History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 37

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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JOHN B. DAVIES.

John B. Davies, one of Idaho's pioneers, who has resided in or near Emmett through practically his entire life, or for a period of more than half a century, came to this state in 1862 with his parents from Racine, Wisconsin, being then a babe in his mother's arms, less than a year old. He was born in Racine, August 31, 1861, a son of Thomas J. and Margaret ( Williams) Davies. The father was born in Wales and came to the United States in young manhood, being married in Wisconsin. His wife was probably of American birth but of Welsh descent, her parents having come from the little rock-ribbed country of Wales to the new world.

John B. Davies, whose name introduces this review, was the firstborn child of his parents, who in the spring of 1862 crossed the plains to Idaho with wagons and proceeded at once to Fort Boise, now the capital of the state. Another child, a daughter, whom they named Idaho Platte Davies, was born while they were en route to the west, her birth occurring on the Platte river in a covered wagon. She, however, passed away at the age of twelve years. The father met an accidental death shortly after reaching this state and in the spring of 1867 his widow became the wife of Douglas Knox, one of the honored pioneer residents of Idaho, who is mentioned elsewhere in this work and who is now living in Emmett at the age of seventy-six years. Mrs. Knox passed away in 1885, her death being the occasion of deep and widespread regret not only to her immediate family but to all with whom she had been brought in contact during the long period of her residence in this state.

John B. Davies was mainly reared on the Douglas Knox ranch about a mile below Emmett. His educational opportunities were very limited, as there was no school that he could attend nearer than Boise. He has always been a ranchman and dealer in live stock and is still the owner of a good ranch property of one hundred and sixty acres three miles below Emmett. Until a recent date it was · just double its present size, three hundred and twenty acres being comprised within the boundaries of his farm. After having lost his only son, who died in France during the recent World war, he sold one-half of his ranch, including that portion on which the buildings stood, and removed to Emmett, where he has a comfortable home and about a dozen good town lots.

On the 19th of March, 1888, Mr. Davies was married to Miss Mary Ellen Jack- son, who was born in Daviess county, Missouri, June 21, 1865, a daughter of John L. and Susanna A. (Garr) Jackson. Her father was born in Warren county, Indiana, December 25, 1830, and was married in Carroll county, Illinois, August 3, 1851, to Susanna A. Garr. Ten years later, on the 3d of August, 1861, he enlisted in Company E. Twenty-third Missouri Infantry, with which he served for over three years in the Civil war, being honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant at Atlanta, Georgia, September 22, 1864, his three years' term having expired. He came from Kansas to Idaho in 1873, settling first at Boise, but in the fall of the same year removed with his family to Emmett. He passed away at the Soldiers Home in Boise, March 16, 1915. His wife was born in Hamilton county, Indiana, September 17, 1833, and died near Weiser, Idaho, November 17, 1905. Their daughter, Mrs. John B. Davies, was one of ten children, of whom seven are living.

To Mr. and Mrs. Davies was born but one child, a son, John T., who went to

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France with the American army and was mortally wounded in battle on the 5th of October, 1918, passing away in a hospital in France ahout a month later. He was born June 17, 1890, and was therefore twenty-eight years of age when his death occurred. He had always resided on the ranch with his parents and was a most devoted son. He carried a ten thousand dollar government insurance on his life, but the fifty-seven dollars and a half which is now paid to his parents monthly is but poor consolation indeed for the loss of their only and deeply loved son.

Mr. Davies is a Mason who exemplifies in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft. In politics he is a democrat but has never been a candidate for office. His life has heen most exemplary in many respects. That he has lived at peace with his fellowmen is indicated in the fact that he has never had a lawsuit, and that he has been honorahle in all business affairs is manifest in the fact that he has never been sued nor has he ever sued anyone. He has never taken a drink of liquor in his life, and at all times his integrity and sterling worth of character have been recognized by his fellowmen, who ever speak of him in terms of the warmest regard, for his life measures up to the highest standards.

MATT NICHTER, D. V. S.

Dr. Matt Nichter, a successful veterinary surgeon of Caldwell, who is also winning a well earned reputation as an auctioneer, was born in Tippecanoe county, Indiana, September 21, 1872. His father, Jacob Nichter, came from Germany and settled in Indiana prior to the Civil war. He was accompanied on his emigration to the new world by his wife, who in her maidenhood bore the name of Mary Kuntz. Both have now passed away.

