Placer
County
Biographies
SAMUEL N. WHALLON
Samuel N. Whallon is a native of
Minnesota, born at Bloomington Ferry, on the 24th of September,
1853. His grandfather, Samuel Whallon,
was a native of New Jersey. His son,
Charles Henry Whallon, the father of our subject, was born in the state of
Illinois, whither the grandfather removed in the early history of that
commonwealth. Having arrived at years of
maturity Charles H. Whallon was married in the Prairie state to Miss Ann Eliza
Ames, a native of Vermont, and soon afterward they removed to Minnesota,
becoming pioneers of that portion of the country. So new and wild was the region that at one
time they were obliged to take refuge in Fort Snelling to escape massacre at
the hands of the Indians. The father
cleared and developed a new farm in Minnesota, carrying on agricultural
pursuits until his death, which resulted from typhoid fever when he was in the
forty-fifth year of his age. He was a
member of the Presbyterian Church, to which his wife also belongs. She still survives him and resides in San
Francisco, at the age of seventy years, respected by all who have the pleasure
of her acquaintance. In the family were
three sons and a daughter, and three of the number are still living.
Samuel Norton Whallon, the eldest
child and the immediate subject of this review, conned his lessons in the
public schools of Minnesota, mastering the branches of English learning usually
taught in such institutions. When quite
young he began to earn his own living as a farm hand, continuing in that line
of work until his twentieth year when he learned the trade of a steam and gas
fitter in Minneapolis, Minnesota, following that pursuit in the Mississippi
Valley for six years. In March, 1877, he
came to California, locating in Oakland, and was engaged in the package express
business between San Francisco and Oakland for a short time. He then went to Truckee, in the employ of the
Truckee Lumber Company, and subsequently entered the service of the Southern
Pacific Railroad Company, with which he has been connected since 1881. He served as locomotive fireman for six and a
half years, after which he was promoted to locomotive engineer, and during the
past twelve years, or since 1888, he has been one of the most reliable and
competent engineers running on the Sacramento & Truckee division over the
steep mountain grades of Placer County.
In 1884 Mr. Whallon took up his
residence in Rocklin and since that time has been one of its liberal and
progressive citizens, taking an active interest in all that pertains to its
welfare. He has erected one of the
handsome cottages of the town and in it resides with his family. He was married in 1890 to Miss May Cady, a
native of Illinois and a daughter of Leonard Cady, formerly of that state. Their union is blessed with two interesting
children, Clarence Norton and Ava Winone. Mr. Whallon is a member of the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers and in the Masonic fraternity has attained the Royal Arch
degree, while of the Odd Fellows lodge he is also a representative. His political support is given the Democracy
and in April, 1900, he was chosen by his fellow townsmen as one of the trustees
of the town and is now officially serving in that capacity with due regard to
the best interests of Rocklin, laboring earnestly to promote its upbuilding
along all lines of progress.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 793-794. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.