USA > California > Contra Costa County > History of Contra Costa County, California; with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 25
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C. W. Rogers, former sheriff of Contra Costa County and constable of Walnut Creek, died at his Martinez home on February 21, 1912, at the age of fifty-nine years. He was born in Amador County in 1853. In 1874 he married Martha Leich. He was a member of the Native Sons and the Woodmen.
Died, in Walnut Creek, April 5, 1897, Mrs. E. J. Rogers, aged fifty- nine years, eleven months and twenty-five days.
On November 16, 1907, at Berkeley, John C. Rouse, a pioneer of California, passed away. He was born in New York in 1828; in 1853 he came to California, and in 1861 to Contra Costa County as foreman
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of the Pittsburg Coal Mine. He continued the mining business as owner for many years, and also was identified with the lumber and banking in- terests of Antioch. He was a Mason.
July 28, 1917 .- Mrs. W. A. Rugg, wife of the editor and proprietor of the Gazette, passed away at their home in Martinez Saturday evening, aged fifty-three years. As Jessie Baird Kellogg, she was born in Wiscon- sin in 1864. She married W. A. Rugg in Missouri in December, 1882. Coming to California in 1887, they located in San Diego; in 1898 they came to Martinez. One daughter survived her besides her husband.
Died, in Martinez, June 16, 1894, Mrs. Nancy Russell, relict of Capt. Thomas Russell, a native of Massachusetts, aged ninety-five years. Mrs. Russell was born in 1799. She came with her husband to California in 1849; later they bought a ranch in Ygnacio Valley. For many years Mrs. Russell made her home in Martinez.
George Russi, Sr., prominent mill owner and manufacturer, owner of the Pacheco Flour Mill, died at Pacheco November 12, 1910. He was born in Switzerland in 1854, and came to California about 1880, and started the Pacheco Flour Mills. He left a widow and five children.
September 19, 1925 .- One of the foremost real estate operators in Central California, one who of late years has been active in Martinez and who was one of the men who founded the city of Richmond, passed to his final rest Sunday morning when W. H. Sanford breathed his last at his home in Martinez. He was a native of Tennessee, aged sixty-five years. He leaves a widow, Jennie E. Sanford, and was the father of Mrs. Grace Hansel and Mrs. Era Holmes of Oakland, W. H. Sanford Jr. of San Francisco, and Miss Hazel Sanford of Martinez.
Died, in Port Costa, March 14, 1891, George H. Scammon, aged fifty-seven years. He was born in Maine, came to California in 1859, and made his home in Walnut Creek. He then moved to Nortonville, remain- ing there until the decline of coal mining, when he moved to Port Costa. He was serving his second term as public administrator at the time of his death. He was a member of the Odd Fellows.
Died, March 17, 1915, at Brentwood, William Shafer, a native of Pennsylvania, aged seventy-nine years. For over fifty years he had been a resident of Brentwood, where he engaged in farming. He left a widow, three daughters and two sons.
Died, April 7, 1906, Albert Sherburne, aged seventy-three years. He was a native of New York, a pioneer of 1852 in California, whither he came via the Isthmus, and located in Contra Costa County in 1856.
Died, near Danville, August 19, 1897, David N. Sherburne, a native of New York, aged seventy-five years. He was born October 14, 1822, went to Illinois when twelve years old, and in 1850 crossed the plains on horseback and arrived at Placerville on August '26. He mined until 1856 and then came to Contra Costa County, locating near Danville. In 1856 he was elected supervisor, and filled the office four terms. In 1879
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he was elected to the legislature, and in 1880 he was again elected supervisor.
Benjamin Shreve was born in Pennsylvania in 1828, crossed the plains in 1852, and in 1853 engaged in business and ran a hotel in this county. In 1857 he petitioned Congress to establish a postoffice at his place, which was named Lafayette, and he was the postmaster.
Charles Sickal, a native of Kentucky and for sixty years a resident of Martinez, having crossed the plains with oxen in 1855, died at his home on April 24, 1918, aged eighty-two years.
