California Biographies Mendocino and Lake Counties, California Transcribed by Peggy Hooper This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm Source: History of Mendocino and Lake Counties, California With Biographical Sketches History by Aurelius O. Carpenter And Percy H. Millberry Illustrated, Complete In One Volume Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1914 THOMAS FOSTER ROWE.� The early experiences of this pioneer of Mendocino county were more or less adventurous and gave him a knowledge of many portions of our country, primarily of Maine, where he was born in Penobscot county February 13, 1838, and where he passed the first eighteen years of existence. From the time of leaving home he made his own way in the world without assistance in any way. Not having learned a trade, he usually found employment as an unskilled day laborer at low wages. For a time he lived in Minnesota, where he first worked in lumber yards at St. Paul. With the discovery of gold at Pike's Peak he was filled with a desire to see the west and try his luck in the mines. Accordingly he joined an expedition bound for Colorado. During the summer of 1859 he crossed the plains as far as the mines and took up several claims, but the two years of prospecting and mining brought him little good fortune. Hoping to find a more favorable opening further west he left Colorado early in 1861. The first pause in the journey was at Santa Fe, N. Mex., where six months were spent working for the United States government. On the 4th of March he left Santa Fe at about the hour of the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as president. A journey fraught with peril and privation had its end with the arrival of the party in San Bernardino. The young man found work as a day laborer and as soon as he had saved up a small amount of money he came to the north- ern part of the state, arriving in the village of Mendocino on the 17th of September. It was very easy to find steady employment in the lumber camps and he remained there until 1862, when he was transferred to the mills at Albion. After five years in the same line of work he removed to Point Arena and for two years engaged with the Garcia Lumber Company. Returning thence to Albion, he took up a claim in the woods. To earn a livelihood out of the uncleared and unimproved land proved a task of the greatest diffi- culty and finally the lumber company became possessors of the property. Undaunted by the unfavorable experience, in 1878 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of raw land lying in close proximity to Albion and here he has since remained, having, however, recently sold a portion of the property so that the homestead consists of one hundred acres. By his own hands the land was cleared and put under cultivation. How difficult the task was can be appreciated only by those who have undertaken similar tasks. The fine cultivation of the land bespeaks his industry and wise management. A valu- able orchard yields its annual tribute to his care and oversight and berries also prove a profitable adjunct to the farm. For six years or more during the early period of his residence here he carried on a confectionery store, but ultimately it became necessary to devote his entire attention to the ranch. In politics he votes with the Republican party and is active in local matters. At Manchester, this county, August 7, 1871, he married Miss Nancy Emeline Henderson, who was born at Little Rock, Ark., January 11, 1853, and at a very early age came to California with her parents, settling in Mendocino county. They are the parents of seven children, all living, namely : Lucy A., Mrs. Carlson of Fort Bragg; Thomas Frank, with the Albion Lumber Com- pany ; Charles H., of Washington ; Stephen, at home ; Eva S., Mrs. Stout, of Al- bion ; Elsie S., Mrs. Forsyth, of San Francisco, and Gus F., of Albion. The family has a high standing in the community and their pleasant home on the ridge near Albion is the scene of many gatherings of young and old.