Yolo County
Biographies
Charles Coil
To recount even a few of the experiences of this pioneer of 1849 is to realize anew the hardships incident to the early settlement of the west and to appreciate afresh the self-sacrificing labors of our forefathers. Theirs the toil that we might reap the reward; theirs the incessant labor amid discomforts in order that we might enjoy the fruits of a high civilization; and theirs the years of self-denial in order that generations yet unborn might find life’s cup of joy filled to overflowing in this goodly land beside the sunset sea. The trite adage that he is a public benefactor, “who causes two blades of grass to grow where one grew before,” finds a noteworthy exemplification in the activities of Mr. Coil, who by his own wise judgment proved the possibilities of the soil of Yolo county, tested its adaptability to varied crops and won financial success as a tiller of the soil. When he took up farming he was one of the very first men in Yolo county to raise grain. The venture, made at considerable financial risk, proved so successful that others were quick to follow his example. Nor was this the only agricultural enterprise in which his was the risk and to others came the returns of his experiments. Such service proves the value of a man to his community and his worth was appreciated by all who were familiar with his forceful efforts.
Sorrow and bereavement cast their shadow over the early years of Charles coil and thrust upon him the necessity of self-support ere an education had been acquired. A member of an old family of New York, he was born in 1828 at Verona, Oneida county, and lost both his father and his mother while he was yet a mere child. At the age of seventeen years he went west as far as Wisconsin and settled at Racine, where he secured employment with S. C. Tuckerman, a grain dealer. Upon learning of the discovery of gold in California he immediately arranged his plans for removal to the coast. Early in the spring of 1849 he started across the plains with a party that traveled with oxen and wagons. August 13, 1849, he reached Hangtown (Placerville), where he joined an excited and cosmopolitan throng of gold-seekers. Such work, however, did not satisfy him nor did he meet with any success therein.
While looking for employment at Sacramento, a chance encounter with Matt Harbin, the owner of the Hardy grant, gave Mr. Coil an opportunity to enter upon ranch affairs. Mr. Harbin not only engaged him, but also furnished him with a horse so that he might ride to the grant. After a brief and pleasant experience as a ranch hand, he embarked in the butcher business at Sacramento with F. W. Fratt and John McNulty. The stock was bought from the Harbin ranch and the venture netted its projectors a neat profit. Returning east via Panama in 1852, Mr. coil drove a herd of cattle across the plains the following year and then leased a part of the Harbin ranch. Later the property came into his possession and since then has been known as the Coil place. To the house he erected there he brought his bride in 1858 and there he conducted large stock enterprises in partnership with John McNulty and W. B. Todhunter. With Gabriel Brown as a partner he bought the Thomas O. Larkin grant, situated on the present site of Willow, Glenn county, and the two men engaged there in the cattle business for a number of years.
The year 1862 was a disastrous one for settlers on account of the floods. Even more serious was the drought of 1864, and Mr. Coil was among the sufferers both from the flood and the drought. A part of his cattle he saved by taking them to Nevada, but to do this he had to mortgage his land. Later he found himself unable to redeem his Willow land, which was foreclosed. In a desperate effort to save the old homestead he spent his last dollar. In desperation he asked D. O. Mills of San Francisco for a loan. On being asked how much he needed, he answered $10,000, and Mr. Mills gave the amount to him with no other security than his note. Purchasing teams, he engaged in trading between Sacramento and Salt Lake. The merchandise taken to Utah would be sold there, the money used for the purchase of cattle, which he would drive back to the coast. The tide began to turn in his financial affairs. Little by little he paid off his debts. Finally he was able to resume farming. Then he began to buy more land. His possessions increased to such an extent that at the time of his death he owned four thousand acres, some of which was only one and one-half miles from Woodland.
The marriage of Mr. Coil and Ellen W. Pond was solemnized near Cacheville, Yolo county, March 8, 1858. Mrs. Coil was born at Bristol, Vt., being the only child of Samuel P. and Ann (Gregory) Pond, likewise natives of Vermont. At the time of the discovery of gold Mr. Pond relinquished his farming enterprises in New England, and came, in 1849, via Panama, to California, where he worked in the mines. During 1852 his wife joined him and he established a home on Cache creek. In 1856 his daughter, who had been a student in the Townsend Academy in Vermont, came by way of the isthmus to join her parents in Yolo county. About that time Mr. Pond bought a farm just east of Woodland. When he sold that place and retired from agricultural labors, he settled at Woodland, where he died at the age of seventy-eight years. His wife lived to be seventy-two.
