Individual Details
Wilson FURR
(20 Sep 1817 - 11 Jun 1881)
Smith, James F., "The Cherokee land lottery : containing a numerical list of the names of the fortunate drawers in said lottery, with an engraved map of each district," New York: Printed by Harper & Bros., 1838, page 119 (11th District, Second Section, Cherokee/Gilmer County)
170 Wilson Furr, Dobb's, Hall
Lulie Pitts, "History of Gordon County, Georgia," Calhoun, Ga.: Press of the Calhoun Times, c1934, 41. "Pursuant to an Act authorized December 21, 1830, the Cherokee county was mapped out into counties and surveyed by state surveyors in to "land lots" of 160 acres each, and "gold lots" of 40 acrees each, which were put up and distributed among the white citizens of Georgia by public lottery."
1840 Hall County, Georgia, Census
Wilson Fur males >1 (1), 20-30 (1); females >5 (1), 5-10 (1), 15-20 (1), 20-30 (1)
1850 Lumpkin County, Georgia, Census
2 2 2 Fur Wilson 34 M . Farmer 1,500 SC
3 2 2 Fur Elizabeth 40 F SC
4 2 2 Fur James 13 M SC X
5 2 2 Fur Jane 10 F GA
6 2 2 Fur Wilson 7 M Ga
1860 Paulding County, Georgia, census shows a son, Harrison, age 17. Not sure how he fits in with the family. He may be the Wilson in the 1850 census.
His name has also been shown as Wilson Jackson.
He is believed to have been in the Charleston, South Carolina area in the 1820's or 1830's.
Wilson may have been in a single parent male household when he was about 17 years.
1880 Paulding County, Georgia, Census
Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
Wilson FURR Self M Male W 65 NC Farmer NC GA
Adline FURR Wife M Female W 45 GA Keeping House NC GA
George FURR Son S Male W 17 GA At Home NC GA
Allas FURR Dau S Female W 18 GA At Home NC GA
John FURR Son S Male W 14 GA At School NC GA
Alonzo FURR Son S Male W 12 GA At School NC GA
Robert FURR Son S Male W 10 GA At School NC GA
Fanney FURR Dau S Female W 8 GA NC GA
Hammer FURR Son S Male W 5 GA NC GA
Lillen FURR Dau S Female W 3 GA NC GA
The story of Wilson Furr and Oliver Henderson is from my Grandfather's book on Yankee Jim's, CA, near where they first came to mine gold in 1852. It was told to him by his father, Oliver. Oliver Wendell Henderson was born near Dahlonega, Georgia in the year 1833, and died in California, in 1914. He came to the gold fields through San Francisco, with his Uncle (Wilson Furr) in 1852, presumably sailing ‘around the horn.’ Landing in San Francisco, an unimaginably rough and ready boom town no longer the somnolent village of Yerba Buena, in 1852 a veritable bedlam of gold-seekers and those who were scheming to relieve these ‘seekers’ of whatever gold they might find. Such was the curtain-raiser to the future city by the Golden Gate, when my father and his uncle stepped ashore. I will attempt, by a bit of memory stretching, to quote my father in his description of the town as he saw it, and of his subsequent trip to the mines. He described the experience somewhat as follows:
“San Francisco was a helter-skelter arrangement of shacks, tents, and make-shift buildings, which were intended to serve as stores, hotels, honky-tonks, homes, theaters and what-not. 'Market' was the only real street. The rest were merely alleys, running in all directions, and containing a mixture of nationalities. Market Street, even then, was very wide, and of course unpaved. It was mostly a thoroughfare of mud-holes when we arrived, and it was hazardous to even wade across.”
“After a day or two in San Francisco, my uncle and I shouldered our two trunks and boarded the Peralta Ferry. This was hardly more than a raft, but it took us across the bay, and landed us on the East shore near a small hill, which the ferryman called El Cerrito. Here, as I stood and gazed about me, I saw one white adobe which belonged to Peralta, and was just beyond the heavily traveled road they called San Pablo. This road was as straight as a string for at least five miles in a southerly direction. Far to the southeast, along a ridge of hills, I could see another small white adobe. This was near what is now Hayward. This adobe, and the one belonging to Peralta, were the only two houses I could see. The Berkeley hills were covered with wild grass, but no trees. Oakland was then a wide expanse of beautiful oak trees, large and small, but gave no promise of the city to come.”
