Sacramento County Biographies Information thanks to Nancy Pratt Melton

Sacramento County Biographies
Information thanks to Nancy Pratt Melton:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~npmelton/sacmcene.htm
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~npmelton/sacmcen.htm

JOSEPH P. McENERNEY

A successful farmer, whose progressive methods have long been the admiration of those wishing to attain the highest results in agriculture, is Joseph P. McEnerney, residing about four miles east of Arno. A native son, very proud of his association with the great Golden State, he was born in Sacramento County, on the old McEnerney ranch, on September 21, 1881, the son of Patrick and Bridget (Flaherty) McEnerney, the former a native of West Meath, Ireland, the latter hailing from the County Galway, in the same green isle. As far back as 1867, Patrick McEnerney came out to California and settled at Stockton; and here he and his lady were married on September 23, 1872, after which they settled at Franklin, where they conducted a dairy. In 1880, the father moved onto what is now known as the Patrick McEnerney ranch, about three miles east of Hicksville, now called Arno; and there he passed away on January 26, 1921, esteemed by all who knew him. Mrs. McEnerney and her two sons reside on these 221 acres, formerly known as the P. G. Williamson ranch.

Eleven children constituted the family of this very worthy couple: William D.; Frank; Sarah S., now Mrs. Donovan of Herald; Mary, the wife of August Beakey, of Sacramento; Joseph P., the subject of our review; Thomas L.; John Leo; Bernard; Susan, Mrs. Haines, in Texas; Paul; and Gertrude, now the wife of David Morrow of Sacramento. Besides the home place, Patrick McEnerney had acquired about a section of land in several parcels; and his family now enjoy the improvements he made on his ranch, which included a fine modern home, and other first-class modern farm buildings, making the place one of the finest in that section of the county.

Joseph P. McEnerney attended the Arno grammar school, and after that remained with his father until 1914, when he started out to farm for himself; and he leased from time to time from 200 to 500 acres in the Galt vicinity. In 1920, he purchased a ten-acre piece of land, and he has resided on the place ever since. He also leases about 500 acres of pasture land, where he raises cattle. In national politics preferring the standards and platforms of the historic Democratic party, Mr. McEnerney prides himself in particular upon his true American patriotism, and put his shoulder to the local community wheel, and helps boost Arno and Sacramento County.

Transcribed by Donna L. Becker.

Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches, Page 486. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.

WILLIAM D. McENERNEY

WILLIAM D. McENERNEY.--The many problems in agriculture peculiar to California are very familiar to William D. McEnerney, who is ranching about five miles northeast of Galt, on a ranch covering a quarter-section. He is a native son, and was born at Stockton on August 31, 1873. His father was Patrick McEnerney, a native of Westmeath County, Ireland, and his mother before her marriage was Miss Bridget Flaherty, and she was a native of County Galway. Patrick McEnerney came to California in early days, and he had a dairy farm at Franklin, in Sacramento County; and later he settled about four miles east of Hicksville, where he acquired 221 acres of land. After a while, he added a section and farmed that. He died at the age of seventy-seven, highly esteemed by all who knew him. Mrs. McEnerney is still living on the old home place, east of Arno, the mother of eleven children and the beloved center of a circle of devoted friends.

William McEnerney attended the Arno school, and remained at home with his folks until he was twenty-seven years old. He then went to Sacramento, and worked for two years, and after that he conducted a store at Arno for a year. He then moved onto the ranch where he now lives, about five miles east of Galt, having purchased a quarter section, and there he raises stock, and has a Mission grape vineyard of twenty acres which he set out. There was a house on the ranch, and this our subject remodeled, making of it a modern home, and he has also built some other buildings on the ranch. Besides his own place, he leases land and puts in about 300 acres to grain, and has about 300 acres of summer fallow land each year. He is a Democrat, but esteemed rather for his broad American patriotism which leads him to place men and measures above partisanship; a member of the Knights of Columbus of Lodi, and a trustee of the Brown district school, and a member of the Grange and the Chamber of Commerce at Galt, he does what he can for the good of all.

Mr. McEnerney was married at Sacramento on June 17, 1901, to Miss Genevieve Bolton, a native of Clay, Cal., and the daughter of Curtis and Elizabeth (Louins) Bolton, the former a well-known pioneer whose life-story is sketched elsewhere in this work, and who died in June, 1922, at the age of eighty-six. Mrs. Bolton was the first woman to prove up on land in Sacramento County. Mrs. McEnerney attended the Clay district school. She has five children: William Curtis; Thomas P.; Elizabeth G. and Dorothy G., high school students; and Marjorie G., a pupil in the grammar school.

Transcribed by Barbara Gaffney.

Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches, Pages 358-361. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.