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 29
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 29
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In American Valley Mr. McDaniel stopped for twenty days and worked with his team, earning one hundred dollars. Here he fell in with Mayberry Davis, Alexander Cooley and a man named Painter, who told him of the Sacramento Valley and induced him to come here; and September 1, 1853, they arrived at Painter's landing. He went to work on a threshing machine; but not being used to the climate, he contracted chills and fever and was unable to do any further work that fall. Just above the landing Mr. Me- Daniel built a log house, and there, on October 1, 1853, a daughter, Izilla, was born, the first white child born on the east side of the river. Mr. Painter went back on every proposition he had made, and Mr. McDaniel was forced to make other arrangements. He leased land from James MeDougal, above what is now Butte City, put in one hundred acres of wheat, and got a good crop, but was obliged to sell his cattle, except a cow, in order to get money to harvest it. As the price of grain was only one and one half cents per pound and it was necessary to haul it to Marysville, thirty miles away, to have sold it would have left him in debt; so he hauled it to the Buttes and put it in a warehouse. The price of grain rose to three cents during the winter. He then sold it, re- ceiving enough to pay his debts and some fifty dollars besides.
Having decided to take up a farm of his own, Mr. MeDaniel selected a place just above Butte City, where he put in fifty acres of wheat. He got a good crop and received good prices, clearing one thousand dollars, which he invested in cattle. He continued to deal in cattle until 1862, when he disposed of part of his stock. In 1864 he sold off the balance; and thereafter he devoted his atten- tion to grain-farming. In 1865 the crops were good throughout the state. Foreign demand sprang up for the wheat raised in Califor- nia, and every farmer began to enlarge his boundaries, Mr. Mc- Daniel along with the rest. He bought up many squatters' claims, until he held a large acreage.
While Mr. MeDaniel was living on the east side of the river, the territory there was a part of Butte County. Mr. McDaniel had a petition circulated, requesting that this section be incorporated in Colusa County. The petition was granted, and the territory on the east side was made a part of Colusa County. He served as county assessor two years, and as justice of the peace for six years. On September 8, 1889, Mrs. McDaniel passed away. On July 3, 1891, Mr. MeDaniel was married to Martha J. Anderson. Both he and his wife were members of the Methodist Church, South. In 1874 he erected Marvin Chapel, in the cemetery, in which both himself and his first wife are buried. He died at his home on Jan- uary 9, 1898, at the age of seventy-seven. He was the father of
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ten children, of whom seven grew up, as follows: Henrietta, who married A. S. Furnell; Mary Ann, who became the wife of William Luman; Izilla, Mrs. John Annand; and Isaac L., P. L., Henry E., and L. J. MeDaniel.
JOHN R. TIFFEE
An early seeker after the precious metal, for which men have sought since the beginning of time, and one who remained in California after the first great excitement had subsided, and turned his attention to other pursuits, was the late John R. Tiffee. He was born in 1824, near Lexington, Ky. His early life was spent in Missouri, whither his people had migrated when that section was being developed. From that state he crossed the plains to California with ox teams in 1849; and on his arrival he went at once to the mines in Placer County, where he spent two years as a miner. His luck was very uncertain, how- ever, and he decided to look up some land and occupy his time with stock-raising and farming. He went to Sonoma County and found a suitable location near Petaluma, and there engaged in ranehing.
Seeing the need of a better grade of stock with which to build up a profitable herd in this country, he returned East by way of Panama and bought a band of thoroughbred roan shorthorn Dur- ham cattle, and drove them back across the plains in 1858. He arrived in what is now Glenn County, then embraced within the boundaries of Colusa County, and settled on land west of what is now the town of Willows. Mr. Tiffee was the first man to bring into this county thoroughbred roan Durham stock. Having bought out the squatters in that part of the county, he entered upon extensive operations as a stock-raiser. In time he became a well- known breeder of the best blooded stock in the Sacramento Valley; and ranchers and stockmen came many miles to inspect his herds and to purchase. From this small beginning the improvement of the stock in the valley was very marked. He added to his hold- ings until he was owner of twenty-five hundred acres of land, upon which he erected a handsome rural home, set out a family orchard, and raised considerable grain. He later opened a general mer- chandise store on his ranch, this being the only store within a radius of twenty-five miles. He was honored with the office of justice of the peace, and held the esteem of a widely settled com- munity. He died in 1868, at the age of forty-four years.
