Napa-San Francisco-Yuba County CA Archives Biographies.....Beach, George H. 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 January 30, 2006, 9:49 pm

Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1891)

GEORGE H. BEACH, realestate and insurance agent, St. Helena, Napa County, was
born October 5,1817, at New London, Connecticut, the son of Chauncey and Mary
(Holton) Beach, his father being born on the banks of the Connecticut River,
near Chatham now Portland, and his mother in Winchester, New Hampshire. His
parents moved to New London about 1805, where his father was engaged in the
mercantile business. During the war of 1812, his father was appointed sutler to
the forces stationed south of and near his town; and at a time when the British
threatened to land at Light-House Point, three miles below, he, with hundreds of
his fellow-civilians, volunteered his service, standing guard at Light-House
Point until the British withdrew to a point nearer New York. Prior to their
departure they threw ball and shell all one night into the American camp. Just
when the shells were falling thickest, a volunteer named Charles Louden, who was
under fire for the first time, in his fright slipped unseen out of camp and
jumped over a stone wall, dropping one foot into an iron messpot of scalding hot
soup. The moment the cook saw the foot go into the soup he called out, "Take
your foot out of that pot!" The man obeyed promptly, leaving a portion of the
flesh of his foot with the cook. From that time on the phrase, " Take your foot
out of the pot," became a lasting by-word.

  In 1821, when young George was four years old, his father died, leaving six
children, three girls and three boys. At the age of seventeen the subject of our
sketch left school, taking a situation as a bundle carrier for Charles C.
Williams in the dry-goods business. After going up all the rounds of the ladder,
in due time he entered into business for himself, in partnership with his
brother, under the firm name of C. E. and G. H. Beach. They suffered such
reverses, however, in the crash of 1842, that they were forced to suspend
business. Soon after Mr. Beach accepted an offer to become principal salesman
for the firm of William A. Buckingham & Co., of Norwich, Connecticut, wholesale
and retail dealers in dry goods and carpets, they being manufacturers.

  In 1845 Mr. Beach again began business for himself in dry-goods in Norwich, in
partnership with Mr. G. B. Goddard, son of Calvin Goddard, ex-Judge of the State
Supreme Court, the firm being Goddard & Beach.

  June 1, of that year, Mr. Beach was married to Miss Elizabeth T. Morgan,
daughter of Dr. Consider Morgan, of East Windsor, Connecticut, where she was
boru; they built a comfortable residence and settled down to stay; but in the
summer of 1848, finding that by long and close confinement his health was
breaking down, he determined to try his luck in the new El Dorado, exciting
stories of the gold discoveries in California having been confirmed to his
satisfaction. He sold his interest to his brother and began preparations. He
went by the steamer Worcester to spend Thanksgiving with his mother and
relatives at New London, as a good-by, landing there during a heavy snowstorm.
The steamer proceeded on for New York, but went ashore with great loss of life.
A two-story frame building for business purposes in California, and a full stock
of merchandise were shipped via Cape Horn, and on February 1, 1849, Mr. Beach
sailed on the steamer Falcon for Chagres with about 300 passengers, among whom
were Colonel Geary and Captain Simmons, and their wives, the latter being the
only ladies on board. At Panama there was a delay of twenty-eight days waiting
for the Oregon, which was on its way out via the Cape. On this trip an effective
choir was formed under the leadership of Mr. Beach, the ladies, whose voices
were rich and full, supplying alto and soprano, C. Loomis, tenor, John Benson
and Mr. Beach, bass. They reached San Francisco April 1, without accident of
note. On the fourth day after landing Mr. Beach completed the purchase of a
business lot on the north side of Sacramento street, 110 feet west of
Montgomery, for $3,000, of which $1,000 was cash. On the 9th he started for the
Southern mines, via Stockton, taking a small stock of high-colored
handkerchiefs, calicoes and scarfs, which he had brought with him. With these,
and buying and selling job lots of miners' goods from pack trains, he returned
to San Francisco the latter part of June with money sufficient to pay off his
land indebtedness and settle the freight on his house and goods, which arrived
early in July. The store was erected, goods moved in, and business begun. In
addition to merchandise, Mr. Beach had three consignments of vessels to him
sailing from different ports in Connecticut. He also purchased invoices of goods
brought by adventurers, and bought interests in small sailing vessels and
steamers, receiving their agency and directing their business. He was also agent
for the ship Glenmore, running to Panama; the brig Sarah M. Farlaine, running to
Portland; the schooner Alfred, to the Sandwich Islands, and the steamer West
Point, to Sacramento. In passing through the two great fires of 1850 and 1851,
he lost his store and large stock each time, the loss of both being probably
$50,000. In July, 1851, his wife arrived.

