Dreams of California

The marriage of Frank Nicol and Jean Elliott in California in 1954 united two families who left their homes centuries ago in Scotland and Ireland. James George Nicol, 19, left Kilbarchan, Scotland in 1844 and arrived in New Orleans with his wife, an infant daughter and five siblings. He made his way to California during the Gold Rush and mined for gold before becoming a farmer. His sons worked their way through school and became prominent attorneys. Raymond Elliott, whose great-grandfather arrived in Pennsylvania as a young boy in 1799, became a football player at the University of Chicago. He moved to California and became a chemist who developed a patent for oil exploration. The descendants of both families attended the University of California at Berkeley or Stanford and moved up the economic ladder. Their dreams of California were the epitome of the American Dream.