nellicashman

Ellen "Nellie" Cashman born in County Cork, Ireland 1845. Arriving in the United States around 1850 with her mother and sister. In 1865 they settled in San Francisco, California. In 1874 she left her family and headed to the Cassiar Mountains, British Columbia, Canada in pursuit of the Gold Rush. Being a Catholic Woman she set up a boarding house for miners asking only for donations to be made to the Sisters of St. Anne. While running the boarding house she and six volunteers set out and rescued 75 miners trapped in a snow storm.

Later in life she moved to Tombstone, Arizona Territory. There she continued working for the Catholic faith and raised enough money to build the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. She also owned a restaurant in Tombstone with co-owner Robert Pascholy. It was once said that a customer complained about Nellie's cooking. Doc Holiday heard the comment and asked him to repeat it. Embarrassed the customer replied " Best I Ever Ate ".

She would leave Tombstone and travel to the Yukon and Alaska in search of gold. In later years she suffered from Pneumonia and Rheumatism and died in 1925.