History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 32

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

USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III > Part 32

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

James W. Wilson left Scotland in 1884, when twenty-two years of age, and made his way first to Toronto, Canada. He had previously served for three years as an apprentice at the baker's trade in Scotland, but after reaching Toronto he was not able to get work at his trade and joined an engineering outfit to build the snow sheds for the Canadian Pacific over the Cascade Mountains in British Columbia. This was soon after the Riel rebellion in Canada and from Winnipeg westward, in every vil- lage, the Indians were wearing soldiers' caps, blouses or belts that they had captured from the Canadian soldiers. Returning to Toronto, Mr. Wilson worked for eighteen months in Nasmith's bakery, one of the largest plants in Canada at that time. After a year devoted to the bakery business in Toronto in connection with Mr. Nasmith, Mr. Wilson sold his interest to his brother, who was also a baker, and went to Win- nipeg. He did not like the cold winters of Toronto and found weather conditions no better in Winnipeg. Later he removed to Minneapolis but again found it too cold and made his way westward to Portland, Oregon. The rainy seasous there did not suit him and on receiving a telegram from William Krall, offering him a position in a bakery at Bolse in 1888, he decided to accept and here found the ideal climate which he had been seeking. For a year and a half he was in the employ of Mr. Krall and then went to Weiser, where he acted as cook in the new Weiser hotel opened by Mc- Greggor & Cockley. When opportunity offered to purchase the business of Mr. Krall in May, 1890, he returned to Boise, which at that time had a population of twenty- five hundred. Progressive methods at once marked the new venture. He soon in- stalled the first free delivery in the city and he also sent to Minneapolis for a car load of Pillsbury flour, which made a much better bread than the native flour of the district. The excellence of his product, combined with the free delivery system, soon enabled him to outdistance all competitors and command the trade of the city. His bakery was situated on the west side of Seventh street, between Main and Idaho. In those early days Mr. Wilson was for five years a member of the volunteer fire

JAMES W. WILSON

273

HISTORY OF IDAHO

company of Boise and each Christmas the city council gave to the firemen a Christ- mas dinner, in which Mr. Wilson's part was to roast two dozen turkeys, five dozen chickens and a young pig. Throughout the years of his connection with the bakery business here he has kept in touch with every modern improvement and great strides have been made in the methods of baking, all of which have become features of Mr. Wilson's business. His products are of the highest quality, their excellence being attested by his continually growing trade.

In Boise, on the 2d of May, 1894, Mr. Wilson was married to Miss Ada Anderson, who was born in Muscotah, Kansas, April 18, 1869, and came to Boise with her parents in 1890. Her father, Judge Alfred Anderson, is a well known Boise citizen. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have a daughter, Adonis Grant, who was born in Boise on the 19th of September, 1899, and is now a senior in the Boise high school.

Mr. Wilson is one of the charter members of the Odd Fellows lodge of Boise, of which he is a past noble grand. This lodge was organized in the basement of the Wilson bakery on North Thirteenth street and he became its first secretary. In politics he is a republican but has never been a politician. He may well be termed the father of the Idaho Master Bakers' Association. He took the initiative in forming the or- ganization and was made its first president. Later he served for a second term in the office and at the recent meeting of the association in Pocatello he was chosen for the third time as its chief presiding officer. In the early days he was a member of Company A of the Idaho National Guard and in 1889 his company was under arms for two days in the armory, ready to fight a band of Indians that crossed into Montana and was defeated finally at the battle of Wounded Knee. In 1892 Mr. Wilson was again called into action when his company went forth to aid in quelling the insur- rection in the Coeur d'Alenes. Mr. Wilson has never had occasion to regret his de- termination to come to Idaho, for here he found the opportunities and the conditions which he sought and in the utilization of the former has made steady progress toward the goal of success. He has long been regarded as one of the most substantial busi- ness men of the city and it is hard to imagine what Boise would be without the Wil- son bakery and its popular proprietor.

