El
Dorado County
Biographies
JOHN W. CROFF
Through forty-nine years John
Wesley Croff has been a resident of California. He was born in the far-off state of New York,
his birth having there occurred in Genesee County, on the 13th of
November, 1830. He is of German and
English lineage, his father, Nathan Croff, having
been born in Germany, whence he came to the United States at the age of
thirteen years, locating in New York City, where he learned the trade of
shoemaking. He married Miss Olive
Marston, a native of New Hampshire, who, however, was reared in the Empire
state. After their marriage they removed
to Wayne County, Michigan, and subsequently resided in the town of Eaton, that
state. They were industrious farming
people and reared nine children, five of whom are now living. The father attained the very advanced age of
ninety-eight years, two months and two days, while his wife was seventy-four
years of age at the time of her demise.
Mr. Croff,
their fifth child, was reared to manhood in Michigan, acquiring his education
in Wayne County. When the discovery of
gold was made in California the hope of rapidly acquiring wealth drew him to
the Pacific coast. He crossed the plains
in 1851, with a company of ninety-two men, and the journey was safely
accomplished, he arriving in Sacramento on the 20th of August, 1851. As did most of the other emigrants, he made
his way to the mines, searching for the precious metal on the middle fork of
the American River, on New York Bar. He
met with good success in the undertaking, taking out one thousand dollars,
above expenses, before the time of high water, in November. Subsequently he engaged in mining in Placerville,
El Dorado County, where he was successfully engaged for two years. On the expiration of that period he came to
Fiddletown, now Oleta. He had sent
twenty-five hundred dollars to the east and had fifteen hundred dollars
remaining. He had also spent considerable
money in prospecting. In Amador County
he made a claim of one hundred acres of government land on which he has since
engaged in farming, in connection with placer mining, and during all these
years has met with creditable success in his undertakings. He also has a very pleasant home and five
acres of land in Oleta. He still
continues placer mining, and with his own hands has taken out seventy-five
thousand dollars.
In 1866 occurred the marriage of Mr.
Croff and Miss Mary McKee, the wedding being
celebrated in Oleta. The lady is a
native of Ohio and came to California in 1863.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Croff were reared in the
faith of the Methodist Church and are worthy and reliable citizens. He has made the golden rule his practice
through life and his integrity is above question. In politics he has long been a supporter of
the Republican Party; and, other than being deputy sheriff in El Dorado County
for three years and deputy sheriff in Amador County for two years and constable
for six years, he has never sought or desired political office, preferring to
devote his time and attention to his business interests, in which he has met
with most creditable success. His life
has been well spent, and he justly deserves mention among the honored California
pioneers.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 600-601. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden
Nugget Library's El Dorado County Biographies