Santa
Clara County
Biographies
EDWIN WILLSON
The most important agricultural movement in
this country at the present time is in the direction of substituting stock-raising
for the growing of cereals and cotton. As a result the farmers in various parts
of the country are turning their attention more and more to stock farming and
grass culture, the government giving encouragement to the movement in the
belief that it will put agriculture on a more profitable basis. A splendid
example of one who has followed this line of agriculture from early childhood
in California, his native state, is Edwin Willson, a prosperous rancher, who
reside two miles east of Gilroy, on the old Gilroy road. Born in old Gilroy,
Santa Clara county, July 14, 1855, Mr. Willson is the
eldest living child of Forest and Eunice (Chickering)
Willson, the former being now deceased and the latter still a resident of
Gilroy. His father was born in New Hampshire and there his marriage also took
place. By occupation he was a mason and builder. In 1851 he left the east and
journeyed to San Francisco, making the trip by way of Cape Horn. In Santa Clara
county, upon the present site of old Gilroy, he bought
fifty acres of land and engaged in farm pursuits, subsequently purchasing land
among the foothills. Here he began stock-raising, a business in which he was
eminently successful. From time to time he made additional purchases, and in
this way acquired eleven thousand acres in one tract and twenty-five hundred
acres in another. Later he sold his extensive stock ranch to a Mr. Hyde, also
prominent as a stockman, but retained the home place in the vicinity of Gilroy.
Here his last days were spent, and he died in 1894, aged seventy-four years. By
his marriage he was united with Eunice Chickering, of
New Hampshire, and they were blessed with a family of ten children, seven of
whom are still living, two being sons and five daughters.
Reared in his native locality, Mr.
Willson attended the common schools of Gilroy, and took a finishing course in
the Gilroy high school. At eighteen he left home and devoted his time to
stock-raising, which has occupied his attention ever since. From the first he
entered into the work heartily and the success he enjoys today is but a natural
result. His occupation has been a constant source of pleasure to him and it has
been his pride to do everything in the best possible manner. He established the
ranch known as the Hot Springs Range, and here he has two thousand acres,
fenced with wire fencing, devoted to raising stock and hay. Upon this place,
which is about two miles from Gilroy, he built a handsome and convenient
residence and otherwise improved his ranch which is well located and highly
productive. His home place on the old Gilroy road contains thirty-three acres,
planted in orchard and hay. By his marriage Mr. Willson was united with Dolly Rither, a native of Santa Clara county,
and a daughter of Jacob Rither, one of the early
settlers of Gilroy. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Willson, and
their eldest child, Clara Pacific, was the first child born in the Pacific grove. The others are called Lottie, Lyman and Vesta. On the 29th of March, 1902, Mrs. Willson
died, and her demise was deeply deplored, not only by her family, but by a
large circle of friends. Politically Mr. Willson is a faithful adherent of the
Republican party and as he is one of the substantial
men of his locality his influence in the political field is far reaching.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast
Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Page 1332. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Cecelia M. Setty.