Stanislaus
County
Biographies
NEHEMIAH F. ORDWAY
The name of Nehemiah F. Ordway is
indelibly inscribed on the pages of the history of the west, for throughout the
period of its development he was an active factor in promoting its interests
and is numbered among the honored pioneers who made possible its later-day progress
and prosperity. The lot of the pioneer
of the west has been a peculiarly hard one.
The Indians, driven from their hunting grounds farther east, have
cherished the resentment characteristic of the race and have met as foes the
brave band of white men who came to the western wilderness to reclaim the lands
for purposes of civilization and to garner the riches of nature for themselves
and families. Not only were the pioneers
met by the hostility of the Indians, but vast stretches of sandy plains and
almost impassable mountains separated them from the comforts and conveniences
of the east, and their lot was one of danger, difficulty, hardship and
toil. A courageous spirit, an
unconquerable determination and steadfast purpose, these were the qualities
demanded of the pioneers, and such characteristics enabled Mr. Ordway to meet
conditions before which many another man would have
quailed.
Mr. Ordway resides in Oakdale,
Stanislaus County, and is a native of Franklin County, New York, born on the 23rd
of July, 1834. He was therefore sixteen
years of age at the time of his arrival in California, among the ‘49ers. His ancestors were of English birth and
became early settlers of Vermont. His
father, Jonathan Ordway, was born, reared and married in the Green Mountain
state, Elizabeth Green, also a native of Vermont, becoming his wife. The father was a physician by profession and
was also an owner of a farm. He removed
to Franklin County, New York, becoming one of the pioneer medical practitioners
and farmers of his locality. He attained
the age of seventy years, but his good wife passed away previously. They were both consistent members of the
Methodist Church and in that faith they reared their five children.
Only two of that
number are now living and Mr. Ordway is the only representative of the
family in California. His educational
privileges were very limited, so that he may be said to be self-educated in the
dear school of experience. When but a
youth he started for California, making the journey by way of the Isthmus of
Panama. His passage and expenses
amounted to two hundred and ten dollars, such were the high prices charged at
that time. A very severe storm was
experienced during the voyage, the waves running “mountain” high. The ship was disabled and the crew and
passengers were compelled to work at the pumps night and day to keep the vessel
afloat. The water rose so high that the
fires were extinguished and the passengers were saved only through the intervention
of another ship which towed into harbor the one on which Mr. Ordway had taken
passage. The escape was indeed a narrow
one. Our subject went direct from San
Francisco to the placer mines in Tuolumne County, and was engaged in mining in
Jackass Gulch, where he had a little claim, out of which he took considerable
gold, securing about six hundred dollars in a month. That mine subsequently yielded fifteen
thousand dollars. The food supply among
the miners was limited during the following winter and in consequence the
prices were very exorbitant. In the
spring Mr. Ordway went to Stockton on horseback, and later proceeded to San
Francisco, where he boarded a ship bound for Australia, on which were one
hundred and sixteen passengers. After
they had left the port it was discovered that two of the passengers had
smallpox. All of the others were then
vaccinated and the progress of the disease was thus impeded. At the equator they were becalmed for two
weeks. At the time they reached the
Sandwich Islands it was found that their supply of provisions was inadequate
and there they purchased hogs and cocoanuts, and soon they were out of food
again and this time supplied the deficiency by obtaining crackers from another
ship. They subsisted on these, together
with some arrowroot which they had on board.
Before reaching the harbor the ship was struck by a typhoon and they
were in a gale for six weeks, the sea being lashed into great fury. At length the wind changed, blowing from
another direction, but that merely added to the roughness of the sea. When the storm subsided they saw near them a
ship turned bottom side up and knew that all of its passengers must have been
lost. The vessel on which Mr. Ordway
sailed had been blown two hundred miles out of its course, but they finally
landed at Geelong and there obtained food.
The passengers again boarded the ship and at least reach Melbourne in
safety after a very stormy voyage of six months.
On the voyage Mr. Ordway had formed
the acquaintance of a little Dutchman and they decided to keep together. They made their way to Bendigo, where Mr.
Ordway worked for two days for seven dollars and fifty cents per day, and then
got a claim of his own, twelve by twelve feet.
