Butte County

Biographies


 

 

WILLIAM   JAMES

 

 

     WILLIAM JAMES.--An old settler long active in the great work of upbuilding California, and concerning whom it is a pleasure to know that, having made wise investments, he became prosperous and prominent, is William James, who was born near Neath, Glamorganshire, Wales, January 1, 1833.  His father was also named William James and was a farmer, from which circumstance the son was reared on a farm in Wales and educated in the public schools of the neighborhood.

     When nineteen years of age, however, William James, Jr., bade good-bye to his native mountains and valleys, and came to the United States and California.  Traveling by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and landing in San Francisco, he proceeded by boat to Marysville, and thence by stage to Bidwell’s Bar, Butte County, arriving in 1852.  Here he followed mining along the Feather River, above Ophir (now Oroville), and met with success.  Next he came to Cherokee, where he was one of the owners and the superintendent of the Welsh company that operated the first hydraulic mine at Cherokee.  When they sold out to the Spring Valley Mining Company, Mr. James retained stock in the new company, but gave his attention to stock-raising, in which he had become considerably interested by his purchase of a ranch near Cherokee, where he made his residence and from which point he transacted his varied interests.  Having an abiding optimism and faith in the value and possibilities of land, with his brother-in-law, Jenkin Morgan, he purchased land at Nelson and devoted it to grain-raising.  They added to the place until they owned sixteen hundred acres, which is still in the possession of the family.  Mr. James also owned, in partnership with others, a ranch of five thousand acres at Gridley, which they operated until they sold out.

     Mr. James made his residence at Cherokee, and was so esteemed as both a public-spirited man and a man of large affairs, that he was twice elected supervisor from his district (the fifth) and served eight years.  During the first term he served as chairman of the board. He also served for many years as a school trustee, and on the formation of the Oroville Union High School district, he was a member of its first board, representing the Cherokee section.  He was a stanch Republican in national politics and a pillar of the Congregational Church; he was made a Mason in Table Mountain Lodge, No. 103, F. & A. M., in which he was a Past Master; he belonged to Franklin Chapter, No. 20, R. A. M., at Oroville; and to the Oroville Commandery, No. 5, K. T., of which he was Past Commander.  His death occurred at Cherokee, on August 3, 1903and he was buried with Masonic honors.

     On January 22, 1858, Mr. James was married to Miss Mary Morgan, also a native of Wales, in which rugged country she was born near Neath, the daughter of Evan Morgan, a farmer there.  Her brother, Thomas Morgan, had come to the United States and in 1852 had crossed the wide plains with ox teams to California.  Once landed near the goal of his ambition, he tried his luck at mining in Butte County.  He went back to Wales and was married, and returned California with his bride, bringing with him his sister Mary.  In the spring of 1855, Mary Morgan visited New York and from that port sailed for San Francisco via Panama, and coming to Cherokee she renewed the acquaintance of William James, whom she married three years later.  Later her brother, Thomas Morgan, returned to Wales and there he died.  Another brother, Jenkin Morgan, came to California as one of the earliest gold-seekers, and died in San Francisco.  William James, in 1873, made his first trip back to his old home in Wales, visited his mother, who was still alive, and also visited the old familiar scenes in his native heath.

     After the death of Mr. James, his widow continued to reside at Cherokee until 1911, when she removed to Oroville, and here she is still living, with her loving and devoted daughter, Mrs. May L. Thomas.  She leases out the ranch in the Nelson district, and it is devoted to raising grain.  A member of the Congregational Church and of the Eastern Star, Mrs. James enjoys a quiet life and finds much pleasure in her two children: Thomas Morgan James, who is a graduate of Hopkins Academy in Oakland and a business college in San Francisco, is now a stockman at Cherokee and Nelson; May L., Mrs. Thomas, is a graduate from Mills College and lives with her mother. Mrs. James is a woman of culture and refinement, gifted with an amiable disposition and a winsome personality, as well as endowed with much native business ability.  She takes a deep interest in the live issues of the day and is well informed, thus spending the evening of her life in contentment, for through her children’s assistance in the management of her affairs she is relieved from all unnecessary care and worry.

 

 

 

Transcribed by Roseann Kerby.

Source: "History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1091-1092, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.


© 2009 Roseann Kerby.

 

 

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