Married to Benjamin Norton Pottle. They were married 45 years, from 1876 until Benjamin's passing. Prior to their marriage, Sarah was the widow of Jean Claude/John C. Ducray. They were married for nine years, from 1866 until his passing in 1875, and had two daughters, Eda and Hannah Lena Ducray.
Mother of:
1) Eda Ducray Howard
2) Hannah Lena Ducray Gough (married Matthew John Gough)
3) Eva Ella Pottle Fisher (married John Porter Fisher)
4) Ivy Hazel Pottle Hufford (married Albert Hufford)
Grandmother of:
1) Beatrice "Bea" Rosalie Fisher Stanley (maried Owen Ashton Stanley)
2) Hazel Ivy Hufford Bartholomew (married Roy Mason Bartholomew)
3) Mavis Elva Hufford Cooper (married Kenneth Ivan Cooper)
4) Elton A. Hufford
Sarah was born 1850 September 12 in Hungary. (U.S. Censuses in the 1800s and 1900s variously show her birthplace as Hungary, Austria, and Germany, due to changing political borders. Her birthplace was in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which for a time was within Germany. Her parents' home language and ancestry was Magyar, which is Hungarian.)
Sarah emigrated to the U.S. with her parents in 1855. On 13 April 1866, Sarah married Gold Rush miner Jean Claude/John C. Ducray (17 years elder than Sarah) in Sacramento, California, three months before her 16th birthday. They had two daughters, Eda born in 1869, Hannah Lena born in 1872. The family lived in Nevada City, Nevada County, California.
John C. Ducray was born in the Ducray family village of Gondenans-Les-Moulins, France, in 1833. He was descended from one of the Ducray Nine, nine Ducray brothers who saved the life of the French king and in thanks were rewarded with villages and knighthood. The family crest is a shield with nine arrows (crossed in an asterisk fashion), representing the nine brothers. John C.'s forebear Servois Ducray was the first Ducray born in the family village of Gondenans-Les-Moulins, in 1610.
In 1839, John C.'s father and mother, Nicholas and Françoise/Frances (Petitjean) Ducray, emigrated to the U.S. with their nine children (see "HARDY PIONEER FAMILY" online), seeking a peaceful land. The family settled in Meadville, Pennsylvania.
In 1850, during the Gold Rush, 17-year-old John C. came to California with his brother, 26-year-old Jean-Baptiste/John B. Ducray. The brothers mined and lived on Oregon Hill in Nevada township, mining gold from the Oregon Ravine. John B. bought 35 acres there, where he built a large home, farmed, and planted orchards. Orchard Street was so-named due to John B.'s orchards, that extended north to what is now the site of Nevada County's Rood Government Center and Madelyn Helling Library. Famed horticulturist and author Felix Gillet, who became a Nevada City resident in the 1860s, became a close friend of the Ducrays, including John B.'s wife Julia Catherine, and John B.'s and Julia Catherine's niece/adopted daughter Theresa Julia Brenoel (whom Felix married in 1891). Felix was impressed with John B.'s orchards and farm, and mentioned them often in his newspaper and magazine articles. Felix established his famed Barren Hill Nursery on what became called Nursery Street, on Aristocracy Hill in Nevada City. He propagated and sold nut and fruit trees, locally and by mail order. Orchards throughout the Santa Clara Valley in California and Willamette Valley in Oregon, and other locations, were planted with Felix's trees, many of which still are bearing today.
Sarah and John C. had their home and land near Blue Tent in Nevada County. In January 1875, John C. sold their home and mining interests, and the family moved north. Tragically, John C. passed away at age 41 on 6 April 1875 in Oregon. A widow at 24 years old, Sarah returned to Nevada City, with 6 year old Eda and 2 year old Hannah Lena, travelling on the steamship Oriflamme from Portland to Sacramento. They lived with her brother-in-law John B. Ducray's family. A year later, in 1876, Sarah C. Ducray married Benjamin Norton Pottle in Nevada City. Benjamin was 13 years elder than Sarah.
Sarah and Benjamin and Eda and Hannah Lena moved to Analy township in Sonoma County, California, where Benjamin was a farmer. Daughter Eva Ella was born in 1879. The family moved to Millville, Shasta County, California, where Benjamin also was a farmer. Daughter Ivy Hazel was born 1890 September 16.
In July 1897, Sarah's daughters Eda and Hannah Lena Ducray traveled to San Francisco and stayed at the Cosmopolitan Hotel on Kearny Street. Their cousin Justin Frank Ducray's wife, Margaret "Maggie" Nugent Ducray, had passed away in San Francisco in June. Justin Frank and Maggie had four young children, Julian August (8 years old), Elizabeth "Bessie" Victoria (6 years old), Ursula Suzanne (3 years old), and Justin Nugent Ducray (1 year old). Justin Frank's father, Justin Ducray (born in Pennsylvania in 1840, the first Ducray of the family line born in the U.S.), was Eda and Hannah Lena's uncle, brother of their father John C. Ducray.
Justin Frank and his brother-in-law Robinson Nugent (Maggie's brother) owned Nugent-Ducray Company, a City contractor that installed and built water mains and streets in San Francisco, including the road to Coit Tower, and the famous "Crookedest Street In The World" Lombard Street.
In 1900, Sarah's daughter Hannah Lena Ducray was living in Berkeley, working as a maid as she attended school and earned her teaching credential. After graduation, she taught school near the present University of California at Berkeley. She married Matthew John Gough. Eda Ducray Howard and Hannah Lena both lived in Sonoma County at the end of their lives, where they had lived as children early in their mother's marriage to Benjamin. Hannah passed away in 1951, Eda in 1954.
Sarah and Benjamin's daughter Eva Ella married John Porter Fisher in 1905. Eva and John had daughter Beatrice Rosalie "Bea" Fisher in 1906. Sadly, John passed away in 1917 at only 38 years old, when Bea was only 11. afterward, Eva and Bea lived with Sarah and Benjamin. Bea married Owen Ashton Stanley. Eva never remarried.
Sarah and Benjamin's daughter Ivy Hazel registered to vote in 1912, when she was 21 years old (the minimum voting age at that time), only the second year women were allowed to vote in the U.S.
Ivy Hazel married Albert Hufford. They had three children, two girls and a boy; sadly, their son, Elton A. Hufford, did not survive. Their daughter Hazel Ivy married Roy Mason Bartholomew, and daughter Mavis Elva married Kenneth Ivan Cooper.
Sarah and Benjamin were married 45 years, before Benjamin passed away 1921 September 30. Sarah lived to age 82 and passed away on 1927 March 27.
∼Note: Please see marker photos at Memorial #50338258 for Sarah Pottle and #50338284 for Sarah's second husband Benjamin Norton Pottle.
