History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 54

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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The family circle was broken by the hand of death when on the 25th of July, 1887, Nicholas Haug was called to his final rest. He had long been a member of the Masonic fraternity and had attained the Knight Templar degree. His political allegiance was given to the republican party, the principles of which he strongly ad- vocated, although he was never an office seeker. He had many substantial qualities which won him warm friends and there were many who deeply regretted his death, while the loss to the members of his own household was an inestimable one.

JOHN NICHOLAS LIECHTY.

John Nicholas Liechty, a prosperous farmer of Gem county whose well im- proved eighty acre ranch is situated six and a half miles west of Emmett, came to Idaho in the spring of 1901 from Provo, Utah, of which state he is a native but of Swiss descent. His birth occurred in Provo, December 17, 1867, his parents being John and Louisa Liechty, who were natives of Switzerland but were mar- ried in Utah, both coming with their respective families to the United States as converts to the Mormon faith. Both have passed away.

At the place of his nativity John N. Liechty was reared and educated and after arriving at years of maturity he was married in Salt Lake City on the 23d of June, 1895, to Miss Mary Elizabeth Keppler, who was born at Provo, July 22, 1879. She is a daughter of Philip and Mary Catherine Keppler, the former a native of Ger- many and the latter of Switzerland. Her father died when Mrs. Liechty was but five years of age, and her mother is still living in Salt Lake City.

Six years after their marriage, or in 1901, Mr. and Mrs. Liechty removed to Idaho. settling in Blackfoot, where they lived for a year, and also spent a similar period at Nampa, Idaho. They then came to Gem county, where they arrived in 1903. Mr. Liechty took up a homestead on the Emmett bench, added splendid improvements to the place and with characteristic energy began converting the wild land, which was covered with a native growth of sagebrush, into a productive farm. He made an excellent place out of the property, but as water for Irrigation was scarce and dear and he had a good chance to sell, disposed of that ranch and bought his present ranch down in the valley, where water is plentiful and costs but little. In the spring of 1919 he removed to this place, upon which he has a fine new seven-room bungalow and other modern improvements. He is most care- fully and successfully developing and cultivating his ranch, which is an excellent and desirable property and returns to him a gratifying annual income.

To Mr. and Mrs. Liechty were born seven children: John Nicholas Phillip, who was born March 27, 1896; Daniel, born September 13, 1897; Clarence, Octo- ber 23, 1901; Vernal, September 18, 1904; Grant Harold, July 5, 1909; Eloise Joy, March 6, 1915; and Rachel Mary, May 12, 1918. The eldest son served in the World war as a sergeant in the aviation department of the United States army, being on duty most of the time as an instructor on the aviation field at Arcadia, Florida.

Mr. and Mrs. Liechty are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. They are progressive and enterprising people who have made steady advancement during the period of their residence in Idaho. When they first lo- cated on their homestead on the Emmett bench they lived in a tent for a year and then built a little cabin of two rooms, which they occupied for several years, but in 1917 erected a good seven-room residence, which was their home until they sold

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the place in the spring of 1919. During the first year or two after taking up his abode upon the homestead Mr. Liechty engaged in putting down wells for others ' who had located on the bench or in this part of the state and in that way he as- sisted in providing a living for his family while improving his property. He put down over eighty wells in all. His life has been one of thrift and industry, and his energy has brought to him well deserved success, so that he is now numbered among the prosperous farmers of Gem county.

JOHN C. WILDER.

John C. Wilder, of the firm of Downey & Wilder of Boise, sheet metal work- ers and tinners, doing contract work along that line and also in the installation of furnaces, came to this city in 1907 from Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was born in Flint, Michigan, October 22, 1867, and is a son of Burney and Maria Wil- der, both of whom have passed away, the mother dying when her son, John C., was but four years of age. The family was then broken up and John C. Wilder was reared in the state of New York, where he learned the tinner's trade at East Aurora, taking up work along that line in young manhood. In 1899 he came west, spending eight years at Colorado Springs, Colorado, and in 1907 removed to Boise, Idaho. Since 1912 he has been the partner of Oscar M. Downey in the firm of Downey & Wilder and they do all kinds of sheet metal, tin and furnace work, not only along repair lines but taking contracts for work of that character. Their patron- age has become an extensive and gratifying one and their success is most desirable. On the 7th of April, 1892, at Colden, New York, John C. Wilder was mar- ried to Miss Hannah E. Irish, who died in Boise, February 7, 1917, leaving two sons: Charles J., twenty-five years of age; and Willard G., aged twenty. The former is married and lives in Boise. The latter served in the United States navy during the world war and is now at home but belongs to the Naval Reserves. On the 18th of February, 1918, Mr. Wilder was married to Miss Rosa L. Lichte of Boise.

