Susannah McCord Coon is the mother of the following Coon siblings interred at Dayton Cemetery: Albert William Coon, America E. Coon, Caroline Panama Coon, Perry Matson Coon, Martha Ellen (Coon) Lewis, Mary Marilda (Coon) Fritter, and Robert Michael Coon. They were reared by her sister Sarah McCord Freeland Coon [31366026] and their father, Isaac Coon. Susannah McCord Coon died on August 11, 1860, en route to California, and is buried Little Antelope Spring, Pershing County, Nevada.
Chico Enterprise-Record, Saturday, May 28, 1949: "Death of Martha Ellen Lewis Ends Story of Westward Trek. When Martha Ellen Lewis, 96, longtime resident of Dayton, died in Chico yesterday, a part of the old and romantic west died with her. She was the last survivor of a party of 120 men, women and children who crossed the plains to this area in 1860. Mrs. Lewis, well-known in the Durham-Dayton-Chico area, could tell stories of the West as it was 90 years ago when she first came here as a small child. She remembered seeing Abraham Lincoln in Mattoon, Ill., and she remembered wagon train experiences during the long trek from Illinois to California. Death came to Mrs. Lewis in the Taylor Rest Home in Chico yesterday after a fall two weeks ago at the home of her son, S.G. Lewis in Dayton. She suffered a fractured hip and both legs were put into a cast. According to reports, the shock of the fall and being unable to move were too great for her aged system.
The pioneer woman was born in Mattoon, Colds [sic: Coles, Ed.] County, Ill., Dec. 4, 1853. When she was six, her parents joined the oxen-drawn wagon train and left Illinois April 1, 1860. The group arrived in Butte County, September 15, of the same year. During the trip, Mrs. Lewis' mother, Susan Coon, died August 7 about 40 miles northwest of Lovelock, Pershing County, Nev., while giving birth to Robert M. Coon. The bed of a wagon was used to make a casket and Mrs. Coon was buried by the side of the trail, with a granite grave marker fashioned from native stone placed on the mound. Her name and the date of her death were engraved in the stone. Descendants of Mrs. Coon tried for years to find the marker, but were unable to discover it until 1931. (See story at the bottom of this page). After the party crossed the Sierras the members separated. Eighty men and women settled in Oregon. The remainder settled in Butte County. Issac Coon, father of Mrs. Lewis, purchased squatters' rights at the Four Corners near Dayton five weeks after arriving there. The property is still owned by descendants of the pioneer. Mrs. Lewis had a vivid and accurate memory up to the time of her death and was able to remember dates and events that occurred more than a half century ago. Her life story and that of her family are an important chapter in the history of the Dayton-Durham area. She often told of the time Lincoln came to Mattoon for a speaking engagement and folks came from miles around to hear him. After the speech, the families spread their lunches on improvised tables made from bales of hay, and when luncheon was over, the hay tables were fed to the horses she said. Mrs. Lewis was married in 1882 to James E. Lewis in Oroville. She is survived by four children, Mrs. Nellie B. Fortier, Stephen, with whom she lived, and Joseph E. Lewis, of Chico; 17 grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews and other descendants in this area. She was a member of the First Christian Church in Chico. Funeral services will be Tuesday at 1 [sic] a.m. in the Huddleston Funeral Chapel with Rev. Robert Clark of the First Christian Church officiating. Interment will be in the family plot in the Dayton Cemetery."
