USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol II > Part 13
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Mr. Thomas was born on the other side of the Atlantic, in the kingdom of Bavaria (since then having become one of the states of the great Ger- 'n empire), on June 8, 1852, so that he is now in the prime of his life and years. He was a son of Henry and Margaret (Liesy) Thomas, who were also natives of Bavaria. George passed his youth in his native place, and what education he received in his own tongue has since been supple- mented by a rich and varied experience in practical life, and after coming to America he mastered the English language. In 1872, when he was just twenty years old, he made the ever memorable emigration to this country. He took passage on a steamer at Antwerp, and after a voyage of twenty-five days reached New Orleans. For several months following he was em- ployed on a sugar plantation near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but before the year 1872 was ended he arrived in California and San Joaquin county. He has centered his active life in this county ever since, so that he has been enrolled among the efficient citizenship from the days of early man- hood until the present. For a number of years he hired out as a ranch hand, working principally in the Linden neighborhood. In 1886 he began farming for himself, and has continued his independent operations with
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much success ever since. He is the owner of forty acres near Linden, but he farms in addition a one hundred and sixty acre tract, so that he has all he can reasonably attend to. Mr. Thomas is a Democrat in politics, but maintains an independent attitude in such matters and does not give unques- tioning allegiance to a party banner, often voting for the man or principle that meets his best approval. He is identified with the German Reformed church, in which faith he was reared. Mr. Thomas has never married, but although without the anchorage of a home of his own he has always been accounted one of the most reliable and public-spirited of the citizens of San Joaquin county.
WILLIAM PARNELL SQUIRES.
William Parnell Squires, clerk of the police and fire commission of San Jose, was born in Peoria, Illinois, on the 30th of November, 1844, his parents being Thomas and Mary Jane (Parnell) Squires. The father was a native of England and a representative of an old family of that country. He came to the United States with his father in 1836, settling first in Ohio, whence he afterward removed to Illinois, establishing his home near Peoria. He was a farmer by occupation and resided in Peoria county until 1876, when he went to Nebraska, where his wife died. In 1882 he made his way to Oregon, where he engaged in farming in connection with his son George. His death occurred in the Sunset state in 1886. His wife, who was born in Ireland, was a relative of Charles Stewart Parnell, the noted Irish leader · and patriot. With her parents she came to the United States, the family home being established in Ohio, where she gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Squires. Their family consisted of four sons and one daughter, but two of the sons and the daughter died in infancy. George, the eldest, is now a resident farmer of Oregon.
William Parnell Squires pursued his early education in the public schools of Whiteside county, Illinios. In the summer months he worked upon the farm and in the winter seasons gave his attention to the mastery of the branches of English learning. At the age of seventeen years in response to his country's call for aid and prompted by a spirit of patriotism, he enlisted in defense of the Union and was assigned to Company C, Seventy-fifth Illinois Infantry. He served first under General Buell in the battle of Per- ryville, Kentucky, where the regiment lost about one-third of its number. Later he was under the command of General Rosecrans and fought in the battle of Stone River in December, 1862, where out of nine hundred men only one hundred and ninety-one were left. He was also at later dates under the command of General Howard and General Grant, the latter being the leader of the forces at Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. With his regiment he also took part in the Atlanta campaign under General Sherman, and on the 2d of September, 1864, while making a charge at Lovejoy Sta- tion he was wounded in the heel. This injury caused the amputation of his foot and after four amputations he lost his leg. He received an honor-
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able discharge on the 6th of March, 1865, and at once returned to his home.
In 1866 Mr. Squires pursued a business course in Eastman's College at Chicago and later accepted a position in connection with the Illinois Soldiers' College, at Fulton, Illinois. In 1867 he left that and was appointed deputy county recorder of Whiteside county, Illinois, and in 1868-9 he served as deputy county treasurer. During the two succeeding years he was enrolling clerk in the Illinois legislature and in 1872 he was elected clerk of the circuit court of Whiteside county for a term of four years. In the fall of 1876 Mr. Squires went to Nebraska, where he turned his attention to farming, following that pursuit for a number of years. In 1889, however, he again entered public life, acting as assistant doorkeeper in Congress. In the fall of 1890 he came to California, settling in San Jose, and was appointed deputy assessor under L. A. Spitzer, continuing to fill that position until 1903, when he was elected secretary of the police and fire commission, in which capacity he is now serving.
