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 68
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The party proceeded south of Salt Lake and crossed the one-hundred-and- five mile desert, where great suffering was endured on account of lack of water. Mr. Perkins, through the bright moonlight saw a range of mountains about five miles ahead of him, and supposing this to be where the springs were located, he rode ahead alone on horseback to locate the water supply and thus relieved the perishing thirst of their party. With such confidence had he of finding water in the near distance that after refreshing himself from his can- teen he gave the balance of the water he had to his horse. Upon reaching the mountains, -- the anticipated source of water .- much to his surprise an ! disappointment, he found, instead a big sign tacked on a wreckel wagon on which was printed "twenty-five miles to water." He found the settlement almost a city of the dead. There were many dead cattle along the way and emigrants also died from thirst. Both Mr. Perkins and his horse were almost exhausted, but there was no alternative but to press on. After going five miles further he found two kegs of water by the side of the trail, in one of which was a faucet, and he and his horse were thus refreshed. When he reached the source of the water supply he learned that a benevolent society had been formed and sent the water back, and many a life was this saved. Here he served with the society a day or two after which he sold his team and he and his partner with three horses came on alone. They would build a fire in the
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evening and prepare their supper and afterward extinguish the fire for fear the Indians would discover it and attack them.
They reached Nevada City on the 23d of September, after a very long and arduous journey. His brother, Patrick Henry Perkins, had come to California the year previously, but our subject did not know where to find him. He engaged in mining for a little time at Nevada City, but with little suc- cess ; and as he had scarcely anything left he packed his blankets and came on foot to Sacramento, where he learned that his brother was at Murphy's Dig- gings, buying cattle and butchering. Accordingly he proceeded to that place and made his way to the second crossing of the Calaveras river, where he took charge of the cattle for his brother. In connection with his brother he also engaged in mining on Chili Gulch, meeting with excellent success in his under- taking. His best day's work was that on which he took out three hundred dol- lars' worth of gold from the Long Palm mine. Subsequently Mr. Perkins went to Stockton and purchased a six-mule team, after which he engaged in hauling supplies to the miners. The winter, however, was a very hard one and the venture was unprofitable. He sold his team and engaged in draying in Stockton, but that undertaking was not attended with success, and accord ingly he proceeded to San Francisco, where he worked at draying. for one hundred dollars per month. He spent the year 1854 in that city and on the ist of January, 1855, arrived at Live Oak. Sacramento county, where for twenty years he engaged in mining, with fair success.
In 1859 Mr. Perkins was happily married to Miss Julia F. Brown, a native of Madison county, Tennessee, and a daughter of J. Brown, who came to California in 1856. Two children have been born to them: Elbert West, a jeweler and druggist who is now associated in business with his father ; and Martha, the wife of A. E. Smith, who is engaged in merchandising in Carbondale.
In 1873 Mr. Perkins returned to Missouri to visit relatives and friends, making the journey by rail across the country which he had formerly trav- ersed with a wagon train. He spent three months at his oll home, from which he had been absent twenty-three years. lle then again went to California, but with his family returned once more to Missouri, there purchasing a drug store, which he conducted until the failing health of his wife caused him to return to the "land of sunshine." He then engaged in mining on Michi- gan Bar until May, 1876, when he came to Ione, where he manufactured three hundred thousand brick. Later he sold out his brick yard and secured a clerkship in a general mercantile store. By President Cleveland he was appointed postmaster at lone and served in that capacity for four years, after which he purchased the drug and variety store of which he is now the pro- prietor. lle has since successfully conducted this enterprise. the public according him a liberal patronage, for his reliable business methods are well known. His political support has ever been given the Democracy.
In 1863 he was made a Master Mason at Michigan Bar and served as the master of Nebraska Lodge, No. 71. for three successive terms. He has also long been a value 1 member of the Indepen lent Order of Odd Fellows and has
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filled all of its offices and represented both branches in the grand lodge of the state. He and his wife are consistent members of the Methodist church, in which he has served as a trustee, while she is the superintendent of the Sunday- school. They are held in the highest regard throughout the county which is their home and where they have so long resided, and their circle of friends is extensive.
DAVID CASSINELLI.
