USA > California > San Joaquin County > An illustrated history of San Joaquin County, California. Containing a history of San Joaquin County from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its future prospects; > Part 30
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In the fall of 1852 two men, named Jones and Dunbar, caught five bears in a pen on the Stanislaus river, one of which killed Mr. Dun- bar in Stockton, where it had been taken to fight a wild steer for the amusement of the general public.
The first school-house built in the township was in either 1853 or 1854 on the land of Mr. McKamy, near the slough of that name. It was built by the settlers, who furnished the neces- sary funds as well as labor; there were about fifteen scholars, and the first teacher is said to have been a Mr. Chapman. In 1854 Mr. J. Jones built a small school-house, and hired a teacher, where the neighboring children were accommodated with primitive school advantages.
Up to 1859 not over one-sixth of the town- ship had been reduced to cultivation. The southern and middle portion is known as a sandy loam; the north part being adobe or black land. The result of this difference of soil, in former times, caused the teams to abandon the old Mariposa road in winter, and go by the way of French Camp, and when the dry weather came the lower Zinc House road was in its turn aban- doned. In the wet season the sandy loain, or plains, as the section is called, has a plentiful harvest, and the adobe farmer is out of luck. But in the dry year the sand plains come to grief. and their more fortunate neighbors of the adobe soil wear the smiling visage.
Collegeville is situated on the Mariposa road. It is eight miles from Stockton, on the line be- tween Dent and O'Neil townships. The first settler there was a man by the name of Kehoe.
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
There was formerly a large college there, which was burned in the fall of 1874; hence the name of the place.
Atlanta, twenty-two miles southeast of Stock- ton, is a hamlet whose history consists more in its churches than anything else.
The Methodists began preaching there as early as 1866, but there was no regular preach- ing until 1870. A class was organized during that year; but by death and removal its numbers became so small tliat preaching was discontinued. In 1877 Rev. D. E. George organized a class there, and commenced regular preaching. Will- iam A. Cowdery was appointed first leader. The society at first numbered but five meinbers, viz .: William A. Cowdery, Mrs. M. E. Cowdery, Ellie M. Cowdery, Henrietta Von Glahn, Fr. William Von Glahn. During the winter of 1877 and 1878 a revival meeting was held, and the society was greatly increased. In 1878 they built a $2,000 church.
The United Brethren in Christ held their first religious exercises in Dent Township, at the Atlanta school-house, in October, 1877, con- dncted by Rev. Daniel Shuck, when there was not a member of that denomination in the county excepting himself. They organized their church March 17, 1878, with twenty-four members.
The first services of the Catholic denomina- tion in Dent Township were held at the residence of Mr. Carroll, in May, 1877; after which, in April, 1878, services were again held, and a subscription was opened, resulting so favorably that a committee was appointed, and $1,800 subscribed to build a church. Mr. Carroll, J. O'Mally and B. McMehan were the committee. The church was finished and dedicated in Sep- tember, 1878, and is called St. Patrick's.
The New Providence Cumberland Presbyte- rian Church was organized in the old McKamy school-honse, October 5, 1860, with nine ınem- bers, Rev. W. M. Cunningham acting as mnod- erator. Previously, Mr. O. Dooly had held services on several occasions. The first elders were S. Hall, J. S. Anglin, William Allen and F. Farris.
Ripon is a railroad station on the Visalia branch of the Southern Pacific, ten miles sonth- east of Lathrop and one and one-half miles north of the Stanislans river. It was first called Stanislaus station, in 1870, when the railroad was built. In 1874 a store was started there by A. B. Cook, of San Diego, and December 21, that year, a postoffice was established there, un- der the name of Ripon. Mr. Cook was the first postmaster, and the office has ever since been held by the successive proprietors of the store. In early day the store building was burned down, and some years afterward Henry Bowman erected another building, and in two months sold it to Perry Yaple, who bought it for his son B. F. The latter had charge of it from 1878 to 1884; then J. W. Little erected still another store building and engaged in merchandising there until August, 1887, when Hutchinson & Dickinson purchased it. In the summer of 1886 Mr. Yaple bought a two- story brick build- ing, 45 x 70 feet, the upper story of which is used as an Odd Fellows hall, where Mount Ho- reb Lodge, No. 58, meet.
In Ripon there are also a hotel, school-liouse and blacksmith shop; and there is a society here of the " Progressive Brethren " (" Dunkards;" see page 200). Ripon is in Burwood precinct, and the voting place is at Van Allen's school- house.
