USA > California > A Volume of memoirs and genealogy of representative citizens of northern California, including biographies of many of those who have passed away > Part 25
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DWIGHT A. MOULTON.
Few, if any, of our American families can trace their ancestral history back through the chronicles of the dim and mystic past, through a more hon- orable and exalted lineage, or to a higher or nobler source, than can the Moulton family. The records of their family are not surrounded in doubt or founded on conjecture.
In the Doomsday Book, compiled in 1086, mention is made of the Moul- tons as being one of the most distinguished families of the Merry Isle. The name is of Norman origin. When William the Conqueror crossed the chan- nel and made his conquest of England, in 1066, the Moultons also became residents of that land. In a history published by John T. Moulton, of Lynn, Massachusetts, appears the following :
Thomas de Moulton was a favorite of Richard Coeur de Lion in 1190. IJe is calle l Lord of Gillisland in Cumberland. Sir Walter Scott intro- chic . 1im as Lord de Vaux in the "Talisman." Ile is probably the same
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Thomas de Moulton who as one of the barons signed the Magna Charta in 1215. Thomas de Moulton, a grandson of Thomas ( Ist), was also a signer of the Great Charter of Edward in 1297. They were Lords of Egmont in Cum- berland. Moulton Hall in Wilberton, now in ruins, was once the property of Sir Thomas. Dugdale says: "Here was an old hospital for poor people, dedicated to St. Leonard, which was given with the manor A. D. 1230 to the Knights Hospitalers by Sir Thomas de Moulton, Knight." Prior to 1571 the Moultons bore arms with devices differing in minor details but alike in the main. The following is a description of the coat of arms granted in 1571: Moulton argent: three bars gules, between eight escallop shells; sable three, two, two and one. Crest on a fillet, a falcon rising, argent.
As many as seven Moultons were in America at an early day, one in the Jamestown settlement in 1635. John and Thomas Moulton emigrated from Norfolk county to Hampton, New Hampshire, in 1638, and their names appear in the list of first settlers. In October, 1637, John and Thomas were inhabitants of Newbury, Massachusetts. In November, 1637, "Certain inhabitants of Newbury, Massachusetts, were moved to leave this planta- tion; the court did grant them Winniscourt, now Hampton, to have six miles square; and those who shall remove within one yeare shall have three yeares immunity from taxes, beginning March 1, 1638." A company was formed by the Rev. Stephen Bachiler, and with this company John and Thomas Moulton went to Winniscourt and aided in founding the settlement, now Hampton, in 1638. From Thomas in direct line of descent is General Jona- than Moulton, of Moultonsborough, on the shore of lake Winnepesaukee, where the General had holdings of eighty thousand acres north of the lake. It was from General Moulton that Dwight Augustus Moulton, of this review, is descended. The line is traced down from Thomas de Moulton, the signer of the Magna Charta, to Thomas Moulton, who located in Hamp- ton, New Hampshire, in 1638, and on through Milton Moulton, who mar- ried Ruth Russ. Their son, Harvey Moulton, wedded Anne Turner, a daughter of Elijah and Hannah (Clark ) Turner. Charles Harvey Moulton, a son of Harvey and Ann (Turner) Moulton, was the father of our sub- ject. He was born January 2, 1835, and died June 10, 1867. His wife bore the maiden name of Emeline Elvira Reed. She was born January 4, 1836, and is now living in Ashford, Connecticut. Her parents were Daniel Bar- (line and Armenda ( Knowlton) Reed. The former was born in 1801 and (lied in 1884. His parents were Daniel ( born in 1779) and Augusta (Fen- ton) Reed, and his grandfather was Matthew Reed. born in 1742. His father, Daniel, was born in 1716, a son of Daniel, who was born in 1680, a son of Daniel, born in 1655, a son of John, born in 1598 and came to America in 1638. Matthew's wife was a daughter of Jonathan and Viah ( Sanger) Knowlton. Her paternal grandparents were Thomas and Martha ( Marcy) Knowlton, and Thomas Knowlton was a son of John and Margery Knowl- ton, of Ipswich, Massachusetts. Thus it will be seen that on both the paternal and maternal sides the families from which our subject is descen led have been long connected with the history of New England, and their representa-
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tives ls.ve been prominent factors in many of the events which have formed the history of the nation.
