History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 25

Author: Hawley, James Henry, 1847-1929, ed
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 926

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M. W. CARLYLE

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having become a pioneer settler of the Boise basin. Anna Bixby was the first white child brought to the Boise basin and with every phase of pioneer life be- came familiar during the formative period in the history of the state. On reaching womanhood she gave her hand in marriage to Peter Pence, who is now living retired, making his home in Payette. However, he still retains the presi- dency of the First National Bank of that place.

Edward C. Pence was reared on a. ranch in the Payette valley and in the town of Payette and his educational advantages were those offered by the public schools of the state supplemented by study in the University of Idaho and in the Portland University of Portland, Oregon. He spent one year in each of those higher institutions of learning and put aside his textbooks in 1894, when eighteen years of age. He then turned his attention to the live stock business, in which he engaged with his father until 1898 and afterward alone until 1911, becom- ing one of the prominent and successful live stock dealers of his section of the state. He established his home in Boise in 1910 and in the following year pur- chased a controlling interest in the Graves Drayage & Storage Company, of which he has since been the secretary, treasurer and manager. The offices of the company are at No. 215 South Tenth street and the firm has built up a good business. It was established in 1892 by Nelson Graves and the name has since been retained. In addition to his interests in this business Mr. Pence is now developing a ranch in the Salmon River valley, devoted to the raising of cattle and sheep:

On the 2d of April, 1902, Mr. Pence was married to Miss Bess Venable, of Payette, Idaho, who was born in Missouri and is a graduate of the Payette high school. To Mr. and Mrs. Pence have been born a son and a daughter, Walter Earl and Mildred Elizabeth, aged respectively thirteen and ten years.

Mr. Pence belongs to the Boise Commercial Club and fraternally is con- nected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He has been a witness of the , wonderful transformation wrought in Idaho through the past forty-three years. He can tell the story of its growth and progress and rejoices sincerely in what has been accomplished. At the same time he has contributed to the general development, his aid being at all times given to well defined plans and measures for public welfare.

FRANK P. MOSELEY.

Frank P. Moseley, deceased, was a representative farmer at Filer, Twin Falls. county. He was born in Lee county, Illinois, October 1, 1852, his parents being Joseph and Margaret Moseley, who were natives of England and of Pennsylvania respectively. The father came to the close of a long and useful life in Illinois on the 22d of June, 1886. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Margaret Clintob, was twice married and by her first husband, a Mr. Moore, she had one son, John Moore, who together with his stepbrother, William Moseley, a son of the mother's second marriage, served in the Civil war. They were members of Company A, Seventy-fifth Illinois Infantry. They were for two years and eleven months with the Union army, valiantly defending the interests of the country in that long conflict.

Frank P. Moseley, whose name introduces this review, was educated in his native county and in 1876 removed to Page county, Iowa. There he was married on the 26th of November, 1879, to Miss Lovisa A. Beers, a native of Peoria county, Illinois, and a daughter of William and Adaline (Belshee) Beers. Her father was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and her mother in Columbus, Ohio. They were married at Shenandoah, Iowa, where the father engaged in farming. In 1848, with his wife and children, he drove across the country to California in search of gold. For three years he remained upon the Pacific coast and then returned by way of the ocean and the Isthmus route to the middle west, settling in Peoria county, Illinois, where he carried on general farming. In the spring of 1875 he again went to Iowa. and afterward removed to Gage county, Nebraska, where he again gave his attention to general agricultural pursuits. Both he and his wife passed away in that county, the father dying in September, 1899, at the very advanced age of eighty-two years,.

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while his wife departed this life in 1905, at the age of seventy-seven years. He was a democrat in his political views and was at all times a progressive citizen.

