John H. EATON

John H. Eaton, a Woodland merchant, who died at his residence in that city January 2, 1890, was born in Rowan County, North Carolina, October 2, 1807, and removed with his parents in 1810 to Middle Tennessee. At the age of twenty-two years he left his parental home and went to Indiana, where he was married, September 27, 1829, to Miss Rebecca A. Simpson, a native of North Carolina, who now survives him. Crossing the plains to this State in 1849, he followed mining at Bidwell's Bar, on the Feather River, but the next year he returned to Missouri, where he remained until 1862, engaged in mechanical and mercantile pursuits. He then came to Nevada, where he engaged in farming until 1868, and then came on again to California and soon commenced mercantile business at Woodland, as a member of the firm of Eaton, Green & Co. Theirs was the first exclusive grocery house in the place. Their next firm name was Eaton, Lawson & Co., and in November, 1879, it became Eaton & Son, the present style.

Mr. Eaton was religiously inclined from boyhood. At the age of fourteen he joined the Baptist Church, but during life changed his views somewhat and united with the Christian Church, in which he remained during the remainder of his life. He was very zealous in the propagation of the cardinal principles of Christianity. He emphasized the scriptural idea that there is but "one baptism," while the churches of modern times generally have several modes of baptism, or doors into the church.

Seven of his eleven children survive, namely: Mrs. G. W. Green and A. M. Eaton, of Woodland; J. I. Eaton, of Lake County; G. M. Eaton, of Irvington, Alameda County; Mrs. J. E. Woods, of San Francisco; T. F. Eaton, of Dighton, Kansas; and Mrs. Dr. D. A. Bryant, of Jackson County, Missouri.

A. M. Eaton, the surviving partner in the firm of J. H. Eaton & Sons, was born in Jackson County, Missouri, in May, 1852, where he remained until he came to Nevada and California. He completed his education at the Hesperian College at Woodland. In 1869 he became a partner with his father in the grocery business, when the firm style became J. H. Eaton & Son, under which name the business was carried on till July, 1890, at which time A. M. Eaton purchased the other interest and now conducts the business in his own name, carrying a full stock of everything in the line of a well furnished grocery house. Mr. Eaton deals largely in grain, hay, wood, nursery stock, etc. He is yet unmarried, making his home with his mother, who is now seventy-eight years of age.

Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

Hiram S. EDDY

An intimate knowledge of many sections of the country had been gained by Mr. Eddy by personal residence therein, and of all the localities with which he became familiar none compared in his estimation with California, where, in Capay, Yolo county, he made his home until his death, September 3, 1911. From Cattaraugus county, N. Y., where his birth occurred, he removed at the age of seven years to Illinois in company with his parents, George W. and Betsey Eddy, natives, respectively of New York and New Hampshire. The family settled in Lee county, ninety miles from Chicago, and the father took up government land. Afterward he gave his entire time and attention to the development of his farm, his only connection with other work being the taking of a contract to build two miles of the Illinois Central Railroad near his homestead.

As early as 1853, while Minnesota was yet a territory, Hiram S. Eddy became a pioneer of Fillmore county, near the Iowa state line. The country was new and he turned the first furrows in the soil, afterward raising a large acreage of wheat and earning needed money through the work of a thresherman. When the Civil war began his sympathies were with the union and during March of 1864 he enlisted in the regular government service as a member of a Minnesota battalion organized to defend the northwest from Indian attacks. From Rochester, the place of enrollment, he was sent to Fort Snelling, on the Mississippi river, and drilled there for thirty days. Next he was stationed at Sioux City for thirty days. A similar period was spent at Fort Rice, whence the men were ordered to the Yellowstone region in Montana and from there back to the Black Hills in South Dakota. The Missouri river was crossed at Fort Union. The most important engagement of the period occurred at Cold Springs, N. Dak., where six thousand warriors of the Sioux tribe attacked four thousand Union soldiers. The battle was fought fiercely for three hours and then the savages retreated into the mountain fastnesses, leaving five hundred dead and wounded. While only twelve Union men were killed, a large number received serious wounds.

