USA > California > California gold book : first nugget, its discovery and discoverers, and some of the results proceeding therefrom > Part 24
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Before our Revolutionary war so many of the sturdy and honest natives of northern Ireland left for the American Colonics as greatly to disturb thoughtful English statesmen. Indeed, there has been no time since when comparatively as great a number have come to this country, and they exercised a most powerful influence upon the laws and genius of the government formed soon thereafter. James G. Fair was born in the north of Ireland near the close of 1831, and could trace his lineage to some of the noted families of both Ireland and Scotland. He is therefore strictly Scotch. Irish. He had few educational advantages before his parents brought him to the United States, and gave him the benefit of the public school at Geneva, Ill.
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Later, he took a thorough course in one of the business colleges at Chicago. When only sixteen years old he was depending absolutely on his own resources, and was backed by no interest but his native worth and a firm determination to succeed.
In 1849, when less than eighteen years of age, he was placer mining on the Feather river, having crossed the plains the spring of that year. It must be remem- bered that the cream of the " golden placers " had been fairly well recovered at an early date after the dis- covery, and that after the end of 1850-51 success with pan, rocker or long-Tom was more a matter of luck than science. Nearly all the rich diggings had been depleted of metal, and even that early very many of the Argonauts-those who had been very successful or utterly disappointed-had returned home or gone where new diggings were reported. A change was taking place in the methods of obtaining gold. Atten- tion was turned to quartz mining, and to the hidden treasures in the deep beds of ancient rivers. Very little capital was needed to work a rich placer success- fully. It required a great deal of coin to successfully handle a quartz mine, or recover the buried riches from the cemented gravels in the lost rivers. It also required an amount of practical and scientific knowl- edge possessed by none of those who first came to Cali- fornia, and was slowly acquired in the rough school of experience by a very few. Mr Fair absorbed the very knowledge required with such rapidity as to make it seem that he became an expert by intuition. His first experience in quartz mining was obtained in his own mine in Calaveras county, and from the begin- ning he was accorded first place as a safe and reliable
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authority. The only mistake made in regard to him was in the assumption that he derived any knowledge intuitively. Every scrap of useful information was obtained by work-by careful and laborious study by day, and continued long after others slept. His wonderful memory was his main helper, and a fact once discovered remained on call to be used instantly whenever and wherever needed.
During this period of invaluable schooling, Mr. Fair was accumulating capital, without which acquirements, however superior, generally prove barren of results. It was not long before his intelligent services were in demand in Nevada, where a large amount of gold and silver had been recovered from the gravel and quartz. He took charge there with well-defined opinions, to prove the correctness of which would entail the expen- diture of large sums of money. If he had not been well supplied with means of his own, it is not doubtful that his belief in the value of deep mining would have remained an undeveloped theory. Fortunately he could back his opinions with coin from his own pocket, and others were more willing to follow the lead of a man so situated than they would have been to spend their own money on the suspicion that their superintendent might possibly be correct. Mr. Fair had his way, and the very bowels of the " everlasting hills" were invaded,resulting in the addition of several hundred millions of the precious metals to the wealth of the world, none of which would have been recovered in our day but for the knowledge and courage of James G. Fair. The mines in the Comstock district have pro- duced four hundred million dollars worth of metal, nearly one-half of which, or 46.83 per cent., has been
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gold. Thus it will be seen that Nevada is not an exclusively "Silver State."
The State of Nevada did itself credit in selecting James G. Fair to represent the important interests of the entire Pacific coast, and that young and vigorous State more especially, in the Senate of the United States. Notwithstanding the immensity of his interests, and the constant care with which he had nur- tured them, Senator Fair took high rank as a careful statesman, highly popular with the best and ablest men in the Senate, and for six years filled the position most creditably. That he is not still a member of the august body is no fault of the people of Nevada. It is simply because he could not properly perform the duties of the high office without utterly sacrificing interests immensely important to every section of the Pacific coast, and indirectly to the whole country.
