Madison-Fremont County ID Archives Biographies.....McKinlay, George W. 1857 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/id/idfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 January 12, 2012, 12:45 am Source: See below Author: S. J. Clarke, Publisher GEORGE W. McKINLAY is the president of the Farmers Implement Company of Rexburg and his business connections place him in the front rank of the progressive and representative citizens of Madison county. Alert and enterprising, he is ready for any emergency and for any opportunity. He was born in Scotland, May 4, 1857, and is a son of Robert and Isabelle (Watson) McKinlay, who were also natives of the same country. The father worked there as a stationary engineer until 1875, when he came to the new world, making his way to Provo, Utah, where he continued in the same line of activity for two or three years. In 1884 he removed to Idaho and settled in Madison county, then Oneida county, filing on land near Teton. This he improved but later lost it. He was given a tract of land by his son, George W., and his remaining days were devoted to general agricultural pursuits. He passed away in Teton, December 24, 1899, at the age of sixty-five years. The mother is still living in Teton and has reached the notable old age of eighty-five years. George W. McKinlay was reared and educated in Scotland and followed mining in his native country until 1874, when he too made the trip across the briny deep and began work in the Alta mining district south of Salt Lake, where he was employed in the mines for about eight years. In less than a year he had earned enough to bring his father, mother and nine children to the United States. He afterward followed railroading for two years and became a contractor in connection with the building of the Denver & Rio Grande in Utah. In 1884 he removed to what is now Madison county, Idaho, and filed on land near Teton, which he improved and which he has since owned. In 1913 he took up his abode in Rexburg, but in the meantime he had been engaged in sheep raising for ten years and had won a substantial measure of success through the sheep industry and through his farming operations. On taking up his abode in Rexburg he assisted in organizing the Farmers Implement Company, of which he was vice president during the first year. At the first annual meeting, however, he was elected to the presidency and has since served in that capacity. He has proven that he possesses marked capability in commercial lines, just as he does along agricultural lines. He has closely studied the trade, keeps in touch with the market and with every improvement made in farm machinery and has supplied his patrons with the best that the leading implement manufacturing houses of the country afford. He is today the heaviest stockholder in the Farmers Implement Company, which is erecting a modern cement and brick building fifty-nine by one hundred and twenty-five feet on Main street, containing two stories and basement. The firm occupies all of the building and they have also established branch houses at St. Anthony, Newdale, Ashton and Teton, Idaho. The business therefore covers a very wide territory and the trade is constantly and steadily increasing, making this one of the foremost enterprises of the kind in the northwest. On the 11th of November, 1879, Mr. McKinlay was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Barclay and to them were born ten children: Robert, who died in infancy; Jane, who is the wife of Frank Moss and resides at Teton, Idaho; Janet, the wife of I. S. Richmond, also a resident of Teton; William and Arthur, who are operating their father's farm; Oscar, who is manager of an elevator at Rexburg; Flossie, the wife of James McArthur, a resident of Wilford, Idaho; Laura, the wife of Chris Jensen, of Rexburg; Alma, who married Margaret Burch and is a farmer residing in Madison county; and Stella, who died in 1888, when but eight months old. The wife and mother passed away October 14, 1912, after a short illness, and on the 3d of March, 1915, Mr. McKinlay was again married, his second union being with Isabelle Archibald Rigg, who by her former marriage had four children: Mary, the wife of William Baugh; Emeline, at home; Marvilla, the wife of Charles L. Willard; and William, residing in Teton, Idaho. In 1913 Mr. McKinlay built a fine home in Rexburg, which he is now occupying. He belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in which he is a high priest, and he has been in the bishopric of the Teton ward for several years. Politically he is a democrat and he has been prominent in political circles since coming to Idaho. His ability, his civic loyalty and his personal popularity make him a citizen whose influence is widely felt, and his aid and support are always given to every cause or project which he believes will prove of benefit to the community at large. He has been very prominently connected with the commercial, industrial and financial interests of his section of the state during his residence here and is numbered among the pioneer settlers of 1884. Throughout the interim he has occupied a position of prestige among the men who have been active in directing public affairs and in developing the county to its present state of prosperity and progressiveness. He was one of the first canal builders of the Upper Snake river valley, helping to promote and build the Canyon Creek and Teton canals. He was also one of the promoters of the project of putting the flume across the Teton river, which carries the water of the Fall river to Teton. The cause of education has also found in him a stalwart champion and for sixteen years he was a most able member of the school board of Moody creek and did most valuable service for the children of the district. He was one of the promoters of the sheep industry of this section of the state and has been an officer of the Fremont Wool Growers Association for many years. His farming and stock raising interests were carried on most extensively and he has met with success in all of his undertakings. He was among the first to prove the value of dry lands and has been among the leaders in introducing improvements of all kinds in connection with the reclamation and development of this section of the state. He has acted as the adviser of Mr. Harris, manager of the Farmers Implement Company, and his sound judgment and keen sagacity have been important factors in the upbuilding of one of the leading business interests of this section. There is no phase of public life here, whether it has to do with industrial development, intellectual advancement or moral progress, that has not benefited by the efforts of George W. McKinlay. He possesses the sterling characteristics of a self-made man, and his dominant qualities have found scope in the opportunities offered in the growing western country. This combination has produced results which are most gratifying to the individual and to the community at large. Additional Comments: Extracted from: IDAHO DELUXE SUPPLEMENT CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1920 Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/id/madison/photos/bios/mckinlay46gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/id/madison/bios/mckinlay46gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/idfiles/ File size: 7.5 Kb