History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 8

Author: Hawley, James Henry, 1847-1929, ed
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 926

USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III > Part 8

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In his fraternal relations Mr. Branstetter is a Mason and has ever been a loyal follower of the craft. His has been an active and useful life and the sterling traits of his character are attested by all who have come in contact with him. He made an excellent public official, was a progressive and enterprising business man and as one of the pioneer settlers has contributed much to the development and upbuilding of the state. Moreover, he has heen a witness of the entire growth of Boise, being today its oldest living citizen, and there is no phase of the city's development with which he is not familiar and concerning events of historic importance here be speaks with authority.

WILLIAM H. COPPEDGE.

Link's Business College, 1015 Idaho street, Boise, Idaho, occupies a two-story brick structure designed and built especially for its use. Its local reputation and value as a practical educational institution of the highest standing has long been established; and the fact that students were enrolled from seventeen states within a period of one year shows that it is gaining a national reputation and is an important factor in the upbuilding of the city of Boise and the entire state. Its equipment is of the best and the very latest and includes all of the latest modern office appliances.

The work done in the school is recognized and accepted as standard by the educa- tors and educational institutions of the state. The college is a member of the Na- tlonal Association of Accredited Commercial Schools and its courses of study are endorsed by the national bureau of education. At this time it enjoys the distinction of being the only commercial school in Idaho that has been admitted to the member- ship of the National Association of Accredited Commercial Schools. The training given at Link's is recognized as being superior, and the success of its graduates has gained for the school an enviable reputation among business men and the general public. The prestige of the college is a distinct asset to its graduates.

Link's Business College is a school with an ideal. The definite aim of its manage-

WILLIAM H. COPPEDGE

Vol. III-5

HISTORY OF IDAHO

ment and teachers is to cause every young man and woman to see the value-the absolute necessity-of a thorough business education and to assist them in acquiring it in the shortest possible time and at the least possible expense; to give each student a vision of what his life's work should be; to create within him a desire, an ambition, a de- termination to develop every faculty of his being to its utmost possibilities; to help him fix for himself a definite, abiding purpose which he must have before he can succeed; to maintain such a moral tone and to conduct the affairs of the school in such a businesslike manner as to compel the respect of all students and merit the confidence and esteem of the business public. The manager endeavors to perform his whole duty toward all students in an honest, earnest, and conscientious manner and with all the ability and experience he possesses.

William- H. Coppedge, manager and principal owner of Link's Business College, was born in Crawford county, Missouri, November 14, 1873. He is the only son of James Allen and Martha Frances (Lanter) Coppedge, the former of whom passed away when his son Henry was but five months old. The father was an agriculturist and his native state was Kentucky. The mother was born in Wayne county, Indiana, and she now resides in Steelville, Crawford county, Missouri. She enjoys the best of health and though she is nearing her seventieth birthday, she is actively interested in everything pertaining to the welfare of her community and spends much of her time in the state work of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Mr. Coppedge's only living sister, Mrs. Anna Ellen Harrison, lives in Steelville, Missouri.

Mr. Coppedge was reared on a farm in Missouri, where he developed a stroug physical constitution and learned some of the most valuable lessons of his life. He received his early education in the public and city schools of Missouri. He then at- tended the Steelville Normal and Business Institute, after which he taught in the country schools for two years. In 1896 he entered the Warrensburg State Normal, Warrensburg, Missouri, from which institution he was graduated in 1900 with the degree of B. S. D. He holds a life diploma for teaching in Missouri and also for the state of Idaho. After graduating from the Warrensburg State Normal, he was elected Principal of Mount Gilead School, Kearney Missouri, and later was elected to the superintendency of the Newburg (Mo.) schools.

In the spring of 1902, Mr. Coppedge, entered Gem City Business College, Quincy, Illinois, where he took an extensive business training with a view of entering com- mercial life. Just as he was completing his course in Gem City Business College, a splendid offer to accept a position with Harshaw's Academy and Business College was offered him. He accepted the offer and very successfully filled the position for two years.

