USA > California > Alameda County > History of Alameda County, California. Volume I > Part 8
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became its editor and owner on February 1, 1877, its name was changed to the Herald. The Livermore Spring Water Company brought water from the Las Pocitas springs in 1875, and began to supply the town with water. The town was incorporated April 30, 1876, with a town- site embracing 840 acres, which included the original townsite of Men- denhall, the McLeod addition, the Waterman addition, and the Smith- Grant addition. A new eight-room school building was erected in 1877, four rooms only being used until 1880, when the growth of the town required the finishing of the remaining four rooms. Livermore Lodge, No. 218, F. & A. M., was instituted October 19, 1872. Livermore Lodge, No. 219, I. O. O. F., was organized May 23, 1873. Vesper Lodge, No. 62, A. O. U. W., dates from October 18, 1878; Livermore Lodge, No. 200, I. O. G. T., from January 24, 1881; and Livermore Council, No. 1,070, American Legion of Honor, from December 22, 1882. These were the pioneer lodges of the city. The Livermore Pub- lic Library Association was organized in the spring of 1878, and a sum of $500 was raised that year for a building, a lot being donated for a building site by C. J. Stevens.
The coal mines about twelve miles east of Livermore were dis- covered about 1863. The discovery was made in Corral Hollow by Captain Jack O'Brien. The mines were worked for several years, and finally came into the possession of W. T. Coleman, of San Francisco. In 1873 Thomas Harris and Jenkins Richards discovered other crop- pings at the edge of the Livermore Valley, and about three miles north of the Corral Hollow Mines. A company was incorporated to operate there, its members being W. A. Jones, W. Jenkins, T. Harris, J. Rich- ards and W. W. Wynn. In 1876 still another company was organized, known as the Summit Coal Mining Company.
PLEASANTON
Pleasanton was once known as Alisal (Cottonwood), was named so by John W. Kottinger after the dashing cavalry officer Pleasanton, who served under Fremont. It was laid out upon the land which was granted in common in 1839 to Antonio Sunol, Antonio Maria Pico, Augustin Bernal, and Juan P. Bernal. Pico sold his interest to Sunol, and in 1846 Sunol sold his interest to Juan P. Bernal. Augustin Bernal did not move to his lands from the Santa Clara Valley until 1850, when he built a house about a mile west of the present town of Pleasanton. John W. Kottinger, a native of Austria, came in 1851 to engage in stock
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
raising, and erected a house near the Arroyo Valle. Juan Pablo Bernal, the brother of Augustin, built an adobe house on the opposite side of the creek from Kottinger's place in September, 1852. In 1857 Duerr & Nusbaumer opened a store in Kottinger's house; and two years later Charles Garthwaite followed with another store opposite the residence of Augustin Bernal. Kottinger married into the Bernal family, and by 1863 had become possessed of a considerable portion of the Bernal estate. He conceived the plan of starting the town of Alisal, putting a few lots on the market. Among the first purchasers were Jacob Tee- ters, William Wittner, and Dr. Goucher, all of whom erected dwellings. Joshua A. Neal, a pioneer of the year 1847, and who had been major- domo for Robert Livermore for a number of years, came there also and married a daughter of Augustin Bernal, acquiring over 500 acres and some of which is now contained in the present boundaries of Pleas- anton. The first public school opened in 1864. Kottinger built and opened the Farmer's Hotel in 1865, and two years later Anton Bar- dellini erected a second hotel on the site later used for the erection of the Pleasanton Hotel. In 1867 Kottinger made surveys for the town of Pleasanton. Main Street was then little else than a country road. During 1869 and 1870 the new town had a splendid growth, the com- ing of the railroad assisting materially. Pleasanton's pioneer lodge is Lodge No. 225, I. O. O. F., which was organized January 17, 1877.
Sunol, situated six miles west of Pleasanton, received its name from the old Sunol family which received the old Mexican land grant pre- viously mentioned. The first school in the village was started in 1865, and was taught by Mrs. Sam Brown.
THE EARLY SETTLEMENTS OF WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP
Washington township is bounded on the north by Eden and Mur- ray townships; on the west by Murray township; to the south is Santa Clara County ; and the San Francisco Bay forms its western line. The first original Mexican grant in this township was made October 13, 1836, to Antonio Sunol, who acquired thereby the Rancho del Agua Caliente of two leagues. Sunol transferred his grant to Fulgencio Higuerra. The Rancho Arroyo del Alameda was granted by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Jose Jesus Vallejo, who had previously also ob- tained another grant of one thousand varas square. Augustin Alviso, who had been the major-domo at the Mission, settled upon the Rancho Potrero de los Cerritos in 1842, and together with Thomas Pacheco ob-
THE GIERSBERG VINEYARD, NEAR LIVERMORE
THE PARIS VINEYARD, NEAR LIVERMORE
The pictures above were taken in 1898
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
tained the grant to that portion of the county. In 1846 the last grant in the county was made to Alvarado and Pico, consisting of 30,000 acres of the Mission lands. This grant was rejected in December, 1867, and a large number of United States patents were issued to those who had settled there during the intervening time.
