History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 82

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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On the 11th of October, 1905, Mr. Pomeroy was united in marriage to Miss Abbie W. Ewing, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Ewing. Her father passed away on the ranch on which she still resides, being called to his final rest in 1909. To Mr. and Mrs. Pomeroy have been born three children: Frederick J., whose birth occurred October 2, 1906; Agnes Elizabeth, who was born in November, 1908; and Marie Helen, who was born in December, 1909.

. Mr. Pomeroy gives his poltical allegiance to the republican party and in the fall of 1918 was elected to the office of county commissioner of Gem county, political prefer- ment coming to him in recognition of his ability and trustworthiness. He is now dis- charging the duties of the position in a most acceptable manner and has become widely known as one of the representative and esteemed citizens of the community.

JAMES C. WATTS.

During the last eleven years of his life James C. Watts was an invalid and passed away on the 1st of April. 1909. Previous to that time he had given his attention to farming, making his home in the vicinity of Rexburg. He was born in South Weber, Davis county, Utah. August 22, 1855, his parents being Robert N. and Elizabeth (Heath) Watts, who were natives of Virginia and Mississippi respectively, the former born in 1801 and the latter in December, 1815. About 1851 they crossed the plains to Utah with

ALBERT E. POMEROY

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the pioneers of that state, journeying with a handcart brigade, and after reaching Utah took up their abode in Davis county, where the father entered land. Throughout his remaining days he operated the place, leading a busy and useful life until death called him in 1879. The mother survived until 1900.

James C. Watts was reared in Davis county, Utah, and is indebted to its public school system for the educational advantages which he enjoyed. He remained with his parents until he reached adult age and was the youngest child in their family. He took up the occupation of farming and in 1883 established his home in Madison county, Idaho, then a part of Oneida county, filing on land four miles from Rexburg. This he further cultivated and improved, giving his remaining days to the work of tilling the soil and harvesting the crops. While putting up hay he sustained an injury that finally resulted in paralysis and thus he was an invalid for eleven years prior to his death.

On the 19th of March, 1876, Mr. Watts was married to Miss Mary A. Jones, a daughter of David D. and Ann (Jones) Jones, who were natives of Wales. Their daughter Mrs. Watts was born in that little rock-ribbed country on the 18th of May, 1861, and came to America with her parents in 1869. They traveled by train to Ogden, Utah, and the father, who had been an iron moulder in his native country, then turned his attention to farming as well as to mining in Utah. His death occurred in Basalt, Idaho, in 1905. He had for several years survived his wife, who died in August, 1899. Mr. and Mrs. Watts had twelve children: Ann E., who was born January 1, 1877, and died in the following March; James C., who was born March 4, 1878, and died February 15, 1879; William A., who was born December 14, 1879, and died in February, 1880; Joseph Ellis, born April 21, 1881; Hyrum F., born December 25, 1882; Lilly M., born May 13, 1885; Mary A., who was born June 27, 1887. and died on the same day; Jesse C., born November 9, 1888; John L., born November 8, 1890; Ada E., February 22, 1894; Phoebe Hazel, September 18, 1896; and Moses, November 14, 1899.

Not only was Mr. Watts keenly interested in the agricultural development of the community but also in the advancement of its irrigation interests and for ten years he served as president of the Rexburg Irrigation Company. Politically he was a republican, and his religious faith was that of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was first counselor to the bishop for ten years and held various other offices in the church, was also Sunday school teacher and president of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association for a number of years. Mrs. Watts, who for twenty years engaged in nursing, still owns eighty acres of the old home place, from which she derives a good rental. She makes her home, however, in Rexburg, where she is most widely known, having many warm friends there.

JOHN ESTEN FREEMAN.

