Ada County ID, established in December 1864, is located in southwestern Idaho and serves as the state’s most populous county, with Boise as its county seat and largest city. The county’s establishment came during a period of significant expansion and settlement in the Pacific Northwest, spurred by the discovery of gold and the subsequent mining booms in Idaho Territory. Its geographic features, including the Boise River and surrounding foothills, have played a pivotal role in its development, influencing settlement patterns, agriculture, and the establishment of transportation routes. Ada County’s early records, crucial for genealogical research, begin in the 1860s and encompass land transactions, mining claims, and vital records that detail the lives of early settlers, many of whom were miners, farmers, and entrepreneurs drawn to the region by economic opportunities. The area was traditionally inhabited by the Shoshone and Bannock tribes, who utilized the river valleys and foothills for hunting, fishing, and gathering. For genealogists, Ada County’s historical records, including census data, marriage, birth, and death records, provide invaluable insights into the socio-economic dynamics of the region and the ancestries of families who have called it home since its establishment.
A business man of Boise engaged in the manufacture of lumber and flour, Mr. Ridenbough, is a native of St. Joseph, Missouri, where he was born April 17, 1853. He has built a most palatial residence in Boise, and his home, with its beautifully arranged grounds, fittingly represents the good taste of its builder. In Boise Mr. and Mrs. Ridenbough possess a large number of friends, who are often the recipients of their cordial hospitality.
Willard “Willie” Schlegel, 82, a former Elgin resident, died June 26, 2003, at Emmett Rehab & Healthcare in Emmett, Idaho. The family invites all of Willie’s friends to join them in a memorial celebration of his life on Saturday, July 26, at 2 p.m. at the Stampede hall on the rodeo grounds in Elgin. The oldest son of Velma and William “Bill” Schlegel, Willie was born March 12, 1921, in Whitefish, Mont. He attended school in Whitefish, where he excelled in sports. In high school he was a member of the all-star team in both football and basketball. After graduation, … Read more
Mary Kerby, 83, a longtime Baker County resident, died Jan. 20, 2002, at St. Elizabeth Health Care Center. Visitations will be until 5 p.m. Friday at the Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. A vigil service will begin at 7 p.m. Friday at St. Francis de Sales Cathedral, First and Church streets. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Saturday at the cathedral. The Rev. Robert C. Irwin will celebrate. Vault interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. Mary Ann Davis Kerby was born to Edwin and Marcella Davis at the old St. Alphonsus Hospital in Boise … Read more
For many years actively connected with the development and progress of different sections of this state, Mr. Johnson is now the proprietor of the Overland Hotel, in Boise, and is regarded as one of the most popular and best known citizens of Idaho. A native of Ottumwa, Iowa, he was born March 17, 1857, a son of William W. and Eliza A. (Myers) Johnson. His father, a native of Indiana, born in 1829, died in Ottumwa, Iowa, in 1867, and his wife, who was born in Botetourt County, Virginia, also departed this life in Iowa. By profession Mr. Johnson was … Read more
La Grande, Oregon Keith Mickey Lundgren, 89, of Boise and formerly of La Grande died Jan. 9 at his home. Mr. Lundgren was born May 6, 1917, in Osceola, Neb. As a young man growing up on the Great Plains, Keith was drawn to the romance of the railroad and the possibilities of the West. After graduating from Grand Island High School in Nebraska, he joined the U.S. Navy. He spent six years, just prior to World War II, aboard the U.S.S. Lexington traveling around the Pacific and through the Panama Canal, including several weeks searching for the lost aviator … Read more
Obituary for Elver D. Needles, age 94, of Baker City, Oregon, who died Nov. 25, 2002, at St. Elizabeth Health Services.
The founders of a state are not merely the men who handle the reins of government and control the public policy, but are also those who carry civilization into hitherto wild regions and develop the natural resources of the state: Such an one is Mr. Davis, who came to Idaho in pioneer days and was the first to establish the fact that this is an excellent fruit-producing region. Thus he introduced a new industry and thereby largely promoted the material welfare of the region. His business interests have ever been energetically and successfully managed and his reputation in commercial circles … Read more
Doris Mabel Snell of Boise, a former Baker County resident, died July 7, 2003, two days before her 89th birthday, at her home where she had lived for more than 50 years. A celebration of Doris’s life was at 1 p.m. Friday at the Alden-Waggoner Funeral Chapel in Boise. Pastor Eric Brown of the Cloverdale Seventh-day Adventist Church officiated. Interment was at Cloverdale Cemetery, where she was laid to rest next to her husband, Loyal. Doris was born to Joseph and Ida Bowman on July 9, 1914, at their homestead at Wolf Creek. Although born healthy, digestive difficulty made it … Read more
Gretta M. Vance, 97, a former Baker City resident, died April 6, 2005, at her home in Meridian, Idaho. Her funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Relyea Funeral Chapel, 318 N. Latah St., Boise, Idaho. There will be a graveside service in Kansas at 1 p.m. CDT April 19 at the Medicine Lodge Cemetery. She was born on June 19, 1907, at Medicine Lodge, Barber County, Kan., to Harvey Harris and Jennie Stone McCoy. She attended school at Medicine Lodge and graduated from high school there. She attended business college at Wichita, Kan. She married Howard V. Vance … Read more
Baker City, Oregon Jose D. “Joe” Zamora 72, of Baker City died Sept. 23, 2001, at the Veterans Nursing Home in Boise. His funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Coles-Strommer Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. Pastor Monte Loyd of Baker Valley Christian Assembly will officiate. Vault interment will be in Mount Hope Cemetery with military rites accorded by Baker City Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 3048. Visitations will be until 7 o’clock tonight at the funeral home. Mr. Zamora was born Dec. 24, 1928, at Morrell, Neb., a son of Horacio and Fidela Moya Zamora. He was … Read more
