USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III > Part 4
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position he has occupied throughout the period of his residence at Teton. He is also senior president of the One Hundred and Fifty-ninth Quorum of Seventy and has charge of the Sunday school teachers' training class. He is a man of most progressive spirit, as evidenced in his business career and in every other relation of life, and his personal qualities make for popularity among his many friends.
GARDNER G. ADAMS.
Gardner G. Adams, who is engaged in the practice of law in Boise, removed to this state from California in 1880, after spending twelve years in mining pursuits in Alturas county, California. He is a native of the golden west, his birth having occurred at Vallejo, Solano county, California, on the 31st of January, 1858. His father, John Adams was formerly a midshipman of the United States navy, was born in Pennsyl- vania and first went to California in 1847 on the old battleship Ohio. For a long period the family resided in that state and there Gardner G. Adams spent the period of his boyhood and youth. He became a prominent factor in public affairs of his home com- munity and from 1880 until 1890 served as justice of the peace in the old town of Sawtooth, Idaho, and was likewise postmaster there for a period of eight years. Through- out all that time he was devoting his leisure to the study of law and was admitted to the bar fifteen years or more ago. He also learned stenography in California and for twelve years he was engaged in mining pursuits in Alturas county. After his removal to Boise in 1891 he was employed as a stenographer in the office of James H. Hawley and William Puckett for a period of seven years. Since 1907 he has been actively engaged in the practice of law and has also served for two terms as justice of the peace in that period.
At Ketchum, in the Wood River valley of Idaho, Mr. Adams was married on the 20th of November, 1890, to Miss Mildred Heaston, a native daughter of Idaho, her birth having occurred in Oneida county. To Mr. and Mrs. Adams have been born three children: John G., who is married and resides at Buhl, Idaho, where he holds a position in the First National Bank; Avery E., who is married and makes his home at North Bend, Oregon, where he is connected with a lumber concern; and Marion, who is a member of the senior class in the Boise high school. The two sons are also high school graduates.
Mr. Adams is a member of the Idaho State Bar Association and fraternally is con- nected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, taking the degrees of the lodge and encampment and also the Royal Purple degree. He has been a most faithful follower of the order and enjoys the highest regard and esteem of his associates in the organization.
JOSEPH J. CALDWELL.
Joseph J. Caldwell, who became well known in educational circles as the super- intendent of the public schools of Meridian, was serving as postmaster at the time of his death, which occurred May 27, 1920. He was born at Ralelgh, West Virginia, January 19, 1862, and is a son of Joseph Caldwell, whose birth occurred in Virginia, September 2, 1818. The father was a farmer by occupation and became a colonel in the Confederate army during the Civil war. His last days were passed near Galva, In McPherson county, Kansas, where his death occurred January 11, 1884. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Martha Ann Reynolds, was born in Virginia in 1820 and died at Raleigh, West Virginia, March 21, 1876. Their family numbered four sons and three daughters who are all living with the exception of our subject.
Joseph J. Caldwell, the only representative of the family who lived in Idaho, was reared to the age of seventeen years upon the home farm near Raleigh, West Virginia, and in 1879 removed to McPherson county, Kansas, in company with his father, brothers and sisters. He completed his education in the McPherson College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1894, winning the degree of Bachelor of Pedagogy. In the meantime, when eighteen years of age, he had taken up the pro- fession of teaching in the Kansas public schools and thus earned the money which enabled him to pay his tuition in McPherson College. From 1880 until 1908, or for a period of twenty-eight years, he was engaged in school work in the state of Kansas,
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chiefly as a teacher in the public schools and teachers' normal schools and also did institute work. He likewise served as county superintendent of schools in Rice county, Kansas, for one term, from 1897 until 1899. For six years, just before coming to Idaho in 1908, he was superintendent of the public schools of Hoisington, Barton county, Kansas, and then left the Sunflower state to become a resident of the north- west. Making Idaho his destination, he taught school for several years at Meridian and at Parma, acting as superintendent of schools until appointed to the position of postmaster of Meridian in 1914 by President Woodrow Wilson. He held the office for six years and at his death was serving his second term, making an efficient officer in that position by the prompt manner and capability with which he handled the mails and cared for the interests of the patrons of the office.