In the fall of 1879, Frank P. Moseley went with his bride to Thayer county, Nebraska, which he had visited in the previous spring. There he resided until 1883 and then removed to Gage county, Nebraska, where he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land. He erected upon that place good buildings and began the de- velopment and improvement of the property, to which he added from time to time as his financial resources increased until he was the owner of seven hundred acres of fine land in that section of the state. He continued a resident of Nebraska until 1912, when he removed to Idaho, settling at Filer. He had previously made several visits to the state in search of a favorable location and purchased here a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He also drew one hundred and sixty acres in the Salmon tract. He built a fine home on Yakima street in Filer and concentrated his efforts and attention upon the development and improvement of his farm. In his farming operations Mr. Moseley met with substantial success. Practical and en- ergetic in all that he undertook, he succeeded in transforming much of his land from a wild tract into highly productive fields and for his products found a ready sale on the market, thus adding to his income year after year.

To Mr. and Mrs. Moseley were born six children: May, who is now the wife of F. E. Drake, of Filer; Ross F., also living at Filer; Ida J., the wife of E. L. Feese, of Wymore, Nebraska; Paul F., also located at Wymore, Nebraska; Maud M., the wife of T. L. Cartney, of Filer; and Max J., who is likewise living at Filer.

Mr. Moseley gave his political endorsement to the republican party from the time that he attained his majority and was a stalwart supporter of its principles but never an office seeker. He belonged to the Modern Woodmen of America and his religious faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal church, to the teachings of which he strictly adhered. He was always fair and just in his dealings and up- right in all business transactions, and the sterling worth of his character won for him the respect and unqualified confidence of all who knew him. He died at Filer, May 10, 1915.

ANDREW J. FLACK.

Andrew J. Flack, secretary and manager of the Boise Cooperative Creamery Company, has made his home in Boise since 1906 but dates his residence in Idaho from 1889. He removed to the northwest from Illinois, his native state. His birth occurred upon a farm in Randolph county, Illinois, October 4. 1865, his parents being John J. and Rebecca (Lickiss) Flack, the former also a native of Illinois, while the latter was born in England. The father was of Irish descent and a son of Abner Flack, whose father came from Ireland in his boyhood days and cast in his lot with the pioneer settlers of Illinois. John J. Flack was a farmer and civil engineer. He was born in Perry county, Illinois, December 16, 1832, and after living for many years in that state removed to the northwest, his death occurring in Boise a few years ago, when he had reached the age of seventy-eight years. His widow survives at the age of seventy-four years and yet makes her home in Boise. They were the parents of six children, three sons and three daughters.

Andrew J. Flack of this family was reared upon the old homestead farm in Perry county, Illinois, and began his education in the country schools, while later he continued his studies in Du Quoin Seminary. In 1889 he came to Idaho with his parents, brothers and sisters. They brought with them the first car load of thoroughbred Jersey cattle ever introduced into this section of Idaho. The family located on a ranch in Franklin county and there Andrew J. Flack devoted his attention to ranching and to the raising of sheep and dairy cattle until 1906, when he became a resident of Boise, to which city his parents removed the follow- ing year. He devoted his attention to large interests in the Boise valley and still retains those interests. In 1913 he became one of the organizers of the Boise Cooperative Creamery Company, of which he has since been the secretary, and in 1916 he was also made manager and continues in the dual position at the present time. This company owns and operates six cheese factories and one creamery, all in Ada county with one exception. The creamery, located in Boise,

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has a capacity of one thousand pounds of butter per day. The six cheese fac- tories include five in Ada county and one in Canyon county, with a capacity of seventy-five thousand pounds of cheese per day. The business has thus reached very extensive proportions, becoming one of the most important interests of the kind in the state, and Mr. Flack is a member of the State Dairymen's Association. Besides managing the six cheese factories and creamery he also manages all of his ranching interests, which comprise nearly eight hundred acres of land in Idaho. He is a forceful and resourceful business man of marked energy and determination and carries forward to successful completion whatever he under- takes. In his vocabulary there is no word as fail and his persistency of purpose is combined with unfaltering honesty in all his dealings.

On the 4th of October, 1905, in Franklin county, Idaho, Mr. Flack was mar- ried to Miss Susie Pilgrim, who was born in Utah and was a teacher prior to her marriage. They now have a daughter, Adelaide, eleven years of age.

