USA > California > A Volume of memoirs and genealogy of representative citizens of northern California, including biographies of many of those who have passed away > Part 13
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Mr. Fithian engaged in mining at Goodyear Bar, eight miles below Downieville. While prospecting he got lost and while roaming around in search of his company he met another man who also was lost. While they were eating supper a third man came to them and offered to sell his claim and show them how to mine. They gave him one hundred dollars for the claim and rocker and the former proprietor showed them how to work it. He had not worked very far down into the water and was not very successful in gaining the gold. Mr. Fithian, however, got into the water and he and his partner made eighty dollars the first day. They worked there until fearful that the snows of winter would prevent them from leaving their claim and accordingly they went to Sacramento, Mr. Fithian taking with him two thousand dollars as the result of his labor.
In the capital city he purchased a lot of General Sutter and engaged in the manufacture of brick. He agreed to pay for his lot in brick to be taken the next spring at market price, and when the time came the price of brick was ninety dollars per thousand. The General thought this an enormous price to pay for brick, but he was compelled to live up to the condition of the bond. That proved a profitable venture for Mr. Fithian and he was making money rapidly when he was taken ill. Later he returned to the mine which he had previously worked and aided in the construction of a flume. There he again prospered, but he lost much of his money in mining speculations, retaining only seven thousand dollars; which he had buried.
In 1852 Mr. Fithian returned, by way of the water, to his old home and
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was married to Miss Leanora Fowler, a native of Hamilton county, Ohio. In 1856 he again came to California, bringing his wife and three little chil- dren, and again the journey was made by water. Five children have been born to them in California. Of the family of eight sons and daughters seven are now living, namely: Ephraim: Mrs. Ella Gregory; Matilda, the wife of J. M. Hammel; George. Elmer. William and Edward. Mr. Fithian came with his family to this state in 1857, and located on what was supposed to be state land, but after he had made a payment thereon and improved the property to a considerable extent he was ejected and lost all he had made with the exception of one thousand dollars. He then borrowed money and purchased a sawmill, after which he engaged in the manufacture of lumber, and soon after he had completed the payment on the mill it was destroyed by fire and he again lost all. He then turned his attention to freighting and farming. He purchased a tract of land in the edge of the town and has since resided there for the purpose of educating his children. Renting a ranch of eight hundred acres, he left his family at Ione while he lived on the ranch and continued its operations for nine years. His home is a pleas- ant residence near the banks of Sutter Creek, and there he and his wife are living.
In early life Mr. Fithian's love of liberty was very strong and led him to advocate abolition principles. At the time of the Civil war he was a stanch Republican, but it was under Republican management that he was dispossessed of his property and he has since been a Democrat. He has never been an office-seeker or secret-society man. His life has been one of marked industry, and when many men of ordinary resolution would have been discouraged by the difficulties and hardships he has met, he has worked on with determined purpose and at last has secured a comfortable compe- tence for himself and wife in their declining years.
Of Mr. Fithian's maternal ancestry we give the following outline : James Claypoole, who died October 16, 1599. had two sons: James, who was knighted in 1604, and Adam, who died in 1634. The children of the latter were Edward, John, Wingfield, Richard. Robert. Henry, Joanna, Dor- othy, Robert (2d), Morton, James. Adam and Jane. Of these James, born in 1621. emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1683 and died at Philadelphia in 1687. Ilis children were John, James, Nathaniel. George. Joseph, Mary, Helen and Priscilla. Joseph married Edith Ward and their children were George, Joseph. Rebecca, John, Josiah, Edith and James. George married Mary Morris and their children were Rebecca. George. Joseph, John, Han- nah, Mary and Deborah. Their father died May 19, 1809. Of the children Joseph, who was born July 15. 1734. married Mary Wilkinson and died May 19. 1809. Their children were Sarah, Hannah, Mary Morris, Deborah, Ann, Rebecca. Joseph and Elizabeth. Of these. Joseph, born in 1770, mar- ried Ann Woodhouse and died in 1802. Their children were William, George, Hannah, Rebecca, Joseph, Ann, Herriet. Mary and Julian ( twins) and Elizabeth. Hannah, born 1803. married Ephraim Fithian and died in 1887. Mr. Fithian was born in 1799 and died in 1878. Their children
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were Joseph Claypoole (the subject of the foregoing sketch), Sarah, Will- iam, Thomas and Matilda. Jospeh C. Fithian, born in 1826, married Leanora Fowler, who was born in 1833, and their children have been : Ella, born in 1853; Ephraim, 1855; Matilda, 1857; George, 1861; Elmer, 1863; Charles, born in 1868 and died in 1870; William, born in 1871; and Edward, 1874.
