Shasta County
Biographies
CHARLES JOSEPH BECKER
Charles Joseph Becker is a member of the general merchandise firm of Becker & Foster, cousins, who are industrious and good business men. Mr. Becker, unasked by himself and without much effort on his part, has just been elected one of the Supervisors of this county, which indicates to some degree the estimate his fellow-citizens have in his business ability and good judgment.
He is a Native Son of the Golden West, born in Shasta, July 19, 1857, the son of Joseph Becker, who was a native of Prussia, and who came to America in 1846, and for a time resided in St. Louis, Missouri. He married Margaret Foster, a native of Germany, and they had nine children of whom all but one are living. Mr. Becker, the eldest but one of the family, received his education in Marysville, Yuba County, and also followed barbering for nine years in that city, which he had learned of his father. In 1883 he began business with his cousin in Cottonwood, and the firm at once stepped to the front, and have since acquired a large patronage. They handle all kinds of goods, including lumber and grain in large quantities, and under their capable management their trade is steadily increasing, extending as far as fifty miles east and west. Politically Mr. Becker is a leading Republican, and is one of the directors of the Horticultural Society of the county of Shasta, and is ever ready to aid in the improvement and building up of the county. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of his school district, and was one of the men who helped build the fine school-house, which is now a fine improvement and credit to Cottonwood. He is Past President of the N. S. G. W. at Marysville.
Mr. Becker is still a single man, and has before him the usual course of events the prospect of a glorious future.
Source:Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, Lewis Publishing Co., 1891 page 762
Transcribed by: Melody Landon Gregory August 2004
JOHN WESLEY CONANT
John Wesley Conant is a prominent and influential citizen and miner of Redding, Shasta County, California. A brief sketch of his life is herewith given.
Mr. Conant was born January 14, 1845. His parents, Jacob and Matilda Conant were both natives of Tennessee, and of German ancestry. They had nine children, six of whom are still living. The subject of this sketch spent his boyhood in Tennessee, Illinois and Missouri, and learned the mason and stone-cutter's trade.
In June, 1862, he enlisted in the service of his country in Company H, Eighth Missouri Cavalry, and in 1864 re-enlisted in Company K, Twelfth Missouri Cavalry. He saw a great deal of active service; was bearing a dispatch to General Lyon when the General fell; was in the battles of Lone Jackstone Mountain and Springford, and many of the battles of the Army of the Potomac. They were sent to join Sherman at Savannah; were in the fight at Port Selma on the 8th of April; from there went to Montgomery, and drew up to fight at Lime Creek on the evening of the night that President Lincoln was killed. He was with his squadron on the right flank, and nearly all of them were killed, wounded or fell into the hands of the enemy. Mr.Conant received two shots; the ball which entered his breast he still carries behind the shoulder blade; and the other one entered his side and broke his lower rib and he cut it out with his razor. He joined his regiment in June, 1865 and was discharged in April, 1866.
In 1867 he went to the plains in the western part of Kansas and drove a team for the Government; then engaged in carrying dispatches to Fort Harper; in 1868 he went as a scout for Custer and Sheridan, and was on the raid to Fort Cell. In February they rescued the white woman who had been carried of by the Indians, and returned to Fort Hays. He was in the massacre at Salmon Falls, then went back to Fort Harper, and thence to his home in Southern Kansas in April, 1869. There he engaged in work at his trade in Douglas County. In 1870 he married Miss Alice Umberger, a native of Kansas and a daughter of Captain Umberger. By her he had one daughter, Maggie M., born in Douglas County.
Mr. Conant came to California in 1872, and settled at Stockton. From there he went to Chico, and worked for General John Bidwell. In the fall of 1873 he engaged in mining in Plumas County, and the following March he came to Shasta County. Next he went to Yreka, where he was employed at driving stock. In 1875 he went to the southern part of Siskiyou County, near the Calahan ranch, and there made a good find. In 1887 he took out over $5,000 taking $320 in a single day, no piece larger than ten dollars, and from that down to fine gold. After this he went with a pack-horse to the mountains and spent some time there prospecting. Finding nothing on the Salmon River or in the New River country, he came to the Niagara Mine, at French Gulch, and worked two months for W. T. Coleman. Then he started on another prospecting tour, and arrived at Squaw Creek, Shasta County, July 5, 1855. There he found several good mines, and named them as follows; The Mountain Rose, the Black Bear, the Logan and the Uncle Sam. Shortly after locating them he sold the first three to Edward Riley, of New York, for $45,000. Then he developed the Uncle Sam, the Hawkeye, and the Mocking Bird and the Grizzly Bear; built a steam saw-mill and a ten-stamp quartz mill, and took out $138,000. He sold the claims to the Sierra Butte mining Company, supposed to be an English syndicate, for $150,000.
At this time Mr. Conant made a trip East, returning to San Francisco in March, 1889. Since then he has invested largely in real estate, In April, 1889 he purchased a ranch of 640 acres on Feather River; came to Redding in June and bought the Reed ranch, 700 acres, one-half mile from the town; has invested in 3,608 acres of timber land and a number of city properties. In 1889, at a cost of $8,500, he built his house and barn in Redding, where he resides with his family. On his ranch near Redding he has planted 13,413 fruit trees. He has also devoted much time and attention to stock, having purchased 102 breeding mares. Among his other possessions are the ferry and the ferry-boat.
Mr. Conant is still the owner of a number of mines, which he is developing. His long experience has been of much value to him and also the county. He put down the first tunnel, 497 feet perpendicular, and thus demonstrated the fact that the deposits extend down some distance. This has done much toward reviving the mining interest of Shasta County, for mining, in a measure, was dead when he began operations. Through his influence capitalists have been induced to make investments here, and many new mines are now being developed. There are fourteen stamp mills within twenty-five miles of Redding.
Mr. Conant is a man of remarkable endurance and courage. He has roughed it in the mountains through sunshine and storm, through rain and snow, and knows what it is to live on short rations. At one time he dug a tunnel thirty-three feet deep, having nothing to eat all the time he worked except beans--beans baked, beans boiled and beans roasted. A man of strong determination and will power, he has made himself of great value in capturing criminals who had sought refuge in the mountains. He captured three murderers in Shasta Valley, and returned them to the authorities in Siskiyou County. Mr. Conant followed them four days and nights, and fired several shots at them before they surrendered. Their crime was the murder of Walter Scott, in Squaw Valley. He also captured two stage robbers, for which he received a reward of $1,600. With two hired men as assistants he rode ninety-five miles, night and day, and found them in a canon on the north fork of the east fork of Trinity River. He came upon their camp and jumped his horse down a bank eleven feet, covered them with his pistol, captured them and delivered them to justice. With the reward thus obtained he was enabled to continue his prospecting at the time. While on the plains Mr. Conant was with Dick Cody (Buffalo Bill) and went by the name of Buckskin Jack. He was captured by the Indians, under command of Charley Brent, who, after detaining him a few hours, turned him loose.
Mr. Conant's present wife was nee Miss Nellie Hamilton, a native of Sacramento. They have three children: John S., who was born in Virginia City, and Nellie E. and Mary C., born in Redding.
Our subject is a strong Republican. During the Harrison campaign he accepted the bluffs of Democrats and won $8,773 from them on the result of the election. He is a member of the G. A. R.; was reared by Methodist parents, who gave him the name of the founder of Methodism. Mr. and Mrs. Conant live in their beautiful home in Redding, surrounded by flowers, pictures and music; and the stone cutter and mason, by his perseverance and go-aheadativeness, is now the wealthy citizen in Redding.
Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, Lewis Publishing Co. 1891 pages 767-768-769
Transcribed by: Melody Landon Gregory
JOHN G. COOPER
In biographically sketching the lives of the reputable and worthy citizens of Redding, California, the writer finds few, if any, more deserving of honorable mention in a work of this character than John G. Cooper.
He was born in England, of English parents, June 3, 1821. His education was obtained in his native land, but, as he says, he is still studying. He worked at the manufacture of silk ribbon and silk hosiery; was clerk or bookkeeper for a contractor and builder; later on, learned the harness-maker's trade and worked at it for some time.
In the spring of 1844 he emigrated to the United States and settled in Plymouth, Marshall County , Indiana, where he purchased a farm and improved it by building, etc. This property he sold, and afterward bought a farm in St. Joseph County, same State, where he remained twelve years. In 1855 he came to California, via the Isthmus route, and landed in San Francisco. He engaged in dairying in San Francisco and in San Mateo County for twelve years. While there he was elected to and held the office of Justice of the Peace. He afterward removed to Napa County, purchased 640 acres of land, which he improved and for which he secured a perfected title, and there engaged in fruit culture. He remained on that place from 1867 till 1880. In the latter year he sold out and removed to Redding. Here he purchased thirty-four acres of unimproved land in the then young town. At the time of its purchase it was occupied by Indians. Mr. Cooper cleared it up, built his home and planted trees. He has disposed of it all except his home and orchard and vineyard, which he has reserved for his own use. He has eight buildings in the city, consisting of dwelling-houses and a store, all of which are occupied.
Mr. Cooper was united in marriage in 1847 to Miss Barbara Russell, a native of Ohio, and coming from an old American family. Her father was a soldier in the war of 1812. Their union was blessed with two children. One is deceased, and the other, John Henry, born in California in 1856, is a resident of Oakland, this State. He is employed as proof-reader on the Oakland “Enquirer”; is married, and has two children.
