USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III > Part 34
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In 1886 Mr. Brandt was united in marriage to Miss Ida S. Pickering, of Ne- braska, daughter of Albert Pickering. They have four children. Harry C., who is twenty-nine years of age and follows farming on the Snake river, ten miles west of his father's farm, wedded Miss Martha Ulrich and has one child, Vilas. Mar- garet L. is the wife of Frank Smith, an agriculturist residing two miles north of Nampa. Francis T., who is twenty-four years of age, makes his home with his father. Lawrence A., a young man of twenty years, resides with his father and is farming the home place on his own account.
There is no phase of pioneer life with which J. W. Brandt is not familiar. He was reared in Nebraska during the period of its early development and be- came a homesteader in the western section of that state on attaining his ma-
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jority. Later he rode the range in Colorado when raising stock in that state for a period of seventeen years. He then came to Idaho to become identified with its development and now he is enjoying the fruits of his former toil. For- gotten are the hardships and privations incident to frontier life save as a memory from which the unpleasant features have faded. He has lived to witness the re- markable development and growth of the various sections in which he has resided and has the consciousness of having horne his full part in the changes which have occurred, leading to present-day progress and prosperity.
BERT O. McCULLOCH,
The development of the great sugar industry in the west has elicited the co- operation of many alert and energetic young business men who have become impor- tant factors in the upbuilding of this great business interest. Among the number is Bert O. McCulloch, superintendent of the plant of The Amalgamated Sugar Company at Burley, Cassia county, Idaho. He was born in Logan, Utah, November 19, 1883, and is a son of Robert and Ida McCulloch. His hoyhood days were passed at the place of his nativity and his early education was there acquired in the public schools, while afterward he attended the Utah Agricultural College and the Brigham Young College. In 1903 he entered the employ of the Amalgamated Sugar Company at Logan in the capacity of mechanic in the sugar beet plant. There he remained for six years. In 1903 he took up the work of sugar boiling as a specialty and followed this until 1908 at Logan and at Lewiston, Utah. In 1908 he hecame assistant factory foreman and in 1910 was made general factory foreman, so continuing at the various plants of the company until 1916, when he was transferred to Burley and took his present posi- tion as superintendent for The Amalgamated Sugar Company. In this important posi- tion he has since continued, making an excellent record as supervising head of the factory at Burley.
In 1904 Mr. McCulloch was married to Miss Maud F. Maughan, a native of Logan, Utah, and a daughter of Charles W. and Jane F. (Farns) Maughan. They have be- come parents of five children: Vernon B., Verrell, Mildred, Harriett and Robert Boyd.
The religious faith of the family is that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. In politics Mr. McCulloch is a republican, stanchly supporting the prin- ciples of the party, but the honors and emoluments of office have had no attraction for him. He has concentrated his efforts and attention upon the line of business in which he embarked in early manhood. Thoroughly acquainting himself with the various phases of the business, he has gradually worked his way upward hy reason of his increasing knowledge and advancing skill as well as his trustworthiness and diligence. His salient qualities have been valuable assets in a business way and his position is today one of large responsibility in which he fully meets the requirements.
SAMUEL M. BELSHER.
Samuel M. Belsher is the owner of the Belsher Rabbitry at South Boise. He has heen a resident of Idaho since March, 1904, coming to this state from Montana. He was born. however, near Corinth, Mississippi, December 16, 1855, a son of Troupe B. Belsher, who served as a captain in the Confederate army during the early part of the Civil war and died of pneumonia at Bowling Green, Kentucky, while the war was still in progress. His wife hore the maiden name of Frances Rebecca Wooten and was a second cousin of Jefferson Davis, president of the southern Confederacy. When the battle of Corinth was fought, Samuel M. Belsher of this review could hear the cannon roar from his home, a distance of twenty miles. In fact he was in one of the battles of the war-that of Brice's Crossroads. He and his mother had ridden a family horse to a near-by store, the boy sitting he- hind his mother, and on the way home they were caught in between the Union and Confederate lines. The firing was begun before they could escape, but they tested the fleetness of their horse in a two-mile ride which brought them to safety.
