William Brown Ide (March 28, 1796 - December 19 or 20, 1852) was a California pioneer and Commander of the short-lived California Republic.
William Ide was born in Rutland, Massachusetts to Lemuel Ide, a member of the Vermont State Legislature. A carpenter by trade, Ide married Susan Grout Haskell (1799 - 1850) in 1820. He and his wife Susan lived at first in Massachusetts, but soon began moving westward—to Kentucky, then to Ohio after converting...
more
William Brown Ide (March 28, 1796 - December 19 or 20, 1852) was a California pioneer and Commander of the short-lived California Republic.
William Ide was born in Rutland, Massachusetts to Lemuel Ide, a member of the Vermont State Legislature. A carpenter by trade, Ide married Susan Grout Haskell (1799 - 1850) in 1820. He and his wife Susan lived at first in Massachusetts, but soon began moving westward—to Kentucky, then to Ohio after converting to Mormonism, and finally to Illinois. They farmed in Springfield, with Ide supplementing his income by teaching school.
In 1845, Ide sold his farm and joined a wagon train in Independence, Missouri headed for Oregon. On the advice of the mountain man Caleb Greenwood, Ide and a group of settlers split off and headed to Alta California, then a province of Mexico. They arrived at Sutter's Fort on October 25, 1845. Ides travelled north to work for Peter Lassen on Rancho Bosquejo.
In 1846, on a report that the Mexican government was threatening...
less
