September 19, 1973 (12 pages)

Wed., Sept. 19,1973 The Nevada County Nugget 7 ; > of Nevada County > ed in 1924 W.B. Lardner sf i, 5» iP a opt >, = By, Oe cas \EL JOHN BROCK s of Nevada County, and mayor of Grass Nevada County, and the leading quartz ia, with an estimated population of 5000, 1 member of the board of trustees on on the organization of the board, was He was born in Grass Valley, February 1d Mary (Little) Brock. Patrick Brock he County of Kildare, Ireland, near the k Estate, which has been in the Brock century, and is descended from the Ireland, whose blood harks back to hence its progenitors came over to the hosts of William the Conqueror. Massachusetts a lad, and there worked r California on the Flavius from New 1 24, 1849, around the Horn, arriving at 8, 1849, being eight months and four mediately outfitted for the mines and 1850 at Hangtown, now Placerville, in angtown witha party headed by L. M. ‘ough and Ready May 1, 1850. After uirrel Creek, he decided to try his luck 1 as Centerville, arriving here October ur cabins here then. His first work and ld Dan Ludington cabin, now on the 1ediately west of the city limits on a t. In 1852 he moved out and worked a 2d in the Butler ranch; and in 1858 and the ground known as the old Wolford 1 school in Grass Valley. In 1859 he sold ht the Scott place on Pleasant Street. irst white family to arrive in Grass sful mining man and was foreman, for ng Company’s mine, now owned by the Then he retired to work his own mine, 2,”’ now a part of the Grass Valley de took an active interest in the Grass died October 20, 1913, and was buried neer Society. He was married in Grass ‘Little, who was born in New England y in the winter of 1860, coming with ) Sacramento, where he met her-on ame the parents of seven children: urphy, a San Francisco carpenter and , a widow, who lives at San Francisco; man of Grass Valley; Michael John n, who has charge of the Grass Valley s underground operations at Grass married; and Grace, who also died M. J. Brock passed through the public schools of Grass Valley, working in and about his father’s mines during vacations. He graduated from the Grass Valley High School in 1889. The same year he passed a successful examination and began teaching school at Moore’s Flat, Nevada County, continuing there for five years. From 1895 to 1900 he taught at Columbis Hill; from 1900 to 1903 he taught in the Empire school district; and from 1903 to 1905 he taught three terms in Grass Valley. In December, 1905, he resigned his school to accept a position as advertising manager for Nevada County with the Calkins Newspaper Syndicate. After working for them a few months he was taken with appendicitis, operated upon, and given up to die. In January, 1906, he went to San Francisco and was appointed principal of the evening school department at the Richmond school in that city, and taught there until 9, when he went into the general insurance brokerage business in San Francisco. In 1916, the Grass Valley Boundary Mines Company was organized in San Francisco and Mr. Brock was made secretary and manager, doing development work and getting ready for mining operations. After the return of the boys from the Spanish-American War, the Volunteer Military Company of Grass Valley was reorganized as Company 1, 2nd Regiment, California Volunteer Infantry, and M. J. Brock was chosen second lieutenant and served as such for five years, or until he left Grass Valley for San Francisco in the latter part of 1905.. *.; He was married at old St. Mary’s Cathedral, in San Francisco, February 27, 1906, to Miss Elizabeth Crow, born in San Francisco, a daughter of the late Albion T. Crow, Jr., and Belle (Carter) Crow. The father was born at Galena, IIl., in 1840, while Mrs. Crow was born at what is now Watsonville, Cal. The maternal grandfather, William Carter, married Valery Jennings, who was born in Tennessee in 1826. They ¢rossed the plains to California in a covered wagon, in 1852. Valery (Jennings) Carter lived an active life and died April 18, 1922, lacking only four years of reaching 100. Albion T. Crow, Jr., died in San Francisco, Cal., on July 27, 1919, at the age of seventy-seven. He was born in Missouri in 1842. He served as a captain in the Missouri State Guards from the fall of 1861 to May, 1862, first under Brig. Gen. Jeff Thompson, and laterin Arkansas under Gen. Earl Van Dorn. He came to California in 1864, and in April, 1865, he enlisted in Company K, 7th California Infantry, and served under Capt. J. H. Shepard, in General Crook’s command in Arizona and New