Sutter-Yuba County Biographies

JAMES PARKER PURINTON

Transcribed by: Kathy Sedler

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


 
A native son of Sutter County and a son of an old pioneer who came to this State 
in the early fifties and became one of the large land holders in Sutter County, 
James Parker Purinton was born in Pleasant Grove, October 10, 1889, the son of 
Henry Osgood and Anna (Parker) Purinton.  The father was born in Gardiner, 
Maine, on March 15, 1838, and lived there until 1856, when he came to California 
via Panama and first settled at Fiddletown, Amador County.  In 1865 he went to 
Fairplay, Eldorado County, and for three years kept a trading post.  In 1868 he 
made a trip to his old home and upon his return to California he located in 
Sacramento and was employed in the U.S. Land Office for three or four years 
under Mr. McCallum.  In 1874 H. O. Purinton settled in Sutter County, purchased 
a 2800-acre ranch and engaged in sheep-raising.  He was married in Sacramento, 
on January 3, 1872 at the home of the bride�s parents, by Rev. R. E. Dwinelle, 
to Miss Anna E. Parker, born in Sacramento, a daughter of James E. and Lucy S. 
(Taylor) Parker, natives respectively of Kentucky and New York.  Her father, 
when a young man crossed the plains in an ox-team train in 1850.  In this same 
train was Miss Lucy S. Taylor, who was accompanying her brother, Dr. Enos 
Taylor, to the Golden State, and the acquaintance formed there resulted in their 
marriage.  Mr. Parker first engaged in the hotel business and later established 
himself in the harness business, owning a building for the purpose on K Street; 
the property is still owned by the family.  He died on June 8, 1908, while his 
wife had preceded him to the grave on November 5, 1903.  Anna E. is the oldest 
of their three children.  Henry O. Purinton and his wife removed from Sutter 
County to Plainfield, Yolo County, where they engaged in the general merchandise 
business.  Mr. Purinton died on March 21, 1912; his widow now makes her home in 
Sacramento, the center of a large circle of admiring friends.  They had seven 
children: Lucy, Frances, Cornelia, Henry Osgood, Jr., Anna, Ada, and James 
Parker.
James Parker Purinton received his education in the grammar and high schools of 
Woodland, graduating from the latter institution in 1910, after which he engaged 
in farming and dairying seven miles south of Woodland.  Since 1916 he has been a 
partner with E. S. and Kenneth R. Brown, under the firm name of Brown and 
Purinton, in land development in Sutter County, the firm owning approximately 
1000 acres of land on Feather River, thirteen miles south of Yuba City; at times 
they lease as high as 3000 acres for ranching purposes, raising stock and doing 
farming, as well as raising fruit, nursery stock, beans, etc.  Of the 1000 
acres, about 230 acres has been set to orchard and vineyard, while there are 
also large fields of alfalfa and a dairy in connection.  In their large nursery 
they are raising about 300,000 trees a year for commercial purposes and for 
their own use.  They are gradually setting out more acreage to orchard and 
vineyard each year, principally cling peaches, Bartlett pears, and French and 
Imperial prunes.
At Woodland, on November 5, 1913, occurred the marriage of J. P. Purinton and 
Lucille L. Lowe, born in Woodland, the daughter of Obe Ashbrook and Hattie L. 
(Lumis) Lowe; her father was a very large stock-raiser and a prominent 
stock-dealer, as well as an orchardist of Yolo County.  Her grandfather, Edwin 
Russell Lowe, was an early Californian, having crossed the plains in 1852.  In 
the early days he owned large tracts of land in both Sutter and Yolo Counties 
and was an able financier.  Obe Lowe, after a successful career, died June 26, 
1918.  The second of six children, Mrs. Purinton was reared and educated in 
Woodland.  Three children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Purinton: James 
P., Jr., Edmund L., and Helen Anna.  Mr. Purinton is a member of the Masonic 
Order, belonging to Athens Lodge No. 228, Davis, and to the Sciots of 
Marysville; and with Mrs. Purinton he is a member of Fidelia Chapter, O.E.S., 
Yuba City.  He is also a member of the Sutter County Chamber of Commerce and the 
Wilson Farm Center, while Mrs. Purinton is a member of the Wilson Woman�s Club.  
In politics and civic matters Mr. Purinton votes for man and issue regardless of 
party lines.
 
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p 1206