EDWARD G. FREEMAN.
For forty-six years Mr. Freeman has been a resident of California, and is now one of the highly respected business men of Jackson, Amador county. "Earn thy reward, the gods give naught to sloth," said the sage Epicharmus ; and the truth of the admonition has been verified in human affairs in all the ages which have rolled their course since his day. The subject to whose life history we now direct attention has, by ceaseless toil and endeavor, attained a marked success in business affairs, has gained the respect and confidence of men, and is recognized as one of the distinctively representa- tive citizens of Amador county.
A native of New York city, he was born on the 28th of February, 1830, and is of English lineage. His father, Samuel J. Freeman, was born in Lon- don and married Miss Ann Gunn, a native of Birmingham, England, by whom he had two children, born in England. One died before the emigra- tion of the family to America, but Esther came with her parents to the new world in 1830. The family located at New York, whence they removed to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and afterward to New Haven, where the father made a permanent location. He died in the forty-ninth year of his age, leaving four children, three of whom are now living: Eliza, the wife of L. S. Burwell, of Palo Alto, California; Emily, now the wife of J. G. Mc- Callum, of Los Angeles; and Edward Gunn, our subject. The father was a trunk manufacturer by occupation, and was a man of sterling worth, hon- orable in business and reliable in all life's relations. His wife long survived him and died at the home of her son in Jackson, when eighty-six years of age. Both were members of the Baptist church and were people of the highest respectability.
Edward G. Freeman was their third child and now the eldest survivor of the family. He was reared and educated in New Haven, Connecticut, and there learned the trade of harness and saddle maker. In February, 1852, he took passage on the Race Hound, a sailing vessel bound for San Fran- cisco, carrying three hundred on board. When rounding Cape Horn they encountered a severe storm, in which the masts and rigging of the vessel were torn away, and for a time it seemed that all on board must perish ; but at length the gallant ship weathered the gale and after considerable delay reached the harbor at San Francisco in safety, in the month of July. In company with John Veith, Dan McCarty and C. L. Parish, the last named now a resident of Oakland, Mr. Freeman went to Sacramento and thence by team to what is now Volcano, in Amador county. The four young men began prospecting on the forks of the Mokelumne river, and great excite-
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ment was caused when Mr. Freeman found a nice little nugget of gold worth a dollar and a quarter. The men took claims, which they operated for a time and then floated down the river to another mining claim. Mr. Freeman met with only moderate success in his mining ventures, and there- fore decided to engage in business in Jackson.
In October, 1854, he opened a little harness shop on Main street, just opposite the present site of his large variety store. He began business on a small scale, his store room being only fourteen by eighteen feet; but with characteristic energy he commenced the manufacture of saddlery and harness, and his excellent workmansip soon secured to him a liberal patronage. Prices were high in those days, a single saddle bringing from twenty-five to fifty dollars, while a heavy set of harness was worth fifty dollars. Mr. Freeman gave close attention to his business, and as a result of his steady application and honorable methods he met with well earned success. He is still dealing in harness, but is also at the present time the proprietor of a large variety store, which he carries on with the aid of his sons .. In 1862 he erected a good brick store building, in which his business is now located, and he also has a commodious residence on one of the beautiful hills of Jackson, fronting on Court street.