“My uncle and I then employed a Mexican, and his creaky ox-cart, to haul our trunks to Sacramento. This journey required four full days, as my uncle and I walked wearily behind the cart. From Sacramento, we traveled by stagecoach to Auburn, and then on to Yankee Jims, where we learned of ‘good diggings’ at Owl Creek; so we retraced our steps for two miles to that place. There we built a substantial log cabin; and we lived and mined on the Creek for the ensuing two years. Having a weak heart, I was unable to do much work, so my uncle did most of the mining. When he finally suggested that we return to Georgia, I was eagerly willing to go. But once there, I realized that it was no longer home to me, and besides I still had the gold fever, so I hastened back to Yankee Jims, and you know the rest.” Oliver spent the rest of his life in Yankee Jim's mining gold.
Larry Henderson
170 Wilson Furr, Dobb's, Hall
Lulie Pitts, "History of Gordon County, Georgia," Calhoun, Ga.: Press of the Calhoun Times, c1934, 41. "Pursuant to an Act authorized December 21, 1830, the Cherokee county was mapped out into counties and surveyed by state surveyors in to "land lots" of 160 acres each, and "gold lots" of 40 acrees each, which were put up and distributed among the white citizens of Georgia by public lottery."
1840 Hall County, Georgia, Census
Wilson Fur males >1 (1), 20-30 (1); females >5 (1), 5-10 (1), 15-20 (1), 20-30 (1)
1850 Lumpkin County, Georgia, Census
2 2 2 Fur Wilson 34 M . Farmer 1,500 SC
3 2 2 Fur Elizabeth 40 F SC
4 2 2 Fur James 13 M SC X
5 2 2 Fur Jane 10 F GA
6 2 2 Fur Wilson 7 M Ga
1860 Paulding County, Georgia, census shows a son, Harrison, age 17. Not sure how he fits in with the family. He may be the Wilson in the 1850 census.
His name has also been shown as Wilson Jackson.
He is believed to have been in the Charleston, South Carolina area in the 1820's or 1830's.
Wilson may have been in a single parent male household when he was about 17 years.
1880 Paulding County, Georgia, Census
Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace
Wilson FURR Self M Male W 65 NC Farmer NC GA
Adline FURR Wife M Female W 45 GA Keeping House NC GA
George FURR Son S Male W 17 GA At Home NC GA
Allas FURR Dau S Female W 18 GA At Home NC GA
John FURR Son S Male W 14 GA At School NC GA
Alonzo FURR Son S Male W 12 GA At School NC GA
Robert FURR Son S Male W 10 GA At School NC GA
Fanney FURR Dau S Female W 8 GA NC GA
Hammer FURR Son S Male W 5 GA NC GA
Lillen FURR Dau S Female W 3 GA NC GA
The story of Wilson Furr and Oliver Henderson is from my Grandfather's book on Yankee Jim's, CA, near where they first came to mine gold in 1852. It was told to him by his father, Oliver. Oliver Wendell Henderson was born near Dahlonega, Georgia in the year 1833, and died in California, in 1914. He came to the gold fields through San Francisco, with his Uncle (Wilson Furr) in 1852, presumably sailing ‘around the horn.’ Landing in San Francisco, an unimaginably rough and ready boom town no longer the somnolent village of Yerba Buena, in 1852 a veritable bedlam of gold-seekers and those who were scheming to relieve these ‘seekers’ of whatever gold they might find. Such was the curtain-raiser to the future city by the Golden Gate, when my father and his uncle stepped ashore. I will attempt, by a bit of memory stretching, to quote my father in his description of the town as he saw it, and of his subsequent trip to the mines. He described the experience somewhat as follows:
“San Francisco was a helter-skelter arrangement of shacks, tents, and make-shift buildings, which were intended to serve as stores, hotels, honky-tonks, homes, theaters and what-not. 'Market' was the only real street. The rest were merely alleys, running in all directions, and containing a mixture of nationalities. Market Street, even then, was very wide, and of course unpaved. It was mostly a thoroughfare of mud-holes when we arrived, and it was hazardous to even wade across.”
