USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III > Part 75
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ALBERT LUNDSTROM.
Albert Lundstrom, a prominent and prosperous rancher of Ada county, who resides on a well kept farm of his own, five miles west of Boise, near the Maple Grove school, is a native of the kingdom of Sweden, born October 18, 1860. He is a son of Peter and Caroline (Malm) Lundstrom, the former of whom is now deceased, and the latter lives with her son, William Lundstrom, in the same neighborhood as Albert Lundstrom. She has now reached the advanced age of eighty-five.
Peter Lundstrom, who was a stone mason by trade, died in Iowa about thirty-two years ago. In 1866 he emigrated to the United States, leaving his family behind in the old country until such time as he was in a position to provide a home for them, which he did in about three years. His wife and three sons, Albert, Lewis and John, all born in Sweden, came to this country in 1869, when Albert was nine years old. The father established a home in Marshalltown, Iowa, and four children were born in the United States, namely: Ida, who married Dow Eyestone and died some time later; Cora, who married Dow Pontious and later died in Boise; Anna, now the wife of Ira Shawver, of Ada county; and William, the youngest child, who follows farming.
Albert Lundstrom has been engaged in farming all of his life, commencing at the early age of twelve years on a farm near Marshalltown, Iowa. He was married at Guthrie Center, Iowa, February 15, 1881, to Fannie Rebecca See, who was born at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, a daughter of Charles Butler and Permelia Ann (Emerick) See, the former a first cousin of Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, the distinguished American soldier and statesman. Mrs. Lundstrom's mother and father were born in New York of Holland Dutch descent and both are now deceased. Mr. See was the founder and owner of the first bank in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. His wife was a niece of Chauncey Rose, the phi- Janthropist of Terre Haute, Indiana, who was the founder of the Rose Polytechnic Insti- tute iu that city, and whose work and name are known far outside the confines of Indiana. Mrs. Lundstrom has one brother, Wilmont Forrest See, who lives on Dry creek, Ada county, Idaho.
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Mr. and Mrs. Lundstrom first came to Idaho in 1890, and lived in this state for two years, returning to Iowa in 1892, where they remained for three years, at the end of that period removing to a ranch near Carthage, Missouri, where they resided for two years. They then returned to Idaho, and, after renting for three years, Mr. Lundstrom removed to his present ranch, which then consisted of eighty acres. He occupied it for several years as a renter and then bought it from his wife's parents to whom the place belonged and who had made all the improvements. They died in the home now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Lundstrom.
Mr. and Mrs. Lundstrom became the parents of eight children, six of whom are living: Ernest, the eldest son, died at the age of twenty-five years, and Jessie, the eldest daughter, died when she had reached fourteen years. The other children are Mabel, the wife of O. D. Carper, Jr., of Payette, Idaho; Forrest Wilmont; Clarence; Flossie, the wife of Ed Coffin; Cora, the wife of Carlyle Smock; and Verdie at home. Carlyle Smock is a veteran of the World war, having served in France for about eighteen months. He was wounded no less than eleven times in the battle of Chateau Thierry, one of the fiercest and bloodiest of the war, and had to spend a considerable time in a hospital. Some of his wounds were so severe it is believed that he will never fully recover from their effects.
Mr. and Mrs. Lundstrom are earnest members of the Episcopal church and take a warm interest in all its good works. Both are republicans in politics, and are active in supporting the party's policies and principles. Mrs. Lundstrom is a member of the Rebekahs and is president of the Mountain View Club of Ada county, and in all matters intended for the welfare of the community in which they reside, both she and her husband take a practical part.
OWEN A. MONTEITH.
Owen A. Monteith, a prominent and successful farmer and owner of a nice dairy herd of Holstein and shorthorn cattle, whose place is about five miles southwest of Boise, was born at Brownsville, Nebraska, April 30, 1873, and is a son of John and Ann (Thompson) Monteith, both of whom are still living at Lincoln, Nebraska. The father was born in Pennsylvania, November 4, 1835, and has now reached the ripe old age of eighty-five. The mother was born in England, July 26, 1845, and came to the United States with her parents when she was seven years old. The marriage of John Monteith and Ann Thompson took place in Nebraska in 1864, and they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1914, which was the occasion for a gathering of old friends and wellwishers. They are the parents of eight children, of whom seven are living, three heing in Idaho, namely: David, living near Meridian; Owen A., the subject of this sketch; and Mrs. Sarah M. Leininger, of Meridian. The others of the family reside in Nebraska.
