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This page was last updated: February 1, 2010
Larson Century Ranch, Inc.
P. O. Box 1982
Clarkston, WA 99403
Telephone: 509-758-5445
FAX: 509-758-5701
E-Mail: Rick@LarsonCenturyRanch.com
Moon Legend
Author:  Joan Case (06/16/02)

MOON  -  Legend gives us the origin of the name of Moon and tells us it was first bestowed as an honor.  Here is the the story:

"The Norsemen were great travelers and some of them went to France and
settled in what is now Normandy and became a part of the Normans.  They had a brotherhood called the "Order of the Crescent" the men of which were tall, with fair complexion and blue eyes, and with character above reproach.  When William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, invaded England in 1066, the Order of the Crescent went with him.  One of the native stongholds proved to be very stubborn and the duke was unable to take it.  He called for volunteers and the Order of the Crescent came forward.  They successfully stormed the castle and William ordered that each member of the brotherhood be called "Moon", in honor of the event."

The members of the Moon colony in England prospered through the years,
leading honorable lives, giving of their time to the religious life of the community. During the Reformation and latter during the times of the rebellion against the Church of England, the Moons were staunch Protestants and Puritans.  Among the many who suffered persecutions for their religious beliefs we find a number of Moons.  They were followers of George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends, members of which were called Quakers as a term or derision.
Our Immigrant Ancestors
Author:  Joan Case (06/16/02)

JAMES MOON, SR. (1639 - 1713) and
JOAN JANE BURGESS (1649/50 - 1739)

On September 1, 1682, a band of about one hundred persons set sail
from Deal, England on the "Welcome" with William Penn bound for this recently acquired province in the new land across the ocean, where they could worship in freedom.  They reached Newcastle, on the Delaware River October 27, 1682, one-third fewer in number because of the ravages of smallpox on shipboard.

Among those who came to the new land were James and Joan Moon and
their six children, Sarah, James, Jonas, Jasper, Mary and Roger.  The family settled near Fallsington, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on a land grant given them by Penn.  The original home site is said to be a freight yard near Morrisville, Pennsylvania now.

James Moon was actively associated with the affairs of Bucks County,
his name frequently appearing on the early records of the courts of that county after 1685, as a member of Grand and Petit Juries, and as serving in various capacities by appointment of the court, up to the time of his decease in September 1713.

Joan Burgess Moon, wife of James, received a legacy from her parents
or other relatives in England in 1695 and obtained a certificate from the Bucks County Court on December 11, 1695 to enable her to receive it, the court entry of which is as follows:

"A Certificate of Joan, the wife of James Moon, being alive signed in Court she being then their present."

She survived a quarter of centry, dieing December 1739 in her ninetieth year, at the home of her son, Roger.
Christmas Day on the Train
Author:  Lydia C. George (Sanders)
Date: Circa 1901 - 1902

For a year Papa and Mama, Arthur and Ella Sanders, had been making plans
and arrangements to leave our home near Northbranch, Kansas, and go to Idaho to establish a new home.  Several relatives and friends from that
area had gone earlier to build homes in Woodland, Idaho.

Before daylight on Tuesday, December 24, 1901 we (Mama, Papa, brother Ivan, sister Mildred, and I left Aunt Lizzie Kivett’s where we had been staying for two weeks.  John and Myrtle Moon and their baby Guy, about 9 months old, were to travel with us.  Myrtle was Mama’s niece.  Quite a caravan of teams, pulling wagons and hacks, accompanied us to the train in Guiderock, Nebraska, as we had quite a bit of freight to be shipped.  There were two of Aunt Lizzie’s boys, Clarence and Vernon; Mama’s sister Ruth an husband, Charley Jones; and Levi Craven, our cousin, all who helped us to the train.  Levi was an orphan (Papa’s sister’s son), who had lived with us since I was a year old and he was nine.  He was now 22 years old, and like a brother to us children.

The first stop was at Lincoln, Nebraska that afternoon.  For some reason, I
can’t remember why (I was only 14 and, of course, didn’t know too much of
the family business), Papa did not get to the home bank before we left to
buy drafts with the cash they had on hands after the sale of our stock and
household goods.  So in Lincoln he went to the bank and got bank drafts in
the amount of $600 (which he had carried on his person that far) and mailed
them to Uncle George, his brother near Woodland, Idaho, to keep for him
there.  That was a relief to him and Mama.  Even so, when we changed trains there in Lincoln and got settled in the new train, Mama was concerned about a stranger who sat behind me and tried to talk to me.  Mama thought he asked too many questions about our family and our plans.

It was soon dark.  Mama had fixed two baskets of food for the trip.  One was an old-fashioned telescope suitcase; the other a woven wooden basket with hinged lids which raised up in the middle.  Sister Mildred still uses that to keep her quilt scraps in.  Ivan remembers fried chicken packed in the basket for the trip, and Mildred remembers pies.

The next morning was Christmas.  The day was brighter than the day before, but not bright sunshine.  We were gliding through western Nebraska.  We opened our baskets and had our Christmas breakfast as we spun over the prairies and hills.  John and Myrtle ate their breakfast too, as they had brought baskets of food and baby food.  We visited and played with baby Guy.  He was such a good happy baby and attracted the attention of other passengers.  We watched the country closely, and we enjoyed our Christmas Day on our way to our new homes.  Later it did get a bit tiresome for 4 days.

