Idaho County ID

Biography of Alexander D. McKinlay

The west is peopled with brave men, as men’s bravery is measured, but it has some notable citizens whose experiences extend back into the days of constant adventure and ever present peril. Could the exploits and dangers of such men of the west be written down and put into book form, they would form a series of narratives of more absorbing interest than the most exciting romances of western life and adventure that have ever been penned. A fair representation of this class is Alexander D. McKinlay. He is a son of Henry and Barbara Clarke McKinlay, natives of Scotland, … Read more

Biography of William A. Hall

Honored and respected by all, there is no man in northern Idaho who occupies a more enviable position in professional circles than William A. Hall, who for many years has devoted his energies to the practice of law and to the spread of the gospel among his fellow men. Born in England, February 15, 1847, he was five years of age when brought to America by his parents, William and Lucy (Atkinson) Hall, who crossed the Atlantic with their six children and became residents of Walworth county, Wisconsin. There the father engaged in farming up to the time of his … Read more

Biography of Mrs. Lucinda J. Brearley

In a history of the settlement of a state there is usually but slight reference made to the part which the women have taken in its development. This is, of course, due to the more active connection of the pioneer men with public life, while the wives, mothers and daughters are concerned in the duties of home making. Great credit, however, is due the brave pioneer women, who stand courageously by the side of husbands and fathers, sharing with them in the hardships and dangers which accompany the development of a new section; nor is their influence a minor factor … Read more

Coyle, Roy A. – Obituary

Funeral serviced for Roy A. Coyle, Sr., 82, of 2022 Resort St., longtime Baker and Baker county resident will be conducted at 2 p.m. Monday, February 25 at Grays West and Co. Pioneer Chapel. The Rev. Gerald C. Nelson of the United Methodist Church in Baker will officiate. Vault interment will follow in the family plot at Mt. Hope Cemetery with the Baker Veterans Organizations conducting graveside honors. Mr. Coyle died suddenly at his home early Thursday afternoon. He was born in Flora, Oregon the son of Howard and Estella Cannon Coyle. He had his schooling in Elk City, Idaho, … Read more

Biography of John Hanson

John Hanson, who loyally served this country as a member of the navy, is now successfully engaged in farming and stock raising on Camas prairie, in Idaho county, where he owns four hundred and eighty acres of land. He is a native of Denmark, his birth having occurred in that land on the 9th of June 1827. At the age of fifteen he bade adieu to home and friends and went to sea, eventually sailing to New York, in 1849. While there he joined the United States Navy and served for sixteen months, at the expiration of which period he … Read more

Biography of William F. Schmadeka

This gentleman has been such an important factor in the upbuilding of Grangeville that his life record forms a part of its history, and no work purporting to give an account of the growth and improvement of Idaho and her towns and cities would be complete without an account of his life. He has always resided in the northwest, his interests are centered here, and he has labored untiringly for the best interests of this section of the country. A native of Lane county, Oregon, he was born on the 5th of September, 1860, and is a son of George … Read more

Genealogy of Woodland, Idaho Families

Woodland Friends Church Sign

This book is based upon data secured by personal interviews and various other reliable sources of information concerning Woodland Idaho genealogy and history under the editorial supervision of Edna L. Egleston in 1944.

Carpenter, Erwin H. – Obituary

Elgin, Oregon Erwin H. Carpenter Erwin H. Carpenter, 80, of Lewiston, Idaho, and formerly of Grangeville, Idaho, and Union County, died Feb. 20 at the Idaho State Veterans Home in Lewiston. Viewing will be from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Daniels Chapel of the Valley, 1502 Seventh Street, La Grande. A graveside service will follow at 2 p.m. at the Grandview Cemetery. Erwin was born Jan. 13, 1927, to Earl and Ida Carpenter in La Grande. As a child he lived on the family farm near Elgin. He and his sister, Doris, rode their horse three miles to attend … Read more

Biography of William Lauer

Since the establishment of Payette William Lauer has been identified with its development and upbuilding, and his labors have been most effective in promoting its welfare. He is the pioneer hardware merchant of the town, and still continues in that line of business, his well directed efforts bringing him success. He is among the worthy citizens that the Fatherland has furnished to the New World, his birth having occurred in Germany on the nth of November 1833. In his youth he crossed the Atlantic to New York with his father, Isaac Lauer, who made his home in the eastern metropolis … Read more

Biography of James Harvey Forney

A visit to the library of the gentleman whose name is above and a chat with him in his pleasant home at Moscow, are sufficient to dispel any idea that the new west is without culture or men of ability interested in its educational progress and development. Mr. Forney has given some of the best years of an active and useful life to the cause of education in Idaho, and has attained more than local distinction otherwise. James Harvey Forney, a prominent citizen of Moscow, Idaho, and ex-United States district attorney for the district of Idaho, was born in Rutherford … Read more

Biography of Jessie K. Clarke, M. D.