John Esten Freeman, who was long numbered with the successful ranchers and cattlemen of Meadows, Adams county, Idaho, is now residing on the Boise bench in a splendid suburban home, standing upon a valuable tract of land of twenty acres, known as the old Wolfe place, at the corner of Alturas and Owyhee avenues. He has continuously been a resident of Idaho since 1886, or for more than a third of a century, and was but a lad of thirteen when he came to this state with his parents, John W. and Sally (Baker) Freeman, who were natives of Virginia. It was in that state that John Esten Freeman was born, his birth occurring near Roanoke, March 6, 1874. He was named for John Esten Cooke, the writer, a cousin of his mother. John W. Freeman became a telegraph operator in Virginia in early manhood and followed that occupation in the Old Dominion for many years. At length he came to the west, accompanied by his wife and eight children, five sons and three daughters, of whom John Esten was the fifth in order of birth. The father took up a homestead near Meadows and he and his wife spent their remaining days in Adams county, his death occurring in 1910, while Mrs. Freeman survived until 1916, the remains of both being interred in the Meadows cemetery.

John Esten Freeman lived in the vicinity of Meadows from 1886 until the fall of 1918, when he removed to Boise and in December, 1919, took up his abode on his present ranch property on the bench. At Meadows, after attaining his majority, he followed ranching and cattle raising and on disposing of his interests there sold a thousand acres of land, of which eight hundred acres were in one tract. For the past eighteen years, in addition to his ranching activities, he has been a Star Route U. S. mail

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contractor, he and his brother-in-law, E. O. Brown, of Grangeville, Idaho, having a con- tract to transport the U. S. mails from New Meadows to Grangeville, a contract that was awarded them July 1, 1902, their route covering ninety miles.

Mr. Freeman was married at Meadows, August 20, 1902, to Miss Lizzie Clay, a native of Idaho, born in the mining town of Warren, June 12, 1880. Her father, Thomas Clay, a mining man, was one of the early pioneers of the state and married Katherine Klein, who came to Idaho in hier girlhood days and was first married to William Osborn, who was killed in his cabin in a mining camp by the Nez Perce Indians, June 15, 1877, while other white settlers of the district met a similar fate, this massacre constituting the beginning of the Nez Perce Indian war of that year. Mrs. Osborn, together with many of the women and children of the locality, was not killed by the Indians, but they were made to suffer many hardships. Mrs. Osborn later married Thomas Clay and Mrs. Freeman is the eldest of their four children. Mr. Clay passed away in 1906 and his wife died a few years ago at the age of sixty-six years, both passing away near Meadows, where their graves were made. Mrs. Freeman has lived in Idaho throughout her entire life and has always remained in the vicinity of Meadows until the recent removal of the family to Boise in 1918. Mr. and Mrs. Freeman have an only son, LeRoy Esten, who was born July 19, 1904, and is now a sophomore in the Boise high school.

Mr. Freeman is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and in politics. is a democrat. He has been a most earnest and active supporter of the party and for the past four years has been a member of the state democratic central committee from Adams county. He is now concentrating his efforts and attention upon the further development and improvement of his twenty-acre ranch on the Boise bench, in the midst of which he has a large two-story cement block house containing six rooms and basement. There are other good improvements upon the place, which is well located, and one attractive feature of the ranch is a seven-acre orchard of apples and cherries which have come into bearing.

EDDIE E. EDWARDS.

Eddie. E. Edwards, a retired rancher and merchant, who was formerly active in business at Gibbonsville, Lemhi county, but is now residing in Boise, was born in Iowa county, Wisconsin, June 29, 1866, and is a son of David G. and Mary E. (Jewell) Edwards. He is also a nephew of Hon. E. S. Jewell, formerly a prominent citizen of Washington county, Idaho, but now residing in California. The parents of Eddie E. Edwards spent their last years in Idaho, in the vicinity of Cambridge, where the death of both occurred, their remains being interred in the cemetery there. They had improved a homestead near Cambridge and were pioneers of the Salubria valley. David G. Edwards served as a soldier in the Union army for three years with a Wisconsin regi- ment, thus doing his full part to aid in the preservation of the Union.

Eddie E. Edwards was born and reared at Mineral Point, Wisconsin, and when seventeen years of age came to Idaho with an uncle, Albert Jewell, who like the Hon. E. S. Jewell, was a brother of his mother, E. S. Jewell being already at that time a resident of this state. It was in 1884 that E. E. Edwards came to Idaho, where he has now resided for a period of thirty-six years. He spent the first eight years in Washing- ton county in the vicinity of Cambridge, where he was active in connection with ranch- ing and as a clerk in the stores. He had previously engaged in clerking at Mineral Point, Wisconsin, in his youthful days and thus had received some initial business training. In 1892, when still single, he went to Gibbonsville, Lemhi county, where he embarked in merchandising on his own account. There he made his home for a quar- ter of a century and during that period was connected with commercial pursuits, first conducting a meat market, while several years later he extended the scope of his activities by establishing a large general store, which he conducted successfully for many years, having the only store of the kind at that place. He was very successful in business and amassed a comfortable fortune, being at the time of his retirement from business a few years ago one of the wealthy merchants of Idaho. This was due to his close application, his unremitting energy and his sound judgment in business affairs. While conducting his mercantile business he also became interested in mining and in realty at Gibbonsville and entered the field of banking as vice president of the Citizens National Bank at Salmon, Idaho. For many years before leaving Gibbonsville he was the recognized banker of that place, which never had an organized bank. He made it

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a rule while in business there to cash checks for practically everyone in the vicinity who was known to be financially sound and he also engaged in loaning money to a large extent, utilizing his private funds in this way. In all business affairs he has displayed keeu sagacity and his energy and determination, coupled with sound judgment, have made him one of the prosperous men of the state.

At Salmon, Idaho, Mr. Edwards was married on the 13th of March, 1901, to Miss Anna O'Neill, of Gibbonsville, who is of Scotch descent. They have two daughters: Edena, now eighteen years of age; and Jessie, sixteen years of age. Both are students in the Boise high school. It was to give his children better educational opportunities that Mr. Edwards removed to Boise with his family in 1917 and in 1919 he took up his abode in his present palatial home at No. 1205 North Eleventh street, one of the fine resi- dences in the northern section of the city. It is the old Logan home and when it was built was one of the finest homes of Boise.

In politics Mr. Edwards has long been a republican and while in Lemhi county served as county commissioner for one term. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow and both he and his wife are identified with the Daughters of Rebekah. E. E. Edwards has mem- bership with the Sons of Veterans and in all matters of citizenship he is progressive and loyal, cooperating heartily in every plan and measure that tends to promote the welfare of the community and of the state at large.

D. E. CLEMMENS.

D. E. Clemmens, residing near Eagle, has made valuable contribution to the devel- opment and progress of his state. He was born March 12, 1878, on the ranch on which he now resides, situated on Dry creek, at Brookside. His father, David Clemmens, was a native of Iowa and came to Idaho in 1865, first settling upon rented land where now stands the station of Edgewood on the interurban line. In 1870 he purchased the Uncle Barrett Williams place of one hundred and twenty acres on Dry creek, now known as Brookside. The old home in which D. E. Clemmens was born is one of the landmarks of this state, having been a wayside inn on the stage line from Kelton, Utah, to Umatilla, Oregon, via Boise, Idaho. At this station there was a saloon and an old-time dance hall which now exist only in memory, and there was also a brewery at Brookside. The stage line was abandoned after the early '70s. With hired help Mr. Clem- mens developed this place and also engaged in freighting from Kelton, Utah, to Boise, Idaho, and thence to Umatilla, Oregon, following that husiness until his death, which occurred in 1877. It was on a very dark night, when he was out looking after his horses, while camped at Desert Station, Idaho, that he fell from a bluff sixty feet high and was instantly killed. His widow, who survived him, bore the maiden name of Sarah Wilkerson and was born in Indiana but went with her parents to Centerville, Iowa, when she was a young girl, and it was there that she became the wife of David Clemmens. With him she crossed the plains in the summer of 1865, traveling with two yoke of oxen. They were members of a party numhering one hundred and twenty-five wagons of which Bob Lockett was captain. They had various encounters with the Indians while en route but were always successful in their battles with the red men. Mrs. Clemmens survived her husband for many years, passing away in 1905 at the old home where the birth of D. E. Clemmens occurred. She was the mother of the follow- ing children: Samuel, Katie, Savina, Annie and Jesse, all deceased; Ida, the wife of James Potter, Jr., John W., who passed away; and D. E., of this review.

