TITLE: Alameda Business Directory, 1876.
SOURCE: History of Alameda County, California, Frank Clinton Merritt, Chicago, Ill.: S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1928, pp 188-202 (chapter 5).
TRANSCRIBER: Kathy Sedler, August 2006.
NOTES: None.

AN OLD COUNTY BUSINESS DIRECTORY

LARGE LAND OWNERS OF 1876-BUSINESS DIRECTORY OF OAKLAND TOWNSHIP-OF ALAMEDA TOWNSHIP-OF EDEN TOWNSHIP-OF BROOKLYN TOWNSHIP-OF MURRAY TOWNSHIP-OF WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP
LARGE LAND OWNERS OF 1876

A business directory of Alameda County for this day would require a book of considerable size. Not so, however, for 1876, fifty-two years ago. The author has been fortunate to discover an old business directory of 1876, arranged by townships. It contains the names of many prominent pioneers of the county whose names are closely connected with the earlier modern history of the county, and many of whom have descendants still residing here. This directory shows when these early pioneers came to the state and to the county, and also gives the number of acres owned by those engaged in farming. Some of the largest land owners in Oakland township were Francisco Galindo, with 3,400 acres; Sheriff H. N. Morse, 1,011 acres; J. H. McCourtney, 300 acres; S. E. Alden, 300 acres; Berryman & Chapman, the real estate dealers, 637 acres; John C. Hays, 1,000 acres; E. A. Haines, the Oakland capitalist, 133 acres; Walter Blair, 240 acres; James McGee, 115 acres; Michael Higgins, 113 acres; Christian Baggie, 180 acres; and Michael Curtis, 90 acres.

The largest land owners in Alameda township were A. Mecartney, the Alameda capitalist, who owned 450 acres on Bay Farm Island; Conrad Liese, the butcher, 211 acres; B. Benedict, 47 acres; Henry Bowman, 40 acres; Asaph Cleveland, 64 acres; Henry Robinson, 43 acres; and H. H. Haight, 42 acres.

The largest land owners of that time in Brooklyn township were Richard Dowling, 606 acres; Nicholas Devereux, 280 acres; L. B. Huff, 900 acres; W. P. Towler, 379 acres; John Mathews, 550 acres;J. H. Medall, 500 acres; W. A. Bray, 110 acres; Mrs. B. Feeney, 120 acres; George Kinsell, 130 acres; C. T. Mills, 115 acres; R. B. Moyes, 160 acres; John Murphy, 100 acres; Elizabeth Reichert, 115 acres; L. Stone, 164 acres; and William Shepherd, 125 acres.

A. Baker owned 4,000 acres in Eden township. Other large holdings were those of John Dobbel, 1,020 acres; William Knox, 1,000 acres; William Meek, 2,800 acres; John Marlin, 450 acres; William H. Miller, 640 acres; Thomas W. Mulford, 600 acres; H. F. Nebas, 315 acres; Diedrich Pestdorf, 400 acres; William Roberts, 600 acres; J. Russell, 400 acres; M. Stanton, 419 acres; John Zeile, 230 acres; D. D. Mann, 447 acres; E. D. Brown, 278 acres; Thomas Heller, 402 acres; J. Hollis, 360 acres; W. H, Ivey, 800 acres; John Johnson, 430 acres; and Elvina Prowse, 265 acres.

The largest farms were in Murray township. Joseph F. Black was the owner of 7,776 acres. Duerr & Nusbaumer owned 3,150 acres; Valentine Alviso, 875 acres; T. F. Bachelder, 1,323 acres; Jose Bernal, 1,550 acres; Augustine U. Bernal, 1,000 acres; Jose R. Bernal, 894 acres; H. Daugherty, 323 acres; Michael Devany, 550 acres; John Dolon, 400 acres; E. Dyer, 2,000 acres; J. Elliott, 1,062 acres; John M. English, 325 acres; Alexander Edson, 700 acres; John Galway, 375 acres; John Green, 1,320 acres; H. Hughes, 320 acres; Daniel Inman, 625 acres; George Johnston, 1,856 acres; Kelley Brothers, 674 acres; C. Knittel, 691 acres; M. Koopmann, 400 acres; Robert Livermore, 1,026 acres; George May, 505 acres; W. M. Mendenhall, 1,000 acres; Michael McColliver, 300 acres; A. J. McLeod, 463 acres; J. A. Neal, 520 acres; Joseph Nevis, 890 acres; Owen Owens, 354 acres; Richard I. Pope, 2,700 acres; C. Schutt, 400 acres; Ernst Schroeen, 365 acres; Duncan Sinclair, 400 acres; J. D. Smith, 530 acres; George C. Stanley, 936 acres; John Taylor, 911 acres; Mrs. C. Thiessen, 600 acres; H. W. Thomas, 606 acres; D. E. Thomas, 320 acres; W. W. Wynn, 320 acres; and S. Zimmerman, 640 acres.

There were several large farms in Washington township. The largest ones were those of Michael Rogan, 2,700 acres; George W: Patterson, 2,000 acres; J. L. Beard, 2,000 acres; R. A. McClure, 1,900 acres; H. Curtner, 1,700 acres; A. Rankin, 1,600 acres; Origin Mowry, 735 acres; William Wills, 750 acres; J. W. Wauhab, 500 acres; J. T. Walker, 484 acres; Calvin Valpey, 400 acres; S. Stivers, 599 acres; John T. Stevenson, 540 acres; Josiah Stanford, 660 acres; Howard Overacker, 246 acres; M. J. Overacker, 210 acres; Thomas W. Millard, 320 acres; August May, 321 acres; Earl Marshall, 599 acres; John Lowrie, 650 acres; Stephen Larkins, 200 acres; Caleb S. Haley, 280 acres; John Hall, 311 acres; John Emart, 220 acres; M. W. Dixon, 300 acres; Joshua Chadbourne, 227 acres; William H. Blacow, 554 acres; Mrs. R. Blacow, 340 acres; and John C. Whipple, 200 acres.

The directory, arranged by townships, giving the names, residences, occupations, date of arrival in the state and in the county, follows:

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP

ALAMEDA TOWNSHIP

EDEN TOWNSHIP

BROOKLYN TOWNSHIP

MURRAY TOWNSHIP

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP