USA > California > A memorial and biographical history of the coast counties of Central California > Part 50
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Then he came to Salinas and engaged suc- cessfully in farming on the Alisal ranch for about sixteen years.
His next location was made at Hollister in 1887, where he bought a nice farm from Mr. John Range adjoining the city.
Mr. Bundeson died January 10, 1892, at
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the age of fifty-two years, in the prime of manly youth and vigor. He was an indus- trious and frugal young farmer, and upright and esteemned citizen, who left behind him a wide circle of friends to join with his family in mourning his loss.
R. SAMUEL B. GORDON, JR., was born in Monterey, October 17, 1866, a son of Samuel B. Gordon, of Monterey. He attended the public schools of his native town until he reached his sixteenth year, when he entered the University of California, remaining there two years. In 1884 he be- came a student in the Cooper Medical Col- lege, San Francisco, where he took a two years' course. He next attended lectures in the New York Medical College, graduating therefrom in 1888. He came back to Cali- fornia and located at Gonzales immediately after his graduation, and began the practice of medicine. Here he has been successful, professionally, and has continued to reside ever since.
YPRESS JOHNSON, a successful busi- ness man and esteemed citizen of Pa- cific Grove, is a pioneer of California. He is a native of Henry county, Indiana, having been born at Kingstown, July 13, 1834, a son of Cypress and Patience (Tall- man) Johnson, the former of whom was among the early settlers of Indiana, a native of Massachusetts, and the latter was born in the city of Quebec, Canada.
Mr. Johnson was reared on a farm and left home to come to California, in 1853, cross- ing the plains with an ox team. He went
into the mines of El Dorado county, near Diamond Spring, but after eight months' experience in the mines, with indifferent re- sults, he located at Gilroy, in Santa Clara county, and pursued farming in that locality for about thirty years. In 1858 he engaged business in Gilroy, Santa Clara county, and continued there until 1883, when he lo- cated at Pacific Grove.
Mr. Johnson was married, September 13, 1859, at Gilroy, to Miss Harriet R. Hawver, a native of Wisconsin, and six children have been added to their family, namely: Leanna; Ivy, who is Mrs. Jacob Knapp; Ada L., now Mrs. Theodore Meves; Cypress, Otis and William Henry. Three children are deceased. Mr. Johnson is a gentleman of sterling traits of character and a member of the Crescent Order of United Workmen, Gilroy Lodge, No. 26.
NTONE GIGLING .- It is safe to say that this pioneer is the first settler in that portion of the Salinas valley lying between Castroville and Salinas, and as an early settler of Monterey county he merits appropriate mention on the pages of this work.
Mr. Gigling is of German birth and edu- cation. He was born at Baden Baden, Germany, Jnly 21, 1819. He learned the business of a brewer and distiller, and fol- lowed that occupation until he was about twenty-eight years of age, at which time he came to America. He spent the years 1847 and 1848 in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1850 he came to California on the bark Alameda, and, after spending a brief period in San Francisco, went to the mines. In 1852 he located in the Salinas valley, this being before Watsonville, Castroville or Salinas had come
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into existence. Here he has lived all these years, and is now one of the most thrifty and thorough farmers in Monterey county. He owns a splendid home at Blanco, where he resides, surrounded with all the comforts of life. At this place he raises a great variety of choice fruits, apples, pears, etc. He also owns 500 acres of grazing and farming land on the west bank of the Salinas river.
Mr. Gigling was married at Castroville, in the fall of 1862, to Fannie Fox, of Irish na- tivity. She was born May 12, 1832, came with her parents to this country in 1855, and to California in 1860. By a former marriage she had one son and one daughter.
AMES BARDIN .- There was no pioneer in the Salinas valley more widely and favorably known in his day than the la- mented James Bardin. He was a native of North Carolina, born January 16, 1810, and there lived until early manhood. He com- menced active life for himself in Alabama, later located in Tippah county, Mississippi, and lived there until 1855, when he came to California and purchased a large tract of land lying along the Salinas river in the vicinity of the present city of Salinas, at and around Blanco post office. In 1856 he returned to Mississippi for his family, with whom he took up his permanent abode in his chosen Cali- fornia home.
