Another of Cayucos’ valued citizens was
GEORGE T. SHIPP
Recently deceased. Mr. Shipp was born in Mississippi, in February, 1820, where he spent the early years of his life, growing to man’s estate, marrying, and rearing a large family. When in the prime of life, he removed to Texas, and finally, in 1865, made the farther removal to the Pacific Coast, settling near Cayucos, in San Luis Obispo County, where he engaged in stock-raising, continuing the business with success until his death, which occurred July 27, 1881. Mr. Shipp was twice married, his first wife leaving him eleven children. His second marriage was consummated July 3, 1874, to Mrs. Harriet R. Powell, a native of Tennessee, who then had a family of eleven children. Mrs. Shipp still resides on the ranch where her husband died. A view of the place is given in this volume.
Source: History of San Luis Obispo County, California, p344. Transcribed for the CAGenWeb Project by Cathy Portz.
J. J. SIMMLER
The post-office of San Luis Obispo and this gentleman bear very intimate relationship. Mr. Murray and Mr. Simmler have been the Postmasters through nearly all its history, and the latter has so long performed its duties that the majority of the present residents know no other incumbent.
John Jacob Simmler was born in the city of Mulhausen, Department of Upper Rhine (Haut Rhin), France, July 18, 1826. His parents were John George Simmler, a native of. Zurich, Switzerland, and Elizabeth Benner, a native of Mulhausen. The father came at an early age to the latter city, there obtained his education, married, and reared his family, and there spent his long and useful life, dying, in 1878, at the ripe age of seventy-eight years. He had in youth been a pupil of the celebrated teacher Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, who introduced a new system of education in Switzerland and in France in the latter part of the eighteenth and early in the present century. John George Simmler, educated by this distinguished teacher, became a professor in the college at Mulhausen, which position he held for thirty years.
J. J. Simmler spent his childhood and youth in his native city by the banks of the River Ill, amid the vine-clad hills of France, attending school until fifteen years of age, after which he spent three years in learning the business of painting. The usual custom of a handicraftsman, in Europe, after serving his apprenticeship, is to travel from place to place, working at his trade in the different towns and cities, obtaining the knowledge and customs of each, and thus perfecting himself in his art, and while so engaged, is treated with much consideration and liberality by all classes of people. From the age of eighteen to twenty, Mr. Simmler traveled in France, Germany, and Switzerland, working at his trade. These were very pleasant years, though profitable only in the increased knowledge obtained of his business, which he intended should be the resource of his life, and instruction in the ways of the world.
The travel, however, had rather unsettled him for the fixed condition of society in the Old World, and, in February, 1847, he left the land of his birth to seek a new home in the land beyond the sea. In May following he landed in Texas, locating in the old town of San Antonio, a young emigrant not yet twenty-one years of age, but well prepared by education and his trade to make his way in the world. Being courageous and hopeful, he went to work, learning the language and the ways of the people, and kept busy and prospered. The Mexican War was then in progress, contesting for the right to annex Texas to the United States, and in the following year that was settled, taking also California into the Union. Soon thereafter came the discovery of gold and the rush of emigration to the Pacific Coast. In May, 1852, Mr. Simmler joined the throng, and, journeying across Mexico, embarked at Mazatlan for California. Taking a sailing vessel the voyage up the coast was attempted to San Francisco as the port of destination. Such a voyage has often been described. During the summer are periods of calms, or light winds from the northwest prevail near the shore and for many miles at sea, almost entirely forbidding progress. The ship had many passengers, and was totally unprepared for a long stay at sea, the consequence being terrible suffering and distress, seven of Mr. Simmler’s companions dying of starvation before land was reached. After a two months’ struggle, the port of San Luis Obispo was reached, and there Mr. Simmler and a few others, among them the noted Parker H. French, disembarked, and there he remained. Working at his trade and other lines of business, employed his time until 1855, when he undertook farming and hog-raising on the rancho of Don Juan Price, which he continued until he had lost everything he possessed, as it was a business with which he was not an expert. He then took charge of the St. Charles Hotel in the town of San Luis Obispo, and this he successfully kept until 1859. In this year he married his present wife, Rosa Butron, widow of Vicente Canet. From 1866 to 1868 he was a member of the firm of Pollard & Simmler, carrying on the business of general merchandise.
During his long residence in San Luis Obispo, Mr. Simmler has led an active and honorable life, taking a prominent part in public and social affairs, and filling many important positions of trust. Of the social and benevolent societies, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of the American Legion of Honor. In the early years of his citizenship he acted with the Democratic Party, but when the great and good Lincoln was assassinated, he became a Republican, and has ever since been a staunch member of that organization. For ten years he was Justice of the Peace, and when San Luis Obispo became an incorporated city, he was its first Police Judge. In 1874 he received the appointment of Postmaster, which office he still holds, having been reappointed by President Arthur for four years, from December 20, 1881. Besides the offices above mentioned, Mr. Simmler has held the positions of School and Town Trustee for several terms, Deputy Assessor for three years, agent of the Steamship Company, and others, always taking a particular interest in the welfare of the community.
Source: History of San Luis Obispo County, California, pp314-315. Transcribed for the CAGenWeb Project by Cathy Portz.
ISAAC J. SPARKS
Another of the list of the great land-holders of San Luis Obispo, of the pre-American days, is Isaac J. Sparks. He, too, was one of that bold band of pioneers who, in the days of their young manhood, followed the declining sun to its setting in the waters of the Pacific, and upon these peaceful shores made their home. “Westward the star of Empire takes its way,” and Sparks was one of those to follow it to the utmost limit, and there aid in founding the empire that was to follow. From the extreme East of our country to the extreme West he came.
