Alameda County
Biographies
HENRY A. RANDLETT
HENRY A. RANDLETT. Among the citizens of Emeryville none
is more highly esteemed or remembered with greater affection than are
Henry A. Randlett and his wife, both of
whom were pioneers in the state wherein they have made their home for so many
years. Mr. Randlett is now the proprietor of the
hotel known by his name, this building having been erected by its present owner
upon a two-acre lot purchased in 1879 in the heart of Emeryville, and is now
given over to the comforts of from sixty to one hundred regular patrons.
Mr. Randlett is the representative
of an old New England family, his father, David Randlett,
having been born in New Hampshire, and in manhood engaged as a farmer in Maine
until his death at the age of eighty years. Henry A. was born in Somerset county, Me., May 17, 1829, and until he was
sixteen years old remained upon the paternal farm, being trained to the
practical duties and thrifty habits of the New England farmer. When sixteen
years of age he left home and, going to the timber lands of Maine, was engaged
in driving logs down the river for a period of nine years. He went to
Massachusetts in 1853, and October 8 of the same year he was united in
marriage, in Lowell, with Hannah Jane Garland. She was born in New
Hampshire March 11, 1834, a daughter of Jonathan Garland, also of
that state, whose wife, Deborah B. Goss, likewise owed her nativity to New
Hampshire. They passed away at the respective ages of seventy-five and
sixty-nine years, the father having engaged in agricultural pursuits throughout
a long and active life. In 1854 Mr. Randlett
brought his wife to La Salle county, Ill., where he
bought land and engaged in farming for five years. Interested then in the
prospects of the west, they came to San Francisco by way of the Isthmus of
Panama, landing on the 5th of June, 1859, after which they located in Potter
valley, Mendocino county, Cal., where he ranched two years. In 1861 he went to
Big River and thence to Little River of the same county, in the latter place
conducting a hotel for five years. Coming in 1873 to the present location of
Emeryville, Alameda county, he rented the Oakland
Trotting Park for four and a half years, after which, in 1879, he purchased his
present property, the management of which has since identified him with the
business interests of the place.
October 8, 1903, Mr. Randlett
and his wife celebrated their golden wedding, having traveled life’s journey
together for fifty years, clinging faithfully to each other through every
sorrow and trouble, and together they look back over the path which their feet
have trodden in the new and oft-times wild lands of the west. They have reared
and educated five children who were relatives of the family. In his political
convictions Mr. Randlett is a Republican and,
though not desirous of personal honors in an official capacity, he has given
his best efforts toward the promotion of good government. He is much honored
and esteemed among those who have known him for so many years.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 03 July 2016.
Source: History of the State of California &
Biographical Record of Coast Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A.
M., Pages 1245-1246. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Marie Hassard.
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