Sacramento
County
Biographies
JOSEPH
HULL
Joseph Hull was born January
24, 1813, in Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio.
His grandfather Hull was a native of New York State; after his marriage he removed to Ohio, settling where Steubenville now is before Ohio was even a part of the Northwest Territory.
He had seven children, of whom Joseph, the father of our subject, was
the third; he was born in 1792; married Jane Luckey,
also a native of Steubenville.
When the subject of our sketch was two years old his father removed to Zanesville, Ohio; thence, in 1825 to Clermont County, eighteen miles east of East Cincinnati.
Joseph Hull, our subject, here learned his father’s trade,
saddle-making, but as it did not suit him he began teaching school, which as he
says, did not require much education at that time. He was examined by the school board and was
given a certificate to teach, which he did for five years. Upon leaving Ohio he was given the following endorsement,
dated Perin’s Mills, Clermont County, Ohio:
“To whom id may concern:--We,
the undersigned, citizens of Clermont County, take pleasure in recommending the
bearer, Joseph Hull Jr., to their attention as an honest, sober, industrious
and worthy man, worthy of the confidence of any community, having proved himself
as such to our entire satisfaction after an acquaintance of more than twenty
years.
“Harvey
Perin.
“John
Williams.
“John
Hall.
“Colton Spence, M. D.”
About 1840 he became a member of a rifle
company, and occupied the position three or four years. August 21, 1844, he received a commission from M.
Bartley, then Governor of Ohio, as Major of the First Rifle Regiment, Third
Brigade, and Eighth Division of the State Militia for the term of six years; he
took the oath of office, but resigned his commission the following year when he
left the State. April, 1845, he
determined to go to Oregon, his health being somewhat impaired;
accordingly, he went to Independence, Missouri, and joined a large train, consisting of
600 wagons and a large number of cattle.
On the 5th day of May, of that year, the train, well
organized and equipped, started for Oregon.
At Malhenr River, which empties into the Snake River, the party was divided by an old trapper
who represented that he knew of a short cut to Willamette Valley.
About fifty or sixty persons joined him.
They reached Oregon City, December 8, 1845, two months later than the party who
came by the old trail. Mr. Hull
immediately took up a claim about fifteen miles east of Oregon City, of 640
acres, set out an orchard, made improvements, built a house and enclosed some
ground; remained until 1848, when having heard of the gold discovery here, he
determined to come to California. He
joined a train of forty-two wagons with Peter H. Burnett, who was afterward the
first Governor of California, as captain, and started on the 12th of
September. They came through that
portion of the Klamath region where the lava beds are located, and struck Pit River, which they followed into the heart of
the Sierra Nevadas.
There they found old Peter Lassen with a train of Eastern emigrants,
whom he was taking to his ranch on the upper Sacramento River.
Their wagons were disabled and they had been there a month; their stock of groceries were exhausted. Mr. Hull’s party took them through to the
valley. They reached Park’s Bar on the Yuba River, October 5. Mr Hull remained
there mining until January 3, 1849, when he started to return to Oregon, by water, going to San Francisco via Fort Sutter.
He was forced to wait several days in that city for a vessel, but
finally took passage on the Jeanet, on board which
was old General
Joseph Lane,
who had been appointed Governor of Oregon Territory. They reached Oregon City in due time. Mr. Hull remained there until April, when he
again came to California, bringing his family with him. He mined on the Mokelumne
river until October of that year, when he moved to Benicia and entered into the
business of making lime, which then commanded as high a price as $15 a barrel,
with two Eastern men who pretended to understand the business thoroughly. The made a failure of it because of heavy
importations of lime from the East as ballast.
In 1851 he came to Sacramento, where he followed teaming until the fall
of 1852; then moved upon his ranch near Brighton, where he has remained ever
since. In 1863 he was elected supervisor
of this county; he was president of the board two years of that time and went
out of office in 1867. Politically he
has been a Republican since the birth of that party in this State, but of late
years has seen much in the dealings of that party which has greatly lessened
his enthusiasm, although he usually votes the party ticket. He has always paid considerable attention to
educational matters and started the first district school in this part of the
township, contributing a large amount of his time and means in order to do
this. He followed surveying while in Oregon.
He surveyed the claim where East Portland now is. He has done
considerable of it in this county. Mr.
Hull has been twice married. His first
wife was Sarah Ann James, a native of Ohio.
She died leaving one daughter, Margaret, who is now the wife of Ethan A.
Grant of the county. The second wife was
Susannah Cazel, also a native of Ohio.
She died in Sacramento County, in 1858, the mother of five children,
four of whom are still living: Thomas,
George, Joseph, and Mary. The three sons
are living in Los
Angeles County, and the daughter, Mrs. Hasley, resides in Solano County.
Transcribed by Karen Pratt.
Davis, Hon. Win. J., An
Illustrated History of Sacramento County,
California. Page 519-521. Lewis Publishing Company. 1890.
©
2005 Karen Pratt.