Sacramento County
Biographies
JAMES TOUHEY
JAMES TOUHEY. The varied experiences
which have marked the life of Mr. Touhey since his
arrival in California, nearly
fifty years ago, give him a fund of information concerning pioneer days that is
both concise and diversified. During the
period when mining was the principal and almost the only industry of this now
great commonwealth, he visited many of the principal camps, inspected the
leading mines, and enjoyed a certain share of good luck in his efforts to
discover the precious metal. Later, when
he relinquished mining for other enterprises, he had contracts of more than
ordinary magnitude, and during busy seasons furnished employment to from one
hundred to two hundred men. Of recent
years he has continued his mining interests, but now makes a specialty of
dredging, and has been instrumental in securing the introduction and adoption
of new methods by which the reduction of gold is made simple and profitable.
A
native of Ireland, born in the city of
Limerick, March 23, 1842, James Touhey is a son of John and Catherine (Gleason) Touhey, also natives of the Emerald Isle. During his childhood the family immigrated to
the United States and settled in New
York, where the parents spent their remaining years upon a farm in
Wayne county. On that farm, in the midst of rural
surroundings and with only such advantages as country schools afforded, James Touhey passed the years of youth in an uneventful
manner. At the age of twelve years he
started out to earn his own livelihood and from that time on he was self-supporting. After his arrival in California
in 1858 he settled at Folsom City and remained there until 1863, when he
removed to Aurora, Nev.,
in and around which place he engaged in gold mining. Later he went to Virginia City,
where he was fortunate in striking a rich vein.
On his return to Folsom City in 1865 he resumed mining in that locality.
When
the railroad across the continent was under process of construction Mr. Touhey was employed at the summit of the mountains in 1867
and aided in its building at that point.
After the completion of his contract with the railroad company he came
to Sacramento, which since has
continued to be his home. For a time he
was engaged in street work, later had a contract for the building of a portion
of the levee on the Sacramento river. With the aid of his large corps of workmen he
took many contracts for street grading.
On the completion of the state capitol he had charge of the grading and
also prepared the ground around the building so that it would be graded above highwater mark. In
addition to large personal contracts, for four years he held office as street
commissioner of Sacramento, a
position that he filled with characteristic energy and faithfulness. As a result of investments made in past years
he now owns valuable real estate in and near Folsom City as well as in Sacramento. In 1870 he was united in marriage with Miss
Sarah O’Hare of Sacramento, a native of Boston,
Mass., and they are the parents of two children,
Cornelius and Mary, the former a resident of Oakland, this
state, and the latter residing with her parents in the Sacramento
home.
Transcribed by Priscilla Delventhal.
Source: “History of
the State of California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley,
California” by
J. M. Guinn. Page 965.
Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1906.
© 2007 Priscilla Delventhal.