LLEN COUNTY PUBLIC I
3 1833 01103 6479
5ENEAL0GY
1979.401
IM52C
HISTORY OF
Mendocino and Lake
Counties
CALIFORNIA
WITH
Biographical S/^etches
OF
The Leading Men and Women of the Counties who have
been Identified with their G?vivth and
Development from the Early
Days to the Present
HISTORY BY
AuRELius O. Carpenter and Percy H. Millberry
ILLUSTRATED
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME
HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1914
1714326
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
Organization and Legislative History of Mendocino County 17
Topography of the county — Assessed valuation — Soil — Spanish grants —
Boundary settlements — First county officers elected — Division into super-
visorial districts — Bonds issued for purchase of bridges — Appropriations for
support of institutions — Resources — Rain abundant — Crops plentiful — Early
real estate transactions — State and county officers.
CHAPTER II.
Anderson Township 37
Comprises the watershed of Navarro river — Area — Climate and products —
Early settlement — Township heavily timbered — Sawmills — Access to town-
ship — Yorkville, Boonville, Philo, Hermitage — Lodges — Notable citizens of
former days.
CHAPTER III.
Arena Township 41
Location and area — Products — Timber outlook — Point Arena the chief town
— Early settlement — Gualala, Bourne's Landing, Fish Rock, Manchester,
Bridgeport — First mill in the township — Other mills — Secret societies —
Building of the lighthouse — Newspapers — Chronology.
CHAPTER IV.
Big River Township 50
Township boundaries — Rivers and streams — Early settlement — Mendocino
the chief town — Business houses and newspapers — Secret societies — The
liarbor — Salmon Creek, Albion, Little River and Caspar — Chronology.
CHAPTER V.
Ten JIile Township _ 61
Township heavily timbered — One of the longest beaches in the county —
Story of township centers around Fort Bragg — Early history and settle-
ment of the township — Business enterprises — Chronology — Cleone, New-
port and Glen Blair — Banks — Secret societies.
CHAPTER VI.
Ukiah Township ^ . 69
Lies in valley of Russian River — Soil and climate — Products — Early settle-
ment — First deed placed on record — Newspapers — First store and first
church — Ukiah incorporated — Banks — Chronology — Mendocino State Hos-
pital for the Insane — Watering places and liealth resorts — County farm —
Fraternal orders.
CHAPTER Vll,
Potter Valley Township 83
Location and general characteristics — Incorporation of Potter Vallej- —
First settlers in the valley — Early happenings — Snow Mountain Water and
Power Company — Soil and Products — Fraternal orders.
V i CONTENTS
CHAPTER VIII.
Sanel Township 88
Lies on tributaries of Russian River — Soil and Climate — To%vnship formerly
covered by grant — Hermitage and Hopland — Railroad facilities.
CHAPTER IX.
Round Valley Township 92
Takes its name from the valley — Early settlement — First sawmill — Nome
culture station — Covelo — Lodges — Features of interest outside of valley
proper.
CHAPTER X.
Long Valley Township 99
Boundaries and shape — First settlers — Cahto and Laj'tonville — A bear
story — Mud Springs.
CHAPTER XI.
Cupfet's Cove Township 103
Origin of name — Navarro River and other streams — Greenwood — The L. E.
White lumber interests — Beneficial societies — Navarro.
CHAPTER XII.
Little Lake Township 108
Area of township — Early settlers — Town started on the Baechtel Ranch —
Sawmills in the township — Willits — Secret societies — Willits visited by
fire — Chronolog}-.
CHAPTER XIII.
Westport Township 116
Nature of soil and climate — Beginnings of the town of Westport — Milling
interests — Game abundant.
CHAPTER XIV.
Eakly History of Lake County 120
This county often referred to as Switzerland of America — Topographical
features — Early Lidian inhabitants — Legend of Konocti — Mexican land
grants.
CHAPTER XV.
First White Settlers in Lake County 124
Salvador Vallejo first settler— .Adventurous career of Stone and Kelsey— .\
night attack upon the Indians — The massacre of Stone and Kelsey — Govern-
ment punishes tlie Indians— First permanent settlement — Establishment of
government.
CHAPTER XVL
Org.vnization op the County 131
Act defining boundaries and providing for organization of county — Peregri-
nation of the county seat — Lower Lake Township— Destruction of Cache
Creek dam — Vigilance committee seize officers and tear out dam — Water
company sues the county.
CONTENTS V 1 i
CHAPTER XVII.
Lakeport and Other Towns 137
First store in Lakeport — Clear Lake College instituted — Clear Lake Union
High School — Banks — Newspapers — Lakeport incorporated in 1888 —
Kelseyville — Upper Lake — Bean canning — Middletown.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Some op the Resources of Lake County 143
The Sulphur Banks Quicksilver mine — Mineral springs — Roads — Fruit
growing — Clear Lake water utilization — The Central Counties Land Com-
pany bubble — The Yolo Water and Power Company operations — County
development — Railroad projects.
CHAPTER XIX.
Officials, Schools, Churches and Fraternities 151
Officials who have served Lake County since its organization — History of
schools in the county — Methodist Episcopal the pioneer ctiurch — Odd
Fellow and Masonic organizations.
INDEX
A
Abramson, John 882
Adamson, Edward F 582
Adamson, John M 416
Akins, Augustus M 181
Albonico, Lorenzo 900
Aldrich, Charles A 746
Allen, W. Ivy 266
Alley, Samuel H 1010
Allison, Lorence E 201
Anderson, George P 736
Anderson, Hans 347
Anderson, Rush M 929
Andreani, James 669
Anker, Neil 340
Annette, James W 511
Armstrong, Louis 516
Armstrong, William J 403
Aulin, Frank F 811
B
Babcock, Lyman W 259
Baechtel. Gordon 440
Baechtel, Luther S 849
Baechtel, Samuel S 936
Baker. .Martin V 329
Balderston, Thomas D 365
Balfour, William C 956
Ball. Dreeme L 842
Bank of Willits 839
Banks, John R 749
Barnard. Leonard 262
Barnes, Thomas L 540
Bartlett, Nathan 688
Baylis, Percy C 250
Beggs, Thomas H 924
Behr, Capt. John 1007
Belio & AUue 989
Berkowitz, Harman 915
Bernhard, Clarence A 477
Berrettini. Pietro 902
Berry, John E 985
Berryhill. Joseph T 308
Biaggi, Bartholomew 675
Biggar, George M 930
Biggar, William J 942
Biggerstaff, Mrs. Harriet C 298
Biggerstaff. William J 791
Bingham. Charles W 701
Bishop, Howard 81.S
Bittenbender. Stephen K 852
Blosser, Daniel J 655
Blosser. Jacob 587
Blosser, John A 654
Blosser, J. Tobias 640
Blue Lake School District 881
Roardman, Wilfred L 824
Boggs. James W 964
Lilburn H 345
s, Hon. Lilburn W 314
Boggs, William F 633
Bond, John T 351
Bonham, John W 893
Bonham, Richard D 994
Boone, Peter T 285
Bourns, Richard 848
Bourns, Richard T 848
Boyd, George A 1012
Boyle, Thomas E 409
Bradford, Christopher W 410
Brandon, David 833
Branscomb, Benjamin F 1022
Branscomb, Charles W 665
Brennan, Rev. Sebastian 886
Brett, James 993
Brien, John :... 612
Briggs, Moses C 270
Briggs, Ulysses N 579
Broback, Clarence W 748
Broback, Fernando W....;. 591
Brookes, Samuel E 627
Brower, John D 621
Brower, Joseph T 687
Brown, Edward E : 342
Brown, Lloyd W 892
Brubeck, P. W 1014
Brundige, Joseph A 382
Brush, Dennie A 927
Bruton, Josiah J 775
Bruton. W. W. P 586
Bryant, E. E 941
Bucknell, Charles M 371
Burbeck, Charles L 958
Burke, Isaac C 684
Burke, James H 339
Burriss, Lewis C 895
Burton, Mrs. Sarah E. F... 963
Busch, John G 962
Byrnes, Ralph R 300
C
Cameron, George A 396
Cameron, William A 944
Camp, Frederick H., D. D. S 452
Carothers, Thomas L 184
Carpenter, A. 1 652
Carpenter, Mrs. Helen M 653
Gary, Earl J 671
Gary, George E 563
Gary, Louis H 671
Chambers, Alfred J 889
Christy, John H 861
Church. Joseph M 361
Churchill, Heber B 573
Cittoni, Clemente 691
Clark, Byron ; 195
Clarke, Joseph H 1019
Clayton, William J 636
Clear Lake Railroad Company 968
Cochard, Oscar 643
Cocking, Nicholas 710
Commercial Bank of Ukiah 400
Connolly, P 842
Coombs, Silas •. 1035
Coombs, Silas W : 559
Coombs, William B 1029
Cotton, Joel S 733
Cowen, John W 906
Cox. Dabney L 505
Cox, Thomas W 1001
Crawford, John 950
Crawford, Wayne L 952
Cruickshank, George 534
Cummings, Frank A 1025
Curley, Charles M 547
Curtis, Carleton A 490
D
Dahl, Charles E 966
Daily, George L 782
Daniels. George A 1013
Dartt, Robert J 910
Davidson, Allen 869
Davidson, Allen 945
Davidson, William C 445
Del Grosso, Amadeo 901
Denison, James H 227
Dennis, Amos 569
Devereux, John 907
Devilbiss, George A 548
Dewell, Benjamin 809
Dewell, Mrs. Celia H 681
Dewell, Samuel M 810
Dickie, Walter B 400
Dill. John M 1017
Dilling, Andrew Albert 446
Dilling, Joseph H 1021
Dixon. William H 951
Dodge. William K 506
Donnelley, William F 840
Donohoe, Jeremiah H 796
Donohoe, Robert E 796
Donohue. Michael 692
Dooley, Elijah 492
Dooley, Franklin W 788
Dowd, John E 649
Drewry, Irvin H 495
Drewry. John P 495
Drewry, Sarah E 495
Dryden, Robert J 3.^3
Duffield. Jesse C 661
Dunbar. Walter S 853
Duncan. Frank .364
Duncan, George W 735
Duncan, Ralph T 245
Duncan, Sa'Tiuel 246
Duncan, William 368
Dunlap. James L 1032
Dutcher, Ida 694
E
Ebbinghausen, Frank 702
Ebbinghausen, Henry F 702
Edmands, William 166
Edwards, James 979
Elliott. William B 683
Ells, George H 464
Enderlin, Ernest 200
English, Daniel P 451
English, Wylie 676
Exley, Mrs. Rosa D 222
F
Farmers Savings Bank. Lakeport 288
Farnsworth, Silas B 441
Favreliere, E 539
Fee, George H 996
Fifield, George W 260
Finne, Louis 838
First National Bank, Fort Bragg 799
Fitch, Ernest E 990
Flowers, Prof. Chester D 265
Ford. James A 662
Ford, William 294
Ford, William K 981
Forse, William H 412
Foster, A. W 863
Foster, R. N 863
F;oster, W. A. S 839
Foushee, Edwin C 697
Foye, Henry M 518
Franklin, David, ^L D 325
P'raser, John K 317
Eraser, Lyon 388
Frazer, James 778
French, James A 988
Fuller, W^illiam F 704
G -
Galletti, Charles 927
Gamberg, August 922
Gambrel, Edward 193
Garner, Fred W 931
Garner, John F 608
Garner. John R 252
Garner, Leland J 574
Caspar, Manuel 901
Gavin, John 953
Gibbs, George H 956
Gibson, Edwin 431
Gibson, John R 829
Goforth, Frank M 908
Goforth, George W 910
Golden. George 613
Goldsmith, William C 188
Good, Prof. Roy 797
Goodwin, Charles 790
Gordon, George R 405
Gowan, Ernest .-X 874
Graham, Nathan 532
Graham. Willis N _ 770
Granholm, John 1 976
Grant. George W 656
Gravier, Edward A 790
Green. Arthur W 467
Greenough. Ralph C 628
Gregory, Lester C, M. D 841
Grindle, Joshua 911
Grist. John W 987
Grothe Brothers ;1043
Gruwell. Will W 894
Guenza, John _ 550
Gummerus. lohn F 900
Gunn, James A 281
H
Hall, Frank K 926
Hall, Parker L 828
Halliday, Joseph C 224
Ham, John T 946
Hamer, George L 759
Hammond, Col. Charles M 160
Handv. Fred C 291
Handy, Percy W 806
Handy, Philo 806
Hanen, William 789
Hansen, Chris 390
Hansen, Hans P 63S
Hansen, Henry 719
Hanson, John E 922
Hanson, Rufus T 914
Harden, P. 975
Hargrave, Charles M 617
Hargrave, Walter 570
Harrington, Harry 798
Harris, James A 276
Harris, Joseph W 800
Haskett, Guy 372
Haskett, Mrs. Miranda B 540
Haun, Andrew 1027
Haydon, Mrs. Eugenia 988
Haydon, Hiram B 875
Heckendorf, Henry D 859
Heeser, William 850
Helm. Mrs. A. M 727
Hemenway, Charles L 670
Hendricks, Greenbury 470
Hendricks, John B 470
Hendricks, LaFayette 207
Herrick, Hamlin W 458
Herrick, Silas B 459
Hewlett, George 1033
Heyward, George T 174
Heyward, Jesse 442
Hildreth, William J 744
Himmehvright, Edwin Y 528
Hoberg, Gustav 595
Hoberg, Max G 595
Hoberg. Mrs. Mathilda 595
Hoffman, John P 320
Hogshead, John S., M. D 601
Holbrook, Eugene E 307
Holzhauser, L. J 747
Hopland Stock Farm 863
Hopper, Laurance C 858
Howard, Peter M 378
Howe, Newton P 729
Hudson, Taliaferro F 738
Huggins, Eri 804
Hunter, William C 871
Hurt, Andrew J •. 484
Hurt, Charles H 178
Hutsell, Robert T 730
Hyvari & Karjamaki 903
I
Incerti, Romeo 907
Ingram, Daniel C 677
Irvine. Charles A 666
Irwin, Hettie 303
Iversen. M. H 373
J
Jago, Louis 995
Jefferson, Alexander 428
Johnson, David T 199
Johnson, Hans C 525
Johnson, John C 4-S7
Johnson, Matthew 939
Jones, Alpheus Z 249
Jones, Eli V 872
Jones, Herbert M 885
Jones, John W 728
Jones, P. C 629
K
Kaarto, Rev. Otto 982
Keeling, Herbert V 377
Keithly, Jacob A 1000
Kelley, James W 967
Kelly, William H 846
Kennedy, Albert H 222
Kennedy, Alexander W 221
Kennedy, Hiram 218
Kennedy, Thomas 1016
Kent, Nathaniel W 217
Kerr, James M 346
Kesey, James A 1009
Kiblinger, George W 1030
Kimball. John S 754
Knight, Charles L 965
Kuhn, Charles 1013
L
Lake County Title & Abstract Co 982
Lakeport Public Library 694
Lamb, Mrs. Elizabeth A 882
LaMotte, Harry D 918
Langermann, Fred 356
Langland. Mrs. Clora 255
Lappinen. Andrew 966
Larsen, Carl L 870
Lendrum, Birney A., M. D 1002
LeValley, Don Z 906
Lewis, George C 304
Lewis, William 959
Liftchild, Judson, M. D 384
Lind, John 447
Lindstrom, John H 971
Little, Henry W 721
"Lobree, Philip 582
Long, Edward H 214
Loring, Fred N 581
Lovell, Henry S 818
Lowell, A. J 1024
Lundquist, Amelia 1005
Lundquist, Levi 1003
Lynch. Martin L 821
Lyon, George A 825
M
MacKerricher. Duncan 499
McAbee, Samuel T 867
McCabe, William B 938
McCarty, Eugene G 868
McCowen, Hale 171
McCracken. Joseph L 873
McDonald. Alexander C 432
INDEX
^IcDonald, A. W 908
McElroy, Harry L 765
McFauI, Charles A 544
McGee, Hugh P 954
McGlashan, John 193
Mclntire, Charles S12
Mclntire, David F 515
Mclntire. Murdock 51-
McKinley, Charles 622
McKinley, George E 489
McKinley, Sidney H 486
McKinney, Harold H 812
McPeak, Eugene 324
^IcSpadden, James 357
Malpas, Lathrop, M. D 355
jMannon, James M 243
IManzini, A, & Co 876
Markkula, Matt 183
Marshall, Robert E 1027
Alartella, Pietro 234
Martin, Stephen B T^^
Martinazzi, Martin 877
Mason, James D 575
JNIathews, Charles W 313
Mathews, Charles W 405
Mathews, Shafter 238
Mathison, Charles J 1017
Mattern, Herman §69
May, Charles F 553
Meddaugh, Oscar E 362
Mendenhall, Adolphus 272
Mendenhall, Joseph 823
Mendocino State Hospital 172
Mero. Charles W 915
Middleton, Granville A 510
Millar, David 947
Millberry, Percy H 699
Miller, Curtis A 483
INIiller, Fritz F 720
Miller, G. Milton 743
Milliken, Horace F 211
Mills, Mrs. Lucinda M 387
Montague, Henry W 992
Montgomery, J. A 740
Moore & Bacon ; 707
Alorgan, Lauriston A 835
Morrell, Albert F 933
Morris, William 602
^lorris, W. R 196
Morrison, Frederick L 533
Morrison, George E 708
^Morrison, Samuel L 708
Morrison, William S 883
Jilorton, John J 834
I\losier, Francis L 991
Moulton, Arthur F 1042
Muir, Henry B 659
Mulson, Henry 522
N
Neal, George H 229
Nelson, Gust 414
Nelson, J. A 832
Newman, John G 630
Nichalson, William J 693
Noel. Mrs. Alonzo E 983
Noel. Frank W 176
Nonella, Peter y^"
Norton, Frank J 891
Nott, J. Ridley. ^I. D 949
O'Neal, Philip 944
Olson, A. B |e7
Olson, Mrs. A. B »»»
Ordway, Ed 10|1
Ordway, Ira ^1
Ornbaun, William F »»"
Orr, Samuel 'S^^
Orr, Samuel M 76U
Osborn, George K., M. D 439
Overholser, John 9''*
P
Packwood, John 1 468
Packwood, Samuel T o*^
Parker, Thomas 1""^
Parr, Eugene ^^°
Parrott, Benjamin R j}Jl
Paulson, Christ ^^^
Pedretti, Charles ^ »9y
Peirsol. Frank C, M. D 980
Pemberton, Bennett 1»^:1
Pemberton, James E iu^^
Percy, Edwin H., Jr ^^'
Persico, Francisco °^^
Peterson, Lorenzo S ^^
Pettis, John A ^^°
Phelps, Warren H "Jy
Phillips, Charles W 38«
Phillips, Walter L ««1
Phillips, W. S 460
Pickle, John W ^V
Pinches. Samuel ^^JP
Finer, Mrs. Sarah S 902
Pitner. Oron B ^ff
Poage, William G 411
Polk, Robert T »43
Porter, Edward ^}¥-
Potter, Elijah R 366
Potter, William -'1
Prather. Hale -r:!^
' Preston, Howard P '^^
Preston, John W -f'
Preston, Russell W.. AI. D 559
Puett, William L '^}^
Pullen, James %')/
Pullen, Wilder S 764
Purcell George E .^ «&-
Purlenky, George P.. M. D. 624
Pyhaluoto. Seth A. & Erick S ws
Q
Quarteroni, Giovanni 941
R
Rannells, Warren B 912
Rantala, August 90S
Rantz. William D 771
Raudio. Charles 921
Rawles, Alexander N 785
Rea. Joseph N 937
Read, Joseph L .". 419
Redemeyer, J. A 753
Redwine, George R '. 381
Reed, Cyrus W 473
Reid, Capt. James M 713
Reynolds, Charles 485
Rice, Samuel H 413
Richards, Robert L., M. D 172
Richardson, George W 943
Riffe, Clyde A 531
Robinson, Jesse B., Sr 819
Robinson, Jesse B 821
Robinson, John L 820
Rocca, Andrew 422
Rodgers, Terence 978
Rogers, James B 501
Rohrbough, John S 205
Rose, Eugene W 808
Ross, Rev. John S 230
Ross, John S 326
Ross, William H 233
Rossotti, Dominico 924
Rowe, Thomas F 650
Ruddick. Lewis M 991
Ruddick, William 816
Rupe, John M 977
Rushing, Joel W 896
Russell, Archie M 856
Russell. Sullivan S 854
S
St. Mary's Catholic Church 886
Sailor, Edward P 814
Sailor, LaFayette 830
Samuelson, Allen 292
Sandahl. August 1014
Sandelin. Frank 566
Sanford, John B 175
Sartori, Augustus 750
Sawyers, David L 309
Sayre, Burt G 707
Sayre, Morton S 165
Schaffer, Charles C 678
Scott, Alonzo D 521
Scott. Edwin S 1018
Scudamore, Dick 903
Scudamore, Godwin 955
Seaholm, Otto H : 807
Seman, Emil 1012
Seymour, Wright 453
Shafsky, Abraham H 960
Shafsky, Samuel 961
Shattuck, Dickson S 614
Shau!, Aaron B 394
Shaul, Benjamin F 563
Shelton, James K. P 434
Sherwood, Oscar W., M. D 932
Shirley, John E 527
Shoemaker, John W , 866
Short, James G 1038
Simonson, Ole 374
Simonson, Zacharias 500
Singley, John E 787
Sleeper, D. 579
Sleeper, Ellery D 479
Sleeper, Jerome M 478
Sleeper, Van Buren 480
Smart, George A 826
Smith, Andrew 390
Smith, D. Clair 1023
Smith, Howard B : -' 278
Smith, John P 930
Smith, Peter C ; ..:;.. 925
Smith, Tracy H., M. D 565
Smith, William H 206
Snickers, Edward 1 1036
Snow, John .,..-1 ;. 756
Snow, :\Iatthew M 508
Snow, William F :..., 957
Spurlock, Thomas F , 763
Squires. George E 580
Staheli, John J .-. : 837
Standley, William M 543
Stanley, A. Mortimer 190
Starkey, William H 461
Stewart, George F 925
Stokes, Frederick G 269
Stone, Solomon C 786
Stornetta. Antonio 560
Stout, George W., M. D 168
Stubbs, John L 1039
Swanson, Gustav H 989
Swensen, Peter 452
T
Tallman, George T 890
Taylor, Porter H 827
Terwilliger. Newton C 1044
Thatcher. William W 367
Thomas. William P 399
Thompson, Ira 948
Thurman. Henry 537
Tocher, Robert 597
Toepfer, Rev. Philemon 698
Toney, Mrs. Amanda McCabe 928
Turner, Cyrus G 187
Turner, Thomas G 769
U
Ukiah Times 863
Upp, George W S65
Upp, Philip 865
Upton, William E.. M. D 794
V
Valenti. Gaudenzio 251
Van Allen. L. K., M. D 739
Van Allen, William 739
Van Damme, John 415
Van Nader, Henry H 772
Vassar, Michael 1016
Vincent, Mrs. Nancy M 448
Voss, George H 507
w
Walker, Carolus M 618
Wallace, William L 363
Walter, Simon W 986
Wambold, Henry V 935
Wambold, Milton 923
Ward, Charles M 395
Weigand, William 293
Weldon, Hon. Thomas J 803
Weller, J. E 341
Wells, E. H 884
Wemple, Laurence A 1031
West, Wells W 860
Whipple, Frank A 297
White, Chester 845
White, James N 1040
White, Judge John Q 159
White, William 984
Whited, Charles 348
Whited, LeRoy 406
Wilcox, George L 904
Wildgrube, Henry L 239
Williams, Ernest L 268
Williams, James H 495
Williams, Lee J 1028
Williamson, William 836
Willits Steam Laundry 989
Windlinx, Frederick 588
Witherspoon, Henry E 333
Woelffel, George A., M. D 878
Wooldridge. Josiah E 463
Y
Yeary, George 427
Young, Charles M 286
Young. Swan W 357
HISTORICAL
CHAPTER I
Organization and Legislative History of Mendocino County
Mendocino county is an integral part of the State of California which
was created out of territory ceded to the United States by Mexico in 1848,
as a penalty of and recompense for the expenses incurred by the United
States in the war between the two countries in 1846-7. At that time the
country comprised therein was little valued by either of the contracting
parties, and the acquisition thereof was belittled and scouted by the opponents
of the war, very much as Seward's acquisition of Alaska has been in later
years So, too, has the value of Mendocino county been underrated in past
years, and only within the last five years has its true value to the nation
received recognition at the hands of capitalists, who are generally the first to
acquire an understanding of the availability of any section of a new country
for purposes of profit from land investments. Mendocino's southern line is
eighty-four miles north of San Francisco, and stretches one hundred miles
along the Pacific coast to Humboldt and Trinity on the north. It contains
sixty townships, by United States survey, nearly one and a half milHon acres.
