John Thomann - Was born in Switzerland January 30,1836, and resided in his native place until he was twenty-two years of age. At the age of fifteen he began working in a nursery, which he followed for two years, and then worked on farms and vineyards until he came to America, which was in 1858. He came to California in that year and settled in Sacramento, where he engaged in the nursery and wine business, which he followed until 1874. He then came to Napa County and located on his present place, near Si Helena, where he has since resided. He has also a ranch on Howell Mountain of one hundred and thirty acres, which he is planting into vines. He has a fine, large wine cellar on his home place, a fall description of which will be found in its proper place. He is an energetic, thorough-going business man, and is at present a member of the Board of Supervisors of Napa County. He was married in 1863 to Miss Josephine Esh, and by this union they'have four children, Louisa, Annie, Laura, and Bertie.

John W. Tucker - This old pioneer of Napa Valley is the son of R. P. and Delilah Compton Tucker, and was born in Ohio, January 26, 1833. He resided in his birthplace until he was four years of age, when, with his parents, he went to Rock Island County, Illinois. He remained in that place until April, 1846, when he, with his father, started across the plains with the intention of going to Oregon, coming the old Fort Hall route. Arriving at Fort Hall they were advised, on account of the lateness of the season, not to go to Oregon. They then turned their faces towards California, entering this State at Trnckee, and crossed the mountains a little in advance of the Donner party, and only passed the place of the terrible sufferings of that party a short time before the storm came on. On their arrival in this State they rented a piece of land on the Johnson ranch on Bear River, and put in a crop. In the spring of 1847 they moved to near Sacramento, and there bought a farm, and remained one year. Not liking that location they concluded to move to Napa Valley, locating on the farm now owned by his brother, G. W. Tucker. In the spring following they bought a farm, and continued farming until 1872, when, their title being declared illegal, and after a residence on this place for more than twenty-five years, they were compelled to give it up. The years following, until 1880, Mr. Tucker made his home in the valley, and in the above year he bought his present farm, comprising one hundred and eighty acres, and is once more nicely situated in his favorite valley. Mr. Tucker is in every sense of the word a pioneer, and his mind can not help wandering back to the beauties of Napa Valley thirty-five years ago, when this district had no resident save the Indian, or the herds of undomesticated cattle and horses, the beast of prey, and the fowls of the air. Mr. Tucker is now engaged in general farming. He was united in marriage, October 8,1879, with Mrs. C. E. Weed, who was born in Moscow, Maine, December 3,1838. He has three step-children: Bertha E. Weed, born September 10,1860, in Carmel, Maine; Nettie M. Weed, born March 20,1862, in Carmel, Maine; Edwin H. Weed, born January 10,1864, in Bangor, Maine.

Isaac Tabor M.D. - Was born in Smithfield, Rhode Island, February 28, 1817. He was educated in Providence, Rhode Island, at the Friends New England Yearly Meeting Boarding School, and at Amherst Academy, Massachusetts. In Cherry Valley, New York, he began the study of medicine, and further prosecuted his studies by attending medical lectures in Albany, that State, and Woodstock, Vermont, and graduated from the Medical College of the latter place June 9,1841, and received a third course at the Berkshire Medical School of Massachusetts. We next find Dr. Tabor in St. Louis, Missouri, where he followed his profession for one year, and then, owing to ill-health, concluded to change and moved to Texas, and settled on the Red River in Cass County, and there practiced medicine for twenty years. The war then broke out and the Doctor's sympathies being with the North, he left his sunny home for that of Providence, Rhode Island, and there continued his practice until he removed to California, which event occurred in June, 1876. He first located in Placer County, and there remained until the fall of 1879, when he moved to Oakland, where he sojourned for a few months, and then moved to Napa Valley, locating in Si Helena, and is now building up a nice practice, and is respected by the community in which he lives. The subject of this sketch was twice married. His first marriage occurred in Texas, October 23, 1844, to Rebecca S. Prewitt, a native of Alabama, who died March 3,1861, in Providence, Rhode Island. They had three children: Benjamin Prewitt, born August 17, 1852, in Texas; Isaac Francis, born November 24, 1854, in Rhode Island; Mary Elizabeth, born December 21,1857, in Texas, and died March 4,1860, in that State. He married secondly in Worcester, Massachusetts, May 11, 1865, Miss Emily Whitney, a native of Westminster, Massachusetts. Their children are, Ernest Frederick, born February 26, 1866, in Worcester, Massachusetts; Ashley Raymond, born December 24,1868, in Rhode Island.

