USA > California > San Mateo County > History of San Mateo County, California, including its geography, topography, geology, climatography, and description, together with an historical sketch of California; a record of the Mexican grants; the early history and settlement, compiled from the most authentic sources; some of the names of Spanish and American pioneers; legislative history; a record of its cities and towns; biographical sketches of representative men; etc., etc > Part 36
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Santa Clara county. In 1865 he came to Pescadero township, and in 1872 he moved to Pescadero, where he has since resided, being engaged in a mercantile business.
Hon. Charles N. Fox. 'A prominent member of the bar of California, was born in the township of Redford, Wayne county, Michigan, March 9, 1829. His father, Benjamin F. Fox, was born in Whitesborough, Oneida county, New York, April 3, 1805. His mother, Betsey Crane, a native of Mentz, Cayuga county, New York, was born July 12, 1807. Both of his parents' ancestry are of English origin, and were among the earliest colonial pioneers of New England. His paternal grandparents on both sides were active patriots during the American revolution, and participated in that memorable struggle for freedom and independence. In early childhood the subject of this sketch, during the short summer seasons, attended school in a log house, a mile from the parental residence. Subsequently he likewise attended the winter terms, until childhood ripened into youth, when his services were required on the farm. At the age of sixteen, the family having previously moved to Washte- naw county, Michigan, young Fox left the parental roof and went to Ann Arbor intending to work his way through the university in that locality. Here he pursued a course of study preparatory to admission to the university proper, supporting himself, in the meantime, at any kind of manual labor that could be obtained. Unfortunately, however, as he was about to enter the university as freshman, his health failed, compelling him to relinquish, for the present at least. the further pursuit of a collegiate course of study. Having recovered his health, he entered a printing office, and after serving an appren- ticeship in the office of the Michigan Argus, had, at the age of twenty-one, become an expert country printer, and acquired some reputation as a news- paper writer. In this business he acquired the habit of putting his original matter into type without the aid of manuscript, a habit of much value to him in the subsequent practice of his profession. In 1852, having previously pur- sued a legal course of study in the office of Judge Morgan, at Ann Arbor, Michigan, he was admitted to the bar of that state, where he practiced with some distinction until 1856, when he removed to California. After a brief term of practice in San Mateo county, he opened an office in San Francisco, where he has continued to enjoy a large practice during the past fifteen years. His reputation as an able lawyer has likewise given him an extensive practice throughout the state. As a legislator, he is distinguished for his attainments in the preparation of laws, clearness of conception, conciseness of construction, power of analysis, and great capacity for work in committee, or elsewhere. Upon attaining his majority, Mr. Fox united himself with the democratic party, and participated in all its campaigns until after the first election of Mr. Lincoln. In that campaign he supported Mr. Douglass. Upon the breaking
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out of the rebellion he ardently espoused the Union cause, and became zealous in the support of the republican party, with which he has ever since continued. He has participated in every canvass as a speaker of prominence and influence. He was chairman of the republican state convention of California, and was nominated for presidential elector, and made a thorough canvass of the state, but was defeated, with his ticket. He represented Alameda county in the Assembly in the session of the legislature of 1880, was chairman of the judiciary, and a member of several other important committees. Mr. Fox was district attorney of San Mateo county from 1857 to 1861, and town trustee of Redwood City two years, and has since served four years in the board of education of the city of Oakland, of which for two years he was the president. In 1864-5-6 Mr. Fox was the senior member of the law firm of Charles N. and George W. Fox, with offices at San Francisco and Redwood City; subsequently of the law firm of Campbell, Fox & Campbell, of San Francisco, composed of Alexander Campbell, senior, Charles N. Fox and H. C. Campbell: and is now senior member of the firm of Fox & Kellogg, composed of Charles N. Fox and M. B. Kellogg. Mr. Fox has always been prominent in benevolent and fraternal societies. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has been particularly active. He has passed all the chairs, and received all the honors of the subordinate and state grand bodies; and three times lias represented California in the sovereign grand body of the world. By his advice and influence he has contributed largely to the introduction of American Odd Fellowship into Australia, and was the author of the legislation which placed it there on an equal plane with the Manchester Unity in those colonies. Mr. Fox has extensive acquaintance with the eminent men of the United States; but little with those of foreign countries. In social life he is neither averse nor particularly attached to society. His extensive professional duties require his entire attention, and leave him but little time for social enjoyment. He finds his greatest happiness in the society of his family, and in the pleasant intercourse with a few genial and familiar friends. Mr. Fox has a wife, a lady of French extraction, descended from one of the brave men who volunteered with Lafayette to aid in the struggle for American independe ance. Such, in brief, is the sketch of Hon. Chas. N. Fox, truthfully expressed; being one of the best types of the self-made men of America. His courage in the hour of adversity, his determination to succeed in the face of repeated reverses, aud above all, his sublime confidence and hope in himself and the future are characteristics that stamp their possessor with true greatness.
