USA > California > A memorial and biographical history of the coast counties of Central California > Part 40
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a stockade out of young pine trees as there were plenty close by; they were set close together about three feet in the ground and about ten feet out; there was a dry ditch just outside the stockade, on the side next to the bay, which is one of the finest in the world. After the regular troops came they built barracks of pine logs, but they have since all been dis- troyed by fire. Mr. Bralee, with about a dozen sailors and six or eight marines, were left in charge to hold the fort, while the ships were down the coast. Mr. Bralee remained in the service about seven months after the war with Mexico first broke out, or after raising the flag here, receiving his discharge in March, 1847. Monterey at that time con- tained only about forty houses, most of which were built of adobe or sun-dried brick. Mr. Bralee made and burnt about the first kiln of brick in the country in 1848, and built the first chimney in Monterey in 1847. He was called by Walter Colton at different times to inspect the work of Colton Hall, as he could not do the work on that building, he being engaged at that time erecting at the port a stone building for an ordnance department, contracted for by Captain Marcy, then act- ing as Commissary Captain United States Army. He also built some of the most sub- stantial adobe buildings, one of which is now standing and looks as good as ever, although forty-two years has passed since its construc- tion. And to give the readers an idea of what a mud house may cost we will here state that this one cost over $20,000!
Many foreigners of different nationalities landed at Monterey at an early date, but com- paratively few remained. Mr. Bralee how- ever continued his residence here and has been closely identified with its interests. Our subject was Superintendent of the Public Schools in 1866, the first superintendent of
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Monterey county, and in 1861 was elected a Justice of the Peace.
Mr. Bralee married Alice Scandlin, a na- tive of Armagh, county Sligo, Ireland. Of the four children born to them two are living: Alice Bralee; and Thomas P. Bralee, who is a farmer of Carmel valley, Monterey county.
For thirty-nine years Mr. Bralee was en- gaged in agricultural pursuits, on his ranch of 1,400 acres, in Carmel valley, but since 1891 has been living a retired life in Mon- terey.
EVI B. LATHROP, a retired and sub- stantial citizen of Hollister, a pioneer of California, crossed the plains in 1850, from Illinois, via Salt Lake, as Captain of a company of fifty-three emigrants, who were equipped with sixty horses and the usual out- fit of an old-time emigrant train. He was young, ambitious and hopeful, and quick to discover the possibilities of the new and Golden State.
The spirit of mining was at the time of his arrival at Placerville, at " fever heat " and he saw a rapidly growing demand for sup- plies, and almost immediately he betook himself to Trinity county, where he was one of the first to embark in the growing of vege- tables, and farm produce, for which he found a ready market, and large prices.
He soon engaged in mnilling, and built the first dam across Trinity river that stood the floods, and erected the first sawmill in Trinity county. He sold his pine and spruce lumber in the mining district at a great profit. In the fall of 1851 he went East and returned to California the following spring, via Panama, with his wife. She suffered sickness on the way, and in 1855 he sold out from business with a competency at San José. He soon
found it impossible to rest without an occu pation, and embarked in the nursery and or- chard business, on a large scale.
He planted an orchard of 13,000 trees, and in 1855-'56 he bored six artesian wells on his estate which furnished an ample supply of water, boring the largest in the State, and irrigating 100 acres of orchard. On this or- chard Mr. Lathrop took the first premium as being the best in the State both timnes it was entered at the State fair. This property he finally platted and made it an addition to the city of San José. This property he finally sold and then came to Hollister in 1875, when lie purchased a claim of 2,000 acres, and engaged in an extensive trade of dairying.
He erected the first hay warehouse in Hol- lister, and established a business that has de- veloped vast proportions. This lie conducted for a few years, and then sold the same to a son, R. R. Lathrop, who still operates it.
Mr. Lathrop was born in Onondaga county, New York, April 30, 1815. He is of Eng- lish ancestry, and descends from oue John Lathrop, an eminent clergyman of the Church of England, who came to America as a clergyman, and founded the family in this country. Mr. Lathrop, the subject of this sketch, was educated for the ministry, and started out as a Wesleyan Methodist preacher and finding it an occupation insufficient for the support of a family, he took up business pursuits.
