History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II, Part 79

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

USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II > Part 79

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

FLOYD C. WHITE

663

HISTORY OF IDAHO

master at Donnybrook, North Dakota. In the latter year he removed westward to Boise and for three years was connected with the government reclamation service in this section of the state. Since 1912, however, he has been practicing law and has secured a good clientage, confining his attention particularly to irrigation law, in which branch of jurisprudence he has become exceptionally well informed. He has made a close study of irrigation problems and of the law applicable thereto and has been connected with various noted cases of that kind.

On the 2d of November, 1905, Mr. White was married to Miss Anna C. Neal, of Seattle, Washington, and they have a daughter, Florence T., who was born August 27, 1906.

In his political views Mr. White is a republican but has never held office aside from the position of postmaster save for a year and five months when he served as justice of the peace .. He belongs to the local and state bar associations and fraternally he is a Mason, a member of the Eastern Star and an Elk. He also belongs to the Boise Chamber of Commerce. Following America's entrance into the great World war he joined the Idaho Home Guard and won the rank of second lieutenant and he be- longs to the order called Veterans of Foreign Wars, his membership being by reason of his active service in the Philippines.

BRADLEY SHEPPARD.

The firm of Sheppard & Falk represents important insurance interests in Boise, doing a large business as general agents of various eastern insurance, surety and casualty companies. The senior member, Bradley Sheppard, was born in Penn Yan, New York, June 17, 1869, and is descended from old New York families, in fact in both lines of his ancestry Revolutionary stock is represented and he is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.

His father, Captain Morris F. Sheppard, who held that rank in the Sixteenth New York Artillery during the Civil war at the age of nineteen, followed banking in New York state and later also had railroad and steamboat interests. He was a republican in politics and a close friend and warm supporter of Senator Thomas Platt. In the state republican politics of New York he was powerful and was one of three hundred and six delegates at the republican national convention in 1880 who stood for the renomination of U. S. Grant for the presidency, Roscoe Conkling being chairman of the New York delegation. Sheppard was well educated, having graduated from Hamilton College of Clinton, New York. He died in 1917. He was united in marriage to Louise Ogden, of a well known and distinguished New York family. Darius A. Ogden, her father, was a prominent democrat, very influential in New York state democratic politics and a close friend of Grover Cleveland. To Captain and Mrs. Sheppard three sons were born, the two brothers of our subject passing away when they were quite young. Bradley Sheppard is now the only living member of the family, his mother having died when he was a child of but four years.

Mr. Sheppard of this review was reared to manhood in western New York, receiving his early education in Penn Yan. Subsequently he attended Hamilton College, the same institution of which his father had been a student and which nearly all the members of the family attended, and he was there graduated in 1891 with the degree of A. B. When the Klondike gold discoveries excited old and young Mr. Sheppard also decided to take a northwestward course and in 1897 pro- ceeded to the Klondike, where he remained four years. At the end of that time, in 1902, he came to Boise and has since continued a resident of the capital city. For many years his insurance business was conducted under the name of Bradley Sheppard but lately a partnership has been formed and the firm of Sheppard & Falk has been established. Harry N. Falk is a son of the late Nathan Falk, one of Boise's most prominent merchants and builders. The offices of the firm are in the Owyhee Hotel.

In 1902 Mr. Sheppard was married to Miss Grace Wyman, who also was born and reared in Penn Yan, New York. To this union has been born a son, Ralph Wyman, whose birth occurred on the 6th of April, 1905. Mrs. Sheppard is prominent socially and was the first regent of the Boise Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, being of Revolutionary descent. Mr. Sheppard is a valued member of the Boise Commercial Club, in whose projects he is ever deeply interested. He has

664

HISTORY OF IDAHO

not only gained individual prosperity but has greatly contributed toward the growth and upbuilding of his community, in the welfare of which he has ever been deeply concerned.

VIRGIL R. LAIRD.