The last named, spending his boyhood and youth on the old ranch home of the family, made arrangements for establishing a home of his own when on the 17th of March, 1909, he wedded Retta Vincen, who was born on Dry creek in Idaho and is a daughter of Hally and Maggie (Hurt) Vincen. Her father came to Idaho in 1864, when a young man of twenty years. his birth having occurred in Hancock county, Iowa, November 11, 1844. Her mother was a native of Honaker, Russell county, Virginia, and came to Idaho in 1863, her parents settling on the old Franks place a quarter of a mile west of the present Saxon station on the electric interurban line, in the Boise valley. Mr. and Mrs. Vincen were married November 7, 1873, at her father's home, and to them were born six children. Anna Belle passed away at the age of seventeen years, in 1891. Charles Henry, forty-three years of age and a resident of Boise county, married Sallie Richardson and they have four children. Ralph William, forty-one years of age, is living in California. Retta is now Mrs. Clemmens. Frank S., thirty-six years of age, lives with

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and cares for his father and mother. Alice Phoebe is the wife of Edward Clyde Smith and has two children, their home being at Stock Rock, on Dry creek.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Clemmens has been blessed with one son, Hally Vincen Clemmens, nine years of age, who is attending school. The success which Mr. Clem- mens has attained enables him to provide a comfortable living for his family. He first started out in the business world at cow punching and busting bronchos for Truman C. Catlin on Eagle Island and remained with him for two seasons, after which he worked for a similar period for John Lemp. He then went to Oregon and was in the employ of Miller & Lux until 1908, during which time he rode over their entire range, being what was termed one of their "beef bosses." In 1909 he returned to Idaho, was married and through the succeeding year conducted his father-in-law's place, while during the second year after his marriage he was in the employ of Sam P. Glenn on Dry creek. He then came to his present home of one hundred and sixty acres, which he owns and cultivates in partnership with Thomas Healy. They carry on diversified farming and stock raising and their well directed efforts and energy are bringing to them substantial success. Mr. Healy was born in Ontario, Canada, and crossed the border to Pennsylvania with his parents when he was twenty-three years of age. He is today one of the oldest lumbermen in the United States. He drove logs in Michigan and in the states bordering the Great Lakes and operated an extensive saw- mill in Kentucky. He afterward removed to Colorado, where he again took up the lumber business, and from there went to Arizona during the diamond excitement but did not win a fortune as he had hoped to do. In fact he said that all he got was the excitement. From there he went to Pioche, Nevada, where he furnished timber to the mines under contract. Afterward he came to Idaho and worked for David Clemmens, father of D. F. Clemmens, driving a freight team and ranching. He hauled many of the posts which are on the farm today and which were put into the ground in 1871. Mr. Healy was seventy-six years of age on the 1st of March, 1920, and has always enjoyed good health.

In his farming operations Mr. Clemmens has made steady progress. He raised eleven hundred and twenty-two bushels of barley on nineteen acres and five hundred and sixty-eight bushels of oats on eight acres without a drop of water being used for irrigation. He also threshed two hundred and fifteen bushels of wheat from seven acres and in 1918 he threshed three hundred and seventy-eight bushels from seven and a half acres. All through the period of the war he did everything possible to aid the in- terests of the country, and his wife and Mrs. D. S. Potter were the recognized leaders in their locality for the war work for the Y. M. C. A., the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Armenian drive. food conservation and the registration of women. In fact in all of the bond drives they never failed to go over the top and obtain more than their quota. Mrs. Clemmens was captain of her sector and their school was the first to go over the top, one hundred per cent in thrift stamps in 1918. Mrs. Clemmens received a medal of award from the United States government, made from a captured German cannon, for "patriotic service in behalf of the Liberty Loans." Their sector was con- sidered one of the most progressive in the state in every instance in war service. They also woked their sector for the Child's Welfare and the name of Clemmens stands as a synonym for most advanced patriotism. In fact the family has ever been a highly respected and honored one in Ada county since 1865, when the father, David Clemmens, crossed the plains, taking up his abode here fifty-five years ago.

CHARLES E. CURTIS.

