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 29
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Mokelumne Hill. Two died of diphtheria. Those who survive are Henry, now the tax collector of Calaveras county; Fred, who is the proprietor of the Metropolitan Hotel, the leading house of entertainment at San Andreas: and Tessie, a popular school-teacher of Calaveras county, who is at present filling the office of deputy tax collector.
Mr. and Mrs. Wesson have both lived more than a half century in Cali- fornia and are proud of having witnessed its development. They possess many winning qualities of head and heart, which endear them to all who know them, and have such a place in public esteem as properly belongs to such old and good citizens.
JOSEPH B. POWNALL.
Joseph Benjamin Pownall is numbered among California's native sons and is now filling the important position of secretary and superintendent of the Tuolumne County Water Company, of which he is one of the heaviest stock- holders. Through the years of his manhood, as well as through the period of his youth, he has always resided in Columbia ; therefore his history is famil- iar to its citizens. His large circle of friends is an indication that his has been an upright and honorable career, and his prominence in business circles is widely recognized by all who know him. He was born on the 5th of Jan- uary. 1858, and is of English descent, although four generations of the family have been born in the United States.
His father, Dr. Joseph Pownall, was a native of Hackettstown, New Jersey, born on the 8th of August. 1818, where he received his primary edu- cation. He was one of the California "Argonauts," joining a party which started out in search of the "golden fleece" on the 28th of March, 1849, for the tales of the wonderful discoveries on the Pacific Coast led many men to believe that they might rapidly acquire a fortune in the far west. He crossed the plains on the southern route, making the journey from Texas with a party that traveled under the command of Captain J. H. Duval. There were between one hundred and twenty and one hundred and thirty in the company and I. G. Messec, who now resides in Gilroy, Californa, was their lieutenant. They secured their outfit at El Paso, Texas, and started on the long journey across the alkali plains of the south and over the mountains that had hardly been trodden before by white men. They met a number of hostile Indians, but snc- ceeded in purchasing their good will by gifts of food and tobacco, the latter being in great demand by the red men. They swam the Colorado river near the present site of Fort Yuma, where they arrived safely about the 20th of July, 1849. They then proceeded on their way to Los Angeles, and thence to San Francisco.
AAt the age of nineteen Dr. Pownall commenced the study of medicine. under Dr. William Rea, and in the spring of 1841 attended a course of lec- tures at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at New York city, followed by another course during the summer and fall at Pittsfield. Massachusetts; then returned and entered the medical department of the University of the
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City of New York, at its first session in the fall and winter of 1841-2, at which he was graduated on the 9th of March, 1842. After graduation he went south to practice his profession, locating first at Savannah, Georgia. Then he went to Laurens county, Georgia, where he remained for six months. He then went to Micanopy, Alachua county, Florida, remaining there until about July 1, 1846, when he went to New Orleans. He then went with the American army to Matamoras and Monterey, Mexico, intending to join the staff of sur- geons connected with the army. Not liking this kind of practice, he returned to New Orleans January 1, 1847, where he remained until September, 1848, when he moved to Keachie, De Soto parish, Louisiana, where he practiced until his departure for California.
Notwithstanding the fact that Dr. Pownall was a practicing physician, he engaged in mining at Goodyear's Bar, near Marysville, where he took out about fifteen hundred dollars. He also mined on Mariposa creek, with good success, and the same fall followed the business of "packing" provisions to the mines from Stockton, after which he returned to Mariposa and again engaged in mining, securing about sixteen hundred dollars. Later he fol- lowed mining at Red Mountain Bar on the Tuolumne river and also mined at Big Oak Flat, where he arrived March 18, 1850. He was there at the time of the Indian uprising, when several white men were killed. In 1852 he became interested in an enterprise for procuring water for the miners and became one of the organizers and incorporators of the Tuolumne County Water Company. One of the greatest difficulties connected with the development of the rich mineral resources of California was to secure water sufficient to wash the gold. In the mountains and hills were never failing springs, and this ditch company was formed for the purpose of bringing the water from the mountains to the mines. From the inception of the plan he was the sec- retary of the company, and was also secretary and superintendent at the time of his death, which occurred on the 30th of November, 1890, at the age of seventy-two years. He was likewise the owner of valuable mining interests, and his well directed labors brought to him good success.
