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Your Story: St Ives to California in 1871: Sarah Glasson's story |
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On accepting the job Josiah sent for his family in St. Ives. It says much for the marriage bonds and the family ties that on receipt of a letter from America enclosing a bankers' draft to pay the fare a family would up-sticks and be on their way. Sarah pays tribute to her mother who had never been outside St. Ives. Mrs. Glasson however, may well have known something of what to expect in California through letters from her husband. It was certainly the case that many families in West Cornwall could tell you more about what was happening in, say, Butte, Montana, than they could about what was happening in Truro.
Sarah dismissed the journey from St. Ives to California in two short paragraphs, but it could not have been easy for a mother with four young children. First of all by carriage to Hayle, then by ship to Bristol for an overnight stop. Next day by train to Liverpool to join ship for a two-week crossing of the Atlantic, followed by a two-week train journey from New York to Colfax and finally a buggy ride to Grass Valley where they lived for a period before moving to a company house at North Bloomfield.
Sarah became a teacher and her experience makes an interesting comparison with present day arrangements. Her school teacher and her father thought she should be a teacher as she was "a good speller" although she herself was not keen, and she tells how at 18 she took the teacher's examination in Nevada City and was granted a second grade. With this simple qualification, no experience and no teacher training she applied for a single-handed school and was immediately appointed. After early disappointment with parent problems she proved herself an able teacher. She later married and with her husband ran a prosperous meat market business.
Words: Tom Richards
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