Placer
County
Biographies
WILLIAM JOSEPH WILSON, SR.
As
the pioneer in the fruit shipping business in Placer County, Mr. Wilson must be
given credit for having the foresight and keen business acumen to start a new
industry and prove it from the beginning to be a profitable one, and with such
far-reaching possibilities that his pioneer work is of inestimable value to
this section of California. With his
little office in the Railroad Express shed, and a wheelbarrow for delivery, for
he did not even have a horse and cart when he first entered the fruit trade, he
met the arrival of trains in the Newcastle yards, shipping out fruit until
business grew and he finally sent from Newcastle Placer County’s first solid
carload of fruit, which was consigned to Denver, Colo., with freight charges of
$900.
A
native of Ireland, born August 15, 1828, at Lurgen, County Armagh, Mr. Wilson was the son of Oliver Wilson, an officer in the
English Army, whose wife died at the birth of their first child, our
subject. Educated in the country schools
of his homeland, he later served an apprenticeship on board the British ship
Thetis, for four years; leaving that vessel, at Quebec, he shipped on the
Arabia, of Belfast, on which vessel he sailed until 1854. In that year he rounded Cape Horn as one of
the crew on the old brig Thomas Watson; he served as quartermaster on this
ship, and also on the Uncle Sam, acting in that capacity during two voyages. During the two succeeding years he was
boatswain and finally was promoted to third mate. He was on this vessel when cholera broke out
on board, and 900 people died of the dread disease. Mr. Wilson sailed from Philadelphia on the
Westermoreland bound for Liverpool and they had been out but a few days when
they picked up the crew of the May T. Sterrit, of
Maine; which had been dismantled, and they had to scuttle the ship as it was in
the course of other vessels and a bad menace to navigation. Many and wide were his experiences as he
sailed on different ships and touched at various ports, and learned much of
different countries and their inhabitants, and this, no doubt, contributed to
his originality of mind, and led him to embark on an absolutely new business
venture when he did settled down and become a “landlubber”.
Deciding
to make California his home, Mr. Wilson located in Newcastle, Placer County, in
1865, and his first work was for the late pioneer, J. H. Mitchell. He was engaged in mining, but in the meantime
he became the owner of a home and one acre of ground in town, and on his land
he planted fruit trees, which were soon to bring him such excellent returns,
his first sales amounting to $1000 per year.
He bought more land and purchased fruit of his neighbors to satisfy his
growing trade, and thereby laid the foundation of the present-day fruit
shipping house of W. J. Wilson & Son, Inc., of Newcastle. A really remarkable man, by his industry and
thrift he built up a rapidly advancing business, both as a grower and shipper,
and was the father of “fruit shipper’s row” in Newcastle.
Twice
married, Mr. Wilson became acquainted with his first wife, Miss Mary O’Malley,
while serving as quartermaster on board the Sonora, and their marriage occurred
November 4, 1856. Her death occurred
August 31, 1891, survived by two children:
Mary J. Madden, of Newcastle; and W. J. Wilson, a prominent fruit grower
and shipper and head of W. J. Wilson & Son, Inc., of Newcastle, who is
mentioned on another page in this history.
Mr. Wilson’s second marriage, in 1893, united him with Mary Ann Agnes
Shepherd, and their one child died in infancy.
The wife and mother died in 1918 at the home place. Mr. Wilson died on October 26, 1911, on the
Wilson ranch near Newcastle. He was an
honorable and respected citizen, a thoroughly Christian gentleman whose word
was recognized by all as being as good as his bond. Prominent in Democratic circles in Placer
County, a man of broad and liberal ideas, his influence carried much weight
when a delegate to various conventions.
Devout and liberal in donations, both to his own and other churches, he
will long be remembered, as one who co-operated in all movements for the
development of his section, and as one of Placer County’s leading citizens.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“History of Placer & Nevada Counties,
California”, by W. B. Lardner & M. J. Brock. Pages 455-457.
Historic Record Co., Los Angeles 1924.
© 2013
V. Gerald Iaquinta.