Ralph A. Miles, a farmer and stock-raiser living near Galt, Sacramento county, was born in Connecticut, October 25, 1838. His father, William Miles, also a native of that state, belonged to a family founded in America in colonial days, and his father was a royalist, serving with the English army in the Revolutionary war. William Miles became a farmer by occupation and died in the year 1849. He married Miss Harriet Collins, who was born in Connecticut and was of English descent, her ancestors being among those who gave patriotic allegiance to the colonial cause in the war for independence. Her death occurred in 1854. In their family were ten sons and three daughters, and of this number eight sons and one daughter are yet living.

Ralph A. Miles acquired his education in the public schools of Connecticut, but his advantages in that direction were very limited, as he started out to earn his own living at a very early age. He came to California in 1851 when thirteen years of age, making his way westward by way of the isthmus route. One of his brothers was then conducting a livery stable at Spanish Flat, Eldorado county, and upon his arrival Ralph A. Miles was put in charge of the stable, which he conducted until 1862. He then took up a ranch near Galt in Sacramento county and has since been engaged in farming and stock-raising. He is now the owner of a good tract of land and has met with a fair measure of success in his labors as an agriculturist. he began butchering on his ranch near Galt when that town was first established, and in 1864 he purchased the Galt butcher shop. He has since owned this shop at intervals, selling at times, but again repurchasing. he owns a half interest in seven thousand acres of land in Sacramento county, also three hundred and twenty acres in Yolo county, three hundred and forty acres in Shasta county and two hundred acres adjoining Galt in Sacramento and San Joaquin counties. In the early days when mining ws the leading industry of the people of California, he also joined in the search for the precious metal, but that was a period of trial and hardship to which he does not care to return. He has found in agriculture a more profitable sourve of income, and through his untiring efforts has become the possessor of valuable landed interests.

Mr. Miles is a Democrat in his political affiliations, and he voted when only fourteen years of age. At that time he had a beard, and as the authorities insisted upon his paying poll-tax he demanded the right to vote. He has attended many county and state conventions and has always been interested in the political progress of his community, state and nation.

Source: History of the New California Its Resources and People, Volume II

The Lewis Publishing Company - 1905
Edited by Leigh H. Irvine