On the 25th of May, 1887, Mr. Caldwell was married in Kansas to Miss Ida L. Criner, who was horn in Virginia and also became a teacher, following the pro- fession in Kansas both before and after her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell became parents of three children: Lorrin L., Verne V. and Ardah L. The eldest son is connected with the traffic department of the Ellison-White Chautauqua System. The second son has recently returned from twenty months' service in France as bugler and messenger of Company C of the Second Engineers, U. S. A. He was twice deco- rated and wears the Croix de Guerre of France, which was awarded for "showing exceptional coolness and hravery in carrying messages through violent machine gun and artillery barrage on the Champagne front." His military service was of a very arduous character. His command, with the Second division, participated in the en- gagement. at Chateau Thierry from the 1st of June to the 10th of July, 1918, this being the engagement which turned the tide of war when the German troops had advanced so near the French capital that it seemed that it was only a question of hours when the Parisians must fall into the hands of their enemies. Then came the St. Mihiel battle, where for the first time the Americans were "on their own," and the Second division captured the town of Thiaucourt, closing the salient and making it possible to fire on Metz with the long range guns. Then came the Champagne or Mont Blanc battle from the 2d to the 26th of October. Here the French had failed to take the hill after four attempts, and General Foch, calling for the Second division, made the drive, and after about fifteen days the infantry and marines of the divi- sion were relieved by the Thirty-sixth division, while the Engineers continued as infantry. In the first eleven days in November the Second division relieved the Forty-second or Rainbow division and after the signing of the armistice was selected as a part of the army of occupation and started for the Rhine on the 17th of Novem- ber, arriving on the 13th of December. The boys left Coblenz, Germany, July 20, Brest on the 25th of July and on the 5th of August reached New York, where the entire Second division paraded Fifth avenue from Madison square to One Hundred and Tenth street. The boys of Meridian, Idaho, arrived home on the 17th of August and, as stated, Verne Caldwell returned with two decorations and is now teaching school at King Hill, Idaho. The daughter, Ardah L., is a junior in Meridian high school. Lorrin, the eldest son, is a graduate of the University of California. Mrs. Caldwell has every reason to be proud of her family, all of whom hold to the high intellectual standards inculcated by the parents. The influence of the Caldwell family has ever been on the side of progress and improvement and has upheld the legal and moral status of the community and the state.
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ISAAC W. GARRETT.
Isaac W. Garrett was long a well known citizen of Idaho and at the time of his death was filling the office of receiver in the land office at Boise. He had been for a considerable period a resident of the northwest, having first crossed the plains in 1847 in company with his parents. He was at that time nine years of age, his birth having oc- curred in Pike county, Illinois, October 19, 1838. Their destination was the Willamette valley of Oregon and after reaching the Sunset state, Isaac W. Garrett there engaged in teaching school. He was also employed as purser on Columbia river boats and first came to Idaho during the gold rush to Florence in 1860. In 1868 he made his way to the Boise valley, where he turned his attention to the live stock business in connection with an uncle, William Stark. Mr. Garrett conducted butcher shops in Placerville and at Granite Creek from 1872 until 1879.
Vol. III-3
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In May of the former year Mr. Garrett was united in marriage to Miss Emma Child, of Boise. Their first three children were born in Placerville and Mr. Garrett afterward removed with his family to the Wood river country in 1881. There he took up a timber culture claim in the Spring creek district but in the fall of 1882 removed to Hailey, Idaho, and was appointed deputy auditor and recorder of Alturas county, serving under John M. Canady. He was afterward elected auditor and recorder in 1884 and by reelection was continued in that office until 1895. He was also elected sec- retary of state in the fall of 1894 and served during the term of 1895-7, leaving an excellent record as one of the efficient state officers. In the fall of 1895 he became a resident of Boise and in the spring of 1898 was appointed receiver of the United States land office, continuing to fill that position until his life's labors were ended in death on the 22d of October of the same year.
