Yolo-Sonoma County CA Archives Biographies.....Stites, William Albert 1863 - 
************************************************
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 January 14, 2006, 1:46 pm

Author: Tom Gregory (1913)

WILLIAM ALBERT STITES

    One of California's native sons, who is engaged in viticulture and
horticulture near Citrona, is William A. Stites, who set out and improved his
vineyard and orchard from the raw land. Possessed of the qualities of courage
and manliness, he has not only made a decided success of his own life, but, by
his well-directed efforts and generous aid, has assisted in countless ways his
many friends and associates, who regard him with warm esteem and admiration.

    Mr. Stites was born near Geyserville, Sonoma county, May 5, 1863, the son of
Alexander Hill Stites, who was born in Dekalb county, Tenn., August 3, 1837,
and, was reared in Missouri. In 1856 the father left the farm and, accompanied
by other emigrants, crossed the plains to California via Salt Lake City and the
sink of the Humboldt. After a long and wearisome journey of six months, during
which time the travelers were obliged to maintain constant vigilance against the
Indians, they arrived in Santa Rosa September 4, 1856. Until 1858 Mr. Stites
remained in Sonoma county, working at various occupations, and then went to
Humboldt county, to which section he drove several hundred head of cattle, the
majority of which, however, were either stolen or killed by the Indians.
Returning to Sonoma county he embarked in the livery business at Healdsburg, but
a year later disposed of the same and settled on a farm of one hundred and sixty
acres near Geyserville, where he resided until his death, April 30, 1904.

    On July 25, 1861, Alexander H. Stites was united in marriage with Miss
Mattie Kilgore, who was born in Iowa, January 30, 1841, and who now resides in
Geyserville. To their union nine children were born: William A., the subject of
this review; Effie, Mrs. McDonough, who died in Cloverdale; Belle, Mrs. Ellis,
of Greyserville; Emma, deceased; Adelaide, of Berkeley; Maggie, deceased;
Luella, deceased; Kate, Mrs. Brooks, of Turlock; and Estelle, Mrs. H. G. Hill,
of Berkeley.

    William A. Stites was brought up at Geyserville, where he received his
education in the public schools. In 1898 he removed with his family to Yolo
county, where they became possessors of a tract of eighty acres near Citrona, a
part of the Mathew Hays ranch. In addition to twenty acres of alfalfa, Mr.
Stites conducts an eighteen-acre vineyard and an eight-acre orchard planted to
apricots, peaches and prunes. In 1904 he erected his present comfortable
residence and otherwise improved his property, which now ranks among the most
valuable in that section. In Madison, March 3, 1887, he was married to Miss
Hattie E. Hays, who was born in Healdsburg, the daughter of Mathew and Jemima
(Linville) Hays, born in Tennessee and Missouri, respectively. They crossed the
plains in 1857 with ox-teams, and settled in Yolo county, where Mr. Hays was a
farmer and stock-raiser. After spending a few years in Sonoma county he returned
to Yolo and purchased a ranch east of Citrona, where he was engaged in
grain-raising. He died in Woodland April 22, 1898, and afterward his wife made
her home with her daughter, Mrs. Stites, until her death, May 5, 1912, when over
eighty-six years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Stites have two children, Manford, a
resident of Sacramento, and Leland, who assists his parents on the home farm.
Mr. Stites is a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West and maintains a
deep interest in all public enterprises of merit.


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/stites169gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/

File size: 4.4 Kb