I came across a genealogy quote several months ago that goes like this...."We don't own our family history. We simply preserve it for the next generation". It is attributed to the writer and personal historian Rosemary Alva. It perfectly sums up the WHY of all the stories on this blog! Our family stories are powerful and have shaped our lives in so many ways. Even the stories that we may have lost and forgotten in just a few generations. I don't want them forgotten. That's why I research and write. To share and then preserve them for the next generations. Some stories have been easy to write, and some have taken more effort and time to tease out...
L: Photograph of Josiah Thomas Boothby taken in Lexington, Oregon, probably around the time he married Lillie Mae Hayman Horner in 1898.
The latter part of J. T.'s life (after he married Lillie Mae) has slowly been taking shape over the last few years. Our visit to central Oregon in October took me to the Sherman County Historical Society/Museum in Moro, where I was able to spend some time looking up any information there was on the Boothby, Hayman and Horner families in Kent and Grass Valley at the turn of the century. The volunteers were a great help and I did find quite a few tidbits of information!
The front of the Sherman County Historical Society and Museum located in Moro, Oregon. Photograph by Patti Alden October 9, 2025.
The Museum mural depicting life in Sherman County, Oregon. Past and Present. Photograph by Patti Alden October 9, 2025
Josiah Thomas has been a shadowy figure to me, making the writing of his story more difficult. There are just three photographs of J.T. that have been handed down in the family. There are no surviving photographs of him with his three boys Tommy, Sterl and Harold. The last photograph that was taken was of Josiah and Lillie Mae in either 1914 or 1915 before Josiah's death.
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R: Lillie Mae and Josiah Thomas
Photograph taken in The Dalles either 1914 or 1915.
From my previous research I knew that in 1900 Josiah Thomas and Lillie Mae were living in Lexington, Oregon and were both listed on the census that year as being farmers. J.T.'s father, Josiah Stewart Boothby, was a cattle and wheat farmer in the area and sold his land to J.T. and Lillie Mae after their marriage. The land was where the Lexington airport now exists (The Bunchgrassers A History of Lexington Morrow County, Oregon Copyright Sam G. McMillan, 1974 pg. 92)
Their first son Thomas Josiah (Tommy) was born in Lexington in November of 1898. The Heppner flood occurred in 1903 causing devastation and economic hardship in both Heppner and Lexington which may have played a part in the Boothby's move from the area.
Sometime between 1900 after the census was taken and 1906 Josiah moved his family to Sherman County in central Oregon. Lillie Mae's father Martin Hayman also made the move with them. My visit to this area helped put the move in perspective. People began moving to towns such as Grass Valley, Kent, Wilcox, Moro and Wasco because the Columbia Southern Railroad was built through this area starting in 1898. Josiah and Lillie Mae probably saw the potential the railroad brought as did the many farmers moving into the area. They began to take advantage of the fertile soil and climate to plant thousands of acres of winter wheat using the dryland farming method. The railroad boosted the local economy as livestock (sheep and cattle) and wheat could be shipped out by rail and then taken down the Columbia River to Portland. Incidentally, Josiah's father Josiah Stewart had promoted opening up the Columbia to give farmers better freight rates when he served in the Oregon State Legislature in 1894.
Construction of dams and locks to bypass rapids allowed the era of barge traffic to begin. It continues today. Thank you Josiah Stewart Boothby!
R: A large grain elevator located next to the Sherman County Historical Museum
Photograph by Patti Alden October 9, 2025
Josiah Thomas Boothby continued his occupation as a wheat farmer when he moved his family to Kent and then Grass Valley at the turn of the century. So what is dryland wheat farming exactly?
Dryland wheat farming was not for the faint at heart at the turn of the century...life was defined by extreme labor, reliance on animal power and the gamble of farming with limited rainfall. Farmers adopted a "summer-fallow" cycle to maximize moisture, growing crops only every other year to let the soil regain moisture. The stored moisture during the fallow year was used to germinate the wheat seed when it was planted the second year. Rainfall the second year supported the crop during the growing season. Annual precipitation in Grass Valley: 12 inches.
Sherman County Historical Museum visit October 8, 2025
The Sherman County Historical Museum does a wonderful job visually explaining the history and development of the area. It is even a national award winning museum noted for its exceptional contributions to the preservation of local history! If you ever find yourself in Moro, Oregon, it is well worth visiting. The volunteers are welcoming and love sharing information about the area.
