History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II, Part 89

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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Since the above was written Father Purcell, after long and fruitful labors at Coeur d'Alene, was obliged to leave that church on account of ill health. He resigned on the 30th of May, 1913, and being presented by some of the prominent citizens of Idaho with a new eighteen hundred dollar car, he started that summer for Mexico, driving the entire distance. On his return to this state he took charge of the church at Mul- lan, November 13, 1913, and there built a new church and home at a cost of fourteen thousand dollars, the church being dedicated on the 14th of November, 1914. He had charge of the parishes of Mullan and Kellogg until October 1, 1918, when he removed to Wallace. In the meantime he had also built a new church at Kellogg costing eight thousand dollars. On the 8th of January, 1918, he took charge of the church at Idaho Falls and built a new church and school there at a cost of forty thousand dollars, the church being dedicated by Bishop Gorman on the 13th of February, 1920. He has al- ways labored untiringly for the interests of his church and receives the hearty sup- port and cooperation of the people of the Catholic faith wherever he has been stationed.

LEWIS OBERMEYER.

The recognition and utilization of opportunity has ever constituted a charac- teristic in the business record of Lewis Obermeyer and his three brothers, Henry, William and John. All four have gained prominence as the result of this char- acteristic by becoming leading growers of melons, grapes and peaches on the south slope of Emmett. They make extensive shipments and their business interests are bringing to them most gratifying returns.

Lewis Obermeyer was born in Kendall county, Illinois, December 13, 1888, and is the third of the four brothers whose parents were Henry and Mary (Linz)

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Obermeyer. The father was born in Germany, April 10, 1846, and when a young man of twenty years crossed the Atlantic to the United States in 1866. He was married in Galena, Illinois, on the 19th of June, 1881, to Miss Mary Linz, who was born in Coblenz, Germany, December 11, 1855. She crossed the Atlantic in 1880 and at Galena, Illinois, became acquainted with Henry Obermeyer, who sought her hand in marriage, the wedding being celebrated the following year. Mr. Obermeyer' was a cigar maker by trade and for several years conducted a cigar factory at Naperville, Illinois. To him and his wife were born five children, the four sons previously mentioned and an only daughter, Caroline, who was born April 2, 1882, and is now the wife of C. W. Boplin, of Rockford, Illinois. All of the sons are mentioned individually in this work and all now reside near Emmett, having come from Illinois to Idaho several years ago. Through the intervening period they have become leading fruit and melon growers of Idaho, their activities in this direction exceeding those of any other producers in the state. Their melons are now famed throughout the northwest and they are called the melon kings of Idaho. They make extensive shipments to Montana, Wyoming and other states and ship only in carload lots. Not only do they produce melons of superior size and flavor but also some of the finest peaches and grapes raised in this section of the country. The parents followed the sons to Idaho in 1914 and the father died Octo- ber 27, 1915, while the mother is now living with her youngest son, John. The other three brothers are all married.

Lewis Obermeyer was married June 30, 1911, to Miss Milbrey Ewing, and to them have been born two children, Lewis, Jr., and Jack Walter. Lewis Obermeyer and his wife, like the others of the family, are well known socially in Gem county and all are held in the highest esteem.

WILLIAM C. LANGROISE.

Every community has its leading and representative citizens, those who largely control its interests and promote the welfare and upbuilding of the district. Among this number at Emmett is William C. Langroise, one of the leading mer- chants and business men, now conducting a splendid grocery in the Monroe block, at the corner of Main and Washington streets. He was born in a mining camp in Boise county called Granite Creek, July 24, 1873, his parents being Prosper and Catherine (Carroll) Langroise, both of whom were of American birth but of French descent, and the latter was also of Irish lineage. Prosper Langroise was a cabinetmaker by trade which he followed in connection with mining after coming to Idaho. He passed away in 1885. The widowed mother survived for several years but has now departed this life. They were early settlers of Boise county, closely identified with its pioneer development.

