|
a.
|
Continued: John Proctor "Proc" Steinhoff (son of William Charles Steinhoff and Alice Ellen Proctor) was born near Irvington, Washington Twp., Alameda Co., Calif.-probably at the old farm and nursery that had been established by his grandfather, John Proctor, in 1853. Proc had wavy red hair. While a boy, his parents divorced and he did not see his father, Charles, again for about three decades.
By the early 1890s, his mother and step-father, Ed Watkins, moved to Sunol, in the eastern part (then Murray Twp.) of Alameda County -- a relatively rugged country with canyons and high hills, which they called "mountains." Joaquin Murrieta had spent time just north of there in Niles Canyon, and Proc's grand-uncle, Robert Blacow, once had a run-in with that infamous outlaw. Proc and his brother Jim befreinded some Indians who lived over the hills--probably remnants of the old Ohlone Tribe.
Proc's step-father, Ed Watkins, was a hard man. He was a drinker and beat the boys. Proc "ran away from home" often, sometimes for days at a time. He and Jim would stay with the Indians in the hills above Sunol. They later removed to Newark.
At one point, when Proc was 12 years-old (about 1892), and after particularly harsh treatment by his step-father, he ran away to his Indian friends who gave him a gun and told him he should kill his step-father. Proc returned home and hid in the bushes waiting for his step-father to return so he could shoot him. He waited until sunrise. Luckily, Ed Watkins didn't come home that night, and Proc ran away for good.
He left home permanently at the age of 12 and took a job as a night watchman at the Graham Manufacturing Company in Newark, where he slept on a cot at the foundry. He would work there for the rest of his life. He became an iron molder, casting the parts for the famous Wedgwood stoves. Proc became a labor leader with other workers advocating for better and safer working conditions.
By 1900, Proc's widowed mother moved back to Washington Twp., and he and his brother Jim lived with her.
Proc was one of the early men in California to ride a motorcycle and owned an Indian franchise (one of the earliest on the west coast) by 1908, as there are photos of him and his motorcycles dated that year. The 1910 Newark business directory listed "Steinhoff's Indian Motorcycles." He organized a motorcycle riders' club (they wore suits and ties rather than black leather and bandanas) and shocked the neighborhood by courting his bride-to-be on his two-wheeled ride at the perilous speed of 25 mph!
John Proctor Steinhoff married Eva McCrimmon, daughter of George and Alice (Forrester) McCrimmon on 12 February 1908. To this union were born three children: Hugh Proctor Steinhoff, Alton Adair Steinhoff and Betty Jane Steinhoff.
The family initially lived neir both of their mothers around Rich and Olive streets in Newark (where they were enumerated in 1910). The soon moved to a 10 acre "ranch" near Mowry's Landing between Newark and Irvington (which has since been incorporated into Freemont), Alameda, Co., Calif.
The Steinhoffs often spelled their name "Stinehoff" until Alton began school about 1920 and the spelling was standardized.
Not long after they were married, Proc had an opportunity to move to Hawaii where they were trying to build up a manufacturing sector and needed men who knew something of metal work and mechanics. His mother was against the proposition, while his wife was interested in the idea. They never went, and Proc continued to work for the Graham Manufacturing Company.
The Steinhoffs used to go camping up at Sunol on the Driscoll ranch, the Driscolls being family friends. The Driscoll's property was later sold and became a park (is it now the Sunol Regional Park?) They would also visit "Aunt Mattie" Whitlock, who was actually no relation-she and her husband and brother-in-law owned property about five miles up Alameda Creek from the Driscoll ranch and built two cabins there. It was a rough road, crossing the creek several places, and would wash out each year. One time, Proc found an orphaned fawn and took it to Mattie Whitlock who raised him and kept the little buck for several years. Another family friend who had a place up Alameda Creek was Dr. Elmo Grimmer. His cabin was about halfway between the Driscoll ranch and the Whitlock place. The Elmo Grimmer Elementary School in Irvington was named for him.
