Josiah G. and Catherine Donaldson Gould

Josiah and Catherine were grandparents of Clara Agnes Gould. They are my Great Grandparents on my father's side.

Following are some excerpts from a biography of Josiah G. Gould (1819-1882), Profiles of the Past, 1982, pp. 3,4, by Leonard Davis. The full pages are included below.

Josiah G. Gould was among the earliest to settle the fertile Dry Creek District west of Roseville, California. He came to California in 1849 and the Dry Creek District in the early 1850s. He was familiarly known as “J.G. He later located in Michigan where he married Catherine Donaldson (1830-1910). J. G. Gould came to San Francisco via a sailing vessel in 1849. He originally located on a ranch in the San Jose area and reportedly headed north to the Dry Creek District, locating on the first 160 acres of a ranch that would eventually be bounded by Dry Creek and present day P.F.E. (Pacific Fruit Express) and Walerga Roads back to the Dyer (later Riolo) ranch. After having established title to his original ranch properties, J.G. Gould returned to Pennsylvania for his family. The Goulds returned to the Golden State via the Overland route in 1854.

Walter and Emily Gould and their family

Walter Donaldson Gould is pictured here with his wife, Emily Agnes and children, Percy and Clara Agnes. This photo was probably taken in 1891 in California.

Emily Agnes Dyer married Walter Gould on July 11, 1887 in Roseville, California. They had two children, Percy, born May 10, 1888 and Clara Agnes born January 11, 1891.

Walter and his father and brothers farmed in the Roseville, Placer County area from the mid-1800s.

Emily died at the young age of 31 on June 18, 1896. Clara Agnes Gould, our grandmother, was only 5-1/2 years old.

Elnora and Naomi

This photo of Elnora Daily and Naomi Daily Decker was probably taken ca. 1937-1939. Naomi is Elmer's only sibling, daughter of Clara Gould Daily.

Young and beautiful! They were both young marrieds.

John and Alice marry!

John Francis Gorman wed Alice McManus in San Francisco on June 28, 1914 at St. Paul's Catholic Church near where they lived in the Mission District. This may have been taken on their wedding day.

Eventually they came to Yolo County where his mother and other siblings immigrated to. He was a farm laborer and she worked at a boarding house in Dunnigan. Alice died in 1918 during an epidemic of the Spanish Influenza leaving three daughters, Catherine Patricia, Bernice Alice, and Elnora.

Clara Gould - Nursing school

Clara Gould, at the age of 19, lived in Sacramento and attended nursing school. A 1996 brochure indicates Clara Gould was a graduate of the class of 1913 from Mater Misericordiae. This was Sacramento’s first private hospital, which was opened by the Sisters of Mercy at 23rd and R Steets. This 30-bed hospital formed the foundation upon which Mercy’s thriving six-hospital regional system is now based (1950). It opened its doors in 1897.

This is not a very clear photo, but in my opinion, Clara very much resembles her granddaughter, Nancy.

Clara and her son, Elmer

Here, a photo of Elmer Donaldson Daily with his mother, Clara Agnes Gould Daily. There is no date on the photo. He was born July 29, 1916 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His father was Winfield Anthony Daily, born in Ottawa, Kansas on April 7, 1885.

Elmer's father was an artist. He apparently did oil paintings, murals, and sets for Fox Studio in Hollywood. We have not located any of his art. He does pass a legacy of artistic talent down through the family, though. His daughter, Naomi Agnes Daily was an accomplished painter and musician. Nancy Daily is an accomplished artist in watercolor (Susie is a bit of a watercolor dabbler), Renee Danielle Torguson, Winfield's great granddaughter was also a wonderful artist and graphics designer and Deborah Lynn Decker Imbro, another of Winfield's granddaughters, is also an accomplished artist.

Elnora and Charlie

Elnora Daily pictured here circa 1938 with her first child, Charles Edward Daily. Elnora was born in Dunnigan, California on July 15, 1918 to parents, Alice McManus and John Francis Gorman. Her parents were immigrants from Northern Ireland--he from County Tyrone in about 1888 and she from County Down in 1907.

Charlie was born in Woodland, California on July 5, 1938.

I'm at kind of a loss as to what to put in this blog. It may be a smattering of this and that. I hope to show some genealogical information along with photos of our relatives and ancestors. Starting with Elmer Donaldson Daily. This photos was probably taken near Corning, California around 1951. Elmer was a strapping, strong man of about 33. He was a foreman on an olive ranch north west (I think) of Corning. We lived on the LaConda Ranch at the time in what we recall was a converted chicken coop. I have fond memories of our time there....until tragedy struck. A massive epidemic of Polio hit Corning in 1952 and many, including our dad, Elmer, came down with it.

He contracted ensephalitis (sleeping sickness) along with Polio and was hospitalized for some time. When he came home, he was paralyzed from the waist down. Over the years he wore crutches and full leg braces. Our mother, Elnora, worked with him on physical therapy.