History of Solano County...and histories of its cities, towns...etc. ...

Front matter

HISTORY

^LANO COUNTY

COMPRISING

Preface

In presenting the following pages to our subscribers we will draw their attention to the fact that reliability of data has b.'en our aim, rather than the elegance of diction and the verbiage of language.

It has in many instances been a matter of extreme difficulty, the compiling the facts we have here put together. Want of precision in the dates of the earlier occurrences in Solana county have been found a great stumbling block, while a sequence of events has been difficult to gain. Our task has been no easy one. What is there more depressing than to bo told in one's researches, " Oh, there is nothing to write about here ;" or, " I have nothing to tell in my biography," forgetting that no more interesting records exist than those of the doings of the Argonauts of California, a record which each and all should feel proud in perpetuating in some form that will bear the brunt of time, and hand down their names and their doings, even unto the third and fourth generation ; hence, our Biographical Sketches will be found not the least interesting portion of our work.

Doctor Levi Cornell Frisbie, of Vallejo, himself a pioneer of no ordinary experience, has spontaneously penned us the following letter, which we reproduce, not so much as a testimonial, but as a proof of how our labors are appreciated by men of profession and judgment.

Vallejo, May 23d, 1879.

Messrs. Wood, Alley & Co. :

Dear Sirs. — Your enterprise in collecting, preserving and presenting in an enduring form facts and incidents connected with the early history of Solano county, is one that pre-eminently commends itself to the favor and support of all our people. Like all Californians, and especially Solanoites, we are very proud of our county, and believe we have the best climate, the most picturesque scenery, and most fertile soil within the borders of the State. So important was deemed this locality that under the old Mexican reijimc was located here, the National Rancho " Suscol," as being the finest grazing and best watered tract within the whole Province, while adjoining this magnificent domain was the extensive and fertile valley of Suisun, granted by the Mexican Government to the great Chief, Solano, for the use and benefit of his tribe, who were acknowledged to be by far the bravest and most intelligent of all the California Indians, and proved ever to be the staunch friend of the existing government, being often called upon by General Vallejo to protect the property of the National Rancho and the inhabitants of the adjoining Mission and town of Sonoma, repelling by force immensely superior numbers of the wild and savage tribes that inhabited the north as lar up as the boundaries of Oregon.

Here, too, in early days, after the change of government, at the city of Benicia was located the headquarters of the Pacific division of our army, under command of General Persifer F. Smith ; and at a little later day, at the city of Vallejo, the United States Navy Yard, destined, when completed according to the projected plans, to be the finest naval station in the world. On the western borders of our county Ave have the beautiful land-locked harbors of Vallejo and Benicia, large enough to accommodate the shipping of the world, while along our eastern border runs the Sacramento river and its numerous tributaries, furnishing admirable shipping facilities for all the products of the county. The California Pacific Railroad, a branch of the "' Great Central," traverses the entire length of the county, and passes through all the considerable towns- There is known to exist large bodies of cinnabar, coal, ii-on, marble and building stone of superior quality. Medicinal springs, thermal, chalybeate, and alterative are numerous throughout the county, which h;ive ah'eady become the resort of tlie invahd and pleasure-seeker from every part of the State. We cultivate successfully all the fruits and products of both temperate and semitropical zones, and, " sitting thus under our own vine and fig-tree " ai'e, as we ought to be, par excellence a happy and contented people. Very respectfully yours,

L. COKNELL FeISBIE.

Of a necessity, where we were not afibrded the requisite information, it has been impossible to produce histories, notably in the instances of those schools and churches under the rule of the Catholic body, and the large flour mill of Messrs. A. D. Starr & Co., the railroad corporations, and Wells, Fargo & Go's Express — their omission has been no fault of ours.

In conclusion, we would tender our best thanks to those ladies and gentlemen of Solano county who aided us ; more especially do we oflfer our acknowledgements to Mrs. Thomas Brownlee and herrelatives, who were the first to give us a regular start in our undertaking, while to the whole of the county officers, without exception, and to Messrs. Wendell & Richardson, of the Vallejo Chronicle, George Roe, of the Solano Times, C. F. Montgomery, oi the Solano Republican, Alfred B. Nye, of the Dixon Tribime, and E. A. McDonell, of the New Era of Benicia, for their kind assistance, while such names as those of Messrs. Fitch, County Surveyor, A. Dunn, County Clerk, G. A. Gillespie, Deputy County Clerk. S. C. Gray, of San Francisco, L. L. Palmer, of Suisun, and A. J. Dobbins, of Fairfield, should not be forgotten, nor indeed should those of our own staff, Messrs. W. A. Slocum, W. N. Bowen, and L. L. Bowen, to whom we are indebted for much valuable time and information.

WOOD, ALLEY & CO.

East Oakland, July 1, 1S79.