The Petaluma Daily Courier, Sat. Apr. 2, 1898.

Death of Mrs. Wm. Mock

Mrs. Wm. Mock died at her home on Third street near B at 1 o'clock this morning after an illness of a month. Death was due to a complication of diseases, which were intensified by old age. Mrs. Mock was a native of Maine, aged seventy-nine years and eight months. She came to California in 1854, and has resided in Petaluma and vicinity continually since that time. An aged husband, whose death is hourly expected survives her and she leaves one daughter, M. Lizzie Goodwin. An only son was buried forty years ago in Oak Hill cemetery, this city. Mrs. Mock was a highly esteemed Christian woman, whose demise is mourned by many sincere friends.

The funeral will take place from the family residence on Third street near B, Monday at 1 o'clock and the interment will be at Cypress Hill cemetery. Friends are urgently requested to omit flowers, in accordance with the oft-expressed wish of the deceased during lifetime.

Captain Mock Dead.

Later — Captain Mock peacefully passed away at 3:55 this afternoon. He had been unconscious all day and was not apprised of his wife's death. He was a native of North Carolina, aged eighty-seven years, and was one of our most highly respected pioneers. Husband and wife will be buried together Monday afternoon at 1 o'clock from the family home on Third street.

Petaluma Daily Argus, Mon. Apr. 4, 1898.

United in Death.

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Husband and Wife Laid Together in One Grave.

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Full of years and honors

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Two Worthy and Highly Respected Citizens
Lay Down the Burdens of Life and Are at Rest.

The death of Major​a Wm. Mock, which occurred at his residence on Third street late Saturday afternoon, received but brief mention in the evening Argus of that day. The deceased is entitled to more extended notice.

Major Wm. Mock was born in North Carolina on the 24th day of March, 1811. After receiving as advanced an education as the schools of that day, in 1832, afforded, he was appointed to a cadet­ship in the military academy at West Point.

From that academy he graduated with honor in 1836, and was assigned to military duty in the regular army. His service was in Florida, during the Seminole War. Having served the years required of West Point graduates, he tendered his resignation, desiring to return to the peaceful walks of life in 1840.

His rank was that of Major. The government accepted his resignation, and he turned over to W. T. Sherman, afterwards General Sherman, all government authority and property with which he was clothed or was possessed.

As a private citizen he pursued the even tenor of his way to 1849, when he came to California. He located near the foothills in Vallejo township and established an attractive home. In 1853 Maj. Mock was elected justice of the peace of that township. A few years later he was elected county surveyor. It was the compass of Mr. Mock that established the boundary between Sonoma and Marin counties, from the San Antonio laguna to the head of the Estero Americano.​b

In 1858 he was united in marriage with Mrs. Mary B. Goodwin, who in conjunction with Mr. A. B. Bowers then had charge of our public school. There were no children by this union.

A few years ago he disposed of his country home and with his faithful companion, took up his residence in this city. He was a highly cultured man, as was also his consort, a woman of unusual intelligence. For many months this aged couple had been drawing nearer and nearer to the pearly gates ajar, and that they should have passed through almost hand in hand, but laid together in a single grave, seems a fitting end to their upright and pure lives. They were esteemed by all who knew them.

The services were conducted by Rev. W. H. Darden and Rev. G. W. Hays, the funeral taking place from the residence at 1:30 P.M. Monday. There were a large number of friends present to attend the burial at Cypress Hill cemetery. The following acted as pall bearers: A. Burr, A. N. Peters, M. Carr Sr., T. A. Gilbert, D. L. Whitlatch and J. Corbet.

The funeral of Mr. and Mrs. Mock is the second double burial that ever occurred in Petaluma, the other being the burial of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Wickersham several years ago.

In keeping with their wish and in accord with their unostentatious lives the funeral was quiet and without any unnecessary display. May flowers bedeck their last resting place.

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Thayer's Notes:

a William Mock's rank in the United States Army was Captain: see the entry in Cullum's Register. Whence this title of Major, I don't know: courtesy, exaggeration, mistake? or just maybe a rank in a State militia, either in California or in Missouri where he had first settled after his resignation from the army. On balance, a mistake of the Argus reporter seems the most likely to me, since the Courier calls him Captain.

b Also — according to Thompson & West, History of Yuba County (Oakland, 1879), pp96-97, as cited in the California Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. 8 No. 4, p360 — the little town of Strawberry Valley in the northeastern corner of Yuba County, which still exists today as an unincorporated community, received its name from Captain Mock in 1850: because of the many wild strawberry plants which he found there.

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