Pioneers remembered

This week's question is where was the first Lincoln jail located and when? Here's a hint: it wasn't on G Street, now called Lincoln Boulevard. If you know the answer, please send answers to carolf@goldcountrymedia.com by Tuesday. As for last week's question, no one had the right answer. The question was, "Which early pioneers used to live here and what happened to Leavell Lane?" Before Sun City Lincoln Hills, before the stop light at Ferrari and Highway 193, before the turn of the 20th century was Joseph Walkup Lane and another closer to town, Pioneer Lane. Joseph Walkup (1819 to 1872) developed a farm north of what became Lincoln off of today's Highway 193. Walkup was born in 1819 in Ohio. Orphaned at age 17, he became a carpenter and then a ship builder in New Orleans. In spring 1849, with the lure of California's gold, he began his trip to California, arriving in California in August 1849. He settled in Auburn and went into the mercantile business with S. B. Wyman. In 1851, they extended their business into farming and were successful at wheat growing and stock raising. Walkup is attributed to growing and harvesting the first wheat crop in Placer County. Walkup was engaged in at least two farms, at least one in Auburn and one along Joseph Walkup Lane. According to records and awards, the farms produced well. He traveled back to Ohio three times, and during the second visit, married Elizabeth Elliott. Walkup is also credited by many with helping establish Placer County. He was one of the commissioners organizing Placer County. He served in the California State Senate, was the fifth California lieutenant governor from 1858 to 1860. Seven years previous to his early death, he was also the Democratic Placer Herald owner and editor. He was working in his office at the newspaper when he had a stroke at the early age of 53 and died within the hour. Another lane was Pioneer Lane. Several pioneers established their homes, barns and at least one dairy on Pioneer Lane, including Amodei Dairy and the John Beverly Brown ranch. An Amodei daughter, Alice, whose grandfather began the dairy, married Paul Ferrari and they had two boys, Dario and Paul Jr. From this family came the naming of Ferrari Ranch Road. John Beverly Brown from Drinking Creek, Virginia, traveled here for the Gold Rush and built his family home on Pioneer Lane about 100 yards from the Auburn Ravine wooden bridge. His daughter, Jessie Jane Brown, used to gallop her horse on the bridge that crossed over Auburn Ravine. Jessie married Frank Dillion, who owned the Dillon Saloon sitting back from the street, not in the exact position of the present Dillian's Bar that is named after the original bar. When Jessie married Frank Dillion, her father built them a house at 530 E St. The home continues to be in the family with Karl and Heidi Tahti living there with their daughter, Emily, and her husband, Eden, and their daughter, Kelly. In the 1960s, Jane Tahti rescued the sliding doors dividing her grandparents' dining room and living room on Pioneer Lane. She asked the new owners of the home, which was to be demolished, if she could have the doors. The rescued doors now grace her home on Gladding Road. In time, Art and Beulah Leavell established a home near the beginning of Pioneer Lane. John and Patty Tofft established their home near the Leavell home around the late 1970s.. Patty Tofft said her house was snuggled there for more than 40 years, up from the oaked, Auburn Ravine that ran behind the house, giving a country feel to the house. She remembers taking Beulah Leavell to Auburn to fill out the paperwork to change Pioneer Lane to Leavell Lane. They were happy at the county's supervisor's meeting to hear the lane renamed as Leavell Lane. No longer is Leavell Lane a country setting, tucked in with scattered oaks near the Auburn Ravine. Lincoln Hills was developed and changed the landscape. Ferrari Ranch Road has been developed and there is a stop light now on Highway 193. Peter Digerdano lives at the Amodei property. A dirt road ambles east from his house and turns south to venture further down the dirt road to Highway 193. For now, this is how Digerdano has access and regress out of his residence and grounds until new streets are built. The Oct. 16, 2019 News Messenger reported Oak Tree Lane will be extended to Virginiatown Road while Ferrari Ranch Road will cross Highway 193, follow the Auburn Ravine and cut over to Oak Tree Lane for new development. Oak Tree Lane will then extend to Virginiatown Road. Pioneer Lane and Leavell Lane are gone. The Joseph Walkup Ranch and thus Joseph Walkup Lane are gone. A gated community is planned for the Joseph Walkup area. New residential development, Lincoln Area Archives Museum docents point out, will add scores of new homes, a mixture of traditional family and country estates built on larger lots to this formally country area. While change is inevitable, it's nice to remember those who settled in the area before the area is changed in the near future. Thank you to Patty Tofft, John Tofft, Ferrari family and Jane Fleming Tahti for their information.