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Compiled by John H. Wheeler Published in 1903 by B. F. Bowen Biography Page 106 - 107 |
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GEORGE H. OTIS
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So long as the history of America is read, an interesting chapter will always be that regarding the California gold fever, which broke out in 1847, reached its crisis in 1849, but did not materially abate until the excitement wrought up by the Civil war almost completely overshadowed it. While California enriched the world with the gold she gave up during that period, the output being about thirteen million dollars a year, the state may be considered to have had the best of the bargain, for the world enriched her in population, material development and general improvements. At the time of the first discovery the population of San Francisco was less than two hundred inhabitants. In about ten years it had swelled to more than forty thousand people. Nearly every land on the face of the globe contributed to the state's growth in population. People went by every known route. Caravans tempted Indian malice and cupidity by traveling across the continent with ox teams; other fortune hunters sailed to Panama, crossed the isthmus, and reached their destination by way of the Pacific, while still others sailed around Cape Horn, making the trip entirely by water. The subject of this review, George H. Otis, was only twelve years old when the excitement was at its height. He was a lad of more strength and manly vigor than most youths of his years and he yearned to be among the throng crowding westward to the new 'El Dorado. He had to curb his impatience, however, for a few years. By practicing the most rigid economy, by the time he was eighteen years old, in 1855, he had accumulated sufficient funds to enable him to gratify the dream of his youthful years. Making the trip by the Panama route, he arrived safely at his destination, but, like thousands of others, he found that the yellow metal was neither so plentiful or as easily gotten as his brilliant imagination had pictured it. George H. Otis was born in Leoni, Jackson county, Michigan, March 27, 1837. His parents were Joseph H. and Laura (McNall) Otis, natives of New York, and both now deceased. The early years of the subject were spent in his native county, where he was reared and educated. At the age of eighteen years he determined to try his fortune in the gold fields of California. Having tried his luck at mining and finding it not nearly so remunerative as he imagined it would be, he turned his attention to the more prosaic calling of a dairyman and picked up more gold in this way than he did delving in the mines. A good cow is a far better wealth producer than a poor gold mine. Year after year he followed this calling until after the breaking out of the Civil war, in April, 1862, when he enlisted as a private soldier in the First Regiment, Washington Territory Volunteer Infantry. The field of operations of this regiment was mostly on the frontier. Their chief foe was the implacable red man, who knew neither North nor South, nor the cause which either represented, but embraced the opportunity given him by the absence of the regular army in the south to glut his hate against every species of pale face. George H. Otis spent three years in military service, and at the close of the war, 1865, he received an honorable discharge. The years of life on the Pacific coast as miner, dairyman and soldier made some very material alterations in the views, opinions and notions of life entertained by Mr. Otis. He was no longer the romantic youth, but the hardened toiler, the seasoned veteran, the practical man, when he returned, in 1865, to his native county of Jackson, Michigan. After a little rest and recuperation after his years of toil, soldiering and his long journey from the west, he procured employment in the state penitentiary at Lansing, as overseer or keeper. He held this position for six years, and until he voluntarily resigned it, desiring to engage in a calling more agreeable than that of farming. In Leoni, Jackson county, Michigan, on the 3d day of February, 1869, George H. Otis was united in marriage to Miss Adaline Tilyou, a native of Michigan, born July 17, 1842, in Leoni, Jackson county. Her parents were Carlyle and Harriett (Train) Tilyou, natives of New York, and both now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Otis one child has been born, a daughter, Hattie E., who is at home, and is being educated in the common schools. In October, 1871, the family moved to Wexford county, and settled on eighty acres of land, a part of section 22, Selma township. They erected a home, cleared and improved the land, and there they have resided up to the present time. Forty acres of the original eighty are well improved and under cultivation. There is a fine bearing orchard upon the place and the land is very productive of any crop suitable for this climate. Politically a stanch Republican, there are few if any of the local offices in Selma township that have not been filled by Mr. Otis. He has been the assessor of school district No. 6, since it was organized twenty-three years ago. He has seen a great deal of the world and has profited greatly, both in knowledge and material wealth, by all that has been brought under his observation during the course of his long and useful life. He is a member of the Union Veterans' Union. |