John Vogel Death Notice
Gridley, Butte County, California
June 2, 1886

Died of Sunstroke
GRIDLEY, June 2nd -- John Vogel, a native of Germany, aged forty-five, was afflicted with sunstroke this afternoon and died. It is the first case known in the county.

This might or might not be John Voegele, who was born in Soufflenheim, Alsace, in 1834, immigrated to Lancaster, New York, in 1847, then went west to the California Gold Rush in 1860. The family lore is that John was "lost in California."

The age, 45, is incorrect. June 2, 1886, was four days before John's 52nd birthday. However, this John Vogel who died in Gridley may be the same John Vogel who appears in the 1880 census in Yuba City. Gridley, in Butte County, California, is 17 miles north of Yuba City. The John Vogel in the census, 45 years old born in Alsace, is a good match for our John Voegele.

Source:
The Daily Alta California, 03-Jun-1886, page 8.