Theodore Judah living at Antelope (Sacramento County), California???
I'm trying to find out if anyone has any information regarding Theodore Judah rooming for a time in, or near, Antelope (Sacramento County), California. In the book "Penryn - A Village Locked in Time" by local historian Leonard M. Davis, under a biographical sketch for James Blanchard, an early-day Penryn (CA) resident, Mr. Davis writes:
"During the building of the Central Pacific Railroad, he [Blanchard] lived at Antelope along the Sacramento-Placer County Line at which time Theodore D. Judah... roomed and boarded with him."
Unfortunately, Mr. Davis no longer has his notes, so the original source of this information is, at present, unknown.
Considering the fact that Judah left these parts, never to return, in October 1863, I was wondering if this was even possible chronologically, as I didn't think Antelope came into being until sometime in 1864, or shortly thereafter.
Any insights or information would be greatly appreciated. —Cliff Kennedy, Penryn, CA
posted from CPRR Discussion Group at 5:00 PM
3 Comments:
From: "Chris Graves" caliron@cwnet.com
I have a document from Folsom, Sacramento County, attesting that Theo. Judah was foreman of a coroners jury on Nov. 1, 1858, in Folsom. And, I have a letter mailed from Folsom, Cal. by Judah, to his wife, the envelope is franked "Calif. Central Engineering Dept. Folsom, Cal." and dated November 15, however the year is not readable. When do you believe Mr. Judah moved to Antelope, and why did he move from Folsom? Do you have the name of the rooming house? This could be fun to track down ...
—G J Chris Graves, NewCastle, Cal.
From: "Wendell Huffman" wendellhuffman@hotmail.com
It makes sense that Judah was living in Folsom in November 1858.
From the spring of 1858 (when he returned from an extended visit to the east coast) until October 1859 (when he was engaged by the San Francisco Pacific railroad convention to go again to Washington D.C.), Judah was nominally working as the chief engineer of the California Central, which ran from Folsom to Lincoln. However, during this period (late summer of 1858) Judah also ran three surveys to Auburn – one from Folsom, one from Griders (Roseville), and one from Lincoln. It is possible he may have stayed briefly in the Griders-Antelope area at that time.
Judah was back in California from July 1860 until October 1861, and from March (plus or minus a month) 1861 until he departed, he was indeed working on the preliminary survey for the CPRR's Donner route. During that exercise he would have been all along the line, and may well have spent some time in the Antelope-Roseville area – since it is known that he tried various routes from there into the mountains (hoping to make something of his stillborn California Eastern railroad).
Following July 1862 he was back in California, but nothing much was done in connection with the CPRR route until October (after the ill-fated expedition down the Feather River). Again from October 1862 to the fight with Huntington in July 1863, and even after until his final departure in the fall of 1863 Judah would have been involved to some extent on the railroad with the actual location survey and grading engineering work – and this would specifically have been on that section of railroad between Sacramento and Roseville.
One note of caution, however. Judah was assisted in much of this work (especially on the CPRR) by his brother Douglas, and one newspaper account even indicates that Douglas Judah was in charge of the survey work between Sacramento and Roseville during that later period. Any time Judah is mentioned, Theodore is assumed. However, it may well have been Douglas.
—Wendell
So it seems entirely possible that Judah may well have stayed in that general area while surveying the CPRR route. I still don't think, however, that it could have been in the town of Antelope, as I'm reasonably sure it didn't exist as a townsite until after Judah's death.
I'll try to pin down the location of James Blanchard's boarding house (I don't know if it had a name or not) or place of residence between approximately 1860 and 1863, when Judah would have been most active in the present-day Antelope / Roseville area.
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