Butte County
Biographies
JOHN CROUCH
JOHN CROUCH.--That
adverse conditions build up the strong, found convincing illustration in
the life of John Crouch, whose dauntless spirit surmounted many obstacles, and
drew helpful lessons from disheartening circumstances. His reputation as one of
the most substantial citizens of
John
Crouch was a son of W. D. and Harriet Ann (Deford)
Crouch, who were married in
John
Crouch was a self-made man, what education he secured was in the school of
experience, as he had no book-learning and could neither read nor write, yet he
was one of the shrewdest men in business matters that
it was one's privilege to meet. In 1850 he came across the plains with ox teams in company with his father and
brother, William. He mined at Placerville, then called Hangtown,
until 1857, when he went back to Illinois and bought up a band of horses which
he drove across the plains to California and settled down to ranching in Colusa,
now Glenn County, south of Butte City, on what became known as the McDaniel
Ranch. Here he raised hogs and grain and founded his fortune. He eventually
sold out and moved to a ranch near
He was a stanch Republican and a member of Chico Lodge, No. 113, I. O. O. F. He was a liberal and enterprising man, always ready to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate than himself and when he died the whole county mourned the loss of one of her best citizens.
Transcribed by Sande Beach.
Source: "History of Butte
County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 482-485,
Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2007 Sande Beach.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies