Placer
County
Biographies
AARON A. FERGUSON
This prominent citizen of Dutch Flat
came to California in 1849, arriving in San Francisco July 28. He was born in Natchitoches, Louisiana, on
the banks of the Red River, June 11, 1831, and is of Scotch descent. His grandfather, William Ferguson, emigrated
from Scotland and located in Chesterfield County, Virginia, on a farm adjoining
the one on which George Washington was born.
General Ferguson, who was killed during the Revolution, was our
subject’s great-uncle. Mr. Ferguson’s
father, William Ferguson, was born on the Virginia farm where the grandfather
had settled. He married Miss Marsalete LaFever, daughter of
August LaFever, who fought under Jackson at the
battle of New Orleans and was also United States Indian agent for some
time. This union was blessed with six
children, five of whom are living.
In 1849 the family started for
California. While on the Isthmus of
Panama the father was stricken with cholera and died, at the age of fifty-two
years. He was buried there and the
distressed family was compelled to make the journey to California without the
aid and protection of the husband and father.
Mr. Ferguson, then eighteen years of age, made the coffin in which his
father was buried. This was the first
American family that crossed the Isthmus. To Mr. Ferguson’s knowledge there are but few
survivors of that perilous journey. The
company numbered ninety-two; of this number five are living, Mr. Ferguson, his
three sisters and one brother. His
mother lived to be eighty-four years of age and is buried at Fresno,
California.
After his arrival in San Francisco,
Mr. Ferguson mined and did carpenter work. Later he, with a company of sixty,
mined on the Mokelumne River and when settlement was made received five
thousand dollars as his share of the profits.
He then turned his attention to farming, but soon became interested
again in mining and was thus occupied at Woolsey’s Flat, in Nevada County. He was later a second superintendent of a
mining claim at a salary of six dollars per day. In 1862 he came to Dutch Flat, where he has
been engaged in mining for many years.
He has been deputy sheriff and constable. As an undertaker he has met with satisfactory
success. At present Mr. Ferguson is the
owner of a number of buildings, the large opera house at Dutch Flat being among
them. He is a trustee of the public
schools and takes an interest in everything designed to benefit his town and is
liberal, public-spirited and esteemed as a citizen.
November 28, 1865, Mr. Ferguson was
married to Mary Eliza DuFour, who was born in New
York City in 1848. She was the daughter
of Antoine DuFour, who came to San Francisco in 1854
and to Dutch Flat in 1857. Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson have had ten children, only
three of whom are living: Mary Helena,
the widow of William Niles; Lucy Lucretia and Alice Arabella. His
son-in-law, William Niles, died in Alaska.
The Knights of Pythias packed his body sixty miles and Mr. Ferguson had
it interred at Dutch Flat.
Mr. Ferguson is a veteran Odd
Fellow, having joined the order November 19, 1856, and has passed all the
chairs in both branches. He is now
(1900) the grand guardian of the grand lodge of the state. In other orders, K. of P., Improved Order of
Red Men, A. O. U. W., he has filled all the chairs. Politically he is a staunch Republican. Mr. Ferguson’s parents were among the
country’s early defenders; his father fought under General Harrison at
Tippecanoe and his mother cast bullets which were used in the battle of New
Orleans. As a patriot Mr. Ferguson
enlisted in the California Volunteer Infantry and served over a year in the
state, receiving an honorable discharge, and now considers it his high honor to
be a veteran of the Grand Army.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 312-313. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.