USA > California > Marin County > History of Marin County, California also an historical sketch of the state of California > Part 48
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George Burge. Was born in Chilcompton, Somersetshire, near Bristol, England, February 7, 1830. He is the son of Richard and Ann Purnell Burge. He remained here till 1854, during which time he received his edu- cation. The remainder of his time was spent on a farm. His father hav- ing died when he was seven years of age, he was thrown early upon his own resources for a livelihood, and was thus deprived of many educational advantages. In September, 1854, he sailed for America, landing at New York City. After a short sojourn in that city he set out on a tour of inspection, looking for a suitable place to locate. He passed through Cleveland, Toledo (Ohio), and Detroit, Michigan, and finally located in Brant county, Canada West, at a place called Burford. He was engineer of a saw-mill at that place till the Fall of 1856, when he made up his mind to come to California, and on October 6th of that year sailed for San Francisco via the Nicaragua route, at which place he arrived November 1, 1856. He proceeded in a short time to the mines in Tuolumne county, where he remained for about four months, when he returned to San Francisco, and set out for Oregon. He followed mining at Starve-out creek and other localities till July, 1858, and on the 4th of that month started for the Frazer River country, walking as far as Seattle, Bellingham bay, Washing- ton Territory, where he learned that the mines were a failure. He then took passage on the old " Columbia " for Victoria, then for San Francisco, work-
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ing his way. Arriving here he proceeded to Petaluma, where he was engaged in working on a ranch till 1860, when he came to Bolinas and stayed a short time; from there to the city and worked in a hotel until the 2d of February, 1861 ; came to Bolinas again and engaged in wood chop- ping. That Fall he purchased a ranch in what is known as Pine Gulch, and continued on it till 1872, when he disposed of his farm and purchased the Bolinas hotel property from Mrs. Jesus Gifford. He has since conducted that business, having enlarged the house and made a tip-top caravansary of it. In May, 1867, Mr. Burge returned to his native heath in " Merry Eng- land," and, winning the heart of a " bonnie lass" named Emma Davis, they were married November 12, 1867. She was born in Stourton, Somer- setshire, England, March 7, 1845. Their children are :- Ada F., born Octo- ber 26, 1868; Minnie P., born March 4, 1870; Emma C., born August 19, 1873; George D., born February 29, 1876; James W., born October 28, 1878.
Samuel Clark. This worthy gentleman and pioneer was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, Sept. 9, 1827, and is the son of D. A. and Mary Clark. When about fourteen years of age he left home, went to New York and shipped on board a vessel bound for Liverpool. He continued to follow a seafaring life till the Fall of 1852, at which time he arrived in San Fran- cisco. At the time of his arrival he was very ill with the Panama fever, and he went to Washington, Yolo county, to a hospital, where he was finally cured by an old-fashioned Arkansas doctor. In the Spring of 1853 he came to Bolinas, and began boating and hunting. In 1855 he went to Arizona, and followed steamboating on the Colorado river for one year, when he returned to Bolinas and located permanently. Mr. Clark has always been a public-spirited and enterprising gentleman; and has been honored with more than one position of trust, by the suffrages of his neighbors. ยท In 1856 he was elected constable, and in 1867 he was chosen to represent his district as Supervisor, which position he filled to the great satisfaction of his con- stituents. In 1873 he was again elected to the same position. He has also been Justice of the Peace for Bolinas township. In 1863 the "Pike County Gulch Copper Mining Company" was organized, and Mr. Clark was chosen as President, and when, in 1874, the "Bolinas Steam Navigation Company" was organized, he was honored with the chief position in the corporation. He has held the office of school trustee for a number of years, and takes great interest in the advancement of education, recognizing in it one of the great civilizing agents of the world. In Capt. Samuel Clark is to be found one of Nature's true noblemen, plain, unassuming, honest, truthful-in truth a very gentleman. He was married June 22, 1867, to Miss Frances Nott, who was born at Bolinas in 1851. Their children are Colfax, born April 14, 1869; Marcia, born June 27, 1870; Gordon, born July 24, 1874;
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HISTORY OF MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
Helena, born December 25, 1875; Frances, born April 25, 1877; Ellis, born August 16, 1878.
