Merced-Los Angeles-Alameda County CA Archives Biographies.....Ferrel, William J. 1838 - 1911 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 4, 2006, 11:29 pm Author: John Outcalt (1925) WILLIAM J. FERREL AND JESSIE F. FERREL The story of pioneer days may be told by the biographies of the pioneers who struggled amid difficult conditions in order that their successors might find prosperity and comfort. A venerable pioneer, who not only paved the way for others, but reaped the reward of his own labors, was the late William J. Ferrel, landowner and farmer on the Merced River, who was born in Dallas County, Texas, in 1838, and died at Berkeley, Cal., in October, 1911. His father, Walter Ferrel, was a slaveowner; his mother died when he was two weeks old, and his father remarried a year later. Starting on his own account at the age of eighteen, William J. Ferrel left Fort Belknap on May 7, 1856, with cattle and horses for the West. He arrived in Los Angeles in October, 1856, having been successful in bringing his stock across the plains and selling them after his arrival. He came to Merced County in the spring of 1857, and for seven years worked on ranches, receiving monthly wages. By saving his earnings he was able, in 1861, to invest in land on the Merced River, which proved to be the foundation for his own and his son's fortunes. He bought 500 acres four miles west of Snelling and in time became a prosperous grain farmer, and by industry and frugality he obtained financial independence. By later purchases he added some 1300 acres of hill land northeast of Snelling to his holdings; this acreage he used for grain-raising and the stock business. He was a pioneer in the use of modern methods of agriculture, and on his river ranch he employed hundreds of Chinese laborers. Corn and hogs were raised as a specialty. Dairy farming and the raising of other stock have since replaced the corn and hog combination, and the Chinese have long since disappeared. Mr. Ferrel used to relate the experiences he had had as an early settler in these parts, but he was a man who boasted very little of his achievements. He did his first day's work in Merced County for the late J. M. Montgomery, and they became very close personal friends. Mr. Ferrel was a stanch Democrat, and he will long be remembered for his good work as chairman of the board of school trustees of the Dry Creek school district. The marriage of William J. Ferrel occurred in the old El Capitan Hotel at Merced, on January 15, 1879, and united him with Miss Jessie Frances Burns, who was born in 1860 at Lake Tent House near Roberts Ferry on the Tuolumne River, on the old Stockton-Mariposa wagon road. She was the youngest of five children of the late John A. and Luinda Frances (Jennings) Burns. John Burns was born in Missouri and came to California across the plains with oxen and a covered wagon, arriving in Los Angeles in 1849. He spent the winter of 1850 on Monterey Bay and in the spring of 1851 began farming in Monterey County, continuing there for three seasons. He made money there; and when he removed to the Lake Tent country, in Stanislaus County, he conducted a hotel for seven seasons. The surrounding country was sparsely settled, vast cattle and sheep ranges making neighbors few and far between; thousands of antelope and wild horses ran over the unfenced country, and the only marks of civilization were along the main traveled road. In 1864 Mr. Burns moved to a place ten miles below Coulterville, and for nine years he conducted a public house, livery stable and stage station there. He kept many fine horses, which were used by tourists going into Yosemite Valley. While there Mr. Burns dispensed a broad and liberal hospitality to the guests and tourists, who made that stopping-place a lively and enjoyable resort. In 1871 he moved to Merced County, took up land three miles north of Snelling on Dry Creek, and engaged in grain farming, being a pioneer in this venture, for up to that time the government lands were not opened to settlers. He died there at the age of seventy-six. The children of the late pioneer and Forty-niner, John A. Burns, are as follows: John S. was formerly proprietor of the Athlone Hotel in Merced County, and is deceased. Sarah died in Mexico in 1883. Alia Katherine Welch, widow of the late P. L. Welch, supervisor, Mason, successful storekeeper and grain farmer of Plainsburg, resides in Snelling. By her former marriage she was the wife of Rev. B. A. Hawkins, who was a school teacher and a member of the board of education in Fresno and Merced Counties, and who died in 1908. Isabel M. Haskel, of Le Grand, has been married three times, and had two children by her first husband and eight by her second marriage. Mrs. Jessie. F. Ferrel is the youngest of this progressive and highly esteemed family. The Burns children attended the Anderson district school, where Mr. Burns was a trustee for many years. The region was built up by the settlers, and there were but eighty pupils in the district when at its best. Mrs. Ferrel received the best education the local school afforded. She was reared on a ranch, learned to shoot and ride, and still finds great pleasure and gratification in going hunting, for she is able to handle a gun and is a good markswoman. She is active as a member of the Snelling Lodge of Rebekahs, being a Past Noble Grand, having served as Noble Grand in 1923, and has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge twice. She makes use of her franchise, voting on public questions, and handles her own business affairs. Since her husband's death she has shown a splendid acumen in the care of her property, which embraces 420 acres of Merced River bottom lands. Her two sons are both in the dairy business. W. J. Ferrel, Jr., owns and conducts a dairy and stock business on his ranch, making his home with his mother at Snelling. Francis Eugene Ferrel, a dairyman, married Miss Ethel Hooper, and has two daughters, Gene and Joyce. During the Panama Pacific Exposition at San Francisco, Mrs. Ferrel took a very active part and ably represented Merced County in an official capacity. She has become well and favorably known in the State of California as well as in Merced County. In 1919 Mrs. Ferrel bought the store building used by Jacobs and Simons, one of the oldest landmarks in Snelling, the building having been erected in 1858, of sandstone construction. Since 1920 she has lived on this site in a commodious home which she rebuilt from the huge stone structure, and she owns ten acres adjoining this residence property, running back to the edge of the Merced River. Here Mrs. Ferrel dispenses a liberal hospitality to her many callers and friends. Additional Comments: From: HISTORY OF MERCED COUNTY CALIFORNIA WITH A Biographical Review OF The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified with Its Growth and Development from the Early Days to the Present HISTORY BY JOHN OUTCALT ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 1925 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/merced/bios/ferrel406bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/cafiles/ File size: 7.4 Kb