Alameda County
Biographies
GEORGE W. HARLAN
One of the earliest pioneers of California and of Brooklyn township, Alameda county, George W. Harlan has witnessed many changes since the days when he first sought a home and fortune among the riches of the state. A resourceful country but with absolutely no development, he foresaw its great future as early as 1846, when he crossed the plains with ox teams to the west, and with a praiseworthy perseverance and energy he devoted himself to the accumulation of a competence and a share in her bounties, passing years justifying his faith in her possibilities. In 1855 he purchased his present home place of five acres, located one hundred yards from the city limits of San Leandro, paying at the time $100 per acre where now he could sell for ten times that sum. He built his home and has lived there since, almost a half century, watching the country about him blossom with the fruits of civilization. His land is devoted to the cultivation of apricots, cherries and other fruits. He now rents the property and is living retired from the active duties which have so long engrossed his attention.
A native of Indiana, Mr. Harlan was born on the line between Wayne and Henry counties, July 21, 1820, a son of William Harlan, who came from Kentucky to the Hoosier state as a pioneer farmer. In young manhood Mr. Harlan learned the miller's trade, and when twenty-five years of age he went to Michigan, where he remained a year. Outfitting then for the long journey across the plains he started for California, and after six months of traveling arrived in the state November 21, 1846. Going at once to Santa Clara he enlisted in the army for service in the Mexican war under Captain Aaram and served three months, after which time he engaged in the milling business in San Jose for about eight months. During this time he had planted a crop of wheat at the San Jose mission, Alameda county, and after disposing of the same he purchased a ranch between San Jose and San Francisco, being at that time the only American between these two points. During the period of the gold excitement in 1848 he left his ranch and set out for Sutro's sawmill, but stopped at Folsom and washed out $600 in two weeks, with which he returned to his ranch, where he remained but a short time and then sold out, going to the mission of San Jose. In 1850 he went to Los Angeles and purchased a hundred head of cattle, which he brought to the San Jose mission and sold for good prices, after which, in 1852, he went to New York by way of the Isthmus of Panama on the boat Golden Gate, and purchased three hundred head, bringing these to Eden township, where the county hospital now stands, and engaged in dairying. For some time he met with success in his work but afterward encountered reverses which depleted his fortune considerably. In 1855 he came to his present location, where he has since remained and where he has made a success of his work.
In Missouri Mr. Harlan was united in marriage with Sarah Harlan, now deceased, who became the mother of three children, namely, Mrs. Maud Henry, who makes her home with her father; D. Belle, a teacher of drawing in the public school at San Leandro, and also an artist, having made a specialty of painting in oil (This natural talent has been cultivated and the result is shown in many paintings that adorn the home, also the success she has in securing large classes who desire to profit by her experience.); and Noel C., the only son, who resides and has a lucrative position in San Francisco. In his political affiliations Mr. Harlan was a Whig in early life and later became a Democrat, and at two different times he was selected by that party as a candidate for the office of county treasurer of Alameda county. After careful thought and study he again changed his political opinions and is now an adherent of the principles advocated in the platform of the Republican party. Considering his advanced age he is a very active and energetic man, and in the course of the many years spent in Alameda county has won the esteem and confidence of all with whom he has come in contact. Mr. Harlan is a pensioner of the Mexican war.
Transcribed
10-24-15 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Page 853. The Chapman Publishing
Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2015 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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