USA > California > Sacramento County > History of Sacramento 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, 1923 > Part 11
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The Golden Eagle, at the corner of Seventh and K Streets, was for more than half a cen- tury considered the hotel par excellence of the city, and dates back in a much cruder form to the early days of Sacramento. For many years it was a headquarters for the Republi- can politicians, while the Capital Hotel, on the corner opposite, was considered the Demo- cratic headquarters. Many a state campaign and legislative session were engineered and di- rected from these two points.
Where the Golden Eagle now stands, in 1851, "Dan" Callahan, for many years the pro- prietor of that hotel, erected his frame lodg- ing house, which he had purchased for a span of horses, and added to it a canvas annex, upon the flaps of which a joker named Wrightmire, with artistic talent, drew with charcoal the figure of an eagle, with outspread wings and a pensive air, and named the structure the Golden Eagle, and the name clung to it through the pioneer days with the tenacity of an inspired title.
Early Business Enterprises
A history of this city would not be com- plete without at least a partial list of the pioneer business men and business houses, in addition to those already named.
The early historians state that in May, 1849, there were about thirty buildings occupied by stores and that on June 26 there were 100 houses in the city. In the advertisements in the "Placer Times" we find reference to the following business and professional men :
Whittlock & Gibson, auction and commis- sion.
Burnett & Rogers (Peter H. and John P.), exchange brokers and agents for the collec- tion of debts. Mr. Burnett afterwards became governor of California.
Drs. L. P. and S. S. Crane, physicians and druggists.
Dr. C. B. Zabriskie, physician.
Orlando McKnight, proprietor of the Amer- ican House and Restaurant.
Murray & Lappens. Pickett & Company.
Saget & Company.
T. McDowell & Company, auction and com- mission.
Gillespie, Gerald & Company, wholesale and retail grocers, provisions and mining goods.
Brannan & Company (Samuel Brannan, William Stout, and Mellus, Howard & Com- pany), general merchandise. In August, 1849, Brannan was again alone. He died at Escon- dido, San Diego County, May 5, 1889.
Dr. B. Bryant, a graduate of the Botanico Medical College of Memphis, drugs and medi- cines. He also established a hospital in Au- gust, 1849, on L Street.
Dr. W. H. Anson, "late surgeon of the United States Army," opened an office in August, 1849, "opposite Professor Sheppard's store."
John Codlin, butcher and provision mer- chant.
H. P. Merrifield, auction and real estate.
James C. Zabriskie, law, conveyancing and surveying.
Morse, Dunning & Company (Charles E. G. Morse, of St. Louis, Mo., and John Dunning, of New York), provisions.
J. P. Rittenhouse & Company (Thomas C. D. Olmstead and W. E. Keyes).
Peyton, Comet & McCarver.
Dr. F. M. Rodrigues, from New Orleans.
B. E. Watson, groceries.
Dr. M. B. Angle.
Massett & Brewster (Stephen C. and Charles O.), auction and commission. Mas- sett later became a well-known musical com- poser and writer.
A. Dring, store at the Fort.
Thomas A. Warbass, real estate.
Robertson & Company (G. M. Robertson, Theodore Van Colt and Thomas King), meat market.
Dr. W. G. Deal.
Dr. Robert Wilson.
G. G. & R. G. Cornell, meat market.
Drs. Mckenzie and Ames (J. M. and F. W.). James N. Harding, law and real estate.
Elisha W. Mckinstry, law.
Jones, Prettyman, Barroll & Company (Dr. W. G. Deal), commission, real estate and drugs. Afterwards Prettyman, Barroll & Gwynn.
Charles Lindley, law and commissioner of deeds.
Bailey, Morrison & Company, merchants.
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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY
Pearson & Baker (James Pearson and W. A. Baker), real estate.
Plume, Truman & Company.
Cardwell, Brown & Company (H. C. Card- well, E. L. Brown, John Harris and John F. Fowler), afterwards Harris, Brown & Com- pany.
Drs. J. L. Wydown and T. J. White.
J. B. Starr & Company (H. L. Barney), auction.
McNulty & Company (A. G. Hedrick), hardware.
