An illustrated history of Sacramento County, California : containing a history of Sacramento County from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future portraits of some of its most eminent men, and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also prominent citizens of today, Part 106

Author: Davis, Winfield J., 1851- 4n
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 916

USA > California > Sacramento County > An illustrated history of Sacramento County, California : containing a history of Sacramento County from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future portraits of some of its most eminent men, and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also prominent citizens of today > Part 106

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HADDEUS C. McCONNELL, formerly a rancher of San Joaquin Township, who died April 27, 1863, was born in 1833, in Rutland County, Vermont. A sketch of his people is given in this work under the name of Thomas McConnell, a brother. At the age of nine- teen years he came from Vermont to California

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY.

with his brother Samuel, across Mexico, in 1849; followed mining for one year and then started a garden in the mining region at a place now called Garden Valley, and with his vegetables, so rare then, he furnished dollar dinners to the miners. In 1850, the next year, his brother Thomas joined him. (See sketch for further particulars.) Returning to Vermont in 1856, he bonght the sheep mentioned in that sketch, in partnership with his brother Thomas. His brother-in-law, Eminett Curtis, bought ont Thomas in 1858, the firm being McConnell & Curtis, and brought them to California by steamer, costing them $85 a head for freight for transportation. These sheep were the first ever imported to this coast from the East; and from these they began to raise high grade and thoroughbred sheep. He had a perfect title to two quarter-sections of land, besides a title to other large tracts, on which they conld range their sheep. Curtis died in 1861 and the property was so divided that each party had 700 sheep, those belonging to Mr. Curtis going to his heirs, and Mr. Mc- Connell continued the business to the end of his life in 1863. His widow then came in posses- sion of the 700 sheep and 320 acres of land paid for and 500 acres not paid for. She kept all this property in her possession, finally liqui- dating all indebtedness. She personally took the management of her husband's business, in- creased the number of sheep, keeping about 2,000 head for a number of years, until she found her land was of more valne for farming, when she liad the band of sheep diminished in number to 1,200; but the extent of her lands she has even increased until she has 7,000 acres, the greater portion of which is in Sacramento County. The soil is richi and very productive. At present she is raising a great deal of grain, farming a portion herself and renting the remainder. Be- sides managing all her household work she also superintends all the out-door business, even participating in the manual labor, such as pump- ing water when a windmill fails to work. She was left withi only 320 acres of land and 700 sheep and no money, and all these immense

possessions she has made out of the business left her by her husband. How few women in the world have so great courage and endurance! Her maiden name was Ellen Flanegan. She was boru April 7, 1837, in Clarendon, Vermont; her father, James Flanegan, was a native of Ireland, and married in Ireland Mary Quillan, and abont 1834 settled in the city of Clarendon, Rutland County, Vermont. He died in 1850, and his wife in 1882, the parents of nine children, of whom one died when a little girl; the others, five sons and three daughters grew up to years of maturity. The sons were: Patrick, Martin, Daniel, John and James, all of whom are dead except John, who now resides in Michigan. The daughters are: Jane, wife of M. B. Doolit- tle of Cresco, Howard County, Iowa; Hannah, the wife of George Hart, Rutland County, Ver- mont; and Ellen the subject of this sketch. The last mentioned married Mr. McConnell March 2, 1861, and they came by sail from New York, by way of the Isthmus to San Francisco, landing there in November, that year; but be- fore two years had passed she was left a widow. Her only son, Thaddeus C. McConnell, was born November 10, 1864, after his father's death.

HOMAS McCONNELL, sheep-raiser, San Joaquin Township, was born in Pittsford, Rutland County, Vermont, January 30, 1827, the son of Thomas and Clarissa (Curtis) McConnell. The history of the McConnell family can be traced back to the Highlands of Scotland, the earliest reminiscence preserved being that of an Orangeman in Prince William's army, who participated in the war and afterward settled in the North of Ireland. One of the sons, probably named Thomas, emigrated to America and settled in New Hampshire. All his three sous-William, John and Samnel- settled in Rutland County, Vermont. Of these Samuel was the grandfather of Thomas, whose name leads this sketch. This family consisted

