Colusa County
Biographies
W. T. BEVILLE
William Thomas Beville was born at Wytheville, Wythe County, Virginia, August 18, 1844. When the rebellion broke out, he was attending school, yet he volunteered in Company K., Eighth Virginia Regiment, and served in the Confederate service till the surrender of Lee. He came to Colusa County in November, 1868, and served as Deputy County Clerk. He was appointed Under-sheriff in March, 1870, by J. B. Stanton, and continued in that position four years, when he was again appointed Under-sheriff, by J. L. Howard, and remained with him till the expiration of his term of office, two years later. He was elected County Assessor in 1875, for the term of four years. After filling this responsible position to the satisfaction of all, he was appointed, in 1880, Under-sheriff, by J. M. Steele, and afterwards served four years as Under-sheriff of Maberry Davis. In 1886 he was elected Sheriff, and re-elected to the same office two years later.
In 1872 he was married to Miss Lutie Williams, a native of Missouri, by whom he is the father of three children, one son and two daughters. Aside from his comfortable Colusa residence, he is the owner of an apricot and peach orchard of twenty acres, one mile west from Colusa.
“Colusa County” – by Justus H. Rogers – Orland, CA – 1891 – pp 446
P. H. GRAHAM
This gentleman was born in Missouri, April 25, 1857. He was raised on a farm till he reached his eighteenth year. At an early age he went with his parents to Oregon and came to California in 1866, locating at Grimes, Colusa County. He attended school at Santa Rosa, and graduated in a business course from a commercial college in San Francisco, when he came to Williams. At this place he served for a time in the post-office and express office, when he entered the employ of Crutcher & Manor, where he is now engaged. Mr. Graham was elected Collector of Central Irrigation District in 1888, and re-elected in the spring of 1890. He was married, in 1877, to Miss Fannie Glover, and is the father of one boy and one girl.
“Colusa County” – by Justus H. Rogers – Orland, CA – 1891 – pp 446-447
B. H. BURTON
Mr. Burton is a native of Aurora, Indiana, born in 1857. When a year old he was brought to Illinois, residing there till 1874, when he came to Colusa, to begin life as a business man. His first employment in the county was found in M. Nickelsburger’s general merchandise store, at Colusa, where he remained one year, when, in July, 1876, he entered the Colusa County Bank as assistant bookkeeper, steadily passing through the various grades of promotion until appointed assistant cashier. He held this position till he was elected cashier of the Bank of Willows, which place he still retains, gracing it with his courtesy and strengthening it with his business sagacity. Mr. Burton was married, in April, 1889, to Miss Annie Tarleton, of Martinsville, Indiana, by whom he has one child.
“Colusa County” – by Justus H. Rogers – Orland, CA – 1891 – pp 447
B. C. EPPERSON
Brutus Clay Epperson is a native of Estell County, Kentucky, born October 27, 1830. When quite young, he lived in Bourbon County, Kentucky, for a short time, when the family moved to Coles County, Illinois, and settled almost ten miles east of Charleston, the county seat. On the 1st of February, 1852, Mr. Epperson, accompanied by his brother, C. C. Epperson, sailed in the ship “Prometheus,” of the Vanderbilt line, via Nicaragua for California. On the Pacific side he took the steamer “North America” for San Francisco, but the vessel was wrecked some eighty miles below Acapulco. After encountering many privations and deaths among the passengers, caused by a malignant fever which then raged in and around Acapulco, relief came after two months of weary waiting, and Mr. Epperson was soon aboard the clipper “Northern Light,” bound for San Francisco. Arriving in the State, he set to work at various occupations, such as laboring, working on a ranch, or in the mines, or keeping a hotel in Yuba County between Marysville and Foster Bar. He was also interested in hauling freight to the mines from Marysville. Between 1856 and 1859 he was engaged in the cattle trade, when he returned home to Illinois. Shortly after his return, he was united in marriage to Miss Lucretia Lawson, by whom he has a family of four children.
On April 1, 1864, Mr. Epperson, accompanied by his family, set out again for California by the overland route. He took with him a drove of brood mares, jacks and jennets, which afterwards did much in improving the stock of the county. On September 16, 1864, his party arrived at South Buttes, Sutter County, California, where Mr. Epperson’s brother resided. He remained here engaged in farming and stock-raising till the fall of 1868, when he bought a stock ranch near Bear Valley, Colusa County, where he now resides. He was largely instrumental in the formation of the Bartlett Springs and Bear Valley Toll-road Company, of which he is now the chief owner. He also built a road across the central part of Bear Valley, leading to the towns now on the railroad. It is known as the Epperson grade and was made free to all.
“Colusa County” – by Justus H. Rogers – Orland, CA – 1891 – pp 447-448