History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 133

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 133

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WILLIAM HAYWARD MACK .- The youngest son of Elisha Mack, Jr., who at the time was engaged in the mercantile business in West Troy, New York. William H. was born August 23, 1812. When about two years old his parents moved to Albany, New York, where his mother died March 4, 1819. He was then sent to Plainfield, Massachusetts, to his mother's parents to be educated. When he was ten years old his father remarried, and the two sons returned to him at Albany. His father at this time was very extensively engaged in the wholesale produce and pork- packing business. William, when about sixteen years old, was offered a fine situation

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by Wm. Gay, a wholesale and retail drygoods merchant; this offer was made with the understanding that he should be taken as a partner when he became familiar with the business; but the father objected to the business, a great disappointment to the son, who was of a very active business turn of mind. When he was just coming of age, he one day asked his father what time of day he was born; upon receiving the answer, " About two o'clock in the morning," he replied, " Then I will not sleep another night in your house." He soon got a situation on a steamboat plying between Albany and New York. When navigation closed for the season he got a situation in Stamoix Hall, where there was a large dining-room adjoining the ball-room. When there was a ball, he had the entire management of the dining-room, setting and decorating the tables sometimes for three hundred at a sitting. Upon the reopening of navigation, he resumed the steamboat business. He was married October 13, 1836, to Miss Anna Shonts, a farmer's daughter, born near Saratoga Springs, New York. February II, 1838, he bought out his brother, who was a grocer. This business he conducted until the close of 1848. In 1845 and 1846 he draughted and superintended the erection of a block of buildings for Mrs. Dudley, who donated the Dudley Observatory to the city of Albany. During this time he made a mold for running cornice, of an entirely new plan, by the use of which over two-thirds of the material was saved, as used by the old style of mold. This new mold was in time adopted all over the United States. Had he taken out a patent on it, he would probably have made a large for- tune. At the same time that he was engaged in this work, he had three large stores in different parts of the city, employing six clerks during the busy season, yet doing all the buying himself. When he concluded to come to California, he spent an entire year settling his large business. He sailed on the steamer Ohio, February 15, 1850, taking a steerage passage, as he said, to harden him for the expected rough experi- ence of California. The passage was very severe, making the passengers extremely sick. Fortunately he had taken the wise precaution to put his system in good condition before embarking, so that he experienced little suffering. He therefore offered his services to the physician in taking care of the steerage passengers. His offer was gladly accepted, and he did good service, which was so well appreciated that the second day out he got a state-room, and took his meals at the captain's table. Being of a social disposition he soon won the good-will of the cabin passengers, and was treated by the officers as one of their number. At Havana he was invited to go ashore with them. At Chagres they engaged small boats to convey them to Gorgona, and pack-mules from there to Panama. Detained there a month they reached San Francisco April 29, 1850. He had shipped goods on the ship Solon, which ran afoul of a rock in the Magellan Straits, and much of her cargo was thrown overboard, and the remainder taken from the sinking vessel to a French bark and brought to San Fran- cisco. He tried mining for two months, but was not successful. After this he engaged on a steamboat plying between San Francisco and Sacramento. This seemed his favorite and proper business. He received the income of the table and berths, mak- ing a profit the first four months of one thousand dollars per month. This run of good-fortune ceasing, he engaged in the same work at a salary. October 10, 1851, he took passage for Albany, to bring his family to California. Six out of seven of his children were dead, the surviving child, a daughter, was brought to California, May 27, 1852. He again followed steamboating for a time, and then bought the Rhode Island House, succeeding very well until the Corporation ordered a sewer to be run through the street, requiring the building to be raised fifteen feet, when he sold out January 3, 1857, he started with his family for a ranch near Mowry's Landing, Alameda County. He had bought this ranch of a squatter, but it was inside a large inclosure where wild cattle were pastured, and he soon grew tired of the place. He then opened a store at the Landing, and soon established a fine business. As it was very difficult to get out to the stage road and to church in the rainy season, he built a store and dwelling at Washington Corners, where he now resides (June 1, 1883). The

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second year after the San José Branch Railroad was completed, he took the agency at Washington Corners, and also the Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express, doing the work for two years with entire satisfaction, relinquishing it to enable his only son to become a machinist. March 17, 1873, he was appointed Postmaster, an office he yet holds, administering its duties with the most scrupulous fidelity. Of his thirteen sons and daughters only three survive at this writing, children who are a pleasure to their parents. His kind-hearted wife, a worthy partner, is still apparently in the best of health, her motherly face, a familiar feature in the village post-office. Mr. Mack in person is of medium height, slender, and still active as a boy. Age does not seem to dim his eye or make his step less elastic, and at the age of seventy-one his cheery voice and quick movements are the remark of his friends, and the best of arguments in favor of a busy life with temperate habits. He is a kind father and husband, and his house is a happy home. In all public affairs he is among the readiest to take up his share of the burden. On public holidays he is the first to fling the banner of his country to the breeze. He is a village social and business factor, thoroughly identi- fied with all the local interests. Just and exact in his dealings; genial and kindly in his feelings; he is a good representative American, one of the thousands of whom our country may be proud, and to whom we may look in confidence that her institutions will be sustained. A portrait of this gentleman will be found in the following pages.

FREDERICK MALLEY .- Was born in Prussia March 23, 1842, where he resided until the spring of 1866, there learning the boot and shoe maker's trade, and following it in his native land until that time. He served in the Fifteenth Infantry for three years, and through the campaign of 1864 against Denmark, when he sailed from Bremerhaven for the United States. After passing a few weeks in the city of New York, he proceeded to Philadelphia, but shortly afterwards moved to New Jersey, and located at Egg Harbor City, Atlantic County. At the end of four months he changed his residence to Buffalo, New York, where he stayed twelve months, and then took up his abode in Boston until February, 1868. At that date he sailed for San Francisco via Panama, where he arrived April 1, 1868, and engaged in the shoe making business until the fall of the same year. In the month of October he located in Dublin, Alameda County, and engaged in his proper calling, continuing it until December 27, 1869, when he came to Livermore, and commenced a boot and shoe- making business in Laddsville. After the fire of October, 1871 he removed to Livermore proper, where he continued in the same business. In the fall of 1881 he built the three storied edifice known as Malley's Building, where he now carries on his business, which of late years has been very much enlarged-carrying a large stock of fancy goods and doing a prosperous trade. Mr. Malley married, August, 9, 1868, Miss Minnie Strecker, a native of Germany, and has four children: Matilda M., George W., Frederick A., and William. He is one of the oldest and best known business men in this section.

I. N. MARK, M. D .- The subject of this sketch was born in Ross County, Ohio, December 26, A. D. 1822, making him now just sixty years of age. He is so well preserved that he looks to be about fifty. He is remarkably hale and hearty, weighing usually two hundred and forty pounds, measuring six feet five inches in height, and well proportioned. When about ten years of age his family moved to Fayette County, Ohio, near the flourishing town of Washington. Here he grew to manhood. About the age of fifteen he showed a wonderful taste for books. He bought all of them he was able to, and borrowed all he could, and read all the spare time he had. He went from home and studied all the branches taught in the public schools at that period. He then returned home and commenced teaching. He showed so much tact in managing his schools and imparting instruction, that he was requested to open a select school in Washington, which he did, and taught for some time with great accept- ability. It was while teaching this school he began to exhibit considerable talent as a public speaker. He was often called upon to address the people upon a variety of

