the Community of Christ

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1 1 of 12 pp. / doc. no the Community of Christ title : RECOLLECTIONS OF SAGLE, IDAHO - volume 1 source : various author : various editor : Gunter, Wayne L. date : to present file date : (revised) description of work: Brief recollections of the people, places and events that are part of a record of Sagle, Idaho and the of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (later renamed Community of Christ), and its members, from 1875 to the present. Agens, Mason Delos Cabbage Bill Mason Delos Agens was baptized in Sagle, ID, on January 22, He transferred to the Spokane (WA) Branch on July 14, 1907, arriving in August, and transferred back to Sagle on December 27, 1908, arriving January 24, He appears to have transferred from the Spokane District on December 6, 1909, to an unknown location. [Spokane District membership records, ] In an entry dated February 12, 1905, the record of a branch business meeting and election of officers indicates that Mason Agens was elected deacon of the Sagle Branch. It appears, however, that Mason had never been ordained to this office. [Mrs. Lillie Osborn, Sec., Sagle Branch Record, 1905] Contained in a later, undated entry in the same record: The ordination of Mason Agens was postponed to await further instructions. When said instructions arrived, Bro. Mason declined to be ordained a Deacon. Further proceedings were postponed until the second Sunday in Aug. Bro. Mason to act until that time. ******* Mason Agens was around our part of the country for quite a few years. He stayed at our [the John Whitman Holmes ] place quite a lot. He may have worked for Papa part of the time. As I remember him, he was a big man, with dark hair and large, bulging gray of brown eyes. He was a character and maybe not quite bright. Mason was given to dreams, visions, and big plans that never quite materialized. Like, once he was going to get rich raising cabbage. He may have had some kind of an arrangement with Uncle Tom Turnbull. I think that the only thing he gained from this venture was the name of Cabbage Bill. He was afflicted with asthma. It seems that I can still hear him cough and cough on and on until you would think that he couldn t cough any more, then continue coughing. My folks used to tell that Mason had TB and smoked cigarettes. He was thin, pale, and nearly dead when a doctor told him that he couldn t [wouldn t] live unless he quit smoking. He did quit smoking, and except for asthmatic attacks, seemed hale and hearty after that. Mason Agens was ordained Deacon by W. [Wilbur] H. Powell & Fred Turnbull. [Mrs. Ida Powell, Secretary, Sagle Branch Record, 1905; Mrs. Ida Powell, Sec., Sagle Branch Record, Aug. 13th, 1905] *** Mason had many girlfriends, but never seemed to keep one long. He had a dream, or vision, of meeting his lady love on a certain day at the church in Bandon, Oregon. This lady s name was Maggie. They would marry and have two children a boy and a girl. He was late getting his affairs in shape to go. Dad, my husband

2 2 of 12 pp. / doc. no [Oliver Turnbull], had decided to take a trip so he took Mason with him. They pushed the old Model T hard but didn t get to Bandon in time, so poor Mason never did find Maggie. Of course, no one else ever saw her either. Later, Mason became a carpenter and worked somewhere in Kansas. He used to write Dad long letters, telling of his dreams and visions. [Vera Rosamond (Holmes) Turnbull, February 17, 1970, to her son, Glen Arthur Turnbull] Algoma (Old) Before Sagle was named in 1900, some folks called the area Algoma. After 1900, the 1 to 1 ½ mile stretch of land along what is now U.S. Highway 95, from the former DeVries farm to the north (see milepost markers ) south to the current community of Algoma, was called old Algoma. The heart of Sagle was located one mile east of the highway and the first two schoolhouses were about two miles east-southeast of the highway and a few hundred yards east of Reed s Hill toward Shepherd Lake (formerly Griffith s Lake). [Harpster Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter] Blacktail Mountain When government surveyors first traversed the Sagle area (then part of Kootenai County) in 1904, they stopped at the Thomas Turnbull, Jr., home and asked what to call the mountain at the base of which the Turnbull cabin was built. The reply was that it was called Blacktail Mountain, after the Columbia blacktail deer [not a mule deer] that the Turnbulls had reportedly seen on its slopes. This deer was smaller than the whitetail and rare anywhere east of the Cascade Mountain range in Washington State. That portion of the mountain known as Butler Peak was named years later to honor a U.S. Forest Service worker who was struck by lightning and killed while manning a lookout tower located there. [Harpster Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter] Bricks (for Sagle church) A kiln was constructed on the west bank of Sagle slough, on land owned by Harry S. Fry, Sr. and his wife Corien [much later known as the Sommerfeld place], under the direction of Wilbur F. Yates, who had a knowledge of brick making. I remember seeing it only one time while boating to Sandpoint with my father. A man was leading a white horse in a circle, attached