Joshua married Eliza Jane Gibson on August 14, 1848/49 in Lisbon, Linn County, Iowa. They had five children, all born in Iowa: John Joshua (1851 to 1906), Sarah (1852 to 1852), Angelina (Anna) (1855 to 1883), Mary Emma (1857 to 1916?) and Henry Colin (1859 to 1903).

In 1850 Joshua (age 23) and Eliza (age 18) lived in Linn County, Iowa next door to Eliza's parents. In 1852 and 1856 they lived in Franklin, Linn County, Iowa.

In 1860 Joshua (age 32), Eliza (age 27), children John J. (age 8), Angeline (age 5), Mary (age 3) and Henry (age 7 months) lived in Mt. Vernon, Franklin Township, Linn County, Iowa. Joshua was a farmer.

The 1870 census shows Joshua's widow Eliza Jane living in Iowa with four children: John, Angeline, Mary and Henry. At the time of her death the only child living was Emma (Mary).

Bio by Alan Wallace, Reno, Nevada
September 12, 2017:

Joshua Morford had a ranch on the east side of Paradise Valley in northern Humboldt County, Nevada, in the mid 1860s, but he got into an argument in 1867 and was shot and killed when it escalated into a gunfight. Morford was born in Pennsylvania in February 1828. He was the seventh of twelve children born in Pennsylvania to Daniel and Catherine Morford, with the youngest born in 1839. The family moved to Iowa in the 1840s, and Joshua married Eliza Jane Gibson (born 1832 in Indiana) in Linn County, Iowa, in August 1849. They were living next to Eliza Jane's large family in 1850. The couple remained there into 1860, with Joshua working as a farmer, and they had five children between 1851 or 1852 and late 1859; their first or second child, Sarah, was born and died in early 1852.

Joshua went west to California "seeking gain for his loved ones" sometime after the June 1860 census in Iowa and before the middle of 1862. Red Bluff was in the northern Sacramento Valley of California, and Morford had an unclaimed letter at the Red Bluff post office in early July 1862 and another one there in early April 1863. Family records show that he died in California in 1862. That suggests that he did not reply to the 1863 letter, or possibly even the July 1862 letter, leading Eliza and the family back home to assume that he had died. Unclaimed letters typically went to the Dead Letter Office and were not returned.

Morford, however, was far from dead: he was in the Humboldt Range in Humboldt County, northwestern Nevada, which was the hub of active silver mining. By the end of July 1862, he already owned a share of a claim that he sold to another man. He sold shares in three more claims and bought a share in a fourth claim in December. He clearly was not in Red Bluff to pick up his mail. Sometime in late 1864 or early 1865, he came into possession of a ranch on the east side of Paradise Valley, along the Little Humboldt River in the northern part of Humboldt County, and he was taxed for the ranch in 1865 and 1866. Paradise Valley was in the midst of battles with the Paiutes, so all of the ranchers were on alert in case of an attack. Morford also became the administrator of the estate of another Paradise Valley man in early December 1866. Later that month, he had an altercation with a man named Wilson over something that Morford had said; the other man took offense and went after Morford. Wilson continued to advance despite Morford's warning to stop, and Morford severely wounded Wilson with a knife cut across the stomach. Wilson ran into a nearby house, emerged with a revolver, and unleashed five shots towards Morford, none of which connected. Morford was arrested, but his continued work on the estate suggests that it was ruled as self defense. The related article in the Sacramento Daily Union noted that Wilson "is an ex-soldier and said to be a very desperate man."

An article about the following shooting ran in the Saturday, May 4, 1867 issue of the Humboldt Register. On Sunday, April 28, 1867, Morford got into a heated argument with Cyrus Abel, another Paradise Valley rancher and part of the large Abel family. According to a letter sent to the Humboldt Register, the argument arose over a ranching partnership that the two men had in the summer of 1866. Morford said "the two could not live in the valley at the same time." He drew his pistol, Abel drew his, and each man fired five shots. Morford missed, but at least two of Abel's bullets hit their target, one breaking Morford's thigh and the other going through his lower body. Morford died Monday, April 29, 1867. Abel immediately turned himself in to Justice of the Peace Mark Haviland, and he was released after evidence (likely witnesses) determined that he shot Morford in self defense. Morford's 1867 tax record was for just personal property, and the ranch may have been sold off in 1867 to pay off a mortgage and other debts. Morford's estate was finally settled in 1869.

Eliza Jane was living with the children in Iowa at the time of the 1870 census and married Amos Atkinson in 1871. She raised her children (and her grandchildren after the death of one daughter) and died in Iowa in 1916. Joshua Morford was not buried in the Paradise Valley cemetery, and nothing indicates that his body was sent back to family in Iowa for burial.

Joshua Morford's travels and intentions in the West are a mystery. The family story is that he went to California in the early 1860s and died in California in 1862. The rest of the story is that he was in Humboldt County from the middle of 1862 until his 1867 death. Given his Iowa starting point, he most likely joined a westbound wagon train that passed through Humboldt County and went on to California; Red Bluff was the endpoint for one of the major travel routes. In one scenario, he made it to California and possibly wrote home to say that he was in Red Bluff. Red Bluff being a major shipping point to the Humboldt Range, he heard about the silver discoveries and joined the many Red Bluff men who went to try their luck in the late spring of 1862. Family back home wrote to him in Red Bluff in July 1862 and again in April 1863. Morford, however, was in the Humboldt Range by July 1862 at the latest and probably did not receive either letter, and the lack of any response led the family to assume that he had died in 1862. A second scenario is that he reached Humboldt County, saw all of the mining activity right near the wagon route, and decided to end his trip. Thus, although he might have intended to go to Red Bluff (and may have told the family back home to write to him there), he never arrived in Red Bluff and never got the letters.

Regardless of the scenario, it appears that the family back in Iowa never heard from him from either California or Nevada, even though Morford was in Humboldt County for five years and could have written in that interval. He had a wife, four children, and an extensive family back home, so the lack of communication is a puzzle. However, some men who experienced new adventures and freedom from responsibilities in the West essentially abandoned their former lives and families back home (J.S. Holliday, 2002, The World Rushed In; also recorded for several other Humboldt County settlers in the early 1860s). Had Morford not died, later records might have shed light on his intentions: he could have brought the family to Paradise Valley if the ranch was successful; he could have returned home and resumed his family life; or he could have continued with his new family-free life. Sadly, Morford did die, so nobody will ever know his intentions.

There is no record of Joshua's burial location. Most likely he was buried on his ranch or near where he was killed and not in a formal cemetery.

The Morford family is forever grateful to Alan Wallace for his time, extensive research and bio he wrote about our descendant Joshua Morford. We send our thanks.