An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day, Part 117

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1038


USA > California > Los Angeles County > An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 117
USA > California > San Diego County > An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 117
USA > California > Orange County > An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 117
USA > California > San Bernardino County > An illustrated history of Southern California : embracing the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange, and the peninsula of Lower California, from the earliest period of occupancy to the present time; together with glimpses of their prospects; also, full-page portraits of some of their eminent men, and biographical mention of many of their pioneers and of prominent citizens of to-day > Part 117


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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SPANISH LAND GRANTS.


As early as 1784 Governor Pedro Fages granted to Mannel Nieto and Juan Maria Ver- dugo the temporary occupancy of the lands which they desired.


In August, 1802, the following ranchos in Los Angeles County were mentioned: Nieto, Dominguez, the two Verdugos and Felix. The Simi was held by Luis Peña and Diego Pica, and Las Virgenes by Miguel Ortega. The Conejo was granted in 1802 or 1803 to José Polanco and Ygnacio Rodriguez. Warner says in his "Sketch:" "Subsequent to the establish-


ment of the missions, and before the elose of that century, the Spanish Government, acting through the commanding officer of California, did at different periods of time grant four large tracts of land lying in this county to four indi- viduals. The area of these tracts was from ten to twenty, or more, square leagues each. They were granted to the following persons who had come to California as soldiers and who had been discharged or retired from active service on account of their age or other causes. The Nietos tract, embracing all the land between the Santa Ana and San Gabriel rivers, and from the sea to and including some of the hill lands on its northeastern frontier, was granted by Governor Pedro Fages to Manuel Nieto in 1784. The San Rafael tract, lying on the left bank of the Los Angeles river, and extending to the Arroyo Seco, was granted by Governor Pedro Fages, October 20, 1784, and the grant was reaffirmed by Governor Borica Jannary 12, 1798, to José Maria Verdugo. The San Pedro tract, lying along the ocean, and the estuary of San Pedro, was granted to Juan José Dominguez by Pablo Vicento Sola, December 31, 1822. There is much circumstantial testimony tending to show that both the Yorba and Dominguez grants were made during the past century. Antonio Maria Lugo, a prominent citizen of Los Angeles, giving testimony in the district court in that city in 1857, said that his age was seventy-six years; that he remembered the pueblo of Los Angeles as early as 1785; that he had known the Verdugo or San Rafael Rancho since 1790; that Verdugo had had his Rancho since 1784, and that it, the .San Rafael,' was the third oldest rancho in the county-the Nietos and the Dominguez being the oldest. Governor Borica in 1798 issued to José Maria Verdugo a new or confirmatory grant of San Rafael, which had been granted to Verdugo by Governor Fages in 1784: so it is probable that the first title papers for San Pedro had disappeared or were not pre- sented to the United States Land Commission for California. Don Manuel Dominguez, one of the present proprietors of the San Pedro


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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.


ranch, states positively that the grant of that tract was made in 1784." In 1852 an act of Congress created a commission for the purpose of settling private land claims in California. The board organized in Los Angeles of that year, and was composed of Hiland Hall, after- ward Governor of Vermont, Harry I. Thornton and Thompson Campbell. This board was in existence several years, and it heard and decided a great many contests.


PIONEERS.


Joseph Chapman, captured at Monterey in 1818, came to Los Angeles in 1821.


James McKinly, a native of Scotland, arrived at Los Angeles in 1824, being then twenty-one years of age; he kept a store for a time on Commercial street. He afterward went to Monterey.


John Temple, one of the most prominent of pioneers, reached Los Angeles County about 1827, and in partnership with George Rice opened the first general merchandise store in the town, on the site where the Downey block now stands. Abont 1830 he erected the nucleus of what is now the Downey block, which was at first of adobe, but later of brick. Dissolving partnership abont 1831, he continued the bnsi- ness alone until 1846; later he leased a mint in the city of Mexico for ten years, and for this he refused an offer of $1,000,000. In 1859 he built the old conrt-house, between Main and Spring streets, for $30,000, under contract with the city. This was at first intended for a market honse. John Temple married Rafaela Cota; on May 30, 1866, he died at San Fran- cisco, aged seventy years.


