| Livermore-Amador Genealogical SocietyMurray Township Biographies, M-W, fromWood's "History of Alameda County, California," 1883 |
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Go to Part 1, Surnames A-L
This is Part 2 of a verbatim transcription of selected biographies from "History of Alameda County, California" published by Myron Wood in 1883. The biographies selected were mostly those of residents of Murray Township, which at that time included the towns of Altamont, Dublin, Livermore, Midway, Pleasanton and Suñol, and their surrounding countryside. A few of the subjects lived elsewhere, but owned land or had business interests in Murray Township.
It should be recognized that Wood's "History", valuable as it is for genealogy and history, contains only biographies of those citizens who were willing to pay for their inclusion, or had relatives willing to do so. The biographies are invariably flattering and may omit some important but inconvenient genealogical data.
L-AGS has published an index to the entire contents of Wood's "History". A description of this index is at Wood's Index. This index is on paper only, not online.
[page 930] - Was born in Prussia March 23, 1842, where he resided until the spring of 1866, there learning the boot and shoe maker's trade, and following it in his native land until that time. He served in the Fifteenth Infantry for three years, and through the campaign of 1864 against Denmark, when he sailed from Bremerhaven for the United States. After passing a few weeks in the city of New York, he proceeded to Philadelphia, but shortly afterwards moved to New Jersey, and located at Egg Harbor City, Atlantic County. At the end of four months he changed his residence to Buffalo, New York, where he stayed twelve months, and then took up his abode in Boston until February, 1868. At that date he sailed for San Francisco via Panama, where he arrived April 1, 1868, and engaged in the shoe making business until the fall of the same year. In the month of October he located in Dublin, Alameda County, and engaged in his proper calling, continuing it until December 27, 1869, when he came to Livermore, and commenced a boot and shoemaking business in Laddsville. After the fire of October, 1871 he removed to Livermore proper, where he continued in the same business. In the fall of 1881 he built the three storied edifice known as Malley's Building, where he now carries on his business, which of late years has been very much enlarged - carrying a large stock of fancy goods and doing a prosperous trade. Mr. Malley married, August, 9, 1868, Miss Minnie Strecker, a native of Germany, and has four children: Matilda M., George W., Frederick A., and William. He is one of the oldest and best known business men in this section.
The subject of this sketch was born in Ross County, Ohio, December 26, A. D. 1822, making him now just sixty years of age. He is so well preserved that he looks to be about fifty. He is remarkably hale and hearty, weighing usually two hundred and forty pounds, measuring six feet five inches in height, and well proportioned. When about ten years of age his family moved to Fayette County, Ohio, near the flourishing town of Washington. Here he grew to manhood. About the age of fifteen he showed a wonderful taste for books. He bought all of them he was able to, and borrowed all he could, and read all the spare time he had. He went from home and studied all the branches taught in the public schools at that period. He then returned home and commenced teaching. He showed so much tact in managing his schools and imparting instruction, that he was requested to open a select school in Washington, which he did, and taught for some time with great acceptability. It was while teaching this school he began to exhibit considerable talent as a public speaker. He was often called upon to address the people upon a variety of subjects. [page 931] He generally acquitted himself honorably. When he was about eighteen years of age he was persuaded to join the Annual Conference of the M. E. Church. He immediately entered upon the arduous duties of a clergyman, and was sent his first year to Wilmington, Clinton County, Ohio. Here he had a large congregation of very intelligent people to provide for. Being young, he had to apply himself by night and day, but having an excellent constitution, he stood it well, and the year closed honorably. He then traveled and preached five years more, filling excellent appointments, the last of which was at Athens, Ohio. Here he labored so hard and preached so much that he contracted a sore throat, which compelled him to retire from the regular work of the ministry. About that time he was married to the daughter of Judge D. McLain, of Washington, Fayette County, Ohio. The union was a happy one. That was in the year 1849. The judge was a man of great wealth. Soon after this happy marriage the Doctor turned his whole attention to medicine. In the fall of 1850 he went to Columbus, Ohio, and connected himself with the Starling Medical College. Here he made such rapid advancement that he was urged by some of the faculty to remain in the school and become one of the professors; however, he thought best to decline. He came back to Washington, continuing to pursue his studies until September; he then moved to Stanton, Ohio, a beautiful town about four miles from Washington. In just two weeks from the day he commenced keeping house his beautiful young wife sickened, and in one week more she died. So sudden and unexpected was the shock that for a time the Doctor was almost paralyzed. She left a little daughter some five months old. What to do he scarcely knew. Stay there he would not. As soon as he had provided a home for his child he left the home of her birth, and never after returned, because, he said, he could not bear to see the place where he had enjoyed so much happiness, and also where he had suffered so much grief. It was a fearful struggle, but no doubt it was for the best, as his subsequent history will prove. In the spring of 1851 the Doctor settled in Houston, Ohio, and immediately entered on the practice of his profession. For ten years he worked hard, but during that period, say in the year 1853, he became acquainted with the youngest daughter of Judge W. W. Cecil, who resided on a farm near where he practiced. The friendship soon culminated in a matter of love; so December 15, 1853, the Doctor and Miss Annie Cecil were married, the next day after she was eighteen. The union was a happy one. Mrs. Mark is still living, beloved by every one who becomes acquainted with her. She still shows marks of her former beauty, although she is now forty-seven years of age, and has suffered for years with that incurable disease, asthma. In the spring of 1861, owing to that fearful malady, the Doctor and his family started across the plains for California. Leaving St. Joseph, Missouri, on the 8th of May, 1861, they landed at Ione City on the 24th of September, quite a trip with a sick wife. What is remarkable, Mrs. Mark had not an hour's sickness on the plains - asthma all gone, and for some years after that long, tedious trip she showed no signs of it. Shortly after his arrival in the State he made a trip to Sacramento, and while there found the Conference of the M. E. Church in session. He was prevailed upon to become a member of that body, which he did, and for three years went back to his old profession. He labored very acceptably in Campo Seco, Columbia, and Centreville, in this county. In all these places he made many warm friends. At the expiration of his term at Centreville he went back to the practice of his profession, and in the spring of 1865 he came to Pleasanton, where he has remained ever since. The Doctor has built a nice home, where he has ever been ready to wait on the public. There is one thing to be observed, that he is a close student, and keeps himself well posted in his profession. He has not accumulated wealth, for that is not his nature. His hand and heart are always open to help the poor and suffering; he turns no one away from his office that applies to him for medicine or medical advice. He has got hundreds of dollars on his books he never expects to collect. There is another thing to his credit, he is strictly temperate. He keeps himself away from bar-rooms; and when he returns from his professional calls he applied himself closely to his books, of which he has an excellent collection. As an evidence of the esteem of the neighborhood in which he has lived so long, he has filled the office of Justice of the Peace, when his present term has been completed, thirteen years. It is well known, however insignificant the office may appear, that it is rather a difficult position to fill. It is not certain that any other man in Alameda County has occupied that position as long as the Doctor. There are some peculiar traits about him different from those of the majority of our officials. He ever tries to discourage litigation. If people get into a lawsuit, he is not to blame. His advice is invariably to settle, to keep out of law. There is little doubt that he has saved Alameda County hundreds of dollars. The District Attorney (and who has a better chance to know?) says the Doctor has caused him less trouble and cost the county less money than any other justice in it. All his decisions lean to the side of mercy. If any one deserves the name of Justice of the Peace, he certainly does. Now, this biography would hardly be complete if a few more items were not added. As a citizen, a parent, a husband, the Doctor has but few superiors. He is a man of strong convictions. You never hear him advocate any skeptical notions. He believes the religion of his fathers is good enough for him and, until he is shown something better, he will adhere to that. He always, by theory and practice, encourages good morals. He thinks life is too short to fritter away on vain speculations and Utopian ideas. While at present and for years he has not been connected with any religious organization, he is friendly to all, and from his habits and every-day life, you would not know but what he was a strict church member. The value of such men in a community cannot be overestimated. They often silently mold the characters of others. It sometimes appears to the writer of this short sketch that Providence has something to do in determining the location of individuals. It would not do to place all the best men in one community. The Doctor has five children living - four in this State, and one daughter in Washington, Fayette County, Ohio: Helena Elizabeth, born April 7, 1850; Sallie W., married to J. A. Rose, residing at Pleasanton, and born April 29, 1857; W. C., born August 11, 1862, now living in Sacramento; Frank C., born November 14, 1864; Cecil, born November 14, 1867. The Doctor's children are all very much attached to their father. Only a few days ago his son Willie, now living in Sacramento, in a letter to him, wrote the following language contrasting his life with others: "When your time comes to go, a feeling of peace and contentment ought to rest with you, for you have lived an upright life and done your best for us all." This tender language discloses a kindly feeling between father and son. It is worthy of imitation. Children usually cannot bestow too much honor on their parents. There are many other incidents connected with the history of the Doctor that had to be left out for the want of space. His portrait appears in this work, and the Doctor supplied this sketch.
