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 66
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They celebrated July 4 on ship-board and arrived in San Francisco September 17, after a voyage of seven months lacking two days. They found Sacramento a city of tents, but it afforded good facilities in the way of pro- visions. Mr. Atwood had six barrels of pork on board the vessel and sold one of them for sixty-two dollars. He had also brought out to California six pairs of knee-boots and was paid ninety dollars for one pair of them. They sold the vessel and left their supplies on the wharf under guard, only to lose them by high water which washed them out to sea. They hired an ox team to take their stuff to the diggings in Oregon Gulch, near "Hangtown," where they took out fifty to sixty dollars' worth of ore per day.
In the spring of 1850 they went to the mountains and two years' mining at Todd's Ridge netted them eleven thousand and five hundred dollars each. and one day during their stay there three of the party with a cradle took out three thousand and one hundred dollars. Fearful that they might be snowed in, they went to Placerville in October. In the following spring they returned and found that a rush of miners had claimed everything in sight, and after working out his claim there Mr. Atwood went back to Placerville, whence, May 1, 1853, he came to Mokelumne Hill, where he bought the Union Hotel, in which he began business July 19. August 20 the town was burned to the ground and Mr. Atwood, who had no insurance, estimated his loss at twenty-five thousand dollars. While he stood looking at the ruins of all hi hard-earned worldly fortunes, thinking that his prospects were indeed gloomy, A. W. Mitchell came up behind him and placing his hands on his shoulders said, "If you wish, I will let you have the money to rebuild." He erected a fine stone building on his own lot and did a splendid business for eleven years. when he sold the property, and a year later that second hotel at Mokelumne Hill was burned. Mr. Atwood kept the Big Tree Hotel for four years and after that bought and kept the Sperry Hotel, at Murphy's, for four years, mak- ing considerable money.
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Ile sold this last hotel, and, returning to Mokelumne Hill, went from there to Grass Valley, Nevada county, where he put in the succeeding four years as the proprietor of the Holbrooke Hotel. Subsequently he lived for a time at San Andreas, but came back to Mokelumne Hill and bought the Quartz Glen mine, out of which he has taken considerable gold and on which he has one of the best quartz mills in Calaveras county. He retired from active life ten years ago and now, in his eighty-first year, is hale and hearty and in possession of all of his faculties, frequently reminiscent of the days of forty-nine and respected as a pioneer and as a citizen. He has never married, nor has he ever joined any secret societies. In his early life a Whig, he affil- iated with the Republicans at the organization of that party and voted for Lincoln and for every subsequent Republican president.
PATRICK DWYER.
Prominently connected with the hotel interests of northern California is Patrick Dwyer. the popular and highly esteemed proprietor of the Globe Hotel of Jackson, Amador county. He is also an active factor in the public life of the community and is serving as one of the supervisors of the county. A native of Ireland, he was born in county Tipperary in 1826, a son of Charles and Bridget ( ()'Marra ) Dwyer, who also were natives of the Emerald Isle and were descended from old families of that country. They were numbered among the industrious farming people of the community in which they lived. and were devoted adherents of the Catholic faith. They had six sons and a daughter, but Mr. Dwyer and his sister are the only ones still living. The latter is the wife of Thomas McDonald, a resident of Oakland, California.