One of the progressive business enterprises of Buhl is that conducted by the Idaho Mercantile Company, of which Virgil R. Laird is manager. He is a progres- sive, alert and enterprising young man whose business advancement is the direct outcome of his energy and persistency of purpose. He was born in Eugene, Oregon, on the 2d of July, 1882, and is a son of John W. and Sarah (Smith) Laird. His boyhood was passed in Whitman county, Washington, where he' pursued' his educa- tion as a public school pupil. He is a representative of one of the pioneer families of the northwest. His father was born at Little Rock, Arkansas, and with his parents crossed the plains with ox teams to California. They had the usual experi- ences of the frontiersmen of that period, seeing many Indians while en route and sharing in all the hardships of travel in those days. It was the discovery of gold that led the family to seek a home on the Pacific coast. Later they removed north- ward to Lane county, Oregon, where the grandparents of Virgil R. Laird engaged in farming. It was there that John W. Laird grew to manhood amid the scenes and environment of pioneer life. After reaching manhood he became a construction miner and subsequently he traded his interest in the mines for land in Whitman county, Washington. There he carried on farming in the vicinity of the town of Farmington for some time but eventually sold his property and became connected with his brother Samuel in a mercantile business at Garfield, Washington. At a still later period, however, he resumed ranching in the same locality and there he still resides at the age of sixty-five years, while his wife has reached the age of fifty-five. His political allegiance is given the democratic party. From his early boy- hood he has been identified with the west, has witnessed much of the development of the Pacific coast country and in considerable measure has contributed to the progress and improvement of the district in which he lives.

It was upon the old homestead farm in Garfield county that Virgil R. Laird was reared, dividing his time between the duties of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground and the work of the fields. He came to Buhl in 1916, wishing to enter commercial pursuits, and has since been connected with the Idaho Mercan- tile Company. Purchasing a lot, he erected thereon a store building that he now occupies, and he carries a large and attractive line of general merchandise, the store of the Idaho Mercantile Company being one of the finest in this section of Twin Falls county. Mr. Laird is the president of the company, with J. K. Huston as vice president, and Mrs. Laird as secretary and treasurer. From the beginning the firm has ever recognized the fact that satisfied patrons are the best advertisement and they have put forth every effort to please their customers, while the integrity of their business methods is recognized by all.

In 1911 Mr. Laird was united in marriage to Miss Sina M. Miller, a native of Missouri and a daughter of Henry and Rose Miller. Mr. Laird is a prominent Mason, having attained high rank in the order, and he is also a Mystic Shriner. He like- wise belongs to the Knights of Pythias and is ever faithful to any cause which he espouses. He is not only a leading merchant but also a progressive citizen of Buhl whose cooperation and aid can at all times be counted upon to further any plan or project that looks to the benefit and upbuilding of the district in which he makes his home.

WILLIAM B. LYMAN, M. D.

For nearly fourteen years Dr. William B. Lyman has been engaged in medical work in Boise, enjoying a large practice as his high reputation warrants. To his duties he brings an exhaustive experience, and profound study has made him highly efficient. He was born in Lansing, Iowa, May 8, 1855, a son of the Rev. Timothy Lyman, a Congregational minister, whose father and grandfather also were

665

HISTORY OF IDAHO

clergymen in New England. Rev. Timothy Lyman was born in Massachusetts and there passed away at the age of sixty-seven years. His wife died when our subject was but two years old. Her maiden name was Vallie Van Reed Rinehart and she was born near Reading, Pennsylvania, being of Pennsylvania Dutch descent. On the paternal side Dr. Lyman of this review is of English lineage. He has one brother living, Dr. John Van Reed Lyman, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