He read extensively and he early imbibed and developed a spirit of independence, and hs became imbued with a spirit of untram- meled thought and a dislike for all secret or- ders or societies, and he has ever been an enemy to secret orders. He has carried his belief into practice, and has opposed all secret societies and combines.
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The following family records, which are in- scribed on the beautiful Scotch granite monu- ment in the cemetery at Hollister, and every one will reflect on his thoughts and belief. On the north side of the monument is written as follows: Record of the children born to L. B. and Lanra Lathrop:
In Illinois: Cynthia A., March 29, 1840, died March 29, 1841, buried at Malugin's Grove; Martin A., January 7, 1842; Nancy M., December 12, 1843, died December 13, 1844, buried at Inlet Grove; Curtis G., De- cember 30, 1845.
In California: Martha E., December 25, 1852; Mary E., Jannary 1, 1854; Ransome P., December 6, 1855; Cyrus F., September 1, 1858; Hattie A., October 11, 1861, died January 22, 1883; Ida M., October 11, 1863.
South side: This lot was bought in 1884, when secret societies were all the rage, in order that the owner might have a place where his family could be buried without in- dorsing secret orders. All secretly taught religions are delnsive. Christ never taught in secret: John 18, 20; Isa. 45, 19. There is but one way to Heaven: Christ is that way; His name, the only ladder; he that climbs up any other way is a thief and a robber: John 10, 1; 7, 10. Heaven is love organized; secret societies are selfishness combined.
West side: Levi Bennett Lathrop, born in New York, April 30, 1815; converted at seventeen, and at once engaged in Christian reform. He never smiled on slavery; never used whisky or tobacco; and never joined a secret order. Died in -; Laura Judd, born in Vermont, March 26, 1819; converted at eighteen, married to L. B. Lathrop, at twenty. Died in . A funeral service ignoring the name of Christ is an insult to His Majesty: Col. 3, 17.
East side: " Whatsoever maketh manifest
is light; whatsoever conceals is darkness. Men choose darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil, and they will not come to the light, lest their deeds should be re- proved." True philanthrophy seeks light; sel- fishness seeks concealment. Heaven has no dark corners or secret conclaves.
No Hiram Abiff or Osiris of old Can afford any help in saving the soul; Our trust is in Jesus, the sinners friend; On Him, and Him alone, our souls depend. There is no grand lodge in Heaven above; There is a grand lodge in the regions below, Where devils assemble and wicked men go; And, when all are entered from every way, The door will be shut for ever to stay.
Rev. 20.
Mrs. Lathrop, whose maiden name was Laura Judd, is a daughter of Ira Judd, who was a farmer of Orange county, Vermont, where she was born, in the town of Strafford, in 1819. She came West from Vermont when she was nineteen years of age, and was inarried at twenty years of age.
AMES M. FINCH was born in Stafford, Connecticut, June 10, 1830. His father, Stephen B. Finch, a cooper by trade, was for many years a resident of Stafford. He moved from there to New York, and in that city continned work at his trade. James is the oldest in a family of nine children. When a young man, he came, in 1854, to California, and in 1858 was followed to this coast by his brother Charles. He made the journey thither via the Isthmus of Panama.
Upon his arrival in this State, Mr. Finch clerked for two months in a hotel iu San Francisco; came to Monterey and ran a fruit store two years; kept wine rooms two years, and then conducted a hotel three years. In 1861 he located at the head of Cashagua
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creek, in Monterey county, and engaged in stock-raising. This ranch he still owns. During the past five years he conducted a livery in Monterey, which he sold in 1891.
Mr. Finch was married in 1881, to Miss Ellen O'Neal, by whom he has two daughters, Ethel E. and Alma J.
Being one of the early arrivals to this coast, Mr. Finch has witnessed the wonderful pro- gress and development of California. His brother Charles lives in the upper Carmel valley, and is a prosperous and highly re- spected stock-raiser.
L. CARPENTER, of the city of Salinas, one of the pioneers of California, was born in Herkimer county, New York, February 22, 1829. His father, Low Carpenter, was a farmer and a native of the same county, where he married Nancy Barney, likewise born in the same place. Of their family of nine children, our subject is the fourth. Of these four sons and five daughters, some are still living. A brother of the subject, David Carpenter, has been Tax Collector of Contra Costa county, California, for many years. He came to the State of California in 1850.
