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 24
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 24
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 24
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 24
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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WILLIAM 11000.
The subject of this sketch was born September 9th, 1818, in St. Andrews, county of Fife, Scotland. Here he learned his trade of carpenter, cabinet maker, and ship joiner under his father. At the age of 19 he left his father and went to Dundee, where he worked at his trade for three years. Afterwards he went .to London, where he followed his business for a short time. Thence he sailed to Fort Nicolson, New Zealand, where he remained about three years. but work becoming scarce and the great fire at Valparaiso having just occurred, he sailed for that place, remaining there till 1845. when he left for the purpose of coming to California, but first going to Peru to buy a vessel there in which to make the voyage. On the road between Callao and Lima he was robbed by banditti. which deprived him of the means of purchasing a vessel. After re- maining two months in Peru he took passage with Captain Juan Cooper in the bark Hover Gipasquanna and landed in Monterey eight days after the American flag was raised there. He started from there overland to San Francisco with Dr. McGee, arriving in May, 1846. Here he found the Mormons, Samuel Brannan among the number, all encamped between Jackson and Clay Streets, they having landed in San Francisco the same time as he landed in Monterey. He fol- lowed his trade in San Francisco for some time, building several launches and scows. When the mining excitement broke out in 1848, Mr. Hood had the American bark Annila under repairs, and
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he had to raise his men's wages to $10 per day in order to keep them at work. In the Fall of 1849 he bought, in company with Wm. Pettit, Los Guilicos Rancho, and has made it his permanent home since, buying Mr. Pettit's interest therein shortly after they bought it. In 1861, after the Frazer River excitement broke out, he took two ship loads of horses, mules, cattle and sheep from his ranch to Victoria with the intention of disposing of them in the mines. This enterprise failing he took a contract from the British Government to build about forty miles of road between Lytton and the Junction. In this enterprise he used his stock to some purpose.
Having finished this contract, he put his force of men and ani- mals on the Bentick Arm road, which he brought into such condi- tion as to admit of its use by pack trains, the first of which, his own, he drove through himself. At this time the Indians became troublesome and put an end to his operations by murdering his dri- . vers and stealing his animals, so that he was glad to return to So- noma, where, having had enough of adventures in other countries, he is content to rest and enjoy the beautiful home his individual ex- ertions have made for him on Los Guilicos Rancho, where he has 160 acres of grape vines and cellar room for 200,000 gallons of wine.
JAMES A. SHAW.
Born in Hobart Town, Australia, in 1837. He spent his early years in that country. In 1842 he removed with his family to Val- paraiso. Thence, in 1846, in company with William Hood, he went to Peru, and came to California. In 1850 Mr. Shaw came to Sonoma and took charge of Mr. Hood's stock ranch, and continued in this business till 1858, when he purchased of John Gibbs the claim to 1,000 acres of land lying in the mountains between Guilicos Valley and St. Helena. During the great Cariboo mining excite- ment of 1861, he became affected, and went up to Salmon River. Four weeks satisfied him, and he went to Vancouver's, where he re- mained about three months. He then returned to Sonoma, and took up a lot of cattle to Vancouver's for slaughter. In 1867 he purchased 265 acres of the Guilicos Rancho, and has since made this his home, pursuing the varied branches of industry of a general
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farmer, fruit grower, and stock raiser. In 1869 he was placed in charge of the property of the Sonoma Land Association, and now "has under his care the property of Mr. H. K. Miller, of Virginia City, consisting of eight hundred acres of fine land lying in the cen- ter of Guilicos Valley. Mr. Shaw is a man of great energy, and has done much for the permanent welfare of this portion of the county.
N. J. S. LONG.
Mr. Long is a native of St. Louis county, Missouri, where he was born in 1815. He lived there till 1849. when he came to Califor- nia, and to Sonoma the following year, and has ever since resided there. At the election of 1853 he was elected constable, and with one exception has been re-elected at every succeeding election.