Dr. Benjamin R. Carman bought Mr. Deal's interest in the Martin & Deal hospital at the Fort, in December, 1849.
Dr. Hardenstein, homeopathic physician.
Barney, Brewster & Company (B. B. Bar- ney, R. E. Brewster, Fred Ogden, J. H. Blos- som and J. P. Hurley), afterward Barney, Blossom & Company.
Suydam, Fletcher & Company (John Suy- dam, Warren Fletcher and J. E. Galloway), then Suydam & Galloway, auction and com- mission.
Drs. Stanbury and J. W. H. Stettinius, asso- ciated with Charles E. Abbott, bought the hospital of Dr. Craigan and Mr. Abell at the Fort, during the winter of 1849-1850.
Dr. S. P. Thomas.
B. F. Hastings & Company, exchange brok- ers, bankers and commission merchants.
James Tait & Company, general merchan- dise.
C. F. McClure & Company (P. R. Slater).
Covilland. Fajard & Company, general mer- chandise.
Meconniken & Company (E. Meconniken. A. Hadley and James A. Myer), auction and commission.
William Montgomery, auction and commis- sion, groceries, etc.
Andrew J. Binney, civil engineer and sur- veyor.
Fowler & Frye, proprietors of the City Hotel. E. M. Hayes, jeweler.
Offutt, Wales & Company (M. H. Offutt. C. P. Wales, Jacob P. Dunn and George Dunn), auction and commission.
Hensley. Redding & Company (Samuel J. Hensley, Pierson B. Redding and Jacob R. Snyder), general merchants. Dissolved part- nership February 10, 1850.
Middlebrook & Christy (Charles Middle- brook and John M. Christy).
Steele & Grummun (Seymour G. Steele and Caleb Grummun).
William R. Prince & Company, sheet iron, zinc, miners' supplies, etc.
Demas Strong, dry goods. Mr. Strong was a brother of W. R. Strong, afterwards a prom- inent citizen and merchant of Sacramento. He was still living in the East some years ago.
M. G. Leonard & Company (Sheldon, Kibbe and Almy), groceries and miners' supplies.
Gillespie & Monson (Eugenio Gillespie and Alonzo Monson), land agents.
L. Bartlett, Jr., bank and real estate.
E. D. Byne & Company, dry goods.
G. M. Robertson, commission agent and real estate broker.
Henley, McKnight & Company (S. C. Hast- ings), bank.
Dr. Bryarly, partner of Dr. Deal.
Wetzlar & Company (Gustavus Wetzlar. Julius Wetzlar, Benjamin Fenner, Cornelius Schermerhorn and Francis Stratton). Some of these sold out afterward to John A. Sutter, Jr., and C. Brandes.
A. P. Petit, contractor and builder.
Dr. C. Morrill and C. F. Whittier, drugs.
Joseph Clough, real estate.
John H. Dickerson, civil engineer and sur- veyor.
Moran & Clark.
J. Neely Johnson, lawyer, afterward elected governor by the American party.
Bailey, Morrison & Company (Maj. B., John C. and E. M. Hayes).
Smith, Keith & Company (J. E. Smith, Mat- thew Keith and Henry M. Spottswood).
Lewis & Bailey (John H. Lewis and John T. Bailey), general commission and merchandise.
Warbass & Company (Thomas A. Warbass, William S. Heyl and John F. Morse), bankers and real estate.
Barton Lee, successor to Priest, Lee & Com- pany.
G. B. Stevens, wholesale auction and com- mission.
Chenery & Hubbard, proprietors of the Globe Hotel.
Ferris Forman, law.
Hoope & L'Amoreaux, general merchants.
G. H. Johnson, daguerreotype artist.
John H. Spies, notions.
Burnell, Stout & Company, wholesale autc- tion and commission.
Spalding & Mckinney (Volney Spalding,
M. D., and Joseph Mckinney), saloon. A. M. Winn, agent for Sutter.
Dr. T. B. Kruse.
