Ada County ID Archives Biographies.....Eoff, Alfred 1845 - 1908
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 January 10, 2012, 11:23 pm

Source: See below
Author: S. J. Clarke, Publisher

    FOR more than two decades Alfred Eoff was an outstanding figure in the
banking and business circles of Boise and previous to this he had become widely
known throughout the west as a representative of the Wells Fargo & Company
express agency and its predecessor, the Ben Holladay Company. Stationed at
various points in the west, he became thoroughly familiar with the history of
this section of the country and his support of all progressive measures made him
a potent factor in the development of the districts in which he lived. 

    Illinois claimed Alfred Eoff as a native son. He was born at White Hall,
Greene county, that state, on the nth of January, 1845, his parents being James
L. and Jane (Ayres) Eoff. The family is of Holland lineage and was founded in
Virginia at an early period in the colonial history of the country. The removal
of the grandparents of Alfred Eoff to Illinois connected the family with that
section of the country and there his parents were married. They had a family of
five children, of whom three died in infancy, while one son, Jacob Henry, passed
away at Colorado Springs in 1887, Alfred Eoff being the last survivor of the
family. For many years the father engaged in the real estate business and at an
early period in the development of the Pacific coast country went to California
by way of the Isthmus of Panama and there passed away in 1885. 

    Alfred Eoff was but fifteen years of age at the time of his mother's death
and afterward went to live with his aunt and uncle, Enos and Jane Ayres, in
Chicago, the former being one of the prominent citizens of that day. The
environment of his youth had much to do with molding the splendid character of
Alfred Eoff. He attended the public schools of Chicago to the age of seventeen
years and then, attracted by the discovery of gold at Pike's Peak, Colorado, he
made his way to that state. Not long afterward he enlisted under Colonel George
L. Shoup and was detailed to the medical department. He remained in the army
until the close of the war, when he received an honorable discharge, being at
the time but twenty years of age. For a brief period he remained in the east
following the close of his military experience and then returned westward to
Colorado, where he became an employe of the Ben Holladay Mail Overland Express
Company. Acting as special agent, he was entrusted with the duty of taking out
supplies with which to equip the office of the corporation and in a special
coach started from Atchison, Kansas, on the Missouri river, and outfitted every
station as far as Denver and from Denver westward to Salt Lake and northward
through Idaho to the Boise basin. It was on the 10th of July, 1866, that he
arrived in Boise, and establishing the office at Idaho City, he remained in
charge of the Idaho business with that place as his headquarters until the fall
of the year. When Wells Fargo & Company in October, 1866, purchased the Holladay
line, Mr. Eoff was appointed paymaster on the line between Salt Lake and Denver
and made monthly trips over that route, occupying the position until the railway
reached Cheyenne early in 1868, at which time he was made terminus agent for the
same company. When the railroad was completed he was appointed agent at the
Western terminus, so serving for a short time before the road was extended to
San Francisco. In the latter city he became connected with the banking
department of Wells Fargo & Company and thus received his initial experience in
the banking business, in which he was later to figure most prominently in Boise.
For a year, beginning in 1870, he was associated with Hugo Richards, of
Prescott, Arizona, in supplying an Indian contract, and following his return to
San Francisco he was again connected with the banking department of Wells Fargo
& Company as bookkeeper and later was sent to Salt Lake as cashier in the
company's bank at that point. In 1878 he was again transferred to San Francisco
as assistant cashier of the Wells Fargo Bank but in 1884 left the employ of that
company to engage in business on his own account. He formed a partnership with
E. A. Hawley and at Prescott, Arizona, organized the First National Bank, but
the high altitude of the city seriously affected his health and he returned to
San Francisco. He was there advised by old friends — Mr. Wadsworth, H. B.
Eastman and A. H. Boomer — of the need of a second banking institution in Boise,
Idaho, and they volunteered to assist him in the establishment of a bank there
by becoming stockholders. In the fall of 1885 Mr. Eoff visited Boise and decided
that he would open a bank, which he accordingly did on the 3d of March, 1886,
thus establishing the Boise City National Bank, one of the strongest financial
institutions of the northwest. In 1892 a removal was made to larger quarters and
the capital stock increased to one hundred thousand dollars. During the twenty
years in which Mr. Eoff continued as cashier and manager the bank paid an annual
dividend of ten per cent and added two hundred thousand dollars to the value of
its property. Not only was Mr. Eoff instrumental in the successful management of
the bank, but was also closely associated with the promotion of the townsite of
Weiser. He retired from business on the ist of July, 1906, selling his interest
in the bank, and his remaining days were spent in well earned rest save for the
attention which he gave to his invested interests. 

