USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III > Part 55
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J. P. Kuster landed at New York and was employed in a grocery house of that city long enough to acquaint him with the language of the country, but he preferred agri- culture and pioneering and for a year was employed at farm labor in the state of New York. He gradually worked his way westward, however, until in 1887 he reached Wyoming, where he took up the work of cow punching, working for Douglas Villian and Lionel Sartoris. The latter afterward married Nellie Grant, a daughter of General
J. P. KUSTER
Vol. III-29
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Grant. They were prominent stockmen and their ranch was known all over Wyoming. Mr. Kuster remained with them for two years, riding the range most of the time. and in 1892 he came overland to Idaho. His first work in this state was hauling stumps from the Owyhee Hills to Silver City for the Black Jack and Delamar mines. The timber had been cut from these hills and the stumps that remained were valuable as wood. The hill was so steep that it was no unusual thing for his wagon to upset. He was told that he could not make a success of the work, but contrary to public opinion, he did. In the winter of 1894 he put in the first plow in the construction work of the Farmers Union ditch and worked on the ditch each winter until it was com- pleted four years later. Subsequently he became superintendent of the ditch, then vice president and afterward president of the ditch company and there was a time when he and a neighbor carried the indebtedness of the project on their own notes. This is the first farmers' ditch ever carried through to a successful termination with- out falling into the hands of capitalists. During the time of the construction of the ditch Mr. Kuster bought a relinquishment desert claim of forty acres and has since invested in five acres more, and through his lahors he has converted his land from a desert tract of sagebrush to one of the most productive farms in the Boise valley. He makes hay his principal crop and also carries on dairying. He has a splendid home and a fine large barn and outhouses upon his land. It is the intention of Mr. and Mrs. Kuster to retain the ownership of their present place, which is located two and a quarter miles northwest of Eagle, and to take up a homestead of six hundred and forty acres in the mountains twelve miles from Eagle, where he will give his attention to the raising of stock, which he will feed on the home farm in the winter.
Mr. Kuster was united in marriage to Miss Nellie E. Cooper, a native of Kansas and a descendant of Elder Brewster of the Congregational church, who came to the new world on the Mayflower and was the first preacher in the New England colonies. To Mr. and Mrs. Kuster have been born four children: John Peter, twelve years of age, now attending school and also having a news route; Frank Albert, eleven years of age, who is likewise in school; Freda Margaret, deceased; and Jessie Clair, born November 6, 1919. Mrs. Kuster is a woman of innate refinement who has suc- cessfully engaged in teaching school and she is particularly well versed in history. . Both Mr. and Mrs. Kuster are widely and favorably known in Idaho, where their op- portunities for advancement have been wisely utilized, so that they are now numbered among the substantial farming people of Ada county.
DAVID WALTER MURRAY.
David Walter Murray is half owner of the Emmett Garage & Auto Company, in which undertaking he is associated with J. W. Blurton. He is one of Idaho's native sons, his birth having occurred at Centerville on the 15th of May, 1880. . He is the only living son of David and Fannie ( McAuliffe) Murray, both of whom have passed away, the father's death occurring in 1893, while the mother survived until September 2, 1919, and reached the advanced age of seventy-eight years. They were married in the Boise basin and became the parents of three sons and two daughters, of whom David W.' and the daughters Margaret and Lillian are yet living and all are residents of Emmett. Lillian is the wife of R. V. Eaton. The parents were natives of Ireland and knew each other in that country before coming to the new world. Both settled in the Boise basin when it was still a frontier district and later they became pioneer residents of the Emmett section of the state, residing just below the town for many years, during which period they were most widely and favorably known.
David W. Murray has spent practically his entire life in Emmett and vicinity. He was reared upon his father's ranch and in early manhood was employed in various ways but at length turned his attention to the automobile business and in November, 1917, became one of the incorporators of the Emmett Garage & Auto Company, of which he has since been the secretary and treasurer. They have the largest garage in Emmett, the building, which is composed of brick and concrete, being sixty-five by one hundred and thirty feet. They are distributors in Gem county for the Stude- baker and Maxwell cars and trucks, and already their sales have reached a very gratifying figure.