Sarah C. Huber was born in Hungary on 12 September 1850. [Various censuses stated she was born in Hungary, Austria, and Germany. The confusion was due to changes in political borders in the 1800s and 1900s. She was born in the Magyar -- that is, Hungarian -- area of the Austrian Empire in 1850. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was re-formed into Austria-Hungary. After the end of World War I in 1918, Hungary's territory was reduced by 72% in the peace Treaty of Trianon signed 1920 June 4 in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. For a time, Germany claimed portions of Hungary and Austria. Sarah and her parents were of Magyar origin and spoke Magyar.]
In 1855, Sarah and her parents emigrated to the U.S.A. Sarah was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1856.
Three months before her 16th birthday, on 13 April 1866 Sarah married Jean Claude/John C. Ducray in Sacramento, California. John C. was 33, 17 years older. Sarah and John C. had daughter Eda on 12 April 1869 when Sarah was 18, and three years later their daughter Hannah Lena was born on 21 November 1872, when Sarah was 21.
Her husband John C. Ducray (born 1833 in France) and his elder brother Jean-Baptiste/John B. Ducray (born 1824 in France) were pioneers. In April 1850 during the Gold Rush, they came to Nevada township. They had already had quite an adventure moving to the United States from France in 1839 with their parents and their seven brothers and sisters, when their ship was wrecked off of the coast of Newfoundland (see "HARDY PIONEER FAMILY ducray" online). Fortunately, they were rescued, and the Ducray family made their way to Crawford County, Pennsylvania, where they settled and had a farm on the southern tip of Lake Tamarack in the area of Meadville.
The brothers John B. and John C. traveled to San Francisco in 1850 on the new steamship "Tennessee" from Panama City, after they voyaged to Chagres (a small town on the east coast of Panama) from New York City, and then crossed the perilous 60-mile-wide Isthmus of Panama by river and mule to reach Panama City and the "Tennessee." The new sea route saved several weeks and thousands of miles, versus the old route of rounding Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. The crossing of the Isthmus was fraught with adventures and possible dangers: tropical fevers, alligators, bandits. Those who successfully crossed the Isthmus were pleased and astounded by the luxuriant tropical jungle and exotic wildlife: parrots, monkeys, amazing flowers, waterfalls, and ferns.
From San Francisco, the Ducray brothers made their way to Nevada township, California, where they placer mined for gold on Oregon Hill, in the Oregon Ravine above town. John B. and his wife Julia Catherine bought 35 acres at the site, built a large home, and planted orchards on what became named Orchard Street for the orchards of pears, peaches, apples, walnuts, mulberries, and almonds John B. planted. The 35 acres of orchards and vineyards extended north, and included the present site of Nevada County's Rood Government Center and Madelyn Helling Library.
John C. and Sarah bought a home and acre near Blue Tent, where John C. owned some mining interests, but mostly they lived in the large five bedroom, fourteen room home of John B. and Julia Catherine Ducray on Orchard Street. Sarah and John C.'s daughter Eda was born 12 April 1869. Eda's little sister Hannah Lena was born 21 November 1872. John B. and Julia Catherine loved having their little nieces living in their home, especially since they had no children of their own. With 14 rooms on two stories, including five bedrooms and two parlors, and 35 acres of gardens and orchards, there was plenty of room for family. When sister Claude Marie Ducray, known as Mary (born 8 August 1828 in France), came out to visit, she stayed with them in John B.'s home. In nevada City, she met and married quartz gold miner Frank Wood. Upon their marriage, she changed her name to Mary F. Wood. Later, they made their home in Albany, Linn County, Oregon, where Frank Wood had his quarry and stone-cutting business.
Sadly, John C. fell ill with consumption (tuberculosis). Urged by his sister Mary to come to her home in Oregon, where she could nurse him, in January 1875 John C. sold his home and gold mining interests in Nevada county, and he and Sarah moved their little family north.
Tragically, on April 6, 1875, John C. Ducray passed away at only 41 years old, in his sister's home in Albany, Oregon. He was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Albany, Linn County, Oregon. Sarah was only 24 years old, Eda was 5 (he passed away six days before her sixth birthday), and Hannah was 2 years old.
Two weeks later, Sarah and her two young daughters traveled from Portland, Oregon, to San Francisco on the steamship Oriflamme, and returned to Nevada City. From 1875 to 1876, they lived in the home of her brother-in-law John B. Ducray, his wife Julia Catherine, and their niece/adopted daughter, Theresa Julia Monnin Brenoel. After John C. had moved north with Sarah and his little daughters, John B. and Julia Catherine had traveled by train to visit their family in Pennsylvania. Very saddened by their little nieces Eda and Hannah moving away and no longer living in their home in Nevada City, John B. and Julia Catherine brought their niece Theresa Julia Brenoel to Nevada City to live with them. She was born 22 October 1868 in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The Daily Alta California (a San Francisco newspaper) of May 23, 1875, reported John B. returning to California on the Overland train, passing through Carlin (Nevada). Theresa Julia came to live with her Uncle John B. and Aunt Julia Catherine when she was six years old. They loved their niece and raised her as their daughter, and she lived with them until they each passed away in 1890 when she was 21. They left their home and all of their property and assets to Theresa Julia. Perhaps in homage to her beloved Aunt Julia Catherine, after Julia Catherine's passing Theresa Julia changed her name to Julia Theresa.
A year after John C. Ducray's passing, in 1876 in Nevada City Sarah married Benjamin Norton Pottle (born in Maine 29 Oct 1838-1921 Sept 30 passed away in Shasta County, California). Benjamin, Sarah, and Sarah's daughters Eda and Hannah Lena Ducray moved to Bloomfield in Sonoma County, where Benjamin was a farmer. A year later they moved to Millville, Shasta County, California, where Benjamin also was a farmer. The Pottle family were long-established land owners and ranchers in Millville and Shasta County.
38 years old when they married in 1876, Benjamin was 12 years older than Sarah (though five years younger than John C. Ducray had been). Eda was 7 years old, and Hannah Lena was 4.
In 1878, Benjamin and Sarah had a daughter, Eva Ella Pottle. Eva was born when Eda was 9, and Hannah Lena was 6. Eva married John Porter Fisher in 1905. In 1906, John and Eva's daughter Beatrice Rosalie "Bea" Fisher was born. Sadly, John passed away at only 38 years old, in 1917, when Bea was only 11. Eva and Bea then lived with Sarah and Benjamin. Bea later married Owen Ashton Stanley.
In 1890, Benjamin and Sarah had daughter Ivy Hazel. Ivy married Albert Hufford in 1916. Ivy and Albert had two daughters, Hazel Ivy, born in 1917, who married Roy Mason Bartholomew, and Mavis Elva, born in 1919, who married Kenneth Ivan Cooper. Sadly, Ivy and Albert's son, Elton A. Hufford, did not survive.