Mr. Sparks was a native of Maine; born at Bowdoin, Sagadahoc County, of that State, in 1804. Early in life he went with his father to the West, going down the Ohio in a flatboat of his father’s construction, then to St. Louis, Missouri, where he grew to manhood. The following interesting sketch of his career was written by Mrs. F. H. Day, from notes obtained from Mr. Sparks, and published in the Hesperian Magazine in July, 1859:—
Mr. Sparks continued to reside in St. Louis until the 9th of April, 1831, when, in company with Captains Jedediah S. Smith* [*Jedediah S. Smith has been referred to in the preceding pages of this history as the first American to cross the Sierra Nevada into California.] and Milton Sublet, he left for Santa Fe. Nothing of much importance occurred on the way until they reached one of the tributaries of the Arkansas River, where three young men by the names of Minturn, William Day, and J. J. Warner, fell behind the balance of the party, for the purpose of killing antelope. While hunting they were surprised by a party of Pawnee Indians, who fell upon them and savagely murdered young Minturn, whose manly qualities and kind, generous heart had endeared him to every member of the company.
After this the party proceeded on their journey, and in crossing from the Arkansas River to the Cimaron, they lost their way in the sand-hills. This portion of the prairie is visited by severe gales of wind, which blow the sand so as to destroy all traces in a road or path. It was owing to this cause that the party now found themselves bewildered and lost. To make the matter worse, there was no water to be found. In vain they explored that trackless waste of sand; no sound of gurgling waterfall or singing rivulet met their ears; no cool, refreshing stream gladdened their sight; they became victims of the most intense suffering, driven almost to madness by the prolonged agony of thirst. The animals, also suffered intolerably; their tongues hanging from their mouths, black and parched, while their eyeballs glared fearfully; and every sound they uttered, and every movement they made, was indicative of the terrible agony of death, by thirst. Oh, how little do those who have never felt the want of nature’s pearly liquid, know its value! Only those who travel the hot, arid sands of the desert, day after day, toiling on in the fruitless search for water, the burning sun above, the scorching sands beneath, over all, the hot glare, and stifling, humid atmosphere. Companions drooping from day to day; the strength of all departing; the last day’s march shorter than the one preceding it. The animals which have been gradually failing, now utterly prostrate, some with the glazy film of death already upon their eyes. Companions giving way to wild, distracted ravings, maddened and driven to desperation by the terrors of the parched and fevered system; the unutterable, exquisite agony of prolonged thirst. ’Tis then that the weary, thirsting one, as he gasps in vain for a draught of water, thinks of one drop as of a pearl of great price, more valuable by far than all the golden sands of the earth. But to return to our narrative. Captain Smith, with undaunted courage, still continued his search for water, and traveled on in advance of the party some miles. His toil was at last rewarded; he heard the low, musical gurgling of a brook, and hastened forward to the cool, refreshing stream. He sparingly gave to his animal, and himself partook; then stopping, laved his hot, dusty brow with the precious liquid, while a feeling of intense thankfulness pervaded his soul for the timely relief thus afforded to his party. At this moment he was surprised to hear the sound of horses’ hoofs, and ere he had time to think, found himself surrounded by a party of Comanche Indians.
He vaulted into the saddle, but they made signs of friendship, and riding up each side of him, threw him off his guard by making signs of good-will; they then treacherously speared him. Even after he was wounded his valiant spirit did not forsake him. But with his strength failing from loss of blood, and the death dew gathering on his brow, he shot and wounded two of his enemies, and then fell to rise no more.
The party, saddened by the loss of Captain Smith, who was a brave and good man, continued on their journey and reached the Cimaron in the night. The next morning they found themselves surrounded by from fifteen hundred to two thousand braves—the “Grovonts of the Prairie.” They threw up a temporary fortification by digging ditches between their wagons, which were so arranged as to form a sort of barrier between them and their enemies. They expected, and were prepared for an attack, but it did not occur. They succeeded, however, in getting five of the leading chiefs into camp, where they held them as prisoners, and kept them under guard until they were ready to depart on their journey, when they took them the distance of about eight miles from the camping-ground, and then set them at liberty, and permitted them to go on their way unharmed.
All day long they continued their journey up the Cimaron, and at night again constructed their fort of ditches and wagons, and secured their stock inside. The night was dark and gloomy, and the hours wore on unbroken, save by the low wail of the wind, until about midnight, when the unmistakable warwhoop of the Indians rent the air, and they found themselves surrounded by a party of the same Indians with whom they had parted company in the morning. The animals, frightened by the noise, broke loose, and ran helter-skelter in every direction. One pair of oxen having on a yoke in which was an iron ring, broke loose and made right for the Indians, the ring making as they ran a great noise, which the Indians, in the darkness, imagined to be a piece of artillery, and fled in hot haste down the valley, leaving to the oxen the honor of a conquered field, and the rescue of their owners from a tragic fate. The next morning the oxen were found two miles from camp. Although surrounded by hordes of savages, they pursued their journey without further molestation, and at length reached Santa Fé in safety.
GOES TRAPPING.
