George M. Richardson

George M. Richardson is one of the oldest settlers of Santa Paula. He was born in Kennebec County, Maine, on the last day of the last week of the year, and on the last day of the last month of the year 1821. He was the son of George and Loviey (Robins) Richardson, the former a native of Attleborough, Massachusetts, of English extraction, and the latter was born in Orange, Massachusetts. They had a family of twelve children, of whom five sons and one daughter are now living. The subject of this sketch left his native State in 1836, and settled in the town of Moscow, Hillsdale County, Michigan, just about the time Michigan was admitted into the Union as a State, thus becoming a pioneer of that new country. He bought a farm, built a house and improved the land, and lived there for ten years. He then sold out and removed to Jackson County, same State, where he purchased eighty acres of land and again built and made improvements; and, while there, split more rails than Abraham Lincoln did. In 1852 he disposed of his property in Michigan and came to the Pacific Coast, reaching San Francisco December 31. Upon his arrival here he was short of money, and he and his brother went to Petaluma, having only seventy-five cents left when they got there. They at once went to work in a saw-mill; but, soon afterward Mr. Richardson, observing the high price paid for potatoes, decided to engage in their production, which he did, paying eight cents per pound for seed; at digging time potatoes were so plenty there was no sale for them. He then went to the redwoods and there worked two years at $60 per month; got out timber for himself and others, which was split with a froe, making good siding. After this he rented a place and made enough to buy out a squatter, in the neighborhood of Vacaville. He lived on this place ten years, built a house and made many improvements; and then discovered that the title was not good. After having paid for it twice, he loaded his things in wagons and started for Southern California with his family. Seven of them rode in the covered wagon, which took the place of both wagon and house for weeks while they were traveling; and after they reached their destination they lived out of doors through the day and slept in it at night, until they got the house built. At that time, 1867, there were no houses on the road between Santa Paula and San Buenaventura, and his wife remarked to him, "You have brought us to the jumping-off place now." Mr. Richardson's first house built there is still standing and speaks plainly of pioneer days. It is 16 x 24 feet, one story high, and the lumber, of which it was built was hauled from Ventura. The property is located three-quarters of a mile southeast of the now beautiful town of Santa Paula. When Mr. Richardson located there his neighbor, Mr. Montgomery, lived a mile and a half away; and the Ventura school district was the only one in the county. The first year Mr. Richardson sowed wheat and barley, and the wheat rusted; the second year he sowed again, with the same result; and the third year he did not sow. There was not a mill in the county, and his son Fred went with a wagon to Los Angeles, with wheat and corn to mill, sleeping in his wagon at night, the trip requiring a week's time. The younger boys would go up the Sespe River fishing, and be gone two or three days, returning with plenty of fish and other game. They would take their blankets and go on the top of the mountains at night, in order to be ready for game in the morning. A great share of their provisions at that time was venison. Mr. Richardson has been principally engaged in raising hogs and cattle; but at present he is extensively engaged in the production of Lima beans, for which this part of the country is so well adapted.

    Mr. Richardson was married July 4, 1848, to Miss Nancy Mull, a native of Ohio. They had one child, Fred, whose history appears in this book. After four years of wedded life, Mrs. Richardson died. And for his second wife Mr. Richardson married Miss Jenette Sims, a native of Indiana. To them were born five children: Emma, who died at the age of twenty-one years; George, born September 21, 1860; Louis, born December 22, 1862; Frank, born April 8, 1864; and Harry S., October 1, 1873. Mrs. Richardson died June 22, 1877.

    George Richardson has a ranch of 160 acres adjoining his father's. He married Miss Ida Kellog, a native of Illinois, born December 2, 1860, and daughter of Norman A. M. Kellog, who was born in New York. George and his wife live with father Richardson. They have a family of five children, all born in Santa Paula: George Lawrence, born December 16, 1882; Olinda, June 7, 1884; Charles K., July 27, 1885; Yale, March 6, 1887; and Mark, January 24, 1889.

    The subject of this sketch was reared a Democrat, but has been a Republican since the organization of that party. He has been a member of the Methodist Church for thirty-five years. Well has he earned the name of pioneer, having been an early settler of both Michigan and California. By his industry and economy he has acquired a competency, and is now enjoying the fruits of a well-spent life.

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