Colusa
County
Biographies
CRESSEY
JOHNSON WESCOTT
CRESSEY JOHNSON WESCOTT.
A noticeable feature in the development of Colusa county
is the presence and co-operation [sic] of a large number of energetic and
capable young agriculturists, conspicuous among whom is the gentleman named
above and residing one mile south of Colusa.
The family whose honorable record he is supplementing by resourcefulness
and integrity came to the United States in an early day and long lived in the
east, but his grandfather, Johnson Wescott, established
the family home in Michigan and took upon himself the arduous labors of a
pioneer in developing an unimproved tract of land. The father, Charles Henry Wescott,
was born in Utica, N.Y., accompanied the family to Michigan and during early
manhood, some time in the ’60s, immigrated to
California. Later he held the office of
marshal at Colusa and remained a resident of this city until his death in 1884,
at forty-two years of age. After coming
to the coast he married Miss Ellen Enloe, who was
born in Illinois, and now resides at Colusa.
The Enloe family is of eastern extraction and
her father, Thomas, who was born in Pennsylvania, became a pioneer farmer in
Illinois.
In a family of five sons, all of
whom are living, Cressey Johnson Wescott
was the eldest, and was born in Colusa August 2, 1873. After having received a fair education in the
public schools he began at fifteen years to work as a farm hand, using his
earnings to assist his widowed mother in the support of the younger
children. On starting out for himself in
1899 he rented seven hundred acres two miles south of Colusa and this property
he purchased in the fall of 1902, in partnership with Gus P. Johnson, the two
engaging in raising grain and stock under the firm title
of Wescott & Johnson. Among the herd of stock are a number of dairy
cows, but dairying is not as yet made the principal industry on the farm. In addition to the management of the home
place Mr. Wescott rents and operates fifteen hundred
acres, which is utilized for grain and stock-raising.
The city of Colusa where he was born
and reared is also the native place of Mr. Wescott’s
wife, who was Miss Ruby Marr, daughter of James Tipton Marr. Their marriage was solemnized on the last day
of the year 1899 and has been blessed by two daughters, Ruby Ellen and Hattie
Mildred. Though not a partisan in
politics Mr. Wescott has decided opinions of his own
concerning the problems which our nation faces and gives his allegiance to the
platform of the Democratic party. So far he has been
too busy with his agricultural affairs to take an active part in local
politics, nor has he found leisure for participation in fraternal
organizations, the only body of that kind with which he is identified being the
Independent Order of Foresters.
Mr. Wescott’s
partner, Gus P. Johnson, came to California from Iowa about twenty years
ago. By working as a farm hand he
accumulated several hundred dollars, with which he bought out the Chico stage
line. After following the stage business
with success for over eight years he took up farming and stock-raising in
partnership with Mr. Wescott, a business arrangement
which has proved both agreeable and profitable.
Mr. Johnson is a man of middle age, and is still unmarried.
Transcribed by
Doralisa Palomares.
Source:
“History of the State of California and
Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley, California” by J.
M. Guinn. Page
614. Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1906.
© 2017 Doralisa Palomares.
Golden Nugget Library's Colusa County Biographies