Mrs. Emma (Child) Garrett, wife of Isaac W. Garrett, was born in Indiana in April, 1851, came to Boise in 1870 and in 1872 was married. She became the mother of twelve children. Edward E. Garrett, the eldest of the family, was born in Placer- ville, in June, 1873, acquired a common school education and was chief clerk in the office of the secretary of state under his father. He was afterward appointed receiver of the United States land office upon the death of his father in 1898 and continued to fill that position until 1907, when he went to Los Angeles, California, and entered the business circles of that city in 1910. There he passed away in March, 1915. Charles C. Garrett, another son of the family, was born in Boise, Idaho, in March, 1880, also attended the common schools and in 1898 entered the employ of the United States weather bureau, with which service he is still connected. He has been sta- . tioned at various periods-in Boise, in Spokane, in Independence, California, in Denver and in Lincoln, Nebraska, and is now in charge of the weather station at Walla Walla, Washington.
Arthur W. Garrett, who was born in Hailey, Idaho, in September, 1884, attended the public schools and also pursued special work in the University of Nebraska. He was for eight years connected with the United States weather service and then turned his attention to merchandising, establishing business at Meridian, Idaho, in the spring of 1909. Through the intervening period of eleven years he has conducted the busi- ness and is now one of the leading merchants of that place.
Various members of the family have during many years been actively connected with affairs of government of state and nation, and Arthur W. Garrett, like the others of the household, has done his full service in public office. He was a member of the village board of Meridian from 1915 until 1917 and in the spring of 1919 was elected mayor, which position he is still filling. The name of Garrett has in many ways been indelibly impressed upon the history of the state, for twice the father served as a member of the general assembly, filling the office in 1877 and again in 1883 and serving also as clerk of the house, while, as previously stated, he was at one time secretary of state in Idaho. Father and sons have at all times held to high standards of citizenship and have ever been most loyal to the interests intrusted to their care, so that the family name has become a synonym for valuable citizenship in Idaho.
M. L. WALKER.
M. L. Walker comes from a sturdy stock of pioneers that emigrated from the state of Kentucky in the days of Daniel Boone, locating in central Missouri, carving for themselves and their families substantial homes in what was then thought to be a wilderness. The Walker family had much to do with the upbuilding and early history of the great state of Missouri.
M. L. Walker was born on the old homestead farm near the city of Brookfield, Missouri, November 7, 1871, and obtained his education in the public schools and the Brookfield College, at that time one of the leading educational institutions of his native state. In 1892 Mr. Walker entered the service of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, holding various responsible positions for about ten years, when he entered the banking business in Brookfield which he followed until the summer of 1906, removing to Grand Junction, Colorado, for the benefit of his health. While liv- ing in Colorado he became extensively interested in the development of irrigated lands and the outdoor life in that excellent climate fully restored his health. Having read
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M. L. WALKER
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much of Major Reed's famous writings on the wonderful possibilities of the great Gem state, Mr. Walker decided in the spring of 1908 to take up his residence in the city of Caldwell, where he at once turned his attention to the real estate business and to the improvement and development of ranch lands. Southwestern Idaho is indebted to him probably more than to any other one man for the upbuilding of its farming community. He has made a success of this business and has progressed where others have failed-a fact due to his pleasing personality, his qualities of salesmanship and his thorough reliability in all business dealing. His wife is also possessed of excellent business ability and assists him in the office and in the management of his extensive business operations. As the opportunity presented Mr. Walker has acquired exten- sive holdings of irrigated lands and has perhaps transformed more sage brush desert into productive farms than any single individual in his community, and being an extensive advertiser and a stanch believer in the future of Idaho, has been instru- mental in bringing hundreds of families into Canyon county-people who have become prosperous farmers of the district and are contributing steadily to its further develop- ment and upbuilding.
In 1909 Mr. Walker was united in marriage to Miss Jessie E. Dennis, of Hannibal, Missouri, a most estimable lady of that noted city on the Mississippi made famous by Mark Twain, Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. "Tis said, that to meet Mrs. Walker in her husband's office or in her home is an inspiration for the visitor to call again. * * * Mr. Walker is by nature a quiet, unassuming man and it was through per- sistent effort that the writer was able to obtain an interview with him for this little sketch, and the portrait accompanying this biography is his first since childhood.
