Shasta County
Biographies
JOHN EDWARD REYNOLDS
John Edward Reynolds, Captain of the National Guards at Redding, California, is a native of Wisconsin. He was born in Dodgeville, August 2, 1849. His father, Edward Reynolds, a native of Scotland, married Margaret Doris, who was born in Wales. They came to the United States in 1840, and settled in Pennsylvania. In 1849 the father came to California, and in 1852 returned for his family, which at that time consisted of wife and five children. They reached Hangtown (now Placerville) in September of the same year. After a short stay there he went to Volcano Bar, on the American River, and engaged in mining and also kept hotel, being very successful in his undertakings. In 1854 the family came to Shasta County and took up their abode at Whiskeytown, five miles above Shasta. The father entered into a speculation in the Golden Gate Mining Tunnel, being successful in a financial way, but losing his life in the mine. In 1864, the tunnel caved in on him and others and suffocated them. Twenty hours later they were taken out dead.
The subject of this sketch was three years old when he came with his parents to California, and five when he came to Shasta County. The first work he did was when, at the age of ten years, he rode bell horse for a pack train from Shasta to Douglas City, Trinity County, a distance of fifty miles. The train consisted of fifty of sixty mules, and usually there were six men with them. Mr. Reynolds did the cooking, and was employed in that way for a year. After that he went to work for Town & Taggart, for whom he collected toll and clerked at the Town House. When Mr. Grant purchased the Weaverville and Shasta stage route, Mr. Reynolds became driver and drove till 1867. Then he drove stage for the Oregon and California Stage Company till 1876.
On the 19th of October, 1875, while driving fourteen miles north of Redding, they were stopped by two men who demanded the express box of Wells, Fargo & Co. Mr. Reynolds replied that it was locked in the bottom of the boat and they could not get at it at this place. Then the robbers shot at them, and the team ran and they got away without being robbed. On the following Christmas the company made him a present of a gold watch, inscribed as follows: "Presented to John Reynolds in recognition of his courage and devotion to Wells, Fargo & Co's interests, when attacked by highwaymen, October 19, 1875. John J. Valentine, General Superintendent."
In 1876 he went to work for Wells, Fargo & Co., as shotgun messenger, between Redding and Yreka and Redding and Weaverville. The gold from both places was sent down by express, from six to seven millions of dollars being sent per year by them. It was Mr. Reynolds' duty to guard it, and he acted in this capacity from 1876 till 1882. On the 6th day of September, 1876, they had $60,000 in gold dust with them and were within a mile of the top of Scott Mountain. At three o'clock a.m. the driver was commanded to halt, and was covered by a revolver in the hands of a masked highwayman. There were three of them, the second armed with a double-barreled shot-gun and the other with a rifle. Mr. Reynolds was in the coach, and, pointing his gun out between the curtains, shot the first man in the neck and he fell dead in his tracks. The horses started on the run. One of the highwaymen shot one horse in the fore leg. It ran 100 yards and fell dead. Mr. Reynolds then jumped from the stage and got in the shade of the trees, expecting a fight. The highwaymen, however, did not come on. One of the lead horses was put in the place of the dead one, and they reached Redding with their treasure in safety. The other men were afterward captured and tried. One pleaded guilty and was sentenced for five years. The other was convicted and sent to San Quentin for ten years. The Express Company showed their appreciation for this service by telegraphing Mr. Reynolds a present of $300.
In 1882 he received the appointment of Under Sheriff of Shasta County, William B. Hopping being Sheriff. This position he now (1890) holds. For the last eight years he has aided in the arrest of many criminals and has taken many to prison. None ever escaped from him after being captured.
December 19, 1889, Company E, Eighth Infantry Battalion, C.,N. G., was organized , with sixty of the best young men of Redding. Mr. Reynolds was chosen Captain. They are well equipped, make a fine appearance and are a credit to themselves as well as the city of Redding.
Mr. Reynolds was married, March 6, 1874, to Miss Eva Smithson, a native of Belvidere, Illinois. They have three children, born in Shasta County, namely: Mary L., Eddie S. and John B.
