finding robert & elizabeth

Story

In 1859, after the death of her husband, John Wharton West, Mary traveled with her three children (Francis Henry, Elizabeth Page, and Mary Nixon) to San Francisco, California via the Isthmus on the Atlantic. Landing in San Francisco in January 1860, the trip would have taken at least 43 days.

Son, Francis Henry West, moved to Oregon, daughter Elizabeth married Robert A. Thompson in San Francisco in April 1861, and daughter Mary married Frank P. Thompson (Robert's brother) in San Francisco in January 1861. The Thompson brothers were born and living in Virginia before moving out West. It is assumed that the two families, West and Thompson, knew one another prior to coming to California.

When Mary was 70 years old, she was living with her daughter Elizabeth's family in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California (according to the 1880 Census). This was also the year of her death.

During the 2020-2022 COVID-19 pandemic, the Santa Rosa Chapter prepared to participate in the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery's Lamplighter project which is usually offered in September each year. Various groups write short scripts and then act out in costume those scripts usually at the grave sites of those being highlighted. The chapter's vignette is about a conversation in Santa Rosa in 1880 between Mary and her two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary. At this writing, the script has not been publicly acted out.

Family Group

Mary Catherine Edloe Holt
Birth: 1810 in Virginia, USA
Death: 1880 in Santa Rosa, Sonoma Co, California, USA
Burial: May be Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, Sonoma County, California, USA
WikiNo: Holt-7483

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Married: 9 Aug 1831 in Norfolk, Virginia, USA
to
John Wharton West
Birth: 27 Oct 1798 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Death: 24 Nov 1852 in Norfolk, Virginia, USA
WikiNo: West-15250

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Children:

Francis Henry West (Mary Sophia Stone)
Born: 10 Jun 1832 in Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA
Died: 14 Mar 1908 in Portland, Multnomah Co, Oregon, USA
WikiNo: West-15312
Obituary
Find a Grave: Memorial ID 185150841
Obituary

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Elizabeth Page West (Robert Augustine Thompson)
Born: 18 Apr 1837 in Norfolk, Virginia, USA
Died: 10 Feb 1892 in Redwood City, San Mateo County, California, USA
Burial: Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California, USA
WikiNo: West-15249

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Mary Nixon West (Frances Poulson Thompson)
Born: 04 Aug 1841 in Norfolk, Virginia, USA
Died: 15 Feb 1923 in Palo Alto, Santa Clara, California, USA
WikiNo: West-15313

Resources

1880 Census of the United States (Ancestry.com), Note: ABBR 1880 Census of the United States, Note: Call number: Page: Santa Rosa, Sonoma, California, Text: age 70

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Ancestry.com. U.S., Newspaper Extractions from the Northeast, 1704-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors. Original data: Newspapers and Periodicals. American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts

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Some account of Capt. John Frazier and his descendants: with notes on the West and Checkley families Josiah Granville Leach, Printed for private circulation by J.B. Lippincott Co., 1910 - 138 pages (Page 84)

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History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present by Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846- (Pages 763-764)