LOUIS ADLER.
Born in Prussia in 1820. Mr. Adler there received his educa- tion, and spent his early years. In 1846 lic came to California. He lived in San Francisco for two years, and in Sonoma ever since. He was twice Councilman in Sonoma under Alcalde Fuller. He has been engaged in merchandising, farming and grape growing.
O. W. CRAIG.
Mr. Oliver W. Craig was born in Rumney, Grafton county, New Hampshire. in 18og. He was educated there and followed the business of mechanic till he came to California. On the breaking out of the gold excitement in California he took passage on a ves- sel bound for San Francisco. He came through the Straits of Ma- gellan, and landed in San Francisco July 6th, 1849. He went into the placers, and followed the fortunes of a miner for near two years, when he settled in Sonoma. His fine farm, situated on the West side of the Valley, contains three hundred acres of land. There is a large vineyard and orchard on the place. and an extensive cellar.
HOWARD CLARK.
Mr. Howard Clark is a native of Essex county, Massachusetts, where he was born in 1827. He came to California in 1849, and
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for a time followed mining, but afterwards went to San Francisco and followed his trade, that of carpenter and builder. In 1863 he settled permanently in Sonoma.
THE CARRIGER BROTHERS.
Among the valuable and highly esteemed citizens of Sonoma are to be numbered the Carrigers. They are all natives of Tennessee, but lived for a few years in Missouri, and came overland to Califor- nia in 1849. Solomon Carriger enlisted at Johnson's Ranch under Colonel Fremont, served seven months in Southern California, and was honorably discharged at San Gabriel in the Spring of 1847. Since then he has resided in Sonoma. Caleb C. Carriger, the youngest of the three, followed much of the fortunes of his broth- ers. He purchased land in Sonoma in 1846 ; moved to Napa in 1852, but soon returned to Sonoma. and in 1856 purchased his present home of one hundred and eighty acres, which he has highly improved. Nicholas Carriger, the oldest, was born in Carter coun- tv, Tennessee, in 1816. In 1835 he joined a company of mounted volunteers mustered into the United States service by General J. F. Wool. He was honorably discharged the following year, and still holds the land warrant for one hundred and sixty acres of land is- sued to him in 1855 for that service. After arriving in California he served five months under Lieutenant Revere. He also served for a while under Lieutenant Maury, while the latter was in command at Sonoma. Mr. Carriger built the first redwood house and put up the first fences of that wood in Sonoma. The house was regarded with much interest by the Mexicans and native Californians in the valley. They came in great numbers to see the house, and brought pitchers and other vessels in which to bear away water from the well sunk near the house. Mr. Carriger was among the first to go to the mines after the discovery of gold, but soon returned to Sonoma. In 1849 he moved to his present home, and has since resided here, improving his valuable property. In Missouri he was engaged in growing tobacco, and as a miller and distiller. He was the first American who planted a vineyard in Sonoma. He has now over 1,050 acres of land, 130 of which are planted in vines. He has a large cellar, and manufactures his own grapes into wine. He is
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likewise extensively engaged in growing the cereals and in stock- raising. He was for a long time President of the Pioneer Associa- tion, and is one of the most esteemed citizens of the valley.
CHARLES W. LUBECK.
Mr. Charles W. Lubeck is a native of Sweden, where he was born in 1814. His early years were spent in his native country, and he engaged in mercantile pursuits. In this business he visited various countries. In 1849, being in China, he sailed for Califor- nia, landing in San Francisco in 1850. In the following year he purchased property in Sonoma Valley, making that his home. He has been engaged in San Francisco in mercantile pursuits, and in ship brokerage.
L. W. MEYER.
Mr. L. W. Meyer is a native of Germany and was trained to the business of vine grower. He emigrated to New York in 1840, and in 1846 enlisted in the United States service for the Mexican War. He was stationed at Monterey, and at the close of the war went to the mines. In 1866 he came to Sonoma, and for five years was Su- perintendent of General Williams' property. He then purchased property of his own. and has since been engaged in vine growing and wine making.