William B. Lyman was reared at the home of his maternal grandparents in Fort Madison, Iowa, after the death of his mother and there attended the Fort Madison Academy. At the age of seventeen, however, he went to Menomonie, Wis- consin, where he clerked in a general store until twenty-one years of age. Aspiring to higher things in life, he then decided upon a professional career and at the age of twenty-two took up the study of medicine. He spent one year in the St. Louis Medical College and for two years he was a student at Rush Medical College, from which institution he was graduated in 1880 with the M. D. degree. For the follow- ing two years, or until 1882, he practiced medicine in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and subsequently was for twenty years connected with the medical profession in the state of Wisconsin. During that time he served as superintendent of the Wisconsin State Hospital for the Insane for six years, an appointment which came to him in recognition of his ability. This institution is located in Dane county, seven miles west of Madison. From 1903 until 1905 he was engaged in medical work in the Black Hills but since 1905 he has practiced in Boise. He specializes in diseases of women and has been very successful in this line. For the past ten years his has been entirely office practice. He ever keeps in touch with the latest methods and discoveries in the medical world, gaining valuable knowledge through his member- ship in the American Medical Association, in the proceedings of which organization he is greatly interested.

In 1881, at Cordova, Illinois, Dr. Lyman was married to Miss Bertha A. Terry, and they have become parents of two sons, Walter K. and Irvine R., the former of whom is married and resides in San Francisco, California, Irvine R. Lyman was with the Eighty-first Field Artillery in the United States army, having volunteered at the age of thirty-three years although he was exempt from the first draft.

Dr. Lyman is prominently connected with the Masons, being a member of the Royal Arch Chapter and the Knights Templar Commandery. He is also an Elk. He finds his chief recreation and pleasure in travel and has seen many parts of this country. Dr. Lyman is of striking personal appearance, standing six feet four, and in his dignified manner shows the professional man although it would be difficult for anyone to tell if he was doctor, jurist, theologian or statesman. He has succeeded in his career through a combination of natural ability and an applica- tion of iron energy which has ever driven him to closely apply himself to any subject in hand.

OLIVER F. CROWLEY.

Oliver F. Crowley, county assessor of Power county and a resident of Amer- ican Falls, was born in Modoc county, California, November 22, 1883, and is a son of Randolph and Sarah (Oakes) Crowley, the former a native of Illinois, while the latter was born in Missouri. The father, a farmer by occupation, crossed the plains to California with ox teams at a very early day and took up land in Modoc county. He bent every energy to the development and improvement of the place, continuing its cultivation for about fifteen years. He next went to Sonoma county, California, where he purchased land, and there resided for several years, after which he re- moved to Washington. In 1910 he came to Power county, Idaho, settling at Rock- land, and made his home among his children, spending his remaining days here. He passed away in May, 1912, and the mother is now living at Buhl, Idaho.

Oliver F. Crowley was reared and educated in California, completing his studies by a course at Sweet's Business College at Santa Rosa, California. He likewise attended the Blair Business College at Spokane and took up the work of bookkeeping. He became secretary and treasurer of the Odessa Mercantile Com- pany of Odessa, Washington, there remaining for three years, and in 1908 he re- moved to Idaho, filing on land in that section of Oneida county which is now Power county, his place being near Rockland. He at once began the arduous task of

666

HISTORY OF IDAHO

breaking the sod and developing the fields and continued the further cultivation of the farm until 1913, when he sold the property and came to American Falls. Here he accepted the position of bookkeeper with the Leader Hardware Company and so continued until 1914, when he was appointed county assessor of Power county, to which office he has been reelected at each succeeding election since that time. While the incumbent in this position he also served for four years as city clerk and police judge and is now the city treasurer. His official duties have been discharged with notable promptness and efficiency, and his worth as a public official is widely acknowledged.

In June, 1907, Mr. Crowley was married to Miss Alma Wheeler and they have become the parents of two children: Harold, who was born July 17, 1909; and Margaret, horn March 1, 1917. Mr. Crowley is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, while his religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church and his political belief that of the republican party. Aside from the political offices which he is filling he is now conducting the Auditorium Theater at American Falls, of which he took charge in October, 1917. He allows nothing to interfere with the faithful performance of his official duties and his excellent record in office is indicated by his frequent reelections. Abraham Lincoln said: "You can fool all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time." This is always evidenced in public office, where political advancement is achieved by pop- ular suffrage. An incompetent man may gain office but he cannot retain his posi- tion when he has to depend upon the voice of the people, and frequent reelections therefore are indicative of splendid service.

