# ID: I05865
# Name: Levi Bloyd
# Sex: M
# Birth: 1780 in ; a Levi Bloyd m. Susan Mears 10-31-1861
# Death: 1847 in "American Bottom", Illinois
# Note:

    Posted by Lorna Schilke on March 29, 1999 at 20:40:20:

    This copy was given to me by my cousin who found copies of the 'Green Co. Review'.
    Am typing in the letter exactly as words are spelled.
    Vol.9-10 Green Co. Review. Letter to the Editor.
    Reedley, Cal., March 19,1903, Editor Carthage Republican, Carthage, Ill.

    Dear Sir:
    Before me lies a letter which was written in Hancock County, Illinois before
    the County seat was established. A copy of the above the letter is enclosed
    herewith, in which it has been the aim to reproduce as nearly as possible,
    especially, the spelling and use of capital letters......
    The Pioneer Letter

    November the 1th in the year 1831
    Dear friends I wonst more take My pen in hand to write to you to inform you
    of our health at this time we are all tolerable well at this time except
    Letle Levi he has Chis and fevers yet we have all been sick we got our
    sickness By going to the Elenoys River we Believe this to Be a healthy pace
    and we hope these few lines will find you all engoing your healths we are
    living in handcock county on the west fork of Crucked Creeke Near the Mouth
    of it A New settlement Cold Rays Settlement No one has lived here longer
    than this summer Corn is scars in this settlement it was planted late and
    got frost bit frost fel here in the Latter end of September But there are
    plenty within twenty five mils of us at one doler in trad pr Barrel Wheete
    is plenty at fifty Cents pr bushel and I hope it will always be that it is
    Redy market that for Cash this is a fine furtile Countre we have a plenty of
    Clard Land and that is good and A plenty of good timber two A plenty of
    Stock water good mill seats here we have to dig wells Mostly to use Best of
    hog rang and all kin of stock But I would Advise purson that Coms to this
    plce to Bring all the Cattle they possible Can thay are Not Much expense and
    tahy are hard to get here William Rupe and plese McCubbin is living here But
    plese is going back to Bierds fery to stay this winter Can Bee got at 4
    cents pr pound Salt is one dollar pr porke and baken is two
    dollers per hundred there is A steeme Mill at Bierds fery and A Nother Bilding at
    quincy in adams County on the Missisippi 40 Mils below us there are
    ANother arecting within 18 Mils of us we expect the County seete will be
    within 7 or 8 Mils of us
    Brother John lives in one Mil of us Elizabeth Bloyd will move here this
    faul his son John and Elejah our father and mother is living with us
    thay are about as ushel for health thay wish to be remembered all their
    friends we are all well pleased with Country wish our Mother and joseph Winn
    to come out to us we want Samuel phillips to Move out here Nicholas Mccubbin
    an Jack Mccubbin also to Mov out we think thay can do Much Better her than
    there we Remember our Compliments to old mother pierson Joseph winn direct
    your letters to Bierds ferry Morgan write as soon as posable This to Samuel
    phillips to Nicholas Mccubbin to old Mother pierson and to all friends So No
    More at present But Remember your Loving Friends until death we are and ever
    Bee your friends until death
    Levi Bloyd
    Barbara Bloyd.