Our subject came to the " Golden State " in the " golden days" of 1849, and mined in California for about nine years in Placer and El Dorado counties. Later he also mined in Sacramento county, then located in Contra Costa county in 1859, and engaged in dairy farming. There he lived until 1867, when he located in the Salinas valley, where he has since resided.
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In 1872 he was elected Assessor of Monte- rey county, on the Republican ticket, and succeeded himself, in 1874. He proved him-
self an efficient official, and gave thorough satisfaction.
In 1877, Mr. Carpenter married Laura Horvell, and one daughter has been born to them: May Laura, who came to them May 9, 1887. The family home is located on the outskirts of Salinas, surrounded by thirty acres of land, and is a model dwelling place. Mr. Carpenter is esteemed for his many ex. cellent traits of character.
UNCAN MCKINNON, a well-known, thrifty farmer and successful business man of Monterey county, is a native of York county, Canada, where he was born, June 15, 1836. His parents were natives of Scotland who emigrated to America in 1835.
When our subject was only nine years of age he suffered the loss of his father, who left a widow and seven dependent children, of whom Duncan was the second child and oldest son. At an early age he assumed the responsibilities that seldom fall upon the shoulders of boys much his senior, and when but a yonth took charge of the household and ran the farm. During this time he ac- quired a good common-school education and remained at home nntil 1862, when the gold excitement in British Columbia broke out, and his ambition was fired and he determined to seek his fortune in the gold fields. Accord- ingly, April 7, of that year he started for New York city by rail, and April 11 sailed from that port on the steamer Northern Light, for Aspinwall, arriving at his destina- tion on the twenty-second. Crossing the Isthmus at that point, he sailed for San Francisco, on the Golden Age, and reached that city, May 5. From thence he proceeded
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to Victoria, Vancouver's Isle, and after sev- eral days started for the mines, arriving Sep- tember 11, 1863. After some thrilling ex- periences in this wild country, in 1865 he re- turned to San Francisco, arriving November of that year. In May, 1866, he resumed farming, working in Santa Clara county, and for the first time in his life received wages for his work. In 1867 he returned home to Canada, but he found that his boyhood home had lost its early charm as his mother was dead and the family scattered; so, in October, 1867, he returned to California with his brother Anthony, and settled in Monterey county, where he rented land of Don Juan M. Soto, near Salinas. Here the two broth- ers farmed until 1874, when they purchased 1,100 acres of the Sansal rancho, paying $60,000 for it. To this they added about 200 acres more from the Natividad ranch. Mr. Mckinnon purchased his brother's inter- est in this property in 1881, and now is sole owner of 1,300 acres of the best land in this county. His residence is two and one-half miles northeast of Salinas, and surrounded by this fine ranch of 1,300 acres of land, which is perfectly level. The soil is very productive, but at present Mr. Mckinnon is devoting less attention to farming than to dairying. He has recently constructed an immense barn for his cows, the plans of which for utility and convenience are nnexcelled. He also has a fine machine shop, where he could make a thresher if he needed it. In this machine shop he has a magnificent lathe, an excellent carpenter shop, barley crusher, steam engine, etc. He is not only a mechan- ical genius, bnt a careful and methodical business man, and the success he has attained has been the result of his own efforts.
Mr. Mckinnon was married, January 1, 1877, to Miss Alice M., a daughter of J. R.
Hebbron, Esq. She died in 1889, leaving two children, namely: Duncan P., born De- cember 6, 1877, and William E., born May 12,1880.
AVID W. LLOYD, deceased .- It is safe to say that very few men, if any, held in a greater degree the respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens than this well known California pioneer.
He was a native of the Empire State, born near the city of Rome, Oneida county, May 1, 1831, and was of Welsh descent. He at- tended the public schools of his native town until abont thirteen years of age, and one year's study at Whitesboro College, New York, terminated his school days.
Inclining to business rather than a profes- sional life, he went to New York city, and for three years clerked in a wholesale mercantile establishment. He then, after spending a few months in Boston, Massachusetts, went (in 1847) to New Orleans, from which point he boated on the Mississippi river to St. Louis.
