Alameda County
Biographies
HON. CHARLES F. HORNER
Few names are better known throughout Alameda county and none is more highly honored than that of Horner,
whose leading representative of the present generation, Charles F. Horner, owns
an attractive and well-improved homestead near Centerville. The family became established in this county
as early as 1846, when John M. Horner settled at which is now Irvington,
Washington township. In 1849 his brother,
William Y., a native of New Jersey, came via the Isthmus of Panama at the time
of the great gold excitement, and joined John M. at Irvington. The first fence ever built in the county was
placed by them in 1850 around five hundred acres near the Mission San Jose and
was made from rails of redwood timber cut twenty-five miles to the east. The first roads in the township were opened
by them. In 1851, with a few others,
they purchased the Potrero Nuevo tract, which has since been assessed as
Horner's addition to San Francisco. The
tract comprised twenty-one hundred acres and thousands of homes now stand upon
lots subdivided from the original acreage.
The gross receipts of their farming enterprises in 1850 aggregated
$150,000, gained mostly from the sale of vegetables to gold-seekers, many of whom
themselves made $1,000 per day.
The brothers bought in one tract of thirty
thousand acres running from Alvarado to Warm Springs. On account of defects in titles they were
obliged to buy off five different claimants, in prices ranging from $700 to
$40,000. They also paid $58,000 for
nineteen hundred and fifty acres on the northwest boundary of the Mission
tract. Nothing equalling
(sic) the magnitude of their real estate transactions has since been seen in
Alameda county.
In an early day they owned about all of what is now Washington township, and their property interests in San Francisco were
also remarkably large. However,
misfortunes came to interfere with their success. They were obliged to pay a security debt of
$100,000 for a friend, and when the hard times came they lost their San
Francisco property, which is now worth several million dollars. For a time they operated the first flour mill
in Union City and this plant they had also built. Few men equalled
them in enterprise and resourcefulness. Their foresight was extraordinary, their
judgment accurate and their investments wisely made. Had it now been for the season of depression
they would have gained a vast fortune, but they were forced to sacrifice their
holdings at a time when prices were low.
In 1879 they disposed of the balance of their property in California and
went to the Hawaiian Islands under a contract to manage a sugar plantation for Spreckles. In
California their interests had been one, but in their new home they did not
enter into partnership and their success was only moderate. William Y. became the owner of a sugar and
coffee plantation, which he managed until his death at seventy-one years. John M. is still living there, hale and
robust notwithstanding his eighty-five active years.
The
marriage of William Y. Horner united him with Anna Imley,
who was born in New Jersey and came to California about 1851, shortly before
becoming the wife of Mr. Horner. At
this writing (1904) she is seventy-three years of age and continues to make her
home on the family plantation, her daughter, Mary Ann, residing with her. The three sons, William Y., Charles F. and
George (the two latter twins) own a large stock and alfalfa ranch in Kern
county, Cal, and William Y. and George reside there, superintending the four
thousand acres comprising the estate.
The youngest of the family, Sarah, is the wife of William Decoto, of
Hawaii. Charles F. Horner was born at
Irvington, Alameda county, Cal., November 11, 1859 and
received his education in the common schools and college of his native
town. At the age of twenty years he
accompanied his parents to the Hawaiian Islands and for a time assisted his
father on a plantation. Next he
purchased one-half interest in a large sugar and coffee plantation for which a
debt of $250,000 was incurred. The
property had been allowed to run down until it had ceased to be
profitable. Under his personal
supervision it was placed on a paying basis and in 1895, was sold
advantageously, he receiving a profit of about $50,000 in the transaction. Having disposed of his interests on the
islands, in 1895 he returned to California and settled in the locality where he
had been reared. At Irvington he bought
an orchard of fifty acres, which is now worth $1,000 per acre, and in addition
he bought twenty acres of unimproved land which he has planted in fruit and on
which he has erected a commodious residence.
Here he and his wife (formerly Miss Sarah Decoto, a native of
California) have established an attractive and refined home, whose guests find
within its walls the air of hospitality and the charm of culture.
In
political affairs Mr. Horner favors Republican principles. While living on the islands he was elected
twice to the house of representative where he served at the time of the
adoption of the new constitution.
Previous to his election the position had been held by an influential
native for twenty-six years. Having
never known defeat, the incumbent of the office experienced a new sensation
when his opponent won by a majority of three to one. In 1900 Mr. Horner was elected supervisor of Alameda
county by a large majority. Since then he has devoted considerable
attention to the improvement of the roads which his father and uncle laid out
in an early day. However, while he has
accomplished much, he is by no means entirely satisfied with the condition of
the roads, and states that he desires to serve another term as supervisor in
order to complete the work so auspiciously begun. He is a man of social attributes, fond of the
society of congenital friends, large-hearted and companionable. Among his hobbies is a fondness for good
horses and he has a few in his own stables of whose fine points he is justly
proud. In fraternal relations he is
connected with the lodge and chapter of Masonry at Alameda, the council of
Oakland and the commandery(sic) at San Jose; also the
lodge and encampment of Odd Fellows; the Druids, Native Sons of the Golden
West, Knights of Pythias and Woodmen of the World.
Transcribed
7-7-16 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1257-1258. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2016 Marilyn R. Pankey.
BACK TO GOLDEN NUGGET LIBRARY'S ALAMEDA DATABASES