Alameda-El Dorado-Contra Costa County CA Archives Biographies.....Luce, Daniel 1827 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 30, 2006, 10:01 pm Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1891) DANIEL LUCE, prominent among the old and highly respected pioneers of California and residents of Haywards, is a '49er and has been conspicuously identified with several of the public enterprises of Alameda County. He was a member of the board who secured the franchise for the electric light and the Knox water companies of Haywards in 1888. He also owned and managed the water works of Haywards previous to the incorporation of the Knox Company. Mr. Luce was born at Williamstown, Vermont, May 25, 1827, and while a babe his parents moved to Parkertown, Huron County, Ohio, where he grew up and received his education. His father, Joshua Luce, was a native of Vermont and a farmer by vocation, and died in 1842. His mother, whose maiden name was Electa Sanderson, was also a native of Vermont and died in 1846. Their ancestry were emigrants from England to America in the seventeenth century. Daniel was apprenticed to the carpenter's trade under J. E. Crowell, of Bellevue. Completing his term of service in 1847, he went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and followed his trade there until 1849, when he started for California with an ox team by the southern route. Six months later he arrived in San Francisco. He and nine others hired a schooner to take them across the bay to San Antonio, now East Oakland, paying $80 for the trip; and here they worked for a time, getting out lumber in the redwoods. In 1850 Mr. Luce went to Cold Springs on the north fork of the American River and followed mining for a few months. He then became a dealer in cattle, which he drove back to the redwoods, where they were slaughtered. In 1853 he returned to the "States," where he remained a year. Returning then to California, he located six miles north of Haywards, where he still owns 265 acres of farm and stock-grazing land. In 1856 he moved to Contra Costa County and remained there until 1863. Returning then to Haywards, he located where he still resides. He is a member of the Board of Town Trustees, and has been a School Trustee. Politically he is a Democrat, and has been a member of the County Central Committee of his party for eight years. He affiliates with Alameda Encampment of Haywards, I. O. O. F., and Clinton Lodge, No. 2019, K. of H., of East Oakland. Mr. Luce was married at Mackville, Kentucky, January 15, 1854, to Miss Elizabeth L. Cull, a native of that State. Their four living children are: Lucinda F., George P., Alice C. and Daniel. Their deceased are: Eliza, who died when a babe, and Mary A., who died in 1887. Additional Comments: Extracted from Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California. Illustrated, Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast from the Earliest Period of its Occupancy to the Present Time, together with Glimpses of its Prospective Future; Full-Page Steel Portraits of its most Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of many of its Pioneers and also of Prominent Citizens of To-day. "A people that takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendents." – Macauley. CHICAGO THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 1891. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/alameda/bios/luce608nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/ File size: 3.8 Kb