Sarah and Benjamin enjoyed 45 years of marriage before his passing in 1921. Sarah lived five and a half years longer, and passed away in 1927 at age 76. Sarah and Benjamin are at rest beside each other in Millville Masonic Cemetery. Their markers are lovingly inscribed "Mother" and "Father."
Mother of:
1) Eda Ducray Howard
2) Hannah Lena Ducray Gough (married Matthew John Gough)
3) Eva Ella Pottle Fisher (married John Porter Fisher)
4) Ivy Hazel Pottle Hufford (married Albert Hufford)
Grandmother of:
1) Beatrice "Bea" Rosalie Fisher Stanley (maried Owen Ashton Stanley)
2) Hazel Ivy Hufford Bartholomew (married Roy Mason Bartholomew)
3) Mavis Elva Hufford Cooper (married Kenneth Ivan Cooper)
4) Elton A. Hufford
Sarah was born 1850 September 12 in Hungary. (U.S. Censuses in the 1800s and 1900s variously show her birthplace as Hungary, Austria, and Germany, due to changing political borders. Her birthplace was in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which for a time was within Germany. Her parents' home language and ancestry was Magyar, which is Hungarian.)
Sarah emigrated to the U.S. with her parents in 1855. On 13 April 1866, Sarah married Gold Rush miner Jean Claude/John C. Ducray (17 years elder than Sarah) in Sacramento, California, three months before her 16th birthday. They had two daughters, Eda born in 1869, Hannah Lena born in 1872. The family lived in Nevada City, Nevada County, California.
John C. Ducray was born in the Ducray family village of Gondenans-Les-Moulins, France, in 1833. He was descended from one of the Ducray Nine, nine Ducray brothers who saved the life of the French king and in thanks were rewarded with villages and knighthood. The family crest is a shield with nine arrows (crossed in an asterisk fashion), representing the nine brothers. John C.'s forebear Servois Ducray was the first Ducray born in the family village of Gondenans-Les-Moulins, in 1610.
In 1839, John C.'s father and mother, Nicholas and Françoise/Frances (Petitjean) Ducray, emigrated to the U.S. with their nine children (see "HARDY PIONEER FAMILY" online), seeking a peaceful land. The family settled in Meadville, Pennsylvania.
In 1850, during the Gold Rush, 17-year-old John C. came to California with his brother, 26-year-old Jean-Baptiste/John B. Ducray. The brothers mined and lived on Oregon Hill in Nevada township, mining gold from the Oregon Ravine. John B. bought 35 acres there, where he built a large home, farmed, and planted orchards. Orchard Street was so-named due to John B.'s orchards, that extended north to what is now the site of Nevada County's Rood Government Center and Madelyn Helling Library. Famed horticulturist and author Felix Gillet, who became a Nevada City resident in the 1860s, became a close friend of the Ducrays, including John B.'s wife Julia Catherine, and John B.'s and Julia Catherine's niece/adopted daughter Theresa Julia Brenoel (whom Felix married in 1891). Felix was impressed with John B.'s orchards and farm, and mentioned them often in his newspaper and magazine articles. Felix established his famed Barren Hill Nursery on what became called Nursery Street, on Aristocracy Hill in Nevada City. He propagated and sold nut and fruit trees, locally and by mail order. Orchards throughout the Santa Clara Valley in California and Willamette Valley in Oregon, and other locations, were planted with Felix's trees, many of which still are bearing today.
Sarah and John C. had their home and land near Blue Tent in Nevada County. In January 1875, John C. sold their home and mining interests, and the family moved north. Tragically, John C. passed away at age 41 on 6 April 1875 in Oregon. A widow at 24 years old, Sarah returned to Nevada City, with 6 year old Eda and 2 year old Hannah Lena, travelling on the steamship Oriflamme from Portland to Sacramento. They lived with her brother-in-law John B. Ducray's family. A year later, in 1876, Sarah C. Ducray married Benjamin Norton Pottle in Nevada City. Benjamin was 13 years elder than Sarah.
Sarah and Benjamin and Eda and Hannah Lena moved to Analy township in Sonoma County, California, where Benjamin was a farmer. Daughter Eva Ella was born in 1879. The family moved to Millville, Shasta County, California, where Benjamin also was a farmer. Daughter Ivy Hazel was born 1890 September 16.
In July 1897, Sarah's daughters Eda and Hannah Lena Ducray traveled to San Francisco and stayed at the Cosmopolitan Hotel on Kearny Street. Their cousin Justin Frank Ducray's wife, Margaret "Maggie" Nugent Ducray, had passed away in San Francisco in June. Justin Frank and Maggie had four young children, Julian August (8 years old), Elizabeth "Bessie" Victoria (6 years old), Ursula Suzanne (3 years old), and Justin Nugent Ducray (1 year old). Justin Frank's father, Justin Ducray (born in Pennsylvania in 1840, the first Ducray of the family line born in the U.S.), was Eda and Hannah Lena's uncle, brother of their father John C. Ducray.
Justin Frank and his brother-in-law Robinson Nugent (Maggie's brother) owned Nugent-Ducray Company, a City contractor that installed and built water mains and streets in San Francisco, including the road to Coit Tower, and the famous "Crookedest Street In The World" Lombard Street.
In 1900, Sarah's daughter Hannah Lena Ducray was living in Berkeley, working as a maid as she attended school and earned her teaching credential. After graduation, she taught school near the present University of California at Berkeley. She married Matthew John Gough. Eda Ducray Howard and Hannah Lena both lived in Sonoma County at the end of their lives, where they had lived as children early in their mother's marriage to Benjamin. Hannah passed away in 1951, Eda in 1954.
Sarah and Benjamin's daughter Eva Ella married John Porter Fisher in 1905. Eva and John had daughter Beatrice Rosalie "Bea" Fisher in 1906. Sadly, John passed away in 1917 at only 38 years old, when Bea was only 11. afterward, Eva and Bea lived with Sarah and Benjamin. Bea married Owen Ashton Stanley. Eva never remarried.
Sarah and Benjamin's daughter Ivy Hazel registered to vote in 1912, when she was 21 years old (the minimum voting age at that time), only the second year women were allowed to vote in the U.S.
Ivy Hazel married Albert Hufford. They had three children, two girls and a boy; sadly, their son, Elton A. Hufford, did not survive. Their daughter Hazel Ivy married Roy Mason Bartholomew, and daughter Mavis Elva married Kenneth Ivan Cooper.
Sarah and Benjamin were married 45 years, before Benjamin passed away 1921 September 30. Sarah lived to age 82 and passed away on 1927 March 27.
∼Note: Please see marker photos at Memorial #50338258 for Sarah Pottle and #50338284 for Sarah's second husband Benjamin Norton Pottle.