After having piled in one immense mound the dead of the enemy, including even their ponies and their dogs, the Federal soldiers marched to the Bad Lands and engaged in scouting in that region. Later they were ordered to Fort Ridgely, Nicollet county, Minn., a short distance northwest of St. Peter, on the Minnesota river. In the spring of the following year they were returned to Sioux City. During the summer they engaged in scouting in the Red River valley and around Devil's Lake. Next they were stationed at Fort Snelling and from there went to Fort Randall, where Mr. Eddy was detailed as quartermaster in charge of all the supplies. During the winter the regiment was stationed at Sioux City and in the spring of 1866 they were ordered to Fort Snelling, where in May they received an honorable discharge. One of the most serious attacks made by the Indians during this period was the Blue Earth massacre, where many white settlers were murdered and the entire community plundered. For these depredations thirty-nine Indians afterward were hung.

Minnesota remained the home of Mr. Eddy from 1853 to 1867 and he then removed to Kansas, where he took up government land in Douglas county. For a time he was prospered in his farming ventures and he laid the foundation of a subsequent success, but ill fortune intervened and brought to naught all of his labors. The grasshoppers laid waste the fields of grain, robbed the trees of their leaves and the gardens of their vegetation, left the pastures and meadows brown and bare, and even ate the bark of the trees. Nothing was left for farmers or for their stock, so Mr. Eddy gave up his land, abandoned the stock and started to find a more desirable location. This naturally brought him to California and in 1875 he became a resident of Yolo county. For some time he engaged in the livery business at Woodland, but after the death of his wife and after he himself had accidentally suffered a severe injury resulting in a broken hip-bone, he gave up all business activities. Never active in politics, he was inclined to be independent in his opinions, although he cast his first ballot for Abraham Lincoln and inclined toward Republican principles.

While living in Minnesota occurred the marriage of Mr. Eddy to Mrs. Christina Smith, a widow, who was born in Indiana and who died in California in April, 1909. They became the parent of six children, of whom Charles died at an early age. The only daughter, Mattie J., is the wife of T. L. Dryden, and the mother of three daughters, Marie, Hazel and Babe. The eldest son, Hiram G., married Elizabeth Holmes, and both are now deceased; they were the parents of five children, Ernest, Granville (deceased), Harold, George (deceased) and Christina. The second son, Franklyn J., married Lucy Sturtevant and they are the parents of three children, Charles, Hazel and Mabel. The third son, Herbert, chose as his wife Miss Flora Gary, and their family comprises three daughters, Ida, Martha and Flora. The youngest son, Lyman A., married Miss Leona White and has two children by the union, Clyde and Velda. For some years he has owned and operated a livery barn at Capay and in this stable he keeps a full equipment of teams and buggies, besides having two automobiles for passenger traffic between Capay and Woodland.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 773 - 775.

Frank Bacon EDSON

Throughout the county of Yolo and particularly in the vicinity of Knights Landing, where he was born and reared, Mr. Edson has a large circle of acquaintances and it is said that he knows by name every voting citizen in the district which he represents on the board of county supervisors. More important even than the intimate personal acquaintance is the fact that he maintains the warm confidence of all. The qualities which he possesses are such as to win the respect of associates. Uniformly affable and courteous, he is at all time and under every circumstance gentlemanly, generous and gracious of demeanor, with a pleasant greeting for old and young, a type indeed of the native-born citizens whom the state may claim with pride.

The Edson family became established in New England during an early period of our national existence and also claims the honor of having been represented in California ever since the eventful year of 1849. Daniel W. Edson, who was born and reared in Massachusetts near the historic Plymouth Rock, followed the sea, going on several whaling voyages from New Bedford. In 1848, on the old barque Chase, he rounded Cape Horn, then proceeded up the Pacific Ocean to San Francisco and later sailed up the Sacramento river to a point near the gold mines. The next year, 1849, he turned his attention to ranching and took up a tract of land at Knights Landing, where he became prosperous and prominent. A man of superior education, he naturally became a leader in his community, while in addition he engaged extensively in buying and selling of land, which brought him gratifying gains. In young manhood he had learned the surveyor's calling and this he followed in Yolo county, where he assisted in locating section lines and dividing up the large claims.

