San Joaquin County
Biographies
SILAS MARCH
SILAS MARCH, farmer, is a
native of Clark County, Kentucky, where he was born May 4, 1827. In the fall of
the following year his parents moved to Boone County, where our subject was
raised and attended school. At the age of twenty-one he taught school, following
that occupation four years with success. At the expiration of this time he
decided to come to California; accordingly, he closed his school, settled up
with the school trustees, and, January 6, 1852, struck out, coming by the
regular mail steamer line of that day via New Orleans, Havana and Chagres,
landing in San Francisco March 14, 1852. After remaining there one night he
came up to Stockton, arriving here on the morning of the 16th. The
same day he went to French Camp, remaining there till the following September,
when he engaged in the cattle trade in Mariposa County, continuing in that
business till 1866, having at times large bands of cattle and extensive grazing
grounds. When that country began to get more settled up he bought a piece of
land and went to farming, about two years before he sold out his cattle. During
his residence there he served the county as Supervisor for thirteen years. He
was also connected with the inauguration and carrying out of the school system
of that county for about twenty-five years, in fact, during almost his entire
residence there. He was also associated with the sheep husbandry in Merced
County. In September, 1877, he sold out his interests in Mariposa County, and
moved to San Joaquin County, going on to his present place on the 18th
of that month, since which time he has followed farming exclusively. His ranch
contains 666 acres, a part of which is on the Weber grant, and the remainder is
State land, the whole situated on the lower Sacramento road, three miles north
west of Stockton. Mr. March has an extensive acquaintance among the public men
of the State, but politically is not what we might term a politician. His views
in this respect, however, are Democratic, and, being one of that retiring kind
of men, he has never sought any public notoriety. In an early day, when Merced
County was first organized, the people did elect him as Justice of the Peace,
which office he held one term. Mr. March was married July 11, 1850, to
Elizabeth Ann Stevenson, a native of Boone County, Missouri. Their family
consists of four sons and one daughter, all married and heads of families.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Page 584. Lewis Pub. Co.
Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Genealogy Databases