strom) Haskins, who are residents of Boise. When Mrs. Ruick was but four years of age
her parents removed to Dayton, Washington, and later to Genesee. Her mother was
born in Sweden. Mrs. Ruick was educated chiefly at Genesee, Idaho. She is a lady
of liberal culture, who presides with gracious hospitality over an attractive home at
No. Ill East Idaho street, Boise. With her reside Miss Anita R. Bibbins, a well
known teacher of voice and piano, who is a devoted friend of the family, with whom
she has lived for many years in the capacity of companion, friend and musical
instructor to the Ruick children.
In religious faith Mr. Ruick was connected with the Christian Science church and
he belonged to the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United Work-
men. He was a past master of the local lodge and representative to the supreme lodge.
He possessed a genial nature and gentlemanly bearing and was one of the most highly
esteemed citizens of Boise, while his worth as a poltical leader and a molder of public
thought and opinion was recognized throughout Idaho. No one ever questioned the
honesty of his opinions, and he labored untiringly for the adoption of every principle
which he believed to be right in connection with the material, intellectual, social,
political and moral progress of the state.
JAMES S. BUSSELL.
Banking institutions have often been regarded as the heart of the commercial
body, indicating the healthfulness of trade, and the bank which takes cognizance of
conditions in any community and directs its activities so as to constitute a force in the
upbuilding and progress of the district is indeed an institution of worth. Such a policy
is being followed by the Twin Falls Bank & Trust Company of Twin Falls, Idaho, of
which James S. Bussell is the vice president. Bending his attention to constructive
effort and administrative direction in this connection, he is doing all in his power not
JAMES S. BUSSELL
HISTORY OF IDAHO 411
only to further the growth of the bank but to promote the development of the entire
region.
Mr. Bussell is a native of Texas, having been born at Seymour, that state, on the
27th of July, 1883, his parents being Joseph and Minerva (Lee) Bussell. The father
was born in Tennessee, where his father conducted a large plantation before the Civil
war, and where he spent his boyhood days. He afterward went to Texas, where he
engaged in the live stock business and also in banking, becoming the leading organizer
of three banks, one at Goree and two at Seymour the Farmers' National Bank and the
First Guaranty State Bank. He was also one of the organizers of the Bomarton State
Bank of Texas. He is now living in Los Angeles, California, and has reached the age
of seventy years. The mother, however, passed away in that state at the age of sixty-
three yeans. Mr. Bussell has led a most active, busy and useful life and in connection
with his banking and live stock interests he also operated a flour mill at Seymour,
Texas, where he had a compress and an ice plant. His activities have been of an im-
portant and extensive character and through the careful direction of his labors he has
won notable^ success. His political allegiance has always been given to the democratic
party and that his life has been guided by high and honorable principles is indicated in
his membership in the Baptist church and in the Masonic fraternity.
The boyhood days of James S. Bussell were passed at the place of his nativity and
after attending the schools of Seymour he continued his education in a business college
at Dallas, Texas, and subsequently secured the appointment of court reporter of the
fiftieth judicial district court, in which capacity he acceptably served for six years.
He then turned his attention to the banking business, becoming cashier of tho First
National Bank of Goree, Texas. He later sold the bank and afterward organized the
Bank of Rogerson, of Rogerson, Idaho, with a capital stock of fifteen thousand dollars,
which owing to the substantial and rapid growth of the business was later increased to
twenty-five thousand dollars. Mr. Bussell took the position of cashier and on the 3rd
of January, 1916, was elected to the presidency of the bank and still fills that position.
On the 1st of April, 1919, however, he removed to Twin Falls to accept his present
position as vice president of the Twin Falls Bank & Trust Company. His long expe-
rience in banking well qualified him for the onerous duties which he assumed in this
connection. He is familiar with every phase of banking and has ever recognized the
fact that the bank is most worthy of public support that most carefully safeguards the
interests of depositors. He has therefore always followed a policy that never leaves
the course of the bank open to question and at the same time he has done everything
in his power to extend credit and assistance to depositor's that the substantial develop-
ment of the community at large shall be promoted. Mr. Bussell is likewise interested
in ^heep raising and is the owner of lands in this section of the country.
