Biographies for Gem County
Idaho
OBERMEYER, HENRY
The name of Obermeyer is inseparably interwoven with the history of
Idaho and Henry Obermeyer is the eldest of four brothers, Henry,
William, Lewis and John, who are known as the "Watermelon Kings" of the
state. All four have been prominently and extensively engaged in
growing and shipping melons and other fruits in Gem county and have
contributed much to its development and progress through the conduct of
their individual interests. Henry Obermeyer is the owner of the famous
Frozen Dog ranch, which is situated four and a half miles northeast of
Emmett and is one of the most splendidly developed ranch properties of
this section of the state.
Mr. Obermeyer was born in Kendall county, Illinois, September 30, 1885,
and is a son of Henry and Mary (Linz) Obermeyer, who were natives of
Germany but came to the new world in early life and were married in
Illinois. Mention of them is made on another page of this work. Henry
Obermeyer was reared at Piano, Illinois, in his native county, and
acquired his early education in the public schools there, after which
he attended the University of Chicago, also De Paul University of
Chicago and the Notre Dame University of Indiana. He took an active
interest in athletics during his college days and played full-back on
the football team, acting as captain of a football team during two
years of his college life and winning a well earned reputation as a
crack player.
On the 7th of May, 1910, Mr. Obermeyer was married to Miss Katheryne A.
Ewing, who was born in West Superior, Wisconsin, January 9, 1891, a
daughter of Henry Watterson Ewing a well known newspaper man of
Chicago, and nephew and namesake of the distinguished editor, Henry
Watterson, of the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal. Two daughters have
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Obermeyer: Mary Lillian, born February 9,
1911; and Elizabeth Katheryne December 13, 1913. Both are now in
school, attending St. Margaret's Hall of Boise.
In June, 1910, Mr. Obermeyer came with his family to Idaho and they
have since lived near Emmett, on the south slope, where he is
extensively engaged in the growing of fruits, including grapes and
melons. His three brothers previously mentioned have also become
actively interested in the same business. They are not partners, yet
their activities and interests are mutual and to a large extent they
cooperate in the conduct of their affairs. They are the largest
individual shippers of melons and grapes in the northwest. In 1919 they
shipped out of the Payette valley over one hundred carloads of melons
and grapes for which they received over ninety thousand dollars, the
products all being grown on their several ranches on the famous south
slope of Gem county.
In 1919 Henry Obermeyer purchased and removed to the famous Frozen Dog
ranch four and a half miles east of Emmett, this being one of the most
noted as well as one of the most highly Improved ranches in the Payette
valley. It is situated a few miles up the slope east of his former home
ranch and those of his brothers, Will, Lew and John.
This ranch was developed by Colonel W. C. Hunter, well known author and
for years a member of the staff of The Chicago Tribune. Colonel Hunter
purchased and developed the property for his permanent home, spending a
hundred thousand dollars in the improvement of the place, which
included the erection of a beautiful nine-room bungalow and the
development of a splendid orchard. Irrigation pipes were laid between
the rows of trees and the best fruit packing house and air storage
plant in the valley was built on the place with a capacity of thirty
carloads. Every device and accessory of the model ranch and orchard
property was secured as part of the equipment.
Two years after developing this property Colonel Hunter passed away and
his son, Duncan Hunter, then took charge, proving not only a capable
manager but also one of the most popular citizens of the community by
reason of his jovial nature and democratic spirit, but death made him a
victim of the influenza and in 1919 the property was sold to Henry
Obermeyer, who is the owner of six other places on the famous Emmett
south slope. His total land holdings embrace six hundred and ten acres,
there being two hundred and twenty-five acres in the Frozen Dog ranch,
of which one hundred and three acres are under irrigation, thirty-three
acres being planted to prunes and apples, while seventy acres are in
alfalfa. His trees are in the finest possible condition and another
most important feature of his place is his field of watermelons. His
shipments in 1919 were forty-eight cars of watermelons, six cars of
apples and eight cars of mixed fruits, such as peaches and grapes. He
expects to ship at least one hundred carloads in 1920, finding a ready
market for the products in eastern Idaho, western Wyoming and Montana.
He and his brothers have shown what can be accomplished in the way of
melon production in this state under favorable conditions and their
example is being followed by many others.
Mr. Obermeyer is a Knight Templar and thirty-second degree Scottish
Rite Mason and also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs
to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and his wife is a member of
the Eastern Star and also prominent in women's club circles, being now
president of the Crescent Improvement Club of Emmett. Mr. Obermeyer
gives his political allegiance to the republican party and belongs to
the Commercial Club. He is fond of hunting, fishing and athletics but
the demands of his constantly developing business leave him little time
for outside affairs.
That he is a man of most progressive spirit, alert and energetic, is
shown by the fact that within a few years he has acquired and improved
seven different ranch properties in Gem county, within the borders of
which he has made his home for only a decade, but within that time he
has gained a place among the leading citizens of this part of the state
and has justly won the title of Melon King of Idaho. With a nature that
could never be content with mediocrity, he has pushed his way forward,
obstacles and difficulties in his path seeming to serve but as an
impetus for renewed effort on his part and a stimulus for greater
activity.
[History of Idaho, the Gem of the Mountains, Volume 3, 1920, submitted by Cathy Danielson]
OBERMEYER, JOHN
Gem county received a valuable addition to its citizenship when John
Obermeyer arrived in this section in 1913 to join his three brothers,
William, Henry and Lewis Obermeyer, who had already become residents of
Idaho. Like his brothers, he is a native of Illinois. His birth having
occurred at Piano, Kendall county, on the 27th of March, 1892. He is a
son of Henry and Mary (Linz) Obermeyer, mentioned in connection with
the sketch of his brother Lewis. When he was eleven years of age his
parents removed to Paw Paw, Michigan, and he largely spent his youth
there in a district which is extensively given over to the production
of grapes, the Michigan vineyards in that section being among the
finest of the Mississippi valley. The Obermeyer brothers therefore
gained considerable knowledge of grape culture while living in that
section and they have put this knowledge to excellent account since
coming to Idaho.
