USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume II > Part 90
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Dr. Patterson is a consistent member of the Christian church of Boise and is serving as one of its elders. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and also to the Yeomen. In politics he is a republican and while a resident of Bellevue, Idaho, served as coroner of Logan county and also as a member of the school board and of the town council. While living in Hailey he was chosen to represent his district-Blaine county-in the fifth general assembly of Idaho and he is the father of Idaho's dental laws, having secured the passage of the dental bill while a member of the legislature. He was also appointed a member of the state board of dental examiners by Governor Steunenberg in 1899 and filled the position for two years, after which he was reappointed by Governor Frank Hunt in 1901 and served in all for more than six years, being president of the board throughout that entire time. Since his removal to Boise he has refrained from taking active part in politics, refusing several times to become a candidate for office. He prefers to give his undivided attention to his professional duties, and the thoroughness and efficiency which he displays are the basic elements of a most desirable success.
DAVID D. ALVORD.
One of the attractive, substantial and growing business enterprises of Twin Falls is that conducted under the name of the Idaho Department Store, Limited, of which David D. Alvord is the secretary, treasurer and manager. Early in his career he recog- nized the eternal principle that industry wins and industry has been the beacon light of his life, guiding him to success. Idaho numbers him among her native sons, for his birth occurred in Boise, July 17, 1873, his parents being James H. and May E. (Noggle) Alvord, who are mentioned at length on another page of this work.
The boyhood days of David D. Alvord were passed in his native state, and at the usual age he became a pupil in the public schools, passing through consecutive grades until he had qualified for more advanced training. He afterward attended All Hal- lows College at Salt Lake City and subsequently he became a student in St. James Military Academy at Macon, Missouri. When his textbooks were put aside he accepted a position as clerk with the Moss Mercantile Company of Payette, Idaho, and later was in the employ of the Montie B. Gwinn Mercantile Company at Caldwell, Idaho, for a year. He then removed to Evanston, Wyoming, and was connected with the North & Stone bank as assistant cashier for a period of three years. He next en- tered the employ of the Beeman & Cashin Mercantile Company at Kemmerer. Wyoming, having charge of the branch store at that place as manager for a period of three years. He then returned to Evanston, Wyoming, where he was made manager of the hardware department of the same firm, and his capability and fidelity are indicated in the fact that he continued to serve in that capacity for eight years.
In December, 1906, Mr. Alvord arrived in Twin Falls, Idaho, and accepted a posi- tion with the Idaho Department Store, Limited, of which R. C. Beach is now presi- dent. In 1910 Mr. Alvord became a stockholder in the enterprise and was made one of the board of directors. Later he was elected secretary and treasurer of the com- pany and in 1920 was also appointed manager. He has taken quite an active part in the development of the business, bringing to bear in its conduct the most progres- sive commercial methods, yet his progressiveness is always tempered by that safe conservatism which prevents all unwarranted risk. He is likewise a director of the Twin Falls Dehydrating Company and is also a director of the Idaho Department Store. In business matters he displays sound judgment and unfaltering enterprise
DAVID D. ALVORD
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and readily discriminates between the essential and the non-essential in all ques- tions vital to the conduct of the business affairs in which he is interested.
In 1900 Mr. Alvord was married to Miss Statira Wells, a daughter of John Wells and a native of the state of Washington. The three children of this marriage are May E., David D. and Norman B.
A member of the Masonic fraternity, Mr. Alvord has taken the Knights Templar degree and is a member of the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to Lodge No. 1183, B. P. O E. He is a member of the Episcopal church and in these associations are found the rules which govern his conduct and direct his relations with his fellowmen.
FRITZ C. MADSEN.
Fritz C. Madsen, editor and proprietor of the Teton Valley News of Driggs, was born in Denmark, February 12, 1863. His parents, Mathias and Jensine Madsen, were also natives of that country. The father was a shoemaker and worked at the trade in Denmark throughout his entire life, there passing away in 1909, when he had reached the advanced age of eighty-three years. The mother died in the same year at the age of seventy-two.