Mexico, serving through two Indian campaigns. Mrs. Brock isthe younger of two children. Her brother, Lloyd Tevis Crow, died at the age of thirty-five. Mr. and Mrs. M. J. Brock have four children: Mary Ursula, a senior in the Grass Valley High School; William Francis, who is also in the Grass Valley High School; and Leonard and Harold. Mr. and Mrs. Brock are members of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church at Grass Valley. He is a member of Quartz Parlor No. 58, N.S.G.W., having passed through all the chairs and represented this parlor at the Grand Parlor at least a dozen times. He belongs to Grass Valley Lodge No. 538, B.P.O.E., and is a charter member of the Nevada County Half Century Club, which requires a fifty-year residence for eligibility, and has served as its secretary continuously since its organization in 1919. 5 As one of the fifteen freeholders of Grass Valley, Mr. Brock served on the committee that drafted the new charter for the city of Grass Valley, which went into effect July 1, 1920. He is generous and public-spirited and deservedly popular, and believes in granting every liberty which is consistent with decency and good conscience. In politics he is a consistent Republican and was elected a member of the Republican Central Committee of Nevada County in 1924. Under his administration as mayor of Grass Valley a $100,000 bond issue for the improvement of the streets was passed by a 11-to-1 vote. In consequence, the city’s streets are nicely paved, much to the advantage of its traffic and gheneral appearance. An organizer and leader intimately connected with the mining interests of Grass Valley and Nevada County, Mr. Brock loses no opportunity for boosting this section of California. He is a collector of fire-arms and accoutrements pertaining to early days in California, and has a large, valuable and interesting collection. For many years he has also collected books pertaining to early California history, and has one of the largest collections of directories and histories of Nevada County and the Mother Lode country of California in existence. He is a wide reader and a student, and is well qualified to write on mining and general history in his section. He is the author of the History of Nevada County in this volume. suate: Goer Sree

Wed., Sept. 19,1973 The Nevada County Nugget 7 ; > of Nevada County > ed in 1924 W.B. Lardner sf i, 5» iP a opt >, = By, Oe cas \EL JOHN BROCK s of Nevada County, and mayor of Grass Nevada County, and the leading quartz ia, with an estimated population of 5000, 1 member of the board of trustees on on the organization of the board, was He was born in Grass Valley, February 1d Mary (Little) Brock. Patrick Brock he County of Kildare, Ireland, near the k Estate, which has been in the Brock century, and is descended from the Ireland, whose blood harks back to hence its progenitors came over to the hosts of William the Conqueror. Massachusetts a lad, and there worked r California on the Flavius from New 1 24, 1849, around the Horn, arriving at 8, 1849, being eight months and four mediately outfitted for the mines and 1850 at Hangtown, now Placerville, in angtown witha party headed by L. M. ‘ough and Ready May 1, 1850. After uirrel Creek, he decided to try his luck 1 as Centerville, arriving here October ur cabins here then. His first work and ld Dan Ludington cabin, now on the 1ediately west of the city limits on a t. In 1852 he moved out and worked a 2d in the Butler ranch; and in 1858 and the ground known as the old Wolford 1 school in Grass Valley. In 1859 he sold ht the Scott place on Pleasant Street. irst white family to arrive in Grass sful mining man and was foreman, for ng Company’s mine, now owned by the Then he retired to work his own mine, 2,”’ now a part of the Grass Valley de took an active interest in the Grass died October 20, 1913, and was buried neer Society. He was married in Grass ‘Little, who was born in New England y in the winter of 1860, coming with ) Sacramento, where he met her-on ame the parents of seven children: urphy, a San Francisco carpenter and , a widow, who lives at San Francisco; man of Grass Valley; Michael John n, who has charge of the Grass Valley s underground operations at Grass married; and Grace, who also died M. J. Brock passed through the public schools of Grass Valley, working in and about his father’s mines during vacations. He graduated from the Grass Valley High School in 1889. The same year he passed a successful examination and began teaching school at Moore’s Flat, Nevada County, continuing there for five years. From 1895 to 1900 he taught at Columbis Hill; from 1900 to 1903 he taught in the Empire school district; and from 1903 to 1905 he taught three terms in Grass Valley. In December, 1905, he resigned his school to accept a position as advertising manager for Nevada County with the Calkins Newspaper Syndicate. After working for them a few months he was taken with appendicitis, operated upon, and given up to die. In January, 1906, he went to San Francisco and was appointed principal of the evening school department at the