Thomas J. Tully - The subject of this sketch was born in Mason County, Kentucky, July 18,1825. In early life it was Mr. Tully's intention to become a physician, but an accident to one of his eyes changed his whole course of life, as his studies bad to be abandoned. He then learned the bade of plasterer, and in 1853 removed to Knox County, Missouri, and remained in that State until his coming to California, which occurred July, 1873. On arriving here with his family, he first located at the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation, where he received a position as head farmer, in which capacity he served for nearly one year. He was then appointed clerk and commissary, which situation he held until January, 1875. At that time he moved to Napa Valley, locating in St. Helena for a short time, and then changed his place of residence to Calistoga. He has purchased the "Maple Spring" property, a delightful place, situated on the Santa Rosa road, two miles from Calistoga. Mr. Tully is engaged in the fruit business, having a beautiful and, as we believe, the only orange orchard in Napa Valley, of something over fifty trees; also all the other varieties of fruit known to this climate; and "Maple Spring" promises to be in a few years one of the most delightful summer resorts, on this coast. Mr. Tully was married to Mrs. Mary A. Robinson, of Missouri, July 22,1869. Mrs. Tully is a teacher by profession, and it is their intention to establish a boarding school for children of both sexes at "Maple Spring" some time during the coming year. Mr. and Mrs. Tully have one child, a daughter, Clara May, born in Missouri, June 6,1870.