In his political views he was a Democrat, but he declined office, not wish- ing to have political duties interfere with his business affairs. He was an honored member of the Society of California Pioneers, being one of its earliest members, and also belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which he joined soon after his arrival in California, becoming a member of Sacra- mento Lodge, No. 2. He was a man of superior intelligence, of high integ- rity of character, and during his long residence in Columbia he was identified with every enterprise that had for its object the promotion of the welfare and progress of the town. He enjoyed the respect and confidence of his fellow men in an unusual degree and he left the impress of his individuality upon public progress so that his name should be inscribed high upon the roll of the honored pioneers of the Golden state.
He was married after his arrival in California, the wedding ceremony being performed in Columbia which united his destiny with that of Mrs. Marv C. Newell, a daughter of Benjamin Harrison. Their union was blessed with
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une smani one daughter, the latter now being Mrs. Lucy .A. H. Senger. liv- ing at Berkeley, California. Mr. Senger is an assistant professor of the Ger- man language in the University of California. Mrs. Pownall is still living, in the seventy-second year of her age, and has a pleasant home in Columbia, where she is most highly esteemed by reason of her many excellencies of char- acter and her long identification with the interests of the town.
The son, Joseph Benjamin Pownall, acquired his education in the schools of his native town, in the schools of Sonora, in the San Francisco Boys' High School, in which he was graduated with the class of 1879, and in the University of California. Of the last institution he is a graduate with the class of 1883. He had taken an extra course in chemistry, intending to pursue a course in medicine, but on account of his father's failing health he was obliged to return home and take his father's place in the office. He has since been a stockholder and the superintendent of the Tuolumne County Water Company and is also a member of the board of directors. He is prom- inently interested in the mining industries of Tuolumne county. In the man- agement of the water company he has displayed splendid business and execu- tive ability, showing that he is well qualified for the important duties which devolve upon him.
January 1. 1896, Mr. Pownall was united in marriage to Miss Sadie Arnold, a native daughter of Sonora, and they have three beautiful and inter- esting little children, viz. : Elaine. Josephine and Ruth. They have a charming home in Columbia and their circle of friends is limited only by the circle of their acquaintance. An air of culture and refinement pervades the place and its hospitality is proverbial. In his fraternal relations Mr. Pownall is an Odd Fellow, belonging to both the subordinate lodge and encampment, and is a past noble grand of the former. He is also an interested member of the Native Sons of the Golden West.
In politics he is an independent. In business he is following closely in his father's footsteps, fully sustaining the untarnished family reputation for integ- rity and business honor. He deserves mention among the most prominent of the citizens of Tuolumne county and should find a place in the history of the men of business and enterprise in the great west whose force of character, sterling probity and marked success in conducting important industries have contributed in such an eminent degree to the solidity and progress of this entire section of the country.
STEPHEN C. WHEELER.
Forty-eight years have passed since Stephen Clark Wheeler came to Cali- fornia and the work of transformation has been almost that of magic, such mar- velous changes have occurred during that period. The best type of citizenship of the east came here to found the great commonwealth, and their labors have resulted in the formation of a state which ranks with the best states in the east. Mr. Wheeler has been a witness of the wonderful growth and develop- ment of California and deserves honorable mention among her pioneers. He
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is now residing on a farm two miles northeast of Plymouth, where he is carry- ing on agricultural pursuits, having a valuable and improved property.