Sarah C. Huber was born in Hungary on 12 September 1850. [Various censuses stated she was born in Hungary, Austria, and Germany. The confusion was due to changes in political borders in the 1800s and 1900s. She was born in the Magyar -- that is, Hungarian -- area of the Austrian Empire in 1850. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was re-formed into Austria-Hungary. After the end of World War I in 1918, Hungary's territory was reduced by 72% in the peace Treaty of Trianon signed 1920 June 4 in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. For a time, Germany claimed portions of Hungary and Austria. Sarah and her parents were of Magyar origin and spoke Magyar.]
In 1855, Sarah and her parents emigrated to the U.S.A. Sarah was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1856.
Three months before her 16th birthday, on 13 April 1866 Sarah married Jean Claude/John C. Ducray in Sacramento, California. John C. was 33, 17 years older. Sarah and John C. had daughter Eda on 12 April 1869 when Sarah was 18, and three years later their daughter Hannah Lena was born on 21 November 1872, when Sarah was 21.
Her husband John C. Ducray (born 1833 in France) and his elder brother Jean-Baptiste/John B. Ducray (born 1824 in France) were pioneers. In April 1850 during the Gold Rush, they came to Nevada township. They had already had quite an adventure moving to the United States from France in 1839 with their parents and their seven brothers and sisters, when their ship was wrecked off of the coast of Newfoundland (see "HARDY PIONEER FAMILY ducray" online). Fortunately, they were rescued, and the Ducray family made their way to Crawford County, Pennsylvania, where they settled and had a farm on the southern tip of Lake Tamarack in the area of Meadville.
The brothers John B. and John C. traveled to San Francisco in 1850 on the new steamship "Tennessee" from Panama City, after they voyaged to Chagres (a small town on the east coast of Panama) from New York City, and then crossed the perilous 60-mile-wide Isthmus of Panama by river and mule to reach Panama City and the "Tennessee." The new sea route saved several weeks and thousands of miles, versus the old route of rounding Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. The crossing of the Isthmus was fraught with adventures and possible dangers: tropical fevers, alligators, bandits. Those who successfully crossed the Isthmus were pleased and astounded by the luxuriant tropical jungle and exotic wildlife: parrots, monkeys, amazing flowers, waterfalls, and ferns.
From San Francisco, the Ducray brothers made their way to Nevada township, California, where they placer mined for gold on Oregon Hill, in the Oregon Ravine above town. John B. and his wife Julia Catherine bought 35 acres at the site, built a large home, and planted orchards on what became named Orchard Street for the orchards of pears, peaches, apples, walnuts, mulberries, and almonds John B. planted. The 35 acres of orchards and vineyards extended north, and included the present site of Nevada County's Rood Government Center and Madelyn Helling Library.
John C. and Sarah bought a home and acre near Blue Tent, where John C. owned some mining interests, but mostly they lived in the large five bedroom, fourteen room home of John B. and Julia Catherine Ducray on Orchard Street. Sarah and John C.'s daughter Eda was born 12 April 1869. Eda's little sister Hannah Lena was born 21 November 1872. John B. and Julia Catherine loved having their little nieces living in their home, especially since they had no children of their own. With 14 rooms on two stories, including five bedrooms and two parlors, and 35 acres of gardens and orchards, there was plenty of room for family. When sister Claude Marie Ducray, known as Mary (born 8 August 1828 in France), came out to visit, she stayed with them in John B.'s home. In nevada City, she met and married quartz gold miner Frank Wood. Upon their marriage, she changed her name to Mary F. Wood. Later, they made their home in Albany, Linn County, Oregon, where Frank Wood had his quarry and stone-cutting business.
Sadly, John C. fell ill with consumption (tuberculosis). Urged by his sister Mary to come to her home in Oregon, where she could nurse him, in January 1875 John C. sold his home and gold mining interests in Nevada county, and he and Sarah moved their little family north.
Tragically, on April 6, 1875, John C. Ducray passed away at only 41 years old, in his sister's home in Albany, Oregon. He was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Albany, Linn County, Oregon. Sarah was only 24 years old, Eda was 5 (he passed away six days before her sixth birthday), and Hannah was 2 years old.
Two weeks later, Sarah and her two young daughters traveled from Portland, Oregon, to San Francisco on the steamship Oriflamme, and returned to Nevada City. From 1875 to 1876, they lived in the home of her brother-in-law John B. Ducray, his wife Julia Catherine, and their niece/adopted daughter, Theresa Julia Monnin Brenoel. After John C. had moved north with Sarah and his little daughters, John B. and Julia Catherine had traveled by train to visit their family in Pennsylvania. Very saddened by their little nieces Eda and Hannah moving away and no longer living in their home in Nevada City, John B. and Julia Catherine brought their niece Theresa Julia Brenoel to Nevada City to live with them. She was born 22 October 1868 in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The Daily Alta California (a San Francisco newspaper) of May 23, 1875, reported John B. returning to California on the Overland train, passing through Carlin (Nevada). Theresa Julia came to live with her Uncle John B. and Aunt Julia Catherine when she was six years old. They loved their niece and raised her as their daughter, and she lived with them until they each passed away in 1890 when she was 21. They left their home and all of their property and assets to Theresa Julia. Perhaps in homage to her beloved Aunt Julia Catherine, after Julia Catherine's passing Theresa Julia changed her name to Julia Theresa.
A year after John C. Ducray's passing, in 1876 in Nevada City Sarah married Benjamin Norton Pottle (born in Maine 29 Oct 1838-1921 Sept 30 passed away in Shasta County, California). Benjamin, Sarah, and Sarah's daughters Eda and Hannah Lena Ducray moved to Bloomfield in Sonoma County, where Benjamin was a farmer. A year later they moved to Millville, Shasta County, California, where Benjamin also was a farmer. The Pottle family were long-established land owners and ranchers in Millville and Shasta County.
38 years old when they married in 1876, Benjamin was 12 years older than Sarah (though five years younger than John C. Ducray had been). Eda was 7 years old, and Hannah Lena was 4.
In 1878, Benjamin and Sarah had a daughter, Eva Ella Pottle. Eva was born when Eda was 9, and Hannah Lena was 6. Eva married John Porter Fisher in 1905. In 1906, John and Eva's daughter Beatrice Rosalie "Bea" Fisher was born. Sadly, John passed away at only 38 years old, in 1917, when Bea was only 11. Eva and Bea then lived with Sarah and Benjamin. Bea later married Owen Ashton Stanley.
In 1890, Benjamin and Sarah had daughter Ivy Hazel. Ivy married Albert Hufford in 1916. Ivy and Albert had two daughters, Hazel Ivy, born in 1917, who married Roy Mason Bartholomew, and Mavis Elva, born in 1919, who married Kenneth Ivan Cooper. Sadly, Ivy and Albert's son, Elton A. Hufford, did not survive.
Sarah and Benjamin enjoyed 45 years of marriage before his passing in 1921. Sarah lived five and a half years longer, and passed away in 1927 at age 76. Sarah and Benjamin are at rest beside each other in Millville Masonic Cemetery. Their markers are lovingly inscribed "Mother" and "Father."
