USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II > Part 84
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On the 21st of December, 1911, Mr. Lowe was united in marriage to Miss Alta Kerr and to them have been born two children: George H., Jr., whose birth oc- curred in May, 1916; and Ralph J., who was born in June, 1918.
Mr. Lowe has always given his political allegiance to the republican party and is now serving as chairman of the republican county central committee. He does Vol. II-45
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everything in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of his party and he is equally loyal as a supporter of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been stake superintendent of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association of the Yellowstone stake, chairman of the stake amusement committee and a member of the stake educational committee. During the period of the war he did active work in support of those measures which were of most vital impor- tance to the government. He was the first vice chairman of the County Council of Defense, was a member of the executive committee of the Red Cross, was chair- man of the third Red Cross roll call, was county chairman of the war savings com- mittee and filled various other positions that contributed to the welfare of the country and the support of the troops in the field.
ELI L. LARSON.
Eli L. Larson, president and founder of the Boise Ice & Produce Company, who since 1899 has been a resident of the capital city, was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, August 1, 1867. His parents, John and Caroline (Ramstrong) Larson, were both natives of Sweden and the latter is a representative of a very prominent fam- ily of that country. They became acquainted, however, in the new world and were married in Salt Lake City. John Larson came to the United States in 1850 and at once made his way to the west, spending his remaining days at Salt Lake City, where he engaged in farming and in the live stock business, his death occurring there about twenty-five years ago. His widow survives and now makes her home with a married daughter in Los Angeles, California.
Eli L. Larson was reared in the place of his nativity and acquired a high school education there, being graduated with the class of 1885. He at once went to Butte, Montana, where he spent about sixteen years in the grocery business, first as a clerk for several years and later as owner of a store. He removed from Butte to Boise in 1899 and established a retail grocery house in this city, continuing in the trade successfully until 1912, when he sold out. In the meantime, or in 1910, he had organized and incorporated the Boise Ice & Produce Company and began business at the corner of South Ninth and Myrtle streets. He has since continued active in this line as president and manager of the business and throughout the in- tervening period has practically given his entire attention to its development and upbuilding, closing out his grocery interests in 1912. The Boise Ice & Produce Company is now one of the city's leading wholesale and manufacturing concerns, capitalized for fifty thousand dollars, and from the beginning the trade has steadily increased. Associated with Mr. Larson in the undertaking is E. J. Davis, who is the secretary and treasurer of the company. The ice plant, built in 1910, has a daily capacity of thirty-five tons. The building occupied by the company is a two-story brick and basement structure, sixty-five by one hundred and forty feet, and its equipment is thoroughly modern and splendidly qualified for the conduct of the interests of the house.
On the 16th of November, 1894, Mr. Larson was married in Butte, Montana. to Miss Isabelle Grimm, who passed away in Boise in 1909, leaving two sons, both now in the military service of the United States in France. The elder, Carol, twen- ty-two years of age. is a machinist in the aviation department, and Leonard, a youth of nineteen, is now serving with the rank of corporal in the quartermaster's de- partment, hoth sons having volunteered for service with the colors. On the 12th of- January, 1912, Mr. Larson was again married, his second union being with Miss Maude Dickinson, of Boise, and they have a daughter, Robena, born December 18, 1917.
Mr. Larson is a member of the Boise Commercial Club and is interested in all "of the plans and purposes of that organization in connection with the development and upbuilding of the city, with the extension of its trade relations and the up- holding of its civic standards. His political allegiance is given to the republican party where national issues and questions are involved, but at local elections he casts an independent ballot nor has he ever been a candidate for office. Fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and his life accords with the teachings of those societies.
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In fact his entire career measures up to high standards of manhood and citizenship, while his business record indicates what can be accomplished through individual effort intelligently directed.
ALBERT L. SPRINGER.