American citizens of Italian birth and parentage have demonstrated that they possess all those qualities which constitute the elements of patriotism and material success in life. David Cassinelli was born in Italy. November 14. 1848, and has been a resident of California since 1863, and he is an old and prominent merchant of San Andreas, Calaveras county. He came to Amer- ica at the age of fifteen, landing at New York, whence he went directly to San Francisco, where he arrived November 26, 1863. A brother had preceded him and had become a merchant at San Andreas. Mr. Cassinelli was a clerk in his store for ten years and in 1873, having saved his earnings to give him- self a start in life, opened a small store of his own. His capital was small and his stock was necessarily limited, but he was honest, industrious and enter- prising, and at this time has a large fire-proof brick building crowded with gen- eral merchandise and does a business extensive, safe and profitable, and is the owner of considerable valuable mining property and good ranch property.
December 14, 1880, he married Miss Rosa Reale, who was born at the mission at San Jose, and they have a daughter, Norma, now in her 'teens, who is gifted with a fine voice and much talent for music. He has a pleasant home and he and his family are highly regarded by the people of San Andreas. He is a Republican and a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and is a Mason, connected with blue lodge and chapter, and has been the treasurer of his lodge for many years.
HON. JOHN B. CURTIN.
One of the most prominent men of Tuolumne county, California, is John Barry Curtin, a lawyer of unmistakable ability and the representative of the twelfth senatorial district of the state of California. He is a native son of Tuolumne county, born at Gold Springs, on the 15th of May, 1867, and is a son of John and Ann K. ( Cochrane) Curtin, natives of Ireland. They came to America in 1848, settling in Boston, Massachusetts, until 1852, when Mr. Curtin made the trip to California, coming by way of the isthmus. He first engaged in the lumber business at Bodega Bay, and located at Columbia, in Tuolumne county, in 1852, his wife reaching California in 1854. Mr. Cur- tin engaged very successfully in mining until 1857, at which time he and his partner, Thomas Reed, had accumulated capital of eighteen thousand dollars. Unfortunately they were induced to loan this money to the Ditch Company, which finally failed, entailing upon them the loss of everything.
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The time which followed the loss of the savings of years was a dark and discouraging one for Mr. Curtin. He sought to repair his fortunes, but no claims in which he worked seemed to pay for the labor, and he finally engaged in peddling fruit to make a living. In 1860 he entered into what has proved a very successful enterprise, that of teaming and transporting freight from Stockton to various points, and since that time has been actively engaged in the business. It was enlarged and extended until many men and teams were necessary to properly conduct it, until the advent of the Sierra Railroad int > Tuolumne county, when he then ceased that business.
Mr. Curtin now resides at Cloudman's, where he has a ranch of twelve hundred and eighty acres of land, which he purchased in 1879, and here he entertains teamsters and has as high as seven hundred head of cattle. He is in the sixty-ninth year of his age, while his estimable wife lived to be forty- seven, dying in February, 1891. Mr. Curtin has seen many hardships incident to the early life in the county, but can now take much comfort in his advancing years. Of their seven children two have passed away, the survivors being- Mary Ilannah, the wife of John C. Weyburn, of San Francisco county; Margaret Ellen, the wife of Joseph Warren, a mining engineer : Michael J., in San Francisco; Robert Andrew, who is on the ranch with his father, while the residence of our subject is in Sonora.
John Barry Curtin received as many educational advantages as it was in the power of his parents to bestow, attending the public schools and later receiving instruction from a private tutor employed by his father at the anch. Hli- mind early displayed a legal bent, and he began the study of law under the supervision of Col. E. A. Rogers, passing in 1892 a must creditable examination. Ile was admitted to practice in all the courts of the state, s win displaying such ability and legal acumen that he was chosen by the Dem ) cratic party as its nominee for prosecuting attorney of the county, to which office he was elected with a handsome majority. He entered into the duties vi the . Mice, immediately meeting with such success as the public prosecutor thất his name became well known throughout the state, preparing the way for his present or minence. His services were early engaged for the Great Raw Hide Mining Company, where he is in legal connection with some i the brightest lawyers of the state: find at the close of the celebrated Goldel Gate case he was accorded the honor of making the closing appeal to the jury, fulfilling every expectation and displaying rare powers of oratory a well as deep legal ability. On November 8, 1898, he was elected to the state senate, having the largest majority on the state ticket and also the large-t vote cast for any senator from that district.