Burwood is a postoffice in the extreme south- eastern corner of the county, where Ishmael Monroe has been postmaster ever since April 7, 1864. His predecessor was P. G. Tuohy.
DOUGLASS.
The first boundaries of Douglass Township pre- sented but slight resem blance towhat theynow are. The north line commenced two miles north of the Calaveras river on the east line of the county run- ning parallel with that river; west to the present (1880) Heath & Boody's ranch, in section 26, township 3 north, range 7 east; thence a little west of sonth five and a half miles to the south line of section 23, township 2 north, range 7 east, about one mile north of the present Linden road;
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
from that point in a southeasterly direction in a direct line to a point one mile east of Farming- ton. At that time O'Neil Township took in the present site of that village; from the north- east corner of section 21, township 1 north, range 9 east, the line ran a little north of east ten miles, seven of which were in what now is Stanislaus County; from thence northwesterly to place of beginning.
February 17, 1859, the Supervisors re-organ- ized the township lines in the county, approach- ing closely to what they now are. February 17, 1860, by act of the Legislature, San Joaquin County lost a part of her territory, and this straightened up the east line of Douglass Town- ship. August 26, 1864, the present lines of the township were established; commencing at the southwest corner, section 19, township 1 north, range 8 east, running thence on range line be tween 7 and 8 to northwest corner of section 30, township 3 northi, range 8 east; thence east to the county line; thence south on county line to southeast corner of section 24, township 1'north, range 9 east; thence west on section line to place of beginning. Thus it is the center town- ship on the east line of the county.
Douglass Township was named after General David F. Douglass, who came to California in 1848 with Colonel Graham from Mexico. He was the first land owner in the township, own- ing a farm or ranch on the Mokelumne Hill road, near the Davis and Atherton Ferry (that has become historic because of the struggle be- tween Atherton and McDermott for its posses- sion); he took up the ranch in connection with a Mr. Kenny, who was also his partner in a store at Mokelumne Hill, and they erected a house of shakes on their land, which was the first in the township and was used as a public house. Mr. Douglass was one of the pioneer merchants of Stockton, having a store there in 1849, with McKee Raney and E. Lane as part- ners. McKee Raney went to Arizona and has been lost track of, and the General died in June, 1872. Lane went to Portland, Oregon. In those days General Douglass owned also some 14
freight teams, that ran between Stockton and Mokelnmne Hill. In 1849, Dr. E. D. Walker and family lived on the Douglass ranch, while the General was attending to his diversified business. He was one of the first State Senators from the San Joaquin district in 1849, and in 1855 he represented this connty in the Legisla- ture, and was made Secretary of State by Gov- ernor J. Neely Johnson.
It was General Douglass who originally perpetrated the since famous satire upon a Democratic convention, of which he was a mem- ber. They had been nominating with a view of securing the popular vote; one nominated an Irishman to catch the Irishi vote, another nominated a German to catch the German vote, a Spaniard was nominated to catch the Spanish vote, and a Frenchman was placed upon the ticket as a decoy duck for the French vote, when the General arose in his place and asked "if it would be considered in order in this Conven- tion to place before the people an American to catch the scattering American vote?" If it would, he begged leave to present the name of Dan. Gelwick.
For other items concerning the life of Gen- eral Douglass, see page 47.
The only honses on the Mokelumne Hill road in this county in 1849 were-one on the Dong- lass ranch, one on the Daly place, one at the Fifteen-Mile House, and a place kept by Edward Masterson, and one by a soldier named Edward ('Neil, after whom O'Neil Township was named.
In 1848 a family came from Oregon, and set- tled on a ranch where Farmington now stands. The place was called the " Oregon Ranch," the owners being George Theyer and David Wells. They built a house of tules, the first house in Farmington, and they were the first grain- raisers in the township. In 1852 they sold to N. S. Harrold, who had come to the county in 1849, and was an extensive stock-raiser. Dan- iel Fanning, a blacksmith, settled on the Cala- veras river in 1849.
G. W. Trahern came to the county in the fall
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
of 1849, and located near Linden, and went into the stock business. McMullen joined him in 1850, and they became full partners in 1851, buying their property on the San Joaquin river in 1852. Also in 1849 came Edward Master- son to the county, and took a ranch on the Mo- kelnmne Hill road, fifteen miles from Stockton, where he erected a frame house and used it for a public house in 1850. E. B. Cogswell be- came his partner in 1850, in which year he took up the ranch he is now living on. Mr. Cogs- well came to the county in 1849.
