*disclaimer: see bottom of post*
Brick walls are stumbling block of every family historian. Perseverance is key. Over time you chip away painstakingly compiling notes, facts, tidbits of seemingly unconnected information until one day...the wall cracks wide open. This happened recently with my research on my paternal lines.
Many years ago my grandmother Freda showed us the old Pollard Family Bible. On the inside cover was a treasure trove of hand-written details: names and key dates for three generations. Somehow I had the prescience of mind to grab a notebook and transcribe every bit. This was the launching pad for my research many years later with the advent of the internet.
What?! My great-grandparents actually spelled Anna's maiden name wrong?!! No wonder I'd never found her before now. I suspect there were less than warm feelings between Anna Pollard the Younger and Anne Pollard Senior (aka Mother-in-Law). Maybe this led to the maiden name being spelled wrong. Not a lot of love lost maybe? I have my reasons and will explore that story in another blog post in the future.
Now back to Anne L. Scherrebeck...
A few quick searches later on Ancestry.com and I'd found Anne's parents were Peter Scherrebeck and Mary Sullivan. Hurrah! And siblings too: Catherine (1846-1931) Thomas J. (1851- ), Mary Theresa (1854-1888) and Sophie (1858-1910). My great-great grandmother, Anna L. Scherrebeck-Pollard (1948-1908).
Our family lines related to the Sullivan and Scherrebeck early Pioneers of California are tangled. I'm making gradual headway in teasing out the facts. It helps that Sullivans are closely connected to the Murphy family and other key pioneers so the facts are out there in various places. Much is written about the early settlers of Santa Clara County. TheValley of Heart's Delight on SantaClaraResearch.net is invaluable for most of information I've gleaned about these families. I'm so very thankful for it!
Digging around I discovered that Peter Thomas Scherrebeck (1813-1862) was the first Danish settler of Yerba Buena. He was a sailor on a British ship in the mid-1830s who liked the sleepy dune-flanked port and stayed. He officially converted to Catholism, technically became a Mexican citizen in order to purchase land. By 1836 (?) he had settled in the village of Yerba Buena, eventually becoming an elected official. He sounds like a jack of all trades kinda fellow: carpenter, trader, butcher, secretary and agent to Sutter. Oh and a saloon owner too! With wife Mary they had "Our House" establishment that sounds like an informal bar/lodgings where people could gather. I found reference he was also the local butcher so imagine this establishment to be like a local cafe/watering hole. They did take in lodgers too. [Peter Scherrebeck various info]
Now I explored Mary Sullivan who turned out to have just as impressive pioneer roots as a member of the Murphys-Townsend-Stevens Party. They were the first wagon train to successfully cross the Sierra, blazing the Truckee route for later settlers to follow:
The Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party consisted of ten families who migrated from Iowa to California prior to the Mexican-American War or the California Gold Rush. The Stephens Party is significant in California history because they were the first wagon train to cross the Sierra Nevada during the expansion of the American West. They pioneered the first route at or near what was later named Donner Pass in 1844. The crossing was a year before Fremont, two years before the Donner Party and five years before the 1848-49 Gold Rush. [wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephens-Townsend-Murphy_Party]
Ironically I was raised and now live in Murphys, California. Yep the gold rush town named after the very same Murphy family that Mary Sullivan and her 3 brothers journeyed with to California in 1844.
Here's the general Sullivan scoop:
The Sullivan siblings emigrated (like many) from Ireland before the famine, in about 1836 (?) They were part of a large wave of migrants to Frampton in Quebec, Canada. Previously the Martin Murphy Sr. party emigrated from Co. Wexford to this area in about 1820s and were some of the first settlers to this area. During this era the British Government promoted emigration to the region to 1) help settle the province of Quebec and 2) as a means to entice potential Irish-nationalist rabble-rousers out of Ireland in the wake of earlier rebellions of the first years of 1800s. The terms of emigration were definitely tempting to often poor tenant farmers longing for a better life and greater freedom.