George Rice, a native of New England, came to Los Angeles about 1827, from the Sandwich Islands; for a time the partner of John Temple, he was afterward in independent business on Main street. In 1830 he married one of the Lopez family, and he went East about 1835. He is reported to be dead.


J. D. Leandry, from Italy, settled in Los Angeles about 1827 and opened a store near the


plaza, on " Nigger alley;" he afterward resided on the San Pedro rancho. and in 1842 he died on the rancho Los Coyotes.


Jesse Ferguson, an American, caine to the town from New Mexico, about 1828, by way of the Gila river, in company with R. Laughlin and N. M. Pryor. He managed a store on Main street for William G. Dana, of Santa Barbara. He married in Los Angeles a Miss Randon, and about 1835 he went to Lower California, where he died a few years later.


Richard Laughlin, coming here as a trapper in 1828, went on to Lower California, then returned here, and worked at his trade as a carpenter, occasionally as a hunter. Then he started a vineyard on Alameda street, married a native Mexican, and had several children. He died about 1855.


Nathaniel M. Pryor, who came here with Ferguson and Laughlin, worked alternately as a silversmith and an otter-hunter, and for a time he was a warchonse keeper for Abel Stearns at San Pedro. He married one of the Sepulveda family in Los Angeles, purchased a large amount of property, and left a number of descendants when he died in May, 1850.


Isaac Williams, a native of Pennsylvania, came to California in 1832; he owned the Chino Rancho, on which he died September 13, 1856. His brother, Hiram, lived at San Timoteo, San Bernardino County.


Moses Carson, a brother of the celebrated scout, Kit Carson, came to Los Angeles in Marclı, 1832, and for a time followed trapping for a living. He became connected with the ware- house at San Pedro, but finally removed to Rus. sian River.


Lemuel Carpenter, of Missouri, came to this county in 1832 or 1833, by way of Sonora, in company with Chard, Panlding, Ward, and others. He established a soap factory on the right bank of the San Gabriel river, not far from the present road to Los Nietos. Ile sub- sequently purchased the Santa Gertrudes Ran- cho, on which he resided until his death by suicide, November 6, 1859.


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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.


William Chard, mentioned in the last para- graph, did here an extensive business as a butcher, and also as a sawyer of lumber. He removed in later years to Sacramento valley.


Jacob P. Leese, an American, came to Los Angeles from New Mexico in the winter of 1833, and remained about two years, entering into business with William Keith and Huglı Reid. Then he went to Monterey and estab- lished a house, afterward erecting the first build- ing at Yerba Buena, now San Francisco, in which he opened a store. He was the second white settler at that place, and for many years he was prominent as the leading business man at that point. In April, 1837, he married a sister of General M. G. Vallejo, and in 1841 he removed to Sonoma.


James Johnson, an Englishman, came by water from Sonora to Los Angeles in 1833, with a cargo of Mexican and Chinese goods. Shortly afterward he purchased the San Pedro Rancho, where he was for a number of years an exten- sive cattle dealer. Then he removed to Los Angeles and engaged in the warehouse and for- warding business between that town and San Pedro. He died prior to 1862.


Hugh Reid (or Hugo Perfecto Reid), a native of Scotland, came to Los Angeles in 1835, and he was a merchant here in company with Will- iam Keith and Jacob P. Leese. He had for- inerly lived in Sonora, whence he had come to Los Angeles to wed his betrothed, a beautiful Mexican girl. Finding that she had just jilted him to marry a Spanish officer, his disposition was so soured that he retired in his chagrin to San Gabriel, where he married an Indian woman. He was a man of stndious tastes, and he entered deeply into the study of the aborigines. His notes on these subjects are the most valuable guide possessed by the ethnological student of to-day, insomuch as regards these races, At one time Hngo Reid owned the Santa Anita Rancho, and other large property, most of which came to him with his Indian wife. He was a very conspicuons figure in the early history of Los Angeles; he was a member of the first State


Constitutional Convention of 1849. He died at Los Angeles, December 12, 1852.


