History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 58

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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When death called Mr. Martin he was able to leave his family in very comfortable financial circumstances, for he owned the handsome residence in which he lived, also the brick flats and store building at the corner of Fourteenth and Main streets and other valuable property, including the ranch previously mentioned. He was a member of the Woodmen of the World and also of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and was loyal to the teachings of these organizations. Highly respected by all who knew him, he had a host of warm friends who bear testimony to the sterling worth of his character.

STILLMAN JAMES KEYES.

Among the well known and successful industrial enterprises of Boise is the Royal Bakery, the plant of which is located at No. 1118 Main street and of which Stillman James Keyes is the proprietor. For twenty years he has made his home in the capital city, having come to Boise in 1900 from Carthage, Missouri. A native of Kansas, he was born in Westmoreland, or to be more correct, on a farm near that place, August 20, 1880, a son of Irwin Stillman Keyes, a farmer and later a dealer in shoes at Scran- ton, Pennsylvania. He was an honored veteran of the Civil war. He passed away at Wamego, Kansas, in December, 1917, being survived by his widow, Mrs. Frances (Clark) Keyes, who yet makes her home in that city. Our subject is of English descent on the paternal side, while on the maternal side he is of Scotch lineage. The paternal grandparents were Stillman and Ellen (Strong) Keyes, while the maternal grand- father was James Clark, both of the families having been prominently connected with the early history of the east.

Stillman James Keyes spent his boyhood largely at Wamego, Kansas, and received his education in the public schools of that city. In his early youth he was greatly in-

STILLMAN J. KEYES

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terested in sports, particularly in baseball, and served as captain of the Wamego Browns, a well known local baseball club. He was only twenty years of age when he made his entrance into Boise but he had previously had some experience in the baking busi- ness in Wisconsin. In Boise he completed his apprenticeship in the Vienna Bakery, which was owned by James Herbert, now deceased. He worked as a journeyman baker until 1913 and spent the last six years of that period as foreman of Brink's Bakery on Main street. Having carefully saved his earnings, he decided in 1913 to embark in business independently and on August 20th of that year purchased the Royal Bakery at No. 1118 Main street from Louis Stephan. During the six years that Mr. Keyes has managed and owned the Royal Bakery the enterprise has met with success and he can proudly look back upon the business which he has built up thus far. Sanitary condi- tions are maintained everywhere about the plant and the most modern ideas in regard to bread baking are instituted. The machinery is up-to-date and the product leaves nothing to be desired. The firm also handles candy and a large stock of that commodity is carried at the Royal Bakery salesroom. His establishment also includes an ice cream and soft drink department and is furnished with tables and chairs for the accommodation of patrons.

On March 23, 1905, Mr. Keyes was married in Boise to Miss Lulu Biggerstaff, a native of this city and a member of one of Boise's pioneer families. They have become the parents of three children: Benjamin Irwin, born April 29, 1906; Helen Frank, February 19, 1908; and Ethelda Frances, November 15, 1918.

Mr. and Mrs. Keyes are members of the Episcopal church, belonging to St. Michael's . cathedral, in the work of which they take a helpful interest. He is president of the Idaho Master Bakers Association and formerly served as secretary of this organization. He also has a military chapter in his career, for he served as a member of the Idaho National Guard under Governor Hunt. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and is popular in that organization.

JOHN G. BRECKENRIDGE.

John G. Breckenridge, a farmer residing five miles southeast of Boise on what is known as the Charles Rein farm of forty acres, dates his residence in Idaho from 1874, when he came to this state from Washington county, Missouri, with his parents, being then but six years of age. He was born on a farm in Washington county, October 23, 1868, the only son and child of his parents, James Isaac and Josephine (Tennyson) Breckenridge. The father died in 1878, when John G. was but nine years of age. Later the mother became the wife of Charles Rein, who passed away November 6, 1919, and she now resides at No. 1015 North Fifth street in Boise. Mr. Rein was formerly engaged in the wood business in Boise and later he and his wife resided on a ranch adjoining South Boise, known as the Gallaher ranch, which he and his brother, Jacob Rein, purchased about twenty-five years ago. Charles Rein also purchased the forty acre ranch on which his stepson and only heir now resides. He improved the property and planted twelve acres to winter apples, including Jonathans and Roman Beauties. It is now a fine place, the trees having grown to great size, and everything about the place is indicative of the progressive spirit of the former owner and the present occupant. About ten years ago Mr. Rein and his wife removed to Boise into a house which Mr. Breckenridge owned, and the latter at the same time took up his abode upon the ranch, which he still conducts, cultivating the place as his own and getting all the income therefrom, merely paying taxes thereon and keeping up the property.

