The narrative tells somewhat of the Christian ministry of a noble father, of the writer's career as a public singer and of reminiscences of many associated musicians, efficient factors in the development of music in California to the high place it holds today.

Some mention is made of distinguished divines and men of note in the professions and in business. The part taken by the author in political campaigns and in the activities of the Grand Army of the Republic will appeal to patriots.

Some chapters on the singing voice and its cultivation are the fruitage of a wide experience of many years. A list of pupils for three decades is added.

The illustrations have been at once a labor of love and an extravagance of money cost, but it is believed that the reader will find in that feature alone justification for the publication.

[THE TEXT]

Antecedents and Childhood[1]
Our Trip to California via the Isthmus and Early Days There. First Church Choir in Stockton[13]
Stockton in the Fifties. Benicia Seminary. Genesis of Mills College. Distinguished Pioneers. Marriage[33]
How I Made the First Bear Flag in California[43]
Boston. Dedham Choir, 1858. The Civil War. Musicians. Return to California. Santa Cruz[48]
Music in Santa Cruz in the Sixties. Return to San Francisco. How and Why I Became a Dressmaker. Opera. Music in San Francisco in the Seventies[59]
Lady of Lyons Given for the Fire Engine Fund, Santa Cruz. Flag-Raising at Gilroy Hot Springs. Visalia Concerts[69]
On the Road with Dick Kohler, Mr. Vivian, Walter Campbell, Mr. Wand and Charles Atkins[75]
Early Music and Music Houses. Musical Instrument Makers. Old-Time Singers[83]
As a Church Choir Singer in Cincinnati, Stockton, Benicia, Dedham, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, San Bernardino and Oakland. Rev. Starr King, Howard Dow, Henry Clay Barnabee, Carl Zerrahn, J.C.D. Parker, Carlotta and Adelina Patti, Jenny Lind, Joe Maguire, Georgiana Leach, Sam Mayer, Harry Gates[92]
Golden Jubilee of Song Service, June 12, 1896[108]
Camilla Urso's Festival, 1873. Madame Anna Bishop, The Loring Club, Alfred Wilkie, Frank Gilder, D.P. Hughes, Ben Clark[112]
St. Patrick's, St. Mary's, St. Ignatius' Cathedrals. Episcopal and Jewish Music. J.H. Dohrmann. The Bianchis[123]
Great Musical Festival in Aid of the Mercantile Library, 1878. At Gilroy Springs[130]
Authors' Carnival, 1880, President Hayes and General Sherman Present[137]
Vacation Episodes at Deer Park, July 4, 1893[145]
In Oakland. Sad Accident. With Brush and Easel. Kind Friends[152]
Party at Dr. J.M. Shannon's Home in 1907[157]
Lee Tung Foo[161]
What I Know of the Voice and of Teaching[167]
Tremolo[172]
More About the Voice[179]
Political Campaigning. Work as a Patriot on National Holidays and with the Grand Army of the Republic. Flag Raising at Monterey[183]
Repertoire and Other Data. Distinguished Musicians and Singers of the Last Century[203]
Reminiscences of Early California Musicians and Singers[216]
Reminiscences of Later California Musicians and Singers[227]
With My Pupils[248]
A List of My Pupils[262]

