Yolo County
Biographies
WILLIAM O. PEARSON
One of Yolo county’s enterprising and successful ranchers
is William O. Pearson, whose fine farm of one hundred and thirty-five acres is
located near Yolo, where he has made his home for many years. He was born on a
farm near Maxwell, Colusa county, California,
October 26, 1876, and is a son of Oliver Pearson, who is now deceased. The
father, who was a native of Sweden, came to California in young manhood, by way
of the isthmus of Panama, and engaged in farming in
Colusa county. Some sixty years ago a company prospected for oil on his place,
and now, after all these years, the same land is again
being tested for oil.
William O. Pearson received his education in the public
school at Maxwell and when a lad of eleven years started to work on his father’s
ranch, driving an eight-mule team to the plow, a somewhat difficult job for a
boy of his age. He remained on the ranch with his father until 1902, when he
engaged in farming on his own account. He also began raising sheep for the
P. R. Peterson Company, having become a member of that firm, and
carrying on his operations at Williams, Colusa county.
In 1914 Mr. Pearson came to Yolo county and bought one
hundred and thirty-five acres of the old Hoppin
place, near Yolo. In 1920 he erected a fine cement residence on this place, one
of the few of its kind in the county. He has been very successful in his
ranching operations and is regarded as an authority on sheep and hog raising, in both of which he has had many years of practical
experience. He specializes in Hampshire pedigreed sheep and Duroc
Jersey hogs, grazes many cattle in the mountain range, and also gives a good
deal of attention to the cultivation of rice.
Mr. Pearson was united in marriage to Miss Sadie L.
Peterson, who was born in Colusa county, California,
and is a daughter of Peter Peterson, an honored pioneer of that locality and a
successful farmer and sheep raiser. To them have been born six children,
namely: Bryant and Sadie, who are students in the junior college at Davis;
William; Peggy and Betty, twins, who are pupils in the Woodland high school;
and Peter. Mr. Pearson is a member of Yolo Lodge, No. 81,
F. & A. M.; the Foresters of America; and has been a member
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1898. He is a stanch
advocate of improved methods in all lines of activitity
(sic) and in farming has shown mature and reliable judgment, while in
matters affecting the civic welfare of his locality he has manifested a deep and
effective interest.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
23 April 2010.
Source: Wooldridge, J.W.Major
History of Sacramento Valley California, Vol. 2, Pages 107-108. Pioneer Historical Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Marie Hassard.
Golden
Nugget Library's Yolo County Biographies