The following biographies were transcribed from Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties, with California from 1513 to 1850 (Fariss and Smith, San Francisco, 1882). The page number of that book on which a person can be found is noted beside his/her name. In cases where, instead of first names, only initials were provided in the book, first and middle names have been provided here (whenever possible) using census records of Lassen County, vital records of Lassen County, and/or other Lassen County historical documents as source material. Known misspellings and typographical errors in the book have been corrected on this page. Corrections to names and errors are { shown in brackets }. Some Plumas County and some Sierra County biographies may be included here.

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Capt. E. S. Talbot { Enoch Stanwood Talbot } (p. 376)
His grandfather, Ambrose Talbot and his father, Enoch Talbot, lived in Cumberland county, Maine where Captain Talbot was born, in the town of Freeport, June 12, 1834. He attended school until 1849, and then went to sea, his father being a sea captain. During the war he had command of a steam transport in the U. S. service, running a large portion of the time in conjunction with the army of the Potomac. He first became master of a merchant vessel in 1856. In 1874 he abandoned the sea, and came to Lassen county from San Francisco. He was elected county judge in 1877 for a term of four years, but the office was abolished January 1, 1880, by the new constitution. In the fall of 1881 he was appointed deputy by Sheriff Skaddan. He is a member of the lodge, chapter, and commandery of Masons, and the A. O. U. W., at Susanville. June 28, 1855, Captain Talbot married Sophia Bacon { Ann Sophia Bacon } of Alexandria, Va., born there in 1835. Their children are Susan J., born January 26, 1858, on ship A. H. Stephens, off the coast of Peru; Mary S., born December 13, 1859, at Freeport, Maine; Grace N., May 3, 1863; S. E., November 23, 1864; Bane S., March 5, 1868; Evan B. , January 22, 1870—all at Alexandria, Va.; Maud S. and Horace, July 25, 1876, in Lassen county. Bane died at Alexandria, in August, 1868; Horace, August 15, 1876, and Maud S., October 27, 1879, in Lassen county. Susan J. married P. J. Goumaz, June 28, 1880. Grace N. married H. N. Skaddan, November 16, 1880, and died November 20, 1881.

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John Theodore (p. 501)
He was born in Wales, July 8, 1833. At the age of twenty-two he came to the United States, and clerked six years in New York, in the wholesale carpet store of W. T. Lewis & Co. In June, 1862, he landed in San Francisco, from across the Isthmus. He lived two years in Stockton, and then mined six years in Virginia City, Nevada. In the spring of 1860 he purchase 160 acres of land twenty miles east of Susanville, in what is called the Tule Confederacy. He has made that his home since, engaged in raising stock. He is a member of the Masonic lodge at Janesville. In politics, he is a republican. March 24, 1869, he married Annie Thomas of Gold Hill, Nevada. Their children are Lottie E., born July 12, 1870; Annie K., July 16, 1872; John T., November 23, 1876; Bessie, September 24, 1881. Lottie was born in Gold Hill, and the others in Honey Lake valley.

David Titherington (p. 501)
This gentleman was born in County Douen, Ireland, September 11, 1810. The following year the family moved to the United States, and David lived in New York, Pennsylvania, and Indiana until 1849, when he sailed for California on the ship Dalmatia, rounding the Horn, and arriving in San Francisco in August, 1850. He mined nine years at Park’s Bar, Nelson creek, Elizabethtown, and Bean hill. In 1859 he came to this valley, and in July, 1860, purchased with John S. Ward, the land located by Peter Lassen, at administrator’s sale. This place has been his home ever since. He is a member of the Masonic lodge at Susanville. His politics are republican. May 17, 1830, Mr. Titherington married Miss Elizabeth Whitacre, a native of Ohio. She died, December 20, 1876. Their children were John, born June 4, 1832; Robert, October, 1833; Mary E., January 14, 1835; Albert, October, 1837; Rachel, May 11, 1840; Lewis, March, 1843, died October 12, 1876; Joseph, February 22, 1845. They were all born in Wayne county, Indiana.

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Jerry Tyler (p. 503)
He was born in Pennsylvania, in the year 1828. When three years old he went with his parents to Cleveland, Ohio. As soon as old enough he worked at anything which offered. Was a messenger in the Granville bank, and afterwards learned the mason’s trade, at which he continued until twenty years of age. Was soon afterwards married to Miss Elizabeth Pulford, and then went to Johnson county, Iowa, where he purchased some land and also engaged in the livery business. He soon sold his interests here, and came to Lassen county, California, bringing with him twenty-five buggies and carriages, and a lot of fine horse. He stopped for a time at the place where Mr. Ridenour now lives, but afterwards removed to Nicholas Clark’s place, a part of whose house he rented. The following January, while they were out, their little girl Francis accidentally set fire to the house, the fire consuming it and all their household effects. Soon after, he bought from Mr. Kingsbury the place he now lives on, near Milford. Mr. Tyler was again married February 14, 1864, to Miss Parker. Their children are Grant, born May 20, 1865; Thomas Sheridan, July 27, 1868; Stanton Farragut, September 17, 1870; Jessie Louise, July 27, 1874; Laura Edith, January 29, 1876; Sumner Custer, January 24, 1878; and Stanley Edson, February 2, 1881. Mr. Tyler is the inventor of a very ingenious appliance for unloading, stacking, and distributing hay and grain. 

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Hon. John S. Ward (pp. 374-375)
This gentleman took a very prominent part in the efforts of the citizens to form a county government in this section. He was born at Vergennes, Vermont, December 16, 1825, and came to the coast in an early day, having lived in Indiana and Wisconsin. His father came to California in 1853, and settled in Indian valley, Plumas county, where the father, Hon. William T. Ward, became the first county judge. John came in 1855, and settled in Honey Lake valley in 1858, and was admitted to the practice of law by Judge Gordon N. Mott, of Nevada Territory, in July, 1862. The following December he was appointed probate judge of Roop county, by the governor of Nevada Territory, and held that position through the conflict for jurisdiction known as the Sage-Brush War. He devoted himself studiously to his books, and soon ranked among the best lawyers in this section of the state; and had he lived, his career would have been a brilliant one, so full of promise was it when he was cut down in the prime of life. He died in Susanville in 1872, and was buried with honors and imposing ceremonies by the Odd Fellows and Masonic orders. In 1871 he went to Washington, and secured the establishment of a U. S. land office at Susanville, of which he was appointed Register. He was married at Madison, Wisconsin, January 1, 1849, to Miss Anna E. Hyer. Of their children, two were born in Wisconsin—T. H., September 25, 1851, and Jennie S., January 16, 1755 {1855}; one in Plumas county, California—Frank G., February 5, 1857; the others in Lassen county—Charles R., September 13, 1859; Annie H., October 13, 1861; William C., September 10, 1868. Jennie S. married Hon. John S. Chapman, January 1, 1871. T. H. married Miss Wileta Edwards, February 16, 1872. Frank G. Married Miss Ada Myers, in September 1876. Annie H. married Hon. J. W. Hendrick, January 1, 1878.

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L. B. Washburn { Lewis B. Washburn } (p. 506)
The subject of this sketch is the son of F. A. { Frederick A. Washburn } and Adeline (Bronson) Washburn, and was born January 29, 1852, in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania. January 28, 1872, he was married to Miss Susanna Nye, and emigrated to California in the spring of 1878, settling in Lassen county. He resides now in Milford, and is engaged in the butcher business and ranching.

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