USA > Idaho > History of Idaho, the gem of the mountains, Volume III > Part 84
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111
Mr. Wolfkiel was united in marriage to Miss Mary Koble of the Boise valley, who passed away sixteen years ago, leaving three children: John, twenty-six years of age; and Clara and Alma, both of whom are married. Having lost his first wife, Mr. Wolf- kiel wedded Clara Washam, of Wyoming, and they have become the parents of five . children: Mabel, Audrey, Albert, Charles and Loraine.
Mr. Wolfkiel has worked diligently and persistently as the years have passed, and his energy and determination have gained for him a substantial measure of success. He is truly a self-made man, having depended upon his own resources from an early age, and his industry is the foundation upon which he has huilt his prosperity.
STUART E. GEARHART.
Stuart E. Gearhart is engaged in the breeding of registered Jersey cattle and is the president of the Boise Valley Jersey Cattle Club, with home and ranch four and a half miles west of Boise and a quarter of a mile north of the Meridian state road. Mr. Gearhart has become recognized as an authority upon Jersey cattle, having been particularly successful as a breeder of this stock. He was horn in Madison, Nebraska, August 14, 1881, and is a son of Rev. James R. and Emma E. (Miller) Gearhart. The father was a Methodist minister who has now passed away, but the mother is still living.
Stuart E. Gearhart was reared in his native state and became an agricultural student in the University of Nebraska, which he attended for three years. He later spent one year in the University of Iowa, where he specialized in dairying and butter
672
HISTORY OF IDAHO
making, and for twelve years he was employed as a butter maker in Iowa, California, Oregon and Idaho. In 1910 he began ranching in Ada county, settling on his present place. In 1911 he took up the breeding of registered Jersey cattle and has since special- ized in this line. Today he has a fine herd of registered Jerseys unsurpassed by any to be seen iu other sections, his herd numbering twenty-seven head, chiefly of the Noble Oaklands and Tormentor strains. His dairy farm is modern in every respect. He has milking machines, all the latest facilities for the manufacture of butter, a large silo, and splendid buildings for housing and caring for his stock in the most scientific and sanitary manner. Mr. Gearhart is president of the Boise Valley Jersey Cattle Club, president of the Ada County Cow Testing Association and president of the Cooperative Dairy Cattle Association of Ada county. He is also an executive member of the Farm Bureau of Ada county in connection with dairy interests and his success with Jersey cattle and as a dairyman has enabled him to speak with authority on many questions relative thereto. In addition to his cattle raising he breeds pure bred Chester White hogs and also raises pure bred chickens. His present Jersey herd is headed by a grandson of Noble of Oaklands, one of the most famous Jersey sires in America, now on the Elmendorf farm in Kentucky.
On the 21st of May, 1905, Mr. Gearhart was married at Star, Idaho, to Miss Carrie E. Mathews and they now have two children: Elizabeth E., born May 28, 1906; and James Roy, born August 20, 1907.
Mr. Gearhart is a man of liberal education and progressive ideas whose early train- ing has eminently fitted him for his present line of work and who throughout his entire career has made steady progress through study, experience and investigation until he stands as one of the leading stockmen of southern Idaho, enjoying a measure of success that has come as the direct result of intelligently directed effort.
EDMUND ELLSWORTH, SR.
Edmund Ellsworth, Sr., is a retired farmer living at Lewisville, and, having long occupied an enviable position as a progressive business man and representative citizen, he well deserves mention in the history of his adopted state. He was born at Nauvoo, Hancock county, Illinois, October 7, 1845, and is a son of Edmund and Elizabeth (Young) Ellsworth, the former a native of Paris, Oneida county, New York, and the latter of Vermont. The mother was a daughter of President Brigham Young of the Mormon church. The father was a lumberman and farmer who about 1841 went to Illinois, where he joined the church and with the people of his faith removed to Salt Lake City in 1847. There he was one of the first. to engage in the lumber business, in which he actively continued until 1864, when he purchased land in Weber county and concentrated his attention upon agricultural interests uutil 1880. He then went to Arizona and purchased property at Show Low, where he erected a lumber mill, which he operated for some time. He passed away there December 29, 1893, at the age of seventy-four years, and his wife died in Lewisville, Idaho, February 2, 1903, at the age of seventy-six years.