ALFRED EOFF.

For more than two decades Alfred Eoff was an outstanding figure in the banking and business circles of Boise and previous to this he had become widely known through- out the west as a representative of the Wells Fargo & Company express agency and its predecessor, the Ben Holladay Company. Stationed at various points in the west, he became thoroughly familiar with the history of this section of the country and his support of all progressive measures made him a potent factor in the development of the districts in which he lived.

Illinois claimed Alfred Eoff as a native son. He was born at White Hall, Greene county, that state, on the 11th of January, 1845, his parents being James L. and Jane (Ayres) Eoff. The family is of Holland lineage and was founded in Virginia at an early period in the colonial history of the country. The removal of the grandparents of Alfred Eoff to Illinois connected the family with that section of the country and there his parents were married. They had a family of five children, of whom three died in infancy, while one son, Jacob Henry, passed away at Colorado Springs in 1887, Alfred Eoff being the last survivor of the family. For many years the father engaged in the real estate business and at an early period in the development of the Pacific coast country went to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama and there passed away in 1885.

Alfred Eoff was but fifteen years of age at the time of his mother's death and afterward went to live with his aunt and uncle, Enos and Jane Ayres, in Chicago, the former being one of the prominent citizens of that day. The environment of his youth had much to do with molding the splendid character of Alfred Eoff. He attended the public schools of Chicago to the age of seventeen years and then, attracted by the discovery of gold at Pike's Peak, Colorado, he made his way to that state. Not long afterward he enlisted under Colonel George L. Shoup and was detailed to the medical department. He remained in the army until the close of the war, when he received an honorable discharge, being at the time but twenty years of age. For a brief period he remained in the east following the close of his military experience and then returned westward to Colorado, where he became an employe of the Ben Holladay Mail Over- land Express Company. Acting as special agent, he was entrusted with the duty of taking out supplies with which to equip the office of the corporation and in a special coach started from Atchison, Kansas, on the Missouri river, and outfitted every sta- tion as far as Denver and from Denver westward to Salt Lake and northward through Idaho to the Boise basin. It was on the 10th of July, 1866, that he arrived in Boise,

ALFRED EOFF

669

HISTORY OF IDAHO

and establishing the office at Idaho City, he remained in charge of the Idaho business with that place as his headquarters until the fall of the year. When Wells Fargo & Company in October, 1866, purchased the Holladay line, Mr. Eoff was appointed pay- master on the line between Salt Lake and Denver and made monthly trips over that route, occupying the position until the railway reached Cheyenne early in 1868, at which time he was made terminus agent for the same company. When the railroad was completed he was appointed agent at the Western terminus, so serving for a short time before the road was extended to San Francisco. In the latter city he be- came connected with the banking department of Wells Fargo & Company and thus received his initial experience in the banking business, in which he was later to figure most prominently in Boise. For a year, beginning in 1870, he was associated with Hugo Richards, of Prescott, Arizona, in supplying an Indian contract, and following his return to San Francisco he was again connected with the banking department of Wells Fargo & Company as bookkeeper and later was sent to Salt Lake as cashier in the company's bank at that point. In 1878 he was again transferred to San Francisco as assistant cashier of the Wells Fargo Bank but in 1884 left the employ of that company to engage in business on his own account. He formed a partnership with E. A. Hawley and at Prescott, Arizona, organized the First National Bank, but the high altitude of the city seriously affected his health and he returned to San Francisco. He was there advised by old friends-Mr. Wadsworth, H. B. Eastman and A. H. Boomer-of the need of a second banking institution in Boise, Idaho, and they volunteered to assist him in the establishment of a bank there by becoming stockholders. In the fall of 1885 Mr. Eoff visited Boise and decided that he would open a bank, which he accordingly did on the 3d of March, 1886, thus establishing the Boise City National Bank, one of the strongest financial institutions of the northwest. In 1892 a removal was made to larger quarters and the capital stock increased to one hundred thousand dollars. During the twenty years in which Mr. Eoff continued as cashier and manager the bank paid an annual dividend of ten per cent and added two hundred thousand dollars to the value of its property. Not only was Mr. Eoff instrumental in the successful management of the bank but was also closely associated with the promotion of the townsite of Weiser. He retired from business on the 1st of July, 1906, selling his interest in the bank, and his remaining days were spent in well earned rest save for the attention which he gave to his invested interests.