Mr. Curtin was married November 22, 1897. to Miss Lucie A. Shav. the youngest and accomplished daughter of John Shaw, a citizen of Sonora. and one child has been born to Senator and Mrs. Curtin, which has bee. named Milton Barry. The home which the family owns and occupies is the most attractive among the many beautiful ones of this city, and there is dis- pensed a most delightful hospitality, worthy of the esteemed subject and his charming wife.
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Socially, Senator Curtin is connected with the Foresters, and is a past president of the Native Sons of the Golden West. In his position as an earn- est, honest and worthy citizen, as well as an able lawyer and incorruptible public servant, Senator Curtin receives and deserves the esteem and unqual- ified respect of the residents of Tuolumne county.
ADOLPHU'S HENRY COULTER.
There are few "forty-niners" left in California, for most of them have gone over the "great divide" to a land of treasures richer than those which drew them away from home and friends over the "Rockies" and Sierras and down into the gold-laden land of California. One of the best known of those who yet live in Calaveras county is Adolphus Henry Coulter, of San Andreas, who fills the office of county surveyor.
Mr. Coulter was born at Charlotte, North Carolina, June 29th, 1827. a son of David and Catherine ( Shinn ) Coulter. On his father's side he is descended from Swiss ancestry, who settled in Maryland as early as 1680. whence some more immediate ancestor removed to North Carolina. David Coulter removed with his family to Arkansas in 1847. and there his wife, a native of North Carolina and a Presbyterian, died in 1852, leaving three sons. Mr. Coulter was reared in the Lutheran faith. He came to California in 1856 and was more or less engaged in mining. He was born in North Carolina in 1790 and died in California in 1877, aged eighty-seven years.
Adolphus Henry Coulter was educated in North Carolina, and says that he first thought he "would become a doctor, then a lawyer, and finally be- came a surveyor." He crossed the plains with the Clarksville company, from Fort Smith, in 1849. The party consisted of one hundred and sixty men and their outfit consisted of forty-five wagons and a forge on wheels. They set out from Fort Smith, Arkansas, April 2, and celebrated the Fourth of July beside the Rio Grande, below Albuquerque, New Mexico. At that point twelve wagons left the outfit and came on in advance of the others. At the Gila river Mr. Coulter and three companions bade good-bye to the party and come on on foot and arrived at San Diego, California, September 25. From there they went by steamer to San Francisco, where they landed October 5, and the combined cash capital of the four probably did not exceed fifty dollars.
Mr. Coulter's first employment was at dressing redwood lumber at eight dollars a day, and soon he and a companion engaged to weather-board a building at ten dollars per hundred feet and made ten dollars a day at the work. Later they went to Sacramento city in a skiff and there found em- ployment until November I, at eight and ten dollars a day, and on that date they started for the mines at Deer Creek, now Nevada City, and the 24th of December. 1849, found them at "Caldwell's new stand," on a flat at the head of Gold Run, where flour was at that time one dollar and a half a pound, sugar a dollar and a quarter a pound, coffee a dollar a pound, whisky four dollars a bottle and brandy five dollars a bottle. Here he mined and
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met with only moderate success. If he had fifty or sixty dollars on Satur- day night he was always "flat broke" on Monday morning. and his com- panions were not more fortunate or more provident, and June I following he was one hundred and twenty-five dollars in debt, principally because of expense he had incurred in contributing toward an outfit destined for Wild Goose lake .. A little later he went to Slate creek, where he took out about two hundred and fifty dollars per month and had about six hundred dol- lars left after paying his debts; but the season was now far advanced, and, fearing that he would be snowed in, hé determined to go to Stock- ton and he and six others set out together, supplied with about one thousand dollars' worth of provisions: and he mined at Big Oak Flat until March 20, 1851, making ten to twelve dollars a day.
Mr. Coulter had come to California to stay three years, at the expira- tion of which time he was to go back to Arkansas and marry; but as his prospects were not encouraging in California he determined to accompany his intended father-in-law to his old home. They set out for San Francisco on the 2d day of April and arrived at Russellville, Arkansas, May 15, and on the 11th day of September following Mr. Coulter was married to Miss Martha Shinn, a native of North Carolina and a daughter of B. D. R. Shinn.
