San
Joaquin County
Biographies
ANDREW WOLF
To depict in their entirety the
salient events in the life of Andrew Wolf, would be to portray the progress of
California during the period that has elapsed since its American occupancy, and
such portrayal would fortunately familiarize the younger generation of readers
with many of the thrilling adventures experienced by the men known in history
as the pioneers of ’49. To this class
belonged Mr. Wolf, who in the flush of young manhood made the memorable journey
across the plains to the unknown region lying beside the sunset sea. Travelers of the present day, crossing the
continent in the splendidly equipped limiteds, cannot
realize the dangers and hardships incident to that trip taken under the conditions
existing sixty years ago. To that
journey as made by Mr. Wolf there was added to the dangers from attacks by
Indians and starvation through being lost on the desert the even greater danger
of cholera whose victims fell by the wayside, where their bones met the eyes of
the traveler to add terror to his dreams at night.
The life which this narrative
depicts began in Bath Township, Greene County, Ohio, May 26, 1821, in the
farmhouse of John W. and Mary (Hawker) Wolf.
During the era antedating the Revolution the Wolf family became
established in America, its first representative in this country being a
pioneer of Pennsylvania. There John W.
Wolf was born in 1791, and from there in 1792 he was taken by his parents to
Greene County, Ohio, the family settling on what was then known as the Western
frontier. The first recollections of the
boy were associated with visits from friendly Indians and with hunts for wild
animals, the securing of game being the means of furnishing the family larder
with meat. During 1812 his father died
of the plague, and later he bought from the other heirs their interest in the
old homestead, where he engaged in farm pursuits. During the War of 1812 he volunteered in the
American Army and served at the front until the surrender of General Hull, when
he was honorably discharged.
The first wife of John W. Wolf was
born in Montgomery County, Ohio, November 17, 1800, and died March 5,
1837. Eight children were born of that
union, namely: Israel, born in 1819,
died at the age of fourteen years; Andrew, whose name introduces this sketch;
Catherine, born in 1822; Susannah, born in 1826, and who died in Indiana;
George W., born in 1828, a pioneer of California, where he died in 1861 at the
age of thirty-three years; Mary A., born in 1831; Malinda, born in 1833, and
who died in Dayton, Ohio; and Louise, born in 1835, now the wife of Putnam Visher, living in Stockton.
The second wife of John Wolf, whom he married February 25, 1838, was
born in Ohio in 1808 and bore the maiden name of Rebecca Swadner. Her death occurred in 1899, at the age of
ninety-one years. Of her six children
the two eldest, Elizabeth, born in 1838, and William B., born in 1840, are
deceased. Benjamin, born in December
1843, is a resident of Bryan, Ohio.
Martha A., born in 1845, makes her home in Dayton, Ohio, where also
reside John M., born in 1849, and Charles E., born in 1852.
Shortly after the death of his
mother, Andrew Wolf started to seek his own livelihood in the world and at
first clerked in a store in Dayton, Ohio, owned by an uncle, William Van Cleaf. Two years
later he embarked in business with J. R. Coblentz,
and continued there until October of 1847, when he severed the partnership and
went to Iowa to visit an uncle, Abram Morgan, of Davis County. This uncle met him at Burlington, Iowa; but
before proceeding with him he paid a visit to an old friend at Bloomington, now
called Muscatine, Iowa, and later went to his uncle’s home. Through this friend he secured a position
with Greene & Stone, general merchants and pork packers of Muscatine, with
whom he continued from November 1, 1847, to March 1, 1848. On leaving their employ it was his intention
to return to Ohio. However, he was
interviewed by Alexander Oglebie, the merchant who
had sold the first yard of calico in Muscatine.
Having planned to reenter business Mr. Oglebie
asked Mr. Wolf what he planned to do and was told that he intended to return
east as soon as he could get across the river.
The next inquiry was as to the terms on which he would enter the employ
of Mr. Oglebie.