Mr. Flack is a member of the Boise Chamber of Commerce and in politics is a democrat but not an office seeker. For recreation he goes to his ranches, finding keen pleasure in the management of his farming and stock raising in- terests. There is no phase of dairying or cheese manufacturing with which he is not thoroughly familiar and he has always maintained the highest standards in the products of his plants, which are conducted with the utmost regard for cleanliness and sanitation, while the most advanced and scientific methods are employed in the manufacture of both cheese and butter. Thoroughness and energy have been dominant qualities in the attainment of the success of the com- pany, which places Mr. Flack among the men of affluence in his adopted city.

FRED H. TORNETEN.

Fred H. Torneten is living retired in Idaho Falls, making his home at No. 190 Twelfth street, where he took up his abode upon leaving the farm, where for many years he had carried on general agricultural pursuits. He was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, April 13, 1860, of the marriage of Henry and Louise (Steineke) Torneten, who were natives of Germany and came to America in the '40s as young people. The father established a brickyard at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and there was accidentally killed in a runaway in 1868. The mother long survived, passing away in August, 1911.

Fred H. Torneten was reared at Council Bluffs, where he attended the dis- trict schools. His opportunities were limited owing to his father's early death and when but twelve years of age he began to earn his own living and worked in various ways to the age of twenty-nine. He was ambitious, however, to engage in business on his own account and eventually rented land in Pottawattamie county, Iowa, where he carried on farming for six years. He then purchased property in that county and continued its further cultivation and improvement until February, 1910, when he sold and came to Idaho Falls on account of his health. He had previously been overcome by the heat, which greatly affected his health, which, however, seems to have been restored in the splendid climate of Idaho. He purchased two hundred and forty acres of land seven miles south- east of Idaho Falls and this he has further developed and improved, making it a valuable farm property, which he continued to cultivate for seven years. He then put aside farm work and rented the place to his son-in-law, while he took up his abode in Idaho Falls and purchased the fine modern residence that he now occupies. He made a specialty of raising shorthorn cattle in Iowa and has been very successful in all of his farming operations, being now in possession of a handsome competence as a reward of his labors in the development of the fields and the improvement of his stock.

On the 8th of March, 1889, Mr. Torneten was married to Miss Ida Meppin and they have become the parents of four children. Henry, who was drafted and went into the army July 26, 1918, was stationed at Camp Lewis, Washing- ton, and was discharged in April, 1919. Margaret is the wife of John Altman, who is farming in Bonneville county. Elsie is the wife of George Hennrich, who is cultivating her father's land, and George follows farming.

Politically Mr. Torneten is a republican and served as township trustee in

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Iowa for eight years and for an equal period as road overseer. He has not sought nor desired office since coming to this state but concentrated his efforts and attention upon his farming interests until, feeling that his success justified the course, he put aside further business cares and is now enjoying the fruits of his former toil in well earned rest.

MARK WILTON.

From 1893 until his death Mark Wilton lived in South Boise and vicinity, his last home being on a well kept and highly productive ranch of twelve acres just east of the city. There he lived for twenty years and the splendid appearance of his place indi- cated his life of untiring activity, intelligently directed. His place was situated about three-fourths of a mile east of the Garfield school. Before coming to Idaho in 1893 he was a resident of Granite Mountain, Montana.

Mr. Wilton was born in Cornwall, England, on the 12th of August, 1859. a son of George and Catherine (Stephens) Wilton, who always remained residents of England. It was in 1883 that Mark Wilton crossed the Atlantic and for a period of six years was a resident of Iowa, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Montana. He then returned to his native land in 1889 to visit his father and other relatives, his mother having passed away during the period of his absence in this country. He spent ten months in visiting in his native land and during that period he was married on the 28th of March, 1890, to Miss Emily Richards, who had been an acquaintance of his boyhood days and with whom he had corresponded throughout the entire period of his stay in the United States. One of his main objects in returning to England was to persuade her to become his bride and bring her to the new world. They became the parents of two daughters: Ada, now the wife of Ira Cooper, of Boise; and Pearl, who married John Cowe, of Ada county, living in the Bench-Lambert addition to Boise. They also had one son, Leonard, who was younger than the two daughters and was accidentally killed by falling from the top of a tall cottonwood tree which he had climbed. He fell forty-three feet. He was but nine years of age at the time of the accident and if living now would be a youth of eighteen.

