Biographies
"C"
MARY A. CALLAWAY, M.D.
It has been given Dr. Callaway to achieve distinctive prestige as one
of then representative members of the medical profession in the state
which has been her home during the major part of her life, and in which
she is a member of a most honored pioneer family. She is engaged in the
successful practice of medicine and surgery in the city of Boise,
capital of the state, and her precedence and popularity attest to her
professional ability and to the high standing which is hers in the
confidence and esteem of the community.
Dr. Callaway claims the Lone Star state as the place of her nativity,
as she was born at Decatur, the judicial center of Wise County, Texas,
on the 29th of December, 1878. The doctor is a daughter of Dr. Thomas
Henry Callaway and Mary A. (Allen) Callaway, both of whom were born in
Missouri and the marriage of whom was solemnized in Texas. Dr. Thomas
H. Callaway was born in Boone County, Missouri, and was a son of a
distinguished old family of Virginia, representatives of the same
having been allied by marriage with the patrician Lee and Early
families whose names have been most prominent in connection with the
history of the Old Dominion commonwealth. Both paternal and maternal
ancestors of Dr. Thomas H. Callaway were found enrolled as patriot
soldiers in the War of the Revolution, his paternal grandfather having
served with the rank of captain and his maternal grandfather, John
Markham, having been colonel of one of the gallant Virginia regiments
in the Continental line; his wife was an aunt of General Jubal Early,
one of the most distinguished officers of the Confederacy in the War of
the Revolution. The father of Dr. Thomas H. Callaway was born at
Lynchburg, Virginia, and in that state he was reared and educated.
There also was celebrated his marriage to Miss Catharine Markham, and
in 1820 he removed with his family to Missouri, where he became a
representative and influential pioneer and where he and his wife passed
the residue of their lives.
Dr. Thomas H. Callaway came to Idaho in the pioneer days and had his
full quota of experiences in connection with the initial stages of
development and progress. He admirably equipped himself for the medical
profession and finally returned to the south, where he was engaged in
successful practice for a number of years. After his retirement from
active professional work he returned to Boise, Idaho, where he passed
the residue of his life, secure in the high regard of all who knew him.
He was summoned to the life eternal in 1905, at the venerable age of
eighty years, and his cherished and devoted wife died at Caldwell, this
state, in 1893, at the age of fifty-seven years. They became the
parents of live children, concerning whom the following brief data are
given: Dr. James R. is a leading physician and surgeon at Paul’s
Valley, Oklahoma; William T. is a representative agriculturist and
stock-grower in the vicinity of Caldwell. Canyon county, Idaho; Ida E.
is the wife of F. A. Braun of Boise; Malinda C. is the wife of J. A.
Dement, of Caldwell, this state; and Dr. Mary A. is the youngest of the
number. In politics the father was a staunch Democrat, and both lie and
his wife were consistent members of the Christian Church.
As already stated. Dr. Mary Allen Callaway was born in the state of
Texas, and she was about five years of age at the time of the family
removal to Caldwell, Idaho, where she gained her preliminary
educational discipline in the public schools. She was graduated in the
College of Idaho, at Caldwell, Idaho, as a member of the class of 1897,
and her professional education was secured under most favorable
conditions, in the medical department of the Texas Christian
University, at Fort Worth, Texas. In this excellent institution she was
graduated cum laude as a member of the class and from the same she
received her well-earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. In April of the
same year, upon examination before the state board of medical
examiners, she was admitted to practice in Idaho, and she forthwith
opened an office in Boise, where she has since continued successively
in the work of her chosen profession, her extensive and representative
practice giving tangible evidence of her fine technical ability as a
physician and surgeon and also of her personal popularity. She is
recognized as one of the leading physicians in the state and has the
confidence and esteem of the members of the profession in general. She
is identified with the Ada County Medical Society, the Idaho State
Medical Society and the American Medical Association. The doctor finds
time to enjoy social amenities and is a popular factor in the various
social activities of her home city. She holds membership in the
Christian church, and is affiliated with the Women of Woodcraft, the
Order of Yeomen, of which she is secretary, and the Rebekah Lodge.
