Moses (Mode) Addington was born in Georgia in 1853. He married Katie Sipe in her native state, Missouri. Three sons, Moses, John, and Sylvanus G. (“Bud”), and a daughter, Minnie, were born before the families started west in 1886.[2]
The Addington wagon train arrived in Council Valley in 1888 after two long, weary years on the way from Missouri. The group was entirely family members, including the grandparents, James and Matilda, their son Moses and his wife Harriet (“Katie”), and their four children.[3]
Soon they were active in the development of the area.
James Addington died at Meadows in January, 1909, at age eighty years. He is buried there.[4] His wife, Matilda, born about 1830, died at Council and is buried in Kesler cemetery.[5]
Harriet Sipe Addington (March 4, 1849—March 19, 1903) is buried in Meridian cemetery and so is her husband, Mode (Moses ).[6]
Moses Addington was killed at Seneca, Missouri, April 19, 1921, in a gun fight which arose over ownership of a house. Mr. Addington and Bee Middleton shot each other to death and Middleton’s son, Bee, was also shot.[7]
Mr. Addington had lived at Council until 1917. He went to Missouri to live but planned to return to Council. His body was returned to Idaho and buried beside his wife.
Bud Addington was an early businessman in Council. He was a buyer for a large meat-packing company and he also raised cattle and sheep.
About 1899 he owned a meat market on Main Street [Illinois Ave.] and a slaughterhouse by the Weiser River. There was a disastrous fire, burning the entire block where the meat market stood. [1902] Several years later there was another fire which again destroyed the meat market. [1915] Bud’s son, Hugh, remembers many hams, bacon, and other meats spread out on tables with everyone invited to help himself. The meat had gone through the fire and was very well cooked.
The slaughterhouse stood on the bank of Weiser River. Indians were still coming to the valley at that time. They camped below the slaughter house. When butchering was done they came to ask for the entrails, which they cleaned and ate.[8] (The small ones were baked to a puffy crisp, like cracklings. The large ones were turned, cleaned, filled with fat, and baked. The heat caused them to puff and expand. This food was called mie-mie by the Nez Perce and was used as a seasoning.[9]
Bud Addington married Anna Biggerstaff. They had one son, Hugh. Bud and Anna were divorced in 1909.[10] He married Myrtle Perkins in 1925.[11] Anna moved from the area and died in Payette in 1959. Bud died November 28, 1937. He is buried in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery.[12]
[1] 1870 Census of Harrison, Boone County, Arkansas.
[2] Hugh Addington, interview.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Council Leader, January 9, 1909.
[5] Hugh Addington, interview.
[6] Meridian Cemetery records, Meridian, Idaho; Adams County Leader,
August 26, 1921.
[7] Adams County Leader, August 26, 1921.
[8] Hugh Addington, interview.
[9] Leda Scott Scrimsher, “Native Foods Used by the Nez Perce Indians
of Idaho “ M.A. thesis,
University of Idaho, 1967.
[10] Hugh Addington, interview.
[11] Marriage records, Washington County, Weiser, Idaho.
[12] I.0.0.F. Cemetery records.
___________________________
ALLEN
Charlie Allen was a miner who was well known around Council and Salubria.
He was born April 28, 1868 in Montana, son of George and Olivia Moody. His maternal grandparents, Robert Maybell and wife Sarah --, were born in Ireland. George and Olivia were married in Wisconsin and traveled from there to Montana by covered wagon before 1866 and settled near Helena. Olivia carried $50,000.00 sewn into her bustle. Charlie had a sister, Sarah, born about two years before he was.[1]
A group of ten men decided to go to "the geysers" (now Yellowstone Park) to prospect for gold. Among them was George Moody. The Indians considered the area their own and forbidden ground. The men were all killed.[2]
May 4, 1870, Olivia Moody married Levi Allen, who had been a friend
of her late husband. They were married in Helena.[3] Levi was also a prospector
and spent much time in Idaho. He was one of the party who discovered the
Peacock mine in the Seven Devils.
Levi and Olivia Allen had one son, Grover Allen, born in 1873 in Montana.[4]
Charles Moody took his stepfather's name and for the rest of his life he was known as Charlie Allen.
