USA > California > Contra Costa County > History of Contra Costa County, California, including its geography, geology, topography, climatography and description; together with a record of the Mexican grants also, incidents of pioneer life; and biographical sketches of early and prominent settlers and representative men > Part 70
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and the water communication which connects it with the lakes, is con- sidered by the best judges to be peculiarly adapted to culture of the vine, which must necessarily become one of the principal agricultural resources of California. AGRICOLA."
Dr. Marsh then follows with a history of early days in California. "After the decease of General Figueroa, the right to govern was assumed by Gutierrez, the senior officer of the military, and Estudillo, the oldest member of the Legislature, or Primer rocal, to whom it appertained as a matter of right by the civil law ; but as might is apt to decide matters of right all over the world, and more particularly in Spanish America, and Gutierrez having some few soldiers, and being already in the capital, retained the command until the Spring of 1836. At this time a new Governor arrived from Mexico in the person of General D. Mariano Chico, member of the Mexican Congress, and with many long and magnificent titles. His first act was to issue a proclamation in most grandiloquent terms, greatly praising the docility and patriotism of the people of the country, and telling that they owed him a great debt of gratitude for having left his dear wife and beloved children, and taken so long a journey, from pure love of the people of California and his desire to serve them. He was the friend to Victoria, pursued the same outrageous course of conduct, and shared the same fate. He arrived fully determined to take vengeance on those individuals who had been chiefly instrumental in expelling Victoria. Like him, he chartered a vessel in which to send his opponents to Mexico, not omitting the American gentleman whom Victoria had attempted to send; and, to complete the parallel, he was himself compelled to leave the country in the same vessel he had designed for his adversaries. Gutierrez then assumed the command a second time. A few months after this event, Don J. B. Alvarado, who at that time held a subordinate employment in the Custom House, had a quarrel with the Commandant Gutierrez relative to the posting of a guard of soldiers on the beach, whether to assist or prevent the smuggling operations of a vessel in port is best known to the parties concerned. High words and mutual threats ensued. Alvarado went in the night to San Juan to con- sult his friend, José Castro, and the next day they both went to the pueblo of St. Joseph, and thence to Sonoma to confer with the officer in command of that post. They mutually agreed to expel Gutierrez, and all the Mexican employés of every class. They assembled in haste a few people from the neighboring farms and repaired to Monterey in a secret manner. In this promiscuous assemblage were about twenty or thirty foreigners ; some five or six were American hunters. These were under the command of I. Graham, a hunter from Kentucky, and John Coppin- ger, an Irishman. They took possession of the old fort without opposi- tion, and fired one shot at the presidio in which the Mexicans were.
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Negotiations immediately took place, which ended in a capitulation of all the Mexicans, who were forthwith embarked for the coast of San Blas. The California patriots, who had succeeded beyond their own expectations, hardly knew what to do with their cheaply-bought victory. They however issued various contradictory proclamations, in one of which they declared themselves independent of Mexico until the re-establish- ment of the Federal Constitution of 1824. Alvarado was declared Gov- ernor, and Vallejo military chief. All this was done by the people of the northern part of the country, and particularly of Monterey, while all the southern districts were opposed to the new order of things. After a series of bloodless campaigns and paper battles, peace was restored by giving ample spoils from the Missions to the principal aspirants. Mexico, in the meantime, fulminated furious proclamations and awful threats against such unnatural sons of the Republic.
