Alameda
County
Biographies
SIMEON
STIVERS
SIMEON STIVERS. For fifty years a resident of Alameda county,
the late Simeon Stivers was actively identified with
the development and promotion of the agricultural resources of Washington township and was numbered among its most esteemed and
respected citizens. Taking up a tract of
wild land near Niles, he toiled with characteristic diligence and persistence,
by his excellent management and practical judgment improving a fine homestead,
and attaining a place of influence among the leading farmers of this
vicinity. A native of New Jersey, he was
born in Camden, July 23, 1826, and died in Alameda county, Cal., on the
home farm, February 7, 1898.
Being left an orphan in early childhood,
Simeon Stivers was brought up in the home of an uncle
and aunt, Earl and Letitia Marshall, and completed his education in the
Philadelphia high school. With these
relatives he came to California in 1846, locating in San Francisco, where he
assisted in the building of the first public school house erected in that
city. Coming to the
Mission San Jose in 1848, he took up land included in the ranch now owned and
occupied by his family, and as one of the first white settlers in Washington
township fought hard to get a clear title to his estate. When gold was first discovered he went to the
American river region, where he met with good success as a miner. During the seasons, however, he worked on his
ranch, carrying on general farming and stock-raising, and was equally as
prosperous in his agricultural operations, becoming owner of six hundred acres
of land lying in one body, a large part of which he placed in a good state of
cultivation. Being a man of sound sense,
and of more than average business ability, he was an important factor in
advancing the industrial growth and prosperity of his section of the county,
and his death was a loss to the public as well as to his immediate family. He was liberal in his political views, voting
for the best men and measures, but refused all official honors.
September 12, 1858, Mr. Stivers married Anna M. Jones, who was born in
Cincinnati, Ohio, January 5, 1839, a daughter of William and Elizabeth
(Hughes) Jones, natives of Philadelphia and New York City respectively. At the age of 10 years she went with her
parents to Tennessee, and from there, in 1852, came across the plains to
California. The family, which consisted
of Mr. and Mrs. Jones and their four children, spent the winter in
Utah, coming on to Los Angeles in the spring, and then to San Francisco,
where Mr. Jones helped to build the custom house, and also worked as a
stone cutter in the building of forts and the old state house. After the death of his wife Mr. Jones
made his home with Mr. and Mrs. Stivers,
dying in 1888 at the age of eighty-two years.
Of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Stivers
eight children were born, namely:
Letitia, living at home; Simeon, carrying on a part of the home ranch;
Charlotte, a graduate of the State Normal school, and now the wife of
J. H. Millard, of San Francisco; Samuel, farming on a part of the
homestead; Champion, an attorney, living at home, and Anna, Mark and Edward,
living at home. Mrs. Stivers is a faithful member of the Reorganized Church, to
which her husband also belonged, and toward the support of which he always
contributed most generously.
Transcribed by Donna Toole.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Page 437. The Chapman Publishing
Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2015 Donna Toole.
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