In the 1870s and '80s Montana was a booming area. Mines were discovered and produced great wealth. Law and order were yet to come. Helena was a very rough town. Even the children saw much violence. While a small boy, Charlie went to town with his stepfather. They went into a saloon and Charlie stood near the door. A gunfight erupted between two men and the one standing next to the child was killed and fell against him).[5]
Soon after 1880 Levi Allen moved his family to Salubria, Idaho. From there they traveled through Council on their way to and from the Seven Devils. They lived for a while in the Devils mining area. Olivia was one of the first white women to live there.
Levi Allen owned a sawmill on Bacon Creek, near Salubria, and his sons worked there. In 1893 Levi was given a contract to provide telephone poles for the area.[6]
Charlie Allen leased Mathews' Meat Market in Salubria in March, 1894, and by fall he had mining claims in the Devils which became his real interest. From that time forward he was a miner and never lost his enthusiasm for outdoor life and the search for gold.[7]
Charlie married Mrs. Amy Smith in March, 1900. She was the widow of Frank Smith and had five children. She and Charlie had one daughter, Nettie. They were divorced in February, 1905, and, October 24 of that year Charlie married Ova "Josie" Biggerstaff White-widow of Robert White, Jr. of Council. She had two children--Ray and Ruth White. She and Charlie had sons--George and Ted.[8]
Allens lived above Council where Charlie had a sawmill and in 1912 moved to Glendale.
Josie had a violent temper and threatened at various times to kill Charlie by shooting him. Not knowing when she might actually try it, Charlie was careful not to leave any shells in his gun, but once he was tired and forgetful and failed to unload it.While he was eating dinner she took the gun and slipped outside. A sixth sense made him open the door in time to see her and knock the rifle (a .303 Savage) downward as she fired. He was shot twice in the leg. Leaving Charlie where he fell, she left, taking Ted, who was quite small. Charlie sent George for help.[9] According to the Weiser Weekly Signal, this happened at Tamarack on May 4, 1913.[10] The paper states clearly that the weapon was aimed at Charlie's head and that Josie meant to kill him and that this time the charges were far more serious than those of two years before when she beat a school teacher almost to death at Bear.[11]
The doctor said the leg must be amputated, but Charlie flatly refused, saying, "If I'm going to Hell I'll go on two legs!" Five days after the shooting the Allens moved to Council and rented a house behind the Zink hospital so Charlie would be close to the doctor and hospital. While he was hospitalized his best friend, Ike Whiteley, spent much time with him, smuggling in special things which he wasn't supposed to have. Charlie asked him to promise not to let them amputate his leg if he reached the point where he could not resist. Ike said he'd kill anyone who tried it, and that took care of the matter.[12]
The Leader of June 27, 1913, carried this account of the surgery:
Delicate Operation
Dr. Dudley came up Tuesday from Weiser and on Wednesday assisted Dr.
Brown in performing a delicate operation on Charles Allen whose leg was
broken by a shot from a rifle some six weeks ago. He could not be operated
on at the time due to the mangled flesh about the bone. Wednesday the surgeons
cut into the leg, removed five fragments of bone, dressed up the ends of
the bone and put in three bone-plates, one on top and one on each side
of the bone. There had been considerable destruction of the soft part around
the bone, on account of which it will be some time before he can use the
leg, but in the end he will have a good limb, possible a little shorter
than the other.[13]
The leg was saved but Charlie limped the rest of his life. He and Josie divorced soon after he recovered.
Associated with mining all of his life, Charlie Allen's name appears in connection with the Yellow Jacket, Red Ledge, North Hornet, Peacock, and Blue Jacket mines, among others. He prospected on Deep Creek and Big Creek. As early as the snow melted he took a pack string and headed for his claims each year and returned before snow fell in the fall. In later years he did assessment work for several mining companies.[14]
Charlie had done lots of hand drilling and powder work. In 1927 he was hired as Superintendent of North Hornet mine. The company took a big diamond drill in there, hoping to open up a really large vein, but in January 1928 the mine was closed due to the owner's involvement in litigation concerning their Red Ledge mine.