In 1915 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Bussell and Miss Maud E. Chamberlin.
a native of Capron, Illinois, and a daughter of Leroy Chamberlain. They have one
child, Ruth Virginia. Mr. Bussell is a stalwart supporter of the Masonic organization
and he also holds membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. Prompted
by a spirit of progress that has caused him to utilize all the advantages that have come
to him in a business way, he has steadily advanced and is today one of the prominent
figures in the business and financial circles of Twin Falls county.
FRANK WILLIS ALMOND, M. D.
Dr. Frank Willis Almond, physician and surgeon of Boise, was born at Aspen,
Colorado, July 17, 1885, a son of Francis William and Julift (Jaeger) Almond, who
are now residents of Boise, where the father is engaged in civil engineering. The son
reared largely in Denver, Colorado, to which place his parents removed when he
was a little child of but two years. In 1901 the family home was established in
Idaho and ho continued his education in the public schools until graduated from the
high school with the class of 1906. For two years thereafter he was engaged in civil
engineering work in the United States reclamation service. In 1908-9 he did pre-medical
work in the University of Idaho and from 1909 until 1914 was a student In the medical
department of McGill University at Montreal, Canada, There he was graduated in
1914 with the M. D. degree, and also the degree of Master of Surgery was conferred upon
him. He spent a year and a half as interne in the Royal Victoria Hospital of Montreal,
thus gaining broad knowledge and valuable experience which can never be as quickly
412 HISTORY OF IDAHO
secured in any other way as in hospital practice. He also spent six months as interne
in the Montreal General Hospital and in 1916 he joined the Canadian Army Medical
Corps and served until the close of the war in the Canadian Army Hospital Service,
with the rank of lieutenant, being finally discharged in February, 1919.
In July of the same year Dr. Almond entered upon the general practice of medicine
and surgery at Boise, Idaho, as the associate of Drs. Falk and Collister, well known
and prominent physicians, with offices in the Overland building. Dr. Almond is a
member of the Idaho State Medical Society and also belongs to the Alpha Omega Alpha,
an honorary medical society. His lodge connections are with the Woodmen of the
World and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and his religious faith is indicated
by his membership in St. Michael's Episcopal church.
R. H. BELL.
R. H. Bell, manager of the Caldwell Milling Company at Meridian, was born in
Wilson county, Kansas, December 15, 1890, a son of William F. and Mary E. (Long)
Bell. The father is a native of Indiana and was married in Wilson county, Kansas,
in 1872 to Mary E. Long, a native of Pennsylvania. She died March 15, 1917, but the
father is still living and is yet identified with the farming interests of southeastern
Kansas.
R. H. Bell acquired his education in the schools near his home, completing his
studies when nineteen years of age in the high school at Neodesha, Kansas, a town
of Indian name signifying "two rivers." He then came to Idaho in 1910 on account
of his health, making his way to Weiser, and for three years after his removal to thr
state did not engage in any occupation. He then entered the employ of the Caldwell
Milling Company of Weiser, there remaining until August, 1914, when he was trans-
ferred to Meridian. It was due to his efforts that the milling company was per-
suaded to build the fine elevator at Meridian with a capacity of forty-five thousand
bushels of grain and erected at a cost of thirty-five thousand dollars. It was com-
pleted on the 1st of November, 1918. Before the erection of this elevator the com-
pany carried on business in a wooden building which was used as a warehouse and
had a capacity of about fifteen cars, the grain all having to be handled in sacks. Mr.
Bell now has an assistant throughout the year, but in the old structure he did the
work alone. In the year 1918 the milling company paid to the farmers of this vicinity
twenty-five thousand dollars for clover seed and wheat. Their business is increasing
at the rate of about fifty per cent annually and the Meridian plant, which is a branch
of the Colorado Milling & Elevator Company, is proving a profitable enterprise.
On the 3d day of May, 1913, Mr. Bell was married to Miss Jessie Maxwell, of
Weiser, Idaho, and they have one child, Phyllis, who was born July 29, 1916. Mr. and
Mrs. Bell have gained many friends during the period of their residence in Meridian
and he has made for himself a creditable position as an enterprising and resourceful
business man.
RT. REV. FRANK HALE TOURET.
