History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II, Part 70

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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In June, 1898, Mr. Oylear was married to Miss Elizabeth Chenoweth, of Lewiston, Idaho, a daughter of John Chenoweth, a pioneer of Dayton, Washing- ton, which is situated but a short distance from Lewiston. Mr. and Mrs. Oylear have three children: Clarence H., nineteen years of age, now attending the Uni- versity of Moscow; Georgia E., a freshman at Moscow; and Gertrude I.

In his political views Mr. Oylear is a republican and has long been an earnest supporter and active worker in the party. For six years he served as a member of the republican county central committee of Canyon county. When he was made a candidate for the office of assessor he was accorded a splendid majority, winning the election by three hundred and fifty votes in a county that had formerly given a strong democratic majority. He is chairman of the school board of Middle- ton and was also city clerk there, and at the present time he is most capably dis- charging the duties of assessor of the county.

MOSES H. GOODWIN.

For almost a half century Moses H. Goodwin was a resident of Idaho and for many years was closely associated with the industrial development of Boise. His activities constituted an element in the upbuilding and progress of the city, for he belonged to that class of men who contribute to the general prosperity while advancing individual success. In all business affairs he was actuated by a pro- gressive spirit and a laudable ambition and his record was illustrative of what could be achieved by the individual when there is a will to dare and to do. He was born in Waldo county, Maine, December 29, 1834, and was a representative of · one of the old New England families that was established in America by four brothers, who were natives of England and crossed the Atlantic in colonial days, establishing their home in New Hampshire. Of this family Aaron Goodwin, grand- father of Moses H. Goodwin, sailed with Paul Jones, the renowned naval hero who won fame in connection with the American naval service during the Revolutionary war. He was twice taken prisoner by the British ere the close of hostilities but when released loyally returned to his duty as a defender of the cause of inde- pendence. His son, Moses Goodwin, was born in New Hampshire and married Hannah Ricker, whose father was also connected with the navy on the ship com- manded by Paul Jones. Mr. and Mrs. Moses Goodwin were industrious farming people whose lives were guided by their Christian faith as manifest in their membership in the Baptist church. Moses Goodwin continued a resident of New Hampshire until he attained his majority, when he removed to Maine and continued in that state to the time of his death, which occurred when he was in the seventy-seventh year of his age. His wife survived and had passed the eightieth milestone on life's journey when called to her final rest. Mr. Goodwin had given his political allegiance to the whig party until it passed out of existence, when he joined the new republican

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party formed to prevent the further extension of slavery. This naturally made appeal to him, for he was a lover of liberty and opposed to every form of oppression. To him and his wife were born seven children who reached adult age, this number including Moses Hubbard Goodwin, who was the sixth in order of birth.

The youthful experiences of Moses H. Goodwin were those of the farm-bred boy who early takes up the work of the fields, to which he devotes the summer months, while in the winter seasons he gives his attention to the acquirement of a public school education. Having put aside his textbooks when seventeen years of age, Mr. Goodwin then began learning the carpenter's trade, which he followed for a year in Boston, Massachusetts. He then sought the opportunities of the west and for two years was employed at his trade in Minnesota. He afterward removed to the south, remaining a resident of Mississippi until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when an attempt was made to force him into the Confederate army and he accordingly left for the north. Having contracted a severe cold which settled on his lungs, he determined to seek the benefits offered by the California climate and on the 20th of October, 1861, sailed from New York for San Francisco, where he arrived after a voyage of twenty-two days. Benefiting by the sunny climate of that state, he was soon able to resume work at his trade, to which he devoted the months of the succeeding winter. With the discovery of gold at Auburn, Oregon, in the following spring he made his way to that state and on reaching Portland found that the reports of rich finds were largely exaggerated. He therefore remained in Portland, where he was employed from December until the following June by the Oregon Navigation Company in building steamboats. Again gold excitement caused his removal, bringing him to Idaho, where he arrived in July, 1863, before the territory was organized. While he devoted some time to mining, there was a great demand for carpenter work and he became active in the line of his trade, for which he was paid eight dollars per day. He aided in the erection of the Mammoth quartz mill, the second mill of the kind in the state, and in 1864 he built the first water wheel of any size in Idaho, this being thirty feet in diameter. In 1865 he aided in building the Elkhorn mill and in the fall of that year was engaged to superintend the Mammoth mill and the interests of the company, occupying that position for two years. He later became part owner of the mill and remained in charge until 1870, meeting with very substantial success in the conduct of the business. His health, however, became impaired in that high altitude and he removed to Payette, Idaho, where he became part owner of a farm. and a considerable number of cattle. He not only gave his attention to the care of his live stock but also followed carpentering in that locality until his return to the east.

