George married Sophia Greenwood on March 5, 1823. He was a successful Boston businessman when in 1854 he came out to San Francisco to visit his four oldest sons. They had come to California during the Gold Rush and had been successful as merchants selling to the miners. Seeing a need for better quality wool in California, he decided to import Spanish Merino sheep from Australia and crossbreed them with Saxony sheep from San Benito County, CA. George's sons joined the enterprise, with George Jr. journeying to Australia to bring back 120 Merino ewes. In 1857 George Sr. bought 320 acres of unoccupied land in Placer County for his sheep ranch enterprise and called it The Whitney Ranch. By the early 1870s, the ranch had been expanded to about 18,000 acres.
George married Sophia Greenwood on March 5, 1823. He was a successful Boston businessman when in 1854 he came out to San Francisco to visit his four oldest sons. They had come to California during the Gold Rush and had been successful as merchants selling to the miners. Seeing a need for better quality wool in California, he decided to import Spanish Merino sheep from Australia and crossbreed them with Saxony sheep from San Benito County, CA. George's sons joined the enterprise, with George Jr. journeying to Australia to bring back 120 Merino ewes. In 1857 George Sr. bought 320 acres of unoccupied land in Placer County for his sheep ranch enterprise and called it The Whitney Ranch. By the early 1870s, the ranch had been expanded to about 18,000 acres.
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