Hames Family
The Hames family has left an everlasting mark on Soquel and Santa Cruz County. Soquel acknowledges John Hames as the founder of Soquel, and his brother, Benjamin Hames, as the founder of Corralitos. A road in Corralitos still bears the name Hames. Both brothers were born in Osage, New York, and sailed arond the cape when young men and wound up in Santa Cruz County. They married (Benjamin married in Valparaiso, Chile) and raised children here. They were among the very first white settlers and English-speaking people in this part of the world.
I have done some background research on John Hames, and so far have not been able to determine what he looked like (no photographs) or where he was buried, although I have discovered that he apparently died at Peachtree, in Monterey County, which is a private estate that was originally built by Herman Miller, the San Joaquin Valley cattle baron of the 1800s. I suspect that he may buried there, but have found no hard evidence of it.
John Hames' wife, Drucilla, however, has left behind a better trail. Her gravesite in the IOOF Cemetery in Soquel assures us that she rests there. Her father, Thomas Jefferson Shadden, is my great great great great grandfather. So I am related to John Hames by marriage, not by blood.
John and Drucilla had a daughter named Martha, who is buried next to Drucilla in the IOOF Cemetery. Martha knew quite a bit about the early history of Soquel, and often lectured to historical society members about the olden days. She also put together a scrapbook which, I'm told, is in the state library in Sacramento.
The following articles treat the Hames clan in more detail.