This distinguished practitioner at the bar of Idaho has been connected with the leading interests of the state for some years, and in all the relations of life he has commanded the respect and confidence of his fellow men by his fidelity to duty and his devotion to the interests entrusted to his care. He comes from the far east, being a native of Connecticut. His birth occurred in Granby, that state, on the 4th of October, 1854, and his ancestry includes both Irish and Puritan stock. His paternal great-grandfather, a native of the Emerald Isle, emigrated to the New … Read more
Barbara Lee Rayborn Snyder Beeson, 67, a former Baker City resident, died Nov. 17, 2006, at Boise after a valiant struggle with cancer. Her funeral will be at noon Wednesday, at Providence City Cemetery in River Heights, Utah. Friends and family may call from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Nelson Funeral Home, 162 East 400 North in Logan, Utah. Condolences may be extended to the family online at www.nelsonfuneralhome.com. Barbara was born on March 8, 1939, at Portland, the second child of Norman and Carol Rayborn. The family lived at Portland until moving to Baker City where Barbara graduated … Read more
This worthy gentleman is one of the substantial citizens of Malheur County and one of the thrifty stock men and farmers of the vicinity of Rockville, his estate of two hundred and twenty acres of good land lying seven miles west from that place. Mr. Carlton was born in Maine in 1834, being the son of Amos and Mary Carlton. He received his education from the County in the schools of his native state and there remained – until 1854 when he came via Panama to San Francisco, and thence to Indian valley in Sierra County, where he at once … Read more
The sturdy German element in our national commonwealth has been one of the most important in furthering the substantial and normal advancement of the country, for this is. an element signally appreciative of practical values and also of the higher intellectuality which transcends all provincial confines. Well may any person take pride in tracing his lineage to such a source Moses Alexander is one of the worthy sons that the Fatherland has furnished to America, and Boise now numbers him among her leading merchants, while in the office of mayor he is capably handling the reins of city government. He … Read more
Eloise (Albrecht) Mitchell, 82, a former Baker City resident, died Aug. 28, 2005, after a brief struggle with a blood disorder. Informal services will take place in September at her daughter Victoria’s home in Martinez, Calif. Eloise was born Oct. 6, 1922, at Pocatello, Idaho. When she was a young girl her family moved to Baker City. She went to school in Baker City and still has many area friends who will remember her. She was active in band, chorus, and Rainbow Girls. She was active in the First Presbyterian Church. She was proud that she never missed a class … Read more
The story of pioneer life in Idaho is well known to such men as Samuel Strickler, for through thirty-six years he has been a witness of the development of the northwest and has faithfully borne his part in the work of up building and advancement; he now resides in Bellevue. He claims Pennsylvania as the state of his nativity, his birth occurring in Chambersburg, Franklin County, November 21, 1832. He is of German descent and his ancestors were among the early settlers of the Keystone state. His father, Samuel Strickler, was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and married Susanna Hollinger, also … Read more
Dr. C. A. S. Prosser, born in 1864 in Lunenburg, Ontario, was a respected physician in Boise, Idaho. Descended from Loyalist ancestors who settled in Canada during the American Revolution, he pursued medical studies under his brother’s guidance before graduating from Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1887. After practicing in New York and Iowa, he moved to Boise in 1893 due to health reasons, where he established a successful practice and served as a physician and surgeon at Wesleyan Hospital. He married Clara Raymond in 1889, with whom he had two daughters.
The profession of the law, when clothed with its true dignity and purity, and strength, must rank first among the callings of men, for law rules the universe. The work of the legal profession is to formulate, to harmonize, to regulate, to adjust, to administer those rules and principles that underlie and permeate all government and society and control the varied relations of man. As thus viewed, there attaches to the legal profession a nobleness that cannot but be reflected in the life of the true lawyer, who, conscious of the greatness of his profession, and honest in the pursuit … Read more
In 1892 twenty thousand dollars was voted by congress for the improvement of Snake river, and one hundred thousand dollars for the Boise public building. The river and harbor appropriation bill, passed by congress in April, 1896, carried twenty-five thousand dollars for the improvement of the Clearwater River, and five thousand dollars for the Kootenai between Bonner’s ferry and the British boundary. The appropriation for the Boise public building was increased from one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to two hundred thousand dollars and a building site was selected which cost seventeen thousand and five hundred dollars. Of the special … Read more
A leading representative of the commercial interests of Hailey is R. W. Berry, the well known proprietor of a hardware store. He is an enterprising and progressive business man, whose well directed efforts, sound judgment and capable management insure him success, and today he is numbered among the substantial and valued citizens of Blaine county. A native of Maine, he was born in Augusta, on the 25th of March 1842 and is of Scotch lineage. His father, Arthur W. Berry, was born in Maine and married Miss Lucretia Jane Marble, also a native of the Pine Tree state. The father … Read more