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of two sons, Thomas and Barnard. The latter emigrated West, became a land speculator, and died at Lima, near Quincy, Illinois. Thomas continued to make his home in Rutland County, Vermont, where he died in 1854. In his family were six sons and three daughters, who grew up, besides two children who died in infancy. After his death his widow and all the children, in 1863, came to California, where she died, as also four of the sons and two daughters. Two of the sons -- Samuel and Thaddeus, both now deceased-came here in 1849; Thomas, our sub- ject, came in 1850; George in 1853, and has since died; Frank was here in 1851, returned East, studied law in Ponghkcepsie, New York, admitted to the bar in all the courts of that State, came again to California, practiced his profession in Sacramento, and finally was killed by accident in the mountains in 1864. The youngest son, Charles, is now in Nevada, en- gaged in the sheep business; is a prominent man there, having served in the State Senate, from Humboldt County, two terms. The Cur- tis family were of English origin, and moved from Connecticut to Vermont in an early day. Mrs. McConnell was born in Rutland County, the daughter of Thaddeus Curtis. Two daugh- ters-Mrs. Clara Curtis and Anna-are deceased, and Mary, a third daughter, is living in the East. Mr. McConnell, the subject of this biography, passed his boyhood days on his father's farm until he was of age, and then for two terms attended a military school at Nor- wich, Vermont, commanded by Alden Parridge, a prominent man in the history of this Govern- ment. Young McConnell had quite a taste for military instruction and military affairs. In illustration of the economy with which he was brought up, he says that on a certain general training day he indulged in ginger-bread, mo- lasses candy and hard candy to the extent of 14 cents' worth during the day, and on his return home his parents told him that he had been very extravagant. This he considers to have been his "biggest spree." When he was nineteen years of age, and before going to the military

school, he commenced teaching a small school, receiving at first only $11.50 per month; and after he left the military academy he taught a village school in Rutland and in Clarendon, re- ceiving as high as $18. In the spring of 1850 he sailed from New York in the steamer Geor- gia for the Isthmus, and thence in the bark Sarah to San Francisco, landing there at the close of August, after a journey of seventy-six days; and, strange to say, the steamer Republic -the one which his original ticket called for, and which he surrendered at the Isthmus on hearing that it had not then left New York- sailed into the port of San Francisco, having come around Cape Horn! Then he came to Sacramento on the steamer Gold Hunter, paying $20 for deck passage, leaving $118 in purse, while owing $300 in the East, money which he borrowed to bring him to California. He walked up to the mines above Coloma, to a place now called Garden Valley, where. his brother Thad- dens was at that time, who had started a small garden, and sold potatoes for 30 cents a pound, and tomatoes for 75 cents a pound. Apples could not be had at any price until a little later, when they were brought down from Oregon. These two brothers and Samuel carried on this garden, and soon got into the grocery and gen- eral supply trade, from the small circumstance of getting a barrel of vinegar from San Fran- cisco and selling it at half the price that another man had been selling it at previously. The miners, finding that he sold his vinegar so much cheaper, asked him if he had other articles; and this led him to procure other commodities nntil he became fully stocked with groceries and other mercantile goods, many of which were imported from the East. Buying a team of recent immi- grants, they did their own hauling to and from Sacramento. Thus they prospered until 1857. when they were burned out. In connection with the store they also ran a saw-mnill, where they sawed out over 1,000,000 feet of lumber per year. In 1853 he made a trip to the East, carrying safely to the mint at Philadelphia $25,000 in gold dust. In 1856 he bought his

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present place, where he has ever since made his home. The same year he located here, he, with his brother Thaddeus, brought seven Spanish Merino sheep from Addison County, Vermont, which were the first importations of that class of sheep into the State of California. This led to other importations by the neighbors, so that the enterprise has been worth thousands of dol- lars to the people of this county. Ever since then fine sheep have been Mr. McConnell's specialty. Since 1870 this business has been prosecuted by himself and his brother Charles, of Nevada. They have at present 16,000 head. Last year they shearcd 12,000 head, obtaining 86,000 pounds of wool, which was shipped to Boston. The highest shipment they ever made was 100,000 pounds. Mr. McConnell has over 3,000 acres in northeastern Oregon, and his brother 1,400 acres in the same neighborhood, some of which is very productive. His home place consists of about 1,500 acres, half of which is bottom land bordering along the Cosumnes River. He also has 700 acres in El Dorado County, about ten miles from Folsom. Politi- cally Mr. McConnell has been a Republican since 1860; previously he had been what is called a Douglas Democrat, and now expresses his views earnestly in favor of "protection" of American industries. In 1854 he was a mem- ber of the Democratic State Convention held in the Baptist Church in Sacramento, of which an interesting account is given elsewhere in this volume. He was in the Constitutional Conven- tion of 1879, in Sacramento, when the present constitution was adopted. Besides these, he has served in other conventions, and has always taken an active part in the public welfare. He has been remarkably successful in business, and in the advocacy of measures in the civil govern- ment. He is a director in the Grangers' Bank of San Francisco, having held that position since the organization of the bank, in April, 1874. Ile has been a member of the Masouic order since 1854, being made a Mason in Georgetown, El Dorado County. He is now the only charter member of Elk Grove Lodge,

No. 173. Mr. McConnell was married in Rut- land, Vermont, June 19, 1856, to Miss Louisa Chaplin, daughter of George W. Chaplin. She was born in the same place (Pittsford) in which Mr. McConnell was, April 29, 1827, there being only a few months' difference in their ages. They have three daughters and one son: Anna, Mary, George W. and Jennie. Mary is the wife of Homer Bostwick, in New York city. The other members of the family are residents of this county.

