USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III > Part 74
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111
Mr. Wingate is an active supporter of the republican party but has never been an office seeker, though he served on the South Boise council for two terms. His wife supports the same party. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World, in the affairs of which he takes a warm interest. Mrs. Wingate is a member of the Daughters of Rebekah and also belongs to the Knights and Ladies of Security, in which order she served as secretary for eight years. Mr. Wingate has lived on Boise avenue, South Boise, for thirty years, and has built two good homes in that district, but recently sold one of
598
HISTORY OF IDAHO
them and also disposed of several lots. He is now living retired from active work but always evinces a practical interest in all matters designed to advance the welfare of the community in which he has resided for nearly forty years.
JOSEPH G. WHITTIG.
Joseph G. Whittig is a well known and prosperous farmer, formerly of Canyon county, Idaho, and now a resident of Ada county, having some time ago bought the splendid Charles Drake farm in the Perkins neighborhood, one of the very best farms for its size in the Boise valley. He was born in Missouri, July 7, 1889, and is a son of Joseph T. and Mahel (Haskin) Whittig, both of whom are still living, having a com- fortable home in Caldwell, Idaho.
Joseph G. Whittig, the subject of this sketch, was reared on a Missouri farm and educated in the schools of that state, but when he reached the age of twenty years he removed to Idaho in 1910. After taking up residence in this state, Mr. Whittig pur- chased an eighty-acre tract of state land, which at that time was all sagebrush, lying five miles southwest of Caldwell, in the Deer Flat section. He settled on his place and immediately proceeded to improve and develop it, putting up some ordinary buildings at first, which later were replaced hy excellent ones. After selling his Caldwell place, he came to Ada county and bought the Charles Drake farm of seventy acres, lying four miles southwest of Boise.
On November 5, 1914, Mr. Whittig was married to Myrtle Esther Reid, a native of Oregon, born March 14, 1893, and a daughter of Frank J. and Nellie (Rogers) Reid, who now reside in Caldwell, having come to Idaho in 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Whittig are the parents of two children, namely: Hazel Glenn, born October 19, 1916; and Hubert Keith, born on April 10, 1918. Mr. and Mrs. Whittig are earnest members of the Methodist church and arc warmly interested in all its good works,
W. A. PALMER.
Very few men who have passed the half century mark on life's journey can claim to be native sons of Idaho. This W. A. Palmer can do, however, for he was horn near Star, October 15, 1867, and he is now well known as a retired stockman of Meridian. He attended the public school of his district and remained with his parents, Martin Van Buren and Sarah Jane (Clark) Palmer, until he had attained his majority. His father was a native of Washington county, Maine, and went to California hy way of Cape Horn in 1857. In that state he engaged in mining and when the mining excitement broke out in Idaho he made his way to Boise basin in 1863. The following year he abandoned mining and located on a preemption claim of one hundred and forty-four acres, which he began to farm and on which he also raised stock. There he resided until 1902, when he sold that property and removed to Meridian, where he made his home until his death, which occurred in 1917. His wife had crossed the plains with her parents, Robert and Sarah Clark, in 1864, the family journeying with ox team and wagon. They win- tered the year of 1864 with Martin V, Palmer at Star and it was thus that Mr. Palmer met his future wife, the marriage being celebrated in April, 1865. There were three children of that marriage: W. A. Palmer, of this review; Martin LeRoy, who married Charlotte Voss; and Anna Lavinia, the wife of J. C. Steele, who is a traveling man.
The youthful experiences of W. A. Palmer were those of the farm-bred boy who was reared in the northwest during the latter half of the nineteenth century. When twenty- one years of age he began earning his own living as an employe of Jim Wilson, a prominent stock man near Eagle, who also had a large range at Camas Prairie and other extensive holdings near Star. Mr. Palmer rode the range for Mr. Wilson for three years and in the meantime was acquiring some stock of his own. In 1890 he was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Nora Anderson, a native of Arkansas but then living at Star. About the time of his marriage Mr. Palmer hecame a partner of his father in the raising of ewes and took entire charge of the stock. After seven years the partner- ship was discontinued and W. A. Palmer removed to Meridian, where he purchased a tract of land of twenty-eight acres, on which he lived for four years and then sold out. On the expiration of that period he reentered the live stock business, ranging his stock
599
HISTORY OF IDAHO
on the government preserve and also ranging stock for others at a certain consideration per head. After three years thus passed he entered the livery business at Meridian and was thus engaged for four years. He next became an employe of Truman C. Catlin on Eagle Island, working both on the ranch there and on the range for three years, subsequent to which time'he became an employe of the Caldwell Mill & Elevator Com- pany at Meridian, with which he continued until September, 1919, when he was obliged to give up his position on account of an accident that forced him to remain at home but from which he has now fortunately almost recovered.
