USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II > Part 73
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The death of Mr. Evans was the occasion of the most deep and widespread regret. He was killed in a collision of the interurban cars with his automobile at Yost station, living but five hours after the accident occurred. His remains were interred in Morris Hill cemetery at Boise and the high regard in which he was uniformly held was indicated in his funeral, which was one of the largest ever held in the capital city. In politics he was always an earnest republican and had been approached by both parties as a candidate for governor but had steadily refused. He fought untiringly for clean politics but never sought or desired office, yet there was no position within the gift of his fellow townsmen in Idaho that he could not have had for the asking. Throughout Idaho he is spoken of in terms of admiration and respect. His life was so varied in its activity, so honorable in its purpose, so far-reaching and beneficial in its effects that it became an integral part of the history of Ada county and of the annals of the state. In no sense a man in public life, he nevertheless exerted an immeasur- able influence on the place of his residence-in business life as a promoter of extensive industrial, commercial and agricultural interests; in social circles by reason of a charming personality and unfeigned cordiality; and in politics by reason of his public spirit and devotion to the general good as well as by his comprehensive understanding of the questions affecting state and national welfare. It is the enterprise and char-
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acter of the citizen that enrich and ennoble the commonwealth, and this the life of Mr. Evans did for Idaho. His career was marked by the achievement of honorable purposes and the accomplishment of important projects for the benefit of the common- wealth as well as for the promotion of his individual fortunes.
MISS ESTHER J. SWANN.
Miss Esther J. Swann is one of the successful business women of Nampa, at present holding the position of treasurer of the Nampa and Meridian irrigation dis- trict, in which position important duties fall to her lot. Her father, P. M. Swann, is a native of Sweden and is at present in the employ of the United States govern- ment in connection with road work at Grimes Pass, Idaho. In the days of his youth he was a great traveler and has twice rounded the globe. For the past thirty years he has been a resident of Idaho, in which state he has made many friends. His wife, a native of Marquette, Michigan, was in her maidenhood Jennie Delia Erickson and at the age of four years was taken by her parents to Colorado, where she received her education. In 1889 the family removed to Rocky Bar, Idaho. Mr. and Mrs. Swann are the parents of two children, Esther J. and Eric George, the brother and mother making their home with our subject.
Miss Swann was born at Rocky Bar, Elmore county, Idaho, and received her early education in the graded schools of her native county, after which she attended high school for three years. In 1913 she went to Boise and in order to better prepare herself for a business career took a course at Link's Business College. Be- ing thus well armed for life's duties, she set out upon her independent career and became a stenographer for the Nampa and Meridian irrigation district. It was but a year before she was promoted to the position of assistant secretary and so rap- idly did her talents develop that in appreciation of her industry, faithfulness and trustworthiness she was made treasurer of the district in April, 1918. She now has charge of all the collections, which amount to upwards of four thousand from that many water users. This in itself not only requires correct and quick work but also tact and managerial ability. Miss Swann has all these qualities and, more- over, is a woman of winning personality, who has many friends in Nampa.
CLARENCE A. BANDEL.
One of rising young attorneys of the Jefferson county bar is Clarence A. Bandel, who has been engaged in the practice of law in Rigby for the last four years. He was born in Alma, Kansas, October 8, 1888, a son of William and Josephine (Hal- ler) Bandel, both of whom were natives of Holland.
