USA > California > Glenn County > History of Colusa and Glenn counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 28
USA > California > Colusa County > History of Colusa and Glenn counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 28
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91
John Nelson was born in Bylleberga, Skane, Sweden, March 18, 1866, and attended the home schools until he was fifteen, when he came to America with the family, and settled in Minnesota.
260
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
There the father bought an eighty-acre farm, which he improved, and on which he raised wheat, oats and flax. He rented consider- able land adjoining, and in connection with his other farming operations also ran a dairy and raised cattle. When John Nelson was twenty-one he bought the farm from his father, and continued operating it along the same lines, raising the same products. He worked hard, farming on a large scale for a number of years, and making a success of his labors. When he had enough to make a start in California, wishing to avoid the rigorous winters of Min- nesota, he disposed of his interests and came to this state. What he has accomplished here speaks for itself and is a splendid ex- ample for the homeseeker to follow.
Mr. Nelson married Christina Pearson, also born in Sweden; and they have four children: Warner, Delphin, Emma, and Wes- ley. Wesley is a member of the Odd Fellows in Maxwell. Mrs. Nelson died on March 23, 1905; at the age of thirty-seven years. Mr. Nelson is quiet and reserved. He is a hard worker, a public- spirited citizen, and a hospitable neighbor, and has made many friends since settling in California.
HON. JOHN BOGGS
The discovery of gold in California brought to the Coast many of the most capable young men of the East, and gave to our commonwealth its first impetus towards permanent pros- perity. Of all those who came across the plains, perhaps none possessed greater energy or keener powers of discrimination than did John Boggs. From whatever standpoint his character may be considered-as farmer, stock-raiser, landowner, state official, citizen, or friend-it presents the elements of true man- hood, so that those within the sphere of his influence counted it a rare privilege to be numbered among his friends.
Descended from a prominent Southern family, John Boggs was born at Potosi, Mo., July 2, 1829, a son of Robert W. and Abigail (Carr) Boggs, natives of Virginia and Kentucky re- spectively. At the completion of his common school education in Howard County, he was sent to the college at Fayette. When he was twenty, he joined a party of gold-seekers bound for the West. After innumerable hardships the party arrived at Weber Creek, from which point Mr. Boggs made his way to Sacramento, where he was engaged as a chainman in the first survey of that city. He bought some land on Cache Creek, and began trading for broken-down horses and mules used by emigrants in crossing
261
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
the plains. Almost without exception they were anxious to ex- change their stock for provisions and other necessities; and as a consequence he had, at the end of a year, some four hundred head grazing on his ranch. Though they cost him only a few dollars each, at the end of the year he sold them for two hundred ยท dollars per head.
In 1854 Mr. Boggs came to Colusa County and bought six thousand acres of the Larkin grant, and later bought other tracts, which he held for a rise in values. In 1868 he embarked in the sheep business. This proved profitable, as there was a ready market for wool and mutton. A few miles from Princeton stood his country home, one of the finest homesteads in the state at the time. In recent years, the land has been divided into small tracts and sold.
The public career of Mr. Boggs began in 1859, when he he- came a member of the first county board of supervisors. In this capacity he served until 1866, and by his intelligent labors aided in giving system to the management of the affairs of the county. One important improvement made during his period of service was the erection of the courthouse. In 1866 he was elected to the state senate, and in 1870 he was reelected. In 1877 he was again returned to the upper house, as also in 1883, and once more in 1898. He was a member of that body at the time of his death. Senator Boggs was a stanch Democrat, and wielded a strong influence in the party deliberations. He served as a member of various conventions, county and state, and from 1871 until his death he was a member of the Democratic State Central Committee. He made a losing fight against county division. When the new maps came out, it was found that the county line was placed so that the barn on the Boggs estate was in Glenn County and the balance in Colusa County; and it was only after assiduous effort that the senator was able to have the line set beyond the end of his barn. At the Palace Hotel in San Fran- cisco, on January 30, 1899, Senator John Boggs passed away. When the news of his passing flashed over the wires, there was a universal feeling of sorrow in the state; and the press of the state was unanimous in its verdict concerning the high quality of his statesmanship.
