MRS. MARIA BIRDSALL

Sacramento County

Biographies

MRS. MARIA BIRDSALL

MRS. MARIA BIRDSALL. Among the well known pioneer women who have long been identified with Sacramento none is more favorably known than Mrs. Birdsall. She was born in Onondaga county, N. Y., July 18, 1829, a daughter of Enoch and Martha (Hoyt) Spencer, the former a native of Connecticut, though a resident of New York for many years and was also a soldier during the war of 1812. The latter was a native of Dutchess county, N. Y.

Mrs. Birdsall spent her girlhood upon the paternal farm and attended the common schools, completing her education in Syracuse. She came to California in 1856, settling in Sacramento, and at once took up nursing, being for several years the only nurse in the town. She was married here to William McBurney, who died a few years afterward and in 1879 she became the wife of Constant Birdsall. He was born in 1830, in Peekskill N.Y., reared to young manhood and educated in the common schools. Later he went to New York City and learned the trade of silversmith, which he followed for a time.

Hearing of the opportunities offered young men on the Pacific Coast Mr. Birdsall came to California by way of Panama in 1852, and upon his arrival engaged in mining for a time with good success. About 1858 he and a brother went to Dayton, Nev., and opened a grocery store, which they conducted until 1862, being in business during the big flood. They were the only ones who had flour and this they readily sold at $50 per sack. They built and operated a quartz mill and later sold it at a large figure. Returning to California they built the Lodi and Valley Springs narrow gauge railroad which they sold to the Southern Pacific Company. In all his speculations and business ventures Mr. Birdsall met with uniform success.

After their marriage Mr. And Mrs. Birdsall located on the corner of Ninth and L streets, Sacramento, finally purchasing the home she now owns and occupies at 707 I street. Here Mr. Birdsall was stricken with paralysis and died in 1888. He was a man of good business ability, a high sense of honor and a home-loving man, as well as a public-spirited citizen. He was a member of the Odd Fellows. Mrs. Birdsall has made fortunate investments in real estate in Berkeley and has retained her old home in Sacramento, where she is surrounded by many friends, both among the young and old.

Louise E. Shoemaker Transcriber, November 09^th, 2007.

Source: “History of the State of California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley, California” by J. M. Guinn. Page 1241. Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1906.