History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 57

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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In early manhood Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Louisa Catharine Bruncell,

MR. AND MRS. ANDREW W. JOHNSON

Vol. III-30

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also a native of Sweden, their marriage being celebrated in St. Louis, Missouri, on the 13th of March, 1870. Mrs. Johnson was born in Wermland, Sweden, and passed away November 12, 1915, at the age of seventy years. They were most highly re- spected people, whose genuine worth was acknowledged by all with whom they came in contact.

Emil H. Johnson, their only living child, is now the owner and occupant of the White Cross Farm, which is pleasantly and conveniently situated two and a half miles south of Eagle, in Ada county, and ten miles west of Boise. He was born in Silver City, Owyhee county, Idaho, May 18, 1881, and when he was five years of age his parents removed to the Johnson ranch, whereon he now resides. It was then a wild tract covered with sagebrush and the father bent every energy to the develop- ment and improvement of the property, a work which Emil H. Johnson has carried still farther forward. He has fifty-five acres of the original quarter section and has a splendidly developed property, worth today three hundred dollars per acre. He has a tenant on the farm who relieves him of much of the active work of the place, but he gives to it his personal supervision and the White Cross Farm returns to him a gratifying annual income. Like his father, he is a representative of the progressive agricultural element of Ada county, where he has made his home throughout the greater part of his life.

FRANCIS MARION DAVIS.

When Boise was a' tiny hamlet and had but a slightly developed agricultural region from which to draw its supplies and its business support, Francis Marion Davis took up his abode in the capital city. He became closely associated with interests which have been of marked value in the development and upbuilding of this section of the state. He was one of the planters of the first apple orchard in Idaho and was connected with ranching for a number of years, while later he owned and conducted a fine dairy. He ever stood for law and order, for progress and improvement, and his contribution to the development of this section of the state was of material worth. The story of his life, if written in detail, would unfold a picture of pioneer settlement in the west and present the varied experiences which the frontiersman faced.

Francis M. Davis was born in Warren county, Illinois, July 7, 1838, and there pursued his education, completing his studies at Monmouth, Illinois. He was twenty-four years of age when in 1862 he joined a company of twenty-five men who were preparing to go overland to the west. He was accompanied by his brother Thomas and the two drove a team of mules. They were persuaded by some Mormons to travel by way of the Sublette cut-off. At Fort Lemhi, which was then occupied by Mormons, they found they could go no further with the wagons and realized that it was the plan of the Mormons to force them to sell their wagons and provisions very cheap. The Mormons offered to buy the new wagons at five dollars each and proffered an equally low price for the provisions. But the Davis brothers were not inclined to accede to such demands, and loading all of their goods that they could upon their horses, they then made a large fire of the remainder, burning goods and wagons together. They afterward journeyed along an Indian trail over the high and rugged mountains and on the 4th of July, 1862, reached Elk City in safety but without supplies. From that point they proceeded to Walla Walla and later came to Boise. They found here a tiny village in the midst of an undeveloped country and they became part owners in a ranch, their associates being George D. Ellis and William Richie. The four men planted the first apple orchard in Idaho in the spring of 1864, setting out seven thousand young apple trees, which had been shipped to the west at a cost of a dollar and a quarter each. This was the first commercial orchard of Idaho and its yield for many years brought to them sub- stantial profits. They thus took the initial step in the development of horticultural interests in Idaho, which today ranks as one of the greatest fruit states of the west. After some years F. M. Davis sold his interest in the ranch.

Turning his attention to the hardware business in Boise, he thus carried on merchandising for some time and in 1876 he bought a quarter section of land near the city limits on the west and there established a fine dairy. He erected there- on an attractive residence, also built substantial barns and sheds, secured the most

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modern equipments for the conduct of his business and soon won an enviable reputation for the excellence of his dairy products. His patronage therefore steadily increased and for a considerable period he conducted a most profitable business.