Dwight Augustus Moulton, now one of the leading citizens of Sacra- miento and the efficient deputy state treasurer, was born January 23, 1861, in Windham, Connecticut, and at the age of twelve years removed to Mas- sachusetts. He attended the public schools and was graduated in the high school of Brookfield, Massachusetts, in the class of 1878. During the fol- lowing winter he taught a country school in Connecticut and then pursued a course of instruction in Eastman's Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York. In May, 1879. he entered the employ of the Willimantic Linen Com- pany, spool-cotton manufacturers of Willimantic, Connecticut, as office boy. He was promoted from year to year, holding successively the positions of invoice clerk, shipping and entry clerk and bookkeeper in the corporation store. In June. 1885, he left the employ of the linen company and came to California, arriving in San Bernardino on the 27th of June of that year. Mr. Moulton spent the winter of 1885-6 in Bear Valley in the employ of the Bear Valley Irrigation Company, tabulating meteorological data upon the company's record books. In May. 1886, he entered the employ of Porter & Burt, lumber manufacturers and dealers of San Bernardino, in the capacity of bookkeeper, occupying that position until the sale of the plant to the West Coast Lumber Company, in the spring of 1887. He then became a partner in the San Bernardino Fuel & Lime Company and was connected with the enterprise until June 1. 1891, at which time he entered the employ of James G. Burt, hardware dealer, as confidential clerk and bookkeeper. On the death of Mr. Burt in 1893. he became one of the executors of the estate, and as such continued the business until December. 1894. when the stock was sold. In January. 1895. he was appointed deputy county clerk of San Bernardino county and also acted as clerk of the board of supervisors, which position he held until January 1. 1899, at which time he was appointed deputy state treasurer under Ilon. Truman Reeves. He is an able, trustworthy and incorruptible public official, and in his present position has already won high commendation by his prompt and faithful discharge of duty.
EDWIN F. WRIGHT.
In preparing the history of Placer county we would certainly leave the work ivediuplete if we failed to mention Edwin F. Wright, who is now serv- Tog as district attorney and is one of the younger members of the bar. A native of New Jersey, he was born in Bloomfield on the 20th of Septem- ber, 1800, and is of Scotch and English ancestry. His father. J. J. Wright. was born in Huds m. New York, and when he had attained his majority chose is a companion and helpmeet on life's journey Miss Ann Rose. Both par- ents died when our subject was a child and consequently he knows very little about the family history. lle resided with his half sister and was educated and reared to manhood in New York city, receiving his intellectual train- ing in the public and private schools of the castern metropolis. After com-
Keystone Gold Mine and 40 Stamp Mill, Amador City, California. Produced over $13,000,000. In operation since 1850.
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ing to California in 1887, he read law with L. L. Chamberlain for his pre- ceptor for five years and was admitted to the bar in 1895. He was the city attorney of Auburn for two years and in 1898 was elected district attorney of Placer county.
Mr. Wright votes with the Republican party, believing firmly in its prin- ciples. Socially he is connected with the Masonic and Knights of Pythias fraternities and is a member of the Order of Red Men. He has a wide acquaintance throughout Placer county and is rated as one of the prominent members of the bar, having met with very gratifying success in the handling of intricate legal problems, and he possesses a spirit of perseverance which enables him to become thoroughly familiar with his suit, leaving unnoticed no detail which may advance his cause in the slightest degree, yet at the same time he gives due prominence to the questions upon which the decision of the case finally turns.
WILLIAM A. PRICHARD.
William A. Prichard is a mining man of marked enterprise and executive ability. His residence is Amador City, where he is superintending the Key- stone gold mine. The Keystone is famous for having produced gold contin- uously since the first quartz-mining was done in California, in 1850.
Mr. Prichard was born February 1, 1873, at Ironton, Ohio, in the heart of the iron and coal mining district of southern Ohio. He is a descendant of one of the two Prichard brothers who came to America, from Wales, in 1700. The family were early residents of New York and participated in the Revolutionary war. The grandfather, Anthony P. Prichard, was a native of the Empire state, who became one of the pioneer settlers and prominent mer- chants of Granville, Ohio, where he conducted business for many years. Will- iam W. Prichard, the father, was born in Granville, Ohio, in 1845. He was married to Olive Channel, a native of Newark, that state. For many years he was engaged in the gas and electric light business at Portsmouth, where he was residing at the time of his death, in October, 1899. His wife and six children survive him.
