Yolo County
Biographies
Richard Alge
An identification with the business interests of Woodland covering practically the entire period from 1878 to the present time gives to Mr. Alge the prestige connected with pioneer citizenship and the influence associated with successful activities. As a friendless immigrant to the shores of America his experience was not dissimilar to that of thousands of young aliens, who, brave in hope but penniless in purse, seek the rich opportunities of the new world. In the midst of a people whose language sounded strange to his ears and whose broad prairies presented a forlorn aspect to his vision he began the task of earning a livelihood, a task whose possibilities seemed indeed limited until a fortunate decision brought him to California and thus started him in the upward path of progress. Throughout the entire period of his residence in the west he has been interested in the meat business, first as an employee in a market, later for years as the energetic co-partner in a flourishing establishment, but more recently only from the standpoint of a retired market owner, whose attention is now concentrated upon the shipment of livestock to San Francisco and the management of his property interests in and near Woodland.
About the middle of the nineteenth century there resided in Voralberg, Austria, a farmer and educator named Joseph Alge, a man of considerable ability and a lifelong resident of Austria, which had been the home of unnumbered generations of his ancestry. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Madgdalena Vogel, also died in Austria. Of their nine children five were spared to attain maturity, but the only one of the number to come to America was Richard, whose birth occurred at Voralberg April 2, 1852, and whose early days were passed on the home farm. After he had completed the studies of the common schools he served an apprenticeship to the butcher’s trade in his native land, whence in 1872 he came to the United States. His first experiences in the new world were gained at New York City, Newark, N. J., and Philadelphia, and from the latter city in 1875 he came to San Francisco, where he found employment at his trade.
The year 1878 found the young Austrian a newcomer in Woodland, where he spent one month in the employ of the Mossmayer meat market and eighteen months with Frasier & Gary, also butchers. Finally he resigned in order to form a partnership with George Armstrong under the firm title of Armstrong & Alge, and the two started a new shop on Main, between First and Second streets. For a period of about thirty years the partnership was continued pleasantly and profitably, but eventually the senior member of the firm disposed of his interest to Mr. Alge and retired to private life. Eighteen months later, in 1910, Mr. Alge leased the shop to other parties and since then has devoted himself to the shipment of stock to the metropolitan packing houses and stockyards, also to the supervision of his business and residence properties in Woodland, and to the management of his alfalfa ranch of seventy acres about one and one-half miles north of the city. Besides other important interests, he serves as a director in the First National Bank of Woodland, in which for years he has been a stockholder.
After coming to the west Mr. Alge formed the acquaintance of Miss Louisa Graff, and they were married in Sacramento, her native city. For years they, with their only child, Bertha, have been leading members of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church and have contributed to its maintenance with the utmost generosity, while in addition Mr. Alge has been a helper of various movements for the general welfare and an interested participant in public affairs. In political views he has voted with the Democratic party ever since he became a naturalized citizen of our country, and his party has depended upon him for the support of its measures and nominees. His fraternal relationships include enrollment with the Herman Sons, the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Foresters. In 1882 he became a charter member of Company F, Third Regulars, N. G. C., and served for three years. He also served for five years as a member of the Woodland volunteer fire department. It has been his privilege to witness much of the growth of Woodland. When he came here it was a hamlet of insignificant proportions, but gradually it has expanded in area and commercial importance and has taken upon itself metropolitan improvements of the greatest value to property owners and business men. With this slow but sure development it has risen to a foremost rank among the cities of this class in the state and its substantial commercial prestige may well be the basis of future advancement.
Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: “History of Yolo County California with Biographical Sketches of The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development From the Early Days to the Present” page 251-257 by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, 1913.
David Hamilton
It was sixty-three years ago, on the 3rd of April, 1849, that twenty-nine men started from McDonough county, Ill., enroute to California. Of that party probably only two are now living, David Harris, now of San Francisco, and David Hamilton, the subject of this sketch. He was born December 25, 1825, at Rushville, Muskingum county, Ohio, the son of Alexander and Hannah (Gabriel) Hamilton, the former of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. The father died in 1828 and the mother in 1840. Alexander and David were their only children. When he was quite young David went to Miami county, Ohio, where he learned the trade of blacksmith. In 1848 he located in Macomb, Ill., where he remained about a year, thence coming to California, as above mentioned. The trip was made overland with ox teams and required six months and was attended by many disagreeable features, which, however, were speedily forgotten by the travelers upon reaching their destination. From Shingle Springs, Cal., where the little company separated, Mr. Hamilton went to Coloma, where he mined a short time. In October he purchased an ample stock of living necessities and made his way to Amador county, Cal., where he spent the winter mining. The following March he again changed his residence to Calaveras county, and after two months took the trail for Sacramento, where he conducted a combination feed store and blacksmith shop. In October, 1850, he moved to Yolo county and took up his abode on a ranch three miles south of Knights Landing, and today he is one of the oldest living settlers in this county. Stock-raising was his next venture, but after two years he left his farm to engage in hauling freight from Colusa to the mines of Shasta. In the fall he returned to his ranch and continued operations there until the year 1857, when he again took up teaming between Davisville and Sacramento. One of the notable events of that summer was the hauling by Mr. Hamilton of a large threshing machine from Yolo county to Carson valley, Nev., ten mules being used, six for hauling the machine, and four for hauling the hops and feed. The trip was a success in spite of the hills and bad roads. This was the first threshing machine hauled into Nevada and Mr. Hamilton did the first threshing there that fall, pay at that time being every tenth bushel. Soon after this he sold his outfit and returned to his ranch. The winter of 1858-59 he spent at the Fraser river mines, this proving another wild-goose chase attended with much danger, three men of the party being killed in Indian fights. Mr. Hamilton returned to his farm in the spring of 1860.
Mr. Hamilton’s marriage occurred June 15, 1861, to Phoebe P. Brownell, who with her brother, W. W. Brownell, came to California from their native town, New Bedford, Mass., in 1857, via Panama. In 1862 Mr. Hamilton purchased a quarter section of land one and one-half miles west of Knights Landing, and for some years engaged in stock-raising and farming with great success, frequently adding to his land holdings, until he became the owner of four hundred acres of excellent land which he sold to great advantage in 1892. Woodland was the home of Mr. Hamilton for the next three years, when he bought a ten-acre tract one-third of a mile west of the city limits, where he has a large residence with the necessary improvements. The only child born to Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton, Eugenia Forest, passed away when seventeen and one-half years of age. Leaving bereft not only her parents, but her many friends as well. Her education had been carefully conducted, primarily at Knights Landing, and later at Mrs. Perry’s Seminary in Sacramento. In December, 1909, Mrs. Hamilton followed her daughter “over the bar,” leaving the husband and father to wait and hope for the reunion which will one day be theirs.
Mr. Hamilton adheres to Republican principles and first voted for president in 1852. Broad-minded and sympathetic, he has always enjoyed many friends who attribute his success to his generous heart and his conscientious devotion to duty.
Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: “History of Yolo County California with Biographical Sketches of The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development From the Early Days to the Present” page 257-259 by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, 1913.