J. D. B. Stillman, M. D., left in 1862.
L. A. Birdsall, M. D.
J. A. Wadsworth, M. D., from Providence, R. I., had the K Street hospital.
Boyd & Davis, real estate, later removed to San Francisco and became wealthy.
Earl, McIntosh & Company, forwarding, later of San Francisco.
John Hatch, jeweler, resided in Sacramento until his death.
Simmons, Hutchinson & Company, general merchandise. Simmons dealt also in real estate.
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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY
J. L. F. Warren established the store now owned by Baker & Hamilton. He went to San Francisco afterwards and for many years pub- lished an agricultural paper there.
D. O. Mills was a dealer in gold dust and founded the bank that bears his name. He went to New York many years ago to reside, and there his death occurred.
Brown, Henry & Company, wholesale clothing.
James Lee kept the "Stinking Tent." the largest gambling establishment for a time. Z. Hubbard soon after started a large, neat gambling tent.
James Bininger built the first hotel in Sacra- mento.
James King of William, who engaged in various occupations, was killed in San Fran- cisco by Casey, which precipitated the forma- tion and action of the Vigilance Committee there in 1856.
Dr. Charles H. Craigan. from Washington, D. C .. in 1849 established a hospital at the Fort, at which the rates for board and treat- ment ranged from $16 to $50 per day.
H. Arents & Company, general merchan- dise.
Burge & Ratcliffe ( Robert K. and William M.), manufacturers of iron doors and shutters.
M. T. McClellan, speculator in gold and sil- ver; "coin exchanged for dust, at $15 per ounce."
Sagat and Southard (L. T. and Charles C.), general merchandise and miners' supplies.
Marshall & Santry, general merchandise.
Von Pfister & Vaughan (Edward and Will- iam), general merchandise.
H. A. Schoolcraft, real estate and inagis- trate.
Drs. William M. Carpenter and T. L. Chap- man.
Dr. T. M. Ames, at Sutterville.
Nevett & Company. hardware; Youmans was the "Company."
C. C. Sackett, notary public and convey- ancer.
R. Chenery, flour.
George H. Pettibone, proprietor of the El . Dorado House.
Yates Ferguson, general store.
Haines, Webster & Company, hotel.
Richard Berry, auction.
Barton & Grimm, real estate.
Watson & Bem, hardware.
C. P. Huntington & Company. hardware. J. B. Blanchard & Company, hardware.
Bowstead & Woods, iron and brass foundry.
There were also a number of stage lines and express companies. Wells, Fargo & Company began business here in 1856, and continued until consolidated with the American Railway Express Company.
Other firms were : Wesley Merritt. Moran &
Clark, H. E. Robinson & Company, George H. Johnson, Thompson & Taylor, Cochran, Peifer, Samuel Gregg. S. C. Bruce, Montgom- ery & Company, Captain Gallup, A. C. Latson, John Van Houghton, Ames & Mckenzie. Jesse Haycock. Dearbower, Caswell. Ingalls & Com- pany, Hanna, Jennings & Company. Captain Northam, Geise & Son, J. J. Burge, Harden- bergh & Company. Morrill & Hamlin, Coats & Rivett, Cheeks, Pinkard, Prince, Scranton & Smith, T. S. Mitchell & Company. Reynolds & Company, P. B. Cornwall, Paul, White & Company.
Early Grocery Firms
Of the early grocery firms, Pomeroy & Peebles were the most extensive in their oper- ations. Their place was familiarly spoken of as the Missouri Store.
Haynes & Company were almost exclusive- ly an importing house.
Bullard, Figg & Company did a large busi- ness. Mr. Figg, for many years before his death, dealt in salt: his son, E. J. Figg, con- tinued the business until a few years ago.
Cavert & Hill, whose store was on Front Street. where McCreary's mill stood in later years. also did a large business.
Forshee, Booth & Company did a very large business, and the members of the firm were John Forshee, Lucius A. Booth and Job F. Dye. The latter came to California as early as 1840. Booth removed to Piedmont and For- shee is deceased.
E. D. and \V. F. Kennedy were Philadelphia men who enjoyed good patronage, became wealthy in the grocery trade and then returned to Philadelphia.