" After Alvarado had enjoyed his usurped authority about a year, he was acknowledged as legitimate Governor by Mexico ; and he, himself, with the greatest facility, swore fealty to the Central Government. The administration of Alvarado, as the only one in which the government has been for any length of time in the hands of a native, for its long dura- tion and for the important events which took place under it, must be considered as the most important era in the Mexican domination over California. It has now been for some time terminated, and has become a portion of the history of the country, and as such has become a legiti- mate subject for discussion. Taken, as a whole, it must be regarded as an entire failure. It has entirely failed to accomplish any part of the good it promised at the outset, and has only served to perpetuate the evils it proposed to remove. The friends of good order and a just admin- istration of the laws, of whom, notwithstanding appearances, the num- ber has always been considerable, had great hopes of seeing better times at the commencement of Alvarado's government. His constant declara- tion was: 'let me have a little time to tranquilize the country, and I will provide for the strict enforcement of the laws and the punishment of crimes and offenses.' But, after being in office more than five years, he left things in a worse condition than he found them. Even if we give him credit for good intentions at the beginning, he has never had the necessary knowledge, intelligence, or firmness of purpose, to have done any good for the country. The whole period of his administration has been a perpetual struggle to maintain himself in office. He has been compelled to make every kind of concession to preserve even the osten- sible support of pretended friends. The wealth of the Missions, which, at the beginning of his administration was very considerable, has, in this way, been completely exhausted. All these, together with the
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revenue derived from the customs, amounting in the aggregate to a vast sum, have been lavished on his relatives, partisans and favorites, and, at last, when he had nothing more to give, he found himself deserted. The most prominent event in the administration of Alvarado, and the one that will be longest remembered, is his attempt to expel, by force, all the foreigners, and particularly Americans, from the country. The true motives which led to this step were, for a long time, and still are, to some extent, involved in obscurity. The facts, as far as could be known at the time, are briefly these : It was secretly determined by Governor Alvarado and his friend and compadre, Don José Castro, that they would seize and transport to Mexico all the foreigners, and particularly Americans, that were in California, and, as a pretext, they pretended that they had discov- ered a secret conspiracy of the foreign residents to kill the Governor, Military Commandant, and some others, and to possess themselves of the country. This was so manifestly false, that no person could be made to believe it after the first few days. One solution of the affair is, that as Castro was at bitter enmity with Vallejo, the Military Commander, and desired to supplant him in his office, and knowing, at the same time, that public opinion in Mexico at the time was highly exasperated against Americans, on account of the recent defeat and disaster of the Mexican arms in Texas, and that he, by feigning the conspiracy of the Americans in California, and capturing and carrying them prisoners to Mexico, would thereby acquire to himself great merit with the Government, and by that means obtain the office to which he aspired. This opinion derived additional probabilities at the time from a knowledge of the character of Castro ; artful, subtile, intrigueing, utterly unprincipled, and grossly ignorant. The project, however, was concerted and executed with con- siderable skill.
" At an appointed time, the foreigners, who lived widely dispersed in almost every part of the country, entirely unprepared and without the least apprehension of danger, were seized and marched to Monterey by night, strongly guarded. Mr. Isaac Graham, who has been heretofore mentioned, was captured by Castro himself, with his own chosen fol- lowers. The house was attacked at midnight, the door forced open, and a volley of fire-arms discharged at Graham and his partner, Nale, before they had left their beds. Nale received two severe wounds, and was left for dead. Graham was knocked down, severely beaten, bound and carried to Monterey, where he was heavily ironed and strictly guarded. For the next week, more or less men were daily brought in loaded with irons and thrust into a loathsome prison, which was so crowded that space was not left to lie down. At last the ship arrived which had been chartered to transport them, and they were marched on board like criminals,
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between two files of soldiers. Graham, alone, was not suffered to walk, but with his irons still upon him, was carried on board on the shoulders of Indians. The brutal treatment of these men on the voyage to San Blas, and on the route from that port to the city of Tepic, I shall not attempt to describe, as I have no desire to stir up feelings that may as well be left at rest, but it may well be believed that feelings were ex- cited, aye, deep and burning feelings, that will not be soon forgotten by the witnesses, as well as the victims of these horrible acts of cruelty and injustice. On the arrival at Tepic, they were taken from the hands of Castro and his myrmidons by the influence of the British Consul, and, although still prisoners, were treated with kindness. After a long deten- tion, during which several of the number died, by the strenuous inter- position of the British Minister in Mexico, they were finally liberated, and those who chose to return to California, were sent back at the expense of the Government. From some documents, which have but very recently come to light, it is rendered probable, and, in fact, almost certain, that the foreigners were seized and sent away prisoners by the express order of the Government of Mexico, which they were afterwards base enough to deny."
The following description of the estate and residence of Dr. Marsh appeared in the Daily Evening Bulletin of July 19, 1856, and will appro- priately conclude this short sketch of Contra Costa's earliest pioneer. The "Stone House " is still one of the wonders of the county, and is well worthy the attention of the visitor.
