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 89
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In 1868 the firm acquired a leading interest in the Boca sawmill, with a large acreage of timber land in Nevada and Sierra counties. L. E. Doane hi 11- ing the remaining interest. Boca is the Spanish word for mouth, and the mill was so named from its location at the mouth of the little Truckee river, five thousand. five hundred and thirty-three feet above sea level. In winter it was noticed that ice formed upon the pond which had been made to furnish water-power for the mill to a thickness of from twelve to twenty inches, and in the following year an ice house of eight thousand tons capacity was erected and filled with the finest quality of natural ice. This was the first regular crop of ice harvested in the state of California and placed upon the market. and the establishment of this industry wrought a revolution in the ice trade of the state, for previous to this time the American-Russian Commercial Company had exercised an absolute monopoly of the business, bringing ice from Sitka and
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perhaps one or two other points in Alaska, and retailed it for from five to twelve cents per pound. The ice harvests of California naturally reduced this price, and the quality of the cooling product was also superior to that brought from the north. From time to time the ice works at Boca were enlarged and the business soon assumed magnificent proportions. Other companies soon estab- lished plants in this vicinity, but the ice belt was very narrow, as only from ten to fifteen miles either to the east or west can ice be secured in sufficient quan- tities to make the industry profitable. Long ago importations from the worth ceased, and railroads took the place of steamships in bringing the necessary quantity of ice to this state.
In the meantime the lumber business of the firm of Friend & Terry con- tinued to increase. For fifteen years they imported eastern pine, which was largely used in pattern-making, and also eastern oak and other hard wood, which was used in construction and repairs upon river steamboats. In the early days they likewise imported sash, doors and blinds, but at a later day Oregon pine and native woods have taken the place of eastern lumber, and in- stead of importation they now do an export business.
The partnership was continued uninterruptedly until the death of Mr. Friend in 1871. Mr. Terry then continued alone for several years, and not only successfully conducted the manufacture and sale of lumber but also ex- tended the field of his operations, becoming financially and actively interested in many enterprises which contribute largely to the growth and prosperity of his section of the state. Gas works, woolen mills, box factories, street rail- ways, insurance companies and other enterprises of more or less importance to the city received his support and were guided by his counsels. In November, 1879. A. M. Simpson, of San Francisco, one of the early and successful lumber merchants, mill and ship owners, together with Messrs. Holt & Son, of Him- boklt county, who had extensive holdings in the Redwood district, became in- terested with Mr. Terry in the lumber branch of his business, and a stock company was formed in November of that year, under the name of the Friend & Terry Lumber Company, with Mr. Terry as the president. The main office and yards continued to be on Second street, but they also established an exten- sive yard on the corner of Twelfth and J streets, and became interested to a great degree in Oregon redwood and sugar-pine mills. Under the capable management of Wallace E. Terry the lumber business of the corporation as- sumed importance and magnitude second to none in this section of California. He also became the president of the Pioneer Box Company, which business was inaugurated in 1874, by Matthew Cooke, the distinguished etymologist, and in 1884 was incorporated by Mr. Terry and H. P. Martin, who in 1889 erected new and additional works of large capacity on the river front, near T street. Enormous quantities of sugar-pine and fir lumber were there converted into crates, fruit baskets, boxes and packing cases of every description. The plant was supplied with the latest improved machinery and appliances used for this purpose, and spur railroad tracks were built to both factories and ware- houses to facilitate operations. Mr. Terry continued his connection with the ice business, and as the president of the Boca Ice Company he was largely in-
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strumental in forming the Union Ice Company, which was incorporated in 1882, with Lloyd Tevis as president. The organization was really a consolidation of the six principal ice companies in California, and the fact that strong animosity had arisen during the prolonged and bitter war for supremacy made the task of uniting them very difficult of accomplishment. Mr. Terry's long, honorable and extremely successful business career was ended in death, Decemeber 3. 1893. Perhaps no man in Sacramento has contributed more largely to the ma- terial development and prosperity of the city than he. At all events he may be classed among its founders, for it is to commercial activity that any community owes its upbuilding and advancement. The beautiful capital stands as a mon- umment to the enterprise and public spirit of such men, and no history of Sac- ramento would be complete without the record of his life work.
