James Meadows (pioneer)

James Meadows (March 2, 1817 – July 13, 1902), was an English-born immigrant who moved to California in 1838. He was the oldest pioneer in Monterey County, California at his death. He donated land and helped build the Carmelo School, which was the earliest school in Carmel Valley, California.[1][2] His daughter, Isabel Meadows, was an Ohlone ethnologist and the last fluent speaker of the Rumsen Ohlone language.[3][4]

James Meadows
English-born James Meadows (1817–1902)
BornMarch 2, 1817 (1817-03-02)
Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England
DiedJuly 13, 1902(1902-07-13) (aged 85)
Carmel Valley, California, US
Occupation(s)Farmer, dairyman
SpouseMaria Loretta Onesimo
Children5

Early life

James Meadows was born on March 2, 1817, in the seaport town of Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, England. He left home at an early age and went to sea as an apprentice on board a collier ship. He then left London, England in March 1835, at age 18, on the whaling ship Indian. After 2 1/2 years he and a friend, William Anderson, father of former Assessor Anderson of Castroville,[5] deserted his ship at the Monterey Harbor in 1837 because of cruel treatment they had received.[6] They took refuge with Domingo Peralta and his family until his ship left the Monterey Bay.[7]: p106  Loreta was born at the Carmel Mission[1] and was Rumsen-Esselen.[8]

Career

Meadows took his first job as vaquero for Captain Juan Bautista Roger Cooper on Rancho El Sur in Monterey County in Big Sur for 2 1/2 years during the Mexican rule in California. During his time there he became associated with the saloon of Isaac Graham, a hideout for deserters from foreign ships.[7]: p106 [9]: p36 [10][2]

In July 1941, Meadows obtained clemency and was returned from Mexico, with a group of 20.[11]: p195  He became associated with General Bidwell on the Feather River in Sacramento County, California. He said that Bidwell, Pitts, and he and his companions "discovered gold there before James Marshall, but kept it a secret."[1]

Family

Meadows returned to Monterey and went back to visit the Peralta family when he found out that his friend Domingo Peralta had mysteriously been found dead. In 1842, Meadows married Maria Loreta Onésimo in Monterey, California, the widow of Domingo Peralta, and took responsibility for the land she was given by the mission padres.[1][8] Meadows and Loreta had five children together, Francisco, Isabel, Edwardo,; James A. Jr. and Thomas Porter.[10][5][7]: p106 [9]: p36  Isabel, "Aunt Belle,"[3] learned to speak the native Rumsen language from her mother, Loreta Onésimo, spoken by the Ohlone people.[7]: p107 [2] In 1933, at age 87, Isabel was invited to Washington D.C., to assist John Peabody Harrington an ethnologist of the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology with his research on the Rumsen life, language, and culture in the Carmel Valley and Big Sur regions. Isabel was last known speaker of their language.[4] They worked together until she died on May 20, 1939, at age 94, in Washington D.C.[3][1][11]: p196 

James Meadows Tract
Main article: James Meadows Tract
Map indicating James Meadows land grant, 1898.
Hand-drawn diseño (map) of James Meadows Ranch Layout supporting land claim, No. 159 S.D.

On December 28, 1958, Meadows became an American citizen. Before his wife's father, Juan Onésimo died in 1860, Meadows filed a claim for the Palo Escrito land grant on November 5, 1869, with the Public Land Commission.[7]: p106  He received the legal land serial patent on August 9, 1866, that became known as the Meadows Tract for 4,591.71 acres (1,858.20 ha).[12] Its boundaries were between the Rancho Cañada de la Segunda to the west, Rancho Los Laureles to the northeast, and Garland Ranch Regional Park to the south.[11]: p195 [1][8] The Palo Escrito area was the home of Rumsen people, like Eulalia Cushar.[8] On the property Meadows had a dairy where he hired jobless Chinese workers. He built an adobe house near the Carmel River.[2]

Carmelo School
Carmelo School. This June 10, 1920 photograph shows the graduating class: Emily Martin Williams, fourth from let, was the granddaughter of William Hatton and John Martin.
Carmelo School June 2, 1916.

Meadows donated land and helped establish what was first called the Meadows School, and later renamed the Carmelo School.[2] It was the earliest school in Carmel Valley.[11]: p195 [1] He was a trustee of the Carmelo School District until his death.[7]: p106 

James Meadows is next to his wife on far left. The Day of San Carlos by Joseph D. Strong (1879).

On San Carlos Day, November 4, 1879, Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson visited the Carmel Mission to hear the a mass at the church that had fallen into disrepair. A drawing by Joseph D. Strong shows Jules Simeenau, Meadows and his wife, and Father Angel Delfino Casanova standing in front of the church.[13]

Death

Meadows died on July 13, 1902, at his home in Carmel Valley, California. His funeral took place at the San Carlos church and he was buried in the cemetery in Monterey, California. He left an estate of 4,500 acres (1,800 ha) acres with assets worth over $150,000 (equivalent to $5,073,462 in 2022). His oldest son, Frank contested the Will because his father left him only $2,000 (equivalent to $67,646 in 2022).[14][10][5][6]

See also

References
  1. "Noticias del Puerto de Monterey" (PDF). Quarterly Bulletin of the Monterey History and Art Association. LII (2). 2003. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  2. Elizabeth Barratt (May 2019). "The Meadows Tract" (PDF). Carmel Valley Voice. Carmel Valley, California. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  3. "Isabel Meadows, Valley Pioneer, Dies in East". Carmel Pine Cone. Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. May 26, 1939. p. 3. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  4. Meighan, Clement W. (1952). "Excavation of Isabella Meadows Cave, Monterey County California" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  5. "Passing Of A Pioneer. James Meadows Called to His Final Rest After a Long and Useful Life". The Monterey New Era. Monterey, California. July 16, 1902. p. 3. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  6. "Lived In California Sixty-Five Years". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco, California. July 14, 1902. p. 3. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  7. Hale, Sharron Lee (1980). A tribute to yesterday: The history of Carmel, Carmel Valley, Big Sur, Point Lobos, Carmelite Monastery, and Los Burros. Santa Cruz, California: Valley Publishers. p. 106. ISBN 9780913548738. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  8. Adam Miller (January 20, 2022). "The Place of Many Owls – The Esselen Village on the Carmel River". www.folksinging.org. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  9. Barratt, Elizabeth (2009). Carmel Valley. pp. 36–38. ISBN 9780738571621. Retrieved January 6, 2023. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  10. "Death Of James Meadows". The Californian. Salinas, California. July 15, 1902. p. 3. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  11. Fink, Augusta (2000). Monterey County: The Dramatic Story of Its Past. San Francisco: Western Tanager Press/Valley Publishers. pp. 194–196. ISBN 9780913548622. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  12. "Meadows Tract". Bureau Of Land Management. Carmel Valley, California. 1866. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  13. Hudson, Monica (May 24, 2006). Carmel-by-the-Sea. ISBN 9781439614570. Retrieved October 18, 2022. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  14. "James Meadows' Will Be Contested. Heirs Dissatisfied With Provisions Made by the Monterey Pioneer". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco, California. July 18, 1902. p. 4. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
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