Mr. Wilder is a past grand in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a loyal follower of that organization. In politics he maintains an independent course and has never been an aspirant for office. He owns a good home in Ivywild, South Boise, and he spends much time in camping during the summer, being very fond of hunting grouse and in fact enjoying thoroughly all forms of outdoor life. His success is the direct outcome of his industry and perseverance and he is known as one of the reliable business men of the capital city.

MIKE FITZPATRICK.

Mike Fitzpatrick is one of the pioneers of South Boise who has contributed to the arduous task of developing wild sagebrush land into a productive farm. He was born in Ireland, November 20, 1857, and is a son of Patrick and Alice (Welsh) Fitzpatrick. His parents never came to the United States and both have passed away. When fourteen years of age the son left home, bidding adieu to family, friends and native country, and crossed the Atlantic to the new world with the family of an uncle, who was the husband of one of his mother's sisters and who bore the name of Clary. Upon a farm in Hardin county, Ohio, Mr. Clary took up his abode, but Mr. Fitzpatrick remained with him for only about a year. When fifteen years of age he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and was employed in a foundry there for three or four years. He next went to Colorado, where he remained for two years, and during that period was in the employ of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.

In 1880 Mr. Fitzpatrick came to Boise, where he sought employment, and, carefully saving his earnings, he was able in 1888 to purchase his present farm property at the customary price of unimproved land covered with a native growth of sagebrush, as was all of the land in the vicinity of Boise at that time. Mr. Fitz- patrick had the foresight to recognize something of what the future had in store for this great and growing western country. Moreover, he knew that because of its nearness to Boise, the capital city, it must one day become quite valuable. He

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has lived to see this brought about and today he has a splendidly improved farm of fifty-two acres which would bring him a substantial figure if placed upon the market. It is supplied with good buildings, shaded lawns, splendid bearing or- chards and by well kept fences is divided into fields of convenient size. His land is well irrigated and is largely devoted to pasture, which feeds throughout the year the ten or twelve good dairy cows which he keeps, and other necessary farm stock. His place is situated just at the outskirts of Boise adjoining the corpora- tion limits and is now a most valuable and desirable tract. As soon as he made the purchase, more than thirty years ago, he built a home thereon and moved there with his bride and they are still occupying this home, in which they have reared their family. From the day of their marriage they have never occupied a rented house and their farm has never been mortgaged.

It was on the 19th of April, 1888, that Mr. Fitzpatrick wedded Miss Aurelia Porter, who was born in Ada county, Idaho, February 20, 1867, a daughter of William T. Porter, who was a pioneer settler of Ada county. Her mother is still living. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Fitzpatrick, two sons and two daughters. Alice Martha wedded William Joseph Ingham, of Elwood City, · Pennsylvania, on the 1st of August, 1914, and they have two children: Jack, who was born May 2, 1915; and William Joseph, Jr., born August 23, 1917. The second member of the family is Porter Fitzpatrick, who was born June 9, 1891, and is married and lives at Great Falls, Montana. Edgar Joseph, born September 2, 1893, returned home in September, 1918, after fifteen months' service in the United States navy. Ethel Mary, born May 13, 1895, was married May 5, 1915, to John Kopel- man, of Richfield, Idaho.

Mr. Fitzpatrick is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and for three years he has served as school trustee but otherwise has not sought nor filled public office. Mrs. Fitzpatrick is president of the South Bolse Improvement Club and was very active in war work and in the Red Cross. They are a most progressive couple, keenly interested in everything pertaining to the welfare and upbuilding of the community in which they live, and their labors have constituted a potent force in bringing about present day admirable conditions.

MRS. MARTHA JANE JOHNS.

