Biographies (D-H)

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JOHN P. DART (p. 368)
Was born in Warren County, Mississippi, on December 9, 1824. Here he was educated, evincing at an early age the striking predisposition which has led him to the study of surveying, which he has since adopted as his profession. Mr. Dart enlisted in the First Mississippi Rifles and fought in the Mexican War for one year, then, returning home, he engaged in surveying. In 1849, he came to this state via the Isthmus and was eight months in getting to San Francisco, where he arrived October 5th of that year. He remained in San Francisco until April 1850, when he came to Jacksonville, in this county, went to mining, and has been engaged more or less in that business up to the present writing. He was elected County Surveyor in 1874 and has held that office to the acceptance of the whole community.

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WILLIAM G. DINSMORE (Appendix p. 8-9)
This gentleman was born in Norridgewock, Somerset County, Maine, in November 1821. The details of his eventful life are as follows: Going to Boston in his early years, he remained there for three years, he then returned for a short time to his old home, preparatory to starting for the new El Dorado. On February 5, 1852, he left New York on the steamer "Prometheus", coming to Nicaragua. It was Mr. Dinsmore’s fortune to be one of the passengers of the ill-fated steamer North America, which received them on the Pacific side and was wrecked about one hundred miles below Acapulco. The survivors of the catastrophe, numbering among them the gentleman whose story is now being told, arrived finally at Acapulco, where, after a detention of two months, they took passage on the clipper ship "Northern Light" and finally reached San Francisco after a tedious passage of twenty-two days. Traveling about the country for a while and visiting Marysville and other places, Mr. Dinsmore finally accepted the position of steward on a Sacramento River steamer, remaining so employed throughout the winter of 1852-3. Becoming proprietor of the Essex House and then of the Garden House, he occupied himself in conducting the business of those hostelries until 1855, going in that year to the mines. In 1860, after spending the intervening years in mining, he engaged with Dr. Baldwin in the drug business at Columbia, which they followed four or five years. Then spending a year in a cabinet factory, in 1866 he established the newspaper called the Columbia Citizen, renting a printing press of the Messrs. Duchow. At the end of a year Mr. Dinsmore withdrew from the new enterprise, and going to Sonora became employed in the offices of the various newspapers published there, and remained until 1867. After spending some time in Oroville, San Francisco and other places, he finally removed to Oakland, where he took charge of a drugstore and remained for five years, then buying out the store with its stock and conducting it until 1878, when he entered the employ of an express company and, finally, in July 1882 he engaged with the Central Pacific Railroad Company, in whose employ he still remains.

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James G. DivollJAMES G. DIVOLL (p. 361-368)
Mankind loves the marvelous. To dwell upon the almost incredible relations of fiction, to discuss the unexplainable phenomena of nature, and to gaze with wondering eyes upon the relics and evidences of races and peoples unknown to us, would seem a characteristic of humanity as strongly marked as it is general. This instinct of the marvelous, which we may credit all men with possessing, manifests itself in a variety of ways, but of these different ways not one is more remarkable than that one which impels the interest of mankind to ponder upon, to study and consider of great riches. The world gloats over a tale of gold and feasts its eyes upon the evidences of wealth. The fabled king of old who bathed in the Pactolian stream is but remembered as he whose touch turned all to gold. The good monarch of Lydia, although his virtues would shed a luster upon the most Catholic Prince that ever lived, exists only in the aphorism "as rich as Croesus" and Solomon’s self might not stand before the modern mind as a model, had it not been that his ship made successful voyages to Tarshish.

The literature of the later centuries has found its spring of action largely in a thirst for gold, or it has delineated with intense interest the acquirement of great fortunes. Who has not heard of Monte Christo? And who has not speculated upon the chance of similar success falling upon himself, though knowing the extreme rarity of the occasions in which even moderate fortunes have been so gained? Although the tale of the fortunate Count has been given to mankind through Dumas’ skillful pen, it has not often fallen to the lot of any but novelists to record the acquirement of enormous wealth which came suddenly and came to reward deserving industry and far-seeing calculation. The story of the Comstock miners has little of romance, nor do the lucky possessors of those great mines of gold and silver deserve the praise or congratulation of men, since the use to which they put their riches is often of the basest.

It is a pleasant duty, and a duty which does not often in this workday world fall to the lot of a writer, to record the munificent reward of patient and uncomplaining perseverance, which has had few parallels in the world. It is a story of the sternest self-denial and the practice of industry for years of a laborious life, with the final result of the sudden accession of a fortune great enough to be the fitting reward of such exertions. But with the accession of fortune the interest of the story does not end. Pleasant as it is to chronicle a deserved reward, it is no less agreeable to tell the story of the charitable and munificent uses to which that fortune is devoted by one whose good luck has not killed in him the nobler feelings that actuate the human family.

James G. Divoll was born in Orange County, Vermont, on the eighth of January 1831. In early life his parents removed to Port Kent, on the shore of Lake Champlain. Attending the common schools of the vicinity and, afterwards graduating from the Academy at Burlington, he at the age of 18 years, removed to the great West, settling first at Fond Du Lac in Wisconsin. Here his stay was short, for the cholera breaking out compelled his removal and he returned to the east, stopping for a while at Chatauqua, New York, but finally arriving at the old home in Vermont in the later part of 1850. In the following spring Mr. Divoll married Miss Eliza Jane Mellen at Northfield, Vermont, and the young couple proceeded westward, taking up their abode at Black River Falls in the State of Wisconsin. Here Mr. D. entered into the manufacture of flour, which he carried on with success for nearly ten years, at the end of that time selling the property which he had accumulated and which included a tract of ten thousand acres of land lying in Clark County.

Turning his steps to the "Sun Land", Mr. Divoll with three friends took passage at New York, on a steamship of the Vanderbilt Line and set his foot upon the shore of California in June 1862. Saying in answer to his companions’ queries: "I am going to leave San Francisco on the first steamer that leaves the wharf", Mr. Divoll found himself, the next day, in Stockton, then booked a seat in the first stage that left, regardless of its destination. That the destination of that stage was Sonora seems at a casual view to be a trifling fact, but that fact led to the finding of the greatest deposit of pure gold that has yet been taken from the earth. Lovers of the marvelous will find in the comparatively insignificant circumstances of the departure of a steamer and a stage, two steps which may seem to have been predestined in Mr. Divoll’s remarkable life, and other circumstances give rise to the same feeling.

In the matter of mill work and particularly in the mechanism of flour mills, Mr. Divoll had in his early years become thoroughly versed, his Wisconsin experience giving him a deep insight into all matters connected with those branches of constructive mechanics. Accordingly, on his arrival in this region he employed himself in building a flour mill for D. W. Tulloch and during the same year built the bridge at Knight’s Ferry. Mr. Divoll’s first experience in Sonora pleasantly resulted in his making the acquaintance of William G. Long, who being then as now a miner, magnanimously offered Mr. D. the use of his sluice boxes to aid him in his first mining venture and this acquaintance has resulted in the life-long friendship of the two. After completing the mill and bridge spoken of, he located in Sonora, purchasing of Smith Mitchell the Saratoga Ranch and proceeded to develop a mine on his property, which mine was very successfully worked, yielding many thousands of dollars.

Several years now passed in mining and other operations, during which he met generally with a full measure of success, until the year 1871 came around and the exploration of the "Bonanza Vein" was entered upon, marking, as it has done, an era in gold mining and leading to successes in comparison with which the good fortune of ordinary life sinks into nothingness. Yet these successes, stupendous as they are in the aggregate, were not achieved at once. Half a score of years of patient waiting had to be passed, many hundred feet of tunnels, drifts and inclines were run and the few hands which the small resources of the owners could bring to bear could proceed but slowly. Years passed and only meager gains rewarded the toil of the industrious men. Bills had to be met and bread had to be provided for dependent mouths. The old story of unflagging energy and perseverance was recounted and, at last, just as the hopes of the stoutest-hearted were wavering, these heroic miners called to their magnificent reward. Following the "prospect", as it showed plainly one day, to be obscured the next, the head of the tunnel came nearer and nearer to the great deposit of virgin metal which awaited them and finally the pick’s keen point stuck through the obdurate stone into a treasury of native wealth such as was never before given to man to look upon. Eight hundred pounds of solid gold was shipped from this mine at one time and there is reason for believing that the product for a single week was a third of a million of dollars! Nor is this all; subsequent work has been richly rewarded, rich "pockets" being met with at close intervals. It is a tale of more than East Indian wealth and perhaps it is not less attractive because the owners keep the exact figures to themselves, allowing the envious outsiders the privilege of imagination.

