Biography of Lee J. Rowe

It is like a fairy tale to recount the facts of the prosperity of the subject of this article. In the fall of 1895 he came to the reservation and selected a raw piece of land, about three miles northeast from Nezperce, and in the following spring he brought his family to the land he had filed on. He had a team, one cow and seven dollars in cash when he landed here and now Mr. Rowe has one hundred and sixty acres of as fine farm land as one could wish to see, all fenced and under cultivation, a lovely eight room house, commodious barns and outbuildings, a large amount of farming machinery, excellent orchards and good berry gardens, besides considerable stock, and his crops are a source of large revenue each year. Of course, be had the hardships and arduous labors to endure incident to opening a farm here and his family were to be provided for, but he and his faithful wife labored along and the result has been this excellent showing mentioned above, and now they are among the leading and most substantial people of this vicinity. Mr. Rowe and his wife are devout members of the Christian church, as is also their child, Carroll and their example has been for good all the time they have resided here.

Lee J. Rowe was born in Catawba County, North Carolina, on February 16, 1862, being the son of Noah I. and Camilie (Smith) Rowe, also natives of the same place. They reside in the old homestead house where they have been for fifty years, and are aged seventy-four and seventy, respectively. The father served all through the awful conflict of the Civil War on the Confederate side. Our subject was liberally educated in Catawba College, attending that institution from fifteen to nineteen.

On November 9, 1881, Mr. Rowe married Miss Fannie B., daughter of Marcus and Mahalia (Yunt) Smith, natives also of Catawba County, where they now live, aged eighty-five and seventy-five, respectively. Mr. Smith served in a portion of the war. Mrs. Rowe was born in Catawba County, on March 1, 1866. In the spring of 1892 Mr. Rowe and has family came to the Palouse country, settling near Steptoe Butte, and in the fall of 1895 he came, as related above, to his present place. Six children have been born to this worthy couple: Arthur W., Claude E., Carroll L., Annie P., Floyd S. and Blanche E.

Back to: Nez Perce Biographies

Source: An Illustrated History of Northern Idaho, Embracing Nez Perce, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone Counties, Western Historical Publishing Company, 1903

1 thought on “Biography of Lee J. Rowe”

  1. Arthur Rowe was my grandfather. His son Paul Rowe was my father. When Dad was 4, Arthur and my grandmother Effie moved to Alberta, Canada where he farmed and was an agent for Alberta Wheat Pool in the small village of Gadsby, south-east of Edmonton.
    I visited Nez Perce when I was 12 in 1953. A lovely place and we visited Dale and Marie Harding and their daughters Connie and Janet whom I was fortunate to see again in Edmonton.

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