John Wesley McAbee (Nov. 5, 1826-1899) was a pioneer of Yorkville and of the Boonville area. He was the son of Samuel McAbee (1795-1846) of Indiana and Margaret (Pitcher) McAbee (1804-1844).
John Wesley was one of nine children. He lived in Indiana until he was 15, when they moved to Henry County, Missouri, and farmed for four years. By 1845, his parents were both dead.
His first marriage was to Martha Jane Crow (1830-1852). Their children were James Wesley McAbee (1848-1849) who lived about three weeks; John Watson McAbee (1851-1937) who married Charlotte Louise Clounts (May 2, 1851-1937) and had three children: Effie (married Buchanan, had a son, Foren. Second marriage, (to Harry Hulbert); Frank (who married Ethel Lile; and son Forrest McAbee; and Hazel (married Fred Guernsey of Petaluma.)
The first wife, above, died shortly after the birth of the second child. The American war with Mexico started in 1846, and the young John Wesley enlisted and served over a year. Then, according to the History of Mendocino County of 1880 (page 512), he lived in Kansas City until 1850, when he and his brother, Jerome, crossed the plains with ox teams to Nevada City. John Wesley worked in the mines for a few months, visited Sacramento and decided to go “back East” (a term used by the pioneers).
He took the steamer “Republic,” and when near Acapulco on the west coast of Mexico, it sank. (Source, History of Mendocino County, page 512). They must have been close to shore, because the passengers, about 750 of them, were safely taken to land. They waited about two weeks while the ship was “raised and newly coppered,” then it was towed to Panama with all the passengers.
Mr. McAbee spent some time in Cuba, then went back to Missouri. In August of 1852, he was married to Susan Minerva Weaver (1831-1925). In the spring of 1853, John Wesley McAbee and his wife started for California.
This was an eventful trip. Mrs. McAbee experienced it all with fortitude and a sense of humor. In later years she told the story to her grandchildren. The story is exciting and inherently dramatic.
After the above-mentioned trip, Mr. and Mrs. McAbee arrived in California and settled near Bloomfield in Sonoma County. Here they farmed and raised stock until about 1859 when they came to what later was called Yorkville. They built a house near Beebe Creek, about where the new home of Mr. and Mrs. Alex Burger stood. Nearby is a small stream called Kalti Creek, named for a well-known Indian of that time.
Mr. and Mrs. McAbee made a living there by dairying and stock raising for about 12 years. In 1871, they moved their family to Boonville.
After another move or two, the family settled on a site for a home on the lane leading to the pioneer Patrick Donnelly place. This lane leaves the Valley road just north of the Boonville Bridge (north of town), and runs to the foothills. This “Old Donnelly Place” is a good landmark. Patrick Donnelly and his wife settled there on November 2, 1857 when the land was still part of Sonoma County. It became part of Mendocino County on March 11, 1859.
Here the McAbee couple lived and raised their nine children.
John Wesley McAbee was for several years the Boonville Postmaster. Several men acted as postmaster as a private venture before him, and so far we have found the dates unclear.
In 1873, Mr. John McAbee deeded the land for a Methodist Church South, the site of the present Methodist church in Boonville. The trustees, all of Ukiah at the time, were: William Ford, W.H. Van, J.N. Nuckols, M.J. Cox, M. York and W.F. Holliday.
Mr. McAbee's death came December 21, 1899. He was buried in Green Mound Cemetery near Boonville.
His wife was an interesting woman. Many Valley folks went to her house to enjoy her stories of crossing the plains. She was also interested in medicine and knew the medicinal value of various herbs. Her death came in 1925 and she was buried beside her husband.
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