Carrie Pratt Elwell - Could Look Back 90 Years In San Rafael Daughter Of A Pioneer Merchant Recalled Town Of Her Childhood - Daily Independent Journal - 16 Jan 1965, Sat - Pages 31 - 33

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Carrie Pratt Elwell Could Look Back 90 Years in San Rafael (part 1)Carrie Pratt Elwell Could Look Back 90 Years in San Rafael (part 1) Sat, Jan 16, 1965 – Page 31 · Daily Independent Journal (San Rafael, California) · Newspapers.com

Carrie Pratt Elwell Could Look Back 90 Years In San Rafael 

Daughter Of A Pioneer Merchant Recalled Town Of Her Childhood

(Editor's Note: This is another in a series of articles written especially for the Independent-Journal Marin Magazine by San Rafael "old-timer" W. T. Ortman on early-day incidents and personages of Marin.)


One year ago this month, Marin lost one of its oldest surviving “native born.”

Although Carrie Pratt Elwell left San Rafael as a schoolgirl and died Jan. 31, 1964, in Oakland, she was Marin born, and she remained a Marinite at heart throughout her life.

Carrie Pratt, daughter of Frederick H. Pratt, business man and postmaster of San Rafael, was born in 1870 in the family home at the northwest corner of Fourth and B streets in San Rafael even before the young community had been incorporated.


Marin Journal , Volume 7, Number 38, 7 December 1867


Marin Journal , Volume 8, Number 29, 3 October 1868


Marin Journal, Volume 17, Number 6, 19 April 1877 — Page 2 Advertisements Column 4 [ADVERTISEMENT]


She was to serve as a court reporter and librarian and enjoy a successful career in the business world as a financier before she passed away at the age of 94.

AND SHE was to serve as a delightful intermediary between past and present, the source of much interesting and valuable information on the early-day history of her native city and county.

Carrie was one of seven children of Frederick H. and Josephine Pratt. 

[I believe Josphine Pratt = Josefa Pimentel, AKA Josephine Ponce De Leone. Not sure how Pimentel relates to Ponce de Leon, but if you search them, they're part of a longer Spanish name, Pimentel y Ponce de León. - MF]


FREDERICK H. PRATT and his wife, Josephine, daughter of a Spanish don, came to San Rafael in the 1860s, even before the town was incorporated. Here Pratt became a pioneer mercantile business man and one of the young community's first postmasters. Daughter Carrie, born in San Rafael in 1870, lived until early 1964 and in her chats with W. T. Ortman, recalled much that her father had told her about the Marin of a century ago. Those interviews are the basis of the article on these pages.

Her father was born in Saybrook, Conn., on April 18, 1824, the son of Titus C. and Elizabeth Pratt. After a common school education, he left home to wander westward, stopping first in Milwaukee where he engaged in business for several years.


History of Marin County, California ... also an historical sketch of the state of California, page 474

IN 1843 HE crossed the Missouri River and traveled southwest into Mexico and Honduras. Then in Nicaragua he stopped to engage in the mercantile business. After several years there, his next venture was in Oregon where he set up a small mercantile firm not far from Grants Pass.

In the winter of 1855, during an Indian massacre, the town and his store-were burned to the ground. Fred Pratt escaped and came to California, making his way to Spanishtown in Butte County where he once again went into the mercantile business in the spring of 1856.


IT HAD BEEN settled in the fall of 1855 by a party of Spanish and Mexicans, most of whom were miners from Sonora. They had been recruited from mines in the Sierra Madre mountains and assembled at Magdalena.

Among the leaders was a Spanish don by the name of Juan Tiementen.

[I believe Juan Tiementen = Manuel Pimentel, believe it or not. Some of the biographies name Josephine Piementen, from which I guess Tiementen is derived. Bad notes? I think Pimentel -> Piementen -> Tiementen. Her obituary, and genealogy sites familysearch and ancestry say her maiden name was Josephine Ponce de Leon. This is her family tree on ancestry.com. - MF]

He had come with his parents from Valencia, Spain, as a boy. While a young man in Magdalena, Mexico, he married a senorita [sic] from his motherland.

Juan's family now consisted of his wife, three daughters - Caroline, Josephine and Ventura - and a son, Prosper.

[I think Caroline = Concepcion Pimentel, Josephine = Josefa Pimentel and Ventura = Ventura Pimentel and Prosper = Prospero Salazar. I think Prospero would have been a grandson of Juan / Manuel Pimentel, as he's the son of Concepcion and Domingo Salazar. There were other siblings, children of Manuel, however. See his linked record on ancestry.com, if you can login. Thanks to ancestry user zohagan for the tree. - MF]

AFTER establishing his store in Spanishtown, Fred Pratt met the Tiementen family and fell in love with Josephine.


