Mrs. Truscott, 1873 Pioneer of City, Dead

Mrs. Caroline Vollmer Truscott, who first saw Lewiston in 1873 from the deck of a sternwheeler steamboat, died last night at 11 at her home at 320 4th St. She was 96.

Mrs. Truscott's last illness was of about 2 1/2 months' duration. Death was attributed to infirmities of advanced age.

She was born Feb. 8, 1860, at Indianapolis, Ind. As a girl of 13 she traveled west with her grandfather, Phillip Vollmer, to visit her brother, John P. Vollmer, who had then begun his career as a Lewiston area merchant and banker.

Returned in 1881

They traveled to San Francisco by train, to Portland by ship and up the Columbia and Snake rivers by boat. She returned to Indiana with her grandfather in the same year but the West lured her back again in 1881.

She married George M. Shearer at Lewiston in 1883. They lived at Mt. Idaho, where Mr. Shearer operated an express route to Warren, transporting miners' supplies. Mr. Shearer at one time served in the State Senate.

Mr. Shearer died Jan. 2, 1890.

She was married to Matthew Truscott of Mt. Idaho June 17, 1900. After his death in 1903, she came with her children to make her home at Lewiston. She resided here until her death.

Hoped To Be 100

In an interview on her 95th birthday, Mrs. Truscott said she was planning what she would do on her 100th birthday. Through her late years she maintained a keen interest in current events. Her favorite occupations were knitting and working in her flower garden, and she looked forward to each spring.

One week ago yesterday the family gathered at her home to observe the birthday of a niece, Mrs. Arthur E. Clarke, 80.

She was a communicant of the Episcopal Church and a member of its Nativity Guild. She was a member of the Order of Eastern Star.

Survivors include one daughter, Virginia Shearer of Lewiston; two grandchildren, David Bodine of Grangeville and Richard Bodine of Lewiston; two great-grandchildren, Caroline Ruth Bodine and David Bodine, Jr., both of Grangeville. Her other daughter, Mrs. E. S. Bodine, died last winter.