This page part of the Wallowa County AGHP Site
Wallowa County Obituaries
Carper ~ Cole ~
| Bertha Doud CARPER | Boyd Clement CARPER | Charles T. CARPER |
| John CARPER | Catherine (Lindford) COLE | Claud Lindford COLE |
| Marvin COLE | Philip Loyd COLE | Robert Lindford COLE |
Promise Pioneer Laid To Rest
Death came Friday to another Wallowa county pioneer,
Mrs. Bertha Doud Carper, who died in Wallowa Memorial
hospital after an illness of five months.
Funeral services were held Monday morning at 11 in the
Christian church at Wallowa. Rev. O. W. Jones in charge and Rev. Gene Robinson
of the Christian church in La Grande assisting. The choir sang "Standing on the
Promises" and "Under His Wings." Burial was in the Promise cemetery by the side
of her husband. All of her 14 living children were present for the services. One
son, William Dale, passed away in childhood. Due to illness, her sister, Mrs. I.
S. McDonald, was unable to be present.
Mrs. Carper was born in Kansas, Dec. 5, 1878. She
was married to Charles Carper in 1897, and most of their married life was spent
at Promise. The last seven years she had lived at Wallowa.
Bertha Jane Doud came to Wallowa county in 1894 with
her parents. She was the first school teacher in Promise. Among her first pupils
were A. B. (Burton) Miller and the Maxwell boys. After she and Charles P. Carper
were married on May 12, 1897 they made their home on a homestead in Promise and
fifteen children were born there.
In early life she united with the Christian Church, and
was a faithful and active member since she was also a teacher of a Sunday school
class in the Christian church until her illness. She took an interest in good
literature and current events. Her chief interest, however, was her Bible. Her
kindness and cheerfulness won the love of all who knew her.
The following children survive: Edith Lindsey,
Pendleton; Emma Lindsey, Wallowa; Ethel Burnett, Portland; Lillian Garrett,
Union; Luella Skillings, Wallowa, Howard, Cove. Harold, Baker; Robert, Ahsahka,
Idaho; Ralph, La Grande, Roy, Melvin, Orval, Ivan, and Louis, all of Wallowa.
She is also survived by 36 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Wallowa County Chieftain
Front and Back Page
Thursday December 11, 1952
Boyd Clement Carper passed away at the Enterprise hospital
on Feb. 20 after a lingering illness.
Mr. Carper was born Oct. 2, 1872,in Fayette county,
West Virginia, the second child of H. and Margaret Carper. His early life was
spent near his birthplace.
On Oct. 2, 1897, he was united in marriage to Leatha
Anne Sannar in Beckly, West Virginia. They came to Promise, Ore., in the spring
of 1898 where they made their home for 40 years with the exception of a brief
residence of four months in Idaho in 1908. They moved to Wallowa in 1938 where
they have since resided.
He united with the Christian church in his early teens.
Mr. Carper was a charter member of the Promise grange, a director of the
telephone company, and a director of the Promise school for years. He always
took an active part in everything that meant the upbuilding of the community.
He is survived by his widow, Leatha Carper; two
brothers, Frank of Beaver, West Virginia and Clyde of Charleston, West Virginia;
two sisters, Edith Galloway of Beckley, West Virginia; two half-brothers, Earl
and Van Carper, and two half-sisters, Opal and Garnet of West Virginia. Four
brothers preceded him in death.
Funeral services were held Tuesday afternoon at 2
o'clock at the Wallowa Christian church with Rev. O. W. Jones in charge. The
church choir sang "Safe in the Arms of Jesus" and "Gathering Home."
Interment was in the Wallowa Cemetery.
Wallowa County Chieftain
Front Page - Thursday
February 24, 1949
EARLY PROMISE RESIDENT DIES
Charles P. Carper, resident of
Promise for 42 years, died at La Grande, Monday, May 24, 1937, after an illness
of over a year. Funeral services were held at the cemetery in Promise, Tuesday,
and were attended by a large gathering of relatives and friends, Rev. Albert
Kribs, pastor of the Christina church of Elgin, gave the address.