Chico Enterprise-Record, Saturday, May 28, 1949: "Pioneer Woman's Death Recalls Story of Search for Grave. A clipping from a 1931 newspaper tells of the finding of the grave of a pioneer mother, after a search of almost 71 years by local residents. The clipping, reprinted below in its entirety, tells how Robert E. Coon, whose mother died at his birth, tried for a number of years to find the grave. Until the marker was found, he could not tell for certain which western state in which he was born. Susan Coon, wife of Isaac, was buried alongside the trail after her death in the wagon train bound for California. The story was brought to light after the death yesterday of her daughter, Mrs. Martha Ellen Lewis, sole survivor of the old wagon train. On a lonely knoll overlooking the desolate windswept Nevada wastes, a party of searchers have found the grave of a pioneer mother who died 71 years ago, and hereby have ended a hunt extending over the last half century. Back in Chico after numerous futile efforts to locate the burying place, relatives of the mother and members of the wagon train in which she died in childbirth, yesterday told of finding the spot on the Humboldt side of the Nevada desert. There, in one of the prairie schooners of the wagon train, the mother succumbed on August 11, 1860, scarcely 300 miles from the Land Of Promise. She was Mrs. Susan Coon, and the son she bore there as the train halted is Robert M. Coon, who today is a rancher in the Dayton section. Deprived of his mother, he was nursed by a Mrs. Warren, another mother of the train, until the party could reach what is now the Durham and Dayton sections and buy a cow from the earlier settlers.
Location of the grave was of more than particular interest to the son, who not until yesterday was able to establish the place of his birth. Not knowing where his mother's grave was located, he did not know whether he was a native of California, Nevada or Utah. In the party making the discovery after the half century hunt were Orel Richardson of Chico, grand nephew of Isaac and Susan Coon, S.G. Lewis, Chico groceryman, grandson of the couple; Mrs. Martha E. Lewis, 78, of Dayton, a daughter; Mrs. Frances Duffield of Corning, 82, and Mrs. Mary Jane Richardson of Chico, 77, the latter two nieces. All of the three women are among the few still living who crossed the plains in the wagon train as children. Others still living include Albert William Coon of Dayton, Emmett Coon of Durham, Robert M. Coon of Dayton and Maggie Coon of Chico. Actual discovery of the grave was made by Lewis while other members of the party were inspecting the ground near Little Antelope Spring. The burying place was found on a little knoll about 150 yards from the spring, hidden beneath sagebrush and juniper trees. Despite the fact it had remained there apparently uncared for during the last 71 years, the headstone was found in perfect condition, with the exception of a small piece broken off, and the letters were clearly visible. Carved in a sandstone block found in that section, the searchers found the brief epitaph: 'Susan Coon, wife of Isac [sic: Isaac] Coon, died August 11, 1860, aged 40 years.' Then inscribed on the side of the stone and running in the opposite direction were the three words, 'Colds [sic; should read Coles] County, Ill.', the birthplace of the mother. Discovery of the grave came only after Orel Richardson and Lewis had made a systematic search of all the country in Nevada from Susanville south. Starting near Susanville they traveled by automobile over all the pioneer trails, searching minutely spot after spot that in any way tallied with the vague descriptions they had obtained from the dimmed minds of the still living members of the train. It was not until they had worked all the country from Susanville down toward Lovelock and had met the old Emigrant Trail there that they were able to obtain their first definite clues by finding the spring. Maps obtained by old-time residents further aided in the search and on Sunday the party finally came upon the spring, which despite the fact that 71 years have passed, was readily recognized by the three women who crossed the plains as children. After clearing away the brush and otherwise improving the site, the party returned to Lovelock and Reno Monday and arrived in Chico late Monday night, thus climaxing the half century search."
Chico Enterprise-Record, Tuesday, May 31, 1949: "Services Held Here For Pioneer Woman. Funeral services for Martha Ellen Lewis, pioneer resident of Dayton who died last Friday, were held this morning at 10 o'clock in the Huddleston Funeral Chapel. Rev. Robert Clark of the First Christian Church officiated at the services with Carl Hunter singing, 'The Lord's Prayer' and 'Abide With Me,' accompanied on the chapel organ by Marie Erwin. Casket bearers, all relatives of the deceased were, Samuel G., Albert W., and Robert E. Lewis, Joseph L. McDaniel, Raymond Pyle and O.G. Richardson. Interment was in the family plot in the Dayton Cemetery."
Coon Descendants, by Frances Davis McTeer, 1979, (pg. 184): Martha Ellen Coon ... married in Butte County 12 Oct 1882, James Ervin Lewis. "After their marriage the Lewises removed to Washington state, thence to Oregon, and then to Idaho where they took up government land and improved a farm. In 1893, however, they returned to Butte Co., where they lived in Dayton on the ranch originally settled by Martha's father, Isaac Coon. (History of Butte Co., Calif., 1918, by George C. Mansfield.)"
Chico Enterprise-Record, Saturday, May 28, 1949: "Death of Martha Ellen Lewis Ends Story of Westward Trek. When Martha Ellen Lewis, 96, longtime resident of Dayton, died in Chico yesterday, a part of the old and romantic west died with her. She was the last survivor of a party of 120 men, women and children who crossed the plains to this area in 1860. Mrs. Lewis, well-known in the Durham-Dayton-Chico area, could tell stories of the West as it was 90 years ago when she first came here as a small child. She remembered seeing Abraham Lincoln in Mattoon, Ill., and she remembered wagon train experiences during the long trek from Illinois to California. Death came to Mrs. Lewis in the Taylor Rest Home in Chico yesterday after a fall two weeks ago at the home of her son, S.G. Lewis in Dayton. She suffered a fractured hip and both legs were put into a cast. According to reports, the shock of the fall and being unable to move were too great for her aged system.
The pioneer woman was born in Mattoon, Colds [sic: Coles, Ed.] County, Ill., Dec. 4, 1853. When she was six, her parents joined the oxen-drawn wagon train and left Illinois April 1, 1860. The group arrived in Butte County, September 15, of the same year. During the trip, Mrs. Lewis' mother, Susan Coon, died August 7 about 40 miles northwest of Lovelock, Pershing County, Nev., while giving birth to Robert M. Coon. The bed of a wagon was used to make a casket and Mrs. Coon was buried by the side of the trail, with a granite grave marker fashioned from native stone placed on the mound. Her name and the date of her death were engraved in the stone. Descendants of Mrs. Coon tried for years to find the marker, but were unable to discover it until 1931. (See story at the bottom of this page). After the party crossed the Sierras the members separated. Eighty men and women settled in Oregon. The remainder settled in Butte County. Issac Coon, father of Mrs. Lewis, purchased squatters' rights at the Four Corners near Dayton five weeks after arriving there. The property is still owned by descendants of the pioneer. Mrs. Lewis had a vivid and accurate memory up to the time of her death and was able to remember dates and events that occurred more than a half century ago. Her life story and that of her family are an important chapter in the history of the Dayton-Durham area. She often told of the time Lincoln came to Mattoon for a speaking engagement and folks came from miles around to hear him. After the speech, the families spread their lunches on improvised tables made from bales of hay, and when luncheon was over, the hay tables were fed to the horses she said. Mrs. Lewis was married in 1882 to James E. Lewis in Oroville. She is survived by four children, Mrs. Nellie B. Fortier, Stephen, with whom she lived, and Joseph E. Lewis, of Chico; 17 grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews and other descendants in this area. She was a member of the First Christian Church in Chico. Funeral services will be Tuesday at 1 [sic] a.m. in the Huddleston Funeral Chapel with Rev. Robert Clark of the First Christian Church officiating. Interment will be in the family plot in the Dayton Cemetery."
Chico Enterprise-Record, Saturday, May 28, 1949: "Pioneer Woman's Death Recalls Story of Search for Grave. A clipping from a 1931 newspaper tells of the finding of the grave of a pioneer mother, after a search of almost 71 years by local residents. The clipping, reprinted below in its entirety, tells how Robert E. Coon, whose mother died at his birth, tried for a number of years to find the grave. Until the marker was found, he could not tell for certain which western state in which he was born. Susan Coon, wife of Isaac, was buried alongside the trail after her death in the wagon train bound for California. The story was brought to light after the death yesterday of her daughter, Mrs. Martha Ellen Lewis, sole survivor of the old wagon train. On a lonely knoll overlooking the desolate windswept Nevada wastes, a party of searchers have found the grave of a pioneer mother who died 71 years ago, and hereby have ended a hunt extending over the last half century. Back in Chico after numerous futile efforts to locate the burying place, relatives of the mother and members of the wagon train in which she died in childbirth, yesterday told of finding the spot on the Humboldt side of the Nevada desert. There, in one of the prairie schooners of the wagon train, the mother succumbed on August 11, 1860, scarcely 300 miles from the Land Of Promise. She was Mrs. Susan Coon, and the son she bore there as the train halted is Robert M. Coon, who today is a rancher in the Dayton section. Deprived of his mother, he was nursed by a Mrs. Warren, another mother of the train, until the party could reach what is now the Durham and Dayton sections and buy a cow from the earlier settlers.
