Contra Costa-Solano County CA Archives Biographies.....Darby, A. G. 1808 - 
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Author: W. A. Slocum & Co., Publishers (1882)

HON. A. G. DARBY.—Was born May 8, 1808, and is a native of North Carolina; his
mother died when he was four years old. In 1818, his father moved to the State
of Tennessee, and died the next year. At the time of his decease he possessed
moderate means, but the whole estate was absorbed in the payment of a debt for
which he was security. Mr. Darby being thus left without a patrimony, had no
means to obtain an education. He worked three months at three dollars per month.
In 1820, he moved, with his brother-in-law, to Boone county, Missouri. Failing
to find employment, in the then new country, he apprenticed himself to the
hatter's trade, and afterwards became a partner in the establishment. In 1832,
he was commissioned a Captain to raise a company of volunteers, to take part in
the Black Hawk war. In 1838, he moved to Scotland county, Missouri, and in the
difficulty with Iowa, in regard to the boundary line, he served as Quartermaster
for Missouri militia, and afterwards was elected Colonel of the Seventy-Fourth
Regiment of the Missouri militia. In 1852, he entered the Legislature of
Missouri as a member of the House of Representatives, and was re-elected in
1854. In this body he was a vigilant and efficient member. His success as a
representative was not attributed to genius, but to common sense and a tolerable
knowledge of mankind. In politics he was Democratic, but in recent years
politics have rested lightly upon him. In 1856, he crossed the Plains to
California, and settled in Vaca valley, Solano county. He engaged in general
farming until 1869, when he moved to Contra Costa county, settling on a place of
three hundred and twenty acres in Lone Tree valley, six miles south of Autioch.
Here he is now engaged in general farming, making grain-raising the chief
business, turning his attention also to fruit, nut and forest trees, all of
which grow to the fullest perfection, the almond especially taking very deep
root; it matures well in the dryest seasons. Mr. Darby has found by experiment
that in this locality, subject to occasional drouth, great advantage is gained
by budding the peach on the almond root; the fruit is especially benefitted in
dry seasons. Married in 1829, Sarah Davis, daughter of Isaac Davis, who married
a daughter of Colonel Clark, who was then famous for his skill in Indian warfare
in the early settlement of Kentucky.

Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY,
CALIFORNIA,
INCLUDING ITS GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION;
TOGETHER WITH A RECORD OF THE MEXICAN GRANTS; THE BEAR FLAG WAR; THE MOUNT
DIABLO COAL FIELDS; THE EARLY HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT, COMPILED FROM THE MOST
AUTHENTIC SOURCES; THE NAMES OF ORIGINAL SPANISH AND MEXICAN PIONEERS; FULL
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY; SEPARATE HISTORY OF EACH TOWNSHIP, SHOWING
THE ADVANCE IN POPULATION AND AGRICULTURE;
ALSO,
Incidents of Pioneer Life; and Biographical Sketches
OF EARLY AND PROMINENT SETTLERS AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN;
AMD OF ITS TOWNS, VILLAGES, CHURCHES, SECRET SOCIETIES, ETC.
ILLUSTRATED.
SAN FRANCISCO: W. A. SLOCUM & CO., PUBLISHERS
1882.

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