Mr. Sparks, in company with Captain Young, left Santa Fé in the fall, on a trapping expedition to the Querétaro Mountains; nothing worthy of record occurred until they reached what is known as the “Black Water,” the head-waters of the Salt River. Here the Indians began to be troublesome by stealing their traps, sneaking into camp and shooting down their animals, and committing various other depredations which irritated and annoyed in the highest degree. The whites exercised forbearance for a season, and then determined upon inflicting chastisement upon their persecutors. For this purpose they resorted to stratagem, that they might be the better able to cope with their insatiate and treacherous foes. The principal part of the company would leave the camp, thus leading the Indians to think that all had gone, when, in fact, there were six or eight concealed within, where they would remain perfectly quiet until the Indians got fairly into camp, when, upon a certain signal they discharged their fire-arms, whose deadly and unerring aim would send the Indians for a moment bounding in the air, while the despairing shriek of death burst from their lips; the next they lay lifeless on the ground.
FIGHTING INDIANS.
From Black Water they proceeded to the Gila River, which they followed till they came near the line of the Yuma. Here, Job Dye, Isaac Williams, Turkey Green, and ’Squire Green, being in advance of the party, fell upon a party of Indians who were on their way to Sonora for the purpose of stealing horses. A skirmish took place which lasted about an hour and a half. The Indians threw up a fort of brush-wood, and nobly stood their ground, until the remainder of the whites came up, who, in company with the others, made a deadly charge and put them to flight. Of the Indians there were killed or wounded fourteen or fifteen.
ARRIVE IN CALIFORNIA.
The day succeeding these events they journeyed on to the Yuma village, where they traded for beans, corn, etc., and thence proceeded to the Rio Colorado, or Red River. Here the party separated, and Mr. Sparks, with eleven others, came through to California, and arrived at the Pueblo de Los Angeles on the 10th of February, 1832.
Their warfare with the Indians being over they thought themselves secure from further molestation, when, lo! to their surprise and mortification, they found themselves prisoners of the country, under the authorities of the land, the laws not permitting strangers to travel without a passport. Not liking to be detained in “durance vile,” Mr. Sparks watched narrowly for an opportunity to escape, and after a short time succeeded in evading the vigilance of his captors, and made good his escape to San Pedro.
What a moral does the history of Mr. Sparks (as well as many more of our pioneers) afford to the contemplative mind! Alone, far from friends or home, overcoming the fatigue and peril of a journey across the Rocky Mountains, only to be received as a prisoner within the walls of a strange city, with a mind torn by anxiety, watching by night and by day, with vigilance untiring and patience unsurpassed, for an opportunity to regain what is dearer to every American than life itself—freedom.
HUNTS THE SEA-OTTER.
His escape, without a dime in his pocket, alone, pursuing his course with hurried and anxious steps, fearful lest he again become a prisoner. What gloomy reflections occupied his mind as he pursued his lonely way to San Pedro, we may never know. Certain it is that trial and danger did not exhaust his energy, nor disappointment overcome his perseverance. With nothing but his gun to rely upon he did not fail to make good use of that. Here he shot his first otter, and began a business which he followed for many years successfully, reaping annually a rich harvest from his labors. He began at first with a single rifle, shooting the animal from the shore, himself swimming out to secure the prey. He soon became able, however, to hire a swimmer to perform this duty for him, and in about a year and a half forcibly felt the need of a boat. He accordingly set to work and built a small, light one, suited to his purpose, and then went out to sea after the otter. His business continued to increase, and he soon found that his little boat was insufficient, and he now, with his men, formed a company of three boats, and the business became very lucrative. Mr. Sparks followed this business with different hunters from the year 1832 until 1848.
METHOD OF HUNTING.
Perhaps a brief description of the mode of hunting sea-otter may not be inappropriate here. To carry on the business successfully there are necessary three small boats, in each of which are three men, a “shooter” and two “pullers.” They have also a large boat to carry provisions, having on board two men, a cook, and a camp-keeper. They generally start out in the month of April, and make a cruise of six or seven months. One small boat is always kept in advance on the lookout for otter. When a shoal is discovered, if the weather is fine, the hunters approach and the work of destruction begins. The fastest canoe pulls right through the shoal without attempting to shoot; the other two come up, one on each side, and, as it were, corral the otter, and then shoot among them right and left. When the shoal scatters, which it will in a short time, they attack them singly, taking care to select a large one; the boats form a triangle around the spot where he dives, and as soon as he again rises to the surface of the water they shoot. As often as he appears he is greeted with musket balls, so that, if not killed, he is again obliged to dive. In this way he soon becomes exhausted, for want of air, and rises within gun-shot, when he falls an easy victim to his pursuers.
This business is very profitable, hunters frequently taking from seventy to one hundred and thirty otters in a season. The skins are worth, on an average, from twenty-five to forty-five dollars apiece.
THE LAST EXPEDITION.
In 1848 Mr. Sparks left Santa Barbara, and came by land to San Francisco, whence he again started on another hunting expedition. This time he took a large company with him—four boats and twenty men—and proceeded to Cape Mendocino. Upon his arrival he found hostile Indians very numerous. But, as the wind was blowing a gale, he comforted himself with the assurance of safety afforded by the wind; for the Indians, whose arrows are swerved by the wind, never attack when it blows hard. For several days the party remained quietly on shore, when, at dawn one mornin,. Mr. Sparks discovered that the wind had ceased and all was calm. Then, calling his men, they jumped into their boats, and pulled swiftly away, leaving the Indians to wonder at their mysterious disappearance.
Upon his return to San Francisco he found the gold excitement had commenced. The men whom he had employed at sixteen and eighteen dollars per month, were now offered that much per day, and, although they were engaged to him, he released them and let them go to the mines.