Hon. Charles N. Felton, who represented San Mateo county in the assem- bly, to use the language of Professor Huxley, is " a man so trained in youth that his body is the ready servant of his will, and does with ease and pleasure all the work that as a mechanism it is capable of, whose intellect is a clear,
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cold, logical engine, with all its parts of equal strength, and in smooth work- ing order, ready, like a steam engine, to be turned to any kind of work, and spin the gossamers as well as forge the anchors of the mind." And this indeed is the man so familiarly called "Charlie Felton." He was born in New York, and received a good education. He is a middle aged man, one of those solid, compact men that are neither large nor small physically, but of the Napoleonic type. A kind of medium between the genius and the commonplace man. He is, so to speak, one of those men whose brain is well proportioned to his body. There is a sort of equilibrium in the entire make up of the man. He never stops to consider trifles, and never reaches after the impossible or impracticable. He gives proper attention to the details of his business, but would not like to be detailed to do so. He has a powerful mind, and what adds to its strength is the fact that it is his own. It will not brook insult nor be dictated to. It abhors presumption and hates flattery. It is business, morning, noon and evening, but it desires, and always secures, rest at night. When he turns the key in his office door he has dismissed the cares of business from his mind, and resolved to reap some pleasant recreation from his hard fought battle of the day gone by. He could not, he dare not if he tried, devote his time to the trivial things which sometimes turn other men's minds. He believes in quick, effective, and comprehensive work; work which brings profit when it is com- pleted, and not empty pockets, and that vain bauble of the unthinking, miss- named praise. He deals with fact and reality. The "fictitious, ephemeral, imaginative," he says himself, " belong to the dreamers, poets, novelists of life, but not to the man of business." When you have anything to say he wants you to " spit it out," not mumble it. Hence, he is looked upon as a conscien- tious, able man. Not because he makes speeches, but just to the contrary. When he rises to speak he says all in a few brief words, and is thoroughly understood by his listeners. Then he sits down, and don't bob up and down like a jumping-jack. If there are those who oppose him on a proposition, he listens to their arguments; if they convince him, he acquiesces, but he does it at once and completely. His character is a strange one. He arrived on this coast in '49, and therefore is one of the argonauts. He has followed farming and trading for years, and as was said of Hercules: " Whether he stood, or walked, or sat, or whatever thing he did, he conquered." He amassed consid- erable of a fortune, and then he speculated in mines and mining stocks, and he won. He is wealthy to-day, but you could not observe that from his conduct. He wants for nothing, there is nothing he desires that money can secure, but he can have. But his wants are few and his inclinations temperate; his habits are sober and regular, and his demeanor one of plainness itself. He is not like many men of means, supercilious. He knows himself, and that is half the battle of life. He is not married, and possibly never will be. He is happy, contented, good natured, and fond of his friends. He tries to do no
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man wrong, having lived up to this golden rule all his life. He resides in a magnificent mansion at Menlo Park, the prettiest spot in California, where he often regales his associates and friends in a sumptuous and regal manner. He has made many warm friends and keeps them, and often says with Sydney Smith: "Let every man be occupied, and occupied in the highest employment of which his nature is capable, and die with the consciousness that he has done his best." It were well if our young state had many such generous and enterprising men as Charles N. Felton.
