Among
the many energetic, skilled business men of the county, few have more sensibly
left the impress of their means and wise counsels thereon than the subject of
this biography. William C. Murdoch is a
native of Tuscumbia, Alabama, having been born there in 1852. He was educated at Poughkeepsie, New York,
and came to California in 1874. His
first occupation in Colusa County was as book-keeper for J. S. Wall & Co.,
of Princeton. In the summer of 1877 he
removed to Willows and opened a banking and commission office there under the
firm name of William C Murdoch & Co.
He continued in this till September, 1880, when his business was merged
into that of the Bank of Willows. In
the new organization he was made cashier, serving in that capacity nearly nine
years, when he resigned and disposed of his interest therein to the present
stockholders. Since then he has made
his home in San Francisco, being chiefly engaged in the insurance
business. In connection with others he
built the Sanhedrien Lumber Mill, located forty miles west of Willows in the
Coast Range Mountains. The paid-up
capital of the Sanhedrien Mill and Lumber Company is $250,000. This mill has a capacity for cutting fifty
thousand feet of lumber per day. The
company will construct fourteen miles of flume, to the mouth of the Grindstone,
thereby to connect with the West Side and Mendocino Railroad. Of this company Mr. Murdoch is treasurer and
principal stockholder. In 1877, when matters
looked decidedly “blue” for the aspiring but indomitable town of Willows, Mr.
Murdoch purchased eight lots south of the bank in that town and erected
two-story buildings thereon, thus aiding in giving the place a new
impetus. East Willows was laid out by
Mr. Murdoch. In 1884 he procured the
incorporation of the warehouses at Willows into what is now the Willows
Warehouse Association.
The
residence built by Mr. Murdoch at Willows is unsurpassed in the county for
beauty of architectural design and tastefulness of finish. It is now the property of S. C. Longmier.
Mr.
Murdoch was married, January 2, 1881, to Miss Nannie Wilson, of Sutter County,
a niece of the late Dr. Glenn. One
child is the fruit of their union. He
was a charter member of the first Masonic lodge instituted at Willows and one
of the incorporators of the Willows Agricultural Association. Ill health, the result of sedentary
occupations, caused Mr. Murdoch to leave this scene of so much business, push
and thrifty diligence, very much to the regret of the community.
“Colusa
County” – by Justus H. Rogers – Orland, CA – 1891 – pp 444-445
© 2004 Kathy Sedler