It was on the 4th of July, 1876, that Mr. Goodwin was united in marriage to Miss Emma Frances Burdge, who was born near Mount Pleasant, Henry county, Iowa, December 4, 1855, a daughter of William C. and Mary A. (Chandler) Burdge, both of whom have now passed away. Mrs. Goodwin crossed the plains with her parents in 1864, the Burdge family being one of several to make up a large wagon train. She was then only eight years of age. The family settled in the Payette valley upon a ranch that is just two miles west of the present site of Emmett. There Mrs. M. H. Goodwin lived from the time that she was eight years of age until she reached the age of twenty, when she was married. Before her marriage she taught two terms of school. The Burdge ranch near Emmett continued in possession of the family until 1916, when it was sold by Mrs. Goodwin, who became the owner by acquiring the interests of the other heirs in the property. Her father died in 1884, but her mother survived for a long period, passing away in 1908. Mrs. Goodwin was one of ten children, of whom seven are yet living. The wedding journey of Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin consisted of a visit to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and a trip to his old home in Maine to see his aged mother and also to visit the scenes and friends of his youth. The following spring they returned to Idaho, establishing their home in Boise, and to them was born a daughter, Mabel C., who was the wife of R. V. Stone. They had two children: Robert Goodwin, now twenty years of age, who served in the United States Navy as a radio operator for two and a half years and was honorably released in 1919; and Frances Claire, eleven years of age, who resides with her grandmother, Mrs. Goodwin.

It was after their return from their wedding trip in the east that Mr. Goodwin purchased a planing machine, which he began operating, later incorporating it in the sawmill of which he was afterward the owner. In 1883 he purchased the water

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power and mill site, comprising four acres of land, and began the conduct of an extensive lumber business. For some time he had the only planer and improved machinery in that line in the city and was the only manufacturer of doors, sash and blinds. He cut pine lumber in the mountains, supplied the home demands and conducted two lumberyards with offices in Boise. He manifested a most progressive spirit in the conduct of his business affairs and his indefatigable energy, wisely directed, brought to him a very gratifying measure of success.

Mr. Goodwin was also a prominent figure in political circles and was a recog- nized leader in the ranks of the republican party, to which he gave unfaltering allegiance and support. He was twice called upon to represent his district in the territorial legislature and was twice elected a member of the county board of com- missioners, of which he served as chairman. While he was ever known as a stal- wart republican, he did not hesitate even to oppose his party if he believed such a course to be the fair and honorable thing to do. In a word he stood loyally by his honest convictions at all times nor could he be swerved from a course which he believed to be right in business by the hope of winning larger rewards. The sterling traits of his character were many and his regard for others was manifest in a kindliness and geniality which were marked traits of his character. He had been a valued and honored resident of Idaho for almost a half century when on the 1st of October, 1912, he was called to his final rest. Mrs. Goodwin still makes her home in Boise and is numbered among the oldest of the pioneer settlers in the state, having crossed the plains in 1864. She has been an interested witness of the many changes which have been wrought through the intervening period as Idaho has emerged from frontier conditions and taken on all of the evidences of a modern and progressive civilization.

FRED G. MOCK.

Fred G. Mock, a retired banker and author of Nampa, was born on a farm in Cumberland county, Illinois, November 24, 1861. His ancestors were farmer folk as far back as the records trace. His father, Henry P. Mock, was born at Mocksville, North Carolina, a town named in honor of his father. The mother, Mrs. Mary (Kelly) Mock, was born on the Wabash in Indiana. Both passed away many years ago.