Mr. Bardin was a man of great physical endurance and energy, was very ambitious and strictly honest. He was a shrewd farmer, thoroughly familiar with all matters pertain- ing thereto, and possessed of keen business instincts. Mr. Bardin purchased land at Blanco to the amount of 1,200 acres. Later he purchased one and one-half leagues of
land on the west side of the Salinas river, which he improved and there lived for many years. At the time of his death he owned 991 acres of land.
Mr. Bardin's father was a blacksmith by trade, but as he preferred farming he engaged in that occupation, and at the time of his death owned a large plantation and many slaves.
Mr. Bardin married a Miss Lucinda Wal- ker, a native of South Carolina, born in 1817, married in Tippah county, Mississippi, in April, 1842, and died November 29, 1878. She was a woman of great fortitude of char- acter, a true helpmate and affectionate mother. Mr. and Mrs. Bardin had ten children, viz .: Elizabeth, wife of James H. McDougall, of Salinas; Jesse; Henry; James; Charles; Lucinda, now Mrs. Robert Porter, and four deceased. The six living children are all residing on or owning portions of the family estate, and mention is made elsewhere of them.
ESSE BARDIN, a successful farmer of the Salinas valley, is the third son of the late James Bardin, Esq.,and was born October 27, 1849, in Tippah county, Missis- sippi.
He came to California in 1856 with the family, who settled in the Salinas valley, and here his boyhood and youth were spent.
In 1872 Mr. Bardin was married to Miss Jennette, daughter of Harrison Cockrill, of Sonoma county, where he was an early settler and pioneer, and a well-known citizen of Santa Rosa. His daughter, Mrs. Bardin, is a native of Santa Rosa, where she was born April 20, 1855. Mr. and Mrs. Bardin have had five children, namely: James A., Nellie, Annie L., Helen J. and Winifred.
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Their home is located about two and one- half miles west of Salinas. In addition to this pleasant home he is the owner of valua- ble residence property in Pacific Grove.
Mr. and Mrs. Bardin are worthy represen- tatives of the grand old name they bear and which the honored father made so respected.
APTAIN JONATHAN WRIGHT is one of the few early pioneers of Califor- nia still surviving, and is a man whom it is a pleasure to know. His experiences would fill volumes, as his life has extended over many years of thrilling adventure. It was he who with William Richardson drove the first wagon train that made its way overland from the Missouri river via Salt Lake in 1846, proving that such a thing was not only possible but was quite as easy a route as any.
Captain Wright and companion crossed over into California on Bear river in Yuba conuty. In October of that year Captain Wright enlisted under General Frémont, and remained with him six months and four days, making the trip to San Francisco, thence to Monterey and on into southern California. He received his discharge at San Gabriel Mis- sion April 12, 1847. Returning north to the Napa valley he worked in the redwood tim- ber business until the excitement arose about the discovery of gold, when he, like the rest of the world, hastened into the gold diggings.
Not making a success of gold mining our subject returned to the less exciting life of civilization after a term of thirteen months. In 1859 he again came to Monterey, becoming lighthouse keeper at Point Pinos, remain- ing in this position for about eighteeen months. Then came an experience in whal- ing in Monterey bay for about five years,
since which time he has been engaged in the peaceful life of agriculture.
Captain Wright is the owner of a fine ranch in Monterey county, about twenty miles from Monterey city, where he raises about five hundred Angora goats.
Twice has the gallant Captain become a benedict. His first marriage was in 1849, to Miss Luly Brown, of Sacramento, but she died in 1854, leaving two daughters, Mrs. E. H. Gates and Mrs. John Staples. The second marriage of our subject was with Mrs. Lizzie Claudy, by whom he has three daughters. The Captain, like all of his former profession, is bluff and pleasant, enjoying tales of the ad- ventures through which he has passed, al- though not more so than do his hearers.
ANUEL MARINO GONCALVES of Monterey, is a native of Portugal, where he was born Angust 13, 1828; since 1841, however, he has lived under the American flag, having come to Boston, Massachusetts when only thirteen years of age. From this port he made two voyages, in the bark Ninos, Capt. La Fayette in command. This was a whaling vessel and these voyages consumed about five years of his life. At the end of the second cruise he shipped aboard the Commodore Preble and sailed into the Kamtschatka sea. This was a most successful three years' cruise, in which they took 3,000 barrels of whale oil and a valuable lot of whale- bone, but the latter article was low in price, its market value being only twenty-five cents per pound, whereas it is now worth $4 to $4.50 per pound. During this voyage several whaling boats were "stoven up" and seven men lost their lives while capturing the vicious whale of that region.
