History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 132

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood
Number of Pages: 1206

USA > California > Alameda County > History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions > Part 132

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LEWIS KNOX .- Was born in Licking County, Ohio, August 20, 1829, and is the son of Titus and Margaret Ann (Sinnolt) Knox. At the age of seven years, his parents moving to Delaware County, in the same State, our subject resided there until April, 1852, when he started for the Pacific Coast and landed in San Francisco on May 13th, He at once proceeded to San José and continued farming there until 1857, in which year he returned to Ohio, where, June 23, 1857, he was united in mar- riage to Miss Mary Allen, a native of Franklin County. On the ist July following, accompanied by his bride, Mr. Knox once more turned towards California, and on arrival settled at Haywards, where he lived until 1861, when he came to his present place, consisting of one hundred acres where he is engaged in general farming and fruit-raising. His family consists of three sons and a daughter, viz .: Owen, Ellie (now Mrs. Lynch), Harry, and George.

WILLIAM KNOX .- The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Licking County, Ohio, July 9, 1823, and there resided for the first thirteen years of his life. He then moved to Delaware County, in the same State, where he lived with his father upon a farm up to 1846, afterwards entering into the occupation

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of driving cattle, an employment he continued until the spring of 1850. On March Ist of that year he removed to New York and with seven companions sailed therefrom on the Empire City for the Isthmus of Panama, thence by sailing-vessel to San Fran- cisco. The latter part of this voyage was attended with difficulties which culminated in the suicide of the master of the ship and her putting back. In Panama our subject worked for two weeks in a restaurant, and finally paying three hundred dollars for a passage-ticket on board of the old steamer Isthmus, arrived in San Francisco, July 12, 1850. Proceeding at once to the mines on the Yuba River, Mr. Knox there worked until the following year, 1851, when he transferred his habitation to San José, and in the fall embarked in farming operations, which he successfully continued up till the autumn of 1853, at which time he paid a visit to the scenes of his youth in Ohio. There purchasing a band of sheep he drove them across the plains to Santa Clara County, where he arrived in the month of October, 1854. Mr. Knox now engaged in sheep-farming, making his home in that historic county until the fall of 1856, when he came to Alameda County, located in the vicinity of the place where he now resides and there followed sheep-raising until 1873. In the year 1864 our subject revisited his childhood's home in Ohio and brought back with him to California a band of horses, while once again, in 1869, he turned his steps eastward to revisit the land of his youth he loves so well. Mr. Knox is now the possessor of property aggregating eight hundred and forty acres and acquired as follows: In the fall of 1864 he purchased a plot of land at San Lorenzo, Eden Township, comprising one hundred and four acres; in 1867, he bought a half-section of land in .Murray Township; and again, in 1873, a ranch of three hundred and sixty acres also situated in Murray Township, while the farm on which he now resides he acquired in 1861, and it is at present under general grain and fruit cultivation. Mr. Knox married in Franklin County, Ohio, June 23, 1857, Miss Rhoda L. Greenleaf, a native of Middlebury, Vermont, who died December 16, 1882, by which union there have been born seven children, only three of whom survive, viz .: Milo, William, and John.

JOHN W. KOTTINGER .- The subject of this sketch is the youngest son of Anthony and Rosa (Koenig) Kottinger, and was born in Austria, November 24, 1820. When nine years of age he was sent by his parents to the city of Vienna, the capital of Austria, where he received that education which leaves him a scholar of great erudition. At the age of twenty-two years he entered the family of Prince Charles Lichtenstein as private tutor, where he remained until November, 1845, in which year he went to Switzerland. In 1846 he crossed the Atlantic to New Orleans, and came from there with George D. Prentice to Louisville, Kentucky, with whom he was connected until February, 1847, while that gentleman was editor of the Louisville Journal. Mr. Kottinger subsequently resided in different portions of the United States, and ultimately sailed from New York to Rio de Janeiro, Valparaiso, etc. finally arriving in California, September 16, 1849, on the Hamburg bark Adelgunda. After a sojourn of six days in San Francisco our subject proceeded to the Pueblo de San José, where he opened the first school taught there. From January, 1850, he acted as interpreter in the different courts of Santa Clara County, until October, at which time he purchased a band of cattle and drove them to the mines for sale. This done, he returned to San José and entered into partnership with District Attorney Sanford, being admitted to the practice of law in the spring of 1851. In the fall of that year he came to what is now Alameda County and settled at Pleasanton, then commonly known as Alisal from the many sycamore trees in that vicinity. For an account of Mr. Kottinger's doings we refer the reader to the history of Murray Township. In January, 1852, he was joined by his family, and then entered into the business of stock-raisng, which he followed until the year 1857, at which time he removed his residence to San Francisco and embarked in the real estate business. In 1852 he returnd to Alameda County, where he has since resided. Married, April 27, 1850, Señorita Maria R. Bernal, and has a family of nine children surviving, viz .: John, Franklin, Alfred, William, Rosa Eva, Annie, Maggie, and Martha.