In 1868 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Squires and Miss Emma Francis, a native of England and a daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Francis, who became early settlers of Yonkers, New York. Mrs. Squires engaged in teaching in the public schools of Whiteside county, Illinois, prior to her marriage. To this union have been born five children: William F., who is serving as paymaster clerk on the Monadnock in the United States navy; Charles H., who is a graduate of Stanford University and is now in the government service as a member of the bureau of public lands in Manila : Paul, who is now a druggist of San Francisco and who for three years served on the United States battleship Oregon, acting as hospital steward at Santiago, in the Spanish-American war: Emma, who is a milli- ner at Monmouth, Oregon; and Raymond, the youngest, who is living at home. Mr. Squires belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and to John A .. Dix Post No. 42, G. A. R. His political support has ever been given to the Republican party, and he takes an active interest in its welfare, growth and success. He ·belongs to the California Construction League, an organization for the reclamation of the arid lands of the state. Almost his entire life has been devoted to public service, and no trust re- posed in him has ever been betrayed in the slightest degree. He is as loyal to his country in the days of peace as when he followed the nation's starry banner on the battlefields of the south, and he has made for himself a most creditable career as a soldier and as an official.
COLONEL THOMAS F. O'NEIL.
Colonel Thomas F. O'Neil, deputy county clerk of San Francisco county and colonel of the First Regiment, National Guard of California, has lived in San Francisco nearly all his life, and is worthy of special distinction because of the honorable part he has taken as a civilian, a county officer and as a soldier in the service of his state and nation. He was not born to riches or luxury, so that, like most men, he has had to devote most of his
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thought and energies to the problem of self-maintenance, but at the same time, as far as in him lay, he has been zealous and public-spirited and has offered freely of his services to the public welfare, so that he fully deserves the esteem rewarding a well spent life.
Colonel O'Neil was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1856. His father, John O'Neil, a descendant of the famous King O'Neil of Ireland, came out to California in 1857, and for a long term of years was in the employ of the Wells Fargo Company's Express, and was known for his sterling integrity and excellent ability.
Thomas F. O'Neil received his education in the public schools of San Francisco, and in early life learned the trade of pressman, and continued his work on the papers of this city until he was chosen to his present posi- tion of deputy county clerk, in 1890. August 6, 1875, he joined the Second Artillery Regiment of the National Guard of the state as a private, and as a member of the First Regiment took part in the Kearney riots of 1877-78 and the railroad strike in 1894. On May 25, 1898, he was with this regi- ment when, as a part of the United States volunteer forces, it embarked for Manila. This was the first regiment of American troops that ever embarked for a foreign war, having left even before the troops landed in Cuba. Mr. O'Neil was then captain of his company, and in the Philippines he saw much actual campaigning and fighting, and bore credit with the other officers of that gallant regiment for the worthy part it took in the war with the Spanish and the Filipinos. He was twice complimented in the field by General Charles King, who was in command of the brigade.
COLONEL A. ANDREWS.
Colonel A. Andrews, for many years proprietor of the famous "Dia- mond Palace" of San Francisco, at 221 Montgomery street, is one of the most versatile geniuses known to California history; a man who has seen all the climes of the globe, who has experienced all the mutations and fickle- nesses of the goddess fortune; who again and again has embarked for the isles of wealth, and with their luxuries and enjoyments in his reach has met the winds of adversity and been borne back to the shallows of com- parative poverty ; but even so often has he resolutely turned his bark and renewed the fierce battle with the elements that beset the financial and com- mercial sea, and it is the happy privilege to record in this work that for many years he has been safely anchored in the harbor of material prosperity, with all good things abounding.