From this time on Mr. Divoll’s life has been a story of prosperity. Drawing fabulous wealth from the mine (of which he is now sole owner) he has been enabled to enter into many plans for the accomplishment of good to his fellow-man and the enrichment of the community in which he lives. It has been truly said that he is the life of Tuolumne County and it is extremely pleasant to be able to say so much of one who deserves so much of good fortune and upon whom the honors sit so lightly. Too much cannot be said in favor of Mr. Divoll’s generosity and open-handedness. Unlike others, whose success has been as great as it is undeserved, he does not clutch his wealth so tightly but that the calls of charity amid the wants of his fellow-beings make an impression. The detestable spectacle of a filthy, stingy, ill-dressed, half-human old miser forms no part of his appearance, and it is only the wish of his fellow-citizens that James G. Divoll may live long to enjoy the gains which a discriminating fortune placed in his hands and to cordial wish that all the bonanza wealth had reached his coffers, instead of partially going to enrich squalid meanness.

The number of the enterprising schemes which the business talent or the benevolence of Mr. Divoll have given rise to is legion. The proprietor of the Star Flouring Mills in Sonora, into which the owner has introduced the latest improvements in the art of making a first-rate article of flour, the promoter of various mining enterprises and the steady encourager and aider of any plan which promises to be of practical benefit to his fellow-man, Mr. D. has gained a reputation for enterprise second to no other. Of late, however, his intelligence has produced and elaborated the details of an enterprise which will, when carried out, not only surpass his previous operations, but throw into the shade any and every work of that character ever before attempted. This is the proposed supplying of the principal cities of this state with pure water from the Sierra Nevada. This is the origin of the Tuolumne and Oakland Water Company - a corporation devoted to carrying out the above object and who, as a preliminary step, have secured the right of the water which flows from the area of country lying in Tuolumne County between the North Fork of the Tuolumne River and the boundary line of Mariposa County and extending downward from the summits of the Sierra about twenty-five miles toward the west, embracing somewhat over four hundred square miles of country, the drainage of which, amounting to over 25,000 inches of water, is to be utilized. The eminent adaptability of this section to its proposed use may be summed up in a few words. First, it is almost entirely uninhabited, being in fact incapable of supporting more than a few hunters and timber-getters. Then it is bare, in its upper regions, of vegetable growth, thus avoiding the danger of organic impurities in the water. Its country rock is granite, which fact proves the freedom of the waters from any soluble salts, as those of lime, which in other districts cause the water to be "hard". The territory is provided with innumerable lakes of crystal clearness, which act as immense reservoirs, supplementing the snow piles, the best and most efficient reservoirs that kind nature has ever constructed, giving up their stored wealth of waters in the warm summer days when other sources of supply have failed. Finally, this great catchment field is situated at an altitude which allows every drop of its yield to be utilized. Here, then, is an inexhaustible source of the purest water under the sun - water that has been raised by the agency of the sun’s rays from the bosom of the ocean, lifted to a great height in the form of clouds, which, blown inland into contact with the cold air surrounding the lofty Sierra, lose themselves in drops of rain or flakes of snow. And the rain or snow, falling upon the solid rock, still uncontaminated by even the least impurity, remains stored in lake, in canyon, or in snow field, until the rays of the genial sun have again dissolved its bonds and set it free, to run joyously over precipice, through dark canyon, or under glacier, until it loses itself in the brawling Tuolumne. Precisely at the spot where the smaller streams join the main river, the dams of the new company are to be erected. Provided with gates to control the supply and including reservoirs sufficient to obviate accidental sources of impurity in the way of floating wood or disseminated sand, etc., they are to deliver their supplies to two mains, composed of iron, each of which has an internal diameter of thirty-six inches and of a strength sufficient to withstand the pressure which may be imposed. Proceeding by a regular grade westward about thirty degrees north, passing some half dozen miles south of Stockton and continuing beyond Mount Diablo, circling to the north of that peak, then turning south towards Oakland, it terminates near that city, first sending branch pipes of less diameter to Stockton, to Sacramento, to San Jose and other places, to perform its function of supplying perfectly pure snow-water to nine cities, containing a present population of four hundred thousand and to whom the proposed works, it is calculated, could deliver a supply of 24,000,000 gallons daily - a supply in excess of that enjoyed by New York, a city of a million inhabitants.

This gigantic and promising scheme has the support of engineers of ability. Mr. J. P. Dart, than whom no one is better qualified to speak of the hydrography of the Upper Sierra, has given it the seal of his approval and his surveys, accompanied by lucid maps, explain so satisfactorily the details of the work, that it is impossible to be convinced of aught but its entire practicability. Fuller details are not wanting. The importance of the work is undoubted. That it will prove remunerative none can gainsay and that, inasmuch as it rests in Mr. Divoll’s hands, its construction will be carried through is equally a matter of certainty.

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CALEB DORSEY (p. 373-374)
This gentleman, one of the practicing attorneys of Sonora, was born in Howard County, Maryland, March 25, 1825, receiving there his primary education. When about eighteen years of age, he attended school at Rockville, Maine, and all afterwards was prepared for college. He graduated from Harvard College and received instruction from the celebrated jurists, Greenleaf, Kent, and Judge Story. He studied law with Robert J. Brent, was admitted to the Bar and commenced practice at Baltimore, Maryland. Coming to this state via the Isthmus of Panama, he arrived in October 1850. He came to this county, settled at Shaw’s Flat, and mined for six months. At the Flat he erected a saw mill and conducted that business, in addition to practicing his profession, for nearly two years. Then, settling at Sonora, he opened a law office, since which time he has been practicing his profession. He has held the office of District Attorney for several terms in Tuolumne County. This volume contains numerous references to Mr. Dorsey’s career, which, throughout, has been of the greatest importance to the county.

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JOHN B. DOUGLASS (p. 406)
Mr. Douglass, familiarly and widely known as “Jack”, was born in New York City in August 1830. He came to California in July 1849, arriving in Tuolumne in 1852. Establishing himself in the saloon business in Columbia, he soon afterwards became agent for M. J. Dooley, the manager of the stage lines. His place of business was on the corner of Fulton and Main Streets and was known as the Douglass Saloon. Mr. Douglass had the ill fortune to be burned out three times in the course of his residence in Columbia, namely in 1854, 1857 and 1862. In 1869 he removed to Stockton, where he is engaged in keeping the popular saloon of the Yosemite House. During Mr. Douglass’ residence in Columbia he enjoyed the confidence of his fellow-citizens to a remarkable extent, having held successively the offices of Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, President of the Board of Trustees, and finally School Trustee, the two latter offices having been filled by him during two terms each. It may be mentioned in this connection that he was a warm friend of the lamented Coffroth, his intimacy extending over a long period, during which they were close companions in every respect. Mr. Douglass, in 1853, married Miss Ellen Dart and has two children, boys, one aged 22 and one 19 years.

