Tehama-Butte County CA Archives Biographies.....Stairley, Waverley 1845 - ************************************************ 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 21, 2007, 11:51 pm Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1891) WAVERLEY STAIRLEY.-Among the prominent and influential men of Red Bluff, none are more awake to the business interests of the city than is he whose name heads this sketch. Mr. Stairley was born in Greenville, South Carolina, August 3, 1845, the eldest of a family of seven children of Benjamin F. and Elizabeth K. (Stone) Stairley. His father and mother were both born in Greenville; and his mother was a daughter of Colonel Bannister Stone, a a native of Virginia. His grandfather, George Stairley, from Virginia, married the daughter of Archibald Lester and Elizabeth Lester, nee Elizabeth Grymes, and sister to Lucy Grymes, the mother of "Light Horse Harry" Lee, father of General Robert E. Lee. Many of the leading families of Virginia wrere descendants of this Grymes family; and even George Washington's first love was a Grymes, known as the "Lowland Beauty." Benjamin F. Stairley was a close friend of Horace Greeley, the great journalist, and corresponded with the New York Tribune for years. Though a wealthy planter and owner of slaves, he was in favor of gradual emancipation. At that time it -was his opinion that the Northern colleges were more thorough than those of the South. He, accordingly, sent his son-the subject of this sketch-to New York city to attend school. Young Stairley was in that city in 1859 and 1860; and when the war broke out he enlisted, at the age of fifteen, in the cavalry of Wade Hampton's Legion. He did gallant service throughout the war, participating in the many battles throughout Virginia. At one time he had a horse shot from under him, and his regiment was reduced to seventy-two men. However, he came out at the close of the war without having received a wound. The war over, he returned to New York city and finished his education. He then engaged in various pursuits, traveling much, worked and studied, and thereby developed a broad manliness of character, a large conception of men and life, and an intimate knowledge of business methods. In 1868 he accepted the position of ticket auditor of the northern division of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, a position he filled for several years. In 1875 he was associated with the banking house of Belloc & Co.; arid afterward engaged on an extensive scale in the stock brokerage business, under the firm name of Stairley & Haverstick. In 1880-'81 he was connected with the Mader Flume & Trading Company; and later on, in 1882-'83, he was with Moore & Smith, lumber merchants operating in various sections of California and Washington Territory. Mr. Stairley has been connected with the Sierra Lumber Company, off and on, for the past nine years; and January 1, 1884, he took entire charge of their business, located at Red Bluff. In 1887-'88-'89 he was with the company at Chico, where they maintained large yards and mills. He is now superintendent of the company at this point. They saw 20,000,000 feet of lumber annually, operating at the same time a large sash, door and blind factory and planing mills; and they pay for wages at Red Bluff alone $15,000 per month. These figures give some idea of the importance of the interests over which our subject has the management, and show that it requires business talent of a superior order, which he gives evidence that he possesses in a high degree. Mr. Stairley also takes an active interest in the growth of the county and city. He is a member of the Board of Trade and other organizations designed for the public good. As an efficient worker in public affairs his efforts have been highly esteemed, and his co-workers have frequently given him flattering evidence of their appreciation of his endeavors among them. He was married in 1883 to Miss Mary Ridgely Tilden, a native of the eastern shore of Maryland. She is the daughter of Thomas Ware Tilden, of Maryland, a relative of the late Hon. Samuel J. Tilden, and a descendant of Sir Rodger Tilden, who fought with Richard Coeur de Lion in the Holy Land. She is also a direct relative of the Rolies, one of the oldest noble houses of England, the title now being held by one of her grandmother's family. Mr. and Mrs. Stairley have had two children, one born in Chico and one in Red Bluff, viz.: Marmaduke Hamilton and Louise Elizabeth. Both he and his wife are leading members of the Episcopal Church of Red Bluff, of which he is Junior Warden. He is also a member of the bishop's finance committee. Politically he affiliates with the Democratic party; was a delegate to the three last State conventions, and has been offered the nomination of his party for State Senator. He is now a member and secretary of the Democratic County Central Committee, and is also a member of the State Central Committee. He is a Sixth-Degree member of the American Legion of Honor. Mr. Stairley has several relatives in Congress, among them General M. C. Butler, of South Carolina, nephew of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry; William Hayne Perry, of South Carolina; General John H. Bankhead, of Alabama; and Hugh S. Thompson, at present one of the Civil Service Commissioners, and who was for two terms Governor of South Carolina. Additional Comments: Extracted from Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California. Illustrated, Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast from the Earliest Period of its Occupancy to the Present Time, together with Glimpses of its Prospective Future; Full-Page Steel Portraits of its most Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of many of its Pioneers and also of Prominent Citizens of To-day. "A people that takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendents." – Macauley. CHICAGO THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 1891. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/tehama/bios/stairley782gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/ File size: 6.4 Kb