#23 Lt. Col. John Gotea Pressley
May 24, 1833 – July 5, 1895
Just behind us is a very interesting gravesite, that of the Pressley family. John Gotea Pressley was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Confederate Army. He was a signer of the Articles of Secession through which South Carolina withdrew from the Union in 1861, and he was present at the shelling of Fort Sumter. He served with the Confederate Army until 1863, at which time he was in a major battle where his arm was grievously wounded. Luckily, there was a new surgical procedure with which doctors were able to save his arm. However, his arm was useless for the rest of his life. During the reconstruction of the South, when things were grim, the entire Pressley family came to California, settling briefly in Fairfield and then emigrating to Santa Rosa. John Pressley became a judge in Santa Rosa before his death in 1895.
Check Us Out on Social Media
Copyright © 2021 Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery Preservation Committee