CHAPTER 4
The Tracy Family History
Archibald Moon
Archibald Moon, the Confederate
Archibald Moon
I have told you the story of Uncle Billy, an adventurer who
came to California with plans to look around and then move on. Then he found
that he liked it so much that he decided to take California away from Mexico. He
made a fortune in the gold fields only to loose it all to a dysfunctional
partner.
You will remember that his brother was Thomas Moon, my 3rd
great grandfather. Thomas' first born was Archibald, my 2nd great grandfather.
Archibald was born 10 March 1827 near Sedalia, what was then old Cooper Co.,
Missouri.
Archibald had two wives. The first marriage was to Emmaline
F. Lester on 12 June 1849, in Morgan County. They had one son, George Wm. Moon
born 13 January 1853 in Morgan County.
Nothing is known about the first wife. It is assumed that she
died young. Her name appears on a deed six months after the birth of George Wm.
So, she did not die in childbirth. There was a cholera epidemic in this area in
1853. Maybe this could be what took her life.
On a deed at this time, and in this same area, there shows up
an Archibald 'M.C.' Moon. I am not sure that this is our Archibald, but I find
that there were very few Archibald Moons anywhere in the United States, and even
less in Missouri.
In the body of the deed her name is spelled
with an "e" at the end. This is also true of her marriage record. However,
notice she signs with the (e) left off. (The 1850 census shows Archibald, age
23, born MO: Emmaline 20, born TN. They were married one year earlier.)
Considerable research on Emmaline was unsuccessful at getting any further
information.
Handwriting analysis: They are both outward going, somewhat extroverted people.
She writes like an engineer with a sharp, critical, analytical mind.
7 June 1855. These signatures are not the same person. M.C. is
undoubtedly one of ours. He probably used M.C. to distinguish from our Archie.
On the records after M.C., comes Joseph Miller. Moons, Fickens, Millers, all
intermarried.
Archibald marries again to Martha Melvina Wallace on 12 February
1857. This was also in Morgan County. There would be 12 more children. Martha
Wallace comes from an illustrious line. However, that story is yet to come.
The children born to Archibald and Martha in Missouri are as follows:
Brice Madison b. 22 November 1857
Lousannie Jane b. 29 October 1859 (This was my great grandmother. Aunt Hattie
says she was born in Atlanta, Missouri.)
Ella b. 15 October 1860
John T. b. 13 September 1862 (Died young.)
All were born in Morgan County.
In the old days, almost everyone owned a farm or did farm
work. When you look at the records they can be deceiving. Most everyone is
listed as being a farmer, whereas, technically, they might be ranchers or
sheepmen. The Moons were historically sheepmen.
This story about Archibald and his family should be the
normal story for its day: Except, there was a Civil War. (I should point out
that most of the information about Archibald comes from Aunt Hattie.)
Archibald was wealthy, owned a plantation, and owned slaves.
Although he owned slaves, Archibald had a policy that whoever entered the
property, they were to be treated equally.
Missouri during the civil war was a Border State,
technically, controlled by the Union. In reality, the State was fragmented with
the Federal Authorities in control some places and the Confederate influence in
other areas.
Archibald made the classic mistake that you see throughout
the history of mankind. He backed the wrong side. He was a Confederate.
Although, during the war, slavery was legal in the States that remained loyal to
the Union. President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation only freed the slaves
in the States that were in rebellion. Thus, slavery was legal in Missouri
throughout the war.
There were Confederate guerrilla bands that operated
throughout the State. The Unionists had similar bands, which usually went under
the title of 'militia'. Both sides kept lists of those who were
sympathetic to their cause and those who were sympathetic to the enemy.
Depending on how the Union authorities felt on any particular day, there could
be trials, which could result in banishment from the State and confiscation of
property.
Aunt Hattie tells the story of Archibald being gone from
home. He was a Confederate solider who returned on a broken down old mule to
find the house burned. A military force had come, removed everyone from the
house, then set it afire. The family was told that they would be left only with
their lives. Hattie's mother, Lousannie (although Hattie preferred the
pronunciation of Lousanna) was three years old and remembers being removed from
the house and the house being burned by the Yankees. They were able to save the
family mule by hiding it in a ravine.