Only about 80,000 acres of this vast area is in cultivation, the rest being
grazing land, timber, brush, and lake and watercourse. Timber covers nearly
one-third of its area; chemissal one-third, and the open land the remaining
third. Of the brush and timber land a large percentage is fit for man's uses,
growing fruit and cereals when once cleared. The greater part of its
timber area is covered with redwood, tanbark oak, madrona, all evergreens,
reproducing themselves from the roots after having been cut down for man's
uae. The range of mountains north and south through its center divides the
county into two nearly equal sections — the coast and the interior, the first
being mostly timber, the second mostly open land. On the oc'ast is a
number of rivers flowing into the ocean, mainly in a northerly course — the
Gualala, the Garcia, Navarro, Big river, Novo, and Ten-Mile, all considerable
streams about thirty rtiiles long. The interior section covers the watershed
of Russian river on the south, and Eel river on the north, either much larger
and longer than the coast streams. The one southerly branch of Eel river,
where it enters Mendocino, from a short digression into Lake county,
through the winter has a breadth of two hundred and twenty-five feet and
depth of ten feet, and in high water has measured at the same spot, two
hundred and fifty feet wide and twenty-five feet deep, with a velocity of over
five miles an hour. And this is but one of four forks of Eel river in the
county.
The assessed valuation of the county for 1913 was $16,346,314; population
in 1910, 23,929; acres wheat, 12,000; oats, 9,000; barley. 7,500; hay, 30,000;
hops, 2.352; alfalfa, 4,000. There are in the county 15,682 cattle; 5,760 hcgs;
252 mules ; 4,389 horses ; 90,785 sheep ; 4,279 goats ; 35,000 poultry. Of fruit
trees there are 98,000 apple; 56,000 peach ; 50,000 pear; 26,000 prune; 1,400
walnut. .'Knd it is safe to say that all the foregoing figures, except as refers to
18 },[EXDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
assessed value, may be considered twenty per cent, too low. The assessed
value is undoubtedly forty per cent below the real cash value. Land values
have more than doubled in the last two years, and in many sections have
quadrupled.
According to Indian tradition, this county and Humboldt were once one
vast mesa, level and waterless in summer, but the coyote (their representative
of power and energy) caused an upheaval into its now broken state. Winter
rains filled the chasms, w-ashed down the silt, overflowed, and broke out from
one to another, forming lakes and rivers, which former eventually became
the present valleys. Hence the soil in each is determined by the character of
that of the surrounding hills. Some are sandy loam, and some the black
loam approaching the adobe. Either is rich in the qualities which make for
heavy production of cereals or root crops. There is much red soil in the
hills, evidencing volcanic origin, and this is unsurpassed for fruit and vine.
In Ukiah valley, the virgin soil has been known to produce one hundred
and twenty-five bushels of oats per acre, and sixty bushels of wheat. Corn
yields well in the river bottom lands, without irrigation, often not having a
shower of rain upon it from planting to harvest, and hops yield from eighteen
hundred to twenty-two hundred pounds per acre.
The various branches of Eel river afford but meagre bottom lands, the
hills shutting in too precipitously. This is also true of the coast streams,
except the Navarro, which in Anderson broadens out sufficiently to afford
some level cultivating land. Russian river, on the contrary, has a succession
of valleys along its several branches, the principal of which are Walker,
Redwood, Coyote, Potter, Ukiah, and Sanel. Little lake and Long valley
and Round valley are on the extreme headwaters of the South Eel river.
Unlike the greater part of the southern and central parts of the state,
Mendocino was only slightly cursed with Spanish grants, as there were only
three located in the county, and one of these incurred final rejection, and one
of the others was undoubtedly fraudulent, though finally confirmed through
the effect of perjured testimony. The Richardson grant, as it was generally
styled, lying along the immediate ocean bank, was finally rejected, but those
persons who had bought acreage of the claimants, in good faith, and were
occupying and using the same, were permitted to enter, as government land,
such premises as they held at the time of the passage of the enabling act.
This grant covered the country one league wide from Garcia to Bi,e: river, but
was overlapped by the Garcia grant from Mai Paso to the Garcia river, which
never was seriously urged, and was not considered at all by settlers, and, as
far as can be learned, none of it was ever purchased by any of them, while of
the Richardson grant hundreds of acres were purchased in good faith, and
fenced, and much of it cultivated.
The Yokayo grant was made to Cayetano Juarez, May 24, 1845, by Pio
Pico, and duly approved by the Mexican assembly June 3, 1846. His claim
was rejected November 7. 1854, and confirmed on appeal April 17, 1863, and
again confirmed on appeal by the supreme court in December, 1864. It
covered the valley of Russian river from the southern end of Ukiah valley
to the northern end of Redwood valley, from one to two miles wide, and
approximating sixteen miles in length, and containing 35,541 acres. The
name, Yokayo, was as near that of the Indian tribe inhabiting the territory
as white men could pronounce it ; but which was still farther removed from
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 19
the Indian tongue in naming the principal valley and the town therein, as
the present cognomen of Ukiah.
Sanel grant was located on Russian river, in a valley five miles south
of Ukiah valley, and was to be of four leagues of land, provided that much
land could be contained within the boundaries given in the petition asking
for the grant. It was rejected by the land commissioners October 18, 1853,
and their decision reversed by the United States district court, June 14, 1856.
These grants were sold out on advantageous terms to settlers, at from $2.50
per acre to $10 per acre, with a series of years for making payments.
Mendocino was named from the cape of that name on its northern coast
boundary, which cape was discovered by Bartolomeo Ferrolo, chief pilot for
Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo, who took command of the expedition on the death
of Cabrillo. The latter died at the Santa Barbara islands, and Ferrolo sailed
north, discovering and naming the cape February 28, 1543, for the then
viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza. In 1579, Sir Francis Drake,
seeking the Northwest passage, struck the coast at about Cape Blanco, and
sailed south past Cape Mendocino and anchored in Drake's bay on June 17,
1579. The Russian settlement, at Fort Ross, was in Sonoma county, and
beyond the naming of Russian river, seemed to have no connection with or
influence upon Mendocino county.
By treaty of peace and settlement with Mexico, dated at Guadalupe
Hidalgo, February 2, 1848, the boundaries of the ceded territory were defined,
ratified by the president, March 16, 1848, and promulgated July 4, 1848. In
1849, a constitutional convention was assembled in Monterey, and on the
close of the session, October 12, a proclamation was published calling upon
the citizens of the proposed state to form a government, and elect officers,
ratify the constitution, and assume the responsibilities of self-government.
This document was signed by B. Riley, brevet brigadier-general United
States of America, as governor, and H. W. Hallock, brevet captain and
secretary of state.
In accordance with the provisions of the constitution, at the first session
of the legislature, in San Jose, on the 15th of December, 1849, "an act
subdividing the state into counties and establishing courts," the boundaries
of Mendocino county were given as follows : Beginning on the parallel of
forty degrees of north latitude, at a point in the ocean three English miles
from land, and running due east on said parallel to the summit of the Coast
range ; thence in a southerly direction, following the summit of the Coast
range, and past Cache creek, to Putah creek; thence following up said creek
to its sources in the mountains called Mayacmas ; thence along the summit
of said mountains to the head of Russian river : thence down the middle of
said river to its mouth, and three English miles into the ocean ; thence in a
northerly direction parallel with the coast to the point of beginning. The
county, for the time, was attached to Sonoma county for judicial purposes.
This would include the old Fort Ross Russian settlement, and the greater
part of what is now Lake county, yet leaving out all that stretch of country
between Russian river and the Mayacmas mountains. The legislators
evidently had little knowledge of the country they were trying to segregate,
as a line from the head of Putah creek to the Mayacmas. thence along the
summit to the head of Russian river, would be as intricate as a spider web.
However, by act of March 11, 1859, the boundaries were changed to read as
20 AIENDOCIxNO AND LAKE COUNTIES
follows: Beginning at a point three miles west of the mouth of the Gualala
stceam, and up the middle of the channel of said stream two miles; thence
in a direct line to the most northern and highest peak or summit of the
Redwood mountains immediately north of Cloverdale and Oat valley; thence
due east to the western boundary of Napa county, on the summit ot the
Mayacmas ridge; thence northerly and easterly along the west and north
boundary of Napa county to the western boundary of Colusa county; thence
northerly along the western boundaries of Colusa and Tehama counties to
a point on the fifth standard north of Mount Diablo meridian; thence along
such standard parallel due west to a point in the Pacific ocean three miles
west of the shore ; thence southerly parallel with the coast to the point of
beginning.
By the same act an election for county officers was ordered for the first
Monday in May, 1859, at which were to be elected county judge, district
attorney, county clerk, auditor, and recorder, treasurer, sheriff, assessor,
coroner, surveyor, and three supervisors and bj' an amendment a superin-
tendent of schools was included in the list of officers. Joseph Knox, F. Nally,
Harry Baechtel, George Brown and Jacob Heiser were appointed com-
missioners to designate such additional voting places as they deemed
necessary, and to appoint inspectors and judges of election at the various
precincts. They were also empowered and directed to receive the returns
and issue certificates of election to the successful candidates and to declare
which place was the legally selected county seat.
The county judge's term of office was fixed at four years, and his annual
salary to be $1,500 per annum. The other county officers terms were fixed
for two years. For judicial purposes, Mendocino county was to remain a part
of the Seventh Judicial district, which court was the court of appeal from
the decisions of the county court. The latter court held sessions alternately
as county court and probate court, as the business seemed to demand; also as
a court of sessions on appeals from justice courts.
Before the passage of this act Sonoma and Mendocino had been assigned
two members of the assembly. Thereafter one of these was to be elected
from each county.
Beverly Mundy of Sonoma county, Jesse Whitton of Napa county and
Upton Gordon of Marin county were appointed commissioners to select two
sites to be voted upon for county seat, but they, failing to act in the matter, the
selection of a county seat became an open fight by ballot, and Ukiah received
the largest vote by reason of the largest population, and ease of access, com-
paratively, from the outside world.
The fiscal afi'airs of the two counties were adjusted by the appointment
of two commissioners, J. R. Short of Mendocino and John Hendley of Sonoma
county, who squared the accounts between the two counties by giving Mendo-
cino the right to collect the delinquent taxes standing against her citizens,
on the payment to Sonoma of $1,157.60, which it is safe to say was more than
Mendocino realized from the $4,647.09 due from delinquents. And, in fact,
it having been made to appear that $1,200 of such supposedly delinquent
taxes had been paid and receipted for, Mendocino did not pay Sonoma any
part of the $1,157.60 adjudged her due.
In 1860, the county was divided into supervisorial districts as follows :
First district: Ukiah, Sanel, Anderson and Navarro precincts. Second dis-
trict: Calpella, Potter Valley, Little Lake, Long Valley, Round Valley and
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 21
Sherwood precincts. Third district : Noyo, Big River, Albion and Garcia
precincts. In April, 1878, by act of the legislature, the county was redistricted
into five supervisorial districts, as follows : First district : Anderson and Sanel
townships. Second district: Calpella and Ukiah townships. Third district,
Little Lake and Round Valley townships. Fourth district: Big River and
Ten-Mile townships. Fifth district : Arena township. These boundaries or
subdivisions still constitute the respective districts, though the townships
have been divided later and increased in number to eleven, as follows: Sanel
and Anderson comprise the first supervisorial district : Ukiah the second ;
Little Lake, Long Valley, and Round Valley the third ; Westport, Ten Mile
and Big River the fourth ; and CuiTey's Cove and Arena the fifth district.
There being, of course, no county buildings, the second story of a rough
board building known as Musical Hall, on Main street, Ukiah, was rented
at $25 per month for the use of the county officers. It was built of rough
boards, set upright, so-called balloon frame, but the best and only place
obtainable, and answered the purpose for the time. August 18, 1859, the
supervisors advertised for sealed proposals for a new court house, and
awarded the contract to E. Rathbun for $6,000. No plans or specifications
are extant, or record of its size, except that it was to be of brick, thirty-five
feet wide, to contain jail accommodations, and be built in the center of the
plaza. The building was completed and accepted January 24. 1860, and
immediately occupied.
On the 3d of Septemlier, 1864, $500 was appropriated to enlarge the jail
quarters, there being more criminality in the new county than was at first
provided for. And, to the end that the jail part might be more secure, Novem-
ber 24, 1866, the supervisors appropriated $500 more for iron cells. It was
months before these latter arrived from the city, on account of the roads
becoming impassable for such heavy freight. Meantime the grand jury
declared the jail "no jail at all, and entirely useless as a place for the detention
cf criminals."
Again in 1871 a move was made for more room for the county offices,
jail, etc. Additions and separate buildings were talked of, but the matter
culminated on December 5th, 1871, and the board of supervisors advertised
for plans and specifications of a much larger court house, $200 being the
maximum price for the same, and the building to cost not over $40,000. A
draft of a bill, authorizing the issuance of bonds to the amount of $40,000,
was presented to the legislature. The bill passed and was signed by the
governor January 18, 1872.
LTpon the plans submitted, the board awarded the contract to A. P.
Pettit. And yet, on March 19, 1872, the board passed an order that "all bids
should be and are rejected." Five days later they again changed their minds,
and, with a slight revision of Pettit's plans, they were approved, and on
April 24 the contract was awarded to A. P. Pettit, the building to be completed
by January 1, 1873. Pettit proved to be an honest contractor, and the
building withstood the earthquake of 1906 with scarcely a crack. As it has
been asserted that one, at least, of the supervisors cashed one of the $500
bonds issued, it may have been that graft permeated the proceedings of that
early day.
At times, special tax levies have been authorized by the legislature, the
first of which was approved April 13, 1859, of thirty-five cents on the hundred
dollars, for county purposes. The first rate of taxation fixed by the board was
22 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
$1.65 on the hundred dollars; and the rate has been as high as $2.25 on the
hundred, but usually under $2.
By act of February 29, 1864, a special election was authorized to fill a
vacancy in the office of sheriff, W. H. Tainter having been drowned in Elk
creek January 15, 1864. The treasurer was made ex-officio tax collector, with
emoluments of one-half of one per cent, on collections. April 1, 1864, Men-
docino county was placed in the Third Congressional district. March 28, 1868,
Mendocino was granted five more notaries public. March 30, 1868, legal
distances from the county seat of Mendocino, Ukiah, were established as
follows : to Sacramento city, two hundred and twenty-five miles ; to Stockton,
two hundred and twenty-one miles ; to San Ouentin. one hundred and ten
miles.
On the 8th of January, 1872, a bill was approved separating the office oi
recorder from that of count}' clerk. The first recorder took office the first
Alonday in March, 1874. February 6, 1874, placing Mendocino in the Twen-
ty-seventh senatorial district. March 16, 1874, repeal of act authorizing county
to build telegraph line to Humboldt. March 18, 1874, providing for collection
of taxes in Ukiah school district. March 18, 1874, authorizing issue of bonds,
$10,000 for Boonville to Point Arena road, $3,000 for road to north county
line via Summit or Ten-Mile valley, March 25, 1874, regulating salaries.
February 28, 1876, providing for payment of deficiency of school funds,
^larch 20, 1876, authorizing bonds of $12,000 for purchase of Navarro, Albion,
Big river and Noyo bridges ; $4,000 to complete Boonville and Point Arena
road ; $10,000 to construct road from Ten-Mile valley to north line of the
county. March 8, 1876, act incorporating Town of Ukiah City. April 3, 1876,
continuing tax to provide for payment of bonded indebtedness of 1862.
December 21, 1876, repeal of law giving bounty on scalps of v\'ild animals.
February 8, 1878, empowering sale of remaining bridge bonds. February 14,
1878, repealing act restricting grazing of sheep. March 8, 1878, fixing salary
of recorder at $2,000, with certain fees additional. March 27, 1878, authorizing
supervisors to issue bonds of $3,000 each for building bridge over Gualala
river, and finishing Point Arena and Boonville road. March 30, 1878, creating
special bridge fund, and authorizing tax of thirty cents for that year, and ten
cents for succeeding years, and the building of bridge over South and Middle
forks of Eel river. April 1, 1878, redistricting the county into supervisorial
districts and ordering election, April 1, 1878, act amending statute regarding
payment of bonds of 1862. March 6. 1883, Mendocino and Lake counties
were united to constitute the Twelfth agricultural district. March 8, 1883,
Mendocino and Lake united to constitute the Sixth senatorial district. March
13, 1883, Mendocino county was assigned to the First congressional district.
March, 1885, appointment of commissioners to select and purchase site for
Mendocino State Hospital for the Insane at Ukiah, and appropriating $250,000
for purchase of site and erection of buildings. February 20, 1889, appropria-
tion of $175,000 for support and extension of Mendocino State Hospital at
Ukiah, and act establishing the same. February 20, 1889, act fixing salary
of superior judge at $4,000. March 6, 1889, Lake and Mendocino counties
placed in Twelfth agricultural district. March 11, 1891, act making Mendo-
cino the Ninth assembly district, and with Colusa the Eighth senatorial
district. March 3, 1893, appropriation of $100,000 to finish the Mendocino
State Hospital, with a female ward. March 9, 1893, appropriation to pay
McGowan & Butler for retaining wall and drainage system at Mendocino
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 23
State Hospital. April 1, 1897, appropriation of $60,000 for furnishing hospital,
and $160,000 for support of same. March 17. 1899, appropriation of $107,000
for support of hospital, and $78,000 for salaries of officers and attendants.
March 25, 1901, appropriation of $21,000 for purchase of additional land,
water pipe and cows for hospital. March 21, 1901, appropriation of $123,900
for support of hospital, and $82,200 for salaries. March 25, 1903, appropriation
of $7,500 for water and protection, and $30,000 for assembly hall, hospital.
March 28, 1903, appropriation of $129,357 for support of hospital, and $99,673
for salaries. February 24, 1905, act forbidding sale of liquor within one mile
of hospital. March 18, 1905, appropriation of $4,500 for improvement of
grounds, hospital. March 22, 1905, appropriation of $235,600 for support of
hospital and salaries. March 8, 1907, appropriation of $6,000 to finish the
water tower, hospital. March 22, 1907, appropriation of $138,300 for support
of hospital, and $122,537 for salaries of officers, attendants and employes.
March 8, 1907, survey and settlement of the county boundary between Mendo-
cino and -Glenn. March 8, 1907, appropriation of $5,000 to furnish female
cottage, and $2,500 to furnish male cottage, hospital. April 26, 1909, appropri-
ation of $205,000 for support of hospital, and $145,000 for salaries, and $7,207
for construction. March 13, 1909, partial boundary between Lake and Men-
docino counties. March 25, 1909, appropriation of $12,500 for completion of
cottages, hospital. April 12, 1909, appropriation of $10,000 to build main
kitchen, etc., hospital. February 28, 1911, Mendocino county declared in
twenty-fourth class. March 9, 1911, appropriations for hospital as follows:
$3,000 for plumbing, $14,500 for male cottage, $12,500 for dam. March 14,
1911, appropriation of $4,000 for equipment of male cottage. April 14, 1911,
an act to prevent the taking of fish by traps, nets, dams, etc., in certain
waters. May 1, 1911, appropriation for support of hospital, $210,000, and for
salaries of employes therein. $160,000. May 8, 1913, appropriation of $12,500
for dam and reservoir at hospital, and $10,000 for gas plant. June 6, 1913,
appropriation of $239,600 for support, and $185,460 for salaries at hospital.
An act classifying Mendocino coimty- in the twenty-fourth class, and fixing
salaries as follows : Clerk, $3,000 and sundry fees ; sherifif, $4,000 and certain
mileage; recorder, $2,100; auditor, $2,000; tax collector, $2,200; assessor,
$3,000; district attorney, $2,700 and traveling expenses; superintendent of
schools, $2,400 and traveling expenses. The teachers of the country grammar
schools are generally paid $70 per month. In the larger towns, and high
schools, they are graded up to $130 per month.
The educational facilities of the county compare favorably with any in the
state, leaving state institutions out of consideration. The county supports
two county high schools, five union high schools, and one hundred and twenty-
one elementary or grammar schools. One hundred and sixty-two teachers
supply the graded schools, and there are twenty-eight high school teachers.
The valuation of school property is $218,253. .Amount paid teachers. 1913, $93.-
130. Total number of children enrolled, 3,855. Average daily attendance,
3,060.
Resources. It is estimated that there are still standing in the county
twenty billion feet of redwood timber. Add to this about two billion feet of
pine and fir, and the millions of cords of oak and madrona for wood ; the
thousands of acres of land suitable for grapes and fruit not yet under cultiva-
tion ; the possibilities of water and power conservation oflfered by her deep
\alleys, close-locked canyons, and heavy unfailing rainfall — can one doubt
24 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
that she will yet take her place far in advance of her now twenty-sixth class
among our list of counties? In the last twelve months her many mills have
produced over one hundred and sixty million feet of lumber; and it is esti-
mated that this production can be maintained for thirty or more years, and
some say for fifty or more. Her transportation facilities, already so ample,
consist of eighteen principal shipping ports, and as many more possible ones,
a railroad the full length of the county, soon to connect with Humboldt bay,
and probably with Oregon, three considerable coast railroads extending to
the interior many miles, one of which will soon connect with the through
road, and the Ft. Bragg road already connecting, the future of Mendocino
county is fully assured. The principal timber trees, redwood and tanbark,
are evergreens, sprouting from the stumps and roots, and with any care at
all, such as is given in Europe to forests, her timber resources are inexhaust-
ible. With the immense roots of the original tree for support, redwood
suckers in twenty years attain a diameter of a foot to sixteen inches. While
the cleared land is unsurpassed for fruit growing, we conceive that the
reforesting by natural methods is of much more importance to the nation.
Eucalyptus have been planted on the headwaters of the Albion in thousands,
and are growing thriftily, and may in time supply that timber in abundance.
The Union Lumber Company of Ft. Bragg has also planted these trees by
thousands.
In Mendocino rain is ever abundant, since 1877 never having fallen less
than 19.98 inches in the season, and from that to 60.48 inches. This is the
reading at Ukiah by government standard, while at other places in the
county as high as one hundred inches has been recorded. Thirty-five inches
is the average. The average for March is 4.69; for April, 2.76; May, 1.29;
the least for January. 1.04: for February, .23; for March, .25; for December,
.68. Light winter rains nearly always precede abundant spring rains, which
assure full crops. The winter of 1913-14, up to January 31, has measured up
41.38 inches. There has never been a failure of crops, every year yielding
from moderate to abundant, and perhaps never better than the year when
Napa farmers came into Potter valley, paid three cents for wheat for seed,
and hauled it home by wagonload eighty miles over rough mountainous
roads. Peaches and almonds sometimes fail from spring frosts, but there are
favored spots, thermal belts, in nearly every locality where they give annual
crops. Apples, pears and plums never fail, except in some of the higher
valleys, and even these have the thermal lines to be observed in planting.
The assessed valuation of the county for 1914 is $15,921,448, "non-
operative"; tax rate not yet set. but probably below $2. The registration
of voters for the August primary was 10,000.
Of homicides, Mendocino county has had many, and two executions have
taken place locally, and two at San Quentin. The majority of cases have
been decided as justifiable by juries, and the others sentenced to longer or
shorter terms of imprisonment, more commonly the latter.
The most notable of these was the so-called "Mendocino Outlaw" case.
Four men conspired to rob the Alendocino bank, and the tax collector on his
round of collection. One posed in Mendocino city as a dentist, the others
made camp in the timber adjoining town, and killed a beef for their camp
use. This proved their undoing. A posse went out to arrest them for this
offense, and met a murderous fire, which killed two of their number. The
town and county were at once in a ferment. Ex-Sheriff Standley and Sheriffs
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 25
Moore and J. H. Donohoe were at once in the field, and tracked the men
through the mountainous wilds of Mendocino, Trinity and Tehama counties,
across and back through the Sacramento Valley, and abandoned the chase.
Again taking it up, they followed the trail of the fugitives all over Tehama
and Butte counties, finally killing Billings on Butte creek near Nimshew, and
capturing Gaunce the next morning in Nimshew, and Brown near Bidwell's
Bar a few days later. The three were sent to San Quentin, and the arch
conspirator, Dentist Wheeler, committed suicide in jail. Great credit is due
to Sherif? Moore, Deputy Standley, and J. H. Donohoe. The latter was in
in the field sixty-one days. Both Donohoe and J. M. Standley were after-
wards sheriffs, the latter one of the best in the state, and his mantle has
fallen upon the present sheriff, Ralph R. Byrnes, who has more arrests to
his credit in the last four years than any sheriiT in the state.
Some Early Deeds
The first deed recorded in the county was by Louis and Beatrice Pena
to Richard Harrison, May 23, 1859, to -five hundred acres adjoining what is
now the town of Hopland, $2000. The second, R. Harrison to Beatrice Pena,
in Sanel Valley, two hundred and thirty acres, $1400, May 27, 1859. June 1,
1859, F. B. Gardner to W. W. Starr, quarter interest in 1940 acres, $2000.
Same date, premises and to J. B. Bowen. S. J. Smith, guardian, to Oscar
Schlesinger, June 25, 1859, lot in Ukiah on Main street now the Lempke
homestead. Agreement, Tichenor and Byxbee, to buy or sell Navarro Mill
property, November 27, 1863, $40,000. April 1, 1860, Lloyd Beall and E. J.