SPARKS A MERCHANT.
Mr. Sparks returned to Santa Barbara and engaged in business as a merchant, and was the first Postmaster of that town under the United States Government. During the war with Mexico he was the firm friend of his native land, and his advice and material aid to Fremont were invaluable. He advanced, in cattle, horses, and other supplies, an amount equal to $25,000, for which he appealed in vain to the Government for remuneration. His early enterprise was shown in the construction of a fine brick building—fine for the early days of Santa Barbara—being the first ever constructed in the town, and now forms part of the Park Hotel.
HIS RANCHOS IN SAN LUIS OBISPO.
Mr. Sparks’ connection with San Luis Obispo was his ownership of the Huasna and Pismo Ranches, the first of five, and the second of two square leagues of land, which were granted to him by the Mexican Government, and confirmed by the United States courts. The Pismo was sold to John M. Price, and the Huasna bequeathed to his daughters, Flora, now Mrs. Marcus Harloe; Rosa, now Mrs. Arza Porter, and Sallie, now Mrs. Harkness; to the first two, each two leagues, and to Mrs. Harkness one league and the homestead in Santa Barbara.
HIS BADGE OF PIONEERSHIP.
In his long life as a hunter and pioneer of the West, Mr. Sparks had many thrilling adventures and narrow escapes. One of his adventures was a personal conflict with a grizzly bear, in which he received a blow that cost him an eye and nearly his life, but with the courage for which he was noted he triumphed over the savage animal. In portraits painted of him and photographs taken this defect is observable, he refusing to have it concealed, for two reasons: first, that he should always be truthfully represented, no defect concealed nor virtue extenuated, and second, he maintained it as a badge of his pioneership, the insignia of the grizzly bear, and the relic of a deadly encounter. He was quite tall, with slim, but well-formed frame, and was a man of fine, commanding appearance.
Source: History of San Luis Obispo County, California, pp220-222. Transcribed for the CAGenWeb Project by Cathy Portz.
E. W. STEELE
The development of the resources of California after its acquisition by the United States opened a new field for the energies of the young men of the East. The State was not subject to the slow growth, the crowding of time upon events, the doing of things as our fathers did; but young men came with inborn intelligence and native energy who at once took a stride forward to invent new appliances for works new to them, and enlarge methods in conducting those in which they had but slight experience. The mines were the first attraction; then, to those who had the sagacity to forecast the future, the fertile soil and genial climate drew the attention of the agriculturist. Mr. Steele was one of those who, as a young man, made California his home and entered the agricultural list, and who by his unwavering enterprise, unbounded energy, and great success has exemplified this prelude. His name has become intimately connected with the history of agriculture in this State, several counties having been the field of his operations, and all advanced by his labors and well directed enterprise. The small farms of the East were the primary schools where he received his rudimentary lessons, fitting him for the enlarged sphere which opened in the great State of the Pacific Coast, and here he has expanded with the true spirit of the Californian.
Edgar Willis Steele was born in the pleasant village of Delhi, the county seat of Delaware County, New York, March 4, 1830, being the son of Nathaniel and Damaris Steele, his mother being the daughter of Silas Johnson, Esq., of the same county. The family consisted of two daughters and seven sons, the eldest, Emily E., becoming the wife of Mr. Moore, for many years Sheriff of Delaware County, and now living in Delhi; Osman N., who, as Under Sheriff, was killed by riotous “anti-renters” while in discharge of his duty; Mrs. Anna Cordela Howe, now of Boston, Massachusetts; the late Hon. John B., an eminent lawyer of New York, and for several terms Representative in Congress; Gen. Frederick Steele, a distinguished officer of the army in the war with Mexico, and during the Rebellion, now deceased; Isaac C, of San Mateo County; Judge George Steele, of San Luis Obispo; E. W., the subject of this sketch, and William, who died when young. The father and mother died in 1860 and 1861, in Sonoma County, California.
In the days preceding the construction of railroads the name of N. Steele & Co. became familiar to the people of southeastern New York, being emblazoned on nearly all the gaily painted stage coaches, that were then the pride of the country, traversing that section of the State. Nathaniel Steele was the proprietor of the great line of stages from Catskill on the Hudson River, through Delhi, to Ithaca, traversing the counties of Greene, Delaware, Otsego, Chenango, Broome and Tompkins, being one of the main thoroughfares of travel connecting the metropolis with the West. He had as a “silent” partner an astute and cunning lawyer, who is remembered as Old Sam. Sherwood, who, being unscrupulous as well as able, finally caused the ruin of Mr. Steele. Sherwood was the agent of the granters to much of the land about Delhi, and sold a large tract to Steele, who paid him for it, and built saw-mills, and transported large quantities of lumber by rafts on the Delaware River to the Philadelphia market. Sherwood never accounted for the money paid, and Steele was compelled to pay a second time. He besides became involved by indorsing notes for others, debts accumulated against the stage company, and in the financial revulsion of 1835 he failed in business. Then in 1836 he removed with the younger children of the family to the forests of Ohio, settling on the “Western Reserve,” and there proceeded to make a new home. The location was upon a half acre of clearing, and out of the abundant timber he went to work with such tools as the pioneer possessed, to make a dwelling. In such a manner were the farms of Ohio hewn out of the woods.