LIJAH COMSTOCK, of Sacramento, is a descendant from two well-known families of Massachusetts, the Comstock and the Rice families. Hepsiba Rice, his mother, born in Massachusetts, came to Ohio in the early days with her parents; there she met and was mar- ried to Mr. Comstock, who had also come from Massachusetts, and the subject of this biographi- eal notice remembers hearing his father relate the many incidents of the journey by ox teams from Massachusetts to the " far West," as Ohio was then termed. In 1823 the family emigrated to Wheeling, West Virginia, where Elijah was born June 29, 1824, the youngest of five chil- dren. When he was two years old his mother returned to Ohio to live, and there he was bronght up. In the spring of 1850, John O. Garrett, who had come to California in 1849 and returned to Ohio on a visit, made up a party of about 200, mostly from Richfield, Summit County, and young Comstock was one of them. They crossed the Missouri River at St. Joseph, and kept together until they reached Fort Kearney, when they had a disagreement, and nine of the party broke away and came on by themselves, by the northern route above Salt Lake and via Fort HIall to Placerville, where they arrived on the 9th of July. They remained in that vicinity for abont a year and then went farther north, to Fort Hill, where he engaged in butchering until the spring of 1852, and also in buying cattle from immigrants far out upon the plains and

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bringing them in. Here he made some money, and in the fall of 1852 he bought a ranch on the other side of the Sacramento River, eight miles above Washington, now known as the Merch Place, and engaged in raising fine stock and in the dairy business. He raised Durham cattle and Norinan horses. In 1881 he sold his ranch and removed his family to Sacramento, and in- vested in property here. Mr. Comstock was married in 1848, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, to Catherine Entrican, a most estimable lady, whose people came from New York. They have had one child, a son, who died when he was one and a half years old. Mr. and Mrs. Comstock are spending the evening of their lives calmly- enjoying the rest to which they are so justly entitled.

R. DEVIN was born November 28, 1860, son of John O. and Maudy F. (Berry)

0 Devin. The father was a native of Ten- nessee, and went to Pike County, Missouri, when a mere child, with his parents, who were among the early settlers of that county. Upon becom- ing of age he engaged in the mercantile bnsi- ness, and remained in it until 1856, when he came to California, overland, bringing his wife and five children, also his brother, who was killed on the plains by the Indians. They reached Sacramento County in the fall of 1856, and in 1857 went to Sacramento city, where he was employed as a night watchman. In 1859 he removed to El Dorado County, and remained until 1868, when he purchased the ranch on which his son, the subject of this sketch, now resides. He died there December 22, 1873, leaving his wife and eight children. His wife died October 13, 1888. The children are as follows: William D., James H., Susan R., Eliza J., Charles E., Buena A., H. R. and Alvin L., all of whom are still living (1888). A. R. Devin, the subject of this sketch, still resides on the home place, which is in a fine state of cultivation. It is sitnated about three miles from Elk Grove. Mr.

Devin does a general farming business, and the condition of everything shows him to be an ex- perienced and practical farmer.

EORGE DANIEL CONNER was born on the Sandy River, in Greenup County, Kentucky, December 20, 1827, his parents being William and Sidney (Davis) Conner. His grandfather Conner, who was born in Ire- land, built the first blast furnace in Kentucky, on the Licking River, in Bath County. The father of George D. was a member of the Legis- lature for sixteen years, serving successively in both branches. A great-grandfather on the mother's side was the Captain Bragg, of Wash- ington's time, who was married in the home of Washington, and afterward rose to the rank of General in the war of 1812. General Bragg, of the Civil War, is also a great-grandson of the same. Mr. Conner's maternal grandfather was George N. Davis, a member of Congress, and previously was sheriff of the county for many years. An uncle, Alfred Davis, was a graduate of West Point, and served in the Mex- ican war; another, Colonel J. W. Davis, was engaged in the late war, on the Confederate side. He moved to Virginia after the war, and was there elected to Congress. The two broth- ers married sisters of the Stewart family, resid- ing near Sulphur Springs. A third brother, Alexander, was mixed up in the Kansas dif. ficulty, on the Southern side. He afterward became a lawyer in St. Louis, and was elected to the Legislature of Missouri. Mr. Conner first came to California in 1849, and went to mining in Auburn, Placer County, in the win- ter of that year. In the spring of 1850 he en- gaged in teaming and trading to and from the inines, and afterward fitted up teams and wag- ons, selling the outfits complete. In less than two years he had accumulated about $15,000. On December 5, 1851, he sailed from San Francisco for New Orleans, and thence went up the Mississippi and Ohio to his home in Ken-

