1851 - September 9th., Alden Bradford Spooner II was born in Lorain, Lorain County, Ohio. He died November 9th 1926 at age 75 in the town of Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo County, California.
1867 - Spooner family established residency in San Luis Obispo County (see history of A. B. Spooner I)
1870 - After his father, mother and siblings moved to Morro, A.B. II rented the Torro Creek Ranch from his father.
1879 - San Francisco, Calif. - A.B. II worked as a horse trainer and tried his hand at the livery business. Upon his return to Morro he operated a horse-powered scow on Morro Bay where he picked up produce from farms located around the bay and transported the produce to the wharf in Morro.
1881 - April - Town of Morro - Married Mary Florence White. They had three sons, Quincy Gilmore (Mar.28, 1882); Carleton Ross (July 15, 1884); Alden B. III (Feb. 15, 1889).
1892 - February - A.B. II leased property on the Central Coast, south of the town of Morro in San Luis Obispo County. The acreage was bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west, Coon Creek on the south, and Pecho and Islay Creek on the north. Spooner, with his wife and three sons, moved into a simple three room house located on a windy bluff above Buchon Cove. (now called Spooner's Cove)
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Pecho Ranch History
1892
- A.B. II and his brother Cornelius build a landing on the south side
of Buchon Cove (see photo). The landing consisted of a hole through the
cliff and a 400 foot trestle that extended from the end of the tunnel
and over the rocks. At the end of the trestle was a 25 ft. movable
apron that could be lowered with a block and tackle. A few years later a
barn was built on the bluff. Bales of hay, sacks of beans, grain and
live hogs were slid down the trestle unto the deck of a waiting steamer.
1892
- October 9 - (San Luis Tribune) "A new shipping point has been created
at the mouth of Islay Creek. Last Thursday the steamer Bonita
discharged a large consignment of lumber and then took on board 2,500
sacks of beans and grain by means of a chute."
1895
- February 11th - (San Luis Tribune) "Spooner on the Pecho is the
latest converts to start a creamery and is already purchasing milch
cows..."
The
creamery was located behind the house; cream separator and butter churn
were powered by a water wheel. A mile up Islay Creek Spooner built a
mill dam. Water was channeled along Islay Creek through a flume to a
water wheel at the back of the creamery. The whey, the excess milk,
went through a pipe into the hog pen located in the creek below the
creamery. (photo - making butter in the creamery)
1902
- July 28th - An agreement to sell between Isabella M. Cowell and A. B.
Spooner II. "All that portion of Rancho Pecho y Islay which lies north
of the Canada de Diablo, containing 5,200 acres." The price for the
land was $38,000. - (Filed for record, July 30, San Francisco, Calif.)
1905 - A. B. II purchased the Bernard Coll Ranch which adjoined his property north of Islay Creek.
1912 - A. B. II and his sons Quincy, Carlton, and Alden III formed the "Pecho Land and Stock Company, Inc."
In
later years A. B. Spooner II operated the Overland Automobile Agency in
San Luis Obispo. In 1926, at the time of his death, the Pecho Ranch
consisted of nearly 9,000 acres.
