USA > California > Alameda County > History of Alameda County, California. Volume I > Part 7
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60
1851-John W. Kottinger, Robert Blacow, Antonio Fonte, William Hayes, William C. Blackwood, Hiram Davis, Augustus Johnson, James B. Larue, - Parker, M. Segrist, - Dean, John J. Riser, ----- Fuller and son, George W. Patterson, Dr. B. F. Hibbard, George W. Bond, - Parfait, Capt. S. Larkin, Joshua Wauhab, William M. Liston, Lewis C. Smith, Christian P. Hansen, Henry Smith, A. M. Church, Capt. John Chisholm, Doctor Buckland, Captain Richardson, Captain Nowell, John Wilson, Edward Carroll, - Wright, Thomas Mclaughlin, Charles Ray, - Strickland, "The Scotch Boys," John Johnson.
1852-James Beazell, Charles Hadsell, Calvin J. Stevens, F. K. Shattuck, N. J. Overacker, John Hall, Joseph Freeman, Isaac Freeman, Duncan Cameron, George Gaskins, Peter Olsen, D. A. Plummer, John W. Jamison, Louis Ettablow, Alexander Allen, Rev. W. Taylor, Har- vey Taylor, Liberty Perham, Rev. A. H. Myers, Richard Threlfall, Henry Curtner, Daniel M. Sanborn, John T. Stevenson, E. S. Allen, - Finch, Joseph Ralph, Joseph Worrell, Joel Russell, - Scribner, George Simpson, Joseph Scott, Victor W. Nuttman, Samuel Murdoch, Thomas W. Millard, Isaac M. Long, William Barry, - Tompkins, George M. Walters, H. K. W. Clarke, Nathaniel L. Babb, Edward Ross, Howard Overacker, Emery Munyan, Garrett S. Norris, Peter J. Campbell, William H. Cockefair, Edward Chauncey, W. Param.
1853-James Hutchison, Cornelius Mohr, Thomas B. Smith, Mi- chael Overacker, William W. Mckenzie, John D. Brower, Joseph Dieves, Franklin Pancoast, William Newcomb, Henry Rogers, Capt. F. C. Coggeshall, Russell M. Rogers, Henry Smyth, - Mason, George S. Myers, H. A. Wickware, N. W. Palmer, Tim. Hauschildt, H. S. Barlow, David S. Smalley, Captain Miller, Frank Frietes, Her- mann Eggers, John C. Whipple, Joseph F. Black, John McRae, J. S. Munoz, Jarel T. Walker, Luther E. Osgood, John Blacow, Farley B. Granger, John Proctor, James Emerson, John Buchanan, Abraham Harris, - McWilliams, William Ogden, - Trueworthy, Edward
Duncan Cameron
E. O. Crosby
Thomas A. Smith
William Meek
William W. Crane, Jr.
A. M. Church
E. H. Dyer
A. M. Crane
Socrates Huff
FOUNDERS OF THE COUNTY, MANY OF WHOM WERE PROMINENT IN ITS EARLY POLITICS
76
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
F Burdick, Ebenezer Healey, John Whitman, J. West Martin, James W. Dougherty, Doctor Kampf, E. Clawiter, Christian Butsow, Lewis Brady, - King, Isaac Frank, - Peterson, Chris. Anderson, Wil- liam Oatman, C. P. Hansen, Joseph De Mount, J. F. Elliott, John Huff, William Mahoney, E. D. Mann, Emmerson T. Crane, Leonard Stone, Rev. H. Durant, and James Clinton.
