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 WILLIAM R. McQUIDDY. As a practicing attorney of Hanford, Kings county, Mr. Mc- Quiddy is intimately associated with the legal history of that section of California, where he has made his home for many years. Born in Coffee county, Tenn., April 8, 1849, ne i s a son of Major Thomas J. McQuiddy, a sketch of whose interesting pioneer life in California will be found on another page of this volume. When William R. McQuiddy was about one year old the family took up their abode in Missouri, but a few years later returned to Tennessee, this time making their home in Bedford county. It was in the common schools of Missouri and Tennessee that William R. received his initial training, and it was later his good fortune to supplement the knowledge there gained by attending Manchester College, in Manchester, Tenn. When about nineteen years old he began teaching school, following this congenial occu- pation for the ensuing five years, or until 1874, which year marks his arrival in California. Lo- cating in the Mussel Slough district, Tulare county, now a part of Kings county, he con- tinued teaching for a time, and was later similarly engaged in the neighboring county of Fres- no and for three years was a member of the board of examiners of Tulare county. In 1880 Mr. McQuiddy discontinued teaching and engaged in farming on one hundred and sixty acres of railroad land located seven miles northeast of Hanford. Not realizing his an- ticipations in this direction, however, he sold his farm three years later and moved to Han- ford, which has since been his home. While prosecuting a fairly successful business in the line of fire and accident insurance Mr. McQuiddy began the study of law, and thus laid the foun- dation upon which his present substantial practice has been built. For two terms he served as justice of the peace and for two years as deputy sheriff, serving the best interests of his con- stituents while occupying these positions, at the same time keeping up his study of the law. His indefatigable efforts were rewarded in 1893 by his admission to the bar of Kings county, which has since been the field of his legal labors. In 1872 Mr. McQuiddy was united in marriage with Miss Ida C. Putnam, and two years later the young people came to California. Mr. McQuiddy was one of the incorporators of the Settler's Ditch Company, which was organized to divert the water from Cross creek, and thus enrich the surrounding country, which was very dry and hence unprofitable from an agricultural standpoint. The death of Mr. McQuiddy's first wife occurred in 1874, and five years later, in the fall of 1879, he was united in marriage with Rebecca McMillan, a native of Louisiana, but who was reared in Tennessee, in the vicinity of Mr. McQuiddy's early home. Mr. and Mrs. McQuiddy have two children, Inez, a graduate of the state university at Berkeley, Cal., and Edna R., a graduate of the high school at Hanford. In his political sympathies Mr. McQuiddy allies himself with the Prohibition party, stead- fastly supporting its principles, and with his wife attends the Christian Science Church, of which they are both members. In May, 1903. Mr. McQuiddy was elected secretary of the Board of Trade of Hanford, and for the past twenty years, or ever since taking up his residence in Hanford, he has been secretary of the People's Ditch Company, one of the most important factors in the making of Kings county. In addition to the varied interests already mentioned Mr. McQuiddy owns interests in oil lands, in which venture he has been fairly successful.