San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JONATHAN HOLT DODGE
The qualities which have contributed
to success in new countries have always been characteristics of the family
represented by the late Jonathan Holt Dodge, a California pioneer of 1850. The genealogy shows the undoubted antiquity
and gentle blood of his English ancestors, several patents granting coats of
arms, or confirming preceding grants, being preserved in the family to this
day. As early as 1635 the first American
ancestor, Richard Dodge, came to the new world and settled at Beverly,
Massachusetts, where he took an active part in the early struggles of the
Colonies, and assisted in the founding and maintenance of one of the greatest
institutions of learning in the United States, Harvard College. Others of this lineage bore an active part in
the Revolutionary War.
Jonathan Holt Dodge was born in
Lamoille County, Vermont, July 21, 1819.
He made the most of educational advantages in his boyhood and later
gained a broad information, which gave him the power
of initiative in the new conditions of the country. In early life he started out to make his own
way in the world, and following the tide of emigration he came to McHenry
County, Illinois, where he was living at the time of the discovery of gold in
California. Eager to avail himself of this new opportunity, to make a fortune in the
great unknown west, Mr. Dodge settled up his affairs in Illinois and on
Christmas Day, 1849, with his boyhood friend, J. H. Cole, he left for
California. They went to St. Louis and
there took a steamboat for New Orleans, arriving January 17, 1850. The government steamer, commanded by Capt.
David Porter, on which they took passage February 12, 1850, conveyed Mr. Dodge and
Mr. Cole to the Isthmus of Panama. There
they hired natives to carry their luggage across to Panama, where they embarked
on the sailing vessel Greyhound, which anchored at San Francisco, forty-seven
days later.
After their arrival they went to
Sacramento by steamboat and then journeyed to the south fork of the American
River, six miles from where gold was first discovered at Coloma. Meeting with little success in the mines, and
realizing the wonderful possibilities in the great interior of California, they
soon decided to take up lands in the San Joaquin Valley, and on December 3,
1850, they settled in San Joaquin County.
After a partnership of seven years with J. H. Cole, in which a large
section of land was held jointly, Mr. Dodge purchased in his own name a large
tract near the Calaveras River, a part of the famous Pico Grant. This became one of the grain ranches so
conspicuous here in the early days of California.
On November 8, 1859, Mr. Dodge was
married to Miss Emily Bray, who was born in Lancastershire, England, and was
descended from an old and prominent family.
The first dwelling of Mr. and Mrs. Dodge was a picturesque log
house. It was on the property at the
time of Mr. Dodge’s purchase and was the first house in the county. The house was built by Dr. J. C. Isbell, a
pioneer of 1846. A frame building
brought around Cape Horn on a sailing vessel was added to the log structure and
this continued to be the Dodge home until in 1866 Mr. Dodge erected a large,
substantial residence. It is of
considerable interest to know that General John C. Fremont on his way from
Sutter’s Fort made this site his camping place on March 26, 1844.
In addition to the cultivation of
grain, stockraising formed a very important part of Mr. Dodge’s business, and
he became well known for the thorough-bred horses, cattle and sheep held in his
possession. In connection with this
business, he purchased in Merced County a ranch of several thousand acres. Mr. Dodge became interested in grape culture
and planted a large vineyard of imported grapes, one of the first in the
county. This experiment proved
successful and encouraged many others to enter this industry for themselves.
Always public spirited, Mr. Dodge
did much to contribute toward the welfare of the county; where for so many
years he made his home. He was a staunch
friend of the cause of education and was instrumental in establishing the first
school in that locality. He gave the use
of the old log house for that purpose and soon after donated the site for a
schoolhouse and contributed largely towards its erection and maintenance. Especially kind was Mr. Dodge in assisting
others less fortunate than him to gain a foothold in the new country. By all who knew him he was held in high
esteem and respect of which he was so eminently worthy.
It is to men of the caliber of
Jonathan Holt Dodge that California today owes much of its present prosperity
and greatness. Though so successful in
his early life in California Mr. Dodge later became over-confident in his
investments and met with reverses. His
death occurred July 20, 1893. A portion
of the former property, together with the family residence, now remains in
possession of his daughters where they maintain their home, located on the
Waterloo-Lockeford Road at the crossing of the Calaveras River. The children of the Dodge family were as
follows: Henry L., Clara, now Mrs. M. T.
Noyes; Florence, deceased; Emily M., Anna L., and Charles Holt, deceased.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
476. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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