    On the 12th of October, 1881, in San Francisco, Mr. Eoff was united in
marriage to Miss Victoria Louise Marsh, a native of Canada and a daughter of
George F. and Mary (Elrod) Marsh. After retiring from the banking business Mr.
and Mrs. Eoff spent two years in travel and then returned to their Boise home,
where he passed away on the 29th of June, 1908. At all times he manifested the
keenest interest in the welfare and progress of the city, contributing to its
commercial, intellectual and moral progress. In politics he maintained an
independent course but was never remiss in the duties of citizenship. In fact he
was a leader in many movements which resulted beneficially to Boise and his aid
and support could at all times be counted upon to further any plan for the
city's up-building and development. A feeling of the deepest regret spread
throughout Boise when the news of his demise was received. Of him the Daily
Statesman wrote: "There are few men here who stand in such a peculiarly high
position as that which was occupied by Mr. Eoff. He was strong in counsel,
forceful in action, tender in the feelings of all of every station with whom he
came in contact, and so lovable in his social relations that the most exacting
critic, coming to know him, could not fail to set the seal of approval upon him.
He was true as the steel of Damascus, loyal as the sun itself, and of such
exalted character that he may well be selected as a pattern for every man who is
actuated by a desire to win and retain the confidence and the love of those with
whom he is associated and the community in which he lives. 

    "In business Mr. Eoff was a power for the welfare of the city. He had rare
judgment and men learned to lean upon him with the confidence that those alone
can command who have proved that they possess great wisdom and that uprightness
of purpose which is the handmaiden of wisdom in accomplishing results that are
lastingly beneficial and beneficent. After having been associated with the
business affairs of various western communities, he selected Boise as the place
that seemed to offer the best opportunities for a career that should be
profitable, creditable and most useful and measured by the highest standards. He
took hold with that broad grasp that was such a strong feature of his mental
equipment, and soon won a commanding position which he retained throughout his
business career, and which he still held up to the time he was stricken, though
his active connection with business management had ceased. 

    "Not only in business, but in public affairs also he was a tower of
strength. There was nothing of value to the city that he did not stand ready to
champion and assist, and to him Boise owes more, perhaps, than to any other
single man the development of its commercial energy, its municipal strength and
progressiveness, its moral tone and its culture that have characterized its well
balanced progress. The city can illy afford to lose him, for he was one of those
upon whom it could lean without fear of having its standards lowered. 

    "No man had more friends than Alfred Eoff; few can hope to have as many. He
was always quietly genial, whether in the casual meeting on the street or within
the portals of his attractive home. Words fail when attempt is made to speak of
the social side of this nobleman of nature. He was always the same and that
means he was always perfect. As tender of the feelings of those by whom he was
surrounded as he would be of those of a child, he never caused pain, but always
shed sunshine about the pathways of others wherever he moved. He was so
considerate, so steadfast, so true, so loyal, that even so much as an appearance
of neglect or coldness was altogether foreign to him — totally absent from the
memories of all those who have known him. His home life was faultless; it was
ideal. Nothing more can be said; but, as those that knew that home reflect upon
the awful sundering of ties that has occurred, their hearts go out in
unspeakable sympathy to her who has been left desolate by the inexplicable blow
that has fallen." 

    Mrs. Eoff still makes her home in Boise and is very prominent in the social
circles of the city. While a native of Ontario, Canada, she was chiefly reared
and educated in San Francisco, California, and she is a recognized leader in the
church, club and social circles of Boise, becoming the organizer and the first
president of the Columbian Club, one of the leading clubs of the capital. She
also took a very helpful and active part in war work, including the Red Cross
activities, and her cooperation is never sought in vain where the interests of
the unfortunate are concerned. 


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

IDAHO
DELUXE SUPPLEMENT
CHICAGO
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY

1920


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