Butte County
Biographies
CLARENCE HUMPHREY
CLARENCE HUMPHREY.—A genial old-timer,
who progressed through many strenuous years, as both farmer and stockman, and
who was then fortunate in selling his well-developed ranch for dredging purposes,
thereby securing a handsome competency, is Clarence Humphrey, who has resided
in Butte County
since 1877. He was born at Roseville,
Muskingum County, Ohio, ten miles
west of Zanesville, on February 3, 1848, the son Henry
Humphrey, a native of London, England,
where he was born in 1800. Henry
Humphrey married Mary Severence, also a Londoner, who was born in 1803, and they came to Putnam,
Ohio, later removing to near Roseville. There he had a farm; and there, in 1875, he
died. Mrs. Humphrey died in 1883, the
mother of seven children, among whom Clarence was the youngest. Another son, William H., came to California
in March, 1853, by way of Panama,
and mined for a while. He served his
country as a soldier in Company A, First California
Cavalry, and resided with the subject of this sketch until, in January, 1916,
he died.
Brought up on a
farm in Ohio, Clarence attended the excellent public
school in his neighborhood, and in 1869 moved westward to Illinois,
settling for a while near Bloomington, in McLean
County. In 1875, he moved still farther toward the
Pacific, stopping only when he reached Colorado,
and Deer Creek, on Fairplay road. Two years later found him actually on the
shores of the western ocean, and in Butte
County he found profitable
employment in teaming, while he made his headquarters at Oroville. In 1881, he brought sheep from Woods and
Gould, and drove them to Bitterroot Valley, Mont.,
where he sold them. In 1882 he bought
some cattle and for six or seven years had his ranges at Enterprise
and Cascades. His brand was a quarter circle with the latter R.
Mr. Humphrey then
returned to Oroville and for four years acted as time-keeper for McLaughlin,
who was fluming the river. After that he
bought a ranch of two hundred forty acres on the Wyman Ravine, three miles out
of town, and engaged in farming and stock-raising. So well did he succeed that he ran the ranch
for fifteen years, when he sold out to L. Gardella,
who desired to use the land for dredging.
He retired and built his home at 901 Spencer
Avenue, where he enjoys the quiet and comforts of
home life.
At Wyandotte,
Mr. Humphrey married Sophronia Bills, a native of
that town and the daughter of R. N. Bills, a well-known pioneer of the county;
and by her he had two children: Floyd, the teller at the Rideout-Smith
Bank at Oroville; and Charles, who is a graduate of the high school, now
serving in the United States
naval Reserve.
Mr. Humphrey is a
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which he joined at Roseville
in 1873, although he is at present a member of the Oroville Lodge. In politics,
he is an Independent Democrat.
Transcribed 5-13-08
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 953-954, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
©
2008 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
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