Butte County
Biographies
WILLIAM HARDY & MARGARET THOMASSON
WILLIAM HARDY AND MARGARET THOMASSON.--The
pioneer whose name begins this narrative was born in Tennessee,
and was a son of William and Nancy (Woods) Thomasson. His boyhood was spent much the same as that
of other lads of his age and location; schools were few so he had but a limited
education. When he was a young man he
went to Illinois, and at Scales Mound, in 1850, he was
married to Miss Margaret Bruce, who was born in the Rhine country, in Germany,
November 22, 1837. Her father was
William Bruce, a native of France, who
fought under Napoleon at Waterloo, and her mother was
Margaret Kline, who was born in the same province, in what was then a part of France. They had nine children, all born in Germany,
Mrs. Thomasson being next to the youngest. When she was eleven years old her parents
migrated to the United States, and for
three years they lived in Kentucky. From Kentucky they
moved to Scales Mound, Ill.,
where her father engaged in lead mining.
In
the fall of 1853, Mr. and Mrs. Thomasson, with their
infant son, Michael, and her brother, John Bruce, and his family, began the
long journey across the plains behind slow-moving ox teams. After a journey of six months they arrived in
California and first settled at Tom Neill’s Diggings,
near what is now Lovelock, Butte County. Mr. Thomasson mined
for three years and his wife kept boarders.
In 1856, they moved to what is now the site of the city of Chico
and engaged in farming on Big Chico Creek.
The town began to build up in 1857 and 1858, the first structures being
General Bidwell’s store and mill, which Mrs. Thomasson
remembered very well. Digger Indians
were numerous and were great beggars, always wanting
something to eat. They were usually
friendly and she had no trouble with them.
She watched the growth of Chico with interest and
always felt that she was an integral part of Butte
County’s growth.
Mr.
Thomasson died in 1867, leaving his widow with seven
children, three of whom died of diphtheria in one day. Those living are: Michael, a stockman in Oregon; George W., who
is mentioned on another page in this history;
Annie M., the wife of J. M. Chubbuck, or Oroville; and Mary H., who is
Mrs. Shearer, of San Francisco, the mother of one son, Emerson Pratt
Shearer. These children were reared to
be useful men and women, by their devoted mother. Mrs. Thomasson
lived to a ripe old age and was respected by all who knew her for her many acts
of kindness to those less fortunate than herself. She saw Butte
County grow to become one of the
best and richest counties of the state and always liked to recount the tales of
pioneer days. She passed away at her
home on March 27, 1918.
Transcribed
by Priscilla Delventhal.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, 558-561, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2007 Priscilla
Delventhal.
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