John Dolbeer
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| John Dolbeer | |
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| Born | March 12, 1827 Epsom, Merrimack County, New Hampshire |
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| Died | August 17, 1902 (aged 75) San Francisco |
| Occupation | Inventor, entrepreneur |
| Spouse | Harriet Schander |
John Dolbeer (March 12, 1827-August 17, 1902) was known for revolutionizing the lumber industry with the invention of the Dolbeer Logging Engine, more commonly known as the donkey engine.
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[edit] Early years
John Dolbeer was born in Epsom, Merrimack County, New Hampshire on March 12, 1827, the son of Nicholas Dolbeer and Esther Chase of New Rye. He left the family farm in 1850 at the age of 23 and set out to the California gold rush to make his fortune.
By 1853 he had made connections in the Humboldt Bay area to establish the Bay Mill. Through failure and fires he survives and by 1864 teams with William Carson to form the Dolbeer and Carson Lumber Company. The company grew, and John Dolbeer became one of the most famous and influential personages in the Redwood industry in the State of California.[1]
[edit] Patents
His several patents showed his ingenuity in problem solving, and he had an impact in all facets of the industry, from the actual lumbering operation itself, to transporting and exporting — even owning the barks and brigs to bring the lumber to worldwide markets. Among his most useful and successful patent was that for the Dolbeer Logging Engine in August of 1881.[2] This machine simply was a steam engine mounted on a wooden skid which would enable loggers to move giant longs across long distances to adjacent railways. The patent (Patent number: 256553) was issued April 18, 1882.[3]
Other patents include an apparatus for steaming piles (Patent number: 333204) and a device used for measuring footage of timber cut by a sawmill (Patent number: 45482).
[edit] Family
In 1872, late in life, he married Harriet Schander, and in 1873 his son, Chase Dolbeer was born. He established his home on Lombard Street in San Francisco. Four years later, in 1877, the Dolbeers had their daughter, Bertha. Business continued to thrive, despite the fact that the Dolbeer & Carson Bay Mill burned down twice. It is about the time of the second fire that the personal life of Jonathan Dolbeer turned tragic. In 1879, Harriet commits suicide, and was called by the San Francisco Call "a suffering invalid" and in 1886, his son Chase was thrown from a wagon and died at the age of 13. His family endured yet a final tragedy after his death when on July 9, 1904, his daughter Bertha committed suicide at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, putting the battle for the estate in the California Courts through 1908.[4]
[edit] Estate
John Dolbeer died in San Francisco from a heart ailment on August 17, 1902. He is laid to rest in Cypress Lawn Memorial Park, Colma, San Mateo County, California[5]. The bulk of his estate went to his lone surviving daughter Bertha, and was worth nearly one million dollars. Additional sums were given to several charities, and relatives in Epsom, including his niece Ellen Dolbeer Hall (daughter of his brother Calvin) and her husband, Charles Sumner Hall. There is now a prestigious scholarship awarded at the University of California, Berkeley in his name and honor.
[edit] References
- ^ San Francisco / History / Time / Place
- ^ Richard L. Williams, The Loggers, (New York: Time-Life Books, 1976), 112–113; ISBN 0-8094-1527-5
- ^ Wilma, David. "John Dolbeer invents the donkey engine and revolutionizes logging in August 1881.", HistoryLink.org, March 01, 2003. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ San Francisco County CA Biography Project
- ^ Find A Grave - Cypress Lawn Memorial Park
