Lell Hawley Woolley (b. 1825) left the Green Mountains of Vermont to cross the plains in a mule train to California in 1849. There he tried gold mining in Weaverville and Beal's Bar and hotelkeeping in Grass Valley before his marriage and the responsibilities of a home and family took him to San Francisco. There he went into business and was active in the Vigilance Committee of 1856. California, 1849-1913 (1913) offers anecdotes of these adventures as well as brief notes on San Francisco personalities and business life in the 1850s and 1860s, with some references to later decades.

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