Book digitized by Google from the library of the New York Public Library and uploaded to the Internet Archive by user tpb. "The writer was one of the three ministers which formed the first presbytery (O.S.) in California." -- Pref A native of Massachusetts, James Woods (1814/5-1886) served a church in Alabama in 1849 when the Presbyterian mission board selected him for duty in California. Recollections of pioneer work in California (1878) describes the Woods family's voyage round the Horn and early stay in San Francisco before moving to Stockton, where Woods ministered for more than four years. He describes his Stockton ministry in detail, also reminiscing about other Protestant clergy in the neighborhood. Briefer notice is given to his later pastorates in Los Angeles, Santa Rosa, and Healdsburg