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

JOSEPH LANCASTER .- The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England, November 24, 1842, and there passed the first twelve years of his life, having attended school in that town. After serving an apprenticeship of seven years at his trade in a large establishment at Batley, he then worked as a journeyman tailor until 1863, when he sailed from Liver- pool for the United States. Landing in New York, after a short time he proceeded to Newburgh, but a few weeks subsequently, in the month of October of that year, enlisted in Company A, 115th Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, Colonel Simmons, commanding, and at once proceeded to the south, joining his regiment at Beaufort, South Carolina, where it was then stationed-the 115th was a part of General Seymour's command, which made a campaign in Florida early in 1864-taking part in the engagement at Olustee, Florida, where he was wounded, and still bears the scar. He was then invalided for three months, after which, first having a short furlough, he rejoined his regiment before Petersburgh, Virginia, where it took an active part in the siege, and he made the assault on the rebel lines with his corps, when the mines were exploded under the enemy's works on the 30th of July, called the Bloody Battle of the Crater. He next proceeded with his battalion to Point of Rocks, on the north side of the James River, where, in a charge on the rebel's lines, he had the third finger of his right hand shot away at the middle joint; he next proceeded to Fortress Monroe, and a few weeks later was shipped to the North. On recovering from this last wound he returned to Newburgh in the fall of 1864, and two months thereafter paid a visit of a few weeks duration to Canada, whence he found his way to New Bedford, where shipping on board the Sophia Thornton, whaler, he sailed around Cape Horn, via the Sandwich Islands, to the Arctic Seas. He was there captured by the rebel cruiser Shenandoah, which destroyed every vessel she overhauled. The crews being eventually paroled, they were sent to San Francisco, and 'twas thus that our subject found himself in California. In July, 1865, he arrived in the Bay City, and finding employment at his trade with Francis Dixey, on Washington Street, there remained a year, after which he started in business on his own account on California Street, near Montgomery, and after several moves, finally, in January 1880, took up his present location at No. 531 California Street, San Francisco, where he is engaged in a large and prosperous merchant-tailoring business. In 1871 he purchased land and built his present residence on Encinal Avenue, Alameda, where he enjoys the well-earned comforts of a happy home. Married, January 13, 1869, Miss Eliza Richards, a native of England, and has five children, viz .: Charlotte E., Susan H., Joseph L., Harold L., Bessie M.

A. G. LAWRIE .- Was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1827. He came to San Francisco in the year 1860, establishing himself as a Searcher of Records in San Francisco and Virginia City, there remained until 1865. In that year he proceeded to Alameda County in the like occupation, where he has since maintained a contin- uous residence. Mr. Lawrie has had a long experience in his business, and takes rank among the leading searchers of records in the State. His office is situated at the northeast corner of Broadway and Fifth Streets, Oakland.

RICHARD LEHRBASS .- Was born in Prussia, Germany, October 13, 1853, and there resided with his parents until he attained the age of sixteen years. He then commenced learning the brewery business, which occupation he followed until he emigrated to the United States. Landing in New York on November 1, 1872, he at once proceeded to Detroit, Michigan, and there worked at his calling until the spring of 1875, when he moved to Connecticut, then to Ohio, and in the spring of 1876 came to California, arriving in San Francisco in the month of July. Here he was employed in a brewery until the following June, when he moved to Oakland, Alameda County, and found occupation at the same trade. He subsequently engaged in the bottled beer business, and finally purchased the saloon at Market Street station on Seventh Street, Oakland, where he is now engaged in business.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

COLUMBUS R. LEWIS .- Was born in Jefferson County, New York, July 17, 1838, and is the son of Grandison and Mary (Choffee) Lewis. At the age of sixteen years he left home, and commenced clerking in Oswego, New York, where he remained until 1860. In that year he emigrated to California, and after passing two years at the mines in Inyo and Tulare Counties came to Oakland, in 1862, and worked at his trade of carpenter. He was the first fireman of the Central Pacific Local Train. The three following years he passed in a mercantile house, and in 1868 commenced a commission business which he still carries on. In March, 1880, he was elected to the Council of the City of Oakland, and still is in the performance of the responsible duties attendant on that office. Married, September 22, 1869, Mrs. Florence Hunger- ford, a native of New York, and has one child, viz .: Arthur, and two step-daughters: Kirkie and Nellie Hungerford. He has identified himself with the growth of the city of Oakland by the erection of a permanent brick building on Washington Street, and may be said to be one of the pioneers of Oakland City.

