San
Joaquin County
Biographies
WILLARD HANSEL
The interesting annals of more than
one historic family are called in the life-story of Willard Hansel, the retired
rancher and honored veteran of the Grand Army of the Republic. Born in Pickaway County, Ohio, near
Circleville, February 2, 1842, he was the son of John and Mary (Burt)
Hansel. Mrs. Hansel came from the same
town in Ohio, although her parents were natives of Connecticut, while John Hansel
came from Rush Creek, Canada. He died in
Ohio; and then his devoted widow joined her father’s family, who migrated to
Illinois in 1844. Willard had only very
limited opportunity, therefore, to get an education but attended for a short
time a school that was held in a log cabin.
Patriotic by nature, Willard Hansel
enlisted for service in the Civil War on the Fourth of July, 1861, joining the
1st Illinois Cavalry, under General Fremont, who had fought in the
southwest. He was taken prisoner at
Lexington, Missouri, November 20, 1861, and on the afternoon of the next day,
was let go again, as the Rebels at that place did not have sufficient numbers
to guard the prisoners they had taken.
He then served for three months in the 70th Illinois
Infantry, after which he was again transferred to the 1st Illinois
Cavalry Regiment. On account of some
discrepancies in the transfer made, his company was discharged from the army by
the governor if Illinois. During the
time he did serve, the 70th was on guard duty, caring for some
10,000 Rebel prisoners from Alton to Vicksburg Landing.
In the spring of 1863, the 1st
and 2nd lieutenants of the company organized a little band of seven
men, including our subject, and crossed the Great Plains, driving sixty head of
horses and mules to Washoe City, nine miles from Reno, Nevada; and there
Willard Hansel went to work in the woods.
In 1864, he enlisted in the 1st Nevada Cavalry and wintered
at Camp Nye; and in the spring this regiment was sent out to quell the Indian
uprising near Winnemucca. Many Indians
were killed in the encounters that followed, and the Indian forces then there,
were completely shattered, the last battle being fought on November 20,
1865. Soon after this encounter the
regiment returned to Fort Churchill, and in the same month was discharged.
Mr. Hansel worked in the sawmills in
Nevada until 1866, when he came to San Joaquin County, returning to Nevada each
summer for the following three years to work in the sawmills, and coming back
for the winter to Clements. In 1896, he
settled down for good here, and he has ever since resided in the northeastern
part of the county. At Lockeford, on
December 15, 1869, he was married to Miss Martha Ellen McDowell, who was born
on June 20, 1850, near Van Buren, Illinois, the daughter of Jesse F. McDowell,
who had married Elizabeth J. Hodge. Mr.
McDowell was born in Columbia, Adair County, Kentucky, on November 18, 1819,
his parents being Jacob and Agnes McDowell, both natives of Virginia. In 1840, he migrated to Hillsboro, in
Montgomery County, Illinois, where he plied his trade as a carpenter for a few
years; and then he farmed at Van Buren, Illinois, until 1852. In that year, he crossed the untracked plains
and settled in San Joaquin County, and for awhile continued to work at his
trade. In 1856 he took up a half-section
of land on the north side of the Mokelumne River, about one mile north of the
present site of Clements, at what then was known as Mackville
Corner; and a few years afterward he purchased 278 acres, bringing his holdings
in 1879 to 598 acres.
In 1870, Mr. Hansel helped Mr.
McDowell to build a fine two-story stone house on the ranch at Mackville Corner; and since it then cost about $5,000, it
was rightly regarded as one of the best residences in that section of the
country. Later on, in the eighties, Mr.
McDowell purchased still more land, until he had acquired in aggregate 1,178
acres. After this he divided 1,000 acres
among his children, retaining 178 acres for his own use, which he held until
his death raising horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, wheat, barley, corn, alfalfa and
hay. In 1843, Jesse F. McDowell had
married Elizabeth J. Hodge, at Van Buren, Illinois, who was destined to pass
away in September, 1852, while crossing the plains, her death occurring in
Nevada. She was a native of Kentucky,
and left behind the enviable heritage of a good name. Several children came of this fortunate
marriage: Mary J., the eldest, became
the wife of A. J. Burt; Tina A. is now Mrs. George Stacy. Martha Ellen is the wife of the subject of
this sketch. In 1864, Mr. McDowell
remarried, this time choosing for his wife Miss Margaret Montgomery; and they had
one child, Carry, Mrs. Marcus Steely, who resides at the old home. The second Mrs. McDowell died in 1888. Mr. McDowell was a member of the Freemasons
and Good Templar’s of Lockeford, until his death. For years, he was justice of the peace in the
Elliott Precinct.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs.
Willard Hansel farmed a part of J. F. McDowell’s place, and then he leased the
Kerr rancho at Lockeford, a tract of 320 acres, and farmed there for three
years, raising for the most part vegetables and grain. He then moved to a ranch on Dry Creek, west
of Galt, then called the Yankee Jim Ranch; but he was
flooded out by the rising waters of the Mokelumne River, two years in
succession, and thereby lost all he had gained before. He brought his family back to Clements, and
there they lived for the next two years while he worked in the sugar pines on
Putnam Mountain, in Mariposa County, trying to make another stake. He returned to Clements, and at that time his
wife fell heir to her share of the old McDowell ranch,
one mile north of Clements. This led to
his removal to Clements, in which place he has lived ever since.
Seven children have been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Hansel, and they have been privileged to see four generations. Oatus was born on
September 29, 1870, and died in 1888; Emma first saw the light on May 3, 1872,
and is now Mrs. Russell, of Clements; Ella born on March 7, 1877, is Mrs. F. H.
Mercer, of Jackson, Michigan; Carrie, born on December 2, 1873, died on March
9, 1877; Franklin was born on August 2, 1875; Alma, Mrs. P. A. Athearn, of Stockton, first saw the light on February 13,
1883; and Orrie, born April 13, 1887, died in 1919 at
the age of thirty-two. Mrs. Russell
married previously, and was the wife of Alvin Raines, now deceased; she resides
with Mr. and Mrs. Hansel, and they have through her first marriage five
grandchildren. Arthur A. lives at
Costello, California; Lester L. is in Lockeford; Velma Florence has become Mrs.
Raggio, of Jackson; and Elden and Ellen are both students. Alma Athearn, of
Stockton, has one son, Allen; and Mrs. Mercer, of Jackson, has three
children: Franklin Earl, Dorothy and
Willard. The great-grandchildren of Mr.
and Mrs. Hansel are as follows: Arthur
A. Raines, of Costello, has two children, Arthur Alvin and Nola Mae; Lester
Raines, of Lockeford, has three children:
Lois Elva, Alta Marie, and Dara June.
Mr. Hansel is a staunch Republican,
particularly interested in government aid for industrial development; but he is
first, last and all the time an American.
He has great faith in California, and is especially optimistic as to the
future of San Joaquin County.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
819-820. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Genealogy
Databases