There E. W. remained until thirteen years of age, when he was invited by his uncle, Dr. Ebenezer Steele, a prominent physician of Delhi, to return to his native place, receive a thorough education, and learn the profession of doctor of medicine. Three elder brothers and two sisters had remained East; John B. Steele was a practicing lawyer in Otsego County, Osman Steele was Under Sheriff of Delaware County, and Frederick Steele was a cadet at the Military Academy. E. W. returned to Delhi and passed the first winter in the office of his brother Osman. He had attended school in Ohio, where, by hard study, he had become proficient in arithmetic, grammar and other elementary branches constituting a fair education for that period at this age. When fourteen years of age he entered the office of Dr. Steele, who, as was then the custom of many country physicians, also kept a drug store, and E. W. was clerk as well as student. He nominally attended the Delhi Academy, studying in the office, attending to his duties in the drug store, and going to the academy to recite his lessons. In this time he studied Latin under the instruction of General Root, who was for several terms Member of Congress from the Delaware District. Dr. Steele had a partner in the drug store who was a tyrannical and passionate man, with whom the young student could not abide, and after remaining in the office one and a half years he left and resided with his sister, Mrs. Moore, and attended the academy one year. There he finished his studies of algebra, geometry, and surveying, standing at the head of his class, where were a number of proficient scholars striving for the position. Then in his seventeenth year he returned to Ohio, and through the winter of 1847-48 was engaged as school teacher at a salary of $12.00 a month. When the term of teaching was over, he, with his brother George, went to Oberlin, to the college at that place, his father and mother moving to the town to board and care for the young students. He remained at the Oberlin College one year, studying, among other branches, Latin and Greek, having General Cox, afterwards Governor of Ohio, for tutor, and among his classmates was L. N. Sheldon, now Governor of New Mexico.
When the year was past the family returned to the farm, and E. W. again engaged as school teacher through the winter, receiving a salary of $16.00 a month, which was then thought quite munificent.
Closing his school, in the spring of 1850 he took the farms of his father and his brother Isaac to work on shares, and also took a contract for clearing land. At these he worked with all his power and energy, and in the season of his lease, ending in the fall, had cleared $150. He then resumed teaching through the winter, and when spring came entered upon a new enterprise. A system of teaching geography by outline maps had been introduced, and Steele expended the greater part of his capital in the purchase of maps, and went into the southern part of the State to establish and teach the new method. He went to several places and taught evening schools, meeting with poor success, until all his means were exhausted, having but one copper cent in his purse. Then at Centerville he at last got a paying class and was making five dollars each evening, when he was taken with typhoid fever, which nearly cost him his life. Fifteen persons boarding at the same hotel were taken sick at the same time, and all died but two. He was at last taken to his parents’ home but a wreck of his former self. Upon his recovery he again found a school on the shore of Lake Erie. This was attended by young men who were employed as sailors on the lake during summer and attended school during winter. The rough manners of their sailor life they brought with them to the temple of learning. Being accustomed to authority supported by physical force, they thought to override the slight young teacher, and one of the bullies of the school engaged him in pitch battle, in which the teacher came out triumphant, when all acknowledged obedience, and the school became remarkably orderly and successful.
Mr. Steele’s ambition was for a high, classical, and scientific education, and his early years were a struggle under adverse circumstances to obtain the desired object. With the little means accumulated he went to Cleveland, and spent one year at the university. To assist in bearing his expenses he rented a few acres of land in the vicinity, and a room in which he could board himself, and thus, by cultivating his ground, selling the products, and by his economy he was enabled to pass the term. He also attended a singing school, and became so proficient that before leaving Cleveland he was chosen as leader of the choir in the Presbyterian Church. At that time the father’s little farm on the Reserve was heavily encumbered with debt, and E. W. returned to it to aid in its redemption. That being accomplished the desire arose to seek a brighter home in California. Gen. Fred. Steele, then a Captain, had accompanied his old commander, General Riley, the hero of Contreras, to California, at the close of the Mexican War, and had told his brothers, in glowing terms, of the beauties and promises of the golden land, and in 1855 George and his cousin, Rensaelur E. Steele, had migrated thither, leading the way for the family.
In the middle of April, 1856, E. W. Steele, with his father and mother, and Mrs. R. E. Steele and two children, left New York on the steamer George Law for the Isthmus and California. The passage of the Isthmus was most eventful. As the great train of cars, crowded with passengers, neared Panama it was learned that a riot was in progress, and the train must return to Aspinwall. The locomotive could not be changed and the train was backed. In crossing a deep, marshy stream the bridge gave way and several cars plunged beneath the water, with others piled a wreck upon them. Upwards of 200 people were drowned or killed by the accident, and many more injured. The details and extent of this terrible disaster were carefully suppressed by the railroad officials. The car in which were Mr. Steele and family remained on the track and none in it were injured.
The steamer Golden Age brought them to San Francisco on the day of the funeral of James King of Wm., and the passengers, in landing, witnessed the execution of Casey and Cora by the Vigilance Committee. The city was then in the possession of the Vigilance Committee, and defying the State and national authorities. But there was no occasion for the new-comers remaining, as George and R. E. Steele, who had rented a farm near Petaluma, were there to meet them and conduct them to their home.
