Napa County CA Archives Biographies.....Roberts, T. M. 1830 - 
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Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1891)

[Transcriber's note: The title is clearly T. M. Roberts, while in the body of
the biography, the name is given as J. W. Roberts.]

T. M. ROBERTS.—In the course of a very thorough examination of Napa County for
the purpose of this work, no more beautiful or genuinely attractive place was
found anywhere than Valley View Ranch, the lovely country home of Mr. J. W.
Roberts, the well-known mining man. It is romantically situated just at the
crest of the hills that shut in the upper end of Napa Valley, at an elevation of
about 1,000 feet above tide level, and directly overlooking the picturesque town
of Calistoga. Nature has been lavish with her charms about the spot, and she has
been so admirably helped out by art that it seems hard to imagine any
improvement over what now exists. The estate is not a very large one, comprising
only ninety acres, but every inch of it is made to tell, either in the way of
attractive surroundings and the development of the magnificent and unequaled
view, or of practical and successful fruit-growing. The residence, a cottage
that devotes more attention to the comforts of living than to making an external
show, stands at the edge of a veritable forest grove of pines and other trees
that stretch off along the ridge that extends behind. In front of it is a
sloping flower-garden, in which appears, besides flowers and ornamental shrubs,
many semi-tropical and exotic plants and trees. Some orange-trees growing here
were of exceedingly thrifty growth, while the Abyssinian banana, Japanese
palonia, and many other striking examples, showed clearly that Valley View is in
the thermal belt and rarely knows of frost. Over the tops of these trees and
shrubs, as well as the pines, oaks, etc., of the mountain side lower down, is
caught that ever wonderful and attractive view, up the valley to Mount St.
Helena, down the valley a long distance, and into the valley where Calistoga
seems a collection of dolls' houses. It would seem that one could never tire of
such a prospect.

  The fruit orchards stretch off to the right and behind the residence, and were
formed with equal interest with the parts already described. In all there are
about 5,000 trees, most of them in bearing. Otherwise about 2,500 are the silver
prune, 1,000 the royal apricot, 400 apples, and the balance chiefly the Crawford
peach. It was observed that the trees had a most thrifty and well-cared-for
appearance, comparing favorably in this regard with anything in the valley;
indeed it is one of the largest and best conducted and therefore important
orchards in the upper end of the county. It was noticed that in some parts the
trees were somewhat close together; Mr. Roberts finds that thus the ground is
better shaded, thus retaining the moisture in the soil and helping stifle the
weeds. In the upper part of the orchard is the reservoir, an excavation 10 feet
deep, capable of containing 250,000 gallons of water, thus affording a most
abundant supply, which is piped to the house, grounds, fountains, etc., for
irrigating purposes, and another spring of clear, cold water for the house. Mr.
Roberts has a large fruit-dryer on the back end of the place, just above the
road that winds up the hills and over toward the Petrified Forest. Above is the
hot chamber, where the dried fruit is sweated before shipping. Below is the
dryer, a No. 4 California Acme, of very large capacity and good construction. It
has 124 trays, which will take, on the average, twenty-five pounds of fruit to
the tray. The product is chiefly packed in boxes before shipping, and has won a
name for excellence wherever it is introduced. The market is famed throughout
the East generally,—Omaha, Baltimore, New York, Denver, etc.,—at top prices
ruling for dried fruits.

   It hardly seems possible that this beautiful and well-improved place could be
the work of only seven or eight years, yet such is the case, for Mr. Roberts
only in 1883 took the place, then in a state of nature, and began its
improvement. It shows what an intelligent appreciation of the possibilities of
the location, coupled with an artistic eye and backed by ample means, can do. No
wonder that Mr. Roberts' children are the picture of healthful youth and vigor,
and that the place should be a popular one with visitors fro in the valley and
from the cities.

  Mr. Roberts is a native of Ohio, the home of the Presidents. He was born in
1837, near Columbus. In 1857 he came to California, and, until he purchased and
began the improvement of Valley View, was engaged in mining enterprises in
different parts of the coast. His brother, George D. Roberts, is the well-known
mining operator of New York city, having been a partner with the most famous
Californians, such as Hearst, Gashweiler, Charles Felton, R. B. Monon, etc. Mr.
Roberts is a hearty, whole-souled gentleman whom it is a genuine pleasure to
meet, a man of unusual energy and enterprise who accomplishes a great deal more
than he talks. In the best source of the term he is a representative citizen of
Napa County.


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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