O. M. Wozencraft
| Oliver Meredith Wozencraft | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | July 26, 1814 Clermont County, Ohio |
| Died | November 22, 1887 Washington, D.C. |
| Occupation | Physician, United States Indian Agent, Land Developer |
| Spouse(s) | Lamiza A. Ramsey |
| Children |
William R. Wozencraft (1838 - 1888) |
| Parent(s) |
John Meredith Wozencraft (1761 - ?) |
William R. Wozencraft (1838 - 1888)
Oliver M. Wozencraft (1844 - 1877)
Henry Clay Wozencraft (1847 - 1890)
Lemiza Wozencraft (1850 - 1884)
Mary A. Steinbrenner (1854 - 1914)
John A. Wozencraft (1878 - 1898)
John Meredith Wozencraft (1761 - ?)
Oliver M. Wozencraft (July 26, 1814 – November 22, 1887) was a prominent early American settler in California. He had substantial involvement in negotiating treaties between California Native American Indian tribes and the United States of America. Later, Wozencraft promoted a plan to provide irrigation to the Imperial Valley.
Wozencraft was born in Clermont County, Ohio, June 26, 1814. He graduated with a degree in medicine from St. Joseph's College in Bardstown, Kentucky. Wozencraft married Lamiza A. Ramsey (June 13, 1818 – August 30, 1905) in Nashville, Tennessee on February 23, 1837. In 1848, leaving his wife and three small children in New Orleans directly after a cholera epidemic, he relocated to Brownsville, Texas.
After the cholera epidemic swept Brownsville in February through April 1849, upon hearing news of gold being discovered, Wozencraft decided to seek his fortune in California. Wozencraft arrived at Yuma, Arizona in May 1849, crossed the Colorado Desert in difficult circumstances, then arrived in California.
Wozencraft settled in and was elected as delegate to the California Constitutional Convention in Monterey in 1849 representing the district of San Joaquin.
Wozencraft spoke against the admission of African Americans to California:
We have declared, by a unanimous vote, that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in this State. I desire now to cast my vote in favor of the proposition just submitted, prohibiting the negro race from coming amongst us; and this I profess to do аs a philanthropist, loving my kind, and rejoicing in their rapid march toward perfectibility. If there was just reason why slavery should not exist in this land, there is just reason why that part of the family of man, who are so well adapted for servitude, should be excluded from amongst us. It would appear that the all-wise Creator has created the negro to serve the white race. We see evidence of this wherever they are brought in contact; we see the instinctive feeling of the negro is obedience to the white man, and, in all instances, he obeys him, and is ruled by him. If you would wish that all mankind should be free, do not bring the two extremes in the scale of organization together; do not bring the lowest in contact with the highest, for be assured the one will rule and the other must serve.
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