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Captain WIlliam Shorey - Captain and Prominent African-American

[Gravesite photo by Michael Colbruno]

Plot 14B

Captain William Shorey was born in Barbados in 1859. As a young man, he served as an apprentice seaman. In 1880, he sailed from the East Coast, around the Cape of Good Hope, and eventually to San Francisco as a junior officer aboard the Emma Harriman on a voyage that consumed three years. By his fourth trip aboard this vessel, and third leaving San Francisco, he was commander. He married Julia Ann Shelton, the daughter of a prominent African-American family, and later had five children.

Before and after his retirement from the sea, William Shorey was a prominent political figure. In 1903, influential black citizens from around the Bay Area attended a dinner at the Shorey house in honor of Booker T. Washington, who spoke to raise funds for educational growth and his school at Tuskegee.

In February of 1907, his ship, the John and Winthrop sailed from San Francisco to the Sea of Okhost. This voyage took in excess of 40 days and before setting course back to the Bay Area, Captain Shorey and his crew had taken four whales. In both October and November of the same year, the John and Winthrop encountered fierce typhoons that stripped the vessel's sails and deprived the men of food. Despite the sea's relentlessness, there was no loss of life. The crewmen credited the "coolness" of their captain for this fortune.

William Shorey also captained the Andrew Hicks and the Gay Head at other points in his distinguished life at sea. He earned the coveted "Masters License," which permitted him to pilot ships of any size, anywhere in the world. His exhibitions of bravery and selflessness were chronicled regularly in the San Francisco dailies. Following his death, Shorey Street in West Oakland was named after him. He was the first black resident in Oakland to be honored by the city fathers.

[Courtesy of theshoreyhouse blog]

Philetus Everts (1830-1914) - Lumber and Railroad Magnate

[Family mausoleum photo by Michael Colbruno]

Plot 14B

Philetus Everts, a native of New York, was born in 1830 and came to California in 1852 where he dabbled in various businesses. He was a major owner in the Eureka Lumber and served as superintendent of the Eureka & Palisade Railway Company from 1873-1882

Everts and railroad lobbyist Stephen T. Gage [see posting on this blog], hosted an annual affair at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco celebrating their departure from Astabula County, Ohio in 1852.

Mountain View docent Stafford Buckley has pointed out that this crypt is unique in that it is the only crenalated crypt at Mountain View. Crenellation is the distinctive pattern found on the tops of the walls of many medieval castles, generally known as battlements. Crenellation is the irrlegular pattern of squares and/or rectangles along a roofline which historically was used for archers to mount their bows and arrows in defense of a castle.

Perhaps the most famous crenallation is at the Great Wall of China.

Sadly, the interior of this crypt is in need of major maintenance.

Edward & Kate Newland

[Gravesite photo by Michael Colbruno; Portrait from Oakland Tribune]

Plot 14B

A popular monument which I often see being photographed.

Edward Newland was born in Kirkdale, England in 1828 and moved to Boston in 1837. In 1849, after hearing about gold in the California hills, he chartered a boat with 360 others and headed west.

Rather than heading to the mines with the others, he started a stage line. He soon established a draying business and began amassing a small fortune.

He moved to Oakland in 1859 and resided at 2nd & Webster Street. He was one of the first people in the area to start a livery stable business in the area and he was known to have some of the finest thoroughbreads in Northern California. After his retirement, he bred horses for Senator Stanford, many who were frequent champions at local race tracks.

Newland was a member of the vigilance committees who took law and order into their own hands, frustrated with alleged corruption and inaction from law enforcement officials.

Josiah Stanford (1817-1909) and Josiah W. Stanford (1864-1937)

[Stanford monument photo by Michael Colbruno]

Plot 14B

Josiah Stanford moved to California in 1849 and sold supplies to gold miners. One of his brothers was Leland Stanford, the founder of Stanford University, former Governor and Senator and one of the Big 4 railroad barons.

Josiah Stanford and his second wife Helen lived in the Camron-Stanford House, which remains to this day at 1418 Lakeside Drive by Oakland’s Lake Merritt. They split their time between their Oakland home and the family ranch east of Fremont near Warm Springs, which was originally the site of the fashionable resort for wealthy San Franciscans in the 1850s. There Josiah and Helen helped to established a large and prosperous grape vineyard. In addition to wine, Stanford Brothers Winery produced California’s first champagne.

Josiah W. Stanford, the son of Josiah and Helen, ran the Warm Springs Ranch after his father's death, producing hay, barley and beef as well as wines. Years later, Stanford Brothers Winery became Weibel Winery.

 The original brick winery from the Stanford era still stands at the end of Stanford Lane in Fremont, near the Mission Peak Regional Park staging area, in the Warm Springs district of Fremont. The olive trees that formed an allee on Stanford Lane were relocated to Mission Boulevard when the vineyards became a subdivision.

Josiah, often in conjunction with his brothers, struck up many business ventures. During and after the Gold Rush they imported oil and kerosene from the East Coast. When the Civil War drove prices higher as supplies to the West Coast dwindled, this created a climate for a short-lived California oil boom that took place around Sulphur Mountain in Ventura County.

Josiah Stanford became the first person to establish commercial production of petroleum in the state and a principal in one of California’s first major oil companies. By 1866, his digs, incorporating Chinese labor, began to produce 20 barrels a day that were loaded and sent by ship, to the Stanford Brothers Refinery in San Francisco for processing.


