CHAPTER XXII.

LIVES OF JOHN S. MORGAN AND JOHN BARTON.

ANCESTRY AND BOYHOOD OF JOHN S. MORGAN-THE FAMILY HOMESTEAD— ARRIVAL IN CALIFORNIA-AT SHOALWATER BAY-FOUNDING OF THE OYSTER BUSINESS-THE MORGAN OYSTER COMPANY-NATIVE AND TRANSPLANTED OYSTERS-WIFE AND CHILDREN-APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER PARENTAGE AND YOUTH OF JOHN BARTON-MANUFACTURE OF SALT-THE UNION PACIFIC SALT COMPANY-OTHER ENTERPRISES -MARRIAGE-FAMILY-SUMMARY OF CAREER.

BEFORE proceeding further with the history of Pacific coast manufactures, I will present the career of two of our California pioneers, who in their own line have also been the pioneers of the industries which owe to them their development. One is John Stillwell Morgan, by whom was introduced the cultivation and transplanting of oysters; the other John Barton, by whom was introduced the manufacture of salt, and by whom is still manufactured nearly one-half of the total product of the coast. While it may appear somewhat out of place to treat of oysters as a branch of manufacture, still, as the canning of oysters, of salmon, sardines, etc., comes properly within that department, I have thought it best to make brief mention of our fisheries in this connection. By Mr Morgan and Mr Barton enterprises were developed far in advance of the time, and such as would otherwise have never attained to the prominence which is theirs to-day. Both have been large employers of labor; both have saved to this commonwealth many millions that would else have been sent abroad for articles of luxury and necessity, and the benefits which they have wrought extend not to any single class, but have been felt throughout the entire community.

John Stillwell Morgan, eldest son in a family of ten children, of whom two sons and four daughters survive, was born April 3, 1828, at Westfield, Richmond county, New York. On his father's side he is of Welch and German descent, and on his mother's of French and German. His great great grandfather emigrated from Wales to this country at an early period of its history. His grandfather, Jesse Morgan, battled for freedom in the revolution of 1776, and his father, Jesse Morgan, served in the war of 1812, for which service a land warrant was granted his family subsequent to his death.

His ancestors were highly esteemed for their industry, frugality and sterling integrity. They were noted for their great activity and powers of endurance on the paternal side and for their strength and large size on the maternal. The scenes of his childhood must be dear to his memory, the immense fireplace, the hand spinning-wheel and hand loom, by which his mother and sisters made the cloth for clothing the family; the tanner who tanned the cowskins on shares; the shoemaker who was wont to come to the house, sit in the corner of the big fireplace, and make the winter shoes for the family; the going to mill on horseback and having the corn ground for a toll, as was then the custom; and the whole family going to church, the children to church and Sabbath-school every Sunday, without fail, in the old farm wagon. Those can be but esteemed among the happiest of his days, and to the lessons then learned in necessitous industry, uncompromising right in all things, mild but firm discipline, is to be attrib uted his marked success in life. A man was then estimated for his intrinsic worth and not for his property. Slander was unknown to him, at least he heard none. His idolized mother died in 1838 and his revered father in 1845. He attended school regularly until he was eight years old, and thereafter irregularly, owing to the tax upon his energies in support of the