The marriage of Daniel W. Edson united him with Miss Katherine Bacon, who was born and reared in Ireland and died at Knights Landing in 1887. After having survived her for some years he passed away in May of 1904. They were the parents of nine children: John and Lowell, both deceased; Webster, of Sacramento; Mary, of Knights Landing; Thomas, also a resident of Knights Landing; Frank B., mentioned later; James and Charles, of Knights Landing, and Edward, who died when two years old.

Frank B. Edson was born July 16, 1868, and received his education in the common schools. When eighteen years of age he left home and started out upon a whaling expedition which spent some months in the Arctic ocean. The adventures were interesting to a youth reared on land and unfamiliar with life on the ocean. More than once the crew were in the greatest peril and perhaps at no time was the danger more imminent than when the whale-boat was wrecked by a wounded whale, throwing the boat's crew into the water. Fortunately another whale-boat was able to reach them quickly and thus save them from a watery grave. During the course of the voyage seventeen whales were secured, which was considered an excellent record for the crew.

Returning to the life of a landsman Mr. Edson has since followed agricultural and business activities in Yolo county and has made his home at Knights Landing, where for a number of years he and a brother, Thomas, carried on a general mercantile store. They now own three ranches, one of eighty-seven acres near Knights Landing, one of a hundred and twenty acres near Blacks Station, and the third covers five hundred and seventy acres in Sutter county. They are engaged extensively in raising sheep, while in grain they specialize in wheat, besides raising considerable barley.

The marriage of Mr. Edson took place in his home town October 6, 1897, and united him with Miss Mary Creason, who was born and reared near Yolo, Yolo county. They are the parents of two children, Lowell and Genevieve. In religious faith Mr. Edson and his wife are members of the Catholic Church. A life-long progressive Democrat, he has been prominent in local politics. In 1906 his party named him as their candidate for county supervisor and he made the race against a prominent and popular Republican, whom he defeated by fourteen majority, notwithstanding the fact that the district is strongly Republican. At the expiration of his term in 1910 he was again nominated for the office, again running against a prominent Republican, and he was elected this time by a hundred and sixteen majority. He is now filling the office with recognized ability and unwavering devotion to the permanent welfare of the county. He has made an excellent record and showing for his constituents, which they graciously recognized at the polls.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 697 - 698.

James R. EDWARDS

Another Kentuckian who is making his mark in Yolo county, Cal., is James R. Edwards, supervising janitor of the grammar and high school at Woodland. Mr. Edwards was born in the city of Louisville, August 18, 1862, a son of H. H. and Lucretia (Corneal) Edwards. His father was born in North Carolina, and was a contractor and builder in Kentucky and Indiana. He was a soldier in the federal army in our Civil war. In 1880 he came to Colusa county, Cal., and from there he moved to Woodland two years later. Here he lived and labored at his trade and business until he died. Lucretia Corneal, who became his wife, was born in Kentucky, and is now living in Woodland. Of the seven children she bore her late husband four survive. James R., next to the youngest of them, lived and went to school in Evansville, Ind., till he was twelve years old, when he came with his parents to California, later settling in Woodland. Here he completed his studies and learned the moulder's trade, except for some supplementary experience and instruction which he received at Fresno, where he was employed in the Fresno Agricultural Works six years. Returning to Woodland he engaged in carpentering, which he followed until 1904, when he was elected by the board of education supervising janitor of the Woodland grammar and high school. So satisfactory have been his labors in this capacity that he has been continued in the office as, emphatically, the right man in the right place. In this employment he finds his knowledge of mechanics, plumbing and carpentering very valuable.

In Woodland, Mr. Edwards married Miss Mary Leonora Purcell, a native of Yolo county. Their daughter Edna is Mrs. C. T. Riner, of Woodland. Mr. Edwards is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and a member of the S. O. O. M. In his politics he is a Democrat, devoted to the principles of his party and active in its local work. His public spirit is so well developed that he is among the leaders at Woodland in all movements having for their object the public good.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 698 - 699.

