Tehama County
Biographies
JOHN GILMORE
John Gilmore, a pioneer and well-to-do rancher of Red Bluff, came to California in 1856. He was born in Owensdale, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, December 24, 1835, and comes of an old pioneer family of Carbondale, owned a farm there, and there married Mary Baker, a native of New York. Mr. Gilmore was the youngest of their nine children, and is now (1890) the only survivor of the family, his parents having died more than twenty years ago. The whole family were members of the Baptist Church. Like the majority of farmer boys, the subject of this sketch went to school in winter, and worked on the farm in summer. Upon arriving at the age of twenty-one, he set out for the Golden State to make his fortune, coming by water route, and he has not been disappointed in the results obtained from his labor here. He is now the owner of 600 acres of beautiful farm land, within three-quarters of a mile of the city of Red Bluff. He first located at Oroville, after which he came to this place and bought out a squatter, Robert Riggs. His original purchase was 160 acres, and he lived on it in a board shanty for awhile. From time to time he has added to his property until it has reached its present proportions. For the most of it he paid $13 per acre. Now its value per acre is $100
For a year Mr. Gilmore lived on his ranch without a partner to share in his joys and sorrows. He then wedded Christine Dowell, a native of Illinois. There union was blessed with five children, all born at their present home. Four of them are living, namely: Frank, Dora, Charles and Olive. Dora is engaged in teaching school. Nine years after Mrs. Gilmore's death Mr. Gilmore married Mrs. Elizabeth Fonday. She was born in Iowa, and removed to California when a child.
Mr. Gilmore built his present home in 1874, and has surrounded it with vines and fruit trees. His principal farm products are wheat, barley and hay, of which he raises large quantities. His sons are raising fine thorough-bred horses, and he has devoted some attention to producing draft horses.
He has been a life-long adherent to the Republican party, and is a member of the Republican Central Committee. Mr. Gilmore is high esteemed as a worthy citizen of the community in which he resides.
Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, Lewis Publishing Co., 1891 pages761-762
Transcribed by: Melody Landon Gregory August 2004
GUSTAVE LIERSCH
Gustave Liersch is the proprietor of the Liersh House, of Corning, who took charge and reopened it December 1, 1885, and by conducting it in a thorough manner has gained for it a good reputation. The hotel is situated on Main street, a few blocks from the depot, and affords a fine view of the Sacramento Valley and surrounding foot hills. The appointments and furnishings of the hotel denote a degree of comfort, and the tables are bountifully supplied with the best the market affords. The popularity of the hotel is attested by the fact that it receives more than the average share of the public patronage. Mr. Liersch is a native of Thalwinkel, Saxony, Germany, born November 8, 1857. He learned the millwright and wagon-maker's trade, which he followed until 1875, when he came to America, landing at New York, and thence by rail to California, locating at Jacinto, Colusa County, where he followed his trade two years. He then came to Riceville and formed a partnership with his brother William, carrying on the business of blacksmith and wagon-making until 1884, when he sold out his interest. In 1885 he made a visit to his native land; returning to Riceville the same year, he took charge of his present business.
Mr. Liersch was first married in 1882, and by that union there is one child, Helena. He was again married, at Riceville, December 3, 1885, to Miss Dora Jens, a native of Holstein, Germany. They have two children--Francis and Otto. Mr. Liersch came from a long-lived family; his grandfather, Carl Liersch, lived to the age of 119 years and three months; and his father, also named Carl, met his death by accident at the age of seventy-two years; his mother, nee Julia Schoneburg, is still living, at the age of seventy-nine years. Mr. Liersch is a staunch Republican, was naturalized in 1883, and always takes an active part in local politics. He affiliates with the I.O.O.F., Corning Lodge, No. 305, and is a charter member of the Encampment, No.76, of Red Bluff.
Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, Lewis Publishing Co., 1891 pages 757-758
Transcribed by: Melody Landon Gregory August 2004
CHARLES R. MAYHEW
Charles R. Mayhew, a California pioneer, and the son of a California pioneer, and one of Red Bluff's worthy citizens, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, August 31, 1844. His father, William Perry Mayhew, well known in California as Uncle Billy Mayhew, now resides with his son, Charles R., in Red Bluff. He was born in Carthage, Ohio, September 20, 1816, and now, at the age of seventy-four, is hale and hearty, weighs 245 pounds, and is a fine specimen of the worthy pioneers of the Golden State. He married Miss Adaline Hubbel, a native of Ohio, and by her had six children, only two of whom survive. The Mayhew family, accompanied by Mrs. Mayhew's mother and step-father, Mr. Rogers, crossed the plains to California in 1849, being five and a half months en route. While on this journey Charles R., passed his fifth birthday. The company divided on the plains, one part preceding the others. When the first party came to the point where the Carson and Lassen routes met, they left letters informing those following which way they had taken. The persons with whom the letters were entrusted destroyed them, and sent the rear party on the other route. The Lassen, the route on which they were sent, being the longest, they did not arrive for some considerable time after the first party reached their destination. Being thus delayed they ran out of provisions and much suffering was incurred. Grandfather Rogers traveled twenty miles on foot to get provisions, and left his wife alone while he was gone. They built fires and discharged guns to guide him back to them.
Upon their arrival in California Mr. Mayhew took his cattle across the Sacramento River and camped where the China Slough of Sacramento is now located. When he returned to the camp one day after a short absence Mr. Mayhew found his wife making pies of a sack of dried apples they had brought with them. A number of men were standing near. In answer to her husband's query as to what she was doing, she replied that she had started a bakery, and was making pies for the men at one dollar each.