Married to Benjamin Norton Pottle. They were married 45 years, from 1876 until Benjamin's passing. Prior to their marriage, Sarah was the widow of Jean Claude/John C. Ducray. They were married for nine years, from 1866 until his passing in 1875, and had two daughters, Eda and Hannah Lena Ducray.
Mother of:
1) Eda Ducray Howard
2) Hannah Lena Ducray Gough (married Matthew John Gough)
3) Eva Ella Pottle Fisher (married John Porter Fisher)
4) Ivy Hazel Pottle Hufford (married Albert Hufford)
Grandmother of:
1) Beatrice "Bea" Rosalie Fisher Stanley (maried Owen Ashton Stanley)
2) Hazel Ivy Hufford Bartholomew (married Roy Mason Bartholomew)
3) Mavis Elva Hufford Cooper (married Kenneth Ivan Cooper)
4) Elton A. Hufford
Sarah was born 1850 September 12 in Hungary. (U.S. Censuses in the 1800s and 1900s variously show her birthplace as Hungary, Austria, and Germany, due to changing political borders. Her birthplace was in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which for a time was within Germany. Her parents' home language and ancestry was Magyar, which is Hungarian.)
Sarah emigrated to the U.S. with her parents in 1855. On 13 April 1866, Sarah married Gold Rush miner Jean Claude/John C. Ducray (17 years elder than Sarah) in Sacramento, California, three months before her 16th birthday. They had two daughters, Eda born in 1869, Hannah Lena born in 1872. The family lived in Nevada City, Nevada County, California.
John C. Ducray was born in the Ducray family village of Gondenans-Les-Moulins, France, in 1833. He was descended from one of the Ducray Nine, nine Ducray brothers who saved the life of the French king and in thanks were rewarded with villages and knighthood. The family crest is a shield with nine arrows (crossed in an asterisk fashion), representing the nine brothers. John C.'s forebear Servois Ducray was the first Ducray born in the family village of Gondenans-Les-Moulins, in 1610.
In 1839, John C.'s father and mother, Nicholas and Françoise/Frances (Petitjean) Ducray, emigrated to the U.S. with their nine children (see "HARDY PIONEER FAMILY" online), seeking a peaceful land. The family settled in Meadville, Pennsylvania.
In 1850, during the Gold Rush, 17-year-old John C. came to California with his brother, 26-year-old Jean-Baptiste/John B. Ducray. The brothers mined and lived on Oregon Hill in Nevada township, mining gold from the Oregon Ravine. John B. bought 35 acres there, where he built a large home, farmed, and planted orchards. Orchard Street was so-named due to John B.'s orchards, that extended north to what is now the site of Nevada County's Rood Government Center and Madelyn Helling Library. Famed horticulturist and author Felix Gillet, who became a Nevada City resident in the 1860s, became a close friend of the Ducrays, including John B.'s wife Julia Catherine, and John B.'s and Julia Catherine's niece/adopted daughter Theresa Julia Brenoel (whom Felix married in 1891). Felix was impressed with John B.'s orchards and farm, and mentioned them often in his newspaper and magazine articles. Felix established his famed Barren Hill Nursery on what became called Nursery Street, on Aristocracy Hill in Nevada City. He propagated and sold nut and fruit trees, locally and by mail order. Orchards throughout the Santa Clara Valley in California and Willamette Valley in Oregon, and other locations, were planted with Felix's trees, many of which still are bearing today.
Sarah and John C. had their home and land near Blue Tent in Nevada County. In January 1875, John C. sold their home and mining interests, and the family moved north. Tragically, John C. passed away at age 41 on 6 April 1875 in Oregon. A widow at 24 years old, Sarah returned to Nevada City, with 6 year old Eda and 2 year old Hannah Lena, travelling on the steamship Oriflamme from Portland to Sacramento. They lived with her brother-in-law John B. Ducray's family. A year later, in 1876, Sarah C. Ducray married Benjamin Norton Pottle in Nevada City. Benjamin was 13 years elder than Sarah.
Sarah and Benjamin and Eda and Hannah Lena moved to Analy township in Sonoma County, California, where Benjamin was a farmer. Daughter Eva Ella was born in 1879. The family moved to Millville, Shasta County, California, where Benjamin also was a farmer. Daughter Ivy Hazel was born 1890 September 16.
In July 1897, Sarah's daughters Eda and Hannah Lena Ducray traveled to San Francisco and stayed at the Cosmopolitan Hotel on Kearny Street. Their cousin Justin Frank Ducray's wife, Margaret "Maggie" Nugent Ducray, had passed away in San Francisco in June. Justin Frank and Maggie had four young children, Julian August (8 years old), Elizabeth "Bessie" Victoria (6 years old), Ursula Suzanne (3 years old), and Justin Nugent Ducray (1 year old). Justin Frank's father, Justin Ducray (born in Pennsylvania in 1840, the first Ducray of the family line born in the U.S.), was Eda and Hannah Lena's uncle, brother of their father John C. Ducray.
Justin Frank and his brother-in-law Robinson Nugent (Maggie's brother) owned Nugent-Ducray Company, a City contractor that installed and built water mains and streets in San Francisco, including the road to Coit Tower, and the famous "Crookedest Street In The World" Lombard Street.
In 1900, Sarah's daughter Hannah Lena Ducray was living in Berkeley, working as a maid as she attended school and earned her teaching credential. After graduation, she taught school near the present University of California at Berkeley. She married Matthew John Gough. Eda Ducray Howard and Hannah Lena both lived in Sonoma County at the end of their lives, where they had lived as children early in their mother's marriage to Benjamin. Hannah passed away in 1951, Eda in 1954.
Sarah and Benjamin's daughter Eva Ella married John Porter Fisher in 1905. Eva and John had daughter Beatrice Rosalie "Bea" Fisher in 1906. Sadly, John passed away in 1917 at only 38 years old, when Bea was only 11. afterward, Eva and Bea lived with Sarah and Benjamin. Bea married Owen Ashton Stanley. Eva never remarried.
Sarah and Benjamin's daughter Ivy Hazel registered to vote in 1912, when she was 21 years old (the minimum voting age at that time), only the second year women were allowed to vote in the U.S.
Ivy Hazel married Albert Hufford. They had three children, two girls and a boy; sadly, their son, Elton A. Hufford, did not survive. Their daughter Hazel Ivy married Roy Mason Bartholomew, and daughter Mavis Elva married Kenneth Ivan Cooper.
Sarah and Benjamin were married 45 years, before Benjamin passed away 1921 September 30. Sarah lived to age 82 and passed away on 1927 March 27.
∼Note: Please see marker photos at Memorial #50338258 for Sarah Pottle and #50338284 for Sarah's second husband Benjamin Norton Pottle.