to a pole that was being used to mix the clay. [Vera Rosamond (Holmes) Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter] The bricks for the church were made in a brick kiln on what s called Fry Creek. I remember going to Sandpoint [in the] summer of 1909 before the first wagon bridge was built. (It was started on [the] Sandpoint side.) We went across in a rowboat and landed beside the bridge [which] was near where [the] present bridge is. We left our team (Papa did) near where the bricks were being made. All I recall was an old white horse on a sweep (rather lazy) and a young fellow along behind trying to keep him going with his old felt hat! [I] Also remember the church partly built. [Vera Rosamond (Holmes) Turnbull, December 17, 1980, in a letter to Roberta May (Knerr) Crabb] Tom Beau Jimmie Turnbull [Thomas James Turnbull, son of Cyrus and Mary Jane and brother of Oliver and Fred, et al] hauled the brick on a horse-drawn wagon from the kiln to the church building site at Sagle. [Harley Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter] Case, Oscar Oscar Case lived to be 105 years of age and died in Independence, Missouri in He preached at the Campus (an RLDS recreational area not far from the Auditorium in Independence) at age one hundred, just as he had hoped. Oscar married Alta Estella Gunter, daughter of Emanuel and Sarah Fannie Gunter of Spokane, WA and sister to Vernon Gunter, following the death of his first wife in an automobile accident near Rathdrum, Idaho. He was active in the work

3 3 of 12 pp. / doc. no of the Lord the greatest part of his life exercising remarkable faith. Many of his spiritual experiences are contained in My Book of Acts that he authored in Among his other responsibilities, he served as Spokane District president in the 1920s. Because he married my grandfather Gunter s sister, our immediate family had the opportunity to see Oscar and Alta and visit with them when they came to Sagle. Family members were rightly impressed when this one-eyed man (he had one glass eye) in his mid- to late-80s, helped install a steel roof on my grandparents house. I invited a college friend, Jim Broyles, and his parents to come to Sagle from St. Maries, ID to hear Oscar preach in July Jim stated that his parents were Presbyterian and that they would not come, since they had no good feelings toward Mormons. This was one of a few times that I have been given the gift of faith, an absolute assurance. While speaking with Jim on the telephone, I felt impressed to tell him that if he would have the courage to ask, his parents would accompany him to Sagle to hear Oscar preach. He did ask and his parents said yes. They came to church that Sunday to hear a 98-year-old Mormon preacher deliver his sermon, while reading a Bible that he held upside down. The Broyles family had dinner at my folks home after church. My brother Don, cousin Pat Gunter and I visited Oscar and Alta at their home in Independence the first week of June This was the last time I saw either of them before their passing. [Wayne Gunter, 2002] Fry, Harry (Henry) S., Sr. Harry Fry was an alcoholic, but a good worker and singer when he was sober. He sang loudly at church. He donated the land for the Sagle church building, and the bricks for the church were made on his place on the west side of the Sagle slough where a deposit of high quality red clay was found. Harry was also instrumental in helping to pay for the first (wagon) bridge to span the Pend d Oreille River between Sandpoint the south shore. [Vera Rosamond (Holmes) Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter] Harry Fry may have retired as a telegraph operator with the railroad. The accuracy of this report is to be questioned, however, since I cannot remember either the name of the railroad or who stated it to me. [It was most likely Harp, Harley or Vera Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter] Harry, Sr., and Corien Fry were the parents of Pearl, Ruby, Harry, Jr., Raymond and Clyde. [Vera Rosamond (Holmes) Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter] Gunter, Elbert Milton Elbert Milton Gunter was born September 10, 1921, on the birthday of his grandfather, Emanuel Manderville Gunter. To honor Grandfather Gunter, his parents gave Elbert the same initials but could not bring themselves to name their son Emanuel Manderville. The name Elbert was selected since it was the first name of Elbert A. Smith, a much-beloved minister in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and Milton was suggested by his Aunt Ruby Arenath (Taylor) Ward. [Laura Ellen (Taylor) Gunter, ca , to Wayne Gunter; and, Helen Louise (Armstrong) Gunter, 2002, to Wayne Gunter] Elbert learned to crochet at an early age. One Sunday, while he was practicing his newly acquired skill, his grandmother Sarah Fannie (Curtis) Gunter asked him if he was aware that crocheting on the Lord s Day was a sin. Grandmother Gunter was very proper! Looking at his work, Elbert responded with a comment, Do you want me to unravel my sins? [Elbert Milton Gunter, ca.2002, to Wayne Gunter (et al)] Elbert s Aunt Ruby remembers him listening to a recording of the Wreck of the Old 97 (about a train wreck and the death of the engineer) and beginning to cry as a result of hearing the lyrics.