March, 1849, found young Lloyd at Fort Leavenworth, making preparations for a journey across the plains to California. He commenced his overland trip the following April and arrived at Georgetown, El Dorado county, California, June 1, 1850, having wintered in Salt Lake. He engaged in placer mining in Oregon Cañon for a time. For lack of water there, he removed to Nevada City, Nevada county, and there remained, with varied success, till the fall of 1853. In 1854 he engaged in merchandising at Santa Cruz, continuing there until 1860. He then returned East, and conducted a hotel business for two years in New York- He could not, however, dispel the desire to return to Cali-
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fornia, and again he sought this coast. Lo- cating in Santa Cruz, he engaged in the livery and lumbering business. In these ventures he met with financial reverses, and went ont of business. He spent two years in San Francisco, and then embarked in the fruit business at Santa Clara, remaining there eight years. He located at Salinas, Monterey county, in 1874, where he was snccessfully engaged in the grocery and provision trade until January, 1887, when he became one of the first permanent residents and a merchant of Pacific Grove. Here he lived until the time of his death, September 8, 1891.
Mr. Lloyd was married in 1860, at New York city, to Miss Elizabeth F., daughter of Dr. R. Wellington Roberts. Dr. Roberts was a successful practicing physician of New York, an Englishman by birth and educa- tion; came to America at about twenty-two years of age. He married in England, and during the first years of his professional life in New York lived at Troy, where Mrs. Lloyd was born November. 8, 1841. She is a lady of fine domestic tastes, good judgment and Christian fortitude. She has four daughters living: the Misses Marguerita, Leonia and Mabel; and Mrs. Carrie L., wife of J. O. Johnson, a leading capitalist and business man of Pacific Grove.
David W. Lloyd was a man of many ad- mirable qualities of mind and heart. He was generous and open-handed to a fault. He was buoyant and cheerful in his nature and al- ways approachable. He was an ambitious and somewhat aggressive business man, a man for emergencies. Reverses he met without complaint or misgivings. He was never lacking for resources of mind to devise means of recovery. He was broad in conceptions, and, while not despising small things, he in- clined to broad and liberal deals in all his
Business. He possessed great personal pride and love for his family; was in the highest degree and truest sense of the term a loyal husband and a fond father. Home was his retreat from the bustle of business and cares of a busy ontside life. He was a public- spirited man. No citizen was more ambi- tious for the growth and building up of his town than David W. Lloyd. He was active in all movements tending to the public gocd, foremost in educational matters, and the pro- noter and a director of the bank of Pacific Grove. His death was a grievous loss to Mon- terey county and his home town. The funeral took place at the Methodist Church, of which he was a constant attendant, and all that was mortal of this esteemed pioneer of 1850 was laid to rest September 10, in El Carmelo cem- etery, overlooking the peaceful and placid waters of Monterey bay.
The business which Mr. Lloyd established and so successfully conducted at Pacific Geove, continues under the supervision of his widow and the three unmarried daughters, ladies of excellent social accomplishments, popular in society and possessed of fine busi- ness abilities.
ERDINAND GUNZENDORFER, one of the most conspicuous figures in the material development of the city of Monterey, is a pioneer of the place, and has the honor of being one of the few early in- habitants still resident within the boundaries of this pleasant, ancient burg. His life's history has fully demonstrated that in this country, with its illimitable opportunities and possibilities, any young man fired by laudable ambition, determined effort and fidelity to every trust can win distinction and attain material prosperity, honored and. re-
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spected by his friends and associates. His course in life has ever been upright and just. Manly, unpretentious, genial, whole-souled, kind, generous and sympathetic, he has been universally popular. The idol of his inti- mates, the confident of his friends, the trusted associate in business, a friend of the distressed and needy, honored for his intellectual at- tainments and respected for his sterling in- tegrity, it would be strange, indeed, were he not regarded as a model and worthy citizen.