If you were a Confederate sympathizer, or actively aided the
guerrillas, then your property was libel for confiscation and your house could
be burned. Archibald's family was given a certain number of days to a cross a
line, then they would be safe. I have read other stories of people’s houses
being burned and given ten days to cross the State line and get out of Missouri.
Archibald Moon does not show up on the official Confederate
military records. He was probably a guerrilla or aided the guerrillas. Either
way he was libel to his house being burned, property being confiscated, and
being banished from the State. However, guerrillas fighting for the Southern
cause considered themselves to be Confederate soldiers.
I remember reading an article published in the 1920's(?)
where one of Archibald's sons said, "The family lost its property in Missouri.
It had something to do with the war."
It is easy to guess what happened next. Archibald's first job
was to get his family safely across the State line. He would have been destitute
having been stripped of all of his property. I'm sure he had plenty of
relatives, not only on the Moon side of the family but also on his wife's side
that were willing to help.
The slave girl wanted to stay with the family. But Archie
told her that according to the politics of the time, he would free her, and then
they could never see her again. She walked over to the woodpile, sat down and
cried.
He would have written a letter, or more probably sent a
telegram to Uncle Billy explaining his desperate situation. (The telegraph wire
to California was completed in 1862.) Uncle Billy must have told him to come on
out to California.
A wagon train was formed with Archibald being elected
captain. We know that he brought his wife and children, brother James Polk, and
sister Elizabeth, and most probably his mother. I suspect that the wagon train
carried a lot more of the relatives than we have documented.
Missouri was a good place to get away from during the Civil
War. 11% of the nations soldiers came from Missouri, with 110,000 soldiers
fighting for the Union, and 40,000 for the Confederacy. 1,162 battles or
skirmishes would take place in the state.
He would have to get financial help from the local relatives
and possibly Uncle Billy sent some money. Then he would have to outfit and wait
for the traveling season. The wagon trains started rolling the latter part of
April or the early part of May. The roads had to be dry.
Calculating when to leave was always a gamble. If you started
too soon, the grass on the prairie would not be sufficient for grazing the
animals. If you started too late, other pioneers would have already over grazed
the grass and over used the watering places to the point that they were
polluted. Worse of all was mistaking your timing and getting caught in the
blizzards of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Fortunately, by 1863 the road to California was fairly
sophisticated. Here is a description of the route in 1865: The telegraph line
had already been completed. Every 10 to 15 miles were stables for the
stagecoaches. Eating houses and farms that sold hay could be found every 10 to
15 miles. Blacksmith shops, general stores, and Union military forts to protect
you from the Indians would be found every 50 to 100 miles.
For outfitting it would require at least two yoke of oxen to
pull the wagons loaded with 2,000 pounds each. Horses were almost never used to
pull the wagons. You could use mules and make the 2,000 mile trip to California
two weeks shorter than the customary four and half months. However, mules cost
twice as much as oxen and weren't nearly as sturdy. Oxen weren't particular
about what they ate. They wouldn't run off at night when they were let out to
graze. Indians were not interested in stealing oxen. They were too slow to run
off on a raid. Really! When was the last time you saw an Indian with an ox?
They were gentle animals and many considered pets. But they were slow animals.
"They didn't walk. They plodded."
A wagon train West was still an ordeal. Every wagon would
leave at least one dead on the trail. Little Ella, and a woman, would die and be
buried on the prairie. There would be graves along the way, carcasses of oxen
and mules, and wreckage of abandoned wagons.
You walked the 2,000 miles. It was too bumpy to ride in the
wagons unless absolutely necessary due to poor health or a pregnant mother. The
wives were always pregnant on the journey.
Aunt Hattie says they came by way of Salt Lake City. She
tells the story of some of the wagons leaving the established route and taking a
short cut. They were wiped out by Indians.
