Hon. Milton Wason

Hon. Milton Wason, a '49er, and one of the best known citizens of Saticoy, was born in Hudson, New Hampshire, January 17, 1817. Three generations of the family were born, reared and died in that State. Judge Wason, father of Hon. Milton Wason, was born November 2, 1785. He was a prominent man in his native State, having served several terms in the State Legislature, and having held the office of Justice nearly all his life. Judge Wason's great-grandfather, James Wason, with his wife Hannah, emigrated from the county of Antrim, Ireland, about the year 1740, and settled on a tract of land on which generation after generation of the family were raised. Judge Wason's mother, Mary Colburn, was a native of the same place, she and her husband having been born within a mile of each other; she was of English ancestry.

    Judge Wason, our subject, was the third child in a family of twelve;  two children died in infancy, three sons and seven daughters grew to maturity, and five of the family are now living. He was educated at Dartmouth College, and took a law course at Harvard College, and also read law with Philips & Robbins, a prominent Boston law firm, and with Bradford Sumner. He was admitted to the bar in 1847, and practiced there two years. In 1849 he came around the Horn to California, where he mined for four years, with fair success. In Solano County he settled on what he supposed was Government land, where he lived and made improvements for six years, but finding it was not Government land he left it. He bought another place and lived upon it for eight years, when he sold it and came to Ventura County, April 10, 1868, and bought 275 acres of valuable land, which he has since sold at a large advance, with the exception of 100 acres, which he has saved for a home place, and on which he has built a large and commodious residence. On this property he has a complete variety of fruit, mostly for home use, and the ranch is devoted to corn, barley and beans.

    Judge Wason was married October 26, 1852, to Miss Maria A. Borgnis, a native of the city of London, England. She was born February 1, 1820. They have two sons and two daughters, viz.: Maria A., now the wife of Mr. Riall G. Sparks, and residing at Santa Paula; Mary Eliza, residing with her parents; Charles Thomas, who married Ella B. Wason, of San Francisco, their fathers being cousins; they reside at Ventura; and George M., who married Agnes Jones, of Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, and resides with his father. All the children were born in Solano County, California. Judge Wason has been a Republican since 1861, and has three times been elected to the California State Assmebly. When the county was organized he was appointed County Judge, and afterward elected to the office. He held the office of Deputy Revenue Collector for four years, and has often been elected a member of the Board of School Trustees. He has taken a deep interest in California and the county of Ventura. In his official capacity he has exhibited both ability and strict adherence to what he believed to be right.

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