Washington township was settled before any other portion of Ala- meda County. This was due to two reasons-the founding of the Mis- sion San Jose, and its proximity to the Pueblo de San José. The first settlers were the priests of the Mission and their followers, who held sway over the territory extending well into Murray township and as far as San Leandro. Then came the Mexicans. The Higuerra family settled on the Warm Springs ranch. There was Valentine Higuerra; Fulgencio Higuerra; and Salvio Higuerra, son of Fulgencio. Augustin Alviso had his ranch near Centerville; while Vallejo had his mansion at the corner of the road to Washington Corners. These men were wealthy for their day. When the famous ship Brooklyn came with its passengers in 1846, Washington township attracted some of those who came to permanently locate in California. John M. Horner pitched his tent on the gentle slopes not far from the Contra Costa Range, not far from what was later known as Washington Corners. To him belongs the honor of being the first American settler of the township. Perry Morrison, the second American to locate there, followed in 1847, as did Earl Marshall, another of the Brooklyn emigrants. The mines were too attractive during 1848, but in 1849 E. L. Beard settled in the township. The year 1850 saw the arrival of Henry C. Smith to the Mission. Smith had served with Fremont's California Battalion; was early appointed a alcalde by General Riley; and was prominent in the early formation of the county, serving as a pioneer supervisor. John L. Beard, son of E. L. Beard; and H. G. Ellsworth, a son-in-law of E. L. Beard; also came in 1850. E. L. Beard had opened a store at the Mission in 1849, and Jeremiah Fallon, Michael Murray and William Norris were also among the American residents there at that period. In 1850 Vallejo was running a crude mill at Niles, the second one in the township, for the missionary fathers had built a primitive one prior to that time. William Tyson was another settler of 1850, and Origin Mowry set- tled at what became known as Mowry's Landing. Ephriam Dyer set- tled in Washington township in the same year, but later moved to Mur- ray. L. P. Gates and Ed. Neihaus, Simeon Stivers, John Niel, W. H. Chamberlain, and an attorney by the name of Coombs swelled the in- creasing population of 1850.
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
Henry C. Smith had erected two ware-houses at Alvarado, and in 1851 William M. Liston arrived to take charge of them. There were then only two houses in Alvarado, one of which also housed a small store. Liston built the third home. Union City claimed three families at that time. These were occupied by Dr. Buckland, who had charge of the Horner ware-house; and Captain Nowell and Captain Richardson, who had a couple of small vessels plying on the bay. John Wilson lived on Alameda Creek, not far from the hamlet. The year 1851 witnessed the arrivals of Calvin Valpey, Henry Smith, Christian P. Hanson, Lewis Cass Smith, Stephen Larkin, Joshua Wauhab, M. Sigrist, George W. Patterson, George W. Bond, and John J. Riser. During the fall of that year Horner bought the steamer Union, which had been brought to San Francisco in sections, and placed her on the run between Union City and San Francisco. Captain Marston was placed in com- mand. The year was also marked by the purchase of the Alvarado Rancho by Beard and Horner, who commenced the cultivation of po- tatoes. It is related that they sold their crop of the second year for one hundred thousand dollars. That resulted in a grand rush to grow po- tatoes the succeeding year, and there was such a flood of tubers grown in the township and county that low prices prevailed and no one realized a profit.
The population was further increased by Americans in 1852. These included Emery Munyan, H. K. W. Clarke, Isaac M. Long, Richard Threlfall, Nathaniel L. Babb, Howard Overacker (later a county su- pervisor), Garrett S. Norris, William H. Cockefair, Edward Ross, Henry Curtner, Daniel M. Sanborn, John T. Stevenson, E. S. Allen, Joseph Ralph, James Beazell, Joel Russell, C. J. Stevens, George Simp- son, Victor W. Nuttman, Thomas W. Millard, William Barry and George M. Walters. During the spring of the year Henry C. Smith and A. M. Church, the latter later becoming Alameda County's first county clerk, opened a store in Alvarado. Alvarado also gained W. Param, Edward Chinnery and a Mr. Hayes. Peter J. Campbell settled between Centerville and Alvarado during the fall; and Captain Bond built a blacksmith shop on the present site of Centerville.
