his present official position.
Mr. Hall has always been a stalwart republican in politics, giving unfaltering allegiance to the party and its principles, but has never been a candidate for an elective position. The chief reason of his selection by Governor Davis for the office of commissioner of public works was because of his peculiar and especial fitness for the duties of the position, which during the next biennial period will be of a very important character, as plans have been made to build the wings to the new capitol during this time. Nine hundred thousand dollars has already been appropriated for this improvement and much other public building is contemplated during Gov- ernor Davis' administration. All of this important work will be under Mr. Hall's immediate supervision as commissioner of public works.
On the 3d of June, 1900, in Hamilton, Ontario, Mr. Hall was married to Miss Alice Daniels, also a native of that place, and they have one son, Thomas Edward, now. eighteen years of age and a student in the University of Washington at Seattle, which he entered in 1918 as a freshman.
Fraternally Mr. Hall is an Elk and his religious faith is that of the Episcopal church. He belongs to the American Institute of Mining Engineers, is constantly studying along that line, thus promoting his knowledge and ability, and his long experience in the management of large affairs has fitted him admirably for the duties of his present office.
CHARLES A. ELMER.
Among those who have to do with the government of Idaho as a member of the cabinet of Governor Davis is Charles A. Elmer, commissioner of the depart- ment of public investments. He was born in Canada and comes of English-French lineage, although his ancestors in both the paternal and maternal lines had been among the earlier pioneers of America. His parents were Andrew B. and Delphine (Perrault) Elmer, both of whom have now passed away. The mother died in Walla Walla, Washington, when her son, Charles A., was but three years of age, and the father passed away in Baker, Oregon, in 1904. They were people of liberal education and broad culture as well as innate refinement. The father held the degrees of Master of Arts and Bachelor of Laws. He was a graduate of the Uni- versity of Toronto, Canada, and at one time was assistant professor of mathe- matics in his alma mater.
Charles A. Elmer was brought to the Pacific coast during his infancy and spent his earliest years in Washington and Idaho. He began his education in Lewis- ton, Idaho, his teacher being the late Hon. W. A. Goulder, poet, philosopher and historian. His school days ended when he was about eight years of age and until
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he had reached early manhood his life was spent as a laborer in the mines, as an assayer and a printer. For twenty years he was a writer on small town newspapers. From 1905 until 1909 he was the secretary to Governor F. R. Gooding. During the last two years of that period he served as adjutant general of Idaho and from 1909 until 1915 he was employed by various investment companies. In the succeed- ing year he became secretary and publicity secretary of the republican state central committee and so continued through the year 1917. During the latter portion of 1918 and the early months of 1919 he was again secretary of the republican state central committee. On the 1st of April, 1919, he was appointed commissioner of the department of public investments by Governor D. W. Davis and is now serving in that capacity.
In 1889 Mr. Elmer was married to Miss Josephine Spurgeon, a native of Vancouver, Washington, whose parents were early settlers of that state when it was still under territorial rule. They took up their abode there in 1851. Mrs. Elmer comes of Scotch and English ancestry and by her marriage has one daughter, Katherine, who is now entering upon young womanhood.
JAMES L. STEWART, M. D.
Dr. James L. Stewart, who since 1912 has confined his attention almost exclusively to the practice of surgery in Boise, where he has now made his home for more than eighteen years, was born at West Point, Iowa, December 16, 1874, and is the eldest child of Salmon C. and Ellen (Goldsmith) Stewart. The father is a banker, residing at Lebanon, Oregon. The mother died in Minden, Nebraska, in 1881. It was in 1880 that the family removed from Iowa to Nebraska and from that point came to the north- west. Dr. Stewart is of Revolutionary war descent in the paternal line and is identi- fied with the Sons of the American Revolution. The Stewart family comes of Scotch and English ancestry, while the Goldsmith family is of Pennsylvania German descent. The Stewarts have been represented in all of the American wars from the Revolution down to the present, and patriotic loyalty has ever been an outstanding characteristic of those of the name. Andrew Stewart came from Ayrshire, Scotland, in the year 1800 and settled in Connecticut. He was the great-grandfather of the Doctor, whose grand- father was James Andrew Stewart, born in Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1811. He was a farmer and local preacher and in 1841 removed from the Buckeye state to Madison, Iowa, while later he became a resident of Nebraska, where his death occurred.
