Colusa
County
Biographies
GEORGE HAGAR
Holding marked prestige among the
prominent businessmen of Colusa County is Colonel George Hagar. There are few men whose lives are crowned
with the honor and respect which is uniformly accorded him, and through more
than fifty years’ connection with the west his has been an unblemished
career. With him success in life has
been reached by sterling qualities of mind and a heart true to every manly
principle. In his varied business
interests his reputation has been unassailable, and to his duties of
citizenship he has always displayed a loyalty that has classed him among the
valued residents of the commonwealth. He
has passed the eightieth milestone marking earth’s pilgrimage but is still
connected with the active concerns of life, being the well known president of
the Colusa County Bank, of Colusa, which position he has occupied since 1876.
Colonel Hagar is a native of
Massachusetts, his birth having occurred in Lincoln on the 17th of
February, 1820. His boyhood days were
spent upon a farm, but not wishing to carry on agricultural pursuits as a life
work he entered mercantile circles, and at the age of sixteen secured a
clerkship in a general store in Keene, New Hampshire, where he remained for
several years. Later he engaged in
merchandising on his own account. He was
one of the first residents of the old Granite state to be attracted to
California as the result of the gold discovery on the Pacific slope. Believing that it would prove an advantageous
field of labor even if he did not find wealth in the mines, he left his home
and took passage on a sailing vessel which rounded Cape Horn and proceeded up
the Pacific coast, arriving in San Francisco after a voyage of six months. He at once made his way to the mines, going first
to Big Bar, where he studied the working of the sluices and made himself
familiar with mining operations. Two
months, however, served to convince him that the pursuit was not one which he
wished to follow and he made his way to Stockton, where he conducted a general
store for four years. In 1852 he came to
Colusa and with others purchased the Jimeno
grant. In 1860 he became a permanent
resident of Colusa and has since been actively identified with the business
interests, his efforts contributing largely to the material prosperity of the
town. He became one of the charter
members of the Colusa County Bank in 1876, and throughout its existence he has
been its president. His thorough
knowledge of the banking business, the safe, conservative policy which he has
followed and his capable management have made the institution one of the most
reliable and prosperous in this section of the state.
In 1867 Mr. Hagar was united in
marriage to Miss Sarah E. Winship, of Colusa, and they have one daughter, Alice
W., who is now married. Theirs is one of
the most palatial homes in Colusa, both its external and internal appearance
being such as to please the most fastidious taste, while its hospitality charms
all who pass through its portals. In
early life, while a resident of New Hampshire, he served as a member of the
state militia, and thus won his title of colonel. In politics he has been a staunch Republican
since the organization of the party, believing firmly in its principles, for it
has ever stood as the champion of reform, progress and advancement. He is now an honored member of the Pacific
Union Club of Pioneers, of San Francisco, and well does he deserve a place in
the ranks of the organization, for he was one of the first to come to the
Golden state after the discovery of the precious metal had been made. Prior to that time California practically
rested under Spanish conditions, making little progress, but from all sections
of the country there came good, enterprising men, chief among whom were the
emigrants from New England, whose ingenuity, energy and unfailing perseverance
enabled them to accomplish a great work in laying the foundation for the state
and building thereon a substantial structure.
He takes just pride in what has been done, for the works of man have
vied with those of nature in making California one of the most wonderful as
well as one of the most progressive states of the Union.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 806-807. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2011
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Colusa County Biographies