Ninth May Generation Biographical Sketches  Jeptha May son of John May, Jr & Elizabeth Hanson Index of grandchildren of John & Sarah Phillips May Jeptha was the 9th of 14 children born to John May, Jr. A PowerPoint presentation on the scattering of the family of John May Jr. was given at the 2008 May Family Reunion. These notes are from that presentation. 1820: Jeptha was born on Abbott Creek, Floyd County on Apr 26. 1830: He moved with his parents to Illinois at the age of 10. 1846: He married Amy Ann Sharrock at Tower Hill, IL. Soon afterward they moved with members of the Sharrock family to Dallas County, Texas. Their first two children were born there. Four members of the Sharrock family - Everard Sr, Everard, Jr., James & George Washington - received Peters Colony land grants, in the southwest portion of Dallas County. Dallas City Council decided this cabin should all be part of a thirty-one acre park . An account of the Sharrock property in Dallas is posted by the Dallas County Pioneer Association. 1852-53: Jeptha and his Sharrock relatives went from Dallas to the gold fields of California: via New Orleans, Cuba, Colón, across Panama & on to San Francisco. When Jeptha May and his Sharrock relatives arrived in Panama, the railroad was under construction. They may have ridden it part of the way from Colón, but they had to walk or ride donkeys on the difficult route over the mountains. Sketches made by gold seekers traveling via Panama After arriving in San Francisco by early 1853 and getting their final stock of provisions, Jeptha and his Sharrock relatives went east into the mountains of Toulumne (too-AH-lum-ee) County. 1853: Mar 12: A daughter & son were born in the gold fields west of Stockton.           Jun 9: The twins died. 1854: The wife and a son of Everhard Sharrock, Jr.died in California. 1855: The May & Sharrock families settled in Oregon, four years before statehood was granted. 1856-1865: Three more children were born to Jephta and his wife. 1860 census: Jephta and his family were living in Clackamas Co, OR. Amy Ann Sharrock, 13, probably the daughter of Everhard Sharrock, Jr., was also in the home. 1870 census: Jeptha and his wife were living in Beaver Precinct, Clackamas Co, OR. He was listed as a Tanner, age 50, born in Kentucky. Their two youngest childern, Julia (8) and William (4), were in the household. His brother, Thomas (57), was living alone in an adjacent home. 1890: April 26th, Jeptha died on his 70th birthday in Oregon City, OR. Buried in Carus Cemetery. 1912: Nov 5th, Amy Ann Sharrock May died in Oregon City, OR at the age of 84. Buried in Carus Cemetery, but her stone has not been located.