By his marriage in Sacramento, in 1850, with Mrs. Rebecca Terrill (Poage) Rowe, a native of Kentucky, Mr. Tiffee had three
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children, to each of whom he gave the best educational advan- tages possible. They were: Annie Rebecca, the wife of H. F. Coffman, of Trinity County; Theodora T., of whom mention is made elsewhere in this work; and John R. Tiffee, Jr., who died at the age of twelve years.
ANDREW WILLIAMS
The late Andrew Williams was born in England in 1828, and when six months old was brought with his family to the United States. At first they settled in Indiana, and there he was reared with his two brothers, James and John. In 1852, as one of the members of an ox-team train, young Williams set out to cross the plains to California; and arriving here, he mined for a while in Rough and Ready Camp, Yuba County. The next year, however, he returned to Indiana to buy a herd of cattle. Having gathered his band, he drove them across the plains in 1854, selling them on his arrival in California. He then went to Colusa County and worked on the ranches near what is now Willows, being employed in particular on the Murdock and the John R. Tiffee farms. In 1865, he again returned to Indiana; and while there, a couple of years later, he married Miss Margaret Given, of Ireland. With his wife, he turned his face anew to California, there to remain. At first he farmed the Logan ranch, which he bought and owned. Later, he sold this to Jolin Johansen, and took up a homestead on Stony Creek, where he farmed for a number of years. In the end he sold this farm also, and to the same purchaser, John Johansen.
When he came to Willows, Mr. Williams built a brick block on Walnut Street, in which for many years he conducted a first-class livery stable. This, too, he sold out, to permit his removal to the Stony Creek district. Later, he took up his residence at Elk Creek, where he managed a hotel, of which he was also proprietor. His death occurred on September 22, 1911.
Among the children of Mr. Williams are Mrs. Susandrew Mayfield, of Richmond, Cal .; Dennis G. Williams, of Willows; Mrs. Mabel O'Brien, of Patton Apartments, Willows; William J. Williams, of Willows; and Harry M. Williams, of Elk Creek. Mrs. O'Brien, the third child in order of birth, is an active mem- ber and a Past Noble Grand of the Rebekahs. She has one daughter, Mrs. Phelieta Seyoc, of Winslow, who is the mother of a daughter and a son.
I. A. Logan
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HUGH A. LOGAN
A pioneer farmer and stockman of the Sacramento Valley, especially of Colusa and Glenn Counties, the late Hugh A. Logan held rank as one of the successful and prosperous ranchers of Northern California. He located on a ranch in the foothills in the vicinity of Norman, where he improved a fine place and lived in comfort during the latter years of his life. He made a specialty of raising sheep, and was one of the up-to-date men of the state in that industry. He had modern equipment, pens, bath, and shearing apparatus, as well as a circular bath for dipping the animals. He gave to this enterprise the same careful considera- tion that would be necessary for successful competition in the commercial world. He was one of the upbuilders of this section, and was identified with the early history of Glenn County.
Mr. Logan was born in Montgomery County, Mo., September 6, 1830, a son of Henry and Sallie (Quick) Logan. Henry Logan was a Kentuckian, a son of Hugh Logan, who emigrated from Ire- land to the United States and settled in Kentucky, where he passed the remainder of his life as a farmer. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, thus demonstrating his loyalty to the country of his adoption. Henry Logan went to Missouri with Daniel Boone, locating in Montgomery County, where he was engaged in farming and as a tanner until 1870. He then started for Califor- nia on the transcontinental train, his death occurring en route. Mrs. Sallie Quick Logan was likewise a native of the Blue Grass ' State. She died in Missouri, leaving a family of seven children, of whom Hugh was the fifth in order of birth. He was able to get but a limited education in the schools of that period ; moreover, he worked on his father's farm from early boyhood. In March, 1854, when in his twenty-fourth year, he started for California, crossing the plains with ox teams. They left St. Joseph on April 1 and arrived at Deer Park six months later. They were successful in bringing a bunch of cattle from his native state through to the Coast. He later went to Sutter County and worked with his brother Anderson in the dairy business six miles south of Yuba City. He remained in California until 1861, when he returned to Missouri; and the following year he enlisted under General Price, serving under him six months.
