Hypothesizing 
                   ... about Middletown

We have little early history about Middle-
town, but there are some interesting clues here to work with.
     
No. 25, the Lake County House, is easy to recognize; some oldsters still remember it as Herrick's Hotel. In 1890, it was owned by John McGreer, who had traded the historic Stone House and its surrounding 960 acres to Charles Marsh Young for the hotel in. Young and/or his sons apparently still owned the Pioneer Livery on the other side of Main Street.

It is fairly certain that one of the general stores was owned by C.M. Young's eldest sons, Wirt and Baxter (and later by Young himself), so it seems feasible it would have been the one facing Young's Lake County House.

David Lobree owned one of the first general stores in the fledgling town, reportedly next door to a saloon. An 1894 daily journal from the general store of Burmeister & Lewis is in the collection of the Stone House Historical Society.

Known blacksmith shops were the pioneer shops of James Parish, William Good and, perhaps a bit later, Kemp & Tocher, but we do not know the locations. 

Comparing the 1880 U. S. Census and
to this 1890 plat map may offer some insights into our ancestors.

The 1880 census in Middletown starts off with the residence of Richard Williams, owner/operator of Harbin Hot Springs, his wife Annie and their three children, followed by 14 “servants,” two Chinese cooks and  35 “boarders” – some of whom may also have been employees. 

Residence number 2 is that of Allen Palmer, a stage driver, along with his wife Annie, and three children.

House number 9 is that of laundrywoman N. G. Dye, age 39, once known as Nancy McGreer, and her children Hugh and Susan Davey, ages 19 and 12, and Thomas, Nannie and May Dye, ages 6, 4 and 2. Four older children had moved on.

Residence number 17 is the boarding house at the Great Western Mine, under the charge of Mary Driscoll, brought in from Shasta County for that role by mine superintendent Andrew Rocca, her husband, Timothy, her nephew Michael, who serves as waiter, and cook Charley Denver.  Guests include Andrew Rocca, his new wife Mary Ruby; the teacher who replaced her, R. D. Reed; and eight mine workers.

Dallas Poston and his wife Mary, who would years later lease the Stone House from Charles Young, and their five children occupy No. 21, still on the Great Western property. Poston is listed as a butcher. Nine more residences house mine workers and their families. Then comes a listing of 186 Chinese employees in several residences, one headed by Jim Bacon.

Following names still familiar in Middletown — Parriott and Quesenberry — a group of four Chinese laborers occupy house number 56, between — if census policies then were the same as later decades — the Henry Stockford and John Capps farms. 

Then comes the family of W. J. and Anastasia Armstrong, who sold the northern half of Middletown to Berry and Armstrong before there was a town — we can assume their retained land would now be bounded on the south by Wardlaw Street. 

At number 62, Isabella Bradford is listed as a hotel keeper, sharing space with six sons and two daughters, next to the home of W. G. Cannon, a name long recognized among Middletown pioneer families, his wife and six children.

Drawn from the original Sanford map for Lake County Places and Postal History by Erving R. Feltman

The Anderson Springs resort is residence No. 68, with Aleck Anderson’s widow Jane listed as head of a household comprised of her daughters Barbara and Joanne and partner Laban Patriquin’s daughter Lexy, along with their six youngsters and a Chinese cook.

Page 13 is left blank after the home of Robert Hanna, his wife and four children, perhaps to indicate that the census-taker changed location.

Most Middletown residents are listed as farmers, but local businessmen are identified. On page 14, we find: Mary Stark, midwife; William Good, blacksmith, and brother James Good, wagonmaker. 

Q.V.P. Day, Leon Love, David Lobree, Samuel Asher and E. Whiting are listed as retail merchants as is D. DePencier, further down the street, whose brother Greg clerked in his store.

John Reineke and his nephew Frederic were blacksmiths; Francis Cameron was a boot and shoemaker as was Charles Bishop. William Amesbury was a lumber dealer.

B. R. Wardlaw, civil engineer who had prepared the plat surveys for Middletown, lived next door to saloonkeeper Jacob Green. 

Another saloonkeeper down the street lived next to druggist C. W. Armstrong and retired brickmaker D. B. Armstrong. At the other end of town, Elihu Ford apparently had taken over as brickmaker. 

Two houses just ahead of H. B. Argall’s saloon were occupied by four Chinese men, including one who listed his occupation as gambler. 

At the far end of town, another house was shared by eight young Chinese men. 

Blacksmith John Gavin lived next to John McGreer, divorced owner of the Stone House, and his daughter Kate, and next came the livery stables of Samuel Kenyon, which Charles Young bought shortly thereafter.

Right next door was postmaster G. W. Rawson, then Joseph Friedman, dealer in real estate.

Two doors down, a surprisingly candid C. B. Gordon listed himself as a pauper, while his wife Melissa was a laundress to support their three sons.

House number 104 was shared by G. R. Mahoney, 24, a clerk in a store, and 18-year-old J. Lampley, cook in a hotel. Next door was J. G. Sturgill, blacksmith, whose son Louis clerked in a hotel, and whose neighbor, J. H. Kellogg was also a blacksmith. 

M. E. Armstrong and her two young daughters lived with her father, Josiah Wells, the local mail carrier. They shared a home with eight members of the Daniel Rantz family, whose 4-year-old grand- daughter Lenora had measles. 

Housepainter John Preble lived next to James Wilkinson and his extensive family. The next home was that of the widow Nicholson and her seven children.

Clergyman R. W. Williamson, his wife, their schoolteacher daughter Emily, portrait painter daughter Kate, and two younger children resided in house No. 113. Bachelor carpenter G. W. Smith lived next door, alongside an Orioto (?) manufacturer, Thomas Robbins, whose wife Esther told census-taker John Good Jr. about the cramp in her stomach.

Constable Z. A. Cockrill headed household number 116, which included his wife, two daughters and two stepdaughters, two sons and two stepsons – the 18-year-old stepson claiming a career as a gambler. Marcus Munz claimed his German heritage, although he was born in Missouri, made being the town brewer a natural path; nonetheless, an Irish brewer 10 years his senior was a member of his household, along with Munz’ wife and five children.

John Irwin, whose name eventually became almost synonymous with that of Middletown, was a 12-year-old in 1880, living with his parents Edward and Leah and four siblings next to the Reverend D. F. Ravens. 

After the Young household — C. M., Lutitia, the three sons, two young visitors from Iowa and a Chinese cook — the page is blank, holding 21 listings rather than the usual 50, and marked “Here ends the Village of Middletown,” although the census listings continue for another two and a half pages.