This productive part of Alameda County secured, among others, the following new residents between 1853 and the close of 1855: J. W. Musser, Edward F. Burdick, Ebenezer Healey, James Emmerson, John Proctor, Farley B. Granger, John Blacow, Luther E. Osgood, Jarel T. Walker, Frank Frietes, Herman Eggers, John C. Whipple, Joseph F. Black, John McRae, William Morgan, Ezra Decoto, Antone Joseph,
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
Hank Smith, John Hanna, Sanford Taylor, F. W. Meyer, Elijah Fos- ter, August May, August Heyer, Michael H. Ryan, John Taylor, Henry Dusterberry, William Wales, Z. D. Cheney, Silvester P. Har- vey, Andrew J. McLeod, William H. Mack, Philip Thorn and William H. Healey.
Alvarado will always occupy a prominent place in the history of the county, for it was there that the first county seat was established upon the creation of the new municipal unit of the state. This important event in the annals of the small village brought a number of new resi- cents, and even necessitated the establishment of a privately taught school in 1853, with five students; while not long afterwards the first public school was opened. The first courthouse was established in the upper story of the warehouse used by Smith & Church as their store, while the various county offices were scattered about town in the most handy and available places that could be secured. In 1869 a beet-sugar making concern was started a short distance to the north- east of town, upon lands belonging to E. H. Dyer. Salt making was also another early industry of the locality, John Quigley, commencing operations in 1862 at Alvarado, or Union City.
The pioneer lodges of Alvarado were those of the I. O. O. F. and of the A. O. U. W. Crusade Lodge, No. 93, I. O. O. F., was organized November 26, 1859, and was the first one established in the county. Reliance Lodge, No. 93, A. O. U. W., dates from April 15, 1881.
Centerville (spelled in pioneer days Centreville) had as its first settlers George A. Lloyd and Frank Pepper, but they did not remain long after pitching their tent upon the present townsite. But in 1852 Captain Bond opened a store there, dealing in such commodities as cod- fish, boots and whiskey. Prior to the advent of Bond, John M. Horner had erected a Mormon church there, upon a site later taken up by the United States Hotel. Horner conducted services there at times, and a school was also opened there some time later. In 1854 William Morgan opened a hotel on a site later occupied by the Gregory House, and fol- lowing Morgan came William Barry and a Mr. Wilson, who opened a store. In 1853 the Presbyterian Church was organized at Alvarado by Rev. W. W. Brier. Alameda Lodge, No. 167, F. and A. M., was organized October 13, 1864. Centerville Council, No. 34, I. O. O. F., was instituted December 15, 1881. The Pioneer Association of Wash- · ington, Murray and Eden townships was organized at Centerville on November 30, 1876, George W. Bond being elected its first president, and William Barry, secretary.
THE GREGORY HOUSE, CENTERVILLE, 1898
RESIDENCE OF E. H. DYER, ALVARADO, 1898
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
Decoto was named after Ezra Decoto, who originally owned the land upon which it is built. In 1867 he sold 284 acres to the railroad company, and later the Decoto Land Company was organized to lay out a townsite. The Decoto brothers built the first house in the town in 1867, and the following year a school district was formed. The first hotel was erected in 1874, and extensive warehouses were built by A. J. Hare.
In the early days Newark was a shipping point known as Dumbar- ton, where extensive wharves were erected from where the extensive products of the rich surrounding country were shipped to San Fran- cisco by boats running between the two points. Early in the spring of 1876 a large tract of land in the vicinity of the point was purchased by A. E. Davis, as a representative of the Pacific Land Investment Company, with interests closely connected with the Southern Pacific Coast Railroad Company. The tract consisted of about 4,500 acres. At once building operations were commenced, and the wharves built. In a few weeks railroad tracks were laid a distance of several miles from Dumbarton Point towards San Jose. In the spring of 1877 a fran- chise was obtained to build a road from Newark to Alameda, and its construction was commenced. A round-house and railroad sheds were erected in Newark. On June 1, 1878, cars began to run between Ala- meda and Los Gatos, Santa Clara County, connecting with the ferry for San Francisco at Alameda Point. The Catholic Church was dedi- cated there in 1880. During April of that year Newark Lodge, No. 169, A. O. U. W., was also organized. In 1864 J. A. Plummer pur- chased the property near Newark known as the Crystal Salt Works. and commenced operations for the manufacture of salt. Eventually Newark and Centerville became connected with street cars.
