Hurd Family Cradle
Hurd Family Cradle
Welcome to 2021! I am participating in Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing project for this year. Hopefully I will be able to keep up! The theme for Week 1 is Beginnings. I am continuing the story of my Great Great Grandmother Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows with her connections to the little Gold Country town of Nevada City in the mid 1850's. They began their stories at around the same time....
I came across this snippet of information on Ancestry.com. It was shared by a member researching the Nankervis family. Wanda Burrows (sister of Elizabeth Jane) married into the Nankervis family in 1905. The source is unknown and unverified, but it fits with the family narrative that a Hurd baby was one of the first white children in Nevada City, California. It is from a source only named Gold Country Stories.
"Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows Surviving Panama"
"The Story is in pencil; written in the words of a grandchild family member: goes like this..
Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows born in Tomockway Pennsylvania May 4, 1855-came to California by way of Panama with parents and one brother--landing in San Francisco Jan. 1, 1856. Trip was extremely hard as most trips were in those days-trip across the Isthmus had to be made by way of a mule back and ox teams, thru a typhoid and malaria infested country. Nearly everyone on board the ship on the Pacific side was inflicted with scurvy and many died but her mother kept her family free from that condition by allowing them to eat raw potatoes and dried vegetables that were part of thir (sic) luggage. They went from San Francisco direct to Nevada City making the trip by stage during a flood season. Was one of the first white families with little children in Nevada City and Digger Indians used to come and squat around the doorway and wonder at the whiteness of their skin. They even wanted to touch them and Grandma Hurd was always in fear lest they would be stolen. They made an overland trip back to the states in the early 60's, coming back again a few years later. The family finally made their home in Virginia City but she (Elizabeth Jane) lived in Nevada County Calif. where all her 12 children were born. Was admitted to practice in the Superior Court at Nevada City in 1887--being the second woman to pass such examinations. Her mother's people the Bluetts were all pioneers of California following the mining camps of Nevada City, Blue-Tent-Red Dog-Selby Flat-Timbucktoo-Dutch Flat and Gold Run."
This story talks about Elizabeth Jane coming to California as an 8 month old baby. Her brother would have been John Hurd, who was born in December of 1853. Their parents, William Henry Hurd and Harriet Elizabeth Bluett were coming from Tamaqua, Schuylkill County in Pennsylvania where William was a miner. They were coming with many Cornish miners to take advantage of the Gold Rush. In fact, many Bluett family members and cousins made the trip and settled in west coast cities and counties such as Nevada City (Nevada County), Dutch Flat (Placer County), Soulsbyville (Tuolumne County), Sutter Creek (Amador County), New Almaden (Santa Clara County), Salt Lake City, Utah, Silver Bow, Montana and Spokane, Washington.
This cradle has been in my mother's paternal family for many years. It is thought to have been made in North San Juan or French Corral by an early pioneer family member for the Hurd's daughter Elizabeth Jane. It was stored in the basement at the West Main street house in Grass Valley where Vere Hansen lived (Elizabeth Jane's daughter). It is hand made with square nails and is very heavy. It certainly could have been used by Elizabeth Jane as a baby. Her siblings born in Nevada City were William (b. 1857), Ella Mae (b. 1860), Frank (b. 1862), Carrie (b. 1864), and Winnie (b. 1869). The cradle would have gotten much use!
The family lived in Nevada City, "on the hill above the Manzanita Mine" per Frank Hurd's obituary. They stayed until the early 1860's when they went back "to the states" (Pennsylvania). More children were born to the Hurds. They eventually came back out west again after 1870 and lived in Virginia City, Nevada, where William died in a mine accident in 1876. Elizabeth Jane stayed in Grass Valley, California, married Alexander Burrows, and started her family of 12 children. She was admitted to practice law in 1877. It might be safe to assume she used this cradle for her children as well. It was kept in the basement at her daughter Vere's house on West Main street, and handed down to Margaret Hansen Boothby.
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| Photo # PIC4 NEV 29 C Pine and Broad Street pre-1860 |
Nevada City, California had its beginnings in 1849 along the banks of Deer Creek during the California Gold Rush. It was originally called Ustumah by the indigenous Nisenan peoples of the area. The term "digger" Indians was a derogatory term generally applied to Native American populations who dug roots for food. The settlement was called Nevada, Deer Creek Dry Diggins and Caldwell's Upper Store. In 1850-51 it was the most important mining town in the state. The town of Nevada was incorporated April 19, 1856, right as the Hurd family was settling in. In 1864 the word "city" was added so there was no confusion with the new state of Nevada (Wikipedia- Nevada City, California). It is now the county seat of Nevada County, California.
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