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 64
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 64
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Biographical Sketches.
TULLY, THOMAS J. The subject of this sketch was born in Mason County, Kentucky, July 18, 1825. In early life it was Mr. Tully's intention to become a physician, but an accident to one of his eyes changed his whole course of life, as his studies had to be abandoned. He then learned the trade of plasterer, and in 1853 removed to Knox County, Missouri, and re- mained in that State until his coming to California, which occurred July, 1873. On arriving here with his family, he first located at the Hoopa Val- ley Indian Reservation, where he received a position as head farmer, in which capacity he served for nearly one year. He was then appointed clerk and commissary, which situation he held until January, 1875. At that time he moved to Napa Valley, locating in St. Helena for a short time; and then changed his place of residence to Calistoga. He has purchased the " Maple Spring" property, a delightful place, situated on the Santa Rosa road, two miles from Calistoga. Mr. Tully is engaged in the fruit business, having a beautiful and, as we believe, the only orange orchard in Napa Valley, of something over fifty trees; also all the other varieties of fruit known to this climate; and "Maple Spring" promises to be in a few years one of the most delightful summer resorts on this coast. Mr. Tully was married to Mrs. Mary A. Robinson, of Missouri, July 22, 1869. Mrs. Tully is a teacher by profession, and it is their intention to establish a boarding school for children of both sexes at " Maple Spring" some time during the coming year. Mr. and Mrs. Tully have one child, a daughter, Clara May, born in Missouri, June 6, 1870.
THOMPSON, SIMPSON. This worthy pioneer, whose portrait will be found in this work, was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, September 18, 1803. His great-grandfather, John Wilson, bought the old homestead farm, in Bucks County, directly from William Penn, and it may be remarked as something very rare in American family history that the property is still owned by his great-grandson, the subject of this sketch. John Wilson, his great-grandfather on his mother's side, immigrated with his family to America, and settled in the same township. This man was the eldest son of James Wilson, who had violated the law of the realm by marrying Isabel, the daughter and heiress of the Earl of Corsik, in Scotland, and had been compelled to flee with his bride to the County of Antrim, Ireland. Of the same family, two generations removed, was Margaret Wilson, who was, in 1685, at the age of eighteen, sentenced to be drowned in the waters of the Bladnoch, near Wigton, Scotland. An aged lady of sixty-three years, named Margaret McLachland, was condemned at the same time. Their only crime was refusing to take the oath of recantation, and to abandon the principles of the Scottish Reformation. A beautiful cenotaph of white marble was erected to the memory of these martyrs in the city of
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Stirling, and still commemorates their " faithfulness unto death." The following is an extract from the minutes of the Kirk session of Penningham Parish, February 19, 1711 : " Upon the eleventh day of May, 1685, these two women, Margaret McLachland and Margaret Wilson, were brought forth to execution. They did put the old woman first into the water, and when the water was overflowing her, they asked Margaret Wilson what she thought of her in that case. She answered, ' What do I see but Christ wrestling there. Think ye that we are the sufferers ? No, it is Christ in us, for he sends none on a warfare on their own charge.' Margaret Wilson sang Psalm xxv., from the seventh verse and the eighth chapter of the epistle to the Romans, and did pray, and then the water covered her. But be- fore her breath was quite gone, they pulled her up and held her till she could speak, and then asked her if she would pray for the king. She answered that she wished the salvation of all men, but the dam- nation of none. Some of her relations, being at the. place, cried out, 'She is willing to conform !' being desirous to save her life at any rate. Upon which Major Winram offered the oath of abjuration to her either to swear it or to return to the waters. She refused it, saying, 'I will not ; I am one of Christ's children, let me go.' And they returned her into the water, where she finished her warfare, being a virgin martyr of eighteen years of age, suffering death for her refusing to swear the oath of abjuration and hear the curates." Mr. Thompson grew up on the old Bucks County homestead, and was educated in the common schools of the county. In 1845 or 1846 he went to Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained for twenty months, engaged in the wholesale and retail grocery business. On account of ill-health he went to Philadelphia, and at the age of forty-five engaged as an apprentice to the plumber and gas-fitter's trade, with the firm of Archer & Warner. He worked at this for eighteen months, when he went to Albany, New York, and began business for himself, which he con- ducted till 1852. In May of that year he sailed from New York bound for California, coming via the Chagres River and the Isthmus route, making part of the journey from Gorgona to Panama upon a mule, and sleeping in the open air with a box of medicine for a pillow. He came up the coast on the steamer "Golden Gate," with one thousand five hundred passengers, among whom were some forty or fifty stowaways, who came aboard at Acapulco, and who had been wrecked upon another steamer. Those were treated rather roughly, and made to work at whatever they were able to accomplish. At last Samuel Brannan, who was on board, made a speech in their favor, and headed a subscription list with $500 for their relief. William Neeley Thompson, brother of Simpson Thompson, and Thomas H., son of the latter, had come to California via the Horn in 1849, in the ship "Grey Eagle," one hundred and twenty days from Philadelphia.
