History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II, Part 64

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

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The Stein family naturally became a leading influential one in Pocatello, and in 1892 Mr. Stein was honored by being made its first mayor, the gift of the democratic party; of which he is a member. After being elected Mr. Stein severed his connection with the railway company to devote his time to the upbuilding of the young city. Its streets were covered with sagebrush and lava boulders. Owing to the financial depres- sion of the times a large number of tramps paid daily visits to the young city. These unwelcome guests were dead broke, depending on the charity of the city. They received the assistance they demanded but in turn had to give their labor to clear and grade the streets. Thus the tramps (the followers of the Coxey army, as they were then known ) assisted in building the city of Pocatello. Mr. Stein planted the first trees in Pocatello in front of his home, three Lombardy poplars and three Balm of Gilead, which he brought from Logan, Utah. While mayor of the city Mr. Stein prepared a tree planting ordinance, which was approved and passed by the city council, offering a bonus for every tree planted and alive when three years old. This resulted in carloads of trees being planted, and the fine shade trees now scattered all over the city of Pocatello

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which give the town such a cheerful and homelike look, is the result of Mr. Stein's foresight and will forever remain his monument.

Mr. Stein passed into extensive real estate dealings in that place, continuing with ever increasing success as long as he remained there. In 1906 he came to Boise, which he has made his permanent home and where he has ever since been successfully engaged in the real estate business. He is a pioneer in laying out subdivisions of which he has managed a number with skill and success.

Mr. Stein is a member of all Masonic bodies, both the York and Scottish Rite, having attained the thirty-second degree and being treasurer of the latter for a number of years. He is also a member of the Shrine, the Woodmen of the World, the Boise Commercial Club and the National Geographic Society.

The Lowder-Stein marriage has been blessed by two sons, Howard and Allan T. Howard is a graduate of the University of Idaho of the class of 1911. He and his wife neé Alida Wanek, are residents of Boise, have a son Edward Wanek, seven years old, the only grandchild of Edward Stein. Allan T. Stein is a graduate of Leland Stanford University of the class of 1912, and is associated with his father in the real estate, insur- ance and loan business, while Howard Stein is a member of the firm of Stein & Lake, . engaged in the fuel, loan and insurance business.

Edward Stein's friends look to his continued useful activity through many more years of his eventful life.

LIEUTENANT JOHN M. REGAN, D. S. C.

Deeds of valor have been the theme of song and story through all the ages, and when personal bravery is combined with the highest Christian ideals man has reached the fulfillment of the purposes of life. There is no citizen, young or old, who has expressed more fully the ideals of manhood than did Lieutenant John M. Regan, who gloriously met death on one of the battlefields of Europe in the recent World war. It was his most earnest desire to be actively engaged in the conflict because of the high principles for which the war was waged and he sacrificed military honors and promotions in order to take his place on the firing line. The story of his career is one which thrills the world and will cause his memory to be cherished as long as life remains to those who were his close associates. His was the first gold star to be placed among the one hundred and twenty stars on the service flag of St. John's parish.

Lieutenant Regan was born in Silver City, Owyhee county, Idaho, February 6, 1886, but in his boyhood days his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Regan, became residents of Boise. There in his early youth he became a pupil in St. Teresa's Academy, which he entered at the age of four, remaining under the instruction of the Sisters of the Holy Cross until his eleventh year. He then became a pupil in Santa Clara College at Santa Clara, California, where he continued until 1904, when he was grad- uated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts and with the highest honors of his class, maxima cum laude. The college faculty also awarded him the Noble prize for excel- lence in character and scholarship.