Among the vast enterprises which owe their inception and prosperous condition to Senator Fair the Nevada Bank deserves notice. The standing of this great financial institution is first-class among moneyed men the world over. Some time after the bank had become a power in financial centers, Mr. Fair withdrew from its active management. Later it became involved because of speculations foreign to the intentions of its originators, and its doors were temporarily closed with liabilities of about $14,000,000, and assets which might be made available after a time to the extent of possibly one-half that sum. The permanent failure of the bank meant utter ruin to many innocent depositors, and an almost certain panic which would spread disaster to every business enterprise on the coast. The unfortunate condition of the Nevada bank was due to no act of
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omission or commission of Senator Fair. Yet he threw himself and his immense wealth into the breach, and for nineteen months lived almost continuously inside the bank walls. As soon as it became known that his master hand was at the helm unquestioned confidence was restored, and his financial skill and resources soon had the Nevada bank in as proud a position as it had ever occupied.
Another important work of Senator Fair was the construction of the South Pacific Railroad, running from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. It proved of great benefit to the ranchers along the route, and was, in effect, a competitor of the Southern Pacific Company for a very important trade. That corporation finally purchased the productive line for $7,000,000, which gave the Senator a good profit.
We might continue for pages to name important industrial enterprises which Senator Fair is assisting with his millions. It is very much to the credit of his ability that his investments are made with such rare care that he seldom has to enter any sum to " profit and loss." A failing venture would do injury to the coast in a degree, but a brilliant success induces other capitalists to have courage to do likewise. Senator Fair has no idle capital. His great investments in real estate are to the end that the land may be improved, giving employment to thousands. So many who became wealthy here have seen fit to go east or to Europe to spend their money, that the course of Senator Fair becames doubly patriotic and commend- able. On the Pacific coast he accumulated his millions, and among this people he is investing it, and thus adding to the prosperity of all. No wonder that he is popular.
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The visitor to the Pacific coast is not slow in recogniz- ing the fact that a large proportion of those who have become prominent, either for wealth, enterprise or philanthropy, are of Irish, Scotch or Scotch-Irish origin. They find the finest buildings in the city bear- ing names which carry an odor of the shamrock and thistle-the "Murphy," "Flood," " Donahue," "Phelan " and many others. Among the great capitalists they hear of Fair, Phelan, Montgomery, McDonald, O'Brien, Mackey and a hundred others whose names have a distinct perfume from the downs or braes or a combination of both. But, as a fact, this state of things is not peculiar to California and the Pacific coast. Since long before Patrick Henry threw down the gage to wrong, every grand and noble pro- position has been suggested or warmly supported by the Scotch-Irish. In law, theology, education, science, medicine, the legislature and philanthropy, the men of Scotch-Irish blood have been first. Nothing in our national history would be of much worth if shorn of the achievements of those of Irish and Scotch origin. Grandly stand ont the names of Jackson, Grant, Lee, Logan, Forest, McPherson, Johnson and Sheridan, overtopping all otbers in history by a full head. And we detract nothing from their brilliancy by naming Senator Fair as an honorable and successful exemplar of their grandest characteristics. He has been a persistent worker all his life, and will continue thus to the end. Notwithstanding the fact that no man in his employ is expected to devote as many hours to his service as he gives, his appearance now proves two things: Constant employment need not age one and temperate habits increase the ability to toil.
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Within a short time Senator Fair has been greatly bereaved. Scarcely had the large numbers who were pensioners on the generous bounty of Mrs. Fair ceased to mourn her decease, when James G. Fair, Jr., just come to vigorous manhood, was taken from a life of hope and usefulness. The loss was a heavy affliction to Senator Fair, and grievously disarranged plans which Nevada friends had formed for obtaining the intellectual help of young Fair whenever he chose to accept a seat in Congress. One son, Charles L. Fair, and two daughters are left, the oldest of whom is happily married to Herman Oelrichs, of New York.
