Yolo County CA Archives Biographies.....Gable, Amos W. 1834 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 14, 2006, 4:14 pm

Author: Tom Gregory (1913)

AMOS W. GABLE

    Men who were born in Yolo county and who have reached middle life here
cannot recall a time when the name of Amos W. Gable was not familiar to them or
when it did not stand for good citizenship and remarkable agricultural success.
These men grew up believing in Mr. Gable as an examplar of unselfish devotion to
duty and of material prosperity attained in the face of early handicaps.
Newcomers in the county found his prestige so firmly established that they
immediately became cognizant of his reputation and through their later personal
experiences confirmed all good opinions of him. Gracious and manly qualities
adorned his rare personality. Sincerity of purpose marked his decisions. A
natural enthusiasm was tempered by caution in judgment. Such was his temperament
and such his character that success made no change in his quiet, unostentatious
existence, and his happiest hours were spent with his family and his intimate
friends and in the pleasant task of improving his beautiful homestead.

    The record of the boyhood years of Amos W. Gable is an epitome of struggles
bravely endured, hardships valiantly surmounted and obstacles quietly overcome.
The frontier record of toil and privation was to him of far less consequence
than the private record of bereavement, sorrow and family separation. His
parents, Solomon and Elizabeth (Dull) Gable, were farmers of great worth of
character and indomitable perseverance. While they lived on a farm in Washington
county, Ohio, their son, Amos W., was born September 13, 1834, he being one of
fourteen children. During his early childhood he was taken to Iowa, where his
father in 1843 took up land in Van Buren county, later going to Appanoose
county. When in his fiftieth year, in June of 1846, the exertion of lifting a
large log caused him to burst a blood-vessel and he died a few hours later. The
children were put out among farmers to earn their board and clothing, the mother
married again and the family, once separated, were never again united on earth.

   The chance for a boy apprenticed to an existence of drudgery on a frontier
farm seemed meager indeed, but an apparent destiny was overruled by a spirit of
resolution. The greatest deprivation was the lack of educational advantages. To
the end of his life Mr. Gable never ceased to regret the fact that he was"
unable-to attend school at a time when the mind was plastic, the intelligence
receptive and the intuition quick, yet perhaps no one ever overcame with greater
determination than he this lack of schooling. His lessons were learned in the
great school of experience and he proved an apt pupil. One of the advantages of
his youth of struggle was the fact that he developed self-reliance and learned
to realize that true success comes only from strenuous exertion. At the time of
discovery of gold in California he resolved to come west, but it was not until
some years later that the opportunity came to him. In 1853 he hired out to drive
a team across the plains for Harvey Porterfield in return for his own passage to
the west. The party drove one hundred head of cattle to the west and settled in
Yolo county, where the young man received work from Mr. Porterfield at $30 per
month as a cattle-herder. Appreciation of his tireless labors came in an advance
of his wages to $100 per month and this amount he frugally saved for future
investment.

    The arrival of the younger brother, Harvey C. Gable, in 1861 with $700 in
cash enabled the brothers to invest in cattle and form a partnership that
continued throughout their lives. With enthusiastic faith in the future, they
purchased Mr. Porterfield's ranch and went heavily in debt in the venture. For a
few years they met with fair success. Stock being then allowed to roam at large,
pasturage was a matter of small expense. But a change came with the severe
drought of 1864. The year 1865 found them with a debt of $5500 which they were
utterly unable to meet. They met their creditors and offered them their entire
holdings to settle the indebtedness, but the men urged them to keep on without
growing discouraged, assuring them they would wait for their money, believing
success would come to them in the end. Time proved the wisdom of the counsel.
The debt was eventually paid off and afterward they began to accumulate property
until they became the joint owners of eighty-five hundred acres of land, much of
it under cultivation. On their vast tracts roamed large herds of cattle and
enormous flocks of sheep. Horses and hogs also were raised on their ranches. The
advance in the price of land and cattle brought them great wealth and gave them
a standing among the leading property owners of the county.

    The marriage of Amos W. Gable was solemnized June 4, 1874, and united him
with Miss Mary Gottwals, a native of Yolo county, Cal., who was born in 1856 and
died March 30, 1903, at the age of forty-seven years. Four children blessed the
union, Harvey Hayes, Myrtle, Gertrude and Awilma (Mrs. H. D. Porter), all of
Woodland. The family removed to Woodland in 1882 and made their home on the
corner of Laurel and First streets. Three years later Mr. Gable erected a
residence on the corner of First and Cross streets and eventually, by personal
efforts, converted the property into one of the most attractive homes in the
city. - The well-kept lawn is artistically adorned with tropical shrubbery.
Orange trees of the finest varieties were planted and in the care of them the
owner passed many hours of pleasure. Indeed, he was never happier than when
improving his place and enjoying its beauties with his family. He was a Mason of
the Knights Templar degree. While relaxing his labors with increasing wealth, he
never lost his business-like aptitude for affairs, but until his death (which
occurred February 24, 1898) he served as vice-president and a director of the
Bank of Yolo and as a director in the Yolo County Savings Bank, besides
retaining the personal management of his extensive landed interests in the
county. It is but fitting to relate that his son, Harvey Hayes Gable, the only
male representative of the family in the Sacramento valley since the death of
the other brother, Harvey C., has assumed the management of the large ranch and
varied interests and for convenience he incorporated the estate under the name
of The Gable Company, of which he is president and manager.


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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