Contra
Costa County
Biographies
JOHN BOLLINGER
Not unlike the majority of those who came to
the Pacific coast in the early days, Mr. Bollinger was among those who
undertook mining as a means to wealth. His first experience in this line was in
Jacksonville, Ore., in 1852, but he later transferred his operations to Shasta,
Cal., and finally discontinued mining entirely, which is conclusive evidence
that his expectations in that direction had not bee realized. In 1856 he
returned to his Missouri home, and in 1859 went to Kansas, locating on a farm
in close proximity to Mound City, Linn county. Three
years later and just ten years after leaving home for the first time, Mr.
Bollinger again came to the Golden State, this time settling in Contra Costa
county and following the same line of occupation which had engaged his
attention in the east. After farming there for three years, in 1865 he went to
San Mateo county, but the year following he again changed his abode, coming to
Santa Clara county and locating near San Jose. In 1869 he purchased a tract of
eighty acres supposed to be a Spanish grant, near Campbell, Santa Clara county, but through litigations he lost half the property.
He was in litigation for seven years, and as a result Mr. Bollinger’s
possessions now are thirty-four acres, four miles southwest from San Jose, on
the Los Gatos road. He has twenty acres set out to fruit trees, making a
specialty of prunes, apricots and cherries. Besides the home ranch Mr.
Bollinger also owned one hundred and sixty acres in Merced county, Cal., on the
Kings river, and forty acres in Tulare county, which
he has since disposed of.
John Bollinger was born in Bollinger
county, Mo., May 30, 1827, a son of Moses and Elizabeth
(Stotter) Bollinger, born in North Carolina and
Missouri respectively. Moses Bollinger was one of the early pioneers of
Missouri, going to the state with his father, and it is safe to assume that he
was a man of some prominence, as the county was named after him. Besides
conducting a large farm, he also owned and operated a grist mill. There were
seven children born into the parental home, four sons and three daughters and
of this number John was next to the youngest. In those days educational
opportunities were not the best, but John Bollinger succeeded in obtaining a
fair education, and when not in school was found assisting his father in the
duties that fall to the farmer’s lot. In 1852 when twenty-five years old, he
left home and parents to try life in the far west, and with what results have
already been related. In Missouri he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Magdaline (sic) Hahn, who was born in Perry county, Mo.,
and they became the parents of eleven children, three sons and eight daughters.
In religion the family are worshipers in the
Presbyterian church, to which they contribute material support, as well as
assisting in every way possible any object promulgated for the uplifting or
betterment of mankind. Politically Mr. Bollinger is a Democrat.
Transcribed by: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1123-1124. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Cecelia M. Setty.
Contra Costa County Biographies