Moscow Idaho

Campbell, Harry H. – Obituary

Harry H. Campbell, 89, retired contractor, cabinet maker and artist, died Saturday [December 9, 1978] at 10 a.m. at Gritman Memorial Hospital. He had been a patient there five days. Campbell, known locally for his acrylic paintings, was born in Moscow [ID], Nov. 9, 1889, and spent most of his life in the Troy area. He grew up on his father’s homestead on Little Bear Ridge, and for a time tried farming himself. He quit agriculture when faced with the decision to sell his horses, acquire more land and machinery or get out. Always proficient with tools, Campbell built his … Read more

Biography of Clinton T. Stranahan

Important official work has been done in Nez Perces County by Clinton T. Stranahan, now filling the office of United States Indian agent at Spaulding, and it was because of his faithfulness in smaller things that he was entrusted with these broader responsibilities, which he is discharging in a truly patriotic spirit. Clinton T. Stranahan was born in Clayton, Contra Costa County, California, in March 1859, and is descended from Irish ancestry. His forefathers settled early in the state of New York, and there his father, Ebenezer Stranahan, was born. In 1852 Ebenezer Stranahan went to California. He engaged in … Read more

Biography of James Harvey Forney

A visit to the library of the gentleman whose name is above and a chat with him in his pleasant home at Moscow, are sufficient to dispel any idea that the new west is without culture or men of ability interested in its educational progress and development. Mr. Forney has given some of the best years of an active and useful life to the cause of education in Idaho, and has attained more than local distinction otherwise. James Harvey Forney, a prominent citizen of Moscow, Idaho, and ex-United States district attorney for the district of Idaho, was born in Rutherford … Read more

Maxwell, Robert Wesley – Obituary

Robert Wesley Maxwell, 85, of Weiser, Idaho, a former Baker City resident, died at his home March 18, 2002. His funeral was at 2 p.m. March 21 at Thomason Funeral Chapel in Weiser. Inurnment was at Hillcrest Cemetery at Weiser. He was born to Robert John and Marguerite Pringle Maxwell on Jan. 15, 1917, at Weiser. He attended Hale School and was a 1935 graduate of Weiser High School. He was a member of the Horse Cavalry for two years. After high school, he attended the Intermountain Institute, Lewiston Normal School and the University of Idaho at Moscow. He married … Read more

Biography of William W. Watkins, M. D.

A man’s reputation is the property of the world. The laws of nature have forbidden isolation. Every human being submits to the controlling influence of others or, as a master, wields a power for good or evil on the masses of mankind. There can be no impropriety in justly scanning the acts of any man as they affect his public, social and business relations. If he be honest and successful in his chosen field of endeavor, investigation will brighten his fame and point the path along which others may follow. One whose record will bear the closest scrutiny and stand … Read more

Biography of Isaac C. Hattabaugh

Prominent in the field of politics and in business circles, Isaac C. Hattabaugh has left the impress of his individuality upon the public life of Latah county, and is today numbered among the leading and influential citizens of Moscow. A native of Indiana, he was born in Salem, that state, December 24, 1851. His grandfather, Jacob Hattabaugh, was born in Germany, and crossing the Atlantic to America settled in Virginia, whence he afterward removed to Pennsylvania and from there to Indiana. He was a man of ability and an influential pioneer settler of southern Indiana. His son, George W. Hattabaugh, … Read more

Biography of Wylie A. Lauder

Among those who have been distinctly conspicuous in connection with the substantial up-building and legitimate progress of the attractive little city of Moscow, the county-seat of Latah county, very definite recognition must be given to him whose name initiates this paragraph. It was his fortune to be on the ground when the town practically had its inception, and with every advance movement he has been prominently identified, being recognized as one of the leading and most enterprising business men of the place and as one who has contributed liberally and with enthusiasm to every cause which has had as its … Read more

Biography of Samuel J. Langdon

Samuel J. Langdon, one of the highly esteemed pioneer farmers of Latah County, is a native of Ohio, having been born at Granville, Licking County, May 4, 1829. He is of Scotch-Irish lineage, and his ancestors were early settlers of Connecticut and participants in the Revolutionary war and in the events which go to form the colonial history of the country. The family is noted for a patriotic spirit, and one of the Langdons served as commander of the colonial forces at the battle of Ticonderoga. Jesse Langdon, the grandfather of our subject, was born and reared in Connecticut and … Read more

Biography of Franz L. Koehler

The sturdy German element in our national commonwealth has been one of the most important factors in furthering the substantial and normal advancement of the country, for this is an element signally appreciative of practical values and also of the higher intellectuality which transcends all provincial confines. Well may any person take pride in tracing his lineage to such a source. As one of the able and enterprising citizens whom the German Fatherland has contributed to the United States, and as one of the prominent and progressive citizens of the flourishing town of Moscow, Latah County, Idaho, Franz Louis Koehler … Read more

Biography of Charles L. Gritman, M. D.