On December 29, 1903, Mr. Coppedge was married in Dallas, Texas, to Harriet L. Gresham, of Macon, Missouri. She is deeply interested in child study and takes an active interest in the Woman's Christian Temperance, church and Sunday school work. To this union have been born three children: Ramona Louise, born September 28, 1909; William Harold, September 20, 1911; and Helen Kathryn, September 12, 1915.

At this time Mr. Coppedge became very anxious to see the different parts of the country. Not being financially able to resign his position and spend a year or two in traveling, he conceived the idea ot securing positions in private commercial schools for one or two years at a time in the parts of the country he desired to see. With this idea in mind he secured a position with the Erie Business University, Erie, Pennsylvania. After one year a position was secured in Wood's Commercial School, Washington, D. C. During the two years spent in Washington, D. C., Mr. and Mrs. Coppedge, visited all places of interest in Washington and all the historical points of interest within a radius of several hundred miles of Washington. He made a special study of public men, political science and economy, the people, business methods of the government offices, civil service rules, regulations and requirements, and made a specialty of preparing people for government positions.

From Washington, D. C., he went to Mankato, Minnesota, where he had charge of the shorthand department of the Mankato Commercial College for two years. In the spring of 1909 he went to Salt Lake City and took charge of the Utah Business College. After one year in Salt Lake City, he came to Boise and took charge of the shorthand department of Link's Business College for two years. He then became Interested in Henager's Business College and returned to Salt Lake City. After a period of fifteen months, the opportunity to buy Link's Business College came. he severed his connection with Henager's Business College, bought Link's Business Col-

HISTORY OF IDAHO

lege in June, 1914, and has been principal owner and manager to the present time. During the five years under his management, thousands of dollars of new equipment has been added, the courses of study have been the arranged to meet the exacting requirements of modern business, the enrollment has doubled, and the school ranks among the largest and best business schools in the west.

Mr. Coppedge is deeply interested in public affairs. He is a member of the Boise Rotary Club and the Boise Commercial Club and takes an active interest in every- thing that contributes to the development and upbuilding of his city and state. He is a Master Mason, an elder in the First Presbyterian church, and a member of the executive board of the Idaho Sunday School Association. He is intensely interested in the character building of young people, especially young men. In his work in the teaching and developing young men's classes in Sunday school, he is recognized as a leader. His personal interest in the individual student, his earnest attention to those things that develop the personality and character of young people have brought the moral tone of his school to a very high standard and made his influence widely felt.

JOHN OBERMEYER.

Gem county received a valuable addition to its citizenship when John Obermeyer arrived in this section in 1913 to join his three brothers, William, Henry and Lewis Obermeyer, who had already become residents of Idaho. Like bis brothers, he is a native of Illinois, his birth having occurred at Plano, Kendall county, on the 27th of March, 1892. He is a son of Henry and Mary (Linz) Obermeyer, mentioned in connection with the sketch of his brother Lewis. When he was eleven years of age his parents removed to Paw Paw, Michigan, and he largely spent his youth there in a district which is extensively given over to the production of grapes, the Michigan vineyards in that sec- tion being among the finest of the Mississippi valley. The Obermeyer brothers there- fore gained considerable knowledge of grape culture while living in that section and they have put this knowledge to excellent account since coming to Idaho.

In 1913, when a young man of twenty-one years, John Obermeyer arrived in this state and made his way to Gem county, where his brothers were already living. He has since taken part in the growing and shipping of melons and other fruits, which business has claimed the attention of all the brothers through the period of their residence in Gem county. He owns a ranch on the south slope in the vicinity of the ranches owned by his older brothers. His mother resides with him, presiding over the household affairs, and John Obermeyer is busily occupied with the cultivation and care of his vineyards, his orchards and his fields of fine watermelons and cantaloupes. He personally super- intends the spraying and pruning and keeps the land in excellent condition by the use of fertilizer, while irrigation supplies the needed amount of moisture.