Albert L. Springer is the secretary-treasurer of the Springer Hardware Company of Boise and thus a well known figure in the commercial circles of the city. He was born in Ontario, Canada, October 19, 1873, and was reared upon a Canadian farm. He acquired a good high school and business college education and in early life learned bookkeeping, becoming familiar with that branch hefore attaining his majority. While still a youth in his teens he arrived in Boise, where his elder brother, Dr. W. D. Springer, was then residing. He was a well known physician of the capital who passed away October 19, 1909. It was the year 1892 that witnessed the first arrival of Albert L. Springer in Boise and since that time he has made his home either in this city or in Nampa and has continuously been identified with the hardware trade. He first became familiar with the business as an employe of the firm of Loree & Franz and remained with the house through successive changes in ownership, as indicated by the firm styles of Loree & Swain, J. K. Loree & Son and Loree, Eastman & Teller. After twelve years' residence in Nampa as manager of the branch hardware store of Loree & Swain he came to Boise in 1910.
The Springer Hardware Company came into existence on the 23rd of January, 1917, as the successors of the S. M. Coffin Hardware Company, of which Mr. Springer had been the secretary and treasurer for three years prior to January, 1917. The S. M. Coffin Hardware Company had succeeded to the business of J. K. Loree & Son, who had founded the establishment many years before. It is really one of the old commercial concerns of Boise. The present officers of the Springer Hardware Company are Dr. J. S. Springer, president, and Albert L. Springer, secretary-treas- urer and general manager. The business has assumed large proportions under the careful direction of Mr. Springer, whose long experience in commercial circles has made him well aware of the value of close application, indefatigable energy and enterprise.
On the 25th of June, 1903, Mr. Springer was married to Miss Agnes McKee, a native of Pennsylvania, and they have become parents of a daughter and a son, Margaret and Edwin, aged respectively fourteen and ten years and both are pupils in the public schools of Boise, the daughter being now a sophomore in the high school.
Mr. Springer belongs to the Boise Commercial Club, also to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and to the Woodmen of the World. In politics he maintains an independent course. While at Nampa he served for three years as city clerk but has never sought nor held other political office. He has always preferred to give undivided time and attention to his business affairs and step by step through an orderly progression he has reached a most creditable position as a representative of mercantile interests in Boise.
HOWARD E. CAMPBELL.
Howard E. Campbell, secretary-treasurer of the Union Seed & Fuel Company of Boise, came to Idaho with his parents from Oregon in 1878, when a lad of but nine years. The width of the continent, however, separates him from his birthplace, for he was born in New Haven, Connecticut, October 8, 1869. His parents were William O. and Clara (Little) Campbell. His father was born in the state of New York, January 11, 1831, and was descended from those Scotch people who lived in the north of Ireland. He was a cabinet maker and wagon maker by trade. He came to Idaho in 1878 and was in charge of the government Indian schools at Kamiah and Lapwai, Idaho, for five years. In 1893 he removed from Moscow to Boise and spent the remainder of his days in the capital city. Under two administrations of Governor McConnell he served for four years as custodian of the Idaho state house. He was a warm personal friend of Governor McConnell, who was also from Moscow,
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Idaho. The death of Mr. Campbell occurred June 26, 1916. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Clara Little, still resides in Boise, where she is most widely and favorably known. She was one of the first three women who served in the Idaho legislature. She is descended in the maternal line from an old American family represented in the Revolutionary war. Her mother's maiden name was Woodard and the original ancestor of that family in America came over in the second ship to reach the New England shores, this being the first vessel that reached an American harbor after the Mayflower.
Howard E. Campbell, whose name introduces this review, was the second in order of birth in a family of three sons. He spent five years of his youth on the Nez Perce Indian reservation, during which time his father was in charge of the government school. He has been engaged in mercantile pursuits practically throughout his entire life. He made his initial step in that direction as a clerk in the McConnell-McGuire Company's store at Moscow in 1892 and after his removal to Boise in 1894 became associated with the Falk Mercantile Company, having charge of their wholesale warehouse. Later he clerked in the grocery department of that firm and in 1899 he emharked in business on his own account as one of the owners of the Buckeye Grocery Company but sold his interest in that undertaking in 1901. He afterward spent a few years in eastern Idaho and a few more in the vicinity of Moscow, where his attention was devoted to the occupation of farming. Later he clerked for the David & Ely Company, general merchants of Moscow, and in 1911 he returned to Boise, where he purchased an interest in the Union Seed & Fuel Com- pany, of which he has since been the secretary and treasurer. This has become an important business enterprise of the city and Mr. Campbell by close application, sound judgment and enterprise has contributed in no small measure to the develop- ment of the trade.