The youthful days of Fritz C. Madsen were spent in his native country and his education was acquired in its public schools, which he attended to the age of fourteen, when he began learning the printer's trade. He afterward attended night school and in the school of experience he also learned many valuable lessons. He continued to work at his trade in Denmark until 1884, when at the age of twenty- one years he came to America and again engaged in the printing business, which he followed in various states of the Union. He was in California for a longer period than in any other state up to 1910, when he removed to Idaho, settling at Driggs. Here he purchased the Teton Valley News and has since published the paper. It was not a journal of any force at the time it came into his possession and Mr. Madsen has made it a valuable country paper. He has equipped his office with all the latest machinery, including a linotype machine, and has successfully managed his paper. He likewise has farming interests, including eighty acres of improved land in Teton county which he now leases. He is also a stockholder in the Idaho Coal Mines of Driggs.
In September, 1911, Mr. Madsen was married to Miss Mabel Pearson, by whom he had five children, namely: Fritz Mazel, Carl, Anna, Niles and one who died at birth. Fraternally Mr. Madsen is connected with the Woodmen of the World. He was reared a Lutheran but is now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His political belief is that of the republican party and he is interested in all that pertains to its success and is equally interested in everything that makes for higher ideals in citizenship.
ALVIN W. JUDD, D. D. S.
Dr. Alvin W. Judd is the pioneer dentist of Emmett, where he has practiced his profession continuously and successfully since 1901. He was born on a farm near Weaver, Minnesota, March 20, 1869, his parents being Royal and Wilhelmina (Struntz) Judd. The father, a native of Holyoke, Massachusetts, represented an old New England family of Revolutionary ancestry, the first of the name in this country being one who emigrated from England in 1633. The mother, who was born in Saxony, Germany, came to the United States with her parents in her girl- hood days, the Struntz family crossing the Isthmus of Panama and making their way to California in 1854. Royal Judd had removed to California from Illinois in the early '50s and it was on the 16th of May, 1855, at Downieville, California, that he wedded Miss Wilhelmina Struntz, Subsequently they returned east to Illinois and afterward removed to Wisconsin, while at a still later period they became resi- dents of Minnesota, where Mr. Judd departed this life in 1871. His wife, sur- viving him for three decades, passed away in San Francisco, California, in 1901. They reared a family of six children, three sons and three daughters, all of whom are still living with the exception of one son. Those who survive are as follows:
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Mrs. Eliza Gaestel, a resident of San Francisco, California; Oscar, who makes his home near Weaver, Minnesota; Mrs. Mary Martin, living in North Dakota; Mrs. Jennie Crew, of Long Beach, California; and Alvin W., of this review.
The last named, who is the youngest of the family and the only one living in Idaho, was reared on a Minnesota farm. Having determined upon a professional career, he entered the dental department of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in San Francisco, California, and was graduated therefrom with the class of 1898. For three years he practiced his profession in that city and then removed to Rex- burg, Idaho, where he remained for one year and on the expiration of that period came to Emmett as its pioneer dentist. Here he has remained continuously through the past eighteen years and a most gratifying practice has been accorded him as he has proven his skill and efficiency.
On the 13th of March, 1915, at Emmett, Idaho, Dr. Judd was united in mar- riage to Mrs. Isabel (Rois) Wilson, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, August 26, 1874, representing an old New England family. By her first husband she had one daughter, Lucy Wilson, who is now fifteen years of age.
Fraternally Dr. Judd is a Master Mason and exemplifies in his life the bene- ficent spirit of the craft. He is very fond of fishing, to which he turns for recrea- tion when leisure permits. In every relation of life he has manifested those sterling traits of character which awaken esteem and respect and his position in both pro- fessional and social circles of the community in which he resides is a most enviable one.
MELVIN T. ROWLAND.
