Posting Old Idaho Photos

Special thanks to the men and women of yesterday who cared enough about family history to save old family photos and make notes identifying the subjects.

Michelle’s sister recently shared an envelope of photos she found among their mother’s belongings. I’m sure Barbara had gotten them from her own mother Gladys Williams Trefren, because she was known to be a passionate researcher and amateur genealogist. In case you are curious, yes, my last name is Williams, Michelle’s maiden name was Williams and her grandmother’s maiden name was Williams. No blood relation, but it certainly makes my daughters’ family tree Williams heavy.

Through the years, various people have written on the fronts and/or backs of these photos making them very easy to identify today and, in some cases, the notes are as fascinating and the photos themselves.

I’ve scanned the fronts and backs to share with Michelle and her family members and anyone else who is interested in Idaho history.

This is likely the oldest photo in the collection. Pictured are Hiram Watt Williams Sr. (1807-1891) and Martha Wilhoit Williams (1813-1898). These are Michelle’s 3rd great-grandparents. Hiram was born in Oldham, Kentucky.

Martha, who was also born in Kentucky, has an interesting proven ancestry. Her grandfather, John Wilhoit (1732-1814), fought in the Revolutionary War. His grandfather (Michelle’s 7th great-grandfather) Johann Michael Willheit migrated from Schwaigern, Wurttemburg, Germany to the Second Germanna Colony in Spotsylvania County, Virginia around 1718.

Hiram’s grandfather was David Williams Jr. (1775-1849) who was born in Henry County, Ky and died in Lincoln County, Ky. His father, David Williams Sr. (1750-1815) had migrated to America from Wales before his son was born.

Hiram Sr. and Martha were married in 1830 in Oldham County, Ky. They migrated to Indiana in 1831 and settled near Monrovia (a town featured in a 2018 documentary by Frederick Wiseman). In addition to farming, Hiram Sr. was a Lutheran minister. In 1869, the family migrated to Lebo, Kansas where he lived until his death in 1891. He is buried in the Lebo Cemetery. Martha died in Lyon County, Kansas in 1898. They had eleven children, four of whom died before Hiram with two of his sons dying in “service to their country.”

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We know a bit more about this photo because it was a postcard from Michelle’s 2nd great-grandmother, Martha Baldwin Williams to her daughter, Olive Ethel Williams Martin (1877-1934). Pictured left to right is George Washington Williams (1847-1924); Martha Baldwin Williams (1846-1926); Nettie Grace Warn Williams (1884-1943); Nettie’s sister who was deaf, Violet Evangeline Warn Smith (1890-1962); and Hiram Watt Williams (1879-1962). Nettie is holding her first-born child, Beatrice Ruth Williams Plain (1910-2000). Nettie and Hiram were Michelle’s great-grandparents, the parents of her maternal grandmother, Gladys Williams Trefren.

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As the inscription on the back notes, this photo is important because it is the only photo of Michelle’s grandmother, Gladys Williams Trefren, “when she was little.” Gladys was born Oct. 23, 1917 so this photo was probably taken in 1918. Her mother Nettie Grace Warn Williams (1884-1943) was 34 years old in the photo. “Aunt Vie” pictured to the left of Gladys and Nettie was Violet E. Warn Smith (1890-1964) and she is holding her son, Owen L. Smith (1918-1991). Violet and Nettie were sisters and were daughters of John F. Warn (1845-1923) and Serilda Martina Eaton (1846-1943).

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According to family stories, Michelle’s maternal 2nd great-grandmother, Martha Baldwin Williams (1846-1926) was “disowned” from her wealthy family because they did not approve of her choice of a husband and their decision to head west. From the note written on the back, we know pictured here are “the Baldwin sisters” including Asenath Reece (1844-1939), Neoma “Oma” Perisho (1964-1929), Mary Morris (1951-1943), Emma (Emily) Perisho (1860-1940) and Sarah B. (No info found so she may have been a sister-in-law). Martha B. Williams was “not present.” Martha and the others were daughters of Caleb Baldwin (1819-1896) and Matlida Mary Lindley Baldwin (1822-1882). Caleb, who was a Quaker, was buried in Whittier, Los Angeles County, Calif. You can find his obituary and headstone here.