Whipple, land near Westport. October 16, 1865, D. F. Lansing and wife
to Eugene O'Connell. Vicar Apostle, lot in Mendocino City, $150.
26
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
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CHAPTER II
Anderson Township
This township is located in the Coast Range, almost all in and embracing
the whole of the watershed of the Navarro river, and a small portion of the
headwaters of Dry Creek. It is thirty miles in length, and a breadth vary-
ing from eight to twenty miles. The arable land at present under cultivation
nowhere exceeds more than a mile and for the most part, only a half mile
in width. Much more could be cultivated, but so far has been deemed mere
valuable for pasture than for the plow. The southern part of the township
is detached from the northern part by reason of the fact that the main
branch of the river. Rancheria creek, has no bottom land to speak of for
some miles of its course opposite Bconville, but further south on its extreme
head waters, it again afifords some tillable land. The valley soil is a rich
wash loam immediately along the creek bottoms. The bench lands are either
black clover land or gravelly loam, while the pasture lands proper, on the
hills, partake of the nature of both the last _ mentioned soils, while the
chemissal and brush lands are generally rocky and sterile. Exceptions in
these latter may be found where the soil is a rich red volcanic debris, that
makes the best of orchard and vineyard land.
The climate of Anderson is a compromise between the hot torrid inner
valleys and the cold, foggy coast section. It usually has a nice sea breeze in
the afternoon, and often foggy mornings, which revive the vegetation in the
dry summer months and restrain the frosts in the winter.
The various grains luxuriate here, except corn, which is not especially
successful, probably from the coolness induced by the fog. Hops succeed
well and give a good yield on the best bottom land. Fruit grows remark-
ably well on much of the bench land and lower hills.
Early Settlement
So far as the dim past can be explored, Walter Anderson seems to be
the first white man who really settled in Anderson intending to make it his
home, and that as early as 1851. He came from Sonoma county, as most
of the interior early settlers seem to have done, and located what was after-
wards known as the Rowles place, on the west side of the valley, about
one mile northwest of Boonville. He sold the place to Joseph Rowles in
1858 and moved away. J. D. Ball and family arrived in 1852, and settled on
the opposite side of the valley, on plateau land, and was the first to put out
an extensive orchard, which is still bearing profusely. In 1855-6-7 closely
following each other came William Prather, John Gschwend, J. S. Smalley,
Oscar Carey, Joseph Gschwend, James Burgess, Henry Wade, Frank Buster,
A. Guntley, John Gossman, John Conrad, A. Braden, J. Shields, W. W. Boone,
A. Elliott and H. Stevens. In the following few years R. H. Rawles, J. A.
Jamison, J. O. McSpadden, J. McGimsey, Alex McDonald, J. W. McAbee,
C. Prather and R. H. York. The first attempt at town building was about a
mile from the present town of Boonville, John Burgot building a hotel, Sam
Stevens a blacksmith shop and Levi V. Harrison a store. Quite a large
stock of goods was also placed in a two-story building (where Robert Rowles
has lived for some years) by Wintzer & Welle, but all of these died out in a
short time. In 1864 Alonzo Kendall built a hotel at what is now Boonville
and called the place Kendall's City. Levi & Straus moved their store here,
soon selling out to W. W. Boone, who succeeded in giving his name to the
38 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
town, Mr. Kendall having removed to Manchester. Access to the valley was
yet very difficult on the road from Cloverdale, and by private subscription
John Gschwend attempted to build a road from Boonville to Ukiah, the
county seat, in 1867. When about half done, the subscriptions failed, and
Gschwend obtained a franchise for its completion as a toll road in 1868.
Within the last four or five years nearly the whole of the old road has been
abandoned for better grade, though the general route has been followed.
In 1869-70 a road was surveyed and soon after worked after a fashion from
Anderson to Point Arena, but the grades were so steep it has never been
used for aught but light teams, except at each end, where the down grade
favors the hauling of timber either way. To John Gschwend also belongs
the principal credit for the road built over Navarro ridge connecting Ander-
son with the coast. This was "swamped" in 1861-2 and graded immediately
after and for many years was the only road from the coast part of the county
to the outside world. The Gschwends, Guntleys and Gossmans were Swiss,
and formed the settlement at the lower end of the valley that was long known
as "Guntleys" and later as Christine, for a daughter of John Gschwend's.
Andrew Guntley erected a distillery and brewery which flourished until about
1866, when the government tax caused the abolition of the establishments.
These Swiss all planted orchards which still flourish, and the orchard area
might be extended tenfold with profit. There are several fruit driers in the
main valley and much fruit is shipped to the coast section for home con-
sumption, but little or none has been shipped to the more extensive markets
of the bay district, except dried. In 1908 two hundred and fifty tons dried
pears were shipped.
The western and northern part of the township is heavily timbered with
redwood, fir, tan oak, madrona, laurel, as forest, with manzanita, blue blos-
som and chemissal brush covering quite a large section. The redwood and
fir have been destroyed largely in the northern part of the township, while
only desultory attempts have been made upon its area elsewhere. To John
Gschwend belongs the honor of building the first saw mill, in 1856. At that
time there were no roads leading into or out of the valley, and access to
the township was had only by skirmishing over the hills from one opening
to another with ox teams, rough locking down the steep hills, and doubling
teams up the mountain. It was built on his own homestead on a branch of
the main fork of the Navarro, run by water. Previous to that date the settlers'
houses were mostl}' built of logs, shakes split from the pliant, straight-grained
redwood, or lumber made by the toilsome whipsaw mill. Some years later
it was supplied with steam power and more machinery for making dressed
lumber. In 1864 a grist mill addition supplied the neighborhood with flour.
In 1875 fire destroyed the mill, and as the timber was nearly all cut off con-
tiguous to the site, it was not rebuilt.
In 1877 Thomas Hiatt built a saw mill some four miles up the valley
from Gschwend's, with a capacity of 8000 feet per day, and soon cut out the
timber convenient and moved the mill away. In 1876 the Clow brothers built
a mill on the west side of the valley, about four miles from Boonville,
which used up the timber on 250 acres, running twenty years. Its capacity
was 12,000 feet per day. It was then sold and moved away.
In 1878 H. O. Irish erected the fourth mill a mile or two further down
the valley, but it was destroyed by fire \ery soon after it began running. In
1896 August Wehrspon built a mill at Ornbaun's \'alley, a detached upland
.MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 39
valley near Yorkville, with a capacity of 20,000 feet per day. This mill was
in a fine body of timber, purchasable at $1 per thousand. By the terms of the
contract the mill was required to cut a specified amount of lumber each year.
Timber raised in value, the mill owner failed one year to cut the required
amount, and was ousted by suit at court. The mill was moved to the old
Bonnet place west of Boonville. cut a little lumber, and still stands there,
although the main body of the timber has passed into the hands of speculators.
The mill cut about 16 million feet in all. In 1904 Bledsoe built a shingle
mill at Peachland, a settlement on the ridge east of Anderson, of about 20,000
feet capacity. It was run about three years, and since then has remained
idle. It is now owned by Bledsoe & Daugherty.
Access to the township is attained by a road from Cloverdale, thirty miles
distant, or from Ukiah, twenty-four miles, or from the Albion by road, or rail-
road, to Wendling, a mill town, a few years old. This mill was built on the
promise of a railroad, but before even residences were finished for its superin-
tendent and foremen, work was suspended, the railroad not materializing.
Suit was instituted, or threatened against the Santa Fe company and com-
promised, and the logging road from the Albion mill was pushed through
to the mill, and tv\-o miles further up the valley. The product is railed down
to the Albion and there transhipped to vessels. This road has been sur-
veyed through to a junction with the Northwestern at Healdsburg, and will
soon be pushed through, as there is a fine body of timber tributary to it.
The Wendling property has passed into the hands of Hickey & Co., and the
town name changed to Navarro.
Yorkville, in the southern part of the township, is a small hamlet of a
few houses, located on Rancheria creek, the principal tributary, or rather
the main head of Navarro river. It was named after its founder, R. H. York,
who lived there many years. It has a post ofifice and a hotel has long been
maintained by the Hiatt family owning the ranch.
Boonville, about the center of the township, is the oldest village in it.
It consists of two hotels, two stores, two blacksmith shops, post ofifice, drug
store, and eight or ten residences, a church and school house and barber shop.
There used to he two saloons, liut the school district voted dry some years
ago and they are things of the past.
Philo, nine miles down the valley, is a small hamlet of two stores, black-
smith shop, Methodist Episcopal church, school house, post ofifice, and two
or three residences, near enough to be included in the town. Here the four-
horse stages from Cloverdale are split into two, one proceeding to Green-
wood on the coast, the other five miles down the valley to Navarro. The
latter is essentially a mill town, and was unbroken forest until the lumber
company pitched on it as a base of operations. The mill has recently changed
hands and its product will eventually find its outlet by rail to Healdsburg,
and on to San Francisco and east. The mill was erected in 1905, with a
capacity of sixty thousand feet of lumber and one hundred thousand shingles.
It was run by the Stearns Lumber Co. with profit, notwithstanding the long
haul and rehandling of its output. The town did contain two stores, one
livery stable, three hotels with bars, two hotels without bars, one saloon,
one blacksmith shop, one restaurant, one barber shop, one photo gallery,
forty-five residences and post ofifice, being the end of a mail route in that
direction. The saloons have been discontinued on account of an election
voting the district dry.
40 MEXnOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Many fine residences have been erected in Anderson in the last ten
years and much progress made in fruit culture. The climate is undoubtedly
the finest in the county, and only three failures on account of frost have been
known since its first settlement. The earthquake of 1906 did not seem to
affect this section as much as the one experienced in 1898, which opened
considerable gaps in the earth at the northern end of the valley but without
much damage. In the past few years roads have been built connecting the
valley with Hopland and Fish Rock, both starting from Yorkville. Several
mineral excitements have had their rise and fall, but none of the discoveries
have so far proved of present value.
There have been several lodges instituted in the valley, but at present
all have lapsed. It has had its quota of fires. The hotel has been burned
and rebuilt; Ruddick's store burned in April, 1913; Johnson's store at Philo
burned September 18, 1913, and there have been several residences burned.
In July, 1901, a threshing boiler exploded, killing two men.
There are several fruit dryers in the valley, J. D. Ball erecting the first
in 1890, Studebaker about the same time and others have followed. There
have been two or three small saw mills on Rancheria and Dry creek, but they
have passed away. The road to Point Arena was improved from time to
time until in 1890 it was made available for freighting to a limited extent.
A mail route formerly extended through the valley from Cloverdale to
Navarro, sixty miles, but has been cut off at Wendling, while a cross mail
has been established from Philo to Greenwood, twenty-one miles. On the
through route in 1904 there were used sixty-seven individual mail pouches.
The timber has nearly all passed into the hands of mill owners or specula-
tors. In 1909 Hickey & Standish bought 3500 acres west of Boonville. and
sold 12,000 acres of their holdings to the Santa Fe. During 1913 much bark
was hauled to Cloverdale by motor trucks; 8700 pounds at a load, two
trips per day, making 120 miles travel. Much has also been shipped by way
of Albion. For 3'ears previous it had been hauled by teams to Cloverdale
and Ukiah.
Some notable deaths have occurred of the old settlers. Among them
may be mentioned John Gossman. eight}--eight years, November 20, 1898,
who came to the valley in 1856; S. W. Knowles, September 25, 1911, eighty-
nine years of age, settled on Dry creek, 1858-9; R. H. Rowles, ex-supervisor.
November 9, 1911, sixty-six years, settled in 1858; W. L. Wallace, August
27, 1883, settled in 1857, and Mrs. John Conrad, who came to the valley in
1858, died July 12, 1914, at the age of one hundred and one years.
The several school districts voted for a union high school, and a rough
building was erected last year and is now in use.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 41
CHAPTER III
Arena Township
Arena is essentially a coast township, having its western line on the ocean,
and its eastern the summit of the coast range. On the south it joins Sonoma
county, and on the north Cuffey's Cove township. In length it is about thirty
miles, and its breadth from eight to fifteen miles. Along the ocean shore lies a
strip of fertile open land, mostly under cultivation, varying from half a mile to
three miles at most ; back of that, heavy timber, with occasional openings of
grazing land, mostly too steep for cultivation. It has one large river, the Gar-
cia, and the Gualala river makes its southern boundary for about four miles.
The north fork of the Gualala rises in Arena, but is inconsiderable except in
winter. Alder creek is a large stream in winter, and always flows some water.
It is fifteen miles in length and was heavily timbered, but its headwaters are
denuded. Brush creek is a fine timber stream though only a few miles long.
North of Alder creek are two abrupt deep gulches, not dignified by any
other name than that of the settlers who first lived in their vicinity as Irish
Gulch and Mai Paso (bad pass). The narrow bench along the immediate
ocean bluff of the northern part of the township is the best land in the
county. It is a rich black wash loam from the high, timbered blufif back
of it, and the soil is often ten and fifteen feet deep, producing large crops of
grain and vegetables; potatoes, beets and carrots being largely cultivated.
Tt is essentially a dairy country, as the feed stays green until late summer,
and is supplemented by green silage of corn, beets and carrots. Corn does
not mature along the coast and is only sown for silage or green feed. Phe-
nomenal yields are often secured without fertilization. On the Garcia bot-
tom lands in 1910 Charles Bishop secured 3500 sacks of potatoes from twelve
acres, 3000 of them being produced on eight acres. In the same year on the
bench land at Bridgeport R. J. Dartt harvested as follows: Eighteen acres
black oats, 1440 bushels; twenty acres white oats, 1600 bushels; sixteen acres
wheat, 480 bushels ; twenty acres barley, 1200 bushels ; thirty-two acres hay,
96 tons; three acres potatoes, 400 sacks; and with seventy acres in pasture,
the farm keeps 265 sheep (Southdowns), sixty head of cattle, fourteen horses,
and seventy-five hogs. Scientific farming, with the use of thousands of
tons of kelp, potash producing material, will keep this land up to this point
of production for an indefinite time. Onions of two pounds, cabbage thirty-
five pounds, lettuce twenty-five inches across, and beets of one hundred and
seventeen pounds have been produced.
Going south from Point Arena one crosses numerous gulches, but no
considerable stream. The southern boundary, Gualala river, is mostly in
Sonoma county. In the watershed of this stream it has recently been esti-
mated that there is yet remaining nearly one billion feet of lumber; on the
Garcia river watershed there is nearly as much ; on the Navarro three hun-
dred million ; on Big river, fifteen hundred million, and north of that an
untold quantity that has not been estimated by timber cruisers. With all
this timber yet to cut and ship, Mendocino has a future from this industry
alone. Much timber land has been cleared of all merchantable lumber and
is now being cleared up and devoted to farming and fruit raising or being
set in eucalyptus. The redwood lands make the best of orchard land, pro-
ducing fruit crisper, more juicy and with higher flavor than the open lands
of the interior. And yet it is the belief of many thinking minds that these
lands are worth more to the nation for reforesting than for agriculture. The
42 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
redwood and tan bark oak are evergreens which sprout up from the stumps
as vigorously as willows. If the sprouts were carefully thinned to a judicious
number, the waste kept burned up, in a decade or two sawing timber would
be produced from the one, and another crop of bark and wood from the other.
Point Arena is the only considerable town in the township, and the main
shipping port for agricultural products, supplemented by bark, ties, posts,
etc. It is a town of 476 inhabitants by the last census, and was incor-
porated July 11, 1908. The town boasts nine saloons, three general
stores, three confectionery stores, harness shop, two blacksmith shops, two
barbers, one livery stable, one hardware store, three hotels (all under one
management, one closed, and one used only for lodging purposes), butcher
shop, and a millinery establishment, fire company, water works and electric
lighting, and three churches, grammar school and high school. Steamers
run to the port regularly twice a week and semi oftener, Wednesday being
steamer day, when the town will be full of teams bringing farm produce,
butter, eggs, chickens, and travelers for the city. The port is not a secure
one, and in boisterous weather is sometimes missed by even the regular
steamer. There is a long wharf and also a chute for shipping ties, etc. This
latter is of the cable variety and used only by the L. E. White Lumber Co.
Asphalt exudes from the ocean bluiif west of the town, and two attempts
have been made to obtain oil, but the casing has been pulled out of the last
and deepest, 1600 feet, and there is no prospect of another attempt for years
to come. The crude asphalt has been hauled and dumped on the street and
lasts for years. Early Settlement
As before written, during the Spanish regime Rafael Garcia received a
grant which covered all the open land in the township, and he stocked it
with large bands of cattle, finally selling his right to Don Jose Leandro
Luco for the sum of $10,000; the latter dispatched M. T. Smith and Dr. J. C.
Morse to the rancho as his agents. As heretofore written the grant was
finally rejected by the United States, and thrown open for settlement. In
1855 J. A. Hamilton, Joseph Sheppard and William Oliver came from Yolo
county with cattle and settled on the Garcia bottoms, near the old ranch
house of Garcia's agents, who also count among the earliest real settlers.
Hamilton brought with him his family. Shortly after S. B. Campbell and
family, and David and Elijah Beebee with their families settled upon either side
of the present town of Point Arena. In 1856 William Shoemake located a
farm, bought a large tract from Luco, which under the provisions for settling
the controversy the government permitted him to retain, he having held con-
tinuous possession and improving the same. The same year Fadre settled
near Bourne's Landing. In 1857 G. W. Wright, R. W. O'Neil and J. T. O'Neil
arrived. The year 1858 brought in the families of Dr. J. G. Morse, O. W.
Scott and others, while in the southern part of the township settled C. D.
Robinson at Gualala. and John Northrope and Joshua Adams located at
Ferguson's Cove. .\t about this time came J. Oliver, M. W. Barney,
J. Schrock, C. De Wolff, J. L. Gillespie. Kuffef, Willard and John Smith,
making in all about thirty families in the neighborhood at the time of the
organization of the county. In 1859 and 1860 came Sam McMulIen, S. S.
Hoyt, C. B. Pease, T. J. and Calvin Stewart, Samuel Hunter, A. W. Hall and
E. Wilsey. Of all these above mentioned so far as can be learned none are
living save the Stewarts. Mart T. Smith died in Inglenook, in Ten Mile
township, in 1913. When the mill fever was at its height. Point Arena was
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 43
the busiest town between San Francisco and Eureka. In addition to posts,
wood, ties, bark and farm produce, from three to seven mills were turning
out lumber at the rate of 200,000 feet per diem. In the near future this era
of prosperity will be duplicated, as there are vast forests back of the town
whose products must come down to the port of Point Arena. Notwith-
standing the number of saloons in the town, it is an exceedingly quiet place,
seldom the scene of any boisterous manifestations of the effects of king
alcohol; and its government is carried on with economy and conservative
management. Its distinguishing feature, which strikes a stranger forcibly,
is its steep main street, and the many levels of its sidewalks. Its educa-
tional facilities are unrivalled in any other town of its size, with its large,
commodious grammar school and high school, both new buildings costing
$3500 and $4000 respectively.
The electric light plant was put in by Albert Brown of Mendocino, in
1905. and is a midnight closing plant, though heretofore it had been an all-
night service as long as it justified. Water is supplied from springs in the
adjacent hills, and could be improved without much expense. Travel by
land up and down the coast is by stages, meeting the Northwestern Pacific
railroad at Cazadero, fifty miles south. The mails arrive from San Fran-
cisco in twelve hours. There is also a steamer service that reaches the city
in about the same time. The stage line is owned and run by J. C. Halliday
Co. and is efficient and sufficient. During the last decade all the streams
and gulches in the township have been spanned by new bridges, generally
up to grade of the road, hills circled or cut down, and general improvement
every way, rendering travel more pleasant and less expensive.
The first building on the present town site was erected by L. Wilsey,
and stocked with goods in 1859. Another store was put in that year by
Lane & Linderoos, and a saloon by S. W. McMuUen. In February, 1866,
Mart T. Smith obtained a franchise for and built a wharf. In 1870 he sold
it to Woodward & Chalfant. In 1875 it passed into the hands of C. R. Arthur,
and the records show that a large amount of shipping was done at that early
date. Soon after it passed into the hands of Wells, Russell & Co., by whom
it is now operated. The L. E. White Lumber Co. put in a cable chute for
their own use on the north side of the harbor, as also did C. W. Tindall.
Gualala, at the extreme southern end of the township and county, was
only a mill town, and is now only a hamlet, with one hotel, one store, post
office, shoe shop and blacksmith shop, and eight or ten dwellings. The
burning of the mill put a damper on enterprise here.
Bourne's Landing, two and a half miles north, is the shipping point for
this region and has a general store and a few houses. There were chutes
operated at St. Ores, a mile north, and at Robinson's, but they are no longer
in use.
iMsh Rock was once the scene of much activity, shipping timber products,
but its proprietor, C. Queen, of late years has devoted himself to orchard
work. He has 800 Baldwin trees, the entire crop being put through a dryer.
George Brandt, on the hill back of the port, has a fine large orchard from
which he has been for years shipping a fine lot of apples. Chutes have been
in operation at several other points along the coast above here up to Fer-
guson's cove, which latter once did a large business shipping ties, etc., and
the lumber and shingles for the mills at Schooner, Galloway and others
spoken of later. But this chute closed down last November for want of
profitable work and as a hamlet the place is deserted.
44 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Manchester, six miles north of Point Arena, has a fine large new school
house, two churches, one store, blacksmith shop, two creameries and hotel,
one creamery making over 500 pounds of butter per day. It is essentially a
farming community, surrounded as it is by many fine farms.
Bridgeport, six miles north, was once a thriving mercantile and shipping
place with a chute, but it was a dangerous harbor and not used long for that
purpose. The hamlet now has no business places, but half a mile south is
located a fine school house, and a creamery which operates about ten months
in the year. The effect of the earthquake of 1906 is distinctly visible in this
vicinity, large areas having been shaken loose from the steep hills abo\e the
farming lands, sliding down and covering many acres with gravel, sand and
rocks. The neighborhood of Bridgeport, next to the Garcia bottoms, is the
finest land in the county. The farms of the Walsh family, R. J. Dartt,
Ryans, Snickers, H. Bishop, C. J. Buchanan and others cannot be exceeded
in fertility, depth of soil and ease of cultivation, anywhere in the world.
These farms were nearly all damaged by the earthquake of 1S06. The line
of the fault was clearly visible from the mouth of Alder creek easterly
through many farms and far back into the mountains. Curious manifesta-
tions of its power were to be seen in the fissure, breaking the continuity of
lines of fruit trees and "fences from twelve to fourteen feet, and breaking-
rocks the size of a goose egg sharply in two. The iron bridge at the mouth
of Alder creek was torn to pieces like a cardboard house. In Point Arena
the brick buildings were generally destroyed. The Odd Fellows' two-story
building was thrown bodily endwise into the street. The L. E. White store
was also totally destroyed, while the wooden buildings sustained but little
damage. In 1893 the west side of the business street was nearly all burned
out, the only serious fire the town has ever had. Formerly there was a
tannery, but it has long since ceased its operation ; and also a brewery,
operated by Mr. Schlachter, but it, too, has been discontinued on account of
the death of the proprietor.
There are three churches. Methodist. Catholic and Presbyterian, with
resident pastors.
The first mill in the township was built by Tift & Pound, at Hard-
scratch, seven miles south of Point Arena. It was a wet weather water
mill with a forty foot overshot wheel, with a capacity of about 2000 feet
per day — sometimes. It was located on a narrow shallow gulch having a
solid water-worn rock bottom which discharged its waters over a precipice
forty feet high directly into the ocean. It had performed its mission and
departed before 1864. In 1862 .Rutherford & Webber erected a mill near
the mouth of the Gualala river of a capacity of 20,000 feet. In 1872 its
capacity was increased to 35,000. Soon after they abandoned the methods
then in vogue for bringing logs to the mill and put in a railroad to the
woods and continued it to the shipping point of Bourne's Landing, two and
a half miles north of the mill. The franchise for railroad and wharf was
granted in 1862. In 1878 a heavy southeaster destroyed the wharf and
chute, which were immediately rebuilt on improved plans and are still in
use at this date. In 1868 Mr. Webber sold his interest to Heywood & Har-
mon, and Mr. Rutherford soon afterward sold out. It was afterward moved
up the river a half mile and after being run a couple of years was sold, there-
after remaining idle for a short time, when it was destroyed by fire. The
largest redwood in the county, twenty-two feet in diameter, stood about six
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 45
miles up the river. At this date the mill property has passed into the hands
of E. B. Salsig & Co. and the mill is being rebuilt. In 1864 Russell Stevens
built a mill in Fish Rock gulch almost down to tide water. Its capacity-
was about 13,000 feet per day. It did not run long, for the machinery had
all been taken away in 1866. In 1869 a mill was erected a mile or two north
of Gualala by John Woods, cutting about 16,000 feet per diem. It was
destroyed by fire in 1872, rebuilt, moved further north, run a short time, and
was moved away.