  Having a branch store in Marysville, Yuba County, under the firm name of Beach
& Brown, run by Brown, he discovered the latter to be a defaulter in $10,200. He
had him arrested, but only a small part was recovered. Mr. Beach sold his San
Francisco lots for $14,000, replenished his store at Marysville from the funds,
and took charge himself, when, on August 31, he was caught in the Marysville
fire, saving nothing from it but what was in his safe. This was the third
conflagration he had passed through, in eighteen months, and no insurance to be
obtained; and he very naturally was very discouraged over trade. But he allowed
nothing to daunt him, although the capital which his steamers had been earning
had become impaired by heavy competition; and, not feeling willing to venture
longer in merchandising while no insurance could be obtained, sold out his
steamer interests, and, joined with John Perry, Jr., and Benjamin Smith, both of
San Francisco, and Henry D. Beach, of Sacramento, he opened an office for the
purchase of gold dust in Marysville, shipping the dust to San Francisco daily
and receiving coin in return. In a little over a year he shipped more than a
$1,500,000 in dust, it going in lots of from $3,000 to $10,000. Here, again,
however, Mr. Beach was doomed to loss as well as profit. Having been admonished
by physicians that he must desist from blowing dust (the only process then in
vogue for separating the black sand from the gold), he employed a competent
clerk named Frank Morse, well educated (and a son of a Presbyterian clergyman in
Ohio), whose duty it was to sleep in the office, partly as security against
burglars, and partly to get off early shipments. He proved an absconder with
$4,000, however; the whole of this loss falling on Mr. Beach, he defraying the
office expenses by agreement some three months prior to this. In the spring of
1852 Mr. Beach had inaugurated the express business of Wells, Fargo & Co. Later,
a Mr. Frank Rumrill offered to do the company's business at a much less figure
than Mr. Beach was receiving. A compromise was offered Mr. Beach, but he refused
to continue it for less, having the proof that there were risks. It was
consequently given to Mr. Rumrill, and the result was that the latter became a
defaulter to the company for over $50,000 in about two years.

  Mr. Beach owned a half section of land on the east bank of the Feather River,
three miles south of Marysville. In the winter of 1853 gold dust had run up to
too high a price for much profit and had lost its mercantile character. Owing to
this, and the injurious effect of blowing dust, upon his health, he gave up the
business and moved to his ranch. A year previous he had imported nursery stock,
including grape cuttings in great variety, from the East, as well as grape-vines
on a large scale, laying the foundation for the orchard, vineyard and nursery
business. This place he named the "New England Gardens," and was popularly known
all over the State, especially with nurserymen and San Francisco fruit dealers.
His sale of trees and vines extended into all the neighboring counties, even
into Plumas, Trinity and Siskiyou. In this business Mr. Beach found his search
after happiness satisfied, as he thought. He was a great lover of nature; had
got away from fires and dishonest partners and thieving clerks, and could see no
enemy in his path. But in this new undertaking he had to contend with
inexperience of climate, soils, and seasons. It was a pioneer undertaking. But
Mr. Beach was not a man to hunt difficulties; he was much more apt to thrust
them aside. All seemed a problem of success. He was bold in experiments, solving
problems only to be obtained by experience,—a work by which the whole State has
since profited greatly.

  Ill luck seemed, however, to follow him. In 1855 grasshoppers covered that
section of the State for a month, leaving not a vestige of fruit on his trees,
and doing thousands of dollars' worth of damage to his nursery stock, as part of
their legacy to the State. In 1856 he harvested a fair crop on parts of his
orchard. In 1857 the grasshoppers repeated the ravages that season to a total
loss of fruit and great damage to the nursery; 1858 was a good year, yielding
him $20,000, but yet not enough to recompense the losses of the previous bad
years; 1859 caught him again with the grasshoppers with nearly as disastrous
results as before. These reverses, together with the floods depositing millions
of tons of the miners' debris in his orchards, vineyard and nursery, almost
burying them under, discouraged him beyond endurance, and he sold out, leaving
himself without a dollar.