" This beautiful and extensive estate has a landing on the San Joaquin river, above New York of the Pacific. This point, distant about eight miles from the dwelling house, would furnish the nearest route to it, but that as yet the steamers, which pass by daily, do not regularly stop, as they will no doubt do at some future time. The visitor will, therefore, find it advisable to stop at the excellent Morgan House, in the very pretty town of Martinez, over night, and taking a buggy at an early hour in the morning, proceed across the extensive plain which forms a part of the celebrated cattle ranch of Pacheco, to the Coast Range of mountains. Making his way through Kirker's Pass, a beautiful and romantic break among the hills, he will come out upon an extensive valley, in the upper part of which, eight miles from the San Joaquin river, and as many from Mount Diablo, whose bald scalp, covered for a portion of the year with its night-cap of snow, forms so picturesque a feature in the line of the hori- zon, as seen from the city, he will discover the old adobe house, which, for twenty years past, has sheltered a man of great intelligence, of varied accomplishments, of singular experiences of life, a graduate of Harvard University, a member of the medical profession ; who, retiring
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from the roar and bustle of the great world, seemed to realize the aspi- ration of the poet, when he said or sung-
"'Climb at court for me that will- Tottering favour's pinnacle ; All I seek is to lie still. Settled in some secret nest, In calm leisure let me rest, And far off the public stage
Pass away my silent age. Thus, when, without noise, unknown,
I have lived out all my space, I shall die, without a groan, An old, honest countryman.'
" But the march of adventure has found him out in his solitude, has surrounded him with his eager countrymen, and, true to his instincts, he has conformed to circumstances, become again a man of the world, and is pushing along on the road to riches, and hastening to improve and beautify his estate. In rear of the old adobe flows, peacefully, a broad brook, bordered by oaks and alders. Across the valley, in rear of the new house, stretches a noble grove of oaks, through which vistas have been cut, affording glimpses of the broken country beyond, closed in by old Mount Diablo and his giant companions. Between the grove and the house is a vineyard filled with young and thrifty vines of the finest varieties of grapes, together with fig, almond, apple, pear and plum trees. In rear of the adobe is another extensive vineyard. The two vineyards will probably yield this year twenty tons of grapes. Though much of the Rancho is admirably adapted to cultivation, its proprietor has preferred to devote it to the purpose of raising cattle. The stock of cattle at present upon the place is six thousand, and the annual increase is estimated at fifteen hundred. Much attention has been bestowed upon the improvement of the breed of cattle and horses, and the proprietor may well be proud of the possession of one of the finest stud-horses in California-a descendant of the famous Tennessee horse, Shakespeare. The new and beautiful edifice, now nearly completed, is situated in the center of the plain. It is the intention of the proprietor to irrigate this plain by artificial means, using the water of the brook for that purpose. By this process the whole plain in front of the house may be enameled with flowers, or, in process of time, may be dotted with trees, and become an extensive and beautiful park, as the taste of the owner may determine. From a quarry which has been opened upon the estate, an abundant supply of stone for the building has been obtained. It is of the finest quality of free-stone, of a beautiful drab or cream-color, slightly varie- gated. The building is quite an architectural gem. The architect, Thomas Boyd, Esq., of this city, with a true artistic perception of the beauty of the site, and of what was wanted in the building to make it
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harmonize with the surrounding scenery, has departed from the stereotyped square box with a piazza running partly or entirely round it, called a house in California, and has adopted the old English domestic style of architecture-a pleasing and appropriate union of Manor House and Castle. The arched windows, the peaked roofs and gables, the projecting eaves, the central tower sixty-five feet in height, boldly springing from the midst and enabling the proprietor to overlook his ex- tensive domain, must be acknowledged by every visitor to be a most felicitous deviation from the prevailing style of rural architecture. The material used is as easily wrought as the Benicia stone in use here, and like it, hardens by exposure to the air. The corners of the building as well as the door and window-jams, sills and caps, are elaborately wrought, the spaces between the openings being laid with rubber-stone, giving a pleasing variety to the whole exterior. The building has a ground base of sixty by forty feet, and is three stories in height, with three gable windows in the attic looking cast, west and south. On three sides of the building is a piazza, ten feet in width, supported by beautiful octagon pillars; over this is a walk on a level with the second floor, enclosed by an elaborately finished balustrade. The work has been performed in the most skillful manner by Messrs. Pierce and Wood of this city, the con- tractors for it. The whole has evidently been designed with the utmost faithfulness and ability. The interior arrangements are as carefully planned as possible to subserve the purposes of convenience, comfort and beautiful finish. The whole cost of the building, it is understood, will not exceed twenty thousand dollars."