Mr. Breckenridge has resided in Boise and this section of the state continuously for forty-five years and has been closely identified with live stock raising and farming. He has also given much attention to horticultural pursuits, especially since locating on the Charles Rein ranch. In 1919 his orchards produced five thousand boxes of apples. He is very industrious and progressive in everything that he undertakes, and his labors have been rewarded with substantial and gratifying results.

Mr. Breckenridge was married March 22, 1899, in Boise, to Miss Anna Corder, a daughter of the late James Obediah Corder, a pioneer of Elmore county and member

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of a well known family of Mayfield. He spent his last years in Boise, however. Mr. Breckenridge and his wife have four children: George H., nineteen years of age, has recently returned home after nineteen months' service in the United States navy, being connected with the transport service, crossing the Atlantic eight times. James T., aged eighteen; Charles C., sixteen, and Anna Josephine, aged five, are the other members of the family.

Mr. Breckenridge is an Odd Fellow and Woodman of the World, and his political allegiance is given the republican party. He belongs to the State Horticultural Society and thus keeps in touch with every advancement made along the line of fruit raising. His religious faith is indicated in his membership in the Presbyterian church of South Boise. He is one of the trustees of the Holcomb school, located a quarter of a mile from his home, and he is interested in everything that pertains to the material, intellectual, social and moral progress of his community.

ELMER L. HOLVERSON.

Elmer L. Holverson, of Emmett, is the proprietor of the Brunswick on Main street, one of the most popular amusement resorts in the state. He came to Idaho in 1895 and through the intervening period of a quarter of a century has lived within the borders of the state. He removed here from North Dakota but his birth- place was Wisconsin. He was born at Palmyra, Wisconsin, December 24, 1876, his parents being Zachariah and Agnes (Brown) Holverson, the former a veteran of the Union army, who served with a Wisconsin regiment during the Civil war. He died when his son Elmer L. was but two years of age and the mother passed away when he was a lad of nine, so that he was left an orphan when quite young and since that time has depended entirely upon his own resources and he is truly a self- made and self-educated man.

When a lad of but twelve years Mr. Holverson began working on a Dakota farm for six dollars per month. His youth was spent in Wisconsin, Dakota and Iowa, where he worked at farm labor, never having the opportunity to attend school after reach- ing the age of thirteen. During his first year's work he received as his pay the potato crop raised upon a half acre, and he had to plant and cultivate the tubers. The next year, when a lad of twelve, he was paid six dollars per month by the same man for his services. His potato crop he turned over to his employer in exchange for some clothes to wear to school the following winter. He continued to act as a farm hand in the three states until eighteen years of age, when in 1895 he came to Idaho. The fare to Caldwell, where he had an elder brother living, was sixty dollars and his cash capital consisted of but forty dollars. He decided not to pay out the entire sum for carfare but to keep the money in order to buy something to eat and he used every opportunity which he could secure to make his way westward. It was ten days before he had reached his destination and in that time he had expended six dollars for something to eat. He spent the summer of 1895 on a ranch near Falks Store, fifteen miles below Emmett, and upon that ranch worked during the suceed- ing summer also.

Mr. Holverson has made Emmett his headquarters practically all the time since 1900 and has followed various pursuits in the town and vicinity, working for wages. In 1904 he established business on his own account by opening a small cigar store in the rear of a room having two pool and billiard tahles. He called his place the Brunswick. That was fifteen years ago. The history of the Brunswick from that date has been one of continued success and constant expansion of the business. At the present time the Brunswick is one of the best known amusement houses in this part of the state and Mr. Holverson is one of the substantial business men. In 1917 he erected the present Brunswick building at No. 116 Main street, a handsome two- story brick structure twenty-five by one hundred feet. The entire first floor and base- ment, which is under the whole building, are occupied by the business of which Mr. Holverson is sole owner. Today the Brunswick is the mecca of all the men of Emmett and vicinity who are seeking attractive pleasure and recreation. The front of the room is used as a retail cigar and tobacco store, with a soft drink counter, and Mr. Holver- son's private office also occupies that end of the building. The rear half of the room

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is devoted to amusements of an attractive character, including pool and billiards, while the second floor of the Brunswick is rented to the Emmett Commercial Club, of which Mr. Holverson is a charter member, and as law offices.

