Quintana Donation

History of the State of California and Biographical Record of the San Joaquin Valley, California (1902)

A note from the donor:

I would like to express my thanks to the City of Newman Museum for accepting the work History of the State of California and Biographical Record of the San Joaquin Valley, by James Miller Guinn. Mr. Guinn was a professor at UC Berkeley who took the time to gather the biographies of many California pioneers near the beginning of the 20th century. My first time viewing this book was at the state library in Sacramento some time in the late 1990's. Other copies of the work are held at UC Davis, UC Berkeley, and the San Francisco City Library, where they are kept in the rare catalogs, for viewing only.  My sixth great grandfather, James Driskell, is featured on page 417, with a full picture of him c.1907. Mr Guinn describes him as a prominent "agriculturalist." I was able to obtain my own copy through a rare book dealer in 2012. 

As a girl I enjoyed chatting with my maternal grandfather, Bob Driskell of San Jose, California, about his great grandfather, James, who came on the "overland trail," as he put it.  It was also part of the family lore that James was the first to use a cream separator on this side of the Sierras. Since then, my research has led me to understand that James was a resident of Hills Ferry where he ran an extensive ninety acre ranch that included dairy. It is assumed that Driskell Avenue in Newman is located on what was once this ranch. James' wife was Mahala Cardwell, from a prominent Tennessee family. Many Cardwells made their home in southern Oregon, founding both towns and farms, and there is a winery in Willamette Valley today named "Cardwell Hill." My research on Newspaper.com, led to several small articles regarding James and Mahala. By these accounts, they were both well liked and respected members of their community. My great grandfather, Tracy Driskell, spent time living with his grandparents on the Hills Ferry ranch as a teenager according to one census record. James and Mahala are buried in a beautiful family plot at Hills Ferry Cemetery along with their youngest of eleven children, Clara Belle Driskell who died young from unspecified causes. I am very proud of my Central Valley roots and the ancestors who made their way across the continent in covered wagons. I am also thankful for their part in allowing me to grow up in this majestic land that we Californians call home. 

Sincerely, 

Stephanie Quintana (June 2025)

Below is the James Driskell (1828 - 1917) biography as published in this book (written during the subject's lifetime)

JAMES DRISKELL.  Numbered among the pioneer agriculturists of California is James Driskell, an esteemed and highly respected resident of Newman, who came to this state more than forty years ago, and has since been actively identified with its industrial growth and prosperity.  A native of Kentucky, he was born October 26, 1828, in Morgan county, a son of Davis Driskell.

Born and reared in Kentucky, Davis Driskell was there engaged in farming during his earlier years.  Migrating with his family to Illinois in 1833, he settled at Macoupin Point, in Macoupin county, where he purchased land and in addition to managing that was also employed as a hotel keeper for five years.  Removing to Lee county, Iowa, in 1838, he took up government land near West Point, and there cleared and  improved a homestead, on which he was engaged in farming and stock-raising until his death.  He married first Mary Dunn, who was born in Kentucky, and died in Illinois.  She bore him four sons and three daughters, of whom James, the special subject of this sketch, was the youngest child.  After the death of his first wife, he was subsequently twice married.

Attending the short terms of school held in the rude log school house of his boyhood days, James Driskell obtained a limited education in common with the children of the neighborhood, while under his father's tutelage he was well drilled in the various branches relating to general farming.  For a short time he worked as a farm laborer in Jefferson and other Iowa counties, and then, in 1848, migrated to Nebraska, locating near Plattsmouth, where he took up a tract of government land, and followed farming for eleven years.  Crossing the plains with ox-teams in 1859, Mr. Driskell located in Douglas county, Ore., living first in Roseburg, and afterwards in Canyonville, in both places being engaged in agricultural pursuits.  Coming from there to Santa Cruz county, Cal., in 1863, Mr. Driskell settled first on land near Watsonville, and subsequently lived for a year in Watsonville, being engaged while in that vicinity in peeling tan bark.  In 1876 he removed to Los Banos, and the ensuing year purchased a squatter's claim of one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he managed for a few years.  Disposing of that property to Miller & Lux, he located in Stanislaus county in 1881, and bought his present ranch of ninety-five and three fourths acres, adjoining Newman on the east.  With characteristic enterprise and foresight, he has planted in largely to alfalfa, and is now carrying on a profitable dairy business, keeping fifty cows, and using a separator.

In Iowa Mr. Driskell married Mahala Cardwell, a native of Tennessee and a daughter of Richard and Mary Campbell Cardwell, and old Tennessee family.  Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Driskell eleven children have been born, and of these seven daughters and two sons are living.  The names of the children are:  Mrs. Mary J. Gardener, George W., Mrs. Malicia A. Wisener, Malinda Arizona, deceased, Mrs. Eliza C. Draper, Sarah Matilda, deceased, William Daniel, Mrs. Emma Idella Ward, Mrs. Martha Ellen Tompkins, Mrs. Grace De Etta Gift, Clara Belle.

Politically Mr. Driskell is a zealous advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and religiously he is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Return To Exhibits