Dr. Marsh was married in California, June 24, 1851, to Miss Abbie Tuck, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts. This lady left her home in 1850, and hazarded the dangers and hardships of a voyage to California, which were then not few nor small, and settled in Santa Clara. Meeting the Doctor while traveling in Contra Costa county, they decided to unite their fortunes, and were married after an acquaintance of two weeks. She died before the Doctor, leaving one daughter, Alice, now the wife of W. W. Camron of Oakland, Alameda county.
VICENTE J. MARTINEZ .- This scion of one of the very earliest set- tlers of Contra Costa county, is the son of Ignacio and Martina (Areyanes) Martinez, and was born in Santa Barbara, California, August 8, 1818. When but one year old, he was taken by his father, who was cap- tain in the militia, to the Presidio at San Francisco, where he resided until the year 1832, when they moved to the Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe. After four years' residence there, in 1836, his father having been granted the Pinole Rancho, in Contra Costa county, our subject pro- ceeded thither, and remained until 1849, in which year he removed to
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the town which now bears his name, and at that time built the adobe house now owned by Dr. Strentzel. Here he resided two years, when he returned to Pinole, and there resided until 1882, when he came back to Martinez where he is now living with his sons. Married at Mission San José, firstly, Guadalupe Moraga, a native of California, one of the family from which the Moraga valley takes its name; secondly, Neves Soto, a native of California, in 1848. He has seven surviving children, viz : Francisco, Vicente, Guadalupe, Antonio, Ignacio, Henricka, Louisa.
ANTONIO M. MARTINEZ .- The subject of this sketch, a descendant of one of the oldest families of Contra Costa county, and a native of the town that bears his family name, is the son of the above Vicente and Neves (Soto) Martinez. He was born March 28, 1857. At the age of twenty years, Antonio started to learn his present profession in his brother's shop in San Francisco, remaining there one year; he then returned to his native town and worked one year for Joseph Segui, and in 1879 opened his present tonsorial shop, in which he still continues in company with his brother. Was united in marriage in Concord, Sep- tember 23, 1877 to Miss Mary A. Worden, a native of Lower California, by which union they have three children ; their names are : Robert, born July 30, 1878 ; Mercy, born November 16, 1879; Adela, born May 4, 1881.
COL. WILLIAM BYRD MAY .- The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this voluine, is the son of Thomas and Rebecca (Adams) May, and was born in Dickson county, Tennessee, October 30, 1819. In the Fall of 1833, he accompanied his parents to Arkansas, and settled in Polk, now Johnson county, and there resided until 1850, having, during the time, received the advantage of a common school education, besides being employed on his father's farm. In the month of February of the year just mentioned, our subject made his way to New Orleans, and thence by way of the Isthmus and Chagres river, to the Land of Gold, arriving in San Francisco, May 5, 1850. The Colonel immediately proceeded to the mines at Foster's Bar, on the Yuba river, where, during the Summer, he prosecuted mining with fair results. In the Fall of 1850, he moved to Sacramento, and commenced a grocery and provision business, which he conducted until the Fall of 1852, when he closed out and transferred his residence to Weaverville, Trinity county, and once more embarked in mining operations, which he continued until the Fall of 1853, when he was elected Senator from the Twelfth Senatorial District, then comprising the counties of Trinity, Humboldt, Siskiyou and Klamath. Col. May served during the sessions of 1854-55. In the latter year he located in Contra Costa county, on his present place, and commenced farming and stock-raising on his ranch, comprising some five hundred acres. It may be mentioned that the style of "Colonel," is by no means the usually
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empty one vicariously adopted by so many would-be heroes. Our subject served with the Arkansas Regiment, under Col. Yell, in 1846, and fleshed his maiden sword in Mexico, being present with his corps at Buena Vista and other engagements. He has now settled down to the life of a farmer. It can be truthfully said of him that he has ever regarded toil as manly and ennobling, while, it is pleasant to contemplate that after passing through an honorable, yet checkered life, he is now enjoying the comforts of a happy home, with the wife of his choice, both beloved by their children and friends. Col. May married firstly, in 1839, Sarah Perry, by whom he has one surviving child, Sarah Alice. He married secondly, in 1852, Mary E. Perry, widow of William H. Inskeep, and has: Virginia L., Hattie Eva and Edward Frederick.