In no field of endeavor requiring intellectuality has woman failed to demonstrate her equality with man, and more and more the different lines of professional labor are opening to her, and therein she is winning successes that are most creditable. Dr. Jessie K. Clarke, although a recent acquisition to the medical fraternity of Grangeville, has already demonstrated her right to be classed among the foremost physicians of Idaho County, and her ability is indicated by the liberal patronage she now enjoys. She makes a specialty of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and her labors have been attended … Read more

Biography of Warren P. Hunt

Warren Palmerton Hunt, who has been a highly respected citizen of Lewiston since 1862, and is numbered among the California pioneers of 1854, was born in Erie County, New York, March 13, 1832, a son of Isaac and Diantha (Allbee) Hunt, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of the Empire state. In 1852 the father went by way of the Cape Horn route to California, but returned to his farm in Erie County, where he made his home until his death, which occurred in the eighty-sixth year of his age. His wife passed away in her eighty-second … Read more

Biography of George Schmadeka

History was at one time almost entirely a record of wars, a tale of conquest in which armed hosts went forth to capture, pillage and destroy, but with advancing civilization it has become a very different chronicle, being now more particularly the story of the onward march of progress, the upbuilding of towns and the establishment of those enterprises and interests which contribute to man’s happiness and welfare. In pursuing the study of Idaho’s history we find that the flourishing town of Grangeville owes its existence in part to the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. He arrived on Camas … Read more

Biography of Alonzo L. Richardson

Thirty-eight years have passed since Alonzo L. Richardson came to Idaho, then a sparsely populated territory of the extreme northwest, its splendid resources undeveloped, its advancement a development of the future. For many years he has been closely identified with the work of progress, and is now filling the position of clerk of the United States court in Boise. A native of Missouri, Mr. Richardson was born in Franklin County that state, on The 19th of December 1841, and is a representative of one of the old families of Virginia. His ancestors located there in 1750, and there occurred the … Read more

Ringer, Barbara E. Strong Mrs. – Obituary

Barbara E. Ringer, 77, of McMinnville, and a former Baker County resident, died Dec. 20, 2000, at a McMinnville assisted living facility. Her funeral will be Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Macy & Son Chapel in McMinnville. The Rev. Jim Kirby of Community Christian Church will officiate. Entombment will be at Evergreen Memorial Park Mausoleum. Visitations will be Thursday from noon to 7 p.m. at Macy & Son Chapel. Mrs. Ringer was born Nov. 12, 1923, at Pollock, Idaho, to James and Maude Irvin Strong. She spent her youth in Baker City, graduating from Baker High School in 1942. … Read more

Biography of Robert F. Fulton

A worthy representative of the legal fraternity, and the first city attorney of Grangeville, Robert F. Fulton is a native of Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred in Westmoreland County, December 8, 1864. He is of Scotch-Irish lineage, his great-grandfather, John Fulton, having been a resident of the north of Ireland, whence he emigrated to Pennsylvania at an early epoch in the history of this country. The grandfather, George Fulton, was born in the Keystone state and the father, James P. Fulton, is a native of Washington County, Pennsylvania. He married Miss Frances Shouse, also a native of the same county, … Read more

Biography of Jay A. Czizek

This is the day of the specialist. The men who are prominent in connection with the administration of difficult and peculiar affairs are men who have given their lives to their study and have an experimental knowledge of them in all their ramifications. The demand for the very best technical knowledge in the office led to the selection of Jay A. Czizek for inspector of mines for the state of Idaho, and his management of the affairs of the office every day demonstrates the wisdom of his having been chosen. Jay A. Czizek was born at Mount Clemens, Michigan, October … Read more

Biography of Henry Wax

Henry Wax, president of the board of trustees of Grangeville and one of her most enterprising business men, claims California as the state of his nativity, his birth having occurred in San Francisco, on the 4th of August, 1859. His parents were Jacob and Amelia (Elkles) Wax natives of Germany, who located in California in pioneer days. The year 1852 witnessed their arrival in the Golden state, where the father carried on merchandising in several towns up to the time of his death. He passed away in his forty-fourth year, his estimable wife having been called to the home beyond … Read more

Biography of Peter J. Holohan

The gentleman whose name appears above claims distinction as having been one of the first settlers at Wallace, Idaho, and as a member of the firm of Holohan & McKinlay, dealers in tobacco and cigars, he is recognized as one of the prominent business men of that city. He is a native of Hardin county, Kentucky, and is a son of Michael and Ann (Welsh) Holohan, natives of Ireland, who came early in life to the United States and met and married here, settling in Kentucky about 1850. Michael Holohan died in Idaho, in 1880, aged about fifty years, and … Read more

Biography of Capt. William Martin

CAPT. WILLIAM MARTIN. – Captain Martin, of the first real immigration, that of 1843, is still living in a hale age at Pendleton, Oregon. He was born in West Virginia in 1822, and came west to Missouri in 1841. In 1843 he joined a company coming to Oregon, being intimately associated with Daniel Waldo. Reaching Oregon after the vicissitudes of that eventful march, he took up a claim at Howell’s Prairie, working for Waldo at ten dollars per month, although wages were sixty dollars. But the former figure was his pre-agreement with Waldo; and he would not dishonor it. In … Read more