In January, 1865, Mr. Davis was united in marriage to Miss Hester A. Cory, who was born in Ohio, a daughter of John and Susan (Carpenter) Cory. The birth of Mrs. Davis occurred December 14, 1842, and she was but six years of age when her parents removed to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where she was reared. In 1864 she and her brother, Thomas Cory, left Mount Pleasant on the 5th of April, and traveling across the country in a wagon in true pioneer style, reached Boise on the 18th of August. Here she became acquainted with Mr. Davis and a few months later they were married. They had two children: Charles A., who was born in Boise, Sep- tember 29, 1866, and is now deceased; and Mrs. Laura E. Porter, who was born in Boise on the 6th of September, 1872, and is now a widow with an only child, Gertrude Elizabeth Porter, a charming young lady of twenty-three, who is now completing her education in the University of Southern California at Los Angeles, where she is specializing in history. The daughter and granddaughter reside with Mrs. Davis, who has now reached the age of seventy-seven years and is the oldest resident of Boise, in years of continuous connection with the city. For fifty-five - years she has here made her home and has seen Boise developed from a frontier hamlet into a most progressive and prosperous metropolitan center, with ramifying trade interests reaching over a wide section and with every educational and cultural advantage known to the older east.

Many years have passed since her husband's death, for it was on the 8th of March, 1891, that Francis M. Davis was called to his final rest, having for almost thirty years been a resident of Idaho. There are many who yet bear testimony to the sterling worth of his character, to his industry and enterprise in business, to his loyalty and progressiveness in citizenship, and on the roll of Idaho's honored pioneers his name deserves high place.

SILAS N. BUCHER.

Silas N. Bucher is a retired farmer residing at No. 316 East First street in Emmett, where he has made his home for the past eleven years, but had previously been actively identified with agricultural pursuits in Missouri for a period of four decades. His birth occurred in Kosciusko county, Indiana, on the 6th of February, 1855, his parents being Ulrich and Catherine (Smith) Bucher, the former a native of Switzerland and of Swiss descent, while the latter was born in Germany and came of German lineage. In 1832, when a youth of sixteen years, Ulrich Bucher emigrated to the United States with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Bucher. It was in Indiana that he wedded Catherine Smith, who died in Holt county, Missouri, in 1877, while his demise there occurred in 1899. They reared a family of five sons and two daughters. Louis Bucher, an older brother of Silas N. Bucher, served in the Union army under General Grant and while at the front contracted a fatal illness.

Silas N. Bucher was a lad of ten years when he accompanied his parents on their removal from Indiana to Missouri in 1865. In the latter state he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits in early manhood and throughout his entire active career carried on farming and the nursery business in Holt county, his well directed labors being attended with a most gratifying measure of success. His farm was located near Oregon, the county seat of Holt county, and he continued its cultivation with splendid results during the whole period of his active business life. In 1909 he disposed of the property and came to Idaho, locating at Emmett, where he has since lived retired in the enjoyment of well earned rest save for the supervision of some valuable irrigated ranch properties which he purchased in Gem county.

On the 18th of July, 1900, in Holt county, Missouri, Mr. Bucher was united in marriage to Miss Flora H. Luckhardt, who was born at Oregon, that county, July 23, 1867, a daughter of George P. and Henrietta F. (von Lunen) Luckhardt. Both parents were natives of Germany but were married in Pennsylvania. The father passed away in 1902, while the mother's death occurred in the year 1918. Their family numbered three sons and five daughters.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Bucher give their political support to the democratic party,

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while their religious faith is indicated by their membership in the Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Bucher is an elder. They are well known and highly esteemed throughout the community in which they reside, their many excellent traits of character having endeared them to all with whom they have come in contact.

JOHN M. MYERS.

John M. Myers is a farmer and horticulturist residing upon an excellent tract of land of ten acres, situated a mile and three-quarters east of South Boise and devoted to the raising of fruit. He was born in Brown county, Ohio, September 13, 1871, a son of William and Margaret (Moore) Myers, who were natives of Pennsylvania and Missouri respectively. They had a family of six children, three sons and three daughters, of whom John M. is the youngest. Four of the family are still living.

