Curbe Bare (Sept 15, 1892 – Dec 15, 1958) recently released from the Army married Bessie Craven (Feb 25, 1899 – Aug 17, 1931), a young schoolteacher. Soon after Bessie and Curbe were married they moved from Jefferson, North Carolina to Clark County in Idaho.
When they first arrived in Idaho in 1920, Curbe was employed by Woods Livestock Co, and they settled at the Reno Ranch. He became the foreman at the Reno Ranch. Later on, they moved to Birth Creek.
On May 25, 1921 their first child was born at Gilmore, Idaho. He was named Lawrence Herbert. Daughter June Mildred (July 17, 1922 – Dec 24, 2002) was born in the Medicine Lodge area. A baby daughter Marian Louise born in the fall of 1923 lived only about 8 months and is buried Rose Hill Cemetery in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Their other children are Clifton E Bare (July 1925 – April 1973); Doris Helen “Dot” Bare (Hopkins), born Jan 27, 1927; Kenneth A Bare, born June 22, 1929; and Wayne R Bare (April 25, 1930 – March 20, 2015). Dot, Ken, and Wayne were all born at Winsper, Idaho and delivered by Mrs. Thornton.
Herbert says he was told they were all delivered with the help of Mrs. Louise Thornton, a neighbor and midwife.
Herbert and June boarded with Mrs. Thornton during the week and went to school at Monteview. Their father would come to get them on Friday, and they would go home for the weekend. Their teachers were Lillian and Gladys Melton.
June said it was very difficult staying away from home when they were that young. However, Mrs. Thornton was very nice to them and they had a lot of fun with her.
The second year they stayed with Percy and Elsie Jeffries and went to the Monteview school.
They spent the next two years staying in Birch Creek with relatives Otto and Nancy Jane Bare - Nancy Jane was Curbe’s sister. They attended school at Birch Creek, and Blanche Bare (Wagoner) was their teacher.
June and Herbert remembered that some of their friends and schoolmates were Lee, and Glendora Jeffries, and Bruce and Gertrude Rising.
June said the first moving picture show they saw was at the Terreton Hall. Gladys Melton and Lillian Melton (Hartwell) took them to see the picture show.
Bessie Bare liked houseplants and several of the teachers went to their house to get a start from her plants. Cleo Dunn Jernberg, a teacher at level, remembered visiting their home to get a start off from a plant.
Lillian Hartwell remembers that she was a very sweet person, and good mother. She said she and her sister Gladys would go and rock a baby and play with the children while they visited.
In 1931 Bessie Craven Bare died of blood poisoning. Two of her brothers Gene and Paul Craven from North Carolina came to Idaho to help Curbe return to North Carolina with the children. They were also accompanied home by their dad’s brother Sid Bare and his wife Grace who had also been working in the area.
Paul took the body on the train and Jean, Sid, and Grace helped Curbe drive and transport a car loaded with the children. A wagon trailer built by Curbe and his brothers was loaded with their belongings.
They had to stop a lot along the way to find someone with the cow who would sell the milk for the baby Wayne. It took more than a week to travel 3000 miles.
After arriving in North Carolina, their grandparents Roan and Maud Craven cared for the younger children. The older children lived with their dad and other grandparents Jasper and Mazy Bare.
Curbe married Stella Edith Walsh, in North Carolina and two more children were born to this union. Aaron Van Buren June 21, 1937 and Rachael Ray Bare (Price) August 29, 1941.
June, Ken, and Wayne returned to live and raise their families in Idaho.
June and Harper Bare of Idaho Falls, Idaho; Ken and Kay Bare of Terreton, Idaho; and Wayne and Metta Bare of Howe, Idaho.
Note: Herb Bare passed away December 24, 2018. You can read his obituary on this website.
(The above article is the history of the Bare family as told by Herbert Bare, documented by Kay Bare, and mildly edited by Kim Bare.)