   In 1857 he had been elected a Vice-President of the State Agricultural
Society, and in 1858 Recording Secretary of the same, which constituted him one
of the Board of  Directors, receiving and disbursing $30,000. In 1863 Mr. Beach
entered the wholesale and retail store of C. L. Ross, Marysville, as a salesman,
and in 1865 he changed to the wholesale house of A. C. Dietz, San Francisco. In
1868 he became a commercial traveler for Englebrecht & Mayrich Bros., with a
first-class salary. He continued this until he removed with his family in the
interests of their health to St. Helena, Napa County, where he took an
engagement at a large winery there and made his trips regularly twice a year
into Oregon and Washington, building up a fair trade. A severe attack of
pneumonia in the spring of 1885 leaving him in somewhat impaired health, he
relinquished his traveling occupation and settled down in the real-estate and
insurance business in St. Helena. His ill luck was not yet ended, however, for
September 15, 1889, a fire broke out in the central building of the fine block
he had erected on Main street and the property was totally destroyed, including
his office furniture, books and papers of every kind. His net loss above
insurance was $3,000, and rentals amounting to $110 a month. This was his fourth
misfortune by fire, though this time his loss was partially covered by
insurance. Mr. Beach is a horticultural enthusiast and has solved the problem of
citrus culture in Napa County. In his garden he has a dozen bearing orange
trees, six to fourteen years old, surrounding his fine residence, which was
fortunately saved from the fire, all of them in the best possible condition.
Through his influence half the citizens of St. Helena are growing orange and
lemon trees successfully in their gardens. Mr. Beach has also a nursery in the
foot-hills near the town, containing 3,000 orange and lemon trees, now of
salable age, and sound, healthy stock. They are three years old and all of his
own growth from the seed.

   Mr. Beach is an active and energetic Republican. In 1856 he took a very
active part in the organization of his party (Republican) in his county, as well
as in the adjoining counties on the north, he then living at his orchard, or New
England Gardens, Yuba County, near Marysville, and aided to carry the State in
1860 for Lincoln, organizing clubs in the northern counties. He comes honestly
by his principles, having inherited Whig doctrine from his parents, continuing
with that party until the organization of the Republican party. His first
presidential vote was cast for W. H. Harrison in 1840. He helped organize the
First Congregational Church in San Francisco; in 1849 organized the first two
choirs that were formed in the State,—that of the church above named, and the
First Baptist Church of San Francisco; also the first choir in Marysville.

   He is a member of the Pioneer Association of San Francisco, and for
twenty-five years has been a member of the Abou Ben Adhem Lodge, No. 112, I. O.
O. F., San Francisco. He has three children living, one son having died in 1876.
Those living are: Arthur B., George H., Jr., and Lizzie; all at home. The writer
is indebted to this worthy old pioneer for many facts and incidents utilized
elsewhere. Soon after Mr. Beach left the store of W. A. Buckingham & Co., Mr.
Buckingham was elected Governor of Connecticut, and in consequence of his great
enthusiasm in all his movements, especially in raising troops and equiping them
at his own expense at the outbreak of the Rebellion, he was dubbed the
"Connecticut War Governor." On the close of the rebellion he was elected. United
States Senator. About this time Mr. Beach, happening to be at Calaveras Big
Trees, California, by consent of the proprietors there, selected one of the
tallest and handsomest Sequinor grants, and gave it the name of Governor
Buckingham; and on his return to San Francisco had a marble tablet cut and
lettered and sent to the proprietors; and the tablet still remains in good
condition, and it is hoped will remain through generations to come, to keep his
memory in the minds of the thousands who will visit the wondrous grove in years
to come.

  Mr. Beach says to the writer of this, that in looking backward he wonders how
he has kept up his courage in passing through so many eventful vicissitudes. At
his age, now seventy-two, in 1890, he has the manner of one of but sixty at most.


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/napa/bios/beach607nbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cafiles/

File size: 15.4 Kb