Colusa County
Biographies
HON. F. L. HATCH
This distinguished soldier and jurist was born in Alabama, in 1822. He was brought up in the State of Mississippi. At an early age he was sent to New Haven, Connecticut, where he received his education. In 1841 he joined his father, who had now removed to Texas. Judge Hatch bore an honorable part in the early struggles of Texan independence. He was in the memorable Somerville campaign of 1843, which resulted in the terrible disaster at Mier, where Colonel Fisher’s command, some four hundred in number, was captured by the Mexican General Ampudia. One out of every ten of these prisoners was afterwards shot, and the remainder of them taken to the city of Puebla, Mexico. Judge Hatch’s company and three other companies (one of them being under the command of Colonel Jack Hayes, afterwards a resident of California) refused to join Fisher in his fool-hardy enterprise, and made their way back to Texas, after innumerable hardships. On his return home, Judge Hatch was elected Colonel of his district by a unanimous vote of his people. When Texas became a State in the Union, he was elected Major-General of the Middle Division, the State being then divided into three military departments. This office he resigned after holding it several years, and emigrated to California. In 1850 Judge Hatch was elected a member of the Texas Legislature. At that time the secession or disunion feeling ran very high in that State. General Sam Houston’s term in the National Senate was about to expire and this legislation was to choose his successor. Judge Hatch was the Houston or Union candidate and was elected. Judge Hatch soon afterwards resigned his seat in the Texas Legislature, and, accompanied by his wife and family, set out for California, making the journey through Mexico. He located first in Tuolumne County and engaged in mining. He was not successful as a miner, and early in the spring of 1853, he settled in the city of Marysville, and resumed the practice of the law. He at once took a high position at the bar, then justly considered one of the ablest in the State, and this position he maintained till he removed to Colusa, in 1870. In 1857 he was elected District Attorney of Yuba County, and re-elected in 1859. In 1863 he was the Democratic nominee for District Judge, but was defeated, the district being largely Republican. He removed with his family to Colusa, in 1870, and shortly afterwards a vacancy occurring in the office of County Judge, he was appointed to fill it, by Governor Haight. At the first judicial election afterwards he was elected to the office for a full term. At the expiration of his term of office, he declined to seek a re-election. Upon the death of Judge Robinson, however, who succeeded him, he was appointed County Judge a second time by the governor of the State, and was afterwards again elected by the people for a full term of four years. The Judge was an ardent supporter of the new constitution, and at the general election in 1879 he was elected Superior Judge of Colusa County by a large majority, but he was not destined to complete his term of office. He died at Colusa, October 5, 1881.
“Colusa County” – by Justus H. Rogers – Orland, CA – 1891 – pp 390-391
I. W. BROWNELL
Irving Woodbridge Brownell was born at New Bedford, Massachusetts, October 10, 1826. In November, 1848, he went to Peoria, Illinois, where he wintered, making preparations to leave for California. In the following April he began his trip over the plains, driving an ox-team. On crossing the Missouri River from St. Jo, he fell in with the company whose outfit numbered twenty-two wagons, and with them he made the long journey. He arrived at Weaverville, California, on August 27, 1849. He spent a year endeavoring to woo fortune to his pan and shovel along Weaver Creek and the Yuba and American Rivers, but the uncertainties of this pursuit were not to Mr. Brownell’s taste. He next went to Yolo County and located on some land between Knights Landing and Cacheville. Here he farmed and raised stock till August, 1859, when he purchased a bunch of sheep and eighty acres of land from M. Sparks, on Stony Creek, and made a location on an adjoining tract.
Mr. Brownell returned to Massachusetts by the overland stage in 1861, and in September of that year he was united in marriage to Miss Lois R. Smith. Shortly after this event he returned, accompanied by his wife, to the coast and settled at Knights Landing till the autumn of 1862, when he moved to his ranch on Stony Creek, which he has ever since made his permanent abode. Three sons, with his amiable wife, compose Mr. Brownell’s household. He has been prosperous and successful in his affairs. He is one of the solid men of the county and highly esteemed for his probity.
“Colusa County” – by Justus H. Rogers – Orland, CA – 1891 – pp 391-392
HON. LABAN SCEARCE
Laban Scearce, who has the same name as his father had, was born on February 24, 1826, in Woodford County, Kentucky. His father was a farmer, and he spent his early life on his father’s farm. He received as good an education as the common schools in that locality at that time afforded. In his twenty-second year he left his old home for the West, going to Missouri. At that date Missouri was thinly populated back from the river and was on the frontier. He remained in Missouri a few months only, when he started with a wagon train of ox-teams across the plains to California, in company with Hon. John Boggs. In 1849 he arrived at Placerville, which was then called Hangtown, owing to the way two criminals summarily met justice at the hands of a mob, and for two years sought fortune in the mines. At that day food was worth more than gold almost, and beef was a rarity. Mr. Scearce abandoned the mines in ’51 to buy cattle in the southern part of the State and drive them to Placerville and other mining camps, where they met with a ready sale at high prices. In 1853 he went to Missouri and returned, driving a large herd of cattle. He experienced the usual ups and downs of those pioneer days, and met with the many hardships in crossing the plains. In the spring of 1856 he prospected the Sacramento Valley for a place to pitch his tent, and he located on Stony Creek, his present home, six miles northwest of Orland. It was on government land he settled, where he raised cattle, sheep, horses and farm crops. From time to time he purchased land near his of those who saw civilization approaching and desired to flee from it. In this way he has secured some four thousand six hundred acres of excellent land at the base of the foot-hills and extending to the creek. In 1868 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Josephine Thompson, and four <?> children have blessed their union. Their names are: William, Edgar, Ollie, Alice and Mable. Mr. Scearce is an inveterate reader and is well posted on the topics of the day, and in 1868 the people called on him to represent Colusa and Tehama Counties in the Assembly of the State Legislature, which he did during the years 1869-70, serving his constituency faithfully. In 1887 he was a prime mover in the incorporation of the Bank of Orland, of which he is a director and president. Mr. Scearce calls himself a plain farmer, but he is an enterprising citizen, whom the people hold in high esteem.
“Colusa County” – by Justus H. Rogers – Orland, CA – 1891 – pp 392-393