The journey of Frank Harris and Minnie Agee to couplehood

 The other day I received a document from the National Archives for my grandfather, Frank Allen Harris (1889-1957) that was all they had on his military service in World War I. From his 1917 WWI Draft Registration card we find out that he was born 9 Jun 1889, in Great Valley, NY. In 1917, he was single, living in Baker, Lemhi county, Idaho, working on a farm owned by Peter Kinney. From various census records, we know that he was in New York in 1905 and in 1910 working as a farm hand for Walter Brown, who was also from New York. (He must be the Walt referred to in the postcard below, which shows Frank (in the sidecar) and his just younger brother Duane in 1917).

On the back: Dear Father, How are you all? Us boys are getting along fine. We've has a pretty snug winter here so far. Has been 24 below. How is Grandma & Grandpa. I suppose Velma is in Franklinville and is Walt still in York. Didn't have any idea he could ever give up the west. I am going to write in a day or two. Will close with best wishes to all. D.H.

From the NARA document, we see he enlisted out of Salmon, Idaho on 27 May 1918 and in August 1918, he was on the Briton, an Army transport as part of the 40th Division, "F" Company 115th Ammunition Train, on his way to France. I was hoping to find more details from NARA about this part, but no luck. More research is required there. What I did find out is that he was part of the Fort D.A. Russell Casual Detachment, in Laramie, WY, mustered out on 30 Apr 1919, given $128.42 in pay, which included travel funds of $41.40. From there he caught the train back to Salmon.

Minnie, Walter, and John Calvin Agee c. 1917

Minnie Agee (1903-2000), came to Idaho from Missouri with her parents James Alexander Stark (Allie) and John Calvin Agee sometime between the birth of her sister Lizzie in 1907, and Virginia Velma  in 1910. I have a letter, written by my Uncle Frank in 1995, that tells the story of her early life. From what I can piece together, the last of October or first of November, 1918 she started back to Missouri with her father but only got as far as Denver and everyone there was sick with Influenza (the Pollard family). Mother stayed there and took care of the family - Jack, Ada, Louie, Freddy and their mother, Mrs. Pollard. She stayed there until Easter [April 20, 1919] and came back to Salmon. Her siblings, Walter, Mettie, and Lizzie were in Salmon by then, and Mettie was married to Richard Evans. Walter sent mother the money to come back. 

It was on the train trip from Denver to Salmon (via Laramie?) that my grandparents met. She was still 15, she would turn 16 in June. He was 29, turning 30 in June. They went to Dillon, Montana four months later, in September, 1919 and were married for 38 years until my grandfather's death in 1957.

This crudely done made represents their journeys. Grandpa Harris is the blue paper/red dots. He started in New York in 1889, came to Idaho around 1910, was released from the Army in Wyoming in 1919. Grandma (yellow paper/green dots) was born in Missouri in 1903, moved with her family to Idaho around 1907, and was coming back from Denver, Colorado in 1919. The pink paper in Dillon, MT where they got married.

You can read more about Allie's story here: https://xbmill.blogspot.com/2025/08/james-alexander-stark-extraordinary.html