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 97
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Mr. Spencer of this review was educated in his native land and was a dealer in flour and grain. He also engaged in farming on the Emerald isle prior to his emigration to the United States. His brother, Edward George Spencer, had gone to California in 1850, and acting on his advice the sub- ject of this review made his way to New Orleans and sailed thence for the Golden state, making the journey by way of the Nicarauga route to San Fran- cisco, where he arrived in July. The voyage was accomplished in safety. but before reaching their destination all the passengers on board were put on short allowance of food and water. At Corn island they went ashore to get water and Mr. Spencer and others purchased a boat, which they loaded with fruit .- oranges and pineapples .- selling the same on the brig. They then came up the Nagora river on their own boat and opposite Lake Nicaragua took another sailing vessel for San Francisco,
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On the 14th of July, 1850, Mr. Spencer went to Grass Valley, Nevada county, where he met his brother. He engaged in mining at Pike Valley in connection with William Watts, and after mining for a year secured a situa- tion in a saw-mill, receiving in compensation for his services his board and one hundred dollars per month. Afterward he and his brother built a saw mill two and a half miles from Iowa Hill, equipping it with steam power and a circular saw, and in the operation of this enterprise made considerable money. They were paid fifty-five dollars for each hundred feet of rough lumber. They began the operation of the mill in 1854 and continued to conduct it success- fully for a quarter of a century. They also purchased a mill three miles from Sunny South and the brother assumed the management of their first inill. while Mr. Spencer of this review took charge of the new one, having since continued as its proprietor and manager. It has a capacity of twelve thousand feet and he is engaged in the manufacture of mining and building lumber. In the enterprise he is associated with a partner, and they also own a planing- mill, making all kinds of dressed lumber. They have five hundred acres of timber land. Our subject has also been quite actively interested in farming and is one of the pioneer agriculturists and fruit growers of his part of the county. In the early days he planted a field of potatoes, which grew nicely and sold for seven cents per pound. Thus encouraged he has continued his farming operations, and he now has a fine orchard of fruit trees planted by his own hands. In this way he has shown the adaptation of the soil in the county for the production of fruit and other products and thus demonstrated the cultivable condition of the land. His efforts have induced many others to follow in his footsteps in this regard.
Mr. Spencer is also interested in mining operations and is the owner of the Jupiter Canyon mine and various mining properties on the Forest Hill Divide. He has done much to develop the industrial resources of the state. and his efforts have not alone contributed to his own prosperity, but have been of much benefit to the community in which he has carried on his work.
In 1860 occurred the marriage of Mr. Spencer and Miss Elizabeth Field- ing, who was born in Yorkshire. England, a daughter of Thomas Fielding. a respected California pioneer. Seven children have graced their union and the family circle yet remains unbroken by death. The record is as follows: G. W., a resident of San Francisco: Ida, wife of Richard Wood: William Osborne, who is living in Colfax, California : Mary, wife of William Healey. of San Francisco: Varion, who is with his father in the mill: John Fielding. a resident of Sacramento; and Meta, who completes the family. Mr. Spencer owns a good residence near the mill and there he and his wife spent forty- three years of their married life and all their children were there born. At present, however, they reside at Iowa Hill, where they have a comfortable and commodious home. Mr. Spencer gave his political support to Abraham Lin- coln in 1864 and has since continued faithful in the ranks of the Republican party. He was chosen to fill the important position of county supervisor. and while acting in that capacity did all in his power to promote the interests of his county. He has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd
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Fellows for the past thirty-five years and has filled all the chairs several times in his lodge, having been one of the faithful representatives of the order through more than two decades. In all life's relations he has been true to the trusts reposed in him and he and his wife and family enjoy the high regard of all with whom they have been associated. In his business affairs he has met with gratifying success and to-day he is accounted one of the substantial citi- -zens of Placer county, the characteristics of his life being such as may profit- ably followed by all who desire to advance along lines of honor and use- fulness. In the history of this section of the state no one is more deserving of mention than Osborne John Spencer.
ALEXANDER G. BELL.
There is but one chief ruler of a country, be he king, emperor or presi- dent, and therefore the number who attain eminence in such a direction is small. Comparatively few achieve high rank in military circles, but the busi- ness field is limitless and a man may win a commanding position in the indus- trial, agricultural or commercial circles if he but follow the course for which he is suited, and guides his unremitting efforts by sound judgment. This Mr. Bell has done and to-day he is ranked among the successful and leading fruit-growers of Placer county.