William C. Langroise was largely reared at Placerville, Idaho. His educa- tional opportunities were only such as the primitive schools of Idaho at that time afforded. When he was a lad of twelve the family removed to Portland, Oregon, the father having already passed away, after which the mother took her children to the Rose City. In 1889, however, they returned to Idaho, settling at Emmett, where the mother's death afterward occurred. A younger brother of William Langroise is James Langroise, a traveling salesman, representing a dry goods house of Los Angeles, California, so that William C. Langroise is the only one now le- maining in Emmett. He learned the printer's trade while in Portland and there attended school for a year. After the removal of the family to Emmett in 1889 he worked upon a farm and in a sawmill and did various other kinds of labor that would yield him an honest living until he reached the age of nineteen, when he secured employment in a grocery store. He has since been identified with the grocery trade of Emmett, covering a period of more than a quarter of a century, and for more than ten years has conducted a grocery establishment on his own account. He opened his store in the Monroe block in 1909 and has an attratcive and carefully arranged store, modern in every respect. He carries an excellent line of staple and fancy groceries and his patronage is very gratifying.

On the 11th of August, 1896, Mr. Langroise was married at Emmett to Miss Idaho May Riggs, who was here born May 7, 1879, a daughter of Henry C. Riggs, a pioneer of Idaho. Mr. and Mrs. Langroise have three children: William H., who

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was horn September 4, 1898, and is now a law student in the University of Idaho; Norma Fay, born August 24, 1900, a student in the music department of the Uni- versity of Idaho; and Hazel Marguerite, who was horn January 21, 1903, and is a senior in the Emmett high school.

Fraternally Mr. Langroise is an Odd Fellow, is a past grand of the local lodge and also belongs to the Modern Woodmen. He is a typical American citizen, alive to the best interests of the community in which he resides and supporting at all times those plans and measures which he deems of value to the district in which he resides, while in the conduct of his business affairs he employs the progressive methods which eventually lead to success.

GEORGE D. STAFFORD.

George D. Stafford, who is fast approaching the eightieth milestone on life's journey, is a well known farmer of Canyon county, living near Notus. He was born in Indiana, February 24, 1840. His father, John Stafford, was a native of Kentucky, horn in May, 1802, and following his marriage he went with his wife to Indiana, where he engaged in farming until 1845. He then removed to Iowa and devoted his at- tention to farming about eight miles from Davenport, there residing until 1874, when he and his son, George D., went to Kansas, where the latter farmed, the father residing with him until his death, which occurred in 1876. The mother bore the maiden name of Nancy Dixon and was a native of Georgia. She passed away in Iowa in 1853.

Six years later, or in 1859, when nineteen years of age, George D. Stafford started for Pike's Peak, Colorado, in company with a brother and another young man. They were attracted hy the discovery of gold in that region, but the reports which they received of the place as they journeyed along were so discouraging that they turned back. In 1860, however, on account of ill health, the doctor ordered Mr. Stafford to go to Pike's Peak and he made the trip by ox team, being about sixty days on the way. He was located near Breckenridge, Colorado, where he remained until October of that year, and with health much improved he returned to Iowa. In 1861 his health again failed and the following year, in company with his cousin, Joseph Morgan, and a school- mate, H. P. Mason, he went to Smithton, Missouri, about sixty miles north of St. Joseph, and there outfitted with four ponies, one of which was blind, and a wagon and started to cross the plains to Oregon. A government escort took them as far west as Green River, Wyoming, after which they traveled on alone without trouble until they reached a point about two hundred and fifty miles west of Salt Lake City. They had met a Wisconsin party that had fine horses and mules and with whom they traveled. One night the Indians stole all the horses, leaving, however, the rest of the stock, This left Mr. Stafford and his friends without means of further travel. Their Wisconsin friends left them at a stage station and they had plenty of food in their wagon. The stage company was building a new road at that time and gave the boys work on the construction of the road. In the meantime Colonel Conner of California came along with five hundred head of beef cattle, which he was taking to Fort Douglas, Utah. He camped at the point where Mr. Stafford and his companions were and sent out word to the Indians to return all the stolen horses they had in their possession. Among the horses which the Indians brought in were the four ponies belonging to Mr. Stafford and his friends. They then went on their way rejoicing, for they were each sixty dollars better off for having done construction work at that camp.

When they reached Carson City, Nevada, they traded the wagon and harness for saddles and Mr. Stafford and Joseph Morgan proceeded to Ashland, Oregon, while H. H. Mason remained in Carson City. It is a notable fact that all three of these pioneers are living today, Mr. Morgan making his home sixty miles north of St. Jo- seph, Missouri, while Mr. Mason is in Salt Lake City.

