Siskiyou County
Biographies
JOHN F. STALLCUP
John F. Stallcup, who lives in Grenada, is one of the owners of the widely known Stallcup ranch, in Big Springs district of Siskiyou county, and belongs to one of the community’s old and respected families. He was born in Los Angeles county, this state, on the 30th of October, 1870, and is a son of Edward and Emma Hix Stallcup, the former born in Texas and the latter in Kentucky, the mother giving up her life at the birth of her son. There was an older sister, Lizzie, who died in 1912, who was the wife of Joseph Axell, a locomotive engineer, as well as a steam sawmill engineer. For his second wife Mr. Stallcup married Mary C. Cotman, of Los Angeles county, and to this union were born five children, namely: Thomas E., who is represented on other pages of this history; Joseph N., who is a partner in the home ranch; Callie A., the wife of James A. Burns; Lilla Jane, the wife of William Wilson, who owns a fine ranch in Applegate, Josephine county, Oregon; and Susie, the wife of Scott Nicewood, a rancher at Halsey, Oregon. In 1888 Edward Stallcup took his family to Oregon, but not being satisfied with conditions there, particularly as to educational advantages for his children, he returned to California, locating on the present ranch at Big Springs. He was successful in acquiring a fine estate of fourteen and fifty-six acres, and incorporated his business interests under the name of Edward Stallcup & Sons Company. Edward Stallcup was a veteran of the Civil war, having served four years in the Southern Army under Colonel Dahlrymple, and got through with but one slight wound. Born and reared in Texas, he was a strong southern man. During the period he served he was taken prisoner, but was liberated in New York, and was there honorably discharged. He went from there to New Orleans by horseback, and thence to his home at Denton, Texas, where he arrived “broke.” In 1867 he went to Los Angeles, where he lived until taking his family to Oregon. His death occurred July 24, 1914, and he is survived by his widow, who lives with her son Thomas E. at the Big Springs ranch.
John F. Stallcup attended the public schools and spent many years of his life on the old ranch, near which is the Big spring, considered the third largest spring in the United States. The water of this spring is ninety-nine per cent pure, always shows a temperature of forty-one degrees, and the yield is forty-six hundred and sixty-seven miner’s inches of water a minute. The ranch is now owned by the three brothers, Thomas E., Joseph and John F., and their mother, whose interests are equal. The family have a large electric pump on the ranch, which is sufficient for all water purposes. John F. Stallcup actively assisted in the operation of the home ranch for any years, but now leased his interest, though he still owns it. He now lives in Grenada, where he has done some building, although he is practically retired from active business affairs. For some years he has acted as appraiser of land for the Bank of Italy branch at Yreka and is still so engaged. He is a member of Howard Lodge, No. 96, F. & A. M., at Yreka, and was raised in the Baptist Church, with which denomination the family has been identified for many years. He is a public-spirited man, giving his support to the best interests of the community, and stands high in public esteem.
Transcribed
by Craig Hahn.
Source: Wooldridge, J.W. Major History of the Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 2 pgs. 60-63. Pioneer Historical Publishing Co. Chicago
1931.
© 2005 Craig Hahn.
Golden Nugget Library's El Dorado County Biographies