USA > California > Napa County > Historical and descriptive sketch book of Napa, Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino : comprising sketches of their topography, productions, history, scenery, and peculiar attractions > Part 11
USA > California > Lake County > Historical and descriptive sketch book of Napa, Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino : comprising sketches of their topography, productions, history, scenery, and peculiar attractions > Part 11
USA > California > Sonoma County > Historical and descriptive sketch book of Napa, Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino : comprising sketches of their topography, productions, history, scenery, and peculiar attractions > Part 11
USA > California > Mendocino County > Historical and descriptive sketch book of Napa, Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino : comprising sketches of their topography, productions, history, scenery, and peculiar attractions > Part 11
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JOHNSON HORRELL.
Johnson Horrell was born July 3d, 1798, in Tuscarora Valley, Juniata county, Pennsylvania, and moved to South Bend, Indiana, in 1834. After having practiced the legal profession and holding the office of magistrate and State Attorney at that place for several
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NAPA COUNTY AS IT WAS AND IS.
years, he removed to California in 1849. He erected the first dam ever constructed across the Yuba river, and afterwards aided in laying off the city of Marysville. In 1851 he became a resident of Napa, and took a prominent position in public affairs. He was appointed Justice of the Peace in place of Sellers, who was murdered by Macauley, and afterwards held the office of Coun- ty Judge for three years. He was the owner of the first silver mine opened in Washoe, and disposed of it for a large sum, but which was a mere trifle in comparison to its value as afterwards as- . certained. Judge Horrell during the last years of his life was deep- ly engaged in mining enterprises, and passed through all the changes of good and evil fortune. He was widely known throughout the State as a hard-working and skillful lawyer. His death occurred February 28th, 1867.
CAPTAIN ROBERT WEST.
. This venerable gentleman was born in Monmouth county, New Jersey, April 14th, 1797, and was engaged in the European and coasting trade for many years. His last European voyage was made in 1847. On the 10th of June, 1849, he came out to California as Captain of the Pilgrim, with an assorted cargo belonging to G. W. Aspinwall, of New York. The Pilgrim was a canal boat of eighty tons, and had been employed on the route between New York and Wilmington, N. C., via the Dismal Swamp canal. She was of the usual scow pattern, and looked like anything rather than a sea-going vessel. She was rigged as a fore-and-aft schooner, and before start- ing was fitted out with temporary railings instead of bulwarks, and proved entirely seaworthy. On the 2d of January, 1850, she ar- rived in San Francisco, without the slightest accident or injury to vessel or cargo. In about latitude 10 N. when on the Atlantic, a large English ship passed the little Pilgrim, under a press of can- vass, and shortly after carried away her foretopsail. Capt. West came up under the lee of the ship and spoke her, inquiring if he could render any assistance. The Englishman appeared quite in- dignant at the offer, and inquired in reply, " What, in -, assistance can you give?" and when told by Capt. West that he was bound to
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San Francisco, the Englishman replied incredulously, “San Fran- h-1 !" The Pilgrim made no landing from New York to San Francisco, and arrived ahead of several vessels which sailed at the same time. Capt. West engaged in the coasting and river trade for two years after his arrival on this coast, employing three vessels, the Aspinwall, the filt, and the Pilgrim. The latter was sold to the California Steam Navigation Company, and converted into a barge, and finally laid up in 1855 at the foot of Third street, Napa City, where she remained several years. She was finally sold and broken up by Capt. Orloff Reed, and her material used in building the schooner Zina Reed, which was lost after a few voyages to the lum- ber ports on the Northern coast. Captain West became a resident of Napa on the 4th of July, 1852, and has resided here ever since. (The greater portion of his life has been spent on "the rolling deep," ane he is never perfectly at home upon land.) He possesses a large store of information, and is universally respected as an honest man and good citizen.
WILLIAM H. NASH.
