Calaveras
County
Biographies
SAMUEL L. PRINDLE
Scotch and German blood has always
produced good pioneers. The ancestors of
Samuel L. Prindle, one of the most prominent citizens of Mokelumne Hill,
Calaveras County, California, were of such stock and settled early in New
England. Nelson Prindle married Lydia
Everett, a member of the prominent family of Everett, of which the Hon. Edward
Everett was a representative, and was an early settler of Ohio, where he became
an extensive landowner. Samuel L.
Prindle was born at Girard, Trumbull County, Ohio, June 7, 1823, and was there
educated and made a fair start in life.
February 12, 1849, he sailed for Aspinwall on the brig May, commanded by
Captain Hayes, and after a long delay at Panama he obtained passage on the
steamship Panama for San Francisco, where he arrived in August, 1849, with the
party known as the Gordon company. From
San Francisco he went to the mines at Downieville, and from there he went to
Calaveras County in 1851 to mine at Big Bar on the Mokelumne River, where he
says he and four others took out half an ounce each in a day and at the end of
a week had two hundred and seventy-five dollars to divide among them. After that he mined in other places and eventually
was appointed collector at Campo Seco for the Mokelumne & Campo Seco Canal
& Mining Company and was later collector at Buckeye; and in 1862 he was
elected the secretary and general manager of the company and became an active
factor in its important operations and filled the position ably until his
death. He served for several years as a
member of the board of supervisors of Calaveras County and in that office was
influential in bringing Calaveras County from a state of virtual bankruptcy to
a sound financial basis, and for that achievement was given a warm place in the
memory of his fellow citizens.
Mr. Prindle was married February,
1863, to Miss Nancy M. Newhall, a native of Washington, Maine, a daughter of
William Newhall and a relative of George Peabody, a banker and philanthropist
of Massachusetts. Mrs. Prindle came to
California in 1862, bore her husband four children: Charles Everett, of Mokelumne Hill; William
Newhall, now in the state of Washington; Ira Nelson, of Rich Gulch, Calaveras
County; and Alice Augusta, who married Joseph Dell Orto. Mr. Prindle was long a prominent member of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and always connected himself with any
movement which he believed would benefit the people of Calaveras County. He prospered in life and left a fine property
to his family, including Buena Vista ranch, which is given up partially to
fruit of different varieties, including raisin grapes, and which is the home of
Mrs. Prindle.
Charles Everett Prindle was born
December 1, 1864, and at his father’s death, January 1, 1889, took his place as
the secretary and manager of the Mokelumne and Campo Seco Canal & Mining
Company, which owns one hundred and sixty five miles of ditch pipe and all the
water of the Mokelumne River and its branches.
The construction of its works was begun 1856 and it has since sold water
for mining and domestic purposes; and in this way and for the admirable motive
power which it supplies the enterprise is an important one, of immense value to
citizens along its line. Mr. Prindle was
reared at Mokelumne Hill and was graduated from the Stockton Business
College. Following in the footsteps of
his father, he became an Odd Fellow and has passed the chairs both branches of
that order. As a businessman he has shown
that he possesses marked ability, and he is regarded as a useful and helpful
citizen.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 387-388. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Calaveras County Biographies