Butte County
Biographies
MRS. MARY M. POLLOCK
MRS. MARY M. POLLOCK.--Among those who have given an impetus to Honcut by choosing it as a place of residence, Mrs. Mary M. Pollock deserves special mention. A woman of resolute will and excellent judgment, her high ideals have had a most beneficent effect on those with whom she is associated in Honcut, where she has resided since 1906. She is a native of Ohio and was born in Lake County, twenty miles from Cleveland. As a child she came with her parents to Iowa, where she grew to maturity and was married to her first husband. Gary Thompson, who died in 1878, from the effect of a sunstroke. She came to California in 1886, a widow and childless, settling at Bangor, Butte County. She married her second husband, John Pollock, January 1, 1888. Mr. Pollock was born in Richland County, Ohio, January 13, 1830, and was married in that state in 1851 to Miss Jane Van Dorn. In 1856 Mr. Pollock crossed the plains with his wife, settled in Yuba County, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising. His thrift and energetic business methods proved successful and he came up to Orchard House, Butte County, and purchased a farm. His wife died in 1886, and in 1888, he married Mrs. Thompson. He was the owner of six hundred forty years acres of land where the Watt Colony is now situated. Mr. Pollock’s health began to fail in 1892, and he died February 28, 1906. He was the father of two children by his second marriage: Gertrude, who died at seven years of age; and Laura, the wife of Harland Martin, mail-carrier from Oroville to Merrimac; they reside in Oroville and are the parents of two children, Eleanor and Rachel.
Mrs. Pollock continued ranching after her husband’s death until the fall of 1906, when she removed to Honcut where she owns a modest home in which she resides part of the time. Owning to Mr. Pollock’s long illness, his estate was in poor condition at the time of his death. His widow’s good sense and business judgment were of advantage to her in settling the estate. She nobly made the best of everything, bringing up her one living child and incidentally taking up a one-hundred-sixty-acre homestead on Berry Creek. She has, all the way through her career of many hardships, retained an exalted Christian faith, and has overcome many adversities which would have overwhelmed a less resolute spirit. She belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church at Honcut and takes an active interest in religious matters; has served on the Board of Stewards of the church for the past ten years.
Transcribed
by Joyce Rugeroni.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1224-1225, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2009 Joyce Rugeroni.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County
Biographies