When Mr. Stafford reached Ashland he went to work getting out timbers to build a barn at one dollar per day, while his cousin worked at herding sheep for the same sum. They were there employed until May, 1863, and Mr. Stafford accepted steers for his pay. The two young men then engaged to drive cattle to The Dalles, Oregon, for which they each received thirty dollars and with this they bought flour and packed it on horses to Placerville, Idaho. They then packed from Umatilla, Oregon, to the Boise basin of Idaho for two years and afterward bought wagons and oxen and en- gaged in freighting for two years more. In 1867 Mr. Stafford returned to Iowa by

MR. AND MRS. GEORGE D. STAFFORD

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water route and the Isthmus of Panama. He was then a resident of the middle west for some years but in 1881 removed from Kansas to Idaho, settling at Boise. In Sep- tember of the same year he bought two hundred and thirty acres on the Boise river, a half mile south of his present place, and is still owner of about fifteen acres of that tract. In February, 1882, he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres across the road from his present residence and where his son is now engaged in farming. Mr. Stafford afterward purchased the place of eighty acres upon which he now resides, becoming owner thereof in 1898. He was one of the early dairymen of Idaho and very successfully conducted that business. He has now practically retired and his son, D. M., operates both farms and raises registered shorthorn cattle, both roans and white, also some hogs, sheep and horses. He likewise has some fine milch cows.

On the 15th of September, 1869, Mr. Stafford was married to Anna Parkhurst, of Iowa, whose parents were from the state of New York and went to Iowa in 1835, set- tling at Le Claire, which town was originally called Parkhursttown, being named in honor of her grandfather, Sterling Parkhurst. Mrs. Stafford came to Idaho with her husband in 1881. They are parents of six children. Louis V., forty-nine years of age, is a farmer and dairyman who married Leonora Burnett, of Colorado, and has three children: Jesse, Edna and Alice. Carrie M. is the wife of H. I. Mclaughlin and the mother of five children: Marvin W., who enlisted for service in the world war; Edith, who is attending college at Caldwell; Sidney; Anna; and Harvey. Ida M. is the wife of S. K. Collins, a farmer living east of Nampa. Jessie married S. G. Tucker, a farmer of Tendavis, Idaho, by whom she has four children: George Newton, Grace S., Anna and Dudley Grant. Dudley, the next of the family, married Ethel Clement. Mary E., the youngest, is the wife of Bert Smart and has one child, Frank Merritt.

The stories of frontier life and experience are matters of personal knowledge to G. D. Stafford, who for more than a half century has been identified with the develop- ment of the west at various points between the Mississippi and the coast. He is keenly interested in all that has led to the development and progress of the districts in which he has lived and he has contributed in substantial measure to the agricultural develop- ment of Canyon county, where he is now a valuable and venerable citizen-one whose well spent life commands for him the respect and goodwill of all with whom he has been brought in contact.

ROBERT E. ROSE, D. D. S.

Dr. Robert E. Rose, who has been actively engaged in the practice of den- tistry at Emmett since 1911, was for sixteen years prior to that date a member of the profession in Missouri and in Iowa, so that he brought broad experience to the starting point of his professional career in Idaho. He was born at Dexter, Iowa, September 18, 1872, and is a son of the Rev. James A. C. Rose, a clergyman of the United Brethren church, who also followed the occupation of farming. He was born in Kentucky, April 19, 1830, and was married March 20, 1855, to Helen S. Wilson, who was born near Jacksonville, Illinois, October 29, 1837. They were parents of six children, five sons and a daughter, of whom Dr. Rose is the youngest. Three sons and the daughter are living, the two brothers of the Doctor being Harry W. Rose, a Presbyterian minister at Mountain Grove, Missouri; and Rev. W. W. Rose, district superintendent for the Free Methodist church, located at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The sister is Mrs. Laura E. Beem, of Winterset, Iowa. The father died in Missouri in 1905, at the age of seventy-five years, and the mother passed away at the home of her son Robert in Emmett, December 30, 1915, at the age of seventy-eight years, after having resided with him for eight years.

