NELSON SHAVER 

Nelson Shaver, farmer, was born in Onondaga County, New York, May 10, 1826, son of John and Marietta (Dowd) Shaver. His father, a native of Germany, came to New York when a small boy, married there and emigrated to Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, bordering on Lake Michigan, in 1848 where he made his home until his death in 1886, at the age of seventy years. Nelson was about eight years old when his mother died, and after that his father married Alzina Church, of New York before moving to Wisconsin. In the first family were five children: Louisa, Nelson, Lovina, John and Maria. Three of these are now living: John resides in Wisconsin; Louisa married a Mr. Poole and also lives in Wisconsin, and the other is the subject of this sketch. By the last marriage there were also five children. Nelson was brought up in Onondaga County, New York, on a farm, and in 1852 came to California, overland, with three other young men, leaving Wisconsin about the middle of March. At Carson Valley they sold their ox teams and came the rest of the way with pack horses. On reaching Placerville they separated. Nelson went to surface mining and met with good success for a while, but had to be in the snow and water so much during the winter that he contracted rheumatism, which disabled him from further mining. During the next summer, 1853, he came into Sacramento County and worked for G.W. Colby, farming, and at length the rheumatism left him. He afterward rented the farm for two years. Then he went south a little way and entered two sections of land where afterward the Sargent ranch was, on the Stockton road. He afterward sold to Sargent and took another place. He had, besides the Sargent place, four others. He came to his present place, on the Folsom grant, about 1858. Here there are 621 acres, devoted to general farming. In 1857 he married Adeline Gunter, a native of Iowa, and they have six children, namely: Mary, wife of John Todd; Nelson H., who married Ada E. Fitch; Adeline, now the wife of Frederick Sanders; Caroline, now Mrs. Joseph Beresford; Rosa and John.