Gazlay Family History
 

FamilyAnna Sophia _____

Parents

Father[unknown]
Mother[unknown]

Personal Information

Record Created: 9 December 2013; Last Edited: 3 February 2022 
Person ID6220
NameAnna Sophia _____
GenderFemale
Born ca. 18351
Married to David Masterton
Married 4 November 1858 in New York, New York to David Montross Gazlay1
Died 29 October 1859 in San Francisco, San Francisco County, California2

Biography

Anna was apparently something of an entrepreneur, as evidenced by an announcement of her employment office, the only one exclusively for females and run by females, followed by over three months of advertisements, such as the one below, that ran both before and after her death.3

MRS. A. S. GAZLAY’S

FEMALE

EMPLOYMENT OFFICE,

249 Washington st., near cor. Stockton,

SAN FRANCISCO.

----

The only office in the city exclusively for Females and under Female Supervision.--Centrally and respectably located. No charge to employers. Country orders promptly attended to.

----

REFERENCES.

REV. DR. CHEEVER, Pastor Church of the Puritans, New York.

MRS. M. O. ROBERTS, corner 18th street, and 5th Avenue, New York.

REV. J. C. HOOLBROOK, First Congregational Church, San Francisco.

September 24th, 1859.--3m

 

The references cited in the advertisement are interesting. Anna’s connection to Rev. Cheever is not known, but Anna met and became friends with Rev. Holbrook and his wife on their travels from the east coast to California. In fact, after Anna’s death (shortly following the birth of her third child, Anna Sophia Gazlay, who also died a few days later), Rev. Holbrook and his wife adopted and raised Anna’s two surviving children. The Mrs. M. O. Roberts mentioned as a reference is undoubtedly Caroline, the second wife of Marshall Owen Roberts, a prominent American merchant who founded and operated the U.S. Mail Steamship Company, and later purchased and operated the competing Pacific Mail Steamship Company. These companies provided cargo and passenger transport between New York and San Francisco, by way of the Isthmus of Panama and other intermediate ports. It may be that Anna met Mrs. Roberts on her travels, or at least found a supportive reference for Anna’s female employment office.

Person/Family

Spouse 1FamilyDavid Masterton
Born ca. 1829
Married to Anna Sophia _____
Died 24 July 1855 in South Bergen, Hudson County, New Jersey
  
Children of Anna Sophia _____ and David Masterton:
  
+1.FamilyMartha Washington ‘Mattie’ Masterton
Born 3 July 1853 in New Jersey
Adopted(adopted by Rev. John Calvin Holbrook and Ann Louisa Clark)
Married 16 April 1872 in San Joaquin County, California to Edwin Banks Noble
Died 15 July 1931 in Stockton, San Joaquin County, California
  
+2.FamilyElla Isabella Masterton
Born 28 October 1854 in Communipaw, Hudson County, New Jersey
Adopted(adopted by Rev. John Calvin Holbrook and Ann Louisa Clark)
Married 10 August 1875 in Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York to William S. Amsden
Died 8 November 1889 in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota
  
Spouse 2FamilyDavid Montross Gazlay (son of Charles M. Gazlay and Martha Ann _____)
Born 17 September 1835 in New York
Married 4 November 1858 in New York, New York to Anna Sophia _____
Married 22 April 1861 in San Francisco, San Francisco County, California to Mary Jane Shepherd
Married to Mary Malvina Jennings
Died 31 May 1895 in Nassau, Rensselaer County, New York
  
Children of Anna Sophia _____ and David Montross Gazlay:
  
1.FamilyAnna Sophia Gazlay
Born 27 October 1859
Died 7 November 1859 in San Francisco, San Francisco County, California
  

Sources

  1. Marriage Records, Methodist Episcopal Church of New York City, Page 98 of handwritten marriage ledger, 4 November 1858, Gazlay, David M. (single, aged 22), and Masterton, Anna Sophia (widow, aged 23), (both of NY); witnesses: James T. Stafford, S. K. Rouley [?]. Scan of page provided by Adine Wakefield, December 2010.
  2. Deaths, Sacramento Daily Union, Sacramento, California. Available at Veridian Digital Library. 31 October 1859: In San Francisco, Oct. 29th, Ann S., wife of David M. Gazlay, and grand daughter of the late General Hitchcock, of London, Eng.
  3. The Placer Herald, Auburn, Placer County, California, available at Chronicling America (chroniclingamerica.loc.com), 24 September 1859 (and several other dates through 7 January 1860), advertisement for Mrs. A. S. Gazlay’s Female Employment Office in San Francisco. [Some newspapers, notably, the Daily Alta California, carry the advertisement under the name Cazlay.]