Colusa County Biographies

HON. JOHN BOGGS

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            There are few men in this State who seem to have been so specially 
fitted into their surroundings and to have so justified their position therein 
as the Hon. John Boggs.  Whether as pioneer or miner; as a stock-raiser, 
introducing new and blooded varieties of horses, cattle, and sheep; or as a 
farmer, on an extensive scale pursuing this branch of industry, with a system 
all his own; or in his public service to his county and State, his example, 
skill, prescience, and devotion to public duty, might well be termed special 
providences for Colusa County, for, apart from what they have already 
accomplished in the development of this region, they have served not a little to 
assist, stimulate and encourage his fellow-citizens, and will linger years hence 
both as incentives and an inspiration.  The sympathetic and forceful impact of 
his career is a part of the history of this county�s first steps in progress.
            John Boggs is the son of Robert W. and Abbie Carr, and was born in 
July, 1829, at Potosi, Missouri.  His father was one of the owners and 
incorporators of the Iron Mountain near his native place, so justly celebrated 
for its extensive deposits of iron ore.  At the age of ten years, young Boggs 
moved with his parents to Howard County, Missouri, where he attended the public 
school for several years.  Later on he followed a course of studies in Fayette 
College, in the town of Fayette.  Here he might have continued till thoroughly 
equipped for graduation, had not the alluring news of the wonderful discoveries 
of gold in California aroused within him an insatiable desire to participate in 
the stirring adventures of the gold hunters and at the same time amass wealth.  
So, dropping his books and closing his desk, he bade farewell to collegiate 
honors not very remote, if he had seen fit to wait for them.
            On April 9, 1849, in company with some young men of his own age and 
of the same college, young Boggs set out for California.  Among his companions 
were General John B. Clark, afterwards a member of Congress from Missouri, and 
Hon. John Morrison, subsequently a prominent man in the public affairs of the 
same State.  This party crossed the Missouri River at Fort Kearny, and while 
camped at this point united with another company hailing from Clay County, 
Missouri, and bound for the same destination.  Among their new-found companions 
were men who, in after years, made their mark in the new State towards which 
their steps were tending.  Some of these were:  Hon. Laban Scearce, of Orland; 
Hon. J. Woodson James, of Paso Robles Springs; and James A. Douglas, formerly 
sheriff of Yolo County.
            The route across the plains of these adventurers was the old Carson 
road by Sublett�s cut-off.  After several months of exposure and fatigue, which 
only served to impart added enjoyment to the daring young spirits, they arrived, 
on August 18, 1849, at Weber Creek, in Placer County, near old Hangtown, which 
name, as everybody is aware, has long since been transformed into something less 
somber, with less of picturesque depravity in it, by calling the place 
Placerville.
            Boggs and Clark being very warm friends, they concluded, now that 
their journey was practically at an end, to stick together and go on ahead of 
the rest of the company.  The world was now all before them.  A wilderness of 
mountain range and broad, inhospitable plains stretched between them and home.  
Here was the first parley before the first battle of life.  What to do in this 
strange country, so new that it was almost unblemished with civilization?  What 
to do with only about five dollars as the joint capital stock of these two 
sturdy, raw young men?  Why, do the first thing that turns up, and this is 
precisely what these sensible pilgrims immediately proceeded to do.
            They started for Sacramento and arrived there with just �six bits� 
in their wallet.  Tired and weary on the night of their coming, they lay down 
and rested under the dense foliage of trees where Fifth and K Streets are now 
designated.  The next day they found employment in assisting in the surveying 
and laying out of the principal part of the city, in streets, blocks and lots.  
It was hard work measuring the land and driving corner stakes on what was to be 
great thoroughfares in the future capital city of this new El Dorado.  The heat 
was intense.  The land was a thick jungle and Mr. Boggs will always vividly 
recall August 25, when he was engaged in cutting brush between J and K Streets 