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WILLIAM A. DUCHOW (Appendix p. 12-13)
Mr. Duchow, who may be regarded as a typical journalist of the state, after many years passed in the active life incident to his craft, came to reside in Sonora in 1872. The impelling cause of his residence in the county seat was the establishment of that deserving and ably directed sheet, the Tuolumne Independent, in 1872. Previous to this his journalistic career had been varied. Coming from Salem, Massachusetts, his birthplace, some thirty years ago, he settled at Columbia and engaged in newspaper work, typesetting and editing, his first venture being upon the Columbia Gazette. During the years in which the brothers Duchow (John C. and William A.) conducted the Gazette and Southern Mines Advertiser and afterwards the equally able and well conducted Tuolumne Courier, the flush times of Columbia were passed and many incidents are narrated by Mr. Duchow which show his intimate knowledge and participation in the stirring affairs of that epoch. Leaving Columbia in 1859, Mr. Duchow became foreman of the Daily Argus and Weekly Democrat, papers published in Stockton. Later he lived for a while in San Francisco, working as printer, and then taking a contract to issue a paper for Aleck Montgomery in Napa. In San Francisco he became one of the proprietors of the San Francisco Times, a newspaper which was run by an association of printers. Frank M. Pixley, the present brilliant editor of the Argonaut, was editor of their sheet. Later on Mr. Duchow went to Santa Cruz, interesting himself in the Sentinel of that place. Later still, the Pajaro Times, a paper published at Watsonville, engrossed his care. This, the largest country sheet published in California, was run by the firm of McQuillan, Kearney and Duchow and did a thriving business, succeeding even beyond the anticipations of the proprietors. After five years spent in Alameda, Mr. Duchow returned to Tuolumne, engaging in the publication of the Independent with his brother, John Duchow, previously oftentimes mentioned as connected with the newspapers of Columbia and respecting whom it may be said that no living journalist has ever maintained a more upright and consistent course, struggling always to the utmost of his powers to uphold the purity of his newspaper and to elevate the condition of his fellow citizens. Mr. W. A. Duchow married in Monterey County Miss Mettie Whitlock, daughter of Dr. Whitlock, now of Inyo County. The pair have five children - Earl M., Daisy, William A., Harvey G. and Raphael.

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SAMUEL H. DWINELLE (p. 403)
Was another attorney who settled here in early days. Entering first into partnership with J. M. Huntington, the firm enjoyed a large practice. Removing to San Francisco Mr. Dwinelle rose steadily in his profession, taking a high stand as a reputable counsellor, and finally became Judge of the Fifteenth District Court in that city. He is still living, an ornament to the Bar and the community.

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W. E. EICHELROTH, M.D. { William Egidius Eichelroth } (p. 355-356)
The subject of this memoir was born in Schwara, principality of Reuss, Germany, on May 31, 1824. He received his academic education in his native country and, studying medicine, received therefor his diploma. In 1846 he came to the United States and settled in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, where he resided two years, and then moved to Brookville, Indiana, thence to Burlington, Iowa, where he practiced medicine, leaving Burlington in 1851 for California. He crossed the plains and after spending the winter of 1851-2 in Salt Lake City, came on to this state and settled at Taylorsville, Plumas County. Here he engaged in farming and mining, as well as practicing his profession, and had for partner in farming and mining the celebrated pioneer Peter Lassen. The Doctor afterwards moved to Marysville, but remained there only a short time, going thence to Foster’s Bar, the Yuba River, thence to North San Juan, Nevada County, and in 1851 settled in Carson City. He joined the Major Ormsby party, as its surgeon, and went out to fight the Indians, but was fortunate enough to be one of the survivors of the ill-fated expedition. He next settled at Placerville, El Dorado County, and was in charge of the County Hospital there, and was elected County Coroner. In 1863, he moved to Aurora, Nevada. In 1866 he came to Sonora and in 1870 was elected to the Lower House of the Legislature, serving one term. He is now in charge of the County Hospital, which position he has held for the past seven years. He married Frances, daughter of Calhoun Colwell, on May 1, 1850. Mrs. Jennie Rooney, Lillian, Frederick, Frank. and Paul are the names of their children.

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George S. EvansGEORGE S. EVANS (p. 403)
Pennsylvanian, but went to Texas in early life and was a soldier in the Mexican War. Coming to Tuolumne, he ran for the office of County Clerk and achieved it, being on the Democratic ticket. He was an excellent business man and born politician. Again County Clerk in 1858, he rose to the State Legislatorship in 1864. Removing to Stockton, he has held the latter office for San Joaquin County and achieved prominence; has been many times mentioned as a possible candidate for Governor. That he will achieve that or a higher office is not improbable, as he is still in the vigor of life, and withal exceedingly popular.

GENERAL GEORGE S. EVANS (Appendix p. 32-36)
Among the many notable present or past residents of old Tuolumne, no one has ever occupied a more prominent position in public life and no one has distinguished himself in a higher degree, by the possession of valuable qualities of mind and heart, than juts the subject of this sketch. During a third of a century General Evans has continued to retain the respect and admiration of his contemporaries and now, after long years spent in public service and private enterprise, we find him in possession of those valuable mental gifts which have made his career a succession of high achievements.

He was born in Tecumseh, Michigan, in August 1826. Going to Texas in his early boyhood, his youth was there passed during the time when the heroic pioneers of that state were preparing for the struggle which gave them independence from the hated dominion of Mexico. In the subsequent period, when Texas constituted a republic, his father became a member of the cabinet of the "Lone Star" state. The fortunes of the war, however, drove the family from their pleasant home and in the bloody and memorable conflict at Alamo, the brother of young George met his death while in command of a detachment. Directly after these stirring events find transpired, the subject of our account removed to New Orleans, there to attend school, and at a subsequent period to enter the dry goods store of Thomas Sheldon & Co., and again, at a later date, to go into the service of the Western Marine Fire Insurance Company. Somewhat later, when war broke out between the United States and Mexico, Mr. Evans, now come to the age of nineteen years, proceeded again to Texas and enlisted in the independent company commanded by the celebrated Captain Ben. McCulloch and served until the battle of Monterey, being attached to the regiment of Colonel Jack Hays. After the taking of that city, Mr. Evans, with his comrades, were disbanded, when he returned to Texas and re-enlisted with McCulloch, receiving the appointment of Assistant Quartermaster, performing those duties acceptably until the company received its final discharge.

The arts of peace now demanded his attention and we accordingly next hear of him as proprietor of a hotel at Saltillo, where he remained not long, going back to Austin just at the beginning of the great movement westward to the golden hills of California. As might be expected from the General’s well-known activity and love of adventure, he at once joined the moving throng, forming a company of gold-seekers, who left Austin on March 17, 1849, and proceeding westward by way of the Colorado River, touched California soil on the 4th of July of that year. Passing through Los Angeles, the cavalcade came to Tuolumne County, arriving first at Don Pedro’s Bar, and going next to Wood’s Crossing, then the most notable mining place in the county, as well as the first discovered. On the 17th of August, Mr. Evans entered the town of Sonora, then in the very earliest period of its existence. The attractions of the new place did not detain him long, for we next hear of him mining at Murphy’s, in Calaveras County, and later at Pine Log, where he, in company with C. M. Radcliff, located the well-known “Texas” claim, which still bears its early name. This was in the month of October. In the next month Mr. Evans sold out his interest in the claim for $16 and walked to Sonora, entering there the service of Messrs. Green & Holden and so remaining until the year 1851, when the state of his health compelled him to return East.

Spending a year or so in various places in Arkansas and Texas and having partially recovered his health, he proceeded next to cross the Republic of Mexico, arriving at Mazatlan on the shore of the Pacific, whence he came to San Francisco in a brig, arriving in the Golden Gate in May 1852. Before the great fire of June 1852, Mr. Evans had returned to Sonora and after that disastrous event he entered into partnership with “Uncle” Josh Holden and erected the American Exchange, a public house, which they kept until the following year, when it was burned. In the same year he became County Clerk, having affiliated with the Democrats. He performed the duties of this office until 1855, when he removed to San Francisco to take a position in the Custom House under Milton S. Latham, then Collector of the Port. Since that year the General’s changes have been so numerous that the limits to which this brief account is necessarily confined will not permit more than a hasty mention.