CAPT. JAMES MORTIMER R. LEWIS (deceased) .- Was born in Mount Vernon, Virginia, in 1812, and was a son of Thomas Lewis, an officer of the Revolutionary Army. When young our subject was placed with his uncle, Wash. Roby, and received his early schooling in Washington City. He then entered the United States Navy, serving under such gallant heroes as Commodores Perry and Farragut. Having sur- mounted the intervening grades from Ensign to Captain, in 1837 he was dispatched to the Pacific Coast, and as early as the fall of that year had anchored off Goat Island. Continuing in the Navy until 1842, he then entered the mercantile marine, and was for eight years on the route between New York and Liverpool. In 1849 he made a voyage to California, and returning to New York, sailed thence to Liverpool, as officer of the ship Star of the West. On his return he became a benedict. Until 1853, he ran on the route between New York and Havre, and in June of that year launched the clipper ship Young America, and sailed round the Horn to San Francisco. On arrival he entered the employ of the Pacific Mail Company, and was on the route between San Francisco and Nicaragua. In October 1855 he returned to the Empire City, but subsequently sailed again in the ship Adelaide, Captain Wakeman, for the Bay City, where he joined his wife, who had left New York a few days subsequent to his departure, and coming via Nicaragua, had preceeded his arrival by some time. Captain Lewis now took up his residence in San Francisco, but remained in the employ of the Pacific Mail Company, plying between the Coast ports until 1858, when on account of declining health he made Centreville his home. Taking up his resi- dence there, April 20, 1858, with his wife, a few months later the erection of the hotel now conducted by Mrs. Lewis, was commenced, it received the name of the United States, and there the veteran captain resided up to the time of his death. In 1865 he took up a ranch on the San Joaquin, which his widow now owns, January 15, 1873, the captain was gathered to his fathers, after a long and patient illness. He lies buried at the Mission San José, and over his grave has been erected a handsome monument by his sorrowing relict. Married in New York City, October 8, 1850, Miss Bridget J., daughter of Edward and Mary (Forristall) Wall, of Carrick Bay, County Waterford, Ireland, by whom he had two children, now deceased.

WILLIAM M. LISTON .- Was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, July 31, 1813, and at ten years of age was taken by his parents to Wayne County, Indiana, where he received his education and resided on a farm for eight years. Proceeding in 1831 to the then territory of Michigan he was for six years engaged in trading with the Indians in Berrien County, and for two years subsequently carried on the trade of butcher there. On December 31, 1838, he left Michigan, and going to South Bend, Indiana, there passed three years as clerk in a lawyer's office, afterwards engaging in the lime trade. In June, 1846, he returned to Michigan, located at St. Joseph, and "being in poor health recruited for the next eighteen months, at the end of which time he purchased a saw-mill and conducted it until November 30, 1850, but his establishment

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

being consumed by fire, after settling his affairs, he found himself with just sufficient money to take him to California-the Land of Gold. On June 1, 1851, he started with his wife and child for New York, and there taking passage in the steamer Prome- thus, sailed for the Isthmus of Panama. On the Pacific side he made the voyage in the Sea Bird, but being extremely ill he was put ashore at Monterey. After a few weeks in that ancient city he made the journey northwards and arrived at Mission San José, July 29, 1851, and was for twenty-seven weeks in the employ of Henry C. Smith. He was afterwards engaged in the building of a warehouse for the same gentleman at Alvarado, after which he moved to San Francisco, and for a few months conducted the old Montgomery House, situated on the thoroughfare of that name between California and Pine Streets. Like everybody else Mr. Liston took a turn at the mines, but one day's work was sufficient to prove to him that it required a maximum of toil to produce a minimum of gold, he therefore returned to Alvarado and worked for wages on a farm until the fall of 1852. He then embarked in a grocery business, in a build- ing now vacant, located on Minden Lane. At the end of eighteen months he went into the stock business which he followed until the fall of 1861, when once more hard fate dealt unkindly with him. Undeterred, however, he once more essayed hotel-keeping, and opened the Brooklyn House on the ground where he is now located, and con- ducted it four years. Mr. Liston next engaged in staging from Warm Springs to Haywards, San Leandro, and Oakland, remaining thus occupied until 1872, during which he had the contract for carrying the mail from San Leandro to Centreville, which last he held until 1861. In the month of October of that year he opened the Alvarado Tavern, which he at present conducts. Besides being a Justice of the Peace for Washington Township, he is also a member of the local Pioneer Association. Married in Michigan, November 18, 1847, Miss Catherine Kelly, a native of Canada, and has three surviving children, viz .: Maggie (now Mrs. W. F. Ingalls), Mary (now Mrs. D. C. Owens), and Jonathan J.

