The Joseph Zumwalt story.

Joseph Zumwalt plaque. Murphys, California.

Joseph Zumwalt is recognized for his important role in bringing
The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus
to California during the early days of the Great Gold Rush.

Here then, is the fascinating account of this early pioneer
and his family as written by his Great-Grandson, Mr. Russ Robinson,
Historian and former Vice-Commodore of The South Bay Yacht Club of Alviso,
who has graciously allowed us to include his article on our website.

SATISFACTORY!

ZUMWALT/BAILEY FAMILIES:
A PRELIMINARY REPORT.
31 MAY, 2001.

by Russ Robinson

   "As a descendent of Nancy Ann (Zumwalt) Bailey and Peter Bailey,
I have wondered for years about them but I could never find the time
to further explore who they really were, where they came from, or
try to generally understand them more. As a child of maybe 3 or 4 years
old, I can remember talking to this wonderful old completely white haired
lady, Malvena (Baker) Johnson Gregg, my great grandmother. She was born
Feb. 25th, 1864 at Dixon, California. At the time I met her, she would
have been about 74 or 75 years old. This meeting took place at the home of
her daughter-in-law, Edith Johnson south of Bakersfield, California. Edith
was the wife of Ray Johnson, my grandmother's brother. Edith was the child
of Malvina's sister, Mary Louisa; therefore they were first cousins.

   I do not remember many of the details but I do remember vividly her telling
about her mother's family coming to California, crossing the plains, the
Indians, the trips that her mother, Mary Ann (Bailey) Baker had made down
to Nicaragua, and the Isthmus of what is now Panama. She told of their going
overland by mule, taking a ship to the East Coast, and then a train back to
Illinois. Then she told of the trip back to California by covered wagon.
My later research has proved all of this to be true, but I am getting ahead
of my story.

   I guess it was at this tender age that the seed was planted for me to learn
more. I am just sorry that it took over 60 years for it to fully germinate.
During those years I would ask some questions and I would get some
answers from my grandmother or my mother. They both didn't have much
information or details and no real documentation. I only took their
information in as family lore and failed to dig deeper. It is only in
retrospect that I now know some of what they told me was correct and
some had strayed a bit from the actual story or more likely I didn't
clearly understand what they had told me.

   One of the items they had told me was that Nancy Ann and Peter Bailey,
my GGG Grandmother and Grandfather were mentioned in the "Shirley Letters,
From the California Mines, 1851-1852". This book was a compilation of
letters written by Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe. Two of the letters were
written when the writer was at Rich Bar on the American River in 1851. Early
editions of the book only gave reference to a Mr. and Mrs. B. None of
the footnoting gave their full name. I read the letters with interest, but
I could not verify that this was my Nancy Ann and Peter Bailey.

   One day when I was at the California State Capitol on business, I
wandered into the bookshop. I found a new edition of "The Shirley Letters"
which was augmented by a lot of research and was edited by Marlene
Smith-Baranzini. Heyday Books in Berkeley, California published the book.
This edition clearly stated that the Mr. and Mrs. B. mentioned were Nancy Ann
and Peter Bailey. References to them can be found on pages 21, 34, and 35.
I now had a piece of solid evidence to go on.

   My mother and grandmother both passed away in 1985 and my source of
first hand family information was lost forever. I regret that I didn't take
more time and make a bigger effort to obtain more information and clarify
what I had been told. My father passed away in 1999 and in going through his
effects, I came across a document on the ancestry of another branch
of the family. This branch however, started also with Nancy Ann and Peter
Bailey. In this document I found that her father was a Tom Zumwalt.
In reflection, that was a big clue and I overlooked it, for I found out
later that the "Tom" was incorrect and his name was "Joseph".

At about the same time my wife mentioned that she had seen written down
somewhere while looking through my mother's bible that they had come
from Will County, Illinois. My earlier attempts to find more about them on
the Internet were not very successful. I was searching using the names of
Nancy Bailey and Peter Bailey, but with this new information, I located through
the Internet the South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society located
in South Holland, Illinois. I asked for their help and they responded at once.

   They told me of a book which I could purchase entitled "Will County on
the Pacific Slopes, an Historical Sketch" written by George H. Woodruff in
1885. The book recalls much of who went West from Will County and their
stories made up of recollections and letters sent home to Will County. The
document was ordered and received. It contained a large number of references
to the Zumwalt and Bailey families and was a wonderful collection of
information of what went on with these hardy pioneers. It also uncovered that
Joseph Zumwalt was one of my ancestors.

   Gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill near Coloma on 24 January 1848, but
the discovery was kept a secret for some time. It was not until December
1848 that the discovery was officially announced in Washington, DC. There
is no evidence as to when word actually reached Will County, Illinois and
Joseph Zumwalt, my distant Grandfather (5 times back). Historical records
show however, that speculation was running very high in the fall of 1848.
Having learned of the discovery he and his brother Jacob Zumwalt (a distant
relative of Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, a cousin of mine, who was Chief of Naval
Operations in the Vietnam War) and others in Will County apparently made
plans quickly to go to the gold fields.

   The first people across the plains in this rush to the gold fields did not
have much time to plan and get ready for the arduous trip such as they faced.
Joseph, his wife Mary (Ogle) Zumwalt, three sons, Jacob, John and Daniel, and
Peter Bailey and his wife Nancy Ann (Zumwalt) and their daughter Mary Ann,
then about 4 years old were among the fist across the trail in 1849.
A wagon train made up of Will County pioneers left on the 9th of March 1849
from Joliet, Illinois. Many groups arriving in St. Joseph, the main jumping
off place for the Overland Trail at that time were greeted with a smallpox
and cholera outbreak. Most hurried to get away from the sickness and set
out early for California. Record show, however, that many pioneers did die
along the trail from cholera.



  Off to California.


   The early start and quick passage through St. Joseph was probably
beneficial because they were among the first over the trail; feed for
the stock was becoming available and had not been eaten down by the
hordes that followed. Also, the trail had not yet been ground into dust by the
constant travel of the wagons over it, and thus they probably escaped much of
the choking dust that later travelers complained of. The group finally
reached California on 5 September 1849 and over the next month made it
on over the Sierra Mountains, finally arriving in Sacramento City on the 23rd of
October 1849. Reports are, that the "Will County Boys" lead by Joseph Zumwalt,
then 49 years old, set off at once for the mines. Mrs. Zumwalt and Mrs.
Bailey and Mary Ann Bailey remained behind. The women started a rooming house
which became the meeting place for the Will County immigrants. It appears that
the rooming house remained the meeting place for some time.



  Joseph and Mary Ogle Zumwalt-1849.


   Joseph Zumwalt was relatively successful because he came down
from the gold fields, and early in 1850 when asked about his worth, stated:
"That it is about $25,000 plus the house and lot".
Gold was the main medium of exchange at that time, and the value was set
at $16.00 per ounce. At today's value for gold, his $25,000 would be worth
close to half a million dollars. He also stated at the time that there were
hundreds of mining areas that didn't have enough gold to exist on. He continued
to work the mines and became somewhat of a celebrity. He is credited with a
major strike at a location called Zumwalt Flats where he gained more wealth.
Public records show that he acquired a number of choice pieces of property
in the Sacramento area. As an example, the records show that on 4 June 1850,
he acquired property which today, is the center of the business district of
Sacramento.

   Meanwhile, Peter and Nancy Ann continued to seek their fortune
in the diggings. They were at Rich Bar on the American River in the summer of
1851. Rich Bar, which today is but a wide spot in the river, was at that time
a rough and tumble place of over 4,000 people. Nancy Ann was always helping
and caring for the sick miners and she became know affectingly by them as
the "Angel of the Mining Camps."

   While they were there, another daughter was born to them, Harriet Adelia
Bailey. According to a record from Will County, she died about two years
later of small pox in Sacramento City on January 25th 1853. The 1850 census
taken at Rich Bar, Butte County, (now Plumas County) shows:

   Nancy Ann Bailey became ill and died 30 September 1851 of apparently
a ruptured appendix. She is buried in a pioneer cemetery near Rich Bar
and her gravestone is still there. One story is that the miners were
saddened greatly by her death and gathered money to have a gravestone made.
Such an item was not to be had in California in those times so they ordered
one from back East. The Native Sons of the Golden West also placed a
monument in the cemetery to honor the pioneers and also to give recognition to
Nancy Ann Bailey.

