Humboldt County, CA and Trinity County, CA Biographies Pioneer days in California: (1891) By: Carr, John, 1827-1896 Humboldt County (Calif.) - Biography; Trinity County (Calif.) - Biography Publisher: Eureka, Cal., Times publishing company CHAPTER XLVII. BIOGRAPHY. Transcribed by Peggy Hooper This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm RYAN, JAMES T., DUFF, JAMES R., TORRY, A. W., DUFF, FRANK S., composed the firm of Ryan, Duff & Co. � These gentle- men built the first merchantable sawmill, with a capacity of 100,000 feet each twenty-four hours. The company bought the steamer " Santa Clara," brought the vessel to Humboldt, planted her in the bank, and built the mill alongside her, and used her power to run the mill. She left San Francisco the 22d day of February, 1852, and arrived at Eureka on the second day, with about forty men on board, brought to help build the mill. James T. Ryan was Captain, F. S. Duff was First Officer and John Vance was Quartermaster, The steamer struck on the bar while crossing, and came near being a total wreck. She lost her deck-load, and was in the breakers one and a half hours. The mill ran with variable success until 1859, when it burned down. James T. Ryan, a native of Ireland; came from Boston to California in 1849 by way of the Isthmus; he shipped at Panama for San Francisco on an old vessel called " The Three Friends." On her way up she put into a Mexican port. The vessel was so slow that Ryan got disgusted and left her and started on foot for San Francisco, and arrived at that city without either coat or boots on, and nearly starved. He " struck " Frank Duff, and got his first square meal since leaving the vessel; he went to bed and slept forty-eight hours before waking. Eureka was originally and actually surveyed by Mr. Ryan, with an in- strument improvised of two vials and a bit of wood. In 1861 Senator McDougal thus introduced him to Abraham Lincoln: " Mr. President, this is General Ryan, a loyal neighbor of mine, who can build a cathedral and preach in it, a ship and sail in it, and an engine and run it." James T. Ryan was one of the most energetic of Humboldt's first settlers. He was elected to the State Senate in 1859, and died in Vallejo in 1875. James R. Duff was a native of St. Johns, New Brunswick; he sailed from Boston the 20th day of January, 1849, in the ship " Pharsalia," and arrived in San Francisco the 23d of July, 1849; he worked in San Fran- cisco at his trade of carpenter at sixteen dollars per day; after working a week the carpenters called a meeting and struck for twenty dollars a day. All those that were mechanics got it, and the " scabs " were left outside. In the spring of 1850 he went on a voyage of discovery up the coast, in the schooner " Francis Helen," with Captain Ottenger, and arrived in Humboldt the 1st of June, 1850; he found it to be a fine country for lum- bering purposes, and concluded to locate at Eureka; he was one of the partners of Ryan, Duff & Co.; he is now a resident of San Francisco. A. W. Torry died in early days in San Francisco; he came in 1849 from Boston.