Yuba County
Biographies
JOHN QUACKENBOS PACKARD
The Packard family originated in
Holland and was formerly written Pickhardt. When the
Duke of Alva invaded the Netherlands in 1567 a large emigration of Hollanders
took place to England. A majority of these Protestant refugees became subjects
of Queen Elizabeth and many changed their names to an English form, Kuyper becoming Cooper; DeWitt, Dwight; Groen,
Green; and Pickhardt, Packard. Their descendants were
numerous in the Parliamentary army under Fairfax and Cromwell and not a few of
their sons and grandsons immigrated to America, among the latter being the
progenitor of John Quackenbos Packard, known as
Samuel Packard. He had been living in Hingham, in Suffolk, whence he sailed for
America in the year 1638 in the ship Diligent, from Ipswich, England, under the
command of John Martin. Mr. Packard was one of a hundred and thirty-three
passengers who landed safely in Boston, whence he located in Bridgewater,
Mass., and became one of the proprietors of the town. His death occurred in
that location in 1684. John Q. Packard is the seventh generation in direct
descent from Samuel Packard, viz.: Samuel Packard, who died in 1684; Zaccheus, who died in 1723; Israel, born in 1680; Seth,
born in 1703, and died in 1788; Isaac, born in 1737, and died in 1795; Joseph,
born in 1780, and died in 1864; and John Quackenbos.
His father, Joseph, was a native of Massachusetts, but moved to Albany; he
served as aid on the staff of General Dodge in the northern part of New York
State. Later he located in Johnstown, where he engaged as a merchant. In 1838
he located in New York City, where he lived retired for some years, finally
returning to Albany, N. Y., where his death occurred. He married Sallie Winkoop, a native of New York City, a descendant of an old
and distinguished Holland family, her father, Peter Winkoop,
having emigrated from Holland to New York City, where his death occurred. She
also died in New York State, the mother of eight sons and four daughters.
The eighth in order of birth in the
family of his parents, John Quackenbos Packard was
born in Johnstown, N. Y., November 26, 1822, and in the schools of his native
town received his education. When about eighteen years of age
he became connected with business affairs as a clerk in a silk jobbing house in
New York City. There he was employed when the discovery of gold in
California turned the eyes of the world upon the western coast of the country.
Like others he was attracted to the west by the prospects of great wealth held
out and with other friends set out for the then practically unknown west. The
trip was made via steamer to the Isthmus of Panama, thence on the Old Equator
to San Francisco, the journey occupying eighty-seven days. On the first of June
they arrived in the city of San Francisco, following which Mr. Packard went to
the San Joaquin district, engaging in the mines at Jacksonville until October.
During and under the leadership of Captain Crozier,
of Texas, he went with a party in search of the Three Peaks; throughout the
trip they experienced many hardships and dangers, returning in a half starved
condition at the end of thirty days. In the latter part of October he went to
San Francisco, where he leased a lot of Thomas O. Larkin on Montgomery street and put up a wooden building. This property he sold
to the man interested with him in the enterprise, after which he went to
Marysville, then the center of an active mining district. There he formed a
partnership with Colonel Edwards Woodruff, the interests of these two men
remaining identical until they were severed by the death of the colonel in
1899. In Marysville they engaged in the general merchandise business until the
flood of 1862, when they disposed of their business interests. In the early
‘70s, while en route from California to New York with Colonel Woodruff, they
paid a visit to Salt Lake and Mr. Packard was so much attracted by
representations made to him of mining conditions in the Tintic
district of Utah, that he acquired an interest in the Eureka Hill mine, which
interest was gradually increased until with a brother, Joseph, he controlled a
majority of its stock. John Q. remained president and manager of this mine
until about 1895. He was the first to claim that ores would be found at depth
in the Tintic district and demonstrated it by his
work in the Eureka Hill mine. In later years he located in the same district
the Gemini mine, which continues in active operation and has paid about
$1,500,000 in dividends. He is still serving as president of this company.
During the time of his residence in Utah he bought and developed various mines,
among them the Tiptop, ten miles north of Haley, Idaho, the Michigan, near the
same place, and others in the same region. In 1900 Mr. Packard removed his
residence again to Marysville, the scene of his first permanent location in the
west, owning a fine summer home on the San Jose road, two miles from the city
of Santa Cruz. The greater part of his time is spent in the latter city, where
he is engaged in business affairs, being president of Big Creek Power Company,
which he purchased in 1900. The following year he became president of the Santa
Cruz Lime Company, located twelve miles north of the city on the coast. This
company was organized in 1875 and closed down after one year, and was not
re-opened until it passed into the management of Mr. Packard. He is a large
land owner of Yuba and Sutter counties, which property he leases for
agricultural purposes.
Personally Mr. Packard is a man of
strong and pleasing traits of character, firm in friendships, fair in business
dealing and generous to a fault. He has many friends made during his long
residence in the west, both the cities of Salt Lake and Marysville having cause
to remember him, the former being the recipient of a gift of a public library building
in 1904, the lot costing $20,000 and the building and equipment $100,000; while
the following year he gave to the latter city a library building at a cost of
$100,000. He is a life member of the Society of California Pioneers, and
vice-president of the Pioneer Society of California. In his political views he
supports the principles of the Democratic party,
although he is not in any sense a partisan, reserving the right to cast his
ballot for the man whom he considers best qualified for the discharge of pubic
duties. He voted for both McKinley and Roosevelt and supports the present
administration. He is one of the honored pioneers of the state, to whom is due much credit for his share in the development and
upbuilding of this western commonwealth.
Source:
“History of the State of California and
Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley, California” by J.
M. Guinn. Pages 360-363. Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1906.
© 2017 Cecelia M. Setty.
Golden Nugget
Library's Yuba County Biographies