JUDGE HARRY S. WORTHMAN.
Judge Harry S. Worthman, attorney at law, now practicing at Emmett, has aided in shaping the legislative as well as the judicial history of the state. He is now filling the office of city attorney at Emmett and is also accorded a large private practice. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, June 11, 1866, a son of Samuel and Sarah (Hatfield) Worthman, who were natives of Germany and Ohio respectively. The father was brought to the United States by his parents when but nine years of age and during most of his active life was a merchant in Cincinnati, Ohio. His birth occurred in 1839 and the year 1848 witnessed his arrival in the new world. For about forty years he was a resident of Cincinnati, where he passed away July 2, 1889. His wife was born near that city in 1845 and is still in Cincinnati, remaining a widow. There are five living children in her family, all of whom remain in Cincinnati with the exception of Judge Worthman.
Reared in that city, Harry S. Worthman pursued his education in the Hughes high school and then in preparation for a legal career entered the Cincinnati Law School, from which he was graduated on the 23d of May, 1888. For a year he practiced his profession there and then removed to Ogden, Utah, where he also engaged in law practice for a year. In 1890 he opened an office in Boise, Idaho, where he remained until 1905 with the exception of a period of sixteen months spent in the Philippines-from May, 1898, until September, 1899. He had enlisted for service in the Spanish-American war, holding a commission as first lieutenant of Company H, First Idaho Volunteer Infantry. In 1905 he took up his abode upon a ranch which he owned three and a half miles from Emmett, Idaho, and there he made his home until 1917, when he resumed the practice of law at Emmett, where he is now accorded a large clientage and is also serving as city attorney. His devotion to his clients' interests is proverbial, yet he never forgets that he owes a still higher allegiance to the majesty of the law. In 1894 and 1895 he served as probate judge of Ada county and he was again called upon for active political service in 1901, when Ada county sent him as its representative in the state sen- ate. He was a member of the upper house in the sixth session of the state legislature and was made a member of the judiciary committee. He has always given his political allegiance to the republican party, believing firmly in its principles as factors in good government, and he has therefore worked earnestly to promote its success.
At Blackfoot, Idaho, September 26, 1906. Judge Worthman was married to Miss May L. Scott, a lady most prominently known in educational circles in Idaho, having served for four years as state superintendent of public instruction, from 1903 until 1907. She was born at Iola, Kansas, October 10, 1868, a daughter of Daniel H. and Hannah M. (Anderson) Scott, both of whom have passed away. Her father was a vet-
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eran of the Union army, having served for four years in the Civil war, entering the service as a drummer boy. In her school days Mrs. Worthman had displayed special aptitude in her studies and after removing to Idaho she became a teacher in the schools of Bingham county. Later she was chosen superintendent of schools for that county and the excellent work which she did in that connection led to her election to the office of state superintendent of public instruction. She has exerted a widely felt influence on the intellectual progress of the state and remains a prominent figure in those social circles where intelligence and true worth are accepted as the passports into good society.
Judge Worthman is a member of the Idaho State Bar Association. He is also well known in fraternal circles, becoming a Knight Templar Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine. He is past master of Boise Lodge, No. 2, A. F. & A. M., is a member of Boise Commandery, K. T., and of El Korah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is likewise con- nected with the Capital City Lodge, No. 310, B. P. O. E., and these organizations account him one of their valued representatives. Both Judge and Mrs. Worthman have many friends among Idaho's leading citizens and they are exerting a strongly felt influence in the life and thought of Emmett.
MARTIN CURRAN.
Martin Curran, a resident of Boise, was attracted to Idaho in 1881 by the mining excitement of Wood River valley, where rich veins of ore had just been struck. For a considerable period he continued active as a mining man and later took over a valuable ranch property, which for the past twenty years he has conducted and further developed and improved. He maintains his residence in the capital city. Neverthe- less his name is prominently known in mining circles, just as it is in connection with the raising of sheep and cattle, and he is regarded as a most forceful and resourceful man, who carries to successful completion whatever he undertakes.