On the 10th of July, 1907, Mr. Holverson was married to Miss Fay Bilderback, member of an old Idaho family that has been prominent and well known in Boise for many years. Mrs. Holverson was born in the capital city on the 19th of August, 1884. Her father, Charles Bilderback, located there in pioneer times and afterward removed to Emmett, where he passed away August 10, 1917. Mr. and Mrs. Holverson have become the parents of two children: Charles, who was born June 22, 1912; and Har- riet, born October 5, 1915.

Fraternally Mr. Holverson is a thirty-second degree Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine and he also belongs to the Loyal Order of Moose. In politics he is a democrat but has never been a candidate for office. Both he and his wife were very active in war work, doing everything in their power to advance the interests of the government in its relation with the allies and in its support of the soldiers in camp and field. Mr. Holverson is fond of hunting and fishing and belongs to the Emmett Gun Club. Thrown upon his own resources when a little lad of but nine years, he has steadily worked his way upward and whatever success he has achieved or en- joyed is attributable entirely to his individual labors.

DAVID FREDERICK BOTT.

David Frederick Bott, now residing in Letha, has devoted his life to farming and the raising of live stock. He took up his abode, however, in the town in 1919 in order to retire from the more active work of the farm, having reached a point in life where he desired to take things easy. He and his family came to Idaho from Mesa county, Colorado, in 1907, having previously resided in that county for six years, while for thirteen years they lived in southeastern Colorado. Mr. Bott, however, is a native of Richland county, Ohio. He was born October 6, 1851, of the marriage of George Washington Bott and Sophia Hiestandt. The father was a farmer by occupation and was born in Pennsylvania, while the mother was a native of Maryland. They left Ohlo in 1864 and removed to Clarke county, Iowa, where David F. Bott spent the days of his boyhood and youth upon the home farm. In 1872, when twenty-one years of age, be went to Colorado to take care of an invalid brother, Alfred Eli Bott, who passed away on the 2d of March, 1873.

David F. Bott continued a resident of Colorado until 1876. In the meantime he was married in that state on the 22d of March, 1874, to Miss Harriet Angeline Robin- son, who was born. in Hall county, Georgia, February 13, 1856, a daughter of John Wesley and Mary (Mccluskey) Robinson, both representatives of old families of Georgia. In 1876 Mr. Bott returned with his bride to Clarke county, Iowa, but in 1888 they again went to Colorado and from that state came to Idaho in 1907. They first spent six years in Bingham county near Blackfoot and for a year resided in Long valley. In 1914 they sold their ranch in Long valley and removed to Letha, Mr. Bott having acquired considerable ranch property in this vicinity. In recent years he has sold much of his land and disposed of his largest ranch of one hundred and sixty acres just north of Lethia to his only son, Edward Homer, who is married and resides upon that place. The parents also occupied it until February, 1919, when they turned it over to their son Edward and removed to their present home, which is within the corporate limits of Letha on the east and is an improved tract of land of fifteen acres. For many years Mr. Bott was most actively and successfully engaged in ranching and gained a measure of prosperity that is gratifying, indicating as it does that he has lived a life of industry and thrift.

To Mr. and Mrs. Bott have been born three children. Edward Homer, born March 7, 1878, was married July 31, 1914, to Miss Nellie Reynolds and they have two chil- dren: Lottie Leona, who was born July 13, 1915; and Vernon Homer, born June 23, 1916. The second child, Mary, born April 1, 1882, is the wife of Arthur Clark Hen- derson and they have five children: Mary Loraine, Anna Leona, Harriet Ruth, Dora and Zola. The second daughter, Estella Leona Bott, born April 9, 1885, is the wife of Samuel James Kiggins and they have one child, Zella. There are now eight grand- children, who are the delight of the grandparents. Mr. and Mrs. Bott have been mar- ried for forty-five years.