Replying, “My price would be so high that you would not want me,” he
named the terms, not thinking they would be accepted, but at once Mr. Oglebie closed the bargain.
At first Mr. Wolf thought he would offer $100 to be released from the
bargain, but he decided it would be best to fulfill his part of the contract
and accordingly took charge of opening up the mercantile business of Oglebie & St. John, whose stock of goods had been
purchased in St. Louis.
Meanwhile the tales of the discovery
of gold in California proved so alluring that the young clerk determined to try
his luck in the west, and at once he began to make his plans for the trip. The outfit for the overland journey,
consisting of four pairs of steers, one yoke of cows and a mule, was carefully
selected by a friend, who knew the requirements of stock for such a trip. Among the party were S. C. Hastings, Dr. Owles, James Baker and a Mr. Smith. Two friends of Mr. Wolf, William Scott, an
experienced cook, and Isaac Heath, a teamster, were asked to accompany him, but
as they had no money Mr. Wolf agreed to pay their expenses, they to reimburse
him as soon as they had earned the means in California. Mr. Heath stated that he would drive every
step of the road to California and upon his arrival there would pay back
one-third, besides giving Mr. Wolf the outfit.
In the party there were thirty-six persons, three to each team, and Mr.
Scott cooked and washed for their party of three, besides doing duty as guard.
Leaving Iowa, April 5, 1849, the
party proceeded to St. Joseph, Missouri.
There they found the regular ferry would not cross the river for six
weeks with their outfit, as each party had to wait their turn. Thereupon they proceeded to make a special
ferry, at which they worked from the 11th to the 13th of
May. On the launching of the boat their
twelve wagons were ferried across free of cost in return for their work, while
if they had waited for the regular ferry it would have cost them $300 to get
their teams across the river. Meanwhile
hundreds of emigrants were dying of the cholera, and during the night of the 14th
one of their party died of the dread disease. This was the only one they lost, although
three others were very ill for a time.
With them was a doctor who never lost a case of cholera if notified in
time, and through his instrumentality many emigrants were saved, for he always
responded to appeals for aid from other parties than his own. An abundance of meat for the party was
secured through the killing of wild animals, and Mr. Wolf had a record for
killing more antelope than any other man in the train. In selecting a route the expedition adhered
to the road surveyed by Gen. John C. Fremont for the government, and traveled
to the Sink of the Humboldt over the hard road and the sand. Well-equipped with water and hay as per
instructions, they arrived at the sand strip about three o’clock in the
afternoon, intending to travel the twenty-five miles of its length during the
cool of the night, and by so doing they avoided disastrous consequences; but
all along the trail they met wagons with emigrants who had disobeyed orders and
were begging for assistance, as their stock had become worn out with hard
driving in the heat of the day. By
taking every precaution they got safely through to California, but for two
weeks they were never free from the sight of cholera victims. A saving of sixty miles was effected through
continuing the journey via Fort Laramie and the Sublette Cutoff, and they
entered California at Truckee. They camped and slept in the cabin that had been
occupied by the ill-fated Donner party, and from there traveled across the
Sierra Nevada Mountains and entered Hangtown, now Placerville, where the
company disbanded. Mr. Wolf, with his two
friends, Heath and Scott, and some members of an Illinois train, found a place
to put their stock for recruiting it, and then proceeded to the mines.
A German who belonged to the company
soon found gold that he could pick up with his hands, and claims were at once
staked out by all. In three days Mr.
Wolf cleaned up $1,500 worth of gold, but on the fourth day he was blinded by
poison oak so that further work was impossible.
Hiring a driver at ten dollars per day, he took his team to Sacramento,
meanwhile suffering untold agonies all the way.