Patrick Henry ELIOT

A son of the east who is making good in the very best sense of the phase in California is Patrick Henry Eliot, a native of McDonough county, Ill., born July 28, 1855, a son of Patrick Eliot, who first saw the light of day in Otsego county, N. Y., and prospered as a farmer and stockman in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Indiana, buying, improving and selling land as opportunity offered and handling horses and cattle to the best financial advantage. The state of his wife's health impelled the elder Mr. Eliot to locate in California in 1859, and he made the trip by way of the Isthmus of Panama, arriving in Sutterville, Sacramento county, October 10, that year. After farming there about three years he went to San Joaquin county and there bought a ranch, where he put in most of the remaining years of his active life. His closing years were spent in well earned retirement, and he passed away in 1891. His wife, who in the days of her maidenhood was Miss Anna Westfall, was born in Ohio and died in this state. She bore Mr. Eliot eleven children, of whom the immediate subject of this notice was the last born. He accompanied his parents and brothers and sisters to California and was educated in public schools and graduated at Clark's Institute at Stockton.

The first regular employment to which Mr. Eliot devoted himself after having finished his studies was as a farmer in San Joaquin county, though he had to an extent fitted himself for a business career by a study of bookkeeping at Heald's Business College. Later he operated in Washington, Idaho and Montana, principally in stock, with considerable success, for some years, until returning to California, he resumed farming in San Joaquin and Sacramento counties. In 1897 he located in Woodland and for four years was janitor in charge of the public school buildings. Then, for four years, he was connected with the Globe Mills. The latter business he relinquished in order to assume the management of the Woodland hotel, on Main street, of which he is yet the proprietor. The Woodland is a large, newly furnished, well appointed, first-class hotel and is accorded a patronage deservedly liberal. Mr. Eliot is popular with the traveling public and counts his friends among the leading people of all sections of the state. Politically he is a Republican. Socially he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with its auxiliary order the Rebekahs. Of the latter Mrs. Eliot is also a member. She was Miss Anna Ehler, a native of Boone county, Mo. They have three children, Orrin Charles, Florence and Leland Stanford. Mr. Eliot is a man of enterprise and of public spirit, who has prospered greatly because of his disposition to help others and advance the best interests of his city, county and state.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 752 - 753.

J. L. ELLIOTT

J. L. Elliott, manager of a lumber yard at Winters as agent of F. B. Chandler, is one of the well-known men of Winters, born May 22, 1864, in Linn County, Oregon. At the age of three years he was brought by his parents to California. His father, J. M., was born in Kentucky July 1, 1820, and came to this State in 1849; finding the cholera raging here he proceeded immediately to Oregon, where he remained until 1867; then he came to Solano County, where he was engaged in stock-raising and farming to the time of his death, October 30, 1883. Mr. Elliott's mother, whose maiden name was Celia Paul, was born in Missouri, November 9, 1826, and died in Vacaville, September 17, 1880, leaving four sons and four daughters. The subject of this notice, next to the youngest of the family, made his home at Vacaville until he completed his school days, and served four years as Wells & Fargo's express messenger, and then he located upon his present place, April 1, 1889. His wife, whose maiden name was Hattie E. Dafoe, was born December 6, 1867, in Canada, and they were married in Winters, October 2, 1889. They have one son, Charles Arno, born July 27, 1890. Mr. Elliott is a member of Vacaville Lodge, No. 83, I.O.O.F., and of Damocles Lodge, No. 33, K. of P.

Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

Benjamin ELY

one of the well-known farmers and stock-raisers of Yolo County, and a pioneer of 1850, dates his birth in Ralls County, Missouri, September 25, 1820, a son of Thomas and Margaret (Howard) Ely, the father a native of Virginia and the mother of Kentucky. The father, a farmer by occupation, removed from Virginia to Kentucky at an early age, and in 1818 removed to Missouri, becoming a pioneer also of that State, and he remained there in his humble calling until his death, which occurred in 1837, when he was forty-seven years old. The maternal grandfather of Benjamin Ely, namely James Howard, served through the entire war of the Revolution and received a pension for the same. Mr. Ely's mother died at her daughter's (Mrs. Griffin) residence in Yolo County, in 1877, at the age of eighty-four years.