    *************************

    Levi Bloyd Family Biographical Sketch
    by John C. McCubbin, circa 1925

    Levi Bloyd died in what was known as "American Bottom," Illinois, in 1847, and his wife died in Hancock County in 1843. Only four of their seven children lived to be grown. The following is a short sketch of
    each.
    William Riggens Bloyd married Anna Sanford, who died shortly after the birth of their only child, William Washington Bloyd. William Riggens Bloyd later married Lydia Thurber, daughter of James Thurber of Hancock County. Five children were born of this marriage, then Lydia Thurber Bloyd also died.
    After the death of his second wife, William Riggens Bloyd crossed the plains to California in 1852, in company with his brother Benjamin Bloyd and nephew Frank Bloyd. They went to Siskiyou County, which is about 20 miles south of the Oregon line. There they engaged in the business of preparing and selling mining and building timbers.
    In 1855 they returned to their old home in Illinois via the Isthmus of Panama and New York. William Riggens Bloyd purchased 320 acres of land near Centerville, Iowa. A year later he sold the land and returned to Illinois and purchased 280 acres a short distance south of Tennessee, in McDonough County, from a man named Mourning. About 1860 he sold this land, as he was then planning on another trip to California.
    The Bloyd Immigrant Train
    The lure of the West always had a strong appeal for William R., and in 1861, he organized a company to cross the plains to California. His previous experience, combined with his natural leadership, made him a competent commander. The principal members of the party were the four children of Levi and Barbara Bloyd who had come up with their parents from Kentucky to Illinois thirty years before. On this trip William R. took his orphan children along.
    Just as soon as it was safe to travel, those members of the party who started from Illinois gathered at the home of Joseph and Nancy Foster Bloyd Goodell. Their home was at the old Abijah Tyrrell mill site on the east branch of Crooked Creek. Nancy had married Abijah Tyrrell and they had four children, after which she was left a widow. She then married Joseph Goodell. Also in the party was William Riggens Bloyd's sister, Charity Winn Bloyd. She had married her cousin, Emerson Bloyd, in Hancock County, Illinois. They had six children, three of whom lived to be grown.
    The party drove as far as Centerville, Iowa, where William Riggens and his son William Washington Bloyd and family joined them. Continuing their westward journey about one day's travel, the company
    was increased by lthree families of the Gumms, who had come up from Missouri by previous arrangement. The Bloyds, Gumms, and McCubbins were old friends from Kentucky.(If you recall, Thomas and David McCubbin each married Gumm sisters.)
    Members of the Wagon Train
    Now that the caravan was complete, it contained about 35 persons:
    William Riggens Bloyd, who was the captain of the company.
    Benjamin Bloyd, brother of William R. Frank Bloyd.
    William W. Bloyd, son of William R. Bloyd by his deceased first wife,
    Anna Sanford Bloyd.
    Elizabeth Cowan Bloyd, wife of William W. Bloyd.
    [Winfield] Scott Bloyd, son of William W. Bloyd.
    William Bloyd Jr. ["Willie": William Winfield Bloyd], son of William W. Bloyd.
    Charles [Bingley] Bloyd, son of William Riggens Bloyd by his second wife, Lydia Thurber Bloyd.
    Poliana Anthanette Bloyd, daughter of William Riggens Bloyd and Lydia Thurber Bloyd.
    Leander Bloyd, son of William Riggens Bloyd and Lydia Thurber Bloyd.
    Joseph Goodell, brother-in-law of William Riggens Bloyd.
    Nancy Foster Goodell, wife of Joseph Goodell and sister of William Riggens Bloyd.
    Gilbert Tyrrell, son of Nancy F. Goodell by her first husband, Abijah Tyrrell.
    Stephen Tyrrell, son of Nancy F. Goodell by her first husband, Abijah Tyrrell. Robert Goodell, son of Joseph Goodell.
    Levi Goodell, son of Joseph Goodell.
    Emerson Bloyd, brother-in-law of William Riggens Bloyd, also a cousin.
    Charity W. Bloyd, wife of Emerson Bloyd and sister of William Riggens Bloyd Jefferson Bloyd, son of Emerson Bloyd.
    Sarah Bloyd, daughter of Emerson Bloyd.
    Benjamin Bloyd, son of Emerson Bloyd.
    Dr. Nathaniel Thurber, brother-in-law of William Riggens Bloyd
    Mrs. Thurber, wife of Nathaniel Thurber.
    Paulina Thurber, daughter of Nathaniel Thurber.
    James Thurber, son of Nathaniel Thurber.
    Two other Thurber children whose names are not available.
    Andrew Barnes
    Jeanette Barnes, wife of Andrew Barnes.
    Amanda Barnes, daughter of Andrew Barnes.
    Ellen Barnes, daughter of Andrew Barnes.
    Marion Barnes, daughter of Andrew Barnes.
    Ida Barnes, daughter of Andrew Barnes.
    James Gumm and family.
    Hardin Gumm and family.
    James Gumm, Jr., son of James Gumm.
    Andrew Shields.
    Sharon Ray, who had been an employee of William Riggens Bloyd in Illinois.
    Only three men in this train had crossed the plain once before: William Riggens Bloyd, Benjamin Bloyd, and Frank Bloyd. Benjamin Bloyd, brother of William Riggens Bloyd, was going to California for his health. He left his family in Illinois and returned after two years, fully restored.
    Equipment
    Articles of equipment on this trip included the following items:
    William R. Bloyd had two wagons and eight yoke of oxen.
    Emerson Bloyd had one wagon and four yoke of oxen.
    Joseph Goodell had one wagon and four yoke of oxen.
    Nathaniel Thurber had one wagon and four yoke of oxen.
    Gilber Tyrrell had one wagon and two yoke of oxen.
    Adam Barnes had one wagon and one yoke of oxen. Hitched in with his team was a yoke of cows that belonged to William Riggens Bloyd.
    James Gumm had one wagon and one team of mules.
    Hardon Gumm had one wagon and one team of horses.
    Sharon Ray drove one of William Riggens Bloyd's teams of oxen.
    Benjamin Bloyd had two fine horses.
    There were nine head of loose stock.
    Joining Forces
    The Bloyd train traveled as a unit until they got well out on the plains where they joined another small wagon train that was under the direction of Captain Gillis.
    On one occasion, a band of Indians stole about a dozen of their horses, including the two fine horses that belonged to Benjamin Bloyd. As soon as the stock was missed, a detachment of men went in hot pursuit. They soon overtook the Indians. As the stock they had stolen were all slow moving, the Indians had to abandon their loot in order to make good their own escape.
    When this augmented train neared the Rocky Mountains, they felt they would be safer with more men for defense, and they joined with a larger train, making a combined train of about two hundred wagons. This long train remained as a unit until they got well into Nevada. There the combined trains with which the Bloyd train had first united branched off and went north, and passing through the Honey Lake Valley, camped at Susanville, California.
    At Susanville, the two small groups divided and the Bloyd section drove over the mountains to McCloud River, and from there to Red Bluff, Tehama County, their destination. It was now September, 1861, and the train had been on the road nearly six months.
