Santa Clara County
Biographies
SAMUEL McNITT McKINNEY
A man of undoubted ability and worth, Samuel McNitt McKinney stands high among the intelligent and enterprising agriculturists of Santa Clara county, which has, perhaps, a larger number of well-to-do and successful farmers in proportion to its population than any other county in the state. His ranch, located six miles northwest of Gilroy, on the Day road, consists of eighty acres, on which he has a good residence, a substantial barn, and all the other necessary outbuildings, the estate being well-appointed and well-kept, everything about the premises indicating the thrift, industry and keen judgment of its proprietor. Of Scotch ancestry on both sides of the house, he was born in Mifflin county, Pa., November 28, 1831, being one of a family of eleven children born of the union of his parents, William and Anna (McNitt) McKinney, both of whom were lifelong residents of the Keystone state. His father was a tailor by trade, and for twenty-five consecutive years served as justice of the peace.
Reared and educated in Mifflin county, Samuel McNitt McKinney learned the tailor’s trade in his father’s shop, but did not like it well enough to follow it permanently. Leaving home in 1855, he migrated as far west as Illinois, where he worked on a farm for several months. Settling then in La Salle county, Ill., he formed a partnership with his brother, and for ten years was engaged in agricultural pursuits in that locality. Removing then to the adjoining county, Bureau, Mr. McKinney carried on Senator Lovejoy’s farm for three years, after which he purchased a farm lying two miles south of Princeton, not far from the Lovejoy homestead, and continued in his independent occupation for a number of seasons. Disposing of that property in 1877, Mr. McKinney came to Gilroy, Cal., and the same year bought his present farm. With characteristic thrift and foresight, he began its improvement, and has now a fine orchard and grapery, with large fields devoted to the raising of grain and stock. He has also carried on several hundred acres of land outside of his own ranch, his operations being extensive and lucrative. For the past two years Mr. McKinney has not personally superintended the care of his property, but has given to his son John the entire management of all his land, and has himself lived somewhat retired from active pursuits.
In 1861, in Pennsylvania, Mr. McKinney married Belle Lyttle, who was born in McVeytown, Pa. She died on the home ranch, in Gilroy, Cal., in 1899, leaving four children: William T., engaged in the harness business at Menlo Park, Cal.; C. J., of Los Gatos, an orchardist; John, manager of the home farm; and Hannah, of Alameda. Politically Mr. McKinney is a zealous supporter of the principles of the Republican party. Religiously he is a Presbyterian, while Mrs. McKinney was identified with the Methodist Church, being a faithful and consistent member.
Transcribed
by Joyce Rugeroni.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 860-861. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Joyce Rugeroni.