In 1870 John Boggs was united in marriage with Miss Lou Shackleford, of Georgia. Three children were born of this union : Frank, Frederick and Alice. Senator Boggs was for years con- nected with the State Agricultural Society as director and presi- dent. Until his death he was a member of the board of trustees of Stanford University; and at one time he was a regent of the University of California. From 1876 to 1880 he was a director
262
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
of the Napa State Asylum. In 1885 he was appointed penology commissioner, and about the same time he held the office of state prison director. At one time he was on the board of commission- ers of Yosemite Valley. He was one of the organizers of the Colusa County Bank, and served as a director till his death. He took a prominent part in the organization of the Bank of Wil- . lows, and was one of the directors; and he was also a director in the Bank of Haywards.
JOHN C. HAMILTON
A descendant of an old pioneer family of California, and a native of Orland, Glenn County, John C. Hamilton is carrying on the development work started by his father in this district in the early sixties. Born on the home ranch, near Orland, March 10, 1874, he is a son of John C. and Cordelia (Springtun) Hamilton. The father was a native of Missouri; and the mother was born in Texas. Their living children are John C .; James L., of Red Bluff; and Mrs. L. M. Walters, of Berkeley. The father crossed the plains to California by ox team, in 1859. Going to the mines, he worked there for two years, after which he came to Colusa County and worked on ranches for a time. His object, however, was to own a ranch of his own; and accordingly he homesteaded one hundred sixty acres of land five miles east of Orland, later adding to his holdings until he owned three thou- sand acres. He became one of the large grain-raisers of early days in the state, when California was the leading state in the Union in the production of grain. In 1884, he settled in Red Bluff, where his death occurred on December 5, 1907. He had retired from active pursuits in the latter years of his life. Soon after her husband's death, Mrs. Hamilton removed to Berkeley, where she now makes her home.
John C. Hamilton attended school in Orland, and afterwards moved with his parents to Red Bluff, where he finished his school- ing and became assistant in the post office, for three years, under Postmaster H. W. Brown. In the fall of 1900 he returned to the home ranch in Orland, and has since made this his home, taking an active part in the upbuilding of the district, which has made and is making such wonderful progress along agricultural lines.
Mr. Hamilton is bringing his property to a high state of development, being decidedly a man of progress, with breadth of mind to grasp new ideas and methods of cultivation. He farmed the greater part of three thousand acres, on the old home place and land near by. His home ranch comprises two hundred thirty
263
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
acres which he cultivates to grain. In 1917, he set out eighty acres to almonds; and he purposes gradually to increase the acreage devoted to this branch of horticulture. He has put the land under a private irrigation plant, with cement pipes through the orchard, which lies east of the liome ranch proper; and in other respects also he is using strictly modern methods in his horticultural work. The holdings of the family in Glenn County now comprise some eleven hundred acres.
Being a native son of Orland, Mr. Hamilton has watched its growth with a keen interest. He has given his support and active cooperation to all undertakings for the advancement and development of his town and county; and personally he exerts that forceful influence found only in men who have become known for integrity and ability. He was one of the men who financed the Orland College; and he has always been a friend of education.
The marriage of Mr. Hamilton was celebrated in 1906, when he was united with Haddassah Cleek, also a native of the valley, born in Colusa County. Fraternally he is a Mason, a member of Orland Lodge, No. 265, F. & A. M .; Chico Chapter, No. 42, R. A. M .; and Chico Commandery, No. 12, K. T. With Mrs. Hamil- ton, he belongs to Citrus Chapter, No. 208, O. E. S., of Orland.
JOHN ANNAND
A native of Nova Scotia, John Annand was born on June 6, 1844, a son of David and Margaret (Taylor) Annand, large farmers in that country. He spent the first twenty-two years of his life near Halifax, where he received his education and learned the trade of the blacksmith. He then came to the States and spent two years in the mining districts of Nevada, after which, in the late sixties, he came on to California and located at Butte City, now in Glenn County. Here he found employment at his trade with Elijah McDaniel, three miles south of that village, where, on June 5, 1871, he married Izilla McDaniel, a daughter of his employer.
Soon Mr. Annand was able to buy land; and his first purchase comprised five hundred sixty acres five miles south of . Butte City. Here he developed a good ranch, which he carried on until he was called by death in 1908. His widow still owns the old home place, and is living in the enjoyment of modern conveniences, surrounded by her family and friends.