A native of Indiana, he was born in Jackson county, on the 14th of November, 1828, and traces his ancestry back to Edward Wheeler, who was born in England. He emigrated to America in 1726, locating at New Haven, Connecticut. There Zebadiah Whceler, the great-grandfather of our subject, was born, and New Haven was also the birthplace of Nehemiah Wheeler, the grandfather who became one of the heroes of the Revolution. James Wheeler, the father of our subject, was born in Rutland, Vermont, July 15, 1803, and married Druzilla Brown, a native of Kentucky, who also was of English lineage and a representative of an old Virginia family. Her father, Jacob Brown, removed from Virginia to Kentucky at the time when the "dark and bloody ground" was first becoming the home of the white race. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler had two daughters and a son, but our subject is now the only survivor of the family. The mother died in the twenty-eighth year of her age, but the father, long surviving, attained the age of eighty-two years. He was a farmer and merchant and in his community was known as a very reliable business man.
Mr. Wheeler, of this review, was reared to manhood in Indiana and to the public-school system of that state is indebted for the educational priv- ileges he enjoyed. At the age of fourteen years he entered upon his business career as an employe in a flouring mill, continuing in that occupation until twenty-two years of age. He was married on the 21st of February, 1850, to Miss Mary Ellen Thompson, a native of Jeffersonville, Clark county, Indiana. and a daughter of Benjamin Thompson. One child was born to them in the Hoosier state, Laura E., who is now the wife of Nelson Hinkson, of Eugene City, Oregon. In 1852 Mr. Wheeler with his young wife and their daugh- ter started on the long and hazardous journey across the plains to California, making the trip in a wagon drawn by oxen. There were fourteen in the com- pany, and, after six months and eleven days spent upon the way, arrived at their present location in what is now Amador county. Mr. Wheeler engaged in placer-mining three miles north of Plymouth, and also followed quartz- mining for a time. In connection with his father he erected a four-stamp mill and developed the Wheeler mine, which proved to be a very profitable prop- erty, as they secured thirty thousand dollars in three months. This mine is now owned by the Bank of California and is called the Alpine mine, but is not being worked at the present time.
Mr. Wheeler purchased his farm in 1859, has built thereon a good resi- dence, has planted a fine orchard and made all the other improvements and accessories necessary to a model farm. His well-directed efforts have brought to him a comfortable competence which enables him to surround himself and wife with all the comforts of life and many of its luxuries. In 1872 he erected a ten-stamp mill on his farm, which he conducted for four years, when he sold it and ceased his mining operations. In 1891, however, he and his sons con- structed a five-stamp mill, which they conducted for five years, meeting with a fair degree of success in the enterprise. In 1896, however, he bonded it to
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Salt Lake purties for twelve thousand dollars, and they have since erected a twenty-stamp mill and expended twenty-eight thousand dollars in improve- ments. Owing to a default in payment all rights were forfeited and it has thus reverted to Mr. Wheeler, who is in full control of same.
Through the forty-eight years of his residence here Mr. Wheeler has given the greater part of his time and attention to the development of the rich mineral resources of the state, making farming a side issue. He is a thor- oughly informed and practical miner, being an excellent judge of gold-pro- ducing minerals and an expert in handling the same.
Eleven children have brightened the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler dar- ing their residence in California, and, with one exception, all are living. These are Laura E., now Mrs. Hinkson ; James Nelson ; Norman Everett : Julia, the wife of Benjamin A. Downey; William T .; Orpha Ellen, the wife of William E. Wise; Arthur Alvin; Mamie D., who is a graduate of the Normal School of California and a successful teacher ; Mabel E., who also is engaged in teach- ing; and Cecil, who is the proprietor of a barber shop in Plymouth. Mrs. Wheeler is a member of the Christian church and was one of the brave pio- neer women of California who courageously met all the hardships and difficul- ties of a frontier life, assisting their husbands in making homes on the Pacific slope. She has reared an interesting family of eleven children and is an intelli- gent and entertaining lady who commands the respect and good will of all with whom she comes in contact.
Mr. Wheeler is an active member of the Grange, of the Friends' -Alliance and of the People's party, being one of the delegates to the convention which was held in Los Angeles in 1891 to organize the party. He received the nomination for county treasurer, but its numerical force was not sufficient to elect him. He has, however, taken an active part in many movements which have contributed to the prosperity and development of this region. He aided in organizing the school district in which he has so long resided, and his labors have been effective in promoting the educational standing of the com- munity. For thirty-eight years he has been a school trustee and has done all in his power to improve the condition of the schools. He served two terms as a member of the county board of education. He and his wife were worthy pioneer people who fully merited the high regard of their many friends and deserve mention in the history of their adopted county.
