• General Notes

  William Riggin Bloyd married Anna Sanford, who died shortly after the
  birth of their only child, William Washington Bloyd.  William Riggin
  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 Riggin 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 Riggins 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 Riggin 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 Riggin and
  his son William Washington Bloyd  and family joined them.
  Continuing their westward journey about one day's travel, the company
  was increased by three 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 Riggin 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 Wilford Bloyd], son of William W. Bloyd.
  Charles [Bingley] Bloyd, son of William Riggin Bloyd by his second wife, Lydia Thurber Bloyd.
  Poliana Anthanette Bloyd, daughter of William Riggin Bloyd and Lydia Thurber Bloyd.
  Leander Bloyd, son of William Riggin Bloyd and Lydia Thurber Bloyd.
  Joseph Goodell, brother-in-law of William Riggin Bloyd.
  Nancy Foster Goodell, wife of Joseph Goodell and sister of William Riggin 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.
  Emberson Bloyd, brother-in-law of William Riggin Bloyd, also a cousin.
  Charity W. Bloyd, wife of Emberson Bloyd and sister of William Riggin
  Bloyd Jefferson Bloyd, son of Emberson Bloyd.
  Sarah Bloyd, daughter of Emberson Bloyd.
  Benjamin Bloyd, son of Emberson Bloyd.
  Dr. Nathaniel Thurber, brother-in-law of William Riggin 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 Riggin Bloyd in Illinois.
  
  Only three men in this train had crossed the plain once before:
  William Riggin Bloyd, Benjamin Bloyd, and Frank Bloyd.  Benjamin Bloyd,
  brother of William Riggin 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 Riggin 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 Riggin 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.

Details of William Riggins' family with Anthonetti Sanford

Details of William Riggins' family with Lydia Thurber