On a ranch since known as the Patterson place, a man by the name of Red settled in 1849. He participated in the hanging of five Mexicans, on the San Joaquin river in 1851, that had been caught with stolen cattle, from which fact it is safe to infer that he was a stock- raiser.
In 1850 there were seventeen public houses within twenty-four miles of Stockton, on the Linden, or, as it was then called, Mokelninne Hill road. That year there came to Douglass Township, Jeremiah Gard (now dead), E. B. Cogswell, James Wasley and John Wasley, the latter being elected to the office of county clerk in 1875; also Captain Hamilton, who kept the Ten-Mile House; Moses Furgeson, Thomas Corcoran, Henry Thornlow, Richard Wall, Henry Ortman and Samuel Furgeson. The same year, Elisha Lambert, F. F. Culver, C. B. Harrold and C. C. Rynerson, of Santa Barbara, all settled in that township.
Jerry Gard was the pioneer grain-raiser in that township. As early as 1850 he prepared about twelve acres of ground on the Calaveras bottom, and sowed barley, as an experiment, and was surprised to find that he had succeeded in raising abont forty bushels to the acre. Mr. Cogswell and Masterson prepared some soil with the same view that year, but did not sow it.
Antelope were plenty; a few deer and bear still might be seen in that section; but from coyotes "may the good Lord deliver us" was the prayer of the man that kept hogs, their
pigs inaking too fine a morsel for these scourges of the frontier.
M. J. Drais settled on his ranch in 1852; it had belonged previously to the Wasleys and A. J. Holmes, who kept the Wisconsin House. They took it up in 1850 and put in their first crop in the fall of 1852, sowing about twenty acres of barley, which averaged twenty-five bushels to the acre. The crop was cut with cradles, and threshed by treading it out with horses; this was the first farming in the vicinity of Farmington, except that by Tullock & Wells.
The first brick building in Douglass Town- ship was erected in 1853, on the Linden road, by Masterson & Cogswell, at an expense of $8,000, and they kept it as a public house. In time it was turned into a barn.
In the winter of 1852-'53 the settlers, who had up to that time been either stock-raisers or hotel-keepers, began to turn their attention to the production of grain, but it was generally confined to the river margins and public roads; and for a long time farming interests in that township were considerably retarded by a de- cision of the court that the Pico claim was fraudulent. There are now very few large land- holders in the township. The late Mr. Grupe was the largest, having 1,300 acres in the northern part. Near Farmington there are three or four large land-holders.
The principal industry in this part of the county is still grain-raising. The principal ex- ceptions are Harrison's and Sanderson's orch- ards, fifty acres each; on the Mormon slough toward Hunter's ranch, sixty acres were planted to trees in 1887, and forty acres more in 1889. The average cost of raising wheat is $6 an acre, from plowing to hauling to market, while the yield is eighteen to twenty bushels to the acre.
Gold mining used to be prosecuted in nearly all the gulches near Harrold's, in the eastern part of the county, but it ceased in 1860. During the same antumnn, Winneke's store, a half mile below the tavern, on the Lone Tree road, was robbed, and the man who was in charge of the store was killed.
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
Bellota is a postoffice at a country store, about eighteen miles from Stockton, on the Mokelumne Hill road. A Mr. Latimer first owned the store before the postoffice was estab- lished there, which was in 1872. Mr. Parker was postmaster in 1873, and until March 26, 1883, when Mr. Chase bought him out, and since then the latter has been proprietor of the store and postmaster.
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The road was made through herc in 1862, as a part of the new Mokelumne Hill road; the old one turned to the right just below what is now known as the Milton road. On the latter, a mile and a half from Bellota, there was once a store known as Frank Medina's.
Peters is a post and express office at the junc- tion of the Stockton & Copperopolis division of the Southern Pacific Railroad, fifteen iniles east of Stockton.
The most exciting event that has ever oc- curred in Douglass Township was the inurder of five persons near the Calaveras, two miles east of Bellota, on the Mokelumne Hill road. The victims-two Italians, two Mexicans and a negro-were led out from a store into a gulch and shot for their money, but they obtained very little, as one of them (Medina) had a short time before loaned the $1,500 that he had. After a long time three men were arrested and tried for the crime; one died in jail, and the others by some means escaped punishment. Immediately after the crime was committed, a vigilance committee was organized in the neighborhood, to assist officers in the arrest of criminals.
ELKHORN TOWNSHIP.