[HISTORY OF IDAHO VOLUME
II; BY HIRAM T. FRENCH, M. S.; Publ. 1914; Transcribed and submitted to
Genealogy Trails by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
CHARLES C. CAVANAH
A resident of Idaho since the year 1892, Mr. Cavanah has risen to a
position of prominence and success as one of the representative members
of the bar of the state and is a son of one of the sterling pioneers of
this favored commonwealth. He is engaged in the practice of his
profession in Boise, as head of the well-known and important law firm
of Cavanah, Blake & McLane, and his priority in his chosen calling
is based alike on his sterling attributes of character and his
recognized ability in his profession.
Mr. Cavanah was born at Greensboro, Guildford County, North Carolina,
on the 26th of September, 1S71, and is a son of Frank P. and Larue
(Cheatam) Cavanah, the former of whom was born in the Dominion of
Canada and the latter in North Carolina, a representative of a
prominent old family of that historic commonwealth. The mother of Mr.
Cavanah died in 1872, about one year after his birth, and he was reared
principally in the homes of kinsfolk, in North Carolina and Texas. His
father removed from Canada to the state of New York when a young man
and later established his home at Greensboro, North Carolina, where his
marriage was solemnized to Miss Ruth Cheatam. In 1871 he crossed the
plains and numbered himself among the pioneers of Idaho, which then
included the present state of Montana and the major part of Wyoming. He
became one of the prominent mine-owners and civil engineers of the
territory, where he owned and developed the Rocky Bar mine and surveyed
and platted the present thriving little city of Hailey, the judicial
center of Blaine county. He continued his residence in Idaho until his
death, in August, 1897, and his remains rest in the A. F. A. M.
cemetery, in Boise. He contributed his quota to the industrial and
civic development of this state and was one of its well-known and
honored pioneers.
The early educational advantages of Charles C. Cavanah were limited to
a somewhat desultory attendance in the common schools of North Carolina
and Texas, and this handicap he has effectually overcome through
self-discipline and through the agency of opportunities of his own
creating. He eminently merits the title of self-made man, in the best
sense of the expression, and his ambition has been on a parity with his
inflexible integrity of purpose. As a youth he was employed as clerk in
mercantile establishments in Texas, and he continued to reside in the
Lone Star state until 1892, when, shortly after attaining to his legal
majority he came to Boise, Idaho, where he soon afterward obtained the
position of crier in the supreme court of the new state. He retained
this office three years, and his experience prompted him to a desire to
enter the legal profession. He accordingly began reading law while
still serving as court crier and he was signally favored in having as
his preceptors’ ex-Senator Borah and Judge Houston, two of the most
distinguished members of the Idaho bar. He boarded in the home of Judge
Houston until the time of his marriage, and feels a debt of perpetual
gratitude to the judge for consideration, advice and careful
instruction, along both academic and legal lines.
Mr. Cavanah was admitted to the bar of Idaho, before the Supreme Court,
in December, 1895, and has since been engaged in the successful
practice of his profession in Boise, where he is now senior member of
the law firm of Cavanah, Blake & McLane, which controls a
substantial and representative practice in the various courts of the
state. Mr. Cavanah initiated his professional career in the office of
Senator Borah, with whom he was most pleasantly associated for one and
one-half years, at the expiration of which, in 1897, he was elected
city attorney, on what was known as the Citizens' Improvement ticket,
and later he was re-elected to the office on the Republican ticket.
After the office was made one in the appointive jurisdiction of the
mayor of the city Mr. Cavanah was again called to become its incumbent,
and thus he has had occasion to render large and valuable service in
the legal department of the municipal government of the capital city.
In 1906 Mr. Cavanah was elected to represent Ada county in the lower
house of the state legislature, and in the general assembly of that
year it was his pleasure and privilege to nominate in the house his
valued friend and former preceptor, Hon. W. E. Borah, for
representative of Idaho in the United States senate, to which the
latter was duly elected and in which he is now serving. During his
association with Senator Borah in the practice of law the firm was
known as Borah, Cavanah & Blake, and the senator retired at the
expiration of one year, and Mr. Cavanah then formed his present
partnership alliance, which has proved agreeable and profitable to each
of the interested principals.
Mr. Cavanah is known as a resourceful advocate before court or jury and
as a counselor who gives careful attention to the causes of his
clients, even as he makes scrupulous preparation of cases which he
presents in court. He has gained a wide circle of friends in Idaho, is
essentially unassuming and democratic in his attitude, and aside from
his professional work finds his interests centered in his home, the
associations of which are of ideal order. He has given effective
service in behalf of the cause of the Republican Party and is known as
an able campaign speaker. He was a delegate to the Republican national
convention of 1908. Mr. Cavanah is affiliated with Boise Lodge of the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and he and his wife are members
of the First Methodist Episcopal church in their home city.