J. J. HASBROUCK.

J. J. HasBrouck is the owner of a good farm property in Nampa, whereon he is engaged in dairying and market gardening. He was born in the state of New York, March 28, 1861, a son of Abram E. HasBrouck, who was likewise a native of the Empire state and a direct descendant of French Huguenots who had lived for two hundred and fifty years right where the original stock had settled in Ulster county. The mother, who in her maidenhood was Elizabeth Deyo, was also a Huguenot but traced her ancestry back to both French and Holland stock. In his home locality Abram E. HasBrouck was a man of prominence and influence and for three terms represented his district in the state legislature of New York, so that his activity extended as well to matters of general concern in the commonwealth. For some time he was engaged in the hotel business at Highland on the Hudson. There are two historic HasBrouck houses in the state of New York, one at New- burgh, where Washington made his headquarters during the Revolutionary war and where, it was reported, he was offered a crown which he refused, and the other at New Paltz, New York. The first one is now owned by the state of New York, being preserved as a historical monument, while the other is owned by the Hugue- not Society of America and is used as a memorial house. It was built by Abram HasBrouck, six generations removed from J. J. HasBrouck of this review. The HasBrouck and DuBois families settled at the same time in Wallkill Valley, New York, and their descendants have intermarried for three generations back. J. J. · HasBrouck of this review was in New York city in 1906 and 1907, when they were celebrating the anniversary of the laying out of Upper New York, and there he met an uncle, Ezekiel Elting, a very old gentleman, who, however, still retained a memory concerning all of the traditions of the original event which was being celebrated. Abram E. HasBrouck, the father, remained a resident of the Empire state throughout his entire life and in his later years put aside business cares, passing away in 1910. His wife also died in New York.

J. J. HasBrouck was accorded an academic education, pursuing his studies Vol. III-18

274

HISTORY OF IDAHO

until 1876. In 1883 he went to Arkansas, where he followed farming and milling near Hardy, but disposed of his interests there in 1899 and came to Nampa, Idaho, for his reading concerning the opportunities offered in this section of the state led him to desire to cast in his fortunes with the residents of Canyon county. After a brief period spent at Nampa he bought the old Captain Bernard homestead, which is now within the corporate limits of the city, the original tract containing eighty acres, of which Mr. HasBrouck has sold twenty acres. He is now carrying on a dairy business and also market gardening and his enterprise and diligence are bringing to him a substantial measure of success. He breeds his herd to the Guern- sey cattle and has some of the finest cows in the state.

In 1886 Mr. HasBrouck was united in marriage to Miss Mattie Dalgarn, whose father was a farmer near Bowling Green, Indiana. They have five children. Irving J., born in New York and now twenty-nine years of age, married Zella Ingraham, of Idaho, and resides at Barber, this state. Edith, born in Arkansas, is the wife of E. W. Rice, a nephew of Hon. J. C. Rice, assistant chief justice of Idaho, and son of W. P.Rice. DeWitt, who was born in Arkansas twenty-five years ago, became a mem- ber of Battery C, One Hundred and Forty-sixth Field Artillery, and was with the army of occupation in Germany after participating in all of the intensive campaigns in which the American forces took part in the great world war. The Sixty-sixth Brigade of the artillery, of which he was a member, fired over fifty-three per cent of the total ammunition expended by the artillery of the American army overseas. Harold E., twenty-two years of age, born in Arkansas, became a corporal of Battery B of the One Hundred and Forty-sixth Field Artillery of the Sixty-sixth Brigade, so that his military experiences were similar to those of his brother. Ralph Deyo, nineteen years of age, born in Nampa, is at home with his parents.

The residence of Mr. and Mrs. HasBrouck is a beautiful home built of brick and artificial stone, with interior hardwood finishing. It was erected at a cost of twelve thousand dollars and if built today would cost twenty thousand dollars. It is surrounded by a splendid lawn adorned with fine old trees and stands as a mon- ument to the enterprise, business ability and progressive spirit of the owner.

C. B. ANDERSON.

C. B. Anderson, who has every reason to be proud of his success as a farmer, resides in the Huston district of Canyon county, not far from Caldwell. He was born in Sweden, June 6, 1862, and there acquired his early education while spend- ing his boyhood days in the home of his parents, Andrew and Christine (Daniel- son ) Jones, who were farming people of that country, in which they spent their entire lives.

