Sacramento County
Biographies
PHILIP WISE
The
proud privilege of claiming Sacramento
county as his native place belonged to Mr. Wise. Nor
was he less fortunate in being able to boast of a lifelong identification with
this same portion of the state, for he was born at Walnut Grove, Sacramento
County, Cal., October 18, 1857, son of Joseph and Nancy J. (Phipps) Wise. The
parents crossed the plains in the '50s.
The
son of a pioneer who had been attracted to the west by the discovery of gold
and who, disappointed in his hopes of finding a fortune in the mines, had
settled down to ranching pursuits on a large tract of raw land, it was the fate
of Philip Wise as a boy to undergo all the hardships incident to existence in
an undeveloped farming country of unknown
possibilities. Schools were few in that period of our history. The sparsely
settled country regions forbade any permanent educational work. Whatever
education he received, it was largely through his unaided application to books
and his own desire to obtain the knowledge necessary for the business affairs
of life. When attendance at school was possible he availed himself of such
opportunities and at other times he assisted in ranch work, thereby gaining a
diversified knowledge of agriculture most helpful to him in his life work as a
farmer. After years of successful effort in the agricultural districts of Sacramento
county in 1896, at the age of thirty-nine years, death
terminated his earthly activities.
The
marriage of Mr. Wise had been solemnized in Freeport, June
24, 1885, uniting him with Miss Mary L. Beach, who was born at Freeport,
Sacramento county, and is a
daughter of the late Julius C. Beach, an Ohioan who came to the west during the
memorable year of 1849, afterward identifying himself with the pioneers of Sacramento
county. Mr. Beach returned east and was married in October, 1855, to Mary E.
Davis, who was born in Pittsburg, Pa.,
and they came by way of Panama to his
home in Sacramento county, where they resided until death took them. They were
the parents of a son and five daughters. Mrs. Wise was the fourth eldest of her
parents' family; she received her education in the public schools of Sacramento
county and is a well-informed woman, keeping abreast of the times and being
especially conversant with the early history of our county. She has witnessed
the gradual development into the prosperity and progress characteristic of the
present era. While giving patriotic support to movements for the civic growth
and county welfare, her time since her marriage has been devoted chiefly to her
family, whose happiness is ever uppermost in her thoughts. Her first deep
bereavement came in the death of her son, Joseph Clinton, a bright boy of four
years, and later she was bereaved by the untimely passing of her husband. Three
children are now living, the eldest of whom, Carol M., is the wife of Milo E.
Dye, of Walnut Grove, Sacramento county, and they have one child, Grove Ernest, born October
9, 1907. The others, Mabel E. and Philip E., remain with their mother, and all
are a source of blessing, joy and comfort to her.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Willis,
William L., History of Sacramento County,
California, Pages Pages 929-930. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1913.
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.