Luke Peak

(The following is transcribed from “A Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Merced, Stanislaus, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa, California”, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1892)

LUKE PEAK is a pioneer of 1849. – Born in Morgan County, Illinois, October 11, 1832, he is a son of Absalom and Rebecca (Butler) Peak, natives of Tennessee.  He is the fourth of their family of eleven children; he received his education in the common schools, and was reared to the life of a farmer.  At the age of seventeen years, however, he left the parental roof, setting out for the Pacific coast; there were seventy-five men in the company as far as Independence Rock on the Sweetwater River.  The company divided on account of food for stock, and continued the journey, traveling with ox teams.  They started April 5, 1849, and arrived in Sacramento September 22, of the same, or rather, reached the present site of Sacramento.  The first work Mr. Peak secured was shaving staves for barrels; then for three weeks he engaged in the all-absorbing occupation of mining.  Later his father bought some whale boats, and a number of men accompanied him to San Francisco; the names of those making the voyage are: Luke Peak, Absalom Peak, Newt Kirkpatrick, R.R. Holiday, Wiley Brazil and C.S. Weaver.  After a few days Mr. Peak went to the redwoods of Contra Costa County, where he made shingles and sawed lumber with a whipsaw; he sold the lumber for $250 per thousand.  He remained in this place from December 1849, until April, 1850.  He then rented some land and turned his attention to horticulture and gardening; afterward he entered the employ of Elam Brown, and drove a team for him, receiving $100 per month.

In November, 1850, Mr. Peak returned to Illinois, via the Isthmus; he embarked at San Francisco on the sail ship South America, and was out forty-four days from San Francisco; he walked across the Isthmus in two days, and then took the steamer to New Orleans, thence by the steamer Western Belle to St. Louis, and after that a tramp of 100 miles to his old home, which he reached February 14, 1851.  He tiled the soul and attended school during the winter until March, 1853, when again he set out for the Golden State.  There were ten wagons, thirty men, five women and two children in the train.  After a long and tedious journey of seven months they arrived at their destination, Taylor Valley, Contra Costa County.  Here Mr. Peak was engaged in agriculture for two years, renting his land.  In 1855 he purchased land and farmed until 1860, when he went into the coal mines near Mount Diablo, where he continued in business until 1864; he then again began tilling the soil, but in 1872 he came to Merced County and went in the live-stock business near Athlone.  At present he rents about 1,000 acres near Merced, and a pleasant residence on Main and H streets, Merced.

He was married August 5, 1858, to Mary A. Hancock, a native of Tennessee.  Seven children blessed this union; Alice, John, Luke, and Nancy are living; George, Lizzie and James are deceased.

Mr. Peak is a strong advocate of the principles of temperance, and has been an active member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church since 1855.  In 1859 he was made an elder of the church, and still holds the office; he was elected Clerk of the Session in 1859, and filled that position until 1888.  He is a man of great integrity of character, and is highly respected by the entire community.