In November, 1905, Mr. Murray was married to Miss Georgia Buckland, who
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was born in Oregon, and they have become the parents of two sons, Roy M. and James D., aged respectively thirteen and eleven years. Mr. Murray is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and he served as the first treasurer of Gem county by appointment of the governor. He has also been a member of the city council and has ever exercised his official prerogatives in support of the public welfare and when out of office has been equally loyal to the best interests of the community. He belongs to the Emmett Gun Club, which indicates something of the nature of his recreation, but his time and energy are largely concentrated upon his business affairs and already the firm in which he is a partner has built up a business of extensive and gratifying proportions.
LORENZO C. BALL.
Lorenzo C. Ball, living two miles south of Lewisville, in Jefferson county, was born at Union, Utah, in February, 1887, a son of Alfred and Mary A. (Walker) Ball, mentioned in connection with the sketch of Alfred Ball on another page of this work. He was reared and educated at the place of his birth and in Jefferson county, Idaho, also attended Ricks Academy and was for a time a pupil in the Brigham Young Academy at Logan, Utah. He was fourteen years of age when his parents removed to Idaho in 1901 and he remained with them until he attained his majority. He started in the business world as a sheep herder and farm hand, working with his father for two years. In 1913 he began farming on his own account and in 1915 purchased forty acres of land two miles south of Lewisville, since which time he has carefully cultivated and developed his place, which is now one of the excellent farm properties of the district.
On the 2d of October, 1913, Lorenzo C. Ball married Hazel Knowlton and they have three children, Viola, Harold and Monna. Politically Mr. Ball is a repub- lican. He holds to the faith of his father and is an elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Formerly he filled a mission of twenty-six months in the northwestern states.
G. WILLIAM SHROUT.
G. William Shrout is connected with the City Marketing Company of Twin Falls and as such is one of the proprietors of a leading and progressive commer- cial interest of his section of the state. Since starting upon his business career he has advanced steadily step by step and his orderly progression has brought him into creditable business relations. He was born at Moorefield, Kentucky, May 1, 1879, and is a son of John M. and Alice L. (Jones) Shrout. His boyhood days to the age of nineteen years were passed at the place of his nativity and he then left home, going to Chicago, Illinois, where for four years he was employed in the large dry goods establishment of Marshall Field & Company. He then returned home on account of his health but in July, 1908 again left Kentucky with Idaho as his destination. He made his way to Twin Falls and here was given charge of the grocery department of the Idaho Department Store, continuing in that position for a year. In 1909 he became connected with the Darrow Brothers Seed Company at Twin Falls and thus remained for another year. He was afterward with the old City Marketing House on Main street for two years and then returned to the Idaho Department Store, with which he continued for three years. On the expiration of that period he joined E. E. O. Spielberg and C. H. Mull in taking over the City MartIng House, which they reorganized and opened for business on the 10th of January, 1916. Through the intervening period of four years the business has been carefully and profitably conducted and they now have one of the finest grocery stores in this section of the state and in fact one of the finest in Idaho. They carry a large and carefully selected stock of goods, handling everything that the best mar- kets of the world afford, and their sales have reached a gratifying annual figure.
In April, 1905, Mr. Shrout was married to Miss Louise Wiglesworth, a native of Cynthiana, Kentucky, and a daughter of Tandy Wiglesworth. Mr. Shrout main-
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tains an independent course in politics, voting according to the dictates of his judg- ment in regard to the capability of the candidate seeking office. He has membership with the Masonic fraternity and is a loyal supporter of the craft, which is based upon a recognition of the brotherhood of mankind and the obligations thereby imposed. Mr. Shrout has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the north- west, for here he has found good business opportunities and conditions and through a steady progression has reached an enviable place in the business circles of Twin Falls.
WILLIAM H. ALLEN.
William H. Allen is well known in business circles of Emmett as proprietor of the Palm Bakery, which is the oldest bakery of the city and which he has conducted successfully since June, 1916. He was born at Webster City, Iowa, October 5, 1869, a son of John Q. A. and Ann (Foster) Allen, both of whom have passed away. The father participated in the Civil war as a soldier of the Union army. The four children of the family are all yet living.
