Biographies (J-M)

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L. F. JARVIS { Leonard Fitz Edward Jarvis } (p. 379-380)
The subject of this sketch was born in Surrey, Hancock County, Maine, on August 23, 1819. He received his primary education at the common schools of Surrey and Ellsworth and his academic learning at Exeter, N.H. and at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Cumberland County, Maine. He studied law in Bangor, with Judges Hathaway and Shepley, and after being admitted to the Bar practiced his profession at Ellsworth. In 1849, he came round the Horn to this state, landing in San Francisco on April 7, 1850. He first settled at San Jose, thence going to the south fork of the American River, where he was engaged in mining. He came to this county in 1851 and took up a residence at Columbia and soon after moved to the place where he now lives, giving it the name of Vine Springs. Mr. Jarvis has sixty acres of land planted with grape vines and an orchard of the same size. He has an excellent wine cellar and all the necessary appliances for making fine wines. Near his house are two large springs, the water of which is conducted by means of a hydraulic ram to the house and by ditches to the wine cellar and other parts of the farm. Mr. Jarvis married Mary A. Robinson (now deceased), a native of Ellsworth, Maine. Mr. Jarvis has in his possession a number of rare and invaluable heirlooms, the large and richly chased silver tankard presented to Sir William Pepperrell by the mayor of the city of London after the capture of Louisburg, also a large and beautiful silver candlestick belonging to Sir William, and in his parlor hangs a life-size portrait of St. Paul by one of the masters, which though nearly 250 years old, is in perfect preservation and appears almost to start from the canvas.

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JOHN JOLLY (p. 352)
This old settler is a native of the city of York, the seat of Yorkshire, England, and was born June 13, 1823. He immigrated to the United States, sailing from Liverpool April 1849 in the ship “Ajax”, Captain Adams, commander, as the second ship to leave England for the California gold fields. On arriving in California, he mined on Woods’ Creek and in April 1850 moved to his present place of residence at Gold Springs. Mr. Jolly was one of a company of ten who went to dam and mine the Stanislaus River at the junction of the South Fork and main river, but the high water swept away the dam and, nearly penniless, he, in company with a friend, went to mining at Gold Springs. A company commenced to mine on the ranch where Mr. Jolly now lives and by dint of persuasion, induced him and his partner to join them and assist to build a ditch and to appropriate the water from Gold Springs to their mines in Sandy Gulch. A large cabin was erected where Mr. Jolly’s house now stands and it was known in the early days as the “Fort”. Mr. Jolly has bought out all other interests in the land and water rights and is now the sole owner. He married on the 4th of April 1857 Amelia Moore, who was born in New York City Feb. 20, 1835. Their children are Amelia, Hattie, Emma, Laura, John, Eleanor and Carrie.

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J. M. JONES { James McHall Jones } (p. 401)
A celebrated lawyer of New Orleans, came here early and was a delegate to the Monterey Convention with Ben Moore and others in 1849. Died in San Jose in 1851, while Judge of the United States District Court. {Jones was a native of Georgetown, Kentucky, born 31 Dec 1823 and died 15 Dec 1851}

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JOHN P. JONES (p. 396)
Concerning Nevada’s millionaire Senator and the friend of President Arthur, Tuolumne knows a great deal. Living here in the "fifties”, he figured in the celebrated mock trial of Barnes vs. Stuart, concerning ownership of a ranch. Otis Greenwood was Judge. The verdict of the jury, filling a dozen sheets of foolscap, gave Stuart three feet of the surface and to Barnes the “remainder, to the center of the earth”.

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J. W. KEITH { John Wilson Keith } (p. 369)
This gentleman, who was born in Waldo County, on the sea coast of the State of Maine, is now located pleasantly on his ranch two miles above Jacksonville. The principal acts of his life are narrated by himself as follows: Born on the 9th of June 1824, at the age of eighteen he went to Lowell, Massachusetts, and there learning the trade of machinist, worked at it until 1851, when the desire for travel came upon him, and packing up, he sought the land of gold. His first mining ventures were made at Jacksonville, then an exceedingly lively camp, whose fortunes he followed through thick and thin for ten years. Since that time he has held the office of Tax Collector, about five years; going in 1866 on to his present location. Five years later he sold out, but again in 1877 re-purchased the place and has resided there since. Married to Miss Jane Gamble in 1863, he has six children: H. W., A. G., Charles P., Hattie J., Ben F. and John E.

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PATRICK KELLY (p. 402)
Was born in Ireland on the 25th day of August 1849. He came to this state from his native country in 1867 and settled at Columbia in this county. Here he formed a partnership with his brother in the livery business. He settled at Sonora in 1871 and in 1874 purchased an interest in the Pioneer Livery Stables and has been one of its proprietors to the present time. Mr. Kelly married Miss Mary Riordan.

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HENRY KEPHART (p. 336-337)
Mr. Kephart began this life in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, on the twenty-fifth of August 1821. He was brought up to habits of industry and application, being set to learn the trade of forgeman - a trade which he followed in various parts of his native state until 1848, when he went to Iowa and from there to Indiana; there working at his trade until the breaking out of the ‘‘Gold Fever”, when in the spring of ‘50, he started for the Pacific Coast across the plains, arriving in Georgetown, El Dorado County. Travelling through the different mining districts until the fall of ‘51, he then settled at Shaw’s Flat, there to follow placer digging for three years, at the end of which time he removed to Campbell’s Flat and from there to Blanket Creek and a year later to Turnback Creek, where he has since remained, pursuing the occupation of a miner, with the exception of short periods in other localities.

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JOHN KING (p. 359-360)
Was born in the Parish of St. Clair, Canada, on June 25, 1831. When thirteen years old be moved to Caledonia County, Vermont. Here he was raised on a farm and continued to reside till he came to this state via Panama, landing at San Francisco on the 14th of November 1851. He came direct to this county and settled at Poverty Hill, where he was engaged as a miner during the winter months and followed teaming in the summer until 1856, when he came to Columbia and mined at Gold Hill. In the spring of 1860 he bought and moved on his ranch at Columbia, where he has since continuously resided, except while in the United States service. The products of his farm are fruits. In 1861 Mr. King enlisted in the Second California Cavalry and was in the service for three years, being honorably discharged in October 1864. He married Mrs. Sarah Clow, a native of Canada. Lillie Florence is the name of their only child.