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Upon the expiration of this last cruise our subject engaged in the merchant-marine serv- ice, but this proved monotonous to the hardy sailor and tame after his adventures in the far North, and after two years he again resumed whaling, from New Bedford, Massachusetts, this time in the South seas. He made two voyages of twenty-two months each. Later he shipped from Stonington, Connecticut, aboard the Betsy Waltham, to the Artic sea, where, in two seasons, they secured 5,000 barrels of whale oil, taking as much as 250 barrels from one fish.
Upon a cruise to the Sandwich Islands his vessel, the United States, was condemned, and from the year 1856 to 1862 he was at the head of the Monterey Whaling Company, at Mon- terey. They only took about 100 barrels of oil per season at this station, except the year 1861, when they secured about 1,500 barrels. The last whale captured at Monterey was in the season of 1886. This was a fine specimen. Capt. Marino Goncalves then sold his interest in the company and retired from the business, and now resides in Monterey.
Our subject was married in 1862, to Miss Clotilda Gardner, a daughter of William R. Gardner, an Englishman by birth, and they have nine children living.
The Captain is greatly respected where he is so well-known as a pioneer and worthy citizen of the old capital city.
that time he began to learn the blacksmith trade. It was hard work for a boy of his age, but his fine physique demonstrates that it caused him no injury. After working at the blacksmith trade two years, he attended school for a time, devoting his leisure mo- ments to the study and practice of short- hand writing. Becoming proficient in this, in the spring of 1884 he began reporting the court proceedings, and was subsequently ap- pointed Court Reporter, which position he con- tinues to fill. In 1886 and 1888 he was elected a Justice of the Peace of Alisal town- ship.
As will be observed, Mr. Laccy's occupa- tions afforded him excellent opportunities to acquire a knowledge of the law, as well as to familiarize him with its forms and practice. Making the best of these advantages and still further equipping himself for the legal pro- fession by diligent study of the text-books, under the sagacious directions of Judge N. A. Dorn, he was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the State in July, 1891. In the fall of 1890 he was elected a member of the State Assembly for Monterey county, as a Republican, in which body he served on the committees on apportionment and elec- tions, the Judiciary Committee, and the com- mittees on public buildings, public printing, and counties and county boundaries.
Mr. Lacey was married in June, 1888, to Miss Emma Edrington. He is a prominent member of the Native Sons of the Goldeu West, and was the first president of Santa Lucia Parlor, No. 97.
ON. CLAUDE F. LACEY, of Salinas, California, is a native of old Monterey, born September 1, 1864. He came with his parents to Salinas in 1868, and has L. BALL, one of the prominent citi- zens of Monterey county, is an ex- ? ample of what business judgment and since made this place his home. When not attending the public schools, he worked on the ranch until he was fifteen years old. At | honorable persistence can accomplish, not
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only for their possessor, but likewise for a community, fortunate enough to have an in- dividual like him for associate and counselor.
Henry L. Ball was born March 4, 1830, in Chautauqua connty, New York. He began when a mere boy to encounter the labors of a farm, and except while he was attending the public schools near his home, he worked as industriously as the typical farmer boy. When he had reached his sixteenth year he accompanied his parents to Wisconsin, where, in Jefferson county, they founded a new home. There for some four years young Ball was employed in handling horses and team- ing. His next step was an important one, and spiced with adventure withial, for he now sought distant fields for the enterprise of his young manhood, arriving in Placerville, Cali- fornia, September 5, 1850. Mr. Ball is hence a pioneer.
He passed the winter in Placerville, after- ward trying his hand at mining at Downie- ville and Mud Springs till August, 1851. Meeting with indifferent success, and feeling that fortune for him was not to be won with pan and shovel, he went to Sacramento and engaged in staging aud teaming till 1856. His next move was to Shasta county, where he took up land, and farmed and worked in the lumber business for eleven years. In 1867 he went to San José, where he tarried for a year, and then moved to Monterey county. Here he has since resided. He first located on the Alisal ranch, near Salinas, where he farmed six years. In this he met with unqualified success.
In 1874 Mr. Ball purchased property in Salinas, and, in connection with ex-United States Marshal Franke, erected the first brick building, a livery stable, in the town. When he first came to Salinas, the place was a broad
expanse of mustard. He, like others of that period, felt confident that it must some day be a connty-seat; and from the time of his arrival here, he has been prominent and ac- tive in everything that could promote the ad- vancement of the town.