When noon came we had our dinner as we sped along watching the country and wondering what Idaho would be like.  There was new scenery as we left the Nebraska prairie and went into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, snow capped at Christmas time.  That evening we had our lunch from the baskets and lay down to sleep.  The car seats tipped back about half way, so we could rest more comfortably.

The next morning was very much the same, though, if I remember rightly, before noon we crossed the corner of South Dakota and passed the Hot Springs there.  We had never seen such and it was a strange sight.  Another night drew nigh and our eating and sleeping were the same.  We had drinking water from the tank at the end of our train car.  Part of the way there were enough cars on the train so we could see some of them behind or in front of our car as the track followed a curve on our route.

We went on to more mountainous country through Wyoming and the Idaho panhandle.  Each meal came from our baskets and our beds each night our
reclining car seats.  All the while we were nearing the end of our Christmas trip to Idaho.

Our first stop was to be Spokane, Washington at the home of Mama’s sister, Aunt Eslie McClure.  Our train was late and Aunt Eslie’s husband, Uncle Will, was waiting for us at the home of Uncle Joe, Grandpa Kenworthy’s brother, who lived in town.  Aunt Eslie and Uncle Will lived out in the country.  It was past midnight – Saturday morning, December 28th, when we got to Spokane.  We had been on the train since Tuesday afternoon.

In due time Uncle Will brought his bay team and hack, loaded us up, and took us out to their place, 6 miles west of Spokane.  Aunt Eslie was waiting and had a nice fire in the fireplace.  While we were there Aunt Eslie, her two little ones, Papa, Mama, and sister Mildred went visiting to some of the nearby cousins, the Whitsons and Eva Foster. 

John and Myrtle, our traveling companions, stayed with us older children.  Cousin Orpha and I roamed the hills and walked the railroad track near there.  Cousin Benny and brother Ivan watched the Japanese men working on the railroad tracks.  Orpha and I should have been more helpful to poor Myrtle who was very busy.  She baked bread the day the folks came home and had nice light rolls for supper.  But she felt so bad because she forgot to add salt.  They were good anyway and we ate heartily.

After New Year’s Day, Uncle Will took us to great-uncle Joe Kenworthy’s in
Spokane for a day and a night.  Then we boarded the train to Lewiston, Idaho.  We arrived there in late afternoon, went from the old depot on 5th street to the Grand Hotel on Main Street to stay all night.  The sun was bright through the hotel window that evening.

We got up early the next morning to take the train to Kamiah, and arrived there about eleven o’clock.  Grandpa Kenworthy and Uncle George Sanders had ridden on horseback from Woodland to meet us.  Neighbors, Tillie Moon and Elwood Ratcliff, were there with their teams and wagons to bring our luggage and other freight up the hill to Woodland.  We came very slowly up the hill with the very heavy load.  Sometimes all of us but the driver, other times part of us, had to walk.  There had been a little snow and some left in spots by the road side.  They took us to Uncle George’s for the night, arriving about 6 o’clock that evening, January 6, 1902.  The following morning Uncle George took us over to Grandpa Kenworthy’s.  We had arrived on “carrot ridge”, and we were glad.

We stayed at Grandpa’s place until Papa could make arrangements for us to
move onto our homestead.  Papa and Mama helped them make things that older people could not do alone, such as adding a room to their house, putting in a garden, and clearing a plot of ground.  It seemed very strange to me, coming from Kansas, to see them burn up those big trees to clear the ground.  Papa also made a table and chairs for us to use when we moved to our own place.  I have one of the chairs.

We children started to school in the log school house which the earlier settlers had built in 1898.  Each family had also made the seats and desks for their children.  They were benches with a back attacked and desks built along the front.  There was room for 4 children on each bench.

All this time plans were being made to move onto the homestead.  On April
17, 1902 we moved into the shack that was already there, and we were in our first home in Idaho, recalling our unusual Christmas Day spent on the train on the way to our new home.


Woodland Settlement
Fay A. Moon
circa 1944

Little clearing on the hill top,
From the wide world set apart;
A quiet corner, deep seclusion -
Just a spot to win your heart.

Up where heaven's air is purer,
Where the pines grow straight and tall;
Where the grass is greener, thicker,
You can hear Dame Nature's call.

There a guest so warmly greeted
Finds his welcome never ends;
And departing leaves a teardrop -
For the people there are Friends.
Leo Moon - The Little Colonel
Author:  Maxine Mallery Elmo
Date:  March 26, 2004 

Family History

       Father - Clyde Moon; 1st cousin to Manda Jane Moon "Mallery" - 
my mom .
Brother - Cleo Moon From Kamiah, Idaho - his mother had died.

Story

Clyde brought him to Moscow, Idaho to attend the University of Idaho and got him a room at a nice boarding house in Moscow.

From then on, Mom would call him on most weekends to invite him to come for Sunday dinner.  Moscow was 4 miles from our house, but Leo would hop on his bike and be at our house in 20 minutes.

Leo must have graduated in approximately 1940 and had taken up flying.  He invited us to see him participate in an air show at a nearby airport.  Shortly after that, World War II had started and we learned that Leo had joined the Air Force.  In the Moscow newspapers, there were "headlines" about the "Little Colonel" - Leo Moon (he was about 5'8" tall) who shot down so many enemy planes.  He was truly a hero and to think he graduated from the University of Idaho!

We lost touch and I have never heard from him.  Carl Larson, Rick's dad said he would inquire about him in Kamiah, but nothing tangible.  Maybe he will see the Internet that Rick and Heather have put together and show up.  Wouldn't that be great!!
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