Six of Mr. Carper's sons were pall bearers, Harold,
Robert, Ralph, Melvin, Roy and Orville Carper.
Mr. Carper was a son of Washington Carper, one of the
first of the many who came to the county from West Virginia. He visited the
county and carried back glowing reports of it which, induced the family to move
west. Charles Carper was born in Raleigh county, West Virginia, April 8, 1872,
and moved to La Grande in1891 and farmed near there for three years and in 1894
came into the forest belt of Wallowa county and took a homestead at Promise.
He married Miss Bertha Doud May 12, 1897, to which
union 15 children were born, all but one of whom survive him.
He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Bertha Carper and the
following children: Mrs. Curtis Lindsey, La Grande; Mrs. Roy Burnett, Baker;
Ralph Carper, Hilgard; Robert Carper, la Grande; Roy Carper, Troy; Mrs. Frank
Lindsey, Mrs. Ivan Garrett, Howard, Melvin, Harold, Orval, Ivan, Lewis and
Louella Carper, all of Promise; 17 grandchildren the following brothers and
sisters, Mrs. Jennie Tyree, of West Virginia; Mrs. Julia Sannar, of Promise;
Mrs. Rachel Bennett and Mrs. N.S. Fleshman, of Wallowa; Joe Carper, of
Rochester, Wash., John and Walter Carper of Promise.
All but one of the children were at the funeral.
Enterprise Record Chieftain
Front Page - Thursday
May 27, 1937
John Carper Laid To Rest
John Carper, resident of Promise for the past 50
years, passed away Monday. He had been in poor health for several months and
bedfast most of the time since the first of the year.
Mr. Carper was born on July 16, 1870. He homesteaded in
the Promise district about 50 years ago and continued to live on the original
homestead until his last illness. He was a leader in grange activities and had
many friends throughout the county.
Surviving are his widow and six children: Henry of
Enterprise, Ed of Wallowa, Fred of the U.S. army air corps stationed in India,
Frank in the navy, and Mrs. Maude Haney and Mrs. Lora Barton both of Wallowa. He
is also survived by a large number of other relatives.
Funeral services were held Wednesday at 2 p.m. from the
Promise grange with burial at Promise.
Wallowa County Chieftain
Front page - Thursday
August 16, 1945
Catherine Lindford 1835 - 1891
Cole - At her home near Joseph, December 10, 1891, Catherine Lindford Cole, aged 56 years, 6 months and 14 days.
Catherine Lindford was born hear London, England may
17, 1835, her parents removing to America the same year. after a short residence
in Pennsylvania, they removing to America the same year. after a short residence
in Pennsylvania, they removed to Indiana, and finally settled in clark County,
Illinois. In 1854 she was married to Eli Misner who died in 1858. In 1859 Mrs.
Misner moved to Iowa. In July, 1860 she was united in marriage to Wiley P. Cole
(Rev.William Person Cole Sr.) Mr. and Mrs. Cole removed to Nebraska in 1866, and
after 14 years' residence in that State they came to Oregon and in October, 1880
settled in Wallowa valley where they have since resided.
For three weeks previous to her death Mrs. Cole had
suffered from an attack of erysipelas, but was considered out of danger from
that disease. On the evening of her death she seemed bright and cheerful, and
was sitting by the fire conversing with her family when the fatal attack came.
She asked to be helped to bed, and as her daughter, son and husband gathered
around she told them that she was going, a few moments later the spirit of the
faithful wife and mother returned to the God who gave it, the immediate cause of
death being heart disease.
Mrs. Cole was a consistent Christian women, at the time
of her death being a member of the Missionary Baptist church. she leaves a
husband and six children to revere her memory, and the community deeply
sympathizes with the bereaved family in their affliction. the funeral services,
conducted at the Presbyterian church last Saturday by Re. E.G. Fowler, were
largely attended and a deserved tribute to the deceased.
********************************
We have no other information on Catherine Lindford
other that the fact that she not only raised her own five Cole children (her
first child died at the age of 5 months) but also raised Eli F. Misner who was
apparently her first husband's nephew.
The following obituary appears in a scrapbook owned by
Melvina Burnap. The paper is which it was published is unknown.
