History
of Northern California
1891
Biographies
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DANIEL LUCE
Daniel
Luce, prominent among the old and highly respected pioneers of
He is
a member of the Board of Town Trustees, and has been a School Trustee.
Politically, he is a Democrat, and has been a member of the County
Central Committee of his party for eight years.
He affiliates with Alameda Encampment of Haywards, I.O.O.F., and
Clinton Lodge, No. 2019, K. of H. of East Oakland.
Mr. Luce
was married at
WATSON BARNES
Watson
Barnes, an agriculturist in the northwestern part of
J. L. DENNIS
J. L.
Dennis, street sprinkler, was born in
LOUIS DIETZ
Louis
Dietz, of
He
followed gold-mining until after election that fall, when he and another
gentleman went to San Antonio Bar in Calaveras County, put up at a tolerably
convenient hotel, and the following day left Vinita, crossed the Stanislaus
River to Columbia, where his comrade, an old man named Jones, became sick
and was sent back to the old mines where he came from.
Mr. Dietz then returned to Angel’s Camp, mined there three months,
walked to Stockton and thence to San Francisco, failed to find work there
and finally went up to Sacramento and found employment there at his trade
from a man named Nute for a year and a half.
He then bought out Mr. Nute and admitted a partner named Lawrence
Heblin, under the firm name of Dietz & Co.
This was in 1854. A
short time afterward he established also a branch store at Folsom, and
continued in business to the time of the great flood of 1861-62, which
caused him a total loss of his property.
The next fall he moved to
In
early life Mr. Dietz was a Democrat, but soon after the organization of
Republicanism he became a member of that party and has remained in that
relation ever since. He is now
treasurer of the Republican County Central Committee of Yolo County, and has
been a member of that committee at different times for the past twenty
years. He is a member of the
order of Chosen Friends. Mr.
Dietz was married in 1855 to Samantha Selby, a native of
T. M. ROBERTS
In the
course of a very thorough examination of
The
fruit orchards stretch off to the right and behind the residence, and were
formed with equal interest with the parts already described.
In all there are about 5,000 trees, most of them in bearing.
Otherwise about 2,500 are the silver prune, 1,000 the royal apricot,
400 apples, and the balance chiefly the Crawford peach.
It was observed that the trees had a most thrifty and well-cared-for
appearance, comparing favorably in this regard with anything in the valley;
indeed it is one of the largest and best conducted and therefore
important orchards in the upper end of the county.
It was noticed that in some parts the trees were somewhat close
together; Mr. Roberts finds
that thus the ground is better shaded, thus retaining the moisture in the
soil and helping stifle the weeds.
In the upper part of the orchard is the reservoir, an excavation 10
feet deep, capable of containing 250,000 gallons of water, thus affording a
most abundant supply, which is piped to the house, grounds, fountains, etc.,
for irrigating purposes, and another spring of clear, cold water for the
house. Mr. Roberts has a large
fruit-dryer on the back end of the place, just above the road that winds up
the hills and over toward the
It
hardly seems possible that this beautiful and well-improved place could be
the work of only seven or eight years, yet such is the case, for Mr. Roberts
only in 1883 took the place, then in a state of nature, and began its
improvement. It shows what an
intelligent appreciation of the possibilities of the location, coupled with
an artistic eye and backed by ample means, can do.
No wonder that Mr. Roberts’ children are the picture of healthful
youth and vigor, and that the place should be a popular one with visitors
from the valley and from the cities.
Mr.
Roberts is a native of
WILLIAM D. BASSETT
William D.
Bassett, a farmer three miles south of Lakeport, is a native of
He was
married
C. SNAVELY
C. Snavely
is a member of the firm of Snavely & Baker, proprietors of the Woodland
Winery, situated on
The
subject of this sketch was born
JOSEPH
SPENCER CONE
Certain types of our American civilization as developed in California have
been selected for this volume, the study of which should quicken the
patriotism of a people, proud not only of the country’s marvelous
development, but also of the phenomenally large proportion of her citizens
whose lives are worthy to enter into permanent archives of our time and our
national history.
Joseph
Spencer Cone, of
The
lineage of Mr. Cone is traced back to the days of the Norman conquest,
embracing eight and twenty generations, among the last of whom were many
families which cast their lot in what was then the British-American
colonies. He is the son of
Timothy Cone, a native of
Joseph
Spencer was the seventh of Timothy’s ten children, and was born on the 26th
day of August, 1822, near
Until
reaching his twenty-second year Joseph worked on his father’s farm, making
the best of such scanty educational facilities as the neighborhood afforded.
His choice inclined toward a profession, especially to that of the
law; and had he selected this
career, he would, beyond a doubt, have achieved success, for he possessed a
full share of the qualities required for this calling
- soundness of judgment and a ready wit, coupled with a remarkable
force of character and an almost unlimited capacity for work.
But this was not to be, and
fortunate it proved for his adopted State, and perhaps for himself, that
while losing a good lawyer his county gained the assistance of one whose
later services in developing the resources of
But
Mr. Cone was resolved to make his own way in the world, and as a beginning
set forth in 1843, upon obtaining his majority, on a trading expedition
among the Cherokee Indians, with the results of which he had no reason to be
dissatisfied. From that date
until 1850 the incidents of his career contained nothing calling for special
mention. In the spring of this year the excitement that followed the
discovery of gold being at its height, he joined a company of adventurous
spirits like himself bound for
He
mined, engaged in merchandising, packing and all the varied occupations of
that early period until 1857, when he settled down to the stock-raising
business in Tehama County, on Alder Creek, where he remained with fair
success until 1868. In that
year he purchased the celebrated Rancho de Los Berrendos, near Red Bluff,
which he has developed into the finest ranch property, probably, in the
State. The limits of this
article will not permit a description of this noble estate.
It has grown under the inspiring genius of its owner until it
embraces nearly 100,000 acres, and is a principality.
Every
branch of agriculture known to the wonderful climate of
Mr.
Cone is a man of strong and decided convictions.
He is a Republican in politics and believes profoundly in the
doctrine of protection to American industries and labor.
His recent travels abroad have confirmed him in this belief.
While not a communicant of any church, he respects all creeds and
supports the church liberally and endeavors to walk uprightly before God and
man.
In
1867 Mr. Cone returned to his native State and married the daughter of
Colonel Reppert. One son and
two daughters are the fruit of this marriage.
Kind
and generous and helpful to the needy; enterprising and broad-minded on all
questions, he is one of the foremost men of this region, and has stamped his
influence and his character upon the history of his time.
We regret that this work does not admit a more extended sketch of his
career.
DANIEL CHISHOLM
Daniel
Chisholm, one of the prominent and prosperous businessmen of Haywards,
located there is 1879, and has been conspicuous in the establishment and
management of the electric-light system of that place, which was put into
operation in 1888. By this
system a company has been incorporated, comprising Messrs. Chisholm, Farrel
and Ingram. The power is
located on
Mr.
Chisholm was born
He was
married in
GEORGE TANDY, JR.
George
Tandy, Jr., a harness manufacturer of
CORNELIUS YAGER BROWN
Cornelius Yager Brown, of the firm of Latimer & Brown, attorneys at law,
Martinez, was born February 24, 1861, at La Fayette, Contra Costa Country,
son of Lawrence M. Brown; and graduated at the school of Martinez in 1877.
In 1879, he went to Fresno County, took up land there and followed
farming three years. Returning
to Martinez, he was appointed deputy sheriff under D. P. Mahan and served
two years. On the appointment
of Paul Shirley as warden at San Quentin, he served in a position under him
about eight months. Returning
again to Martinez, he was appointed Town Marshal, to fill out the unexpired
term of Frank Pitts, who died in office.
About the time that he went to Fresno, where he began his law
studies, and after serving his term as Marshal of Martinez, he continued his
legal studies under the preceptorship of his uncle, Judge Thomas A. Brown,
and was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court June 16, 1886.
He opened an office in Martinez, and in 1889 formed a copartnership
with R. H. Latimer under the firm name of Latimer & Brown.
Lawrence M. Brown, deceased, formerly a resident of Contra Costs County was
born in Greene County, Illinois, January 13, 1834, being the youngest son of
Elam Brown, and was only ten years of age when he was brought across the
plains by his father, his mother having died in Illinois.
They located in the San Antonio redwoods in Contra Costa County.
Lawrence remained with his father until he was about twenty-two years
of age, when he was married and took charge of his father’s flour mill at La
Fayette; the town was then call
Brown’s Mills. In 1861, Mr.
Lawrence M. Brown opened a general merchandise store and hotel in La
Fayette. When R. B. Hard was
elected sheriff in 1867, Mr. Brown was appointed under-sheriff and moved to
Martinez in December, 1867, taking charge of the office, which he conducted
two years. At the expiration of
Mr. Hard’s term of office, Mr. Brown was candidate for Sheriff, on the
Democratic ticket, while his brother, Warren Brown, was a candidate for the
same office, on the Republican ticket, and was elected.
The subject of this sketch then entered law practice with his
brother, Judge Thomas A. Brown, and continued in that relation until his
death, August 10, 1877. He had
been admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of California in 1868.
He was a strong Democrat, an active politician, was a candidate for
office several times, but was defeated on account of the strong Republican
majority of the county. He was
generally known as “Doc. Brown,” which title was given him, although not a
physician, on the following occasion: In early days, while living at La
Fayette, he was called upon to dress the wounded hand of a man, as there was
no physician convenient; so
that in after years when he was asked who dressed the hand he would
humorously reply, “Why, Doc. Brown.”
January 1, 1855, Mr. Brown married Miss Mary E. Yager, a native of Missouri,
and they had two children:
Eugene Elam and Cornelius Yager.