[Ancestry.com shows an eighth child, Julius Pratt. - MF]

When the gold deposits in Spanish Ravine gave out, the news arrived that there had been a great strike on the Comstock Lode in Nevada. The word so revived the lagging gold fever in Spanishtown as to empty the town of its population to the last soul. They all rushed to the Comstock.

WEAKLY, Fred Pratt again loaded his stores aboard a wagon and with his wife and their five children moved down the north fork of the Feather River to Sacramento.

Some weeks later, Fred, walking beside his horses, plodded up the main thoroughfare of San Rafael. He stopped his team at a watering trough in front of the Central Hotel to give them water and then obtained rooms in the hotel for his family.

[Maybe it was San Rafael Hotel? Central Hotel was in Petaluma. - MF]

Within a week Frederick H. Pratt set up a store on Fourth Street and was again in business.


"THE POST office was located at Fourth and C at that time," stated his daughter, Carrie, remembering the statements of her father. "It was still the location where the original San Rafael post office had been established in 1851. The first postmaster had been Moses Stoppard."


Carrie Pratt spent the first 10 years of her life in her father's two-story brick house on the northeast corner of Fourth and B. During this time San Rafael was emerging from a "cowtown” atmosphere to a small pueblo of a few buildings and shacks that lined the dusty, deep-rutted old Olema Road along which were driven Mexican longhorn cattle from the James Black and Tim Murphy ranchos to the slaughter house of the Robert C. Clark, Moylan & Scribner meat company at Sim's Landing.

Carrie Pratt was 4 years old when San Rafael was incorporated as a town. At the time the population was only 800 people including many Mexicans, some Indian woodchoppers and a few disillusioned Yankee gold miners from the Sierra.

THERE WERE still a few Spanish dons living on their ranchos in the outlying country.

Many of the settlers in Marin County had come down from the Sierra Nevada when the gold deposits gave out. They never, however, really rid themselves of the gold fever.

"It was in their blood,” recalled Carrie Pratt, remembering the stories her father told her. "In May, 1863, someone discovered a small vein of quartz on the John Reed ranch near Sausalito. It may have had a trace of gold. Then, again, it may not have. But the discovery revived the gold fever again, and sent it to heights previously unknown. The gold-maddened Americans in Marin County went completely off the beam. There was a wild rush for claims.

"I DON'T KNOW but what my father was one of them," commented Carrie as we sat on the terrace beneath the oaks at her beautiful home overlooking Oakland and the bay. “For years...

THIS WAS SAN RAFAEL in the early 1860s, about the time that Frederick H. Pratt brought his family to the community and entered into the mercantile business. It was then a "cowtown" of dirt roads and plank sidewalks. And Carrie Pratt Elwell, remembering back nearly 90 years, could recall that her father's home, in the heart of the town, boasted grounds spacious enough for the raising of horses, poultry, a cow and a vegetable garden.

THE YOUNG LIBRARIAN
Carrie Pratt Elwell had good
reason to be proud of the
Paris gown she wore in this
photo. She had won it as
first prize in an essay contest
conducted by a San Francisco
newspaper.





...there was a list of names among his effects of those who had secured claims. Some of the names I remember - Rev. S. Looten, [Lootens?] Robert C. Clark, J. Angellette and John Simmons. Nothing ever came of this, my father told me. And although it was before my time, still I remember many of these men.”

The last time I visited Carrie Pratt Elwell at her sylvan retreat in the East Oakland hills was in 1963. She was much enfeebled. One of her hands was useless as she had experienced a mild stroke.

CARRIE PRATT could still remember back to her early childhood in San Rafael very well.

She spoke much of San Rafael, remembering vividly the quiet little town with its dirt roads and the hitching posts along the curb.

The buildings along the two business streets were mostly two-story structures with, in many cases, wooden porches extending out to the edge of the sidewalk. The walks were at first of redwood planks, and restricted to the business section. Out Fourth Street beyond D were only dirt paths on either side of the road.

TRAVEL WAS sparse. Here and there a buggy or a surrey would go by. Once in a while a farmer would come to town in a wagon drawn by a team of horses and tie up in front of her father's store.

Her home, of course, was the focal point around which her young life revolved in the 1870s.

“My father's home was a large, two-story house made of brick. It was, with the exception of the Central Hotel, a three-story structure, then the largest building in town," stated Carrie Pratt. "He built it to house both his business and our home. Upstairs were large rooms, and all in French decor with marble fireplaces throughout.


“BUT THE best of all our possessions was the block-size piece of land which father owned. It included everything a ranch should have, in those days. It contained a stable with horses; a buggy and a three-seated carriage with a fringe on top, called a surrey; a flock of geese, chickens, and a vegetable garden. Our cow furnished cream for our own butter." Here Carrie smiled.

