Diana, The Society of California Pioneers internet site: http://www.wenet.net/~pioneers/ may be of some help to you. The Alice PHELAN SULLIVAN Library (associated with the Society) http://www.wenet.net/~pioneers/alice.html contains many diaries, manuscripts, biographies, etc. I have the Transactions and 1863 roster of the Society and will look and see what I have on any of the names you mention. The Society did not incorporate/organize until 1862 although it was conceived in 1850. The first elections were held in April 8, 1862. Have fun, Carolyn Diana Gale Matthiesen wrote: > > RE: pioneeers arriving in California (at Gold Run?) by wagon train on 20 Sept > 1849 > > My 3rd great-grandfather, Rev. Thomas THOMPSON, came to California from Paris, > MO, in 1849. In his company was his third wife, the twice widowed Mildred Bell > (CAVE) WESTERFIELD LAINE THOMPSON, and their children by their previous > marriages. Among them was a youthful Thomas Henry LAINE, who later became a > lawyer, a California State Senator, and a framer of the California State > Constitution. Thomas THOMPSON was a noted founder of the Disciples of Christ > churches in northern California. > > Sadly, we have no family account (no journal or diary) recording their overland > journey. All we know is that they were said to have left Paris on May 15th and > to have arrived "in California" on September 20th, 1849. Exactly *where* they > arrived on Sep 20th is unknown, but it is known that they spent their first > year in California at Gold Run. They spent their next year at Coloma, then in > 1851, moved permanently to Santa Clara, CA. > > But surely someone in that 1849 wagon train kept a journal. My aunt has > checked the "California Wagon Trains" book, and our THOMPSONs are not in it. > What I have found is a copy of: > Allen, Walter C. 1948. The Society of California Pioneers: Centennial Roster, > Commemorative Edition. (No publisher given, but presumed to be the society > itself.) > > In the index, it gives the date that each member arrived in California, and > while Thomas THOMPSON is not listed as a member of the society, his step-son > Thomas Henry LAINE is (though his name is misspelled LANE). > > I have gone through this book and copied down the names of every member who > gives their arrival date in California as 20 Sept 1849. I'm hoping against > hope that one of them was in the same wagon train as our THOMPSON's and LAINE's > and that somewhere out there is a journal of their trip. > > ADRAIN, William > ANDERSON, John > BURKE, Ethelbert > DUNCAN, William L. > FARISH, Adam T. > FISCHER, Joseph > GAGE, A.K. > GOODWIN, Jesse O. > GROAT, Richard V. > HARKNESS, Martin K. > HASKINS, Charles W. > HAY, Henry > LANE, Thomas H. > McGLANAHAN, Thomas M. > MORGAN, James H. > PALMER, Noah > RANDOLPH, W.C. > STEVENS, Cornelius > STORM, Cornelius > STORY, William F. > THORNE, Isaac N. > > Diana