ROBERT LIVERMORE (deceased) .- This old pioneer, after whom is named the fertile Livermore Valley, in which stands the prosperons town also so called, was born in Bethnal Green, London, England, in the year 1799, and there remained until 1823, when he entered the naval service of Great Britain, taking part in several notable sea fights, being for some time on the South American Coast under Lord Cochrane, after- wards Earl of Dundonald, when that famous Admiral was in command of the Peruvian fleets. He subsequently entered the merchant service, and while serving in that branch of the marine service came to Monterey in the year 1820. He soon after took to a shore-going life, and proceeding to the Pueblo de San José, there became acquainted with his future partner Noriega. Having worked for some time in the vicinity of the pueblo on the ranch of Juan Alvirez and there acquiring the Spanish language, he soon became a great favorite among the Mexicans, his fair hair and cap- tivating manners making him especially liked among the gentler sex. Not long after he removed to the Rancho Agua Caliente, or Warm Springs, where he stayed with the family of .Higuera, and quickly finding favor in the eyes of one of the daughters of the house, secured her for a companion through life. We next hear of Robert Livermore in what is now the Suñol Valley where building an adobe resi- dence he located and entered upon the raising of stock and the cereals. He was here joined by his old comrade Noriega, and with him developed the idea of securing a rancho in the neighboring valley, then a wilderness of wild oats and chaparral and the home of large and small game. In 1835 he settled on the Las Pocitas Rancho, in Livermore Valley-the grant being secured in 1835-and subsequently purchasing the interest of Noriega, there resided until the day of his death, which occurred in February, 1858. His estate he left to his wife and eight children. Robert Livermore was essentially a good man and true, and was of that grit of which the proper pioneer is made. His hospitality was unbounded, his open hand and heart knew no stint,. . he died as he had lived, respected by all who knew him. A volume could be written

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upon his many virtues, let it be our duty to here, as well as in other portions of this work, perpetuate his name in the annals of Alameda County.

ROBERT LIVERMORE .- This gentleman, whose portrait will be found in our pages, is the eldest son of the above distinguished pioneer and is the worthy son of a worthy father. He was born in Santa Clara County in the year 1840, and there remained until 1847, when he came to his father's Rancho, now Livermore Valley. Here he has resided ever since. Up till 1868 he was engaged in stock-raising, but in that year he embarked in the cultivation of the cereals, an occupation he still con- tinues. His education he received at the colleges of Benicia and Santa Clara. In Robert Livermore we have one of nature's noblemen whose word is his bond, and whose instincts place him beyond a paltry act. He is respected by every one for his own sterling worth as well as for the name he bears, while as a friend, happy is he who can claim that tie of amity. He married, November 25, 1861, Señora Teresa Bernal, and has six children, viz .: Isabella, Victoria, Charles, Katie, Nicholas and Delphina.

MAAS LUDERS .- Was born in Holstein, Germany, January 27, 1837. At the age of fifteen he commenced a seafaring life and after six years of a "life on the ocean wave" with all its concomitant disadvantages he found himself in New York Harbor. On July 26, 1858, he shipped on board the Mary Brigham from Savannah, Georgia, bound via Cape Horn to San Francisco, California. In the Bay City Mr. Lüders arrived November 11, 1858, and now trying a shore-going life he came to Alameda County and first found employment for six months in Washington Township, then with Cornelius Mohr, Eden Township, until September 15, 1861. In this year Mr. Lüders rented land near Haywards and resided on it until 1865. In 1863 he rented a portion of the Dougherty Ranch, which he farmed while residing in Haywards. Finally, in the fall of 1865, he came to the place where he now lives, about two and a half miles west of Livermore, where he has been engaged in farming extensively up to the present time. In 1881 he purchased a tract of land of Wm. M. Mendenhall; a portion of the Rancho El Valle de San José, also a part of the Santa Rita Ranch, where he intends to make his permanent home in the future. He married November 21, 1872, Maria Hagemann, also a native of Holstein. The family consists of a step- son named August Hagemann. A portrait of Mr. Lüders will be found in this work.

