James T. HADLEY

James T. Hadley, a well-to-do farmer of Yolo county, and one of the best known and highest esteemed, was born in Clermont County, Ohio, October 26, 1835 and was but two years of age when his parents moved with him to Henry County, Illinois. In 1861 he came to California by water, landing at San Francisco January 14, 1862. Shortly he went up the Sacramento with his wife, two children and a sister-in-law, landing on the steps of the What Cheer House, when the ground was all under water. The next morning they started in a small boat across the country for Yolo. The swift current of the Sacramento was full of whirlpools and the oarsman failed to manage the boat. A fisherman near by saw the danger, hurried to their assistance and took the passengers back to Sacramento, except Mr. Hadley

himself, who with the oarsman continued on their journey over fences and through orchards until they reached a barn belonging to the Gamble Brothers. After a few minutes rest they started out again, and the next point they reached was the Herald House, where they stopped over night. The next morning they reached Woodland, a very small place, and stopped over night, and the next day Mr. Hadley went on to Yolo, five and a half miles distant, but it seemed to him about twenty miles! Shortly after his arrival there he was engaged by C.S. White and George W, Park, and he was there employed until the fall of 1863. He then went to Cherokee Flat and followed mining there until 1864, when in May he returned to Yolo County. During the following February he visited Illinois with his family, and on returning purchased 160 acres of first-rate land in Yolo, and has since been a prosperous farmer and a favorite citizen.

His parents were Harry and Sarah T. (Cooper) Hadley, the former a native of New York State and the latter of England.

In 1857, in Illinois, Mr.Hadley was married to Miss Sarah A. Moore a native of Indiana, and they have five children: Lena M., William C., Julia E., Nellie E. and Walter P. Mrs. Hadley died in California in 1871, and June 11, 1874, Mr. Hadley was united in marriage, in Illinois, with Miss Addie Glissen, a native of Ohio, and by this marriage there was one child, Grace Lee. Julia died in 1881 and Walter P. was shot and killed March 24, 1889, probably by accident in taking a rifle from the shelf at his father's house when no one was a witness. He was a splendid specimen of young manhood, not only physically but also in qualities of heart and mind. He was born in Yolo County in the very house and in the very room where his handsome, manly form was laid out and prepared for burial. The afflicted family have the heartfelt sympathy of numberless friends in their great sorrow.

Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, Lewis Publishing Co., 1891 page 763
Transcribed by: Melody Landon Gregory August 2004

Charles Frank HADSALL

The prominent citizen of Yolo county, Cal., whose name is above is remembered as a man and as an official of the highest character, whose record is dear to all who knew him. Charles Frank Hadsall was born April 3, 1869, at Wilmington, Will county, Ill., the only son of Frank and Mercy Hadsall. The father died at Woodland, about 1900, the mother about 1890, and they lie at rest in Woodland cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Hadsall came to Yolo county in 1879, when their son was about ten months old, and the latter was educated in the Woodland grammar school and in the Woodland Business College. Three months before the completion of the course by his class in the latter institution he was offered by W. H. Hampton a position in the Davis lumber yard. Mr. Hampton was manager of the yard, and under his able and careful instruction for he took a real interest in the young man Mr. Hadsall acquired his initial knowledge of actual business. Here, as he had been at school, he was an apt pupil. He was in the employ of Mr. Hampton until 1897, when he accepted an appointment as deputy county clerk under Lane Duncan, who was then clerk of Yolo county. Mr. Hadsall served as Mr. Duncan's deputy during the last two years of the latter's first term, then was nominated on the Republican ticket for county auditor and was elected and served four years in that office. About the time of the expiration of his tern as auditor he was nominated as county clerk, to succeed Mr. Duncan, and was elected. In 1906 he was re-elected to the same office, and would have completed his second term about two weeks after the date of his death. He had decided to retire from official life in order to devote his time entirely to his farm. As a citizen he had an impelling sense of respect for every obligation, and in all his relations with his fellow men he was just even to generosity and tolerant of the views of others. As public official he was efficient, honest and painstaking. There was no duty that he did not discharge with the utmost fidelity. He was not affiliated with any church, but was an attendant upon the services of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, of Woodland.

There was another, and the most interesting, side to the life of Mr. Hadsall the domestic side. On November 24, 1892, he was married in Davis to Miss Nettie Viola Rowe, by the Rev. R. F. Allen. As a husband and father he was loving and devoted. He was survived by a widow and four daughters Carrie Viola, Mildred Rowena, Bernice Carmen and Charlotte Nettie who ranged in age from four to sixteen years. His sister, Mrs. Frank G. Blaisdell, lives in Los Angeles. Another sister, Mrs. Carrie O'Connell, is buried in the Woodland cemetery. His aunt, Mrs. Abiah Day, and his cousin, Russell T. Day, live at Berkeley. His aunt, Mrs. Sarah Russell, and two of his cousins, Frank Russell and Mary Sweet, have their homes in Auburn. He passed away December 14, 1910, at his residence, No. 140 First street, Woodland.

Besides performing his duties as county clerk and clerk of the board of supervisors, Mr. Hadsall devoted all his spare time for some years to the development of a farm in the Hoppin tract, near Yolo, which he bought late in his life. He was an active member of Woodland Lodge No. 111, I. O.O. F., and of Court Yolo No. 1313, I. O. F. Mrs. Hadsall was born near Folsom, Sacramento county, a daughter of Jesse G. Rowe, a native of New Jersey, who came to California in 1867, and after freighting for a time at Sacramento farmed at Davis, where he is still living. His wife, who was Miss Susan Armstrong of Des Moines, Iowa, died at Davis, January 27, 1897. Mrs. Hadsall, maintaining her residence at the family home in Woodland, superintends the conduct of her farm of ninety acres, fifty-seven in alfalfa and the remainder devoted to grain and dairying. An estimable woman of many splendid traits of character, liberal and enterprising, she is a member of the Woodland Methodist Episcopal Church South and affiliates with Woodland Parlor No. 90, N. D. G. W., and with Woodland Lodge, L. O. T. M.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County California with Biographical Sketches of The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development From the Early Days to the Present" page 314-317 by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, 1913.

Thomas HALL

One of Madison's oldest and one of her best citizens is Thomas Hall. He began life in Herkimer county, N. Y., October 6, 1828, and today in Yolo county, Cal., his farthest past and his nearest present are eighty-four years apart and the two places are separated by several thousand miles of American continent. He lived in his native town until he was fourteen years of age, when the family moved to Racine county, Wis. Ten years afterward, in 1852, he found himself aboard a very crowded steamer westward bound. The New Yorker landed in Yerba Buena (San Francisco) safely and from there came on to Sacramento, where he went to work in the spring of 1853. He began ranching on the river bottom, remaining there until 1867, when he located on Cache creek near Madison, Yolo county. There was plenty of land for the mere taking up and he took up a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of government land, improving his holdings and making additional purchases until he had four hundred and fifty acres of land under high cultivation. There was not a tree on the place. He set out groves and orchard, barnyard fences and buildings. One fig tree now measures nine feet in circumference.

Thomas Hall was married in Racine, Wis., in July, 1850, to Miss Fidelia Hutchins, a native of Steuben county, N. Y. Of the eleven children born to them, eight are living, as follows: Charles, Adelbert, Florence, Martha, Nellie, Maud, Mary and Minnie. Charles resides on a part of the old home place. Florence is Mrs. John B. Sankey, of Oakland. Martha is Mrs. L. T. Brock, of Winters. Nellie, Mrs. E. K. Caldwell, resides in Oakland. Maud is Mrs. G. A. Weihe, of San Francisco. Mary is Mrs. P. S. Grant, of St. Helena. Minnie is Mrs. George Warren, of Fruitvale. Adelbert resides on a part of the home ranch.

Mr. and Mrs. Hall are now living retired on the old home ranch, having been married for sixty-one years. Mr. Hall never aspired to official life. He is now the only one left of those who settled on the Sacramento river when he did in 1853. After eighty-four years of activity, he is now enjoying a well-earned rest, surrounded by his family and respected by his neighbors.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 485 - 486.

George F. HAMEL

Farming operations conducted upon an extensive scale form the basis of the partnership existing between George F. and Henry J. Hamel, native-born citizens of the Golden State of the west and members of a pioneer family honorably associated with agricultural development and material upbuilding. The property which came to them as an inheritance and which has been increased through their own capable efforts yields to their keen supervision an annual income that furnishes abundant proof of the fertility of the soil as well as their own sagacious oversight. At this writing they have charge of eleven hundred acres near Davis and two hundred and eighty-five acres in the vicinity of Winters, the whole forming a vast tract whose care and cultivation demands their diligent attention.

George F. Hamel was born at Placerville, El Dorado county, Cal., in 1859, and received his education in the academy of his native town, the German school at Sacramento, St. Augustine's College at Benicia and Heald's Business College in San Francisco. To the knowledge gained in text-books he has added a large fund of information gained from contact with the world, from habits of close observation and from the careful perusal of current literature. Throughout life he has made ranching his chief occupation and under the oversight of his father, Henry Hamel, he learned his first lessons in agriculture, the same being the foundation of his present intimate familiarity with the occupation. In the operation of the farm the most modern machinery for facilitating the farm work is used and the grain crop is gathered with a combined harvester. Fair crops are raised, returning a gratifying dividend upon the investment. The barley crop for 1911 averaged twenty-five sacks per acre, although some of the land yielded as high as thirty-five. The wheat crop in 1912 averaged twenty-five sacks to the acre. Stock-raising is a leading feature of the Davis ranch, where twenty-five calves of the short-horn Durham variety are raised every year, as well as eight or ten colts of Clydesdale and Norman breed. As much of the land is well adapted to pasture, the stock industry proves profitable as well as interesting. The meadows produce large crops of hay and the entire tract under the capable supervision of the proprietors gives evidence of soil fertility, careful cultivation and an intelligent rotation of crops.

Upon organization of the Davis branch of the Bank of Yolo George F. Hamel became one of the original stockholders and still retains his connection with the concern, while the association with the village is further enlarged through the ownership of real estate. In January, 1898, he was united in marriage with Miss Katherine M. Dietrich, a native of Sacramento, Cal. They are the parents of two children, Carolyn M. and Lestenna H., who are receiving excellent educational advantages in the schools of the neighborhood. Mr. Hamel was made a Mason in Athens Lodge No. 228, F. & A. M., of Davis, of which he was master for two years. He was raised to the Royal Arch degree in Woodland Chapter No. 46, R. A. M., and to the Knight Templar degree in Woodland Commandery No. 21.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 463 - 464.

Henry HAMEL

Concede to be one of the largest land owners in the Davis section, and ranking among its most able and highly respected citizens as well, was the late Henry Hamel. He was born November 5, 1832, in Hesse-Cassel, Kur-Hessen, Germany, where he received his education, later taking up farming with his father. He continued this until he left the home land for the United States, taking passage on the Harriet in May, 1851. His parents, George and Elizabeth (Schneider) Hamel, were also native Teutons, and among the foremost farmers of their vicinity. Upon arriving in New York Henry Hamel proceeded at once to La Salle, Ill., where his brother John had settled some years before, but in 1852 he came to California as a gold seeker. Joining an ox-team train, he crossed the plains and after five months reached Hangtown, later re-christened Placerville. For a short period he tried his luck in the mines, but meeting with indifferent success left this occupation and established a freighting route embracing several mining camps, Sacramento being the supply station. In 1862 he opened a meat market in Placerville and built up a large business in that village. During his residence there he took an active part in the local fire company, of which he was a charter member. After a residence of five years in Placerville he disposed of his interests there and located in Solano county, where he purchased land which he improved and developed to farming and stock-raising. From time to time he added to the original purchase until he finally had fourteen hundred acres. His home was situated one-quarter mile south of Davis, in Solano county, near the line of division, and his lands were included in both Yolo and Solano counties. Though he devoted a portion of his estate to agriculture, most of his attention was directed toward stock raising, cattle dealers throughout the west considering his Durhams the best of their type. Not without patient labor and keen foresight did he accomplish the miracle which appears to the eye beholding the beauty and fertility of the well-conducted farm, representative of the highest citizenship of our country, and among his wide circle of acquaintances not one stands forth to speak aught of the man who made the best of every opportunity presented to him.

In Sacramento June 29, 1858, Mr. Hamel was united in marriage with Maria Wirtz, who was born in Louisville, Ky., and was brought up and received her education in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1856 she came to California via Panama with her parents, Jacob and Charlotta (Aug) Wirtz, native of Canton Zurich, Switzerland, and Rheinpfalz, Germany, respectively. Mr. Wirtz was a merchant in Cincinnati, and after locating in Placerville he became a pioneer merchant in that place. Of the fourteen children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hamel nine are living: George F., a farmer three miles east of Davis; Henry J., owning and conducting a fine ranch six miles from Winters; Carrie M.; Fred; Alma M.; Charlotta E.; William C., farming a part of the estate and residing five mile southeast of Davis; Edward and Elizabeth. Fred and Edward are farming on the home place. All of the daughters are still under the parental roof, and in the domestic life of this remarkable family is found a beautiful understanding which puts to shame the conditions which exist in many of our homes, and serves as a lesson to those who, searching for happiness, may, if they will, find it at their own firesides.

Mr. Hamel was made a Mason in Placerville Lodge, F. & A. M., and later became a charter member of Athens Lodge No. 228, F & A. M., of which he was mast for four years; St. James Chapter, R. A. M., Placerville, and subsequently he became identified with Woodland Commandery No. 21, K. T. At the time of his death he was one of the oldest Masons in California and the last of the charter members of Athens Lodge. His sons, George, Henry and William are also members of Athens Lodge No. 228, F. & A. M., while his daughters are charter members Ionia Chapter No. 199, O. E. S., at Davis. Mr. Hamel died in San Francisco October 5, 1911, and was buried from his home with Masonic honors. Toward all movements of worth he was ever a generous contributor, and was recognized as a man of exceptional executive ability, his efforts in the interests of his fellow citizens having won their deepest appreciation. For twenty years he served as school trustee, and in educational matters always displayed marked concern, lending his influence to all movements of worth in that connection.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 687 - 689.

David HAMILTON

It was sixty-three years ago, on the 3rd of April, 1849, that twenty-nine men started from McDonough county, Ill., enroute to California. Of that party probably only two are now living, David Harris, now of San Francisco, and David Hamilton, the subject of this sketch. He was born December 25, 1825, at Rushville, Muskingum county, Ohio, the son of Alexander and Hannah (Gabriel) Hamilton, the former of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. The father died in 1828 and the mother in 1840. Alexander and David were their only children. When he was quite young David went to Miami county, Ohio, where he learned the trade of blacksmith. In 1848 he located in Macomb, Ill., where he remained about a year, thence coming to California, as above mentioned. The trip was made overland with ox teams and required six months and was attended by many disagreeable features, which, however, were speedily forgotten by the travelers upon reaching their destination. From Shingle Springs, Cal., where the little company separated, Mr. Hamilton went to Coloma, where he mined a short time. In October he purchased an ample stock of living necessities and made his way to Amador county, Cal., where he spent the winter mining. The following March he again changed his residence to Calaveras county, and after two months took the trail for Sacramento, where he conducted a combination feed store and blacksmith shop. In October, 1850, he moved to Yolo county and took up his abode on a ranch three miles south of Knights Landing, and today he is one of the oldest living settlers in this county. Stock-raising was his next venture, but after two years he left his farm to engage in hauling freight from Colusa to the mines of Shasta. In the fall he returned to his ranch and continued operations there until the year 1857, when he again took up teaming between Davisville and Sacramento. One of the notable events of that summer was the hauling by Mr. Hamilton of a large threshing machine from Yolo county to Carson valley, Nev., ten mules being used, six for hauling the machine, and four for hauling the hops and feed. The trip was a success in spite of the hills and bad roads. This was the first threshing machine hauled into Nevada and Mr. Hamilton did the first threshing there that fall, pay at that time being every tenth bushel. Soon after this he sold his outfit and returned to his ranch. The winter of 1858-59 he spent at the Fraser river mines, this proving another wild-goose chase attended with much danger, three men of the party being killed in Indian fights. Mr. Hamilton returned to his farm in the spring of 1860.

Mr. Hamilton's marriage occurred June 15, 1861, to Phoebe P. Brownell, who with her brother, W. W. Brownell, came to California from their native town, New Bedford, Mass., in 1857, via Panama. In 1862 Mr. Hamilton purchased a quarter section of land one and one-half miles west of Knights Landing, and for some years engaged in stock-raising and farming with great success, frequently adding to his land holdings, until he became the owner of four hundred acres of excellent land which he sold to great advantage in 1892. Woodland was the home of Mr. Hamilton for the next three years, when he bought a ten-acre tract one-third of a mile west of the city limits, where he has a large residence with the necessary improvements. The only child born to Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton, Eugenia Forest, passed away when seventeen and one-half years of age. Leaving bereft not only her parents, but her many friends as well. Her education had been carefully conducted, primarily at Knights Landing, and later at Mrs. Perry's Seminary in Sacramento. In December, 1909, Mrs. Hamilton followed her daughter "over the bar," leaving the husband and father to wait and hope for the reunion which will one day be theirs.

Mr. Hamilton adheres to Republican principles and first voted for president in 1852. Broad-minded and sympathetic, he has always enjoyed many friends who attribute his success to his generous heart and his conscientious devotion to duty.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County California with Biographical Sketches of The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development From the Early Days to the Present" page 257-259 by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, 1913.

Albert Johnson HANNUM

One of the best known and most successful cattle dealers in Yolo county, and an enterprising citizen as well, is Albert J. Hannum, of Woodland, whose birth occurred near Cacheville, Yolo county, March 3, 1871. His parents were Warren W. and Priscilla (Hill) Hannum. The father was a school teacher in Moniteau county, Mo., until the gold excitement, when, in 1850, he came west with ox-teams and experienced the usual features of that long and wearisome journey across the plains. Settling in Placer county, he mined for a time, and also served ably one term as sheriff of that county, going thence to Yolo county, where he secured a grant of land near Woodland. In 1854, however, he purchased a farm three miles north of Cacheville, where he conducted a general farming business until his death in 1885. He was a charter member of Cacheville Lodge, F. & A. M., and in religion was a member of the Christian Church. His first wife, formerly Eunice Mattier, left three children at her death, as follows: Charles H., an immigration officer at Sumas, Wash.; Mattie, Mrs. Mitchum, of Harrington, Wash.; and James A., who went to South Africa to serve in the Boer war, this being the last that was heard from him. In 1870 Mr. Hannum married Miss Priscilla Hill, a native of Missouri, and the eldest of their three children is Albert J., the others being Warren H., of Sebastopol, and William C., of Seattle, Wash.

Albert J. Hannum spent his boyhood on his father's ranch, and received his early education in the schools of that vicinity, completing it with a course at Hesperian College, Woodland. He manifested keen interest in every duty pertaining to the farm, but more particularly cattle raising, which vocation he has since followed. In 1893, when twenty-three years old, he entered the cattle business in Woodland and from the beginning of his venture his success was assured. Mr. Hannum deals in Yolo county and Sacramento valley cattle, shipping to San Francisco by carloads. He is also engaged in general farming on the old Taylor place, two miles north of Woodland. He is aggressive and prosperous, and though very busy in his chosen work is ever on the alert to assist his home county in every way within his power. In 1909 he married Miss Forella Andrus, who was born in Denver, Colo., and enjoys with her husband the esteem of their numerous friends.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County California with Biographical Sketches of The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development From the Early Days to the Present" page 318-321 by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, 1913.

W. W. HANNUM

W. W. Hannum, deceased, formerly a farmer near Cacheville, was born April 23, 1828, in Robertson County, Tennessee, a son of Miffin Mayppen and Nancy (Pitt) Hannum, natives of Tennessee. The senior Hannum was a farmer and remained in Tennessee until his death. Mr. Hannum, our subject, was brought up on a farm, and at the age of twenty-one years he went to Morgan County, Missouri, where he was employed most of the time as a farm hand until he came to California in 1850. He came overland, with ox teams, being about three months on the road. Until 1853 he followed gold mining in El Dorado County and vicinity, and then went down to the valley in Yolo County and commenced agricultural pursuits upon land he had purchased two miles from Cacheville. He sold this out and in 1879 rented land until his death, which occurred in 1885, when he was fifty-seven years of age. He was a member of Yolo Lodge, No. 81, F. & A. M., for twenty-six years. The mention of his name revives tender memories and kind recollections among all who were acquainted with him.

August 18, 1857, he married Mrs. Eunice Mateer, a native of Illinois, who died May 6, 1866. By that marriage there were four children, three of whom are now living: Charles H., Martha E., wife of A. G. Mitchum, and James A. Mr. Hannum was again married May 24, 1870, to Miss Priscilla Hill, a native of Missouri, and by this marriage there were also four children, namely: Albert S., Eunice C., Warren H.. and William C. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Hannum came down into the valley and purchased her present home, in 1887, consisting of twenty-eight acres, two miles south of Woodland. It is principally devoted to the production of alfalfa, which is here a very profitable crop. She also has a small vineyard, and manages to support herself, with the aid of her children. Their home is one which shows neatness and comfort.

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler, July 2004.
Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1891. pg. 301-302.

H. J. HANSEN

Back to the period when authentic history is lost in traditional lore the Hansen family lived in Denmark and followed the sea as sailors. The geographical location of the peninsula where they were born and reared attracted them to an ocean life as a means of livelihood, for, brought up within the sound of the sea and familiar with sailors from their earliest recollections, for generation after generation the men of the family gave their preference to work on shipboard. Always starting in very lowly capacities, some of them rose to be masters of vessels, while others occupied more humble rank, yet filled their positions with the same fearlessness characteristic of the higher officers. Nor was Peter Hansen less brave than his progenitors, and many a time in his seafaring expeditions he encountered great peril with calmness. Although fond of the sea he was not averse to the quiet pursuits of the landsmen, and when his ship rounded the Horn in an early day, a desire to see the west led him to give up his work and join a throng of gold miners in Trinity county. The mines not proving profitable, he removed to Butte county and took up land near Chico, where he spent the remainder of his life. After he settled in California he married Elizabeth Boydstun, who was born in Arkansas, and crossed the plains with members of her family at an early age.

Among the children of Peter and Elizabeth Hansen there was a son, H. J., who was born near Chico, Butte county, in 1877, and received a common-school education, supplemented by attendance at the Chico Business College. After leaving the college he was employed for five years in a business office in Chico. During 1905 he married Miss Catherine Eggleston, member of a pioneer California family. They are the parents of two children, Willis E. and Dorothy M. Coming to Yolo county in 1906, Mr. Hansen since has engaged in farm pursuits here, although he still retains an interest in the old homestead near Chico. The ranch of one hundred and sixty acres, which he has operated since his arrival in the county, has been greatly improved. An innovation which as proved profitable was the planting of twenty-four acres of Egyptian corn. Some of this has run forty sacks to the acre and all has been sold at $2 per sack. The barley yields about thirty sacks to the acre, and under the present mode of cultivation and fertilization will give larger returns in the future. Thirty acres of the farm are under alfalfa, which always proves a profitable crop. The owner realizes the value of fine stock and the animals to be found on the farm are unexcelled in quality and breeding. The mares are not only good work animals, but in addition they produce fine colts of the Percheron strain. A herd of one hundred Poland-China hogs proves an income producer. The milch cows are the best that could be bought in the community and the stock animal is a fine type of thoroughbred Holstein. At the state farm Mr. Hansen won the prize in 1910 for the best grade of cream and the highest dairy score, the prize being a $200 bull calf presented by George A. Smith. Since he came to this county he has been so closely tied to farm work and so anxious to improve the condition of the property that he has had no leisure for participation in public affairs, nor has he identified himself with any fraternities aside from the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and their kindred society, the Rebekahs, to which latter his wife also belongs.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 642 - 643.

Joseph H. HARLAN

Joseph H. Harlan, a farmer five miles southwest of Woodland, is one of the worthy citizens who have amassed a fortune by the cultivation of the soil, and stands at the front of the class. He was born May 9, 1829, in Boyle County, Kentucky, a son of George and Johanna (Hilm) Harlan, both natives also of that State. His father, a farmer, in 1853 moved to Cooper County, Missouri, and continued as a farmer and stock-raiser there until his death, in 1845, when he was about forty-seven years old. His wife died in 1852, at the age of fifty years. He brought up six sons and three daughters. Joseph H. was reared on his father's farm. At the age of twenty-one he struck out in the world for himself, working and trading, allowing no opportunity to make an honest dollar to escape. In 1853 he came to California, with ox teams and other livestock, being only three months on the road and the journey being pleasant. The train did not camp out twice in the same place. On arriving in this state, Mr. Harlan first stopped in Sierra County, on the head-waters of the Feather River, to recruit; he then was in Colusa County twelve months, and another twelve months in Butte County, where he had located to remain, but his claim was found to be a grant land, and he went to Solano County, having a similar experience; and in the autumn of 1860 he settled on 160 acres of Government land in the western portion of Yolo County, known as the Buckeye ranch. At that time the land was all a bare plain, visited by elk, antelope, deer and bands of Spanish cattle. In 1863 he moved again upon a ranch three miles and a half northwest of Woodland, where he remained until 1872, when he purchased his present place, five miles southwest of Woodland, where he built a handsome residence in 1873, and has a fine home. He owns 2,820 acres in Yolo County, on which he carries on general farming raises livestock; and he also has 1,800 acres in Fresno County, devoted also to general farming. Mr. Harlan is a practical farmer, a wide-awake citizen and a generous neighbor. He has given employment to many deserving men.

He was married November 15, 1855, to Miss Grace H. Barnes, a native of Missouri.

Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, Lewis Publishing Co., 1891, Page 735
Transcribed by Pat Houser

E. HARLEY

a farmer of Yolo County, was born in 1815 in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, about thirty miles north of Philadelphia, where his parents also were born. The name Harley is English, and the first emigration to this country was that of a Mr. Harley who was an Englishman, and his wife, who was a German woman; and it is said that their descendents in this country now number 300. The father of the subject of this sketch changed his residence several times in Pennsylvania, and in 1827, probably, he moved to Stark County, Ohio, and several years afterward to Montgomery County, same State, and in 1840 to McLean County, Illinois, at which time he had six sons. In 1850 the youngest son, Aaron, and the subject of this sketch, in company with others, crossed the plains to California, with a mule team, stopping first at Diamond Spring, near Hangtown (now Placerville), August 9. Until the fall of 1851 Mr. Harley, our subject, was in the mines, and then with others settled in Yolo County, engaging in agricultural pursuits. At that time there were very few settlers in this region, and there was neither town nor village west of the Sacramento River in that county except Fremont, merely an initial point at the mouth of Feather River.

Mr. Harley's first wife passed away in 1847. In 1877 Mr. Harley, for his second wife, married Miss Powell, also a native of Pennsylvania, and they have one son, nearly twelve years old. Their home is in a very fine part of Yolo County, probably as good a section as any in the State.

Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

Emerson B. HARLEY

A lapse of sixty-one years since the original identification of the Harley family with Yolo county has witnessed a remarkable transformation in the aspect of the region and a gratifying development of the native resources. The founder of the family in this vicinity was an honored pioneer, the late Elias Harley, a descendant of English and German ancestry and the possessor of rugged qualities admirably qualifying him for the difficult achievements demanded of a frontiersman. Born in Montgomery county, Pa., in 1815, he followed the tide of migration toward the then undeveloped regions of Mississippi valley and about 1840 took up land in McLean county, Ill., where he made his home for ten years. Meanwhile the death of his first wife in 1847 left him somewhat alone in the world and thus in a position to respond to the call to the west coincident with the discovery of gold.

Accompanied by a younger brother, Aaron, and journeying in a wagon drawn by a team of mules, in 1850 Elias Harley crossed the plains and autumn of that year found him a stranger at the Placerville camp, eagerly studying prospects and conditions at that famous spot. After he and his brother had tried mining for a year with no special success, in the fall of 1851 they came to Yolo county and settled among the pioneers of this then undeveloped region. Eventually Elias Harley again established domestic ties, choosing as his wife Miss Anna V. Powell, who was born, reared and educated in Pennsylvania, and engaged in teaching school in that state, later following the same occupation in Iowa, and thence coming to California.

The purchase of land had been one of the early acts in the identification of Elias Harley with Yolo county. For years he and his wife lived upon a ranch of one hundred and sixty acres near Yolo, and to this he added land adjoining until he owned four hundred and forty acres, which he devoted to grain and stock raising. At the old homestead occurred the birth of their only son, Emerson B., May 29, 1878, and it was in order that he might enjoy the splendid educational advantages for which Berkeley is famed that the parents in 1894 relinquished their agricultural activities and turned their land over to the care of others. From that time they remained in Berkeley until the death of Mr. Harley April 27, 1897, and the widow continued in the city until the completion of her son's education, giving him the advantages of the Berkeley high school and the University of California. After he had completed the course in electrical engineering and had graduated with the class of 1903 with the degree of B. S., he went to Portland, Ore., to take up professional work, and there he and his mother made their home until 1910. Meanwhile the landed interests in Yolo county were in need of skilled supervision. In order that the best returns might be secured from the property it was necessary for the owners to expend money and time on the estate. Accordingly they returned to the old homestead, which Mr. Harley now owns, while his mother owns the other farm, both properties comprising two hundred and eighty acres, being under his personal charge. By a previous marriage, Elias Harley had one child, Celia, Mrs. George Jones, of McLean, Ill., who received one hundred and sixty acres of her father's property, which, as previously stated, aggregated four hundred and forty acres.

The marriage of Emerson B. Harley was solemnized at Berkeley July 12, 1910, and united him with Miss Pluma R. Dutton, who was born in Kansas, but has spent her life almost wholly in California. As a girl she lived with her parents in Oakland and attended the University of California at Berkeley, graduating with the class of 1907 with the degree of B. L. From that time until her marriage she engaged in teaching school, and achieved signal success in the profession. Mr. and Mrs. Harley began housekeeping on the ranch they now own. Here they have erected a commodious bungalow that is a model of comfort and convenience. Other improvements have been made and the farm has been greatly enhanced in value through the intelligent activities of Mr. Harley, who in engaged principally in the raising of grain and alfalfa and is bringing the land into a material condition that renders its cultivation profitable in a constantly increasing degree. For such important tasks as these he gave up his professional labors, and it is now his hope and ambition to develop an estate second to none in point of improvements, thrifty cultivation and gratifying returns.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 677 - 678.

Micajah Oglesby HARLING

M. O. Harling, County Clerk and Auditor of Yolo County, State of California, was born in Monroe County, Kentucky, April 30, 1845, the son of Calvin Harling and Eliza A. Harling (nee Welch) also natives of that State. The Harling and Welch families came from North Carolina in 1797, settling in Monroe County, Kentucky, about forty miles from Bowling Green, the nearest town to their place of settlement. Mr. Harling's mother's family were of Welch and Crawford ancestry, the latter of Scotch descent, and the former of Welsh descent.

Calvin Harling left Kentucky in the fall of 1854, with his family, intending to come to California the next spring; stopping in Missouri, they heard that the Indians on the plains were so hostile that they remained there until the next year, in Butler County, and at Pilot Knob; he finally died in Butler County, September 22, 1856, at the age of thirty-five years. A few months afterward, the widow returned with her family to Monroe County, Kentucky, and in the fall of 1858, she started again for California, but stopped in Missouri until the following year; then she started from Butler County, that State, and crossed the plains with ox teams and cattle, and in September, 1859, arrived at the home of the grandmother of Mr. Harling (Mrs. Jane Welch), about a mile and a half northwest of Woodland.

Mrs. Harling was married to H. M. Hord, August 1, 1860, and now lives in Woodland. Her two sons and two daughters are now heads of families.

Micajah Oglesby Harling was fourteen years of age when he came across the plains. He stood guard half of each alternate night, standing guard the first and after part of the night alternately; he drove one of the ox teams all the way across the plains. He was able then to take one of those old Missouri ox whips and make it pop like a rifle, in which indeed he took special pride. In addition to the foregoing duty, he and a companion did the cooking for the party every fourth week.

During the first fall after his arrival in this State he put in thirty acres of grain, about three miles south of Woodland. From that time onward he worked on farms, and at intervals attended district school, finally entering Hesperian College. In April, 1866, he went to Buckeye, a small town in the southwestern part of Yolo County, between Madison and Winters, and in partnership with M. R. York, one of the present county supervisors, entered into the mercantile business. Mr. Harling was also interested in a general merchandise business at Monticello, Napa County.

When the railroad was built through the county and the town of Winters sprang up, Harling, Lowery & Co. started the first store there, and soon all the business of Buckeye was removed to Winters. While there they also built and owned the first store in Maxwell, Colusa County. Mr. Harling remained in business in Winters until about 1882, when he was elected County Clerk and County Auditor of Yolo County on the Democratic ticket. In 1884 he was defeated for the same position. In 1886 he was nominated and elected County Clerk and Auditor. In 1888 he was elected to the position he now holds. During the two years he was out of office, Mr. Harling was a member of the firm of Harling, Frazer & Co. in mercantile pursuits. In 1887, when he assumed his present position, he disposed of his business interests to J. K. Smith.

Mr. Harling was married, March 19, 1868, to Margaret J. Ely, a native of Missouri, and they have two sons living, John D. and Benjamin E. One son died when an infant and Robert C. Harling died September 22, 1876, when he was four years old.

Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, Lewis Publishing Co., 1891, pages 370-371
Transcribed by: Kathy Sedler, September 2004

Herbert E. HARRISON

No decade has passed since the far-distant days of the discovery of gold that has not witnessed a large influx into California of the sturdy and energetic young men from the east, who, attracted to the western coast through the opportunities here afforded, become integral factors in local advancement and promote the enviable reputation enjoyed by the commonwealth as a center of progress and prosperity. The men of Yolo county have been no less patriotic and progressive than those in other portions of the state, and it is to their development of natural resources, aptitude in business, their integrity in action that the county owes its wealth and prestige. In the attainments that form the index of ideal citizenship, Herbert E. Harrison, the county assessor, has not been surpassed by others associated with the local upbuilding, and popularity among the voters is indicted by his long retention in his present position.

Genealogical records indicate that the branch of the Harrison family to which Herbert E. belongs became established in the east at an early period of our national history. His parents, Jerome Bonaparte and Sarah (Stowell) Harrison, were natives of the east, and he was born August 16, 1852, during the period of their residence in Alleghany county, N. Y. The family removed to Wisconsin during the year 1863 and settled in Adams county, where he attended the schools of the village of Friendship. After he had completed the studies of the local schools he secured employment as a mercantile clerk and continued at Friendship until 1877, when he resigned his position and came to the west. Immediately after his arrival in California he settled at Knight's Landing, Yolo county, and began to work as a clerk, later became a bookkeeper for a business house and eventually entered into the mercantile business for himself. This he followed until about the time of his election as assessor in 1902, when he disposed of the store and turned his attention to official duties. As the Democratic candidate he succeeded J. K. Smith in the office of assessor. When his first term had expired he was chosen his own successor, and in 1910 he was elected for the third term to the position, which he still fills.

The comfortable home owned by Mr. Harrison in Woodland is presided over by Mrs. Harrison, who was Louisa Belle Masters, a native of Sutter county, Cal., and a daughter of the late Emmett Masters. When the Foresters of America organized at Knight's Landing and selected their officers, Mr. Harrison, a charter member, was chosen for trustee and continued in the same capacity until he removed from that village to Woodland. The Woodmen of the World also have had the benefit of his interested identification therewith. In fraternal, as in political activities, he seeks neither prominence nor influence, but his popularity is such that he becomes one of the local leaders without any desire on his part for such results. It is thirty-five years since he came to this county and in all of the long period he has striven earnestly to promote the local progress, thus identifying himself with the class of public-spirited men to whose efforts the county's high standing may be attributed.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 823 - 824.

