According to his obituary and an earlier news article about him, Andrew Jackson Bobbitt, Sr., was born Dec. 4, 1863 in Mason County Illinois and moved with his family to Nebraska in 1872. He married Melissa Happ in 1886 in Falls City, NE, and they moved with their children to Lewiston and then Peck in 1902.

He ran rafts of logs down the river to Lewiston that spring and In the fall, he took out a homestead on the area above Peck which became known as Bobbitt Bench. It was named after him and his brother, Charles. He built the road. Bobbittt Bench Rd. from the homestead to what was then the Lewis-Clark Highway. It is still in use.

When they lived at the homestead, the boys walked down the hill to school in Peck. During the winter it was especially hard with the snow, cold and icy conditions. The girls did not go to school until one was built closer to their home. Andrew built a two-story log home on the bench fashioned from the forest with his ax.

The family later moved to Gilbert Grade and lived there until 1922 when he bought a partnership with Sam Porter in the Clearwater Garage. He bought land in the Upper Fords Creek area where the family lived until his retirement. After retirement, they lived in Portland, OR, and then Seattle, WA. After Melissa passed away in Seattle, Andrew came back to Orofino.

At the time of his death he was living one of his daughters, Mrs. Arthur Cooper. The couple had five sons and four daughters.

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