December 12, 1925 .- C. A. Smith, seventy-three, president of the Coos Bay Lumber Company at Bay Point and one of the most prominent lumber men in the West, died at his home in Berkeley. Smith moved to the Pacific Coast from Minnesota in 1884. He founded the C. A. Smith Lumber Company, now the Coos Bay Lumber Company, owned lumber properties in Humboldt County and Southern Oregon and had large mills at Marshfield, Ore., and Bay Point, Cal., the latter one of the most com- plete in the world.
Died, in Martinez, October 18, 1895, John B. Smith, a native of New Bedford, Mass., aged fifty-six years. He came to California when thir- teen years of age, in 1852, and the next year came to Martinez, which had since been his home. He was justice of the peace several years.
John F. S. Smith was born in Georgia in 1821 ; served under Col. Jack Hays in the Indian troubles, and later in the Mexican War; came in 1850 via Panama to California and to Martinez, where his brother had laid out the town; settled on Bull Head Ranch in 1852; and in 1853 was elect- ed sheriff. He also served as assessor.
Napoleon B. Smith was born in Ohio in 1818; crossed the plains with his brother, Henry C., in 1845, being piloted by L. W. Hastings to Fort Laramie, and from there by Captain Bridger through the Indian country; engaged in business in Martinez in 1849; was elected first county assessor ; and in 1852 was elected to and served in the legislature. He was a mem- ber of the Bear Flag party and participated in the events of June 14, 1846, and was a farmer in the Alhambra district. Francis M. Smith, his son, supposed to be the first American male child born in Contra Costa County, was born on January 25, 1848.
Rev. W. W. and Rev. Joseph H. Smith came to California via the Horn in 1849 on the brig Forest, and to New York of the Pacific on July 11 of that year as carpenters. W. W. Smith entered the ministry of the Christian Church in 1840. He was the first appointed Alcalde of New York of the Pacific, and gave the name Antioch to the town, which had been called Smith's Landing after him. W. W. Smith died on October 16, 1899, at the age of eighty-seven years. Joseph H. Smith died in 1850.
June 26, 1916 .- A. J. Soto died at his Martinez home on Court Street. He was born on San Miguel Rancho in 1858, graduated from St. Mary's College in 1882, was elected county auditor, and with the excep-
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tion of two years held that office until 1907. He was assistant district attorney and inheritance tax appraiser. He left a widow and two girls.
September 5, 1903 .- James Stewart, a resident of Contra Costa Coun- ty since 1856, died last Monday. He was born in Ireland in 1825 and came to America in 1847, and in 1853 to California, crossing the plains. He farmed in Rodeo Valley until 1879, and then came to Martinez and engaged in mercantile pursuits.
Mrs. J. M. Stow, a pioneer resident of Walnut Creek, died on July 29, 1910. Her maiden name was Alice Glass. She was born in Walnut Creek, and in 1873 married J. M. Stow.
James M. Stow, pioneer capitalist and public-spirited citizen of Con- tra Costa County, died on August 17, 1919, in San Diego. He was born in Illinois in 1847, and came with his mother to California in 1850, via Panama, to join his father in California. In 1860, after the death of his father, the family settled in Contra Costa County, and from his twelfth year young Stow was reared in this county. In 1873 he opened a store in Walnut Creek. In 1880 he was elected county assessor, and served seven years. He was one of the chief promoters of the first telephone company, which came into existence in 1881. He was the owner and proprietor of the Martinez Gazette and vice-president of the Bank of Martinez. He built the Contra Costa part of the Oakland and Contra Costa County tunnel. He was agent for the Wells-Fargo Express Com- pany, and the holder of Alhambra Springs. Mr. Stow was a Mason and a Methodist.
Died, on September 24, 1897, in Alhambra Valley, where she had been a resident since 1853, Mrs. L. E. Strentzel, aged seventy-six years.
Died, at his home in Alhambra Valley, October 31, 1890, Dr. John T. Strentzel, aged seventy-seven years, a native of Lieben, Poland.