After the death of his father, the subject of this biographical notice, took charge of the home place until he was married, April 15, 1850, when he started for the Golden West, with ox teams, and he arrived at Placerville as the sun was sinking behind the golden hills on August 26. After mining two weeks on the American River, he suffered a siege of sickness, and on recovering he went to Sacramento and contracted to cut a certain amount of wood for $9 a cord, but was balked in the enterprise, and thus suffered a fatal blow to his brightest prospect. In 1851 he returned to Missouri by way of the Isthmus, being forty-five days on the way. He settled down there at farming, with the expectation of remaining there the rest of his life; but ere long he saw that California was the center of business and excitement, which made him restless, and he sold out and in 1857 he came again to the land of golden opportunities, bringing with him a drove of cattle. This time he had serious trouble with the Indians. Twice he had a hard-fought battle with the red savages, and he was wounded in his hand, the scar still remaining. He settled near where Winters is now located, and where he has ever since remained, making one of the best improved farms in the county. He has suffered losses and drawbacks, however, but his enterprising spirit has carried him through. He now has 1,600 acres of choice agricultural land, in a state of fine cultivation. His large and handsome residence was erected in 1869. The place is situated fifteen miles southwest from Woodland and six miles from Winters. The latter is a thrifty town, the second in size in the county. Mr. Ely also has eighty acres of foot hill land, planted in choice fruit trees and vines. His place is property known as Buckeye, there being at one time a thriving town on a portion of this ranch by that name; but the starting of Winters by the railroad drew Buckeye to that place, and its original site has relapsed into a portion of Mr. Ely's wheat-field. Mr. Ely has a finely furnished home. The interior is splendidly decorated, in great part by the artistic hand of one of his own daughters, who is an excellent painter.

The marriage of Mr. Ely to Miss Elizabeth Daniels, a native of Kentucky, took place in 1840. They have had ten children, viz.: John H.; Margaret J., now the wife of M. O. Harlan; Sallie, wife of James McClure; Benjamin; James D.; Nancy S., now Mrs. Leslie Button; Mary B., now Mrs. Lucius Spergin; Robert Lee; Dixie, the wife of James G. Crucher; and George E.

Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

I. J. ELY (#1)

I.J. ELY, a farmer at Cacheville, Yolo County, is a son of Warren E. and Emily (Uthsbock) Ely. His father was born in Kentucky in 1811 and settled in Ralls County, Missouri, in early day, and continued there in his occupation of farming until his death; he was a Freemason of high standing. The mother, born also in Kentucky, in 1818, died in Ralls County, leaving five children, all sons. The subject of this sketch, the eldest of these sons, was born in that county, March 6, 1856, and received his school education there. In 1857 he came overland with ox teams to California, being about six months on the road and suffering much privation. He earned his way by driving cattle the first three months and acting as cook the remainder of the time. At Genoa, Nevada County, he left the train and walked to Placerville, better known in those days as Hangtown; but three days afterward he went to Folsom and mined in Placer County, near by, for three months. Soon afterward he located at Cacheville, Yolo County, where he has since remained. His first work in that county was baling hay, which he followed five years, and he then, in 1864, purchased his present ranch of 800 acres of well improved land. He has also 330 acres in Sutter County, which is rented; a part is in clover and a part in pasture.

In 1866, in Yolo County, he married Miss Mary Strode, who was born in 1842 in Missouri, and died in May, 1886, leaving the following five children: Emily J., Belle, deceased, Nora, Ervin, deceased, Cheston, deceased, Frank E., Rodney E. and Leslie S.

Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

Isaac J. ELY (#2)

From an early period in the colonization of the new world the Ely family was identified with its agricultural development and several successive generations lived in the south, the earliest representative coming from England and settling in Virginia. Several members of the Ely family fought in the Revolutionary war. During the year 1819 Isaac Ely, a Kentuckian by birth and education, located on land in Missouri, and in 1823, brought his wife and children to the newer regions of that state, taking up a claim in Ralls county in the midst of a region so desolate that no settlers other than Indians had invaded the lonely precincts. Out of the wilderness he carved a home for his family, one of whom, Aaron F., born in Kentucky and reared in Missouri, married Miss Emily Utterbach, a native of Clay county, Mo.; who was the daughter of George Utterbach, who served as aide to General Washington in the Revolutionary war, afterward moving to Kentucky, where he married Catherine Spence. They began housekeeping upon a tract of raw land in Ralls county and labored with devoted diligence to develop a productive farm out of the virgin soil. In 1844, ere he had realized his dreams of a highly improved farm and the acquisition of a competency, the father was stricken by the hand of death. Upon the widow devolved the task of rearing their children and making a home for the little family. This duty she performed nobly and affectionately and until her death in 1879, she gave her thoughts and work wholly to the welfare of her children. Her eldest son was Isaac J., born in Ralls county, Mo., March 6, 1836. The second, Hankerson, died in Ralls county, Mo., in 1909, when almost sixty years of age. The third, Aaron F., Jr., died in Woodland, Cal., in 1901, leaving wife and children to mourn his demise. The youngest member of the family circle, Martin, is a resident of his native county in Missouri and engages in agricultural pursuits.

