YUBA COUNTY Biographies
CHARLES W. BEILBY
Fortunate indeed are men who, when they are called upon to lay aside the work and cares of this world, are able to rest from their labors with the same assurance of the world’s esteem as that accorded the late Charles W. Beilby, who passed away in 1904. Charles W. Beilby was a native of New York State, born at Delphi, Delaware County, on December 14, 1832; and there he grew up, under that old-fashioned environment which was so conducive to the turning-out of real men. He learned the carpenter’s trade, which he followed for some time in Jackson County, Iowa, and also after his arrival in Sutter County, in 1863, at the end of an adventurous trip across the great plains with horse-teams. He took up a quarter-section of land in Sutter County; and to this he kept adding until he owned 1240 acres, which he cultivated, raising grain. He knew his business as a farmer, and became prosperous; and in 1902 he retired and located in Wheatland. A man of public spirit, he held high ideals of citizenship. He served as a school trustee, and also as a deacon of the Christian Church in Fairview. He died on September 28, 1904.
In Bellevue, Jackson County, Iowa, on December 22, 1857, Charles W. Beilby married Miss Elizabeth Woodworth, born in Illinois, March 26, 1839, and reared at Maquoketa, in Jackson County, Iowa. With two small children in arms, they crossed the great plains in 1863, being members of a party with twenty wagons, including many of the pioneers of Yuba and Sutter Counties, among them the Langdon family. The Indians proved friendly; and the adventure was of the type that makes the blood tingle with healthful excitement, especially as there was no deaths in the fairly large circle. During her long residence in Sutter and Yuba Counties, Mrs. Beilby has been through all kinds of pioneering experiences.
While the late war was in progress, Mrs. Beilby was an active worker for the Red Cross, and knitted no less than ninety-six pairs of socks for the “doughboys.” She recalls many experiences of the women of the early days in the Middle Western States before the Civil War. The clothes generally worn then were made from yarn spun in the home and woven into the old-time “home-spun cloth.” Like others, she spun the yarn for the cloth her husband’s suits were made of. Mr. Beilby brought one of these suits with him to California. Mrs. Beilby is a wonderful needle woman, being very expert in making laces, embroidery and all kinds of fancy work.
Nine children were born to this worthy pioneer couple, eight of whom grew to maturity. The eldest was George E. Beilby, of Sacramento. Then came Joseph W. Beilby, of Watsonville; Mary, deceased; Ralph W. Beilby, who died in Wheatland, leaving four children; O. L. Beilby, of Watsonville; Miss Mattie Beilby, at home; and Fred N. and Chester R. Beilby, both of Wheatland.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 1295-1296
JOHN J. CREED
Yuba County is unusually fortunate in the large number of her expert technicians in various fields, among whom John J. Creed, the able and popular blacksmith of Wheatland, deserves an honorable place. He was born in San Francisco on November 1, 1872, the son of a good old pioneer who had pluckily crossed the great plains with the slow-meandering ox-team in the early fifties. From his parents, who were highly esteemed for their qualities as empire-builders, he inherited qualities that have contributed much to make him what he is today, - one of the valued citizens of the township in which he lives.
He learned the blacksmith trade in San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley, and he worked for Eddie Graner, known as “the honest blacksmith,” a man of national reputation in the sporting world, and one of the famous referees of boxing bouts all over the United States. Then he ran a shop of his own in Berkeley; and in that venture he was more than successful, his skill being all the more acceptable to his patrons because of his agreeable personality and his evident desire to serve and to please.
In the year 1919, Mr. Creed came over to Wheatland and bought the old Bevan blacksmith shop, which had been started and was owned by Sam Bevan’s father in 1873; and he is still using, in his steadily increasing trade, the old, dented anvil upon which the elder Bevan had pounded so many thousands of times, and which had been a second-hand affair in 1873. Mr. Creed is thoroughly familiar with every kind of blacksmith work; and his progressive ingenuity has enabled him to devise and introduce innovations of his own.
Mr. Creed is one of the best citizens of the county; and being first, last and all the time an American, he takes a live interest in public questions, and never fails to show his public-spiritedness in endorsing the best men and the best measures.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 1296
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