Last fall, the Los Angeles Times asked its readers who they would like to have dinner with a famous or infamous Californian, whether dead or alive. I contemplated that question but on a local level of a Lassenite. I was in a contemplative state for long time. So many interesting individuals to choose from. I strolled various cemeteries for inspiration. Roop or Lassen was not on even the radar due to fact their lives were cut short, and so their association was only for a short span.

The runner-up was Jules Alexander. In certain ways, one could say that Jules and Susanville grew up together. This plucky Frenchmen was only seventeen years old when he came to Susanville in May of 1877. He went to work as a clerk for Greehn & Asher one of the larger mercantile stores in town. He would follow this trade for decades to come. Jules was a member of Susanville Jewish community, so he could provide with an insight. He married Rae Knoch, daughter of David Knoch, a prominent Susanville merchant. In 1892, Jules and his brother-in-law, formed Alexander & Knoch and took over David Knoch’s business.

With the prosperous times approaching with the Fernley & Lassen Railroad Alexander & Knoch wanted to expand their horizons. At the end of 1911 the store was turned over to Alexander’s two sons-in-law, Jess Worley and Emil Fehr. In 1912, Jules and Ike formed the Lassen Industrial Bank and in 1922 constructed the former iconic building at the corner of Main and North Gay Streets., that was known as Bank of America. From that vantage point, the bank, known for its liberal loan policies, believed in Leon Bly’s enterprise to tap Eagle Lake for irrigation. The bank loaned a substantial amount of money to the farmers involved, only to see many of the bankrupt, and nearly caused the bank’s failure.

Prior to the banking business, Jules had become involved other business enterprises. For fifteen years he owned a ranch at Horse Lake. He was a director/investor in the California & Oregon Telegraph Company, the Susanville Creamery and later the Lassen Townsite Company, the former remains the largest Susanville subdivision.

Jules was a firm believer in civic engagement and pride. Just one example, of his many contributions was the placement of a new Lassen Monument, as the original one had been neglected all these years. In the fall of 1916, Jules launched a campaign to correct it and with a new monument. In September 1917, Jules hard fundraising work paid off and the new Lassen Monument was dedicated. Jules was certainly a multi-faceted individual.

In a few days, I will reveal my special interest. In the meantime, I encourage readers to chime in.

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Awhile ago, we explored the topic of recipe of desert boomtown, i.e. Amedee.  Boomtowns are fascinating creatures, no two are alike. While Amedee’s heyday peaked in 1892. its downward spiral was slow. The country’s financial panic of 1893  was front and center. The regional reclamation projects had over extended credit and were forced into bankruptcy. Along the same lines, the nations railroads over expanded, and in 1893, and new railroad construction in the mid-1890s was kept to a minimum.

There was silver lining for Amedee about the railroad’s doldrums. The NCO Railway had no financial means to extend its line beyond Amedee, thus, the town had a major draw of the railroad’s terminus. In 1899, that came to an end as NCO extended its line north to the Madeline Plains.  At Amedee’s height it had a population to between 300 to 400. In 1900 the population dwindled to 49.  In 1905 the Amedee School closed for a  lack of students. There was a hope on on the horizon, and Amedee would go through a revival.

Tim

Wooden grave markers were not that common in this region, with exception of Hayden Hill, which all those graves markers were made out of wood and they were destroyed in the town’s great fire of 1910.

Luckily, I photographed the wooden markers in the Susanville. Since then, they have been obliterated altogether. I did have some one volunteer, whose hobby is wood working, to make replacements. Needless to say, that did not come to fruition.

The following is Jesse Cole’s obituary that appeared in Lassen Advocate on 3 March 1898: The Death of Jesse Cole.

“Last Monday night [February 28], between the hours of 10 and 11 o’clock, Jesse Cole, an old resident of this section and a Justice of the Peace of this Township, died suddenly at his residence on Pine Street. He had been afflicted for years with some form of heart disease, and several times during his residence here has been near death’s door. About a month ago he was obliged to call medical counsel and with its help had been practically resume his usual avocations. On the evening of his death he had gone to the post office as his want for the mail, and returning home, complained of feeling cold. Stimulants were administered and he was enabled to get to bed, but alarming symptoms manifested themselves and help was summoned. Before his friends and neighbors could respond the grim visitant Death had entrapped the cold from with its mantle and. borne to other and brighter realms the wearied spirit.

“Jesse Cole was a native of Atchison county, Missouri. He came to California in 1862; located at Milford in this valley and has lived in this State ever since. In 1869 he was married to Miss Martha Smith at Napa and after some years in the lower country, returned to this section. At the last general election he was elected Justice of the Peace, Township No. 1 and the office he discharged to the satisfaction of our people and with the credit to himself. The Superior Court when in session, adjourned Wednesday that attorneys and friends might attend the funeral services at the M.E.Church, where an impressive sermon was preached by Rev. Rosen. The Foresters, of which the deceased was a member, conducted the services and laid the remains of their late brother to rest with solemn rites of that Order. The funeral procession  was headed by the Mountain Echo Band and at the grave a beautiful  and appropriate selection was rendered by the choir, consisting of Mrs. J. Alexander, Miss Dovie True, Dr. Dozier and A.H. Taylor.

“A wife and son remain to mourn the loss of kind and indulgent husband and father, and to receive the hearty sympathies of this community.”

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One of three communities in Big Valley, Bieber of the trio is in Lassen County, the two others,, Adin and Lookout, are in Modoc County. In the 1870s, Adin’s growth was a result of the Hayden Hill gold mines to its south.

Bieber was originally known as Chalk Ford because of the chalky nature of the ground. The solid ground at this location on the Pit River made it the easiest place to cross. In May 1873, Theodore Pleisch claimed 160 acres and built a cabin there. In 1874, development began slowly and the town’s first two houses were built by Anton & William Gerig. In 1876, Max Posner opened the Josephenson General Store, that town’s first store. In 1877, Nathan Bieber (1858-1922) arrived there to manage the Josephson General Store, owned by his uncle, Max Posner. Bieber had a natural talent as a merchant and made the store a success. Lafayette S. Barnes, editor of the Adin Hawkeye dubbed Bieber the “young prince merchant.” On November 17, 1877, Bieber purchased Pleisch’s property, where the town had slowly developed, for $600. The town continued to grow and on May 6, 1881, its first newspaper, the Mountain Tribune, made its debut—an effort to elevate the area from a mere frontier settlement to that of a town. However, the 1880 census tallied only 43 residents. In 1884, the town plat of Bieber was surveyed and recorded.

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