[page 935] - Was born in County Derry, Ireland, in the year 1819, and at eighteen years of age emigrated from Belfast to the United States, but suffering shipwreck on the voyage was landed in New Brunswick, whence he sailed for Quebec, and remained there a few months. He then proceeded to Michigan, and after a short time went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he resided until leaving for California. He left Cincinnati on December 19, 1848, and New Orleans January 16, 1849, in the bark Florida. He crossed the Isthmus, and taking passage in the brig Belfast on the Pacific side landed in San Francisco May 15, 1849, and two months thereafter went to the mines, but not being very prosperous there he abandoned that enterprise, and returning to the Bay City proceeded to the Moraga redwoods, where he worked for five months. He then for the next three years occupied his time between the mines and San Francisco, until he was joined by his family, when he embarked in farming operations in Castro Valley, now Alameda County, on the property now owned by the Atherton estate, and there remained ten years. In May, 1864, he purchased his present valuable farm, consisting of three hundred and sixteen acres in the Livermore Valley, about two miles east from the town, where he has since maintained his domicile, owning several other tracts of land besides. Married in Cincinnati, 1840, Miss T. C. Botton, a native of England, and has nine children, viz., Annie (now Mrs. G. F. Bangs), Mary (now Mrs. McNeil), Laura (now Mrs. I. Horton), Isabel May, Washington G., Emmie, Joseph, Lillie, and Ada.
[page 936] - The subject of this sketch, and a well-known business man of Livermore is a native of Ireland, where he resided until about seventeen years of age. He then concluded to seek his fortune in the land of the free, and consequently came to America, spending the first five years of his residence in the United States in Boston. He then concluded to come to California. Coming via Aspinwall and Panama, he arrived in San Francisco April 14, 1859. Staying but a short time in the metropolis, he went to San José, Santa Clara County, where he found employment in a hotel until in 1862, when he returned to Europe, and after a residence of four years abroad he again returned to America and to the Golden State, this time locating at San José Mission, and embarking in farming until 1871, when he moved to the then young town of Livermore and opened a meat market in the building now occupied by Church & Scott's drug-store. Three years later he purchased his present property on Union Street, opposite the Livermore Hotel, where he is engaged in the general butcher and stock business. Mr. McKeany is married and has three children, Maggie, Grace, and Kittie.
Was born in Gallia County, Ohio, January 5, 1837, where he was educated, and resided until he attained the age of seventeen years, he, however, having had the misfortune to lose both his parents when very young. At the above epoch he started with his uncle L. P. Gates, for the Pacific Slope. May 2, 1854, they crossed the Missouri River, and commenced the arduous undertaking of crossing the plains with ox-teams. After many difficulties they arrived at Mission San José in the month of October of that year. Our subject now engaged in farming near where the town of Centreville stands, where he remained three years, until compelled to take a year's relaxation on account of ill health. Mr. McLeod next went into business in Centreville for six months, when he became proprietor of the American Exchange Hotel there, and conducted it until 1866, at which time he sold out, moved to Washington Corners and built the Union Hotel, now kept by Mr. Brown, in that place. Six months afterwards, disposing of this hostelry, he returned to Centreville and embarked in the livery business, which he sold at the end of one year. A twelvemonth later Mr. McLeod moved to Livermore, pre-empted a portion of the land on which the town now stands, known as the McLeod Addition, and there in the fall of 1869, engaged in a general mercantile business with Henry Meyers, under the firm name of Meyers & McLeod, in the structure known as the Bank Exchange Building, recently burned down, this being the first store started within the corporate limits of the town of Livermore, but outside of Laddsville. At the end of two years Mr. Meyers sold his interest to Mr. Anspacher, the firm now becoming Anspacher & McLeod, and two years after the interest of the first named was purchased by our subject, who then took into the business George C. Stanley, who in turn closed out in 1877. Mr. McLeod was appointed postmaster of the town of Livermore, in 1869, and held the office until January, 1882, while he has also been Assessor of Murray Township, to which position he was elected in 1879, 1880, and 1882, and holds that office at the present time. Married, in Centreville, November, 1859, Miss Delia Foley, a native of Ireland, and has: Norman, Mamie, Colin, Annie, and Leah.
[page 937] - Was born in Nova Scotia, July 7, 1857, and there resided until the year 1875, when he came to California. In March, 1882, he purchased from P. C. Heslep, the blacksmith shop and woodwork department, located on Railroad Avenue, Livermore, where he carries on a large business in every branch of his trade. Is married and has one child.
Was born in Greene County, Ohio, in the year 1828, and there dwelt with his parents until they moved to Cass County, Michigan, in 1834. Here he resided and worked on his father's farm until March 5, 1849, when he started for California with ox-teams by way of the plains, arriving in Sacramento on the 9th September of the same year. Here meeting his brother William M. Mendenhall, they moved together to the Santa Clara Valley, where they stayed until March, 1850. Our subject now started for the mines at Chinese Camp, near Sonora, Tuolumne County, and after laboring there four months left in disgust to rejoin his brother in Santa Clara. At this period Mr. Mendenhall went into raising and trading cattle. In the fall of 1852, he returned to Michigan, but the following March saw him once more on the way across the plains to the land of gold, accompanied by his newly made bride. They arrived in Santa Clara about the middle of September, 1853, and our subject resumed his former occupation of stock-raising. In 1854 Mr. Mendenhall moved to San Ramon Valley, Contra Costa County, where he engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits for eleven years, at the end of which protracted term he sold out and came to his present place in Livermore Valley, where he rears excellent horses and cattle, and raises good crops. In February, 1853, he married Miss Malvina Dolora Knapp, by whom he has had a family of five children, only three of whom survive, viz.: Clara, Julia, and Dora.
This veritable pioneer of California, whose portrait appropriately finds a place in the "History of Alameda County," was born in Greene County, Ohio, April 22, 1823, and is the son of William and Sarah (Peterson) Mendenhall. [page 938] His forefathers were English, and came to this country with the famous William Penn, to whom was granted what are now the States of Pennsylvania and Delaware, in the year 1681; the ancestry of his mother was German. The father of our subject was born in the year 1794, in Tennessee, and died December 19, 1870, while his mother, who is now eighty-four years old, is with her son, Martin Mendenhall, near Livermore, having passed, by fourteen years, man's allotted span of threescore years and ten. The spot where William M. Mendenhall first saw the light was within five miles of the little town of Zeno, and there he passed the first seven years of his existence, being surrounded by all of nature's most natural charms, and even at that tender age, brought up to feel upon self-reliance as the foremost instinct. In October, 1831, his family moved to the Territory of Michigan, then a wilderness composed of dense forests and virgin prairies. Here the frontiersman's handicraft was needed; the ground had to be cleared for the receipt of crops, and thus did he become, under the eye of his parent, a practical tiller of the soil. Here he received what education the country then afforded, and resided until he attained the age of twenty-one years, dividing his time between an agricultural life and the less monotonous one of hunting in the primeval wilds which hemmed him in on every side, But the cry of Westward Ho! kept ever ringing in his ears; to that cardinal point tended his inclination. To him the untracked wilderness was a home; therefore, when it became known that a company was being formed with the Pacific Coast as its destination, Mr. Mendenhall made up his mind to face the vicissitudes of the journey to the ultima thule of the American continent; consequently on July 3, 1845, leaving St. Joseph, he crossed Lake Michigan to the little town of Chicago, thence by stage and river to St. Louis, Missouri, and onward by steamboat up the Missouri River to Independence, ten miles west of where, on the bank of Hickory Creek, he pitched his tent, there being with him L. Hastings, N. B. Smith, H. C. Smith, H. Stebbins, H. Downing, and a Mr. Locher, who had joined him at St. Louis. Remaining here in camp, they essayed to augment the strength of their company with recruits, but these they found difficult to persuade; some of the people had never heard of California - indeed, many doubted the existence of such a place - and were sceptical as to if Mr. Mendenhall and his party knew of that which they spake. On August 17, 1845, the party, consisting of thirteen men all told, broke camp, and at noon had their faces turned towards the Golden West. On the completion of the first hundred miles of the journey, they were stayed by the swollen waters of the Caw River, and how to cross it became the question. But three alternatives were left them - to swim, to wait, or to return; eleven chose the first, and two took the "back track." This stumbling-block overcome, the journey was continued to the South Platte, where one of the number joined a party of hunters from Fort Laramie, leaving ten of them to pursue their journey of two thousand miles, through an untracked main, and peopled with roaming bands of hostile Indians. When about two hundred miles west from the Kaw River, cautiously traveling and keeping a sharp lookout the while, an object was observed to their left, between them and the horizon. The question was, what could it be ? Some said, the stump of a tree, others ejaculated the dread word, Indians! When proceeding to ascertain what it actually was, it announced mortality by making signals, and as they halted the figure approached, and proved to be a white man of some five and twenty years of age, He was almost in a state of nature. What had once been a shirt, hung about his body in shreds, while his nether garments were worn to ribbons that hung suspended from his waist, his legs and feet being innocent of protection or cover. Slung from his shoulders was a powder-horn; in his waistband he carried a knife, while in his hands he bore some frogs. He was too weak and faint from want of food to talk, therefore he was fed. Such was his joy at meeting with members of his own race that it was some time ere he told his tale. It was thus: During the spring of 1845 he had started from civilization with some emigrants bound to Oregon, but when they had got as far as Fort Laramie, he with two others, became discouraged, and turning back homewards, on the third night were attacked by Indians and his companions murdered, while the redskins stole their horses and their guns. [page 939] How he had escaped was a marvel. He lay concealed in a thicket until the hostiles had taken their departure, and thereafter wandered about, subsisting on frogs that he had caught. At last, after nine days, he found himself face to face with his own countrymen. His tale being told, every inducement was offered him to proceed to California, but to no avail; his dejection was complete; he said there was not money enough in the whole United States to induce him to turn westward again. He was furnished with provisions, and left to continue his "wandering woe." He bore the traces of having been a fine-looking man, and was a native of the State of Illinois. His name he gave, as also his father's address, and Mr. Mendenhall, after his arrival in California, informed the latter by letter of the plight in which he had found his son, but never afterwards heard either of the father or the wanderer. Our voyagers now continued on their way, but they had not gone far when all but two of them were attacked with fever and ague, but nothing discouraged, they pushed on, traveling by day and keeping guard by night, until they arrived at Fort Laramie, where they had a ten days' rest, and were able to get some other provender than the buffalo-meat and other game on which they had been forced to subsist for some time. Leaving Fort Laramie, they proceeded onwards, and at Fort Hall laid in some groceries at fifty cents per pound - rice, sugar, coffee, etc., all at that one price. After a few days here, our heroes were once more on the route, and taking the old Truckee road to the Humboldt, followed that stream to its sink, where their provisions, which were intended to last them into California, perceptibly diminishing, the party were placed upon rations. Here, too, one of the horses was stolen by Indians, when our subject and Hastings started in pursuit, and about four miles from camp came upon a party of Indians, twenty in number, who this solitary couple compelled to surrender their property. In the interval of their absence, however, the main body had gone forward, leaving Mendenhall and his comrade to camp on the plain, dig a hole wherein to light a fire, and set it ablaze by discharging their rifles into the pile. The next day they started betimes to overtake their companions, and on coming up to their camp about three miles from the Truckee River, found neither man nor beast in sight. The fact was that the animals had scented the sweet waters of the Truckee at three miles distance and had stampeded thither to slake their parched throats. To both man and beast this clear cold stream gave new life and nerved them all for further trials. Like the "chosen people of God" on Jordan's banks, our party remained for some days on the margin of the Truckee and pondered upon the Israel they had left behind them, Here they enjoyed themselves hunting, fishing, and otherwise, and in one of these excursions Messrs. Mendenhall and Hastings discovered the Sink of the Truckee. At the expiration of three or four days, and at the time of breaking camp, they were visited by a party of Indians, who offered their services as guides through the defiles of the Sierra Nevada, but fearing treachery these were made to accompany them for half a day, when they were turned loose. Fortunate was it for them that this precaution was taken, for the hills were full of redskins who were only waiting a signal to put them to death. The journey from the head-waters of the Truckee, was one of extreme hardship and danger, snow being so deep only from five to fifteen miles per day could be accomplished. At the sheet of water now known as Donner Lake, they found they had but four pints of flour remaining, and the country destitute of game. Pressing necessity was their companion, therefore, upon consultation, it was determined that H. C. and N. B. Smith, Hastings, Locher, Downing and Semple should go on a hunting and foraging expedition, leaving Mendenhall to take charge of the pack and the two sick men, Nash and Crosby. With his charge our subject journeyed on, and on the first night camped on the summit of the Sierras, and proceeding, came upon the head-waters of the Yuba and camped on the identical ground occupied the year previous by the late Martin Murphy and his party. [page 940] This stream they followed for six days, during which they suffered keenly from want of food, indeed during the last four days neither bite nor sup had passed their lips. Mendenhall now went ahead and at the head-waters of Bear River, from an old oak-tree gathered some acorns whereof he and his party partook, and thus allayed the pangs of hunger. They now got out of the region of snow and into the grassy slopes of the California foot-hills. On the fifth night out succor came, for they were met by N. B. Smith and Downing with provisions. The next night found them at Johnson's Ranch, where they purchased the quarter of a beef, cooked and demolished the whole of it. The following day found them at Nicholson's, on the Feather River, where that individual kept a sort of house of entertainment, but who inhospitably refused them anything to eat; however, meeting Samuel Neil, from Sutter's Fort, they were advised by him to shoot a fat cow or take possession of the premises, the latter of which they did, when the proprietor supplied them copiously, if grudgingly, with jerked beef. Thence they proceeded to Sinclair's Ranch, some three miles from Sutter's Fort, at which place they arrived on Christmas-eve of the year 1845, where they sat down to the first "square meal" that they had had since leaving Missouri. Here they met a Mr. St. Clair, who had a dwelling about fifty yards from Sinclair's house. After some trouble with the Indians the party arrived at Sutter's Fort, and found employment at various places until March, 1846. At this time Mendenhall and the two Smiths proceeded to Yerba Buena (San Francisco) in Sutter's launch, where they had some difficulty in getting a passport, but through the agency of the British Consul, they crossed the bay to where the city of Oakland now stands, and from thence started on foot for the San Antonio redwoods, but meeting two Spaniards their passports were demanded, which not being able to produce they were frightened away with the fire-arms of the party. They ultimately got to the redwoods, however, and there engaged with a Frenchman for some time in making shingles and sawing lumber, but this not meeting with the views of the irate Dons, twenty soldiers were brought into the redwoods to oust them. Mendenhall and his party, however, believing discretion to be the better part of valor, secured what horses they could, with their effects, and beat a hasty retreat over the mountains into the valley of the San Joaquin. They now found that stream swollen, but their effects had to be transported to the opposite bank - a hazardous undertaking, that was carried out by our subject and N. B. Smith, who swam the river each six times. That night they camped on what is now known as French Camp, near Stockton, and the following morning pushed on to the security of Sutter's Fort. At this period what is known as the "Bear Flag War" broke out, and with that small band Mr. Mendenhall marched to Sonoma, and took part in the stirring events described in our chapter on that subject. Then came the declaration of war between the United States and Mexico, and the recruiting of Fremont's famous California Battalion, with which our subject served, he being of Captain Ford's company. With it he proceeded in their pursuit of General Castro as far as the Colorado Desert, and upon returning, to San Diego there learned of a threatened rising of Indians in the vicinity of Sutter's Fort. Ford's company was thereupon embarked on the United States ship Congress, Commodore Stockton, to quell the contemplated outbreak. They were landed at Monterey, whence they marched to Sutter's Fort, and found the Indians far from bellicose. They nearly all were hors du combat from sickness. Mr. Mendenhall's first visit to the Livermore Valley was on this march, when the troops camped on the ground where now stands the residence of Robert Livermore. At Sutter's the company remained a few days, then took up the line of march, and finally camped on Cosumnes River to await the arrival of General Fremont. While here, our subject applied for and obtained leave of absence to proceed to Johnson's Ranch to meet William Duncan, a friend of his, with whom he returned to Sutter's Fort. He now concluded, with some immigrants, to locate at Stockton and commence farming, for which purpose he proceeded to Sutter's to obtain grain, but changing his mind he went to Yerba Buena and there opened a bakery in partnership with Duncan, but two or three months thereafter he became sick and was confined to the house for upwards of a month. [page 941] At this time the Spaniards were becoming restless and threatened a general uprising, therefore for safety all the foreigners betook themselves to the ships lying at anchor in the harbor. Mr. Mendenhall, however, was too ill to be moved, and with nought save his trusty rifle and revolver to protect him, was left alone to await the general massacre. The alarm, however, proved a false one, and upon quiet being restored Mr. Mendenhall started for the Pueblo de San José by way of Alviso, and thence to Santa Clara, where he was appointed Commissary to the forces then assembled there to repel any attack from Sanchez and his predatory band who were raiding that section of the country. There he served in that capacity until April, 1847. On the 18th day of which he espoused Miss Mary, a daughter of David Allen, Alcalde Burton performing the ceremony, it being