Samuel M. Belsher was reared on a Mississippi plantation and taught school
BERT O. McCULLOCH
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in his native state in early manhood. While still residing in Mississippi he was married February 23, 1877, to Miss Evelena Petty, who was born on a plantation in Tennessee, May 29, 1857, the daughter of Junior Nelson Petty, who also served with the Confederate forces. In 1878 Mr. Belsher and his wife removed to Texas but afterward returned to Mississippi, from which point they made their way to Montana in 1886, continuing residents of that state for eighteen years or until 1904. There Mr. Belsher had a ranch of three hundred and twenty acres, one-half of which he homesteaded. As the years passed he developed and improved his property, making it a productive tract of land. In 1904, however, he left Montana and came to Boise, since which time he has occupied his present home on Longmont avenue in South Boise. In the meantime he has held various civic positions. He was a school director of the Garfield school for two years, also served for several years as a police officer and has held other positions of trust and responsibility. He has now for a number of years been a prominent breeder of New Zealand Red rabbits, the Belsher Rabbitry being one of the best in Boise. He has been an ex- hibitor at the Boise poultry and pet stock shows for some time and his rabbits have won scores of ribbons and several silver cups. He breeds fancy stock and ships to all parts of the United States. The rabbitry now contains about two hun- dred fine specimens and in addition to the raising of rabbits Mr. Belsher is suc- cessfully engaged in raising pure bred Buff Orpington chickens, concentrating his efforts and attention upon these lines of business at the present time. At this writing, in 1920, he is president of the Idaho Rabbit & Pet Stock Association, of which he formerly served as vice president for two years.
Mr. and Mrs. Belsher have seven living children, two sons and five daughters, all of whom are married and reside in Boise with the exception of one daughter. These are: Mrs. Anna Ora Peabody; Mrs. Fannie Stewart; Troupe M., who is a clerk in the Boise postoffice; Mrs. Mand Burden, of New York city; John P., who is a captain of the South Boise fire department and who saw four years' service in the United States navy; Mrs. Myrtle Nelson; and Mrs. Edna Fanckboner. There are now eleven grandchildren. Mr. Belsber and his wife are consistent Christian people, the former belonging to the Baptist church and the latter to the Methodist church. Mr. Belsher was formerly a deputy grand master in the Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows. Both he and his wife give their political allegiance to the democratic party and are keenly interested in those activities which make for higher ideals in citizenship and for the substantial development of the community and commonwealth in which they reside.
R. H. PARK.
R. H. Park is the president of the Idaho State Federation of Labor and is well known throughout the state, particularly in labor circles. He came to Boise in 1907 from Atwood, Kansas, but is a native of Ohio, his birth having occurred in Hardin county, that state, February 27, 1876. His father, R. H. Park, Sr., was a blacksmith by trade and was a veteran of the Union army, serving as a member of Company F, One Hundred and First Ohio Volunteer Infantry. His father, who also bore the name of R. H. Park, went to Hardin county, Ohio, from New York in pioneer times, so that the family has long been represented there. The mother of R. H. Park of this review bore the maiden name of Mary Bradshaw and died when her son was a lad of nine years. When he was but eight years of age, or in 1884, the family removed from Ohio to Rawlins county, Kansas, where the father secured a soldier's homestead claim and proved up on the property. Later he removed to Atwood, in the same county, where he conducted a blacksmith shop.
It was there during his youthful days that his son, R. H. Park, learned the printer's trade, beginning work when fourteen years of age. He has since fol- lowed the trade, but unlike the average printer, he has not gone from place to place but has worked at his trade in only three states-Kansas, Arkansas and Idaho. However, he has had some newspaper eperience, being the owner and editor of a paper at Atwood, Kansas. for four years-a weekly which was published under the name of the Patriot.
It was while living in Atwood, Kansas, that Mr. Park was married on the 13th of May, 1900, to Miss Josephine Randall, who was at that time a teacher. Vol. II1-19
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She was born in Missouri but was reared and educated in Kansas, being a daughter of O. C. R. Randall, a lawyer. Mr. and Mrs. Park came to Boise in 1907 and here he has since made his home with the exception of about fourteen months spent at Weiser, Idaho.
