Biography of Joseph Geiger

The career of this successful businessman has been crowned with results which must be taken as another evidence of the progressive quality of the German-American character. Joseph Geiger was born in Baden, Germany, July 28, 1853, was educated in the Fatherland and came to the United States at the age of seventeen years, poor in purse and ignorant of the English language. After spending six months in New York city, he went to Texas, where he remained two years. Then he lived two years in Iowa. By that time he was pretty thoroughly Americanized, for he was a studious and … Read more

Biography of Jesse L. Conant, M. D.

The subject of this sketch is a worthy example of the large class of well read, careful and honorable physicians who are dear to their fellow townsmen wherever their lot may be cast. They are near to the people in sickness and trouble and grow very near to them in all relations of life, and become, many of them, the most influential men in their communities. Doctor Jesse Lyman Conant, mayor and prominent physician and druggist of Genesee, Idaho, was born in Birmingham, Essex County, New York, May 31, 1831, and is descended from an old Norman family which went … Read more

Biography of Hon. George W. Daggett

In the following paragraphs will be given the history of the busy and useful career of a distinguished resident of Genesee, Idaho, who as pioneer, as citizen, as legislator and as a soldier, has done his duty without fear and without reproach, with an eye single to the greatest good to the greatest number. His life is one which has in it many lessons for those who would do well and persevere in well doing. George W. Daggett, one of the most prominent citizens of Genesee, Idaho, was born in Illinois, August 19, 1840, and is descended from an old … Read more

Fine, John Walter – Obituary

Death Clams County Stockman John Walter Fine, a resident of Wallowa county since 1906 and known as one of Wallowa county’s most prominent ranchers and stockmen, passed away early Friday morning, January 11, 1952 at the Wallowa Memorial hospital after an illness of three weeks. Son of Henry and olive Fine, he was born in Genesee, Idaho June 27, 1880. In 1882 his family moved to Whitman County, Washington, where they lived until 1894. From 1894 to 1906 he made Prescott, Washington his home, coming to Wallowa county in 1906. On December 27, 1910 he was married to Enterprise to … Read more

Biography of Peter S. Beck, M. D.

The physician wields an influence in any community which is peculiarly strong, because it is based on relations with the general public more intimate than those of almost any one else, and any good physician who is at the same time a good man may continue to broaden and deepen this influence to the end of his days. These reflections have been suggested by the success of Dr. Peter S. Beck, ex-mayor of Genesee, Idaho. Dr. Beck is a Homeopathic physician, and Homeopathy is gaining in popularity, but that does not fully account for his success, for he has carried … Read more

Biography of Charles F. Burr

The trite saying that “blood will tell” does not depend for its illustration on the achievements of distinguished members of the family so much as upon the sum of the achievements of the rank and file of the family in all generations and amid varying circumstances, few of which are conducive to what the world is pleased to call greatness. There has been one great man in America named Burr and there have been countless representatives of the name in many communities who have performed well their part and added to the sum total of greatness by quiet work where … Read more

Biography of Marcus A. Means

The successful career of Marcus Asbury Means, of Genesee, is an illustration of the trite saying that brains and perseverance will make their way against all obstacles. Yet it is the multiplication of this illustration in all parts of our country that makes America one of the great powers of the earth. Mr. Means may be said to have been a child of war. He was born at Seabrook, Illinois, October 16, 1862, while his father was fighting for the preservation of the Union on southern battlefields, a service in which he yielded up his life in defense of his … Read more

Biography of John J. Owen

The history of the first things is always interesting. In any town the first settler’s is the name most carefully preserved. The places where he established his home and first worked at his primitive vocation are carefully noted, and his deeds and words are recounted often and with increasing interest as generations succeed one another. There lives in Genesee, Idaho, a man, now the postmaster of the city, who was its pioneer in more ways than one and it is the purpose of the biographer to record now a brief statement of the facts of his life and of his … Read more

Herzog, Henry B. – Obituary

Enterprise, Wallowa County, Oregon Henry Herzog Dies After Long Illness Henry B.Herzog passed away at the St. Joseph hospital, La Grande, Sunday, March 9,1941. He had suffered from cancer for months and was taken to the hospital for care. An operation was performed last Tuesday but nothing could restore him to health. His wife and children all were with him during his last hours at the hospital. Funeral services were held yesterday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church with Father R.E. Kenendy officiating. Pall bearers were Louis Audet, Henry Perren, Fred McFetridge, W.H. Kirkman, Punch Foster and Adolph Nuxoll. Mr. Herzog … Read more

Biography of Mansfield C. McGrew

One of the prominent merchants of Kendrick, and the senior member of the large general mercantile firm of McGrew & Carmean, is the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, an enterprising, energetic man whose keen discrimination in business efforts and indefatigable industry have brought him a success which he well merits. A native of Illinois, he was born in Clay County, July 11, 1862, and is of Scotch-Irish lineage. His great-grandfather, James McGrew, having emigrated from the Emerald Isle to the New World, settled in Pennsylvania and became the progenitor of the family in the United States. He later became … Read more

Biography of Captain R. Pickering

The veteran soldier who risked his life in defense of the flag, all things else being equal, takes high rank as a citizen. This may be partly because of the quality of the patriotism of the American public, but there is another reason for the preeminence of the veteran. The man who has the form of character to rise to distinction as a soldier possesses the resourceful perseverance so necessary to success in other fields. Captain R. Pickering, who has been a prominent resident of Genesee from its earliest history, was born in Belmont County, Ohio, May 3, 1842, and … Read more

Biography of Charles Bomberg

Idaho owes much to her sturdy German and German-American population, whose thrift and industry have made success in every field of endeavor. Prominent among the businessmen of Genesee is Charles Bomberg, raiser and buyer of cattle and a butcher and dealer in meat. Mr. Bomberg is of German parentage. He was born in Huron County, Michigan, May 25, 1862. His father, also named Charles, was born in Germany and came to America with his parents in his childhood. He grew to manhood and established himself in Michigan, and there married Miss Kate Weaver, a native of Huron County, and also … Read more

Biography of Sanford Evans

The self-made man, when he has made a place for himself in the world and installed himself in it, has done as much for the world as he has done for himself. The builder of his own fortunes is an active factor in advancing the best interests of the community in which he lives and flourishes, and every dollar he makes for himself becomes, in a sense, public capital. Such a progressive and helpful citizen is Sanford Evans, of Genesee, a prominent farmer and mill owner, who has done as much for the development of Genesee and its tributary territory … Read more

Prominent Cities and Towns of the State

Boise, The Capital City The following descriptive article is an excerpt from the souvenir edition of the Boise Sentinel, issued in June 1897: So much has been said and written and sung of “Boise, the Beautiful,” that the task of saying any-thing new seems utterly hopeless; and of this there is little need. While those who have made their homes here from the beginning, and those who from year to year have come to stay, might naturally be expected to be most fervent in their praises, they have not always been the happiest in laying appropriate tributes before the shrine … Read more