John was born in Hampshire County, Virginia, the fourth of seven children of William and Elizabeth Morgan (Frazier) Largent. His grandfather, John Largent, died in October 1831 dividing his estate to his offspring. William and Elizabeth sold their portion of the family farm and moved to Tazewell, County, Illinois in the fall of 1832 when John was four years old. In 1852 John W. and two cousins, Levi Sargent and ____ McKenzie took their saddle horses and hired on with a waggon train leaving St. Joseph, Missouri. They rode ahead of the train to find a suitable camp site each day, rested until the train arrived, and then watched the oxen all night. The wagon train made about 10 miles per day. They followed the Oregon Trail but went a southern route through Oregon crossing McKenzie Pass into Oregon's Willamette Valley where homestead records show he arrived on 6 October 1852. His homestead, #1920, was in Yamhill, County, Oregon on Grand Island between Salem and Dayton, Oregon.
Annie W. Matheny 1 October 1842 - 20 March 1917
Annie was born in Pope, Illinois, the sixth of ten children of Michael and Mahala (Pennington) Matheny. Her family also crossed the plains in 1852, but as a ten year old girl she played, walked, or rode at her choice about 10 miles per day also. Her family also settled in the Willamette Valley and on 16 July 1857 she married John at ________, Oregon. The homestead on Grand Island flooded causing them to sell it to her father, Micah Matheny, on 21 February 1866. They moved to the Dayton, Washington area in 1871 where they bought a 160 acre preemption homestead which had a small cabin on it. They farmed on the Patit Prairie (also known as Webfoot Flat) until John's death. Their eight children were born while they were in Oregon. They attended school in Oregon and all but Idelia were registered at Highland School on the Patit Prairie when it opened on 3 November 1874. Records show Idelia attended the next year.
back: Ella, Jane, Mary, front: Richard, Annie, & Willy
1. Ira Largent 11 May 1859 - 16 October 1861
2. Matilda Jane Largent "Jane" 14 September 1860 - 4 April 1945
She married Will Wolfe in 1876 and they homesteaded in the Palouse between Moscow, Idaho and Pullman, Washington. They donated a corner of their property where the Clinton Country School was built. After Will died in 1927, her nephew, George Harold Largent, came and ran the farm for a few years. Later she moved to Kendrick, Idaho and spent the last year of her life in a nursing home in Clarkston, Washington. Their children are: John, Rosella "Ella" (Adams), and Glen. See Jane's family
3. Elizabeth Largent 2 February 1862 - 6 October 1864
As a small girl Lizzie fell into a fireplace burning herself to death.
4. Richard E. Largent 22 June 1863 - 5 June 1915
In 1888 he married Mary Francis "Fanny" Ingram. They rented his father's farm from his mother for a few years before moving to the Pomeroy area where they also farmed. They later moved to Pullman, Washington, so their children could attend college. Richard died at Moscow Idaho's Gritman Hospital after an unsuccessful operation. Their seven children are: Edith (LaFollette), Ethel (Lukins), Alta (Locklin), Lawrence, Lester, Elton, and Winifred (Penney).
See Richard Largent Family info
5. Idelia Largent 12 April 1865 - 7 May 1883
She was the only blond in the family. A few weeks after her 18th birthday while working for Wm Brunton on his farm near Dixie ranch she and the farmer’s 10-year old son, Charley down at night in a flash flood. She was buried in the Dixie Cemetery. See reprinted article
6. Rosella Largent “Ella” 6 September 1866 - 12 April 1919
She married Adolphus "Dolph" Briggs and lived most of her married life near Johnson, Washington where they homesteaded. They moved to Meadows, Idaho and then to Corvallis, Oregon where she died of cancer. Their two children are Warren and Roy.