Edmund Ellsworth was largely reared and educated in Utah. He remained with his parents until he attained his majority and then went to Arizona, where he followed farming for one season and also aided in colonizing the district. He afterward returned to Utah, where he engaged in farming and stock raising for a few years, and later spent five years in the lumber business in connection with farming. In 1882, in company with others, he made his way to Jefferson county, Idaho, then Oneida county, and spent three days in looking over the country. On the fourth day the party decided to locate here and all took up land, which was then covered with sage- brush, there being no indication whatever of what the future had in store for this great and growing country. He improved his place in a splendid manner, purchasing more land from time to time as his financial resources increased until he owned fourteen hundred acres. He continued to farm here until about 1911, when he retired, having in the meantime won very substantial success as the result of his energy and thrift. He built a home in Rigby, but preferring Lewisville as a place of residence, returned to Jefferson county, where he purchased a nice property, which he now occupies in company with his daughter.
In November, 1867, Mr. Ellsworth was married to Miss Ellen C. Blair, a daughter of Seth M. and Cornelia (Espy) Blair, the former a native of Ralls county, Missouri,
EDMUND ELLSWORTH, SR.
Vol. III-43
675
HISTORY OF IDAHO
and the latter of Lauderdale county, Tennessee. In 1850 the parents arrived in Salt Lake City, where the father practiced law throughout his remaining days, defending the Mormon people in many suits against the United States. He was born March 13, 1819, and passed away in 1874. The mother died in 1850. Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth became parents of eight children: Edmund, living at Rigby; Seth M., who follows farming near Lewisville; Frank B., cashier in the First National Bank of Rigby; Clara, the wife of A. B. Hoffman, a farmer of Lewisville; Preston B., who is also farming near Lewisville; Willard J., who died January 14, 1892; Elizabeth B., who died March 10, 1886; and Alonzo S., who passed away February 6, 1885. The wife and mother was called to her final rest September 22, 1913, dying after an illness of three months.
For many years Mr. Ellsworth carefully conducted his farming interests in order to provide a comfortable living for his family and at all times he displayed most progressive methods in his business affairs. He brought the first Shire horse to Jefferson county and was at all times a supporter and promoter of Irrigation Interests. He served as the president and one of the directors of the Parks-Lewisville Irrigating Company for several years and also of the Little Feeder Canal Company. He likewise took an active part in public affairs, filling the office of justice of the peace while in Utah, and for several years was a major in the Mormon militia. After coming to Idaho he filled the position of probate judge and was county superintendent of schools. In politics he has always maintained an independent course, voting according to the dictates of his judgment and in support of every measure which he believes wili promote the best interests of the community and the commonwealth.
OVERTON BRAY.
Overton Bray is the junior partner in the firm of Wood & Bray, automobile dealers at Ashton, and is taking an active part in the development of a business that has now reached large and gratifying proportions. Mr. Bray is a native of Missouri, his birth having occurred in Christian county, near Springfield, on the 7th of September, 1883. He is a son of Aaron and Ann (Wrightsman) Bray, the former a native of Chatham county, North Carolina, and the latter of West Virginia. In early life the father fol- lowed the milling business and about 1846 removed to Christian county, Missouri, where he operated a flour mill for several years. During the period of the Civil war he went to Illinois, where he engaged in the manufacture of flour. Later he returned to Mis- souri and purchased a part of the old homestead property there, which his father had entered as a claim from the government in pioneer times. Aaron Bray also homesteaded in that locality and improved his property, continuing its cultivation until he had attained the age of sixty-five years, when he retired from active business life and removed to Ozark, Missouri, where he resided for several years. He next came to Idaho and made his home with his children until his death on the 2d of May, 1916, he having then reached the advanced age of seventy-nine years. The mother survives and is now living at Ashton, Idaho, at the age of seventy-five.
