The reservation portion of our County has been the place where many have won the smiles of fortune and have come from the depleted resources of hard times to have plenty and be prospered abundantly. Among that number is the enterprising and industrious young farmer whom we mention at the head of this article.
Hollis W. Keith was born in Boone County, Missouri, on April 4, 1872, being the son of George G. and Ann Maria (Willis) Keith. The father was born in Kentucky, in 1828 and died in 1901, having been a pioneer in Missouri and also in Washington. The mother was born in New Jersey, in 1830 and still lives in Idaho. Her father, John Willis, was a forty-niner in California. Hollis grew to manhood in Missouri and was educated in the public schools. When seventeen he came west to Colfax, Washington, The father joined him in a few months and together they farmed near St. John, that state. In 1893, they explored the Salmon River country and soon returned to the vicinity of Pullman where they farmed until 1897, when the reservation lands attracted them and our subject took his present place, two miles southeast from Lenore. He owns one hundred and thirty-nine acres, raises domestic stock, does general farming and has good improvements, being prospered. Mr. Keith also handles a threshing outfit and he is a leading man and stands well. His two brothers, Jesse G. and Allen, took land also, and the father came to the reservation with them.
In January, 1892, Mr. Keith married Miss Nora McArty. The wedding occurred at St. John. Her father, Adam McArty, married Miss St. John, whose father started and named the town of St. John. Mr. St. John was a merchant and an old soldier. His death occurred in 1895. Mrs. Keith was born in Kansas in 1878 and died April 11, 1902, having borne four children, Albert J., Arthur C, Alice B. and Georgia M., who are all at home with their father. Mr. Keith has the following named brothers and sisters: John W., in this County; William M., in Missouri; Allen B. and Jesse G., both in the reservation country; Catherine Boyer, Mary E. Barnett, both at Odessa, Washington; Anna Al. Hitching., near Sunset, Washington.
Mr. Keith is a Democrat but is sufficiently independent to reserve his vote for the man rather than the party. He is a zealous supporter of good schools and is wide awake for the betterment of the country and its advancement.
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Source: An Illustrated History of Northern Idaho, Embracing Nez Perce, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone Counties, Western Historical Publishing Company, 1903