The development of
Caldwell and of Canyon county is attributable to its real
estate men perhaps more than to any other class of its
citizens, for active in the real estate field are progressive
men who realize the opportunities of this section and are
endeavoring to locate in the district families who desire to
develop farms and contribute to the upbuilding of the state.
In this connection Mr. Leavell has become well known and his
labors are far-reaching and resultant.
A native of Iowa, Mr. Leavell was born in Appanoose
county, May 1, 1858, a son of Benjamin W. and Susannah
(Whistler) Leavell, both of whom were of American birth. The
father died in 1866. The mother a native of Virginia, long
survived him and passed away in Idaho in 1903. One son of the
family, Jefferson Leavell, was a soldier of the Civil war and
died at Jefferson barracks, near St. Louis, Missouri, while
still in the army.
The educational opportunities of B. F. Leavell were
rather meager, being limited to not more than three terms in
the common schools at intermittent periods, as his mother had
been left a widow when he was but eight years of age, and as
he was the eldest of her children responsibilities in
connection with the support of the family devolved upon him
when he was still quite young. On attaining his majority he
engaged in the restaurant business and also began
merchandising at Moulton, Iowa, meeting with substantial
success in the conduct of his store. After six months,
however, he sold the business owing to ill health, which
caused him to leave that section of the country. He removed to
eastern Kansas, where he took up the occupation of farming
upon rented land and for seventeen years successfully carried
on general agricultural pursuits. In 1900 he came to Idaho and
purchased a ranch between Caldwell and Boise, south of Star.
He afterward disposed of that property and homesteaded two
miles south of Wilder, on the Boise-Payette project. He has
since rented his farm for a term of years and is now engaged
in the real estate business in Caldwell, putting forth every
effort to locate families in good homes, where success will
attend their efforts and contribute to the development of the
country. He possesses both the knowledge and land to
accomplish his purpose in this connection and has already
succeeded in bringing many families to this section of the
state, his labors thereby proving an element in the
development of Idaho.
In 1881 Mr. Leavell was married to Miss Flora Markley,
of Iowa, and they are the parents of eight children: Ray O.,
who is married and has two children; Grace I., who is married
and has one child; Louis I., who is married and has four
children; Susie M., who is married and has one son; Frank M.,
who is married and lost one child; Sylvia, who is married and
has one daughter; Oliver M., who enlisted on his twenty-first
birthday, in the Sixty-ninth Coast Artillery on September 5,
1918; and Essie, who is attending high school. Mr. Leavell
sought the opportunities of the west and has made an
attractive home for himself and family, while in the conduct
of his business affairs he has met with substantial results.
|