On the 5th of November, 1893, Mr. Campbell was married to Miss Myrtle A. Rawson, a native of Iowa, and they have four children, two sons and two daughters: Harlan C., who is a photographer and is married and has one child, Raymond Laddie Campbell; Gladys R .; Donald L .; and Helen.
Mr. Campbell is identified with the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the First Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is one of the trustees. In politics he is a republican yet votes for men and measures rather than party. He is a stanch advocate of prohibition principles, which he has sup- ported throughout his entire life, and he is a member of the executive committee of the Idaho Anti-Saloon League, which is now witnessing the fulfillment of its fondest dreams-nation-wide prohibition. The aid and influence of Mr. Campbell have ever been given on the side of progress and improvement and in support of those things which make for the uplift of the individual and the betterment of the community at large.
HON. CARL J. MILLER.
Hon. Carl J. Miller, well known as a representative farmer and wool grower, mak- ing his home at Castleford, Idaho, has spent his entire life in the Pacific northwest, his birth having occurred at Joseph, Wallowa county, Oregon, October 28, 1888. His parents were Peter J. and Elsa (Jensen) Miller, both natives of Denmark. The mother died in 1890 when her son, Carl J., was but two years of age. The father, who was a pioneer settler of Oregon, died in Spokane, Washington, in 1919, at the age of sixty-eight years. For an extended period he devoted his time and attention to the occupation of farming but afterward lived retired.
Carl J. Miller spent the days of his boyhood and youth in Oregon and in Wash- ington and after completing a high school course he attended Whitman College at Walla Walla. In early manhood he was employed in the Walla Walla postoffice for a period of four years, occupying various positions in that connection. In 1910 he came to Idaho, settling in Twin Falls county, and through the intervening period he has made steady progress in a business way as a wheat and sheep raiser and general farmer. He is the owner of four hundred acres of valuable land and annually produces large crops of wheat and hay, for which he finds a ready and profitable sale. He is likewise one of the leading representatives of the sheep industry in this section of the
CARL J. MILLER
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state. He has at the present writing ten thousand sheep. There is no phase of the business with which he is not thoroughly familiar and his affairs are most wisely and carefully conducted, so that he is now reaping the rewards of earnest, persistent and intelligently directed effort.
On the 18th of September, 1912, in Buhl, Idaho, Mr. Miller was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Margaret Stewart, a native of Washington. They have two children: Marjorie, who was born August 18, 1914; and Stewart, born in 1920. Fraternally Mr. Miller is a Mason and Shriner, belonging to El Karah Temple, of Boise, and he is also a member of the Elks. In his political views he is a republican, having stanchly supported the party since reaching adult age. His first activity as an office seeker, however, was put forth in the fall of 1918, when he became a candidate for the house of representatives on the republican ticket. He was elected by a good majority and as a member of the legislature is serving on the appropriations, irrigation and reclam- ation committees. He is thus concerned with .important measures having much to do with the development, npbuilding and substantial prosperity of the state.
HARRY J. SYMS.
Harry J. Syms, president of the Syms-York Company, Incorporated, conduct- ing a large printing establishment and bindery in Boise, has made his home in Idaho since 1889, when he removed from San Francisco to this state. He was born in New Zealand, July 6, 1866, a son of Henry J. and Mary (Kenny) Syms, who were natives of England and of Ireland respectively. They were married in Australia, becoming residents of New Zealand in 1860. The father was a steamboat pilot and died in New Zealand in 1910, while the mother survived until June, 1917. Both were in the seventies when called to their final rest.
