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 80
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T. N. WILLS .- The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, is a native of Muhlenburg county, Kentucky; was born April 22, 1822. When five years of age his parents moved to Illinois, where our subject was educated, his occupation being that of farming. April 13, 1863, Mr. Wills, accompanied by his wife and six children, in company with a train of twenty-two wagons, started for the Golden State. After a tiresome journey of five months across the plains, including the loss of a daughter, who was buried at Independence Rock, they arrived in Sac- ramento. Staying there but a few days, he proceeded to Napa county, where he was engaged in farming till the Fall of 1868, when he removed to this county and purchased his present valuable property of two hun- dred and eighty acres, adjoining the town of Antioch. He is still engaged in farming, honored and respected by the community in which he resides. Mr. Wills was thrice married ; first in Illinois, to Miss Mary Wristen, a native of Kentucky. By this union there were five children, three of whom are living: Melvina, Sylvester and Oliver. His second marriage, to Mrs. Amanda Byer, a native of Kentucky, also occured in Illinois. By this union there were nine children, of which five are living : Alice, Annie, Jennie, Amarilla and Ida. The third marriage, to Miss Almina Saddlemire, a native of New York, was in San Francisco. By this union they have two living children : Clarence and Emma.
JOHN M. WILSON .- The subject of this sketch, a young and prominent merchant of Walnut Creek, is the son of Isaac M. and Sarah J. (Mc- Connell) Wilson, and a native of the Sunny South, born in Washington county, Virginia, February 10, 1852. When two years old, his parents moved west, locating in Cedar county, Missouri, where they resided but one year. Owing to the ill-health of his father, the family returned to Virginia, where they sojourned only a short time, and again returned to Missouri, where they remained for two years. In the meantime, his father died, and in the Fall of 1859, his younger brother also died. In the following Spring, with his mother and one brother, Mr. Wilson returned to his birthplace, and there, during the war, received his educa- tion. At the close of the war they again returned to Missouri, and fortunately, found their old homestead had escaped the devastation of both armies. Here he resided until 1870. In that year, our subject was called upon to mourn the loss of his mother. He now left the farm and found employment in a mercantile establishment in Humansville, a position he held for three years. He next engaged in business for himself in the same town, which he followed for two years. April 5, 1875, found Mr. Wilson on board a train bound for the Pacific Coast. He first located in Sacramento, where he found employment as a traveling salesman for a commercial house of that city, in which position he remained six
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months, and then came to Contra Costa county, and first located in Antioch, but moved to Walnut Creek, where he worked in the employ of M. M. Shuey, for a short time, afterwards with Mr. Sherburne, until the latter's store was destroyed by fire, in 1878. He then engaged in business in company with Mr. McConnell, in the mercantile trade for two years, when our subject severed his connection with Mr. McConnell, and in 1880, bought the store he now occupies from M. M. Shuey. Mr. Wilson is now Secretary of the Agricultural Association of Contra Costa county, and a Notary Public of Walnut Creek; also, District Deputy of the Grand Lodge of the A. O. U. W. of this county. Married in Humansville, Missouri, September 29, 1870, Miss Mary J. Human, a native of the above place. By this union they have four daughters and one son. Their names are : Maria R., Ava B., Gracie L., Carl L. and Stella V.
MICHAEL WINSLOW .- The subject of this sketch is a native of Ireland, and was born December 6, 1821. When but five years of age his parents emigrated to America, first settling in Wilmington, Delaware, where he was educated at the common schools, and resided until his coming to California, learning in his youth the trade of boilermaker, which he followed for thirty years, part of the time in Delaware, and the balance on this coast. November 11, 1851, Mr. Winslow sailed with his wife and two children for the Golden State, coming via Panama, arrived in San Francisco December 14, 1851, where he found employment at his trade, and resided in the metropolis until September, 1869, when he moved to Contra Costa county, purchased his present valuable farm of two hundred and forty acres, four miles southeast of Martinez, now known as the Sunny-side Farm, and is engaged in general farming and fruit raising. Mr. Winslow was married in Wilmington, Delaware, June 15, 1847, to Miss Hannah Sherry, a native of that State. They have had seven children by this union; four are now deceased: Victoria (deceased), Edward J., Hannah (deceased), James S., Adelaide (deceased), Lucy H., and Sarah (deceased).