Elkhorn township originally included within its area the township of Union and a portion of Liberty, Elliott and O'Neill, and was bounded as follows: Commencing at the month of Twelve-Mile slough, on the San Joaquin; thence westerly, along the San Joaquin, to the mouth of the south fork of the Mokelumne river; thence north, along said river, to its intersection with the niain river; thence up the Mokelumne, to the mouth of Dry creek; thence up Dry creek to Fu-
gett's ranch in section 35, township 5 north, range 6 east. From this point the line runs in a sonth- easterly course, through Benedict's Ferry, to the farm owned by Heath & Boody, in Elliott Town- ship, in section 26, township 3 north, range 7; from this point in an irregular line south westerly to the mouth of Twelve-Mile slough, on the San Joaquin river, the south line running parallel with, and two miles from, the Calaveras river. These boundaries were established August 15, 1853, at which time Elkhorn and Elliott were formed into School District No. 1.
The first organization of the county into ju- dicial townships had been made on the fifth of the same month, at which time the Calaveras river was named as the sonth boundary of both Elkhorn and Elliott townships. February 17, 1854, the boundary lines of the various town- ships in the county were again adjusted, and those of Elkhorn were: on the south by O'Neil, as it now is; on the west by the county line; north by Dry creek, and the east line was one mile west of the present east line. May 7, 1861, the Board of Supervisors segregated a portion of Elkhorn, and gave the name of Union Township to the segregated part. June 5th of the same year the township was still further reduced, a part of her area being taken out, from which to form the township of Liberty, a portion of El- liott being used for the same purpose.
August 6, 1864, a portion of Liberty, lying along the river, was returned to Elkhorn; but on the 6th of August, 1872, Liberty regained it, and Elkhorn was still further a loser, there being, on the same day, five and one-half sec- tions taken from her west boundary and added to Union. In 1873, May 6, she began to re-ac- quire some of her lost domain, and extended her line one mile east, into Elliott; and now is bounded on the north by the Mokelumne river; on the east by Elliott; on the south by O'Neil; and west by Union townships.
The dividing line between Elkhorn and O'Neil begins at the southwest corner of section 36, town- ship 3 north, range 5 east; running thence east to the southeast corner of section 33, township
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
3 north, range 7. The line of division between Elliott and Elkhorn commences at the southeast corner of section 33, township 3 north, range 7 east; running from thence due north to the Mo- kelnmne river, which is the dividing line between Elkhorn and Liberty. Union and Elkhorn are divided by a section line commencing at the sonth- west corner of section 36, township 3 north range 5 east; running thence due north to the Congressional township line; thence east to its east line; thence north to the Mokelnmne river.
Andres Pico claimed abont half this town- ship under an alleged grant, purporting to have been given June 6, 1846, by his uncle, Pio Pico, who at that time was Governor of California. It was thus bonnded: Commencing at the north- west corner of the Weber grant, running thence northerly along the line of segregation of swamp and overflowed lands to the middle of the north line of southeast quarter of section 3, township 3 north, range 5 east; thence east on said line to line between sections 6 and 5, in range 6 east; thence sonth to northwest corner of section 17, same range; thence around said section, on the north and east, to the southeast corner thereof; thence west, on section line, to the northeast corner of section 23 north, range 7 east; thence south to Calaveras river; thence along said river westerly to the place of intersection of Weber grant; thence along said grant to place of be- ginning. See Chapter VII.
In the fall of 1850, in September, J. P Sar- gent and Geo. W. Emerson came to the county and settled at the place now called Woodbridge. In October of the same year, Jacob Brack came to the same place. The other Sargent brother came soon after, and settled there for a time. These gentlemen were the first settlers on the Mokelamne river below Staples' Ferry. Two other brothers, by the name of Elbert and Henry Chandler, settled below Woodbridge in 1850.
Above Woodbridge, on the river, came, in 1850, M. Webb, A. McQneen and James Tall- inadge and Mr. Waddles, settlers, on the farm owned by T. A. Ayres, near Lodi, in 1850, but
returned to the States in the spring of 1851. J. C. White settled, in 1850, on the Elkhorn ranch, from which the township takes its name.
T. and N. Baker came to Elkhorn in the fall or winter of 1851; they sowed fifty acres of barley. They lived south of and near the present Fiske farm. In the fall of 1852, Thos. Baker left the county and afterward laid ont the town of Bakersfield, in Kern county. He is now dead; his brother remained a few years longer, and then removed to Tulare county. In 1852, L. Villinger, Ezra Fiske and Wm. Northrop be- came residents of Elkhorn. The former is now dead; the latter moved to San Francisco; and Ezra Fiske still occupies the farm where he set- tled in 1852.