On the 19th of March, 1902, Mr. Cavanah was united in marriage to Miss
Mildred Benzel of La Crosse, Wisconsin, and one child, Mildred Ruth,
has been born of this union. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Cavanah is
situated at 107 East Idaho Street.
[HISTORY OF IDAHO VOLUME
II; BY HIRAM T. FRENCH, M. S.; Publ. 1914; Transcribed and submitted to
Genealogy Trails by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
CHARLES LATTA CHALFANT
Charles Latta Chalfant; is a representative of one of the oldest and
most distinguished among the early families of the nation, and members
of the family have been leaders in many fields of activity from
colonial days down to the present time. Pennsylvania in particular is
well acquainted with this fine old name, and it is of record there that
the first of the name to settle in America came from England with
William Penn, and remained to have a part in the development of the
Keystone state after its founder had returned to England. The burial
place of that well known character in American history is at Chalfant,
St. Giles, England.
Born at Martin's Ferry, Ohio, on September 28, 1867, Charles Latta
Chalfant is the son of Rev. George W. and Sarah Elizabeth (Moore)
Chalfant. The father was a Presbyterian minister, with the degree of D.
D., and served as chaplain of the One Hundred and Thirtieth
Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil war. The common schools of
Martin's Ferry supplied the early education of the subject, and he
later attended the Pittsburgh high school and Shadyside Academy, at
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he had been sent to pursue his academic
studies. Hg later spent two years in the University of Wooster, in
Ohio, and was graduated from Lafayette College in 1889 with the degree
of A. B. His A. M. degree came to him from the same institution in
1895. In 1892 he was graduated from the Western Theological Seminary,
at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and on May 3, of the same year, was
ordained by the Presbytery of Pittsburgh.
The first church in which Rev. Chalfant served as pastor was the
Madison Avenue Presbyterian church of Cleveland, Ohio, where he was
pastor from 1892 to 1896. He was then called to the First Presbyterian
church of Ashtabula, Ohio, where he served from 1896 until 1902. He was
thereafter for six years pastor of Grace church, in St. Louis, Missouri
and on March 13, 1908, he entered upon the pastorate of the First
Presbyterian church of Boise, Idaho.
During the years in which he has been active as a minister of the
gospel, the work of Rev. Chalfant has been carried on along broad and
comprehensive lines, and has assumed an aspect of humanitarianism that
is most praiseworthy. He assisted in the organization of the Idaho
Children's Homefinding and Aid Society in May, 1908, and was one of its
charter members, an association that has done much for the care of
homeless children. He has been first vice-president and chairman of the
executive committee of this society almost throughout its entire
existence thus far. He has served as a director and member of the Boise
Associated Charities from the date of its organization to the present
time, and is vice-president of the Social Service Conference of the
Pacific Northwest. In all these offices his work has been of the
highest character, free from sectarianism and calculated at all times
to perform the most practical and far-reaching service that might be
possible.
Rev. Chalfant is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Modern Woodmen
of America, and still retains his membership in his college fraternity,
the Phi Delta Theta. He has served as chaplain and in other offices in
all three of these societies. In the line of his church work, Rev.
Chalfant has served as president of the Boise Ministerial Association,
as moderator of the Boise Presbytery in 1908, as moderator of the first
meeting of the Synod of Idaho in 1909, as Idaho delegate to the
Presbyterian Advisory Council in 1912, and as commissioner to the
General Assembly from the Cleveland Presbytery in 1908, and from the
St. Louis Presbytery in 1907.
He is recognized as one of the leaders in the activities of his church,
and the clergy of the church see in him one of the ablest younger
members of the Presbytery, who has already done good work for the
advancement of the church, and who is destined to do even greater work
in its cause.
On July 7, 1892, Mr. Chalfant was married at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
to Miss Blanche, the daughter of Nathaniel Mulholland and his wife,
Rachel (McCormick) Mulholland. Four children have been born to Rev. and
Mrs. Chalfant, named as follows: George Preston Chalfant; Charles
Roemer Chalfant, who died in infancy; Frank Elgin Chalfant and Helen
Moore Chalfant.
