'Some loved him and others hated him'
Hugh Glenn, the namesake of Glenn County, is the subject of a new historical book due out next month and penned by Yolo County resident and historian Ann F. Scheuring.
"History is a narrative, a story, and stories depend on the eye of the beholder," Scheuring said.
Scheuring, 73, gave a lecture Thursday at the Willows Museum to about 50 members of the visiting Yolo County Historical Society and several Glenn County history buffs.
Touching on brief excerpts from the soon-to-be published book, Scheuring focused her speech on Glenn's colorful life, highlighting his contentious and failed bid for California governor, his impact to agriculture both in the state and worldwide and, very briefly on his murder and the two subsequent criminal trials to bring the so-called "Wheat King's" murderer to justice.
"This was the wild west," Scheuring said, "and, like most of us, Glenn was a mixed bag - some loved him and others hated him."
Scheuring's book focuses on Glenn and Henry Miller, the famous cattle baron on San Joaquin County.
The book, Scheuring said, is scheduled for release in mid-April. Scheuring said her 320-page tome entitled Valley Empires: Hugh Glenn and Henry Miller in the Shaping of California, will be published by Gold Oak Press of Rumsey, California and focuses these two "profoundly influential" men who shaped agricultural development in California in the nineteenth century.
Scheuring spoke for about 30 minutes Thursday and fielded a few questions from a knowledgeable and enthusiastic audience.
Orland historian Gene Russell praised Scheuring's work, crediting her for "doing more research on Glenn than any other person ever has before."
"Obviously I believe locals should be aware of these stories and our roots," Russell said. "It's all part of our very colorful past."
For others, like Bob Chittenden of Glenn, Scheuring's subject matter has some very personal connections.
Chittenden, 78, said he was part of a small group of boys that once broke into Glenn's
"Jacinto" general store sometime in 1943. The store, Chittenden said, was located near County Roads 39 and 45.
"We were all about 11 years old," Chittenden said Thursday. "We took stole the safe from his office."
Removing the safe through a basement window, Chittenden said it took he an friends more than three weeks to open the five-foot tall safe.
"When we finally got it open, it was filled with nothing," Chittenden said. "Just old paid warrants that kept track of debt and payments, but nothing else. But, at least we never got in caught or in trouble for it."
Scheuring conducted much of her research at the Willows Museum and said she was grateful to "the very helpful staff."
"They're very proud of what they do here and they should be," Scheuring said.
Contact Rob Parsons at 93.4-6800 or rparsons@tcnpress.com.