Mr. and Mrs. Coulter settled in Russellville, where Mr. Coulter be- came a druggist and read medicine and was a general merchant later until 1855. when he sold out his store and invested his money in cattle, which he intended to take west but which took the murrain and died, leaving him without capital or definite plans for the future. But he was determined to go to California and his wife wanted to go with him, and he taught school for a year to replenish his pocket-book. They left Russellville, January 20. 1856, bringing their first-born daughter. Mary, and, going by way of the isthmus of Panama, arrived at Jackson, Amador county, March 3 following. They located at Volcano and Mr. Coulter split "shakes" and built them a small board house with a stick and clay chimney. Their furniture was as primitive as their residence. The floor was covered with gunny-sacks, their chairs were stools of the rudest construction and their bed consisted of an improvised tick filled with pine needles and supported on a scaffold-like pro- jection at one side of their cabin. Poor as were these household belongings. Mr. Coulter was proud of the fact that he owned them with the roof that covered them, and he has owned a home from that day to this. He de- termined to build a picket fence about the place and set some men at work on a hillside near the house, sawing a dry sugar-pine three or four feet in cliameter into lengths of four and a half feet and rolling them down the hill where they could be split up into pickets near where the latter would be needed. One of these huge billets of wood was deflected from its course and came crash- ing into the house, where it injured Mrs. Coulter so seriously that she was lame for a year, and also struck Mrs. Tune, now of San Andreas, who was with Mrs. Coulter at the time.
In 1857 Mr. Coulter removed to Dry creek. five miles from San An- dreas, where he mined with some success until 1862. taking out fifteen hun-
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dred dollars in a single year. After that he mined until 1865 at El Dorado, ten miles from San Andreas, where he had good luck ; but by this time he was tired of mining and he threw down his pick, declaring that he would not use it again; and, removing to San Andreas, built there the residence in which he still lives. He also built several other houses and business buildings and is the owner of considerable valuable town property.
While living at El Dorado, in 1863. Mr. Coulter was elected justice of the peace and he was re-elected for a second term. In 1866 he was elected supervisor and three years later he was re-elected to this office also. He read law in his spare time and became thoroughly posted in everything pertain- ing to its application to the practical interests of California. From 1873 to 1883 he taught school, giving his attention meanwhile to surveying, and in 1882 he was elected county surveyor and in 1884 was appointed deputy United States surveyor, which office he still holds. In 1896 he was re-elected to the office of county surveyor, in recognition of the efficiency and fidelity with which he had served his fellow citizens to that time.
Mr. and Mrs. Coulter have had eight children. Their daughter, Mary, who accompanied them to California. is the widow of the late Lieutenant Governor Reddick, of California, and lives at San Francisco. Their daugh- ter, Martha C., married U. C. Hanscom, and they have a son named Waldo. Mr. Hanscom keeps the Poplar Grove Hotel at San Andreas, a popular private hotel which stands in the midst of a large grove of poplar trees, about a building originally erected for a residence, which has since been en- larged to meet its present requirements. Mr. and Mrs. Coulter's eldest son, William S., is deputy surveyor under his father; and their son, Charles Benjamin, is interested in mining at Eldorado. Their four other children are dead. Mrs. Coulter died October 16, 1898, deeply regretted by all who had known her.
Mr. Coulter has been a life-long Democrat, always active in advancing the interests of his party. He was made a Master Mason in Evening Star Lodge. No. 54. F. & A. M .. of Russellville, Arkansas, in 1852, and since 1860 has affiliated with San Andreas Lodge, No. 78, F. & A. M., in which he has been senior warden and of which he has been the secretary since 1886. He is a strong advocate of temperance and a worthy representative of the sturdy, strong-minded, progressive California pioneers of 1849, a man of firm will. good judgment and much public spirit, who has been a model husband and father and has in many ways proven himself an ideal citizen.
THOMAS SILVA.