WILLIAM MEESE .- Born in Stark county, Ohio, August 16, 1824. When seven years of age his parents moved to Summit county, same State, and located on a farm, where our subject was educated at the com- mon schools, afterward learned the cooper's trade, and for two years preceding his coming to this State, followed boating on the canal. March 18, 1850, he, in company with eight others- R. O. Baldwin, of this county, being one of the party -- started for the New Dorado, with pack- mules, and arrived at Cold Springs July 28, 1850, where he embarked in mining for a short time. He then visited several mining camps, and finally located in Mariposa county, where he spent his second Californian Winter. In the following Spring, Mr. Meese returned to the mines, where he continued until 1852. In the Fall of that he year came to Contra Costa county, and located on the place where we now find him, in the beautiful San Ramon valley, at that time buying three hundred and twenty acres in company with R. O. Baldwin. The first produce Mr. Meese raised was one acre of onions, off which he gathered a crop of fourteen thousand pounds. In 1855 our subject and the above-named gentleman divided their ranch-the first-named taking the south one- quarter section on which he resides, but has since added to his estate, until now he owns three hundred acres of Contra Costa's best farming lands, being engaged in general farming. He has been twice married, first, in San Ramon valley, March 27, 1855, to Miss Panthea L. Cox, a native of Indiana ; she died, in San Ramon, September 26, 1874. By this union they had two children-Mary M. (died July 8, 1876), and Nellie F., born December 12, 1871. Married the second time, in Syca- more valley, August 16, 1876, to Mrs. Olive A. Porter, a native of Michigan, by which union they have two children-George M., born July 4, 1878, and William R. G., born December 29, 1881.
C. ED. MILLER .- The present efficient County Recorder of Contra Costa county is a native of Port Washington, Ozaukee county, Wisconsin, and
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was born April 5, 1853. When but an infant his parents moved to Mil- waukee, and there resided for two years, moving again and locating in West Bend, Washington county, where they now reside. Here our sub- ject received a common school education, and afterward entered the Racine College, of Racine, where he finished his education in 1867. Mr. Miller then entered the employ of a wholesale dry goods firm of Mil- waukee, where he remained some six years. In October, 1873, he started for California, via Union and Central Pacific Railroad, and after a short sojourn in Oakland, came direct to Contra Costa county, and first located in Walnut Creek, where he remained until the latter part of 1875. Then, after a brief period spent in mining, he came to Martinez and embarked in the grocery business, in which he continued until February, 1876. He then was appointed by V. B. Russell to the functions of Depnty County Recorder, a situation he held until the Fall of 1877, when he was elected to the position of County Recorder-being, in September, 1879, re-elected to the same office, which he now fills with satisfaction to his constituents and credit to himself. The subject of our memoir was united in mar- riage in Martinez, April 22, 1876, to Miss Rosa Lawless, a native of the latter-named place, by which union they have one daughter, Martha W., born February 25, 1877.
RICHARD MILLS .- A native of Lancashire, England, and born in 1824. He resided in his native county until twenty-eight years of age. He then emigrated to America, and engaged in mining in the coal-fields of Pennsylvania, remaining there until 1853. He next came to California and followed gold mining until ten years later, when he came to Contra. Costa county, locating at the coal mines of Somersville in the Spring of 1863, where he has since resided, engaged in mining until recently, when he started his present business. Mr. Mills has been twice married, and has three living children and four step-children. The names of his own are : Richard, James (deceased), Sarah A., and John ; his step-children are : Oweny, Patrick, Ellen and Kate McVery.
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