J. H. Woods and A. McQueen bought the Woodbridge ranch from the Sargents, in 1852, and that year established Woods' Ferry, and pro- cured the laying out of a road from Stockton, by way of the ferry, to Sacramento. The stages that ran between these places liad, before this, gone by the way of Staples' Ferry; but, after the establishment of the new route, adopted it, in 1854, as their regular line of travel.
Wm. McKee Carson, in 1852, imported from the States a threshing-machine and a McCor- mick reaper, the first that reached the San Joa- quin valley. The thresher was equal to about 500 bushels per day, but it did not separate the grain from the chaff; this had to be done by a hand mill. It was an endless-chain tread ma- chine, and would be a curiosity now.
The Sargent Brothers sent to the States in 1852 for a threshing-machine, which arrived, and was used in 1853, Mr. Emerson running the same at a salary of $7 per day. They charged 16 cents per bushel for threshing bound grain, and 18 cents per bushel when it was loose; even at these rates money was lost in the operation. Mr. Sargent, in that year, had 160 acres of barley. Mr. Tam and William Prey each cut abont 100 acres of grain. These were the largest fields, that year, in this part of the country, and, although large prices were paid for threshing, there was but little in a place,
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
and few places; resulting in pecuniary loss to to the tliresher.
In the fall of 1852 the country between the Mokelumne and Calaveras rivers began to be settled up. The prices for any kind of grain had reached fabulous amounts in the mines, in the early spring of 1852, because of the flood of the previous winter, cutting them off from their basc of supplies, which caused an im- mense effort to be put forth to raise the staple products, to be prepared for another expected recurrence of a starvation demand. From year to year the product became greater, with the increased facilities and augmented population, until, in 1856, wheat would not bring over sev- enty-five cents per hundred, and barley one and one-half cents per pound.
Mr. Emerson sold to Sperry & Burkett whcat for 75 cents per hundred, after first offering to give it to them, and, if it did not make good flour, to pay them for milling and take it away. The millers believed that imported wheat was the only article that would do; but, after trying this lot, found that it would yield some two pounds more of flour to the bushiel of wheat than the same weight of Sonora or the lower counties, and was a better quality of flour. In 1867 San Joaquin County took the premium at the World's Fair, in Paris, for the best wheat exhibited at that exposition. It was sent by J. D. Peters, of Stockton.
The first school in the county north of Stock- ton was taught by Miss Walker, in a private house, twelve feet by eighteen, owned by J. A. Warmonth; the land and house are now owned by Ezra Fiske. In the spring of 1855 a school- house was built on land claimed by J. C. Cald- well, the place since owned by Fred. Copsey. About the same time another school building was erected in the vicinity of Woodbridge.
In 1855 or 1856 the grasshoppers visited the township; they destroyed every green thing within their reach, except the tomato, even tak- ing the bark from the fruit trees. They came too late to injure the crops, and have not made their appearance since in Elkhorn, in quantities
sufficient to do damage. In 1864 the army worm visited this region, utterly defoliating some vineyards, but they have not since made a second visit in sufficient numbers to do percep- tible harm.
Three miles south of Lodi the Calaveras Bap- tist church was organized in the early days, when services were held at the residence of Mr. Cobb, conducted by Rev. Thomas Atwood. The first officers were Henry Wallacc, Clerk; Charles Cobb and Mr. Flood, Deacons. In 1862 the society erected a house of worship, costing $1,- 685. Rev. Atwood was succeeded by J. S. Buckner, A. H. Guernsey, J. T. Hnff, A. Ren- frew, S. S. Harris, S. C. Price, T. W. Spanswick, J. S. Jessic, etc.
ELLIOTT.
The original form of Elliott Township was very different from what it is at present. Some three years after the original organization of the county the Board of Supervisors divided it into townships, at which time the south line of Elli- ott was the Calaveras river; ten days afterward a change was made, and Elliott's southi line became an imaginary one, running parallel with and two miles north of the Calaveras river. The southwest corner of the township was on the northeast one-fourth of section 26, township 3 north, range 7 east; thence the line ran in a northwesterly direction to Benedict's Ferry; from Benedict's Ferry directly to Scott's Ferry on Dry creek, near where the railroad now crosses; thence easterly along Dry creek to the northeast corner of the county; thence along the east line of the county to the place of beginning.
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