Rt. Rev. Frank Hale Touret, Episcopal bishop of Idaho, residing in Boise, was
recently appointed to this position as the successor of Bishop J. B. Funsten. Liberal
educational advantages and broad experience in the work of the church splendidly
qualified him for the honors and duties which he has assumed in Boise. He is a son
of Benjamin A. and Lucy Hatch (Marks) Touret, both of whom have passed away.
The father, who was a contractor and builder, was born at Salem, Massachusetts, in
1851 and departed this life in 1909, while the mother, who was born at Portsmouth,
New Hampshire, March 2, 1853, died in 1895. She was the daughter of Captain Thomas
H. Marks, who followed the sea and thus won his title. On the paternal side the
family comes of French ancestry.
The birth of Rt. Rev. Frank Hale Touret occurred at Salem, Massachusetts, March
25, 1875. He was graduated from Harvard University as a member of the class of
1897 with the degree of A.B., receiving in 1901 the degree of A.M. He later spent
two years in business pursuits in Boston, while a year thereafter was devoted to
HISTORY OF IDAHO 413
travel. He passed the summer of 1913 in England, traveling and visiting various
noted cathedrals and other points of interest. In the meantime he had prepared for
the ministry in the Episcopal Theological School at Cambridge, where he jcompleted
his course in 1903 with degree of B.D. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Lawrence
In the year of his graduation and served his diaconate at St. John's church in
Providence, Rhode Island, being advanced to the priesthood in 1904. He then became
curate of Christ Episcopal church in Detroit, Michigan, where he labored until 1906
and next became rector of St. Luke's church at Fort Collins, Colorado. In 1910 he
became rector of Grace church at Colorado Springs, thus continuing until October, 1916,
when he was elected bishop of western Colorado by the general convention of the
Kpiscopal church, which met at St. Louis. He filled that ecclesiastical office until
October, 1919, when he was elected bishop of Idaho to succeed the late Bishop J. B.
Funsten, his election occurring at the convention of the church in session at Detroit,
Michigan. It was at that convention that the missionary district of western Colorado
was returned to the diocese of Colorado, making the boundaries of the state and church
identical. Bishop Touret has also served as a member of the diocesan board of missions
and has held other offices within the gift of the church. His consecration took place in
his parish church at Colorado Springs in 1917 and wherever he has labored his efforts
have been of a most resultant character, owing to his unfaltering zeal.
On the 19th of May, 1906, in Denver, Colorado, Bishop Touret was married to
Miss Irene Chittenden Farquhar, a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who was reared,
however, in Detroit, Michigan, and was educated in Clark University of Worcester,
Massachusetts, and in the Teachers' College of New York city. She had been a teacher
for some years and at the time of her marriage was a member of the faculty
of the Detroit Home and Day School. She is a granddaughter of General Alpheus
Williams who was a brigadier-general of the Union army, and is a daughter of
Colonel Francis U. and Mary Howard (Williams) Farquhar. Her father, who was
a graduate of West Point and a noted army engineer, has passed away. The Bishop
and his wife resided at Colorado Springs from 1907 until 1917 and during the years
1907 and 1908 he was treasurer of Colorado College, located at Colorado Springs. He
is a member of the Harvard Club of New York city, and of the Cheyenne Mountain
Country Club, Colorado Springs, Colorado. He keeps in close touch with all the vital
issues and problems that are before the country as well as with the work of the
church and cooperates in all the agencies for social betterment.
WILLIAM BRYON.
For almost fifty-six years William Bryon was continuously a resident of Idaho
save that for a brief period he resided in Alaska. After a few months absence, how-
ever, he returned and thus from pioneer times until his death on the 26th of July,
1918, he was closely associated with the development and upbuilding of the state.
Through the greater part of the period he made his home in Boise, while hi business
interests and investments connected him largely with the mining of gold in the state.
He came to Idaho from San Francisco in the spring of 1862, attracted by the gold
discoveries, the first of which had been made in 1860.