It was his good fortune to meet an emigrant train in which a woman had
some sugar of lead, which she gave him, besides rendering every
assistance in her power. Without
her timely aid he would probably have perished on the road, but the help came
in time and after recruiting for seven days in Sacramento he was able to
proceed to San Francisco. October 15,
1849, he arrived in Stockton, and from that time to the day of his death he was
inseparably associated with the development of this part of the state. Until 1851 he engaged in freighting between
Stockton and the southern mines. Later
he built a livery stable on Main Street, and in time this business increased
until he owned 200 feet on Main Street, 130 feet on California, 150 on Market
and 100 on Sutter Street. The Wolf
stables became known throughout the entire state and remained in the same
location until 1906 although after 1865 he leased the business to other
parties. As early as 1860 he became
interested in farming, and in 1865 he moved his family to his ranch on the Mariposa
Road, eight miles from town, where he owned 800 acres of land. For this he paid two dollars and fifty cents
per acre after buying out some squatters who had settled on the tract. With characteristic generosity he donated
land to the railroad and for the opening up of highways, which lessened his
ranch to 750 acres. The land is fertile,
and sill ranks among the finest properties of the kind in the entire
valley. After 1875 Mr. Wolf resided in
Stockton, and with the exception of twenty years he conducted the ranch
himself. In 1886 he replaced the cottage
built in 1852 by a modern structure.
On August 17, 1852, Mr. Wolf was
married to Amanda Dwelly, a native of Maine. When she was a small child she lost her
father, and later her mother married again.
In 1850 she came to California with her mother and stepfather and
settled in Stockton. Of her marriage four
children were born. Laura, who married
W. T. Smith, died at Elko, Nevada, March 27, 1880, leaving an only daughter,
now the wife of State Senator Charles Henderson, and the mother of two
sons. Franklin resides in Alameda; he
married Laura Usher, by whom he has a daughter, Lita,
and a son, Andrew. George L., who was
born May 26, 1858, resides in Stockton and conducts a real estate business.
Delia became the wife of Dr. J. J. Meigs and is
residing in Stockton; they have on son, John Gerald.
While making the management of his
ranch his main activity during the years of his prime, Mr. Wolf found many
other enterprises to engage his attention, as might be expected of a man
possessing such great energy, varied resourcefulness, and fine qualities of
mind. Many enterprises that afterward
became important owed their origin to his foresight and progressive
spirit. He built the first track and
sheds for the Fair Association, with which he was identified as treasurer
during its existence. On the
organization of the Stockton Grange he was chosen the first master. As president of the Grangers’ Union in
Stockton he erected for them a building now occupied by Hudson & King, and
also had charge of their warehouse, where an immense volume of business was
transacted for a number of years.
Eventually he resigned his office as president and disposed of his
interests in the enterprise, thereafter living retired. In the organization of the San Joaquin County
Pioneers’ Society he was a prime factor, and for one term officiated as its
president. On September 3, 1845, he
joined Buckeye Lodge, No. 47, at Dayton, Ohio, and later became a member of
Charity Lodge, No. 6, I. O. O. F., in which he had passed all the chairs. In addition he was associated with the Parker
Encampment. At the time of his demise,
in July, 1912, aged ninety-one years, he was the oldest Odd Fellow in San
Joaquin County, and so far as known, also in the entire state. He and his wife were members of the Episcopal
Church. At the inception of the Stockton
Savings & Loan Society Bank he became one of its stockholders, and remained
until his death a member of its board of directors, in which body the value of
his sagacious counsel and optimistic spirit was appreciated, as a member of the
finance committee. Mr. Wolf was always
active in mind and body, thoroughly posted concerning matters of current
importance as well as the happenings of pioneer days, and was a delightful
companion for those progressive spirits who study conditions of the past and
present, thereby to gain an intelligent outlook on the future. No one had greater faith in the future of
Stockton than he and none were more ready to advance local projects by
contributions of time, money and by sagacious advice founded upon the
experiences of many busy years. To an
unusual degree he was honored by the people of his home town, and in its annals
his name will ever occupy a prominent place.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
686-689. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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