Humphreys, John W., Sr.

Born in Athens, Alabama, in 1830, John W. Humphreys migrated across the plains to California in 1852, initially working in the mines of Tuolumne County before entering the sawmill industry in Mariposa County in 1860. Settling in Fresno County on Pine Ridge near Tollhouse in 1867, Humphreys became a pioneer lumberman, carving out early mountain roads, constructing the original Tollhouse grade, and employing local Native Americans in his timber operations to supply lumber to valley settlers.

Over several decades, Humphreys built and operated multiple lumber mills—including the Bonanza mill near Shaver—and managed agricultural ranches across Fresno County, eventually accumulating a 1,400-acre family holding at Tollhouse. Married in 1863 to Martha Flinn, with whom he raised six surviving children, Humphreys remained an influential figure in early lumbering, stock-raising, and religious life through the Methodist Episcopal Church South until his death on March 20, 1900.