Dr. Stewart spent his youth at Axtell, Nebraska, where his father engaged in banking. He attended the public schools there to the age of fourteen years, after which he became a student in the Nebraska Wesleyan University. Subsequently he spent four years in his father's bank and hardware store at Axtell, but desirous of becoming a representative of the medical profession, he then matriculated in Rush Medical College of Chicago when twenty years of age, pursuing the full four years' course, after which he was graduated in 1899 with the M. D. degree. Later he spent nearly two years in the Cook County Hospital of Chicago and subsequently took up practice at Loomis, Nebraska. From 1900 until 1902 he followed his profession as a contract surgeon at San Pedro and Chihuahua, Mexico, and in 1902 came to Boise, where he entered upon the general practice of medicine and surgery. The notable skill that he has developed along the latter line, however, so increased his practice in that connection that since 1912 he has devoted his time exclusively to surgical work, and the profession and the public acknowledge his high efficiency. He is a member of the surgical staff of St. Luke's Hospital and of St. Alphonsus Hospital of Boise and for many years he was surgeon of the Oregon Short Line Railroad.
Dr. Stewart has been married twice. In September, 1899, he wedded Eva Mont- gomery, of Axtell, Nebraska, and on the 25th of November, 1914, having lost his first .wife, he married Modjeska Caldwell, of Williamsfield, Illinois. There was one son of the first marriage, James S., who was born November 5, 1900, and by the second mar- riage there are two children: Lona Jean, born November 4, 1916; and Dorothy, born May 14, 1918.
Dr. Stewart, while a most busy surgeon, constant demands being made upon him for professional activity, yet finds time for interest in those things which maintain an even balance in life. He is connected with the Boise Commercial Club and the Boise Country Club and finds his chief recreation in hunting and fishing. He is a
DR. JAMES L. STEWART
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Knight Templar Mason and a member of El Korah Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and he helongs as well to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In politics he is a republican but has never been a candidate for office. Along strictly professional lines he is a member of the Ada County Medical Society, the Idaho State Medical Society, which has honored him with its presidency, and the American Medical Association. During the World war he served from September, 1918, until January, 1919, in the Medical Corps of the United States army with the rank of captain, being stationed throughout that period in New York city, where as a specialist he worked along cer- tain lines of surgery. His skill and efficiency in the chosen line of his life work have been developed to a notable degree, and his name is written high on the roll of the eminent surgeons of the northwest.
CLARENCE T. WARD.
Clarence T. Ward, secretary of the Idaho Power Company and also of the Boise Valley Traction Company and attorney for the two corporations, was born at Ward, Cassia county, Idaho, April 26, 1888, a son of Charles R. Ward, a farmer and stock raiser, who became one of the pioneer settlers of Cassia county, locating there long before the birth of his son Clarence. He removed to this state from Willard, Utah, being a representative of a Mormon family, his father, George W. Ward, having come from England as a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints and serving as the first bishop of Willard. Both the father and mother of Clarence T. Ward have now passed away. The latter bore the maiden name of Margaret E. Mason and was born in Utah, a daughter of George Mason, who also came from England.
Clarence T. Ward is of the second generation born in America. He was reared in Cassia county upon the large ranch belonging to his father, who was a prom- inent cattleman. The son rode the range to a large extent in his youth and early manhood. Liberal educational advantages were accorded him and he was grad- uated from the Latter-day Saints University of Salt Lake City in 1905. He after- ward spent two years in Europe as a missionary of the church, going abroad in 1910. He was situated in the British Isles and also on the continent and returned in January, 1912. On again reaching Idaho, Mr. Ward took up the live stock busi- ness in Cassia county, to which he devoted two years' time. He then entered the Jaw department of the University of Montana and completed the regular course, being graduated with the Bachelor of Laws degree on the 7th of June, 1917. On the 6th of September of the same year he was admitted to the Idaho bar and began practice in Pocatello, where he remained until June 1, 1918, when he accepted his present position at Boise as secretary of the Idaho Power Company and also of the Boise Valley Traction Company, both of which corporations he also represents as attorney.
On the 7th of September, 1914, Mr. Ward was married to Miss Mary Ivy Bedke, of Cassia county, Idaho, and they have two children, Grant Bedke and Margaret Ann. During the period of their residence in the capital they have gained many friends. Mr. Ward is a member of the Idaho State Bar Association and his entire life has been actuated by a spirit of progress that has now brought him into prom- inent and enviable business connections.