Simpson Thompson - This worthy pioneer, whose portrait will be found in this work, was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, September 18,1803. His great-grandfather, John Wilson, bought the old homestead farm, in Bucks County, directly from William Penn, and it may be remarked as something very rare in American family history that the property is still owned by his great-grandson, the subject of this sketch. John Wilson, his great-grandfather on his mother's side, immigrated with his family to America, and settled in the same township. This man was the eldest son of James Wilson, who had violated the law of the realm by marrying Isabel, the daughter and heiress of the Earl of Corsik, in Scotland, and had been compelled to flee with his bride to the County of Antrim, Ireland. Of the same family, two generations removed, was Margaret Wilson, who was, in 1685, at the age of eighteen, sentenced to be drowned in the waters of the Bladnoch, near Wigton, Scotland. An aged lady of sixty-three years, named Margaret McLachland, was condemned at the same time. Their only crime was refusing to take the oath of recantation, and to abandon the principles of the Scottish Reformation. A beautiful cenotaph of white marble was erected to the memory of these martyrs in the city of Stirling, and still commemorates their "faithfulness unto death." The following is an extract from the minutes of the Kirk session of Penningham Parish, February 19,1711: " Upon the eleventh day of May, 1685, these two women, Margaret McLachland and Margaret Wilson, were brought forth to execution. They did put the old woman first into the water, and when the water was overflowing her, they asked Margaret Wilson what she thought of her in that case. She answered, 'What do I see but Christ wrestling there. Think ye that we are the sufferers? No, it is Christ in us. for he sends none on a warfare on their own charge.' Margaret Wilson sang Psalm xxv., from the seventh verse and the eighth chapter of the epistle to the Romans, and did pray, and then the water covered her. But before her breath was quite gone, they pulled her up and held her till she could speak, and then asked her if she would pray for the king. She answered that she wished the salvation of all men, but the damnation of none. Some of her relations, being at the place, cried out, ' She is willing to conform!' being desirous to save her life at any rate. Upon which Major Winram offered the oath of abjuration to her either to swear it or to return to the waters. She refused it, saying, ' I will not; I am one of Christ's children, let me go.' And they returned her into the water, where she finished her warfare, being a virgin martyr of eighteen years of age, suffering death for her refusing to swear the oath of abjuration and hear the curates." Mr. Thompson grew up on the old Bucks County homestead, and was educated in the common schools of the county. In 1845 or 1846 he went to Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained for twenty months, engaged in the wholesale and retail grocery business. On account of ill-health he went to Philadelphia, and at the age of forty-five engaged as an apprentice to the plumber and gas-fitter's trade, with the firm of Archer & Warner. He worked at this for eighteen months, when he went to Albany, New York, and began business for himself, which he conducted till 1852. In May of that year he sailed from New York bound for California, coming via the Chagres River and the Isthmus route, making part of the journey from Gorgona to Panama upon a mule, and sleeping in the open air with a box of medicine for a pillow. He came up the coast on the steamer "Golden Gate," with one thousand five hundred passengers, among whom were some forty or fifty stowaways, who came aboard at Acapulco, and who had been wrecked upon another steamer. Those were treated rather roughly, and made to work at whatever they were able to accomplish. At last Samuel Brannan, who was on board, made a speech in their favor, and headed a subscription list with $500 for their relief. William Neeley Thompson, brother of Simpson Thompson, and Thomas H., son of the latter, had come to California via the Horn in 1849, in the ship " Grey Eagle," one hundred and twenty days from Philadelphia. William N. entered into a copartnership with Mr. Blackburn in the lumber business in San Francisco, and furnished most of the material for the State House at Vallejo, and in 1851 three hundred and twenty acres of the Soscol Ranch were taken in payment, at $12 per acre, from General M. G. Vallejo, who had erected the State House at his own expense. A town site a mile square had been laid out on the place by General Vallejo, and some of the stakes are still standing. Subsequently Mr. Thompson purchased about three hundred acres more. Mr. Simpson Thompson came to California with the intention of putting up gas works, but when he arrived in San Francisco he found that coal was $50 a ton, and that gas was only $10 per thousand feet; so he abandoned that project He spent afew days at tallying lumber as it came off from the vessels into his brother's yard. He then came to the Soscol place and took charge of it. He found that his brother had sent men up, who had planted a small field of potatoes, at the expense of $12.50 per acre for plowing alone. Nothing else had ever been done on the farm, and the men abandoned the place in disgust. Upon his arrival at the place Mr. Thompson spent the first six weeks under a big oak tree, making his own bread and doing his own washing. This tree is near the present mansion, and is surrounded by a circular arbor and cherished with the greatest care. He found the place in a state of nature; Soscol Creek, which is now confined within artificial bounds and empties into the river, spread then over a wide area, converting it into a morass. This is now reclaimed and constitutes the richest part of the Soscol orchards. The first trees were obtained from Rochester, New York, and from New Jersey. Nursery trees of many kinds were brought out, but thousands of dollars were sunk by losses in transportation. Trees packed in charcoal dried up and died, and those packed in wet moss mostly rotted on the way; but those packed in dry moss arrived in good condition. The first peach pits were planted in April, 1853, and most of, them grew vigorously, and ripe peaches were produced from them in sixteen months from the planting. When the Mexican residents saw them put out, and preparations being made for a nursery, they laughed at such a thing. They said that without water it was impossible; that barley would not grow over two feet and wheat not over six inches without irrigation, while trees would not grow at all their astonishment may well be imagined when, sixteen months after, he showed them finer peaches than they had ever seen in the State. Apples were produced from the seeds in two and a half years. Garden vegetables were produced in luxuriance and abundance without irrigation. The seedlings were, of course, inferior, but judicious grafting soon produced fine results, and the stock of apple trees in California was soon brought up to that of the East. The first basket of peaches sold from the Soscol orchards brought $23.75, or about 80 cents per pound. They were retailed at $1.25 each. The first basket of plum peaches brought $34, or $1.12 per pound. A small area, only about one-fourth of an acre, was planted in gooseberries, and the yield was three tons. The wholesale prices of fruit in 1856, as shown by the books of Mr. Thompson, were as follows: apricots, per ponnd, 70 cents; early apples, 50 cents; peaches, $9 to $14 per basket of twenty-eight pounds; peaches, best quality, $18.75 per basket,or 55 cents a pound; yellow rare ripe peaches, 60 cents per pound, In 1855 $3 per pound was offered for the cherry crop before it was picked. The prices of nursery trees were in proportion. In 1856 trees in the dormant bud sold for $600 a thousand. Peach trees one year old brought $2.50 each in 1855, and $1.50 each in 1856. Apple trees sold from 75 cents to $1.50 each, and as high as $5 was paid for a single fine tree. In 1856 the trees in the original orchard would have brought more than he could now command for the entire property. In that year the farm and orchard yielded $40,000, a greater sum than it has ever since produced. Mr. Thompson carried on the place for many years in connection with his two sons, Thomas H. and James M., but now it may be said that the latter is really the manager of the magnificent property, the father having resigned that position to him some years ago, and the elder brother being now in Texas, where they are jointly largely interested. The old gentleman is surrounded by everything that could render life enjoyable, and is held in universal respect and esteem by all who know him. The family mansion is a model of convenience, widely known for its hospitality. The grounds are laid out with great beauty, and dotted over with rare shrubs and trees from every, part of the Union. Mr. Thompson was married in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1826, to Miss Susan T. Simpson, who died in that county in 1844, leaving two children, Thomas H. and James M.