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DR. R. M. LAMPSON { Royal Mills Lampson } (p. 339-340)
The subject of this sketch was born in South Hero, Grand Isle County, Vermont, December 28, 1832. He was prepared for College at the Castleton Academy and grew up to manhood among the green hills of that noble little state. In 1852 he embarked on the ship “Race Hound”, which coming round the Horn brought him in safety to the El Dorado, then so prominent in the world’s eyes. Going to Long’s Bar on Yuba River, he made his initial experiments in mining. A few months later he was settled at Montezuma, there to wield the miner’s pick and shovel for the next five years. Bidding farewell then to mining, he entered his present occupation, medicine, with constant success, being now, as for many years past, one of the ablest practitioners in all the adjacent country; his services being sought far and near. The gentleman’s talents have also commanded respect in other directions, notably politics. Elected State Senator, he has twice represented the county in that capacity and in the Senate, as well as in the late Constitutional Convention, his abilities and his principles have alike commended him to the admiration and confidence of his constituents. Married in Stockton to Mrs. S. F. Graves, the couple has two children, Misses Alice and Lily.

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J. B. LATIMER { James Butler Latimer } (p. 353-354)
From the “Wooden Nutmeg State”, Mr. Latimer hails, dating his birth from the 30th day of September, 1818, and claiming New London County as his home. Emigrating from Connecticut to the State of New York, he settled in Suffolk County when he was twenty-one and followed farming as an occupation for five years, returning to his old home in Connecticut at the end of that time. In 1849, getting a severe attack of the gold fever, he joined a company of twenty adventurous spirits, who, clubbing resources, bought a schooner called the “Alfred”, and boldly set sail for San Francisco and, contrary to probability, came in safety, passing through the Straits of Magellan. Arriving in the new metropolis of the coast, Mr. Latimer’s first venture was in hotel-keeping, but unfortunately the fire of ’52swept away his all and proceeding then to Chili Camp, he there mined for a short time and afterwards opened a store in company with F. Bryant. His next venture, taking place in the fall of 1852, was the establishment of a sawmill on the site of his present property near Sonora, which, however, proved but of temporary value, as all the timber was speedily cut down. Mr. Latimer now possesses a tract of three hundred and twenty acres, mostly under cultivation.

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DAVID LEVY (p. 381-382)
The subject of this sketch was born in Prussia, Germany, on June 22, 1843. The same year his parents came to the United States, first settling in New York City, thence going to Sabine Parish, Louisana, but afterward returned to New York. From this place the family came to this state via the Isthmus, landing in San Francisco in the fall of 1852. Joel Levy, the father of David, had previously paid California a visit in 1850 and returned East, then bringing out his family as above stated. After a few weeks’ stay in San Francisco they moved to Sonora, where the father engaged in mercantile pursuits. In the fire of 1854, Mr. Levy’s business house was burned and he moved with his family to Columbia. Here this old pioneer and respected citizen of Tuolumne County lived until March 9, 1881, when he went to reside with two of his sons in Australia and where he died on the 10th of November 1881. David Levy, the subject under special consideration, was taught in commercial affairs and in 1867 began business on his own account in Columbia. This he followed until 1869, when he sold out and went to Australia to visit his brothers, returning in 1872. Since that time Mr. Levy has discovered the Tuolumne, Magnolia, and Ribbon Rock mines on the Stanislaus River and he is confident that these locations rank among the foremost in the county. Since March 1, 1882, Mr. Levy has been a resident of Sonora.

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LOUIS LEVY (p. 336)
The subject of this sketch is a native of Sabine Parish, Louisiana, and was born on July 4, 1849. In 1852, his parents immigrated to this state via the Isthmus and settled at Sonora. In 1853, they located at Columbia, where Louis was taught the common branches of learning at the public schools and finished his education at a private school in San Francisco. After completing his education, he returned to Columbia, went into business with his father, and after a lapse of years he opened a store of general merchandise on his own account and has since pursued that occupation. On January 15, 1877, he was appointed Postmaster at Columbia, which position he held until October 1, 1881, when he moved to Sonora, where he now resides, now occupying the chair of Chief Councilor of the Order of Chosen Friends and is also Chief Patriarch of Bald Mountain Encampment, I.O.O.F. Mr. Levy married Nellie Kohler on August 23, 1880. She is a native of New Zealand, but of English parentage.

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C. LOMBARDO { Constantino Lombardo } (p. 328-329)
Captain Lombardo, one of the prominent quartz miners of this county and the owner of the “Louisiana Mine” and of other valuable mining properties nearby, was born in Italy. Going at an early age to South America, he continued his travels to California, arriving in 1849. Adopting mining as a pursuit, the Captain, then as now prominent among his fellow countrymen in this land, after three years passed as a storekeeper in Jamestown and Sonora, in 1852 entered successfully into ‘‘pocket” mining in Bald Mountain. After two years of this work he removed to Cherokee, in which vicinity he has since remained, giving himself up almost wholly to quartz mining, in which his success has been marked. One of his properties, the “Louisiana”, above mentioned, is regarded as of very great value and is well-improved, having on it a first-rate hoisting works as well as an eight-stamp mill, all driven by hydraulic power.

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REV. MR. LONG (p. 394)
It was he who broke open the barricade which a creditor - Mayor Patrick - had placed before the entrance to his church and afterwards withdrew from his charge because the superintendent of his Sabbath School, the bell-ringer, the senior deacon, and other high dignitaries of his church would play pedro, drink whisky, and attend bull fights on Sundays.