S. M. HARRIMAN

a prominent citizen of Winters, was born April 30, 1814, in Kanawha County, West Virginia, a son of John and Nancy (Morris) Harriman, both of whom are also natives of Virginia. They trace their ancestry back to Wales. One of the grandfathers was a pioneer of West Virginia, and was in the noted battle of Point Pleasant. He was afterward shot off his horse by Indians while sheriff of the county. John Harriman, the father, was a farmer and lived and died on the same farm where he was born. He was born April 29, 1790, and died July 18, 1840; his widow died in 1865, in the same place; she was born January 7, 1791. Mr. S. M. Harriman, our subject, was brought up on a farm. At the age of twenty-one years he married Miss Eveline G. Spurlock, a native of Virginia, and in the spring of 1839 he moved to Ray County, Missouri, where he remained until 1861, engaged in farming and mercantile business. He then started for California, with an ox team. On Raft River he and his party were attacked by robbers, with whom they had a desperate battle for thirteen hours, and they were finally overcome and robbed of everything. They were then obliged to complete their journey to California on foot, arriving at Sacramento September 19, 1861. He at once proceeded to Yolo County, took up land and began farming in Buckeye Township; and this he improved for twenty-two years, when he sold out and removed to Winters. At that place he owns and rents considerable property. Mrs. Harriman died May 6, 1886, at the age of sixty-nine years and six months, leaving three children: Thomas B., Nancy (wife of J. C. Campbell), and Nellie (wife of John Hansford); and there were six others, now deceased. Mr. Harriman is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Baptist Church, being baptized as early as May 15, 1833. He was ordained in the ministry, in Ray County, Missouri, in 1859, and filled the pulpit for over thirty years in Missouri and California. At present he is living with his children, a retired life. He preached the first series of sermons ever delivered in Colorado, at Boulder City. He has been a very active man during his life, and is still active. His residence is on Russell street, in the enterprising town of Winters.

Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

Chester L. HATCH

The American family of Hatch is of Welsh extraction. Two brothers of the name came early to the American colonies. One of them married and was the progenitor of the family, at least this is the statement of one genealogist. Chester L. Hatch, of Woodland, Yolo county, was born in Sacramento, a son of Roscoe G. Hatch and a grandson of Mark Hatch, born in Washington, Me. Grandfather Hatch left the Pine Tree state in September, 1849, on board the bark Gold Hunter and, rounding Cape Horn, landed at San Francisco in March, 1850. By trade a contractor and builder, he entered the employ of the United State government at barrack building at Benicia and elsewhere in California, but after a time went to Slate creek to try his luck as a miner, making the journey on horseback. On the return trip to Maine in 1852, he took passage on a vessel bound for the Isthmus, but in the course of the voyage the craft was wrecked. However, Grandfather Hatch and others were saved, but were sequestered on an island in mid-ocean, from which they were eventually rescued. He was taken to Panama, whence he was soon able to return home. He wanted to return to California, but his wife could not reconcile herself to moving so far from her native Maine. He had a farm and bought a store which he operated till 1857, when he sold out and came to California by way of Panama, locating at Jenny Lind, Calaveras county. There Mr. Hatch bought a farm, on which, in 1859, he was joined by his son, Roscoe G. Meanwhile Grandfather Hatch continued contracting and building. His first wife having died in Maine, he married Eliza Herold in 1861 and was soon after joined by the remainder of his family. He lived at Virginia City, Nev., in 1863 and 1864, then came back to Calaveras county. In 1867 he moved to Sacramento, where he was employed as a foreman of railroad carpenters till he died, aged sixty-six years. Roscoe G. Hatch was born in Noblesboro, Me., August 8, 1841, but was reared at Bangor and Charleston, Me., where he attended the public school and the local academy until he was seventeen years old. In 1859 he came to the Pacific coast by way of the isthmus, landing at San Francisco, from the old boat Sonora, March 2. He came to Calaveras county and ranched two years in the vicinity of Jenny Lind. During the next two years he was employed by the Table Mountain Water Company, then he bought an interest in the Bunty claim and constructed a tunnel and mined there with success for five years. After that we went to Sacramento, in 1866, and engaged in the grocery trade on J street. He sold out two years later, however, and was for five years employed in carpentering in railroad construction and repairs. His next venture was the purchase of a ranch at Latrobe, Eldorado county, which he devoted to grapes, horticulture, farming and stock-raising. This ranch he sold ten years later, and in 1882 he bought property in Woodland, where he brought his family in 1883. As a contractor and builder he has been actively engaged in building and has erected many residences in Woodland and vicinity. Associated with Chester L. Hatch, he has built several houses which he still owns.

November 3, 1871, Roscoe G. Hatch married Miss Lois Olds, born in Iowa county, Wis., her father, Chester Olds, died in Wisconsin and her mother, Lovisa (Pettygrove) Olds, brought the children to the father, who with the brothers-in-law, Louis and Cheeney Olds, were pioneers at Plainfield, Yolo county. Roscoe G. and Lois (Olds) Hatch had three children: Chester L., Howard M., of Stockton, Cal., and Elmer R., of Woodland.

In Woodland Chester L. Hatch was reared, receiving his education in the public school, Hesperian College and the Woodland Business College. He learned the carpenter's trade, then studied architecture with Seth Babon in San Francisco. After contracting and building for some years, he accepted a position as tallyman for the Port Costa Lumber Company at Vallejo Junction. Later he became secretary of the Retail Lumber Dealers' Association of San Francisco. Afterward he was for three years manager of the Sierra Lumber Company at Corning. Resigning, he bought a sawmill at Log Spring Ridge, Tehama county, where he manufactured lumber three years, selling out to accept a position with the Diamond Match Company. He was a year in the principal office of the concern, then was for two years manager of its yard at Woodland. Then, severing his relations with the Diamond Match Company, he manufactured lumber at Moss Beach in 1910 and 1911. In the latter year he sold his interest there and returned to Woodland and received appointment as United States gauger for the fourth district, embracing all of Northern California and Nevada. He now gives his attention principally to the duties of his office, but is interested in wholesaling lumber and the other building material and supplies and in contracting and building at Woodland. In his lumber connection he is the representative of the E. K. Wood Lumber Company for this section of California.

Mr. Hatch married Miss Mary A. Troop, a native of Woodland, and they have a daughter named Edith R. He is a Republican in political allegiance. Socially he affiliates with the Modern Woodmen and with the Independent Order of Foresters.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 718 - 720.

George Pierce HATCHER

Three generations of the Hatcher family have lived and labored in Yolo county and are still contributors to the material upbuilding of the region, the oldest generation having its representative in William Hatcher, an honored pioneer of 1853 and still an influential citizen of the locality he has assisted materially to promote. Probably none of the early settlers enjoys conversing in regard to frontier happenings with a keener zest than does this well-known pioneer. Possessing an excellent memory, he has a large fund of incident pertaining to early times and can give particulars with unusual accuracy. Seldom indeed is his splendid memory found to be at fault, hence he is consulted often when any question arises concerning the occurrences of the '50s. It is his proud claim that he has raised one more crop in this county than any other man now living here and it is also a matter of pride with him that he is still living on the land where he first settled. It was here that he suffered the hardships incident to transforming raw land into a productive estate. Here he enjoyed the sociability of other days and the friendships of other pioneers. On this farm he reared his children and trained them to be useful members of society. The improvements bespeak his intelligent labor and the cultivated land shows a keen supervision.

On this Yolo county farm George P. Hatcher was born February 3, 1863. A near-by school afforded him his primary education, which later was supplemented by attendance at a business college. Upon starting out for himself he embarked in the grocery business at Woodland, but at the expiration of two years he retired from that enterprise and removed to Yolo. For about three years he carried on a general mercantile establishment in that place. In 1893 he purchased the thirty acres which he now owns and occupies and upon which he has erected a neat house and substantial outbuildings. Since then he has carried on this small tract, besides renting and cultivating other farm lands in the locality. The place is attractive, with its neat buildings, its beautiful trees and its air of thrift and comfort.

The marriage of Mr. Hatcher was solemnized at Yolo February 6, 1883, and united him with Miss Hattie R. Cook, a native of Nova Scotia, but a resident of Yolo county from early girlhood. They are the parents of two sons and a daughter. The former, Clinton and Earl, are partners in farming operations and own a tract of three hundred and twenty acres near Plainfield, Yolo county. Both are married, the older brother having three children: Roma, Darrell and Pierce, while Earl is the father of one son, Thomas. The youngest member of the parental circle is Miss Lola, a popular young lady in the home neighborhood and an active worker, with her parents, in the Methodist Episcopal Church of Yolo.

Ever since he began to devote his attention to agricultural pursuits Mr. Hatcher has made a specialty of the dairy business. Years of efforts and study have enabled him to build up a fine herd of registered Jersey cattle. Some of the pure-bred calves are sold to others and some are retained for the home dairy. Mrs. Hatcher attained an enviable local reputation as a butter-maker and for a long period sold butter to private customers in Woodland, but the work was so arduous and exhausting that a change has been made and the cream is now sold to the Yolo creamery. As a judge of Jersey cattle Mr. Hatcher is regarded as an expert and his opinion concerning this favorite type of dairy stock is regarded with deference by others similarly interested. It has not been possible for him, with his many duties keeping him engrossed in his work, to bear a part in public enterprises and, aside from voting the Republican ticket in national issues, he has no association with politics. When he votes at the local elections it is in favor of the candidates whom he considers best qualified to guard the welfare of the tax-payers, regardless of their political beliefs.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 713 - 714.

William HATCHER

This gentleman is an early resident of Yolo County, and one of its representative wheat growers and stock raisers. He has lived a busy and eventful life, experiencing many toils and hardships, but always actuated by the manly resolve to make the most of every opportunity, and to deal fairly by his fellow men. Mr. Hatcher was born February 6, 1828, in Sevier County, East Tennessee, and is the eldest son of John and Eliza (Taylor) Hatcher. His parents were not wealthy as the world regards wealth, but possessed what is better than lands or gold, namely, rectitude of life and energy of purpose, traits of character fully inherited by their son. They came from good family, also, the father being English and German descent, and the mother of German and Scotch ancestry. They were married April 15, 1827, and for two years lived at Wear's Cove, where their son was born. Afterwards they moved to Monroe County, Tennessee, among the Cherokee Indians, remaining there four years. The next move was to Callaway County, Missouri, where they arrived November 11, 1834. Here his father occupied a position as overseer for Captain Boone, a nephew of the celebrated Daniel Boone. After a residence there of three years, the family removed to the northern part of Missouri, settling in what is now known as Linn County, but which was then, inhabited by the Sioux Indians. There Mr. Hatcher grew up, being brought up to the life of a farmer, but ready to turn his hand to any kind of honest labor, and working at times at tanning leather, making shoes, weaving, knitting, sewing, school teaching, etc. It was at this period that he was married to his estimable wife, who has been a true partner in all his ups and downs, and is now peacefully enjoying the evening of life with her worthy husband, and surrounded by children and grandchildren. Her maiden name was Sarah Frances Mullins, and she was born in Howard County, Missouri. Her grandfather, Thomas Rawlings, settled in Missouri at an early day, and was well known throughout the west as "Old Uncle Tommy." Mr. Hatcher married his wife March 27, 1849. They continued to live in Missouri until the spring of 1852. They determined to set out for California, setting out with ox teams upon the long, hard journey across the plains on April 20th of that year. They had one child with them, Columbus W., now a man of forty years of age, residing on a farm of his own of eighty acres adjoining that of his father. He himself is the father of three children, one boy and two girls. The family arrived in Amador County after the tedious trip, on the first day of September. They had made the journey by the central route, and Mr. Hatcher had been much impressed by the beauty and possibilities of the country through which he passed, and resolved to become the owner of some of its fertile soil, but like most of the early pioneers he must first take a turn in the fascinating lottery of hunting for gold in Nature's rock-bound repositories. Accordingly he went mining in Amador County, and for six months spent in that employment returned from the scene the richer by $150. In the spring of 1853, Mr. Hatcher went to gardening with good success, and coming to Yolo County on September 5, 1853, he bought for $750 the magnificent property where he still resides. When he located there thirty-six years ago, there were only fourteen women between his place and the town of Washington, opposite Sacramento, and just children enough to organize a small school. He was a prime mover in putting up the first small school building in that large section, where are now flourishing high schools and colleges. Mr. Hatcher's ranch is a fine tract of 200 acres, devoted chiefly to the raising of grain and stock. Mr. Hatcher has had seven children, of whom four are living. The names of those living are: Columbus W., Hannah, now the wife of J.D. McLeod; George Pierce and Asa B. Of those deceased: Mary E., John D., and Nancy H., wife of J.T. Nimmo. Mr. .Hatcher has also six grandchildren, four boys and two girls. George P. has two sons, and Nancy H. one.

Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891, Pages 607-608
Transcribed by: Bonnie Phelan

Hon. Nicholas A. HAWKINS

The genealogical records indicate that the Hawkins family became established in Virginia during the colonial era of our national history. Following the example of so many pioneer Virginians, who crossed the mountains to found homes in the beautiful "blue-grass" country of Kentucky, Thomas Hawkins took up government land in the vicinity of Lexington and aided in the development of that picturesque region. The next generation was represented by Nicholas, born on the plantation near Lexington, and reared in the same locality. Through his personal fearlessness in hardships, he established the family still further beyond the then confines of civilization. Taking up government land in Marion county, Mo., he engaged in tilling the soil there for fifteen years. Subsequently he spent five years as a farmer in Crawford county, the same state.

The tide of migration was drifting still further toward the setting sun, and Nicholas Hawkins was eager to join the host of homeseekers in the far west. Accordingly he disposed of his Missouri holdings and in 1860 crossed the plains to California, accompanied by his wife, Margaretta M. (Frasier) Hawkins, and their seven children. At that time the Indians were peculiarly active in depredations, but the family traveled with a very large expedition, the size of which deterred the savages from hostile efforts. The original location of the family was upon the Solis grant near Gilroy, Santa Clara county. The title was disputed for some time, but finally the United States Supreme court sustained Mr. Hawkins in his ownership of the land. Later he disposed of the land to a son-in-law and removed to Hollister, San Benito county, where he died in 1890 at the age of eighty years. During 1896 occurred the death of his widow, who was born near Lexington, Ky., in 1812, being a daughter of Joel Frasier, of Virginian birth.

The family of Nicolas Hawkins comprised the following-named sons and daughters: Thomas S., a banker of Hollister; Joel F. and John W., who long engaged in farming near Hollister; Margaret Jane, whose husband, J. Q. Patton, occupied the old Hawkins homestead near Gilroy; Elizabeth, Mrs. J. A. McCroskey, of Hollister; Mary E., Mrs. R. W. Chappell, also a resident of Hollister; and Nicholas Andrew, whose name introduces this article, and whose birth occurred in Crawford county, Mo., May 31, 1856. When only four years of age he was brought to California, and among his earliest recollections is that of a long journey in a wagon across the plains. As a boy he lived in Santa Clara county and near Hollister. After having graduated from the Gilroy high school in 1873 he matriculated in the Pacific Methodist College at Santa Rosa, Sonoma county, where he took the four years' course of study and received the degree of A. B. During the fall of 1877 he entered the Albany (N. Y.) Law School, and after two years of study he was graduated with the degree of LL.B. About the same time his alma mater conferred the degree of A. M. upon him.

Upon his return to the west the young lawyer began to practice his profession with N. C. Briggs at Hollister. From 1880 until 1882 he served as district attorney for San Benito county and then declined in favor of his friend, B. B. McCroskey, who was elected to the office. During 1884 he was himself chosen for the position and served one term. In search of a warmer climate for considerations of health, he came to Woodland in January of 1887. Two years later he formed a partnership with J. Craig, and the connection continued until the retirement of Mr. Craig from practice. Afterward Mr. Hawkins served as attorney for the Yolo County Consolidated Water Company and the Bank of Woodland. Under his personal management were conducted many of the most important suits in Yolo county. Seldom was one of his cases lost, for with masterly acumen and profound knowledge of the intricacies of the law he pushed every case forward to its anticipated termination.

When the Republican "landslide" occurred in 1904, Mr. Hawkins was the only Democrat north of San Francisco elected to either house of the legislature, but he became a member of the assembly and ran four hundred and fifty votes ahead of the rest of the ticket. During the session he introduced and was instrumental in securing the passage of the agricultural farm bill, a measure for which the people of Yolo county had been working for some years. The bill provided for an appropriation of $150,000 to be used in the establishment of a farm in connection with the agricultural department of the California State University. In addition he served as a member of the committee on swamps and overflowed lands. The irrigation committee had in him an intelligent member, and the same may be stated concerning the committees on county boundaries, engrossment and enrollment, and military affairs. Some amendments to the codes, and municipal and county government acts were passed through his painstaking efforts. The fact that he was a Democrat and the legislature largely Republican did not affect the standing of Mr. Hawkins, who was chosen to serve on committees because he was recognized as a man of fine ideas, unusual ability and patriotic devotion to the state. He was elected superior judge of Yolo county in 1908 and still fills that high position with impartiality and intelligence. On the bench, as at the bar, he displays a broad knowledge of the law in its every detail and few men are by nature and also by education as well qualified as he for the important duties of a jurist.

The judge was married at Amity, Ore., in 1879, his bride being Emma E. Chase, a native of Fairbury, Ill., and a daughter of William T. Chase, a cousin of Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase. Her father enlisted at the opening of the Civil war as a member of an Illinois regiment and died while at the front in the service of the Union. Mrs. Hawkins is a graduate of a seminary at Peoria, Ill., and a woman of unusual culture. The two sons in the family are J. Waldo and Bellwood Chase. The former received the degree of LL.B. from the University of Michigan in 1904 and is a practicing attorney at Modesto, Stanislaus county. The latter was educated at the University of California and University of Michigan. The judge is a member of the California Bar Association and maintains a warm interest in every matter connected with his chosen profession. For many years he has been connected with Woodland Lodge No. 156. F. & A. M., and the Order of the Eastern Star. In addition he belongs to the Woodmen of the World, and since 1879 has been an Odd Fellow, having joined at Hollister, but now belonging at Woodland, where he acts as past grand of the lodge. In his service on the bench the conventional phrase, "an able and upright judge," fitly describes the qualifications of Judge Hawkins, who in addition may be said to be scholarly, devoted, independent, incorruptible, earnest and impartial, a fitting type, indeed, of the men who honor the office to which they are called and who justify the faith of the public in the incumbents of these high positions.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 820 - 823.

George HAYES

One of the earliest pioneers of Yolo county, having been identified with the development of that section for the past thirty-eight years, Mr. Hayes fully merits the esteem and prosperity which he enjoys today, his name being synonymous with courage and honor. A native of Illinois, he was born in October, 1855, near St. Louis, Mo., where he remained with his parents until he came to Yolo county. Here he first engaged in farming, in connection with which he successfully conducted a genera wood business. Subsequently he was joined by his father, a wheelwright by occupation.

The marriage of Mr. Hayes united him with Miss Elizabeth Jones, and to their union the following children were born: Leo George, who married Miss Ollie Collett; Ollie, who is the wife of Carl Bicknell and the mother of two sons, Melvin and Kenneth; Ora, who is now the wife of George Perry of Knights Landing and who has one son, Norman; D. L., and Leland E.