Becoming Secretary of the Senate in 1856, again County Clerk of Tuolumne in the following year, and, at the expiration of his term, Minute Clerk of the State Senate, Under Sheriff of Tuolumne during the administration of Dan. Patterson, the proper performance of these duties filled up the years until the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion, when he became Major of the Second California Cavalry and achieved a war record whose main points are as follows: Mustered in at Camp Alert, San Francisco; then proceeding to Wilmington, he established Drumm Barracks; removed to Camp Latham, near Los Angeles; the next spring proceeded to Owen’s River with a detachment; fought the Indians successfully; established Camp Independence; July 4, 1863, was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel; went to Visalia to put down Southern sympathizers, leaving Captain T. H. Goodman, now an officer of the Central Pacific Railway, in charge of Camp Independence. The subsequent months were spent in maintaining order in the difficult Department of Southern California and after a time Lieutenant Colonel Evans removed to Salt Lake, when, in consequence of the suspected treason of Colonel Simms, the former assumed command, being promoted to the Colonelcy of the Regiment and Brevet Brigadier-General. His acts during these years belong to the history of the military affairs of the nation, and it is sufficient to say here that the duties that devolved upon him were performed in the most efficient and praiseworthy manner, reflecting credit alike upon the General and the Government in whose service he was. Resigning his command in May 1863, he returned to his home in California and for a time represented the soldiers as delegate to this Sacramento Convention which nominated Low for governor of this state. Elected now to the State Senate from Tuolumne, he held the office for four years, then becoming Adjutant General of this state, but resigned to again enter the Senate Chamber. After the session he again became Adjutant General owing to the resignation of the incumbent and he served during the remainder of Low’s administration and through the first half-year of Governor Haight's term. Removing now from Sonora to Stockton, he continued upon his political career, being elected first to the Common Council of that city, then Mayor, and finally State Senator from San Joaquin County; and at the end of his term of four years was re-nominated by acclamation, again to serve in that situation.

Our account now draws near to the present time. In 1880 General Evans was appointed Harbor Commissioner by Governor Perkins and he consequently removed to San Francisco, where he has since resided with his family. Marrying Miss Fannie B. Markham on August 8, 1857, the couple now have six children. It would be difficult, indeed, to select a subject whose life would furnish a greater store of incident, adventure and enterprise to spur the pen of the biographer than that of the gentleman under discussion. Living for so many years in the midst of the most active affairs and being himself one of the most energetic and far-seeing of men, there is necessarily an immense deal to recount of which no mention can now be made. It would also be interesting to discuss the future of a life like General Evans’ and endeavor to foresee the results to which such qualities of brilliancy and persistence may give rise. Even yet in the middle of life, as it were, with the fruits of an immense experience to guide him and still in the possession of the fullest powers of mind and body and held in the popular estimation as one of the best regarded of California’s famous citizens, there is every expectation of a future whose successes may infinitely surpass those of the past.

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THOMAS J. EVANS (Appendix p. 9-10)
Mr. Evans, whose birth occurred in Rhode Island, and whose early years were spent in Massachusetts, came to California in the spring of 1858. Proceeding first to the northern mines, he finally came to Tuolumne in 1860 and settled at Yankee Hill, near Columbia, and remained there until 1863. In that year he removed to Sonora and has claimed that place as a residence ever since. Constantly engaged in mining since his arrival, he has made himself conspicuous as a discoverer and owner of quartz mines several of which, under his management, having become valuable properties.

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NATHANIEL FALES (p. 357-358)
The subject of this sketch was born in Thomaston, Knox County, Maine, June 18, 1810, where he was raised and educated. He sailed from Boston, Massachusetts, in the ship “California Packet”, on March 4, 1850, came around Cape Horn, and landed in San Francisco on the following August 24. He went to Woolf’s Creek, on the Yuba River, where he mined for a short time, and then returned to San Francisco, thence coming to this county and settling at Shaw’s Flat in October 1851. Here he was engaged in mining until August 1852, when he went to Springfield and followed the same occupation. In 1856 he purchased his present farm, known as “The Evergreen Ranch”, situated near Springfield. It is a beautiful home, commanding a view of the surrounding country, which a lover of the beautiful cannot help but enjoy. Mr. Fales married Mary P. Morse on July 25, 1835. She was a native of Maine. Her death occurred on July 16, 1876, when, having no children, he was left alone until the following fall, when W. H. Harding and his wife (a niece of Mr. Fales) came from Nebraska and took up their residence with him, where they still remain.

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OWEN FALLON (p. 329-330)
Was born in Ireland and came to the United States with his parents when an infant, settling in Washington County, New York. During his boyhood he lived at East Troy, West Troy and at Port Jackson, New York. His father being a stonecutter, young Fallon learned the trade, working at the same at Amsterdam on the Erie Canal. He subsequently moved to New York City and with his father was employed cutting stone for a seawall around the government works at Governor’s Island. In the fall of 1840, he went to sea on a whaling voyage and afterwards sailed on as merchantman, which occupations he followed until he came to this state on the ship “Ohio” with Captain Hale, Mr. Fallon being one of the mates. He settled at the Mission Dolores, San Francisco, and was employed by Elliott More. During the summer of 1851, he, in company with others, went to San Mateo County, cutting wild oat hay for the market. Mr. Fallon returned to the Mission, and, in company with Terrence Riley, followed gardening. Here he was elected Constable and afterwards was appointed on the police force of San Francisco. He married Ellen Gregg on Jan 14, 1854 and in 1856 came to this county, settling in Columbia and engaging in mining a while. He purchased the “Maine House”, on the ground where his present hotel stands, keeping the same until it was burned Aug 24, 1857. He rebuilt the hotel and again, on Aug 27, 1859, the building was destroyed by fire. He at once erected a brick fire-proof building, which now bears the name of the “Fallon House”, the subject of our sketch being still its proprietor. James G. is his only son.

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JOHN FERRAL (Appendix p. 46)
John Ferral, father of Judge Robert Ferral, located in Sonora in 1854 and for a time kept the old “Young America” theater. He was an active, energetic man, an able writer, and a ready and powerful public speaker. Although never an office holder, Mr. Ferral took a prominent part in many political campaigns and during the Know-Nothing excitement met in hot discussion several of the ablest representatives of the American party. Mr. Ferral, senior, died in San Francisco July 9, 1882 at the advanced age of 82 years. During the last ten years of his life he was an invalid.

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JUDGE ROBERT FERRAL (Appendix p. 43-44)
The Judge, the details of whose life are familiar to most of the former and present residents of Tuolumne and other sections of the coast, was born in Philadelphia on October 13, 1841. Coming to California a boy in 1852, two years later he arrived in Tuolumne, in 1854. His active life began with the commencement of his labors in the printing office of the Sonoma Herald, edited at that time by J. J. O’Sullivan. After a few months he left that employment and entered the office of the Union Democrat, published by A. N. Francisco, and so acquired his trade of a practical printer. His connection with the last named paper ceased in 1862, the last two or three years having been devoted to editing it. In that year he went to Aurora, Nevada, and became editor of the Daily Times of that town, taking the place of E. D. Draper, who had been shot in a duel by Dr. W. E. Eichelroth. During his stay in Aurora, Mr. Ferral was admitted to practice law by the Hon. George Turner, Chief Justice of the Territorial Supreme Court. In the fall of 1863 he removed to Montgomery, Mono County, and entered upon the publication of the Pioneer, and practiced law in addition to his editorial duties. In the year 1865 he removed to San Francisco and became editor of the Irish People newspaper. In 1866 he went to Sonoma County and edited the Sonoma Democrat at Santa Rosa. In 1871 Mr. Ferral was chosen Chief Clerk of the Assembly and shortly after the expiration of his term he proceeded to San Francisco and was appointed Assistant District Attorney and afterwards nominated by acclamation District Attorney, but was defeated in a close a contest. Next chosen Secretary of the Senate and again Chief Clerk of the Assembly, Mr. Ferral was finally appointed, by Governor Irwin, Judge of the City Criminal Court of San Francisco and was afterwards elected by the people to the same office. This tribunal was abolished by the New Constitution. Judge Ferral was elected one of the Superior Judges, which position he now fills. Judge Ferral married in San Francisco some years ago and is the father of a bright little five-year-old, who is already widely known in the Western Addition, where the Judge resides, as ‘‘Bob Ferral,” a name which will call up familiar recollections to many early residents of ‘‘Old Tuolumne”.