[HISTORY OF IDAHO VOLUME
II; BY HIRAM T. FRENCH, M. S.; Publ. 1914; Transcribed and submitted to
Genealogy Trails by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
HELEN P. CHENOWETH-HAGE
CHENOWETH-HAGE, Helen P., a Representative
from Idaho; born in Topeka, Kans., January 27, 1938; graduated Grants Pass High
School, Grants Pass, Oreg.; attended Whitworth College, Spokane, Wash.;
self-employed medical and legal management consultant, 1964-1975; manager,
Northside Medical Center, Orofino, Idaho; state executive director of the Idaho
Republican party, 1975-1977; chief of staff, then campaign manager, to
Representative Steven D. Symms; co-owner, Consulting Associates, Inc; guest
lecturer, University of Idaho School of Law; elected as a Republican to the One
Hundred Fourth and to the two succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1995-January 3,
2001); was not a candidate for re-election to the One Hundred Seventh Congress;
died on October 2, 2006, in Tonopah, Nev.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States
Congress, 1774-Present.
Contributed by A. Newell
FRANK F. CHURCH
Senate Years of Service: 1957-1981
Party:
Democrat
CHURCH, Frank Forrester, a Senator from Idaho; born in
Boise, Ada County, Idaho, July 25, 1924; attended the public schools; graduated
from Stanford (Calif.) University in 1947 and from Stanford Law School in 1950;
during the Second World War served in the United States Army and was assigned to
Military Intelligence in India, Burma, and China 1942-1946; admitted to the bar
in 1950 and commenced the practice of law in Boise, Idaho; elected as a Democrat
to the United States Senate in 1956; re-elected in 1962, 1968, and again in 1974
and served from January 3, 1957, to January 3, 1981; unsuccessful candidate for
re-election in 1980; chairman, Special Committee on Aging (Ninety-second through
Ninety-fifth Congresses), Special Committee on Termination of the National
Emergency (Ninety-second through Ninety-fourth Congresses), Select Committee on
Government Intelligence Activities (Ninety-fourth Congress), Committee on
Foreign Relations (Ninety-sixth Congress); United States delegate to the
twenty-first General Assembly of the United Nations; resumed the practice of
law; was a resident of Bethesda, Md., until his death there on April 7, 1984;
interment in Morris Hill Cemetery, Boise, Idaho.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States
Congress, 1774-Present.
Contributed by A. Newell
FRANK R. COFFIN
The president of the Boise City National Bank is an Idaho pioneer, one
of the oldest residents of the city of Boise, and through his business
enterprise has done as much to build up and promote the substantial
welfare of this city as any other resident during the past half
century. Mr. Coffin was for many years a leading merchant and during
his successful career acquired large interests in real estate. It was
his policy to improve this property, and he has never depended upon the
activities or enterprise of others to give his land value. He has been
a user of all the property which good management and ability have
placed in his charge, and it is frequently said of Mr. Coffin that .he
has erected more buildings in the city of Boise than any other owner of
local real estate.
Frank R. Coffin was born in Parke county, Indiana, August 4, 1842. His
father, Thomas Coffin was of North Carolina birth resided in Ohio
during his youth, but spent many years of his active life in Parke
county, Indiana, and also in California, where he was engaged in the
foundry business for some years. He was a veteran of the Civil war, and
outlived his experience as a soldier only a few years. His life came to
an honorable close in 1866 in Fort county, Nebraska. The maiden name of
his wife was Mary Harvey, who was born in Indiana and at the time of
her marriage was a resident of Richmond, Indiana. There were eight
children in the family of Thomas and Mary Coffin, Frank R. being the
third.
Richmond, Indiana, where he spent a number of years of his youth, was a
center for the Quaker settlement in that state and it was in the school
conducted under the auspices of the Society of Friends that Frank R.
Coffin attained his early education. He remained in school until his
seventeenth year and then obtained his first vocational experience as
an engineer apprentice on a steamer called the Alvan Adam which plowed
along the Ohio river between Louisville and Cincinnati. After two years
of this work he went out west, and the west has ever since been his
home, and center of activities.
In 1861 he left Omaha, Nebraska, on the overland route to California.
On reaching that state he settled at the largest city in the northern
half of the state, Yreka, where he began work at the trade of tinsmith.