Mr. Terry never sought or desired office. He kept well informed on the issues of the day, and in early life was a Douglas Democrat, but for many years voted for the Republican party. He served as alderman in 1857, but at no other time would he consent to become a candidate for any political prefer- ment. While his time was largely engrossed with the many and varied in- terests of his business life, he was yet a man of domestic tastes and found his greatest enjoyment when in the midst of his family at his own fireside. He was married in San Francisco in 1860, by Rev. Starr King, to Miss Laura A. Morrill, who was born in Maine, and is still living in her beautiful home at the corner of Thirteenth and N streets, in Sacramento. She is a daughter of Moses and Abigail ( Moore ) Morrill, natives of New Hampshire. Her father was for many years a teacher and died in Sebec. Maine, at the age of ninety-one years, while his wife passed away at the age of sixty-one years. In their family were eleven children, all of whom reached the psalmist's span of three-score years and ten.
Mr. and Mrs. Terry became the parents of four children-May A., Laura E .. Joseph E. and Wallace Irving. The last named is a graduate of the State University at Berkeley and of the Tolland Medical College, and is now en- gaged in the practice of medicine in San Francisco. He was married April 19. 1898, to Miss Mary Dudley.
Joseph E. Terry, the elder son, has spent his entire life in Sacramento, and after putting aside his text-books became associated with his father in the hutm- ber business. He mastered the business in its various departments, and before his father's death was made the manager and treasurer of the Friend & Terry Lumber Company. Ilis splendid business and executive ability well fitted him for the position. In the control of its affairs he displayed sagacity and sound judgment that enabled him to successfully guide its course, and the honorable methods which were instituted by his father and which have ever been followed by him have gained for the corporation a reputation for reliability that is in- deed enviable. In June, 1896 Mr. Terry purchased the extensive properties of the Shasta Lumber Company, located in Shasta county, which is one of the largest sugar and California white pine plants in the state, and he is now oper- ating it under the firm name of the Terry Lumber Company. That he is a man of resourceful ability is indicated by the fact of his connection with many other
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industries and important enterprises, aside from his extensive lumber interests. and his capable management has proved a valued factor in these concerns. His energy is unflagging, and but one result can therefore follow. He is the presi- dent of the Terry Estate Company, and is so closely connected with many of the commercial and industrial interests of the northwest that a detailed history thereof would largely include a record of the business growth in this section of the country. He is a director of the state board of agriculture, and he with holds his support from no measure or movement which he believes will prove of public good.
Mr. Terry was married on the 22d of April, 1888. to Miss Henrietta Wein rich, a native of California, and they now have a son, Paul. Socially Mr. Terry is connected with the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks and with the Society of Native Sons of California. Personally he is the most genial of mien, and though his time is largely occupied with the details of his vast busi ness interests he always finds time and opportunity to devote to those of his friends whose calls are purely of a social character. He is a fair exempli- fication of the typical American business man and gentleman.
ELMER W. WEIRICH, M. D.
A resident of Angel's Camp, Dr. Elmer William Weirich has there gained an enviable reputation as a prominent physician and is now serving as the health officer of Calaveras county. He is a native of Massillon, Ohio, born on the 3d of March, 1866, and is of German lineage, his ancestors having been early settlers of the state of Pennsylvania, where his father, Isaac Weirich, was born and reared. He removed to Massillon, Ohio, and was married there to Miss Maria Everhard. He followed merchandising and also owned and operated flouring-mills, being actively identified with the business interests of that place, of which he was one of the first settlers. In religious faith he is an Episcopalian, is a public-spirited and progressive citizen, and all who know him esteem him for the excellence of his character. He has two sons and two daughters.
