USA > California > Napa County > History of Napa and Lake Counties, California : comprising their geography, geology, topography, climatography, springs and timber, together with a full and particular record of the Mexican Grants, also separate histories of all the townships and biographical sketches > Part 59
USA > California > Lake County > History of Napa and Lake Counties, California : comprising their geography, geology, topography, climatography, springs and timber, together with a full and particular record of the Mexican Grants, also separate histories of all the townships and biographical sketches > Part 59
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his left eye, and lodged in the bones of the forehead. The surgeons called it " beautiful." The eye, of course, was destroyed; but the singular part of the accident is, that the ball remained in his head until 1876, when it was extracted by a surgeon in California, and was found to weigh over an ounce. The idea of carrying an ounce of lead in one's head for twelve years, even for glory, is not a very agreeable one in time of peace. During all those years General Miller was not without pain. What he suffered they of the hospital and home-guard brigades will never know. Surgeons were afraid to remove the ball, fearing that it might destroy the sight of the other eye, or affect the brain. The pain, however, drove the sufferer to desperation, and he said he would rather die than endure it any longer. At the battle of Nashville he commanded the left division of eight thou- sand men, and was breveted a Major-General for conspicuous bravery. At the close of the war he was offered a high commission in the regular army, which he declined, and returned to California. He was appointed Collector of the Port of San Francisco, and at the expiration of four years was offered a reappointment, but declined to accept it. He then devoted him- self to commercial pursuits, and acquired a fortune. He was Presidential Elector at Large in 1872, again in 1876, and again in 1880. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1879, and his speeches on public ques- tions attracted wide attention. He has devoted a great deal of attention to the Chinese question, and his speeches and magazine articles are both able and brilliant. At the session of the Legislature of 1880-81 he was elected to the United States Senate, which position he now fills with honor. To him must be accorded the credit of breaking the famous "dead lock " in that body during the spring of 1881. It required a nerve of steel to perform that deed under the circumstances, but he was not lacking when the ordeal came. As a speaker he has few equals in the Senate. In the whole world there is not a more honest man in thought, word and deed. Senator Miller has been in the habit of spending three or four months every year in his beautiful country residence in Napa Valley, forty miles from San Francisco. People in the East who have never been in California, can have no adequate idea of the country-places of the rich men of San Francisco. There are no such palaces anywhere in the country. The villa and grounds of Senator Miller present a scene of Oriental splendor, although they are by no means the most costly in the State. Nature has done much, but art has done more. The estate consists of one thousand one hundred acres. A lawn of four acres is superbly kept, and all manner of rare tropical plants and trees grow luxuriantly, while flowers in abundance bloom the whole year round. Add to this, fountains, drives, fish ponds, a vineyard of forty acres, a picturesque house of many rooms, and the loveliest piazzas in the world, a herd of thoroughbred stock, and more horses than he can use, and you may have
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some idea of Senator Miller's country residence. His family consists of a wife and one daughter. Personally, Senator Miller is a man of marked presence. He is tall and straight, with the figure of an athlete. A kindlier eye or a gentler smile was never seen. His hair is gray and black, a little thin on top of the head, and his moustache, which is rapidly turning gray, droops at the ends. His manners are characterized by simple dignity and frankness. He is not effusive in his professions or promises, but he is the farthest man in the world from being a statesman of the Napoleon school. The great soldier once said of Metternich : " He comes near being a states- man, he lies so well." In this respect Senator Miller is a statesman of the George Washington school, which is not only better, but rarer.
McINTIRE, J. J. Was born in Ohio, December 24, 1835. When he was quite young his parents died, and at the age of fourteen he began the battle of life for himself. He went to Kentucky, where he worked on a farm till 1856, when he came overland to California, coming direct to Napa County. He worked for wages for the first three years, and in 1859, he rented land on the Yount Tract for two years, and then bought land about two miles from his present place. In 1877, he purchased his present place, consisting of seven hundred and fifty acres. February 4, 1864, he married Mrs. Elizabeth Walters, relict of Solomon Walters. They have one child, Henry Clay, born June 16, 1865.
MOORE, WILLIAM. Was born in Ireland in 1810. When he was eight years of age his parents moved to Quebec, Canada, thence to Montreal, and thence, the next year, to Champlain, New York, and thence, at the end of one year, to a place on the Ottawa River two hundred miles above Mon- treal, where he resided till 1857. He then came to California, arriving April 21st. He went to Suisun, Solano County, and farmed for two years. In 1860, he moved to his present place of four hundred and eighty acres, and is now chiefly engaged in farming and stock raising. He was married December 15, 1845, to Miss Mary McCann, a native of Ireland. Their children are, William, Charles, Ann J., Bessie, Kittie, Mary, Hannah, Gil- bert and John.
