The man whose name appears above was for a long time one of the most prominent men of Santa Cruz County. He was a man of enlarged views, great enterprise, considerable wealth, and unerring integrity.
Mr. Waddell was born January 31, 1818, in Mason County, Kentucky, and was the son of John T. and Eleanor Waddell. His childhood was spent mainly with his parents, and his education was obtained in his native State. In 1837 he moved to Lexington, Missouri, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and amassed a large fortune, but indorsed heavily for friends, and this placed his entire possessions in jeopardy.
In 1850 he sent to California one thousand head of cattle, which he instructed to others, and which venture realized him nothing. At this time he has to make good his indorsements, and this took all his property, which was conveyed to his creditors.
In 1851 Mr. Waddell came to Santa Cruz County, and engaged in lumbering at Williams’ Landing. Afterwards he engaged in manufacturing lumber at Rincon Mills, and subsequently, on the Branciforte. In 1861 he erected a large mill on Waddell Creek, built a railroad from his mill to New Year’s Point, and employed a large number of men, disbursing $750,000 on the enterprise.
It was said of him that in all his dealings with men he never made a written contract, and that those who knew him never demanded it, his word being all that was necessary.
In 1838 Mr. Waddell was married to Elizabeth Bailey Hudson, in Kentucky. Two of their children are living, a son and a daughter. The son is a resident of Santa Clara, and the daughter, Jeannie H., is now the wife of Charles B. Younger, Esq., of Santa Cruz.
An interesting event of Mr. Waddell’s life is narrated in the following letter, written by himself to his daughter:-
San Pedro, April 29, 1863 Dear Daughter: Before you receive this, you will hear by telegraph of a sad calamity, which occurred at this place on Monday afternoon, at half past four o’clock, namely, the explosion of Mr. Banning’s small steamer, the Ada Hancock. After leaving the warehouse for the steamer Senator, we had proceeded about three-quarters of a mile, the wind blowing almost a gale. She has on board about forty or forty-five persons in all. I became somewhat uneasy as to our situation and placed myself on the extreme back end of the boat, which position I had occupied but a few minutes when I heard a report like a small cannon, felt a shock against my left leg, and was plunged into the water, with something over me, pressing me down. I succeeded in getting from under it and came to the top of the water about thirty feet from what had been a small steamer a minute before, but was now a mass of splinters and floating boards. I swam to the hull and got on it, as it was partly out of water, the tide not being full. I assisted a man who was hurt to get up safely. I next got a small child about two years old, which I kept wrapped up in my coat until its mother claimed and took it from me. About this time I discovered my leg was broken below the knee, and I could no longer render assistance to others. All this time I was in water up to my knees and remained so until the last boat left the wreck, which was one and a half hours from the explosion. William W. Waddell
History of Santa Cruz County, California
by E.S. Harrison
Published by Pacific Press Publishing Company
San Francisco, Cal., 1892
Transcribed by Yvonne Valentine 1/18/09, Page 234
Santa Cruz County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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