Mr. and Mrs. Cooper are faithful members of the Methodist Church. Mr. Cooper's father was a minister, who led his son to a knowledge of the gospel. At the early age of fourteen years he experienced religion and joined the church, and through all these many years he has been an intelligent and earnest worker standing up for the cause of God and humanity everywhere. He is now an ordained elder in the church at Redding. Mr. Cooper is enthusiastic over the wonderful growth and development of California. He is a member of the society known as the Sons of St. George, the object of this society being to influence Englishmen in this country to become citizens of the United States. He is also an active temperance man and a Good Templar. For many years he has cast his vote with the Republican party. He has become thoroughly identified with this country and its grand institutions, and no native born citizens could be more staunchly American than he.
Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by: Melody Landon Gregory
JOHN BENJAMIN HARTSOUGH
John Benjamin Hartsough is a Forty-niner and one of the best known characters in Northern California. He is one of oldest Americans born in the city of Detroit, Michigan. His birth occurred in the year 1811, twenty-five years before Michigan became a state. His father, Christopher Hartsough, was born in New Jersey. In the war of 1812 he was captured by the Indians, carried into Canada, pressed into the service of the English as an alien and drove a team for the English army. He married Delight Haskins, a native of Connecticut. Her father, Elisha Haskins, was a wealthy citizen of Connecticut, who removed to Canada and settled in the London district, about the year 1825, the English government giving him lands for settling there. This worthy couple, Mr. and Mrs. Hartsough, were the parents of sixteen children. The subject of this sketch was the third of their five sons.
He received his education at Detroit, Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor. While in Rock Run, Illinois, in 1837, he was converted and soon afterward began to preach. In six months he was licensed as a local preacher and went into his first work at Leadmine, Wisconsin, on the Apple River district. When Mr. Hartsough left home to enter the ministry his father, who was a follower of the teachings of Tom Paine, did all in his power to prevent his son's going and said many hard things of which he afterward repented. When they again met the father clasped his son in his arms and expressed his sorrow for the bitter things he had said. The young minister gave his father briefly the plan of salvation; he promptly accepted it and was converted. During Mr. Hartsough's preaching in Illinois and Wisconsin his ministry was blessed with numerous revivals. He labored in the vineyard of the Lord in those two States for ten years.
His health failed, and with the hope of securing a beneficial change, he came to this sunny clime, reaching California September 15, 1849. He engaged in mining until the first of May, 1850, with moderate success. Then he went over the mountains to carry provisions to the emigrants, who were starving and took their poor stock in exchange. The stock was pastured for a month, after which it was driven over the mountains. At this work Mr. Hartsough made considerable money. In 1851 he opened a grocery and provision store near Nevada City, supplying the market with his own cattle. This business he continued two years, during which time he purchased the ditch stock of a broken down company. He put the ditch in order and kept it four weeks. It, however, proved a perpetual Sabbath-breaking business, and because of that he sold it to his partner, who, in three years, realized nearly half a million of dollars from it. This ditch is still running. His partner sold it and went to San Francisco in 1862. There he engaged in stock speculations, met with reverses and drowned himself in the bay and his body was never recovered.
Mr. Hartsough sold his store and shop and removed to Yolo County, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising. In 1863 he was elected to the State Assembly, and, being a staunch Republican, used his best endeavors to keep his State in the Union. It was largely due to his efforts and to those of a few of his colleagues that the State was saved and kept from the bloodshed and disgrace that would have followed. During a great deal of his ministry his work has been gratuitous and done for the love of the cause. He has rendered much efficient service in helping to build churches in Northern California. In Redding, where he now resides, he purchased the church site for $500 with his own money, and carried on the enterprise of building the church to its completion.
In 1864 he settled his business, put his land into money, and with some stock removed to Contra Costa County. From that time until 1890 he had regular work in the ministry. He is now in his eightieth year and has retired from active ministerial labors. He owns a small farm in Colusa County and a home in Redding. He tells the following little reminiscence of his preaching:
In February, 1850, while he was holding services in a new store in Georgetown, El Dorado County, a lot of gamblers from a tent near by rushed down the street, ringing bells and rattling tin pans, shouting "Fire. Fire." His congregation made haste to get out. In a quiet voice he asked them not to be excited but to go quietly. Soon afterward they all came back, accompanied by a number of those who had made the disturbance and sat quietly to hear the sermon.
In 1838 Mr. Hartsough wedded Miss Lucy Titus, of Michigan. Their union was blessed with two children, one of whom died and the other, Christopher resides in Oregon. After four and a half years of married life his beloved companion died of pleuro-pneumonia, and he was left with his two infant sons. In 1858, fifteen years after her death, he married Mrs. Eliza Stoirs, a native of Missouri, reared in Wisconsin. While Father Hartsough has attained his four-score years, he is still quite active and walks perfectly erect with a firm, quick step. He carries such a benevolent smile on his face that one cannot fail to see that he loves God and is at peace with Him and with all the world
Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, Lewis Publishing Co., 1851 pages 763- 764 -765
Transcribed by: Melody Landon Gregory August 2004