Melvin T. Rowland is the vice president and general manager of the Demming Mines Company of Idaho, which has its property about seventy miles south of 'Nampa, in Owyhee county. He is well qualified to have executive control and ad- ministrative direction over a business of this character, for he is regarded as one of the mining experts of the northwest. The property of the Demming Mines Com- pany was discovered and located by C. C. Hedum, J. D. Demming and J. B. Fowler and was taken over by the Demming Mines Company in July, 1916, the officers of the company being: C. T. Payton, of St. Louis, Missouri, president; A. E. Badger, of Detroit, Michigan, secretary and treasurer; L. W. Mills, assistant secretary; W. J. Long, of Detroit, Michigan, second vice president and director; E. A. Drake, of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, a director; W. L. De Remer, of St. Louis, Missouri, as director; E. W. Rowland as director and assistant manager; and Melvin T. Row- land, who is vice president and general manager. The property was discovered . and located in 1907 and is of gold and silver, about even production. The com- pany installed its last carload of machinery in the spring of 1919, thus completing the mill, which was in operation on the 1st of May. The metallurgical tests had previously been made on a commercial basis and from these tests smelter returns of eighteen thousand dollars have been secured. To the present time more than five thousand feet of development work has been completed. The equipment of the mine is modern throughout, and the company has built thirty miles of wagon road and eleven miles of high tension power line, carrying twenty-three thousand voltage. According to the reports of mining engineers who have visited this dis- trict important new discoveries of gold and silver have recently been made of considerable area and richness. This district is out of the ordinary in that the number of fissure veins which intersect these properties are of great width and continuity and carry a primary telluride sulphide ore.
Mr. Rowland is a mining geologist whose knowledge of mines and mining is all that the word expert implies. He has had previous experience, having investi- gated the mining regions of every mining district in the United States, in Canada and in Alaska. He spent nine years in the gold fields of Alaska, having gone there previous to the Klondike discovery, and he was the discoverer of the Nakina river goldfields. His experience in that country alone would make an interesting story of adventure. With all this practical knowledge at his command it is safe to say that he has passed the stage where his judgment is likely to be at fault when he places his stamp of approval upon a mining property. Without doubt the Dem- ming mine will justify his judgment to the benefit of himself and his associates and will prove of inestimable value to the state as a big dividend payer and as a
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large disburser to the wage earner. The Demming Mines Company has recently installed an additional process of converting the gold and silver sulphides to bullion at the mine. If this process is' successful as anticipated it will be of vast benefit to the mining industry of southern Idaho as this section contains a larger tonnage of this class of gold and silver ores than probably any other section of the United States.
NOAH B. BARNES, D. O.
Dr. Noah B. Barnes is a successful osteopathic physician of Emmett and also one of the leading orchardists of Gem county. He came to this state in the fall of 1908 and since about 1912 has been active in the profession of osteopathy here, being accorded a most gratifying practice. His birth occurred at Mexico, Missouri, on the 8th of November, 1874, his parents being Leander and Minerva (Bybee) Barnes. The father, who followed farming throughout his active business career, has now passed away, but the mother still survives and makes her home with her sou, Dr. Barnes.
Noah B. Barnes was reared on a farm near Mexico, Missouri, and in early manhood taught school for a period of seven years. His more advanced education was acquired in the University of Missouri at Columbia and in preparation for the practice of his chosen profession he later entered the American School of Osteopathy at Kirksville, Missouri, from which institution he was graduated in 1904. He be- gan practice at Cleburne, Texas, and thence removed to Trinidad, Colorado, where he remained for six years, coming to Idaho in the fall of 1908. During the first four years of his residence in this state he refrained from professional labors, de- voting all of his time to his horticultural interests in order that he might be out-of- doors, for his health had become impaired by reason of the heavy demands made upon him as a practitioner of Trinidad. In 1910 he planted a forty-acre orchard two miles from Emmett, which is now all in bearing and twenty acres of which he has sold. He offered the remaining half for sale in the spring of 1919 at eight thousand dollars but found no purchaser. This proved to be a stroke of good fortune, for the yield of fruit in the following summer brought him the tidy sum of nine thousand dollars. About 1912, having fully recovered his health, he re- sumed the practice of osteopathy and has since remained at Emmett, where his professional skill and ability have won him a large patronage.