Overton Bray spent the days of his boyhood and youth in his parents' home in Christian county, Missouri, but at the age of thirteen began earning his own living. He learned the business of steam engineering and followed that pursuit for about eleven years in Missouri, after which he came to Idaho. On the 23d of December, 1910, he arrived in Teton county, then a part of Fremont county, and took up land which he improved and cultivated for four years, after which he sold out and bought an interest in a billiard and pool hall at Ashton. He conducted this for two years and in 1915 he entered into partnership with B. M. Wood for the conduct of an automobile business. They handle the Dodge, Nash and Hudson cars and have built up a business of extensive proportions, now conducted under the firm style of Wood & Bray. In the spring of 1919 they erected one of the most modern garages in the state at a cost of twenty thousand dollars. Mr. Bray is well qualified to speak concerning mechanical devices and the operation of anything along mechanical lines. There are few indeed who are better informed concerning steam engines, for Mr. Bray has even built such. He has been very successful in everything that he has undertaken and his entire career has been characterized by a steady progress.
On the 24th of January, 1904, Mr. Bray was married to Miss Goldie Boyd. He and his wife are well known in Ashton, where they have many friends. Politically Mr. Bray
676
HISTORY OF IDAHO
is a republican and his religious faith is that of the Baptist church. His entire life has been actuated by a spirit of progress that has led him continuously forward. Step by step he has advanced, each forward step bringing him a broader outlook and wider opportunities. Not only is he now at the head of an excellent garage business but is also a stockholder and director of the American Asbestos Mining & Milling Company, of which he was formerly the treasurer. He never allows obstacles or difficulties to bar his path if they can be overcome by renewed and persistent effort and his perseverance has ever been one of his marked characteristics.
HAROLD W. PATEE.
Harold W. Patee, manager of the Boise-Payette Lumber Company of Dubois, was born in Yuma county, Colorado, then Arapahoe county, in March, 1888, his parents being Arthur and Nellie (Ingalls) Patee, who are natives of Illinois. They became residents of Colorado in 1886 and the father, who had followed the occupation of farming in Illinois, filed on land in Colorado and at once began the cultivation and improvement of the place. He continued to operate that farm until 1896, when he went to Kansas, where he again devoted eight years to general agricultural pursuits. On the expira- tion of that period he returned to his native state and bought farm land near Peoria, since which time he has given his attention to the further development of his fields, producing there splendid crops on the rich soil of that state. His wife is also living.
Harold W. Patee largely spent the days of his boyhood and youth in Kansas and in Illinois and supplemented his early education, acquired in the common schools, by a course in the Kansas City Business College, thus becoming well qualified for life's prac- tical and responsible duties. He learned the carpenter's trade in early life and followed that business for five years at Grand Junction, Colorado. He also took up a home- stead in Mesa county, which he still owns, and he now rents the place, deriving there- from a good income. On leaving the farm he turned his attention to the lumber business in connection with a firm in Utah and in 1917 he removed to Gooding, Idaho, where he was employed by the Boise-Payette Lumber Company. The recognition of his ability and business powers soon won him advancement to the position of manager at Oakley, Idaho, where he continued until December 25, 1918, when he was transferred to Dubois and has since been manager at this place for the Boise-Payette Lumber Com- pany. He is thoroughly familiar with every phase of the lumber trade and is most carefully and successfully directing the interests entrusted to his care.
In June 1911, Mr. Patee was married to Miss Alma Hertzler and they have one child, Harold W., who was born February 13, 1918. In religious faith Mr. Patee is connected with the Brethren church, while politically be is a democrat. He has always resided in the west and the spirit of western enterprise and progress has become a dominant factor in his career. Making good use of his time and opportunities, he has advanced steadily step by step, developing his powers through his business expe- rieuce, and is now accounted one of the representative business men of Clark county.
WILLIAM BRUCH.
William Bruch, a rancher who owns and occupies a well improved property south- east of South Boise, was born in Pike county, Missouri, February 25, 1872, a son of Pius and Margaret (Schwend) Bruch, both of whom were natives of Germany, where they were married on the 14th of August, 1868. They soon came to the United States, making their way at once to the state of Missouri, arriving at St. Louis on the 8th of March, 1869. Pius Bruch lived in St. Louis through one winter. He later purchased a farm in Pike county, upon. which the birth of his son William occurred. The mother died February 13, 1882, when her son was ten years of age. The father survives and is now living with Mr. Bruch of this review at the age of seventy-five, his birth having occurred in Baden, Germany, April 16, 1845, while his wife was born March 27, 1846, and was therefore but thirty-six years of age at the time of her death.