FRANKLIN SEARS.
Born in Orange county, Indiana, in 1817. When quite young he emigrated to Missouri, where he followed farming for many years. Started for Oregon and California in 1844, and reached this country in the Spring of 1845, celebrating the Fourth of July of that year at Red Bluff. In 1846 he came to Sonoma and joined the forces under Fremont and served through the war. He was in the battal- ion that captured Los Angeles. He was afterwards stationed for a few months at San Diego under Colonel Gillespie. From San Diego the battalion went over to Aguas Calientes to meet General Kearny. They had an engagement here with the Spaniards and lost twenty men. After being discharged from the service at the close of the war, Mr. Sears went to the mines. For many years he followed
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mining, experiencing to the fullest the fortunes and vicissitudes of a miner's life. In 1861 he came back to Sonoma and purchased his present property Southwest of Sonoma, and has since been exten- sively engaged in stock raising and farming. He has about two hundred and seventy acres of land, thirty of which are planted in vineyard and orchard.
G. T. PAULI.
Born in Austria in 1827, and lived in his native country and Ham- burg, Germany, till 1848, when he went to Rio Janeiro. From the latter place he went to Valparaiso, thence to San Francisco, where he arrived in the Spring of 1849. He immediately went up to Sonoma, where he has ever since remained, engaged in merchan- dising. In 1869 he was elected Treasurer of Sonoma county, which position lie still holds. He belongs to the association . of Pioneers, and is honored and respected by all who know him.
EDWARD NEBLETT.
Born in Prince George county, Virginia, in 1818. Lived in Vir- ginia and Kentucky till the great rush of 1849 for California, when he came to this State. He crossed the plains in company with Mr. Bryant, author of " What I saw in California." He was engaged in mining and in business in the mining counties for nearly twenty years. He was Sheriff of Trinity county from 1855 to 1857, and served one term in the Legislature. In 1868 he settled in Santa Rosa. where he has since remained, engaged in merchandising.
THOS. HOPPER.
Mr. Thomas Hopper was born nine miles West of Lexington, Lafayette county, Missouri, in the year 1821. His parents moved to Indiana in 1825. Then back to Missouri in 1839. On the 9th of May. 1847, he started from the town of Lone Jack, Missouri, for California. He reached Sutter's Fort September 5th, 1847. From there he went to Santa Cruz. On the Ist of June, 1848, started for the mines on the American River, working near Sutter's Mill. Remaining in the mines but a short time he returned to Santa Cruz, and from there moved his family to Napa Valley, settling near the
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residence of George C. Yount. Leaving his family here he returned to the mines, but in the Winter came back to Napa. In the Spring of 1849 he joined a party for a prospecting tour to the Yuba River, but at Sacramento fell in with Joe Walker, or " Mountain " Walker. who persuaded the company to go with him to King's River, repre- senting that gold could be literally shovelled into bags there. Reach- ing the locality specified, and finding nothing, the party came very near hanging .. Mountain " Walker in part payment for having sold them. The company returned to Sacramento, when Mr. Hopper 'left them and moved his family from Napa to Sonoma, purchasing a thirty-acre lot near the city of Sonoma, and building a house there- on. In the Fall of 1850 he moved to the head of Green Valley. Sonoma county, where he took up a claim of 160 acres. In the Spring of 1852 he sold out there and moved on to a portion of his present farm of 2,000 acres, close to the spot whereon stands his present residence.
JOHN BROWN.