Mr. Park has been very prominent in union labor circles in the state and is now serving for the third term as president of the Idaho State Federation of Labor, having been elected for the third term at Pocatello in January, 1920. He is also a member and was formerly the president of the Boise City Typographical Union No. 271. In 1917 he was a delegate to the international convention of the Typo- graphical Union at Colorado Springs and he is an ex-president of the Boise City Trades and Labor Council. Mr. Park is also entitled to membership in the Span- ish-American War Veterans, for he served during the conflict of America with Spain as a member of the Twenty-second Kansas Volunteer Infantry.
J. WESLEY DOTSON.
J. Wesley Dotson, a wheat raiser of Canyon county and also engaged in the production of the famous Idaho potatoes, was born in Kansas, November 8, 1856, his parents being Pleasant and Mary (Campbell) Dotson, who were natives of Tennessee and soon after their marriage removed to Kansas. The father purchased a farm in the Sunflower state and there carried on the work of tilling the soil until 1905, when he came to Idaho with his family and homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of wild land two miles northwest of the farm upon which his son J. Wesley now resides. There his attention was given to the cultivation of the fields and the care of his crops until his life's labors ended on the 6th of December, 1917. For a long period he had survived his wife, who passed away in Kansas in 1895.
J. Wesley Dotson was reared and educated in the Sunflower state and there remained until he was thirty-eight years of age. He then came with his father to the northwest and homesteaded eighty acres of land and is still residing upon forty acres of that tract. He has sold the other forty. He and his father cleared the land and placed it under cultivation and he now produces annually good crops of both potatoes and wheat. His fields are naturally rich and productive and respond readily to the care and labor which he bestows upon them.
In 1899 Mr. Dotson was united in marriage to Miss Blanche Smith, a native of Nebraska, in which state the wedding was celebrated. They have become the par- ents of seven children: Terry F., eighteen years of age; Mary E., at home; Alice S., who is attending the Huston district school; Mabel L., also in school; Amy M .; Frances D .; and Orval P., who is but a year old. This is an exceptionally bright family of which the parents have every reason to be proud.
Mr. Dotson is bending his efforts and energies to the further development and improvement of his land in order to provide a good living for those dependent upon him, and he is meeting with substantial success in his undertakings.
WILLIAM D. THAYER.
William D. Thayer owns and operates a truck line between Boise and southern Idaho points, doing long distance heavy hauling. He was born in Michigan, August 16. 1871, a son of William F. Thayer, also a native of that state, where he followed various occupations. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having joined the Union army, with which he did active service on southern battlefields. He married Lorinda Greenfield, who was born in Pennsylvania. They removed westward to ยท Colorado in 1878, when their son William was but seven years of age, after having lived for a considerable period in Michigan. From Colorado they came to Idaho, settling in Boise, where they resided for several years before William D. Thayer became a resident of this state. Both the father and mother passed away in Boise and were laid to rest in one of the cemeteries of the city.
William D. Thayer was largely reared in Colorado and learned the blacksmith's trade in Denver, beginning work along that line when twenty years of age. He came to Idaho from Eagle connty, Colorado, fifteen years ago and has since made
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his home in South Boise save for a brief residence at Jordan Valley, Oregon. He continued to follow blacksmithing for twenty-eight years in Colorado, Idaho and Oregon and in 1919 he put aside work of that character and is now engaged in long distance trucking and hauling. He operates two large trucks which ply be- tween Boise and other towns in southern Idaho and already he has been accorded a liberal patronage of this character. Many years ago he conducted a horseshoeing shop at Cripple Creek, Colorado, when that place was enjoying a boom. After com- ing to Idaho he built a blacksmith shop on Broadway in South Boise but later sold the property. He has led a life of thrift and industry and is now the owner of one of the attractive homes of South Boise-a splendid two-story frame residence which he erected several years ago.
On the 30th of June, 1898, at Canon City, Colorado, Mr. Thayer was married to Miss Dorcas Barrett Orcutt, who was born in Kansas, April 4, 1871, a daughter of Thomas Orcutt. They have become parents of four children: Verna Lorinda, who was born June 9, 1899; Florence Mabel, January 4, 1901; Ronald Thomas, October 6, 1905; and Lois Winifred, February 22, 1911.