the first marriage of Americans that ever took place in the three counties of Santa Clara, Contra Costa, and Alameda. Mrs. Mendenhall is also a pioneer of pioneers. She came across the plains to California in the company of Hon. Elam Brown of Contra Costa County, with her father, who was left sick at Fort Bridger, but in the spring went on to Oregon; at the Sink of the Humboldt she lost her mother, and being the eldest of the daughters took charge of the children and brought them safely to the Pacific Coast. Upon his marriage our subject removed to San José and there resided with his father-in-law for three months on the Ynigo Ranch. In June, 1848, he went to the mines on American River near Sutter's Mill, but at the end of three months transferred the scene of his operations to the mines of Tuolumne County, where he commenced trading with the Indians, bartering clothes for gold-dust. He then returned to Santa Clara, and disposing of his property went to Oregon from San Francisco in the brig Anita. After a very rough passage of forty days he arrived in Astoria, where they were confined to a store-house on account of measles having broken out among the children on board ship. At the end of three weeks he proceeded to Portland, consuming four days in the trip, and then went to the residence of his father-in-law, about twenty miles from that now rising city. In the following spring Mr. Mendenhall raised a company and with thirty wagons made the journey to California, arriving at Sacramento, which had then become a bustling camp, in July, 1849. Settling in the town of Suttersville, a place he had helped to survey, he there remained, engaged in teaming, until October, when he returned to San José, but being unable to find a house there, he came to the Pulgas redwoods to procure lumber and shingles. With these he built a house in the redwoods. In the spring of 1850 he moved to the Santa Clara Valley and located a piece of land not far from the Mission, where he embarked in stock-raising, adding to his stock, one hundred and four head of wild horses by capturing them on the San Joaquin plains in July 1851. Selling out in February, 1853, he moved to Sycamore Valley, Contra Costa County, on the place now owned by Hon. Charles Wood, and there stayed seven years, dealing largely in stock, at one time driving no fewer than one hundred head of horses into Oregon. In 1862 he disposed of his interests in Contra Costa County, and moved his stock to the Livermore Mountains, twelve miles south of where the town of that name is now situated, where he fenced in some fifteen or twenty thousand acres of land, and followed stock-raising there till 1864, when a dry season occurring he lost about forty thousand dollars' worth of cattle and horses. In the fall of 1865 he took up his residence in the San Ramon Valley, in the like occupation, but, at the end of three years, purchasing the interest of Thomas Hart in the Bernal Rancho, and that same fall six hundred and fifty acres of the Santa Rita grant, from J. West Martin, he took up his abode on the latter and assisted in building the first school house in Livermore Valley. At the end of a twelvemonth he bought a house and lot in Santa Clara County, whither he removed his family on account of the advantages offered for tuition there, where he remained ten years. [page 942] In 1866 he acquired his present valuable farm of six hundred and eight acres, on which a larger portion of the town of Livermore is situated. In 1869 he had the town surveyed and platted, and through his efforts has sprung up one of the most prosperous interior towns of California. Soon after he donated to the Livermore College the land on which that institution stands, while he also gave an entire block for public school purposes. Besides many other gifts of a similar nature he gave thirty-two acres in order to secure the railroad depot to Livermore. During the winter of 1876 he erected the elegant mansion in which he now resides. Mr. Mendenhall still leads an active life. He is especially interested in the breeding of Angora goats, having as many as twelve hundred of them on his range, while he attends to his agricultural and pastoral interests with much attention, but by no means makes a toil of a pleasure. It is men such as he that have made the United States what it is. He has a family of nine surviving children, viz.: James M., Lizzie (now Mrs. C. H. Lindley of Stockton), Emma (now Mrs. Black of San Francisco), Ella, D. Archer, William, Oswald, Ascey, and Etta. Of the original ten that crossed the plains with Mr. Mendenhall from Missouri, only two now survive, namely our subject and N. B. Smith of Contra Costa County. Stebbins was killed in Los Angeles; Nash died in the mines in 1848; Dr. Semple died in Benicia; L. Hastings died in the Brazils; H. C. Smith died in Livermore; while Crosby, Locher, and Downing returned to the Eastern States.
[page 943] - The subject of our memoir, of whom an excellent portrait appears in this history, is a native of the Golden State, born in Sacramento, April 17, 1851, and is now in his thirty-third year, and, although still young, is one of the most energetic and leading spirits in the business circles in the beautiful little town which he has selected for his future home, Livermore. Remaining in his native city and attending the common schools until fourteen years of age, our subject then undertook the task of doing for himself, being employed in a telegraph office at Sacramento, from thence transferred to San Mateo, and from thence found employment in the telegraph office of Visalia, Tulare County. After a few months' sojourn in that place, he was transferred to Woodland, Yolo County, opening the first telegraph office there; when, after a short residence, and in the employ of the Western Union Telegraph Company, he returned to Sacramento. In 1867 we find Mr. Mitchel in the telegraph office at Stockton, San Joaquin County, but subsequently transferred to the engineer corps at that time building the Western Pacific Railroad, and in that capacity he helped to construct the Livermore tunnel, on the completion of which he was attached to the construction party as telegraph operator. On the finishing of the line of the Western Pacific Railroad our subject was placed in charge of the station at Midway, where he served for one year; but the business of that hamlet being of too small importance for a man of Mr. Mitchel's ability, he was promoted in September, 1870, to the agency at the flourishing town of Livermore, which is at present one of the most important stations on the line between San Francisco and Sacramento. Here, in the capacity of station-agent and Wells, Fargo & Co.'s agent, the gentleman whose name appears above has labored for the past twelve years, with the utmost satisfaction to his employers and the public alike. Mr. Mitchel is truly a self-made man; through his own exertions he has placed himself in the front rank among the business men of the community in which he lives, having thrice been elected a town trustee, and his counsel is always sought on any scheme for the welfare and advancement of the business interests of Livermore, while he is a prime mover in public improvements and charitable matters. He is also the representative of the Home Mutual and several other prominent insurance companies for Murray Township, and a leading member and officer in the Masonic, Odd Fellows, and other fraternities. [page 944] In August, 1872, Mr. Mitchel was united in marriage, in San Francisco, to a most estimable young lady, Miss Cora B. Belleau, a native of that city, by which union they have three children, viz.: Maude, Tottie, and Mabel.
[page 950] - The subject of this sketch is a native of Ireland, born in County Clare, where he spent his youth and early manhood until twenty years of age, when he emigrated to Canada, and there resided for four years. His next move was to the land of the free, and in the spring of 1868 he emigrated to California. Coming via Panama he arrived in San Francisco April 23d of the above year. A few weeks later we find him in Alameda County, and in 1869 he purchased some property near where he now resides, and there laid the foundation for the successful business in which he is now engaged, adding by purchase from time to time until the fall of 1882 we find him with a sheep ranch of some four thousand acres located about two miles from Midway. In the spring of the following year he added another four thousand acres to his already large estate, and has now one of the largest ranches in Alameda County, and is the acknowledged king of that industry in this section of the State, having from five to eight thousand head of sheep on his range. Mr. Mulqueeney is a kind-hearted and genial gentleman, and is universally respected by all who know him, and with his excellent wife enjoys the blessings of a happy home. They have a family of two children, John F. and Michael C.
[page 951] - Born in County Monaghan, Ireland, in the year 1829, and was the son of Dennis Murphy, a surgeon in the British army, who fought in the War of 1812. When twelve years of age he came alone to St. John's, New Brunswick, and subsequently moving to Milford, Worcester County, Massachusetts, there found employment in a general merchandise store, where he remained until the fall of 1849. In that year, so dear to the heart of the pioneer, he started for California by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and after suffering shipwreck on the coast of Mexico, ultimately arrived in San Francisco in January, 1850. Finding employment in Marin County until 1854, in the spring of that year he went to Massachusetts, but shortly after returned to the Pacific Coast, and locating in the Bay City, engaged in the livery business as proprietor of the Pioneer Stable. There he remained until the spring of 1856, when he moved to Alameda County and pitched his tent in Washington Township not far from the Alviso school house. There he purchased a ranch about two miles north of where now stands the town of Decoto, and engaged in farming until 1863; but selling out at this time he transferred his habitation to Alvarado and was in business there until 1869, farming near that place for the subsequent two years. In 1871 he arrived in Murray Township and leased a portion of the Dougherty Ranch where he dwelt until March, 1876, He then moved to Dublin and engaged in hotel-keeping until his decease on October 23, 1881. Married, April 12, 1855, Miss Margaret Crowley, a native of County Cork, Ireland, by whom he left five children, viz.: Mary E. (now Mrs. O. R. Owens), Edward D., Francis A. (now Mrs. T. H. Thorndyke), Daniel J., John W.
