Yolo-Sacramento County CA Archives Biographies.....Chiles, William Dee 1868 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com January 13, 2006, 9:58 pm

Author: Tom Gregory (1913)

WILLIAM DEE CHILES

    The agricultural resources of Yolo county are best known and most highly
appreciated by those who by practical experience have acquired an accurate
knowledge of its possibilities. In their opinion there is no part of Northern
California more rich in its soil or more certain in its offers of a livelihood
to farmers than the valley of the Sacramento, and especially that portion
thereof exempt from damages by water. It is in this desirable location that Mr.
Chiles carries on grain-raising and stock-raising, and the success of his
efforts adds another proof concerning the exceptional advantages offered by the
region to men of industrious habits and sagacious judgment. The property near
Davis, which was left to him as an inheritance, returns a neat annual income in
exchange for his intelligent oversight and practical management. It is said that
the barley harvested on the ranch has run as high as forty sacks to the acre,
and the wheat has produced twenty sacks to the acre. While, of course, the
average per annum has been less than these gratifying returns, yet under
favorable weather conditions excellent crops always are secured.

    The adaptability which Mr. Chiles shows for agriculture is the result of
training from boyhood, for he passed his early life on the home ranch and
surroundings. Born in the city of Sacramento, April 11, 1868, he received an
excellent education in the Christian Brothers' College of that place. Thereafter
he continued the duties of the farm, and later he began to operate the two
hundred and forty acres left him by his father, Isaac Chiles. Later on his ranch
was added to and he now has five hundred and fifty acres. One of his
specialties, as previously indicated, is the raising of grain; another is the
raising of fine stock. A flock of one hundred head of sheep is kept on the
ranch, and there are also fifty head of pure-bred Durham beef cattle, as well as
a large drove of Berkshire and Poland-China hogs. For some time he has owned an
interest in the imported French stallion Fortuna, and he has raised a number of
draft and driving horses of exceptional merit.

    The marriage of Mr. Chiles and Miss Clara Callaway was solemnized in 1892
and has been blessed with four sons and one daughter, namely: William E.,
Richard F., Isaac S., Carol C. and George D. The family of which Mrs. Chiles was
a member comprised fourteen children, whose father, Richard Callaway, came
across the plains with a large expedition of emigrants during the summer of
1849. At that time he was very young, and it was his privilege to witness the
subsequent development of the west through the many years of his identification
with its upbuilding. During the early days he engaged in freighting to the gold
mines. Many were the dangers that he experienced and many the thrilling scenes
in which he bore a part. When California began to be more thickly populated he
removed to the newer regions of Oregon and became quite prominent in that state,
being a member of its legislature and assisting in the enactment of laws for its
permanent development. It has been the desire of Mr. Chiles to assist in local
enterprises to the extent of his ability, and his interest has been especially
deep in educational matters, he having served as school trustee with efficiency
and zeal. The only fraternal organization with which he has identified himself
is the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, in which he holds membership with
the lodge in Sacramento.


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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