Mr. Thayer is an Odd Fellow and a past grand of the local lodge. He is also a member of the Brotherhood of American Yeomen, as is his wife, and she is like- wise connected with the Daughters of Rebekah, the ladies' auxiliary of Odd Fel- lowship. In politics Mr. Thayer maintains an independent course, voting according to the dictates of his judgment with little regard for party ties. He served on the South Boise city council for two years but otherwise has neither sought nor filled office, his attention being fully given to his business affairs, and his earnest labor and persistency of purpose have constituted the foundation upon which he has built his present prosperity.
CHARLES FREMONT KUTNEWSKY.
Important insurance interests are ably represented in Boise by Charles Fre- mont Kutnewsky, agency manager of the Equitable Life Assurance Society for the state of Idaho, with headquarters in Boise. He was born in Groveland, Tazewell county, Illinois, June 4, 1863, a son of John and Margaret (Knox) Kutnewsky, both of whom have passed away. The father was a merchant miller and politically was an old line whig, an ardent republican, a mugwump abolitionist and a stanch supporter of Lincoln. Charles F. Kutnewsky was one of a family of seven children, five sons and two daughters, all of whom are living, but he is the only one residing in Idaho. His parents named him Charles Fremont after John Charles Fremont, the first republican candidate for president.
Mr. Kutnewsky received his education in the public schools of Illinois and also attended college in that state, being a student in the State University at Champaign. At the age of twenty he went to Redfield, South Dakota, with his parents and there built a flour mill for his father, for six years acting as its manager. He not only became prominent as a business man there but also participated in the public life of the city, serving as councilman, while many other political favors were bestowed upon him. He entered the service of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York on the 1st of January, 1900, as general agent at Salt Lake City, Utah, two of his brothers then being associated with the society, H. F. and Fred H., under the firm name of Kutnewsky Brothers. They continued their insurance interests in Salt Lake City until 1912, when Mr. Kutnewsky of this review was transferred to Boise as agency manager for Idaho. Ever since he has ably represented the company in this state, where through his efforts a very important and large busi- ness has been built up. He is thoroughly informed in regard to all lines of insur- ance and particularly the policies which are covered by the Equitable Society. He is most painstaking and exact in explaining the terms of his policies to his clients so that no misconception can arise after the deal is concluded and therefore his reputation is high.
On April 16, 1889, Mr. Kutnewsky was married to Miss Lela Coates, a school- mate of his boyhood at Groveland. She is a member of the Columbian Club of Boise and takes an active part in many of the charitable as well as social affairs of the city. Two sons and two daughters were born of this union: Fremont C., who was graduated from the University of Utah and became a sergeant in the One
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Hundred and Forty-fifth Field Artillery in France, belonging to the headquarters company; Donald E., who was first sergeant in the One Hundred and Sixteenth Engineers, also in France and also belonged to the headquarters company; Ruth, who acts as chief clerk to her father in the Equitable office; and Margaret, attend- ing the Boise high school.
Mr. Kutnewsky's importance in regard to the insurance interests of the state is evident from the fact that he is a member and an ex-president of the Gem State Association of Life Underwriters. He is very prominent in the Masonic order, being a Knight Templar and Shriner and is captain of the Arab Patrol of El Korab Shrine. For ten years he was a member of the South Dakota State Militia, rising from the ranks to the position of major. War interests have taken a great amount of the time, efforts and energy of Mr. Kutnewsky, who was largely responsible for the success of the first Liberty Loan in Ada county, being chairman during the campaign. He also was a member of the State Council of Defense and thus in every possible way demonstrated his complete accord with the government in making the world safe for democracy.
ARTHUR FRANK GRAVES.
It is a well recognized fact that the progress and reputation of a community are largely influenced by real estate activities and the quality of the men who are back of realty transactions, in fact any municipal organization can be more or less made or unmade by its real estate fraternity. Boise has been fortunate in having a high type of such men, who are conservative and at the same time progressive and thus have established a reputation for reliability as well as an up-to-date and keen commercial sense. Arthur Frank Graves, who is dealing in real estate and insurance at No. 905 Idaho street, Boise, is one of these men and his experience as well as opinion are always at the disposal of his clients.
