Elections: U. S. President Abraham Lincoln and Lewiston Mayor Ankeny [otd 11/06]

President Lincoln.
National Archives, Matthew Brady.

On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States. In March 1863, while leading the nation through the Civil War, Lincoln signed legislation that created Idaho Territory.

Lincoln profoundly impacted the new Territory throughout his time in office. A week after the Territory was created, he appointed William H. Wallace as the first governor. Wallace was both a political ally and a personal friend of Lincoln’s. He was probably also related to William Smith Wallace, the Lincoln family physician and brother-in-law to Mary (Todd) Lincoln. (Both Wallaces traced their roots to Scottish emigrant families in central and eastern Pennsylvania.)

Lincoln also appointed a Territorial Secretary, three justices for a Territorial court system, and a U. S. Marshal. He selected Sidney Edgerton, another Midwestern attorney, as Chief Justice. The Marshal, Dolphus S. Payne, would be condemned as the perpetrator of the infamous “Laramie Fraud” in the Territory’s first elections later that year [blog, Oct 31].

Almost a year passed before he finally appointed the Territorial Attorney. (Territorial residents voted for a legislature – Representatives and Councilors – but the Federal government controlled everything else.)

When Wallace resigned to become Idaho’s elected Delegate to the U. S. Congress, Lincoln appointed New York politician Caleb Lyon as governor. Intelligent, well-educated, but rather bombastic in speech and manner, Lyon received more derision than respect during his stay in Idaho. Worse by far, however, was simply his status as a Republican appointee. He was thus bound to clash with a legislature dominated by Democrats, many of whom were Southern sympathizers.

Lincoln again impacted Idaho history when, in 1864, he signed legislation that split off Montana Territory [blog, May 26] and gave Idaho something like its present boundaries. Along with that, Lincoln appointed Idaho’s Chief Justice Edgerton to be governor of the new Territory.

Finally, less than two months before his assassination, Lincoln made his last significant Idaho appointment: He selected John McBride [blog, Feb 28] as Chief Justice to replace Sidney Edgerton.

Levi Ankeny. Library of Congress.

On November 6, 1871, voters elected Levi Ankeny mayor of Lewiston. This had two interesting consequences. First, under his administration an important “loose end” was tied up with regard to the Lewiston town site.

According to the Illustrated History of North Idaho, “the government had granted the city a tract of land one square mile in extent at the junction of the Clearwater and Snake rivers, but the land office had as yet failed to act in granting a patent and the matter was held in abeyance.”

That, of course, meant that title to every tract of land within the city could be disputed. Ankeny followed through to insure that the grant was properly executed, “though not without litigation.”

Ankeny was a long-time pioneer in the area. In 1862, Captain Ankeny and some partners operated a steamboat, The Spray, on the Snake. Their steamer, with a purposely shallow draft, could navigate the Clearwater during its late-season low water. The partners sold out at nearly a 100% profit after a year. Later, Ankeny owned a Lewiston general store and ran cattle on land southeast of town.

The second result from the mayoral election was to give Ankeny a taste of success in politics. He later moved to the state of Washington and took up banking. Then, from 1903 to 1909, he represented that state in the U.S. Senate, serving on several important committees. He died in March 1921.
                                                                                                                                      

References: [B&W], [Brit], [Hawley], [Illust-North]

“Levi Ankeny,” Biographical Directory of the United State Congress (online)

Reverend William Judson Boone and the College of Idaho [otd 11/05]

William Judson Boone, D.D., first and long-time president of the College of Idaho, was born November 5, 1860, in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, 15-20 miles southwest of Pittsburg.

After high school, he studied at the College of Wooster (Ohio), from which he received A.B. and M.A. degrees. Study at the Western Theological Seminary (Pittsburgh) further prepared him for the ministry (they awarded him a D.D. degree in 1903). 

Rev. Boone. College of Idaho photo.

In 1887, Boone took up the Presbyterian ministry in Caldwell, Idaho. Three years later, the Wood River Presbytery founded the private College of Idaho there. Classes began in October 1891 [blog, Oct 7]. Two years later, Boone left his church ministry to assume the presidency of the College, a position he held for the rest of his life.

Initially, Boone taught Latin, Greek, and the natural sciences. Besides his duties as president and professor, Boone was also the school’s chief publicist and recruiter. Enrollment increased steadily, and by about 1907, the College needed larger facilities. Boone then had to become the school’s main fund-raiser, a job he disliked. Still, he was very effective and by 1911 the College had three new buildings on land that they still occupy. At about the same time, they could also afford professors for all the natural sciences.