. Dr. Nichter attended the graded schools of his native county to the age of twelve years, when he started out to provide for his own support by farm work. He was thus engaged until he reached the age of twenty-six, when he went to Indianapolis, where he was employed by one of the largest firms in the United States, handling fine bred horses at Indianapolis and at La Fayette. Dr. Nichter spent five years in that connection, after which he went to Chicago and entered the Chicago Veterinary College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1906. Immediately after- ward he made his way westward to California and later located in Nevada, where he continued in practice at Yerington for two years and at the same time conducted a stage' line from that point to Wabuska, on the main line of the Central Pacific Railroad.

After traveling through various parts of California, Nevada and Oregon and thus carefully investigating the opportunities and interests of the west he settled in Cald- well, Idaho, in 1908. He does all the veterinary work for the Caldwell stock yards, in addition to which he has a large private practice throughout the state. He has lately taken up the general auctioneering business, which has proven very profitable to him, his first sale amounting to forty-five hundred dollars in five hours. He is now conducting semi-monthly auction sales, which promise to develop a very large business at Palmer, Star and Caldwell. Dr. Nichter has been the owner of one of the finest road horses in the state. When he purchased the animal it was almost unmanageable, but by careful and judicious handling he made it one of the finest and best known horses of the entire country, it being now in the possession of Ben Huston, of Caldwell. Along well defined lines of progress Dr. Nichter has steadily advanced and is now occupying an enviable position in business and professional circles.

WALTER KNOX.

Walter Knox, a representative of one of the old pioneer families of Gem county, was born on the Knox ranch a mile below Emmett on the 2d of September, 1873, and is the fourth child and third son of Douglas and Margaret Knox, mentioned elsewhere in this work. He was reared on the home ranch to the age of twenty years and early became familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and car- ing for the crops. Since that time he has heen dependent upou his own resources, and in 1893 he and his two brothers, Clayton and De Loss, purchased the Dick

DR. MATT NICHTER

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and Tom Williams ranch on Haw creek, seven miles north of Emmett. Walter Knox later acquired by purchase the interests of his brothers in this property, which contained about six hundred acres of land, one-half of which was under cultivation. It was devoted to dry farming, but the land produced good crops of alfalfa and grain and Walter Knox remained upon that ranch from 1893 until 1910, being the sole owner for the greater part of that period. In addition to the cultivation of grain and alfalfa he also raised many head of cattle and sheep, but eventually sold his ranch property at a good price and removed to Emmett in order to secure better educational opportunities for his children.

Prior to this Mr. Knox had acquired a good home property in Emmett, the house which he now occupies having been built in 1907. Previous to 1910 his wife and children had occupied the residence during the school year, while he remained alone upon the ranch. He did not find this a pleasant way to live, however, being separated from his wife and children for about three-fourths of the year, . so eventually he sold the ranch in 1910 and since that time they have all occupied the town house, which is a comfortable home, standing in the midst of a half-acre of ground and completely enclosed by a well kept boxwood fence. The dwelling contains ten rooms with modern equipment and there is a considerable amount of fruit upon the place, together with beautiful shrubbery, flowers and gardens and a well kept lawn that renders the home very attractive.

On the 25th of August, 1897, Mr. Knox was married in Emmett to Miss Carrie May Fulton, who was born in Pennsylvania and came to Idaho with her parents when she was about seven years of age. Her birth occurred in Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania, February 19, 1878, her parents being Hugh and Elizabeth Fulton. Her father died September 13, 1897, but her mother still resides in Emmett. Walter Knox and his wife have six living children: Harry, born June 23, 1898; Willard Alvin, who was born March 22, 1900, and on the 10th of June, 1919, married Freda Kessel, of Emmett; Guy, born February 22, 1902; Raymond, January 9, 1906; Margaret, December 22, 1913; and Robert Thomas, January 9, 1919. They also lost one son, Ancil, who was born December 30, 1903, and passed away June 18, 1919, his death being occasioned by pneumonia following an attack of influenza.