so as to take observations.  The brush and vines grew so thickly that a breath 
of air could scarcely penetrate.  The task became almost suffocating, but  the 
pay was sixteen dollars per day, and young men, full of lusty vigor, and with a 
purpose in life, could afford to sweat for this.
            The two friends worked here a month, and, having now earned a stake, 
they turned longingly to the mines.  They worked in these at Coloma and on Weber 
Creek, with fair success, for a short time.  Winter coming on, they built a 
cabin at Hangtown and mined in that vicinity till March, 1850, and then went to 
Sacramento again.  Here the two companions parted, Clark going to the Redding 
diggings, now in Shasta County, while Boggs joined a party, consisting of J. L. 
Morrison, J. Criglar, and others, bent on mining.  They procured a camping and 
mining outfit and provisions, and with two pack-mules to carry their stores, 
they set out for Deer Creek, where Nevada City now stands.  Boggs was one of a 
party who gave the name to this prosperous mining town.  Here he mined betimes 
but was chiefly occupied in packing provisions and supplies between Nevada City 
and a little camp on the South Fork of the Yuba.  The distance between those 
places was twenty miles, and one dollar per pound was the tribute paid to 
mule-power in those days.  He continued in this lucrative employment till July 
1, 1850.
            It was now, at this point in Mr. Boggs� career, that, with some 
capital to operate with, he first displayed that business foresight and judgment 
which have proved since to be among his most prominent characteristics.  He had 
learned from experience how jaded and broken down are the animals that have made 
the long march from the Missouri River, though most of this stock was usually 
selected for both blood and endurance.  He had heard that an army of immigrants 
was hastening pell-mell from the Atlantic States, and that consequently their 
stock would arrive in a sorry plight and almost exhausted condition.  They 
would, of course, be sold for a trifle; nay, their owners would look upon any 
offer as a bargain, since they would abandon them altogether on arriving, rather 
than be encumbered with them on their hurried, tumultuous, and sometimes 
disorderly rush for the mines. These animals could be turned out and pastured on 
the rich wild grasses, rested and recruited and in a few months be restored to 
their wonted strength and usefulness.  Herein Mr. Boggs saw the opportunity of 
his life, one which became the basis of his present comfortable fortune.  What 
he sought now was a place on which to herd and feed these animals after they 
were purchased.
            For this purpose he went, in July, 1850, to Cache Creek, just above 
where the town of Yolo has since sprung up.  It was then a wilderness, 
uninhabited, save by two men, Wm. Gordon and Mat. Harbin, the latter then living 
near where is now located the town of Woodland.  Here Boggs settled down, 
erected a cabin, and, after seeing to other preliminaries, he returned to 
Hangtown to intercept the immigrants now swarming in.  He bought their poor, 
tired, distressed stock at very low figures.  He drove them very slowly, 
pasturing them as they moved along, to his place in Yolo County.  He herded them 
all winter, saw them recover and even grow fat, and when spring came he had four 
hundred head of horses and mules, which he disposed of at Sacramento, at one 
thousand per cent profit.  Mr. Boggs continued in the stock business till the 
summer of 1854, when he came to Colusa County and purchased six thousand acres 
of the Larkin�s Children�s Grant, his present home, than which there is no finer 
in the county.
            From this period up to 1871 Mr. Boggs was largely engaged in the 
buying and selling and raising of stock, and as a breeder of Jersey cattle and 
trotting horses he had been foremost.  He is regarded as one of the best judges 
of thoroughbred stock in the United States.  In 1868 he began wool-growing on an 
extensive scale, importing the finest breeds at great expense to mix with his 
vast flocks.  His attention, however, has been, since 1871, almost entirely 
devoted to grain-farming and the securing of large tracts of land to plant 
thereon.  Believing, as he does, that horticulture is the coming industry or 
source of wealth in this county, he is preparing to occupy himself therewith, at 
the same time still continuing to conduct grain-farming and stock-raising.  Mr. 
Boggs� home place, on the Sacramento River, ten miles north of Colusa, consists 
of one thousand acres of land, as fair and fertile as sun ever ripened.
            It could hardly be expected that one who had achieved success so 
