(1) John Jackson Lewis, (2) Edith May (Lewis) Rider, (3) Marian Faith (Rider) Irwin, (4) Marian Dunlop (Irwin) Guion, (5) Judith Anne Guion.

The following are transcriptions of John Jackson Lewis’s diary and journal of his voyage to California in 1851. He was travelling  from New York to visit his older brother William in San Jose.

Diary:

Spent considerable part of the day watching the trains of mules as they arrived with the view of securing my own baggage as soon as possible. Toward evening it arrived in good order, very much to my satisfaction. Took a bath in the Bay in the evening and I walked about the city. The view of the Bay walls was very fine. Water was very smooth, green islands rose abruptly from its surface. The coast was lined, in places, with palm trees, and wild ducks and pelicans were flying about in large numbers…

(1Louis Guion); (2) Isaac Guion; (3)John Guion; (4) Elijah Guion, Sr.; (5) Elijah Guion, Jr.;  (6) Alfred Beck Guion; (7) Alfred Duryee Guion; (8) Alfred Peabody Guion; (9) Judith Anne Guion

Louis and Thomasse Guion might have gone on to America had she not been with child. Some members of her family went immediately, establishing the Narragansett colony at Frenchtown, Rhode Island. Louis and Thomasse stayed in England. Within weeks, perhaps days, of arriving in Bristol, Thomasse gave birth to twins! We know this because on June 4, 1686, Louis traveled to London to receive a dispensation from the Royal Bounty. He declared himself as being married with two children. [Royal Bounty Record number 89010] The children were named Isaac and Suzanne.

Louis supported his wife and two babies by working as a blacksmith (forgeron) in Bristol, a trade that had a ready market since people in the…

CEDRIC D. GUION

P. O. Box 822

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

28 Aug. 46

Dear Dad & all:

I now hold and A & E mechanics license, but still not a commercial pilot. I have done a lot of flying tho’, and should have nearly enough hours. Have to find a place to move to by Sunday of this weekend, so am frantically searching for any thing which will suffice. Car is in need of repairs also, and I have to do work on it before then so we can use it to move with, then must cut this very short. Rusty came into Anchorage for a few days – looks fine and I think the Barrow stay did him good. Leonard and Marian send regards. I sent more promises of future and better letters.

Must close now as time and tired feet (?) try on the wild winds.

Oh yes, I…

Cat Daddy and I had a long discussion about the right time to take Louis Catorze to the vet, because investigating the sneezing would require a general anaesthetic and that is not something that we feel should ever be undertaken lightly. 

However, Catorze scared us witless when his usual breathy post-drink wheezing – a bizarre but utterly harmless quirk of his – sounded more like that awful mating fox yelp that sometimes wakes us Londoners in the night. And, when I checked his face again on Tuesday morning, I could see that his right nostril was somehow enlarged and misshapen. We know our cats’ faces like we know our own, don’t we, so we knew then that it was time. 

Cat Daddy took Sa Majesté to the vet that morning and, as luck would have it, he had a sneezing fit in front of her so she was…