THOMAS Z. WITTEN .- Was born in Tazewell county, Virginia, February 20, 1816, and resided in his birthplace until twenty-two years of age. He then started West, located in Mercer county, Missouri, and there engaged in farming and stock-raising until 1849, when, with his family and ox-teams, he started to cross the plains to the Golden State, the only companions being his brother-in-law, Josiah Evans, and his family. September 21st they arrived in Placerville, where our subject engaged in mining until 1851, when he moved to Calaveras county, and there con- tinued mining for one year. He now moved to near Marysville and engaged in the stock business for a short time; then he moved his stock
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to Santa Clara valley, where he resided until 1856, in which year he came to Contra Costa county, purchased his present farm of one hundred and forty-five acres, two miles from Pacheco, and is now recognized as one of the oldest as well as most respected citizens of the beautiful Ygnacio valley. Married, in Mercer county, Missouri, Rachael Smith, a native of Ohio, who died December 13, 1872. His family consists of: John W. (deceased), Eleanor, Samucl (deceased), Thomas L., Milton, Aaron S. and Charles L.
LEWIS CASS WITTENMYER .-- The subject of this biographical sketch, whose portrait will be found appropriately placed in the History of Contra Costa county, is the son of John and Lydia (Darr) Wittenmyer, who were of German extraction, and was born at Salsbury, Indiana, June 15, 1828. Being a surveyer by profession, Mr. Wittenmyer's father found himself at a very early date in the western wilderness of Northern Indiana and the Territory of Michigan, and about the year 1826, was commissioned by Governor Lewis Cass to effect some important surveys on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. In this duty he was accom- panied during that Summer by the afterwards distinguished statesman himself, from which an intercourse that ripened into friendship sprung, and resulted in the perpetuation of the name found in that of our sub- ject. Mr. Wittenmyer, Senior, died in August, 1848. His wife was born at Darrtown, Butler county, Ohio, which took its name from her father, Jacob Darr, one of the first white settlers in that part of the county. When but two years old the subject of this present narrative was taken by his parents from Indiana to the village of St. Joseph, at the mouth of the St. Joseph river, on the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan, whither they had moved with their four children, the last fifty miles of their journey thither being made down that beautiful river in a large canoe or dug-out, called a "pirvuge." Here, fanned by the invigorating breezes of Summer, and pelted by the rude and chilling storms of Winter, did Mr. Wittenmyer pass through the various phases of life, until he attained to man's estate. About this epoch, the mighty shibboleth of Gold had been wafted from the Pacific shores to every habitable portion of the known world. Young and old alike awoke to the cry, and made their way to the land which was to enrich them at one bound. Among the many to early fit out for California was our subject. In February, 1849, having as comrades five other of his fellow-townsmen, viz: A. P. Pinney (deceased), A. M. Church, James M. Morton (deceased), and S. and L. B. Huff-all like himself, barely twenty-one years of age-Mr. Wittenmyer crossed the plains with mule-teams, and arrived at Bear river, near Steep Hollow, August 10, 1849. During the Fall of that year he was some- what successful in his mining operations on Bear river, Deer creek and
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Goodyear's Bar, while the Winter months he passed in the southern mines near Drytown, Amador county. His search for the "yellow stuff" he continued until the Fall of 1850, when he abandoned it and went to Mission San José, the following year being engaged in farming land owned by Henry C. Smith. In the Fall of 1851 he transferred his resi- dence to San Lorenzo creek, then a part of Contra Costa county, where he "took up" one hundred and sixty acres of land in what was then called Squatterville. Here he farmed successfully until the Fall of the following year, when he determined to revisit his old home at the East. He sailed from San Francisco for this purpose in the steamer Golden Gate, November 16, 1852. In the Summer of 1853, in partnership with one of the companions with whom he crossed the plains in '49-S. Huff, of San Leandro, Alameda county-Mr. Wittenmyer returned to California, bringing with him, on joint account for profit, a large band of cattle and horses. In the month of October, of that year, he settled in Sycamore valley, Contra Costa county, where he dwelt until October, 1857, when he removed to Martinez, where he has since resided.