Mr. Bryon was born in Genesee county, New York, on the 4th of November, 1833,
and after spending the first twenty years of his life on the Atlantic coast made his
way to California by way of the Isthmus of Nicaragua in 1853. It was because of his
desire to search for gold in the mines of th->t state that he had severed home ties and
journeyed to California, where he engaged in mining for a few years. He afterward
turned his attention to the live stock business in California and in that connection
won very notable and substantial success. He was one of the first representatives
of the sheep industry in that state. In 1868 he built a meat market in Boise, after
having resided in this city for five years and in the state for six years. Not only did
he win recognition as a leading business man of the city but was also called upon for
active public service. For three terms he filled the position of sheriff of Ada county,
to which he was first elected in 1870 upon the republican ticket. His ability in office
led to his reelection, and the interests of law and order were greatly promoted during
his administration of the duties of that position. He aleo served as a member of the
Boise city council for eight years, exercising his official prerogatives in support of
414 HISTORY OF IDAHO
many plans and measures for the public good, and throughout the greater part of the
time he was chairman of the street committee.
In 1871 Mr. Bryon was married to Miss Lillias M. Russell, who was born near
Chicago, Illinois, April 19, 1851, a daughter of Myron and Caroline (Dana) Russell.
Her father came to Idaho from Kansas in 1865 and four years later was joined by
his family. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bryon was celebrated in Boise and to
them were born five sons, William R., Charles R., Russell, Ernest and Norman, who
died in infancy. Ernest passed away at the age of twenty-six years in California and
is buried in Boise. William R. and Russell are prosperous business men of Portland,
Oregon, while Charles is in Chile, where he is also conducting profitable business
interests.
The family home of Mr. and Mrs. Bryon was at the corner of Main and Twelfth
streets in Boise for thirty-two years, and on the expiration of that period Mr. Bryon
sold the property there and built an attractive residence at No. 1419 North Eleventh,
street, which he occupied for fifteen years, or until the time of his demise. One of
the local papers spoke of him as one "who came to the territory in the early days and
was ever a conspicuous figure in the development of the state."
CLARENCE M. OBERHOLTZER.
Clarence M. Oberholtzer, of Burley, president of the Bank of Commerce, is a man
to whom difficulties and obstacles have seemed but to serve as an impetus for renewed
effort in his business career. Steadily and persistently he has worked his way upward
until his example should constitute an inspiring force in the lives of those who know
aught of his record. He was born at Lewis, Iowa, December 20, 1864, and is a son of
Henry H. and Lavina (Reist) Oberholtzer. He spent his boyhood days at the place
of his nativity and in early life became a clerk in the Council Bluffs (la.) National
Bank, accepting a position at a salary of twenty dollars per month. He later became
associated with the firm of Burnham, Tulleys & Company of Council Bluffs and after-
ward was made credit man for the Pioneer Implement Company in the same city. In
the spring of 1909 he came to Burley, Idaho, and organized the Bank of Commerce,
which was capitalized for twenty-five thousand dollars. The business was first estab-
lished in the old Hotel Burley and was there conducted until January, 1913, when the
hotel building was destroyed by fire. The bank reopened in the postoffice building and
on the 1st of September, 1913, removed to its present business block. On the 1st of
March, 1916, the capital stock was increased to fifty thousand dollars, a fact indicative
of the steady and substantial growth of the business. The Bank of Commerce of Burley
is today regarded as one of the safe and solid financial institutions of Cassia county
and this section of the state, a well deserved reputation to which Mr. Oberholtzer has
contributed in large measure. Governor Hawley was the first vice president of the
bank and attended the first meeting of the stockholders. J. P. Davis, of Council Bluffs,
was the second vice president, with D. L. Wyland also as vice president and W. C.
Dickey, Jr., as cashier. Mr. Oberholtzer is also the secretary of the Burley Town Site
Company.
In 1907 Mr. Oberholtzer was married to Miss Ellen Dickey, a daughter of W. C.
and Ellen Dickey and a native of Iowa. They have two children, Ellen May and Dick.
In his political views Mr. Oberholtzer has always been a republican, giving stalwart
allegiance to the party and its principles. During the war period he was very active in
support of all government interests, was chairman of the Liberty Loan drives in Burley
and was a member of the Council of Defense.
HUGH GEORGE BODLE, D. V. S.