4 4 of 12 pp. / doc. no When teased about his tears, Elbert responded, You would cry too if you were scalded to death in the steam! [Ruby Arenath (Taylor) Ward, ca s, to Wayne Gunter, et al.] Gunter, Vernon Leroy Sometime between 1923 and 1928, Vernon Gunter was asked to transport blasting caps, dynamite and an invalid man by the name of Mr. Egyed to Talache Mine. He was driving a Ford Model T touring car. The road was muddy and rutted with a single driving lane leading to and from the mine, so Vern put chains on the front tires. This would enable his car to climb up out of the ruts if he were to meet an oncoming vehicle along the way. Five and one half miles southeast of the Sagle church on Talache Road, and just one half mile from the mine, a tire chain broke loose, caught on a bolt under the fender, jackknifed the car and threw it off the road over the bank. This occurred above what is now called the Hidden Valley Ranch, then owned by cranky old man Chapman. Mr. Egyed was thrown from the Model T. However, being an invalid, he could not move. Vern s coat caught on something as the car flipped over the bank and his chest became pinned beneath the crossbars that supported the fabric roof. Vern soon realized that unless help came quickly, he would die. He prayed to God, If it is not my time, please send help. All the while, Mr. Egyed was yelling for help. Mr. Chapman was sitting in his house eating breakfast at the time, several hundred yards away. He later stated that something told him that he should get up and go outside. When he got outside and started walking up his driveway, he could hear Mr. Egyed calling for help and he responded. Mr. Chapman was able to lift the car off Vern just as he was about to lose consciousness. Vern s heart had continued to pump blood into his upper chest and head but it could not return to his heart because of the pressure of the crossbar. As a result, his eyes bugged out and were severely bloodshot for a period of time thereafter. His life had been preserved in direct response to his prayer. [Laura Gunter, ca , to Wayne Gunter; Elbert, Helen & Harley Gunter, 2002, to Wayne Gunter] *** Israel A. Smith, who served as president of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints following the death of his brother, Frederick M. Smith, in 1945, was on his way to Graceland College (Lamoni, Iowa) on a rainy Saturday morning in This was the last trip that he would ever make between Lamoni and his home in Independence MO. An oncoming car crossed over the centerline, crashed into his 1957 Chevrolet, and killed him. Israel had lived into his 82nd year. It is said that the family of the driver of the other car filed a lawsuit against the church, but witnesses who viewed the accident testified that Israel had not caused the crash, but instead, the other vehicle had crossed the center line. [ Gentle monarch: the presidency of Israel A. Smith by Norma Derry Hiles, c.1991, Herald House (et al)] Related to this occurrence, Vernon Gunter had a dream one night at his home in Sagle. He dreamed that he was fishing and caught a beautiful, large fish and felt that he should take it to the prophet of the church. In the dream, he was carried to the Auditorium in Independence, Missouri, and walked into the president s office planning to present the fish to Israel A. Smith. To his surprise, the person who greeted him was W. [William] Wallace Smith, Israel s younger brother. On October 6, 1958, W. Wallace Smith was ordained the fifth president and prophet of the RLDS church. His predecessors were Joseph Smith, Jr., Joseph Smith, III, Frederick Madison Smith and Israel A. Smith. Vern Gunter bore testimony to what he believed was the truthfulness of the call. [Helen Gunter & Laura Gunter, ca , to Wayne Gunter]

5 5 of 12 pp. / doc. no Holmes, John Strawberry Whitman The father of Vera Rosamond (Holmes) Turnbull, he raised as many as 1,500 crates of strawberries each year at the north end of the lake that he renamed Mirror Lake. This lake is located southeast of Sagle off Talache Road. He was also reported to have been the keynote speaker, ca.1910, at the dedication banquet for the first (all-wooden, wagon) bridge that connected Sandpoint, Idaho, with the south shore of the Pend d Oreille River. [Vera Rosamond (Holmes) Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter] My folks were predigesled [prejudiced] and we were not allowed to associate with Mormons. [Vera Rosamond (Holmes) Turnbull, December 17, 1980, in a letter to Roberta May (Knerr) Crabb] Elbert Gunter remembers old Strawberry Holmes sleeping in a chair on his front porch, ca. late 1920 s or early 1930 s, and snoring very loudly. Elbert and Strawberry s grandson, Glen Turnbull, plotted and dared one another to fill his mouth with salt, as he slept, to see what he would do. Neither boy followed through with the plan. [Elbert Gunter, 2004, to Wayne Gunter] Jacobson, Albert Idaho was a dry state during the era of prohibition in the United States (ca ); that is, a state where it was illegal to produce, sell or drink alcohol. Consequently the brush was full of stills and raids by federal agents and sheriffs deputies were common. Bonner County Deputy Sheriff Vance conducted one such raid on a still at Wrenco (west of Sandpoint ID) located downhill and about one mile east of the Verewolf place. There he surprised Albert Jacobson and his brother Vic (Victor). Vic got away, but as Albert turned to run, Deputy Vance fired what he called a warning shot that hit Albert in the head. Although he survived, the bullet scrambled a portion of his brain and caused scarring that led to seizures. Dr. Matthews in Spokane WA removed the scar tissue