26-
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
Mr. Annand was a devout Christian and a prominent member of the Methodist Church, South. As superintendent of the Sunday school he exercised an elevating influence upon the young, in whose welfare he took a deep interest. He was actively interested in education, and served on the board of trustees of his school dis- triet. He and his wife had four children: Mrs. George Kirkpat- rick, of Colusa; Elmer A., on the home place; Emma, Mrs. Hugh M. Garnett, of Willows; and Earl, superintendent of the Hugh M. Garnett ranch near Willows.
WILL SEMPLE GREEN (By the late John P. Irish)
The debt of California to her American pioneers grows in appreciation as they pass away. In the first group, composed of those immortal in grateful memory, a stalwart figure is Will S. Green. He was of pioneer lineage. His ancestors were on the Virginia frontier. His parents settled in Kentucky when the land had the virgin beauty that attracted Daniel Boone to its conquest. There he was born, December 26, 1832. Financial reverses befell his father while Wilt was a child. This deprived him of any edu- cation under teachers, except a brief attendance at an "Old Field School"; and while a boy he assumed the burden of self-support and the helping of others. It is said of him that such was his energy that, though a boy, he commanded the .wages of a man. While he worked he studied. To him may be applied the wise characterization of the late President McKinley by John Hay : "He belonged to a generation of boys who knew no want their own labor could not satisfy, and who knew no superior and no in- ferior." Those were the qualities of a pioneer generation.
Working and seeking knowledge, he felt the frontier impulse and, following the call of his pioneer lineage, landed in California in 1849, before he was seventeen. His mental and manual self- training and his steady industry had prepared him to put hand and head into any honest work. He ran the first steam ferry over the straits of Carquinez, took the second mail contract let in the state, and carried all the mail for Napa and Sonoma Counties in his pocket. In July, 1850, he left his mail route and ferry and piloted the new steamer Colusa up the Sacramento River to the present town of Colusa. He landed in Colusa on July 6, 1850, and there he was buried just fifty-five years later. For five years more than a half century he was a citizen of that town, of which he first saw the site from the pilot house of the pioneer steamer. He left
IWill S. Green
Sallie Morgan Eren
269
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
amongst his writings a description of that voyage up the Sacra- mento that is a classic. There came to him then a clear conception of the capacity of that valley to support a dense population through agriculture. He caught a vision of a future wrought by man upon those fertile plains that equaled the prophet's vision of the promised land, full of corn and wine and oil, and flowing with milk and honey. While yet camping on the bank of the river, he began preparing for his part in the history to be. Already self- cultured to a degree of which many a college graduate would be proud, he took up the study of civil engineering and fully equipped himself for that profession. Perhaps no man in our company of pioneer worthies had as little waste knowledge as he. Whatever he applied himself to he thoroughly learned, and whatever he learned was useful to the end of his long life. His service as cap- tain of the Carquinez ferry boat, Lucy Long, gave him the pilot's knowledge of the surface indications of channel and shoal water that served him in steering the pioneer steamer Colusa in waters strange to him and all her crew. His reading of the best books in literature and science gave his style as a writer a grace, directness and individuality, and a homely philosophy, such as Ben Franklin had; and his knowledge of civil engineering made him the first, and to the end the greatest, professional authority in the state on the problems of irrigation and drainage.
A half century ago the physical characteristics of California were but little known. Some of them are still the despair of the climatologists. But, early in his experience in the Sacramento Valley, Mr. Green saw that to reach their highest potency there must be a drainage of the rich bottom lands, for protection against foods, and irrigation of the rich plains for protection against the normal drought of the dry season. He knew land, and he loved it. He was California's first apostle of agriculture, and land was the text of all his epistles. As an engineer, he surveyed the land. As a legislator, he drew the land code of the state. As surveyor gen- eral of the United States, he protected the public domain for the settlers who would till it. As treasurer of the state, he conserved and economized the taxes paid by the owners of the land. As the foremost editorial writer of the state, he considered the land as the first material object of human interest. He developed the first plans for irrigation and drainage of the Sacramento Valley; and though high-salaried engineers have wrought upon the same prob- lem, his plans stand unimpeached.