JOHN BUTLER.
John Butler, the Colfax druggist and an ex-sheriff of the county, was born in Canada May 17, 1833. He is descended on one side from the noted Poore family, who were prominent in the early history of Massachusetts. His father, William Butler, was born in New Hampshire, March 8, 1800. Ile married Elizabeth Coltman, a native of Canada and descendant of United English Loyalists. The father had gone to Canada when he became of age and met his wife there. Six children, of whom five are living, were born to Mr. and Mrs. Butler and were reared in Canada. The father died in 1875, aged seventy-five
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years, and the mother passed away three weeks later, sixty-five years of age. During all their married life they had resided in Brighton, Canada, where Mr. Butler was engaged in the lumber business. Both he and his wife were members of the Methodist church and people of the highest respectability.
The son, John Butler, was educated in Canada. He was engaged in a mercantile business for a brief period and worked in his father's carding-mill for a number of years. In 1863 he came to California and located at Iowa Hill, Placer county. He was appointed the assessor of that district and was afterwards elected to the office and served efficiently for seven years. In 1877 he removed to Colfax and became interested in the drug business, in which he has continued. He was the postmaster of Colfax nine years, during the administrations of Presidents Hayes and Garfield. In 1886 he was elected the sheriff of Placer county; after serving a term of two years, acceptably, he was re-elected to succeed himself and served a second term of two years, acquir- ing the reputation of having been one of the most successful sheriffs of the county.
In 1856 Mr. Butler was married to Martha Ann Lyon, a native of his own country. The union was blessed with four children : William J., residing in Marshfield, Oregon; Walter L., residing in Reno; Elizabeth L., the wife of H. W. Nash, of San Francisco; and John L., in business with his father at Colfax.
Mr. Butler is a valued member of the Masonic fraternity,-blue lodge and chapter. He is a past master of the blue lodge and a past high priest of the chapter. As soon as he became of age lie presented his application for membership and received the sublime degree of Master Mason in 1854. He is also an esteemed member of the I. O. O. F. and is a past high priest of the Encampment, and is a charter member of the A. O. U. W. and its financier for the past ten years. He has been a stanch Republican since the organization of that party. As a citizen, Mr. Butler is of the highest reliability and as a business man is friendly, good-hearted and obliging. He thoroughly appre- ciates and understands the tenets of the orders to which he belongs and is leading the upright life which they inculcate.
JOHN T. KINKADE.
More than half a century has passed since John Thompson Kinkade came to California. He has the honor of being numbered among the '49ers,-those resolute men of determined purpose and high spirit who came here to seek a fortune and bent their energies toward the upbuilding of the commonwealth whose position in the Union is in many respects second to no state that forms the galaxy of the republic.
He was born in Virginia in Holiday's Cove, on the 24th of January. 1828, and is of Scotch ancestry. During the reign of King James his ances- tors suffered persecution in Scotland and were banished to the north of Scot- land, whence representatives of the name came to the new world and aided in the early settlement of Virginia. They bore their part in the upbuilding
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of that colony, and when the yoke of British oppression became intolerable the grandfather of our subject joined the American army, becoming a valiant soldier in the war of the Revolution. For seven years he was at the front and was with Washington and his army of patriots during the memorable win- ter at Valley Forge, where they suffered hardships almost indescribable. Mr. Kinkade held official rank, and lived to enjoy the peace of the republic, his death occurring in 1847, when he had attained the extreme age of one hundred and eleven years. His wife was a Miss Taylor, a cousin of Zachary Taylor, and to their family of nine children John Kinkade, the father of our subject, belonged. He was born in Virginia on the old homestead which had been in the family for generations. In his native state he was educated and mar- ried Miss Isabella Adams, who belonged to one of the "first families" of the Old Dominion. Her father, William Adams, also served with distinction in the Revolutionary war. He was also the captain of a company of light dragoons in the war of 1812. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kinkade have been born three children. Both the father and mother died of yellow fever, the former at the age of fifty-two and the latter at the age of forty-two.