They “...landed at the Moon ranch where Archie had a
brother." That would have been Nicklaus P. Moon. Aunt Hattie was confused on one
point. She thought that Nicklaus was Uncle Billy. We know the Archibald Moon
family arrived at the Moon ranch by 28 October 1863 because that was the day
Martha gave birth to James Luman at the Moon house.
They stayed the winter with Uncle Billy. Then the records
show that Archie bought property in 1864. This was at Paskenta, 15 miles west of
Uncle Billy’s ranch. It is confusing as to which county the property was in at
the time because the county lines kept shifting.
To put things into perspective, let me explain that Red Bluff
was in Tehama County. During the Civil War, Red Bluff was evenly divided between
Union supporters and Confederates. South of Tehama County was Colusa County
(Also known by its old name of Colusi.) This is the county where the Moon Ranch
was located. Colusa County was settled mainly by Southerners, mostly from
Missouri, and, of course, Confederates. The county was known as the South
Carolina of California.
Although born in Tennessee, Uncle Billy was always known as
an "Old Missourian.” North of Red Bluff was Shasta County, inhabited mostly by
Union supporters. Because Archibald was a Confederate soldier, it makes
historical sense that he would move to any area controlled by his countrymen
while in the middle of a Civil War.
The Tehama County historian, Keith Lingenfelter and I visited
the property. It was just rugged hills, probably used for sheep.
Archibald, being broke, had to have Uncle Billy guarantee the
promissory note to purchase the land. The interest on the loan was 10%. This was
the standard high rate due to the inflation caused by the Civil War. During the
war, inflation would run 25% a year in the North, and of course ran rampant in
the South to the point that the Confederate money had no value.
The people in these counties of divided loyalties, realized
the outcome of the war would not be determined by what happened in California.
The war would be won or lost by mighty armies fighting decisive battles in the
East. So they would capture a grizzly bear and a wild bull, natural enemies, and
place them in a pit to fight to the death. To keep things in the proper spirit
they would name one animal Jeff Davis and the other Abe Lincoln. That is how our
people fought the war in California.
Archibald would own four properties in California. Some by
purchase and one by homestead. He would eventually wind up with a ranch in the
hills at Ono, a few miles west of Redding, Aunt Hattie remembers it as being a
beautiful place. The football field was at Archie Moon's ranch.
Aunt Hattie remembers grandpa and grandma when she was a
little girl. She said Archie was a little man. I told her it was the custom of
the women in East Tennessee (where grandma Moon was born) to smoke corncob
pipes. "Did Grandma Moon smoke a corncob pipe?" Aunt Hattie got all flustered
and replied, "Well, yes.” (Mother says that it was not unusual in those days for
women to smoke pipes.) Aunt Hattie remembers them talking about Uncle Nick. That
is all she remembers about grandma and grandpa.
Archie would die at his ranch on 17 March 1908 and is buried at the Igo cemetery
in the family plot. Grandma died 1 September 1911, also buried in the family
plot.
Following are the list of the 8 children born in California:
James Luman b 28 October 1863
Joseph Nicholas b 22 March 1866
Lucy (Louisa) N b 14 March 1868
Maggie J b 29 November 1869
Charles P b 22 April 1873
Mary (May) b 22 November 1875
Lilly (Lillian) S b 17 May 1878
Harry Franklin b 7 August 1880
I assume that all of the Moons were Confederates. But that is
assuming too much. Civil wars are wars between brother and brother. (Martha’s
brother, Pharoah, served in the Missouri Union Cavalry.)
I also assume that many Moons came to California in the 1863
wagon train, and many Moons remained in Missouri where their descendants live to
this day.
Official records were kept on those who not only sympathized
but also actively supported the guerrillas. There were trials, records kept of
the sympathizers, supporters, guerrillas, paroles, banishments, confiscation of
property, houses burned, etc. What a treasure throve these records would be in
telling the family history. But, alas, all of these records were destroyed after
the war…for obvious reasons.
I have been to the property the Moon's owned when the house
was burned, hoping that there might be some remnants of that era, wondering if
part of the chimney might be standing, anything that might have some history to
tell. There was nothing but rolling hills and the houses of the present owners.
