Napa-Butte County CA Archives Biographies.....Ewer, Seneca 1823 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 4, 2006, 6:05 am

Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1891)

HON. SENECA EWER-While the life history of the men of '49 is always interesting
and always instructive beyond that of any other body of men that ever lived, yet
there are always a few the record of whose life and actions should be written
more fully and read more generally, especially by the young, than any other. The
man who has made his way laboriously upward from the narrow circumstances of
youth to the affluence of mature life; who has achieved an education against the
obstacles of lack of means and fortune, and who has climbed to a position high
in the respect, esteem and honor of his fellow-men, the life of such a man
should be written fully and without reserve, and be placed within the reach of
the newer generation as an example of diligence. It is such a career that it is
our pleasure here to record—that of the Hon. Seneca Ewer, who is one of the
prominent men in Northern California.

  Mr. Ewer was born near Auburn, western New York, in the year 1823, his father
being an agriculturist of that section. When he was but nine years of age the
family moved to Michigan, settling on the shores of the Huron River. Here young
Ewer grew up a stout and sturdy lad, inured to the hard work of a farm in those
early days, and spending as much of his leisure time during these years as he
could upon the water, gaining a knowledge that stood him in good stead
afterward. But he did not waste his time. He fitted himself to become a teacher
in the district schools, and with the money earned in this manner paying his way
first to a preparatory school and then to college, graduating in 1847 at the
Michigan University. Remember that all this was done without aid from any one,
saving only that a loving mother knit his socks and fitted him out with pants
and vests. Like all the country school-teachers of that day, he boarded around
from house to house, often having to walk as much as two miles to school. A most
amusing incident of the time, but one that will illustrate the state of affairs
that then existed, occurred to Mr. Ewer. While he was boarding at the house of
an English family, one cold night they brought out a warming-pan to warm the
schoolmaster's bed. It was the first thing of the kind he had ever seen and he
was much interested in the novel instrument.

   Determining to come to California in 1849 and test for himself the truth of
the golden stories that were flying over the country, he set out for the long
trip overland from Michigan. At Lexington, Missouri, a party of five, consisting
of Mr. Ewer, Ben Manning, George Reeves and son and another set out together.
Later on they united with the famous Michigan train that called themselves the
Wolverines and came in by the Lassen route. On the road they fell in with Mr.
Loring Pickering, of the San Francisco Call and Bulletin, and family, and
finding the route difficult they joined teams and left a wagon behind. Bearing
the headwaters of the Feather River; Mr. Ewer with Mr. Pickering and family
packed over to the Feather River in the Sacramento Valley, leaving the team to
follow as fast as it could. They had a pretty hard time of it, being short of
provisions; but the lucky shooting of a deer by Mr. Ewer provided for them
abundantly. They came out at Long's Bar, reaching there November 4, 1849. The
wagon, reduced to a cart, came in soon after and Mr. Pickering began trading in
a small way, while Mr. Ewer mined and knocked about generally. The hardships of
the time may be imagined when the only bed that Mr. Ewer had for quite a time
was a wagon-bed shared with others. The boat used for crossing the river was
swept away during the high water with several men in it one of whom was drowned.
To replace it one of the old-fashioned curved wagon beds was used for a ferry
and Answered until a better one could be constructed. Meantime the soaking rains
prevented the wagons from coming in with provisions and "grub" ran short. Mr.
Ewer and four others were sent out on a perilous trip down the river by boat to
Sacramento to obtain supplies. Mr. Ewer's boating experiences on the Huron River
came into play, he acting as steersman. They got the provisions and after a
terrible hard pull up the current, found to their disgust that, the rains being
over, wagons had got in and there was a plentiful supply of everything.

  The following summer Mr. Ewer was engaged in mining on the middle fork of the
Feather River, twenty miles above Bidwell's Bar, and from the fall of 1851 to
1855 was in the general merchandise business at Hamilton, then the county-seat
of Butte County, and in the fall of 1855 he went to Oroville and began the
practice of law, at the same time devoting himself to the breeding of stock,
cattle, sheep, etc., in Butte County, and rapidly attained a prominent-position.
In 1854 he was elected a member of the Assembly on the Democratic ticket,
attending the session which met at Benicia, and removed the capital to
Sacramento, and again in 1865 he was chosen to represent Butte County in the
State Senate by the Republican party for the years 1866-'68. Previous to this he
had in 1852 been Judge of the old Court of Sessions of Butte County. He was also
a delegate to all political conventions, etc., of his own party during these
years. Finally, in 1870, he came to Napa County and settled in St. Helena, since
which time he has been one of the most active and public-spirited residents of
the Napa Valley. It is chiefly to his energy that St. Helena owes her excellent
water supply. He has been an active promoter of the wine-growing interests of
the valley, and is the possessor of large vineyards. The splendid fire-proof,
stone wine-cellar belonging to Ewer & Atkinson at Rutherford is a signal proof
of his efforts in this direction. He was one of the organizers and the first
president and is now a director of the Bank of St. Helena; and is a member of
the board of directors of the Grangers' Bank of California in San Francisco, and
of the Napa Bank at Napa City. He has one of the finest residences, surrounded
with magnificent grounds, in St. Helena, where he is now enjoying the comforts
that have been so well earned by his active and energetic life, and in which,
regarded with the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens, he can justly
spend the remainder of his days, as becomes the man who by long and successful
labors has carved out his fortune with his own hands.

  Mr. Ewer was a Democrat previous to the war. being elected to the Assembly on
that ticket. Since the war he has been a Republican, active, yet conservative.

   His son, Fred S. Ewer, is following his father's footsteps and seems likely
to take an equally prominent place in years to come. He is the secretary of the
St. Helena Water and Gas Companies, and is active in the wine interests of his
father, showing promise of becoming an expert wine-maker.


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.


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