The Workman Brothers

By John Sharpe

This book is short on pages but long on detail explaining the origins of the family of David and William Workman and the brothers’ successful travels and integration into the new world. It is another essential read for the Homestead docent as the author, from the same area in England as the pioneering brothers, details the lives of William and David Workman. 

The story explains life in the northern England where farmers and craftsmen work hard to provide for their families while under the eye of the local “lord”. It’s no surprise that the Workman brothers flee to make a better life after receiving an inheritance given to their family from a childless relative. America and all its opportunities beckon.

David is the first to arrive in the US and settles in the distant frontier state of Missouri and encourages his younger brother to join him. The urge to pursue the unknown causes William to leave Missouri for Mexico where his life changes forever. In the Mexican state of New Mexico, he becomes a Catholic (perhaps for convenience) and a naturalized Mexican citizen (perhaps for necessity), partners with John Rowland and marries a local Mexican woman. It is there that he gets involved in the political intrigue of northern Mexico involving rebellious Texans eyeing and corrupt politicians. Workman and Rowland head west for California, leaving the politics of New Mexico behind.

In California, Workman is a successful rancher and a deft politician who skillfully navigates the disputes between Northern and Souther Californians, between Californios and the central government of Mexico and finally between the Californios and the Americans.

A key during Workman’s life is his return to Clifton, his place of birth. There he erects a memorial to his parents in the local churchyard, presaging the building of a cemetery and chapel on his property.

Woven through the book are letters from Workman’s family in England and Baltimore where his sister settled. These missives give a sense of time and space as family members disperse over the vast distances of America, whereas the English descendants remained within the confines of northern England. Traveling to America was truly an adventure.