early in an active life, who had manifested so much good sense and sagacity in 
the conduct of his private affairs, and against whose good name no finger had 
ever reflected a shadow, should be permitted to hide his talents in the 
seclusion of a great wheat or stock ranch.  Peculiarly necessary and profitable 
to the community would be the services of such a gentleman to Colusa County in 
her early immature and formative period.  John Boggs has never been termed a 
selfish man; far from it; he is generous and obliging to a fault, and so 
whenever he has felt that he could spare time from his own manifold affairs, his 
friends and neighbors and fellow-citizens generally have been found waiting and 
only too willing to employ his services in public positions.
            Mr. Bogg�s public career began in 1859, when he was elected 
Supervisor of Colusa County, being a member of the first Board of which there is 
any official record.  He served in this capacity continuously till 1866.  It was 
during these years that form and shape were given to this county�s affairs, that 
its machinery was adjusted and put in motion, and in which the counsels, tact 
and patient intelligence of Mr. Boggs are matters of public appreciation as well 
as of record.  It was during his term of service that the present court-house 
was built.  Mr. Boggs retired from this position at his own instance only to be 
called higher a brief period later to serve his county and State in the State 
Senate.  He was twice chosen to this office, first in 1870 and afterward in 1866 
<?>.  He has, besides, held other offices of great responsibility at the hands 
of various Chief Executives of the State.  Governor Irwin appointed him one of 
the trustees of the Napa Insane Asylum, Governor Stoneman made him a member of 
the Board of State Prison Directors, of which commission he was president, and 
it s a matter of congratulation for the entire State that during Mr. Boggs� 
incumbency of this position there were no scandals attached to the proceedings 
of this Board.  Mr. Boggs has been, for a number of years, an active member of 
the State Board of Agriculture, and is also a member of the State Board of 
Trade, representing Colusa County, and is a trustee of the Leland Stanford, Jr., 
University.
            While he is a staunch friend of irrigation, and favors the progress 
and completion of the works of the Central Irrigation District he opposed being 
included in the Colusa District, because he possessed a system of irrigation of 
his own, and his neighbors similarly situated likewise made opposition, and for 
the same reason.  In speaking of the irrigation system which at present obtains, 
Mr. Boggs said:  �I deem the present Wright law very defective and the system an 
expensive one.  To be successful the law must be amended, to be almost anew.�
            In everything pertaining to the welfare of his locality, county and 
State, Mr. Boggs knows neither flinching nor fatigue.  To each subject he brings 
his active sympathies, a strong will-power, courtesy and diplomatic tact, a 
combination almost invincible.  At his home he was among the first and ablest 
advocates in hastening the extension of railroad facilities into his own county, 
and was also one of the incorporators, and a member of the first Board of 
Directors of the Colusa County Bank, a position which he yet occupies.  He is 
likewise a large stockholder in the Bank of Willows.  In politics he is a 
pronounced Democrat, fighting vigorously for his friends, giving and taking 
blows in that courteous, amicable, yet firm way which distinguishes the 
gentleman seeking the public good from the blatant political mercenary seeking 
self.  After a political campaign there is nothing of rancor left over for John 
Boggs to brood over or satisfy.  He is as forgiving to his personal opponents as 
he was earnest in antagonizing them.
            In private life Mr. Boggs is generous and hospitable.  He has a warm 
spot in his heart especially for the �old-timers,� which does not preclude, 
however, the later arrivals from sharing in its genial warmth, much less from 
receiving that judicious counsel and ever neighborly and material assistance he 
is willing at all times to extend the deserving.
            Mr. Boggs was married, in Sacramento, in November, 1870, to Miss 
Louisa E. Shackleford, of Georgia, by whom he had three children:  Frank S., 
aged eighteen, who was graduated from Trinity College, San Francisco, and who 
will complete a course at the State University; Alice J., aged sixteen, now in 
attendance at Mills Seminary; and Fred H., aged fourteen years.
 