Mr. Reynolds has taken nine degrees in the Masonic order, and has passed all the chairs in the I.O.O.F. In 1880 he received the nomination for Sheriff by the Republican party, but it was decided by the Superior Court that there would be no election and that the old officer would hold over two years.
Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, Lewis Publishing Co., 1891 pages 778-780
Transcribed by: Melody Landon Gregory August 2004
MARION GRIFFIN
Marion Griffin, the leading real-estate dealer of Cottonwood, was born in St. Omer, Decatur County, Indiana, September 1, 1858, the son of Charles and Catherine Griffin, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of Kentucky. Mr. Griffin's great-grandfather, Mr. Lyman Griffin, was a physician, and came from England and settled in Vermont, where our subject’s father and grandfather were born. Mr. Griffin's grandfather on the maternal side was Jesse Cain, a wealthy Indiana farmer. Mr. Griffin's parents had fourteen children, seven of whom are now living.
Our subject, the eleventh child, was educated in his native State, first at the St. Omer Academy, and then graduated from the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute. He was then a teacher in the public schools for two years. In 1884 he came to Napa County, California; some of his relatives had died with consumption and he was advised to come to this State for a milder climate, but while in Napa County he was informed that it would be better for him to go to the foothills, and accordingly, on April 9, 1885, went to Cottonwood with his younger brother, Scott Griffin, and went into the real-estate business. Griffin Bros. took hold of the business with a will and since that time have spent about $1,000 a year advertising Cottonwood Valley, as a result of which they soon built up a good business and induced scores of settlers with money to go in and develop the latent resources of that valley. In 1887 they purchased 400 acres of land in Rogue River Valley, Oregon, and laid out the town-site of Tolo, of which Scott Griffin took charge and our subject continued the management of their business at Cottonwood.
When Griffin Bros. located at Cottonwood the place contained only one school-house, an old discarded saloon building. But under their manipulation, and that of a few active young business men, who arrived about the same time, or soon afterward, the aspect of the town radically changed. They now have a fine large two-story brick school house, which is a credit to the town, two large new churches, four stores and all other kinds of business duly represented. The large quantities of rich land about the town have been subdivided and sold to industrious settlers; and where there were only evergreen manzanitas, there are now pleasant homes, vineyards and orchards. The people who were wont to be satisfied with cheap buildings are now building elegant brick structures, and Cottonwood is now a clean, healthy, thriving village, with the best of social and educational advantages. The people of Cottonwood give Mr. Griffin much praise for his efficient aid in bringing about this desirable state of affairs. The people who have purchased the rich fruit lands have planted trees, and have been pleased to see them bear fruit in two years from planting, and four-year-old peach, almond, nectarine and prune orchards bear fruit that yield handsome returns. Such orchards are worth $500 per acre.
In addition to his real-estate business, he is a notary public, and is a bright, wide-awake, energetic gentleman. Mr. Griffin says several thousand acres of land have recently been sold to capitalists, who purchased them for fruit ranches; that they are to be planted to vines and orchards, and that 100,000 fruit trees will be set out this spring (1891) near Cottonwood . He now has valuable tracts of fruit land for sale from ten acres up, at $30 per acre.
After coming to Cottonwood, Mr. Griffin became acquainted with Miss Alice McLain, an accomplished teacher in the schools, and a native daughter of the Golden West; and at Cottonwood, December 18, 1887, they were united in marriage, in the Congregational Church, by their pastor, the Rev. J.A. Jones. Mrs. Griffin was born at Roseburg, Oregon, October 22, 1865, and reared in Shasta County; is a graduate of the Anderson Normal School, and for several years was a successful teacher. In addition to his other good qualities, Mr. Griffin is an active Republican, and a strong temperance man, not even using tobacco in any way, and has never tasted intoxicating liquor of any kind. He and his wife are both energetic and enthusiastic workers in the Congregational Church.
Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, Lewis Publishing Co., 1891, pages 780-781
Transcribed by: Melody Landon Gregory August 2004