Shasta County
Biographies
Sylvanus Leach
Sylvanus Leach or Leech, as it is sometimes spelled, was born about 1834. He was known as "Sylvian." Leach was married on May 28, 1874 to Cora Belle Tuggle, a daughter of pioneers William Harvey and Melinda Ferrel (Johnson‑Tuggle.) The Tuggle family came to Shasta County in 1862.
Sylvanus was a millwright, and a business partner of Rudolph Klotz, another major figure in Shasta County history. Leach and Klotz were one‑time owners of the Dry Mill in Shingletown. John W. Dinsmore and Mariman Ferrel built the mill in 1853. It was the second oldest mill on Shingletown Ridge.
The founder of the mill was a man by the surname of Dry. It is recorded that Sylvanus Leach was a close friend of Dry. Mariman Ferrel, the coworker of John W. Dinsmore, is the brother of Melinda Ferrel (Johnson‑Tuggle.)
Sylvanus and Cora Belle Tuggle Leach were also the founders of the Eureka Mill located on Battle Creek in Shingletown. This mill was a combination steam and water powered mill and possibly the first of its kind in Shasta County. A railroad track/tramway was near this mill and was named the Eureka Mill Railroad, and the area of the mill was one of the four starting points of the Blue Ridge Flume.
Sometime after the establishment of the Eureka Mill, Sylvanus and Cora Tuggle Leach divorced. Cora married a second time to an Edward Dietze. After the divorce "Sylvian" traveled to Yreka, California. There he stayed, and it is possible he was never heard from by the Tuggle family again. Leach supposedly died in Yreka and is buried there.
Contributed by Jeremy M. Tuggle
Resource: "Rooted In Shasta County" by Jeremy M. Tuggle published by Preserving Memories in 2003, 2nd Edition 2004; "Our Pioneer Ancestor William Harvey Tuggle and His Descendants ‑ A Collection of Tuggle Family Memories and Genealogical Data" Written and Compiled by Jeremy M. Tuggle Copyright 2003, available at the Shasta Historical Society.
"The Dictionary of Early Shasta County History" by Dottie Smith, Second Edition
Isaiah Garrison
Isaiah Garrison was born in Iowa about 1853. Garrison married Eunice Josephine Tuggle on April 21, 1879, in Shasta County, California. Eunice was a daughter of pioneers William Harvey and Melinda Ferrel (Johnson‑Tuggle.) When the marriage occurred Eunice Tuggle was only fifteen years old! The father of Eunice had to give his consent so they could be married.
Isaiah worked as a teamster, most commonly Isaiah's name is found as "Isaac" Garrison on unofficial records. His name on official records is recorded as "Isaiah." Isaiah and Eunice Josephine Tuggle Garrison had the following children: Emerette Garrison, Lester Benton Garrison, Myrtle Leoan Garrison, Cleveland R. Garrison and Clarence Leonard Garrison.
It is unknown when Isaiah died or where he is buried, but it is possible that he died in Shasta County, and is buried here. His wife Eunice Josephine Tuggle Garrison died April 15, 1890, and is buried at the Mountain Home Cemetery in Shingletown. Their descendants live on.
Contributed by Jeremy M. Tuggle
Resource "Rooted In Shasta County" by Jeremy M. Tuggle published by Preserving Memories in 2003, 2nd Edition 2004; "Our Pioneer Ancestor William Harvey Tuggle and His Descendants ‑ A Collection of Tuggle Family Memories and Genealogical Data" Written and Compiled by Jeremy M. Tuggle Copyright 2003, available at the Shasta Historical Society.
Myrtle Leoan Garrison
Many people fall in love with the history of Shasta County, California. When you think of Shasta County historians, who comes to mind? Only a few people do. Way, way back then, there was a Shasta County historian who came from pioneer roots and her name is Myrtle Leoan Garrison.
Garrison was born to Isaiah and Eunice Josephine Tuggle Garrison at Shingletown, Shasta County, California in 1884. Myrtle married John Burnham McNamar. John B. McNamar arrived at Cottonwood in Shasta County, in 1890, a pioneer himself.
In Cottonwood John established a newspaper called "Cottonwood Enterprise." Myrtle became editor of her husbands' newspaper. Myrtle wrote and published a book titled "Way Back When", a book based on the history of Shingletown Ridge. Some of her stories from this book appeared in the Cottonwood Enterprise.
Myrtle McNamar also published these books; "Just Muse", "The Vale of Mist", which is a state of Oregon history book, and "Gentle Ann". "Gentle Ann" is a book written about the (Lincoln, Rutledge, McNamar love affair.) Myrtle's husband John is a direct descendant of the McNamar in "Gentle Ann."
Myrtle was also a family historian; she and a distant relative on the Tuggle side of her family wrote, "The Morgan Branch of the Tuggle Family.", which is in the hands of certain Tuggle descendants still living. It was not a published piece.
John Burnham and Myrtle Leoan Garrison McNamar had one child who was born named Elizabeth Ellen McNamar. Myrtle Garrison McNamar died November 10, 1969, at Cottonwood, Shasta County, California.
Myrtle is buried in the Cottonwood Cemetery next to her husband John. Her gravestone states: "Farewell to the lady of Shingletown Ridge, she now has crossed the bar; we will long remember and thank her."
Myrtle McNamar was the grand daughter of pioneers William Harvey and Melinda Ferrel (Johnson‑Tuggle), and a foster daughter of William Jefferson Davis a blacksmith and postmaster at Plateau, who took her in after the death of her mother. Myrtle McNamar will forever be remembered in local history of our historic county. Descendants of John and Myrtle McNamar live on.
Contributed by Jeremy M. Tuggle
Resource "Rooted In Shasta County" by Jeremy M. Tuggle published by Preserving Memories in 2003, 2nd Edition 2004; "Our Pioneer Ancestor William Harvey Tuggle and His Descendants ‑ A Collection of Tuggle Family Memories and Genealogical Data" Written and Compiled by Jeremy M. Tuggle Copyright 2003, available at the Shasta Historical Society.