Alameda County
Biographies
JOHN CUSHING
The subject of this sketch whose portrait appears in this work was born on the east side of the Green Mountains, Bethel, Orange County, Vermont, September 28, 1832, and is the eldest child of Daniel and Hannah (Townsend) Cushing. When but one year old he was taken by his parents to Delaware County, Ohio, and seven years later to Kane County, Illinois, where his father was engaged in the manufacture of fanning-mills and reapers. In 1846 death deprived him of his mother and the home associations being thus broken, his father and our subject in March, 1849, commenced the arduous undertaking of crossing the plains to California. On the journey, Mr. Cushing, Senior, sickened and died, and with a heavy heart our subject continued his lonely way, arriving with his party at Sacramento, October 1, 1849. On arrival he laid in a stock of provisions and took them to Bidwell’s Bar on the Feather River, where he passed the winter of 1849-50, varying the monotony of the days by occasional prospecting. In the succeeding spring he moved his worldly possessions to Redding Springs, Shasta County, thence to Weaverville, Trinity County, where he lived until the fall of 1851, established himself, and brought goods from Marysville. He afterwards for a time engaged in mining at Weaverville and for the winter of 1851 returned to Shasta, but soon moved to Whetstone Bar, Trinity River. Mr. Cushing and his companions built the first cabin in that quarter. He then returned to Shasta County, and engaged in ranching on the Stillwater, until the spring of 1853, when he engaged with the firm of Tomlinson & Wood, wholesale grocers, at Shasta. In 1855 he entered into partnership with G. I. Taggart in the retail grocery business in Shasta City, which continued two years, at the end of which he associated himself with O. P. Fuller and erected a brick building, twenty by eighty feet, wherein he carried on the same business. The partnership with Fuller lasted one year, when he then joined C. C. Bush. In 1866 he disposed of his business to Bush & Carlson, removed to Roaring River, or Cottonwood, and conducted a mercantile business for three years and a half, when, selling out, he came to Oakland in 1870, having first taken a trip through the State. In the spring of 1870 he purchased a half-interest in the business of R. McCrum, general grocers, where he remained five years, consolidating, however, at the expiration of three years, with the firm of L. Bradley. In the following year Mr. Cushing sold out to J. J. Cadogan and retired from business for a twelvemonth. In 1876, in partnership with Andrew Ryder, the present County Clerk, Mr. Cushing once more engaged in business, and at the end of eighteen months, purchasing the interest of that gentleman, he has since conducted its affairs alone. Married, March 22, 1862, Annette, daughter of N. C. Farrington, of Orino, Maine, and has: Henry, Rosie, Charles, and George.
History of Alameda County, California…, Oakland, M.W. Wood Publ., 1883
p. 871
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler, January, 2005.
L. H. CUTLER, M. D.
Was born in Ballston, Saratoga County, New York, April 9, 1822, and there remained during the first six years of his life, at which time he was sent to Sharon, Littlefield County, Connecticut, for a further period of five years. He then joined his parents, who had taken up their residence in Rochester, and subsequently removed with them to Cleveland, Ohio, where our subject resided and received his early education. He next attended and graduated from the Western Reserve Medical College in 1846, and in the spring of the following year emigrated to Stephenson County, Illinois, where he commenced the practice of his profession. Leaving that State in March, 1850, for the Golden State, he arrived at Johnson’s Ranch on the national holiday of that year, and proceeding to Nevada City, there dwelt and engaged in business in partnership with P. B. Fagan for two years. In the fall of 1852 he returned to Illinois, and afterwards took up his residence in Wright County, Iowa, with his family, and there made his domicile until 1872. Doctor Cutler’s has been no ordinary life; indeed, it may be said it has been one of extraordinary activity. In the year 1860 he was elected to the State Legislature of Iowa for one term; in January, 1862, he assisted in the organization of the Thirty-second Regiment, Iowa Infantry, and with this corps proceeded to the front as Captain of Company A. He was subsequently transferred to the Ninth Regiment, as surgeon, and with it remained until mustered out of the service after the siege of Vicksburg. He then returned to his home in Iowa, and, in the bosom of his family, dwelt continuously there until he once more turned westward toward the Pacific shores. On arrival, he looked around for a spot on which to “pitch his tent,” but where all places are so captivating he found difficulty in making a choice. At length his selection was made in Alameda County, in February, 1872, and in the following year his family joined him at Livermore, where he has since resided, practiced his profession, and conducted a drug-store. He married his present wife October 9, 1875, Miss F. A. Keeler, a native of Medina, New York, and has three children, viz.: Charles C., George L., and Cora A.
History of Alameda County, California…, Oakland, M.W. Wood Publ., 1883
p. 871-872
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler, January, 2005.