In 1875 a mill was built at Schooner gulch by A. Saunders, who also
built a shingle mill on Brush creek. A big business was done by these two
mills for a number of years, until Saunders failed, and departed, taking with
him thousands of dollars of the hard-earned wages of his employes that had
been entrusted to his keeping. Nealon & Young succeeded him in the
Schooner Gulch mill, and ran it until 1878. The Brush creek mill was run
by the creditors, increasing its capacity somewhat, but it proved unprofitable
and was dismantled and sold.
A mill was built in Galloway gulch in 1869, cutting 50,000 per day, run
for three years, and departed. L. B. Doe & Co. erected a mill at Signal Port
about this time, that was supplied with logs by hauling them up a long hill
by steam power. It only ran a couple of years. Another was built in China
gulch, lived its brief ephemeral life and left a pile of sawdust as its monu-
ment. About this time Ross & Francis were running a small mill on their
own premises southeast of the' town about two miles. They ran a couple
of years.
In 1904 an epidemic of mills struck the neighborhood. Anderson put in
a 25,000 capacity mill ; Grace another about the same size ; Bowen another,
but all passed away in three or four years. Albert Brown equipped a 15,000
foot mill east of town in 1904, which ran one summer. At present there are
no saw mills in operation for forty miles along the coast, and Point Arena
is hauling its supply of lumber eighteen miles. In 1869 and '70, Stevens &
Whitmore built a mill on the Garcia river six miles from Point Arena. In
1872 they sold to Nickerson & Baker, who ran it for several years, cutting
about 40,000 per day. The lumber was floated down a flume six miles to the
foot of the blufif opposite the port, and there carried up the hill by means of
spiked rollers in a dry flume or track, where it was placed on cars and rail-
roaded to the head of the chute. After a few years run the mill was pur-
chased by the L. E. White Lumber Co. and was burned down in 1894, having
been idle some time. As the company has 25,000 acres of timber land in the
watershed of the river, this mill will undoubtedly be rebuilt at no distant
day, and probably a railroad built to convey either logs or lumber or both,
according to where the mill is built.
A mill was built at Bridgeport in 1874 and run on lumber, and later
shingles, for several years. It passed through several hands, and was finally
moved away. In 1870 a mill was put in on the Garcia about eight miles
from its mouth, called Riverside, which ran several years and went up in
smoke, as did most of the profits.
A paper mill, to run on oat straw, was put in on Brush creek, and ran
for ten years; at first profitable on straw at $2.50 per ton; however, the
farmers raised the price to $7 and the mill closed down and moved away.
46 :\IENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Secret Societies
One may to a certain extent judge a country town by the number and
character of its secret societies. Point Arena is fairly prosperous in this
line, though some have decayed and lost standing by reason of deaths and
removals. The Free and Accepted Masons organized the first lodge, Clai-
borne Lodge No. 185, F. & A. M., on June 14, 1867, wath the following charter
members : R. D. Handy, S. W. Randolph, Niels Iverson, N. D. Witt, William
Cushings, Charles Lyman, Alph Harris and F. W. Watrous. At the present
day the lodge is in an exceedingly prosperous condition, and numbers fifty-
one members, with the following officers : Henry Howe, W. M. ; F. W.
Reynolds, S. W. ; B. H. Baker, J- ^^^ ; John Clark, treasurer; Frank L.
Emory, secretary.
Garcia Lodge No. 240, I. O. O. P., was instituted January 4, 1876.
with the following charter members : P. Peters, W. H. Cureton, L. F.
Spaulding, D. M. Ketchum, N. Iverson arid J. B. M. Warren. The lodge
has fought its way against adverse conditions, the decline of the mill and
timber business coming upon the community soon after its organization,
but is now on a firm basis, and steadily growing from accessions from the
ranks of young manhood. In conjunction with the Masons in 1880. they
erected a two-story building, 24x60. which was dedicated May 29, 1880, the
Masons joining them in the erection of the same. The earthquake of 1906
entirely demolished the building, and the next year it was replaced by a
reinforced concrete. The present officers are : Henry Howe, N. G. ; A. H.
Clark, V. G. : \Mlliam Hanen, secretary; J. C. Halliday, treasurer.
Arena Encampment No. 75, I. O. O. F., was instituted May 18, 1886,
with charter members as follows : Joseph Lufkin, P. C. P. ; C. W. Tindall,
J. L. Woodin. Le Grand Alorse, Jacob Cohn, Aaron Newfield, John Hurst,
W. C. Cartnell, J. D. McCabe, Charles Meirs, F. W. Goodwin, H. L. Estes,
C. M. Cartwright, S. W. Collins. Joseph Tongue. John Widden. H. B. Scott,
H. S. Symonds, H. Tullener, J. S. Larson, Frank Groshong, C. Christensen,
William Heywood, E. M. Stuart, E. N. Donaldson. The Encampment has
lived and prospered through all the dull times succeeding the birth of the
Encampment. It now has the following officers : E. A. Zimmerman, C. P. ;
H. B. Scott. H. P.; A. Christensen. S. W. ; W. Haines. Scribe; C. Nicks,
treasurer; H. Tullener, I. W.
Native Sons. Broderick No. 117, was instituted Januar}' 9. 1888, with
the following list of charter members : C. W. Tindall, C. Hunter, T. O. Cal-
laghan. W. O. Davis, T. Roseman, G. Smith, William Brandt, R. Caughey,
F. Watrous, E. Arthur, P. Chane, H. L. Estes, S. Hunter, C. M. Cartwright,
H. Smith, G. Miller. F. Handy, R. Crawford, W. Myers, F. Arthur, It now
has a membership of thirty-three, with the following officers : • F. ^^^ Rey-
nolds, J. P. P.; E. A. Zimmerman, treasurer: J. P. Connor. J. P.; W. E.
Carey, secretary
Order of Eastern Star was instituted May 30. 1910, as Point Arena
Chapter 291, with the following charter members: Rev. E. E. Robbins.
W. P.; Matilda Davidson, W. M.; Kate Halliday, A. W. M.; Florence Halli-
day, Con. ; J. R. Neto. Sec. : Mabel Neto, Matilda Robbins, Olive Robbins.
James Dunn. Phoebe Dunn. Bessie Halliday, J. C. Halliday, C. F. O'Brien.
Louise O'Brien. Ethel Hathaway. Anna Iverson, Emma Watrous, Mary
A. Burroughs, Margarethe Dunn. Henry Halliday. For 1913 it has the
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 47
following officers: Lettie Zimmerman, W. M.; Jacob Kingren, W. P.; Flora
Hunter, A. M. ; Pearl Emery, secretary ; fifty-four members. There are other
societies extant, of which we have no record.
Court Arena No. 8518, Ancient Order of Foresters. Officers: C. R.,
W. C. Davidson; P. C. R., William Thomas; financial secretary, Newton P.
Howe : treasurer, William Carey. Number of members, seventy-eight.
The town of Point Arena was incorporated July 11, 1908, and the present
officers are S. W. Ainslie, J. C. Halliday, John Clark, J. ^^^ Kingren (mayor),
N. P. Howe, trustees; N. A. McCallum, clerk; J. F. Dixon, marshal; Conrad
Nicks, treasurer and recorder. The assessed value of the town for 1913
was $150,964; tax rate, fifty cents per $100, Population 497.
The Bank of Point Arena, No. 338, was incorporated June 9, 1905, with
a paid up capital $25,000. Their report for 1913 shows deposits of $87,000,
in a volume of business of $119,000. J. C. Halliday is president and P. W.
Haggreen cashier.
The building of the lighthouse on the point north of and about three
miles northwest of the town was an epoch in the history of the township.
The coast, with its abrupt rocky shore, projecting hidden reefs, and treach-
erous currents, was dangerous to experienced navigators, and infinitely more
so to those new to its waters. The lighthouse was built close out to the
end of the point, nautically located in latitude 38° 57' 10" and longitude
123° 44' 42". The light was fixed, stationary, white, and visible nineteen
nautical miles at sea. The tower was of brick one hundred and fifty-six
feet to the lamp. The earthquake of 1906 entirely destroyed the lenses and
so damaged the tower and dwelling house that the government pulled them
down and rebuilt them farther inland, as being necessary from the inroads
of the sea on the narrow point. The new one is about the same height of
the one destroyed, but has a revolving white light four flashes per minute,
five seconds duration, five seconds intermission, then twenty seconds inter-
mission. It is built of reinforced concrete, the brick of the old one having
been thrown over the bank into the ocean. The dwellings were also torn
down, and four cottages built at a cost of $6000 each, the whole costing the
government about twice what they would a private individual. Twenty-five
hundred dollars was put into gravel for the road leading to the lighthouse.
A fog signal is also established, run by distillate engine, automatic in its
action, dispensing with the services of one man over the old steam engine.
In near vicinity to the lighthouse is a large colony of sea lions, whose
hoarse growls may be heard at all hours of the day and night. At one time
they were hunted for their oil and hides, but the difficulty and danger, more
on account of the location, rather than fear of the lions, caused a cessation
of hostilities. They no doubt conduce to the scarcity of fish in their imme-
diate neighborhood, though good catches are frequent. In the fall excellent
sport is had at the mouth of Garcia river trolling for steelheads from one to
two pounds each, and in season trout fishing is excellent.
Like almost every community. Point Arena has its fashionable watering
place; in her case, medicinal, as well. The hot sulphur springs twelve miles
up the Garcia river have proved both medicinal and fashionable. Situated
in the gorge of the river, with a dense forest of redwood surrounding, it is
an ideal place to pass the hot summer months of the interior, or the cold,
foggy ones of the coast.
48 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Of shipwrecks there have been many along the bluff coast of the county,
and Point Arena has had more than her share. The beach north of the
lighthouse has been a favorite place for old vessels to close their careers,
nearly every vessel built in the township, of which there have been several,
has come back to die, some before even a full voyage has been made. This
fact procured the lighthouse, and in 1903 a life saving station was estab-
lished at the port, which at present is in charge of Captain Stitt and eight
men.
The township boasts six creameries, not all running continuously, some
private and some public or stock companies. Siples, Stornetti, C. Bishop and
H. Bishop are private, and Point Arena, Manchester and Bridgeport are
run as public. The Manchester, owned by Beck & Halliday, is the largest
and most successful, paying about ten per cent, dividend.
Point Arena has had the usual experience, with most California towns,
in being exploited by the ephemeral newspaper ventures. In 1877 John
Kester issued the first number of the News, on March 22. November 29
G. S. Afifolter and W. P. McClure assumed its responsibility and managed
it until May, 1878. when Mr. McClure retired. The following September
it bade the community good-bye.
In 1888 H. B. Cartnell founded the Record, and it still continues. It
passed into the hands of William Heeser in 1892, and was edited by R. Y.
Glidden for some time, and passed into the hands of William Hanen, who
assumed its burden in 1892. It fills all the requirements of the town, and
is really a credit to it, and the town is also a credit to the paper, for it is
seldom so small a place will support a newspaper. From its files much of
our information has been gleaned. The office work is done the old-fashioned
way, hand-setting type and press. From it we learned that an old settler,
William Shoemake, died May 16, 1881 ; he came to Point Arena in 1852 and
was one of the provident ones who were in possession of large tracts of
land when the grant was finally rejected. He had about 640 acres. August
3. 1881. fire destroyed Iversen hotel, Warren's butcher shop, Lancaster shoe
store; loss $13,000, insurance $8000. Wharf changed hands January, 1882,
and C. Queen purchased the Fish Rock property. G. Linderoos died June 1.
1885 : he was for many years justice and the legal functionary of the lower
coast. Point Arena made great growth in the years 1885-6. On June 3,
1885, the new I. O. O. F. hall was dedicated. The McMullen hotel opened
for patrons in 1886, and pottery was made at Fish Rock. B. F. McClure, a
prominent citizen and ex-supervisor, died March 15, 1887. Collins' shingle
mill was running 100,000 shingles per day. Bessie Everding lost at Bourne's
Landing, September 12, 1888; severe earthquake January 25, 1889; Charlotte
wrecked on Fish Rock, March 28, 1889; Golden Gate, May 15, 1889; Gualala
river eight feet above high water mark, January, 1895 ; San Francisco and
Oakland capitalists propose to build a railroad up the Gualala to Cazadero.
Frost spoiled the cutlook for a fruit crop in 1892. Five thousand ties were
flumed down to the port from the Garcia river, six miles, in one day. March
10. 1893, the John McCullough ashore at Fish Rock, a total wreck. April 3
fire destroyed sixteen buildings in Point Arena ; loss $32,000, insurance $10,-
000. Ancient Order of Foresters instituted at Gualala. Rebekah Lodge insti-
' tuted at Point Arena, but has lapsed. The Point Arena creamery com-
pleted. Eight hundred fish were caught in a few hours by a Gualala bull
puncher. Thirty-seven sea lions were killed during the year, yielding 250
MENDOCLVO AND LAKE COUNTIES 49
gallons of oil. Presbyterian church at Manchester, completed. The Gualala
mill averaged 175,000 feet per day one week in October. An eighteen-pound
carrot was brought into town and a thirty-five pound cabbage. Freshet
raised the railroad track over a twelve-foot stump up the Gualala, January
14, 1894, and several houses washed away. A wood and shingle mill ran at
Iversen, 1893-'94. Point Arena Creamery made 120,000 pounds of butter,
realizing ten per cent, on its stock. Hot Springs opened for guests June 5,
1895. The fog signal was moved inland one hundred and fifty yards. San
Benito wrecked on the beach north of town, November 23, 1896. April 11,
1897, fire destroyed store, several cabins and an orphans' home. October 22,
Caspar ashore Sander's reef, and several lives lost. April 15, 1898, thirty-
two shocks of earthquake; center of disturbance near Xavarro. Dr. J. C.
Morse died January 1, 1898, and his widow, August 9, 1898. They came across
the isthmus horseback in 1852, and to Point xArena in 1859, walking up from
Fish Rock, from steamer North America, wrecked there. Schooner Jeanne
ashore October 1, 1900. I. O. O. F. hall dedicated. Barbara Harvester lost
January 24, 1901. January 30, 1903, Crescent City ashore at Fish Rock;
schooner Davidson ashore at Iversen 31st of March. Gualala hotel burned
July 6, 1903. Western Graphite Co., fifteen miles east, ledge traced over half
a mile. Oil well said to have been sunk 2250 feet, was abandoned. Electricity
introduced July 28, 1905. Two swans killed on the Garcia.
The great earthquake of April 18, 1906, was very severe in Point Arena
and vicinity. Every business house in town was a junk heap; every brick
totally destroyed; many wood houses badly damaged; the loss was estimated
$100,000. The town was practically rebuilt in two years and incorporated
July, 1908. C. D. Robinson died November 6, 1906, aged eighty-four; he
settled at Gualala in 1858. Le Grand Morse died February 8, 1907. A
destructive rain visited the vicinity in March, 1907, and Garcia bridge went
out. High school building completed in Point Arena, 44x60, with ten-foot
basement, well, tank and windmill, at a cost of $5,489. J. A. Hamilton died
May 20, 1909, aged eighty-two years. Steamer Winnebago wrecked July 31.
Point Arena creamery burned September 13. but immediately rebuilt at cost
of $7,000. Sixty-two inches of rain in winter of 1908-09. December 5, Elias
Miller died, aged one hundred and three.
Elections in ten precincts on the coast on the wet and dry propositions,
resulted in increased dry territory. Phoenix steamer blew up oiif lighthouse,
August 13, 1910, three killed. March 10, 1911, high wind took up a plow
furrow on N. P. Howe's place and wrapped it around a tree. Schooner
Sonoma foundered ofT the port, crew saved. Oil operations stopped. Free
library closed and books turned over to Women's Civic Club. Ladies' band
organized February 20. Petition for breakwater to make a harbor of refuge
sent Congress. Point Arena high school accredited in 1913. Capt. N. Iversen
died June 15, 1912, aged eighty-two. For many years he was the principal
purchaser and shipper from Point Arena. In this connection A. W. Hall
should have special mention, as his business ventures in the '60s added
materially to the coast's prosperity. Lane Kirkland exhibited forty-two
potatoes which weighed 140 pounds, fifty-one which weighed 135 pounds,
and six which weighed twenty-four pounds.
50 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
CHAPTER IV
Big River Township
Originally extending along the coast from Navarro to the northern
boundary of the county, Big River township has been curtailed and sub-
divided until it now extends only from Salmon creek on the south to Hare
creek on the north, a distance of about seventeen miles, and on the east to
nearly the line of watershed between interior rivers and the coast streams ;
or more properly speaking, to the western line of Ukiah and Little Lake
townships, being about thirty miles wide. The streams flowing to the ocean
are Salmon creek, Albion, Little. Big river, and Caspar. Technically Big
river and Albion are navigable rivers, but are only so used in the immediate
mouths thereof. These two latter have been used mainly for log driving, and
that is almost superseded by railroads, which dump the logs into the booms
at the mills. All are heavily timbered on their banks, and to the tops of the
ridges there being very little open farming ground on any of them except at
the immediate coast and far on the headwaters. Redwood and fir are the
lumber trees, oak for tanbark. and madrona for little use save firewood in
some places. There are many other kinds of trees, like manzanita, chestnut
oak, black oak. post oak. alder along the streams, with blue blossom spring-
ing up wherever the timber is removed, soon forming impenetrable thickets.
All of these except black and post oak are evergreens, and sprout from the
root, making the clearing of land for agricultural purposes a labor of years.
Really, the redwood lands should never be cleared, but allowed to reforest
for future generations.
Along the immediate coast is a strip of clear land, only second rate in
quality as compared with the coast further south, but yielding fair crops of
grain and hay and vegetables, but not very good for potatoes on account of
persistent cropping with them. Just back of this strip of fertility is a sandy,
barren tract covered with dwarf huckleberries and a species of pine that
often contents itself with a height of two or three feet, though sometimes
eight to ten, and wild rhododendron bushes. This section has lately sprung
into prominence as orchard land, though only a white sand soil underlaid
with yellow clay. Water is said to be abundant at sixteen to eighteen feet
depth, but it cannot add fertility to such soil. All the coast townships have
the same climate, cool, foggy at times, the thermometer seldom ranging
higher than 85° nor lower than 30°. though there have been exceptions to
both. It is modified in many places by the conformation of the headlands
and ridges protecting certain locations, so that it is always open to dispute.
Early Settlement
As given heretofore, \\'illiam Kasten is the first known white settler,
who dates from 1850-51. He built a log cabin and claimed the north bank
of the bay. In 1851-2 a vessel en route from China to San Francisco was
wrecked at Point Cabrillo. News of this was carried down the coast to
Bodega, and a party came up to profit by the wreck. They reported on the
immense body of redwood to be found on this coast and enlisted the interest
of Harry Meiggs. but lately arrived in San Francisco, who at once took
advantage of the news and forthwith chartered a vessel, the Ontario, and
loaded her with a complete sawmill and sailed for Mendocino bay. Meiggs
almost immediatelv concluded his mill was too small for such magnificent
:\IEXDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 51
timber and sent E. C. Williams east for a more complete and larger mill,
which did not arrive on the ground until the following spring, owing to
trouble in crossing the isthmus. It was erected on the "point," the logs
being hauled up from the river on an incline. Meiggs arrived on the 19th of
July, 1852, and with him came J. E. Carlson, William H. Kelly and Capt.
D. F. Lansing. J. B. Ford arrived ten days before Meiggs with eight yoke
of oxen. As William Kasten claimed the waterfront on the north side of
the bay, Meiggs purchased it and paid for it mostly in lumber, with which
was built a house for many years occupied by William Heeser as a residence,
of course with many additions and improvements. Loyd Beall lived just
north of Little River, and sold his place to W. H. Kent, who came in 1852, as
also did Gebhard and George Hegemeyer, John C. Byrnes, Robert White,
J. P. Simpson and J. Scharf. In years succeeding 1854-5-6. arrived A. F.
Mahlman, G. C. Smith, L. L. Gray, James Townsend. Silas Coombs. Ruel
Stickney; 1865-7-8-9, Thomas Walsh, William Heeser, E. W. Blair, F. P.
Furlong, J. D. Murray, N. E. Hoak, J. F. Hills, Haskett Severance, James
Severance, C. R. Kaisen, A. Heeser followed the tide of immigration. Of these
at this date only N. E. Hoak is living. Mrs. W. H. Kent and Mrs. J. F. Hills
were the first white women to enter the new settlement. They came by the
isthmus in 1855, the second train across; from San Francisco to Petaluma
by boat, carriage to Cloverdale, thence horseback through Anderson valley
across the mountain to Greenwood, thence up the coast to their destination,
arriving in April, 1855. Capt. Peter Thompson settled at Pine Grove. Siegfrid
Caspar had a cabin at Caspar Creek, Captain Rundle at Noyo. Manuel Law-
rence at Salmon Creek.
The town of Mendocino occupies the southern slope of the point north
of the harbor, and is garnished with a veritable forest of windmills. The
main streets run east and west and are comparatively level, while the cross
streets are steep and often in poor condition. J. F. Hills stocked the first
store in 1856. William Heeser followed him soon ; then L. Woodward and
Captain Rundle. the latter soon retiring. Mr. Woodward amassed a com-
petence, though for fourteen years he did not go south of the river, purchas-
ing all his stock by letter before the days of drummers. W. H. Kelly also
engaged in the store business for many years. J. D. Murray was the first
druggist. Eugene Brown engaged in merchandising in 1865 and continued
until 1909. The early experience of Mendocino's merchants in obtaining
goods from San Francisco was often heart 'rending and purse bursting. In
December, 1871, Mr. Brown lost a consignment of goods by the wreck of
the Brilliant; a duplicate order was lost on the bar at San Francisco; the
third order reached him safely. Other merchants lost heavily in the numerous
shipwrecks prior to 1870. there being thirty of record up to that date. The
most disastrous as to loss of life were the Chilian vessel La Paz; the Cabot,
twelve lives lost; and a small schooner of one hundred and fifty tons which
was sucked into the "blow hole" on the south side of the bay. As she went
into the cavern several of her crew were rescued by ropes in the hands of
Charley Carlson and W. H. Kelly. Many have doubted the truth of this
story, but it is authenticated by the best of evidence, and the cavern has
been explored by Eugene Brown and others. It has been reported to be of
great length, but actually one hundred and fifty feet. The night of Novem-
ber 20, 1865, was memorable as that of the most disastrous storm known on
this coast, when ten vessels went ashore on the Mendocino coast.
:^2 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Among- the early settlers of Mendocino who led long and useful lives
might be mentioned J. B. Ford, D. F. Lansing, W. H. Kelly, E. C. Williams,
S. W. Hills, Eugene" Brown, D. B. Millikin, all enterprising, public-spirited
citizens, only two of whom are now living — Millikin and Eugene Brown.
William Heeser bought of ^^'. H. Kelly for $6,CO0, in 1858, the farm so long
owned by him, and probably the first to be cultivated in the township. It
comprised all the point west of Main street save a strip next that street
which Mr. Kelly reserved for town lots. It is still held by Mr. Heeser's son,
except such portion as has been sold for town lots. As early as 1863 Mendo-
cino possessed gcod hotels, on iMain street, and several were built later. At
that date there were Carlson's, Osborne & Heldt, and the St. Nicholas kept
by Ben Severance, which latter was burned October 20, 1870, and with it
twenty-five other buildings, the only serious fire the town has ever had.
Recently a pipe and tank system of water has been installed, which will be
sufficient for any ordinary fire. The town is lighted by electricity, brought
from Ft. Bragg by Henshaw, Buckley & Co. in 1899. Within the last two
years the town or rather precinct has voted on prohibition twice, which was
successful both times, and it is predicted that it will always stay "dry," so
satisfactory has the experiment proved to both the business men and the
people. As one landlady expressed the result, "I do not do quite so much
business, but I get my money for what I do." The merchants also express
themselves in similar terms as to compensation, but assert increase of
business.
The pay roll of the mill and timber camps, ties, bark and post sales, are
the main support of the town, as the farming products do not furnish a tithe
of the consumption of the town. Jarvis & Nichols, the principal dealers in
ties, had 125,000 piled upon the landing in 1911, most of which were shipped
the following season.
Of business houses there are the following in the town ; Four hotels,
five general merchandise, two groceries, one photographer, one confectionery,
one shoe shop, two blacksmiths, one butcher, one livery stable, one imder-
taker, two jewelers, four soft drink saloons, two shoemakers, one moving
picture show, three barber shops, one bakery, one billiard parlor, one harness
shop, two drug stores, two lodging houses. There are of professional men
three notaries, two doctors and three of the ministerial profession — Presby-
terian, Baptist and Catholic.
The "Beacon" is the only newspaper in the town, and is ably edited and
managed by its proprietor. A. A. Heeser, son of its founder, William Heeser.