Some six years after the liberal elements of the population of Holland had made a futile attempt to get a democratic government there in 1848, William Bandel, following the example of many of his countrymen who loved a democratic form of government and the chance for equal opportunity better than they loved their homeland, left Holland for the shores of America and landed here sometime in 1854. Shortly after his arrival in the United States he joined a band of immi- grants, pushed on westward with them and finally settled in Iowa, where he plied his trade as tailor, which he had learned in the old country. At this time slavery was the burning question in this country and the partisans of both sides of the question were struggling over the possession of Kansas. In his tailor shop in Iowa William Bandel became imbued with the spirit of the free-state men and he moved southward and established himself in the town of Lawrence, Kansas, thus allying himself definitely and actively to the cause of anti-slavery. Not long after he had settled in Lawrence the long impending struggle between the north and south broke out in actual warfare with the firing upon Fort Sumter, and William Bandel, feeling that he should do his part for his adopted country, enlisted in the Union army in 1862, serving until the close of the war. After Appomattox he re- turned to Kansas but forsook his old trade of tailor and located on a farm near Alma, that state. Through good management he was soon able to purchase the farm, which he improved and operated until 1904. It was in that year that he
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sold the place and removed to Wamego, Kansas, where he spent the remainder of his life, which ended on April 20, 1918, the mother of the subject of this sketch surviving.
Clarence A. Bandel spent his early life on the farm near Alma, Kansas, and it was there that he received his elementary education but finished his high school course at Wamego, that state. He then entered the University of Kansas, doing one year pre-law work in the College of Liberal Arts and the three years following in the Department of Law. He graduated with the class of 1911.
Following his graduation, Mr. Bandel returned to his home town, Wamego, where he began the practice of his profession. After two years of successful experience, in which time he gained the confidence and respect of his fellow citizens for his conscientious and careful work, he was elected to the office of county attorney, serving his two-year term. Feeling that larger opportunity in his profession lay farther west, he came to Rigby in 1915 and here he has achieved marked success.
On November 30, 1914, Mr. Bandel was united in marriage to Lillian M. Thompson, and to this union has been born one child, Burl W., on July 9, 1918. Mr. Bandel has affiliated himself with two fraternal orders, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Politically he is a republican and the active part he takes in local affairs betokens his keen community interest and his good citizenship.
LEWIS A. CRITCHFIELD.
Lewis A. Critchfield, farmer and stockman residing at Oakley, was born at Tooele, Utah, February 17, 1869, and is a son of William A. and Orissa M. (Bates) Critchfield. He spent his boyhood to the age of eleven years at the place of his nativity and then accompanied his parents to Oakley, the family home being established near the present farm of Lewis A. Critchfield, who in his youthful days attended the public schools of Oakley and afterward operated his mother's ranch until he reached the age of thirty years. He then began raising and dealing in horses and likewise carried on general farming. He purchased a part of the old homestead and bent his energies to the further development of his place and the conduct of his business affairs. After a time he sold his horses and concentrated his efforts and attention upon cattle raising, while still later he also became interested in sheep. In February, 1903, he purchased his present farm of fifty acres and is now engaged in raising both sheep and cattle. He has added to his land from time to time until his possessions now include twenty-five hundred acres and he is one of the prominent and successful live stock men of his section of the state. He has closely studied the most practical and the most scientific methods of stock raising and his efforts have been so intelligently directed that his labors have been attended with a notable measure of success. As he has prospered he has also extended his efforts into other fields and is now the vice president of the Oakley State Bank and a director of the Warren Springs Water Company.
In the fall of 1888 Mr. Critchfield was married to Miss Jane W. Wilson, a native of North Ogden, Utah, and a daughter of Robert and Ann (Blood) Wilson, her parents having been early settlers of Utah. To Mr. and Mrs. Critchfield have been born eleven children: Viola P., who for two years was engaged in mission work for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Ethel J .; Lewis R., who for three and a half years was connected with the mission field at St. Louis, Missouri; Roland A., who enlisted January 29, 1918, in the Fifth Regiment of Marines and after arriving in France on the 8th of June participated with the Second Division in all of the many important engage- ments in which the American troops took part in the war for democracy; Claud W .; Anna O .; Lloyd C .; Ione, who died in infancy; Rodetta W. and Odetta W., twins; and Arnold C.
