Placer
County
Biographies
ALEXANDER HEMPHILL
Ireland has furnished many of her
sons to the new world, whose versatility, adaptability and enterprise
have been important factors in the upbuilding and progress of the
communities with which they have been associated. Among the sons of the Emerald Isle now
residing in California is Alexander Hemphill, a citizen of Lincoln, who arrived
in the Golden state in April, 1854. He
was born in county Donegal, in 1832, and is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. The religious faith of the family was that of
the Presbyterian Church. His father,
Richard Hemphill, married Miss Sarah McCann, and two sons, John and Alexander,
were born unto them. The mother died
when the subject of this review was only thirteen years of age, and in 1843 the
father came with his two boys to America, sailing from Londonderry to New
York. They located in Adams, Clark
County, Ohio, and the father died there in the sixty-fifth years of his age,
spending his last days in the home of his brother, who had preceded him to the
new country. He was a man of means and
of the highest integrity and responsibility.
Alexander Hemphill acquired his
education in the schools of his native county and in the public schools of
Ohio. When nineteen years of age he
entered upon his business career, and determining to try his fortune in the far
west he sailed from New York for San Francisco, making his way from the
Atlantic to the Pacific waters over the Isthmus of Panama. He took passage on the Independent, having
six hundred people on the vessel. Off
Marguerite Island she ran on the rocks, caught fire and were totally destroyed,
two hundred and fifty of her passengers being drowned by the swamping of her
boats in the surf! Mr. Hemphill battled
with the waves, swam ashore and thus saved his life, but lost all of his
possession save a pair of trousers and a coat.
They were three days upon the island before relief came. It was supposed that the old ship was heavily
insured and that she was run aground on purpose; but the perpetrators of the
fearful crime were never brought to justice.
After his arrival in San Francisco
Mr. Hemphill came to Placer County and engaged in mining. He has since made his home in this county and
has aided in the search for the precious metal at Auburn, Iowa Hill and Dutch
Flat. He was engaged in lumbering with
the Towle Brothers for fifteen years and in all of his enterprises his efforts
have been attended with success. In 1879
he came to Lincoln and has since devoted his energies to farming. He now has sixteen hundred acres of valuable
land and is extensively engaged in raising the various cereals best adapted to
this climate. He has erected one of the
most pleasant and commodious homes in Lincoln and there he is now spending the
evening of an active and prosperous life, surrounded by many of the comforts
and luxuries that have been secured to him through his well-directed efforts.
Mr. Hemphill was married in 1878 to
Miss Eliza Disque, a native of Iowa and of French
lineage. They have only one son, whom
they have named Wallace George. He was
born in Lincoln and is now making a tour of Europe, including a visit to the
World’s Fair in Paris. Mr. Hemphill was
made a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Olive Lodge, No. 81,
at Dutch Flat, in 1867, and is still identified with the organization. He is also a member of the Ancient Order of
United Workmen. In politics he is a
stalwart Republican, but has never desired or held office, preferring to give
his entire attention to his business.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 713-714. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.