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William G. LongHON. WILLIAM G. LONG (p. 375-376)
This respected citizen of Tuolumne, whose portrait appears herein, was born in Rockland, Knox County, Maine, April 19, 1831. At the early age of nine years, he left home and went to sea. Step by step he rose from a cabin boy to the position of master of a vessel. This position he was filling when he sailed to California, letting go the anchor in the bay of San Francisco in the fall of 1850. He at once came to this county, bought a three-eighths interest in the Campo Seco Water Company and located at Woods’ Crossing. This business he followed during the years ‘51-2, then going to mining at Campo Seco and at Humbug Hill. At the latter place Mr. Long operated the first hydraulic mine in the county in the years 1856-7. In 1850, he returned to his native home and there married Jennie Linekin, bringing her to Sonora. He ran for Sherriff of this county, but was defeated by John Bourland. During the winter of 1872-3, he represented Tuolumne, Mono and Inyo Counties in the lower house of the Legislature and in 1875-6, he was appointed Revenue Collector. He once owned and opened the “Golden Gate” mine and has been identified with several large mines and mining interests in this county. Although Mr. Long’s family resides at Hayward, California, he claims Sonora as his home and has done so since his coming in 1850. The names of his children are Willietta, Charles S., Percy, Robert, Jennie and Willie.

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THEODORE LOPEZ (p. 371)
This gentleman, one of the oldest settlers of Tuolumne County and this state, was born in Newport, Rhode Island, on Jan. 13, 1814. In early life he took up his residence in New York City and on September 26, 1846, he sailed for this coast as a soldier in Stevenson’s Regiment. He arrived at San Francisco on March 5, 1847, thence going to Santa Barbara, where he remained until discharged September 28, 1848. From Santa Barbara he proceeded to Weaver Creek, thence to San Francisco, and came to this county March 10, 1849. He located at Jamestown, where he remained, and was engaged in mining until May 1849, when he went to Stockton, but soon returning, he settled in Sonora in March 1850, where he has since resided.

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E. G. LYONS { Ernest G. Lyons } (Appendix p. 3)
Was born in Paris, France, July 29, 1834 and came to California in 1852. Landing at San Francisco, he went to Tuolumne County, associating himself with his father, Hugues Lyons, in general merchandising. In 1864 he removed to San Francisco, selecting the wine trade for his vocation and is identified as a prominent merchant in that city.

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J. W. McCARTHY { John Willard McCarthy } (p. 418)
The subject of this sketch was born in Columbia on May 5, 1853. He resided here till 1870, when he moved to Stanislaus. He was elected Minute Clerk of the Assembly in 1875 and 1877 and was elected County Clerk in 1877 and was his own successor for three terms. He is still County Clerk and a nominee of the Democratic Convention for Clerk of the Supreme Court of the State. His brother, C. F. McCarthy { Charles F. McCarthy }, is now the nominee to succeed him as County Clerk. He is not married.

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CALVIN B. McDONALD (p. 399)
Of Scotch descent, a newspaper writer of considerable ability, and of great, though misdirected, energy, had once in him the promise of a leading man. He has been connected as editorial writer with many of the secondary newspapers of California and Oregon and also lectures some, indifferently well; was in Sonora during war times, doing work for the American Flag, whose radical principles just suited him.

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ROBERT McGARVEY (p. 398)
A ‘49er, was Chairman of the first Board of Supervisors. He married Miss Charlotte L. Davis in 1854. With his cultivated and refined family he resides at Ukiah, Mendocino County, where he holds the office of Superior Judge.

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H. B. McNEIL and C. C. BROWN { Henry Bascom McNeil and Charles Carroll Brown } (p. 384)
Who practiced law here, are still remembered as intelligent and respected members of the Bar. The latter, after a successful career, died in Sonora on the 8th of March 1868. The former, after serving County Judge, succeeding Hon. Chas. Randall, removed to San Francisco, where he now resides.

H. B. McNEIL { Henry Bascom McNeil } (p. 412)
Previously referred to, furnishes these additional facts in regard to his interesting career: He was born in Oxford, New York, April 4, 1820. In 1849 he went to California via Cape Horn on the brig “Mary Tucker”, arriving in San Francisco on July 6. Stopping but a short time at San Francisco, he proceeded to Tuolumne County and mined for a while on Sullivan’s Creek. In 1850, he went to the Sandwich Islands for a period of four months. Returning to California, Mr. McNeill made two trips to Panama and in 1852 again went to Tuolumne County, there receiving the position of Deputy under County Clerk W. H. Ford. Having been admitted to the Bar before coming west, he commenced practicing law at Sonora in the winter of 1852, which he continued until 1872. In 1871 Mr. McNeill was elected County Judge, taking his seat in 1872, remaining the on the bench four years and resuming practice in 1876. He resided in Tuolumne County two years longer, from there going to San Francisco to enter the Revenue Service, in which capacity he still continues.

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FORBES McPHERSON (p. 350)
This old pioneer of Tuolumne County was born in Scotland October 11, 1822. When about one year old, his parents immigrated to the United States and settled in Genesee County, New York, where their son was raised and educated and where he maintained a permanent residence until he came to this state via Panama, landing in San Francisco on January 1, 1852. He came to this county the following February and settled at Sonora, where he mined and worked at his trade of carpenter and joiner. In 1853, he took up a residence at Sawmill Flat and, during his entire residence there, his occupation was that of a miner. In Jun 1876, he moved to Columbia and in company with Mr. Hilton opened a grocery store on Jackson Street, where they have since been doing business. Married Matilda Parsons, who is a native of Genesee County, State of new York.

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G. W. McPHERSON { George Wayman McPherson } (Appendix p. 8)
Was born in Merced County on October 25, 1858, but shortly after his birth was taken to Tuolumne County and lived in the neighborhood of Table Mountain until his ninth year. He then moved to Snellings, Merced County, where he received most of his education. After six years' residence in the latter place he went to Yosemite Valley, acting as guide for visitors until 1876, when he removed to San Francisco, engaging in mercantile pursuits and is at the present time in the manufacturing business in that city at No. 608 Market Street. Mr. McPherson is one of the trustees of the Tuolumne Reunion Association.