William Keith, an American, was a physician who came from Sonora about 1835 and entered into partnership with Reid & Leese in the mer- cantile business. He afterward returned to Sonora, then came here again abont 1849, and then went to the gold-mining regions.


L. Victor Prudhomme, a Frenchman, arrived in Los Angeles in 1835. He was a cabinet- maker and cooper. He married a native lady named Tapia, who was at one time part owner of the Cucamonga Rancho. He died in May, 1871.


Henry Mellus, a native of Boston, Massachu- setts, came to this coast in the brig Pilgrim, made famous by Richard Henry Dara in his "Two Years Before the Mast." Mellus settled here, married a Mexican lady, and was found to be a prominent citizen, on the return of his old comrade, Mr. Dana, twenty-four years later, taking the writer on memorable drives to view the well-remembered scenes of " hide-droghing times." Mr. Mellus was elected mayor of Los Angeles in 1860, and he died while still the in- cumbent of that office, in December of that year.


Isaac Grahamn, a native of Tennessee, went in early life to New Mexico. He reached Los An- geles in company with Henry Naile about 1835, and remained until the following year, when he removed to the " Natividad," Monterey County, and there (according to Mr. Wilson) established a small distillery in a tule hut, which soon be- came a nuisance, owing to the disreputable character of those who frequented it.


Charles Hall, a native of Massachusetts, came to Los Angeles prior to 1836. He became a merchant, but failed, and was subsequently in the employ of John Temple.


John Marsh, a physician, came to Los An- geles about 1836, and for some years after his arrival he practiced medicine here, but later he located on a rancho near Mount Diablo, where he was subsequently murdered.


John Reed, a native of either Missouri or


755


HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.


North Carolina, came to Los Angeles from 1837 to 1841. While yet in New Mexico he married a daughter of John Rowland, and on his arrival in this county he engaged in ranching at La Puente. He enlisted in the American army in 1846, and took part in all the battles fought on the march between San Diego and Los Angeles. He died at La Puente, July 11, 1874, aged fifty- six years.


. William Wittle may have arrived in Los An- geles as early as 1810, as, in 1835 he signed a petition to the Ayuntamiento for a town lot, stating that he had been in the country twenty- five years; but Mr. J. J. Warner says he never knew him.


Francis Mellus, of Salem, Massachusetts, fol- lowed his brother Henry to Los Angeles, coming in the employ of Boston merchants, landing at Santa Barbara, January 5, 1839. He was for some years (1850-'56) in partnership with David W. Alexander in the mercantile line. He married Miss Adelaida Johnson, who sur- vived him when he died in Los Angeles, Sep- tember 19, 1863, leaving seven children.


John Rowland came in the fall of 1841 as the leader of a party from New Mexico. He had been a partner of William Workman at Santa Fé, and he was subsequently with him as joint owner of the Puente Rancho, where he died October 14, 1873, aged eighty-two years.


Benjamin Davis Wilson, one of the most prominent citizens of this county from 1841 to 1878, was born in Nashville, Tennessee. After many years of trading and trapping in Arkan- sas, Missouri, and New Mexico, he came to California in the fall of 1841, in company with William Workinan, John Rowland, William Gordon, William Wright and others, bringing a stock of goods, and a band of sheep that they had driven with them for a food supply. In 1845 Mr. Wilson raised a company to assist in the defense of Los Angeles against Micheltor- ena, and was one of the two embassadors who, under a flag of truce, succeeded in winning Micheltorena's American allies over to Gover- nor Pico, with the result of Micheltorena aban-


doning hostilities and embarking at San Pedro soon after. Mr. Wilson adhered stanchly to his American affiliations during the war with Mexico, and, after the American occupation, he aided, perhaps more than any other man in Southern California, in restoring peace and good feeling between the two races. During this time he had been heavily engaged in merchan- dising, and also in cattle raising, and he became very wealthy. At different periods he was elected to various offices,-county clerk, mayor, Indian agent, also State Senator for two terms. He died March 11, 1878, on his Lake Vineyard Rancho, in San Gabriel valley.