Information taken from page 34 of Burnap and Cole
History, "Crossing the Plains" by Maud Burnap Cole. Compiled and printed by
Bonnie June Lindroff (Boone) in 1965.
Bonnie June Lindroff (Boone) Nov. 1,1926 - Oct 9, 1967
was the daughter of Cordilla Maud Cole and Everett Boone.
Claud Lindford Cole
Claud was the eldest child of Maud
Ruthanar Burnap and Robert Lindford Cole. He was born at Prairie Creek, Oregon
on August 24, 1888. Claud's name sake was his paternal grandmother Catherine
Lindford, 3rd wife of Rev. William Person Cole, AKA Wiley P. Cole Sr.
His elementary schooling was started there and
completed in Touchet, Washington, and in Lost Prairie, Oregon where he graduated
from the eight grade. He then took a Teacher's Examination which gave him his
first teacher's certificate.
Claud taught in several out lying districts for the
next few years, including Lost Prairie. It was here that his brother, Loyd and
his three youngest sisters were all students of his. His first term of teaching
was at Troy, Oregon in the fall of 1907 and his last school was Sunnyglade
(outside Flora) in the early 1920's.
On December 8, 1912 he married a neighbor girl, Grace
Lee Berner. Grace was born Nov. 17, 1888.
As the school terms were usually three months in
the fall and three months in the spring, Claud also did farm and ranch work. He
did considerable amount of sheep-shearing and was considered one of he fasted in
the country. While in Klamath Falls, Oregon in 1927 working at a sheep camp, he
suffered a perforated ulcer and emergency surgery. Due to stomach ulcers he was
in poor health the rest of his life.
Claud was an excellent natural musicians. by
watching and listening to his father, he taught himself to play the fiddle at a
very early age. In scrap book held by the Boone family there are newspaper
clippings of him winning prizes in fiddling contests. He played for local dances
accompanied by either his brother, Loyd, or his sister, Lelah. It was not
unusual for him to "just make up a tune as he went along". Many people remarked
that Claud Cole could get the most beautiful tone from a violin they had ever
heard.
Claud had a most pleasant personality and was well
liked by those he worked with and those he taught. He was considered a "born"
teacher by both his students and their parents. However, in later years he
enjoyed recalling an incident that happened in his first term of teaching that
made him wonder at the time if he would ever be accepted as a teacher! Claud had
just had his 19th birthday when he started teaching and a number of the 7th and
8th grade boys were practically his age. One recess period Claud and the older
boys were all out wading in the creek looking for fish bait when the
Superintendent of Schools rode up. Claud laughed about it later but at the time
his face was exceedingly red!
In the Spring of 1944, Claud died in the hospital at
Enterprise, Oregon. He was survived by his wife, Grace of Flora, Oregon. Grace
and Claud did not have any children. Grace was the daughter of James J. Berner
and Gertie Belle Martin.
Maud Ruthanar Burnap was born 1/16/1870 in West Point,
Ill. Robert Lindford Cole was born 5/5/1867 in Johnson County Nebraska. Robert
and Maud had six children: Claud Linford, Lelah Hazel Ralls, Philip Loyd Cole,
Hettie Gwendolen Price, Margie Juanita Blankenship, Cordelia Maud (Boone)
Bollinger.
Robert was the 17 of 18 child of the Rev. William
Person Cole Sr of Joseph Oregon. WP Cole had 18 children including:
Wiley and E. M. Ferrell had the following children:
+2 i. John Leonard Cole
+3 ii. Elizabeth Rebecca Cole
+4 iii. Evelinda Melinda Cole
Wiley and Elizabeth T. "Eliza" Marr had the following children:
+5 iv. Samuel Doke Cole
+6 v. James Allen Cole
+7 vi. Sarah Jane Cole
+8 vii. Charles Franklin Cole
+9 viii. William Chalen Cole
+10 ix. Joseph Cole
+11 x. Mary Cole
+12 xi. Mary Alice Cole
+13 Xii. Henry Hunter Cole
Wiley and Catherine Lindford Misner had the following children:
+14 Xiii. Hannah Eliza Cole
+15 Xiv. William P Cole
+16 xv. George L Cole
+17 Xvi. Albert E. Cole
+18 Xvii. Robert Lindford Cole
+19 Xviii. Sarah C. Cole
Information taken from page 38 of Burnap and Cole History, "Crossing the Plains" by Maud Burnap Cole. Compiled and printed by Bonnie June Lindroff (Boone) in 1965.
