Thara Call Waddoups (1882-1979)

From the Idaho Falls Post Register, November 4, 1949.

  Idaho fields a new interesting name in Thara Call Waddoups, who, during his long life rose to become a leading political figure in that state. First elected to the Idaho house of representatives in 1934, Waddoups served six terms in total and later was named to the state tax commission, serving until his retirement at age 85. Born in Bountiful, Utah on January 6, 1882, Thara Call Waddoups was the son of Thomas (1850-1934) and Cynthia (Call) Waddoups (1864-1946). Most often listed under the initials "T.C.", Waddoups was given the curious name Thara Call, with his middle name extending from his mother's maiden name.

  Waddoups's formative education was obtained in Utah, graduating from the Davis County high school. Around 1902 he made his first trip to Idaho, being employed as a construction worker on the Millner Dam in Twin Falls County. After an eleven-month residency there he returned to Utah to continue his schooling, and in 1904 graduated from the Latter Day Saint's Business College. In 1905 he resettled in Moore, Idaho, and in November 1906 married Josie M. King (1885-1960) in Salt Lake City. The couple's fifty-three-year marriage produced three children, Jimmie King (1907-1996), Ovy (1910-1987), and Mary (1918-2007).

  For the majority of his life Waddoups engaged in farming, and after locating in Moore developed "a 200 acre irrigated farm" in the vicinity of Lost River Valley. He expanded this farm a further 160 acres before selling it in 1916, whereafter he purchased a ranch in Antelope Valley. Through the 1920s and 30s, Waddoups built up a career as one of Butte County's leading public men. He was a founder of the first Rotary Club in the Lost River Valley and was a longstanding member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, being a high priest and high councilman. Additionally, Waddoups served twelve years on the Butte County school board and was vice-chairman of the Rural Electrification Association in the Lost River Valley in the 1940s. Waddoups was also heavily invested in the sheep ranching industry, and served on the Lost River Valley grazing district's advisory board for many years.

  In 1934 T.C. Waddoups made the jump into state politics, winning election to the Idaho House of Representatives that November. His first term (1935-37) saw him named to the committee on reclamation, and in November 1938 won a second term. Taking his seat in January 1939, he began a decade long tenure as Butte County's representative, and for five consecutive terms served as chairman of the committee on appropriations. He would also chair the committee on livestock in 1939-40, and during his second term held the additional post of chairman of the Butte County planning board. 

T.C. Waddoups as he appeared during his tax commission service.

     With his election to a fourth term in 1942, Waddoups was selected as assistant floor leader for the 1943-45 session, and chaired the House finance committee. This post saw both Waddoups and senate finance committee chair Kimber Call Barlow propose a "pay as you go" tax plan, which would enable Idaho taxpayers to pay their taxes on a "pay as you go" basis, "instead of the present system of paying a previous years taxes during the current year." For the 1947-49 term, Waddoups, as chair of the appropriations committee, tabled plans for an "emergency salary payment" to state teachers, noting:

"We have sacrificed an emergency salary payment to teachers in exchange for the long range educational program that will give them a fair wage next year."

  Waddoups's final house term concluded with the 1950 special session of the state legislature, and in March of that year was named by Governor Charles A. Robins to the state tax commission. He resigned from the legislature shortly thereafter to take his seat, and in 1953 was reappointed to the commission, this time for a full term of six years.

From the Twin Falls Times News, March 6, 1950.

  In March 1959 Waddoups was reappointed to another six year by Governor Robert Smylie, and during this period served as chairman of the Idaho State Advisory Board district, under the Bureau of Land Management. In April 1960 he suffered the death of his wife Josie, and did not remarry following her death. Reappointed to the tax commission for a fourth term in 1965, Waddoups retired in the fall of 1967 after  seventeen years of service. He continued to reside in Moore, Idaho after his retirement and celebrated his 90th birthday in 1972. Waddoups's final years were marred by ill health, and in 1979 was hospitalized at the Lost River Hospital in Arco. He died in that facility on June 15, 1979, aged 97. He was survived by all of his children and was interred alongside his wife Josie at the Hillcrest Cemetery in Arco. 

Dimond Malanjo Loosli (1876-1947)

Portrait from the Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 1913.

  Possessing an exotic-sounding name, Dimond Malanjo Loosli was born of Swiss descent in Utah and after entering young adulthood removed to Idaho with his family. A lifelong member of the Mormon church, Loosli's residency in Idaho saw him attain prominence in both church affairs and politics in the Fremont County area, being a choir leader, bishop's counselor, county assessor, and member of both houses of the Idaho legislature.

  One of nine children born to  Ulrich (1830-1918) and Elizabeth Eggimann (Bauman) Loosli (1842-1902), Dimond Malanjo Loosli was born in Clarkston, Utah on October 20, 1876. Natives of Switzerland, Ulrich and Elizabeth Loosli were members of the Mormon church and the former had first settled in the United States in 1860. Following his marriage to Elizabeth in 1869, the Loosli's resided in Clarkston, and in addition to Dimond Malanjo, Ulrich Loosli bestowed unusual names on four more of his children, including Troudgott Landlo (born 1869), Anfanial (died in infancy in 1870), Boundy Endore (born 1872) and Hyrum Ultra (born 1885).