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subjects. He generally acquitted himself honorably. When he was about eighteen years of age he was persuaded to join the Annual Conference of the M. E. Church. He immediately entered upon the arduous duties of a clergyman, and was sent his first year to Wilmington, Clinton County, Ohio. Here he had a large congregation of very intelligent people to provide for. Being young, he had to apply himself by night and day, but having an excellent constitution, he stood it well, and the year closed honorably. He then traveled and preached five years more, filling excellent appointments, the last of which was at Athens, Ohio. Here he labored so hard and preached so much that he contracted a sore throat, which compelled him to retire from the regular work of the ministry. About that time he was married to the daughter of Judge D. McLain, of Washington, Fayette County, Ohio. The union was a happy one. That was in the year 1849. The Judge was a man of great wealth. Soon after this happy marriage the Doctor turned his whole attention to medicine. In the fall of 1850 he went to Columbus, Ohio, and connected himself with the Starling Medical College. Here he made such rapid advancement that he was urged by some of the faculty to remain in the school and become one of the professors; however, he thought best to decline. He came back to Washington, continuing to pursue his studies until September; he then moved to Stanton, Ohio, a beautiful town about four miles from Washington. In just two weeks from the day he commenced keeping house his beautiful young wife sickened, and in one week more she died. So sudden and unexpected was the shock that for a time the Doctor was almost paralyzed. She left a little daughter some five months old. What to do he scarcely knew. Stay there he would not. As soon as he had provided a home for his child he left the home of her birth, and never after returned, because, he said, he could not bear to see the place where he had enjoyed so much happiness, and also where he had suffered so much grief. It was a fearful struggle, but no doubt it was for the best, as his subse- quent history will prove. In the spring of 1851 the Doctor settled in Houston, Ohio, and immediately entered on the practice of his profession. For ten years he worked hard, but during that period, say in the year 1853, he became acquainted with the youngest daughter of Judge W. W. Cecil, who resided on a farm near where he practiced. The friendship soon culminated in a matter of love; so December 15, 1853, the Doctor and Miss Annie Cecil were married, the next day after she was eighteen. The union was a happy one. Mrs. Mark is still living, beloved by every one who becomes acquainted with her. She still shows marks of her former beauty, although she is now forty-seven years of age, and has suffered for years with that incurable disease, asthma. In the spring of 1861, owing to that fearful malady, the Doctor and his family started across the plains for California. Leaving St. Joseph, Missouri, on the 8th of May, 1861, they landed at Ione City on the 24th of Septem- ber, quite a trip with a sick wife. What is remarkable, Mrs. Mark had not an honr's sickness on the plains-asthma all gone, and for some years after that long, tedious trip she showed no signs of it. Shortly after his arrival in the State he made a trip to Sacramento, and while there found the Conference of the M. E. Church in session. He was prevailed upon to become a member of that body, which he did, and for three years went back to his old profession. He labored very acceptably in Campo Seco, Columbia, and Centreville, in this county. In all these places he made many warm friends. At the expiration of his term at Centreville he went back to the practice of his profession, and in the spring of 1865 he came to Pleasanton, where he has remained ever since. The Doctor has built a nice home, where he has ever been ready to wait on the public. There is one thing to be observed, that he is a close student, and keeps himself well posted in his profession. He has not accumulated wealth, for that is not his nature. His hand and heart are always open to help the poor and suf- fering; he turns no one away from his office that applies to him for medicine or med- ical advice. He has got hundreds of dollars on his books he never expects to collect. There is another thing to his credit, he is strictly temperate. He keeps him-

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self away from bar-rooms; and when he returns from his professional calls he applies himself closely to his books, of which he has an excellent collection. As an evidence of the esteem of the neighborhood in which he has lived so long, he has filled the office of Justice of the Peace, when his present term has been completed, thirteen years.

It is well known, however insignificant the office may appear, that it is rather a difficult position to fill. It is not certain that any other man in Alameda County has occupied that position as long as the Doctor. There are some peculiar traits about him different from those of the majority of our officials. He ever tries to discourage litigation. If people get into a lawsuit, he is not to blame. His advice is invari- ably to settle, to keep out of law. There is little doubt that he has saved Alameda County hundreds of dollars. The District Attorney (and who has a better chance to know?) says the Doctor has caused him less trouble and cost the county less money than any other Justice in it. All his decisions lean to the side of mercy. If any one deserves the name of Justice of the Peace, he certainly does. Now, this biography would hardly be complete if a few more items were not added. As a citizen, a parent, a husband, the Doctor has but few superiors. He is a man of strong convictions. You never hear him advocate any skeptical notions. He believes the religion of his fathers is good enough for him, and, until he is shown something better, he will adhere to that. He always, by theory and practice, encourages good morals. He thinks life is too short to fritter away on vain speculations and Utopian ideas. While at present and for years he has not been connected with any religious organization, he is friendly to all, and from his habits and every-day life, you would not know but what he was a strict church member. The value of such men in a community cannot be overestimated. They often silently mold the characters of others. It sometimes appears to the writer of this short sketch that Providence has something to do in determining the location of indi- viduals. It would not do to place all the best men in one community. The Doctor has five children living-four in this State, and one daughter in Washington, Fayette County, Ohio: Helena Elizabeth, born April 7, 1850; Sallie W., married to J. A. Rose, residing at Pleasanton, and born April 29, 1857; W. C., born August 11, 1862, now living in Sacramento; Frank C., born November 14, 1864; Cecil, born November 14, 1867. The Doctor's children are all very much attached to their father. Only a few days ago his son Willie, now living in Sacramento, in a letter to him, wrote the following language contrasting his life with others: "When your time comes to go, a feeling of peace and contentment ought to rest with you, for you have lived an upright life and done your best for us all." This tender language discloses a kindly feeling between father and son. It is worthy of imitation. Children usually cannot bestow too much honor on their parents. There are many other incidents connected with the history of the Doctor that had to be left out for the want of space. His portrait appears in this work, and the Doctor supplied this sketch.