A real conservationist, Charlie lived off the land. He never hunted for sport. He hunted and fished, in season or out, when he needed food. He had a deep respect for nature and he had no use for anyone who hunted just for sport or wasted game of any kind. He always said no game warden would take him in without a gun. One summer he and Frank Kennedy were out prospecting. With them were Charlie's sons, George and Ted. Provisions were running low so one of the men shot a deer. As they were dressing it out they saw the game warden coming. Frank Kennedy threw a tarp over the deer and then ran to a small stream nearby to wash the blood from his hands and Charlie, realizing that was too conspicuous, started digging in a small swampy place. He smeared mud over any spots of blood on himself and his clothes. He told the game warden he was trying to clean out a spring.[15]
Young George saw the fresh deer liver lying in full view on a log. It was too late to cover it so he quickly sat on it and remained there until the warden left.
Charlie said, "Let me see your gun, Jake. I think it's just like mine. The warden gave it to him and Charlie removed the shells before handing it back. "Thanks. I was running low on shells." "You can't do that. That's all the shells I've got," Jake said "Oh, you'll be back in town before I will." Of course, the warden knew what had been going on but there was little he could do at that point and he soon departed.[16]
About 1905 Charlie Allen had a sawmill at Landore and later one at Cuprum.
After Landore ceased to operate--the mines and smelter-Charlie and others were mining above White Monument. Supplies ran low so he walked to Landore, where he got a wheelbarrow, loaded it with a sack of flour and other supplies, and pushed it the many long uphill miles to their mine.
Among other things, Charlie was a freighter, driving the heavy clumsy freight wagons to various mining areas, hauling machinery, food, ore, or almost anything. A story was often told to illustrate his freighter's ability. He had a small wirehaired dog that went everywhere with him. On a trip from Cuprum to Homestead, Oregon, down the perilous Kleinschmidt grade, Charlie reached the bottom and missed his little dog. He walked back and found him near the top. It seems the dog could not make it around one of the sharp turns in the road.[17]
August 26, 1927, Charlie married Nellie Bond, stepdaughter of Grant Moore. They had one son, Charles Grant Allen.
Charlie Allen died May 9, 1938, at their home on Cottonwood. His marker in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery very appropriately depicts a miner and his pack string.[18]
To this writer Charlie Allen was a special breed of man. If he said something was true, it was. What he said he'd do, he did. He was gentleness itself to the very old and the very young. He never forgot a friend or forgave an enemy.
Olivia Allen moved to Spokane many years before her death there July 1, 1936.[19]
1 Nellie Stahl, Amity, Oregon, oral interview, 1974.
2 Ibid.
3 Marriage record, Olivia Moody and Levi Allen, Bureau of Vital Statistics,
Helena, Montana.
4 Nellie Stahl, interview.
5 Ibid
6 Salubria Citizen, June 9, 1893.
7 Nellie Stahl, interview.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid
10 Weiser Weekly Signal, May 8, 1913.
11 Weiser Semi-Weekly Signal, January 27, 1911.
12 Nellie Stahl, interview.
13 Leader, June 27, 1913.
14 Nellie Stahl, interview.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid.
17 Orril Lewis, telephone interview, 1974.
18 Nellie Stahl, interview.
19 Death certificate, Olivia Allen, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Olympia,
Washington.
More on the Allens:
From Winifred Lindsay --
Concerning Council Valley Museum photo 95439: The original of the photo
of the Allens was donated to the Idaho Historical Society by Mrs. Alma
Lorton Morrison of Walla Walla. She was a childhood friend
of Winifred's and furnished her with the following info from the Allen
family bible:
Levi Allen, born Missouri, 1839 - crossed the plains in 1859
going to Puget Sound area. To Walla Walla in 1860 & engaged in
sawmill business. Married widow, Olivia Maybell Moody in 1871 who
had two children, Sarah, b. 1867 and Charles, b. 1869: both were adopted
by Mr. Allen. Levi and his wife had one son, Grover b. 1873 - died
1953, never married. Levi killed by car in 1919.
Sarah Moody Allen married Eugene Lorton, a young printer, in
1886. Mr. Lorton later became owner of the very prosperous Tulsa,
Oklahoma World. They had 4 daughters, one being Alma Lorton Morrison
of Walla Walla.
