A memorial and biographical history of northern California, illustrated. Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy...and biographical mention of many of its most eminent pioneers and also of prominent citizens of today, Part 114

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1000

USA > California > A memorial and biographical history of northern California, illustrated. Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy...and biographical mention of many of its most eminent pioneers and also of prominent citizens of today > Part 114

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OBERT McGLASHAN, a general farmer near Livermore, was born Angust 15, 1839, in Perth, Scotland, emigrated to America in 1860 and for a short time was en- gaged in farming near Amsterdam, Fulton County, New York, but in the same year he came on to California, by way of the Isthmus of Panama, landing at San Francisco. For the first seven years he was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Washington Township, Alameda County; the next four years he was at Salinas, Monterey County; in 1871 he went to Liver- more and followed farming there ten years; then he was two years in Solano County, and finally returned to Livermore and purchased 370 acres of land, where he resides. He has forty acres in vineyard and eighteen in fruit- trees, all bearing. He is a member of Salinas Lodge, No. 204, F. & A. M. He was married in San Francisco May 1, 1867, to Miss Marga- retta J. Webb, and they have eight children, whose names are: Andrew A., John W., Robert P., Isabel C., Adele E., Alfred L., Margaretta P. and Harry S.

ON. DENNIS SPENCER, attorney at law, has been a resident of California since 1852. He was born in Missouri, Angust 22, 1844, his parents being Dwight and Eliza (Kirby) Spencer, who removed to California in 1852. His father, however, had come here across the plains in 1849, with the first great rush of emigration to the gold fields. He was

a millwright by trade; and after his arrival here he built a quartz mill in Amador County, one among the first built in the State. He brought some live-stock with him from Mis- souri, and acquired large stock interests here, supplying meat to some of the large inin- ing camps. He accumulated considerable prop- erty, having large numbers of domestic animals in San Joaquin Valley. He purchased 160 acres adjoining the town of Napa, part of which is known as Spencer's addition, and a part is still in possession of the family.

Mr. Dennis Spencer for three years of his yonth attended Santa Clara College at San José; then he engaged in the study of law in the office of Wallace & Rale at Napa, and afterward in the office of Pendergast & Stoney, and was ad- mitted to the bar of the district court in 1870. After about one year's practice he attended law school at Albany, New York, in 1872-'73, graduating in the summer of the latter year; and he was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the State of New York May 15, 1873, and to the Supreme Court of California April 13, 1874. In 1873 he was elected District Attorney, and later was re-elected for two suc- ceeding terms. In 1879-'80 he was nominated by the Democrats for the Assembly against Hon. Chancellor Hartson, now deceased, and the contest was probably one of the hardest ever waged in this county. Mr. Spencer was defeated by only eleven votes, in this, a largely Republican, county. In 1882, in the Stoneman campaign, he was a candidate for the Senate from the Twentieth district, and was elected by a large majority. In his four years' term in the Senate he did yeoman service in that most exciting political period. He was one of the most prominent figures in the discussion and management of the railroad tax question, and also in the riparian and irrigation problems. During those four years there were two extra sessions, in which these came up so prominently and were the all-absorbing questions of the State. He was also adverse to the displacing of the Supreme Court, on tho theory that it was

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against the policy of our Government for one bench to interfere with a co-ordinate branch of · the Government.

After the close of his Senatorial term, Mr. Spencer was elected a delegate to the National Convention that nominated President Cleve- land, and was appointed Chairman of the California delegation. He was mentioned very prominently for the office of United States District Attorney for the Northern District of California. His defeat was probably brought about by the bitterness engendered in the Demno- cratic party in the Stockton Convention. His name has been prominently considered for Con- gress in the councils of his party, but he has steadily refused to entertain a proposition in that direction, and has since devoted himself exclusively to the practice of his profession.

He is a member of Napa Lodge, No. 18, I. O. O. F. He was married in 1874, to Miss El- len E. Spencer, a native of the Sandwich Islands, a daughter of Captain Thomas Spencer, a prom- inent business man of Hawaii. They have four children now living: Lloyd, Kate J., Helen T. and Niles Searles.

