Alameda County
Biographies
CHARLES JOHN BOND
Conspicuous among the most capable and successful agriculturists and horticulturists of Alameda county is Charles John Bond, who owns and occupies a well-improved ranch lying near Irvington. A man of enterprise and keen foresight, he possesses a good understanding of the best ways of so conducting his extensive interests as to secure the best returns for his labors, and has met with excellent success in his various undertakings. A native of Nova Scotia, he was born February 28, 1840, at Yarmouth, which was likewise the birthplace of his father, the late George William Bond.
A seafaring man in his youthful days, George William Bond worked his way up from cabin boy until he became part owner and the manager of a line of vessels engaged in trade along the west coast of Africa, sailing from England to the mouth of the Bonny river. In 1849, as captain of the bark Zone, he came to California, and was for awhile employed in shipping along the coast. He subsequently engaged in mining for awhile, and then settled as a general merchant in Centerville, Alameda county, where he also dealt to some extent in real estate, and served as justice of the peace. He died at the home of his son, Charles John, in December, 1892. He married, in England, Fanny Carter, who was born on the Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea, and died in 1847, in England, where the family had lived for two years prior to her death.
The fourth child in order of birth of a family of seven children, Charles John Bond received a limited education in the common schools of Nova Scotia. Leaving there in 1854, he came by way of Nicaragua to the Pacific coast, joining his father in Alameda county. At once beginning work on his own account he was for several years employed as a sheep herder. Locating in Centerville in 1860, Mr. Bond was for a number of years a clerk in the general store of C. J. Stevens. Embarking in business for himself in 1869, he built the first grist mill in Livermore, and managed it successfully for awhile. Selling out his milling property Mr. Bond returned to Centerville, and buying out his former employer, was there prosperously engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1880. Purchasing in that year his present ranch of one hundred and ten acres, adjoining Irvington, he has since made marked improvements in his place, and has met with characteristic success as a general farmer. He pays especial attention to the culture of grapes, having a vineyard of forty acres, and owning a winery, in which he manufactures large quantities of wine of a good grade.
Mr. Bond married first, in Centerville, Cal., Frances Lattin, who was born in Marshall, Mich. She died in Centerville, leaving two children, namely: George and Joseph. He married for his second wife Johanna Berry, a native of Boston, Mass., who died on the home farm in Irvington. Mr. Bond married for the third time Mary Emma Harlan, who was born in Sunol, Cal. In his political affiliations Mr. Bond is identified with the Democratic party, and is active in local affairs. He is prominent and influential in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to lodge, encampment and to the Rebekahs.
Transcribed
Joyce Rugeroni.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 753-754. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2015 Joyce Rugeroni.
BACK TO GOLDEN NUGGET LIBRARY'S ALAMEDA DATABASES