The religious faith of the family is that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints, in the work of which Mr. Critchfield has always taken an active and helpful part. He has been superintendent of the Sunday school and has been a high official in church circles. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is ably discharging the duties of county commissioner, to which office he was elected in the fall of 1914. He deserves great credit for what he has accomplished. He started out in the business world a poor boy, empty-handed, but by persistent effort has worked his way steadily upward. He early recognized the eternal principle that industry wins
MR. AND MRS. LEWIS A. CRITCHFIELD
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and he made industry the beacon light of his life, guiding him through all the changes and trials of a business career and bringing him at length to the goal of prosperity, for he is today one of the most successful of the farmers and stockmen of Cassia county.
B. F. ACKERMAN.
B. F. Ackerman, agent for the Payette Mills, Inc., at New Plymouth, is a representative of an old Swiss family. He was born in Switzerland on Sunday July 12, 1857, his parents being Antone and May Ann Ackerman, who came to America in 1883 and settled at Herman, Nebraska, where the father followed farm- ing for four years. The mother then passed away and the father afterward returned to Switzerland, where his death occurred.
B. F. Ackerman remained in the Land of the Alps until 1880, when, crossing the Atlantic, he established his home in Nebraska, being then a young man of twenty-three years. There he followed farming for six years, after which he took up his abode at Blair, Nebraska, and became foreman of a horse collar factory, there serving for fifteen years. In 1903 he came to ldaho, settling at New Plym- outh. He purchased ten acres a mile west of the town and followed farming for six years, after which he engaged in the furniture business in New Plymouth for a decade, when he sold out and retired. But indolence and idleness are utterly foreign to his nature and he could not content himself without some occupation, so he accepted the agency for the Payette Mills, Inc., and is now capably filling that position.
In 1883 Mr. Ackerman married Miss Anna Wachter, whose parents are resi- dents of Nebraska, and to this union eight children have been born. Marie is manager of the telephone office at New Plymouth. Arnold J., thirty-three years of age, has just returned from France, where he served as a second lieutenant in Company D, Machine Gun Battalion, First Division, and was in a number of the fiercest drives. He has been in the United States army for three years and was on the Mexican border. Florence is the wife of E. F. Meyer and the mother of four children, Ruth, Phillip, Edna and Paul Eugene. Arthur P., twenty-six years of age, married Marilla Hannigan and they have one child, Betty Ann. Gertrude is a stenographer and has recently returned from Spokane. Margaret is taking training in nursing. Louis, seventeen years of age is at home. William is work- ing in the elevator office with his father. The family occupy an attractive residence on West boulevard in New Plymouth and are most comfortably situated.
Mr. Ackerman has led a busy and useful life. Starting out independently in 1880, when he severed home ties and came to the new world, he has since been dependent upon his own resources and step by step he has worked his way upward, using his opportunities wisely and acquiring a handsome competence as the reward of his labors and judicious investments.
JAMES L. GROW.
James L. Grow, manager of the Farmers Grain and Milling Company of Buhl and a business man who is winning success through close application and unfal- tering enterprise, was born in the state of New York, January 30, 1880, and is a son of Edwin and Almira (Raymond) Grow. He was but a small boy when his parents left the Empire state and removed to Minnesota, settling near Princeton, where he pursued his education in the public schools. He was reared to farm life, early becoming familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops, and after his education was completed he took up the occupation of farming in Minnesota, purchasing railroad land, which he cleared and improved, and in fact the father is still living there, being now seventy-eight years of age. The mother, however, passed away in 1911 at the age of sixty-three years. In his political views the father has always been a republican, and he has lived the life of a substantial farmer who in matters of citizenship has always stood for law, order and progress.
James L. Grow after following farming in Minnesota for a number of years
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left that state for Idaho at the age of twenty-seven and located at Kimberly. In 1908 he removed to Buhl, where he entered the employ of the Weder Lum- ber Company, and later began operating the Buhl Transfer Company. In 1912 he accepted his present position with the Farmers Grain & Milling Company, having been manager since its organization. That he has done splendid work in this connection is indicated in the fact that he has always been retained by the company in control of its business. He is thoroughly acquainted with the grain trade and the possibilities for grain production in this section of the country and in the conduct of the business has displayed marked enterprise and ability. In 1908 Mr. Grow was united in marriage to Miss Millie Dunken, a daughter of Albert and Frances (Ferbey) Dunken. Mrs. Grow was born in Wisconsin and by her marriage has become the mother of two children, Frances and Dorothy.