HILIP H. McVICAR, a general black- smith at Livermore, was born in the town of Sidney, Nova Scotia, July 12, 1857, and learned his trade there. In 1875 he came to California and worked at the same a year, and then was in Australia a year, and, return- ing, located at Livermore, where he was employed as a journeyman in the shops of Taylor & Son, and C. P. Heslipc. He after- ward bought out the latter and conducted the shop until 1863, when he sold ont and went to Byron, Contra Costa County, purchased the shop of F. Phelps, and did business there a year; and then sold the establishment back to Mr. Phelps, went to Livermore and purchased the shop and business of Earson & Merick, where he has since carried on a general repair shop for blacksmithing on wagon work, machines

and agricultural implements. He is a Repnb- lican and active in political inatters. He was married in Livermore, December 14, 1880, to Miss Ella Hilton, and they had two children, both of whom, as well as the wife, are now de- ceased,-the latter dying September 14, 1886.

AAS LUDERS, an extensive farmer near Livermore, was born in Holstein, Ger- many, January 27, 1837; in 1853-'57 he followed the sea, and in 1858 landed in New York and came thence by sailing vessel, the Henry Brighton, around Cape Horn, to San Francisco. He went directly to San Lorenzo and thence to Mt. Ecen, where he worked as a farın hand nntil 1865. About this time he rented a farın and conducted it upon his own account for three years; then he rented a ranch near Livermore, while renting another near Haywards, and his time was occupied in super- intending these nntil 1881, when he purchased 640 acres of fine land near Livermore, where he now resides, having all this large farm nnder cultivation. He is a Republican, but spends no time at politics; he is a member of Vesper Lodge. No. 62, A. O. U. W., at Livermore.

He was united in marriage November 22, 1872, in San Francisco, to Mrs. Mary Higman, who had one child, named Angust.

F. JEANS, poultryman near Wood land, was born in Vacaville, Solano Connty, this State, March 18, 1854, a son of T. J. and Isabel (Hoyle) Jeans. Father was a farmer by occupation, lived in Missouri, his native State, until 1851, when he came over- land to California. A short time afterward he returned to Missouri, and in 1853 recrossed the plains to the Golden State. He is now a resi- dent of Woodland, aged sixty-seven years. The subject of this sketch was brought up on he farın, but since the age of seventeen years he has been

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employed with machinery, in which a has ex- hibited great talent. He has invented a number of useful devices which have been patented, and somne are in use in the large harvesters of the coast. One of these is a spreader, operating upon the grain going to the machine, and is considered almost indispensable nowadays. The patent right is now owned by Byron Jackson of San Francisco. Another device is a sack-holder, now in use two years, which saves one man's labor in connection with the harvester. For the past year, however, Mr. Jeans has been giving his attention to the raising of thorough- bred chickens,-White Leghorns and Plymouth Rock,-at his place two miles southwest of Woodland. Both varieties are of the single- comb strain. Mr. Jeans has also invented an incubator, which promises to be a success; it will soon be placed upon the market.

He was married in 1887 to Miss Lottie Cop- land, a native of California. Their children are Jessie and Raymond. Mr. Jeans is a member of the I. O. G. T., at Woodland.

OBERT H. STERLING, who has been prominently identified with the real-estate and insurance business of Napa County since 1866, has been a resident of California since 1849, and of Napa since 1852. He was born in New York city in 1829. His parents were David and Emma (Waterman) Sterling; his father, a native of Bridgeport, Connectient, was at that time a book publisher, doing busi- ness under the firm name of Sterling & Strong. His mother was a sister of Cantain Robert Waterman, who came to this coast in 1850, in command of the steamship Northerner, one of the early Panama liners. While Mr. Sterling was an infant his parents removed to Bridge- port, where he was brought up, receiving his education in the public schools of that city. At the early age of fourteen years he shipped before the mast in the ship Natchez, making the trip around the world in nine months and