The former is a practicing physician in Selma, Fresno County, and the
latter is an attorney in Martinez.
Mr. Lawrence Brown was a member of the Odd Fellows order for a number
of years. Lawrence M. Brown was beloved by all who knew him or ever came in
contact with him, a man of sterling integrity, of a most amiable
disposition, kind and affable;
and during a long and intimate acquaintance with him a friend never heard
him spoken of or his name mentioned but as a model man.
J. B. MC ARTHUR
J. B.
McArthur, cashier of the Bank of Winters, is personally an illustration of
the rapid rise to prominence which characterize the young blood of
California. The Bank of Winters
first opened its doors for business in 1885, with E. Wolfskill, president;
William Sims, vice-president; and E. E. Kahn, cashier.
In 1886 J. B. McArthur succeeded E. E. Kahn as cashier;
Mr. Kahn’s other business duties requiring so much of his time he was
compelled to resign his position as cashier, but still acted as secretary.
These have held their respective positions from that time until the
present. Mr. McArthur was born
March 24, 1849, in Ontario, Canada, a son of Daniel and Catherine (McDonald)
McArthur. His father, a farmer
by occupation, resided in Canada a greater portion of his life, dying there
in 1857, at the age of sixty-five years; and the subject of this sketch was
but four years old when his mother died.
He was brought up on a farm and started out in life for himself at
the age of fourteen years, going to Minnesota, where he spent a year, thence
to Nebraska, where he was six years engaged in farming.
The next three years he passed as a student at a college in Illinois;
thence he went to the State University of Nebraska, where he attended one
term; in 1875 he came to
California and located at Vacaville, where he accepted a position in the
service of the Vacaville & Clear Lake Railroad Company as station agent, and
remained three years; and he
finally removed to Winters, accepting a position with the railroad in that
city. He was employed as
station agent until 1886 when he accepted his present position.
It may be said of him that “he was old when young that he might be
young when old,” and his success in life has been entirely the result of his
own industry, energy and perseverance.
He was
married in 1877 to Miss M. L. Bryce, a native of Kentucky.
Three of their four children are living, namely:
Mary E., Charles S. and Bessie M.
Mr.
McArthur has about 480 acres of land in Tulare County on which is carried on
general farming, and 960 acres in Washington.
His neat and tidy residence in Winters is located on East Abbay
Street. He has been a member of
the Baptist Church since he was eighteen years of age.
SILAS D. INGRAM
Silas
D. Ingram, one of the prominent and progressive citizens of Haywards, was
born in the township of Oswegatchie, St. Lawrence County, New York, March
31, 1821; followed farming,
lumbering, blacksmithing and studied medicine, but practiced it very little.
In 1855 he moved to Wisconsin, and afterward to Flint, Michigan;
Brighton, Ohio, following his trade here until 1859, and then moved
to Morgan County, Missouri; May
2, 1861, after seeing the Confederate flag raised in Kansas City, he started
across the plains in company with others, for the Golden Coast.
While in camp at Mountain Springs, July 18, his train was attacked by
Indians and a number of the whites were killed;
all the mules, sixty in number stampeded, and the Indians secured
them. Two members of the train
started toward Salt Lake and overtook another train of emigrants, whom they
finally induced, through fraternal suasion, to aid them on the way.
Soon afterward Mr. Ingram was fortunate enough to purchase some
mules, and continue the trip on to California.
Locating at what is known as Pleasant Grove, Sutter County, Mr.
Ingram was the first resident there and consequently the founder of the
town, where he carried on his trade until 1866, when he moved to San
Francisco, and became a dealer in live-stock for two years.
Then he moved to Sonoma County one year, thence to Austin Creek, near
Duncan Mills, where five years later he was burned out, losing nearly
everything. In 1878 he built a
hotel and conducted it as a pleasure resort.
In this and other enterprises, Mr. Ingram spent money freely in the
construction of a wagon road over the mountain, from Guerneville to Fort
Ross, passing by his hotel, this enterprise alone coating him some $8,000.
His next struggle was to induce the North Pacific Coast Railroad
Company to extend their road to his place, in which he succeeded, thereby
making his hotel easy of access from San Francisco.
In 1888 he sold out this resort and moved near Haywards, locating for
a time on thirty-five acres of land which he still owns, and on which he
raises nearly all varieties of deciduous fruits.
He is now a dealer in real estate, having his residence at Haywards.
He was the prime mover in establishing the electric light system in
1888, and he still owns half of the stock.
This company was incorporated by S. D. Ingram, D. Chisholm, and J. H.
Farrell May 1, 1890.
Politically, Mr. Ingram is a Republican, and fraternally, he affiliates with
the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders, -- latter being a member of Unity Lodge,
No. 131, at San Francisco, of which he was also one of the charter members;
he has passed all the chairs.
Mr.
Ingram was married in Sequatchie, New York, February 12, 1855, to Miss Sarah
A. Rolston, and they have three children:
Frederick S., Charles W., and George B.
The ancestors of Mr. Ingram on the paternal side were from Leeds,
England, and on the maternal side Scotch and German.
G. D. STEPHENS
G. D.
Stephens, farmer near Madison, Yolo County, is one of the old ‘49ers of this
golden county. Leaving Cooper
County, Missouri, May 10, 1849, he crossed the plains to the Golden Coast,
arriving in Sacramento August 6, following.
He followed mining at Mormon Island, Missouri Bar, on the American
River and Hangtown, and then with other parties he wintered in a cabin on
the Sacramento River. In the
spring, he returned to mining on the middle fork of the American River.
July 4 he returned to Sacramento.
Soon, he entered the business of buying cattle and mules from
arriving immigrants, and drove them down to Cache Creek, where in 1850 he
made a camp, thinking it was Government land, but found it to be on the
Berries grant, which they bought.
In 1853 he returned to Cooper County, Missouri, bought cattle, and in
1856 went to Oregon, continuing in the cattle trade.
He arrived again in Yolo County in March, 1861, where he has ever
since made his residence. Of
the home ranch there are 3,400 acres and on the Gordon grant 1,000 acres.
He is engaged principally in the raising of livestock and grain.
Mr.
Stephens was first married in 1872, is Sacramento, to Laura O. Wilcoxson,
and they had two children:
Josie and Katie L. He was
subsequently married to Miss Nanie Lucas, in Woodland in 1877, and by this
marriage there are nine children:
John L., Lulu M., Sallie S., Minnie, Bessie, George D., William F.,
Frank W., and Benjamin G.
EPHRAIM Q. CRITES
Ephraim Q. Crites, a farmer near Black’s, was born April 22, 1838, in Wayne
County, Ohio, the son of Jonah and Lucy Ann (Kindich) Crites, both natives
of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania; the father was a merchant until he was about
forty years of age. In 1856 Mr.
Crites, our subject, sailed from New York for California, and after arriving
here stopped for a few days at Sacramento; then mined two months on the
Consumnes River; made a trip northward, stopping in Marysville for a short
time; was next employed in a hardware store at Sacramento four years, and
finally, in 1860, he went into Yolo County and purchased a tract of 170
acres, and one and a half miles northwest of Black’s, which is now a very
fine ranch. Fifty acres are set
out in grapes, of which eighteen acres are in bearing, and thirty-two acres
are two years old. Twenty years
ago he set out the first orchard in this vicinity.
August
3, 1884, he was united in marriage with Miss Delia F. Naupin, who was born
February 12, 1863 in California, and they have two sons, named and born as
follows: Charles C., December
10, 1886, and Harry E., July 31, 1888.
JOHN ZVIERKOVICH
John
Zvierkovich, proprietor of the Opera Restaurant at Woodland, is the son of
John and Mary (Vidole) Zwierkovich, natives of Dalmatia, Austria.
The father was a brick-mason by trade, and died in his native country
in 1866; and the mother is
still living in the old country.
Mr. Zvierkovich, the subject of this brief mention, was born in
Austria in 1864, and in 1878 came to California, locating directly in
Stockton, where his first employment was as a waiter in a restaurant.
Being ambitious to excel as a caterer, he at length began to conduct
such an institution upon his own responsibilities, in the city of Woodland,
Yolo County, and he has now as fine a restaurant as can be found in any town
of 15,000 inhabitants. His
present place was opened by him in 1887, and is estimated at $2,000 value.
He is a member of the I.O.R.M. of Sacramento, Lodge No. 39, is yet
unmarried, and is esteemed by all as a good citizen and a responsible
business man.
HON. SENECA EWER
While
the life history of the men of ’49 is always interesting and always
instructive beyond that of any other body of men that ever lived, yet there
are always a few the record of whose life and actions should be written more
fully and read more generally, especially by the young, than any other.
The man who has made his way laboriously upward from the narrow
circumstances of youth to the affluence of mature life;
who has achieved an education against the obstacles of lack of means
and fortune, and who has climbed to a position high in the respect, esteem
and honor of his fellowmen, the life of such a man should be written fully
and without reserve, and be placed within the reach of the newer generation
as an example of diligence. It
is such a career that it is our pleasure here to record – that of the Hon.
Seneca Ewer, who is one of the prominent men in Northern California.
Mr.
Ewer was born near Auburn, western New York, in the year 1823, his father
being an agriculturist of that section.
When he was but nine years of age the family moved to Michigan,
settling on the shores of the Huron River.
Here young Ewer grew up a stout and sturdy lad, inured to the hard
work of a farm in those early days, and spending as much of his leisure time
during these years as he could upon the water, gaining a knowledge that
stood him in good stead afterward.
But he did not waste his time.
He fitted himself to become a teacher in the district schools, and
with the money earned in this manner paying his way first to a preparatory
school and then to college, graduating in 1847 at the Michigan University.
Remember that all this was done without aid from any one, saving only
that a loving mother knit his socks, and fitted him out with pants and
vests. Like all the country
school-teachers of that day, he boarded around from house to house, often
having to walk as much as two miles to school.
A most amusing incident of the time,
but one that will illustrate the state of affairs that then existed,
occurred to Mr. Ewer. While he
was boarding at the house of an English family, one cold night
they brought out a warming-pan to warm the schoolmaster’s bed.
It was the first thing of the kind he had ever seen and he was much
interested in the novel instrument.
Determining to come to California in 1849 and test for himself the truth of
the golden stories that were flying over the country, he set out for the
long trip overland from Michigan.
At. Lexington, Missouri, a party of five, consisting of Mr. Ewer, Ben
Manning, George Reeves, and son and another set out together.
Later on they united with the famous Michigan train that called
themselves the Wolverines and came in by the Lassen route.
On the road they fell in with Mr. Loring Pickering, of the San
Francisco Call and Bulletin, and
family, and finding the route difficult, they joined teams and left a wagon
behind. Nearing the headwaters
of the Feather River, Mr. Ewer with Mr. Pickering and family packed over the
Feather River in Sacramento Valley, leaving the team to follow as fast as it
could. They had a pretty hard
time of it, being short of provisions;
but the lucky shooting of a deer by Mr. Ewer provided for them
abundantly. They came out at
Long’s Bar, reaching there November 4, 1849.
The wagon, reduced to a cart, came in soon after and Mr. Pickering
began trading in a small way, while Mr. Ewer mined and knocked about
generally. The hardships of the
time may be imagined when the only bed that Mr. Ewer had for quite a time
was a wagon bed shared with others.
The boat used for crossing the river was swept away during the high
water with several men in it, one of whom was drowned.
To replace it one of the old-fashioned curved wagon beds was used for
a ferry and answered until a better one could be constructed.
Meantime, the soaking rains prevented the wagons from coming in with
provisions and “grub” ran short.
Mr. Ewer and four others were sent out on a perilous trip down the
river by boat to Sacramento to obtain supplies.
Mr. Ewer’s boating experiences on the Huron River came into play, he
acting as steersman. They got
the provisions and after a terrible hard pull up the current, found to their
disgust that, the rains being over, wagons had got in and there was a
plentiful supply of everything.
The
following summer Mr. Ewer was engaged in mining on the middle fork of the
Feather River, twenty miles above Bidwell’s Bar, and from the fall of 1851
to 1855 was in the general merchandise business at Hamilton, then the
county-seat of Butte County, and in the fall of 1855, he went to Oroville
and began the practice of law, at the same time devoting himself to the
breeding of stock , cattle, sheep, etc., in Butte County, and rapidly
attained a prominent position.
In 1854 he was elected a member of the Assembly on the Democratic ticket,
attending the session which met at Benicia, and removed the capital to
Sacramento, and again in 1865, he was chosen to represent Butte County in
the State Senate by the Republican party for the years 1866-68.
Previous to this he had in 1852 been Judge of the old Court of
Sessions of Butte County. He
was also delegate to all political conventions, etc., of his own party
during these years. Finally, in
1870, he came to Napa Country and settled in St. Helena, since which time he
has been one of the most active and public-spirited residents of the Napa
Valley. It is chiefly to his
energy that St. Helena owes her excellent water supply.
He has been an active promoter of the wine-growing interests of the
valley, and is the possessor of large vineyards.
The splendid fire-proof, stone wine-cellar belonging to Ewer &
Atkinson at Rutherford is a signal proof of his efforts in this direction.
He was one of the
organizers and the first president and is now a director of the Bank of St.
Helena; and is a member of the board of directors of the Grangers’ Bank of
California in San Francisco, and of the Napa Bank at Napa City.
He has one of the finest residences, surrounded with magnificent
grounds, in St. Helena, where he is now enjoying the comforts that have been
so well earned by his active and energetic life, and in which, regarded with
the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens, he can justly spend the
remainder of his days, as becomes the man who by long and successful labors
has carved out his fortune with his own hands.
Mr.
Ewer was a Democrat previous to the war, being elected to the Assembly on
that ticket. Since the war he
has been a Republican, active, yet conservative.
His
son, Fred S. Ewer, is following his father’s footsteps and seems likely to
take an equally prominent place in years to come.
He is the secretary of the St. Helena Water and Gas Companies, and is
active in the wine interests of his father, showing promise of becoming an
expert wine-maker.
JACOB SCHRAM AND THE SCHRAMSBERG VINEYARDS
It is
the general opinion among experts that while California can make wines as
good as are to be found in any other part of the world, yet, on account of
the dryness of the atmosphere, she does not succeed in aging them, as a
general thing. The remedy for
this has been found in adopting the system of storage for aging purposes in
tunnels run into the hills, where a uniform low and moist temperature can be
maintained and the resultant wine be found perfect in every particular.
The cellars at Schramsberg Vineyards were found to be the most
complete component of this fact of all in this part of the State, and this
circumstance accounts for the exceedingly high reputation that the
Scramsberger wines have attained.
The cellars are nothing but a series of tunnels, with cellar-like
excavations and transverse connections, run into the hillside.
There are two sets of them, the upper consisting of two tunnels
extending into the hill a distance of 200 feet, and connected by cross
tunnels, and the lower, of a similar character, only 400 feet in length.
In front of the former is the fermenting house, 85x45 feet in size of
wood, but shortly to be replaced by an erection of stone, to be 130x45 feet
in size, with a central tower 60x60 feet, the whole suitably and
conveniently arranged for the purposes of winemaking.
When this fine building is completed the whole establishment will
present an entourage that will
have no equal for substantial beauty and convenience anywhere in the State.
The house-mansion, as it might be more properly called, which has
lately received it finishing touches, is large and very handsome, being
built of stone with hard-wood finish.
The inside finish is rich yet ornate, every detail and particular the
best of its kind. Before the
house stretch ornamented grounds, now being laid out to flowers and
shrubbery, with taste and discrimination.
The barns and stables, of a similar class of architecture, the stone
work constructed from material quarried on the premises, are like handsome
structures. The location of
vineyards and buildings is one peculiarly romantic and pleasing, advantage
being taken of the natural capabilities of the position to consult at once
utility and a love of the beautiful.
The vineyards are in the thermal belt, where no frost touches the
vines, and from their commanding situation of the western foothills of the
Napa Valley, they present views of great extent and of singular beauty.
It is
no wonder, under all these circumstances, that the wines from Schramsberg
are so excellent -- this statement, however, going almost without saying,
considering the high and rapidly extending fame that the Schramsberger
wines, both red and white, have attained throughout the United States and
Europe – in fact wherever introduced.
The drive up to Schramsberg from the valley is not the least of the
attractions of the spot. It is
one long to be remembered, the road winding upwards amid almost tropical
verdure, and beneath the lofty forest trees, most of the way beside a
babbling brook that flows in every season.
As one emerges at last from the forest, and the elegant mansion and
other buildings are seen nestling against the hill, while the orderly rows
of grapevines stretch up out of sight, the picture is one to arouse
enthusiasm, and can certainly never be forgotten.
This
great establishment is the product of the life-work of Mr. Jacob Schram and
his estimable wife. In the
thirty years or so since they bought and began the improvement of the
Schramsberg Vineyards, they have transformed a rough, unpromising hillside
from its native jungle of forest and underbrush to an estate worthy even of
the banks of the Rhine itself for beauty and worth.
Perhaps the memory of the old home worked in their minds as they
planned and labored, for both Mr. and Mrs. Schram are natives of the
Rhineland, one born two miles and the other within one mile of the historic
city of Worms, or rather at the very side of the famous Liebfrauenberg
Vineyard, whence comes the noblest of wines, the “Liebfraumilch,” which they
are now coming near to reproducing in the New World.
Mr.
Schram’s life has been one of singular variety and incident, with the many
ups and downs so characteristic of the Californians of the earlier days.
No matter what came, he never gave up;
and though he had many difficulties and discouragements to encounter,
he was always master of the situation, and came out superior to the
emergency. His life shows well
what may be accomplished by energy and pluck when joined with common sense.
Perhaps, too, he was actuated by character derived from his ancestors
in his successful struggle upwards from narrow circumstances to affluence
and eminence. His uncle,
General Schram, will be remembered by all students of history for his
prominence in the Napoleonic Wars.
His father was also a member of the celebrated guard as captain under
Napoleon. Certain it is that he
has never allowed any difficulty to daunt him, but he has always pressed
energetically forward.
Mr.
Schram was born May 26, 1826, at Pfeddersheim, two miles from Worms, on the
left bank of the Rhine. In
1840, when but a mere lad, he set out for America to push his own way in the
world. In 1852 he came to
California having had many a trial to overcome, but always meeting them
bravely. The exigencies of a
busy life brought him to Napa Valley in 1857, and shortly afterward, having
lost his health, he purchased the hillside property and immediately began
its improvement, being assisted in every detail by Mrs. Schram, to whom he
was married in February 1859; her maiden name being Annie Christine Weber,
and her birthplace Hocheim, one mile from Worms.
She has proven a most worthy helpmate to her husband, cheerfully
bearing the full share of the hardships and trials of the earlier days,
staying at the vineyard alone while her husband was carrying on business in
the valley, herself directing the improvements and ordering the dealings.
Today, with equal talent, she graces her handsome home, as in the
earlier days she conducted the petty affairs of the laborers.
The knowledge gained in the old home on the Rhine – the true home by
the way of the vine, of the soil’s varieties and the value of the hillsides
for grape-culture, have all been put into profitable use by Mr. and Mrs.