Born in New York city, on the 9th of December. 1837. he has exemplified in his life many of the sterling characteristics of his Scotch ancestry. His parents. James and Jannet ( Gibson) Bell, were both natives of Scotland and were married in that country, where was born unto them a son, James. With their little child they emigrated to the United States in 1832 and after a short time spent in New York city removed to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where for some years the father engaged in business as a mason, contractor and builder. He took a contract for the construction of the large aqueduct and success- fully executed the work. He departed this life in the sixty-sixth year of his age, while his wife attained the age of seventy-nine years. They were con- sistent members of the Presbyterian church and in that faith they reared their family, which numbered three sons and a daughter, the latter now Mrs. Anna Bell Pearcy, of Connellsville, Pennsylvania. Two of the sons are residents of Allegheny, Pennsylvania.
Alexander G. Bell. the fourth member of the family, is indebted to the public-school system for his early educational privileges, while his business training was received in the Iron City Commercial College, in which he was graduated in 1854. In 1856 he came to California, crossing the isthmus of Panama in October and later arriving in San Francisco, whence he made his way to Placer county. On the middle fork of the American river he engaged in mining and became actively interested in mining and prospecting at Dutch Bar hill. He and two companions took out two pounds of gold each day for five weeks. He afterward engaged in mining in Eldorado county at the Spanish Dry Diggins, also at Greenwood, and he is now the owner of mining property at the last named place.
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During the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad Mr. Bell took a contract for furnishing wood to the company at various places along this line. In that enterprise he met with prosperity. He became a pioneer in the ice business on the summit ; also at Cuba, where he organized the Peoples Ice Company. This company shipped ice all over the state and Mr. Bell became the manager of the office at San Francisco, of which he had charge for ten years. On the expiration of that period he assisted in consolidating the company with the Union Ice Company, and he is still a stockholder in the latter, managing its office at Colfax. He is now also the manager for a large fruit-growing company, which has eight hundred and forty acres of fruit land and is extensively engaged in the raising of Bartlett pears and table and wine grapes, and also has a winery in which the fruit is converted into wine which brings the highest market prices, owing to the excellence of the quality. He has forty acres planted to choice table grapes, one hundred acres in wine grapes and a very extensive orchard of Bartlett pears. He is well versed on the subject of horticulture, especially concerning the best methods of cultivating the fruits mentioned and his opinions are received as authority in this section of the country. Mr. Bell is also prominently engaged in min- ing interests and is president and manager of the Gold Nugget Mining Com- pany. He has a good residence in Colfax and makes his headquarters in that town.
Mr. Bell was happily married, in May, 1877, to Miss Amelia Winkle- man, a native of Greenwood valley, Eldorado county, and a daughter of Jacob Winkleman who was of Swiss lineage and became one of California's pio- neers of 1849. Mrs. Bell has considerable artistic talent, especially in oil painting, and has taken a number of prizes for her work. Many pictures of great merit adorn the walls of their pleasant home, which in its attractive furnishings indicates the cultured and refined taste of the inmates. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bell have been born two children, Carl Gibson, a mining engineer, and Jannet, who is now in college. Mr. Bell is an active member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and in politics is a Republican. He has done his full share in the development of the resources of the state and in his life has exemplified the true western spirit of enterprise and progress. His inde- fatigable energy and resolute purpose have enabled him to work his way steadily upward and to-day he stands among the most prominent business men and respected citizens of Placer county.
BARTHOLOMEW R. PRINCE.
One of the well known pioneers of California, now proprietor of the Altaville Hotel. in Calaveras county, is Bartholomew Prince, who was born in Italy, of Italian parents, March 7, 1829. He was educated in his native country and in 1847 came to America, locating first in Boston, Massachusetts. where he engaged in the manufacture of telescopes and later in the sale of statuary. In 1852 he embarked for California, by way of the isthmus of Panama, having considerable difficulty about his passage, as so many emi-
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grants were to be carried that no sufficient number of vessels could be pro- cured. Many poor people lost their money, tired out with waiting for trans- portation, as the ship owners sold more tickets than could be redeemed by accommodating passengers. Mr. Prince immediately made his way to Cala- veras county and engaged in placer-mining on Coyote creek, meeting with success. He then made his way to Angels creek, where, with two partners, he erected a store and engaged in merchandising on the land where the town of Aitaville now stands. This enterprise was started in the spring of 1853 and was the pioneer store of the town, and such success attended Mr. Prince that he continued in the same line of business for thirty-seven years. In 1890 he retired, having accumulated a competence, notwithstanding many bad debts. In these years he had become the owner of the Cherokee mine, from which a large amount of gold has been mined and this property is still in his possession, but is leased to a company. It is on the Mather lode of Cali- fornia and is considered valuable property, as it has a good light stamp mill.
