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As It Was: Surviving Family Carves Out Life in Shasta County

John and Sarah Alberg emigrated from Sweden to Northern California in 1874, settling in Shasta County, where they raised and sold vegetables, primarily potatoes.  They also milked cows for butter.

John Alberg died on a trip to Oregon to determine what opportunities might exist there.  His wife, Sarah, never knew where he was buried.  Left with four children, she carried on, cooking at Prince Baker’s sawmill on Hoover Creek where the Alberg children learned the sawmill business.

A daughter, Sally, moved in with the Voss family near Ono, outside Redding, and another daughter, Alice, lived with Mrs. Hubbard, who ran a boarding house for miners on South Fork Creek above Igo.

While working at the sawmill, Sarah Alberg rode by horseback to the county seat, Shasta, where she presented her papers for citizenship.  Neither of Sarah’s sons ever married but one daughter, Sally, married and raised three children.

Sarah and her children registered their cattle brand in 1898.  Part of the family, including Sarah, was buried at Ono, and Sally and her family were buried at Igo.

Source: John Alberg. History & Happenings: Acorns of Information About Local History and Genealogy. http://historyandhappenings.squarespace.com/ono-cemetery/2009/3/27/alberg-john.html

Gail Fiorini-Jenner is a writer and teacher. Her first novel "Across the Sweet Grass Hills", won the 2002 WILLA Literary Award. She co-authored four histories with Arcadia Publishing: Western Siskiyou County: Gold & Dreams, Images of the State of Jefferson, The State of Jefferson: Then & Now, which placed in the 2008 Next Generation Awards for Nonfiction and Postcards from the State of Jefferson.