Wililam A. Prichard, the oldest son, acquired his preliminary education in the public schools of Ironton, Ohio, which was supplemented by an engin- eering course in the Leland Stanford University, in California, at which insti- tution he graduated in 1898. While pursuing his college course, Mr. Prich- ard acted as the editor of an engineering journal. He took an interest in athletics at the University and was a foot-ball manager during his senior year. Prior to entering the university, he had been associated with his father in the gas and electric business and had also been engaged in the railroad tie busi- ness in Kentucky and West Virginia. He was later employed as a cashier in a wholesale house. This business training, as well as a natural mechanical ability, stood him in good stead. While at college he more than earned his entire support by repairing and selling bicycles. With the extra advantage of a technical education, lie has been able to fill, with unusual credit. his present
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position du mining. Before gra hamnen, Mr. Prichard was appointed assel ant Uncal State- of logist. He assisted Waldmar Lindgren in making geo- logical moje Af Teperts of the Wo driver mining district, Idaho, as described and iestraied in Part III of the Twentieth Annual Report of the United States Gowyica! Survey.
Ile entered the service of the Keystone Consolidated Mining Company, assay cym. December, 1898, and was appointed superintendent in .August, 1899. His management of the Keystone has been very successful indeed. The methods si mining and milling have been changed and systemized, with a resultant large reduction of working costs and an increase in output and dividends. Furthermore, he has made a bright future for the mine, by opening up new ore reserves. Even the old ore bodies have been made valuable by more economical working. The Keystone has a forty-stamp mill, which will scon be enlarged. It has produced over thirteen million dollars' worth of the precious metal.
Mr. Prichard was married on the 21st of January, 1899, to Jean De Forest, a fellow student of Stanford University. She is a native of San Francisco and the daughter of Joseph De Forest, a gold miner of '49. Mr. De Forest, who is a native of New York, is a business man of San Francisco and is a member of the Society of Californa Pioneers. Mr. Prich- ard is a Roval Arch Mason, belonging to Aurora Lodge, No. 48. F. & A. M., at Portsmouth, Ohio, and to Sutter Chapter, No. 11, of Sutter Creek, Cali- fornia. Ilis son, William De Forest Prichard, was born in San Francisco, June 6, 1000.
Mr. Prichard's ambition and ability will undoubtedly insure his con- tinued success.
JOSEPH W. SIBOLE.
Joseph Wesley Sibole, a prominent citizen of Ione, has been a resident of California since 1864, having been brought to this state when but a year old by his parents, John W. and Martha E. ( Wilson) Sibole. The father was a native of Virginia, the mother of Ohio, and their son Joseph Wesley was born in Missouri, on the 14th of September, 1863. The following year they crossed the plains with oxen, spending the winter in Austin City, Nevada. While they were en route their stock was stolen. The company divided when on the way and the other part was never afterward heard from. After a long and arduous journey of six months the company with which the Sibole family traveled arrived at Mokelumne HIil, and thence the parents of our subject came to the lone valley, the father renting land at Muletown. He also engage 1 in mining and in 1880 he removed to his present home, purchasing two hun- dred acres of land, which he has placed under a high state of cultivation and which yields to him a golden return for the care and labor he bestows upon it. There he and his wife are residing, surrounded by many of the comforts of life. In their family are two sons and a daughter, all yet living. The brother of our subject, Francis Marion, is a resident of Ione, and the sister. Louisa J., is the wife of Miles E. Forest.
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Joseph Wesley Sibole, the youngest of the family, attended the schools of Ione in his early youth and continued his education at Mount Echo, where his parents now reside. Throughout his entire life he has been engaged in farming and stock-raising and is now following those pursuits. His earnest prosecution of this business brings to him creditable success and he is now one of the substantial residents of the community. In 1894 he was appointed superintendent of the farm at the Preston Boys' School, the institution being organized about that time. He has since remained in charge, having the entire management of the farm, the improvement of the grounds and the care of both the agricultural and horticultural interests. He is a most accurate and efficient officer and has placed the farm under a high state of cultivation, so that the fields, gardens and orchards bring a good return.
