Contra
Costa County
Biographies
ELAM
B. BARBER
ELAM B. BARBER. A progressive and enterprising orchardist and
ranchman of the Alhambra valley (original Del Hambre
[hungry] valley), Contra Costa county, is Elam B. Barber, who is located
upon the property purchased by his father in 1852 and farmed for many years by
the elder man. Born in Winchester, Ill.,
June 13, 1846, he is the son of Matthew Root Barber, who, at the age of
five years, came from Delaware county, Ohio, where he
was born August 7, 1815, to make his home with the Hon. Elam Brown, of
Illinois, being then left an orphan by the death of his father, Joseph
Barber. In 1837 Matthew R. Barber
married Orpha Bean, who was born in Kentucky, March 15,
1814, and made his home in Illinois until 1849.
On the 15th of March of that year he crossed the plains with ox teams
and after arriving in California passed down through the Alhambra valley to
Martinez, thence to the mines, but not liking the life he returned to Martinez
and engaged in the carpenter’s trade. He
helped to build many of the first structures of that city which are still
standing as an evidence of his workmanship, and built his own home just south
of the court house, the land on which it stood now being in the possession of
Mrs. Hale. In 1851 he returned to
his family in Illinois, via the Isthmus of Panama, and again outfitted with ox
teams and crossed the plains to the Golden state. The following spring he bought a tract of
seventeen hundred acres, which proved to be a Spanish grant, and of which he
sold all but one hundred and thirty acres.
In 1852 he built the house now occupied by his son, cutting the timber
from the redwoods in Contra Costa county on the land
of Hon. Elam Brown, a pioneer of 1846, and although he did the greater part of
the work himself it still cost him $5,000.
He then began general farming, grain and stock-raising, and set out one
hundred and twenty-five acres to orchard and vineyard. Some of the most beautiful shade trees of
this ranch were grown from the seed which his wife planted in the early days of
their residence here. In addition to his
agricultural interests Mr. Barber gave considerable attention to local
affairs, serving for some time as public administrator. In young manhood Mr. Barber was a Whig,
and cast his first presidential ballot for William Henry Harrison. Upon the organization of the Republican party in 1856 he joined that great party, voting for
John C. Fremont, and from that time until his death consistently advocated
the principles of that organization. His
last presidential ballot was cast for Benjamin Harrison. During the early days of California he took a
deep interest in public affairs, and especially in the elections. As there were no conveniences for printing,
he used to write the ballots with pen and ink, and also presided at the
elections. He did all in his power to
advance the best interests of the community, and always retained the profound
respect of all citizens, regardless of their political preferences. He died July 21, 1891, after an exceptionally
useful life of seventy-six years. His
wife survived him a little more than eight years, dying December 2,
1899. The children born of this union
were as follows: Two who died in infancy
in Illinois; Maria, deceased, who married Hon. Cyrus W. Lander, for
many years county judge of Contra Costa county; William, who died at the age of
eight, one month after the arrival of the family in Martinez; Elam B., the
personal subject of this review; and Ellen, deceased, who married
George W. Bailey, an attorney of Martinez.
Reared and educated in his California
home, Elam B. Barber was early trained in the practical duties which have
since constituted his life work. He
assisted his father in the work of the ranch until the older man’s death, when
he succeeded to the estate, since that time giving every attention to the
cultivation and improvement of the valuable property. He has reset the vineyard and put out
considerably more fruit, and still follows the old order of things on the ranch
in the raising of grain and stock. Two
articles in his home which he prizes very much are a bookcase and secretary
which his father made when seventy-five years old, and a carriage which was
brought around the Horn in 1849 for Mrs. Loring. This is a two-seated surrey and was purchased
by Mr. Barber in 1855, the first vehicle of the kind in the county, and
though it has been in constant use for over a half century it is still in fine
condition.
[Inserted by D. Toole]
BARBER
1918
Jan 4, San Jose Mercury News, P20, San Jose, California
Mr.
Elam B. Barber of Martinez has returned to his home after a few days passed in
this city as the guest of his niece, Mrs. W. W. Dombaugh. Mr. Barber visited Gilroy about 10 years ago
and is surprised and delighted with the growth of the city in both the business
and residence districts and its added attractions.