C. B. Anderson remained in Sweden to the age of seventeen years and in 1880 bade adieu to friends and native country and sailed for the new world, making his way first to Mankato, Minnesota. In that locality he worked as a farm hand for three years and then took up work in the stone quarries, being thus engaged for twenty years. On the expiration of that period he removed to Montana, where he engaged in the same line of work for nine years. He had had little experience as a farmer in this country when he came to Idaho in 1906 and purchased a relin- quishment claim of eighty-three acres upon which he now resides. The land was covered with sagebrush and was destitute of all improvements. He cleared it and has brought it to a high state of cultivation. He carries on mixed farming, raising hay, grain and clover seed and also does a small dairy business. He has a fine orchard upon his place for family use. At the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915 he was awarded the second prize for the finest Swedish select oats. He sowed his crop on the 8th of June and cut on the 8th of September, pro- ducing his crop with irrigation. In 1919 he obtained from his land about three tons of alfalfa to the acre at a cutting. He has proven very capable and efficient in all of his farm work and is meeting with well deserved success.

On the 7th of February, 1906, Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Jessie B. Ferris, the widow of Albert Scarth, whom she married September 25, 1898, and who passed away in 1902. He was a native of Kansas. By her first marriage Mrs. Anderson had a daughter, Ardath M., who is now a student in the College of Idaho and expects to continue her education at Corvallis, Oregon. To the second mar-

275

HISTORY OF IDAHO

riage has been born a son, Harold C., now twelve years of age and a pupil in the district school. For nine years Mrs. Anderson has served on the school board as a most efficient and progressive member and during the term of her incumbency there has been erected one of the finest small school buildings in the state, a story and basement in height. It is built of cement brick and is of beautiful architec- ture. Mrs. Anderson was largely instrumental in getting the school for the district. In the basement is a large community hall with a seating capacity of two hundred. The work of Mrs. Anderson has indeed been of value along educational lines and she is also regarded as one of the social leaders of the community. Both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have an extensive circle of warm friends, and he has made for him- self a most creditable position as a representative agriculturist of his section of the state.

H. B. STRAWN.

One could not go far amiss in his search of information concerning horticultural possibilities in Idaho to seek that information from H. B. Strawn, who is one of the most progressive and successful fruit raisers of Payette county, having large and well developed orchards which receive the most scientific care and which pro- duce splendid crops. Mr. Strawn is a native of Ohio. He was born September 28, 1877, a son of J. I. and Alice (Wallack) Strawn, who were also natives of the Buckeye state. William Strawn, the paternal grandfather of H. B. Strawn, was one of the honored pioneer residents of Ohio and passed away within three miles of his birthplace at the advanced age of seventy-seven years. In 1881 Mr. and Mrs. J. I. Strawn removed with their family to Iowa, settling in Clarke county, where the father purchased a farm of two hundred and twenty acres, devoting his remain- ing days to its cultivation. He passed away upon the homestead there in 1905 and the mother is still living in that state.

H. B. Strawn remained a resident of Iowa until 1909, when he came to Idaho and located on his present farm of sixty acres in the Fruitland district of Payette county. The land had been cultivated for only one year. He built his residence, barns and outbuildings for the shelter of grain and stock, continuing the work of improvement as it was needed and planting his orchards. His fruit crop in 1919 netted him ten thousand dollars. He is one of the few horticulturists who always has a market arranged for in advance in the east. Mr. Strawn has a regular buyer in Kansas and knows that there will always be a sale for his products. He has twenty-three acres planted to prunes and apples, making a specialty of the raising of Winesap, Jonathan and Roman Beauty apples. He also cultivates a rented orchard of eight acres. In the midst of his place is a fine home and Mr. Strawn says that his property is not for sale. In fact he believes so thoroughly in Idaho property as a good investment that he has no desire to dispose of his land, which is yielding to him a very substantial income as the reward of the care and labor which he bestows upon it.

In 1898 Mr. Strawn was united in marriage to Miss Nettie Slinker, a native of Iowa and a daughter of Levi and Maggie ( Houlet) Slinker. To Mr. and Mrs. Strawn have been born eight children, as follows: Clarence R., a young man of nineteen years; A. Lucile; Lester H., a youth of fourteen; Hazel R .; Chester G., who is ten years of age; H. Keith, aged seven; Mary Alice; and Ross, who is but a year old. The family occupies a prominent social position, just as Mr. Strawn stands in an enviable place in business circles.