In 1861 Mr. Freeman was married to Miss Georgia Anna Fritz, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and they had two sons, E. A. and C. W., both born in Jackson. The former is now a lawyer of his native city and the latter is connected with his father in business. Mrs. Freeman died in 1869, and on the 14th of February, 1875, Mr. Freeman was again married, his second union being with Mattie Trowbridge, a native of California and the widow of Edward Trowbridge. Her father, William Gilliland, was a native of New York and in 1850 came to California, bringing with him his wife and three daughters. These are Mrs. James, Taylor: Caroline, the wife of Henry Bishop, who was a prominent early settler of Stockton; and Miss Helen, now deceased. Mrs. Freeman had two children by her former mar- riage: Lillie, now the wife of E. A. Freeman, her husband's eldest son; and Edna, the wife of T. H. Peek, a resident of Jackson. Two children have been born of the second marriage of our subject, Charles and Pearl, the former now in his father's store and the latter in school.
For many years Mrs. Freeman has been a valued member of the Meth- odist church. Mr. Freeman belongs to the Ancient Order of United Work- men and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has passed all the chairs in both branches of the latter organization and has frequently been a representative to the grand lodge. In politics he is a Republican, but has never been an aspirant for office, preferring to devote his time and energies to his business, in which he has met with creditable success. He has truly won the proud American title of self-made man, for he entered upon his business career without capital. Energy and indomitable perseverance have been the stepping stones on which he has risen to a position of afflu- ence. He is one of California's worthy and reliable citizens, and since early. pioneer days he has labored for the welfare of the state, proving especially
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active in the upbuilding of the northern section. He is highly esteemed for his integrity in all the walks of life and well deserves representation in this volume.
Since the writing of this sketch the death angel has visited this house- hold and claimed as his prey the life of our subject, his demise having occurred June 9, 1900, after a long drawn-out siege of suffering from tuberculosis. In his death the family have lost a kind and tender father and husband and the county of Amador one of its most representative and highly esteemed citizens. The past three years Mr. Freeman traveled considerably for his health, visiting in New York and friends at his old home in Connecticut, but relief was only temporary. Since his death his business has undergone but slight change, being incorporated under the name of the E. G. Freeman Company, his widow, daughter Pearl and two sons, C. W. and C. H., being the principal stockholders.
M. C. RANDOLPH.
The popular citizen of Quartz, Tuolumne county, California, whose name is above and who fills the responsible position of postmaster of the town mentioned, is a native born son of the Golden state and is descended from early California pioneers. He was born at Sutter Creek, Amador county, December 27, 1854, a son of Isaac N. and Mary Minerva ( Morrow ) Randolph. Isaac N. Randolph was born in Pennsylvania, January 27, 1824, and was educated in his native state and in Maryland. He served as a soldier in the United States army in the Mexican war, and in 1846 came to California, in the command of General Phil. Kearny, and was honorably discharged from the service at Sonoma, Sonoma county, in 1847. He engaged in the hotel business in that town and was married May 12, 1850, to Mary Minerva Morrow, a native of Missouri and a daughter of Samuel Morrow, who in 1846 came with his family to California, by way of Salt Lake. The family, which consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Morrow and their four sons and four daughters, camped in the mountains at Donner lake a short time before the Donner party met with its terrible fate at that point. Mr. Morrow settled in Sonoma county near Santa Rosa and farmed there until 1851, when he moved to South Creek with his family, which then included Isaac N. Ran- dolph and his wife. There Mr. Morrow and others of his party engaged in placer-mining and he was successful for a time, but sunk his gains in later mining enterprises. He died at the age of seventy-six years.
Isaac N. Randolph became a leading citizen of California, and, being a resolute man of much decision of character and of military experience, was several times elected to the office of constable and was for some years the sheriff of Amador county and did much toward ridding his part of the state of lawless characters, and was prominent in the capture of the Mexicans who committed the Rancheria massacre. He died March 26, 1883, aged fifty- nine years. His wife survives him and is now ( 1900) sixty-eight years old
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and is a well known and respected resident of Sutter Creek. Isaac N. and Mary Minerva ( Morrow) Randolph had five children, as follows: George S., a resident of Idaho; M. C., the immediate subject of this sketch; Orville C., who lives at Sutter Creek; Mary, who is Mrs. John Lithow, and Joseph S., of Sutter Creek.