Abel Stearns, a native of Salem, Massachu- setts, after spending considerable time in Mex- ico, settled in Los Angeles, where he was during his lifetime one of the most prominent citizens and notable characters. Abel Stearns was really the first white man who ever mined for gold in California, he liaving sent to the United States mint gold from his diggings near the Mission San Fernando, ten years before Marshall's dis- covery in 1848.


He became very wealthy, was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1849, and of the State Legislatures of 1851 and 1861. He married Doña Arcadia, one of the daughters of Don Juan Bandini, and this lady is still living in Los Angeles, having married Colonel R. S. Baker, some years after the death of " Don Abel."


Michael White, born in England in 1801, emigrated to Lower California in 1817, and commanded a vessel for some years. He became wealthy, and settled in Los Angeles, where he lost his wealth. He is long since deceased.


Juan Domingo (in Dutch Johann Gröningen, in English John Sunday), a Hollander by birth, was a carpenter on the brig Danube, which was wrecked in San Pedro harbor in 1829. He be- came a resident of Los Angeles, married Miss Felis, planted a vineyard on Alameda street, and lived there until he died, December 18, 1858, leaving a large family and many friends.


Samuel Prentiss, a native of Rhode Island,


756


HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.


was a sailor on the Danube, after whose wreck he lived in this county, spending his time in hunting and fishing. He died about 1865, on the island of Santa Catalina, where he was buried.


Ewing Young, a native of Tennessee, was a trapper in New Mexico. In 1828-'29 he vis- ited California, and trapped around the Tulare lake and the San Joaquin river and its tributa- ries. Returning to New Mexico abont 1830, he fitted ont the Wolfskill party, with which he came to Los Angeles. In 1836 be settled in Oregon, where he dealt in live-stock, and became very wealthy. He died about forty years since.


John Rhea, a native of North Carolina, emi- grated in 1828-"29 to New Mexico, whence he came to Los Angeles with the Wolfskill party. He kept a saloon, grocery, and billiard-room here. He eventually returned East.


John Ward, who was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1765, took part in the battle of New Orleans. He went to Santa Fé in the first wagon train to that point, was in Los Angeles in 1832-'33, and then returned to Missouri. In 1843 he came back to Los Angeles in the first eastern carriage ever seen in this part of the country ; in 1846 he went to Chihuahua, whence he returned in 1849 to Los Angeles, where he died in 1859.


Joseph Paulding, a native of Maryland, en- tered California from New Mexico by way of Gila river in the winter of 1832-'33. He was a carpenter, and he made, of; mahogany wood, the first two billard-tables ever made in Califor- nia. He died in Los Angeles, June 2, 1860.


William Workman, born in England in 1800, arrived in Los Angeles with John Rowland's party in 1831. He became a partner in the banking business with F. P. F. Temple, from 1868 to 1875-'76, and when that enterprise failed in 1876 the matter so preyed upon his mind that he committed suicide on May 17, of that year.


F. P. F. Temple, a native of Massachusetts, arrived in Los Angeles by the water route in 1841, and engaged in business with his brother,


John Temple, then a leading merchant of the city. He subsequently established a stock rancho near Fort Tejon, disposing of it to be- come a banker at Los Angeles, in partnership with I. W. Hellman and William Workman. Ile died at his rancho on April 30, 1880. Ile was a man of keen integrity, high principles, and very charitable.


