Edward H. Presbury, one of the old settlers of Alabama Township, was born in Harford County, Maryland, in 1801, and emigrated to Jefferson County, Ohio, where he lived twenty-seven years, following the trade of miller. In 1849 he lost his wife, nee Martha Bayless, and he then sold out, bought 500 head of cattle, and came with them to California, losing but very few. Selling them after his arrival here, he bought the ranch upon which he is now living, containing 123 acres, five miles from Galt, on the Ione road. His principal crops are grain and hay. Mr. Presbury has one son, William, who is living with him.
Transcribed by: Marla Fitzsimmons
An Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California. By Hon. Win. J. Davis. Lewis Publishing Company 1890. Page 296.
© 2004 Marla Fitzsimmons.
PRESBURY, E. H., lives four and a half miles from Galt, which is his Post Office; was born in Hartford County, Maryland, in 1808; he moved to Jefferson County, Ohio, in 1827, and lived there until 1850, engaged in milling; he then removed to Illinois, and was engaged in farming and milling until 1853; he came to California in that year, and settled in this county in 1854, where he has since been farming; he owns three hundred and twenty acres, which, all with improvements, are worth about $10,000. Mr. P. sowed about twenty-five acres of upland in barley and wheat in 1858; it was thought to be a doubtful experiment, as it was the first one in this vicinity, the farmers heretofore confining themselves to the moist bottom-lands; his experiment clearly demonstrated and settled the then important question, as to the adoption of this section of the country for general agriculture. He was married in 1836 to Martha Bayless, also a native of Maryland; they have one son, William, who is the father of four children, three daughters a son.