Henderson Luelling

You might know Quaker horticulturalist Henderson Luelling (1810-1878) as the man credited with naming the Fruitvale area, but his life story tells a much more enthralling tale. In 1825, Luelling (sometimes spelled Lewelling) moved to Indiana and married his first wife, Jane "Elizabeth" Presnall. Along with their four children, they moved to Iowa in 1837 to co-form the town of Salem with other Quakers. There, Luelling joined the abolition movement, becoming a member of the Underground Railroad. In 1847, Henderson, Elizabeth and their (now) eight children moved west to Oregon. Elizabeth died in 1851 from childbirth complications; a few months later, Henderson married Betsy A. Eddy, but she passed away a couple years later in 1853.

In 1853, Luelling came to Oakland and planted the area’s first apple, pear, and cherry trees — the latter of which were the first to be shipped out East. He married his third wife, Mary Warren, in 1855 and the two lived in a mansion near Dimond Park (the present-day Altenheim Senior Housing area) before selling a great portion of his land to John B. Weller, then-Governor of California.

Luelling later abandoned Mary in 1859 to move to Honduras with two of his sons to join a free love society called The Harmonial Brotherhood. The society eventually failed, causing Luelling to return to Oakland and possibly living under the name "Henry" for a period of time before his death in 1878.