To aid in an intelligent grasp of business matters Isaac J. Ely was given an excellent common school education, which he has enlarged by habits of observation and thoughtful reading. October 19, 1857, was his first day in his present locality and the date of his arrival in Sacramento at the expiration of a journey lasting only one day less than six months. The trip across the plains had been made with a large train of ox-teams, horses and cattle, and proved very tedious but not especially dangerous. Each day of the six months the young emigrant wrote in his diary an account of special happenings, all interesting and some amusing. The record was kept with painstaking care and was highly prized by him as a detailed description of an important series of events. When the journal was accidentally lost its author experienced a feeling of the deepest regret.

After having gained some experience in mining for gold at Folsom and meanwhile having met with a little success, in February of 1858 Mr. Ely came to Yolo county and took up land which he still owns and occupies. Later he bought a quit-claim deed to one hundred and sixty acres near his homestead. In 1864 he purchased another quarter section and removed to the new tract, where for a time he kept "bachelor's hall." At Woodland, August 19, 1866, he was united in marriage with Mrs. Jane (Strode) Watson, who was born in Ralls county, Mo., and came to California in 1852, settling at Sacramento. After his marriage Mr. Ely returned to the farm that he had purchased immediately after his removal to this county and here he took up general farm pursuits. In the course of time he erected a neat, substantial and commodious residence, adequate outbuildings, etc., and transformed the property into a highly improved estate, well adapted to profitable farming in grain and hay and also adapted especially to the raising of stock, high-grade cattle, horses and hogs being a specialty of the owner. Conservative in business dealings, wise in agricultural enterprises, judicious in the selection of stock and energetic in the dispatch of farm work, he furnishes an ideal type of the old settler who yet is in active touch with present-day affairs. In addition to eight hundred acres which he has in Yolo county, he owns valuable timber lands and stock range in Sutter county, where in 1878 he bought two tracts, one embracing one hundred and forty-seven and one-half acres and the other containing a quarter section. Some of this land is devoted to raising alfalfa and beans.

A happy married life of twenty years was ended with the death of Mrs. Ely in 1886. Four children survive her. The two eldest sons, Frank E. and Rodney M., reside upon and cultivate the large home ranch. The first-named married Miss Annie Broughton and they have three sons, Isaac J. Jr., Robert D. and John F. Rodney M. married Miss Eliza Jacobs, and they have one daughter, Fern. Leslie S., the third son in the family circle, has a son, Leslie S. Jr., and resides in Sacramento. The only daughter, Emily, Mrs. George N. Jacobs, of Woodland, has two children, Isaac Wayne and Virginia. As early as 1865 Mr. Ely was made a Mason in Grafton Lodge No. 141, F. & A. M., and later he became connected with Woodland Chapter No. 46, R. A. M. and Woodland Commandery No. 21, K. T. The principles of the order have a firm adherent in him and he has been stanch in his long allegiance to the lofty creed adopted by the organization. His interest in the blue lodge has been particularly keen and his service in various positions, including that of worshipful master, has been intelligent and capable. His sons, Frank E. and Rodney M., are also disciples of Masonry and share the father's devoted faith in the principles of the order.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 400 - 404.