Mr. Curran was born on the beautiful River Shannon, in County Roscommon, Ireland, in March, 1853, and came to the United States in 1872, when a youth of nineteen years. He at once went to California, spending several years in that state, in Nevada and in Utah engaged in mining pursuits. When twenty-four years of age he was boss of a silver mine at Cornucopia, Nevada, and later was at Pioche, that state, while subsequently he was at Silverreef, Utah. At the last named place he acted as foreman of a mine for a year and in 1881 he came to Idaho, for there was great mining excitement in the Wood River valley and it was the lure of the mines that brought him to this state. He became the superintendent of the Bullion group of silver and lead mines and so continued for five years, while from 1886 until 1897 he was in the Coeur d'Alene district as superintendent of the Morning mine, near Mullan, Shoshone county. For over three years he continued there and was superin- tendent of the Gold Hunter' mine near Mullan for seven years.
In 1897 Mr. Curran retired from mining pursuits and removed to Boise, in which city he has lived the life of a prosperous citizen, independent so far as this world's goods is concerned. Notwithstanding he has remained an active factor in business circles, chiefly in connection with live stock, raising both sheep and cattle. He has excellent ranching interests, being the proprietor of the Can-Ada stock ranch. which is located near the line between Ada and Canyon counties, hence the name. When it passed into the possession of Mr. Curran it was stocked with about ten thou- sand head of sheep, of which eighteen hundred were fine registered Hampshires that had been imported from England by the former ranch owner at a cost of over thirty dollars per head. All of the sheep and other chattels passed into Mr. Curran's pos- session along with the real estate. It was a peculiar combination of circumstances that led up to the transfer of this fine ranch and its excellent flocks and equipment, for Mr. Curran did not purchase outright out of voluntary choice, but was obliged to take it all over in order to save himself on account of large sums of money that had been been loaned by him and for which the property had been pledged as security. In order to become complete and undisputed owner of this property Mr. Curran was obliged to pay out nearly fifty thousand dollars of additional claims against the ranch. This he did and thus secured title to a splendid estate, and he has since owned the property in fee simple without either incumbrance or claims against it. He and his sons have since converted this into a fine cattle ranch and are conducting it today. but all reside at Boise.
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The city home of Mr. Curran is located at the corner of Bannock and First streets and is one of the most beautiful residences in that section of the capital. It was erected by Mr. Curran fourteen years ago and is a two-story brick veneer residence, fronting on both First and Bannock streets and surrounded by broad verandas on both fronts. On one of the other corners is the heautiful St. Luke's Hospital and within two blocks of his home are the handsome grounds and buildings of the United States assay office, St. Margaret's Hall and St. Theresa's Academy. Mr. Curran has prospered in Idaho and is today one of the wealthy men of the state. Besides his fine home he has other Boise property, in addition to one of the finest stock ranches in Idaho. A visit to his ranch is a delight to all who have that privilege. It is situated about twenty miles west of Boise, just over the line in Canyon county, and embraces six hundred and twenty acres of land, with free water all over it for irrigation pur- poses. This land is today worth three hundred dollars per acre and is highly improved with splendid buildings, large silos and everything in keeping with progressive methods of agriculture at the present time. Upon the place are three wells each three hundred feet in depth. These are artesian wells, producing a constant flow of the finest water.
In 1893, at Mullan, Idaho, Mr. Curran was married by Father Remy Keyser to Miss Belle Flood, who was born in Butler county, Ohio, March 17, 1866, and is a daughter of James and Mary (Ronan) Flood, who were natives of Ireland but were married in Butler county. Ohio. When their daughter was four years of age they removed to southeastern Kansas and in 1890 she came to Idaho. She was educated in St. Anne's Academy at St. Paul, Kansas. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Curran: Martin Jr., Joseph, Mary and William, aged respectively twenty- four, twenty-two, seventeen and fourteen years. Joseph and Mary were born on the same day of the month five years apart. Joseph returned from Camp Lewis on the 1st of February, 1919, after six months' service at that camp. The four children are all at home and the two eldest sons, Martin and Joseph, are graduates of the Columbia College of Portland and are now associated with their father in the live stock business and in the management of the Can-Ada stock ranch, on which they have about two hundred head of beef cattle.
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