A Place to Share: Andrew Percy Nyborg and Rhoda Ann Foote

Andrew Percy and Rhoda Ann in front of home on Conant Creek

This history was included in a Nyborg Family Cookbook and Memories booklet collected and compiled by Keith and Raija Nyborg for a family reunion at the "Ranch" on Conant Creek in 1997. It appears to have been written by their son, Keith Foote Nyborg. Keith is my uncle and Percy and Rhoda were my maternal grandparents.

Andrew Percy Nyborg, more commonly know as Percy or A. P., was born in Mt. Pleasant, Utah on February 16, 1896, the son of Andrew Ephriam and Laura Hansen Nyborg.

In 1900, the family moved from Mr. Pleasant, Utah to Twin Groves, Idaho, arriving on July 2, 1900. They moved into a small log house in Twin Groves until a home could be constructed on the land his father had purchased.

Percy attended school in the Twin Groves church house until a school was built, which his father helped construct and later he, his father, and brothers helped in the construction of the Yellowstone Stake Tabernacle.

In 1902, his father and two of his friends, who had also moved up from Utah, took up 200 acres of land in the Squirrel area which later became part of the Drummond District. They used the land to run their cattle on in the summer.

Percy made his first trip up to the ranch in the fall of 1905 at the age of 9. They stayed overnight at the S. O. Peterson ranch on Conant Creek and he met their son, Blaine Peterson, for the first time. They later became close neighbors when Percy purchased land on Conant Creek adjoining the Peterson ranch.

A couple of years later, Percy's father and his friends sold the 200 acres and his father purchased an adjoining 40 acres which was being cultivated. So from the age of 12 on, Percy spent the summers there farming that land and also helping his father run the farm in Twin Groves. He started hauling bundles to the threshing machine at the age of 12 and by the age of 14 was placed in charge of running the threshing machine by Clay Harshbarger. They threshed grain up the north side of Conant Creek from Drummond to the Luebben ranch and back down the south side finishing at the Frank Christensen ranch.

In 1910, Percy's father purchased an adjoining 120 acres and Percy moved up and spent full time at the ranch during the summer. In the summer of 1912, his mother passed away and then he had to divide his time between farming the ranch at Drummond and helping his father farm the ranch at Twin Groves and raise younger brothers and sisters.

Rhoda Ann Foote was born in Glendale, Utah, on March 28, 1896, the daughter of David and Sarah Rebecca Hall Foote. She grew up in Orderville, Utah, where she attended school. She came to Idaho in the summer of 1917, to cook and keep house for two of her brothers who were farming a ranch for Fred Bailey, which was located approximately a half mile from the Nyborg ranch. She became acquainted with Dad the summer. Mother always told us that she first met Dad at a Saturday night dance at the Squirrel Dance Hall. She returned to Utah in the fall of 1817.

Nyborg descendants in front of the dance hall where it all began

In September of that same year, Percy was drafted into the U. S. Army and left St. Anthony in late October for Camp Lewis, Washington, now know as Fort Lewis, where after nine months of training was sent overseas to France to fight in World War I. He served as a scout in his unit and was sent out to scout enemy positions. On September 29, 1918, he was wounded in action when a bullet penetrated the brim of his steel helmet, split his ear lobe and entered his neck, lodging in the tissue of his lung. The bullet was never removed and he carried it with him throughout his life. He spent the next three months in the hospital and a convalescent camp. Three days after he was wounded in France, his father passed away at a hospital in Salt Lake City, but he didn't find out about it until six weeks later.

He returned to the United States in April of 1919, and was discharged from the Army at Camp Russell, Wyoming. He returned to the ranch in Drummond, which he brother, Eleel, was now farming. Percy took what money he had saved and what he had received from his father's estate and bought horses and a scraper and went to work for Fremont County constructing roads in the area that summer.

Percy and Rhoda had continued to correspond while he was in the Army, so in December of 1919, he took the train to Orderville, "to see," as he put it, "what his chances were with her." Evidently they were very good for they were married on January 7, 1920 in Orderville, just a few days after his arrival. They came back to Idaho and Percy bought his brothers and sisters interest in the property in the Drummond area and they made their home there.

In 1926, they purchased property on Conant Creek, which became the family home, and where they raised their children. They were the parents of nine children, however, their first child, a baby girl, was stillborn so there were eight living children, 5 boys and 3 girls.

Elden Percy was born on December 30, 1922 in Ashton, Idaho. He married Wilda Craven and they had two children, Gayla Lyn who is married to Ric Otto and David Craig, deceased.

Velva Ruth was born on July 7, 1924 in the Bob Franz house, where Dad and Mother were living at the time, and which is located about one mile north of the place on Conant Creek which they later purchased and where the family was raised. She was the only one of the children not born in Ashton. She married Gary 'R' Ostler, who is deceased, and they had six children. Laurel Ann who is married to Glen Jensen, Farrell Lynn who is married to Eveline Kung, Janis Ruth who is married to Monty Palmer, Lynette Deon who is married to Lowell Bunker, Rebecca Jean who is married to Donald Ray, and Jolene Nyborg who is married to Steve Wolfley.

Lowell David was born on January 7, 1926 in Ashton and he never married. He passed away on May 14, 1996 at the Veteran's Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Gerald Wendell was born on April 18, 1928 in Ashton. He married Juanita Stoddard and they had three children. Debra who is married to Paul Tikalsky, Linda who is married Jed Wayment, and Ronald.

Keith Foote was born on March 4, 1830 in Ashton. He married Raija Itkonen and they had three children. Phillip Michael who is married to Kathryn Hoffman, Bruce David who is married to Debi Gaume, and Maija-Liisa who is married Brad Adams.

Elna Irene was born on March 16, 1931 in Ashton. She married Roger Sullivan and they had six children. Karen who was married to Paul Hackman, Keith who is married to Terri Barbee, Dianne who is married to Ron Baxter, Gloria who is married to Kirk Summers, Robin who is married to Scott Packer, and Heidi who is married to Steven Weatherston.

Nola LaRue was born on November 7, 1936 in Ashton. She was married to Sherman Goulding, who is deceased, and they had five children. Lowell Blake, Kristine who is married to Duane Mothershead, Shawna who is married to Vance Bronson, Brenda, and Troy.

Milton Hargis, who was named after Dr. Hargis who was the family doctor in Ashton, was born on June 26, 1939. He is married to Beatrice Souza and they have one daughter, Vanessa.

The children attended a one room log school house in France, a small farming community located between Drummond and Lamont. It was a whistle stop on the railroad, with a grain elevator, and was called France Siding. The children jokingly tell people they were raised and educated in France, which sounds very prestigious.

The France School was the center of community activity, especially during the long winter months. In addition to being the school, with its attendant programs and activities, it was also the center for community activities, programs, and dances, as well as serving for many years as a meeting place for a branch Sunday School of the Farnum Ward, Yellowstone Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, during the winter months when it was impossible to get down to Farnum to attend church due to the snow, the distances involved, and the mode of transportation at the time.

The family were members of the Farnum Ward and attended church there until it was merged into the Marysville Ward, at which time they had built a home in Ashton and became members of the Ashton Ward.

They attended Sunday meetings and participated in Relief Society, MIA, and scouting in the Farnum Ward and Percy served in several callings in the ward, including Ward Teacher, Scout Troop Committeeman, Counselor in the Sunday School, Sunday School Superintendent, and as a Counselor in the Bishopric. Keith was the only one of the children who had an opportunity to serve a full time mission for the church, serving in Finland from March 1950 to October 1952.

Percy passed away on December 26, 1959 and Rhoda passed away on September 20, 1979.