"I was the milkmaid who carried buttermilk to Dr. A. W. Taliaferro, a refreshment he was very fond of. He was a pioneer who came to San Rafael with the Virginia mining company ... a country doctor who was at the peak of his very useful career in those days. There was a shortage of dentists, so Doctor Taliaferro pulled teeth along with caring for our other ills."

CARRIE PRATT paused only briefly in her talk.

“As a child I would sit at the window of my father's house, look across the street to where now stands the Crocker-Citizens bank, and watch the Chinese coolies plant onions for the San Francisco market," she said.

Crocker-Citizens National bankCrocker-Citizens National bank Thu, May 13, 1965 – Page 34 · Daily Independent Journal (San Rafael, California) · Newspapers.com

Carrie Pratt dated the time of the onion farm as “before ‘Old Bill' Barnard built his San Rafael livery stable at Fourth and B."

“I WAS STILL only a child when the courthouse was finished," she went on. "I have only a child's memory of those things I liked about the courthouse. Not withstanding the play possibilities I had on my father's ranch-like place, my greatest delight was the lawn surrounding the courthouse. There I played house under the trees and interviewed the prisoners in the jail as they looked out through the tight bars.

"Talking to a little girl was great fun for them, too.

“The sprawling courthouse lawn was full of mushrooms. I ate some and took some home to mother. She was horrified, insisting they were toadstools and poisonous. Consequently, she gave me some medicine I never forgot.”

DURING MY visits to Carrie Pratt's home in East Oakland, I learned much of her background.

Carrie Pratt's aunt, Caroline Tiementen, an older sister of her mother, Josephine, was married to a mine owner named Salajor. Her daughter, Caroline Salajor, was Mrs. Gordon Frank Glidden and lived at Second and B streets. She was godmother to Carrie and named her Caroline Josephine Pratt. 

[I believe Caroline Tiementen = Concepcion Pimentel, the "mine owner named Salajor" is Domingo Salazar, Caroline Salajor = Carolina Salazar, who did marry Gordon Francis Glidden and I guess Carrie = Caroline Josephine Pratt = Carrie Pratt. I think Mrs. Ida Glidden Toriati  = Ida E Glidden, who married George Toriati. She would be Carrie's first cousin, once removed, daughter of Caroline / Carolina, granddaughter of Concepcion.- MF]

These people have all passed from the scene. The only surviving descendent of this goldseeking group of 49ers now alive that I know of is Mrs. Ida Glidden Toriati. She lives in San Juan Bautista.

IDA GREW up in San Rafael and was graduated from the St. Raphael School. She came to San Rafael with her parents in 1901, and was well known in town. Old-timers will remember her as the “candy girl" at the Columbus Candy store. Later, she became telephone supervisor at the local exchange.

I asked Carrie if she had known William T. Coleman who lived in San Rafael during her youth.

"Oh yes," replied Carrie with delight at being reminded of that gentleman. "Mr. Coleman's son, Bobbie, and I went to the same private school. He would walk home with me en route to his own home, only a few blocks away.

"ALSO IN the 1870s,” Carrie continued, "the great war had not been over very long and on Decoration Day people in great numbers would go to the cemetery and decorate the soldiers' graves." During my last visit to Carrie...



CARRIE PRATT ELWELL
of East Oakland was an
important source of information
about early-day San Rafael.
Born here in 1870, she spent
her early years in this city.
And until her death in early
1964, at the age of 94,
she could recall with clarity
incidents that had occurred
in her childhood, and
stories to!d her by her
father of even earlier
happenings.


...I asked if she remembered Dr. Galen Burdell. I asked because his sister, Adeline Burdell, was my grandmother, and I was curious about the old gentleman.

"He was well-known in San Rafael," stated Carrie. "Somehow, he reminded me of a southern plantation owner. He lived at the Olompali Rancho near Novato. There the doctor maintained a beautiful Roman-style villa with veranda on his 30,000-acre estate.

"THE BASIC business of the rancho was dairying. However, Doctor Burdell gave more attention to a small vineyard near the villa. He much preferred being known as a viticulturist. This, perhaps, was due to his ancestors being vineyardists in Bordeaux, France.

"During the holiday season Doctor Burdell would send big turkeys and ranch produce to his many friends in San Rafael.

“There were also other families in the vicinity of the Olompali Ranch whom I remember. One was the Robert C. Clark family. They lived on the old Ramon Mesa Rancho west of Novato. Robert Clark had bought this property, which consisted of about 4,000 acres, at a tax sale in San Rafael. He was accidentally killed on his ranch in 1872 by a runaway team of horses. Two of his children who were with him in the wagon were badly hurt but recovered.

“HIS WIDOWED wife Isabella, and her family continued to live there for many years.