ROBERT FERRAL  (p. 389)
Editor of the Union Democrat for several years, subsequently editor of a paper at Aurora, Nevada, later on moved to San Francisco and getting admitted to the Bar ran for office, being elected Judge of one of the criminal courts in that city, which position he now holds. Democratic in politics and extremely energetic, his controversies with the opposing political sheets in Sonora were absorbingly interesting. Many incidents of these disputes are still treasured in the memories of the old-timers.

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REV. O. P. FITZGERALD { Oscar Perin Fitzgerald } (p. 397)
Smote the ungodly for a while in Tuolumne; at a later time to have charge of a so-called College at Vacaville and later still at Santa Rosa. At one time his political leanings placed him in the position of Superintendent of Schools for the State of California.

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M. FOOT { Matthew Foot } (p. 370)
Born at Villanovia, Chatauqua County, N.Y., on the 25th of June 1821, Mr. Foot went to Michigan at the early age of twelve years, located in Iona County and remaining there until his departure for the Pacific slope. This journey he made with ox teams in the traditional way, walking a great part of the distance that separated his home in the Lake State from the broad Pacific. Spending the next two years in Sierra and Eldorado Counties, in gold seeking, he then came to this vicinity, locating permanently at Groveland. Mining in that vicinity, store-keeping at Second Garrote and hotel-keeping at Groveland have engrossed his attention ever since; the last mentioned business continuing under his charge up to the present time, it being carried on in a way highly acceptable to the traveling public. Marrying in Groveland Miss Mary J. Burns, they have two children: Sarah and Delora R.

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ALBERT N. FRANCISCO (Appendix p. 46-47)
The subject of this sketch was a pioneer of “Old Tuolumne”, having arrived in the county in the latter part of ‘49 or early in ‘50. A more genial, pleasant and courteous gentleman, in all the relations of life, never came to California and the memory of ‘‘Little Frank”, as he was familiarly called, is cherished in grateful remembrance by his friends and acquaintances of other days. Mr. Francisco was born in Ohio, but went to New Orleans when quite a young man, where he was for some years foreman of the Picayune newspaper, a leading journal of the Crescent City. On arriving in our state he settled on Brown’s Flat, near Sonora, where for several years he followed the avocation of a miner. Oftentimes has the writer heard him speak in glowing terms of the beautiful appearance of the Flat, with its groves of towering trees, before it was torn up and washed away by mining operations. In 1854 Mr. Francisco began the publication of the Union Democrat in Sonora, continuing same to the date of his death, which occurred in 1867. He was widely known for his noble qualities of mind and heart and will not soon be forgotten. He left a widow and one child, a boy, who bears his father’s name.

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DANIEL FRASER (p. 356-357)
Was born in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, in 1832. He came to the United States and settled in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1848, thence going to Bath, Sagadahoc County, Maine, in 1851. There he resided until coming to this state in 1860, he took passage on the steamer “Ariel” to Panama, thence on the steamer “Golden Age” to San Francisco, where he arrived in August of that year. On the 25th of that month he came to this county, settling at Columbia, where he has since resided. Here he mined for about six months, and then (on April 1, 1861) was appointed agent for the New England Water Company, which position he has held down to the present time. Mr. Fraser married Rebecca S. Kelly in Bath, Maine, on May 23, 1860 and has had seven children, six of whom are now living.

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JUDGE O. P. GALE { Oliver Perry Gale } (p. 337-338)
This pioneer settler of California and Tuolumne County was born in Hadley, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. He received his primary education at the common schools and his academic learning at the Academy at Westfield. He first moved to Wayne County, N. Y.; thence to Pickaway County, Ohio; thence to Hampton, Mo., and finally to the States of Texas and Louisiana, coming from the latter place to California and arriving in Monterey in June 1849. He at once came to this county and settled at Jamestown, where he arrived in July of that year. He mined at that place and on the Tuolumne River and at Angel’s Camp until 1850, when he settled on his present place near Tuttletown. In March 1853, he came into possession, by purchase, of the Jackson Flat Ditch and the letting of water to miners has been his principal business. Mr. Gale has, however, quite a large vineyard and wine cellar, the latter being well-filled with a vintage of his own growing.

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E. R. GALVIN { Edward Rutledge Galvin } (p. 378)
After a prosperous career as a lawyer, passed away two years since, leaving the details of his life yet fresh in men’s minds. The earlier part of his legal career was passed in Columbia, where he became Justice of the Peace. Removing afterward to Sonora, he held the office of District Attorney for two terms. A man of uncommon talents and shrewdness and an able rival of the lawyers of his day.

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W. D. GIBBS { William Dulaney Gibbs } (p. 342)
A native of Butler County, Alabama, Mr. Gibbs spent a portion of his boyhood on the old homestead, going to Texas with his parents when nine years of age. In 1849, after spending the intervening years in the pleasant pursuits of farming, he came across the plains, a route so many were then taking with such hardships, and located at Hawkin’s Bar, then in the zenith of its importance as a mining camp. Passing the succeeding winter at Big Oak Flat, he returned in the ensuing year to the Tuolumne River, at various points on which he mined until 1852, when going down to the lower country, he engaged in farming near La Grange, remaining occupied in that pursuit during the six following years. Locating himself next at Summersville, he has followed his favorite agricultural pursuits up to the present time. Having now a capital farm of one hundred and sixty acres, well cultivated and improved, he is able to enjoy the ease that his wanderings have made essential to him. Marrying Mary F. Summers at La Grange in 1853, the large number of fifteen children have been born to them, of whom twelve are now living. Their names are as follows: George J., Laura E., Flora E., James L., L. Dora, Francis M., William P., Henry J., Rosa V., Walter A., Jessie J., and Ada.

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DR. W. P. GIBBONS { William Peter (or Peters) Gibbons } (p. 420)
Was born in Wilmington, Delaware, April 19, 1812. At the age of twelve he entered a printing office to learn type setting, where he remained for three years. Subsequently he was connected with the Franklin Type Foundry, one of the largest establishments of the kind in the United States. Leaving the foundry, he went into business for himself, but failing health obliged him to give it up. After living on a farm for two years, he sufficiently recovered his health to take charge of a young ladies seminary in Poughkeepsie, New York. His health again failing, the Doctor came to California, practicing medicine in San Francisco, having graduated in that branch in 1847 at the University of New York. San Francisco’s cool climate not agreeing with him, he removed to Tuolumne County in 1857, with headquarters at Colombia. Dr. Gibbons practiced here successfully for thirteen years, changing his residence at the end of that period to Alameda, where he has since remained, being one of the prominent medical men of that place.