Owen A. Monteith was reared on a farm in Nebraska, where he received his early education, and remained on the home place up to the age of eighteen. He taught school for one term, but has followed farming for the greater part of his life. In his young manhood, however, he spent about fourteen years as a counter man in Nebraska first in Arcadia and later in West Union. On severing connection with store work he hecame interested in farming, in which he has achieved considerable success, notably in dairying.
On March 21, 1899, at Arcadia, Nebraska, Mr. Monteith was married to Myra L. Potter. who was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, September 24, 1880, a daughter of Edgar M. and Martha F. (Bixby) Potter. Mr. Potter was born at Gates, New York, June 7, 1834, and his death took place in Nebraska, January 16, 1896. His wife was born at Coldwater, Michigan, January 24, 1842, and her death occurred in Nebraska, August 17, 1914. They were married in New York state, November 6, 1861, and were the parents of eight children, five of whom are living, Mrs. Monteith being the only one residing in Idaho.
It was in 1910 that Mr. Monteith removed from Nebraska to Ada county, this state, and settled on his present ranch, the greater part of which he had purchased in the spring of that year. His first purchase was forty acres, to which he gradually added more land until he now has seventy acres, which is believed to be worth three hundred dollars an acre. He has made some valuable improvements, including a silo and barn ; has twenty acres set out to alfalfa; and his herd of dairy cows consists of about twenty, of Holstein and shorthorn breeds.
Mr. and Mrs. Monteith became the parents of the following children, who are living:
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Mervin A., born in 1900; Grace G., in 1902; Marie A., in 1904; and Sarah M., in 1908. Mervin, the only son, graduated with the class of 1919 from Boise high school and is now helping his father on the ranch. Grace and Marie are now in Boise high school. Mr. Monteith is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, in the affairs of which he takes a warm interest. Both he and his wife give their support to the republican party and are active adherents of its policies and principles. They also display a keen interest in all community affairs designed to advance the public welfare.
MRS. ANNA VARKER.
Mrs. Anna Varker, one of the well known and much respected residents of Boise bench, south of Boise, where she and members of her family have been living since 1895, having come from Colorado in that year, was born in England, December 23, 1864. On coming to Boise from Colorado, Mrs. Varker was accompanied by her husband, George Varker, and three children, but some years after settling here Mr. Varker died, as did one of the children, Harry, who died at the age of twenty. Mr. Varker was also a native of England, born March 4, 1861, and was a son of William and Eliza' (Harry) Varker. In that country he married Anna Wall, November 3, 1883, she being a daugh- ter of John and Mary (Reseigh) Wall, who spent their entire lives in England.
Three of Mrs. Varker's children were born in England, namely: Mary Elizabeth, who was born January 14, 1885, and married Albert Rodda, of Boise bench; William John, horn December 23, 1885, who resides with his mother and who is the mainstay of the family; and George Harry, who was born February 16, 1888, and died at the age of twenty, December 18, 1908. Another child, Annetta, was born in Idaho, April 26, 1895, and she also resides with her mother.
Mr. Varker and his family emigrated to America in 1890 and on arriving in this country located in Colorado, where they lived for five years, at the end of this time removing to Idaho, where Mr. Varker spent the remainder of his days. He was a miner by occupation and worked in the mines of both Idaho and Colorado. On coming to Idaho he continued in the same line, being employed at the Delamar mines, where the family lived for several years, later removing to the Boise bench.
The Varker family are the owners of a small but valuable ranch, which is chiefly operated hy William John Varker, and the fruits of his labors are to be found in the comfortable surroundings in which he and his mother and sister reside. The little family enjoy the esteem and confidence of the community in which they live, and as time passes, Mrs. Varker is rapidly coming to be recognized as one of the old-time residents of Boise bench.
LLOYD NATHAN WHEELER.
Lloyd Nathan Wheeler, a prominent citizen and prosperous rancher, who came to reside in the neighborhood of Boise, Idaho, in the spring of 1919, is another Nebraskan who has settled in this part of Ada county, to which he came from Saline county, Nebraska, and purchased the Mans Coffin ranch ot fifty acres, standing across the road from the Maple Grove school, five miles southwest of Boise.
