Family letters of William Doyle Pennell and his wife, Delila Ann.

William Doyle Pennell was born September 15, 1815 in Delaware County Pennsylvania. He left there in 1837, settling in Brunswick, Chariton County, Missouri in 1840. He married Elizabeth C. Usher who died in 1843. He next married her sister, Delila Ann Usher on July 4, 1844. Delila Ann Usher was born in Brunswick, Missouri, in 1828. The couple had four children. In 1849 Mr. Pennell came to California via the Santa Fe trail to Santa Fe, thence to Los Angeles, Mariposa, Stockton and Sacramento. He met little success in gold mining. He returned to Missouri in 1852 and died February 14, 1860. Mrs. Pennell died in Missouri in 1880.

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