Benjamin Gordon Lathrop. Direct descendant of Walter de Lawthrope, sheriff of Yorkshire, England, in 1216, was born July 6, 1815, in Canaan, New Hampshire, emigrated with his parents to Spartanburgh district, South Carolina, where his father became part owner and principal manager of the iron works known as the Cowpen Furnace Forges, Rolling Mills and Nail Fac- tories. He received a common school education, but as he preferred the mer- cantile business he was sent to Columbia in the same State, where he was em- ployed as a clerk in the store of Miller & Poole. In 1832, he went with them to Montgomery, Alabama, then a small country town within a few miles of the Creek Indians, where they established a general merchandise store. The Indian trade being very profitable, Lathrop was for several years detailed to attend exclusively to it. The nation occupied a strip of country about three hundred miles long by one hundred in width, and was thoroughly canvassed by him. During this period he became acquainted with the principal chiefs, and acquired the Indian language; he knew the trails to every Indian town, visited their Council houses, saw them in their religious services, which consisted princi- pally in passing around a black drink, that almost instantly acted as an emetic, and enabled them to throw up all their sins. This rite was performed once a year. After each ceremony they seemed to feel that they were relieved of a heavy load. The United States government had made a treaty with these Indians, which gave each head of a family a tract of land. The Georgians violated this treaty, and the Indians declared war, about the year 1836. The main stage and mail route from New Orleans to Washington City, called the "Piedmont Line" ran through this reservation, and the first hostile movement of the Indians was to murder two stage loads of passen- gers, kill the horses, pile the passengers, horses and stages together, and burn them. Lathrop about this time had been made a partner in the firm he was clerking for, and was in New York purchasing goods. On his return he found General Winfield Scott stationed at Columbus, Georgia, waiting for reinforce- ments, and all communication closed with Alabama. Lathrop persuaded a French merchant from Mobile to join him and hazard the trip through. With this companion, he went up the river on the Georgia side, about 30 miles, so as to strike the country governed by Opothleholo, a chief he knew well, and
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thought he could trust. The venture was successful. On arriving at Mont- gomery, Alabama, he found Captain George Whitman organizing a company of mounted scouts, to go into the Indian war, and he became inspired to join it. He already held the position of Lieut. Colonel and division inspector, on the staff of Major General Taliaferro, of the Alabama militia, but as it was not called into active service, he asked and obtained permission to join Captain Whitmore's company, which was composed of frontier men well acquainted with the Indians and their country. They were regularly mustered into the United States service, and given a roving commission, with Indians as prime . object. The hostiles had gathered in the swamps, down near the Florida line. Several companies of Georgians were daily skirmishing, and generally getting the worst of it. Inside of three months the Alabama Company had gathered all the Indian women and children in the different towns, and taken them to camp. In a few days the bucks came in and surrendered, amounting in all to about eight thousand, which virtually ended the war, and General Scott was recalled without finding it necessary to move his troops. The Indians were immediately removed to the Indian territory, west of the Mississippi. About the year 1837, at the close of the Creek war, land speculations began to attract general attention in Georgia and Alabama. The Chickasaw and Choctaw In- dians, who owned the north half of the State of Mississippi, sold it to the United States, and the government proceeded to have it surveyed, and adver- tised a public sale of the whole. It was the rule, in that era of our govern- ment to make surveys of large tracts, advertise and offer it all at public auction, in quarter section lots. No bid taken for less than $1.25 per acre, the unsold portions being left for entry at that price. This plan gave speculators a chance to buy all the best lands. As soon as the notice of this sale appeared, speculators made their preparations to attend. It became the leading topic in Georgia and Alabama. Lathrop became enthused, and spent six weeks examining the lands, not seeing a white settlement during the time, as the Indians had not yet left the country. The only companion he had was a boy about 15 years old. They camped out for the most part, but sometimes stopped with the Indians, who were generally friendly and very hospitable. At the time this sale took place, General Jackson's specie circular had gone into effect; little or no gold was in circulation, and each man attending the sale had to pack silver from the banks in Georgia and Alabama. John A. Murrell, the notorious land pirate, was then the terror of the whole country; consequently land purchasers had to band together and go well armed, to this sale. On arriving at Pontetoc, Lathrop formed a combination with several others and bought all the best of the land. Then they put it up among themselves and divided. Much of it was bid off at higher prices than at the original sale, consequently a considerable surplus was divided pro rata among the company. Lathrop bid in all the land he wanted, at low prices, at this division sale, and made a handsome profit in this way on
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the shares he took in the combination, but this was all he ever made on the investment. The lands sold in those days by the government were not taxable for five years after the sale. When that time rolled round there was no demand for this land, nine-tenths of his old partners had failed, and their lands had been forced into market. This state of affairs had a depressing effect on him, and induced him to accept $1.25 per acre for all he owned. Farmers moved in rapidly after this, and inside of ten years this same land was con- sidered cheap at $50 per acre. Lathrop, however, after receiving his $1.25 , per acre, closed up his mercantile business and bought a controlling interest in the Western Bank of Georgia, located at Rome, in the western part of the State, with a branch at Columbus, where the business was mostly transacted.