This trade he had learned in connection with his father's manufacturing
plant. After a brief time at the tinsmith trade he traveled overland to
Portland, Oregon and from there to Florence, Washington, where he was
engaged in placer mining. This occupation did not satisfy him long and
he then returned to Portland where he resumed work in the tinsmith and
sheet iron business. Three years later Mr. Coffin, in 1866, came to
Idaho and located at Boise. This was the beginning of a residence which
has continued for nearly half a century, and during this time he has
made a remarkable success as a business man and as one of the real
upbuilders of this city. He came here a poor man, and for the first six
years was in the employ of others. In 1873 he bought from his employer,
George Twitchell. the hardware and tin business, and from that time
until 1904, a period of more than thirty years, conducted and extended
this enterprise until it ranks among the largest and certainly one of
the most prosperous in the state of Idaho.
On retiring from the mercantile business, Mr. Coffin became actively
identified with the Boise City National Bank. He sold his hardware
business to the Carolson Lusk Company, which at the present time is the
largest firm of its kind in this state. The Boise City National Bank
had been founded in 1885, and in 1905 Mr. Coffin was elected its
president. He is still the chief executive officer and his private
resources and business ability have much to do with the striking
success of this financial enterprise. Mr. Coffin is also president of
the Boise Clearing House Association, and is treasurer of the Artesian
Hot & Cold Water Company of this city.
Mr. Coffin has the distinction of having served as the first state
treasurer of Idaho, and only his extensive business responsibilities
have stood in the way of a further participation in public affairs. He
has long been considered one of the most influential members of the
Republican party. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic order,
being past master of Boise Lodge No. 20, and having the various
degrees, including the Knights Templar. He is also a member of the
Commercial Club of Boise, and is a member of the Society of Friends.
Mr. Coffin in 1873 married Miss Irene Quivey, who was born in Wisconsin
and was a daughter of Leander Quivey, who subsequently became a
resident of Portland, Oregon. Mr. and Mrs. Coffin are the parents of
three daughters and one son. The oldest, Irene, is the wife of B. W.
Walker, and a resident of Boise. The second, Henrietta is the wife of
Captain Holbrook, a United States army officer, and they have also
spent two years in the artistic circles of Paris, France. The third
daughter, Elma, is the wife of James Clinton, vice president of the
Boise City National Bank. The son, Craig Coffin, is assistant cashier
of the Boise City National Bank, and he married Miss Zella Tucker. Mr.
Coffin and family have a handsome residence at 1019 Grove avenue.
[HISTORY OF IDAHO VOLUME
II; BY HIRAM T. FRENCH, M. S.; Publ. 1914; Transcribed and submitted to
Genealogy Trails by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
WILLIAM B. CONNER
Identified with the business interests and
civic activities of Idaho's capital city for a quarter of a century, Mr. Conner
is one of the honored and substantial men of the state of his adoption, and is
especially entitled to recognition in this work. He was born at Boyertown.
Berks county, Pennsylvania, and is a son of Willoughby and Amanda (Brower)
Conner, both of whom were likewise born and reared in the fine old Keystone
state. The father was prominently identified with the iron industry in his
native state, where he held the office of superintendent of the business of the
Gable Iron & Steel Company, at Pottstown, where his venerable widow still
resides. He was a valiant soldier in a Pennsylvania regiment in the Civil war
and performed well his part in the great conflict through which the integrity
of the nation was perpetuated, his death having resulted from wounds he
received while in the Union service. Of their twelve children, eight are
living.
In the city of
Chicago William B. Conner entered the employ of the firm of Marshall Field
& Company, the greatest mercantile concern in the United States. In the
retail establishment of this great house, Mr. Conner was manager of the dress
goods department for eight years, and in 1888, having determined to seek a
location where he could find opportunity for eventual independent business
activities, he came to Boise, Idaho, where he became an interested principal in
the mercantile firm of Hollister, Bishoprick & Company. After continuing
his partnership alliance with this concern for seven years he established an
independent enterprise by opening a finely equipped store for the handling of
men's furnishing goods, the only
exclusive men's furnishing store on Bannock street. This venture, under his
able and progressive management, was successful from its inception and he now
controls a large, substantial and representative trade, giving him place among
the leading merchants of the capital city.
In 1889 was
recorded the marriage of Mr. Conner to Miss Elizabeth Lemp, the oldest daughter
of the late John Lemp, to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this
work, and they have their pleasant home on State street, a property owned by
Mr. Conner.
Source: HISTORY OF IDAHO
VOLUME II; BY HIRAM T. FRENCH, M. S.; Publ. 1914
Transcribed and submitted to
Genealogy Trails by Andrea Stawski Pack
W. J. COUGHLIN
As president of the Standard Furniture Company, of Boise, Idaho, W. J.
