The era of John Lucas

The Miller Creek land:

JAMES MILLER. One of Marin’s earliest residents, is a native of county Wexford, Ireland, having been born there May 1, 1814. In 1828 he accompanies his parents to Lower Canada, and with them settled about thirty-six miles from Quebec, and there resided until 1841, in which year he emigrated to Missouri, located in Holt county, and engaged in farming there until May 1844. At this period, accompanied by his wife and four children, he started in a train of thirteen wagons to California, and after a long and tedious journey arrived in the State near the head-waters of the Yuba river, where they recruited for six weeks, and thence following the course of the Bear river they reached Sutter’s Fort December 15, 1844. February 1, 1845, he arrived at the place known as the Houck farm, where another halt of six weeks was made, after which his journey to San Rafael was continued, and where he arrived April 6, 1845. In the following year (1846) Mr. Miller purchased six hundred and eighty acres of land from Timothy Murphy, situated on the Las Gallinas grant, the deed for which is the first recorded in the county. Here he erected a shake shanty to begin with, later a substantial abode was constructed, to be in turn succeeded by a dwelling of magnificent proportions. In 1849 Mr. Miller went to the placers, driving one hundred and fifty head of cattle, all of which he slaughtered and sold at the rate of one dollar per pound weight. In the following year he returned to his farm and has since resided there. His residence, known as Miller Hall, is beautifully situated about four miles from San Rafael, on the high road to Petaluma. It is a square building, massive in appearance and commodiously apportioned into convenient apartments. From the broad verandahs which surrounded the edifice, a grand view of varied scenery is obtained, while the house stands the central figure of tastefully laid out grounds and well wooded groves. Contiguous to the mansion are the well appointed farm offices, where a large dairying business is conducted. Besides owning a considerable quantity of real estate in the thriving town of San Rafael, he is the proprietor of no less than eight thousand acres of land in different parts of Marin county. Married in Canada, September 1, 1834, Mary Murphy, and has ten children, named as follows: William J., Kate, Mary, Martin, Ellen, Julia, Francis, Therese, Bernard and Josephine. (Ellen might be Nellie Independence Miller who was born on the journey, in Independence Missouri. ). This was from: History of Marin County, California; Including Its Geography, Geology, Topography and Climatology; by J. P. Munro-Fraser, Historian; Alley, Bowen & Co., Publishers, San Francisco, California, 1880

http://www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/lb/main/crm/oralhistories/wjmillerft.pdf
After my great grandfather died, why, there were three unmarried girls living there yet, three unmarried daughters, and one of them was Nellie Independence and she operated the ranch. And she kept it going until she passed away and then it was leased to some, to Portuguese people and when I was on there it was leased to Tony Silveria. Tony and his wife operated it all the time that I remember.

The Miller home ranch had a train sopt, it was right opposite just west of the St. Vincent’s Orphanage, or it used to be the St. Vincent's Orphanage. Today it is the St. Vincent Boy’s School I believe. It’s all Marinwood except for a portion of the original ranch where Mrs. Silvera has -- They bought 400 acres adjoining the St. Vincent’s School, on the east side of 101. And west of it was sold to a group that was going to build a boys school. However, something fell through and they decided not to, so it was sold to a Mr. Texeira.


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http://co.marin.ca.us/depts/lb/main/crm/oralhistories/gmartinellift.html


Genevieve Martinelli wrote about the very Tend of the lucas era:


GM: All was very festive and gay, but no rowdyism. We all idolized my father. As a very small girl, he would wake me up around four thirty or five a.m., he’d give me a little breakfast and we would go with his horse and buggy out to the Lucas Ranch which is now where Terra Linda is to pick mushrooms. The Lucas’ were very, very close friends of my family. They were very hospitable people, and they would very, very frequently invite people to come and stay for a weekend or several days, and I remember on many occasions someone staying at the house and my father and mother would go off in the horse and buggy and stay for a weekend.

CE: Well now they own that vast tract of land that had originally had been a grant to Timoteo Murphy. Where did that extend from, Puerto Suello?

GM: Puerto Suello out to where all of Terra Linda is today and where St. Vincent’s is. They owned all of that out to the bay and all of it over to Big Rock. It was a tremendous piece of property. But they were typical of the old families. When they needed money they would go to the bank and mortgage some of their property, then they would have another big affair and that would go on for years.