Franklin Pioneers

We were able to drive through Franklin Idaho recently and stopped for a look at the monument and cemetery where Charles Hobbs and his brother were listed and buried. Charles and Henry joined the church in Cheltenham England. Charles and his wife Mary Ann came to America with their three young children (among them my one year old great grandmother Edith Ann Hobbs) and came across the plains as pioneers in 1862. They settled in Franklin Idaho shortly after as one of the founding families. No moving around for them, they stayed in Franklin and are buried along with numerous other Hobbs in the small cemetery.

Franklin is of note for several reasons:
*First the place was chosen in the belief that it was still in Utah. But the maps were corrected years later and it was discovered to be just over the Idaho line. Thus making it the first white settlement in the territory of Idaho.
*Second, due to the presence of white settlers there were negative interactions with the Indians of the area. In Jan of the year 1863, the worst Indian massacre in the United States, the Bear River Massacre, occurred just northwest of town. The cavalry came through Franklin and afterwards the wounded were tended by the women of the town (I do not know if the Hobbs had arrived there yet and were witness to the tragedy.)
*Thirdly, Ezra Taft Benson was born and grew up just north of Franklin in Whitney.
And while the film Napoleon Dynamite took place in the nearby town of Preston, Franklin can be said to have basked it its fame as well.

There is a very small park with a stone monument with the founding fathers listed. Next door is a small museum, which was not open, where I am sure I could find more information about Charles and his family. I have seen the monument before and it had an old and aging plaque. It was nice to see a new one had been placed.