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THE MACOMBER BROTHERS { George Addison Macomber - Frederick Soper Macomber - Henry Shepherd Macomber } (p. 414-415)
These old settlers and well-known residents of this county are natives of Utica, New York. The elder, George Macomber, was instructed in mercantile pursuits at several of the prominent business houses in New York City and since that time has been engaged in business in St. Louis and New Orleans. The three brothers came to California in 1850, crossing the plains, a part of the journey having been made in company with Holliday’s, Dr. Knox’s and Crow’s trains. They settled at Stockton, where they were in business for a time, then removing to the mines, where they commenced mining for gold at Angel’s Camp, Jamestown and Shaw’s Flat. George and Frederick Macomber were also among the first engaged in using the hydraulic on their mines in Amador County, where they worked off and on for twelve years, finally permanently settling at Sonora, where they have since lived. These gentlemen were in company with Mr. Brown in the ownership of the well-known “Big Table Mountain Lead”, which at one time paid as high as $16 to the single pan of earth and 100 ounces of gold per day. They also owned in the “Mexican Claim”, purchased of May, Solomon and Antonio in Tennessee Gulch. The ground was yellow gravel, but, notwithstanding this fact, paid at times from $5 to $50 to the pan and some pieces valued at $800. George and Frederick Macomber are now located in the north part of Sonora, where their pickle, cider and vinegar works are established, producing the finest quality of champagne cider, pickles and cider vinegar on the Pacific Coast and shipping largely throughout the Pacific States and Territories.

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J. W. MAJOR { Joseph William Major } (p. 318)
East Tennessee is the land of Mr. Major’s nativity, he having been born there on the 3rd of May 1832. Coming across the plains by the northern route in 1853, he first busied himself for a period of eighteen months in farming on Dry Creek, in the San Joaquin Valley. The next year was spent near Folsom, when, organizing a cattle train, he proceeded then to Stockton via Sonora, remaining in the neighborhood of Stockton until 1857, coming at that time to Tuolumne and purchasing his present property near Sonora, where he has since resided, with the exception of three years spent in running the mill at the “Ferguson” mine in Mariposa county. Mr. Major possesses about four hundred and eighty acres of land. He was married to Miss H. Ferguson in March 1865.

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WILLIAM MANSFIELD (p. 349-350)
Mr. Mansfield was born in Providence County, Rhode Island, on November 3, 1829. He left his native state and sailed from New York City on the steamer “Ohio” in December 1851, coming via the Isthmus of Panama and landing in San Francisco from the “Golden Gate”, in January 1852, his brother Jared Mansfield and other friends coming with him from Rhode Island. Mr. Mansfield came direct to Sonora, but only remained a short time, finally settling at Campo Seco, where he was engaged in mining. In June 1852, he moved to Columbia, bought an interest in the Tuolumne County Water Company, and was appointed one of the collectors for the company and has held the position for twenty-six years. He married S. A. Bert, a native of Providence, Rhode Island, and who was born June 3, 1838. Anna A., William B., Lillie P., Mary E. and Fannie Rebecca are the names of their children.

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Edward C. MarshallHONORABLE EDWARD C. MARSHALL (Appendix p. 36-38)
In a previous part of this work reference has been made to a speech delivered in Sonora in early days by Captain E. C. Marshall, which had the effect, it is said, of inclining the County of Tuolumne to the side of the Democracy rather than to that of the Whigs. Men who heard that speech and who were conversant with the acts of the speaker, knowing of his penetrating intellect, ready and forcible delivery, and rapid and incisive thought, could have prophesied, as many did, a future career which should stamp the author as a man of no common merit and importance. The promise given in Sonora in early times has been fulfilled. The court of justice, the halls of legislation, and the political arena have heard the telling eloquence of that voice and scarcely a single inhabitant of this region has heard the name and knows somewhat of the reputation of Hon. E. C. Marshall.

This distinguished gentleman is of the celebrated Marshalls of Kentucky, a family that has produced many persons of eminence; his brother, Tom Marshall, being of national reputation. General Humphrey Marshall is another name of celebrity which pertains to this family. The subject of this memoir was born in Woodford, Kentucky, in June 1821. Attending Centre College for a time, he afterwards graduated from Transylvania University at Lexington. At the former institution he met the afterwards celebrated statesman and soldier, John C. Breckinridge, with whom he participated in the Mexican War, taking part in all the battles in which General Scott’s command engaged subsequent to the capture of Vera Cruz.

Arriving in California in 1849, via New Mexico and Arizona, he reached San Francisco in November, where he remained until May of the following year, when he proceeded to Sonora, there settling amid engaging in the practice of his profession of the law. Captain Marshall at once took the prominent position to which his abilities entitled him and turning his attention to politics was elected to Congress in the year 1851. This office he filled with the most marked ability; returning at the end of his term to enter upon the practice of the law at Marysville. In 1856, Mr. Marshall became a candidate for the position of United States Senator, but not being successful in the canvass he removed to Kentucky and, eschewing politics, devoted himself to legal pursuits. For twenty-one years he pursued his chosen calling with the greatest success, demonstrating upon occasion those rare oratorical abilities which have given him so much prominence. Even a slight allusion to each of those occasions when his voice has been eloquently raised at the bar, or in the presence of enlightened and applauding audiences, would consume more space than can here be spared. It is enough to say that even among the favored orators of his native state, there is no one who stands his superior in the art of convincing and logical oratory.

Proceeding with this brief epitome of the gentleman's brilliant career, we note his return to California in 1877 and his transference to the bar of San Francisco of those qualities which had made his previous fame. Since his return to this coast, he has taken high rank among the numerous gifted legal minds of that city and has on many occasions asserted the supremacy of his ripe intelligence as attorney in some of the most important cases ever brought to trial in California. As counsel for the People in the Kalloch-DeYoung homicide and in the contest of the Mint investigation, where Mr. Marshall acted as attorney for General LaGrange, his merits show forth conspicuous. So well have the particular merits of the gentleman been recognized, that he became the nominee of the Democratic party for the elevated and responsible office of Attorney General of the State of California at the convention held in San Jose in June 1882.

Mr. Marshall’s domestic relations have been singularly felicitous. Marrying in November 1852 Miss Josephine Chalfant of Cincinnati, Ohio, a reigning belle of the west, his household now contains the wedded pair, together with three children: Louis, Fayette and Eleanor.