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This is a photo of Michelle’s 2nd great-grandparents, George Washington Williams (1847-1924) and Martha Baldwin Williams (1846-1926). Because “mother’s parents” is written on the back, we can assume this was written by a child of one of their daughters. George was born in Indiana to Hiram Watt Williams (1807-1891) and Martha Wilhoit (1813-1898). His death certifcate lists his occupation as “rancher” and his home as Nampa, Idaho.

Martha, a homemaker, was also born in Indiana and died in Idaho. They had six children: Minnie F. Williams Veach (1870-1897); Bertha Williams Miller (1873-1857); Olive Ethel Williams Martin (1877-1934); Hiram Watt Williams, Michelle’s great-grandfather (1879-1962); Orleana “Lena” Matilda Williams (1882-1903); and Willet Byron Williams (1886-1951). George and Martha are buried in the Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise along with many of their relatives. A photo of their headstone and more information is posted here.

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The back of this photo of Martha Baldwin Williams alone includes “Vera and Juanita’s grandmother.” This refers to Vera M. Martin (1896-1971) and Florence Juanita Martin Johnson (1898-1994) who were children of Martha’s daughter Olive Ethel Williams. It’s likely Olive was the one who wrote on the back of this photo and several others in this collection.

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Although nothing was written on the back of this photo, I am fairly certain this is Martha Baldwin Williams.

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This is a photo of George Williams taken by “Adams & Drake, Photographic Artists” in Union, Iowa. They were located “one door west of the barber shop.”

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“Grandpa sends these two pictures to the girls.” This photo of George Williams sent by Martha Baldwin Williams shows their home located close to some foothills in Idaho. She made sure to point out the “screen porch.”

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I assume this photo of George Williams was the second of the two photos Martha sent to “the girls.”

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George and Martha Williams’ home in Boise, Idaho.

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George and Martha Williams “as looked last year…” I can’t tell what the last word is. This either means this is how they looked in their last year, or this is how they looked last year. Either way, since he died in 1924, this photo was taken before then.

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Pictured here is Martha Baldwin Williams with her daughter, Bertha Williams Miller, and Bertha’s two children Leda and Altie.

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Thanks to the person who wrote on this postcard and then the person who wrote later on the envelope, we know this is a photo of the family of Michelle’s great-grandparents, Hiram Watt Williams (1879-1962) and Nettie Grace Warn Williams (1884-1943). The children on the “cow pony” are Beatrice R. Williams Plain (1909-2000); Florence May Williams Bybee (1912-2009); Chester A. Williams (1913-1997); and the thrice married Doris Elva (Elia) Williams Workman Brantner Drake (1916-1992). Gladys, Michelle’s maternal grandmother and brothers Harold, Jack and Ray were not yet born. From the birth dates of the children, we know this photo was taken in 1916, likely in Boise. Another daughter, Violet Evangeline Williams was born and died in 1909.

Hiram was born in Iowa and Nettie was born in Boise, Idaho.

Hiram and Nettie, along with many of their family members, are buried at Cloverdale Memorial Park in Boise, Idaho. You can find their headstones and other information here.

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Here is a photo of Hiram and Nettie with their children, including Michelle’s grandmother, Gladys. Nettie died the year this photo was taken. The family’s history includes the death of Hiram and Nettie’s son, Ray Eugene Williams in July 1930 at the age of two. According to his death certificate, he “fell headfirst into a barrel of water that was sunk in the ground beside an irrigation ditch.” He was buried in the Canyon Hill Cemetery in Caldwell, Idaho.

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Although this photo was not included in the collection, I ran across it while researching and thought I would post it here with the others. The photo was listed as “courtesy Duane Donald Trefren” and was uploaded to Ancestry.com by Deborah Dewey Gravette. The photo, taken July 3, 1937 is of Hiram and Nettie with their grandson Hiram Donald Trefren (born Pugh). He was the son of Michelle’s grandmother, Gladys, and her first husband, Earl Franklin Pugh.