Died, in Martinez, February 7, 1884, Eliza Reddell Sturgis, wife of Josiah Sturgis, aged sixty-four years and nine months, a native of Nan- tucket, Mass. "She was one of the pioneer women of 1857, who, with her children, joined her husband on the Coast."
John Sturgis died April 22, 1886, aged seventy-nine years. He was known as "Uncle John" and was one of the earliest settlers of Martinez, having come here in 1850.
January 15, 1910 .- Mrs. Elizabeth (Lawrence) Swain, the last of the earliest English-speaking residents of Martinez, passed away Satur- day evening at her home. Elizabeth Lawrence was born on the Island of Nantucket in 1839. At the age of twelve she left with her mother to join the husband and father in California, coming via the Nicaragua route. The steamship North America, on which they were passengers, was wrecked and they were detained a month at San Juan del Sur, at which point they were picked up by a vessel and brought around the Horn, arriving at San Francisco July 7, 1852. George A. Lawrence had locat- ed in Martinez, and the daughter and wife came here. Mrs. Swain had lived here fifty-eight years.
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On August 22, 1913, John Swett, a pioneer educator of California, died at the age of eighty-three years, at his Alhambra home, "Hill Girt." He was the founder of the State school system, a teacher, author, pioneer educator, and most highly respected citizen. He was born in New Hamp- shire July 31, 1830, and began teaching when seventeen years of age. He came via the Horn to California and was 135 days on the water, arriving here in 1853. He mined for a time and then returned to San Francisco and began teaching. In 1853 he became principal of the Rincon School, and remained there until 1862. One of the first graduates of the Uni- versity of California was one of Swett's pupils at Rincon. Mr. Swett served as State superintendent of public instruction from 1863 to 1867, and then again took up teaching, holding fine positions in San Francisco and later in Contra Costa County.
Mrs. Mary L. Swett, relict of the distinguished educator, John Swett, died November 14, 1919, at her Alhambra Valley home in her eightieth year. She was the daughter of Judge E. P. Tracy, who drafted the plat- form on which Abraham Lincoln was first elected to the Presidency. She began teaching in San Francisco at the age of eighteen. She was born in 1839 in Connecticut and in 1854 came to California via Panama with her parents. She married John Swett in 1862, and they had seven chil- dren, four of whom grew up.
February 27, 1926 .- John Tarpley died at the local hospital Mon- day morning, aged seventy-eight years. He had resided in San Ramon many years and leaves a son there.
Gabriel Tarwater, a pioneer of Contra Costa County, died at his home in Ygnacio Valley, Saturday afternoon, November 9, 1912, aged eighty- three years. He was born in Missouri, came to California in 1849, and had resided here sixty years. He left a widow and four children.
January 16, 1926 .- For seventy years a resident of Contra Costa County, and having approached to within three years of the century mark, Mrs. Martha J. Tarwater, one of the few remaining pioneers of the early fifties, breathed her last at her Ygnacio Valley home, where she had lived for half a century. Mrs. Tarwater was born in Missouri and came to California in 1852. With the exception of four years, 1852 to 1856, she had lived in Ygnacio Valley.
Alex Taylor came to California in 1868, and located at Point of Timber. He died in 1912.
On August 25, 1923, at 5:30 p.m., Volney Taylor passed away at his home in eastern Contra Costa County. He was born in Canada in 1851 and came to California with his parents. In 1878 he married Agnes E. Andrew. In 1868 he moved to his place in eastern Contra Costa County and built a fine country home, and here he accumulated a fortune. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for thirty years had been a trustee of the Good Templars' Home at Vallejo.
Died, in Martinez, September 30, 1858, Archibald Tennent, Sr., aged seventy years.
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Died, near Pinole, August 16, 1886, Dr. S. J. Tennent, M. D., a na- tive of England, aged sixty-eight years. Dr. Tennent had practiced in the Sandwich Islands. He was a California pioneer of the first mining days, in 1848, and had settled at Pinole soon after, where he farmed the Pinole Ranch. In 1849 he married Rafaela Martinez, and they had ten children.