Upon the home farm in Brown county, Ohio, John M. Myers was reared, early becoming familiar with all the experiences that fall to the lot of the farm-bred boy. In his youth he took up the occupation of carpentering and he has since followed both farming and carpentering. On attaining his majority he left his native state to become a resident of Livingston county, Illinois, and in 1899 he removed to the northwest with Idaho as his destination. For five years he remained in Canyon county and since 1904 has resided in Boise and vicinity. Since 1909 he has occupied his present ranch property and has planted about eight acres of this to fruit, making a specialty of apples, having about five hundred bearing trees upon his place that are now about nine years old. Mr. Myers paid two hundred dollars an acre for this property ten years ago when there were no orchards or buildings upon it. Now it has splendid improvements with fine orchards and he values the property today at six thousand dollars.

On the 17th of June, 1905, Mr. Myers was married to Miss Bernice E. Graves, who died March 12, 1908. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow and is a past grand of his lodge. He made an excellent record as an active war worker in support of the Red Cross and Liberty Bond drives. He was captain of sector 58 of Ada county during the third, fourth and fifth Liberty Loans and in recognition of his work received a medal made of German cannon. On one side is the inscription: "Victory Liberty Loan," and on the other the words "Made from a captured German cannon, Awarded by the United States treasury department for patriotic service in behalf of the Liberty Loans." Mr. Myers is justly proud of this recognition of the excellent work which he did in putting his sector over the top when the country needed the financial aid of the people.

CHARLES ALFRED WEST.

There is no success in life without effort. The purpose of life is to afford oppor- tunities for physical, mental and spiritual development. In our country these opportunities are afforded in turn to everyone who is willing to embrace them. These opportunities slip away from the sluggard, tauntingly play before the dreamer but surrender to the individual with high purpose, undaunted courage and indefatigable determination. It is through the possession of these qualities that Charles Alfred West has risen to a position of prominence in connection with the financial interests of Gem county, being the president of the First National Bank of Emmett. He is a comparatively recent addition to the citizenship of Idaho, having come from Lees Summit, Missouri, in July, 1916, at which time he purchased a controlling interest in the bank and was elected its vice-president, while in July, 1917, he was elected to the presidency. He has always lived west of the Mississippi and has ever been actuated by the spirit of western enterprise and progress.

Mr. West was born at Irving, Kansas, July 15, 1883, and was the only child of Dr. George M. West, a physician, who passed away October 21, 1909, in St. Louis, Missouri. His mother bore the maiden name of Justine Carlson and was born in Sweden, coming with her parents to the United States when twelve years of age. She still survives and now resides with her son, Charles A., in Emmett.

The latter spent his boyhood and youth in his native town of Irving, Kansas, and

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in 1900, at the age of seventeen years, he entered the medical department of the St. Louis University at St. Louis. In 1905 he was graduated from that institution with the M. D. degree and entered upon the practice of his profession in northeastern Kansas, where he remained until 1908. He then withdrew from medical practice, having decided to follow a commercial career. He first pursued a business course in the Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illinois, and for a period of five years there- after he was located at Kansas City, Missouri, where he engaged in dealing in com- mercial paper. From 1915 until 1916 he was assistant cashier of the Farmers Bank at Lees Summit, Missouri, and thence came to Idaho. The First National Bank of Emmett, of which he owns a controlling interest, is the oldest bank of the city, having been founded in 1902, in fact it was the first hank established in Gem county. Aside from being president of this hank Mr. West is also the president of the First State Bank of Donnelly, Idaho, and president of the A-5 Live Stock Company of Emmett, a cattle concern that owns many hundreds of acres of grazing land in Boise county and several hundred head of beef cattle. Mr. West is also the president of the Federal Trust Company of Emmett and is a large stockholder of the Parma National Bank of Parma, Idaho.

On the 4th of June, 1913, Mr. West was married at Kansas City, Missouri, to Miss Rosa Lee Bryan, who was there born and reared. They have become the parents of three children: George Mortimer, born April 16, 1915; Rosa Lee, June 2, 1918; and Lucile Irene, December 18, 1919.