I visited the Museum a second day to concentrate on researching the Society's records and family genealogies. They are housed in the same building. I was able to put together a timeline for the Boothby family in Kent and Grass Valley from 1906-1915 and get a sense of what it may have been like living in this area at the turn of the century.
I know the Boothbys were in Kent by 1906, as Lillie Mae's father Martin Hayman died on June 24, 1906 and was buried in the Wilcox Cemetery. He was working at the Kent Hotel in town, but his obituary stated that he died at the home of his daughter Lillie Mae. We drove by the cemetery on the way up Highway 97. There is no pull out off the highway and the cemetery is located on private property. All I could do was wave to my great great grandfather as we passed by. But I know he is there.
The Wilcox-Observer Cemetery (Old Kent Cemetery) located 2 1/2 miles south of Kent, Oregon off U.S. Highway 97. Private Property. Martin Hayman's burial site is unmarked. www.shermancountyoregon.com
Kent was established near the turn of the century and was located on the Columbia Southern Railway branch line on what is now Highway 97. It served as a grain shipping hub and had a population of 205 by 1905. The Boothbys were living "3 miles west of Kent" when my grandfather Sterl was born on January 17, 1907. Josiah was 50 years old and Lillie Mae was 37.
Metsker Maps "Metsker Map of Sherman County" Special Collections and Archives Research Center https://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/omeka/items/show/29551 1934.
This gives you a good idea of the area that the Boothby family lived and worked in.
Josiah moved his family north to Grass Valley by 1908 as little Tommy Boothby attended school there beginning in 1908 to 1913. Harold Glenn Boothby was born September 18, 1908. There was also a notice of the marriage of Ceola May Horner (Lillie Mae's daughter from her first marriage) to Willard C. Heyler in 1908 "December 30, 1908 Willard C. Heyler and Ceola May Horner at the home of Mr. Boothby". Sherman County Marriages Book B 1906-1938 Part 1 . Ceola was still part of the Boothby household before her marriage, as were her younger brothers Harry and Clyde Dale Horner.
The Heyler family was very active in the community of Kent where they had a large ranch to the south, and Willard also leased land in Grass Valley next to the wheat fields of Josiah. His oldest sister MaryJane died in 1908 on the ranch from wounds sustained after she shot at a coyote in her chicken coop and the shotgun backfired. She was transported by wagon to the train in Wilcox, put on a mattress and taken by train to The Dalles but died from infection. Wilber Heyler killed a 112 pound black bear east of Kent in 1924 and the meat was cooked for a community supper. Heyler grandchildren were still living on the ranch as late as the 40's and 50's. Sherman County: For The Record Vol. 21 No. 2 Fall 2003
Ancestry.com
By the 1910 Census the Boothby family was still living in Grass Valley and Josiah leased land from O.P. King. He was assessed $1,380 in taxes in 1910. There is a very large blown up map in the museum that is a copy of the 1913 indexed map of Sherman County shown above. Josiah's property is there, along with the Heyler property next door.
Standard Atlas Of Sherman County Map of 1913 display. Sherman County Historical Museum Photo by Patti Alden October 9, 2025
A close up of the 1913 map showing the land that J.T. Boothby leased and farmed. I circled his land in red. The land circled in blue was leased by Willard Louis Heyler.
Working on a wheat farm in central Oregon must have been challenging for J.T. and Lillie Mae. By 1910 the family consisted of Josiah, Lillie, Tommy (10 years old), Sterl (3 years old) and Harold (1 year old). Harry Horner still lived with the family and was 17 years old. Clyde Dale was 14 years old. I can imagine the older boys must have had chores at home taking care of the livestock before dawn and after dusk, gathering water from the well, or helping their mother with harder tasks. Ceola was married by this time, so Lillie Mae was home taking care of the younger boys as well as managing a house and probably a small garden and poultry. She was also a seamstress, so she most likely made everyone's clothes or was at least constantly mending them!