Schram; and hence it is they
chose the admirable location in the foothills and are now reaping the return
for the greater labor of clearing those hillsides, in the superior quality
of the Schramsberger Riesling, Hock and Burgundy that have become so
celebrated. It is safe to say
that the 100 acres of vines upon this estate are worth five times as much or
more that number in the valley bottom.
An extensive young olive orchard has also been set out, and judging
by appearances, it will prove an equally wise investment with the vines for
excellence of quality and worth.
Mr.
and Mr. Schram have one son, Herman Adolph, now a young man of nearly thirty
years, who is developing the same traits of energy, intellect and diligence
which so abundantly characterize his parents.
He is busy improving a property of his own in Knight’s Valley.
Mr. and Mrs. Schram had another child, a daughter of unusual
brightness and promise. Her
death in youth was an irreparable blow to her parents.
Such
is the brief and in no way sufficiently appreciative sketch of the life and
labors of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Schram, yet, we hope, a correct account as far
as it goes.
CHARLES H. TOZER, M. D.
Charles H. Tozer, M. D., deceased occupied a most prominent position in the
ranks of his profession, and is known to thousands as a skillful, attentive,
and well-read physician, while regarded as an authority in the profession.
He was born in the city of New York in the year 1801, but when an
infant was carried to England, where he received his classical and medical
education and began the practice of his profession.
In the study of medicine he had the advantage of a hospital practice
at Guy’s Hospital, London, under the celebrated Doctor Abernethy.
In 1849 he started for California, but tarried a while on the way at
Panama to care for fever patients at that point, finally coming on to this
State in 1850. In the early
days, he went with a party of fourteen to Shasta mines, but soon returned to
Sacramento, where he practiced until after the great flood of 1861, when he
removed to San Francisco, practicing there until his death, which took place
June 29, 1880, at his residence in Oakland.
His son, Charles F., whom the writer found hard at work improving the
snug ranch of eighty acres perched on the summit of the divide between Conn
and Napa Valleys, was born in Oakland, May 11, 1872, and was proceeding with
his education at Hopkins” Academy and elsewhere, when he lost his health.
For his benefit, Mrs. Tozer purchased the present place two years
ago, erected a cozy little house and has settled down to remain until the
health of her son will permit a return to her comfortable home in Oakland.
Meantime, they are improving their place, which is one of great
beauty and commands a view of wide range and great attractiveness, by
planting out trees, vines, etc.
Mrs. Tozer, whose maiden name was Miss E. J. Billings, was born in Boston,
Massachusetts, and came to California in 1862 to join her former husband,
Mr. P. O. Valentine, who had preceded her here.
Shortly after her arrival, he died.
In the course of time, she was married to Dr. Tozer, and is now his
widow. Her family all reside at
Medford, Massachusetts, a well-to-do and prominent family.
She has one brother, Frank D. Billings, of Lathrop in this State, the
only relation on this coast.
Dr. Tozer has a daughter by a previous marriage, who was the wife of the
late Mr. McNeill, of Adams, McNeill & Co. of Sacramento.
GEORGE E. ALEXANDER, M. D.
George
E. Alexander, M. D., of Haywards, began his medical studies under the
preceptorship of an eminent practitioner at Beloit, Wisconsin, and taking
the regular course of lectures at the Jefferson Medical College at
Philadelphia, he graduated in 1878.
He accepted an appointment as physician in the Government service and
came to the Pacific coast and filled his position as such under the command
of Generals Davis and Howard, in the department of the Columbia.
He resigned this commission in 1875 and came to Gilroy, Santa Clara
County, practiced for seven months, then followed his profession at San
Ramon, Contra Costa County, for a period of ten years, and finally in 1886,
he moved to Haywards, where he has already built up a lucrative practice.
He
dates his birth October 15, 1847, Pennsylvania.
He enlisted as a private in the Sixteenth Pennsylvania Volunteer
Cavalry, and served as such until 1865, when he was mustered out.
He then entered Beloit (Wisconsin) College, where he commenced his
literary education. He then
spent a few months on the Kansas and Colorado plains; then a year at
Monmouth, Illinois, and then returned to Beloit, where he began his medical
studies as already stated. He
is the eleventh of thirteen children in his father’s family.
His parents, Randall and Sarah (Carothers) Alexander, are both native
of the Keystone State, his father being born in Franklin County in 1807.
His paternal ancestors were from the north of Ireland, of
Scotch-Irish extraction. His
great-grandfather, Reynold Alexander, was one of the early settlers of
Pennsylvania and served in the Revolutionary War.
His grandfather, William Alexander, was born in what is now Franklin
County, Pennsylvania, and served as an officer in the War of 1812.
Politically, Dr. Alexander is Democratic and takes an active part in
political matters. He is a
member of Alamo Lodge, No. 122, of Walnut Creek, and of Oakland Commandery,
No. 11, K. T. He was married at
San Ramon, October 15, 1877, to Miss Mary E. Lynch, a native of California,
and they have two children: Archie and Adele.
F. M. STRICKLAND
F. M.
Strickland, member of the firm of Howells and Strickland, proprietors of the
leading grocery house in Madison, is the son of Thomas and Louisa (Rother)
Strickland, the former a native of England, born in 1803, and a physician,
who died in Guthrie County, Iowa, at the age of sixty-three years, and the
latter a native of Germany and still living in Guthrie County.
Mr. Strickland was born in the same county in 1862, and came to
Madison, California, in 1880, where he has ever since been successfully
engaged in mercantile business.
The present partnership was formed September 1, 1888, and they carry between
$5,000 and $6,000 worth of stock.
Mr. Strickland was married in 1889, in Madison, to Miss Mamie Brown,
a native of Placer County, California, and they have one son, Harry Francis,
born in Madison, Yolo County, California, April 13, 1890.
JAMES G. COOPER, M. D.
James
G. Cooper, M. D., Haywards, is
an old practitioner of the regular profession.
He was born June 19, 1830, in New York City.
In 1840 his parents moved into New Jersey, where our subject
completed his school studies.
His father, William Cooper, was born in 1797 in New York, and was a farmer
by vocation until he was appointed Associate Judge by the Governor of that
State. He also served in the
war of 1812, as an officer. He
married Miss Mary Wilson, a native of Troy, New York, and they had six
children, our subject being the first.
The Doctor’s paternal grandfather was a native of Yorkshire, England;
the ancestors on his mother’s side were also English, and came to America
during the last century, some of them serving in the Revolutionary War.
Dr. Cooper graduated in his profession at the College of Physicians
and Surgeons of New York City in 1851, and practiced in the city hospitals
there two years. In 1853 he
received an appointment from the Government and came to the Pacific Coast as
the physician of the surveying party of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
He remained with this party until 1856, when he returned to New
Jersey, and practiced his profession there until 1860, when he joined
another expedition, accompanying 300 soldiers to the Pacific Coast by way of
Fort Benton and the northern line of forts, who left detachments at
different points along the line.
He wintered with the troops at Fort Mojave on the Colorado River, and
then went to San Diego and thence to San Francisco.
He volunteered and served as surgeon in the Second California
Volunteer Cavalry, and served until 1865, when he resigned and came to
Oakland, remaining one year.
Then he practiced medicine in San Francisco until 1871, when his health
became impaired and he moved south to Ventura County, where he followed
agriculture until 1873. He then
moved to East Oakland and remained there until 1875, when he finally settled
in Haywards, where he has retired from active practice.
He is a member of Haywards Lodge, No. 18, A.O.U.W., and of Clinton
Lodge, No. 2019, K. of H., of East Oakland.
The
doctor was married at Oakland, January 9, 1866, to Miss Rosa M. Wells, a
native of New York, and they have three children, namely:
William W., Fannie S., and James S.
DR. ANDREW R. PENNINGTON
Dr.
Andrew R. Pennington, dental surgeon at Haywards, at the corner of Main and
Calhoun Streets, was born at Hillsboro, Ohio, August 22, 1842, the eldest of
fifteen children of Jacob and Mary J. (Keys) Pennington.
His father was born in Virginia, October 4, 1816, and moved with his
family to the State of Ohio in 1826; he is a farmer by vocation.
Dr. Pennington in 1862 enlisted as a private soldier in the Sixtieth
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and subsequently in the Twenty-fourth Battery of
Light Artillery of that Sate, and was mustered out of the service in 1864.
After the war he returned to his native State and engaged in the
live-stock trade until 1866, when he went to Macomb, Illinois and remained
there two and a half years.
After spending a year in Kansas, he came in 1870 to California to improve
his health. He visited San
Diego, Lathrop and San Jose, and spent a year, 1874-1875, in Oakland.
In the fall of the latter year he went to Salem, Oregon, where he
studied dentistry until 1878.
Returning to California he located at Lathrop two years; then he was one
year at Grass Valley, and then until 1887 at Nevada City, when he finally
located at Haywards, where he has established a good reputation and has a
good business. Politically he
is Republican; is a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic and
also affiliates with the Druids and Ancient Order of United Workmen at
Haywards. He was married in
Ohio to Miss Martha A. Parker, and they have two children – John E. and Ira
S.
AMOS S. DU BOIS, M. D.
Amos
S. Du Bois, M. D., San Leandro, was born in Allegany County, New York, March
8, 1829, of the old Du Bois stock of French extraction, who settled in New
York probably before the Declaration of Independence in America.
His grandfather, Conrad Du Bois, was a private soldier in the
American Army during the Revolutionary War and in the War of 1812.
The doctor’s father, Abram Du Bois, was a native of New York and a
Methodist minister, who, in 1836, moved to Pennsylvania.
He married Miss Mehitabel Whitmore Sumner, a native of Massachusetts.
After a residence of two years in Pennsylvania, they returned to New
York State, where Dr. Du Bois finished his education at Milan, Ohio, and
taught school in Ohio until 1852.