Patrick Dwyer was educated in the schools of his native land and remained in Ireland until twenty-three years of age, when he determined to seek a home in America, having received very favorable reports of the opportunities afforded young men in the new worldl. Accordingly he crossed the Atlantic to New York, taking passage on a sailing vessel. During the voyage they encountered high head winds most of the way and were thirteen weeks in com- pleting the trip. From the eastern metropolis Mr. Dwyer came to San Fran- cisco by way of the isthmus route, arriving at their destination on the 20th of October. 1852. Immediately afterward he made his way to Volcano, in Amador county, proceeding un the Sacramento river to the capital city and then across the country with a team. For ten years he engaged in placer- mining at various mining camps and made good wages, but never met with any remarkable degree of success. He was associated with five men in the operation of the Hydraulic claim at Mahala Flat, where they took out between two and three thousand dollars' worth of the shining metal, his largest find being a nugget worth two hundred dollars. After working that claim Mr. Dwyer turned his attention to the cattle business and ranching. He owned one hundred and sixty acres of land at Prairie Grove, and in the mountains : tract six miles square, which was used for pasturage. For six years he continued in that business, meeting with good success; but in 1861 many
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of the cattle died and the following year he retired from the business. He, however, continued to operate his farm and also engaged in mining on Jack- son creek until 1877, when he purchased the Globe Hotel, which he until recently conducted with excellent success. It is a fine three-story brick struc- ture at the corner of Main and Court streets, in the center of the business district of Jackson, is fifty by sixty feet, and contains fifty rooms. Mr. Dwyer conducted the hotel for twenty-two years, being the oldest hotel proprietor in the town. The comforts and conveniences which he afforded his guests, his courteous treatment of them and his earnest desire to please secured to him a very liberal patronage and won him the regard of the traveling public. April 1, 1900, he leased the hotel and retired from its management. In addi- tion to this property he has erected and owns two dwellings in the town and has a ranch half a mile out of the town, upon which he keeps cows, hogs and poultry for his hotel, thus being able to supply the hotel with fresh meat of an excellent quality.
Mr. Dwyer was happily married, in 1855, to Miss Ann Hanley, a native of Ireland, and their union has been blessed with seven children, of whom six are now living, namely: Charles ; William: John; Thomas; Ann, the wife of Edward Hurst: and Ella, the wife of Charles Ginocchio. One daughter, Maria, departed this life at the age of sixteen years. Mr. Dwyer and his family are members of the Catholic church, and in matters of state and national importance he votes with the Democratic party ; but at local elections, where no national issue is involved, he gives his support to the candidates whom he thinks best qualified for the office regardless of party affiliations. For a number of years he has served as a road commissioner, and for the third term, of four years each, has served as county commissioner. His - record as a public official is most commendable and has gained him the con- fidence and good will of his fellow townsmen. His hope of bettering his financial condition in the new world has been more than realized, and he has not only gained a comfortable competence and valuable property, but has won a host of warm friends who esteem him highly for his genuine worth, his uniform courtesy and genial and kindly manner.
JOHN STROHM.
John Strohm is the proprietor of the Jackson Brewery and in the con- duct of the business has met with excellent success gaining a most comfort- able competence. He was born in Germany on the 4th of January, 1850. and belongs to one of the old families of the fatherland. He obtained his education in his native country and there learned the brewing business, after which he determined to seek a home and fortune in the new world. He sailed for New York, and after working at his trade in Cleveland, Ohio, and in St. Louis, Missouri, he spent two years in Mexico, and in 1886 he came to Jackson, Amador county, California, where he rented the Jackson Brewery, then a small plant. He made it a point to use only the best hops and barley in the manufacture of the beer. and the excellence of his product soon gave
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to him a good trade, which has steadily increased as the years have passed by. He purchased the brewery after a time and has expended twenty-five thousand dollars in improving the property, equipping it with the latest improved machinery and the best methods of turning out a first-class grade of beer. His trade has now reached extensive proportions, large sales being made throughout Amador and Tuolumne counties.
In 1887 Mr. Strohm was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Smith, a native of Germany, and to them have been born four children, two sons and two daughters, namely : Jacob, who died at the age of four years : John, who (lied at the age of ten months: and Anna and Bertha, who are with their parents. Mrs. Strohm is a member of the Methodist church. Mr. Strohm is connected with the Independent Order of Foresters, and in politics usually votes with the Democratic party, but has never been an aspirant for office. He and his family have a pleasant home near the brewery in which they are nicely settled.