Joseph Codoni. Born in Switzerland, September 20, 1847. In 1867 he emigrated to this country, arriving in San Francisco January 2, 1868, and soon after came to this county, and has been engaged in dairying most of the time since. Purchased the ranch where he now resides, containing six hundred and nineteen acres, on August 15, 1870. Married October 29, 1873, Rosa Silacci. She is a native of Switzerland. Ida, Silvio and James are the names of his children.
William O. L. Crandell. Was born in Charleston, South Carolina, January 7, 1829, and when ten months old accompanied his parents to Providence, Rhode Island, where he was educated and resided until he attained the age of eleven years, when he moved to Cooperstown, Otsego county, New York, and there completed his schooling. At the age of seventeen he began school-teaching, an occupation he followed for five con- secutive Winters. At eighteen he entered upon the study of medicine, receiving his diploma and being admitted to practice at the age of twenty- two. In January, 1853, started for California via Panama, and arrived in San Francisco February 5th of that year. He at once proceeded to the mines in Shasta county and there sojourned for a year, when, returning to San Francisco, he engaged for a year in clerking in a store after which he went back to the mines, on this occasion to Siskiyou county, and there tarried for two years. In 1857 he commenced merchandizing at Hamburg Bar, on Klamath river, an occupation he pursued for two years; he then returned to San Francisco, and after a short time proceeded to Alameda county, where he engaged in farming and fruit raising. In 1865 he paid a. visit to the Eastern States of two years' duration, and then came back for a like period to Alameda county. In 1870 he settled in Marin county at Olema, where he held the office of Justice of the Peace and Notary Public until 1880. In 1872 was elected a Trustee of the Garcia School District, since when he has been clerk of the Board. Married Dolly Maria Weeks October 19, 1848.
Alfred Derby Easkoot. This old and highly respected citizen of Bolinas township was born in Manchester, Massachusetts, February 3, 1820. At the age of nine he began going to sea on coasters during the Summer season; at the age of thirteen he burnt his hand and face, and stopped on shore one year. At the age of twenty he shipped on board the brig " Per- severance," Captain Leach, master, running in the West India trade, and continued in this trade on various vessels till 1846, being master of the brig " Retrieve" from 1845 to 1846. During the last-named year he went to Philadelphia and engaged in boating on the Raritan canal, from Philadelphia
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to New York, and continued in that business for two years. At the end of that time Robert Packer, of Philadelphia, built a barque called the " Esther Frances," and put her in his charge. He continued as master of this vessel for one year in the South American trade. In 1851 he set out for San Francisco to join the barque " Asa Packer," but when he arrived in San Francisco, in July, 1851, he was so ill with the Panama fever that he was unable to take charge of her. August 16, 1851, he came to Bolinas. In 1852 put in a crop on the Belvidere ranch. In 1853 he was elected County Surveyor, to which office he was re-elected for four other terms as follows: 1853-'55; '57-'59; '65-'67; '69-'71. He was married July 4, 1861, to Miss Amelia L. Dumas, who was born at Philadelphia on the 24th day of July, 1820.
John Garcia. Was born on the rancho Corte Madera del Presidio, in Marin county, in 1838. He is the son of Rafael and Loreta Garcia. His life has been spent on the old homestead, the ranch Tomales y Baulinas, and in that vicinity, where he has conducted a general farming business. He resides at present in Olema, and is engaged in the butcher business. He was mar- ried July 4, 1864, to Guadelupe Higera, who was born in Sonoma in 1845. Their children are : Mary, born August 4, 1864 ; Maud, born June 15 - 1866 ; Loreta, born May 6, 1872 ; Rafael, born November 12, 1875; John, born February 16, 1879.