   Loosli's early education saw him attend school in Trenton, Utah and he later studied at the Bannock Stake Academy in Rexburg, Idaho. In 1892 he removed with his family to Marysville, Idaho, and following a brief flirtation with a teaching career, married to Hattie Salisbury in Utah on November 11, 1898. The couple's near fifty-year union saw the births of nine children, Dimond Herschel (1899-1962), Stanley (1901-1987), Anna Lisle (1903-1981), Clayton Girr (1905-1976), Adrienne (1907-1997), Leo Arden (1909-1938), Berlin Ramsden (1911-1933), Alden Revere (1913-1988) and Donald Lamar (1915-2010).

  In the years following his marriage, Loosli established a farm and homesteaded 160 acres of land, where he raised grain and planted crops. Sources relate that he enjoyed tinkering in his workshop on his family's farm and had a love for music, playing bass horn in the Marysville band. In addition to this, Loosli also was a director in the Marysville ward choir. As a leader in the local Mormon church, Loosli taught a Gospel Doctrine class, held the post of ward clerk for the Marysville ward for nearly two decades, and was a high councilor in the Yellowstone stake for twelve years. 

  

Dimond and Hattie Loosli, from Marysville, Idaho: People and Happenings.

  Dimond M. Loosli made his first run for public office in Idaho in 1904, winning election as a justice of the peace for Marysville. In November 1930 he was elected as one of two Fremont county representatives to the Idaho state house of representatives and served during the 1931-33 session. Loosli would win a seat in the state senate in the 1934 election year, and during his term served on a special legislative committee that visited St. Alphonsus Hospital. While still an incumbent senator, Loosli was named to the Fremont County Agricultural Planning Board in February 1936, where he was a member of the peas commodity committee.

  After leaving office Loosli continued prominence in his native county of Fremont, serving as vice president of the Fremont County farm loan association, was a director of the Brady Canal, and remained dedicated to church work, traveling with his wife Hattie on a mission to California from 1939-40. In 1942 Loosli retired from farming in Marysville and removed with his wife to Ashton, Idaho, where he died on April 6, 1947, aged 70. Hattie Loosli survived her husband by nearly twenty years, dying two days short of her 90th birthday in 1966. Both were interred at the Pineview Cemetery in Ashton. 

Loosli in old age, from the "Ashton Family Histories", 2006.

Turpen Andrew Daughters (1869-1943)

From the Boise Evening Capital News, February 6, 1917.

   Native Hoosier Turpen Andrew Daughters found success in his adopted home state of Idaho, being at various times a school teacher, farmer, newspaper editor, and politician. A one-term member of the Idaho house of representatives, Daughters later removed to Spokane, Washington, where he was an Episcopal minister. One of several children born to William Turpen and Elvira Daughters, Turpen Andrew Daughters was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana on August 15, 1869.

  Early in his life Daughters left Indiana for Kansas, and subsequently earned his B.A. degree from the Kansas Normal College and also graduated from the Philadelphia Divinity School. In 1892 he removed to Moscow, Idaho to accept the post of Episcopal lay leader, and from 1892-1895 taught school in Montpelier. After further study at the University of Idaho, Daughters married in Colfax, Washington in April 1902 to Pearl Howard (1881-1952). The couple would later have three children, Freeman Howard (1903-1927), George Turpen (1905-1975), and Milo Phillip (1910-1983).

   Following his marriage Daughters and his family resided in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, where in 1909 he entered the publishing field, becoming editor of the prohibition leaning Coeur D'Alene Journal. He served as editor until at least 1913 and afterward engaged in farming in the Kootenai County area, being the owner of "valuable wheat and timber farm lands". Daughters' first step into politics came in 1914 when he entered into the race for the Idaho state house of representatives as a candidate of the Progressive Party. In an October 1914 write-up on his candidacy in the Rathdrum Tribune (shown below), Daughters outlined his platform, relating that high taxes and graft in the state could be curbed with the election of Progressive candidates to serve in state government.

A Daughters campaign notice from the Rathdrum Tribune, October 30, 1914.

  Although he would lose that contest, Daughters reemerged on the political scene two years later, again being the Progressive Party candidate for representative from Kootenai County. This time he was successful at the polls, and after taking his seat at the start of the 1917-19 term was named to the committees on Education, Educational Institutions, and Engrossed and Enrolled Bills. Daughters term in the house saw him come out a firm advocate for the division of the state, introducing resolutions that would have allowed a new state to be created out of Idaho's northern territory. Having resided in both the north and south portions of the state, Daughters believed the creation of a new state from northern Idaho was in the best interest of the state "due to the different industries and because of the geographical barriers."