He was born in Junction City, Kansas, November 12, 1875, and was the fourth in a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters, born to George and Mary (Brockley) Graves, both of whom were natives of England and were there reared and married, the ceremony being solemnized in London. In 1870 they came to the United States, locating in Junction City, Kansas. The father was born Jan- uary 29, 1841, and the mother on the 14th of August of the same year, while their marriage took place on the 31st of March, 1866. Both are yet living and both have passed their seventy-seventh birthday, now making their home in Topeka, Kansas, whither they removed from Junction City in 1894. Their golden wedding was celebrated March 31, 1916, and at that time they had seven living children and twenty-three grandchildren. In fact, there has never been but one death in the family thus far and that was when Andrew Thomson, a grandson, was killed in action at Vimy Ridge, in France, April 9, 1916. This gallant young man was serv- ing with the Canadian troops. Three other grandsons were in the government service, two in France and one in Washington, D. C. The grandfather of our subject was George Graves, who was born in 1810 and died in 1855, while the great-grand- father, George Graves, passed away in 1827.
Arthur F. Graves was reared and educated in Junction City, Kansas, where he received a common and high school education, and subsequently he spent two years in the Dunkard College at McPherson, Kansas. The father was engaged in carriage making, having a shop of his own, and under his guidance Mr. Graves of this review learned the trade and at the early age of eighteen took charge of the Junction City establishment, which he conducted for eight years. At the age of twenty-six, however, he sold out and for six years thereafter was on the road, selling wagonmakers' supplies. In 1908 he came to Boise and has since been en- gaged in the real estate and insurance business, having built up a very gratifying trade as the years have passed. He is thoroughly informed in regard to city and country property, has studied the situation from every angle and gives the benefit of his knowledge to his customers. He also has a loan and rental department. He has bought, and sold real estate on his own account, especially farm, ranch and orchard property, and is today the owner of some good prune orchards near Boise. His insurance department is of considerable importance and he writes yearly a large number of policies. Mr. Graves is the owner of a prune orchard of twenty acres
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which is situated three miles from Boise and this property he has developed him- self, planting its eighteen hundred trees over six years ago. The orchard is now in bearing and promises to yield its owner a large return in the future.
On November 14, 1898, Mr. Graves wedded Miss Mary Nixon, of Milford, Kan- sas, and they have become the parents of a daughter, Opal, who was born June 4, 1904. Mr. Graves is a democrat in his political affiliation but although he keeps well informed in regard to the questions and issues of the day he has never aspired to public office, preferring to give his whole attention to his important business interests. Fraternally he is a Mason, an Odd Fellow and an Elk and is popular in those organizations. He belongs to the Boise Commercial Club, in whose all- embracing projects for a greater city he takes an intelligent and helpful interest.
GASPARD J. GENEREUX.
One of the prosperous commercial concerns of Boise is that of Genereux & Butler, tinners and sheet metal workers. They do a general contracting business for everything in their line and now employ a considerable force of workmen, the success of the enterprise being largely due to Gaspard J. Genereux. He was born at Crookston, Minnesota, March 10, 1885, and on both sides is of French Huguenot descent. His parents were natives of Quebec, Canada, and there they were mar- ried. The father, Telesphore Genereux, is now a resident of Boise and keeper of the State Fair grounds. The mother, who was in her maidenhood Alphonsine Verville, passed away at Nampa, Idaho, in 1912. The parents had come to Idaho long before their son Gaspard arrived in the state.
The latter received a common school education and at the age of fourteen en- tered upon an apprenticeship to the tinner's trade. He has ever since worked at this occupation and as a journeyman was employed in various places before coming to Boise in 1912. Here he became foreman of the tin shop of Carlson & Lusk, con- tinuing in that position for about two years, but in 1914 he entered into partnership with Ellsworth E. Butler, who also was an employe of Carlson & Lusk, and they bought out their old firm and established the present one of Genereux & Butler. Their plant is located at No. 115 South Eighth street and there they conduct a mod- ern and up-to-date establishment, having filled some of the most important contracts along their line in the city and state. The success of the firm is in part due to Mr. Genereux, who not only has had valuable experience in his line but also pos- sesses that executive ability necessary to the conduct of any successful business enterprise.
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