The subject of this sketch was born April 13th, 1826, in Wheel- ing. Va. When at the age of two years his parents moved to Ten- nessee. In the Spring of 1846 Mr. Brown enlisted in the United States Army for one year to serve in Mexico, and with the Tennessee troops landed on Brazos Island on the Ist of June, 1846. When his time expired he again joined the service and was elected first Lieutenant of his Company and was then appointed Quartermaster's Deputy, which office he retained till the close of the Mexican War in 1848, when he returned to his home in Tennessee. Early in the Spring, of 1849 he started for California across the plains in a "prairie schooner," which. on the Little Blue River was literally capsized in a storm. The lightning was so vivid during this storm that the earth presented the appearance of a net-work of flames, and in one instance a flash went through a man's pillow and melted the hammer of a revolver under his head, exploding the weapon at the same time. The trip was to Mr. Brown one of pleasure. as being well provided and equipped for hunting and fishing, it de- volved on him to furnish the party with meat, so that it was to him only a protracted hunting and fishing excursion, barring the light-
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ning. Mr. Brown arrived in California in June, 1849, and engaged himself in the mercantile business in El Dorado county. In 1850 he was appointed by Governor John McDougall Quartermaster and Commissary for the Northern Division of California in; the war against the Indians, and served all through the El Dorado Indian war, resigning in May 1852 at Sacramento City. In 1854 he went into business in Sacramento on I street, and was burned out, losing everything. From there he went to El Dorado county and opened a hydraulic claim. This was not a very successful venture, for after erecting the necessary sluices, flumes, and all other things necessary, . their sale became necessary in order to liquidate the wages of the miners employed. As mining refused to be remunerative, Mr. Brown went to a small mining village in the same county, called Brownsville, which had been an old camping ground of his during the time he was Quartermaster in the Indian war. _ Here he taught a five months' term of school, when, concluding he was not inten- ded for that avocation, he made his way to Sonoma, reaching here in 1855, and on the day of his arrival was appointed Deputy Coun- ty Clerk, a position he retained for four years. While Deputy Clerk he studied law, and in 1858 was admitted to the Bar. He has resi- dled in Santa Rosa ever since, following his profession.
W. S. M. WRIGHT.
Mr. Wright was born in Boone county, Missouri, August 5th, 1822. He left Missouri for California in 1849, crossing the plains by the Northern route, and reached Lassen on the Sacramento River October 13th, 1849. The following Winter he spent in the mines at Stringtown, on the North Fork of the Feather River. He made a visit to Missouri in 1850, returning in 1853, and came to Sonoma and purchased a portion of his present property, which now consists of 6000 acres, on which he resides. He is a farmer and stock raiser, a business he has followed all his life, and in which he has been eminently successful.
E. LATAPIE.
This gentleman was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1830. On the discovery of gold he embarked at New Orleans in the ship Ar-
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chitect for San Francisco. In 1852 he came to Sonoma, and has re- sided in the county ever since. His home is in Petaluma. In 1871 he was elected Sheriff of the county, but had been Deputy for four- teen years previous thereto. In all his relations as private citizen and public officer, he has maintained the character of an exemplary man, whose efficiency is unquestioned and whose integrity is above suspicion.
JOHN INGRAHAM.
Mr. John Ingraham was born in Casswell county, North Carolina, in 1813, where he spent his minority. From 1833 to 1848 he lived in Tennessee and Missouri, working at his trade of wagon making. He joined in the great overland rush for California in, 1849. After a few years spent chiefly in the mines he came to Sonoma in 1852 where he has since resided. He is now acting undersheriff.
W. R. MORRIS.
W'm. R. Morris was born in Moniteau county, Missouri, in 1835, and lived in his native State till 1849, when he came overland to California. He arrived in the Sacramento valley in October. Thence he came to Napa, where he spent a few months, and then went up to Cache Creek. In the Spring of 1850 he went to the mines, but soon returned to Cache Creek, and remained there till 1 857, when he removed to Sonoma county, where he has since re- sided. He located near Healdsburg, and was engaged in farming and merchandising. On the 4th of October, 1865 he, in company with W. A. C. Smith, then principal of the Healdsburg Public School, commenced the publication of the Democratic Standard. These two gentleman continued the publication of the paper till in October, 1866, Mr. Smith sold out to Mr. Morris. Soon after a half interest was sold to J. B. Fitch, and in January, 1867, the latter became sole proprietor, Mr. Morris taking a portion of the fine land east of the river in exchange for his interest. He then followed farming till in 1869, when he was elected County Clerk, which position he still holds.