WILLIAM STARK.
William Stark, the secretary and general manager of the Falk Mercantile Company of Boise, proprietors of the leading mercantile house of the city, has here made his home since 1886, removing to Idaho from San Francisco, California. Throughout the intervening period, covering a third of a century, he has been con- nected with the Falk Mercantile Company, which is the oldest mercantile house in the city, and his labors have been a contributing factor to the continued suc- cess and growth of the establishment.
Mr. Stark was born in Bavaria, March 20, 1867, and in 1884, when seventeen years of age, bade adieu to friends and native land and came alone to the United Vol. II-21
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States. He at once made his way to San Francisco, where he had relatives living, and for two years he remained in that city, working as a clerk and attending night school, thus acquainting himself with the English language and at the same time gaining knowledge along certain educational lines. IL 1886 he arrived in Boise, then a young man of nineteen years, and at once took a position in the Falk store. For five years he was merely an employe of Nathan Falk & Brother and in 1891, when the business was reorganized under the name of the Falk Bloch Mercantile Company and was incorporated, he became secretary of the concern and since 1905 has been both secretary and general manager. He is today the senior mem- ber of the firm, not only in age but in point of service, and the remarkable suc- cess of the, business and the unsullied reputation of the house are due in no small measure to the efforts, the enterprise ' and the progressiveness of Mr. Stark. He is also the vice president and general supervisor of the Nampa Department Store and throughout his connection with Idaho he has manifested the keenest interest in the development of the state, not only for the benefit of his own interests, but because of his deep attachment for the place of his residence.
On the 11th of March, 1894, Mr. Stark was married to Miss Mattie Cohn, a native of Boise. They have one daughter, Marian E. Stark, who is an accom- plished young woman, being a graduate of St. Margaret's School of Boise and of Smith College of Massachusetts. In the latter institution she completed her course with high honors and during the period of the World war she served as a nurse, having prepared herself for that work at Vassar College. She was on duty at Lane Hospital in San Francisco and thus assisted to the extent of her power in further- ing American interests during the period of world strife.
Mr. Stark belongs to the B'nai B'rith and is a member of the Jewish con- gregation of Boise. He is also connected with the Knights of Pythias and is a val- ued member of the Chamber of Commerce of Boise. He formerly belonged to the Idaho Territorial Militia, in which he served as a corporal under Captain John Boomer. He finds his chief recreation in his home and his garden, the latter being his delight, while his interest centers in his own fireside. He is a man of high personal worth, of marked business ability and one who has ever displayed the keenest and most helpful interest in those things which are a matter of civic virtue and of civic pride.
FRANKLIN IRVING COATS.
Franklin Irving Coats is one of the prominent representatives of Masonry in Idaho, having taken all the various degrees in both the York and Scottish Rites, including the honorary thirty-third degree, which is bestowed only in recognition of valuable service rendered to the order. Mr. Coats is now the secretary of all the higher Masonic bodies in Boise and also secretary of the Mystic Shrine. He came to Idaho from Grand Rapids, Michigan, but was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the 12th of November, 41877, being a son of Albert James and Sophie Elizabeth (Van Devan) Coats, both of whom were natives of the United States, the father being of English descent, however, and the mother of Holland Dutch lineage. The father, who was a railroad man, has passed away, but the mother survives and lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, being now sixty-three years of age.
Franklin I. Coats was but an infant at the time of the removal of his parents to Grand Rapids, where he was reared and pursued his education to a large extent. In 1902 he came west to Boise and for twelve years was the money order clerk in the Boise postoffice. In 1915 he became one of the organizers of the Boise Auto Supply Company, of which he was made secretary, treasurer and general manager, so continuing until April, 1918, when he sold his interest in the business to be- come deputy food administrator for the state of Idaho, serving as such under Rich- ard F. Bicknell until September, 1919. He was then elected to his present position as secretary of the Scottish Rite bodies of the state of Idaho, being one of the most prominent Masons in the northwest. His efforts have contributed in large meas- ure to the growth of the order and he exemplifies in his life its most beneficent spirit and purposes. He is also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
On the 4th of March, 1902, Mr. Coats was married in Grand Rapids, Michigan,
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to Miss Anna Marie McNamara, who was born in that state, of Irish parentage. They have become the parents of one son, Robert McNamara, who was born June 26, 1903, and is now a junior in the Boise high school.
