Sutter County
Biographies
JOB K. WOOD
Conspicuous among the successful
agriculturists of Sutter county, Job K. Wood is one of
the early pioneers who have been largely responsible for the growth and
development of this community. After reaching the coast it was necessary to
borrow $60, with which to make a start, but at the present time he owns a
valuable ranch. Born in Scioto county, Ohio, June 13,
1837, he is a son of Abner B. Wood, a native of New York. The latter was reared
in his native state until he reached manhood, when he removed to Virginia and
engaged at this trade as a carpenter. In 1824 he went to Ohio and in addition
to running the farm which he purchased, also built saw-mills, a line of
endeavor which proved very remunerative. Selling out his Ohio interests in
1840, he went to Clark county, Ill., and upon the land
which he then entered and cleared he spent the remainder of his life. One of
Mr. Wood’s prominent characteristics was determination. His removal from New York
to Ohio was made entirely by foot, as he was without means to purchase a
ticket. By his own industry he met with success in his farming operations. With
his wife, formerly Nancy Calvert, a native of Virginia, he was a member of the
United Brethren Church, the services being held in their home. Mr. Wood died
when forty-five years of age, and his wife when thirty-seven.
At the age of seventeen years Job K.
Wood left his father’s home and came to California by way of the Nicaragua
route. He arrived in San Francisco May 7, 1855, and later located at Yuba City,
Sutter county, where he secured employment on
different ranches for five years. At the expiration of that time he purchased a
small band of cattle, which, with another heard which he took for the purpose
of herding, he grazed through the northern portion of the county, at that time
an open country. In 1858, in partnership with his brother, Mills C. Wood, he
bought eighty acres four miles east of Meridian, later adding eighty acres, now
in Reclamation District No. 70. They met with success in their combined efforts
until 1879, when Job sold his interest to his brother and bought his present
home, which at that time comprised three hundred and seventy-four acres. Five
years later he sold eighty acres. Thirty acres are devoted to alfalfa and the
rest to general ranching and stock-raising. A small dairy is also carried on in
connection with the ranch.
In 1886 Mr. Wood married Sarah
Wheeler, born in Colusa county, Cal., and the daughter of David and Jane Wheeler.
In their family are two children: Alice and Lester, both at home. Politically
Mr. Wood is a stanch Democrat and always votes the party ticket. In 1884 he was
elected to the position of supervisor, and served in that capacity for a term
of two years. In 1868 he became identified with Meridian Lodge, F. & A. M.,
and in 1878 with Enterprise Lodge No. 70, F. & A. M., of Yuba City, Cal.
Transcribed
By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: "History
of the State of California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento
Valley, Cal.," J.
M. Guinn, Pages 545-546. The Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago,
1906.
© 2017 Cecelia M. Setty.
Golden
Nugget Library's Sutter County Biographies