To Mr. and Mrs. Palmer were born six children. Walter A., twenty-seven years of age, was at Camp Lewis in the quartemasters department. Chester I., twenty-five years of age, returned in 1919 from France, where he was a member of the Twenty-ninth Engineers, and was transferred to the Seventy-fourth Engineers just before sailing for home. He was in the St. Mihiel drive on September 12, 1918, and was also with the army of occupation. Before going to France he had been a member of the Government Reclamation Service Engineers, but when America entered the war he responded to the call to the colors, volunteering and being sent to Fort Douglas, Utah, on the 10th of December, 1917. From that place he was transferred to Camp Devens, Massachusetts, and embarked overseas on the 19th of June, 1918, landing at Brest on the 5th of July. From there he went to Langres, where he did detail work for a time and was then sent to St. Mangie to the Flash and Sound Ranging School. From that place he pro- ceeded to the Toul sector and it was not long before he was in action on the 12th of September, when the St. Mihiel drive was launched. He sustained a scalp wound in action. He says that the Germans never had a chance after the battle of Chateau Thierry, in which the Americans entered actively into the fight and from that time kept the enemy on the run, Chester I Palmer doing his full part in bringing about the glorious victory. The next member of the family, Helen Marie, is the wife of Clyde E. Simpson. Cassie E. is teaching school at Meridian. Ralph W., eighteen years of age, has recently graduated from the Meridian high school. Berle C., the youngest, is yet in school. The Palmer family is well known in Meridian and Ada county, where three generations have now lived, hearing their full part in the development of the agricul- tural and stock raising interests of this section of the state and also in the commer- cial and industrial development.
STEPHEN M. SISK.
On the pages of the pioneer history of Idaho appears the name of Stephen M. Sisk, who, becoming identified with the state, during the early period of mining development, continued a resident of Idaho until the state reached its present day progress and prosperity, his death having occurred in Boise on the 29th of December, 1916. He came to the west from Princeton, Kentucky, making his way to California and thence to Idaho in 1863.
The birth of Stephen M. Sisk occurred in Princeton, Kentucky, March 30, 1833, and the days of his boyhood and youth were there passed to the age of seventeen, when he left the Blue Grass state and drove an ox team across the plains to California. He spent ten years in the Golden state and in 1863 came to Idaho, after which he resided for many years in the Boise basin. He was first at Placerville and afterward at Idaho City, where he followed mining pursuits, and he took active part in the development of the early mining resources of the state.
On the 3d of December, 1874, Mr. Sisk was married in Idaho City to Miss Lizzie T. Moore, who was born in Bentonsport, Iowa, May 23, 1856, and made the journey over the long hot stretches of sand and through the mountain passes to Idaho in Company with her parents, who traveled westward with ox teams in 1862, when Mrs. Sisk was but five years of age. Her father, Mahlon B. Moore, served as the first postmaster of Placerville, filling that position during the Civil war period, under the administration of Abraham Lincoln. He was the incumbent of that position at the time when President Lincoln was assassinated. He also served for several years as probate judge of Boise county. His birth occurred at Wilmington, Indiana, March 8, 1821, only four years after the admission of that state into the Union. On the 17th of February, 1848, he wedded Catharine Ann Keck at Attica, Iowa, She was born at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Janu- ary 14, 1830, and was of Revolutionary descent. The death of Mr. Moore occurred in
600
HISTORY OF IDAHO
Idaho City, Idaho, January 1, 1885, and his widow survived him for several years, pass- ing away at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Stephen M. Sisk, in Long valley.