Mrs. Martha Jane Johns has the distinction of being the oldest resident in the South Boise district in point of length of connection with the locality in which she makes her home. From pioneer times she has witnessed the development and upbuilding of this section of the state, having lived here for more than a half century. She is the widow of Edwin E. Johns, who passed away January 25, 1918. She bore the maiden name of Martha Jane Taylor and was born in the Williamette valley of Oregon, near Corvallis, on the 28th of December, 1848, her parents being Benjamin and Mary (Liggett) Taylor, who were among the earliest settlers of Oregon, having crossed the plains to that state in 1845 in the same wagon train. They were single at the time, being young people, and were married in Oregon in 1847. Benjamin Taylor was born in Wales. He and his wife had a family of six children, three sons and three daughters, of whom Mrs. Johns is the eldest. All of the family are now living and the youngest Mrs. Mary Swearingen, of Port- land, Oregon, is now fifty-six years of age. The others of the Taylor family are: Mrs. Louisa Hyland, of Salem, Oregon; William and Elijah Taylor, twin brothers, living at Everett, Washington; and Marion Taylor, of Waynesville, Oregon.

When Mrs. Johns was nine years of age her parents removed to California and when she was fifteen she was married there to William Porter, a native of Maine. In 1864 Mr. Porter and his young bride, not yet sixteen years of age, came to Boise and soon afterward purchased what is known as a squatter's right to one hundred and sixty acres of choice land on the south side of the Boise river opposite the city of Boise. Mr. Porter then paid only sixteen hundred dollars for the tract, which is now worth about half that sum per acre. The thirty-five acre farm which Mrs. Johns owns now and on which she has lived since 1866 is a part of the original one hundred and sixty acre tract that her first husband purchased about fifty-four years ago. It was then all wild land not yet surveyed and the only improvement

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upon it was a log cabin. Mr. and Mrs. Porter took up their abode in the cabin in 1866 and in the following spring a better house was built from planks. At a re- cent date a large, roomy two-story frame residence of attractive design and gener- ous proportions has been erected. It is the fourth home which Mrs. Johns has occu- pied on the same site, each one being better than its predecessor. On the 8th of August, 1871, Mr. Porter passed away at the age of forty years, leaving three. daughters, all of whom are yet living. These are: Mrs. Aurelia Fitzpatrick, the wife of Mike Fitzpatrick, mentioned elsewhere in this work; Mrs. Ella March- bank, of San Francisco, California; and Mrs. Mary Cleaver, the widow of Henry Cleaver, who died June 9, 1916, in Portland, Oregon. He was an officer of the United States navy.

On the 26th of July, 1875, Mrs. Porter became the wife of Edwin E. Johns. They lived happily together in the Porter homestead until his death, January 25, 1918, when he was seventy-two years of age. He was born in Galena, Illinois, November 1, 1846, and came to Idaho City, Idaho, in 1864, while later he removed to Boise. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Johns was blessed with five children, three daughters and two sons, all of whom have reached adult age, the eldest be- ing forty-two and the youngest twenty-eight. These are: Mrs. Emma Drake, of" Ada county; Mrs. Ida Kahalen, of Emmett, Idaho; Fred, who was born May 4, 1883; Arthur C., January 7, 1886; and Mrs. Eva Ackley, May 30, 1890. The two sons Fred and Arthur reside upon and manage the home farm for their mother, and Mr. and Mrs. Ackley also reside upon the farm. Arthur C. Johns returned home in December, 1918, after a year in a military training camp at San Francisco, California. He was thirty-two years of age at the time America entered the war and was not subject to the first draft but enlisted as a volunteer.

Mrs. Johns is a member of the Presbyterian church and of the South Boise Improvement Club. She is keenly interested in everything that pertains to the welfare and upbuilding of the district in which she has so long made her home. No other person residing in the South Boise district has so long been located in this region, and she is familiar with all the events which have shaped its history and marked its progress. Her reminiscences of the early days are most interesting, and she has remained a woman of progressive spirit, keeping in touch with the vital questions and issues of the present time.

CLAUDE D. BUCKNUM.