1854-H. H. C. Barlow, Col. Jack Hays, Richard T. Pope, Simon Zimmerman, Andrew J. McLeod, H. Hampel, John Mathew, Joseph B. Marlin, Joseph H. Taylor, Frederick Schweer, Jacob Schilling, John Taylor, Henry Dusterberry, William Wales, Z. D. Cheney, Silvester P. Harvey, William H. Mack, Michael Ryan, August Heyer, August May, Elijah Foster, William Morgan, - Bain, Ezra Decoto, D. S. Lancey ; and from the accompanying list furnished to us we find there were the following "squatters" in this year, all the signatures being genuine : W. R. Richardson, F. Pancoast, Fred. S. Smith, James Ford, A. Moon, Chas. W. Evans, Anthony Perry, John Howlett, Hiram A. Wickware, E. Saillot, H. K. W. Clarke, J. S. Tubbs, G. W. Gaskins, Lemoine Fréres, W. L. Johnson, Aaron A. Ferguson, Felix Byrne, Murdock Nicholson, Michael Trombly, Lecomte Jean Jules, James F. Barnwell, H. L. Leffingwell, Samuel Chase, John Hagan, Rufus C. Vose, William Lunt, Laren Coburn, Jonathan Mulkey, C. H. Regné, Jonathan L. Marshall, Duncan Cameron, Henry C. Clark, Thomas Wheeler, William Shelly, Alphonse Gonnet, George Carpenter, A. Marier, Edson Adams, A. W. Barrell, A. Staples, Sargent Kelly, H. A. Brown, Moore & Chester, J. Miller O'Meara, Arthur Mathews, L. Hughes, Thos. Beale, Anto. Vidal, Louis Lamréi, A. François Xavier, Homer Horton, Alfred H. Osborn, John D. Brower, George Mahan,
Rudsdale, John McCorkey, F. P. Keefer, John Trendt, William Harwood, J. W. Cronkheite, C. Alexander Petersen, William Tullock, James Jamison, G. W. Parsons, John Chisholm, Seth K. Bailey, Fred- erick Van Horn, Jonathan Wells, William Ortman, George Heinsld, E. H. Keakley, John Huff, John J. Hardy, John B. Lock, William Perkins, George C. Wickware, B. F. Simms, Henry Bohlman, R. Chris- tensen, O. F. Fay, George Fay, Darwin D. Mann, Patrick McDonald, Augustus Johnson, N. H. Wray, William F. Miller, Franklin Wray, William Watts, Peter Johnson, John Sturgis, R. S. Farrelly, R. T. King, Jacob Eversen, Riley H. Gragg, Samuel E. Spusling, E. A. Haw- ley, F. Maillot, B. Phillips, E. Clawiter, Christian Anderson, A. H. Smith, A. Ringle, Jr., James Beletsen, Calvin James, C. Shoe, Jerry Beeday, J. A. Hobart, L. LaGrange, George H. Everett, I. Sanford,
77
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
George Mason, C. Shaw, W. L. Johnson, Samuel Moore, J. E. Otter, Daniel Tichnor, Charles Goodrich, John Bowman.
1855-William M. Card, Hiram Bailey, Edward Hoskins, Abraham C. Brown, Peter Mathews, James Linfoot, Josiah H. Brickell, Joseph Graham, Richard Barron, Philip Thorn, William H. Healey, Frank Heare, James Taylor, - Hirschfeldter, Robert Gilmore, I. B. Haines.
1856-Conrad Liese, Thomas Rafferty, John Lynch, Edmund Jones, William Knox, Otis Hall, Frederick Wrede, John Wille, Ferdinand Schultz, A. B. Montross, James A. Brewer, James Shinn, Henry F. Nebas, Comfort Healey, M. G. Higgins, - Deveney, John Martin, Dan. McMillan, Charles Stuzel, Frederick D. Arff, Diedrich Pestdorf, Edward Murphy.
1857-John N. English, W. T. Lemon, E. H. Dyer, Howard S. Jarvis. Walter Baker, George W. Peacock, James Sinclair, Samuel K. Brown, Lewis Knox, Samuel Merritt, Andrew Peterson.
1858-Maas Lueders, Hugh B. McAvoy, Edward Newland, Hiram Tubbs, Thomas W. Morgan, Bernard McAvoy, Joseph S. Emery, W. H. Miller, William Gibbons, Antonio Bardellini, John Green.
1859-Adam Fath, Samuel Milbury, Jeremiah Callaghan, James Moffitt, Watkin W. Wynn, William Owen, James J. Stokes, David H. Beck.
1860-Lysander Stone, William Meek, Columbus R. Lewis, H. Remillard, N. D. Dutcher, John W. Clark, Jacob F. Meyers, John Decoto, Adolphus Decoto, Nicholas Bergmann, Edwin A. Richmond, Jonathan E. Healey.
1861-William M. Mendenhall, Daniel M. Teeter, W. W. Moore, Capt. Thomas Badger, Frederick Brustgrun, A. P. Rose, Israel Hor- ton, Judge Nye.
1862-0. W. Owen, Duncan Sinclair, A. W. Schafer, Ivan J. Tifoche.