J. W. Foard & Company (George Cadwal- ader being the "Company") was another pio- neer firm. Mr. Cadwalader became a promi- nent lawyer here. Both he and the senior member of the firm died years ago.
W. T. Grissim & Company (Snyder) have both passed away.
Curry & Company and P. J. Brown & Com- pany were both burned out in the great fire of 1852, but re-established themselves, finally go- ing out of business in 1855.
The Lady Adams Company (to which Mebius & Drescher are the successors) was named after the ship that brought the mem- bers of the company and their cargo of goods to the Coast, and was one of the oldest firms in Sacramento.
Stanford Brothers, three brothers of Leland Stanford, were not burned out in the big fire of 1852, although their building was not as fire- proof as many others that were consumed. All of the other buildings in the block were burned.
Hermance & Burton were burned out in 1852 and never resumed business.
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HISTORY OF SAC RAMENTO COUNTY
J. H. Trowbridge & Company and Carroll & Stearin soon after the fire succeeded the old house of Birdsall & Company, and took the name of Scudder, Carroll & Company.
Taylor & Van Sickle had a large business patronage before the fire, but after that Van Sickle dropped out of the business.
Louis Sloss, who later became head of the Alaska Fur Company, was a very successful trader here up to 185-4.
Chamberlain & Patrick, another successful firm, engaged in business on the Plaza. Cham- berlain afterwards entered the banking house of D. O. Mills & Company, with which he remained in active employment until nearly ninety years of age ; he died a number of years ago. Dr. Patrick has been dead for many years.
Wilcoxson & Company closed their business in 1852 after a successful career, and became large landholders in the valley. The members of the firm have been dead for a number of years.
Maddux & Company, who came here from Arkansas in the early days, built the Maddux block at Third and K Streets ..
Mills & Company (James and D. O. Mills) were in the grocery business until about 1851, when they retired. The latter established the bank which bears his name, finally removed to New York and there died.
Bushnell & Company was another of the few lucky firms that were not burned out in the big fire of 1852.
Sneath & Arnold in 1851 established the business to which Adams, McNeill & Com- pany succeeded and which in 1911 was bought out by Mebius and Drescher. John Arnold died in 1864. Sneath removed to San Francis- co in the sixties and carried on a large dairy on the San Bruno road until his death.
Fry, Hoopes & Company founded the house that is now Lindley & Company (J. D. Fry and Thomas Hoopes). Hoopes died years ago and Fry removed to San Francisco.
Of Hopkins & Miller, the partners were Mark Hopkins and Ed. Miller. Hopkins died at Yuma, March 29, 1878. Miller was with the Central Pacific Company for a number of years.
Another large business firm was W. R. Mc- Caull & Company (Moore). Moore moved to Louisville, Ky., and McCaull died here.
Smith & Booth were the predecessors of Booth & Company. Charles Smith died in New York. Newton Booth, the other partner, was afterward senior member of the firm of Booth & Company, and became governor of California and United States senator. He died in this city July 14, 1892.
Hull & Lohman, another of the successful early firms, removed later to San Francisco and died there.
Lindley, Booth & Company (T. M. Lindley and L. A. Booth) began business in 1849. Booth retired from the firm in 1850, and after a while Lindley closed his business and went elsewhere. He became a member of the firm of Fry, Hoopes & Company February 1, 1853, on the corner of Seventh and J Streets. The firm name was changed to Lindley & Hoopes a year later, and in 1855 Mr. Lindley was in business alone. He took his son, D. A. Lind- ley, into partnership a number of years ago, under the present firm name. Mr. Lindley, Sr., has been dead for some time.
Besides these here named, there were a num- ber of other grocery firms in the early days, among them being Birdsall & Company ; Ahrents & Tolger ; Meeker & Company (S. H. and David Meeker) ; Burton & McCarty; Wood & Kenyon ; Kramer & Quivey ; Love- land & Company ; Kibbe, Almy & Company ; Thomas Bannister ; Burton, Fish & Culver ; and Peter Slater.