Mr. Hayes' holdings aggregate two hundred and eighty acres, fifty of which are devoted to alfalfa, the remainder being in barley, which, in 1911, produced thirteen sacks per acre. He is also the owner of eighteen head of stock, and raises hogs for his own use. As a man of enterprise and exceptional business ability, Mr. Hayes has aided materially in the progress of the section in which he has so long resided and among his fellow citizens is regarded with warm respect and admiration.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, page 393.

Eli HAYS

One of the best known and highly respected citizens of Yolo county was Eli Hays, who was born October 7, 1835, in Kentucky and died October 6, 1897, on his ranch in Yolo county. In 1856 he crossed the plains with ox-teams, experiencing many adventures with the Indians, and located in Yolo county, where he purchased a quarter section of land five miles south of Woodland and engaged in farming and stock raising. To this he added from time to time until he had six hundred and forty acres in a body. His father, Jacob Hays, was a native of Virginia, but lived for a time in Kentucky, before going to Missouri, where he operated a grain and stock farm. In 1865, after the death of his wife, Nancy (Good) Hays, who was a Kentuckian, Mr. Hays took his children to Oregon, where they lived about a year in the Williamette valley. In 1866 they drove south over the mountains to Yolo county, where Eli Hays was already well established. Securing a farm of three hundred and forty acres, Mr. Hays again resumed agricultural pursuits, also dealing in stock. All of his nine children grew to maturity, but only one daughter is now living, Mrs. Jane Enyart of Woodland.

The widow of Eli Hays, formerly Sarah Guile, was born in Hamilton, Ohio, whence her father, Silas Guile, removed from New York. He was of English descent and served in the Seminole Indian war. Part of the city of Hamilton stands upon land which Mr. Guile once owned and upon which he conducted a farming and dairying business. His wife, Eliza (Beaver) Guile, was reared in Hamilton, Ohio, and was the daughter of Daniel Beaver, of Pennsylvania. In 1855, Mr. Beaver, with his son-in-law, Silas Guile, and his eldest son, Gideon Beaver, came to California by way of Cape Horn. Later Mr. Beaver attempted to return to Ohio, but the steamer Central America on which he sailed from Panama was wrecked in the Gulf of Mexico September 12, 1857, and he was lost with others. He had previously come to California in 1848, via Cape Horn, settling in the Sacramento valley. Upon his arrival in Yolo county, Silas Guile purchased three hundred and twenty acres fourteen miles from Woodland, which he successfully cared for until his death at the age of seventy years.

Mrs. Hays is the oldest of two children, and with her brother, Daniel B. Guile, came to California in 1869 by the Panama route. She had charge of her father's home until her marriage to Mr. Hays. Her brother resides in Woodland, near which city is located his fine fruit ranch. For eight years prior to his death Eli Hays was a victim of extremely poor health, thus the burden of both the home and the ranch fell upon his wife, who, through her incessant labor and good management, proved equal to her task. Her son, Ernest, now has charge of the ranch, his brother, Daniel, assisting. The other children are: Viola, now Mrs. William Rablin; Slayden, Myrtle, Ray and Bert. Mrs. Hays is an earnest and consistent member of the Adventist church of Woodland, and enjoys the love and esteem of many friends.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 529 - 530.

William HAYS

WILLIAM HAYS, a prominent farmer near Madison, Yolo County, was born in Monroe County, Kentucky, in 1838. His father Jacob Hays, was all his life a farmer, and is still living, in Woodland; and his mother, whose maiden name was Nancy Rhiraid, died in Davis County, Missouri, whither the family had moved in 1847. In 1855 Mr. Hays went to Iowa, remaining there ten months and then started for California without a dollar, working his way through by driving cattle, and reaching Sacramento in September, 1856. He at once went to Sonoma County and worked at odd jobs for a year, and similarly in other counties until 1860, by which time he had two horses. He then rented a piece of good farming land in Yolo County, and cultivated it until 1868, when he came to the place where he now resides, three miles west of Madison, and where he has 620 acres of well-improved land and raises grain and livestock; has some very fine horses.

He was first married in Yolo County in 1867, to Miss Albinia Cloyed, and they had four children, all of whom are living. By his second marriage Mr. Hays was united with Miss Melissa White, in Yolo County, in 1878, and they have had one child, now deceased. The children living are Albertie and Albert, twins, Alice G. and Inowa N. Mr. Hays is a member of Madison Lodge, No. 135, F. & A.M.

Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Betty Wilson

G. H. HECKE

It is to men of superior ability and scientific knowledge that the various horticultural sections of California owe their present prosperous condition and wonderful state of development, and in particular is Yolo county fortunately and scientifically equipped in her horticultural commissioner, G. H. Hecke. This busy and useful official was born in Hamburg, Germany, where after leaving the high school of his native city he was employed several years in a large nursery. He left that establishment to enter a German agricultural college, in which he took a course in horticulture and viticulture. After a year of study and practical work in France he further fitted himself for his chosen profession by special study at the Royal Botanical Gardens, at Kew, near London, England, where he remained two years (1890-91). This is the only government institution of its kind in England, and its graduates supply the British colonies with trained horticulturists. After passing his examinations Mr. Hecke looked around for a location and chose the Pacific coast country as a fair field for future operations and selected California as the most suitable district for his purpose. Accordingly he arrived here in 1892 and entered the employ of the Kern County Land Company at Bakersfield. The next year he decided to seek a more desirable field for his special experiments and found it in Yolo county, where he accepted a position on the Byron Jackson ranch two miles south of Woodland. In the course of time Mr. Hecke became the owner of this beautiful ranch. Under his intelligent and careful management it could not be other than what it is a rare garden of plant, vine and tree and one of the show places of Central California. Within its limits are a raisin vineyard of eighty acres, a prune orchard of fifty acres and an apricot and olive orchard of about twenty acres. "The Yolanda" is the fitting and poetical name Mr. Hecke has given his home, and its one hundred an sixty acres of park-like cultivation and arrangement could not have been more appropriately named. The ranch is adorned with a beautiful residence, in perfect keeping with the place, and has drying houses, packing houses, stables and other necessary buildings. Here its cultured owner lives and gathers the plant products of a wonderful farm. A two-hundred acre tract near Esparto, also belonging to this estate, is devoted to the cultivation of grain and alfalfa. In a county of such agricultural possibilities as Yolo it is no wonder that within its territory a grower like this trained horticulturist has found his natural field.

From 1904 until 1906 Mr. Hecke was employed by the United States Department of Agriculture as an expert in viticulture and had in charge eleven experimental vineyards extending from Chico to Cucamonga. After several years of this service he resigned to devote all his time to his own business interests. When the University Farm at Davis was established Mr. Hecke was one of its most enthusiastic local advocates. As is known, this farm is a part of the College of Agriculture of the University of California and contains seven hundred and eighty acres of the rich alluvium which Putah creek has for countless ages been bringing down from the hills. Believing firmly in the theory of establishing this great educational institution where farming is taught as a science and pays for itself in the knowledge it imparts to the surrounding world, Yolo's commissioner of horticulture is deeply interested in the noble institution and has faith in the efficacy of its future influence on the agricultural and horticultural development of the resources not only of California, but of the Pacific coast.

In 1898 Mr. Hecke married Miss Elizabeth Welch, a native of Yolo county. They have two daughters, Leila and Martha.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 411 - 415.

Lorenz HEINZ (#2)

Lorenz Heinz, a farmer northwest of Davisville, in Yolo County, was born January 9, 1828, in the Kingdom of Wirtemberg, Germany, a son of Franz and Margaret Heinz, natives of Germany. He was brought up on a farm in the old country; his father being a blacksmith he learned the same trade, and at the age of twenty, being the only son and his father over sixty years old, he was exempt from further army service. In 1849 he sailed from France to America on the vessel Havre, and was thirty-six days on the voyage. Landing at New York he remained there for a short time and went to Philadelphia, and engaged at farm work near by in Chester County, in the employ of a man named Robert Brown, for one year at $87. He then was employed at his trade, blacksmithing and boiler-making, in Philadelphia until the fall of 1852, when he sailed from New York on the steamer Uncle Sam for California, by way of the Isthmus, on the Pacific side taking the steamer Cortez, and landing in San Francisco January 6, 1853. In that strange city he endeavored to find employment for a month, but in vain, and as he was without means he became sadly discouraged. Board was $13 a week, even for the plainest kind. At length he obtained a position in a manufactory of iron doors and shutters, at $5 a day; but in a month he concluded to go with some friends to Australia and gave up his situation; but the trip was given up and his occupation gone. He went to Sacramento and then started to the mines near Colusa on a steamer, which broke a shaft on the way, and while it was lying to for repairs Mr. Heinz met some miners returning who gave discouraging accounts. He returned again to Sacramento, heart-sick and discouraged. He went to the mines again, only to meet further discouragement, and even opposition. After hunting around for some time for employment, he was engaged by Wallace Barnes, at $50 a month, and he worked for him six months, but never received a cent of money for it! Next he engaged in a manufactory of iron doors and shutters at Sacramento; next in a vegetable garden for Mr. Muldrow until spring, when he again went to Sacramento and engaged in the manufacture of iron doors and shutters for Radcliff & Company. Thus he was employed until the fall of 1854, by which time he had accumulated about $400. Placing this in the bank, he struck out for the mines at Iowa Hill, where he worked for awhile, only for poor returns. In the spring of 1855 he went again to Sacramento, only to find that the bank had failed and all his hard-earned money gone! This almost uninterrupted series of disasters were enough to drive any common man insane, but Mr. Heinz still held up his head, and hired himself to a Yolo County man named Alexander Manor for the summer. He worked for various parties until the fall of 1860, when he with a band of sheep, located where he now lives, upon a half section of land, which he obtained of a squatter, at a cost of $800; and three years later he bought it a second time with school warrants of the State of California. He has, however, continued courageously on until long since he has made a fine home. His farm is one of the best kept in that section of the county, and comprises 337 acres. What an example we have, in the sketch of such a noble citizen, of patience and perseverance!

Mr. Heinz was married December, 1862, to Miss Caroline Weimer, and they had two sons - Charley and Theodore. Mr. Heinz was married again in the fall of 1871, to Miss Lucia Kuehnel, a native of Germany, and they have three children, namely, Julia, August J. and Lucia.

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler, July 2004.
Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1891. pg. 327-328.

Lorenz HEINZ (#2)

An example of fortitude amid discouragements is afforded by the career of the late Lorenz Heinz. The pathway of his early years was rugged and thorn-strewn. Had he been easily depressed the weary obstacles between him and success would have daunted his courage. With a youth's bright hope for the future he had come to the new world, only to find little to encourage him in his early prospects. Still optimistic of the future, he had sought the far west and here he found employment difficult to secure, wages sometimes held back from him and eventually, when he had accumulated a little capital by the most arduous exertion, the bank failed in which he had deposited his precious earnings. Notwithstanding these hardships and many other discouraging circumstances, he exhibited a tireless patience and an unflagging perseverance and in the end he worked his way out of difficulties into independence.

The life which this narrative presents had its beginning in the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, January 9, 1828, in the home of Franz and Margaret Heinz, natives of Germany. The father was a blacksmith, and it was natural that the son should learn the same occupation under the skilled training of the other. The fact that he was the only son in the family and that the father was more than sixty years of age exempted him from military service for his native land. During 1849 he took passage on the vessel, Havre, which covered the route from France to America in thirty-six days, a fast voyage for that period of history. The ship cast anchor in the harbor of New York and the young immigrant in a short time proceeded to Philadelphia, going from that city to Chester county, Pa., where he entered the employ of Robert Brown, a farmer. His wages for one year amounted to $87 and board. Next he was employed as a blacksmith and boilermaker in Philadelphia.

During the autumn of 1852 Lorenz Heinz sailed from New York City on the vessel Uncle Sam, bound for the Isthmus of Panama. After he had crossed to the Pacific side of the isthmus he boarded the ship Cortez, which cast its anchor in the harbor of San Francisco January 6, 1853. The western metropolis presented a strange appearance to his inexperienced eyes. A motley throng of emigrants from all parts of the world formed its leading inhabitants. Many lived in tents, although the process of permanent building was well begun. The young German was entirely friendless and none too familiar with the English language, so that he worked under a great disadvantage in his efforts to secure employment. As he paid $13 per week for board his scanty savings became reduced so rapidly that he was practically penniless when at the expiration of a month he finally found work. The new position, which paid $5 per day, took him into a factory where iron doors and shutters were made, and he continued for a month, when he resigned to accompany an expedition to Australia. Scarcely had he resigned the position when the trip was abandoned and he was left again without employment.

Seeing no favorable opening in the city, Mr. Heinz went to Sacramento and from there started via steamer for the mines near Colusa, but in the course of the voyage the vessel broke a shaft and a delay was occasioned. While awaiting the completion of the repairs, Mr. Heinz became acquainted with a number of miners returning from the mines and they gave such discouraging reports of conditions there that he abandoned all thought of going farther. Returning to Sacramento, he took up the weary search for work. Finally he was engaged by Wallace Barnes, who agreed to pay him $50 per month, but after he had given his best efforts for his employer for six months he was left without a penny of pay. His next position did not result so disastrously, but was of brief duration, being a temporary post with a concern that manufactured iron doors and shutters. Next he worked in the Muldrow vegetable gardens and then entered the employ of Radcliff & Co., of Sacramento.

Having saved $400 by 1854, Mr. Heinz deposited the money in a Sacramento bank and started for the mines at Iowa Hill. During the spring of 1855 he went back to Sacramento, only to find the bank closed and his earnings lost. With these discouragements to depress him, he looked for a new location, where he might retrieve his losses. Coming to Yolo county, he hired to Alexander Manor and worked for various ranchers until the fall of 1860, when he settled on a half-section of land six miles northwest of Davis, having obtained the land of a squatter for $800. Later he bought the land with school warrants of the state of California. Starting with sheep, he afterward became interested in other lines of agriculture. Little by little success came to him. The ranch was improved with substantial barns and a neat house. Shade trees gave beauty to the landscape and fruit trees proved a source of profit. From year to year improvements were made as the means of the owner permitted. Gradually the ranch took rank among the best-improved places of the community. This result was due to the early pioneer efforts of the owner, seconded by the wise management of the present proprietor, A. J. Heinz, youngest son of the upbuilder of the property.

The first marriage of Mr. Heinz took place in December, 1862, and united him with Caroline Weimer, by whom he had two sons, Charles and Theodore. On February 25, 1871, Mr. Heinz married Miss Lucia Elsobe Kuehnel, a native of Husum, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, born September 28, 1839. In 1870 she came to California and the following February she was married. Mrs. Heinz was a noble woman and her exemplary life furnishes an example that no woman can study without benefit to herself and help to those with whom she associates. She was true in all of the relations of life, a good neighbor, a loyal friend, a devoted wife and mother, an ardent and loyal Christian, and her death was profoundly mourned by a wide circle of friends. She passed from earth March 29, 1901, after a happy wedded life of thirty years. Just three years later, March 28, 1904, Mr. Heinz also entered into eternal rest, mourned by a large circle of friends, who united in bearing testimony to his courage in the midst of difficulties and her perseverance in the routine of farm work. Mr. Heinz' honesty was joined with the still nobler qualities and principles. He was not only honest, but just and generous. It was known that at one time he paid out of his own pocket hundreds of dollars given voluntarily and without other influence or obligation than his recognition of the Golden Rule. What he was to his neighbors can be best stated by the estimate one gave him when he said, "A better neighbor never lived." Surviving Mr. Heinz are the three children of his second marriage, the son, August J., previously mentioned as the present capable manager of the old homestead, and the two daughters, one of whom, Julia, is the wife of L. J. Cassel, while the other, Miss Lucia Heinz, an artist of prominence, has her studio in San Francisco. The old Heinz ranch comprises three hundred and thirty-seven acres and is given over particularly to grain, alfalfa and stock raising. August J. Heinz was born on the place October 10, 1875, and was educated in the public schools and Herperian College.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 779 - 782.

George W. HEMENWAY

Postmaster at Winters, Yolo County, is a son of Henry B. and Eunice (Guild) Hemenway, the former, a native of Massachusetts, born in 1813, and died March 17, 1875; the latter, born in 1815, in Vermont, is still living in Wheaton, Illinois. George was born at Wayne, Illinois, thirty miles west of Chicago, June 17, 1842; graduated at the Commercial College at Wheaton, learned the trade of printer, and from the age of twenty-seven years to about thirty-six years he was a book-keeper in Chicago. In 1877 he moved to Lyon County, Kansas, and purchased a farm of 240 acres, which he improved until 1887, when he came direct to his present place of residence. On coming to California, he did not dispose of his Kansas farm, lest he might wish to return to it; but he is more than pleased with the Golden State, and his intention is to remain at Winters, where he has purchased a fine home and two stores occupied by A. Hazelrigg. He is at present Postmaster of the village, and ere this sketch is printed he will have established also a stationery store.

In 1869, in Chicago, he was united in matrimony with Anna P. Filer, a native of Illinois, and they have five children: Walter, born in 1817; Ella, 1873; Fred, 1875; Harvey, 1879; Jessie, 1887.

Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

Hiram HENIGAN

The present efficient recorder of Yolo county, Cal., Hiram Henigan, of Woodland, was born near Massena, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., June 20, 1876, and when but seven years old accompanied his parents, Eli and Eliza (Miller) Henigan, to California. The family located in Woodland, where the father died four years later. The mother reared the children, fitting them as well as she was able for the duties and responsibilities of the best citizenship, and lived in the old home until her death, which occurred March 7, 1911.

It was in the schools of Woodland that Mr. Henigan gained his education. After he was graduated from the high school he engaged in draying and thus was busied several years, working hard and learning a good deal about the city, its business men and its enterprises and prospects. He then entered the employ of Chris Sieber & Company, hardware merchants, with whom he remained four years, still farther broadening his business vision. In August, 1910, he was nominated on the Republican ticket for recorder of Yolo county, to which office he was elected in the following November and the duties of which he assumed January 2, 1911. He has become popular as an official and his conduct of the business to which he was chosen has given general satisfaction to citizens of all classes and of every shade of political belief.

In 1900 Mr. Henigan married Miss Lottie Boots, whose father, W. A. Boots, came to Woodland among the earliest settlers. She has borne Mr. Henigan three children: Lawrence, Wallace and Evelyn. Mr. Henigan is a member of the Foresters of America; is a member of Woodland Lodge No. 111, I. O. O. F., of which he is past noble grand, and is identified also with Encampment No. 79 and is its past chief patriarch. Frank and straightforward in all his dealings and associations with men, he is well liked and much appreciated, and between him and the people whom he conscientiously serves there exists a strong bond of friendship.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County California with Biographical Sketches of The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development From the Early Days to the Present" page 318 by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, 1913.

