A good, substantial man, a wise and industrious farmer, whose labors have brought abundant success to him, a patriotic citizen and a true and loyal friend, it is fitting that we should grant representation to Mr. Summers in the history of his County.
Henry T. Summers was born in Vernon County, Missouri, on February 1, 1847, being the son of Allen and Elizabeth (Wright) Summers, natives of Kentucky, dying in 1849 and 1859 respectively. The father was one of the first to settle in Vernon County and his son, Hardin, was the first white child born there. As the parents died when Henry was young, he was raised by his eldest brother, where he remained until twenty.
His first labor for himself was to herd and drive cattle and feed them in the winter, and for five years he continued with one man, and then he bought a farm and settled to tilling it. In 1887 he came to Latah County, purchased land near Vollmer and there and in Whitman County he farmed until the opening of the reservation, when he was the second 1 man to file in township thirty-five. His farm is two miles due south of Melrose, is fertile land and improved with a skillful and thrifty hand. Mr. Summers has a good house, barn and orchard and other improvements in proportion. He threshed thirty-five hundred bushels of grain from his ranch this year, in addition to the hay put up for all his stock. Mr. Summers also operates a threshing outfit and is a business man in every respect.
In Missouri, in 1868, Mr. Summers married Miss Phoebe C. daughter of Delilah Reed, and to them four children have been born, Delilah, wife of John W. Seet, in Whitman County; Lee, in this County; Florence Hill, in Kendrick; Charles, in Nez Perces County. Mrs. Summers was born in Indiana, on September 20, 1845, and has one sister, Manilla Arnold, in St. Louis: also she has two half sisters and five half brothers. Mr. Summers has the following named brothers and sisters: Moses, John, Julia Daniels; he has also six brothers and one sister dead.
Mr. Summers is a Democrat and always takes the part of the intelligent citizen. He has been trustee of the school and is an advocate of the best of schools and is willing to pay the price of the same. He is an elder in the Christian Church at Melrose and an active worker in the support of the faith, and he is respected and esteemed by all who know him.
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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