[page 953] - The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this history, was born January 19, 1819, in Carlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden. His mother Amalia Gmehli was born in the town of Mühlheim on the upper Rhine. His father, George Nusbaumer, born in Switzerland, entered the army of Napoleon I. at an early age; serving in the medical department through all those memorable campaigns. For conspicuous services rendered at the grand catastrophe of the "crossing of the Beresina" he received the highest decoration of honor, at the end of the great historical drama. After completing his medical studies at Heidelberg, he established himself at Carlsruhe and subsequently became one of the most renowned surgeons of his time. Louis was born in the second year of their marriage; his mother died the year following. After passing the Lyceum and attending lectures at the Polytechnic Institute, Louis, at the age of seventeen, entered a mercantile house in Frankfort on the Main. From nineteen to twenty-one he spent on one of those large model farms to obtain a practical insight of farming. At twenty-one he entered a jewelry establishment as book-keeper in the city of Pforzheim. At twenty-three years he married a young lady of that place named Elizabeth Roth, born September 5, 1824, in Mobile, Alabama, she had returned with her parents to Germany at the age of five. Nusbaumer now rented a large estate on Lake Constance on the upper Rhine, where they lived nearly two years. Here again they met with heavy losses through misplaced confidence, and but for the constant and faithful assistance of his young wife the situation would have been desperate. They now turned their thoughts to the great country in the far West. In June, 1847, they arrived in New York, on the ship Earl of Liverpool. [page 954] Nusbaumer soon obtained a situation in a jewelry establishment in Newark, N. J. In the fall of 1848, after the first exciting news from California had reached the States, Nusbaumer, like many others, was seized with the gold-fever. On the 20th of March, 1849, he, in company with sixty others, mostly Germans, left the city of New York, full of hope, on their journey overland, towards the gold-fields of California. The organization soon broke up and Nusbaumer arrived in company with others at Salt Lake, October 1, 1849, seven days later himself with five others resumed their journey westward. After traveling two hundred and fifty miles in ten days on foot they fell in with Capt. Hunt's train, consisting of one hundred and fifteen wagons. journeying with them ten days without much headway, Nusbaumer with several others left the train and took a random course towards "Walker's Cut-off." The third day the country ahead became utterly impassable for wagons. Henceforth, their journey was one of continuous hardships and privations, wagons and contents had to be abandoned and only the most needful articles packed on their cattle. Time and again, they were without water and food for days; most of their cattle perished. On the 19th of February, 1850, the last beef was killed; four days later, to their inexpressible joy, they struck Capt. Hunt's trail on the Mohave River, and six days more brought Nusbaumer and two more of the original company of sixty to the first Spanish ranch in Lower California, March 1, 1850. They soon made their way towards San Francisco. During the summer he mined in the Merced River. The spring following, April 5, 1851, his wife who had made the trip by steamer via Panama had joined him once more. With the exception of some eleven months spent in a trip to Oregon and back, they lived in San Francisco till the fall of 1856, when they moved on an eighty-acre farm on Dry Creek, Washington Township in this county, bought by C. Duerr for Nusbaumer and himself. October, 1857, Duerr and Nusbaumer rented the estate of John W. Kottinger, situated in Murray Township, embracing the larger part of the present town of Pleasanton for a term of five years. Their business here consisted of merchandising and sheep-raising. At the expiration of their lease 1862, they bought a joint interest in the Rancho El Valle de San José consisting of some three thousand acres, on part of which they made their permanent home. On the 25th May, 1876, Louis Nusbaumer met with irreparable loss in the sudden death of his estimable wife, his life-long companion, who always encouraged and faithfully assisted him in their many grievous trials in their younger days. To her untiring industry is due a very large part of the success that finally crowned their efforts. From this shock Nusbaumer never entirely recovered. On the 10th day of July, 1878, he, too, died at the age of sixty. They left four children George Louis, Albert, Emil, and Bertha, aged respectfully thirty-one, twenty-nine, twenty-seven, and twenty years; all of whom are permanent residents of Alameda County. Personally Mr. Nusbaumer was a remarkable man in many ways; below medium height, compelled through nearsightedness to wear eyeglasses at all times, he was physically of great endurance, a great hunter, an expert shot, an accomplished rider, and an entertaining companion, warm-hearted and generous to a fault, always ready, to forgive. His many noble qualities of heart and mind will ever be remembered by his many friends.
[page 956] - Was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, May 26, 1814. He resided on his father's farm until he attained the age of sixteen years, when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Lodi Plains, Michigan. Here he received his education and resided for fourteen years. At this time Mr. Overacker took unto himself a wife, and transferring his habitation to McHenry County, Illinois, there dwelt two years, when he moved to Jones County, Iowa, and engaged in farming at that place for twenty years. In 1854 he traded his farm to a Mr. Hollenbeck for sheep in California - what was supposed to be a goodly herd - and forthwith proceeded to the Pacific Coast to take possession, but found on arrival at Centreville, that there were only five hundred head all told. For two years our subject was a resident of the Centreville district; he then removed to Murray Township, and in 1866 purchased his present property, comprising three hundred and twenty acres, situated one mile east from Livermore, where he engaged in general farming. Mr. Overacker has held the office of Secretary of the Board of School Trustees for five years. Married, August 28, 1836, Miss Phoebe W. Patterson, a native of the State of New York, by whom there has been a family of seven children, five of whom survive, viz.: Horace T., George P., Mary (now Mrs. J. L. Weilbye), Lula (now Mrs. L. A. Summers), and Alice P. (now Mrs. Geo. Hawkins).
[page 957] - Was born in the Isle of Anglesea, North Wales, March 31, 1846, and there resided until he attained the age of eighteen years. He then emigrated to California by way of Panama, arriving in San Francisco April 30, 1863. After passing three years as shipping-clerk in the employ of Charles Clayton, San Francisco, he came to Alameda County, commenced farming on the Dougherty Ranch, and there continued until 1869, when he moved to Livermore and the place on which he now lives, having some fifteen hundred acres under cultivation. These he relinquished in 1882, when he purchased one hundred and eighty acres, and is now engaged in agricultural pursuits of a general nature. Married in Dublin, Alameda County, February 24, 1878, Miss Mary E. Murphy, a native of Alvarado, Alameda County, by whom he has had a family of three children, viz.: William J. (deceased), Edward Roland, and Owen R., Jr.
[page 958] - Was born in Greene County, East Tennessee, March 23, 1820, but at nine years of age was taken by his parents to Greeneville District, South Carolina, where he attended school and resided for nine years. At this period of his life he proceeded to Jackson County, Missouri, and while a resident of that place made two trips to Santa Fé, the first journey being undertaken in 1842, and the second in the following year. On his return from this last expedition he went to a place called Pueblo, on the Arkansas River, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, but he returned shortly after and made a trip to Georgia, after which he came back to Missouri in 1842. In 1846 he left for the then little known region of the Pacific Coast, and after enduring the thousand and one hardships incidental to crossing the plains at that early date, arrived at the hospitable gates of Sutter's Fort, September 5, 1846. He now returned to meet his fellow-immigrants, whom he had left at Fort Hall, and failing in with them at the place where the town of Wadsworth now stands, on the Truckee River, accompanied them into the sloping valleys and rolling foot-hills of California, once more arriving at Sutter's Fort, in the month of October. He here joined Fremont's Battalion, Company C, Captain Granville Swift, and J. C. Baldridge, Lieutenant, and with it served until 1847, when he entered the quartermaster's department of the regular army, where he was civilly employed. In the fall of that year he was engaged by Governor Mason and Secretary of State Halleck to carry the United States Mail from Monterey to San Francisco, which he did until June, 1848. And now there was no doubt that the cañons of the Sierras teemed with gold; therefore, Mr. Patterson proceeded to the American River, and embarked in the exciting pursuit of gold-hunting. By the fall of that year he had drifted down to the Tuolumne Mines, where now is the town of Sonora; but at the end of six months left to winter in the Pueblo de San José. In the spring of 1850 he kept a feed and livery stable, in partnership with his brother, in Stockton, and in the month of March of the same year removed to the Las Positas Rancho of Robert Livermore, where he remained until March, 1851, building a house, however, during 1850, on the property now known as "Negley's Place," two miles from the spot now called Bantas. In June, 1851, Mr. Patterson returned to Missouri, and thence visited his birthplace in Tennessee, returning to Missouri in 1852; and there, with his brothers, A. J. and D. C. Patterson, he fitted out a freight team for Salt Lake City and California, where they arrived in the latter half of the same year. [page 959] Having remained in the Golden State until November, 1853, at that time we find our subject once more returning to Missouri, where, in the following spring, he fitted out another train for Salt Lake and California. The journey from the first-named place was undertaken by way of the Sink of the Humboldt, and here commenced a series of misadventures that culminated in their being obliged to leave thirty new wagons on the desert between the Humboldt and Carson Rivers, on account of the live-stock being taken sick. Leaving a brother in charge of the train, Mr. Patterson pushed on to the Livermore Valley in a wagon; there he settled and commenced operations on his present place in October, 1854, since when he has been engaged in pastoral and agricultural pursuits. Married in Independence, Missouri, April 12, 1852, Miss Kate Simpson, a native of Tennessee, and has had seven children, only two of whom survive, viz.: Charles T. and Susie (now Mrs. Davis). Those deceased are: Nellie, Lee, Frank, Andrew, and Willie.
