Contra Costa-Napa-San Francisco County CA Archives Biographies.....Harlan, Joel 1828 - 1875 ************************************************ 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, 3:22 am Author: W. A. Slocum & Co., Publishers (1882) JOEL HARLAN, (deceased.)—The subject of this memoir, of whom an excellent portrait will be found in the body of this work, was the son of George and Elizabeth (Duncan) Harlan, and was born in Wayne county, Indiana, September 27, 1828, where he resided until seventeen years of age. He then, with his parents, moved west, locating in St. Joseph, Missouri; and in the following Spring, 1846, they continued their westward journey across the then little known plains to California, the route taken being that known to the pioneers of that, and the present time, as the Hastings cut-off. It will thus be seen that Mr. Harlan was one of the actual pioneers of this State, having arrived here one year prior to the discovery of gold, and was living in San Francisco when the famous discovery was made. An uncle of our subject, Mr. Weimar, was engaged in the mill enterprise with John W. Marshall when the latter made the discovery of the precious metal. After a short time spent in San Francisco, Mr. Harlan, with his father and mother, two sisters and a younger brother, named Elisha, moved to San Jose Mission, locating and building there a house which afterwards proved to be a landmark defining the line between Alameda and Contra Costa counties. During his first year's residence there our subject was called upon to mourn the death of his mother. When the first Legislature met and provided for a county organization, his dwelling fell within the territorial limits of Contra Costa county, as then established. Like nearly every one else in the "days of gold," Mr. Harlan took a turn at the mines ; on the return from which, death claimed his aged grandmother, who now lies buried beneath the present State Capitol at Sacramento. On April 7, 1849, he was united in marriage, in the town of Sonoma, by Ex-Governor Boggs, to Miss Minerva Fowler, a native of Bellevue, Illinois, and the daughter of William and Catherine (Speed) Fowler. He next located in Napa city, for a short time, then moved to Sacramento, where he sojourned a few months, and thence moved to San Francisco, where their eldest child, Elisha, was born. In the same year he transferred his abode to San Jose, and at the end of a twelve-month, became the first settler in what is now the flourishing town of San Lorenzo. In the year 1852, he purchased a tract of land and erected a dwelling in Amador valley, and when the county of Alameda was created, mainly from the original territory of Contra Costa county, one of the points defining the boundary line between the counties was the "house of Joel Harlan." Mr. Harlan, however, always considered his home on this side of the line and in Contra Costa county. In 1856 he purchased upwards of two thousand acres of the Norris Tract, and two years later built the present dwelling in which his widow and children now reside. Mr. Harlan was an upright and genial map, greatly respected and much beloved, not only by his own family and relatives, but by the citizens of the county in which he lived. On Sunday, March 28, 1875, after a prosperous and well-spent life, Mr. Harlan passed away to his Maker. In regard to his demise, the Danville Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, of which he was an honored member, at their meeting held April 10,1875, adopted the following memorial resolutions: "WHEREAS, It has pleased the Divine Master to remove from our midst, our Beloved Brother, Joel Harlan: Resolved, That, in the death of Brother Harlan, we have lost an esteemed member of our Order; the community a worthy and upright citizen, and his family a devoted husband and father. Resolved, that we extend to his bereaved family our sincere and heartfelt sympathy in this, their sad hour of affliction. Resolved, as a mark of respect, that we wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days, and that a copy of these resolutions be sent to his family, the Contra, Costa Gazette, and the Pacific Rural Press." His family consisted of the following members: Elisha, Annae (now deceased), Laura M., Mary, Horace, Helena, Henry, Fred and Addie. 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/harlan31nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/ File size: 5.4 Kb