John Duncan McFarlane

From Family Search:
Obit found in LifeSketch:
John McFarlane Funeral To Be Held Tomorrow
Funeral services will be held tomorrow afternoon at the Odd Fellows' Hall in Gait for John D McFarlane, brother of Mrs Mary Orr, of Galt, who died Thursday at the home of his daughter Mrs Jannet Huffman in Butte County.
Other relatives left by McFarlane, who was 83 years of age, include two sons and a daughter: David W McFarlane of Amador County; George E Mcfarlane of Clarksburg, and Mabel McFarlane of Oakland.
The deceased fomerly lived in Galt.
James R Garlick Sacramento mortician has charge of the arrangements

Death registration says he died in Butte County, CA.

Information listed below is taken from the Galt Area Historical Society website

"...Settlers bought ranches throughout the valley, and large land owners such as Dr. Obed Harvey, John McFarland, Andrew Whitaker, and John McCaulley prospered. A portion of John McFarland's property is now the McFarland Living History Ranch.

In 1869, Dr. Obed Harvey was successful in getting the Central Pacific Railroad to lay track near his property. At the time the railroad track was laid there was no town in the immediate area.

Liberty was the nearest town. Since it was a mile south, and the railroad didn't go through, Dr. Harvey saw a need to build a town along the right-of-way of the railroad track.

Dr. Harvey built his town according to the laws of 1869, which stated that anyone could create a town by having the area surveyed and selling lots. The Central Pacific surveyors surveyed and laid out the town for Dr. Harvey.

The town needed a name, so John McFarland was given the privilege of naming the town after a town in Canada, Galt, Ontario. Mr. McFarland, a successful rancher, was also a builder who built some of the first brick buildings in Galt. One such building is located on the corner of 4th and B streets and is still in use today.

Information listed below taken from the McFarland Living History website

In 1878, John McFarland went to the "widow's walk" on the roof of his house to survey his 3800 acre ranch in the heart of the Sacramento Valley. He saw nothing in the distance except waves of wheat and perhaps the Miwoks, members of a tribe of local Native Americans, harvesting the grain. He certainly didn't see his ranch filled with hundreds of happy, wide-eyed children who would be visiting on a field trip from their school. He didn't know the pleasure of seeing their smiles as they would choose a pumpkin from the great pumpkin patch, or see the look of satisfaction as they completed making a candle from a tub of hot wax or a rope from many longs strands of string.

In 1998, when the Galt Area Historical Society began their project to make possible a living history ranch on the McFarland Ranch, members of the Society had no idea what joy would come from seeing children dressed in costume, reliving pioneer life on a farm at the turn of the twentieth century. We really didn't have a clue how wonderful and rewarding the effort would be.

In 2003, when the McFarland Living History Ranch was opened on a limited basis to over 1000 nearby elementary school children, we began to understand the significance of this historic preservation project. Volunteers who helped during school visitation days were amazed at the pleasure that children found in meaningful learning activities."