Dr. Rose was reared on a farm near Corning, Iowa, and secured a public school education, after which he studied dentistry for two years in the Iowa State University and in 1894 entered the Philadelphia Dental College, from which he was graduated in 1895. He then practiced dentistry at Atlantic and at Guthrie Center, Iowa, from 1895 until 1901, when he removed to Mountain Grove, Missouri, where he continued until 1909. For a brief period he practiced at Eureka, Utah, and since 1911 has been a representative of the dental profession at Emmett, where he has built up an extensive practice, and his high professional standing is indicated in the fact that he was honored with election to the presidency of the Idaho State Dental Society. He keeps in touch with the trend of modern thought and progress Vol. II-48

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and is quick to adopt any new scientific principle or method which his judgment sanctions as of real worth in actual practice.

On the 31st of March, 1896, at Guthrie Center, Iowa, Dr. Rose was married to Laura B. Kester, who was there born June 8, 1877. She was educated in her native state and taught school prior to her marriage. They now have three chil- dren: Helen L., born April 14, 1898; Donald G., February 11, 1900; and Alice H., January 13, 1904. The only son, when but eighteen years of age, volunteered for service in the World war in July, 1918, was accepted and assigned to the motor transport service at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was stationed when the war ended, receiving his discharge May 25, 1919. He is a graduate of the Emmett high school, Helen is a graduate of the Willamette University of Oregon and Alice was graduated from the high school of Emmett in 1920.

Dr. Rose has long been a stalwart champion of the good roads movement and for four years has been a member of the good roads committee of the Emmett Commercial Club, of which he was formerly president and was again elected in 1920. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and he was at one time mayor of Emmett, giving to the city a businesslike and progressive adminis- tration. He belongs to the First Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is one of the trustees and also a member of the financial board. His life has ever been characterized by high and honorable principles, by advanced ideals in his profession and by devotion to duty in every relation.

JOHN LEROY DAYLEY.

Business enterprise at Buhl finds a worthy representative in John Leroy Day- ley, who is there conducting a drug store. He is, moreover, one of the native sons of Idaho, his birth having occurred at Oakley on the 6th of May, 1888. He is a son of Thomas J. and Matilda A. (Martindale) Dayley and while spending his youthful days under the parental roof he attended the public schools at Oakley and then went to Chicago to enter the Northwestern University, in which he pur- sued a pharmaceutical course. He was there graduated in 1909 and returned to Oakley, where he engaged in clerking in a drug store until 1915, when he came to Buhl and entered into partnership with Ross Elison in the ownership and conduct of a drug store. That association was maintained for three years, on the expira- tion of which period Mr. Dayley purchased a store in connection with Leonard Detrick and they are still associated in business. Their trade has reached gratify- ing proportions, owing to their enterprising methods and their earnest desire to please their customers.

In 1909 Mr. Dayley was united in marriage to Miss Lucile Dahlquist, a native of Utah and a daughter of William and Clara Dahlquist. They now have one child, Joe.

Mr. Dayley votes with the democratic party and fraternally he is connected with the Masons and the Knights of Pythias. Both he and his wife are well known in Buhl and are accorded an enviable position in social circles, while the hospitality of their own home is greatly enjoyed by their many friends. Mr. Dayley is inter- ested in all matters pertaining to the welfare and progress of the community in which he lives and at the same time is a most active and energetic business man, whose Main street establishment is a credit to the city.

F. L. LITTLER.

Investigation will indicate that many of Nampa's residents have come here because of the healthful condition of the climate and the country, and not only have they found what they sought in this connection hut have likewise found the opportunity for the establishment and conduct of profitable business interests. Such has been the record of F. L. Littler, who removed to Nampa because of his wife's health and who has made for himself a creditable place in industrial circles. He was born in Iowa, March 4, 1875, and there attended the graded schools, while later he completed a business course in Des Moines, Iowa, at the age of twenty-one