F. N. HENRICK

F. N. Henrick, proprietor of a packing house and manufacturer of ice at Madison, Yolo County, is one of the enterprising and leading business men of that county. Hard work and good management have brought him to his present business standing and financial status. He was born in Cziernach, Germany, March 17, 1848, the son of Philip F. and Barbara (Fredner) Henrick, natives of the same town; his father was born in November, 1817, was a butcher by trade and dealer in live-stock, and finally died in his native country, in 1859. His wife, born May 11, 1822, is still living, at the old home. The genealogy of the family is traceable back for three centuries, in Cziernach.

In 1864 Mr. Henrick, our subject, came to California, by way of New York and the Isthmus; on the Atlantic side he sailed on the steamer Arizona, and on the Pacific side the Golden City. He was on the sea thirteen days from Germany to New York, and twenty-four days thence to San Francisco. After remaining some time with his uncle on a ranch in Solano County, he entered the butcher business in San Francisco and Sacramento at the time. Seven years afterward, in 1870, he went to Cottonwood (now Madison), Yolo County, where he was manager and book-keeper for a large packing house and meat market owned by James Asbury of Woodland. Two years afterward he went into the business for himself again, on a small scale, and now he has a large ice manufactory and packing house there, and meat markets in a number of towns. He kills yearly about 5,000 hogs, and he also packs and wholesales all the other staple meats, lard, etc. He also has 220 acres of well-improved land within a quarter of a mile of Madison. He is a member of Madison Lodge, No. 287, I.O.O.F., and of the Encampment, No. 62.

He was first married in Sacramento in 1870, to M. L. Rehmke, and they had five children, namely: Frederick C., Adolph T., Anna M., Julius E. and Philip T. Frederick and Adolph T. were taken to Europe by their father to school for three years, and have just recently returned. Mr. Henrick's second marriage was in 1884, to Miss Caroline Bachstein.

Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891

Jacob HENRY

Jacob Henry, late a prosperous farmer of Capay Valley, Yolo County, was born March 13, 1818, in Fairfield, Ohio, a son of John and Elizabeth (Wykerd) Henry, both natives of Pennsylvania, who moved to Virginia and then to Ohio, where the father died; the mother died in Michigan. At the age of eight years young Henry was "bound out" to Samuel Trexell until he was seventeen years of age. He then went to Wayne County, Indiana, was there two years, and then worked two years for his brother, John H., in Montgomery County, Ohio, then they moved to Indiana and continued together two years longer; then Jacob and a younger brother, Joseph H., went to farming for themselves. Two years afterward they bought 280 acres, which they cultivated together for sixteen years. Jacob then disposed of his interest and bought 120 acres in Illinois, which he occupied and cultivated until 1875, when he sold out and came to California. He bought a place in Capay Valley, which now contains seventy-six acres and constitutes a pretty little home.

He was married in Michigan, April 26,1849, To Miss Caroline Conradt, a native of Germany, and they have eight children, namely: Emeline, born August 3, 1850, now the wife of H. H. Smith; George W., born August 30, 1852; Mary, born February 21, 1857, and now the wife of J. C. Duncan; Andrew J., born March 12, 1854; Schuyler C., born June 7, 1859; William A., September 30, 1868; Ira M., April 1, 1870; Alma V., born October 13, 1862, is now Mrs. R. B. Cranston. Mr. Henry died in 1890.

Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891, Page 636
Transcribed by: Bonnie Phelan

MRS. MARY DEXTER-HENSHALL

See: Mary Dexter-Henshall in the "D" section.

Cyriak HERMLE

Through years of identification with Yolo county, to the development of which he has contributed materially, Mr. Hermle has become well known as a man of unquestioned honor and enterprising spirit, his good judgment and rare business ability having placed him among the most influential citizens of Woodland.

A native of Germany, Mr. Hermle's birth occurred August 7, 1862, in Wurtemberg, where he received his education, spending his youth of the farm of his parents, John and Ursula Hermle, also of German nativity. Having completed the shoemaker's trade, at the age of eighteen years, led by a determination to win both wealth and freedom in the land of opportunity, the son immigrated to America, securing a position as a shoemaker in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he remained six months. In 1881 he came to Yolo county, Cal., and for six years worked on a ranch, prior to his purchase of a quarter section of land nine miles north of Capay, which he operated until 1902, when he sold out and bought his present place of five hundred and sixty acres six miles northeast of Winters. His peach and almond orchard cover twenty acres and he also raises other fruit. In addition to his own highly cultivated and productive ranch he leases seven hundred acres, which he devotes to grain raising. He gathers his crops with a combined harvester, the motive power for which, as well as for plowing and harrowing, is supplied by a caterpillar engine. He also at one time engaged in raising cattle and sheep.

In 1886 Mr. Hermle was married to Miss Corne Stall, a native of Germany and the daughter of Charles L. and Kate (Latch) Stall, who ultimately became residents of California. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hermle, Frank and Adolph. Mr. Hermle maintains a deep interest in political issues, is active in all public enterprises demanding conservative judgment, and with his family enjoys membership in the Catholic Church of Winters, which receives his hearty support.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 737 - 738.

Hon. David N. HERSHEY (#1)

During the half century with which he was identified with the history of Yolo county Mr. Hershey held an influential position as a farmer, cattle-raiser, land-owner, banker and public official, his versatile talents enabling him to successfully carry forward interests of a widely different nature. By virtue of his recognized ability he was called from the quiet life of the agriculturist into the busy career of a man of public affairs; and, as he had been progressive and prosperous in the one calling, so he proved himself equal to every responsibility awaiting him in the field of finance, in the management of large properties and in the service of the people.

The genealogy of the Hershey family is traced to the ancestral home on the banks of the Rhine in Germany. The first of the name in America was a preacher in the United Brethren Church and after crossing the ocean assisted in establishing that denomination in Pennsylvania. David Hershey, Sr., who was the son of this pioneer minister, was born in Dauphin county, Pa., one mile from Harrisburg, and in early manhood married Christiana Rohrer, who was born, of German ancestry, on a farm through which ran the state line of Pennsylvania and Maryland. After their marriage they settled in Maryland and their son, David N., was born April 13, 1818, during their residence in Washington county, four miles from Hagerstown. When he was six years of age his parents removed to Montgomery county, eighteen miles west of Rockville, near the line of the District of Columbia, and there he attended school and grew to manhood. In company with a brother-in-law he removed to Missouri in 1841, settling in Howard county. A year later he rented land and began to raise tobacco, which was a new industry in that region. After curing his first crop he sold seven hogsheads of the dried leaves to Dr. Oder, who found a ready market for the product in Europe. Encouraged by this success, in 1844 the doctor bought an interest in the business and they raised tobacco on an extensive scale, making large shipments to Europe. After a series of successful shipments, reverses came to them, and the doctor discontinued his interests, leaving Mr. Hershey alone. Forced to find a new market, the latter embarked in the manufacture of cigars, some of which he sold to traders, and the balance in the then small town of St. Louis.

Having decided to seek a new location, Mr. Hershey made a long prospecting tour through Texas with a view to locating, but not finding a satisfactory opening, in 1850 he returned to Maryland and the next year went back to Missouri. For some time he worked with Colonel Flournoy in Linn county. In May of 1853, in company with William S. Flournoy, he left Missouri with a drove of one hundred head of cattle and proceeded across the plains and via the Carson route to California. More than once during the trip they were threatened by hostile Indians, but fortunately escaped a direct attack. In October they arrived in Amador county and from there came to Yolo county. Soon afterward they bought land that is still owned by the family. As his interest enlarged Mr. Hershey became president and a stockholder in the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Woodland, the Bank of Yolo County and the Grangers Bank of San Francisco; also owned an interest in the original Seventy-six canal in Fresno and Tulare counties, together with a similar interest in nineteen thousand acres of land adjoining the canal, all of which was subsequently sold to the Alta Irrigation Company.

Had Mr. Hershey been willing to hold public office, doubtless he would have been a constant incumbent of some responsible post, but his tastes did not incline him toward such a career. However, in 1879, he consented to serve as representative of his district in the legislature and again in 1883 he was elected to the assembly. During both of his terms he gave his support to measures for the benefit of his constituents and proved himself a man of progressive spirit. Before leaving Missouri, in 1852, he became a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and later his membership was transferred to the lodge at Woodland.

January 2, 1873, Mr. Hershey married Ella L. Flournoy, the daughter of W. S. Flournoy. To them were born the following children: Cornelia, Davidella, May, Grace H., David N. and Florence, all of whom are enjoying advantages of the schools of the present time. From the time of his settlement in Yolo county in 1853 until his death, which occurred February 5, 1903, Mr. Hershey was a witness of the remarkable growth and development made in this section of the state. Nor was any citizen more interested than he in the promotion of measures tending to render this county in every respect a desirable place for settlement. Education, religion, commercial enterprises and agricultural industries, all those factors connected with the true and permanent development of a place found in him a stanch supporter and generous contributor, and no history of Yolo county could be written without giving due praise to the citizenship of David N. Hershey.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County California with Biographical Sketches of The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development From the Early Days to the Present" page 333-339 by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, 1913.

David N. HERSHEY (#2)

In the history of the territory embraced within the limits of Yolo County no name appears in more intimate connection with the progress and development of this region than that which heads this article. A brief mention of his origin, and an outline resume of some of the salient points in his career, therefore, become not only valuable but indeed essential in this volume of Northern California. Such men are the corner-stones of any community: a study of the results accomplished by them should be of absorbing interest and great value to the young.

Mr. Hershey is a native of Maryland, born in Washington County, at a point two miles from Funktown and only four miles from that more important point, Hagerstown, the date of his birth being the 13th of April, 1818. His father, David Hershey, was a native of Pennsylvania, born at a point in Dauphin County distant only a mile from Harrisburg, the capital of the State. His mother, whose maiden name was Christiann <sic> Roher, was born near the dividing line between Pennsylvania and Maryland. Both parents were of German ancestry, and grandfather John Hershey, a preacher of the United Brethren faith, was born along the banks of the river Rhine, whence he emigrated to America, and was one of the founders of the church referred to.

When the subject of this sketch was but six years of age his parents removed from his native place to Montgomery County, eighteen miles west of Rockville, and not far from the line of the District of Columbia. There he was principally reared, and he made it his home most of the time until 1841, when he went West with his brother-in-law, also named David Hershey. The latter located with his family in Howard County, Missouri, not far from Fayette, and about 200 miles up the river from St. Louis, and our subject, who had driven a team the entire distance, went to live with them. He got all he could make there, and remained with them one year. In 1842 he devoted his attention to the raising of tobacco, and in the following year dried and put up seven hogsheads. He had difficulty in disposing of it in the local market, but a man whom he had known in Maryland, but then a resident of Missouri, Dr. Ober by name, took it off his hands. He sent it to Baltimore, where, however, there was no sale for that grade of tobacco. He then shipped it to Europe, and the report in the shipment, afterward received, was regarded by Mr. Hershey as very flattering to his efforts. Some hogsheads were rated in the European markets as "sound; sweet flavor; fair condition;" while the others were marked, "ordinary, but sound."

Raising and curing tobacco continued his principal occupation until in 1844 he formed a partnership with Dr. Ober for the purpose of expanding the business, the latter furnishing the capital, while Mr. Hershey devoted his personal attention to the business. He put up seventy-one hogsheads of strips and thirty or forty more of leaf tobacco, all but one hogshead of which Dr. Ober shipped in his own name. As he failed Mr. Hershey never received a cent out of the entire stock, and the only tangible result he had to show for all his time and work was one solitary hogshead of tobacco, while he was about $200 in debt! He remained in the business on his own account, in spite of the discouraging results of the venture, adding to it also by manufacturing cigars, and built up quite a trade with the fur traders and other dealers of St. Louis, exchanging for furs, pelts, etc. Besides, he shipped considerable to Shreveport and other points south on the river. He also went on the road with a team, and traveled with it selling tobacco and cigars throughout southwestern Missouri, the Indian Territory and Texas.

On a trip made in 1848 he entered Texas at Preston, and visited the towns in that portion of the State. He went to Bonner, to Sherman, and finally to Dallas, which was then only a trading post, with a few shanties, giving no promise of the fine large city which stands there to-day. From Dallas he proceeded to Shreveport, and on his arrival there found the cholera raging. His nephew, who accompanied him, became so alarmed at this condition of affairs that our subject sent him home, and with him the furs accumulated on the trip. Mr. Hershey found out, while at Dallas, that there was no coffee there; and, being unable to dispose of his team at Shreveport, he purchased a load of coffee, and prepared to start with it for Texas trading posts. When his preparations were about completed, a man whom he had been dickering with in regard to the team, came to him and offered to purchase it. But the load which he had bought was then a white elephant on his hands. In this dilemma he went to a merchant to whom he had been accustomed to ship tobacco from Missouri, and the latter agreed to take the coffee off his hands at the price he had paid for it. This solved the problem, and he soon disposed of his outfit. He then went back to Missouri, where he one day passed a young man whom he did not recognize. The latter spoke, and he recognized the voice as that of the nephew whom he had parted with at Shreveport, though so emaciated as to entirely change his appearance. He had gone home by way of New Orleans, where he was stricken with the cholera. He reached home safely, after a hard struggle with the disease, but had not the slightest idea what had become of the furs in his charge. Thus went the fruits of that long and tedious trip.

In 1849 Mr. Hershey one day received a letter from a cousin, who wrote that he was on his way to California, requesting Mr. Hershey to meet him at Independence. With the full intention of accompanying his cousin on the journey to the Golden State, our subject went to the point named, but after a search among the thousands of emigrants there failed to find his relative. The cholera broke out among the thickly crowded people while he was there, and disappointed he went back to resume his labors in the tobacco business.

In 1850 he made a trip back to his old home in Maryland, and returning thence to Missouri, in 1851, went up to Linn County, to work for Colonel Flournoy and his brother John, with whom he remained until 1853. In the latter year, his employers having 100 head of cattle left from a band which had been purchased for a California contractor, he and William S. Flournoy started with them for California. They crossed the Missouri River at St. Joseph, and were soon well along on the long journey. In Nebraska their attention was attracted by the sight of Indian runners who were evidently engaged in carrying some important news. On arriving at Fort Kearney they found that the officers in charge had stopped the stream of emigration at that point on account of trouble with the savages. It seemed that some Indians, being refused the boat on the ferry, had fired on the boat, and a squad of ten soldiers, who went to arrest the offenders, killed two of them and arrested two of the leaders and put them in jail. The emigrants were allowed to leave the fort only in large trains under escort, and after a detention of two days our subject and party were permitted to proceed. The Indians could be seen off toward the mountains, charging madly on their ponies, and the train of whites put out double picket guards each night, fearing an attack. One night, while Mr. Hershey was on guard, with his mule, a fine large saddle animal picketed some fifty yards away, he heard the beast snort as if scenting danger. Going to the next man supposed to be on guard, he found him wrapped in slumber. Slipping the rifle out of the picket's hands he carried it back to his own post. When the man awoke he went into camp and said that the Indians had been about and had taken his gun from him. Mr. Hershey came up and told the man to go with him, and taking him back showed him the missing gun. In answer to the inquiries of the surprised man, he told him how it came into his possession, and then informed the captain of his train that if they wanted men on guard who would attend to business they had better put on some one who could keep awake there in place of the man who had been so negligent.

The party eventually passed through the region infested by the hostile Indians and proceeded on by the way of Fort Laramie and Sublette's Cut-off, and thence into California by the Carson route, the trip having consumed the time from May to October. Arriving at Fiddletown, Amador County, Messrs. Hershey and Flournoy stopped there, as their men wanted to go to mining, and a few days later they proceeded on to Yolo County. They located near where Mr. Hershey now resides, taking up a quarter section each adjoining, and buying out the claims by squatters who had been temporarily on the land. Our subject put up a cabin about a hundred yards from the house in which he now lives. He and Flournoy went about improving their places, and pastured their stock, having got through with all but about 25 per cent of the 100 head apiece with which they had started. They found, eventually, that their land was claimed by other parties under what was known as the Knight grant, and a long and expensive investigation followed. Mr. Hershey was not the man to be driven off from his possessions without a struggle, and though defeated in the courts of the State he appealed to the United States Courts, and there came out victorious. He branched out in the cattle trade, increasing the scope of his business, and in the days of the mining period was accustomed to drive his fat animals to the mountain camps for a market. His cattle business grew to such proportions that in one year he and his partner branded as many as 1,000 calves. Of late years, however, he has not devoted so much attention to stock, but has several dairies, milking over 200 cows, and making cheese; has about 700 head of cattle, and some fine stock, -- Holsteins, Durhams, etc.

Mr. Hershey is an excellent judge of land, and has always recognized the fact that it was to be found the safest, soundest kind of property. With excellent judgment he has from time to time added to his possessions until he now ranks as one of the largest holders of good land in this whole region. On his home ranch he has 1,120 acres. Half a mile west he has a tract of 160 acres, and 160 more above Block's Station. In another large ranch above Dunnigan he has 2,400 acres in this county and 240 in Colusa. Four miles west of that he has 600 acres in Colusa, and 240 adjoining it in Yolo. Near by he has a timber tract of 160 acres, and is the possessor, besides, of another piece of land containing 320 acres, which was conditionally sold, but on which the contract has not been fulfilled. It adjoins the last 240-acre tract mentioned. Though all of this land requires looking after on his part, he only farms three-fourths of the home ranch and half of the large tract near Dunnigan. He has, besides these various tracts mentioned, over 9,000 acres of tule and river bottom land, starting seven or eight miles east of here and running toward Sacramento. He is the owner of part of the old home place in Maryland, and has made two additions, now having 300 acres, which is a large farm there. It is not far from Boyd's Station, on the Metropolitan road. He owns two-sevenths of the great "76" canal in Fresno and Tulare counties, and two sevenths of 19,000 acres of first-grade land. The canal was built by the company for the purpose of irrigating this land, originally amounting to 31,000 acres. Three months ago our company, sold the canal to the Allen Irrigating Company for over $410,000. Mr. Hershey was for several years a director in the company.

Mr. Hershey has extensive bank holdings, being largely interested in the Bank of Woodland and the Bank of Yolo, being one of its directors, and the Grangers' Bank of San Francisco. He is the owner of the Hershey House, at Knight's Landing, which he built to take the place of the three-story brick hotel destroyed by fire, which had been constructed by him and a partner.