twenty-six days. He followed the sea until the breaking out of the excitement consequent upon the discovery of gold in California, when he came around the Horn as a passenger in the ship Tarolinta, arriving in San Francisco July 6, 1849. Among his fellow passengers by this vessel were William S. O'Brien, later of the firin of Flood & O'Brien, the well-known millionaires of the Pacific coast, Dr. J. C. Tucker, of Ala- meda, Daniel Norcross, of San Francisco, and others who have become more or less prominent in the history of the State. Engaging in inin- ing, he was soon taken sick and returned to San Francisco, where he shipped as first mate on the Tarolinta for a voyage to Shanghai. Ile returned to San Francisco in the following spring with health perfectly restored, and took charge of the storeships of the Pacific Mail Company, and also of the stores of Stevens & Baneroft, which position he held for a year, and then re- turned to the East, where he remained for another year. Returning to California, he lo- cated in Napa County, and has resided there ever since, first engaging in the stock business, raising horses, cattle and sheep in partnership with Captain A. A. Ritchie, in that part of Napa County which has since been set off as Lake County. In 1858, the death of Captain Ritchie requiring the sale of the stock to close up his estate, Mr. Sterling embarked in the lumber business in Napa City, in which he continued till 1866. He then engaged in the real-estate and insurance business in connection with the office of Assistant Assessor of Internal Revenue, which office he held until it was abolished in 1874. In 1881 he was appointed Deputy Col- lector of United States Revenue, serving until the change of administration in 1885, since which time he has devoted himself exclusively to his private business.

Mr. Sterling married in 1854 Miss Lydia J. Wheaton, of Guilford, Connecticut, daughter of Captain W. N. Wheaton. They have one daughter, Julia H., now the wife of Horace L. Hill, of San Francisco. He is a member of the Masonic order, Mount Lodge, No. 18, and of

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the Royal Arch Chapter, No. 30, both of Napa; a life member of the Society of California Pio- neers, of San Francisco; and also of the Board of Supervisors of Napa County. Mr. and Mrs. Sterling are attendants of the Episcopal Church.

Always an earnest supporter of Republican ideas and of that political party, he was one of the first Board of Trustees of the Napa State Insane Asylum, of which the late Judge Chan- cellor Hartson, James H. Goodman, Dr. John F. Morse, of San Francisco, and John H. Jew- ett, of Marysville, were also members. This board had the control of the building of this institution from its inception, and under their supervision the buildings were nearly completed and partially occupied. Mr. Sterling and the majority of that board were reappointed for a second term, but soon afterward a change of political administration took place in the State, and the Republican board was legislated out of office.

R. JOHN H. MILLER is one of the prominent business men and physicians of the city of Redding, Shasta County, California.

He was born on a farm near the village of Pontiac, Oakland County, Michigan, July 2, 1842, his father, Captain John Miller, having been one of the first settlers of that county. The house in which he was born was a two- story, strong, block log house that his father had built in the forest. The logs were hewed and laid close together, and the windows were provided with heavy wooden shutters. His father used to drive his ox team twenty-five iniles to Detroit for supplies, going through the forest and fording rivers. While absent on a trip of this kind at one time the Indians carried away stock, stole their corn and made havoc of the country in general. His mother, secure in her stronghold, escaped unhurt.

A fact worthy of note in the history of the Miller family is that three generations of John

Millers carried arms in defense of their coun- try. Our subject's grandfather, John Miller, when a young man enlisted in the Continental army and aided in driving King George's red coats ont of America. At the close of the Rev- olutionary war he settled at Albany, New York. His son, John Miller, was born near Auburn, same State, in 1792. This son, the Doctor's father, was a captain in the United States forces in the war of 1812. Our subject attended the district school of his native place in winter and worked on his father's farm in summer, thus becoming inured to work, and in that primitive log school-house laying the foun- dation of an education which has been of so much value to him in after life. In 1861 the great civil war burst upon the country, and in 1862 the call for volunteers to put down the rebellion became urgent. At that time young Miller had attained his twentieth year, and the fires of patriotism that burned in the breast of his sire and paternal grandsire would not be downed, and he was irresistibly impelled to enlist in the service of his country. In Angust, 1862, he enlisted in the Twenty-second Michi- gan, that grand regiment that carried its colors so triumphantly on so many battle-fields, and after three years of hard fighting victoriously returned the old flag, though shot to shreds, to the State. About the first of October they were sent to the front, and soon gained the reputation of being one of the first regiments from Michi- gan. They participated in the battles of the Army of the Cumberland, and at the battle of Chickamauga the regiment did valiant fighting and suffered fearful loss. The last year of the war Dr. Miller was at General Thomas's head- quarters, and was chief clerk of the commissary for the staff of General Thomas. At last the war closed and victory came. After three years of service in a most sanguinary war, in which several hundred thousand good men on both sides went down in death, John H. Miller, a veteran, was discharged.