John Obermeyer is a Master Mason and a worthy exemplar of the principles of the craft. Like his brothers, he is ambitious, industrious and determined and is mak- ing steady progress, his record, like that of his brothers, making the name of Ober- meyer an honored one in Gem county and a synonym of all that is progressive in the way of horticultural development.

CAPTAIN JULIUS F. SHELLWORTH.

Captain Julius F. Shellworth is now the vice president of the Texida Oil Company and is well known in Boise by reason of the fact that for many years he was a member of the Boise police force and became a captain and chief. He has lived in this city since 1889, at which time he removed from Walla Walla, Washington. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, February 19, 1845. His father, a native of England, died when the son was but a little child. The mother was a native of Germany. When a youth of but nine years Captain Shellworth of this review went with an uncle to Texas and for many years lived in the Lone Star state. He served with the Confederate army during the Civil war, joining the Second Texas Cavalry, with which he was on duty from 1862 until 1865. Following the close of the war he returned to Texas and in that state, on the 12th of July, 1876, was married to Miss Mary L. Campbell, who was born in Comanche county, Texas, a daughter of C. C. Campbell, a native of

HISTORY OF IDAHO

Louisiana. Her father was one of the pioneers of Texas and a very prominent cattle- man of the state in an early day.

From 1880 until 1886 Captain Shellworth was engaged in general merchandising at Buffalo Gap, Taylor county, Texas, a town then situated one hundred and fifty miles from a railroad. A dreadful drought which occurred in 1885 and 1886 ruined his business, his sales largely depending upon the success of the cattle industry. The cattle died as the result of the drought and he was unable to collect from the many who owed him, so that he was forced to quit business. In 1886 he went to Walla Walla, Washington, and in 1889 came to Boise. For a time he engaged in the transfer busi- ness and in 1893 accepted a position on the police force, with which he was connected tor a quarter of a century or more. He wore the first policeman's uniform seen on the streets of Boise. He was chief of police during the administration of Mayor Peter Sonna and was captain of police for many years. He finally resigned from that posi- tion on the 1st of November, 1919, to devote all of his attention to the business of the Texida Oil Company, of which he is the vice president and one of the directors. This is a Boise concern operating in the oil fields of Texas.

To Captain and Mrs. Shellworth have been born five sons and one daughter who are yet living: Harry C .; Nellie E., the wife of Walter Wallace; J. Leslie; Edgar C .; William H .; and Albert Lee. All reside in Idaho with the exception of the last named, who is now in Salt Lake City, Utah. Two of the sons, Harry and Leslie, served in the Philippine war as members of Company H, First Idaho Regiment. The youngest son, Albert Lee, served for eighteen months in France during the World war, being a captain of engineers when the armistice was signed. Previous to this he had been adjutant of the Third Battalion of the Twentieth United States Forestry Engineers. He entered as a private but was soon advanced and his capability and devotion to his country's interests won him rapid promotion.

In his political views Captain Shellworth of this review is a democrat and fra- ternally he is a Knight of Pythias. He has a very wide acquaintance in Boise, where for many years he has resided, and all who know him speak of his excellent service on the police force and his marked devotion to the public welfare.

IVAN A. HOWARD.

Ivan A. Howard, secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Idaho Tire & Rubber Company, doing business at the corner of Ninth and Bannock streets in Boise, dates his residence in this city from 1909, at which time he removed from Hastings, Nebraska, to the northwest. He was born at Edgar, Nebraska, August 13, 1879, being the only son of I. V. and Esther (Moore) Howard, who are now living in the Boise basin, in Boise county, Idaho. The father is the president of the Missouri Mining Company of this state.

I. A. Howard was largely reared at Edgar, Nebraska, where he pursued a public school education until graduated from the high school. He later spent two years in the University of Nebraska and afterward pursued a business course in the Chicago Athenaeum, being there graduated on completing a course in bookkeeping. He subse- quently spent several years upon the road as representative of a large elevator company of Kansas City, for which concern he bought grain. He then returned to Edgar, Nebraska, and was associated with his father in the grain and banking business until 1909, when he came to Boise, where he has since been connected with the local automobile trade in one capacity or another. He is a master mechanic, thoroughly familiar with motor car construction, and on the 21st of July, 1919, in partnership with Reilly Atkinson, he purchased the business of the Idaho Tire & Rubber Company, of which he has since been the secretary, treasurer and general manager, with Mr. Atkinson as the president. The capital stock of the concern was at once increased from ten thousand to thirty thousand dollars and the business was greatly enlarged. In addition to handling auto- mobile accessories of every kind, the company does a general battery and ignition busi- ness and has developed a most gratifying and substantial trade.

About twenty-two years ago Mr. Howard was married in Nebraska to Miss Martha Hazel McDougall and they have become parents of five sons and two daughters: Arthur McDougall, Dorothy, William, John M., Donald, Mary and Harold B. Fraternally Mr. Howard is an Elk and he also has membership with the Boise Chamber of Commerce and with the Boise Automobile Association. His experiences have been varied and

HISTORY OF IDAHO

as the years have passed he has constantly utilized and improved his opportunities with the result that he has made steady progress in the business world and is now a well known factor in connection with the automobile interests of Idaho.

GEORGE W. MCKINLAY.

George W. Mckinlay is the president of the Farmers Implement Company of Rex- burg and his business connections place him in the front rank of the progressive and representative citizens of Madison county. Alert and enterprising, he is ready for any emergency and for any opportunity. He was born in Scotland, May 4, 1857, and is a son of Robert and Isabelle (Watson) Mckinlay, who were also natives of the same country. The father worked there as a stationary engineer until 1875, when he came to the new world, making his way to Provo, Utah, where he continued in the same line of activity for two or three years. In 1884 he removed to Idaho and settled in Madison county, then Oneida county, filing on land near Teton. This he improved but later lost it. He was given a tract of land by his son, George W., and his remain- ing days were devoted to general agricultural pursuits. He passed away in Teton, December 24, 1899, at the age of sixty-five years. The mother is still living in Teton and has reached the notable old age of eighty-five years.

George W. Mckinlay was reared and educated in Scotland and followed mining in his native country until 1874, when he too made the trip across the briny deep and began work in the Alta mining district south of Salt Lake, where he was em- ployed in the mines for about eight years. In less than a year he had earned enough to bring his father, mother and nine children to the United States. He afterward fol- lowed railroading for two years and became a contractor in connection with the build- ing of the Denver & Rio Grande in Utah. In 1884 removed to what is now Madison county, Idaho, and filed on land near Teton, which he improved and which he has since owned. In 1913 he took up his abode in Rexburg, but in the meantime he had been engaged in sheep raising for ten years and had won a substantial measure of success through the sheep industry and through his farming operations. On taking up his abode in Rexburg he assisted in organizing the Farmers Implement Company, of which he was vice president during the first year. At the first annual meeting however, he was elected to the presidency and has since served in that capacity. He has proven that he possesses marked capability in commercial lines, just as he does along agricultural lines. He has closely studied the trade, keeps in touch with the market and with every improvement made in farm machinery and has supplied his patrons with the best that the leading implement manufacturing houses of the country afford. He is today the heaviest stockholder in the Farmers Implement Company, which is erecting a modern cement and brick building fifty-nine by one hundred and twenty-five feet on Main street, containing two stories and basement. The firm occupies all of the building and they have also established branch houses at St. Anthony, New- dale, Ashton and Teton, Idaho. The business therefore covers a very wide territory and the trade is constantly and steadily increasing, making this one of the foremost enterprises of the kind in the northwest.

On the 11th of November, 1879, Mr. Mckinlay was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Barclay and to them were born ten children: Robert, who died in infancy; Jane, who is the wife of Frank Moss and resides at Teton, Idaho; Janet, the wife of I. S. Richmond, also a resident of Teton; William and Arthur, who are operating their father's farm; Oscar, who is manager of an elevator at Rexburg; Flossie, the wife of James McArthur, a resident of Wilford, Idaho; Laura, the wife of Chris Jen- sen, of Rexburg; Alma, who married Margaret Burch and is a farmer residing in Madison county; and Stella, who died in 1888, when but eight months old. The wife and mother passed away October 14, 1912, after a short illness, and on the 3d of March, 1915, Mr. Mckinlay was again married, his second union being with Isabelle Archi- bald Rigg, who by her former marriage had four children: Mary, the wife of William Baugh; Emeline, at home; Marvilla, the wife of Charles L. Willard; and William, residing in Teton, Idaho.