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Biographical Sketches.
William N. entered into a copartnership with Mr. Blackburn in the lumber business in San Francisco, and furnished most of the material for the State House at Vallejo, and in 1851 three hundred and twenty acres of the Soscol Ranch were taken in payment, at $12 per acre, from General M. G. Vallejo, who had erected the State House at his own expense. A town site a mile square had been laid out on the place by General Vallejo, and some of the stakes are still standing. Subsequently Mr. Thompson purchased about three hundred acres more. Mr. Simpson Thompson came to California with the intention of putting up gas works, but when he arrived in San Francisco he found that coal was $50 a ton, and that gas was only $10 per thousand feet ; so he abandoned that project. He spent a few days at tallying lumber as it came off from the vessels into his brother's yard. He then came to the Soscol place and took charge of it. He found that his brother had sent men up, who had planted a small field of potatoes, at the expense of $12.50 per acre for plowing alone. Nothing else had ever been done on the farm, and the men abandoned the place in disgust. Upon his arrival at the place Mr. Thompson spent the first six weeks under a big oak tree, making his own bread and doing his own washing. This tree is near the present mansion, and is surrounded by a circular arbor and cherished with the greatest care. He found the place in a state of nature ; Soscol Creek, which is now confined within artificial bounds and empties into the river, spread then over a wide area, converting it into a morass. This is now reclaimed and constitutes the richest part of the Soscol orchards. The first trees were obtained from Rochester, New York, and from New Jersey. Nursery trees of many kinds were brought out, but thousands of dollars were sunk by losses in transportation. Trees packed in charcoal dried up and died, and those packed in wet moss mostly rotted on the way; but those packed in dry inoss arrived in good condition. The first peach pits were planted in April, 1853, and most of them grew vigorously, and ripe peaches were produced from them in sixteen months from the planting. When the Mexican residents saw them put out, and prepara- tions being made for a nursery, they laughed at such a thing: They said that without water it was impossible ; that barley would not grow over two feet and wheat not over six inches without irrigation, while trees would not grow at all. Their astonishment may well be imagined when, sixteen months after, he showed them finer peaches than they had ever seen in the State. Apples were produced from the seeds in two and a half years. Garden vegetables were produced in luxuriance and abundance without irri- gation. The seedlings were, of course, inferior, but judicious grafting soon produced fine results, and the stock of apple trees in California was soon brought up to that of the East. The first basket of peaches sold from the Soscol orchards brought $23.75, or about 80 cents per pound. They were
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retailed at $1.25 each. The first basket of plum peaches brought $34, or $1.12} per pound. A small area, only about one-fourth of an acre, was planted in gooseberries, and the yield was three tons. The wholesale prices of fruit in 1856, as shown by the books of Mr. Thompson, were as follows : apricots, per pound, 70 cents ; early apples, 50 cents ; peaches, $9 to $14 per basket of twenty-eight pounds ; peaches, best quality, $18.75 per basket, or 55 cents a pound ; yellow rare ripe peaches, 60 cents per pound. In 1855 $3 per pound was offered for the cherry crop before it was picked. The prices of nursery trees were in proportion. In 1856 trees in the dormant bud sold for $600 a thousand. Peach trees one year old brought $2.50 each in 1855, and $1.50 each in 1856. Apple trees sold from 75 cents to $1.50 each, and as high as $5 was paid for a single fine tree. In 1856 the trees in the original orchard would have brought more than he could now command for the entire property. In that year the farm and orchard yielded $40,000, a greater sum than it has ever since produced. Mr. Thompson carried on the place for many years in connection with his two sons, Thomas H. and James M., but now it may be said that the latter is really the manager of the magnificent property, the father having resigned that position to him some years ago, and the elder brother being now in Texas, where they are jointly largely interested. The old gentleman is surrounded by everything that could render life enjoyable, and is held in universal respect and esteem by all who know him. The family mansion is a model of convenience, widely known for its hospitality. The grounds are laid out with great beauty, and dotted over with rare shrubs and trees from every part of the Union. Mr. Thompson was married in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1826, to Miss Susan T. Simpson, who died in that county in 1844, leaving two children, Thomas H. and James M.
