Alameda County
Biographies
JAMES QUIGLEY
Numbered among the veteran agriculturists and the citizens of good repute and high standing in Alameda county is James Quigley, a farmer and stock-raiser in Eden district, Eden township. Settling there a poor man, dependent upon his own resources, nearly fifty years ago, he has labored wisely and well, and by dint of good management and judicious investment has achieved considerable success from a financial point of view. A man of undoubted integrity and worth, he enjoys to a high degree the esteem and respect of his neighbors and friends. A native of County Donegal, Ireland, he was born in May, 1825, and now a hale and hearty man, bears with ease and dignity his burden of nearly four score years.
Emigrating to America when twenty-five years of age, James Quigley landed at St. Johns, N.B., in May, 1850. Going immediately to Boston, Mass., he remained there seven years, working at various pursuits, at first receiving but $1 a day for his labor. Starting for the Pacific coast in 1857, he sailed by way of Panama, arriving in San Francisco in December of that year. Eager to begin operations as a miner, Mr. Quigley went to Sierra county, where he was employed as a miner from January, 1858, until the following May, his wages being $4 a day. Removing then to Alameda county, he worked during the summer season in San Lorenzo and San Leandro, either in the harvest fields or with a threshing machine. Returning to the mines in the fall, he worked with pick and shovel the ensuing eight months, and then resumed work in Alameda county as a harvest hand. In the fall of 1859, Mr. Quigley rented land near San Leandro, and began farming on his own account. He made a specialty of raising wheat, and although its price was then very low, he made money during the two years that he continued there, his crops being large. In company with Richard Riley he purchased seventy acres of land in Brooklyn township, and operated the ranch for about three years, and then sold out. Subsequently he bought a farm of fifty-five acres on Redwood road, in the same township, fenced the land, erected a house and barn, and was there prosperously engaged in ranching from 1864 until 1869, when he sold at an advantage, receiving $400 an acre for his land.
Paying $160 per acre, he then bought a ranch of one hundred and five acres of open field, in the valley near San Lorenzo, and began the improvement of his property. Planting a large variety of fruit trees, he was actively employed as an orchardist and general farmer for thirty years. In 1900, dividing his estate into five and ten acre lots, he began selling it, receiving from $400 to $415 per acre, and disposed of all but thirty acres. With a part of the proceeds, he purchased four hundred and twenty acres of land in Eden township, paying $6,000 for it, and has since resided here, being engaged in general farming. Two years after making the purchase, Mr. Quigley sold two hundred acres of his home ranch, but afterward bought four hundred acres in the hills, near his present home. He still continues in agricultural pursuits, making a specialty of raising cattle, his favorite breeds being Durhams and Herefords.
In 1860 Mr. Quigley married Bridget Gibney, who was born in Ireland, and came to this country in 1850. She died on the home farm, in Alameda county, Cal., in February 1894. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Quigley six children were born: Mrs. Maggie Gansberger, of Mount Eden, Alameda county; Mary, wife of Frank Nugent, of Brentwood, Contra Costa county; Edward, assisting his father in the care of the home ranch; John, who died in Alaska at the age of thirty-two years; James, living at home; and Henry, residing at San Lorenzo, on the old homestead property. Politically Mr. Quigley is a steadfast Democrat, but has never been an aspirant for public favors. He is a faithful member of the Catholic Church, to which his wife also belonged.
Transcribed
10-4-16 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1338-1339. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2016 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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