James Batchelder - Oakland

1892 ¹

James “Old Batch” Batchelder (November 6, 1828 – October 22, 1895) was the engineer for the first railroad in Oakland, the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad (SF&O). The SF&O became part of the western end of the first transcontinental railroad.

Batchelder was born in Warren, New Hampshire, one of 8 children. His father died when a branch he was cutting fell on his head. With 2 older brothers to take care of the farm and the rest of the family, Batchelder, then age 10, set off to make his own way. After getting some education in exchange for work, he eventually went to work on railroads.

After working for railroads in New Hampshire and Illinois, in 1858 he came to California. He ended up in San Francisco, working on a local railroad there. Then 1863, he went to work for the recently built SF&O in Oakland. He worked on that line for 20 years, with no accidents. During his time with the SF&O he lived in Brooklyn, and he was a member of the Oakland Lodge No. 188, Free and Accepted Masons.

Batchelder never married. But he apparently did quite well for himself, and retired in 1883. Having traveled in California, he decided to travel further, and eventually went on two around-the-world trips.

Death, Burial, and Legacy

Batchelder died October 22, 1895, at St. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco. That we know very much about his early life and his later travels is because he wrote a book about them, Notes From the Life and and Travels of James Batchelder. In his will, he left $1,000 to Nellie O'Laughlin for her assistance in writing the book. ^1,2,3

His estate was considerable, initially estimated at $40,000. The value was reduced somewhat because some of the debts owed to the estate couldn't be collected.

He is buried in plot 12 of Mountain View Cemetery.