I became obsessed with the Moon line. I tried everything
humanly possible to get beyond Thomas Moon. I paid a professional researcher in
Missouri. I wrote letters , 30 in all, to everyone in the phone directory with
the last name of "Moon" living in that county today. I received not one
response. I wrote a letter and had it published in the county newspaper. Again,
not one response...on the Moon line. However, I did get a response on the
'Proctor' line. “We’ve never heard from the descendants of Lusany before!”
Archibald and Martha would live out their lives on the farm
at Ono and are buried in the family plot in the quaint cemetery of Igo. The
unusual names of these two villages date back to the gold rush days when a white
man got a piece of rope to do something with, and a Chinaman thought he was
going to hang him. The Chinaman begged, "Ono! Ono!" He ran for awhile and then
yelled, "Igo! Igo!"
I came across a draft of the letter I had published in the county newspaper for the last known Missouri county that Archibald lived in. This is 20 years old and sloppy but has some additional information.
I have included a copy
I am writing a family history and would like to contact
descendants of the following early Missouri pioneers.
MOON- Thomas, Jake, David, Robert, and Nathaniel Moon were all neighbors of
Benjamin Proctor In Cole Co., in 1830. It is believed that all of these Moons
were related. Nathaniel Moon was born in 1777, TN., and was believed to have a
daughter-in-law, Polly, b 1810, TN. Polly had two known children: Andrew J., b
1838, and Luke, b 1848. Nathaniel Moon died in Henry Co., 1857. Thomas Moon had
one known brother, William C. Moon, b 1809, TN. William C. Moon was one of the
first pioneers to enter California and it was in his house in 1846 that the
settlers met to instigate the 'Bear Flag Revolt'. Thomas Moon married Lusany
Proctor (daughter of Benjamin Proctor) in Cole Co., 1826. One year after their
marriage, Thomas and Lusany moved to Prairie Home, Cooper Co. In 1839 they moved
again to Benton Co. Thomas Moon and Lusany Proctor had eight known children:
Archibald b 1827, Nickolas P b 1829, Mary A (believed to have married Thomas J
Howser in Benton Co., 1854, and a second marriage to David Dill in Morgan Co.,
1858.), Susan b 1833, Millissen b 1835, Thomas N b 1842, James Polk b 1844, and
Elizabeth Josephine b 1849. It is believed that Thomas and Lusany Moon and their
children moved to Henry Co. in 1851. Their first son, Archibald, married
Emmaline Luster in Morgan Co., 1849, and a second marriage to Martha Ann Wallace
in 1857, also in Morgan Co. The family of Archibald Moon was burned out by the
bushwhackers during the Civil War and in 1863 they formed a wagon train and
immigrated to California.
WALLACE - Martha Wallace b 1834 in Anderson Co., TN. was married to
Archibald Moon. She came to Morgan Co., Mo. in 1850 with her parents, John
Miller Wallace and Jane Manley. John died 1884 and his wife 1890, both in Morgan
Co. Martha had five known brothers and sisters: Pharoah M. (male) b 1839, Mathew
b 1842, Louisa b 1845, Nancy b 1852, and William Peffer b 1860. Pharoah Wallace
married Sallie Moore in Morgan Co. and they had five known children: Thomas b
1869, Martha b 1871, Leoda b 1873, John H. b 1877, and Charlie. Pharoah Wallace
married a second time to Ella E. Gatewood, in 1881 and had one known child by
this wife: Oscar Nelson b 1885. Mathew G. Wallace died in 1864. Louisa Wallace
married a John Ficken. Nancy Wallace married George W. Lutman and in 1852 they
had three known children: Harry, John, and Nannie (Nancy). These Wallaces are
decedents of the Woods-Wallace line which is traced back to Ireland in the late
1600's, beginning with Peter Wallace Sr. and Elizabeth Woods, and her brother
and his wife Michael Woods and Mary Campbell. This line came to American in
1724.
(I am corresponding with Naomi Woods of Fortuna.)