On the 12th of October, 1881, in San Francisco, Mr. Eoff was united in marriage to Miss Victoria Louise Marsh, a native of Canada and a daughter of George F. and Mary (Elrod) Marsh. After retiring from the banking business Mr. and Mrs. Eoff spent two years in travel and then returned to their Boise home, where he passed away on the 29th of June, 1908. At all times he manifested the keenest interest in the welfare and progress of the city, contributing to its commercial, intellectual and moral progress. In politics he maintained an independent course but was never remiss in the duties of citizenship. In fact he was a leader in many movements which resulted beneficially to Boise and his aid and support could at all times be counted upon to further any plan for the city's upbuilding and development. A feeling of the deepest regret spread throughout Boise when the news of his demise was received. Of him the Daily Statesman wrote:

"There are few men here who stand in such a peculiarly high position as that which was occupied by Mr. Eoff. He was strong in counsel, forceful in action, tender in the feelings of all of every station with whom he came in contact, and so lovable in his social relations that the most exacting critic, coming to know him, could not fail to set the seal of approval upon him. He was true as the steel of Damascus, loyal as the sun itself, and of such exalted character that he may well be selected as a pattern for every man who is actuated by a desire to win and retain the confidence and the love of those with whom he is associated and the community in which he lives.

"In business Mr. Eoff was a power for the welfare of the city. He had rare judg- ment and men learned to lean upon him with the confidence that those alone can com- mand who have proved that they possess great wisdom and that uprightness of purpose which is the handmaiden of wisdom in accomplishing results that are lastingly bene- ficial and beneficent. After having been associated with the business affairs of varlous western communities, he selected Boise as the place that seemed to offer the best oppor- tunities for a career that should be profitable, creditable and most useful and measured by the highest standards. He took hold with that broad grasp that was such a strong feature of his mental equipment, and soon won a commanding position which he retained throughout his business career, and which he still held up to the time he was stricken, though his active connection with business management had ceased.

670

HISTORY OF IDAHO

"Not only in business, but in public affairs also he was a tower of strength. There was nothing of value to the city that he did not stand ready to champion and assist, and to him Boise owes more, perhaps, than to any other single man the development of its commercial energy, its municipal strength and progressiveness, its moral tone and its culture that have characterized its well balanced progress. The city can illy afford to lose him, for he was one of those upon whom it could lean without fear of having its standards lowered.

"No man had more friends than Alfred Eoff; few can hope to have as many. He was always quietly genial, whether in the casual meeting on the street or within the portals of his attractive home. Words fail when attempt is made to speak of the social side of this nobleman of nature. He was always the same and that means he was always perfect. As tender of the feelings of those by whom he was surrounded as he would be of those of a child, he never caused pain, but always shed sunshine about the pathways of others wherever he moved. He was so considerate, so steadfast, so true, so loyal, that even so much as an appearance of neglect or coldness was alto- gether foreign to him-totally absent from the memories of all those who have known him. His home life was faultless; it was ideal. Nothing more can he said; but, as those that knew that home reflect upon the awful sundering of ties that has occurred, their hearts go out in unspeakable sympathy to her who has heen left desolate by the inexplicable blow that has fallen."

Mrs. Eoff still makes her home in Boise and is very prominent in the social circles of the city. While a native of Ontario, Canada, she was chiefly reared and educated in San Francisco, California, and she is a recognized leader in the church, club and social circles of Boise, becoming the organizer and the first president of the Columbian Club, one of the leading clubs of the capital. She also took a very helpful and active part in war work, including the Red Cross activities, and her cooperation is never sought in vain where the interests of the unfortunate are concerned.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II, Part 79

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