THOMPSON, JAMES M. Was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, November 6, 1833, and is the son of Simpson and Susan T. Simpson Thomp- son. He received a common school education in his native place, and then, in 1851-2, attended the Williston Seminary, in Hampton, Massachusetts. August 4, 1854, he sailed from New York on the steamer "George Law," to the Isthmus ; came part of the way across that on a railroad, and the balance on the hurricane deck of a mule; thence on the steamer "Sonora," arriving in San Francisco August 28th of that year. He came at once to the Soscol ranch, where he has been engaged in the nursery and orchard business, in connection with his brother and father. In 1874 he went to Texas and purchased, in company with two others, a tract of ten thousand acres of land and stocked it. He now owns a half interest in that vast estate. He was married May 28, 1862, to Miss Mary R. K. Gluyas, who was born in Philadelphia, February, 1844. Their children are, George S.,
6. 9 Simmons
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Biographical Sketches.
born June 29, 1864; Margaret Wilson, born September 19, 1867, and William Gluyas, born August 5, 1873.
TUCKER, GEORGE W. Son of R. P. and Delilah Compton Tucker, was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, December 15, 1831. He resided at his birthplace until 1838, when he, with his father, moved to Rock Island County, Illinois, where he remained until 1846. April 20th of the last- named year the family left Illinois, bound for Oregon, but, when they arrived at the head of the Humboldt River, they changed their course and came to California, arriving in October of that year. He stopped during the winter of 1846-7, at Johnsons Ranch on Bear River, and in the spring he moved to the Cosumnes River and spent two months. He then came to Napa County, and located on a place near the head of Napa Valley, living in a log house on the site of his present dwelling. In 1848 he was among the first to go to the newly discovered mines, following mining for two summers. He has since remained at home permanently, and now owns one hundred and fifty acres of land. He and his father were among the number who went to rescue the Donner party. Married January 1, 1858, Miss Angelina Kellogg, a native of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, born October 6, 1838. [Their children are, Lilia, Mary, Jesse, Charles, Henry, Martha, John and Eda.
TEALE, GEORGE W. The son of Peter and Mary Ann Tucker Teale, was born in Coshocton County, Ohio, October 1, 1851. When he was but one year old he came with his parents to Napa County, California, and re- mained with them on a farm near Calistoga until 1880. He then purchased a ranch of forty-five acres, and is now engaged in general farming. He married January 27, 1880, Miss Kate L. Parker, a native of Solano County, California, born July 17, 1858. By this union they have one son, born October 13, 1880.
THOMPSON, CHARLES. The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, one of nine sons, all born on the homestead farm that had belonged to the family for several generations. He received his education and resided there and in Philadelphia and New York, until the glowing accounts heard of the Golden State, decided him to go and see for himself the truth of the stories that were told of the land of gold, its delicious fruits and large vegetables. In November, 1856, he sailed from New York, via Panama, on the steamers " George Law" and "Sonora," and arrived in San Francisco in December. That they received a cordial welcome will be known from the fact that they brought the news that it was supposed Buchanan was elected President ; but it was not known for a certainty until the next steamer arrived, two weeks later. After sojourning a few days in San Francisco, Mr. Thompson 37
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proceeded to Soscol Rancho, where he engaged in farming for several years. He then moved to the upper Napa Valley and bought land on the Yount grant, east of Oakville, and at the end of three years he sold that and leased the Yount homestead for one year. In June, 1867, he visited his home in Pennsylvania, remaining several months, and then returned and embarked in farming in Contra Costa County for five years. In 1869 the people were becoming interested in grape culture, and he purchased his present ranch, consisting of about one hundred and twenty-seven acres, considering the soil particularly adapted to the vine, and after a trial of several years he finds his opinion was entirely correct. Mr. Thompson is one of those men who always weighs well the outcome of any enter- prise before he ventures, as may be seen in his wise choice of grape lands, and his wisdom in embarking in the business when he did. He has never been an office seeker, but has always manifested a deep interest in all public affairs, and lent a ready hand to the assistance of whatever has tended to the advancement of the best interests of the community in which he resides. He has always been a prominent farmer wherever he has resided, and his opinions and conclusions concerning agricultural subjects, have been held in high esteem by his neighbors. He is now living upon his beautiful estate, surrounded by the comforts of home and the society of his family, enjoy- ing the well-earned fruits of a wisely spent life. In 1874 Mr. Thompson once more visited his native home, and February 23, 1875, was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Buckman, a native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and by this marriage they have one living child, Edward, born in 1878.
