Bannock County
IDGenWeb
The progressive men of the Great West who were born in this section of
the Union may be justly entitled to the designation of pioneers, for all
of their lives have been passed amid the stirring events and undeveloped
conditions with which civilization has had to battle in bringing the
country into a prosperous and profitable state. And among these men we
must reckon Lewis A. West, who has ever been in touch with the changing
progress and transition from a sagebrush wilderness into a wholly
rounded civilized section, governed by law and order and influenced by a
marvelous and remarkable religious activity. Growing up as he has amidst
this progress, he has here found ample scope for his rare energy,
quickness of thought and wonderful versatility, and, recording the lives
and activities of the representative business men of Pocatello. Bannock
county, a a well-defined space must be given to him. He was born in
Ogden, Utah, on September 4, 1859, a son of L. A. and Elizabeth (Baker)
West, the father being a native of Pennsylvania and the mother of
London. England. His paternal grandfather, Ira West, resided in New York
state and was a descendant of energetic progenitors who came to the
American colonies in the early days of the country, the family in each
generation from that time always occupying a place at the front of
pioneer movements. The father, a veteran of the Mexican Avar, thereafter
crossed the plains to California as one of the Argonauts of 1849. From
there he came to Utah in 1851 and long conducted freighting operations
between Ogden and Virginia City. He was a man of great force of
character and held with capability the responsible office of sheriff of
Weber countv for a number of years previous to his death, which occurred
in 1870, at the early age of thirty-seven. The mother was a daughter of
Walter and Ann) Baker, her father being a locomotive engineer, who met
his death in a railroad accident in his native land of England, the
widowed mother coming to Utah in 1859 with her family and bringing the
first piano of the territory. The subject of this review was bur eight
years of age at the death of his father, and from this early period the
responsibility of the care and support of the family largely depended
upon him, and in consequence thereof his opportunity for attending
schools was exceedingly limited, his earnest desire for an education
being only satisfied by study during his hours of labor at night. Until
he was nineteen years of age he was engaged in different occupations,
loyally devoting his wages to the fort of his family; then he became
identified with the buying and selling of hides and wools, in which
trend of commercial activity he traveled extensively through south
Idaho, Wyoming and parts of Utah. In March, 1884, he located at
Pocatello, mere founding the branch of M. C. Silva Hide & Wood Co., of
which he was the efficient and capable manager until 1888, when the
Pocatello house was closed. Pleased with his location, and being well
aware of the advantages of Pocatello as a business center and place of
residence, he then established the Pocatello Lumber and Furniture Co.,
which under his successful management continued in operation until 1893,
when, on account of the disastrous panic which swept over the country,
he lost all of the results of his successful years of operations, losing
$46,000 because he could not raise $3,000. Commencing again at the
bottom, he went to work for wages for the Oregon Short Line Railroad
Co., with which he was identified until 1896, and, on retiring from its
service, he was presented with unsolicited letters of recommendations,
and accepted a position with the Idaho Furniture Co., with which he was
engaged for two years' time. On January 1, 1898, he again established
himself in the trade in his present line of business, later removing his
location to the present central one on the corner of Center and Arthur
streets and here he has been prospered, and by his financial ability and
his intuitive knowledge of the laws of trade, acquiring a rapidly
increasing patronage among the representative people of the county. His
business interests are not confined to trade, for he is quite
extensively connected with mining operations, having an interest in a
number of promising claims and being the president of the Fort Hall
Mining & Milling Co., of Pocatello, being considered a man of shrewd
judgment, wise prudence and alert to the comprehension of affairs and
great financial ability.
Mr. West is a prominent factor not only
in business, but in all the departments of social life and endeavors of
the community. In 1891 he was elected school trustee and was chairman of
the board which built the present commodious, attractive and suitable
school building, but as this did not meet the public idea of
expenditures in a structure, the entire board was retired from office at
the next election. Mr. West was one of the first trustees of the town
and its first town clerk. In national politics be espouses the cause of
the Republican party, but in municipal elections he supports the
candidate he deems the best qualified for the office, irrespective of
political affiliations. He is deeply interested in the growth and
success of the town and county, an active worker in all departments of
its progress and a liberal supporter of every movement tending to its
advancement. Fraternally Mr. West is a member of the Knights of Pythias,
of which he is at present the supreme representative and was its grand
chancellor in 1895 and 1896. He is also connected with the Masonic
society, of which he is a valued member, and in the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks he is a prominent member and is also affiliated
with the Modern Woodmen of the World.
Mr. West was married in
Utah, on November 23, 1881, with Miss Isabelle Ballantyne, a native of
Utah and a daughter of Richard and Sarah (Clark) Ballantyne, natives of
New York, the paternal grandfather being an emigrant from Scotland.
Richard Ballantyne was a man of great force of character and religious
sentiment, being the first person to organize a Sunday school in Utah,
of which he was among the earliest pioneers of the Mormon church. Mr.
and Mrs. West have had five children: Lewis A., Isabelle, died in
infancy, Richard B., Erie E. and Eugene. The family stands high in the
community and their hospitable residence at 231 South Cleveland avenue
is a center of courteous hospitality, while his family is rich in the
possession of those qualities which endear them to the best people and
are numbered among the valued citizens of Bannock county.
Extracted from Progressive Men of Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Fremont and Oneida Counties, Idaho, published in 1904, pages 460-462, contributed 2021 Jun 15 by Norma Hass
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