John Mewhinney

John Mewhinney was born on December 5, 1836, in Terre Haute, Indiana, to Samuel and Sarah Mewhinney. His mother, Sarah, passed away in 1842.

In 1857, John journeyed to California with his father Samuel, stepmother Daunah, and his siblings. They traveled alongside the Leonard, Carpenter, and McGowan families, arriving in Potter Valley in January 1858. Their first summer was spent living in a tent. John, his brother Hugh, and their father each homesteaded 160 acres at the lower end of the valley, along the area now known as Mewhinney Creek.

On September 12, 1861, at the age of 24, John enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War. He served as a Sergeant in Company D of the 2nd California Cavalry and was mustered out on September 24, 1864, in San Francisco.

John played a key role in founding the Potter Valley Grange, established on November 6, 1873, and served as its first master. The organization began with 75 members, including Samuel and Daunah Mewhinney.

A successful farmer, John cultivated wheat and hops, which he sold to buyers as far away as New Zealand. He also grew apples, pears, and grapes, and even conducted systematic research into agricultural diseases and their remedies.

John was active in civic life. He served as a polling inspector during the 1880 election and, in 1882, he and his longtime friend A.O. Carpenter were elected delegates to the state Republican Party convention.

In 1889, John was part of a committee that selected the location for a bridge across the Russian River near Cold Creek. That same year, he was elected a trustee of the newly incorporated Town of Potter Valley and also served on the Mendocino County Grand Jury. In 1891, he was authorized to oversee the burial of honorably discharged veterans who died indigent in Mendocino County.

At the age of 66, John married Mrs. Alice E. Elliot, who was 42, in San Francisco. At the time of their marriage, Alice had a foster son, Henry Clay Spurr (1893–1981).

John Mewhinney passed away on September 6, 1919, at the age of 82. Alice died on March 17, 1941, at the age of 80.