Charles Sans Sr

Charles Sans was born in 1838 in Kinderhook (also written as Keeacook), Illinois.

PARENTS: His father, James Sans (a native of Indiana), had homesteaded on the Illinois frontier. He died at age 36, leaving $1,500 to each of his six children. His mother was Elisabeth Creek, daughter of Mr. Creek.

EARLY LIFE: On his parents’ farm they hunted wild hogs and gathered local herbs and plants. When Charles was young, two of his sisters and a brother died of cholera on the farm. Charles chose his own name when he was around six years of age - until then he was just referred to by various pet names by his family.

BROTHERS: Manuel Sans and Robert Sans (both older). Robert had fought in the United States’ war with Mexico. Both had been to California by way of Panama before returning to Illinois.

JOURNEY TO CALIFORNIA (1852): When Charles was 14, Manuel and Robert acted as guides, leading their brothers and sister to California by ox-drawn wagon, making only 8-10 miles a day. The trip took five or six months. His brother Marion and two sisters died of cholera after drinking contaminated water. The three surviving brothers crossed the Sierra Mountains and arrived in Galt near Lodi.

RANCHING: The brothers moved to southern Monterey County, buying cheap land in the hills west of Soledad. The land was inexpensive because previous tenants had been driven away by mountain lions, coyotes, and grizzly bears. Charles killed one grizzly bear by putting powerful poison inside honey. His brother Manuel killed a young female grizzly with a shotgun blast from a platform in a tree.

MARRIAGE: In 1870, when Charles was 32 years old, he married Sarah E. Ray (age 16) near Soledad. Her parents were James Ezekiel Ray and Lavina Jane Thomas Ray, both originally from Missouri.

CHILDREN (6): Alice Sans (b. 1874), Edward (Ed) Sans (b. April 23, 1875), Charles Uriah Sans (b. 1876), Alvie Winfield Sans (b. 1879), Myrtle Rae Sans (died age 23), James Frank Sans (b. December 29, 1886).