J. C. Gibson. Was born in Upper Canada in the year 1829, his parents being natives of Sackett's Harbor, N. Y. In 1836 he accompanied them to Belvidere, Boone county, Illinois, and there received his early education and resided until the Fall of 1848, when he moved to Yankee settlement, Clay- ton county, Iowa. In January, 1852, he left Jowa for California via Cape Horn, in the ship "Racehound," the voyage occupying one hundred and fifty-two days. In the month of July, having arrived in San Francisco, Mr. Gibson essayed to try his luck in the mines, going first to Forbestown, Butte county, where he sojourned for six months, but as there were no pay- ing diggings there he proceeded to Strawberry valley, Yuba county, where he mined for a year without making anything. We next find Mr. Gibson engaged in merchandising, a business he followed until 1869, when, finding the mines being gradually exhausted, he moved his family to Bolinas, Marin county, and commenced merchandising there in the Spring of 1870, which business he still follows. In 1875 he was elected a Supervisor of Marin county ; in 1876 was appointed postmaster at Bolinas. . Married, in the year 1859, at Strawberry valley, Sarah Adelaide Gasherie, by whom he has four children, George Lewis, Ida, Carrie, and Richard.
Albert Ingermann. This gentleman, whose portrait appears in this volume, was born at Minden, Prussia, December 7, 1831, and is the second
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HISTORY OF MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
son of Charles and Fredrika Ingermann. At the age of eleven he went to sea, and continued to follow it till August, 1853, when he came to California. He went to the Feather river mines, working on Bidwell's Bar. In 1854 he. went to sea again, going as far north as Oregon. Upon his return he lightered lumber on Bolinas bay ; he purchased the sloop "Mary Anna," which he ran between Bolinas bay and San Francisco. During the next fifteen years. he followed this business, between these two ports. In 1857 he leased a farm, which was taken charge of by his wife during his absence on board his vessel. In 1866 he discontinued boating altogether and purchased his present farm, and gave his entire attention to its management. Mr. Inger- mann has held the office of school trustee. He was married in 1859 to Miss. Anna Strain, who died November 7, 1866, leaving four children, as follows : Samuel, born November 5, 1860; Irvin, born November 7, 1862 ; Eliza, born December 12, 1864, and Anna, born October 31, 1866. He was married a second time to Mrs. Mary Hoyle, who was born in Yorkshire, England,. June 3, 1834. They have no children.
Charles August Lauff. This gentlemen and old pioneer, whose por- trait appears in this work, was born at Strasburg, at that time a city of France, February 26, 1822, and was the youngest child of Jacob and Caroline Ashelmann Lauff. While yet an infant, his father died, and at the age of five years he came with his mother to New York City. With the exception of two years spent at his birth place, he remained in New York till he was. nineteen years of age, when he shipped before the mast on board the bark " Byron," Captain Wilcox, master, for a cruise to the South Shetland Islands. At the end of eighteen months the vessel was wrecked while trying to make. port during a heavy snow-storm. He was soon after landed by another bark at Cape Horn, from which place he shipped on the bark " Warren," Captain Barnham, master, bound for Sitka and the north-west whaling grounds, and at the end of her cruise, which lasted for six months, he came to San Francisco. This was in the Fall of 1844. He applied to Thomas. O. Larkin, American Consul, for a transfer from the "Warren " to some coast vessel. He was transferred to the bark "Tasso," Captain Tibbey, master, a vessel engaged in the hide-droghing business. At the end of three months he left this vessel and shipped in the bark " Pisquamma," Captain J. B. R. Cooper, master, and cruised as far south as Callao, engaged in tallow-droghing. He returned to San Francisco from this voyage in 1845, and went at once to the Rancho Corte Madera del Presidio, Marin county, and engaged in whip-sawing. He remained here until the breaking out of the Mexican war, when he enlisted under Colonel Thomas McLane, and served till the close of the war, being honorably discharged at Los Angeles. In the Fall of 1847 he was again in Marin county, this time at. Ross' Landing, working for James Murphy, and remained in this vicinity
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till the gold excitement in 1848. He was among the first to go to Sutter's fort, and remained at Coloma for six months. He then returned to San Francisco, and engaged in piloting vessels up the San Joaquin river to Stockton. He was the first man to take a vessel through what is now known as New river. He took one Chillanian ship through to Stockton and received five hundred dollars gold coin for his services. He and two other men purchased a top-sail schooner, paying ten thousand dollars for her, which amount they cleared on their first trip to Stockton. This is but 1 one of the many fabulous fortunes which were made
"In the days of old, in the days of gold, In the days of '49."