In June, 1856, E. W. commenced his California career, beginning by taking a contract to cut and bind a field of oats at $2.50 an acre. The work was done with cradles, E. W., in one day, binding eight acres, where the yield was fifty bushels an acre. When harvesting was done he bought five cows, paying for the same $75.00 per head, and commenced making butter. Thus opened the winter of 1857, and in addition to his dairy work he leased some land for farming, and, becoming acquainted with the people of the neighborhood, organized a singing school, which he taught one day each week, and realized from it $40.00 a month, which seemed like showering wealth upon him. During the winter he put in eighty acres of grain and potatoes. George Steele was teaching school in the meantime. In the spring Isaac C. Steele joined the family, and then they purchased of Tustin & Lewis twenty-five head of cows; and extended their dairying business. Tustin & Lewis had been engaged in dairying, and the brand of C. T., being the initials of Columbus Tustin, has been the cattle brand of Steele Bros. ever since. Prosperity had attended their work in California, and the brothers and cousin joined together for work on a larger scale. Isaac and E. W., in company with Lewis, went exploring for land suitable for dairying purposes. They visited Point Reyes, on the ocean coast, and at once Lewis ejaculated, “It is low [cow] Heaven!” They decided to locate. There appeared an abundance of rich bunch grass and clover, with many springs of cold water, and the prevalent fogs gave encouragement of maintaining fresh feed. Some people discouraged the enterprise, saying the cold fogs kept the grass in such a condition that it would support only the lank Spanish cattle, and that butter-making at Point Reyes was utterly out of the question. A man named Richards claimed the land, having derived title through Dr. Randall, the supposed owner of the grant. Richards willingly leased one and a half leagues of the land, granting the privilege of purchase at $3.00 an acre when he obtained a patent, or at a rental of $25.00 a month for the whole. The Steeles then took 125 head of cows of Lewis, giving half the butter or cheese made and one-sixth of the calves when weaned. They then had 155 cows, took possession of their land on the 4th of July, 1857, being the first dairy at Point Reyes, or on the coast of Marin County. Richards lost the land, and therefore the Steeles had no rent to pay for their occupancy. Shafter, Park, and Hydenfeldt, attorneys, became the owners of the land. They would not sell, but granted a lease of eight years on the terms of giving every sixth calf. The Steeles had then increased their number of cows to 355, and maintained three dairies. Butter and cheese were made, the cream being taken for the first and the buttermilk returned to the cheese vats, adding enough value to pay for all the hired help employed. Butter was sold readily at $1.00 a pound, and cheese at twenty-seven cents, the demand for them being greater than they could supply. The wages of dairymen and manufacturers then were the same as at present. One-half the butter and cheese from 125 cows the first year went to Lewis, who received $6,000 for same. At the end of three years the Steeles had paid for all their improvements and had 400 head of cows of their own. In 1859 they bought 125 cows at $26.00 each, and started two dairies independent of the Lewis stock. In 1861 their cows had increased to 600 head, besides some young stock, all their improvements were paid for, and they had $10,000 cash as the result of four years’ dairying.
In 1862 they greatly extended their business by leasing for ten years the Pescadero Rancho of 18,000 acres in San Mateo County, paying a rental of $6,000 and taxes, and having the privilege of purchasing 7,000 acres at six dollars an acre, the rate to increase ten per cent, per annum. This ranch they afterwards bought. Eleven hundred head of cows were bought for the Pescadero at an average of fifteen dollars per head. The cold fogs of the ocean swept over Pescadero, and the same stories were told of its inaptitude for a dairy farm as of Point Reyes, but the Steele’s believed it would prove as much of a cow heaven as the other had. In the first year $18,000 was paid out for improvements, and $17,000 cleared on the cheese made, besides the increase of stock. The Point Reyes dairies were also yielding large profits. The years 1863 and 1864 were the disastrously dry years of California, but there was rain at Pescadero and Point Reyes, and the business of the dairies went on. The products were then in great demand, and the cheese sold as fast as it could be made at twenty-five cents per pound. During this long period, E. W. Steele performed his daily task of milking twenty cows, as did the hired men. He also made cheese, attended to the outside business, and kept the books of the firm, working regularly sixteen hours each day. At that time the State had eleven dairies, including those at Pescadero and Point Reyes, the first paying a net profit of $18,000, and the latter $9,000 per annum.
In 1864, when the War of the Rebellion was at its height, the Steele’s made a monstrous cheese, weighing 3,850 pounds, and presented it to the “Sanitary Commission.” This mammoth cheese was the product of all the dairies of the Pescadero Rancho for two days. A gigantic hoop and press were made for the purpose, and novel appliances were required to handle the great weight and safely transport it to San Francisco, it being over twenty feet in circumference and eighteen inches thick, thoroughly made, and of the richest quality. When at its destination, it was announced as the “Sanitary Cheese,” and placed on exhibition at the Mechanics’ Fair, where it attracted great attention. While there, it was cut up and sold, realizing $3,000 net for the “Sanitary Commission.”
In 1864, Mr. Steele leased his dairies and went East on a visit to his old home, and when the war closed in 1865 took a tour through the Southern States, spending two years in travel. His excessive toil and many cares through his eight years of California life had almost broken him down, and he was compelled to take a rest, but he had made a comfortable fortune, his property bringing him an income of between $5,000 and $6,000 a year.
He returned to California in 1866. Then the lease of the Point Reyes’ property expired, and it was necessary to find new land for the cows.