MCCLELLAND, J. A. Was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, February 20, 1842. At the age of eighteen he went West and remained till 1859. In 1860 he came to California via Panama, arriving at San Francisco, March 12th. He went to Santa Clara where he engaged in clerking in a mercantile house, which he followed for five years. In 1865 he became connected with the San Francisco and San José Railroad, and remained in their employ for one year. He then came to Napa and engaged in the mercantile business which he has since followed. He was married in 1868 to Anna West, a native of New York.
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Biographical Sketches.
NEWCOMER, STEWART. Son of Jacob and Elizabeth Hershey New- comer, was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, January 9, 1840. He resided at his birthplace until nineteen years of age, and was educated at the common schools of his native county. In 1859 he came to California via Panama, and arrived in San Francisco in March of the above year. On his arrival he proceeded to the mines, and first began operations at Sonora, Tuolumne County, and continued mining in that vicinity for three years. In 1862 he began teaming from Mariposa to Coulterville, and soon after, in connection with this, he opened a stage line from Sonora to Yosemite. At this business he continued till 1868, when he returned East, and after a short visit he once more returned to this State, and began farming in the San Joaquin Valley, which he continued until 1871. He then came to Pope Valley, Napa County, where he has since resided. Mr. Newcomer was united in marriage to Miss Mary Johnson, April 30, 1868, a native of Ohio, born August 16, 1848. By this union they have four children, Maggie B., Bessie, Jacob and Abraham.
NIELSEN, NICOLAI LAURITZ. Was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, December 6, 1847, and resided at his birthplace until he was eighteen years of age, and received his education in private schools. In 1865, he came to America, and followed the sea for the first two years. He came to San Francisco in 1867, and remained there for two years, being engaged as clerk in a grocery store. He then went to Vallejo, where he followed the same business for about eighteen months. In June, 1871, he came to Napa City and began clerking for Thompson & Beard, which he followed till 1879, when he was elected to the office of County Clerk and Recorder on the Re- publican ticket, which position he still fills to the entire satisfaction of the people, and his gentlemanly and courteous manner has won for him a host of friends. He was married November 15, 1871, to Miss Caroline Robertson, a native of Norway, born December 1, 1854. Their children are, Sophia, Christine, Nicolai Lauritz and Leo Mabel.
NORTON, JOHN G. Son of John C. and Elizabeth Sterling Norton, was born in Oswego County, New York, September 30, 1835, and resided at his birthplace until he was twenty-one years of age, where he was educated at the common schools, and afterward followed farming. November 5, 1856, found the subject of this sketch on board the steamer " Illinois," bound for California via Panama ; and on the Pacific side he took passage on board the " Golden Gate " for San Francisco, arriving December 1st of the same year. He immediately proceeded to Napa Valley and worked in the employ of his brother on a farm near Dry Creek, and afterwards worked for differ- ent parties in the county, but finally located in Napa City, where he worked as helper in his brother's blacksmith shop and remained one year. At the
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breaking out of the Fraser River excitement, he, with many others, started for the new El Dorado, but being somewhat disappointed in the size of the "nuggets," he returned to Napa County and to his brother's shop, where he remained for two years. He was then married, and leased several differ- ent farms until 1866, when he purchased his present valuable property of sixty-seven acres, two miles south of St. Helena, and is principally engaged in viniculture. Mr. Norton is married and has three children, whose names are, Frank E., Katie M., and Annie Maud Fisher.