    Pioneering in the West
    William Riggens Bloyd continued to make his home with his son William Washington Bloyd and family, and they and the Emerson Bloyd family remained near each other until 1869. They had lived in Tehama County one year, Sutter County six years in the vicinity of Corvallis, Oregon, (about 1864), after which they moved back to Sutter County, California.
    [The times simply do not make sense here and clarifying punctuation is missing in the original manuscript ...ed.]
    Homesteading in Tulare County
    During the winter of 1869-70, William Riggens Bloyd and William Washington Bloyd [Also known as Washington Bloyd] moved to Hills Ferry, Merced County, and the next spring they moved to Tulare County and filed homesteads on land a few miles northwest of where the city of Hanford was later established. That was a very dry year, and no water was available for irrigation, so they went down near Tulare Lake where the land was moist enough to grow crops. There they raised corn, pumpkins,
    sweet and Irish potatoes, melons, etc. When early fall rains came, they left their camps and went back to their lands out of the plains. With the exception of one year spent near Asotin, Washington, William
    R. and Washington Bloyd spent the remainder of their days near where they had settled in 1871.
    Emerson Bloyd Moves South
    After living in Sutter County about 20 years, Emerson Bloyd sold out all his holdings and with his son Jefferson and son-in-law A. E. McClanahan, moved with their families to Tulare County. They purchased
    a body of land containing 480 acres, and divided it equally between themselves. This land was about 20 miles to the northeast of where William Riggens Bloyd and Washington Bloyd were living. It was far out on the dry plains in what was then known as the 76 Country, now the Alta Irrigation District.
    The 76 Land and Water Company
    The 76 Land and Water Company had already begun the excavation work on thier canal system, but it was nearly two years before water was available for irrigation. These two men, lilke William Riggens Bloyd and Washington Bloyd, were not only pioneers, but were progressive people as well. They purchased the first water rights ever sold under the 76 Canal. That same system now [1926] irrigates 130,000 acres of land. Those three water rights covered 40 acres each, and were all dated October 1, 1884.
    The next water rights sold under that same system weas for the 40 acre tract where the famous McCubbin gum tree is growing. It was dated November 1, 1884.
    The Goodell Family
    Joseph and Nancy Goodell lived in Tehama County one year and then moved, together with the Bloyds, to Sutter County. After one year in Sutter County, the Goodells moved to Butte County, where Nancy Goodell died on December 27, 1876.
    Robert W. and Levi C. Goodell, sons of Joseph and Nancy Goodell, married sisters. Robert married Mariah Loshbaugh and Levi married Florence Loshbaugh. The two men moved with their families to Fresno County in 1881, where each bought 160 acres of land about four miles west of twhere the town of Selma is now located. The Goodell children were compelled to travel about four miles to the south to attend school until the Terry School District was organized in their neighborhood.
    Robert Willis Goodell died in Selma, and his brother Levi Calvin Goodell died in Fresno.
    Charity Bloyd died in Fresno County, California October 24, 1905, at the age of 80.
    Nancy F. Bloyd Tyrrell Goodell died in Tehama County, California, at the age of 59.
    Benjamin Bloyd died near Blandinsville, Illinois in 1885 at the age of 58. William Riggens Bloyd died in Kings County, California January 3, 1892 at the age of 81. All the Bloyds who have lived in Hancock
    Township since 1861 are descendants of Levi Bloyd's cousins, therefore they are only distantly related to these mentioned in this sketch.
    In a letter to my uncle, Dr. William Booz, shortly after I had visited William R. Bloyd in Kings County, California, I transmitted a message from Bloyd. In my uncle's reply, he stated that "Billie" Bloyd was one of the best friends he'd ever had.
    Leander Bloyd was the youngest son of William R. Bloyd and Lydia Thurber Bloyd. He was born in Illinois and crossed the plains with his father in 1861, when he was ten years old. At maturity he was six feet five inches tall in his stocking feet, and practically perfect as to face and form.
    Two tragedies occurred in his family and each one took a life. In 1889, Leander's brother-in-law was driving to Traver and stopped a few imnutes in front of Leander's house, which was on the way to town.
    Robbie Bloyd, Leander's little four-year-old, who was a live wire and almost impossible to restrain, climbed up onto the side of the wagon, unnoticed by his uncle. When his uncle started to drive away, the by fell under the wheels of the wagon and was crushed to death. Leander was a successful farmer and his activities were confined to California, where his farming was diversified, until about 1900 when he moved to Washington. There he specialized in grain farming near Walla Walla. In 1915, while going to visit one of his crewmen, his automobile slid off the grade and as he was alone at the time of the accident, he met an untimely death.
    A Personal Note
    Representatives of these two families have lived neighbors in four states of dthe Union; scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and we know that in three they were pioneers. Their joint activities in that
    line have been conducted in three of the counties of this state [California], Tehama, Sutter, and Fresno. Now after nearly 150 years they still continue to hold harmonious social and business relations
    with each other. Strange to say that during all this long period of intimate friendship there has been no intermarrying between the two families except the one instance mentioned in the first part of this
    sketch where Thomas Bloyd married Elizabeth McCubbin.
    At a Bloyd-McCubbin reunion held in Dinuba, Tulare County, California, on August 21, 1927, there were four generations of Bloyds and three generations of McCubbins represented. Those in attendance had come from four counties in California and three counties in Oregon. Those from Oregon had driven 900 miles to attend the reunion. There were present quite a number of great-great-great-great-grandchildren of John Bloyd Sr., and one great-great-greatgrandchild of James McCubbin. The hearty greetings and good cheer, as shown by the many smiling faces in that group indicated that the franternal feeling that has existed continually between the descendents of these two men since the Revolutionary period still exists.
    It is a satisfaction to know that there are now in California, great-great-great-great-grandchildren of each of the three old American pioneers mentioned in this sketch: John Lipsey, John Bloyd and James McCubbin. May posterity never fail to honor their memory.
    [signed] J. C. McCubbin
    Los Angeles, California