and declared Albert to be in good shape. As a side note, Victor Jacobson married Letha Coleman who also became a member of the RLDS church. Sometime later, Albert got into a car wreck while racing on the old highway at Granite, just a short distance north of the Kootenai County line. He and another man, whose last name was Selle, rounded a curve in the road too fast and crashed the car. Albert was thrown out through the top of the car and hit a rock cliff headfirst. He remained in serious condition for weeks and would regain consciousness only long enough to ask someone to turn off the fire before slipping back into unconsciousness. Albert was crippled for the remainder of his life as a result of this second injury, was able to use only his right arm and leg, and walked with a limp while dragging the other leg. This may have been the reason that he acquired the nickname Heavy. Years later, he told another member of the church that he did not like the name and wished that people would stop using it. Everyone in the community stopped. However, with one nickname gone, another soon took its place. Larry Wayne Verhei began introducing Albert as the Mayor of Sagle and the title stuck. In the early 1960 s north Idaho began to experience another growing spurt as people moved here from all over the United States and brought with them their Californian ways. Suddenly, change was thrust upon a community that was not prepared for change. To make land more attractive to potential buyers, Sagle slough became Comeback Bay; Sagle Creek was renamed Fry Creek; Gun Club Road Monarch Road; Fish Hatchery Road Lakeshore Drive. Prices of land and the resulting property taxes rose sharply. Planning and zoning laws were written. Life became more complex. Partly in response, it seemed somehow fitting for Albert to be the Mayor of Sagle. This bachelor often wore soiled clothes, smelled a little, drove

6 6 of 12 pp. / doc. no an old pickup truck and put on no superficial airs. Although Sagle has remained an unincorporated rural community to this day, having Albert as mayor was a subtle way of thumbing one s nose, so to speak, at the proud, more cultured, highbrowed people who were moving in. Albert lived in the small, three-room Jacobson house located on land at the northeast corner of the intersection of Sagle Road and South Sagle Road, a few feet in distance from the RLDS church building. This house was originally constructed by T. [Thomas] P. Craig for his wife, had served as the community s third post office, and was a home to many residents until Bob Jacobson demolished the fire-gutted shell in In later life, Albert painted signs for additional income under the business name of Jacobson s Signs. Helen Gunter remembers meeting Albert for the first time when he showed up at the home of Vernon and Laura Gunter, and wanted Elbert to go fishing with him, at 9:00a.m., the morning after Elbert and Helen were married. This made a long-lasting impression, not necessarily favorable, upon Helen. Speaking of fishing! Albert also made an impression on the Gunter children, including me, by showing us how to keep fly maggots warm so that they would not break apart in cold weather when being placed on a fishhook. He placed them inside of his mouth between his lower lip and gums. This was very practical. He also taught us to spit on the hook before throwing it into the water and to call here fishy, fishy, fishy to attract fish to our boat. [Harley Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter; Helen Gunter, Dec. 2002, to Wayne Gunter; Wayne Gunter] Jenkins, Hiram Price Hiram [spelled Hyrum in Spokane District membership records, only] Price Jenkins, the son of Rosser and Ann (Price) Jenkins, transferred from Deer Lodge, Montana, to the Sagle (ID) Branch on May 16, He was one of the founding members of the Valley (later Vay ID) Branch when it was organized March 5, [Vay (ID) Branch history, ca.1946, written by Margaret Elizabeth (Wilson) Gibson; Spokane (WA) District membership records, ] Hiram Price Jenkins died on July 9, The day that Hiram died, he left his family in the morning telling them that he was going fishing in Hoodoo Creek. When he did not return by late afternoon, family members went looking for him and found his body where he had been fishing. [Alice Mary (Jenkins) Morse, ca.1989, to Wayne Gunter] Leach, George Grandpa George Leach was born May 1, 1857, at Cathist [or Cathish], Ontario, Canada, and was baptized and confirmed by Robert Newby on December 3, 1916, in Canyon City, British Columbia. His wife, Ada Leach, was born October 1857 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and had been baptized earlier on September 4, 1916, in Canyon City by Robert Newby. [Spokane District membership records, 2002] Grandpa Leach was blinded while working in the apple orchards of Creston, British Columbia, Canada, spraying trees with pesticide. He said that the Spirit of God had warned him not to work in the orchards that day but that he had decided to do so anyway. [Vera Rosamond (Holmes) Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter; and, Elbert Milton Gunter, 2002, to Wayne Gunter] Although blind, Grandpa Leach visited many of the congregations of the Spokane District, preaching, baptizing new members and sharing stories of his earlier life experiences with children and adults, alike. Watson F. Fordham frequently escorted him and served as his driver. In January 1939, he baptized Florence May Stotts near the wooden bridge connecting Sandpoint, Idaho, with the south shore of the Pend d Oreille River. A hole was cut in the ice, for it was especially thick that year, and a ladder was placed in the hole. Florence was six-months pregnant and her daughter, Lorna, later maintained that she

