Santa Barbara County Biographies

HENRY L. WILLIAMS

Submitted by Peggy Hooper

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


HENRY L. WILLIAMS, the owner of the Ortega ranch and the founder of 
Summerland, was born in Massillon, Ohio, in 1841. His father, G. W. Williams, 
was a financier and was connected with the Union Bank of Massillon. In the spring of 
1861, at the age of twenty, Henry L. enlisted in Company A, of the Nineteenth Ohio Infan- 
try, under command of Colonel Samuel Beatty and Captain C. F. Manderson; the latter is 
now United States Senator from Nebraska. The regiment, which was stationed with the 
Army of the Cumberland, joined General Grant's forces on the second day of the battle 
of Shiloh. They were in the three-days' fight at Stone River, where one-half of the 
regiment was lost, and were also in many small skirmishes. Mr. Williams, however, did not 
receive a scratch, although his clothing was many times pierced with bullets. In April, 
1863, he was appointed State pay agent for Ohio, and on June 30, 1864, he received the 
appointment of paymaster in the United States army, and was stationed with the army 
of the Cumberland, with headquarters at Louisville, Kentucky. He was mustered out 
of the service on November 15, 1865. He then became engaged in the coal business in 
Ohio, as manager and part owner of the mines, and remained there until the spring 
of 1776. In that year he was appointed by the United States Treasury Department to 
examine the books of the Collectors of Customs through Pennsylvania, New Jersey and 
Delaware, with headquarters at Philadelphia. In June, 1881, he was stationed at Tucson, 
Arizona, to look after the frontier offices from El Paso to San Diego and Santa Barbara; 
but, finding the weather very warm at Tucson, he resigned October 15, 1882, and came to 
Santa Barbara, where his family were already settled. In April, 1883, he purchased the 
Ortega ranch, of 1,000 acres, located at the east end of the Montecito Valley, and has 
since made that his home. He has a small walnut grove and fruit only sufficient for 
family use. 

Mr. Williams brought the location of Summerfield before the public in November, 1888, 
by laying out the town and piping water to every lot, and advertising it extensively 
through the country. The town is established on the faith of Spiritualism. Already 
1,450 lots have been sold to parties from all over the United States, some of the purchasers 
being in Australia. Many fine cottages have been built, and a library of 500 volumes, with 
a building costing $4,500, has already been erected. A weekly newspaper named the 
Reconstructor has also been started. 

Mr. Williams has been twice married, the last time at Summerland, to Mrs. Agnes S. 
Morgan, in September, 1889. 

History of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura Counties, California  - by 
C.M. Gidney, Benjamin Brooks, Edwin M. Sheridan, Vol I, II.  -Lewis Publ. Co., 
Chicago, 1917.