Contra Costa County Biography

CHARLES FISH (deceased)

Transcribed by Sally Kaleta, December, 2006.

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


                The name of Charles Fish is remembered throughout Contra Costa 
County as that of one of the men who gave his best efforts toward the 
cultivation of the broad farming lands of the county. Before his death, which 
occurred on February 28, 1911, he, with his brother, Lafayette I. Fish, became 
the owner of large tracks of land. In the death of Charles Fish Contra Costa 
County and the whole bay region lost one of its largest and most successful 
ranchers, and one of the most energetic, capable, and public-spirited pioneers. 
Mr. Fish was born in Batavia, New York, October 24, 1818, son of Libeus and 
Polly (Holcomb) Fish, descendants of Colonial settlers of New England, and the 
former was a son of Lieutenant Josiah Fish, who served during the Revolutionary 
War as a Lieutenant under Captain Wm. Hutchins. Mr. Fish acquired a 
common-school education, and in October, 1834, he secured a position as clerk in 
the store of Foote and Beebe, at Batavia. After six months he was transferred to 
a store at Careyville, owned by the same firm. In April, 1837, he  went to 
Gallatin, Mississippi, as clerk for his brother, Josiah Fish, who paid him fifty 
dollars for a time, and later raised his salary to eighty dollars a month. In 
the fall of 1838, he removed to Monticello to take charge of a branch store. 
With one thousand dollars he had accumulated, he engaged in business with W. D. 
Larkin, whose interest he purchased in 1843. After conducting the business alone 
for about ten years, in January, 1853, he sold out and took passage from New 
Orleans on the whaler "Independence," which was wrecked off the lower coast of 
California. He arrived in San Francisco on the last day of March, 1853. He at 
once found work in a store operated by Jerry Ford, and June, 1854, found Mr. 
Fish located in Martinez. After taking charge of a warehouse at Pacheco for a 
few months, he acquired an interest in the concern in connection with his 
brother, Lafayette I. Fish, and for eleven years he continued in this 
partnership, after which he sold his interest in the concern, and, with his 
brother, acquired large tracts of land, which were operated by tenants. Mr. Fish 
assisted in the organization of the Martinez Bank and became one of the 
directors. From 1880 to 1882 he was a member of the firm Fish & Blum, and at 
other periods he maintained an interest in the grain business. Mr. Fish and his 
brother at one time purchased about three thousand acres in Fresno, San Joaquin, 
and Kings counties. In 1906 Charles Fish retired from active business, and after 
his retirement his advice was often sought in matters of importance. Mr. Fish 
was united in marriage to Mary Elizabeth Grimes, who was born in Bethany, 
Genesee County, New York, and reared in Erie County, her parents being William 
and Elizabeth (McCullough) Grimes. To Mr. and Mrs. Fish were born four children 
- Charles Stanley (who married May Howland, a native of St. Louis, Missouri; he 
received the appointment from the Board of Supervisors in March, 1904, as 
commissioner in charge of the Contra Costa County exhibit at the Louisiana 
Purchase Exposition at St. Louis), Grace Emily and Blanche Ellen (who reside at 
home), and Eli, who died in 1886. For many years the family occupied an 
attractive residence erected by Mr. Fish in an eminence overlooking the city of 
Martinez, the surrounding valley, and the bay in the distance, the whole forming 
a charming scenic environment for the comfortable home. He was always a liberal 
contributor in the advancement of educational and religious work. Charles Fish 
and Mrs. Lafayette I. Fish donated the ground upon which the Martinez 
high-school building was erected. Martinez, the adopted town of Charles Fish, 
owes much to his progressive spirit and broad-minded citizenship, and in the 
annals of the place his name will always be remembered and cherished.
 
Source: "The History of Contra Costa County, California," Elms Publ. Co., 1917, 
pp. 591-592.