"The other two families were the Francis DeLong and John Sweetzer [Sweetser] people at Novato. They, too, had immense land holdings where they grew vegetables, particularly cabbage, and much fruit. The Sweetzer apples were crushed for a cider that captured the market.”

In mentioning these four families, Carrie's eyes sparkled. Then her thoughts moved on.

“Out in front of father's store was a wooden post set in the sidewalk," she continued. "It was about five feet high and on the top it had a small, footsquare platform. On the top of this post, father had a live monkey. We called him Joco. He created much fun for the children as they passed the store."

WHEN FRED Pratt sold the store and left San Rafael, he moved his family to Alameda. Carrie was sent to boarding school.


“In 1892," related Carrie, “James Barber started the newspaper with three employees - himself, his stenographer and a printer. I was paid $15 a month. We lasted about two years, then closed the doors.

"My father was up in Del Norte County. He had a timber claim on Mill Creek. I went up there and lived in Crescent City, working as a court reporter."

CARRIE PRATT did not remain in Del Norte County long. At the turn of the century she came back to the Bay Area.

"I wanted to establish myself as a writer,” she explained. "I wanted a position that would place me in a literary environment. I filed an application for a place in the Alameda Public Library.”

It was during this period she met Frank D. Elwell, scion of a socially prominent Bay Area family and a relative of the Albert Dibbles [Dibblee] of Ross Valley. Frank had distinguished himself as a civil engineer.

[I think Frank's aunt Anna Roxalina Meachum was married to Albert T Dibblee. - MF]

FRANK AND Carrie fell in love. They married and honeymooned, in Yosemite Valley.

Upon their return to the Bay Area, they took up residence in Alameda. Frank had a business office in Oakland. During the year following their marriage Frank obtained a piece of land in the East Oakland foothills. It was to be the site of their future home.

Frank had only the foundation laid when he was called to the Orient. The new Chinese republic was in the process of tying together the provinces with up-to-date communications.

FRANK ELWELL was put in charge of a railroad project. He remained in China three years, then returned home.

During this time Carrie had accepted the position of assistant librarian in Alameda. Here she became acquainted with many writers and publishers.

In May of 1904 Carrie Pratt won an essay contest and the prize was an imported gown from Paris. The San Francisco Bulletin had offered the prize for the best analysis of the character of Volga Mikolanda, the heroine of the serial, "Another Maid of Orleans.”

FRANK ELWELL finished his home in the East Oakland hills. He and Carrie had just moved in and settled down when Frank was again called to the Orient. This time he was away five years.

He came back home a man broken in health. Malaria and malnutrition had so wracked his body that Frank Elwell was scarcely recognizable as the same man who had left Oakland. He lived only a few months, then died. [1955]

Carrie Pratt picked up the pieces of her life and carried on. She remained on at the library. She continued to write for eastern magazines.

WHEN THE war years passed, the economy of the United States mounted. Business and finance knew no bounds. As industry expanded, the stock market climbed to dizzy heights.

Carrie Pratt caught the stock-market fever and invested her small savings. In a short time she became accustomed to the market, buying and selling, doubling her purchases and pyramiding her earnings.

In the summer of 1929, Wall Street roared on as usual. Carrie continued to buy and sell stocks. Then President Herbert Hoover called to the country for a moment of its attention.

"THE STOCK market is topheavy," warned the President. "It will fall."

The people turned and went back to their gambling. Not so with Carrie Pratt. She sold out.

Two weeks later the market crashed.

My visit with Carrie Pratt Elwell in 1963 took place only a few months before she passed away. I found her sitting beside a typewriter. Her left hand lay helpless in her lap - paralyzed by the stroke. She was using a forefinger of her right hand to type a letter.

SHE LOOKED up with a smile on her face.

“You know, I just had a birthday? I am 93 years young."

Now Carrie Pratt Elwell is gone.

In her will, when it was read, found among her various be quests was a token of her love of the giant redwood trees among which she had lived so many years. She requested that $225,000 from her estate be given to "The League of the Friends of the Redwood Trees" to be used for the protection and maintenance of the redwoods of California.

ONE OF Carrie Pratt Elwell's fondest recollections of early San Rafael was of the monkey, Joco, who, posted on a platform in front of her father's store and home, used to entertain the passers-by. Children, in particular, loved the lively little monkey.



William T. Ortman photo, bioWilliam T. Ortman photo, bio Sat, Dec 14, 1963 – Page 31 · Daily Independent Journal (San Rafael, California) · Newspapers.com

Comments

  1. dsiddallAugust 12, 2021 at 5:28 AM

    I’ve really enjoyed reading so much history about this fascinating couple and their families! It’s been interesting to learn about my home here in its “sylvan setting in the Oakland Hills.”

    ReplyDelete

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