Mr. West is a Knight Templar and thirty-second degree Mason and also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and he was a member of the executive committee of the Gem County Red Cross. He is deeply interested in all that pertains to public progress and improvement, and his cooperation can always be counted upon to further any movement that seeks to ameliorate the hard conditions of life for the unfortunate. His entire career has heen marked hy progressiveness and the broader spirit of the new century finds expression in his activities.

IRA SIMPSON.

Ira Simpson, a farmer of the Boise bench, his place being south of the city of Boise, and also representing the government service in connection with irrigation projects, came to Idaho in 1891 from Tacoma, Washington, and has since resided in or near Boise. In 1901 he removed from the city to his present home, which is a well improved ten acre ranch just two miles south of Boise. He has made all of the improvements upon bis ranch, which was a tract of wild land covered with sagebrush when he took up his residence thereon. His early life experiences were those of the farm. In fact he was born upon a farm in Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, ahout twenty miles from the city of Fond du Lac, May 6, 1855, a son of Joseph and Helen (Nash) Simpson. The father is deceased, while the mother is still living, a well preserved woman of eighty- four years, who now makes her home with her son Ira, having come to Idaho from Kansas, where she had previously lived for some time.

Ira Simpson is her only living child and was reared in Fond du Lac county to the age of twelve years, when he removed to West Bend, Wisconsin, where he remained until twenty years of age. At that time, or in 1875, he went with his parents to Kansas, the family home being established in Phillips county. In young manhood he assisted in the grading of the roadbed of the Canadian Pacific Railroad and later he did railroad grading work in Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Washingtor and Idaho. His last railroad work was in connection with the grading of the Pacific & Idaho Northern Railroad between Weiser and Council, Idaho, a task which he accomplished after his removal to Boise in 1891. As stated, he located upon his present farm in 1901 and his property is now well improved. It has upon it a good two-story, eight-room residence, with all the modern equipment of the model ranch property of the twentieth century. There is a row of fine honey locusts along the public road which he planted eighteen years ago and which are now large trees. For the past twelve years Mr. Simpson has been steadily in the service of the United States government, performing certain important functions on the New York canal, which is now owned by the government, his work being subject to the direction of the Boise reclamation office.

On the 4th of February, 1880, Mr. Simpson was married to Miss Malinda Barnes, a

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native of Wisconsin, and they have one son, Marion B., now a prosperous farmer of Ada county, who is married and has a son, Olin Simpson, four years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Simpson, have also reared an adopted daughter, who at the age of fifteen years, is a high school pupil in Boise.

In his political views Mr. Simpson is a republican where national questions and issues are involved but at local elections casts an independent ballot, supporting the candidates whom he thinks best qualified for office. His has been an active life. At the outset of his career he recognized the eternal principle that industry wins, and per- serverance and diligence have been salient features in his career from the start.

SOCIAL ROLPH.

Social Rolph, engaged in ranching and dairying in Gem county, his home being ahout ten miles west of Emmett on a highly improved little ranch devoted to the production of alfalfa and to dairying, was horn in Kane county, Utah, July 27, 1868, a son of John Social and Martha Ann (Miller) Rolph, both of whom have passed away. They were married in Salt Lake City and for many years resided in Utah. The father, however, was born in New York, while the mother's hirth occurred in Illinois. When their son Social was five years of age they removed to Bear Lake county, Idaho, and he was largely reared upon a ranch in that locality. Both the father and mother were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to this faith Social Rolph of this review and his wife have adhered.

Social Rolph was a missionary for the church in Manitoba, Canada, for two years, covering 1898 and 1899. He had previously spent five years in Alberta, Canada, and he took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres there in 1894, proving up on the property and securing title thereto. In February, 1899, following his missionary labors, he returned to Idaho and on the 15th of September, 1900, was married in the Logan Temple at Logan, Utah, to Sarah Alice Lehmberg, who was born in Morgan county, Utah, February 4, 1871, a daughter of August and Amelia (Crinkey) Lehm- berg who were born, reared and married in Germany and came to the United States as converts to the Mormon faith in 1866, settling in Utah. Both have now passed away.

