Butte County
Biographies
WILLIAM W. WILLIAMS
One
who can truly be called an “old timer” as well as a native son, William W.
Williams, of Chico, traces his
ancestry back to a patriot who served in the Revolutionary War. This patriot had a son named David who was born
in North Carolina and who was the
grandfather of our subject; he served as fife major in the War of 1812. With his wife, Tryphena
Shirley, in 1817, he removed to Tennessee, where he
remained until 1848, then they migrated to Missouri and
there he remained with his family and farmed until 1854, when he crossed the
plains to California and spent
his last days in the land of sunshine and flowers. In his family there was a son, James Madison
Williams, a native of Tennessee,
born June 3, 1818. He married Lucinda
Hudspeth, in Missouri, May 10, 1841; she was born in Missouri
on February 19, 1825. With his wife and
family and other relatives, James Madison came to California
in 1856, and made a settlement in Stockton. Near there he farmed and mined, owning a
large interest in the Copperopolis Mine.
Some years later he removed to Upper Lake,
in Lake County,
and for three years he followed stock-raising at the head of Clear
Lake. In 1867, Mr. Williams and his family moved to
Butte County
and, finding a favorable location on Butte Creek, he bought a ranch and
continued the stock business. He became
a large landowner and a prosperous and prominent rancher of that section. His next move was to a stock ranch on Little
Dry Creek. Mr. and Mrs. Williams became
the parents of three sons and four daughters, of whom two of the former,
William W. and J. T., and one of the latter, Mrs. Eliza Parks, are living. Their mother died in 1862. The second marriage of James M. Williams
united him with Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, who died at Red Bluff, in 1917, leaving
three sons and one daughter.
William
W. Williams was born on the ranch near Stockton, on the
road to Sonora, May 5, 1855. When he was nine years old he was taken to Lake
County by his parents, and four years later accompanied
them to Butte County. At that time there were no railroads in the
county. He lived on Dry Creek and went
to school to John C. Gray, who later became judge of the superior court of
Butte County, and who was always one of the best friends Mr. Williams had in
the county. At the age of nineteen Mr.
Williams started out for himself and followed stock-raising. He established the W brand at that time and
has kept it ever since and it is well known among the stockmen of Northern
California.
On
January 31, 1877, in Oroville, W. W. Williams was united in marriage with Miss Sena Brown, born in Charleston,
Iowa, the daughter of Isaac N. and Amanda (Ohaver) Brown. Isaac
N. Brown was born in Indiana on April 6, 1833, a son of William Brown, born in
the same state on May 28, 1802, who was a farmer and shoemaker and was married
to Sena Brown.
The progenitor of the Brown family in America
was William Brown who came from Ireland
and settled in Pennsylvania in
1770. He served in the Revolutionary War
and later he removed to Indiana,
where he farmed till his death. His wife
was Jamima Riggs. Isaac N. Brown located in Nebraska
and at Lowell was engaged in the hotel business, still
later he removed to Omaha, and in 1876 brought his family
to California. He lived in this state for a time and then
moved to Grangeville, Idaho
and farmed there till his death, at the age of sixty-tree years. The mother of Mrs. Williams was a native of Ohio,
born on January 19, 1835, and now, at the age of eighty-four years, she is in
good health and lives at Venice, Cal. She had five children, of whom Mrs. Williams
is the eldest; the next in order of birth is Horace E., of Washington; then
Mary, Mrs. Brand, of Venice; next is Rose, Mrs. Hansard, of Ocean Park;
and Alla, Mrs. Vincent, now residing at Santa
Monica.
Soon
after his marriage, Mr. Williams bought one hundred sixty acres of land in the Stoneman district and engaged in raising grain and
stock. He made two different trips into Idaho,
spending three years in all, but kept his land and stock in Butte
County. While he was gone his taxes became delinquent
and his good friend and adviser, Judge Gray, paid them. From time to time he added to his holdings
and now has eighteen hundred thirty acres on Little Dry Creek, about fifteen
miles east of Chico. This ranch is fenced and cross-fenced and is
fully improved. Here he has some three
hundred Shorthorn-Hereford cattle.
Since
1902, Mr. Williams has made his home in Chico, where he
owns a comfortable residence on Park Avenue. He still keeps up his interest in the stock
business and rides the range frequently in looking after his herd of
cattle. Three children have been born to
Mr. and Mrs. Williams: James Andrew, a banker at Durham; Alla Amanda, Mrs. Curry, of Salt Lake
City; and Claude M., assisting his father on the
ranch, and also acting as a deputy assessor of the county. Mr. Williams is a member of the Fraternal
Brotherhood and the Loyal Order of Moose.
In politics he is a Democrat.
Transcribed
by Priscilla Delventhal.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 561-562, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2007 Priscilla
Delventhal.
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