PASSING OF THE CALIFORNIA PIONEER
Grizzly Bear, April, 1915 Page 42.
Henry Clay Culberson, a veteran of the Mexican
war, who came to California in 1849, died February 9 at Sonoma City, where he
had resided since 1865. Deceased was a
native of North Carolina, aged 90 years, and is survived by a widow and three
children.
Mrs. Elizabeth Richie, who, as a young girl,
accompanied, on horseback, her parents across the plains in 1852, passed away
March 5 at St. Helena. All her life in
California had been spent in Sonoma and Napa Counties, where she was held in
highest esteem by a large circle of friends.
Deceased was a native of Illinois, aged 80 years, and is survived by
four sons.
Lewis F. Cram, who came to California with his
parents over the Santa Fe trail in 1852, died February18 near East Highland,
San Bernadino County. He was prominently
identified with the development of that county.
Deceased was a native of New York, aged nearly 81 years, and is survived
by a widow and seven children.
Mrs. Mary A. Ward, who came to California in 1852
and had resided at San Francisco and San Jose, passed away February 22 at
Sacramento. She was a native of New
York, aged 92 years, and is survived by two daughters.
Judge Joseph R. Weller, who came to California in
1850, and after a short stay in the El Dorado County mines took up his
permanent home at Milpitas, Santa Clara County, in 1853, died there March
4. At one time he was an associate judge
of the county, and in 1878 was elected a member of the State Constitutional
Convention that formed the present constitution. Deceased was a native of New Jersey, aged 95
years, and is survived by a widow and two children.
Mrs. Mary A. Johnson, who came across the plains
in 1852 and was one of the first white women to locate in Marysville, passed
away February 21 at Petaluma, where she had resided the past fifty-eight
years. Deceased was a native of Ohio,
aged 83 years, and is survived by a son.
Julius Chrisostine Verdugo, born in Los Angeles
January 30, 1803, and at one time a wealthy land owner, died penniless recently
at Holtville, Imperial County.
Mrs. Katherine Elizabeth Atkinson, who came to
California in 1852 and for many years resided at Sacramento, passed away
February 18 at Berkeley. She was a
native of Pennsylvania, aged 85 years.
Albert Jackson Zane, who came with his parents
across the plains to Sonoma County in 1852, died February 20 at Bellingham,
Washington, where he had made his home since 1890. For thirty years he had resided at
Healdsburg, and in 1870 was wedded at Point Arena, Mendocino County, to Miss
Jennie Sears, who, with three children, survives.. Deceased was a native of Ohio, aged 79
years.
Berry Wright, who came to California in 1853 and settled at
Sacramento, died February 25 at Ukiah, where he had resided since 1857. Deceased was a native of Virginia, aged 79
years, and is survived by a widow and six children.
John Wesley Tilly, a veteran of the Mexican war who crossed the plains
to California in 1850, died February 23 at Selma, where he had made his home
since 1887. Upon arrival in this State,
deceased located first in Placer County, where he engaged in mining and the grocery
business until 1856, and where, in 1853, he was wedded to Miss Jane Hubbard
who, with five children, survives; from 1856 to 1861 he farmed in the
Sacramento Valley, and from 1861 to 1887 engaged in carpentering and bridge
building in Yolo County. Deceased was a
native of Missouri, aged 86 years.
Martin Van Buren Hooten, who arrived in Sonoma County in 1853 and had
continuously resided there, died March 1 at Healdsburg. Deceased was a native of Missouri, aged 75
years, and is survived by an aged widow.
William Augustus Boggs, born in Augusta, Maine, October 22, 1829, died at
Hollister, February 28. When the
California gold fever swept the East, deceased, not quite 21 years of age,
joined the Western rush and crossed the plains in a prairie schooner, arriving
at Volcano, Amador County, in 1850; here he engaged in mining for several
years, and also conducted a pack-train that carried supplies between the camps
of the mining district; he had many stirring adventures, and could tell
interesting tales of pioneer days.
Later, deceased was a street contractor in Sacramento, and in 1874 moved
to Hollister, where he had been a continuous resident since; for a number of
years he engaged in farming, and for forty years had taken an active interest
in the politics of San Benito County.
Surviving deceased are a widow, three daughters and one son.
William Erving Roberts, who crossed the plains in an ox-team and arrived at
Hangtown, El Dorado County, in 1850, died at Pleasant Grove, Sutter County,
March 12. He followed mining for several
years, but in 1868 took up his permenent home at Pleasant Grove to engage in
farming. Deceased was a native of
Illinois, aged nearly 85 years, and is survived b a widow and two sons.
Mrs. Maria Encarnacion
Sotello, born in California in 1840,
passed away March 16 at Los Angeles, where she had resided for many years.
James J. Evans, a veteran of the Mexican war who came to California
in 1852, and for many years was a deputy sheriff of San Joaquin County, died
March 11 at Stockton, where he had resided since 1854. He was a native of Kentucky, aged 87 years,
and is survived by a widow and two sons.
Mrs. Harriet Stephenson, who came to California with her husband in 1852 and
went to the gold mines of Murphys Camp, Calaveras County, passed away March 9
at Stockton, where she had resided the past thirty-two years. Deceased was a native of Rhode Island, aged
86 years, and is survived by three children.
Louis Brosseau, who came to California via Panama in 1851 and for
twenty years mined in El Dorado and Sierra Counties, died March 14 at Pomona,
Los Angeles County, where he had resided sine 1877 and been actively identified
with the development of that community.
He was a native of Canada, aged nearly 85 years.
Mrs. Philendia Spencer, a Pioneer Mother of Lassen County, and for several
years an ardent worker for the cause of woman’s suffrage, passed away at
Susanville, February 27. She attained
broad acquaintance throughout the West by her active service in the ranks of
woman’s suffrage, and was a foremost worker for that cause in early campaigns
at Washington. She came to Lassen County
with her father, Thos. Montgomery, in 1862, at the age of 15 years, and for
several years taught school in various parts of this community; then she married
Ephram V. Spencer, who prior to his death in 1904, was among the foremost
attorneys in Northern California.
Deceased leaves two daughters, Mrs. J. E. Raker, wife of Congressman
John E. Raker of this district, and Mrs. H. D. Burroughs, wife of H. D.
Burroughs, Superior Judge of Lassen County.
Mrs. Laura A. Calhoun, who was born in 1847 while her parents were en route
across the plains, passed away March 17 at Santa Monica, Los Angeles
County. She was a woman of high ideals
and a writer of considerable note.
Deceased was a native of South Carolina, and is survived by five
children.
Transcribed by Sharon Walford Yost.
Proofed by: Jeanne Taylor.
© 2010 Sharon
Walford Yost.