USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III > Part 69
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To Mr. and Mrs. Ogden have been born three daughters: Della May, born March 27, 1908; Maxine L., July 15, 1912; and Chrystabel, December 23, 1914. Mr. Ogden. is a republican in his political views, while his wife is a believer in democratic principles. Mr. Ogden certainly deserves much credit for what he has accomplished.
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He started out in life empty-handed when a youth of but twelve years and since that time he has been dependent entirely upon his own resources, his determination, lis energy and his industry being the basic principles of his financial advancement.
MRS. ALICE MAY CURTIS.
Mrs. Alice May Curtis, residing near Boise, is the widow of the late Frank Curtis, who was a pioneer of the Boise bench, preempting the homestead which his family now occupies. He secured this property in 1888 and with characteristic energy began its cultivation and development. Both Mr. and Mrs. Curtis were natives of England, the former born on the 16th of May, 1859, while the birth of Mrs. Curtis occurred July 10, 1862. They were acquainted in their native land but were not married until after they had crossed the Atlantic, the wedding being celebrated in Ontario, Canada, September 9, 1884. Thinking to enjoy the opportunities offered in the growing northwest, they came to Idaho in 1885 and Mr. Curtis first took up a homestead near Nampa but in 1888 removed to the Boise bench and preempted a forty-acre ranch, which he purchased at ten dollars per acre. It was then a tract of wild land covered with sagebrush and it seemed hardly possible that it could be con- verted into the beautiful and highly productive farm which it is today, worth now five hundred dollars per acre. As the years passed Mr. Curtis continued the further develop- ment and improvement of the place and his labors wrought a wonderful transformation. He continued upon the farm until his death, which occurred March 23, 1902, when he had reached the age of forty-three years.
Mrs. Curtis survives and still lives upon the ranch. They had two children. Howard Franklin Curtis, who was born May 4, 1888, was married September 25, 1912, to Miss Ida May Mellinger, a daughter of the late M. M. Mellinger. The younger child is Grace Helen, who was born April 4, 1899, and on the 25th of June, 1919, became the wife of Waldo Friedly. They reside with Mrs. Curtis and the son, Howard F., resides in a home in the same yard as his mother's home and operates the farm. Mrs. Curtis is a member of the Bethany Presbyterian church, situated west of Boise. She is well known in this section, where she has now lived for almost a third of a century, and wherever she is known she is spoken of in terms of the warmest regard. Her memory forms a connecting link between the primitive pioneer past and the progressive present, with its opportunities and advantages, and her remini- scences of the early days are most interesting.
WATT PIERCY.
Watt Piercy, a prominent citizen of Boise, who for years has been following the profession of accountancy, and for the past eight years has been office manager of the John Lemp estate, came to Idaho in 1894, from Chicago, Illinois, where he had been living for little more than a year. He is a native of the Hoosier state, born in Cloverdale, Putnam county, Indiana, July 20, 1864, a son of Joseph W. and Anna (Brown) Piercy, the former of whom died when Watt Piercy was a little boy. The mother is now living at Boise, aged eighty years. Joseph Piercy was active in Indiana politics and was clerk of Morgan county, Indiana, at the time of his death.
Watt Piercy was reared in Putnam and Morgan counties, Indiana, and finished his education at DePauw University. Greencastle, Indiana. His college course was much interfered with owing to the state of his health and he never graduated, as he had to leave school at the age of seventeen and spent his winters in Florida and New Orleans. also for a time in New Mexico. Some time later, Mr. Piercy applied himself to the study of shorthand at Cincinnati, and during the political campaign of 1886 he was stenographer for the Indiana democratic state central committee, of which the Hon. Ebenezer Henderson, whose daughter Mr. Piercy subsequently married, was the then chairman.
