The God Rush accelerated things in Northern California so much that very little records of Californio life are extant after 1849 ... I thought I had my man in Jared Sheldon.
He was one of the first Yanquis to get to Northern California ... and became Catholic and a Mexican Citizen. A Yanqui who converted to Catholicism and became a Mexican Citizen:
Jared Dixon Sheldon, one of our earliest pioneers and originally from Vermont, came to California in 1832 and at some point afterward became a Mexican citizen. In 1842, Thomas Larkin, who was then the American Consul to Mexico, was awarded the contract for expansion and improvement of the Customs House in Monterey, which had been built in 1827. Jared Sheldon worked on this project for Thomas Larkin. Based on the size of the land grant he received as payment for services to the Mexican government on this project it could be assumed he was a foreman. He was granted Omochumnes Rancho, nearly 14,000 acres near present day Sloughhouse and Rancho Murieta, in 1843 for his work. It was there that he and friend William Daylor built a grist mill in 1845 to mill wheat for Capt. John Sutter on the Cosumnes River. To supply water to his crops south of the river he built a dam 16-ft high, double-walled of heavy oak, and filled with large stones. On July 12, 1851 he was shot and killed by 40 to 100 angry miners in the river below his dam. Also killed in the shootout were 2 of Sheldon’s 12 friends, James M. Johnson of Iowa and Edward Cody of Illinois. Three men were wounded, including a miner. The prevailing miners destroyed the sluice gate in the dam. They had unrecorded gold mining claims in the river-bottom on Sheldon’s land, which would be flooded by the rising water upstream from the dam. Subsequent floods continued the dam’s destruction, and hydraulic mining in Michigan Bar buried the remnants in silt. Public right of access to California streams was not clarified until 1879. This display shows how the mill worked and pictures of the remains of the mill. Various parts of the mill are now on display at the Heritage Park in effort to help preserve this part of our rich heritage. Plans are underway, as funding allows, to create a working model of Sheldon's Grist Mill.
Only problem is that the dam became his demise exactly one year before I would be needing an identity.
So I am still searching ... I have gone through the Sacramento Room in the State Library; the only thing listed as being more inclusive is the Bancroft Library on the UC Berkeley campus in Berkely CA. So as soon as I find a cheap place to stay down there (Meaning free if possible *S*), I guess it is my next step in researching a persona.
Any suggestions? I would love any PM that would give me a name or direction to pursue.