Life

William George Chard was born in Columbia County, New York

Columbia County, New York

Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 63,096. The county seat is Hudson. The name comes from the Latin feminine form of the name of Christopher Columbus, which was at the time of the formation of the county a popular proposal...

 in 1812. He came to California via New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

 with trappers Cyrus Alexander and Lemuel Carpenter

Lemuel Carpenter

Lemuel Carpenter, was one of the first Anglo-American settlers of what is now the Los Angeles, California metropolitan area.-Early life:Lemuel Carpenter was born ca. 1808 in Kentucky...

, arriving in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 in 1832. He travelled to Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...

, and Monterey

Monterey, California

The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...

. Chard married Maria Esteven Robles (1823–1871) in 1837. In 1844, he was granted the Rancho Las Flores

Rancho Las Flores

Rancho Las Flores was a Mexican land grant in present day Tehama County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to William Chard. The name means "ranch of the flowers"...

 Mexican land grant in present day Tehama County, California

Tehama County, California

Tehama County is a county located in the northern part of the U.S. state of California. It is bisected by the Sacramento River. As of 2010 its population was 63,463, up from 56,039 as of 2000. The county seat is Red Bluff.-History:...

. Chard was Superintendent of the New Almaden

New Almaden

The New Almaden quicksilver mine in the Santa Teresa Hills in Santa Clara County, California, United States, is the oldest and most productive quicksilver mine in the U.S. The site was known to the Ohlone Indians for its cinnabar long before a Mexican settler discovered the ores in 1820...

 quicksilver mine south of San Jose

San Jose, California

San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

until 1846.

He died September 19, 1877.

External links

1. tigger.uic.edu