Among the ablest representatives of the medical profession of Idaho is Dr. Gritman, of Moscow, who is successfully engaged in practice as the senior member of the firm of Gritman & Ward, and is also conducting the Moscow Hospital. He was born near Springfield, Illinois, December 28, 1862. His grandfather, Erastus Gritman, was a native of Germany, and when a young man crossed the broad Atlantic to America, locating at Lockport. He thus became the progenitor of the family in the United States. He was married at Lockport, spent the remainder of his life there and died at the age … Read more

Biography of Robert H. Barton

One of the well known citizens of Moscow is Robert H. Barton, who is now capably serving as postmaster. He is true and faithful to this public trust and at all times has discharged his duties of citizenship with the same promptness and fidelity which marked his course when on the battlefields of the south he followed the starry banner to victory and thus aided in the preservation of the Union. He came to Moscow in 1877. His birth occurred in Perry County, Ohio, February 1, 1842, and he is of Scotch-Irish lineage. His grandfather, Robert Barton, emigrated from the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of M. C. True

M.C. TRUE. – The proprietor of the Palace Hotel at the city of Pullman, Washington, is a native of Indiana, and was born in 1847. While but a boy, his family removed to California, locating in 1853, upon a farm. Somewhat later his father began hotel-keeping and is still the proprietor of the Suscol House at Napa. While at that place young True received a good education, and assisted in the hotel, but in 1880 sought a field of his own. He went to Moscow, Idaho Territory, and leased and ran the Barton House. Two years later he came to … 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

Biography of Michael J. Shields

The life of Michael Joseph Shields affords an illustration of the vicissitudes of business under modern conditions; it emphasizes the importance of doing the right thing at the right time, and it teaches a lesson of patience under difficulties and perseverance against obstacles, a lesson that should not be lost upon all of the many who need it. It is suggestive in another way, too, because it affords an example, in addition to many others that have been given in the past, of the excellent quality of the sturdy Irish-American character. Mr. Shields, who is one of the most enterprising … Read more

Biography of William A. Baker

The commercial interests of Moscow are well represented by William Alexander Baker, a leading and enterprising merchant, whose well directed efforts, sound judgment and reliable dealing are bringing to him a creditable and satisfactory success. For twelve years he has carried on operations in Moscow, where he deals in both new and second-hand goods. He is a native of Virginia, born in Augusta County, July 13, 1855, of Scotch-Irish descent. His grandfather, Guinn Baker, was the founder of the family in the Old Dominion, and was an industrious and respected farmer and a valued member of the Methodist church. He … 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

Biography of Judge Edgar C. Steele

Edgar Clarence Steele occupies as enviable a position in the public esteem as the most ambitious could desire or as any of our prominent men have achieved. To the citizens of Moscow and the second judicial district he can only be known as being a reputable, prominent man and an honest, able and efficient officer. At the bar he manifests all the qualities of the successful lawyer, and on the bench he displays a rare combination of talent, learning, tact, patience and industry. The successful lawyer and the competent judge must be a man of well balanced intellect, thoroughly familiar … Read more

Biography of Lindol Smith

For seventeen years this gentleman has been a resident of Moscow, and has been one of the most active factors in its upbuilding, progress and advancement. He was born in New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, June 6, 1832. His paternal great-grandfather was a French revolutionist, and was a refugee from his’ native land. Coming to this country, he joined the colonial army in the struggle for independence, and loyally aided in the war for freedom. His son Jonathan Smith was a soldier in the war of 1812, and in an early day became a pioneer of Ohio, where he reared … Read more

Keefe, John – Obituary

Friday night last at Union Junction, Sheriff Hug shot and probably fatally injured a man named John Keefe, of Moscow, Idaho, who, it appears, was en route to Baker. The attention of the sheriff was called by a passenger to a man who dropped off No. 18, carrying a bundle and hastening toward some freight cars. The sheriff overtook the man and called to him, finally asking him what he had in the bundle, and for a reply the man threw the bundle in the sheriff’s face and started to run; the sheriff was soon out-footed in the race, and … Read more

Biography of Louis N. B. Anderson

Fortunate is the man who has back of him an ancestry honorable and distinguished, and happy is he whose lines of life are cast in harmony therewith. In person, in character and talents, Mr. Anderson is a worthy scion of his race. Though his life has been one rather of modest reserve than of ambitious self-seeking, he has shown himself a peer of the brightest men of his adopted state, and his mental talents led to his selection for the important position of superintendent of public instruction of Idaho for the years 1897 and 1898, in which capacity he served … Read more