Family Grove

 Maggie was the daughter of Mary Ann Blackburn and James Morgan. She was the sister of Salome Morgan and neice of Judge William Blackburn. That would make her my great-great-grandaunt. Margaret was born July 17, 1835 or 36 in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio.

On March 28, 1854 she married Thomas Jefferson  Weeks. Thomas J. Weeks was born Dec 22, 1829 in Wayne, Kennebec County, ME, the son of Thomas and Sarah (HARMON) WEEKS.

He came to CA at age 20 in 1849, sailing from Boston on the ship, New Jersey, bound around Cape Horn for the Golden Gate. Upon his arrival in Santa Cruz , he bought a cabin from a schooner with an associate, lived in it on the beach. Raised potatoes on land leased from Judge Blackburn. In 1852, Thomas Weeks was growing potatoes with his brother, Braddock B. Weeks.

Thomas J. Weeks had three brothers, Braddock B. (b. 1812) and Bartlett V. Weeks of Pecadero, and George Weeks who lived in the East.

Thomas and Margaret had three children: Clara (Mrs. Frank STEARNS, Los Gatos, who was a SP conductor), Albion (Allie, Alfred, or Albert P) of Santa Cruz, and Horace, who died at age 8. 

Thomas Jefferson Weeks passed away in Santa Cruz on December 18, 1905 (one source has him dying on April 18, 1905)  at his home on Walnut Avenue aged 75. Thomas was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Santa Cruz. The Thomas J. Weeks  information was submitted by Gertrude B. Lincoln of Santa Cruz. Margaret Morgan-Weeks died on June 16, 1918 at the age of 81.

From her obit:
“After services had been held at the home on California Street by Rev. Irving Bristol, pastor of the First Methodist church, all that was mortal of Mrs. Margaret M. Weeks was tenderly laid away yesterday in the Odd Fellows cemetery. The pallbearers were W.S. Moore, C.D. Hinkle, A.H. Foster, Frank Mattison, Charles P. Clark, and W.W. Clark, all old friends of the family. Many beautiful floral offerings covered the grave. The funeral was private in accordance with the wish of the deceased. ” June 1918

 

 

James Morgan is my great-great-great grandfather. James Morgan was born about 1808-1809 in Virginia. His marriage certificate to Mary Ann Blackburn has him born about 1810 in Berkeley County, Virginia. We believe that he was the son of Benjamin Morgan and Ann Ellis (m. July 18, 1783, Hagerstown, Washington, Maryland). On October 7, 1830, James Morgan married Mary Ann Blackburn in Clark County, Ohio.
On November 15, 1831, they had their eldest son, Joseph William Morgan (b. November 15, 1831, d. October 20, 1863) in Virginia. From the 1850 Census from Henderson County, Illinois, there is a Jacob Morgan, born August 20, 1833 and died September 12, 1845 before they made the trip overland to Santa Cruz.
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Celebrating the anniversary of Salome’s family’s arrival from Illinois to Santa Cruz, California. In Salome’s handwriting: October 23, 1910 Picnic my Gum grove. 19 in all S.F. Written on 1-12-70 in Grandaunt Phyllis’ handwriting: This, written by Grandma Salome Morgan Fridley. Her hand is raised. October 23, 1852 was the anniversary date. The arrow points to Grandpa Alonzo Fridley. Another arrow points to Uncle Elmer (seated on ground on the left).

In Salome’s writing: Oct. 23, 1910 Picnic in eucalyptus grove.
The guy holding the dog at the end could be Philip Fridley’s cousin – Al Weeks Father. Salome’s sister Margaret married a Thomas J. Weeks.

[Margaret Drew Blackburn Bell is my great-great-great-great grandmother. She is also the mother of my great-great-great granduncle, Judge William Blackburn.]

“Died, in great peace, at Santa Cruz, April 6th, Sister Margaret Bell, aged 76 years and 2 months. Sister Bell was born in Maryland, 1781, where she married Joseph Blackburn, 1807. They moved to Virginia — lived there 15 years, then moved to Ohio, where she lost her husband in 1824. After six years, she married James Bell, who died in 1835.

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Judge William Blackburn is my great-great granduncle on my maternal grandmother’s side. He was the younger brother of my great-great grandmother, Mary Ann Blackburn. William was born to Joseph Blackburn and Margaret Drew on February 14th, 1814 in Harpers Ferry in Jefferson County, Virginia. He was the oldest brother of Daniel Drew Blackburn, Maria A. Blackburn, James Hanson Blackburn, and Jacob A. Blackburn. Of my ancestors, Judge William Blackburn has much written about him as he was truly a remarkable man.

“He was very tall in person, and very dignified in his aspect. To look at him you could hardly fancy that he ever laughed, yet beneath this appearance of austere diginity lurked the most uncontrollable desire to create merriment and fun. He was a sharp, and naturally witty, and had a keen sense of the ridiculous. His opponents always feared him, for in controversy he was sure to give them some cut, when it was least expected, that would put them in the most ridiculous point of view, and, while doing this, not a smile would disturb his own absurd dignity.”

As a young man, he spent some time as a cabinetmaker in New Orleans before arriving in Branciforte, California in 1845 with the Swasey-Todd Party. According to James Gregson, William Blackburn met up with the Greenwood Party at Fort Hall in 1845 travelling with pack horses. The cost of joining the Greenwood party was $2.50 per person. 

He settled briefly in Zayante, California (Rancho Zayante which is in the present Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park). He went to work in Santa Cruz as a lumberman, and was a witness at a trial of Williams for killing Naile in April 1946.
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