Dr. Weirich is now the only member of the family in California. He was in part educated in Ohio and afterward continued his professional education in the Hahnemann Hospital Medical College, at San Francisco, in which insti- tution he was graduated in the class of 1889, and he now practices in full ac- cord with the teachings and beliefs of the latter school of medicine. However. he takes the best out of both and at all times he is ready to accept the new dis- coveries made by the representatives of the medical science that are calculated to advance the object of the calling,-the perpetuation of life and the restoration of health. He practiced in San Francisco previous to coming to Calaveras county, where he has practiced for ten years, the four last year- being located at Angel's Camp, where he has met with gratifying success and has built up a large and lucrative practice. He has the honor of being the pioneer homeopathic physician of Calaveras county, and has erected a nice home
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one of the commanding building sites of Angel's Camp, in which he has a well equipped office.
Dr. Weirich was happily married in 1887, to Miss Catherine H. Smith, a native of Marysville, California, and a daughter of Colonel S. P. Smith. The Doctor and his wife have three childern : Norman E., Catherine G. and Victoria G. He is a valued member of the order of Freemasons and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a past noble grand in the latter. In politics he is a Republican. He enjoys fully the respect and esteem of all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance and in the professional circles he occupies an envia- ble position.
JOHN CURTIN.
John Curtin, one of California's pioneers of 1853, now owning a large stock ranch eight miles from Chinese Station and the same distance from Knight's Ferry, is a native of the green isle of Erin, his birth having occurred in Mallow, in county Cork, on the 3Ist day of March, 1835. His parents, Michael and Margaret Curtin, were also natives of that land. His father passed away at the age of fifty-one years, his death resulting from the kick of a horse. He and his wife were the parents of three sons and six daughters.
Mr. Curtin of this review was only thirteen years of age when he bade adieu to home and friends and crossed the Atlantic to "the land of the free." He took passage on an American clipper ship, the Sarah Perkins, of New York, at a London dock on the 17th of March, 1848, the ship being under the command of Captain Samuel Kilpatrick. They encountered severe head winds and were ten weeks and four days on the voyage. The supply of water became exhausted and a flag of distress brought a steamer to their relief and they were given twenty-five barrels of water. At length they safely reached the harbor of New York and Mr. Curtin proceeded to Boston. Soon afterward he obtained work from John Houlett, at South Reading. Massa- chusetts, and was given seven dollars per month as a compensation for his services. Not long after he obtained a position as stage driver at twenty- five dollars per month, his route being from the city of Lawrence to Boston. Ile saved his money and as soon as he had accumulated enough he sent it back to Ireland to pay the passage of his mother, six sisters and two brothers, who then came to the new world. He built a home for them and had them comfortably situated, accomplishing all this before he was eighteen years of age.
Not long afterward, when still in his eighteenth year, John Curtin was united in marriage to Miss Annie Corroan, a native of Kinsale, county Cork. Treland. She was then sixteen years of age. Deciding to seek his fortune in the Golden state, Mr. Curtin arrived at Volcano, Amador county, in 1853, and thence went to Fiddletown and later to Drytown, Calaveras county. In May. 1854, he crossed the Stanislaus river into Tuolumne county, and struck a rich claim at Gold Springs. He secured gold in large quantities, but sunk all his money in the Stanislaus River Water Company, thus losing fifteen
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thousand dollars. After becoming established in his California home he sent for his wife, who came by way of the isthmus of Panama and joined him on the Pacific coast. They settled at Gold Springs, and there four sons and three daughters were born unto them, of whom two have passed away. The remaining children are: Mary, now the wife of J. K. Weyburn, a resident of San Francisco; Margaret Ellen, the wife of P. F. Warren, superintendent of the Clio mine, of Jacksonville, Tuolumne county, California; M. J., who is now in the employ of the harbor commission in San Francisco; J. B., a prominent state senator and one of the most distinguished lawyers of Tuol- umne county ; and Robert Andrew, who graduated at Alameda University Academy and York School, of Stockton, and is now associated with his father in the cattle business.
