Yolo County Biographies


This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
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Fred Frank MCCULLOUGH
 
Diversified avenue of industrial activity are open to people removing to Yolo 
county, but agriculture still continues to be the leading occupation and one to 
which turn for a livelihood the greatest number of settlers.  As an instance of 
the opportunities afforded by the soil when wisely cultivated, mention should be 
made of Fred Frank McCullough, whose large measures of success have been gained 
since he arrived in Yolo county and entered upon the laborious task of 
developing a farm.  As a result of his ceaseless industry and sagacious 
management he has become the owner of a large landed estate and now holds a 
position among the leading farmers and stock raisers of the entire county.
 
The genealogy of the family is traced back to the original American settler, 
John McCullough, a member of an ancient and influential Scotch Presbyterian 
family.  Shortly after he accompanied other members of the family to 
Pennsylvania and had settled in the forests of that colony he was taken prisoner 
by the Indians, who kept him captive in Ohio for eight years.  When finally he 
was exchanged he returned to his old Pennsylvania home and engaged in farming.  
Afterward he removed to Maryland and developed a farm near Frostburg, but his 
last days were spent in Pennsylvania.  His son, Alexander, was born in Franklin 
county, Pa., near the Maryland state line.  During young manhood he married 
Elizabeth Siler, a native of Frostburg, Md., and in 1856 they became pioneers of 
Champaign county, Ill., where they developed a farm near Urbana.  Of their five 
sons and two daughters Fred Frank was the fourth in order of birth and he was a 
native of Frostburg, Md., born March 9, 1854.  When only two years of age he was 
taken to Illinois, and his first recollections cluster around a tract of 
government land homesteaded by his father.  As soon as he became old enough to 
work he assisted in the cultivation of the claim and gave his whole time to farm 
work with the exception of a few months each year spent in attendance upon 
country schools.
 
Coming to California during the autumn of 1874, Mr. McCullough settled in Sutter 
county and secured employment on a ranch opposite Grand Island.  Two years later 
he removed to Solano county and rented three hundred and twenty acres near 
Bird�s Landing.  The year 1886 found him a resident of Yolo county, where he 
rented a section near Dunnigan and engaged in the grain and stock business.  
About 1891 he bought three hundred and twenty acres of unimproved land and 
removed to the new tract, which he improved and developed.  Later he bought a 
quarter-section adjoining, and this gives him four hundred and eighty acres in 
one body, the whole comprising his homestead, a well-improved and valuable 
property in the vicinity of Dunnigan.  In addition he owns and manages three 
hundred and twenty acres near Blacks Station and five hundred acres northwest of 
Dunnigan, the large landed possessions representing his own untiring industry 
and frugal economy.  Besides the raising of stock and of general farm crops, for 
some years he has engaged in buying and selling mules, sheep and hogs and now 
devotes much of his time to this important occupation.
 
During the period of his residence in Solano county Mr. McCullough there 
married, December 5, 1883, Miss Mary Gapen, who was born and reared at Suisun 
City, the daughter of John M. and Janettte (Wallace) Gapen, born in Pennsylvania 
and Michigan, respectively.  Her father crossed the plains to California in 1849 
and her mother crossed in 1848.  They became pioneers of Solano county and died 
in Vacaville.  Of the five children born to them Mrs. McCullough is the third 
oldest.  Mr. and Mrs. McCullough are the parents of six sons and five daughters. 
 The eldest, Fred G., attended a business college at Oakland and is now 
assisting his father in the management of the ranch.  The others are Meredith, 
Victor, Marshall, Burns, Ruth, Welthy, Lemuel, Nevada, Marion and Elizabeth.  
The Masons have the active assistance of Mr. McCullough through his 
identification with Dunnigan Lodge No. 284, F. & A. M.; Woodland Chapter, R. A. 
M., and Woodland Commandery No. 21, K. T.  Ever since attaining his majority he 
has voted the Republican ticket and in Yolo county he has served the party in 
county and state conventions, besides giving to its candidates his quiet 
influence and steadfast support.  For his labors as a public-spirited citizen 
and as a capable farmer the county is indebted to him and rightly places him in 
a foremost position among its prosperous and progressive residents.
 
Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source:  �History of Yolo County, California� by Tom Gregory.  Published by the 
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 883 � 885.