In 1887, Mr. Piercy went to Helena, Montana, where he spent several years as a stenographer, for a law firm at first and later for a real estate company. While in the former position, he studied law, and though he acquired a good knowledge of the profession, he never applied for admission to the bar. Meanwhile, Mr. Piercy had
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returned to Indiana, and at Martinsville, that state, on February 1, 1886, he was married to Miss Magdalene Henderson, a daughter of the Hon. Ebenezer Henderson, who had been chairman of the Indiana democratic state central committee in 1884-86, and had been state auditor from 1874 to 1878. Mrs. Piercy was born at Martinsville, March 9, 1866, and was educated in the public schools of that place and later at a convent in Indianapolis. Mr. Piercy left Montana in 1893 and, after spending a year in Chicago, came to Idaho in 1894. For a twelvemonth he resided at Idaho Falls and was three years at Blackfoot, being engaged at stenography and hookkeeping in these places. Some time later he became secretary to Wayne Darlington, at Mackay, Idaho.
It was in 1902 that Mr. Piercy came to Boise and took over the duties of chief clerk in the state engineer's office, coming with Wayne Darlington, who had been made Idaho state engineer, and served in that position for about two years. He then removed to southern California, where he was employed as accountant by a large mining company, remaining there for three years. In 1907 Mr. Piercy returned to Idaho and ever since has been living in Boise, employed as an expert accountant and as secretary to various mining companies until 1912, since which time he has been office manager for the John Lemp estate.
Mr. and Mrs. Piercy have had five children, four of whom are now living as follows: Alice, wife of Edwin H. Albrecht, of Portland, Oregon; Philip H., Esther E., and Watt Henry. Philip H. Piercy served in France during the World war as a member of the Machine Gun Corps.
Mr. Piercy is an active member of the Boise Chamber of Commerce and takes a good citizen's interest in all that pertains to the welfare of the city. He and his wife support the democratic party. Mrs. Piercy is president of the Whitney Progress Club of Boise bench and of the Burbank Federation of Clubs of Ada county and she is also a member of the Columbian Club of Boise. Mr. Piercy and family reside in a splendidly built hone, which they own, on the Boise bench, the place is known as Piercy Heights.
WILLIAM S. BETHEL.
William S. Bethel, who for the past three years has owned and occupied a ranch of one hundred and sixty-seven acres nine miles southwest of Emmett, in what is known as the Bramwell neighborhood. has been a resident of Idaho for past two decades, having lived in Canyon county for seventeen years prior to removing to his present place. His birth occurred in Henry county, Iowa, on the 2d of March. 1860, his parents being Cogle Simpson and Diligan (Morgan) Bethel, who were natives of Ohio and Indiana respectively and both of whom have now passed away.
William S. Bethel was reared on a farm in Cass county, Nebraska, and throughout his entire business career has devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits, which he has followed in the states of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Idaho. It was in 1885, when a young man of twenty-five years, that he removed to Kansas, while the year 1900 witnessed his arrival in Idaho. His present ranch, comprising one hundred and sixty-seven acres nine miles southwest of Emmett, is devoted to the raising of live stock and the growing of alfalfa and fruit. A portion of the land lies on the south slope of the Payette valley and is excellent orchard property, the annual sales of fruit from the orchards amounting to about two thousand dollars. About ten acres planted to peaches, prunes and sweet cherries are now in bearing. Through the careful conduct his ranching interests Mr. Bethel has won a measure of success that entitles him to recognition among the substantial, progressive and representative citizens of Gem county.
On the 29th of August, 1883, in Cass county, Nebraska, Mr. Bethel was united in marriage to Miss Hattie Irene Dickson, who was born in Wisconsin, September 20, 1865, a daughter of William and Phoebe ( Wallace) Dickson, both of whom are deceased. The father was a veteran of the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Bethel have become parents of eight children, as follows: Delilah May, who is now the wife of James Evans, of Caldwell, Idaho; Verna Viola. who resides at home with her parents; Ira Leroy, who is married and lives on a ranch near that of his parents; Clyde, a resident of Payette, Idaho; Lula Almira; Cogle Henry; Wallace Morgan; and Valentine Irene, who is the wife of Clarence Marrs, of Emmett.
Mr. Bethel gives his political allegiance to the republican party but has never sought or held office other than to serve on the school board, while at the present time Vol. III-36
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he is republican precinct committeeman. Fraternally he is identified with the Wood- men and the Odd Fellows and his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Friends church, to which his wife also belongs. They are widely recognized as people of genuine personal worth and have gained an extensive circle of warm friends during the period of thelr residence in this state.
MYRON WHITELEY.