However, Dr. Boone’s special expertise, and love, was botany … and he never gave that up. To enrich his teaching, he led students on numerous field expeditions. In the process, he essentially “wrote the book” on the flora of southwest Idaho. His personal garden included a wide variety of plants, including flowers – the “President Boone” rose is named for him.

Dr. Boone passed away in July, 1936. However, his enthusiasm for natural science put a special stamp on the school he founded and led for so long: A liberal arts college with a strong conviction that a fully-educated person must know something about science and its processes.

The school still takes that mission, with its special flavor, very seriously. The core curricula for most smaller liberal arts colleges require just one “hard science” class. Moreover, a substantial minority allows students to fill that requirement with a watered-down, “science survey” class.  (A few schools allow students to avoid the subjects altogether.)

College of Idaho requires 7 credit-hours of science, generally meaning that one of the two classes must include a lab. Oddly enough, the College also requires two courses in the “Fine Arts” – music, painting, dance, drama, etc. Most liberal arts schools require only one for their non-majors.

Activities Center, College of Idaho.

Without apology, the school sees itself as “uncompromisingly Christian,” but welcomes all denominations and leads by strictly voluntary example. Given its small size and community environment, many young people meet their spouses there. Students affectionately referred to the school as “Dr. Boone’s marriage mill.”

As usual for most private liberal arts colleges, College of Idaho has always struggled with finances, yet they have survived. Like any college, success is measured by the achievements of its graduates – and those are outstanding. For example, H. Corwin Hinshaw, a 1923 graduate, later earned a Ph.D. from UC-Berkeley and pioneered the use of streptomycin to treat tuberculosis.

Today, many graduates have jobs before they leave school and most (98%) are employed within six months after graduation. Moreover, their scholars enjoy a 75% acceptance rate for postgraduate work at many fine institutions.
                                                                                                                                      

References: [French], [Hawley]

Louie W. Attebery, The College of Idaho, 1891-1991: A Centennial History. © The College of Idaho, Caldwell (1991).

Herbert Harry Hayman, That Man Boone: Frontiersman of Idaho, College of Idaho, Caldwell (1948).

Grangeville Wins County Seat From Mount Idaho [otd 11/04]

On November 4, 1902, voters decisively favored the transfer of the county seat of Idaho County from Mount Idaho to Grangeville. This result culminated a vigorous decade-long campaign to wrest the seat away from the older town.

Historic Grangeville. City of Grangeville.

Pioneer Loyal P. Brown established Mount Idaho as the first town on the Camas Prairie. He started in 1862 from a waystation on the road to the Florence gold fields [blog, Sept 26]. In 1875, his political maneuvering won the county seat for the town.

Grangeville began with the establishment of Charity Grange No. 15, Patrons of Husbandry, in August 1874. When Loyal P. refused to donate a Mount Idaho plot for a Grange Hall, members asked rancher John Crooks if he would help. He agreed, and donated land about three miles to the north. To finance the hall project, Grange members organized a milling company and built a flour mill.

With the mill ready, they began construction of the Grange Hall, completing it in 1876. Grangers immediately developed the area around it, starting with a small general store and some residences. In the summer of 1877, during the Nez Percés War, locals built a stockade around the hall. Fortunately, they suffered no attacks and the few other existing structures were not damaged.

After the war, the nearby presence of Camp Howard helped the local economy, but the Army decommissioned that facility in 1881. Despite rather slow growth, by the middle of the decade Grangeville had become an important supply and commercial center for the ranches and farms that spread across the Camas Prairie. In 1886, the town got its own newspaper, the Idaho County Free Press (which is still publishing today.)

By 1892 it was the largest town in Idaho County. (That was also the year when Grangeville’s first two banks opened.) An undercurrent of sentiment to relocate the county seat burst into an active campaign. Although supporters polled a simple majority in the subsequent election, they failed to garner the necessary two-thirds vote. The setback was perhaps a tribute to L. P. Brown, who was still highly respected. But Brown would pass away in 1896.

Grangeville continued to grow. In 1893, voters there overwhelmingly agreed to issue bonds to build a new, larger schoolhouse. The following year, telephone service to Lewiston was initiated, and new businesses continued to open. Meanwhile, Mount Idaho declined.

In 1898, prospectors discovered new gold lodes in the “Buffalo Hump” area, about 30 miles southeast of Grangeville. The subsequent rush caused a “boom” as the town became a major supply point for the mines. Grangeville added another hotel, set up a volunteer fire department, and even attracted a brewery.

Grain elevator. Univ. of Idaho photo.