The subject of this sketch was educated at Sutter Creek and at Napa College, and was in the real-estate and insurance business and in trade as a general merchant at Napa, Napa county, and at Quartz, Tuolumne county. Politically Mr. Randolph is a Democrat. He is a past president of the Amador Parlor of Native Sons of the Golden West, is a member of the Order of Red Men and of the Ancient Order of Foresters. He has a pleasant home at Quartz, where he has lived during the past five years and where he and his family are highly esteemed. He was married December 8, 1881, to Miss Mary H. Shaw, a native of Calaveras county, California, and a daughter of Mathew Shaw, who came to this state in 1858, and they have three chil- dren,-Ethel May, Edith and Frederick W.
AMOS P. CATLIN.
In the review of the history of Sacramento it will be found that this gentleman figured prominently in connection with the legal and judicial interests of central California, and that he was an active factor in the upbuild- ing and progress of the city. He left an indelible impress upon its public life. No resident of the community has ever been more respected and no man has ever fully enjoyed the confidence of the people or more richly deserved the esteem in which he is held. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his merits, rejoiced in his advancement and in the honors which he attained. Honorable in business, loyal in citizenship, charitable in thought, true to every trust confided to his care, his life was of the highest type of American manhood.
Mr. Catlin was a native of the Empire state, his birth having occurred in Red Hook, Dutchess county, on the 25th of January, 1823. The first of the name of Catlin of which we have record was Thomas Catlin, who came to this country from the county of Kent, England, in 1646 and took up his abode in Hartford, Connecticut. His posterity for five generations were born in Connecticut, the date of their births and deathis being as follows: Samuel Catlin, born November 4, 1673. died in the year 1768; John Cat- lin, born October 20, 1703, died in 1768; David Catlin, born April 6, 1747, died October 13, 1839; and Percy Catlin, born September 3, 1789. died July 31, 1872. David Catlin, the grandfather of our subject, was a captain in the Connecticut militia, and served in the action in which General Wooster was killed .- an attack made by the British general Tryon in the town of Danbury. Ile died at the age of ninety-two years. Ilis son, Percy Catlin, was a school-teacher and also, incidentally. a farmer, owning a large car-
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riage factory in Kingston, New York, and lived to the age of eighty-four years.
On the maternal side the subject of this review was of German lineage, the Winegar family, the original American ancestors, leaving the fatherland in the year 1700, and taking up their abode in Dutchess county, New York.
Judge Catlin spent his boyhood days in the Empire state, and was grad- uated in Kingston Academy, in Ulster county, in 1840. Determining to make the practice of law his life work, he began study under the preceptorship of the law firm of Forsythe & Linderman, both of whom were distinguished attorneys of eastern New York. When he had mastered many of the prin- ciples of jurisprudence, Judge Catlin passed an examination before the su- preme court of his native state, and was admitted to the bar on the 12th of January, 1844. He practiced some four years in Ulster county and then removed to New York city, where he formed a partnership with George Catlin, a connection that was maintained for about a year. The wide field of California, offering excellent opportunities to young men, attracted him, and on the 8th of January, 1849, he took passage on the bark David Hin- shaw, commanded by Captain David Pinkham, and sailed around Cape Horn, arriving at San Francisco on the 8th of July, following.
After a month spent in that city Mr. Catlin, like many of the early pio- neers, sought a fortune through mining and also practiced law in Sacramento county, near Mormon island. After spending the winter of 1849 in that locality he returned to Sacramento city, where he entered into partnership with John Currey, which connection was continued but a short time, how- ever, when Mr. Currey returned to San Francisco, owing to ill health. The practice of the Judge steadily increased, and his extensive clientage brought him into connection with much of the important litigation tried in the circuit and district courts of the state, in the courts of San Francisco and Sacra- mento, the supreme court of California and the United States courts. Ex- cellent success attended his efforts, and his marked ability won him prestige among representatives of the profession.
He also possessed superior literary ability, and at different times was the editor of the Sacramento Union. His political editorials were chiefly recognized as fair and impartial, and his editorials written at the time of the execution of Maximillian, and headed "The End of the Tyrant," at- tracted wide notice, and were copied by the leading Spanish papers of Mexico.
In 1891 he was elected a judge of the superior court of California, and served on the bench for six years. His course there won him the highest commendation, and his decisions were regarded as models of judicial sound- ness. His legal learning and analytical mind and readiness with which to grasp a point in an argument all combined to make him one of the most capable jurists that have ever graced a bench of the superior court, and his colleagues in the profession acknowledge him as a peer of any one who had ever occupied that position.
