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Excerpt from column titled:
3 INCHES SNOW FALL, RICHLAND
Not Enough for Sleighing; Funeral Held for Child
Funeral services was held at the Christian church Thursday at 2 p.m. for Arthur Verdell Simonis, the nine months old son of Mr. And Mrs. Alex E. Simmonis [Simonis].
Rex. Earl Miller pastor of the Christian church officiated. The child had been ill three weeks with Pneumonia and passed away at St. Elizabeth's hospital Tuesday evening. He had been taken there Monday for medical treatment. Interment was in the Eagle valley cemetery.
The Baker Democrat Herald; Baker OR;
Tuesday, December 22, 1936; Page 6.
Charles Edward (Ed) Simonis, a native son of Eagle valley, died Thursday afternoon. He was 78 years old.
Simonis was born in Richland February 3, 1978 [1878]. He had lived his entire life in Eagle valley where he was a rancher.
He married Stella Derrick in Richland, May 8, 1911. She survives him. Also surviving are a son, Ellis Edward, Salt Lake City; two sisters, Mrs. Anna Cropp, Baker, and Mrs. Ella Kirby, Durkee; three brothers, Lee, Louis and Alex all of Baker; a granddaughter, Karen Simonis, Salt Lake City, and several nieces and nephews.
He was a member of the Richland Christian church, Myrtle chapter, Rebekah lodge No. 79 and the Odd Fellows.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon in the Richland Christian church, Rev. William Humphry presiding. Interment will be in the Eagle valley cemetery. West and Co. are directors.
The Baker Democrat Herald; Baker OR;
Friday, June 29, 1956.
Ernest James Simonis, 87, a lifetime resident of North powder, died Saturday at his home.
The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Grays' West & Co. Pioneer Chapel. Gary Pall and Laura Falkner will officiate. Vault interment will follow at the North Powder Cemetery.
Mr. Simonis was born July 11, 1896, in North Powder to Wolf Creek pioneers Matt and Matilda Harrison Simonis.
He attended school at Wolf Creek and married O'Lena Johnson in La Grande on Oct. 29, 1917. He worked on the railroad and farmed.
He was a member of the Disabled Veterans of World War II. For the past 17 years he was sexton for the North Powder Cemetery and also owned a monument business.
He loved to fish, garden and pick huckleberries.
He is survived by his wife of North Powder; sons Keith Simonis of North Powder, Vernon Simonis of Nampa, Idaho, and Elvin Simonis of Union; brother Lawrence Simonis of Portland; sisters Ellen Timpy of Union, Ethel Fallett [Follett] of Elgin and Eunice Smith of North Powder; 17 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by a brother, a sister and both parents.
Friends who wish may contribute in his memory to a charity of their choice. This may be done through Grays' West and Co. Pioneer Chapel.
The Observer; La Grande OR;
Tuesday, February 14, 1984; Page 5.
Frederick Simonis, 80, Richland, died Saturday at 1623 Eldon Street in Baker. He had been ill for many months.
Mr. Simonis was born March 18, 1866 at Stevens Point, Wis. For many years he engaged in farming in Eagle valley, Baker county. He was a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge.
Surviving are three sons, Elmer, Clayton and Obie Simonis, all of Richland; a daughter, Mrs. John Densley of Richland; five brothers, Joe, Alex and Ed Simonis of Richland; Louis and Lee Simonis of Baker; two sisters, Mrs. Anna Cropp of Baker and Mrs. Ella Kirby of Durkee. A grandson, S-Sgt. John Densley was killed in action in Europe.
Services were held Wednesday afternoon at the Christian church in Richland. Rev. Frank W. Zook officiated.
Burial was in the Eagle Valley cemetery with West and company directing arrangements.
The Record Courier; Baker City OR;
Thursday, June 6, 1946; Page 8.
Mrs. Louis Simonis, 76, died early Saturday morning at her home in Baker.
Ida J. Simonis was born July 29, 1869 at Umatilla. She was married to Louis L. Simonis in 1888 at Weiser, Ida., and they made their home in Eagle Valley until 1937 when they moved to Baker.
Mrs. Simonis is survived by her widower; two sons, George of Wapato, Wash., and Otis of Woodland, Wash.; three daughters Mrs. Mary Wilson of Weiser, Mrs. Arta Trickel of Baker and Mrs. Belle Johnson of Robinette; a sister, Mrs. Nora Rice of Imnaha, Ore.; two brothers John D. Simmons of Enterprise, Oreg, and Walter Simmons of Whitebird, Ida.; 26 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren.
Funeral services were held Tuesday afternoon in the Methodist church at Richland. Burial was in Eagle Valley cemetery.
The Record Courier; Baker City OR;
Thursday, January 24, 1946; Page 8.