His success as a grain farmer and his solid business qualifications attracted the attention of Isaac Friedlander, the then "Wheat King of the World," with whom he became as- sociated in buying grain and warehousing the same. At the same time he was busy in erecting warehouses in Gonzales, Chualar, Salinas and Castroville. Some idea of the magnitude of the business of this firm may be obtained by the statement that the first two years of the partnership, their business amounted to over $2,000,000. This partner- ship continued for seven years, up to the date of Mr. Friedlander's death, after which Mr. Ball conducted it alone. For the past six years he has been conducting farming operations on his ranch of 900 acres, located three miles north of Salinas, although he is still actively engaged in the warehouse busi- ness.
It is said of Mr. Ball that he is an authority on grain production, both as to methods of agriculture, and its standing in the markets of the world, for a quarter of a century past. He prides himself on the accuracy and com- pleteness of his great statistics, they being frequently consulted by the great grain buy- ers of the State.
That Mr. Ball during this busy period has secured the respect of his fellow-citizens is vouched for by the fact that he was the first Mayor elected in Salinas, and continued to hold that office for eleven consecutive years. And he has never sought office. His desire has been the landable one of being useful in the community, which he calls his home. He
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is a life member of the Monterey District Agricultural Association, and a director of the Salinas City Board of Trade.
Mr. Ball was married to Miss Eva B. Al- len, of Salinas, his second wife, in 1872, and by her has one child.
*
OHN WRIGHT, of Hollister, is a suc- cessful farmer of San Benito county and a pioneer of the State, having crossed the plains from Wabash county, Indiana, in 1854. He is a native of Ireland, coming to America in 1848. His first place of residence was New York, where he remained until 1852, and then spent the next two years in Indiana. Upon his arrival in California he resided in Yuba and Sierra counties, where he followed mining until he came to Hollis- ter and became one of the original purchasers of a fraction of the Hollister grant. His present holdings comprise 344 acres of fer- tile soil adjoining the town corporation.
Mr. Wright is one of the most popular of the citizens of his county, and enjoys the esteem and respect of all who know him.
ATTHEW WILSON, one of the leading farmers of Hollister, San Benito county, has been a resident of California since 1869.
Mr. Wilson is a native of the Emerald Isle, born Angust 14, 1862. At the age of eighteeen years he left home and alone em- barked for America, coming to this land of the free to seek his fortune. Joseph H., of Redwood City, Thomas, of Lompoc, and William, of Menlo Park, are brothers of Mr. Wilson, who came to this State later on.
Another one of his brothers is Chief of Police of the commonwealth of New Zealand.
Upon his arrival in California, Mr. Wilson commenced work for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. He first worked on the grade, but was soon advanced to the position of head track layer, and as such laid the track between San José and Gilroy. He took up contracting in San Francisco, and finally came to Hollister and engaged in stock-raising and ranching on his present place. Here he owns 416 acres of the finest soil of the county.
Mr. Wilson was married, in 1877, to Miss Maggie L. McCarty, of Hollister, a member of one of the old families of San Benito county. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have four sons and one daughter.
AVID YOUNG, a California pioneer of 1849, is a native of Halifax county, Virginia, born in 1824. He was the son of Jesse Young, a farmer by occupation. At the time of the Revolution, the last named gentleman was fifteen years old and a son of a Revolutionary soldier, a native of Scotland. Jesse was reared to the trade of a blacksmith, and during the war put in much of his time, though but a lad, in shoeing horses for the soldiers. After the close of the conflict he closed his shop and engaged in farming, marrying the mother of our sub- ject. In 1835 he removed with his family to Barren county, Kentucky, where he died at an advanced age.
David grew up in Barren county on the farm, until 1841, when he located in Platt county, Missouri, where he lived until he came to California. During 1849, 1850 and 1851 he mined in Placer county, with aver-
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age success, but in 1852 he engaged in farm- ing, near San José, where he remained until 1868, and then located on his present place of 172 acres in Fair View, San Benito county, being one of the original purchasers of the Hollister grant.
Mr. Young married, in 1853, Miss Sarah Johnson, at San José, and they have three children. They are estimable people and it is to the energy of such pioneers that Fair View owes its prosperity.
