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Our Mugford's ~ Cornwall to California, Canada, & Beyond

Updated February 9, 2011
~ We continue to work with our cousin, Bonnie Rose [bonnier1@frontiernet.net], researching the MUGFORD Family name, specifically for ancestors and descendants of William Trembeth, Samuel G., and John MUGFORD, originally from St. Blazey and St. Austell, Cornwall, England. A fourth brother, Thomas is believed to have died in England in 1854.
~ Family legend says that in the mid-1850s, the three brothers left Cornwall for America in search of California Gold. They didn’t make it to California that year, their ship returning instead to New York, due to an epidemic on board. The brothers made their way to Michigan and worked in the iron mines that year and the following year, came to California. The route they took has not been confirmed. Conflicts in oral history have them sailing around the Horn and/or crossing the Isthmus of Panama, carrying a gun purchased upon their arrival in New York.
~ They debarked in San Francisco and came to Sacramento by riverboat. The brothers all went to Mormon Island [now under Folsom Lake] and panned for gold. Later, Samuel married Johanna THOMAS and John married Sarah HARTLEY. They went to Amador County and eventually settled near Sutter Creek, California.
~ The eldest MUGFORD brother, William, returned to Cornwall - probably in 1859 - with his California gold and married his sweetheart, Amy BENNETT. A record of William's journey from California to Cornwall is high on our research wish list.
~ We have made many wonderful contacts with descendants of these three brothers and have enjoyed numerous family gatherings since beginning our research in 1998.
~ Our focus now is to find the brothers aboard a ship bound for America and a record of William's return to Cornwall. Any advice or help with that mission would be greatly appreciated.
William & Bonnie Mugford
10450 Kumquat Lane
Seminole, FL 33772
A-United States
BonMugford@aol.com


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Family Photos

  • William Trembeth Mugford ~ 1830-1901 (9 KB)
    A copper miner in Cornwall in his youth, and then a gold miner in California. William fathered 11 children with wife Amy; was a Brewer’s Traveler [traveling salesman], Victualler [seller of spirits], and then owner of a Post Office Store on East Hill, St. Austell.
  • Samuel G. Mugford ~ 1835-1876 (26 KB)
    Born in St. Blazey, Cornwall. Samuel was a carpenter’s apprentice at age 16. By 1870, he and his wife, Johanna ran a boarding house in Amador City, California. While mining for gold Samuel fell to his death in Garfield Shaft at Keystone Mine leaving his expectant wife with five children.
  • John Mugford ~ 1836-1899 (18 KB)
    At age 15 John was an errand boy in Cornwall. By 1860 he was mining for gold in Natoma, California. He turned to farming after losing his hearing in a mining accident. He and his second wife, Sarah [Hartley] raised 7 children, including a daughter Minnie from his first marriage.
 
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