Arkansas

Kiilsgaard, Marco – Obituary

Marco Kiilsgaard, 84, died April 12, 2005, at St. Elizabeth Care Center after a long illness. Her memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Monday at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2625 Hughes Lane. Bishop David Richards will preside and Dick Hindman will conduct the service. Marco was born on Oct. 13, 1920, at Rockland, Idaho, to Chris and Martha Hunsaker Kiilsgaard. She was their second child. She attended elementary school at Inkom, Idaho, but the family moved north to Bonners Ferry, Idaho, when Marco was in junior high school. After high school, she attended Lewiston Normal … Read more

Long, Ida Hodges Mrs. – Obituary

Mrs. Ida Long died at St. Elizabeth hospital Tuesday. She was born March 11, 1873 in Marshall, Arkansas and she and her late husband, Charles Long, resided for many years in the Haines district. Mrs. Long was a member of the Baptist church and the Rebekah lodge of Haines. Surviving her are two daughters, Mrs. F.A. Bircket of Portland and Mrs. H. K. Perkins of Haines; three sister residing in Kansas and a granddaughter, Mrs. R. H. Lee of Walla Walla. Funeral services were held Thursday with burial in the Haines cemetery. Source: The Record Courier, Baker City, Oregon, Jan. … Read more

Holt, Othor “Shorty” – Obituary

The funeral for Othor “Shorty” Holt, who was employed as a timber worker most of his life, will be Friday at 11 a.m. at the Beaty-Langrell Chapel of the Valleys. The Rev. James Shaver will officiate and private interment will follow in Mt. Hope Cemetery. Mr. Holt, of 485 Third St. died Saturday, Nov 18, 1978, at his home. He was 65. He was born June 22, 1913, in Imboden, Arkansas, to Christopher R. and Lillie May Dodson Holt. The youngest of nine children, he was raised on a farm in that state and was educated in Halvern. He moved … Read more

Gentry, France P. “Pat” Guy Mrs. – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon France P. “Pat” Gentry, 80, of Baker City, died Aug. 6, 2004, at St. Elizabeth Health Center. Her funeral will be 1 p.m. Thursday at Coles Funeral Home. Pastor Jack Bynum of the United Methodist Church will officiate. Interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. Visitations will be until 7 o’clock tonight at the funeral home. She was born in 1924 at Stuttgart, Ark., to Frank and Anna Sanders Guy. She was raised by her uncle and aunt, Horce and Minnie Jackson, at Mound City, Ill., where she attended school. She was a 1942 Mound City High … Read more

Bracken, Mozell – Obituary

Mozell Bracken, 92, of Baker City, died Jan. 31, 2005, at her home with all of her six surviving children at her side. Her funeral will be at 1 p.m. Friday at Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place St. Pastor Bill Cox of McEwen Bible Fellowship will officiate. Vault interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. There will be a reception afterward at Community Connection, 2810 Cedar St. Visitations will be until 7 o’clock tonight and Friday from 9 a.m. to noon Friday at the funeral home. Mozell was born at Marion, Ill., on Oct. 20, 1912, to John and Emma … Read more

Biography of Thomas D. Nichols, M. D.

Among the leading physicians of Riverside, mention should be made of the subject of this sketch. Dr. Nichols was born in Marshall County, Mississippi, in 1840. His parents were Asa and Priscilla O. (Duty) Nichols, both descendants of Southern California. His father was a planter by occupation, and gave his son the advantages of a good education. In 1859, Dr. Nichols entered upon a college course in the Florence Wesleyan University. The secession movement and the establishment of the Southern Confederacy, aroused his patriotism, and his love for the South and her institutions induced him to abandon his studies, and … Read more