In 1863 Hugh Logan married and came again to this state, making the trip this time by way of Panama. In Colusa County he bought about a thousand acres of land, which formed a part of the A. D. Logan ranch on Logan Creek; for he was in partnership 17
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at that time with his brother, A. D. Logan. They followed general farming and the raising of cattle until 1868, when Hugh A. Logan took up the property that remained his home for so many years. He also entered land, owning at one time about sixteen thousand acres, part of which was in Mendocino County. There were eight thousand acres in the home place near Norman, three thou- sand in a mountain ranch, and two thousand near the home place.
Mr. Logan started in the sheep business by the purchase of about five hundred head at seven dollars per head; and he in- creased his bands until he owned or handled a flock of about six thousand head. To add to his fortunes he raised large numbers of cattle and planted a large acreage to wheat and barley, having as high as four thousand acres planted to these cereals. He erected a comfortable home in 1880, and suitable outbuildings to protect his stock and implements. He witnessed many changes in the country, for when he first located in the valley there was no Glenn County and the post office was at Colusa. He lived to wit- ness the rapid advancement along agricultural lines, and the dividing up of the large areas into small and productive farms.
About 1904 Hugh Logan incorporated all of his holdings as the H. A. Logan Land and Stock Co., with himself as president, and his immediate family and J. S. Logan as the other stockhold- ers of the company.
Mr. Logan was twice married. His first wife was Jane Hud- nell, a native of Missouri, who died in California. Their only child, Samuel, died in infancy. His second marriage united him . with Miss Sallie Ann Logan, a cousin, and a native of Missouri, where the marriage was celebrated in 1866. She was a daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth (Quick) Logan, pioneers of that state. Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Logan had three children born to them: An- derson, Stephen, deceased, and Lee. The latter married Miss Vic- tor La Grande, a native daughter of Glenn County, born into the family of Edward and Elizabeth (Fortier) La Grande, natives of Montreal, Canada, who became pioneers of Colusa County. Mr. and Mrs. Lee Logan have three children: Lee Verden, Elsie Marie, and IIngh Edward.
Hugh Logan was a Mason, a member of Colusa Lodge. He was a member of Antelope Valley Grange, serving as Master five terms. He was a stanch advocate of the principles of Democracy, and served as a supervisor from his district in Glenn County one term. At the time of his death he was counted one of the best- known of the pioneers of Glenn County. He died in November, 1906, mourned by a large concourse of friends from far and near. After his death, the large farming and stock-raising operations of the company were continued under the following officers: Mrs.
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Hugh A. Logan, president; Lee Logan, vice-president; Mrs. Lee Logan, secretary, and J. S. Logan, treasurer. The same persons also made up the directorate. Mrs. Logan died on July 8, 1917, and was buried beside her husband in the family plot, in the ceme- tery at Colusa.
CLEATON GRIMES
Born in Mason County, Ky., May 24, 1815, Cleaton Grimes was the oldest of five children in the family of Henry and Nancy (Bane) Grimes, and the last to pass over the great divide. He was descended from Irish ancestors, and was reared and edu- cated in his native state, attending the subscription schools and Maysville Academy, where General Grant is said to have acquired the rudiments of his education. Young Grimes learned the trade of the tanner and currier, working at that calling in Aberdeen, Ohio, where his father had bought a tannery. He later worked at Georgetown for Jesse L. Grant, father of General Grant. At Concord, Ky., Mr. Grimes ran a tannery of his own, which he later traded for a store at Vanceburg, in the same state. While living there, he married Martha Stevenson, who died in Kentucky, as did three of their children.
