Marin County
Biographies
JAMES BLOOM
JAMES BLOOM. Born in Switzerland July 28, 1842, where he was educated and resided until he came to California, viz Panama, arriving in San Francisco May 6, 1861. He first settled in Tomales township, and came to his present place in the Fall of 1864, where he has resided ever since, being engaged in conducting a dairy farm of seven hundred acres. Married, in 1869, Lucy Firoi, a native of Switzerland. Their children are Amelia, Sabina, John A., Pauldena, Clorinda, and an infant, Lucia Claudina.
History of Marin County, California; Including Its Geography, Geology, Topography and Climatology; by J. P. Munro-Fraser, Historian; Alley, Bowen & Co., Publishers, San Francisco, California, 1880
Transcribed by Betty Wilson
A. F. BRADLEY
A.F. BRADLEY. Was born in Logan county, Kentucky, September 17, 1831. When five years of age he moved with his parents to Johnson county, Missouri, where the subject of this sketch received his education and resided until 1853, when he crossed the plains to California, arriving in Sonoma September 2nd of that year. Here he was variously employed until 1856, when he commenced dairying, which he followed for two years. In the month of December, 1859, he came to Marin county and settled on his present farm of three hundred and seventy-five acres in San Antonio township, near the Sonoma line. In 1852 Mr. Bradley spent six months in Arizona. Married, firstly, October 19, 1859, Louisa J. Fine, who died August 6, 1877, leaving seven children, Mary, Perry T., Vida, Rena, Ada, Quin, and John T. Married, secondly, April 28, 1878, Mrs. Lydia F. Bradley, by whom he has Walter P., Richard H. and Eva L.
History of Marin County, California; Including Its Geography, Geology, Topography and Climatology; by J. P. Munro-Fraser, Historian; Alley, Bowen & Co., Publishers, San Francisco, California, 1880
Transcribed by Betty Wilson
WILLIAM BROWN
WILLIAM BROWN, (deceased). The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Zanesville, Ohio, on November 4, 1825. He moved to and resided in Missouri about five years, where he married Sarah Brown, who is a native of Davis county in that State. In 1853 they crossed the plains to California, and settled at Pine Grove, Sierra county. After a residence at this place of two years, or in 1855, they moved to San Antonio township, Marin county, and settled on the farm Mr. Brown’s widow now occupies, there being thirteen hundred acres in the ranch. That Mr. Brown was an excellent citizen, kind and considerate to friends and family, there is no doubt. We are informed by those who knew him best that he was always to be found on the right side of momentous questions implicating the rights of citizens, on the advancement of any laudable project that tended to better the community in which he lived. We close the sketch of this pioneer who had battled with hardships incident to a new country for nearly a quarter of a century, by relating how he was brutally murdered on the night of October 21, 1876. He had been to Petaluma, in Sonoma county, that day, and was returning to his home in the evening, when he met Juan Salazar, a Spaniard, at Spanish town. Here he remained for a short time, and then proceeded on his way. Just as he crossed the bridge which is about three-fourths of a mile from his home, he was overtaken by Salazar and an Indian named Egary, one of whom caught Mr. Brown around the neck with a lasso, dragged him from his buggy, and robbed him of his money and watch. Not content with securing the booty, the fiend Salazar took his dirk-knife and stabbed his defenseless victim four times in and near the heart. The following are the names of their children: Richard, Emma, George F., Jessie Ellen, Robert H., and Edgar A. Poe. George F. Ward, who married the widow of William Brown on September 12, 1878, was born in Marietta, Washington county, Ohio, on November 11, 1855. He resided in his native county till twenty-one years old, then moved to Mexico, Missouri, and engaged in school teaching till he came to this State, and settled in Petaluma, Sonoma county, in 1877. Since his marriage, he has been conducting the affairs of the farm left by Mr. Brown. In June, 1878, they commenced the erection of a fine residence completing it the same year. The building is of wood, thirty-eight by forty-four feet, two stories high above the basement of stone, and constructed in the most substantial and attractive manner. There is a main entrance opening out to the north. On the first floor, and to the left of the hall, is the drawing-room. Oppose this room, and on the other side of the hall, is the parlor. A handsome set of furniture and a beautiful carpet is a portion of the adornments, while a handsome moulding made of plaster of Paris, and representing a wreath of flowers, encircles the ceiling, and is as white as the driven snow. To the left of the hall, and at the roar of the building, is the dining-room and kitchen. The upper story is divided into sleeping apartments. By a system of pipes attached to a large tank situated at the rear of the building, water is conveyed to the first and second floors as required. There are five bay, tri-set windows, one on the west, two on the north and two on the east. The house is lighted with gas, and supplied with soft water brought through pipes from a spring on the mountains a mile away, and is as pure as the dews of the morning. From the observatory a marvelous scene is presented. The mountains to the south and those on the north completely hemming in Chileno valley, the valley itself dotted with fields, farm houses and grass lands, and through which Walker’s creek creeps lazily along on its way to Tomales bay, make up a panorama in nature combining at once the grand, the sublime and the beautiful. When the finishing touches shall have been applied to the building and its immediate surroundings, it will embody the elements of beauty, taste and refinement.
History of Marin County, California; Including Its Geography, Geology, Topography and Climatology; by J. P. Munro-Fraser, Historian; Alley, Bowen & Co., Publishers, San Francisco, California, 1880
Transcribed by Betty Wilson