James M. Thompson - Was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, November 6,1833, and is the son of Simpson and Susan T. Simpson Thompson. He received a common school education in his native place, and then, in 1851-2, attended the Williston Seminary, in Hampton, Massachusetts. August 4,1854, he sailed from New York on the steamer "George Law," to the Isthmus; came, part of the way across that on a railroad, and the balance on the hurricane deck of a mule; thence on the steamer "Sonora," arriving in San Francisco August 28th of that year. He came at once to the Soscol ranch, where he has been engaged in the nursery and orchard business, in connection with his brother and father. In 1874 he went to Texas and purchased, in company with two others, a tract of ten thousand acres of land and stocked it. He now owns a half interest in that vast estate. He was married May 28, 1862, to Miss Mary R K. Gluyas, who was born in Philadelphia, February, 1844. Their children are, George S., born June 29, 1864; Margaret Wilson, born September 19, 1867, and William Glnyas, born August 5,1873.

George W. Tucker - Son of R P. and Delilah Compton Tucker, was born in Muskingom County, Ohio, December 15,1831. He resided at his birthplace until 1838, when he, with, his father, moved to Rock Island County, Illinois, where he remained until 1846. April 20th of the last-named year the family left Illinois, bound for Oregon, but, when they arrived at the head of the Humboldt River, they changed their course and came to California, arriving in October of that year. He stopped during the winter of 1846-7, at Johnsons Ranch on Bear River, and in the spring he moved to the Cosumnes River and spent two months. He then came to Napa County, and located on a place near the head of Napa Valley, living in a log house on the site of his present dwelling. In 1848 he was among the first to go to the newly discovered mines, following minting for two summers. He has since remained at home permanently, and now owns one hundred and fifty acres of land. He and his father were among the number who went to rescue the Donner party. Married January 1, 1858, Miss Angelina Kellogg, a native of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, born October 6, 1838. Their children are, Lilia, Mary, Jesse, Charles, Henry, Martha, John and Eda.

George W. Teale - The son of Peter and Mary Ann Tucker Teale, was born in Coshocton County, Ohio, October 1,1851. When he was but one year old he came with his parents to Napa County, California, and remained with them on a farm near Calistoga until 1880. He then purchased a ranch of forty-five acres, and is now engaged in general farming. He married January 27,1880, Miss Kate L. Parker, a native of Solano County, California, born July 17,1858. By this union they have one son, born October 13,1880.

Charles Thompson - The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, one of nine sons, all born on the homestead farm that had belonged to the family for several generations. He received his education and resided there and in Philadelphia and New York, until the glowing accounts heard of the Golden State, decided him to go and see for himself the truth of the stories that were told of the land of gold, its delicious fruits and large vegetables. In November, 1856, he sailed from New York, via Panama, on the steamers "George Law" and "Sonora," and arrived in San Francisco in December. That they received a cordial welcome will be known from the fact that they brought the news that it was supposed Buchanan was elected President; but ft was not known for a certainty until the next steamer arrived, two weeks later. After sojourning a few days in San Francisco, Mr. Thompson proceeded to Soscol Rancho, where he engaged in fanning for several years. He then moved to the upper Napa Valley and bought land on the Yount grant, east of Oakville, and at the end of three years he sold that and leased the Yount homestead for one year. In June, 1867, he visited his home in Pennsylvania, remaining several months, and then returned and embarked in fanning in Contra Costa County for five years. In 1869 the people were becoming interested in grape culture, and he purchased his present ranch, consisting of about one hundred and twenty-seven acres, considering the soil particularly adapted to the vine, and after a trial of several years he finds his opinion was entirely correct. Mr. Thompson is one of those men who always weighs well the outcome of any enterprise before he ventures, as may be seen in his wise choice of grape lands, and his wisdom in embarking in the business when he did. He has never been an office seeker, but has always manifested a deep interest in all public affairs, and lent a ready hand to the assistance of whatever has tended to the advancement of the best interests of the community in which he resides. He has always been a prominent farmer wherever he has resided, and his opinions and conclusions concerning agricultural subjects, have been held in high esteem by his neighbors. He is now living upon his beautiful estate, surrounded by the comforts of home and the society of his family, enjoying the well-earned fruits of a wisely spent life. In 1874 Mr. Thompson once more visited his native home, and February 23,1875, was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Buckman,a native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and by this marriage they have one living child, Edward, born in 1878.