Sarah C. Huber was born in Hungary on 12 September 1850. [Various censuses stated she was born in Hungary, Austria, and Germany. The confusion was due to changes in political borders in the 1800s and 1900s. She was born in the Magyar -- that is, Hungarian -- area of the Austrian Empire in 1850. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was re-formed into Austria-Hungary. After the end of World War I in 1918, Hungary's territory was reduced by 72% in the peace Treaty of Trianon signed 1920 June 4 in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. For a time, Germany claimed portions of Hungary and Austria. Sarah and her parents were of Magyar origin and spoke Magyar.]
In 1855, Sarah and her parents emigrated to the U.S.A. Sarah was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1856.
Three months before her 16th birthday, on 13 April 1866 Sarah married Jean Claude/John C. Ducray in Sacramento, California. John C. was 33, 17 years older. Sarah and John C. had daughter Eda on 12 April 1869 when Sarah was 18, and three years later their daughter Hannah Lena was born on 21 November 1872, when Sarah was 21.
Her husband John C. Ducray (born 1833 in France) and his elder brother Jean-Baptiste/John B. Ducray (born 1824 in France) were pioneers. In April 1850 during the Gold Rush, they came to Nevada township. They had already had quite an adventure moving to the United States from France in 1839 with their parents and their seven brothers and sisters, when their ship was wrecked off of the coast of Newfoundland (see "HARDY PIONEER FAMILY ducray" online). Fortunately, they were rescued, and the Ducray family made their way to Crawford County, Pennsylvania, where they settled and had a farm on the southern tip of Lake Tamarack in the area of Meadville.
The brothers John B. and John C. traveled to San Francisco in 1850 on the new steamship "Tennessee" from Panama City, after they voyaged to Chagres (a small town on the east coast of Panama) from New York City, and then crossed the perilous 60-mile-wide Isthmus of Panama by river and mule to reach Panama City and the "Tennessee." The new sea route saved several weeks and thousands of miles, versus the old route of rounding Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. The crossing of the Isthmus was fraught with adventures and possible dangers: tropical fevers, alligators, bandits. Those who successfully crossed the Isthmus were pleased and astounded by the luxuriant tropical jungle and exotic wildlife: parrots, monkeys, amazing flowers, waterfalls, and ferns.
From San Francisco, the Ducray brothers made their way to Nevada township, California, where they placer mined for gold on Oregon Hill, in the Oregon Ravine above town. John B. and his wife Julia Catherine bought 35 acres at the site, built a large home, and planted orchards on what became named Orchard Street for the orchards of pears, peaches, apples, walnuts, mulberries, and almonds John B. planted. The 35 acres of orchards and vineyards extended north, and included the present site of Nevada County's Rood Government Center and Madelyn Helling Library.
John C. and Sarah bought a home and acre near Blue Tent, where John C. owned some mining interests, but mostly they lived in the large five bedroom, fourteen room home of John B. and Julia Catherine Ducray on Orchard Street. Sarah and John C.'s daughter Eda was born 12 April 1869. Eda's little sister Hannah Lena was born 21 November 1872. John B. and Julia Catherine loved having their little nieces living in their home, especially since they had no children of their own. With 14 rooms on two stories, including five bedrooms and two parlors, and 35 acres of gardens and orchards, there was plenty of room for family. When sister Claude Marie Ducray, known as Mary (born 8 August 1828 in France), came out to visit, she stayed with them in John B.'s home. In nevada City, she met and married quartz gold miner Frank Wood. Upon their marriage, she changed her name to Mary F. Wood. Later, they made their home in Albany, Linn County, Oregon, where Frank Wood had his quarry and stone-cutting business.
Sadly, John C. fell ill with consumption (tuberculosis). Urged by his sister Mary to come to her home in Oregon, where she could nurse him, in January 1875 John C. sold his home and gold mining interests in Nevada county, and he and Sarah moved their little family north.
Tragically, on April 6, 1875, John C. Ducray passed away at only 41 years old, in his sister's home in Albany, Oregon. He was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Albany, Linn County, Oregon. Sarah was only 24 years old, Eda was 5 (he passed away six days before her sixth birthday), and Hannah was 2 years old.
Two weeks later, Sarah and her two young daughters traveled from Portland, Oregon, to San Francisco on the steamship Oriflamme, and returned to Nevada City. From 1875 to 1876, they lived in the home of her brother-in-law John B. Ducray, his wife Julia Catherine, and their niece/adopted daughter, Theresa Julia Monnin Brenoel. After John C. had moved north with Sarah and his little daughters, John B. and Julia Catherine had traveled by train to visit their family in Pennsylvania. Very saddened by their little nieces Eda and Hannah moving away and no longer living in their home in Nevada City, John B. and Julia Catherine brought their niece Theresa Julia Brenoel to Nevada City to live with them. She was born 22 October 1868 in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The Daily Alta California (a San Francisco newspaper) of May 23, 1875, reported John B. returning to California on the Overland train, passing through Carlin (Nevada). Theresa Julia came to live with her Uncle John B. and Aunt Julia Catherine when she was six years old. They loved their niece and raised her as their daughter, and she lived with them until they each passed away in 1890 when she was 21. They left their home and all of their property and assets to Theresa Julia. Perhaps in homage to her beloved Aunt Julia Catherine, after Julia Catherine's passing Theresa Julia changed her name to Julia Theresa.
A year after John C. Ducray's passing, in 1876 in Nevada City Sarah married Benjamin Norton Pottle (born in Maine 29 Oct 1838-1921 Sept 30 passed away in Shasta County, California). Benjamin, Sarah, and Sarah's daughters Eda and Hannah Lena Ducray moved to Bloomfield in Sonoma County, where Benjamin was a farmer. A year later they moved to Millville, Shasta County, California, where Benjamin also was a farmer. The Pottle family were long-established land owners and ranchers in Millville and Shasta County.
38 years old when they married in 1876, Benjamin was 12 years older than Sarah (though five years younger than John C. Ducray had been). Eda was 7 years old, and Hannah Lena was 4.
In 1878, Benjamin and Sarah had a daughter, Eva Ella Pottle. Eva was born when Eda was 9, and Hannah Lena was 6. Eva married John Porter Fisher in 1905. In 1906, John and Eva's daughter Beatrice Rosalie "Bea" Fisher was born. Sadly, John passed away at only 38 years old, in 1917, when Bea was only 11. Eva and Bea then lived with Sarah and Benjamin. Bea later married Owen Ashton Stanley.
In 1890, Benjamin and Sarah had daughter Ivy Hazel. Ivy married Albert Hufford in 1916. Ivy and Albert had two daughters, Hazel Ivy, born in 1917, who married Roy Mason Bartholomew, and Mavis Elva, born in 1919, who married Kenneth Ivan Cooper. Sadly, Ivy and Albert's son, Elton A. Hufford, did not survive.