7. William D. Largent “Willy” 26 October 1868 - 21 December 1958
Willy left home when he was 12, four years after his mother remarried. After some time on his own herding sheep and punching cattle on Craig Mountain near the future townsite of Winchester, he moved in with Jane and Will. His uncle, William Matheny had married Mary Jane Massey, and they introduced him to her sister, Eliza Alice Massey whom he later married. They had eight children: Raleigh Massey, George Harold, Harry Elbert, Fred, Anna Rosella (Dyer), Ada May (Evans), Wayne Arthur "Buster", and William Donald "Chub". Willy died at age 90 of pneumonia caused by severe burns. See W.D. Largent Family info
8. Mary M. Largent 8 July 1870 - 16 March 1952
Mary married George Davis Boston on 3 January 1889 in Walla Walla. After four children were born, they moved to the Troy, Oregon area (Grouse Flats) where they homesteaded. Their seven children are: Lillie (Smith), Nellie (Devine) (Cox), Mabel (Knight) Edna (Madison), Hazel (Knight) (Applegate), Dewey, and Mildred (Goebel).
Apparently, John and his family didn't write. When his youngest brother, William, died in 1890 his will reads in part, "to my nephew, John Largent's children whose names are unknown to me, I will and bequeath five dollars to be equally divided between them".
John W. Largent died on the Patit Ranch of typhoid fever on 7 October 1874. Jane said in those days they knew typhoid was caused by water, so they denied typhoid patients water. John asked for water numerous times as he lay dying, but was denied it. Just before his death, he responded to Annie's refusal to provide water with "Jane will get me some water". This expression of faith in his daughter almost broke her resolve to follow the medical advice of the day and her mother's orders, but unfortunately it didn't. For the rest of her life she was sorry she hadn't given him water.
Annie kept the farm for two years after John's death. When Richard was grown, she rented the farm to him, and later rented it to Mary and her husband, George Boston. She tried to sell the farm to them, but Mary and George didn't want to pay her price. Annie sold the farm to Willy who agreed to her price.
All the Largent children but Mary lived part of their lives in the Palouse country and were living there when Willy's children's memories begin. Mary usually made a summer visit and was included in more family functions than her isolated home in the wilderness might suggest. Sunday afternoons were always a treat because they would crowd into the car (Willy had one of the first cars in Moscow) and visit one of the aunts or uncles, or some of or all of them would come over for dinner. To hear Willy's children tell it these dinners were never planned. This photograph was taken on one such Sunday afternoon when Annie, Bessie, and John were over from Walla Walla and Mary was up from her wilderness home. This dinner must have been somewhat planned, but it was a spur of the moment decision to go get the photographer. It is difficult to imagine having a family with eight children or maybe a couple of such families "dropping by" at dinner time. However, they say this was the routine. The children loved these Sundays spent with aunts, uncles, and cousins. Having company was almost as good as being company.
Life for the Largents in the Palouse changed as the family dispersed. Dolph and Ella moved south and then to Oregon; Richard died in 1915, and his family moved to Kalotus; Willy moved to the Walla Walla area in 1916; Annie died in 1917 and was buried in Dixie next to her second husband; Ella died in 1919; Only Jane & Will stayed at their family home near Moscow.
Column
1. Lester & Ethel Largent
2. Tabor LaFollette & Edith Largent LaFollette with Laretta
3. John Devine & Nellie Boston Devine with Margaret
4. John Wolfe & Minnie Stratton Wolfe
5. Nat Usher & Bessie Wooton Usher
6. Annie Matheny Largent Wooton
7. Will Wolfe & Matilda Jane (Jane) Largent Wolfe
8. Mary Largent Boston
9. Richard E. Largent & Mary Francis (Fanny) Ingram Largent
10. William D. Largent & Eliza Massey Largent
11. Lawrence Largent & Alta Largent
Children in front row: Ada Largent, Dorotha Wolfe, Anna Largent, Ester Murphy (John Devine's niece), Edna Wolfe, Winifred Largent, Elton Largent, Fred Largent,
and Wayne (Buster) Largent. Photo provided by Pearl Wolfe, Lewiston, Idaho
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