Mr. Knox is a loyal supporter of the Masonic fraternity and of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and is a past grand in the local lodge of the latter. His wife is connected with the Rebekah degree and both belong to the American Yeomen. Mr. Knox is a democrat in his political views and for two years served as county commissioner of Gem county, making a creditable record in that position. He is always loyal to every interest that has to do with the welfare and progress of his community, and like the other representatives of the Knox family, is held in high regard in the section of the state in which his entire life has been passed.

BOISE G. RIGGS.

Boise G. Riggs, of Emmett, has throughout his entire life been identified with ranching and stock raising interests. He was born February 26, 1865, being a native of the city whose name he bears. He is the second of the three living sons of the late Henry C. Riggs, an honored pioneer settler of the state, who is men- tioned elsewhere in this work. He has lived in Emmett or its vicinity since 1871, or from the time when he was six years of age, his parents removing from Boise to a homestead nine miles northwest of Emmett. Upon this place his boyhood and youth were passed and he assisted in the arduous task of developing the home property, which was a tract of wild land when it came into possession of the family. Throughout all the intervening years he has been known as a ranchman, as a cowboy or as a dealer in live stock, and what he has undertaken he has accom- plished, winning a substantial measure of success through the careful direction of his business affairs.

On the 8th of March, 1888, Mr. Riggs was married to Miss Clara Alice Jack- son, who was born in Daviess county, Missouri, April 21, 1867, and came to Idaho in 1873 with her parents, John L. and Susanna (Garr) Jackson. Mrs. Riggs is a sister of Mrs. Mary Ellen Davies, of Emmett, and she has several other sisters and brothers. To Mr. and Mrs. Riggs have been born five children: Mrs. Clara Kriezen- beck, Boise G., Mrs. Mona Bane, Mrs. Nellie Whiteside and Bernice M. The last

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named is now employed as a stenographer and is the only one at home, the rest having married and gone to homes of their own.

While Boise G. Riggs, as previously stated, was named for the city which is his birthplace, Ada county, Idaho, was named in honor of his older sister, Ada Riggs, now deceased. In politics Mr. Riggs is a democrat and' is chairman of the democratic central committee of Gem county. He served as deputy game warden of Idaho for two years, from April, 1917, until April, 1919. He belongs to the Loyal Order of Moose and the Modern Woodmen of America, and both he and his wife are members of the Idaho Pioneers Society. He is a quiet, unassuming man whose interests are centered in his home and his family and who has put forth his most earnest effort to provide for their welfare and promote their happiness.

MONTGOMERY TAYLOR BROWN.

Montgomery Taylor Brown, who is ranching near Kimberly, in Twin Falls county, was born in Todd county, Kentucky, July 8, 1848, a son of Daniel T. and Elizabeth P. (Hopson) Brown. His boyhood was passed in his native state, his education acquired in its public schools, and afterward he engaged in the livery business and in farming there until 1877, when he made his way westward, taking up his abode in Elko county, Nevada, where he lived for two years. He afterward removed to Stockton, California, and later drove cattle back to Nevada. Subse- quently he drove cattle from Nevada to the north side of the Snake river, this being in 1878. He afterward went to Oakley, Cassia county, Idaho, where he took up a stock ranch of one hundred and sixty acres. This he preempted and improved, calling it. the Mountain Meadow ranch. He worked for Messrs. Russell and Bradley until 1892 in cattle raising and then sold the ranch, becoming a candidate for the position of auditor of Cassia county. He was elected to that position on the demo- cratic ticket and made so creditable and excellent a record in office that he was reelected and continued in the position until he had spent twelve years in that way. He afterward removed to Boise, where he acted as a guard at the prison for two years, and eventually he took up his abode at Albion, Idaho. He was after- ward a candidate for the office of sheriff of Cassia county and was elected to that position in 1902, serving for two years. He remained in Albion for two years more and then took up his abode in Twin Falls county, where for a time he cultivated a rented farm. In 1912 he removed to a farm property of one hundred and forty acres belonging to his sons, and has since lived thereon. They have converted the place into a productive and highly improved tract and run a number of head of cattle and horses upon it, the various departments of the ranch work proving profitable.