MATEO ARREGUI.

Mateo Arregui, a wool grower and sheep man of Boise, who is a well known member of the Basque colony of this city, was born in Spain, September 21, 1876, the youngest in a family of eight children whose parents were Domingo and Maria Ygnacia Ytuarte Arregui. The mother died when her son Mateo was but five years of age and the father, who long survived, passed away in 1904, at which time Mateo Arregui was in Spain, having returned to that country from the United

276

HISTORY OF IDAHO

States, where he had already spent six years. The father was a farmer in Spain and owned a small flock of sheep, numbering about twenty-five.

Mateo Arregui was 'reared on his father's farm and at the age of nineteen years was drafted into the Spanish army, Spain being at that time at war with the Cubans. Mr. Arregui was sent with the Spanish army to Cuba under com- mand of General Weyler and spent fourteen months on the island-a year or so before the Spanish-American war of 1898. From Cuba he returned to Spain in 1897, having been granted the privilege of going home to assist in the care of his father, who was then more than sixty years of age.

In 1899 Mr. Arregui came to the United States, landing at New York city, and at once proceeded to Nevada, where he spent three years in herding sheep and doing other ranch work, receiving a wage of from fifteen to forty dollars per month. In 1902 he came to Idaho and entered upon active connection with the sheep in- dustry in this state as a herder in Elmore county. In 1904 he returned to Spain to visit his father and also for the purpose of marrying an old sweetheart of his boyhood. While the son was in Spain, the father became ill of pneumonia and passed away.

It was on the 14th of January, 1905, that Mr. Arregui wedded Miss Adriana Celaya and at once they started for the United States with Idaho as their destina- tion. They soon established a home in Boise, where they have since lived. Mr. Arregui has been identified with the sheep and wool industry throughout the in- tervening period. While he came to Idaho as a herder, he carefully saved his earn- ings until he was enabled to own sheep, and through the intervening years he has prospered, carrying on the business of sheep and wool growing and conducting business as a partner of Jose Arostegui under the firm name of Arregui & Arostegui. They now have several thousand sheep grazing on the Idaho ranges.

Mr. and Mrs. Arregui are the parents of three living children: Juan, born July 12, 1909; Carmen, whose birth occurred on the 30th of October, 1913; and Rose, whose natal day was October 14, 1917. One other child, a son, the first born, was accidentally killed by being thrown from a horse at the age of seven years. This was Teodoro, who was born November 9, 1905, and died November 10, 1912. Both Mr. and Mrs. Arregui are Catholics in religious faith, having mem- bership in the Church of the Good Shepherd of Boise, and he belongs to the Knights of Columbus. Ever ready to respond to the call of opportunity, Mr. Arregui has worked his way steadily upward in business circles and has con- tributed in no small measure to Idaho's reputation as a leading sheep raising district.

JOSEPH R. POWELL.

Joseph R. Powell, devoting his attention to the conduct of a dairy business and to the raising of alfalfa, makes his home in the Lone Star district of Canyon county, not far from Nampa. A native of Kentucky, he was born near Bowling Green, October 26, 1868, and there attended the public schools until he reached the age of sixteen years, when his mother died and he left home, starting out in the world to provide for his own support. He took up the occupation of farming and afterward became foreman of a large stock and tobacco plantation, whereon he remained until 1892. In that year he removed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and became foreman for Dr. Morgan, having charge of his fine racing stock for three years. During the succeeding two years, covering the period of widespread finan- cial panic, he traveled over twenty-six states, looking for a place to locate. At that time the rates were cut and travel was very cheap. Mr. Powell finally decided on Idaho as a place of residence and took up a homestead six miles southeast of Nampa, in Ada county. He then began working for Tom Mellen at sheep raising and in the meantime complied with the law regarding his homestead of one hundred and sixty acres. For five years he continued in the employ of Mr. Mellen and then began the improvement of his farm, which he brought to a high state of cultivation, his only neighhors being the coyote and the jack rabbit. His farm was under the Boise-Payette project and he had to wait five years for water, but when the place was ultimately irrigated he made rapid strides in its development and converted it into a valuable farm. He raised hogs and cattle and both branches of his business

277

HISTORY OF IDAHO

proved profitable. In November, 1918, he sold his original homestead and pur- chased his present place of thirty-five acres, situated three miles west of Nampa, in the Lone Star district. Here he conducts a small dairy and also raises alfalfa, gathering good crops annually.