7 7 of 12 pp. / doc. no had been baptized twice. Two of the stories that Grandpa Leach shared with Elbert Milton and Robert Vernon Gunter are as follows. While working in the woods in Canada as a young man, George Leach crossed paths with a she bear, perhaps coming between the bear and her cubs. The bear attacked Grandpa Leach who grabbed the hide of her neck, held her at a distance with one arm and reached for his knife with the other hand. After opening the knife with his teeth he killed the bear, as confirmed by his co-workers when they retraced his steps to the sight of the attack. Grandpa Leach also told of coming into an Indian camp with a co-worker who displayed improper attention toward a native woman. The Indian men grabbed both men, and while holding them securely, scalped and killed his co-worker by splitting his skull in the back and pealing the skin off of his entire head, from back to front. [Spokane District history; and, Elbert Milton Gunter, 2002, to Wayne Gunter] Elder George Leach, better known as Grandpa Leach, died March 11, [1938], and Elder L. [Lewis] P. Summers, of Sagle, Idaho, preached the funeral sermon. [The Saints Herald, May 1938 issue] MacGregor, Daniel Daniel MacGregor was a seventy in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (early 1920s) and author of A Marvelous Work And A Wonder, a work that explores the fulfillment of ancient Old Testament prophesies. As a missionary to the Spokane District, he was instrumental in the conversion and baptism of many persons and organized the Clark Fork, ID, Branch in [Spokane District membership record; writings of Margaret Elizabeth (Wilson) Gibson, ca.1946] During the turmoil that swept through the RLDS Church over the issue of presidential authority, ca , Daniel MacGregor allied himself with the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) and encouraged the members of the Sagle Branch to follow him. Lily (McWhorter) (Osborn) Shirk and Venus Anchor Verhei were among the members who left the church at that time. Laura Ellen (Taylor) Gunter asked, I heard you preach when I was younger and I hear you preaching now. The message is not the same. Which message should I believe? When Vernon Leroy Gunter opposed Daniel MacGregor s anti-rlds speech at a meeting in the Sagle church, Daniel pointed to Vern and stated, Who are you going to believe, this squatty little 2x4 or me? [Laura Ellen (Taylor) Gunter, ca , to Wayne Gunter] Spokane District President, Oscar Case, and George Grandpa Leach, reportedly caught a train from Sagle, ID, back to Spokane, WA, ca When they climbed aboard the train they saw, and sat down beside, Daniel MacGregor. Grandpa Leach felt led by God s Spirit to place his hand upon Daniel s arm and deliver a warning: Danny, my boy, if you do not stop fighting against the church you will be dead within six months. Daniel did not stop working against the church. Within six months he died. [Oscar Case, ca , to Wayne Gunter (et al) at Sagle] Missouri Mountain Named after the Rash family, reportedly from Missouri, who settled on the mountain. Lillian Turnbull, baptized on June 1, 1908, married into the Rash family. [Vera Rosamond (Holmes) Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter; Spokane (WA) District membership records, ] It was also called Stone Quarry Mountain because Northern Pacific Railroad crews had quarried rock for the bed of its rail line at the southeast corner of the mountain near present U.S. Highway 95. [Harpster Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter] Sagle (Idaho) Is Named

8 8 of 12 pp. / doc. no It is recorded in various sources that Sagle was named by Nathan (Nate) Powell in 1900 when he wished to build and operate the community s first post office. The U.S. Postal Service required that the community have an official name, so he submitted the name Eagle. That name, however, was already in use by a community in southern Idaho located west of Boise. Nate took very little time to select and submit a new name. He simply crossed out the letter E on Eagle and replaced it with an S, thereby giving the community a rather unique name. What is often not mentioned, is that other names considered for the new community, before Sagle was at last selected, included: Sourdough, Algoma, Wright s Spur (the name of Northern Pacific Railroad s spur line that started at Algoma and was built to run through the community in the late 1880 s or early 1890 s), as well as Eagle. Nathan and Ida (Turnbull) Powell, and later their daughter Rachel (Powell) (Porter) Farber, were members of the RLDS Church. Nate s brother, Wilber Powell, served as the first pastor of the Sagle Branch. Nathan and his family moved to Spokane, WA, in 1908 where it is reported that Bro. and Sr. Nathan Powell are the latest arrivals at Spokane, having transferred their residence from Sagle, Idaho. We understand he is to engage in the wood business. He has bought Bro. Lamb s property. [Wayne Gunter; Harpster & Harley Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter; minutes of Sagle Branch business meeting, Jan.9, 1904; Saints Herald Sep.9, 1908, p.885] Sagle RLDS Church At a memorial service held in the Sagle church following the death of longtime resident, Roy Studebaker (ca.1990s), officiant Elbert Gunter shared several recollections of early days in the community. Among those memories was one of a horse-drawn buggy being placed on the roof of the church building, which is perhaps thirty feet in height, by a handful of the men who were then present at the memorial. People enjoyed a good chuckle. [Wayne Gunter, 2002] Bricks that once