EARL MARSHALL (deceased) .- The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Burlington County, New Jersey, in the month of December, 1799. There he resided until the year 1836, when he moved to Pennsylvania, and engaged in teaming in Philadelphia for some time. He was afterwards a sexton in Monument Cemetery in that city. In 1846 he came to California around Cape Horn, on the ship Brooklyn, arriving on the 31st of July, and in the spring of 1847 he proceeded to Mission San José, and there, purchasing some milch cows, sold the lacteal fluid at twenty-five cents per quart. After the discovery of gold Mr. Marshall did a large trade in butter and milk with the mines, until the year 1850, when he settled on the present place and erected the house now occupied by his widow, where he died June 7, 1881. He married, September 11, 1828, Miss Letitia Dorsey, who was born in New Jersey, December 1, 1799, and had no issue.

PHINEAS F. MARSTON .- The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Danville (now Auburn), Maine, February 10, 1813, and is the

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son of Simon, and Mary (Frast) Marston. During the first twenty years of his life, he resided under the family roof-tree, passing his winters learning the carpenter's trade, and his summers working on the farm. In 1833 he proceeded to Bangor, Maine, where he obtained employment as a journeyman carpenter, and remained until 1838, when, on account of a panic, he moved with his chest of tools to Brunswick, in the same State. Here he found work in putting together a house of worship to be erected at Waldoborough, to which place he proceeded to aid in its construction. Returning, on its completion, to Brunswick, he completed the "shop-work" for another such structure to be put up at Rockland, on Penobscot Bay, after which he made . Holton his headquarters, and there assisted in building the Hancock Barracks. Our subject next erected a flour-mill for Shepard Cary, whence, at the instigation of Cap- tain Babbett, he was placed in charge of a gang of thirty men, to erect the Commissary Buildings and general Infantry Barracks. We next find erected a very elaborate dwelling for Mr. Winslow, High Sheriff, at Woodstock, after which he was employed on the erection of barracks at Fort Kent, on Fish River, near Madawaska. Having completed these various undertakings, Mr. Marston returned to Bangor, where he was variously engaged in his own professional sphere. Subsequently embarking in a gro- cery business, he thus was occupied for two years, when he was called upon to erect the new railroad buildings at Bangor, for the Penobscot and Kennebec Railroad Com- pany, that being the first depot of any importance in the town. He also superin- tended the construction of the Unitarian church in that place. He continued in that class of employment until 1858, when he decided to try the Pacific Coast. Making the trip by way of the Isthmus of Panama, in the steamers Star of the West on the Atlantic and Golden Gate on the Pacific side, on arrival in San Francisco, with his wife and four children, he at once commenced erecting houses for himself in that city, in company with his brother, Sylvanus B. Marston. His old friend, Colonel Babbett, was at this time at the Presidio; he therefore at once placed our subject-knowing what manner of man he was-in the responsible position of superintendent of con- struction of the barracks which were then being erected at that post, at Black Point, and at Angel Island. This occupation lasted three years. On its expiration he was called upon by Colonel R. S. Williams, Light-house engineer, to assume the superin- tendence of buildings in connection with this department. The first of these to be constructed was in Washington Territory, on the sand-spit at Point Angelis. Mr. Marston was next engaged in such work on the coast and on Puget Sound; then he superintended the building of the light-house and fog-signals on Point Reyes, after- wards performing the like duties at Pigeon Point, at the same time building the dwell- ing-house and fog-signal station on Point Ano Nuevo Island. In 1874 he erected a dwelling and fog-signal at Point Montara. In 1867 he took up his residence at Fruit Vale, Brooklyn Township, Alameda County, where he embarked in fruit-culture, at which place he has since resided. Married, in 1840, Miss Susan E. Fisher, who died in 1864. By that union he has: Frank A., Cordelia, Harriet, and Phineas. Married secondly, in 1865, Mrs. Mary F. Pray, by whom there is no issue. We cannot close this brief narrative of a long and active life without testifying to the sterling worth of its subject. During his lengthy employment on government works he was no con- tractor, but merely received a monthly moiety as a reward for close application. His unflinching honesty has placed him at a green old age in the enjoyment of well- earned comfort.