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

Mrs. Margaret Blake-Alverson, 1912 [faces Title]
Heirloom Jewel [faces page 4]
Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Henry Kroh and Family, Stockton, 1852 [faces page 12]
Coat-of-Arms of the Blake Family [faces page 16]
Steamer "American Eagle," Sacramento River, 1852. Home of Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Henry Kroh, Stockton, 1853 [faces page 20]
First Presbyterian Church, Stockton, Built in 1849, the First Protestant Church in California [page 25]
Pioneer Home of Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Henry Kroh, Stockton, 1851 [page 26]
Associated Musicians and Singers, 1853 to 1879: Richard Condy, Mr. Schnable, Lizzie Fisher, Ellen Lloyd, Mary Jane Lloyd, Mrs. Anna Bowden Shattuck, Judge H.B. Underhill, Carrie Heinemann, Mrs. Taylor [faces page 28]
Business Men of Stockton, 1852: Austin Sperry, James Harrold, Wm. H. Knight, Geo. Henry Sanderson [faces page 32]
Reminiscent of Benicia in the Early Fifties: Benicia Young Ladies' Seminary, 1852; Benicia Courthouse, 1853; Prof. Jos. Trenkle, Prof. Schumacher, Prof. Beutler, Prof. Paul Pioda [faces page 36]
Masonic Sheepskin, London, England, 1811. Capt. Chas. Blake [faces page 38]
Major-General Benj. Lincoln, of the War of the Revolution [page 39]
Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. Mary Kroh-Trembly, Pioneer Organist, Stockton, 1852 [page 42]
First Graduating Class, Young Ladies' Seminary, Benicia, Founded 1852: Mary E. Woodbridge, Mary Ridell, Mary Hook, Mary E. Walsh; Principal, Mary Atkins; Teachers, Sallie Knox, Kate Sherman; Pupils, Mary O'Neill, Agnes Bell [faces page 44]
First California Bear Flag, Made by Mrs. Blake-Alverson in Stockton, 1852 [page 45]
Dedham, Mass., Church Choir, 1861, Men Singers [faces page 48]
Dedham, Mass., Church Choir, 1861, Women Singers [faces page 52]
Typical Concert Programme of the Early Sixties in San Francisco. Oratorio of Samson [page 56]
Santa Cruz Choir, 1867: F.A. Anthony, Belle Peterson, Chas. A. Metti [faces page 60]
Church of the Advent, San Francisco, 1880. Roman Catholic Church, San Bernardino, 1888. Calvary Episcopal Church, Santa Cruz, 1864. Pilgrim Congregational Church, Oakland, 1893 [faces page 64]
Associated Musicians and Singers of the Seventies and to Date: Sam'l D. Mayer, Mrs. Alfred Abbey, "Joe" Maguire, Frank Gilder, Walter C. Campbell, Mrs. Augusta Lowell-Garthwaite, H.S. Stedman, Mrs. Mollie Melvin-Dewing [faces page 68]
Ministers with Whom Mrs. Blake-Alverson Has Been Associated: Rev. Dr. J.K. McLean, Rev. P.Y. Cool, Rev. V.M. Law, Rev. "Father" Akerly, Rev. Giles A. Easton [faces page 76]
Wm. H. Keith, Baritone, Pupil of Mrs. Blake-Alverson, 1881 [faces page 80]
Music House of Kohler & Chase, 1851 and 1910. Andrew Kohler, Quincy A. Chase, S.J. Bruce [faces page 84]
Heads of Pioneer Music Houses, San Francisco: William G. Badger, Matthias Gray, Julius R. Weber, C.H. McCurrie [faces page 86]
Music House of Sherman, Clay & Co. C.C. Clay, Leander S. Sherman [faces page 90]
First Church Choir in California, Stockton, 1852: Margaret R. Kroh, Sarah R. Kroh, Emma J. Kroh, Ann L. Kroh, Mary M. Kroh, Sir Geo. Henry Blake, James Holmes, Wm. W. Trembly, Wm. H. Knight [faces page 92]
Henry Clay Barnabee, Opera Singer, Associate of Mrs. Blake-Alverson in Boston, Mass., in 1861 [faces page 96]
Organists of the Early Years in San Francisco: Richard T. Yarndley, Gustav A. Scott, Chas. H. Schultz, Frederick Katzenbach [faces page 100]
Floral Tributes Presented Mrs. Blake-Alverson on Her Fiftieth Anniversary of Song Service, June 12, 1896 [faces page 108]
Pen Sketch of Mrs. Blake-Alverson, Made by Richard Partington. Sixtieth Birthday, June 12, 1896 [page 111]
Mrs. Blake-Alverson on Her Fiftieth Anniversary as a Public Singer, Sixty Years of Age, Oakland, June 12, 1896 [faces page 112]
Mme. Anna Bishop, Prima Donna, Teacher and Associate of Mrs. Blake-Alverson [page 115]
Associated Musicians, 1860-1913: Hugo Mansfeldt, Sir Henry Heyman, J.H. Dohrmann, Alfred Wilkie [faces page 116]
Original Members Loring Club, San Francisco, 1873. French Horn Quartette, San Francisco, 1895: Geo. Fletcher, Wm. E. Blake, Nathaniel Page, Geo. Story [faces page 118]
Organ St. Patrick's Church, San Francisco, 1875. J.H. Dohrmann, Organist and Choir Director [faces page 124]
Eminent Divines for Whom Mrs. Blake-Alverson has sung: Rev. Dr. A.M. Anderson, Stockton, 1852; Rev. Dr. Eells, Rev. Dr. Scudder, Rev. Dr. A.L. Stone, the Right Rev. Ingraham Kip, Rev. John Hemphill, Rev. Dr. H.D. Lathrop [faces page 128]
Musical Directors, May Festival, San Francisco, 1878: John P. Morgan, Carl Zerrahn, Rudolf Herold [faces page 132]
Bouquet of Artists, May Festival, San Francisco, 1878 [faces page 134]
Authors' Carnival, San Francisco, 1880: Mrs. Blake-Alverson as Charity Pecksniff; H.G. Sturtevant as Pecksniff; Alice Van Winkle as Mercy Pecksniff; Dolly Sroufe, Italian Booth; Henry Van Winkle, Cervantes Booth [faces page 140]
Mme. Bowers, Etelka Gerster, Julie Rivé-King, Associates and Friends of Mrs. Blake-Alverson [faces page 144]
Deer Park Cabin, Lake Tahoe, Dedicated July 4, 1893. Col. Richard Parnell, Sole Survivor of the Battle of Balaklava [faces page 148]
Mrs. Blake-Alverson in 1852, 1864, 1874, 1880, 1905 [faces page 156]
A Group of Friends, Distinguished Singers in the Seventies and Eighties: Mrs. Margaret C. Pierce, Mrs. Sarah Watkins-Little, Mrs. Blake-Alverson, Mrs. Helen Wetherbee, Mrs. Marriner-Campbell [faces page 160]
Lee Tung Foo, Pupil in the Nineties [faces pages 164] and [166]
Mrs. Blake-Alverson and Her Two Sons, Wm. Ellery Blake, George Lincoln Blake [faces page 172]
Associated Musicians and Singers, 1854-1900: Frederick Zech, Henry Wetherbee, Adolph Klose, S. Arrillaga, William P. Melvin, John W. Metcalf, Wm. M'F. Greer [faces page 176]
Trophies and Tributes Presented Mrs. Blake-Alverson [faces page 180]
"Sam" Booth, Popular Political Poet and Campaign Singer in San Francisco in the Seventies [page 184]
Mechanics' Institute Fair, 1879. Mrs. Blake-Alverson in Costume [faces page 188]
Civil War Mailing Envelopes, 1861. Co. K, Seventh California Volunteers, Capt O.P. Sloat, from San Bernardino, 1898. [faces page 192]
Stephen W. Leach, Musical Director, Buffo Singer, Actor in San Francisco in the Seventies and Eighties [faces page 228]
Joran Quartette, 1883: Lulu, Pauline and Elsie Joran and Mrs. Blake-Alverson [faces page 246]