Beatrice Sawin, ca.1901

The Sawin and Young families of the Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts were united by the marriage of Elizabeth Young and Albert E. Sawin in February 1864, and in the course of the next generation, the families grew very close. At the time of the wedding, Elizabeth (called Lizzie by her family) had four siblings -- Agnes, Jane (Jennie), Sarah, and Allan -- and her father James Young, a recent emigrant from Scotland, was residing in Englewood, New Jersey.

For many working class males in the 1860s, work options often amounted to little more than joining the military, becoming a miner, or a railroad worker. Finding none of these appealing, Allan Young decided to try his luck in 'the free land' of the western states, a place where he imagined one could find fortune, and perhaps settle down to raise a family. Once he arrived in the West in the 1870s, however, he lived a wandering life, moving from Montana to Arizona, California to Idaho, Nevada, and Utah, and soon realized that he was not going to 'strike gold.' Suddenly Holyoke, Massachusetts, seemed very far away. The 'black sheep' of his family, Allan was a light-hearted and adventurous young man, but evidently thoughtful, and throughout his separation from his family, he relied heavily on his sister Sarah during hardship.