The following reminiscences relative to Tom McConnell, a merchant of the early days, were related to the writer by James G. Patter- son, a pioneer of 1852, and the son of A. D. Patterson, a pioneer of 1849:
"The other day Tom McConnell, of McCon- nell Station, was in here to see me, and we had a chat about the old days. McConnell settled at Garden Valley, on the Georgetown road near Greenwood and Johntown. He started a store there and cultivated a garden, from which the place took its name. He raised potatoes and sold them to the miners for thirty cents a pound. Such things were high in those days. He came down to Sacramento one day and stepped into a store where Charlie Grimm was having an auction. A lot of cot- ton shirts were being sold and he bought the whole lot for five cents apiece and took them home. It cost two bits in those days to get a shirt washed. He told the miners he would sell them the shirts for two bits, and they con- cluded it was better to wear a shirt a couple of weeks and throw it away than to pay for hav- ing it washed, so he sold all his shirts and got the reputation of being the cheapest storekeep- er to buy of in that country.
"In the winter of 1852-1853, the rains were very heavy and the bottom dropped out of the roads, and a great many teams were laid up along the road. Flour was selling at fifty cents a pound. Some freighters got within three miles of Garden Valley and got stalled. McConnell went down and bought their flour for thirty cents and sold it to the miners for forty cents. 'I was lucky,' said he ; 'I just got rid of it when it came down to twenty-five cents.' For a time the price of all kinds of merchandise was low except picks and shovels, and McConnell said he never got more than $5 apiece for picks and $10 for shovels."
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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY
Early Manufacturing Firms
In 1849 Peter Kadell established the Sacra- mento Brewery, now owned by Philip Scheld. In 1850 Zins & Weber built a brewery at Twenty-ninth and J Streets. In 1853 Louis Keseberg built one at Twenty-eighth and M Streets. In 1853 Philip Yager started a brew- ery in Sam Brannan's old adobe store on K Street. near Twenty-eighth, and another, the Tiger Brewery, at Thirty-first and K Streets. In 1860 the St. Louis Brewery was built at Sixth and G Streets. Later the City Brewery was erected at Twelfth and H Streets. In 1858 the Pacific Brewery was established at Ninth and P Streets. In 1853 the Columbus Brewery at Fifteenth and K Streets was estab- lished. In 1861 the Sutterville Brewery was built, and in 1869 the Capital Brewery was opened. In 1878 the eight breweries running made 530,200 gallons of beer.
The first boiler shop was started by Ander- son & Corbett in 1853.
In 1854 H. Webster opened a broom factory, and two years afterwards there were three.
In 1858 there were seventy-nine wagon and carriage shops in Sacramento, employing 340 men and turning out $750,000 worth of vehicles. There were also five foundries.
The Sacramento Valley Beet Sugar Factory was established on the J Street road in 1868, but was a failure and closed in 1876, as did the Capital Distillery, owned by the same com- pany.
G. Miller & Sons established artificial stone and cement works in 1876 at Tenth and L Streets.
Flouring Mills
Although flour was necessarily an article of daily diet among the miners in the days of '49 and later, the staple menu being flapjacks and bacon, beans and coffee, with an occasion- al addition of beef, venison or other game (a menu which, by the way, has not been much improved on for camp fare by the outing parties of today), there were not many flour mills in the early days. General Sutter built a flour mill, but as far as is known, there is no record of other mills being in operation dur- ing the first years of the rush for gold.
The Lambard Mill, built in the fifties at Second and I Streets, ran a few years and did a large business under the ownership of General Redington.
In 1853 the Lambard Flouring Mills were erected on the north side of I Street, at the head of Second Street. For a couple of years they were run in connection with the Sacra- mento Iron Works, the original building being of brick and only 20 by 40 feet in size. In 1856 it was enlarged and supplied with a solid foundation by James Kerr, a millwright from
Boston, who afterwards lost his life on the ill- fated steamer "Central America" when she was lost. Additions were made from time to time, until the capacity was increased to run five stones. It was finally abandoned as a flouring mill and has been used for many years as a storehouse for feed and other things. Some years ago it was used as a storehouse for saw- dust, which swelled and burst out from the wall on I Street, several pedestrians narrowly escaping death or serious injury.
