Volume 075-1 - January 2021 (8 pages)

NCHS Bulletin January 2021 stable in back. This man is a good candidate to be Rasmus’s father since Rasmus named his only son William Clark. 3. Aman named William Cunningham from Rockford, Illinois arrived in Nevada County on October 15, 1853, and signed the Pioneer Register in 1878 giving that information. No further information has been found on this man except that he was probably the William Cunningham who was the proprietor of Eureka Stage and Express Line. Both Rasmus and his son, William Clark Cunningham, also went into the freight business. 4. Aman named Herman Cunningham was killed near Grass Valley on May 25, 1858. He was drifting in a tunnel on Pike Flat when the ground caved in upon him, breaking his back. He later died of his injuries. 5. There was also another man with the name of Cunningham who came to California overland in 1849 who could also be a possible 2nd candidate to be Rasmus’s father. His name was William M. Cunningham. If indeed Rasmus named his son Wedding portrait of William Cunningham and Amelia Augusta Lutz who were married by Rev. Josiah Simms of the Congregational Church in Nevada City on November 27, 1912 at the home of Amanda J. Elliott Rapp on Coyote Street, aunt of Amelia, and recent widow of the late Captain John A. Rapp. John Rapp. (Photo courtesy Searls Library) erected that did not survive long enough to be later transcribed and added to the list of graves known to be buried there. It seems probable that Rasmus’s parents died when he was still young, and their names did not get passed down to his son William, or that William forgot his grandparents’ names since they both died before his birth. William was the informant for both Rasmus’s death certificate and mortuary record, and Rasmus’s parents’ names are not listed on either document or included in this obituary. After arriving in California Rasmus lived in Nevada City. When he was old enough to work in mining he worked in the hydraulic mines at You Bet and Eureka. He possibly spent about two years in Shasta County,” then settled at Pike City in the south-west corner of Sierra County, 12 miles northeast of North San Juan and 26 miles northeast of Nevada City. Pike was named by some early-day miners that came from Pike, Missouri, giving the California town its name. Alleghany, Pike City and Forest City once held the richest gold bearing ore in the Northern Sierras in the early days of California’s statehood. William after his own father, this fits best. It has not been proven that this man was ever in Nevada County. Information about him was found in a wagon train list. There were two other Cunninghams listed on that same wagon train list, a J.G. Cunningham and a J. T. Cunningham. There is a high probability that Rasmus himself had a brother named James Cunningham who also came to California. A James Cunningham lived in Forest and Plum Valley in Sierra County during the same years as Rasmus, and according to their individual census information, both were born in Illinois, and both men list their father was born in New York and their mother in Illinois. A death record for this man has not been found. The only information known about Rasmus’s mother, other than she was born in Illinois, is that she died in Nevada City and was interred in the old City Cemetery" (Pioneer Cemetery) on West Broad St. The majority of the people interred in that cemetery in the early days had wooden markers William Cunningham’s mother, Mary Jane Kern/Kem, was the daughter of California pioneer William Ballard Kern who came to California overland in 1849 with his parents, John Jenkins Kern and Mina Ballard, from Sangamon County Illinois. John J. Kern mined in the early days at North San Juan and Marysville. William Ballard Kern married Jerusha M. Hills in Shasta County in 1861. Jerusha was born in Ohio in 1847 and came west with her family, first to the Nebraska Territory and then to Northern California. William Kern died in 1881 in Millville, Shasta County. His wife Jerusha had remarried by 1880 and was living in the household of her second husband James McBride at Slate Range Township, Yuba County with her four children Mina A., Mary Jane, John J. and Ella L., who were the children of her first marriage. Before her marriage to McBride, Jerusha was living in his household as a housekeeper in 1870 with two of her four children, Minna A. age 8, and Louisa E. (Ella) age 5. Her husband, William, was then living in Millville, Shasta County with their

NCHS Bulletin January 2021 stable in back. This man is a good candidate to be Rasmus’s father since Rasmus named his only son William Clark. 3. Aman named William Cunningham from Rockford, Illinois arrived in Nevada County on October 15, 1853, and signed the Pioneer Register in 1878 giving that information. No further information has been found on this man except that he was probably the William Cunningham who was the proprietor of Eureka Stage and Express Line. Both Rasmus and his son, William Clark Cunningham, also went into the freight business. 4. Aman named Herman Cunningham was killed near Grass Valley on May 25, 1858. He was drifting in a tunnel on Pike Flat when the ground caved in upon him, breaking his back. He later died of his injuries. 5. There was also another man with the name of Cunningham who came to California overland in 1849 who could also be a possible 2nd candidate to be Rasmus’s father. His name was William M. Cunningham. If indeed Rasmus named his son Wedding portrait of William Cunningham and Amelia Augusta Lutz who were married by Rev. Josiah Simms of the Congregational Church in Nevada City on November 27, 1912 at the home of Amanda J. Elliott Rapp on Coyote Street, aunt of Amelia, and recent widow of the late Captain John A. Rapp. John Rapp. (Photo courtesy Searls Library) erected that did not survive long enough to be later transcribed and added to the list of graves known to be buried there. It seems probable that Rasmus’s parents died when he was still young, and their names did not get passed down to his son William, or that William forgot his grandparents’ names since they both died before his birth. William was the informant for both Rasmus’s death certificate and mortuary record, and Rasmus’s parents’ names are not listed on either document or included in this obituary. After arriving in California Rasmus lived in Nevada City. When he was old enough to work in mining he worked

in the hydraulic mines at You Bet and Eureka. He possibly spent about two years in Shasta County,” then settled at Pike City in the south-west corner of Sierra County, 12 miles northeast of North San Juan and 26 miles northeast of Nevada City. Pike was named by some early-day miners that came from Pike, Missouri, giving the California town its name. Alleghany, Pike City and Forest City once held the richest gold bearing ore in the Northern Sierras in the early days of California’s statehood. William after his own father, this fits best. It has not been proven that this man was ever in Nevada County. Information about him was found in a wagon train list. There were two other Cunninghams listed on that same wagon train list, a J.G. Cunningham and a J. T. Cunningham. There is a high probability that Rasmus himself had a brother named James Cunningham who also came to California. A James Cunningham lived in Forest and Plum Valley in Sierra County during the same years as Rasmus, and according to their individual census information, both were born in Illinois, and both men list their father was born in New York and their mother in Illinois. A death record for this man has not been found. The only information known about Rasmus’s mother, other than she was born in Illinois, is that she died in Nevada City and was interred in the old City Cemetery" (Pioneer Cemetery) on West Broad St. The majority of the people interred in that cemetery in the early days had wooden markers William Cunningham’s mother, Mary Jane Kern/Kem, was the daughter of California pioneer William Ballard Kern who came to California overland in 1849 with his parents, John Jenkins Kern and Mina Ballard, from Sangamon County Illinois. John J. Kern mined in the early days at North San Juan and Marysville. William Ballard Kern married Jerusha M. Hills in Shasta County in 1861. Jerusha was born in Ohio in 1847 and came west with her family, first to the Nebraska Territory and then to Northern California. William Kern died in 1881 in Millville, Shasta County. His wife Jerusha had remarried by 1880 and was living in the household of her second husband James McBride at Slate Range Township, Yuba County with her four children Mina A., Mary Jane, John J. and Ella L., who were the children of her first marriage. Before her marriage to McBride, Jerusha was living in his household as a housekeeper in 1870 with two of her four children, Minna A. age 8, and Louisa E. (Ella) age 5. Her husband, William, was then living in Millville, Shasta County with their