Myron Whiteley, whose home and ranch are situated eleven miles west of Emmett on the Emmett and New Plymouth road, became owner of this property in the spring of 1918, acquiring one hundred and twenty-seven acres which he is now carefully cul- tivating and improving. Previous to this time he had lived upon a ranch of his own near Burley, Idaho, for two years, but sold his forty acre tract there and purchased his present ranch in Gem county. He had removed to Idaho in June, 1915, from Utah, having previously lived near Provo. Mr. Whiteley was born at Fountain Green, Sanpete county, Utah, July 31, 1886, a son of Joseph E. and Alice M. (Adams) Whiteley, the former of whom died of influenza in December, 1918, while the latter is now living in Lindon, Utah. Both were horn in that state, of Mormon parentage. Joseph E. White- ley's parents removed to Utah from England, coming to the new world as Mormon converts.
Myron Whiteley was reared upon a farm in his native state and has devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits. He was married in the temple at Salt Lake City, November 2, 1910, to Kate Martha Warwood, who was born at Nephi, Juab county, Utah, Angust 1, 1888, a daughter of John and Ellen Ann (Taylor) Warwood, both of whom have passed away. Her father was a native of England and came to Utah after embracing the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both Mr. Whiteley and his wife attended the Brigham Young Preparatory School at Provo and he was also a student in the commercial department of the Brigham Young Univer- sity. After their marriage they lived for a time in the vicinity of Provo and then came to Idaho, settling first in Cassia county, where they remained for a year, and then took up their abode near Burley, where they lived for two years before coming to Gem county in 1918. They have become the parents of five children: Alvah Myron, who was born August 3, 1911; Helen Viola, horn March 31, 1914; Floyd Warwood, November 3, 1915; Thelma, January 12, 1918; and Alice Marie, August 24, 1919.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Whiteley are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints and he is now clerk of Bramwell ward, having served in this position since December, 1918. He is interested in all that pertains to the growth of the church and the extension of its influence, and his aid and support are also given to all those forces which make for the betterment of the community along material, social and civic lines.
HORACE OAKES.
In a history of those who have contributed to the uphuilding and development of Idaho it is fitting that mention should he made of Horace Oakes, who passed away on the 14th of March, 1919, on his highly improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres two miles east of South Boise. He was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, December 19, 1840, and was reared upon a farm there. He made his way westward as far as Illinois prior to the Civil war, in which he served for three years with an Illinois infantry regiment, participating in many hotly contested battles, proving his loyalty and fidelity to his country in the faithful discharge of every duty which devolved upon him. In 1867 he made the trip to California hy way of the Isthmus of Panama, being then a young man. From San Francisco he traveled to Portland, Oregon, and thence to Idaho, going directly to old Centerville, in the Boise basin, where he arrived in 1867. He there resided and followed mining pursuits, operating placer mines of his own until 1901, when he disposed of his mining properties and removed to his ranch southeast of Boise, where he followed farming and the raising of live stock until his death. He was fond of good horses and during the period of eighteen years in which he lived upon his ranch he raised on it a number of excellent draft horses of the Belgian breed. The Oakes ranch at that time, according to good
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authority, produced more good Belgian steeds perhaps than any other five ranches in Ada county.
It was after taking up his abode at Centerville that Mr. Oakes became acquainted with the lady who became his wife-Miss Caroline Johnson, whom he wedded in Boise, December 25, 1882. She was born in Knox county, Illinois, August 21, 1860, a daughter of William and Margaret (Ereck) Johnson, who were also natives of Knox county. In 1868 the Johnson family removed to a farm near Fort Scott, Kansas, where both the father and mother passed away, the latter in 1872 and the former in 1875. They left but two children, Mrs. Caroline Oakes and George Victor Johnson, who is eight years younger than his sister and resides in San Francisco, California. Mrs. Oakes was a mere girl of fifteen years when left an orphan by her father's death. In 1880, when she was a young woman of twenty, she came to Idaho with friends, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Snyder and their family, with whom she had been acquainted in Kansas. The trip over the plains was made in a covered wagon and on reaching Boise Miss Johnson decided to remain, but the Snyder family went to Morrow, Idaho. Miss Johnson took up the profession of teaching, being employed as a teacher near Emmett, then in Canyon county, during the winter of 1880-1. The following summer she taught a term of school at Centerville and there she met her future husband. To their marriage was born a son, Dwight Carlton Oakes, whose birth occurred October 12, 1884, and who passed away November 9, 1897, at the age of thirteen years and twenty-seven days.
