Delphyen 'Della Amanda Willits was born about 1861 in Wayne County Indiana, the daughter of Charles Martin and Sara Emily (Hill) Willits. Her father served Indiana for the Union in the U.S. Civil War. By 1877 Charles moved his family to Mendocino, California to follow his cousin, Hiram S. Willits. Hiram had come west from Indiana to Placerville to mine for gold in 1850 and worked his way west to Mendocino where he settled in Little Lake Valley which came to be known temporarily as Willitsville and eventually became incorporated as Willits. In July of 1877, at 16 years of age, Della married 32 year old Eugene Silvain Caylat. They had a son the following year who they named Thomas W Caylat. Thomas died a year later and is buried in Guerneville, Sonoma, California at Redwood Memorial Cemetery. They had a daughter in about 1882 named Mildred May. When Eugene died in 1890, he left property 'with improvements' in the town of Guerneville to his wife and daughter. He was buried at Little Lake Cemetery in Willits.
In 1892 Della married Joshua Bishop Whited and they had a daughter named Ruth who died at the age of 3. I have not yet found what had become of Mildred May, her daughter by Eugene. Della Amanda died at the age of 38 while visiting her brother, Frank, in Whittier, California in April of 1899. She was buried there at Broadway Cemetery,which was abandoned in the 1930's, and shares a head stone with her daughter, Ruth. In 1968 the City of Whittier acquired the property and created Founders Memorial Park on the four acres of land. Gravestones were removed and two monuments were erected that list the 2,380 persons who were buried there.
The tombstones are piled up behind the Whittier Historical Society. My husband and I found the headstone for Della and Ruth Whited and would have been allowed to bring it home and return it to Sonoma County to be with her little boy. The expense of accomplishing that made the prospect impossible. We left with heavy hearts for the heartbreak that Della had to bear, but comforted that she is with her daughter, Ruth.
In 1892 Della married Joshua Bishop Whited and they had a daughter named Ruth who died at the age of 3. I have not yet found what had become of Mildred May, her daughter by Eugene. Della Amanda died at the age of 38 while visiting her brother, Frank, in Whittier, California in April of 1899. She was buried there at Broadway Cemetery,which was abandoned in the 1930's, and shares a head stone with her daughter, Ruth. In 1968 the City of Whittier acquired the property and created Founders Memorial Park on the four acres of land. Gravestones were removed and two monuments were erected that list the 2,380 persons who were buried there.
The tombstones are piled up behind the Whittier Historical Society. My husband and I found the headstone for Della and Ruth Whited and would have been allowed to bring it home and return it to Sonoma County to be with her little boy. The expense of accomplishing that made the prospect impossible. We left with heavy hearts for the heartbreak that Della had to bear, but comforted that she is with her daughter, Ruth.
Delphyen 'Della Amanda Willits was born about 1861 in Wayne County Indiana, the daughter of Charles Martin and Sara Emily (Hill) Willits. Her father served Indiana for the Union in the U.S. Civil War. By 1877 Charles moved his family to Mendocino, California to follow his cousin, Hiram S. Willits. Hiram had come west from Indiana to Placerville to mine for gold in 1850 and worked his way west to Mendocino where he settled in Little Lake Valley which came to be known temporarily as Willitsville and eventually became incorporated as Willits. In July of 1877, at 16 years of age, Della married 32 year old Eugene Silvain Caylat. They had a son the following year who they named Thomas W Caylat. Thomas died a year later and is buried in Guerneville, Sonoma, California at Redwood Memorial Cemetery. They had a daughter in about 1882 named Mildred May. When Eugene died in 1890, he left property 'with improvements' in the town of Guerneville to his wife and daughter. He was buried at Little Lake Cemetery in Willits.
In 1892 Della married Joshua Bishop Whited and they had a daughter named Ruth who died at the age of 3. I have not yet found what had become of Mildred May, her daughter by Eugene. Della Amanda died at the age of 38 while visiting her brother, Frank, in Whittier, California in April of 1899. She was buried there at Broadway Cemetery,which was abandoned in the 1930's, and shares a head stone with her daughter, Ruth. In 1968 the City of Whittier acquired the property and created Founders Memorial Park on the four acres of land. Gravestones were removed and two monuments were erected that list the 2,380 persons who were buried there.
The tombstones are piled up behind the Whittier Historical Society. My husband and I found the headstone for Della and Ruth Whited and would have been allowed to bring it home and return it to Sonoma County to be with her little boy. The expense of accomplishing that made the prospect impossible. We left with heavy hearts for the heartbreak that Della had to bear, but comforted that she is with her daughter, Ruth.
In 1892 Della married Joshua Bishop Whited and they had a daughter named Ruth who died at the age of 3. I have not yet found what had become of Mildred May, her daughter by Eugene. Della Amanda died at the age of 38 while visiting her brother, Frank, in Whittier, California in April of 1899. She was buried there at Broadway Cemetery,which was abandoned in the 1930's, and shares a head stone with her daughter, Ruth. In 1968 the City of Whittier acquired the property and created Founders Memorial Park on the four acres of land. Gravestones were removed and two monuments were erected that list the 2,380 persons who were buried there.
The tombstones are piled up behind the Whittier Historical Society. My husband and I found the headstone for Della and Ruth Whited and would have been allowed to bring it home and return it to Sonoma County to be with her little boy. The expense of accomplishing that made the prospect impossible. We left with heavy hearts for the heartbreak that Della had to bear, but comforted that she is with her daughter, Ruth.
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