With his return to Boise, following his graduation, Lieutenant Regan entered business life in positions suitable to the son of Timothy Regan. Not that parental influence was exercised to give him an easy berth. Indeed the father believed that the son should receive thorough training and the latter was just as anxious to qualify for responsibilities in the business world. John M. Regan took up work in connec- tion with the Boise Artesian Hot & Cold Water Company and with the Overland Company, Limited, owning and controlling one of the largest office buildings of Boise. But business affairs did not altogether monopolize the time and attention of John M. Regan, who eagerly utilized his opportunities to assist those in need. He early became interested in the work of the Associated Charities of Boise, which at that time was a struggling organization. His contagious enthusiasm and deep interest in the work were soon manifest in effective results. The success of the various charity balls given in Boise was attributable largely to his efforts and he was continually giving generously but unostentatiously to the organization, which at the time of his death, at a meeting held in the office of Mayor Hays, expressed in a set of resolutions "deep sorrow over the death of Lieutenant John M. Regan upon the field of honor" and spoke of him as "for a number of years a most devoted, most unselfish and kind-

LIEUT. JOHN M. REGAN

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hearted officer of this organization," in whom "the necessitous of our city have lost a silent friend and a faithful helper." The Associated Charities further paid public tribute to his "noble Christian character and his unfeigned charitableness." Lieu- tenant Regan became one of the most prominent members among the Knights of Columbus of Idaho, the local council passing resolutions at the time of his death which termed him "one of its most faithful, diligent and enthusiastic workers," while noting also the loss to the nation of "one of its most loyal and devoted citizens." . He was one of the organizers of the Knights of Columbus in Idaho and was called to important offices in both its local and state councils. He was also a member of the Boise Lodge of Elks and of the Boise Commercial Club and he did much to further clean sport in the capital city. While at Santa Clara he had become known as an all-round athlete and achieved an enviable football record. Following his college days he frequently acted as coach for high school teams. He also possessed con- siderable dramatic ability and aided in the performances given by Boise talent for local charities.

It could not have been otherwise that a man of Lieutenant Regan's disposition and character should have manifested the utmost patriotism and love of country. He became a member of the National Guard of Idaho, enlisting as a private in Company H, Second Idaho Infantry, February 27, 1912. On the 11th of June of the same year he was commissioned a second lieutenant and on the 7th of March, 1915, was com- missioned captain of the quartermaster's company. This would have given him the opportunity to remain at home out of danger, but when his company was ordered to the Mexican border he resigned the honorary commission and re-enlisted as a private that he might go with the troops to Nogales. There he was soon made a sergeant and upon the resignation of Lieutenant L. W. Tennyson was again com- missioned second lieutenant. He was on guard duty at Sandpoint when labor troubles prevailed in north Idaho in the summer of 1917. Responding to the call of the colors, he went with Company H to Camp Greene, where the command was merged into the One Hundred and Sixteenth Engineers under Major Oleson. On the 26th of October, Lieutenant Regan left for Camp Mills and on the 26th of November sailed for France, where he arrived on the 10th of December. His duties did not call him to active service at the front and, wishing to take his place in the trenches, he asked to be transferred to the infantry. notwithstanding the fact that he had been recom- mended for promotion. His request was granted and he became a member of Com- pany D, One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Infantry, of the Thirty-second Division. composed largely of Wisconsin and Michigan troops. He was thus on active duty until death called him when he was in action on the 4th of August. His last letter to his mother was dated July 31st and in this he mentioned the terrible devastation of the villages through which he had passed and the ruin wrought in the churches. His religion had ever been the guiding spirit of his life and it was a matter of deep sorrow to him to see these holy places of worship so demolished. Speaking of one large church, in which he said that not an image was left nor a window unshattered, he wrote: "I picked up the crucifix out of the wreckage and placed it on top of the debris." Further on he said: "My God, what a price a country pays for war! Amer- ica, and England will never know just the price. One has to he in France or Belgium to appreciate it." There was perhaps no officer in the army that felt more keenly his responsibility for the men under him and in this connection Lieutenant Regan, in his last letter to his mother, wrote: "May God grant when our men go in we may do our duty and still not lose heavily. Pray for me that neither hy cowardice, nor lack of attention, nor bad judgment, nor false courage, may any of my men be lost. That is my strongest prayer. The lives of my men are a heavy responsibility. Pray God and His Blessed Mother to give me wisdom in carrying this responsibility!"