Harry J. Syms is the only son of the family and its only representative in the United States. He was reared and educated in New Zealand, pursuing a high school course, after which he learned the printer's trade, and becoming a journey- man, was thus employed for several years, during which time he visited various sections of the world, including the Fiji Islands, the Hawaiian Islands, Australia and various other points. In 1888 he came to the United States, landing at San Francisco, where he spent a year as an employe on the San Francisco Call. In 1889 he removed to Idaho and for five years resided at Shoshone, where he pur- chased and conducted the Shoshone Journal, a weekly paper. He then removed to Caldwell, Idaho, where he was associated with the late Reese Davis on the Caldwell Tribune as city editor. He continued to act in that capacity until the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, when he volunteered for active service and became a first lieutenant of Company A of the First Idaho Regiment, with which he served for a year and a half in the Philippines, being honorably dis- charged in 1899.
Mr. Syms then returned to this state and for a year lived in Boise, after which he removed to Mountain Home, where he owned and conducted the Moun- tain Home Republican. He returned to Boise, however, to become register of the United States land office, through appointment of President Theodore Roose- velt, and continued to serve for four years. In 1906 he became one of the founders and incorporators of the Syms-York Company, of which he has since been the president. This company has the largest printing and binding establish- ment in the state of Idaho and conducts a general printing and bindery business, the plant occupying the greater portion of the five-story Elks Temple. Its equip- ment is modern to the last detail. A large part of its patronage comes from out- side Boise. The company supplies offices, banks, railroads and business concerns of every kind with all sorts of printed matter, forms and blanks and its line also embraces steel filing cabinets and various other office fixtures and equipment. Mr. Syms and his associates in business have closely studied the demands of the trade and by progressive methods have been able to supply every need of their patrons.
In 1892, at Shoshone, Idaho, Mr. Syms was married to Miss Florence Annis Brown, the only daughter of the late Judge J. C. Brown, of that place. They have become parents of two daughters, Florence Erma and Dorothy Annis, aged respectively twenty-two and eleven years ..
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Mr. Syms is an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity, being a past commander of Idaho Commandery, No. 1, Knights of Templar, and he is a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He belongs to the Boise Commercial Club the Boise Rotary Club and the Country Club and he finds his chief recreation in golf. He is likewise a member of the Spanish-American War Veterans and in politics he is a republican. It is well known that he is a loyal supporter of any cause which he espouses, that he is a public-spirited citizen, a progressive and resourceful business man and one whose life in all relations measures up to high standards. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Episcopal church.
ROSCOE L. BIGLER.
Roscoe L. Bigler, a druggist of Rexburg, where he is conducting a substantial business, was born June 2, 1889, in the city where he still resides, his parents being Henry J. and Harriet A. (Lemon) Bigler, who are natives of Utah. The father was a dealer in horses in Utah and in 1885 removed to Rexburg, purchasing land near the city. This he brought under a high state of cultivation and he also developed and improved other farms for several years. He afterward devoted ten years to the livery business in Rexburg and then again took up the occupation of farming, cultivating land at the present time in Fremont county, where he and his wife reside.
Roscoe L. Bigler was reared and educated in Rexburg, attending the Ricks Academy, in which he pursued a commercial course. He started out in his business career as an employe of the Rexburg Drug Company, with which he remained for seven years, while later he spent three years in the employ of the City Drug Company. In January, 1915, he opened a modern drug store in Rexburg and has since con- ducted it. He carries a large and well selected line of drugs and druggists' sundries and is accorded a liberal patronage. His store is neatly and tastefully arranged and he puts forth every effort to please his patrons.
In April, 1909, Mr. Bigler was married to Miss Elsie V. Dewsnup and to them has been born a daughter, Eva, whose birth occurred July 4, 1912. The religious faith of the parents is that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Politically Mr. Bigler is a republican.
ED M. McGUFFIN.
Ed M. McGuffin, vice president of the Central Coal & Seed Company of Boise, was born in Claysville, Pennsylvania, April 13, 1867, the youngest child of Joseph and Rebecca (Craig) McGuffin, who were of Irish and Scotch descent respectively, the mother being a member of the Craig family that numbers many prominent representatives throughout the United States, including Hon. John Craig, congress- man from Keokuk, Iowa, for many years.