In 1852, he was elected Justice of the Peace at Squatterville, San Antonio township; and, in 1856, was appointed to the like office for San Ramon. In 1857, he was elected to the office of County Clerk, the func- tions of which he performed six consecutive years. In 1863, he, as executor of the last will and testament of Samuel Russell, deceased, took charge of the Russell estate, and, in April, 1864, he proceeded to Mexico with a view to engaging in the cotton trade, but this not meeting his expectations he returned to California, and in the Spring of 1866 paid a visit to Montana Territory, but returned in the Fall of the same year. In 1867 he was again elected County Clerk, and served two years, when he was succeeded by A. J. Markley, who, dying, Mr. Wittenmyer was appointed, May 2, 1870, by the Board of Supervisors, to the position. He now served until March, 1872, when he was succeeded by George J. Bennett. In 1873, the offices of County Clerk and Recorder having been segregated, Mr. Wittenmyer was once more called upon by the voice of the people to assume his old functions, which he has performed ever since, thus making a service in the difficult office of County Clerk of nineteen years. From his long connection with the offices of County Clerk and County Recorder, we are right in saying that his familiarity with their working is unparalleled in any public department. He is, indeed, a safe index to documents of every kind that appertain to the archives-it is no wonderful act for him to turn to book and page of the records, of many years back, without extraneous reference, while no one asks for advice or information without receiving a cheerful assistance in every particular ; besides his knowledge of law, to the practice of which he was admitted before the District Court in April, 1864, he always gives
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the questioner the advantage of a legal opinion. On his retirement from the offices of County Clerk and Recorder in 1864, his official associates presented him with the following Preamble and Resolutions, which speak for themselves :-
" WHEREAS, The official acts of L. C. Wittenmyer have ever been marked with energy, promptness and ability, during several successive terms of office, and WHEREAS, He has merited and won the just regard and esteein of all those who have had business relations with him, and in an eminent degree, of the undersigned, who have been necessarily intimately con- nected with him in his official capacity, and WHEREAS, That relationship has been severed by his recent retirement from office, therefore- Resolved, That, as a mark of our appreciation of the integrity, ability, and affability that have ever characterized his official acts, and in con- sideration of his noble, magnanimous and generous nature as a citizen, we extend to him our thanks and a sincere desire that success may attend all his undertakings in life. Resolved, That these resolutions be pre- sented to the said L. C. Wittenmyer, Esq." This document was signed by "H. Classen, Thomas A. Brown, H. Mills, John J. McEwen, Mark Shepard, G. A. Swain, M. S. Chase, Horace Allen and O. F. Alley."
In the Fall of 1873, Mr. Wittenmyer paid a second visit to the Eastern States, but soon returned to California. He married, firstly, in San Ramon valley, September 20, 1850, Helen M., eldest daughter of Samuel Russell, a native of New York, by whom he had three children, only one of whom survives, viz: Clara K. Married, secondly, August 28, 1872, Clara L. Austin, a native of Vermont, and has : John L., born February 1, 1875; Lucerne Austin, born January 8, 1877; Ileen Miriam, born June 19, 1879.
