Sutter-Yuba County Biographies


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


 
 
THOMAS MOONEY
 
            In the pioneer age of any country the grand dynamic force which has 
resulted in the conquest, civilization and development of that country has been 
the strength of character and will-power of its men.  This was especially true 
in California.  The leaders of her formative period were men cast in elemental 
mold, who accomplished much through their ability to foresee results, to think 
clearly and to act quickly.  To this class of men belonged Thomas Mooney, who 
was one of the Forty-niners and left the impress of his individuality upon the 
history of Yuba County and the State at large.  As owner of the Empire Ranch he 
was known far and wide; and his life was ever upright and honorable, the 
expression of worthy purposes and high ideals.
            Mr. Mooney was born in County Kildare, Ireland, January 7, 1821, and 
when a child was brought to the United States.  He lived for a time in New York 
City, and in 1849, when twenty-eight years of age, took passage on a sailing 
vessel bound for California, making the hazardous voyage around Cape Horn.  He 
was six months in arriving at his destination.  On reaching the Golden State, he 
first located in Sacramento, where he embarked in the livery business in 
association with Michael Riley, who had also come to the State in 1849.  On 
March 2, 1851, the partners came to Yuba County and purchased the Berry farm, 
lying midway between Marysville and Nevada City.  In 1840 Mr. Berry had built a 
log house on the place; and there he and his wife conducted a tavern, catering 
to the miners of that vicinity.  After disposing of the property they returned 
to Missouri, and both passed away in that State.  Mr. Mooney changed the name of 
the property to the Empire Ranch and here he established a trading post.  He 
obtained his goods in Sacramento, keeping two teams in operation, and soon built 
up a prosperous business.  In 1851 he had opened a stage line from Marysville to 
Nevada City, being joined by a Mr. Rubey, and they obtained their horses in 
Sacramento.  This was the first undertaking of the kind established here.  In 
1852 an Indian trading post was started back of the Empire Ranch by Messrs. 
Lovell & Norris; but the competition proved too strong, and soon afterward they 
abandoned the undertaking.  In 1852 Messrs. Mooney & Riley bought the J. B. 
Watson Ranch, now owned by the Creps family, and began raising stock.
            The Empire Ranch embraced 360 acres.  The material used in 
constructing the first buildings on the place was brought to California by way 
of Cape Horn.  In 1850 and part of 1851 the stage from Sacramento to Nevada City 
crossed the Bear River at Johnson�s Crossing and then went on past the Watson 
place, now the Creps Ranch, on Dry Creek, also passing the Trip place and the 
Empire Ranch.  When the �Round Tent� Ranch (now the D. N. Jones, Jr., place) was 
established, the route was changed, the stage then passing that point.  Mr. 
Mooney built a hotel on the farm, and also had the first postoffice in that 
section of the county; but in later years the office was removed to Smartsville. 
 He likewise built a large stable, and the structure is still standing.  A 
breeder of fine horses and an enthusiastic sportsman, during the seventies he 
was the owner of Signal, one of the fastest runners in California; the great Sir 
John S. is the great-grandson of that noted thoroughbred.
            When Mr. Mooney arrived in California, primitive conditions 
prevailed.  There were no fences to be seen, a huge boulder of brush hedge 
establishing the boundary line of each farm. During the fifties and sixties, the 
Empire Ranch was the most important settlement in Northern California, and on 
Sundays it was the rallying point for miners and Indians from miles around.  
When Mr. Mooney took possession of the property, he bought from Mr. Berry an old 
hen and rooster which the latter had brought with him on his journey across the 
plains, in addition to two cows and a heifer. These �pioneer chickens� of the 
county cost Mr. Mooney the sum of $100.  The first brood was hatched in 1851 and 
contained sixteen chicks, worth double their weight in gold.  The four roosters 
were sold to the miners at twenty-five dollars apiece, and the men then 
organized a shooting match, using the fowls as prizes.  With the milk obtained 
from the two cows, Mr. Mooney made five pails of milk punch every Sunday; and 
twenty buckets of champagne, 150 boxes of claret, and many pails of milk punch 
were consumed weekly by the guests at the ranch.  Referring to the profits 
derived from his cows and poultry, Mr. Mooney said:  �Why, I could no more count 
up the money those chickens and cows made fro me than I could fly.  Taking what 
I received for the young chickens, the eggs, the barrels of milk punch, and 
other goods I sold to those who came to see the shooting matches, for instance, 
directly or indirectly I made thousands of dollars.�
            During the early days a great many Frenchmen were working on the 
river, and on Sundays they would gather at the Empire Ranch for a grand 
festival.  Great preparations were made for their banquets.  Large quantities of 
beef were cooked and placed on the tables in milk pans, and about ten boxes of 
claret were set out, together with a large supply of other viands.  Here the 
French would spend the day, from fifty to a hundred sitting down at the tables, 
which were made by placing two sixteen-foot boards on claret boxes under trees; 
and when night came, they would settle to a penny, no record of their accounts 
every being kept by their host.  Mr. Mooney possessed a genial, kindly nature; 
and the traveler who once partook of his hospitality was always eager to return.
            Thomas Mooney was married in California to Miss Mary J. Huling, a 
native of Indiana, who was a young girl at the time her parents came to this 
State.  The parents settled at Sacramento in 1852 and later removed to Grass 
Valley, where she was educated.  Mr. and Mrs. Mooney were the parents of eight 
children:  Clara, Mary, and Adelaide; Lucy (deceased October 7, 1923), who 
served as a trustee of the Smartsville school for three terms, and also served 
as deputy county assessor under Tom Bevan for six years; Jessie, who is now 
serving as deputy county assessor, having been appointed to fill the vacancy 
caused by the death of her sister Lucy; Thomas; Nellie, who died when twenty-one 
years of age; and Arthur, who passed away at the age of forty.  All of the 
surviving children live on the Empire Ranch, and the property is held in trust.  
They support the men and measures of the Republican party, and cooperate in 
every movement seeking the improvement of their community, county and State.
            Mr. Mooney passed away at the age of sixty-three years, long 
surviving his wife, who died at the comparatively early age of thirty-five.  He 
was a man of many friends, open and above board, and left behind him a memory 
that is cherished by all with whom he was associated.
 
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 983-984