Mr. Gunzendorfer is a native of Bavaria, Germany, born in the town of Adelsdorf, August 1, 1838. In early life he was thrown upon his own resources and emigrated to the United States, arriving in the year 1849. Friendless, unknown and without means, for two years he struggled for existence in the Eastern States. However, the young emi- grant was not discouraged. He labored on faithfully and ardently, industriously laying aside such portions of his scant income as might some day enable him to seek brighter and more remunerative fields. The great furore created by the announcement of the discovery of gold in California, turned the young man's thoughts to this Golden State, and early in the year 1851, having saved a small amount of money, and having obtained the position of supercargo on one of the vessels sailing to Panama, laden with gold seekers, he came to this coast. Almost im- mediately after landing in San Francisco he proceeded to Monterey, where he found em- ployment as a salesman in a general store conducted by B. Goldman. In 1855 Mr. Gunzendorfer entered into business for him- self, having for a time a partner. Since 1851, with the exception of the years intervening between 1872 and 1884, he has been continu- ously a resident of Monterey county. In 1884 lie associated with himself his son
Adolph, from which time the business has been condueted under the firm name of F. Gunzendorfer & Son, which is as well known throughout Monterey county, as it is deserv- edly popular. The firm is now composed of the subject of our review and his youngest son, Jacob W.
In the year 1863 Mr. Gunzendorfer was united in marriage with Miss Fannie Gold- stein. They have four sons, viz .: Gustave, an able lawyer and at present one of the prosecuting attorneys of the eity and county of San Francisco; Adolph, Abraham, and Jacob W. All except the oldest are asso- eiated with their father in business.
Mr. Gunzendorfer has ever been thoroughly identified with the business history and growth of his adopted county and town, and has invested largely in local realty, thus dis- playing his confidence in the stability and future of his section of the country. As further evidence of his undoubting faith in the permanent prosperity and solidity of Monterey, Mr. Gunzendorfer will shortly ereet a substantial business block on Alvarado street, near the location of his present estab- lishment. The building will be an architect- ural ornament, spacious in size, embracing all the modern improvements and conven- iences for a first-class dry-goods and clothing store.
Away from business Mr. Gunzendorfer is found to be a man of social culture and wide reading, an accomplished linguist and a thorough musician. Few persons speak as many languages as he, and none are more fluent. His acquaintance with language is not superficial, but descends to all the intri- cacies of derivation, construction and expres- sion. In music he excels, being regarded as an expert. His instrument is the clarionet. For a time in the early days he was the di-
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rector of a band in Monterey, which was justly celebrated for its remarkable excellence. The musical instinct of the father has been inherited by his sons, as each plays some instrument. Gustave is a fine pianist, Adolph a violinist of superior merit, Abraham a splendid clarionetist, and Jacob a good per- former on the piccolo.
In public spirit no one excels Mr. Gunzen- dorfer, he being one of Monterey's most energetic citizens, promptly encouraging all movements likely to advance its welfare. He is an active and useful member of the Board of Trade, and has been for a long time one of its directors, and as such has done much to increase the progress of the city.
Although a busy man, Mr. Gunzendorfer finds time to devote himself to fraternal so- cieties. For more than a quarter of a century he has been a member of the Masonic order, and is affiliated with Monterey Lodge. He is also a member of the A. O. U. W.
Such a career as we have here recorded may well be studied by the rising youth as a glowing example of what energy, thrift and intelligence may accomplish under trying circumstances, and without stimulant other than such as comes from labor worthily done. In Mr. Gunzendorfer, Monterey county has a citizen of whom any community would be proud, and of whom no higher praise can be sung than that he is an enterprising and ster- ling citizen, a firm patriot and a true friend.
L. BRADFORD, editor and publisher of the Monterey Cypress, was born in the city of San Francisco, June 28, 1851, and is therefore one of the first native sons born to white parents in this State. His early years were spent in the city of his birth,
where he received a liberal education. In 1875 he took up the study of law, which he practiced in Stanislaus and Mono counties until 1880, when he started the Modesto Strawbuck, a German paper, which was snc- cessfully published for a number of years. Subsequently he published the Modesto Re- publican, Modesto Free Press, the Interior Press and California Railroad Journal.
In 1881 Mr. Bradford was wedded to Miss Mary Eva Roehrig, daughter of Philip Roehrig, of Modesto. Mrs. Bradford was born in Wayne county, New York, and came to California with her parents in 1868. The issue of this marriage is Carmen Bradford, a girl nine years of age; and Lafayette Harri- son Bradford, aged four years.
In 1888, Mr. Bradford, at the solicitation of several business men of Monterey, came to the old capital and established the Mon- terey Cypress, which paper he still owns, al- thongh he devotes the most of his attention to the practice of law.
The subject of this sketch traces his an- cestry back to the landing of the Mayflower, his father, Judge H. C. Bradford, being a descendant of William Bradford, a passenger on that historic vessel.
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