California Biographies Transcribed by Peggy Hooper This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm Source: History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from its earliest settlement to the present time. Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905 Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176 ALFRED FAY. Not only is Mr. Fay a pioneer of California, but as a child he saw much of frontier life in different sections of the east. His experiences have been many and varied. Hardships not a few have impeded his progress. Discouragements have thwarted his plans more than once. In spite of these, however, with a courage and optimism that seem part of his na- ture, he pursued his way quietly and with unwearied perseverance, and now, in the twilight of a busy life, he can enjoy the fruits of his labors in the possession of a competency sufficient for all needs, and in the possession also of that which is more desirable than wealth, the esteem of associates and affectionate regard of friends. In the town of Tully, county of Onondaga, N. Y., Mr. Fay was born May 13, 1827, being a son of David and Lucretia (Farr) Fay, natives respectively of Springfield, Mass., and Onon- daga county, N. Y. His father, who throughout life followed farming as a means of livelihood, in 1843 moved by wagon to Illinois, passing through Ohio over the corduroy roads and stopping for the winter in Indiana four miles from Laporte. The spring of 1844 found the family at their new location in McHenry county, Ill., where the father entered a tract of government land and improved a farm. His wife died in Wisconsin, where he also passed away, having married again. In his family there were ten children and all attained mature years, but only four are now liv- ing. One of the sons, David, came to California in 1861, and now resides in Los Angeles. An- other son, Alvin, who came in 1865, is also living in Los Angeles. In order of birth Alfred Fay was the second among the ten children. When sixteen years of age he accompanied his parents by wagon to Illinois. While they were traveling through Ohio they met the family of Ichabod Paddock, who also were removing to the newer regions of the west. Mr. Fay's mother soon found that she had known Mrs. Paddock when they were girls in the same neighborhood, and the acquaintance of their childhood was gladly renewed, the two families traveling together as far as Laporte, Ind. From there the Fay family went to Illinois. The Paddocks stayed in Indiana for a time, then removed to Lafayette county, Wis. Among the children of Ichabod and Mary Ann Paddock was a daughter, Elsie, a native of Cat- taraugus, N. Y., and about twelve years old when the two families met. The youth of sixteen was pleasantly impressed, but the two drifted apart. Some years later, when he was peddling, he ac- cidentally met one of her brothers and learned that the family were living near Darlington, Wis. Thus he was given an opportunity to renew his acquaintance with the young lady, and on New Year's day of 1852 they were married at her home in Wisconsin. Prior to this Mr. Fay had experienced many of the hardships of frontier existence. When he commenced to work on an Illinois farm, in the spring of 1844, he used ten oxen in breaking the prairie, plowing a furrow of twenty-six inches. All around was open prairie, on which scarcely an attempt had been made at cultivation. For many miles in every direction not a furrow had been turned in the soil, and the country remained in the primeval condition of nature. Chicago was forty-five miles distant and there were but two houses in all the intervening space. When he was twenty-two he started a peddling wagon and traveled through Boone, Winnebago, Stephen- son and Jo Daviess counties, Ill., and Rock, Green, Lafayette and Grant counties, Wis. After four years of this work he opened a general store at Darlington, where, under the firm title of A. Fay & Co., he built up the largest mercantile business in the entire county, also erected the best brick store in the county. In i860 he sold his property there and came via New York and Panama to California, being a passenger on the North Star from New York, and on the T. C. Twichell up the Pacific ocean, landing at San Francisco November 14, 1860. During his first two years in the state he carried on farm pursuits in Napa county. From there he moved to San Mateo county, thirty miles south of San Francisco, where he. bought four hundred and eighty acres of raw land and developed it into a fine farm, with substantial residence, and all equipments for the raising of stock and grain, together with the carrying on of a large dairy business. Meanwhile Mr. Fay had made occasional trips to the San Joaquin valley, where his wife had relatives living near Hanford. On one of these visits he purchased one hundred and sixty acres on section 21, four miles northwest of Tulare. November 30, 1884, he settled on this property and took up the task of making improvements. On Tuesday he began to build a barn and by Friday the structure was enclosed and roofed so that he could store his hay within. Other buildings were erected, an orchard of trees for family use was planted, the facilities for a dairy business were introduced, also the necessary equipment for raising horses, cattle and hogs, Since 1864 he has engaged in raising standard horses and few men are more familiar with the good points in horses than is he. As a judge of such stock he has few superiors. Of his quar- ter section he has put sixty-six acres into alfalfa, all of which can be irrigated from the People's ditch. In every respect the place is one of the best improved homesteads of Tulare county and its hospitable owner and his wife join in welcoming beneath their roof those whom business relations or the ties of friendship bring to their home. For many years Mr. Fay officiated as a school director and his interest in educational affairs has been continuous and strong. Many years ago he was made a Mason in Redwood City Lodge, and now has his membership in Olive Branch Lodge No. 269, F. & A. M., also, with his wife, belongs to the Order of the East- ern Star, and in religious connections affiliates with the Baptist Church.