Siskiyou
County
Biographies
JESSE WARREN CHURCHILL
The
family of which Jesse Warren Churchill is a worthy representative has for many
years been conspicuously active in matters affecting the development and
progress of Siskiyou County. Jesse
Warren Churchill, who is one of the owners of a leading commercial enterprise
at Yreka, was born at this place, April 3, 1868, and is the son of Jerome and
Julia (Patterson) Churchill, the former a native of New York State and the
latter of Waukegan, Illinois. The father
came by mule team across the plains in 1849, and located at Placerville, where
he remained for two years during which period he devoted his attention to
mining. He then rented a number of mules
and engaged in the packing of freight from Sacramento to interior points in the
state, and even as far north as Portland, Oregon. At one time he used as many as sixty mules in
that business. He also established
stores at various points, including Scott Bar, Humbug Creek and Yreka, and as
he gained a substantial financial condition he and others launched a bank, his
associates being E. Wadsworth, H. Wadsworth, Julien Neuschwander and Louis
Huseman, who thus established the Siskiyou County Bank. Mr. Churchill was the owner of several
thousand acres of land and to the time of his death, which occurred April 12, 1908,
he was one of Siskiyou County’s most prominent and influential men. To him and his wife were born three children,
namely: Carrie, deceased; Jerome Percy
and Jesse Warren.
Jesse
W. Churchill attended the common schools and then entered Bates Gymnasium, a
preparatory school for the University of California. Later, he attended Worcester School of
Technology, at Worcester, Massachusetts, and on the completion of his studies
there, became identified with the banking business, in Yreka, in which he engaged
for five years. He then turned his
attention to ranching and the stock business at Dorris, California, buying,
feeding and selling cattle on the hoof, in which business he was associated
with his father.
After
he quit ranching Mr. Churchill engaged in the hydro-electric business,
organizing the California-Oregon Power Company and serving as its president for
many years. The Churchill family were the leaders in this great project which did so
much for the district in the general vicinity of Yreka. Later, he entered his present hardware
business at Yreka under the firm name of Dinkins & Churchill. In this store, which is the largest of its
kind if Siskiyou county, they carry a complete line of shelf and heavy
hardware, and auxiliary lines, and enjoy a large patronage from a wide radius
of surrounding country.
Mr.
Churchill was united in marriage to Miss May Visa Wheeler, a daughter of Thomas
and Visa (Thompson) Wheeler, the former a native of Missouri, and the latter of
Virginia. Her father was a pioneer of
California, having crossed the plains in an early day. He located in the vicinity of Stockton during
his early years in this sate and engaged in the sheep business, at one time
owning as many as eight thousand head.
Mr. Churchill met his future wife in Oakland, where she graduated from
Snell’s Seminary, a private school. Mr. and Mrs. Churchill are the parents of a
daughter, Dorothy May, who became the wife of Archie Bruce McDonald of Oakland,
California.
Mr.
Churchill is a Republican in his political belief and has taken a keen interest
in public affairs, though he does not seek office. He is a member of the Masonic order,
belonging to the Blue Lodge and Chapter at Yreka, the Commandery at Yreka, and
Ben Ali Temple of the Mystic Shrine, at Sacramento. He has worthily maintained the prestige of
the family name so well established by his father, and is regarded as one of
Siskiyou County’s leading men of affairs and worthiest citizens.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J. W. Major, History of
Sacramento Valley California, Vol. 2 Pages 410-413. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Siskiyou County
Biographies