When a youth of fourteen years William H. Allen accompanied his parents on their removal to Norton, Kansas, where he learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked for twenty-seven years in the states of Kansas, Colorado and Idaho and during the last fifteen years of that period was a contractor. In 1913 he came to Idaho from Colorado and in June, 1916, purchased the Palm Bakery at Emmett, the oldest establishment of the kind in the city. It was established many years ago by H. B. Hersh, who conducted it under the name of Hersh's Bakery, and later was owned by Denny Munson, who named it the Palm Bakery. It is one of the per- manent business institutions of Emmett and as its proprietor Mr. Allen enjoys an extensive and lucrative patronage, being accorded perhaps ninety per cent of the bakery business of the city. The Palm Bakery supplies all the grocery stores and all the restaurants in Emmett and the trade is carried on along both retail and wholesale lines. Mr. Allen is a member of the Idaho Master Bakers' Association.
On the 20th of August, 1890, at Norton, Kansas, Mr. Allen was united in mar- riage to Miss Laura E. Betterton, by whom he had two children: Lewis Lemont, who passed away within three days of his twenty-first birthday; and Clara M., who is the wife of Charles C. Caldwell, of Nampa, Idaho. The family enjoys an enviable position in social circles of Emmett and Mr. Allen is ranked with the representative and enterprising business men of the city.
"JAMES JOHNSON.
Janes Johnson, living a quarter of a mile north of the Cole school and three miles from Boise, is a native of Denmark and came to Idaho in 1904 from West- field, Wisconsin. He was then a young married man with a wife and three children and for five years he lived in Blaine county near Bellevue, in the Wood river country. He had followed farming before coming to Idaho and had saved from his earnings about fourteen hundred dollars, which he brought to this state for investment. Born in Denmark on the 24th of February, 1864 he had been reared upon a farm in his native country and throughout his entire life has followed agricultural pursuits. He came to the United States in 1890 and has never returned to his native land. For fourteen years he was a resident of Wisconsin and the untiring energy and industry which he there displayed brought to him the little capital which enabled him to purchase a farm in the Wood river valley on coming to Idaho. He afterward sold that property at a good profit and purchased another tract of land which he later sold. He then located on another farm which he had purchased near New Plymouth, Idaho. There he remained until the fall of 1918, when he sold that place and pur- chased the fine Eskeldson homestead on the South Barber road five miles east of Boise, which he sold in 1919 and he purchased thirty acres which comprises his present place three miles from Boise.
On the 2d of October, 1900, Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Emelia Hansen, who was also of Danish descent but was born in Wisconsin. She passed away October
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4, 1914, leaving seven young children, the eldest of whom was then but thirteen years of age. Of the three sons and four daughters all are yet living, their ages ranging from nineteen down to six years. These are: Harold P., born April 24, 1901; Myrtle C., March 25, 1903; Eva F., August 26, 1905; Orvean and Oreal, twin sons, born October 14, 1907; Emily E. born July 19, 1910; and Emelia Mary, Sep- tember 8, 1914.
Mr. Johnson is a member of the Knights of Pythias and is a Lutheran in religious faith. He has prospered during his residence in Idaho and is now in affluant circumstances, having an attractive country home, with substantial invest- ments in notes and bonds, his investments of this character exceeding the amount that he brought to Idaho on coming to the northwest. He has lived a life of in- dustry, and his perseverance and diligence have enabled him to work his way steadily upward and provide a good home and comfortable living for his family. His life has ever been guided by high and honorable principles and his fellow towns- men attest his, sterling worth.
GEORGE J. BURKHARD.
George J. Burkhard, conducting business under the name of the Emmett Meat Company, has the oldest and largest meat market in Emmett, in fact his establish- ment would be a credit to a city many times the size of Emmett, being thoroughly modern in every particular. Mr. Burkhard took up his abode here in November, 1906, on his removal from Salem, Oregon. He was born in Germany, June 6, 1879, and in that country his parents still reside. He came alone to the United States when sixteen years of age; having already at that time learned much about the butchering business. In this country he worked as a journeyman butcher for sev- eral years, going from place to place, being employed at different periods in Cleve- land, Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Butte, Spokane, Seattle and Portland, Oregon.
