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John Steinbeck's Roots (Draft)

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Donald G. Kohrs
Copyright © 2021
 
PREFACE

This is a story of two Northern European immigrant families who arrived in America in the 1840s and 1850s and traveled west in the mid-nineteenth century, to settle in California. The father of each of these families was the first to arrive in the Golden State. One father, Sam Hamilton, who arrived in the United States in 1846, traveled from New York around Cape Horn, arriving in California in 1851. The second father, Johann Adolph Grosssteinbeck, who arrived in the United States in 1858, shortening the family name to Steinbeck, later traveled overland from Massachusetts arriving to the state in 1872. Both men came from an agrarian heritage that dated back hundreds of years in their respective countries of origin: Sam Hamilton grew up on a family farm in Ireland, and Johann Grosssteinbeck was raised on the family farm in Heiligenhaus, Germany. 

In California, both men initially farmed as the means to support their families. Hamilton appears to have farmed grain in the area near San Jose, and Steinbeck established a dairy farm and fruit orchard near Hollister. Members of these families were the first generation maternal and paternal ancestors of Nobel prize-winning novelist John Steinbeck to grow up in California. The children of these two men, Hamilton and Steinbeck, would not find farming the land a viable way to support a family, though several of them tried. The oldest son of Sam Hamilton, Tom, chose ranching and farming, and though apparently successful in the effort, supposedly became haunted by depression resulting in his committing suicide. At least that has been the prevailing story as to the death of Tom Hamilton. If you venture further and read the section about Sam Hamilton's eldest son, you may find yourself asking if it was suicide that caused his death. Hamilton's second son, Will, became a partner in a mercantile business and then the automobile sales and service business. His third son, George, found employment managing grain mills in South Monterey County. Again, if you venture further and read the sections about Will and George Hamilton, you will find out they too ventured into farming in the Salinas Valley. Hamilton’s fourth and youngest son, Joseph, graduated from Stanford University, then chose the advertising business as a career, moving to the city of Chicago and rising to the top of the ranks. 

As for the five daughters of Samuel Hamilton, three of these women- Lizzie, Euna and Olive - became schoolteachers in the earliest of the California’s rural school system, another - Mary - married a wealthy rancher, William J. Martin, who was born in Carmel Valley, and with her sister - Dessie - established a women’s clothing store in Salinas.  And if continue and read the section about Euna and Olive, you will learn where, in the Monterey County, the sisters spent their years teaching in one-room board and batten school houses.

As for Johann Steinbeck’s boys, the oldest son - Charles, went from farming fruit orchards and managing a grain warehouse in Templeton, California to owning a horse stable, and working in a mercantile store in Hollister. His second son - Herbert, went from working the grain mills, to working as a drayman - a person who delivers beer for a brewery - in Hollister. His third son – John Ernst, went from managing a grain mill and farming fruit orchards in the Salinas Valley, to owning a grain store, and finally to serve as Treasurer of Monterey County. The two youngest sons – Will and Henry, also found a career managing  grain mills that were established along railroad routes that followed the extension of grain farms, from Santa Clara Valley to Ventura, and much of the San Joaquin Valley. 

Shortly after Olive Hamilton married John Ernst Steinbeck Sr., she retired from teaching. Olive appears to have inherited several pieces of property in Salinas from her father, Samuel Hamilton, which she then leased for many years. During the period her husband served as Treasurer, Olive Steinbeck also worked as Deputy Treasurer of Monterey County. With properties owned in Salinas and Pacific Grove, as well as dual income earners, the Steinbeck family seems to be financially secure.

Why the children of these two families did not all become farmers may largely have been the related to the adopted practices of land ownership and farming in California. Mexican land grants allowed the transfer of ownership of large tracts of prime agriculture to a minority of farmers. As a result, California’s farming practice developed in sharp contrast to the eastern and midwestern portion of the nation, where smaller family farms dominated the agribusiness and where farmers passed their holdings from generation to generation. 

The history of agriculture in California, weaved through John Steinbeck's family roots tells of the concentration of large tracts of prime farming land placed in the hands of a few, the advancement in farm technology which aided large-scale farming, the excessive need for migrant farm labor, and state policies that supported the monopolization of farmland. This history also tells of the struggle of the individual farmer, not only combating floods and droughts, but with large industrial conglomerates, the Southern Pacific Railroad, and the Central Pacific Railroad. 

During the mid-twentieth century, farmers throughout the U.S. adopted California’s large-scale farming methods. This adoption of large-scale farming of monoculture crops has resulted in the devastation of small family farmers and rural communities throughout America. Today, farmers who have adopted the large-scale farming practice struggle with limited profit margins per acre and the expenses of seed and equipment required by such operations.

Steinbeck saw the unconscionable injustice of a monopolized large-scale farm growing industry toward migrant laborers, but he also witnessed the ordinary unfairness of life on a family farm. The author never lost sight of rural California, and he exposed the frustration and disappointment of his characters within his writings.  If you venture further and read the chapters below, you find that much of what he saw was within his family roots.

 
 

A NEW EYE OPENING IN THE WEST

PROTESTANT MISSIONARIES SENT TO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA

RE - VISIONING OF THE PROTESTANT AMERICAN MYTH

CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE

THE EARLY SALINAS VALLEY

LAYING DOWN THE RAILROAD TRACKS

ARRIVAL OF IMMIGRANTS

POPULATION GROWTH IN SALINAS CITY

POPULATION GROWTH IN MONTERY COUNTY

ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTESTANT CHURCHES

ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTESTANT MORALS

Chapter 2

HOUSE OF HAMILTON

SAMUEL & ELIZA HAMILTON

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA

SALINAS, CALIFORNIA

MARY HAMILTON & RICHARD E. RICHARDS

JUDGE JOHN E. RICHARDS

THE HAMILTON RANCH,  SAN ARDO, CALIFORNIA

A COLLECTION OF HOMESTEAD PROPERTIES

A DRY ARTESIAN WELL

A FIFTIETH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

SAMUEL HAMILTON’S PRESBYTERIAN FAITH

 
 
 

SAMUEL HAMILTON’S BLUESTOCKING DAUGHTERS

LIZETTE CARTER “LIZZIE” HAMILTON

ADELIA “DESSIE” HAMILTON 

MARY LOUISE “MOLLIE” HAMILTON

EUNICE B. “EUNA” HAMILTON

OLIVE BLANCHE “OLLIE” HAMILTON

 
 
 

THOMAS SCOTT  “TOM” HAMILTON

WILLIAM JOHN “ WILL” HAMILTON

GEORGE  WASHINGTON  HAMILTON

JOSEPH REUBEN “JOE”  HAMILTON

Chapter 5

JOHANN ADOLPH & AMELIA STEINBECK

CHARLES MINOR STEINBECK

HERBERT ELDRIDGE STEINBECK

JOHN ERNEST STEINBECK SR.

WILLIAM PETER STEINBECK

HENRY EUGENE “HARRY” STEINBECK

Chapter 6

JOHN STEINBECK AND THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT

CALIFORNIA’S PROGRESSIVE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT

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FROM IMMIGRATION TO EXCLUSION