California Biographies, Santa Cruz County
GEORGE ARTHUR TRAFTON

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

Source:
History of Santa Cruz County, California 
Pacific Press Publishing Company
San Francisco, Cal. 1892
By E. S. Harrison 

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

 

GEORGE ARTHUR TRAFTON. 

The discovery of gold in California was the direct cause of the removal of the Trafton family from their quiet home in 
a Missouri town, where a sojourn of years had brought them many warm friends, to the newly settled regions of the west, 
where an arduous struggle awaited their courageous efforts. Misfortune and bereavement came to them in the course of 
the journey, which began auspiciously at St. Joseph, Mo., on the 1st of May, the expedition comprising almost forty 
wagons. Young Trafton, who was then about sixteen years of age, was given charge of six yoke of oxen, and to the others 
similar duties were assigned as desired. There had been considerable anxiety as to hostility on the part of the Indians, 
but the red men did not molest them; on the contrary, their troubles were of a radically different nature, but no less 
alarming. Cholera had thrown its dread shadow over many of the expeditions and had depleted their numbers more 
rapidly than the bullets of an enemy. The disease broke out among the members of this company and thirty days after 
leaving Missouri the elder Trafton was taken from his family by a swift attack of the epidemic. The body was buried on 
tlie plains and the bereaved wife and children hurried forward with the expedition, eventually entering California by 
way of Carson Pass. During October of the same year the mother with her children took up land on the Cosumnes 
river. 

The adventurous spirit of the sixteen-year-old son would not allow him to remain contentedly on a ranch until he had 
made an effort to mine for gold. Accordingly he went to the mines of Amador and Sacramento counties and prospected 
for a time. Since then he has been interested in mining at different times and in various localities, but after he had at- 
tained his majority he ceased to devote his entire attention to that occupation, returning instead to the pursuit of ranch- 
ing. For a time his mother remained on the home ranch, but eventually she came to Watsonville and here passed her 
declining years. Of her five children three are living, namely: John, of Monterey county; George Arthur, of Watson- 
ville; and Mrs. 0. H. Willoughby, also of this city. The brothers engaged in ranching in partnership for some time, 
buying land in the Pajaro valley, whose fertile soil and healthful climate had attracted them to its citizenship. 

The marriage of George A. Trafton was solemnized in Sacramento in 1858 and united him with Miss Melissa A. 
Matthis, who was born in Illinois and came to California in 1852. It was the pleasant privilege of Mr. and Mrs. Trafton 
to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage, on which memorable occasion they were the recipients of con- 
gratulations from a host of devoted personal friends. Their union was blessed with six children, but one of these died in 
infancy. Those who attained mature years were as follows: Mrs. Mary Emma Jameson, now deceased; Hon. W. A. Traf- 
ton, who is associated with his father in business and has been honored with the office of mayor of Watsonville; Mrs. Alice 
Amelia Evans, of Watsonville; Howard V., who holds the office of sheriff of Santa Cruz county; and Mrs. Ida Evelyn 
Trimble, a resident of Bakersfield. The children were educated in the schools of Watsonville and were carefully trained 
by wise parents in order that they might be fully qualified to meet the responsibilities of life. 

Many of the qualities that individualize Mr. Trafton come to him from a long line of English ancestry. Shortly after 
the new world began to be colonized members of the Trafton family crossed the ocean to Maine, where several generations 
struggled bravely in an endeavor to wrest a livelihood from a sterile soil. A young couple of that name crossed the line 
into lower Canada and established a temporary home within the British possessions. While living there a son was 
born to them October 5, 1834, and this child was given the name of George Arthur. However, his earliest recollections 
are not of Canada or New England, for during infancy he was taken to Missouri and there passed the years of early 
youth, his father being a manufacturer and merchant at Rocheport, Boone county, that state. 

Possessing a temperament that led him to become interested in speculative affairs, Mr. Trafton was not content to pursue 
the quiet round of ranch duties, but while yet living in the country he formed large interests in the potato-raising busi- 
ness. Over-production brought a heavy decline in prices and he suffered large losses. During 1863 he disposed of his 
farm holdings and came to Watsonville, where he bought and sold farm products, principally grain. During 1868 he es- 
tablished the first exclusive hardware store in the town and for seventeen years he conducted business along that line, 
meanwhile buying real estate and in 1872 erecting a brick building for store purposes. The building, which adjoins, 
the Lewis house, was at the time of its erection considered one of the finest business structures in the entire county. 
Fortune favored Mr. Trafton in the quiet round of business, enterprises, but his fondness for mining speculations proved 
his financial undoing, and after an experience of ten years in the development of quicksilver mines in Santa Clara county 
he found himself bereft of fortune and hampered by an indebtedness aggregating about $75,000. Eventually his debts 
were paid and no one but himself lost by his reverses. For four years, beginning in 1881, he conducted a partnership 
in mercantile pursuits with A. J. Jennings under the firm name of Trafton & Jennings. After disposing of his in- 
terest in the business, he resumed the buying and selling of grain and with M. A. Hudson as a partner he built up the 
largest trade of its kind in the Pajaro valley, the partners owning a large storage warehouse at Watsonville. 

At this writing Mr. Trafton is interested in gold mines in Mexico, and he has a patent from the government for land 
fifty miles south of Hollister, where he located the vein of coal that now is being developed as the Trafton mine. 
Through all of his long and active career he has been warmly interested in movements for the well-being of the community. 
Particularly in educational matters has he been alert to aid plans for the furtherance of the free-school system. A service 
of four years as a member of the school board gave him an opportunity to favor measures for the raising of the standard 
of education in the local schools. For fifteen years he was a member of the board of town trustees and during seven 
years of that period he held the office of chairman of the board. The inauguration of a movement looking toward the 
establishment of a volunteer fire department met with his hearty approval, and lie became identified with the same. 
After years of faithful service his name was transferred to the honorary list, in which association he continues to the 
present time. In fraternal relations he holds membership with the Watsonville Masons, being identified not only with 
the blue lodge, but also with the chapter and commandery. It has been his aim to exemplify in his life the teachings of 
philanthropy and brotherhood for which the order stands. Foremost in movements for educational, fraternal, civic 
and social development, the name of G. A. Trafton is indissolubly associated with the upbuilding of Watsonville. 
Whether we consider him as a business man, willing to sacrifice his own funds in an effort to develop local enterprises; 
or as a citizen, serving gratuitously for years as a town trustee and school director; or as a neighbor, stanch, faithful 
and true, we must accord him a high position in the citizenship of the place where for almost one-half century he has 
made his home. As proprietor of the grist mill, which he established about 1889, he proved a factor in the growth of 
an important local industry. With commendable enterprise he equipped his mill with the latest approved machinery need- 
ed in the preparation of graham flour, corn meal and other products. From the first the mill proved of great advantage 
to the farmers of the valley and its proprietor added to the prestige of his enviable business reputation. It is to such 
progressive men as he that the valley owes its high standing throughout the state and its established reputation in the 
west.