Tiger Historical Center and Museum

On The Crossroads to Northeastern Washington History in the Pend Oreille Valley

Tiger Thumb Prints


Small biographies of the pioneers who knew Tiger and
Lived along the north Pend Oreille River

Tiger Thumbprints: Jennie & John “Wes” Wooding Family

In 1910 Jennie Lee (Allison, also Alison) Wooding was 40 and her husband John (Wes) Wesley Wooding was 49. They were living with their family in a house they owned near Ione, Stevens County, WA. He owned and operated a General Mercantile Store.

John was born August 27, 1860 in Kansas. In an 1892 Voter Registration Form from Fresno, California John was described as 5’ 10” with dark complexion, grey eyes and dark hair. Jennie L. Allison was born in Bishop Creek, Inyo County, California July, 1870. At age 10 Jennie was still living in Bishop Creek but now with her sister Anna and her husband James Hildreth.

John and Jennie were married on September 16, 1887 in Graham, Arizona when she was 17 and he was 27.

Her parents, Joseph and Martha, were both born in Missouri. His father William was from New Jersey. His mother Nancy from Iowa.

Jennie and John had the following children living with them at Ione in 1910.

  1. Son Thomas A. – 16 (born 1894 in California)
  2. Son William A. - 14 (born 1896 in California)
  3. Son Jasper A. – 11 (born 1899 in Washington) )
  4. Son David H. – 8 (born 1902 in Washington)

Everyone in the family could read and write.

The Wooding family was renting in Getchell, Snohomish County, Washington in 1900 where John was working as a miner. By this time, Jennie had given birth 5 times of which 3 children were still living. The records for 1900 also show a son Alvin born in California who was a year or so younger than Thomas. He doesn’t appear in later records.

In 1920 Jennie, John and David were living in Tiger, Pend Oreille County, WA

John Wesley Wooding lived 62 or so years and died near Tiger in a timber accident December 29, 1922. He is buried at Riverside Cemetery in Ione, Pend Oreille, WA.

Jennie married Robert Coston on October 22, 1925 in Newport, Pend Oreille, WA

In 1930 Robert and Jennie were living with two of her grandchildren Frank W., 9, and Virginia, 7, Wooding in Bremerton, Kitsap County, WA.

On May 30, 1953 Robert J. Coston died in Seattle, WA

Jennie L. (Allison, also Alison) Wooding then Coston lived about 87 years and passed on 20 Jul 1957 in Spokane, Spokane County WA.

John Nordstrand
Tiger Historical Center


Tiger Thumbprints: Edmund J. & Amelia E. Koontz

In 1930 Edmund Koontz, jr. was 58 and his wife Amelia was 41 and were living with their family on a farm near Tiger, Pend Oreille County WA. He was born Mar 19, 1871 in Nebraska. She was born in Missouri Jan 23, 1889. They were married when he was 36 and she was 18. They owned their Tiger farm valued in 1930 at $7000. Though each had no formal education both could read and write. Her parents were both born in Missouri. His father was French. His mother was American – Illinois. He fought as a Private in Company A, 3rd Regiment, Nebraska Infantry in the Spanish – American War. They had the following children living with them at Tiger in 1930.

  1. Daughter Louisa E. (A.L.) – 16 (1914)
  2. Son Robert L.-13 (1917)
  3. Daughter Edna B. – 11 (1919)
  4. Son Edmond J. – 10 – (1920)
  5. Daughter Sylvia J. – 8 (1922)
  6. Son Nute A – 6 (1924)

Their eldest daughters Dorothy A. (1910) and Mary J. (1912) were not living with them in Tiger in 1930.

The Koontz family was living in Lonetree, Uinta County, Wyoming in 1920 and Tiger, Pend Oreille County in 1940.

Edmund J. Koontz lived 84 years, 5 months, 7 days and passed on Aug 26, 1955. He is buried in a military grave at The Pines Cemetery in Spokane, WA.

Amelia E. Koontz lived 78 years, 8 months, 13 days and passed on Oct 6, 1967. She is buried at The Pines Cemetery in Spokane, WA.

John Nordstrand
Tiger Historical Center