finding robert & elizabeth

Story

Elizabeth Page West was the great granddaughter of Colonel John Nixon of Pennsylvania. Elizabeth and her sister, Mary Nixon West, came to San Francisco with their mother, Mary Catherine Edloe Holt West. It is believed the three women traveled from Virginia or New York by ship sailing via the Isthmus (later to become the Panama Canal) on the Atlantic and reaching San Francisco in 1860. Why would they make the trip in this way? One big advantage was they could buy a ticket to California in New York City for a voyage on a ship leaving New York City for California. They would not have to travel a thousand miles by railroad to Missouri to get a stagecoach or join a wagon train, and they would not have to make detailed plans and buy equipment for a wagon train journey.

It is interesting that the West sisters and the Thompson brothers would find one another. The brothers were in California at least ten years before the sisters arrived. Research does not find the two families knew one another before coming to California. Their families lived about 170 miles from one another with the Wests in Norfolk, Virginia and the Thompsons in Culpeper, Virginia.

During the next year (16 Apr 1861) Elizabeth married Robert A. Thompson and sister Mary married Robert's brother, Frances P. Thompson. Elizabeth and Robert moved to Santa Rosa, Sonoma County before 1870. Mary and Frank moved to Santa Clara County. The 1880 census indicates that mother, Mary West, was living in Santa Rosa with Elizabeth and Robert.

The photo includes Elizabeth, her daughter Marion, and her sister Mary. It was taken circa 1876-1879 by Mitlz and Swart of Petaluma.

According to the Death Notice for Robert Wilmer Thompson, Elizabeth's last child, "the Thompson Family resided on Cherry Street opposite Cherry Lane." An 1876 map of the City of Santa Rosa puts the family within a few blocks of the downtown plaza.

Her mother, Mary West, was living with the family just before her death according to the 1880 census. In 1885, husband Robert was appointed as the appraiser for the Port of San Francisco. 1876 train fare charts show that it took five and one-half hours to get from Santa Rosa to San Francisco. Elizabeth probably lived with Robert during those years since their three youngest children were born in San Francisco. We find no stories about Elizabeth.

Family Group

Elizabeth Page West Thompson
Birth: 18 Apr 1837 in Norfolk, Virginia, USA
Death: 10 Feb 1892 in Redwood City, San Mateo County, California, USA
Burial: Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California, USA (Plot Number: 148 Unmarked)
WikiNo: West-15249

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Married: 16 Apr 1860 in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
to
Robert Augustine Thompson
Birth: 30 Nov 1832 in Culpeper County, Virginia, USA
Death: 3 Aug 1903 in San Rafael, Marin, California, USA
Burial: Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California, USA (Plot Number: 148 Unmarked)
WikiNo: Thompson-46225
Obituaries

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Children:

Andrew Glasswell Thompson
Born: 30 May 1861 in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
Died: 21 Jan 1875 in Santa Rosa, Sonoma, California, USA (14 years old)
WikiNo: Thompson-46957

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Reginald West Thompson (Louise Hawthome Henson)
Born: 30 Nov 1864 in San Francisco, California, USA
Died: 13 Feb 1942 in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, USA
WikiNo: Thompson-46423

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Mary Nixon Thompson (Paul Robert Deady)
Born: 14 Feb 1867 in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
Died: 02 May 1955 in Fulton, Georgia, USA
WikiNo: Thompson-46424

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Virginia Carter Thompson (Alan Dean Whittaker)
Born: 06 Jul 1868 in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
Died: 21 Aug 1960 in Fulton County, Georgia, USA
WikiNo: Thompson-46425

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Marion Elizabeth Thompson (Henry H Sutcliffe)
Born: 21 Jan 1872 in Santa Rosa, Sonoma, California, USA
Died on 07 Jan 1912 in Alameda, California, USA
WikiNo: Thompson-46426

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Edith Thompson
Born: 1874 in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
Died: 1880 (6 years old, not included in June 1880 census)
It is believed she is buried in the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, Plot #148

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Paul Thompson
Born: 1876 in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
Died: 1880 (4 years old, not included in June 1880 census)
It is believed he is buried in the Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, Plot #148

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Robert Wilmer Thompson (Ethel Maule)
Born: 29 Nov 1878 in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
Died: 13 Feb 1941 in Haverford, Montgomery, Pennsylvania, USA
WikiNo: Thompson-46427
Obituary

Resources

1850 Census of the United States (Ancestry.com), Note: ABBR 1850 Census of the United States, Note: Call number: Page: U.S. Navy Yard Gosport, Norfolk Co, Virginia p197, Line 11 Jno W West and family, Elizabeth is 13

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1870 Census of the United States (www.ancestry.com), Note: ABBR 1870 Census of the United States, Note: Call number: Page: Dist 3 Ward 10, San Francisco, San Francisco Co, California p291B-292A, Line 38, Text: Elizabeth is age 27, Robert's profession listed as Dealer in Coal

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1880 Federal Census, Santa Rosa, Sonoma, California, 22 Jun 1880, page 32, bottom of page 1 and top of page 2 for entire family, Elizabeth's mother, Mary West, was living with the family in 1880, Elizabeth is 42 years old

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Find A Grave: Elizabeth West Thompson, BIRTH 1837, Virginia, USA, DEATH 11 Jan 1892 (aged 54–55), Redwood City, San Mateo County, California, USA, BURIAL Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California, USA, PLOT Main Circle 184, MEMORIAL ID 143379302, (Note: the Thompsons are located in Main Circle plot #148 and not plot#184)

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Burials in Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery (Note: Elizabeth's sister, Mary Nixon West Thompson, is buried in Main Cirle plot #229)

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The San Francisco Call (San Francisco, San Francisco, CA), 12 Jan 1892, Tue, Page 8, obituary

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Daily Republican, Santa Rosa CA 15 Jan 1892, Fri, obituary

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San Francisco Marriage Records were lost in the 1906 earthquake. There are two Sonoma County newspaper entries: "THOMPSON/WEST--Married in San Francisco, 16th inst., Trinity Church, Robert A. THOMPSON, Jr., of Monterey, to Miss E.P. WEST, of Norfolk, Va." Source: Sonoma County Journal (Petaluma, CA) 20 Apr 1860. Transcribed by Jeanne Taylor. "THOMPSON/WEST--Married in San Francisco, April 16, 1860, Robert THOMPSON Jr. of Monterey Co., and Miss E.P. WEST of Norfolk, Va." Source: The Sonoma Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), 3 May 1867. Transcribed by Jeanne Taylor.

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Genealogical and Historical Notes on Culpeper County, Virginia, R.T. Green, 1900 - Culpeper County (Va.) - 160 pages, Page 88

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History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present by Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846- (Pages 763-764)

More . . .

Elizabeth's sister, Mary, was married to Frances Poulson Thompson. Before meeting, Frank worked as the California State Printer under Governor William Irwin. Frank and Mary lived in Santa Rosa while he worked with brothers Thomas and Robert at the Sonoma Democrat. This family moved to Eureka, California where Frank created and published the Humbolt Standard Newspaper, later to become the postmaster of Eureka. He also served as the Commissary at Folsom Prison. In 1898, he traveled to San Salvador to open a new penitentiary, caught yellow fever, and died three months later. His body was not returned home. History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present by Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846 - Pages 763-764 Look at right column for Mrs. Mary West Thompson

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Elizabeth's mother, Widow Mary West, is listed in the 1861 San Francisco Langley Directory as living in San Francisco in a lodging at 2 Brooklyn Place.