I am a descendent of the pioneers who crossed the plains to California in the
wagon train of 1863. Although many of the family left Missouri it is believed
that most of the relatives stayed behind and their decedents are numerous and
many still live in the areas that their forefathers settled so long ago. Through
the generations contact with these relatives in Missouri have been lost. If you
are a descendent, or have any knowledge of any of these people mentioned in this
article then please contact: Jim Tracy, etc.
James Polk Moon
I had to include the photo of "Uncle Polk" because it
is such a classic. He was the younger brother of Archibald by 19 years. Having
this time span between siblings was quite common in the frontier days when women
were expected to bear children until they became barren.
I took the photo to a gun shop and one of their customers
looked over my shoulder at the photo and said, "That is an 1886 Winchester
Rifle." This is a 'cabinet type' photo. They were quite popular from 1885 to
1900. The original photo is larger,
8 x 10.
Uncle Polk was born in Benton Co, Missouri on 25 December
1846. That would make him a Christmas baby. He came across the plains in the
wagon train of 1863. He lived for some years on a ranch in North Dakota. From
1894 to 1908 he lived near Dickinson, ND.
The librarian in Dickinson sent me an page from a book titled
50 Years in the Saddle.
JAMES MOON
James Moon was a sheepman in the Big Horn Mountains in
Wyoming in the latter part of the 1880's, and it was possibly about 1890 that he
had his sheep in the mountains for summer grazing and they always had to get
them out of there before snow came.
This year the snow came earlier than usual, and caught his
band. There was so much snow it was impossible to move them and he lost his
sheep. He had a ranch and horses and haying tools. He sold his ranch and the
haying tools, kept some of the horses, rigged up the sheep wagon and started out
wolfing, as there was a bounty paid on wolves in many places.
He came into North Dakota in 1894 and got a den of wolves
near out range in Thirty Mile Creek, about thirty miles southeast of Dickinson.
I don't know how many pups he got or if he got either one of the old ones. He
worked in different parts and had some horses, so his herd kept increasing.
In 1903 he had so many horses he located a ranch about ten
miles southeast of Alexander. He stayed on the ranch and still did some wolfing.
He got good studs and built up a good bunch of horses. The country started to
get settled and he had good work horses to sell, so he did well.
Age was creeping up on him and he got a nephew to come and
help him. I did not get to those parts so I lost track of them from that time
on.
The nephew was James Luman Moon, son of Archibald and he
moved to the ranch after 1903.
The librarian adds quoting an article, "April 13, 1907
(nearly a year before his death) J.P.Moon returned the first of the week from
the Brainerd (Minn.)? hospital where he was kept for 91 days for an appendicitis
operation and the extraction of a bullet from the shoulder. Mr. Moon feels like
a new man and goes from here to his ranch at Mary. (I believe Mary to be a small
town, now extinct) that was somewhere near Dickinson."
There are two things about this story that make me think.
One, I was only in the hospital for 3 days when I had my appendixes out. Two,
how did he get that bullet in his shoulder?
Uncle Polk died in Dickinson (or Minot), ND on 15 March 1908
at 61 years of age and is buried at the Oak Hill cemetery in Red Bluff. He was
unmarried.
Elizabeth Josephine Moon
Younger sister of Archibald by 22 years. Born in Benton
County, Missouri on 3 January 1849. She also crossed the plains in 1863 at the
age of 14.
Family tradition says that James Milton Howell saw her at a
dance and decided then and there that he wanted to meet her. So he asked her
mother to introduce him as he had a present to give her. Elizabeth married James
Milton Howell when she was 17 years old in Red Bluff. Performing the marriage
was C.E. Fonda, J.P. Archibald gave her away.
This story tells us two things: One, that Elizabeth's mother,
Lusany Proctor, had also come across in the wagon train. Two, that her father,
Thomas Moon, was not present. We can only assume that he had died by this time.
The following is an article written by Frank Howell when he was
fourteen years old, in 1952. This appeared in the Colusi County Historical
Society Magazine, Wagon Wheels, Vol. II, No 2.
