Sacramento County
Biographies
THOMAS
MORTON LINDLEY
T. M. LINDLEY.--It is with pleasure in this history of Sacramento County that we make mention not only of one of the most prominent, but one of the pioneer merchants of the Pacific coast, Mr. Thomas Morton Lindley, Sr., proprietor of the old-established firm of Lindley & Co., of Sacramento city. Although the scope of this work permits only a brief glance at the story of his busy life, yet even this page, taken from the many which would be necessary to relate in full the history of his career, will be found interesting to those who shared the dangers and privations incident to the early pioneer days of California, as well as the friends and associates of later years. A few short years and the story of pioneer days will have passed from the memory of living men, and will only be known only by such records as the pen of the historian shall have inscribed upon the tablets of such volumes as these, to be cherished with loving care by the generations that will follow. The subject of this sketch is a native of the State of Indiana, and was born near the Kentucky State line, August 19, 1819, only three years subsequent to the admission of that State into the federal Union. His parents were Thomas Lindley, a native of North Carolina, and Jane (Hoops) Lindley, a native of Chester County, Pennsylvania. Like so many other men who in after life have become prominent, the early years of Mr. Lindley’s life were passed upon a farm, and his preliminary education acquired at the common-schools. As he grew to man’s estate his aspiration for a wider field of usefulness prompted him at the early age of eighteen to return to his native State, and he accepted a clerkship in the mercantile house of Lindley, Patterson & Ray, Terre Haute, and in this way securing for himself a practical education in those fundamental principles upon which the superstructure of every successful business career must be based. When the attention of the whole country was attracted by the discovery of gold in California, young Lindley was among the first to make the venturesome trip and became one of a party of eight who, leaving Terre Haute March 4, 1849, turned their faces resolutely towards the land of golden promise. One of the party was L. A. Booth, now of San Francisco; he and Mr. Lindley having bought a supply of merchandise to ship out here, upon arriving at New Orleans, Mr. Booth decided to come via Cape Horn, and Mr. Lindley and his party secured passage on the old steamer Globe to Brazos, and thence to Brownsville, where they secured their outfit, and crossed over to Matamoras and came across the country via Monterey and Durango to Mazatlan, and arrived safely in San Francisco June 9, 1849. Their journey was uneventful. They did not see any Indians, and were not disturbed by the Mexicans; it being just after the Mexican war the latter had a wholesome regard for Americans. Very soon after his arrival Mr. Lindley came to Sacramento and went at once to the mines at Little Horse-Shoe Bar, on the north fork of the American River. After a few weeks he began teaming with an ox team belonging to a Mr. Merrill, a gentleman from Oregon, hauling emigrants to the mining camps. This was remunerative for a short time, and when Mr. Lindley returned to Sacramento and began to build a log house on L street between Seventh and Eighth, he could find only three trees long enough, and had to give it up, and cut poles and hewed them out and in this way constructed a frame building for the merchandise owned by himself and Mr. Booth, soon to arrive, and this was one of the early mercantile houses in what was soon to be the capital city of the great State of California. The firm was Lindley & Booth, and continued until the flood of 1849 swept away all they had. One year later Mr. Lindley began keeping a store at Murderer’s Bar, and such were the vicissitudes in the early days that he was engaged in teaming, hauling goods to the mountains, alternating this arduous but remunerative occupation with the more agreeable avocation of buying and selling cattle and shipping barley. After the floods of the winter of 1852-’53 he again engaged in business and became a member of the firm of Fry, Hoops & Co., corner of Seventh and J streets, and a few years later became sole proprietor and continued the business alone until 1858, when the firm of Lindley, Worcester & Weaver was organized, and continued until the flood of 1861. Recovering from this disaster, Mr. Lindley bought his partners’ interest, and soon afterward the firm became Lindley, Hull & Lohman, and later Lindley & Lohman. About 1869 Mr. Lindley, having bought out the interest of Mr. Lohman, admitted two young men as partners and the firm became Lindley & Co., and since then for the past twenty years the firm name has remained unchanged, though in a few years Mr. Lindley became sole proprietor and carried on the business alone for some years. In 1886 D. A. Lindley, his eldest son, was admitted a member of the firm. The subject of our sketch gives their extensive business his active attention. He enjoys an enviable reputation in the trade, and the old-established house of Lindley & Co. is said to hold the distinction of being one of the oldest in the trade on the coast, and is certainly one of the most favorably and widely known. The ups and downs of business life incident to a new and rapidly developing country have left little time to be devoted to matters political. Mr. Lindley has never sought or been willing to accept political preferment, although as a member of the Board of School Commissioners, and also a member of the Board of Levee Commissioners, in 1863-’64-’65, he contributed his share toward the public weal; and he is an old and honored member of the Sacramento Society of California Pioneers. In 1857 Mr. Lindley was united in marriage to Miss Isabel V. Arrington, a native of North Carolina. The death of this estimable lady occurred June 22, 1880, leaving eight children, seven of whom survive. Of his private life and home associations it is not our province to speak. Their beautiful, commodious home, 1314 H street, is one of the most attractive in the Capital City, and here surrounded by the loving care of affectionate children, the subject of this sketch is enjoying a well earned repose.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Davis, Hon. Win. J., An Illustrated History of
Sacramento County, California. Pages 705-708. Lewis
Publishing Company. 1890.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.