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They are Methodists in religious faith and are supporters of the democratic party where national questions and issues are involved, but at local elections cast an inde- pendent ballot. Mr. Bott served as justice of the peace for six years while in Colorado. They are highly esteemed people, enjoying the respect, confidence and goodwill of all, and their influence is always on the side of right, progress, reform and improvement.

MRS. KATE DU BOIS KERR.

Mrs. Kate Du Bois Kerr is the widow of George A. Kerr, of Boise, who passed away on the 13th of December, 1915, being at the time of his death joint owner with his wife of the American laundry of Boise, which they had established in 1902 and which Mrs. Kerr has owned and conducted alone since her husband's death. She is thus demonstrating that a woman can successfully own and control a large business interest.

Mrs. Kerr was born in Marbletown, New York, her maiden name being Kate Jane Du Bois. She comes of one of the old families of the Empire state and of Revolutionary stock in the paternal line, her grandfather having been Conrad Du Bois, who was a soldier in the American army in the war for independence. The Du Bois family is of French lineage and was one of the pioneer families of the Mohawk valley in New York. The father of Mrs. Kerr was Isaac Conrad Du Bois, while her mother bore the maiden name of Mary Elizabeth Ennist and was of Scotch descent.

Mrs. Kerr was largely reared in Kingston, New York, and while yet in her teens she was there married to George A. Kerr, who was born in Hunter, New York, and who before his removal to Idaho was for a time engaged in the flour and produce business in the Empire state, while later he became a successful brick manufacturer there. During a financial panic, however, he suffered losses and decided to come to the west, a purpose which he carried out in 1902, locating at Boise, where he and his wife organized the American Laundry, which from that date to the present has been a prosperous and growing business concern of the capital city, and is the largest laundry not only in Boise but also in Idaho. They labored together in the development and management of the business and since her husband's death Mrs. Kerr has made many substantial additions to the business in the way of modern machinery and equipment, the laundry being the last word in methods and in machinery of this class.

To Mr. and Mrs. Kerr was born a daughter, Katharine, who passed away in 1912, in young womanhood, and whose death was a severe blow to her parents, as hers was a most lovable character. Mrs. Kerr in her girlhood days was reared in the faith of the Dutch Reformed church. She belongs to the Boise Chamber of Commerce, the Laundry Association of Southern Idaho, and the National Laundry Association. For the past three years she has made her home at the Idanha Hotel in Boise. She de- serves great credit for the able manner in which she has managed her business affairs and enjoys the respect of the people of the capital city in an unusual degree.

ADOLPH BAHLER.

Adolph Bahler, a farmer and dairyman who owns and occupies a ranch of one hundred and fifteen acres on the Barber road five miles southeast of Boise, came to Ada county, Idaho, in 1901, on emigrating from Switzerland, his native country. He was born April 3, 1879, and was reared on his father's farm, the latter keeping a large number of cows and manufacturing Swiss cheese. Since old enough to carry a bucket Adolph Bahler has worked with and milked cows and now milks twenty-two of his own every night and morning. His parents, Samuel and Mary Anna Bahler, never came to the United States. The father has now passed away but the mother still resides in Switzerland.

In 1901, when twenty-two years of age, Adolph Bahler came to the United States and made his way at once to Boise, joining his elder brother, Gottleib. He has since lived in this vicinity and purchased the Holcomb ranch of one hundred and fifteen acres, a historic place, it being the old Oregon trail camp ground, known far and near. It is located on the south bank of the Boise river a mile and a half below Barber and was a favorite camping ground with the emigrants who passed through the territory. Mr.

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Bahler gave two thousand dollars as his first payment upon the property. This money · he had earned and saved after reaching Idaho. The purchase price of the ranch was twelve thousand dollars and he thereby assumed an indebtedness of ten thousand dollars. About the time of his purchase he was married, and the frugality and enterprise of his wife have been of great assistance to him in discharging his financial obligations. The property is today free of debt and, moreover, he has money loaned out and has made generous investment in Liberty bonds.