1863-John Booken, Amos S. Bangs, Hugh Bankhead. F. D. Hinds, J. A. Bilz, Alson S. Clark, Solomon Ehrman, B. T. Clough, Jacob Teeters, William Whittner, Doctor Goucher.
1864-Dr. I. N. Mark. William B. Smith, Ives Scoville, Diedrich Buhsen. J. A. Rose, O. Whipple, Michael Rogan, Adam A. Overacker, Powell, Manuel Fereira.
1865-Frederick Rose, Charles Rose, Martin Mendenhall. Peter Pumyea, W. B. Ingersoll, A. G. Lawrie, Capt. A. Milton, E. B. Ren- shaw, M. W. Dixon, F. C. Jarvis, Hugh Dougherty, Peter McKeany, C. A. Plummer.
78
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
IN EDEN TOWNSHIP
Mention has already been made of the settlement of Don Jose Joaquin Estudillo upon his rancho in Eden township in 1836. He was a native of California, and had resided upon the land for a number of years before it was granted to him. It was in 1837 that he built his first house a couple of miles or so from where the Town of San Leandro now stands. Don Guillermo Castro was the second man to receive a grant, but the boundary lines between his rancho and that of Estudillo were not at first determined. Castro, as stated before, built his home where Hayward now exists. The Sotos were the next family. Prior to the advent of these families this valuable land had been occupied for a time by the cattle of the Christianized Indians of the Mission San José. Don J. J. Vallejo was the administrator for the Indians at that time, and a few resided on the lands claimed by the above grantees for a time. Estudillo died June 7, 1852. John B. Ward, who married the eldest daughter of Estudillo, Melina Concepcion Estudillo, took up his resi- dence in the township at an early date, the exactness of which is un- known. In 1849 Thomas W. Mulford, Moses Wicks, A. R. Biggs, E. Minor Smith, and W. C. Smith landed on the shore in the neighborhood of the Estudillo home and pitched their tents to hunt. During the fol- lowing spring they erected a small cabin. In 1850 Capt. William Roberts came to the township and settled at Roberts' Landing, and commenced freighting with small boats to various points along the way. Captain Chisholm followed soon afterwards.
WILLIAM HAYWARD ARRIVES IN 1851
One of the earliest and most prominent of the American settlers in Eden township was William Hayward, who came there in 1851. He was born in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, August 31, 1815, and resided on his father's farm until he reached manhood. In 1836 he left home to enter a shoe factory, in which he worked for ten years. On April 23, 1849, he left New York on the steamship Unicorn for San Francisco, which he reached August 31, 1849. He tried his luck in the newly dis- covered mining regions, but met with little success in that venture. In fact in later years he admitted that he mined "as long as his money lasted." He returned to San Francisco, and in doing so passed through the Livermore Valley. He first settled on land belonging to William Castro, and when so informed moved farther down the valley. He chose
79
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
a spot for his tent which is now occupied by A. Street, and near the site chosen by him later for the erection of his hotel. In 1852 he commenced the erection of the Hayward's Hotel. He added to the building from time to time until by the '80s it contained 100 rooms and was a famous pioneer landmark of the county. When the postoffice was established it was named in his honor. Hayward became a popular political figure, serving two terms as a county supervisor. His first election as such was in 1856, and the second one in 1869.
In 1852 squatters invaded the plain and took possession of the land upon which San Lorenzo is built. This settlement was then called "Squatterville." The settlers located chiefly upon the Estudillo land, which they believed to be public lands until years of litigation settled the question adversely to them. Among those who came to the township in that year were Franklin Ray, Robert S. Farrelly, William C. Black- wood, and Messrs. Crane, Kennedy, McMurty, Campbell, Harlan, Johnson, Fritz Boehmer, Charles Duerr, William Field, George Meyer, Alexander Patterson, Joel Russell, and John Johnson, who settled in the vicinity of Mount Eden, up to that time unoccupied. Others who also arrived that year were Peter Olsen, John W. Jamison, Alexander Allen, and Liberty Perham. Castro disposed of his early holdings piece by piece, and finally mortgage foreclosure proceedings took the last in 1864, when it passed into the hands of Faxon D. Atherton, of Menlo Park, who gave Castro $30,000 for it.
