Tuolumne
County
Biographies
JOHN PEREIRA
The well known California pioneer of
1850 whose name is above is a son of a Portuguese father and mother and was
born in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, in 1814, the second in order of birth of a
family of eleven children, of whom only he and two sisters survive. His father’s and mother’s families have long
been well known in Funchal. Mr. Pereira
came to the United States in 1838 and afterward learned the shoemaker’s trade. Eventually he went to New Orleans, Louisiana,
where he worked at his trade until 1849, when he set out for California by way
of Panama. Soon after his arrival at San
Francisco he went to Sacramento and from there to Marysville, Yuba County. From Marysville he went to Foster’s Bar, on
the Yuba River, and at first engaged in the work of turning the river from its
course to facilitate mining in its bed, but was obliged to abandon this labor
because working in cold water gave him rheumatism. He mined there successfully, however, for six
weeks, in which time he and his comrades took out about eighteen hundred
dollars each. But Indians had killed
several white men there and threatened another attack, and the miners abandoned
their claim and went back to San Francisco.
Three months later, yellow fever broke out there and Mr. Pereira was
seriously thinking of returning to his native land, when he was induced to buy
a stock of goods and engage in trade in Jamestown. He sold his goods on credit, and, the season
being very dry and mining poor, he was unable to make collections and was soon
without merchandise or capital. He mined
on Wood’s Creek for a time, with poor success, and was taken sick and carried
to Jamestown on an improvised stretcher.
Upon his recovery, with Dr. Clark as a partner, he bought a team of
horses and a wagon and engaged in teaming between Jamestown and Sonora. Later they established a livery stable and a
stage line from Sonora to Columbia Hill and other lines to Stent and other
points in Tuolumne and Mariposa counties.
In 1857 Mr. Pereira and Dr. Clark dissolved partnership, Mr. Pereira
retaining the livery and all other property except the stage line, which in the
division went to Dr. Clark.
The historic Fraser River excitement
followed, with all its hopes and disappointments, and was instrumental in
almost depopulating Jamestown for a time and ruining its business. Mr. Pereira remained and bought land and
became one of the pioneer fruit and grape growers of Tuolumne County, owning
three hundred and fifty-nine acres and prosecuting the vineyard and wine
business vigorously and successfully, making wine some years to the amount of
eighteen thousand gallons. He sent his
fruit and wine by large wagon loads to all parts of the surrounding country and
secured a large and valuable trade and was one of the foremost in building up
Jamestown. He became interested in
quartz and gravel mines and now owns valuable mining claims in addition to
extensive real estate holdings. When the
railroad was built to Jamestown he gave twenty-five acres to the company for
passenger depot grounds and donated one hundred and forty acres for a town
site, and for many years he has been active and prominent in constructing and
improving the roads in all directions from Jamestown. He also built the Jamestown Hotel, now known
as the Willow Hotel, at an expense of six thousand, five hundred dollars. While this enterprise was in progress many of
his townsmen believed the hotel was not needed and would not be a success, but
no sooner was it opened than it was found inadequate to accommodate its
patrons, and it became one of the popular hotels of the town and was a paying
investment for Mr. Pereira, who rented it for some time at one hundred dollars
a month and eventually Mr. Pereira sold it for four thousand dollars.
Mr. Pereira is a Democrat, active in
party work, but is not personally an office seeker. He is an Odd Fellow and a Mason, and, popular
as he is in fraternal circles, he is no less popular in the business and social
world. He was married at New Orleans,
Louisiana, in 1846, to Miss Hannah Morgan, a native of Dublin, Ireland, who
bore him eight children, of whom six are living, and died in 1871. His second wife was Elizabeth Brown, who died
in 1897. His daughter Mary married S.
Stoniga. John lives at Jamestown. Sarah married George Miller and lives in San
Francisco. Frank lives on his father’s
ranch, and James and William live at Sonora.
The home at Jamestown in which Mr. Pereira is passing his declining
years is a pleasant one, and he is honored by his fellow citizens not only as a
pioneer but as a man who has lived a just and upright life, and has been
generous in his support of every measure tending to the public good.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 136-137. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.