Ed M. McGuffin was reared in Illinois and Iowa from the age of two years, for at that time his parents removed from Pennsylvania to Illinois and seven years later established their home in Creston, Iowa. He has lived in Idaho since February, 1898, when he removed from Creston to Boise and throughout the intervening period, covering twenty-one years, he has made his home in Ada county. For several years he lived on the old McCarty Mill ranch, at what is now called Strawberry Glen, five miles west of Boise, but since 1907 has continuously made his home in the capital city at No. 1810 West State street. From 1898 until 1915 he was engaged in the live stock business and in ranching, conducting his live stock dealings on an extensive and profitable scale. For many years he also owned and conducted a large sale stable at the corner of Thirteenth and Grove streets in Boise, doing a business of from sixty to one hundred thousand dollars a year. He dealt in horses and cattle and made extensive shipments of cattle to eastern markets and of horses to southern markets. He finally purchased an interest in the Central Coal & Seed Company in 1915 and has since been its vice president. This concern is the successor of two former Boise business enterprises, namely, the Central Commission Company and the Boise Commission Company, the two being combined and incorporated into
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the Central Coal & Seed Company on the 1st of January, 1916. Mr. McGuffin bought out the Boise Commission Company from James Hanley in September, 1915, and at the same time his brother, W. H. McGuffin, was the owner of the Central Com- mission Company of Boise. The two brothers therefore combined their interests under the name of the Central Coal & Seed Company on the date mentioned, at which time W. H. McGuffin became president and Ed M. McGuffin vice president, while the latter's eldest son, Donald E., became the secretary and treasurer of the company. He afterward retired, however, and was succeeded by George Hulbert, who now occupies that office. This concern handles all kinds of feed, seed and fuel.
On the 24th of July, 1888, Mr. McGuffin was married in Creston, Iowa, to Miss Iza Spear 'and they have become parents of two sons and three daughters: Letha Gene, now the wife of R. C. Havird, of Ada county; Donald E., who is married and lives in Portland, Oregon; Myrtle Marie; Eugene Joseph; and Iza Rebecca.
Mr. McGuffin is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World. His political support is given to the democratic party but he has never sought or held office. His activity has been directed along business lines for many years in Ada county and personal effort and merit have brought him to his present enviable position.
HARRY E. DALTON.
Harry E. Dalton, general manager of the Boise Valley Traction Company, was born in the province of Ontario, Canada, in April, 1868, the place of his nativity being London, Middlesex county. He is descended in both the paternal and maternal lines from English ancestry, although both families were founded in Canada at an early day and have been prominently represented in connection with civil, military and public affairs of the Dominion. His father, Henry Dalton, was connected with the postal service of Canada for a number of years and passed away in London, where he had long resided, in 1889, at the age of forty-six. He was a faithful member of the Church of England, as was his wife, who sur- vived him for a number of years, passing away in 1901, at the age of fifty-eight. The latter bore the maiden name of Emma Summers.
Harry E. Dalton began his education in the public schools of his native city and afterward attended an academy there, from which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1886. He started upon his business career in a clerical position in the offices of the Grand Trunk Railway at London, Ontario. Industry and fidelity won him promotion from time to time during the seven years' period in which he remained with that corporation. He left the service of the Grand Trunk in 1893 and removed to Akron, Ohio, where he secured employment with an electric railway company, assisting in the construction of the lines of that corporation and remaining in its employ for eight years. This period served to give him broad and practical knowledge concerning the building and operation of electric lines and thereafter he was actively engaged in the construction of electric railway systems in Kentucky and Indiana, including the Georgetown & Lexington Traction Company, the Louisville & Southern Indiana Traction Com- pany, the Georgetown & Portsmouth Traction Company and the Indianapolis & Louisville Traction Company. In March, 1908, he came to Boise and entered upon his present position as general manager of the Boise Valley Traction Com- pany. To this position he brought broad experience and most intimate knowledge of every feature of the business and he has since bent his energies to administrative direction and executive control. He has made the service indeed a "public utility," putting forth every possible effort to make the system serve the public needs, and at the same time he carefully safeguards the interests of the stockholders in the organization, maintaining that even balance between public and private interests which is one of the foundation stones of honorable business success. Mr. Dalton has also made judicious investments in real estate in Boise and vicinity and from his property holdings derives a substantial annual income.
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