In conjunction with his son he conducts the Altaville Hotel and livery stables, owning also a large amount of real estate in the town. He has made his money by attention to business and is highly regarded by his fellow pio- neers in this section.
Mr. Prince was married, at San Andreas, in 1860, to Miss Mary Har- mettie, a native of Ireland, and nine children were born to them, seven of whom are still surviving : Frank, in the United States mint at San Francisco; Matilda, the wife of Lewis Goldstone, in Egypt, in the employ of an English syndicate : Dante, a lawyer of San Francisco and a United States commis- sioner; Mary, now Mrs. H. A. Fisher, of Stockton: Joseph and Theresa. twins, the former the husband of Miss Ida Miller. a native of San Joaquin county, and the latter living with her sister in Stockton: and Edward, who with his father and brother Joseph conducts the hotel. Mrs. Prince died in 1890, after a happy married life of thirty years.
Mr. Prince has always been a Democrat in politics and is a member of the Masonic fraternity. He is still interested in his business, for which he has always had a natural aptitude, and worthily represents the best class of his countrymen in the state of California.
FRED A. SHEPHERD.
There are few men in Sacramento county who are better known than ex-Sheriff Fred A. Shepherd, who has been long and prominently connected with the public interests of this section of the state, and at all times has main- tained a reputation for reliability and fidelity to duty that is indeed commend- able. He is a man of straightforward purpose, plain and unostentatious in manner, and yet of such sterling worth that all who know him hold him in the highest esteen.
Mr. Shepherd is a native of Massachusetts, his birth having occurred in New Bedford, that state, on the 10th of April. 1831. He is a representative of some of the oldest and most prominent families of New England, his early
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ancestors being among those who aided in founding the colonies and in shaping the events which form the colonial history of the nation. The first of the name of whom we have record was Daniel Shepherd, of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, who was married, December 21, 1686, to Mary Brice, and their children were Daniel, born in 1688; Virtue, born in 1689; Nathaniel, born in 1692; John, born in 1695; and Freelove, born in 1697. The father was a member of the Society of Friends, and for many generations the family was connected with that religious organization. John Shepherd, son of Daniel, was one of the early settlers of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, and was married, January 4, 1719, to Dorcas Wing, of Sandwich, Massachusetts, by whom he had five children, Deborah, David, John, Jemima and Abner. The last named was born in Dartmouth September 25. 1732, and was married, June 16, 1763, to Hannah Gifford, a daughter of William and Elizabeth Gifford.
Abner Shepherd, Jr., the only son of Abner and Hannah Shepherd, was born in Dartmouth March 20, 1764, and was married, May 29, 1788, to Apphin Mott, a daughter of Abner and Rachel Mott. He died December 25, 1837. Abner and Apphia ( Mott ) Shepherd were the grandparents of him whose name heads this sketch, and their children were Willia, born April 24, 1789; David, born July 15, 1790; Meribah, born November 19, 1794; James, born September 8, 1796; Joseph, born October 14, 1798; Hannah, born in 1801; John, born November 30, 1805; Eliza, born September 22. 1807: Caleb, born August 20, 1809; and Sarah A., born August 26, 1812. The eldest son of this family, William Shepherd, married Phebe Rogers, of New York, and their only child was William, of Fly Creek, who died in 1894. His children were James E., Adelaide B. Irene E. and James E.
The ancestry of the Mott family, to which Mrs. Apphia Shepherd, grand- mother of our subject, belonged, can be traced back to Adam Mott, who was born in Cambridge, England, in 1596, and his wife Sarah, who was born in 1604. With their children, John, Adam. Jonathan, Elizabeth and Mary, they sailed from London in the ship Defense. in 1635, and settled at Rox- bury, Massachusetts. In 1638 they joined a colony and went to Rhode Island. obtaining from Chief Miantonomah a beautiful island, which they called the Isle of Rhodes. There the little company of not more than twenty people made a settlement. William Coddington was elected governor and Philip Sherman, secretary. They formed a covenant with each other to obey the laws made by the majority and to respect the rights of conscience. The town which they founded is now called Portsmouth.