In 1849 Mr. Grimes sold out his interests in Kentucky and set out for California. He traveled by boat to St. Joseph, Mo., where he was fortunate in the purchase of an outfit from a man from Ohio, who was traveling with an emigrant com- pany, but had grown impatient and wished to return home. In this way Mr. Grimes was able to accompany the party to Cali- fornia. His outfit consisted of a mule team and a wagon, into which was loaded the necessary supplies. After an uneventful journey, the party arrived at their destination over the Fremont trail. Mr. Grimes went to Dry Creek, and there began mining in association with a mining company; but later they moved to Oregon Cañon above Georgetown. In the spring of the follow- ing year they located on the north branch of American River; and he also was interested in the first claim taken up on the Middle Fork of that river. As it was late in the season, how- ever, they did not remain to develop this claim. Mr. Grimes and Captain Daniels went to Sacramento, bought a barge, and en- gaged in transporting timber to Marysville. This boat was operated by three hands, and was pulled and poled to Marys- ville, proving a good investment. In 1851-1852 they loaded their boat with general merchandise and went as far up the Sacra- mento River as Stony Creek. Here Mr. Grimes secured a team
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and hauled the goods to Shasta, where they were sold, the boat dropping back to Sacramento. In March, 1852, he went to Grand Island, Colusa County, and engaged in cutting hay with a scythe. This was hauled to Colusa and sold for fifty dollars a ton. That same year he took up a thousand acres of what he supposed was government land, but which later proved to be a grant. After several years of litigation, he purchased the thousand acres. He stocked his ranch, established Grimes Ferry, and opened a wood yard at Grimes Landing. With these interests, Mr. Grimes rose to a position of importance in the county. He began with five head of sheep, and in time had some four thou- sand head, which he sold. At the same time he carried on grain farming, the rich lands along the river yielding bountiful har- vests. In 1852 he established his home here, building a two-room house. Deeply interested in the place, where he had laid the foundation for a town, Mr. Grimes gave his best efforts towards inducing settlers to locate here. He was interested in the Grange movement, whose promoters established a store and warehouse on land he donated; and he also started the first livery stable in the town. Up to the time when he was nearing his ninetieth mile- stone, he was active in the management of his interests. He sold off all of his property but a quarter section, which he re- tained as a home. In the early days of his settlement in the state, his table was supplied with fresh meat brought down by his rifle; for elk, deer, bears and other wild animals then abounded.
In Sacramento, on September 28, 1869, Mr. Grimes was united in marriage with Mrs. Ann E. (Tait) Rollins, born near Richmond, Va., a daughter of Alexander Tait, who crossed the plains to California in 1865. During this trip his wife, Elizabeth Lockhart Tait, died. The first marriage of Ann E. Tait united her with Alfred Rollins, by whom she had four children. Mr. Grimes was a member of the first board of supervisors of Colusa County, and gave valuable aid in the deliberations of that body. Politically, he was a Democrat. He was enterprising and influen- tial, and lived to a ripe old age, passing away on January 19, 1913.
J. E. McDANIEL
The only son of Levi Jefferson McDaniel, J. E. McDaniel was born on his father's ranch, October 25, 1884. He attended the grammar school at Butte City, and finished his education at the high school at Willows. After the death of his father, he took charge of the home ranch and continued in its management until
Metin French
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1909, when the place was sold to the Carson colony, and was di- vided into small tracts. Mr. McDaniel thereupon became associ- ated with H. B. Tnrman and J. C. Mitchell, in the cattle business ; and together they bought the Patrick O'Brien place of nine thon- sand acres, west of Willows. They incorporated the Turman- Mitchell Land & Title Co., which owns the land and cattle. Mr. McDaniel was made secretary and manager of the company, with a third interest in its holdings. This is the largest cattle company in Glenn County, and one of the largest in Northern California. It handles over five thousand cattle each year. The corporation also owns a cattle ranch at Lakeview, Lake County, Ore., which disposes of six thousand cattle annually. The ranch comprises seventeen thousand acres of deeded land in an open range country, devoted to the raising of cattle.
At Willows, in 1908, J. E. MeDaniel married Miss Edith M. Hannah, a native daughter of Glenn County, whose father, James Hannah, one of the earliest settlers of the county, once kept a pop- ular hotel at Willows. Two children, Gregg and Lemona, have blessed their union. Mr. MeDaniel was made a Mason in Laurel Lodge, No. 245, F. & A. M., at Willows, and with his wife is a member of the Eastern Star. He is also a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Foresters; and nowhere are he and his charm- ing wife more welcome than in the councils and at the festivities of these organizations.
MILTON FRENCH
It is always a pleasure to the historian to commemorate the life of a self-made man like Milton French. In this man's veins flowed the blood of a race of pioneers, and with it he inherited the adventurous spirit and sound principles that go to make up the successful life in a new country. He was born in Callaway County, Mo., January 23, 1833, the youngest child in a family of four sons and two daughters born in the home of John French, a native of Tennessee. John French lived through the pioneer days of Ten- nessee and trained his family in the simple, straightforward ways of those times, when conditions were such that sham and pretense found no following. His wife was a Miss Clark, born in Ken- tncky, the danghter of another pioneer family, for the Clarks dated back to the days of Daniel Boone and were among the early history-makers.
