The following was taken from the family history book titled "History of the Kauffman and Harrison Family - 1561-1983" by Myrtle Harrison Nettleton.
Great-grandfather, Susie Harrison's grandfather, William Thomas Jeremiah, was born in 1826 at Springfield, Illinois. William Thomas Jeremiah married Susan Elizabeth Caldwell. Following his Marriage he moved to Butler, Missouri. Missouri was called a border state. One day when Grandfather and Grandmother and their three children were traveling in their wagon, a group of Confederate soldiers rode up on their horses. At gunpoint they ordered Grandfather to hand the reins of his horses over to Grandmother. They ordered him out of the wagon. This was how Grandfather Jeremiah was inducted into the Confederate Army.
In the Battle of Gettysburg he was wounded, taking a bullet through the fleshy part of one arm. He was in for the duration of the war. He served under the command of General Lee.
Grandmother Jeremiah experienced some very difficult times. Most of the Confederate soldiers lived off the land. They were known to raid farms, taking anything edible in sight. Relatives helped her take up a part of the kitchen floor where she stored coffee, sugar, and other staple foods in cans, jars and crocks.
Grandfather Jeremiah was a 32nd degree Mason. He passed away on August 14, 1914.31

The following biography was written by Della May (Barr) Evans. William Thomas Jeremiah - There are many family stories about this man and we want to pass those stories on. Our research has uncovered a few things so we can piece together most of his life.
He was born October 30, 1827 in the eastern part of Illinois. Again, remember this was very early in the settlement of those areas. We really have no proof of his early travels, but family stories say that he made at least four trips as a scout for the Oregon Trail Pioneers. This young man's trips back and forth across the country can be visualized as you read history of the Oregon Trail.
The big event that really spurred migration was the Gold Rush to California. In 1849, gold was found at Sutters Mill in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. That discovery set off a rush of fortune hunters by the thousands. William Thomas joined the adventurers. Our research shows he sailed from Galveston, Texas, sailing around the horn (the southern tip of South America) and landing in San Francisco. He went to Yuba County in the gold rush country and was there in 1850.
However, we find that by 1851 he was back in Missouri, married to Susan Elizabeth Caldwell, and they had started their family. They lived and farmed near Deepwater, Missouri in Henry County. Emotions ran high at that time before the Civil War as to whether or not Missouri and Kansas were to be slavery states. To understand this we need to study the "Missouri Compromise." Folks living there were very involved and William Thomas was no different. Family history tells that one day he was going to town, met some Confederate soldiers, and they enlisted him then and there. He fought for the South and was slightly wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg.
He returned to Missouri after the war and resumed his farming. It was shortly after his return home that he went over to Illinois and brought home a good thoroughbred race horse. William Thomas had high hopes for this horse. To exercise his horse one day he tied the horse to the back of his wagon loaded with grain that he was taking to the mill. Out on the road he met a fellow who galloped up on an exhausted horse. That man drew a gun on Grandpa Jeremiah and took the race horse. As he road away on William Thomas's good horse, he threw some gold coins to the ground. More than enough. The man who took the horse was Jesse James - the most famous of outlaws.
The Jeremiahs were living there in Missouri when a law was passed called Order 11. This allowed the state to take property from those who fought for the South. Times were not good, the Jeremiah clan, as they were called, moved to Idaho. This trip was made by train with all their children in tow. The married older daughter, cousins and friends all ended up near Princeton, Idaho. There they farmed for 10 years.
In 1900, the government opened up a block of ground for homesteading in the southwest corner of Whitman County, in Washington. Word reached those there in Idaho and the men rode down on an inspection tour. When they returned home to Idaho, they were extremely enthusiastic and said it was God's Country. They found the grass there as high as a horse's belly. They then rode to Walla Walla to file claims for a homestead for each of the clan.
So, Grandpa and Grandma Jeremiah, Lizzie and Jimmie Stagner, Billy and Mattie Harvey, Tavia and Conner Russell, Will and Lilly Jeremiah, Sally and George Nolan, Lee and Myrtle Jeremiah, approximately 24 children, cousin Tom and Belle Robbins, with all their livestock, furniture and household goods moved to the Snake River Hills. They moved by covered wagon, in which they lived while they built their homestead homes. They all proved up on land that is now part of this Snake River Ranch.
Perhaps because Grandpa Jeremiah led his clan here, you happen to be here at this point in time. It was said that William Thomas was surely the leader, and as long as he lived, the clan lived close together. After he died in 1914 at his daughter Mattie's home, we find that then the clan broke up with the family moving on to separate places.31