In 1853, the year of the establishment of Alameda County, came Henry Smyth, Tim. Hauschildt, David S. Smalley, J. F. Elliott and Joseph De Mont. The chief event of 1854 was the surveying of the townsite of Haywards, now Hayward, under the direction of Guillermo Castro. Among the increasing population of that year came the pioneer County Supervisor J. B. Marlin, Joseph H. Taylor, Frederick Schweer, Jacob Schilling and many others. Among the first houses built in Hay- ward were the two erected in 1852 by Joseph Worrell and some Sono- rians, and a little later a blacksmith shop was opened on B Street by a Mr. Finch. The first schoolhouse was erected in 1855. Hayward was incorporated as a town on March 11, 1876, early meetings of the board of trustees being held in the old Planters' House. By 1883 the popula- tion of Hayward was estimated at 1,200. Among the prominent pion- eers who came to Eden township between 1855 and 1865 were Richard Barron, Joseph Graham, Josiah G. Bickell, William Knox, Otis Hill, Frederick Wrede, John Wille, Conrad Liese, Ferdinand Schultz, W. T. Lemon, Maas Lueders, W. H. Miller, Watkin W. Wynn, N. D.
80
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
Dutcher, John W. Clark, Frederick Brustgrun, A. P. Rose, Duncan Sinclair, O. W. Owen, A. W. Schafer and E. B. Renshaw.
EARLY LODGES AND CHURCHES OF EDEN TOWNSHIP
Alameda Encampment, No. 28, I. O. O. F., was originally insti- tuted at Alvarado, April 4, 1868. Sycamore Lodge, No. 129, I. O. O. F., was organized October 30, 1866. Haywards Lodge, No. 18, A. O. U. W., had its inception January 19, 1878. The Council of Chosen Friends, Hercules Council No. 139, perfected its organization February 17, 1883. These were the pioneer lodges of Hayward. The first news- paper was the Haywards Weekly Journal, established in 1877 by Charles Coolidge, and which is now published by Colin Dyment, as editor, and Robert A. Brodie, as business manager. It passed into the hands of Frank M. Dallam in 1878, and on November 25, 1882, George A. Oakes became its owner and editor. The old pioneer breweries of the locality were the New York Brewery, started in 1866, and the Lyons Brewery. The Congregational Church in Hayward was built in 1861, prior to which time church services for all denominations being held in Hayward's Hall.
There were only three buildings in San Leandro in 1855-the Estu- dillo home, the Estudillo Hotel, and a saloon kept by Charles Ray. In 1856 a fourth building was erected at the corner of Watkins and Ward avenues for a Mr. Hirschfeldter, which he sold two years later to E. D. Block. The old courthouse in San Leandro was built originally upon the site later occupied by the Martin Restaurant, and later moved to the site which eventually was occupied by the convent, the block being donated by the Estudillo family. In the early days, San Leandro was but one of the stage stations between Oakland and San Jose on the line run by Charles Mclaughlin. San Leandro was incorporated as a town in February, 1872. The First Presbyterian Church of San Leandro was organized February 11, 1866, and the first church building dedi- cated April 28, 1869. The Roman Catholic Church was commenced in 1864, being dedicated in August of that year. Eden Lodge, F. & A. M., was organized February 14, 1857. San Leandro Lodge, No. 231, I. O. O. F., dates its organization from June 8, 1875. San Leandro Lodge, No. 12, A. O. U. W., was organized December 11, 1877. San Leandro Lodge, No. 180, I. O. G. T., was instituted January 5, 1880. In Janu- ary, 1883, the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle of San Leandro was organized. The San Leandro Reporter was started May 15, 1878.
AM.MEININGER
HOUST EDEN AGRICULTURAL WORKS.
6V1
Residence of Henry Petermann H. Meininger, Agricultural Works
IN AND ABOUT MOUNT EDEN, 1898 Petermann's Landing Street in Mount Eden
Mohr Bros. Henry Petermann's Store
82
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
its editor being R. A. Marshall. Prior to that time as many as eight different newspapers existed at different times, each with a short life. The Sentinel made its first appearance January 8, 1880, with Weston P. Truesdell as editor. One of the early manufacturing establishments of the county was that of the Central Manufacturing Company of San Leandro, established in 1875 to make and repair agricultural imple- ments. The San Leandro Plow Company was incorporated in 1881.
Eden Landing was established in 1850 by an association of farmers who called themselves the Mount Eden Company. In 1855 Capt. Richard Barron erected warehouses there, and five years later started to run the steamer Poco Tempo between that place and San Francisco. This boat gave place later to the Mount Eden, which was succeeded in turn by the Ellen and the Emma. Mount Eden had as its first settler John Johnson, who came in 1852. In 1853 the first houses in the village were built, and a store was opened by a Mr. Shiman of San Leandro. Johnson commenced the manufacture of salt in 1853 on the marsh fronting on his property and shipped the first load in 1854.