HON. CHARLES WOOD .- Seventh son of Elijah Wood, was born in the beautiful and classic town of Concord, Massachusetts, October 10, 1830. He traces his ancestry, on his father's side, continuously back to the first settlers of the town in 1635. His great-grandfather, Ephriam Wood, was a Judge of the Court before, and during the war of the Revolution, and his great-great-grandfather, Colonel Barrett, was in command of the American patriots at Concord on the ever memorable 19th of April, 1775. His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Farmer, a native of Billerica, Massachusetts. Mr. Wood received only a common school education ; attending school from three to six months, and working the remainder of the year upon the farm and at a trade, until, at the age of seventeen, he went to the State of Michigan and served, in a clerical capacity, nearly four years, in the Michigan Central Railroad Company. From thence, early in 1852, he emigrated to California, via the Nicaragua route, arriving in San Francisco in March. Believing there was a fortune awaiting him
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in the mines, he started directly for Nevada county to try his luck with "pick and pan." Not being particularly successful in that district, he packed his blankets to Sierra county, where he mined with varying success, not finding, however, and never having found to the present day in the mines, the hidden pile. In the Autumn of 1852, Mr. Wood, in company with his brother William, (deceased in 1861,) embarked in trade on the North Yuba river, and in the packing of a train of mules-then an important and lucrative business, as no wagon roads had been built- from the city of Marysville to the mines. While in Sierra county he was joined by his brother George, who has since resided there, been nine years one of the Supervisors of the county, and was its member of the Assembly for the term of 1881. In 1855, Mr. Wood removed to the city of Marysville, Yuba county, and engaged in mercantile pursuits on a larger scale. In April, 1857, he married at Marysville, Miss Cynthia A. Rice, a native of Syracuse, New York, sister of the late Dr. D. W. C. Rice, of Marysville and San Francisco, a leading physician and pioneer of 1849. In 1862, Mr. Wood removed with his family to Sycamore valley, Contra Costa county, where he has since continuously resided upon his farm of seven hundred acres, devoting himself exclusively to agricultural interests. He has four children : William Louis, Sarah Elizabeth, Charlotte Ellmere, and Charles Joseph. Mr. Wood served four years as a Justice of the Peace, four years as Notary Public, appointed by Governor Booth, and was a member of the Assembly for the term of 1875, '76. He was also a charter member of the Danville Grange, No. 85, Order of Patrons of Husbandry, and is at present County Lecturer for the same order. A portrait of this gentleman will be found in our work.
DAVID S. WOODRUFF. - Was born in Bergen, Genesee county, New York, May 19, 1829. When eight years of age his parents moved to and located in Brainbridge, Michigan, where he attended the common schools and afterwards, entered Olivett College, same State, from which he graduated in 1852. Immediately on the completion of his school life he embarked in teaching, which he followed until February, 1858, when he sailed from New York with his wife for the Golden State via Panama, arriving in San Francisco in the latter part of the above month. On landing on this coast he came direct to Contra Costa county, and located at Bay Point, where he engaged in teaching school, which he followed for a few years. His next move was to Antioch, where he opened a drug store. In 1871, Mr. Woodruff paid a visit to his old home in Michigan, and on his return located at Nortonville, there engaged in his former business of druggist until his removal to Martinez, which event occurred June 25, 1880, when he opened the drug store, at the corner of Main and Ferry streets. In 1861 Mr. Woodruff was elected County Superintendent
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of Schools for two years, and held the office of Public Administrator during the following two years, and for two years more was Justice of the Peace of Nortonville. All the above offices he filled with credit to himself and satisfaction to the people. Mr. Woodruff was twice married ; first, in Marshall, Michigan, in January 1854, to Miss H. Angeline Woodruff, a native of New York. She died at Antioch October 20, 1864. By this union they had three children, Otto N., Mary and Jay. His second marriage occurred in Pacheco, December 30, 1866, to Mrs. Narcissa H. Clark (daughter of Senaeca Foster, of Hamilton county, Ohio), a native of Butler county, Ohio; they have no children. Mrs. Woodruff may be considered a pioneer woman, having crossed the plains three times, twice with wagons and once by rail. The first time crossing in 1854, she drove a four-mule team most of the way, sometimes standing guard a portion of the night ; arrived at Antioch September 18th of the same year (1854) ; camped under a live oak-tree until a tent could be erected, in which she lived for one year ; then removed to Mitchell's cañon, and lived in a cave on the side of Mount Diablo. When night came on she could hear the tramp of the California lion, whose howls were anything but pleasant when nature felt need of repose.
