Sacramento County
Biographies
JOHN GOSLIN
JOHN GOSLIN, a rancher, was born in England, September 20, 1830, a son of William and Jane (Tyler) Goslin, also natives of that country, who left England about 1834 and settled in Oakland County, Michigan, near Pontiac, purchasing land there and following agricultural pursuits until their death,—he at the age of fifty years, and she about forty. John left the old home in 1852 and started for California with a party of twenty-one, and in five months reached this State, after a comparatively pleasant journey. Asiatic cholera was the principal disaster, but they were well equipped, having among them a doctor, a carpenter and a blacksmith; but the doctor was the only member of the party who died with the cholera, as he was peculiarly exposed. His death was greatly mourned. Arriving in Sacramento in September, Mr. Goslin immediately began work for wages, on Griffith’s ranch, continuing about nine months. Then he took 163 acres of land where his home now is and cultivated it ten years. Leaving it, but not selling it, he went to teaming in the mountains. In 1861-’62 he lost everything by the floods excepting the land itself; the loss was estimated at $10,000. He resumed work upon his ranch and there he has since remained, improving it until he has made it a model home. Two and a half acres are in vineyard and small orchard for family use. He has 200 acres of fine land, and on the place is a good school, five miles from the center of Sacramento, on the lower Stockton road. He has seen his share of pioneer life in California, but feels well paid for his endurance. He was married in 1868 to Miss Cordelia, a daughter of Lafayette Sheplar, a resident of Illinois, and previously of Ohio. She came to California about 1858. Mr. And Mrs. Goslin have two sons and two daughters: Ida May, Bertha G., Norman R., and Howard L. George W., died at the age of five years.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Davis, Hon. Win. J., An Illustrated History of
Sacramento County, California. Pages 652-653. Lewis
Publishing Company. 1890.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.