The election in 1902 gave Grangeville nearly three-quarters of the votes in their favor for the county seat. Thereafter, Grangeville would grow even more substantially, especially with the arrival of the railroad in 1908. Mount Idaho continued its decline to what is now basically a ghost town.

Today, Grangeville is a regional center for farming and forestry operations – the U.S. Forest Service is a significant presence in the area.
                                                                                                                                      

References: [Hawley], [Illust-North]

“Early Idaho County,” Reference Series No. 324, Idaho State Historical Society.

M. Alfreda Elsensohn, Eugene F. Hoy (ed.), Pioneer Days in Idaho County, Caxton Printers, Caldwell, Idaho (1951).

Idaho Supreme Court Justice Sullivan … and Women's Suffrage [otd 11/03]

Justice Sullivan. Illustrated History.

The state of Idaho’s first Chief Justice, Isaac Newton Sullivan, was born on November 3, 1848, in Iowa, midway between Waterloo and Dubuque. After high school he studied at a college in Michigan and then in a judge's law office in Iowa. He was admitted to the bar of Iowa in 1879 and moved to Hailey, Idaho two years later.

Besides his law practice, Sullivan invested in a number of valuable mining claims as well as farm and ranch land around Hailey. His success in law and business led to his election in 1890 to one of the three positions on the Supreme Court of the just-created state of Idaho. The new state’s constitution called for the justices to serve staggered six-year terms, one being up for re-election every two years.

As a startup mechanism, they “cast lots” to determine who would serve a full term, who four years, and who only two. Sullivan “drew the short straw” for the shortest term. However, by another constitutional provision, the justice with the shortest time remaining on his term was designated as the Chief Justice – so Sullivan ascended to that office. As such, he administered the oath of office to the state’s first governor, George L. Shoup [blog, April 1]. (The number of justices would later increase to 5, and the Chief Justice is now selected by majority vote of the justices.)

After his short two-year term, Sullivan was immediately re-elected to the Court. Even his switch from traditional Republican to Silver Republican for the 1898 election did not hinder yet another re-election.

Naturally, those early Justices made many important decisions and set many legal precedents for the State. Few decisions were more historic than one rendered in December 1896. During that year’s election, a women’s suffrage amendment had passed handily, with almost a two-to-one margin. However, many balloters had ignored the amendment measure, so the “for” votes (12,126) were not a majority of the total votes cast (29,697). Thus, the election board disallowed its passage.

In the subsequent court challenge, the Supreme Court ruled that the board had erred in its ruling. Sullivan, who was not then Chief Justice, joined in the unanimous decision that sustained the amendment’s passage.

Susan B. Anthony, abt 1890-1910.
Library of Congress.

That judgement became a highlight of the 1897 national women’s suffrage convention in Des Moines, Iowa. Susan B. Anthony first declared that courts nationwide had always “put the narrowest possible construction” on the election laws, and most would have surely supported the Board's annulment.

Then she went on, “The Judges of Idaho did themselves the honor to make a decision in direct opposition to judicial precedent and prejudice. The Idaho victory is a great credit not only to the majority of men who voted for the amendment, but to the three Judges who made this broad and just decision.”

Sullivan served over a quarter century on the Idaho Supreme Court, He retired in 1916, at the age of 68, after losing his re-election bid. Sullivan maintained a residence in Hailey until 1914 or 1915, when he and his wife moved permanently to Boise. He continued his law practice there for the rest of his life. In 1936, on the occasion of his 88th birthday, a news report said, “He still walks daily from his home to the downtown office he shares with his son.”

Isaac Newton Sullivan passed away in January 1938.
                                                                                                                                      

References: [Hawley], [illust-State]

Susan B. Anthony, Ida H. Harper (eds.), The History of Woman Suffrage, Vol IV: 1883-1900, The Hollenbeck Press, Indianapolis (© Susan B. Anthony, 1902).

“[Isaac Sullivan News],” Idaho Statesman, Boise; Poster Register, Idaho Falls, Idaho (November 1890 – November 1936).

Wallace Creates New Fire Brigade After Destructive Downtown Fire [otd 11/02]

On November 2, 1890, the citizens of Wallace, Idaho convened a public meeting and created a new fire brigade to replace their old fire department. By organizing Wallace Hose Company No. 1, the town hoped to improve their fire protection.

Lead-silver mill at Wallace. [French]

The first cabins had been built in Wallace just six years earlier, after prospectors discovered placer gold in the area. Major finds of lode silver followed and the town mushroomed. Within a few years, rail lines connected Wallace to the outside world [blog, Dec 9]. As usual, almost everything in the town was built with locally-cut lumber – weathered and dry, or fresh and full of pitch.

