Taking a California Homesteading class at the SoCal Genealogy Jamboree leads me to discover that my husband’s California pioneer 2nd great-grandfather received a homestead patent in Mariposa County.
Finding the Gravesite of 2nd Great Grandparents Leonard Harless Jackson and Pauline Adeline Gann
By 1880, Jeff’s Harless ancestors moved from Stanislaus County, California to Mariposa County. This July, we traveled to old town Mariposa to visit more family history spots and find the headstone of Jeff’s 2nd great grandparents.
#52Ancestors: Looking for 3rd Great Grandmother Margaret Gann Harless’s 26 Mile House 1870 Census Home
Our family history road trip to the 1870 US Census location of Margaret Gann (1830-1919), husband Miles Harless, and son Leonard Jackson Harless. Learning the meaning and history behind 26 Mile House in Stanislaus County, California.
#52Ancestors: Chasing 3rd Great Grandfather Miles Washington Harless to Historic Castoria (French Camp)
The 1860 U.S. Census is the first federal census that records the family living in California (16 June 1860), roughly two years after following the old emigrant route through Ebbetts Pass. The Harless household resided in Castoria Township (San Joaquin County), also known as French Camp. Jeff and I recently visited French Camp.
#52Ancestors: Retracing Leonard Jackson Harless’s 1858 Ebbetts Pass Trans-Sierra Route into California
This July, my husband and I took a road trip retracing the high Sierras pass and emigrant route that his 2nd and 3rd great grandfathers (and 3rd great grandmother) took in 1858 when the family emigrated from Missouri to California. We got to actually walk on stretches of the old route.
Anniversaries: Leonard Jackson Harless, My Husband’s Great-Great-Grandfather, Born On This Date In 1858
Leonard Jackson Harless was supposedly born in the Nebraska Territory on May 20, 1858, to Miles (Myles) Washington Harless and Margaret Gann, while his parents were en route migrating to California from Missouri. Miles is our family’s connection to the famous Hatfields and McCoys.