Colusa County Biographies HON. WILLIAM PIERCE HARRINGTON This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm William Pierce Harrington is a pioneer of 1849, having come to California via Panama, arriving at San Francisco August 1 of that year. He was named for his father, a merchant and ship-builder, and was born April 17, 1826, at Damarescatta, Lincoln County, Maine. His boyhood was spent at his father�s home, in school and about the store or ship yard, and he finished his education by taking a course at Lincoln Academy, New Castle, Maine. In 1844 Mr. Harrington moved to Rocklin, Maine, and engaged in merchandising, where he remained until 1849, when, on March 4, with a party of fourteen, he started for New York City to take a steamer for California. At that time it was nearly impossible to get transportation from Panama to San Francisco and fully four thousand people were on the Isthmus waiting for an opportunity to sail for California. The original party with which he started became separated and Mr. Harrington organized another, which was successful in getting to San Francisco. Like almost all pioneers of �49, he at once set out for the mines, going to Big Bar, on Cosumnes River, to engage in placer mining, for three months. In November, he engaged in the mercantile business at Placerville, having the management of the business. In the fall of 1850 he opened a store for himself at Placerville, but as almost no rains fell it was necessary to abandon the place, as mines could not be worked without water. The next spring he formed a partnership at Marysville, under the firm name of Crockett & Co., which was afterwards changed to Harrington & Hazelton, carrying on general merchandising until 1857. In 1859 a party, consisting of Mr. Harrington, J. C. Fall, J. A. Paxton, Judge Mott and James Wilson, chartered a stage and visited Carson City, Virginia City, Gold Hill and other new mining camps and were impressed with the magnitude of the mineral resources of these camps. The result was that a partnership was formed, first under the firm name of J. C. Fall & Co., then Kincaid & Harrington, and finally Kincaid, Harrington & Co., who conducted a general merchandise business at Carson City until the fall of 1864. During this time Mr. Harrington was a member of the first Legislature of the Territory of Nevada, which met in 1861. On the first day of May, 1862, Mr. Harrington was married to Miss Sallie H. Tennent, a daughter of John H. Tennent, of Marysville, and a native of Lancaster, Ohio. Retiring from business in Carson City, he went to San Francisco and engaged in business as stock-broker. At this time the public lands in Colusa County were being taken up by capitalists, and in 1869, in behalf of Decker & Jewett, Mr. Harrington came to Colusa to view and grade lands and purchase, remaining six weeks. Having been impressed, during his trip to Colusa, with the natural resources of the county, Mr. Harrington returned the following spring to make his permanent home at Colusa. He engaged in the real-estate business with W. F. Goad, and during the summer the firm sold about one hundred thousand acres of land. On the fifteenth day of September, 1870, the Colusa County Bank was organized, and without solicitation the Board of Directors of the bank tendered Mr. Harrington the position of cashier, which position he has held ever since and under whose business management the institution has become one of the leading banks of the State. Mr. Harrington has been prominent in advancing industries and enterprises for the building up and development of the resources of the county. He was foremost in assisting the building of the Colusa and Lake Railroad, of which company he is president. His business ability is recognized, and is attested by the fact that he is a director in almost every organization in which he is interested. He is a director of the Colusa Canning and Packing Company, and the Colusa Gas Company; he is director and president of the Colusa Milling Company, the bank of Willows, and the Colusa Agricultural Association. Mr. Harrington is the father of five children: Tennent H., born July 11, 1864, who is engaged in the Colusa County Bank; William M., born November 18, 1866, who is engaged in the banking business in Seattle; Mary Augusta, born April 7, 1869; Louisa Tennent, born February 15, 1876, and one child that died in infancy. �Colusa County� � by Justus H. Rogers � Orland, CA � 1891 � pp 393-394 The late W. P. Harrington, one of the pioneers of Colusa county, and the leading citizen of Colusa, during his thirty-three years' residence here, the pioneer banker, merchant, and railroad builder, was a man who was universally loved by all for his upright character, public spirit, and generosity of heart, and as a man, citizen and friend, will be missed from the business world throughout the northern part of this state. William P. Harrington was born in Damariscotta, Me., April 17, 1826, and in his native state received an academic education, after which he entered the world of business by hiring out as a clerk in Rockland, Me. When but twenty-three years old he was fired with enthusiasm to seek his fortune in the gold mines of California, and with a party of thirteen others started, March 4, 1849, for the Mecca, making the trip by way of Panama. His experience at mining did not prove all that he had expected and he soon engaged in the mercantile business at Marysville. Business was first carried on under the firm name of Crockett & Co., the name later becoming Harrington & Hazelton. A larger field of opportunity presented itself in the mining regions of Nevada where from 1859 until the fall of 1864 Mr. Harrington was interested in the firm of J. C. Fall & Co., which later became Kincaid & Harrington, and finally Kincaid, Harrington & Co., who carried on a general merchandise business in Carson City. During this time Mr. Harrington was a member of the first legislature of the territory of Nevada, which met in 1861. After retiring from business in Carson City he went to San Francisco and engaged in business as a stock broker, but it was not long before his attention was called to Colusa county on account of its natural resources, and in the spring of 1870 he took up his residence in Colusa. September 15, 1870, the Colusa County Bank was organized, and from that day up to the time of his death he was one of its principal factors, being its president and one of its directors. He also held the same important positions in the Bank of Willows, of the Colusa & Lake Railroad, and was a director of the Colusa Gas Company, Colusa Milling Company and of the Colusa Packing Company. Not only will he be missed from business circles, but social circles as well will miss his good cheer. He was a member of the Pacific Union Club and of the California Society of Pioneers, filling the capacity of vice-president of the latter at the time of his death. May 1, 1862, W. P. Harrington was married to Miss Sallie H. Tennent, a daughter of John H. Tennent, of Marysville, and a native of Lancaster, Ohio. Mrs. Harrington now makes her home in San Francisco, where her husband's death occurred November 30, 1903. Mr. and Mrs. Harrington became the parents of five children, one of whom died in infancy. The eldest son, Tennent, is the present efficient cashier of the Colusa County Bank; William Merrill is teller in the Colusa County Bank; Mary Augusta is the wife of Albert P. Niblack, lieutenant-commander in the United States navy; and Louise T., the wife of William D. Leahy, lieutenant in the United States navy. No more fitting tribute can be paid to the memory of Mr. Harrington than the opinions of his associates and friends, who unite in saying that he was always looked upon as a conservative banker and one of the first men of Colusa county, as well as one of the builders of the Sacramento valley. "History of the State of California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley, Cal.," J. M. Guinn, The Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, 1906, Page 479. Transcribed by Sally Kaleta, April 2009.