It was established October 6, 1877, succeeding after an interval, the "Star,"
for a short time published by M. J. C. Galvin. It supplies all that is required
in a local paper, is fully alive to the needs and interests of the community,
and has a good circulation and the latest in printing facilities, a Simplex
type casting machine and power press. There are many fine residences in
the town, and so situated on the elevated slope as to give a beautiful view
of the ocean, the bay, and the wooded slope beyond. On the highest point
of the ridge west of town is situated a fine high school building, with a corps
of efficient teachers, and near by the Catholic church ; farther east in an
elegant location is the grammar school. The Presbyterian church is in the
center of a lawn on the main street. The town has regular steamer service
with the city, besides the lumber vessels coming in at all times. Mail stages
up and down the coast connect it with railroads at Fort Bragg and Cazadero,
mp:xd()cixc) and lake counties 53
mails coming through from San Francisco in twelve hours. The climate is
such that in sheltered locations fuschias and geraniums keep green the year
round, and apples, pears, quinces and plums grow to perfection. All the
vegetables, except corn and tomatoes, flourish and new land produces the
finest pctatoes in the world.
Of secret societies Mendocino possesses- a superfluity. The Independent
Order of Odd Fellows was the first to organize in the town. Stella Lodge
No. 213 was instituted November 22, 1872, with the following charter mem-
bers : ■ J. F. Nichols, M. J. C. Galvin, N. Iversen, W. H. Cureton, George
Sanders, and J. E. Kennedy. The first officers were, J. F. Nichols, N. G. ;
M. J. C. Galvin, V. G. : N. \V. Lane, secretary. The lodge has flourished,
built two halls and now numbers one hundred and sixty-nine members. The
present officers are: William Fleming, N. G. ; L. P. Hanson, V. G. ; G. W.
Jarvis, secretary; Eugene Bailey, treasurer. The hall now in use by this
Order was built in 1893, two stories. The lower story is used as a general
?ssembly room, and for general public purposes. The upper story con-
tains the lodge room proper, ante rooms, and in front dressing and card room
and library. In the rear is a fine banquet room and kitchen. The building
cost over $9000 and is a useful ornament to the town and a monument to the
Order.
Mendocino Lodge No. 179, F. & A. M., was instituted in October, 1865.
Its first officers, under dispensation, were E. J. Albertson, W. M. ; William
Heeser, S. W.; G. R. Lowell, J. W.; R. G. Coombs, treasurer, G. C. Smith,
secretary. The charter members included the above and F. B. Lowell,
J. Gschwend, Silas Coombs, I. Stevens and William Booth. A hall was built
in 1866, by stock subscription, which has all passed into the ownership of the
lodge. To its first Worthy Master, E. J. Albertson, much of the ornamenta-
tion, for which the hall is remarkable, is to be credited. He worked long
and faithfully upon it, without hope of reward. Its present membership is
one hundred and thirty-two and the present officers are J. H- Chambers.
W. M. ; George E. Bassett, S. W. ; H. A. Atwood, J. W. ; John A. Chambers,
secretary; H. H. Jarvis, treasurer.
Ocean View Chapter No. Ill, O. E. S., instituted September 19, 1891,
with officers as follows: Emily McCornack, W. M.; Elizabeth J. Clark,
A. W. M. ; C. J. Wood, Secy. ; Mary J. Paddleford, Treas. ; C. W. White, W. P.
Present officers: Florence N. Weber, W. M.; Ava L. Valentine, W. A. M. ;
George Bassett, W. P. ; O. Tarmlund, Treas.; Nannie M. Flood, Secy. Xuni-
ber of members, one hundred and twenty.
Mendocino Lodge No. 70, A. O. U. W., was instituted December 7, 1878,
with the following charter members: B. F. Higgins, G. H. Bowman, D. N.
Le Ballister, John Sorowski. T. R. Smith, E. W. Potter. J. McCroden, A.
Freding, O. Hamilton and N. E. Hoak. The first officers were G. H. Bow-
man, W. M.; D. N. LeBallister, F. ; J. Sorowski, O. ; T. R. Smith, recorder;
E. W. Potter, Fin.; J. McCroden, Rec. For years it was one of the most
flourishing of the Orders in the town, but death and depression of the lumber
trade thinned its membership until now only a handful remain faithful. Its
officers now are: C. L. Knight, M. W. ; E. S. Knight. F. ; J. D. Silveria, O. ;
Wm. T. ^Vallace, recorder.
Council Amor da Sociedade No. 41, S. P. R. S. I., was instituted Septem-
ber 15, 1901, with twelve charter members as follows: Maria J. Ramus,
Henrietta C. Silva, Mayme C. Lopes. Anna F. Luiz, Maria P. Silva. Maria
54 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
G. Brown, Joaquina King, Mariana Pimental, Emilia V. Lemas, Maria C.
Machado, Maria S. Neto, Rosa T. Ramus. Present officers: Anna M. Gon-
salves, Pres. : Henrietta C. Silva, V. P.; Mariana Pimental, Secy.; Frances
Escobar, Mes. of Cores. ; Adelaide C. Silva, Mar. ; Joaquina King, G. Number
of members, sixty-six. The initials S. P. R. S. I. are the abbreviation of
Sociedade Portugueza Rainha Santa Isabel, or Portuguese Society of Queen
St. Elizabeth, which has a membership of about six thousand, with a grand
lodge in Oakland and eighty-five subordinate lodges in California.
Far West Rebekah Lodge No. 176 was instituted October 22, 1891, with
the following charter members : B. W. Bowden, G. H. Bowman, A. F. Mahl-
man, J- O'Donnell, G. B. Bever, J. Seimore, H. L. Frederick, George Switzer,
Mary S. Bever, Emily McCornack, W. A. McCornack. The present member-
ship is ninety-seven and the elective officers are Jennie Swansen, N. G. ; Marie
Iversen, V. G. ; Lena Bowman, Secy. ; Annie Brown, Treas.
Mendocino No. 88, R. A. M., was instituted September 5, 1903, with the
following charter members : William A. Butterfield, Joshua Grindle, Wil-
liam Heeser, Fred Hailing, Henry B. Hickey, H. H. Jarvis, J. A. Nelson,
C. O. Packard, C. J. Wood. The first officers were John Leishman, H. P. ;
J. C. Rice, King; Frank Hall, Scribe; H. H. Jarvis, Treas.; Charles Banker,
Secy. The present officers are W. H. Higgins, H. P. ; Frederick Hailing,
Scribe; J. C. Rice, King; H. H. Jarvis, Treas.; Charles Banker. Secy. Num-
ber of members, sixty-eight.
Waw Beck Tribe No. 164, I. O. R. M., was instituted June 7, 1905, with
charter members as follows : R. R. Armas, William Shaw, William Emerick,
Alex Cameron, Harold Switzer, A. O. Sjaland, John Zellerhend, James
Cooney, A. W. Biggers, J- M. Gwin, A. J- Scott, John Flanagan, S. A. Bloyd,
W. P. Howe, F. E. Lermond, William Fleming, H. G. Bowens, J. W. Millikin,
C. A. Tracy, William Spangle, T. S. Wallace, J. S. Tongg, Chester Byrne.
George Hoe, C. H. Nichols, C. F. Bond, F. C. Peirsol and C. F. McDernitt.
Present membership one hundred and thirty-five. Present officers are : Hel-
mer Olson, Sachem; Simon Boos, Sen. Sagamore; Albert Brien, J. S. ;
William Shaw, C. of P. Membership, one hundred and thirty-five.
Pepperwood Camp No. 756, W. O. W., was instituted June 24, 1903,
with ten charter members as follows : H. C. Tanner, Fred Post, C. V. Brere-
ton, T. W. Hoak, J. N. Garvin, H. G. Bowens, C. B. Johnson, O. O. Boggs,
Theo. Hansen, C. D. Tindall. Present membership, fifty-five. Present offi-
cers: William Shaw, C. C. ; James Porterfield, A. L. ; Charles Banker,
Clerk; Olaf Tannlund, Banker.
Society Consuelho Luiz de Canoes No. 6, U. P. E. C, instituted in
February, 1889. Present officers : Mattie Osborne, Pres. ; Antone Pacheco.
V. Pres. ; Frank Valladae, Secy. ; Antone C. Noyo, Treas. ; J. S. Valladao,
M. of C. ; J. J. Brown, G. of G. ; J. A. Brown, G. of Ex. Number of members,
seventy-six.
• Consello Estrella du Norte No. 62, I. D. E. S., was instituted March 27,
1904. Present officers: H. V. Silva, Pres.; J. M. Fraga, V. P.; J. R. Rod-
eriques. Secy. ; A. M. Fraga, Treas.
West Coast Encampment No. 70, I. O. O. F., present membership,
fifty-nine. Present officers: H. L. Mallory, C. P.; P. Gramstead, H. P.;
Robert Law, S. W. ; G. W. Jarvis, Scribe; Eugene Bailey. J. W. ; William
Fleming, Treas.
MENDOCIN'O AND LAKE COUNTIES 55
The harbor is a bay at the mouth of Big river, or "Booldam," as the
Indians, called it. It is almost circular, and nearly land locked, but open
to the southeast, from which point come the most destructive gales. The
government has been repeatedly importuned to build a breakwater, and thus
create a harbor of refuge for distressed vessels in time of storm — the only
one between San Francisco and Oregon. It is roomy and deep and would
accommodate several vessels at one time. The northern side turns around
to the south in a curve, and on its point is located the shipping cable, over
which everything goes and comes, and so complete and expeditious is it
that a large ship is loaded with lumber in a day. The "Point" is pierced by
the action of the water, so that a row boat can go through from side to side,
and in stormy times the dash of the waves makes the rock tremble. Several
vessels have been lost in the harbor from the parting of their moorings,
four or five totally, and as many more that were repaired and floated. The
saw mill was first built on the point, but for many years it has been on the
flat about half a mile up the river. Meiggs' schemes and plans proved to
be too far in advance, and too expensive for the times, and the mill property
passed into the hands of his principal creditors, GodefYroy, Sillem & Co.,
E. C. Williams, J. B. Ford, and others, who for many years, with varying
fortunes, through many vicissitudes, carried it on until it gave each of them
a fortune.
The logging was done by river-driving, and occasionally a season's
work went to sea on the crest of a flood. D. B. Millikin for many years was
logger for the company, at so much per thousand, logs delivered in the boom,
the company paying all bills and settling up at the end of the season. Lost
logs were the logger's loss and at one time Millikin was $40,000 in debt to
the company. Two successful seasons evened up, and left him a competence,
which he invested in Fresno vineyards, and he is the only one living of all the
old timber men of the early days.
This system of logging obtained on all the rivers of the coast, the
Gualala, Garcia. Xavarro, Big River, Noyo, and Albion. Now only Big
River is using it. And here they have a railroad seven miles long, built in
1893, which is used to supplement the river driving in dry seasons, or emerg-
ency calls for specific cargoes. The capacity of the mill is 100,000 feet, but
at one time 300,000 feet was forced through it in one day uf less than twelve
hours on a competitive sawing with Little River mill. It has been burned
and rebuilt once.
Salmon Creek, which lies a mile south of .Mbion, was once a busy milling
village with two stores, two hotels, two big mills and several saloons, but
is now a dead burg, affording refuge to one disreputable saloon, which has
been purged by fire as we write. The timber is all cut, and the two mills
that shrilly whistled hundreds of hardy woodsmen to labor are things of the
past. Prosperous ranches occupy the hills where once the lofty redwood
and fir swayed to the ocean breeze, or the wild blue blossom presents its
tangled front. Once an hundred thousand feet of lumber and thousands of
ties were shipped each day from its wharf, where safe anchorage for one
vessel was secured. Xow nothing more than a fishing boat ever ties up at it.
Albion, on the mouth of the river of the same name, six miles south of
Mendocino, is a mill town of as busy an appearance as any one could wish
to see. The mill, lumber yard, store, hotel, and the cabins of the mill hands
occuDv all the flat along the river, while the residences of business men, a
56 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
store or two, another hotel, are ranged along the hill on either side of the
river, mostly up a steep grade. A drawbridge confronts one at the foot of
the steep grade on the south side, and from its northern end one gropes
along under huge platforms supporting the tracks which carry from the mill
its entire output. In former days vessels were occasionally run above the
bridge to load from the wharf, or for security in a great storm when more
than one was in the harbor. But of late years this has not been done, as
there is not water enough for the larger size of vessels now used, and sub-
stantial wharves and moorings have been provided in the harbor for even
deep water freighters from foreign ports, of which at one time there were
four in for loads. For many years it was essentially and exclusively a mill
town, its business dominated by the mill owners, and to a great extent is
now. The first known settlement was made here by Scharf, who in 1853
built a water mill for Captain Richardson, the claimant of the grant reaching
from the Albion to the Garcia. It could not have had more than an ephemeral
existence, as Rawson & Rutherford were exploiting the place in 1855-6. tc
be succeeded by Alerrit & Lawrence, then A. G. Dallas, and he by A. W.
McPherson. The history of the town is but the history of mill operations,
as the mill proprietors transacted all business for some time after the erection
of the mill. The first mill was burned in 1867. and a new one of 35.000 feet
capacity was at once erected by McPherson, who soon after was joined in
the enterprise by Henry Wetherby. L. E. White was bookkeeper for the
firm, and finally stocked a store and saloon, and later a hotel, and was
eminently successful in all. as all the pay roll passed through his hands.
In 1861 James Townsend. superintendent of the mill, became associated with
him. and the finn launched out into the tie business and for many years
controlled it. In the same year Townsend moved to Noyo and took charge
of that mill also. He also was interested with Fred Brown in a store at
Noyo. and with Joseph Carroll in a store on Eel river in Humboldt county.
These two men were the business men of the coast for twenty-five years
and made history in their extensive operations in lumber, timber, railroads
and mills. Of late years the mill operations have assumed a more settled
and comprehensive form, by the building of railroad, purchase of large
tracts of timber land, and great improvements in machinery, dry houses and
wharves, which have had the effect of encouraging dwellings of a more
substantial character than the cabins of the mill hands, and the establish-
ment of stores and hotels other than those of the mill company. There are
now three general stores, three hotels, one confectionery, one blacksmith
shop, two barbers, and a hospital, and about twenty good dwellings, school
house, hall, and church. The railroad has been extended to and past Wend-
ling, in the lower end of Anderson, and is eventually expected to connect
with the California Northwestern at Healdsburg. The mill and its adjuncts.
timber, etc., passed into the hands of the Southern Pacific in September.
1907, with its twenty-four thousand acres of timber land at a stated price of
$900,000. The milfhas a capacity of 110,000 feet per diem, 30.000.000 feet
being its output for 1913. Hickey & Co., who previously owned the prop-
erty, are said to have purchased forty thousand acres of redwood timber,
mainly in Humboldt county.
There is quite a body of good farming land contiguous to the town,
mainly south, and much timber land has been cleared and now in fruit, which
takes the first premium wherever exhibited. At Salmon Creek a creamery
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 57
has Ijeeii in successful operation some years. For many years the logging
on the Albion was done by river driving, but the timber has been taken off
for sixteen miles up the stream and the volume of water up there is too
inconsiderable, unless expensive dams are built to be let loose in times of
heavy rains. In an early day when Fred Brown was doing the logging, a
chute was used to put the logs down into the river some two miles from
the mill. It was a quarter of a mile long, and logs smoked as they went
down.
Little River, two miles south of Mendocino, is now essentially a resi-
dence town with one store, one hotel, and about sixteen dwellings, a church,
school house, and blacksmith shop. There is an excellent small harbor at
this place, where steamers often run in when it is too rough to land in any
other harbor in the county, or between San Francisco and Oregon. Years
ago a vessel came in during a foggy night without intention on the part of
her crew, much to the captain's astonishment in the morning. A few ties
and some bark and posts are shipped at this time. Ruel Stickney, Silas
Coombs .and Tapping Reeves built the town when they built their mill in
1864. But the amount of timber available was soon exhausted, though the
mill was once rebuilt after a fire. No vestige of the mill now remains, and
some buildings have succumbed to time and neglect. The early settlers,
W. H. Kent. Ruel Stickney, Tapping Reeves, Silas Coombs, Charles Perkins,
A. F. Alahlman, Isaiah Stevens, Richard Coombs, Charles Pullen. have passed
to the great be3'ond. and their children and grandchildren perpetuate the
family names in school, church and business. Little River was at one time
a lively ship-building port. Capt. Thomas H. Peterson having built twenty
schooners there.
Caspar, five miles north of Mendocino, is another town built primarily
by the mill business, though it has something in the way of agriculture and
orcharding to give it support. It took its name from a German who first settled
there at some unknown date. The harbor is little more than an open road-
stead and is avoided in n ugh weather. The mill was built in 1861 by
Kelly & Rundle, and passed into the hands of J. G. Jackson in 1864. Outside
of the mill company the first business set up there was a saloon by George
Heldt, though Pine Grove, three-fourths of a mile south, provided a hotel
and bar which up to that time accommodated the thirsty. This may be
considered as part of Caspar, as it drew all its support therefrnm and was
for many years owned by Harry Kier, who made a fortune cashing orders
for mill hands, acting as banker for them, and loaning money deposited with
him. Capt. Peter Thompson was the first settler at Pine Grove, and farmed
a little and ran a band of cattle there in 1853. Harry Kier sold out to Sever-
ance and Maxwell, but they did not long continue, as the erection of other
business houses at Caspar proper cut off the patronage from Pine Grove.
A brewery was maintained here from 1873 for a number of years, but was
discontinued for want of patronage. There are now four or five dwellings,
and it is a farming community. Brown & Wooster ran a store here in the
'60s. .\ government lighthouse has been recently erected on the point west,
called Cabrillo Point. It is a revolving ten-second flash light and is visible
fifteen miles. Three cottages have also been provided for the crew and
wrecked people. Harry Harrison built the first hotel in Caspar, about where
the company's store now stands. The writer must have been his first
patron, for a blanket on the bare floor was the only bedroom equipment fur-
58 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COL'NTIES
nished, and that under the eaves where it was not fully closed in from the
night air. The town consists of some thirty or forty dwellings, two stores,
two hotels, and at present writing no saloons, the territory having been
"dry" for the last three years.
The mill is up-to-date in every particular and has a capacity of 75,000
feet. Its logs are brought by rail from the Noyo watershed and are shot
down into the dam at the mill with startling efifect upon a strange horse
passing. The mill was burned in 1888, but was immediately rebuilt ; loss,
$75,000; insurance, $20,000. Upon the death of J- G. Jackson the property
passed into the hands of his daughter, Mrs. Abbie Krebbs, who, with the
assistance of her son, C. J. Wood, has successfully conducted it. The com-
pany has an orchard of eighty acres on cleared redwood lands that in 1911
yielded 10,000 boxes of apples of a quality far superior to the far-famed
Watsonville fruit. There have been secret societies here, but all passed away
long ago except the I. O. G. T., which flourished apace, and the result has
been a dry town, and Court Caspar No. 8217, which was instituted May 15,
1894. The principal officers at the present time are George Allen, C. R. ;
Randolph Pfiester, S. C. ; Arch Bailey, P. C. F. ; Cecil Gregor, Fin. Sec. ; Gus
C. G. Wahlstrom, Treas.
The Caspar, South Fork and Eastern Railroad was incorporated |ulv 7,
1903, with $500,000 capital. r^. ,
' Chronology
October, 1879, Schooner Annie Stofifer ashore at Caspar. February 3,
1880, Schooner Norwester wrecked at Little River. February 19, A. W.
McPherson died, aged fifty-six years. He was agent for the English firm
of A. G. Dallas, and built and ran the Albion mill for them. Afterwards
became its owner, with Wetherbee, as also the Noyo mill. March 6, Bever
hotel burned; loss $5000, insurance $3200. .\ugust 24, a sixteen year old
boy killed three bear at Half Way House. February, 1881, Albion mill
passed into hands of A. W. Starbird. Thirteen schooners were loaded in
ten days. A pear tree at Pine Grove yielded twenty bushels pears. By the
breaking of a chain a team of oxen went over a bank, killing five. Little
River school opened with eighty-one pupils. J. S. Kimball opened up a
store at Whitesboro. July 22, 1882, eight whales spouted along Mendocino.
November 20, five schooners went ashore between Navarro and Westport,
Tie output for 1883, 880,000. A reading room was established in Mendocino.
Albion freshets brought down 32,000 logs. August 20, 1884, Charles Pullen,
Sr., died at Little River. He was a fine mechanic, who assisted in, or erected
the Little River mill, several bridges, and left a large family of mechanics to
continue his work. Game so plentiful that A. Davenport in four days' hunt
killed a six hundred pound bear, six deer and a panther. Apples weighing
from sixteen to twenty-nine and one-half ounces on exhibition. Winter
rains began December 15, 1884. February 1, 1885, Little River ashore, and
a total loss in Little River harbor, where she was built. Isaiah Stevens, a
Little River pioneer, died December 10, 1885, seventy-six years of age.
August, 1884, Caspar Co. bridged Jug Handle creek, for logging railroad,
high and long; it was destroyed by the earthquake of 1906 and rebuilt.
Electric light introduced at Caspar January, 1887, January 6, 1887, Irma
and George R. Higgins ashore at Whitesboro. .^pril 9, 1887, J. Eppinger at
Navarro, and the Pet at Albion, ashore. May 11, 1887, schooners Albion,
Champion, Charlotte, and a tug, ashore at Navarm. Tulv 9. 1887, Mendocino
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 59
procured a fire engine. January, 1888, twenty thousand logs came down
Big river. Z. B. Heywood wrecked at Navarro. Haskett Severance died at
Navarro, April 19, 1888. J. B. Ford died in Oakland, October 25, 1889.
C. W. Denslow died September 25, 1889, aged seventy-five years. Henry
Witherbee died January 29, 1892. E. W. Blair died May 4, 1892, aged fifty-
five years. J. D. Murray died May 25, 1892. All pioneers.
Albion logging train wrecked by a bull and three men killed, June 13,
1893. Navarro mill shut down September 25, 1893, $500,000 in debt. Little
River mill closed up its career, August 20, 1893.
Mendocino high school dedicated May 11, 1894, accredited July, 1897.
L. E. White gave orders that all married woodsmen should be given employ-
ment in his tie camps, although there was already an oversupply of ties.
J. C. Byrnes died January 18, 1894.
S. W. McMuflen killed by accident, April 26, 1895. August 18, 1895, a
mail route was inaugurated fmm Philo to Greenwood. A combination of all
the coast saw mills was again attempted in 1895, to limit production. W. H.
Kelly died December, 1905, aged eighty-four, a pioneer. He practically
built the Baptist church at Mendocino.
A tidal wave of over seven feet struck the coast between 2 and 4 p. m.,
June 17, 1856. Randlett hotel burned in Little River, October 29, 1896.
A. W. Hall died February 6, 1897, seventy-three years of age. Capt. Samuel
Blair died May 31, 1897. Wintzer store burned at Navarro, July 12, 1897.
A ledge of iron ore and polarized gravel discovered at Mendocino.
Nolan's hotel burned at Caspar, April 9, 1898. Bobolink ashore on Kent's
Point, March 22, 1898. Earthquake damaged Albion railroad several thousand
dollars, April 14, 1898. Store fired, December 25, 1898. Ruel Stickney died,
January 12, 1899, aged seventy-five years. J. E. Carlson died, April 16, 1899,
aged seventy-seven years. Fire destroyed Gorman barn. Mendocino, and five
horses, six coaches and buggies. Mendocino Discount Bank placed in liqui-
dation. Albion steam schooner sailed for Alaska with 500 reindeer.
Little River shipped 100,000 ties in 1899. The timber king, Weyerhauser,
ow.ning a million acres in Western Washington, contemplated investments in
Humboldt, but failed to make them. Albion Mill burned September 29,
1900, with 19,000,000 feet of lumber; loss, $130,000. Schooner Sunol burned
at Little River October 23, 1900. James Townsend died December 21, 1900,
aged seventy years. Kaisen tract of timber sold at $30 per acre. Creamery
established at Whitesboro, February, 1901. J. G. Jackson died April 17, 1901,
aged eighty-four years. An oar of the Steamer Rio Janeiro was picked up
in the Mendocino harbor April 15. 1901. G. Hagemyer died May 13, 1901.
Dayton Torrence, five years old, playing in a tie chute, was hit by a tie, fell
back on it, and was carried to the end without injury, at the speed of a mile
in eighteen seconds. Almost a famine along the coast on account of vessels
being" tied up bv a strike. 105,000 ties on the bank at Mendocino October,
1901.
February, 1902, 17.26 inches of rain. Wire chute put in on the point
March, 1902, making loading much more expeditious. April 12, 1902, Men-
docino Mill started up on the north side, having been idle fifteen years. She
cut 51,375 feet from eleven logs out of one tree. At loggers' scale, the logger
would receive $250 for it. Albion railroad surveyed (and incorporated) to
Guntley's in Anderson, and mill completed, with electric lights installed.
Ten-hour schedule adopted, 1902. C. A. Perkins died in July, 1902, aged
60 MENDUCINU AND LAKE COUNTIES
sixty-three years. The Ford family sold out their holdings in the Mendocino
Mill Co. to J. L. Ross. Charles Fletcher died August 14. 1902, aged eighty-
three years. Navarro Mill burned November 7, 1902.