In late July 1890, a fire began in the Central Hotel, on Sixth Street south of the railroad depot. Strong, hot winds fanned the flames, driving them south and east up the canyon. The fire department tried to contain the damage, but they ran out of water in about ten minutes. Blowing out fire breaks with “Giant powder” (an early form of dynamite) failed to stop the conflagration.

Except for one structure, the blaze consumed everything in the blocks between Fifth Street (to the west) and Sixth. Most of the buildings to the east and southeast of Sixth also went up in flames. The fires stopped only when they reached the ridges to the south and east.

Wallace considered itself fortunate to have only one fatality: A drunk who had passed out in one of the saloons was burned to death. Thirteen saloons, three restaurants, and a liquor wholesaler went up in flames. The fires also destroyed six hotels, a bank, a theater, and four vacant buildings (one of them new).

Other losses included nearly thirty stores and shops (four barbers, two butchers, several dry goods firms, a druggist, a blacksmith, and more), eighteen office structures (many doctors and lawyers, and the newspaper), three livery stables, several warehouses, an ice house, and a saw mill. A meeting hall, the telephone exchange, and the post office were also burned out.

So much aid poured in from the nearby towns that officials turned down, with thanks, an offer of help from Spokane. The Murray Sun reported (July 30, 1890) that town leaders soon passed ordinances requiring that new construction use non-flammable materials in certain key areas. The item also asserted that, "The work of rebuilding will be on a larger scale than before."

Wallace suffered another serious fire in November, 1898, when flames totally destroyed a hotel and the saloon next to it, and badly damaged a second hotel. Still, efforts of the revamped fire brigade at least prevented further damage, aided by the fact that many owners had replaced wood frame structures with brick.

Wallace after the 1910 fire. Library of Congress.

Ironically, an even worse disaster hit Wallace from outside in 1910: Sometimes called “The Big Burn,” a massive forest fire swept over the town and again caused heavy damage [blog, Aug 20].

Continuing production from the rich silver mines allowed the city to rebuild.

The real decline of Wallace came with the depletion of the mines. Today, the town has less than a third of the population it had at the time of the Big Burn. Many of the “new” 1890 brick structures form the heart of the town’s current tourist district.
                                                                                                                                      

References: [French], [Illust-North]

John Galvin, “The Big Burn: Idaho and Montana, August 1910,” Popular Mechanics (July 31, 2007).

History of Wallace, Wallace Chamber of Commerce.

Former Toponis Railway Station Fully Linked to Gooding Brothers [otd 11/01]

Governor and U. S. Senator Gooding.
Library of Congress.

James H. Hawley’s History of Idaho, asserts that Gooding, “the county seat of Gooding County, was founded on November 1, 1907, by Frank R. Gooding, then governor of the State of Idaho.”

The term “founded” somewhat overstates reality, because settlers had already occupied the area for over a quarter century. The 1907 date actually refers to when the Idaho Irrigation Company finalized details of its big land sale in the area (Idaho Statesman, Boise, November 1, 1907).

White stockmen first appeared in the area in the 1870s, running cattle and horses. Then, around the fall of 1882, a settler reportedly built the first house on what would become the town site.

Oregon Short Line tracks entered the area in the summer of 1883. Sixteen miles west of Shoshone and on the river, the spot was a natural to establish a watering station. (Steam locomotives of the time could only go 10-15 miles before they had to refill their tanks.)

The station agent soon built a home there. Within a couple years, the U. S. Postal Service authorized a post office for “Toponis Station” – “toponis” is reportedly a Shoshone Indian word for “black cherry.” In 1886, one John Pointer started the first mercantile store nearby. By the following year, the Toponis post office was well established and the station agent had been named its postmaster.

Frank Gooding [blog, Sept 16] took up sheep ranching in the area in 1888, prospered in that line, and expanded his holdings. He became a leader in the state’s sheep industry and parleyed that into a successful political career: state senator, governor, and finally the United States Senate.

Over the years, the store at Toponis Station moved to a structure closer to the railroad depot and changed owners several times. By around 1900-1905, the area had become identified with the Gooding brothers, and people generally referred to the settlement by that name. Finally, organizers filed a townsite plat with Lincoln County at the end of October.

On November 1, 1907, the Statesman carried the headline, “Excursions to Gooding, Ida,” with special fares. An article in the same issue stated that the acreage being offered was “practically the last opening of Carey Act lands in Idaho, and the only tract on a transcontinental line of railroad, it being on the Oregon Short Line.”

The town incorporated under the name of Gooding the following year.