Fred G. Mock attended school a part of five terms between the ages of seven and eleven years-numbers that have always been sacred to him. In young manhood his father taught school and shortly after his marriage removed with his wife to Illinois, settling on a farm, on which Fred G. Mock was reared, but when quite a young lad he became afflicted with the wanderlust and worked his way to St. Louis, where he took a steamer to Keokuk, Iowa. Arriving there without capital, he started out to find work, which he finally secured on a farm west of Farmington. His employer had been a member of Quantrell's gang and to his place strangers came, making themselves at home and staying as long as they desired. They were horsemen to young Mock, who was never introduced to them, but he thought that they must be very rich men, for they rode the finest horses he had ever seen. Sometimes there would be two, again three. or even five of them. They were quiet, kindly looking men, so of course he liked them and their horses. He had been with the family for two months, when he received such a shock and scare that he would have started back home on foot, could he have gotten out of the house without being seen. He had gone upstairs and retired early one night when he was supposed to be in the barn petting the horses. He heard the visitors talking and to his great surprise and horror recognized that they were the James and Younger brothers, planning a train robbery. The next morning he resigned his posi- tion and drew his pay-twenty-six dollars for sixty days of hard, heavy farm work of sixteen hours per day, Sunday included. He never told his employer why he was quit- ting and he felt better when he had reached northwestern Missouri, for he felt that the bandits had seen him paid off a princely sum (to him), twenty-six dollars in cash, and could they not hold him up if they wanted to?

For a year Mr. Mock worked for John Girdner, a stockman living between Bethany and Mount Moriah, Missouri, for whom he bought cattle and who proved a good friend to him, giving him books to read, so that he felt it was almost a year spent in school.

The "lure of the dim trails" was, however, upon him and he left Missouri, making a trip through Dakota, after which he returned to the Missouri river, stopping at Falls

FRED .G. MOCK

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City, where he pursued a sixty days' course in a business college. He then turned west. again, organizing classes and teaching penmanship, but rheumatism in the right hand and shoulder stopped his Spencerian career and he took to the range. For ten years he worked as a cowboy except a part of three winters, when he clerked in stores, assisted in the postoffice and did other such work. He was connected with several big cow outfits and thus came to know well the country lying west of a line drawn from Ogallala, Nebraska, to Las Animas, Colorado, and extending almost to the Rocky mountains. Those were the "good old days,"-'79 to '89, the days of real champion riders and ropers. Speaking of these days, Mr. Mock said: "No, I didn't win any medals in those contests. I thought I rated as a champion rider, so entered a contest at Las Animas, Colorado. There was a big crowd there, cowboys, stockmen and not a few women and girls, and even if they were nearly all Mexicans, we liked to show off well before them. I drew Weaver, a little flea-bitten strawberry roan, and after a while succeeded in getting my saddle on him. Then I climbed on that bronk, confident I would show those Southdowns, as we called those who lived south of the Arkansas, a few fancy tricks in riding. I did. That cayuse threw me so high my clothes were out of fashion when I came down. So I repeat it, I never won any medals in champion con- tests as a rider."

At various times during those days Mr. Mock enlisted with Ranger organizations, a secret law and order bunch. There were some mean Indians and Mexicans and also some white men that caused the stockmen much trouble, working out across the head waters of the Republican and Arickaree rivers. They would commit all kinds of depre dations and get away before the United States soldiers at Fort Lyon could arrive. Some Ogallala Sioux were going across the district one time, headed north, stealing horses and cattle, which they drove along with them. They had attacked an emigrant train at the head waters of the north fork and killed two of the party. Nine of the Ranger organization took after them and came upon them a few miles northwest of the head waters of the Arickaree. They rode up on the edge of the bluff, where they could look down on the Sioux. "There were six of them," said Mr. Mock, "all going at once to the Happy Hunting Ground. The renegades were strangers to us, but we gave them a decent burial. I remember it so well-it was a beautiful evening, just at sunset, the end of a perfect (Indian) summer day."