HOMAS J. CONKLING, one of San Benito county's substantial citizens, resides near Tres Pinos. Of him we make the following brief record:
Thomas J. Conkling was born in Clermont county, Ohio, May 12, 1835, son of Zela and Sarah (Chapman) Conkling, natives of New Jersey and Maryland respectively. In the spring of 1838 the Conkling family moved to Missouri and located in what was then Liv- ingston, now Grundy county. It was here in the valley of the Grand river that Mr. Conk- ling spent his youth and received his school- ing. He commenced life as a school teacher and after teaching for awhile entered Grand River College at Edinburgh, where lie took a four years' course. He held the office of Deputy Court Commissioner and also Deputy County Recorder of his county from 1857 to 1860. He then served about eight months in the Confederate army, from his State, a portion of the time acting as Chief Clerk of the Muster-roll Department. He retired from the army on account of poor health, and came to California. This was in 1863. For a time he worked on farms by the month, and in 1869, just after his marriage, he lo- cated on his present home. He now owns
720 acres, one of the best grain farms in San Benito county. In 1875 Mr. Conkling served on the County Board of Supervisors, per- forming his duty faithfully and with much ability, and was elected to a second term of three years. His general information and knowledge of business affairs render him a valued citizen, and he is held in high esteem by all who know him.
Mrs. Conkling was formerly Miss Sarah A. Dryden, she was born in Missouri, May 10, 1837, and is a daughter of Jonathan Dryden, of Santa Clara county, this State.
ANIEL DOOLING, generally called "Governor" Dooling, was born in Kerry connty, Ireland, December 25, 1828. In 1846 he left his native land and emi- grated to America, landing at New York. From that city he went to Stockton, Massa- chusetts, and from there to Bridgeport, Con- necticut, being employed at the latter place in loading coal ships. While there he con- tracted ship fever. Recovering from his sickness, he went, in 1849, to Georgia, where he was employed on the Atlantic & Macon railroad, then being constructed.
From Georgia Mr. Dooling came to Cali- fornia, landing in San Francisco in 1851. After a short time he went to Sacramento, and from there sought the mines. He was engaged in mining for fifteen years, and understands the business thoroughly in its every detail. Leaving the mines, he returned to San Francisco. In 1869 he came to Hol- lister, and has since resided at this place. Here he engaged in the dairy business, and in it has been successful. His pleasant home called Fair View, is located near Hollister.
Mr. Dooling was married in 1868 to Miss
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Hannah Lef. Their union has been blessed with five children, three sons and two daugh- ters, and the oldest one living is now the wife of Ed Holbrook, Sheriff of San Benito county.
ATRICK COLLINS, a native of Ire- land, has been a resident of Monterey county, since 1868. This gentleman
was born, in county of Cork, Ireland, in 1838, and came direct from his native land to California, where he first found employment on a farm, near Watsonville. Here he re- mained for about six years and then located at Castroville, on the Moro Cojo ranch, where he has since resided. He leases about 400 acres of land, on which he raises stock, grain and dairy products.
Our subject married, in 1873, Margaret Mahoney, and they have fonr sons and four danghters. He is a thorough and successful farmer and a respected citizen.
ICHAEL BARRY is a well-known farmer of Castroville, who came to California in April, 1858, from East Abington, Massachusetts. He is a native of county Cork, Ireland, where he was born, March 25, 1835. His parents both died in 1850, and he almost immediately set sail for the United States, bringing with him a small sum of money. His relatives had all pre- ceded him to this country, one of them, an uncle, Michael Barry, was for seventeen snc- cessive years Town Clerk of New York city. Onr subject remained in the East for some time, where he learned and pursued for seven years the trade of shoemaking. Later he learned stove cutlery and pursued that calling for three years.
Upon arrival in San Francisco, he shipped as fireman on the Golden Gate, a steamship which then plied between that city and the Isthmus of Panama, but finally, tiring of the sea life; he located at Castroville, in the fall of 1863, where he now owns a valuable farm, of 350 acres and ranges five herds of stock.
Mr. Barry was married, March 13, 1858, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Margaret Hoyes, a native of Ireland, born in county Cork. She has borne him seven living children, namely: Mary A., now Mrs. Daniel Hurley, of Castro- ville; Edward H., a farmer of Gonzales; Annie, now Mrs. William Sterling, of St. Louis, Missouri; Margaret, Kate, John and William, the last fonr of whom are at home.
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