The foregoing is a mere circumference of his work. The vast- ness of the great circle, and the infinite detail included, may be conceived when it is known that he came to be the final authority npon more things of vital concern to the state than any other man
270
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
in California. In such a position he had to antagonize the opin- ions of others. He often had to champion the many against the few. He had to rebuke waste and ignorance, thriftlessness and in- temperance. But so great was his spirit, and so full of pity and charity, that his very rebukes made friends of those who received them, and his antagonists were amongst his most ardent admirers. As his life drew to its close, and the horizon no longer receded as he approached it, his activities were greater than ever. In a high sense he incorporated his views of the necessities of the Sacra- mento Valley in organizing the Sacramento Valley Development Association, of which he held the presidency until his death. In that capacity was found his last publie activity, in escorting the Congressional committees on irrigation through the state. At the close of the tour and the final meeting at the banquet at Red Bluff, he was introduced by Judge Ellson as "the Patriarch of Irriga- tion in the Sacramento Valley." He rose with the splendors of that valley of light before him, but upon him was the somber tone of the Valley of Shadows. Speaking briefly he said: "It is our business to develop the Sacramento Valley, and in behalf of the Association I wish to say that we will do this. I have a valuable history of irrigation work since I have been in the great valley, and the value of that work is incalculable; I recognize its full force when I hear these people speak of the vastness of the preparation and the money they are spending in preparing their plans for this work for the United States government. I undertook to do it all individually, and to demonstrate what could be done. Doing my own engineering and paying my own expenses, I located the pres- ent Central Canal and prophesied this work, and now I find that the United States will take years to go ahead, and feel how small have been my efforts. But, gentlemen, my only hope, as I am on the decline of life, is that some day I may stand on Pisgah and see a Promised Land for God's people in this valley. Then I will be ready to die."
The fact was, that, in every essential, in outline and in detail, in its hydrography, agriculture, proper division of landholdings, transportation and economics, he had worked ont the whole prob- lem to a solution ; and those who follow will use his work or redis- cover what was to him an open book of principles. That was his last public utterance, and the contrasts of the occasion gave the full measure of his work. His footsteps had plodded over the whole field, and then came the government, paying tens of thou- sands only to follow him.
In his life he was singularly pure, as to speech, thought and practice. But it was all without ostentation. He never abated his view of principles to please friend or foe. Yet in disenssion he
271
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
seemed rather an eager listener than a teacher, and by rare art taught others by asking them to teach him. On his social side. he was thoroughly lovable. As an editor he made his paper, The Colusa Sun, the leading rural organ of the state. A collection of his editorial writings, in essay form, would make a volume of per- manent literature for the library. He was the last of the great group of pioneers who sought to build a state not on the vanishing mining industry, with its risk and uncertainty, but upon the im- perishable land and the unbroken promise of seed time and har- vest ; and of that group he was the leader. He took his name and blood pure and untarnished as his only heritage, and with a heart as pure as his lips, transmitted them to his children.
Mr. Green was twice married. At his first marriage he was united with Miss Josephine Davis, by whom he had five children, who survive their parents. Some years after the death of their mother, he married Miss Sallie Morgan, of Mississippi, a faithful helpmate and affectionate companion, who also survives him.
MRS. SALLIE B. GREEN
One of the representative women of the Sacramento Valley, Mrs. Sallie B. Green, owner and editor of The Colusa Sun, has been identified with Colusa for many years. She was born in Clinton, Hinds County, Miss., a daughter of Dr. Jacob Bedinger Morgan, owner of a plantation ten miles northwest of Jackson. Her mother was Minerva (Fitz) Morgan, a danghter of Gideon Fitz, at one time surveyor general of Mississippi, when it was a territory. Grandfather Fitz was born in Monticello, Va., and learned surveying under President Thomas Jefferson, then a sur- veyor, and later received his appointment from him. He died in Washington, Miss., and was buried at Jackson. Robert Williams, a great-grandfather on the maternal side, was governor of Mis- sissippi Territory. All of her forebears figured prominently in the early history of Virginia and Mississippi. Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States, was a warm friend of the Fitz family.
Dr. Morgan was born in Virginia and, when a child of five, was taken to Kentucky by his parents. He was educated in the schools of Kentucky and at the Medical College of Lexington, Ky., from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D. He rode a horse all the way back to Clinton, Miss., from Lexington, and, settling there, became the leading physician of that section, the owner of a large plantation, and a man of considerable means and influence. Eight children were born to Dr. Morgan and his
272
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
wife: Mary, who married Hunter H. Southworth, and lived and died in Mississippi; William Henry, a major, and later a colonel, of the 3rd Mississippi Infantry during the Civil War, who died in Mississippi in 1905; Fitz Robert, who was accidentally killed while hunting, at the age of thirteen; Thomas, who died at the age of three; Sallie B., Mrs. Green; Martha, who married W. G. Poin- dexter; Lewis S., who was killed while in the 3rd Mississippi Cav- alry, at Collinsville, Tenn .; and George, who died in Mississippi.