Shorts, Jake – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Jake Shorts, 18, of Waldron, Ark., died May 25, 2004, at a Fort Smith hospital. His graveside service will be Saturday at 2 p.m. at Oliver Cemetery near Waldron. He is survived by his parents, Roy and Rebecca Shorts of Waldron, Ark.; his grandmother, Lois Bennett of Baker City; two sisters, Amy and Sarah Shorts of Waldron; one brother, Travis Shorts, and his wife Angie of Waldron; two nephews; one niece and several aunts and uncles Used with permission from: Baker City Herald, Baker City, Oregon, May 28, 2004 Transcribed by: Belva Ticknor

Biography of Thomas Jefferson Wood

Thomas Jefferson Wood is one of the earliest pioneers of Riverside and has been identified with Riverside city and colony since, and even before, the first soil was turned, or the first nail was driven in the building improvements. In 1870 Mr. Wood was living near San Bernardino, engaged in farming, and also at his trade as a carpenter and builder. In September of that year at the solicitation of Judge North and Dr. Greves he came to the lands now occupied by Riverside and erected the first building ever built upon the Riverside colony lands. This building was the … Read more

Biography of John Schilling

John Schilling. A hazardous and arduous task confronted those venturesome and hardy men who forsook the security and comforts of the settled communities during the ’50s and penetrated the wilds of the untrodden West. None but themselves and their children can ever realize, in the faintest degree, the difficulties with which they were forced to contend, the perils to which they were exposed, and the privations which they endured. Fortunately, they were animated by an indomitable spirit and sustained by inflexible resolution, and patiently, perseveringly and steadfastly accomplished their mission, leaving to their posterity the fruits of their enterprise, in … Read more

Biography of Henry A. Puls

Among the older settlers and well-known residents of Riverside is the subject of this sketch. Mr. Puls came to Riverside in 1876, seeking a home, and in the same year purchased a ten-acre tract on Bandini Avenue, about one-half mile west of Brockton Avenue, and commenced his horticultural pursuits. In 1878 he purchased five acres adjoining his original tract. His was the first house built in this locality, and he may well be called a pioneer of that section of the colony. He has each year added to his improvements; taking up many of the deciduous trees first planted and … Read more

Biography of Daniel Bunnell

Daniel Bunnell. One of the citizens of constructive ability and of many influential connections with Arkansas City from early times until recently was the late Daniel Bunnell, who died at Arkansas City, June 30, 1915. He founded a real estate business and acquired large holdings of property both in Southern Kansas and in Northern Oklahoma. Much of that business is now managed by his son William and his widow, Mrs. Maude A. Bunnell, had also proved her capacity as a business woman by handling with unusual shrewdness and foresight the various interests left her by her husband. The late Daniel … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Hon. John M. James

Hon. John M. James, a native of Cannon County, Tennessee, born in 1816. His father, William James, was a native of North Carolina, and died May 20, 1840. His mother, Clara (Smith) James, was born in Suffolk, Virginia. His great-grandfather was one of Lord Baltimore’s colonists in Maryland, and his grandfather emigrated to North Carolina. Our subject is the next to the youngest of a family of seven children. He was married March 14, 1837, to Elizabeth LeMay, of North Carolina. She was of French origin. Two years after his marriage he moved to Arkansas, where in 1842 his wife … Read more

Biography of Joshua S. Beam

Joshua S. Beam, a native of North Carolina, was born in 1826, the seventh of a family of twelve children. His parents, Peter and Ann (Long) Beam, were both born, reared, lived and died in North Carolina. John T. Beam, a weaver by trade, one of the ancestors, came from Germany and worked seven years for a man who paid his passage to America. The subject of this sketch went to Arkansas in the spring of 1850 with his brother-in-law. In April 1852, he started to cross the plains with an ox team, and arrived in California in September of … Read more

Biography of Colonel William R. Tolles

Colonel William R. Tolles, President of the San Bernardino Board of Trade and one of the most enterprising and public-spirited citizens of the county, was born in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in 1823. His father was one of the original settlers of the famous “Western Reserve” in northern Ohio, having moved there and settled in Geauga County in 1837; there William passed his youth, excepting five or six winters which he spent in the South for the benefit of his health. He was in Arkansas when the Legislature of that State declared its secession from the Union, and he was a … Read more

