San
Joaquin County
Biographies
MRS. ALICE M. TONE
A pioneer of California and of San
Joaquin County, Mrs. Alice M. Tone, residing at 135 East North Street,
Stockton, is rounding out her life amidst the scenes of her girlhood,
surrounded by those she loves. She is a
true representative of the sturdy womanhood that braved the perils of the long
and tedious journey to California in the early days. She came from her New York home to California
by way of Nicaragua in 1853, when she accompanied her mother and brothers to
join husband and father in the Golden state.
Her father, Nicholas Walsh, was a Forty-niner. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, where he was
married to Elizabeth Brannan and where their two oldest children, Alice M. and
Thomas Walsh, were born. The latter is
well and favorably known throughout this county. With his family, Nicholas Walsh set sail for
America in 1842, landing in New York and living there until 1849. Two boys were born in that state: Henry W., now living on the Jack Ton Road
near Stockton, and Charles, deceased.
In February, 1849, Mr. Walsh and a
party of men from his vicinity in New York left there under the guidance of Mr.
Audubon, the naturalist, for the long trip to California. They had only pack animals and saddle horses
and chose the southern route as being the best at that time of year, and after
eleven months the party arrived in the gold fields of the state. Mr. Walsh spent about a year in the mining
districts, meeting with indifferent success, which possibly decided him that
ranching was a surer way to independence than hunting for the shining
metal. In 1851 he came down into San
Joaquin County and bought out a squatter’s right to 160 acres of land on the
Waterloo Road and here began stockraising and some general farming. As usual with the pioneer, he suffered many
discouragements; but he stuck to his work and began making a name and place for
himself in his community. He sent back
to New York for his family, who joined him in 1853, arriving on April 22. With his neighbor, Mr. Kenyon, Mr. Walsh
built the first schoolhouse in that part of the county on land owned by G. Moore. The school is known today as the Moore
School. Mr. Walsh, Mr. Kenyon and Jacob
Peters were the first trustees. When the
new building was erected it was built on land donated by Mr. Walsh. In 1862, the year of the flood in this
county, the people of the section about the Walsh ranch ran out of
supplies. They built a boat, and
starting from Walsh’s house rowed direct to Stockton to the stores for their
supplies, and out into the open and back to the ranches. It was the custom to lay
in enough supplies in the fall to last all winter, for the roads were
impassable during the winter months. The
dry year followed in 1864; then the ranchers had to go to the tule lands to cut
hay for their stock, and it was during the travel back and forth that Mr. Walsh
lost his life, falling from the boat and being drowned on September 6,
1864. Mrs. Walsh lived to reach the good
old age of eighty-eight, dying November 22, 1892.
Alice M. Walsh was born in Dublin,
Ireland, in September, 1838, and when four years old was brought to America by
her parents, who located on Manhattan Island, New York State, and there she was
reared and educated. In 1853, she
accompanied her mother and three brothers to California. She well remembers the day they left New York
for Brooklyn to spend a couple of days with an aunt before leaving the east. It was March 17, and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade
halted their little party several times in passing. They left Brooklyn the 19th, and
arriving at Nicaragua crossed to the Pacific side, and from there came on to
San Francisco. She was then in her
sixteenth year and the events of the long journey are stamped indelibly on her
mind. The arrival of the family on the
ranch in San Joaquin County was an event.
It was known that Mr. Walsh expected his family, and in that family was
a young lady; and young ladies being very few in number here, the whole
population turned out to greet them as they made their way to the ranch home.
In February, 1855, Miss Walsh was
united in marriage with John H. Tone, born in New York in March, 1826, and
reared in the locality where the Walsh family had settled upon arrival in this
country. He was a member of the same
party of gold-seekers as was Mr. Walsh, and he mined with fairly good success
for about a year, when he turned to agriculture and bought government land in
San Joaquin County in 1850. He had three
partners, each buying 160 acres; but Mr. Tone finally bought out two of his
friends and became the owner of 480 acres, all of which is still in the
possession of the family. He became very
well-known and did his part to help build up San Joaquin County, and by his
death, on June 12, 1902, the county lost a progressive citizen and the family a
devoted husband and father. Mr. Tone was
a member of the Stockton Society of California Pioneers, and was a man whose
word was a good as his bond.
The marriage of John H. Tone with
Miss Alice M. Walsh resulted in the birth of the following children: Mary Elizabeth, widow of John T. Doyle, is
the mother of two daughters, Alice T., and Gertrude, of Stockton; Margaret F.
married Samuel Storer, and they have two sons, Walter
T., who was purser on the boats running from San Pedro to Catalina until the
World War, and then was on the “President,” taken over by the government and
put in service between San Francisco and Honolulu, carrying troops and supplies;
and Theodore J., who saw service in France with the anti-aircraft
department. John N. Tones lives on the
old home place, and has six children:
Margaret, Alice, John H., Mary, Richard, and Theodore T. Catherine married Frank B. Cluff of Berkeley, and has one daughter, Elizabeth, now the
wife of Homer Gordon. Ella is the wife
of Robert Benjamin, and resides on part of the Tone ranch; she has three
children: Robert, Elecia
and Theodosia. Anna is the wife of
Harvey J. Condit, of Stanislaus County, and the mother of three daughters: Jane, Helen and Patricia. One daughter, Alice, died in 1920; and
another daughter, Laura, died at the age of five years. To such women as Mrs. Tone the country owes a
debt of gratitude; for they have done their part to raise the standard of
society, to make their children useful, and also to inculcate patriotism in the
generations to come.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
571-572. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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