J. M. HOWELL, SHEEP KING OF TEHAMA COUNTY
By Frank Howell
Last year, 1951, a friend and I visited the
ruins of the once famous J.M. Howell ranch ten miles west of the town of Tehama
and next to the town of Henleyville. We saw before us the half-fallen barns and
the windmill and the concrete fence where the beautiful Howell residence had
stood. This was the remains of the once famous Howell ranch. As I saw this I
remembered the story of the man who built it, J.M. Howell, "Sheep King of Tehama
County."
With one silver dollar in his pocket, James Milton Howell
reached Dogtown, California, in September 1859. He had attached himself to a
wagon train and crossed the plains without mishap.
Jim was seventeen, a mature age in frontier days. Jim was
alone, his friends and an indifferent family far behind in Missouri. But being
alone was not completely a new experience to Jim. His mother died when he was
two and after that there was little home life and not much opportunity for an
education.
For awhile, after reaching California, Jim wandered from
ranch to ranch doing odd jobs. Finally he was hired by George Kingsley to bring
his sheep to Tehama County. He cared for the sheep for a year under the
direction of Mr. Kingsley. At the end of the year Mr. Kingsley thought so highly
of him that he offered him a partnership which lasted six years. The Kingsley
and Howell range extended from Red Bluff to Cottonwood. During this time they
began the breeding of sheep, which many years later brought the coveted gold
medal award for the best Spanish Merino wool at the Lewis and Clark exposition
in Portland, Oregon.
It was now 1866. Jim had been in California seven years. He
was twenty-four years old and the owner of 1400 head of sheep. During this year
he accompanied a posse that drove a band of Indians out of Tehama County. During
the following year two important events occurred in his life. He purchased 120
acres of land from Thomas Boardman, a merchant of Red Bluff, and secondly, he
fell in love and married a young girl from his home state of Missouri, by the
name of Elizabeth Moon. The story goes that he had seen Elizabeth at a dance and
then and there decided that he must meet her, so he went to her mother and asked
if she would introduce him, because he wanted to give Elizabeth a gift. Shortly
afterward they began a long and happy marriage. To this union were born eight
children, three of whom are now living. They are Ada Mitchell of Corning, Ralph
Howell and Nora Norvell, both of Red Bluff.
In the 70's or 80's, Mr. Howell bought a summer home in the
Coast Range mountains, which was known to all as "Howell Camp." Each summer, for
over fifty years, the Howells went to this camp. At present a group of men in
Corning own Howell Camp.
One hot summer day the ranch buildings caught fire and burned
to the ground. Everyone was at Howell Camp except Owah, the faithful Chinese
cook, who several years before, had walked the ten miles from Tehama to the
ranch looking for work, and as so often happened with Chinese help, had remained
to become an integral part of the family.
In 1898 the present ranch house was built. It was a dignified
two story mansion painted green with a fancy filigree border. Orange trees were
planted around the house and beyond these was a large ornamental iron fence.
In 1903, forty-four years after he had driven Mr. Kingsley's
sheep to Tehama County, Jim Howell and George Kingsley again entered a
partnership, forming a sheep company with a capital stock of $100,000.
By now J.M. Howell was well known as a grower of fine wool.
He had become, as well, a highly respected citizen of Tehama County. Always
public-spirited and generous, he gave the land for the Henleyville church. The
Howell school district was named after him. After a number of years, Mr. Howell
gave his ranch to his son Sam Howell and moved to Red Bluff. The Schaar Brothers
now own this land.
At the age of ninety, having survived his beloved Elizabeth
by many years and his second wife, Elizabeth Gilmore by only a few days, J.M.
Howell, Indian fighter and Sheep King of Tehama County, with the words "I am
going” quietly passed on. He is buried in the Howell Chapel at the Oak Hill
Cemetery, Red Bluff.