In the meantime, Montgomery, Alabama, had increased in population so as to justify being made a city. In the organization of the City Government, Lathrop was elected one of its first Aldermen, and about the same time he was elected Captain of a company, of what was called minute men, raised in consequence of general rumors throughout the southern states of negro insur- rections, supposed to be incited by John A. Murrell, the leader of an exten- sive band of robbers and murderers, scattered through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi. Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and the Mississippi river swamps. One portion of the business of this gang was to induce negroes to run away from their masters, go with them to another place, and be sold for from eight to twelve hundred dollars : this money would be divided equally with the negro, who would run away and be sold to some one else. After repeating this several times, until the negro had as much money as they dared trust him with, they would take him into the swamp and murder him, then hunt others to play the same game. The great increase in crime growing out of this organization, and the difficulty in convicting the perpetrators, owing to their emissaries residing in every town, made the public mind very feverish. The minute men slept with their arms and ammunition within reach, and were to assemble at the court house at night if a certain church bell were rung. It happened that Isaac Ticknor, a citizen of Montgomery, had just organized a company to go to Texas. They were camped in the court house square, which occupied the junc- tion of the main business street, and the street that led to the steamboat land- ing, on the Alabama river. Three large steamers were at the landing, and at night some of the boat hands met with rather rough treatment from Ticknor's volunteers, at a house of ill fame. So about 12 o'clock the crews of all the boats, amounting to between sixty and seventy marched to the Texas camp, where a general row ensued. The alarm bell was rung, calling out Lathrop's company of minute men, who thought as they marched towards the court house that the insurrection had started in very lively-bullets were flying in every direction - and the wounded were crying out for help. As soon as the military understood what was the matter, they attacked the rioters, and drove them back to their
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boats, but as they attempted to follow them across the gang-plank the leader of the crew stepped forward with a pistol, saying the first man who attempts to cross this plank is a dead man. Lathrop quickly brought his men to a ready and aim, when the steamboat captain sung out, " hold on, gentlemen, come aboard and meet me at the bar, you all look thirsty;" the boat hands were then placed under arrest and marched to the jail, but released in the morning, as it appeared upon examination they had gotten the worst of the skirmish. The Texas boys not having any complaints to make, and being ready to embark, engaged passage with one of these boats, and within a week after their arrival in Texas, every one of them was slain in the Alamo, where David Crockett's dead body was found, in the midst of a pile of slain Mexicans. Lathrop's bank venture resulted disastrously ; the cashier gathered up all the available assets and emigrated to Cuba, but sometime afterwards ventured over to New Orleans and being recognized, was safely deposited in the penitentiary, but none of the money was ever recovered. Lathrop, finding it necessary to make a new beginning, concluded to try another new country, and moved to Grand Lake, in Arkansas, where possessing unbounded credit in New York and New Orleans, he soon built up a splendid business. In 1849 he was attacked by the Califor- nia gold fever, and gathering together fifteen men (white and black), he, with his wife and child crossed the plains. Thinking to return in a year or two, he did not wind up any of his business, only resigning his judicial office of county judge of Chicot county. In passing through the Pawnee country, the Indians stole one of his oxen; the next morning they were pursued, overtaken and routed, and compelled to give up all their plunder, consisting of provisions, stolen from emigrants, buffalo robes, moccasins, etc. One white man was wounded and one horse killed on Lathrop's side ; several Indians were killed, and one unfortunate ox was found in their camp slaughtered. This occurred about one hundred miles from Fort Laramie, and it was thought advisable to hurry on, as the Indians might want satisfaction. Before half the distance had been gone over, the U. S. mail carrier overtook the party and stated that they were being pursued by six hundred Indians. He promised to send relief on his arrival at the Fort, which he did. But before the soldiers reached them, they had passed a Pawnee village, which had just been captured by the Sioux; this tribe being then at war with the Pawnees, they felt safe after passing that point. In October, 1849, they arrived at Long's bar, on Feather river. Spent a short time there in mining, and as this did not prove remunerative, he finally discharged the most of his white men, made a boat of one of his wagons, and passed down the river to Sacramento, where he purchased the Southern Hotel property, on J street; there he made money very fast, but absorbed it in enlarging and furnishing it. In 1851, he rented the hotel and went to New Orleans, where he had a mill made for crushing quartz on a new model of his own invention. This he brought out with a 20 horse-power engine and set up