Colonel Andrews is one of the oldest of California and San Francisco business men. His jewelry emporium in the days of old, the days of gold, was one of the most popular and busy marts of trade in the city, and for nearly forty years the "Diamond Palace" has been one of the chief attrac- tions to the visitor of the city and the leading jewelry and fine arts house. Outside of commercial life he has been identified in countless ways with the fraternal, social, military and political life of the west, and has made his influence felt on many corresponding institutions and organizations. He is
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now approaching his eightieth year of life, but still fills with much of his old-time energy and vivacity of spirit the position as a man of affairs, which when vacant, will be found to have been one of the most conspicuous in San Francisco's history.
Colonel Andrews was born in London, England, April 7, 1826, in which city his father, who had previously served as a corporal under the first Napoleon, was engaged in the tobacco trade. After his father's death, which occurred during the childhood of the son, the mother took her family to the United States and located at New Orleans, that being in 1838.
At the age of twenty, in 1846, Colonel Andrews enlisted in the United States army for the Mexican war, first holding a lieutenant's commission and shortly promoted to the captaincy of Company A, Second Ohio Regi- ment. His excellence as an officer attracted the attention and commendation of his superiors, and he was mentioned for gallantry by General Scott. At the close of the war he had two hundred and fifty dollars and a government warrant for one hundred and sixty acres of land, and, being befriended by Michael Reese, a man of influence and wealth, he was able to start a jewelry store in St. Louis, where in a short time he had accumulated thirteen thou- sand dollars. The gold fever carried him off to California, and at Sacra- mento, in partnership with A. Hiller, he established a jewelry business. November 2, 1852, a disastrous fire, destroying the whole city, destroyed the store and left Mr. Andrews sixty thousand dollars in debt.
Once more he was at the beginning, with only a large fund of experi- ence as capital. He came to San Francisco; secured a fresh stock of goods, and soon opened up a magnificent shop, one of the most thronged and busy resorts in the city during the early days. In twenty months after the failure at Sacramento the firm had retrieved its losses and had one hundred and eighty thousand dollars' surplus to their credit.
In 1856, being possessed of a competency, Colonel Andrews went to New York, but he could not remain long in the effete east, and returning placed his fortune in the argentiferous mines of Esmeralda, where he buried his gold without gaining an equivalent of silver. He was once more at "bed rock" and had to strike another lead. He offered his services to the government, then engaged in the Civil war. He was appointed major, but had a misunderstanding with the authorities and resigned. He next assumed the role of prestidigitator on the stage, and for a time managed various theatrical ventures. In 1862 he went to South America, and in the ports of Chile and Peru carried on a large commercial business for several years and became prosperous. He was one of the Americans who performed such herioc services in trying to save the thousands who met death in the awful holocaust at the Jesuit church in Santiago, December 8, 1863, and the United States senate took recognition of the Americans who bravely risked their lives at this time, among the heroes being the Hon. Thomas H. Nelson, minister to Chile; Harry Meiggs, formerly of San Francisco; an engineer by name, Thorndyke; and Mr. Rand, secretary for H. Meiggs.
Colonel Andrews next made a grand tour of Europe and Asia, and returning to New York invested heavily in the stock market, and on the
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fatal "Black Friday" lost a fortune. Poor but undismayed, he once more came to California, and from this time the clouds of his sky have seldom known aught but silver linings. He did an enormous business in the store in the Cosmopolitan Hotel Block on Bush street, before taking up his quarters on Montgomery street, where he built and fitted up in most splendid style the Diamond Palace, so named for its gorgeous and costly decorations of pute gems, the decorations and furnishings alone being worth fortunes. In 1896 he remodeled this palatial establishment, and from that time has dated a new era in the commercial history of Montgomery street. The Diamond Palace is not only a place of beauty and magnificence in itself and where everything in the way of jewels can be obtained, but is also of historic interest and one of the landmarks of the city and a scene of some of the most interesting annals of the west. Several booklets have been printed describing the Diamond Palace and it has been the theme of countless news- paper articles and travelers' reminiscences, and to narrate all its wonders and beauties would transcend the limitations of this volume, which can only briefly sketch its importance in California history and as the enduring monu- ment of Colonel Andrews.