He finished his education in Buffalo, New York, and graduated in medicine in the spring

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of 1877. He soon after began the practice of his profession in the oil regions of l'ennsylva- nia, remaining there three years. During that time he operated largely in oil. In 1880 he came to California and to the new town of Red- ding. Being pleased with the location he de- cided to make it his home. He at once began his practice and became interested in the growth and improvement of the town. In all his nn- dertakings he has met with eminent success, has a good practice and owns a nice drug store. The Doctor has also interested himself in hor- ticulture on his ranch of 160 acres, which is located four miles east of Redding. On it he has planted a great variety of fruits: pruncs, almonds, peaches, Bartlett pears, cherries, apri- cots, figs and grape vines.

In 1866 Dr. Miller married Miss Elizabeth Hughes, who was born in France of English parentage. They have four children, three sons and a daughter, all born in Pennsylvania, viz .: Charles H., Edward H., Harold A. and Ethel E. The family are Presbyterians. The Doctor is a trustee and an elder in the church and aided in the building of their house of worship. He is also Superintendent of the 'Sunday-school, and it is with pleasure that one notes the lively interest he takes in the children of the city. He is a Republican, a G. A. R., and a member of the Masonic fraternity.

OSEPH SUAZA, a farmer near Pleasanton, Alameda County, was born at St. George, Western Islands (in the Kingdom of Por- tugal). August 26, 1847, and in 1868 chose the sea as the arena whercon to earn his livelihood; he was four years before the mast. In 1872 he came to San Francisco by way of Panama, and proceeded to Livermore, where for three years he worked at farm labor. He then purchased 155 acres of land near Pleasanton, in Murray Township, where he has since been ranching. Jnne 15, 1884, he left on a visit to his native island, where he married Mary B. Suaza, and he

bronght her to his California home. They have six children living, namely: Mary, Louisa, Manuel, Joseph, Andrew and Johnnie.

BENEZER MAJOR, a well and favorably known farmer near Winters, was born March 19, 1826, in Amsterdam, Mont- gomery County, New York, the son of John and Jane (Maxwell) Major. His father, a farmer by occupation, resided all his life in his native State, New York, dying in 1857, at the age of sixty-five years; the mother also died there, in 1864, at the age of seventy-three years. In their family were seven sons and five danghters. At the age of seventeen years Mr. Major, the subject of this sketch, began to learn the car- penter and joiner's trade, which he mastered and followed in New York until 1851, when he came by way of the Isthinus to California; had to wait thirteen days at the Isthmus for a vessel, which when it came proved to be the German bark Cornelia. He had to pay $300 for cabin passage. After being ont abont five months the water was exhausted and the ship was obliged to put into land, the nearest port being 500 miles distant. When they arrived they found themselves in Acapulco, and here Mr. Major found the steamers Golden Gate and Panama. Taking passage on the Panama, he paid $100 for passage to San Francisco, at which port he arrived in about ten days. Three weeks afterward he went down the coast forty iniles on a schooner, and was employed about a month upon the ranch of a Mr. Gates, running for him the first mnower and reaper ever brought to the coast. Then he followed mining two months at Mormon Island; stopped six weeks in Sacramento; mined again two months at Galena Hill; went to North Bar on the Feather River, met his brother David there, who had crossed the plains in 1850, and worked with him about eighteen months, and for a short time on Rapid Creek, etc .; three months on the Sonth Yuba; and then David went into Yolo County

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and took a claim southwest of Winters upon what afterward became the Wolfskill grant, and while there he met his death by being drowned in the Sacramento River, resulting from walk- ing out upon a plauk after dark to board a canoe; his body was found the next morning.

Ebenezer followed mining in different places for abont eight years, in which he was success- ful. He purchased his present place by obtain- ing a squatter's claim thereto in 1856. He has made upon it all the improvements now visible there. It comprises 170 acres of choice land, well improved, where he raises hay, grain and live-stock, two miles east of Winters. In his political views Mr. Major is a Republican. December 27, 1884, he met with a serions acci- dent. A horse struck him on the hip with his knee and so severely injured the part that Mr. Major still suffers considerably.