WILLIAM MACPHERSON HILL ..
This gentleman first saw the light of day on the 22d of October,
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1822, in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, sixteen miles from Philadelphia. The first thirteen years of his life were spent on a. farm ; then he was sent to a boarding-school for two years, when he entered a College in Newark, remaining two years, where he was fitted for the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, and therc was graduated in 1840. For fifteen months he was engaged in teaching at an Academy in Berks county. He then commenced the study of law, but abandoned this profession after a trial of six months' duration, on account of poor health. Was next engaged as first clerk in the Naval Office in the Custom House, Philadelphia, under Polk's Administration, for the next two years, when he re- signed January 1, 1849, and started for California January 16th; vit Cape Horn. arriving in San Francisco on August 3, 1849. Mr. Hill, in the course of a few days after his arrival in California, was appointed first clerk in the Custom House, and retained the position for one year. when he resigned, and started for the East by the Panama route. Returned again to California in May, 1851. At this time he was a partner in the firm of Burling & Hill, commission merchants, and returned after the May fire, which had destroyed their place of business. He was in business at the time of the June fire, but did not suffer much loss. In June, 1853, his health being very poor, he took a trip to Manilla. during which he was absent four months. . After returning to San Francisco, he immediately set out for Philadelphia, married, and returned to California in 1854. On his return he established his hoine on his present property in Sonoma, which he had acquired in 1851. It consists of 1460 acres. 60 of which are in vines, and 15 acres of fruit trees of all varieties. Mr. Hill was Supervisor of the county of Sonoma for three years. He was nominated for State Senator in 1862, on the compromise ticket, but shared defeat with Douglas & Breckenridge. He has always taken an active interest in all that pertained to the general welfare, and no gentleman stands higher in the respect and esteem of the community.
JOEL P. WALKER.
This venerable citizen was born November 20, 1797, in Goocl .- land county, Virginia. His family migrated in 1801, and settled in
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Tennessee, where they remained till IS19, when they moved into Missouri. On the Ist of May, 1840, he started across the plains with the families of some missionaries, and found his way into Oregon the following year. He left for California, September 20, 1841, and reached Sutter's Fort on the 22d of October. In 1842, came to Napa Valley, remaining one year, and started from Cache Creek the following year for Oregon, with cattle and horses. Returned to Napa in 1848, and in 1853, moved into the neighborhood of Santa Rosa. Accompanied Commodore Wilkes' Scientific Corps in 1841. and served under Lieutenant Emmons, a grandson of General Put - nam. The notorious Admiral Semmes was one of the corps. Mr. Walker was a delegate to the Convention which assembled at Mon- terey in 1849.
T. M. LEAVENWORTH.
This gentleman, who claims to be the worst abused man in Cali- fornia, was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1803. He graduated in the same class with James Buchanan. He sailed from New York in 1846, as Assistant Surgeon in the United States Army, and ar- rived in San Francisco. For eighteen months, ending in August. 1849, he was Alcalde in San Francisco. In the latter year he came to Sonoma, and has since resided here on his farm, the Agua Cali- ente Ranch, engaged in cultivating the soil. The Agua Caliente Ranch, of which various portions have been sold, was originally pur- chased as an endowment of the first organized College in California for $10,000, the College receiving a further endowment of $150,000. The trustees were John W. Geary, A. D. Cook, and John McVicker.
JOSEPHI WRIGHT.
Mr. Wright was born on the 22d of January, 1827, in Boone county, Missouri. Left there in 1849, to come to California, and reached Lassen on the Sacramento River, October 12th. Came to Sonoma Fall of 1851, and lived here ever since. Has been a farmer all his life.
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CHARLES HALL.