Returning to New York, he came thence to California by the Nicaragua
route, landing in San Francisco on February 1, 1853.
Until 1858, he followed mining in the vicinity of Sacramento, where
he was employed by the water company for about two years.
From 1861 to 1865 he taught school and studied medicine, graduating
in San Francisco. He practiced
his chosen profession at Lincoln, Placer County until 1868, when he went to
Auburn, the county-seat, and took charge of the county hospital, which
position he filled until August, 1874.
He continued in general practice there until 1874, when he went East,
took a course of lectures in New York City and special studies in surgery at
the Bellevue Hospital Medical College of that city, and graduated in 1875.
Returning to California he located at San Leandro, where he is now,
and has been for fifteen years a member of the board of health, and also
visiting physician and surgeon to the Alameda County Hospital and Infirmary,
and has an extensive practice.
Socially he affiliates with the F.&A.M. and the I.O.O.F.
May 28, 1865, at Oakland, he married Miss Georgiana Barlow, a native
of Canada. Her grandfather on
her father’s side was a colonel in the Revolutionary War.
Dr. Du Bois has a grown son named Sumner V.
JOHN CYRUS
On
these pages we present a sketch of the eventful life-history of one of the
oldest and most worthy of Napa County’s pioneers.
During the forty-four years of Mr. Cyrus’ residence in the valley, he
has been an active participant in the changing of the face of nature from a
wild and untamed state to the beautiful country of today; and during this
time it is safe to say that no one in the valley has been more generally
respected or more universally esteemed or more justly entitled to the same.
Mr. Cyrus is the son of Enoch and Rebecca (Cook) Cyrus, born in
McDonough County, Illinois, March 20, 1831, at a point near La Harpe, not
far from the Mississippi River.
His grandparents were originally from North Carolina.
A few years later the family removed to Missouri, settling first in
Jackson County, and late Andrew County.
In the spring of 1846 a train of about fifty wagons was made up for
the long journey to the Pacific Coast, among which were included the outfits
belonging to the Cyrus family.
The train scattered as they made their way across the plains, about twenty
wagons that were bound for California keeping together.
On the Humboldt River the Indians became troublesome, stealing quite
a number of cattle and stock.
The trip was made via Truckee, and the Sacramento Valley was finally reached
October 21, 1846. The Cyrus
family pushed on directly to Napa Valley, arriving there in November of that
year. For a little time
they stayed on the Yount Ranch, and then pushed on to a point a little below
St. Helena, where they remained for two and a half years.
In 1849 they removed to Calistoga and a year later to their present
place, one of the most fertile and lovely spots in the whole valley, a short
distance above the town. Here,
February 3, 1853, the father died of small-pox, being followed shortly after
by two sons and two daughters.
The mother died in 1873.
Mr.
Cyrus has cut up his place, dividing it among his children, and selling
portions, but still retaining sixty acres for himself, and still residing in
the comfortable residence which has long been a landmark of the upper end of
the valley. In 1849 Mr. Cyrus
went to the mines, visiting the Stanislaus and the upper waters of the
Sacramento, and being well acquainted with the stirring incidents and
leading characters of those exciting times.
From him is obtained much material in regard to those days, as also
with reference to the virgin state of the Napa Valley, the abundance of
game, the grizzly bears, the disappearance of the Indians and the rise of
the town, etc. He has been a
farmer all his life, paying but little attention to politics as a general
thing. He was brought forward
in 1877 as a candidate for County Treasurer on the Republican ticked, but
was defeated by A. G. Boggs. He
has steadfastly declined all other political preferment, wishing rather to
attend to his private affairs.
Mr.
Cyrus was married June 5, 1855, to Miss Lavina Graves, a native of Illinois,
and a pioneer of 1846, and the heroine of stirring events.
They have five children:
H. E., now in the lumber business in Calistoga, who has one daughter;
J. W., a civil engineer and surveyor at Tacoma, and unmarried;
Mrs. M. A. Sherwood, whose husband
is in business in Calistoga; Mrs. Sarah G. Crouch, living at home; and Miss
Rachel E., also at home, the latter being a graduate of the Calistoga High
School, and deeply interested in Indian relics and in matters
archaeological. Mr. Cyrus is
one of the most interesting talkers to be met – a perfect mine of incident
and information in reference to early events, hunting scenes, and everything
of the past. A worthy man and
popular, he is truly a representative citizen of the Napa Valley.
EMANUEL MANASSE
Emanuel Manasse has lived in California for the past twenty-five years, and
in Napa since 1872. Born in
Frankfort-on-the-main, Germany, in 1842, he received his education in the
public schools, and was then apprenticed to the tanning business, serving
for two terms, the first in the tanning of heavy and the second in the
tanning of light leathers, thus gaining a thorough knowledge of the
business. At the age of
nineteen he came to this country, and at once secured employment at a large
salary. Owing to the war then
in progress and the heavy duties on French calf and kid skins, Mr. Manasse
invested his entire capital, about $300, in a small plant for tanning
leather. He was very
successful, realizing some $7,000 in one year, when a fire swept factory,
stock and all his means into oblivion in a couple of hours.
Having about money enough to bring his wife and children to
California, where her father then lived, he started in business in San
Francisco, with the usual ups and downs of those days, where he remained
until 1872, when he came to Napa to take charge of the manufacturing in the
establishment of B. F. Sawyer & Co.
Beginning as foreman, he soon originated a method of dressing leather
now known as the Napa Patent Process, which he at first allowed the firm to
use on payments of royalty, but in 1879 he became a member of the firm, and
later on its incorporation as a stock company, he was elected vice-president
and was one of its directors.
Mr.
Manasse was married in 1864 to Miss Amelia Helwig, born in his own native
town, and a daughter of Henry Helwig, for many years engaged in the tanning
business in San Francisco. They
have six children: Lena, a graduate of Snell Seminary, Oakland; Henry, who
graduated at Napa College, and is now connected with the Norton Tanning
Company of San Francisco, of which Mr. Manasse is a stockholder and
director; Anna, also a graduate
of Napa College; Edward, who is now learning the tanning business in the
Sawyer establishment; August,
attending Oak Mound College; and Amelia, who is still attending the Napa
public school. Mr. Manasse is a
member of the Masonic order, Yount Lodge, No. 12;
member of Napa Chapter, No. 30;
member of the Napa Lodge, No. 18, I.O.O.F., and of the Odd Fellows’
Hall Association of Napa.
D. A. JACKSON
D. A.
Jackson, horticulturist near Woodland, is one of the most extensively known
citizens in Central California;
is well-known even in the Eastern States as a fruit raiser and packer.
He was born February 14, 1831, in Knox County, Ohio, a son of B. B.
and Polly (Ruggles) Jackson, natives of Pennsylvania.
The father, a farmer by occupation, removed to Ohio at an early age,
remained there until 1860, and then came on to California in company with
his sons, and here he remained until his death, which occurred in 1868, in
Yolo County, when he was about sixty-eight years old.
Mr. Jackson, our subject, was brought up on a large farm in Ohio.
In 1864 he came to California across the plains, the trip occupying
some ninety days. Going
directly to Yolo county, he rented land in the vicinity of Woodland and
began farming, raising wheat.
In a few years he found himself able to purchase a home for himself, which
he did by buying eighty acres for $1,750.
The farm is now valued at $400 per acre, and improvements $8,000.
For ten years he continued wheat-raising, hauling the same to
Sacramento to market. He began
the fruit industry in 1883, and has sold his land in ten-acre tracts until
he now has only thirty acres left, which is in the city limits of Woodland
and devoted to choice fruit trees and vines.
He took the first premium at the State Fair in 1889, receiving the
gold medal for the best six varieties of table, raisin and shipping grapes.
In the season he employs from thirty to forty hands, white labor, all
from Woodland. He is also a
large buyer and packer. His
goods are shipped and sold to all the eastern states and Canada.
This year (1889) he shipped 100 tons.
Mr.
Jackson was married in 1850, to Miss Cynthia Cummings, a native of Ohio, and
their children are: Ellis, wife
of Henry Fisher, a resident of Hunsford, Tulare County; also one son, Ralph
W., twenty-one years old.
B. F. HOLDEN
B. F.
Holden has been a resident of Napa for seven years.
For two years of this time he purchased wool for the Boston market
and for the same length of time was bookkeeper for the Sawyer Tanning
Company and the Norton Tanning Company, at their San Francisco office, but
for the past three years he has been treasurer and manager of the Napa
Woolen Mills. This concern was
originally started in a small way, but in 1885 it was formed into a stock
company, of which S. E. Holden is now president, B. F. Holden , treasurer
and manager, and C. R. Gritman, the cashier of the Bank of Napa, secretary.
This company doubled the capacity of the mill, which now occupies one
main structure, 100 feet square, of two stories and basement, and an
adjoining building for the engine and boilers.
On the main floor there are sixteen broad Knowles looms, and the
finishing machinery; on the second floor is located the carding and spinning
machinery; while the scouring
and assorting of the wool is carried on in the basement.
Two boilers, one of fifty-horse-power and one of thirty, furnish
steam for the engine and for the necessary process of manufacture.
About $150,000 worth of goods, principally flannels and blankets, is
turned out by these mills every year.
They employ about forty hands, use mostly Californian wool, and
manufacture only fine wool blankets and a fine grade of flannels, used for
shirts and suitings. Since Mr.
Holden has assumed the management of the mills, they have gradually improved
in their general results, and are now in fairly prosperous condition, and
the outlook is very promising.
Their products are mostly disposed of in San Francisco, through the house of
Murphy, Grant & Co., Green Baum, Weil, Michels & Co., but they have also
been forwarding a considerable quantity to T. A. Shaw & Co., of Chicago.
