California Biographies Mendocino and Lake Counties, California 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 Mendocino and Lake Counties, California With Biographical Sketches History by Aurelius O. Carpenter And Percy H. Millberry Illustrated, Complete In One Volume Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1914 ALBERT F. MORRELL.� There is not another resident of Morgan valley at the present time who has been there as long as Albert F. Morrell, and he is one of the old-timers who came to California when the gold fever was still running high. In his varied life he has witnessed and suffered much of the fortune and misfortune that fails to the lot of the adventurer in new fields, for although he has been on his ranch in Morgan valley over forty years he had a diversified experience before settling there. He is now carry- ing on extensive agricultural operations, having eight hundred acres, much of which is under the plow, and he has been one of the faithful citizens of his section, having become well known there in the capacity of supervisor, which office he held for years, making a fine record. Mr. Morrell belongs to an old family which has been settled in this country from colonial days, the Morrills, as most of them spell the name, being a highly respected family in Maine and of honorable renown in other New England states. Senator Morrill, of Ver- mont, was a cousin of Albert F. Morrell's grandfather. It is a family tradi- tion that seven Morrill brothers came to this country from England in pre- Revolutionary days, some settling at Augusta. Me., one in New Hampshire, and two in Waterville, Me. It is the branch of the family found at the latter place in which we are interested. Jeddiah Morrill, grandfather of Albert F. Morrell, lived and died at Water- ville, Me., and followed business as a merchant to the end of his days. He was considered a man of wealth in his time, and his son Ephraim Morrill came into possession of a fine portion of his estate. Ephraim Morrill was born at Waterville, and passed all his days there, living to the good old age. of seventy-eight years. He was married at that place to Achsah Clifford, who was of French descent, and like him lived and died in Maine, reaching the age of seventy-six. They reared a family of eight children, four sons and four daughters, Albert F. being the second youngest. Albert F. Morrell was the first of his branch of the family to use the "e" in spelling his name, making the change for convenience, to avoid possible confusion in case he neglected to dot the "i." He was born at Waterville, the home of his ancestors for several generations, on June 14, 1839, and was given good educational advantages as school standards went in those days. His youth was spent in assisting on his father's farm, and meantime he also acquired a most complete knowledge of lumbering and sawmilling. being employed at a waterpower sawmill in the immediate vicinity which had a box and match factory in connection. In the course of his work in the estab- lishment he became an expert sawyer, an accomplishment which served him well in his subsequent career in the west. It was his father's wish that he become a farmer, but when he was a youth of eighteen he was seized with the California gold fever and he resolved to come to the Pacific coast. Making his way to New York City he sailed for Panama and crossing the Isthmus he took the "Moses Taylor" for San Francisco, landing in the spring of 1857. Going up to Placer county, this state, where his eldest brother, Bradbury, was engaged at work in the mines, he remained there, following mining, for a period of four or five years, but did not find the riches which drew him out here. Then he and his brother went into the sawmill business at Yankee Jims, in Placer county, and they succeeded in establishing a business of very creditable proportions, buying out the interest of a Mr. Hollinshead, whose mill they rebuilt and remodeled thoroughly, at an expenditure of ten thousand dollars. Shortly afterward the mill took fire and burned down, a calamity which left Albert F. Morrell "dead broke." His brother, however, still had some money. Mr. Morrell then came to Lower Lake, Lake county, and for two years taught school, until he was in a position to begin business on his own account again. This he did at Owens River, Inyo county, becoming a member of a company which put in a sawmill there, at Big Pine. Indian troubles of a serious nature broke out there, the government finding it neces- sary to send soldiers into the region to quell the disturbance, and after two years at that location Mr. Morrell disposed of his holdings in the mill and in the stock business, in which he had also become interested. His next venture was in the Carson valley in Nevada, where he bought a sawmill which he operated for one year, following which he returned to California, his destina- tion being Sacramento. Not long after his return to California Mr. Morrell came back to Lake county, where he resumed school teaching for two years, at the end of that time taking a position in the saw and grist mill of the Spring Valley Water Company at Lower Lake, which he operated for them as foreman two years. In 1868 he came out to Morgan valley and settled on his present property, which is twenty-five miles from the Rumsey station (in Yolo county) on the Southern Pacific road. There are twenty-odd families living in this valley, all happily situated. Mr. Morrell's first purchase was made from a man named Jim Marion, and contained supposedly four hundred acres. Later he added to this by purchasing from the government, and bought out neighbors' interests until his holdings reached their present aggregate of eight hundred acres. Three hundred acres are under the plow, two-thirds of this being under cultivation, and his crops of alfalfa have proved very profitable. He also raises some fruit for the market, making a specialty of Bartlett pears and French prunes, having two acres of the latter. The largest pear trees in the state are on his ranch, and the family orchard also contains fine apple, plum and peach trees. He has grown Bartlett pears weighing a pound and a half and one particular tree has yielded as many as twenty-seven hundred marketable pears. Mr. Morrell also keeps considerable stock, from twenty to sixty head of cattle, twenty-one horses and colts, and from sixty to seventy hogs. As one of the prosperous farmers and landowners in the region his opinion on local conditions is sought and valued, and though he is known to be a conservative Republican, in a Democratic county, so strongly did he intrench himself in the confidence of his fellow-citizens that he has several times been elected to the office of supervisor, which he has filled altogether for fourteen years, four years of the time as chairman. He has also acted as school trustee, his experience as a teacher qualifying him especially for such service. While he was living at Lower Lake Mr. Morrell was married, at Lake- port, October 9, 1867, to Miss Esther Kennedy, daughter of James Kennedy, one of the pioneers of Long valley, who lived to be eighty-nine years old. Mr. Kennedy married Phoebe Robie, of Goffstown, N. H., who died when about fifty-three years old. Hiram Kennedy, of Long valley, and Almus Kennedy, who lives at Davis, Cal., are brothers of Mrs. Morrell. She was born September 16, 1839, at Ware, N. H., and her parents soon afterward moved to Goffstown Center (now Grosvenor), that state. In 1865 Mrs. Mor- rell made the trip out to California alone, coming by way of Panama.. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Morrell : Lizzie Emma resides in Ukiah ; Lucy Ella, twin sister of Lizzie Emma, died when three years old; Ellis S., engaged in farming in Morgan valley, married Maude Elwood, a native of Eldorado county, and has four children, Milo E., Dewey A., Juanita L., and Alta Frances; Flora E. lives at home with her parents; Gussie A. married Moss Hunt, of Lower Lake, and their three children are Albert, Delia and Erma.