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near Auburn, in Placer county. The mill was a success, crushing fifty tons of rock per day as fine as flour, but after a few days work it was found that the rock was too poor to pay for the working. He shut down the mill, and before a satisfactory mine could be found to put it on, it was destroyed by fire. The hotel property in the great fire of 1852 went the same way-no insurance. These heavy losses left him with only some remnants of capital in Arkansas, which he gathered up and invested in a cargo of flour. Shipping it from New York to San Francisco, after a long voyage round the horn, it landed when the market was glutted, and did not bring enough to pay the freight. He now left Sacramento, and engaged in the auction business in San Francisco; this he followed one year without success. In 1854 he moved into San Mateo county, then a part of San Francisco county, and located some mineral springs, commencing extensive improvements to start a fashion- able watering place, but the following year he abandoned his project, and ran for supervisor, as the county outside the city was entitled to elect one. There did not appear to be any opposition. Still, when the votes were counted one Musgrove was declared elected, and Lathrop did not appear to have but three votes. He concluded to contest the election, and after finding that he could procure a majority in the county to swear they had voted for him, he went to San Francisco and consulted with an attorney, who told him to go home and give it up ; that good evidence made no difference, the roughs ruled in such cases, and he would have no show. In the legislature of 1856, Horace Hawes' famous consolidation act was passed, but before it could be put through Hawes had to make terms with the thieves, by adding a clause to his act cut- ting off about nine-tenths of the county of San Francisco, establishing what is now the county of San Mateo. Chris. Lilly and Billy Mulligan, two leading chiefs of the roughs, agreed to accept that much of the county provided it could be arranged to organize a county government within one week after the passage of the act. A clause to that effect was inserted and the bill passed. R. O. Tripp, John Johnston, and Charles Clark, were appointed a commission to can- vass the election returns. Thirteen precincts were established. The total legitimate vote of the county was but a few hundred. Lathrop was a candi- date for clerk and recorder, and received nearly all the votes from ten of the most populous precincts, but the returns from the remaining three showed that his two opponents were thousands of votes ahead of him. One of the three pre- cincts was run by Chris. Lilly, who elected his barkeeper, Robert Gray, clerk ; another was run by Pat Hickey, who got himself a large number of votes, but not quite enough to beat Gray. The other precinct was controlled by ex-Gov- ernor John McDougal, who wanted the county seat established at Belmont, and Mulligan's brother elected sheriff. The commissioners met at the old American Hotel in Redwood City to canvass the vote and made Lathrop their secretary. The decision hinged on the heavy returns from the three precincts above named,
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which the commissioners were satisfied were forgeries .. But after mature delib- eration they concluded to admit them, and allow the matter to be settled by the courts. During the conference Lilly and Mulligan were outside with a large force of roughs from San Francisco, awaiting the result, but while the secretary was preparing the tabular statement, it was whispered to Mulligan that his brother was defeated. He immediately burst in the door and entered with a number of his men, swearing that he would break up the election, which in- tention he proceeded to carry out, by tearing up the papers on the table. But when the doors were broken Lathrop gathered all the important papers to- gether and backed into a corner of the room with his hands behind him. One of the commissioners, surmising what the trouble was, quietly remarked that Billy Mulligan's brother was elected. This satisfied Billy, and he said to his men, " Come, boys, get out of here." By this time Chris. Lilly and his men commenced crowding in and demanded to know what the matter was. No weapons were in sight, but all the roughs had on box coats with large outside pockets, and the click of many a pistol could be heard. When told nothing was wrong only a little mistake, which had been corrected, they all left.
