Sacramento
County
Biographies
GEORGE S.
WILLIAMSON
George S. Williamson, farmer, was born July
22, 1845, in St. Louis, Missouri, a son of Peter Thomas and Ruth (Shaw)
Williamson. His father was born February
26, 1818, in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, and his mother January
27, 1820, in Lucerne County, that State. Parents were married April
1, 1841, in St. Louis, Missouri, whither Mr. Williamson had emigrated at
the age of seventeen years. He there
learned the carpenter and joiner’s trade and was employed for a number of years
by Captain Case, a noted contractor and steamboat builder. In 1849 he crossed the plains to California, leaving his wife in St. Louis.
Making his first stop at Nevada City, he opened there a ten-pin alley. The next year he returned East by way of New Mexico, and in 1851 he came again to this State
with his family, overland. He first
settled on the Norris Grant and followed teaming. In the meantime he resided at several points
on the grant. During the flood of 1852,
while living in what is now the eastern part of Sacramento city, their family
were rescued from their house by a boat.
The water rose to the second-story window. Their daughter Joscaline
was born there. The winter of 1853 they
passed on the property now owned by D. Cantrell; and the next spring he settled
upon the tract where he spent the remainder of his life, dying there September
6, 1884; his
wife died October 14, 1875.
When he first settled here the country was a bare plain, with scarcely a
resident upon it. He was an ingenious
and industrious man, deliberate in his judgments, kind
in his disposition, and remembered with the highest respect by all who were
acquainted with him. In his family were
five children: Delia, born December
21, 1841, died December
31, 1845; Luzette, born September 12, 1843 died, September 6, 1846; the next was George S., whose name
heads this article; Payne, born October 3, 1848, and died March 11, 1882; and Joscaline,
now the wife of James Sales, of Sacramento.
George S. still conducts the old homestead, which comprises 181
acres. The farm of his sister Joscaline consists of 258 acres. His farm is choice bottom land and in good
cultivation. Has three acres of fine
fruits. He is a practical mechanic and
engineer. Mr. Williamson was married December
11, 1872, to
Miss Ellen Hanley, a native of Massachussetts. He is a member of Elk Grove Lodge, No. 274,
I. O. O. F., and
of Elk Grove Lodge, No. 173, F. & A. M.
Transcribed by Karen Pratt.
Davis, Hon. Win. J., An
Illustrated History of Sacramento County,
California. Page 508-509. Lewis Publishing Company. 1890.
©
2005 Karen Pratt.