Tehama County connections -
through history!
Ide, Sarah Elizabeth - a biography
b. 29 Nov 1827, Newfane, Windsor, Vermont
daughter of William Brown Ide and Susan Goddard Haskell
Sarah was the only surviving daughter of her parents. Two younger girls had
died as toddlers, and one as a young teenager. She grew up with 5 strong
brothers and learned to take care of herself! Sarah wrote some autobiographical
information in her Uncle Simeon Ide's book, A Biographical Sketch of
the Life of William B. Ide. She tells of the family beginning their
trek west in 1833-1844 from Kentucky, Ohio, and Illinois. Sarah gives
a detailed description of the Ide-Grigsby wagon train that left Springfield,
ILL in Apr of 1845 and arrived at Sutter's Fort in California in the
fall of 1845. Sarah completed all the chores that her brothers did on
the trip, including scouting and herding oxen, as well as helping her
mother with the younger children & cooking.
Her story shows a fearless young woman who was filled with the pioneer spirit yet tender and close-hearted
to her family. The family arrived in Tehama County in the winter of
1845 when her father left almost immedi ately to help with the Bear
Flag Revolt against the Spanish. He later became a land surveyor with
the army, went gold hunting, and by 1849 had bought about 9,000 acres
in Tehama (then Colusii) County. His wife, Susan, was left pretty much
to fend for herself in a little log cabin with her children. Susan,
b. 07 Nov 1797 in Columbia, Washington, Maine, the daughter of Caleb
Haskell and Sarah Stone, died abt Oct 1850. The youngest son, Lemuel
Henry Clay Ide, was sent back to New Hampshire to his Uncle Simeon,
William's brother. Sarah married either shortly before or after her
mother's death to William C. Cooper, b. abt 1820 Smith, Tennessee,
son of Ambrose Cooper and Mary Kilbraith who were living in Sangamon
County, Illinois at the time. William Cooper was a single man on the
Ide-Grisby wagon train.
It is believed that Sarah and William lived
in Sangamon County until abt 1854 when William died on a trip to California,
near the Isthmus of Panama, of Cholera, and was buri ed at sea. Sarah
took her young daughter, Ann Eliza, and her infant daughter (born after
William died), Alice Ida, back to Tehama County shortly thereafter.
She met and married Lucien B. Healy on 18 Dec 1856 in Santa Clara, CA.
It appears they had property in Cottonwood, Tehama County (1870 US Census)
and at times were in Santa Cruz, CA (1880 US Census). Sarah and Lucien,
b. abt 1828 Vermont, had two daughters and one son: Sarah Caroline,
Grace Rowena, and Lucien, Jr. Lucien Sr died after Sarah on 29 Mar 1911
in Red Bluff. In William B. Ide's probate file, Sarah received about
$4,000 and 40,000 acres in Tehama County in 1887. In addition, she had
land from William Cooper's estate who had part of the share of the
Barranca Colorado land that belonged to William B. Ide. She is buried
in Oak Hill Cemetery in Red Bluff, CA, dying 24 May 1904. Her obituary
in the Red Bluff Daily News, 26 May 1904, states
"she was undoubtedly one of the oldest inhabitants of this county, having arrived here in 1845."
The obituary should also have said that she was a fine example of the strong, young pioneer women who traveled through the hazardous plains to seek a better life in California. Sarah was only 18 yrs. old when she made the journey and lived to a ripe old age of 76. Her descendants still live in Tehama County.
Nanney, Abner Street - a biography
b. 02 Aug 1844 Missouri, son of Abner S. Nanney and Ann Eliza Cooper.
The Nanneys had immigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1635, migrating to Virginia, then Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, then Oregon where the elder Abner Nanney settled. Young Abner emmigrated to Tehama, California before 14 May 1871 when he married Ann Eliza Cooper, the granddaughter of William B. Ide (Sarah Elizabeth Ide and William C. Cooper).
The Tehama County Deed books show he acquired property between 1872 and 1875 through his wife's inheritance from the Wm. B. Ide estate as well as purchasing property. They settled on Morgan's Creek in Lanes Valley and raised Ida, Lulu, Olive and Abner. The Nanneys were a very musical family and became a traveling orchestra for the dances around the foot of Mt. Lassen. They would gather their instruments up in a buckboard, including a traveling organ and travel to different towns to play. The teenagers earned money for their performances and saved it to buy property in Tyler Meadows, later called Child's Meadows.
Abner was a strict cattleman and was very successful. His children also raised cattle by buying calves from their father for $25 head and breeding, buying and selling throughout the years. Business Account Journals of Abner Nanney and his daughter, Olive, for the years 1893-1903 reside in the Tehama County Pioneers section of the Special Collections, Meriam Library, Chico State University. They tell an excellent story of how every penny was earned, saved and spent.
Abner died on 03 Jan 1919 in Red Bluff, CA and his wife, Ann, died previously on 30 May 1906 in Lanes Valley. Ann's obituary in the Red Bluff Daily News, Vol. XXI, 02 Jun 1906, p. 1 shows that she was an
"esteemed lady... loving her home and made it one of the happiest in the county, and was fortunate in possessing a knowledge of affairs in general which made her an exceptionally brilliant woman."
Woodward, Richard Lincoln and father, Nathan Shelly Woodward
- a biography
Richard b. 27 Jan 1862 Otoe, Nebraska Territory
Parents: Nathan S. Woodward, b. 29 Nov 1816 Jefferson County, Tennessee. He was the son of Samuel S. Woodward and Abigail Shelly of Tennessee, Hendricks-Morgan Counties, Indiana, and Keokuk-Hardin Counties, Iowa. Nathan was the grandson of William Woodard and Elizabeth Millikan.
Nathan's mother was Cynthia Cook, b. abt 1820 in Hendricks County, Indiana. She was the daughter of Stephen Cook and Patience Marshall of North Carolina. The Woodwards orginate from Cheshire, England and immigrated to Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1687 as Quakers.
Richard's father, Nathan S. Woodward owned a large grain farm of 160 acres in Nebraska in 1860. The Nebraska and Midwest Genealogical Record, p. 11 shows that Nathan was still in Nebraska in the 1865 Nebraska census. By 1870, Nathan and family were in Kansas.
In Oct 1880 Nathan had property in Shasta County. By 16 Apr 1887 Nathan was registered as a farmer living in Buckeye, Shasta County. Nathan died in Shasta County in 1894 and is buried with his wife in the Redding (Continental) Cemetery.
The Great Register has his son, Richard Lincoln Woodward at age 25 as a stockraiser in Chico, Butte, CA. By 1900, Richard was living in Sierra, Tehama, CA. He was married to Ida Alice Nanney, the great granddaughter of William B. Ide, abt 1893. Ida and Richard had 10 children. Dick had worked as a sheep foreman in Chico but Abner Nanney, Ida's father, was a strict cattleman and warned Dick not to bring any sheep on the ranch, so Dick also became a cattleman. He had a large produce farm to feed his family and sold food to the sawmills in the area. He also sold meat, bacon and hams.
Dick died 05 Aug 1943 at Mercy Hospital in Red Bluff. His wife, Ida, had predeceased him on 20 May 1919. Her obituary states that she was born on the Ide Ranchero just south of Red Bluff on 12 Apr 1872. Ida left two sisters and one brother, Mrs. Bert (Lulu) McKenzie of Red Bluff, Mrs. Frank (Olive) Childs of Paynes Creek, and Abner C. Nanney of Vancouver, Washington.