formed the second story walls of Sagle s third schoolhouse (completed in 1927 and located ½ mile east of U.S. Highway 95 on Sagle Road) were used as facing on the north and south additions to the church building that were built in 1999 through These bricks had been gifted to the branch in exchange for depositing debris from the demolition of the schoolhouse on church land just north of the chapel and across Sagle Road. In an arrangement with pastor, Wayne Gunter, the demolition company trucked the bricks to a site on property belonging to Elbert Milton Gunter for cleaning and storage. When finally used many years later, they matched very well the brick that was manufactured by the saints in [Wayne Gunter, 2002] Sagle Schoolhouse Bell The bell from Sagle school was acquired for use by the church in In a special business meeting held on May 31, Pearl [? = Bartch or Summers] made a motion a committee of three consisting of Venus [Verhei], Glenn Turnbull and Albert Jacobson go get the bell with whatever help they can get. Seconded & carried. It was never installed, however, and sat on the ground on the west side of the church building for many years. Sometime in the 1960 s, Herman Crabb moved it to his farm. It was gifted back to Sagle School, circa 2006, and is attached to a memorial located at the northwest corner of the school building and visible from Sagle Road. [Wayne Gunter, 2011] School Held In Sagle (RLDS) Church By 1921, the Sagle School District #7 was formed which included the districts of Kinney, Lakeside, Sagle and Talache schools. [Virginia Judge Overland, 2000, Beautiful Bonner History and Memories, v.2] Consolidation did not come easily. In the fall of 1925, on the night before school was to begin at the McCarty dance hall in Sagle, the building

9 9 of 12 pp. / doc. no burned to the ground. A few of the three hundred, or more, miners from the Talache community were suspected of arson but no one really knew who was responsible. Consolidation meant that the miners children could not attend the school that was just a few feet from their homes and, instead, were required to attend classes about eight miles away at a site described as being near the current intersection of East Monarch Road and U.S. Highway 95. The school district was in a bind for a meeting site. After consulting with church President Frederick Madison Smith, who was traveling through the Spokane District at the time, Oliver Turnbull offered use of the Sagle Branch church building to the school district. The offer was accepted. President Smith s reply had been, The church has always supported public education. Some members did not agree with President Smith and felt that such use of the sanctuary would be a desecration. They were among the many members who left the Sagle Branch and General Church during this generally turbulent period of The school district agreed to pay rent for use of the building. It also constructed two cloakrooms on the north end that were used until the year 2000, and a single-room addition on the south that was enlarged and remodeled in Pews were stored in the old frame Sagle School that had been constructed in 1900 (in which the Sagle Branch had been organized in 1904), folding doors were installed across the middle of the church, and school desks were used for seating during Sunday services. Grades 1 through 4 attended classes in one half of the sanctuary; grades 5 through 8 on the other side; high school grades 9 and 10 met in the south addition. Mildred Evelyn and her younger brother, Robert Vernon, children of Vernon and Laura Gunter, both recalled attending church and school in the same building. This arrangement continued through the school year until Sagle s brick school (its third school building, located at the sight of the present-day Sagle Elementary School) was completed. [Harley Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter; Mildred Evelyn (Gunter) Wheaton & Robert Vernon Gunter to Wayne Gunter (et al); Vera Rosamond (Holmes) Turnbull, December 17, 1980, letter to Roberta May (Knerr) Crabb; Virginia Judge Overland, 2000, Beautiful Bonner History and Memories, v.2] Shirk, Lillie (McWhorter) (Osborn) Lillie (McWhorter) (Osborn) Shirk was one of the founding members of the Sagle (ID) Branch. She and her first husband, Orrie [Orris] Preston Osborn built the house that was located immediately west of the Sagle church. It would later be known as the Homer place. The Colby s lived there in the 1960s, and Kenneth Reed eventually bought the house. It caught fire and burned, ca s, and Ken Reed replaced it with the current house that occupies the site. Lillie and Orrie divorced. Records indicate that Orrie was found guilty of falsehoods, profanity and adultery and was expelled from the church on August 13, Lillie later married Oliver D. Shirk and both participated, along with many other church members, in a communal farm experiment in the Culdesac/Gifford (ID) area that ended in the early 1920s. Lillie had great faith in her home remedies for illness, and unfortunately, so did others. She reportedly nursed her husband, Oliver, almost to death before other persons stepped in to save him. When neighbor, Josie Hartley, developed cancer in the early 1960 s, Lillie treated her sores with applications of salt. Josie suffered a painful death. In the 1950 s, I remember Lillie driving her team of horses and wagon from the top of Gold Hill as far as the Sagle Elementary School to catch a ride into Sandpoint with neighbors. She would leave her horses tied up on school property. As a child, when I saw Lillie coming I made it a point to get off of Sagle Road and to stay out of her way. The horses seemed huge.