VAN BEVER, PETER. Was born in Belgium in 1825, and resided in his native country till he was twenty-five years of age, receiving his educa- tion in the meantime at private colleges. In 1850 he came to California via Cape Horn, arriving in San Francisco May 3d of that year. He brought a small stock of goods with him, but the city of San Francisco having been destroyed by fire the day he arrived, he deferred the opening of a store and went to Santa Clara County, where, in partnership with Levi Prevost, he purchased a small farm. In the fall of 1851 he returned to San Francisco, where he established himself in the general grocery business, which he fol- lowed till 1853. In that year he paid a visit to Europe, and on his return continued the business till 1857. He then went to Mariposa County and began the same business, conducting it till 1860. In 1861 he came to Napa City and opened a small restaurant, which he conducted for one season. Next he began the produce business, which he conducted for a short time, and then he opened the well-known " Bee Hive" store in 1864, which he con- ducted till 1875. He then began the wine business, which he followed till 1881. Mr. Van Bever has ever been one of Napa's most energetic business
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Biographical Sketches.
men and earnest citizens, doing all in his power to advance the interests of the city and county in which he resides.
VAN TASSELL, THEODORE. The subject of this sketch was born in New York City, April 11, 1834, where he was educated at the common schools, and resided until his twentieth year. At the age of twelve he was apprenticed to the trade of hatter, and at this he continued up to his leaving his native State, with the exception of one year spent in a commis- sion house. June 18, 1854, found Mr. Van Tassell on board the steamer "Surprise," Captain Ned. Wakman, bound for California, coming via the Straits of Magellan, and after a passage of six months entered the Golden Gate December 14, 1854. After a short time spent in visiting his relations who had preceded him to this coast, he found employment in the hat store of O. H. Boyd & Co., where he remained until 1857. After one year spent on a farm near Sacramento, he again returned to San Francisco, and took charge of a hat store for J. B. Le Gay, and in 1862, in partnership with Wm. H. Mead, and under the firm name of Mead & Van Tassell, he con- ducted a mercantile house in that city. After a short time he bought his partner's interest in the stock and moved to the Russ House Block, and there carried on business until 1867, and then accepted a position in the insurance office of R. B. Swain & Co. In July, 1871, he moved to Napa County, and after spending one year with his father-in-law on the "Hill- side " farm, near St. Helena, he entered the employ of J. A. Jackson & Co., lumber merchants. This firm selling out in 1874, Mr. Van Tassell succeeded them, and remained in this business until 1880, when he took charge of the White Sulphur Springs Hotel, which he conducted to the satisfaction of all the patrons of that noted summer resort. The subject of our sketch was united in marriage in San Francisco July 23, 1863, to Miss Emma S. Pollock, a native of Brooklyn, New York, and by this union they have four children. Their names are, Theodore S., Emily F., Florence L. and Philip L.
VANN, MATHEW. This old and respected citizen of Napa County, whose portrait appears in this history, was born in Morgan County, Illinois, June 9, 1823. When he was but a child his parents moved to Tennessee, and there resided until 1830 or 1831, when they moved west and located near Boonville, Cooper County, Missouri. He remained in that State until he came to this coast, which occurred May 1, 1850. He came in company with two brothers, William H. and T. A., joining a train at Springfield, Missouri. They came the old emigrant route across the plains, and arrived in the Golden State July 30, 1850. He first stopped at Hangtown (Placer- ville), and embarked in mining for eighteen months. In December, 1851, Mr. Vann paid a visit to his home in Missouri, and was there united in mar- riage; and after sojourning there a short time he returned to California,
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arriving in September of 1852. He proceeded direct to Napa Valley, first locating on the Yount ranch, and in the following spring he purchased his now valuable ranch of one hundred and fifty acres, located about two miles south-east of St. Helena, and engaged in general farming and grape growing. He is now, in company with the wife of his youth, enjoy- ing the fruits of a prosperous life, surrounded by his family of five sons, and enjoying the confidence and esteem of the citizens of the community in which he lives. The subject of this sketch was united in marriage, in Pope County, Missouri, April 14, 1852, to Miss Elizabeth Lane, a native of Tennessee. Their children are, Charles R., Thomas L., William F., Robert M. and Jefferson J.
