Stories and Stones 2008

Sarah (Lizzie) Elizabeth Countryman Woody
Born: January 6, 1853 in Yuba County California on Dry Creek.
Father: Horace Countryman, born Sept 8, 1824 in Cleveland OH Died in Columbus (Stillwater MT) at age 64, on January 15, 1898.
Mother: Elizabeth Payne, born Dec. 16, 1829. Died on Sept. 29, 1870 in Deer Lodge MT
Married: Franklin Hargrave Woody on December 10, 1871 in Missoula
Died: July 15, 1919 after a 3 month illness.
Cause of Death: Paralysis Agitans or Parkinson’s Disease
Children: Frank, Born: Dec. 1 1872, Died: Aug. 16 1945
Alice Mary (Allie M.) Born: July 2 1874, Died Jan. 24 1965
Rose Anna, born Dec. 19, 1876, Died Oct. 3 1878
Flora Payne, Born Nov. 3, 1879, Died: Early 1950’s
Ruth Emma, Born: Jan. 19 1881, Died: Feb. 14 1881
Rachel, Born: Aug. 25, 1884, Died: Oct. 4 1884
Robert Thomas, Born: Oct 17, 1885, Died: April 10, 1889
Beth Thomasine, Born: March 30 1889, Died: Feb. 24 1899
Rebecca, Born: Unknown, Died: Unknown
One of Missoula’s first school teachers The first Sunday school teacher The wife of Frank Woody who was the first postmaster and first mayor of Missoula At the time of his death, Frank Woody had lived in Montana longer than any white man. At the time of her death Lizzie lived at 328 West Pine Street.
1853 Sarah Elizabeth Countryman born in Yuba County CA to Horace and Elizabeth Countryman
1855 when Sarah was 1.5 years old the family moved via Isthmus of Panama to New York. From New York to Wadena Iowa 1
860 family moved to Marysville California (the trip took 6 months) 75 wagons, 5 women, 3 children. Horace Countryman was the captain of the outfit. According to a great grandson, Sarah fell into a camp fire and was badly burned. She lost the end of her little finger and injured her hip so that she walked with a limp and had to use a cane for the rest of her life.
1865 moved to Virginia City Montana. Horace put up the first quartz mill at Summit, built the Masonic Hall in Virginia City and a mill and Masonic Hall at Philipsburg. Horace rode from Stillwater MT (now Columbus) to Helena to carry the news of the massacre of Custer and his men. Sarah was a teacher in Philipsburg. She had few students but they were lively. In Iowa the teachers boarded with families on rotation. In Philipsburg, Sarah lived at home but at noon she was besieged to go home with the students for lunch. She went with a different student every day so that no one would have hurt feelings.
1869 the family went to Salt Lake City so Sarah and her brother could attend St. Mark's Episcopal school under the care of Bishop Tuttle. It took three weeks to travel from Philipsburg to SLC. Sarah was ill at that time.
1870 In March Sarah and her father came to Deer Lodge MT. Bitter cold trip. On another stage a group of Chinese men froze to death. The rest of the family joined them in June.
1870 on July 5th Sarah took the school at Missoula. It was the second term held at the school. In a letter written by Sarah Woody, she stated “There were 6 women in Missoula at that time.” This may be inaccurate. There appear to have been many more women living in Missoula at that time. The women wore heavy, linsey clothing in the winter and calico dresses in the summer. Almost all the clothes were handmade, with calico selling at 50 cents a yard. Sunbonnets were the popular millinery wear.
1870 Summer Mrs. Woody organized the first Sunday school. Among her pupils were Catholics, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Methodists. Adults as well as children attended her classes.
1870 Sept. Sarah's mother died in Deer Lodge and Sarah went back until the next spring.
1871 In the spring Sarah returned to Missoula.
1871 December 10 Sarah married Frank H. Woody. The Rector from Deer Lodge came to town to perform the ceremony.
1872 Dec. 1, Son Frank was born.
1874 July 2, Daughter Alice Mary was born.
1876 Dec. 19 Daughter Rose Anna was born.
1878 Oct. 3 Rose Anna died of morphine poisoning.
1879 Nov. 3 Daughter Flora Pyrena was born
1881 Jan. 19 Daughter Ruth Emma was born
1881 Feb. 14 Ruth Emma died of croup
1884 Aug. 25 Daughter Rachel born
1884 Oct. 4 Rachel died if scarket fever
1885 Oct. 17 Son Robert Thomas born
1889 March 30 Daughter Beth Thomasine born
1889 April 10, Robert died of scarlet fever
1899 Feb. 24 Beth Thomasine died of spinal meningitis
A Daughter named Rebecca was born and died young. No dates are known. Sarah and Frank were married for 45 years

Stories and Stones...coming soon

Missoula Cemetery
Phone: (406) 552-6070 Fax: (406) 327-2137
Email: cemetery@ci.missoula.mt.us
2000 Cemetery Road Missoula, Montana 59802
Web: www.ci.missoula.mt.us/cemetery


Stories and Stones Historical Tour
Sunday - October 26, 2008
12:30 - 3:30pm

One of Missoula's oldest cemeteries presents an afternoon of history coming to life through stories of individuals from Missoula's past. This is the Missoula Cemetery's seventh year of this vastly popular event for all ages!