Sarah and Benjamin enjoyed 45 years of marriage before his passing in 1921. Sarah lived five and a half years longer, and passed away in 1927 at age 76. Sarah and Benjamin are at rest beside each other in Millville Masonic Cemetery. Their markers are lovingly inscribed "Mother" and "Father."
Mother of:
1) Eda Ducray Howard
2) Hannah Lena Ducray Gough (married Matthew John Gough)
3) Eva Ella Pottle Fisher (married John Porter Fisher)
4) Ivy Hazel Pottle Hufford (married Albert Hufford)
Grandmother of:
1) Beatrice "Bea" Rosalie Fisher Stanley (maried Owen Ashton Stanley)
2) Hazel Ivy Hufford Bartholomew (married Roy Mason Bartholomew)
3) Mavis Elva Hufford Cooper (married Kenneth Ivan Cooper)
4) Elton A. Hufford
Sarah was born 1850 September 12 in Hungary. (U.S. Censuses in the 1800s and 1900s variously show her birthplace as Hungary, Austria, and Germany, due to changing political borders. Her birthplace was in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which for a time was within Germany. Her parents' home language and ancestry was Magyar, which is Hungarian.)
Sarah emigrated to the U.S. with her parents in 1855. On 13 April 1866, Sarah married Gold Rush miner Jean Claude/John C. Ducray (17 years elder than Sarah) in Sacramento, California, three months before her 16th birthday. They had two daughters, Eda born in 1869, Hannah Lena born in 1872. The family lived in Nevada City, Nevada County, California.
John C. Ducray was born in the Ducray family village of Gondenans-Les-Moulins, France, in 1833. He was descended from one of the Ducray Nine, nine Ducray brothers who saved the life of the French king and in thanks were rewarded with villages and knighthood. The family crest is a shield with nine arrows (crossed in an asterisk fashion), representing the nine brothers. John C.'s forebear Servois Ducray was the first Ducray born in the family village of Gondenans-Les-Moulins, in 1610.
In 1839, John C.'s father and mother, Nicholas and Françoise/Frances (Petitjean) Ducray, emigrated to the U.S. with their nine children (see "HARDY PIONEER FAMILY" online), seeking a peaceful land. The family settled in Meadville, Pennsylvania.
In 1850, during the Gold Rush, 17-year-old John C. came to California with his brother, 26-year-old Jean-Baptiste/John B. Ducray. The brothers mined and lived on Oregon Hill in Nevada township, mining gold from the Oregon Ravine. John B. bought 35 acres there, where he built a large home, farmed, and planted orchards. Orchard Street was so-named due to John B.'s orchards, that extended north to what is now the site of Nevada County's Rood Government Center and Madelyn Helling Library. Famed horticulturist and author Felix Gillet, who became a Nevada City resident in the 1860s, became a close friend of the Ducrays, including John B.'s wife Julia Catherine, and John B.'s and Julia Catherine's niece/adopted daughter Theresa Julia Brenoel (whom Felix married in 1891). Felix was impressed with John B.'s orchards and farm, and mentioned them often in his newspaper and magazine articles. Felix established his famed Barren Hill Nursery on what became called Nursery Street, on Aristocracy Hill in Nevada City. He propagated and sold nut and fruit trees, locally and by mail order. Orchards throughout the Santa Clara Valley in California and Willamette Valley in Oregon, and other locations, were planted with Felix's trees, many of which still are bearing today.
Sarah and John C. had their home and land near Blue Tent in Nevada County. In January 1875, John C. sold their home and mining interests, and the family moved north. Tragically, John C. passed away at age 41 on 6 April 1875 in Oregon. A widow at 24 years old, Sarah returned to Nevada City, with 6 year old Eda and 2 year old Hannah Lena, travelling on the steamship Oriflamme from Portland to Sacramento. They lived with her brother-in-law John B. Ducray's family. A year later, in 1876, Sarah C. Ducray married Benjamin Norton Pottle in Nevada City. Benjamin was 13 years elder than Sarah.
Sarah and Benjamin and Eda and Hannah Lena moved to Analy township in Sonoma County, California, where Benjamin was a farmer. Daughter Eva Ella was born in 1879. The family moved to Millville, Shasta County, California, where Benjamin also was a farmer. Daughter Ivy Hazel was born 1890 September 16.
In July 1897, Sarah's daughters Eda and Hannah Lena Ducray traveled to San Francisco and stayed at the Cosmopolitan Hotel on Kearny Street. Their cousin Justin Frank Ducray's wife, Margaret "Maggie" Nugent Ducray, had passed away in San Francisco in June. Justin Frank and Maggie had four young children, Julian August (8 years old), Elizabeth "Bessie" Victoria (6 years old), Ursula Suzanne (3 years old), and Justin Nugent Ducray (1 year old). Justin Frank's father, Justin Ducray (born in Pennsylvania in 1840, the first Ducray of the family line born in the U.S.), was Eda and Hannah Lena's uncle, brother of their father John C. Ducray.
Justin Frank and his brother-in-law Robinson Nugent (Maggie's brother) owned Nugent-Ducray Company, a City contractor that installed and built water mains and streets in San Francisco, including the road to Coit Tower, and the famous "Crookedest Street In The World" Lombard Street.
In 1900, Sarah's daughter Hannah Lena Ducray was living in Berkeley, working as a maid as she attended school and earned her teaching credential. After graduation, she taught school near the present University of California at Berkeley. She married Matthew John Gough. Eda Ducray Howard and Hannah Lena both lived in Sonoma County at the end of their lives, where they had lived as children early in their mother's marriage to Benjamin. Hannah passed away in 1951, Eda in 1954.
Sarah and Benjamin's daughter Eva Ella married John Porter Fisher in 1905. Eva and John had daughter Beatrice Rosalie "Bea" Fisher in 1906. Sadly, John passed away in 1917 at only 38 years old, when Bea was only 11. afterward, Eva and Bea lived with Sarah and Benjamin. Bea married Owen Ashton Stanley. Eva never remarried.
Sarah and Benjamin's daughter Ivy Hazel registered to vote in 1912, when she was 21 years old (the minimum voting age at that time), only the second year women were allowed to vote in the U.S.
Ivy Hazel married Albert Hufford. They had three children, two girls and a boy; sadly, their son, Elton A. Hufford, did not survive. Their daughter Hazel Ivy married Roy Mason Bartholomew, and daughter Mavis Elva married Kenneth Ivan Cooper.
Sarah and Benjamin were married 45 years, before Benjamin passed away 1921 September 30. Sarah lived to age 82 and passed away on 1927 March 27.
∼Note: Please see marker photos at Memorial #50338258 for Sarah Pottle and #50338284 for Sarah's second husband Benjamin Norton Pottle.