On the 13th of September, 1918, impressive memorial services in honor of Lieu- tenant John Morgan Regan were held in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, where for the first time a gold star was placed among the one hundred and twenty blue stars of the service flag of the parish. On that occasion Father Kayzer took as his text: "Honor all men; love the brotherhood; fear God; honor the King." He said in part: "Lieutenant John M. Regan honored all men and in turn was hon- ored and loved by them all. Taught from his earliest youth in the house of his father, or in a Christian school, that all men are God's creatures, are God's children, he trained the vision of his mind to discern, even through the mists of social or racial or religious differences, the one golden thread that runs through the heart of every man and binds us all to the throne of God. His was the gentleness of which

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Cardinal John Henry Newman speaks, which would never give offense nor cause pain to anyone. Though firm in his convictions and strong in his principles, and ardent of nature, he possessed in no small degree that self-control born of a careful and prudent mistrust of self and kind consideration for the principles or the opinions of his opponent which caused him never to do a hasty deed or to speak an ungentlemanly word. Yes, my dear brethren, he had learned to look upon all men as the children of God; he saw in them God's image, and he was willing at all times to give to each and every one, like unto a good picture, the benefit of the best light. He was ready to do all that was good; he gave a hand to anything that was uplifting. It was not his custom to ride in state, but he would shoulder the wheel. And this was the democracy of John that brought him so many friends and made him loved by all. * * * There are very few men-very few sons-who practice as did John Regan the commandment, 'Honor thy father and thy mother;' there are very few indeed who would he so taken up with what was their parents' interests,-ever thoughtful of their welfare, always happy with their happiness, respectful to authority, the love of his mother always in his heart, and always afraid that some anxiety or trouble might unnecessarily come unto them; praying for them, loving them, living for them. * * * There was nothing sentimental in his piety, nothing fitful in his devotions,

nothing ostentatious or insincere. Though joyful of mind and heart, full of life and fond of merry company and clean sport, he could always temper-he could always moderate-himself. Never did he associate himself with vice; never would he stain his soul with any unconscionable deed. He loved and feared God and kept His com- mandments, hecanse in his heart he knew-and he was not afraid to say it-that a man who is a disgrace before his God can not long he an honor unto his country. * * * He honored and loved his flag. A truer patriot than John M. Regan never drew breath. Had he heen permitted to live I dare say unto you that no other young man would have put forth better efforts to safeguard and protect the government of his state with the shield of white honor and with the power of civic righteousness. Better schooled in the Constitution of the United States than those so-called, self- styled '100 per cent Americans,' he would never have lowered himself to place an chstacle of religious difference upon the lawful ambition of any man for political preferment. And when the tocsins of war were sounded throughout the land and his country had heen insulted, this peace-loving young man was amongst the first to volunteer his services and, if need be, his life blood for his country. My dear friends, I need not now recount to you how restive he was hecause kept in the rear and how he asked permission to join a regiment of infantry that might bring him quickly to the firing-line that he might fight for his country and for its rights. He feared noth- ing. There was no fear in his heart, because he kept it clean hefore his God. And when the word came to go over the top. his undaunted spirit flung him ahead of his soldiers, with the impulse of his nature to protect them from the bullet which laid him low. His was an example of fidelity and of patriotism of the highest type. I quote the following from the beautiful eulogy that was written of him in an editorial in the Boise evening paper: 'The heart of John Regan is stilled, but the spirit that actuated him lives on to inspire us with a better understanding and conception of cur duty. Wherever the story of this young man is told there shall be reconsecration to Americanism, the story of the young man who left office and wealth, his family and friends to fight and to die for his country.' * * I can see his grave now, * in far-away France. I see it marked with the cross and with the flowers laid upon it. * * * But if the remains of John M. Regan might not be permitted to rest in our midst, O then I pray-and I venture to hope-that a grateful citizenry of Boise will erect unto him a monument with his own features in bronze, for the remem- brance of his contemporaries and as an inspiration to the unborn generations of men and if I might choose the inscription, I would write beneath his statue:

"To the undying memory of JOHN M. REGAN Born at Silver City, Idaho. February 6, 1886 He was the idol of Boise. He was the joy and crown of his parents. He died for his country August 4, 1918.' "

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Lieutenant Regan had been awarded the distinguished service cross before par- ticipating in the engagement in which he lost his life. The Ada county post of the World War Veterans has been named the John M. Regan Post in his honor. When one thinks of the good accomplished in the life of a young man, of the love given to parents and friends, of the assistance extended to those in need, of the cheer dis- seminated in social life, of that devotion to country leading to the supreme sacrifice, there must come the comfort of the spirit of the words of James Whitcomb Riley:

I cannot say, and I will not say That he is dead .- He is just away!