NORTON, ABRAM W. Son of John C. and Elizabeth Sterling Nor- ton, was born in Herkimer County, New York, May 7, 1827, and is now fifty-four years of age. When he was two years of age, his parents moved to Oswego County, same State, where he resided until he was eighteen years of age, having the advantages of the common schools of those days. Mr. Norton at eighteen, went to Syracuse, New York, and began an apprentice- ship to the blacksmith and machine trade, and in this capacity served six years, until January, 1852, when, on the 5th of that month, he sailed from New York on the steamer " Permelia," for California, via Panama. At that place, he boarded the steamer " North America." After being out two days, the steamer was wrecked, and from Valparaiso he went to Acapulco by land, and there they boarded an old bark which took eighty of them to San Francisco, arriving May 1st of that year, after a stormy passage of four months. He immediately came to Napa City, where the first four months were spent on the farm of his brother, Martin Norton, now deceased. He then began to work at his trade in the employ of John Guthrie, and con- tinued for five months. He then purchased the shop owned by John Rob- inson and began business for himself, which he continued until 1870. He then had a vacation for two years, and in 1872, Mr. Norton purchased an interest in the present firm of B. F. Sawyer & Co., engaged in the tannery business, located in Napa City, of which a full history will be found else- where in this book. The subject of our sketch was married to Miss Mary E. Johnson, October 28, 1855, who was born in Genesee County, New York, May 1, 1831, and died February 6, 1875. By this union he has five living children : Ida M., born August 5, 1857 ; Homer F., born October 17, 1860; Harriet L., born June 12, 1863; Gracie A., born October 17, 1865, and William H., born December 24, 1867. Mr. Norton's second marriage oc- curred May 30, 1876, to Mrs. Frances Harrington, a native of Michigan. By this union they have one child, Burta, born January 26, 1878.
NOTTAGE, FRANK M. Son of Samuel F. and Mary F. Hamlin Not- tage, was born in Chelsea, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, August 12, 1855, and resided there until March, 1878, and received his education in the mean- time, graduating from the Chelsea High School in 1873. He came to Cali-
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fornia in the last mentioned year, and became associated with Joshua Frye, and in August, 1880, he became an equal partner with him in the general merchandise business which they are conducting at Rutherford, under the firm name of Frye & Nottage. He is unmarried.
OSBORN, GEORGE. Was born in Kislingberg, England, March 23, 1824. At the age of four years he came with his parents to America, and first located in Hudson, New York, and attended school and followed farm- ing for ten years, and after the same length of time spent in Oneida County, same State, he moved to Wareham, Massachusetts, and there was employed in a foundry for three years. In 1848 we find Mr. Osborn in Ogle County, Illinois, engaged in farming, where he resided until 1868, when he started via Panama, and arrived in San Francisco June 5th of the above year. After a short stay in Santa Clara Valley he moved to Napa County, pur- chasing his present homestead of nine acres, located inside the limits of St. Helena, and is engaged in viniculture and fruit-growing. Mr. Osborn was married in Middleborough, Massachusetts, May 14, 1848, to Miss Phoebe W. Hull, a native of that place. They have one daughter, Eveline, now Mrs. P. W. Grigsby.
OWEN, JAMES CARROLL. Was born in Schuyler County, Illinois, January 23, 1831, and is the son of Thomas Harvey and Mary Paine Owen. When he was still an infant his parents moved to Hancock County, Illi- nois, where he received his education at the common schools. April 28, 1849, he, with his father and brother, L. F., started across the plains to California, arriving in March of the next year, being delayed at Coun- cil Bluffs on account of the sickness of their father. They arrived at Salt Lake October 21st, and left November 12th, going the southern route, and after traveling through four hundred miles of snow, they arrived at Los Angeles March 7, 1850. They proceeded to the Tuolumne River, where they established a ferry, which they conducted until 1852, when they went to Solano County, where they engaged in stock raising with Robert Cannon. In 1856 he went to Suisun, and engaged in the livery business. In 1857 he introduced the first water-works in that place. In 1862 he engaged in keeping the Pacific Hotel. In 1863 he ran a butcher shop. He then engaged in the liquor business, which he followed till 1867. During all this time he had worked a great deal at the carpenter's business, having shingled the first house in Suisun. In 1867 he moved to Zem Zem and en- gaged in the cattle business. He then turned his attention to the sheep business. He kept a hotel at Zem Zem, and opened the excellent sulphur spring at his place, which he named Zem Zem, which means "healing waters." He has helped to open two quicksilver mines, both of which he has sold. In December, 1869, he established the Zem Zem post-office. He was mar- ried January 22, 1857, to Miss Phobe Rush, who was born in South Bend,
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Indiana, October 2, 1837. Their children are: Luticia Adeline, born March 5, 1858; Dora Etta, born September 9, 1859; Mary Ella, born February 6, 1863, and Charles Clinton, born December 22, 1866.
