Contra Costa County CA Archives Biographies.....Fales, Orris 1817 - ************************************************ 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 November 27, 2005, 12:20 am Author: W. A. Slocum & Co., Publishers (1882) CAPTAIN ORRIS FALES.—Was born in Thomaston, Maine, March 20, 1817. He made his first trip to sea at the age of thirteen years, and continued to follow the sea in the coasting, West India and European trades for twenty-two years. He came to California, around Cape Horn, in 1850. From San Francisco he sailed to the Sandwich Islands, Manila, Hongkong, and back to California in the Winter of 1851-52. In the Summer of 1852, he bought one hundred and eleven acres of land, and built a small house. A few years ago he erected a fine house on his valuable and highly improved farm, at the juntas of the San Ramon and Walnut creeks. The residence is two stories, thirty by thirty-six feet, with a one-story addition fourteen by twenty-six feet. The house is finely finished in modern style, with all late improvements. Captain Fales bought several small tracts of land adjoining, as opportunity offered, until he now possesses three hundred acres on the extreme northern end of San Ramon valley (and Rancho), bounded on the north by Walnut creek and town of the same name. Most of his land is tillable, and has never failed to yield a crop during the period of his occupation. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, INCLUDING ITS GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION; TOGETHER WITH A RECORD OF THE MEXICAN GRANTS; THE BEAR FLAG WAR; THE MOUNT DIABLO COAL FIELDS; THE EARLY HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT, COMPILED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES; THE NAMES OF ORIGINAL SPANISH AND MEXICAN PIONEERS; FULL LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY; SEPARATE HISTORY OF EACH TOWNSHIP, SHOWING THE ADVANCE IN POPULATION AND AGRICULTURE; ALSO, Incidents of Pioneer Life; and Biographical Sketches OF EARLY AND PROMINENT SETTLERS AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN; AMD OF ITS TOWNS, VILLAGES, CHURCHES, SECRET SOCIETIES, ETC. ILLUSTRATED. SAN FRANCISCO: W. A. SLOCUM & CO., PUBLISHERS 1882. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/contracosta/bios/fales2nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/ File size: 2.5 Kb