Account of a woman leaving her home in San Francisco following the earthquake and fire of April 1906

Jessey C. Wilson was born Josefina Carolina de Jesus Montealegre Joy in 1860 in San Jose, Costa Rica, to Jose Maria Montealegre Fernandez and Sophia Matilda Joy. Jessey's father, a physician, involved himself in Costa Rican politics. In 1858 he married Sophia, and in 1859, after a military coup, was installed as fourth President of Costa Rica. He was elected President in 1860 and served until 1863. Ten years later, he and his wife and three daughters came to San Francisco, settling at 1114 Bush Street. Jose died in 1887. Jessey married William A. Wilson, cashier for Welch & Co., and with Sophia they continued to live in her home on Bush St. until the 1906 earthquake and fire, when they moved to Berkeley. William died there in 1907; Sophia died there in 1908; and Jessey died in San Francisco in 1927.

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