Location of the grave was of more than particular interest to the son, who not until yesterday was able to establish the place of his birth. Not knowing where his mother's grave was located, he did not know whether he was a native of California, Nevada or Utah. In the party making the discovery after the half century hunt were Orel Richardson of Chico, grand nephew of Isaac and Susan Coon, S.G. Lewis, Chico groceryman, grandson of the couple; Mrs. Martha E. Lewis, 78, of Dayton, a daughter; Mrs. Frances Duffield of Corning, 82, and Mrs. Mary Jane Richardson of Chico, 77, the latter two nieces. All of the three women are among the few still living who crossed the plains in the wagon train as children. Others still living include Albert William Coon of Dayton, Emmett Coon of Durham, Robert M. Coon of Dayton and Maggie Coon of Chico. Actual discovery of the grave was made by Lewis while other members of the party were inspecting the ground near Little Antelope Spring. The burying place was found on a little knoll about 150 yards from the spring, hidden beneath sagebrush and juniper trees. Despite the fact it had remained there apparently uncared for during the last 71 years, the headstone was found in perfect condition, with the exception of a small piece broken off, and the letters were clearly visible. Carved in a sandstone block found in that section, the searchers found the brief epitaph: 'Susan Coon, wife of Isac [sic: Isaac] Coon, died August 11, 1860, aged 40 years.' Then inscribed on the side of the stone and running in the opposite direction were the three words, 'Colds [sic; should read Coles] County, Ill.', the birthplace of the mother. Discovery of the grave came only after Orel Richardson and Lewis had made a systematic search of all the country in Nevada from Susanville south. Starting near Susanville they traveled by automobile over all the pioneer trails, searching minutely spot after spot that in any way tallied with the vague descriptions they had obtained from the dimmed minds of the still living members of the train. It was not until they had worked all the country from Susanville down toward Lovelock and had met the old Emigrant Trail there that they were able to obtain their first definite clues by finding the spring. Maps obtained by old-time residents further aided in the search and on Sunday the party finally came upon the spring, which despite the fact that 71 years have passed, was readily recognized by the three women who crossed the plains as children. After clearing away the brush and otherwise improving the site, the party returned to Lovelock and Reno Monday and arrived in Chico late Monday night, thus climaxing the half century search."
Chico Enterprise-Record, Tuesday, May 31, 1949: "Services Held Here For Pioneer Woman. Funeral services for Martha Ellen Lewis, pioneer resident of Dayton who died last Friday, were held this morning at 10 o'clock in the Huddleston Funeral Chapel. Rev. Robert Clark of the First Christian Church officiated at the services with Carl Hunter singing, 'The Lord's Prayer' and 'Abide With Me,' accompanied on the chapel organ by Marie Erwin. Casket bearers, all relatives of the deceased were, Samuel G., Albert W., and Robert E. Lewis, Joseph L. McDaniel, Raymond Pyle and O.G. Richardson. Interment was in the family plot in the Dayton Cemetery."
Coon Descendants, by Frances Davis McTeer, 1979, (pg. 184): Martha Ellen Coon ... married in Butte County 12 Oct 1882, James Ervin Lewis. "After their marriage the Lewises removed to Washington state, thence to Oregon, and then to Idaho where they took up government land and improved a farm. In 1893, however, they returned to Butte Co., where they lived in Dayton on the ranch originally settled by Martha's father, Isaac Coon. (History of Butte Co., Calif., 1918, by George C. Mansfield.)"