After long connection with mining and agricultural interests in Idaho following his marriage, Mr. Sisk removed with his wife to Boise in 1908 and passed away at the family home at No. 119 North Seventeenth street. To Mr. and Mrs. Sisk were born three daughters. Mabel M., who was born July 13, 1875, was graduated from the Albion State Normal School and was a capable teacher for several years, imparting clearly and readily to others the knowledge which she had acquired. She was also twice called upon to fill the office of county superintendent of schools in Boise county and did effective work in behalf of public education during her two terms' connection with the office. She is now Mrs. Mabel M. Whitely, a widow, and has a daughter, Miss Hazel M. Whitely, who is a graduate nurse, having completed her course of study in a New York training school. Several years ago Mrs. Whitely gave up the profession of teaching and now holds an excellent business position in Boise. Both she and her mother, Mrs. Sisk, are members of the Daughters of the American Revolution and also of the Order of the Eastern Star, and in the latter Mrs. Whitely is a past worthy matron. She belongs to the Boise Business Women's Club.
Katharine Sisk, the second daughter of the family, was born October 14, 1876, and is now the wife of James H. Stofiel, mentioned elsewhere in this work. The young- est daughter, Anna M., born September 1, 1886, is now the wife of Harry J. Cushing of Manila, Philippine islands, who is a wholesale jeweler there. They have two daugh- ters, Barbara E. and Helen Jeane Cushing. Mrs. Cushing is also a graduate of the Albion State Normal School and was formerly a teacher in Idaho, where she lived until the time of her removal to the Philippines, where she met and married her husband.
The Sisk family is yet well represented in Idaho, where the father took up his abode at a very early period in the settlement and development of the state. Fifty- seven years have been added to the cycle of the centuries since Stephen M. Sisk came from California and for an extended period he was most actively and prominently associated with many of the interests which have contributed to Idaho's progress and upbuilding. He left to his family the priceless heritage of an untarnished name, and many friends besides the members of his immediate household felt deep regret at his passing.
OTTO WILHELM.
Otto Wilhelm, county commissioner of Gem county and a well known ranchman, resides a half mile east of Emmett, on an eighty-acre tract of highly improved land which he owns. He came to Idaho in 1894 from; South Dakota but is a native of Bavaria, Germany. He was born November 16, 1874, and is one of a family of four sons and four daughters whose parents were John and Katharina (Horner) Wilhelm. When a youth of seventeen years he left his native country and in 1894 came to the United States. For three years he remained a resident of South Dakota, working throughout almost that entire period as a farm hand at a wage of fifteen dollars per month.
In 1894 Mr. Wilhelm came to Idaho and has since lived in what is now Gem county, his home throughout the intervening period being near Emmett. His parents, together with the other children of the family, came to the new world in 1895 and. joined their son Otto at Emmett. The father purchased the eighty-acre ranch just east of Emmett which the son now owns and occupies, the latter having purchased the property from his father several years ago. He acquired forty acres of the place at a time and has since improved it with excellent buildings and all modern equipment of every kind. His home is a splendid frame dwelling of eight rooms, surrounded by a broad verandah, all of which is screened in and which contains ten hundred and forty- four square feet of floor space. It is a magnificent ranch house, supplied with all that makes for the comfort of life. He also has a fine barn fifty by sixty feet upon his land. As the years have passed he has become one of the prosperous ranchmen of Gem county, devoting his place to the raising of hay, grain and live stock. All around him are people who are giving their attention to horticultural pursuits, but he has wisely concentrated his efforts and energies upon the lines indicated and is meeting with good success. Moreover, when a boy in Bavaria he learned the use of tools and is an expert mechanic and the good buildings upon his ranch are of his own design and handiwork. . The
OTTO WILHELM
603
HISTORY OF IDAHO
house is thoroughly modern, being supplied with hot water and electric light and every convenience.
Mr. Wilhelm was married November 6, 1902, to Miss Cora Knouse, whose father, E. L. Knouse, was a pioneer of the Emmett district. They have three children: Leonard, who was born June 18, 1905; Florence, born August 25, 1909; and Ray Francis, born March 6, 1918.ª
Mr. Wilhelm and his family are members of the Christian church of Emmett, of which he is serving as a trustee. His political support is given the republican party and he has held a number of local offices, while in the fall of 1918 he was elected one of the county commissioners of Gem county and is now acting as chairman of the board, giving thorough satisfaction ewing to the prompt and efficient manner in which he is discharging the duties of the office.
GEORGE THOMAS TREGASKIS.