Peter Van Bever - Was born in Belgium in 1825, and resided in his native country till he was twenty-five years of age, receiving his education in the meantime at private colleges. In 1850 he came to California via Cape Horn, arriving in San Francisco May 3d of that year. He brought a small stock of goods with him, but the city of San Francisco having been destroyed by fire the day he arrived, he deferred the opening of a store and went to Santa Clara County, where, in partnership with Levi Prevost, he purchased a small farm. In the fall of 1851 he returned to San Francisco, where he established himself in the general grocery business, which he followed till 1853. In that year he paid a visit to Europe, and on his return continued the business till 1857. He then went to Mariposa County and began the same business, conducting it till 1860. In 1861 he came to Napa City and opened a small restaurant, which he conducted for one season. Next he began the produce business, which he conducted for a short time, and then he opened the well-known " Bee Hive " store in 1864, which he conducted till 1875. He then began the wine business, which he followed till 1881. Mr. Van Bever has ever been one of Napa's most energetic business men and earnest citizens, doing all in his power to advance the interests of the city and county in which he resides.

Theodore Van Tassell - The subject of this sketch was born in New York City, April 11,1834, where he was educated at the common schools, and resided until his twentieth year. At the age of twelve he was apprenticed to the trade of hatter, and at this he continued up to his leaving his native State, with the exception of one year spent in a commission house. June 18,1854, found Mr. Van Tassell on board the steamer "Surprise," Captain Ned Wakman, bound for California, coming via, the Straits of Magellan, and after a passage of six months entered the Golden Gate December 14,1854. After a short time spent in visiting his relations who had preceded him to this coast, he found employment in the hat store of O. H. Boyd & Co., where he remained until 1857. After one year spent on a farm near Sacramento, he again returned to San Francisco, and took charge of a hat store for J. B. Le Gay, and in 1862, in partnership with Wm. H. Mead, and under the firm name of Mead & Van Tassell, he conducted a mercantile house in that city. After a short time he bought his partner's interest in the stock and moved to the Russ House Block, and there carried on business until 1867, and then accepted a position in the insurance office of R. B. Swain & Co. In July, 1871, he moved to Napa County, and after spending one year with his father-in-law on the "Hillside" farm, near St. Helena, he entered the employ of J. A Jackson & Co., lumber merchants. This firm selling out in 1874, Mr. Van Tassell succeeded them, and remained in this business until 1880, when he took charge of the White Sulphur Springs Hotel, which he conducted to the satisfaction of all the patrons of that noted summer resort. The subject of our sketch was united in marriage in San Francisco July 23, 1863, to Miss Emma S. Pollock, a native of Brooklyn, New York, and by this union they have four children. Their names are, Theodore S., Emily F., Florence L. and Philip L.