Bonnie June Lindroff (Boone) Nov. 1,1926 - Oct 9, 1967 was the daughter of Cordilla Maud Cole and Everett Boone.
Marvin Cole
Mrs. Earl Allen received word Tuesday
that her brother Marvin Cole, had been killed while braking on a freight train
at Dunsmuir, California. Mrs. Allen left that night for La grande where she took
the train for California.
Wallowa County Reporter Thursday November 7, 1918
Philip Loyd Cole 1896 - 1954
Philip Loyd was the third child and
youngest son of Maud Ruthanar Burnap and Robert Lindford Cole. He was born in
Prairie Creek, Oregon on April 5, 1896. He went through grade school in Lost
Prairie, Oregon where his parents had homesteader. His last school teacher was
his older brother, Claud. After finishing his schooling he worked on his
father's homestead until he left for Lethbridge, Canada in 1916. he did farm and
ranch work there also.
On March 23, 1920 he married Marie Shinman, a
registered nurse. In 1922 their only child, a son Ogden, was born. Loyd
continued farming until 1937 at which time his wife, married, died.
Lloyd then started driving truck and later clearing
land with a large Caterpillar tractor. he worked at this until 1945. at this
time he went into partnership with another person on a Cat and cutter of their
own. When his son, Ogden, came back from World War II he and Loyd filed on
homesteads north of Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. They were able to use the Cat
to build the first road into their places.
On November 17, 1946 Loyd married Madelene Wilson of
Piapot, Saskatchewan. their son, Philip Joseph, was born in 1951.
Loyd developed heart trouble and failed fairly fast
after homesteading. he, Madeline and Philip were living on the homestead at the
time of his death in November 24, 1954. At the time of his death, Loyd was in
the process of taking out Canadian citizenship papers but they were never
completed.
Loyd played the organ and in his earlier life often
accompanied his brother Claud when they played for dances. In later years he
confined his love of music to dancing which he enjoyed a great deal. As Ogden
grew up, he and Loyd became more like brothers than father and son, enjoying
many of the same interests both at work and socially. Loyd had a pleasant,
pleasing personality and enjoyed people as much as they enjoyed him.
Loyd's two sons, Ogden and Philip, are the only members
of the remaining Robert Lindford Cole members with the surname of Cole.
Information taken from page 40 of Burnap and Cole
History, "Crossing the Plains" by Maud Burnap Cole. Compiled and printed by
Bonnie June Lindroff (Boone) in 1965.
Bonnie June Lindroff (Boone) Nov. 1,1926 - Oct 9, 1967
was the daughter of Cordilla Maud Cole and Everett Boone.
Contributed by: Mona Pomraning
Robert Lindford Cole 1867 - 1950
Robert Lindford Cole was the son of
Rev. William Person Cole Sr. AKA Wiley P. Cole and Catherine Lindord Misner
Cole. In the early 1940's the Enterprise Chieftain published articles concerning
Wallowa County Pioneers still living in the area. At this time they interviewed
Robert Cole and the following article was published as a result. It gives his
complete history.
Another Wallowa County resident who belongs in the
ranks of the pioneers is Robert Lindord Cole of Enterprise who has resided in
the county since 1880.
Mr. Cole was born on May 5, 1867 in Johnson county,
Nebraska, about then miles from the town of Tecumsch. His parents lived on a
corn farm, which they had homesteaded in the early '60's. The lure of the West
gripped them in the spring of 1880 and with four neighbor families they set out
in a covered wagon for Walla Walla, Washington. The Cole family consisted of
Robert's parents and three brothers and one sister. The oldest boy was eighteen
and Robert Cole the youngest of the boys, was 13. His sister was 11.
The five-wagon train left Johnson county, Nebraska, on
April 20, 1880. During most of the trip Robert walked behind the wagons carrying
a double barreled shotgun with which he managed to shoot enough ducks, grouse,
sage hens, and rabbits to keep all five of the families supplied with meat.