Ilenry Dalton, English, resided in Los All- geles prior to 1845, and was a merchant there at the time of the Ainerican occupation. He was the owner of the Aznza Rancho. He has been dead some years.


David W. Alexander, an Irishman by birth, came to Los Angeles from Mexico about 1841 or '42. He ranched at the Rincon Rancho, San Bernardino County, for a time, and then kept a store in Los Angeles. He was elected sheriff of the county on September 5, 1855, serving that term, and he again filled that office in 1876 and 1877. He is dead since some years.


Alexander Bell, born in Pennsylvania, came to Los Angeles in 1842, being forty-one years old. Two years later he married Doña Nieves Guirado. They had no children, but are said to have sustained the relation of padrinos (god-parents) to more children than any other couple in California. Until 1854, Mr. Bell was engaged in mercantile pursuits; he built the block of buildings known as Bell's block, front- ing on Los Angeles and Aliso streets, which is still standing. During the war with Mexico, he served as captain of a company. He died in Los Angeles July 24, 1871.


José Mascarel, born in France, arrived in 1844 in Los Angeles, where he has ever since resided. He has served a number of terms in the common council, and in 1865 he was elected mayor of the city. He has erected several fine blocks of buildings in the city.


Of the original command of General Kearny, Lieutenant Warner was killed by Indians in 1849, at Goose Lake, in the northern part of the State. Captain W. H. Emory is Major-General of the United States army. Lieutenant Stone- man has served one term as Governor of Cali-


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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY.


fornia, and, after having been for some time on on the retired list with the rank of Brevet Major- General, he has lately, at his own desire, re- sumed office in the army. He lives in Los Angeles.


Lieutenant J. B. Davidson is Brevet Briga- dier-General. Major Thomas Swords, Quarter- master, is retired. Captain A. J. Smith became a General, but resigned after the civil war.


Captain Turner resigned after the Mexican war. Dr. John S. Griffin resigned in 1854 and now lives in Los Angeles.


Captain Turner resigned after the Mexican war, and became a partner in the banking house of Lucas, Turner & Co., in San Francisco,-the same house with which General Sherman was connected. James R. Barton, Alexander Bell, Daniel Sexton and John Reed were of the vol- unteers with Kearny. Sexton resides in the city of San Bernardino. John Reed, First Ser- geant of Captain Hensley's company under Frémont, died July 13, 1875, aged fifty-seven years, at his farm at Puente, this county. His wife, the only daughter of John Rowland, sur- vives him. John Carl Eschrich, a native of Germany, and a member of Stevenson's regi- ment, familiarly known to the Californians as " Don Carlos," died June 10, 1874. aged fifty- two years. Don Miguel de Pedrorena died March 30, 1850, in San Diego County. Don Santiago E. Arguello died in 1859, at his Rancho La Punta, in San Diego County. Andra Wein- slank, born in Bavaria, a soldier who served out of California, was at Vera Cruz and at all the battles on Scott's line. He died in this city February 16, 1874, aged fifty-four years. Eli- jah T. Monlton, of the Fremont battalion, resides in Los Angeles. Of the privates of Company C, First Dragoons, resident in the city are: George Washington Whitehorn, born at Pennington, New York, 1821; William Burden Dunne, Cork, 1818; in the county, Michael Hal- pil, born at Limerick, 1823.


The " Veterans of the Mexican War" were organized into a society at Los Angeles, Sep- tember 27, 1873, with the officers as follows :-


President, General George H. Stoneman, born in New York; Vice-Presidents, Peter Thomp- son (since dead), New York, and W. Todd, Illinois; Secretary, J. D. Dunlap, New Hamp- shire; Treasurer, G. W. Whitehorn, New York; Marshal, Captain William Turner, Isle of Wight; Executive Committee, Fenton M. Slaughter, Virginia; Dr. William B. Dunne, Ireland; George W. Cole, Illinois; G. W. White- horn, New York; Robert T. Johnson, Tennessee. There were eighty-three members, connting from almost every State in the Union, and from many foreign countries. A large number of these are since dead.