JOHN L. LYON .- Was born in Ogdensburgh, St. Lawrence County, New York, April 7, 1842. Was educated at the High School of chat place and there resided until he attained the age of nineteen years. He then entered the army. On the day after the fall of Fort Sumter he enlisted as a private for six months, afterwards, however, enlisting for two years in Company A, Sixteenth New York Volunteer Infantry, and serving with his corps in all the principal engagements of that sanguinary conflict. He was with the Sixteenth at the first and second battles of Bull's Run, the seven days' fight on the Peninsula, the first fight at Fredericksburg at Antietam, and at the second battle of Fredericksburg, eighteen battles in all, in many of which he carried the national colors, and as a matter of course was always in the thickest of the fray, while his "hair-breadth 'scapes" are to be counted by tens. While at Salem Heights he received three bullet holes through his pants and had his haversack shot off, while two of the stars were carried away by bullets out of the banner he bore. On Septem- ber 29, 1862, he was promoted to be a sergeant of his company. On January 1, 1863, he was told off as permanent color-bearer of his regiment, a distinguished but hazardous position he occupied until the expiration of his time, when he brought home the bullet-riddled flag and presented it to Governor Seymour. On May 22, 1863, receiving his honorable discharge, he returned home to Ogdensburgh, and in that town, Potsdam, and Watertown recruited a full company for the Fourteenth Heavy Artillery, with which he proceeded to Albany, but did not receive his commission as Captain on account of having taken a rather prominent part in the Valandingham Indignation meeting, to which Governor Seymour sent a friendly communication. Thus, not only was he officially shelved, but never received a dollar towards paying

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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

his expenses in raising the aforesaid company of artillery. Returning to Ogdens- burgh, September 19, 1864, he stayed there only a short time, and soon proceeded to Syracuse in search of employment as a clerk, armed with a laudatory letter from Mr. Preston King, recommending him as "a young gentleman in whose good character, integrity, and good qualities the writer, who had known him from boyhood, had the fullest confidence." This gentleman was a prominent citizen of Ogdensburgh, and had been for sixteen years the Representative from St. Lawrence County. Finding a position in Syracuse he there remained about six months, when he proceeded to St. Joseph, Missouri, and embarked in the lumber trade, organizing during the year he resided there the first fire company in the town, and becoming foreman of the Iroquois Hook and Ladder Company. Mr. Lyon now returned to Brooklyn, New York, and entered the brick and lime business, being associated with the firm of Reeve & Co., for a year, when, upon the dissolution of the partnership, our subject carried on the same business for a period of seven years. During the panic of 1872, Mr. Lyon was one of its victims, therefore, having lost all, he turned towards California to retrieve

his fortunes. Sailing from New York, December 1, 1872, he arrived in San Fran- cisco on January 2, 1873, and commenced an auction business under the style and firm of Chamberlain & Lyon, at No. 539 California Street. This partnership was dis- solved at the end of a twelvemonth, and the style became Lyon & Fowler, the two gentlemen being associated until the removal of our subject to Oakland. In August, 1876, he then established the now well-known house of Lyon & Kinsey, at the corner of Washington and Ninth Streets, and at the end of three years leased their present extensive establishment at Nos. 912 and 916 Washington Street, Oakland, where they carry on a general auction business in all its branches. Mr. Lyon holds the several offices of First Vice-President of the Home Protection Association of California; Vice-President of the Home Protection Association of the city of Oakland; and President of the Board of Trustees of the First Baptist Church of Oakland; Pres- ident of a mutual insurance society, known as the National Temperance Relief Union; Trustee in the Cosmopolitan Mutual Building and Loan Association; Director of Young Men's Christian Association; and ex-President of Oakland Reform Club; and, as a reformer, an incident occurred at the Republican State Convention (of which he was a delegate in the fall of 1882), which is told of him. Some two or three hun- dred delegates were smoking in the hall, when Mr. Lyon arose and addressing the Chair, said: "Mr. President-If I understand it aright, the Republican Party is a party of reform, and if we expect to accomplish anything in that line we must set the example; and as I look about me to-day I would take this to be a Democratic Con- vention did I not know to the contrary. Now, Mr. President, tobacco is a poisonous weed. It was the Devil that sowed the seed. It robs the pockets. It spoils the clothes. It makes a chimney of a man's nose. Therefore, Mr. President, I move that smoking be strictly prohibited during the balance of the session of this convention." Which motion was carried unanimously, amid great applause. He is also a member of Lyon Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and a member of the Patriotic Sons of America. Married in Fayetteville, Onondaga County, New York, October 12, 1864, Miss Mary E., only daughter of Julia A., Parker, a native of that State, by which union there are two sons, viz .: William P. and Edward C. A portrait of Mr. Lyon appears in this work.

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History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 132

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood Number of Pages: 1206

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood
Number of Pages: 1206