    This is a compilation of several genealogical sketches written by J. C. McCubbin 1910-1927. In the interests of clarity and comprehensibility, I have lightly edited and rearranged the material, adding complete names when I have them, but I have not substantially changed anything. I obtained most of the material in the 60s from Elizabeth Ritchie Bloyd, my husband's grandmother, who allowed me to photocopy the original manuscript, which she received in a series of letters from J.C. McCubbin
    in the 20s. (The original manuscript went to a cousin, who says she has lost it.)
    McCubbin had contacted Grandma Bloyd about the family reunion. Grandma Bloyd was something of a snob, and for some reason she took offense at the familiarity of inviting her to a family reunion, so poor Mr. McCubbin didn't get much help from her.
    I have found several similar recountings of the McCubbin-Rupe-Bloyd connection, and every single one originates from the prolific, if somewhat disorganized, pen of J.C. McCubbin. In my genealogical
    searches I have found him to be extraordinarily accurate in terms of dates, names and places. So far, just about everything fits with data from census, marriage, wills, etc. Where my original source fails, I
    have filled in with information from these other McCubbin writings.

    Sunni Bloyd April 27, 1993
    C/O Mrs Helen Bloyd 9317 Amethyst Way, Elk Grove, CA 95624.





Father: John Bloyd ,Sr b: ABT 1740 in Scotland or Maryland; "The Old Patriarch"; possibly Bloyth
Mother: Mary Riggins b: ABT 1760 in ; they had at least 3 sons and 3 daughters

Marriage 1 Barbara Winn\Wilson b: ABT 1788 in KY

    * Married: 25 JAN 1810 in Green County, Ky

Children

   1. Has No Children Levi Bloyd b: 1809 in KY
   2. Has Children William Riggins Bloyd b: 29 OCT 1810 in Green County, KY
   3. Has No Children Elijah Bloyd b: ABT 1813
   4. Has Children Nancy Foster Bloyd b: 1817 in KY
   5. Has Children Charity Winn Bloyd b: 14 JAN 1825 in KY; she was cousin to Emberson
   6. Has No Children Benjamin Bloyd b: 1828 in KY