History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 78

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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FRANCIS MARION PFOST.

Francis Marion Pfost. whose forty-acre farm is one mile west of the Maple Grove school in Ada county, is a native of West Virginia, born in Mason county, December 25, 1867, and is a son of George W. and Angeline (Rickard) Pfost. His mother died when he was only nine years old and some years later his father contracted a second mar- riage. Francis M. Pfost was reared to the age of fifteen in West Virginia but in 1882 went to Nebraska, taking up his residence in the home of an elder brother, Joseph Pfost. He lived in that state for several years and also spent some time in Wyoming and Montana before coming to Idaho in 1896. He has been a farmer all his life and since settling in Idaho he has followed that occupation in the neighborhoods of Ustick and Maple Grove. He bought his present farm, lying one mile west of Maple Grove, in 1918 and has one of the best kept places in this part of Ada county. He is a first cousin of Emmet Pfost, sheriff of Ada county.

On February 13, 1898, Mr. Pfost was married to Sarah Powell, who was born in Dubuque county, Iowa, July 31, 1873, a daughter of George and Isadora Jane (McAuley) Powell, the former of English extraction and the latter of Irish descent. Her paternal grandparents were natives of England. When Mrs. Pfost was six years old her parents removed to Valley county, Nebraska, where she was reared. Mr. and Mrs. Pfost are the parents of six living children, three sons and three daughters, while Lester, the eldest, died at the age of nine years. The other children are: Herbert J., born August 25, 1900; Sydna L., September 4, 1902; George R., June 29, 1904; Ruth A., March 20, 1906; Cecil M., March 10, 1910, and Edna K., June 11, 1914.

Mr. and Mrs. Pfost are earnest members of the Baptist church and are interested in all its works. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World. He formerly served as road overseer. Mrs. Pfost is a member of the Mountain View Club, in the affairs of which, as well as in the various social and cultural activities in and around Boise, she is an active and practical participant.

ANTHONY WOZNIAK.

Anthony Wozniak, well-to-do dairy farmer owning forty-seven acres of fine land situated three-quarters of a mile west of the Maple Grove school in Ada county, is a native of Poland, born December 31, 1874, and was brought to America when an infant of eighteen months hy his parents, Stanislauf and Mihalina Wozniak, who were also natives of Poland. The family came to the United States in 1876 and first settled in Missouri, but three years later they removed to Valley county, Nebraska, where Anthony Wozniak grew to manhood on his father's farm.

At the age of twenty, in 1895, Mr. Wozniak went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he worked in a steel mill for several years, and traveled about the country a good deal. At a later period he worked in North and South Dakota, where he was employed on farms. in shops and stores. He then returned to Valley county, Nebraska, and in Elyria, that state, he conducted a general store for five years, at the end of which period, in 1908, hè came to Idaho and for ten years was a resident of the Camas Prairie country, being engaged as a butcher at Fairfield.

It was in 1918 that Mr. Wozniak removed to Ada county and bought liis present valuable ranch, which contains forty-seven acres of choice land, where he carries on

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general agricultural pursuits and dairying. The ranch is situated in a district where land sells at from three hundred to four hundred and twenty-five dollars an acre.

In early manhood Mr. Wozniak was married in Nebraska to Valentina Lebreska, a native of Poland, who died some years later, leaving five children, all of whom are still living, namely: Helen, Laura, Ralph, Victoria and Julius. The two eldest are in con- vents preparing to he Sisters of Mercy; Ralph is with his father on the ranch. Mr. Wozniak's second marriage was in Boise, November 1, 1917, to Mrs. Martha Fahsholtz Tritthart, who was born at Berne, Kansas, February 14, 1881. Her father, Charles Fahsholtz, was a native of Germany, and was brought to America by his parents when he was ten years old. Mrs. Wozniak's first hushand was Charles Tritthart, who died eight years after their marriage. They came to Idaho in 1906 and located at Corral, Camas county.

Mr. Wozniak has a good herd of dairy cattle, mostly Guernseys, and is milking eleven cov's, his investment in this line paying him very well. He has carried out some valuable improvements on his place, among others having erected a silo in 1919. He is a member of the Catholic church and supports the republican party. While living in Nebraska he served as road overseer and filled a like position in Camas 'county, this state. Mrs. Wozniak is a member of the Parent Teachers Association of the Maple Grove school district and takes an active interest in all community affairs, ever lending her assistance to the furtherance of all projects intended to promote the welfare of the district in which she resides.