It now remains to give Colonel Andrews' connection with the social, military and fraternial affairs of his city and state. He was appointed by General John A. Sutter as quartermaster, with the rank of colonel on October 7, 1853, and of the sixty-eight colonels appointed by that general, Colonel Andrews is the only one now living. On November 18, 1903, he was appointed by General John C. Black as aide de camp, with the rank of colonel, in the Grand Army of the Republic. He is a pensioner of the gov- ernment for his services during the war with Mexico, but has never used a dollar of the pension for himself, it all going to a needy old lady of San Francisco, now nearly ninety years old. He is a past president of the Vet- erans of the Mexican War.
In June, 1893, he and seventeen other representative business men of San Francisco, at a meeting called by Eugene Gregory, president of the board of trade, started active work on the Midwinter Fair, which was opened January 1, 1894. After a hard struggle this was made one of the successful enterprises of the Pacific coast, resulting in much permanent ben- efit to the industries and liberal arts of this region, and its successful issue is another of the honorable and worthy works in which Colonel Andrews bore full share and credit.
At the breaking of the ground for the Midwinter Fair, Colonel Andrews requested that the first shovelfull of earth be given him, which he later sold for $650, at auction, and the shovel, costing $1.25, was sold for $125, Roos Brothers of San Francisco being the purchasers of the earth. In 1884-85 Colonel Andrews was appointed commissioner, by President Ches- ter A. Arthur, to the Cotton Centennial Exposition at New Orleans, and so well did Colonel Andrews conduct the affairs intrusted to him, that the British government, after ascertaining who the California representative was, tendered him a United States commissionership to the World's Fair in London in 1886. Colonel Andrews was awarded the gold medal for the
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finest exhibit at New Orleans. The Hon. John C. Keffer, in his speech to the committee, said in part: "If you propose to give a medal to the com- missioner whose state, in competitive contest, appears to have made the most complete, the most varied, and the most attractive exhibit, you will need no jury of award. Hand it over to California at once." Out of the appropriation of $10,000 appropriated, he returned $3,000 besides having spent some $15,000 of his own, together with giving a year of his time.
Colonel Andrews has always stood high in the esteem of his fellow citizens of San Francisco, and before closing this brief sketch mention should be made of the elegant gold badge which his admiring fellow San Franciscans gave him as a mark of their respect and appreciation of the countless services which he had rendered city and citizens. The presenta- tion was made on November 11, 1874, and the badge, surmounted magnifi- cently with twenty diamonds, has upon its reverse side this inscription so befitting the career of the recipient :
"A soldier in the hour of danger, In charity ever willing to give, In industry unsurpassed, In taste unequalled : The public appreciate your patriotism, private virtue, business capacity and enterprise.
"To Colonel A. Andrews,
"November 11, 1874."
In 1853 Colonel Andrews installed Union Lodge No. 58. F. & A. M., in Sacramento, with thirty-three charter members, of whom he is now the only one living. He became a Mason at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1847, and is now the oldest member of that order in San Francisco and the state of California. He has affiliations with Doric Lodge No. 216, F. & A. M., of which he is the oldest member: San Francisco Chapter No. I, R. A. M., at San Francisco; and Islam Temple of the Mystic Shrine at San Francisco, and the thirty-second degree has been conferred upon him. He is the oldest member of Pocahontas Tribe of the Improved Order of Red Men, and has been elected its sachem five times in succession (the only instance of its kind in the order), and for many years was representative of the great council of the United States, and the great Meneawa. He is a member of the Veteran Volunteer Firemen of California, and ex-foreman of No. 3 of Sacramento and the only surviving member, and a member of the Old Friends and the New Friends, and of many other societies and organizations.
Colonel Andrews married, January 18, 1849, Miss Margaret Newberg, of Cincinnati. Two daughters and one son being born: Katie, deceased; Rose, widow of Frank Tousey, who was a New York publisher : Milton S. Latham, who died aged thirty-four. The Colonel was married to Emma Gerstner, of San Francisco, on April 7, 1880. Colonel Andrews speaks eight languages, acquired by travel.
