Butte County
Biographies
DANIEL WILLIAMS
DANIEL WILLIAMS.--A resident of California since1857, Daniel Williams was born at Neath, Glamorganshire, Wales, January 9, 1854, the son of Daniel and Margaret (Cook) Williams, also born in Wales. The father was a miner in Wales. Reports of gold discovery in California and the fortunes to be made there interested Daniel Williams, Sr., to such an extent that he determined to go to the gold fields and make a fortune in two years at the longest, and then return to Wales to live of ease and comfort. The result was that Daniel Williams migrated with his wife and four children, coming via the Isthmus of Panama and landing from the Golden Gate at San Francisco, in 1857. The steamer was burned on her next trip. Soon after his arrival Mr. Williams located in Cherokee, where he engaged in mining with reasonable success. He was pleased with he country and grew to like it very much, even though he did not make a big fortune. However, he started in stock-raising by purchasing a few cattle and ranging them near Cherokee. He also continued mining until he retired, but made his money from stock-raising. He died in 1893, his wife surviving him twenty years and dying in Oroville, in 1913. Six children were born to this worthy couple, the subject of this review being the third oldest.
Coming with his parents to the Golden State in 1857, Daniel Jr., was reared in Cherokee, receiving his education in the local schools. When a lad of ten years he herded cattle and tended team for Bill Jones of Cherokee, who appreciated Daniel’s care of his stock and gave him a heifer calf, and from this beginning Daniel Williams’ herd grew, and he has been engaged in cattle-raising ever since, his brand being D W on the right hip. His ranch is located half a mile south of Cherokee, which is his winter range, his summer range being in the Forest Reserve.
Mr. Williams is interested in having good schools and has served as a trustee of Cherokee school district. He is also greatly interested in the early history of Butte County and believes the pioneers who braved the dangers of early days cannot receive too much credit for the part they took in making California the grand and beautiful country it is today.
Transcribed
by Joyce Rugeroni.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1083-1084, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2008 Joyce Rugeroni.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County
Biographies