MURRAY TOWNSHIP SETTLEMENTS
When Alameda County was created in 1853 Murray township was created and named in honor of Michael Murray, a pioneer settler and sponsor of the township. Its area contained nearly four hundred square miles and was the largest one to be created in the county. It is bounded on the north by Contra Costa County, on the east by San Joaquin County, on the south by Santa Clara County, and on the west by Wash- ington and Eden townships. As previously related, the Mexican grants in this township were those of the San Ramon, the Santa Rita, El Valle de San Jose, Las Pocitas, and a portion of the Cañada de los Vaqueros. Back in 1826 Don Jose Maria Amador settled in the valley which after- wards received his name and built a house upon the later site of the resi- dence of C. P. Dougherty. J. W. Dougherty, father of C. P. Dougherty, bought the lands in 1852 or 1853 and resided in the old Amador resi- dence until it was damaged by the earthquake of July 3, 1863. Amador lived until he was well past the hundred mark. He was the grantee of the San Ramon rancho.
LIVERMORE THE SECOND SETTLER
The Rancho Las Pocitas was originally granted to Don Salvio. Pacheco, who also owned the Rancho Monte del Diablo, but in 1839; 1
r
83
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
(the year in which he acquired it) he transferred his interest to Jose Noriega, a Spaniard, and to Robert Livermore, mentioned more fully earlier in this chapter. The latter owners took possession April 10, 1835, and erected a house near Pocitas Creek. In 1844 he planted a · vineyard, and a pear, apple and olive orchard, and started to raise wheat-the first in the valley. In 1846 Livermore also purchased the Cañada de los Vaqueros grant, originally granted to Miranda Higuera and Francisco Alviso in 1836.
J. D. Pacheco received his grant to the Santa Rita Rancho, which lay between the San Ramon and Las Pocitas, April 10, 1839. In the early forties grants were made in the east end of Livermore Valley to Antonio Maria Pico, Antonio Sunol and to Augustin Bernal. Pico se- cured the El Valle de San Jose grant.
One of the early landmarks of the township was the "Blue Tent", erected in 1849 on the road to the mines not far from the spot where the three counties of Alameda, Contra Costa and San Joaquin meet. It was a house of entertainment maintained by one Thomas Goodale, and it was there that McLeod's stage from Stockton stopped to change horses. For a number of years it was a common gathering place for the stockmen, immigrants and ranchers. Augustin Bernal came to the township in 1850 from Santa Clara County, and built an odobe house on the west side of Laguna Creek. About this time Michael Murray took up his residence about where Dublin stands, bringing with him Jeremiah Fallon, who settled in the Amador Valley. The four Patter- son brothers also located in Patterson Pass in that year. Jose Sunol also came in 1850 to reside upon his father's possessions; and another addi- tion to the township was A. Bardellini, later proprietor of the Washing- ton Hotel in Livermore. The first frame building to be erected in the township was constructed in 1851. The lumber came from the Atlantic coast. It was built by Livermore. Juan P. Bernal also commenced his residence on the east side of Laguna Creek that year. John W. Kot- tinger, John Strickland, John Teirney, Captain Jack O'Brien and Ed- ward Carrol were also arrivals of the year.
J. W. Dougherty came in 1852 and invested in the Amador lands, which later passed into the hands of his son, C. P. Dougherty. A year or so later Greene Patterson built a frame house two miles southeast from Livermore, and R .W. Defrees opened a caravansary on the main road a mile west from the Livermore residence. Thomas Hart, who came in the same year and worked for Livermore for a time, bought the Defrees place in 1854, and called it the "Half-way House." He resided
84
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
there until 1860. John Whitman settled near Pleasanton in 1853, on land later owned by Charles Duerr. 1854 brought Richard T. Pope and J. West Martin, later prominently connected with the growth of Oak- land. Hiram Bailey was one of the arrivals in the township in 1855, and about the same time Frank Heare, and F. W. Lucas established a residenceship there. The first school house was built in 1856, less than a mile south of Dublin, and the first school was taught by M. G. Hig- gins. Thomas Rafferty, Michael McCollier and J. L. Bangs were new- comers during that year. Other settlers of the latter fifties were John Green, later elected county supervisor; Edward Horan, William Mur- ray, John Martin, Adam Faith, James F. Kapp and Robert Graham. During the sixties the township gained Lysander Stone and William Meek, an early supervisor of the county ; Charles Hadsell, George But- tner, Samuel Bonner, John Brooken, Amos S. Bangs, Maas Lueders, Jake Teeters, William Whittner, Dr. Goucher, William M. Menden- hall, George May, Richard Threfall, Alexander Esdon, Dr. I. N. Mark, Frederick and Charles Rose, Martin Mendenhall, Hugh Dougherty, and Peter McKeany.