This gentleman is well known all over the State as a pioneer or- chardist and farmer, and his success furnishes a marked example of what may be accomplished by untiring industry and careful experi- ment. Mr. Nash was born in Claiborne county, Tennessee, on the Clinch river, thirteen miles from Cumberland Gap, on the 11th of October, 1821. He removed to Jackson county, Missouri, in 1838. In 1846 he emigrated to California with a company having sixty- three wagons. A portion of this company was destined for Oregon, and a portion for California. They separated at Fort Bridger, twen- ty-five wagons proceeding by Hastings & Hudspeth's cut-off South of Salt Lake, and others by way of Fort Hall to California. Of the original party the following persons remained together all the way to Napa Valley. Wm. H. Nash, his wife and two children, Enoch Cyrus, Henry Owsley, Zimri Hollingsworth, - Matthews, father and son, W. Ashley, Wm. Piles and his son, John Lard, - White- man, and some others. Other companies from Westport and In-
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dependence were on the road at the same time, the largest of which was headed by Governor L. W. Boggs.
At the head of the Sweetwater, near the South Pass, the party with which Mr. Nash travelled, met Mr. James Hudspeth and L. W. Hastings, who persuaded them to take the cut-off, which affor- ded more plentiful grass and water, and would save 500 miles of travel and bring the party to California three weeks sooner than the old route. Fremont had previously discovered the South Pass, but the route had been first passed over with wagons by Messrs. Hud- speth and Hastings, after whom it was named. Mr. Hastings was a gentleman of great abilities, and had in 1842 travelled extensively in California, and on his return to Cincinnati published a pamphlet setting forth in glowing terms the beauties and attractions of this al- most unknown region. It was the reading of this work in 1845 that induced Mr. Nash, in spite of all remonstrances, to venture on the tedious and perilous trip to California. One strong inducement was the offer of grants of land by the Mexican Government. Mr. Nash, found, as he says, that Mr. Hastings' pamphlet was literally true in every particular, although he was prevented by the conquest of the country from obtaining a grant.
Messrs. Hudspeth and Hastings informed the party that a revolu- tion was going on in California, and hostilities initiated between the Mexican and American population, and therefore urged them to hasten their speed in order to aid their countrymen.
Fremont, who had an exploring party of 130 men at Sutter's fort, excited the jealousy and fear of the Mexicans, although he com- mitted no acts of hostility, and did not even know that war existed with Mexico. The first news he received to this effect was from Lieutenant Gillespie, who had been sent out by the Government via Mexico, as a secret agent to confer with him. Gillespie went first to Sutter's fort in quest of Fremont, when he heard that the latter had gone with his party to Oregon. He overtook Fremont at Rogue River, and informed him of the existence of war with Mexico. The party then returned immediately to Sutter's fort. During the absence of Fremont's party, the Mexicans had manifested a hostile disposition, and murdered two young men, about three miles from
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Santa Rosa, while on their way to Fort Ross. This was the imme- diate occasion of the formation of the "Bear Flag " party. The Americans were enraged, and hastily collected at Sonoma, declared their independency and resolved to conquer or die. They were but a handful of men, surrounded by enemies, and dispatched Harrison Pierce, one of their number, to ask assistance from Fremont. Pierce rode fifty-five hours on this expedition without stopping, ex- cept once at Wolfskill's to change horses. He delivered his dis- patch and received Fremont's promise to come on immediately, when with a fresh horse he returned to Sonoma. During his ab- sence the Americans had had their first fight with the Mexicans near San Rafael, killed eight of them, and taken a large number of prisoners, whom they confined in Gen. Vallejo's house at Sonoma. Jacob P. Leese, an American by birth, but long a resident of the country, was taken prisoner also, much to his great surprise and in- dignation. Fremont's party formed a hollow square about the build- ing and sent in an interpreter to say that the Americans had been civil and harmed nobody, but had been abused and imposed upon ; that their only chance left was to leave the country or fight, and that they had chosen the latter alternative. The prisoners assured them that they would all take sides with the Americans against the Mexi- can Government, and did so. Fremont then moved Southward, arrested the Governor, Pio Pico, in his bed, and sentenced him to be shot, but spared him at the intercession of his family. Pico then solemnly promised to co-operate with the Americans, and did so, going from Mission to Mission to warn the people of the folly of re- sistance, and exhorting them to submit to the new order of things.
Having inserted this episode as being of interest in itself and as illustrating the condition of the country at the time of Mr. Nash's arrival, we now return to his personal memories. Mr. Nash pur- chased 338 acres of land on the Bale Ranch from R. L. Kilburn in 1847 at $2 per acre, naming the place "Walnut Grove." In 1872, 288 acres of this land was sold for $25,000. The discovery of gold, and a mining expedition of a few months to Mormon Island and the North fork of the American River, kept Mr. Nash from settling upon his land until November 26th, 1848, when he camped
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upon it with his family, and erected a shanty of slabs from Kilburn & Bale's mill. For three weeks all the cooking was done under a tree. The place was as wild and uncultivated as nature made it, and he had few neighbors within a distance of several miles.