In politics Mr. Grow is a democrat, having supported the party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He does not seek nor desire office, for his time is fully occupied by his business affairs, and he is at all times ready to cooperate in any plan or movement for the development of the community in which he lives or the upbuilding of the state at large.
FARRAR W. SKILLERN, M. D.
Dr. Farrar W. Skillern is a retired physician who at a recent date has become a resident of Boise, removing to this city from Oklahoma. He purchased and now occupies a splendid home at No. 420 Bannock street and is a welcome addition to the citizenship of the capital. He is a native of Hamilton county, Tennessee, born July 19, 1851. His elder brother, John Skillern of Boise, came to Idaho from Tennessee many years ago and is today one of the most prominent sheep men of the state, mentioned elsewhere in this work, in connection with whose sketch is given information concerning the parents of the brothers and their ancestry.
Dr. Skillern spent his boyhood on a farm in Hamilton county, Tennessee, where he first attended a country school until he reached the age of fourteen years. He then prepared for college in an academy at Pikeville, Tennessee, and after- ward entered Vanderbilt University, in which he not only completed a medical course but also a literary and scientific course, thus becoming well qualified by extensive study for life's practical and responsible duties. He at once removed to the state of Texas, locating at Rockdale, where he taught school for two years. He then entered upon the practice of medicine there and in 1883 he returned to his native state, where he was actively engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery with excellent success for many years. In the meantime he did post-gradu- ate medical work in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For a period of twenty years he was an active physician of Chattanooga, Ten- nessee. His brother, John Skillern, was at that time a resident of Chattanooga and the two became interested together in various business enterprises, but the widespread financial panic of 1893 caused the loss of almost everything they had. Though both were then past middle age-men in the forties-neither felt dis- couraged but resolutely set out to regain their lost fortunes. Both have "come back" far beyond their most sanguine hopes and expectations. John, the elder brother, removed to Idaho and within a short period of twenty years made a for- tune as a sheep raiser.
Dr. F. W. Skillern also left Chattanooga and went to Oklahoma and to Texas, becoming a large operator in the oil fields of both states. He still has extensive oil properties in the two states, and thus the brothers have not only retrieved their lost possessions but have passed beyond the point of success which they had previously reached when financial disaster overtook them. While they traveled widely different routes, both reached the goal of success-the one through sheep raising and the other through operations in the oil fields of the southwest. Both are now finan- cially independent and they are united as fellow residents of Boise, occupying two of the most beautiful homes of the city. John Skillern came to Boise many years ago, but the Doctor did not take up his permanent abode in this city until a recent period. In the meantime, however, he had made frequent visits to his brother John and his family and the wonderful Boise climate and other attrac-
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tions of the city made strong appeal to him, so that he has established his home here and expects to spend his remaining days in Idaho.
On the 9th of February, 1874, in Belton, Texas, Dr. Skillern was married to Miss Alice Williams, a native of Tennessee but at that time a resident of the Lone Star state. She is a daughter of the Rev. James Williams, a Methodist min- ister. Dr. and Mrs. Skillern have become parents of two daughters: Martha J., now the wife of James A. Howard, a well known ranchman and cattleman of Boise; and Kathryn, who is still with her parents.