The officers named in the forged returns were all declared elected, and certifi- cates issued to that effect (as the law provided). This was so criminally out- rageous,.that Lathrop determined to contest, and employed Peyton, Lake & Duer, who thought it very strange for a man to expect to get an office with two opponents several thousand votes ahead of him. Before the case came up for trial, James King of William was murdered, and the vigilance committee were ruling San Francisco. At the trial none of the bogus officers appeared with coun- sel, except Billy Rodgers, the treasurer. The evidence was so overwhelming that his lawyer withdrew, remarking that he was satisfied a great fraud had been perpetrated, and that his client did not want the office under such a monstrous violation of the law. The decision of the court ousted all the bogus officers, and located the county seat at Redwood City. This decision was made on the 10th of June, 1856. The election took place on the 12th of May, rather more expeditiously than the wheels of justice turn at the present time. Much had to be done to start the machinery of the various offices into active operation. The county clerk, being also recorder, auditor, clerk of the 12th district court, county court, probate court, court of sessions, and clerk of the board of super- visors, was expected to provide the office with books and stationery, for all the different departments of the government. This he did principally on his own responsibility, the county having no funds or credit. About the first of July everything was in working order. On the 7th the first deed in book 1, page 1, was recorded by Lathrop. During the summer some taxpayers contested the collections, claiming that the county had no legal government, and assign- ing as a reason, that in Hawes patch on his consolidation act, which was all the law enacted in relation to San Mateo county, he provided that an election
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should be held on the 12th of May, but that the law should not take effect until July. The supreme court decided that the law was a nullity, but that the county government was de facto one, and that the officers could carry on the government until their successors were elected, and that the taxes must be paid. The officers feeling a little uncertain ran at the next general election in November, and were all elected without opposition. The legislature met soon after and reorganized the county, calling an election of officers for the 11th of the fol- lowing May, when Lathrop was again elected, and continued to be elected in September, 1859, and September, 1861. A special act having been passed con- tinuing him in the office until March 4th, 1864, having served eight years, he declined to run again. Before the close of the last term Horace Hawes per- suaded George C. Johnson, John W. Brittan, and a few other wealthy men of the county, to subscribe a considerable amount, and employ an expert to thoroughly investigate the clerk and auditor's affairs, stating publicly that he believed Christ and some of his apostles were honest, but since their day he did not believe an honest man had lived. The expert was brought from San Francisco, and after spending several weeks in thorough investigation found nothing wrong. This Hawes so repeated in a public speech, and showed his appreciation of Lathrop's honesty in a judicious management of public money by appointing him one of his trustees on his grand institution of learning, which he proposed to endow with the bulk of his wealth. The fact was that San Mateo county had built a court house and jail, and with all other expen- ses incident to a county government, had been run with less burden to her citizens than any other county in the State. She had been peculiarly blessed with honest supervisors, who were mostly farmers, and never put up any steal- ing jobs. On retiring from the clerk's office Lathrop was elected supervisor, and made chairman of the board. At the expiration of his term he left the county with some capital, that he had principally made on Menlo Park prop- erty. He purchased between two and three hundred acres, at a little over twenty dollars per acre, and sold it out in villa lots at from two to five hundred dollars per acre. Being a little worn out in business, he concluded to visit Europe. After a couple of years he returned with renewed vigor, and engaged in hydraulic mining in Shasta county. The mine was incorporated with a capital of five million dollars, with patents covering over 1,800 acres, and the control of all the water for twenty miles around. After working this claim for several years, he disposed of his entire interest to Alvinza Hayward. In 1876, he purchased a farm in Sonoma county, where he spent six years, living virtually under his own vine and fig tree. Finding farming not congenial, he traded his farm for Oakland city property, and returned to San Francisco the latter part of 1882. Having arrived at about the age allotted to men, he does not propose to run for any more offices, or to seek adventures which require any labor of mind or body. Wherever he has resided he has made no enemies
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except of that class who are the general enemies of law and order. Through- out all his life he has been prominent in all public affairs, and has assisted in organizing many extensive enterprises. He was while visiting New York made one of the charter members of the New York Mining Stock Exchange, was at the first meeting and assisted in its organization. He was one of the original incorporators of the Southern Pacific Railroad company. During his connec- tion with that company he was one of its directors, acted as its treasurer and secretary, and accompanied the engineer to locate the track from San Jose to Gilroy. Was a director of the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad for a number of years, and became part owner when that road was purchased by the Southern Pacific. He was a large owner, and managed the construction of the Corte Madera Water Company, which at that time was intended to supply his Menlo Park villa lots with pure mountain water. His enterprises gave employment to a great number of men. In fact, at one time in his mining operations he employed as many as seven hundred. He is a life member of the California Pioneers, of whom few have undertaken more or greater enterprises, and held as many offices of honor and responsibility. With as clear a record as the subject of this narrative, considering his early settlement in Alabama, Arkansas, and California, he is certainly entitled to be called thrice a pioneer.
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