Santa Clara County
Biographies
WILLIAM N. NOBLE
Since
September, 1888, Mr. Noble has made his home in San Jose whether he came for
the benefit of his daughter’s health.
The home life of Mr. Noble is, however, subject to frequent
interruptions owing to his extensive stock and land interests in other parts of
the country, particularly in Wyoming and Nevada, where in partnership with a
brother he purchased large tracts of land at an early day, when land could be
purchased for a trifle. They were
pioneer settlers in those regions and although business necessitates the
presence of Mr. Noble there the greater part of the time, his winters are
usually spent in San Jose.
Watertown, Jefferson county, N.Y., was the birthplace of Mr. Noble, and
December 21, 1845, the date of birth, he being a son of William and Jane A.
(Payne) Noble. About 1835, when William
was eleven years old, he accompanied his parents, Nathaniel and Mary Noble to
America, both being natives of England.
After coming to America the father followed brewing and milling pursuits
in Sacket Harbor, N.Y., and was quite successful for those early days. He died when about fifty-one years old, being
survived for a number of years by his wife who lived to an advanced age. William Noble was reared in New York from his
eleventh year. In early manhood he
discontinued mill-work on account of his health and went on a farm in the
vicinity of Watertown, and there he died at the age of forty-seven years. Politically a Republican, he was active in
the cause of his party. Both he and his
wife were members of the Episcopal Church.
Mrs. Noble, who was a native of New York, descended from an old New
England family. She died when in her
sixty-ninth year.
The
boyhood days of Mr. Noble were spent at home on the farm and in his youth he
had excellent educational advantages. He
attended the public school, high school and academy at Ogdensburg, N.Y., and at
twenty he went west to Chicago, Ill., where for two years he worked under grain
commissioners and inspectors. In 1867 he
went to Ft. Laramie, Wyo., and clerked a general store for a short time,
subsequently working under Gen. W.S. Harney as clerk for Quartermaster E.B.
Grimes when he moved the Indians to the Missouri river, now the Pine River
Agency, working in the latter capacity for two years. In 1869 Mr. Noble went to the Sweet Water
mining district and in partnership with a brother, W.P. Noble, took government
contracts of carrying freight to the soldiers at Camp Stanbaugh and Ft.
Washakie, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles from Rawlins, on the Union
Pacific. This business was very
lucrative, owing to the danger attached, for the Indians were troublesome and
the traveling had to be done principally at night. It was exceedingly hazardous, but the
brothers followed it from 1870 to 1882, and during this time they made and
saved considerable money.
In
partnership with his brother, Mr. Noble went to the vicinity of Lander, Wyo.,
and engaged in banking and mercantile business, in addition to conducting an
extensive cattle business. They were
very successful in their undertakings, and in 1882 they added sheep to their
stock, feeding from fifteen to twenty-five thousand sheep and cattle. Upon the death of his father in the early ‘70s, Mr. Noble also
became administrator of the estate from which he derived an additional
income. At present the brothers are
operating a store and bank at Lander, a branch store at Shoshone agency, and a
government store, having conducted the latter for twenty years. At the present writing they own seventy
thousand acres of land in Elko and Humboldt counties, Nev., four thousand acres
being devoted to grain and alfalfa. One
of their ranches, containing from seven to ten thousand acres, is located in
Fremont, Natrona and Johnson counties and is Wyoming water rights’ land. In 1890 another brother, Fred F. Noble, was
taken into partnership. He resides in
Lander, Wyo., and in addition to looking after the general interests of Noble
brothers, is cashier of the Lander Bank.
Warden P. Noble resides in Salt Lake City. It is estimated by those who claim to know
that the brothers are worth in neighborhood of $500,000. By his marriage, January 25, 1871, in Cape
Vincent, N.Y., W.N. Noble was joined in matrimony with Miss Jennie L. Sheppard,
who was born in Cape Vincent. They have
two children, Janette Sheppard and William Worden, the latter being his
father’s able assistant during the summer months. Fraternally Mr. Noble is a member of the of
the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks ad of the National Union.
Transcribed by
Louise E. Shoemaker; July 14th, 2015.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 668-671. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Louise E. Shoemaker.