Thomas Silva, a respected pioneer citizen of Amador county, is a native of Portugal, born on the 15th of June. 1837. He acquired his early education in the land of his nativity, and in 1851 came to California, arriving in San Francisco in the month of May. His boat had just arrived in the harbor when the great fire swept over the city, bringing destruction to the greater part of the town. Leaving the Pacific port Mr. Silva made his way to Mor-
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mon Island, where he engaged in placer-mining. He also mined at Ford's Bar, on the American river, but did not meet with the success he had antici- pated. Ile had no trouble with the Indians in those early days, and such was his quiet and peaceful nature that he avoided difficulty with all men, even at a time when trouble was very prevalent. . After two years spent in mining he engaged in the butchering business in Drytown, and during the first year was associated with a partner, but since that time has always conducted busi- ness alone. In the pioneer epoch he supplied meat to people over a great radins of territory, and his honorable dealing and enterprising spirit brought to him creditable success. In 1883. however, he sold his market in Drytown and came to Plymouth, where he built a shop and for a number of years conducted the only meat market here. At a recent date, on account of his advanced years, he turned his business over to his son-in-law. Lorenzo Burke In 1863 Mr. Silva was united in marriage to Mrs. Dolores Parris, who hy her first marriage had one child. Paseta Dolores, now the wife of Vincent Monserro. Mr. and Mrs. Silva also had a daughter, Antonia MI., now the wife of Lorenzo Burke. Mrs. Silva died in 1895, and Mr. Silva now makes his hente in his declining years with his daughter. He has been a life-long Repub- lican, unswerving in his allegiance to the principles of the party. He was made a Master Mason in Drytown Lodge. No. 174. F. & A. M., and is me of the oldest representatives of the craft in this locality. He is recognized as one of the most valued members of the organization, has filled all of its offces and is now past master. He has acquired a thorough knowledge of the ten- ets of the society, and in his life he exemplifies the noble principles of the fraternity. A good Mason is always a good citizen, for the order inculcates among men all that is just, true, upright and honorable. Throughout his 1 usiness career his industry and capable management were marked and brought 1 , 10m a creditalle competence, which now enables him to enjoy the rest which should ever crown the later years of man.
JOHN MUNDORF.
Those who have opened the way for civilization in our land, as the star of empire has taken its way towards the sunset gates, have been men of strong character, courageous, hardy, tenacious of purpose and willing to endure hardships and privations for the sake of making homes for themselves and posterity. Al Honor has been paid the pioneers who blazed their way through the sylvan wilderness of the middle west in the past generations, whil. not less is hon age due to those whose fortitude led them to traverse the plains, invade the mountain fastnesses and do battle with a dusky and treach- erous foe in the great empire of the far west. Among those who are to le considered as genuine pioneers of California is John Mondorf, who came to the state in 1852 and is now a prosperous and progressive merchant ot Sonora.
Mr. Mundoif was born in Germany, on the 21st of January, 1831, and is of German lineage. His parents, Jacob and Catherine (Ans) Mundori,
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had eleven children with whom in 1845 they crossed the Atlantic to Amer- ica, locating in New York city, where the father carried on a tailoring estab- lishment, conducting a successful enterprise until 1865. when his life's labors were ended in death, he having then attained the advanced age of eighty- three years. His good wife had departed this life six years previously, at the age of sixty-five years. They were people of true worth and instilled into the minds of their children lessons of industry, economy and honesty. Three sons and three daughters of the family are yet living, but the subject of this review is the only one in California.
John Mundorf pursued his education in the fatherland and during his early boyhood attended night school in New York city, while in the day time he worked at the trade of white-smith, making edged tools. He served a three-years apprenticeship in that way and then accepted a clerkship in his brother's grocery in the eastern metropolis. In 1852, attracted by the dis- covery of gold in California, and the possibility of rapidly acquiring a fortune, he took passage on the Northern Lightt, which sailed from New York city to the isthmus of Panama, whence he made his way to San Francisco, arriving on the 14th of December, 1852. He at once continued his journey to James- town, Tuolumne county, where he engaged in placer-mining for seven and one-half years, sometimes enjoying a period of high prosperity and again meeting with ill fortune. On the expiration of that period he opened a bakery and saloon in Sonora, next door to his present location. He conducted the bakery business for three years and then added a grocery stock, and as the years have passed he extended the field of his labors by adding other depart- ments to his store until he now has the largest general mercantile business in his county. He occupies three stores, side by side, filled with all the various kinds of merchandise used in this portion of California. His stock is care- fully selected, with a view to the needs of his patrons, and his earnest desire to please, combined with careful management, indefatigable energy and hon- orable principles have secured him a large and constantly growing trade, whereby his bank account has been annually increased. He also has a ranch of four hundred acres near the city.
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