Yolo-San Francisco-Tulare County CA Archives Biographies.....McCoubrey, John 1848 - 
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Author: Tom Gregory (1913)

JOHN McCOUBREY

    Among the prosperous industrial men of Winters Mr. McCoubrey occupies a
prominent place, his sterling qualities and mechanical as well as business
ability, having won the esteem and confidence of his associates. He is a native
of Maine, his birth having occurred two and one-half miles from Robbinston,
December 28, 1848. He received his education in his home section, and until the
age of seventeen remained with his parents, William and Sarah (Peacock)
McCoubrey, of Maine and Scotland, respectively. His father, a ship joiner by
occupation, spent his last years in Maine actively conducting his duties until
his death in 1898, survived by his wife, who died two years later.

    In 1865 John McCoubrey went to Boston, Mass., where he became an apprentice
to a blacksmith, and three years later passed an examination before the
mechanical board, permitting him to practice his trade. In 1876 he established a
general horseshoeing and wagon joining shop in Putnam, Conn., but in 1877 he
removed to Newark, N. J., where he remained until the fall of that year. Having
determined to seek his fortune in the west he sold his interest in his business
to his partner and crossed the plains by emigrant train, the journey occupying
thirteen days. The day after his arrival in San Francisco Mr. McCoubrey accepted
a position as foreman in a shoeing shop at $4 per day, and until the spring of
1878 resided in that city, having been there during the Kearney excitement,
which occurred upon the site of the present city hall grounds. During the same
year he went to Visalia, thence to Dixon, and in 1883 he went to Old Mexico, and
for a time remained in the vicinity of Mazatlan. Finding that climate
disagreeable, he returned to California and located in Winters. Shortly
afterward he took a lease of the J. L. Depree place, retaining it for five
years, after which he returned to his eastern home. In 1889 he returned to
Winters, where he bought his present business property, and since then has
conducted a general blacksmith shop with great success, his place being located
on Main street adjoining the postoffice.

    In 1898 Mr. McCoubrey visited Nome, Dawson City and other Alaskan points, as
well as the Aleutian Islands and the Bering Sea and while in that country he
witnessed the midnight sun. He returned to San Francisco on the St. Paul, after
a most exciting trip. One of his most dangerous experiences was on board the
Samoa, before reaching the Aleutian Islands, when, without warning, he and one
hundred and fifty others were caught in a terrific storm which lasted
forty-eight hours.

    In 1876 occurred the marriage of Mr. McCoubrey with Miss Josephine Kennedy
of Foster, R. I., and the next year he came to California. In 1904 he was
elected on the no-license ticket to fill the office of city trustee, which
position he held for five years. Also, for one term he held the office of city
recorder, but resigned before the close of his term. He might have held many
other public positions but for his disinclination to become a politician. He is
a member of Othello Lodge No. 31, K. P., Dixon, and a charter member of the U.
R. K. P. of Woodland. He has always been a stanch Republican and has endeavored
at all times to live up to the teachings of practical Christianity. His parents
were Presbyterians, in which faith he was reared, and his earliest impressions
are those of a refined and cultured home.


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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