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Solomon "Sol" Miles MillerSOL MILLER { Solomon Miles Miller } (Appendix p. 4-6)
Mr. Miller, whose portrait appears herein and who is extensively known throughout the greater part of the Pacific States as a most energetic and successful commercial traveler, was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania in August 1829. Leaving his ancestral acres in early life, when the “gold fever” took so many westward, he too sought these shores, coming to Panama, thence traveling down the South American coast to Peru, from whence he came to San Francisco in the early spring of 1849. Going immediately to the mines, he worked for a time at Jacksonville on the Tuolumne River. A short time spent there, he returned to San Francisco, then proceeded, in the fall of the same year, to Angel’s Camp, in Calaveras County, subsequently going to Vallecito, where he had the good fortune to “strike it rich” and again returned to San Francisco and engaged in business with P. K. Aurand, their house being on Washington Street, San Francisco, but misfortune overtook them and they were burned out on May 6, 1850. After this calamity, the two partners proceeded to Tuolumne County, where they settled, establishing themselves in mercantile business at a place to which they gave the name of Montezuma House, the name of which has remained attached to the important mining camp which subsequently grew up nearby.

On Saturday, June 29, 1850, the following occurrence took place, which has marked an epoch in Mr. Miller’s life: On the evening of the above date three Mexicans, customers, came in and purchased goods, for which they tendered payment. While in the act of receiving the money, Mr. Miller was stabbed by a weapon which one of them drew from beneath his serape. Three wounds were inflicted upon him; one, the principal, being through his body from side to side, penetrating both lungs, another in the back of the neck, and the third in the arm. The victim fell and became insensible, so remaining until, awaking in the darkness, he found his partner near him, who said, "Sol, I am stabbed. Are you alive?” And they lay until midnight, spending their time in giving each other explicit directions as to the disposal of their effects in case that one recovered. Dying then, this brave partner’s last words were a query as to the other’s sufferings. On the following morning help arrived and the survivor was taken to the hospitable house of Judge Robert McGarvey at Oak Springs, where he remained until his recovery, his kind host assuming charge of the property of the two men, which was delivered uninjured to Mr. Miller. The outrage was committed for purposes of robbery, but the desperadoes realized but three hundred dollars for their infamous crime, because their victims had taken the precaution to hide the remainder of their money, amounting to seven thousand dollars, in a bread barrel, where it was undiscovered by the Mexicans and was delivered over to the survivor. After an inquest, held by H. P. Barber, Esq., the remains of the partner were buried where he fell and for more than thirty years the spot where he rests has been kept green and suitably marked by headboard and fence, the one living testifying to the good qualities of the dead who perished on that fearful night.

Since then Mr. Miller’s life has been taken up almost entirely by business affairs. In 1850 he formed a partnership with "Count" Solinsky, which existed until the establishment of Adams’ Express Company, when they became agents for the latter firm at Chinese Camp, Big Oak Flat, Montezuma, Don Pedro’s Bar and Coulterville. On the failure of their employers, they became agents for the Pacific Express and afterwards for Wells, Fargo & Co. Messrs. Miller & Solinsky remained together until 1870, when the former became Tax Collector for two terms, then Under Sheriff during the shrievalty of James Trout. In 1871 Mr. Miller left Tuolumne and went to Stockton, where he conducted a branch of the business house of Messrs. Spruance, Stanley & Co., removing in 1875 to San Francisco. He has since been acting as Solicitor for the last named firm and has achieved a wide celebrity in his business.

The gentleman married Miss Roxie A. Searl in January 1857, who died in July 1860. By her there is a daughter, Miss Agnes A. Miller. In 1863 he was again married, this time to Miss Hattie N. Humphries. The issue of the second marriage is also a daughter, Lulu, who is now twelve years of age. The family now resides in Oakland.

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JAMES MILLS (p. 402)
Banker at Columbia, member of the firm of James Mills & Co., was a very estimable gentleman. Died at Sing Sing, New York March 18, 1854, aged thirty-seven years.

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S. B. MINOR { Simon Bolivar Minor } (Appendix p. 7)
Was born in Riga, New York, June 19, 1825. At the age of 20 Mr. Minor went to Michigan, in which state he caught the "California fever”, thither migrating and arriving in San Francisco via the Isthmus on March 1, 1852. Proceeding to El Dorado County, he there passed the winter of 1852, settling at Mud Springs in the spring of 1853, where he remained until 1855. Concluding to try his fortunes in Tuolumne County, Mr. Minor went to Jamestown and engaged in mining in the “Georgia Claims”. In 1864 he left the mines to accept a position at San Quentin, under Lieutenant Governor T. N. Machin, then warden at the state prison. However, in 1866, he moved to San Francisco, being employed by the railway companies and in 1870 went into the liquor business, being at the present time still in that line, his place of business being No 13. Third Street.

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PRENTICE MULFORD (Appendix p. 19-31)
Mr. Mulford writes as follows:

“You ask me for my biography. I could write you a much more interesting biography, were it not to be published until after I am dead. I should not like to face my own truthful biography. Very few really truthful biographies are ever written. What men write of themselves, or have written for them, is generally a veneer over the hideous truth. It is a respectable, conventional dummy, stuffed with skillful evasions, if not with downright lies, that is furnished for the edification of the public. It is sad to think of such biographies which cumber our histories, our village libraries, and even our Sunday schools. Out of consideration, then, for the public weal, and out of deference to public opinion, I am compelled to suppress much that might be of absorbing interest in my truthful biography and send you only these, the mutilated remains.”

“I was born in Sag Harbor, on the east end of Long Island, State of New York, April 5th, A. D. 1834. I was not born exactly as I would like to have been and could I have been previously consulted might have suggested several alterations and improvements, especially as regards tastes, temper, temperament and facial conformation. However, I am thankful I was born a man, or at least a boy.”

