Tuolumne County Biographies

J. A. BENHAM

Submitted by: Nancy Pratt Melton

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

Was born on October 12, 1820, at Seneca Falls, Seneca County, N.Y., and in 1852 
came to California, arriving on April 1st, having come by way of Cape Horn.  
After nine months� residence in Sacramento he went to Tuolumne County, where he 
for some time mined between Sonora and Columbia, then opening the Magnolia Hotel 
at Columbia, which he managed until 1859.  After one year�s resi�dence in San 
Francisco Mr. Benham went to Virginia City, becoming one of the most prominent 
contractors and build�ers of that region.  The White Pine excitement took him to 
Hamilton, where, however, he remained but one year, returning to San Francisco 
to take a position in the railway mail service.  At the end of four years Mr. 
Benham went to Oakland, where he has since been identified as one of the most 
prominent builders, Dietz�s Opera House being one of the many buildings erected 
by him.

�A History of Tuolumne County, CA� B.F. Alley, 1882.  Appendix Pg. 7-8.