February 7, 1903, six inches snow at Comptche. Stage held up near
there February, 1903. Mendocino Mill cut 572,000 feet in six days in Feb-
ruary, 1903. Severance Hotel at Navarro burned March 7. 1903. Again is
a combination of mills attempted. Rainfall for season, 1903-04: Mendocino,
44.37; Branscomb, 118; Ukiah, 51.49; Westport, 82.13 inches. Frank Farnier
died October 3, 1904, aged one hundred and four years. Sotoyome launched
at Albion January, 1904. New Catholic Church at Mendocino, 40x96, and
Monastery, 30x71.
J. E. Chalfant died April 1, 1905, aged eighty years. Bank of Com-
merce opened at Mendocino August 6, 1905. Results of accidents in one
year ending September 30, 1905: Death, 9; serious, 26. Violence: Death,
4; serious, 2; suicide, 5. Mendocino Lumber Co. changes name to Mendo-
cino Redwood Co., December 30, 1905. 20,000,000 feet cut in 1905. 24,000
logs in boom January, 1906. In three days, 7.12 inches of rain. W. H.
Kent died January 29, 1906. aged eighty-five years. Albion Mill cutting
142.000 feet" daily.' Seven dry kilns of capacity of 450,000 feet ; 22.000,000
in 1905. William Heeser died April 9, 1906', aged eighty-three years. The
earthquake of April 18, 1906, shook down nearly every chimney in Mendo-
cino. Occidental hotel moved five feet. Mill twisted out of true. High
school off its foundation. Monuments thrown down. Span of bridge down.
Mill chimney built in 1864, of 1,000.000 brick, thrown down. From seven
days' rain. 16.81 inches. February, 1907, water works put in for fire pur-
poses. August Heeser died September 23, 1907. Contract let for Point Ca-
brillo lighthouse, three dwellings and barn. Flashlight every ten seconds.
Rain October 14. 1908. Fifteen hundred logs (800,000 feet lumber) rafted
from boom to mill one day by three men.
S. W. Hills died July 10, 1909, aged eighty-four years. Smokestack of
mill rusted olif and fell September 29, 1509; had been up only three years.
Experiment of making heavy wrapping paper from redwood bark, etc., suc-
cessful ; five tons of waste will make one ton paper ; gallon of alcohol from
six cubic feet of waste. On Stillwell ranch reported mine bearing silver,
gold, tin, copper (not ready coined). In jMendocino boom 20,000 logs Jan-
uary 21, 1911. September 7, 1912, rainfall for week, 4.25 inches. Apple fair,
October 23 to 27, 1912. and November 18 to 22. 1913. Improvements in Big
River mill of the latest patents in saws, steam rigger, Prescott carriage,
simplifies and decreases the manual labor. The mill company owns about
35,000 acres of timber land, having on it about 1,500,000,000 feet of timber.
which is estimated to be 40 per cent of the timber on the Big River drainage
basin.
The Rank of Commerce is the onlv one now doing business at Mendo-
cino. Its report for December 27, 1913, is as follows: Capital stock paid in.
$25,000; surplus, $10,100; cash on hand, $17,412; deposits subject to check,
$129,218.75. John S. Ross, vice-president; J. N. Rea, cashier.
The future of the town seems assured for years to come, as the mill
company owns 35,000 acres of timber land, which is forty per cent of the
estimated acreage on the tributaries of Big River, and the greater portion
of the balance necessarih^ will pass through their mill.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 61
It would not be fair to close "Big River's" history without allusiun to
Comptche, sixteen miles east of Mendocino City, on the headwaters of the
Albion. Originally a lumber camp, with small areas of open land scattered
through the timber, by clearing up the land after the loggers were through,
quite a prosperous settlement has resulted, which supports two good schools
and some fine orchards. It is here that thousands of gum trees have been
planted on the denuded lands of the Albion company. For some years there
has been a creamery in operation here, sustained by alfalfa on cleared stump
land. A shake mill has been operated here, and thousands of ties made in
the vicinity. The Albion mill has been logging here for some years past.
There is a large body of the finest timber in the township here, which was
sold to an eastern speculator, to be taken oS in ten years, with a proviso
that it might remain longer on certain conditions. By suit in court, it has
been determined that only four and one-half years more are allowed.
CHAPTER V
Ten Mile Township
Ten Mile township extends akmg the coast from Hare creek (half a mile
south of Noyo river) to Chadbourne gulch on the north. There is but one
considerable town in it, Fort Bragg, whose population is 2403.
There is but little open land in this township, most of it being densely
timbered, with a strip along the southern coast part covered with brush and
scraggly pine. Much of this latter has been cleared out in the last ten years
and made available for gardens and building lots. In the northern part of
the township is as fine land as ever was cultivated and there are three large
dairies maintained there. Here, too, is one of the longest beaches on the
county's coast, with two smaller ones, to break the monotony of the bleak
black bluff which presents its cold shoulder to the mariner. The whole
story of the township centers about Fort Bragg, which is the liveliest, busiest
town in the county. It was incorporated in 1889, with C. R. Johnson, V. J.
Westover, F. Bucholtz, T. Clark and H. A. Weller as trustees; F. A. Whip-
ple, recorder; J. Wintzer, treasurer; J. C. White, marshal; Fire Commission-
ers, C. Stewart, J. Randolph and J. Bucholtz. In 1914 the following officers
were elected: Sam Shafsky, Mayor; E. E. Brown, D. Miller, C. W. Mero,
W. H. Dixon, trustees; clerk, O. L. Johnson; marshal, F. J. Smith; treasurer,
H. W. Little. Population. 2408; assessed value, $746,000; tax rate, $1.98 on
the $100. Date of incorporation, August 5, 1889. Territory one mile square.
The first school, a private one, was organized in 1887, and the first school
house was built in 1889. In 1895, a fine grammar school house was erected,
two-story and basement. In 1901 the high school building was erected at
a cost of $17,000, employing five teachers, with an attendance of seventy-five.
In 1911 the high school pupils issued a most clever and delightful
brochure entitled, "Breath of Ocean," which for interest and information
is the equal of any college publication in the state.
The town has had its catastrophies, but no trace of them remains. The
worst was the earthquake of 1906, which leveled the I. O. O. F. hall, a brick
structure, and others of like construction, but its chief damage was to chim-
neys, and the fire consequent upon it. which swept through the principal
62 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
business block, entailing a loss of $800,000. Like every other place, it had
its vagaries in upsetting safes, and respecting jardiniers, throwing doors
into the street, and leaving windows on either side intact ; upsetting a huge
printing press and leaving a type rack undisturbed.
The streets are graded, but not paved ; sidewalks cemented in the main
part of town, and seme of the residence districts. The town is supplied with
water from mountain springs, and also has a pipe system from the mill for
use in case of fire. The mill also supplies electricit)^ at the rate of twelve
cents per watt. Excellent order is maintained, and a cement calaboose con-
tributes to its enforcement. The people are enterprising, liberal and intelli-
gent, and with many thousand acres of the best redwood of the state con-
tributory to the mill. Fort Bragg is sure to grow for many years to come.
Early History and Settlement
This whole township was selected as an Indian reservation in 1857.
The government having decided to establish a reservation, T. J. Flenley,
then Superintendent of Indian Affairs in California, having headquarters at
San Francisco, sent Lieutenant H. P. Heintzleman on an exploring expe-
dition to Cahto, thence north to Cape Mendocino and down the coast to
Noyo. His report decided the authorities to locate the reservation on the
territory thus mapped out. In 1857, Lieutenant H. G. Gibson was ordered to
establish a post, and his selection of a site was named after Colonel Brax-
ton Bragg, of Mexican war fame. The present town of Fort Bragg was
then a beautiful glade, sloping gently to the west, and completely surrounded
by heavy timber, which shut out the harsh winds, and, in a great measure,
the fogs that elsewhere rolled in so frequently. It had the most equable
climate on the coast. Dr. A. C. Folsom, stationed there for eighteen months,
assured the writer that in that time the mercury showed only a variation
of thirty degrees. The cutting away of the timber north and west of the
then open glade has let in wind and fog and greatly changed the climate.
The officers' quarters were at the east end of the natural parallelogram, the
barracks on either side, and the hospital on quite an eminence at the west
end. The writer visited the "Fort" in 1864. Captain Hull and Lieutenant
Knickerbocker then being in charge. That night Lieutenant Coffman, from
Round Valley station, was there on military business. John Byrnes and
George Wooster from Noyo were invited ; "'commissary" was on tap, and a
regular jamboree inaugurated. Myself and Wooster vacated by way of a
window, and "joy went on unconfined." The soldiers had nothing to do
at that time but eat and drink and occasionally go out and bring in an
Indian family or two to keep up the numbers to be reported. In 1867 the
reservation was abandoned, and soon after the land was thrown open for
purchase, actual settlers being allowed to enter, at the government price
of $1.25 per acre, whatever they were actually in possession of, to the limit
of six hundred and forty acres, and "possession" was very liberally con-
strued. The tract embraced in the limits of the reservation contained over
twenty-four thousand acres, and four stations were established: Fort Bragg;
Culle Bulle, just south of the Noyo river, of which John P. Simpson was
agent and William Ray assistant; Bald Hill, three miles northeast of Noyo,
with M. C. Doherty, agent, and John Clark, assistant; and Ten Mile, with
Major Lewis, agent, and E. J. Whipple, assistant. Captain H. L. Ford was
the first agent at Fort Bragg. Robert White, John P. Simpson, Sam Watts,
LOGGING SCENE, FORT BRAGG
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 63
Hub Mitchell, Steve Mitchell, G. C. Smith, Harry Kier, H. Beall and Lloyd
Beall. Sr.. were employes at various times, and on the breaking up of the
reservation, settled on some of the lands. Dr. T. M. Ames was the first
physician, and was located at Bald Hill, which place fell to Fred Heldt on
the final breakup. Graft was no name for expenditures of this and other
reservations in those times. The Indians got little of it, the employes all.
Only one or two profited by it in the long run, and nearly everyone died
in poverty.
The moving of a mill from Ten Mile river to Fort Bragg in 1885, started
the town, which for some years grew rapidly, especially when talk of a
railroad to Willits became common, and a large grading outfit was landed
at the Noyo. But this project fell through, and the low price of lumber
caused stagnation. But times soon brightened. The logging road continued
to ascend the Noyo river, until the distance intervening between its terminal
and Willits was so inconsiderable that the project of rail connection with
the outside world was revived, and is now realized. There are probably
five thousand acres of open or cleared land in the township, and more being
brought under cultivation, consequently, it is clearly seen that the welfare
and support of the town rests entirely on the timber business at present.
The company employs at times as many as one thousand men, and has
exceeded that number. The payroll, therefore, brings to the coffers of
the business men of the town $50,000 per month, no small revenue for a town
of twenty-four hundred inhabitants.
There are in the town seven general merchandise stores; banks, two;
hotels, nine; garages, two; clothing houses, four; confectioneries, four; drug
stores, two; millinery, two; jewelers, two; bakeries, two; variety, one; sa-
loons, fifteen; photo galleries, one; barber shops, four; livery stables, three;
electrical, one ; undertaker, one ; furniture, one ; newspapers, one, sometimes
two; blacksmiths, four; bottling works, one; second-hand, one; restaurants,
four; tailors, two; moving pictures, two; job wagons, six; all licensed to do
business. To a stranger business seems to be overdone — too many business
houses for the country, as the rural population seems scanty, and farms of
any size few and far between. But back from the main thoroughfare, along
the coast, ranches and orchards are being carved out of the stump and brush
land, and the trade of the workers in the woods and mills, especially of the
two large ones in town and nearby, employing sometimes fifteen hundred
men, affords support for them all. Then, too, the extension of the railroad
to Willits has opened up an extensive trade with the interior. The Finn,
the Swede, the German, the Italian, are making homes blossom where the
average American saw no encouragement for exertion. And, too. an experi-
ment in making paper pulp from redwood bark has resulted favorably in a
small way, and may lead to a profitable industry. As the bark of a redwood
is from two to eighteen inches thick the amount of material is illimitable,
and no use is now made of it save to patch a culvert, fill a mudhole, or burn
to get it out of the way.
A large, well equipped hospital is maintained by membership dues, and
is an absolutely necessary adjunct to the mill business, as the record shows
forty-six accidents in one year involving life or limb. The town supports
one newspaper well and occasionally has another thrust upon it for an
ephemeral existence. The Advocate was founded by Heeser and Bucking-
ham in 1887, and it passed into the hands of C. J. Cavanaugh in May, 1889.
64 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
From it we extract the following epitome of events : Of that date mention
is made of a visit from J. E. Pemberton, "a rising- young lawyer." now one
of the first in his specialty in San Francisco.
A card received from Captain W. E. Hull, formerly in charge of Fort
Bragg in 1863-4, now a dealer in grain, wood and lumber in Prior Lake,
I\Iinnesota. June 5, a subscription of $76, raised to send a young man to
Ukiah hospital for treatment. June 24, election held for incorporation, car-
ried by seventy-nine majority. Trustees elected: C. R. Johnson, Cal Stewart,
O. F. Westover, Frank Bucholtz. and John Randolph; clerk, H. A. Weller;
treasurer, J. Wintzer. July 3d, Steamer Noyo takes out the first log raft.
A lot was purchased by the town for school house for $1,000. On the 24th
the waterworks were completed by Horace Milliken, affording a supply of
1.000,009 gallons per day. Incorporated as a company January 10, 1890. a
building arid loan association was formed in September. In October the
grand officers of the Red Men visited the local lodge. November 27, Schooner
Protection ashore with a cargo of 175.000 feet lumber and 7,000 posts.
January 10, 1890, Baptist church completed. Shingle mill put in opera-
tion and in May, I. O. O. F. lodge instituted. Teachers' County Institute
held in Fort Bragg in June. A fire truck was purchased in February, 1891.
South Coast ashore, but floated, repaired and sailed. July 22, Australian
advices reported no sale for redwood lumber. Mill cut two and one-half
million feet in July. Fire, December 15, burned Hotel Kimball, saloon, jew-
elry store, Weller & Co.'s. Lieser's, Sternberg's, McMullen's, Hetherington's,
and Moore's; loss, $50,000; insurance, $15,000. December 23, I. O. O. F.
hall, uncompleted brick, blown down. In 1891 lumber was shipped, 16,614,-
186 feet: shingles. 4.219,400; shakes, 339,000; ties, 158,563; piles, 880 (some-
times 120 feet long, three feet in diameter) ; posts, 74,409, and wood and bark,
etc., nearly as much remaining in the yards.
May 12, 1892, a cigar raft containing 1.200,000 feet of piling was launched,
but stuck in the mud, being twenty-one feet deep, thirty-five feet wide and
600 feet long. Later it was got under way, but broke in two, and the Noyo
towed part of it into San Francisco. The town bought a chemical engine
August 24; the tunnel from Pudding creek to Noyo river was completed for
the railroad. James Brett built another cigar raft in the harbor, which was
successfully launched, and landed in the bay at San Francisco, Fire, Sep-
tember 27, destroyed six cottages. A reading room was established.
December 31, the Advocate was sold to C. J. Cavanaugh, who still con-
tinues its proprietor. Again in January, 1893, James Brett launched a log
raft of 1,200,000 feet, and an engine was put on the wharf for handling lum-
ber. A table was shipped to the World's fair, Chicago, made with a jack
knife by Charles Brown, a woodsman, of two thousand pieces of wood, with
two years' work. It contained fourteen diflferent native woods, and a con-
cealed snake and other ingenious contrivances, spring actuated. A crash in
the tie business entailed loss on many in June. 1893. Another log raft was
sent ofif July 22d. A water tunnel was driven 450 feet into the hill back of
town to augment the water supply. The Presbyterian society, organized in
1887, erected a church in 1888, which was blown off its base in December,
1892; was restored and a lecture room added at this date. Thirty-five build-
ings were erected in 1893: Red Men's hall, 54x150, three stories; McMullen's,
Randolph's and Higgins' of brick. A log raft, built by Robertson at Marsh-
field, Ore., December 20, 1893, near Trinidad, eighty tons of chains being
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 65
used in its construction, broke up. A combination of Mendocino and Hum-
boldt mills, excepting Caspar and Gualala, was reported. The Daisy Kim-
ball made a daylight round-trip to the Midwinter fair at San Francisco, at
$4 for the trip.
June 20, 1894, application was made for franchise for electric railroad,
and also for telephone. September 11, a large amount of railroad tools was
landed from the Steamer Noyo, and the town was full of expectant engineers,
laborers, etc. One hundred and fifty horses also came on for the work. It
was expected to run a road to Willits. October 6, 1895, a contract of $4,300
was let for school house. Colonel Whipple died at Eureka October 22, 1895.
His brother, H. E. Whipple, died in San Francisco, October 6, 1893. Both
were identified with the early history of the town and vicinity, and held in
high esteem.
Application for franchise for electric lights was made October 30, 1895,
and March 11, 1896, the light was turned on. In February, 1896, the mill
doubled its capacity and extended the wharf. A Finnish commercial com-
pany was incorporated and general store opened October 16. Dr. W. A.
McCornack opened his hospital with drug store, April 14, 1897, the mill
compan}' assessing employes ninety cents per month each for its support.
The mill shipped 1,000,000 feet of lumber in four days. The barkentine, C.
F. Crexker, took on a million feet for Guayaquil, Ecuador. September 22
fire destroyed Kemppe and Aulin houses ; loss, $3,800. The mill put up a
15,000 gallon water tank above the roof, and installed two and one-half miles
of sprinkling pipe. An earthquake visited the town April 14, 1898. continuing
for two days, wrecking most of the chimneys in town, and cracking the brick
buildings. Shafsky Brothers erected a brick, 24x90, two stories, with ware-
house in the rear, 24x40, April 19, 1899. Schooner Norma wrecked entering
the harbor, November 15. The wind died down before she made her anchor-
age, and she drifted on the rocks. She had been hove-to outside for thirteen
days. The mill company put in a reading room at the boarding house Jan-
uary 7, 1900. They also laid large water mains, connecting with the steam
pumps up to and along Main street from Grand hotel to Jefiferson's, and to
connect with pipe heretofore laid to Presbyterian church.
July 1st, steam laundry put in operation. On the 10th an earthquake;
no damage. April 17. 1901, seven houses in process of construction. Union,
high school, and another story on the Grand hotel. The mill put in a two
hundred and twenty-horsepower engine and 3,000 light dynamo. Admiral,
a four-masted schooner, loaded with one million feet of lumber for Ecuador,
and the Steamer Buckingham, two million feet for same country. January
27-28-29, 1902, killing frosts, very unusual. White and Plummer sold the
Noyo store to the Caspar company, whose logging camps were near. Dwell-
ings of H. A. Weller and Alf Cary destroyed by fire May 10, and Bucholtz
house the next week. Another sawmill was built up on the Noyo by DuflFey
and run for a few years at Alpine. Redwood conduits are being used for
carrying electric wires under ground, as being more durable than iron or
steel piping, and more convenient to repair. Mill here sawing for them. A
great labor strike was inaugurated March 25, 1903, which practically paralyzed
business in mill and woods, lasting some weeks.
April, 1903. the Ontario Power company ordered fifteen million feet of
flume for conveying their electric power to Buffalo. Bottling works started,
and a bank building of brick, 35x60, fourteen-foot story.
66 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
April 25, 1905, the business houses elected to close Sunday, and every
evening at 6 p.m., except Wednesdays and Saturdays, and first and fifteenth
of each month, for six months. January 21, 1906, the great storm of previous
week made of Fort Bragg an island, as the Noyo ran through the railroad
tunnel to Pudding creek and raised one bridge up two feet.
April 18, 1906, the great earthtpiake struck Fort Bragg the hardest of any
town in the county. Every brick building in town, except the bank, Gus
West's and the Hardee block, was wrecked, and many of the wooden ones
badly damaged ; some of¥ their foundations. Like San Francisco, fire com-
pleted the work, wiping out an entire business block. The loss footed up
nearly a million dollars and one life — La Poie. Perhaps no town in the State,
in comparison to size, suffered more heavily. Rebuilding began at once, and
better and more firmly braced structures were the order of the day. Brick
was not to be thought of. September 17, Rone's house burned. January,
1907, several inches of snow fell.
In August, 1907, the Steamer Strathskey took on 2,000,000 feet of lum-
ber and sailed for Puget Sound to take on another million. The Christian
Bors loaded two and a half million feet for Valparaiso. In March, 1908, the
high school building was finished. The high school was accredited May,
1909. The new Presbyterian church was dedicated October 1, 1910. On the
18th fire destroyed the planing mill, ice plant, blacksmith shop and stable
belonging to the mill company.
March 15, 1911, the library issued one hundred and thirty borrowers'
cards, received $50 in donations^ and ordered one hundred and seventeen vol-
umes. In April a reinforced concrete jail was erected, and to render it useless,
nine grammar school teachers were employed. Five fire alarm stations were
located. In October an election was held on the liquor question and the
town went "wet" by one hundred and nineteen majority. September report
of the librarian showed that six hundred and eighty-two books were given
out; attendance. 1,120. The town now had four school buildings, fifteen
teachers, four hundred and seventy-five pupils ; school property valued at
$27,000. December 15, 1911, the rails were laid into Willits and an excur-
sion of one hundred and fifty celebrated the occasion. J. G. French was made
superintendent of the road, the "California Western Railroad and Naviga-
tion Company."
The twenty-fourth anniversary of the Red Men's lodge was held May 11,
1912. The new bank building, of reinforced concrete, was finished June 8th.
On the 28th the steeple of the Baptist church, ninety feet high, fell. The
Atlas Tank company was incorporated to build redwood tanks. British
tramp steamer, St. Kilda, loaded with one million feet of lumber for Aus-
tralia.
An election was held October 7, 1912, for issuing bonds to build or pur-
chase city water works. The local works were offered at $75,000. The town
has offered $30,000 for the plant which has been refused. Library building
completed, 35x55 feet; wood, with mezzanine floor, $2,500. M. T. Smith,
an old pioneer, died Tanuarv 24, 1912. The new Baptist church dedicated
March 13, 1913.
Cleone. north of I^'ort Bragg six miles, has a chute and wharf, difficult
to maintain, but which has done a great deal of business in tie. bark and pile
shipping. There have been two mills in the timber east of the road, but
the other business j^roving more profitable, they were closed down. It once
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 67
supported quite a business village, with several saloons ; now a store, black-
smith shop and half a dozen dwellings comprise the town. It is the frontier
of quite a large body of fine agricultural land, extending to and north of
Ten Mile river to Kibesilah, another has-been town. Between is a shipping
point, Newport, once the outlet for what is now the Fort Bragg mill, then
located on Ten Mile river. Near here are three large dairies which supply
the home demand for butter. Kibesilah once boasted two hotels, two stores,
as many or more bars, and did quite a business in shipping lumber, ties, bark
and posts, but nothing is now left but a small dwelling recently erected on the
ashes of the last old relic of its former prosperity.
Just south of Newport stood the old reservation headquarters, long the
residence of E. J. Whipple. It was destroyed by fire in 1913. There is a
large body of fine land stretching along the coast from Cleone or Inglenook
to Chadbourne Gulch, the north line of the township. We may suppose that
before the timber is gone improved methods of farming, clearing up the brush
land, the use of kelp as a fertilizer, and man's ingenuity will so far increase
production, that the towns will be supported by the productions of the earth.
New industries, or applications of the old material, are continually
springing up. The waste about a sawmill in the old days amounted to fully
one-third of a log, and sometimes one-half. Now it does not average one-
fourth. Shingle blocks, short lumber, pickets, etc., use up much that for-
merly went over to the burning heap. Now the mills are universally fitted
with machinery to cut up the edging and broken boards for engine fuel, and
the sawdust, that many of them also use for fuel, is now being kiln dried,
put into drums made for the purpose at the mill, and shipped to Fresno
to be filled with grapes and sent east for cold storage until the holiday trade
begins. The grapes net $60 to $70 per ton in this way. The Union Lumber
company has the finest building of wood north of San Francisco, and per-
haps in the state, which is completely stocked in department style. It is
one hundred and twenty feet front and depth, finished in natural wood with
maple floor. Repeated requests obtained no details of construction or ar-
rangements.
Glen Blair is another suburb of Fort Bragg. It is situated. on Pudding
creek, six miles inland by rail, and is simply a mill village, supported by
employes of the Glen Blair Mill company. The mill is one of the best on
the coast. 60,000 feet capacity, and ships its lumber through Fort Bragg's port.
It originally had the finest body of timber on the coast ; many logs had to
be blasted before being brought from the woods. It was built by Captain
Blair soon after Fort Bragg was in operation and in charge of Alex Mc-
Callum, run successfully for many years. It is now owned by Glen Blair
Mill company and in charge of J. A. Sinclair, one of the principal owners.
Fort Bragg has three banks, all in flourishing condition. The First
National has a paid-up capital of $50,000, surplus and undivided profits $19,427.
J. E. Weller, president; L. Barnard, vice president; C. R. Weller, cashier;
additional directors, L. J. Scoofify, George Golden, C. F. Hunt.
First Bank of Savings: Capital, $25,000, paid up. Resources. $150,014.