He continued in the piloting business till December, 1849. In the spring of 1850 he came to Bolinas for the purpose of getting out timber for the San Francisco wharves, having a sub-contract under Hoff & Hatch. He remained here one year, when he started for the Trinity mines, but did not go all the way, having heard that they were a failure. He then returned to Bolinas, and soon.after took charge of Rafael Garcia's ranch in Mendocino county, where he remained one year. He then came to Fort Ross, Sonoma county, and had charge of that ranch, for Benitz and Meyers. He then went on an extensive prospecting tour through the Coast Range Mountains with the Kelsey expedition. We next find him, in 1856, in charge of the Rancho Punta de los Reyes, under Joseph McCorcle, where he continued for one year. In 1857 he purchased a squatter's claim near Olema, where he resided till 1862, when he purchased his present homestead in Bolinas. He now owns two hundred and ninety-eight acres, and is engaged in dairying. Mr. Lauff is still as hale and hearty as at thirty, and is withal a very genial gentleman, and a few hours spent with him while rehearsing the old pioneer experiences afford a very rare treat. He was married April 19, 1862, to Mrs. Maria J. Sebrean, daughter of Gregorio and Ramono Briones, who was born in Santa Clara, June 8, 1831. His children are :- Joseph L., born August 17, 1856 ; Charles A., born March 27, 1861; Oscar, born June 26, 1863; Caroline, born January 24, 1866; Valentina and Julia, twins, born February 16, 1868; Alfred, born May 20, 1869; Marcius, born October 16, 1870; and George, born November 17, 1872. Mrs. Lauff had by her former marriage two children :- Mary Adaline, born February 9, 1850; and John, born June 8, 1852.
Frank Miller. Was born in Athens county, Ohio, May 5, 1827, he being the second son and fourth child of William B. and Mary D. Miller. Came to California, November 17, 1849, and first visited Marin two days thereafter, and remained until April, 1850 at Point Reyes. He next was employed at the saw-mils at Bolinas off and on for some years, when he went to Alameda
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HISTORY OF MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
where he resided until 1854, when he returned to Marin county. He has been a Deputy Sheriff on several occasions, among others, for five years under Val. D. Doub, and in 1858 commenced his present blacksmithing business.
Hugh McKennan. Was born February 22, 1826 in the town of Bally- castle, county Antrim, Ireland. When he was eight years of age, he, accom- panied by an older brother, came to New York City, and remained there till he was thirteen years old. They then went to New Orleans. In 1846, he entered the American army in the war with Mexico, serving under a quar- ter-master till the close of the war in 1848. He then located at Louisville, Kentucky, and remained till December, 1848. He then set about making preparations for an overland trip to California, and May 1, 1849, he set out with a party of two wagons to come " the plains across," from Independence, Missouri, arriving September 15th of that year. He engaged in mining at Mormon Island, Park's Bar, and other places till the Fall of 1852, when he went to San Francisco, and resided there till 1857. He then came to Bolinas and purchased an interest in the "Belvidere" ranch with Captain Isaac Morgan, where he engaged in the farming and dairying business till 1864 when he disposed of his interest in the property. After a residence of about eighteen months in San Francisco, he returned to his old love, Bolinas and purchased his present homestead. He was married May 14, 1859, to Amelia F. Salvo (daughter of Benedict and Mary A. Salvo), who was born October 15, 1840, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Their children are William H., born in San Francisco, December 16, 1864; and Frederick B., born in Bolinas, March 22, 1871.