On the Ist of May, 1860, Mr. Catlin was united in marriage to Miss
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Ruth A. C. Donaldson, a native of Iowa. The Donaldsons on the maternal side trace their lineage to the well known Butler family, whose advent on this continent antedates the Revolutionary period. Her mother, Phoebe Butler, became the wife of A. C. Donaldson. She was a daughter of Lord Butler, a son of Zebulon Butler, of Revolutionary fame, who served as a colonel under Washington in the war for independence and commanded the right wing of the American forces in the battle of Wyoming. Mrs. Catlin, a lady of culture and refined qualities, died on the 17th of February. 1878, and her loss was deeply mourned by her many friends throughout the community. She left four children .- Alexander Donaldson, John Conyng- lame. Ruth Butler and Harry Crispell.
The Judge was never identified with any secret societies, but was an esteemed member of the Sacramento Society of California Pioneers, the California Historical Society, the Bar Association of San Francisco, and The Sons of the American Revolution.
As a practitioner he was remarkable among lawyers for his wide re- search and provident care with which he prepared his cases. . It no time had his reading ever been confined to the limitation of the questions at issue ; had gone beyond and encompassed every contingency to provide not alone for the expected, but for the unexpected, which happens quite as frequently in the courts as out of them. In public life he was an active factor in promot- ing the welfare of the city. He was largely instrumental in securing the permanent establishment of the capitol at this place, and at all times his inthis- ence was given to reform, progress and advancement along social, material and educational lines.
For two years just preceding his death his health failed greatly, while his patient endurance and persistent vitality blinded the public to that fact. Even while he appeared much as usual and attended to the duties of the firm of which he was the senior member, his family suffered much anxiety on his account. He suffered greatly at intervals. About the beginning of October, 1900, he was taken with a most severe attack of his malady, and though not confined to his bed, and often well enough to spend an afternoon at his office, he gradually succumbed to the weakness resulting from his intense suffering. On Sunday, November 4th, he suffered greatly, and through the night following. Early on the morning of November 5. he fell asleep quietly, and some time about 9:30 o'clock passed peacefully away. while still sleeping. He was buried in the city cemetery of Sacramento on the afternoon of November 8, 1900.
ANTHONY CAMINETTI.
The specific and distinctive office of biographer is not to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments, but rather to give a perpetual record of his character as established by the consensus of opinion on the part of his fellow men. That great factor, the public, is a discriminating factor, and yet takes cognizance not so much of insinuating ex-
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altation or subjective modesty as the intrinsic essence of character, striking the keynote of individuality and pronouncing judicially and unequivocally upon the true worth of the man, and invariably distinguishing the clear resonance of the true metal from the jarring dissonance of the baser. Thus, in touching upon the life history of the subject of this review, the biog- rapher would aim to give utterance to no fulsome encomium, to indulge in no extravagant praise; yet would he wish to hold for consideration those points which have shown the distinction of a pure, true and useful life,-one char- acterized by indomitable perseverance, broad charity, marked ability, high accomplishments and well earned honors. To do this will be but to reiterate the dictum pronounced by his fellow men.
Anthony Caminetti is a "native son of the golden west," his birth hav- ing occurred in Jackson, Amador county, on the 30th of July, 1854, and here his entire life has been passed. It was on the Ist day of that month that the county was organized, and therefore he has been identified with its progress, development and welfare throughout the entire period of its existence. As his name indicates, he is of Italian descent, his father, Roche Caminetti, having been born in Sicily, in 1821. He went to Boston, Massa- chusetts, in 1839, and in 1849 came to California with the Argonauts who sailed around Cape Horn from New York in search of the golden fleece. He became the owner of one of the rich placer claims of Ohio Hill, and has been engaged in mining and farming up to the present time. He is now in the seventy-eighth year of his age, one of the highly respected pioneers who has borne his share of hardships of life on the frontier, and has met with losses and successes. He was married in Boston to Miss B. Guisto, a native of that city, and to them were born eleven children, of whom five are still living. The mother also survives, and the worthy couple have many warm friends in Jackson, where they make their home.
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