“After a day or two in San Francisco, my uncle and I shouldered our two trunks and boarded the Peralta Ferry. This was hardly more than a raft, but it took us across the bay, and landed us on the East shore near a small hill, which the ferryman called El Cerrito. Here, as I stood and gazed about me, I saw one white adobe which belonged to Peralta, and was just beyond the heavily traveled road they called San Pablo. This road was as straight as a string for at least five miles in a southerly direction. Far to the southeast, along a ridge of hills, I could see another small white adobe. This was near what is now Hayward. This adobe, and the one belonging to Peralta, were the only two houses I could see. The Berkeley hills were covered with wild grass, but no trees. Oakland was then a wide expanse of beautiful oak trees, large and small, but gave no promise of the city to come.”
“My uncle and I then employed a Mexican, and his creaky ox-cart, to haul our trunks to Sacramento. This journey required four full days, as my uncle and I walked wearily behind the cart. From Sacramento, we traveled by stagecoach to Auburn, and then on to Yankee Jims, where we learned of ‘good diggings’ at Owl Creek; so we retraced our steps for two miles to that place. There we built a substantial log cabin; and we lived and mined on the Creek for the ensuing two years. Having a weak heart, I was unable to do much work, so my uncle did most of the mining. When he finally suggested that we return to Georgia, I was eagerly willing to go. But once there, I realized that it was no longer home to me, and besides I still had the gold fever, so I hastened back to Yankee Jims, and you know the rest.” Oliver spent the rest of his life in Yankee Jim's mining gold.
Larry Henderson
Events
| Birth | 20 Sep 1817 | North Carolina |  | ||
| Occupation | Bet 1860 and 1880 | farmer - Paulding County, GA | |||
| Marriage | 5 Jan 1862 | Paulding County, GA - Quincy Ann Adeline MOSS |  | ||
| Death | 11 Jun 1881 | Georgia | |||
| Marriage | Elizabeth HENDERSON | ||||
| Burial | Friendship Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, Paulding County, GA | |
Families
| Spouse | Elizabeth HENDERSON (1810 - ) |
| Child | James B. FURR (1837 - 1857) |
| Child | Sarah Jane FURR (1840 - ) |
| Child | Richard Harrison Wilson "Dick" FURR (1843 - 1910) |
| Spouse | Quincy Ann Adeline MOSS (1835 - 1896) |
| Child | Charles W. "Charlie" FURR (1851 - 1884) |
| Child | William Oscar FURR (1856 - 1938) |
| Child | David FURR (1839 - 1862) |
| Child | Nancy Alice FURR (1861 - 1908) |
| Child | George Wilson FURR (1863 - 1902) |
| Child | John Franklin FURR (1866 - 1922) |
| Child | Alonzo Taley FURR (1868 - 1934) |
| Child | Robert E. FURR (1870 - 1887) |
| Child | Fanny FURR (1872 - 1917) |
| Child | Homer Pearson FURR (1875 - 1937) |
| Child | Lillian Virginia FURR (1877 - 1958) |
| Father | James FURR (1785 - 1846) |
| Mother | Caroline M. FREEMAN (1785 - ) |
| Sibling | Sarah FURR (1810 - ) |
| Sibling | Daniel FURR (1821 - ) |
| Sibling | Living |
Notes
Birth
1850 and 1860 census shows he was born in South Carolina. 1870 and 1880 census shows he was born in North Carolina.Endnotes
1. "Georgia, County Marriages, 1785-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2Z1-1X4D : 22 July 2021).
2. , findagrave.com (N.p.: n.p., n.d.).