Gooding station photo, ca 1916. Personal Collection.

The area then grew rapidly, aided by the construction of a branch rail line, the Idaho Southern Railroad. The Idaho Southern ran to Jerome from an OSL junction in Gooding. The company went into receivership in 1916 and the Gooding-Jerome tracks became part of the OSL.

In 1909, the University of Idaho established an agricultural extension station in Gooding and two years later the state relocated its School for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind from Boise to Gooding [blog, Dec 4]. By the time Hiram T. French described in it 1914, the village had four hotels as well as “six churches, a creamery, a grain elevator, two banks, two weekly newspapers, and a monthly paper devoted to the wool-growing industry.”

Also by then, the legislature had split Gooding County off from Lincoln County and made the town the county seat.

Livestock raising, dairy, and farming are still the mainstays of the Gooding economy. Although passenger trains no longer stop by, the city notes its location on the main rail line as a big plus for its 80-acre industrial park.
                                                                                                                                      

References: [French], Hawley], [Illust-State]

Gooding, Idaho: Gateway to a Good Life, Rural Magic Valley Economic Development Association (2010).

“Idaho Territory: Alturas County,” United States Official Postal Guide, Callaghan & Company, Publishers, Chicago, by authority of the Post Office Department (January 1886).

Flagrant Voter Fraud in Idaho Territory’s First Elections [otd 10/31]

Governor Wallace. [Hawley]

On October 31, 1863, the brand new Territory of Idaho held its first elections. The Territory had been created six months earlier because of all the prospectors who rushed into the region with the discovery of gold [blog, Mar 4].

Less than a week after its creation, President Abraham Lincoln appointed William H. Wallace as the Territory’s first governor.

Born about fifteen miles north of Dayton, Ohio, Wallace took up a law career in Indiana and moved to Iowa in 1837, at the age of twenty-six. He emigrated to Washington Territory in 1853 and became heavily involved in politics there. In 1861, Wallace was elected as Washington’s Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. (Territorial Delegates have no vote on the floor, but can serve on committees and vote on issues at that level.) By then, of course, Pierce had discovered gold in what would become Idaho [blog, Oct 2].

Wallace did not arrive in Idaho until four months after his appointment. Even then, he took his time getting started. But finally, he set the election date. Aside from Montpelier, which everyone thought was part of Utah, Idaho contained the tent city of Lewiston – the Territorial capital – and a host of rough mining camps.

Idaho’s first Capitol, in Lewiston. [Hawley]

Historians Beal and Wells commented, “Idaho did not suffer from any lack of candidates for Delegate to Congress in the first territorial election.”

The list of ten or so included William H. Wallace: A return to Washington D.C. clearly appealed far more than presiding over an undeveloped and, truth be told, dangerous Territory.

With his recent experience as a Delegate, plus the visibility as Governor, Wallace soon distanced the field of Republican candidates. He received the nomination at a convention held in Mount Idaho.

During this period, large numbers of refugees and other discouraged Southerners – almost all of them Democrats – had begun to appear in Idaho. (Grant’s capture of Vicksburg in May 1863 convinced many that the Confederate cause was doomed.) Thus, people rather expected that the Democratic nominee, one John M. Cannady, would win handily.

That turned out to be a misread, for whatever reason. Some newcomers were not yet settled enough to participate in the election, and many had arrived too recently. (The Organic Act for the Territory stipulated that a man had to have been a resident when Congress passed the Act.) Wallace won with about 52 percent of the legitimate voters.

However, the election was marred by the infamous “Laramie Fraud.” Somehow the 50-100 eligible voters at Fort Laramie morphed into around 480 … almost all of whom voted for the Republican ticket. This blatant fabrication was angrily rejected by both political parties.

Oddly enough, the perpetrator – Federal Marshal Dolphus S. Payne – apparently did it to further a personal agenda; he had no particular interest in helping Wallace. Born in New York, Payne had moved to Oregon in the late 1850s before being appointed to the Idaho position. He was strongly pro-Union and aimed the fraud at a candidate for the Territorial Council. The candidate was an outspoken Secessionist, and heavily favored to win. Payne only included votes for Wallace to make the returns look legitimate

No one thought Wallace had any involvement, so opponents did not challenge his election. On the other hand, he received no encouragement two years later when he expressed a desire for a second term. Payne moved to California, opened a successful law practice, and was elected to a judgeship in Santa Clara County.
                                                                                                                                     

References: [B&W], [Hawley]

“Laramie Fraud,” Reference Series No. 154, Idaho State Historical Society.

“William Henson Wallace (1811-1879),” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, online.