In his political views Mr. Coats is a republican and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day but does not desire office, preferring to concentrate his efforts and attention upon business affairs and his duties as a fraternity officer. He has always been most loyal to every cause which he has espoused and is a man whom to know is to esteem and honor.
FINLEY MONROE.
One of the widely known and honored members of the Emmett bar is Finley Monroe, whose ability in the legal profession has brought him into prominent con- nection with much of the important litigation heard in the courts of his district. Moreover, he has been identified with the substantial improvement of Emmett in many ways. He is numbered among the citizens that Iowa has furnished to this state, his birth having occurred in Appanoose county, Iowa, November 9, 1859, his parents being Alexander and Martha A. (Russell). Monroe. The father was born in Virginia, from which state he removed to Ohio, where he married Martha A. Rus- sell. She, too, was born in the Old Dominion but in her early girlhood accompanied her parents to Ohio. On leaving the Buckeye state Mr. and Mrs. Monroe became residents of Appanoose county, Iowa, where for twenty-five years he followed gen- eral farming. In 1882 he arrived in Washington county, Idaho, where his remain- ing days were passed, his death occurring in 1892, when he had reached the age of seventy-four years, while his wife passed away in 1898, at the age of seventy- eight years. She was at the time visiting in California, but her remains were brought back for interment in the Morris Hill cemetery in Boise. Mr. Monroe was a veteran of the Civil war, having served in defense of the Union as a member of the Thirty-sixth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. To him and his wife were born eight children.
The seventh in order of birth was Finley Monroe, whose name introduces this review and who, after acquiring a common school education in Iowa, became a stu- dent in the University of Tennessee at Nashville, being there graduated with the class of 1890. Immediately afterward he came to Idaho, settling at Emmett in 1891, when the town was a tiny hamlet. Having prepared for the bar he at once en- tered upon the practice of law and as the years have passed he has won a large and distinctively representative clientage. The thoroughness with which he pre- pares his cases, the clearness and cogency with which he presents his canse are salient elements in his continued success. He is capable of crossing .swords in forensic combat with Idaho's most eminent members of the bar and, familiar with principle and precedent, he is seldom, if ever, at fault in the application of a legal principle. He has become the owner of considerable valuable real estate at Emmett, including one of the principal brick business blocks of the city, the first floor being used for store purposes, while the second floor is divided into offices.
In December, 1890, Mr. Monroe was united in marriage to Miss Katie Dagen, a daughter of Joseph and Louisa (Huba) Dagen, of Emmett, her father having lo- cated in Canyon county in pioneer times. Mr. and Mrs. Monroe have become parents of a daughter and a son. Louise, who was born at Emmett in 1894, is a graduate of the State Normal School at Los Angeles, California, and is now a teacher in the fourth grade of the Emmett high school. The son, Fred D., born in 1896, was twenty-two years of age when he entered the United States army. He had previously graduated from the Emmett high school and Link's Business College and, volunteering for service, joined the Second Idaho Regiment. In October, 1917, he went with the regiment from Boise to Camp Greene, South Carolina, and was soon afterward transferred to the Medical Corps of the One Hundred and Forty- sixth Field Artillery, with which command he went to France in December, 1917. He served in that country until after the armistice was signed and was then sent to Germany with the American army of occupation, being finally discharged at Camp D. A. Russell at Cheyenne, Wyoming, in June, 1919, after which he returned home and is now a student in the University of California at Berkeley.
Mr. Monroe is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Inde-
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pendent Order of Odd Fellows. In the latter organization he is very prominent and in 1912 he was given a handsome gold medal in recognition of the high regard entertained for him by his brethren of the fraternity. He and his wife are faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church and his political allegiance is given to the republican party. His life has ever been actuated by high and honorable prin- ciples. His position upon any public question is never an equivocal one. The urgency of a situation brings forth his strong support and he has indeed been a valued factor in promoting the advancement and welfare of Emmett.
ALONZO R. CRUZEN.
Alonzo R. Cruzen is a capitalist of Boise and has attained his present distinctive and enviable position in business and financial circles entirely through his own efforts. His success has been gained through judicious investment and the careful conduct of his business affairs. The story of his life is an inspiring one and should serve to encourage others, showing what may be accomplished when there is a will to dare and to do and when industry recognizes and utilizes opportunity.
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