Payette County ID Archives Biographies.....Wachter, Louis 1858 - 1925
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Cheryl Hanson ihansonb@fmtc.com January 19, 2006, 1:35 am

Author: Hiram T. French

History of Idaho
By Hiram T. French, M.S.
The Lewis Publishing Co
Chicago & New York 1914

LOUIS WACHTER

Prominent among the active and prosperous business men of New Plymouth, Idaho, 
is Louis Wachter, the pioneer lumber dealer of that village and also the first 
to open a hardware store there, who with the characteristic energy and thirst 
of his Swiss forebears has builded up a thriving business enterprise and has 
been no less forceful and valuable as a citizen, contributing of his energy 
and influence to promote general progress and development in the new community.

On June 23, 1858, he was born at Belleville, St. Clair county, Illinois, to 
Anton and Margaret (Richar) Wachter.  Anton Wachter, a native of Switzerland, 
came to America in 1857 and settled at Belleville, Illinois, where shortly 
afterward he was married to Margaret Richar, whose birthplace and girlhood 
home in the German province of Alsace Lorraine had not been far distant from 
that of her husband.  They removed from Illinois to Washington county, 
Nebraska, in 1872, and there the wife and mother passed away in July, 1887.  
The senior Mr. Wachter, who is a blacksmith by trade but gave the most of his 
active career to farming, has been quite successful in a business way and is 
yet living, a retired resident of Washington county, Nebraska. 

Of the eight children of these parents, Louis Wachter is the eldest.  His 
schooling was concluded in St. Clair county, Illinois, at the age of eight 
when he took employment as a farm hand at $8 per month, and after attaining 
manhood he engaged in farming independently, following that vocation for 
seventeen years.  On June 13, 1899, while a resident of Herman, Nebraska, a 
cyclone swept the place and wiped out everything Mr. Wachter owned, but he had 
begun business life on his own resources and as the years had passed he had 
grown but stronger in ability and self-reliance.  Therefore, undaunted, and 
with determination and courage, he set about to build anew.  On May 1, 1902, 
he removed with his family to New Plymouth, Idaho, where with his son, 
William, he opened up a small hardware store, the first of its kind in the 
town and with which business he remained identified eight years.  In 1903 a 
partnership was formed with Arthur Meyer and about 1904 they opened up a 
lumber business in connection with the hardware store.  About 1908 Mr. Meyer 
purchased the Wachter interests in the entire business, but a year later 
resold the lumber yard to Mr. Wachter, who has since owned and conducted that 
branch.  His is a thriving business and one that is rapidly increasing as the 
town and community develops.  

He is a Democrat, but not active in political work, and fraternally he 
affiliates with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America at 
New Plymouth, Idaho, and with the Ancient Order of United Workmen in 
Nebraska.  In religion he favors the Roman Catholic church but is not a member 
and attends all denominations.  Mr. Wachter has been twice married.  His first 
wife was Miss Anna C. Bree, whom he wedded April 15, 1883, in Burt county, 
Nebraska.  She was born in  Wisconsin June 14, 1861, a daughter of William 
Bree, and died at Herman, Nebraska, July 19, 1899, as a result of the shock 
received in the terrific cyclone that swept that section that year.  Five 
children were born to this union:  A. William, now a resident of Portland, 
Oregon; Laura, unmarried; Pearl, the wife of John Herfurth, of Boise, Idaho; 
Mardell Wachter, and one which died in infancy.  His second marriage occurred 
October 24, 1911, at Pocatello, Idaho, and united him to Miss Mary McVitty, 
whose native state is Pennsylvania

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