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Do you know who Arno, Liberty, Thornton, Acampo, and Galt have in
common?
Colin McKenzie, that’s who! McKenzie Road on the north side of Twin Cities
was named for a pioneer who came to San Francisco in 1879 from Cumberland
County, Nova Scotia, at the age of twenty-three. Colin was no slouch.
Like many of our pioneer forbearers, he learned many trades before purchasing
and developing his own tract of land.
When Colin McKenzie arrived in San Francisco in1879, he ventured inland to
Cuffy’s cove in Mendocino County, where he lumberjacked in the timber country
for a season. He then returned to San Francisco and worked for the Eureka Stone
Company until the autumn of that same year. It was then that Colin traveled to
Stockton and then to Collegeville where he worked on M.D. McIntosh’s ranch for
eight years. For the next four years he held the position of foreman on the L.U. Shippee and Thornton ranches at New Hope (now Thornton). While at New Hope,
Colin became smitten with a young lass who was a native of Liberty. Mr. Colin
McKenzie married Miss Isabel M. Gaffney, daughter of Dennis and Elizabeth
(Keating) Gaffney, on November 6, 1888. Dennis Gaffney was the shoemaker in
Galt. Isabel attended the Liberty School and the Alabama District School
and finished her studies at the San Jose State Normal School.
Reading about the life of this couple made me sit back and think about how
we, as a nation, have always been on the move. As I traced the life of this
vigorous, enterprising couple, I couldn’t help drawing parallels to the present. We may relocate with moving vans and journey to our destination in jumbo jets,
but the spirit of “pioneering” a new place is still there. See if you
don’t agree.
The newlyweds remained in New Hope for two years. They then farmed on Tyler
Island for two years, leased the Figg Ranch, west of Acampo, for four years, and
then leased 1260 acres in Arno too raise stock and grain for the net four years. They weren’t through. Colin and Isabel purchased the 323 acre Summers Ranch four
miles northeast of Galt. It was there that the resolute couple finally settled
and built every improvement to their dairy, stock, and grain ranch. They
even had a small vineyard.
Maybe some of you recognize the names of their four children: Annette
(Nettie), Ray, George Stewart, Isabel, Caroline, and Montague Colin who worked
for the Standard Oil Company in Hayward.
So, the next time you think about moving, remember the McKenzies!
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