The Rosses...

My maternal grandfather, Lewis Edward Ross, descended from a line of Scots that came here to the US perhaps as part of the Scottish Highlands 'Clearances'. The Clearances happened starting in the latter half of the 18th century and continued for something on the order of 110 years. At one point the process included encouragement to emigrate through travel assistance called 'assisted passage'- land owners apparently would pay a family's passage to leave the Highlands. The bottom line was that farmers in Scottish Highlands were thrown off the land. Initially they were expected to find work fishing or harvesting seaweed or, as mentioned above, just go away. My relatives were committed farmers and apparently decided to 'just go away'.

The timing for assisted passage would be about right as my 2nd great grandfather, George Alexander Ross, was born in Cabarrus County, North Carolina in 1810. His parents must have arrived in the USA sometime before that (North Carolina, btw, had a lot of Scottish emigres).

George Alexander and his family made the journey from North Carolina to California over a period of decades apparently traveling in company of the Davey family. The Daveys had also emigrated from Scotland, not from Wales. Davey/Daveys is a frequent name in Wales, the latter pronounced Davis.

Not the greatest image but these are their two headstones. Phebe's headstone
confirms she was born in East Haddam, Connecticut in 1805.

Along the way to California George Alexander met and married Phebe Hall. They had a daughter, Jane E b. 1838, while in Illinois before moving across the state line into Perry County, Missouri. They bought land in Missouri which they farmed. They went on to have 3 more children- Ichabod Olmstead, b. 1840; Robert Hall, b. 1844; and Elias Elam, b. 1847. 

I've discovered several possible relatives of Phebe Hall and the group that seems to best fit says that Phebe (occasionally recorded as Phoebe) was born in East Haddam, Connecticut in 1805. That information matches what is inscribed on her headstone. Phebe lived till 1883 dying at the age of 78 in Angels Camp, California. Phebe and George are buried in Protestant Cemetery in Altaville (Altaville is now part of Angels Camp). 

As an aside, the populated area called Altaville had a few names during the mid-1800s including Cherokee Flats (for Cherokee Creek which runs nearby), Forks-of-the-Road, Low Divide and Winterton. None of those names managed to stick and it eventually was included within the incorporated area of Angels Camp. That said, locals still refer to Altaville as though it were a separate town as recently as 1996 when I was last there.

During the gold rush which started in 1849, Altaville did have a flash of individual recognition when someone planted some fossilized skulls in a mine shaft for miners to discover. The find was called the Calaveras Skull and was touted as being ancient, but eventually the hoax played out and now The Calaveras Skull exists only as a Wikipedia entry.

When George Alexander and Phebe eventually made it to the Angels Camp area they had a ranch which was counted variously in the Copperopolis & Angels townships (those were official census areas); I don't know if they moved or if the census changed the area designation but I believe it's the latter. George Alexander is listed in the 1860 non-population census. This separate census keeps track of things like farms and ranches. George's & Phebe's farm is listed in that but only George's name is shown since it's a non-population list only- they are missing from the population portion of the US Census for 1860, most likely not at home when the census taker stopped to interview them.

I've not found info on Jane E Ross after the 1850 US Census (she was 12 at that time). I don't know if she died young or if she married and lived in her own household. The 3 boys survived childhood and died in retirement in California. The third of those three males, Robert Hall Ross, is my maternal great grandfather.