Mr. Wheeler was born in Saline county, Nebraska, August 29, 1872, a son of Theodore M. and Rheua ( Beardslee) Wheeler. The Wheeler family is an old New England one. On his mother's side, Mr. Wheeler can trace his ancestry back to the Mayflower, an ancestor by the name of Beardslee having come to this country on that vessel. The father, who followed farming throughout his active life, was born at New Fairfield, Connecticut. February 4, 1837, and was reared and educated in that state. After the outbreak of the Civil war, he joined the Eighteenth Connecticut In- fantry and served with that command for a considerable time. Following the close of his military service, or in 1865, he removed to the state of Illinois, where he remained for five years, at the end of this period going to Saline county, Nebraska, where he took a soldier's homestead. He was a pioneer of that county and developed a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres, it heing on that farm that his son, Lloyd Nathan Wheeler, was born. The father resided in Saline county for the remainder of his life and died at Western, April 10, 1910. Mrs. Rheua (Beardslee) Wheeler was born
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February 2, 1839, in Ohio but was reared in Connecticut, where she was married February 18, 1858. She died in Ada county, Idaho, February 9, 1920, at the advanced age of eighty-one years and seven days. She had only been living a short time in this state, whither she had come in order to be near her only son, Lloyd Nathan. She was the mother of four daughters, two of whom live in Nebraska and two in Idaho.
Lloyd Nathan Wheeler was reared on his father's place in Nebraska and was educated in the schools of Saline county, that state. In his early manhood he taught school for one term, after which he turned his attention to farming, at which he has been engaged all of his active life, with the exception of five years spent in the grain business in Nebraska.
On March 27, 1895, Mr. Wheeler was married in Saline county, Nebraska, to Miss Anna Eunice McClave, who was born in Iroquois county, Illinois, July 1, 1874, a daugh- ter of Joel G. and Sarah C. (Tribbey) McClave. Mr. McClave was born in Warren county, Ohio, January 18, 1835, and died in Nebraska, May 8, 1908. His wife was born at Morrow, Ohio, March 21, 1837, and died in Nebraska, January 11, 1908, predeceasing her husband by four months. Mrs. Wheeler is the youngest of five children, all of whom are living, her brother, E. L. McClave, residing in Montpelier, Idaho. For some time prior to her marriage, Mrs. Wheeler taught school in Nebraska for several terms, and after her marriage she and her hushand lived on the old Wheeler place in Saline county, Nebraska, before coming to Idaho. They are the parents of six children, namely: Arthur Raymond, Walter McClave, Charles Theodore, Lena Eunice, Frances Carolyn, and Bernice Luella. The eldest sons, Arthur and Walter, are veterans of the World war, the former having served overseas, and the latter in the student officers training camp at Waco, Texas.
The Mans Coffin ranch of fifty acres on which the Wheeler family reside is one of the best improved and most valuable for its size in the Boise valley. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler are earnest members of the Methodist church and are active in all its good works. He is a Mason, a member of the Modern Woodmen and a Royal Highlander, and Mrs. Wheeler is also a Royal Highlander.
WILLIAM W. SELCK, JR.
William W. Selck, Jr., farmer and field man for the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company at Lewisville, Idaho, was born in Kamas, Summit county, Utah, December 31, 1870, his parents being William W. and Anna C. (Sorenson) Selck, who are mentioned elsewhere in this work. William W. Selck, Jr., was reared in Utah and in Lewisville, Idaho, pursuing his education in the schools of the two states. When his textbooks were put aside he began farming his father's place and was so engaged until twenty-three years of age, when he purchased land near Lewisville, which he improved and afterward sold. He has since bought and sold several farms but is still the owner of two hun- dred acres near Lewisville and three hundred and twenty acres near Roberts, Idaho, which he rents, deriving therefrom a gratifying annual income. He ceased the active operation of his farm in 1916 and accepted a position with the Utah-Idaho Sugar Com- pany as field man and has since served in this capacity. He is a representative and progressive business man who is a director of the Parks & Lewisville Irrigation Com- pany, of which he was formerly president for some time. He is likewise a stockholder in the Intermountain Farmers Equity and the Thornton Investment Company of Idaho Falls.