David McMullin. Was born in county Antrim, Ireland, December 27, 1826, where he resided until about nineteen years of age, when he proceeded to Ayrshire, Scotland, and was employed at the Glen Garnic Iron Works for nearly four years. In the year 1849, he emigrated to America, and settled in Burlington county, New Jersey, and there engaged in the wood and char- coal business until 1856, when, on August 22d of that year he sailed from New York via Panama for California, arriving in San Francisco on Septem- ber 11th of that year. On landing, he at once proceeded to Trinity county, there engaging in mining for two years. Mr. McMullin next resided in Oakland until the 17th day of March, 1860, when he settled on his present place where he engages in the wood, farming and dairying business. The dairy ranch consists of eighteen hundred and thirty-five acres, is plentifully supplied with timber, and managed by Mr. McMullin and his partner. The homestead where he lives he owns himself. Mr. McMullin is one of the Trustees of the Bolinas School district. Married July 6, 1853, in Philadelphia, to Mary McCurdy, by whom they have ten of a family, John McMullin, born
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in Spring Mills, November 15, 1854; Jane McMullin, born in New Jersey, October 10, 1855; Samuel McMullin, born in Oakland, Alameda county, January 27, 1860; James McMullin, born in Bolinas, Marin county, Febru- ary 15, 1861; Ann McMullin, born in Bolinas, Marin county, November 4, 1862; Mary A. McMullin, born in Bolinas, Marin county, Ootober 11, 1863; Alexander McMullin, born in Bolinas, Marin county, January 6, 1865; Sarah G. McMullin, born in Bolinas, Marin county, July 16, 1866; Rebecca M. McMullin, born in Bolinas, Marin county, July 12, 1868; Ellen T. McMullin, born in Bolinas, Marin county, December 27, 1870. They have three dead, whose names were John, Ann and Jane.
John Nelson. Whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Carls- . hamm, Sweden, October 17, 1819. At sixteen years of age he went to sea, and at that occupation remained until 1850, on the 13th day of June, of which year, he arrived in San Francisco. In the Fall he proceeded to the mines where he sojourned for three years, returning to San Francisco in the Fall of 1853. At this time Mr. Nelson settled on the Laguna ranch in Santa Clara county, and followed hog-raising until the Spring of 1855, when he left for the mines in Oregon, being in that State during the Indian excitement of 1856, as one of the volunteers. In the Fall of that year he proceeded to the Willamette valley, in company with William Randall, and purchased a band of cattle which he drove to Olema, Marin county, arriving there in January, 1857, when he bought the farm now owned by Mrs. Randall, his partner's widow. In 1860 he sold his interest to Mr. Randall, and after working a dairy for two years, in 1863 he started the stage line to San Rafael, which he ran for fourteen years. In 1878 he purchased the Olema Hotel, which he has since conducted. Married, Decem- ber 25, 1865, Malicia Shippy, a native of Jefferson county, New York, by whom he has Edgar B., Lydia M., Elna, Bertha M., and Walter S.
William E. Randall, (deceased). Was born in Greensboro, Vermont, May 13, 1824, and there resided until 1849. During his boyhood he acquired the trade of a carpenter, and followed it until the time of his coming to California. He first located in San Francisco, and commenced business as a butcher, but after a few months he moved to San Jose, and in the Fall of 1850 went to the mines, there remaining until 1853; in the Fall return- ing to Santa Clara county. He next went with John Nelson to Oregon, and in his company came to this county in the Spring of 1857. His widow now owns fourteen hundred acres of land, on which she conducts a dairy business. Married, in October, 1849, Sarah Seaver, by whom there are Elizabeth, William James, Fanny J., Raymond, Mary L Mr. Randall lost his life at the hands of B. Miller, in June, 1860.