Died, at Providence Hospital, Oakland, March 20, 1915, Mrs. An- genette Thompson, a pioneer of Lafayette, where she had lived for fifty- nine years. Mrs. Thompson was sixty-eight years of age. She married Peter Thompson on March 23, 1862. She left three sons and three daughters.
Peter Thompson died on July 31, 1914, aged seventy-six years. He was born in Canada in 1837, came to California in 1859, and located soon after at Lafayette, where he continued to reside until his death.
March 27, 1926 .- A pioneer matron of Contra Costa County, Mrs. Charlotte Thompson, of the Lafayette section for many years, passed away at an Oakland hospital on Monday. She was a native of California and was seventy-two years of age. Mrs. Thompson was the wife of Robert Thompson, roadmaster of the Lafayette section.
January 5, 1924 .- The death of W. S. Tinning occurred at his home in Martinez shortly after midnight, at the age of seventy-two years. He was born in New York in 1852 and when a young man came to California and Martinez. From 1885 to 1893 he was district attorney. On January 13, 1902, he was made vice-president of the Bank of Martinez, and he succeeded James Rankin as president. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Miriam Porter Tinning, and six children.
The death of John Tormey of Bay Point occurred at St. Francis Hos- pital, San Francisco, in 1908. He had been a resident here for thirty-five years. He was a native of Ireland and was fifty-four years of age at the time of his death. He left a wife and three children.
January 25, 1890 .- The funeral of General M. G. Vallejo, last Thursday, was largely attended.
February 26, 1908, Mrs. R. R. Veale passed away in Martinez. She was born in San Francisco in 1865 and was married in 1884. She left six children.
Died, at Brentwood, June 5, 1886, Richard R. Veale, a native of Illi- nois, aged forty-seven years and eleven months. Mr. Veale had been a resident of the county since 1868, when he located in Eden Plain, and of California since 1857, when he came to this State via Panama. In 1880 he married Malinda Sexton.
John Tormey was born in Ireland in 1825, crossed the plains in 1850 with oxen, and in 1865 located in this county and bought an interest in the Pinole Grant in partnership with his brother Patrick. He served as supervisor from Township No. 1 for years. In 1859 he married Anna Waterhouse, and they had nine children. He died in 1877.
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Patrick Tormey, supervisor, passed away on Tuesday, May 7, 1907. He was born in Ireland in 1840 and came to New York in 1858, and to California that fall, landing in San Francisco on October 31. He joined his brother John, and together they bought 7000 acres of the Pinole Ranch. In 1877 he was elected a member of the board of supervisors, and with the exception of 1894 to 1898 had since served the county. He married Mary Matthews in 1875.
Died, in Martinez, March 19, 1891, Mrs. Mary B. Tucker, relict of the late Capt. John Tucker, aged seventy-nine years. She had been a resident of Martinez since 1851. Captain Tucker died in 1881.
Died, on April 3, 1902, James Walker, a native of Tennessee, born in 1825. He came to California in 1847, crossing the plains with oxen and arriving in 1848. He was a nephew of Joel Walker, scout and guide. In 1853 he came to Ygnacio Valley and farmed until 1890, when he sold out and bought a home in Walnut Creek. Mr. Walker served as a county supervisor three years. He was seventy-six years old when he died.
Standing in the cemetery of Martinez is a monument bearing the in- scription : "Capt. Joseph R. Walker. Born in Roane County, Tenn., December 13, 1798. Emigrated to Missouri in 1819, to New Mexico in 1820, Rocky Mountains in 1832, California in 1833. Camped at Yosem- ite, November 13, 1833. Died October 27, 1876. Age, 77 years, 10 months, and 14 days."