On the 23d of November, 1892, Mr. Selck was married to Sarah E. Myler, a daughter of Orrin and Elizabeth J. (Stokes) Myler, who are natives of Farmington, Davis county, Utah, and of England respectively. The latter was six years of age when brought to America by her parents. Mr. Myler was a farmer of Utah until June, 1883, when he came to Idaho, settling in Jefferson county, then a part of Oneida county. He took up a homestead near Lewisville and continued its cultivation until 1910, when he retired from active business life and removed to Logan, where he is now living at the age of sixty-two. The mother also survives. Mr. and Mrs. Selck have become the parents of four children: William A., who resides at Roberts, Idaho, enlisted in July 1918, and went almost immediately to France, being with Motor Truck Company, No. 488. He was made a corporal and was discharged May 27, 1919, at Fort Russell, Wyoming. Millie is the wife of Horace Clement, of Idaho Falls, who owns a farm of
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WILLIAM W. SELCK, JE.
Vol. III-39
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forty acres at Lewisville. Sarah Christine and Leith La Vaun are at home. The wife and mother was born in Clarkston, Cache county, Utah, September 2, 1875.
The family are adherents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Mr. Selck is second counselor to the president of Rigby stake. He also filled a mission in the southern states for two years. His political endorsement is given to the repub- lican party and he has served on the town board of Lewisville, also as constable and as school trustee. He is keenly interested in everything that pertains to the welfare and progress of his community and cooperates in all movements for the general good. At the same time he is a progressive business man who is doing important work in the responsible position of field man for the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company.
ASBURY C. HILL.
Asbury C. Hill, who for the past nineteen years has been residing on a valuable forty-acre ranch of his own, one-half mile north of Perkins Store and three miles west of Boise, has recently moved to the Perkins Store property and the ranch is now occu- pied by his son-in-law and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. C. G. Caldwell, Mr. Hill still retaining the ownership of the farm. On March 1, 1920, Mr. Hill and his wife removed to the Perkins Store, which he purchased, and he is now conducting the same, carrying a stock of groceries and other merchandise. His only living son, Harrison Benjamin Hill, assists him in operating the business.
Mr. Hill came to Idaho in the fall of 1901 from southwestern Kansas and shortly afterward purchased a forty-acre ranch, paying only seventy-five dollars per acre for it. Such is the remarkable change in realty values in the Boise vicinity, that it is now estimated to be worth five hundred dollars an aere.
Mr. Hill is a native of the Empire state, having been born in Chemung county, New York, December 25, 1849, a son of Thomas and Alice (Mckinney) Hill, also natives of Chemung county, New York, and now deceased. They removed to Michigan in 1867 and there spent the remainder of their lives, Thomas Hill dying at the age of eighty- two and his widow surviving until she had reached the old age of ninety years. He served for three years in the Civil war, being a member of the One Hundred and Forty- first New York Volunteer Infantry, and at the end of his service received an honorable discharge.
Asbury C. Hill moved with his parents to Michigan in 1867, when he was eighteen years old, and was married in that state, September 3, 1873, to Mary E. Baum, a native of Wisconsin. She was born of German parents, March 14, 1855. In 1879, Mr. Hill and his wife removed to Kansas, and lived at different points in that state for over twenty years, coming in 1901 to Idaho, where they have since resided. He has been engaged at farming practically all his life and has held various official positions, both in Kansas and Idaho, having been postmaster, justice of the peace, township treasurer and school director. Mr. Hill was formerly a republican but says just now he is practically "on the fence" as between the two old parties. He was postmaster of the town of Maybell, Kansas, for two years, the postoffice being named by him for his only daughter, May- bell, now Mrs. C. G. Caldwell. Mr. and Mrs. Hill also had a son, Harrison B.
Mr. and Mrs. Hill are members of the Methodist church, in all the good works of which they take an earnest interest, and he is also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In addition to being a practical farmer for the greater part of his life, he followed various business pursuits at intervals, so that his present venture in the grocery trade is not his first mercantile experience.
EUGENE W. EBY.
Eugene W. Eby, a well known citizen and rancher residing in the Maple Grove neighborhood, five miles southwest of Boise, where he has been living for the past seven years, was born in Jackson county, Iowa, August 2, 1868. He is a son of William H. and Arabel (McCormick) Eby, the mother being one of the famous McCormick family who make the well known reapers and mowers. William H. Eby, who was a farmer throughout his active life, served in the United States army during the Civil war, and at the end of his service received an honorable discharge. He was born in Penn-
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sylvania, of German descent, and died December 15, 1918, at Craig, Burt county, Nebraska. His widow still lives at Craig.
