Theodore D. Judah was born on March 4, 1826 in Bridgeport, Connecticut to an Episcopal minister and his wife. After his family moved to Troy, New York, Judah studied engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His first experience with railroading occurred…
Category: Gold Country History
Cinco de Mayo – What is it all about?
Each fifth of May we celebrate Cinco de Mayo, and while each year more and more Americans are celebrating it, few know exactly what they are celebrating. Most seem to believe that it is a celebration marking the Independence of…
William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr. (1810? – 1848)
On the north side of Highway 50, just to the west of El Dorado County, there is a sign saying that you are traveling on the “William Alexander Leidesdorff, Jr. Memorial Highway.” Few people know of this person, but he was…
Joseph Libby Folsom (1817-1855)
Captain Joseph Libby Folsom arrived in California in 1847 as a staff officer with the New York Volunteers, a regiment of men formed in New York under the command of Colonel Jonathan D. Stevenson. A native of New Hampshire, a…