JUDGE LAWRENCE ARCHER.
When a history of central California and her public men shall have been written its pages will bear the name of Judge Lawrence Archer as that of one whose distinguished career well entitles him to representation. If
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"biography is the home aspect of history," as Wilmott has expressed it. it is entirely within the province of this history to commemorate and per- petuate the lives and characters, the achievements and honors of the illus- trious sons of the state. The name of Judge Lawrence Archer has been closely associated with the records of jurisprudence in California, also with the law-making interests of the state, and no man has more highly deserved the honors that have been bestowed upon him.
A native of South Carolina, he was born in Pickensville on the IIth of November, 1820, a son of John and Ann (Mosley) Archer, both of whom were natives of Virginia and were representatives of an old American family. They became the parents of five sons and two daughters. The father was a merchant, carrying on commercial pursuits in connection with farming.
Judge Archer in his boyhod days was a student in a private grammar school and in a private academy of his native state, and continued his edu- cation in the University of Virginia. After putting aside his text-books he returned to his home and was engaged in teaching in Anderson county, South Carolina, for a year. When twenty years of age he took up the study of law in Abbeville county, and at the age of twenty-one went west to Yazoo county, Mississippi, where he established his home in the latter part of the year 1841. Opening an office for the practice of law, he con- tinued an active member of the bar there for two years, when. on account of failing health he removed up the Missouri river and settled at St. Joseph, Missouri, where he remained in practice for about nine years. In August, 1852, he came to California, having crossed the plains with an ox team and wagon in the primitive manner of the times. He was accompanied by his wife, and they traveled on day after day until they had covered the weary miles necessary to the crossing of the deserts and the traversing of the mountains that separated them from their old home and their destination. They located first in Sacramento, where Judge Archer opened his law office and engaged in the prosecution of his profession until the time of the great fire in November, 1852. Then after a few months spent in San Francisco he removed to San Jose, becoming a leading member of the bar in this city and retaining a foremost place as a representative of legal interests until 1900, when he retired to private life. From 1868 until 1871 he was judge of the county court. Few men have made a more lasting impression upon the bar of central California, both for legal ability of a high order and for the individuality of a personal character which impresses itself upon a community. Devotedly attached to his profession, systematic and method- ical in habit, sober and discreet in judgment, calm in temper, diligent in research, conscientious in the discharge of every duty, courteous and kind in demeanor and inflexibly just on all occasions, these qualities enabled Judge Archer to take rank among the leading lawyers of his section of the state. He resigned his position on the bench when he accepted a nomina- tion for Congress, but he was defeated in the race for a place in the national halls of legislation.
Judge Archer has been prominent in Democratic circles, and his influ-
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ence has been a potent factor in promoting the growth and success of the party in his county and in California. He has been a delegate to two national conventions and also to the Nicaragua convention in St. Louis in 1888. He had the honor of presenting to the Democratic national convention the claims of the Nicaragua canal route. He served for one term as a member of the California legislature and for two terms as mayor of San Jose.
Judge Archer has been twice married. In St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1848, he wedded Miss Louise Martin, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Dr. Robert Martin, who was born in Virginia. They became the parents of three children, one of whom died in infancy, while the second died at the age of six years. The surviving daughter is Mrs. Louise F. Kelley, of Chicago. The wife and mother passed away in 1869, and in 1870 the Judge was again married. his second union being with Miss Alice Bethell, a native of Indiana and a daughter of Thomas and Maria (Gifford) Bethell. They became the parents of two sons: Lawrence, who is now connected with manufacturing interests in Chicago; and Leo B., who is practicing law in San Jose as his father's successor in business. Honorable and upright has been the career of Judge Archer, and his friends recognizing his merit have rejoiced in the advancement and in the honors to which he attained. He endeared himself to his professional brethren and to those with whom he has come in contact in every walk of life, through the discharge of public duties or through social relations.
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