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Description
In this oral history, Timothy Eldridge Wood shares stories from his family history that shed light on the prehistory and early development of Mill Valley. Born in San Francisco in 1948, Timothy grew up in Woodside on the Peninsula, though recalls frequently coming to Marin during his youth to visit relatives. Timothy attended college at U.C. Santa Barbara and graduate school at Yale before moving to Salt Lake City where, at the time this interview was recorded, he had been working in the biotech industry for 35 years. The family history Timothy relates traces back to the Puritan communities of the 17th century. Timothy recounts how his ancestors from both sides of his family came to California during the Gold Rush and established themselves in the area. He describes several notable individuals, including his great-great-grandfather John Cushing who bought 320 acres in Mill Valley in 1873 and later established the Blithedale Hotel, his great-grandfather Sidney Cushing who founded the Mountain Railroad, and his grandmother Dolly Jenkins (née Cushing) whose activism in the 1920s and 1930s around the issue of family planning prefigured the institution of Planned Parenthood. The Eldridge side of the family is no less illustrious. As he remarks in this oral history, Timothy "has Mill Valley in his DNA," and channeling the voice of Sidney Cushing he urges current (and future) Mill Valley residents to treasure their utterly unique town.
Identifier
1B1F5874-A046-4CBA-A936-132310633249 2016.110.001
Subject
Ancestors Blithedale Hotel Chong, Gong Chee Collier, John Cushing, Eleanor Cushing, Harriet Cushing, John Cushing, John Eldridge Cushing, Marion Cushing, Sidney Depression (economy) Dyer, Kate Eldridge Grade Eldridge, Elizabeth Risdon Eldridge, Grace Eldridge, John Oscar Eldridge, Mary Eliza Erskine, Kate Erskine, Millie Gold rushes Indigenous peoples Kent, Albert Kent, William Land grants Mason, Bill Medicine Mt. Tamalpais & Muir Woods Railway MV history - Early Mill Valley to 1915 MV history - Interwar years Native Americans Oral history - Local business Oral history - Railways Oral history - Volunteerism, activism Planned Parenthood Puritans Railroads Railways Seitz, Vera Settlers Stetson, Edward Wood, Ellie Wood, Henry Parker Wood, Sr., Parker Fullington
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