A worthy life came to an end when New Year’s Day of 1892 witnessed the passing from earth of Charles Coil. His had been a kindly existence, simple, sincere and earnest, and he had borne life’s disappointments, as its triumphs, with dignity and honor. He was survived by his widow, who has since spent much of her time in Berkeley, the home of their youngest child, Irene. The older son, LeRoy, resides at No. 548 Second street, Woodland, and the younger son, Herbert E., has made his home on the old farm so long identified with the activities of the father. The years that have come and gone since Mr. Coil entered into eternal rest have not dimmed his memory in the hearts of relatives and friends. His true worth is now, as it was then, appreciated by associates in business, neighbors on ranches, by co-workers in the Republican party, by comrades in the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and among the Knights of Pythias, and indeed by all in whose breasts God has implanted a deep respect for true principles of manhood.
Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: “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” pages 191-193 by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, 1913.
Judge Robert H. Buckingham
As long as Washington, or Broderick (or whatever the pretty riparian town on the bank of the Rio Sacramento just opposite the state capital may be called), exists, Judge Robert H. Buckingham will be remembered. As a fisherman on the river, as a fish commissioner on duty throughout the state of California, as a justice of the peace in his township and as an all-around citizen of Yolo county he made good. The earliest thing that occurred in his life was his birth at New Haven, Conn., in 1834. Naturally other things occurred there during his seventeen years’ residence in the old Nutmeg State, but they will not be recorded here. When he left his native city he was on his way to gather some of the gold he heard was to be found in distant California. The steamship Daniel Webster, a historical old Atlantic liner, carried him and about eight hundred of the west-bound tourists down to Greytown, making their way by Lake Nicaragua to the Pacific side. It cannot be told how many of that number reached San Francisco, but the subject of this sketch landed safely December 1, 1851. After trying his “’printice hand” at mining, however, without accumulating much of the yellow mineral, he found himself where he is at present ¾ in Washington, in 1852. Salmon were running freely in the clear waters of the Sacramento then, and the young man from Connecticut went after them, and during many following years he hauled in numberless nets full of the noble quinnat. In fact, he has been connected with that industry nearly all his California life. It was a profitable business when fish sold from the boats at forty and fifty cents per pound, and a big salmon could produce many marketable pounds of the delicacy. When the fishers packed for the mines they used ice that had been shipped around the Horn all the way from Maine or Massachusetts, and sold here at fifteen cents a pound. Later on the ice was brought from Alaska.
In 1883 Judge Buckingham was appointed a state fish commissioner, serving four years as president of the board ¾ and not a better man for the place could have been found. Under his management the industry flourished, there being over fifteen hundred fishing boats on the river. In 1889 he engaged in the grocery business in Washington and continued therein for ten years. He served as justice of the peace of Washington township for twelve years. His political faith is Democratic and for a long time he was an active member of the Democratic state central committee. He was married in Sandwich, Ill., in 1861, to Miss Sarah Jane White, a native of Washington county, N. Y., and they celebrated their golden wedding in 1911. Their children are Fred M. and Henry. Fred married Miss Annie Kemler, and they live in Paradise valley, Nevada; Frederick, Emilie and Jeanette are their children. Henry, who resides in Washington, married Miss Maggie Fisher, and to them were born Frank, Mildred, Florence and Helen.
Judge Buckingham has retired from business and in his pleasant home in Washington, on the green banks of the river he loves, he passes a quiet life. He is still interested in the sport and old Izaak Walton himself was not more keen to seek the “place of the finny prey.” Many prominent professional men of the state may remember with pleasure their fishing trips with the judge. With such a guide and companion they had no trouble in catching a fine string. Judge Buckingham is now the oldest resident of Washington, where he has been in business since July 1852.
Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: “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” pages 193-194 by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, 1913.