Charles E. Curtis, who is a member of the firm of Ellis & Curtis, automobile dealers of Dubois, was born in Centerville, Iowa, October 23, 1876, and is a son of Henry and Nancy ( Morrissey) Curtis, the former a native of New York, while the latter was born in Pennsylvania. At the time of the Civil war Henry Curtis joined the Union army as a member of a regiment of New York infantry, with which he served for four years, six months and eighteen days. He was wounded in an engagement and at all times proved his loyalty to his country by his unfaltering obedience to military commands and his willing sacrifice of his own interests to the cause of the Union. When the war was over he went to Centerville, Iowa, and there worked in the coal mines until 1883, when he removed to Kansas. In the latter state he engaged in the livery business at Clay Center and also carried on farming in Kansas for some time. In fact he continued

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to reside there throughout his remaining days, his death occurring in March, 1895. His widow survives and now makes her home at Vining, Kansas.

Charles E. Curtis spent his youthful days in Clay Center and attended the public schools, thus acquiring the education which served as a foundation for his success in life. For twelve years he rode the range and in 1889, when thirteen years of age, he came to Idaho and began riding the range in this state. He was thus engaged for twelve years at Lost River, after which he turned his attention to quartz mining, which he followed in Idaho, Utah and Montana until 1914. In the latter year he estab- lished his home at Dubois, having twenty years before visited the town when it was a tiny hamlet. In October, 1917, he engaged in the automobile business in connection with T. D. Ellis and erected a fine garage sixty by one hundred feet. They handle the Buick car and also do a general repair business. Their patronage has grown to extensive proportions in both the sales and repair departments, and their enterprise is bringing them prominently to the front among automobile dealers.

In February, 1914, Charles E. Curtis was married to Miss Lucy Ledvina and they have become the parents of two children: Alda, who was born January 18, 1917; and Iola May, born in June, 1919. Mr. Curtis gives his political support to the democratic party. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church. He will not countenance personal action or business methods that do not measure up to the highest standards of man- hood, and in matters of citizenship he stands for that which is thoroughly American at all times.

THOMAS HEALY.

Thomas Healy, interested in farming as part owner of a farm which he holds in connection with D. E. Clemmens, with whom he resides, was born in Peterhoro, Ontario, Canada, March 1, 1844. He obtained his early education there and with his parents, Thomas and Ellen (Leahy) Healy, remained upon the farm until twenty-two years of age, when he went to Corry, Pennsylvania. There he took up work in the lumber woods of Pennsylvania and afterward of New York, being thus employed for ahout four years. He next went west to Colorado, where he engaged in the timber business and in mining for a year and a half, removing thence to Salt Lake City, Utah, and afterward to Provo, Utah, from which point he traveled three hundred and fifty miles hy stage to Pioche, Nevada, where he engaged in mining for three years. He rode a mule and his partner rode a horse and they led a pack horse. In this way they prospected over most of the state of Nevada and finally reached Silver City, Idaho, in the fall of 1873. They worked in the mines until the beginning of winter, when Mr. Healy and his partner went to Hot Springs, on the Owyhee river, and there camped. In the following spring Mr. Healy returned to the mines at Silver City, where he remained until 1875, when it seemed that the mines could not be made profitable through bad management and through the failure of the Bank of California in San Francisco. When the news reached camp that Rawlston, the president of the bank, had committed suicide, panic ensued. Mr. Healy was then employed by Driscoll, Posey & Shea, the contractors who were timbering the mine and furnishing wood for fuel, and they appointed him to receive all timber for the different mines. When the crash came, Mr. Healy, like hundreds of others, was at a loss to know what to do. One day a man with a team and wagon drove into town and Mr. Healy's partner said to him: "If I had the gift of gab and the nerve that you have, I'd buy that team with the worthless paper." (They both held the now worthless paper that was given them in lieu of wages in the mines.) Mr. Healy accordingly approached the man with the team and offered to buy it, telling him, however, that he considered the paper worthless. The man accepted the proposi- tion, saying: "If you want to get rid of the paper as hadly as I want to get rid of the team, I will accept the paper providing the men whose names are on it will acknowledge their obligation." Everything was satisfactorily settled and the next morning Mr. Healy obtained the team and wagon. His partner then suggested that they toss fifty cents into the air to see which one should pay the two hundred and fifty dollars and take the team. The partner won, paid Mr. Healy two hundred and fifty dollars in cash, bought an outfit and started for Nevada. The previous owner of the team after- ward collected on the "worthless paper."

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History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III, Part 82

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