10 10 of 12 pp. / doc. no Lillie had a reputation for being opinionated, stubborn and altogether a colorful character. She left the RLDS Church, ca , and joined the Church of Christ (Temple Lot). In later life she attended the Vay (ID) Branch of the church. [Sagle (ID) Branch records; Spokane (WA) District membership records; letter from Lillie Shirk, 1962, to Blanche Grace (Turnbow) Verhei; Vera Rosamond (Holmes) Turnbull, ca , to her son Glen Arthur Turnbull; Carol (Sutton) Gilson, 1996; Wayne Gunter, 2002] Summers, John John Summers, one of Sagle s very first settlers, husband to Mary Anne and father of Lewis and Thomas Summers, died of pneumonia at his home in 1917 at the age of 59, after contracting typhoid fever at the RLDS Reunion held in Palouse WA. [Harley Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter] Summers, Mary Anne Aunt Polly (Turnbull) Sometime following the death of her husband John, Mary Anne Aunt Polly Summers moved into a house immediately southeast of the Sagle (ID) RLDS church. She arrived early to church, one Sunday, and while she was seated in a pew, sparks from the chimney caught the shake roof of the church on fire. Mary did not attempt in any way to get someone to help put out the fire, nor did she let it interrupt her thoughts. When others who arrived later had extinguished the fire, she was asked if she had been worried. She replied to the negative and stated that it was a church, after all, and she had faith that God would take care of matters. [Vera Rosamond (Holmes) Turnbull or Elbert Milton Gunter, ca.1960s-1970s, to Wayne Gunter (et al)] Talache Mine In 1923, Brother Robert McDole and Brother Vernon Gunter contracted with the Burroughs Company, owners of Talache Mine, to haul coal and other supplies to the mine and ore concentrate from the mine back to the ore chute at Sagle. From here it was transported to the Kellogg ID area for smelting. Talache Mine was one of the highest producing silver mines in Idaho, a state that led all others in silver production, and at one time employed between 300 and 400 miners until the veins of silver, gold and zinc were exhausted in 1928, on the eve of the Great Depression. Most miners, and many of their family members, lived year around in a tent city that surrounded the mine. Company officials had wood-frame houses. Vernon Gunter bought one of these tents from Talache Mine and it became the roof over a woodframe tent house that he built for his family to live in their first five years in Sagle. The coal hopper and ore chute was a distance of six miles from the mine and was a two-story structure that sat on property now owned by the Sagle Branch, just north of the church building and across Sagle Road. It had a ramp from ground level to the second story, on which a driver would backup his truck and unload the ore concentrate. At scheduled times the chute was opened to release the concentrate into a boxcar that would then transport it to Kellogg. Because he owned a large truck, Vernon Gunter was hired to transport miners and their families to Kellogg when the mine finally closed. Although some attempts have been made over the years to revive the mine, none have been successful. The boarded entrance to the mine, large piles of muck, the schoolhouse, and a few buildings that were once used as homes by mine officials, are all that remain in [Harley Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter; Elbert Gunter, ca , to Wayne Gunter; Wayne Gunter] Turnbull, Harley Harley was raised by John and Mary Anne Aunt Polly (Turnbull) Summers after the death of his mother, Bertha (Mrs. Andie F.) Turnbull of TB, when he was one and one half years of age. He asked to be baptized into the RLDS Church when he was seven, but since the church did not baptize

11 11 of 12 pp. / doc. no children this young, he was encouraged to wait until his was eight. By the time his eighth birthday arrived he did not want to be baptized and never was. [Vera Rosamond (Holmes) Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter] Turnbull, Oliver In 1901, a missionary by the name of A.M. Chase encouraged Oliver Turnbull, his brother Fred, and Thomas and Lewis Summers to attend the newly opened Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa. The boys cut poles to earn money for travel and tuition, and after two years, had sufficient funds for a nine-month term beginning September 3, Oliver took business courses including shorthand and bookkeeping. While in Lamoni, Oliver was baptized by Joseph Smith III in a wooden watering trough that was used as a baptismal font. Both Oliver and Joseph were big men and broke boards in the trough. It was never used again. Joseph Smith III also initiated a call to priesthood for Oliver, but Oliver did not accept, preferring instead to wait until God revealed the truthfulness of the call to him, personally. In an entry dated August 25, 1904, the record of a Sagle Branch business meeting held July 3, 1904, indicates that Oliver was recommended to the Spokane District Conference for ordination to the office of elder. Oliver was never ordained. Looking back in later life, Oliver stated to his wife that he felt he should have accepted the call when it came. [Vera Rosamond (Holmes) Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter; Sagle Branch record, 1904] Oliver also served as Bonner County Tax Assessor for a period of years. Elbert