Death claimed Mrs. Jake Simonis Monday in Baker where she had been taken to the hospital. Mrs. Simonis leaves beside her husband and two year old daughter, an infant daughter who is still being cared for in the hospital.
Miss Blokland of Haines conducted the funeral services and interment was in the North Powder cemetery Wednesday.
Oregon Trail Weekly
North Powder News
Saturday, March 10, 1928
James Marion Simonis, 85, died yesterday at the hospital here.
Rosary will be read Friday night at 8 p.m. at Baker funeral Home and mass will be read at 10 o'clock Saturday morning at St. Francis cathedral, Rev. O'Brien officiating. Interment will be in Mount Hope cemetery.
Mr. Simonis was born November 22, 1857, at Stevens Point, Wis. He came to Eagle Valley when quite young, moved to the North Powder section when about 20 years of age. He was a member of the Catholic Church.
Survivors are two sisters, Mrs. George T. Harrison and Mrs. Racy Nice; four brothers, Matts, Jake, John and Louis Simonis, all of North Powder.
The Record Courier; Baker City OR;
Thursday, May 20, 1943.
Joseph Henry Simonis, 79, of Richland, died there Sunday afternoon. Mr. Simonis was born March 21, 1874, at Stevens Point, Wis.
He came to Baker county when he was six months old and had lived in the area since. Mr. Simonis was a blacksmith and miner by profession.
He was a member of the Catholic church.
Mr. Simonis is survived by two sisters, Mrs. Ella Kirby, Durkee, and Mrs. Anna Cropp, Baker. Four brothers, Louis and Leander, Baker, and Alex and Ed, Richland, also survive him, as do several nieces and nephews.
The rosary will be recited at 8 p.m. Wednesday at West and Co. Funeral services are scheduled for Thursday at 2 p.m. at West and co. The Rev. Joseph B. Hayes will officiate. Interment will be at Mt. Hope cemetery.
The Baker Democrat Herald; Baker City OR;
Wednesday, August 5, 1953.
Louis H. Simonis, 84, a resident of North Powder, died early Saturday
morning in St. Joseph's Hospital, La
Grande.
Mr. Simonis, a pioneer resident of the North Powder country, was
born April 7, 1874 in Roseholt, Wis. He moved
with his parents to North Powder as a small child and had lived there
since. He was a farmer. He was a member of
the Catholic church.
Mr. Simonis has no immediate family, but is survived by a number of nieces and nephews.
Rosary for Mr. Simonis will be recited at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at
West and Company. Mass will be said at 10 a.m.
Wednesday morning in St. Francis Cathedral. Father Calvin Schwenk
will officiate. Interment will be at Mount
Hope.
The Baker Democrat Herald; Baker City OR;
Monday, October 13, 1958.
Matthias D. Simonis of Baker died suddenly Sunday, March 26, at the home of his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Harland Bennehoff of Walla Walla, where he and Mrs. Simonis had gone to spend the winter.
Mr. Simonis was born at Stevens Point, Wis., February 24, 1868, crossing the plains in a wagon train with his parents and sisters and brothers in 1874 to Eagle Valley, residing there many years.
He married Miss Cora Kirby on May 20, 1890, making their home in New Bridge, engaging in fruit raising and farming until the fall of 1920 when they moved to Lime. There he was employed by the Oregon Portland Cement company until April, 1940, when they moved to Baker on account of Mr. Simonis' failing health. They celebrated their golden wedding day May 20, 1940. He was a member of the Christian Church of Richland.
Mr. Simonis is survived by his widow, Mrs. Cora Simonis; one daughter, Mrs. Merle Bennehoff of Walla Walla; one grandson, Cpl. Jack Bennehoff, U.S. Army, U. of C., San Francisco; six brothers, Fred, Joseph, Edward, Alex of Richland, and Louis and Leander of Baker; two sisters, Mrs. Anna Cropp of Baker and Mrs. Ella Kirby of Durkee; a number of nieces and nephews.
Always a friend, kind and true, and loved by all ages, his passing is a grief to scores of others. Funeral services by the Baker funeral Home will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. in the Christian Church at Richland. Rev. Fran W. Zook will officiate with burial in the Eagle Valley cemetery.
The Record Courier; Baker City OR;
Thursday March 30, 1944.
The following article was printed next to the obituary for Matthias D. Simonis:
Reminiscences of Matthias Simonis Of the Trip West Across the Plains
(Following is an interesting story of the trip which brought the family of Matthias D. Simonis, Richland pioneer who died Sunday, as given some years ago to a reporter of a Walla Walla newspaper. - Editor The Record Courier.)
When one meets animated "Mat" Simonis of Baker, it is hard to believe that he crossed the plains in a covered wagon drawn by an ox team in 1874.