Susannah McCord Coon is the mother of the following Coon siblings interred at Dayton Cemetery: Albert William Coon, America E. Coon, Caroline Panama Coon, Perry Matson Coon, Martha Ellen (Coon) Lewis, Mary Marilda (Coon) Fritter, and Robert Michael Coon. They were reared by her sister Sarah McCord Freeland Coon [31366026] and their father, Isaac Coon. Susannah McCord Coon died on August 11, 1860, en route to California, and is buried Little Antelope Spring, Pershing County, Nevada.
Chico Enterprise-Record, Saturday, May 28, 1949: "Death of Martha Ellen Lewis Ends Story of Westward Trek. When Martha Ellen Lewis, 96, longtime resident of Dayton, died in Chico yesterday, a part of the old and romantic west died with her. She was the last survivor of a party of 120 men, women and children who crossed the plains to this area in 1860. Mrs. Lewis, well-known in the Durham-Dayton-Chico area, could tell stories of the West as it was 90 years ago when she first came here as a small child. She remembered seeing Abraham Lincoln in Mattoon, Ill., and she remembered wagon train experiences during the long trek from Illinois to California. Death came to Mrs. Lewis in the Taylor Rest Home in Chico yesterday after a fall two weeks ago at the home of her son, S.G. Lewis in Dayton. She suffered a fractured hip and both legs were put into a cast. According to reports, the shock of the fall and being unable to move were too great for her aged system.
The pioneer woman was born in Mattoon, Colds [sic: Coles, Ed.] County, Ill., Dec. 4, 1853. When she was six, her parents joined the oxen-drawn wagon train and left Illinois April 1, 1860. The group arrived in Butte County, September 15, of the same year. During the trip, Mrs. Lewis' mother, Susan Coon, died August 7 about 40 miles northwest of Lovelock, Pershing County, Nev., while giving birth to Robert M. Coon. The bed of a wagon was used to make a casket and Mrs. Coon was buried by the side of the trail, with a granite grave marker fashioned from native stone placed on the mound. Her name and the date of her death were engraved in the stone. Descendants of Mrs. Coon tried for years to find the marker, but were unable to discover it until 1931. (See story at the bottom of this page). After the party crossed the Sierras the members separated. Eighty men and women settled in Oregon. The remainder settled in Butte County. Issac Coon, father of Mrs. Lewis, purchased squatters' rights at the Four Corners near Dayton five weeks after arriving there. The property is still owned by descendants of the pioneer. Mrs. Lewis had a vivid and accurate memory up to the time of her death and was able to remember dates and events that occurred more than a half century ago. Her life story and that of her family are an important chapter in the history of the Dayton-Durham area. She often told of the time Lincoln came to Mattoon for a speaking engagement and folks came from miles around to hear him. After the speech, the families spread their lunches on improvised tables made from bales of hay, and when luncheon was over, the hay tables were fed to the horses she said. Mrs. Lewis was married in 1882 to James E. Lewis in Oroville. She is survived by four children, Mrs. Nellie B. Fortier, Stephen, with whom she lived, and Joseph E. Lewis, of Chico; 17 grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews and other descendants in this area. She was a member of the First Christian Church in Chico. Funeral services will be Tuesday at 1 [sic] a.m. in the Huddleston Funeral Chapel with Rev. Robert Clark of the First Christian Church officiating. Interment will be in the family plot in the Dayton Cemetery."
Chico Enterprise-Record, Saturday, May 28, 1949: "Pioneer Woman's Death Recalls Story of Search for Grave. A clipping from a 1931 newspaper tells of the finding of the grave of a pioneer mother, after a search of almost 71 years by local residents. The clipping, reprinted below in its entirety, tells how Robert E. Coon, whose mother died at his birth, tried for a number of years to find the grave. Until the marker was found, he could not tell for certain which western state in which he was born. Susan Coon, wife of Isaac, was buried alongside the trail after her death in the wagon train bound for California. The story was brought to light after the death yesterday of her daughter, Mrs. Martha Ellen Lewis, sole survivor of the old wagon train. On a lonely knoll overlooking the desolate windswept Nevada wastes, a party of searchers have found the grave of a pioneer mother who died 71 years ago, and hereby have ended a hunt extending over the last half century. Back in Chico after numerous futile efforts to locate the burying place, relatives of the mother and members of the wagon train in which she died in childbirth, yesterday told of finding the spot on the Humboldt side of the Nevada desert. There, in one of the prairie schooners of the wagon train, the mother succumbed on August 11, 1860, scarcely 300 miles from the Land Of Promise. She was Mrs. Susan Coon, and the son she bore there as the train halted is Robert M. Coon, who today is a rancher in the Dayton section. Deprived of his mother, he was nursed by a Mrs. Warren, another mother of the train, until the party could reach what is now the Durham and Dayton sections and buy a cow from the earlier settlers.