Mr. Oakes was a lover of his home and cared nothing for club life or fraternal associations although he was a Mason. In politics he was a republican and at all times was keenly interested in the welfare and progress of the community in which he lived. He possessed many sterling traits of character which endeared him to his fellowmen and all who knew him spoke of him in terms of high respect. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Oakes has continued to reside on the home ranch and has a very substantial residence, which was built several years ago and is one of the attractive country homes in the vicinity of Boise. In addition to the residence there are fine improvements upon the place, such as are always found upon the model farm of the twentieth century. The Oakes family has long been a prominent one in the community, occupying an enviable position in social circles, while in business circles the name has ever been a synonym for progressiveness and reliability.
JOE H. BRESHEARS.
Joe H. Breshears, identified with farming interests in Ada county, was born in Polk county, Missouri, August 14, 1872. He came to Idaho with his parents, Thomas H. and Nancy (Potter) Breshears, in the year 1877. The father engaged in farming, taking up a homestead of eighty acres in Ada county, eight miles northwest of Boise. Thereon he lived until 1916, when death called him on the 28th of February. The mother a year later removed to a place east of Eagle, where she still lives at the age of sixty-eight years.
Their son, Joe H. Breshears, attended the old Cox district school, known as Green Meadows school district, No. 29. At the age of twenty years he started out in life on his own account and purchased twenty acres west of Eagle, where he lived for three years. He then sold that place to Dudley Hedden and bought his present farm of one hundred and two and a half acres located three-quarters of a mile northwest of Eagle. It was raw land and he has improved it, erecting thereon a beautiful residence, a fine barn and everything that goes to make a model farm property of the twentieth century. He also owned the adjoining place across the road of one hundred and twenty acres but sold it in the spring of 1919 for one hundred and seventy-five dollars per acre. This place he bought for his son, C. E., but seeing the opportunity of making a handsome profit, sold it. Mr. Breshears engages in raising hay, grain, fruit and beef cattle and also conducts a dairy of ten cows. He is a stockholder in the Eagle Bank, the Eagle Cheese Factory and the Boise Valley Packing Plant, located at Eagle, the last named being under state inspection and regarded as one of the largest paying industries of the state.
Mr. Breshears is acquainted with all phases of pioneer life. When at the home of his father, east of Eagle, the family had a severe Indian scare, and the father took his wife and children to Boise, where he left them. He returned and camped out until things quieted down. The family is among the oldest in the state, and with every
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phase of Idaho's development and upbuilding they are familiar. Mr. Breshears of this review built the first house on his place over twenty years ago and now uses it as a garage. He was associated with the Farmers Union Ditch Company and assisted in building the ditch, which is twenty-five miles in length and extends to the Canyon county line. For two years he acted as president of the company. He is truly a self- made man. He had but five dollars left after paying the minister when he was married. He purchased his first twenty acres of land in 1890 on time payments and paid off eighty dollars the first year. The land cost him fifty dollars an acre. Upon the place he built a house costing six hundred dollars, ohtaining most of the material on credit. It was in April, 1901, that he purchased his present property, to which he removed the follow- ing fall. In the meantime he had paid for his original twenty acres and the sale of that property enabled him to purchase his present home and incur an indebtedness therehy of only seventeen hundred dollars, which he soon discharged. He today has one of the fine farm properties of his section, thoroughly equipped with modern machinery and farm implements as well as splendid buildings.
It was on the 23d of March, 1893, that Mr. Breshears was married to Miss Anna V. Saxton, of Michigan, and they have eight children: Lizzie, who was married October 23, 1919, to Lyle Anderson and is living at Ellensburg, Washington; C. C., who married Inez Cullen of Idaho, and has one child, Harold Elwood; Florence, the wife of Gilbert Kearns, living at Homedale, by whom she has two children, Violet and Elmer; Stella, Wilburn, Raymond and Floyd, who are attending school; and Archie J., deceased.
