Tulare County Biographies

DAVID WARD DE MASTERS 

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 
A pioneer of pioneers, Marshall Foster De Masters, a native of Missouri, crossed 
the plains, with ox-teams to California in 1849, the memorable gold-seeking 
period that will be ever memorable in the history of this state and of the 
country at large. He settled in Tulare county, on the old Rush place, northwest 
of Visalia. Later he sold out there and moved to the Kibler farm, where he was a 
successful breeder of cattle, sheep and hogs to the time of his death, which 
occurred in 1861. In his time he was prominent in connection with the important 
affairs of his adopted county. In the days of the Indian wars he was captain of 
a local company that was pitted against the savages in defense of the 
settlements round about.
In Tulare county, October 16, 1855, was born David W. De Masters, son of 
Marshall Foster the pioneer. His has been, for the most part, the life of the 
cowboy, though he has at times acted as guide in the mountains of California. In 
all parts of the country he has driven cattle. At one time he drove a band of 
sixteen hundred cattle across country to Paso Robles for C. W. Clark, and in 
1869 he crossed the Sierra Nevada mountains with a band of three hundred and 
drove it all the way to Spring Valley, Nevada, a trip which consumed five months 
and thirteen days. He enjoys the distinction of being one of the few cowboys yet 
living who ran cattle through central California in the early days. For the last 
thirteen years he has been superintendent of the Persian irrigation ditch in 
Tulare county, one of the oldest water systems in this part of the state. In the 
summer months he is much in demand as a guide to travelers and tourists through 
the mountain ranges.
In August, 1878, Mr. De Masters married Miss May Lloyd, a native of California. 
He and his wife are members of the Independent Order of Foresters. They had two 
sons: Remmert died in March. 1903, at the age of twenty-four years; and Harry 
passed away August 2, 1889, aged four years.
The experience of the De Masters family in California covers all periods of its 
history since the discovery of gold. In the early days of the elder De Masters 
the settlers had to grind their own flour and drive overland from Tulare county 
to Stockton for provisions. Flour sold at Stockton at $50 a sack, and other 
provisions were proportionately high. Marshall Foster De Masters married Miss 
Amelia Ridgeway. Of their children only three survive, Newton and Stephen D., of 
Fresno county, and David W. De Masters of Tulare county. 
Mr. Lloyd, father of Mrs. David W. De Masters, came to California across the 
plains in 1850 and now at the age of eighty-five years is hale and hearty. His 
wife, Eleanor Coker, like her husband a native of Little Rock, Ark., is aged 
seventy-nine years. They have three daughters and one son living, all natives of 
California. Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd were married at Rough and Ready, Nevada county, 
Cal.
 
History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California with Biographical Sketches - 
Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company, 1913, pp. 728-729