“At the age of 21 I shipped as a boy on the clipper “Wizard”, bound from New York for San Francisco, and thence to China. Before that I had tried several callings and failed in all. My father dying when I was 16, I, the only son, became substantially landlord of the hotel which he kept. I ran this establishment into bankruptcy in four years. Then I essayed an education as a teacher, at the State Normal School, and sickened of that after six months’ experience. I clerked in New York City for a year and was discharged for general incapacity. Then I went “Out West” into an Illinois land office, where a course of fever and ague discharged me. Returning East, I concluded that as the land would not hold me, I would try the sea. Hence the “Wizard”. The sea would not accept me. On arriving in San Francisco, the captain called me into his cabin, informed me that I was not “cut out” for a sailor, paid me my wages, and sent me ashore to cumber the ground of California. I counted eggs a few months for a living in the warehouse of the Farallone Egg Company and then shipped as cook on a whaling schooner bound for the lagoons of the coast of Southern California. I could cook a very little and I could not cook a great deal. The result was that the twenty men composing the officers and crew of the schooner fared hard for the first three months on very hard fare. Culinarily, I was not a Blot, but rather a blot on a noble profession. At the expiration of three months, I had become so far versed in my calling that the usual profanity on account of “spoiled grub” attendant on every meal was lessened one-half and before the voyage was up some entire meals were eaten without a curse invoked on my head. The voyage lasted a year. My share of the proceeds amounted to $250, which I put in circulation, on landing, as quickly as possible. Then I went to the mines.”

“I was landed in Tuolumne County with $18 in my pocket and a sailor’s bag of clothing, which, among other things, contained seven vests. It is a truth that unless a man allows his clothes to wear out equally, his vests will always inconveniently accumulate. A single vest will outlive five pairs of pantaloons. My first service to the community in Tuolumne was rendered at the Golden Ranch, a locality three miles from Don Pedro’s Bar and three from Hawkins’, where the life was knocked out of Mexican cows a year old, called calves, and other septuagenarian, long-horned cattle, whose flesh was termed beef. For a few weeks I peddled this beef to the miners of Tuolumne. One day the horse ran away and discharged the entire freight of beef in the panniers on the golden sands of California. I picked the steaks up as they fell, stacked them in piles on the road, caught the horse, reloaded him, led him to the muddy river, washed the beef, and left it, per custom, at the miners’ cabins. Next day I was discharged. Then I served a short time at the grocery and boarding-house of my esteemed friend, Robert E. Gardiner, at Hawkins’ Bar. After allowing another horse, packed with provisions for a mining company, to get away from me and wreck the entire load I sought other fields of labor. I worked a bank or surface mining claim for two years at Swett’s Bar. It did not pay regularly, perhaps owing to my own irregularities. In 1860 I left this claim and attempted the education of the turbulent youth of Jamestown.”

“I went to Jamestown full of good intentions, but was unable to carry them out; Jamestown at that time held too many “good fellows”. They were recreative, entertaining, genial and congenial, abounding in character, individuality, eccentricity, wit, humor, and a keen sense of the ludicrous. Ten of the Jamestown men of those days were equivalent to a hundred ordinary mortals. I must mention among these J. Y. Dixon, the Postmaster and Express Agent, a Louisianian, well-educated and who appreciated and enjoyed unwritten volumes attendant on the exhibition of the strange medley of character about him; Dr. Dodge, a gifted man, whose wit and humor inclined to the satanic order; the Sutton brothers – Virginians - who could fiddle or shoot with equal skill; Horace Jones, poor fellow, killed by a cave in Table Mountain Tunnel, who would come to camp and remain sometimes a fortnight lest he should “lose a point”; Charley Keefe, saloonkeeper and constable, who had a broad smile for everybody; Jacob Snyder, “The Count”, who was reputed to have spoken tolerable English when he first settled in Jamestown, but became more unintelligible every year; S. B. Minor, an expert in drollery and practical joking, who, as pure and simple good company, Dixon used to say, was worth one hundred dollars a month to any one able to afford him; William Lancaster, an original of the originals and a standing contradiction to all the laws laid down by the advocates of cold water as a means of health; Charles Carroll Brown, a gifted son of Maryland, afterwards District Attorney, a born orator, a brilliant writer, and always full of original and eccentric conception and humor; Baxter, a companionable man, afterwards stabbed to death in the old Sonora Placer Hotel; A. B. Preston, Justice of the Peace, mine owner and speculator; James Lunt, Jailer under Jim Stuart, a whole-souled fellow; James Stuart, himself former Sheriff of the county, who, coming to Jamestown to escape the pressure of political cares consequent on a residence in Sonora, built for himself a cottage where everybody went who could not get accommodated at the Jamestown hotels and where three often slept in James Stuart’s wide French bed while the host took to the floor; Elton Baker, druggist, a gentleman and man of refined sensibility and taste. Such was the “crowd”, or rather its nucleus, at Jamestown. There were at times accessions from outlying camps, but the names I mention above were its pillars, its salt. Combined, theirs was an intellectual menagerie. Their acts, their sayings, and their history, would, if properly chronicled, make a notable book. It needs a Dickens or Thackaray to bestow them in the proper setting.”

“After teaching in the District School at Jamestown I resigned, probably just in time to avoid being discharged by the Trustees. The trouble was not that I was too fond of conviviality, but I had then sufficient control over myself in the use of the only element then extant in Jamestown to put things on a convivial footing. However, all this was indirectly a good thing. Living more correctly, I might have retained the favor of the Trustees and so have lived and died teaching school. I am sure that all things taken together work for our good. Ceasing to be a pedagogue, I again became a miner and again betook myself to the banks of the Tuolumne. Bank diggings had then not quite given out. I made from six bits to a dollar per day. About this time, owing to the success of the copper mines at Copperopolis, a copper fever broke out in Tuolumne. I took it. I became very quickly a copper “expert”. I discovered any number of copper mines, ranging from Don Pedro’s Bar to Sonora. They were valuable mines - to sell. This copper fever and my few discoveries, whose value was based far more on anticipation than reality, fired me with a grand scheme. I organized a company to take up all the ground showing indications of copper that we could hold. “Indications” meant a green or blue stain on the outcropping ledge, or the presence of the sulphuret, carbonates or oxides of copper, no matter how minute in quantity. “Holding ground” meant the pretense of a one day’s work per month performed on a claim. I calculated that I could in this way “keep up” and hold sixty claims per month and still have time left to prospect for more. The company was organized at Bob Love’s store in Montezuma. I wrote the constitution and by-laws. I fitted the company out on paper with a president, a secretary, a treasurer and a board of directors, and also with a “prospector”. I was the prospector. The prospector was really the company. The prospector did all the work, discovered all the claims, kept them up, collected all the monthly assessments I could from some thirty members, living over an area of territory larger than the State of Connecticut, and officiated per proxy as president, treasurer, secretary and board of directors. I took up and kept up copper and silver mines all the way from Coultersville on one side, the Rock River Ranch on another, up to the Sierra summits, east of Sonora.”