   Upon her death, Peter Bailey took the two girls to live with their
grandmother, Mary Zumwalt; who, by this time, was living near Maryville,
California. This fact is recalled in the Shirley Letters previously
mentioned. Records show that Mary Ann for a time lived near or with her
grandparents through some of her childhood until she married Roland
Baker, apparently at the age of 16 or 17. The 1880 census for Silveyville,
Solano County, California, lists the following:

   Joseph Zumwalt continued to mine gold until late 1852 when he
returned to Sacramento to plan for a trip back to Will County. This time his
family returned aboard ship, then they went across Nicaragua and took another
ship to the East Coast. It was common for the ships to land in New York.
From there they took a train back to Illinois. They remained there until
the spring of 1854 when they returned to California by covered wagon. This
time they brought cattle, hogs, and sheep to stock their ranch in the Sacramento
Valley. It was also reported that they brought the first mustard seed
to grow in California. (It has always been my impression the Franciscan
Fathers brought mustard here to mark the pathways between the missions and
here again is another "fact" to investigate.)

   He continued to return to the mines from time to time while continuing
to raise stock. In 1859 he and his wife went back to Illinois by way of
Nicaragua and New York. This time the return trip was by ship rather
than covered wagon. He decided to give up farming and concentrate on
ranching, raising good-blooded stock. In Illinois he bought the stock
and bees. The blooded stock and 150 stands of honeybees were shipped first
by rail to New York and then by ship back to San Francisco. Ship manifests
in the New York Times of 21 October 1859 show J. Jumwalt (obviously a miss-
spelling) and wife on the passenger list of a ship bound for Nicaragua.
They moved all of their stock and bees across the isthmus, where they all
boarded another ship, which arrived in San Francisco on 11 November 1859.



  Joseph and Mary Ogle Zumwalt-1859.


   In the 1860's Joseph sold many of his holding in Sacramento and
moved to Vacaville, Solono County, where he purchased property and engaged
in raising stock and honey from the bees. He sold his property in Vacaville to
his son Joseph, Jr. in 1870, and in 1872 moved to Colusa County and bought
property. That property is now within the boundaries of Glenn County. He sold
that land to his son Daniel Zumwalt, who gave 160 acres to Willows for a town site.
The town of Willows was founded there in 1876.

   The 1880 census for the 92nd District, Shasta County, lists Joseph
Zumwalt, his wife Mary Zumwalt and their son Jacob Willard Zumwalt and family
living nearby. Mary Ogle Zumwalt died in Anderson on 2 November, 1885 at the age
of 80. Joseph Zumwalt Died in Anderson on 23 July, 1892 at the age of 92.
Both are buried in lot 169, Old Helvetia Cemetery, Sacramento.

   A search of the Internet has shown that Joseph's ancestors were
first noted in Switzerland in 1624. A clear ancestral and geographical trail shows
them going first to Germany and then to the United States in the early 1700's.
Much more work will be required to fully document this history but the data
available shows Joseph's and my ancestors trek westward.

   One piece of history about Joseph Zumwalt I found was that in
California, he founded the organization known as E Clampus Vitus.
"The Ritual of E Clampus Vitus" was published in "The Bowling Green
Journal" in Pike County, Missouri. Joseph apparently obtained a copy and
brought it West, and is credited with bringing the organization to California.
A couple of attempts were made to start chapters and failed, but the first chapter,
ECV Lodge #1001, was started at Mokelumme Hill in September 1851.

   The organization, essentially a philanthropic and humorous order,
was basically a spoof on the more formal fraternal organizations present at
the time, such as the Masons and the Odd Fellows. The organization spread
quickly throughout the camps and new chapters sprang up. E Clampus Vitus, along
with its happy-go-lucky nature, was also known for the good things it did for widows,
orphans, and the down-on-their-luck miners. Almost all of this was done quietly and
without reservation. The organization was very popular, and reports are that
you had better join the Clampers, or others would not do any business with you
or have much to do with you.

   The organization became defunct in the late 1800's but was revived
in the 1930's, and many chapters are once again active across the West.
Much of the lightheartedness and traditions of the early Clamper miners in the
early 1850's are once again practiced by the present-day group. As a spoof, Clampers
tried to poke fun at the fine regalia used by other groups. An example is their tradition
of making and wearing medals out of tin can lids complete with brightly colored ribbons.
This is called "wearin' of the tin." Today, the organization continues to keep the
history of the gold fields alive, and works on placing plaques and monuments at
historic places."

Russ Robinson, author.





Visit the Joseph Zumwalt plaque and others at the famous
ECV Wall of Comparative Ovations on the Traver Building,
and Oldtimers Museum, Murphys, California.
The un-official Clamper Capitol of the world.

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