MARTIN WOOLBART .- A native of Germany, was born January 5, 1840. When but an infant his parents emigrated to the United States, first locating in Madison county, Ohio, where he received a common school education and followed farming until the Fall of 1853; he then spent one year in the States of Michigan and Missouri, and in January, 1854, in company with several others, among whom were Mr. Fish, of Martinez, and Mr. Majors, of Ygnacio valley, came to California, arriving in Martinez November 2, 1854. The subject of this sketch first found employment on the ranch of Henry Lathrop, where he remained for one year, and then spent two years on different ranches; he then engaged in the stock business for himself, in which he continued until 1860; in that year he sold his stock and leased Captain Hazleton's place, and engaged in farming. In the Fall of 1863 he moved on to his present place, as a renter, for two years, and in 1865 bought the place one mile northeast of Martinez, overlooking the Bay of Suisun, consisting of one hundred and twenty-six acres, where he is chiefly engaged in farming. Married, in Benicia, November 10, 1863, Miss B. McGuire, a native of Ireland. They have four children, as follows: George B., William D., Bernard M. and Mary E.
WILLIAM WYATT (deceased) .- Was born in Virginia, August 27, 1826. When very young his parents moved to Missouri, where he resided until 1849, when he, in company with John C. O'Brien, Francis O'Brien and
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James McAllister, crossed the plains to California. He arrived at Sacra- mento July 29th of the same year, and there remained until October, 1853, when he went to Antioch, Contra Costa county, where he became one of its most prominent and enterprising citizens, having business rela- tions with his brother-in-law, John C.' O'Brien, up to. the time of his demise, June 7, 1863. The following obituary appeared in the Contra Costa Gazette of June 13, 1863: "We have the painful task this week to record the death of another old resident and most estimable citizen of our county. William Wyatt, a resident of the town of Antioch, had been slightly ill for two or three days, the latter part of last week, and on Saturday night was so unwell as to send for a physician. He did not, however, at that time seem to be very dangerously sick. On Sunday morning, nevertheless, he was taken a little before noon with a congestive chill, which seemed to attack all his vital organs at one and the same time, and was so severe as to bid defiance to every remedy, and resulted in his death in the short space of five hours from the time he was first attacked; and thus suddenly and unexpectedly was this strong and healthy man, in the full maturity of his powers, called upon to bid adieu to the familiar scenes of earth. He leaves a wife and five children, besides other relatives and a large circle of friends and acquaintances, to mourn his untimely loss. He was an active, thriving, business man, possessing a manly simplicity of character and unswerving honesty and integrity. As a husband and father, as well as by the large circle of his daily associates, he was dearly loved and highly esteemed. His gene- rosity and readiness to help forward every genuine charity were his characteristics well known to his intimate friends. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge at Martinez, and his brethren of the mystic tie turned out in large numbers from distant parts of the county to attend his burial and pay the last customary honors to their deceased friend." Mr. Wyatt was buried June 9th near the place of his residence at Antioch.
GEORGE W. YOAKUM .- The subject of this sketch was born in Ray county, Missouri, May 17, 1842. When ten years of age he, with his parents, four brothers and six sisters, started, with ox-teams, to cross the plains to the Golden State, and after a weary trip of eight months, arrived at Gold Hill, where his father engaged in the hotel business, our subject being employed as herder. In May, 1853, his parents moved to San José, where they resided but a short time ; they then moved to San Antonio and engaged in the dairy business. In 1860 Mr. Yoakum located in Moraga valley and attended school in San Ramon. In 1863 he was married and returned to Alameda county and worked on his father's old homestead. We next find Mr. Yoakum, in the year following, in Contra Costa county, where he sojourned one year, then spent one year in San
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Luis Obispo county, and in the Fall of 1865 he moved to Green valley, Solano county, and there engaged in farming and stock-raising. In the following Fall he moved back to Contra Costa county and spent two years in Moraga valley, then, after two years passed in the wholesale butcher business in Alameda county, he again returned to Moraga valley, and engaged in farming and stock-raising. In July, 1876, he located in Walnut Creek and engaged in his present business of wholesale and retail butcher, and has built up a large trade, enjoying the confidence and respect of the community in which he resides. Mr. Yoakum was united in marriage, in San Ramon, October 26, 1863, to Miss R. A. Johnston, a native of Missouri, by which union they have five children, as follows : Emma (now Mrs. Ed. Cribb), Nettie, Mary, George F. and Mary C.