Edmond J. ENGLEHART

an agriculturist between Winters and Davisville, Yolo County, was born October 20, 1841, in Guernsey County, Ohio, a son of Samuel and Mary Englehart, natives of Pennsylvania, who moved from that State to Ohio, afterward to Missouri, and in 1856 overland to California. His father died at the Big Meadows, on Humboldt Creek, leaving a family of six sons and three daughters; and his mother died at Healdsburg in 1883. In the family were nine children, named James, William, John, Joseph, Samuel, Eliza, Jane, Cassander and Edmond J., -- all of whom are now residing in California. The first year in this State the subject of this sketch resided just above Sacramento; next he worked at intervals on a farm in Sonoma County until 1863; in 1864-'66 he followed teaming through the mountains, returned to farm work until 1869; then rented land of John Wolfskill until 1879, when he purchased 371 acres of J. T. Cary, and to-day he has one of the best farms in Yolo County; it is situated on Putah Creek, between Winters and Davisville, as before stated. The place is well improved, and is indeed a beautiful one. Mr. Englehart is a member of the order of Freemasons, Knights Templar and Odd Fellows, holding his membership in the blue lodge, No. 195, Dixon Chapter, No. 48, and Woodland Commandery, No. 21.

He was married in Woodland, October 18, 1871, to Emma Edwards, who was born in Scott County, Illinois, January 8, 1849, a daughter of Lorenzo and Sarah (Brown) Edwards, her father a native of Massachusetts and her mother of Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Englehart have two children: Cleve E., born September 22, 1873; and Vivian L., born April 27, 1885.

Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

Edward J. EVANS

Long identification with Yolo county and close observation of material conditions enabled Mr. Evans to exercise sound judgment when in the autumn of 1908 he invested in the property he now owns in the neighborhood of Yolo. While the farm is quite small, containing only twenty acres, it has been made to produce a large annual income through an abundance of water for irrigation. The pumping plant comprises two wells equipped with a gasoline engine of thirty-five horsepower and enables the owner to raise large crops of alfalfa, the average annual yield being eight tons to the acre. Ample facilities for the storage of the hay are afforded by the barns, which also afford shelter for the stock kept on the place. A specialty is made of the dairy business and of the raising of Berkshire hogs of excellent quality. In both of these departments of stock-raising and agriculture the owner has gained a local reputation for care, skill and sagacious judgment.

It was during the year 1876 that Mr. Evans came to the west from Ohio and settled in Yolo county, where ever since he has made his home. He was born in Portage county, Ohio, March 17, 1852, the son of Evan and Ann (Morris) Evans, natives of Wales, whose family comprised five children, namely: Mary, Jennie, David, Edward J. and Robert. The years of his boyhood were uneventfully passed in study at the country schools and in work on the home farm, and the lessons of patient industry he learned while tilling the soil were no less valuable than the knowledge acquired from text-books. Much he learned also of trees and birds and plants and soil as he worked in the open and studies nature with a boy's eager thirst for information. December 14, 1873, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Ann Thomas, who was born and reared in Portage county. The Thomas family is of Welsh origin and one of its first representatives in America was William S. Thomas, who in early life migrated from his native Wales to Ohio, where he married Miss Mary Phillips, who was born in the same locality as himself. They settled upon a farm in Ohio, reared their children at the old homestead and remained there until death ended their activities.

For about two seasons after his marriage Mr. Evans lived upon a farm in Ohio, but in 1876 he brought his family to California and settled in Yolo county. During the first four years here he worked on a ranch near Dunnigan and later he purchased one hundred and sixty acres west of the railroad, where he cleared the land, brought the soil under profitable cultivation and engaged in raising grain and stock. Ten busy years were spent on that farm and he then sold, after which he operated leased land for some time, again becoming a property owner in 1908, when he bought a small farm near Yolo. The place contained fair improvements, including a house and barn, and he since has built another barn, thus giving him all needed facilities for the storage of hay and shelter of stock.

The family of Mr. and Mrs. Evans comprises three sons and two daughters. The eldest son, William S., a rancher of Yolo county, is married and has four sons, Myron, Milton, Edward and Robert. The eldest daughter and second child, Harriett C., is the wife of William S. Stetson, a farmer near College City. Mary married Herbert Howlett and has three children, Alberta, Evan and Mary Elizabeth. Edward M., a business man of Sacramento, has three children, Edward, Howard and Marcele. Seth Evert studied civil engineering in the California State University at Berkeley, where he was a member of the class of 1911. Always steadfast in his refusal to hold office, Mr. Evans nevertheless maintains a warm interest in public affairs and is well informed concerning governmental problems. At the national elections he votes for Republican nominees, but in local issues he is independent. For many years he and his wife have been earnest church workers. While living near Dunnigan he acted as superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Sunday-school in that village and after moving near Yolo he served for several years in a similar capacity with the school at this point. In addition he has officiated as steward and trustee and has been generous in his contribution toward the maintenance of the church, as well as toward its missionary enterprises.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 662 - 664.

