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1870 Shasta Co., CA Census - Shasta Township
---1/16-180 Magee, William 60 W SC surveyor Colburn, Phoebe 48 M AL house keeper Schmidt, William 14 I CA |
Colburn, Phoebe - 1818(?)-1876. Freed black female illiterate slave
who become a shrewd business woman. Also worked as a cleaning woman and
housekeeper. Purchased the houseWilliam Mapee lived in at Shasta
from Harrison Shurtleff in 1854 for $700. Held the mortgage on Thomas Freeman's
American Ranch property in 1855. Acquired ownership of the Foot of the
Mountain Station and 240 acres as a result of a $500 loan made to owner/employer
William W. L. Smith who turned the station over to her for the money owed.
She sold the station to George Schuler in 1870 and moved to Shasta. Became
the cleaning woman and housekeeper for Col. William Magee. Either
purchased sold or loaned money for many pieces of Shata property. She was
possibly the first woman to hold a mortgage in Shasta County, Could not
write, instead left a mark on documents always witnessed or notarized by
Magee. Left a sizeable estate to a niece and her best friend Colonel Magee.
copied from The Dictionary of Early Shasta County History
2nd Edition by Dottie Smith
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