Tulare County
Biographies
DANIEL ABBOTT
Born in Washington county, Ark., January 3, 1836, Daniel Abbott has been a resident of California since 1857 and has attained much prominence in the San Joaquin Valley. He was a son of Joshua Abbott, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1800 and had come to California in 1850 and engaged in mining for a time. He returned to Arkansas and farmed, and here his son Daniel was reared and trained to the work on the farm, having but little chance to go to school. In May, 1857, the family started for California overland with oxen and prairie schooners; there was a large train and the party arrived in Calaveras county in the following October.
In Calaveras county Daniel Abbott farmed on a small scale and in the year 1861 he went to Tulare county, settled near Porterville and engaged in raising stock. The rains came that winter with such force that there was a flood and for almost forty days it fell, everything portable was washed away and the settlers had difficulty in saving themselves. Mr. Abbott built a raft of some lumber he had and in this way saved the family from perishing. He was offered $500 for it after he had finished it. In 1862 he went to Mariposa county and engaged in contracting for wood for the mines, but two years later went to Stanislaus county, bought land, and embarked in the sheep business. Upon the settling up of that part of the valley Mr. Abbott came again to Tulare county in 1874, bringing with him his band of sheep and he finally became the owner of thirty-nine hundred and sixty acres of land, for which he paid an average of $3 per acre. He was, in all, in the cattle and sheep business for about forty years, at the end of which time he sold his land and stock and bought property at Porterville, where he erected two business blocks and several residences. About 1902 he purchased the home in which he now lives, his object in removing into the city being to further the educational advantages for his children, and here they have since made their home.
In 1880 Mr. Abbott married Mrs. Frances Elizabeth (Fine) Bursey, a native of Arkansas, who bore him nine children; five daughters survive, viz.: Mrs. Louisa Mahaffrey, Mrs. Lana Nancollis, Winnifred and Minnie (twins) and Emma Lee. Those children who are deceased are Martha, Arlesa, Charles and Daniel.
In 1886 occurred the death of his father, who was born in Ohio in 1800. Mr. Abbott, who has been a cripple since August 24, 1857, has been by his infirmity forbidden the activities of some other men and he has been too closely confined to his home to take a prominent part in politics, but he has been a member of the school board and has found other ways to serve his fellow townsmen. He is fond of reminiscence and sometimes tells some interesting stories of his overland journey to California in 1857. Once when the party was encamped one hundred and twenty-five miles this side of Salt Lake, Indians stampeded the cattle and wounded some of the men. Mr. Abbott himself was shot while coming in from guard duty, and got to the camping place only to find that his comrades had moved on. He was able soon to rejoin them, however, but one of his companions, an intimate friend, who was shot at the time, died soon after.
History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California with Biographical Sketches - Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company, 1913
pp. 534-535
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
JOSEPH LEWIS FICKLIN
It was in Scott county, in old Kentucky, the cradle of Western history, that Joseph Lewis Ficklin was born November 27, 1831. When he was four years old he was taken to Missouri, where he remained until 1852, scarcely leaving the neighborhood of his home. Then he came to California as a gold-seeker, remaining four years. He returned to Missouri, to come out again to the coast country in 1886, when he settled on his present homestead. His first journey across the plains was made with oxen. There were with the party four hundred cows and fifty head of work cattle, and the trip consumed six months time. His second journey to California was made by rail in four days.
In Missouri Mr. Ficklin gained such education as was afforded by the public school near his home. He married Miss Elizabeth Turner, a native of Missouri, who bore him one child and passed away in 1864. In 1865 he married Miss Sarah A. Davis, who was born in Crawford county, Mo., and they had five children, two of whom died in infancy. The survivors are William Kennett Ficklin, in Yellowstone Park, Anna Ficklin, who married F. O. Fridley, and Martha, who is Mrs. H. A. Powell. Benjamin Ficklin, Joseph L. Ficklin's father, was born in Kentucky in 1808 and his father, John Ficklin, participated in the Black Hawk war, serving as captain under Col. Dick Johnson. The father of Sarah A. (Davis) Ficklin was born in Virginia, in 1798, and her mother in Scott county, Ky., in 1802.
When Mr. Ficklin came to Tulare county he bought eighty acres of land at $10 an acre which was at that time devoted to wheat, and he helped to harvest grain where the city of Exeter now stands. During the last four years he has converted his ranch to a fruit farm and vineyard. One of Mrs. Ficklin's brothers came to California in 1850 and four of them died in Tulare county. Mr. Ficklin has held public office and affiliates with the Masonic order. Politically he is a Democrat. As a citizen he has in many ways demonstrated his public spirit.
History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California with Biographical Sketches - Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company, 1913
pp. 535-536
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler