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 118

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 118

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY.

children of Mr. and Mrs. Miser, living in 1889, are: Spencer A., born in St. Louis, Missouri, November 11, 1848, and married in 1879 to Miss M. E. Hale, born in this State, a danghter of William Hale, of Kelsey; has two boys. Delia, born in California in 1852, now Mrs. Frank Jones, of Walsh's Station, in this county ; has two boys and five girls. Joseph E., born in 1854, owns a small ranch and rents a large adjoining one in this township, using both for a sheep range. Lanra, born in 1856, now the wife of William Russell, blacksmith on the Jackson road, ten miles from Sacramento; has three children-Charles, Joseph and Annie. Dawson A., born in 1860; Edwin A., born in 1863; Howard A., born in 1866.

RTHUR WILLIAM STUART, orchardist on Grand Island, was born in Maine, May 2, 1857, his parents being Daniel S. and Lydia (Philpot) Stuart. The family came to California in 1860 and settled on Grand Island, on what is now the McIntyre ranch of 120 acres. The flood of 1862 overflowed his place and he moved to Solano County, near Dixon, where he now owns 240 acres. The father had come to California in 1850, and did some min- ing for a year or more, when he returned to farining in Maine. He was born abont 1827, and Mrs. Stuart about 1829, and they have eight living children, of whom three are natives of this State. A. W. Stuart was educated in Dixon, and took a course in the Napa Collegi- ate Institute. Has done farm work since he has been of an age to labor. Mr. Stuart was married in Sacramento March 10, 1883, to Mrs. O. P. (Phillips) Wood, the widow of Monroe Wood, who died in 1879, leaving one child, Lillie, born in 1875, and accidentally drowned in 1888 while crossing the river near her home. Mrs. Stuart is a native of Illinois, where her mother is still living, near Troy, aged sixty. The father died in 1870. Mr. and Mrs. Stuart have one child, Daniel Everett, born on Grand

Island September 15, 1884. They own 210 acres on Steamboat Slough, of which sixty-five are in orchard. Mr. Stuart also owns jointly with his mother 200 acres in Stanislaus County, near Hopedale, purchased in 1887. It is all fruit-bearing land and twenty-five acres are already in orchard.

JAMES JORDAN, owner of the Eagle Ditel at Michigan Bar, was born in England, April 18, 1827, his parents being John and Louise (Brooker) Jordan. The mother died about 1834, and in 1836 the father came to America with eight children. He settled on a farm in the State of New York, and in 1840 moved to Michigan, where six of his children are still living, five being married. They are: Caleb, with one son; Stephen married a Miss Perry, and has four or five children; William is unmarried; Mary, now Mrs. William Loburn, has a large family; Louise, now Mrs. Tyler, has some children; Annie, now Mrs. Carpenter, is also the mother of some children. All are set- tled on farms in Davison Township, Monroe County, Michigan. The father died there about 1879, aged eighty three. The grandparents Jordan and grandmother Brooker were also long-lived folks. The subject of this sketch left Grand Blanc, Genesee Connty, Michigan, where his father then resided, in November, 1850, for California. He came by the Panama route, and took the Panama fever, which nearly proved fatal. He was unconscious for fourteen days on the voyage to San Francisco by the An- telope, and on his arrival was sent to the hospi- tal. When discharged he was scarcely able to work, and did cooking for his board, and after ward was paid $25 a month. In July, 1851, he came to Coloma in El Dorado County, and was quite successful in mining, in which he has been engaged directly, or as owner of mineral lands and water privileges, with little interrup- tion ever since. He conducted a hotel at Colo- ma about eighteen montlis in 1853-'54, which

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he afterward rented to others for seven or eight years, and finally sold. In 1854 he bought a mining claim, and in 1855 went into the mining and ditching business, with good suc- cess right along. But the usual fortune of miners was near at hand. He engaged with others in running a tunnel at Kentucky Flats, near Mount Gregory, in El Dorado County, with an aggregate loss of $18,000, of which his share was abont $2,500 and eighteen montlis' labor. This was in 1856-'57. He then went to Gold Ilill and invested in a big bed-rock flume, which scarcely returned any net gain. Meanwhile he was engaged in river mining in the summer months from 1856 to 1860, which he quit in 1861. In the high water of 1861-'62 his mining enterprises paid well. In 1862 he again went to Coloma, where he bought a bar claim on the South Fork of the American River, for $90, out of which he made $3,000 in five months. In the spring of 1863 he came to Michigan Bar, on the Cosumnes, where he loaned money on stock of the Eagle Ditch, the original cost of which, with the repairs, amount- ing some years to $3,000, is estimated at over $60,000. He has been owner of the property for several years, and leases water for mining and irrigating purposes, besides supplying power for his grist-mill. He also owns 200 acres of mineral land, from which he gets varying re- turns. In 1871 and 1872 he prospected in Ne- vada, but without striking anything of value. He was, however, let into some good enterprises, only to find that the sellers were not the owners. Mr. James Jordan is a member of the Masonic order, and was Senior Deacon in Nebraska Lodge, No. 71, which used to meet in Michigan Bar, but died out some years ago, when Mr. Jordan joined the lodge at Ione.

EUBEN WALLACE TOOKER, a rancher of Cosminnes Township, was born in New York June 21, 1829, his parents being Daniel and Maria (Dubois) Tooker. The father,

a native of the same State, was sixty-eight at his death in 1868, and the mother seventy-four when she died in 1875. Grandfather Charles Tooker, also a native of New York, reached the age of eighty-eight, and his wife, originally a Miss Carpenter, was ninety-two. The Dubois family, of French origin, has been settled in this country for several generations. Daniel Tooker was a farmer. R. W. Tooker received a district-school education and in his twenty-first year, in 1849, he accompanied a missionary of the Dutch Reformed Church, named Sheffield, to South Bend, Indiana, where he worked for him until 1852. In that year he crossed the plains, being one of a company of about fifty men. They had an encounter with hostile Indians of whom nine were killed, the emigrants having two men slightly wounded. The fight occurred on the north of the Platte, between Mud Creek . and Shell Creek. R. W. Tooker arrived in Sac- ramento August 10, 1852, and first went to work on a dairy farm for wages. Ile owned 160 acres on the old Jackson road for many years, and followed the business of teaming as well as dairying for several years. In October, 1884, he bought his present ranch of 160 acres, situated about twenty-six miles from Sacramento and two and one-half miles from Michigan Bar. He raises hay and stock, and makes a specialty' of raising turkeys, of which he usually has a flock of between two and three hundred.

LEXANDER SCROGGS, SR., a pioneer of marked character and a capitalist, was born in Trumbull (now Mahoning) County, Ohio, April 22, 1818; was brought up on the farm of his father, Aaron Scroggs, a native of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. In 1840 he emigrated to Quincy, Illinois; was in Mon- mouth, that State, in 1840-'41, and then in Whiteside County, same State, until 1849, en- gaged as a carpenter. In March of the latter year he left for California, in company with Captain Woodburn and a Mr Miller, in a party

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made up at St. Joseph, Missouri, which had fourteen wagons. Coming by way of Fort Hall and the Truckee ronte, and the seene of the great disaster of the Donner party, they arrived on Deer Creek September 6. They followed gold mining on Bear River until the rain sea- son set in, when they came to Sacramento. At that time Mr. Callahan, the builder and pro- prietor of the Golden Eagle IIotel, was keeping a canvas boarding-house on the corner of Sev- enth and L streets, adjoining a horse market, which was then conducted by Captain Smith & Co. In the spring of 1850 Mr. Scroggs fol- lowed Captain Whitehead and his company to the mines at the head-waters of the Calaveras River, and afterward to Downieville and the Gold Lake inining region. IIe returned to Sac- ramento during the cholera siege here. Sub- sequently he followed mining on Bear River and at Johnson's Crossing. Next he engaged in carpentering, at which he made 810 a day. In the spring of 1852 he was in the mines again, and soon cleared $1,000. Then he resumed his trade in Sacramento and followed it for many years. In 1854 he married Miss Jane Elwell, a native of the State of New York, who came to California in 1850 on the steamer Eudora. Since then she has made three trips to the East, one time on the vessel named Yankee Blade, which was wrecked at Point Enqnella, and she was obliged to return. Both Mr. and Mrs. Seroggs own considerable real estate in this city. Their children are: Alexander, Jr .; Sarah Irene, now Mrs. Worneth; Almira Jane, now the wife of T. E. Reikart, of Dixon, and John, the youngest son.

LEXANDER MONROE WARNOCK, farmer, of Lee Township, was born in Pntnam County, Illinois, April 10, 1830, his parents being James A. and Elizabeth (Mc- Cord) Warnock. The father, a native of South Carolina, died in Putnam County, Illinois, in 1862, aged seventy-two; the mother a native of

Pennsylvania, died in 1852, aged fifty-two. They had moved to Illinois in 1828, soon after their marriage in Ohio, whither grandfather McCord had moved from Pennsylvania some years before. Grandfather Joseph Warnock was the son of an Irish emigrant, Michael, who settled in Pendleton County, South Carolina, in 1768. Joseph moved with his family to Brown County, Ohio, thence to Indiana, and finally settled in Putnamn County, Illinois, where he died about 1840, aged seventy-seven. Grand- inother Margaret (Sumter) Warnock died sev- eral years earlier, at the age of sixty. Grand parents William and Elizabeth McCord also settled in Putnam County, Illinois, and died there, the latter about 1845, aged seventy-six, and the former in 1855, at the age of eighty- six. A. M. Warnock received a district-school education and was brought up on his father's farm, helping on the same until he was twenty. In 1850 he bought in partnership with his brother a Mexican-war land warrant and located 160 acres in Grundy County, Illinois. In 1853 he sold his eighty, and set out for California, March 24, 1853, arriving at Placerville Sep- ternber 10. He mined in that section eight years during the mining season, nsnally coming down into the plains in summer, and working more or less in various lines as opportunity offered. In March, 1861, he was married in Placerville to Emeline Johnson, and moved into Douglas County, Nevada, where he carried on teaming for twelve years. In 1873 he moved into Sacramento County, settling at Franklin. He bought a hay-press and followed that line ef business until 1880. He then rented a ranch of 240 acres abont three miles north of Frank- lin, which he held three years. In 1883 he rented 525 acres, five miles above Routier, which he still holds. In 1885 he rented a part of the Davis place, in Lee Township, and in 1888 the whole 1,200 acres. On both places he does general farming. raising grain of all kinds be- sides horses, cattle and hogs. The children of Mrs. Warnock-the first three being by a for- mer husband named Alcock, but entirely iden-

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY.

tified with the new family and bearing its name- are: Elizabeth, now Mrs. Silas Grant, residing in Canada; Walter E., born in 1855, and Sam- nel M., in 1857, both interested in the working of the two farms ocenpied and worked by the Warnock family and their hired help. James Archibald Warnock, born in Nevada in 1863, is married to Ella, a daughter of Milton Sherwood, of Sacramento, is the father of two boys and is farming near Elk Grove; Isabel, born in 1865; Ella, in 1868; Gertrude, in 1870; Alexander Victor, in 1872; Arlie Etta, in 1874, the last named being a native of California and the others of Nevada.

EV. GEORGE WATKINS HEATH, a retired minister and rancher of Cosumnes Township, was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, January 11, 1817, his parents being William and Amy (Watkins) Heath. In 1832 the family moved to Adams County, Indi- ana, where the father died in 1840, and the mother in 1850, both at abont the age of sixty. Grandfather William Heath died in Virginia, aged ninety-two; and grandfather Watkins, also named William, died at seventy, but his wife reached the age of ninety-six. George W. Heath received but little schooling in his youth, but by special industry in private study made up the deficiency in his formal education, and was authorized to preach by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1841. He was married in 1837, being not quite twenty-one. He came to California in 1852, and mined four years, preach- ing as opportunity was given. In 1854 he bronght ont his family; and in 1856 was form- ally set apart for the work of the ministry, serv- ing first in El Dorado County. In 1858 he was ordained deacon; and in 1859 was placed in charge of the Cosumnes circuit. In 1861 he filed pre-emption papers on the 160 acres he still owns, about one mile southeast of Michi- gan Bar, and the title was in time perfected. He has since been a farmer as well as preacher,

with his time fully occupied in the discharge of manifold duty, including the proper care, moral, intellectual, and industrial, of a large family. He has been a justice of the peace eight, and roadmaster fifteen years. He was married in Ohio, December 3, 1837, to Miss Rachel Jane Roebuck, born in Ohio, February 29, 1820, her parents being John and Rachel (Russell) Roebuck. After fifty years of wedded life in Christian harmony and fellowship she died, February 25, 1888, leaving her life-part- ner, whose health has been broken for some time, to mourn her loss, but not as one without hope. The children of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Heath are: Ebenezer Goddard, now living in Portland, Oregon; Hattie, now Mrs. George B. Walker, of Covelo, California; John W. (see sketch); Deliah Jane, now Mrs. Edwin W. Joseph, of Lake County, Oregon. James White Heath, born in Adams County, Indiana, January 25, 1851, came to California in 1854. Received the education attainable in this section thirty years ago, and was brought np to farming. He was married September 1, 1886, to Miss Daisy Hurley, born at Cook's Bar, in this Township, November 25, 1867, her parents being John Pinckney and Elizabeth (Yorke) Hurley. Her father was born in Tennessee, March 22, 1829. Mr. and Mrs. James W. Heath have one child, Winnie, born November 29, 1887. The other children of George W. Heatlı are: Warwick Petomy, born in this State in 1857, and now of Shasta County; Edwin Bar- ber, born at Michigan Bar in 1860, now (1889) deputy assessor of this county.

DARLES M. CAMPBELL, dealer in fur- niture and carpets, 409 K street, Sacra- mento, is a native of California, having been born in Sacramento, May 28, 1860, where his early life was spent. He is the son of Fanny and the late John Campbell, the former being a native of England, and the latter of Scotland. John Campbell, his father, came to

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Canada with his parents when nine years old, and remained with them till he was twenty-one, when he went to New York and learned the trade of stair-bnilder, removing thence to New Orleans, where he branched out as a contractor. In 1849 he determined to seek his fortune in California, taking passage by way of the Isth- mus. Owing, however, to detention, he did not arrive in San Francisco till Jannary, 1850. Coming immediately to Sacramento he com- menced the manufacture of furniture, and was the pioneer in that business in the city. He continued in this business up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1881, when Charles M. succeeded him, being then nearly twenty-one years old. He had been with his father as an assistant for six years; consequently was well qualified to carry on the business, which he has done with uninterrupted success to the present time. His business career has been marked by the strictest integrity. To this, as well as his affable manners and prompt attention to busi- ness, is dne his constantly increasing trade. Mr. Campbell is an active member of the Presby- terian Church, and of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association, being president of the latter organization, which position he has held four years. In this connection it may be said that to his energy, together with that of a few others, is dne the fact that the Young Men's Christian Association is a living institution at this time, and in successful operation. In 1879-80 he took charge of a branch business for his father in Virginia City, Nevada, and while there organ- ized a juvenile temperance society of over 100 members, which still exists. In the cause of temperance Mr. Campbell is an ardent worker, and in politics a Prohibitionist. Mr. Campbell uses his means to good advantage, enlarging his views of the world by travel. To this end he has twice visited Europe. In April, 1889, ha was honored by the Governor of Californie with appointment as one of the commissioners to represent the State at the World's Exhibition in Paris. This appointment, while compli- mentary to him, reflects much credit on the

judgment of the Governor in making the selection, his business qualifications and gentle- manly bearing rendering him a fit representa- tive of the Golden State. Being possessed of much push and energy, he is destined to be- come at no distant day one of the most promi- nent business men of Sacramento.

FON. J. H. McKUNE, one of the oldest and most eminent members of the bar of Sacramento County, was born in Sullivan County, New York, March 22, 1819. From 1839 to 1844 he read law in the office of Bent- ley & Richards, at Montrose, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, and was admitted to the bar at that place in 1844. He practiced law at Montrose until 1848, when he removed to Illi- nois and resumed the practice of his profession at Lee Center, Lee County. In 1849 he came overland to California, starting from Independ- ence, Missouri, May 7, and crossing the Sierra Nevada September 1, at a point near where the present railroad crosses. First, he mined for gold at Nevada City, and hunted deer in the fall of 1849 until some time in January following, and then came to Sacramento, where he has ever since resided. At the election April 5, 1850, he was chosen county attorney, and he held that office two years. In March, 1854, the President of the United States appointed him agent for the United States Land Commission, and he held this office also two years. At the general election of 1856 he was elected on the Democratic ticket to the Legislature, and dur- ing the session of 1857 he took a prominent part, acting as chairman of the committee ap- pointed to conduct the impeachment of State Treasurer Bates. He was elected District Judge of the Sixth Judicial District, at the regular election of 1858, having been a candidate of the Dongla's Democrats, and to the same office as a Republican in 1863; he held that office until December 31, 1869. In company with John C. Burch and Creed Haymond, he was appointed

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by Governor Booth as Code Commissioner to compile the statutes that were ratified by the Legislature in 1871-'72. Judge McKune has probably been connected with more celebrated lawsuits than any other attorney in Sacramento; and he also compiled all the ordinances of the city of Sacramento except a few touching fran- chises, into one ordinance numbered 17, and that number is still preserved among the ordinances of the city. February 26, 1855, Judge MeKune married Mary G. Bennett, at San Francisco, and they have had two children: Florence A. and Charles Ralph. The latter, who clerked for Baker & Hamilton for a time, and also worked upon a farm, died in August, 1889, in Sacramento, at the age of thirty-one years.

