Ralph H. Kelley, editor and manager of the Winchester Journal,
is a young and wide-awake representative of the journalistic
interests of Lewis County, Idaho, who, though he has been a citizen
of the state but a short period, gives evidence on the pages of his
paper that he has caught the Idaho spirit and has the most
optimistic faith in the future of both his county and of the entire
commonwealth. He is well experienced in newspaper work, having
practically grown up in the atmosphere of printer's ink, as his
father has for years been one of the prominent newspaper men of
Minnesota, and he not only has the knowledge gained by experience
but he has the native originality and ability that makes for success
in journalism. one of the secrets of genius is painstaking effort,
and judging from the make up of the Winchester Journal we
hazard the prediction that Mr. Kelley will not long remain a village
editor but soon will be found n a much more prominent and
responsible position in newspaper work.
Ralph H. Kelley was born in LeSueur county, Minnesota,
April 3, 1889, and grew up in that state, receiving his education in
its public schools. After school days were over he began to learn
the printing business and has followed it practically ever since. In
1909 he came west, spending the first summer in California, where he
was employed in the lumber business, and from California he went to
Washington, where he followed the printing business for about a
year. Following that he came to Winchester, Idaho, to take charge of
the Winchester Journal and under his energetic management it
is made a force in pointing out the resources and possibilities of
this section of the state and in fostering the spirit of development
and progressiveness among all who are located here. Mr. Kelley says
that of the places he has visited he has seen none that will compare
with the Craig mountain district of Idaho, among its many good
features beings its valuable and fertile farm lands. In politics he
is a Republican and he is now vice chairman of the Lewis County
Republican central committee. He is a member of the Foresters of
America and is now one of the deputy grand chief rangers and
organizers of the order. His religious faith is expressed as a
communicant of the Episcopal church.
Charles T. Kelley, the father of our subject, also was
born in LeSueur county, Minnesota, and has spent his entire life
there, being numbered among the pioneer citizens of that locality.
Until nineteen years of age he followed farming; then he took up
newspaper work and has been identified with that profession ever
since, being now the publisher of the Menahga Journal at
Menahga, Minnesota. He is prominent not only as an editor and
publisher but for his influence in Republican political affairs. He
has held many minor public offices and has been spoken of for very
high national political honors, as many of the leading newspapers of
Minnesota have urgently requested him to become a candidate for
congress, but he has always refused on account of business
interests. Deeply interested in civic improvement, he never loses an
opportunity to promote the interests of his town and community and
is an active member of the Northern Minnesota Development League. In
Minnesota he was joined in marriage to Miss Minnie Barlow, a native
of Kentucky who was a devout communicant of the Episcopal church and
who passed away in 1904, when about forty years of age. She was laid
to rest at Cleveland, Minnesota. Of the seven children of these
parents, Ralph H., is the second in birth and is the eldest son. His
brother, William H. Kelley also has taken up newspaper work and is
located at Touchet, Washington, where he publishes The Pioneer.
History of Idaho, 1914 Volume III
©Shauna Williams |
William T. Shockley, Lewis County, Idaho, figures as one of the most
attractive, progressive and prosperous divisions of the state,
justly claiming a high order of citizenship and a spirit of
enterprise which is certain to conserve consecutive development and
marked advancement in the material upbuilding of this section. The
county has been and is signally favored in the class of men who have
contributed to its development along commercial and agricultural
lines, and in the latter connection the subject of this review
demands recognition, as he has been actively engaged in farming
operations in the Nez Perce district since 1896. He has long been
known as a prosperous and enterprising agriculturist, and one whose
business methods demonstrate the power of activity in the business
world, and in that connection proved himself well fitted for
participation in public affairs.
March 11, 1868, in Franklin county, George, occurred
the birth of William T. Shockley, who is a son of Jeptha J. and
Susan (Mells) Shockley, both of whom were born and reared in
Georgia, and the latter of whom is now deceased. The father was a
Confederate soldier during the Civil war, and served as a member of
the First Georgia Infantry, under General Johnston, in Hood's Corps,
Stoval Brigade. During the progress of the war he participated in
many sanguinary battles, and July 22, 1864, was captured by the
Union forces at Atlanta. He served for eight months in a Federal
prison. After the war he went to Texas, and he is now a prominent
and successful real estate dealer and farmer at Bay City, that
state.
To the public school of Melissa, Georgia, William T.
Shockley is indebted for his rudimentary educational training. At
the age of eighteen years he left school and thereafter was
interested in agricultural pursuits in the Lone Star state for a
time, and was deputy sheriff at Melissa. In 1896 he came to the Nez
Perce reservation in Idaho and immediately located a homestead of
one hundred and sixty acres adjoining the city of Nez Perce. With
the passage of time he improved his land and he now owns one f the
finest estates in this section. He makes a specialty of raising
horses and wheat and has met with remarkable success. He was
appointed the first sheriff of the newly organized county of Lewis
by Gov. James Hawley in 1911, and served in that capacity until
January 1, 1913. His political support is given to the Democratic
party. In a fraternal way Mr. Shockley is a Mason, a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the
Woodmen of the World. He owns considerable real estate of value in
the city of Nez Perce. He and his wife are zealous members of the
Christian church, in which faith they are rearing their children.
Mr. Shockley is ever ready to assist in affairs of interest to
state, county or town, and he is held in high esteem by his numerous
friends and acquaintances.
September 29, 1895, Mr. Shockley was united in marriage
to Miss Julia E. Eastepp, a native of Texas. This union has been
prolific of six children, whose names are here entered in respective
order of birth: May, Ivy, Charles, Alice, Henry and Ada, all of whom
are at home.
History of Idaho, 1914 Volume III
©Shauna Williams |