The following winter was a memorable one to many of the California pioneers and especially so to Mr.Mayhew. On the fourth of November the mother died. She was a faithful helpmate and a loving wife and mother, and, what was more, a true and earnest Christian woman. Her loss was deeply felt by her little family and husband. Mr. Mayhew had rented the brig Traveler, that was lying in the river, and was keeping hotel in it, a part of Sacramento being under water. While there another death occurred in his family: the little baby brother died.
In the spring Mr. Mayhew went to the mines on Feather River and left the subject of this sketch and his two sisters, Sarah and Alice, with Grandfather and Grandmother Rogers, who moved to Santa Clara. Their father was in the mines three years and when he returned to Marysville he had just ten cents left. He bought a six-mule team on credit, and engaged in freighting to the mines from Marysville. By the third trip he had made enough to pay for the outfit, and he continued the business that season very successfully. The old California Stage Company established a stage line between Sacramento and Portland, Oregon, and made Mr. Mayhew a proposition to drive for them at a salary of $150 a month. He accepted the proposition and drove a four and sometimes a six horse stage from Hamilton to Tehama, a distance of about sixty miles.
At this time he became acquainted with a widow, Mrs. Besse, whom he wedded in the fall of 1853. In May, 1854, he went to Santa Clara to get his children, and brought them with him by steamboat up the river to Tehama County. They landed at the mouth of Deer Creek. Peter Lassen's house was on one side of the river and Mr. Mayhews's on the other, both adobe houses. A large number of Indians had assembled to see the white children, who were very much frightened. Charles tried to be brave, but the girls felt quite certain that they were going to be killed. At that time the Indians had a rancheria on the banks of the river, and more than two hundred of them were there. It was not an uncommon sight to see large numbers of antelope. There were also plenty of grizzly bears in Tehama County at that time. Our subject, although a boy at the time, distinctly remembers when the first telegraph was put up through the county.
Charles R. Mayhew was in attendance at the University of the Pacific in 1863, and it was his intention to finish a course of study there. His father meeting with reverses, he changed his plans, left school, came to Deer Creek, and, in company with his brothers-in-law, J. T.Gibbs and Daniel Sill, drove a band of cattle to Squaw Valley. From there he made weekly trips to Virginia City, Nevada, driving cattle, continuing that business until he fell from his horse and broke his leg. His brother-in-law came back, took sick and died. They had eighty-six head of cattle apiece, which his brother-in-law took to Honey Lake Valley to winter. The Indians killed so many of them that in the spring each of them had only thirty-six left, which they sold for ten dollars apiece. Mr. Mayhew gave his money to his father, and accepted a clerkship in the Fremont Hotel at Red Bluff. During this time he also had the stage office for seven months while the agent was absent. On his return the California Stage Company sent Mr. Mayhew to Yreka, to take charge of their office at that place. February 28, 1866, he crossed the Scott and Trinity mountains on a sleigh, it being his first sleigh ride.
On the nineteenth day of the following July Mr. Mayhew was married to Miss Mary A. Kerns, a native of Ohio, their marriage taking place at Bell's Bridge, Shasta County. He returned with his bride to Yreka and continued there for some time. Their union has been blessed with five children, three daughters and two sons. Frank L., the oldest, was born at Bell's Bridge, October 15, 1868. The others were born at Red Bluff, vis: Arthur B., Carrie R., Alice M. and __________.
In October 1867, Mr. Mayhew bought the New York House, at the foot of Scott Mountain, in Trinity Valley. The Western Union Telegraph Company gave him an agency and sent him an operator of whom he learned the business in six weeks. The following July he sold out, removed to Chico, started a furniture store and remained there three months. From that place he came to Red Bluff and accepted the position of book-keeper for Mr. J. E. Church, a prominent merchant.
In 1872, in partnership with S. D. Clark, a pioneer of the town, he opened a grocery and provision store, beginning business on a small scale. Their friends predicted a short business career for them and gave them as a limit three months. They, however, succeeded beyond their own expectations and soon bought out Mr. Henry F. Dibble, a prominent merchant. After this hard times came on and nearly every firm in the town failed except theirs. In 1884 Mr. Mayhew bought out his partner, assumed all the indebtedness and took a bill of all the property. He paid his partner, and the creditors accepted Mr. Mayhew for the indebtedness of the firm. In the spring of 1885 he built two brick stores, on the corner of Walnut and Washington streets, seventy-five feet front by eighty feet deep. The other room is rented. The building has a fine basement with concrete floor. Mr. Mayhew has been in business for eighteen years, deals in general merchandise and handles large quantities of wool, and still retains customers who began to trade with him at the beginning of his business career. He built a residence at the corner of Jefferson and Hickory streets, which is surrounded with a beautiful lawn and which makes a very attractive home. He also has another house which he built and rents.
Mr. Mayhew is the owner of 320 acres of land, located eight miles south of Red Bluff, which he has subdivided into ten-acre lots, and which he is selling to actual settlers. This is called La Bonita tract. It is fine fruit land and is in a desirable location.
In 1885 he made a trip East for health and rest, and traveled through twenty-four States and Territories. He returned much benefited in health.
Politically Mr. Mayhew is a Republican and has been all his life. In 1876 he was elected Treasurer of Tehama County. He and his wife and two of their children are members of the Christian Church. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and for twenty years he has been a member of the Grand Lodge.
Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, Lewis Publishing Co., 1891 pages 759-760-761
Transcribed by: Melody Landon Gregory August 2004