In 1913 Mr. Mckinlay built a fine home in Rexburg, which he is now occupying. He belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in which he is a high priest, and he has been in the bishopric of the Teton ward for several years. Politi- cally he is a democrat and he has been prominent in political circles since coming

GEORGE W. MCKINLAY

HISTORY OF IDAHO

to Idaho. His ability, his civic loyalty and his personal popularity make him a citizen whose influence is widely felt, and his aid and support are always given to every cause or project which he believes will prove of benefit to the community at large. He has been very prominently connected with the commercial, industrial and financial interests of his section of the state during his residence here and is numbered among the pioneer settlers of 1884. Throughout the interim he has occupied a position of prestige among the men who have been active in directing public affairs and in de- veloping the county to its present state of prosperity and progressiveness. He was one of the first canal builders of the Upper Snake river valley, helping to promote and build the Canyon Creek and Teton canals. He was also one of the promoters of the project of putting the flume across the Teton river, which carries the water of the Fall river to Teton. The cause of education has also found in him a stalwart champion and for sixteen years he was a most able member of the school board of Moody creek and did most valuable service for the children of the district. He was one of the promoters of the sheep industry of this section of the state and has been an officer of the Fremont Wool Growers Association for many years. His farming and stock raising interests were carried on most extensively and he has met with success in all of his undertakings. He was among the first to prove the value of dry lands and has been among the leaders in introducing improvements of all kind in connection with the reclamation and development of this section of the state. He has acted as the adviser of Mr. Harris, manager of the Farmers Implement Company, and his sound judgment and keen sagacity have been important factors in the up- building of one of the leading business interests of this section. There is no phase of public life here, whether it has to do with industrial development, intellectual ad- vancement or moral progress, that has not benefited by the efforts of George W. Mc- Kinlay. He possesses the sterling characteristics of a self-made man, and his domi- nant qualities have found scope in the opportunities offered in the growing western country. This combination has produced results which are most gratifying to the individual and to the community at large.

HERBERT HAYLOR.

Herbert Haylor, who for seven years has been secretary of the Emmett irrigation district and makes his home in the city of Emmett, was born in England, July 13, 1859, a son of John and Ann (Marshall) Haylor, with whom he came to the United States in October, 1865, the family home being established in Oberlin, Ohio, where the parents spent their remaining days.

Herbert Haylor was reared upon a farm near Oberlin and obtained a common school education, after which he was graduated from a business college. In 1885 he removed to Marshall county, Kansas, where he engaged in farming for several years. He also filled the position of postmaster of Irving, in Marshall county, for ten years and for four years served as county recorder, making an excellent record for efficiency and loyalty in these positions. While acting as county recorder he resided at Marysville, the county seat of Marshall county.

It was while living in that county that Mr. Haylor was married November 30, 1888, to Miss Anna Guthrie, who was born in Connecticut, December 5, 1867, and is a sister of J. I. Guthrie, a prominent and progressive ranchman and breeder of shorthorn cattle, living on the Emmett bench in Gem county.

After residing for a time in Marshall county, Kansas, Mr. Haylor returned to Ohio and lived near Oberlin for three years, from 1889 until 1892, after which he again became a resident of Kansas, and it was from 1897 until 1907 that he was postmaster of Irving and from 1907 until 1911 county recorder. In the latter year he left the Sunflower state for Idaho and has since lived either in or near Emmett. He engaged in ranching for a year on the Emmett bench and in 1912 he was chosen to fill his present position as secretary of the Emmett irrigation district, having been reappointed each year since 1912, and throughout the entire period he has lived in Emmett.

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History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 8

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