Whiteside, Olney

Olney Whiteside was born in Jackson County, Missouri, on June 23, 1838, to Alexander Whiteside and Electa Sherman while his parents were traveling from Illinois to Iowa. He was raised and educated in Kainesville, Iowa, before his family crossed the plains to Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1852. In his youth, he drove cattle to Montana, returned to Salt Lake City alone on horseback after an Indian attack, and later arrived in California on January 1, 1856. During his early years in California, he ran an ox team freighting business out of Yuba County, hauled heavy machinery for Nevada mines, and operated a 400-acre ranch in Yuba County.

On September 15, 1869, Olney Whiteside married Ellen Bradshaw, the daughter of Rev. Charles Bradshaw, and the couple went on to raise nine children: Eva, Alexander Lyman, Almond Elijah, Robert Olney, Lena, Charles O., Melvina, John B., and Edward Sherman. Over the following decades, he farmed extensively across California, acquiring a 4,000-acre property in Ventura County, managing street grading in Los Angeles, and directing construction on the Turlock Irrigation Ditch. After moving to Fresno County, he overcame several crop-destroying floods, ran a combined harvesting business, served as superintendent of the 73,000-acre Jeff James ranch, and purchased a 640-acre ranch near Helm in 1902. Active in the Christian Church alongside his wife, he established a lasting legacy as a resilient pioneer and leader in the agricultural development of the region.