Gunter, who worked temporarily as an assessor in the field, noted that Oliver would listen quietly while people vented their anger about the assessment of their property and would then respond with slow speech and a gentle manner. [Elbert Gunter, ca.2002, to Wayne Gunter] Oliver Turnbull had diabetes and in his later years this caused blindness. The only times that I remember seeing Oliver at church in Sagle (1950s), his head was wrapped in cloth perhaps with a scarf. This was a curious sight to me as a small child. [Wayne Gunter 2002] Oliver Turnbull died in June [Sagle Branch record, 1965] Vay (ID) Church All members of the church who lived in the Valley/Morton area were members of the Sagle (ID) Branch until March 5, 1916, when the Valley [later Vay] (ID) Branch was organized. [Sagle (ID) Branch history, 1965; Spokane (WA) District membership records, 1916] The first building owned by the church in Valley (later Vay) ID, a gift from Hiram Price Jenkins, was reportedly located close to where the second church building was constructed, ca.1950, by Clarence Delane Crabb and his son, Bob. [Alice Mary (Jenkins) Morse, ca.1989, to Wayne Gunter; and, Roberta May (Knerr) Crabb, 2002, to Wayne Gunter] This second church, officially closed in 1982, was a white one-room building with a raised platform on the west end opposite the entry door, a wood stove to the right-hand side and a children s class area to the left-hand side, just beyond the entry door. The building had the pleasant smell of wood heat and had perhaps eight to ten very hard benches constructed of two-by-four lumber, as I recall. A piano, a pulpit and perhaps a pump organ were located on the platform. I remember trying to walk up the steps of the Vay Church when I was two years of age, in 1951 or 1952, tripping, falling forward and hitting my front teeth on the concrete steps. One or two of my baby teeth turned black and died as a result. The Vay church was sold, ca , to a private owner who planned to open a laundromat, and it has since been remodeled and enlarged into the Vay Store & Cafe. Marion Renfro of Lewiston, ID, was Spokane District president at the time of the sale and I worked with him to

12 12 of 12 pp. / doc. no complete the sale. Quiet title action had to be taken in court, since the land had never been clearly deeded to the World Church. The sale price was very close to $5,000 with a $4,000 (plus) net profit. The money from the sale of the Vay property was held by the Presiding Bishopric and then transferred back to Spokane District when the district created its own building fund. Acting upon a proposal from then district president, Keith Townsend, the money was designated by a district conference to be a grant to the Sagle (ID) Branch upon approval of building plans for remodeling the Sagle church. When funds were finally used, the grant was for an amount in excess of $14,000. [Wayne Gunter, 2002] Venton, Idaho Venton was the name of a Northern Pacific Railroad construction camp on the south shore of the Pend d Oreille River across from what is now Sandpoint ID. It had a population of from 1,200 to 1,500 persons circa These workers built the first trestle to bridge the nearly two-mile span across the Pend d Oreille. No known traces of the community remain in [Harp Turnbull, ca , to Wayne Gunter] Weddings Held In the Sagle Church The first wedding held in the Sagle church was that of Lewis P. Summers and Pearl Verhei in May Fredrick Williams officiated. [Sagle Branch History volume 1, 1965; letter from Blanche Grace (Turnbow) Verhei, January 13, 1981, to Roberta May (Knerr) Crabb] I, along with some other young smarty girls, sat near the front and vowed that we would kiss the groom. I don t think that we did. The bride and the bridesmaid, Pearl Fry, were both dressed in white. The groom and the best man, Andy Turnbull, I think, wore blue serge suits. They all stood at the back of the church. I don t remember any music. At the appointed time they all walked up the aisle the girls arm in arm, and the boys likewise and took their places on the rostrum, facing the audience. After the ceremony they stood in place until congratulations were over. There was supper, or refreshments, in the Osborn (later the Homer) home, which was just west of the church. After that was over, some of the young folks thought the evening young, and persuaded Mr. [Thomas T.P. ] Craig to open his dance hall, which was upstairs over his store and the Sagle Post Office and we danced for a while. That seems to wind up the weddings during my childhood that come to mind. It seems strange that I should wind up the subject of weddings talking about dancing. However, most weddings in those days were followed by a dance. Pearl and Lew s wedding was an exception because the church frowns on dancing, and anyway, there was not room enough for a dance at the Osborn house. [Vera Rosamond (Holmes) Turnbull, July 25, 1969, to her son Glen Arthur Turnbull] One other wedding stands out in my memory. I think that it was in the late spring or summer of 1912 or 1914 [May 1913] that Pearl Verhei and Lewis Summers were married. I suppose that our family was invited, but for some reason only Zoe and I went. As a gift, the folks got them a coffee percolator. They were real new then. We walked to the wedding and carried it. It was an evening wedding in the Sagle church. The church was full, as I remember, and Zoe and