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HISTORY OF MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
William Jas. Randall. Was born at Murphy's Camp, Calaveras county, Cal., April 1, 1852. Came to this county with his parents in 1857. At the age of seven years he went to Mrs. Varney's boarding school at Peta- luma for six months, and thereafter attended the educational establishment in his own district until 1869, when he returned to Petaluma to the academy of Prof. Lippitt, which he attended for one year. Subsequently he went to Heald's Business College at San Francisco, and graduated from that insti- tution December 22, 1873, finishing the course in less than six months, when he returned home, and has since resided on the Randall farm. In 1876 he visited the birthplace of his parents in Vermont, being absent three months. Married, January 15, 1879, to Abbie Louise Perham.
John B. Sebrean. Was born June 24, 1853, in Oakland, Alameda county, Cal. At the age of fifteen he became apprenticed to the blacksmith trade, at Dougherty's Station, Alameda county, and served four years at it. He then spent a short time in Bolinas, and went to San Francisco in 1875, and . worked at his trade for a few months. He next went to El Dorado, Cala- veras county, and remained there until 1876, when he came to Bolinas, where he has since resided. April 25, 1876, he was married to Miss Martha M. Simmons, who was born August, 1855, at San Andreas, Cala- veras county. They have one child, Alice Valintina, born February 14, 1877.
Nathan H. Stinson. Was born in Morris county, New Jersey, in March, 1829, and there received his education and resided for sixteen years. In 1847 his parents moved to Michigan and settled in Oakland county, where the subject of this sketch dwelt until 1853. In September of this year he sailed from New York to Panama, thence per "J. L. Stephens " to San Francisco, where he was attacked with fever. On his recovery he pro- ceeded to Redwood City and embarked in farming which he continued until 1859 when he returned to Michigan. At the end of six months he came back to California and found the Virginia City excitement at its height. He at once proceeded thither and engaged in mining with good success for two years; he next went to Sonora, Mexico, and continued in that country until the French troubles, and in 1865 returned to San Francisco. In the Fall of 1866 he located at Point Reyes and engaged in the dairying business on a farm of upwards of a thousand acres. In 1871 he purchased his present farm. Married August 19, 1874, Rosa A. Cunningham, widow of J. W. Upton. Mrs. Stinson was first married to C. C. Palmer, November 15, 1860, by whom there is one daughter, Ida M., born November 16, 1863; secondly she married J. W. Upton, by whom there is a son, Archie H., born February 23, 1872, and thirdly she espoused Nathan H. Stinson, the subject of this memoir.
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Henry Strain. The subject of this sketch, whose portrait will be found in this volume, was born in the county Monaghan, Ireland, in the year 1826, and there resided until he reached sixteen years of age. At this time he emigrated to America and settled in New York City, where he worked at the hatter's trade for three years; he then went to Connecticut and found employment in the Smithfield Cotton Manufacturing Company until he embarked for California. On March 5, 1852, he sailed in the steamer "Prometheus " for Nicaragua ; thence per sailing vessel to the Isthmus. In Panama he was detained three months from an attack of fever, which, hav- ing departed, he sailed for San Francisco, where he arrived in the month of July. Mr. Strain at once proceeded to Hangtown, now Placerville, but on account of ill-health only worked in the mines for one month; seceding from this occupation he commenced that of prospecting, which he continued till he left the district. On March 17, 1853, he arrived in Bolinas, and after teaming for something like two years for the mill company, he began run- ning the steamboat "Union." Mr. Strain next returned to Bolinas and was variously employed for about two years, when, in 1857, he purchased a por- tion of his present farm, and began cutting alder trees for fire-wood, which he prosecuted for two more years. From these small beginnings Mr. Strain gradually worked himself into the dairying business, until he is now the possessor of a fine farm of two hundred and fifty-eight acres and forty milch cows. In 1868 he was elected Justice of the Peace for Bolinas township, and is at present one of the Trustees of the Bolinas School District. Mar- ried in August, 1851, Marcella Roche, by whom he has eight living children : -Henry Frank, William, Winfield Scott, Henrietta, Ella, Robert Everett, Lillie and Anna Louise.
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