They also ship goods to Sacramento, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon.
Mr.
Holden was born in Saxonville, Massachusetts, in 1842.
His parents were B. F. and Harriet (Morse) Holden, both branches of
the family being of old New England stock, whose ancestors emigrated from
England in the seventeenth century.
His father moved to Concord, New Hampshire, in 1843, and established
a woolen factory under the firm name of B. F. & D. Holden, which afterward
became the Concord Manufacturing Company, in which B. F. learned the
business, and later acquired an interest that he still continues to hold.
He attended the public schools of Concord, and was a member of the
class of 1865 of Wesleyan University at Middletown, Connecticut.
He was married in 1864 to Miss Minnie Crockett of Middletown.
Returning to Concord, after leaving the University, he engaged in the
woolen business at Bristol, New Hampshire, where he remained until 1883,
when he came to California.
They have two children: Mary Genevieve, a graduated of the State Normal
School at San Jose, and now engaged in teaching in Napa County; and
Clarence, who is attending school at Napa.
He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Holden was a member of the New Hampshire Legislature, elected
from Bristol for the sessions of 1874-1876.
In 1887 he invested in the stock of Napa Woolen Mills, and took
charge as treasurer and superintendent.
This position he now holds.
During the few years he has lived in California, Mr. Holden has
applied the same active and intelligent effort to his business that
distinguished him in his New Hampshire home, and as a result the
establishment he represents is moving forward successfully, and building up
a very large and successful business.
WILLIAM DAY
William Day, one of the prominent businessmen of Sunol, was born at Aurora,
Erie County, New York, June 20, 1852.
His father, Ithamar C., a Canadian by birth, emigrated into the
United States when a young man.
He married Miss Elvira Davis, a native of Vermont.
William was reared and educated in this native town, and on reaching
the age of manhood, he went to Portage County, Wisconsin, and in a few
months came on to California, by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and located
at Sunol. First he worked
upon the ranch of Charles Hadsell for twelve years, and in 1886, he
established his present business as proprietor and manager of the livery,
feed, and sale stable and trader in live-stock.
He has also a large warehouse for the storage of hay, grain, etc.,
and he also has an extensive commission business.
He is a member of the Board of School Trustees, a worthy citizen and
a man who enjoys the confidence and respect of his neighbors.
Mr.
Day was married in San Leandro in 1871 to Miss Nettie Bennett, a native of
Wisconsin, and they have nine children, namely:
Frank, Daisy, Frederick, Walter, William, Emma, Arthur, Nellie and an
infant son.
HENRY PERRY
Henry
Perry, machinist and proprietor of a shop in Woodland, is the son of Elisha
and Nancy Perry, natives of Maine.
He was born in Franklin County, that State, March 16, 1822.
At the age of twenty-two he went to Wareham, Massachusetts.
In the year 1847, he went to Penobscot County, Maine, where he was
engaged in blacksmithing for ten years.
He then came to California in 1858, by water, and since then has made
two trips East. He first came
to Yolo County in 1860, when there was but one house in Woodland, and was
owned by Frank Freeman, and ever since then Mr. Perry has made Woodland his
home. He embarked in the
machine business in 1870, in a shop back of the present Bank of Woodland.
His present establishment is on Fourth Street, between Main and
Lincoln Avenue. He does a much
larger business than the size of his shop would indicate.
The machinery he is running here cost $2,500.
The engine is a five-horse power.
Blacksmithing is also an industry included within his operation.
In
1849 Mr. Perry married Miss Elizabeth Whitehouse, by whom he had two
children, John F. and Jessie R., and Mrs. Perry died in 1864, while Mr.
Perry was in California.
January, 1869, he married Mrs. Rachel Mudgett, a widow with two sons.
By the present marriage there are the following children: Etna J.,
aged eighteen years; Emma W., seventeen years, and Clarence H., sixteen
years.
GEORGE C. MARTIN
George
C. Martin, a farmer near Woodland, is a son of James and Lina (Williams)
Martin, who were among the early settlers of California, and will be
remembered by many old pioneers.
They were natives of Virginia, where they remained until 1844;
they then moved to Livingston County, Missouri, and resided there
until 1853; he sold his
property there, spent one summer in Texas, returned to Missouri and remained
there until the spring of 1854, when he with his family came overland to the
Golden State, with horse and ox teams, and settled in Yuba County, eight
miles above Marysville, on the Yuba River.
There the senior Martin resided until his death in 1861, when he was
sixty years of age. His wife
survived until 1884, when she died, in Yolo County, at the age of
seventy-five years. In their
family were four sons and one daughter, all of whom came to California.
One son, M. D. Martin, came in 1849, and died in Yolo County in June,
1872.
George
C. was born January 30, 1833, in Giles County, Virginia and had been all his
life upon a farm. He was with
his father in Yuba County until 1862, when the well-remembered floods of
that year destroyed their agricultural stock.
He sold out and came to Yolo County, purchasing a farm northwest of
Cacheville, where he remained until the fall of 1870.
He then purchased his present property, consisting of 160 acres of
choice bottom land, a mile and a half southeast of Woodland, which is well
improved and fertile and well stocked with farm buildings, etc.
He has altogether in Yolo County 410 acres.
His home place is especially adapted to the raising of fruit and
alfalfa.
Mr.
Martin was married March 7, 1867, to Miss Mary A. Waysman, a native of
Missouri, and they have three sons and two daughters, namely:
Jackson L., Anna L., James W. (who died July 25, 1883), George V.,
and Mary V.
AARON BELL
Aaron
Bell, Superior Judge of the county of Shasta since 1879, came to California
in 1852. He was born in
Pennsylvania, December 2, 1832.
His ancestors have resided in America since before the Revolution and were
from Scotland. His grandfather,
John Bell, participated in the Revolution on the side of the colonies;
served under Benedict Arnold; went with him on his expedition to Quebec, and
after the war settled in Ohio where the city of Cincinnati now stands.
Afterward he moved to Pennsylvania and settled on a farm.
Later he was in the mercantile business for some years.
He was a zealous Presbyterian; was married in New Jersey, and has six
sons and two daughters. John
Bell, Jr., the fourth child, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and was in the
iron foundry business for many years in the State of Pennsylvania.
He married Miss Christiana Evans of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania,
and with his family settled, in 1855, in El Dorado County.
Judge
Bell was the eldest child of their family of six children, four sons and two
daughters. He was educated in
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, studied law in a law school there, and after coming
to California pursued his studies for several years and was admitted to
practice in the old District Court in 1864.
He practiced law in the city of Sacramento for three years, gave
United States land law his special attention, and became an expert in that
department of law practice. A
United States land office having been established at Shasta, and the
officers thereof not understanding their duties very well, had some
complications with the department at Washington.
The Judge went to Shasta to assist in straightening out matters.
Becoming favorably impressed with the county, he located there.
He was appointed Register of the Land Office in the place of the
register who had resigned. He
served in this capacity until 1879, when he resigned to run for the office
of Judge of the Superior Court, having received the nomination from the
Republican Party. The county at
that time had a 250 Democratic majority, but Judge Bell was elected by a 600
majority, a very flattering vote.
The duties of the office of Superior Judge were at that time quite
onerous, and many times he had to decide cases on which there had been great
difference of opinion. In his
first term a most trying and unheard-of case came before him.
The sheriff elect of the county was refused the office by the
incumbent on the ground that he had not given the county sufficient bonds.
It was claimed that by the census of 1880 the county had advanced
from a county of the third class to that of the second class, and that he
should not hold the sheriffalty, as he had not given legal bonds.
The Judge was applied to and the matter duly tried before him;
he gave an order to an officer to seize the books and papers of the
office and to take sufficient force to execute the order.
The out-going sheriff, with his men armed with Henry rifles, held the
court-house with the door barred on the inside, refused admittance and
threatened the officer if he touched the door it would be at the peril of
his life. It took the force of
several men to break it in, which they did and seized the books and papers
of the office. The people took
sides in the affair and many were very much incensed with the out-going
sheriff’s course. The case was
carried to the Supreme Court and the Judge’s action sustained in every
particular.
Another very exciting and notable case was that which was held to prevent
the removal of the county-seat from Shasta.
When Judge Bell gave his decision in that case the court-house was
filled, anvils were fired by citizens of Redding and great excitement
prevailed. The case was taken to the
Supreme Court, and after three years’ litigation the case was decided in
accordance with Judge Bell’s decision.
It is
a matter of record that in eleven years only one case was returned and
retried. His decisions have
been made with reference to his duty as a judge of the law, and his legal
ability has been most flatteringly sustained, both by the Supreme Court of
the State and by his fellow citizens.
At his last election his majority was 700, when the majority of his
ticket was only eighty. During
most of his history in California he has been interested in mines and
mining. In 1853 he was a
partner with Marshall, and was often with him and his men.
He has a cane made of the head block of Sutter’s Mill where gold was
discovered. Judge Bell and his
brother, who is an expert miner, are interested in several valuable mines
and also in timbered lands at the base of Mount Shasta.
He is interested in a box, shingle, and lath factory, and in 1889
manufactured over 400,000 raisin boxes.
Judge
Bell takes an active part in several of the fraternal societies of the
county. He became an Odd Fellow
in 1855; has been a member of
Grand Lodge since 1861, and is a member of the Veteran Association of the
State. He is one of the charter
members of Shasta Lodge, A.O.U.W., which started in 1878; and he has been
made Grand Commander of the American Legion of Honor of the State for two
terms. His father died in 1862,
and his mother is still living, a hale, hearty, old lady of seventy-seven
years. She resides with the
Judge and his interesting family in a nice residence in Redding, where he
can spend the evening of life, having merited the confidence and esteem of
his fellow-citizens.
