Sacramento Valley Biographies EDMOND CHARLES HOWARD Transcribed by Sally Kaleta, August 2009. This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm A farmer and stockman of worth and ability, Edmond Charles Howard is named among the representative citizens of Yolo county, although he has been a resident of this section only since 1900. Born in Iowa City, Johnson county, Iowa, June 9, 1849, he is the oldest of eight children, six of whom are living, born of the second marriage of his father. The latter, J. W. Howard, born in 1816, in Tennessee, became a civil engineer and surveyor in manhood, when he removed to Missouri and later to Johnson county, Iowa, in the latter location entering land and engaging as a farmer. He also dealt extensively in lands and was successful financially, and at the same time became a prominent man in the community, serving as sheriff two terms. In 1864 he brought his family to the Pacific coast and located in Oregon, two years later coming to California and engaging as a farmer in Solano county. Removing to Modoc county he made that place his home until his death in 1887. As in other localities where he had made his home he assumed a prominent part in public affairs in that section, and served for ten years as county surveyor and for eight years as county assessor. He was identified fraternally with the Masons and Odd Fellows, and politically was a Democrat. He was twice married, by his first wife having three children, two of whom are living. He later married Jane Justice, a native of Indiana, and the daughter of Daniel Justice, who located in Johnson county, Iowa, where he remained until his death. Mrs. Howard survives her husband and still makes her home in Modoc county. Reared in Iowa until he was fifteen years old, Edmond Charles Howard received his education in the common schools of that state. The outfit of the family to cross the plains in 1864 consisted of horse and mule teams, the journey occupying four months. They spent one winter in Grand Ronde, Ore., and in the spring of 1865 engaged in farming in Jackson county on the present site of Medford. The spring of the following year found them residents of Solano county, Cal., where they remained until Mr. Howard had attained his majority. He then began farming for himself in Solano county, later removing to the vicinity of Red Bluff, Tehama county, where he engaged in the raising of cattle and sheep for eight years. Removing to Modoc county in 1883, he purchased a ranch near Adin, Big Valley, and on the five hundred and fifty acres watered by the Pit river followed stock-raising. His brand, known throughout that section, was the letter H with an extended bar. He continued in that location until 1900, when he sold out and located on his present place which consists of one hundred and fifty acres all under the canal, forty acres being devoted to alfalfa, the remainder to a small orchard and vineyard and an extensive dairy, the latter equipped with a separator. Mr. Howard has made all the improvements on this property and thereby takes an additional interest in its cultivation and development. Besides this property he also owns a two hundred acre farm near Madison, Yolo county, which is devoted to the raising of stock. In Suisun, Solano county, Cal. Mr. Howard was united in marriage with Mary E. Scarlett, a native of Indiana, who came across the plains in 1862 with her parents. Her father, William W. Scarlett, settled in Umpqua county, Oregon, thence removing in 1864 to Suisun valley, Solano county, Cal., where his death occurred in 1899. His wife, formerly a Miss Myra Cathcart, survives him. Born to Mr. and Mrs. Howard are the following children: Florence, wife of William Hoskins, of Santa Rosa, Cal.; Maybell, Marvin, Leslie, Myra, and Everett, at home. Mrs. Howard is a member of the Congregational Church. Politically Mr. Howard is a stanch adherent of the principles advocated in the platform of the Democratic party. "History of the State of California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley, Cal.," J. M. Guinn, The Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, 1906, Page 985.