Yolo-Solano County CA Archives Biographies.....De Vilbiss, John A. 1841 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 4, 2007, 12:13 am

Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1891)

JOHN A. DE VILBISS.—Among the men of Yolo County who have taken a conspicuous
and active part in its development, the above mentioned gentleman must be
placed. The hotel which bears his name, located at Winters, and which will
receive due attention in the proper place in this article, is a monument to his
enterprise, which alone entitles him to something more than passing mention in
this volume. The following sketch of his life and career is hence given with
more than the ordinary detail, though necessarily brief to conform it to the
place and scope of the work.

  Mr. De Vilbiss was born in Lewis County, Missouri, at Canton, a pretty little
city on the western bank of the Mississippi River, the date of his birth being
November 19, 1841.

  His father, Alexander De Vilbiss, was born in Allegany County, Maryland, not
far from Hagerstown, and his parents also were American born, his father being a
native probably of Pennsylvania, and his mother of Baltimore. The De Vilbiss
family, however, are originally of French extraction, their history in this
country dating from 1735, when three brothers of that name settled on the
Atlantic coast, one of them being the direct ancestor of John A. De Vilbiss.

  The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Rebecca Brown, was born near
Bards-town, Kentucky, who, somewhere between the ages of twelve and fifteen
years accompanied her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Brown, on their removal to
Lewis County, Missouri. There she grew up and was married. Her husband had come
out from Maryland to Canton, where he followed the business of an architect and
contractor. When John A. was but eleven months old his father died, leaving his
wife a widow before she had reached the age of seventeen years. So, until he was
six years old he lived with his grandfather, John De Vilbiss, on his farm.
There, his mother having married Walter Ferguson, he lived with them until he
had reached the age of sixteen years, being reared to farm life. About 1858 he
went to live with an uncle, by name Henry De Vilbiss, who also resided in Lewis
County, making his home there until 1861.

  He then entered the service of the Confederacy, enlisting in Company E, Eighth
Missouri Mounted Infantry. He served with all the valor of the young men of
Southern blood and birth, being with General Price in his famous campaigns, and
only left the ranks when in the fall of 1862 he was picked up bleeding and
wounded on the battle-field of Kirksville, and made prisoner by the Federal
troops. Being taken first to Palmyra, he witnessed there the execution of the
prisoners under McNeill, and shook hands with the boys when they went out to be
shot. After having been imprisoned about two months at Palmyra, he was taken to
Alton, Illinois, where he was kept about four months in confinement. He was then
exiled from the Southern States, and released on condition that he should live
north of Mason and Dixon's line and east of the Illinois Central Railroad. In
accordance with this undertaking, he went to McLean County, Illinois, where he
worked at farm work and made his home until the fall of 1864. While there he met
his wife, whose maiden name was Esther Cunningham, and on the 18th of November,
1864, they were married. In January, 1864, they went to Lewis County, Missouri,
and there made their home with his mother until the following spring.

  Then, as member of a train, containing twenty-five wagons from that
neighborhood, they started for California. They passed through Bloomfield, Iowa,
the day after President Lincoln's assassination, and there received the first
news of that event. They crossed the Missouri River at Plattsmouth, and thence
proceeded up the South Platte by way of Julesburg, crossed the Platte at the old
emigrant ferry, north of Denver, passed near the present site of Cheyenne,
thence through the Black Hills and across the Laramie Plains, and thence by the'
Bitter Creek route and Forts Bridger and Halleck, through Utah, stopping at Salt
Lake City about a week. Then they took the old stage route, leaving Church Hill
to the left, thence to the sink of Carson, what was then known as Ragtown, and
thence on to Virginia City, Nevada. That place was then alive with the Comstock
excitement, and consequently Mr. De Vilbiss concluded to remain there. He went
to work in the mines, and remained there until the fall of 1868, his oldest son,
John S., being born there meanwhile, and his oldest daughter, Mary, in Washoe
City. In the fall of 1868 he went to Reno, where he took the cars, with his
family, for California. He went to Sacramento by rail, by stage to Danville,
thence by cars again to Elmira, and from there by private conveyance to the
ranch of his uncle, John De Vilbiss, near Vacaville.

