Amador
County
Biographies
JESSE FOOT GREGORY
Jesse
F. Gregory is a representative of one of Ione’s oldest families as is indicated
by the fact that the old home in which he still resides was bought by his
father in 1854, and therefore has been in the possession of the family for
seventy-six years. Jesse F. Gregory was
born in Ione, January 17, 1863, and is a son of Engleford Burrel and Martha
(McMurry) Gregory. The father crossed
the plains in 1853 and settled at once in Ione, where he followed the carpenter
trade. He was among the first builders
in Amador county and erected many of the homes of the
pioneers of Ione and vicinity. He also
built the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1862.
In 1854 he bought two acres of ground on Church Street, Ione, and there
established the family home. The mother
crossed the plains with her husband in a train of thirty-nine wagons. Her death occurred in 1917. Mr. and Mrs. Gregory had six sons and four
daughters, of whom three sons and two daughters are still living.
Jesse
F. Gregory received his education in the public schools of this locality, after
which he learned blacksmithing, which he followed from 1883 until 1893, when he
went to Nevada, where he remained a year.
From 1894 until 1897 he was employed in the mines at Sutter Creek, doing
timbering. He was in Seattle,
Washington, in 1898 when the gold rush to Alaska got underway. He joined the stampede to that territory,
where he remained until 1906, when he returned to the states. He went first to Oakland thence to Fresno county; where he was employed at sawmill work for four
years. The year 1915 he spent at the San
Francisco fair and in Mexico. In the
fall he came back to Amador county and spent some time
in prospecting. In 1917 Mr. Gregory
built a new residence on the old home place, which he had previously bought,
and engaged in contracting and building, which he has followed to the present
time, though he is now practically retired from active business and is in very
comfortable circumstances.
Mr.
Gregory was united in marriage to Miss May E. Reese, who is a native of
Sacramento county.
He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Fraternal
Order of Eagles, gives him political support to the Democratic Party and has
shown an active interest in matters affecting the general welfare. He has long been interested in collecting
relics of early days, and has some very old guns and other mementos of pioneer
times, while he has also made some donations to the collection at Sutter’s
Fort. He is a strong booster for his
home community and lends his efforts to the advancement of Ione and Amador county.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3, Pages 261-262. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Amador County Biographies