Elvina Moulton crossed the plains on the Oregon Trail with the family of a judge headed to California in 1867. She walked most of the way—sometimes barefoot—so by the time she got to Boise she was tired. She decided to stay. She got a job working in a laundry and saved enough money to buy a house next door to Boise Mayor—and later Idaho governor—James H. Hawley. Moulton also worked as a housekeeper, a seamstress, and a nurse. She was a quiet community member known affectionately as “Aunt Viny.” She helped found the First Presbyterian Church in Boise.
All of that might have gone unnoticed, but Moulton was a former slave, born in Kentucky in September 1837. She may have been Boise’s first resident African American woman.
When asked on her 88th birthday what her rules for long life were, (Idaho Statesman, September 17, 1916) she replied, “Well I never married, so nothing to worry about. I rested when my work was done and I went to church regularly. I guess this was the reason.”
Moulton regularly attended church and always put a silver dollar in the collection plate. Even so, she specified in her will that she didn’t “want to be buried from the church when I go. You see, I am the only colored member, and while everyone in the church has been good to me, I think it would be better to be buried from the undertaker’s, for there might be some feeling, you know.”
Moulton died at the age of 89 in 1917. She is buried in Morris Hill Cemetery. Elvina Moulton was honored in 2019 by the Daughters of the American Revolution with a historical marker and plaque at the Idaho Black History Museum.
All of that might have gone unnoticed, but Moulton was a former slave, born in Kentucky in September 1837. She may have been Boise’s first resident African American woman.
When asked on her 88th birthday what her rules for long life were, (Idaho Statesman, September 17, 1916) she replied, “Well I never married, so nothing to worry about. I rested when my work was done and I went to church regularly. I guess this was the reason.”
Moulton regularly attended church and always put a silver dollar in the collection plate. Even so, she specified in her will that she didn’t “want to be buried from the church when I go. You see, I am the only colored member, and while everyone in the church has been good to me, I think it would be better to be buried from the undertaker’s, for there might be some feeling, you know.”
Moulton died at the age of 89 in 1917. She is buried in Morris Hill Cemetery. Elvina Moulton was honored in 2019 by the Daughters of the American Revolution with a historical marker and plaque at the Idaho Black History Museum.
Elvina Moulton illustration by Keri Just.
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