The Valley of Heart's Delight
WILLIAM C. OVERFELT
-Dairy and Stockman,
Santa Clara County Pioneer
Surnames: PYLE, HATCH
On the pages of California's pioneer history appears the name of
William C. Overfelt, and although many years have elapsed since Mr.
Overfelt passed away, his memory is still green in the hearts of his
family and friends, and as a pioneer of 1846 his name still lives in the
annals of the state. His was a life of toil, beginning early in life,
but he was fortunate in that he had established himself upon an
independent basis by the time he arrived at middle age. Had his life
been prolonged, no doubt he would have reaped a larger success, for his
resourceful mind and keen judgment won the confidence of associates and
were the factors in his growing prosperity.
A native of Virginia, he was born in 1827, and was descended from
German ancestry. At the early age of five he was deprived of his
mother. His father, Michael Overfelt, a native of the Old Dominion, and
a pioneer of Missouri, followed the wagonmaker's trade in addition to
that of being a farmer. At the age of fourteen, being obliged to earn
his living, William was bound out to a farmer, with whom he remained
until he was twenty-one. With an older brother, John, he then embarked
in the flour milling business in Callaway County. However, before their
enterprise had been placed upon a substantial foundation, a desire for
adventure came over him and with a party of seventeen young men he made
preparation to come to the coast.
The journey across the plains, begun
in the spring of 1846, was made with pack mules and oxen and contained
the usual dangers and hardships.. The greatest peril they encountered
was at Kings River, where the waters had overflowed the bed of the river
and formed an angry sea, imperiling the lives of those who attempted to
cross.
Like almost every pioneer, Mr. Overfelt tried his luck in the mines,
being engaged principally in Mariposa County. About 1852 he came to
Santa Clara County and with others bought and settled on Government
land, on which he engaged in farming and stock raising. The marriage of
Mr. Overfelt occurred December 27, 1854, uniting him with Miss Mary
Pyle, a sister of John F. Pyle. Her father, Thomas Pyle, was a son of
Edward G. Pyle, a very early pioneer of California, and mentioned in
history as one of the party who returned to Donner Lake in March, 1847,
hoping to arrive there in time to relieve the ill-fated Donner party.
Mrs. Overfelt was born in Illinois and accompanied her father's family
to California, where she attended a subscription school and also had the
the advantage of study, for some years, with a private tutor engaged by
her father. After her marriage she settled with her husband on a tract
of 160 acres, located on Penetencia Creek, one-half mile from Berryessa.
After almost four years on that place they sold and removed to a part
of the Pyle homestead, where Mr. Overfelt conducted a dairy and stock
raising business until his death, May 26, 1876, when only forty-nine
years of age.
Both he and his wife were from an early age identified
with the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and contributed generously to
charitable and religious movements. After the death of her husband she
continued the management of the farm. Mr. and Mrs. Overfelt were the
parents of two sons and three daughters, Charles F. and E. J. being
engaged in stock raising and farming. The oldest daughter, Mrs. Mary
Elizabeth Hatch, resides in San Jose. Martha Ellen is deceased, and
Mildred L. resides with her mother on the home ranch.
Transcribed by Joseph Kral, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 384
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