Jerry Bowen and Sabine Goerke-Shrode wrote "Solano: The Way It Was," delving back about 150 years.
This was a weekly article published in the Vacaville Reporter Newspaper from 1999 to 2008.

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Latest additions: 2009-10-09 07:36 The way it was: Poor road conditions in Solano / Goerke-Shrode, Sabine [869] [WAYITWAS-2008-869] This story concludes the "Solano - The Way It Was" column. It has been a rewarding experience to delve into the lesser-known stories of our community. I am grateful to all readers for your suggestions, comments, critics and nice compliments. I also want to thank Reporter editor Diane Barney and its outstanding editors for their wonderful support over the past eight years. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 It's been a fun ride, but I'm ready to explore the West / Bowen, Jerry [868] [WAYITWAS-2008-868] When I started writing Solano County history articles for The Reporter, I couldn't help wondering if there was enough history to write about different subjects for any amount of time. I must admit that while I was the editor and writer for the United Prospectors Inc. publications, there was plenty of fodder about the gold country but I wasn't sure about Solano County. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Poor road conditions brought the citizenry together / Goerke-Shrode, Sabine [867] [WAYITWAS-2008-867] "Good or Poor Roads. - Messrs. Citizens of Vacaville Township, which will you have?" opened the Reporter on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 13, 1890 [...] Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Annie Lizzie Gill: A pioneer in every sense / Bowen, Jerry [866] [WAYITWAS-2008-866] In my last column, we left off with Annie Lizzie Gill's husband, Newton, dying on Jan. 22, 1924, by a fall. Then her youngest son, Homer, left home to see the world by working on ships, leaving just her and No. 1 son, Howard, to carry on with the future. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 It was primitive, but settlers celebrated Fourth / Goerke-Shrode, Sabine [865] [WAYITWAS-2008-865] Some of my recent columns followed the story of Frances Ann Copper, as told to the San Francisco Chronicle on the occasion of California's 50th anniversary in 1900. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Starting an orchard barely panned out for Gills / Bowen, Jerry [864] [WAYITWAS-2008-864] In my last column, the Home Acres Improvement Association failed to get the teacher promised by the Vallejo School Board even though they had obtained a building for a school. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Benicia Tannery was one of the state's best / Goerke-Shrode, Sabine [863] [WAYITWAS-2008-863] During the 19th century, canneries and tanneries formed the core of Benicia's economy. The earliest tannery, the Pioneer Tannery, was founded in 1864 and underwent several changes of ownership. Within a short time period others followed, creating a cluster of tanneries. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Making a life in Vallejo wasn't easy for the Gills / Bowen, Jerry [862] [WAYITWAS-2008-862] When I started this story two weeks ago I made a whopper of a mistake when I said, "Annie wasn't very generous with dates in her book," but it appears she and her husband Howard left Florida by train in the winter of 1918. If I was a politician I guess I could say I "misspoke" but truth is always better. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Tanneries played important roles in early California / Goerke-Shrode, Sabine [861] [WAYITWAS-2008-861] Leather products played an important role in 19th-century lifestyles. Horses needed harnesses and saddles, furniture was upholstered in leather, people wore riding gear, boots, shoes, gloves - everything required a steady supply of high-quality tanned leather. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Vallejo's Annie Lizzie Gill was a pioneer activist / Bowen, Jerry [839] [WAYITWAS-2008-839] As I start this series of columns, I have absolutely no idea on how many installments it will take to finish the story of a remarkable lady that lived in Vallejo, Annie Lizzie Gill who was born in 1863 on a farm outside the town of Oblong, Ill. Her story is a wonderful cavalcade of events and personal anecdotes before arriving in Vallejo in 1918, but since this is a local history column, I'll stick mostly to her life here in Solano County. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 California's pioneer women first recognized in 1900 / Goerke-Shrode, Sabine [835] [WAYITWAS-2008-835] This is the final installation in my series based on the recollections of pioneer women who arrived in California in the late 1840s. The San Francisco Chronicle gathered their histories and published them on Sept. 9, 1900, in commemoration of California's 50th anniversary. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Pena descendant was active in local affairs / Bowen, Jerry [834] [WAYITWAS-2008-834] In 1868 Juan Felipe Pena's granddaughter, Maria Delores Pena, married John Patton. John's father, Albert Lyon, first arrived in the Vacaville area in 1847 and settled north of the Pena Adobe. Lyon Road is named after the Lyon family. His son, John Patton, married Maria Delores Pena on June 2, 1868, and they had a son, John Edward Lyon, who married Josephine Hanna Murray [...] Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Benicia was known as the 'Athens of California' / Goerke-Shrode, Sabine [831] [WAYITWAS-2008-831] This column continues the story of Frances Anne Cooper Semple and Susan Cooper Wolfskill and life in 1850s Solano County. Their stories appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on Sept. 9, 1900 in commemoration of California's 50th anniversary. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Lonely historic site awaits much-needed help / Bowen, Jerry [830] [WAYITWAS-2008-830] It lies on a windswept knoll above the confluence of the San Joaquin River and the Sacramento River. Slowly but surely, giant windmills move stealthily ever closer to the deteriorating wood shell covered adobe. Mold on one of the interior walls appears as a small sinister-looking waterfall from a leak in the roof. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 California changed when gold was discovered / Goerke-Shrode, Sabine [829] [WAYITWAS-2008-829] After their marriage in the fall of 1847, Robert and Frances Anne Semple settled down to develop Benicia into a thriving new center of commerce. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 It was a taxing situation during the Depression / Bowen, Jerry [827] [WAYITWAS-2008-827] In my last column we began to take a brief look at some of the history of the Depression of the 1930s. A look at our elected officials performance gives us reason to wonder if they have learned anything from the past. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Semple was beaten to the punch in naming rights / Goerke-Shrode, Sabine [826] [WAYITWAS-2008-826] In 1900, the San Francisco Chronicle commemorated California's 50th anniversary by interviewing prominent pioneer women. Among them was Frances Anne Cooper. She came to the Bay area in 1846 from Howard County, Mo. Her interview appeared on Sept [...] Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Great Depression caused hard times in Solano / Bowen, Jerry [825] [WAYITWAS-2008-825] Today I saw an interesting front page from a United Kingdom newspaper, The Independent, showing a photo that may or may not be a modern soup line waiting for handouts. The headline blatantly shouts, "United States of America 2008; The Great Depression." Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Slavery of Indians was common in California / Goerke-Shrode, Sabine [824] [WAYITWAS-2008-824] In 1846, Frances Anne Cooper, who later married Benicia founder Dr. Robert Semple, left Howard County, Mo., with her family for California. The San Francisco Chronicle published her oral history of these years on September 9, 1900 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of California statehood. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Suisun City's Early History full of Drama / Bowen, Jerry [823] [WAYITWAS-2008-823] Suisun was a fast growing town from the 1870s to the 1890s. Loads of marble passed through Suisun from Judge Swan's marble quarry located about seven miles north of Suisun at Tolenas Springs en route to San Francisco. A few of the old Suisun families had 40-pound clocks encased in the marble. The mineral water there was bottled and sold, along with sarsaparilla in the bars of the period [...] Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Suisun's early years ripe with growth, drama / Bowen, Jerry [822] [WAYITWAS-2008-822] In my last column, Suisun was incorporated and officers were elected in 1868. By 1879, nearly 10 years had elapsed before the railroad traversed the tule marsh on the direct route to Benicia. Ballast hauled onto the soft peat ground sank from sight time after time, although hundreds of trainloads were deposited. The sink would appear to be filled and work on the track started again, when suddenly the surface would give way, and the tracks would disappear. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Recounting women's roles in early California / Goerke-Shrode, Sabine [821] [WAYITWAS-2008-821] Women played an important role in early Californian history. In 1900, California celebrated its first 50 years of statehood. The San Francisco Chronicle interviewed several prominent pioneer women and published their oral histories in an article on Sept. 9, 1900. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Cityhood of Suisun petitioned / Bowen, Jerry [820] [WAYITWAS-2008-820] In my last column I talked about nearby Cordelia receiving a post office in 1865 because it was on the stage route from Benicia to Sacramento and Suisun received its mail from that source until receiving its own post office in 1887. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Cattle boom of 1850s short-lived in Solano / Goerke-Shrode, Sabine [819] [WAYITWAS-2008-819] In my last column, Luzena Stanley Wilson described her experiences of riding across the hills of Solano County around 1851 to visit her Wolfskill neighbors at Putah Creek and encountering the vast herds of grazing black Spanish steers. Detailed record - Similar records 2009-10-09 07:36 Bog was barrier between two cities / Bowen, Jerry [818] [WAYITWAS-2008-818] I left off in my last column noting that when Fairfield became the County Seat in 1858, Fairfield was still struggling to become the more prominent city, even though it had the increased influence of being the county seat. Suisun was already an important shipping port and business community, and many of the officials made their home in Suisun rather than Fairfield. Detailed record - Similar records [>> more]