Mr. Breshears is indeed widely known in this section of the state and his activities have been of a character which have contributed in substantial measure to the progress and prosperity of the district as well as to his individual success. He is now identified with various important commercial and financial interests at Eagle, and his sound judgment and enterprise make his cooperation a valuable adjunct to any husiness concern.
JOHN F. T. BASYE.
John F. T. Basye, one of the earlier pioneers of Idaho now residing in Emmett, came to this state from Crescent City, California; in 1863, at which time he was seventeen years ot age. He made the trip in company with his parents, John T., and Delana (Brown) Basye, the former born in Terre Haute, Indiana, July 29, 1809, and the latter born in Canada, November 29, 1807. For a year the family lived in the vicinity of Oro- fino, in a mining camp, and later located in the Boise basin. In 1866 they removed to the present site of Emmett, which at that time was marked by but three houses and was called Emmettsville. John T. Basye huilt the first sawmill in Emmett and operated it for many years. He and his wife afterward became residents of Boise, where Mrs. Basye passed away May 24, 1887, at the age of seventy-seven years, while the death of Mr. Basye occurred in Ola, Idaho, in the year 1896, when he had reached the notable old age of eighty-eight.
John T. Basye, whose parents were French Canadians, was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, and his son, John F. T. Basye, was horn in Kankakee, Illinois, April 22, 1846. It was the discovery of gold in California that attracted the father to the west in 1850, at which time he left his family in Kankakee. The following year, however, he rejoined them in Kankakee and in 1852 returned with his wife and children to the Pacific coast. This time the journey westward was made by way of Oregon and in that state the winter of 1852-3 was passed in visiting the eldest son, William Henry Basye, who had removed from Illinois to Oregon in 1847. With the removal of the family to California in 1852, John F. T. Basye of this review became identified with the pioneer development of the west. He is the only one of a family of eight children yet living and he has made his home in Idaho since 1863, spending much of the time in the vicinity of Emmett. He took up a homestead claim of one hundred and sixty acres two miles from Emmett in 1867 and later he obtained a timber claim of eighty acres adjoining the original tract, so that he thus acquired two hundred and forty acres of land, most of which he still owns and which is regarded as one of the excellent ranch properties of the locality. However, he has sold forty-five acres of the place. He is one of the few home- steaders in Gem county yet owning their original claim. He lived upon his ranch from 1869 until 1908 and made many improvements thereon, erecting substantial buildings, planting orchards and also setting out five acres of forest trees. While occupying the ranch he specialized in dairying and the manufacture of hutter and often milked as
MR. AND MRS. JOHN F. T. BASYE
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many as forty-five cows. His business affairs were carefully and profitably conducted and as the years passed he put by a comfortable competence for the evening of life. In 1908 he and his wife rented their ranch and purchased a cosy and comfortable home in Emmett. His son-in-law, James Little, who has a large ranch of his own adjoining the Basye ranch, rents the latter property and is now cultivating it.
It was in Troy, New York, on the 26th of December, 1871, that Mr. Basye was united in marriage to Miss Mary Albertine Brown, who was born and reared in Troy, her natal day being September 18, 1849. Much romance attended the acquaintanceship, correspondence and courtship of this worthy couple. Mr. Basye was in the far northwest in the wilds of Idaho territory and she was a beautiful and cultured young lady of twenty-one years, enjoying the comforts and opportunities of life in Troy, New York. Mr. Basye learned of the young lady through a mutual friend, who induced her to exchange letters with this pioneer settler of the Idaho plains. The correspondence con- tinued for two years and finally photographs were exchanged, proving mutually pleasing. Eventually Mr. Basye obtained the young lady's permission to visit her at her home. It was a long trip of three thousand miles, but Mr. Basye felt that the prize he was after was worth the journey, and on reaching Troy he won his bride. The marriage was made the occasion of a most beautiful celebration at which was served a large wedding cake, bearing on top the date December 26, 1871. Though forty-nine years have intervened since that time this wedding cake, twelve inches square and four inches thick, is still preserved intact in the Basye home. The cake, however, has been rebaked three times upon the occasion of the wedding of each of their three daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Basye have four children: Mrs. Cora B. Titus, Herbert S., Mrs. Maud Little and Mrs. Louisa D. Nelson, all living in Emmett and all married. There are nine grandchildren.
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