Biography of Joseph M. Shelton

JOSEPH M. SHELTON. – “Present misfortune is our future weal,” wrote the old homilist; and in human experience it has been well enough proved that in adversity is the power of a man’s character developed. Joseph M. Shelton, the subject of this sketch, had lived in comfort and prosperity on the family plantation in Caswell County, in North Carolina; but, in common with so many of the foremost Southern families, the Sheltons sustained heavy losses in the war, and by the liberation of the slaves of which Joseph’s father was a large owner. It was then that Joseph showed the … Read more

Biography of John Pattison

JOHN PATTISON. – The subject of this sketch was born in Albany, New York, in 1859, and is the son of John and Elizabeth Pattison. His father was a Union soldier during the war of the Rebellion. He lived at home until he was fourteen years old, being educated in the city public schools. In 1873 he went to Silverton, Colorado, and engaged in mining for six years with varying though reasonable success. he went from there through Arizona and New Mexico, looking for a better mining location, and spending about two years in that country, making money, but at … Read more

Biography of Joseph C. Dodds, M. D., B. L.

Joseph C. Dodds, M. D., B. L. Long identified with Champaign County as a physician and surgeon and also as a citizen and business man, Doctor Dodds has lived in this county since he was ten years of age. He was born on Long Island, New York, June 15, 1864. At the age of ten he came to Champaign to live with his uncle, Dr. J. G. Chambers, brother of his mother. Here Doctor Dodds was educated, graduating from the Urbana High School, from the University of Illinois with the class of 1886, attended the University of Michigan Medical School … Read more

Biography of Charles B. Wiggins

Charles B. Wiggins. So indispensable has the automobile become to modern life that one is led to marvel that such great progress in manufacture and use could have been made in comparatively so short a time. Although the idea of self-propelled vehicles was entertained and to some extent proved possible long before 1886, when the first horseless carriage as a practical conveyance appeared on the boulevards of Paris, France, it presented so many impossible features that for years the venture was not regarded as feasible. When other motive power than steam became known to the industries, it required only the … Read more

Biography of William A. Johnston, Mrs.

A few days after his graduation, in June, 1879, Willis Bailey started with a span of horses for Kansas. His location was in Nemaha County, seven miles west of Seneca, the county seat. There he opened up a ranch, and on that ranch a town was subsequently started, named Baileyville. Governor Bailey took an active hand in the management of the Bailey ranch until 1906. In that year he removed to Atchison, Kansas, became vice president of the Exchange National Bank, and for over ten years had been the managing official of this institution. His interest in banking dates even … Read more

Biography of Frederick William Parrott

F. W. Parrott. Probably no agency so molds public opinion as does the reputable newspaper, and on this account the editor of a journal of standing occupies a position of great accountability. It may matter little, perhaps, whether one can convince his next door neighbor of the value of his enlightened opinions, but when his audience numbers hundreds and thousands his effort become a force of momentous strength and solemn responsibility. That this is generally realized by the men who through special talents are called upon to accept such a position may be seen when they show not only the … Read more

Biography of J. Harry Barley

J. Harry Barley is proprietor and publisher of the Republican-Register, the oldest newspaper in Washington County, and still one of the most sucessful newspapers in the state. Mr. Barley is a young newspaper man, and prior to the purchase of the Republican-Register his experience was chiefly in education and banking. The Republican-Register is the direct and lineal descendant of the Western Observer, which was founded at Washington in March, 1869. Its publisher was Mark J. Kelly. Mr. Kelly had come to Washington through the influence of Col. Dave Ballard, who gave him a bonus of ten town lots to start … Read more

Biography of Walter C. Palmer, M. D.

Walter C. Palmer, M. D., after practicing several years in Kansas City, Missouri, where his father was for a number of years a member of the medical profession, removed to Hiawatha, Kansas, and is now giving all his time and attention to surgery. In addition to his broad experience as a practitioner and his equipment in American schools, Doctor Palmer, went abroad in 1916 and from April to July worked in the war hospitals in France. Nowhere had surgical methods undergone greater changes and been brought to a higher degree of perfection than in the hospitals in the war zone … Read more

Biography of James B. Roberts, M. D.

James B. Roberts, M. D. A physician and surgeon of broad and successful experience, Dr. James B. Roberts had practiced for many years in Kansas, and had long been the leader in professional circles at Goff in Nemaha County. Doctor Roberts was born in Newton County, Indiana, February 18, 1857. His Roberts’ ancestors came originally from Wales and were pioneers in the State of Indiana. His father, Thomas Roberts, was born in that state in 1823 and became a pioneer in the northwestern part of the state in Newton County, where he followed farming until his death in 1858, when … Read more

Biography of Augustus G. Upton, A. M., D. D.