In 1884 Mr. Brown was married to Miss Katie Parke, a daughter of Ira C. and Vashti Parke and a native of Utah. Her father was a farmer in that state and also engaged in sheep raising. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have become the parents of seven children: Hazel D .; Mabel C .; Lloyd T .; Hudson W .; Zula, who died at the age of ten years; Montie B .; and Birch E.

Mr. Brown has always been a stanch advocate of democratic principles and his support of the party has been prompted by a firm belief in its platform as a factor in good government. He has membership with the Masons and his life has been guided by high and honorable principles. Whenever he has held office he has discharged his duties with promptness, fidelity and capability, in business affairs has been found thoroughly reliable and in every relation of life has commanded the confidence and goodwill of those with whom he has been brought in contact.

JOHN S. FISCHER.

For the past seven years John S. Fischer has been engaged in the mortgage loan business in Boise as manager in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon for Mil- ler & Viele, of Salt Lake City, who are financial correspondents for the intermoun- tain states of the Union Central Life Insurance Company of Cincinnati. Mr. Fischer was born near Clarington, Monroe county, Ohio, April 9, 1877, a son of

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John and Eliza (Davis) Fischer, who were also natives of the Buckeye state. The mother passed away five years ago, but the father is still living. For many years he followed farming but is now retired from active business, enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former toil. He is a veteran of the Civil war, having served in the Union army when a mere lad in his teens. Konrad Barlow, one of the great-grandfathers of Mr. Fischer in the maternal line, served under Napoleon in his campaigns in Europe. He subsequently came to the United States, spending his last days on this side of the water.

John S. Fischer was reared upon a farm in Monroe county, Ohio, and at- tended the country schools to the age of sixteen years, when he became a rural school teacher. When the Spanish-American war broke out he had taught two terms of school. True to the military spirit which has actuated his ancestors, he joined the army, serving as a member of Company E, Seventh Ohio Regi- ment, and was stationed at Camp Alger, Washington, D. C., being detailed for service in the quartermaster's department. In 1901 he went to Oklahoma, where he took up a homestead, and was there engaged in the newspaper business, as he was in Missouri, covering a period of several years. He also served as United States commissioner at Texhoma, Oklahoma, and was a very prominent figure in republican circles there. He was a recognized leader in the ranks of the republi- can party and served as secretary of the first republican state convention held in Oklahoma. His newspaper experience covered a period of several years in Okla- homa.

In 1912 Mr. Fischer came to Boise as manager for Miller & Viele and his field of operations covers southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. Since coming to Idaho he has acquired some good farm land and ranch property in this state and in Ore- gon. He has over eleven hundred acres in the two states and he still has his one hundred and sixty acre homestead in Oklahoma. As manager for Miller & Viele his business connections cover a wide field and involve large responsibilities and his seven years' work in Boise has proved his capacity in this connection.

On the 15th of June, 1908, Mr. Fischer was married to Miss Georgie Caper- ton, a native of Alabama and a daughter of George S. and Mary H. Caperton. Her father was a Confederate soldier, serving throughout the war. Mr. and Mrs. Fischer have two sons: John Sylvester, commonly known as Jack, horn April 27, 1910; and Leigh Henderson, born August 26, 1915.

Mr. Fischer is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, also with the Knights of Pythias and is a member of the Boise Commercial Club and the First Methodist Episcopal church-associations that indicate the nature of his interests and the rules that govern his conduct.

JOHN R. McCONNELL.

John R. McConnell, concentrating his efforts and attention upon sheep and cattle raising and ranching at Emmett, was born in Wayne county, Iowa, Decem- ber 2, 1876, being one of nine children, seven sons and two daughters, whose par- ents were George W. and Mary E. (McConnell) McConnell, who though of the same name were not related. The father was born in Iowa and now lives at Walla Walla, Washington. The mother, a native of Tennessee, passed away in 1902, after which Mr. McConnell married again. John R. McConnell has five brothers who are yet living: Frank A., Orville G., Richard L., Charles E. and Harold, and also a half brother, Ross McConnell. All of his own brothers reside in or near Emmett.