Mr. Hall was born in Garrett county, Kentucky, May 18th, 1826. When a child his family moved to Missouri. He served in Mexico during the war in Col. Gilpin's Regiment. At the close of the war he went back to Missouri, but left there for California in 1848, reaching Lassen on the 30tli of October, 1849. He settled in So- noma county in 1860, and has been there ever since.
JACOB R. SNYDER.
The reminiscences of the early pioneers and adventurers on the Pacific Coast must ever possess a peculiar interest for the Califor- nian. Green in their memory will ever remain the trials and inci- dents of early life in this land of golden promise. These pioneers of civilization constitute no ordinary class of adventurers. Resolute, unbitious, and enduring, looking into the great and possible future of this Western slope, and possessing the segacious mind to grasp true conclusions, and the indomitable will to execute just means to attain desired ends, these heroic pioneers by their subsequent career have proved that they were equal to the great mission assigned them-that of carrying the arts, institutions, and real essence of American civilization from their Eastern homes and implanting it upon the shores of another ocean. Among the many who have shown their eminent fitness for the important tasks assigned then?, none merit this humble tribute to their characteristics and peculiar worth more fully than he of whom we now speak.
Jacob R. Snyder was born in Philadelphia on the 23d of August, 1813. At an early day he was apprenticed to a house carpenter, but his keen foresight showed him there was in the broad and beautiful West a great hidden destiny, a destiny that only required the hand of indus- try to consummate; and, abandoning the luxuries of civilization and the comforts of a well settled country, he left for the land of prime- val forests and untutored savages. At the age of twenty-one we find him emigrating West. He settled at the Falls of the Ohio River, in what then was an almost unbroken forest, but where now stands the city of New Albany. Here Mr. Snyder remained for several years, but in 1845, being thoroughly imbued with the spirit of ad- venture, he determined to push forward to the Pacific. In the Spring
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of that year he formed one of a party of nine who made Indepen- dence, Missouri, their rendezvous preparatory to the arduous jour- ney across the plains. All necessary preparations being made, the party on the 5th of May struck camp and started on their hazardous and tedious undertaking. Besides Major Snyder, there were in the company Judge Blackburn, George McDougal, W. F. Swazy, John Lewis, Hiram Rhenshaw, (afterwards lieutenant in the California Battalion), and Messrs. Wright and Hohen. The party crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains by what was afterwards known as the Truckee route. At that time, however, there was no trail, and they spent many days in these rugged hills seeking a proper route, but after suffering almost incredible hardships, on the 23d of September they reached Johnson's ranch on Bear River, and from there went to Sutter's Fort, where the company dispersed. Major Snyder traveled down to Yerba Buena, then numbering less than two hun- dred inhabitants, whence, after stopping a short time, he passed down to Santa Cruz. Owing to a disposition on the part of the na- tives to check the immigration from the United States, and not only to prevent the ingress of new comers, but to drive out those already in the country, Major Snyder, in the Spring of 1846, in connec- tion with others, attempted to get a grant of land from Pio Pico, on the San Joaquin, where a fort might be erected and aid and pro- tection granted to immigrants. But Pio Pico distrusting the move- ment refused the grant. Soon after the word reached him of the Bear Flag party. He was subsequently deputed by Lieutenant Gil- lespie from Santa Cruz to communicate in regard to public affairs with Colonel Fremont, then at Pacheco Pass. He united with Fre- mont's forces and returned to Monterey, prior to the latter starting on the Southern campaign. Owing to his knowledge of the coun- try and the customs of the people, Mr. Snyder was of much service in bringing this campaign to a successful issue. He was next de- tailed to duty in a company of mounted riflemen under Captain Fontleroy, at the Mission San Juan, where he remained till Com - modore Stockton returned to Monterey. He was then entrusted by the latter to organize an artillery company. He was afterwards com - missioned Quartermaster of Fremont's Battalion, which office he filled until the close of the war. He was then appointed by Gov-
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