William George Hearst (1796-1844)

In 1830, he bought out his brother Joseph's interest in the land they inherited from their father, giving him a farm of 800-acres. He leased a part of it while using the rest for both agriculture and livestock. Despite his large landholdings, he was always struggling to keep up with payments and his children worked hard to help out on the farm. He was the father of three children who survived to adulthood: Jake was mentally impaired; Martha looked after him and never married; and, George went to California and became a multi-millionaire. After William died, his widow remarried Judge Joseph Funk.