  Daughters served one term in the legislature and by 1920 had left Idaho for Washington, and in that year's census is recorded as residing in Ritzville. He would return to church work during his residency in that state, being a minister in the St. James and St. Andrews churches in Spokane. Daughters died at his home in Ritzville on July 24, 1943, aged 74, and was survived by his wife Pearl. Both are interred at the Greenwood Memorial Terrace in Spokane. In an intriguing coincidence, this cemetery is also the resting place of another odd named political figure, Wisconsin state representative Menzus Raynard Bump, profiled here in August 2016.

Daughters' death notice from the Living Church, Vol. 107, 1943.

Nona Benoni Carpenter (1873-1944)

Portrait from History of Idaho: The Gem of the Mountains, Vol. 4, 1920.

  Despite being a state that has consistently refused to "play ball " when it comes to fielding unusually named political figures, Idaho has recently yielded three new strange name discoveries, all of whom were elected to the Idaho state legislature during the first half of the 20th century. The first of these men, Nona Benoni Carpenter, was unfortunately saddled with a very girly sounding first name, and after first locating the name I was under the assumption that I'd found a very early example of a woman winning a seat in the Idaho legislature. After further searching I was rewarded not only with Carpenter's middle name, but also the above portrait, and the following profile will be yet another example of a male political figure who "lucked" into getting a female first name!

   A native of Wisconsin, Nona Benoni Carpenter was born in the city of La Crosse on June 7, 1873, the son of Menzo and Frances (Farley) Carpenter. Early in his life, Carpenter removed with his family to Minnesota, where his primary education occurred, and following his father's death resettled with his family in Oregon. Nona B. Carpenter married in that state in October 1896 to Bertha Galbraith (1878-1949), and the couple's near five-decade marriage saw the births of seven children, Oscar Frank (1897-1972), Walter, Bennie, Frances, Eunice (1908-2003), George and Ernest (1914-1962).

  Carpenter was a resident of Oregon until 1898 when he permanently resettled in Idaho. Locating on the Nez Perce Indian reservation in Nez Perce County, Carpenter engaged in farming grain and raised cattle and hogs, owning a farming complex that spanned nearly 800 acres, 600 of which was under cultivation. He made his first foray into Idaho politics in 1918 when he was elected as a Republican to the Idaho House of Representatives, and during the 1919-20 session was named to the committees on Appropriations, Educational Institutions, and Fish and Game. This term would also see him chair the committee on School and Public Lands.

  In November 1920 Carpenter won a second term in the legislature, and the 1921-22 session saw him named to two new legislative committees, those being Rules and Order of Business, and Waterways and Drainage. Carpenter's life following the conclusion of his second term remains a mystery, excepting notice of his death in Lewiston, Idaho on April 29, 1944. He was survived by his wife Bertha, and both were later interred at the Normal Hill Cemetery in Lewiston.

Grundy Mortimore Brown (1900-1976)

Portrait from the Nampa Idaho Free Press, October 29, 1965.

   Just a few weeks following the profile of U.S. Senator and Judge Kirtland Irving Perky, Idaho yields another odd name political figure in Grundy Mortimore Brown, a four-term state representative from Canyon County. Brown's name was located via the 1967-68 edition of Who's Who In American Politics, a reference work that has led to profiles on three other odd-name politicians, Treffle G. Lavesque, Trible Dix Sutton, and Ordner T. Bundlie. While little exists online in regards to Brown's life and career, the aforementioned Who's Who aided immensely in terms of background information! 

   A son of George Mithrio (Mithro) and Elsie Luella (Fenton) Brown, Grundy Mortimore Brown was born in Rich Hill, Missouri on October 12, 1900. He relocated to Idaho with his family while still a child and graduated from the Mountain Home High School in that state. He married in Caldwell, Idaho in March 1923 to Ruby June Baggerly (1904-1987), to whom he was wed until his death. The couple later had three children, Robert J. (1924-2011), Norma Jean, and George Richard.

   Following his marriage, Grundy M. Brown purchased a farm near Huston, Idaho, and in the late 1920s, he and his family resettled in Nampa. In the succeeding years, Brown's name became a prominent one in that city's business community. He would be a dealer in International Harvester farming equipment and was the founder of the G.M. Brown Sons Transportation Inc., with which he was affiliated for over three decades. Brown would also serve as President of the Idaho State Transportation Association from 1952-1954. 

  Active in the civic affairs of Nampa, Grundy Brown served as a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Farm Bureau and took part in several fraternal organizations, including the Rotary Club, the Elks Lodge, the Masons, and the El Korah Temple Shrine of Boise.

   In 1960 Grundy Brown was elected as one of Nampa County's representatives to the Idaho State legislature. He served four terms in that body (1961-1968) and during this time held seats on the house committees on Insurance, Finance and Banking, Appropriations, Public Institutions and State Affairs, and chaired the committees on Transportation and Defense.

   Grundy Mortimore Brown continued to reside in Nampa until his death at a local hospital on May 8, 1976. He was survived by his wife and children and was later interred at the Kohlerlawn Cemetery in Nampa. One should also note that Brown's middle name is recorded as being spelled as both "Mortimore" and "Mortimer", the former being listed in the Who's Who In American Politics.