While Mr. Powell's father, R. P. Powell, still remains a resident of Kentucky, his home being at Austin, Mr. Powell has four brothers who came to Idaho at his request. Lacy, who is now living with his brother Dick, sold his farm for thirty thousand dollars and has practically retired from business. Allen is situated two miles east of Nampa on eighty acres of land, Hayden has eighty acres at Melba and Dick resides three miles east of Nampa on a tract of forty acres. The five Powell brothers have thus contributed in substantial measure to the agricultural develop- ment of this section of the state, the worth of their labors being widely recognized.

In 1907 Joseph R. Powell was married to Miss Laura Williamson, of Cherokee, Kansas, and they have one son, Roy, now ten years of age. The parents enjoy a wide acquaintance in Ada and Canyon counties and the warmest regard is enter- tained for them by all who know them. Mr. Powell served for two terms on the school board of Ada county and was likewise road commissioner of that county for two terms. He is keenly interested in everything that has to do with the wel- fare and progress of his community and the state at large and his support can be counted upon to further any measure for the general good.

WILLIAM HALE WICKS.

William Hale Wicks, well known in horticultural circles as an educator and author as well as a practical fruit grower, is now director of the bureau of plant industry for Idaho, with offices in the state capitol at Boise. He was born in Macon county, Illinois, November 30, 1881, a son of Francis and Alice Matilda (Rife) Wicks, the former now deceased. The removal of the family to the northwest made him a pupil in the schools of Corvallis, Oregon, where he completed the high school work by graduation in 1899. He then entered the Oregon Agricultural Col- lege, from which he was graduated in 1904 with the B. S. A. degree, while in 1906 his alma mater conferred upon him the M. S. degree. He also won the M. S. degree from the agricultural department of Cornell University at Ithaca, New York, in 1907. His educational work has taken him to various sections of the country. He was assistant horticulturist at the Oregon Agricultural College from 1904 until 1907 and was professor of pomology and assistant horticulturist of the New Hamp- shire Agricultural College at Durham, New Hampshire, in 1908 and 1909. In the fall of the latter year he accepted the professorship of horticulture in the Univer- sity of Idaho at Moscow, there remaining until 1914, when he became professor of horticulture in the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he continued for four years.

In 1913 and 1914 he was secretary and treasurer of the by-products committee of the North Pacific Fruit Distributors, and in 1913 he was a trustee of the Sixth National Apple Show at Spokane, Washington. He served as consulting horticul- turist to the Kootenai Orchard Company at McArthur, Idaho, in 1911 and 1912 and was commissioner of horticulture of the Arkansas Commission at the Pauama Pa- cific International Exposition in 1914. He has also served as judge of horticul- tural products at various fairs and expositions. He is the author of numerous experiment station bulletins, scientific papers and popular articles on fruit growing and his opinions are largely accepted as authority throughout the country upon the subjects on which he writes. He has been investigator in marketing fruits and vegetables for the United States bureau of markets at Washington, D. C., filling the position from September, 1918, to April 1, 1919. He is now director of the bureau of plant industry of the state of Idaho. His entire life work has been educational and he has the faculty of making the science back of his work of illuminating value to the horticulturist who is doing the actual work of producing fruit in the orchards and on the farms.

In 1904 Mr. Wicks was united in marriage to Miss Cara Helen Mary Wilson, a daughter of Bushrod W. Wilson, of Corvallis, Oregon, now deceased. They have become the parents of two children: a son, Belmyn Augustus, and a daughter, Bev- erley Justine.

278

HISTORY OF IDAHO

The religious faith of the family is that of the Episcopal church and Mr. Wicks is identified with the Woodmen of the World. His membership in scientific societies is very broad. He is connected with the Luther Burbank Society, the American Genetic Association, the Society for Horticultural Science and the Potato Association of America. Through experiment, study, Investigation and research work he has continually broadened his efficiency in educational circles, rendering his service of greater practical value in the development of the horticultural in- terests of the country.

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

History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 32

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