William Bruch spent the first sixteen years of his life upon the home farm in Pike county and then started out in the world on his own account. He first went to Nebraska, where he resided for two years, while later he spent eight years in Colorado
677
HISTORY OF IDAHO
and in 1898 came to Idaho. Through the intervening years he has resided in the vicinity of Boise and throughout his entire life he has followed farming. In 1904 he purchased a six-acre tract of fine land just outside the suburb of Ivywild, South Boise, erected thereon a good residence and barn and has developed it into a beautiful suburban home. Later he bought thirty-two acres of valuable level land adjoining, for which he paid three hundred dollars per acre, and today it is worth much more than this. He now has all he can well manage alone, for thirty-eight acres of Boise valley irrigated land is an excellent property for one family.
On the 24th of December, 1912, Mr. Bruch was married to Miss Ellen Yenne, wlio was born in Nebraska, February 10, 1892, a daughter of George Washington and Mary (Bruner) Yenne. Mrs. Bruch came with her parents to Idaho in 1901 and after a brief period spent at Mackay the family removed to Boise and her father and mother are still residing on the bench near Boise. Mr. and Mrs. Bruch are the parents of three children: Gladys, who was born November 19, 1913; Bernice, whose birth occurred September 20, 1915; and William, whose natal day was March 26, 1918.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Bruch are members of the Congregational church and are sup- porters of the republican party. They are widely and favorably known in the com- munity in which they reside and they have won a substantial measure of success in connection with their ranching interests. While Mr. Bruch attends to the development of the fields, his wife conducts a rabbitry stocked with New Zealand reds, and every phase of their business is proving profitable.
THOMAS WILTON.
Thomas Wilton, who follows ranching southeast of South Boise, is a native of England, his birth having occurred in Cornwall, March 20, 1865. He was reared upon a farm and in 1884 came to the United States, being at that time a youth of nineteen years. His brother, Mark Wilton, who passed away August 20, 1919, and who is men- tioned elsewhere in this work, had emigrated to the new world in 1884 and it was this fact which largely induced Thomas Wilton to come to the United States. Both brothers removed to Idaho in 1893 and both eventually took up their abode near Boise. Prior to his marriage Thomas Wilton worked in a quartz mill in Montana for twelve years but considered Boise his home throughout that period. In 1904 he purchased his pres- ent ranch southeast of South Boise but did not locate thereon until after his marriage in 1905.
It was on the 14th of February of the latter year that Thomas Wilton wedded Miss Annie Dribble, who was born near Calumet, Michigan, June 30, 1884, a daughter of Alfred and Elizabeth Mary (Glanville) Dribble, both of whom were natives of England but were married in Michigan and have now passed away. Mrs. Wilton has one brother and two sisters: Mrs. Susie Rickett, of Arizona; John Dribble, of Boise; and Mrs. Gertrude Osborn, who resides near Boise. Mr. and Mrs. Wilton have four children, as follows: Mildred Katherine, who was born December 13, 1905; Myrtle, whose birth occurred July 10, 1907; Ruth Elizabeth, whose natal day was May 13, 1912; and Grace Rowena, born May 3, 1917.
Fraternally Mr. Wilton is an Odd Fellow and his political views are in accord with the principles of the republican party. He has never sought or desired office, preferring to concentrate his efforts and attention upon his ranching interests, which are now being capably developed, bringing to him substantial success, so that he has never had occasion to regret liis determination to leave England and establish his home in the new world.
ROY D. LEONARDSON.
Roy D. Leonardson now owns and resides upon a beautiful ranch property known as the Peter Eskeldsen ranch, near Barber, on the south side of the Boise river. It is a tract of thirty acres, splendidly improved. Mr. Leonardson is a native son of Idaho, having been born on his father's cattle ranch in Fremont county, now Clark county, September 3, 1884. His father, Charles Leonardson, came to Idaho in the early '80s, before the admission of the state into the Union, and took up a homestead in east Idaho,
,
678
HISTORY OF IDAHO
in what later became Fremont county and afterward Clark county. Here he first secured one hundred and sixty acres and as the years passed and he prospered in his under- takings he added to his holdings until he had thirteen hundred acres, constituting a valuable cattle ranch upon which he spent his remaining days, his death occurring about three years ago. His widow, who bore the maiden name of Ida M. Dawley, still occupies the home place and is most comfortably situated in life, for the enterprise and industry of the father made him a prominent and successful rancher and cattleman who was able to leave a most substantial property to his widow. He was born in Wisconsin and was about sixty years of age at the time of his demise. He was a well educated man and for many years had taught school before coming to Idaho. The family num- bered four children, three sons and a daughter, all of whom are living.
