General Notes

a newspaper article was entitled "Death of a Pioneer"
which the was found in the McCann-Badger Family Bible.

"We are informed that on Sunday, April 26th, John A. Lenox died very
suddenly near Robert Fowlers place, three miles from Sonoma.  Deceased came
to California with his parents in 1846, he being then only two years of age.
The family traveled on the plains with the Donner party as far as
Independence Rock, on the Sweetwater, where the party divided, and Captain
Donner with some fifty others proceeded on ward to meet the dreadful fate
that overtook them in the Sierras, and which forms one of the saddest
chapters in the history of our State.  The Lenox family came through safely,
and soon after their arrival settled in Sonoma Valley, where they have since
resided.  In the Spring of 1850, John who was then six years of age, was
thrown from a horse and received a terrible wound in the head.  The skull
was fractured, and strange as it may appear, a portion of his brains oozed
through the fracture, and the surgeon who dressed the wound affirmed that
more than a spoonful came out before the process of healing commenced.  A
gentleman now resides in the city witnessed the accident and confirmed the
statement of the surgeon.  The child ultimately recovered entirely, and
became a vigorous and healthy man.  Deceased was a native of Indiana and
thirty years of age."