Finally in 1903 Mr. Burkhard established business in Salem, Oregon, as pro- prietor of a meat market and continued there until 1906, when he came. to Emmett. In that year, associated with J. L. Steward, he purchased a meat market on Main street at his present location and under the firm name of Steward & Burkhard soon established the business upon a substantial basis and gradually increased and devel- oped it. In 1916 Mr. Burkhard purchased the interest of Mr. Steward in the busi- ness and in their realty, also Mr. Steward's interest in the slaughter house and in fact in the equipment of every kind having to do with the business. He thus became sole owner and at that time changed the name of the firm to the Emmett Meat Company. Underneath their two-story building is a large basement with con- crete floor. Mr. Burkhard's meat market has the exclusive use of this basement, in which is located a refrigerating machine, from which extend the frost-coated pipes to the cold storage room and plate glass showcases above on the main floor, thus maintaining a frigid temperature all the year round for the immense stock of fresh meats constantly carried. The display of meats and meat by-products in the salesroom would tempt the most fastidious. The business in this respect is on a par with the fancy markets of the large cities. The plant is provided with all kinds of fixtures and apparatus in this line and has various rooms devoted to different branches of the meat industry, such as the rendering of lard, the preparing of other by-products and the curing of smoked meats and sausages. This is no meat market of the ordinary kind but is in reality a fancy meat market and small-sized packing plant combined. The equipment includes a cold store room of five tons capacity, supplied with a York refrigerating machine which was installed in 1917 at a cost of several thousand dollars. All of the meats and all of the products of the Emmett Meat Company come from their own slaughter house. Mr. Burkhard buys hogs, cattle and sheep from the farmers of the neighborhood and in connection with the business does his slaughtering and prepares the meat for sale. He is actuated by a most progressive spirit in everything that he under- takes, and his energy has been productive of splendid results.
Mr. Burkhard was married in Emmett, August 17, 1918, to Miss Delilah Newby, of Emmett, and a native of Idaho. He is well known in fraternal circles as a Mason and Odd Fellow, having attained the thirty-second degree in Scottish Rite bodies and is also a Shriner of El Korah Temple, while in the Odd Fellows lodge he is a
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past noble grand and a past chief patriach of the encampment. He likewise belongs to the Eminett Commercial Club and is interested in all that has to do with the welfare and progress of the city, the extension of its trade relations and the develop- ment of its civic standards. His political support is given to the republican party and his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church. His life has ever been actuated by high and honorable principles and by progressive methods, and he has made for himself a most enviable position in the business circles of his section of the state.
ORIE JAMES JESTER.
Orie James Jester, a rancher and sheepman living at Twin Falls, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, April 29, 1885, his parents being Milton and Mary Elizabeth (McDaniel) Jester, who removed from the Buckeye state to Nebraska when their son Orie J. was but a small boy, the family home being established in Omaha, where he pursued his education. He afterward took up the occupation of ranching in Blair county, Nebraska, and from that place removed to Casper, Wyoming, where he again gave his attention to ranching interests.
Still attracted by the opportunities of the far west, Mr. Jester came to Idaho in 1909, settling in Twin Falls county. He purchased a ranch including the south- west quarter of section 13, range 10, township 16, thus obtaining one hundred and sixty acres of raw land, not a furrow having been turned nor an improvement made upon that place. With characteristic energy he began the development of the property and his labors soon wrought a marked change in its appearance and in its preductiveness. Today he has highly cultivated fields which are producing sub- stantial crops. In 1919 he became associated with the Owyhee 'Sheep & Land Com- pany of Boise and is today manager of their ranching interestts in Twin Falls county. His has been an active life in which industry and enterprise have brought to him the substantial fruits of labor. His political endorsement is given the republican party.
MRS. KATE KESGARD.
Mrs. Kate Kesgard, the widow of Christian Kesgard, has resided in the neighborhood five miles west of Emmett on the New Plymouth road for a longer period than any other resident of the district. She was born in Denmark, December 28, 1835, and is now in the eighty-fifth year of her age. Reared in her native country, she there became the wife of Christian Kesgard on the 2d of August, 1858. He was born in Denmark, May 17, 1824, and spent the period of his boyhood and youth in his native country. His wife bore the maiden name of Kate Bindrup and both represented worthy and substantial families of Denmark. Coming to the United States in 1862, they lived for six years in Utah before removing to Idaho, where they took up their abode in 1868, settling in the neighborhood of Mrs. Kes- gard's present home. The ranch which they first occupied is now owned by their son, James A. Kesgard, their youngest child, who is one of the most progressive farmers of Gem county or of the Payette valley, mentioned at length elsewhere in this work.
