MRS.
PRISCILLA POLLOCK
MRS.
PRISCILLA POLLOCK, ranch-owner, in Cosumnes Township, was born in Pennsylvania,
June 22, 1828, her parents being David and Mary (McMillan) McKee--Scotch-Irish
by birth or descent. Both grandparents
of Mrs. Pollock were quite old when they died.
In 1833 the family moved to Illinois, and in 1835 to Iowa, where they
settled on a farm near Montrose. In 1845
they moved to Council Bluffs, where both parents were buried. The subject of this sketch was married at
Council Bluffs, December 3, 1846, to James Pollock, born in Ireland about 1810,
his parents being Thomas and Rebecca (Simpson) Pollock. The father died in County Tyrone, Ireland,
and the mother, in Stark County, Illinois, in 1841. James Pollock has been twice married and had one surviving child
by each wife. Mr. and Mrs. Pollock
remained one winter in Council Bluffs, and in 1847 set out for California, but
spent some months in Salt Lake City, where their first child, John, was born,
December 4, 1847. When the babe was two
months old they resumed their journey and spent the winter of 1848-'49 at what
is now Placerville. In 1849 they went
to Mormon Island, where Mr. Pollock was engaged with others in digging the race
or new channel for the American River.
The winter of 1849-'50 was spent at the new digging in, Amador
County. He had by this time accumulated
$16,000 in gold dust, which he loaned to Mayor Bigelow with Barton Lee as
security. By the untimely death of the
former and the failure of the latter, Mr. Pollock lost his money. He tried mining again on Mormon Island
without success, in 1851 went to farming on a portion of the Sheldon grant,
where he remained for about four years.
In 1855 he bought the ranch, 200 acres of which are still owned by Mrs.
Pollock, on the Plymouth road, twenty-three miles from Sacramento, extending
back to the Cosumnes. In 1858 he built
near the river a two-story stone residence of nine rooms, and a large barn with
stone basement, used at present by the renter of the ranch. There are about ten acres of orchard, and
the rest is devoted to grain and alfalfa.
The family resides in a modern two-story frame house of nine rooms,
built by Mrs. Pollock in 1886, and surrounded by a nice flower, fruit and
vegetable garden. Mrs. Pollock died
February 28, 1875, leaving five children by this marriage; and their mother,
whose oldest child, John, had died Jan. 13, 1868. The surviving children, all born in this State, are: Mary Jane,
born March 14, 1849, now Mrs. Philip Waggoner, of this township, has two
children, Elizabeth, born June 25, 1879, and Philip, born December 20, 1883;
Robert, born May 13, 1851, was married to Miss Alice Goodwin, a native of
Oregon, and has one child living, Frank, born December 25, 1878, now living
with his grandmother; Rebecca M., born February 10, 1854, now Mrs. William
Frank McFadden, of Sacramento, has one child, Mabel, born April 14, 1877;
William Henry, born February 20, 1856, died unmarried Jan. 26, 1884; Priscilla
Ann, born July 13, 1862, lives at home, a very special help and comfort to her
mother in her declining years; Hughjene, born in January 16, 1866 also makes
his home with his mother, varied with occasional employment elsewhere. One child, Samuel, born January 30, 1861,
died in his infancy, February 15, 1861.
An
Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California. By Hon. Win. J Davis.
Lewis Publishing Company 1890. Page 277-278.
Submitted
by: Nancy Pratt Melton.