After leaving the range Mr. Mock served for a term as deputy assessor of Kit Carson county and then came to Idaho on the 13th of November, 1890. He spent the winter at work in Boise. After Governor Shoup had been elected United States senator and Lieutenant Governor Willy advanced to the governor's chair only a few days passed when he issued a call for volunteers to recruit old Company A of the National Guard of Idaho. The Bannock and Shoshone Indians had gone on the war path and had left the reservation and it was feared that the authorities at Fort Hall and Poca- tello could not hold them in check and get them back to the reservation. Mr. Mock enlisted and for two weeks expected to be called for active duty, but the authorities near the scene of trouble were equal to the emergency and Company A was not needed. Mr. Mock then went to work for James S. Bogart in his abstract office, there remaining for four months, during which time he boarded with Mrs. J. D. Agnew. A smooth-faced attorney who had located in Boise, by name William E. Borah, took his meals there and sat opposite to Mr. Mock at the dining room table. The latter said: "Coming to think of it, in almost everything except the friendship that has ripened and grown stronger with the years, the senator has been opposite me ever since." Mr. Mock joined the O. L. Miller party, leaving Boise, June 2, 1891, to make a preliminary survey for a railroad to Butte, Montana, to be known as the Boise-Butte Railroad. They reached Butte on the 29th of September and immediately returned to Boise. With Thomas D. Babbitt, who was the engineer, Mr. Mock formed a partnership and on the 21st of December, 1891, they arrived in Nampa and hung out their sign, "Abstractors and Civil Engineers." They ran the lines for practically all the lateral ditches south and west of the railroad for what was then known as the Ridenbaugh canal. They also made the maps that were required by the department when final proof was made on desert claims; these maps showing how the water was carried to each forty acres. The firm also made the survey for the Nampa-Silver City 'Railroad, Mr. Babbitt doing the field work, while Mr. Mock remained in the office. Colonel Dewey took over the maps and built the railroad to Murphy, closely following the Babbitt & Mock line. On the 1st of February, 1892, they purchased the Nampa Leader from Jake Horn and continued its publication in connection with the insurance, loan and abstract business. A little later they sold the abstract books and after a partnership of about five years Mr. Mock

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purchased Mr. Babbitt's interest in the business. He published the Leader for exactly six years, never missing an issue nor producing one late except on two occasions, owing to the Coxey army and a railroad strike, which prevented him from getting paper, but he brought out one issue on wrapping paper and the other on butchers' brown. Mr. Mock sold the Leader March 1, 1899, to McKee & Howry and established the Bank of Nampa, using the fixtures of the First Bank of Nampa. The town had three "First" banks, but they failed for lack of business. Mr. Mock established his bank in the Wil- terding building, where the Farmers & Merchants National is now located, and after- ward removed to the corner room of the Dewey Palace Hotel when that building was completed. He remained at the head of the bank until 1907, when he sold out, and in 1908 he retired from active business. He has largely placed his investments in Nampa property and derives therefrom a good income.

On the 27th of December, 1894, Mr. Mock was married to Miss Mennah Nettleton, a daughter of Hubert and Emeline (Crow) Nettleton, of Medina, Ohio, who passed away some years ago. Her brother, V. F. Nettleton, is a resident of Sinker Creek, Idaho, while her sister, Mrs. May N. Cottingham, makes her home at McCall, Idaho. Mrs. Mock came to Nampa to visit them and, forming the acquaintance of Mr. Mock, gave him her hand in marriage. They have since resided at Nampa save for a brief period spent on the coast, about a year in Portland, Oregon, and a similar period in Astoria Oregon. Their only child, a son, born January 4, 1901, lived only a few hours. Mrs. Mock was a charter member of the Century Club, in which she has filled all of the offices. During her presidency Kurtz park was opened and the work of beautifying it was begun. Mrs. Mock was the assistant hostess of the Idaho building for a time dur- ing the San Francisco Exposition, extending to all a kindly greeting-a touch of genuine Idaho hospitality. She became a member of the Canyon County Council of Defense during the World war, was chairman of the home service branch of the Red Cross, is chairman of the Carnegie library board of Nampa and served for two years as chair- man of the board of the Associated Charities. She is an untiring worker, never sparing time nor energy when there is anything to be done for the betterment of Nampa. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mock are members of the Pioneer Society of Nampa, of which the latter was the first president, serving for two terms, while Mr. Mock is treasurer of the society. They have always worked together in everything and during the absence of Mr. Mock his wife would edit the paper, collect bills, write insurance and afterward assisted him in the bank until his business grew so that he could afford to hire help.