Roy D. Leonardson was reared upon his father's cattle ranch and rode the range as a cow puncher all through his youth. In fact he is familiar with every phase of cowboy life and is a typical Idaho product-of that kind who have been the builders and promoters of the state and its welfare. At the age of twenty years he was sent to a normal school in Nebraska, where he pursued his studies for a year, thus supplement- ing the knowledge that he had already gained as a public school pupil in Idaho. On the completion of his studies he became manager of lumber yards in Nebraska and was thus active in business in that state for two or three years. While so employed he studied electrical engineering under the direction of a correspondence school and subsequently became manager of the Light & Power Company of Aurora, Nebraska, occupying that position for two years.
In the meantime Mr. Leonardson was married on the 12th of February, 1906, to Miss Iona Hickman, a daughter of Sylvester Hickman and a native of Nebraska, where she was born October 21, 1886. By her marriage she has become the mother of two children: Weldon, born March 19, 1911; and Carmelita, born June 19, 1918.
Mr. and Mrs. Leonardson began their domestic life in Nebraska, where they resided for a time, and then he returned with his wife to Idaho, having since lived either in or near Boise. He formerly resided near the Franklin school, where he developed an attractive home. Later he sold this and afterward lived upon an eighty-acre ranch near Eagle, which he sold in the fall of 1919 and purchased the beautiful country home that he now occuples. This is one of the finest small ranches in the Boise valley. It is equipped with every modern improvement in the way of buildings, has upon it fine shade and ornamental trees and an excellent orchard. Mr. Leonardson may well be proud to be the possessor of such a home and the success which he has already achieved as a rancher indicates that this property will be most carefully conducted.
In politics Mr. Leonardson maintains a nonpartisan attitude. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and his religious falth is that of the Christian church. He is a man of many sterling qualities and all who know him esteem him highly for his genuine worth.
JOHN PIERCE.
John Pierce, whose attractive home is situated on the main highway from Boise to Caldwell, was born in Idaho City, Idaho, March 13, 1868. His father, John B. Pierce, a very prominent and influential resident of Idaho for many years, was born in Lexing- ton, Kentucky, and in early youth removed with his parents to Missouri, where he lived until twenty-two years of age. When the Civil war broke out he went to Cali- fornia, crossing the plains to the Pacific coast, where he engaged in mining and also in raising stock for several years. He afterward'removed to Portland, Oregon, and built one of the early residences there. He engaged in packing from Umatilla, Oregon, to Auburn, that state, and also to Florence, Idaho, and it was while packing to the latter place that he heard of the great gold strike at Idaho City. He made his way then to that place and took up three mining clalms, one for his partner, one for his brother and one for himself, after which he returned to California with his pack train in order to get supplies. His brother and partner accompanled him as he again journeyed to Idaho in the spring but when they reached their destination they found that ali of the claims had been jumped save the one in his own name and therefore he shared his claim with his brother and partner. All three claims which he had staked proved to be very rich. His partner, Mr. Flood, took his share and went to California. After Mr. Pierce had worked out his claim at Idaho City he removed to Silver City and there
679
HISTORY OF IDAHO
engaged in mining for a short time, when he was elected to the state legislature from Owyhee county. He served in the first, second, third and fourth sessions of the legis- lature, during which time he formulated some of the best territorial laws that were enacted. Later he leased the Green place at Collister and carried on farming there for four years, largely devoting his attention to the raising of grain. He afterward leased the Peck place for a year and on the expiration of that period purchased the ranch upon which his remaining days were passed, a portion of this being still the property of his son John. The farm originally consisted of two hundred and eighty acres of land, one-half of which by the terms of his will went to his wife, while the other half was divided between John Pierce and his sister, Mrs. Duncan. Mrs. Pierce bore the maiden name of Katherine Pryor and was a native of Dumfries, Scotland. She, too, became a pioneer resident of Idaho. The death of her husband occurred February 1, 1888, and she survived for almost three decades, passing away on the 30th of March, 1917.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.