In 1853 the brick building afterward oc- cupied by the Sacramento Flouring Mills on Front Street, between L and M, was erected by Dr. Carpenter. a well-known and wealthy citizen, with the idea of having it made the State Capitol. The Capitol, however, was never located there, and after the completion of the structure its first floor was occupied by C. H. Swift, Campbell & Sweeney, and other grain stores, etc. In 1856-1857 it arrived at the dignity of being used as the courthouse for the county. The property later passed from Dr. Carpenter to C. K. Garrison. In 1869 Charles and Byron McCreary purchased it and turned it into the Sacramento Flouring Mills. One of the brothers died a number of years later, and the other closed the mill, it being gathered in by the Sperry Milling Company of Stockton, which formed a combination with a number of other mills in this county. Mc- Creary passed away near the close of the last century.
In 1854 R. D. Carey purchased what was known as the Ice House on Front Street, near what is known as "Jib-boom" Street, adjoining the railroad shops. He converted the building into the Pioneer Flour Mill. He afterward failed in business, and the property was pur- chased by E. P. Figg. Carey went to Philadel- phia and afterward became quite wealthy, it is said. In 1858 Seth Garfield and Aleck Dyer purchased the mill from Figg and thoroughly remodeled the plant. It was destroyed by fire in October, 1863, the owners losing about $10,000 over their insurance. At the time it was burned it was running day and night, turn- ing out 200 barrels of flour a day, the net profit on which was $75. Dyer left the city after the fire, and Garfield and A. C. Bidwell went into partnership, rebuilt the mill which now stands there, and had it in running order in four months. Three days afterwards Bidwell sold out to H. G. Smith, who, with Garfield, ran the mill until the close of 1864. J. H. Carroll then came in as a third partner, and the firm ex- pended $70,000 in increasing the capacity of the mill to 500 barrels a day. The three part- ners conducted the business till 1869, when Carroll and Garfield sold out their interest to H. G. Smith and G. W. Mowe, who took the name of the Pioneer Milling Company. It also
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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY
entered into the Sperry combination and the old mill stands idle, the warehouse of the com- pany having been removed to the northern part of the city.
We are indebted to Mr. Ferdinand Kohler for the following interesting sketch of the business of manufacturing flour in Sacramento County and the Sacramento Valley. Since the day of the wheat barons has passed away, wheat has ceased to be a staple product of the valley, and only enough flour is manufactured to supply the local and adjoining markets, the export having passed to Oregon and Washing- ton as their wheat-growing area increased, and the land of the Sacramento Valley, impover- ished for wheat-raising by continued sowing of the same crop, rendered it unprofitable to raise that cereal. Not until the owners of the larger tracts of land in the valley were forced by conditions to recognize this fact did they let go their grasp on the big ranches and suffer them to be subdivided and put to other uses. During the first years of the settlement by whites in the Sacramento Valley the flour used was made in the Eastern states and brought around Cape Horn by sailing vessels. No one thought at that time that California would some day become the banner wheat state of the Union. It was not long until wheat was introduced in the Sacramento Valley and yielded well, and the acreage increased from year to year.
About 1850 the first flour mill was built by Seth Garfield in the American River canyon about a mile above Folsom. The basement of this mill was built of stone quarried on the ground. The mill was run by water power and ran for ten or twelve years; it lay idle for two years before it was burned in 1865, and was never rebuilt. The ruins are still in evidence.
The Phoenix Mill was built in Sacramento City at Thirteenth and J Streets in 1853, and after many changes of ownership has done business continuously excepting two years (1879-1880) until this day." In 1881 George Schroth, J. H. Arnold and F. Kohler, under the name of George Schroth & Company, bought the mill, which had been lying idle two years, and built an entirely new plant. The mill was burned in 1885, but was immediately rebuilt. It was changed in 1891 into a corporation, called the Phoenix Milling Company. The Phoenix Company sold out to the Globe Mill- ing Company early in 1920.
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