Niles is the point of junction of the S. P. line from Oakland to San Jose and the Oakland and Sacramento line of the same company. It is the site of the old flour mill built by Vallejo in 1850. Washington Corners has had its old pioneer name change to that of Irvington. It secured its old name from the fact that it was the cross-roads of two important thoroughfares of the early days. It was near there that John M. Horner made his first successful agricultural efforts, and around him gathered a number of American settlers. In the old days a negro conducted a saloon on one of the corners. It even boasted of a newspaper, the Independent, in the seventies. Washington College was established there in 1871, and operated until 1883.
CHAPTER III
PIONEER DAYS OF OAKLAND, BERKELEY, ALAMEDA
PERALTA GRANTED A PRINCELY ESTATE-AMERICAN VISITORS AND EARLY SETTLERS-OAKLAND FOUNDED-CARPENTIER SECURES THE WATER-FRONT-THE FIRST SCHOOL-IN THE DAYS BEFORE THE FER- RIES-OAKLAND BECOMES A CITY-THE FIRST NEWSPAPER-EARLY RAILROAD HISTORY-EARLY PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS-CITY HALL BUILT-FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOLS-SOCIETIES, LODGES AND CHURCHES -EARLY MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS-PIONEER BUSINESS CONCERNS -EARLY HISTORY OF THE OAKLAND LIBRARY-CITY OFFICIALS TO 1884-CLINTON AND SAN ANTONIO,' THEN BROOKLYN, THEN EAST OAKLAND-LOCATION OF MILLS COLLEGE-EARLY DAYS OF BERK- ELEY-THE CALIFORNIA INSTITUTION FOR THE DEAF, DUMB AND BLIND-PIONEER CHURCHES AND LODGES OF BERKELEY-ALAMEDA, CITY AND TOWNSHIP - ALAMEDA INCORPORATED - PIONEER CHURCHES, LODGES AND BUSINESS FIRMS.
PERALTA GRANTED A PRINCELY ESTATE
The history of Oakland, Alameda and Brooklyn townships center around that of the cities of Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley, together with the adjoining municipalities, or those entirely within the boundar- ies of Oakland. The history of each of those townships can be covered in following the course of events as they concern the three cities. There seems to be no doubt that Don Luis Peralta, who had spent about forty years of his life under the Spanish flag as a soldier, was the first settler upon the lands which now comprise the sites of Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley, Emeryville, Piedmont, Albany and adjacent sections. He had been attached to the Presidio at San Francisco, and asked for a grant of lands from the Spanish government. His desires were recognized, and on August 16, 1820, Don Pablo Vincente de Sala issued the grant to the princely dominion found within the boundary lines of Oakland, Alameda and Brooklyn townships. Peralta was a native of Tubac, in
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
Sonora, and was born about 1758. His wife, Maria Loretta Alviso, was thirteen years his junior, according to an old list of the soldiers of the Presidio prepared in 1790. Five sons and five daughters were born to them. The former were Cresanto, Ygnacio, Jose Domingo, Antonio Maria and Vincente. The daughters were named Teodora, Trinidad, Josefa, Guadalupe and Maria Louisa.
What later, unforseen to the Peraltas, became one of the most valu- able land possessions ever in the hands of a single individual was called the Rancho de San Antonio. Peralta himself did not reside upon the new grant, but maintained his residence at the Pueblo de San Jose. He also owned another grant in the Santa Clara Valley. There were two oak-covered peninsulas, or encinals, included in this vast tract. The one forming the original townsite of Oakland being known as the Encinal de Temescal; and that of Alameda receiving the name of the Encinal San Antonio. In 1842 Peralta divided his real estate holdings between his four living sons. To Vincente and Antonio Maria he gave that por- tion of the Rancho de San Antonio upon which the city of Oakland has since been built. Each of these two sons built adobe houses, Vin- cente erecting his a little north of Temescal; while Antonio Maria selected a building site upon the ground on which years later Fruitvale, Melrose, Brooklyn and Alameda were built. The sandy peninsula of Oakland was covered in those days by a dense growth of oak trees, from which the city derived its name, and there was a tangled under- brush of chaparral and other native species of underbrush. The chief use of the peninsula during the early days of the Peralta occupation was that of being a source of wood for fuel purposes. Jose Domingo was allotted the most northerly division of the property, on which the University of California and most of Berkeley has been built. Ygnacio secured the most southerly portion, including the locations of Damon's Landing, Fitchburg and Seminary Park. Don Luis Peralta, the father, died in 1851, at the age of ninety-three years, leaving a will in which he confirmed his previous distribution of the San Antonio grant to his four sons.