Mathew Vann - This old and respected citizen of Napa County, whose portrait appears in this history, was born in Morgan County, Illinois, June 9,1823. When he was but a child his parents moved to Tennessee, and there resided until 1830 or 1831, when they moved west and located near Boonville, Cooper County, Missouri. He remained in that State until he came to this coast, which occurred May 1,1850. He came in company with two brothers, William H. and T. A, joining a train at Springfield, Missouri. They came the old emigrant route across the plains, and arrived in the Golden State July 30,1850. He first stopped at Hangtown (Placerville), and embarked in mining for eighteen months. In December, 1851, Mr. Vann paid a visit to his home in Missouri, and was there united in marriage; and after sojourning there a short time he returned to California, arriving in September of 1852. He proceeded direct to Napa Valley, first locating on the Yount ranch, and in the following spring he purchased his now valuable ranch of one hundred and fifty acres, located about two miles south-east of St. Helena, and engaged in general farming and grape growing. He is now, in company with the wife of his youth, enjoying the fruits of a prosperous life, surrounded by his family of five sons, and enjoying the confidence and esteem of the citizens of the community in which he lives. The subject of this sketch was united in marriage, in Pope County, Missouri, April 14,1852, to Miss Elizabeth Lane, a native of Tennessee. Their children are, Charles R, Thomas L., William F., Robert M.and Jefferson J.

Albert P. Voorhees - Son of Samuel W. and Maria Loucks Voorhees, was born in Sharon, New York, March 22,1840. When he was nine years of age he, with his parents, moved to Sharon, Walworth County, Wisconsin, where he received his education at the common schools, afterwards taking a course at the Wayland University. He then worked on his father's farm in summer and taught school during the winter. October 25, 1862, he sailed from New York on board the steamer "Old America" to Nicaragua, where he took passage on board the "Moses Taylor," arriving in San Francisco November 27th of the above-named year. He immediately proceeded to the Montezuma Hills, Solano County, where he sojourned a few months, and then accepted a clerkship at the Mare Island Navy Yard, a position he held for five years. In 1868 he began the clothing and gentlemen's furnishing business in Vallejo, which he followed until 1876. During his residence in that place he held the office of City Trustee for a number of years. June 24,1876, he began his present business in Napa under the firm name of Alden & Co., located on the corner of First and Main streets. Mr. Yoorhees was united in marriage in Yallejo, Solano County, December 21, 1870, to Miss D. Annie Farnham, a native of New Brunswick. By this union they had two children: Evelina Jaunita and Albert Leland.

Hon. William Cyrus Wallace - The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this history, was born near Lexington, La Fayette County, Missouri, November 13,1823, and is consequently now in tile fifty-eighth year of his age. At the age of about eighteen years he moved, with his parents, to Clinton, Henry County, in the same State, at which latter place he received the greater portion of his education. Here he began the study of law at the age of twenty-two, and in the year 1847 he was duly licensed to practice in all the courts of the State. He immediately entered actively upon the practice of his profession at Clinton, the county seat, and so continued until the spring of 1849, when he joined the army of pioneers whose hopes and fortunes were centered upon the gold-fields of California. He connected himself with a party of emigrants coming with ox-teams, and in this manner made the long and wearisome journey across the plains, arriving at Sacramento in August of the same year, and encountering only such incidents as were commonplace upon the trip in those days. In seeking a new home he was not seeking simply adventure, nor was he carried away with the marvelous accounts concerning the gold discovery, but relying upon the practice of his profession, he brought with him his law library, and in a very short time he was engaged in an active practice at Sacramento. At the first election under the Constitution - the spring of 1850 - he was elected District Attorney of Sacramento County. At a subsequent time, he was nominated by the Whig convention of that county for the office of Public Administrator, and was elected by a majority of more than five hundred, though the rest of the ticket was defeated. That office was at that time a very important one, and its duties very laborious, and were the more disagreeable because of previous bad management. After a year, having arranged the affairs of the office in a satisfactory manner and settled its business, he resigned. In 1853 he visited his former home, where he was married, and then returned to Sacramento and continued the practice of his profession. In the following year he was again a candidate on the Whig ticket; this time for the office of City Attorney, to which he was elected, Hon. Cornelius Cole being his competitor. He continued to reside in Sacramento until the summer of 1859, when, on account of sickness in his family, he moved to Napa County and located at Napa City. Here he remained until the winter of 1863, when he moved to the State of Nevada, engaging to some extent in mining enterprises and practicing law at Virginia City and Washoe. While in that State, he twice received the nomination of the Democratic party for Justice of the Supreme Court - in the years 1864 and 1866. He had also received a like favor at the hands of that party in California in 1861. He returned to Napa County in 1867, and this has been his home ever since. In 1869 he was nominated by his party for and elected to the position of District Judge of the Seventh Judicial District, at that time embracing the counties of Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, Napa and Solano. He was re-elected to the same position in 1875, but this time without opposition. During his second term the district was changed by leaving off the counties of Marin, Mendocino and Sonoma. The adoption of the new Constitution in 1879, by which our judicial system was changed, cut short his term of District Judge, but he was immediately put forward by the people of his own county for the position of Superior Judge, and elected without opposition. There are few men who have been more thoroughly tried by his people, and at all times commanded the high confidence and esteem enjoyed by Judge Wallace. In his private life he is benevolent, social, pure and true. His friendships are extensive, and are ever warm and enduring. As a judge, he is gifted in more than an ordinary degree with the power of discerning truth and propriety, while his great experience enables him to weigh and solve legal questions with great dispatch and accuracy.