With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand, He has wandered into an unknown land,

And left us dreaming how very fair It needs must be, since he lingers there.

And you-O you, who the wildest yearn For the old-time step and the glad return,-

Think of him faring on, as dear In the love of There as the love of Here;

And loyal still, as he gave the blows Of his warrior-strength to his country's foes .-

Think of him still as the same, I say: He is not dead-he is just away!

T. BAILEY LEE.

T. Bailey Lee, a member of the Burley bar, practicing as senior partner in the firm of Lee & Thomas, was born at Mocksville, North Carolina, August 10, 1873, and is a son of W. D. and Sarah B. (Bailey) Lee. His hoyhood days were passed in his native state and in the acquirement of his education he attended the Uni- versity of North Carolina, from which he was graduated. Later he hecame a law student. He was afterward a Latin teacher in the Bingham school at Ashe- ville, North Carolina, and continued his residence in the Old North state until 1898, when he removed westward to Montana, making Butte his destination. There he entered upon the practice of law, in which he continued until 1905, when he became a resident of Burley, being the first lawyer on the site of the present city. In those early days, when the work of progress and improvement had scarcely been begun here, court was held in an old frame shack. For four terms he filled the position of county attorney at Albion but retained his residence at Burley. For two years he occupied the position of city attorney and throughout the entire period of his residence in Idaho he has enjoyed a large clientage that has con- nected him with much of the important litigation heard in the courts of his district. He prepares his cases with great thoroughness and care, and precision characterizes everything that he does in relation to his work in the courts. He is a clear reasoner, a logical thinker and his opinions are seldom seriously questioned in court. His devotion to the interests of his clients is proverbial, yet he never forgets that he owes a still higher allegiance to the majesty of the law. In addition to his pro- fessional interests he is a director of the Burley Town Site Company.

In 1907 Mr. Lee was married to Miss Irene Teasdale, a native of Hailey, Idaho, and a daughter of William J. and Belle Teasdale, the former a ranchman of this state. Mr. and Mrs. Lee have four children: Sarah Belle, T. Bailey, Mary Catherine and Eleanor Jane.

Mr. Lee votes with the republican party but has never sought or desired office outside the strict path of his profession. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and he is also a member of the Phi Gamma Delta, while along strictly professional lines he has connection with the American Bar Association. He keeps in close touch with the trend of

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progress along legal lines and throughout his entire career at the bar has been most careful to conform his practice to the highest professional standards and ethics.

ANDREW HERVEY EAGLESON.

Andrew Hervey Eagleson was born on a farm near Cadiz, Ohio, February 7, 1834, not far from the birthplaces of his parents, William and Jane (Gourley) Eagleson. He was married to Martha A. Kerr, of Unionvale, near Cadiz, on Christmas eve of 1860. Mrs. Eagleson was born January 1, 1837, and was the eldest daughter of John C. and Mary (Henderson) Kerr. They had six sons, four of whom, Ernest G., Harry K., John W. and Charles H., survive them. Both were of Scotch-Irish ancestry and belonged to the Presbyterian church. Mr. Eagleson's maternal grandfather, George Gourley, was a frontier civil engineer. He surveyed the Earl of Derby's land grant on the Hudson river and built the first woolen mill in Ohio. Mrs. Eagleson's paternal grandfather, James Kerr, settled at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and the old home was General Mead's headquarters for a time during the great battle there.

Mr. and Mrs. Eagleson were deeply intersted in the training and success of their boys and the paternal abode was always a home to be proud of, though unpretentious in furnishings. Mr. Eagleson was ever a stockman and farmer and took great delight in improving new lands, although he was oftentimes engaged otherwise in making the family living. He moved to Jefferson, Iowa, in 1871 and in 1882 established his home at Craig, Nebraska, where he was engaged in the hardware and implement business. He came to Boise, Idaho, in November, 1890, and with his brother George and Messrs. W. C. Annett and W. H. Thompson purchased a sawmill from W. C. Stevens located on Clear creek, about sixteen miles from Boise, where they sold the product of the mill. Mr. Eagleson was instrumental in organizing the Boise Cold Storage Company and the New York Canal Company and together with his sons organized the A. H. Eagleson & Sons Company.