Claude D. Bucknum, an undertaker and embalmer who has engaged in busi- ness in Emmett for about fourteen years, or since 1906, was born in Atchison, Kansas, March 7, 1878, and is a son of Julius R. Bucknum, who throughout his entire life engaged in the lumber business in various states. In 1898 he was lost in the mountains of Oregon while hunting deer and his remains were not found until twenty years later, or in 1918. He was one of the prominent lumbermen of Oregon at the time of his disappearance. His widow passed away in Creswell, Oregon, in 1915. She bore the maiden name of Anna M. Davis and was a native of Missouri, while Mr. Bucknum was a native of Michigan.

Claude D. Bucknum is the only member of the family living in Idaho. He left Atchison, Kansas, with his parents when but five years of age and for a few years the family home was maintained in Missouri, but in 1890 a removal was made to Oregon. He was reared to the lumber business, becoming foreman and manager of his father's interests after the father's death. He continued to act in that capacity for four years and finally turned his attention to the undertaking business at Junction City, Oregon, where he learned the business as a partner of J. H. Miller their interests being conducted under the firm style of Miller & Buck- num.

Since coming to Idaho Mr. Bucknum has built up an undertaking business that is very extensive, and his manner of conducting funerals makes his service very acceptable to the family who needs his aid. Upon his removal to Emmett he bought out the undertaking business of Clint Brown and he has splendid equipment. His establishment and chapel were built of cement blocks in 1918 and constitute one of the best buildings in Emmett. There are few if any undertaking establishments in Idaho as fine as that owned by Mr. Bucknum, his place being the last word in

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buildings of this character. The structure is of beautiful design and has a fine chapel with a seating capacity of one hundred and fifty. He also has an automo- bile hearse, owning one of the first of this kind in Idaho. He belongs to the Idaho Funeral Directors Association and keeps in touch with the most progressive and scientific methods of the business. In addition to the Emmett establishment, which is the only one of the kind in the town, he has a branch establishment at Sweet, and he has been a licensed embalmer since 1903. He is also the owner of the Ideal Theatre of Emmett and half-owner of the Liberty Theatre-enterprises which contribute in substantial manner to his income-and he is a member and the treas- urer of the Idaho Theatre Managers Association.

On the 25th of February, 1903, Mr. Bucknum was married to Miss Frances M. Rice, who was born and reared in Oregon and who passed away May 19, 1918, leaving two children: Arlene Dorinda, born February 22, 1904; and Eugene Merle, February 11, 1907. Both are now pupils in the Emmett schools.

In politics Mr. Bucknum is a democrat and he served as the first coroner of Gem county following its organization in 1915 and was elected to the office in 1916, serving altogether for three and a half years. Fraternally he is a Mason and an Odd Fellow and is a past grand in the local lodge of the latter organization and also belongs to the encampment. He is widely known and the sterling traits of his character are recognized by his many friends.

PETER ESKELDSON.

Peter Eskeldson, who follows farming, residing on a valuable eight-acre tract of land a mile and a half southeast of the Garfield school in South Boise, came to Idaho in 1889 from Newport, Rhode Island, and through the intervening period has been identified with ranching interests, contributing much to the substantial develop- ment of this section of the state. Pioneering has ever had an attraction for him, giving him the opportunity to subdue the wild and make it of worth in connection with the purposes of civilization.

Mr. Eskeldson is a Dane by birth, having been born in Denmark, January 12, 1869. He is an American by adoption, however, and has ever been most loyal to this land since becoming a naturalized citizen. His parents never came to the United States and both are now deceased. It was in 1889, when twenty years of age, that Peter Eskeldson crossed the ocean to the new world, remaining for a short time at Newport, Rhode Island, but soon afterward making his way westward to Idaho, which was still a territory at that time. He first purchased a tract of land compris- ing one hundred and sixty acres south of Star but never resided upon that place. He was variously employed during the early days in mining and in the logging camps, spending several years in that way.