R. INNIS BROMLEY, M. D.
Among the prominent professional men of Tuolumne county, California. no one is better or more favorably known than R. Innis Bromley. M. D .. the subject of this sketch. His birth took place in Contra Costa county. Cali fornia, January 24, 1857. his ancestry being English and easily traced to a period prior to the Revolutionary war. His paternal great-great-grandfather, William Bromley, was one of the patriots of colonial days and was a member of the Committee of Safety from Vermont, in which state he lived and died at a patriarchal age. His son John died in 1828. Another son, named Lewis, was born in 1787 and was a veteran of the war of 1812. His son. Major John Lewis Bromley, was the father of our subject. Major Bromley was born in Baltimore, Maryland, December 25. 1820, and through service in the Mexican war received his title of military authority. His company was among the first to enter the city of Mexico, in 1847.
Major Bromley started to California in the spring of 1852 by way of Cape Horn, and was six months on the passage. He located in San Francisco and started there the first business in the commission line in the city and became well known and very prominent. Later he removed to Contra Costa county, where he bought a large ranch, and for a number of years engaged in the raising of stock. After a busy life he retired in advancing age to Oak- land, where he now resides, eighty years of age, still hale and hearty.
The marriage of Major Bromley took place in Baltimore, Maryland, to Miss Anna Levering, a native of that city. She accompanied her husband to California, although the life of the rough and listy young city must often have tried her severely, reared as she had been amidst the refinements and luxuries of Baltimore. History must credit the brave women who thus assisted in the civilizing process of early California life for a great part of the culture and magnificence she has now attained. Seven of their eleven children still survive Mr. and Mrs. Bromley, all of them respected citizens of the state.
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Dr. Bromley, our subject, was educated in the excellent schools of Oak- land, where he attended the academy and later became a student in the Cali- fornia State University, in both scientific and medical departments, graduating at the latter in 1882. For six years he practiced his profession in San Fran- cisco, for some years being an assistant professor of surgery in the university; was one of the visiting physicians of St. Luke's hospital; the examining physician for the Hartford Life Insurance Company, and its medical supervisor for the Pacific coast.
In 1887 Dr. Bromley removed to Sonora, where he has had a most satis- factory practice ever since. His skill as a surgeon is recognized and he is frequently called to go long distances to assist brother physicians. The Doctor has invented and patented a member of surgical instruments that have met with the approbation of the profession, and is the author of many valuable papers on interesting subjects which have appeared in the scientific and med- ical magazines.
Dr. Bromley was married, in 1895, to Miss Fanny Mansfieldl, a native of Columbia, Tuolumne county, a daughter of William Mansfield, a respected and early settler of that town, a cousin of General Mansfield. Two children have been born to the Doctor and his accomplished wife, Innis and Fanny. making a charming family to inhabit the delightful home which is theirs, in a pleasant part of the city.
Educational matters have always claimed a large portion of the time of Dr. Bromley, and he has consented to serve as a trustee of the school board at times. He is a Republican in politics, and is socially connected with the Knights of Pythias and the Foresters organizations. Personally he is a man to command the esteem of all. He has lived to see the commercial development of his state and has done his part for the welfare of his section.
FRANK W. PEEK.
Among the many biographical sketches of gold seeking pioneers in Cali- fornia which appear in this work will be found that of William P. Peek, the father of Frank W. Peek, that native-born son of Mokelumne Hill who is a prominent merchant and postmaster of that town. Frank W. Peek was born September 23. 1857, and was educated in the public schools of Mokelumne Hill. In the year 1874 his father appointed him deputy postmaster at Mokelumne Hill, and in connection with the post-office the young man opened a small variety store. When Mr. Cleveland first became president and the post-office changed hands, he had become so well established as a merchant that he put in a good stock of general merchandise, and at this time he has a record as a progressive and successful business man which covers a period of twenty-six years. He has kept good goods and sold them at fair prices. has dealt with the public honorably and liberally and has given close and careful attention to his business, and has had no trouble in gaining and retain- ing his full share of the trade of the town, and he had acquired valuable min- ing property and ranks with the prosperous and public-spirited men of Cala-
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veras county. Politically he is a Republican, and, without being an office- sccker or practical politician, he has a recognized influence in local politics. He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow and has been the treasurer of his lodge of the last named order for many years.
