Sophia Babcock was the third of seven children born to Normandus and Prudence (Bushnell) Nelson. On May 2, 1849 she married Edwin Babcock in Busti, NY. Her next younger sister, Weltha Nelson had gone to California in 1846 as a teenager, to be a schoolteacher for the children of pioneers there. In June 1860, in Moore's Flats, CA, Weltha married Oscar Babcock, the next younger brother of Edwin. The following October, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter. The next day Weltha died. The following summer, Sophia, who had no children, undertook a voyage to take the child back to western NY. However, six days out of SanFrancisco on the return journey, the paddlewheel ship on which they were traveling caught fire and sank.
Sophia and the infant, traveling in a second class cabin, both perished. Here is an excerpt of a report on the sinking, from the Sacramento Daily Union, 11 Aug 1862. Note the mention of the Fultons, also from Moore's Flats, who are buried in this same burial ground, probably along with many others from the shipwreck: "Among those who lost their lives by the burning of the Golden Gate were the only child of O. D. Babcock, and the wife of E. Babcock, of Moore's Flat in this county. The motherless child was on its way to friends in the East in care of its aunt, and both perished. The Nevada Democrat says : E.Fulton, who formerly resided at Moore's Flat, was lost with three of his children, and one of the children was saved." (Despite what the article says, it is my impression from other accounts that Edwin and Sophia were living in western NY or western PA at the time and were planning to raise the child there as their own...)
Sophia and the infant, traveling in a second class cabin, both perished. Here is an excerpt of a report on the sinking, from the Sacramento Daily Union, 11 Aug 1862. Note the mention of the Fultons, also from Moore's Flats, who are buried in this same burial ground, probably along with many others from the shipwreck: "Among those who lost their lives by the burning of the Golden Gate were the only child of O. D. Babcock, and the wife of E. Babcock, of Moore's Flat in this county. The motherless child was on its way to friends in the East in care of its aunt, and both perished. The Nevada Democrat says : E.Fulton, who formerly resided at Moore's Flat, was lost with three of his children, and one of the children was saved." (Despite what the article says, it is my impression from other accounts that Edwin and Sophia were living in western NY or western PA at the time and were planning to raise the child there as their own...)
Sophia Babcock was the third of seven children born to Normandus and Prudence (Bushnell) Nelson. On May 2, 1849 she married Edwin Babcock in Busti, NY. Her next younger sister, Weltha Nelson had gone to California in 1846 as a teenager, to be a schoolteacher for the children of pioneers there. In June 1860, in Moore's Flats, CA, Weltha married Oscar Babcock, the next younger brother of Edwin. The following October, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter. The next day Weltha died. The following summer, Sophia, who had no children, undertook a voyage to take the child back to western NY. However, six days out of SanFrancisco on the return journey, the paddlewheel ship on which they were traveling caught fire and sank.
Sophia and the infant, traveling in a second class cabin, both perished. Here is an excerpt of a report on the sinking, from the Sacramento Daily Union, 11 Aug 1862. Note the mention of the Fultons, also from Moore's Flats, who are buried in this same burial ground, probably along with many others from the shipwreck: "Among those who lost their lives by the burning of the Golden Gate were the only child of O. D. Babcock, and the wife of E. Babcock, of Moore's Flat in this county. The motherless child was on its way to friends in the East in care of its aunt, and both perished. The Nevada Democrat says : E.Fulton, who formerly resided at Moore's Flat, was lost with three of his children, and one of the children was saved." (Despite what the article says, it is my impression from other accounts that Edwin and Sophia were living in western NY or western PA at the time and were planning to raise the child there as their own...)
Sophia and the infant, traveling in a second class cabin, both perished. Here is an excerpt of a report on the sinking, from the Sacramento Daily Union, 11 Aug 1862. Note the mention of the Fultons, also from Moore's Flats, who are buried in this same burial ground, probably along with many others from the shipwreck: "Among those who lost their lives by the burning of the Golden Gate were the only child of O. D. Babcock, and the wife of E. Babcock, of Moore's Flat in this county. The motherless child was on its way to friends in the East in care of its aunt, and both perished. The Nevada Democrat says : E.Fulton, who formerly resided at Moore's Flat, was lost with three of his children, and one of the children was saved." (Despite what the article says, it is my impression from other accounts that Edwin and Sophia were living in western NY or western PA at the time and were planning to raise the child there as their own...)
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