William Harrison SCHOOLER

   General Notes:

!William Harrison Schooler left Iowa with a group of men and went to the California gold fields. When he left, his sweetheart, Frances Ann Acton made a little pincushion for him to take with him, as a rembrance. While in California he had a ring made for her from a gold nugget. He made a tiny cut in the back of the pincushion and inserted the ring for safekeeping. The pin- cushion is in the possession of Wilbur Schooler's family. On leaving the gold fields of California the group of eight men from Iowa (the Iowa Regiment?) traveled north to Oregon and through the Blue Mountains. One man broke his leg, and winter overtook them, so they camped on the east slope of the mountains in the Grande Ronde Valley. A farm lady who lived near where they camped, liked the men and she and her husband really enjoyed the stories they told of their travels, so later after the men had left the next spring, in 1863, she donated land for a school to be built and named it the "Iowa School". The school was built on what is now the intersection of Hunter's Lane and Stanley Lane down at the bottom of the slope of the foothills between the settlement of Mt. Glen and Mt. Emily Peak. Rhea Beddes Schooler, wife of Charles William Schooler, son of Wilbur attended this school between 1920-22. It had one room, a cloak room and an entrance way. The building was square and white. In about 1986 the old school was picked up and was moved to the the Union County Fairgrounds at the edge of La Grande, as a display. The Iowa men traveled by fall to Fort Hall. A Mr. McGee at Fort Hall stopped them because of a Sioux uprising. Indians that winter had suffered an epidemic of small pox that killed off a lot of them. Eventually the travelers made it back to Iowa. (Following is the explaination given by Wilbur Schooler) "At Greenriver going to California a feller had a small family and was Indian excited. He swore he would kill the first Indian he saw. So he shot an Indian Squaw, who was sitting on a log. A large group of Indians took him and staked him out until ants ate him. His wife and baby went on to California with the wagon train." I'm not really sure about this story! It was told in his later years and doesn't fit in too well. William and Frances married and then moved to Idaho with his family about 1863-65, where they had two sons born in Boise District. In the 1870 census in Boise District, Ada Co., Harrison and Mary are there, and Richard and Mary and their family, but not William and Frances. They are back in Wapello Co., Iowa, with Frances's parents, John Acton and his second wife, Frances McDivitt Acton. What problems they encountered in Idaho we do not know, but enough to journey all the way back to Iowa. While they are living there they have another son, however they buried him there in 1873. The family now moved to Austin, Texas to rejoin William's family who went there from Idaho. While there they have another child, they then moved to Decatur, Wise Co., Texas and had another child before leaving Texas for good. About 1879 they moved back to Idaho with his parents, Harrison and Mary and his brother, Richard and his family. When they first came back they settled on what is now known as Gridley Island in the Hagerman area. They only stayed there about one year. This island is located down from Thousand Springs where the bridge now is. They also lived one summer about 1880 near the road going to Camas prairie. The little creek where they were is still called Schooler Creek. They cut and bailed hay on the Camas prairie and hauled it down to where the railroad was being built. They had a home-made bailer, which was made out of logs that compressed the hay, so they could tie ropes around it. From there they went up on Big Wood River near where the town of Gooding now is, where their last child was born. In those days they worked at anything they could to make a living. They worked on railroad grades, hauled freight, ran horses, and cattle, worked on canals, broke horses for working and for riding, put up hay, irrigated, anything to make a dollar. About 1890, they moved west of Hagerman and built a little house. Where they lived from then on. About 1905 William and Francis's son's and son-in-law got together and built on to their parent's home. None of them had much of any money, so they all went north to cut lodge pole logs to build with. This house was still standing until sometime in the 1960's. William's father, Harrison, and brother, Richard purchased the "Fallis (Fales) Ranch" at Toponis, Logan Co., (Logan Co. was made from Alterus Co. but both counties were discontinued when Lincoln county was organized) on the Big Wood River. They returned to running freight again, from Kelton, Utah to Boise, until the railroad was finished in 1882. Then they continued all over Southern Idaho, even from Shoshone to Twin Falls when Twin was building until 1905 when the railroad came in there. After that, they hauled from Gooding to Wendell and from Bliss to Hagerman. They brought in the printing press for the Hagerman Sun, letting it down over the rim, with blocks and tackle on the the Justice grade. The anchors are still there for everyone to see. In later years William, Richard, and their father Harrison purchased an enclosed wagon with fine teams and began the "Schooler's Gramaphone and Sciopticon Company" which had the name decoratively written on the sides of the wagon. They also moved freight from Boise to Silver City, Hagerman, and to Kelton, Utah with a 24 jerk line string. They brought in the lumber to help build Twin Falls, Buhl, Mountain Home, and the Malad Dam. They freighted in the first frame building in Boise and the first horse powered thrashing machine in Boise from Kelton. When Wilbur Schooler was a young man he worked for his Uncle Richard breaking horses, I assume for the freighting company. Richard with his three teams hitched together could come from the railroad in 18 days, one six horse team, one 10 horse team, and one 12 horse team. Loaded they pulled 30,000 pounds of freight. Later about 1905 Wilbur, Jess and two of Wilburs' brothers-in-law, Tom and Joel Campbell helped build the railroad Blue Lakes grade from Twin Falls to Buhl. They also helped make the Big Ben Irrigation Canal. After they finished freighting, they sold all but two wagon wheelers leaders - pointers Tommy, jerk line horses, a buckskin with black markings, Mate was a Hank Shaelom sorrel and Jack was a dark bay. In 1900 Harrison was living with his son William, age 87, probably while Francis was in Denver being treated for skin cancer the first time. Harrison died of a ruptured apendix. This family had a rough life and moved so many times, in such primative conditions that it is amazing to us, who live in these modern times. The black wrought iron fence that is partially around the Pioneer Cemetery in Hagerman is the fence the Schooler's built around the area of the Schooler plots there, but it was moved to the outer edge of the Cemetery later, by Dick Cook. !CENSUS:1856 Iowa State Census, Wapello Co., Iowa, Agency pg 13, it says he had been living in the state for 10 years. !CENSUS:1860 Wapello Co., Iowa, Washington twp pg 163, his future wife and her family are living 6 houses away. !CENSUS:1870 Washington twsp, Wapello Co., Iowa they are living with his wife's parents. !CENSUS:1880 Ada Co., Idaho pg 37 !CENSUS:1900 Lincoln Co., Idaho, Malad precinct !MARRIAGE:Wapello Co., Iowa Marriage records FHL #851207 !DEATH:Salmon Tract Cemetery records and estate records in the Lincoln Co., Courthouse in Shoshone, Idaho. The estate was dated 29 May 1909, administered by Frances Ann Hanks, his widow. The cemetery is located toward the north end of the Hagerman valley, about one mile west of the highway.

   Marriage Information:

William married Francis Ann ACTON, daughter of John William ACTON and Elizabeth Rachel MYERS, on 28 Jan 1864 in Washington Tsp, Wapello, Iowa. (Francis Ann ACTON was born on 9 Aug 1844 in Washington, Wapello, Iowa, died on 16 Nov 1919 in Hagerman, Gooding, Idaho and was buried in Nov 1919 in Pioneer Cem., Hagerman, Gooding, Idaho.) The cause of death was Skin Cancer.