Coughlin is one of the foremost business men in this city, and
represents one of the most flourishing establishments of its kind in
Boise. It is only since 1903 that Mr. Coughlin has been engaged in
business on his own responsibility, but that time has sufficed to place
him in the front ranks of the business men of this community, and his
success in his chosen line has become an assured thing.
Born in New York state, in November, 1878. W. J. Coughlin is the son of
W. M. and Mary (Kehoe) Coughlin, both natives of the old Empire state,
where the father was engaged in farming during his brief life. He died
at his home in the year 1888, when he was but forty years of age. His
widow still survives him, and at the age of fifty six years makes her
home in Boise. They were the parents of four children: W. J., the
subject; C. T., who is in business with his brother, and is a member of
the firm; Anna, a resident of Boise, where she makes her home with her
mother, and Mrs. P. C. . Ray, also a resident of Boise.
Mr. Coughlin was educated in the schools of his native state, and
following his graduation from the high school he went to Colorado, and
there he was employed by the Booth Furniture Company for several years.
His training there was of a most efficient order, and when he left that
concern he went to Boise and in 1903 started up in business on his own
responsibility. His initial attempt was on a modest scale, but he
exercised the best of business skill and judgment in his operations,
and as the years passed he was able to expand the business until it has
now a scope unequalled by any similar concern. The establishment is one
of the most complete to be found in the west, and occupies a floor
space of 200x125 feet. When Mr. Coughlin started in business, he was
able to successfully handle the operations of the concern with the help
of his brother, C. T., but today he employs a force of twelve men. In
1906 the firm was incorporated under the name of the Standard Furniture
Company, Mr. Coughlin becoming president and his brother, C. T.,
vice-president, secretary and manager.
Mr. Coughlin is fraternally identified with the Benevolent Protective
Order of Elks and the Knights of Columbus. He is independent in his
political faith, and is a member of the Roman Catholic church, the
faith of his parents. On July 7, 1910, Mr. Coughlin was married to Miss
Florence Murphy, of Butte, Montana, and they have one child, Florence,
born June 6, 1911, at Boise.
[HISTORY OF IDAHO VOLUME
II; BY HIRAM T. FRENCH, M. S.; Publ. 1914; Transcribed and submitted to
Genealogy Trails by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
BENJAMIN S. CROW
A native son of the west and thoroughly an rapport with its progressive
spirit. Mr. Crow has been a member of the bar of Idaho since 1903 and
is now one of its representative figure; in Boise, the capital city of
the state, where he is junior member of the prominent and influential
law firm of Perky & Crow, in which his coadjutor is Judge Kusstland
I. Perky, now United States senator. He served with marked ability as
county attorney of Nez Perces County and as assistant attorney general
of the state, and he represented Ada County in the lower house of the
state legislature in 1911-12. Mr. Crow has been an influential factor
in the councils and work of the Republican Party in Idaho, and thus
there are many points in his career that render most consonant his
specific recognition in this publication.
Benjamin Stewart Crow was born near Stockton, San Joaquin County,
California, on the 14th of February 1877, and is a son of Clinton Pike
Crow and Margaret (Stewart) Crow, the former of whom was born in Pike
county, Missouri, and the latter in the state of Kentucky, where the
Crow family was also founded in an early day. Clinton P. Crow was
reared and educated in his native state and thence, in company with his
brothers, crossed the plains to California at the time of the ever
memorable gold excitement of 1849. A greater measure of success
attended his efforts than .came to the average gold seeker and he found
conditions so much to his liking that he has ever since maintained his
home in California. He settled at a point now known as Crow's Landing,
in Stanislaus County, and eventually became one of the most prominent
and successful stock growers of California. Broad-minded and
progressive, he contributed his quota to the civic and industrial
development and progress of the state, and he is now one of its
venerable and honored pioneer citizens,—one of the few survivors of the
gallant old "advance guard" of 1849. He has been influential in public
affairs and his life has been guided by the highest principles of
integrity and honor, so that he retains impregnable vantage ground in
the confidence and esteem of the people of the state which has long
been his home and the scene of his productive activities. Now more than
eighty years of age, he is living retired in the city of San Jose,
California, where he is enjoying the gracious rewards of former years
of earnest endeavor and where he and his wife are surrounded by hosts
of loyal friends. Mrs. Crow, who is seventy-eight years of age at the
time of this writing, in 1912, is a daughter of Gen. David Stewart, of
Kentucky and Missouri. Of the children of Clinton P. and Margaret
(Stewart) Crow two sons and five daughters are living.