Most of the Irish immigrants discovered Canada to be pretty harsh, with winters much more rugged than expected. Being hardy peoples they quickly got busy homesteading and settling the area. Over the years a pattern developed: Men would seasonally head to Quebec or Maine to work in lumber industry or other industries needing laborers. Summer month s they returned to their homesteads to farm as best they could. The Sullivans are an example: Young John Sullivan (and presumably others like the younger Murphys) are found working as loggers in Maine. The Sullivan's are documented in the Framptom area. Our gggg-grandmother, Catherine (Pigott) Sullivan died in 1832 and buried in St. Edwards Parish, Dorchester near Quebec.[Quebec Vital & Church Records, Drouin Collection]
By late 1830s life in Canada becoming exceedingly difficult and many of the Framptom Irish settlers. During th1832 there was widespread epidemic, probably what claimed Catherine's life, along with many other friends and neighbors. Now the Irish settlers turned their thoughts to relocating south-west to Missouri, with the promise of better land and opportunities via land grants of the Platte Purchse. Martin Murphy Sr and most of his family, the Sullivans and others made the long journey to settle in Atchinson County (Holt Co) along the Missouri River. Their settlement became known as Irish Grove so many of them ended up in this area. Sadly things were not as rosy as expected and after a virulent malaria outbreak, where many family members died. Around this time, a grieving Martin Murphy Sr. hears of California's wealth and abundance from a traveling priest. Wanderlust once again strikes the Irish settlers.
In May 1844 the 50-member wagon train set off from Missouri, led by Captain Elijah Stevens. They initially traveled with 40 other wagons destined for Oregon and their 11 wagons headed to California. The large Murphy family (23 members) and other inter-related families like the Sullivans, Martins, Townsend and others made up their wagon train. The Sullivan siblings by this point were orphans, having lost their mother in Quebec and their father sometime prior their departure. Mary and John were in their early 20s and in charge of their two younger brothers Michael and Robert. They were "adoptetd" by Murphy Sr and set out west as part of his extended family.
By Nov 1844 they reached California, just barely getting most of their wagons over the Sierras. One small group headed on horseback, following south towards Lake Tahoe before crossing over the pass and down to Sutter's Fort. The remaining larger group worked to get 6 wagons over the summit before a heavy snowfall forced them to leave remaining 5 wagons with Moses Schallenberger and two others near Donner Lake. (In fact the cabin Moses spent the next several months was used the next winter by the Donner Party on their much less fortunate journey). Eventually the two companions left Moses alone to rejoin the larger party on the other side of the Summit.
Upon reaching Truckey's (or Truckee) Lake (now Donner Lake) on November 14, 1844, the party left six of their eleven wagons because of difficulties getting the wagons over the pass. Eighteen-year-old Moses Schallenberger spent the winter there watching over the wagons, surviving only by trapping High Sierra foxes for food. The rest of the party spent the winter in the upper Yuba River valley, until most of the men were enticed to fight with Captain John Sutter for Mexican California Governor Manuel Micheltorena in exchange for promises of land grants. Instead of joining them, Dennis Martin returned to the upper Yuba with supplies for the women and children. Upon learning of the plight of Moses Schallenberger, twenty-three-year-old Martin crossed the snowbound Sierra Nevada in mid-winter (February, 1845) to rescue Schallenberger at Donner Lake. Martin showed Schallenberger how to construct proper snowshoes and successfully the two recrossed the Sierras to the Central Valley. [http://us.wow.com/wiki/Stephens-Townsend-Murphy_Party]Eventually the main group of six wagons were forced by snows to make winter camp near Big Bend on the Yuba River. Once camp was established, 17 men left the wagons, women and children and set off for Sutter's Fort. On Dec 10th both the smaller group of 6 and the latter group of 17 reached Sutter's Fort about the same time, just as the Micheltorena War was erupting. Sutter was gathering men to fight and he convinced the new arrivals plenty of help if they'd join up and head south to support the Mexico Governor. In this group were John Sullivan and Peter Scherrebeck, who at this time was employed as Sutter's Agent in Yerba Buena. The Mexican Cival War proved short-lived and the settlers were finally reunited with their families at Sutter's Fort in March 1845.
I'm not sure if Mary remained behind with Martin Murphy Jr and his family on the Yuba River that winter, or if she was part of the smaller parties to travel by horse to Sutter's Fort. Seeing her younger brothers were 10-13 yrs I'd assume they remained behind at the encampment. Mary does eventually reached Sutter's Fort and there probably met Peter Scherrebeck. Presumably this when Mary and Peter first meet and by Aug 1845, a few short months later were married. Documents used by the Sutter's Fort Educational program indicate the couple did reside together at Sutter's Fort. By August the young couple were married on board a British Ship in a civil ceremony. Nine months later their eldest daughter Catherine was born in San Francisco, at the time a small town with about 200-400 inhabitants. By Jan 1848 my great-great-grandmother, Anne L. was born.