1930
Jul 28, The San Bernardino County Sun, P4, San
Bernardino, California
Quilt
Displays State History
Thirty-Six
Phases of Pioneer Life in California Sewed On Valuable Work
(By
Associated Press)
Sacramento,
July 27 – A pictorial history of California pioneer days embroidered on a quilt
has been completed by Miss Geraldine Youd, of
Concord, Cal, after two years’ work. Arrangements
to display the unique quilt at the California state fair, Aug. 30 to Sept. 7,
were made when Miss Youd visited the fairgrounds
recently. The quilt, embroidered in blue
and gold, has 36 pictures, each characteristic of some phase of early
California life. The discovery of gold,
Sutter’s fort, covered wagons, landmarks along the emigrant trails, the pony
express, vigilantes, the five methods of gold mining and the first state capitol
at Monterey are some of the subjects pictured.
Each
picture has the embroidered signature of a California pioneer, Miss Youd having spent almost a year procuring the
signatures. The names and addresses
are: Lucy Ballard Powers, San Francisco;
E. B. Jolley, Amanda Redman Turner, William Youd, S. H. Cowen, Emma C. Youd and Anna R. Johnston Yoakum, Merced; George H.
Snow, Evira Gentry Tennyson and Annette Mathews Snow,
Lower Lake; Leorniza Rodgers Vassar and Louisa Faught Copple, Hopland; W. C. Rightmier, Modesto; Margaret Johnson Gritton,
Wilton; Permelia Curtis Ruddock, Philo; A. J. Young
and George Van Gorden, Danville; Ellen Howell Youd, Fanny Wetzel Hollingsworth, A Henry Howlett, Charles Youd and Ann
Copley Foote, Concord; Melissa Woodward Cartwright, George Botts,
Elam B. Barber, Harriet Woodruff Sheriff and Jane Hough Bennett, Martinez; Mary
Robbins Pratt, Fresno; Thomas Jenkins, Sacramento; Kate McSwain
Jorgensen, John Halverson and Mary Montgomery Buckley, Snelling;
John Reese, Florin; James P. Youd, Redding; James F.
Peck and Rebecca McGuire Byrn, Oakland. Miss Youd has named
her quilt “The Romantic Forty-Niners,” and it will be
given a place of honor on pioneer’s day at the fair, Sept. 7. She was accompanied here by her father,
Charles Youd, who is now in his eighty-fifth
year. He crossed the plains in a covered
wagon when he was 14 years old.
“Mother was in the same wagon train as father,” said Miss Youd, “and 10 years later they were married.” Her mother died last year. She embroidered the picture entitled “Moving”
which bears her autograph. Seven of the
pioneers whose names are on the quilt died during the last year.
1931
Aug 12, San Francisco Chronicle, P11, San Francisco, California
Anderson
– In Martinez, August 10, 1931, Evelyn B. Anderson, sister of Aga Lander, niece
of Elam B. Barber of Martinez, and cousin of Mrs. Lewis Fields of Alameda,
a native of California, aged 74 years.
1936
Jun 28, Oakland Tribune, P22, Oakland, California
House
Erected in 1849 Razed
Martinez,
June 27 – One of the oldest landmarks of this city was being razed today to
make way for one of the most modern of businesses – a super-service
station. The building is a home,
probably the oldest residence left in the community, at Alhambra Avenue and
Ward Street. The two-story structure,
erected shortly after the discovery of gold at Coloma by James W. Marshall in
1848, will be destroyed under a permit issued by City Building Inspector R. H. Ingraham to the owner, Joseph DiCarli,
with Joseph Light as the contractor.
According to Elam Barber, resident of Martinez since 1852, the structure
was erected by Nicholas Hunsaker, one of the first
sheriffs of Contra Costa County and among the most famed of early California
law enforcement officers. Barber said
the building was erected early in 1849 from lumber brought from Redwood Canyon
on the Old Moraga land grant.
Transcribed by Donna Toole.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1002-1005. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Donna Toole.
Contra Costa County Biographies