San
Joaquin County
Biographies
WILLARD J. BUZZELL
A native son of California, and a
representative of one of the earliest pioneer families, is Willard J. Buzzell,
tower foreman of the Southern Pacific Railroad bridge
at Mossdale since 1907, without a single accident to mar his record. He is a son of W. J. Buzzell, a native of
France, who was a seaman on a whaling vessel sailing the seven seas. In 1840 the father made a trip to the Pacific
Coast; and while his vessel lay at Half Moon Bay, California, he and a
companion deserted and made their way to shore under cover of night and a few
days later he engaged to work as a trapper in the mountains along the
coast. Coming to Sutter’s Fort in 1844,
he was married to Miss Frances Kelsey, a daughter of David Kelsey, a pioneer
who settled near French Camp, San Joaquin County, in August, 1844. Here David Kelsey built a tule-house on land
given him by Mr. Gulnac. The agreement
was that if David Kelsey would live on the land for one year, Mr. Gulnac would
give him a square mile of land on the Mokelumne River. This Mr. Kelsey agreed to do and built his
house, the second house built in what is now San Joaquin County, the first
being that of Thomas Lindsey, also constructed of tule. Soon after the family were
settled in their new home, Mr. Kelsey visited an Indian who had the smallpox,
contracted the disease, and died a short time later from its effects. The mother also was a victim of the dread
disease. She became blind and later
passed away, leaving their two children, America and Frances, alone in that
unsettled pioneer country. They were
cared for by herders, and there Frances later met W J. Buzzell, her future
husband. The other sister, America
Kelsey, is a noted character in California history, famed in song and story,
and immortalized as the heroine in Dave S. Matthews’ historical novel, “America
Kelsey, a Romance of the Great San Joaquin Valley,” from the press of the
Stockton Record, 1915. In his foreword
to this story, the author says:
“This is a fictional story of life
in the great San Joaquin Valley, based on historical facts. The heroine is America Kelsey, the first
white girl to live in the section of California now known as San Joaquin
County.
The names in most instances are those
of people who actually lived there during the strenuous days depicted. The Indian tribes, history tells us, were as
described.
The author has used the writer’s
license in weaving a romance that demands the use of fiction throughout. In fact, it is not a history; it’s a romantic
story of California life. To possible
heirs of characters whose names have been used in this story, I beg their
indulgence.”
W. J. Buzzell met Captain Weber at
San Jose, and together they came to Stockton; and the two men were closely
associated until 1850, when Mr. Buzzell sold his tavern and removed to Santa
Cruz. There were six children born to
him and his wife. Helen was born at
Sutter’s Fort, August 2, 1845, and married H. A. Reed, of Half Moon Bay; she
now resides with her daughter, Mrs. Max Brown, at Burlingame. David died at the age of two years. Elizabeth A. was born at Stockton, September
9, 1847, and was the first America girl born at Stockton. She married Christopher Grattan, and they had
two sons and one daughter; after his death she married L. A. Gunn, and she is
now a widow residing at Berkeley, California.
Willard J. was born at Santa Cruz, June 10, 1850. Joseph was born at Santa Cruz, August 8,
1852, and was reared and received a good education in that place. He became a farmer and married Miss Mary
Lawrence, in 1888, at Stockton; and they had two children. Later he became deputy sheriff under Thomas Cunningham
and on November 28, 1895, was shot and killed near Paradise Cut, while in the
discharge of his duty. The home he built
for his family as Mossdale was swept away in the flood of 1911. Subsequently to his death, his widow became
Mrs. O. A. Seamands.
Mary Teresa is now Mrs. Abe Nichols, of San Francisco, and has one
daughter. Mrs. William J. Buzzell passed
away at the age of thirty-four, while residing at Half Moon Bay. The father later married again and had one
son, Herbert, now residing at Half Moon Bay.
The former was accidentally drowned in Half Moon Bay close to the spot
where he entered the Golden State in 1840.
Willard J. Buzzell received a good
grammar school education, and since he was thirteen years old has been making
his own way in the world. He grew up on
his father’s ranch near Purissima, and for several
years was employed as a stage driver through the La Honda and Pescadero territory.
In 1865 he settled at Stockton and found work on the Dr. Grattan ranch
east of the city, and while there attended the public school on Cherokee
Lane. From 1869 to 1871 he was employed
on the Clowes ranch.
In 1872 he removed to San Francisco and entered the employ of the
Southern Pacific Railroad Company, in the freight department at Third and
Townsend streets, where he remained about one year. Then he went to Silver Reef, Utah, and
engaged in placer mining, with his headquarters at Salt Lake City; he spent ten
years in that locality and made and lost a fortune. Returning to San Joaquin County, he was
employed by E. C. Clowes as foreman on his extensive
grain ranch, and this job occupied him for eight years. On May 16, 1907, he became the bridge tower
foreman at Mossdale on the Southern Pacific Railroad Bridge. Mr. Buzzell belongs to the Fraternal
Brotherhood. He is a stockholder in the Home
Builders Association at Salt Lake City, and in the Coast Tire & Rubber
Corporation of Oakland.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
907-908. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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