"The active working force of the company consisted of a very poor horse, a very poor dog and very inferior shotgun, whose energies were largely expended at the breech in kicking me when I fired, a frying-pan, a coffee-pot, a small stock of provisions and a pair of blankets. I obtained the loan of the horse for six months in exchange for company stock. I believe the saddle was furnished for a similar consideration. Tempted, indeed I may say almost forced by circumstances, I imitated greater corporations and sometimes added a few drops of water to fertilize the company’s stock. Transient board for myself and animal I sometimes, with some difficulty, managed to settle in this way. It was at times Hobson’s choice with the landlord, for it was all he could get. After these operations I avoided those hotels. These irregularities were the result of entrusting one man with too much power. I was that man. But it was hard and expensive to collect assessments when the members of the company were scattered all along from French Bar right and left to Eureka Valley on the Summit.”

“Among the more prominent members of my company, whose memories with me now rank among my greatest earthly treasures, were Dr. Lampson of Chinese Camp, a whole-souled man, full of generosity, good will, and, in his profession, good acts for his fellow man, as many a miner can testify; David Hayes, my companion while hibernating during the winter of 1865 in ten feet of snow in Eureka Valley, as good and brave a man as ever the east sent to the west; Dr. Clark, noted for driving mustang teams and absent-mindedness - another being of eccentric and generous nature, of whom it was told as one of the many evidences of his peculiarity that, once buying a pair of new boots of a Sonora shoemaker, he, drawing one of them on, took the other, and, pairing it off with the discarded old one, flung the wrongly mated pair into the street; Sol Miller, express and news agent at Chinese Camp, who, as a mimic and quick catcher of character mannerisms, would have made a hit on the stage, though I imagine he never suspected his talent in this direction; George Evans and John Bourland, once Sheriff. Had the company managed to wriggle through another year, I should probably have had half the county holding its stock.”

“The company had an active career of about six months. I discovered a great many mines, but none that would pay. More than this, I took up land for the company, so charmed was I with some of the picturesque valleys which I found in the remote vastness of the Sierras. They were small Yosemites, surrounded by granite walls many hundreds of feet in height, abounding in beautiful lakes and rich meadows, apparently closed on all sides, no place of ingress or egress being visible, and studded with noble pines and oaks. Influenced at one and the same time by the “love for the beautiful” and love for cash, I nailed the company’s notices to the trees, pre-empting these romantic spots, on which for seven months out of the twelve the snow laid ten or twelve feet deep. There was no money in all this. My soul was ever much on the heights of sentimentality, but cash lays deeper down. The early fall of the high Sierras came on and from them the early snows obliged me to come out. We all came out together. By “we”, I mean the grizzlies, deer, cattle, Indians and myself. The first light snowfall of winter abounded with our individual and tracks, all making our way to the warmer plains below. Such was our yearly custom.”

“I brought up that winter at Dave Hayes and John Welch’s Ranch in Eureka Valley. There I staid till March. The company was bankrupt. When the man who had given his very slow horse for six months in exchange for stock wanted his horse back and so obliged the company to use its own legs for purposes of locomotion, the final crisis was reached and the company was obliged to suspend. It had discovered much on which to base expectation, but absolutely nothing on which to realize cash. I left this mountain abode in March and set out alone on snow shoes for Sonora, fifty-six miles distant. I occupied three days and nights in getting to Strawberry Flat, twenty-six miles from Sonora, meanwhile freezing several toes and once taking an involuntary slide of six hundred feet down a smoothly frozen mountain side, where I remained all night at the spot where I was so fortunate as to bring up. Had I proceeded a few hundred farther, a few pounds of animal organization, known to a few by the name at the end of this sketch, would have been resolved by process of decomposition into what we term its original elements, for I should have slid off a precipice and been broken to pieces.”

“Arrived in Sonora, profoundly “busted”, I set to work digging post-holes for my old and faithful friend Robert E. Gardiner, then County Clerk of Tuolumne. I don’t think he was very anxious to have post-holes dug on his premises, but I do think he allowed me to imagine I was earning something in this way out of charity for my condition. I alternately dug post-holes and composed a lecture. I hadn’t the remotest ideaof the subject of this lecture when I commenced writing it and I had no very clear idea what the subject really was when I finished. Dreading to face a real audience at first, I rehearsed it before a private one, of my own selection, in the Sonora Court House one evening. Finding that I could really stand fire and that my tongue would not refuse duty in the presence of the multitude, as I feared it might, I hired my hall and advertised my lecture. It was a partial success. My critics said the matter was good, but the manner of delivery was not. They were right and would be today were they not to hear me again. I starred with this lecture through the county, delivering it at Columbia, Jamestown, Summersville, Oak Flat, Don Pedro's and pushing the campaign into Mariposa and Stanislaus, speaking at Coultersville, Mariposa and French Bar. I was my own agent, traveled on foot, carried my own posters, tacked them up, and depended mainly for remuneration on voluntary contributions. When in Coultersville, I suggested to the audience that if lacking coin they could substitute buttons. Some of them took me at my word. Often on arising to speak I felt an anxiety, hanging as a heavy weight on my mind, whether the receipts of the evening would suffice to pay a hotel bill which I knew could never be liquidated from any other source. This also is an experience which tries a man’s soul.”

“During this lecture season the state election came on. A wild impulse seized me to run for the Legislature. I had seen scalawags elected to the Legislature and in this saw encouragement that I might be. True, I had no money, nor a first-class reputation in some respects, but, then, I had everything to gain and nothing to lose. So I announced myself and ran. On the all-important day I appeared before the Democratic Convention in Sonora, made a speech which was a farrago of nonsense and which did not even prove me a Democrat or endorse a single plank of the party platform, yet I was nominated by acclamation. But not elected. Perhaps the county did not wish to lose me.”