BERT LINCOLN PILGRIM.

Bert Lincoln Pilgrim, a prominent horticulturist and dairy farmer, who for several years past has been a resident of the Boise district, having a well improved forty-acre ranch and orchard seven miles southwest of Boise, in the vicinity of the Five Mile school, is a native of Illinois, born in DeKalb county, October 27. 1864, and is a son of George Washington Pilgrim, a mechanic by occupation, who was born in Orange county, New York, February 1, 1829. When a young man of twenty-one, in 1850, the father removed to Wisconsin, where he became a pioneer teacher, conducting school in an old log schoolhouse with a puncheon floor. On February 22, 1851, he was married to Emma Smith Parsons, who was born in Clay county, Missouri, April 27, 1834. They became the parents of two children, namely: Charles Wesley Pilgrim, who was born February 9, 1853, and died October 28, 1891, at Independence, Missouri; and Bert Lincoln Pilgrim, the subject of this sketch. The father died June 22, 1907, and the mother June 29, 1908, a year and one week separating the two deaths. Much of their married life was spent at DeKalb, Illinois, where their son, Bert Lincoln, was born, but their last years were passed at Independence, Missouri, where they died.

Bert L. Pilgrim was five years old when his parents removed to Independence, Mis- souri, and in that place he received his early education and spent his youth. He learned the trade of a carpenter under his father, who was a skilled mechanic and an expert with tools, and the son is considered his equal in every respect. He also learned the millwright's trade. He worked at carpentering in Independence until 1902, when he removed to Idaho. Some five years before this he was married in southern Nebraska, December 11, 1887, to Myrtle Jency Stilwell, who was born in Green county, Wisconsin, September 10, 1870, a danghter of Benjamin and Nancy Lewania (Lewis) Stilwell. Her father is still living, but her mother died December 30, 1899, at Payette, Idalio.

In 1892, Mr. Pilgrim and his wife came to the northwest and for five years lived on a homestead .of one hundred and sixty acres in Oregon, the place heing located near Payette, Idaho. They improved the homestead to some extent and proved up on it. In 1896 they removed to Boise and lived there until 1908, when they located on their present ranch at Five Mile. At that time the place had nothing on it in the way of improvements but a small house and other modest buildings. One half of the forty acres, however, had been planted as an apple orchard, and the management of his orchard and dairying has occupied Mr. Pilgrim's attention since 1908. During his residence in Boise he worked as a carpenter and millwright. Since settling on his ranch he has made many modern improvements and has now one of the best country homes near Boise. His two-story eight-room house is fully equipped with all conveniences, the entire work being done by himself.

Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim are the parents of two children, Mabel May, horn November 12, 1889, was married December 11, 1914, to John C. Carringer, and reside in Boise.

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HISTORY OF IDAHO

Leonard Guy Pilgrim, born September 25, 1893, was married in August, 1913, to Mamie Marie Crawford, a daughter of E. F. Crawford, a well known Ada county pioneer and rancher. Mr. Pilgrim is a past grand master in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He supports the republican party and formerly served as a school trustee. He and his wife take a proper share in the social and cultural activities of the community in which they make their home and are ever ready to lend their aid to all movements intended for the advancement of the public welfare.

JOE RATLIFF.

Joe Ratliff is a well known citizen of Ada county, who was an extensive dealer in livestock until the spring of 1920, at which time he removed to a forty-acre ranch, one mile west of the Maple Grove school, which property he has just bought and is now engaged in farming. He was born in Bell county, Texas, February 5, 1871, a son of Robert and Susan (Gresham) Ratliff, both of whom were born in Tennessee and have been dead for some years. Robert Ratliff was a soldier in the Confederate States army and fought in many engagements during the Civil war. In the year 1882 the family removed to Baker City, Oregon, where they remained but a short time and soon afterward came to Idaho, locating near Bellevue.

Joe Ratliff has had a continuous residence in Idaho since 1882, having lived mostly in Owyhee county, where he was extensively engaged in raising cattle and sheep and at which he was very successful. Finally, he abandoned that business and in the spring of 1920 located on bis present place, which is a well kept ranch of forty acres one mile west of the Maple Grove school, and there Mr. Ratliff and his family reside.