For a few years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Rolph lived in Wyoming, just over the Idaho line, and in 1905 removed to Fruitland, Idaho, the site of the city being then a large alfalfa field. There they planted an orchard of sweet cherries covering ten acres and in 1909 sold it for three hundred dollars per acre, while in 1918 the same property sold for eleven thousand dollars. On disposing of their orchard in 1909 Mr. Rolph purchased his present ranch property in what is now Gem county hut was then a part of Canyon county. Upon this place he built a fine two-story house, thirty by thirty-four feet, of cement blocks. This is one of the best country homes in Gem county. The ranch is all planted to alfalfa and he keeps about fifteen good dairy cows of the Jersey breed and also owns a fine registered Jersey hull. He keeps an Overland car and his farm is well equipped with all modern accessories and con- veniences, showing him to be a most progressive agriculturist.

Mr. and Mrs. Rolphi have one son, Willard Social, who was born June 7, 1907. They retain their membership in the church, in which Mr. Rolph is serving as an elder, and he also belongs to the Quorum of Seventy. According to family tradition, he is a descendant of John Rolph, of England, who married Pocahontas. His entire life has been passed in the west and he has been identified with the development and progress of Idaho for many years, winning for himself a creditahle position among the success- ful ranchmen and dairymen of Gem county.

RODOLPHUS H. MARTIN.

Rodolphus H. Martin passed away August 22, 1907, in Boise, where he had lived re- tired from about 1902, after putting aside the active interests of ranching and stock rais- ing. As the years had passed he attained wealth as the result of carefully directed busi- ness affairs, his success all being gained during the period of his residence in the state, and while he amassed a most comfortable competence, he at the same time commanded the high regard and esteem of all who knew him. He was only fifty-two years of age

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at the time of his demise, his birth having occurred in New York on the 12th of September, 1855. He was a young man of twenty-four years when in 1879 he came to Idaho, settling in the Salubria valley, where he took up property which he developed into a fine ranch and thereon made his home until about five years prior to his death, when he removed to Boise. He had carefully and successfully developed his property until he made it an excellent ranch and in the conduct of live stock interests he also won substantial success. With his removal to Boise he made large investments in real estate and among other properties which he left at the time of his death was a valuable ranch in Washington county which his widow recently sold for fifty thousand dollars.

It was on the 4th of January, 1885, that Mr. Martin was united in marriage to Miss Martha Taylor, who was born in Pottawatomie county, Kansas, August 26, 1864, and is a daughter of Samuel H. and Nancy (Godlove) Taylor. The father is now living in Salem, Oregon, but the mother passed away in Idaho in 1913. Both were natives of Indiana. They had removed westward to Oregon in 1875, when their daughter Mrs. Martin was but eleven years of age. Later the Taylor family returned to Kansas, but in 1881 again came to the northwest and in that year settled in the Salubria valley of Washington county. In her girlhood Mrs. Martin three times crossed the plains with wagon trains. There is no phase of pioneer life in the northwest with which she is not thoroughly familiar.

To Mr. and Mrs. Martin were born seven children. Frank C., born April 7, 1886, was married March 7, 1907, to Ella Huddleson and they reside in Portland, Oregon, with their one daughter, Dorothy, who was born February 14, 1909. Maude, born November 14, 1887, is the wife of Peter E. Cavaney, a well known lawyer of Boise, to whom she was married November 10, 1909, and they have three children: Edward Martin, born October 9, 1913; Byron Martin, born May 24, 1915; and Billy Martin, born April 11, 1918. The third child of the family was Blanche, who was born November 8, 1889, and who on the 12th of April, 1909, became the wife of John D. Dawson, a well known automobile man of Boise, and they have one child, Catherine M., born February 4, 1913. Rodolphus H. Jr., born April 28, 1892, was married July 27, 1911, to Erma Rash and they reside at Cambridge, Idaho. They have one living son, Donald H. born, July 13, 1914. Lulu M., who was born June 17, 1896, is now a student in Denver, Colorado. Garnet, born December 16, 1898, became the wife of Sam Heffner on the 6th of December, 1919, and they reside in Boise. Hazel D., born May 30, 1903, is a senior in the Boise high school and completes the family.

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History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 57

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