‘‘This attempt on the Legislature of California proved the indirect means of my riddance from the county. Something of my writings in the Union Democrat and something more in connection with legislative canvass had appeared in the San Francisco papers. This influenced Joseph E. Lawrence, editor and part proprietor at that time of the Golden Era, to make me an offer to serve on that paper. I accepted and in 1866 ended my connection with and baleful influence on Tuolumne. I count, however, my journalistic career as really commencing one Sunday under a big pine tree on the bank of an unnamed rivulet at Red Mountain Bar. I had, with a number of other gentlemen resident in that locality, been on a spree, and while under the influence of that certain loss of self-esteem consequent on excess of any description, and which by some is termed “repentance”, I put my thoughts on paper and sent them to the Union Democrat. They were published over the signature of “Dogberry”. I followed this up with other articles, from time to time, and acquired a certain local reputation as a writer, and, I believe, a very poor reputation as anything else.”

“Tuolumne County was for me a school. The great variety of human nature with which I was brought in contact seemed as a lesson to be learned. It was a mine of most valuable experience, one I have often worked since, and never yet bottomed. Life in great cities does not afford such opportunities for studying individual characteristics as does the life of isolated localities of small population. In the Californian “camp” it became a necessity that everybody became more or less acquainted with everybody else. Put ten thousand men together and the chances are that within a year’s time you won't know more than a dozen of them well. Put fifty men together and in a year's time you will know more or less of their individual characteristics and the lives of every one of them. All this is valuable. It serves as fifty separate lessons in human nature. I put knowledge of human nature above the education of the college. Show me your successful man in business or politics and I will show you the man whose chief study has been that of his fellow man - or woman.

“Among the distinguished men of Tuolumne with whom I have been brought in contact were Tom Northrup and Gideon Thompson, perhaps the most prominent “old-timers” at Red Mountain Bar. Northrup was a bony giant and counted, in the matter of work on a river claim, a regular “horse”. Gid. Thompson was as good a fellow as ever was, as all who knew him will testify. He ran the Red Mountain Bar Store till its stock in trade dwindled down to a gallon of whisky and then, packing up his fiddle, trudged up the hill, singing, “What can’t be cured must be endured”. At Hawkins’ Bar, Munson Van Riper, of the New York Knickerbocker stock, was voted “our oldest and most respected citizen”. Munse, in the early days, was counted the best cook and housekeeper on the Bar. He used to wash his own shirts and sheets. He slept in sheets, which at that time was deemed ultra-luxurious. Morgan Davis was another prominent inhabitant of Hawkins’. He was for years the custodian of the Hawkins' Bar Library, which had been purchased by the “Boys” in San Francisco - and a very creditable library it was. Often have I, at the east, cited this as proof of the character of the early Californians. The prevalent idea in the States is that the Californian of that time was a rough, uncouth, whiskey-guzzling semi-outlaw, when in fact those who came from 1849 to 1852 were the very pick of the energy, enterprise and intelligence, not only of the States but of other countries. However, California writers and playwrights are responsible for this erroneous impression and it's done and it can't be helped.

“Peter Haldeman, Pennsylvania, once member of the Legislature and afterwards my “mining pard”, was a noted citizen of Swett's Bar. He was once of the salt of the earth. Poor fellow, he rests now, unmarked by a stone, somewhere in the Sonora graveyard. Old Jo Gallone, a former Key West wrecker, was also long one of the pillars of Swett's.” At Indian Bar, in its later years, John Sanborn represented its Vanderbilt. His big strike in the Indian Bar bank, after everyone supposed it had been worked out, was perhaps the most prominent event in the history of that bar so long as anybody was left to preserve its history. Alas, how we are scattered and what gnats we are, here today and blow off by the winds of destiny tomorrow. But the river, on hills in banks remain, though I am not even skeptical about calling them “everlasting”. When Montezuma was a place, the store of Robert Love formed the Democratic headquarters and that of William Brown the Republican rendezvous, from which, during the heated term of “The War”, the political sympathizers made faces at each other. Ezekiel Brown, long landlord of the Crimea House, was in his time a bright and shining light, especially in promoting local mining enterprises.”

“With reference to the grade of character and intelligence among the early Californians, what a notable illustration was afforded of this in the flusher days of Sonora. What a galaxy of cleverness, talent, quick intelligence, wit and humor was found in the following group or men,all residents there in 1859: H. P. Barber, the noted lawyer; Dr. John Walker; John Sedgwick; Charles Carroll Brown; Robert E. Gardiner; George Seckels; A. N. Francisco, editor of the Sonora Democrat; Charles Randall; Alan Mardis; Dr. Franklin; E. R. Galvin; David Hays; Samuel Patterson; James Stuart, ex-Sheriff; Caleb Dorsey; -- Murphy, of the "Long Tom" saloon; Dr. Browne; Dr. Bruner; I. J. Potter; Dr. Snell; Fred Brown, the handsome barkeeper; Ned Rogers, and many others whose names now escape my memory. Why, such a convocation of men was a mass meeting all by themselves. Should I neglect alsoto mention Johnny Smith, the prince of saloon keepers and the insister and promoter of Order Gentlemen, under peculiar circumstances and conditions?”

"God bless the old county! In fertility of soil, beauty of scenery, a genial climate, and a general capacity for an earthly Paradise, God has blessed it already. It needs only that man’s common sense and industry should take up the work where Deity has left off and make it one.”

-Prentice Mulford.

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EUGENE MULLER (p. 341)
Born in the Palatinate of the Rhine a Province of Bavaria, in 1834, Mr. Muller came to California in 1858 and made his home in Tuolumne County. He became interested in the manufacture of beer, for which purpose he connected himself with the Garrote Brewery and has carried it on ever since, with the exception of a single year spent in Nevada. This property he purchased in 1865 of F. Stachler and throughout his connection therewith has done credit to himself in the production of an excellent article of beer - the prominent and healthful beverage of the times.

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