Santa
Clara County
Biographies
GEORGE McMULLEN
GEORGE
McMULLEN. In
Mr. McMullen we find one whose efforts along agricultural lines have been
steady and persistent since locating permanently in California in 1891. At that time he purchased the farm of
twenty-one acres upon which he still resides and which adjoins Morgan Hill on
the north. Immediately after making the
purchase Mr. McMullen converted it into a fruit ranch, planting it principally
to prunes. He then took up orcharding as a business.
After careful study and preparation for the work, and hiring men to
assist him he began planting orchards, and it may be
said to his credit that he has planted the greater part of the orchards in the
vicinity of Morgan Hill, which lies in the heart of the prune district.
In Crawford county,
Pa., Mr. McMullen was born June 8, 1858, and he is the youngest child in a
family of eight born to George, Sr., and Ann Jane (Carr) McMullen, both of whom
were natives of Ireland. At an early day
they immigrated to the United States, and in Crawford county,
Pa., Mr. McMullen became prominent as a farmer and lumberman. He assisted materially in developing the
natural resources of this state, owning and operating three large sawmills and
a factory where ash oars for boats were manufactured extensively. He subsequently removed to the vicinity of
Grand Rapids, Mich., where he again engaged in the lumber business, operating
for a number of years several large saw and shingle mills. He died in Conneautville,
Pa., in 1890, and three years later his widow also died, each having reached
the advanced age of eighty-five years.
Their family consisted of six sons and two daughters.
The common school education of Mr.
McMullen was augmented by a complete commercial course in the business college
at Meadville, Pa., from which he graduated.
After leaving school he took charge of his father’s mills in Michigan,
and for several years he attended diligently to this business. In 1879, upon reaching his majority, he went
to Colorado and followed mining pursuits for some time, owning some fairly good
claims. In 1882 he returned to Michigan,
traveling overland [sic], in company with four cow-boys [sic]. January 30 they were captured by the Ute
Indians, but on the night of February 4, while the Indians were all asleep at
camp, Mr. McMullen succeeded in making his escape. Securing his horse, which was a good
traveler, he rode for thirty-nine hours, and as it was in the dead of winter
and the weather unusually severe, he was almost frozen to death when he arrived
at Nepesta, Colo.
It was three months before he was able to resume travel, and he did not
recover entirely for two years, but considered himself very fortunate, as three
of his companions were never heard of afterward.
Upon reaching his home in Michigan Mr.
McMullen again assumed charge of his father’s mills, being so occupied until
1891, having spent in all thirteen years at this business. In the meantime, his father died and in 1891
he decided to come to California. Upon
the farm just north of Morgan Hill he has lived ever since, and during this
time he has gained prominence as a successful orchardist. By his marriage in Pennsylvania he was united
with Miss Lily Wagner, a native of the Keystone state, and they have one son,
Glenn Hugh, who is still at the home place.
Politically Mr. McMullen is a stanch Republican, and fraternally he is
connected with the Foresters, Woodmen of the World, Yeomen and Fraternal Aid,
and also with the Masonic Blue Lodge of Howard City, Mich.
Transcribed by
Doralisa Palomares.
Source: History of the State of California &
Biographical Record of Coast Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A.
M., Page 1273. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Doralisa Palomares.