Yolo County
Biographies
GEORGE W. HOLLINGSWORTH
To the minds of the surviving few of the
pioneers of Yolo county the name of Hollingsworth recalls memories of the
honored pioneer, John Hollingsworth, who from the time of his settlement near
Woodland until his death many years afterward wielded a large influence in the
promotion of enterprises for the welfare of the county and proved himself a
resourceful, capable and progressive citizen. To those of the present
generation the family name is especially significant of the life and activities
of George W. Hollingsworth, a son of the pioneer, and now one of the leading
agriculturists of this part of the Sacramento valley. A lifelong resident of
the county, he was born two miles east of Woodland, March 16, 1860, and is now
the owner of a farm of three hundred and thirty-five acres six miles southwest
of Woodland, where he has a finely improved property, with an attractive
country home, substantial barns and granaries, and facilities for irrigation.
The entire tract is under cultivation with the exception of seventy-five acres
of alfalfa land, and in addition to the raising of general farm products he is
engaged in raising horses, mules, cattle and hogs.
A
native of Missouri, John Hollingsworth was a young unmarried man when he joined
a caravan of emigrants in the great army of gold-seekers and with ox-teams
journeyed overland in 1849. For a short time he tried his luck in the mines of
Placer and Nevada counties, but lack of success led him to seek other
employment, and he afterward engaged in freighting until 1852 and then became
interested in the cattle business. About 1855 he settled on a ranch east of
Woodland and afterward remained a resident of Yolo county,
where he speculated in lands to such an extent that at times he owned several
thousand acres. Other interests enlisted his sympathies and financial aid.
Realizing the need of a financial institution, he assisted in the founding of
the Bank of Woodland, of whose board of directors he continued to be a member
until his death, at eight-two years of age. The estate left by him was valued
at $400,000, a sum indicative of his keen financial ability, for he came to the
county almost wholly without means. Since his demise Mrs. Hollingsworth has
remained on the old homestead near Woodland.
When George W. Hollingsworth was a child
of five years his parents removed from the ranch into the town of Woodland, and
there he received his education in the public schools. At an early age he began
to assist his father in the management of the family’s varied interests and
thus acquired a knowledge of finances invaluable to
him in subsequent years. Nor was the experience gained as superintendent of the
ranch less important to him in its influence upon his present success. At the
time of his marriage, in 1884, he left home and with his bride settled upon the
farm he now owns and occupies, and here he has since actively devoted his
attention to the improvement of the property. He and wife, who was formerly Emma McCarty, and a native of Nevada county,
Cal., are the parents of six children, all at home, viz.: Ora
E., John T., Roy W., Lela E., Georgia C. and Frankie. In politics Mr.
Hollingsworth is stanchly and unreservedly Republican, following in that
respect the precepts of his father, who was one of the founders of the party in
Yolo county. In fraternal relations he is connected
with the blue lodge of Masonry at Woodland, also the Order of the Eastern Star.
Among the people of the county where his entire life has been passed he is
recognized as a rancher of progressive tendencies, unusual capability and
genial, companionable disposition.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: "History of the State of
California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento
Valley, Cal.," J. M. Guinn, Page
498. The Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago,
1906.
© 2017 Cecelia M. Setty.
Golden Nugget Library's Yolo
County Biographies