ep. 10 George G. Blanchard - The Judge
In this short episode of Ricky's historical tidbits, I share with you a little bit about a man who will be featured in the city of Placerville's “Miners on Main” scavenger hunt on Main Street. Known to history by a few things but is mostly known as Judge Blanchard.
Listen, watch, or read. I got you covered.
George Granville Blanchard is his name. A man who, like many in history lived a great and important life but has been lost and forgotten in the history books. One of the many reasons I created this show was to resurface and highlight the great men and women who made a difference whether it be big or small. All too often History is only told about big men and women. Big ideas and big wars. Not enough is told about the common man, the regular guy.
Out of curiosity, I looked through the records, His great great great grandpa Samuel Blanchard left England and arrived in Massachusetts in 1639.
George of course was born in The US,
I couldn't find much in his early life but he married a woman named Philinda who the next year gave birth to George’s first son who was named George Adams Blanchard. Unfortunately, Philinda died in Childbirth.
After this, George moved South and again west to Wisconsin before eventually making his way across the country to California. George who was a teacher soon became a miner and then went on to work at a lumber mill. Soon enough he moved on to try his hand at the law.
By 1859 George G Blanchard was appointed to be a part of a committee within the El Dorado Agricultural Society.
Then in 1867, George G Blanchard was elected Judge of Eldorado County.
(Fun Fact; His son from New York also came to California eventually and worked as a lawyer and also became a Judge but in Sacramento)
Soon enough years later after serving as a judge, he became the President of the El Dorado District Fair.
but before I go into that, Sometimes In newspapers you can find some interesting things. I found this article from 1882 that describes a snippet of some courtroom drama that I think you'll enjoy.
As I mentioned earlier, Judge Blanchard was the president of the El Dorado Fair for a few years. I couldn't find too many specifics of what he accomplished in that role other than highlighting the beauty and value of El Dorado County.
Another notable thing about George G Blanchard was his politics. I found many instances of him serving as a speaker or a delegate for the Republican Party. He also was a speaker at the funeral of James Marshall - the guy who discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848. George also is partially responsible for bringing the wine industry to El Dorado County serving as the District Commissioner for the Board of Viticulture. He himself had a vineyard that by the time he died in 1891 was producing over 62 tons of wine grapes.
And a reminder, Mr. Blanchard is one of 10 people who will be featured in the soon-to-come “Miners on Main” over in Placerville which is a scavenger hunt where you can learn about some of the people who made Placerville what it is today. If you haven't already Go check out my other episodes on those featured. My favorite is Snowshoe Thompson.
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