Yolo-Sacramento County CA Archives Biographies.....Chiles, Isaac 1829 - 1874
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 14, 2005, 12:11 am

Author: Tom Gregory

ISAAC CHILES

    The distinction which he enjoyed as a pioneer of 1849, and as one of the
most talented men of his day, gave to Isaac Chiles a local prestige and
prominence which caused his death to be deeply mourned, for on every side the
statement was heard that not only had his untimely demise occurred ere he had
attained the expected results of his sagacious endeavors, but in addition the
community had lost a citizen of inestimable value to its permanent welfare.
Early as was the date of his settlement in Yolo county, he was not the first
member of the family to arrive here and to invest in property lying within the
present limits of this prosperous section. It is a fact of historic interest
that his uncle, Col. J. B. Chiles, crossed the plains during the summer of 1841
in company with Green McMahon. In those days the overland route had not been
blazed and travelers were at a loss to decide as to the best roads for travel,
hence he and his companion encountered many delays and many dangers happily
escaped by later emigrants. Some time after his arrival in the west the colonel
located the Los Putas grant in Yolo county and paid for the same, eventually
giving a part of the tract to his son-in-law, Jerome Davis, the influential old
settler in whose honor the village of Davis was named.

    Born in Lafayette county, Ky., July 9, 1829, Isaac Chiles was the only one
of fourteen children who claimed the blue grass state as his native
commonwealth. Shortly after his birth the parents removed to Missouri, and there
all of the other children were born. In Missouri the father owned a large
warehouse, which he conducted for years. The eldest child in the family left
school at the age of fourteen and afterward assisted in the warehouse until the
spring of 1849, when he started across the plains from Independence, Mo., with
wagons and ox-teams. Sacramento was reached in the fall of the same year, and
from there he came to Yolo county, where he engaged as bookkeeper for Jerome
Davis on the Davis ranch, covering the present site of the village of that name.
During 1862 he bought five thousand acres of the grant, which he devoted to the
raising of stock and grain.

    In January of 1863, Isaac Chiles married Bridget Dee, a native of Ireland.
They became the parents of two sons, J. F. and W. D. While still in the prime of
his vigorous activities, Mr. Chiles died June 5, 1874, at the age of forty-seven
years, ten months and twenty-six days. His success had been large, but it was
the universal sentiment that had his life been spared he would have become in
time one of the largest land-owners of Northern California, for his ability was
great and his energy tireless. Fortunately, his ability and his energy, as well
as his lands, have fallen to the inheritance of his sons, both of whom have
become prominent citizens of Yolo county. The younger, William D., is
represented elsewhere in this volume. The older son, James Franklin, born in
November of 1863, has served in the state assembly from Yolo county and owns a
large ranch devoted to the raising of grain and of stock, his specialties being
thoroughbred horses and Durham cattle. By his marriage to Miss Buneman, a native
of San Francisco, he has three children, Henry Gardner, Marjorie and John Preston.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY CALIFORNIA
WITH
Biographical Sketches
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
TOM GREGORY
AND OTHER WELL KNOWN WRITERS
ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA [1913]




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