NGLENOOK. - The celebrated vineyard and winery known by this name and owned by Gustave Niebanm, is located near Rutherford, in the heart of Napa County, -a rich district with romantic surroundings. Even before Captain Niebauni came into pos- session of this property, the locality had become famous as a health resort, on account of its salubrious atmosphere and mineral springs. The Captain purchased it in 1880, and since then he has spared no pains or expense to make it the model vineyard of the State. . The estate proper consists of about 1,110 acres of arable land, of diversified soil, well watered by moun- tain streams and characterized by enchanting landscapes. There are at present about 300 acres in vines, embracing the finest varieties of foreign grapes. While Napa County is con- fessedly the banner county of California in re- spect to wine products, Inglenook is the cul- minating point of this district,-which indeed compares well with the most celebrated wine districts of France. With the guarantee that 4₫

the cuttings received from the most unquestion- able sources were true to their name, they have been successfully grafted, and have taken very kindly to the soil, producing wine which will compare favorably with their namesakes in the old country, both as to delicacy of flavor and bouquet.

To insure a proper receptacle for the wines, Captain Niebaum erected a cellar and winery, which was completed in 1887, and which for perfection of detail and elegant finish has no equal in America. With an eye to the beauti- ful as well as the practical, the spot chosen for this winery was most judiciously selected. Sit- nated on the slope of one of the undulations, its rear sheltered by a solid hill of stone, nature has assisted science in maintaining in the vaults a uniform temperature so necessary to the care and the development of wines. The building is of gray stone, trimmed with brown stone, quarried on the estate. It is three stories in height, with double roofs. The architecture is semi-Gothic and Eastlake in design. Its dimen- sionsare: length, 220 feet; central width, seventy - two feet; wings, sixty-two feet; capacity, 500,000 gallons; structure, of stone and iron, with con- crete floors throughout; the vaults are arched in cathedral style and protected by double floors, thus maintaining a normal temperature of 60º F. during the whole year. The fermenting roomns are in the third story of the main building, where every known modern improvement for maintain- ing an even normal temperature and absolute cleanliness has been called into use. Steam and water pipes are placed in every part of the im- mense building, with conduits to carry off the waste, thus preventing stagnant water and dis- agreeable odoro.

" Mould, cobwebs and dust, did you say ?" remarked the genial manager, Mr. John Arm- strong, upon the occasion of a recent visit to Inglenook. "I assure you, Madame, that if Captain Niebaum should discover either, by the aid of a lighted candle, in any of the nooks and crannies, I should be obliged to pack my traps and get, despite the fact that I have been in his

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service for twenty years. Cleanliness is onr watchword."

Turning sharply to the right upon entering the building a vision of the sixteenth century presents itself. Here is a charming little den, fitted up in antique oak, devoted to the delicate task of sampling. The high-backed, richly carved chairs are most comfortable and inviting, and a leisurely survey of the room discloses some rarely beautiful bits of æsthetie decoration. The mind naturally associates old wine and polished oak together, and the elaborate side- board gives a decided manish character to the surroundings. There are soft, mellow lights coming faintly through stained glass, and should the evening shades demand it there are quaint Turkish lanterns, rich in medallion presentments of the gods of wine and pleasure. A great square table, partially covered with the thinnest crystal drinking-cups, tempts the visitor to sample some of the old " private stock;" and there are c'ainty little hand-baskets containing a single bottle of a rare vintage, which have a decided tendency to make the sample taste like " more !"

The trade-mark and label is a neat little dia- mond-shaped design in black and white, with the monogram "G. N." in raised letters in the center, surrounded by a medallion bearing the inscription, " Inglenook Vineyard, Rutherford, Napa County, California." in black letters on a white ground. The extreme points of the dia- mond have prettily arranged clusters of grapes on a dark background. Great care is taken with the cases in which the bottled goods are handled, each bottle being encased in a tule covering, instead of a straw cover, to prevent breakage. The corks bear the trade-mark, and to prevent counterfeiting the bottles are wired, bearing the seal of the proprietor, which must be broken before opening the bottle. Iu short, nothing that will please the senses or add to the quality of the wine itself is omitted in this model establishment.

The following extract, taken from the St. Helena Star, is good advice to vineyardists generally :

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A memorial and biographical history of northern California, illustrated. Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy...and biographical mention of many of its most eminent pioneers and also of prominent citizens of today, Part 114

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 1000

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1000