In 1894 Mr. Eskeldson traded his quarter section south of Star for one hundred and twenty acres on the Barber road, three miles east of the Garfield school, the place being known as the old Clawson ranch. It adjoined the Holcomb ranch and camp ground, located on the old Oregon trail. The camp ground has been a favorite for tourists and wagon trains for more than half a century. The Clawson ranch, which came into possession of Mr. Eskeldson in 1894 'and on which he lived for nearly a quarter of a century, would frequently take care of the campers when the Holcomb ranch was not adequate to the demands thus made upon it. Mr. Eskeldson erected two sets of good buildings on the Clawson ranch when he was owner of that property and he also planted orchards embracing all kinds of fruit trees, also chest- nut and white walnut trees and various kinds of shade trees, including locusts, maples, poplars and others. He set out altogether several hundred trees, all of which are now of large size, many being two feet in diameter. Mr. Eskeldson took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres adjoining the Clawson ranch and thereby became owner of two hundred and eighty acres. Later he sold several forty- acre tracts and twenty-acre tracts and finally, in 1918, he sold that section of the ranch which had been his home, including all of the good buildings that he had put upon it and the orchard improvements. Though he had remaining at that time but twenty-six acres, he received nine thousand dollars for the property. He then purchased his present small but well improved ranch, whereon he now resides. He still owns one- half of the homestead of one hundred and sixty acres and it is today a valuable place

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of eighty acres, which he intends soon to develop and improve, making it into a fine place, just as he did the Clawson ranch. This is now his purpose, to which he expects soon to bend his energies. However, the land must have water upon it and owing to its elevation it would be a very costly project to pump water upon it.

Mr. Eskeldson since coming to America has returned to Denmark but once, making the trip in 1898 in order to visit his parents. He continued for seven months in his native country at that time. While his parents have since died, he has one brother, John Eskeldson, who resides on a ranch adjoining the home property of Peter Eskeldson and who is nine years his junior.

In Boise, on the 19th of August 1908, Mr. Eskeldson was married to Miss Emma Paulson, who is of Swedish descent. She was born in Sweden and came to the United States during her infancy. By her marriage she has become the mother of three children: Ivan, nine years of age; William, a lad of seven; and Margaret Marie, who is four years old. The family belong to the Lutheran church. In his political views Mr. Eskeldson is a republican and has filled several local offices, serving as road supervisor for six years, during which time he built three miles of the Barber road to Boise. He has always stood for progress and improvement in community affairs and has labored earnestly and effectively to advance public inter- ests. His has been an active and well spent life and it was a wise step that he took when he severed home ties and came to the new world to enjoy the opportunities and advantages here offered.

J. P. KUSTER.

J. P. Kuster has for a considerable period been identified with the development of agricultural interests in Ada county and is now the owner of an excellent home prop- erty near Eagle. He is a native of Germany, his birthplace being about half way be- tween Bremen and Hamburg. His ancestors in the paternal line belonged to the no- bility of that country and the city of Kustin was named in their honor. The grand- father, however, committed the unpardonable sin of marrying a peasant girl and thereby renounced his title. Peter Kuster, the father of J. P. Kuster, was a government con- tractor who was accidentally killed. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Anna Otten, because of her marked intellectual force was selected from her class and edu- cated by the Prussian government as a physician to minister to the poor. The ma- ternal ancestors of J. P. Kuster so distinguished themselves in the Napoleonic wars that the government in its redistribution of the land gave her people a farm of sixty acres which is still in possession of the family.

J. P. Kuster was only fourteen years of age when left an orphan and from that time forward has been dependent upon his own resources. He acquired his early education in his native country and came to America in 1884, being at that time sev- enteen years of age, his birth having occurred on the 20th of February, 1867. He had worked for three years in Germany in order to save enough money to come to the United States, crossing the Atlantic in the month of August. On boarding a ship bound for America he found it necessary to hide among the herring barrels in the hold of the ship in order to escape the German officers and avoid being returned to serve in the army. Upon leaving his country, however, all of his property was confiscated by the government and all possibility of inheritance from the estate of his parents was eliminated. It seems characteristic of the family to wish to shake off the yoke of imperialism, for his cousin, John Kuster, made his escape from the German army after he had been drafted for service and came to the United States. It was not dread of military service but opposition to governmental methods that made him come to the new world, for immediately after his arrival he enlisted as a private in the United States army, serving for nearly twenty years and winning promotion to the rank of lieu- tenant. He retired only on account of ill health and afterward his son went to Ger- many to fight against that country in the present war.

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History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 54

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