A Day In The Life With Sarah Rousseau
December 2, 1864 (Horses failing, starving)
Friday
In looking around me while writing I see nothing but mountains and broken country. Oh how dreary and desolate. … This is Elizabeth’s birthday, 15 years old. Spent it at Resting Spring, I believe California.
December 6, 1864 (No more horses, stranded)
Tuesday
…Doctor discovered a train at a distance coming. Oh how I hope there may be help for us in this our time of need. … It was our train. He saw [Israel] Curtis and told him our condition and told him he would like to have him take Libby and myself if he could. Mr. C. made answer and said he couldn’t take us, they were so heavy loaded and were out of provisions and their teams pretty much tuckered out.
Want to read from the beginning? See: A Day In The Life With Sarah Rousseau (May 1864)
December 9, 1864
Friday
The Dr. jumped up in a hurry to listen and soon discovered two men & two span of horses coming toward the wagon… They brought some flour, beans & molasses which were very acceptable. Libby and I jumped up and cooked them some supper as soon as possible.
December 15, 1864 (Nicholson’s Ranch)
Thursday
A clear frosty morning. …heard the wolves last night. Got up with the train. Em [Curtis] and Eliza [Hays, sur. Curtis] came over to see Libby they had some singing. …
December 17, 1864
Saturday
A very cold freezing morning, the ground covered with snow. Started from camp about an hour before day, got to the top of the Sierra Nevada mountains by daylight. … It is down hill [sic] all the way to San Bernardino.
Meet the Characters: Sarah Elizabeth Rousseau
“Libby” Rousseau (15) is the second-born daughter of Sarah, Pella Company diarist, and Dr. James Rousseau. Both parents held education and morality in high regard and likely kept a strict watch over their daughters and their appearances. Elizabeth was raised in an upper-middle class culture with a taste for silks, lace, and organza. She is mentioned often in the travel diary, but not ever as a person of interest. Most entries fix around behaviors such as cooking, laundry, and social calls with the other ladies her age. The matter-of-fact tone in Mrs. Rousseau’s writing may be a reflection of their relationship, which is remarkedly more emotional where her young sons [John (12) and Albert (8)] and even her horses are concerned.
Unfortunately, the Rousseau’s abilities to earn income were waning and their boys were too young to help financially. Dr. Rousseau’s age and failing vision would interfere with his medical profession and Mrs. Rousseau’s debilitating arthritis would impact her piano instruction. Upon arrival in San Bernardino, the family would need to find a suitor-husband for Elizabeth who may have supported them until John came of age. In 1868, Elizabeth was married to a Mr. William Cave, a wealthy topographer (civil engineer) for the new California Southern Railroad.
In the December scenes presented, the Rousseau’s horses had given out completely in the Sierra Nevadas after a strenuous drive across the Mohave desert and a depletion of food. The family was stranded four days in the frosty mountain weather. John and Albert were sent off on the two remaining horses to find help. The refused aid from the Curtis family speaks to the severity of tensions developed on this journey between long-time friends, though, Elizabeth does not seem to harbor the same hardness towards her friends, Mr. C.’s daughters.
Cabinet card of Sarah Elizabeth Cave (Rousseau) with sister Mary Ann Anderson (Rousseau), circa 1870s. 
Daguerreotype of “Libby” and “Mattie,” en route to California. Original caption from April 19, 1934 Knoxville Journal-Express reads: “Elizabeth Rousseau and Mattie Fields in their bloomer-traveling costumes, Omaha, Nebraska Territory, June 2, 1864.” 
(Left) Jennie Cave, Elizabeth’s daughter with son (right) Walter B. Molony. 
Cartes de Visite (calling card) for Sarah Elizabeth Cave (sur. Rousseau) by photographer W.A. Vale. (Circa 1866-1868 based on fashions). Courtesy of Molony family records.
Researcher Comments
The Story Continues: Mr. and Mrs. Cave’s daughter, Jennie, followed in her mother’s footsteps and married a Mr. Joseph Molony (another busy “trainman” who would continue to offer a luxurious lifestyle, albeit, a lonely one). Their son, Walter, a Santa Fe engineer, would eventually live on impressive citrus acreage in the ostentatious Redlands, California home of a millionaire gold miner, which has retained its historical name as “The Bower’s Mansion.” The last of Walter’s three boys, Reginald Molony, passed December 15, 2019, leaving the job of family historian to daughter-in-law Janelle Molony.
Some researchers suspect the original diary was intended to be passed down to the Rousseau’s eldest daughter, Mary Ann, as a long letter of sorts after the trip. It is more probable the diary was simply “this year’s” record, as keeping a daily diary was a fashionable trend for ladies of the Victorian Era. It has been passed down for six generations and is currently with the Molony family.
Excerpts come from Across the Plains by Sarah Jane Rousseau, 1864. Interpretative material by Janelle Molony, family researcher and author of the creative narrative based on the Pella Company, From Where I Sat. The original Diary covers May 13, 1864, to December 18, 1864, and includes locations from Pella, Iowa to San Bernardino, California. (NOT available for public resale or distribution.)
Author Byline
Janelle Molony is the g-g-g-granddaughter of Dr. James and Sarah Rousseau and current family historian. With the cooperation of other descendants, Molony is authoring a novel based on the 1864 wagon train.
To follow along with the development of the story, characters, fashions, and civil war events, please connect with @RousseauProject on Facebook or Instagram.
For questions, or to interview the historian regarding the novel project, please Contact Me.
Special thanks to the Pella Historical Society (https://www.pellahistorical.org/) and San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society (http://www.sbhistoricalsociety.com/) for your cooperation and support!