  He first went to work in California as a farm hand, but after being so engaged
about a year he went to Putah Creek and rented land from Greene McMahon, and
went to farming for himself. He rented from him for three years, and then moved
upon his present homestead, which was then owned by Theodore Winters. When the
town of Winters was started he purchased from his landlord 303 acres. He had
accomplished this much by determination and pluck, and after a time purchased an
additional 135 acres, to which he later added 348 acres more, both of the last
mentioned tracts being purchased from D. P. Edwards. Nothing but grain had been
raised on this land, and Mr. De Vilbiss set about its improvement in a
systematic way. He erected the necessary buildings in a substantial manner, and
in 1878, having come to the conclusion that the future advancement of that
region must come from other products than grain alone, he commenced planting
fruit. To the trees planted that year he has since added regularly until he now
has a fruit acreage of 100 acres, about a third of which is in bearing. The
trees are pears, apricots, peaches, plums, figs and almonds, while about ten
acres of the amount is in table grapes. For the land on his ranch he paid $40 an
acre straight through, but of the entire tract he has sold off 600 acres, all
his fruit land, however, being in the amount retained. This of course has become
very valuable, as Mr. De Vilbiss takes an unusual degree of pride in the quality
of the product turned out of his orchard, his dried fruit, especially,
commanding the highest price in the market. He shipped his first car load of
fruit in 1890, during the week ending July 5, the consignment being made to
Loomis, of New York. His shipments for 1890 from twenty-two acres of apricots
were over a ton of dried fruit to the acre.

  Foreseeing that Winters had a substantial future before it as a town, and
would be the center of the fruit-handling industry, and recognizing the need
existing of first-class accommodations for travelers and others in order to reap
the full benefit of the coming trade of Winters, Mr. De Vilbiss set about the
selection of a suitable site, and in October, 1889, commenced the erection of

THE HOTEL DE VILBISS.

  Work on the structure was pushed with commendable vigor, and on July 15, 1890,
the house was finally opened to the public. So well does this enterprise deserve
the commendation of the citizens of Winters and the general public, that a brief
description of the house is an essential feature in this connection.

  The Hotel De Vilbiss is a handsome and imposing brick structure of two stories
in height, while the ground dimensions are 80 x 120 feet. The architect, Mr.
Cook, of Sacramento, having drawn the plans after the suggestions of Mr. De
Vilbiss, has arranged within these dimensions a hotel second in convenience to
none in the entire section of the State known as Northern California. The first
story comprises a commodious and handsome office, an elegantly appointed bar, a
dining-room 56 1/2 x 27 feet in extreme dimensions, a spacious kitchen 22 x 32
feet in area, fitted with a Montague Patent French range, while a hall-way runs
the entire distance from office to kitchen. The outlets to the floor above are a
handsomely ornamented staircase leading from the office, while the en trance to
the ladies' stairway is at the rear of the dining-room. The first story also
contains two elegant business rooms, the superior of which are not to be found
in Yolo County. A prominent feature is the great plate-glass windows in the
front, which are 87 3/4 x 96 inches in dimensions, manufactured in Indiana with
the utmost care and from the finest materials.

  The second floor contains, besides necessary store-rooms and closets, forty
airy and elegantly furnished sleeping-rooms, a noteworthy feature being the
splendid light afforded each room$ bringing out in a clear manner the excellence
of the plans. On this floor is also the roomy and handsomely appointed parlor a
fitting adjunct to such a home. The furnishings of the house, as regards the
wood work, is in California redwood and ash, and the design excellent. The house
is supplied with its own gas machine, and the dining-room is lighted by two
chandeliers of four lights, while the bar has one of four lights, and the office
two of two lights each. The halls above are illuminated by glebe lights. The
entire structure is crowned by a tower which rises to the height of seventy-two
feet at the corner of Main street and Railroad avenue. Just beneath the apex of
the tower is a large open space containing a number of lights for night
illumination.

  The opening of the hotel was made the occasion of a great gathering and joyous
festivities participated in by a host of prominent people from the vicinity and
from abroad, and the event will long be remembered as a bright one in the
history of Winters. The enterprise of the builder was commended by all, and
congratulations poured in upon him for the progressive spirit he had shown.

  Mr. De Vilbiss has an interesting family of six children: John S., the eldest,
is in business in San Jose; the eldest daughter, Mary, is visiting the old home
and friends in Missouri; Charles L. is attending the college of Notre Dame, near
South Bend, Indiana; and the remaining three—Esther, Helena and Annie—are at
Notre Dame College, San Jose, California. The children exhibit great natural
artistic ability, which has been developed under competent training, and many
evidences of their ability in their direction have received due acknowledgment
at public and private exhibitions.

  Mr. De Vilbiss is a man of generous impulses, honest to a degree, and his
success in life has been due entirely to his own efforts. He enjoys the
confidence and respect of the entire community.


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.


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