Idaho Biographies ~ Eastman to Yates

Eastman, Hosea Bradford

Hosea Bradford Eastman, who is one of Idaho's leading citizens, is of old Revolutionary stock. His grandfather, Ebenezer Eastman, fought in the Revolutionary war, and his ancestors were all of great prominence. Mr. Eastman's father was Caleb Eastman, a farmer, and his mother was Tabitha Aldredge Eastman. His early education was obtained in the public schools of Whitefield, New Hampshire, where he was born November 21, 1835. At the age of twenty he went to work in a saw mill and logging camp, where he remained for five years in his home country. In the fall of 1861 he went to California, where he worked for about one year and six months on a stock farm. In the winter of 1863 he went to Auburn, Oregon, where he engaged in mining for a couple of years, and then came to Idaho, and built and ran the Idaho Hotel in Silver City, until November, 1877, when he bought the Overland Hotel at Boise City, and was also interested in real estate. He conducted the hotel until 1892, when he leased it. Mr. Eastman's brother, B. M. Eastman, was also interested with him in business.

Mr. Eastman was one of the organizers of the Boise City National Bank in 1886, and was vice-president of the bank until 1906, when it was sold. He is still a director. He is also general manager of the Boise City Artesian Hot and Cold Water Company. He also formed the Eastman-Teller Hardware Company in 1902, which company is now run by his son, B. S. Eastman. Mr. Eastman was a member of the City Council and of the school board of Boise City, and was one of the organizers of the Commercial Club and a charter member of lodge No. 310, B. P. 0. E. He is interested with Mr. Regan in the Overland Building, the finest office building in Boise City.

September, 1872, H. B. Eastman was married to Mary A. Blackinger of Idaho, and they have two children: Frank M. and Ben S. Eastman. Mr. Eastman with his family resides at 1215 Warm Springs Avenue, Boise, Idaho.

Gooding, Frank R.

Frank R. Gooding was born October 16, 1859, in England, his father being John Gooding, a farmer, his mother Elizabeth Gooding. While he was still a child his parents immigrated to America, settling in Michigan, and he was educated in the common schools of that State. He came West in the seventies and settled in Idaho, where he engaged in the livestock business. Idaho was admitted a State in 1890.

Mr. Gooding was elected to the fifth legislature and in 1904 he was elected Governor of the State as a Republican. Two years later he was re-elected to the same office. He was married in Idaho in 1880. The result of his union was three children, John M., Maud Elizabeth, and Louise, all living.

It was during his second administration that the celebrated case of Pettibone, Moyer and Heywood, came up for trial. These men were leaders of the Western Federation of Miners, who were charged with being the instigators of the assassination of ex-Governor Frank Steunenberg at the gate of his own home in Caldwell, Idaho, by the explosion of a bomb. The result was the acquittal of the three men, although Governor Gooding and his administration used every effort to secure a conviction.

Governor Gooding retired from office on January 1st, 1909. He resides at Gooding, a town named after him, in Lincoln County, Idaho.

Hawley, J. H.

Mention of Idaho would be incomplete did it fail to include the name of James H. Hawley, politician, lawyer and public servant of the Gem State since his admission to the bar of Idaho in 1871.

James H. Hawley was born in Dubuque, Iowa, January 17th, 1847, his father being Thomas Hawley and his mother Annie Carr. The young man received his earlier education in the Dubuque high school, but early showed a tendency to seek western fields for the outlet of his ambition and a short time after completing his schooling he settled in Idaho. For a number of years Mr. Hawley was a miner, making his headquarters at Quartzburg, Idaho, completing his education in the rough and ready school of western adversity. During these years, however, he was not idle and in 1871 he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law. In 1875 he was married to Mary E. Bullock, but long before this he had distinguished himself in public life, having been a member of the lower house of the Idaho legislature in 1870-1 and of the upper house in 1874-5. During the period from 1879 to 1883 he filled the position of district attorney of the 2nd judicial district and from 1884 to 1887 he was United States attorney for Idaho.

Upon his retirement from that office Mr. Hawley proceeded to devote his full time and attention to the practice of law and early reaped a rich reward in his chosen field of endeavor. At all times regarded as one of the foremost legal lights of his State, he has been prominently identified with some of the most important legal actions which have ever taken place within the confines of Idaho. His success has been rapid and far reaching. Early known as an orator of force and strength, as a pleader he has achieved brilliant success. At this time he is the head of what is perhaps the best-known legal firm in the Gem State and in the years which have followed his early efforts he has established a record for success which is the pride and envy of the entire State.

Gifted with a lively imagination and with a positive, forceful temperament, well read and well posted on current events, Mr. Hawley is at once a delightful companion and a marvel of intellectual ability. In the practice of law and by means of such business ventures as have claimed his attention, he has accumulated a comfortable fortune of this world's goods. He has, however, stood ready at all times to assist his less fortunate neighbor in any way which lay within his power.

While no longer young, Mr. Hawley is possessed of the same tireless energy and indomitable courage which in his earlier years went so far towards establishing him upon the high road to the success which he has since achieved. In recent years, however, his life has been quiet as compared with the period of his early struggles for recognition. He is the owner of a well-appointed home in Boise, where surrounded by his family Mr. Hawley is to be seen at his best in every respect. Should he decide to re-enter public life, however, a still further measure of success is constantly assured him by his many friends throughout the entire State.

Olmstead, G. H.

George H. Olmstead, one of the most prominent railroad men in the United States and for over forty years connected with various rail-roads throughout the country in important positions, is a native of New York State, having been born in Vestal, Broome County, August 18, 1848, a son of Richard and Elizabeth Olmstead, of that town. The elder Olmstead was a farmer. George H. Olmstead received his early education in the public schools and subsequently attended the Susquehanna Seminary at Binghamton, New York, from which he graduated.

After leaving school he went west, and his first occupation was as an engineer on the Napa Railroad in California, where he stayed from 1868 to 1870. He then went with the California Pacific until 1873, and with the Central Pacific Railroad during the years 1873 and 1874. He then came East and entered the service of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, where he remained until 1882, and was then made general foreman of the motive power department at Sanborn, Iowa, a position he held until 1883. He next became a conductor on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, where he remained from 1885 until 1887. From 1889 until 1899 he was in the service of the C. B. & N. Railroad, and then accepted the position of traveling conductor of the Montana and Utah divisions of the Oregon Short Line on May 1, 1899. He was promoted to trainmaster March 15, 1900, and as acting superintendent of the Montana division, October 13, 1900, until July 13, 1901, when he was advanced to the position of superintendent of the Montana division. He was made superintendent of the Utah division in addition to his other position, July 7, 1903, to March 31, 1904, and was appointed superintendent of the Idaho division June 1, 1905. On October 28, 1908, Mr. Olmstead was granted a leave of absence on account of ill health, and on February 1, 1909, was appointed superintendent of the Montana division, which position he now holds. During the years 1874 and 1875 Mr. Olmstead traveled extensively through South America and on the Isthmus, and gained much knowledge of conditions there at that time.

Mr. Olmstead was married February 17, 1879, and has been a resident of Idaho since 1899. He first arrived at Helena, Montana, November 10, 1866. He is a director in the Bannock National Bank of Pocatello, Idaho; a member of all Masonic bodies and of the Silver Bow Club of Butte and resides at No. 15 Harrison Avenue, Pocatello, Bannock County, Idaho.

Edward Payne

Edward Payne, who is one of the best-known business men of Idaho, has been a citizen of Boise since 1882. The greater part of his wealth was accumulated during a long period while engaged in sheep-raising. He retired from this business two years ago and is now president of the Boise State Bank of Boise, president of the Bank of Commerce of Arco, Idaho, and is a director of the First Bank of Council, Idaho.

Yates, John E.

The history of Idaho is an interesting one, and no State in the Union has made more rapid progress than this important section of the inter-mountain region. It would be impossible to write the history of Idaho without including the name of the subject of this brief biography.

John Elvin Yates was born in Bristol, Maine, February 4th, 1845. He is the son of John Yates, who was a sea captain, and of Sophia Blunt Yates. Mr. Yates received a common school education at Bristol, Maine, and later immigrated to Idaho, arriving there in 1892, and since then has been permanently and actively identified with many of the most important financial institutions and other corporations in Idaho. Mr. Yates was at one time president of and one of the principal owners of the Yates and Corbus Live Stock Company; was an original stock-holder and director of the Bank of Commerce, and for several years its president. He was also a former director in the Idaho Trust and Savings Bank, and a director in the Farmers' Bank of Star, Idaho. All of these positions Mr. Yates resigned upon his determination to retire from an active business career, which he did during the past year, after sixteen years of an honorable business career during which time he did much for the general welfare of Idaho, and was, and is, considered one of the leading and most public-spirited citizens of Boise City.

Mr. Yates' first wife was Roxanna Cox, of Bristol, Maine, and to this union no children were born. His second wife was Georgia Town-send, to whom he was married at Sycamore, Illinois, and they are the parents of eight children, namely: Dorothy, Margaret, Marjorie, John T., Oscar T., Frederick T., William T., and Stephen T. Yates. Mr. Yates was a member of the sixth session of the Idaho legislature, and a member of the Boise City council for two years. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Though Mr. Yates takes much pride in his achievements during his life in his adopted State, he has, however, a warm spot in his heart for the State of Maine, where he first saw the light of day within sight of the sea. . Being descended from a race of sailors he went to sea himself as a boy for seven dollars per month, and with the assistance of such friends as he made himself he became the commander and part owner of as fine a ship as ever sailed the seas in the Oriental trade in the days of sailing ships; and can refer to this day to the builders of the ships and to those whose business and money he handled in all parts of the world.

Index

Source: Sketches of the Inter-Mountain States, Utah, Idaho and Nevada, Published by The Salt Lake Tribune, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1909