Mr. Nash commenced his first orchard in January, 1849, by set- ting out thirty-six 2-year-old seedlings, which had been brought out by Mr. Barnett from Kentucky. They cost $1 each, and there was no way of obtaining any others. In the Fall of 1849, in connec- tion with R. L. Kilburn, a lot of small trees were ordered from a nursery in Pennsylvania, around the Horn. They were packed in moss and boxed, arriving the Spring following. The cost was $1 each. In the Fall of 1850 a further supply was obtained from Quin- cy, Massachusetts, via the Isthmus, and from Portland, Oregon, at the same price.
The only plow in use when Mr. Nash commenced his experi- ments in agriculture was a forked stick shod with iron, such as is still used by the peons of Mexico, and which is in no respect better than that used by the inhabitants of Judea 2,000 years ago. He was among the first to inaugurate a new and better system of agriculture in California.
He then supposed, as did everybody else, that nothing would grow without irrigation, and accordingly expended some $2,000 in bringing water out of the mountains for his garden and nursery. He continued the irrigation process for eight years, and then abandoned it. We saw his place in 1854, when his conductors and reservoir were still in use. He had no reason to complain of want of suc- cess either, having in 1850 sold the peaches upon two three-year-old trees for $300. They were purchased by Mr. Giorgiani, of San Francisco, who retailed them at one dollar each. In 1852 he was led by the example of Simpson Thompson, Esq., of Soscol, to sub- stitute deep and repeated plowing for irrigation, and did so with the best results. He plowed his ground three times-the last time as late as the 20th of June. He put out thirty acres more of vines and trees, and found that under the new treatment they made twice the growth that had been attained by those which had been irriga- ted, and indeed, to this day, the unirrigated portions of his old or-
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chard and vineyard have kept up their superiority. The irrigated trees received a sudden check when the water was stopped, from which they have never recovered. The reason is that irrigation causes the trees to throw out lateral roots near the surface, where the ground is naturally dry, whereas in well pulverized ground, without irrigation, the roots tend downward in search of the natural moisture of the soil.
In 1868 Mr. Nash sold his land and purchased the magnificent Magnolia Farm, upon which he now resides, about five miles and a half from Napa City. When he took possession it was a mere wheat field, but it is now the model farm of Napa County. It is beautiful- ly located, and under as thorough cultivation as a garden. No irri- gation is used upon the place, nor is it needed where the soil is kept thoroughly pulverized. Mr. Nash has devoted his best energies for the past twenty-six years to the business of fruit raising and general farming, and has experimented extensively, in order to secure the varieties of fruits best adapted to our soil and climate, as well as to ascertain the best plans of cultivation. His success has been great, and he has now a high reputation among the orchardists and farmers of California.
MAJOR WILLIAM GOUVERNEUR MORRIS.
The subject of the following sketch is a much respected resident of Napa County. Major Morris is the son of Brevet Major Gen- eral William W. Morris, U. S. Army, who graduated at West Point in 1820, and faithfully served his country for nearly half a century, he having been engaged in the Yellowstone Expedition, the Black Hawk, Creek, Cherokee, Seminole, and other Indian wars, in the Mexican war and in the defense of the Union during the Rebellion. In the latter war he commanded the Middle Department and Eighth Army Corps. During his long and varied services General Morris received three brevets for gallantry in the field, the first being that of Major during the war in Florida.
Major Morris is a scion of an illustrious stock. His great-grand- father was Lewis Morris, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, whose half-brother, Gouverneur Morris, occupies a
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prominent place in the early history of our country, he having been a distinguished military officer during the Revolution, and when our national independence was won, he held several important civil offices in New York, his native State, and under the Federal Gov- ernment. He was elected United States Senator, and was appoint- ed Minister to France by President Jefferson.
