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This wall tells the family history of the 5th generation Elk Grove Family. It includes pictures from the Putneys, Coltons, McConnells and Wackman's
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Family History Of McConnell Estates Winery and its Owners |
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In 1849 Thaddeus McConnell came to California from Vermont at the age of 19. He started a small garden in Garden Valley, CA were he sold potatoes and tomatoes to gold miners. In partnership with his two brothers they opened a store that was very successful until it burned down in 1857. In 1856 he bought a piece of property in the Elk Grove area, along the road that traveled between Sacramento and Stockton near the Cosumnes River, where he built his house. Here he raised sheep. Thaddeus married Ellen Flanegan of Vermont and they had a son Thaddeus, Jr. During the same period Andrew Kelly Wackman came from Ohio to California in 1863. He purchased a nice piece of property along the Cosumnes River near Elk Grove where he raised grain, cattle, and horses. Andrew Kelly married Amanda Colton and they had a daughter, Etta May Wackman, and two sons Creed and Harry Wackman. Needless to say, Thaddeus McConnell, Jr. and Etta May Wackman married and inherited the ranch from Thaddeus Sr. Creed Wackman inherited the Wackman farm from his father Andrew Kelly. Creed married Francis Putney, from another pioneer family in Elk Grove, and they had a son Howard and a daughter Creedyth. Tragedy struck for Etta May, when both her husband and son met untimely deaths in the early 1900’s. Without anyone to run the ranch she asked her brother Creed to operate it. Creed in turn asked his son, Howard Wackman I to come home and run the ranch. At the time he was teaching in Ceres, CA. The Wackman’s sold the land on the Cosumnes and farmed the new property that they inherited from Etta May. They raised barley, wheat, corn, and sheep. Howard Wackman I married Norine Straub and they had a son Howard Wackman II. After marrying Marilyn Wilson and graduating from UC Davis, Howard II came back to the ranch in 1960. They had three sons, Howard III, Mike and Alan, who currently operate the ranch and winery. Howard II was very active in the community and Farm Bureau. He was First Vice President of the California Farm Bureau when he was stricken with leukemia and died in 1982. The house Thaddeus built was lived in by family members until the late 1970’s. Since then it has been used for storage of many antiques passed down over the generations, and many Halloween Parties. Now it serves as the office for Wackman Ranch and the Tasting Room and Barrel Cellar for McConnell Estates Winery. |
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| Our Visitors' Center is located in the newly remodeled McConnell House, and boasts a unique blend of new and old. Decorated with antiques and pictures of Old Elk Grove Pioneers, the visitors' center gives the old world feel with a local touch. Visitors' can sample our wines at our modern tasting bar, or tour the 100 year old house turned winery/tasting facility. Come visit us and relax on the deck or under some of the hundred year old trees with some of the best wines from the area! | ||
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phone: 916.685.5368 facsimile:
916.685.0728 e-mail:
info@mcconnellestates.com
Our wines and our website are intended for audiences of legal drinking age. By entering this site, you verify that you are of legal drinking age. Copyright 2004 McConnell Estates |
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