George Thomas Tregaskis has been a lifelong resident of Idaho and is a pioneer of the Emmett section who is now devoting his life to ranching, his home being situated about four miles west of Emmett. He was born in Idaho City, April 19, 1869, a son of George and Mary (Neal) Tregaskis. The father was born in New Jersey but was of English parentage, while the mother was born in the state of New York and was of Scotch descent. In 1863 the fatber came to Idaho from California as a gold seeker and the following year was joined by his wife in this state, their remaining days being passed in Idaho City.
George Thomas Tregaskis was reared in Idaho City and has been a miner, cattle- man and rancher throughout his entire life. He homesteaded his present ranch of one hundred and sixty acres in 1899 and it is pleasantly situated four miles west of Emmett. Throughout the intervening period he has spent most of the time upon the ranch and owned it for seven years before he could secure water for it from the Last Chance ditch. Since he has been able to irrigate the land he has carried forward the work of develop- ment steadily and has converted the place into an excellent property.
On the 20th of December, 1906, Mr. Tregaskis was married to Miss Lula Collins, who was born in Pullman, Washington, February 6, 1888, and has lived in Idaho since nine years of age, spending the entire time in the Payette valley. In politics Mr. Tregaskis is independent, never voting a straight ticket in his life. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow and is a loyal follower of the teachings and purposes of the order.
FREDERICK C. BROWN.
Frederick C. Brown is a native of England, born in London, December 3, 1868, and is a son of Thomas and Andre (Adler) Brown, also natives of England. He is the fourth child in a family of five, consisting of four sons and one daughter, of whom only he and his sister now survive, both residing at Boise. The father was a naval engineer and was a member of a family which had been naval and seafaring people for several gen- erations, the grandfather of our subject having been an admiral in the British navy. Thomas Brown died in England, but his widow spent her last years in Boise, dying July 23, 1917, at the advanced age of eighty-two years.
It was in 1882 that Frederick C. Brown, in company with three brothers, Alexander, Percy H. and Ernest, left England' and crossed the Atlantic to Canada, proceeding at once to Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1883, the brothers crossed the border to the United States. locating in that part of the Dakota territory which is now comprised in North Dakota. While living in that region, Frederick C. Brown spent several years in agri- cultural pursuits. In 1889 he went to Colorado, settling in Leadville, and there he first became identified with mining operations, which he has pursued ever since, his activl- ties in that field of endeavor covering a period of thirty years. While residing in Lead- ville he acquired knowledge which has since raised him to the status of a competent min- ing engineer, having served as assayer for the Harrison Reduction Works. In 1892, Mr. Brown removed to Idaho, where he spent some time in assisting in investigating copper possibilities in the Seven Devil country. In September, 1893, he was sent to old Mexico, where he was employed as assayer and mill superintendent for three years, and two
604
·
HISTORY OF IDAHO
years later, in 1895, he returned to the United States and spent six months in Montana, and later one year at Silver City, Idaho, as superintendent and general manager of the Poorman mines.
In 1897 Mr. Brown sailed to New Zealand, where he spent several years in mining pursuits, as general manager of two large gold and silver mines. While there he per- fected some important inventions for use in mining and other kinds of machinery and which have revolutionized many former methods, and which are now in general use throughout the world and have secured widely-extended credit to their inventor. The fol- lowing testimony is taken from a newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand: "The Grand Junction Mine has in its superintendent, Mr. F. C. Brown, one of the big men of Waihi. He is a man of quiet, unassuming, even reserved disposition, who looks upon it as his sole business 'to get the gold,' and at as little cost as possible. While conversing with him to get an insight into his inventive powers, few people would dream from his retiring manner and bearing, that Mr. Brown is looked upon today in England and other countries, as one of the leading authorities on ore treatment."
One of Mr. Brown's inventions was turned to practical use during the construction of the great Arrow Rock dam in Idaho. It consisted of a special kind of manganese steel, used for tube linings in the gigantic cement-making machines, which type of linings gave wonderful enduring qualities, thus doing away with the necessity of fre- quently changing them. It thus took less time to construct the dam and its cost was greatly reduced.
