Liz Writes Life
11-24-21
It feels like it is time for some more Scott Valley history.
I wanted to follow-up on the book that Tery Timmons Drager wrote and published
this past year. Can’t believe it was as far back as April 28, 2021, when I
wrote about her Irish Davidsons, who were early-1850 pioneers to Shasta and
Siskiyou counties and settled in Fort Jones.
One ancestor, James A. Davidson, was born 1838 in Indiana, and
after traveling by covered wagon with his family across the U.S. settled in
Fort Jones and married Amanda Quigley in 1867. They raised eight children and
an orphan girl. James, a Democrat, served as district supervisor for 32 years
(beginning in 1925) and worked to preserve the history of the county by helping
to found and maintain the Fort Jones Museum.
So, this time we will delve into the Portuguese side of
Tery’s family. John Simas was born in the Villa de Santa Cruz of the Azores on
the 6th of November 1854. He came to the United States at the age of 17 and made
his way to Siskiyou County, where he married Mary Elizabeth Davidson in 1881.
In their early marriage they lived in a log house at McAdams Creek. The couple
had 15 children.
Their oldest child was Etta Pearl Simas born in 1882. She
married John P. Valin and they had seven children. This is the direct
genealogical line for Tery as one of their daughters, Marion, is Tery’s mom.
John P. Valin was also born in the Azores, but in Ribeirinha Parish
in 1875. Although an only child, (his father died when John was one-year old) many
of his relatives also immigrated and settled in the Sacramento and Modesto area
of California. Tery had quite a bit of history on John Valin. He certainly
worked his way up in businesses and owning property. Yep, America – the land of
opportunity!
Here are a few stories about John. He came to the U.S.
through Ellis Island at the age of 15, possibly recruited to work on cattle
dairies with a group of other teen boys. Somehow John journeyed north to
Siskiyou County and worked on the Bernard Davidson Ranch in Fort Jones, which
was operated at the time by his soon-to-be father-in-law, John Simas. So this
is probably around the 1890s. He also worked in the box factory at Upton, near
Dunsmuir, for a year and then worked at Shasta Springs (Shasta Retreat), where
he cut 600 tier of wood that he sold for 62 and a half cents per tier.
Still a young man, he worked on the McBride ranch in Scott
Valley for several years and then rented the gardens at the Hartstrand Ranch,
the Costa Ranch at Moffett Creek and the John Simas ranch; and peddled his
produce throughout Scott Valley and down the canyon to Scott Bar.
On May 10, 1905, John married Etta Pearl Simas, the daughter
of John Simas. First the couple lived at the Costa place on Moffett Creek at
the bottom of Forest Mt. and within a few years they bought the Moxley place in
Greenview, where they farmed and made and sold cheese. (Hum, I wonder how many
cows they milked?)
John and Etta, while raising a family of seven, moved,
rented, purchased and sold ranches and homes in Greenview, near Yreka, back to
Scott Valley on Holzhauser Lane and around 1920 purchased the Johnson ranch on
Johnson Creek, which now a major part of Etna including the high school down to
the rodeo grounds. They farmed and ran a dairy. In 1930, John convinced the
Edgewood Creamery to drive a truck to Etna to pick up his cream. There were
likely other small dairies that were able to sell their cream as well.
During World War II, the Valins sold their Johnson Creek
ranch and moved to the corner of College Ave and Diggles Street in 1945. John
planted seven apple trees on the property – one for each child. In 1999, three
trees were still alive and three children were also still alive. As the couple
began to have health problems, Tery’s mom, Marion, spent quite a bit of time
helping her parents. Etta died in 1950 and John in 1952.
The book Tery put together is embellished with sidebars of
short stories and info. Many photos are also enticing and bring the history to
life. She included a photo of Grandpa John Valin holding her as a toddler, the family
gathered on a house porch, cemetery headstone, even the ship manifest for John,
when he returned to Portugal and brought his mother to the states. There are
also pictures of the SS Queen Mary and SS Teraimanlar ships that John sailed on
crossing the Atlantic.
Interestingly, in the 1950s, a letter addressed to John Valin
arrived from Ribeirinha, Portugual at the Etna Post Office. The postmaster
remembered him and gave the letter to daughter Marion, who had married Jack
Timmons. The letter was in Portuguese and was from the parishioners of the
local Holy Ghost Chapel church. It had been built on Valin property. A local
land developer was going to tear down the church as he thought that the land
owners had died.
Marion found someone to translate the letter and had legal
paperwork drawn up to have the church’s property turned over to the
parishioners. The church still remains in the Parish of Piedad, Municipality of
La Jes do Pico. And, yes, Tery was able to include photos of this little
church.
Sure hope this bit of local history may inspire you to write,
video or audio record some of your life stories. There will be descendants that
will appreciate learning about your life.
Happy Thanksgiving!
May peace and calm
be with you this week. Smile – just cuz it makes you feel better!
Liz Bowen began
writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native
of Siskiyou County. Columns from the past can be found at:
lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.
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