In 1870 Christian Kesgard and his wife removed to Walla Walla, Washington, but in 1873 returned to Idaho and settled on a ranch that joined the one which they had previously occupied in Gem county, which was then a part of Ada county. Later a division in the county made their place a part of Canyon county and finally Gem county was set off, so that without removing from the ranch they lived in three different counties. Christian Kesgard was a homesteader and pioneer of this section, and he and his wife laid the foundation for the present prosperity and prestige of the family name in the neighborhood.
The death of Christian Kesgard occurred March 18, 1882, on the Kesgard ranch and his widow still occupies the one hundred acre ranch which adjoins that of her son James. She is yet strong and vigorous although now in her eighty-fifth year. Before leaving Denmark two daughters, Margaret and Mary, were born to
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Mr. and Mrs. Kesgard, but both have passed away. The other seven children were all born in the United States. These are: Elizabeth, a resident of Boise; Stena, who married Andrew Rasmussen, engaged in ranching at Falks Store, Idaho, but she passed away January 31, 1920; Christian, who is living at Emmett; Mrs. Anna Wallace, who with her three children, Esther, Edna and Maurice, resides with her mother; Mrs. Lena Riggs, who is a widow; Mrs. Emma Helm; and James A., who is mentioned elsewhere in this work.
Mrs. Kesgard can remember many interesting incidents of the early days when she was living on the Idaho ranch property now occupied by her son. During the time of the gold excitement in the Boise basin supplies were largely hauled by wagon past the Kesgard ranch. In the early days Indians were numerous in the neighbor- hood, and bear and deer were to be seen in large numbers. Mrs. Kesgard has lived to witness remarkable changes as the years have passed-changes in the methods of living, in the manner of developing the farms and also in the modes of travel. She maintains a keen interest in what occurs at the present time and is one of the valued pioneer women of the state.
CHARLES G. ELISON.
Starting out to earn his living at a wage of but six dollars per month, Charles G. Elison is today the owner of an excellent farm property situated not far from Oakley, in Cassia county. He has been identified with every phase of western development and progress through his long residence in this section of the country. He was born in Sweden, February 9, 1849, his parents being Erick and Anna (Johnson) Elison, who were also natives of Sweden, where they made their home until 1863 and then came to the United States, embarking on a sailing vessel which was five weeks in reaching the harbor of New York. They then traveled across the country, making the trip over the plains from Florence, Nebraska, on the Missouri river with ox teams. Traveling after that slow and tedious manner, they eventually reached Salt Lake City, Utah, and after a little time proceeded to Grantsville, Utah, where the father purchased farm land. Later he bought property in the Cache valley and gave his attention to the cultivation and improvement of his farm, remaining one of the active representatives of agricultural life in that district to the time of his death, which occurred when he had reached the age of seventy-five years. The mother also died in the same neighborhood. They were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and it was their desire to be with people of their faith that brought them to the new world.
Charles G. Elison was a lad of but thirteen years when he came with his par- ents to the United States and across the country to Utah. He was reared in the vicinity of Grantsville from that time forward and he soon began to provide for his own support by working as a farm hand for six dollars per month. Later he was employed by different stockmen and thus he became familiar with the various phases of ranching and stock raising in the far west. He eventually took up teaming on his own account and engaged in teaming between Salt Lake and Cherry Creek, Nevada, where was located a mining camp. The year 1882 witnessed his removal to Oakley Meadows, where he purchased eighty acres of land south of the present site of the city of Oakley. He built thereon a log house with dirt roof and in that primitive home lived while carrying on the initial work of improving and developing his ranch, to which he has added from time to time. He has converted his place into a fine farm, has erected thereon a substantial and attractive modern residence, has added all neces- sary buildings for the shelter of grain and stock and, in fact, has today a farm equipped and supplied with all modern conveniences. His life has been largely devoted to the raising of cattle and sheep, to which he has given his attention now for twenty-seven years. The results achieved tell the story of his diligence and his industry. He has never allowed himself to become discouraged but with resolute purpose has pushed forward and has ultimately gained a gratifying measure of prosperity.
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