In 1880 Mr. Peek was married to Miss May L. Stedman, a native of San Francisco and a daughter of Captain Stedman, a well known California pioneer. Mr. and Mrs. Peek have two sons and two daughters, named Frank, Lillie, Jeanette and Percy. Mr. Peek has established a cosy home in the picturesque town in which he and his children were born, and his family are well known throughout the county and are highly respected.
JOHN RAGGIO.
Among the native Californians who are prominent in business circles at San Andreas, Calaveras county, there are few who are more deservedly pop- ular than John Raggio, who is interested in "staging" in Calaveras and Amador counties. Mr. Raggio was born at El Dorado, Calaveras county. July 16, 1859. a son of Vincenzo Raggio, who was a native of Italy and was married there. Vincenzo Raggio came to California in 1853 and located in Amador county, where he was for a time a miner. Later he became a mer- chant at El Dorado. Calaveras county, and lived there until his retirement from active business. He and his wife are now living at Angel's Camp, he aged seventy-four and she in her sixty-eighth year. Their thirteen children are all living.
John, the fourth in order of birth, was educated in the public schools at Eldorado, and at the age of twenty-one began his career as a sta, e-line proprietor in partnership with his brothers,-Joseph and Ernest. Their first line was from San Andreas to Sheep Ranch. Later they opened a line to Milton and added other lines from time to time, and now own nearly all the stage lines in Calaveras and Amador counties and conduct a large and remunerative business, which is under John Raggio's personal management. In addition to their stage interests, they conduct a successful enterprise in supplying logs to the mines at Angel's Camp. They have twenty-five coaches and eighty head of horses, which they employ on their stage routes, and keep sixty-five horses at their logging barn. Mr. Raggio is a stockholder in a number of valuable mining properties and from time to time his public spirit has led him to connect himself directly or indirectly with different enterprises and movements promising to advance local business interests. He is a stock- holder, a director and the president of the Calaveras County Bank, located at Angel's Camp. He is a Republican in politics, but not an active politician or an office-seeker. Ile was made a Master Mason in Calaveras Lodge, No. 78. F. & .A. M., in 1895. and has since taken the degrees of capitular Masonry and been exalted to the august degree of Royal Arch Mason, and he has also received the degrees of chivalric Masonry.
Mr. Raggio was married, January 15. 1897. to Miss Mary L. Gibbons. a native of San Francisco, a lady of education and refinement, a skillful
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musician and a charming singer, who was a great accession to society in San Andreas. They have a little son, John Raggio, Jr. Their home is a pleasant and well appointed one and its well ordered hospitality has made it widely known. Mr. and Mrs. Raggio are extremely popular and have a wide acquaintance throughout central California.
EDWIN E. ENDICOTT, M. D.
Dr. Endicott, now a well known practitioner of Jackson, Amador county, is a native of Missouri, his birth having occurred at Lamar, Barton county, on the 22d of January, 1869. He is of English lineage and a son of Dr. Richard H. Endicott, a native of Missouri and a graduate of the Keokuk (Iowa) Medical College. In 1876 the father came to California and for a number of years was actively engaged in the medical profession, but is now living retired at his home in Stockton.
Edwin Eugene Endicott, the eldest child of his father's family, spent his boyhood days under the parental roof and completed his professional edu- cation in Louisville, Kentucky, being graduated at the Louisville Medical College in the class of 1894. He ranked second in scholarship in a class of one hundred and eighty-one and was awarded a gold medal and also made interne in the city hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, for a vear. In 1895 he came to Ione, Amador county. California, where he engaged in practice until 1897, during which time he served as consulting physician and surgeon at the State Reform School, located in that town. Three years ago he took up his abode in Jackson and was appointed the county physician of Amador. He has since held the office and has proved most competent and faithful in the discharge of his duties. In May, 1899, the board of supervisors of Ama- dor county, realizing the necessity of having a county health officer, created said office and placed Dr. Endicott in charge of the same, which position he still holds. He has acquired an enviable private practice, his business steadily increasing in volume and importance. He is now at the head of the Jackson hospital, a private institution which he established, and in the work of con- ducting the same he is assisted by able trained nurses. The establishment is equipped with the most recent appliances for the treatment and care of the sick, and the institution is constantly filled with a large number of patients who come to seek the professional aid of the Doctor, whose skill both in the practice of medicine and surgery is widely known. He has given especial attention to surgery, and the many difficult operations which he has performed successfully indicates his ability and his thorough understanding of that branch of the profession.