Richmond school in that city, and taught there until 9, when he went into the general insurance brokerage business in San Francisco. In 1916, the Grass Valley Boundary Mines Company was organized in San Francisco and Mr. Brock was made secretary and manager, doing development work and getting ready for mining operations. After the return of the boys from the Spanish-American War, the Volunteer Military Company of Grass Valley was reorganized as Company 1, 2nd Regiment, California Volunteer Infantry, and M. J. Brock was chosen second lieutenant and served as such for five years, or until he left Grass Valley for San Francisco in the latter part of 1905... *..; He was married at old St. Mary’s Cathedral, in San Francisco, February 27, 1906, to Miss Elizabeth Crow, born in San Francisco, a daughter of the late Albion T. Crow, Jr., and Belle (Carter) Crow. The father was born at Galena, IIl., in 1840, while Mrs. Crow was born at what is now Watsonville, Cal. The maternal grandfather, William Carter, married Valery Jennings, who was born in Tennessee in 1826. They ¢rossed the plains to California in a covered wagon, in 1852. Valery (Jennings) Carter lived an active life and died April 18, 1922, lacking only four years of reaching 100. Albion T. Crow, Jr., died in San Francisco, Cal., on July 27, 1919, at the age of seventy-seven. He was born in Missouri in 1842. He served as a captain in the Missouri State Guards from the fall of 1861 to May, 1862, first under Brig. Gen. Jeff Thompson, and laterin Arkansas under Gen. Earl Van Dorn. He came to California in 1864, and in April, 1865, he enlisted in Company K, 7th California Infantry, and served under Capt. J. H. Shepard, in General Crook’s command in Arizona and New Mexico, serving through two Indian campaigns. Mrs. Brock isthe younger of two children. Her brother, Lloyd Tevis Crow, died at the age of thirty-five. Mr. and Mrs. M. J. Brock have four children: Mary Ursula, a senior in the Grass Valley High School; William Francis, who is also in the Grass Valley High School; and Leonard and Harold. Mr. and Mrs. Brock are members of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church at Grass Valley. He is a member of Quartz Parlor No. 58, N.S.G.W., having passed through all the chairs and represented this parlor at the Grand Parlor at least a dozen times. He belongs to Grass Valley Lodge No. 538, B.P.O.E., and is a charter member of the Nevada County Half Century Club, which requires a fifty-year residence for eligibility, and has served as its secretary continuously since its organization in 1919. 5 As one of the fifteen freeholders of Grass Valley, Mr. Brock served on the committee that drafted the new charter for the city of Grass Valley, which went into effect July 1, 1920. He is generous and public-spirited and deservedly popular, and believes in granting every liberty which is consistent with decency and good conscience. In politics he is a consistent Republican and was elected a member of the Republican Central Committee of Nevada County in 1924. Under his administration as mayor of Grass Valley a $100,000 bond issue for the improvement of the streets was passed by a 11-to-1 vote. In consequence, the city’s streets are nicely paved, much to the advantage of its traffic and gheneral appearance. An organizer and leader intimately connected with the mining interests of Grass Valley and Nevada County, Mr. Brock loses no opportunity for boosting this section of California. He is a collector of fire-arms and accoutrements pertaining to early days in California, and has a large, valuable and interesting collection. For many years he has also collected books pertaining to early California history, and has one of the largest collections of directories and histories of Nevada County and the Mother Lode country of California in existence. He is a wide reader and a student, and is well qualified to write on mining and general history in his section. He is the author of the History of Nevada County in this volume. suate: Goer Sree