Mr. and Mrs. Eagleson, like their ancestors, were real pioneers and in their journey- ings toward the golden west made frontier improvements wherever they resided. Mrs. Eagleson passed away on June 13, 1917, and Mr. Eagleson, after a prolonged illness, died April 17, 1919.

MARK AINSWORTH COFFIN.

Mark Ainsworth Coffin, manager of the firm of Coffin & Beglan, engaged in the automobile and garage business in Boise, dates his residence in Idaho from 1891, in which year he arrived from Longmont, Colorado. Illinois claims him as a native son, his birth having occurred in DeKalb county, September 19, 1867, his parents being George W. and Emilie ( Ainsworth) Coffin. The father was born at Roxbury, New York, while the mother is a native of Belvidere, Illinois. His death occurred at Longmont, Colorado, in 1906, but the mother still survives and makes her home with her son Mark in Boise. She is approaching the age of eighty years. George W. Coffin devoted his life to the occupation of farming and thus provided for the support of his family, which numbered four sons and two daughters, all of whom are yet living.

Mark A. Coffin was reared and educated in Colorado, where his parents had resided for several years prior to his birth, which occurred, however, while his mother was visiting in Illinois. He studied civil engineering in the Colorado State Agricultural College at Fort Collins and practiced his profession for some time before turning his attention to the automobile business. He removed from Long- mont, Colorado, to Idaho in 1891, settling first at Idaho Falls, where he remained for thirteen years and afterward lived for a few years at Twin Falls. In the former place he had charge of the Great Western canal for a number of years, acting as water master for some time. At Twin Falls he was in charge of the Twin Falls irrigation project, being superintendent of construction and water master. In 1906 he went to Brazil, where he spent eighteen months as super- intendent of construction of a large dam in southern Brazil fot a Toronto (Can-

MR. AND MRS. ANDREW H. EAGLESON

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ada) concern. Upon his return to the United States he took up his abode in Boise in 1907 and has since made his home in this city. While his family were in Boise, however, he spent much of the time during the years 1909 and 1910 in Twin Falls, occupying the position which he had previously filled. During the fol- lowing years up to 1915 he was professionally engaged on various other public projects in Idaho and Utah. In 1915, however, he turned his attention to the automobile and garage business and is now senior partner in the firm of Coffin & Beglan, his associate being Matthew Beglan. They are distributors in south- western Idaho and eastern Oregon for the Hupmobile and sell a large number of cars annually. Their garage on Bannock street is seventy-five by one hundred and twenty-two feet and they have a storehouse in addition, twenty-five by one hundred and twenty-two feet.

On the 20th of December, 1894, Mr. Coffin was married in Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Miss Mary Alice Pelot, who was born in this state and is a daughter of Carlisle and Alice (Buck) Pelot, early residents of eastern Idaho. They now have four daughters: Reva, the wife of Pliny Arnold, of Boise; Ruth, Mary and Laura, who are at home. Their daughter Ruth is stenographer for the firm of Coffin & Beg- lan. Mr. Coffin owns his home at No. 1119 North Eighth street in Boise, which he erected in 1908 and which is a comfortable and attractive residence of eight rooms. He also owns an excellent grain ranch of three hundred and twenty acres in Idaho county.

Fraternally Mr. Coffin is an Odd Fellow, belonging to the subordinate lodge and encampment, and is a past grand of the order. He also has membership in the Boise Commercial Club and is interested in all of its well defined plans and projects for the upbuilding of the city. In politics he is a democrat but has never been a candidate for elective office. However, he is serving as one of the drain- age commissioners of Ada county, a position which he has acceptably filled for some time, his previous experience as a civil and irrigation engineer well qualify- ing him for his work of this character.

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History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II, Part 64

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