Now there's a Pollard family story that Grandpa Pollard would tell his kids, Bill and Barbara whenever they drove by Donner Lake. He said "it's a good thing our ancestors were on time because if they'd been late and had to wait for the 1845 Donner Wagon Train....well....we might not exist as a family." For years I pondered exactly how our history dovetailed with the Donner Party. I couldn't figure it out. Now we know. Fortunate for us 20th century descendants that the Sullivans belonged to the successful Murphys-Townsend party rather than the disastrous Donner Party a year later.
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| Murphys-Townsend 1844 Historical Marker |
Another second set of errors, in addition to the misspelling of her name, further hindered my research of Anne Scherrebeck's childhood. The 1860 Census taker not only spelled the family name Shenebek...he listed her as a 10yr old boy named Andrew. My thought: He was hard of hearing, Mary and Peter had strong accents and Anne was probably a tomboy. But all the other names and dates match so pretty sure Andrew is my Anne. Here siblings are Catherine, Thomas J.,
Basic timeline early California events:
Micheltorena War &Bear Flag Revolt; California becomes a state; Yerba Buena renamed SF
Peter was elected to various civic offices: treasurer
Famous painting of YB 1846 shows the Scherrebeck house and John Sullivan's house too.
He also most noted for a famous court case regarding land grants during 1858-1880s.
Gold Rush
They ran "Our House" establishment
1848, 1850: big fires ripped through area; maybe this prompts them to move out of city maybe
Eventually they move out to Santa Clara, with son Thomas is listed as born there by 1850
Peter dies in 1866 [?] in San Francisco.
Mary is listed as living with son Thomas in the city, where she dies c. 1891
John and his little brothers said to live with Peter & Mary until John built his house on corner lot he purchased 1846 on corner of Pacific & Dupont.
In wake of Gold Rush life in San Francisco rapidly changed from sleepy little port village to booming, frenetic, wild exploding frontier city. In 1846 lists see only 50-55 families with population about 500. By 1849 this explodes to over 12,000 and by 1850s it quickly reached 100,000s population. It was a wild boom town. Initially during the early days of the Gold Rush the port was a clogged mess of abandoned ships because everyone raced off to the mine fields of the Mother Lode. Reports of walking and picking up gold nuggets not really exaggeration.
John Sullivan
[list his bequests]
By 1850 he married Catherine Farrely and had two sons. Sadly his wife died in childbirth in 1854, leaving him to raise two small boys and his business empire. Family is important to the Irish so I imagine Mary and her family helped seeing they lived so near one another at this time. Or maybe the young orphans were sent to live with the Scherrebecks who possibly were residing in Santa Clara County at this point [?]. It's difficult to trace where exactly they lived at this time.
John did own a large (500ac?) Mira Monte Ranch in Mountain View. This last fact just uncovered today when researching possible dna links to the Murphy line. I found a Daniel Murphy (1824-1880s) was hired by John Sullivan as ranch manager in 1868 and worked there up until his death at 78yrs. Another document says Daniel's son, Dennis John Murphy was the "nephew" of John Sullivan. At moment can't figure out exactly how. Speculation: Daniel married a Mrs. Mary (Farley) Sullivan, whose first husband "died in New Jersey" and they had a son, Thomas. Not sure if this husband was related to my Sullivans. Maybe he's the youngest sibling, the elusive Robert who I can't find any concrete information on yet. The biographical article on Dennis John definitely cited John Sullivan and his uncle. And both these families of Sullivans and Murphys are very interconnected, woven tightly over the years via friendship and possibly marriage. They all settled close by each other either in San Francisco or Santa Clara Valley.
Returning to John Sullivan. In 1860 he married his second wife, Ada E. Kenna and they had a total of ten children. John Sullivan died Jul 29, 1882 in San Francisco. His eldest son Frank J. Sullivan was executor of his estate for the next 13 years. In Dec 1895 the estate was incorporated by the heirs into the Sullivan Estate Company. Signators were his children and Mary Pigott-listed as the guardian for his younger children. I speculate she was related somehow to his mother who I believe was a Catherine Pigott. A sister maybe?
John's children were: Frank J., Robert P.; Charles A., Ada E. Sullivan, Belle Sullivan Turner, Henrietta Sullivan, Frances V. Sullivan, Georgia B. Sullivan, Emmet V. Sullivan.
Frank J. Sullivan was an attorney, serving in the Calif State Legislature for four terms. He married Alice Phelan (1860-1912), daughter of James D. Phelan, another notable San Franciscan.
*This blog is my personal notebook where I'm compiling my years of notes and research into a story. It's a work in progress so not perfect with it's citations. They are my "rough drafts" not a finished, polished end product.*
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