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Have you ever heard the one about the French Connection? The 49ers
Montana-Rice connection? Well, partner, in these parts, there is another
connection – the Louins –Bolton – Bottimore connection!
Did you know…
… that the original settlers of the Clay Station area in the 1850s were
the Steele, Howard and Louins (seen also as Lewins) families? They built the
Laguna School in Clay Station! Did you know that Helen Ray Bolton Bottimore’s
grandmother, was Elizabeth Louins? Over the next several articles, we will take
a closer look at the ties that bind the Lewins-Bolton-Bottimore families
together. So, where did these family ties originate? Like many others of their
day, the Louins family left their Missouri home in 1851 to join a wagon train
leaving Illinois to come to California. However, their story is unlike many of
their fellow travelers. Imagine this: Thomas Louins was ill from Bright’s
disease. He knew he was dying before he made the trip but he wanted to be buried
in California. Being a skilled cabinetmaker, Thomas constructed his wagon of the
finest lumber to make his coffin from it. Sealed in a lead coffin was Thomas and
Elizabeth’s dead 9 year old son. Elizabeth wanted her box to be buried in
California, too. Their two daughters, Isabel and Agnes, also trekked on what was
to be quite an eventful journey. In Illinois, the wagon train assembled. The
first twist of events was when the Captain discovered the dead boy. The Louins
had to bury him or be left behind. They buried him. They then journeyed to Salt
Lake where two more daughters were born and where Thomas Louins went to work for
Brigham Young and the Mormon Church. As a tribute to Brigham, Thomas constructed
a coffin from the precious floorboards of his wagon. The coffin still sits in a
Salt Lake City museum. One would think that all of this would quiet the yearning
for California. Not a chance! The growing family left Salt Lake with a wagon
train headed for Sacramento. It was on this wagon train that the Louins met the
Howard and Steele families. They pushed west until the weary travelers rested in
a place called Hatselville Springs about seven miles from Clay toward Ione. Swept away by the beauty of the valley that lay before them, they decided to
settle. And so, Thomas Louins built a house at the end of Hobday Road. Ida, the
last child of this marriage, was born at the Clay Station home. As Thomas
promised himself, he built his coffin from the lumber from the wagon that
journeyed across half a continent to California. In 1858, he was laid to rest in
Laguna Valley next to the house. His gravesite is still there.
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