On the 25th of July, 1893, occurred the marriage of Mr. Sibole and Miss Alfreda Killner, a native of San Francisco. They have three children, Erwin, Ida and Cora. Mr. Sibole is a representative of the Knights of Maccabees and in politics he is a Republican. He is a man of marked business ability and executive force, and his indefatigable energy has brought to him desirable suc- cess in the conduct of his business affairs. He is widely known and is recog- nized as a popular citizen of the county in which he has spent the greater part of his life.
DAVID EMART.
The orange groves of California have a world-wide reputation. Their fruit is found upon the Atlantic seaports, in the Mississippi Valley and in the far northern states, and the annual export from each grove adds materially to the prosperity of this commonwealth. Extensively and successfully engaged in the cultivation of his fruits, David Emart is well known among the repre- sentatives of the horticultural interests of Stanislaus county. He owns a fine farm and handsome residence, which are pleasantly situated a mile and a half west of Knight's Ferry.
Mr. Emart was born in Wayne county, Ohio, on the Ist of April, 1834, and represents one of the old Pennsylvania Dutch families. His father, George Emart, was a native of the Keystone state, and both he and his wife died when their son David was a small child. He then went to live with Anthony Wagener, with whom he remained until his twelfth year, when he became an inmate of the home of John Emerson. They resided in a wild frontier district in the midst of the forest and he had small opportunity to attend school, but acquired a fair education through reading, observation and experience, and is now an intelligent and well informed man who is successfully following farming and fruit-raising. In the east he married Miss Nancy Shafer, and in Iowa he followed farming until 1864, when he was induced to dispose of his good property there, taking in exchange nine hundred dollars in cash and a mine in Monterey county, California ; but the latter proved to be worthless. He and his brothers, Joseph and John, and his father-in-law and his family all came together to California, crossing the plains with horse teams. They
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were six months on the journey and spent the first winter in Napa, where Mr. Emart learned that his mining property was worthless. As it was necessary for him to immediately engage in a paying business in order to provide for his family, he purchased a threshing machine and followed threshing, in the San Jose Valley, for a number of years.
In 1886 Mr. Emart purchased his present farm, comprising two hundred acres, which is pleasantly located one and a half miles west of Knight's Ferry. There he has a splendid orange grove and is also engaged in raising wheat and alfalfa, the fruit which he raises being of an excellent quality, finding a ready sale in the markets, and he has no trouble in disposing of his other crops. His residence and grounds are most attractive in appearance, the place being characterized by an air of neatness and thrift which indicate the careful super- vision of the owner, while in the home are many conveniences and evidences of the refined taste of Mrs. Emart. One child was born to them in Iowa, Jacob, whom they brought with them to California, and here two sons and a daughter have been added to the family, namely: John, Charles and Lillie, the last named being now the wife of William Murry, by whom she has two daughters. Charles is also married. Jacob is in Stanislaus county and John and Charles are farmers in Stanislaus county, living two miles northwest of Knight's Ferry. The family is one of high respectability, the members occupying lead- ing positions in social circles. Mrs. Emart is a valued member of the Method- ist church, and Mr. Emart affiliates with the Democrats, but has never sought or desired public office, his attention being fully occupied with his business affairs, in which he is meeting with signal success, carrying on operations in lines of industry and honesty that never fail to bring a desirable reward.
WILLIAM MANSFIELD.
Those who have opened the way for civilization in our land, as the star of the empire has taken its way toward the sunset gates, have been men of strong character,-courageous, hardy, tenacious of purpose and willing to endure hardships and privations for the sake of making homes for themselves and posterity. All honor has been paid the pioneers who blazed their way through the sylvan wilderness of the middle west in past generations, while not less is the homage due to those whose fortitude led them to traverse the plains, invade the mountain fastnesses and do battle with a dusky and treach- erous foe in the great empire of the far west. Among those who are to be numbered as sterling pioneers of central California is William Mansfield, one of the leading citizens of Columbia, whose residence in the state covers a period of forty eight years. He was one of the early pioneers of the water system that has done so much to advance the business development of the state. Ife became a stockholder of the company and since 1856 has served as its collector.