The first church in the township was built in 1859, in the vicinity of Green's Hotel, in Dublin. The first town in the township, Dublin, was started in 1860, a site being selected on the main highway between Oakland and Stockton, and about nine miles due west of Livermore. John Green was the pioneer storekeeper of the hamlet, and a few months later Scarlett & Grandlees erected a hotel. The Catholic Church was the first one for the township. A few settlers located around the neighborhood of what later became Altamont in the late sixties. These were Edward Hobler, who started a hotel about a quarter of a mile from the later site of the village; William H. Wright, John Campbell, E. Crockerton, Nicholas Shearer, Alexander McKelvey and Thomas Ryder. At that time there were no houses between Altamont and Liver- more. The first school was erected in 1870, and William H. Wright opened a store in 1872.
Livermore sprang into life in 1869, and was built partly upon the Las Pocitas Rancho and partly upon the El Valle de San Jose. The coming of the Central Pacific Railroad was responsible for its growth. However, Livermore cannot be mentioned without referring to its fore- runner-Laddsville. Alphonso Ladd came to the township in 1850 to settle in the Sunol Valley. In 1864 he preempted 160 acres near the "Old Livermore House," and erected the first building of what he called Laddsville, and which a few years later became a portion of the present
!
6
2
3
PRINCIPAL ALAMEDA COUNTY SCHOOL BUILDINGS, 1898
5. Hayward School
2. Niles School
6. Alvarado School
1. Fruitvale School
4. Pleasanton School
3. San Leandro School
86
HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
town of Livermore. Soon afterwards he commenced the erection of a hotel, the lumber being brought from Mowry's Landing. This hotel was burned in 1876. In the fall of 1864 Adam Faith built another house near that of Ladd's. Alexander Mesa, a Spaniard, followed with a saloon, the necessary adjunct in those days to a budding village or community. The first store was opened in 1865 by Henry Goetjen, and a blacksmith shop came to the hamlet next. Through funds raised by donations of the settlers, a school was opened in the following year, Miss Esther Weeks being the first teacher. R. W. Graham, of Hay- wards erected a large building near Ladd's Hotel in 1868, and started a general merchandise store. He became postmaster. A few other bus- iness structures followed on what later became the south side of the railroad track and the McLeod addition to the town of Livermore. These included the Italian restaurant of Anton Bardellini; the store of Joseph Harris; the drug store of Knight & Sproul; Booken's saloon; the Israel Horton residence; and others. Elsie Horton was the first child born in Laddsville.
In 1869 the Central Pacific placed its depot about a half mile to the west of Laddsville, the first train making its appearance in August. The land upon which the depot was erected was on a part of a twenty acre tract given to the transportation company by William M. Menden- hall, who had acquired a large tract to the west of Laddsville. He had the new townsite platted and named it in honor of the beloved old pio- neer Robert Livermore. The town received a good start in 1869, for C. J. Stevens at once began the erection of a gristmill, which operated until burned on October 16, 1882. A. J. McLeod built a store; Men- denhall, a ware-house; Whitmore, a store; R. B. Campbell, a residence; the Livermore Hotel was erected; and thus the new town enjoyed a building boom and started off under most favorable circumstances. Mendenhall donated some land in the Arroyo Mocho in 1870 to the Livermore Collegiate Institute and the building was erected that year. It opened under the care of Dr. W. B. and Mrs. Kingsbury on the original site of six acres (later increased) and became the first private institution of learning in the east end of the county. The First Presby- terian Church was organized February 12, 1871. A fire wiped out most of old Laddsville during November of that year, which resulted in the moving of most of the business houses to the new town. The Catholic Church was erected in 1872; and the following year the Odd Fellows built their lodge home. Livermore's first newspaper began publication in May, 1874, under the name of the Enterprise. When W. P. Bartlett
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.