Location of the grave was of more than particular interest to the son, who not until yesterday was able to establish the place of his birth. Not knowing where his mother's grave was located, he did not know whether he was a native of California, Nevada or Utah. In the party making the discovery after the half century hunt were Orel Richardson of Chico, grand nephew of Isaac and Susan Coon, S.G. Lewis, Chico groceryman, grandson of the couple; Mrs. Martha E. Lewis, 78, of Dayton, a daughter; Mrs. Frances Duffield of Corning, 82, and Mrs. Mary Jane Richardson of Chico, 77, the latter two nieces. All of the three women are among the few still living who crossed the plains in the wagon train as children. Others still living include Albert William Coon of Dayton, Emmett Coon of Durham, Robert M. Coon of Dayton and Maggie Coon of Chico. Actual discovery of the grave was made by Lewis while other members of the party were inspecting the ground near Little Antelope Spring. The burying place was found on a little knoll about 150 yards from the spring, hidden beneath sagebrush and juniper trees. Despite the fact it had remained there apparently uncared for during the last 71 years, the headstone was found in perfect condition, with the exception of a small piece broken off, and the letters were clearly visible. Carved in a sandstone block found in that section, the searchers found the brief epitaph: 'Susan Coon, wife of Isac [sic: Isaac] Coon, died August 11, 1860, aged 40 years.' Then inscribed on the side of the stone and running in the opposite direction were the three words, 'Colds [sic; should read Coles] County, Ill.', the birthplace of the mother. Discovery of the grave came only after Orel Richardson and Lewis had made a systematic search of all the country in Nevada from Susanville south. Starting near Susanville they traveled by automobile over all the pioneer trails, searching minutely spot after spot that in any way tallied with the vague descriptions they had obtained from the dimmed minds of the still living members of the train. It was not until they had worked all the country from Susanville down toward Lovelock and had met the old Emigrant Trail there that they were able to obtain their first definite clues by finding the spring. Maps obtained by old-time residents further aided in the search and on Sunday the party finally came upon the spring, which despite the fact that 71 years have passed, was readily recognized by the three women who crossed the plains as children. After clearing away the brush and otherwise improving the site, the party returned to Lovelock and Reno Monday and arrived in Chico late Monday night, thus climaxing the half century search."
Chico Enterprise-Record, Tuesday, May 31, 1949: "Services Held Here For Pioneer Woman. Funeral services for Martha Ellen Lewis, pioneer resident of Dayton who died last Friday, were held this morning at 10 o'clock in the Huddleston Funeral Chapel. Rev. Robert Clark of the First Christian Church officiated at the services with Carl Hunter singing, 'The Lord's Prayer' and 'Abide With Me,' accompanied on the chapel organ by Marie Erwin. Casket bearers, all relatives of the deceased were, Samuel G., Albert W., and Robert E. Lewis, Joseph L. McDaniel, Raymond Pyle and O.G. Richardson. Interment was in the family plot in the Dayton Cemetery."
Coon Descendants, by Frances Davis McTeer, 1979, (pg. 184): Martha Ellen Coon ... married in Butte County 12 Oct 1882, James Ervin Lewis. "After their marriage the Lewises removed to Washington state, thence to Oregon, and then to Idaho where they took up government land and improved a farm. In 1893, however, they returned to Butte Co., where they lived in Dayton on the ranch originally settled by Martha's father, Isaac Coon. (History of Butte Co., Calif., 1918, by George C. Mansfield.)"