When Milton French was a year old, his mother died. After- wards his father married again; and of that union three children were born, of whom Hngh French, of Hollister, Cal., is the only
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survivor. Eight years after the death of his first wife, John French passed away; and then came the breaking up of the fam- ily. Here is a lesson for the boys of today who hang on to "dad" and never think they have had a square deal unless he has put them through college and set them up in business. Milton French, a boy twelve years old, homeless, without father or mother, but already feeling the desire for honorable success which later won for him a place among the wealthy and honored men of the state, hired ont to a man for thirty dollars a year and his board. Two dollars and a half a month, young men, to do the hardest kind of work and plenty of it. Probably three months of schooling in the winter was all the boy got; but, to be sure, he was getting an edu- cation every day he lived, for Milton French was one of those who got their diploma from the "College of Hard Knocks."
In 1850, at the age of seventeen, he was crossing the plains, bound for the mines of California. With him were two brothers, Marion Bryman and John. They mined at Forbestown, and later went to the mines on Trinity River, meeting with a moderate de- gree of success. Beef sold as high as a dollar per pound in the mines. Only the long-horned, rangy Spanish cattle were to be had; and most of these were driven from the ranges south of Mon- terey County to the market at the mines in Northern California. Young French saw a big opportunity in the luxuriant pastures of the foothills, if they were stocked with the right kind of animals ; so in 1856 he returned to Missouri by way of Panama, and the fol- lowing year, 1857, found him driving a band of cattle across the plains to the Sacramento Valley in California. In January, 1858, after a short stay on the Sacramento River, while his cattle recu- perated from their long drive, he took up a government claim of one hundred sixty acres in the foothills of Colusa County, as then organized, but now included within the boundaries of Glenn County. All about was open range; and he gradually increased his holdings until he was the owner of ten thousand acres of land in various parts of the county. He farmed thousands of acres to wheat in the level valleys, and on the uplands pastured his herds of cattle, together with droves of fine horses and mules, which he raised, and of which he made a specialty. He became one of the leading grain and stock men in the Sacramento Valley, and wealth flowed into the hands of the man who, as a lad of twelve, had worked for his board and thirty dollars a year. He erected a fine home in Willows, and took a leading part in many enterprises, in which he invested large sums of money. He was the owner of a large warehouse in Germantown, and was vice-president of the Bank of Willows, president of the Willows Water Works, and a director in and president of the Willows Warehouse Association.
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Mr. French took an active part in the formation of Glenn County when it was decided to divide Colusa County, and when the northern half, containing the great Glenn ranch, became Glenn County. The writer remembers driving across the Glenn ranch, in 1885, and riding for hours beside the great piles of wheat, sacked and awaiting shipment.
Mr. French never forgot his own hard times when he struggled for a start, and he gladly assisted more than one young man-yes, and some old ones too-on the road to success, helping them to help themselves. He liked to make money, not for its in- trinsic value, but for what it would enable him to do for those he loved, and for the furtherance of every worthy object. He was especially interested in all projects for the npbuilding of the county and state. He was just in his dealings, and rejoiced in the prosperity of others; and when, on November 10, 1916, at his ranch near Willows, Milton French passed to his "home in the Beyond," a man "full of years and of good report," the whole connty mourned a good man gone. He was a man who never took an unfair advantage of any person, and never stooped to do any- thing that might be construed as dishonest; and while he aided many unfortunates, he rarely let his benefactions become known even to his family. No man has had more true friends than had Milton French, to mourn his loss.
His wife, who survives him, is carrying on the good work in which he was so interested. In maidenhood Mrs. French was Miss Elizabeth F. Williams, a native of Missouri and a daughter of Nathaniel P. and Sarah Jane (Rice) Williams. Her parents were Kentuckians, who came to California in 1855, by way of the Isth- mus of Panama, with their two daughters, now Mrs. Milton French and Mrs. James Boyd, Sr., then aged two and a half years and six months respectively. Upon their arrival in this state they stopped for a time in Solano County, near Dixon. Later they moved to Yolo County, and thence back to Solano County, where Mr. Williams died at his home near Dixon, in 1898. His widow survived him and made her home with her daughter, Mrs. French, until 1910, when she also answered the final call. There were four more children born in this family after they settled in California; and of the six the following are living: Mrs. Milton French, Mrs. James Boyd, Sr., Mrs. Barbara MeCune Lillard, and Nathanial P. Williams.
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