Although Dr. Upton has been a resident of Weiser for little more than three years he has been so closely and prominently connected with the educational and moral interests of the town during that time that no history of the community would be complete without the record of his career. It is a widely acknowledged fact that the most important work to which man can direct his energies is that of teaching, whether it be from the pulpit, from the lecture platform or from the schoolroom. Its primary object is ever the same, the development of one’s latent powers that … Read more

Biography of George Ainslie

Hon. George Ainslie is a western man by birth, training and choice, and possesses the true western spirit of progress and enterprise. He belongs to the little group of distinctively representative business men who have been the pioneers in inaugurating and building up the chief industries of this section of the country. He early had the sagacity and prescience to discern the eminence which the future had in store for this great and growing country, and, acting in accordance with the dictates of his faith and judgment, he has garnered, in the fullness of time, the generous harvest which is … Read more

Biography of Samuel Strickler

The story of pioneer life in Idaho is well known to such men as Samuel Strickler, for through thirty-six years he has been a witness of the development of the northwest and has faithfully borne his part in the work of up building and advancement; he now resides in Bellevue. He claims Pennsylvania as the state of his nativity, his birth occurring in Chambersburg, Franklin County, November 21, 1832. He is of German descent and his ancestors were among the early settlers of the Keystone state. His father, Samuel Strickler, was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and married Susanna Hollinger, also … Read more

Biography of T. J. Jones

On the roll of Idaho’s distinguished lawyers is the name of T. J. Jones, of Boise. Faithfulness to duty and strict adherence to a fixed purpose in life will do more to advance a man’s interests than wealth or adventitious circumstances. The successful men of the day arc they who have planned their own advancement and have accomplished it in spite of many obstacles and with a certainty that could have been attained only through their own efforts. This class of men has a worthy representative in T. J. Jones, who began life amid unfavoring circumstances in the coal mines … Read more

Biography of George L. Shoup

It is a well-attested maxim that the greatness of a state lies not in its machinery of government, nor even in its institutions, but in the sterling qualities of its individual citizens, in their capacity for high and unselfish effort and their devotion to the public good. Rising above the heads of the mass there has always been a series of individuals, distinguished beyond others, who by reason of their pronounced ability and forceful personality have always commanded the respect of their fellow men and who have revealed to the world those two resplendent virtues of a lordly race, perseverance … Read more

Biography of Frederick S. Kohler, M. D.

The wise system of industrial economics which has been brought to bear in the development of Nampa has challenged uniform admiration, for while there has been steady advancement in material lines there has been an entire absence of that inflation of values and that erratic “booming” which have in the past proved the eventual death knell to many of the localities in the west, where “mushroom towns” have one day smiled forth with “all modern improvements” and practically on the next have been shorn of their glories and of their possibilities of stable prosperity until the existing order of things … Read more

Biography of Newell Jonathan Brown, M. D.

The well established family physician obtains an influence in any community which is more far-reaching than that of any man sustaining other relations to the public. The reasons for this are too obvious to require mention here. Dr. N. J. Brown is to the people of Hailey the ideal family doctor, and he is the oldest physician and surgeon in the place. He cast his lot with the citizens of Hailey in 1883 when the town was but two years old, and from that time he has practiced his profession in Hailey and its tributary territory, and shown a helpful … Read more

Biography of Nathan C. Delano

Nathan C. Delano is the oldest merchant of Bellevue, when years of active and consecutive connection with business interests are considered, and is a most reliable representative of the commercial welfare of the town. He is now enjoying a large and constantly increasing trade and his prosperity is the reward of his well directed efforts and untiring diligence. A native of New York, he was born in Allegany County, October 31, 1852, and on the paternal side is of French-Huguenot ancestry, while on the maternal side he is of English lineage. Both families were founded in America at an early … Read more

Biography of Clarence W. Brooks

A little thoughtful consideration of the career of Clarence W. Brooks, proprietor of the Brooks House, Idaho Falls, brings one to the conclusion that he has in most of his business operations been impelled by the spirit of the pioneer. He has sought out new plans and new conditions likely to favor his projects, and after he has made them available and profitable, he has sought out still others, and after those others. The wisdom of his selection has been proven by the success which has crowned his efforts. Not only is he one of the boldest, most venturesome and … Read more

Biography of Milton G. Cage

Among the practitioners at the Boise bar holding marked prestige among the members of the legal fraternity is Milton G. Cage. A native of Tennessee, he was born in Tipton County, near Covington, that state, January 26, 1862, and is descended on both sides from prominent old families of the south. His paternal ancestors came originally from Wales and established a home in America at an early period in our country’s history. His father, Gustavus Adolphus Cage, was born in Middleton, Tennessee, and married Miss Charlotte A. Green, a native of North Carolina. His father was formerly a planter and … Read more

Biography of C. W. Wernicke

The County treasurer of Lincoln County, Idaho, C. W. Wernicke, is also the pioneer hardware merchant of Shoshone, and throughout the eighteen years of his residence here has been prominently connected with the various interests which have contributed to the growth, prosper-ity and advancement of town and County. He belongs to that class of progressive German citizens who have severed the ties binding them to the old world in order to seek homes in the land of the free. He was born in Goldburg, Germany, on the 13th of January, 1847, and in the land of his nativity acquired his … Read more