Isham Frost was born 14 Oct 1847 in Daviess County, MO, to Elijah Frost (1802-1891) & Elizabeth Brown (1805-1879).
Inmate: #1263 San Quentin Prison
Rec: 28 Jan 1886
Crime: Murder
Term: Life
This story begins 11 Oct 1865 in Little Lake, Vendetta, CA. I childish argument between two school boys, which should of been settled with their fists and been done, until the school teacher stuck his nose in it and got the families involved.
I found some newspaper articles on this event.
1865
In a few trees on Ancestry it was mentioned that the Frost's & the Coats' were related. They were all in Kentucky & Missouri together and then the Coats followed the Frost to California. But some stories I found online say The Coates clan came from Pennsylvania by way of Indiana and Wisconsin. Both families were industrious and were for the most part of relatively good reputation in the frontier settlement of Willits, CA.
Frost Family
James Frost
1823-1901
Elisha Frost III
1826–1867
Phebe Frost
1832–1905
Mary Polly Frost
1834–1912
Lavisa (Louise) Frost
1839–1919
Hannah Frost
1840-
Catherine Frost
1842
Martin Van Buren Frost
1845–1883
Isham Frost
1847–1928
Elizabeth A. Frost
1852–1915
The Coats Family
Parents
George Ivestor Coates
1810–1870
Loretta Jane Lytle
1814–1875
Children:
Mary E Coates
1833–1908
William Westley Coates
1835–1867
Henry Harrison Coates
1841–1867
Laura Jane Coates
1844–1925
Sarah Coates
1849–1850
James Benjamin Coates
1851–1922
Coates
1853–1853
George Frank Coates
1854–1855
Fannie E Coates
1857–1918
(Henry Harrison Coates, cousin of brothers Abraham Coates and Joseph Albert Coates, and great grand nephew of Thomas Johnson Coates).
Abner C Coats was Uncle and father to Albert Coates.
Main Street Willits, CA
This is where the shooting occured
The Willits Hotel
Elijah Frost III son
Here's a link to more of this story:
The shooting last about 15 seconds the story has lasted for more than 155 years.
Isham was paroled and stayed in Ukiah County, CA where he would finally die 29 Apr 1928.
Here is a letter from Luella
According to this letter the Frosts and Coates were cousins. Is this a lost fact to the story?
The Frost family did have some bad guys in their family and some did time behind bars.
Elijah Frost was in San Quentin according to records it may not be this Elijah but a family member maybe his son or a cousin.
Most feuds could be avoided and the reason this one started was just a another straw added to the cart, as they had been boiling tempers since the Civil War between these two families. If I was a descendant to this line I would go to California and do some research in the Archives, and courthouses ect. and dig into this deeper for the whole story.
Maybe you have a story in your tree to uncover.
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