Of the other actors not yet accounted for in the scenes on the stage of early days in Califor- nia, some are lost to sight entirely ; A. A. Boyle died February 9, 1871, aged fifty-four years; John Rowland, August 13, 1873, aged eighty- two years; Don José Sepulveda, died in Mexico, April 17, 1875, aged seventy-one years; Don Andres Pico died February 14, 1876, aged sixty-six years; his brother, Pio Pico, still lives on a rancho near Los Angeles, age ninety years (to be completed May 5, 1890); Don Mannel Requena, born in Yncatan, died in Los Angeles June 27, 1876, aged seventy-four; Isaac Will- iams, born in Pennsylvania, died September 13, 1856, at his Chino Rancho, aged fifty-seven years, having lived in California since 1832; Louis Vignsdied January 17, 1862, aged ninety- one years; Don Ygnacio Avila died September 25, 1858, at the same age; Don Julio Verdugo died recently, aged about ninety years; Don Agustin Machado died May 17, 1865, at seventy-seven years old; Don Ygnacio Palo- mares died November 25, 1864, aged fifty-three years. He was one of a company that in 1839 received a grant of the La Ballona Rancho, the others being Felipe Talamantes, Tomas Tala- mantes and Ygnacio Machado. John Goller died July 7, 1874.


The first three families who permanently set- tled in the city in 1850 were those of J. G. Nichols, J. S. Mallard and Lewis Granger.


Stephen C. Foster was born in Maine in


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HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY


1820. He arrived in Los Angeles with the Mormon battalion of Missouri Volunteers, March 16, 1847. On January 1, 1848, Colonel R. B. Mason appointed him Alcalde of the city, and in this capacity and that of interpreter he served until May 17, 1849. Mr. Foster bas been at different times Mayor, Prefect, and State Senator. He being an accomplished Spanish scholar, his services were valuable in many ways in the community when a large proportion of the people spoke only that language, and when the archives and laws were wholly re- corded in Spanish. Mr. Foster still lives, and his intimate acquaintance with public affairs and his wonderfully retentive memory make him a perfect cyclopædia of information regard- ing persons and events in the past in this sec- tion. Mr. Foster married one of the daughters of Antonio Maria Lngo.


William Wolfskill was born near Richmond, Kentucky, in 1798, of German lineage. In 1831, after many adventures during the years that he had lived in the Southwest, he arrived in Los Angeles at the head of an expedition from New Mexico. Many of his companions settled in different parts of California, married Mexican or Spanish wives, and had families. They nearly all became large landowners. Mr. Wolfskill, after some experience with a steamer which he built for the purpose of otter-hunting, directed his attention to the cultivation of citrus and other fruits. This industry with stock- raising, he followed with great success until his death, at the age of fifty-eight, in 1862. He left three living ehildren. He was a man of great enterprise and force of character.


Phineas Banning was born in Oak Hill, Dela- ware, September 19, 1831, descended from early colonial settlers who figured prominently in the Revolution. Hc came to Los Angeles in 1852, and ahnost at once, in company with George Alexander, engaged in the business of lighter- ing, staging and freighting at San Pedro and between that and other points. He founded and named Wilmington, was the chief projector and builder of the Los Angeles & Wilmington


Railway, and its sole manager until its sale to the Southern Pacific Company. To his efforts were largely dne the appropriations by Con- gress for the improvement of San Pedro harbor, the construction of its breakwater, and the dredging of its bar. In early days, when the Vigilantes and Rangers were about the only protection to life and property, General Banning was a firm friend to these bodies, and aided them in their work of ridding the country of thieves and outlaws. His military title came from his command of the First Brigade of the California State Militia, of which he was Brigadier-General. He was enterprising, en- lightened, liberal, generous and public-spirited. He died in San Francisco, March 8, 1885, sur- vived by his second wife, his two daughters and three sons.




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