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George Hill Family History

The History of the George Hill Family has been scanned from the book “Tales of Dead Ox Flat ,” compiled and published by the Local Progress Club – 1976

I have converted the scans into text for easier reading.

Michael Gribbin

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HISTORY OF THE GEORGE HILL FAMILY

JEFFERSON DISTRICT – OREGON SLOPE

NARRATED BY: GEORGE HILL – 1976

My father, Sam Hill, arrived in the United States from Saarland, Sweden, on March 5, 1882. It was spring when he arrived here, and in the fall of 1882, he went down to the Shoshone area and worked on the railroad construction. Later, he came back up to this area and worked for Mr. Strobel on the ferry.

He spent about two years in the Willamette Valley before homesteading in 1888 on Dead Ox Flat. He had been established about two years before he married my mother, Anna Christine Peterson, in Boise, Idaho, in September 1891.

At that time, you could have either a Desert Claim, which had to be irrigated soon, or a Grass Homestead. He took a Desert Claim over by Crystal and joined on the Snake River. There was a large waterwheel on the river at that location. He got 160 acres, but only 80 acres could be watered. He lived there until I was eight years old. The train track was about half a mile from there, and I can remember watching the trains and being curious about them. He sold to Caleb Coulter in the summer of 1907.

My grandfather, Sven Hill, came from Solan, Sweden, in 1894 and homesteaded about 2 miles north of the old Park School. Sven was his Swedish name, but after he arrived here, he went by the name of Swen.

There were five children. Carrie was born in Payette on December 10, 1852. Harry was born on October 3, 1836, at Crystal. Tama was born on January 23, 1907, at Crystal. Frank was born on August 21, 1904, at Crystal, and I was born on January 6, 1899, at Crystal.

My mother had a Desert Claim in Morre’s Hollow, and we lived there during the summer of 1905. It has 80 acres.

In 1887, my father homesteaded the 160 acres on Mesquite Road where Glenn lives. There were 135 acres on the bench and 75 acres on the river bottom property. Another 40 acres east of the river bottom property was owned by Mr. Culpepper, and he traded twenty head of horses to my father for the forty acres.

The house was constructed in the fall of 1907 by Isaac Adair of Payette. It was a two-story house with eight rooms and was constructed of double brick. The brick was hauled from the Weiser Brick Yard. The total cost of the house, including labor and material, was $1800. Electric wiring and water were put in the house in 1925. President McKinley’s name is on the deed.

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The Mesquite Community was started in the early part of 1895. Mr. Shepherd was going to run the Post Office, so he suggested the name Mesquite. I suppose it was because there were so many mosquitoes. The mail was brought from Weiser each Wednesday and Saturday in a one-horse open buggy by driver Al Garren, a badly crippled fellow. The patrons would call at the Post Office for their mail and most lived four or five miles away. The mail route was started around 1913. Mesquite was only two or three hundred acres in area.

The Mesquite School was built two or three years later than the Post Office and was located two-and-a-half miles east of the Post Office. The County had appropriated enough money to pay the teacher $35 per month but failed to appropriate enough money for a building, so Dad and Ed Ashley put up the money for the school building and built it themselves. It was a small one-room school. They had to make the desks in addition to the building. The school existed for eight years and was known as Mesquite District No. 31. Before the school was built, they held classes in a deserted homesteader’s place, and the teacher was Mrs. Meade, a homesteader’s wife. Students all had individual blackboards.

The first teacher in Mesquite Schoolhouse was Edna Revi. Later, she married C. Ben Ross, who became Governor of Idaho. Some of the students included Fay Strobel, Rena Thomas, Mabel Smith, Lee and Roy Cross, Paul Joseph, and Carrie. The Eighth Grade Examination could not be given by the current teacher, so Mrs. Meade came to the school to give it. Apparently, it was quite difficult, as the only one to pass it was Paul Joseph. I went to Mesquite School three years and five years to Jefferson. Carrie, Frank, and Vern went to Mesquite. I went to Jefferson.

The Jefferson School District No. 49 was organized, and the schoolhouse was built in the summer of 1907. Mrs. H. S. Joseph was the first teacher. Some of the students included all four Hill children, one Hebb, one Hiller, three Studebakers, and three or four Josephs. My first teacher at Jefferson was Mrs. Joseph in 1907, Miss Ethyl Milken in 1908. She applied for the job again forty years later but was refused. Mabel Smith was starting teacher in 1903 and a resident of Mesquite. She became ill mid-year and was replaced by Andrew Vanderbilt. Mr. Ray Russell of New Plymouth started in the term of 1910 but had to be replaced by Nellie S. Neher as he had to help out on the farm. Miss Mabel Newburn was teacher in 1911, Miss Stark in 1912, Rufus Fuller in 1913, and Miss Stave in 1914. My first job was janitor of Jefferson School for two dollars per month.

The Community enjoyed Literary Society, Friday Evening Debating, and Box Socials. The Friday Evening Debating could get a little heated at times. I remember one in particular when a man named Erickson, a big Swede with quite an accent, was debating on the topic ‘Which is the most valuable, a horse or a cow?’ Erickson had the side of the cow. The debate became a little heated, and the opponent brought up the fact that the horse was in the cavalry. At this, Erickson replied, ‘Well, it wouldn’t look too bad to see a man ride up on a big black BUTT, would it?’ and that ended the debate.

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The Box Social was always a big treat. It was reported that Mr. Ed Patch attended this particular Box Social and being attracted to the school teacher, wanted to buy her Box Supper. Some of the boys got together and found out which one belonged to her and ran it up to $26 for it. It was further reported that Mr. Patch was to marry her at a later date.

Mr. Strobel owned the ferry. It took about fifteen minutes to get across to Idaho at the price of $1 each way. I remember the time the Snake River froze over and they were trying to get the stage across on a sled. Someone volunteered to furnish a brand new rope to reach across the river. All was ready and starting across, forgetting about the stretch in a new rope, and when the stretch was out of the rope and it lengthened, the stage went over on its side, and about twenty people fell out. The bridge across the Snake River was built in 1904.

Mr. Patchen, a land and mining speculator from Republic, Washington, purchased 160 acres of land directly south of my father’s homestead, knowing there was going to be water for the land. At the time, the irrigation systems were forming and the Snowdome took in his place. The other district north of there also took his place in. When he found out his land was in both districts, he had to go to the law to get out of it. He wanted in the other district because they had cheaper water tax. It cost him over a thousand dollars to get out of the Snowdome District. He always said he was going to build a home on the land but he never did. He had plenty of money but left the land idle for years in sagebrush. Many people came along and thought it hadn’t been homesteaded yet and wanted to know about it. Things went along alright until 1921 when he had some financial reverses in his mining business and couldn’t pay the water tax on it. The later district took it over for the tax. They couldn’t furnish water to the land as there was not enough pipe and they couldn’t afford the pipe to do it. They sold the land in 50-acre tracts. Frank purchased one 50-acre tract, and it is located between Ray and Anna’s place.

In 1916, my father acquired several small buildings on Main Street in Weiser. One building was a Blacksmith, and another was a Poultry Dealer. These were torn down in 1915, and a large brick building was built for a Garage and Automobile Dealership, which was rented out. In 1923, Dad took over the large and old Soran Hotel in Weiser. This operation sold to the Idaho First National Bank in Weiser, and they built their bank there.

My father passed away in 1939 and was the first person interred in Rosedale Cemetery, Payette. My mother passed away in 1957 and is interred there.

From George Hill

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