Another citizen of McCammon who is a factor in both the political and business life of the county is the Hon. Thomas M. Edwards, who, with his brothers Walter and Charles own the McCammon Investment company. Mr. Edwards was a member of the State House of Representatives from 1908 until 1910, and a member of the Republican state central committee for Bannock county in 1910 and 1911. Thomas Edwards was born in Yankton, S. D., in 1864. His father, Colonel Thomas H. Edwards, was a veteran of the civil war and his grandfather, Col. Jonathan Edwards, was a veteran of the Mexican war. Thomas Edwards settled in McCammon in 1900, being attracted to the town by the opportunities it offered. Since that time he has helped to organize the McCammon State Bank, of which he was formerly president, the McCammon Telephone company, the Portneuf-Marsh Valley Irrigation company, the Downey Townsite & Development company, the Ferguson-Jenkins Drug company, of which Thomas Jenkins and Samuel Ferguson are the present proprietors, and several other smaller enterprises. The first permanent settlement in Bannock county was made in 1866, when a party of Latter Day Saints established themselves at what is now Malad City. Since that time most of the larger Christian denominations have carried their missionary work into the county, whose religious development unfortunately has been carried on principally by a succession of short ministries. In addition to the Rev. C. Van der Donckt, of whom some account has already been given, two men, however, have worked long and faithfully in building up the religious life of the county. One of these is the Venerable Howard Stoy, an archdeacon of the Episcopal church, who, with headquarters in Pocatello, gives pastoral care to over twenty-five mission points, although not all of these are in Bannock county. His jurisdiction, indeed, covers a distance of more than two hundred miles westward from the Wyoming line, and in the course of his work he sometimes travels three thousand miles in a month. He has opened up many a town and hamlet to churchly influence and has conducted services at points that had never known a Christian service until his coming. Such men, above all others, are contributing to both the present and future upbuilding of the community, and to them is all honor due. Mr. George Peacock, a missionary of the American Sunday School association of Philadelphia, is another man who is sacrificing all worldly interests in order to carry Christian instruction to children who must be without it, except for him. Mr. Peacock organizes undenominational Sunday schools in places that have no church, these schools in time being taken over by the first church to establish itself in the town.