Person:Eleazer Laird (1)

[lairdwft6.FTW]

[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 6, Ed. 1, Tree #2441, Date of Import: Aug 18, 1998]

Grew up in Hopkins Co. KY., and when the gold rush hit, he rode to St.Louis, MO., and joined a wagon train for California, following several of his elder cousins on the Givens side. He traveled overland to California in an ox-drawn wagon, in 1852 settling first in San Joaquin Co., CA. about 2 miles north of Lockeford, CA., where he owned 400 acres of land. The ferry on the old upper Sacramento Road crossing the Mokelumne River one mile west of Lockeford was originally called Laird's Ferry. (He lived near his cousin, James Laird Christian.) He married Mary Jane McDowell on 27 July 1853 Stockton, CA. She was born in Illinois or Ohio, an 22 Apr. 1834, grew up in Kentucky, and had come to California also in 1852 with her brothers, Jessie F. and John F. McDowell, and John's wife, who died enroute, in Nevada. John F. McDowell eventually settled in Academy, CA., near Fresno, and had 2 daughters and a son, who all died unmarried, and Jessie F. McDowell settled in Merced Co., CA.

Eleazer Givens Laird and Mary Jane (McDowell) Laird left the Lockeford area about 1864, moving to Merced Co., CA., where they resided near Snelling, CA., and then after 1870, they moved to Mariposa Co., CA., where they settled on the Bull Run Ranch in Cathey's Valley CA., on the road to Mariposa. The ranch house burned completely in about 1890, and was not rebuilt. They also had a summer home in Jerseydale, CA. near the entrance into Yosemite Valley, and the family used to go horseback riding and camping in Yosemite Valley before there were many roads. Eleazer Givens Laird died on 22 June 1891 in Jerseydale, Mariposa Co., CA.and Mary Jane Laird died on 15 Nov. 1901 in Stockton, CA. They were both buried in the Givens' Cemetary on the Texas Ranch, near Hornitos, Mariposa Co. CA. They had 12 Children:

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Brøderbund Software, Inc. World Family Tree Vol. 6, Ed. 1. (Release date: August 22, 1996)
   Tree #2441.

   Date of Import: Aug 18, 1998

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} lairdwft6.FTW.

   Date of Import: Aug 18, 1998