James "Arthur" (Curley) Goble

Birth: He was born in 1899 in Idaho to Luther Benjamin Goble and Ora Etta La Master.  

Family Information: Son of Ora Etta Newman and step-son of William Newman.

Husband of Donna Goble.

Father of Donna, Jr. and Dolores Goble.  

Description: His WWI Draft Registration Card dated September 12, 1918 describes him as of medium height with a slender build; hazel eyes and light brown hair. He was working as a truck driver and living in Los Angeles, Cal. at the time.  

Pre-Colony History: In 1920 he was living in California with his wife and daughter, Donna, Jr. while he worked as a chauffeur for a cigar company.

In October 1928 the Goble family, along with Bill Newman and his wife, drove into the colony to again take up work the Llano Way. Many colonists remembered them as they had been colonists ten and more years before.  

Home in Colony:  

Job in Colony: He was a mechanic, but he was willing to do his bit for the colony anywhere. In December 1928 he was hauling dried hardwood to the new sawmill where it was being stacked ready for the saws as soon as they were installed.

At Christmas time he and Warren Fread carried a load of building materials to the Rice Ranch; on the return trip they brought sixteen hogs and 38 bales of rice straw. To carry this load, a floor of stout planks and beams had to be constructed over the bottom of the truck and then "the "fun" commenced. The hogs had to be captured and such squealing and grunting of the indignantly protesting porkers was never heard in those parts -- and such pulling of legs and ears you never saw, but after a strenuous hunt and battle the poor beasts were at last safely [loaded] and then the 33 bales of straw were piled upon the floor above the hogs and when that was accomplished you would have seen a truckload about as high as the ranch-house and on of top of that clambered Harold and Ben Hewett, Jr. going to help celebrate Xmas at the Colony's home. Baldwin and little Eugene followed them in Baldwin's Rolls Royce twenty cylinder car which [was] equipped with all the luxuries and trimmings of a modern traveling palace."

In March 1929 he and Warren Fread were looking after the garage work while Hank Stevens was on a trip to Brownsville, Texas.

Other Info: In 1929 the theater program featured camera pictures of Llano, California and Newllano which were shown on a white screen while George Pickett paid tribute to the Auld Lang Syners who had been part of the pioneer days of the colony including: Peter, Dora and Harold Kemp; L. Roedemeister, Dad Thomas and Mr. Fox; Septer, Runa and Rhea May Baldwin; Chas. Anderson, Anton Van Nuland and Theo Landrum; Susan and Albert Moore; William and Mrs. Newman; Arthur, Donna, Donna 2nd and Dolores Goble; and George Pickett himself.

In February 1929 the colony orchestra consisted of Violins: Guy Rogers, William Bingham, Albert Wichmann, Warren Fread, Joseph Silberman, Rhea Baldwin; Flute: Clyde Mickey; Clarinets: Frank Rahn, William DeBoer, William Newman; Saxophones: Raymond DeFausell, Florence Roe, Arthur Goble; Trumpets: Louis Reodemeister, Benjamin Roe; Horn: Benjamin Couchman; Trombone: George Pickett; Tuba: Fred Hamel; Pianist: Mary Erma Wilson.  

Post-Colony History: In 1940 he was living in California with his wife and youngest daughter, Dolores, while he worked as a minister for the Four Square Gospel Church.  

Death: Died in Oregon in 1967.  

Sources: Idaho Birth Index; WWI Draft Registration; US Census: 1920, 1940; "Vernon Parish Democrat": February 28, 1929; March 7, 1929; "Llano Colonist": October 20, 1928, February 16, 1929, March 9, 1929, March 23, 1929, December 8, 1928, December 29, 1928, January 5, 1929, March 9, 1929; Oregon Death Index; US SSDI; FindAGrave.com