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tueky. After a short stay there he went to Missouri, and bought cattle, which he drove across the plains in 1852. He sold 100 head for $10,000 in Sacramento, and though he suf- fered loss by fire and flood in that eity he sailed from San Francisco, June 3, 1853, with $30,000, for New York, whence he went to Kentucky. November 22, 1853, he was married in Livings- ton County, Kentucky, to Miss Sarah J. Welsh, a daughter of Thomas G. Welsh, proprietor of the Oakwell Iron Works, situated on the Cum- berland, about twelve miles from its month. She was then in her twenty-first year, having been born in Davidson County, Tennessee, about twelve miles from Charlotte, and only one mile from where her parents had been mar- ried. Her mother, Eliza J. Thomson, was a daughter of William and Jaue (Brewer) Thom- son. On her father's side she is of mixed Eng- lish and Irish stock, and related to the Welsh family of Philadelphia, oue of whom was our minister to England some years ago. Her grandmother, Brewer, was a sister of Sterling Brewer, a member of Congress from Tennessee, a man of considerable wealth for the time in which he lived. Her grandparents, Thomas, were also of the wealthiest families of Raleigh, North Carolina. Her father was born near Baltimore, Maryland, in September, 1805. His parents afterward lived near Philadelphia for a time, and later, moved into the iron region of Pennsylvania, the father being a skilled work- man in some branch of the iron industry, and was usually engaged as foreman. The son learned the special trade of hammerer. In time he moved to Kentucky, and worked at a forge on the Little Sandy, two miles from the Ohio. Ile then went successively to Tennessee and Alabama, working at his trade. Returning to Tennessee he bought of Neblett Bros. the Blooming Grove forge on the Cumberla :d, about twelve miles from Clarksville, with Will- iam Phillips as partner. He bought four slaves and taught them his trade, and while they manufactured the household goods for the local trade, he peddled them around and made 44

money. Afterward he purchased the Rough and Ready Iron Works, also on the Cumber- land, in Stewart County, keeping it only one year. He had two partners in that enterprise,- Dr. . Cobb, of Clarksville, and Captain Sam Cook. Selling liis interest he moved to Ken- tucky in the fall of 1852, investing his money in the Hopewell Iron Works, which were burnt down in 1854, with heavy loss. He had in- vested largely in improvements only a short time before. He rebuilt, and his son-in-law, George D. Conner, became partner in 1856. under the style of Conner & Welsh; but iron had meanwhile fallen from $40 to $22 a ton, leaving but a very narrow margin for the manu- facturers. Having met a series of reverses, coincident with the depression, they surrendered the business to their ereditors, Gibbon and Haynes, in 1859, and both families started across the plains for California. After a four months' trip they arrived in the Golden State, August 3, 1859, and settled on the Cosumnes. Two years later they purchased 1,000 acres in the Hartnel Grant, with a frontage of half a mile on the river. About 1870 Mr. Conner bought out Mr. Welsh's half interest, and at dif- ferent times made other purchases, until he now owns about 4,000 acres, in one body. Mr Welsh and his son, Charles R., moved to Hill's Ferry, in San Joaquin County, investing some $3,000 in Government land and improvements. Disheartened by drouths they abandoned it a few years later, and lost their time and invest- ment, being unable to sell. They then mnoved to Tulare County, near Visalia, where they pur- chased 400 aeres of good land. After four years of joint occupaney the father sold his half interest to Mr. Conner, and came to reside with him. He has made his home with Mr. and Mrs. Conner for many years, with the excep- tion of the five or six years mentioned. Mr. and Mrs. Conner are the parents of the follow- ing children, of whom the three oldest were born in Kentucky, and the others in this State: Alma, in 1854, now Mrs. L. F. Ward, of Fresno, and the mother of a boy and girl;

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY.