John R. McConnell was but two years of age when brought by his parents to Idaho in 1878. His father took up a desert claim of six hundred and forty acres, on which the city of Caldwell now stands. The Oregon Short Line had not yet reached that point and in fact was not built to that place until about two years later and not until after George W. McConnell had sold his section of land, which he kept for only about a year and then let it go for the meager sum of three hundred dollars. The greater portion of the city of Caldwell has since been built upon his original desert claim and is today valuable property. "

The youth of John R. McConnell was largely spent upon McConnell's Island at the mouth of the Boise, which was named in honor of the family, some older brothers of George W. McConnell having taken up the land on this island many

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years before. John R. McConnell attended the public schools of Idaho and was graduated from the Caldwell high school with the class of 1892. He later entered the University of Idaho, from which he was graduated in 1903. There was a period of seven years, from 1892 until 1899, when he was out of school. Since his completion of his university course he has devoted his attention to ranching and the raising of live stock and has resided throughout the entire time either near or in Emmett. He has owned and occupied several ranches in the vicinity of the city and four years ago he took up his abode in Emmett in order to afford his chil- dren the opportunity of attending the town schools. He now has one of the most beautiful homes of Emmett, formerly the bungalow residence of Dr. B. O. Clark at the corner of Second and Mckinley streets. Mr. McConnell purchased this prop- erty in 1917, at the time Dr. Clark entered the service in the World war. The building was erected in 1912.

It was on the 23d of July, 1905, at Enterprise, Oregon, that Mr. McConnell" was married to Miss Maude Lyman, who was born at Harrisville, Michigan, April 8, 1882, a daughter of Don and Mary Ann (Sinclair) Lyman, who were natives of Pennsylvania and Canada respectively. The father was born January 13, 1858, and the mother in Ontario, Canada, June 8, 1859. She passed away December 23, 1915, but Mr. Lyman survives and is now living at Twin Falls, Idaho. Mrs. Mc- Connell has three sisters and two brothers. By her marriage she has become the mother of five children: Evelyn, born April 13, 1907; George B., whose birth oc- curred April 27, 1909; Robert V., whose natal day was October 7, 1910; John, born December 6, 1913; and Eleanor May, who was born June 21, 1917.

Mr. McConnell is a thirty-second degree Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine and also has membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is likewise a member of the Idaho Wool Growers Association. In politics he is a republican but has never been a candidate for office, preferring to devote his attention to his business affairs, and by reason of his close application he has be- come one of the successful sheep men of Gem county, having had as many as eighteen thousand sheep in the past which he owned in connection with others. At the present writing he has about seven thousand ewes and ranges largely on his own lands. His business affairs have been carefully and extensively conducted and he is one of the prominent sheep and cattle men of Gem county.

H. I. MCLAUGHLIN.

H. I. Mclaughlin, who carries on diversified farming and stock raising near Notus, was born in Ohio, February 9, 1859, but in 1862 was taken to Illinois by his parents, Charles and Rachel (Calvill) Mclaughlin, who settled in Marshall county of the latter state. There the father engaged in farming until 1889, when he removed to Iowa, where he carried on agricultural pursuits for three years. On the expiration of that period he retired from active business to enjoy his remaining days in well earned rest. He passed away in Iowa in 1899, while his wife died in Illinois in 1877.

H. I. Mclaughlin went to Nebraska in 1882. The days of his boyhood and youth had been passed in Illinois and in the public schools of Marshall county he had acquired his education. He was a young man of twenty-three years when he went to Nebraska, where he remained, however, for only a short time and then removed to Colorado, where in the spring of 1883 he came to Idaho. Here he entered the employ of T. C. Catlin on Eagle island and eight months later made his way to the lower Boise valley and purchased the Boon ranch. After three years, however, he sold that property and turned his attention to cattle raising in Mal- heur county, Oregon, where he remained for two years. He afterward brought his cattle to Long valley, Idaho, and during all the intervening time he had retained his residence in Idaho. He homesteaded his present place of one hundred and sixty acres in 1889 and has since bought eighty acres, and his labors are manifest in'the excellent appearance of his place today, for it is one of the highly developed . farms of the district. After five years devoted to the cattle business in Idaho Mr. MeLaughlin sold his interests to his brother, E. V. Mclaughlin, who is now in California, and William McGuffin, who is now a seed merchant of Boise. At the present time H. I. Mclaughlin carries on diversified farming, raising the various

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History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 37

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