Glenn County
Biographies
DR.
HUGH JAMES GLENN
With the tide of emigration which flowed into California
during the colorful days of ’49, there came into the Sacramento Valley a young
doctor, twenty-five years of age, scion of one of Virginia’s most aristocratic
families, and here for the frank purpose of making his fortune by the discovery
of gold. He was not the hardened type of
adventurer who followed the frontier, but, on the contrary, was simply a young
man of good education and excellent character, possessed of high courage and
true ideals, and inspired by the romantic lure of the great gold rush. He had won conspicuous honors in medical
college, and undoubtedly was upon the threshold of a brilliant professional
career, but that which the medical world lost California gained, for he lived
to become one of the outstanding men of the Sacramento Valley, the owner of
vast farm lands, a humanitarian, an educationist, a successful business man,
and by every criterion by which men are judged a clean-minded and honorable
gentleman. Dr. Hugh James Glenn was of
that class of good citizens who dragged California out of the muck of
lawlessness and sordid conditions which invariably followed the discovery of
nature’s hidden wealth. He found that
for which he had crossed the plains – gold, and he found it in abundant
quantities, but the acquisition of wealth failed to dim the light of his finer
ideals. He remained the same throughout
his life, through a career consistent in the expression of noble purposes. His influence was predominant among his
contemporaries; his astute judgment and kindly counsel were greatly sought; in
short, among the men of his time no test by comparison operated to his discredit.
Hugh James Glenn was born September 18, 1824 in Mt.
Vernon, Augusta county, Virginia, a son of George
Glenn. The Glenn’s’ are of Scotch
descent, members of the family having first come to America in 1730, settling
in Pennsylvania. In Chester county of that state there is now a town, Glennville, so
named for them. About the year 1840, the
family moved to Augusta county, Virginia, near
Staunton, where the old Glenn home is yet in possession of descendants.
Having obtained the education offered by the schools of
his home community, Hugh James Glenn determined to make the practice of
medicine his life’s work. Accordingly,
he matriculated in the State Medical University of St. Louis, Missouri. However, his studies here were interrupted by
the outbreak of the Mexican War. In
company with a number of his fellow students, he enlisted in the First Missouri
Regiment of Mounted Volunteers, under the command of General Sterling Price,
and served through the ensuing campaigns with credit to himself, participating
in the battles of Taos and Moro. In the
spring of 1847, hostilities having ceased, he received his honorable discharge
from the army, and immediately returned to medical college, where he graduated
in 1848, with highest honors in a class of 200.
On March 13, 1849, Dr. Glenn was married to Miss Nancy
Harrison Abernethy, of Virginia, a daughter of Judge James Robert and Rosanna
(Davis) Abernethy. Just a few weeks
later, on May 12, 1849, he regretfully bade adieu to his young bride and began
his long journey across the country to California – to seek his share of the
fabulous wealth which was being taken from the soil. He arrived in Sacramento late in August,
after weeks of hardship and unusual experiences. Doctor Glenn had charge of one of the wagons
in the overland train which he accompanied, which conveyance was so heavily
laden that finally it had to be lightened, and this situation made it
imperative that the doctor walk most of the distance.
Having arrived at Sacramento, Dr. Glenn camped on the
site of the present Golden Eagle Hotel, and Seventh and K Streets. He did not remain here long, however, but
left for the diggings on the north fork of the American River, near Coloma, on
Murderer’s bar, where he staked his claim and began operations. He was immediately successful, and within a few
months had realized his most optimistic dreams of wealth. In the spring of 1850 he hastened to return
to his bride in the east, this time, however, by sailing vessel around the
Horn, after a voyage of several months he landed at New York. In 1852 he returned to California by the
overland route, bringing his wife with him, with the intention of establishing
his home here.
Thrilling adventures marked this second trip across the
plains and mountains. Emigration in that
year was light, and the Indians were as a result more venturesome in their
attacks on the white men’s trains. Along
the route through northern Utah the Snake and Shoshone tribes sent out their
marauding parties to raid the stock of the emigrants. One morning after he and his companions had
encamped for the night in this locality, Dr. Glenn found several horses
missing. Thinking they had merely
strayed from the camp, he went back over the trail in search of them. He soon found them, but with the animals were
eight or ten savages, who had stolen them.
Immediately the fight began. The
Indians held the advantage, for they were armed with rifles, while the Doctor
had only his revolver, but he used it cautiously and was enabled to protect his
retreat, assisted by the shelter of rocks and trees. The Indians crowded him closely, and his
predicament was becoming critical, when help arrived. His companions, having heard the firing in
the distance and realizing the cause, had hastened to his assistance, just in
time. Seeing the rescuers, the redskins
hastily decamped and the courageous Doctor was soon returned to his wife,
anxiously awaiting him at the camp. The
revolver which he used is now in possession of Sutter Fort, Sacramento.
Arriving in California for the second time, Dr. Glenn
made a temporary home for his wife on Stony creek, at the northeast corner of
his later famous ranch. He likewise made
a home for his family in Sacramento, where three of his children were
subsequently born. In 1868, they left
Sacramento to take up their residence on the ranch which he had acquired, and
still later a home was purchased at Oakland, on Lake Merritt, where the family
continued to live for a time after the death of the Doctor.