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years. He then took up the business of contracting, which he followed in Iowa for eight years, and through the succeeding four years he was engaged in both contracting and mill work at Klamath Falls, Oregon. The condition of his wife's health caused his removal in 1916 to Nampa, Idaho, and here he became con- nected with industrial interests under the name of the Nampa Planing Mills, being thus engaged in the manufacture of window frames, sash, doors, cabinet work and furniture until he sold out the business in June, 1919. He did everything in the way of mill work and recently completely outfitted three ranch houses from ironing boards to the most finished products of cabinet work. He furnished all of the boxes used by the produce firm of Frye & Company and his annual output amounted to about eight thousand dollars. His product was shipped to a considera- ble extent to western Idaho and he employed from one to three people. His raw material was all home product, the timber being grown in Idaho with the excep- tion of the red cedar which was used for water tanks and which came from Ore- gon. In the near future Mr. Littler is planning to build a thoroughly modern mill at Payette and will engage in a general milling business and box factory work. On the 3d of July, 1913, Mr. Littler was married to Miss Eva P. Cartwright, of Payette, Idaho, who was born, however, in Iowa. They have one son, Claude Ernest, four years of age. The parents are widely and favorably known in Nampa, having gained many friends during the period of their residence here, and Mr. Littler has become widely recognized as an important factor in connection with the productive industries of the city.

HOMER G. PATTERSON, D. D. S.

Dr. Homer G. Patterson, practicing dentistry in Boise, came to Idaho thirty- one years ago from Portland, Oregon, and in 1900 removed from Hailey to the capital city. His first location on reaching the state, however, was at Bellevue and subsequent removals brought him to the capital, where since the 3d of January, 1901, he has occupied a suite of rooms in the Sonna block. Added experience has continually broadened his knowledge, while at the same time reading and study have greatly enhanced his efficiency.

Dr. Patterson is a native of the Mississippi valley. He was born in the village of Ontario, St. Joseph county, Indiana, October 4, 1862, a son of James H. Pat- terson, a wagon maker by trade, who later became a farmer of Iowa and subse- quently a resident of Oregon. With his removal to the northwest he settled at Hillsboro, where he operated a sawmill, but for more than thirty years he has made his home in the beautiful rose city of Portland. He is still hale and vigorous, although now eighty-two years of age. He was born in the state of New York, January 9, 1837, and was yet a young lad when he accompanied his parents on their removal to northern Indiana, where he was reared. It was in Sturgis, Mich- igan, in 1861, that he wedded Wealthy Jane Foster, who also survives and has now passed the seventy-seventh milestone on life's journey.

Dr. Patterson was a boy of six years when his parents went from Indiana to Albia, Iowa, and after three years there passed the family home was established at Red Oak, Iowa, where much of his youth was spent upon the home farm. He was graduated from the Red Oak high school and with the intention of entering upon a professional career he took up the study of medicine, to which he devoted a year and a half in Red Oak with the intention of becoming a physician. Later, however, he decided to make dentistry his life work and in 1882 began prepara- tion for that calling. It was in the same year that Dr. Patterson was united in marriage to Miss Nettie Orr, of Iowa, and in that year he and his wife accom- panied his parents to San Jose, California, and in 1883 all made their way to Hillsboro, Oregon. Dr. Patterson continued his dental studies both at San Jose, California, and at Hillsboro and afterward further prepared for his professional career by study in Portland, Oregon, becoming a resident of the latter city in 1888. He entered upon the practice of dentistry on his own account at Bellevue, Idaho, in 1889 and there remained for eight years. On the expiration of that period he re- moved to Hailey, where he opened an office and practiced for three years, coming to Boise in 1900. Here through the intervening years he has continuously prac- ticed and has been accorded a large and distinctively representative patronage.

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He has always held to the highest professional standards and is today accounted one of the leading dentists of the state.

In 1900 Dr. Patterson was called upon to mourn the loss of his first wife, who passed away on the 14th of October of that year, leaving four daughters and a son, all of whom are yet living and are married. These are: Bessie L., now the wife of Donald McDonald, of Shelton, Washington; Lena Blanch, the wife of R. C. Little, of Portland, Oregon; Ray H., living at Brazil, Indiana; Lura Idaho, the wife of William Milleman, of.Oakland, California; and Irma, the wife of George Puckett, of Portland, Oregon. Later Dr. Patterson married Belle Mclaughlin, who also passed away. He then wedded Margaret Benbow in the year 1907. The Doctor has three grandchildren: Roscoe H. Patterson, William T. Milleman and Jack Little.

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History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II, Part 89

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