It's been so long since I've been on here & so much has happened, but I want to start by saying a bit more about what I know of my ancestors.
My Grandma Anna (Stobie) French's family came to America from Scotland via Canada. Grandma was born in Marshall, Dakota. I'm not sure how old she was when they moved to Plains, MT,  Grandma's great niece, Robin and her husband Jeff, current owners of the Ranch, remodeled the house before their son Jase was married there in 2014. In case you wonder, yes, they left the outhouse ;)

l. Unidentified family and friends in what the house probably looked like when Stobie moved there in 1910.
r. Looking across meadow at Cook Mountain.




This is pretty much as I remember the exterior and kitchen looked like in early 1950's

2017. Most of descendants of Joe and Lucinda Stobie at family reunion in backyard of remodeled farmhouse.

Grandma Lucinda (Anderson), for whom I was named, owned property in Dakota before she married Granddad Joe Stobie.

I know more about Grandma Anna French than I do about Pop, and much more about Grandpa Archie than I do about Grandma Ethel (Warren) Kelly, and I have pictures of them at younger ages than I do the men. The pictures may not be chronological, but I thought they would add interest.


l. Ethel Warren w/doll, date approximately 1887.

r. Anna Stobie w/her college class at Walla Walla College, approximately 1911, where she got her teaching certificate.

l. Grandpa and Grandma Kelly (Archie and Ethel) Wedding Day,
Nov. 25, 1905


r. Grandpa Grandma Kelly, circa 1940 Grandma and Pop, Vic and Anna (Stobie) French                 Grandma and Pop, circa 1942
Wedding day August 20, 1914

For some reason I cannot move the caption of Grandma and Pop's wedding picture any closer, so will quit fussing with it. One rather peculiar thing I've noticed is when talking about my paternal grandparents I almost always say Grandpa and Grandma, but when mentioning my maternal grandparents, more often than not I will say Grandma first--not always, but usually.


This picture would have been taken 1915/1916. left to right, Grandma Kelly w/my aunt Aurel on lap, my aunt Vivian, Grandpa with my dad, Wilber, on his lap and and my uncle Beryl. I don't have any pictures of my dad with all 4 of his siblings. Both photos I have with him as a child were taken before my uncle Halford was born and pictures I have as adults were taken after Vivian died in 1948.

Both of these pictures are of Granddad and Grandma Stobie (Joe and Lucinda). The one on the right would have been taken in 1921. Granddad is holding my mother, Jeanne, on his lap; my aunt Anna May is in the middle and my uncle Jim is on Grandma's lap.  

Grandpa Kelly (Archie Rowen) was born August 16, 1870 in Moultrie, IL and as a young man, he and 2 of his brothers, Lafayette (Lafe) and Dave moved to Dixie, WA. I don't know why they moved there, but do know they farmed wheat in that area. Also, they dropped the second "e"and became "Kelly" in Dixie bur were "Kelley" in Illinois.  Grandpa died of a heart attack in 1942, while in a phone booth in Walla Walla, calling Grandma to tell her the bus was late. Grandma Kelly (Ethel Warren) was born December 8, 1882 in Lewiston, ID. Grandma died of breast cancer in 1959.