Of course he was only six years old when his father and mother and their six children, the youngest only three months old, made the long hazardous trek from Stevens Point, Wis., west to Eagle valley near Baker. But early impressions are strongest and memories of details of the trip will never be forgotten by the pioneer. He remembers the broad expanses of the plains, the great Mississippi and Missouri rivers and the crossing at Omaha where the elder Simonis sold his ox team and wagon and with his family boarded an emigrant train. Speed was not an attribute of this early mode of travel, in fact its pace was so slow that Simonis remembers that the men passengers ran no risk of being left behind when they hopped off the train to shoot prairie dogs along the way.
He does recollect that one over-enthusiastic hunter who wandered too far afield, discovered the train going out of sight and by dint of a mad race and a slowing of the cars, caught pantingly onto the rear platform. Cooking was accomplished enroute on a bit stove placed in the center of the car which was lined all the way around with bunks instead of the modern berths.
Reaching Ogden, Simonis' father, in spite of knowing little about the foibles of horses, bought a pair of fractious little ponies and loading his family in the wagon joined another wagon train.
This group proved to be made up of dishonest folk who preyed upon the settlers along the way so the Simonis family dropped out, preferring to travel alone.
In the hard pull through the Snake River sand hills, they ran out of water and food was so scarce that the family was often hungry.
With their money about gone, too, the elder Simonis tried to trade his shot gun to a cowboy who turned out to be a tender, hearted chap who returned the gun and five dollars to boot.
Turning the reins over to his wife, Simonis went ahead and "Matt" remembers his mother comforting her little brood in the lonely stretches of the wide open spaces, meanwhile driving with difficulty because of her blinding tears.
After a long, long time they saw his father returning with water from the Snake river after a long hard climb. As he came up the gully he discovered a spring where they camped over night.
Here they were overtaken by a splendidly equipped wagon train of 40 wagons with which they traveled along the south side of the Snake, the road at places so precipitious that ropes were employed to keep the wagons from plunging into the river.
They tried to catch the salmon they saw in great numbers but were not successful, and they ate so many rabbits that they can't bear the sight of one to this day. Outside of "rabbit ache," once in a while, Simonis explains, everyone kept well and their scanty store of turpentine, camphor, castor oil and whiskey went untouched.
From Huntington they proceeded over the old Oregon trail toward Baker, making their last camp at Goose creek, five miles from town. Going on the next morning they arrived at Eagle Valley where Simonis grandparents farmed, the trip having taken from June to October.
During the Umatilla massacre in the late seventies, the farmers' families stayed in the fort guarded by scouts while the men worked in the fields. But Chief Joseph directed his activities toward the soldiers and the settlers went unharmed.
Game in Eagle Valley was plentiful and Simonis declares he has seen from 2,500 to 3,000 antelope in one band. Now a great dairy center, the valley was formerly a stock country.
After his term of office, Governor Gale, Oregon's first governor, went to Eagle Valley and married a squaw who was famous as a midwife. He is buried there and recently the G. A. R. women and members of the D. A. R., erected a monument to his memory.
Mrs. Simonis' family came west in 1887 when Baker had grown to be quite a town, and four years later she and her husband were married. Last year they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary.
Simonis has in turn been a farmer, miner, cowboy and before his retirement had owned a cement plant for 18 years. Mrs. Simonis tells many interest details of those early times and admits that she becomes more than a little romantic when thinks of the colorful cowboy days.
The Record Courier; Baker City OR;
Thursday March 30, 1944.
SUDDEN DEATH OF MRS. MATTS SIMONIS
Coming as a shock to the entire community was the death of Mrs. Matts Simonis, who passed away very suddenly last Friday about noon. Mrs. Simonis had prepared dinner when she was taken suddenly ill, and died about an hour and a half later. Medical aid was sought but she passed away before the physician could reach her. The funeral services which were held from the Methodist church Sunday afternoon were largely attended. The body was laid to rest in the City cemetery.
Matilda Ann Harrison was born in Orange county, Indiana, March 4, 1874; died at her home on Wolf Creek July 17, 1925. She came to North Powder with her parents March 16, 1886, and resided here ever since. She was united in marriage to Matts Simonis April 11, 1896, and to this union were born nine children seven of whom survive her. She leaves to mourn her loss her husband, her aged father, T.J. Harrison, three sons Ernest, Lawrence and Harrison; four daughters, Ellen and Ethel Simonis and Mrs. Elias Smith all of North Powder, and Mrs. Herman Halfer of Cove, and three grandchildren. Five brothers, Joseph Harrison of Sumpter, George, Ira and Bennett and Charles Harrison of North Powder. Two sisters Mrs. Jake Simonis of North Powder and Mrs. Jane Locken of Haines, besides many other close relatives and friends.
North Powder News
Saturday, July 25, 1925