Madera County
Biographies
JAMES W. GREEN
JAMES W. GREEN, was born in Santa Cruz, March 6, 1848. His father, J. D. Green, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1807. He was a trapper and hunter by profession, and first came to California in 1833, with a trapping company of 150 men in command of Captain Bonneville. They followed the rivers across, wintered in the Santa Clara valley at Gilroy, and returned to Missouri in 1835, consuming about three years on the expedition. While on the Sierra mountains in 1833, there was a wonderful display of shooting stars until it seemed that every star was in motion. Mr. Green was married in Jackson County, Missouri, in 1835, to Miss Lydia Hitchcock, a native of Kentucky, and a lady of strong characteristics and of great kindness of heart. They settled in Jackson County, where Mr. Green followed farming until May, 1846, when, with his family, he emigrated to California coming with Captain Campbell’s party and arriving at Santa Clara on October 18th of same year. During the Spanish disturbance of that winter Mr. Green was a member of the Home Guards and performed active service under the command of Captain Webber. In 1847 Mr. Green went to Santa Cruz, and in the fall to the mines and followed mining until 1849, when he moved to Stockton and began farming and stock-raising, his cattle grazing over the San Juaquin [Joaquin] valley. He was one of the first supervisors of San Juaquin [Joaquin] County, elected in 1856, and serving for three years. He followed the cattle business until his death, September 30, 1869. His children numbered ten, six of whom still survive.
Mrs. Green is still living at the age of seventy-seven years, somewhat broken in health, after a life of many hardships, and of energies expended in the rearing of four families of children belonging to deceased relatives. She is a honored and highly respected member of the family of her son, James, with whom she resides. James was educated in Stockton but at the early age of fourteen years, began his own support by working on a farm, which he followed until 1869, and then rented 400 acres in San Benito County, and began farming for himself in wheat and barley. He was married in Stockton, in 1869, to Miss Retta Bozeman, a native of Texas. He followed farming until 1881, and then came to Madera and began work for the Madera Flume Company at lumbering in the mountains. In January, 1885, his wife died, leaving one son and two daughters, and then his mother came to his assistance and took charge of his family. In 1886 Mr. Green returned to Madera, and for two years superintended the cultivation of two sections of land for Dan Ingraham. In the fall of 1888 he was elected roadmaster, and in 1890 was elected Constable and appointed Deputy Sheriff by John M. Hensley, Sheriff of Fresno County.
Mr. Green was a charter member of Madera Parlor, No. 130, N. S. G. W., and is now president of the parlor, and his son J. D. Green, is marshal.
Mr. Green is a member of Madera Lodge, No. 134, K. of P., and of Mound Lodge, No. 166, I. O. O. F., and of the Encampment at Fresno.
Memorial and Biographical History of the counties of Fresno, Tulare and Kern, California
Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1892
p. 807-808
Transcribed by Craig A Hahn
L. ORRIN SHARP
L. ORRIN SHARP, Postmaster at Madera, was born in Smyrna, Delaware, November 17, 1839. His father, Lewis Sharp, was a tanner by trade, and during the gold excitement of 1849 came to California with a party of eleven men, who located the great Mariposa quartz mine, bringing a quartz-mill with them; but quartz-mining being little known the project was abandoned, and they followed placer-mining with varied success. Mr. Sharp found one nugget near Mariposa which weighed fifty and a quarter ounces, and owing to its peculiar shape, and fineness was sold for $1,100. In the fall of 1851 he returned to the East, and in January, 1852, with his family, embarked again for California to permanently settle at Mariposa and follow mining.
The educational advantages of our subject were extremely limited, as at the age of thirteen years he began his mining experiences, which he actively followed for many years in California and Nevada, and has always been more or less interested in mining securities. In 1865 he located several oil wells in the Coast Range, but owing to the expense of transportation the project was abandoned after about one year of labor. From mining Mr. Sharp turned his attention to the sheep business, which he followed with marked success for many years. He was married in Mariposa County in March, 1867, to Miss Frances Wilson Smith, a native of Ohio. Mr. Sharp then established his home in Buchanan, Fresno County, and continued the raising of sheep. In 1876 he opened a general merchandise store in Buchanan, which he continued until 1880, and then sold his sheep and store interests and came to Madera to reside. He then engaged in mercantile life, as a partner of Edwin Moore for about three years; then, selling his interest, he engaged in the sale of agricultural implements, which he has since continued to follow. In 1881 Mr. Sharp bought land near the town, and has devoted much of his leisure time to the culture and development of new and rare grapes and fruit trees.
In 1888 Mr. Sharp was appointed Postmaster by the Cleveland administration, and after the office was made third-class and a Presidential one, he was reappointed by President Benjamin Harrison. In this instance the evidence of popular esteem and confidence is not emphasized so much in the reappointment as in the original appointment by Mr. Cleveland, as Mr. Sharp is and always ha been a stanch Republican, and has voted for every Republican President. He has been active in all county and State elections, and at one time was the only Republican in his precinct. Mr. and Mrs. Sharp have three sons and two daughters, all of whom are occupied in and about Madera.
Memorial and Biographical History of the counties of Fresno, Tulare and Kern, California
Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1892
p. 470-471
Transcribed by Craig A Hahn