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These photos are of Orlena “Lena” Matilda Williams, a daughter of George and Martha Williams. In the census of 1900, she was 18 years old and living in Providence, Iowa with her parents and her brother, Byron Williams. Her sister, Minnie, had died three years earlier at the age of 27. Her other siblings, Bertha, Olive and Hiram were no longer living at home with their parents. Lena died in 1903 when she was just 21 years old and was buried in the New Providence Cemetery in New Providence, Iowa. You can see her headstone here.

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Minnie Williams Veach (1870-1897) was a daughter of George and Martha Williams. She married Clinton W. Veach in 1894 at her parent’s home in New Providence, Iowa. They had a daughter, Lulu Jesse Veach who was born in 1895 and died in 1896. Minnie died in 1897 at age 27 and Clinton died in 1903 at age 31. You can see Minnie and Clinton’s headstone and other information here.

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Bertha Williams Miller (1873-1957) was a sister of Michelle’s great-grandfather, Hiram Watt Williams. She married Charles Clifton Miller (1874-1931) in 1897 in Hardin, Iowa and died in 1957 at age 83. She is buried in the Roseville Public Cemetery in Roseville, Calif. You can see her headstone here.

On the back of the photo is written “Mama’s sister.” That was most likely referring to Bertha’s sister, Olive Ethel Williams, and written by her daughter Florence Juanita Martin Johnson (1898-1994).

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Charles and Bertha Williams Miller’s youngest children were Leda Gale Miller Fry (1898-1951) and Altie Porter Miller (1903-1978).

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This postcard, sent on July 7, 1909 to Juanita and Vera Martin in Meridia, Idaho, is difficult to read. The inscription written sideways identifies them as Charles Miller and Bertha Williams Miller (1873-1957) and their children Leda Gale Miller Fry (1898-1951) and Altie Porter Miller (1903-1978).

Juanita and Vera, to whom the postcard was sent, was Florence Juanita Martin Johnson (1898-1994) and Vera M. Martin (1896-1941). They were daughters of Olive Williams Martin, a daughter of Martha Baldwin Williams. The postcard was sent to them when Vera was 9 and her sister Juanita was 11.

I suspect these are the “girls” referred to above in the photo of George Williams with his horse.

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Bertha Williams Miller sent this photo to her sister, Olive Ethel Williams Martin, in 1931. It was the last photo she and her husband took together before he died at age 56 in Contra Costa, Calif.

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This is a photo of Leda Gale Miller Fry (1898-1951) and Geddes Dixon “Dick” Fry Sr. (1891-1976). Leda was the daughter of Clifton Miller and Bertha Williams Miller. Leda was born in New Providence, Iowa and married Dick Fry in 1916 in Boise, Idaho. She died of heart disease in 1951 at just 52 years old. Dick Fry lived 25 more years and died in 1976 at age 85. They are buried at the Pioneer Cemetery in Horseshoe Bend, Idaho, and you can check out their headstone here.

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This photo, taken Christmas, 1950 in Roseville, Calif. is of Bertha Williams Miller and her son, Altie.

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This photo, likely taken at the same time as the one above is of Bertha Williams Miller and her daughter Leda. Leda died the next year.

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This photo is possibly of Vera May Martin (1896-1971) of Alden, Iowa, although she was not 80 on July 25, 1953, so that is confusing. Vera, who did die in Alden, Iowa, was a daughter of Olive Ethel Williams Martin (1877-1934), who was a sister of Michelle’s great-grandfather. Vera was also the sister of Juanita whose name I have seen on a few of these photos. I assume Olive passed the photos down to her daughter Juanita or Vera and they gave them to Michelle’s grandmother, Gladys.

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This photo was taken in July 1957 and is of Michelle’s maternal grandparent’s family. Her mother, Barbara Trefren Mayer (1948-2018) is the youngest child in the photo.

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I’ve added these photos to Michelle’s tree on Ancestry.com, so if you want to see how these people all connect, you can check that out here.

You can find more about my family lines at HaywoodCountyLine.com or read more blog posts about the history of West Tennessee on my blog page.