It would be impossible to give any correct estimate of the charities dispensed by Senator Fair. We doubt whether he has any idea of the amount he gives away to those he deems deserving. One of the severest penalties attaching to the known possessors of great wealth is the certainty that they will be deluged with begging letters, and soiled hands will be thrust in their way at every turn by persons too lazy to work and none too proud to beg. Senator Fair has had his share of these afflictions ; but we know of many cases where the weak have been piloted over rough places by his beneficence, and no record has been kept by him, either of the opportune gift, or the kindly manner in which it was tendered. We have no doubt, how. ever, that Senator Fair will eventually find that all this multitude of kindnesses, though altogether forgotten by him, has been registered by the painstaking hand of God in characters of eternal beauty. And in the present, nothing can be more gratifying to Senator Fair than the respectful and affectionate manner in which he is mentioned by all classes and all ages. On
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the Pacific coast every old citizen is proud to meet " Uncle Jimmie Fair."
ON. GUILFORD WILEY WELLS .- In giving a brief sketch of the senior member of the eminent law firm of Wells, Monroe & Lee, of Los Angeles, the California Gold Book departs somewhat from its policy ; but its readers will recognize the appropriateness of that departure, as the object is to present a fair record of the facts which illustrate the great progress taking place in California and the instrumentalities in use.
G. Wiley Wells was born February 18th, 1844, and numbers among his ancestors the most prominent people in Central New York, where culture and refine- ment has been in its zenith for more than half a century, and where some of the greatest men America has produced first saw the light, and received their training.
When the War of the Rebellion was precipitated upon the country, young Wells was in college, and nearing the time of his graduation. The call to the rescue of the Nation found him ready, and in May, 1861, he was at the front and in the thickest of the contest. His ability and gallantry took him from the ranks in a very short time, and he became one of Gen. Phil. Sheridan's most trusted officers. Twice he was wounded, the last time so severely as to permanently disable him, and twice he was breveted for gallantry on the field of battle, and the last time promoted to the rank of colonel. This last wound was so near the close of active operations that the war was at an end by the time his wounds had begun to heal.
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As soon as able to pursue his studies, Colonel Wells entered the law department of Columbia University, Washington City, graduating from thence with high honors. From there he removed to Mississippi, settling at Holly Springs. In 1870 he was appointed district attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, by President Grant, who never made a mistake where he personally selected an official. Colonel Wells occupied this position when the Kuklux Klan came into being, and had to prosecute a great many of these desperate men under the Kuklux act of Congress. He drew the first indictment framed under that law which held, and which received the endorsement of United States courts in the South, and was pronounced sound by the Supreme Court of the United States, on appeals of cases which were carried to that tribunal of last resort.
During the years in which Colonel Wells was the prose- cuting officer of the Government he obtained about 2,200 convictions, and had arrayed against him the most powerful and influential bar in the United States, of which the late Justice Lamar was a member.
In 1876, Colonel Wells was sent to Congress from the Second District of Mississippi. The impartiality and justice of his official course in Mississippi was thereby endorsed in a most remarkable manner, he receiving the votes of nine out of ten of the men he had prose- cuted, and their influential relations and friends, and that, too, without retracting a single sentiment promul- gated by him as an active and aggressive member of the republican party.
In 1877 Colonel Wells was appointed consul general to China. There it became his duty to investigate the official conduct of his predecessor. His findings in the
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case created an antagonism from a powerful coterie at the Capitol, and facts and testimony in the case were suppressed. On learning this Colonel Wells telegraphed his peremptory resignation on January 10, 1878, and as soon thereafter as the affairs of the important position could be transferred to a responsible representative of the State Department, Colonel Wells returned to the United States, taking up his residence at Los Angeles. Later Congress investigated this whole question, and gave its emphatic endorsement to the acts of Colonel Wells, and its signal approval to all he had done.