On May 1, 1907, Mr. Ratliff was united in marriage to Flora Tindall, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 17, 1884, a daughter of William J. and Perlina (Watson) Tindall, both of whom now live in Owyhee county, Idaho. Mrs. Ratliff was but twelve months old when her parents removed to Idaho. Mr. and Mrs. Ratliff have one son, Elton, born January 6, 1908. Notwithstanding that they have but recently arrived in the Boise neighborhood, they are already establishing themselves in the friendship and goodwill of the community in which they reside. Mr. Ratliff is a member of the Idaho Cattle Breeders Association, in the affairs of which he takes an active interest.

WILLIAM M. STAFFORD.

William M. Stafford, night watchman at the state capitol in Boise, was born in Barry, Pike county, Illinois, June 20, 1856, a son of John L. and Eliza J. (Arnett) Stafford, who came to this state in 1864, when he was a little lad of nine years. The family crossed the plains with a wagon train from Kansas there being about ninety wagons for the greater part of the journey. On reaching Idaho the family located in Boise, the father working at his trade of a carpenter at the fort. Mrs. Stafford, the foster-mother of William M., later became the wife of George D. Ellis, who in his day was one of the most prominent men of Boise, being president of the Capital State Bank and otherwise connected with the commercial life of the city. Ellis avenue and the Ellis addition to Boise were named for him.

All of the education that William M. Stafford obtained during his boyhood was at the old brick schoolhouse in Boise, where the Carnegie library now stands. In early life he learned the carpenter's trade and as a builder and contractor erected many of the best residences and other buildings in Boise, but for several years he was also interested in ranching and in cattle raising. During the '70s he took an active part in the exciting and thrilling incidents that grew out of the Bannock war, serving as a volunteer.

On the 13th of June, 1880, at Boise, Mr. Stafford was married to Miss Hattie L. Eager, who was born in Mondovi, Buffalo county, Wisconsin, July 1, 1866, a daughter of Luther L. and Abigail M. (Holden) Eager. Her father, who was a farmer by occupation, was born in New Hampshire of German descent and her mother was a native of Maine. She accompanied her parents to Idaho in 1877, crossing the plains by wagon train. Mr. and Mrs. Stafford have an only daughter, Abbie T., the wife of John Hagler, of Boise, who owns a ranch northwest of the city.

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Mr. and Mrs. Stafford give their political support to the republican party and for a time he served on the police force in Baker, Oregon, and as constable in Placerville, Idaho. At present he is night watchman at the Idaho state capitol. He is a past grand and past chief patriarch of Boise Lodge, No. 97, I. O. O. F., and served as staff captain for nine years. Both he and his wife are members of the Daughters of Rebekah and he is also a member of the Woodmen of the World. Mrs. Stafford is a member of the Methodist church and for the past sixteen years has been active in the work of the Woman's Relief Corps, being past president of the Boise branch of that organiza- tion. She is now junior vice president of the Woman's Relief Corps, Department of Idaho, and has held various other offices in that lodge. She is the possessor of several honorary badges awarded for service in the work. In a large frame Mr. and Mrs. Stafford have scores of honorary emblems and badges which have been presented to them for excellent help rendered in many deserving causes of a public character. Mr. Stafford has been a great hunter and fisherman in his day and many hunting trophies are to be seen in his home.

FRANK MARCELLUS.

Frank Marcellus, well-to-do rancher, is a pioneer of the Five Mile school neigh- borhood, living nine miles southwest of Boise, where he has a forty-acre ranch on which he settled in 1894. He is a native of the great Empire state, born near Saratoga Springs in Saratoga county, New York, July 17, 1868, and is a son of Charles L. Marcellus, a descendant of an old New York Mohawk Holland-Dutch family. The paternal grand- father came from Holland in an early day and located on the Mohawk river. Charles L. Marcellus married Helen Baker, who is still living near Saratoga Springs, New York.

Their son, Frank Marcellus, grew up in the village of Day, Saratoga county, New York, where his father was a merchant. He was married there, April 8, 1891, to Libbie Van Avery, also of Holland Dutch descent, born in the same county as her husband. In 1894 they lett New York state and came to Boise valley, Idaho, locating on their present ranch. Before leaving New York Mr. Marcellus had purchased the forty-acre tract on which he now lives for eleven dollars an acre, it being then all sagebrush, but he at once proceeded to improve and develop it and competent judges now value it at about three hundred dollars an acre. Since coming to Idaho, in addition to operating the forty-acre ranch, Mr. Marcellus spent sufficient time away from it to prove up on a homestead of three hundred and twenty acres, sixteen miles southeast of Boise-a dry farm proposition,-which he sold in 1919 for five thousand dollars. Since settling in this state he has had conspicuous success with his farming investments and now ranks among the most substantial farmers of the district in which he lives.

