Mariposa
County
Biographies
GEORGE W. COULTER
On the roll of those who arrived
in California in 1849 appears the name of George Wilson Coulter, and as one of
the honored pioneers of the state well does he deserve mention in this volume;
but not alone on that account, as for more than half a century he has been
active in advancing a substantial upbuilding of the
commonwealth and the town of Coulterville, his works standing as monuments to
his enterprise and progressive spirit.
He is now the owner of the Coulter Hotel at Chinese Station, conducting
a popular and well-appointed hostelry.
Mr. Coulter is a native of
Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred in Westmoreland County on the 12th
of July, 1818. His parents, Joseph and
Mary (Wilson) Coulter, were both natives of the Keystone state and were descended
from good old Revolutionary stock, their ancestors having aided in the
establishment of American independence.
The father died in the forty-sixth year of his age and the mother passed
away at the age of eighty-seven, having long survived her husband.
George Wilson Coulter, the eldest of
their six children, was educated in the common schools, and when the country
became engaged in war with Mexico he joined the American forces and with his
command proceeded to Santa Fe, where he was stationed until hostilities had
ceased. He then received an honorable
discharge and returned to the east to his family, for in the meantime he had
married in Pennsylvania Miss Margaret Backhouse, a descendant of an old
Philadelphia family. They resided in St.
Louis, Missouri, from 1843 until 1846, when Mr. Coulter served in the Mexican
War a year. Next he removed with his
wife and two little sons to Santa Fe where another son, George, was born. There he engaged in conducting a hotel until
the discovery of gold in California, when, hoping to benefit his financial
condition, he crossed the plains from Santa Fe to Mariposa, where he engaged in
mining until the 5th of November, 1849. He then went to San Jose and after passing
the winter in that place he returned in the following spring to Mariposa, where
he resumed his mining operations. In
connection with a partner he took out a nugget valued at four hundred and
seventy dollars, and on another occasion took out one worth three hundred and
fifteen dollars. Two months’ labor
resulted in bringing to him twenty-four hundred dollars, and with the capital
he had thus acquired he opened a store on Merced River, at the mouth of
Solomon’s Gulch. Subsequently he founded
the town which has since born his name, Coulterville, and there erected a
number of buildings and was its leading citizen for a long period, continuing
to make it his principal place of abode until 1897. In the meantime he conducted a hotel at the
Yosemite for two years, and in 1897 he erected his hotel at Chinese Station. The Sierra Railroad had just been completed
to Jamestown. He built a near and
substantial hotel building, conveniently arranged for the purpose, and has
since been identified with the business and public interests of Chinese
Station.
In 1851 Mr. Coulter was joined by
his wife and three children, Joseph S., Angney and
George. After their arrival in
California the family was increased by the birth of a son and a daughter,
Alexander Stair and Anna M. The last
named and George are now the only surviving children
of the family. The daughter is the wife
of George W. Kenney, who resides at the Yosemite during the summer months, and
has a winter home in Madera. Mrs.
Coulter departed this life in 1890, having traveled happily by the side of her
husband on the journey of life for fifty-one and one-half years. She had been to him a most faithful companion
and helpmate, and her venerable husband feels her loss keenly. His son George is now associated with him in
the hotel business and relieves him of the care and responsibility connected
with its conduct.
In his political affiliations he has
been a life-long Democrat. His career
has been one of uprightness in which he has shaped his life by manly
principles, and those who know him render him the veneration and respect which
should ever be accorded those who have advanced far on life’s journey, Mr.
Coulter now having passed the eighty-second milestone.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 608-610. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.