Dr. Hugh George Bodle is filling the position of state veterinarian of Idaho with
forty years of experience back of him as a veterinary surgeon. He was born at Rising
Sun, Indiana, on the 7th of March, 1859, his parents being Joseph S. and Sarah Ann
(Hall) Bodle. The father, also a native of Rising Sun, Indiana, became a farmer by
occupation. At the time of the Civil war, however, all business and personal consid-
erations were put aside and he responded to the country's call for troops, serving for
CLARENCE M. OBERHOLTZER
HISTORY OF IDAHO 417
three years as a member of Company K, Eighty fifth Illinois Regiment, in which he
was a non-commissioned officer. He participated in various hotly contested engage-
ments, went with Sherman on the celebrated march from Atlanta to the sea and during
the course of his military experience was three times wounded. In 1876 he removed
with his family to Pawnee county, Nebraska, and became the owner of a good farm
there, having obtained a comfortable competence through well directed industry and
enterprise. He passed away in Pawnee county in 1884, at the comparatively early age
of fifty-two years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Ann Hall, was born
in Kentucky and died in Pawnee county, Nebraska, in 1894, at the age of sixty years.
Dr. Bodle was the second in order of birth in their family of eight children, four
sons and four daughters, of whom six are still living, and he is the only one of the
family in Idaho. The Bodies have always been noted as men and women of large
physique and strength. Dr. Bodle weighs two hundred and fifteen pounds, while his
father's weight was two hundred and twenty-five pound*. He has a brother, John, who
is six feet in height and weighs two hundred and thirty pounds. His sister, Mrs.
William Lewis, of Pawnee county, Nebraska, carries a weight of two hundred and sev-
enty-five pounds, as does her husband, and their daughter, Miss Florence Lewis, aged
twenty-two, is doubtless the largest woman of her years' in Nebraska, her weight being
about double that of her father or mother.
It was in the fall of 1859 that Dr. Bodle's parents removed to Mason county, Illi-
nois, and there he was reared upon a farm. He was only seven months old when
they took up their abode at that place. He afterward attended the country schools
of the locality and also the public schools of Havana, the county seat of Mason county.
While yet in his teens he took up the study of veterinary surgery in Smith's Veterinary
College of Havana, Illinois, and has now practiced the profession for more than forty
years. He began in Illinois and from 1876 until 1883 was located in Pawnee county,
Nebraska. From the latter date until 1904, or for a period of twenty-one years, he en-
gaged in the practice of veterinary surgery at Kirksville, Missouri, and in the spring of
1904 he entered into a contract with a large cattle man of Bruneau, Owyhee county, Idaho,
to come to this state and perform a delicate surgical operation on a thousand head of
cattle on' the ranges of Owyhee county. This brought him to the state and, hearing of
the beauties and charms of Boise, he visited the city before returning to Kirksville. He
was so pleased with the city, its prospects, its conditions and its opportunities, that he
determined to make it his future home and after closing out his business at Kirksville,
Missouri, he returned to Boise with his family in August, 1904. Here he established an
office and practiced his profession with marked success until 1915, when he was appointed
state veterinarian by the live stock sanitary board of Idaho. He is also the first vice
president of the state board of agriculture and he has prospered in Boise in spite of some
severe losses occasioned through fires and floods. He has always kept in touch with the
onward trend of professional thought and experience and employs the most scientific
methods in practice. He belongs to the United States Live Stock Sanitary Association
and he has been a close^student of all that has to do with the maintenance of healthful
conditions among live stock and the restoration to health of those that have become
diseased.
In Nebraska, in 1881, Dr. Bcdle was married to Miss Eliza C. Dobson and they have
four living children, two sons and two daughters: Dr. Avis and Dr. Joseph Horace
Bodle, who are practicing osteopathy in Boise; Vida Gertrude, the wife of Lewis M.
Hewitt, of Los Angeles, California; and Goben Algeron, who is eighteen years of age.
Dr. Bodle is a Royal Arch Mason, a Knight Templar and member of the Mystic
Shrine and he is also identifled^with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows ajjd the
Modern Woodmen of America. His religious faith is that of the Methodist church,
while in political belief he is a democrat.
EMANUEL E. COLPIN.
Emanuel E. Colpin, vice president of the Oakley State Bank and a well known
figure in the business and financial circles of Cassia county and southern Idaho, was
born at Berlin. Wisconsin, April 18, 1875, and is a son of Henry and Caroline (Stubbe)
Colpin. He remained a resident of his native place to the age of twenty years and