Morrisiana, in Westchester county, New York, the ancestral home of the Morris family, is one of the most ancient homesteads in the country, having been granted to Richard Morris by the King of England in 1670, more than two centuries ago. The family is of Welsh origin. Several members of it were distinguished as val- iant leaders under the famous Oliver Cromwell, during the Com- monwealth in England. Its members have ever been staunch Protestants. Lewis Morris, already referred to, while Colonial Gov- ernor of New Jersey, named a county in that State Monmouth, in commemoration of the family estate in Monmouthshire, Wales.
For nearly two centuries the family has had its representatives in the service of the State of New York, in the army and navy of the United States, and among the ministers of the Episcopal Church. Its members are allied by marriage to most of the distinguished old families of New York, including the Knickerbockers, the Van Rens- selaers, Schuylers, Jays, Livingstons, Van Cortlandts, Hoffmans, Vanderhorsts, Lorillards, Stuyvesants, Rutherfords, and others. Major Morris is on his mother's side nephew of the late Captain A. A. Ritchie, one of the early settlers in Napa county, who was the owner of Calistoga, Guenoc, and Loconoma grants. His maternal grandfather was a distinguished surgeon in the army during the Rev- olution. The subject of our sketch is also related to Dr. Hugh Williamson, who was Governor of North Carolina during the Revo- lution, and to Dr. Archibald Alexander, the distinguished Divine, so long President of Princeton College. Major Morris was born at Brooklyn, New York, in 1832, and has received a liberal collegiate education. After leaving college he studied law at Key West, Florida, with Hon. William Marvin, Judge of the United States Dis- trict Court, one of the ablest Admiralty lawyers in the nation. During his residence at Key West, Major Morris was elected Clerk
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of the Council, and was appointed Inspector of Customs. In 1855 he obtained the degree of L. L. B. at the Dane Law School, How- ard University, and soon after came to California and entered the law office of the celebrated Joseph G. Baldwin, subsequently one of the Supreme Court Justices. In 1856 he was appointed Reporter of the Supreme Court of California, and while filling that position published the " Fifth Volume of California Reports." In 1857 he settled at Visalia, Tulare county, and engaged in the practice of his profession. While here he was appointed Notary Public and State Locating Agent of School Lands. In 1861, during the disturbances among the settlers on the Chabollo grant, in Santa Clara county, when a large body of these settlers were in open, armed resistence to the authorities of the county, Governor Downey selected Major Morris to prevent a rupture of the peace, a mission which he car-
ried to a successful issue. Major Morris has never received the credit he fairly deserved for his management of this delicate ·busi-
ness. Had open hostilities broken out between the settlers and the authorities, civil war, which then just commenced at the Soutlı. would have been inaugurated in this State. The Major had sever- al conferences with General Sumner, who then commanded the United States forces on the Pacific Coast, and by his tact and skill, the threatened hostilities were averted, and the whole matter was re- ferred to the Legislature, which body subsequently disposed of it to the satisfaction of the parties directly interested.
In September, 1861, Mr. Morris was appointed Ist Lieutenant and Adjutant of the Second Regiment of California Cavalry, com- manded by Col. A. J. Smith, of distinguished fame as a cavalry of- ficer, now Postmaster at St. Louis, Mo. In the following March he was promoted to the rank of Captain and appointed by President Lincoln Assistant Quartermaster of Volunteers, a position he held with credit to himself and advantage to the country till mustered out of service at the close of the war in the Spring of 1866. While serving as Lieutenant in the Second Regiment California Cavalry, Mr. Morris performed the arduous and responsible duties of Super- intendent of Videttes, and transported the dispatches between the California Column sent to Texas and the head-quarters of the De-
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partment of the Pacific, duties which required himself and his com- mand to be almost constantly in the saddle, and exposed them to the perils of the desert, the Indian, and the rebels on the frontiers of civilization. His duties as Supervisor of Videttes kept him near- ly three years travelling between Southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico, the most unpleasant field of duty on the Pacific Coast. On his promotion to Captain and Assistant Quarter-master, his du- ties became more responsible, and were performed with the same zeal that distinguished him in the field. He constructed Drum Bar- racks, and the immense military depot at Wilmington, Los Angeles county, and the military quarters on Catalina Island. For these and other important services, at the close of the war, he was promoted to the rank of Major by brevet for "faithful services." While sta- tioned at Benicia, as Commander of the depot at that place, Major Morris, attracted by the beauty and fertility of the climate and soil of Napa county, determined to settle in this county. With this ob- ject in view he purchased a portion of the splendid estate on which he now resides, and which in a few years, when his contemplated improvements shall be completed, will form one of the most pleas- ant of the private homes in the State.
