Sacramento County
Biographies
WILLIAM R. GALLUP
WILLIAM R.
GALLUP. A farmer and rancher of Sacramento,
Cal., William Randal Gallup, a
son of Nehemiah Mason Gallup, was born in Stonington,
Conn., May 19, 1828. The latter was also a native of Connecticut,
his birth having occurred in New London,
February 12, 1785. Nehemiah Mason Gallup
grew to manhood in Connecticut and there married, on
April 26, 1812, Huldah Wheeler, a native of Stonington. She died November 6, 1834, while he lived to
January 21, 1871. Mr. Gallup’s grandfather,
Nehemiah Gallup, born Jun 19, 1751, was of the sixth generation of the family,
and, as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, received a pension of $8 per
month. He married Elizabeth Brown,
January 28, 1783. The first American
emigrant of the family, John Gallup, the son of another John Gallup, was a
native of England. He came to Boston,
in 1630, from Dorsetshire, where he was born.
The primary
education of William R. Gallup was received in the district school in the
vicinity of his home, after which he attended a select school taught by Prof.
John Avery. Following this he taught
school for five terms, after which, on the 3rd of April, 1853, he
started for California by way of Panama. Arriving safely in this state May 7, he came
direct to Sacramento, and was
employed for a time by Josiah Gallup as a teamster, hauling
to the various mining districts, and later engaged in teaming for himself. From 1858 to 1863 he was engaged in
forwarding freight, supplying miners in the outlying districts, and furnishing
the teamsters with hay and grain. About
this time he became interest in the raising of sheep.
In 1863 he
returned to Connecticut, and was
married May 3, 1864, after which, with his wife, he returned to this
state. His sheep business became more
extensive in the passing years, and as his means increased he invested in land,
principally in Yolo county, becoming the owner of over
five thousand acres, having disposed of his original ranch of seventeen hundred
and sixty acres. Although he raises some
cattle and hogs, the greater part of his attention is given to the sheep
industry, his band now numbering about three thousand head. His annual wool clip amounts to many
thousands of pounds and brings him large financial returns. A part of his extensive ranch is adapted to
agricultural purposes and is used as such.
May 3,
1864, Mr. Gallup was united in marriage with Eliza A. Morgan, a daughter of
John and Mary Morgan, of Ledyard, Conn.,
in which place she was born August 14, 1842.
They became the parents of two daughters, Ida May and Effa Morgan, the wife of Joseph D. Lord, of Sacramento,
Cal.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Gallup are members of the First
Baptist Church,
Mr. Gallup having officiated for a number of years as deacon. Their home is located at 1521 I street. In all
matters pertaining to the general upbuilding of the Sacramento
valley Mr. Gallup has been a liberal supporter.
In politics he has supported the Republican party
in national issues, in local matters supporting men he considered best qualified
for the office, regardless of party lines.
He was never an aspirant for official honors himself. Mrs. Gallup is a member of the W.C.T.U., and
is one of the directors of the Sacramento Foundlings Home. Since writing the foregoing Mr. Gallup passed
away, January 8, 1906.
Transcribed
by Kathy Porter.
Source: “History of
the State of California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley,
California” by
J. M. Guinn. Pages 325-326.
Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1906.
© 2007 Kathy Porter.