The font on the gravesite monument is the same one used by Stanford University.

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Kraft Family - Tehama County Millionaire

The Kraft Family were pioneer Tehama County residents active in retail and banking activities.

Herbert Kraft was one of the wealthiest men in Tehama County in the late 19th century. He was born in Wurtemberg, Germany on March 15, 1831 and was a banker, farmer and politician. He owned some of the primest real estate in the County for farming and timber, most of which he eventually sold. He also owned the Bank of Red Bluff, and was a major shareholder in the Mutual Savings Bank of San Francisco.

His parents came to the United States when he was ten years old. At eighteen he left home without his father's permission after having learned the tinning trade. When he left home his worldly wealth amounted to $9. He arrived in Placerville (then Hangtown) on August 2, 1852 and worked in the tinning business for one month and then left for Sacramento, where he found employment and saved his money.

In 1854 he headed north, on foot and alone, traveling through southern Oregon and northern California, in search of a permanent location. He ended up in Red Bluff and opened a small tin-shop and continued to save his money. Before long he had the largest hardware and tin business north of Sacramento, which he operated for twenty-one years. Kraft married Elizabeth Krauth on March 15, 1861 in Louisville, Kentucky, the home of her parents. They had eight children, all born in Red Bluff: George H., Edward C., Augustine, Elmer, Nettie and Gertrude.

Edward Kraft created a scholarship fund in his will in 1920, which to this day provides scholarships primarily to freshman college students from the counties surrounding Tehama County.

The Kraft family plot is one of my personal favorites at Mountain View, with the beautiful crypt and adjoining markers. The attention to detail is magnificent.

Charles Henry Holt - Tractor Pioneer

[Gravesite photo by Michael Colbruno; Tractor photo from Sacramento Public Library]

Plot 33

Charles Henry Holt was born in London, New Hampshire. He went to school in Boston, where he subsequently studied accounting. After periods working in his family's business, and then in the accounts department of a New York shipping company, he embarked on a ship in 1865 and sailed to San Francisco. For two years he worked as a teacher and a bookkeeper in the North Bay, saving $700 and returning to San Francisco.

His family was in the timber business back in Concord, New Hampshire. They specialized in the supply of hardwoods used in the construction of wheels and wagons, so Charles Holt established himself, as C. H. Holt & Co, by buying timber from his father and selling it to Californian wagon and boat builders. There was considerable demand for this service because of the scale of developments then taking place in California. One of his brothers, Frank, also moved out to California and established a branch of the business to produce wheels and their respective components. This was not entirely successful as the wheels made in the wetter atmosphere of the east were not suitable for the much drier western summers and frequently failed.

To try to overcome this problem, wood was shipped to California and seasoned before being made into wheels, but this, too, was not wholly successful and the brothers looked for a place where the climate was more suited to their particular needs. They settled on Stockton, 150km/90 miles inland lr from San Francisco and formed the Stockton Wheel company.

After around 60 years of successful manufacture of steam engines, and some of the first viable crawlers, the Holt and Best companies merged to form the Caterpillar Tractor Company in 1925. In 1931 the first Diesel Sixty Tractor rolled off the new assembly line in East Peoria, Illinois, with a new efficient source of power for track-type tractors. By 1940 the Caterpillar product line included motor graders, blade graders, elevating graders, terracers and electrical generator sets.

Twombly-Burchard

[Twombly angel photo by Michael Colbruno]

Plot 13

Charles "C.H." Twombly was a San Francisco capitalist who in May 1875 was one of the founders of Oakland's First National Gold Bank. He was an active member of the Oakland Lodge of Masons and the Oakland Commandery, Knights of Templar. Twombly's wife Mary was from the Burchard family, who are also buried in the crypt.

Rev. John L. Burchard moved from Missouri to Marysville, California, remaining there four years, followed by six years in Stockton and four in Gilroy. After returning to Marysville he was appointed Indian agent at Round Valley. In 1872 the family removed to Oakland, in order to afford their children better educational advantages.

Abraham Powell (1828-1895) - Politician and Master Joiner

[Gravesite photo by Michael Colbruno]

 Plot 12

Abraham Powell was born on January 24, 1828 in Philadelphia, Pa. As a youth he was employed in the Philadelphia Navy Yard and learned the trade of ship-joiner and civil engineer. He made numerous sea journeys in his youth, traveling to the West Indies and Europe.

In 1849, Powell joined the rush to California and boarded the ship "Oseola" in Philaelphia with sixty-four of his fellow pioneers. The ship went around Cape Horn and arrived in San Francisco on August 5, 1849. Upon arrival Powell entered into partnership with a fellow traveler as builders and joiners. Together they constructed numerous houses and buildings around San Francisco.

In 1850, Powell returned to Philadelphia. He was appointed Master Joiner at the Mare Island Navy Yard in 1854. Until 1858 Powell had full control of the yard operations on the Island. He was also Naval Constructor during this period, but continued as Master Joiner down to 1864.

In 1865 Powell entered into the private sector and became general manager of the Puget Sound Lumber Company. He first established a retail yard in Vallejo and then extended his operations by building yards in Napa, Suisun, Colusa, and in Yolo County. He also owned a redwood mill at Stuarts Point in Sonoma County. Powell was active in the Masonic Order, both in Philadelphia and California.

He served as Mayor of Vallejo for eight years and was a member of the board of Supervisors of Solano County