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J. A. GOODWIN { James Arthur Goodwin } (p. 404-405)
Mr. Goodwin says, ‘‘I was born near to Boston, Lincolnshire, England. Emigrated to the United States in 1844. Was then eighteen years of age. Made my way to the town of Farmington, Ontario County, N.Y. There went to work on a farm for Thomas Elwood Smith, who taught me to milk cows, rake and bind grain and all work to be done on a farm. I had made no bargain for wages and in the fall he paid me $9.00 per month. He then advised me to go to school in the winter, telling me I seemed to be in need of schooling and I could stay with him and do chores for my board. I took his advice, went to school and was put in a class with small shavers, felt a good deal ashamed, but stayed with it until spring. The schoolmarm then told me I had learned pretty well and had better not stop there. In that school were some large boys and girls who were in the back part of the arithmetic, while I was in the first part. I thought if could ever catch up with them I would be all right, but I did not much expect to. The next summer I went to work for the same man and to school again in the winter. The same thing was repeated the next summer and winter. I had now caught up with the large boys and girls and had saved what little money I had earned, so I went to the Canandaigua Academy the next summer and in the winter commenced teaching school. The following summer I went to the academy again and taught school in the winter and the same thing was repeated the third summer and winter. I will remark that the first school I attended, where the large boys and girls were so far ahead of me, I taught afterwards and some of the same boys and girls came to my school. In the fall of 1850 I went to Wisconsin and taught there for three seasons and in the spring of 1853 came across the plains to California, where I arrived in the fall, and went to work at the Mountain Pine Mill, staying there about a year and then located on this place on the second day of November 1854, where I have been up to the present time, which makes twenty-seven years. The first seven years I was a bachelor and the last twenty have been married. On the place are some fig trees planted by my own hand (mere twigs) which are now nine feet in circumference.”

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W. J. GORHAM { William James Gorham } (p. 335)
This well-known citizen of Columbia was born in Canada East on April 1, 1837, being raised and educated there and in the United States, which is accounted for from the fact of his residence being close to the line separating our government from the dominions of England’s Queen. He left Canada in 1860 for this state, came via the Isthmus of Panama, and landed in San Francisco in August of that year. On the last day of that month he arrived in this county and settled at Sawmill Flat. In 1868 he came to Columbia, leased Fallon’s Hotel, and bought the furniture thereto attached and was the proprietor of that hostelry for eighteen months, when he sold out and opened a saloon on Main Street, but only remained in that business about one and a half years. Two years ago he was appointed Deputy Sheriff and about nine months since became Constable. Mr. Gorham learned the carpenter’s trade when young and has since been engaged in it as one of his occupations. He married Eliza Jane Wilson, a native of Huntington County, Canada East, on June 9, 1860.

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JOHN H. GRADY (p. 419-420)
Was born in San Francisco July 23, 1852 and in 1855 removed to Yankee Hill, Tuolumne County. His early education was acquired at Shaw’s Flat and Springfield, at which places he lived alternately until 1864, returning then to his native city. At the age of fifteen Mr. Grady learned the upholstering trade and remained in the furniture business until elected to the office of Tax Collector in 1881 and of which office he is the present incumbent. Mr. Grady was one of the only three Democrats elected on his ticket and is the youngest executive officer in the City and County of San Francisco.

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CAPTAIN ALONZO GREEN (p. 408-410)
Captain Green arrived in Sonora on the first day of August 1849. His companion on this trip to the place was James Lane. He tells the story of his travels somewhat as follows: He left San Francisco on the schooner “Favorite”, proceeding in her to Stockton, paying twenty-five dollars for the passage and providing his own bedding and food. Getting into a so-called stage, he next proceeded to Sonora, by way of Taylor' s Ferry. This stage, the Captain says, was merely a common wagon having hay in the bottom on which the passengers’ feet might rest and being otherwise totally devoid of comforts or conveniences. At a certain point upon their route breakfast was procured. The hotel which provided it was a large tent, whose utmost resources in the way of food extended only to whisky, hard-bread and pork and beans. Proceeding onward, the stage soon after passed the diggings at Woods’ Crossing, then the great resort of the miners, and where not fewer than two thousand men, says the Captain, stood in the water, engaged with pan and rocker. Contrary to the general feeling of enthusiasm, the new arrival promptly decided that he would never be a miner. On arrival in Sonora, the Captain made inquiries of Major Elkins as to where newcomers were expected to lodge and was referred to the ground as a proper place of deposit for the human frame. The following morning Mr. Green took a survey of the place, which resulted in his finding Joshua Holden, who had just established himself in business, occupying for that purpose a tent. Directly after this, the two men (acquaintances at a former date) formed a partnership and built the first house which was ever constructed in Sonora. The new structure was of logs, eighty by twenty feet, and was covered with canvas. Entering into trade, the two cleared within twelve months no less than two hundred thousand dollars. Other years more or less successful were passed in Sonora and in 1858 the Captain came to San Francisco. During his stay in Sonora the firm of Green & Holden was the most important one then doing business in the Southern Mines, it including the conduct of a bakery, as well as the store containing a miscellaneous assortment of dry goods, grow shrieks, clothing, miners’ implements, etc., which were suited to the demands of a community like Sonora. This extensive business house was burned out in the great fire of ‘52, the partners losing more than forty thousand dollars. Captain Green is now a resident of San Francisco, where he performs the duties of Superintendent of Washington Street Wharf, an office under the charge of the State Government. His living children are five in number: John Henry and Adeline Savilla, who, with Austin, now deceased, were born in Sonora, and Charles D., Frank M., and Verdenal N., who were born in San Francisco.

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OTIS GREENWOOD (p. 390-394)
A prominent man as Otis Greenwood, whether regarded from his attainments and prominence as a lawyer or his remarkable persistence and success as a practical joker. Interesting stories are related of him, among which the Knight-Eastabrook duel takes a prominent place. Falling out about some trifling dispute and imagining that their honor was impugned, two men, H. Knight and Eastabrook, residents of the vicinity of Sonora, determined to resort to arms for a settlement. Eastabrook, once a pop-manufacturer of Shaw’s Flat, accepted Knight' s challenge and, choosing pistols as the weapons, began under Jim Stuart’s and Jack Coles’ fostering care to perfect themselves in marksmanship. To Eastabrook the affair was a serious reality, but between his opponent, the two seconds (Coles and Stuart), the surgeons (Drs. Walker and Clawson), and the bottle holders (Otis Greenwood and Judge L. Quint), a hoax had been arranged which was to include the whole town. Meeting on Cannon Hill, in view of the entire population, who had been drawn out by the report of the interesting event, the principals exchanged shots, but as the weapons had been loaded by Major Ball with cork bullets covered with tinsel, the damage to life and limb was not important. However, as arranged by pre-concerted measures, Knight fell and was carried from the field, while his adversary congratulated himself upon remaining uninjured and proclaimed himself “High-cockalorum of Tuolumne County”! The Sheriff appearing at this juncture caused the victorious duelist to seek safety in flight. But it was not long before the truth of the matter becoming known to him he returned to his old habitation. What added more to the hilarity of the proceeding was a mishap to Greenwood. By previous collusion, doses of a nauseous and violent medicine had been prepared by the physicians to be administered allopathically to such of the surrounding crowd whose excited state of mind would allow them to mistake jalop for gin or croton for corn juice. By a natural error (or was it the Doctor’s intention?) Mr. Greenwood himself became the victim and furnished a patient's fee to the man of sells and a jest to the community for many days. Few who dwelt in Sonora in 1857 have forgotten the “Royal Order of G. S., Mighty and Terrible”, who held meetings in their "Hall of Comparative Ovations”, and who were supposed to have change of the morals of the town; but whose chief and only object consisted in originating and carrying out practical jokes. The prince of jokers, Lawyer Greenwood, held a prominent part in their deliberations and the honored gentleman, who officiated as the other second in the before mentioned duel, was also a star of magnitude. Many of the familiar names in Sonora’s history were on the list of this unique organization; names, it is sad to think, of those who are now no more.