Sarah C. Huber was born in Hungary on 12 September 1850. [Various censuses stated she was born in Hungary, Austria, and Germany. The confusion was due to changes in political borders in the 1800s and 1900s. She was born in the Magyar -- that is, Hungarian -- area of the Austrian Empire in 1850. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was re-formed into Austria-Hungary. After the end of World War I in 1918, Hungary's territory was reduced by 72% in the peace Treaty of Trianon signed 1920 June 4 in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. For a time, Germany claimed portions of Hungary and Austria. Sarah and her parents were of Magyar origin and spoke Magyar.]
In 1855, Sarah and her parents emigrated to the U.S.A. Sarah was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1856.
Three months before her 16th birthday, on 13 April 1866 Sarah married Jean Claude/John C. Ducray in Sacramento, California. John C. was 33, 17 years older. Sarah and John C. had daughter Eda on 12 April 1869 when Sarah was 18, and three years later their daughter Hannah Lena was born on 21 November 1872, when Sarah was 21.
Her husband John C. Ducray (born 1833 in France) and his elder brother Jean-Baptiste/John B. Ducray (born 1824 in France) were pioneers. In April 1850 during the Gold Rush, they came to Nevada township. They had already had quite an adventure moving to the United States from France in 1839 with their parents and their seven brothers and sisters, when their ship was wrecked off of the coast of Newfoundland (see "HARDY PIONEER FAMILY ducray" online). Fortunately, they were rescued, and the Ducray family made their way to Crawford County, Pennsylvania, where they settled and had a farm on the southern tip of Lake Tamarack in the area of Meadville.
The brothers John B. and John C. traveled to San Francisco in 1850 on the new steamship "Tennessee" from Panama City, after they voyaged to Chagres (a small town on the east coast of Panama) from New York City, and then crossed the perilous 60-mile-wide Isthmus of Panama by river and mule to reach Panama City and the "Tennessee." The new sea route saved several weeks and thousands of miles, versus the old route of rounding Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. The crossing of the Isthmus was fraught with adventures and possible dangers: tropical fevers, alligators, bandits. Those who successfully crossed the Isthmus were pleased and astounded by the luxuriant tropical jungle and exotic wildlife: parrots, monkeys, amazing flowers, waterfalls, and ferns.
From San Francisco, the Ducray brothers made their way to Nevada township, California, where they placer mined for gold on Oregon Hill, in the Oregon Ravine above town. John B. and his wife Julia Catherine bought 35 acres at the site, built a large home, and planted orchards on what became named Orchard Street for the orchards of pears, peaches, apples, walnuts, mulberries, and almonds John B. planted. The 35 acres of orchards and vineyards extended north, and included the present site of Nevada County's Rood Government Center and Madelyn Helling Library.
John C. and Sarah bought a home and acre near Blue Tent, where John C. owned some mining interests, but mostly they lived in the large five bedroom, fourteen room home of John B. and Julia Catherine Ducray on Orchard Street. Sarah and John C.'s daughter Eda was born 12 April 1869. Eda's little sister Hannah Lena was born 21 November 1872. John B. and Julia Catherine loved having their little nieces living in their home, especially since they had no children of their own. With 14 rooms on two stories, including five bedrooms and two parlors, and 35 acres of gardens and orchards, there was plenty of room for family. When sister Claude Marie Ducray, known as Mary (born 8 August 1828 in France), came out to visit, she stayed with them in John B.'s home. In nevada City, she met and married quartz gold miner Frank Wood. Upon their marriage, she changed her name to Mary F. Wood. Later, they made their home in Albany, Linn County, Oregon, where Frank Wood had his quarry and stone-cutting business.
Sadly, John C. fell ill with consumption (tuberculosis). Urged by his sister Mary to come to her home in Oregon, where she could nurse him, in January 1875 John C. sold his home and gold mining interests in Nevada county, and he and Sarah moved their little family north.
Tragically, on April 6, 1875, John C. Ducray passed away at only 41 years old, in his sister's home in Albany, Oregon. He was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Albany, Linn County, Oregon. Sarah was only 24 years old, Eda was 5 (he passed away six days before her sixth birthday), and Hannah was 2 years old.
Two weeks later, Sarah and her two young daughters traveled from Portland, Oregon, to San Francisco on the steamship Oriflamme, and returned to Nevada City. From 1875 to 1876, they lived in the home of her brother-in-law John B. Ducray, his wife Julia Catherine, and their niece/adopted daughter, Theresa Julia Monnin Brenoel. After John C. had moved north with Sarah and his little daughters, John B. and Julia Catherine had traveled by train to visit their family in Pennsylvania. Very saddened by their little nieces Eda and Hannah moving away and no longer living in their home in Nevada City, John B. and Julia Catherine brought their niece Theresa Julia Brenoel to Nevada City to live with them. She was born 22 October 1868 in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The Daily Alta California (a San Francisco newspaper) of May 23, 1875, reported John B. returning to California on the Overland train, passing through Carlin (Nevada). Theresa Julia came to live with her Uncle John B. and Aunt Julia Catherine when she was six years old. They loved their niece and raised her as their daughter, and she lived with them until they each passed away in 1890 when she was 21. They left their home and all of their property and assets to Theresa Julia. Perhaps in homage to her beloved Aunt Julia Catherine, after Julia Catherine's passing Theresa Julia changed her name to Julia Theresa.
A year after John C. Ducray's passing, in 1876 in Nevada City Sarah married Benjamin Norton Pottle (born in Maine 29 Oct 1838-1921 Sept 30 passed away in Shasta County, California). Benjamin, Sarah, and Sarah's daughters Eda and Hannah Lena Ducray moved to Bloomfield in Sonoma County, where Benjamin was a farmer. A year later they moved to Millville, Shasta County, California, where Benjamin also was a farmer. The Pottle family were long-established land owners and ranchers in Millville and Shasta County.
38 years old when they married in 1876, Benjamin was 12 years older than Sarah (though five years younger than John C. Ducray had been). Eda was 7 years old, and Hannah Lena was 4.
In 1878, Benjamin and Sarah had a daughter, Eva Ella Pottle. Eva was born when Eda was 9, and Hannah Lena was 6. Eva married John Porter Fisher in 1905. In 1906, John and Eva's daughter Beatrice Rosalie "Bea" Fisher was born. Sadly, John passed away at only 38 years old, in 1917, when Bea was only 11. Eva and Bea then lived with Sarah and Benjamin. Bea later married Owen Ashton Stanley.
In 1890, Benjamin and Sarah had daughter Ivy Hazel. Ivy married Albert Hufford in 1916. Ivy and Albert had two daughters, Hazel Ivy, born in 1917, who married Roy Mason Bartholomew, and Mavis Elva, born in 1919, who married Kenneth Ivan Cooper. Sadly, Ivy and Albert's son, Elton A. Hufford, did not survive.
Sarah and Benjamin enjoyed 45 years of marriage before his passing in 1921. Sarah lived five and a half years longer, and passed away in 1927 at age 76. Sarah and Benjamin are at rest beside each other in Millville Masonic Cemetery. Their markers are lovingly inscribed "Mother" and "Father."
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