In August, 1869, Major Morris was appointed United States Marshal for the District of California, a position which he at present fills to the entire satistaction of the Federal authorities and all who have business with that important office. An examination of the books of the United States Marshal's office, arranged by Major Morris himself, will show at a glance, that as an accountant and statistician, the Major is quite as zealous and efficient as he has proved himself to have been on the field or in the quarter-master's department of the military service.
He is one of the authors of the prize essay on the " Manufac- turing Interests of California," a work replete with valuable infor- mation relating to a most important subject. The Mechanic's In- stitute of San Francisco awarded a premium of $400 for this useful essay. In 1870 he had charge of the United States census, in tak- ing which he made such arrangements to secure accuracy, and per- formed the duty so effectually as to have won the special commen-
Yours Truly Con Gouverneur Moris u .s. manhal
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dation of the Superintendent of the Census. Major Morris is a member of many civic and military societies, in all of which he is an active and zealous worker. He is a prominent officer of the military order of the Loyal Legion ; he is a mem- ber of the Society of the Cincinnati, the most distinguished society in the United States, which was founded by Lafayette, and is hereditary. Major Morris inherited the position from his grand- father, who was an officer of artillery during the Revolution.
The Major, although taking a deep and active interest in the political and local affairs of Napa county, and enjoying the respect and confidence of its citizens, has never sought any public position at their hands.
The Major's beautiful farm, which he has called " Morrisiana of the Pacific," in commemoration of the family seat in Westchester county, New York, is a portion of the celebrated Soscol Rancho. It contains about nine hundred acres of as fine land as there is in the State, thoroughly cultivated and well stocked, and is supervised by the Major himself, who manages to find time to attend to the oner- ous and responsible duties of United States Marshal, to take an ac- tive interest in the political and local affairs of the county, and to superintend his extensive farm, which includes one of the largest and most valuable fruit orchards in the State, which contains many hundreds of choice apple, pear, peach, apricot, cherry, and other fruit trees.
Major Morris is a bachelor ; he is a gentleman of pleasing ad- dress, of splendid physique, a most reliable friend and a relentless enemy ; liberal and benevolent to a degree bordering on extrava- gance, he is most rigid in exacting his rights in all matters of busi- ness. In politics he is an ultra-Republican, occupies a leading po- sition in that party, is always a member of its most important com- mittees and conventions, and is a good representative member of that party.
Napa county has reason to be proud of such citizens as the subject of our brief sketch, and such men are invaluable in emergencies. Their experience, skill and energies are always available for the pub- lic service when required. The greatest defect in the Major's charac- ter is his persistent celibacy, a defect we hope to see removed some of these days.
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NAPA COUNTY AS IT WAS AND IS.
JOHN LAWLEY.
Mr. John Lawley came to this country from Alabama, his native State, in 1853, via New Orleans. He engaged in the warehousing business in Napa City, and did a successful business for several years. In 1867 he purchased an interest of three-fourths in the Phœnix Mine, a considerable portion of which he still holds. After his purchase the mine remained undeveloped for two or three years, when he disposed of a portion of his stock and active operations were commenced. In the Spring of 1866, he in connection with Wm. H. Hamilton and James W. Bostwick, purchased Berryessa Valley for the sum of $100,000, which has been since sold out in farms, and now is the greatest wheat raising region in the county. He has held several public positions with credit, and is well and favorably known in this part of the State.
COL. JAMES CLYMAN.
Col. James Clyman is another of the early pioneers of this coun- ty. He was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, A. D. 1793. His father moved to State county, Ohio, in 1812, about the time of the battle of Tippecanoe. Having learned the profession of a surveyor, young Clyman was engaged for a while in surveying Govern- ment lands in Indiana, under Major Morris, who had a contract for the work. In 1823, when this was completed, he enlisted in Lt. Governor Wm. H. Ashley's expedition against the Indians up the Missouri, during which he experienced terrible hardships, and was engaged in fierce battles with the Rickarees and other Indian tribes, the marks of which he bears to this day. He returned to the States and remained in Missouri and Wisconsin for seventeen years. He returned just in season to bear a part in the Black Hawk wars, and was out in the whole of it, serving in the same company with Abraham Lincoln.
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