Jacob Mott, son of Adam, married Joanna, a daughter of Rev. Giles and Joan Slocum. Her father was a famous preacher in those days, having a widespread reputation as a minister. He and his people all withdrew from the Baptist church and joined the Society of Friends, in which Mr. Slocum became a distinguished minister. U'nto Jacob and Joanna Mott were born the following children : Hannah, Mercy, Sarah, Elizabeth, Jacob and Sam- uel. The father died in Portsmouth November 15. 1711. The Mott and Slocum families were both faithful adherents of the Society of Friends and the
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principles inculcated by their teachings are still manifest in their descendants, although most of them have since affiliated with other religious denominations.
Jacob Mott, a son of Jacob and Joanna Mott, was born in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, December 13, 1661, and died February 17, 1736. For thirty- five years he was a minister in the Friends church, was also one of the pro- prietors of the town of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, and his name is on the confirmatory deed signed by Governor Bradford, Miles Standish and others. He first married Cassandra Southwick, and after her death wedded Rest Perry, a daughter of Edward Perry, of Sandwich, Massachusetts. His third wife was Mary, daughter of John and Dorcas Easton, of Newport, Rhode Island. The children of the first union were Jacob, Adam, Joseph, Elizabeth and Joanna. A daughter, Mary, by the second wife, was the mother of General Nathaniel Greene, and like the mother of Washington she left such a deep impress on the character of her son by her noble teaching that he became one of the most distinguished men of the Revolutionary period.
In Sewell's "History of the Peoples called Quakers," appears the follow- ing record of the Southwicks: "Lawrence Southwick and Cassandra, his wife, members of the public church at Salem, and an ancient and grave couple, having entertained Christopher Holder and John Copeland, were committed to prison and sent to Boston, where, Lawrence being released, his wife was kept seven weeks a prisoner, and then fined forty shillings for owning a paper of exhortation written by the aforesaid Holder and Copeland. These deal- ings so affected many inhabitants that some withdrew from the public assem- blies and met by themselves quietly on the first day of the week. They were fined five shillings a week and committed to prison. The first whose lot this was were the aforesaid Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick and their son Josiah, who being carried to Boston were all of them, notwithstanding the old age of two, sent to the house of correction and whipped with cords in the coldest season of the year, and had taken from them to the value of four pounds, thirteen shillings, for not coming to church. I have already made mention of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick and their son Josiah, of whom more is to be said hereafter : but first I will speak of Daniel and Provided, son and daughter of the said Lawrence and Cassandra. These children, seeing how unreasonable their honest parents and brother were dealt with, were so far from being deterred thereby that they rather felt themselves encouraged to follow their footsteps and not to frequent the assemblies of such a persecuting generation, for which absence they were fined ten pounds, though it was well known they had no estate, their parents being already brought to poverty by their rapacious persecutors. To get this money the following order was issued in the general court of Boston: 'Whereas. Daniel Southwick and Pro- vided Southwick, son and daughter of Lawrence Southwick, absenting them- selves from the public ordinances, have been fined by the courts of Salem and Ipswick, pretending they have no estates, and resolving not to work, the court upon a law, which was made upon the account of debts, in answer to what should be for the satisfaction of the fines, resolves, that the treasurers of the several counties are and shall be fully empowered to sell the said persons to
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any of the English nation at Virginia or at Barbadoes, to answer the said fines, etc .. (signed ) Edward Ransom, secretary. Wherefore Edmund Butler, one of the treasurers, to get something of the booty, sought out for passage to send them to Barbadoes for sale, but none were willing to take them or carry them, and a certain master of a ship, to put the thing off, pretended that they would spoil all the ship's company. To which Butler returned, No, you need not fear that. for they are poor, harmless creatures, and will not harm anybody.' 'Will they not so?' replied the shipmaster, 'and will you offer to make slaves of such harmless creatures?' Thus Butler, frustrated in his wicked intentions, and the winter being at hand, sent them home again to shift for themselves until he could get a convenient opportunity to send them away." Thus did some of the ancestors of our subject suffer in the days when most horrible persecutions were perpetrated in the name of law and Christianity.
Adam Mott, a son of Jacob and Cassandra ( Southwick) Mott, was born in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, April 12, 1692, and was married, December 18. 1718, to Apphia, daughter of Thomas and Hepzibah Hathaway, of Dart- mouth. His wife was a lineal descendant of Francis Cooke, who came over in the Mayflower in 1620. His wife was named Hester. They had a son John, who married Sarah, daughter of Richard Warren, one of the Pilgrims of the Mayflower. Sarah, daughter of John and Sarah Cooke, married Arthur Hathaway, and they had a son John, who also had a son John, and the last named was the father of Thomas Hathaway, whose daughter Apphia was married. December 18, 1718, to Adam Mott, son of Jacob Mott.
