San Joaquin County
Biographies
JACK H. (JOHN HENLY) TONE
JACK H. TONE.--There is no
part of the history of San Joaquin County that is more interesting than that
which relates to the deeds and events that have come under the observation of
the old pioneer. The main credit of the marvelous growth and development of
this State must be attributed to that class of people--brave, sturdy and
willing to endure any and all hardships, the strength of whose early manhood
has been spent here. Such a man pre-eminently is the subject of this sketch, who
is among the few of the ‘49rs who have turned to success their hard labor and
early advantages. He is a native of New York city, born March 19, 1826, where
he was raised and grew to manhood. His father, Richard Tone, was a native of
Ireland, and in 1816, when he was a young man, he emigrated to the United
States and settled in New York. He was what might be called a general
contractor by business and followed that all his life, also carrying on farming
to a certain extent, especially raising garden vegetables for the New York
market. He died in 1848, at the age of fifty-one years. The mother of our
subject was Mary (Madden) Tone, also a native of Ireland. She died in 1878, at
the age of seventy-six years, the mother of eleven children, five sons and six daughters.
There are three sons and three daughters now living, the subject of this sketch
being the only one in California. Part of his younger days was spent in driving
teams, and for a time he was engaged as foreman in building a branch of the New
York & Erie Railroad. For a year and a half he was on the police force in
New York city. One day he said to his captain, “Captain, I’m going to
California.” At that time great excitement reigned there on account of the
discovery of gold in California. February 8, 1849, he left the city with a
party who were all bound for the same destination. They came via Philadelphia,
Baltimore, Cincinnati, down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans..
There they took a vessel across the Gulf to Brazos, where they intended to
land, but that port being quarantined they had to proceed up the Rio Grande
river as far as Camargo on the Mexican side. Cholera had broken out in the
party, and sixteen of them died of the disease, and one of them afterward died
of fever. From there they took the old trail that General Taylor traversed
during the time of the Mexican war, camping at San Diego. From there some of
the party came by water, and some by land. As Mr. Tone said, they came round
the Horn by land and it was a tedious trip.
After arriving at French Camp most of the
boys went to mining, while Mr. Tone and two or three others went to packing to
the different mining camps. The prices that had to be paid for provisions at
that time would seem almost incredible; almost everything sold for a dollar a
pound, and some things even higher than that. Mr. Tone engaged in mining at the
end of ten months; then, the dry season coming on, nothing could be found but
dry diggings; so he came to this valley and concluded he would go to farming, and
accordingly located on the place where he now is. The ranch contains 480 acres
of land, which is under the best improvement and is situated on the northeast
corner of O’Neil Township, eleven and-a-half miles from Stockton.
Mr. Tone was married in 1855 to Alice
Walsh, a native of Dublin, Ireland, who came to the States with her parents
when she was a mere child, and to California in 1853. Their family consists of
seven children: Mary, wife of John T. Doyle, residing in Stockton; Margaret,
wife of Sam Storer, of Tulare; Alice, John, Catharine, Ella and Anna.
Politically Mr. Tone was formerly an
Andrew Jackson Democrat, but since the war has been a good advocate and strong
supporter of the Republican party. He has been a hard-working man and his own
energy and perseverance have been two of the great causes of his success.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Pages 571-572. Lewis Pub.
Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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