Sacramento Valley Biographies

Fred W. Morfoot

Transcribed and submitted by Sally Kaleta, March 2009

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

          FRED. W. MORFOOT. Located one mile east of Woodland, Yolo County,
is the home of Fred W. Morfoot, one of the successful farmers and dairymen
of this section, although he has not long been a resident here. He is a
native of Macoupin county, Ill., having been born near Chesterfield May 20,
1834. His father, Thomas Morfoot, was a native of Yorkshire, England, and
the son of a farmer. He came to Illinois in 1828, entered land and improved
a farm in the rich lands of the Mississippi valley. Later he removed to
Greene county, thence to Mason county, his death occurring in the latter
county in 1850, at the age of 50 years. His wife, formerly Charlotte
Webster, a native of Wetherbee, Yorkshire, England, died in 1849, when only
forty-six years of age, leaving a family of nine children, of whom seven
attained maturity and six are now living.
         Next to the oldest son, Fred W. Morfoot was reared in Mason county,
Ill., until the death of his father. Being then but sixteen years old he
went to live with a friend of the family, John Rayworthy, a farmer, with
whom he remained until he was grown. He attended the district school, whose
sessions were held in the primitive log houses of the early day. He was
adopted by his friends, the Rayworthys, who had no children, and in young
manhood he took charge of the farm. After the death of Mr. Rayworthy this
farm, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres near Saidora, Mason county,
passed into his possession. He remained in Illinois engaged in general
farming until 1877, when he sold out and removed to Iowa, and in Boone
county, purchased a hundred and sixty acre farm, where he began the raising
of corn and hogs. Until the fall of 1900 he remained there, and then sold
out, coming to Woodland the following spring. This was his third trip to
California, his first having been made in  1864, with horse teams across the
plains, traveling from April to August. In November of the same year he
returned to Illinois by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and in June, 1898, he
made his second trip. After traveling throughout the state, in 1901 he
purchased the property on which he now resides, which consisted originally
of sixty-five acres one mile east of Woodland, but since that time he has
purchased fifteen acres, now having eighty in all. A large part of this is
devoted to alfalfa, the entire ranch - which is exceptionally well-improved
- being under irrigation. He also raises stock and engages in the dairy
business.
         Mr. Morfoot has been twice married, the first ceremony, uniting him
with Clara Homes, in Macon county, Ill. She was a native of Sheffield,
England, and died in Boone county, Iowa, leaving a family of three children,
namely: Edward, engaged in farming with his father; Belle, wife of C. A.
Ashworth, of Des Moines, Iowa; and Odessa, at home. Mr. Morfoot's second
marriage occurred in Boone county, Iowa, and united him with Lydia Patrick,
a native of Salem, N.J. The family name was originally Fitzpatrick, Mrs.
Morfoot's father, who was a farmer by occupation, was prominent in public
affairs and died in Philadelphia, Pa. Her mother, formerly Elizabeth Naylor,
of New Jersey, was descended from a long line of old Quaker families of
English descent, and died in her home in New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. Morfoot
are Unitarians in their religious convictions, and politically Mr. Morfoot
is a strong Republican, having cast his first ballot for Abraham Lincon.

"History of the State of California and Biographical record of the
Sacramento Valley, California," J. M. Guinn, The Chapman Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1906, Pages 315-316.