Captain Walker passed his last years with his nephew, the late James T. Walker, in Ygnacio Valley, near Martinez. He made his first trip across the plains in 1820 to New Mexico, on a trapping and trading ex- pedition, but at Prescott Lake troops were dispatched by the Governor of New Mexico to order their return. In 1832 Walker determined to make a visit to California. The best maps he could get of the country rep- resented a river flowing from Salt Lake to the Pacific Coast. He deter- mined to follow this route and early in the spring set out at the head of thirty experienced trappers, well mounted and well outfitted. Arriving at Salt Lake, he made a circuit of it, only to be disappointed in his at- tempt to find the river. Nothing daunted, he struck west and in October reached the Sierra Nevadas, which he crossed and attempted to descend near the headwaters of the Tuolumne, but failing, went farther south, struck the Merced, and got into the San Joaquin. His were the first white man's eyes that ever looked upon the Yosemite, which he then discovered. His party camped and trapped until spring. In the meantime Captain Walker, with a few men, explored the principal valleys of California. In 1833 he went south along the foothills, looking for a pass to the east. Guided by his unfailing instinct, he came to what he considered the only true pass through at 351/2 degrees north latitude, and named it Walker's Pass. He kept on the thirty-fifth parallel and passed through Colorado. In 1859 he acted as guide to troops sent up the Colorado River to Fort Yuma. He had been down the Colorado but never up it, but each day he would draw a map showing where the mountains approached the river,
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where the valley widened, etc., from memory, as he had seen it in 1833. Captain Walker was cotemporary with Jedediah Smith, Kit Car- son, Jo Bridger, Bill Williams, Fitzpatrick, the Sublettes, and all the noted frontiersmen of the early days. In 1843, while Captain Walker was at Fort Hall, Captain Childs, the Yount family, Julius Martin and family, and Frank McClellan came along and wanted him to pilot them over the mountains. Walker was afraid they could not make it that winter. Cap- tain Childs was sent ahead and was to return and meet the party at Walker's Lake. The party started, but missed Captain Childs, who was to have provisions for them, and they were in sore straits. They traded horseshoe nails for fish from the Indians on Walker's River. Winter was closing in on them, and beyond the lake they killed their cattle, cached their wagons and goods, and after much suffering got into Tulare Valley. The women and children's sole dependence for food was placed on the rifle of Captain Walker. Captain Walker was a brother of Joel Walker.
Died, December 30, 1919, at his home in Antioch, Joseph Wallrath, aged seventy-one years. He was born in Germany in 1848 and came to America in 1865, locating in Ohio, where he married Carolina Wendeln, who died there. In 1883 he came to California, locating at Brentwood, where he married Anna Lohse. In 1885 he located at Antioch.
Mrs. Almira Walton, a pioneer of Brentwood, died on March 17, 1908; aged ninety-two years. She was born in Georgia and came to Cali- fornia in 1856, and to Contra Costa County in 1862.
F. W. Warmcastle was born in Pennsylvania in 1815; served as first lieutenant of Captain Crieg's Missouri Mounted Volunteers; came to California in 1849; was elected county judge in 1850; and served in the Assembly in 1853 and again in 1857, and in the Senate in 1877. He also served as district attorney.
Mrs. Arthur Webb, for thirty-four years a resident of Crockett, died January 2, 1920, aged sixty-nine years. She was born in New York and had been a resident of California forty-six years.
Frank Webb, a native of Maine, born in 1833, and a pioneer of 1858 in California and of 1859 in Contra Costa County, died Thursday, April 5, 1906.
I. Weiss, a pioneer of 1859 in California, and of 1860 in Martinez, died May 15, 1896. He was born in Prussia in 1831. In 1862 he em- barked in business in Martinez, and in 1877 erected a building, which he had since occupied. He was a Mason; and it became known, upon his death, that he was the donor of the Bear Flag donated to the Native Sons of the Golden West and carried by them at the celebration in San Fran- cisco in 1890. So modest was he that he did not want his name mentioned in connection with the furnishing of the flag.