He was
married in January, 1874, to Miss Julia Fipps, a native of Missouri, and
formerly a successful school-teacher in Shasta.
They have had three sons, born in Shasta County, viz.: Jesse, George
E., and Harvey.
J. M. BUFFINGTON
J. M.
Buffington, an old, honored pioneer of the Pacific Coast, and one of the
most influential of the early settlers of Stockton was born in Somerset,
Bristol County, Massachusetts, February 15, 1818.
Originally of English descent, and in the old Massachusetts colony,
his ancestry dates back to the early settlement of Salem, when three
brothers – John, Joseph, and Jonathan – immigrated to that place about 1660.
The subject of this sketch attended school in his native State, and
at the age of fourteen he took a thorough course in English, mathematics and
the Latin classics at the State Normal School of Rhode Island, and after
reaching manhood he entered the business of manufacturing boots and shoes at
Providence, that State.
On the
breaking out of the gold excitement from California, he came hither, by the
Isthmus, landing at San Francisco June 13, 1849, from the steamer Oregon, on
her second trip. He joined the
throng of miners, and searched for gold over a year, averaging fifteen
ounces per day. Coming then to
Stockton, he started a bakery, when flour was $12.50 a barrel; in a few
months it advanced to $50 per barrel and bread sold for 32 cents a pound.
But Mr. Buffington was not the man to be limited to an underling’s
life. Being public-spirited, he
made his mark in the “city of the plains,” which is yet strikingly visible.
He organized the public schools of Stockton, was elected
Superintendent and served as such from their organization until 1853, when
he was elected Alderman. In
April, this year, he was elected Mayor of Stockton, and held this office one
term of two years. Being also
actively interested in the political interests of the country, he organized
the first Republican club and was chosen its first President.
He also served as superintendent of the Sunday-school for several
years.
In
1857 he removed to San Francisco, and since then, for over a third of a
century, he has been actively engaged in business and prominently identified
with commercial and mining interests.
He was elected member of the Board of Education of San Francisco, and
served in this position several years.
For a time also he was Registrar of voters, when the enrollment was
in the different wards. In 1884
he changed his residence to Oakland.
He has
been prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity for over thirty-six
years, having become a member of Morning Star Lodge, in Stockton, in 1854,
and he is a Knight Templar and a Thirty-third-degree Mason, Scottish rite.
March
8, 1848, Mr. Buffington married Miss Mary West Eddy, daughter of one of the
oldest families of Providence, Rhode Island, and they have had two sons and
three daughters.
J. SOVEREIGN
J.
Sovereign, manufacturer of wagons and buggies at Woodland, is the son of
Richard and Elizabeth (Plummer) Sovereign.
His father, a native of Pennsylvania, was a carpenter by trade; and
his mother was a native of New Jersey.
Mr. Sovereign was born in Canada, in 1833, and in 1845 he went to
Illinois and learned his trade;
and in 1860 he came to California and for the first seven years resided in
El Dorado County; in 1867 he
moved into Yolo County, where he has ever since remained.
He is following his trade at Woodland, with signal success.
He is a member of Woodland Lodge, No. 22, A.O.U.W., and also of the
K. of P.
For
his wife he married Elizabeth Collins, who was born in Watertown, New York,
and they have five children, viz.:
Emma, aged thirty-two, now the wife of John Freeman, and residing in
Fresno; Isabella, aged thirty,
is now Mrs. J. H. Martin, of Woodland;
Arthur, aged twenty-eight, a blacksmith of Woodland;
Seth, aged twenty-six years, and Charley, aged twenty-one.
J. W. OSBORNE
J. W.
Osborne, a blacksmith and wheelwright at Sunol, was born near Barrie,
Canada, Februaty 22, 1856, where he grew to manhood.
His parents, Edward and Elizabeth (White) Osborne, were both natives
of England, He came from Canada
into the United States in 1872, settling first in the State of Nevada, where
he learned his trade and remained until 1879.
He next followed his vocation two years in Washington Territory, and
then until 1884 in Umatilla County, Oregon; and then about three years in
Modoc County, this State. In
1887, he went to Shasta County for a year, and in the spring of 1889, he
finally settled at his present place, where he is prospering in his calling.
He was married at Weston, Oregon, July 31, 1881, to Miss Frances
Ferguson, a native of Iowa, and they have three children – Emma J., Eunice
J., and William C.
B. G. PERKINS
B. G.
Perkins, proprietor of the flouring mill at Woodland, is a son of Frederick
F. and Eleanor (Lee) Perkins, natives of Connecticut, the father a farmer by
occupation. Mr. Perkins of the
sketch was born at Niles, Michigan, in 1846; in 1863 he came to California
and was first engaged in keeping books in San Francisco.
In 1871 he started for Lower California with 18,000 head of sheep,
but suffered misfortune and got out with 2,500 head, turning them over to
creditors. He returned to his
old home in Michigan and there remained until 1888, when he again came to
California to prospect for a permanent home.
He finally selected Woodland, in June, 1889, where he has since run
the City Mill. It is owned by
the Bank of Woodland; its
capacity is thirty-five barrels a day, the engine being seventy-five
horse-power. The expense of
running the mill is $25 a day.
It was built in 1860.
In
1872 Mr. Perkins was united in marriage with Miss Josephine Glover, of
Detroit, Michigan.
W. H. ROBINSON
W. H.
Robinson (colored), farmer and teamster at Woodland, is the son of Denis and
Mary A. (Winrow) Robinson, natives of Kentucky.
His father was a slave up to the time of his death in 1839, in Ralls
County, Missouri;
his mother died in California, February 17, 1889, at the age of
eighty-five years. She was
freed by Robert Briggs, of Ralls County, when W. H. was sixteen years of
age. He was born in the county,
March 11, 1835, and was freed at the age of thirty by the emancipation
proclamation, up to which time he was owned by John C. Briggs.
He came to California in 1868, landing in San Francisco December 24,
having made his journey by sea and the Isthmus.
He was a resident of Buckeye, Yolo County, until 1873, when he went
to Woodland, where he now has a nice little home on two acres of land.
He does all kinds of farm work for other parties, having all the
varieties of farming implements necessary, and he is well known as an
industrious and upright citizen.
He is a member of the Christian Church, as is also his family.
He married, in Ralls County, Missouri, Sarah A. Shields, who was born
in Kentucky, and they have two children – Mary A. and Samuel H.
VILLA
MIRAVALLE and TIBUREIO PARROT, ESQ.
One of
the most picturesque and attractive spots in the vicinity of St. Helena is
the Villa Miravalle, the delightful country-seat of Tibureio Parrot, Esq.,
the well-known viticulturist.
Located in a sheltered cone or glen in the Myacamas range of mountains which
skirt the western border of the Napa Valley, with full view of the town and
only a mile distant from its center, it is led up to by a winding and
romantic road and avenue. The
residence is situated at some distance from the county road on an eminence
that displays its fine architectural proportions to great advantage.
A rough description may not be out of place.
Including verandas, which are broad and ample, running quite around
the house and covered with the finest specimens of sub-tropical plants, the
residence has a frontage of eight feet, by a depth of forty-five feet.
It is of two stories, with central tower rising to a height of
seventy feet above the ground.
The lower story is of the beautiful white liparite, quarried in the
vicinity, and the upper of brick, the whole house finished in hard wood and
of a pleasing mediaeval architecture.
From the tower a magnificent view, panoramic almost in scope and
variety, is presented, including the whole of St. Helena and all the
adjacent portions of the Napa Valley, while the eastern horizon is cut by
the green folds of hill and mountain that form the eastern littoral of the
valley. Immediately beneath the
eye are the orchards and vineyards of the estate, and beyond these the miles
of grapevines, for which the section is noted.
The estate is of 800 acres, and reaches from the valley to the crest
of the first range of hills, looking down on the further side upon the
famous White Sulphur Springs. The
hillsides, when not cleared and planted to vines, are covered with a thick
growth of forest trees – pines, firs, oaks, manzanita, madron, buckeye,
etc., proving a fine bed – fields we should rather say – of roses,
chrysanthemums and other flowers, for which the Villa Miravalle has won a
name. Mr. Parrott is doing a
work of more than individual benefit upon his place.
He was the first to make a serious attempt to raise olives at St.
Helena. He has a fine appearing
plantation of 5,000 trees, now between six and seven years old, and some
loaded with fruit when seen.
They seem to prove the perfect adaptation of the valley for olive culture
and present a timely alternative to the vine-growers of the section, wearied
out as they are by depression and ruinous prices.
Mr. Parrott has 125 acres of vineyard, all of the better foreign
varieties, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, from which is made the Chateau-Margaux
and Chateau Lafite wines, so dear to connoisseurs.
The vineyard is all mountain-hill land, thus receiving perfect
drainage, and the best results.
So far, the wine cellar is the cellar of the house, and a visit to it and a
sampling of its contents shows the value of the vineyard as well as the
knowledge and experience of its master.
The wines were perfect, each in its kind.
A cellar of a larger size is now being constructed, tunnels being run
into the hillside to afford finer storage.
A small plot of vigorous and healthy tobacco plants, of seed brought
from Havana, was seen, which will probably prove still another resource of
this very fertile section.
Amidst the other trees and plants were noticed specimens of palms,
palmettos, banana, persimmons, guavas, oranges, lemons, almonds, walnuts and
other sub-tropical growths, all thrifty and luxuriant at time of visit
(December) and showing that the villa is in the thermal belt and above the
frosts. Water in abundance is
piped direct from springs on the mountain side to house and grounds.
This beautiful place is the out come of only five years’ work upon
its improvement, being begun only in January, 1885.