Colonel Wells has been a part of the grand progress of Los Angeles and southern California, and an important factor in producing it. Almost the entire material growth of Los Angeles and the surrounding country has taken place since his residence there. His individ- uality is great, and his wonderful influence is stamped upon any community with which his lot is cast. His reputation as a Christian statesman and an able lawyer is as wide as the country, and those who know him recognize the claims of a country in which he would be willing to live as necessarily superior, and they are immediately attracted to its investigation. Many of the best citizens of Los Angeles were first induced to visit that place because Colonel Wells had chosen it for his home. He is prominent in every enterprise having for its object the improvement of the community. Great- hearted and generous, and wonderfully equipped in the principles of his profession, his law firm has enjoyed the cream of the practice in California, and frequently has cases which he has to prosecute before the Supreme Courts of the State and of the United States. Being in the prime of his manhood, Colonel Wells will remain a
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power for good for many years to come, and a per- manent benefit to the great State of California.
ON. A. T. HATCH .- For the purposes of the California Gold Book it is not necessary to trace the life story of this great horticulturist back of the year 1871, when he came to realize something of the great profit there was in fruit-growing, from sel !- ing the pears from three trees for more than he could have obtained from three acres planted to wheat or barley-that is, the net profit was greater. Since his birth at Elkhart, Indiana, in 1837, the career of the boy had indicated what the man would be, and what he developed to be during his labors in the mines. Thc results of the latter had enabled him to purchase a wheat ranch in the Suisun valley, Solano county. On it were three pear trees, planted by some former resi- dent. These produced bountifully every year, and during the first season Mr. Hatch obtained possession the sales from them changed the plans of this indus- trious and energetic men, and added millions to the productive capacity of the State of California, and the northern portion more especially.
Right then Mr. Hatch determined to risk his for- tunes on the cultivation of fruit. If he had been a millionaire every dollar of his capital would have been planted beneath the roots of young trees from the nursery. As it was, he planted all he possibly could, only to be laughed at by his wheat-growing neighbors. It was not until 1875 that he had planted all of the 120 acres adapted to fruit in his original purchase. Then he began to study the habits of trees, and the
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character and constituents of soils. He was after information, and was specially proud to come in posses- sion of a new fact, regardless of the source, or the seeming insignificance of what he was learning. His anxiety to know what experience had taught others resulted in the organization of the State Horticultural Society in 1879, and of that he has been the most active member, and vice-president continuously.
About this time the trees first planted by him began to produce. His inspirations were verified, and he commenced reaching out for other fields to conquer. In 1882 he bought the Ellsworth ranch, containing 217 acres. Three years later he was in possession of the Turner place of 237 acres, and the Switzer tract of 80 acres, and the next year he had added the Peabody farm of 127 acres. These gave him an immense place, and all in one body. That is his home orchard, and is the finest and most productive piece of property in the State. It is not all in fruit. In 1872 he had planted 300 Languedoc almond trees as an experiment. When four years old they gave a net return of $187 per acre. That was satisfactory. From thence he began to plan for new varieties, and has originated the " IAL," " Ne Plus Ultra," " Nonpareil," " El Supremo,' and many others (192 varieties in 1886) ; but those named are of such extraordinary excellence that Mr. Hatch had planted 203 acres more to these varieties before 1888. He is now the recognized authority on almonds-the soil adapted to their most vigorous growth, the kinds to plant, the distance apart, and all other facts which will enhance results.
Mr. Hatch has made use of the information he gained in regard to soils, and their effect upon the size
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and flavor of different kinds of fruits, nuts and vines. He has lands in Alameda, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Placer, Butte, and other counties, and is able to prove his theories by the finest samples of products from each locality. He has been a real pioneer missionary in many of the neighborhoods he has invaded ; but their residents were speedily converted, for by the adoption of his ideas they see immense profits coming their way, and at the same time the ratio of hard work becoming very much smaller. He has been an educator whose lessons have made life easier to the ranchers, and at the same time doubled up the productive value of the ranches many times over.