OLSEN, EDWIN G. Son of Ole Hansen and Anne Pedersen, was born in Fredrikshald, Norway, June 7, 1848. At his birthplace he resided until his twenty-first year, during which time he learned the tailoring trade. In 1869 he proceeded to Christiana, the capital of Norway, where he worked at his trade until March 28, 1873. He then immigrated to America, settling in Brooklyn, New York, where he was employed at his trade until March, 1877, when he started for California, first locating in San Francisco for a few months, when Mr. Olsen with his present partner, Mr. Hansen, came to Napa City and began their present business, that of merchant tailoring. Mr. Olsen still enjoys the full happiness of bachelorhood.
O'CONNELL, MAURICE. Was born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1841, . and is the son of Patrick and Katherine Stapleton O'Connell. He resided at his birthplace until 1868, learning the shoemaker's trade in the mean- time. In that year he came to California, and located in Napa, where he has since resided and followed his trade. In 1873 he opened a general stock of ready-made goods in his line.
PLASS, CHARLES W. Son of Peter and Elizabeth Plass, was born in Columbia County, New York, March 4, 1818. He received a common school education in the county where he was born, and resided at home till he was eighteen years of age. He then began the trade of engineer and machinist, which he followed till 1853. January 20th of that year he sailed on the steamer " Uncle Sam," from New York to Aspinwall, and at Panama he took the steamer " Winfield Scott." for San Francisco, where he arrived February 22d of that year. He began working at his trade for the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, with whom he remained until 1858. In 1856 he purchased his present farm. In 1857 he was joined by his family from the East, and in the following year he moved to his present place, where he has since been engaged in farming and stock raising. He now owns five hundred acres of land in Napa County. He was married, May 13, 1839, to Trinah Sheffer, who was born in Columbia County, New York. She died in 1859. He was married secondly to Miss Catherine Harris August 24, 1864, who is a native of Rhode Island.
PORTERFIELD, HARVEY. This worthy old pioneer was born in Rutherford County, Tennessee, March 15, 1823, and is the son of John W. and Julia Edgington Porterfield. He resided at his birthplace until 1839, being reared on a farm and having only the advantages of a common school education. In 1836 he came to Jackson County, Missouri, where he worked on a farm until the spring of 1845, when with Capt. John Grigsby's Com-
Respectfully yours Carl
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pany, he started for Oregon. At Fort Hall they met John Greenwood, an old Rocky Mountain hunter and trapper, who had been to California in the pursuit of his avocation. He was piloting a party consisting of the Gordons and Winters back to the States. The two parties struck camp near each other, and Greenwood proceeded to give them a glowing descrip- tion of California, and urged them to go there. The next morning Captain Grigsby, David and William Hudson, William Elliott, and others, drove out to one side of the train and announced their intention of going to California. The train was about evenly divided, and Mr. Porterfield, who was acting as teamster, came with the California party. They came on, and arrived at Johnsons Ranch, on Bear River, September 6, 1845. Up to the time of the Mexican War there was but little doing in California, and money was very scarce indeed. Mr. Porterfield went to Sonoma and worked at the carpen- ter's trade, getting two dollars a day, and taking his pay in hides and tallow. He remained in Sonoma until two days before the Bear Flag War broke out, when he went to the Kellogg place, near the Bale mill, and did his part in warning the citizens of impending troubles. He joined the Bear Flag com- pany, and passed all through that exciting and important affair. He then enlisted in Capt. J. B. Ford's company at Sonoma, and served in the Mexican War for one year. The company first went to Sutters Fort, thence to Mon- terey, where they were taken on board the whaling vessel " Stonington " and landed at San Diego. There the company was divided, a portion of them remaining at San Diego and the remainder coming back with Fremont to meet the immigration of 1846. Mr. Porterfield was of those who remained in San Diego. In the spring of 1847 General Kearny, with Kit Carson as a guide, came in from New Mexico with about one hundred dragoons. They stopped at a place known as Warrens Ranch, and sent word to where the California volunteers were stationed. Captain John Grigsby, Samuel C. Hensley, and Lieutenant Gibson, took a party of thirty men and went out to meet them. They came up with Kearny on the evening of the second day out, and camped near by. They were within ten miles of Andreas Pico and his band of California-Mexicans. That night they sent men out to reconnoiter Pico's camp, and the next morning at daylight they attacked him. Captain Moore was detailed to take twenty dragoons and make the charge, and General Kearny brought up the rear. Kit Carson went with ten men to capture the horses. Pico's men killed Captain Moore and his squad of twenty men, but when the rear came up he retreated. They buried the killed, and remained on the scene of battle until four o'clock that afternoon. They then took up the line of march, but had not proceeded more than five miles, before they were attacked by the Mexicans and driven upon a round hill with plains all around it. Here they were surrounded by five hundred men. On the second day of the siege they saw four men on
