Return to the El Dorado County Page Return to El Dorado County TalesWritten by Joanne Burkett from research taken from Paolo Sioli's History of El Dorado County California, from El Dorado Co. birth, marriage, death and land records and often from interviews.
The Crocker family name has a long history in the county of Devonshire, along England's coastline. In fact, Crockers are plentiful in the county as far back or farther than the early 1400s.
The terrain is hilly and picturesque, with many parts of it covered by forest and fine grazing land. When Samson and Mary Crocker pledged their marriage vows there in 1815, they probably never dreamed they would their homeland and end up in America, the parents of a California gold rush Argonaut. But, as time would show, leaving their English homeland forever was their destiny.
By the time John, the first of their nine children was born, they were living in Baltimore, Md. From Baltimore, they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where they welcomed their fifth child, James, into the family fold. Over the years, the children grew to adulthood. For those times, childhood mortality was an iffy thing. Families often lost several children before they could grow to adulthood. Plagues and deadly childhood diseases cut down whole families. So, it stands to reason that the Crocker family must have grieved, but also counted themselves lucky that they lost only one child.
John and his sons farmed the land. James was a big part of that effort until, as a young man of 22, he was seized with the lust of adventure and the siren call of gold fever. It was all he could talk about.
In the early part of spring,1855, James boarded ship, sailed around the Isthmus of Panama and disembarked on June 17 in teaming, bustling San Francisco.
Securing provisions, the young man wasted no time in getting to Coloma, which was a prosperous, bustling place itself. Men were still pulling gold out of "them thar hills," and James Crocker would be one of them for nearly 20 years, working claims all through the northern mines.
Then he fell in love. James Crocker and Mary McKay were united in marriage and welcomed the arrival of their first son, John O around 1859. Nine years later, Frederick was born, followed by two more sons, James H. and William, as well as one daughter, Sarah. Although young John O was listed in the 1870 census, records show he did not survive. James and his wife lost a son, just as his parents had so many years before.
As the gold supply became harder and harder to obtain, the same sort of frenzy for gold and silver was going on in Nevada.
At some point after his marriage, James threw down his shovel and picked up a set of reins. He would climb up onto the rough plank seat of a heavy wagon and work as a freight hauler for the next several years, driving a team, burdened with huge loads of supplies, over the Sierras to those Nevada mines. His own gold fever had dimmed with the responsibilities of a family and the security of a steady paycheck.
By the time of the 1870 census, James and his family were listed as residents of Coloma Township.
Despite providing for his growing family, James and Mary managed to put aside some cash with the hopes of buying a plot of land to call their own.
That day arrived sometime in 1880 when he signed the final papers on the 17-acre parcel of fruit-bearing land that he and his family would call home from then on. Planting 100 fruit trees per acre, he soon had an impressive orchard of 1,700 miscellaneous trees, as well as 1,000 grape vines. He would be counted among the first to successfully farm the Sierra foothill country around Coloma, an area that would prove to be the leading fruit-producing part of El Dorado County. The quality of product was so fine that the areas ranchers demanded and received the highest prices for their produce.
Over the years, James Crocker settled into the fabric of the Sierra foothills he loved. Ohio was long forgotten. He became an active member of the Coloma chapter of the Ancient Order of United Workmen - a Masonic order - and the Sutter Mill Grange, and although he lived the remainder of his life half a world from his family's ancestral home, he had found his future in the land, just as they had.
Permission is granted by the author to use or republish this article, but proper attribution to the author -- Joanne Burkett -- is requested.
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Last Updated on: 10 October 2003