On June 24, 1889, Eugene W. Eby was married to Anna M. Titus, who was born February 16, 1872, in Jackson county, Iowa, but she and her future husband were not acquainted there but met for the first time in Burt county, Nebraska, their marriage taking place at Tekemah, that state. Mrs. Eby is a daughter of William and Frances (Robinson) Titus, the former a farmer, who died in 1880, and the latter still living in Seattle, Washington. The Eby and Titus families removed from Jackson county, Iowa. to Burt county, Nebraska, and located on adjoining farms. Mr. and Mrs. Eby later became schoolmates. William Titus, father of Mrs. Eby, was born at Titusville, Penn- sylvania, the town being named for his family, his father having given the land on which it was built. Mrs. Eby's mother was a native of West Virginia.
It was in 1900 that Mr. Eby and his wife removed to Idaho, and for a few months they resided in Boise, where he was a partner in a meat market with John W. Eagleson, who is now state treasurer, Mr. Eby having learned the butcher's trade in Nebraska in his early days. In 1901 he bought a farm of forty acres near Ustick, Ada county, but sold that place in 1906 and removed to Boise, where he lived for a year, engaged in the butcher business. He then removed to a ranch near Ash Park, but after a short stay there he returned to Boise, where he remained for five years, during this period being engaged as a merchant policeman. Mr. Eby and Andy Robinson practically built up the present merchant police system in Boise, but in 1913 he sold his half interest in the merchant police and since that year he has resided in the Maple Grove neighbor- hood, where he has been living the life of a farmer.
Mr. Eby formerly owned two small but valuable ranches near Maple Grove school, the larger containing forty acres and the smaller twenty years. Land in this section of Idaho is generally valued at about five hundred dollars an acre. In 1919 he sold the twenty-acre tract, on which he had been living for six years, and he then removed to his forty-acre ranch, which had some fair buildings on it, but Mr. Eby has made arrangements for the erection of a new home on this place.
Mr. and Mrs. Eby are the parents of two sons and one daughter, namely: Earl F., born August 15, 1890; Viva M., who was born May 30, 1892, and is the wife of Homer Lingenfelter, of Melba, Idaho; and Waldo W., born May 20, 1894, who married Fern Jones and lives on a ranch near Caldwell. Mr. and Mrs. Eby are earnest members of the Christian church in Boise and are interested in all its good works and also in all neighborhood affairs calculated to advance the welfare of the community in which they. make their home. Mr. Eby is a republican, but has never been a seeker after public office. His wife supports the democratic party and is a member of the Mountain View Club of Ada county and of the Rebekalıs.
HERBERT L. LOWE.
Herbert L. Lowe, the popular water master of Aberdeen, Bingham county, is a native of Tennessee, born near Chattanooga, July 20, 1877, a son of P. W. and Kate (Legg) Lowe, who are also natives of Tennessee, living near Knoxville. P. W. Lowe was a merchant in Tennessee and at Asheville, North Carolina, being engaged in operating a general merchandise store at Asheville for twenty years. He served for three years as a member of the First Tennessee Cavalry during the Civil war, and was taken prisoner. Just before he joined the army he was taken ill with fever and was left lying on the road. Finally, he recovered and made his way to the Union lines. He is now living retired and resides at Chattanooga, and notwithstanding his advanced age he is in the enjoyment of good health. His wife died in January, 1879.
Herbert L. Lowe was reared and educated at Bingham's Military School at Asheville, North Carolina. On leaving that school, he started to work and engaged in clerking in a hardware store for six years. In May, 1906, he removed to Blackfoot, Idaho, and went to work with engineers, building canals. When this work was completed and they had started running the water, he was appointed water master of the Aberdeen- Springfield Canal Company, and has served in this capacity ever since, with satisfactory results to all interests concerned.
In October, 1912, Mr. Lowe was united in marriage to Nora Jones, a daughter of Watkin H. and Ann (Rees) Jones, natives of Pennsylvania and of Wales, respectively.
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Mr. Jones went to Minnesota in an early day and engaged in ranching for several years. He is now living retired at Windom, Minnesota. His wife died in 1903.
Mr. Lowe is the owner of a tract of farm land in Aberdeen. He is a member of the Masonic order and warmly interested in the affairs of his lodge. Mr. Lowe prefers to exercise independent action in political matters and places men and principles as his first choice in public affairs. rather than party or party emblems. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is an active participant in its work.
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