While he tramped about over the county to the sides of the road in search of
game, he often lost sight of the wagons. Generally in the evening he would catch
up with them, but on two or three occasion the wagons got too far ahead an he
camped out alone for the night catching up with the wagons the following day.
This activity kept his mother in a constant state of anxiety.
Although the road was not too well defined in places,
they managed to move along without too much trouble. In the course of their
journey they met many herds of cattle, sheep, and horses being driven east to
market. No Indians were encountered and the wagons came through with not more
than a couple of short stopovers. All five of the wagons, which set out from
Nebraska, arrived in the Grande Ronde Valley on July 9, 1880 making the time on
the road a little less than three months. All of the emigrants except the Cole
family went on to Walla Walla, the original destination. The Coles, however,
stopped in the Cove and went to work.
Their employer was Dan Chandler who owned a large farm
and at the time was engaged in building a house in addition to harvest work.
Mrs. Cole cooked for the hired hands another boys and Mr. Cole went to work in
the fields, Robert however worked on the new house doing miscellaneous unskilled
jobs.
After living in one of the houses belonging to their
employer for about three months the family drove on into the Wallowa valley
making their first stop across the rive west of Joseph. Robert's father bought
the improvements on a place there and the two oldest boys filed on homesteads.
Robert went to a nearby subscription school where each
pupil paid an agreed part o the teacher's salary. His first teacher was Arthur
Soul. Later a schoolhouse was built in Joseph and he went there to school. Cora
Samms, later Cora White, was the teacher. Mrs. White and Mr. Cole became
lifelong friends and visited often over a period of many years.
On October 23, 1887 he married Maud Burnap, a neighbor
girl who had come across the plains with her parents in 1885. At that time he
was not yet 21 years old and had to secure the consent of his parents to the
marriage.
Following his marriage he filed on a preemption of 57
acres adjoining his brothers' places. Before proving up on this claim, however,
he sold out to is brothers and moved to a place on upper Prairie Creek where he
farmed for several years, first on the T. F. Rich place, then later on the Sam
Adams and Thomas Roup places.
Near the turn of the century he rented a place at
Lowden Station near Walla Walla and worked for wages for two years. From there
he moved on to a homestead at Lost Prairie were he lived until 1917 when he
moved to Canada.
After farming two years in Alberta and having two
complete crop failures, Mr. Cole come back to Wallowa County and sold his
homestead to William Fordice. For the next few years he lived at Paradise. In
1924 he moved back to Canada to a farm north of Edmonton, Alberta. In 1929 he
returned to have an operation performed on his eyes and soon moved to fossil,
Oregon to take care of the children of this daughter, Margie, who had just
passed away. From there he moved to Talent, Oregon where he lived for a couple
of years. Coming back to Wallowa County Mr. and Mrs. Cole took the Paradise post
office, which they managed until 1935 when Mrs. Cole passed away. Mr. Cole has
made Enterprise his home from that time up to the present.
Mr. Cole states his parents, brothers, and sisters have
all passed away. He has two sons, Claude Cole of flora and Lloyd Cole of
Alberta, Canada. There are also two daughters, Mrs. Roy Ralls of Paradise and
Mrs. Everette Boone of McMinnville. Two daughters, Mrs. Margie Blankenship, and
Mrs. Hettie Applegate are deceased.
Mr. Cole states that Wallowa County has looked better
to him every time he ahs been away and returned. He is firmly convinced that the
county is a hard place to beat.
Five years ago, Mr. Cole states he let his Master take
charge of his life and since then he has known greater peace and happiness than
he had ever experienced in his life before. His advice to the young people of
today is for them to make their peace with the Master and most of their problems
will be solved.
Information taken from page 35-36 of Burnap and Cole
History, "Crossing the Plains" by Maud Burnap Cole. Compiled and printed by
Bonnie June Lindroff (Boone) in 1965.
Bonnie June Lindroff (Boone) Nov. 1,1926 - Oct 9, 1967
was the daughter of Cordilla Maud Cole and Everett Boone.
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