Chico Enterprise-Record, Saturday, May 28, 1949: "Death of Martha Ellen Lewis Ends Story of Westward Trek. When Martha Ellen Lewis, 96, longtime resident of Dayton, died in Chico yesterday, a part of the old and romantic west died with her. She was the last survivor of a party of 120 men, women and children who crossed the plains to this area in 1860. Mrs. Lewis, well-known in the Durham-Dayton-Chico area, could tell stories of the West as it was 90 years ago when she first came here as a small child. She remembered seeing Abraham Lincoln in Mattoon, Ill., and she remembered wagon train experiences during the long trek from Illinois to California. Death came to Mrs. Lewis in the Taylor Rest Home in Chico yesterday after a fall two weeks ago at the home of her son, S.G. Lewis in Dayton. She suffered a fractured hip and both legs were put into a cast. According to reports, the shock of the fall and being unable to move were too great for her aged system.
The pioneer woman was born in Mattoon, Colds [sic: Coles, Ed.] County, Ill., Dec. 4, 1853. When she was six, her parents joined the oxen-drawn wagon train and left Illinois April 1, 1860. The group arrived in Butte County, September 15, of the same year. During the trip, Mrs. Lewis' mother, Susan Coon, died August 7 about 40 miles northwest of Lovelock, Pershing County, Nev., while giving birth to Robert M. Coon. The bed of a wagon was used to make a casket and Mrs. Coon was buried by the side of the trail, with a granite grave marker fashioned from native stone placed on the mound. Her name and the date of her death were engraved in the stone. Descendants of Mrs. Coon tried for years to find the marker, but were unable to discover it until 1931. (See story at the bottom of this page). After the party crossed the Sierras the members separated. Eighty men and women settled in Oregon. The remainder settled in Butte County. Issac Coon, father of Mrs. Lewis, purchased squatters' rights at the Four Corners near Dayton five weeks after arriving there. The property is still owned by descendants of the pioneer. Mrs. Lewis had a vivid and accurate memory up to the time of her death and was able to remember dates and events that occurred more than a half century ago. Her life story and that of her family are an important chapter in the history of the Dayton-Durham area. She often told of the time Lincoln came to Mattoon for a speaking engagement and folks came from miles around to hear him. After the speech, the families spread their lunches on improvised tables made from bales of hay, and when luncheon was over, the hay tables were fed to the horses she said. Mrs. Lewis was married in 1882 to James E. Lewis in Oroville. She is survived by four children, Mrs. Nellie B. Fortier, Stephen, with whom she lived, and Joseph E. Lewis, of Chico; 17 grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews and other descendants in this area. She was a member of the First Christian Church in Chico. Funeral services will be Tuesday at 1 [sic] a.m. in the Huddleston Funeral Chapel with Rev. Robert Clark of the First Christian Church officiating. Interment will be in the family plot in the Dayton Cemetery."
Chico Enterprise-Record, Saturday, May 28, 1949: "Pioneer Woman's Death Recalls Story of Search for Grave. A clipping from a 1931 newspaper tells of the finding of the grave of a pioneer mother, after a search of almost 71 years by local residents. The clipping, reprinted below in its entirety, tells how Robert E. Coon, whose mother died at his birth, tried for a number of years to find the grave. Until the marker was found, he could not tell for certain which western state in which he was born. Susan Coon, wife of Isaac, was buried alongside the trail after her death in the wagon train bound for California. The story was brought to light after the death yesterday of her daughter, Mrs. Martha Ellen Lewis, sole survivor of the old wagon train. On a lonely knoll overlooking the desolate windswept Nevada wastes, a party of searchers have found the grave of a pioneer mother who died 71 years ago, and hereby have ended a hunt extending over the last half century. Back in Chico after numerous futile efforts to locate the burying place, relatives of the mother and members of the wagon train in which she died in childbirth, yesterday told of finding the spot on the Humboldt side of the Nevada desert. There, in one of the prairie schooners of the wagon train, the mother succumbed on August 11, 1860, scarcely 300 miles from the Land Of Promise. She was Mrs. Susan Coon, and the son she bore there as the train halted is Robert M. Coon, who today is a rancher in the Dayton section. Deprived of his mother, he was nursed by a Mrs. Warren, another mother of the train, until the party could reach what is now the Durham and Dayton sections and buy a cow from the earlier settlers.
