We have great individuals in our historical society that take on projects that sometimes could only be dreamed of. For instance a school house that was pretty much a disaster that is now almost completely restored…mostly by Ken and Doug…thanks guys :-). There were other members who offered their services as well, because this has been an on going project..and thanks to those members too!!
Others have also volunteered for local cemetery clean up and we had covered Victor Sibley previously…Thank you Victor. Speaking of cemeteries, here’s a story that ya’all might find of interest. Way back a lady posted her family tree on Ancestry. She was unaware of the death of one of our Guilford men and how he died. Long story short..I replied to her and as a result the story of the disaster of the Jenny Lind steamboat boiler explosion has been researched including the people of the times and how they were connected to Guilford. John Bradbury and Caleb Winsor went to San Francisco back in 1853 to seek their fortune. They may not have been “gold diggers” as there were expanding businesses and money to be made when employed by them. The two men were on that ship and killed. Their bodies were buried there but, a widow lady of Guilford wanted her husbands body returned to Guilford…Ben Twitchell was shot in a land dispute..(that’s another story). She paid to have all 3 bodies returned to Guilford, according to a newspaper clipping. So there you have the background in a very short version.
This is where they were removed from in California:
A very large project has been taken on by Claire to see a memorial being placed to all those who perished in the explosion in California. This a a photo of the site where the memorial may be placed by April of 2013 and is close to the site of the explosion..Claire has gone to many organizations to obtain funding to make this come true. This also a big project undertaken by one lady. Thank you Claire.