Mr. Mock has at different times been a member of various lodges and fraternal organizations but has withdrawn from all now save the Masons and the Elks. His Masonic record is without a parallel. He was initiated in Burlington Lodge, No. 77, A. F. & A. M., at Burlington, Colorado, September 6th, passed September 20th and was raised October 4, 1890. He demitted and joined Boise Lodge, No. 2, demitted from there and assisted in organizing Nampa Lodge, No. 29, as a charter member and served as its first master. The lodge was instituted June 4, 1892, and finished its work under dispensation on the 31st of August of that year, making report to the Grand Lodge, which convened the second Tuesday in September, after which the charter was re- ceived. Mr. Mock was reelected master and on October 4th, two years after he had been made a Mason, he was installed as the first master under charter. He was re- elected in 1893 and 1894 and served still another term in 1898. In 1893 he was elected grand lecturer and again in 1894 and 1895, while on the 10th of September, 1896. he was elected grand master, when less than six years old in Masonry. He joined the Eastern Star at Boise in November, 1893, and was appointed grand representative of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina, near the Grand Lodge of Idaho, and is still liold- ing that commission. He wrote the report for the committee on foreign correspondence of the Grand Lodge for the years 1898, 1899 and 1900. On retiring from the grand mas- ter's chair he presented the Grand Lodge with a grand master's signet ring, worn by the grand master during his term of office and then surrendered to his successor. It has been a great pleasure to him to see this ring turned over to the grand master elected each succeeding meeting of the Grand Lodge and started on another Masonic mile of the long journey it will travel. Mr. Mock received the Scottish Rite degrees in Salt Lake, Utah, but withdrew later and became a charter member of the four bodies in Boise. He is now a member of Nampa Lodge, No. 29, A. F. & A. M., a thirty-second degree member of the Scottish Rite bodies at Boise and a member of El Korah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to Boise Lodge, No. 310, B. P. O. E.

Mr. Mock served as school treasurer and city treasurer of Nampa for many years and also served three terms as deputy county assessor. In the early days of Canyon

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county he was a candidate for clerk and recorder on the democratic ticket and though the republicans and populists outnumbered the democrats two to one, he was defeated by only a few votes-a fact indicative of his personal popularity and the confidence reposed in him by his fellow townsmen. Shortly after Nampa was incorporated he was a candidate for mayor, but his ambition has never been in the line of office hold- ing. He has written and published two novels: "Blue Eye," a story of the people of the plains; and "A Romance of the Sawtooth," an Idaho story, dedicated to the Idaho pioneers. He has also written several short. magazine sketches. He and his wife now spend much time in motoring, having thus traveled practically all over Idaho, Oregon, California and Nevada, and they make ready response to nature's call into the open.

FRED FLOED.

Fred Floed, the founder of The New Freedom, a democratic weekly paper published in Boise, and until August, 1919, its 'editor and publisher, is a native of Roseburg, Oregon, and a son of John Creed Floed, one of the pioneer merchants of Roseburg who there took up his ahode in 1852, having removed to the north- west from Evansville, Indiana. The father was born in Virginia and in young manhood was a pilot on the Ohio and Mississippi river steamboats. He was a boon companion in those days of Samuel L. Clemens, whose literary nom de plume of Mark Twain was suggested to him during his pilot days. The mother of Mr. Floed of this review bore the maiden name of Sarah Emily Lane and was a daugh- ter of General Joseph Lane the first governor of the territory of Oregon. She passed away in Boise in 1907 at the home of her son Fred. The late United States senator, Harry Lane, of Oregon, was a first cousin of Mr. Floed.

The latter acquired a college education in Washington and Lee University of Lexington, Virginia. His entire life has been devoted to newspaper work and publication. After coming to Boise in 1900 he was a writer on The Cpaital News for several years and later he was editor and publisher of The Boise Citizen for four years. During the administration of Governor James H. Hawley as governor of Idaho, Mr. Floed was the private secretary to the chief executive, serving in that capacity from January, 1911, until January, 1913. Upon his retirement from that position he became editor and publisher of The New Freedom, the only demo- cratic newspaper of Boise. In politics he has ever heen a stalwart democrat, giving unfaltering allegiance to the party and its principles, and in 1892 he was a delegate from Oregon to the democratic national convention in Chicago, which nominated Grover Cleveland for the third time.

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History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II, Part 70

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