Mr. Hershey, while in no sense an office seeker, has been compelled by his prominence here to take a somewhat active part in public affairs and has had an official career worthy of mention. In 1879 he was the Democratic nominee for Representative in the State Legislature of California, and led his party to victory. In 1883 he was re-elected again to represent his district, showing the confidence of the people and their satisfaction with his record. He served both terms with credit, and took and important part in several important measures, notably the passage of the act to change the system of voting in swamp-land districts from the acreage basis to that of valuation. He has several times represented the Democracy of the county in the State conventions, and the party is glad to recognize him as one of its wheel-horses when he takes off his coat for the fray. He is one of the oldest Odd Fellows hereabouts having joined the order at Linneus, Missouri, in 1852, and being now a member of Woodland Lodge.

He was married in this county, January 2, 1873, to Miss Ella, daughter of William F. Flournoy, previously mentioned, who went back to Missouri in 1854, and in 1865 returned to California, being now a resident of Modoc County. Six children have been born to them, of whom one - Magdalena, is deceased. Those living are: Cornelia, Davidella, May, Grace Harlan and D. N.

Mr. Herhsey is one of those solid, substantial men whose presence in a community is worth much as an example for old and young. Such men show the capability of a country, and are a standing reproof to drones and non-producers. He is a man of the highest standing in business and social circles, respected by all, and the results of his work will live in the history of the community which he has so long made his home. Mr. Hershey is now engaged in leveeing, and has been for the last five years reclaiming some 5,000 acres of land, working as high as eighty head of mules and horses. The last winter, being very severe, broke his levee and destroyed 800 acres of a fine farm. He intends to rebuild the levees, and is now at work with fifty head of mules and horses of his own, and will put on 100 more horses.

Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

Richard and Thomas HEXT

farmers in Yolo County, west of Davisville, are the sons of Richard and Elizabeth (Lucom) Hext, natives of England. Richard was born in March, 1835, and Thomas, May 13, 1832; the former came to California in 1851, and the latter in 1854. Richard located in Sacramento, and worked at different jobs for ten years. On the arrival of his brother they went together into Yolo County, and purchased a tract of 450 acres on Putah Creek in 1857, and in 1869 he purchased the place where they now live, containing 960 acres and situated west of Davisville four miles, and ten miles from Woodland.

Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

Frank HIDER

FRANK HIDER, hardware merchant at Woodland, was born in Germany, in 1851, and is now a true and honest citizen of Woodland, prospering in his trade and having a large establishment. He settled there from San Francisco in August, 1809; he had come to San Francisco from Germany ten years previously and learned his trade there, namely, that of tinsmith. His parents, Christ and Johanna (Konig) Hider, were natives of Germany. His father was a baker by trade, and died in Germany, at the age of sixty-four years, in 1870; and his mother died in 1874, at the age of sixty-five. Mr. Frank Hider married Miss Therese Bottcher in Germany, in 1874, and their children are Emily, Frank, Adele, and Hattie. Mr. Hider is a member of Woodland Lodge, No. 24, K. of P., and of Woodland Lodge, No. 43, O.C.F.

Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Betty Wilson

Horace Cameron HINCKLEY

The agricultural possibilities of California and especially of that portion lying within the limits of the fertile valley of the Sacramento, find in Mr. Hinckley an intelligent champion and enthusiastic supporter. With an ardent faith in the future of this region he left his home in the southern part of the state and established headquarters on the ranch near Knights Landing, where now he extensively engages in grain-growing and stock-raising. Modern methods are employed in the selection of stock and in their supervision, as well as in the cultivation of the land. The Yolo Ranch Company, of which he is vice-president, superintendent, and the principal owner has been incorporated under the laws of the state and owns a vast tract aggregating twenty-one hundred acres, of which eight hundred acres are in wheat, a very profitable crop in this locality. The president of the company is William H. Meek of Haywards.

The Hinckley family has been represented in the west for a considerable number of years. Frank Hinckley, a native of Ohio and a civil engineer during early life, was led to the Pacific coast by reason of opportunities for employment in his chosen occupation and for some time he remained in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. While making his headquarters in Oregon he there married Miss Sarah Meek, and later they established a house in Alameda county, Cal., where their son, Horace C., was born December 15, 1883. From the vicinity of San Francisco bay they removed to San Bernardino county and purchased land there. The death of the senior Hinckley occurred in that county in 1890 and there the younger representative of the name received his education in the schools of San Bernardino and Redlands. After having finished the studies of the high school in the city last named he turned his attention to business pursuits and engaged in the grading of roads and the laying of pipe lines.

After having worked as a contractor in his home county for a number of years, Mr. Hinckley came to Yolo county in 1908 and assumed the management of the large property in which he was then and now continues to be the principal owner. As previously intimated, he is making a specialty of the wheat business. From the crop of 1910 he harvested ten thousand sacks of grain, in 1911 seventeen hundred sacks, and in 1912 about thirty-five hundred sacks and about nine hundred tons of hay. On the ranch may be seen a number of pure-bred Holstein cattle and others of a high grade, besides which there are numerous horses kept both for work and breeding purposes, as well as a large drove of hogs. Mr. Hinckley makes a specialty of breeding and raising heavy draft horses. He owns one of the best English shire stallions in the state, Rillington Rover, A. S. B. 9160, a seven-year old imported English shire dark bay weighing twenty-two hundred and fifty pounds. His two-year old colts and fillies weight fifteen hundred pounds, and yearlings a thousand to eleven hundred pounds. Mr. Hinckley also owns a two-year old stallion by Rillington Rover that weighs eighteen hundred pounds. The Yolo Ranch has established a reputation for having the finest draft horses in this entire section. The energetic manager is putting forth every effort to secure the greatest possible results from the land. The efficacy of the methods he employs is apparent even to the casual observer. In no local problem is he more deeply interested than in the subject of overflow. The conditions appertaining thereto he has studied with an intelligent and discriminating comprehension, with a view to the reclamation of some of the most fertile land is the entire state. At the present time he is utilizing large pumping plants on his own ranch and the method thus resorted to seems to promise satisfactory results. He has installed an irrigation system, a large twenty-inch pump and a hundred horse electric motor, from which he can irrigate any part of the extensive ranch. He is raising alfalfa and will soon have about five hundred acres of clover.

The marriage of Mr. Hinckley took place in Woodland April 5, 1911, and united him with one of the native daughters and cultured young ladies of that thriving place, Miss Allie Madge Tharp, who was educated in the Woodland schools and has been one of the leading members of the Eastern Star at that place. Mr. Hinckley also has affiliations with that chapter, besides being an active member of the blue lodge and the Royal Arch chapter at Woodland and in these various degrees in Masonry he ranks as a man of generous attributes and keen mental faculties, which likewise is his reputation among the business men of Woodland, Knights Landing, Grafton and Sacramento, as well as other cities and towns of the valley.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 640 - 642.

George B. HOAG

One of the best known citizens of Davis is Mr. Hoag, whose birth occurred June 15, 1859, in Washington, Yolo county, Cal. His father, Benjamin Hoag, came to the west by way of Cape Horn in 1850, settling in Washington, where, with his brother, I. N. Hoag, he established the first ferry operated on the Sacramento river at that point. His wife, formerly Mary A. Conrad, crossed the plains in 1849. Mr. Hoag owned and operated the first reaper ever used near Washington, for several seasons harvesting not only for himself, but for his neighbors as well. Later he engaged in the mercantile business in both Dixon and Davis, conducting his interests until his retirement to the home of his son, E. G., in Fresno, his wife having passed away in 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Hoag were the parents of the following children: George B.; Charles A., of Ventura county; Edmond S. and Arthur, both of Fresno; and Mrs. Lillian B. Harlin, deceased.

George B. Hoag has been in the mercantile business all his life, having assisted in his father's establishment as well as in other stores at Davis prior to entering into the grocery business in this city. Here Mr. Hoag was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Tuffts, a California girl, whose father, Joshua B. Tuffts, was a pioneer of Yolo county. Six children were born to them: George Percival, Clarence Garfield, Oliver T., Tracy Conrad, Lillian B., (now Mrs. E. McBride of Davis), and Anna N. The four sons are well known in baseball circles having made excellent records on the field. Mr. and Mrs. Hoag are highly esteemed in the community which has so long been their home, and are ever ready to assist in any movement pertaining to the development of their city.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, page 501.

Charles R. HOPPIN (#1)

a farmer of Yolo, is the son of Thaddeus Curtis and Tamar Hoppin. His mother descended from the Daniels family, of the State of Massachusetts. His parents, in 1844, moved to Niles, Michigan, where the father died in 1856, the mother in 1881.

Charles R. Hoppin was born in Madison County, New York, March 29, 1829. When eight years of age he went to Onondaga County, New York, where he remained six years, and then went to Michigan and lived there until 1849. Then with ox teams, he came to California, reaching Lassen ranch October 20.

After mining until some time in the year 1850, he went into Yolo County, where he with one of his brothers bought 8,000 acres of land on Cache Creek. Mr. Hoppin has lived ever since on his ranch near Cache Creek, where he farms 500 acres. In the year 1875 he returned to Niles, Michigan, where he married Miss Emily Bacon, and they have four children: Harriet, Edward, Edith, Charles R., Jr.

Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

Charles Rossiter HOPPIN (#2)

Among the early settlers of Yolo county whose names will ever be kept in grateful remembrance is that of the late Charles Rossiter Hoppin, one of the very first pioneers to embark in the stock industry within the limits of this county, also one of the first to undertake extensive operations as a raiser of grain, and likewise a leading promoter of movements for the local upbuilding. When first his eyes rested upon the environment so familiar to his later activities he beheld a vast stretch of untilled country, apparently suitable only for grazing purposes. Oaks made the landscape beautiful and Cache creek afforded abundant water. Here and there a cattle-ranger's cabin broke the monotony of the view or a herd of stock betokened the presence of cowboys in the vicinity, but for the most part the surroundings presented an aspect wholly primeval. Civilization had not yet shed its benign influence over the fair and fruitful land and nature still held almost undisputed sway. It would have required a far-seeing and optimistic vision to predict the prosperity of the present day, when multitudes of comfortable country homes indicate the presence of a contented throng of progressive agriculturists and fields of waving grain betoken seasons of bountiful harvests. Mr. Hoppin was one who grasped the possibilities of the soil and climate, and was not only one of the first to raise grain, but also alfalfa and fruit. Some of the trees planted by him on the ranch in 1853 are still in bearing. In company with others he built the first irrigation ditch, thus utilizing the waters of Cache creek.

Born in New York state, Charles Rossiter Hoppin started on his westward migrations in early life, for he was but a boy when he settled at Niles, Mich., and there he attended the public schools for some years. As soon as he heard of the discovery of gold in California he made preparations to come to the coast, and during the spring of 1849 he joined an expedition which crossed the plains with wagons and oxen. Fair success came to him in the mines, but in a few months he tired of the work, and early in 1850 he came to the ranch in Yolo county that still is owned by the family. With his brother, John, he bought one-fourth of the old Spanish Rancho Rio de Jesus Maria, and also purchased stock to put on the land. In later years he engaged in raising hay and grain. The increase in land valuations and the large returns from the crops made him one of the leading farmers of the county, and he continued active in agriculture until the infirmities of age compelled his entire relinquishment of work.

For a long period after his arrival in the west, Mr. Hoppin remained a bachelor, but eventually he returned to the home of his youth, and there (Niles, Mich.), in 1874, he married Miss Emily Bacon, who was born in that city and received excellent educational advantages at Mount Holyoke Seminary in Kalamazoo, Mich. The family of which she was a member belonged to the honored and influential pioneer element of Michigan, and her father, Hon. Nathaniel Bacon, became one of the leading jurists on the state, being especially prominent in the southwestern part thereof. For years he served as judge in Branch, Cass and Berrien counties, and often he was called to hold court in other parts of the commonwealth, where his reputation for impartiality and logical reasoning had preceded him. While still rendering distinguished service as a jurist he was stricken with a fatal illness and soon was called by death from the scene of his professional successes.

The family of Charles R. and Emily Hoppin comprised six children, but one of the sons died in infancy and another, Edward, passed from earth in 1900, three years before the demise of the husband and father, who passed away at the old homestead in May of 1903. the eldest son, who is the namesake of his father, occupies a part of the home ranch, and with his wife and three children has a comfortable home on the estate. Harriet, Mrs. August J. Kergel, has two children; her husband farms a portion of the Hoppin estate. Edith married Luther C. Young and remains with her mother, Mr. Young cultivating a portion of the ranch. The youngest child, Dorothea, is a student in Snell's Seminary at Berkeley. In her religious associations Mrs. Hoppin has been identified from girlhood with the Episcopal Church. Mr. Hoppin was also a devoted church member and contributed generously to missionary causes. After his death Mrs. Hoppin became the manager of the ranch, and in this work she has had the efficient assistance of her sons and sons-in-law, all of whom are skilled farmers and owners of fine herds of Holstein dairy stock. Six hundred and forty acres are under cultivation, and of this tract three hundred acres are irrigated, affording excellent opportunities for the raising of alfalfa and fruit. A vineyard of choice grapes has been made a profitable adjunct of the ranch, and the raising of grain is still followed with noteworthy success.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County California with Biographical Sketches of The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development From the Early Days to the Present" page 292-296 by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, 1913.

Daniel F. HOUX (#1)

DANIEL F. HOUX, a farmer near Black's, Yolo County, was born December 7, 1845, in Johnson County, Missouri, a son of Leonard and Sarah (Tebbs) Houx, natives of Kentucky, and old-time settlers of California, coming in 1852. Daniel's uncle was captain of the train coming overland, and he being well acquainted with the features of the route, they were only about three months on their way. After remaining in Washington about a month, they moved up upon the place of Mr. E.G. Berger, camped there about two weeks and then went to the place of the above-mentioned uncle and followed farming there the ensuing winter. During the next autumn they returned and settled on a place where the subject of this sketch is now residing, and has occupied it ever since 1853.

The subject of this sketch attended business college in San Francisco and school at Vacaville; 1873-'86 was engaged in farming in Colusa County, and then bought out the heirs of the old homestead. The place now contains 160 acres of excellent land, being situated three-fourths of a mile east of Black's. In the spring of 1877 he built upon this place a fine residence.

He was married in Arbuckle, Colusa County, August 29, 1878, to Miss Lucinda F. Maupin, a native of Humboldt County, California, and they have two children living and one deceased, namely: Minnie M., born April 5, 1881, and Royal R., July 6, 1886. The deceased is Lulu M.

Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Betty Wilson

Daniel Franklin HOUX (#2)

The high of the citizenship is a noteworthy feature in the history of Yolo county and perhaps none of the residents has a wider circle of acquaintances, while certainly none stands higher for integrity and manly worth, than "Frank" Houx, a resident of this region since very early childhood and identified for more than one-half century with the material development of his locality. The arrival of the family in the county when he was scarcely six years of age remains one of the lasting memories of his early life. He recalls the vast stretches of unoccupied territory, the wilderness untouched by the hand of the white man and the lonely frontier region waiting for the plastic touch of civilization and settlements. Cross-roads stores stood on the sites later occupied by flourishing villages. Railroads had not yet spanned the country with their vivifying systems nor had telegraph and telephone lines entered the imagination of the most prophetic pioneer.

A history of the Houx family indicates their Teutonic origin and their long association with the material upbuilding of Germany, whence John came to the new world and settled in Kentucky. Later he became one of the very earliest settlers of Cooper county, Mo., removing there at a period so early that few claims had been taken up by home-seekers and scarcely any attempt had been made at cultivation of the land. His son, Leonard, a native of Kentucky, grew to manhood in Missouri and there married Miss Sarah L. Tebbs, likewise a Kentuckian by birth. After some years on a farm in Cooper county the removed to Johnson county, Mo., where a son, Daniel Franklin, was born December 7, 1845. Disposing of all interests in Johnson county the family came to California, crossing the plains with ox-teams, in 1852, and shortly after arriving in Sacramento in July of that year they proceeded to Yolo county, where Leonard Houx took up one hundred and sixty acres of government land. More than twenty busy years were given to the improvement of the farm, which under the capable oversight and diligent labor was transformed from virgin soil into productive areas, and there he remained until his death in August of 1874. His wife passed away in 1897, at the age of seventy-five years.

Of the sons and daughters comprising the paternal family D. F. Houx was the first-born, the others being C. C., J. L., E. M., Miranda J., George R. and W. L. The only daughter is the wife of Watson Barnes, a well-known farmer of Yolo county. George R., a prosperous business man residing at Blacks Station, was accidentally killed May 4, 1911. The youngest of the brothers, W. L., is now engaged in business at Blacks Station. Primarily educated in the common schools, Daniel F. Houx later attended the Vacaville College for one term and also had the advantage of a complete commercial course in Pacific Business College, San Francisco. Upon starting our for himself he rented land and engaged in general farming. After some years as a renter he succeeded by inheritance to a portion of the old homestead and purchased the interest of the other heirs, so that he is now the owner of the farm originally taken up by his father. Here he raised grain and hay and also keeps on the farm some fine horses and mules, cattle and hogs. In addition to the cultivation of the home place he has leased and operated other farms.

The marriage of D. F. Houx took place at Arbuckle, Cal., in August, 1878, and united him with Miss Lucinda Frances Maupin, who was born in Humboldt county, Cal, but passed her girlhood days principally in Shasta county. The eldest child of this marriage, Lulu May, died in infancy. The surviving daughter, Minnie Myrtle, is the wife of Alexander Leiter, Jr., a merchant at Modesto, this state. The only son, Roy Reed, assists his father in the management of the old homestead. In national election Mr. Houx votes the Democratic ticket, but locally he supports the candidate whom he considers to be the best man for the position in question. In early manhood he served one term as constable. Frequently he has been a delegate to county and state conventions. In 1889 he was elected supervisor of district No. 3 and four years later he was re-elected, serving eight consecutive years. During the first term he served as a member of the finance committee, while during the last four years he was chairman of the county board for a full term. On several occasions he has been chosen to serve on petit and grand juries. For twenty-six years he officiated as trustee of his school district and for the past five years he has acted as secretary of the board, meanwhile accomplishing much in behalf of the educational interests of his district. Fraternally a member of Yolo Lodge No. 81, F. & A. M., he has passed through the chairs and is now past master, besides having represented the local organization in the grand lodge of the state. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows also number him among the leading members of the subordinate lodge at Blacks Station. Besides having held the offices of this lodge up to and including that of past grand, he has represented the body in the grand lodge on five different occasions. In addition he and his wife hold prominent identification with the lodge of Rebekahs at Woodland.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 844 - 846.