In 1907 Dr. Barnes was united in marriage to Miss Ellen C. Tall, who was born, reared and educated in Missouri. She pursued a course of study in the State Normal School at Kirksville. Missouri, and followed the profession of teaching prior to her marriage. Dr. and Mrs. Barnes have become the parents of two sons, Joseph and Lauren, who are nine and five years of age respectively.
In his political views Dr. Barnes is a democrat, but the honors and emoluments of office have never had attraction for him. However, he is widely recognized as a public-spirited citizen whose aid and influence are ever on the side of progress and improvement, and he is a member of the board of directors of the Emmett Irrigation District. His religious faith is indicated hy his membership in the Christian church, the teachings of which he exemplifies in his daily life, thus win- ning the high regard and esteem of all with whom professional or business relations bring him in contact.
T. VERN THOMAS.
The county business of Teton county has on the whole been entrusted to most competent men and in this connection mention should be made of T. Vern Thomas, who is serving as deputy county auditor, as deputy recorder and deputy clerk of the courts of the county. He is also the clerk of the village board at Driggs, where he makes his home. He was horn at Ogden, Utah, February 23, 1886, and is a son of Thomas G. and Eliza Jane (Smuin) Thomas, the former a native of Salt Lake City, while the latter was born in England. She came to America with her parents when ten years of age, the family home being established in Utah, where
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her father and mother spent their remaining days. Thomas G. Thomas was a mer- chant who for many years resided in Ogden, Utah, whence in 1900 he removed to Rexburg, Idaho, where he carried on general merchandising until 1906. He then sold his business there and went to Devils Slide, Utah, where he again conducted a general store, being thus engaged to the time of his death on the 10th of June, 1910. The mother is now living in Salt Lake City.
T. Vern Thomas was educated in Ogden and in the Brigham Young University. He also pursued a course in the Smithsonian Business College at Ogden, after which he became the active assistant of his father in business and was with him at Rexburg until his health became impaired. Thinking that the close confinement of the store was detrimental, he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for five years, at the end of which time he again became associated with his father in general merchandising at Devils Slide. His time was thus passed until 1916, being given to merchandising in Utah and Idaho, but since 1900 he has resided during the greater part of the time in Idaho. In January, 1917, he was appointed deputy county treasurer of Teton county and served until January, 1919, when he was appointed deputy county auditor and recorder and clerk of the courts. He has likewise been village clerk since July, 1917, and is clerk of the high school board. He is thus prominently connected with public interests and has been most loyal to the duties and responsibilities that have devolved upon him.
In April, 1912, Mr. Thomas was married to Miss Elizabeth Heiner and they have become the parents of three children: Dale, who was born in January, 1913; Venice, born in May, 1915; and Mae, who was born in January, 1917.
The religious belief of the family is that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. In politics Mr. Thomas has always been a republican and at all times he is loyal to every cause which he espouses. His position upon any vital question is never an equivocal one and his loyalty is one of his marked characteristics.
MILTON S. NESBITT.
Milton S. Nesbitt was born in the beautiful old home of the Nesbitt family on the Payette river, six miles northeast of New Plymouth, where he still resides. His natal day was May 19, 1886. His father, John Franklin Nesbitt, familiarly known as Frank, was born in Vermont, February 4, 1852, and represented one of the old New England families, his father passing away in Vermont when J. F. Nesbitt was but a small boy. The latter went west to Kansas with his brother William in 1870. This brother was a Civil war veteran and lost his right arm in the battle of Spottsylvania. After many years of active life as a farmer and county clerk in Kansas he passed away at his home in Mapleton, that state. After five years' residence in Kansas, J. F. Nesbitt removed west- ward to Idaho in 1875 and for about five years engaged in freighting between Kelton, Utah, and the Boise basin. In 1880 he bought a squatter's right to one hundred and sixty-seven acres of land, constituting the old homestead farm, upon which his son Milton was born and which is one of the most beautiful sections in this region, where the land- scape presents many attractive spots. Mr. Nesbitt concentrated his time and attention upon farming and stock raising, the Payette river flowing through his meadows. He began with one hundred and fifty head of stock and later increased his herd until he had three thousand head. He added to this property until now the estate comprises four hundred acres. He recently took up a homestead on Squaw creek, in Gem county, near his son's place, and there has a fine cattle range and summer home, where splendid fishing and mountain air can be enjoyed. He has been a very prominent and active factor in the development and upbuilding of this section of the state and was one of the organizers of the Bank of Commerce of Payette and also a stockholder. In connection with A. J. Mc- Farland he built the irrigation ditch which supplies water to their respective places. He was also the organizer of the Payette National Bank and for many years was its vice president. He is recognized as a business man of marked ability and enterprise, is far- sighted, and his well formulated plans have been carried forward to successful com- pletion, resulting not only in benefit to himself but also to the community at large. In August, 1882, he wedded Mary J. Stuart, a native of Illinois, and they became the parents of seven children, six of whom are living.