In February, 1896, Dr. Endicott was united in marriage to Miss Emma Southerland, and they now have an interesting little daughter, Alice Lenore. They have a pleasant home in Jackson and the Doctor also owns two residences in Ione. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the American Order of United Workmen. In politics he is a Democrat, but the honors
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and emoluments of public office outside the lines of his profession have no attraction for him, as he desires to devote his time and energies entirely to his chosen calling, in which he has met with remarkable success.
GEORGE J. YAGER.
George John Yager was born in Oleta. Amador county, on the 8th of August. 1868, and is now living in lone, where he is engaged in blacksmith- ing. llis father, George Yager, came to California in 1860. He was born in Switzerland, in 1830, and was educated in his native land. When he left the country of the Alps be made his way to the Golden state, locating in Jack- son, Amador county. He was a carpenter by trade, but earned his liveli- hood in this state as a wood-chopper for a time. Subsequently he engaged in draying and by his industry and economy saved money enough to purchase a ranch of one hundred and sixty acres above Oleta. That property is still in the possession of his family. He was a man of marked industry, reliable in all his dealings, and at his death, which occurred in his fifty-fourth year. the community mourned the loss of one of its valued citizens. He was a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and during his entire life commanded the respect of his fellow men. George Yager was married. in Jackson, to Miss Annie Zeiger, also a native of Switzerland, and they became the parents of four children, namely: John P., of Eldorado county: Fred., who i, living in Tuolumne county: Annie, the wife of H. Routledge, a resi- dent of Los Angeles; and George J., of this review. The mother still sur- vives and is well known for her many excellent characteristics.
George J. Yager. the eldest of the family, acquired his education in the public schools in Amador county and for three years worked at the black- smith's trade in Oleta, becoming an expert in that line. He then removed to Fone, where he opened a shop of his own in 1890, since which time he has carried on a successful business. Te receives a liberal patronage and his trade is constantly increasing.
In 1880 Mr. Vager was joined in wedlock to Miss Elizabeth Rendy. a native of Switzerland, and their marriage has been blessed with two children : George Henry and Eunice Catherine. Mr. Yager is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Native Sons of the Golden West, being a past president of Ione Parlor. No. 33, of lone. His political support is given the Republican party. He and his family have a pleasant home in lone and enjoy the warm friendship of many acquaintances.
JOHN BAUMAN.
A well and favorably known citizen of Sonora. Tuolumne county. Cali- fornia. is John Bauman, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Bavaria, Germany. December 13. 1833, and was a son of Frederick and Margaret (Bohler ) Bauman, both natives of Germany, where they passed their lives,
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he dying at the age of sixty-five, she surviving him five years. They had two sons, but our subject is the only member of the family now living.
John Battman was educated in his native place, but being of limited means he decided to make his way to America. Landing in New York with one dollar in his pocket, in 1852, it became a matter of necessity to find work, which he soon did, on a farm on Long Island. From there he went to New Jersey and engaged in labor at an India rubber factory, where he was paid forty dollars a month. The habits of thrift which are taught the young in his country came to his assistance, enabling him to save his money until he had enough to pay his way to California, by way of the isthmus, this requir- ing one hundred dollars. He soon found employment in a brewery at San Jose, where he was paid fifty dollars a month, and here again he saved his wages and came to Tuolumne county. For four years longer Mr. Bauman worked in a brewery and then made a trip to the east, again by way of the isthmus.
When Mr. Banman returned to California he brought with him his wife, formerly Miss Margaret Ederer, a native of his own land. He leased a small brewery that was located in Sonora, began brewing and in 1866 had accitu- lated enough to build his own establishment. He thoroughly understands the management of his business and has made a special brand of cream beer, which has met with ready sale throughout the country. His other products are con- sidered excellent and his trade is constantly increasing.
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