When William Pickett Jr. was born on 11 December 1847, in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, his father, William Pickett Sr., was 31 and his mother, Agnes Moulton Coolbrith, was 39. He married Margaret E. Hayes on 6 September 1887, in Tucson, Pima, Arizona, United States. He lived in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States in 1860 and San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States for about 10 years. He died on 19 October 1931, in San Francisco, California, United States, at the age of 83, and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, Alameda, California, United States.
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On January 24, 1848, gold was found at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California, which began the California gold rush. In December of that same year, U.S. President James Polk announced the news to Congress. The news of gold lured thousands of “forty-niners” seeking fortune to California during 1849. Approximately 300,000 people relocated to California from all over the world during the gold rush years. It is estimated that the mined gold was worth tens of billions in today’s U.S. dollars.
Historical Boundaries: 1853: Alameda, California, United States
The first transcontinental railroad reached San Francisco in 1869. The Western Pacific Railroad Company built the track from Oakland to Sacramento. The Central Pacific Railroad Company of California built the section from Sacramento to Promontory Summit Utah. The railroad linked isolated California to the rest of the country which had far-reaching effects on the social and economical development of the state.
English:
from the Middle English, Old French personal name Picot, Pigot, a pet form of Pic (see Pike 6). In Middle English, the form Piket (Old French Picquet) was also common.
sometimes a late development of Pickard 1 or 2.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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