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The facts are that the bodies of Hiram Gates’ sons were NOT found with their throats cut by the Indians since the 1850 Census for Eldorado County, California was conducted in January 1851. 8 One can only assume that Rich and Richards were somehow protecting the boys.
Marshall C. F. Coffinberry counted 322 men and 2 women in Greenwood in the census for 1850 which was enumerated in January, 1861. The entries of concern to us are:
Wednesday, January 15, 1851: Emily Gates, age 18, born in Missouri, living at the hotel. Also, Solomon Gates, age 14, born in Canada also living in the hotel. Thursday, January 16, 1851: Thomas Gates, age 16, born in Canada, a miner from Louisville (Greenwood).
Emily did not return to the Salt Lake Valley with her father and the other Mormons in September/October of 1850, but remained in Greenwood with her stepsons. She may have been waiting for the final distribution of the property. Hiram’s Home, (now known as Penobscot Ranch), was purchased by Lewis Meyers. To my knowledge, no written correspondence was exchanged among the three young people.
Sometime in 1851, Emily married Henry Willard Brizzee, in Sacramento. He was the son of Henry Brizzee and Lucinda Pratt of Franklin, Massachusetts. They produced two children: Charles Porter, born 5 Sept, 1842 and Henry Willard Brizzee, Jr. Henry Willard had been transferred in assignment from the Platt River Mission (where he worked with Orrin Porter Rockwell at the ferry in 1846-47) to Sacramento. Thomas and Solomon migrated to Clear Lake in Mendocino County. Later, Thomas served as the superintendent of the Yuma Territorial Prison for two terms; Solomon was a respected merchant in Paso Robles and Fresno, California (where he sold grapes to SunMaid Raisin.
Emily divorced Henry W. Brizzee and married William Woolsey in January of 1857 and settled in Sonoma, where she conducted business as a seamstress. They had two children: William Richard, born in 1857 and Lucy (LuLu) born in 1860.
In July, 1868 Emily was married by a Mormon Elder at Mormon Lake (near Donner Pass) to David Munroe Tyrrell, a Scotsman. They lived at Aurora in Esmeralda County, Nevada. the 1870 U. S. Census for Gold Hill, Storey County, Nevada lists the occupants of the residence of D. M. Tyrrell (41), his wife E.A. (33) and children (all listed under the surname of Woolsey: Charles (18), Henry (13), William (12) and Lucy (10).
Carole Gates Sorensen, Ed.D.
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8 United States Federal Census, El Dorado County, State of California, 450, 453. |