Early Woodside: A Cast of thousands

Joining Coppinger was another "run-away” James Pease who had taken his un-authorized leave from a Hudson’s Bay ship, the Neried, anchored in San Francisco Bay. While there is no official count of the men who had come to the "Pulgas Redwoods” as Woodside was then called, old-timers could name some 50 individuals who’d qualify for such life-changing status. No official count for women either, except to say there were precious few of them.

 Another supporting character in the tableau was Charles Brown, who sometimes used the alias Carlos Moreno, and was described as "smooth talking.” He was a New Yorker, born in 1814, and arrived in San Francisco on a whaling ship, from which he departed surreptitiously. He bought some 3,000 acres between Alambique and Bear Gulch creeks and built an adobe named Mountain Home Ranch. Brown is credited with building one of the first sawmills in 1850. In 1851, his original mill was up-graded to a steam-mill, using a 30-horse-power engine. Unfortunately, he lost most of what he’d accumulated and died insolvent in 1853. His adobe hacienda survived the 1906 earthquake and is still standing today.

John Coppinger died in 1847. His widow, Luisa Soto, met and married John Greer, an Irishman, who moved into the Coppinger adobe. Soon there was land-trouble for the new couple. California had become a state, and it was now necessary to prove to the Land Commission that the land they’d inherited from Coppinger, Rancho Canada Raymundo, was indeed theirs. Lawyers and court-fees were devastating and some of the land was lost in a tax-lien. Greer was public-spirited and, rising above the inheritance problems, donated some land for a school-house that served also as a church and a public meeting place. By 1859, there were 112 students enrolled there. Families were moving in. A library followed, and a stage-coach stop. Greer also served as Justice of the Peace and, although he was Irish, was said to be active in the temperance union. When Greer died, his Protestant faith almost prevented him from being buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma. Determining that the Catholic cemetery was consecrated to a depth of only six-feet, it was reported that the family was able to secure his final resting place by having the grave dug down to nine-feet. Another report said Greer was buried in the Union Cemetery. I like the Colma story better.

Another fellow who was caught in the murkiness of the land-grant boundary disputes was Dennis Martin. He had bought 1,200 acres of Rancho Canada Raymundo land from John Greer and Luisa Coppinger-Greer, who had sold it in good faith that it was theirs to sell. Martin proceeded to build two lumber-mills, a house, a blacksmithing operation, as well as a grist-mill on San Francisquito Creek among other improvements. After years of suits and counter-suits, the land was judged to be part of the Pulgas Rancho and under the domain of the Arguello family. Martin was evicted. He lost everything and spent the rest of his life working as a laborer.

Woodside: the story started with Sawyers and ended with lawyers. These characters, adventurers and mis-adventurers, were the supporting cast, in search of a plot of land and a place in history’s play. They weren’t the stars, but, of course, it’s an honor just to be nominated. The envelope please.