[page 961] - Was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, May 25, 1824, learned the trade of carpenter, and resided there until he made up his mind to face the trials of a journey to the newly discovered gold-mines of California. On March 10, 1849, Mr. Pope sailed out of New York Harbor, on board the bark Mallory, via Cape Horn for San Francisco, where he arrived on the 13th September. He at once proceeded to the Mariposa Mines, and there was engaged with pans and pick until 1854, in the fall of which year he came to Alameda County, and located on the farm now owned by J. P. Smith, in Livermore Valley, where he followed stock-raising as an occupation, and resided for eleven years. Selling out in 1865 to Sanders Simpson, he moved farther up the valley and purchased his present property of one hundred and sixty acres, to which, however, he has since added, until his possessions now comprise fully three thousand acres. Mr. Pope is principally engaged in sheep-farming, his stock on hand numbering twenty-five hundred head. He was once elected to the office of Justice of the Peace, but declined to serve; while he lives, it may be said, a happy and contented life, although it is one of single blessedness.
Was born in Monmouth County, New Jersey, August 12, 1848, and there learned the trade of machinist and engineer. He left the Eastern States November 10, 1871, for California, and on arrival first located in San Francisco, where he remained working at his calling for ten years, during a portion of which time (six years and a half) he was chief engineer of the cable road of the Clay-street Railroad Company. [page 962] On October 1, 1881, he came to Alameda County, located in Livermore, leased the Livermore Hotel, added considerably to it, and has made it one of the best hostelries in the county. It is situated at the corner of Main and Lizzie Streets, opposite Mill Square. He married in San Francisco October 13, 1875, Miss Julia A. Barss, a native of Placerville, El Dorado County, California.
[page 968] - Was born in Westphalia, Germany, May 19, 1826. Having resided with his parents until he attained the age of twenty-six years, our subject then sailed from Bremen for the United States, and arrived in New York in October, 1852. He afterward engaged in the grocery business in that city for five years, and in April, 1858, sailed by way of Panama for the Pacific Coast, arriving in San Francisco in the following month of May, with his brother Charles Rose. After working in a brewery for nine months, he returned to the Eastern States on business, but in the short space of twenty days, his face was once more turned towards California. On arrival he stayed for a little time in San Francisco, when he left and commenced teaming from Sacramento across the Sierra Nevada to Virginia City, and was the first to bring a load of freight to the town of Austin, Nevada. This occupation Mr. Rose followed for about four years, when he came to Alameda County, first located on the place now owned by Hon. Daniel Inman, but, November 1, 1866, settled on his present valuable property of one hundred and sixty acres, situated two miles and a half northeast from Livermore, where he is engaged in general farming and fruit-raising Mr. Rose married in Livermore, Alameda County, California, Miss Amy Lindermann, a native of Holstein, Germany, and has eight children, viz.: Frederick C., William, Amy, John, Rudolph, August, Albert, and George W.
The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Pico, Azores Islands, in the month of May, 1850. At the age of thirteen years, becoming very anxious to make the Golden State his abode, he determined to leave not a stone unturned to gain this end, but at the very outset he was faced with a difficulty that would have deterred a less stanch heart. By the laws of Portugal no youth of thirteen years was permitted to leave the country or its dependencies. To get to California, however, Mr. Rose was determined; therefore he resorted to strategy to effect his purpose. At that time he had an uncle leaving for the United States, and him he determined to accompany, therefore, in spite of the existing enactment, he resolved to conceal himself on board of the vessel, when on board ostensibly to bid farewell to his relative, and not to make his appearance until well out to sea and beyond the reach of Government inspectors. This he was successful in accomplishing, and after a voyage of seventeen days, landed in Boston, Massachusetts, in June, 1864. Twelve days thereafter he sailed for California, arriving in San Francisco in August of the same year. First settling in Brooklyn Township, Alameda County, he there worked on a farm for two years, after which he moved to the Moraga Valley, Contra Costa County, and there took contracts to supply the mills with wood. In the fall of 1868 he moved to Haywards Cañon, where he had a number of men employed in cutting wood and teaming, for the above purpose. In 1871 he transferred his residence to Murray Township, purchased from Mrs. La Grange her ranch, consisting of two hundred and fifty-seven acres, and subsequently contracted to furnish the Central Pacific Railroad Company with wood, he having as many as two hundred and fifty men engaged in procuring it. In September, 1874, he espoused Miss Josephine, daughter of Augustin Bernal, who departed this life in October, 1875, leaving an infant daughter, who died in April, 1876. In 1875 Mr. Rose purchased from Guadalupe Bernal a ranch comprising five hundred and thirty-five acres, situated about one mile east from Pleasanton, which, in 1881, he subdivided into sixteen tracts for vineyard purposes, many of which have been sold and planted in grapes and other fruits, he still possessing three hundred and fifty acres of it, one hundred and fifty acres being under grapes put in by himself in the spring of 1882 In June, 1881, he was united in marriage to Miss Sallie N. Mark, a native of Ohio, and daughter of Dr. I. N. Mark, of Pleasanton, whose portrait and biographical sketch are in this volume. [page 969] In 1878 our subject purchased the property then called the "Pleasanton Hotel," which in 1880 he rebuilt, changed its name to the "Rose Hotel," and made it one of the finest hostelries in the State. Mr. Rose also owns seven hundred and fifty acres of the Bolsa Rancho, famous as having the richest and most prolific soil in the county. Thus it is that small beginnings backed by honesty, always develop into great endings. Still young and more than ordinarily energetic, Mr. Rose has a long life of much usefulness before him.
[page 973] - Was born in Canada East, in April, 1838. When sixteen years of age he emigrated to California by way of New York and the Isthmus of Panama, arriving in San Francisco November 2, 1855. Having passed about two years and a half in the mines of Tuolumne County, he came to this county, en route to San Joaquin, and finally returned to Tuolumne. Mr. Sinclair subsequently returned to San Joaquin County, where he was variously employed until 1862, in which year he located at Haywards, Alameda County, and there resided until June, 1871. At this time he moved to Murray Township, located on his original farm of one hundred and sixty acres, to which he has since added until it now comprises five hundred and sixty-nine acres, on which he is engaged in general farming. He is married, and has three children: Duncan R., Annie B., and Robert Arthur.
[page 975] - This well-known and much respected pioneer, a son of the late Major Timothy S. Smith, United States Army, was born at Fort Defiance, Ohio, October 25, 1824, but when two years old was taken by his father to South Bend, Indiana, and. in 1827 to St. Joseph, Michigan. In July, 1845, he emigrated to California. He left Fort Independence, Missouri, August 12, 1845, and after passing through many perils and hardships, arrived at Sutter's Fort on Christmas Day of that year. In 1846 he entered upon military service under the celebrated Bear Flag, and served under General Fremont in his battalion, and remained in the service of the United States until peace was declared between Mexico and the United States. He was one of the first Alcaldes appointed by General Riley, Military Governor of California. In 1852 he was elected to the Legislature from Santa Clara County, and acquitted himself with much credit, and materially aided in the organization of Alameda County out of those of Contra Costa and Santa Clara. In March, 1855, he was elected a Supervisor from Washington Township; on September 3, 1855, he was re-elected to the Board, and on its organization, September 12, 1855, was chosen chairman, which position he held while he continued a member, to December 1, 1856, when he was succeeded by Joseph R. Mason. In 1859 he was the candidate of the Democratic Party for County Clerk, but was unsuccessful, his opponent, Joseph R. Mason, being elected by a majority of thirteen votes. In 1861 he removed to the State of Nevada with his family, and remained there till the summer of 1864, when he returned to Alameda County. While in Nevada he ran for the Assembly, but was defeated. In 1867 he removed to Livermore Valley, where he settled on a quarter-section of Government land, and continued to reside there until within a few weeks of his death. He was elected a Justice of the Peace for Murray Township in October, 1871, and assumed the duties of his office on January 1, 1872. He resigned in December, 1872, and died in Livermore November 24, 1875. Mr. Smith was a very genial and warm-hearted man, who never tired of serving his friends and making himself useful in the community. Married in California in the year 1846, Miss Mary Vangorden, a native of Niles, Michigan, and left a family of four children, viz.: Julia A., Emma L., Franklin Pierce, Charles Henry. The eldest is now Mrs. F. Hargrave.