One of the characteristic tricks of this band of humorists was the never-to-be-forgotten Honorable Judge Garland episode. Miss Annette Ince and her sister, with their company of actors, were performing at Valleau’s Theater, then standing on the corner lot on Washington Street next south of Mr. Cady’s store. Among their numerous admirers was one Garland, an inhabitant of San Joaquin County, who had followed the Misses Ince on their travels to the mines, while under the influence of a tender feeling for one of the ladies, as well as being stage-struck to a remarkable degree. Aside from these peculiarities, the man was a good-natured specimen of the genus “crank”. No sooner had these facts become known than the "G. S." took him in hand, their first care being to obtain his confidence and regard. This they effected easily and then commenced a series of tricks and impositions the like of which were certainly never before played upon any man. Upon the opening night of the theater, the unsuspecting Garland was seen in the dress circle, seated upon a raised dais, a huge wooden sword pendant at his side, a paper cap upon his head, and an enormous blue metal, heart-shaped and a foot in diameter, upon his breast, and bearing the mystic letters, G. S. Surrounding him were the brethren of that order, each with a wooden sword and bearing a similar badge. These constituted the "Committee of Honor and Safety”. The effect of this upon the unsuspecting actresses was ridiculous beyond description. After the play was over, G. was taken to the Placer Hotel, where he attempted to address an audience gathered in the street, but being given a glass of whisky in which was a powerful medicine, he soon had to cease. When, leaving the stand for the City Hotel, he was pursued by the crowd and, taking to his heels, he made quick time to the hotel amid cries of “Hang him!” etc. The exertion and the medicine were too much for him and he remained for several days under the kind charge of those good Samaritans, the “G. S., Mighty and Terrible.” During this time a new joke was concocted and the unhappy Garland was induced to display his histrionic talents (a weakness with him) and to this end a week was spent in drilling him in the part of Macbeth and in preparation for his appearance before the public. On the stage, he came out at the “dagger scene”, dressed in a single garment -a sort of smock frock- with his arms and legs painted as the exuberant fancy of the “G. S.“ had dictated. All the accessories were in keeping with the actor and probably no such scene was ever witnessed on any other stage. The poor fellow was sent away from Sonora armed with a gigantic parchment diploma, ornamented with a seal the size of a soup plate and certifying his good standing in the order “G. S.” at Sonora and asking that the imaginary society below would take good care of him. This paper he was commanded to keep in his possession at all times and to guard it as he would his life and the dupe actually deprived himself of sleep for more than one night that he might be assured of the safety of the precious document.

Otis Greenwood came to Tuolumne from Massachusetts and, entering upon the practice of the law, became prominent and well-known throughout the county. Although possessed of admirable talents and achieving quite a degree of success, his unfortunate addiction to drink kept him from the full measure of success which, with steadier habits, he would have earned and brought him to the grave in 1863 at the early age of thirty-four years.

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F. J. GROSS { Francis Joseph Gross } (p. 337)
Was born in Georgetown, D. C., where he resided until coming to this state, via Panama, in 1859. He came direct to Tuttletown and commenced the butcher business, continuing the same until 1863, and then engaged in mining. About two years ago, he purchased a saloon at Tuttletown, which he is now conducting.

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DR. L. C. GUNN { Lewis Carstairs Gunn } (p. 377-378)
An able physician, became an inhabitant of Tuolumne in 1849. Practicing medicine and surgery, he became widely known throughout the region. In 1850, he was part proprietor of the Sonora Herald and maintained a connection with that sheet through a large part of its prosperous career. He built, in 1852, an elegant dwelling near the present site of the County Hospital. The drug business engrossed his attention for years, repaying him largely. At one time he held the office of County Treasurer, serving with general acceptance. His present home is in San Diego, where he is spending the latter years of an active and useful life.

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GEORGE W. HALE (p. 379)
Is a native of Somerset County, Maine, and was born May 12, 1836. At the age of fourteen, he moved to Brighton, Mass. He came to California in 1857 and after residing in different parts of the state returned East and again coming to California in 1859 and settling at Columbia, where he now lives. In the fall of 1879, Mr. Hale erected his new sawmill, on the south fork of the Stanislaus River, and on the ranch once owned by the notorious Jim Lyons. The mill is 24x100 feet, has two circular saws, and its capacity is twenty thousand feet of lumber in twelve hours. There is also a shingle machine in the mill, which turns out forty thousand shingles per day. The prime industry of the region where Mr. Hale’s mill is located is the manufacture of lumber. The pine forests of this part of the county are extensive and for three decades men have been plunging into their depths and utilizing those stately trees. Steadily, with the growth of the county, the business has increased, until it stands today a prime factor on the commercial catalogue. Millions of feet are cut annually and yet the source seems practically inexhaustible.

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J. HALL { Josiah Hall } (p. 354)
Who is one of California’s pioneers, was born in London, England, on the 25th of September 1816. He arrived in San Francisco in the ship “Brooklyn” on the 12th of August 1849. He at once proceeded to Mokelumne Hill, where he was engaged in mining previous to his coming to Sonora in December 1849. He went to New York, but returned in 1850 and opened a store and has followed mercantile pursuits in Sonora ever since.

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REV. S. S. HARMON { Silas Solon Harmon } (p. 397)
Conducted the Methodist Church at Sonora for ten years; but now in charge of the College at Washington Corners, has devoted himself to the cause of education with good results. Lately, he is said to be contemplating a removal of the concern to Berkeley.

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CHARLES L. HARPER (p. 403-404)
The subject of this sketch was born in Philadelphia December 16, 1822 and resided there until 1853, when he came to California by way of the Isthmus and arrived in San Francisco October 20, 1853. From San Francisco he went to the redwoods of San Mateo County and remained there until May 9, 1854 and then removed to Big Oak Flat, where he has resided since that time. He mined about eight years at Big Oak Flat and vicinity and has followed his trade of carpenter since. He married Ellen McLaughlin in 1872 and has two children named Edwin F. and Charles F.

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W. N. HARRIS { William Nathan Harris} (p. 352-353)
The subject of this narrative was born in Bedford County, Virginia, on June 1, 1820. He went to the State of Georgia, thence to Charleston, South Carolina, and to New York City, and coming to this State via the Isthmus, arrived in San Francisco July 17, 1850. He proceeded to Marysville and from thence to Ophir, or Oroville, and did some prospecting on the Cape Fear claim. He then came to this county in December 1850, locating at Shaw’s Flat, where he worked at placer mining, as well as in other localities, until coming to Jamestown in the fall of 1862, where he has since lived. He is the owner of the “Little Gem” mine, on which there is a ten-stamp mill. This mine is situated about one mile west from Jamestown. A little farther to the north is the “Alabama”, also owned by Mr. Harris, which mine is one of the best in the county. There is a forty-stamp mill on it, which is kept running night and day, pouring into the hands of its owner a golden treasure from an inexhaustible vein. Mr. Harris married Mrs. Clara A. Hensley on October 9, 1871. Her living children by a former marriage are: William F., Ellen L. and Edward. James was killed at the Alabama mine Feb 22, 1882. The surname of these children is Hensley.

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JOSEPH HESLEP and EDWARD CRANE GRIFFITHS (p. 150)

About nine o’clock on the evening of January 18, 1855, Joseph Heslep, deputy-treasurer of Tuolumne County, was found murdered in his office in Sonora. His dead body was discovered lying upon the floor, still warm, by a person who had gone there on business. An alarm was at once given; an immense crowd collected; there was great excitement; and, as was usual in cases of such gravity, a public meeting was called to take into consideration what was best to be done. One of the first things was to light a large bonfire in the street as a sort of rallying point and to distribute guards and prevent suspicious characters from leaving the town. Meanwhile a coroner’s jury was summoned to make an examination of the deceased and elicit such facts as could be ascertained. They found that the head and face of the deceased were horribly mangled as if with blows of some blunt instrument and that the mouth, throat and nostrils were stuffed with paper. But there seemed to be no clue to the murderer. Some slight suspicion was entertained of the person who found the dead man, but it was soon given up. And it is likely that the murderer would never have been discovered if it had not been for the astuteness of Constable Samuel Phillips. While a man named Edward Crane Griffiths, who had been last seen in Heslep’s office, was testifying before the coroner’s jury as to his knowledge of the deceased’s actions that evening, Phillips conceived the idea of visiting Griffiths’ room in the United States Hotel; and, while Griffiths was still on the witness stand on his second or third examination, Phillips reappeared and called attention to a valise which he had found there. As soon as Griffiths caught sight of the valise, he exclaimed, “Ask me no more questions. I am the guilty man!” This of course put an end to any further examination; and in the midst of the excitement consequent upon the declaration, Phillips related how he had visited Griffiths’ room and found concealed under his bed the valise filled with blood-stained clothing, the blood still fresh, and a heavy overcoat in the pockets of which were six thousand dollars in gold.