George T., in 1857, married and living in Tu- lare City, in the real estate business with his uncle, J. B. Welsh, since 1886; William W., in 1859, was just six months old on his arrival in California; Robert Lee, in 1861, now farm- ing in Fresno County, is married, and the father of one boy; Sallie W., died in August, 1886, aged twenty-one years; Alfred S., in 1869; Eugene, in 1875: Pauline, in 1878. William W. and the three younger children are living at home.

ENRY COOK was born in Schleswig- Holstein, December 15, 1822, his parents being Peter and Mary (Stephens) Cook. Receiving an ordinary education he went to sea at the age of fifteen and served in various capa- cities as a sailor boy until the age of twenty. He then learned the trade of ship-carpenter and made many voyages in that capacity for nine years, among others to India and China three times. In his earlier seafaring life he visited England several times. In the fourteen years that he spent on the sea he has been in nearly all the great seaports and in a large number of the minor ones. In one of those voyages from Europe he came around Cape Horn to California in 1854, arriving in San Francisco on June 10. He went to trading on the Sacramento River and around the bay for about two years, being half-owner of a trading sloop of thirty-two tons. In 1856 he sold out his interest in the sloop and went to Tuolumne County, where he took up some land, in partnership with his brother, Peter, and there remained about eighteen months. October 6, 1858, he came down to the Sacramento River and bought 200 acres on Grand Island, of which eight or ten were bank land and the rest tule. He was flooded out in 1862, but being an old sailor he "would not give up the ship." In 1865 Mr. Cook paid a visit to his native land, remaining four months, and was there married, in August, to Miss Christina Carstensen, a native of Germany.

Returning with his wife to Grand Island, he had the great misfortune to lose her after a few years. She died February 2, 1869, leaving two children: Peter, born June 6, 1866; John W., born October 6, 1867. The older boy died in 1876, leaving Mr. Cook with only one child. John W., besides the usual district-school educa- tion, took a course in 1886 in Heald's Business College in San Francisco. In 1872 Mr. Cook sold his place on Grand Island and bought the ranch of eighty-eight acres he now owns on Sutter Island. He first did a dairy business with fourteen cows, but in 1878 he began to plant an orchard. Struck by the flood of that season before they had rooted, he went around in his boat and took up the 1,000 trees he had just set out, stored them away until the flood subsided and replanted them. He has now abont fifteen acres in orchard, and the remainder is tule land. October 3, 1883, Mr. Cook was again married, in San Francisco, to Mrs. Sophia (Puls) Bergholt, a native of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, born August 17, 1837, daughter of Johann and Sophia (Peto) Puls. The residence of Mr. and Mrs. Cook is a very neat and commodious one, well supplied with the conveniences and com- forts of a home, and with an exceptionally fine flower-garden in front, exhibiting internally and externally the excellent taste of Mrs. Cook, and 1.er instinctive compliance with that excellent commandment-make home beautiful.

IMON COHN, senior member of the firm of S. Cohn & Co., grocers, Folsom, was born in Poland in March, 1830. At the age of eleven or twelve years he left home and went to Prussia, living there five or six years as journeyman tailor. In 1852 he embarked on the sailing vessel Samuel Lawrence for New York, landing in the fall after a voyage of eight weeks. After working at his trade a year, he came to California by the Nicaragua route, leaving New York on the steamer Star of the West, and coming on the Pacific side on the

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY.

steamer Curtis, landing at San Francisco. He was employed by a man named Krichavski in San Francisco, at $50 a month, remaining with him until he had saved up $1,800, in slugs, and then, in company with a Mr. Fischer, he bought stock and was ready to open out in business in the old St. Charles Hotel on Davis Street, when a fire during the night burnt np all their goods! This left Mr. Cohn withont anything. He worked for his former employer again until he had saved about $2,000, when he concluded to try his Inck again, this time in the country. In company with Mr. Frankee he opened out in business at Live Oak City, near Michigan Bar, Sacramento County, and was soon burnt ont again! Although a second time completely broken up, he undaunted put his shoulder to the wheel and started in again, at Folsom, in 1856, where he has been ever since. His present business is the trade in groceries and provisions, in which he is successful. He is public-spirited, a Republican, but not radical. Is a member of Natoma Lodge, No. 64, F. & A. M .; an Odd Fellow; A. O. U. Workman; and B'nai B'rith. In 1862 he married Ilenrietta Alexander, a native of Prussia, and they have two danghters: Rosa, wife of N. L. Kohn, of Placerville; and Alice, wife of Philip C. Cohn, formerly of Sacramento and now of Folsom, a partner in the firm of S. Colin & Co.

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Author: Davis, Winfield J., 1851- 4n Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 916

Author: Davis, Winfield J., 1851- 4n
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 916