Mr. Mansfield was born in Slatersville, Rhode Island, on the 3d of November. 1829, and is descended from an old England family that was founded in Middletown, Connecticut, at a very early period in the development
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of the colonies. His father, Henry Stephen Mansfield, became a prominent representative of the business interests of Slatersville and was an agent for the Slatersville Manufacturing Company. He was a scythe-manufacturer and for many years held the important position of cashier of the Slatersville Bank. During the war of 1812 he was on a ship that was captured by the English and with others was taken to Halifax, where he was incarcerated for some time as a prisoner of war. His eldest son became his successor as the cashier in the bank and occupied that position for a number of years. Henry Stephen Mansfield was the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land, where Chi- cago now stands, but in some way the title was lost. He was united in mar- riage to Miss Elizabeth Buffon, who was born in Rhode Island, and there was reared and educated. This union was blessed with nine children, seven of whom reached years of maturity, but only two now survive. A daughter, Mary S., occupies the old homestead in Slatersville, while Mr. Mansfield, of this review, makes his home in California, the two living representatives thus being divided by the breadth of the continent. The father was a prominent Mason in the early days and did all in his power to promote the work of the order. He died in the sixtieth year of his age, while his good wife attained the very advanced age of eighty-four years. In religious faith he was an Episco- palian, while his wife adhered to the doctrine of the Congregational church.
Reared amid the refining influences of a Christian home, William Mans- field, of this review, was well trained in his youth. He attended a boarding school in Rhode Island and when he became a young man he managed a farm owned by his eldest brother. He was in the twenty-third year of his age, when, on the IIth of December, 1851, he sailed for California on the old steamship, Olio, which bore him to the isthmus of Panama, and on its western coast he took passage on the Golden Gate, then on its second voyage in the Pacific waters. He arrived in California in January, 1852. His brother, Jared, canie with him, but the latter afterward returned to the east in 1870, and died in Massachusetts. Mr. Mansfield engaged in mining on his own account, first at Camp Seco, in Tuolumne county, where he met with a fair degree of suc- cess. He and three companions paid fifty dollars each for a pile of dirt and when they washed it out it proved to be worthless. Some such experience met all the pioneer miners, but the most of them were successful if they but per- severed, and Mr. Mansfield was of this class. On leaving Seco he and his brother came to Columbia with eight hundred dollars and purchased an interest in the ditch. Since that time Mr. Mansfield has done some mining, but has always remained as a stockholder in the water company which has been such an important factor in the development of the resources of California, fur- nishing a water supply for mining and agricultural interests. Of the company he has long been a director and one of its most reliable officers, and his capa- ble management of its business interests has met the approval of the patrons, The corporation has acquired wealth through the legitimate channels of trade. and has built an electric-light plant with which the town is lighted, also some of the mines, and on occasions the electric supply has furinshed illumination for Sonora. Mr. Mansfield throughout the passing years has been connected
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to a greater or less extent with mining at a number of places, and on the hill, on his own land, he has engaged in mining for ten years, taking out between nineteen and twenty thousand dollars, while there is still a large amount of unworked mining territory of much value ..
In 1857. in Columbia, Mr. Mansfield was united in marriage to Miss Sally Ann Burt, a native of Massachusetts, who came to Columbia in Jan- uary. 1857, her father, J. P. Burt, being a prominent pioneer of this state. U'nto Mr. and Mrs. Mansfield were born five children, of whom four are liv- ยท ing, namely : W. B., who is foreman of the water company; Lillie P., now the wife of George Craig, teller of a bank in Middletown, Connecticut; Mary, a graduate of the State Normal School and a successful teacher and vocalist of ability ; and Fanny Rebecca, who also is a graduate of the State Normal and is now the wife of Dr. R. Innis Bromley, of Sonora. The family reside at their pleasant home in Columbia, where Mr. Mansfield owns a tract of seven- teen acres of land, a part of which constitutes his rich mining property. On this place, in the vicinity of his home, he also has a splendid orchard which he himself planted, raising many varieties of fruits. He has pears, apples, plums, grapes and figs, and is literally living under the shadow of his own vine and fig-tree. Mrs. Mansfield is still spared to him, and one of the daugh- ters is at home with her parents. The family is one of the most highly respected in the community, enjoying the warm regard of a very large circle of friends.
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