Its beauty and the wholesome luxuriance of every plant and tree are
better than many volumes to prove the possibility of the section.
The Villa Miravalle justly ranks as one of the finest residences in
the Napa Valley.
CHARLES SAMUEL COUSINS
Charles Samuel Cousins, Recorder of Contra Costa County, was born in Clinton
County, New York, December 14, 1830, of ancestry traceable on the paternal
side back to the Norman French.
His father, John Cousins, was a native of Yorkshire, England, and educated
for a branch of the government service; but instead of entering that he went
into mercantile business in London, and was successful on a large scale
until his managers of a branch house, by ill-advised measures, broke him up.
After that he emigrated to the United States, locating in Clinton
County, New York, where he resided some years engaged in agricultural
pursuits. In 1840 he removed to
Chataugay, Canada, where he spent the remainder of his days.
The lady whom he married was Elizabeth Harrison, a native of
Yorkshire, England, and died April 19, 1846.
Of her eight children, six were born in London; and of the four now
living, the subject of this sketch is the only one residing in California.
In
1840 or 1841 Thomas Cousins, brother of John, with his family of nine
children, emigrated to America, by way of the St. Lawrence River;
and while ascending that stream on board a steamer the works exploded
and all the family were lost excepting the wife, who was saved as if by
miracle! She was thrown high
into the air and fell upon one of her own featherbeds!
From the wreck she was taken to the residence of a gentleman named
Pennyman, where she remained a resident until she died, at a very advanced
age. Mr. Pennyman esteemed her so
highly that he gave her a home, rather than that she should go elsewhere.
This was at Lachine, in the province of Quebec, nine miles above
Montreal.
At the
age of seventeen years the subject of this sketch struck out into the world
for himself, as his mother had died and the family was broken up.
At Rouse’s Point, at the foot of Lake Champlain, in his native
county, he was employed as a clerk in a store for a time;
then, more for the purpose of education, than anything else, he took
up the study of law; but, his taste for it increasing, he concluded to
complete the course. Just
before the required three years were expired, however, Mr. Cousins won a
case in justice court, upon which his preceptor has also been employed, C.
B. Wright, and this incensed him so that he would not want to give a
certificate of time to Mr. Cousins, and the result was that the latter
peremptorily and forever quit both his preceptor and the law.
Next,
until 1854, Mr. Cousins was road or mail agent on the Northern New York
Railroad from Rouse’s Point to Ogdensburg;
then he was engaged in the civil-engineering department of the
Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad at Chicago;
the line was completed to Waukegan January 1, 1855, and work in his
line was suspended. He opened
the railroad station at Waukegan, returned to Chicago and took charge of the
freight and ticket department, and was also auditor for the company.
He inaugurated the entire office business of operating the road,
drafted all the blanks and books of the road and put everything in shape for
running. He was also paymaster
for the company, and on one occasion when he was upon a car in transit from
one gang of men to another in a narrow cut, he came near being killed by a
collision. He and his party
barely had time to stop their car and turn it bodily off the track.
The
onerous duties of his manifold situation at length began to affect his
health. Young as he was, every
dollar in the business of the road passed through his hands, and every item
checked on the several books and report blanks;
and he also had the supervision of all the reports of the station
agents, conductors, etc. One
night his nervous system had been under so intense a strain, while he was
sitting in his chair attending to business, that he fainted and fell to the
floor. Therefore, late in the
year 1857, after three years’ service, he was compelled to resign, although
offered the position of assistant superintendent.
He took a position as bookkeeper in a large country store, where he
had easy duties and a larger liberty, remaining there until December, 1859,
when he came to California and immediately located in Contra Costa County,
with his wife’s relatives. His
first position here was as clerk in the Golden Eagle Hotel at Sacramento
during the exciting times of building the Central Pacific Railroad and the
inauguration of the “pony express” system.
In June, 1861, he became clerk in the United States Mint at San
Francisco, and while in that position he obtained leave of absence and went
to Gold Hill, Nevada, to settle up the estate of a widow.
The “Plato mine,” under his management as a part of the estate, paid
a larger dividend than any other mine in that State.
In 1864-1865 he held a more responsible position at the mint;
then he was appointed assistant melter and refiner in the
institution, and given the entire management of the department.
In 1869 he resigned to engage in real estate in that city.
In
1870 he came to Pinole, Contra Costa County, and engaged in farming;
and while there he fell from a load of hay and broke the muscles of
his hip so seriously that he can never fully recover.
In the fall of 1882 he was elected County Recorder, on the Republican
ticket, and took charge of the office the following January; and by
re-election he has ever since held the office.
At each election his majority is greater than at the preceding
election.
Mr.
Cousins was first married in December, 1856, at Waukegan, Illinois, while he
was in the service of the railroad there, to Miss Sarah C. Denio, of New
York State, who died in 1865, in Martinez, California;
and subsequently Mr. Cousins married Kate T., daughter of the late
Dr. Samuel J. Tennent, of Martinez, and a relative of the Martinez family,
one of the oldest in this section.
May 15, 1889, on a leave of absence, Mr. and Mrs. Cousins made a trip
to the East, visiting old friends, who were greatly rejoiced to see them.
Arriving at Chicago he could not resist the temptation to take a ride
over the old Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad, whereon he had labored so
assiduously for years, and peculiar were the sensations awakened by the
occasional sight of something familiar amid the multitude of changes that
had taken place since that time.
JOHN H. EATON
John H.
Eaton, a Woodland merchant, who died at his residence in the city
Mr.
Eaton was religiously inclined from boyhood.
At the age of fourteen he joined the Baptist Church, but during life
changed his views somewhat and united with the Christian Church, in which he
remained during the remainder of his life.
He was very zealous in the propagation of the cardinal principles of
Christianity. He emphasized the
scriptural idea that there is but “one baptism,” while the churches of
modern times generally have several modes of baptism, or doors into the
church.
Seven
of his eleven children survive, namely:
Mrs. G. W. Green and A. M. Eaton, of Woodland;
J. L. Eaton, of Lake County;
G. M. Eaton of Irvington, Alameda County;
Mrs. J. E. Woods, of San Francisco;
T. F. Eaton, of Dighton, Kansas; and Mrs. Dr. D. A. Bryant, of
Jackson County, Missouri.
A. M.
Eaton, the surviving partner in the firm of J. H. Eaton & Son, was born in
Jackson County, Missouri, in May, 1852, where he remained until he came to
Nevada and California. He
completed his education at the Hesperian College in Woodland.
In 1869 he became a partner with his father in the grocery business,
when the firm style became J. H. Eaton & Son, under which name the business
was carried on until July, 1890, at which time A. M. Eaton purchased the
other interest and now conducts the business in his own name, carrying a
full stock of everything in the line of a well-furnished grocery house.
Mr. Eaton deals largely in grain, hay, wood, nursery stock, etc.
He is yet unmarried, making his home with his mother, who is now
seventy-eight years of age.
A. J.
Hull, attorney at law, has resided in California and Napa since 1874.
Born in Johnson County, Indiana, in 1846, he was kept busy clearing
up his father’s and other farms by contract from the time he could set fire
to a brush-heap or carry the lunch to the older workers.
There were no public schools in that section until 1853;
the family was large and it required the united efforts of the twelve
children and the parents to wrest a livelihood from the most unbroken
country up to the fifties. In
1857 the family removed to Illinois, where he lived until he enlisted as a
private soldier in Battery H, Second Illinois Light Artillery, at the age of
fifteen years. His command
served under General Grant until after the fall of Island No. 10, and were
then transferred to the Army of the Tennessee Fourteenth Army Corps, until
after the occupation of Atlanta.
The battery was again transferred to the Twentieth Corps, and was
with General Thomas during the campaign against Hood, and remained with that
army until the close of the war. He
was mustered out with his command
Mr. Hull had three brothers and one brother-in-law in the service. While in the army Mr. Hull had spent all his leisure moments in study, beginning with the primary branches, and finally becoming proficient in mathematics, geography and history. He had the good fortune during his term of service to have a comrade who was a graduate of one of the Philadelphia Colleges, and who took an interest in and guided him in his studies, and stimulated him continually to further advancement. Immediately on his discharge Mr. Hull engaged in farm work for the purpose of continuing his education, and during a six months' course he paid for his own tuition by taking charge of the higher classes in mathematics. After this course he passed an examination and received a certificate as a teacher, but it being the spring season and no schools open he returned to farm work until the fall. Then he passed a second examination, and taught his first school in a district adjoining the one where he grew up. Returning to Illinois he entered the Salem Methodist College, and by alternately studying and teaching school, or, failing to get a school, by labor at any work to be had, splitting rails, digging wells, working on the railroad, etc., he managed to acquire a liberal education, finally graduating in the law department of the Iowa State University in 1873, and was thereupon admitted to the bar of the courts of that State. He then returned to Illinois, and by working and teaching school accumulated money enough to pay up all his indebtedness, and bring him to California. He taught school in Napa County for a time and then commenced the practice of the law in which he has since continued. He was for some time in partnership with Judge Crouch, now Superior Judge, later with R. Burwell, and then for two years with Judge Ham; but for the past three years he has been alone in business. His parents were Andrew P. and Jane (McGuire) Hull, his father being of English and his mother of Irish descent.
He was
married in 1874 to Miss
Lottie J. Waite, of Shoreham, Vermont. They
had three children: Lottie M., Pliny
R. and Junie W. Mrs. Hull, his first wife, having died, ho was again
married,
to Miss May E. Stockley, a native of California.
A Memorial &
Biographical History of Northern California: Chicago : The Lewis
Publishing Company, 1891
Transcribed by Marianne, September 2008 - Pages 880-408
Site Created: 6 October 2008
Rights Reserved: 2008
