Content preview - You need a premium account to view this content.

N

Naf Ward

NAF WARD, Raft River Stake, consisted of the Latter-day Saints residing east of Raft River, near the south end of Raft River Valley in Cassia County, Idaho, and Box Elder County, Utah. The ward extended north to the Malta Ward, south over the boundary line into Box Elder County, Utah, east to the Black Pine Mountain, and west to the Emery Ranch in Raft River Valley.

John Naf, a non-Mormon, with a Mormon wife, was the first settler in that part of Raft River Valley, later included in the Naf Ward. Helaman Campbell, a member of the Church, was also among the early settlers of [p.559] the district. When Bro. Walter M. Johns arrived in Raft River Valley in 1912, he found about 15 families of saints in the Naf district in charge of Fred T. Bradshaw of the Yost Ward. There were two Sunday schools running, one in the Naf school house on Clear Creek, Box Elder Co., Utah, and another in the Naf school house over the state line in Cassia County, Idaho. Regular branch meetings were held in the Naf school house in Idaho. A post office had recently been established on the Idaho side, named Naf, in honor of John Naf, the first settler.

On Aug. 17, 1913, the Naf Ward was organized by the presidency of the Cassia Stake with Walter M. Johns as Bishop. At this time the ward included a large area of country and became for a time one of the largest wards in the Cassia Stake. It had seven Sunday schools, namely, at Naf, Clear Creek, Standrod, Strevell, Gunnell, Bridge and Rafton. Naf was the center of a large dry farming district, and about 1918 a number of the people moved out of the district owing to continued drouth. On this account, the Naf Ward was disorganized in 1929 and the remaining members annexed to the Malta Ward. Bishop Johns was succeeded in 1915 by Joseph N. Sörensen, who was succeeded in 1919 by Thomas S. Johns (presiding Elder), who was succeeded in 1920 by Lewis J. Gunnell as acting Bishop, and in 1921 as Bishop. He served until Feb. 3, 1929, when the ward was disorganized. Naf Ward belonged to the Cassia Stake until 1915, when it became part of the Raft River Stake.

Nampa

NAMPA, Boise Stake, Canyon Co., Idaho, is an important town on the Oregon Short Line Railroad, 20 miles west of Boise.

A branch of the Church was raised up in Nampa by the L. D. S. missionaries who labored in the Northwestern States Mission, and at a meeting held Dec. 7, 1913, the Nampa Branch, which had hitherto belonged to the mission named, was organized as a regular bishop’s ward to become a part of the Boise Stake. Alexander Bills, who had formerly presided over the Nampa Branch, was chosen as Bishop of the Nampa Ward. He was succeeded in 1914 by Amos R. Stephens, who in 1915 was succeeded by Wilford M. McKendrick (acting Bishop), who in 1916 was succeeded by Parley M. Grigg, jun., who in 1924 was succeeded by Peter L. Johnson, who presided until Feb. 21, 1926, when the Nampa Ward was divided into two wards, named respectively the Nampa 1st Ward and the Nampa 2nd Ward. The two wards had a total membership of 1,201, including 252 children, Dec. 31, 1930. The total population of Nampa city was 8,206 in 1930.