Contra
Costa County
Biographies
LAFAYETTE
IRVING FISH
LAFAYETTE IRVING
FISH. To a certain extent a record of the life of
the late Lafayette Irving Fish is a history of the county of Contra Costa. From the time he made his first investment in
land here, during the fall of 1852, until his career ended, October 9,
1900, he was inseparably associated with many of the leading interests of the
locality. After enduring the hardships
attendant upon both an ocean voyage and an overland trip to California; after
having shared with the gold-seekers their scanty fare, their hard beds in the
lap of Mother Earth, and their life of toil; and after having experienced the
vicissitudes of pioneer farming and stock-raising, it was his good fortune to
reap the reward of his labors, and to enjoy in the twilight of his useful
existence all the comforts his industry and executive ability rendered
possible.
During the colonial history of New
England the Fish family bore an honorable part in commercial and military
affairs, and Josiah Fish served during the Revolutionary war as a lieutenant
under Capt. William Hutchins.
Lafayette Irving Fish was a grandson of this Revolutionary officer and a
son of Libbeus and Polly (Holcomb) Fish. He was born in Batavia, N.Y., October 7,
1824, and received a common-school education in his native town, later becoming
a student in a seminary for boys at Jackson, Mich., where his parents had
settled. After two years in the seminary
he began earning his livelihood as a clerk in a mercantile store owned by
C. W. Penny. For two and
one-half years he remained with the same employer and then resigned in order to
accept a similar position with his brother Charles, in Monticello, Miss. However, not liking the South, his sojourn
there was short, and he returned to his former employer.
At the time news reached him of the
discovery of gold in California, Mr. Fish determined to seek his fortune
in the west. With this purpose in view
he resigned his position, left home and friends, August 8, 1849, and
proceeded to Mississippi, where he visited his brother. From there he traveled via the isthmus and
the Pacific ocean to San Francisco, where he arrived
January 8, 1850. In February he
proceeded to Marysville and the mines.
To engage in mining a company was formed, consisting of
E. S. Rockwell, J. W. Fish, J. G. Scott, Albertus
Scott, G. W Brown, B. T. Graves and
L. I. Fish. With an ox team,
provisions and other supplies, they left Marysville June 25, bound for
Slate creek. Before they had arrived at
their destination they found that camp was being deserted for a new one on
Feather river.
Leaving Josiah Fish to follow with the goods, the others joined the rush
and located claims on Nelson creek, a tributary of the south fork of the
Feather river.
In addition to mining they opened a store, building a log cabin, which
they were often forced to use as a hotel for the accommodation of passing
miners. Their guests were glad to pay
for the privilege of sleeping on the bare earth (for the floor of the cabin was
of dirt). While much is written and said
concerning the high civilization of the twentieth century, Mr. Fish often
remarked that he never lived in any community where all men seemed as brothers,
where each respected the other’s rights, where robbery was unknown and where all
were governed by so high a code of honor as was displayed in this camp. Men were accustomed to leave their sacks of
gold dust in the cabin and no one ever molested them. There was a feeling of fraternal fellowship
among them, and each wished the others to succeed.
Mr. Fish and Mr. Lathrop soon
purchased the interests of their partners, afterwards buying an interest in the
mercantile business of W. & J. Ford at Marysville. In the fall of 1852 the two purchased a part
of the Welch rancho in Contra Costa county. Soon after this they formed a company to go
east and buy sheep for the California market.
In 1853, Mr. Fish and others went east and spent a year buying
sheep and preparing a wagon train for crossing the plains. The sheep were wintered at Vermont, Cooper county, Mo. The
journey was begun May 2, 1853, with five thousand sheep, about eight ox
teams, one spring wagon, a herd of cattle, and several saddle horses and
mules. They arrived in the Sacramento
valley and crossed the river about twenty miles below Shasta in the latter part
of October, 1854. At that time they had
three thousand sheep, one hundred and forty head of cattle, twelve horses and
mules, etc. The sheep had cost $1.50
apiece in the east and brought from $7 to $10 each in California, so that the
profits were large, notwithstanding the losses en route. In 1855, Mr. Fish and his partner
divided their holdings, and the former then entered into partnership with his
brother, Charles, who had arrived here while he was in the east. In addition to engaging in farm pursuits they
built a warehouse and bought and sold grain, also had many other interests
until their retirement in 1884.
Mr. Fish was one of the first
successful farmers of California, and was one of the first to practice summer-fallowing,
so common now. Desiring modern equipments[sic] with which to conduct his work, he sent east
for improved farm machinery, and kept himself and his foremen busy in
harvesting his own grain and that of others.
In early days his principal product was wheat, and one year’s crop sold
for $52,000. He raised and shipped the
first wheat ever sent from San Francisco to New York as a business
venture. While at time he met with
reverses, such as will come to all, he was almost uniformly successful, his
excellent business sagacity enabling him to conduct his various interests in a
profitable manner.
Having considerable money to invest and
seeing an opening for a bank at Martinez, in 1873, Lafayette I. Fish, with
the support of many other leading men of the county, established a financial
institution, of which he was the first president; William Hale, cashier; and
Henry Hale, teller. The directors of the
bank were L. I. Fish, W. W. Cameron, William Hale, Henry Hale
and Simon Blum. With a capital stock of
$50,000 the bank embarked in business, but soon the capital stock was doubled
and such was its success under the administration of Mr. Fish, who
continued its executive head until his retirement in July, 1890, that at that
time the holders valued their stock at two hundred per cent and none was for
sale even at that premium.
The grain business was another industry
that engaged the attention of Mr. Fish, who, in July of 1878, with Messrs.
Baldwin and Simon Blum, began to buy and sell grain and established warehouses
in various towns. From this business he
retired in June, 1884.
In 1858, Mr. Fish and his brothers
fitted up a house and sent for their sisters, Caroline and Cornelia. The latter died in 1861, but Caroline and the
elder brother, Josiah, remained in the family circle until their death in
1893. In 1868 Mr. Fish erected the
substantial and attractive residence which still remains the home of his
family.
March 31, 1881, Mr. Fish was
married to Miss Frances Lillian Webster, a teacher in the State Normal
School at San Jose and daughter of Samuel Warren Webster and Mary (Nichols)
Webster, representatives of colonial New England families. Two children were born of their union, a son,
Irving Webster Fish, and a daughter, Annie Holcomb Webster Fish.
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 403-404. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Donna Toole.
Contra Costa County Biographies