Yolo-Sacramento County CA Archives Biographies.....Leeman, William Henry before 1856 - 1911 ************************************************ 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 December 10, 2005, 1:59 pm Author: Tom Gregory WILLIAM HENRY LEEMAN The man who realizes early in life the value of prudent and economical measures in all lines is certain to reap the reward of his moderation. No one admires a niggardly character, but who does not esteem a man who can in all situations maintain a calm and unbiased judgment, which, in the end, place him far ahead of his more impulsive and indiscreet brother? A man who has ever shown consideration and generosity to his family, yet whose quiet sagacity has enabled him to build a competency which ranks among the foremost in Yolo county, in W. H. Leeman, who was born in Iowa, and who, when but a babe crossed the plains in 1856 with his parents, who settled in Sacramento county. Following his education in the public schools of that section W. H. Leeman's first independent step was to secure employment in the Pioneer hop yards of Daniel Flint, the latter residing three miles below Sacramento. In 1882 Mr. Leeman purchased one hundred and eighty acres of swamp land near Washington, Yolo county. He built small levees around parts of his land, this being before there was a reclamation district. Here he put into practice on his own account the methods and training which he had acquired on the Pioneer ranch, setting it to hops, and he and Mr. Lovdal were the first to cultivate hops in Yolo county. Still continuing hop culture, Mr. Leeman added to his holdings from time to time until he became the owner of four hundred and twenty acres, one hundred and sixty of which were in hops and the remainder in alfalfa, besides which he conducted a dairy supplied by two hundred cows. The 1911 yield of hops proved so large, producing a ton to the acre, that Mr. Leeman was obliged to erect an additional hop drying shed. Prices were good and the income from this source alone was very material. He was one of the first trustees of reclamation district No. 537 and was active in constructing the levees. Fraternally he was a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and politically he was a Republican. He passed away at his home, No. 2507 K street, Sacramento, August 24, 1911. The marriage of Mr. Leeman, in Sacramento, united him with Miss Kate Farley, who was born in this city, and who passed away July 28, 1910, leaving three children, Walter W., Gertrude and Maretta. Walter W. Leeman was born in Sacramento April 12, 1885. After completing his public school education he entered the University of California at Berkeley, where he continued his studies for one year. Returning home in 1904 he became actively engaged in the duties of the ranch, demonstrating an ability much appreciated by his father. On the death of the latter he became executor of the estate and now has the management of the Leeman ranch. It is located four miles west of Sacramento on the Sacramento & Woodland electric railway, at Leeman station, where a switch is located, providing splendid shipping facilities. The buildings on the ranch comprise a hop house with six kilns, also a cooling-room. After leaving this room the hops are pressed into bales of about two hundred pounds each. About two hundred acres of the ranch are in alfalfa and the product of the dairy, supplied by two hundred cows, is sold at wholesale in Sacramento, being shipped by boat direct from the landing on the ranch. Mr. Leeman also breeds draft horses of the Percheron strain. He was married in Sacramento to Miss Irma Kilgore, a native of that city. Fraternally he is identified with Sacramento Lodge No. 6, B. P. O. E. 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] File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/yolo/bios/leeman131gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/ File size: 4.5 Kb