J. B. EVERETT

J.B. EVERETT, a farmer of Capay Valley, Yolo County, is the son of P.G. and Sarah (Disbrfow) Everett. His father, a native of Pennsylvania, and his mother, of New York State, came to California in 1864, settling at Lincoln, Placer County, and one year afterward located on Cache Creek, Yolo County, and finally moved into the Capay Valley, in 1866, where they both died,-the latter in 1882, and the former in 1887, at the home of their son, the subject of this sketch.

Mr. Everett was born in 1857, in Hancock County, Illinois, and came with his parents to California. He now has 1,200 acres of grain and fruit land, on which he raises principally grain and live-stock. He is a member of Capay Lodge, No. 230, I.O.O.F.

He was married in 1879 to Eliza Hughes, a native of Alabama, and their children are: Ivy E., Mary E., Mable F. and Florence. A fifth child, Irene, is deceased.

Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, Lewis Publishing Co. , 1891
Transcribed by: Betty Wilson, August 2004 ©

Fred C. EWERT

For more than a quarter of a century, the associations of Mr. Ewert have been with the progressive business interests of Woodland, where he has risen to an influential position solely through his unaided exertions. Upon coming to California he was greatly handicapped by a lack of knowledge of the English language, a lack of money with which to meet the necessary expenses of existence in a strange country, and a lack of friends to help him in the first heavy struggles toward independence. Notwithstanding the obstacles and privations of those years he won his way to a post of honor in commercial circles. The greatest aid in those years, as now, was his accurate knowledge of the trade of a watchmaker. Following the excellent German custom, he had been apprenticed to a trade at the age of fourteen years. By a seeming chance the trade selected had been that of jeweler and watchmaker, for which he was well qualified by natural gifts, and in which he soon acquired an unusual proficiency. The knowledge of the trade became a foundation of later success and rendered possible the accumulation of a competency.

The first sixteen years in the life of Mr. Ewert were passed in Germany, where the family home was located in Pomerania. He was born there March 23, 1865, received a fair education in its schools, and served his apprenticeship in Loitz, a thriving village not a great distance from the rockbound coast of the Baltic sea. Accompanying two brothers he crossed the ocean to America in 1881, and of the 1st of November arrived in San Francisco, where he first secured employment. His unfamiliarity with the English language prevented him from securing work at his trade, and he engaged in other lines of labor until he was able to fill a position as a watchmaker and jeweler. From San Francisco he had removed to Sacramento, and in 1885 he came to Woodland, where he has since made his home. In 1887 he started in the jewelry business here, and by the excellence of his workmanship he won a position of respect and confidence among the people. A general jewelry business was conducted in his store, on the corner of First and Main streets, until August, 1912, when he established himself in his own building, No. 532 Main street, where the appointments and fixtures are as modern and up-to-date as any in the state. By his business integrity and the exercise of high principles he has gained a place among the most honored citizens of his home town, while he further enjoys a reputation for skill and accuracy in all details connected with the occupation selected for his life work.

Since coming to the United States and making a study of our national problems Mr. Ewert has familiarized himself with every phase of citizenship and has proved loyal to his adopted country, while naturally he cherishes an especial interest in the progress of his own town and chosen place of residence. After coming to this city he was made a Mason in Woodland Lodge No. 156, F. & A. M., and since becoming one of its members he has been generous in support of its philanthropies and consistent in his exemplification of its high principles. In addition he has been associated actively with the Foresters. At the time of his arrival in Woodland he was only twenty years of age, and it was not until sometime afterward that he established a home of his own, his marriage uniting him with Miss Lena Germeshausen, daughter of Joseph Germeshausen and a member of a prominent family of the community. They are the parents of two children, a daughter, Lela, and a son who bears his father's name.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 650 - 651.