Mr. and Mrs. Marcellus are the parents of six children: Ruth, Grace, Madge, Gladys, Mildred and Jean. Ruth is now the wife of Robert E. Lee, of Murphy, Owyhee county and they are the parents of two children, Frank Lee and Georgia Lee. Mr. Marcellus has been a life-long democrat and is now a member of the Non-Partisan League. He and his wife take an active interest in all community affairs and are ever ready to help all movements intended for the public welfare.

CHARLES H. HUNTINGTON.

The late Charles H. Huntington, for years a well known resident of Ada county, died on his ranch nine miles southwest of Boise, February 16, 1919, and his widow still lives on that place. He came to Idaho, accompanied by his wife and two children, in 1890. The family were originally from the state of Vermont but in 1879 removed to Kansas. Mr. Huntington was born in Shaftsbury, Bennington county, Vermont, Feh- ruary 17, 1853, a son of Myron and Mary (Cross) Huntington, also natives of the Green Mountain state. On January 1, 1878, he was married to Lydia Squires, whose birth- place was also Shaftsbury, and she is a daughter of Elijah and Polly (McDonald) Squires, natives of Vermont. In the year following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Huntington went west as far as Kansas and thence to Idaho in 1890. They first spent two years in Boise and then nine years on the ranch now owned by H. B. Illingworth, near Perkins store. The place was sold in 1901, and the Huntington family then removed to a ranch

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which they purchased. On this farm Mrs. Huntington now lives and here her husband passed away February 16, 1919, regretted by many friends, being recognized during his residence in the Boise district as an upright citizen and a good neighbor.

The ranch, which contains fifty acres, is well developed and well improved, practically all the improvements having been made by Mr. Huntington. He was a man of consider- able influence, which he ever used for the benefit of all deserving persons and purposes. During his active life he was an ardent supporter of the republican party and served two terms on the board of county commissioners of Ada county and also had other positions of trust reposed in him from time to time.

Mr. and Mrs. Huntington became the parents of four children, as follows: Alice May, born October 2, 1884, died January 19, 1915. Charles H., Jr., born July 26, 1888, married Rosa Backus and they have three children; Rosa M., born August 2, 1910; Clifton E., born January 16, 1914, and Donald D., May 2, 1919. Frank Myron, born July 3, 1890, is the third child of the family, and the fourth is Dollie Jennie, born April 27, 1894, who resides with her mother. Charles H. Huntington, the elder son, is living on a homestead of his own on Black creek, fifteen miles southeast of Boise. Frank M., the younger son, resides in a cottage near his mother's place on the home ranch and farms it. He married Cora Bell Heard, who was born at Lebanon, Missouri, December 22, 1896, a daughter of Charles Grant Heard and Sarah Elizabeth (Lewis) Heard, the latter of whom died in Walla Walla, Washington, April 25, 1916. Mr. Heard, who is still living in Boise, brought his family to Idaho before Mrs. Cora Bell Huntington was a year old and they located at Mountain Home, where she grew to womanhood, but later they removed to Boise. She is the mother of three children. She and her husband take an active interest in all community affairs calculated to advance the welfare of the people among whom they live.

CHARLES CARROLL RANDALL.

The ranch property of Charles Carroll Randall comprises one hundred and fifty- six acres, situated fourteen miles west of Emmett and three miles west of Letha. Mr. Randall is a pioneer of the Payette valley, having lived in this section of the state since 1862, when he removed from California to Idaho. He was born in Rushville, Schuyler county, Illinois, December 17, 1835, and is therefore now in the eighty- fifth year of his age. His parents were Jonathan G. and Hethey ( Majors) Randall.

Charles C. Randall passed the days of his boyhood in his native state and in 1854, when a youth of nineteen years, he crossed the plains to California, his outfit con- sisting of three ox teams, which he drove, although he walked most of the way him- self, traveling barefooted across the plains and thus reaching California. Just after his party entered California they killed a rattlesnake that was ten feet long and had sixty-two rattles. Mr. Randall spent about ten years in California engaged in min- ing and other pursuits and then came to Idaho. He has never married and upon his ranch with him resides his nephew, Richard Ralph Parrott, who was born in Han- cock county, Illinois, December 24, 1868, and who came to Idaho when but four years of age with his parents, Henry and Caroline Elizabeth (Randall) Parrott. the latter being the youngest sister of Charles Carroll Randall. Both of Mr. Parrott's parents have now passed away and he resides with his uncle, with whom he has spent much of his life, his mother dying when he was but six years of age. For the past six years he has steadily remained with his uncle on the ranch, for the latter, now in the evening of his life, needs a companion, although he is still strong and vigorous despite his eighty-five years.