VOORHEES, ALBERT P. Son of Samuel W. and Maria Loucks Voor- hees, was born in Sharon, New York, March 22, 1840. When he was nine years of age he, with his parents, moved to Sharon, Walworth County, Wisconsin, where he received his education at the common schools, after- wards taking a course at the Wayland University. He then worked on his father's farm in summer and taught school during the winter. October 25, 1862, he sailed from New York on board the steamer " Old America " to Nicaragua, where he took passage on board the " Moses Taylor," arriving in San Francisco November 27th of the above-named year. He immediately proceeded to the Montezuma Hills, Solano County, where he sojourned a few months, and then accepted a clerkship at the Mare Island Navy Yard, a position he held for five years. In 1868 he began the clothing and gentle- men's furnishing business in Vallejo, which he followed until 1876. During his residence in that place he held the office of City Trustee for a number of years. June 24, 1876, he began his present business in Napa under the firm name of Alden & Co., located on the corner of First and Main streets. Mr. Voorhees was united in marriage in Vallejo, Solano County, Decem- ber 21, 1870, to Miss D. Annie Farnham, a native of New Brunswick. By this union they had two children : Evelina Jaunita and Albert Leland.
WALLACE, HON. WILLIAM CYRUS. The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this history, was born near Lexington, La Fayette County, Missouri, November 13, 1823, and is consequently now in the fifty- eighth year of his age. At the age of about eighteen years he moved, with his parents, to Clinton, Henry County, in the same State, at which latter place he received the greater portion of his education. Here he began the study of law at the age of twenty-two, and in the year 1847 he was duly licensed to practice in all the courts of the State. He immediately entered actively upon the practice of his profession at Clinton, the county seat, and so continued until the spring of 1849, when he joined the army of pioneers whose hopes and fortunes were centered upon the gold-fields of California.
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He connected himself with a party of emigrants coming with ox-teams, and in this manner made the long and wearisome journey across the plains, ar- riving at Sacramento in August of the same year, and encountering only such incidents as were commonplace upon the trip in those days. In seek- ing a new home he was not seeking simply adventure, nor was he'carried away with the marvelous accounts concerning the gold discovery, but relying upon the practice of his profession, he brought with him his law library, and in a very short time he was engaged in an active practice at Sacramento. At the first election under the Constitution-the spring of 1850-he was elected District Attorney of Sacramento County. At a subsequent time, he was nominated by the Whig convention of that county for the office of Pub- lic Administrator, and was elected by a majority of more than five hundred, though the rest of the ticket was defeated. That office was at that time a very important one, and its duties very laborious, and were the more dis- agreeable because of previous bad management. After a year, having ar- ranged the affairs of the office in a satisfactory manner and settled its business, he resigned. In 1853 he visited his former home, where he was married, and then returned to Sacramento and continued the practice of his profession. In the following year he was again a candidate on the Whig ticket ; this time for the office of City Attorney, to which he was elected, Hon. Cornelius Cole being his competitor. He continued to reside in Sac- ramento until the summer of 1859, when, on account of sickness in his family, he moved to Napa County and located at Napa City. Here he remained until the winter of 1863, when he moved to the State of Nevada, engaging to some extent in mining enterprises and practicing law at Virginia City and Washoe. While in that State, he twice received the nomination of the Democratic party for Justice of the Supreme Court-in the years 1864 and 1866. He had also received a like favor at the hands of that party in California in 1861. He returned to Napa County in 1867, and this has been his home ever since. In 1869 he was nominated by his party for and elected to the position of District Judge of the Seventh Judicial District, at that time embracing the counties of Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, Napa and Solano. He was re-elected to the same position in 1875, but this time without opposition. During his second term the district was changed by leaving off the counties of Marin, Mendocino and Sonoma. The adoption of the new Constitution in 1879, by which our judicial system was changed, cut short his term of District Judge, but he was immediately put forward by the people of his own county for the position of Superior Judge, and elected without opposition. There are few men who have been more thoroughly tried by his people, and at all times commanded the high confidence and esteem enjoyed by Judge Wallace. In his private life he is benevolent, social, pure and true. His friendships are extensive, and are
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