The drought of 1864 had destroyed the cattle of the southern counties, and the great ranches were reported for sale at low rates. He visited San Luis Obispo, and took a ride over the Corral de Piedra, Pismo, Balsa de Chemissal, and Arroyo Grande Ranches. He at once declared, “This, too, is cow heaven,” and at once decided on the purchase. Forty-five thousand acres were offered him at one dollar and ten cents an acre, and without haggling he bought, or contracted for the purchase, and soon thereafter took possession, the firm of Steele Brothers joining. There was afterwards found a defect in the signature of one of the heirs to the Corral de Piedra, although a complete understanding and payment was proven, but the opportunity was given for a legal sharp to extort money, and suit for the land was commenced. A man from New York was brought in to act as plaintiff for the purpose of getting the case in the United States Courts. Upon trial before the United States District Court, the case was decided in favor of the Steeles, Judge Hoffman delivering a long and able opinion upon it, covering all the points and so plainly showing the correctness and justice of the Steeles’ actions that there appeared no question of the validity of their title. But the case was appealed to the United States Supreme Court where the decision of Judge Hoffman was reversed, and they were compelled to pay others for their property, costing them over $150,000, making the land quite dear. This entailed debts and mortgages at enormous rates of interest, and blocked the prospect for the great fortune they would have otherwise secured.
When Steele came to San Luis Obispo in June, 1866, there were no dairies in the county, and the country was a wilderness. They stocked the ranchos with 600 cows, employed 100 men, and during the first five years expended $20,000 a year in improvements, building fences, dairy houses, etc. As it was necessary to raise feed for their cattle, some of their land was devoted to farming, and so a general extensive business was carried on.
In later years the great ranchos have been divided into small farms and sold, and are now occupied by hundreds of the most thrifty and prosperous farmers of the State. The Steele’s brought to San Luis Obispo $40,000 in money besides their large stock of cattle, and have here continually prospered, but by enterprises in other parts of California have met with losses aggregating near half a million dollars, besides interest on debts incurred in their first unfortunate law suit and other embarrassments. The fertile San Luis Obispo, however, with constant labor, indomitable courage, unyielding energy, and great financial ability, has carried them through their diflrculties and left them with handsome fortunes.
In 1875, E. W. Steele bought the Knight Valley Rancho, including the noted Kellogg watering-place in Sonoma County, having as partners the notorious Stuart, afterwards County Clerk of San Francisco, Elder, Kellogg, and Laird. Entering with the same partners into quicksilver mining in Sonoma and Lake Counties, and intrusting the management to Stuart, he soon became involved and at last settled and retired from the concern with a loss of about $300,000. He also attempted mining for quicksilver in his own county, in company with others, and expended $10,000 without any returns. In many other enterprises in which he has been engaged he has met with success. He was one of the incorporators of the Bank of San Luis Obispo, and for a period was its President, and was also one of the incorporators of the San Luis Obispo Water Company, both of which have proven remunerative and of great benefit to the city and county. He is a prominent member of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, and is a Director of the Grangers Business Association. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Chosen Friends, and of the Knights of Honor. In society he is the most genial and pleasant of men, and his hospitality and generosity are unbounded.
Politically, he is a Republican, and has been invited to become a candidate for the State Senate and Assembly, but his important business has always compelled him to decline. But the business of the county and locality in which he is so much interested demands and receives his attention, and these he has served by acting as Road Overseer and County Supervisor, being at present President of the Board. In public matters he is foremost, and in all questions of public interest always takes a prominent part.
In 1866, he married Miss Julia P. Stanley, of Ohio, daughter of General Stanley, of the United States Army, and sister of Hon. H. Y. Stanley, of Arroyo Grande. The marriage took place at Chattanooga, Tennessee, where General Stanley was then in command. The lady died the following year.
June 24, 1876, he married Miss Emma E. Smith, a lady of culture and refinement. Mrs. Steele was born in Lockport, New York, her father being Pratt Smith, a well-known lumber merchant of western New York and Canada. Her mother’s maiden name was Hopkins, and she was a granddaughter of Stephen Hopkins, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Mrs. Steele received a superior education, graduating at the Buffalo Female Academy, and adopted the profession of teacher. She was invited to the position of teacher in the Santa Barbara College, where she taught with great success until her marriage in 1876. Of her profession and success as teacher she is justly proud, and in the wealth and comfort of her present life, refers to it with pleasure as the evidence of ability, strength of character, and the performance of noble duties. Mr. and Mrs. Steele have one son, Edgar J., born August 26, 1878, a bright and promising boy, and the hope of his happy and worthy parents. Their home is on their grand farm of 2,000 acres of the choice of the Corral de Piedra, and in their pleasant dwelling, surrounded by fruits and flowers, and embowered by lofty trees, they welcome their many friends.
Source: History of San Luis Obispo County, California, 4pp. Transcribed for the CAGenWeb Project by Cathy Portz.
HON. GEORGE STEELE
While before the people as a candidate for the Senate, the following sketch of Judge Steele was published in the San Luis Obispo Tribune, October 6, 1882:—
The Republican nominee for the Senate from this district, Hon. George Steele, is one of the oldest of the American residents of San Luis Obispo County, and one of her best known and most prominent citizens. Judge Steele, as he is familiarly called, was a delegate from this county in the Constitutional Convention, and in a little volume of sketches of the members of that body we find his biography, from which we extract the following: —
Mr. Steele was born May 14, 1825, in the pleasant village of Delhi, Delaware County, New York. His father, Nathaniel Steele, was one of the earliest settlers of that region, a prominent man in the community, and thorough in business. As a pioneer farmer among the hills and valleys where the Delaware River takes its rise he acquired a large property and raised a large family. Osman, John B., Frederick, Isaac, George, William, and Edgar W., were his sons, and Emily and Anna his daughters. Osman was Sheriff of Delaware County in 1845, and was killed while in the performance of his duties. John B. was an eminent lawyer of New York, and served two terms in Congress. Frederick, known in the army and in history as General Fred Steele, was a graduate of the Military Academy, served with distinction through the Mexican War, commanded an army corps in the Southwest during the War of the Rebellion, and died in San Mateo County in 1867 while in command of the Department of the Columbia. He was one of the most efficient, best beloved and distinguished officers of the United States Army. William Steele died when young. The three remaining constitute the well-known farmers and dairymen, Steele Brothers of San Luis Obispo and San Mateo Counties.
