Nancy Gooch (c. 1811 – September 17, 1901) was an early African American

settler A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and one of the state's most successful 19th-century black female landowners. Gooch gained her freedom when California entered the Union as a free state in 1850.

From Maryland to California

Nancy Gooch was born an enslaved person in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

in about 1811 (although it varies based on the census year, her gravestone says 1811). Later on, she was moved to

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. After working in the fields for a few years in Missouri, Gooch, alongside her husband Peter, were moved to

by their enslaver, William Gooch. However, left behind was Gooch's three-year-old son Andrew, who later on was purchased by a Missouri family named Monroe. Once the Gooch's got to California and gained their freedom, Nancy began to do laundry and other domestic chores for the miners in California. She also lived in a small shack that barely cost her any money, this way, she could begin to gather up enough money to buy her son's freedom. Throughout their entire journey, both Nancy and Peter had one thing in mind, and that was to get their son to California. Peter died in 1861. But, Nancy kept working, and while by the time she had amassed the seven hundred dollars needed, slavery had been abolished, she was still able to pay for her son's family to move to California in 1868, and continue to cultivate the land she had bought with her husband.

California settlement

Nancy Gooch was one of the first African American women to become wealthy in California. Gooch and her husband got to

Coloma, California Coloma (Nisenan language, Nisenan: ''Cullumah'', meaning "beautiful") is a census-designated place in El Dorado County, California, United States. It is approximately northeast of Sacramento, California. Coloma is most noted for being the site ...

, in 1849, and by 1850 began working at the

gold-mining Gold mining is the extraction of gold by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. The expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface has led to more complex ...

location. While doing domestic chores for the miners, the couple earned enough money to buy 80 acres of land in 1858, a year after they were wed. Eventually, these grew into , including land at the gold discovery site at

Sutter's Mill Sutter's Mill was a water-powered sawmill on the bank of the South Fork American River in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in California. It was named after its owner John Sutter. A worker constructing the mill, James W. Marshall, found go ...

. The couple also had a good relationship with, James Marshall, who worked at Sutter's Mill. Marshall is credited with reporting the finding of gold in California in 1848. California took some of the Monroe's landholdings from Andrew Monroe's son, which included the original site of Sutter's Mill and the site of Marshall's gold discovery. That land was the foundation of the

Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park is a state park of California, United States, marking the discovery of gold by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in 1848, sparking the California Gold Rush. The park grounds include much of the histo ...

, and the Monroe/Gooch family is buried in the park's pioneer cemetery.

References

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ColomaColored Conventions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gooch, Nancy 1810s births Date of birth unknown 19th-century people from California African Americans in the American Old West 19th-century African-American businesspeople 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century African-American women People from Maryland Year of death missing Place of death missing 19th-century American landowners 19th-century American women landowners California Gold Rush African Americans in California