Do you know that at the Missoula Cemetery you will discover..
¯ What three men founded Missoula?
¯ Who was the lone survivor of a renegade Nez Perce attack in Rock Creek?
¯ Who ran Missoula's Red Light District and still waves to 'her boys'?
¯ How Civil War veterans came to forever rest here?
¯ Who was Missoula's first schoolteacher?
¯ Why mystery surrounds the burial of a smokejumper/CIA operative?
¯ Who was the first Congresswoman in Montana?
¯ NEW** Which Sheriff lost his job for making moonshine?
¯ NEW** How a local poet portrayed the Montana ranch life?
¯ NEW** Which laundress was murdered by her husband in 1903?
¯ NEW** Who owned the first gas and grocery store in the Clinton area?
¯ NEW** Which UofM professor founded the Sigma Chi Fraternity?
¯ NEW** Which Missoula Mayor was also an eight-term Justice of the Peace?
¯ NEW** Barbershop's very best by the Five Valleys Chapter of Sweet Adelines?
¯ NEW** Which of Missoula's co-founders had a young wife who walked with a cane due to a campfire accident on the wagon train trip to Montana?
¯ NEW** Who has the only iron marker in all of western Montana? Along with so much more!

Volunteers will tell up to 40 stories. Visitors will be treated to live music, food, and fun! Come see individuals dressed in times of old as they capture your imagination by re-enacting people of our past. Stroll under the fall canopy of trees while being serenaded by music of bygone days. Admission is free with donations gladly accepted. Vendors will be on hand selling hot food and drinks.

Cemetery Contact for this event: Mary Ellen Stubb at 552-6070.
The following storytellers would be happy to talk about their roles for news coverage before the event: Kim Kaufman portraying Madame Mary Gleim - call 273-9036, Dr. Robert Brown portraying Captain Christopher P Higgins - call 728-3476, Marcia Porter portraying Josephine Dukes - call 258-3457.

My Next Gig

Sarah Elizabeth (Countryman) Woody

The First Lady of Missoula, Sarah was married to Frank H. Woody, the first Mayor and one of the founding fathers of Missoula MT . Sarah was born Jan. 6, 1853 and died July 15, 1919. She was one of the first school teachers in Missoula and opened the first Sunday school. She and Frank had one son and four daughters. One daughter died in infancy. A relative claims there were 7 children, though my research has only found 5 births. * I am currently researching Sarah's life and preparing to write her bio. On Oct. 26, I will portray her at the annual Stories and Stones historical tour at the Missoula Cemetery, where she and Frank are buried side by side. More on this event to follow.
* Edited 9-18-08
I found the missing children. In a history of Montana, written in 1885, I found reference to two more girls born to Sarah and Frank.

Daly Mansion

My Life As A Victorian Nanny

Day dawned early at Riverside. The guests would be arriving at 10:00 am and we had much to do to ready the mansion. The kitchen staff were busy preparing the food for the day and the smell of freshly baked bread wafted up the servants' staircase near the nursery door. Phoebe, the flower maid was busily arranging bouquets of fresh flowers on Mrs. Daly's orders. The house was to be filled with the scent of flowers. A new guest had arrived just the evening prior. Mrs. O'Reily was visiting from New York. She was situated in the Blue Room, just across the hall from the nursery. She's a lovely older lady and was busy stitching a binding on her quilt.

As I readied the children for their outing with Mrs. Sharky, the Daly's resident nanny, I could hear the hustle and bustle of the house coming to life. The victrola was playing in the sitting room, just down the hall and the sound of footsteps up and down the hall echoed through the house.

Constance, the scullery maid and Missy, the upstairs maid, were excitedly examining the new vacuum cleaner that Mrs. Daly had recently purchased. They were ecstatic that with just three servants, they could easily clean one entire floor in just one day's time.

I could hear Stena, the Swedish maid, shouting orders in the kitchen. She runs a tight ship and works her kitchen help to the bone. They had much work to finish in a short time and I think that Stena's fuse was even shorter.

Suddenly two rambunctious boys ran past my door. They were barefoot and had a look of pure mischief in their eye. I raced out of the nursery and down the hall after them. They ducked into Mrs. Daly's bedroom and found themselves trapped in her bathroom with nowhere to hide. I promptly escorted them out and down the hall, past Mr. Marcus Daly II room. He did not look at all amused. I suspect that the two boys are villagers who snuck in to create trouble. I realized that I would have to be on the look out for them all day. As it turned out, they were a constant source of mischief and mayhem and I found myself running helter skelter all over the house and out across the yard on more than one occasion.

The guests began to arrive and as they toured the mansion, they would stop in and visit. I busied myself with some knitting and made small talk with many interesting people throughout the day. I found a quiet moment to take a picnic lunch on the lawn and had some time to stroll about and see some of the interesting activities that were taking place on the grounds and within the house.

The day passed in a whirlwind of excitement and was over all too soon. I have grand hopes to be of service to the Daly family and Riverside, many more times in the future.