Betty Howell and the Tehama County historian, Keith Lingenfelter,
both of Red Bluff, provided the information I have on the Howell line,
First born of James and Elizabeth Howell is Thomas Franklin Howell. (A footnote:
The Scotch-Irish followed the pattern of the first born son to be named after
the mother's father.) He was born 23 November 1867 at Henleyville, CA. This was
the Howell ranch, 10 miles west of Uncle Billy's ranch. Archibald's ranch was a
few miles further west of Henleyville at Paskenta. He married Susan (Sally)
Owens at Red Bluff. She was born 31 May 1856 at Washington County, Missouri, and
died 13 November 1932 at Ball's Ferry (CA?). Her father was A.C. Owen. Her
mother, Ann Mitchell. An infant was born 30 January 1895 at Red Bluff. Thomas
Franklin died 19 November 1947 at Red Bluff. He was a merchant.
Second, was George Wm., born 20 June 1870, and died 31 May 1921 at Red Bluff. He
had two wives. First was Margaret L. Hanks. They were married 3 November 1892 in
Tehama County. (Margaret Lydia Hanks brother was Earnest Beaul Hanks,
grandfather to the actor, Tom Hanks. The Hanks, like our Moons, are an old
Paskenta pioneer family. Tom Hanks' father is buried at the Paskenta cemetery.
The Hanks story is told in chapter 11.) He died 31 May 1921 at Red Bluff. They
had an infant born December 1894 and died 2 February 1894 at Thomes Creek. The
second wife was Ann J.
Third, was James Arthur, born 31 July 1872 at Henleyville, and died 20 July 1933
at Red Bluff. He was married to Lillie Mason, born on 3 August 1878 in
California. She died 20 March 1926 in Red Bluff. Her father was A.J. Mason. Her
mother, Agnes Gleason.
Fourth, was Leonora, born 26 September 1874 in Red Bluff, She died 21 October
1964 in Red Bluff. She married John Jackson Norvell on 17 January (June?) 1894
in Tehama County. He was born 4 April 1862 in Lynchburg, Virginia, and died 9
June 1926 at Red Bluff. They had three children: Rachel, Marjorie and Wm. M
(Moon?). There may have been a fourth girl, married to an Andrew Smith.
Fifth, was Ada Belle, born 25 November 1876, at Red Bluff. She died 21 October
1964 at Red Bluff. Her first husband was Samuel Lewis Sydenstricker. He was born
1876 in Virginia and died 25 June 1896 in Tehama County. A child is listed, a
female, Sydenstricker, born 17 March 1897 at Red Bluff. A second husband is
listed with the last name of Mitchell.
Sixth, was Ralph R., born 28 March 1879 in California. He died 8 March 1958 in
Red Bluff. He married Wilhemina Manson Purves in 1904. She was born 14 June 1871
in Edinburgh, Scotland and died at Red Bluff 3 February 1942. Her father was
James Purves and mother was Margaret Davidson. Both were natives of Scotland.
There is a record of two children, Naomi and Ruth. Ruth was married to John R.
Davis.
Seventh, was Josephine Louise, born 12 September 1881 in California. She died 12
March 1919 in Red Bluff.
Eight, was J. Louis, born in 1885, California. He died 13 March 1919 at
Billings, Montana. There were six children listed: James Howell married
Elizabeth Eslinger; Clara married Austin Spencer; Jessie married a person with
the last name of Gray; Virginia, Louis, and Fielding.
Ninth, was Samuel Jones. He was born 1886 in California and died
7 December 1930. (Lingenfelter lists 9 children.)
Eight, was J. Louis, born in 1885, California. He died 13 March 1919 at
Billings, Montana. There were six children listed: James Howell married
Elizabeth Eslinger; Clara married Austin Spencer; Jessie married a person with
the last name of Gray; Virginia, Louis, and Fielding.
Ninth, was Samuel Jones. He was born 1886 in California and died
7 December 1930. (Lingenfelter lists 9 children.)
The Howell burial plot is the largest mausoleum in the Oak Hill Cemetery in
Red Bluff.
Whenever I go to Red Bluff, which is often, and only a 2-hour drive from where I live in Sacramento, I try to make it to the cemetery to visit the numerous graves of relatives. I always stop in front of the Howell mausoleum and peak inside. There is the tomb of Aunt Elizabeth Josephine Moon Howell. I always marvel at how successful she was in life, marrying at the young age of 17. I always think how she walked 2,000 miles across the plains as a 14-year-old girl.
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