Contra Costa County
Biographies
JOHN GEDDES
Doubtless in any locality where he might have established a home Mr. Geddes would have attained a commendable degree of success, for he possesses the will power, energy of disposition and soundness of judgment that are precursors of prosperity; yet it is probable that in many regions his progress would have been slower and the results less satisfactory than have marked his residence in Contra Costa county. In striking contrast to the home of his boyhood amid the bleak hills and stern climate of Nova Scotia, he has enjoyed a home where the climate is genial and the sky a cloudless blue, and where the labors of men are not rendered futile by winter's storms as in his old peninsular home.
In Colchester county, Nova Scotia, Mr. Geddes was born June 23, 1839, a son of William Geddes. Little of special importance occurred to mark the years of boyhood and youth, which were spent in the schoolroom and in aiding at home. As he grew to manhood he studied the conditions that surrounded him and concluded other regions must offer greater inducements to a poor man than his native place. California was far from the place of his birth, but he had heard much concerning its soil and climate and determined to seek a fortune on the Pacific coast. In 1860 he set sail from home and came to California via the Isthmus of Panama. At the end of his long ocean voyage he proceeded from San Francisco to San Joaquin county, where he secured work on ranches by the day and month. Being industrious, energetic and capable, he was paid wages as high as any farm hand received in that day. With careful economy his earnings were hoarded for future investment. After a time he came to Contra Costa county and began to work on ranches, here, as before, saving as much of his salary as possible.
When finally in a position to become a property owner Mr. Geddes bought three hundred and twenty acres known as the J. Baldwin ranch. The sole improvement on the property was a small house. Being at last in a position to establish a home of his own he returned to Nova Scotia and married Miss Jessie Carroll, daughter of Jerry Carroll. Accompanied by his wife he returned to his Contra Costa farm and began to raise wheat, which has always been his principal crop. Each year improvements were made on the place, which to-day its owner considers as fine a ranch as the county boasts. Fruit and shade trees add to the homelike appearance of the place, besides affording the fruit desired for family use. Like all the land in Point of Timber district, large crops may be harvested from the place providing the farmer uses judgment in sowing and planting, and Mr. Geddes has always displayed a wise discrimination in his selection of grains. With the utmost devotion he and his wife have labored to promote the welfare of their children, seven in number, named as follows: Emma (who married Robert Clark and has one child, Loraine,) Lizzie, George, Herbert, Benjamin Harrison, Lloyd and Margaret.
Transcribed
12-13-16 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1409-1410. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2016 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Contra Costa County Biographies