AMERICAN VISITORS AND EARLY SETTLERS
The first known American to visit the shores on this side of the bay was Thomas Eagar, who explored the eastern shore in a fashion between San Leandro and Antioch. Two years later a Mr. McPherson, a rather literary tramp of the days, visited the Peralta, Castro and
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
Estudillo ranchos. During the winter of 1849 and 1850 Moses Chase pitched a tent at what is now the foot of Broadway for the purpose of establishing a hunting camp. There had been some operations in the San Antonio redwoods as early as 1847. In February of 1850 three brothers, Robert F. Patten, William Patten and Edward C. Patten crossed the bay from San Francisco to visit the giant redwoods of the San Antonio Rancho. They landed with their whale-boat near where was later the Brooklyn end of the railroad bridge (which was a con- tinuation of Seventh Street). During the winter these brothers found Chase, who was in ill-health and desirous of returning east. The Pat- tens, who had by this time leased 160 acres of land in Brooklyn town- ship from Antonio Maria Peralta, induced Chase to join them, and in 1851 the four leased an additional 300 acres for a term of eight years. They commenced to raise barley, wheat and hay, and thus became the first actual farmers in this end of the county. The Pattens were the first settlers in what later became Clinton, a portion of East Oakland.
It was during 1850 that Colonel Henry S. Fitch, with four other persons, landed on this side of the bay from San Francisco by accident or because of poor sailing ability-they had started for Marin County -and the beauties of the locality greatly impressed Fitch. Securing an interpreter, he entered into negotiations with Peralta for about 2,400 acres of land bounded by San Antonio Creek-later known as Lake Merritt-and a line from the upper end of the lake to the nearest tide land in a westerly direction, and agreed to pay Peralta the sum of $15,000 for the tract within fifteen days. Fitch did not have the money, but induced Colonel Whitney of San Francisco to look over the prop- erty and to back him. Colonel Whitney came over, met Peralta, and after much discussion and consideration, decided that the land in ques- tion was not worth the investment. Much to the disgust of Fitch, Whit- ney refused to become financially interested in a tract of land which in a few years could not be bought for millions !
OAKLAND FOUNDED
During the summer of 1850 the much discussed trio-Moon, Adams and Carpentier, came to Oakland, establishing a shanty near the present foot of Broadway. They eventually secured a lease of land and other settlers and "squatters" arrived to form a village which was at first called Contra Costa. During the influx of new settlers technicalities and sundry defects of title appeared to cloud the ownership of much
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of the land embraced within the new village, and although the Peralta grant was subsequently established as the paramount and legal title, other defects arose which for years gave trouble. Chief of these were the so-called "Pretermitted Heirs" title, the "Sisters' " title, the Irving title, and the Cost title. A concerted effort of the inhabitants resulted in the year 1869 in clearing up all defects. In that year all of the out- standing claims were purchased and deeded to the city clerk, Henry Hillebrand, as trustee. He, in turn, thereupon made deeds to the sev- eral owners of lots and tracts, thus clearing the property of all ad- verse clouds.
Moon, Adams and Carpentier soon gathered around them sufficient settlers to bring about the incorporation of a town. A. J. Moon and H. W. Carpentier were lawyers, and the latter in particular was very active in the incorporation and organization of the new town. Carpen- tier had already served in the legislature, and was then an enrolling clerk in the law-making body, and through his efforts the legislature, meeting in Benicia, passed an act incorporating Oakland as a town. This bill was signed on May 1, 1852, by Richard P. Hammond, speaker of the assembly ; Samuel Purdy, president of the senate; and also approved by Governor John Bigler. It will be remembered that this event was before the creation of Alameda County, and while this was still a part of Contra Costa County. The act incorporating the town, with the original boundary lines and municipal powers, follows:
"The inhabitants of the district of country hereinafter described, are hereby declared to be incorporated under the provisions of 'an act to provide for the incor- poration of towns,' passed March 27, 1850, with the style of the town of Oakland, and by that name they shall have perpetual succession ; may sue and be sued, and . may purchase, receive, and hold property for their common benefit, and sell or otherwise dispose of the same. The boundaries of said town shall be as follows: On the northeast by a straight line at right angles with Main Street, running from the Bay of San Francisco; on the north to the southerly line of the San Antonio Creek or estuary, crossing Main Street at a point three hundred and sixty rods northeasterly from 'Oakland House,' on the corner of Main and First streets (as represented on Portor's maps of Contra Costa on file in the office of the Secretary of State; thence down the southerly line of said creek or slough to its mouth in the bay; thence to Ship Channel; thence northerly and easterly by the line of Ship Channel to a point where the same bisects the said northeastern boundary line.
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