In 1880 Mr. Curtin removed from Gold Springs to his present farm, where he has fourteen hundred acres of land. He has on his place about five hundred head of cattle at a time, and is now breeding a grade of Dur- ham and Holsteins. This produces excellent stock and of hardy nature, excellent for food and therefore commanding good prices upon the market. In 1881 Mr. Curtin erected a commodions, substantial and attractive farm residence, but five years later it was destroyed by fire. With characteristic energy, however, he replaced it with a pleasant home, in which he now resides. In 1891 he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 14th of February, of that year. Her many excellencies of character had endeared her not only to her family, but to her many friends. The fol- lowing obituary appeared in the Sonora Democrat, issued on the Ist of March, 1891:
"O. Remorseless Time ! Fear Spirit of the Glass and Scythe! What power can stay him in his onward course, Or melt his iron heart to pity?"
One after the other crosses the "border line"-one of Tuolumne's oldest highly respected and best known citizens.
On the 9th day of February. 1891. died Mrs. Annie Curtin, the wife of Mr. John Curtin, who with his much beloved wife, were among the oldest citizens of Tuolumne county. She was born in the town of Kinsale, county Cork, Ireland, on the 7th day of July, 1838, and at her death was in her fifty-third year. She came to America in April, 1850, at the age of twelve. and lived with her people at Lynn. Massachusetts, and married Mr. Curtin at the age of seventeen. Both actuated by the spirit of adventure and the gokl excitement of the times, they came to California, for "westward the star of empire takes its flight." and lived at Gold Spring, near Columbia, where all her children were born. In May, 1880, the family moved to Cloudman's. and in 1882 a post-office was established at this place. Mr. Cloudman was appointed postmaster, with Mrs. Curtin as his deputy. Mr. Cloudman served but a short time, when she was appointed in his place and filled the position
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until her death. She leaves a husband, four sons and two daughters to mourn the loss of a loving and faithful wife and devoted mother.
Life is a mystery! Death is a mystery! None can explain. In the language of Ingersoll: "There is, after all, something tenderly appropriate in the serene death of the old. Nothing is more touching than the death of the young and beautiful. But when the duties of life have been nobly done ; when the purple twilight falls upon the present. the past, and the future; when memory with dim eyes can scarcely spell the records of the vanished days, then, surrounded by friends, death comes like a strain of music: it is a wel- come relief. The day has been long, the road weary, and we gladly stop at the inn." Our deceased friend was not among the young nor the old. But the duties of her life had been nobly done. Her sun on earth touched the horizon. We cannot explain the reasons why, though the days had not been long, the road weary, or the memory dim, and at the age of fifty-three she stopped at the universal inn from which no traveler ever returns, and there we will bid her a sorrowful and eternal adieu.
In 1898 Mr. Curtin was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Honora Fogarty, of Modesto, with whom he lived happily until May, 1900, when she, too, departed this life and he was once more left alone. The following mention of her demise occurred in one of the local papers: "This morning at 9 o'clock, after a lingering illness from cancer, Mrs. Honora Delaney Curtin, the wife of John Curtin, died in this city. For a long time the lady had been a patient sufferer from cancer of the stomach. A short time ago she was taken to San Francisco, where an operation for her relief was attempted, but the malady had so weakened her that the operation had to be abandoned. She was a native of New Birmingham, Thurles, county Tip perary, Ireland, coming to this country when but a small girl. She came to Modesto about nineteen years ago, and reared five children here. They are two daughters and three sons: Mrs. Henry Hamilton, Mrs. D. J. Mc- Allen, Dennis A., Thomas D. and Alphonso L. Fogarty. She married John Curtin about two years ago. Her age was fifty-one years, five months and twenty-one days. She was well known and highly respected throughout this community and many will mourn her loss.
Mr. Curtin exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Democracy, but has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking, yet he served as postmaster for twenty years, the office being at his home. He has a wide acquaintance among the business, men in this portion of the state and all esteem him for those reliable qualities that every- where command respect and confidence. In the early days he was engaged in the freighting business between Stockton. Oakdale and the different min- ing camps in the mountains. He became well known to the majority of the residents in this section of California and won their respect, friendship and regard.
William L. Curtin, a son of the subject of the foregoing sketch. was born December 17. 1872, and died April 20, 1892. He was a young man of excellent qualities and a promising career was before him.
