Yolo-El Dorado-Lake County CA Archives Biographies.....Sims, William 1832 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 30, 2007, 10:52 pm

Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1891)

WILLIAM SIMS, a prominent citizen near Winters, Yolo County. California is a
wonderful land. Its inhabitants have become renowned the world over for a spirit
of enterprise and perseverance that has never been witnessed elsewhere. It is
indeed a land of gigantic undertaking and grand achievement, even in this
country of great attainment, remarkable for the conspicuous success which the
resources of the country so uniformly grant to them who are diligent in
attention to business and adopt judicious methods. It is therefore a peculiar
pleasure to write the history of the lives of Californians. A striking example
is the gentleman whose name heads this article.

  He dates his birth July 14, 1832, in Fayette County, Virginia, of humble
parentage. His early days were spent upon a farm. He left Virginia March 19,
1849, and located in Cass County, Missouri, expecting to begin the study of law
with an uncle there; but the gold excitement of California drew him on as with a
hurricane. May 7, 1850, he crossed the western line of the State of Missouri,
his mind not full of adventure but of honest principle. Coming with an ox team,
he met with the usual experiences of the route, and remained about eight days in
Salt Lake City. The last 300 miles he came on foot, arriving at Georgetown,
August 31, 1850. He began work in the American River mines at $7 a day, but
worked only three days and a half when fever attacked him and held him to his
bed for three weeks. Alone in a strange land and his means exhausted, not having
even a "two-bit" piece with which to secure a scanty meal, he soon found a man
with a heart that recognized his condition and took him in; but his exposure had
caused a relapse and for nearly three years he was an invalid. He spent some
time in a store as a clerk and book-keeper. In 1856 he went to Lake County,
where he was engaged in farming until 1861; then he went to Yolo County and
purchased a squatter's title, which he afterward sold, in 1863, for $400.
Purchasing an outfit, he commenced teaming to the mines, and at the end of, the
first season lie had $20 as the result of all his work! but with a remarkable
degree of grit he continued in the same business the following season, and made
sometimes as much as,$100 a trip. In 1866 he put on another outfit and made as
high as $700 a trip. From 1867 to 1876 he was engaged in running
threshing-machines, in which business he was successful. In 1869 he took a
contract to cut 900 acres of grain for $4,500. In 1870 he purchased his present
property,-240 acres three miles northeast of Winters,-upon which he built, a
large and elegant residence in 1887. He now has some 560 acres in Yolo County,
on which he carries on general farming, and he also has some thirty-five acres
in fruit. Thus, after the privations, failures and sickness already referred to,
on his coming to California, we find him to-day enjoying prosperity in
connection with a fine ranch and a comfortable home. He takes great interest in
political affairs, but does not aspire to office, although he has often been
asked,- even to fill some of the highest stations in the county and State. He
voted at Murderer's Bar, at the first election held in California. He has been
one of the School Trustees since 1862, and now nearly all the business in that
relation is imposed upon him. He became identified with the Grange movement in
1873, in which he has taken a very active part. He is a large stockholder in the
warehouse at Winters, and also in the Bank of Winters, of which he has been
vice-president since its organization. He is a member of Lodge No. 195, F. & A.
M., of Dixon Chapter, No. 48, R. A.M.; of Lodge No. 33, K. of P. at Winters, and
for fourteen years of the I. O. G. T., of which he is now G. C. T.

  In 1857 he married Miss L. A, Sims, a native of Ohio, who was reared in
Virginia, and they have four children: George, Wilburn, Nora and Fred.


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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