The story behind the Fraser house,
The Fraser House is a rare example of a modest home built after the height of Gold Rush activity in Columbia. Looking abandoned, this — originally and current — one-story house was built by Daniel Fraser for his growing family in the 1860s.
Originally from Nova Scotia, Fraser moved to Maine in 1851 and from there traveled via steamer Ariel to Panama, then via steamer Golden Age to San Francisco with his wife, Rebecca, before settling in Columbia in 1860.
Although this was a time when Columbia was losing population due to the increasingly harder to find gold and water problems, Fraser became a miner for a few short months before he was appointed agent for the New England Water Co. He later became the manager of the company. This water company supplied water to Columbia for household use, sprinkling the streets and eventually keeping the fire-fighting cisterns filled.
Very active in civic affairs, Fraser was an active member of the school Board of Trustees and for many years a foreman of Tuolumne Engine Co. No. 1. He was elected Town Trustee in 1874 and was also active in the Tuolumne Reunion Association, which held annual picnics for former Tuolumne residents who had moved to the Bay Area.
In 1879, with a growing family of what would become seven children, Fraser added a second story to his home. Of those seven children, two boys died during a diptheria epidemic in 1887 and a daughter died of scarlet fever in 1871. Only two of the surviving children married. Daughter Jesse became the mother of Alice Peterson Dasher.
Fraser died in 1884, leaving his wife and six children. As his obituary stated: By this act of unselfish love he was a charter member of the American Legion of Honor (a social insurance company), he left his family a benefit of $1,000 and also a policy of $2,000 in the Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co. He had an untarnished reputation and was known for his excellent leadership skills and strong work ethic.
According to his granddaughter, Alice Dasher, “Out back, my grandfather had a horse and we kept a cow and chickens. And my grandmother’s roses.” Alice was the last descendent of the Frasers to live in the house.
The room used as a living room still has wainscoting, a high ceiling, double-hung sash windows, and finished tongue-and-groove paneling for the ceiling. At the back of the building, the enclosed stairway giving access to the second floor still remains.