On the 25th of November, 1912, Mr. Bahler was married to Miss Hannah Wilkinson, who was born in England, November 23, 1885, a daughter of Robert Wilkinson, who is still living in England, but her mother has passed away. Mrs. Bahler came to Idaho in 1910 with an aunt and uncle. She has become the mother of one son, George H. Bahler, born August 25, 1913.

Mr. and Mrs. Bahler are consistent members of St. Michael's Episcopal church, and his political allegiance is given to the republican party. Mrs. Bahler is one of the three trustees of the Holcomb school in their neighborhood and is now serving for the second term of three years. Mr. Bahler is recognized as a prominent and representative business man of his community. He has a fine herd of dairy cows, twenty-two in all, and sells his milk chiefly to St. Luke's Hospital in Boise, furnishing both milk and cream to that institution. He has prospered during the years of his residence in Idaho, for he started out here as a wage earner, receiving a salary of twenty dollars per month. It took his first six month's wages to pay his passage over. In 1907 he returned to Switzerland to visit his parents, both of whom were then living, but he has no desire to return to the land of the Alps to make his home. He is fully identified with the interests of Ada county and, benefiting by the business opportunities here offered, has worked his way steadily upward and is now one of the prosperous farmers and dairy- men of the district in which he lives. He comes from a country where dairying is one of the chief industries, and his familiarity with every branch of the work from early boyhood has constituted the basis of his present day success.

MRS. AMANDA MARTHA KNOX.

Mrs. Amanda Martha Knox occupies an excellent ranch property two and a half miles southeast of Boise. She is the widow of George D. Knox, who followed farming on that ranch and there passed away May 24, 1911. Mrs. Knox was born in the Shenan- doah valley of Virginia on the 4th of January, 1850, her parents being Thomas Jeffer- son and Mary (Mowry) Knotts. During her early girlhood she accompanied her parents on their removal to Washington county, Iowa, and was there reared to woman- hood but was not yet twenty years of age when she became the wife of George D. Knox. Later she accompanied her husband to Mitchell county, Kansas, where they lived for some time, removing from the Sunflower state to Idaho about 1890, at which time they settled at South Boise. Later they took up their abode upon the ranch southeast of Boise, where Mrs. Knox now resides, and throughout the intervening period to his death Mr. Knox was engaged in general agricultural pursuits there.

To Mr. and Mrs. Knox were born six children, a son and five daughters: Louisa, now the wife of George W. Butler, of Boise; Elva May, who gave her hand in mar- riage to Edward E. Butler, a brother of George W. Butler; Edith, who is the wife of Henry Dalrymple; Charles Bruce, who is a farmer of Canyon county, Idaho; Martha Ann, who is the widow of William H. Fease; and Jennie, who became the wife of Edward Bush, both she and her husband being now deceased. The last named left one child, Edna Letha Bush, who was born December 10, 1901. She is now a young lady of eighteen years and since the death of her mother has lived with her grand- mother, Mrs. Amanda M. Knox. The family is one of prominence in the community, enjoying the warm friendship and regard of all who know them. Mrs. Knox has long lived in this district and has therefore witnessed much of its development and prog- ress, her memory constituting a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present.

Mrs. Martha Ann Fease resides on an excellent farm property on the Snake river and is also the owner of an eighty-acre ranch in South Boise, which she leases. She spent her girlhood days under the parental roof and came with her parents to Idaho. Here on the 20th of October, 1896, she became the wife of William H. Fease,

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who passed away on the 27th of July, 1904, leaving a son, William Irvin, who was born August 4, 1897, and is now twenty-two years of age.

Mr. Fease was numbered among the pioneer settlers of Ada county. He was born in Zanesville, Ohio, and attracted by the opportunities of the growing north- west, he made his way to this state and took up a homestead claim of eighty acres three miles east of the Garfield school in South Boise. The property now constitutes one of the fine ranches of the neighborhood and Mrs. Fease still owns the place but has leased it for seven hundred dollars per year, while she makes her home upon a ranch of forty acres which she entered in 1916 and which is situated on the Snake river in Canyon county. For twenty-nine years Mrs. Fease has been a resident of Idaho and is closely connected with farming interests. Her two properties are con- stantly increasing in value and she displays much business and executive ability in directing her investments and business interests. Her mother, Mrs. Knox, has twenty- two living grandchildren.

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History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 58

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