While living in New Zealand, Mr. Brown met Kate Kingsford, whom he married November 30, 1898. She is also a native of England, born at Dover, March 12, 1875, a daughter of Cottenham and Margaret Mackay (Saville) Kingsford. She emigrated with her parents to New Zealand when she was nine years old and was educated in that country. In 1910 Mr. Brown returned to the United States, bringing his wife and two children with him, and has since resided at Boise, or rather on the Boise bench, just south of Boise, where he owns a tract of well improved land, which is a valuable estate in itself, and in addition he is the owner of several good residence properties. For several years past he has been the superintendent of the Belshazzar mines, in the Boise basin, at Placerville.
Mr. and Mrs. Brown are the parents of two children, a son and a daughter, both born in New Zealand: Freda Kingsford Brown, born February 4, 1900, and Ernest Kingsford Brown, born January 4, 1903, both births occurring on Sunday. They are grad- uates of the Boise high school. Mr. Brown and his family are earnest members of the Second Presbyterian church at South Boise, of which he is an elder. He and his wife take a practical interest in the social and cultural activities of their community and help to promote all good works calculated to advance the general welfare of the people. Mr. Brown has contributed considerably to the Mining and Scientific Press, a mining publication issued in San Francisco.
MRS. MINNIE BLAND DAVIS ROSS.
The lady whose' name introduces this review, Mrs. Minnie Bland Davis Ross, for years a resident of Boise bench, south 'of Boise, needs no special introduction to the citizens of this part of Ada county. She is the widow of the late Bethuel Shephard Ross, a well-to-do rancher, who died at his home in Boise, February 10, 1918, leaving behind him a good name for honesty of purpose and straightforwardness of action.
Mrs. Ross, whose maiden name was Minnie Bland Davis, was born in Union county, Kentucky, March 11, 1860, a daughter of Dr. Ila Metcalf Davis, a well known physician of that part of Kentucky, and a cousin of Jefferson Davis, president of the Southern Confederacy. Her mother, before marriage, was Mary Harriet Gilchrist, and she and her husband were natives of Kentucky, both coming in direct line from old Kentucky families, and earlier from Virginia families. On both sides, Mrs. Ross is descended from Revolutionary stock, and she is a member of the pioneer chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Boise. Her parents spent their entire lives in Kentucky, where her father was a practicing physician during his active life. Mrs. Ross was the third of seven children, of whom six are living, she being the only one in Idaho. She was reared in her native state and received her early education in the schools of that state, later graduating from the Ladoga Normal School, of Indiana, and in her young womanhood she taught school, first in Kentucky and later in Wyoming.
605
HISTORY OF IDAHO
Minnie Bland Davis was married in Kentucky in 1887 to Bethuel Shephard Ross, who was born in Madison county, Wisconsin, July 22, 1854. In his early manhood, Mr. Ross won considerable distinction throughout the middle west as a skilled pianist, and for several years he was with a traveling opera company. Subsequently he engaged in railroad work for some time, and in later life he became a successful rancher. While engaged at railroad work, Mr. and Mrs. Ross lived at various places but in 1898 they came to Idaho and lived for two years in Pocatello. In 1900 he retired from railroad work and moved to Boise.
In 1902, Mr. and Mrs. Ross built the beautiful home where she now resides. It is a large structure of unique design, planned by themselves, erected at a point right on the very brink of the high tableland, south of Boise and overlooking the city. It is generally known as the Ross home, and it is one of the real pretty suburban homes in the Boise neighborhood, commanding a fine view of the city lying in the valley below. Mr. Ross left no children. Mrs. Ross still occupies the home and has as a companion Miss Emma Muriel Ross, a younger sister of Bethuel Ross.
Mr. Ross was prominent in Masonry and was a Knight Templar. In politics, he gave active support to the policies and principles of the republican party. He served two terms as county clerk of Carbon county, Wyoming, during their residence there and before coming to Idaho, and in other directions he gave his time and ability to the furtherance of all movements calculated to serve the best interests of the community in which he lived.
Mrs. Ross is an earnest member of the Presbyterian church, as was also her husband. During the period of the World war she was active along the lines of the Red Cross, and other useful projects connected with the welfare of those sent abroad commanded her practical support. In addition to her pretty home, and its five acres of ground, she is the owner of a ranch of three hundred and twenty acres near Kuna, Idaho. This property, which is only a portion of the estate left by her husband, was accumulated by him through the exercise of industry and good management. and had he been spared to enjoy the fruits of his labors, he would have been surrounded by comfort and inde- pendence, in the sharing of which his wife would have been a congenial partner.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.