The most tragic experience in the life of Dr. Skillern occurred less than two years ago. While he was spending the night of September 7, 1918, at a hotel in the little town of Tishomingo, Oklahoma, about four o'clock in the morning he was awakened hy cries of fire and not only learned that the hotel was in flames but was doomed. He sought a way of escape but found that every avenue of escape by stairs was cut off. He then rushed through flame and smoke down a corridor to a veranda and with his clothing already on fire, he made a thirty-foot leap to a stone pavement below. Although he escaped the horrors of death by fire, it was an awful leap for a man of two hundred and twenty-five pounds weight to make. He was picked up unconscious and so continued for many hours. An X- ray examination disclosed that there were eighteen fractured bones. The attend- ing physician said that there was no hope. However, he was rushed on a stretcher to an Oklahoma hospital thirty miles away and after some weeks spent in the hospital, careful nursing by the attendants of the institution and by his wife and daughter, Mrs. Howard, who in response to a telegram hastened to his bedside, brought about beneficial changes and it is believed that within a few months Dr. Skillern will be all right again.
Dr. Skillern still holds membership in the American Medical Association and also in the state medical societies of Tennessee and Oklahoma. Fraternally he is a Master Mason, loyally adhering to the teachings and purposes of the craft, and is an equally consistent member of the Methodist church. His life has heen a most active and useful one. He has made splendid use of his time, his talents and his opportunities, won for himself a creditable position in medical circles and later displayed the soundness of his judgment through his excellent investments in oil properties. As the years passed he came to the front as an oil operator in the southwest and the fortune that he has acquired now enables him to enjoy all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life in one of the most beautiful homes in Boise. Already somewhat widely acquainted in the city before he took up his abode here, the circle of his friends has constantly expanded and he is today one of the valued residents of the state.
OSCAR H. CUSICK.
Prompt, fearless and faithful in the discharge of his duties as sheriff of Fre- mont county and numbered among the valued citizens of St. Anthony, Oscar H. Cusick was horn near Detroit, Michigan, January 4, 1865, a son of Charles S. and Sylvia M. (Hibbard) Cusick, the former a native of New York and the latter of Massachusetts. The father was a sawmill man and farmer, who in 1836 left the east and went to Michigan, where he devoted his remaining days to agricul- tural pursuits. He died in April, 1906, and for several years was survived by his wife, who passed away in December, 1913.
Oscar H. Cusick obtained his education in the public schools of his native state and spent his youthful days upon the home farm to the age of seventeen years, when he began working for the Buckeye Machine Company, going upon the road as a traveling salesman and collector. He remained with that house for two and a half years and then became a representative of the Waddell Manufacturing Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan, who are the most extensive manufacturers of wood ornaments in the world. He continued in their employ for five and a half years, traveling over twenty-five states of the Union and also throughout Ontario, Canada, building up an extensive business for the house. He was obliged to quit, however, on account of his health and was off the road for two years. He then went into an office at Rochester, New York, being connected with a distilling and cattle feeding firm remaining as office manager for two and a half years.
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His health did not improve, however, and illness forced him to put aside business until February, 1896, when he came to Idaho, making his way to St. Anthony. He has since been connected with the Thompson Mercantile Company and also with the Skalet & Gilman Mercantile Company. He likewise has a half interest with O. O. Skalet in the real estate and loan business and formerly was identified .with farming interests in this section of the state. In November, 1918, he was elected sheriff of Fremont county and entered upon the duties of the position on the 13th of October following. He has made an excellent record as a public official by the ready response that he has made to every call of duty, and all who know him speak of him in terms of respect and regard.
On the 17th of September, 1897, in St. Anthony, Idaho, Mr. Cusick was married to Miss Susan M. Miller and to them were born five children. Arthur, who enlisted February 10, 1917, for the World war, spent twenty-two and a half mouths on the Hawaiian islands, being an observer at the fort there, and was discharged Feb- ruary 8, 1919, when twenty years of age. O. Felix, eighteen years of age, enlisted on the 25th of July, 1918, and was almost immediately sent to France, where he remained on active duty until the summer of 1919, being discharged on the 26th of July. Edwin M., seventeen years of age, is a senior in high school. Sylvia, aged fifteen, is a junior in high school, Franklin, twelve years of age, is in the seventh grade of the public schools.
Politically Mr. Cusick is a republican and for one term served as a member of the city council but has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking. He is well known in fraternal circles, having membership with the Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, and high and honorable principles characterize him at every point in his career.
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