[page 976] - Whose portrait appears in this history, the only child of John and Elizabeth Smith, was born in the parish of Kilmars, near Kilmarnock, in Scotland, on the 19th of September, 1845. In 1848 his father sailed for Vancouver Island under contract with the Hudson Bay Company, to open and work a coal mine which they had discovered, but on his arrival the company claimed the right to dictate new terms, and as with them in early times, might made right, Smith refused to go on with the work, but availed himself of an opportunity to come to California, which he did in 1849, and settled in Benicia, where quite a number of Scotch people were then located, many mechanics finding profitable employment in the machine shop of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, Smith among the number. [page 977] In 1852 he removed with his family to San Ramon Valley, locating near where Danville now stands, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1864. "Scotch Smith," as he was generally called, and his wife, were pioneers in every sense of the word. Their door was always open to the needy, and no road was too long for Mrs. Smith to go if she could assist the suffering or alleviate their distresses. The same qualities of heart and mind actuated their son, who grew to manhood on the same farm located by his father. In boyhood the advantages for schooling were not very good, and we find the subject of our sketch, in 1864, at the time his parents both died, with only a limited education, as far as books are concerned, but thoroughly posted as to the qualities of a good horse. And it used to be said that if there was a wild horse that no one else would ride, "take it to Jimmy Smith." When his parents were aware that they were soon to be called away, they were much concerned for the future of their only child, surrounded as he was, and had been, by the influences of early California society, but on their making their anxieties known, he immediately relieved their concern by promising them that he would discontinue his dealings with fast horses, and as soon as possible would go to school, and try to make himself worthy of them, their confidence, love, and name. The year succeeding the death of his parents, we find him busily engaged in clearing off the obligations left upon the estate by their long illness, and the loss of stock consequent upon the drought of 1863 and 1864; he had given his two favorite race-horses to a friend, and was ready at the end of the year to go to school. He became a student of the Oakland Military Academy, and devoted himself to study for two years, so attentively that, at the close of the second year, he was offered a position as instructor in the Academy. He accepted, and for two years taught with a success gratifying to both his Principal and himself. It was while teaching in the Academy that he met Miss Addie Luelling, daughter of Seth and Clarissa Luelling, of Milwaukee, Oregon, who afterwards became his wife. Mr. Smith, finding his presence on the farm necessary to perfect the location made by his father, resigned his position in the Academy and went upon the farm to reside. He was soon engaged to teach the San Ramon School, which he could do and retain his residence upon the farm, to supervise the work. On February 22, 1870, J. D. Smith was married to Miss Addie Luelling, in Oregon, but returned and immediately began teaching, which he has continued to do, with unvarying success, up to the present time. He taught two years in the public school in San Ramon, which position he resigned to accept the Principalship of the San Leandro School. This he held two years, and resigned to accept a Professorship in Washington College, in Alameda County, which position he held for two years, and resigned to take charge of Livermore College. This institution he purchased from its founders, Mr. and Mrs. Kingsbury, in 1875, and has enlarged it from time to time to accommodate the increasing patronage. Livermore College owes its success as an educational institution to Prof J. D. Smith's vital energy as a man, and capacity as an instructor. The thoroughness of his work is attested by the fact that of the many who have prepared for public school work in the normal course of Livermore College, not one has failed before any of the county boards in their examination for teachers' certificates. It is worthy of mention, also, that no year passes that he does not extend a helping hand to some worthy young man or young woman who is striving to obtain an education. Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Smith have only one child, a son, Duncan L. Smith, born March 16, 1874.
[page 979] - Was born in Brownyille, Jefferson County, New York, October 23, 1828. Here he resided on a farm with his father until he attained the age of twenty-three years, when, in May, 1852, accompanied by one sister, he started for California by way of the Nicaragua Route, and arrived in the State July 7th of the same year. Coming direct to Alameda County, our subject located in Union City, now Alvarado, and embarked in a mercantile and milling, forwarding and commission business, there remaining, until 1858, when he transferred his merchandise to Centreville. In 1869 he moved his flouring-mills to Livermore, where he is now extensively engaged in producing flour, and grain-buying, as well as in general mercantile affairs. Mr. Stevens is also an extensive farmer, owning one hundred acres of land adjoining the town of Livermore, and many other ranches in the county, besides possessing a large property in the city of Oakland, where his family resides. Mr. Stevens has also served the county in the capacity of Tax-collector for two years, in 1874 and 1875, while he is recognized to be a leading business man of keen perception and rare integrity. Mr. Stevens is married and has three children, viz.: Albert B., Mellie, and Daisy.
[page 981] - The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Erie County, Pennsylvania, July 9, 1825, and is the son of Silas and Susannah (Ward) Stone. Having resided with his parents until he reached man's estate, April 1, 1847, in company with William Meek, a party of twenty families and forty-nine wagons, he crossed the plains to Oregon, where he arrived on the 13th Of September, driving one of the first wagons over the Cascade Mountains, via the Barlow route. Settling on the Clatsop Plains, Mr. Stone commenced farming, an occupation he followed until the spring of 1849, when he came by water to California, and passed the interval between April and August of that year in the mines. The next twelve months he followed teaming, after which he commenced dealing in cattle, horses, etc., in Colusa County. In the spring of 1860 he came to Alameda county, settled on his present property, consisting of two hundred and fifty-six acres, and has since resided there, honored and respected by his fellow-citizens. He married, May 14, 1857, Miss Kate A. Barker, and has three children, viz.: Jenny F., Egbert B., and Andrew L.
[page 983] - The subject of this sketch, whose portrait will be found in the pages of this history, was born in Pueblo de San José, Upper California, June 10, 1835. His father, Don Antonio Suñol, was one of those grand noblemen cast in nature's mold. His birthplace was Barcelona, in Spain, but a love for the French people induced him to enter their naval service, and he was present when Napoleon I. surrendered as a prisoner before his exile to the island of St. Helena. Coming to Monterey as long ago as the year 1818, he cast his lot in the country, married Senora Dolores Bernal, one of its beautiful daughters, in or about the year 1823, in San José, where they had long been settled. In or about the year 1839 the Rancho Valle de San José was granted to Don Antonio Suñol and others - a vast tract of fertile land, embracing eleven leagues, or four thousand eight hundred acres - while during his life in the country he held several high offices of responsibility and trust. Don Antonio was born in the year 1797; he died at his residence in San José, March 19, 1865, having earned in life by his generosity the respect of the entire community. He left a family, five of whom are now living, viz.: Paula (Sainsevain), Incarnacion (Elchebarne), José Narciso, Antoneta (Murphy), José Dolores. Our subject, the eldest son, at the age of fourteen years was sent to Europe, and received his education at the Lycée de Bordeaux, where he took a commercial course, and after five years returned to California, when he settled in the Suñol Valley, where he has since been engaged in farming. He married, January 6, 1858, Miss Maria Rosario Palomares, a native of San Jose, and daughter of Francisco and Margarita (Pacheco) Palomares, by which union there are six surviving children, viz.: Margarita, Virginia, Frances, Eulalia, Josephine, and Juanita.
The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, is a native of Cayuga County, New York, where he was born in the year 1833. [page 984] Losing his parents when yet a child, Mr. Taylor lived under the care of an uncle until old enough to do battle with the world. Having worked for some time upon a farm, in 1852 he emigrated by way of Panama to California, and on arrival in San Francisco, immediately proceeded to Sacramento, where he started a vegetable garden in January, 1852, and conducted it for two years. Mr. Taylor now returned for a short time to the Bay City, and finally crossed over to Alameda County, to Washington Township, where he worked on a farm for about a twelvemonth. He now rented a ranch near Dry Creek, which he farmed for one season, when he purchased a tract of two hundred and fifty acres situated between Niles and Mission San José, where he resided twenty years. He then disposed of the place, removed to the Livermore Valley, and, purchasing the ranch known as the "Big Field," there resided until his death, on August 7, 1881. Mr. Taylor married February 15, 1860, Miss Rachel A. Cheney, by whom there are seven children living, viz.: Alice A., Helen H., George K., Louisa M., Florence K., Mamie R., and Lillie. There are four deceased, whose names were: Thomas, Mary Ann, John, and Janie.
Is a native of Bristol County, Massachusetts, and was born November 19, 1825. When but six years of age he was taken by his parents to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where his father engaged in farming, and our subject resided until leaving for the Golden State. On November 12, 1853, he started for New York, and on the 19th sailed therefrom for California, where he arrived December 24th, by way of the Nicaragua Route. The first six months in the State he passed in Martinez, Contra Costa County, and then coming to Alameda County, located in Eden Township, where he embarked in agricultural pursuits, on the place now owned by Mr. Stone. Here he remained until 1860, when he spent a year in Sonoma County, and subsequently returned to Haywards, where he dwelt until 1867. In that year he removed to the Townsend Ranch in Murray Township, where he farmed twelve hundred acres for eleven years. He afterwards lived for two years on the farm now occupied by Mr. Robinson, and in 1880 took up his abode in Livermore, where he now resides. Mr. Taylor has held the office of Justice of the Peace for Eden Township. He is married, and has a family of three sons, viz.: Edwin, Joseph B., and George V.