Dr. Glenn has been frequently termed the “largest farmer
in the world,” as he personally superintended the operations of his huge
holdings with most versatile ability and consummate skill. His ranch consisted of sixty-five thousand
acres, of which forty-five thousand acres were used in the cultivation of
wheat. In one season, his crop of wheat
filled three hundred and fifty thousand sacks, each holding one hundred and
forty pounds of grain. The ranch itself
was subdivided into nine smaller ranches, for convenience, each ranch having
had a dwelling house, barns, blacksmith shop, and other necessary
buildings. He manufactured in his own
shops nearly all the machinery and vehicles required, and during harvest time
employed one hundred and fifty men, also utilizing two hundred horses and mules. One threshing machine used on his ranch had a
capacity of seven thousand bushels a day, and another was of only slightly less
capacity. There were thirty-two
dwellings, fourteen blacksmith shops, and seventy-seven barns; in all,
including other structures, about one hundred buildings, and valued at one
hundred thousand dollars. Dr. Glenn
built three stores from which to supply his host of employees. One of these stores was swept into the
Sacramento River during a flood, another was burned, but the third is still
standing. In the village of Jacinto,
which he developed on his ranch, were a store, a hotel, a ferry, shops,
warehouses and numerous dwellings, everything necessary for comfort and
convenience, even if lacking the luxuries.
He also built a telegraph line connecting with the town of Colusa,
twenty-seven miles distant. The largest
acreage within one fence on the Glenn ranch consisted of ten thousand acres, a
vast tract of land in itself. On the
Jacinto ranch, as it was called, he had at one time one thousand workhorses and
mules, with a kinship of one thousand brood mares and younger stock. Dr. Glenn also owned a large stock farm in
eastern Oregon and another in northwestern Nevada, the Oregon farm, with stock,
having been valued at four hundred thousand dollars.
Dr. Glenn also built a school and paid the salary of the
teacher, in order that the children of his employees might be educated insofar
as possible. After the school building was erected and the teacher secured,
Mrs. Glenn promised the children that if they should attend the classes and not
miss many days she would give them a big picnic at stated intervals. As many of the children’s parents were
illiterate, with no idea of the value of education, Mrs. Glenn sought by this
simple appeal to interest the children.
The Glenn ranch home was a large rambling structure, a
story and a half in height, and containing twenty rooms. Part of the house was on the land when the
first purchase was made, and the remainder was added as needed. The original four rooms of the home were built
on materials brought by vessel around the Horn.
Pegs were used instead of nails, and the very few nails used in its
construction were hand-wrought. The
architecture of the home was of early southern type, with a broad, spacious
hall running the entire length of the house.
The house and furnishings of the Glenn home now remain precisely as they
were during the life of the owner. The
house is furnished in a handsome, comfortable style befitting the mansion of a
rich and worthy man: fine walnut and mahogany
pieces, hand-carved, and massive, gilt-framed mirrors adorn the interior,
without pretentious display. Surrounding
this beautiful home on the bank of the Sacramento River is a garden of
beautiful flowers, while across the highway are vineyards and orchards. In the garden a profusion of large trees of
many species, flowers and shrubs and vines provide an artistic setting for this
historic homestead of the Glenn family.
The hospitality which reigned within this home was also of the cultured
southern type – unostentatious yet elegant, simple yet abundant. The family table had the abundance of the
wealthy farmer and the careful superintendence of trained housewifery.
Dr. Glenn’s multitudinous duties prevented his active
participation in public affairs, but in 1879 he was selected by the party of
the New Constitution as its candidate for governor of California, and he was
considered eminently fitted for the place.
He was unsuccessful in the election, however. Colusa county was divided in 1891, and the northern
division was called Glenn county in his honor.
He was a personality beloved by all who knew him. He was a southern gentleman of true type, and
was always attired in a Prince Albert coat, fancy waistcoat, and soft
wide-brimmed hat, such as was worn below the Mason and Dixon line. In the year 1883, when fifty-nine years of
age, Dr. Hugh James Glenn was called by death and his passing was sincerely
mourned wherever he was known. His widow
survived him, but spent her remaining years at Oakland, never returning to the
Jacinto home.
To the marriage of Doctor Glenn and his wife were born
nine children, namely: Alphonso Gleave,
born April 25, 1852, died April 1, 1888; Emma, born in 1854, died in 1857;
Jefferson, born in 1856, died in 1857; Charles H., born in 1858; Ella, born
March 30, 1860; Frank Buckner, born in 1862; Eva B., born in 1864, died in
1874; Hugh, born in 1868, died in 1888, and Roy, born in 1870, died in
1890. Ella Glenn was married January 1,
1882, to John William French, and by this marriage is the mother of a son, Hugh
Glenn French, born September 22, 1883.
She was married secondly, February 9, 1893, to Charles Lee Leonard, now
deceased. She is wide recognized as a
public-spirited woman, a loyal native daughter of California, and inspired by
her justifiable pride of family, and pride in her worthy father. She is esteemed by all the pioneers, in whose
interests she has been an unceasing worker.
Recently she read an essay at Mills College in Oakland which she had
written fifty years ago, when she graduated from that school.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J. W. Major, History of
Sacramento Valley California, Vol. 2 Pages 373-377. Pioneer
Historical Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Glenn County
Biographies