Plumas County CA Archives Biographies.....McCullough, George B. 
************************************************
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 January 9, 2006, 6:01 am

Author: Fariss & Smith (1882)

   GEORGE B. MCCULLOUGH came to Rich bar, east branch, in the summer of 1852. He
was a fine specimen of manhood, aged about fifty years, and hailed from Cecil
county, Maryland, where he had been a heavy contractor on public works, and had
held many positions of trust. He had heard of river fluming, and came to this
state with a view of securing contracts for the construction of flumes. On his
arrival he found that the mining companies did all such work themselves, and was
therefore disappointed. Being a proud man, he felt unwilling to return to his
home without making an effort in some direction, and so engaged in mining on
Rich bar, but was not successful. He was beloved by all whose acquaintance he
made, and was known and recognized as "Old Man McCullough." Not a miner there
but would have shared his last dollar or his last loaf with him. McCullough,
living in a cabin alone, became despondent, and gradually resorted to the
intoxicating cap for consolation. He labored faithfully all the time, but
realized little more than a bare subsistence. Many fruitless efforts were made
by his friends to induce him to return to his devoted wife at home, and she in
frequent letters earnestly besought him to do so, but in vain. A strong intimacy
existed between him and Mr. F. B. Whiting, who tells the following:

   "He often alluded to his wife, and also to his brother, a prominent lawyer in
Maryland. The old man was fast going down to a drunkard's grave, when in the
fall of 1854 I determined to make a last effort to save him. I sat down in my
cabin and wrote a letter to his brother in Cecil county, Maryland, frankly
stating the condition of his brother, and urging him to come out himself.

   "As I was sitting in the store one winter evening the door opened, and a
stranger, clad in unusual apparel, entered. He was dressed in the richest
broadcloth, and wore a fine silk hat, which peculiarities of costume caused me
much surprise. He approached and inquired for me, presenting a letter of
introduction from a brother of mine then living in Washington, which invoked my
kindly assistance for the stranger. This old gentleman had come all the way from
Maryland to rescue from destruction his brother-in-law, George B. McCullough.
For three days we used all the moral suasion we were capable of on McCullough,
to induce him to go home, and finally succeeded. The boys all bade him a tearful
adieu, and many a blessing from the kind-hearted miners followed him on his
homeward journey. He reached his old home in safety, where his faithful wife
awaited him; he was reinstated in the responsible trust he had left, and from
that time became a reformed man. He lived twenty-five years after this
occurrence, dying some two years since. To the day of his death it is believed
he was never apprised of the first steps taken to save him."


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties

San Francisco: Fariss & Smith
(1882)


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/plumas/bios/mccullou295nbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/

File size: 3.5 Kb