Louisa Maria Briggs

Family/Spouse: George Washington Crane. George (son of Barnabas Crane and Hannah Crane) was born on 13 Mar 1809 in Berkley, Bristol County, Massachusetts; died on 20 Jan 1884 in Sharon Twp, Medina County, Ohio. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

In pursuit of that occupation to which he became accustomed in
earliest youth in Ohio, Mr. Crane, in 1883, settled in Ventura County,
where he has realized many of his ambitious expectations. He was born
in Sharon Township, Medina County, Ohio, July 7, 1835. His paternal
ancestors were all born and reared in or near Deighton, Mass., where
the original ancestor, from England, one Henry Crane, settled in 1654.
On the maternal side, Louisa (Briggs) Crane was born in Ontario
County, N. Y., in 1815, a daughter of Thomas Briggs, also a native of
Massachusetts. Her brother, George G. Briggs, the pioneer fruit man of
California, in 1861 became the owner of the Rancho Santa Paula y
Saticoy, in Ventura County, and said rancho was subdivided and thrown
open for settlement by him. In 1855 Mr. Crane came to California and
assisted his uncle, George G. Briggs, in putting out two hundred acres
of orchard, in addition to the already large orchard then just
bearing, near Marysville. He also assisted him in putting out an
orchard of one hundred acres near Oroville, and one of two hundred
acres on the Sacramento river near Knights Landing. Remaining in
California something over three years, he then returned to his native
place in Ohio, married and purchased a farm upon which he resided for
ten years, when, selling his farm, he removed to Cass county, Mo. Six
years later he removed to Denver, Colo., where he engaged in the
wholesale fruit business, shipping from forty to fifty carloads a year
from Marysville and Sacramento.
The drought in California of 1877 decided him to quit the fruit
business and go to the Black Hills of Dakota, the then new mining
region. There, in company with others, he was successful in locating
and developing what is known as the Trojan group of mines, near
Deadwood, which he and his partners sold in 1883 for $10o,000. In the
same year he removed with his family to Saticoy, Ventura County,
purchased and settled upon the ranch he now (1902) occupies. This land
was at once utilized for the raising of lima beans and the setting out
of walnut trees. Today there is a fine bearing orchard of Santa
Barbara soft shell walnuts covering fifty acres. Some apricots also
are raised on the ranch.
No one has shown more enthusiasm than Mr. Crane in promoting the
interests of his neighborhood. To further the cause of the walnut
growers he assisted in the organization of the Saticoy Walnut Growers'
Association. He was one of tile first stockholders in the People's
Lumber Company, and has also been vitally interested in the subject of
water supply. In addition to his home ranch he owns eighty acres of
land west of Pasadena, which can be developed into grape land.
Although a Democrat in politics and a stanch upholder of his party, he
has never cared for office and has never been a candidate but once,
when he was nominated for supervisor. His kindly and agreeable
personality has won for him many friends throughout Ventura county. In
1859 he married Adalina Huntley, who was born in Granger township,
Medina County, Ohio, in 1836. They are the parents of two children,
namely: Amy, who is the wife of E. E. Huntley, of Saticoy; and Abbie,
wife of L. W. Andrews, an attorney of Los Angeles.