Died, near Clayton, September 29, 1894, Chauncey E. Wetmore, a native of Connecticut, aged seventy-six years, nine months and one day. Mr. Wetmore arrived in California in 1847, before the discovery of gold. He engaged in business in San Francisco, and then in Benicia, and later
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removed to Contra Costa County. His next move was to Oakland, but eventually he returned to this county and made his home near Clayton. He was an independent thinker.
Died, in Walnut Creek, July 7, 1893, Cornelius S. Whitcomb, a native of Canada, aged eighty years. Mr. Whitcomb came to this county in 1851, and settled near Lafayette.
C. N. Wight, for over fifty years a resident of the county, died at Pittsburg, April 17, 1913, aged seventy-nine years. He was born in New York and came to Contra Costa County in 1852, via Panama.
In December, 1919, at the age of ninety-two years, Randolph H. Wight, a pioneer of Contra Costa County, died at the home of his daugh- ter in Berkeley. Mr. Wight was born in New York in 1827 and came to Oregon in 1847. In 1848 he arrived in California, and in 1852 came to Contra Costa County for the first time. He married Orfa Durfee in 1848.
December 17, 1921 .- The death of Mrs. Frances E. Wilder, daugh- ter of Capt. George Donner, at Byron recently, recalls the tragic story of the Donner Party's trials of 1846-1847 while en route to California. Of all those who came across the plains, the Donner Party suffered the greatest loss of life. Out of eighty-eight, forty-two perished.
Arthur Williams, pioneer butcher of Walnut Creek and one of the oldest peace officers in the county, died at his home on September 21, 1915. He was born in New York and was a soldier in the Civil War at sixteen years of age. Mr. Williams had been a resident of California for forty-four years. He was a Mason and an Odd Fellow.
December 10, 1898 .- Francis H. Williams, public administrator of Contra Costa County, was suddenly stricken with heart disease in the office of Dr. E. E. Brown. He was born in Denmark in 1829; in 1846 he came to New York, thence went to New Orleans, and in 1850 sailed via Cape Horn for San Francisco, settling in Solano County. In 1864 he came to Contra Costa County and located at Antioch until coming to Martinez in 1878. In 1886 he was elected county assessor, and served until 1894. In 1896 he was appointed public administrator to succeed Francis Gunther, who had been adjudged insane. He married Mrs. Eliza- beth J. Emmons in 1862.
Died, September 29, 1885, Jesse H. Williams, in Moraga Valley, aged seventy years, four months and sixteen days. Mr. Williams was born in Virginia in 1815 ; he came across the plains in 1850 with ox-teams, and in 1854 came to Contra Costa County with his wife and five children.
January 27, 1925 .- William P. Williamson, Antioch pioneer, aged ninety-six years, passed away at his home there on Tuesday, January 27, 1925, after a brief illness. He was a native of New Jersey and had come to California sixty years ago via the Isthmus of Panama. He is survived by two daughters, Miss Carrie Williamson and Mrs. Bertha Brewer of Antioch, and two sons, Everett and Chester Williamson of San Francisco.
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Died, in Martinez, April 11, 1898, Thomas Z. Witten, a native of Virginia, aged eighty-four years. Mr. Witten was born in Virginia in 1816. He went to Missouri in 1838, and in 1849 came to California, crossing the plains. In 1856 he came to Contra Costa County and settled near Pacheco. He left six children.
Lewis Cass Wittenmyer, one of the most prominent and public-spirited men of the county, was born in Indiana in 1828, and came across the plains from St. Joseph, Mo., with mule teams in 1849, and mined for a time. In 1851 he took up 160 acres on San Lorenzo Creek. He returned East in the fall of 1852, but came to California the next summer, bring- ing a band of cattle and horses, and settled in Sycamore Valley. In 1857 he came to Martinez, where he lived until the time of his death, which occurred in the fall of 1904. He .held many offices of public trust and was highly honored by all who knew him. He served as justice of the peace several terms, and was county clerk for thirty-two years. In 1872 he married, and he became the parent of four children. He was a prom- inent Mason.
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