H. C. HOWARD

a farmer and fruit-dealer near Woodland, is one of the leading men in his lines of business in Yolo County. His place two miles from Woodland comprises 115 acres and is well improved. He has an apparatus by which he dries forty-five tons of green grapes at one time, it requiring two weeks to dry them. All his life he has been industrious and energetic, and well deserves the little fortune he now enjoys. His parents, Eli and Harriet (Boldman) Howard, are still living, in Hamilton County, Ohio, -- the father born in Kentucky in 1833, and the mother in Ohio, in 1835. Mr. Howard, whose name heads this sketch, was born in Lewis County, Kentucky, in September 1858, and came to Yolo County in 1882, where he was first employed on a ranch. In 1881, in Kentucky, he married Miss Isabel Chapin, a native of that State. Their children are Edward G., Carry, Minnie B. and Charles L.

Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

Richard HOWARD

The name of Howard is well-known in all the English-speaking world and many among the bearers of that title have won fame on many a hard-contested field. Richard Howard, quiet and well-to-do farmer, retired to his home near Madison, Yolo county, did not come to his present location by an easy way and without some fierce experience in life. He was born January 31, 1857, in Missouri. Afterwards removing to Denton, Texas, with his parents, he grew up on the free soil, absorbing the free manners and methods of the unique Lone Star commonwealth. On the breaking out of the great war of the Rebellion his father, Seth Howard, shouldered a musket and served in the Confederate army through the entire conflict. He returned to his Texas home the defeated soldier in gray, but an honorable soldier even if the cause he battled for was lost. A mustered-out trooper after four years of unsuccessful war seldom finds his home and its surroundings blooming in prosperity, and when Seth Howard shed his gray jacket for more peaceful work the war-mutilated South was beginning her effort at recuperation. About three years afterward he pulled up stakes and took the road for the west, wending his way through Arizona, the sunset route of the immigrant of that period. He was elected captain of the wagon train, which numbered thirteen grown men and two boys that carried arms and that drove the mule and horse teams. The Indians were occasionally taking a shot at the passing wagon trains, but fortunately they did not attack the Howard train, although they were very arrogant and showed a disposition to stampede the stock and lift the white man's scalps, just as a reminder that they were still the implacable foes of the paleface. But the other troubles of the train-people were legion. That seemed to be the year of cloudbursts and other classes of rainstorms, and they found the streams and dry-washes swollen by the sudden showers. They caulked their wagon beds and ferried the families over and swam the stock across. They saw war signal-fires among the hills and knew the Indians were sending the "news" by wireless, and the whites frequently traveled by night to throw the signalers off the line. Richard, the subject of this article, was one of the herders and stayed pretty close to the back of his mule during these exciting times. They finally unhitched in Los Angeles and remained there a short time to recuperate. Five months and six days afterwards, in September, 1868, they located on a farm at what is now Citrona, then known as Buckeye. In 1873, while they were living on a leased ranch in Capay valley, the family suffered the never-to-be-repaired loss of the death of the father. A splendid man was Seth Howard always a soldier warring for principle always a Howard, he was mustered out for all time.

The first marriage of Seth Howard united him with Lurana Tadlock, their marriage occurring in Missouri. She died leaving two daughters, Mary A., who is the wife of J. W. Gilliam and resides near Citrona, and Emma J., who married E. L. Gray and resides in Fresno county. The second marriage of Seth Howard was to Mary H. Tadlock, and their five children are Richard, John, Joseph, Lulu and Martha. Joseph Howard married Nellie Young, their home being in San Francisco, where he is a practicing physician. Lulu is the wife of Ewel Windsor, a farmer near Woodland.

At the time of the death of his father, Richard Howard was about sixteen years of age, and largely on him fell the burden laid down by the elder. The family finally settled on a ranch near Cottonwood. Richard Howard now occupies a splendid ranch three miles east of Madison, comprising about two hundred and forty-four acres, where he has lived continuously for many years, with the exception of four years residence in Chico, locating there temporarily for the school advantages afforded for his children. In Knights Landing he was united in marriage with Anna E. Dustin, who was born in Cataract, Monroe county, Wis., the daughter of Preston and Maria (Ascott) Dustin, native of Pennsylvania and England respectively, and early settlers in Wisconsin. The father died in that state and the mother passed away in Yolo county. The children born to Richard Howard and his wife are Aubrey Milton, Velma Byrle and Vida U. Both of the daughters are high school graduates. Velma B., a graduate of the Chico state normal, was afterward a teacher in the Madison grammar school; she became the wife of Ray D. Head of Chico. Aubrey M. married Etoil Archer, and they live in Woodland, where Mr. Howard is engaged in the real estate business.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 472 - 474.

S. A. HOWARD

S. A. Howard, a farmer near Woodland, is the son of Edmaer and Mary (Roberson) Howard, natives of Missouri; the father, a farmer by vocation, and an exemplary member of the Baptist Church, died in Cooper County, Missouri, and the mother died at the same place, leaving two sons. S. A., the subject of this notice, and the youngest son, was born in that county in 1831, and in 1857 came across the plains to California, bringing 212 head of cattle, and all the family came with him, and settled in Yolo County, and here Mr. Howard has been engaged in the rearing of and dealing in live-stock, devoting his fine farm to this profitable business. He has a splendid ranch, a mile north of Woodland.

In 1857, in Cooper County, Missouri, Mr. Howard married Elizabeth Stevens, and their children are as follows: Marshall L., born December 14, 1857; Edward S., January 16, 1859; James M., February 10, 1861; Mary L., May 9, 1862; Willie E., born May 3, 1864, died January 3, 1884. Mr. Howard is a member of Woodland Lodge, No. 186, F. & A. M., of Woodland; No. ---, A.O.U.W., and of Woodland Lodge, No. 24, O.C.F.

Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

August Valentine HUCKE

There is a large number of prominent citizens in this vast state who have reached their present progressive environment by overcoming obstacles which would appear appalling to some, and by putting forth their utmost effort to solve the vital problem of eking out an existence and building up an enterprising business out of the uncultivated country which they found here. It is interesting to note that many of these were natives of Germany, among them being August Valentine Hucke, whose birth occurred there August 9, 1861.

Upon his arrival in California Mr. Hucke secured a situation upon a farm at $25 per month, but some time later decided to start for himself, and rented a tract of four hundred and eighty acres, assuming thereby an indebtedness of $2500. Misfortune, however, accompanied him in these efforts, his later lease of two hundred acres also proving a poor investment. Undaunted, determined to rise above his defeat, he remained in the community, bending every effort toward the liquidation of his obligations, his quiet courage calling forth the admiration of his associates. Throughout the succeeding years, during which period he resided near Dunnigan, he succeeded not only in clearing his debts, but, also in educating his brothers, his victory having but added to the stability of his character. He took a three-year lease upon a tract of four hundred and eighty acres some time ago, which he devoted to general farming and pasture land, and he gives a great deal of attention to the raising of stock.

Mr. Hucke is the owner of twenty-four horses and mules, and has several fine colts, among them a span of twins, brothers, whose sire has distinguished himself as a pacer in several important races, his time having been two minutes and nine seconds. Both colts are broken to drive single or double and are fine travelers. Mr. Hucke has one hundred and twenty-five sheep, several cows and about seventy turkeys, all well kept and in fine condition. He has a small plot planted to grapes, which are now in bearing.

In 1898 Mr. Hucke was united in marriage with Miss Bertha Willkendorf, a native of California, their union being blessed with three children, as follows: August, Martha Elisabeth and Bertha. The youngest child died in infancy, and the two eldest are students in the public school.

A stanch Democrat, having at all times supported his party to the best of his ability, Mr. Hucke is a citizen of highest worth, and as an advocate of Free Thought religiously, maintains a deep interest in matters relating to the betterment of social conditions.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 359 - 360.

Mrs. Catharine JACKSON HUDSON

of Woodland, was the first wife of Eden R. Jackson, a native of Ohio who came to California in 1860, locating upon a ranch about seven miles south of Woodland, where he lived until 1873, when he disposed of the place and purchased property in town. He died December 24, that year, leaving a wife and four children: Halsey G., Andrew, Metta and an unnamed infant now deceased. December 2, 1875, Mrs. Jackson married her present husband, John G. Hudson, who is now engaged in the manufacture of shoes in Oakland. By this marriage there is one son, named Frederick. Mrs. Hudson was born in Ohio in August 13, 1833, and is an estimable lady, moving in the best circles of society.

Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

Thomas G. HUGHES

A well-known citizen of Woodland, Yolo county, Cal., whose name is the title of this brief notice Thomas Green Hughes was born at the old town of Liberty, San Joaquin county, Cal., a son of William G. and Clementine (Aull) Hughes. His father was a native of Liberty, Clay county, Mo., and was educated in the Missouri public schools and at William Jewell College, Liberty, where his brother, George Hughes, was a teacher. He came to California in 1853, his party crossing the plains with the primitive ox outfits then in vogue for trans-continental travel and transportation. For awhile he taught school. Then he engaged in merchandising in the town of Liberty, Cal., near where the town of Galt has since grown up on the railroad, trading there until 1862, when he passed away, aged thirty-two years. Clementine Aull was born in Barry, Clay county, Mo., and came to California with her father, Dr. Thomas M. Aull, physician and surgeon, who practiced his profession in Barry, Clay county, Mo., and at Linden, Atchison county, in that state, until 1852, when he crossed the plains to California. He located in Martinez, where he was in 1853 and 1854 surveyor of Contra Costa county. From there he went to Libery, San Joaquin county, and continued there the practice of his profession, giving some little attention to politics with such success that he represented his assembly district in the California Legislature in 1856 and 1857. His wife, who was Clara Fugitt, was born in Howard county, Mo., and died at Sacramento in 1888. Charles Aull, one of the sons of this pioneer couple, was the deputy warden of San Quentin Prison until 1888, when he was made the warden of the State Prison at Folsom, which office he held until his death in October, 1899. The second husband of Mrs. Hughes was Abiel Leonard Boggs, a nephew of Governor Lilburn W. Boggs of Missouri. He crossed the plains by way of old Mexico and Magdalena Bay, finishing the trip by boat. That was in 1849, making him literally a forty-niner. He became a farmer and stockman in Sonoma county, where for eight years he was deputy sheriff. Later he came to Woodland, where he followed the business of contractor and builder until 1902, when he died. Mrs. Boggs has been a member of the Christian Church since 1859. Of three children of her first marriage only one, Thomas G. Hughes, is living. By her second marriage she had nine children, of whom five are living, four daughters and one son, as follows: Clara, Mrs. W. H. Hooper, of Woodside, Cal.; Sophia, Mrs. A. G. Sterns, of Los Angeles; Mary, the wife of Dr. C. R. Wilcoxon of Woodland; Helen, the wife of the Rev. T. G. Picton, of Los Angeles; and Jefferson, of San Francisco.

Thomas G. Hughes was brought to Woodland in the spring of 1870, and was educated in the public schools of that enlightened city. He was an officer of the State Prison at Folsom under Charles Aull for six years, resigning as deputy warden in the fall of 1893. Later he was for some years an accountant for different business houses in Woodland. By 1911 he formed a partnership with Judge E. T. Lampton under the firm name of Lampton & Hughes, to transact a general abstracting business, in which he gives special attention to the perfecting of titles. Mr. Hughes is a charter member and past president of Woodland Parlor No. 30, N. S. G. W., and is the present master of Woodland Lodge No. 156, F. & A. M. He served seven years as a member of Company F, Fourth Artillery Regiment, N. G. C., retiring as first lieutenant. He is a member of the Christian Church of Woodland, and is president of the board of trustees. In his political convictions he is a Democrat.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 435 - 439.

George W. HUGHSON

While the results achieved in California bring the state into favorable comparison with the old commonwealths of the east, the fact that the state boasts of but comparatively few native sons indicates that it is yet in the infancy of its material development and of its interesting history. The distinction of having passed his entire life within the limits of California belongs to George W. Hughson, a prosperous resident of Yolo county and one of the progressive farmers of the vicinity of Woodland. Born and reared in San Joaquin county, in young manhood identified with the ranching interests of Stanislaus county and ultimately a large land owner there, he became a citizen of Yolo county of recent years and expresses himself as convinced of the superior advantages of this section of the country from a standpoint of soil, crop results, natural advantages and high quality of citizenship.

As early as 1857 the Hughson family became identified with the west. During that year Hiram Hughson came from New York via Panama to San Francisco and proceeded thence to Marysville, where he secured a clerkship in a store. For a brief period he followed the fortunes of a miner on the Feather and American rivers. The occupation, however, was uncongenial and the returns unsatisfactory, so that he looked up an agricultural opening. For some time he engaged in the raising of grain and stock in San Joaquin county, near Stockton, and later he farmed extensively in Stanislaus county, near Modesto, where at one time he operated seven thousand acres of grain and pasture land. In his ventures he was willing to risk, although at no time was he reckless in his investments, and although at first hampered by heavy debts he finally acquired large means and became widely known as a wealthy rancher. On the completion of the Santa Fe Railroad, through the home ranch, the town of Hughson, in Stanislaus county, was named in his honor. Toward the close of his life he bought a ranch of ten hundred and twenty acres in Yolo county, all devoted to and well adapted to grain-raising.

An identification of more than one-half century with the agricultural development of the west was terminated with the demise of Hiram Hughson, January 15, 1911. Some years after his arrival in California he had married Miss Luella R. Avery and they became the parents of ten children, all of whom survive him. They are named as follows: Belle, who is married and living at Riverside; Orra, a resident of Stanislaus county; George W., of Yolo county; Mary, who is the wife of Joseph Diehl and a resident of Stockton; Edna, Mrs. Charles Craig, of Westley, Stanislaus county; Minnie, who married Harry Sturgill and lives at Stockton; Hiram, a citizen of Modesto; Levyne, who is Mrs. Charles Nichols, of San Jose; Ollie, who married Frank Hatch and makes her home in Modesto; and Lester, the youngest of the family.

The home ranch near Stockton, San Joaquin county, where he was born in 1870, continued to be the home of George W. Hughson during his childhood years. After he had completed the studies of the common schools of Stockton, he entered the University of the Pacific at San Jose, and there took the regular course of study through several semesters. Upon leaving school he returned to assist his father on the ranch and remained there until 1892, after which he operated six hundred and forty acres in Stanislaus county in partnership with his father-in-law, J. G. Hudelson. At the end of three years he removed to Hickman, in the same county, and rented one thousand acres. Desirous of acquiring land for himself he bought five hundred and sixty acres in Stanislaus county, and for nine years he devoted his attention closely to the improvement and cultivation of the tract. During October of 1909 he came to Yolo county and assumed the management of the large ranch owned by his father, the tract lying twelve miles southwest of Woodland, together with three hundred and twenty acres adjoining. From that place he came to the immediate vicinity of Woodland in May of 1911, at which time he bought an alfalfa and grain farm of forty acres on Cemetery avenue. With the raising of alfalfa he combines the management of a dairy and is meeting with encouraging success on his new farm. He still owns five hundred and sixty acres of land near Modesto which he leases for grain. In politics he supports Republican principles. During 1892 he married Laura L. Hudelson, who like himself has the distinction of being a native of the state, her father, J. G. Hudelson, having crossed the plains in early days and settled in Stanislaus county, where he died in 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Hughson are the parents of four children, Carroll C., Howard H., Georgia L., and Paul.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 810 - 812.

Joseph C. HULSE

Justice of the Peace at Winters, was born in Clark County, Kentucky, March 12, 1816, a son of John and Mary S. (Davenport) Hulse, the former a native of Kentucky; his grandparents were from Maryland. He was brought up as a farmer's son, and continued on the farm until 1849, when he came overland to California. At Humboldt the company dissolved and came by packed-animals to Sacramento. Mr. Hulse became one of the early gold hunters. He located in Colusa County, was the first Sheriff of that county, and later was elected County Judge. During the administration of James Buchanan he was appointed to a position in the custom-house at San Francisco, by Colonel B. F. Washington. In 1861 he settled in Pleasant Valley, Nevada, and built the mill called the Camlack mills, and lost heavily. Returning to California, he worked for G. P. Swift, and afterward was engaged as a butcher and meat-cutter for F. Roop one year at Sonoma; then he was employed as a guard at the State Prison at San Quentin a year, under Governor Haight, and he then located at Buckeye, Yolo County, where he was elected Justice of the Peace in 1863. In 1864 he resigned, and when in 1875 Buckeye was moved to Winters he went there also, and was elected to the office of Justice of the Peace, which position he still holds, and he is also a Notary Public.

He was married in 1839, in Madison County, Kentucky, to Anna Collins, and they had two children: Richard, who died in Kentucky when one year old, and America K., who is now the wife of Thomas G. Hulse.

Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

W. S. HUMPHREY

W. S. Humphrey, harness-maker at Winters, is the son of E.A. and Louisa Catherine Humphrey. His father, a native of Virginia, born March 14, 1832, was a harness-maker by trade, and came to California in 1854, settling first in Sacramento, where he worked at his trade for some time He then went to Liberty (now Galt), same county, and there owned and conducted a shop until he moved to Winters in 1875, and resided there until his death, November 17, 1889. He was a member of the Knights of Phythias. Mr. Humphrey's mother is living still. Walter S. Humphrey was born July 6, 1860, in Liberty (now Galt), Sacramento County. In partnership with a brother, R. L., born in the same place in 1864, he is carrying on his father's business since his death, having now about $3,000 worth of stock, and employing one man.

Mr. Humphrey married Ethel Stewart, who was born in Jones County, Iowa, the wedding taking place in Winters, July 17, 1885. Mr. Humphrey is a member of Damocles Lodge, No. 165, K. of P.

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler, July 2004.
Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1891. pg. 352-353.

