San
Joaquin County
Biographies
WILLIAM H. THRUSH
A California agriculturist, who well
has merited, by his progressive, scientific industry and his practical results
of value to others as well as himself, all the prosperity which has finally crowned
his efforts up to the present day, is William H. Thrush, whose splendid ranch
on the Waterloo Road has become as fine a demonstration as would be possible of
the productivity of San Joaquin County soil.
A native son, he was born in the Harmony Grove district of this county,
one mile west of the Harmony Grove schoolhouse, on March 14, 1864, the only son
of George and Dora Elizabeth (Ebeling) Thrush, both now deceased.
George Thrush was born in
Pennsylvania and when a small boy he was taken to Ohio by his parents, where
they lived a short time and then removed to Missouri, where he grew to manhood
and lived until he came west in 1862. He
had married in Missouri and settled down to farm pursuits until the news of the
discovery of gold induced him to come to California. Leaving his wife and daughters, all then
small children, he started overland with a mule and an ox-team and a companion,
in the ‘50s, and in due time arrived at his destination. Sometime after locating in this state he and
his friend took the smallpox and his friend died; and as soon as he had
recovered from the disease he went back east to join his family and at the same
time determined to make a permanent location in the Golden state. Settling his affairs he outfitted and with
Mrs. Thrush and daughters made the long overland trip, driving an ox-team,
while his wife drove a mule-team, taking the Salt Lake route to
California. He was accompanied by Henry
Ebeling, the youngest brother of his wife, and he later died in this
state. Upon arrival here Mr. Thrush
hauled supplies to the mines and later engaged in ranching in the Harmony Grove
district, where he settled upon his arrival.
He sold out his holdings in that locality and bought 640 acres near
Modesto and raised grain there until 1871, when he concluded he would try
farming back in Missouri once more.
Renting his land and equipment, with his family he returned to Missouri,
bought and stocked a good farm, but only lived there six months, when he turned
again to California. He lived for a time
in San Jose and Santa Clara, and then came to San Joaquin County in 1874, bought 320 acres of land on the Waterloo Road, eight
miles from Stockton, and from that date this section remained his home until
his death September 8, 1907, at the age of seventy-eight years. Mrs. Thrush died at the age of sixty-three.
The following children were born to
this worthy couple: Ellen married
Russell Kincaide of Long Beach, and died in 1922, leaving two boys and four
girls; Louise is the widow of D. I. Hancock and makes her home with her only
daughter, Mrs. Ed Branstead, near Stockton; Marine
became the wife of William Bonham and has two sons and one daughter; Edith is
the widow of Henry Leffler and the mother of three boys; Fanny is the widow of
Nicolas Bacon of Stockton and has one boy and two girls; Alice is Mrs. Wilkes
Foreman of Oakland; the seventh in order of birth is William H., our subject;
Dora married Thomas Brierly of Oakland and they have
one daughter. The last two children were
born in California.
William H. Thrush remained at home
with his father until he was twenty-one and then started to farm for
himself. He leased 160 acres near Linden
and raised grain for three years, then came back to the old Thrush ranch on the
Calaveras River and in 1892 bought eighty acres of the home estate; later he
added ninety-five acres adjoining, part of the Martin property, and this he
farms to grain with the exception of about four acres that he has planted to
alfalfa. In 1914 he bought fifty acres
of bare land near Linden that he has leased for a period of years and which
will be set to fruit trees and vines.
Mr. Thrush also owns considerable real estate in Stockton, which makes
it more natural that, as a public-spirited citizen and loyal Republican that he
should favor any legislation encouraging and protecting agricultural and
industrial development. He has made his
own way since leaving home and his success is the result of his own efforts.
At Stockton, August 26, 1885, Mr.
Thrush was married to Miss Allie Anderson, a native of Carson City, Nevada, and
the daughter of William H. and Jane (McBride) Anderson. Her father was born in Hamilton County,
Indiana, August 22, 1838, and now makes his home with Mr. and Mrs. Thrush. When a child he was taken to Van Buren
County, Iowa, by his parents and there reared and educated. He came across the plains to Nevada in 1864,
mined and freighted for two years. In
1866 he came to San Joaquin County and until 1886 farmed leased land in the
vicinity of Waterloo, then he spent fifteen years in
Mendocino County lumbering and since then has lived retired. He is of Scotch ancestry, his paternal
grandfather having served in the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Anderson was born in Ohio of Irish
parents and she died at the age of thirty-six, leaving two children, H. G.
Anderson, an employee of General Petroleum Company in the Coalinga oil field
and Mrs. Thrush.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
523. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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