San Francisco California

Biography of Hon. Wilder W. Parker

HON. W.W. PARKER – There is no name in the city at the mouth of the Columbia better known in the business and social circles than that of Parker; and of those bearing it Wilder W. Parker wields an influence perhaps the most extended. A pioneer not only in name but also in fact, he ha brought to bear upon public affairs a mind keen, quick and powerful, and has been able to give the people the benefit of opinions carefully elaborated and lucidly stated, and held by himself with conscientious firmness. In intellect and character he is the ideal … Read more

Biography of Walter Allen Jones

This gentleman is the senior member of the law firm of Jones & Morphy, of Wallace, and holds a position of distinctive precedence at the bar of northern Idaho, by reason of his eminent ability as counsel and advocate. He was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, May 5, 1855, and is a son of Joseph D. and Catherine A. (Kaercher) Jones, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania and spent their entire lives in that state, as had their ancestors since early colonial days. The father died at the age of forty-five years, and the mother was called to her final … Read more

Ancestors of John Jay Whipple of Brockton, Massachusetts

John Jay Whipple

For nearly fifty years the name of Whipple has been one of Brockton citizenship, representing a family here of substance and exceptional prominence in the community. Reference is made to the late Ferdinand Whipple and his son, the present Hon. John Jay Whipple, who together and in turn have been among Brockton’s successful business men, the son having figured conspicuously in public affairs, filling most of the offices within the gift of his fellow citizens, among other honors having been four times elected to the mayoralty of the city of Brockton. The Whipple family is one long prominent in the country, the earlier generations having been conspicuous in Rhode Island’s Colonial period, it being a Rhode Island family.

Biography of Hon. Alphonso Fowler Learned

HON. ALPHONSO FOWLER LEARNED. – Mr. Learned, whose travels and services abroad have taken him extensively over the world as an able representative of the American nation and flag, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1838. He spent a precocious boyhood in the schools of that city, – “The Athens of America,” – and at the age of sixteen was an alumnus of Comers College. Preferring the sea, however, to further bookish confinement, he became cabin boy on a full-rigged ship, returning as able seaman. In 1857 he came on the clipper ship Sierra Nevada to San Francisco, and as … Read more

Biography of J. D. C. Thiessen

One of the best known and most successful sheep-raisers and wool-growers of Idaho is J. D. C. Thiessen, of Lewiston. A native of Holstein, Germany, he was born February 16, 1843, and is of Danish ancestry, although his parents, John D. and Alary (Hanchild) Thiessen, were both natives of Germany. The father was a farmer and trader. In religious faith both he and his wife were Lutherans, and the former lived to be fifty-four years of age, while the mother departed this life in her fifty-sixth year. Mr. Thiessen of this review is the fourth in their family of seven … Read more

Roumpf, Betty Chadsey Renfrow Mrs. – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Betty Chadsey Roumpf, 87, a former longtime Baker City resident and community volunteer, died April 7, 2003, after suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease for more than a decade. She was lovingly cared for by many compassionate caregivers at St. Aidan’s Place in Portland and by Sandy and Dave Renfrow of Hammond. At her request, there will be no service. Arrangements are under the direction of Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary at Astoria. She was born on April 10, 1915, at Los Angeles to Orville and Amy Chadsey. She was one of four children. She attended elementary school and high school … Read more

Knowles Family of New Bedford, MA

thomas knowles

The family bearing this name in New Bedford, where it is one of nearly one hundred years’ standing one, too, of prominence and wealth, is a branch of the ancient Knowles family of the town of Eastham, Barnstable county, this Commonwealth. Reference is made to some of the descendants of the brothers Thomas and James H. Knowles of Eastham, several of whose sons – at least two of the former and one of the latter – in their earlier manhood cast their lot with the people of New Bedford. The firm of Thomas Knowles & Co. for many years was one of the greatest engaged in the whale fishery business in New Bedford; and its members in turn have been succeeded in business by younger generations who have most worthily worn the family name and sustained its reputation; and today the name continues of record in and about the city of their birth connected prominently with many of the most extensive commercial establishments and banking institutions of the locality.

Biography of Texas Angel

Since the town of Hailey was hardly more than a collection of tents Texas Angel has been numbered among its citizens and has successfully engaged in the practice of law, winning many notable lawsuits wherein he has demonstrated the possession of legal powers of high order. A native of the Empire state, he was born in Angelica, New York, October 19, 1839, and is a representative of one of the oldest families of New England. Hardly had the Mayflower deposited its precious cargo upon the shores of America, at Plymouth Rock, when the ancestors of our subject, people of Welsh … Read more

Biography of Relf Bledsoe

The days of chivalry and knighthood in Europe cannot furnish more interesting or romantic tales than our own western history. Into the wild mountain fastnesses of the unexplored west went brave men, whose courage was often called forth in encounters with hostile savages. The land was rich in all natural resources, in gold and silver, in agricultural and commercial possibilities, and awaited the demands of man to yield up its treasures, but its mountain heights were hard to climb, its forests difficult to penetrate, and the magnificent trees, the dense bushes or the jagged rocks often sheltered the skulking foe, … Read more