Stanilaus County is situated in the San Joaquin region of California just East of the San Franciso Bay Area. The Grenfell family has a connection with La Grange, Stanislaus County, a community founded in 1852 around the same time French miners struck gold in the Tuolumne River.

William Pascoe Grenfell had a residence and ranch near the river in the mid to late 1800s which perhaps suggests he was attracted to the area not necessarily for its gold mining opportunities. Whilst this is supposition it may be supported by an obituary in the Daily News describing him at the time, as an early pioneer to the area who, having arrived in California in 1851, settled in La Grange as a stock raiser in 1853. William Pascoe Grenfell and Lucretia Grenfell’s memorial stone can be found in La Grange cemetery, together with their daughter Josephine Grenfell who died aged 3 years.