�Colusa County� � by Justus H. Rogers � Orland, CA � 1891 � pp 371-376


          The discovery of gold in California brought to the coast many of
the most capable young men of the east and gave to our commonwealth its
first impetus toward permanent prosperity. Had the wealth of the mines
remained hidden for another decade, hosts of youths who became prominent and
successful in the coast country would have remained in the east, leading
uneventful lives in striking contrast to the stirring activities of their
western careers. Of all those who crossed the plains perhaps none possessed
greater energy of disposition or keener powers of discrimination than were
the characteristics of John Boggs, than whom Colusa county has had no
citizen more prominent or influential. Whether in the capacity of farmer,
producing upon his vast acreage everything necessary for the sustenance of
the body; or as stock-raiser, engaged in breeding thoroughbred stock famous
over the entire state; or as a state official, aiding in formulating the
laws of the commonwealth; or as a land buyer, investing in cheap lands with
a shrewd foresight concerning future values; or as a citizen, contributing
to every movement calculated to promote the development of the state; or as
a friend generous, practical and helpful; from whatever standpoint his
character may be considered it presents the elements of true manhood, so
that those within the sphere of his influence counted it a rare privilege to
be numbered among his friends.

           Descended from a prominent southern family John Boggs was a son
of Robert W. and Abigail (Carr) Boggs, natives, respectively, of Virginia
and Kentucky, and was born at Potosi, Mo., July 2, 1829. While he was yet an
infant the family removed to Howard county, Mo., and on the completion of
his common school education he was sent to the college at Fayette. When
twenty years of age he joined a party of gold-seekers bound for the west,
among his associates in that memorable journey being Gen. John B. Clark,
Hon. Laban Scearce, Hon. John Crigler and James A. Douglas. After
innumerable hard-ships, on the 18th of August, 1849, the party arrived at
Weber creek, near Placerville, and from there Mr. Boggs proceeded to
Sacramento, where he and Lloyd Tevis were employed as chainmen in the first
survey of the city. With the few dollars panned out from the mines he
purchased a tract on Cache Creek and began to trade for the broken-down
horses and mules used by parties crossing the plains. Almost without
exception the emigrants were eager to dispose of the stock for provisions
and other necessities, and at the end of a year he had four hundred head
grazing on his ranch. Though costing him only a few dollars each, at the end
of the year they had improved so much that he was able to get $200 each for
them, which proved that the youth of twenty-one possessed keen foresight and
sagacity.

            Coming to Colusa county in 1854 Mr. Boggs bought six thousand
acres of the Larkin grant and later bought many other tracts, holding the
same for an increase in value. In 1868 he began to raise sheep and sell wool
and mutton, which industry proved profitable, as did the other enterprises
in which he became interested from time to time. A few miles from Princeton
stood his country home, surrounded by well-kept grounds, and visitors often
declared the place to be one of the finest homesteads in California. Of
recent years the land has been subdivided into forty-acre tracts, for sale
to small farmers and horticulturists. Steamers ply the waters of the
Sacramento during the entire year and not only stop at Princeton, but also
have a landing at the Boggs homestead for the convenience of those wishing
to go to other points along the river. 

          The public career of Mr. Boggs began in 1859, when he became a
member of the first county board of supervisors of which any record can be
found. From that time until 1866 he served efficiently upon the board and
his intelligent labors were evidenced in the system given to the affairs of
the county. One important improvement made during his period of service was
the erection of the courthouse. In 1866 he was elected to the state senate,
and there he represented his constituents with such ability that in 1870 he
was again called to the position. In 1877 he was returned to the upper
house, again in 1883, and once more in 1898, being a member of that body at
the time of his sudden death. One of the leading members of the Democratic
party, he long wielded a large influence in the policy of that party in the
state, and never voted any ticket other than that. In the convention of
1857, when John B. Weller was nominated for governor, he was a member of the
committee on resolutions. Again, at the convention of February 29, 1860, he
served on the committee on resolutions with Jackson Temple, Col. H. I.
Thornton, D. J. Johnson, S. A. Merritt, J. W. Coffroth and D. E. Buell. At
the fusion convention of 1863, when John G. Downey was nominated for
governor, he served on the committee on resolutions, and from 1871 until his
death served as a member of the Democratic state central committee.

            Old settlers of Colusa county have not forgotten the strong
stand taken by Senator Boggs against the creation of Glenn county by setting
off a portion of the former county. The contest was waged with untiringly
energy, on the one hand Senator Boggs with his wide influence; on the other
hand, the Glenn family desirous of forming a new organization in the
district where their estate lay. For four sessions the contest was waged
with ardor and at times with bitterness, but eventually the opposite side
won and Glenn county came into existence. When the new maps came out it was
found that the county line was placed so that the barn on the Boggs estate
was in Glenn county and the rest of the homestead in Colusa county, and it
was only after assiduous effort that the senator succeeded in having the
line set beyond the end of his barn.

