San Joaquin County
Biographies
SHUBAEL DUNHAM
SHUBAEL DUNHAM, a rancher of
Douglass Township, residing in Stockton, was born in Martha’s Vineyard,
Massachusetts, September 15, 1825, a son of George and Eliza (Manter) Dunham.
The mother died at about the age of thirty-one, both her parents, Jonathan and
Jane (Butler) Manter, reached the ages of eighty and seventy, respectively,
both being natives of New England. The father, born about 1803, died in 1872,
and his parents, Shubael and Charlotte (Norton) Dunham, also lived to be
seventy or more; especially his grandparents Norton were also long-lived, and
owned a large tract of land on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, being able to
give a farm at marriage to each of their eight daughters. Grandfather Shubael
Dunham, the son of an English emigrant, was a sea captain in middle life, and
postmaster of what is now known as Vineyard Haven, he and his son, George,
holding it in succession for thirty years. The former served in the local
custom-house for some years, and the son filled some of the town offices for the
greater part of his mature life, both also owning farms in the vicinity. Of the
children of George and Eliza (Manter) Dunham, four are living in 1890. The
subject of this sketch and his sister Peggy, by marriage Mrs. James Skiff, in
this county; Charlotte, Mrs. Isaac Cowan, of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and
Eliza, the wife of William E. Sparrow, M. D., of Plymouth County,
Massachusetts, residing at Mattapoisett.
The subject of this sketch was
enterprising from his youth, and could with difficulty be kept from going to
sea. He was induced to learn the trade of carpenter, but served an
apprenticeship of only six months, when he left for Wisconsin and worked at his
trade in Port Washington, near Milwaukee. He soon bought 160 acres in that
State, and had spent only a few years in Wisconsin, when he caught the gold
fever. He came to California in 1849, across the plains, leaving Milwaukee in
February and taking about six months to reach Salt Lake city, where those who
had families, about forty in number, left them to winter, and then pushed on by
the Humboldt route, and Mr. Dunham reached Sacramento in September, 1849. He
went to mining on the Cosumnes and Dry creek, making also a prospecting tour as
far as Mariposa. In 1850 he opened a miners’ supply store on Dry Creek, which
he conducted for more than a year, when he sold out. In 1851 he went East by
way of Panama, and was married in 1852 to Miss Elizabeth Dexter, of Martha’s
Vineyard. After some months he again set out for California by the Nicaragua
route, and on his arrival, in 1853, he bought a half interest in a store on
Mormon creek, in Tuolumne County. Dissolving partnership in 1855, he took 160
acres of land in this county, in settlement. In 1856 he again went East, and
returned with his wife and child. In 1859 he built on his ranch, at a cost of
about $10,000, a fine residence and farm buildings. To his 160 acres he added
by purchase of adjoining lands from time to time until he owned 1,760 acres in
one body in Douglass Township. Of this he deeded 320 acres to his son James S.,
about 1876, and still owns 1,440 acres, the farming of which he now
superintends from this city, the chief product being wheat. He was the first to
ship flour to New York and wheat to Liverpool from this county. About 1876 he
bought the residence and grounds he occupies in this city, and has continued to
improve and embellish them down to 1890. By his second wife, Berenice Bishop, a
native of this State and for some time a residence with her uncle in Honolulu,
Mr. Dunham has three children: Lucille, Charles Bishop and Kneeland L. Dunham.
Mr. Dunham has been a director of the Farmers’ Union since its establishment,
and is interested in the Stanislaus Canal Company and the San Joaquin Water
Company.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County, California,
Pages 619-620. Lewis Pub. Co. Chicago,
Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
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