L. Barnard, president ; George Golden, vice president ; J. E. Weller. cashier ;
additional directors, H. P. Plummer, L. J. Scooffy, C. W. Broback. F. Wind-
linx.
Fort Bragg Commercial Bank, incorporated March 28, 1912. Paid-up
capital. $25,000. Surplus and undivided profits. $3047. Individual deposits.
68 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
$145,726. Total resources, $216,291. C. W. Mathews, president; D. Brandon,
vice president; H. P. Preston, cashier; Leo Brandon, assistant cashier; addi-
tional directors, J. W. Preston, M. H. Iversen, L. C. Gregory, B. A. Lendrum.
Fort Bragg is well represented on the secret society map, and part of
them may not be uninteresting to the lodge portion of our subscribers.
Fort Bragg Lodge No. 361, F. & A. M., was organized March 14, 1904.
Charter members : W. A. McCorn'ack, John E. Weller, Eric Huggins, H. R.
Baum, A. S. Lyman, H. M. Foye, W. B. Ward, J. H. Carlisle, G. H. Stilling,
A. H. Shafsky, Chester Woodruff, John W. Cullom. Present officers : J. E.
Weller, W. M.; A. A. Lord, S. W.; W. F. Fuller, J. W. ; C. R. Weller,
Treas. ; George Golden, Secy. Number of members, seventy-four.
Fort Bragg Lodge No. 360, I. O. O. F., was organized May 31, 1890.
Charter members : Charles Thamer, J. E. Diehl, Louis Nelson, John Ran-
dolph, T. A. White, and Valentine Menges. Present officers: Peter Johnson,
N. G.; G. H. Hartman, V. G. ; H. J. Dellett, Secy.; O. L. Johnson, Treas.
Redwood Encampment No. 67, I. O. O. F., was organized February 27,
1899. Charter members : T. O'Connor, S. B. Hatch, George Urquehart,
Abraham Shafsky, P. Halvorsen. Present officers : Ed Mann, C. P. ; W.
Turner, H. P.; E. Ness, S. W.; H. J. Dellett, Scribe; T. F. Johnson, Treas.;
P. Ericson, J. W. Number of members, sixty-seven.
Golden West Rebekah Lodge No. 32, 1. O. O. F., was organized February
28, 1895. Present officers: Jeannie Murphy, N. G. ; May Lewthwaite, V. G. ;
Alva McLeod, Secy. ; Margaret Hopkins, Treas. Number of members, fifty.
Santana Tribe No. 60, I. O. R. M., was organized May 11, 1888. Present
officers: H. J. Young, Sachem; Henry Whipple, Sr. Sagamore; C. F. Johnson,
Jr. Sagamore ; J. E. Weller, Keeper of Wampum ; George Golden, Chief of
Records. Number of members, two hundred and twenty.
Knights of the Maccabees was organized September 18, 1897. Present
officers: O. L. Johnson, Commander; A. Shafsky, Record Keeper. Number
of members, thirty-six.
Fort Bragg Aerie No. 833, F. O. E., organized November 10, 1904. Present
officers : W. Bangs, W. P. ; L. F. Thompson, V. P. ; H. W. Little, C. ; W. W.
Ware, Secy. Number of members, two hundred and twelve.
Alden Glen Parlor No. 200, N. S. G. W., was organized August 31, 1897.
Present officers : W. F. Agnew, P. P. ; W. C. Balfour, P. ; H. W. Little, Secy. ;
George P. Purlenskv, Treas. Number of members, sixtv-eight. Funds in
treasury, $2200.
Kalavala Brotherhood was originated and organized in Fort Bragg by
Charles Martin, October 28, 1907. Present officers : Oscar Ruuska, Past Pres. ;
Charles Randis, Pres.; August Rantala, Secy.; John Abrahamson, Treas.
Number of members, two hundred and three.
United Ancient Order of Druids (American) was organized July 12, 1906.
Present officers: E. S. Belknap; O. L. Johnson. Secy.; H. W. Little, Treas.
Number of members, sixty-two.
Croatian Society Narodue H. R. V., Zajednice, was organized in 1907.
Present officers: Anton Zruak, Pres.; George Bozicevich, Fin. Secy.; John
Buzdon, Rec. Secy. ; Mate Sverki, Treas. Number of members, one hundred
and seventeen.
Loyal Order of Moose. Present officers: L. C. Gregory, P. D. ; J. G.
Aylward, D.; E. S. Scott, V. D.; D. J. Donigan, Prelate; A. T. Lewis, S. of A.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 69
Degree of Pocahontas : Prophetess, Annie Garhohn ; Pocahontas, Mrs.
Helena Conroy; Wewonah, Mrs. Maud Agnew; Powhatan, Joe Ferandy ;
K. of R., Mrs. Josiah M. Stoddard; K. of W., Mrs. Lucy Carlson. Number of
members, eighty-nine.
Redwood Hive No. 32 was instituted August 23, 1898. Present officers:
Mrs. Nellie Doyle, L. C. ; Mrs. Caldona Allen, P. L. C. ; Mrs. Catherine Camp-
bell, R. K.; Mrs. Ida R. Johnson, L. A.
W. O. W.: G. W. Taylor, C. C. ; W. D. Dolan, A. L.; E. E. Brown,
Clerk: I. W. Mathews, Banker. Number of 'members, seventy-six.
Knights of Pythias : G. W. Taylor, C. C. ; E. A, Erickson, A. L. ; G. V.
Weller, Prelate; E. E. Brown, K. of R.; J. P. Hopkins, M. J. E. Number of
members, thirty-six.
Sapphire Chapter, O. E. S., was instituted .\pril 25. 1905. Present ofifi-
cers : Alice AI. Pensol, A\'. M. : Anna E. Milliken, A. M. W. ; Emma E. Brown,
Secy.; Harriet R. Huggins, Treas. : W. F. Fuller, W. Patron. Number of
members, seventy-five.
Kalavala Sisterhood No. 1, was organized at Fort Bragg March 12, 1897.
Its first officers were Mrs. Matilda Aulin, Pres. ; Miss Fiina Karjanaki, V. P.;
James Marttin, P. M. ; Evelina Kemppe, Secy. ; Sophie Hellen, Treas. Present
officers: Lena Guinnerus, P.; Sigrid Karjanaki, V. P.; Olga Karvonen, P.;
Elima Lehtemaki, Secy. ; Lizzie Abrahamson, Treas. Number of members,
sixty-nine.
Mendocino Grove No. 105, U. A. O. D., was instituted in 1912. M.
Domeriguez, D. D. ; P. Farilli, N. A. ; E. Corelli, F. Secy. ; J. A. Simonin, R. S.
Present membership, two hundred and seventeen.
The weather clerk reports an unusually severe winter 1913-14. Higher
tides, heavier winds, and more rainfall than have occurred in years, 46.62
inches to March 21, with some inches to date since then.
CHAPTER VI
Ukiah Township
This township lies in a valley i.f Russian river and is bounded by quite
abrupt ranges both east and west, and north and south respectively by Sanel
and Little Lake townships, and for a short distance by Potter, on the north.
It was practically all included within the lines of Yokaya grant, save a narrow
strip of mountain land on each side, not considered worth surveying by the
grant claimants. And yet this worthless land is now selling at $15 to $20
per acre, and being transformed into vineyards.
The soil of the valley consists of the river loam, black clover land, gravelly
wash from the hills, and the gravelly sandy formation of most of the hills of
the county.
The climate is unsurpassed in Calilnrnia. while the summers develop
heat sufficient to bring the mercury in exceptional days up to 110 degrees,
yet the cool nights at 50 degrees, and invigorating mornings, fit the citizen
for the labors of the day, which the more even temperature of the eastern
climate does not affect. The dryness of the air in summer, devoid of the damp
sultriness of the eastern climate, makes this degree of heat endurable even
for the hard W(irk of the harvest field, while the toiler ever finds the cooling
70 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
influence of a shade, and the ever daily recurring breeze, sulificient to prevent
complaint. The lowest known temperature has been 12 degrees above, and
this only once in the fifty years that a record has been kept. The usual limit
is 24 degrees, with an occasional drop to 19 or 21 degrees on off years.
Products
The great variety of fruit and general products of the township is suffi-
cient to demonstrate its fertility and climate. Grain of all kinds, including
corn, luxuriates, fruit of all kinds indigenous to the temperate zone is raised
in profusion, while many of the tropical ones find a congenial home in the
valley and foothills. Heavy spring rains, or late frosts, sometimes curtail the
amount of fruit, but a total failure has never been recorded. The varying
elevations and exposures always insure a liberal supply for every valley.
Prunes, plums, pears, cherries, apples, are always in evidence, with peaches
and apricots in favored localities, berries everywhere, and oranges, lemons
and olives wherever they have been tried.
The township reaches from the 25 mile post (from county line) to the
head of Redwood valley, and includes Ukiah valley, Coyote valley and Red-
wood valley, being about twenty-seven miles north and south and about
twenty miles east and west, the west line being at the intersection of the
Hot Springs and Low Gap roads. East of Ukiah valley the mountain is
heavily clad with brush, and a good part on the west, except at the northern
and southern part where the country presents more grazing land. It includes
nearly all the tributaries of Russian river except Walker valley. Potter, and
the Cold creek region.
Ukiah valley is about ten miles long and from half a mile to two miles
wide, with occasional glades running up the incoming streams. On the hills
grow the various woods indigenous to California, several kinds of oak, fir,
limited bodies of redwood, pine, madrona. tan oak, chestnut oak, manzanita,
and the smaller woods or brush, such as hazel, chemissal, blue blossom, moun-
tain mahogany, nutmeg, yew, laurel, etc., cover the mountains and fill the
canons. The white oaks of the valley often obtain a diameter of six feet,
with a branch spread of one hundred and fifty feet, while the golden oak of
the canon grows to the size of four feet, and height of one hundred and fifty
feet or more. The redwoods grew only in a few of the stream heads on the
western side of the valley, and have practically been exterminated. It seemed
merely an overflow of the dense forests of the western slope of the range, and
came no farther than the limit of the fog drift from the coast.
Early Settlement
Conflicting authorities differ as to the date and personality of the first
really white settlers of the township, but Dr. Vallejo, son of General Vallejo,
certainly must be as near correct as any one not here at the time. In an
article recently published, he mentions the fact that in 1833, "Captain Sepul-
vedo Vallejo came up with Spanish troops to procure Indians to work on
adobe houses and forts then being built at Sonoma. That later other expedi-
tions were here to procure children to enslave. In 1848, Don Timothy Murphy
and James Black sent John Parker to Ukiah valley with horses and cattle,
who located at Robertson creek. In the spring of 1850 Parker was seriously
injured, as he said, by Indians, while the latter asserted that Parker was run
over by a band of horses when he was lying asleeii. His jaw was broken.
MENDOCINO AND LAKP: COUNTIES 71
and the Indian chief, Cyotiwexo, kept him alive 'for some time by adminis-
tering liquid food through a reed. The chiefs son, Guadaloupe, carried word
to Murphy, who sent his major-domo, John Knight, to bring Parker and the
stock back to San Rafael. Parker died in Peru." Yet others have asserted
that Parker was living in the valley as late, or early as 1852-3. Colonel
La Motte passed through the valley in 1854, and says some white man was
then living in the same location.
Samuel Lowry arrived in the valley in 1856 and located at what is now
the corner of Main and Perkins streets, declaring a homestead. In April,
1857, A. T. Perkins and family moved in, and bought out Lowry. In this year
also came G. B. Mathers. Berry Wright, John Burton, L. M. Ruddick, T. F.
Beattie, and W. J. Cleveland. The following spring witnessed an influx of
settlers, among whom may be named H. Standley, M. C. Briggs, G. C. Smith,
J. B. Lamar, D. Gobbi, S. W. Haskett, William Neely Johnson, Lew Warden,
]. R. Moore, Dr. Price. Later by a year or two came the Gibsons, G. W.,
T. J., A. T.. and Robert; R. McGarvey, E. R. Budd, William Henry, John
Ontis, W."b. Hagans, M. Hooper, R. Stevens, W. H. White, M. W. Howard,
J. W. Morris, Sam Ackerman, and about seventy-five others, enough to deter-
mine Ukiah as the county seat at the election called in May, 1859. Of all those
that were known to be here at that date only I. C. Reed, Berry Wright, T. J.
Gibson, J. P. Smith and John Ontis are known to be now living.
The name Ukiah is a corruption of the Indian name Tokya, and is so
variously spelled on letters daily received at the post office that one wonders
how they find their way here. The history of the township embodies that
of the town, and so intimately are they interwoven that an attempt to treat
them separately would occasion much repetition.
The Grant
Covered as it was by the Yokaya grant, in its entirety, the progress of the
community was in a measure restrained on account of the uncertainty of title
to the land. The confirmation of the grant title in the United States district
court on December 18, 1862, settled the matter, but the sale of the land only
began in earnest in May. 1866. In February, 1861, Julia E. Rogers, O. Schle-
singer, William Neely Johnson, E. R. Budd, Robert AIcGarvey and others
secured bonds for deeds to lots in or adjoining the town, the first actual full
deed from the grant owners being made to J. H. Laughlin, December 14,
1867, for one hundred and ninety acres for the sum of $1000. The same date
S. B. Edsall obtained a deed to two hundred acres for $800; T. F. Beattie,
three hundred and sixty-three acres for $1180; T. J. Faught, three hundred
and twenty-five acres for $1430; December 16, P. Mankens, one hundred and
seven acres for $900 (this latter piece is now held at $11,000) ; A. T. Perkins,
sixty-six acres for $1100; J. R. Short, one hundred and sixty-three acres for
$1500; December 17, H. P. Benton, two hundred and eight acres, $2233 (what
is now the Redemeyer and Sandford ranches). As these are average ranches
for soil and location, the price ranged from $2 to $11 per acre.
The first deed placed on record in the books of the county clerk was from
Louis Pena and wife, Beatrice Pena, to_ Richard Harrison, of date May 23.
1859, of five hundred acres in Sanel Valley for the sum of $2000. The second
deed was of date May 27, 1859, from Richard Harrison, conveying two hun-
dred and thirty acres of the same land tn Beatrice Pena for $1400. June 1,
1859. F. B Gardner deeded one-fourth interest each in the Star Ranch, Knights
72 MEXDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
valley, to W. W. Star and J. B. Bovven. nineteen hundred and forty acres, for
$4000. This gives one a fair idea of land values at that early day. Lots in
Ukiah sold at $20 up. E. R. Budd's ten-acre tract in the southern border of
the town was priced at $25 an acre. At a later date, when the remnants of the
grant passed into the ownership of Doolan and IMcGarvey, the poorest land
was sold at $2.50 per acre, and blocks in the western part of town for $200
to $250 each.
The first hotel in the town was built by Harrison Standley on the south-
west corner of Main and Standley streets, in 1859. It has twice been moved
bodily, to the southeast corner of Standley and State streets, and back again,
and torn down in 1913. It had been on fire a score of times, yet never seri-
ously injured thereby. As before related, the upper story of a building on the
east side of Main street, a little south of Standley street, was used as a court
house and for county offices until a brick court house was built, at a cost of
$9000 for building and furnishing. It was finished, accepted and occupied
January 24, 1860.
In November, 1860, E. R. Budd, for some years publisher of the Sonoma
Democrat in Santa Rosa, established the Mendocino Herald, in Ukiah, where
it held sway for many years. Democratic though its proprietor had always
been, yet the paper from its inception espoused the L^nion cause, and from
that, at the close of the war, became Republican. During 1863-4 A. O. Car-
penter was associated in its publication. In July, 1865, E. D. Pepper suc-
ceeded to the management of the Herald for a short time.
July 2. 1863, a Democratic paper was first published, with A. T. Perkins
& Co. as ostensible proprietors, and William Holden as editor, with "Consti-
tutional Democrat" for the cognomen. The Hon. Holden thereafter was
nicknamed "Constitutional Bill." February 19, 1865, another paper was
launched on the suflfering public under the name of Mendocino County Demo-
crat, with Mat Lynch as editor and proprietor. These last two papers were
merged into one, and for some years was run by Mat Lynch. Differences
arose between Lynch and the Democracy and he was forced out of the paper
by financial pressure, and it became the Mendocino Democrat, and under Alex
Montgomery in 1870 absorbed the Herald, thus leaving the Republican party
without an organ. In October, 1873, Mat Lynch again essayed the role of
journalist and began the publication of the Democratic Weekly Dispatch.
Dying in [•'ebruary, 1874, his widow, Mrs. Belle Lynch, assumed the control,
editorial and business, of the paper, and made it decidedly spicy and energetic.
Untoward circumstances forced her out of its management in March, 1878,
and Gambee & Hofifman published it until August, when Hoffman retired and
E. B. Gambee remained sole owner. An unfortunate article clipped from the
Argonaut proved his undoing, and in July, 1879, C. J. Williams assumed control
of its destinies. April, 1880, Peabody & Sefton purchased it, and conducted
it for some years, when A. W. Sefton sold out to his partner, who assumed
its sole management until 1889, when he sold to John Buckingham. In July,
1896, Buckingham died, and the paper was managed by M. Baechtel, with Mr.
Kertley as editcr, and was by him sold to J. B. Sanford in 1898. In 1913 Mr.
Sanford associated with himself E..P. Thurston, who had for some years
virtually conducted the paper. It is intensely Democratic, has a large sub-
scription list, good joli office, linotype machine, and power press.
In July, 1877, E. J. Handley issued the first number of the Ukiah City
Press, and continued it until October. 1878, when be departed for unknown
:\IExNDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 71
territory, leaving the paper in charge of his foreman, who surrendered it to
the mortgagee, the latter selling it to A. O. Carpenter. It had a subscription
list of about three hundred and was weakly in every respect. Close applica-
tion to its business department, and diligence in seeking news and new sub-
scribers caused it to flourish, and in a year's time it was on a firm basis, with
a good list of eight hundred subscribers. In February, 1879, Charles S. Paine
became associated in its conduct, paying most of his attention to the typo-
graphical department, and two years after bought out Mr. Carpenter. June,
1883, Paine sold to Pope, who ran the Press until 1889, when Mrs. Pope
assumed its responsibilities and sold to S. Hornbrook. June, 1891, Thatcher
& Paxton assumed control ; S. J. Matthews, Poundstone & Matthews, suc-
ceeded in close order, until 1893, when it was issued by the Press Publishing
Company, headed by J. M. Mannon ; then in 1896 Alf. Pennington's name
appeared at the head of its columns ; 1898 Pennington & White appeared as
its directors; 1902 J. M. Mannon was again its ostensible owner; 1903 White
& Stanley took charge of it, and shortly after W. O. White's name was
blazoned on the paper and the windows of its office, and it has since continued
acceptable to the rank and file of the party it represents, and the public in
general. It issues two thousand copies and has a power press and Intertype
machine and full outfit for fine job work.
The Times, another weekly, has had an exceedingly varied experience.
It is hard to say who its progenitor was, as it has been grafted upon several
sporadic efforts at journalism. The Ukiah Independent of Hunter & Whitton,
the Mendocino Republican by C. Huse, the Herald by Herzinger, the Saturday
Night by Broback, may all be counted among its ancestors. Finally it fell into
the hands of George H. Rhodes, who let go of it soon after the election of
W. H. Kent to Congress. Since then it has been successively in the hands
of Marlow, Halliday, Adams, and now is run by Keller & Hufft, two young
men who have grown up with the town. It also has a job office, power press,
and linotype.
John Burton sold the first goods in Ukiah, was afterwards county assessor,
and owned the farms now occupied by Sanford Bros, and the Redemeyers. In
conjunction with A. T. Perkins a store was built on the corner of Main and
Smith streets, afterwards occupied by Kaskell, Mears & Co. In 1858 Perkins
and J. R. Short built a school house between Clay and Stevenson streets, west
of Oak, of split stufT. Fred S. Dashiell was the first teacher.
In 1859 J. R. Moore established a saloon on Standley street near State.
Up to that time all the business of the town was located on Main street.
Philbrick & Morton erected another on State, which burned down in 1913,
then occupied by L. Van Dusen. The first drug store was built and stocked
by George B. Mathers, on the corner of Perkins and State, where now is the
bar of the Cecille hotel. North of the Ukiah House (Standley's) was a two-
story building occupied by Capt. D. W. Smith as a saloon below and lodging
house above, and it was often three deep both above and below.
The first church, Methodist Episcopal, was built in 1862, through the
exertions i<f Rev. W. S. Bryant. Rumors of a railroad were floating around,
though there was not money enough in the county to build a decent dirt road.
In May, 1863, Capt. J. P. Simpson recruited a company of volunteers to take
the place of regulars in the care of Indians in Mendocino and Humboldt. They
were mustered out in June, 1865, not having drawn blood. In April, 1867,
the Southern Relief Fund was enriched bv contributions as follows: Ukiah,
74 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
$295; Potter, $31.50; Redwood Valley, $15. The flour mill which had for
some years been run by water at Calpella by Wurtenburg & Wichelhausen
was moved to Ukiah and fitted with steam power. In 1870 T. B. Bond,
R. McGarvey and W. E. Willis were appointed to locate the streets of Ukiah,
and a year after they reported them where they were before, and have con-
tinued since, in effect.
In August, 1872, a petition for incorporating Ukiah was presented to the
board of supervisors, who granted the same, and ordered an election for town
officers for August 31st, and prescribed that the town should be one mile
square, with the court house as its center. The election resulted in the fol-
lowing officers : Trustees, R. N. Willing, J. R. Moore, E. W. King and Samuel
Orr, and later T. L. Carothers. R. N. Willing was elected chairman, T. L.
Carothers, clerk. Thomas Charlton was elected marshal, and I. Isaac treas-
urer. The following year Mr. Isaac committed suicide and William Ford was
appointed treasurer. In 1874, after the election, the officers-elect failed to
qualif}-, the old officers refused to serve, and the town fell down. The town
was again incorporated in 1876 and the election held in February resulted in
the following list of oificers : T. L. Carothers. J. S. Reed, S. Orr, W. H. Forse
and G.B. Mathers; assessor and marhsal, A. O. Carpenter. In 1877 the
Ukiah Water Co. proceeded to lay mains. The Maxim Gas Co. having also
laid its mains, street lights were ordered at the principal corners. A Babcock
hook and ladder truck was purchased. Financial statement of the town No-
vember 25. 1879: Property, $326,747; tax collected, $800; poll tax, $119;
licenses, etc:, $328; total. $1247.
July 26, 1879, the people were called upon to mourn the loss of the first
inhabitant to locate in its boundaries, Abner T. Perkins, a man without an
enemy, and a friend of all.
The water rate was fixed at $1.50 per month for a residence and ten cents
per hour for irrigat^ion with a three-quarter hose.
The bank of Santa Rosa established a branch in Ukiah, in 1873, under
the management of J. H. Donohoe. It erected the building later taken over
by the Bank of Ukiah; It closed out its business in 1876.
The Bank of Ukiah was organized in 1874, with A. F. Redemeyer presi-
dent and Sam Wheeler cashier, who remained in office for many years. R. Mc-
Garvey svicceeded Redemeyer and in turn was succeeded by Hale McCowen
and he by Henry Hopper, who is now president. W. F. Thomas succeeded
Sam Wheeler as cashier, and now holds that position. The bank has ever
been prosperous, and of late years conservative in its management. In the
spring of 1914, its capital stock was reduced to $150,000, as being preferable
to the larger amount heretofore carried. Its statement of March 11, 1914.
shows resources of $708,864, of which $55,835 is cash on hand. It has a surplus
of $25,000, undivided profits $12,847; individual deposits subject to check,
$275,768.
The Savings Bank of Mendocino County was incorporated December 13.
1903, both as a commercial bank and savings bank, $25,000 capital paid in, in
each department. The figures given represent the two combined, of which
seventy-five per cent represents the savings department. Resources, $434,-
671; cash on hand, $15,119; undivided profits, $11,225; surplus, $6000; indi-
vidual savings deposits. $278,341. At its organization J. H. Barker was presi-
dent. Ill health caused his resignation in 1914, and J. M. Mannon became
president ; J. L. ^IcCracken. \ice-president ; .\rtlnir Tracw cashier.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 75
The Commercial Bank of Ukiah was organized December 18, 1903, with
a paid-up capital stock of $50,000. W. P. Thomas president and E. L. Cun-
ningham cashier. Resources, $369,669; surplus, $35,000; individual deposits,
$217,287.
Eagle fire company was organized in March, 1877, with C. W. Tindall as
foreman. The apparatus owned by it was a hook and ladder truck, four Bab-
cock extinguishers and a house and lot. Now it has two hose carts, a library
and clubhouse. January 5, 1881, a fire swept Standley street fronting the plaza,
except a brick on the corner of State street.
A representative of eastern stockholders disbursed $7000 acquiring timber
land on the head of Seward creek, Leonard's water right, and the Gold Mining
Company at Calpella. Louis Sefton, seven years old, drowned in Gibson
creek, in town. The "bear truth" is chronicled in the Press of February 4, 1882;
Nixon trapped eleven bear last year on Big river; Doc Standley killed four
in less than one minute ; the Rawles brothers kill from twenty to thirty in
Anderson each year. On the tenth, fire in Grand hotel block destroyed hard-
ware store and post office; loss $14,000, insurance $6000.