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Robert Andrew Curtin, another son, is a graduate of the York School at Stockton and of the Alameda University Academy, and has just passed the civil-service examination for a position on the police force of San Francisco.
ALEXANDER HEMPHILL.
Ireland has furnished many of her sons to the new world, whose ver- satility, adaptability and enterprise have been important factors in the up- building and progress of the communities with which they have been asso- ciated. Among the sons of the Emerald Isle now residing in California is Alexander Hemphill, a citizen of Lincoln, who arrived in the Golden state in April, 1853. He was born in county Donegal, in 1832, and is of Scotch- Irish ancestry. The religious faith of the family was that of the Presby- terian church. His father, Richard Hemphill, married Miss Sarah McCann, and two sons, John and Alexander, were born unto them. The mother died when the subject of this review was only thirteen years of age, and in 1843 the father came with his two boys to America, sailing from Londonderry to New York. They located in Adams, Clark county, Ohio, and the father died there in the sixty-fifth year of his age, spending his last days in the home of his brother, who had preceded him to the new country. He was a man of means and of the highest integrity and respectability.
Alexander Hemphill acquired his education in the schools of his native county and in the public schools of Ohio. When nineteen years of age he entered upon his business career, and determining to try his fortune in the far west he sailed from New York for San Francisco, making his way from the Atlantic to the Pacific waters over the isthmus of Panama. He took passage on the Independent, having six hundred people on the vessel. Off Marguerite island she ran on the rocks, caught fire and was totally destroyed, two hundred and fifty of her passengers being drowned by the swamping of her boats in the surf! Mr. Hemphill battled with the waves, swam ashore and thus saved his life, but lost all of his possessions save a pair of trousers and a coat. They were three days upon the island before relief came. It was supposed that the old ship was heavily insured and that she was run aground on purpose ; but the perpetrators of the fearful crime were never brought to justice.
After his arrival in San Francisco Mr. Hemphill came to Placer county and engaged in mining. He has since made his home in this county and has aided in the search for the precious metal at Auburn, Iowa Hill and Dutch Flat. He was engaged in lumbering with the Towle Brothers for fifteen years and in all of his enterprises his efforts have been attended with success. In 1879 he came to Lincoln and has since devoted his energies to farming. He now has sixteen hundred acres of valuable land and is extensively engaged in raising the various cereals best adapted to this climate. He has erected one of the most pleasant and commodious homes in Lincoln and there he is now spending the evening of an active and prosperous life, surrounded by 45
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many of the comforts and luxuries that have been secured to him through his well-directed efforts.
Mr. Hemphill was married in 1878 to Miss Eliza Disque, a native of lowa and of French lineage. They have only one son, whom they have named Wallace George. He was born in Lincoln and is now making a tour of Europe, including a visit to the World's Fair in Paris. Mr. Hemphill was made a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Olive Lodge, No. 81, at Dutch Flat, in 1867, and is still identified with the organization. He is also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In politics he is a stalwart Republican, but has never desired or held office, preferring to give his entire attention to his business.
JOHN M. EATON.
John Marion Eaton, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits near Oakdale. Stanislaus county, is a native of Tennessee, born in Alexandria on the 23d of March, 1851. He is descended from an old southern family who were early emigrants to North Carolina, the ancestors having emigrated from England to that state during the colonial epoch of our country's history. Mr. Eaton is also descended from the Fox family that furnished several prominent represen- tatives to the war of the Revolution. His father, William Jasper Eaton. was born in the state of Tennessee and was married there to Miss Catharine Ward Scrivner. He was an industrious and highly respected farmer and was a member of the Christian church, while his wife belonged to the Methodist church. They became the parents of six children, four of whom are living. At the time of the Civil war the father, true to his loved southland, joined the Confederate service, under the command of Captain Wright and Colonel Eller- son. He was taken prisoner and confined at Camp Chase, in Ohio, where his grief and confinement caused his death ! He passed away in the winter of 1864. at the age of forty years. His good wife still survives him and is now in the seventy-fifth year of her age, her home being still in Tennessee.
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