Adam and Apphia Mott had a son Adam, who was born July 16, 1739, and was married February 23, 1762, to Rachel, daughter of William and Abigail Rider. Adam and Rachel Mott were the parents of a daughter Apphia, who became the paternal grandmother of our subject. She was born May 31. 1767, was married to \bner Shepherd May 29. 1788, and died December 24. 1856, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, well advanced in years, and fully prepared for the life to come. The following is the marriage cer- tificate of the paternal grandparents of Fred A. Sheperd :
"Abner Shepherd, of Dartmouth, son of Abner Shepherd, in the same town, in the county of Bristol and state of Massachusetts Bay, deceased, and Hanna, his wife, and Apphia Mott, daughter of AAdam Mott, of the town. county and state aforesaid, and Rachel, his wife, having declared their inten- tions of taking each other in marriage, before several monthly meetings of the people called Quakers, in the county aforesaid. according to the good order used among them, their proceedings used among them, their proceed- ings after due enquiry and deliberate consideration thereof, were allowed by said meetings ; they appearing clear of all others, and having consent of par- ents concerned. Now these are to certify to all whom it may concern that for the full accomplishing of their said intentions, this twenty-ninth day of the fifth month, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty- eight, they, the said Abner Sheperd and Apphia Mott, appearel at a public assembly of the aforesaid people and others, at their meeting house in Dart- mouth, and he, the said Abner Shepherd, taking the said Apphia Mott by the
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hand, did openly declare as followeth: Friends-I take this my Friend, Apphia Mott, to be my wife, promising through divine assistance, to be unto her a loving and faithful husband until it shall please the Lord by death to separate us. And the said Apphia Mott did then and there in like manner declare as followeth : Friends-I take this my Friend, Abner Shepherd, to be my husband, promising through divine assistance to be unto him a loving and faithful wife, until it shall please the Lord by death to separate us. Or words of the like import. And the said Abner Shepherd and Apphia Mott, as a further confirmation thereof, have hereunto set their hands, she after the custom of marriage assuming the name of her husband." Then followed signatures of the contracting parties and over thirty witnesses.
On the maternal side Fred A. Shepherd is a representative of the Sher- man family, and their line can be traced back to Henry Sherman, of Dedham. in the county of Essex, England, to which place he probably removed from the county of Suffolk, as he bore the Suffolk coat of arms. The Christian name of his wife was Agnes and she died in 1580. He died in 1589. Their son Henry married Susan Hills and died in 1610. Samuel, the son of Henry and Agnes Sherman, was born in 1573, and died in Dedham, Eng- land, in 1615. His wife's Christian name was Phillis, and their son Phillip was born in Dedham February 5, 1610, married Sarah Adding, and died in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in 1687. In 1634 he emigrated to New England and settled in Roxbury, Massachusetts. During the Anne Hutchinson trouble he took the popular side, but as Governor Winthrop finally prevailed, he with others found it convenient to emigrate to Rhode Island. In Providence they met Roger Williams, who advised them to purchase the island of Aquetnet, now Rhode Island, of the Indians. The purchase was consummated March 24. 1638, and on the Ist of July they established a regular government with William Coddington as governor and Phillip Sherman, secretary. After this the latter often held offices in the colony. He was a man of intelligence, wealth and influence and was frequently consulted by those in authority. The early records prepared by him still remain in Portsmouth and show him to have been a neat and skillful penman, as well as an educated man. After he emi- grated to Rhode Island he left the Congregational church and joined the Society of Friends. He had thirteen children, of whom John was born in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in 1644, and married Sarah, a daughter of Will- iam Spooner. He settled in South Dartmouth. followed farming and black- smithing and there died in 1734. Their son Philip was also born in Dart- mouth, and the Christian name of his wife was Hannah. They had seven children, as follows: John, born in 1699: Jabez, born in 1700: Stephen, born in 1703: Henry, born in 1705; Ichabod. born in 1708; Deborah, born in 1710; Abraham, born in 1713. The last named was married, in 1737, to Susannah Delano, and their son Phillip, who was born August 5. 1739. was married. December 12. 1758. to Mary Russell, daughter of Caleb and Rebecca Russell. The children of this union were Caleb, Gamaliel, Ichabod, Susan- nah, Rufus, Lydia and Mary Eunice.
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