San Joaquin County
Biographies
NATHANIEL SIGGONS HARROLD
NATHANIEL SIGGONS HARROLD, a
rancher of Dent Township, was born in Warren County, Pennsylvania, September
18, 1833, a son of Daniel and Hilda (Martin) Harrold. The father, a native of
the State of Pennsylvania, of German descent, was a blacksmith by trade. The
mother was born in Ohio, of Scotch and English parentage. In 1838 they moved to
Iowa and settled on a farm in Lee County, and both died in that State, the
mother at sixty-five, and the father at eighty years and eight months.
N. S. Harrold received a limited
education, but learned farming pretty thoroughly in his youth. In 1849, in
company with a brother-in-law, John N. Taylor, he set out for California. They
were members of the “Iowa Democratic Train” of sixty-four wagons, all drawn by
oxen. The Indians were hostile and hovered around, but did not attack them. The
train divided at Laramie, and the captain of the small party of twelve wagons,
with which Mr. Harrold’s fortunes were cast, was killed by Indians while at
some distance from his company, on the headwaters of Feather river. The party
arrived at Wood’s creek November 14, 1849, and Mr. Harrold tried mining for a
few days, and still treasures as a relic the gold then gathered. He soon
learned that mining was not his forte, and he earned his first ready money as
cook at the “Texas Tent,” a wayside tavern, four miles west of what is now
Farmington. He filled that position all of his first winter in California, at
$150 a month. He next served as teamster for a freighting firm for five months,
and in the fall of 1850 he bought four oxen and two wagons and went to
freighting on his own account.
In 1851 he bought the Oregon ranch on
French Camp slough, near Farmington. In 1852 he made a second trial of mining
for six weeks, only to become more settled in his conviction that mining was
not in his line. In 1853 he sold out his teaming business and embarked in the
cattle-raising industry. He went into southern California, buying cattle at
different points. He followed that line for five years, buying, grazing,
driving and selling cattle, sometimes having 12,000 head, of all grades, of
which he would drive perhaps 1,000 head, from time to time, to a market in the
mines.
In 1858 he made the Oregon ranch the
center of his cattle trade, having a partner, and selling chiefly to drovers.
The ranch of 320 acres was increased by purchase from various parties until it
comprised 5,400 acres. In 1864, being with his partner a heavy loser by the
drouth of that season, they drove 2,300 head into Montana to save a remnant of
their herds. In 1865 he entered more largely into general farming, which has
been his chief business since that time. In 1868 he erected a fine brick
residence on his place in Farmington, at a cost of about $10,000 for building
and $3,000 for furnishing. He also bought land in various quarters, and was
owner of 15,000 acres before 1880. In 1884 he bought 1,440 acres in Dent
Township, eleven miles southeast of Farmington, which he had increased to 2,560
in 1889. He uses all the modern conveniences for farming on a large scale, and
expects to plow and haul with a traction engine within two years. He has been
County Treasurer for one term, 1873-’74, and School Trustee for ten years or
more. He prefers farming to office-holding, and always finds enough to do in
caring for his land interests.
Mr. Harrold has been twice married, first
at his place in Farmington, May 17, 1856, to Miss Elizabeth Ann Smith, born in
Clarke County, Ohio, September 14, 1840, a daughter of Samuel and Levisa
(Welchance) Smith. The father, born in Virginia in 1800, the son or grandson of
a German emigrant, moved to Ohio before his marriage, came to California in
1854, and died in Stockton in 1864. The mother, a native of Ohio, of Welsh
descent, died in that State at the age of thirty-nine. Mrs. Harrold came to
California in 1853, with her sister Amanda, the wife of William Stamper, M. D.,
who settled in Stockton. Mr. and Mrs. Harrold have had eight children, of whom
these six are living in 1889:
(1) Aaron Montague Harrold, born December
28, 1857, finished his education in the University of the Pacific at San Jose,
where the mother and children resided from 1875 to 1884. The four oldest
children attended that institution for some years. A. M. was married April 4,
1881, to Miss Henrietta Bruner, a native of Marysville, a daughter of Rev. J.
and Margaret Bruner. She died May 7, 1887, leaving two children: Clarence
William, born January 29, 1882, and Allison Nathaniel, born December 23, 1886.
A. M. Harrold was again married August 21,
1889, to Miss Lucy Ann Cowdrey, born in Campo Seco, California, February 6,
1868, a daughter of Isaac B. and Alice (Mullen) Cowdrey. The mother died August
7, 1878, and the father October 30, 1884, aged sixty-two, both at Campo Seco.
Mr. A. M. Harrold owns 600 acres two miles
south of Farmington, on which he has erected a nice residence, at a cost of
$3,000 to $4,000. He is a member of Lodge No. 296, I. O. O. F.
(2) Arthur Winfield Harrold, born at
Farmington, September 29, 1861, was educated there and afterwards at San Jose,
receiving a diploma from the Business College of San Jose in March, 1881. He
then went to farming on his 490-acre ranch, three miles southwest of
Farmington. In 1883 he rejoined the family in San Jose, and in 1884 returned
with them to Farmington. He next went to clerking in a dry-goods store in
Stockton for one year, and afterwards into the manufacture of Canyontell
Bitters, as a member of the firm of W. T. Donnell & Co., of San Francisco,
for about two years. That business was closed out February 27, 1889, and on the
4th of August of that year Mr. Harrold returned to his ranch, where
he proceeded to erect a neat house, at a cost of $2,000.
Mr. A. W. Harrold was married in San Jose,
to Miss Ellen Carter, born in that city, and they have two children, both born
in San Francisco: Ruby, July 7, 1887, and William Arthur, November 27, 1888.
(3) Mollie Pacific, born June 14, 1864,
finished her education at San Jose, was there married September 6, 1883, to
Charles E. Blythe, and has two children: Alice Eva and Samuel Allison.
(4) Nevada, born December 26, 1867, also
finished her education at San Jose, was married at Farmington in 1885 to Peter
J. Chalmers, and has two children: James Arthur and William Wallace. (5)
Arizona, born March 15, 1872, and (6) Clarence, born August 30, 1874, are both
living with their mother at the homestead in Farmington.
Mr. N. S. Harrold was again married June
17, 1881, to Miss Mary Lodema Butler, born in Iowa, May 1, 1848, a daughter of
Pierce Gould and Elvira (Lamson) Butler, both natives of Connecticut. The
mother died young. The father, born September 24, 1821, son of Martin and
Cynthia (Potter) Butler, is still living on his farm in Mashaska County, Iowa.
Martin Butler was of English parentage, and by calling a sea captain. The
Lamsons are of New England birth for several generations. Mr. and Mrs. Amos
Lamson, the parents of Mrs. Butler, moved to Iowa and lived to a good age, the
mother being over seventy when she died.
Mr. and Mrs. Harrold are the parents of
three children: Hulda Louise, born October 5, 1883; Lena May, May 1, 1886;
Nathaniel Gould, March 22, 1889.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Pages 613-615. Lewis Pub.
Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
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