In 1913, when a young man of twenty-one years, John Obermeyer arrived
in this state and made his way to Gem county, where his brothers were
already living. He has since taken part in the growing and shipping of
melons and other fruits, which business has claimed the attention of
all the brothers through the period of their residence in Gem county.
He owns a ranch on the south slope in the vicinity of the ranches owned
by his older brothers. His mother resides with him, presiding over the
household affairs, and John Obermeyer is busily occupied with the
cultivation and care of his vineyards, his orchards and his fields of
tine watermelons and cantaloupes. He personally superintends the
spraying and pruning and keeps the land in excellent condition by the
use of fertilizer, while irrigation supplies the needed amount of
moisture.
John Obermeyer is a Master Mason and a worthy exemplar of the
principles of the craft. Like his brothers, he is ambitious,
industrious and determined and is making steady progress, his record,
like that of his brothers, making the name of Obermeyer an honored one
in Gem county and a synonym of all that is progressive in the way of
horticultural development.
[History of Idaho, the Gem of the Mountains, Volume 3, 1920, submitted by Cathy Danielson]
VanDEUSEN, DUDLEY H.
Resourcefulness and enterprise in business have brought to Dudley H.
Van Deusen, a substantial measure of success and he is now well known
as the secretary
and treasurer of the Van Deusen Brothers Company, having large ranching
and live stock interests at Emmett, Idaho, where he is also president
of the Bank of Emmett. The story of his life is the story of earnest
effort and endeavor intelligently directed. He had no special
advantages in his youth but soon recognized the value of industry and
determination as factors in the attainment of success.
He was born on a farm near Pekin, in Tazewell county, Illinois,
November 11, 1869, being the eldest of the four living sons of James T.
Van Deusen, who still survives and lives with his four sons on the home
ranch of the Van Deusen Brothers Company ten miles north of Emmett,
Idaho, a ranch which embraces several thousand acres of land. The
father's birth occurred at Hudson, New York, and he was once in the
employ of A. T. Stewart, a former merchant prince of New York city. In
young manhood he removed to the Mississippi valley, settling in
Illinois, and was there united in marriage to Miss Mary Gulick, a
native of New Jersey, who passed away November 12, 1916, in Boise,
where she and her husband lived for several years prior to her death.
Soon after losing his wife
Mr. Van Deusen came to live with his four sons upon the ranch. Before
coming to the northwest, however, the family home was established in
Pottawatomie county, Kansas, the parents removing with their four
children from Illinois to the Sunflower state when Dudley H. Van Deusen
was a young lad of eight years.
Upon a farm in Kansas he was reared, obtaining his early education in
the public schools of that place, while later he pursued a business
course in Lincoln, Nebraska. About 1895 he entered the employ of A. J.
Knollin & Company, a large packing concern of Chicago, with which
he remained for seven years. He first served merely as a sheep feeder
in their stock yards at St. Marys, Kansas, but later the firm sent him
to Casper, Wyoming, to take charge of the trailing of large flocks of
western sheep which they owned and which were brought to Kansas. For
several years he thus served the company and it was on a mission
of this kind that he first came to Idaho in 1898. Recognizing the
possibilities for sheep raising in this state, he resigned his position
with the Chicago firm and embarked in sheep raising on his own account.
It was not long afterward that his brother. John E., came to Idaho and
became interested with him in sheep raising in Gem county. The two
brothers, Dudley H. and John E., started in the business in a small
way, leasing a bunch of sheep from the firm of Bullard & Johnson.
They finally purchased the sheep and also the ranch from the former
owners, C. J. Bullard and John Johnson, both of whom are now in Boise.
After a time two other brothers, Frederick G. and Albert M., joined the
original firm and today theirs is one of the largest sheep and cattle
concerns in Idaho or the northwest. They give more attention to sheep
than to cattle raising, having extensive flocks, numbering thousands of
sheep. They also have hundreds of head of cattle and many thousand
acres of land in Payette, Valley, Gem and Boise counties. Their
interests have been gradually developed and the business is now one of
gratifying proportions.
Dudley H. Van Deusen is the only one of the four brothers who is
married. On the 23d of September, 1901, at St. Marys, Kansas, he wedded
Elmina Hayslip, who was born in McLean county, Illinois, February 21,
1873. They have two children: Mary Eva, born December 1, 1902; and
Dudley Howard, Jr., born July 9, 1904. Mrs. Van Deusen was reared in
McLean county, Illinois, was educated in the public schools and in the
Illinois State Normal School and previous to her marriage taught for
several years in her native state. She is the youngest of three
children whose father, Thomas Brown Hayslip, was a farmer of Illinois
and a veteran of the Union army. He was born in Ohio in 1830 and his
wife, who bore the maiden name of Catherine Baker, was born in Germany.
Both are now
deceased.
Mr. Van Deusen is a Mason and in his political views is a republican
but does not seek to figure prominently in political circles. He
belongs to the National Wool Growers Association, and his interests and
activity centers in an important and rapidly developing business which
has made him one of the foremost stockmen of the northwest.
[History of Idaho, the Gem of the Mountains, Volume 2, 1920, submitted by Cathy Danielson]
Back to Gem County Home