Edmund Taylor Wilkins M.D. - The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Montgomery County, Tennessee, at the residence of his grandfather, Colonel Edmund Taylor, October 20,1824, and is the son of Dr. Benjamin and Jane Taylor Wilkins. At the lime of his birth his parents lived in Christian County, Kentucky, but, for the sake of convenience and sociability, he was taken across the line into Tennessee, to be born. Until he reached the age of ten years, the subject of this sketch alternated between the two States named above, after which he resided in the States of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, and at eighteen he entered the William and Mary College, where he received his collegiate education. In March, 1849, he sailed from New Orleans for California, taking passage on the schooner "St. Mary," Captain Chasteau. When off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the little craft, one hundred and fifty tons burden, was overtaken by a terrible storm, in which she was so disabled, that it became necessary to seek safety by going into port to replenish supplies and repair the damages of the gale. Accordingly, the captain set sail for Baltimore, where she remained six weeks ere she was again pronounced ready to pursue her voyage around the Horn; Captain Chasm having been placed in command in lieu of Captain Chasteau. After a long and perilous voyage of more than nine months, she at last safely arrived in San Francisco, January 26, 1850. Among the persons on board were the late Thomas M. Logan, M. D., surgeon of the vessel; Henry Clay Duralde, grandson of Henry Clay; Benjamin T. Davis, nephew of Jefferson Davis; Edwin Goodall, of the firm of Goodall, Perkins & Co., and fifteen other passengers, making nineteen in all Among the other passengers were William R Cox, J. C. Smith, Thomas Fondry, P. Carrington, J. R Valleau; M. C. Goodwin, Captain Daniel Butts, W. E. Dabney, and Dr. Ewin Shiel and wife. The others are not remembered. After a short sojourn in San Francisco, he proceeded up the Sacramento River, in a whale boat, and thence to Bidwells Bar, in Butte County, where he engaged for a short time in mining. From thence he proceeded in company with Drs. Richard Pegram and Edward Workman to Trinity River, which he attempted to turn from its course by means.of a sand-bag dam; but after spending all the summer, and all of his means in this fruitless effort to force the river to give up its hidden treasures, he abandoned the mines forever. Returning to the valley in the autumn, he purchased a farm on the Feather River, ten miles above Marysville, in Yuba County, Drs. Richard Pegram, and John S. Griffin, then surgeon in the United States Army and now of Los Angeles, being co-partners. In 1863 he returned to his native State, and attended his first course of medical lectures at the Memphis Medical College, from which he graduated at the end of his second coarse in 1861. When Dr. Wilkins first came to California, he brought with him a faithful colored servant, known as Major Breeden, one of the most honest and faithful of men, who stack to his young master amidst all the allurements and temptations of those more than tempting times. They went East together in 1853, and when they returned to California in 1854, Dr. Wilkins brought the entire family, consisting of thirteen persons, who were his slaves in Louisiana, but who were given their liberty and a tract of valuable land, three hundred and twenty acres, near his own, upon which he placed them, and on which some of them still reside. After receiving his medical diploma, Dr. Wilkins gave up farming, moved to Marysville in July, 1861, and from that time has paid undivided attention to the study and practice of his profession, and especially to that branch which relates to the dethronement of reason and the care and treatment of the insane. In February, 1870, the Legislature passed an Act authorizing the Governor to appoint a commissioner to visit the principal asylums for the insane in Europe and America, and it was made his duty to collect and compile all accessible and reliable information as to their management and construction, and the different modes of treatment of the insane, the results of this investigation to be reported to the Governor in time to be laid before the next session of the Legislature. The great interest that Dr. Wilkins had manifested in behalf of the insane, and attention he was known to have paid to the subject, as well as his intimate and friendly relations with Governor Height, pointed him out as a proper person to fill that important mission, and the appointment was accordingly bestowed upon him. Immediately after receiving his commission, Dr. Wilkins commenced his investigations. First familiarizing