Mr. Wilton was a member of Plymouth Brethren church and his wife is a member of the Bible Students' church. His political allegiance was given to the republican party. He was keenly interested in all that has to do with public progress and improve- ment in his community and his aid and cooperation were freely and heartily given in support of all plans and measures for the public welfare. He passed away August 24, 1919.

L. C. MCCARTY.

L. C. McCarty, an apiarist who has developed an extensive business in hee culture and the production of honey at Nampa, was born in Vernon county, Wis- consin, August 29, 1873. There he attended the graded schools and when nine- teen years of age he entered the jewelry business, to which he devoted about thirteen years of his life. Then owing to ill health he disposed of his interests and went to Colorado, where he had a brother living. He devoted two more years to the jewelry trade in that state and then took up the study of bee culture, to which he had given some attention in Wisconsin and in which his brother was engaged in Colorado.

After four years of successful business as an apiarist in Colorado, L. C. McCarty removed to Idaho, settling at Nampa in 1909. Through the intervening period he has won a place among the foremost apiarists of the state, his apiary numbering eight hundred colonies of bees. He leases his feeding ground from the farmers, who have been forced to the conclusion that bees are essential te a large yield of white clover and alfalfa. This section is ideal for both the health of the bees and for honey production. The market demand is twelve pounds of honey to the gallon and in this state it never fails to run overweight. Mr. Mc- Carty is the largest individual bee raiser and one of the most successful in Idaho and his knowledge of the business in every detail is surpassed by none. In 1918 his yield of honey was over fifty thousand pounds, most of which was comb

MR. AND MRS. MARK WILTON

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honey, and he finds a market for his product in Cincinnati, Ohio. He has the most thorough equipment for the conduct of the business, including everything from the extracting plant to the automobile truck to take the output to the trade. Owing to the excellent quality of his honey he can demand and secure the highest market price.

In 1899 Mr. McCarty was married to Miss Belle Randall, of Vernon county, Wisconsin, and they have four children: Harold T., a gasoline engine expert in the employ of the Oregon Short Line at Pocatello; Aileen, Belle and Leonard, who are attending school in Nampa. Mr. McCarty has recently erected a fine new residence in Nampa, where he and his family are most comfortably situated and where they occupy an enviable position in social circles. His success in business is due to the thoroughness with which he has mastered the work which he has undertaken. He is thoroughly familiar with the scientific phases of bee culture and the production of honey, and at the same time practical experience has splendidly qualified him for the work. His opinions are accepted as conclusive on any disputed question relating to the raising of bees and the handling of the product, for his success demonstrates the efficiency and practicability of his methods.

A. L. WILSON.

A. L. Wilson is a leading stockman of Canyon county who has done much to win for this district its reputation as a breeding center for shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs throughout the northwest. A most progressive spirit has actuated Mr. Wilson in his stock raising interests and a visit to his farm is a delight to all who have appreciation for fine bred stock.

Mr. Wilson is a native son of Iowa. He was born in Marshall county, May 8, 1879, his parents being David and Mary (Jay) Wilson, the former a native of Indiana, while the latter was born in Iowa and was of Scotch and English lineage. It was in October, 1907, that the family came to Idaho and David Wilson home- steaded a place of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which his son, A. L. Wilson, now resides. The land was then all wild and undeveloped, being covered with a native growth of sagebrush, and he even had to clear a space for his house. He lived upon this land three years before there was water with which to irrigate it and he developed the place from a barren tract to one of rich fertility, the fields being now most highly cultivated. He still lives upon eighty acres of the original homestead, while his son, A. L. Wilson, farms the other eighty acre tract. The family has long been one of prominence and influence in the community. They were among the first families to assist in the organization of the Society of Friends here and to aid in the erection of a church and seminary. This organization has a membership of over four hundred in the Greenleaf district and their school is one of the best in the state. A peace loving people, they have ever stood for progress and improvement, and the Wilson family, loyal to the teachings of their church, have become prominent factors in the material, intellectual and moral progress of the community in which they live. To Mr. and Mrs. David Wilson were born five chil- dren: Vernon S .; Glenn W .; Carl D .; Joel, who died at the age of seven years; and A. L., of this review.

