FORREST G. JEFFERDS
Company A,
Massachusetts Volunteers
Bio-Pen Pictures
SURNAMES: WHITNEY, WATROUS, CLARK, FRAKES, REED, McKEE, MORRELL,
residing on Hamilton Avenue, in the Hamilton District, bought his five‑acre orchard in January, 1886. His orchard is now six years old, and comprises a general variety of trees, including four kinds of prunes, apricots, peaches, quinces, plums, and cherries. There are also a few apple-trees. The orchard in 1887 yielded about $500 worth of fruit.
Mr. Jefferds' birth occurred in Piscataquis County, Maine, August 26, 1829. When fifteen years of age he left the Pine-Tree State and removed to Massachusetts. In 1846 he volunteered for service in the Mexican War, in Company A, Massachusetts Volunteers. His Captain was Fletcher Webster, a son of the revered statesman, Daniel Webster. In January, 1847, the regiment entered the city of Mexico, after thirteen months' service. Mr. Jefferds was honorably discharged at Boston. His war experience naturally inclines him to feel an interest in all that pertains to war times and old comrades. He is a member of the Mexican Veterans, of San Jose, and also of the National Association of Veterans of Washington, District of Columbia.
As early as 1851 Mr. Jefferds became a pioneer settler of California. He was engaged for four years in placer mining in Nevada County, and in 1855 changed his residence to Yuba County, where he worked at hydraulic mining. He followed that business until 1861, when he removed to Tulare County, where he engaged in stock-raising and general farming. Tulare County was his home until 1884, when he sold his ranch and stock, and moved to Oakland, and thence to his present home. For eleven years in Tulare County he held the office of County Assessor. After a life filled with adventure and frequent change Mr. Jefferds now enjoys a somewhat retired life in his pleasant home in this lovely and fertile valley.
In Yuba County he married, in 1853, Zanetta D. Whitney, who was born in Waltham, Massachusetts. He was bereaved by her death, which occurred in Tulare County, in October, 1868. She was the mother of three children. Edward M. is now a resident of Visalia, Tulare County; Minnie is the wife of S. W. Watrous, of Tulare County; and Netta is the wife of H. L. Clark, of Oakland.
In 1870 Mr. Jefferds married Mrs. Nellie (Frakes) Reed, widow of Tilden Reed. She is a native of Ohio. By her first marriage she had five children, of whom two are deceased. Jennie, the wife of W. W. McKee, died at Oakland; M. Fillmore, residing at Belmont, Nevada; Mrs. Julia Morrell, living at San Jose; Leonard A., deceased; and Tilden, of Belmont, Nevada. Mr. Jefferds has one child by his second marriage, Nellie F.
He is identified with the Republican party. Several orders claim him as a
member—Four Creeks Lodge, No. 94, I. 0. 0. F., of Visalia; Visalia Lodge, A. O.
U. W., and Garden City Council, No. 62, Chosen Friends, of San Jose.
Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California, Illustrated. - Edited by H. S. Foote.- Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1888.
Pg. 476-477
SANTA CLARA COUNTY BIOGRAPHY PROJECT