When Levi and Olivia married, Sarah was 4 yrs. old, Charles was
age 2. Sarah & Eugene Lorton were married at Salubria were Alma was
born.
ANDERSON
Rufus D. Anderson was born April 16, 1829, in Venago, Pennsylvania, and married Nancy Anne Davison there October 29, 1851.[1]
They were in Council Valley before 1877, for his name appears on a letter to Governor Brayman on that date, appealing for arms to protect the settlers from Indians.
Mrs. Anderson, born October 9, 1834, died November 8, 1897,[2] and is buried in the Kesler Cemetery.
Rufus Anderson was a Union veteran of the Civil War. He enlisted first on July 1, 1863, as a private at Omaha, Nebraska, in Company D, Second Regiment, Volunteer Nebraska Infantry and was discharged at Georgetown, Maryland, February 2, 1862, because of disability. He enlisted again in Company D, Second Nebraska Cavalry, on October 16, 1862, at Omaha and was discharged as wagoner September 18, 1863, by reason of expiration of service.[3]
He drew twelve dollars a month pension. He was a blacksmith.
June 16, 1898, Rufus Anderson was admitted to the Old Soldier's Home, in Boise, due to "Senile weakness - complications, Mental stupor, wholly incapacitated."[4]
Rufus died April 30, 1899, and is buried in the Fort Boise Military
Cemetery.[5]
His pension record shows his children: Horace W., George W., James
J., Lovina L., Adaline, Preston G., and Olive May.
This was a tragic family. Mental illness stalked them. James committed suicide by jumping into the river.[6]
Preston Anderson, called "Press," was a hard working man and a good friend to those he liked. He was born in Weiser November 15, 1872, one of nine children. He was sent to the state hospital several times for mental problems.[7]
Press Anderson took a homestead when he was of age and lived on it all his life. At the time of his death there was only one other homesteader in the valley on his original entry.[8]
Press had some unusual ideas and was very religious. He wore his hair long and thought he was Jesus Christ. He had a deep fear of the devil and did many things to keep him away from his farm on Hornet Creek. He put crosses of tape on his windows to keep the devil out. A patch of hay was always left in the center of the meadow because "The devil is in there." He bought a cow from Mr. Peebles but she developed sore teats and he asked Mr. Peebles to take her back. He was sure the devil was in her.
One winter when hay was very scarce Press had an excess. Neighbors and even family wanted to buy some. He said, "No. My friend, Mr. Peebles, needs it." It did not matter that Mr. Peebles had plenty to meet his needs. Press was looking out for a friend. [9] Press Anderson ran a blacksmith shop in town for a time. He died October 8 or 9, 1924, at his home.[l0] He and James are buried In the Kesler Cemetery.
Horace "Bill" Anderson, born 1857, married Delilah Anna Lane in Indian
valley. She was born in Indiana 1n1862. Bill died of heart
trouble at his home on Mill Creek in February, 1924. Delilah died
August 10, 1940. They had ten children: Charlotte, Anne, Alta, Jessie,
Elsie, Millie, Aaron E., Oliver L., Horace C., and Cornelia.[11]
Aaron Elsworth Anderson, son of Bill and Delilah, was born on the family
ranch on Hornet Creek April 8, 1884. He married Mary Winkler August
26, 1907. They had one son, George.[12]
Mr. Anderson died at his home on Mill Creek in 1947 and is buried in the I.O.O. F. Cemetery.
1 Service record of Rufus D. Anderson, Veterans Hospital , Boise, Idaho.
2 Pension record of Rufus D. Anderson, General Services Administration,
Washington, D.C.
3 Ibid.
4 Service record of Rufus D. Anderson.
5 Ibid.
6 Weiser Signal, April 13, 1899.
7 Mrs. Nellie Peebles Smith, Boise, Idaho, oral interview, 1972.
8 Obituary of Press Anderson, Adams County Leader, October 17, 1924.
9 Mrs. Nellie Peebles Smith, interview.
10 Obituary of Press Anderson.
11 Obituary of Horace Willis Anderson, Adams County Leader, February
8,
1924.
12 Obituary of Aaron E. Anderson, Adams Count Leader, November 7, 1947.