The father, by indorsing for others, was overwhelmed in the financial revulsion that followed the suspension of the United States Bank in 1836, and removed to Lorain County, Ohio, again becoming a pioneer. At that time the two elder brothers had established themselves in business. Fred was a cadet at West Point, and the others were ready to work on the new western farm and attend the country schools. George was industrious and studious, acquiring a good education which he utilized by taking the position of teacher in the district schools during winters and working the farm when not thus engaged. Lorain County is in that section of Ohio known as the “Western Reserve,” the early home of Abolitionism and the strong-hold of Republicanism, and one trained there would most assuredly march in the front ranks of the Republican Party. There, too, was the home of industry, thrift, and high principles of manhood and probity. The discovery of gold in California opened a more attractive field, and here George Steele and his cousin, Rensaeleer E. Steele, came in 1855. Their first efforts were in the mines, but after a year of unsuccessful toil with the pick and shovel they sought the fertile valleys of the coast. Locating in Marin County, they were joined by Isaac, E. W., and their father; land and cows were rented and the business of dairying established that has since grown to such great magnitude. The Steeles were among the first to establish the business of dairying in California, and from the beginning have made it a grand success, first in Marin, then in San Mateo, and in San Luis Obispo.
In 1860 George Steele was nominated by the Republicans of Marin for the Assembly, but the time for Republican triumphs had not arrived and a Democrat was elected. Having studied law he was, in 1863, elected Judge of Marin County, which office he held until 1866 when he resigned to join his brothers in the management of the property then purchased in San Luis Obispo, and in this county he has since lived. The droughts of 1863 and 1864 had destroyed the native cattle of the southern part of the State and impoverished their owners. Land was offered for sale at very low rates, and the Steele brothers became the purchasers of several large ranches aggregating about 48,000 acres. Upon this land they brought their large herds of cows from Marin and San Mateo and introduced the business of dairying. Their operations from that date are well known to the people of this district. Some years since these great ranches were divided into small tracts and offered for sale and now are occupied as fertile and productive farms.
In politics Judge Steele has always been a Republican, though never a bitter partisan, a prominent Granger, temperate in his habits, and attentive to business. In 1872 he was nominated for the Senate from this district, and in 1878 was elected to the convention which framed the present Constitution. In the convention he was regarded as one of the ablest and clearest headed members. In 1880 he was the Republican nominee for the Assembly, but was defeated by Hon. P. W. Murphy by 15 votes. Mr. Steele was married in 1868 to Miss Delia Day, of Lorain County, Ohio; a lady of rare attainments and high accomplishments, and their hospitable home on the Rancho Corral de Piedra, is well known to all the people of San Luis Obispo.
Source: History of San Luis Obispo County, California, pp165-166. Transcribed for the CAGenWeb Project by Cathy Portz.
GEORGE STONE
Was a veteran of the war with Mexico and a pioneer of California, born in the State of New York, in 1830, and dying at Cayucos, San Luis Obispo County, April 7, 1882. During his youthful years he was a resident of the State of his birth, and at the breaking out of the war with Mexico, he volunteered, young as he was, in the service of his country, and marched to the battle-field. After serving through the war he came to California, and settled in San Buenaventura in 1849. He soon thereafter went to the mines in Sonora, Tuolumne County, where he remained one year, when he returned to San Buenaventura and took charge of a store for Isaac Callahan. Shortly thereafter Mr. Callahan died, and Mr. Stone removed to Santa Barbara. There he arranged with Capt. Isaac J. Sparks to take his rancho of Arroyo Grande with stock on shares, and moved upon the place and took possession. He then returned to San Buenaventura and married Mrs. Callahan, the widow of his former employer, who survives her husband.
In 1858, Mr. Stone went to Mexico, where he remained two years, returning to California in 1860, much broken in health. After his return to Santa Barbara he received the appointment of Under-Sheriff from Sheriff Dennis, and was subsequently invited by the leading men to stand as candidate for Sheriff. This he declined, as he could not neglect the interests of Captain Sparks on the Arroyo Grande Rancho, to which he returned. That property being in San Luis Obispo County, he was, in 1863, nominated by the Republicans of that county for the office of Sheriff. In this contest he was unsuccessful, as is shown in the chapter devoted to political history in this work. In 1864 culminated the succession of dry years that brought ruin to all the cattle-growers of the southern country. All the stock upon the Arroyo Grande died, and Mr. Stone was left without employment. He then received the appointment of Revenue Assessor for his district, which office he filled to the satisfaction of the Government and people. For many years he was a resident of the county, and during his long life in the State maintained the kind regards and high respect of all who knew him. He died at Cayucos, April 7, 1882, leaving a wife and six grown children. George W. M. Stone, the eldest son of George Stone, upon his father’s death, returned to Cayucos from his temporary residence in Los Angeles, and assumed the management of the Exchange Hotel, which his father had conducted previous to his decease. In this he is at present engaged, with the determination to maintain it as a first-class hotel in every respect.
Source: History of San Luis Obispo County, California, p92. Transcribed for the CAGenWeb Project by Cathy Portz.