Proc was an avid duck hunter and also killed many deer, providing the family with venison. He was a member of a local gun club with his brother Jim, the Lowry boys, a man named Benbow and probably others, who all went in together to buy some land they always referred to as "Section 14" which was up Alameda Creek above Sunol (likely in the Section 14 where Tehan Falls is located, northwest of Pleasanton). They built a hunting cabin there and would go hunting on the property.
Proc was also good friends with "Professor" Homer A. "Del" Snow, a well-known big game hunter who, under the auspice of the African Expedition Corp., was commissioned by the Oakland Museum of Natural History to lead a Safari to Africa in 1919 to acquire skins to be mounted in the museum-he did just that, taking his wife, two sons and young daughter, and also filmed the expedition with son Sidney as the photographer, releasing a movie (one of the first African wildlife films) in 1922 called "Hunting Big Game in Africa with Gun and Camera."
The Steinhoff family in Alameda County had little or no contact with Proc's father, Charles Steinhoff, until the late 1910's or about 1920 when Eva insisted that Proc locate his father if he could. He did just that, and the family would travel south to visits Charles Steinhoff's ranch near Lebec. Charles had married Julia (Cuddy) and Proc found out that he had six half-brothers and sisters who were between twenty and forty-two years younger than him! Some of them would also visit and spend some time with Proc's family in Newark. Unfortunately, after Proc's death in 1928, and his father's death in 1933, with the great depression and then the war, the family members lost touch with one another.
Proc was ill for sometime before his death and hospitalized. His illness ("silicosis"-commonly called "black lung") turned into tuberculosis, and was attributed to the dangerous vapors associated with molding casting iron. It was a hazardous job and, for that reason, Proc Steinhoff was active in his local union, trying to improve working conditions. John Proctor "Proc" Steinhoff died in January, 1928, aged 43 years.
Shortly before Proc died, the family moved back to moved to Centerville and then Newark in 1927. Their ranch house at Mowry's Landing burned down shortly after they moved to town, and several of Proc's Indian motorcycles were stolen out of the barn. Eva kept the land there for many years.
****
OBITUARY:
"Newark, Calif., January 15, 1928
"Editor Journal:
"With profound sorrow and regret, Newark Branch of Local No. 164, I.M.U. of N.A., is called upon to inform the membership and readers of the JOURNAL that the Grim Reaper "Death" has called one of our old friends and members to answer the final summons. Brother John Proctor Steinhoff, who, after a prolonged illness, consisting of tubercular complications, died on January 4, 1928, and joined that silent caravan which enters the portals of the great beyond.
"Brother Steinhoff was one of our well known old-timers, was born on September 16, 1880, in Irvington, Calif., sometime after which he came to Newark, Calif., to reside, and where he spent the most of his younger days and established his home.
"While still in his teens he started to learn the moulding trade at the Jas. Graham Mfg. Co., where he worked at that trade ever since then, up to the time he became incapacitated by reason of illness which he failed to conquer and which finally resulted in his death. At the time of his death he was 47 years of age. He possessed that congenial disposition which made him a likeable fellow and an ideal shopmate. His absence will be noticeably missed by all of us.
"Previous to 1910, when Newark Branch became part of Local Union No. 164, Newark Calif., had a charter of its own and was known as Local Union 350. Brother Steinhoff was one of the few remaining members of former Local Union 350.
"He leaves a wife and three children to mourn his loss. The funeral was conducted by his relatives and was participated in jointly by Newark Branch Local, which attended in a body, Representatives of the Jas. Graham Mfg. Co., and the Woodmen of the World, of which latter organization he was also a member.
"Newark Branch Local wishes to express and convey its profound and sincere sympathy to his relatives and to all who mourn his loss.
"Yours in sympathy, "Frank X. Veit, "T. E. Bergan"
|