At this stage of the proceedings alarm bells were rung and those who had retired from the scene reappeared. The whole town was aroused. The startling facts were soon told and a resolution was adopted that the murderer should die at daybreak. There was not a dissenting voice. The doomed man remained by the bonfire in the street the remainder of the night, surrounded by the crowd, which was making preparations to hang him. The sheriff of the county made a pretense of getting possession of him but without avail. The people were determined not to be thwarted again (Governor Bigler having thwarted justice before by commuting sentences to imprisonment); and nothing could have saved the condemned from his sentence. He himself fully realized his position and occupied the short time remaining to him of life in writing letters and making confession of his crime to his custodians. It appeared from his statement that he was born in Liverpool, England, in 1824 and had been at sea since his eleventh year until reaching California. Upon his arrival at San Francisco, he was without money or friends but managed to find his way to San Jose, where he was assisted by a brother of the deceased with a letter of recommendation and money to get to the mines. He had come to Sonora and presented his letter to the deceased, who had established him in business. On the evening of the murder, he had called at Heslep’s office, just as the latter was about putting a bag of money into his safe, and asked for the loan of a portion of it. Heslep refused, when, in a spirit which he claimed to be more of a joke than anything else, he placed his hand upon the bag. At this Heslep struck him and he, in turn becoming angry, seized an axe, which stood nearby, and with a blow upon the temple struck him to the floor. He followed up the first blow with several others; but, as the prostrate man still continued to make a noise, he stuffed paper into his mouth and nostrils. He then opened the safe; took out six thousand dollars in gold; closed it up again; blew out the lights, and left the house. The whole affair did not take more than five minutes. He then went to his room in the hotel, changed his clothes; concealed the bloody ones and the money he had stolen, and then walked out. After taking a few turns in the street, he had returned to the neighborhood of Heslep’s office, by which time the murder had been discovered. It was between one and two o’clock in the morning of Friday, January 19, 1855, that this confession was made. At daylight, the miserable man was carried to an oak tree; strung up by the neck to a limb of it, and left there to die.

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THE HESLEPS (p. 385-386)
Joseph, William G. and Frank have been important in the past years of the county. Of these brothers, the tragic fate of Joseph has been told, while William died in Arizona. They were public-spirited men, and men whose words and actions were always on the side of the right. Among their numerous acts of public spirit was the presentation of the cannon known as the Heslep Gun to the City of Sonora. This piece of ordnance, says the Independent, was cast at the government foundry at Pittsburg, Penn., for the armament of a man-of-war, but fell into private hands shortly after and was placed on a privateer destined for service in the Mexican War. Subsequently seized by the U.S. Marshal, the gun was sold, together with the ship bearing it, and it became the property of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, by whom it was placed on board of the old steamer “Panama”, for use as a signal gun. On the breaking up of that vessel at San Francisco, the gun was bought by Mr. Joseph Heslep and by him presented to the citizens of Sonora, being then placed on “Cannon Hill”, where it remained until the beginning of the Rebellion, when some discontented parties chopped up the wooden carriage and hauled the gun down to Main Street. Indignation being evoked by this act, a meeting of citizens was held and the mischievous parties were made to remove the gun to a suitable site. Later in its history it was rolled down into Sonora Creek, where it remained for a half dozen years, or until 1873, which it is said to have been in use as a bumper to guard the corner of Oppenheimer’s store. Dissatisfied with this, the citizens removed it thence in the Centennial year to a situation at Greaser Gulch, on the road to the “French Garden”, where it has since remained. It lies at present on the ground and is without carriage or protection from the elements. Its dimensions are as follows: Outside length, ten feet eleven inches; length of bore, nine feet; calibre, five and two-tenths inches. The weight of the piece is four thousand seven hundred and sixty pounds and it is a naval Paixhan, or Columbiad, of the best pattern and is calculated to throw an eighteen pound round shot, it being smooth bore. A portion of its history has been the endeavor of certain officials to sell it to the junkmen, half a cent per pound being offered, but as the reflecting citizens do not see in this a becoming way to treat a valuable and munificent present, which, at the same time, by its associations, has become really memorable, probably no such thoughtless or disrespectful act will be accomplished. Sonora and Tuolumne possess many relics, which in future years will lend an interest scarcely felt now. And should public sentiment strongly favor their preservation, future generations will gratefully thank the careful and considerate for their protecting care.

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WILLIAM HIBBING (p. 370)
Who now resides on his beautiful farm on Sullivan’s Creek, is a native of Germany, from whence he came to America in 1848, locating first in Charleston, S.C., where he was employed as a clerk in a store until the year 1851, when going to New York, he shipped via Panama for California. Finally coming to Sonora, where he mined until 1856, then opening a saloon and lodging house, remaining so occupied until 1860, when the attraction of farm life carried him to his present fine property, consisting of four hundred and eighty acres, upon which he has erected at great pains and cost a very elegant residence, wherein he now resides with his interesting family. Marrying in Sonora immediately upon his arrival, he has live children: William D., Matilda, Louis, Amelia and Otto.

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WINSLOW HUBBARD (p. 317-318)
The subject of this account was born in Connecticut October 11, 1821, spending his boyhood in the place of his nativity. In the year 1844, he started south with a design of his fortunes and after five years spent in the Slave States he came across the plains by the Fort Smith route, remaining a short time at Greenhorn Point, El Dorado County, going from thence to Mariposa County, and finally taking his abode in Tuolumne, where he has since remained. During the most of thirty-two years of his stay he has resided at Groveland, exerting himself in the development of mines, of which he now possesses several very promising ones.

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PAUL K. HUBBS (p. 398)
Was a useful citizen in every respect. After serving the people of Tuolumne in several important offices, he became State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1854. Was married to Miss Maggie Gilcrest in 1857.

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E. F. HUNTER { Edward Fenwick Hunter } (p. 389)
Also an attorney, whose volatile, active temperament got him into a number of scrapes, among which the shooting of Drake and the killing of the boy McKenna at Sacramento were conspicuous. For the latter offense he was tried and, the jury disagreeing, a change of venue was had to Amador County, which, on the second trial, a verdict of not guilty was rendered. Shortly after, Hunter returned to his old home in Ohio and his subsequent history is unknown.

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JOHN H. HUNTER (p. 338)
Was born in Greencastle, Putnam County, Indiana, on May 12, 1829. When six months old his parents took him to Vermillion County, in that state, and afterwards to Paris, Edgar County, Illinois. Mr. Hunter went to Missouri, where he remained one year, then crossed the plains to this state, arriving in August 1852. He came to Columbia January 20, 1853, where he has continuously lived and followed the occupation of a miner.

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MOSES H. HYDE (p. 321-322)
The subject of the sketch first saw the light in Carroll County, New Hampshire, where he resided until he passed his twentieth year; then, for the next seven years, his location was chiefly in Massachusetts. Then, being smitten with the California fever, he joined the grand army whose eager faces were turned toward the golden shores of the Pacific and, taking passage on the steamer “John L. Stephens”, he came to Panama. The remainder of this, to him, most eventful trip was made in the “George Law”, arriving in San Francisco in 1854. Coming at once to old Tuolumne, he entered into partnership with his brother in ranching, afterwards going into the lumber manufacture. Increasing in wealth, Mr. Hyde became successively proprietor of a sawmill, a lumber yard situated in Sonora, and the fine ranch on which he now resides. This ranch, familiarly known as the ‘‘Hyde Ranch”, is situated on Sullivan’s Creek, above the Phoenix Reservoir. Besides agriculture, the gentleman has interested himself in mining, in consequence of the discovery of a very extensive quartz ledge upon his property, which, being prospected, is found to be of great value.

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