One of the most enterprising, energetic and successful businessmen of Caldwell, is the gentleman whose name appears above. He is a native of the state of Missouri, his birth having occurred in Ray County, in 1859. His father, William P. Shaw, was a native of Tennessee, whence he removed to Missouri, in 1833, becoming one of the pioneers of the latter state. He married Miss Julia A. Waterman, a native of New York, whose people were also numbered among the early settlers of Missouri. The Shaw family is of Irish origin, and leaving the Emerald Isle crossed the Atlantic to North Carolina during the colonial epoch in the history of this country. In religious faith they were Methodists, and were people of the highest respectability and worth. The father of our subject died in his sixty-ninth year, and the mother passed away in the forty-eighth year of her age. They had six children, three sons and three daughters.
Columbus R. Shaw, the youngest of the family, acquired his education in the schools of Missouri, and in 1883 came to Idaho as terminal agent for the Oregon Short Line Railroad Company. Subsequently, locating at Mountain Home, he engaged in cattle-raising and in conducting a stage line, meeting with fair success in his under-takings. His next venture was in the lumber trade, to which he has since devoted his energies, building up a large and profitable business. He makes his home and headquarters at Caldwell, but his operations are not confined to the one city. He carries on the lumber and milling business in Boise and Gufifey also, and the volume of his trade has constantly increased until it has assumed extensive proportions. He is president of the board of trade of Caldwell, was one of the organizers of the Caldwell Creamery Company and is its president, and in this as in his other enterprises displays marked ability in his management and control of affairs. In matters of judgment he is rarely at fault, and his keen discrimination, resolute purpose and untiring energy have brought him most gratifying prosperity.
As a citizen, Mr. Shaw is public-spirited and loyal, manifesting a deep interest in all that pertains to the welfare of his city and state along educational, moral, social and material lines. He is now serving as a member of the city council and exercises his official prerogatives to upbuild and benefit the town. He is now chairman of the board of County commissioners, and though he takes a deep interest in political affairs, and keeps well informed on the issues of the day, he cannot be called a politician in the sense of office-seeker, as he prefers to devote his time and energies to his extensive and varied business interests.
In 1891 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Shaw and Miss Mabel Stucker, of Silver City, Idaho. They now have four children: Clarence Rupert, Inez, Francis and Delia Elizabeth. Mrs. Shaw is a valued member of the Episcopalian church and presides with gracious hospitality over her pleasant home in Caldwell, which is the center of a cultured society circle. Mr. Shaw belongs to the Masonic order, the Odd Fellows society and the Knights of Pythias fraternity. He is justly accorded a place among the prominent and representative citizens of Idaho, for he belongs to that class of men whose enterprising spirit is used not alone for their own benefit; he also advances the general good and promotes public prosperity by his ably managed individual interests, thus placing this section of the country on a par with the older east. He has excellent ability as an organizer, forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution. This enables him to conquer obstacles which deter many a man, and it has been one of the salient features in his success.