2. | William Wallace LOWE was born in 1818 in Indiana (son of David LOWE and Catherine VIRGIL); died on 8 Mar 1880 in Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo, California; was buried in Arroyo Grande Cemetery, Arroyo Grande, San Luis Obispo, California. Other Events:
- _UID: 09E02C30FE6AA14AB44A5B4BB83C15E429C3
Notes:
He and his family crossed the plains to California in a covered wagon in 1849. As William was quite ill on a large part of the journey, Elizabeth took his turn at patrolling the camp at night with a rifle over her shoulder. The Lowe's missed being members of the Donner Party by one day. The Lowes settled first in Placerville (then called Hangtown). When mining did not pay out, they moved to a farm in Oroville. Next, they moved to Healdsburg in Sonoma County. In 1868, members of the Lowe family took a buckboard and two saddle horses to the "Lower Country" and, en route, visited the padres at Mission San Antonio. The Lowes continued on horseback, and discovered that in the San Jacinto Canyon, east of San Miguel, wild oats were growing so tall that the stalks could be tied over the saddle horses' backs. Believing that they had found a bonanza, the Lowes returned to Healdsburg to relate their experiences. Deciding to move south, they left Healdsburg on October 22, 1868; it took 13 days to travel the 357 miles. On November 3, 1868, they arrived at the Nacimiento Ranch. In 1874, William and Elizabeth Lowe homesteaded land, seven miles northeast of San Miguel, in San Jacinto Canyon, which later became "Lowe's Canyon". There, they raised their seven children, all of whom had been born north of Healdsburg, at Lyon, on the Russian River. The intermittent stream that flows through the canyon is still called San Jacinto Creek. The Spanish name, Jacinto, honors a Silesian-born Dominican friar by the name of Hyacinth.
William married Elizabeth MCMURRAY on 10 Jan 1847 in Porter, Cass, Michigan. Elizabeth (daughter of James MCMURRAY and Esther Lytle SULLIVAN) was born on 1 Aug 1823 in Ohio; died on 2 Sep 1907 in Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, California. [Group Sheet]
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