JOHN MATHEWS (deceased) .- The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in County Meath, Ireland, on the 27th June, 1817, where he resided until he was thirty years of age. In June, 1847, having married Miss Anna McEvoy, he came to the United States, settling in Boston, Massachusetts, and there remained for six years and a half. In 1854 he set sail for California, and in Novem- ber of the same year, located on the place where his widow now resides, purchasing a "squatter's title," where he lived until his death, on August 21, 1882. Possessed of a

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broad mind and excellent judgment, every movement he made added to his gains, until at the close of his life he had a very large competency, consisting of an estate of between seven and eight hundred acres of some of the finest land in Alameda County, besides property in the city of San Francisco. It can truly be said of Mr. Mathews that in life he was a man appreciated by his fellow-citizens for his integrity of charac- ter, while in death he is mourned as the kind husband and father. He left a family of five children, viz .: John, Mary, Sarah, Katie, and Peter.

PETER MATHEWS (deceased) .- The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in County Meath, Ireland, in the year 1821. This county is known by the name of Royal Meath, it having been the seat of the kings of his- toric Tara. Here Mr. Mathews spent his youth, under the care and guidance of good, industrious parents, who shaped the conscience of the child in virtue and that pure simplicity of faith which characterized him in after life as a man. Scarcely had he attained the age of responsible boyhood, when he showed a tact and aptitude for business, especially that business so peculiar to County Meath. He thought at even an early age that he should go out and do for himself. He went into the cattle business, trading between Ireland and Great Britain, until he left Ireland for America, in 1849. He spent nine months in Salem, Massachusetts, and then, following the train of his business thoughts, moved West, coming to California direct, and then on to the mines in 1850, where the flush of business invited him. Four years he spent in the mines, moving hither and thither to grasp more surely the proverbial fortune of the gold regions of California. Not being as successful here as his quick mind suggested he ought to be, he came down from the mountain regions to the Sacramento Valley, and here he engaged in the more congenial occupation of stock-raising. This was more profitable by far, and he continued at this until 1856, when opportunity offered to again vary his pursuit in business life, and so he came to Alameda County, and engaged in farming in Oakland Township. For nearly twenty years he ran most successfully here, and made considerable wealth-so much so that in 1875, when he went into mining stock speculation, few men in Alameda County could count more tens of thou- sands of cash in gold, not to speak of his real estate. He was identified with some of Oakland's banks, and many business enterprises. In 1875 his investments in stocks yielded a great deal of money, until he was one of the most wealthy; but later years, and declining stocks reversed the tables a good deal, as was the case with, alas! too many others. At no time was Peter Mathews other than a rich man since his arrival in Oakland until his death. He was a worthy citizen, a good neighbor, and true to every social, civil, and religious principle. The subject of our sketch married in 1854, Miss Mary Dunnigan, whom he left a widow by his much mourned death, at his resi- dence on San Pablo Avenue, on the 20th day of January, 1879. He left to his good wife all his property, consisting chiefly of the home farm of two hundred acres on San Pablo Avenue, in Oakland, as well as a farm in Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara County; several houses and lots in Oakland, many thousands of dollars in stocks, promissory notes, etc. Although he carried an immense load of mining stocks, still he raised mortgages to go heavier into them to retrieve his losses; and so when he died his widow found many entanglements, all of which, by close business habits, prudence, and economy, aided by the industry of her children, she has, it may be said, cleared, without losing ten thousand dollars worth of the original property bequeathed by her husband. Mr. Mathews left behind him a name for honesty, industry, and truth. Eight children survive their good father, their names being: Mary Alice, Charles E., Peter A., John L., Annie E., Joseph W., Teresa C., and Francis E. The favor in which the memory of the esteemed father is held by the community of his acquaintance bids God's speech to his children, and makes every one pleased to learn that the good widowed mother is linking the present with the original financial successes of her hus- band, in her beautiful home on San Pablo Avenue. The name of Peter Mathews has already an honored place on the historic records of Alameda County, and hence the .

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History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 133

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