Location of the grave was of more than particular interest to the son, who not until yesterday was able to establish the place of his birth. Not knowing where his mother's grave was located, he did not know whether he was a native of California, Nevada or Utah. In the party making the discovery after the half century hunt were Orel Richardson of Chico, grand nephew of Isaac and Susan Coon, S.G. Lewis, Chico groceryman, grandson of the couple; Mrs. Martha E. Lewis, 78, of Dayton, a daughter; Mrs. Frances Duffield of Corning, 82, and Mrs. Mary Jane Richardson of Chico, 77, the latter two nieces. All of the three women are among the few still living who crossed the plains in the wagon train as children. Others still living include Albert William Coon of Dayton, Emmett Coon of Durham, Robert M. Coon of Dayton and Maggie Coon of Chico. Actual discovery of the grave was made by Lewis while other members of the party were inspecting the ground near Little Antelope Spring. The burying place was found on a little knoll about 150 yards from the spring, hidden beneath sagebrush and juniper trees. Despite the fact it had remained there apparently uncared for during the last 71 years, the headstone was found in perfect condition, with the exception of a small piece broken off, and the letters were clearly visible. Carved in a sandstone block found in that section, the searchers found the brief epitaph: 'Susan Coon, wife of Isac [sic: Isaac] Coon, died August 11, 1860, aged 40 years.' Then inscribed on the side of the stone and running in the opposite direction were the three words, 'Colds [sic; should read Coles] County, Ill.', the birthplace of the mother. Discovery of the grave came only after Orel Richardson and Lewis had made a systematic search of all the country in Nevada from Susanville south. Starting near Susanville they traveled by automobile over all the pioneer trails, searching minutely spot after spot that in any way tallied with the vague descriptions they had obtained from the dimmed minds of the still living members of the train. It was not until they had worked all the country from Susanville down toward Lovelock and had met the old Emigrant Trail there that they were able to obtain their first definite clues by finding the spring. Maps obtained by old-time residents further aided in the search and on Sunday the party finally came upon the spring, which despite the fact that 71 years have passed, was readily recognized by the three women who crossed the plains as children. After clearing away the brush and otherwise improving the site, the party returned to Lovelock and Reno Monday and arrived in Chico late Monday night, thus climaxing the half century search."
Chico Enterprise-Record, Tuesday, May 31, 1949: "Services Held Here For Pioneer Woman. Funeral services for Martha Ellen Lewis, pioneer resident of Dayton who died last Friday, were held this morning at 10 o'clock in the Huddleston Funeral Chapel. Rev. Robert Clark of the First Christian Church officiated at the services with Carl Hunter singing, 'The Lord's Prayer' and 'Abide With Me,' accompanied on the chapel organ by Marie Erwin. Casket bearers, all relatives of the deceased were, Samuel G., Albert W., and Robert E. Lewis, Joseph L. McDaniel, Raymond Pyle and O.G. Richardson. Interment was in the family plot in the Dayton Cemetery."
Coon Descendants, by Frances Davis McTeer, 1979, (pg. 184): Martha Ellen Coon ... married in Butte County 12 Oct 1882, James Ervin Lewis. "After their marriage the Lewises removed to Washington state, thence to Oregon, and then to Idaho where they took up government land and improved a farm. In 1893, however, they returned to Butte Co., where they lived in Dayton on the ranch originally settled by Martha's father, Isaac Coon. (History of Butte Co., Calif., 1918, by George C. Mansfield.)"
Inscription
"Martha E. Lewis, 1853 - 1949"
Freeland plot; 8" granite rectangle plot w/10" corner uprights and separate step-up entrance facing east, marked "Freeland"; white pea gravel covers entire plot. Shares plot w/Lilly Bell, Joseph W., Thomas B. Freeland.
Gravesite Details
SOURCE: Dayton Cemetery © 1994 By Adriana Farley and Marilyn Corley
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