Milton S. Nesbitt was educated in the little school on the hill near his father's home and in the University of Idaho, which he attended for three years. He, too, follows farm-
MILTON S. NESBITT
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ing and stock raising as a life work and also owns and operates a threshing outfit. That he has prospered in his undertakings is indicated in the fact that he has fifteen head of registered shorthorns and one hundred head of common stock. He has put up on his land as high as six hundred tons of hay a year and in 1919 he harvested four thousand two hundred and fifty bushels of grain. He has two large silos and raises corn for silage. He also raises red clover seed and had thirteen bushels to the acre, for which he received twenty dollars per bushel. He is following the most progressive methods in the develop- ment of his property and the care of his stock and his work is producing splendid results.
On the 24th of April, 1914, Mr. Nesbitt was married to Miss Willa Little, a native of Missouri, who came to Idaho with her parents, Howard and Anna (Middleton) Little. Mr. and Mrs. Nesbitt now have two children, Woodrow Scott and Maxine Marie. The parents are well educated and refined people who occupy a prominent position in social circles. Mr. Neshitt is a man of splendid physique, being six feet in height and broad in proportion, but it is his progressive spirit and the sterling worth of his character that has commended him to the confidence and high regard of those with whom he has been brought in contact. While attending the University of Idaho he was a member of the track and football teams in 1907 and 1908. He has been a director and member of the crop improvement committee of the Payette Farm Bureau and represented Washington and Payette counties for the wool growers, pooling their 1919 crop with Canyon and Ada counties. He was their sole representative and they received five cents more per pound then individual sellers.
CLINTON BASYE TITUS, D. D. S.
Dr. Clinton Basye Titus, a representative of the dental profession at Emmett, who is practicing most successfully, was born November 28, 1895, in the town which is still his home. He is the younger of the two sons of Harry Wesley and Cora Belle (Basye) Titus, and his brother is Earl Wesley Titus, a railroad man. The father is a well known contractor and builder of Emmett, where he has long resided, and during this period he has erected many of the hest homes in Emmett and the surrounding country, being a skilled mechanic. His wife is also a member of one of the old pioneer families of Emmett, her father, John Basye, having settled in Gem county when the work of progress and improvement had scarcely been begun in this section of the state. He was horn in Iowa seventy- eight years ago and made the trip to Idaho by way of California.
Dr. Clinton B. Titus was reared in Emmett and was graduated from the high school with the class of 1915. He then took up the study of dentistry, to which he devoted three years in the North Pacific Dental College at Portland, Oregon, being there graduated on the 31st of May, 1918, with the D. D. S. degree. Since then he has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession in Emmett save for a period of six months during the winter of 1918-19, when he acted as demon- strator in his alma mater-the North Pacific Dental College of Portland. He is thoroughly in touch with the most advanced and scientific methods of caring for the teeth and displays expert skill in handling the delicate little instruments which constitute the equipment of the dentist. In July, 1919, he was appointed a special dental inspector by the Idaho state authorities.
Dr. Titus enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve Force on the 12th of December, 1917, for four years but was never called into active service. Fraternally he is connected with the Masonic Order and the Royal Order of Moose. In the public affairs of Emmett he is deeply interested and his cooperation can at all times be counted upon to further plans and measures for the general good. The Doctor was married December 25, 1919, to Miss Sadie Rose Allen, of Portland, Oregon.
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