Clouds in My Coffee: George Van Eman Morrow's Travels

George Van Eman Morrow

My great-great grandfather, George Van Eman Morrow, was the son of Adam and Catherine (Van Eman) Morrow, He was born 1 October 1832 on his family's farm in Wayne Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. George died 12 April 1913 of apolexy (stroke) while living at with his daughter, Mrs. George F. (Matilda) McConnell at 1300 Cunningham Avenue in New Castle, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. On 1 October 1867, he married Margaret Ann McConahy. His brother, Charles Morrow, was married to her sister, Matilda Ann McConahy. Margaret and Matilda were daughters of William James and Mary (Hennon) McConahy.

Margaret (McConahy) Morrow

If we look at the 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900 and 1910 census records, Charles never moved far from the place of his birth. 1850, he is in Wayne Township probably still living with his mother. In 1860 and 1870, he was in North Beaver Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania living with his brother. The census of 1880, finds him in North Beaver Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania and in 1900 and 1910, he can be found in New Castle. However, the full story of his travels can't be found in these statistics and come from the family stories of his daughters, Matilda and Sierra, and were passed down through the family.

You see, in 1948, the Gold Rush began when John Sutter, building a sawmill, was surprised when his carpenter, James W. Marshall found gold. The two men became partners, and though they tried to keep their discovery a secret, thousands of fortune seekers (known as the forty-niners) stampeded to California. By 1853, it is estimated that 250000 men were in the California goldfields hoping to make their fortunes. A newspaper of the time stated: "The whole country, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and from the sea shore to the base of the Sierra Nevadas, resounds with the cry of 'Gold, GOLD, GOLD!' while the field is left half planted, the house half built, and everything neglected but the manufacture of shovels and pickaxes." (The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed shortly after the Sutter-Marshall gold find. This left California in the hands of Americans and ready to become a state.)

Our George was one who headed to California. He, however, was not going to become a miner. As a blacksmith, he felt that he would be able to make his fortunes by keeping the miners equipped through his skills. They needed those shovels, pickaxes, etc. Across the years, those who sold goods or services were more likely to become wealthy than were the miners.

The dates of his travel to the goldfields are unknown but luckily he survived his trip and returned home safely. Malnutrition, scurvy, malaria, and typhus fever were prevalent and the miners were subjected to deaths from starvation, exposure, murder, executions, and various wounds and accidents. To make matters worse, in autumn of 1850, cholera arrived in California, brought in by ship, just in time to mar any celebration of statehood. One physician observer estimated that from 1851 to 1853, one of every five persons reaching California died within six months of arrival.

George likely traveled by land and at some point, he experienced the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Upon his return home and marriage to Maggie in 1867, George determined to name his first daughter after those mountains that he so admired. And so, my great-grandmother, received the name Sierra Nevada Morrow. (She was known as Vada.)

Sierra Nevada Morrow

I don't believe that George became rich from his travels (I think that would have been passed down through the family history) but he did buy land and build a fine home in North Beaver Township just outside the town of Moravia. The house still stands today.