Good Neighbors ~ Long before biker Pappy Brooks moved to Alleghany with his entourage in 1977, the family of Richard “Dick” Brooks resided here. In fact, their house at 101 Plaza Court (the blue house across from the fire station) was next to Mrs. McDougal’s Boarding House where Pappy lived when it burned down. Both families were quick to point out that they weren’t related despite the common last name. The old Kanaka Club was located on the other side of Mrs. McDougal’s Boarding House. In the winter of ‘76/77 my family moved from the Mott Cabin to Alleghany for a year. Our first residence was the Kanaka Club. We had two cats, a solid gray “bobcat” with a single white dot on her chest and a short stub of a tail. Her name was Nugget. Nugget was the mother of my cat, Miss Peepers, a gray tuxedo with big green eyes. After the move, both cats vanished. It was a month or so before we discovered that they were living with Dick and Peggy Brooks along with their band of racoons that they fed every night! We kids were welcome at their house anytime and often came over to feed the critters. Dick and Peggy were the nicest neighbors anyone could ask for. Evidently our cats thought so too because they never did come back! They went feral with the racoons. Neither female was spayed, and I speculate that their lineage continues in Alleghany. Peggy was Dick’s second wife. His first wife and the mother of his two boys (Wayne and Rich) was Fern, maiden name Davies. I recently learned from Wayne Brooks that his maternal family line has a long and interesting history in Forest City and even the short-lived town of Minnesota. Fern was born in Forest City on May 18, 1919. Fern’s mother, Catherine “Mabel” Kuhfeld was also born in Forest City: August 18, 1893. Mabel (Wayne Brook’s grandmother) was the eldest of the Kuhfeld children born to Margaret (Campbell) and Frederick William Kuhfeld Jr. Sadly, Mabel’s mother Margaret died in 1906 at the age of 35 leaving Frederick Jr. with a brood of six kids ages 4 to 13. The two sons remained with their father. The four daughters were sent to boarding schools, returning to Forest City when they were “of age”. Kuhfeld is a familiar name to Alleghany “old timers” thanks to longtime Postmaster Rachel (Wiley) Kuhfeld. As mentioned in a previous article, Rachel was born in Forest City in 1908. Her husband Lester born in Forest City in 1902, was the youngest of Margaret and Frederick Jr.’s children, he was only four when his mother died. Wayne has a copy of Mabel’s birth certificate, which is actually an affidavit signed by her father attesting to her birth in Forest City. Evidently home births were not always registered with the county. The affidavit was signed on Jan. 5, 1944, when her father Frederick was 77 years old, and Mabel was going on 51! The birth certificate reveals that her father, Frederick Kuhfeld Jr. was born in the town of Minnesota on May 12, 1868. Later referred to as Minnesota Flat, the boomtown was located on Lafayette Ridge south of Alleghany near Chip’s Flat. It peaked during the Placer Mining Boom of the 1850/60s, then gradually vanished after the gold was gone. To be continued. Thanks to Wayne Brooks for providing much of the information included in this week’s article, including the photos. About the author: As a kid in 1975, Rae Bell (aka Pauline) moved with her family to the Ruby Mine area located between Alleghany and Downieville. She and her husband have lived in Alleghany proper since 1992. If you have news or suggestions to share, please send an email to: raebell44@gmail.com, or mail to: PO Box 919, Alleghany, CA 95910.
Brooks Family left to right: Rich, Wayne, Fern, and Dick, in the Plaza in Alleghany, 1951