Benjamin S. Crow gained his early educational discipline in the public
schools of San Jose, California, and after completing the curriculum of
the high school he entered Leland Stanford University, at Palo Alto,
that state, in which splendid institution he was graduated as a member
of the class of 1901 and from which he received the degree of Bachelor
of Arts. While in the university he pursued special studies in the law
department, and later he continued his reading of law under the able
preceptorship of William A. Bcasley, a leading member of the bar of San
Jose. In the autumn of 1902 he was admitted to practice, upon
examination before the supreme court of his native state, and in
December of the same year he came to Idaho and promptly gained
admission to its bar. He established his residence at Lewiston, the
judicial center of Nez Perces county, and there engaged in the practice
of his profession, to which he gave his attention in a generic way
until the autumn of 1904, when he was elected county attorney. He
continued the incumbent of this office until 1907, and his able
administration as public prosecutor added materially to his
professional reputation. At this time he was looked upon as one of the
most resourceful and well fortified members of the Bar of Nez Perces
County, and he resigned his position as county attorney to accept that
of assistant attorney general of the state, a preferment tendered him
by John J. Guheen at that time attorney general. He served in this
capacity, with characteristic fidelity and ability, until the close of
the year 1908, and in January, 1909.
He removed to Boise and resumed the private work of his profession, to
which he has since given close attention and in which his success has
been of unequivocal order. The firm of Perky & Crow, of which he is
junior member, is one of the most prominent and successful in the
state, with a clientage of important and representative order. Mr. Crow
is a valued and popular member of the Idaho State Bar Association, of
which he has served as secretary since 1909.
An effective and influential worker in the ranks of the Republican
party in Idaho, Mr. Crow's ability and civic loyalty, as well as his
personal popularity, have marked him as eligible for offices of
distinctive public trust. In November, 1910, he was elected
representative of Ada county in the lower house of the state
legislature, and concerning his service in the same the statements
appearing in a Boise newspaper at the time when he announced his
candidacy for the state senate are well worthy of reproduction in this
connection:
"Benjamin S. Crow, a representative from Ada County in the last session
of the legislature, today filed his acceptance of the nomination for
state senator, as made by Dean Perkins. As a representative Mr. Crow
was both prominent and active. He was identified with nearly every
important and progressive measure which came before the lower house,
and was a member of nearly all the important committees. As a member of
these committees and by reason of his activity on the floor he was
successful in getting passed a number of bills of importance and
usefulness. As a member of the judiciary committee he introduced a
series of bills providing for a change in the law of appellate
procedure, the effect of which was to cut in half the expense of
appeals, thus giving important relief to litigants of small means.
These bills were drafted by a committee of the state bar association,
on which committee Mr. Crow himself served as a member, and their
enactment into laws has since accomplished the result expected of them.
As a friend of the laboring classes it will be recalled that he
introduced a bill, and secured its passage through the house,
abolishing what is known as the fellow-servant rule. This bill was,
however, defeated in the senate.
"Mr. Crow was the only member from Ada County on the appropriation
committee and rendered material assistance in securing the passage
through that committee and through the house of the bill providing for
the issuance of bonds to complete the state capitol. Mr. Crow took the
floor in behalf of this bill and took charge of it in the house. As a
member of the committee on railroads, carriers and other public
corporations he was prominently identified with the railroad commission
bill, of which he was the author. This bill was passed through the
house, after a stormy debate, but was 'defeated in the senate.
"As a member of the committee on public health, of which he was the
chairman, he recommended the passage of a number of bills requiring
full weights and measures to be given in the selling of commodities in
general use and providing for the sanitary condition of slaughter
houses and other places where food supplies are prepared.
"At the special session of the legislature Mr. Crow took the floor in behalf of the measure regulating the taxation of mines."
Mr. Crow is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias, and his genial
personality has made him popular in professional, business and social
circles in the state of his adoption. His name is still recorded on the
list of eligible bachelors.
[HISTORY OF IDAHO VOLUME
II; BY HIRAM T. FRENCH, M. S.; Publ. 1914; Transcribed and submitted to
Genealogy Trails by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
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