San Joaquin County
Biographies
NORVAL HARRISON
NORVAL HARRISON, a rancher,
residing in Stockton, was born in Monongahela County, West Virginia, in 1830, a
son of William M. and Matilda (Everley) Harrison, both natives of that county.
They moved to Lee County, Iowa, in 1846, where the father continued the work of
farming, to which he had been brought up. He died at about the age of fifty,
and the mother lived to be sixty. Grandparents Richard and Nancy (Martin)
Harrison, both natives of Monongahela County, lived to the age of sixty or
over.
The subject of this sketch received a
little schooling in his youth and was brought up to farm work on his father’s
place until the age of twenty. With an older brother, Joseph F., born in 1822,
and two companions, he left Lee County, Iowa, in April, 1850. After crossing
the Missouri at Omaha, they joined a larger party and came to California by the
Humboldt route through Truckee Pass. Arriving in Yuba County, the brothers
Harrison with the two comrades tried mining a short time, near what is now
Nevada City. All four engaged in teaming from Stockton to the mining districts,
in 1851, keeping together some eighteen months; and the brothers Harrison
continuing in the same line a further period of about the same duration. In
1854, Joseph F., who had learned the trade of harness-maker, opened a shop in
Stockton, and Norval went into the business of cattle-dealer, buying in
Southern California, driving to the mining regions where he sold to the
butchers, the brothers being still partners in both enterprises. In 1856 they
located 160 acres each in this county, and soon afterward bought another
half-section, meanwhile continuing the harness-making business in this city
until 1858. They engaged with N. S. Harrold of this county about 1859 in buying
land and cattle-raising, some tracts, bought in common, remaining undivided
until the early part of 1890, when a final partition and settlement was
effected. Meanwhile the brothers J. F. and N. Harrison engaged in various
enterprises, mostly farming and stock-raising, always together. Joseph F.
Harrison was first married in his native county about 1846, to Miss Julia
Shively, a native of that county, and with his wife followed his parents to Lee
County, Iowa, where she died before the brothers left for California in 1850,
leaving one child--William Bruce Harrison. In 1858, Joseph F. went East and was
again married in his native county to Miss Lee Ann McGill, born in that county
about 1834, with whom he returned to this county. Norval Harrison, still
unmarried, and having a permanent residence in this city since 1878, has been
all these years interested in farming, and in 1890 still owns stock ranches in
Butte and Tulare counties. He has been a Mason for about thirty years, being a
member of the Stockton Commandery as well. He is also a member of the San
Joaquin Valley Society of California Pioneers.
Joseph F. Harrison died March 1, 1886,
leaving a widow, living in Oakland, and four children, the issue of his
marriage with her: George Edmund and David Arthur, owning and farming 243 acres
in this township besides their undivided interest in their father’s estate;
Helen Louisa and Leonora, living with their mother in Oakland.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County, California,
Pages 627-628. Lewis Pub. Co. Chicago,
Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
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