The last named acquired his early education in Marshall county, Iowa, where he attended the Friends Seminary for thirteen years. He then pursued a business course in La Grande Seminary and the agricultural course in the Iowa Agricultural College at Ames. He was thus well qualified by liberal educational training for life's practical duties and responsibilities. During the period of his residence in Idaho he has become extensively engaged in the live stock business and introduced the "big type with quality" of Poland China hogs in this state. He had a hard fight for recognition but finally won out and today these are the popular hogs of Idaho. Throughout his entire life Mr. Wilson has been a breeder of fine stock. He had followed the business successfully in the east before coming to Idaho and substantial success has attended his labors here. Not only does he raise the finest Poland China hogs but has also had forty head of shorthorns in his herd. In 1918 he sold forty- six head of Poland China hogs at public sale at an average of one hundred dollars per head. These hogs were distributed throughout the states of Washington, Montana,

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Idaho and Oregon. Canyon county has become widely known as the breeding center for shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs, for there are more breeders of these two types of stock here than in any other county in the northwest. At present Mr. Wilson has twenty-five head of fine shorthorns in his herd. He paid twelve hundred and fifty dollars for a two year old shorthorn bull, which was the highest price paid up to that time for a bull. The animal weighs two thousand pounds and won the second prize at the state fair in 1918. Mr. Wilson, however, makes a specialty of hogs and there are few men in the state who are his equals in hog raising and the production of fine animals. He has two boars, welghing seven hundred pounds and a thousand pounds respectively, and his carefully managed business affairs have made him one of the most prominent stockmen of his section of the state. He is conducting his interests under the name of A. L. Wilson & Sons. He farms his eighty acres and raises hay, grain and alfalfa. Where sagebrush grew five years ago he is now har- vesting five tons of alfalfa to the acre. He is thoroughly alive and alert, energetic and discerning, and his opinions upon the lines of business in which he engages are considered authoritative. He is a firm believer in the future of the state and its prosperity and assisted in organizing the Farm Bureau of Canyon county, of which he is serving as vice president and as a committeeman of the live stock department.

On the 8th of March, 1899, Mr. Wilson was married to Miss Grace M. Hines, a native of Iowa, her birthplace being within six miles of that of her husband, although they never met until a year and a half before their marriage. They have become the parents of seven children: Marie, who is now the wife of Floyd Ford; Jessie D., seventeen years of age; Russell Glenn, aged fifteen; Ross D., fourteen; George W., twelve; Violet L., eight; and Kenneth, who is in his fourth year.

With his removal to the northwest Mr. Wilson recognized the opportunities of the country and its possibilities and through the passing years has so conducted his interests as to win for himself a substantial measure of success, becoming the owner of an excellent farm property, in the midst of which stands a substantial residence that is now the abode of his interesting family.

CARLOSS RIEMAN SEE.

Carloss Rieman See, conducting business as one of the partners in the Citizens Coal Company of Boise, came to the city in 1917, after thirteen years' residence in Minidoka county, Idaho. He was born in Greencastle, Jasper county, Iowa, Novem- ber 25, 1871, a son of Charles Frederick See, also a native of Iowa, born in 1839 and a son of Charles See, who removed from Kentucky to Iowa during the pioneer epoch in the history of the latter state. The father was a shoemaker by trade and after following that pursuit for some time turned his attention to farming. His death occurred in Nebraska in 1893. In early manhood he had wedded Sarah M. Maffitt, who was born near Piqua, Ohio, and who still survives him, now making her home at Heyburn, Idaho. Mr. See was a soldier of the Union army, serving as a member of Company K, Twenty-fifth Iowa Regiment, during the Civil war and in days of peace he was as true and loyal to his country as when he followed the nation's starry banner on the battlefields of the south.

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History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 25

Author: Hawley, James Henry, 1847-1929, ed Publication date: 1920 Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 926

Author: Hawley, James Henry, 1847-1929, ed
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 926