himself with our own asylum, he proceeded at once to visit those in most of the States of the Union and of Canada. With the information obtained from visiting fifty asylums on this continent, and changing views with the most experienced, able and learned of the superintendents in his own country, he crossed the Atlantic well prepared to contrast and compare the asylums and the systems of management of these institutions in this country and those beyond the Atlantic. Having spent twenty-one months in visiting one hundred asylums in Great Britain and Ireland, France, Italy, Austria, Bavaria, Saxony, Bohemia, Prussia, Belgium and Holland, in addition to half as many in America, and having attended meetings of the superintendents of asylums in France, England and the United States, he returned to California and made an elaborate and exhaustive report to the Governor on the 2d day of December, 1871,ten thousand copies of which were published by order of the Legislature then convened. Among the first and most important results of this report was the passage of an Act by the Legislature to provide additional accommodations for the insane of this State. Dr. Wilkins was appointed by Governor Booth as one of the commissioners to select a site and location for the projected asylum, Dr. George A. Shurtleff, superintendent of the Stockton Asylum, and Judge C. H. Swift, of Sacramento, being the other two members of the Commission. The location was made in Napa County, and the elegant structure known as the Napa State Asylum for the Insane now adorns the selected site, and is the best proof of the wisdom and taste displayed by the Commission in the choice made. Dr. Wilkins was also named in the bill, together with Dr. Shurtleff and Governor Booth, to act as an Advisory Board to the Board of Directors in reference to the adoption of suitable plans for the new asylum. Having been thus intimately connected with and interested in the establishment of this noble charity, and largely instrumental, through his report, in procuring the passage of the Act authorizing its construction, the Board of Trustees appointed for its management showed a just appreciation of his worth, and a proper regard for the best interests of the institution, by electing him, on the 16th of March, 1876, as the Resident Physician. At the expiration of his term of office he was re-elected for a second term of four years, and is now in charge of that institution. Its management needs no encomium from us. The perfect cleanliness of the entire establishment, the comfortable condition of the inmates, the order and general harmony that seems to exist among tile officers, employes and attendants, and the good taste displayed in the improvement of the grounds, are evidences that speak for themselves, and are ever open to the inspection of the public. Dr. Wilkins was married in Marysville, in May, 1855, to Miss Matilda Pegram Brander, a native of Virginia, and by this union there were three children: Jane Taylor, who died at the age of five years; Martha Pegram, and Benjamin Sidney. His wife died March 9,1867. On the 24th of May, 1877, he married Miss Camilla Price, daughter of John R. Price, and niece of General Sterling Price, of Missouri, of which State she is a native. It would be doing injustice to Dr. Wilkins if we failed to state that he feels that be has been much more closely identified with the county of Yuba, where he resided for twenty-six years, than with Napa, where he has lived but six years. In Yuba he was known by everybody, was esteemed and respected by all, and in return he was greatly attached to her citizens; and if his wishes had been consulted, we doubt not but he would have preferred to have been sketched among those in that county who had long been his intimate friends and associates. But in writing a history of the prominent men of California by counties, we must take them where and when we find them. In conclusion, we will state that the maternal grandmother of Dr. Wilkins, Elizabeth Lewis, was a daughter of Lawrence Lewis, a nephew of General Washington, and Eleanor Parke Custis, the granddaughter of Martha Washington, being the only lineal descendant of Mrs. Washington with whom we have met in California.

Thomas Walsh - Was born in Ireland, August 15,1822. In 1847 he came to America. He followed boating on the Hudson River until April, 1857, when he started via Panama for California, and arrived at San Francisco August 15th of the above year. After spending about eight years in the vicinity of St. Helena, he bought and settled on his present place, about one mile from Calistoga, where he has since resided. He married, June 4,1852, Miss Margaret Hilliard, by whom he has five children: William P. F., Robert, Henry, Matilda and Josephine..