Being a bachelor, Mr. Randall wandered around to some extent after coming to Idaho, living in the Boise basin for a time and also at Horse Shoe Bend, where he was engaged in the hotel business, but finally he took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres just on the other side of the Payette river which he improved and developed, making it his place of residence for many years. Later he purchased his present ranch and for several years he owned both of these properties but .eventually sold the homestead.

Throughout his life Mr. Randall has been a republican and his religious faith is that of the Baptist church. He has ever been a man of temperate habits, enjoying, however, a smoke, and he is the possessor of a fine silver-mounted meerschaum pipe which he has used for forty-seven years. Recently an Emmett artist enlarged and

CHARLES C. RANDALL

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framed a fine picture of him, taken with his meerschaum pipe in his mouth-a pic- ture so true to life and character that it would prove interesting even to a stranger. Mr. Randall evidently comes of a family noted for longevity. He has a sister eighty- nine years of age now living in Boise. This is Mrs. Eunice Ann Parrott, who became the wife of William Parrott, a brother of Henry Parrott, mentioned above.

WILLIAM NYBORG.

In the fall of 1919, William Nyborg came into possession of his present ranch property hy purchase. The tract comprises more than forty acres of land, of which seven acres is planted to prunes. This ranch is situated five miles west of Boise and to it he removed from Fremont county, where he owned a ranch property that he sold prior to taking up his abode in the Boise valley. Mr. Nyborg is a native of Mount Pleasant, Sanpete county, Utah. He was born May 19, 1875, his parents being Andrew Olson and Engra (Hanson) Nyborg, both of whom were natives of Sweden but were married in Oklahoma. They went to Utah as converts to the Mormon church.

Their son, William Nyborg, was reared at Mount Pleasant and in young manhood came to Idaho. For a time he was in the vicinity of Idaho Falls and then went to Fremont county, where he became a prominent rancher, ultimately owning there two hundred and fifteen acres of excellent land, which he sold for more than eighty dollars per acre upon removing to Ada county. His present Boise Valley ranch is not large hut is very valuable and is in a neighborhood where farm lands are selling at almost five hundred dollars per acre. The characteristic energy which enabled him to successfully. manage and operate his ranch property will win for him prosperity as an orchardist.

On the 24th of December, 1906, Mr. Nyborg was married to Miss Laurinda Jensen, a lady of Danish descent, who was born at Mount Pleasant, Utah, May 3, 1886, a daughter of Peter and Laura (Hansen) Jensen, the former a native of Denmark and the latter of Utah. Mrs. Nyborg had removed with her mother to Fremont county, Idaho, when fourteen years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. Nyborg have been born five sons and a daughter: William Que, who was born October 29, 1907; Leoda, whose birth occurred August 26, 1909; Newland Jay, whose natal day was February 11, 1912; Andrew Glenn, born January 16, 1915; Addrin Engavor, born November 20, 1916; and Peter Dean, who was born on the 10th of December, 1919. One daughter, Viola, died when but six weeks old. She was the sixth in order of birth. Both Mr. and Mrs. Nyborg are supporters of the republican party, giving to it stalwart allegiance, and they are interested in every- thing that pertains to the welfare, progress and upbuilding of the district and state in which they reside.

CLINTON MATLOCK.

Clinton Matlock, a retired farmer residing near Meridian, was born near Hot Springs, Arkansas, October 10, 1856, and in the spring of 1863 went to the southeastern section of Missouri with his parents, Clinton Albert and Susan (Weaver) Matlock. The parents were natives of the state of Tennessee and were there reared and married.

After living for a number of years in Missouri, during which time he acquired his education in the public schools, Clinton Matlock came to Idaho in September, 1882, traveling by team across the plains to Boise. He was accompanied by his wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Elizabeth Sexton and was a native of Wright county, Missouri, and their little son, William Henry. They were upon the road for about six months and their train numbered at different periods from twelve to one hundred teams. There was much sickness among the party as they traveled westward. Mrs. Matlock's people were with the train and because of the illness of some of them they had to stop at Soda Springs, Idaho, until they were again able to travel.

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History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 78

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