Between 1911 and 1912 Harry Horner taught at the Liberty School as an 18 year old. The school was first called German Settlement School because of the many German families who settled there. It had 42 students in 1906, so by 1911 Harry may have had his hands full. The school's name was changed later to "reflect the circumstances of the first World War". It was located at the head of Mule Canyon NW of Kent and was near the proximity of the current Liberty Lane in Grass Valley.
shermancountyoregon.com
Sherman County Schools From the Collections of Grace Zeverly compiled by Sherry Kaseberg Sherman County: For The Record Vol. 20 pages 2, 30
"Our Combine at Grass Valley 1911"
from Sterl Boothby's Album
Identified as a Holt Ground Power Harvester with 25-30 horses by the docent at the museum October 9, 2025. Those bags of grain weighed 120 lbs each and wheat was sacked in the field and then hand carried to wagons. Crews of 20 or more men were needed for harvesting, so harvest time was a community event with neighbors helping neighbors. Modern harvest crews consist of 3 people and a modern combine which can harvest 120 acres a day as opposed to 35 acres a day at the turn of the century.
R: Grass Valley Methodist Church photograph by Patti Alden October 8, 2025
Harry Richard Horner married Mabel Young in this church in 1914. Mable had been born in Kent in 1896.
Sherman County Marriages Book B (1906-1938) Part 2 (1913-1921)
By 1914, Josiah was looking at buying orchard property in Rufus, Oregon next to the Columbia River. The family had moved to The Dalles sometime after 1911 and were living in this home. He was probably done with wheat farming. He became ill with stomach cancer and passed away in Portland on October 11, 1915. The family's life would change after his early death. He was only 59 years old.
From Sterl Boothby's Album.
Josiah was fondly remembered in his obituary:
"Josiah Thomas Boothby, who was taken to Portland for an operation for cancer, passed away Monday at 1 p.m., and The Dalles lost one of her most respected and valuable citizens. Mr. Boothby was 59 years of age. For many years he had been a resident of this city. In 1898 he was married to Lily May Hayman and from this union there were born three children, Thomas Josiah, aged 16; Kenneth Sterl, aged 9; and Harold Glen, aged 7. The names of his step children are, Marion Horner of Oakland, Cal., Mrs. Ceola Heyler of Sheridan, Ore., Harry Horner of Kent, Ore., and Clyde Horner of The Dalles; also two grandchildren, children of Mrs. Heyler. Mr. Boothby also leaves to mourn his loss a brother, John, and, his step mother of Lexington, Ore.
Mr. Boothby was a man who loved his family and always labored diligently to provide for them and make his home a happy one. He made no distinction between his own children and his step children, but seemed to possess that rare spirit that made him love those about him and made them all love him. Good cheer and sympathy was felt wherever Thomas Boothby was. He was a good husband and loss is felt keenly by those who love him so dearly.
All The Dalles sympathize deeply with the family in their bereavement. The funeral services were conducted from the Christian Church, the Rev. Leon L. Myers officiating. Taken from The Dalles Weekly Chronicle."
Life in central Oregon was not an easy one. Harry Horner and his wife Mable stayed through the 1920's and buried twin boys and a little girl in the Kent IOOF Cemetery before they left for Coquille on the coast. The railroad pulled out in the 1930's sending Kent and Grass Valley into economic declines. Kent is now considered a ghost town and Grass Valley's population has dwindled considerably. The wheat fields are still there, but are now dotted with huge turbines taking advantage of the constant wind. Enormous green and shiny John Deer harvesters dot the landscape these days instead of Holt Ground Power harvesters needing 30 horses to pull. One thing I did learn from the elderly docent at the museum was that his family is still farming the same land that Josiah leased from O.P. King in 1910! Amazing!
Wind, storms and time tend to fade the existence of those who came before us. Some of this family history was lost after Josiah died. I have been searching for awhile, and I think I have completed his story! His sons grew up without a father figure but Josiah's strong work ethic, resilience, persistence, high standards and above all love for family shaped his sons' lives after he was gone. I know for a fact Lillie Mae also encouraged these traits in her boys as they grew up. It is wonderful to see that these attributes have been passed down for several generations and have shaped my life as well.
Genealogy isn't just about a census here or a birth certificate there. Visiting this area gave me a deep appreciation for what hardships my ancestors endured and what landscape they saw every day. I have added another puzzle piece to our Boothby family.
I love this part of Oregon. It is in my DNA. I will be sharing the Boothby family story with the museum in the near future so they have a more complete history on file for anyone else looking for Josiah Thomas Boothby.
An old farm house on a ranch for sale at 93190 Liberty Lane, Grass Valley, Oregon. Only $975,000 for 1,184 acres! The house may need some updating...
https://northwestranchgroup.com/listings/liberty-lane-farm-for-sale/
Relationship Reference:
Me->Dale Richard Boothby->Sterl Kenneth Boothby->Josiah Thomas Boothby m. Lillie Mae Hayman Horner