In addition to building up his own property, Mr. Hatch always finds time for important public services. He first suggested in the State Horticultural Society the discussion which resulted in the organization of the California Fruit Union, which he served two years as president, declining re-election in 1888. His faith in California as a field for enterprise and the need of drawing hither a larger population to furnish the workers now imperatively demanded by our fruit growers, induced Mr. Hatch to take a leading part in the organization of the State Board of Trade in 1887, of which he accepted the presidency. Its objects is to make California better known, and thus to attract desir able immigration. He is California's Commissioner of Horticulture to the World's Fair, and has been inde- fatigable in his efforts to make the fruit display credit_ able to the State.
If ever any public-spirited citizen found his wife a " helpmeet " from God, Mr. Hatch made that acquisi. tion in the woman he married east in 1860. She has
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been the intimate sharer of every vicissitude in his career up to this time, and can claim a right to enjoy an interest in the princely income of more than $100,000 a year from the home place, and all that comes from the other ventures where she has heartily approved the risks taken. All the honor which should attach to the expensive efforts of Mr. Hatch to intro- duce California fruits into England must be divided with her, for in support of every enterprise undertaken by him she has accorded an earnest " Amen."
LAUS SPRECKELS .- Among the great man- ufacturing and commercial firms, which are representative of the wealth, enterprise and business integrity of San Francisco merchants, the house founded by Claus Spreckels admittedly stands fore- most. The history of sugar refining on the Pacific coast is practically a record of the genius and achieve- ments of this remarkable man; while the house flag of the great shipping and commission firm of J. D. Spreckels & Bros., now an incorporated company, is known and respected in the principal ports of the world.
Clans Spreckels was born at Lamstedt, Hanover, in 1828. At the early age of eighteen he emigrated to America, locating at Charleston, South Carolina, where he became identified with the grocery trade. Before he had attained his majority he was conducting a general grocery business on his own account. He married early in life and his oldest son, John D. Spreckels, the -well-known merchant, was born at Charleston. Although successful in trade at Charles-
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ton, the field of enterprise was too narrow for his ambition, and in 1855 he sold out his business and estab- lished himself in the same line at New York, where he prospered. But fortunately for San Francisco, Claus Spreckels' thoughts were soon turned in this direction, through the statement of his brother, who was in business here. He determined to go to the Pacific coast, promptly sold out his New York estab- lishment, and started for the Golden Gate, where he arrived in July, 1856, by the steamer "John L. Ste- vens," from Panama. Here Claus Spreckels' life work practically began ; and here, despite a few years of signal achievement in Philadelphia, Pa., it will prob- ably end.
In 1856 Claus Spreckels is found conducting a gro- cery business in San Francisco ; but this was too slow for his restless energy and ambition, and in 1857 he established the Albany brewery, managing both with his proverbial success. The brewing business, how- ever, expanded so rapidly that he was ultimately forced to devote his entire attention to it, and he thereupon sold out his store and withdrew finally from the gro- cery trade. He introduced many improvements in the process of brewing, and had the satisfaction of making money in a business where others had failed. But he saw that there were larger opportunities in another field of manufacture, and in 1863 he sold out his interest in the Albany brewery to go into the sugar refining business.
This was a bold venture on the part of the young merchant, because the field was then fully occupied by men possessing large capital and resources; but he had unbounded confidence in his own ability to overcome
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all obstacles, and as he had developed very considerable inventive skill in his brewing enterprise, he knew that he could so simplify the process of sugar refining as to more than offset the advantages of his established rivals. He found others also who had equal faith in him, and in 1863, Claus Spreckels established the Bay Sugar Refinery at the corner of Battery and Union streets, San Francisco, and he became president and manager of the company.
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