Henry D. Blatchley came to Caldwell when it contained but one building, and has therefore witnessed its entire growth and development. In the work of progress and advancement he has ever borne his part and today is numbered among the pioneers and leading business men to whom the city is indebted for its upbuilding. A spirit of enterprise, so characteristic of the west, is noticeable in all that he does and has been manifest in his connection with Caldwell. He has ever merited the confidence and regard of his fellow men, which he receives in an unlimited degree, and in this volume well deserves mention among the representative merchants of Idaho.
Mr. Blatchley is a native of Idaho, his birth having occurred in Blanchester, March 2, 1854. He is of Welsh lineage and his ancestors were among the early settlers of Pennsylvania and Ohio. One of the number, David Blatchley, was an officer in the Colonial army in the war of the Revolution; and the Comstock family, from which our subject is descended on the maternal side, was also represented in the struggle for American independence. They settled in Ohio, and one of the towns in the Buckeye state now bears the name of Comstock, it having been founded by relatives of our subject. His father, Daniel W. Blatchley, was born in Pennsylvania and was married there to Sylvia Ann Comstock, of Scranton, that state, a daughter of Zebulon Comstock, a prominent landowner of Scranton, and a representative of an old Virginian family. At a later date Mr. Blatchley removed with his family to Ohio, where for many years he successfully engaged in school teaching. He departed this life in the sixty-fifth year of his age, and his wife was called to her final rest in her sixty-eighth year. They were the parents of five sons.
Henry D. Blatchley, the fourth in order of birth, was a little lad of four summers when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Vandalia, Illinois, where he was reared and educated. On completing his literary course he became a student in the Cincinnati Medical College, and later learned the druggist’s trade, thus being well qualified for an independent business career. Coming to Caldwell he engaged in clerking for a year and then began business on his own account, since which time he has successfully conducted the leading drug store of the town. In 1894 he erected a good brick business block, twenty-five by one hundred feet, in which he now carries a large stock of drugs, paints, oils and notions. His business methods are most commendable, his prices reasonable, and by his courteous treatment of the public and his straightforward dealing he has won a liberal patronage.
In Caldwell he has also erected a very pleasant and commodious residence, which is presided over by his estimable wife, who in her maiden-hood was Miss Carrie S. Gwinn. Their marriage was celebrated in June 1887, and the lady is a daughter of Rev. Robert M. Gwinn, the pioneer Methodist minister of Idaho. Mr. Blatchley is prominent in fraternal circles. He was a charter member of the Odd Fellows lodge of Caldwell, its first presiding officer, and has filled all the chairs in both the subordinate lodge and the encampment. For nine years he has been the representative to the grand lodge. He exercises his right of franchise in behalf of the men and measures of the Republican Party, but has never been an aspirant for public office. He is a valued member of the Presbyterian Church, a teacher of ability in the Sunday school, and a member of the Presbyterian session. He is also trustee and treasurer of the Idaho College, and takes a deep interest in its growth and prosperity. A loyal citizen, public-spirited and progressive, a successful merchant, and not unmindful of the holier duties of life which lead to man’s best development, he commands the respect and confidence of all whom he meets.