Tait, James A.

James A. [Alexander] Tait (1828-1899) was, according to Chase [and indexer Stevens], "a saddlemaker who later entered the plumbing and hardware business". Born in Ireland, he may have lived in an 1870/71 house that still stands on California Street.

• The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023), Chapter Nine, entry (11), page 236.
• Riptide CPL9 states that he came to CA as one of Stevenson's volunteers, and worked with Hihn to develop a water system. Tait's Mexican-American War service in the New York Volunteers regiment is documented in "The First regiment of New York volunteers, commanded by Col. Jonathan D. Stevenson, in the Mexican war", an 1882 book viewable online at Internet Archive.

James was a Soc. of Pioneers member, along with sons Joseph, Robert, and William (also a NY Volunteer). Robert became head of the Santa Cruz Water Dept. and Fire Dept.