Alvis G. HUNT

(Also see: the William Gaston HUNT biography near the bottom of the biography)

The interests that engage the attention of Mr. Hunt are as important as they are varied, and include the ownership of business and residence property in Woodland, real estate in Oakland, San Francisco and Chicago, and a valuable fruit and alfalfa ranch on Cache creek near Yolo, which he leases. Participation in the financial affairs of Woodland comes through the ownership of shares of stock in the First National Bank, also the Bank of Woodland, both of which prosperous institutions have received the encouragement of his steadfast support and wise co-operation. For many years he owned a grain ranch near Wildflower, Fresno county, but this property was operated by tenants, his own time being given to the grain and warehouse business. In the days before the railroad was extended the wheat was hauled in Woodland in large "prairie schooners" from all parts of the county, purchased by him and shipped to Port Costa, Contra Costa county, from which point it was sent all over the world. Those were the years of enormous crops of wheat and barley and the shipments exceeded anything possible in more recent times, when the great ranches have been divided up into small farms and devoted to intensive agriculture.

The Hunt family is of southern lineage and English extraction. Asa and Diana (Stanley) Hunt (the latter a Quaker by birth) reared eight daughters and two sons, of whom the youngest, William Gaston Hunt, was born in Guilford county, N. C., February 12, 1827. About 1843 the family removed from North Carolina, where the father had engaged in the milling business and also conducted a cotton gin, to Andrew county, Mo., where he took up government land. During 1846 the mother passed away and in 1848 the father was taken from the family by death. The children decided to join an expedition to California and May 1, 1849, left their old Missouri home with a train of five wagons. Three payments had been made upon the home farm, and, thinking they might wish to return, they left with the justice of the peace the money necessary for the fourth payment. Two months after their arrival in California they received a letter from Missouri stating that the justice of the peace was dead and that they had forfeited their right to their land through having failed to make the fourth payment. Thus was broken the last link that bound them to their old home, and they never returned to Missouri. Establishing a hotel at Hangtown, the two brothers left a sister to manage it while they engaged in freighting between Sacramento and the mines.

As early as 1850 William Gaston Hunt began to buy livestock. During that year he bought a herd of cattle at Carson City, drove them over the mountains and turned them out to graze along the banks of Cache creek, on a ranch where he lived for some years. To that place he brought his sister in the spring of 1851. His only brother, Alvison, died in 1852. During the autumn of 1853 he married Miss Jennie Day, a native of South Bend, Ind., and a daughter of Dale Lot and Sybil (Russell) Day. From 1853 until 1863 Mr. Hunt engaged in raising sheep and had as many as fifteen thousand head in his flocks at one time. During 1863 he sent one drove to Oregon and another to Lower California, after which he engaged principally in general farming. Later he became interested in buying grain and in his warehouses at times he had as much as $300,000 worth of grain. In addition he served as president of the Yolo county winery. From 1875 until his removal to Oakland in 1897 he resided in Woodland on the corner of First and Oak avenues. During his identification with the town he helped to build the splendid city sewer system, aided in establishing the city water works, became a stockholder in the Bank of Woodland, and was a factor in practically every enterprise of that period projected for the material upbuilding of the place. With his wife he gave allegiance to the Society of Friends and loved the earnest doctrines of that peaceful sect, although he also was generous in contributions to other religious movements. From the organization of the Republican party until his death he adhered to the principles of the Republican party and his only son also has been a lifelong member of that organization.

For some time after the demise of William Gaston Hunt, which occurred in 1899, his widow continued to make her home in Oakland, and there her death occurred April 27, 1911. She had come across the plains in 1850 with her father, two brothers and sister, and had settled in Sacramento, later removing to Stockton. Dale Lot Day, who was born near Morristown, N. J., in 1785, died in Nevada at the age of eighty-two years. He had been a pioneer builder in Stockton and had erected the first insane asylum in that locality. His wife, who died in South Bend, Ind., in young womanhood, was a daughter of Hezekiah Russell, a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The four brothers of Mrs. Hunt settled in the west: Russell died in Woodland in 1904; Lot died in Oakland; John died in Woodland, and Roland passed way in Nevada. Her two sisters, Delighta, Mrs. Charles Traver, and Mary, Mrs. Hopkins, both died in Sacramento in 1899 on the same day. After her removal to Oakland she united with the First Congregational Church and remained in its communion until her death. One of the most delightful experiences of the later years of Mr. and Mrs. Hunt was their tour around the world, which afforded them a merited recreation after years of ceaseless industry. It also gave them an appreciated opportunity of visiting points of interest in Great Britain and on the continent. Their family comprised two daughters and the son whose name introduces this article. The older daughter, Alice Edith, became the wife of L. D. Stephens of Woodland. The younger daughter, Rowena D., is the wife of E. J. DuPue, of San Francisco. The only son was born in Yolo county April 19, 1857, received his education in the University of California and a commercial college in Sacramento, and after graduating from the latter in 1875 engaged with his father in the grain and warehouse business, of which eventually he became sole proprietor. His attractive home at No. 548 First street, Woodland, is presided over graciously by his cultured wife, formerly Miss Alice Stump, of San Francisco, and has been brightened by the cheerful presence of two children, Irvin Gaston and Jennie. Mrs. Hunt is a daughter of Irvin C. Stump, a prominent pioneer of San Francisco and for years a leading politician of that city, but now a resident of New York.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County California with Biographical Sketches of The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development From the Early Days to the Present" page 286-290 by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, 1913.

John HUNT

Strangers visiting in Davisville for the first time inquire the Hunt homestead and express a profound admiration for the artistic skill displayed and the picturesque effects secured in its architecture. This commodious residence of twelve rooms contains all modern improvements and is furnished in a manner indicative of the refined tastes of the family. Surrounding it are large and beautiful grounds embellished with fruit and ornamental trees. Perhaps the most conspicuous trees are twenty of a superior quality of orange, twenty-five years old. There are also fifteen orange trees seven years old, five lemon trees and a number of peach and apricot trees, besides many large shade trees. A neat brick walk affords convenient access to various parts of the grounds and to the residence itself.

The owner of this attractive property was born in County Mayo, Ireland in 1840. At thirteen he crossed the ocean to the United States, and since then has been self-supporting. He worked for a time in New Orleans, whither he went from New York. After a brief sojourn in that city and in Wisconsin he returned to New York and secured employment there. The year 1859 found him an emigrant to California by way of the isthmus. November 16, that year, he arrived in Sacramento and from there came to the site of Davisville. For a time he operated a large tract of leased land that later was sold to Robert Armstrong and eventually became the property of the state of California, which has converted it into an experiment station for agricultural products. During his early experiences in the west he operated a freight business between Hangtown and the mines of Virginia City and Carson City, Nev., using two wagons and eight mules and carrying about eight tons to the load, $1,000 having been the average price he received for a load of freight.

Returning to the east Mr. Hunt settled near Kenosha, Wis., and took up dairying and farming with success. Meanwhile he married, in Chicago, Miss Catherine McAllister. They are the parents of four children, Thomas, Mary, Josephine and Irene. The son, who was educated in eastern high schools, is farming and has displayed judgment and energy in his chosen field of labor. The two older daughters are graduates of Chicago high schools, and the youngest child is being educated in the Davisville schools. Some twenty years after he had left California Mr. Hunt returned to Davisville and bought three hundred and forty-three acres near there at $75 an acre. At this writing he owns and operates seven hundred acres adjoining Davisville, improved with neat buildings and under a high state of cultivation. Four hundred and fifty acres are in barley. The rest of the land is utilized for hay and pasture. All of Mr. Hunt's stock is the best of its kind. There are about one hundred and sixty head of hogs, all of pure-bred Poland-China types. In cattle the short-horn Durham is the breed represented by the two hundred head kept on the farm, and the herd is headed by the very choicest of pure-bred animals. Five horses aid in the farm work and thirty mules are utilized in operating the combined harvester that cuts and threshes the grain. Since becoming a citizen of our country Mr. Hunt has voted the Democratic ticket, but he takes no active part in politics and on no occasion has he sought office. In religion he is identified with the Roman Catholic Church.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 635 - 636.

William Gaston HUNT

This well known and prominent citizen of Woodland has had a very stirring and eventful life, and one which affords a lesson for those who have to make their own way in the world. Thrown upon his own resources at an early age, with a number of sisters largely dependent upon his efforts, he has fought manfully and well the battle of life, and is deservedly ranked among the successful and representative pioneers of the State.

Mr. Hunt was born in Guilford County, North Carolina, in 1827, his parents being Asa and Diana (Stanley) Hunt, and the latter being a member of the Society of Friends. The father was an active, hard-working man of no very large means, engaged in the milling business, having a saw-mill, cotton-gin and woolen mill. The family consisted of ten children, eight daughters and two sons. Desiring to better his circumstances, he removed with his family in 1843 or 1844 to Andrew County, Missouri, then a new and wild country, as a result of which they had to endure many hardships. The mother died in 1846, and in 1848 the father followed her, leaving the children all alone to fight their way, William Gaston being one of the youngest. As may readily be perceived from the foregoing, his book learning was not of the deepest, and yet, profiting by the lessons taught in the practical school of experience, Mr. Hunt has gained an education from the world probably of more value to him than anything else could have been, and could not now be mistaken for anything else than he is - a genial, whole-souled gentleman, his Southern blood showing plainly in his easy bearing and knowledge of the world. The death of his father placed him practically at the head of the family, they being nearly all girls and depending largely on him. He was equal, however, to the emergency, not hesitating for a moment to undertake his duty. On the outbreak of the gold fever in 1849 they determined, one and all, to come to California, and the brothers and sisters formed a train of five wagons in that neighborhood to make the trip across the plains. The father had taken up the farm when it was Government land on a five-years purchase, and two or three annual payments had been made when the children decided to try their fortune in the far West. Leaving enough money with a justice of the peace to pay another annual installment and interest when due, they left for California. Arriving there, they found it of course impossible to get any answer to a letter written to their old home in less than six months, and the first news they heard from their old home was that the custodian of their money had died, the payment on the Missouri homestead had been neglected, and the property had passed out of their possession. Thus was severed another one of the ties that bound them to the old home.

They left Missouri May 1, 1849, and after a journey of just four months they reached Hangtown (now Placerville). There they opened a hotel or boarding-house, which was carried on by the sisters and sister-in-law of our subject, while the boys went to freighting between Sacramento and the mines. When the large emigration commenced in 1850, Mr. Hunt saw a profit in buying up the immigrants' stock. Late in that year he went to Carson City, bought a band of cattle and drove them over the mountains into the valley, turning them to graze on the place he now owns on Cache Creek. In the spring of 1851 Mr. Hunt closed up the hotel at Placerville and brought his sisters down to the ranch, where he engaged in the business of raising cattle and general ranching. In 1852 his brother, Alvis Hunt, died, they having been in partnership in all their undertakings prior to that time. In the fall of 1853 Mr. Hunt was married to Miss Jennie Day, a native of South Bend, Indiana. Meanwhile he continued his operations, going extensively into sheep-raising, having between 10,000 and 15,000 at one time, and finding it very profitable. This he continued for ten years, when, in 1863, he sent one drove up to Oregon and the other to Lower California, closing out the business. From that time he was engaged in general farming, raising stock, cattle, hogs, etc., at the same time doing a large business in buying and selling wheat, running several warehouses, located in Woodland and other advantageous points along the line of the railroad, and became known to the producers throughout the entire Sacramento Valley. He has now also a large interest in and is president of the Yolo Winery, an incorporated institution, of which he was one of the founders. The winery was originally one of his grain warehouses, but within the past five years has been remodeled and converted into a wine-cellar.

Mr. Hunt is an influential stockholder in the Bank of Woodland, with which he has been connected a number of years. His ranch on Cache Creek, northwest of Woodland, comprises 800 acres of choice land, and he has considerable property, both business and residence, in the town, including his handsome and commodious home place on the corner of Fisk and Oak avenues. He has long been a firm believer in the value of land as the true basis of wealth, and his opinions in regard to the matter have been strengthened by personal observation while traveling abroad. Mr. Hunt is a man of unusual business ability, and these qualities have been brought out in strong relief during his residence in this county. While generally considered a conservative man in business matters, he was not backward about taking risks when they were necessary in transactions. During the days when free-landers were the great exporters of California wheat, he and his partners had at times as much as $200,000 or $300,000 worth of wheat in the hands of the forwarders, from which they had received no returns. These risks were necessary to carry on a large business of that kind then, but a failure of their commission men would have meant ruin to all. It took men of nerve to do that kind of business, and a history of the grain trade shows an unusual small percentage of men who have come out on the right side in the end. Mr. Hunt did so, and is certainly entitled to the credit of having been a shrewd operator.

While never having been in any sense a politician or office-seeker, Mr. Hunt has always taken a commendable interest in public affairs, is an ardent supporter of the principles of the Republican party, and has done his share in keeping up the spirit of the party in this region.

Mr. and Mrs. Hunt have three children, viz.: Alice Edith, wife of L. D. Stephens, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume; Rowena D., wife of E. J. Du Pue; and A. G., a brief sketch of whom follows:

ALVIS G. HUNT was born in Yolo County, April 19, 1859. He commenced his schooling in the schools at Cacheville, continuing his studies in the State University at Oakland, finishing with a commercial course in the Sacramento Business College, where he graduated in 1875. He then embarked in the warehouse trade, assisting in the business of his father's firm, and becoming thoroughly familiar with its details. He has, since entering upon his business career, been identified largely with the grain trade; and that is now his line. He has considerable property interests, including a ranch in Fresno County, which he rents out, a business building on Main street and realty in Chicago. He is an unassuming young man but has had quite a business career for one of his years.

Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

D. B. HURLBERT

We mention here one of the oldest citizens of Madison, a farmer and stock-raiser of Yolo County, who once owned the land upon which the flourishing village of Madison now stands. For the purpose of starting the town, he donated the land there to those who would properly improve it. He located here in 1865, coming from New York State, where he was born in 1811. His journey across plain and mountain was a specially difficult one. He visited a number of localities and several cities, but concluded that California was the best of all, and hither he came, in 1851, with his own team. He first stopped in Hangtown, from 1851 to 1854; then he returned to Wisconsin, and located upon a farm with his family. Subsequently he sold that place and resided nine years in Minnesota. Starting then for California, he lost all of his cattle on the way, and he went off into Montana for a time, and since then he has been a resident of his present place in Yolo County, landing here November 13, 1865. He purchased 844 acres, sixty-three of which he gave for the village of Madison; and he also has given to his two sons a ranch, to one a quarter-section, and to the other 391 acres. He still holds the home place of 413 acres, his residence being one-fourth of a mile from the village of Madison. He is successful in raising large quantities of fine wheat and cattle. He is a member of the Knights Templar, Masonic blue lodge, and the I. O. O. F.

In 1846, in Wisconsin, he married Margaret Ream, and they have two children,-Charles M. and George R. Mr. Hurlbert's parents were Daniel and Sybil (Martin) Hurlbert, natives of Connecticut. His father, a farmer, died in the State of New York.

Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by: Wendy Sandino

Arthur C. HUSTON

Not only is Arthur C. Huston one of the prominent attorneys of Yolo county, but he is also equally well known in the different counties throughout the Sacramento valley and the Bay region. He is the third generation of the family to be represented in this state. His grandparents, John M. and Priscilla (Branham) Huston, left Kentucky in an early day and became pioneer settlers in Missouri, locating on a farm that was far from any other habitation. Leaving Missouri in 1864 they came across the plains to California and settled in Big Valley, Lake county, not far from Lakeport, there carrying on farming until Mr. Huston's advancing years necessitated retirement from active labor. He died at the age of eighty-six, and his wife when eighty-two years old. Twelve children were born to this worthy couple, ten growing to years of maturity, as follows: Walter S. (deceased), James, George, John M., Mrs. Mary Craig, Mrs. Nannie Gregg, Robert M. (deceased), Mrs. Sarah Evans (deceased), Edward T., and Richard B.

Walter S. Huston was born October 2, 1830 in Boone county, Mo. As one of the Argonauts he crossed the plains to California during the gold boom in 1849 and eagerly sought the fortune which he expected awaited him. His first efforts were made in Placerville, where during the first twenty-four hours he succeeded in washing gold dust to the amount of $8, and indeed he met with fair returns during the several months he passed at this camp. In 1850 he returned to his native state on a visit, but the following spring again found him in California, and for several years thereafter he was engaged in freighting in Placer county. In the '50s he came to Yolo county and engaged in farming near Woodland, later removing to Knight's Landing, where, with his brothers Robert M. and Edward T. he engaged in the mercantile business. Coming to Woodland in 1878 he established himself in the grocery business, a venture that proved more successful than he had anticipated. In recognition of his excellent qualities his fellow-citizens elected him to the office of city trustee, and they also honored him with the office of deputy assessor. He was an earnest member of the Christian Church and was deeply interested in educational progress, and none more than he assisted in establishing Hesperian College of Woodland upon a substantial footing. He was also one of the foremost factors in the establishment of the fire department in this city. As one of the state's early settlers he assisted in forming and was one of the charter members of the California Pioneers' Society of San Francisco. Fraternally he belonged to the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His first marriage untied him with Miss Sarah E. Robinson, who died January 26, 1860. On January 20, 1869, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Laugenour, a native of Salem, N. C. Of the second marriage six children were born, one daughter dying in infancy, and the others are as follows: Bertha, now Mrs. J. L. Hare of Woodland; Walter S. and Edward P., both of Sacramento; Arthur C., the subject of this sketch; and Harry L., an attorney of Woodland.

Arthur C. Huston was born November 16, 1871, at Knight's Landing, and received a public school education, after which he became a pupil in Hesperian College. Following this he engaged in mercantile pursuits for a time, but the literary field attracted him so strongly that he took up journalism, and later became city editor of the Mail and Woodland Democrat, respectively. He also filled the office of deputy county recorder. A long cherished desire to study law began to be fulfilled when he accepted a position in the law office of Charles W. Thomas, there pursuing his legal studies until January 16, 1895, when he was admitted to the bar. For the past sixteen years he has followed the practice of his profession with splendid success, his suite of offices being located at Main and Second streets, and equipped with a well-selected law library. In 1897 he filled the office of city attorney and under R. E. Hopkins and E. R. Bush acted as assistant district attorney.

Before her marriage Mrs. A. C. Huston was Elizabeth Browning, the daughter of Robert Browning, who was a pioneer settler and rancher of Yolo county. Two sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Huston, Arthur C. and Robert W. Mr. Huston is past president of Woodland Parlor No. 30, N. S. G. W. He was made a Mason in Woodland Lodge No. 156, F. & A. M., of which he is past master, is a member of Woodland Chapter No. 46, R. A. M., of which he is past high priest, and he is also a member of Woodland Commandery No. 21, K. T., being past eminent commander, and he is also identified with the Order of the Eastern Star.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County California with Biographical Sketches of The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development From the Early Days to the Present" page 234-238 by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, 1913.