Harris, Leonard H. – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Leonard H. Harris, 80, a longtime Baker City resident, died Jan. 14, 2004, with his family by his side. His funeral will be at 10 a.m., Saturday at Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave. Leonard’s son in law, Rod Wright of Baker City will officiate. Visitations will be until 8 o’clock tonight at Gray’s West & Co. Interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery. Leonard was born on May 2, 1923, at Wynne, Ark., to Steve and Floie Harris. He married Mildred V. France on May 24, 1941. He joined the U.S. Army in … Read more

Balfour, Louise Whitlatch Mrs. – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Louise Balfour, 80, a long-time resident of Baker City, died Friday, Jan. 16, 2004, at St. Elizabeth Health Services. Funeral services for Mrs. Balfour were held Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 2 p.m. at Coles Funeral Home. Pastor Ed Niswender of the Calvary Baptist Church officiated. Interment followed at Mount Hope Cemetery. Louise was born Nov. 19, 1923, in Truman, Ark., to John Norva Whitlatch and Lois Virginia Garrett Whitlatch. She came to Baker City with her aunt and uncle, Babe and Nick Fricke when she was 15 years old. In 1938, she married Walter Robinson and they … Read more

Cummings, Ustious G., Sr. – Obituary

Baker County, Oregon Ustious G. Cummings Sr., 84, of Baker City, died Feb. 23, 2003. His memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Gray’s West & Co. Pioneer Chapel, 1500 Dewey Ave. Pastor Nathaniel Neff of the Lighthouse Church in Baker City will officiate. Inurnment will be in the veteran’s section of Mount Hope Cemetery after the chapel service. A reception will be held at the Calvary Baptist Church in Baker City. Ustious was born Feb. 13, 1919, at Potter, Ark., to Richard and Mary Cummings. He moved to California in the 1930s. In 1942 he entered the … Read more

Native American Town of Imaha

Imaha – A Quapaw village mentioned by La Metairie in 1682 and by Iberville in 1699, and visited by La Harpe in 1719. It was situated on a south west branch of Arkansas River. In the wars and contentions of the 18th and 19th centuries some of the Quapaw tribe fled from their more northerly villages and took refuge among the Caddo, finally becoming a recognized division of the confederacy. These were called Imaha, but whether the people composing this division were from the village Imaha, mentioned by the early French travelers, is not absolutely known. The people of the … Read more

Robbins, Darlene Emma Mrs. – Obituary

Baker City, Oregon Darlene Emma Robbins, 71 died Monday, January 26, 2004 in Baker City, Oregon after a lengthy illness. Memorial services will be held Monday, February 2, 2004 at 11 a.m. in the Coles Funeral Home, 1950 Place Street with Rev. Ron Kratzer officiating. Inurnment will follow at Baker Cemetery at a later date. Mrs. Robbins was born September 13, 1932, in Bentonville Arkansas to Austin and Grace Robbins. In 1936, she moved from Nebraska to Ontario, Oregon at the age of four. She graduated from Ontario High School in 1950. She met her future husband while attending the … Read more

Davis, Opal “Dee” – Obituary

Baker County, Oregon Obituaries Opal “Dee” Davis, 71, of Boardman, died Jan. 25, 2003, at his home. Private cremation with a Celebration of Life graveside service will be held later this year in Canyon City, with time and date to be announced later. Burns Mortuary of Hermiston is in charge of arrangements. Dee was born March 27, 1931, at Waldron, Ark., the third child of Reacel and Monta May Starr Davis. He was raised in Booneville, Ark., then moved to Oregon in 1948. There he married Norma Jean Wood on Aug. 9, 1949, in John Day. They had four children, … Read more