Boise Developer, and County and State Treasurer John Eagleson [otd 09/22]

Businessman and financial expert John W. Eagleson was born September 22, 1869 at Cadiz, in eastern Ohio. The family moved twice while he was a youngster, first to central Iowa and then to eastern Nebraska. After high school, he spent two years at the University of Nebraska, but then followed the family to Boise in 1891.

John Eagleson. [Hawley]

John first worked in his father’s lumber business, along with his younger brother Charles, who was still in his teens. Early-on the family took part in Boise politics. A year after arriving in Boise, John sought an appointive government job and, in 1893, brother Ernest was appointed City Engineer [blog, January 13]. A year after that, John’s father was a delegate to the Republican Party state convention, while John served as Assistant Committeeman.

Alongside all that, family business activities continued. Thus, in 1894, the last brother, Harry, moved to the Boise valley and engaged in handling fruits and vegetables. That led to an interest in cold storage, and on into the ice business. By 1897, the company firm was also engaged in chilling meat. At some point, they invested in a 1200 acre ranch on the Boise Bench, where they raised Aberdeen Angus cattle and top-grade hogs.

In 1898 John advertised his “Electric Ice Company,” which was ready to deliver ice for the summer. Presumably he had invested in an electrically-powered ice plant. That effort was short-lived, however, probably because he served from 1898 to 1902 as the Treasurer of Ada County. After that, he was Assistant Cashier for the Capital State Bank of Boise.

In parallel with that, John was Treasurer for the Boise Cold Storage Company. In 1904, that company opened a new refrigerated warehouse and ice-making plant. The state-of-the-art facility was said to create the purest ice available. John left the Capital State Bank in 1907, the year before it closed. For the next few years, he focused on the family businesses, including the cold storage company, a brick fabricator, and real estate sales.

Then, in 1914, John was elected Treasurer for the state of Idaho. He was re-elected in 1916 and 1918, the latter time by “the highest majority ever given a state official.” Because of his popularity, friends in the party “boomed” him to run against incumbent Republican Governor D. W. Davis. Apparently, Eagleson was never that enthusiastic about the prospect. Thus, not seeing any widespread support, he refused to allow his name to be introduced at the state convention. Nor did he run again for Treasurer.

For more than a decade after leaving the state office, John mainly worked as President and General Manager of a fire insurance company. In 1925, he did spend some time to push for a new country club and golf course for Boise. A new Idaho Country Club opened the following year, with John and brother Harry serving on the Board of Directors and as temporary officers. Many years later, the organization’s name was changed to the Hillcrest Golf and Country Club, as it is known today.

Hillcrest Golf Course. All Square Golf.

In 1935, John moved briefly to Omaha and then to Des Moines, Iowa. In Iowa, he served as statewide manager for a national insurance company, a job he held until his retirement in 1944. John and his wife returned to Boise for about three years and then moved to live next door to their married daughter in Altadena, California, near Pasadena.

John W. Eagleson passed away in California in 1958 and is buried in Boise’s Morris Hill Cemetery.
                                                                                                        

References: [Hawley]

“[JW  Eagleson News],” Idaho Statesman, Boise (June 1891 – July 1948).

Hillcrest Neighborhood Plan, Hillcrest Neighborhood Association, Boise, Idaho (2007).

Ben Ysursa, Idaho Blue Book, 2003-2004, The Caxton Printers, Caldwell, Idaho (2003).