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horseback, and the Mexicans in hot pursuit. The horsemen got into the tim- ber, but were captured in less than two hours. The siege continued until their provisions became exhausted, and they began to eat their mules. In fact it had come to that pass that something had to be done. Volunteers were called for to pass the lines and go to San Diego for assistance, and Kit Carson and Lieutenant Peal came to the front and said they would make the attempt. That night they stole quietly down the hill-side, out through the Mexican sentry lines, and then away they sped on the wings of fear as well as of hope, and soon reached their destination and related the precarious condition their comrades were in. A force of three hundred men was sent to their rescue, and when Pico saw the force approaching he beat a hasty retreat. They then went to San Diego, and thence Mr. Porterfield's com- pany went to Los Angeles and passed through that campaign with General Fremont, and in the spring of 1847 he received his discharge. He then returned to Napa Valley and made his home with the Hudson brothers during that summer. In the fall he went to live with Nathan Coombs. April 15, 1848, at the very dawn of the gold excitement, he went to the Coloma Mines and remained there until November of that year. He spent that winter with Mr. Coombs, and spent the next summer in driving stock to the mines. In the winter of 1849, he, with Major Reading, fitted up a vessel to go to the mouth of the Trinity River. Meeting with a storm their vessel was blown ashore on Vancouver's Island and became a total wreck. Here they were detained for one month, when they returned to San Fran- cisco on the bark "Josephine." He then went to Cache Creek, and worked for Matt. Harbin, caring for stock. In the spring of 1850 he took up a place in Yolo County and began stock raising. In 1852 he returned East via Panama, and while in Iowa was married. In 1853, with his wife and his father, he started across the plains for California, bringing a drove of cattle. He went back again to his Yolo farm, and remained there till 1856, when he came to Napa County and settled on the Chapman ranch. In 1857 he moved to his present farm, which consists of four hundred and eighty acres, and is engaged chiefly in stock and grain raising. In January, 1853, he was married to Miss Martha Alexander, who was born January 23, 1833, and died in 1866, leaving three children William, Josephine and Emily. He married, secondly, in 1868, Miss Mattie A. Galbraith, who was born Novem- ber 18, 1839. His children by this union are Alfred, Mattie, Mary and Harvey.
PACCAUD, LOUIS. Was born in Switzerland February 3, 1829, and resided in his birthplace until he was sixteen years of age, receiving his education there. At the above age he went to Paris, France, where he secured a situation as clerk, and remained there until 1848. He then came to America, first settling in New York City, securing a situation at
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his former business. In June, 1852, he sailed from New York on the steamer " John L. Stevens," and at Panama taking the steamer " Tennessee," arrived at San Francisco in July of that year. He immediately proceeded to the mines in Yuba County and engaged in mining, which he followed for eighteen months, when he removed to Placer County and continued in his former business until 1871. He then came to Napa County and em- barked in farming, three miles from Napa City, which he followed until 1877. He then moved to Napa, purchasing an interest in the book and notion store of the now well-known firm of Epley & Paccaud. Mr. Paccaud was married in 1855 to Miss Julia Justice, a native of England, born in 1825. By this union they have three children, Francois, Julia, and Grace.
PARKER, THEODORE R. Son of Wm. M. and Caroline T. Hogan Parker, was born in New York City, October 21, 1838. He was educated at the public schools of that city, and at the age of fifteen became an apprentice to the gas-fitter's trade. When seventeen years old he began working as full journeyman, which he continued until 1859. He then went to Exeter, New Hampshire, and took charge of the Exeter Gas Works, a position he held for three years. In 1862 he came to California via Panama, arriving in San Francisco April 28th of that year. He immediately pro- ceeded to Mokelumne Hill, where he embarked in running a saw mill for Wiley & Washborne, which he continued one year. In 1864 he located in Marysville, where he took charge of the Marysville Gas Works, which position he filled until February, 1869. He then came to Napa, and imme- diately became connected with the Napa Gas Works, which business has since received his entire attention. Mr. Parker was united in marriage to Miss Eliza M. Cate, July 9, 1861, she being a native of Exeter, New Hampshire, born May 25, 1841, and by this union they have six children, all living: William M., born October 5, 1864, and Adah A., born December 3, 1866, in Marysville; Joseph R., born August 27, 1870, Caroline T., born February 6, 1873, John W., born December 24, 1876, and Theodore R., born October 1, 1879, in Napa City.
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