          Long and usefully Senator Boggs was connected with the State
Agricultural Society as director and president. Until his death he was a
member of the board of trustees of Leland Stanford University and at one
time officiated as a regent of the State University. From 1876 until 1880 he
was a director of the Napa State Insane Asylum. In 1885 he was appointed
penology commissioner and at about the same time he held office as state
prison director. At one time he was a member of the board of Yosemite Valley
commissioners. Interested in the banking business, he aided in the
organ-ization of the Colusa County Bank and officiated as a director until
his death. In addition he took a prominent part in the incorporation of the
Bank of Willows, among whose directors he remained as long as he lived, and
besides he was a director in the Bank of Haywards.

           In 1870 Mr. Boggs married Miss Lou Shackleford, of Georgia. Three
children were born of their union, namely: Frank, who is connected with the
Union Trust Company of Stockton; Frederick, who superintends the interests
of the estate in Colusa county; and Alice, who resides with her mother in
San Francisco. While still filling the office of state senator Mr. Boggs,
not being in robust health, applied for a leave of absence from the senate,
which was granted. No one realized that his illness was of a serious nature
and it was hoped that he would soon return to his legislative duties.
However, the disease developed into acute bronchitis and he died at the
Palace Hotel in San Francisco, January 30, 1899. A year before he had
purchased a lot in Cypress Lawn Cemetery and there he was buried on the 1st
of February, after brief services in his apartment at the Palace. The
pall-bearers were Lieutenant-Governor J. H. Neff; Gen. N. P. Chipman; Judge
McFarland; Col. George Hagar; Senator E. W. Chapman; and Will S. Green. When
the senate assembled on the day of his death and the roll was called, a
solemn hush fell upon all when his name was called. Senator Langford arose
and said: "Senator Boggs has answered his last roll call. He died at the
Palace Hotel in San Francisco this morning," and then delivered an
impressive eulogy upon the dead statesman, after which Senators Dickson and
Morehouse spoke eloquently concerning the qualities which had given Senator
Boggs prominence and prestige in the state.

            As the news flashed along the wires that Senator Boggs was dead
universal sorrow was felt. Associates of years dwelt with sad fervor upon
the qualities that endeared him to them.The press of the state was unanimous
in its verdict concerning the high quality of his statesmanship, and we
cannot more fitly close this article than with an article from the Willows
Promoter of January 31, 1899: "The death of John Boggs marks the passing of
another of that ever lessening band of stalwarts, who, half a century ago,
left home and friends and all the things that make existence dear and set
boldly forth into the wild, trackless west, facing famine, danger, death
itself, and blazed the way for civilization toward the broad Pacific shore.
They came lured by tales of treasure and remained to found an empire; and no
easy task was that. Every timber in the firm foundation of our statehood was
laid at a sacrifice of brain and brawn and even life. Against forces which
yielded only to the sturdiest manhood they pushed their way; and we, the
heirs of such glorious heritage, are apt to think too little of what it
cost. 

            "The pioneers waged a nobler warfare than that of arms. They
wrought their muskets into axes to fashion forests into houses, and their
swords into plowshares to till the soil. They changed desolation into a
place of homes and the sterile wilderness into the fairest garden of the
world. One by one they pass into the great beyond, but above their quiet
graves the mighty tree of statehood waves its branches in that same majestic
form their strong hands gave the twig. John Boggs had lived fifty years in
this section of the state, and nearly that long in Colusa county. Miner,
farmer, stock-raiser, banker, legislator, student, philanthropist - the mind
loses itself in the effort to grasp the possibilities of the man, and fails
in the attempt to measure the service he has been to his county and to his
entire district. He was an able man, an earnest man, a progressive man, a
good man, albeit not a religious man and his life and name are inseparably
linked with the history of this section and of the state."

"History of the State of California and Biographical Record of the
Sacramento Valley, Cal.," J. M. Guinn, The Chapman Publishing Company,
Chicago, 1906, Pages 487-489.

Transcribed by Sally Kaleta, April 2009.