Colusa Biographical Sketches.
CHAPTER XII.
KEEPERS ALBERY
Is a native of Franklin County, Ohio, born in the year 1838. His youth was uneventful, being passed in a resolute struggle to secure a common education. This once acquired, he taught school in Franklin County, Ohio and also in Iowa, laying by with genteel economy every dollar for which he toiled so patiently and successfully in the school-rooms of the young Buckeyes. Having amassed a snug little hoard for a pedagogue in those days, he invested it all in securing a higher education than he had yet attained, at Ann Arbor University, Michigan. Completing his course here, he undertook the study of the law and was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Ohio in 1865. After practicing his chosen profession for a few years in Mercer County, of that State, he was elected District Attorney thereof, serving in that office from January 1, 1868, to January 1, 1872. Meanwhile, with the proceeds from his profession, he was aiding a younger brother, H.M. Albery, the present District Attorney of Colusa County, to acquire an education, and who became proficient in a knowledge of the law. While serving as prosecuting attorney, the criminal element of his district had reason to fear his ability, for not one of the many indictments prepared by him was quashed.
In 1875 Mr. Albery removed to Shelby County, in his State, and there practiced his profession till 1880, when, becoming possessed of a strong inclination to reside in California, he determined to realize it. For this purpose he sundered the strong ties and warm friendships of a life-time, placed his property in the care of an agent and turned his face toward the setting sun. On arriving in California in the fall of 1880, he cast about for some out-of-door occupation to relieve the strain of years of professional toil, and concluded to engage in mining in Plumas County. This he followed till 1886, when he located in Colusa County, though still retaining an interest in his mines. With his capability for making and holding friends, it was not long till Mr. Albery had gathered clients about him and built up a good practice in the legal profession. Shortly after locating in his present abode, the Wright Irrigation law was passed. Mr. Albery was a close student of this measure from its first introduction in the Legislature, and was convinced that it was radically wrong, though he himself was not opposed to irrigation as an adjunct of cultivation. Among a multitude of reasons for antagonism to this law, adduced by Mr. Albery, was that "for at least another generation, it will add to the large real-estate holdings at the expense and ruin of the small holdings, and particularly of the small holdings which happen to be encumbered." He fought the measure sturdily as a citizen of the county, while his professional services were retained by the opponents of the creation of the Colusa and Central Irrigation Districts. Mr. Albery is a pleasant companion, cheerful as well as thoughtful, has a legion of friends, and, as he is in the prime and vigor of life, can look forward to increasing prosperity in his Colusa County home.
COLUSA COUNTY
ITS
HISTORY TRACED FROM A STATE OF NATURE
THROUGH THE EARLY PERIOD OF SET-
TLEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT,
TO THE PRESENT DAY
WITH A
DESCRIPTION OF ITS RESOURCES, STATISTICAL
TABLES, ETC.
ALSO
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PIONEERS AND
PROMINENT RESIDENTS
by Justus H. Rogers
Orland, California
1891
Page 343-465
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 7/1/2009
Colusa County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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