Sallie B. Morgan was tutored by a governess, at home, and then attended a private school for girls, after which she went to a convent at Nazareth, Ky., and later was graduated from a young ladies' seminary at Nashville. Returning then to her home in Jackson, she there became a social favorite. She met Will S. Green, and in Salt Lake City, in 1891, was united in marriage with him, and since that time has resided in Colusa. . Mr. Green died on July 2, 1905. Mrs. Green never had any children of her own; but she reared the two youngest of Mr. Green's children by his first marriage, Rae, Mrs. Dr. J. J. Maloney of San Francisco, and Donald R., now in the office of the state surveyor general at Sacra- mento, who were fifteen and thirteen years old respectively at the time of her marriage.
Mrs. Green is eligible to membership in the Daughters of the Revolution. She is a Daughter of the Confederacy, and organized and was president of the Confederate Monument Association, which after five years succeeded in raising the funds for building the monument that now stands in the old capitol yard at Jackson, Miss., to commemorate the Confederate dead; and her name is inscribed in the vestibule as president of the Association. She organized the Colusa Woman's Improvement Club, and was active in the organization of similar clubs in other cities in the valley, afterwards serving as president of the Federated Woman's Clubs of the Sacramento Valley.
Having traveled considerably over the United States, and even into Alaska, she had a desire to see some of the foreign coun- tries ; and on December 1, 1908, she started on a trip around the world, leaving San Francisco on the steamship Mongolia. Cross- ing the Pacific, she visited Hawaii, Japan, China, and the Philip- pines, and from there sailed on through the Suez Canal into Egypt, and on to Italy, at a time when Mt. Vesuvius was active, and saw that wonderful volcano in action. After visiting France and England, she came on to New York, reaching home in Decem- ber, 1909, without having had an accident. She was more im- pressed than ever with the greatness, grandeur, and beauty of her native land, having seen nothing in her whole trip to equal her own beloved country. From various places en route she sent a
273
COLUSA AND GLENN COUNTIES
series of letters giving a description of her travels, and of places visited, which appeared from time to time in The Colusa Sun, and which received favorable comment.
Mrs. Green is to be found at her desk every day, guiding the destinies of The Colusa Sun and wielding a strong influence for the public good. She is active and progressive, and is looked upon as one of the upbuilders of Colusa, where she is held in high esteem. She is a member of the Methodist Church in Colusa.
ELIJAH McDANIEL
This Colusa County pioneer was born in Roane County, Tenn., July 4, 1820, a son of Daniel McDaniel, captain of a com- pany in the United States army, who served under General Jack- son during the war with the Creek Indians. After the war, Cap- tain McDaniel married Mary Ann Buchanan and settled in East Tennessee, remaining there until 1834, when he moved with his family to Illinois.
Elijah McDaniel remained with his father on the farm until his marriage in January, 1842, when he was united with Sarah Ann Gore. The young people then went to Wayne County, Ill., where they remained six years, operating a farm. During this time two sons and two daughters were born to them. In 1848 he moved into Schuyler County, the same state, where he rented land and farmed until 1852. He was then seized with the "California fever" and began making preparations for an early start the fol- lowing spring. With five children, his wife, and such effects as would likely be needed for the long trip across the plains, he be- gan the journey in an ox wagon, in 1853. Crossing the Mississippi River at Warsaw, they made their way across Iowa through storms of snow and sleet, and arrived at Council Bluffs in good spirits, on the last day of March. Hearing that there was no grass on the plains, they went into camp until it was grown sufficiently to furnish feed for their stock. As their journey continued, they fell in with California-bound travelers until their party numbered eighteen men. A captain was elected by the party, George Gar- ratt, one of their number, being chosen for this important position. The weather continued bad as they passed up the Platte River, the stock began to give out, and dissatisfaction was expressed with the captain. At Pacific Springs, Mr. McDaniel and James Teal, with their outfits, left the main train and struck out alone. Things went better after that, and they finished the trip, although under very trying conditions. On the fourth of August they crossed the summit of the Sierras and entered the Golden State.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.