Yolo County Biography
William Bray
One of Yolo county's pioneers, now deceased, was William Bray, who was born in Monroe county, Ky., February 23, 1832, and passed away in Woodland March 25, 1894. When he was in his nineteenth year, in 1850, Mr. Bray left his home in the south for the great west and his journey across the plains with ox-teams, in company with a number of other immigrants, was fraught great dangers from the savage red men, who more than once attempted to overpower the travelers. However, they made the trip in safety, after which they separated, Mr. Bray mining a short time at Dutch Flats, after which he took up a quarter section of land in Yolo county, two miles south of Woodland, on which he located and built a cabin, and ever afterward he continued to make improvements. He carried on general farming, making a specialty of raising grain, alfalfa and stock. Here he made his home until Ms death. In front of the modest little home which he built years ago stands a modern residence, and the great cottonwood trees which he planted still surround the property wMch he labored so patiently to improve. His wife, formerly Harriet Eakle, was born in Tennessee, and accompanied her mother and sisters westward in the early '50s. Her death occurred on the home place near Woodland in December, 1907. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bray: Alexander, deceased; John E., deceased; Sarah A. and Lucy Jane, who share the eighty acres left by their parents; James B., whose wife before her marriage was Ida Butterfield, and who has one son; William H., deceased; and Mary C., who is now Mrs. William Gould, of Woodland.
Mr. and Mrs. Bray were both devout members of the Christian Church in Woodland and were mourned by a large number of friends who knew them well.
History Of Yolo County, California
With Biographical Sketches
History By Tom Gregory
And Other Well Known Writers
Historic Record Company,
Los Angeles, California, 1913
Pages 206-209
Transcribed by Julie Appletoft, November 2007
Yolo County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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