He sunk a hole in the middle of this and struck a vein of pure gold
which looked like flax seed and was worth nineteen dollars and fifty cents per
ounce. He and his partner took out three
thousand dollars in a week, worked out the claim and then started for
Bendigo. The Dutchman stopped at White
Sand Hill, but Mr. Ordway proceeded on his journey and in connection with
others he purchased a claim on which a shaft had not as yet been sunk to a
depth where gold could be obtained. The
new owners, however, worked it out in two days and secured fifteen thousand
dollars, the streak of gold only crossing one corner of the claim. Mr. Ordway’s Dutch friend was fortunate in
his venture and took out gold to the weight of two hundred pounds from the
White Sand Hill. There were many
convicts from Van Dieman’s Land and the miners were
in constant dread of being killed and robbed.
Mr. Ordway had purchased horses and was hauling wood. In this way he made considerable money, but
at night his horses had to be fastened with heavy chains in order to keep them
from being stolen. One night he awoke
and heard talking outside of his tent in the direction of the horses. He fired a shot and the robbers escaped; but
not relishing such an existence, he a little later decided to return to
Melbourne. It was his intention to buy a
stage-coach and engage in running it, as the fare for the passage of sixty
miles was fifty dollars; but he could not secure a stage-coach at any price,
and accordingly left Australia, taking a ship for South America.
He went to New Zealand and thence to
Callao, South America. Desiring to
prospect on the Amazon, he obtained a pass from the American consul, for at
that time there was a rebellion in the land and there was considerable trouble
in getting through the army lines. Mr.
Ordway and his companions crossed the mountains that were sixteen thousand and
six hundred feet above the sea level.
When they were at that altitude the blood burst from their eyelids and
the ends of their fingers and they became stupefied. They succeeded, however, in getting to the
top of the mountain and to where some Englishmen were working a mine, and there
they lay for twenty-four hours not knowing or wanting anything, and their
horses were in the same condition! They
found gold all through that country on the tributaries of the Amazon River, but
they also saw unpleasant sights, for in the jungles there were boa constrictors
and wild animals that rendered life unsafe.
The Indians, too, were a constant menace, being very hostile, and the
lives of the white men were continually endangered. They saw bridges made of hay, rope and
sticks, but the monkeys did not have to resort to any such means to cross the
rivers, as they would spring across wide streams, one holding the other in his
mouth until they formed a chain long enough to bridge the water!
Mr. Ordway and his party returned to
Callao, and as there was no passenger ship at the port they asked for passage
on an American man-of-war. During the
voyage he formed a high opinion of the ability of the American navy, noting the
excellent marksmanship and splendid training.
At length Mr. Ordway arrived in San Francisco and made his way to Gold
Springs, Tuolumne County, where he constructed a water race and again met with
success in his mining ventures.
Subsequently he came to Stanislaus County, where he purchased two
hundred and fifty acres of rich land at Langworth on
the river bottom, where he raised melons and pumpkins so large that one could
hardly hold them. At first he made a
great deal of money, for the products brought good prices. In one season he raised over two hundred tons
of wheat, having in the meantime purchased additional tracts of land until he
had about one thousand acres. Through
adverse circumstances, however, he lost all of this.
On the 31st of December,
1857, Mr. Ordway was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth H. Kennedy, a native
of Pennsylvania, a daughter of John Kennedy, whose ancestors were from the
north of Ireland. She came to California
in 1857. Seven children were born to
their marriage: Walter K., who is the
baggage master and car inspector at Oakdale; Clara D., at home; J. Ernest, of
Oakdale; William A., who is engaged in railroading; Fanny M., now the wife of
William H. Shipman, of Oakdale; and Frank M. and Lizzie, who are still with
their parents. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ordway
are valued members of the Methodist Church, and several of their children also
belong to the same religious body. For
years he has been a trustee in the church and is one of the earliest members of
the church at Oakdale. During the
intervening years he has ever been loyal and true to its teachings, doing all
in his power to advance its work. He is
a strong temperance man and is a member of the Order of St. Paul, a church
society whose members make it a principle of their lives to do good to every one.
Mr. Ordway has had an eventful
experience, and if his history should be written in detail it would prove more
exciting and interesting than many of the tales of fiction which so enchain the
attention of the young. He has endured
the hardships of pioneer life, the storms at sea, has faced the robbers of
Australia and wild animals of South America, and though never courting danger
he has resolutely manifested a fearless spirit that has awakened a high
admiration. His life has been honorable
and true and of manly principles, and among the worthy pioneers of the state
none are deserving of a higher regard than Nehemiah F. Ordway.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 680-683. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2011
Gerald Iaquinta.