A. VAN VOORHIES, manufacturer of and wholesale dealer in harness, Sacra- mento. The name of the gentleman who forms the subject of this biographical notice is well and honorably known in Sacra- mento and throughout this portion of the State as the head of one of the most extensive manu- facturing firms on the coast; and it is pleasing to note that his present high position has come to him as the reward for faithful attention to business and business principles. The history of his ancestry can be traced back to a period as early as 1760, when four brothers emigrated from Holland to the New World. One of these, the ancestor of our subject, settled in what is now Bergen County, New Jersey, near the present manufacturing city of Paterson; and it is a fact worthy of note that the grandfather, also the father, John Van Voorhies, and the subject himself were all born in the same house. While the latter was yet a child, his father, and his inother, nee Sarah Storms-who descended from an old Holland family-removed to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he was educated in the element- ary schools. At the age of seventeen he returned to New York and served an apprenticeship as saddle and harness maker, under the instruc-

tions of a Mr. Volland, and continued his trade in that city until 1853. California, at that time and since, the land of golden promise to so many young men of energy and spirit, became the Mecca of his hopes, and he started for the far West. Coming by the way of the Isthmus, he arrived in San Francisco in November, 1853. There he almost immediately obtained employ- ment as a clerk in the harness establishment of Mr. I. Madison, at that time the leading harness manufacturer on the coast. Continuing there for two years, he went in 1855 to Placerville, El Dorado Connty, then called Hangtown, and established a wholesale and retail house. It was during the Washoe mining excitement, and this, his first business venture, proving to be a suc- cess, he remained at this field until January 1, 1869, when he came to Sacramento and bought an interest in the harness business of R. Stone & Co. In 1880 they removed to No. 322 and 324 J Street, their present location. In 1882 Mr. Van Voorhies purchased the interest of Mr. Stone, and the present firm of A. A. Van Voorhies & Co. was established, the other members being L. C. Montford, R. C. Irvine and George A. Phinney. Mr. Van Voorhies has been twice married. For his first wife he wedded Miss Harriet Wadsworth, a native of Connecticut. By that marriage there was one daughter, Harriet, now the wife of George A. Phinney, of this city. His second wife, whom he married in 1873, is a daughter of the late Harry Montford, an old resident of this State. By this marriage there he has been born one son, Ralph IIenry. During his residence in El Dorado County, Mr. Van Voorhies was active in political matters; but the increasing cares of his extensive business since coming here have made it impracticable for him to engage in party work. Still, he takes an active interest in all things pertaining to the prosperity and advance- ment of the city. In the Masonic fraternity he has been for many years treasurer of Sacra- mento Commandery, No. 2; is a member of Union Lodge, No. 58, and of Sacramento Chap- ter, No. 3; and is also a warden of St. Paul's

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Protestant Episcopal Church. His aim is the elevation of mankind through Christian influ- ences, while his liberality has been unostenta- tious, but heartfelt and real. This, the merest outline of the life of one of the representative business men of the Capital City, will be recog- nized by his friends as in keeping with his innate modesty; without it no historical volume of the county would be complete.

EORGE FREDERICK BRONNER .- Lying north of Switzerland, and including the eastern halt of the far-famed valley of the Rhine and the mountains which form its northern boundary, lies the Duchy of Baden. Here we have the beautiful Lake of Constance, and a portion of the Black Forests, so renowned in sentimental story, and the River Rhine; and here, too, is Baden-Baden, the great conter of sporting life in Europe; the great "Spa," the resort indeed of Eastern civilization; and here in February, 1833, the subject of this sketch was born, the son of George F. Bronner and Sophia Süllerlin. His father was a wine mer- chant, and was killed in the Revolution of 1848. George's schooling was had in Baden, and to escape the enforced service in the Landwehr, through the influence of friends he obtained a pass, and at the age of sixteen escaped to Paris and thence came to the United States, landing in New York in 1850. During that winter he remained in Buffalo, New York, doing anything which came to hand, and in the following spring went to Norwalk, Ohio, where he had an uncle living. He remained there, however, but a short time, when he went to Fremont in that State, at that time only a small village, where he remained for two or three years as a clerk in a general store. He there become acquainted with Mr. F. Fabing, since become one of the wealthiest and most influential men of Fre- mont, and owner of the gas works in that city; and together they came to California via the Nicaragua route, and landed at San Francisco,

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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