John Thompson Kinkade, who is the only survivor of the family, was then an infant. His uncle, E. Kinkade, was appointed guardian of the chil- dren and had charge of the estate. Our subject was educated in the schools of Virginia and in Bethany College, that state, but failing health forced him to put aside his text-books and he traveled with his uncle through the western states, after which he resumed his studies in Wesleyan University, at Dela- ware, Ohio, where he was graduated in the class of 1844.
Subsequently Mr. Kinkade returned to Virginia and prepared for the legal profession in Wellsburg. In the fall of 1848 he was admitted to the bar, and the following year, with a well-armed and equipped company, he crossed the plains to California. Their thirty wagons were drawn by oxen, while the men of the party rode horses and mules. They had numerous fights with the Indians, but their custom on the journey was to place the wagons in a circle at night, then get under them and shoot between the spokes, thus being enabled to keep the Indians off no matter how numerous they were. They were all young men, many of them being expert with the rifle, and the savages soon learned it was safer to let the party alone. They were just four months in reaching Hangtown, now Placerville .. for they left Missouri on the Ist day of May and on the 31st of August reached their destination.
Like others who had come to California in search of a fortune, Mr. Kin- kade turned his attention to mining and followed that business during the greater part of the time until 1869, but he was never very fortunate in his mining operations. At times he made money and again he lost it through unfortunate speculations. His quartz-mining ventures were nearly always attended with failure, but fate had in store for him a prosperous future. In those early days when crime of all kinds was prevalent he never engaged in gambling or other forms of dissipation, and was a representative of that class of worthy citizens who aided in laying the substantial foundation for the present splendid development of the commonwealth. In 1869 he resumed the
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practice of his profession at Stewart's Flat, then a prominent mining camp, and in 1870 he removed to Auburn, where he has since continued. Although his knowledge of law is comprehensive in various departments, of late years he has confined his practice to those branches of jurisprudence which con- cern mining interests, land titles and probate law. In no profession is there a greater field or one more open to talent than that of the law, and in no field of endeavor is there demanded a more careful preparation, a more thor- ough appreciation of the ethics of life, or of the underlying principles which form the basis of all human rights and privileges. Mr. Kinkade's success in his profession affords the best evidence of his capabilities in this line. In no instance does he permit himself to enter the court-room without thorough prep- aration, and this has been a salient feature in his professional career.
Although reared in Virginia, Mr. Kinkade became a stanch advocate of the Union when Fort Sumter was fired upon, believing that the south had no right to dispute the supremacy of the national government in Washington, and joined the ranks of the Republican party which stood by the Union during the thrilling hours of the Civil war: and for many years he was active in party work, making effective speeches in the campaigns and doing much to promote its cause. But in 1896 he found his views on financial and other questions out of harmony with the principles adopted in Minneapolis and has since then been independent in political relations. He lias long taken a deep interest in edu- cational matters, and for six years he served his county as superintendent of schools. His labors were untiring and very beneficial in upbuilding and improving the free-school system of this county, and the high standard of the schools to-day may be largely attributed to his influence and labors.
On the 15th of May, 1853, Mr. Kinkade was united in marriage to Miss Ann Green Turner, and they became the parents of six children, but have been called upon to lay part of them away in the burying-ground of the place. Their only surviving son is Edwin Morris, who is now in the employ of the Wells-Fargo Company. In 1868 the wife and mother departed this life, and Mr. Kinkade remained single until October 10, 1893, when he married Miss Nelly Goffney. One child graces this union, Kenneth, who is now five years of age. Our subject has a nice home in Auburn, where he is now enjoying the evening of a well-spent life, amid comforts that his former toils have brought to him. His tastes and his talents are so generous that there is no subject of great human interest with which he is unacquainted or to which he has not given sympathetic aid. Companionable, warm-hearted and open-handed, admiration of his masterful abilities is forgotten in the warmer admiration and love of the man.
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