The subject of this biography was born June 24, 1847, in Saltsburgh, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. His parents and grandparents were natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia, of Scotch Irish parentage. During his boyhood his father was engaged in the mercantile business, but this being foreign to the aspirations of the son, he was kept more or less regularly at school, with a view of studying theology. But maturer years, with a better judgment, led him to choose an occupation requiring less eloquence. At the age of twenty, leaving school, he engaged in the service of a civil engineer, on the Southwestern Railroad, in Tennessee, then under construction, where he remained nearly a year, when the railroad company failed financially and suspended operations. Having a desire to follow the business, he sought employment elsewhere, but failing to find a position for immediate employment, he returned home and resumed his studies, continuing at the same, with the exception of one year, when he was employed as Principal of the public school in his native town, then of about one thousand inhabitants, until the spring of 1871, at the age of twenty-four, when he began the study of medicine, under the care of Dr. J. L. Crawford. He attended medical lectures during the sessions of 1871-72 and a portion of 1873, at Ann Arbor, Michigan. In the spring of 1872 he was married to Miss Martha E. Dickie, of a neighboring county. After studying and practicing under the supervision of his preceptor during the summer of 1873, he went to Philadelphia, where he graduated from Jefferson Medical College on March 11, 1874. He at once entered into partnership with his preceptor, which, however, was of brief duration, owing to the latter engaging in politics, and leaving the newly-fledged Doctor to his practice. After a year's practice he found it necessary to relinquish a good and flattering introduction to practice, for a less vigorous climate. [page 985] Consequently, in the spring of 1875, he came to San Francisco, locating on the corner of Sixth and Harrison Streets, where he remained until September 1st, when he returned to Pennsylvania on account of family sickness. Remaining at home a short time, he went to New York and Brooklyn, where he remained until June, taking special instructions in medicine. In June of this, the Centennial Year, at the public commencement of Washington and Jefferson College, the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him. In the early fall of 1876, with his wife and son, he returned to San Francisco. Finding his old corner taken, and with a family, and a somewhat depleted pocket-book he sought a field offering immediate returns, and that proved to be Livermore - intending, however, to return to the city. But a large practice, if not a very lucrative one, with faith in the future, a glorious climate, and good health induced him to remain, where he now practices his profession.
Was born in Pope County, Arkansas, September 5, 1838, and there farmed and worked in his father's saw-mill until he attained the age of nineteen years. On the 7th day of May, 1857, he started for California, by way of the plains, with ox-teams, three wagons, and a drove of cattle (fourteen hundred head), and, after a long and tedious march of nearly four months, arrived at Salt Lake City; and, after enduring many hardships during the winter, the journey was resumed. On the 13th day of April, he, with twenty-seven others, started afoot for California, a distance of eight hundred miles; and after the fatigues and hardships met - such as crossing large bodies of snow, and being scantily clad, and exposed to the wild savages, and living on flour alone - he ultimately arrived at Danville, Contra Costa County, in June, 1858. Here he found employment and remained until October, 1861, when he moved to Alameda County, engaged in farming for three years on a portion of the Dougherty Ranch, and then moved to the Bernal Ranch, near Pleasanton, where he remained two years. Having been engaged in farming and teaming, he was entirely uneducated, and so he then took all eighteen months' course at the college at Alamo, Contra Costa County, after which he engaged in teaming and freighting to Washoe for two years with moderate success. Subsequently he leased a farm on the Bernal Estate, which he occupied until 1874, in which year he purchased his present place, comprising two hundred and fifty acres, situated in close proximity to the town of Livermore, where he is engaged in general farming and stock-raising. Married at San Leandro, Alameda County, June 20, 1870, Miss Caroline E. Arnett, a native of Missouri, which was a happy and prosperous union until the 15th day of December, 1882, when, after a long and wasting attack of consumption, she departed from this world, leaving to mourn her loss himself and two children, a boy and a girl, named Franklin and Flora Elizabeth.
Was born in Bavaria, Germany, September 6, 1832. When but a little over three years of age, he was brought by his parents to the United States, and locating in New York, here our subject grew to man's estate, and learned the trade of baker. On February 19, 1852, he sailed from that city by way of Panama to California, and arrived in San Francisco after an unusually long voyage of four months, on June 27th. Mr. Thorn at once commenced working at his trade, and followed it in different places until 1855, when he opened a bakery and restaurant in Alvarado, Alameda County, in partnership with Conrad Hensel. Here he remained until 1858, when he engaged in business in the Bay City, but after a year he returned to Alvarado, and purchased the "Old Home" Hotel, which he conducted until 1864. [page 986] At this period he went back to San Francisco, opened a bakery, and followed that enterprise until the fall of 1866, when he once more crossed the bay to Alameda County, and resided for six months in Washington Township, at the end of which time he moved to Murray Township and settled on the place now owned by the Clark Brothers; subsequently, however, he removed to a farm situated about half a mile east of Livermore. In the fall of 1868 he sold out, returned to New York, and, after a visit of six months, came back to California and took up his residence on the farm he now occupies, situated four miles north from Livermore, and comprising one hundred and sixty acres. Married, June 14, 1857, Miss Barbara Link, a native of Bavaria, Germany, and has four children, viz.: Margaret E., George A., William P., and Joseph E.
This gentleman, whose portrait appears in this book, is a native of Saint Clair County, Illinois, and was born November 23, 1829. At the age of two years he was taken by his parents to Monroe County, and there he received his education, and resided until he reached man's estate. He then emigrated to California, sailing from New Orleans in the month of February, 1852, and after a delay of some forty days on the Isthmus, trying to secure a passage up the coast, he finally arrived in San Francisco by the steamer Oregon, April 6, 1852. Mr. Threlfall at once crossed the bay to Alameda County, and after a short stay moved to the San Mateo redwoods, where he worked as a teamster for four months, after which he returned to Alameda and worked in the harvest-field till October, at which date he went to the mines on the Yuba and Feather Rivers on a prospecting trip. Returning to Marysville he purchased teams, came to Alameda County and settled (December 1852) in Washington Township on a portion of the Band & Horner tract. The years 1863 and 1864 he spent his time between Sacramento, Folsom, Virginia City, and Austin, and, in 1865, located himself in Livermore Valley, and embarked in farming, which he continued until 1870. In 1869 he purchased a tract of twelve thousand six hundred and forty acres in Stanislaus County, to which he has since considerably added. His possessions in that county are seventeen thousand five hundred acres of land, stocked with twelve thousand head of sheep, four hundred head of cattle, and one hundred and twenty-five head of horses and mules, as well as some carp ponds which are prolific in their yield. Mr. Threlfall's residence is in Washington Township, where he has a model farm. It is no species of flattery to say that our subject is regarded by his fellow-citizens in the light of an honest, upright man, whose word is his bond, and whose integrity is undisputed. He married, October 16, 1861, Miss Helen Rix, and has four children, viz., Charles H., Nellie A., Angie M., and George A.
[page 993] - Was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, September, 2, 1828. In 1839 he was taken by his parents to Mississippi, where he learned the trade of blacksmith, and resided until March, 1851, when, in company with James W. Dougherty, he sailed from New Orleans by way of Panama, for San Francisco, where he arrived May 3, 1851. He went direct to Amador County, engaged at his trade, and resided there until the fall of 1868, when he came to Alameda County, leased his present farm, near Dublin, and carries on a general blacksmithing business. Married, December 31, 1854, in Amador County, Miss A. L. Fritze, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and has six children, viz.: John, Charles, Lee, Edmund, Thomas, and Grace.
[page 998] - Was born in the west of England, August 27, 1827. At the age of twenty-three years he emigrated to the United States; first settled in Ohio, and resided in the town of Pomeroy, Meigs County, in that State. Engaged in the grocery business until he started for California. On April 9, 1852, he turned westward, to Independence, Missouri, where, joining a train, he crossed the plains, and after many hair-breadth escapes, arrived at Yreka, September 21st of the same year. His first three years' residence in this State were passed in the mines he afterwards embarked in the cattle trade, proceeding to Oregon to purchase beeves, and driving them into California. In 1859 he drove a band of steers through the Livermore Valley to Haywards, and settling on the place now owned by David Thomas, better known as the Boomer Ranch, there resided until 1866. [page 999] In that year he disposed of his property, and took up his residence in Livermore Valley, leasing land for which he paid a sum total of $30,000. In 1881 Mr. Wynn purchased his present farm of three hundred and twenty acres, situated five miles east of the town of Livermore, where he is engaged in general farming. He never married.
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