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ADDENDUM.
The following biographical sketch was received too late for insertion in its proper place :
AUGUST HEMME .- The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Neustadt-am-Rubenbergan, Hanover, Prussia, January 10, 1833, and is the son of William Frederick and Mary Ann (Stunkel) Hemme, the former of whom died in the year 1868 and the latter in 1842. The maternal grandfather of our subject held for several years a high position in the mining interests of the government of Brunswick, he being the head of a bureau in that department. At the time of Prussia joining the German alliance against the Corsican Emperor, Napoleon, he received a Colonel's commission in the army under Blucher, and with him served until the war was brought to a close on the field of Waterloo. Surrounded by these scenes of strife it was that the mother of August Hemme first saw the light; the exigencies of war separated the young infant and her mother two weeks afterwards, and it was not until the Napoleonic star had set forever that they were reunited. The city of Brunswick now became the permanent home of the family, and here the maiden dwelt, blossomed into womanhood, and won the heart of the father of our subject. In due course of time she became the mother of three boys and a girl, all of whom received the advantages of sound education under an especial maternal supervision. At the early age of eleven years August Hemme took high honors at the high school of his native town, and here he drank first of the military ardor which infused the times wherein his mother was born. Having graduated he entered a course of preparation to fit him for entering the Military University at Hanover, a step which was postponed, however, owing to a misunder- standing having occurred between that principality and Brunswick. At this juncture an older brother, who had been for some time in the United States, commenced infusing into his letters a spirit of delight with the New World. This caused Mr. Hemme's thoughts to be turned in that direction ; he therefore commenced to make preparations for a voyage across the Atlantic to America. Leaving his home associations behind, he set sail and landed in New York in 1846, where he was employed for the first three years in his brother's store. Now the discovery of gold gave a new field for his energies.
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In May, 1849, he started for the golden shores of the Pacific. On arrival he entered into the occupation of mining on Feather river, and made a good beginning. He forsook the cradle and rocker, and hied himself into the prolific valleys of the State, for he felt that in their beautiful bosoms lay a lasting source of wealth. In his wanderings he came to the beautiful San Ramon valley, in Contra Costa county, and there, in 1852, he acquired, by purchase, three thousand acres of most fertile land, on which he dwelt for the next eleven years. Here he married Miss Minerva Elizabeth Ish, the daughter of a neighboring farmer, on January 20, 1856. In 1863 he associated himself with Charles Reihn, under the firm name of Reihn, Hemme & Co., in the business of assaying and the purchase of bullion and gold-dust-the firm being still one of the most prominent in San Francisco.
To speak of Mr. Hemme's charities is a work of supererogation-they are almost universal. He has given thousands towards church benefits, where others quite as able have only tendered their hundreds; his gift to the Tabernacle in San Francisco was in the vicinity of a hundred thousand dollars; other places of worship have been made wealthy by his generosity ; while schools, no matter of what denomination, bave felt the influence of his unstinting hand. With all this, his prosperous fields in the San Ramon valley plainly show that he has not neglected his agricultural interests ; with the maturing of plans to found much-needed schools and churches in outlying districts, he finds time to attend to his duties as a farmer. Chief among his enterprises of this nature was the organizing, with Judge Thornton S. Franklin and others, under the pastoral care of Rev. Mr. Fackler, of the Central Presbyterian church, on Mission street, San Francisco. He next furnished the funds to purchase the lot on which the Tabernacle, in that city, stands, and finally aided its completion, as before mentioned. These are monuments that will never die.
His beautiful residence near Alamo is a gem of architectural beauty, surrounded on every hand with a wealth of verdure. A splendid fruit- orchard, luxuriant grape-vines, umbrageous oaks, emerald fields and pasture-clad hills, all tend to fill in a picture of surpassing loveliness. Here Mr. Hemme is wont to take his rest when released from the whirl of business. Here does he follow the injunction of a favorite poet, which is to him an ever-present guide and comforter :
"This, above all : To thine own self be true; And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."
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