Authored by William Dollarhide
In the spring of 1860, which was exactly a year before the onset of the Civil War, my Great-Grandfather, Reverend John Dollarhide, along with his family, departed from the serene town of West Union, Iowa. They embarked on an adventurous journey to California that lasted three months. Reverend Dollarhide was a reverend affiliated with the Church of the United Brethren in Christ with prior experience leading a Methodist Episcopal Church in West Union Iowa.
His move to California aimed at assuming his role as a United Brethren Home Missionary in California’s Central Valley. He would be teaming up with his close friend and fellow pastor, Reverend Israel Sloan. In 1858, the Board of Missions of the United Brethren Church, located in Dayton, Ohio, had dispatched Reverend Sloan to establish their pioneer mission in California. Both Reverends Sloan and Dollarhide’s assignments were thoroughly recounted in the United Brethren Church’s release, The Religious Telescope. By 1860, reports of Reverend Sloan’s successful mission in California had started to circulate. The United Brethren’s staunch opposition to slavery and free masonry appealed to many, encouraging them to join the newly established congregation there (California was free of slavery and favored Abraham Lincoln in the Presidential Election of November 1860).
Arriving in Yolo County, California in July 1860, the Dollarhide family set up their first home in Woodland, a small community by the Sacramento River. They later purchased a farm close to the neighborhood of Paradise in Stanislaus County, California. Notably, Woodland was also the residence of Evan Williams Dollarhide, a cousin. Evan, with his sons, Winfield, Alexander, and Andrew, were renowned for their horse-trading business within the Sacramento region. Just like John, Evan hailed from Indiana and had spent some years in Iowa before making his way to California in 1850.
Prior to John’s travels to California, he and Evan had corresponded. When Evan heard about John’s plans to migrate to California, he enthusiastically urged him to make Woodland their first stop. As it happened, Reverend Israel Sloan and his family were living across the river in Sacramento, offering the Dollarhides both friends and kin to guide them as they settled into their new home. Also, a year later, John’s brother, Jesse Dollarhide, along with his large family, pursued the same Iowa-California trajectory, ending up in Woodland too. Soon afterwards, Jesse took his family down the river closer to Vacaville in California.
In order to carry on with his pastoral obligations in California, John Dollarhide often spent a lot of time away from his family in Woodland. This happened while his wife, Lucy, and his eldest son, William H. H. Dollarhide took care of the family. John took to peddling, trading goods and produce between numerous towns and farms between Sacramento and Fresno in California. For the first few years, this trade supported his travels and efforts in working with fledgling church groups. By 1865, he had launched several small congregations, serving each as a roaming pastor. By this time, he had the backing of each of his congregations, hence, he was able to spend more time with his family between his Sunday deliveries.
Sadly, on December 22, 1869, John Dollarhide suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 54. His obituary confirmed the precise date and cause of his death. However, family lore suggests that he passed away midway through a sermon in a field near Lodi, California. He was laid to rest in a cemetery at Woodbridge, a town adjacent to Lodi; the wooden marker identifying his burial spot is long lost. Thankfully, an antique record book by the cemetery’s sexton was discovered and published in a local genealogical newsletter. This confirmed the exact location of his grave and records of Reverend John Dollarhide’s birth and death years.
Specific details of the Dollarhide family’s exhaustive journey to California in 1860 are provided below:
John Dollarhide wedded Lucy Reynolds in Tippecanoe County, Indiana in the year 1836. He was 21, and she was a youthful 16. They were blessed with 15 children, tragically, five of them fell victim to a typhoid epidemic in Jasper County, Indiana during the 1850s. Their exhausting trek over the Oregon-California Trail commenced with John, Lucy, and their eight remaining children.
At the onset of this journey in April 1860, my grandpa, John Conrad Dollarhide, was merely two years old, being the youngest member of the family. But this status did not last long. My Great-Uncle Israel Sloan Dollarhide was born in June 1860. As per his death certificate in 1937, he was born somewhere alongside the Platte River in Nebraska.
Jesse Dollarhide, their eldest son who was 23 in 1860, was in charge of the wagons and cattle for the first half of their journey. Once the Dollarhide’s wagons arrived at Fort Kearney in the Nebraska Territory, they encountered a group of Kansas Militia recruiters. These recruiters were on the lookout for volunteers ready to fight in the forthcoming War of the Rebellion. Jesse volunteered and followed the recruiters back to Fort Leavenworth and was registered into the 1st Kansas Infantry. After bidding goodbye to Jesse, his parents and siblings pressed on toward California. They never saw Jesse again. Many years later, Jesse Dollarhide’s tragic death was recorded in Reverend John Dollarhide’s family bible. He was claimed by the Battle of Wilson’s Creek near Springfield, Missouri in August 1861.
Read more about my successful hunt for John Dollarhide’s family bible in my blog article. Visit www.genealogyblog.com/?p=20033 to read more.
Their journey to California in 1860 entailed three covered wagons, each drawn by pairs of sturdy oxen. The family also brought with them a drove of cattle, calves, chickens, goats, and horses. Because of preserved family accounts about the journey to California, an accurate narrative about the incredible trip is available, including pleasant experiences, threats, and exciting sights along the way. I learned, for instance, that the Dollarhide wagons weren’t part of any particular wagon train and instead preferred to set camp with larger groups. Moments from the journey were noted down, from picnics and swimming trips to the river and visits to fascinating historical sites like Chimney Rock or Independence Rock to vivid memories of active dances held around campfires on summer nights. As one can expect, John Dollarhide, the only preacher present, was often called upon to give Sunday sermons to the assembled wagon train members.
The following are points of interest along the trail:
Independence Rock located near South Pass, Wyoming.
Chimney Rock situated near Scots Bluff, Nebraska.
Below is a map of western trails which were used after 1850. Notably missing is the Hastings Cutoff from Salt Lake City to Wells, Nevada (the modern day I-80), a route that crossed the Bonneville Salt Flats and was deserted as the primary California Trail route by 1850. While the Hastings Cutoff was over 100 miles shorter, the desert route was exceedingly challenging to traverse safely.
Continue reading for more historical context about the Oregon-California Trail and its evolution.
Discover the details of my personal journey along the Oregon-California Trail and how it unfolded.
To find out more in-depth, visit Google Maps: https://maps.google.com.