Yolo County Biographies This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm WALTER MILLSAP a farmer near Cacheville, was born in Missouri, February 27, 1833, the son of Hyal and Rebecca (Huffaker) Millsap, natives of Kentucky, who emigrated to Missouri and finally died there. The latter was then brought up by an uncle, who lived in Clinton County, that State. In 1850 he came overland with some cattle to California, and arriving at Hangtown he disposed of them and worked in the mines during the ensuing winter. In 1852 he bought his present ranch of 117 acres in Yolo County, near Cacheville, and here he has ever since resided a prosperous farmer and a well-known citizen. In 1856 he married Miss Amanda J. Lowe, a native of Kentucky, and the names of their children are: William Newton, Martha Washington, Oliver, Cassander Amanda, Leander Walter, Lucy Eleanor (deceased), Rowena, Rufus Melvin, Wirt, Gertrude and Albert Perry. Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891 Transcribed by Kathy Sedler Walter MILLSAP To none is higher honor given than to those fearless forerunners of a later civilization who, in the midst of dangers seen and unseen, in the face of the turbulence incidental to life at cosmopolitan mining camps, steadfastly pursued the even tenor of their way, holding fast to principles of integrity and uprightness and proving themselves to be of that desirable element forming the bone and sinew of a new country. Such was the character of the late Walter Millsap and such the reputation he acquired and maintained from the time of his arrival in the west during the pioneer era until the time of his decease at a ripe old age. In the annals of Yolo county his name is worthy of perpetuation, not alone from the fact that he came here in 1852 and ever afterward continued to be identified with the same locality, but also from the high motives that animated his being and the keen intelligence that actuated his agricultural activities. Between the date of his birth, which occurred in Lincoln county, Mo., February 27, 1833, and the time of his death, which took place at the family home in Yolo county February 2, 1910, there was in the life of Walter Millsap an exemplification of the qualities of energy, honesty and perseverance that combine to form an ideal manhood. When only seventeen years of age he bade farewell to the friends of his early days and started across the plains with a large expedition of goldseekers, who ended an uneventful journey during the autumn of the same year with their safe arrival in California. After he had worked as a miner for two years he abandoned that occupation and turned his attention to agriculture, coming to Yolo county, of which afterward he remained a resident. At first as a renter and later as the owner, he occupied and operated the farm with which so many of his useful activities were associated. During 1858 he built on the place a house for the accommodation of his family, for he had married, May 8, 1856, Miss Amanda J. Lowe, a native of Kentucky. About the same time he put up a barn and later other necessary buildings were added. Fruit and shade trees were planted and little by little the raw land was transformed into a beautiful farm. The early memories of Mrs. Millsap are associated with Missouri, for when she was yet very young her father, Archibald Lowe, became a pioneer of Jackson county, that state, where he died. During 1850 his widow brought the family across the plains to California and settled in Nevada county, but as early as 1853 they became pioneers of Yolo county, where Amanda Lowe was married at Madison. From early life she has been an earnest member of the Christian Church and her husband likewise was devoted to the doctrines of that body. The sincerity of their Christian belief was proved by their many acts of kindness, their helpfulness to the destitute and their self-sacrificing devotion to the enlargement of the church. Wisely and conscientiously they reared their large family, doing by each child the best their circumstance permitted and inculcating in their minds the highest principles of honor and a love of justice. In her advanced years and widowed condition, Mrs. Millsap finds her greatest joy in the prosperity and well-being of her children. There are six sons and four daughters still living and one little daughter, Lucy E., died at the age of eight years. The eldest, William N., makes his home in Shasta county, this state. Mrs. Martha Odlum resides in Woodland. Leander W. carries on mercantile pursuits at Yolo. Mrs. Cassandra Snyder is a resident of San Francisco. Rowena is the wife of John Norton and lives in Woodland. Rufus L. resides in Lake county, Melvin H. in Yolo county and Wirt, a farmer by occupation, superintends the old homestead, now the home of himself and wife, Mary E. (Shannon) Millsap, born in Virginia City, Nev.; they have an only child, Francis Edmund. Gertrude is the wife of Allan Lawcock and lives at West Berkeley, while Albert, the youngest of the large family, is engaged in business at Portland, Ore., where for some years he has made his home. Transcribed by Bea Barton Source: �History of Yolo County, California� by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 880 � 882.