The Calpella Gold Mining and Flume Co. surveyed to Calpella, ten and
nine-tenths miles. Delinquent tax list of county only $2500. Smallpox at
Cowsert ranch, March; no fatalities. "Ruth" given by home talent: J. C.
Ruddock, Mrs. Kelton, Lulu Dozier, Belle McGarvey, Clara Wheeler, Carrie
Hunter, Nellie Malone, Helen M. Carpenter, Mrs. Griffith, Jennie Sturtevant,
Ella King, Nellie Forse, Charles Duncan, Eugene Tutt, Charles Cunningham,
under the direction of D. H. Tucker, with a second presentation in March.
Grammar school opened with one hundred and eighty-eight pupils with J. C.
Ruddock, Mrs. Kelton and Blanche McCowen as teachers. A road surveyed
from Alfred Higgins' place to Lakeport, fourteen and one-half miles, estimated
to cost $7000, crossing the ridge at an elevation of 2800 feet; but as the
viewers place Hopland at 800, it is probable their guess was ofif on all the
figures. Railroad time from Cloverdale to San Francisco, five hours.
Auriferous deposit at Calpella estimated at three miles long, 20 to 200
feet deep (or high) and to yield $30,000 per acre by hydraulic process. Garnets
found also. Forse's stages making the 215 miles from Cloverdale to Eureka
in thirty-six hours. A fire engine purchased from Petaluma. Wool thirty
cents per pound. Work on gold mining flume begun July 20; eighty-seven
men engaged on it. Col. A. Von Schmidt now meandering up Russian river
canon with a view to extending the railroad to Ukiah, August 12. The Law
building, corner Standley and Schcol. built by T. L. Carothers. First dried
fruit of consequence made by X. Wagonseller — plums. August temperature
60 to 100 degrees.
The week of September 3 tallied arrivals at Ukiah hotels of one hundred
and seven at Ukiah House, seventy-nine at Palace, fifty-four at Peoples.
Captain Jack bought land north of town for his tribe; Capt. Bill fifty acres
near Guidi : Capt. Charley the McPeak ranch, down the valley. This latter
place ]iaid itself out the first season in hops $3600. Bank of Ukiah ofifers face
value for county warrants. The Gold Mining & Flume Co. put a mortgage
of $34,000 on its possessions. Grace Carpenter (Hudson) received telegram
of award to her of gold medal from San Francisco Art School for best crayon
from plaster cast. January, 1882, mercury from 20 to 28 degrees. County
statistics: Valuation, $4,175,853 real estate; personal, $1,941,161. January
26, stage held up near toll house in the canon. February 12, six inches of snow,
76 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
forty per cent estimated loss on sheep. The Gold Mining and Flume Company
died. June, wool twenty-five and one-half cents. Thunder storm and lighting,
July 19, used up nine telegraph poles, a tree at Long's, and stunned John
Higgins. Hop picking set at one and a quarter cents. Circus wagon off the
grade at Cleveland's, and two horses drowned. September, heavy rains, 2.72
inches to October 13th. Registration 3409. I. O. O. F. hall completed Novem-
ber 17th. To October 31st the coast mills cut 94,000,000 feet of lumber.
County school census shows 3543 pupils with average attendance 2735. Willie
Hemans killed a ten and one-half foot panther, near Reeves mill, with quail
shot, at twelve feet distance. It weighed two hundred and twenty-five pounds.
Chrome iron discovered on county farm. J. H. Donohoe bought exclusive
right at seventy-five cents per ton, fifty tons per year. Nothing doing.
May 5, 1884, north bound stage robbed of mail and express, three miles from
Cloverdale. Artesian well company formed in September, and well put down
150 feet. Hops twenty-five to thirty cents, .\ugust 3, McClosky house
burned. Stage opposition on from Cloverdale up to Ukiah, fare fifty cents and
less. Rain September 13. Teachers' Institute, September 28.
"Triumph of Love" given by local talent. January 24, 1885, stage hold-
up a mile north of town. Express box contained only garden seeds. April
30, fire destroyed west front of block on State street, between Church and
Stevenson ; loss, $6,000 ; insurance, $2,500. Another attempt to hold up stage
north from Cloverdale to Mendocino ; several shots exchanged. Railroad
rumors. The latest from Colusa to Mendocino. Supposed S, P. Co. Another
San Francisco to Lake and Mendocino ; another from Cloverdale to Ukiah ;
and four or five others, having terminals in Mendocino. Another stage hold-
up north of Cloverdale ; robber caught at once, September 20. Notice that
Donohoe would run the railroad to Ukiah at once. Sacramento & Mendo-
cino railroad setting stakes up Cache creek canyon. Surveying also from
Willows to Covelo. High license defeated in town election, 1886. Town
assessment roll, $596,696, 1887. Seven hundred men at work on railroad.
Mechanics' Institute fair received from this county two redwood planks,
seven and nine feet wide, eighteen feet long, four inches thick, sent by Mc-
Pherson and Wetherbee ; from there they were sent to England. Agricul-
tural fair, October 14. Teachers' Institute, Ukiah. October 22. Hart's resi-
dence on Seminarv a\enue Ijurned December 14; loss, $4,000; insurance,
$2,500.
February, 1888. waterworks bought by T. F". Jamieson, Morris Peck
raised four hundred and sixty pounds of squashes from one vine, Novem-
ber 2, railroad grade completed, Kelso & Co. gave a supper to one hundred
guests at Reed's hall. Freight tarifif promulgated : thirty-five to fifty cents
per hundredweight ; carloads, fifteen to thirty-two cents. George W. Gib-
son died, a pioneer of 1858. J. M. Donahue acquired all the stock of S, F, &
N. P. and reincorporated at "$6,000,COO. Mill output of county, 150,000.000
feet. Mendocino and Cloverdale stages, up and down, held up near Philo,
January 5, 1889. February 9, railroad in running order. Eagle block erected.
March, railroad blocked with slides. Mail by handcar and foot service. J.
M. Donohoe died March 4. Corporation organized to build railroad from
Ukiah to Lakeport; $720,000, in 1890. Eighty-three teachers employed in
the county. Sand stone quarry west of town. Snuffin's residence burned ; an
old landmark. Bids advertised for asylum grounds. August 11, bids
called for building, aggregating $400,000. Corner stone laid, December 9, bv
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 77
Grand Master of Masons ; Governor Waterman present. Power press for
Republican Press ; first in the county.
In 1891 telegraph and telephone company incorporated for lines from
Ukiah to Potter, and Lakeport. April, beef cattle brought in from outside
the county. June 3, half an inch of rain. First annual report of S. F. &
N. P. shows net earnings, $313,795. The road has eighteen engines, fifty-
five passenger cars, three hundred and eighty-nine freight cars, seventy-nine
dump cars, one hundred and eighty-six miles of road, 8,985 feet of tunneling,
1,848 feet bridges, 36,989 feet of trestle. August 5, yacht Whisper sailed
for Lakeport on wheels. She is seventy feet long, ten and six-tenths beam,
seven feet hold. Water agitation for Doolan and Robertson creeks. Marks
block rebuilt. Twelfth District fair, September 29. On the 16th lightning
killed four horses and five hogs at Howell's ranch. May Day, 1892, first
excursion on railroad from Sonoma county, 1,000 on board. Curtis house
built. In 1893, shaft sunk on Cleveland property north of Coyote, 260 feet;
option extended, gold looked for. S. F. & N. P. sold to Foster, Smith &
Seligman. Mendocino county represented at Chicago World's fair by Miss
Reeve's flower paintings on curly redwood, Mrs. Hudson's "Little Mendo-
cino" and the "Interrupted Bath," and Dr. Hudson's Indian baskets. June
23, wool in store in town, 356,665 pounds ; priced at from eleven to four-
teen cents. Agitation for railway to Low Gap. Second Artillery regiment
encampment. June, 1895. Sam Brown killed forty-four rattlesnakes in one
day.
J. M. Standley shot by stage robber January 17, 1896. Stage had been
stoi)ped by him on two dates. March 6, four inches of snow. Sewer con-
tract let to F. Brunner & Son, $15,900. John Buckingham, proprietor of
Dis])atch, died July 9. March, 1897, fish hatchery opened on Gibson creek.
I'ranchise awarded Mendocino Electric Lighting company in August. Sep-
tember 17 , Anderson and L'kiah stage held up, and Barnett killed. January
12, 1898, mercury lowest ever known in L'kiah, twelve degrees. More rail-
roads projected. Earthquake, April 14; no damage; severe on coast about
Navarro. The Smith-Borel party sold their stock in S. F. & N. P. to A. W.
Foster syndicate, together with the North Coast railroad in November.
In 1899, consolidation of two electric light plants, and raise of price
of service, caused a bond election for building a plant, $18,000. Fire, July
17, burned east front of block on State street, between Stevenson and Church,
fully insured. Healey, Tibbets & Co. awarded contract for bridge on east
fork of river, at Bailey place, $4,000. Railroad rumors. Surveys made
from Healdsburg to Anderson, and from Ukiah to Low Gap. Twelfth Dis-
trict f i.ir, 4th to 7th of October. Rudee block built, corner State and Stand-
ley.
In 1900, drilling for oil west part of town. International Geodetic sur-
vey located an observatory southwest of town. In 1902. five bear killed on
one hunt. J. L. Burchard died January 7, J. H. Donohoe on the 15th. Steam
laundry inaugurated by Albertson & Co. Estimate of redwood timber at
this date, in the county, 434,320 acres, 17,272.000,000 feet. J. R. Moore died
April 30, a pioneer of 1857. Albion & Southeastern railroad incorporated
for $1,000,000, to run up the Albion and to Boonville. W. H. Kent tree
yielded 100,000 feet. July 23, a party left for Trinity pine region to locate
homesteads. James Wilsey, in that vicinity, took 33,000 deer hides in
eleven years. J. H. Seawell died August 24. In 1904, hold-up men made
78 MEXDlJCIXO AXD LAKE COUNTIES
several attempts. Several days in April mercury above ninety degrees ; hot-
test for month on record before, eighty-eight degrees. High school athletic
team has won eight field days. L. Finne, Calpella, makes 6,000 to 8,000 gal-
lons of vi^ine per annum. Ships east, and to Asti. December 27, two brown
bears strayed into west part of town. Daniel Gobbi, a pioneer, died January
17, 1905. Eel River Power company incorporated February 10, $500,000;
work begun in March. Eversole block completed in February. Two mil-
lion five hundred thousand hop roots shipped from Ukiah. Local railroad
passed into hands of Southern Pacific. California Western incorporated to
run from Fort Bragg to Willits, in June. Articles of incorporation filed b}'
Southern Pacific in court house, to include Cal. S. P., Arizona S. P., New
Mexico S. P., and Winters, Berryessa and Lake to Mendocino, and Elmira
to Lakeport. M. Gibson's hop house burned, September 4; loss, $5,000;
insurance, $4,100. Spring wool, twenty-eight to thirty and one-fourth cents.
New dam being built at Asylum to hold one million gallons. Fire destroyed
the old White building, east of plaza, November 1st; new brick to go up.
December 22, Sheriff J. H. Smith killed by Frank Willard under arrest ; D.
M. Gibson appointed to fill vacancy. Rural delivery route established as
far south as Largo. Extreme high water January 19, 1906; 5.60 of an inch fell
at Willits. Stores all agreed to close at 6 P. M., except Saturday. Two
hundred and fifty thousand grape cuttings brought up from Asti. Eel River
Power company reorganized as Snow Mountain Water and Power com-
pany; capital, $5,000,000. Principal stockholders. Senator Fulton, Gen. Gra-
ham and T. Hopkins. April 18. earthquake. Rudee block thrown eight
inches out of plumb, pushing the new White brick over also. North wall of
McGlashan building thrown out down to tops of upper windows. I. O. O. F.
hall badly cracked on east end. Chimneys generally thrown down, book-
cases emptied. State hospital lost a tower, and water tank removed from it.
Odd Fellows removed east wall and built on a large dining room and kitchen ;
White building taken down to the ground and rebuilt. Rudee's building
was shifted back to plumb without great loss. Dr. Stout's well-appointed
medical rooms were still further equipped with an X-ray machine. Higgins
store, in Law building, burned out ; loss, $3,500, fully insured. Library
established in Eversole building. Stitt's barn, five horses, hay and buggies
burned. Another day the old one-story shacks west of the plaza. The entire
cost of Mendocino State hospital, $607,550. 1907, snow. Brewery company
incorporated and first beer, February 14. March 16-17. heavy rain, 8.40 inches
in two days. River within sixteen inches of bridge. Snow Alountain W^ater
and Power company filed mortgage. $1,250,000. C. Hofman company in-
corporated, $75,000," I\Iarch 26. ^California Northwestern $35,000,000 mort-
gage filed, to Farmers' Loan and Trust company, June 18. July 27, stage
held up at Cold creek. U. R. K. P. in camp at Todd's grove, August 12. R.
McGarvey died October 17, eighty-two years of age. Mendocino Vineyard
company incorporated November 20. December, hops six and eight cents ;
old, only two cents.
Stage again held up at Cold creek. January 15, 1908. Jail record : One
hundred and thirty-six committed ; nine sent to San Quentin. Creamery,
March 2. Electric power into town, from Snow Mountain Water and Power
company. Articles of incorporation filed, South Eel River Timber company ;
H. B. Hickey and others. Pressey and Jackson houses, corner Stevenson
and State, burned. April 1st, electricity turned on from new line. Auto-
MEXDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 79
mobiles on Eureka route. April 30, Evans & Orr planing mill burned ; loss,
$4,000, to George McCowen, owner. J. M. Standley, a sheriff of renown,
died at Portland, Jul)' 8. McKinley, Gibson, and Weldon & Held brick and
cement buildings completed. October 16, sufficient rain to raise Eel river.
Hop crop 9,680 bales ; average weight, one hundred and ninety pounds ;
14,000 pounds of turkey shipped in two days. 1909, nine inches of rain for
the week ending January 15. Meteorological report for January by Dr.
McCowen ; temperature from twenty-four to sixty-three degrees ; greatest
rainfall, 14th, 3.60 inches ; for the month, 30.75 inches ; other heavy rain-
falls, February, 1892, 19.40; November, 1895, 19.11; March, 1907, 18.18; Jan-
uary, 1913, 19.14 inches. May 3, H. L. Kohn's residence burned. Twenty-
two petitions for "wet or dry" elections presented to board of supervisors.
Constable T. Lynch shot, fatally, by Indian Dick Williams, who later com-
mitted suicide. Another oil well to be tried. July 28, fire again west of
plaza, in old shacks repaired from previous fire. Lindell Foster brought in
one hundred and forty-five pound deer, August 1. September 23, second
battalion, United States Fourteenth Cavalry, and detachment of signal corps,
in camp. Sim's saloon burned out May 2; loss, $4,000; insurance, $2,500.
Vierra & Scontranini put in lOO-horsepower engine, ten-inch pump, 1,900 feet
eight-inch pipe, to irrigate alfalfa in Coyote. Making cheese. On Mendocino
road a panther came in a dooryard, caught and carried oft' a goat and two
pigs. May 11, 1910. W. A. Hagaus. a pioneer, died July 15, 1911. Post Office
savings bank instituted in town. July 20, hops forty cents. September 25,
Ukiah voted for license by small majority. Second district, ditto ; third dis-
trict, no license by three majority. Ordinance closing saloons on Sunday at
10 P. M. ; $200 license per year. Thirty million-gallon reservoir being built
on Mill creek for Mendocino State hospital. Dam, forty feet high, forty-
three feet thick at base. Superintendent E. W. King had a leg amputated
December 11. W. D. White building, $2,000 fire.
E. W. King resigned from Asylum, to take effect May 1, 1912, having
been superintendent nineteen years. In March, J. L. McNab appointed
United States district attorney. Crystal ice works opened in April. June 14,
board of town trustees passed resolution appropriating $800 annually for
support of the library. June 19, dwelling of W. I. Bailey burned. W. J.
Hildreth ranch sold for $75,000; bargained for $25,000 three years ago. Con-
tract let for closing the gap in the railroad to Humboldt. July, electric power
lines being put up about the valley. County Assessor M. A. Thomas died
July 29. Sanford hop kiln burned ;'loss, $7,000; insurance, $2,000. Dr. R. L.
Richards, late of the United States Medical corps, appointed superintendent
of the Mendocino State hospital. State highway in process of construction
from Ukiah to Forsythe creek. (Finished June, 1914.)
January 10, 1913, mercury at fifteen degrees. T. E. Garner shipped $25,-
000 worth of hogs in last three months. An old landmark burned — Van
Dusen saloon, east of plaza — erected in 1859. Wool, nineteen and twenty
cents. Manganese globular safe for County Treasurer's office. Treasurer
reported $212,182 in the county treasury. Ukiah house, a relic of 1859,
demolished. August, a limb eighteen inches in diameter, reported broken
off by the weight of wild pigeons roosting on it. Irrigation system inaug-
urated from the river below the mouth of .Ackerman creek. A fourteen-
inch centrifugal pump installed, discharging into a ditch seven feet wide
at the top, four feet on the bottom, eighteen inches deep, one mile long.
80 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
City free deliver)' inaugurated August 1st. W. J. Kline killed three eagles.
George Kinloch, first white child born in California, died in Ukiah August
28, aged eighty-four years. In its first season the local winery received 1,723
tons of grapes, $25,000. Hops down from twenty to eighteen cents in De-
cember; sixteen cents offered for 1914 crop. December 16, hearing before
the commission on rate for electricity for the town. Decision favor of town.
In 1914 supervisors decide to take $150000 of highway bonds. Treasurer
reports $260,955 in county treasury. February 4, board of trade incorporated.
A business man's association has been formed to bring uniformity of action
on all public questions. The library was completed and formally opened on
the 17th of April. The lot was purchased by subscription, raised by the
personal efiforts of Miss Carrie Garnsey and ]\Irs. A. O. Carpenter, and $8,000
contributed for the building by Mr. Carnegie. About the same time the
new opera house was finished by a joint stock company.
Ukiah valley is one of the best and most extensive hop growing sec-
tions of the state. The hops are of the best quality, and the yield is from
1,600 to 2,300 pounds per acre. They are three weeks earlier in maturing
than in Sonoma, and less likely to be troubled with lice, on account of the
absence of fog. There are about 2,000 acres in the valley used for this
crop, and much more land that might be devoted to it profitably. It costs
about nine cents per pound to make and market the crop, so that when the
price soars to forty, there is a fortune in a ten-acre tract. The crop of
1913 amounted to over 16,000 bales. Corn makes a good crop on the river
bottoms, and is often without a drop of rain or any irrigation from planting
to harvest. Alfalfa yields three crops without irrigation, and is fast absorb-
ing all the river lands not used for hops. It yields abundantly on the higher
lands, but it is difficult to get it started there.
About two hundred acres in the valley are devoted to prunes, which
rank at the top for quality. There are six extensive vegetable gardens about
Ukiah, which furnish the town, and products are shipped north to a consider-
able extent. Of fruit, every kind is grown to perfection, though figs, apricots
and nectarines are not generally cultivated. Walnuts are found everywhere,
but in no large tracts.
The town of Ukiah was first limited to one mile square with the court
house for the center. Later its boundaries were extended nearly half a mile
to the west, taking in all to the mountains. The streets north and south
were originally laid out eighty feet wide, but some on the west have been
reduced to fifty and sixty feet. East and west streets are forty feet wide.
They are all graded, and in the center of town paved, and the main street
from the northern to the southern line. There are fifty business brick build-
ings in town and two brick dwellings, high school, two grammar schools,
seven churches, an opera house that seats one thousand, another of five hun-
dred capacity, four garages with machinery for repair work, two planing
mills with lumber yards, two lumber yards', three blacksmiths, one
vegetable market, one gristmill, four livery stables, one saddlery, two fish
and poultry markets, three second-hand stores, two furniture and under-
taking establishments, one clothing, three shoe, three drug and four hard-
ware stores, two plumbers, one paint store, two billiard halls, seven saloons,
two butchers, three tailors, one electric shop, two jewelry stores, five barbers,
two cand)' stores, two bakeries, one creamery, three restaurants, two coffee
houses, four restaurants and lodging combined, three hotels, three depart-
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 81
ment stores, two dry goods, three miscellaneous stores, three news stores,
eight real-estate offices, four printing offices, seven notaries, three banks,
four dentists, eight law offices, a gas plant and a fine large new library-
building with several thousand volumes, and last, but not least, a fine town
hall building, covering council room, tax collector's office, electric depart-
ment and jail. The town possesses eight physicians, all in apparent good
health. There is no malaria in the neighborhood, except imported cases,
which soon recover; no mosquitos except an occasional one comes up in
the cars from Alarin or Petaluma.
The town has an adequate sewer .system, and the water supply is lim-
ited only by the power of steam or electricity. An ample supply is always
assured, and pumps can be used anywhere within the town limits in case of
emergency, and the quality is unsurpassed, as it really is over the whole
county. A telephone system covers town and valley. A fine grist mill
supplies all wants in that direction ; a large winery runs every season, and
the expansion of irrigation sj'stems is constantly adding to the productions
of the soil.
The Mendocino State hospital for the insane, with its payroll of nearly
$92,500 per annum, is no small factor in the prosperity of the community.
The bulk of its supplies comes from the outside world, but pays a certain toll,
on their way, to our community. The original purchase of land for the
location was made in 1889; one hundred acres, $30,000. Since then an ad-
joining farm has been bought, and large crops of corn and alfalfa raised to
make the dairy self-supporting. The grounds now consist of nine hundred
:ind five acres, three hundred and three of which are und.er cultivation, much
of which is under irrigation, in corn, alfalfa and vegetables. The total value
of all the farm products of dairy, poultry, eggs, etc., amounts to $31,000 per
annum. Fifty milk cows, thirty-five heifers, mostly Holsteins ; one hundred
hogs, two thousand chickens and many horses comprise the live stock of the
establishment, and a large part of the labor is supplied by the inmates, who
are perceptibly benefited by their participation therein. Outside of salaries,
,"^239.000 was appropriated by the state for the sixty-fifth and sixty-sixth
fiscal years. It is conceded to be the best and most economically managed of
all the state institutions. Its corps of physicians, and an interne, ninety-three
male and thirty-five female employes, stand high in the regard of the state
board of control, and of the public who are brought in contact with them.
There are at present over one thousand inmates.
Ukiah has its watering places or health resorts, not to be neglected
l)y either the invalid or pleasure seeker. Vichy Springs, three miles east, so
named for the similarity of its waters to those of the celebrated Vichy of
Cicrmany, had a wide reputation among the Indians for curative power,
and has lost none of it among more civilized frequenters. It has recently
changed hands, and another year is to be improved and placed where it
belongs, both in fashion and popularity. Orr's Hot Sulphur Springs, four-
teen miles west, situated at the foot of a precipitous verdure-covered bluff,
five hundred feet high, just in the edge of the redwood belt, are justly
celebrated in rheumatic complaints, and a delightful resort for a summer
outing. The springs yield sufficient gas to light the place, and heat a man-
gle, and probably would aft'ord enough to heat the hotel and cottages if
developed to the fullest extent.
82 MEXDOCIXO AND LAKE COUNTIES
The county farm, for'the care of its indigents, is located just outside the
town limits, and is a credit to the county and a source of profit to the town.
North of Ukiah valley lie both Redwood and Coyote valleys, in the same
township, however. Redwood commences at the hamlet of Calpella, named
after an Indian — Kol-pellah — some six miles north of Ukiah, and stretches
along the middle fork of Russian river about eight miles. It is only one
farm wide the most of the way, lying between benches of upland, and is
exceedingly fertile along the river bottom, and the low bordering hills are
being brought into cultivation for vineyards and orchards. Calpella con-
sists of store, hotel, blacksmith shop, and eight or ten dwellings, but is im-
portant as the voting place of a wide section of country, including both
Redwood and Coyote valleys, with a registered vote of nearly two hundred.
Coyote valley is a small valley on the east fork of Russian river, four
miles north of Ukiah, containing nine farms. One of these contains one
thousand acres of mountain and valley, and has an extensive pump-
ing plant to irrigate over one hundred acres devoted to alfalfa, cheese and
chickens. Several of the others are also irrigated by the same means, for
alfalfa and fruit. In former days a grist mill ground out a busy existence in
the north end of the valley, but flood first, and fire later, closed its existence.
A large tract, for so small a valley, which was once a waste of high chemissal,
scrub oak and manzanita, is now a smiling grain field. A series of pumping
plants furnish the water to sprinkle the highwav from Ukiah to and through
Coyote.
In the eighties there existed a park association, and race meets and
animal shows were held yearly for some years, but a mortgage ate up the
stockholders' interests, and it passed into private hands. Occasionally it is
still the scene of such contests. The town of Ukiah has purchased a square
of two acres or more in the southern limit for park purposes, where will
probably be held all fairs in the future.
In a fraternal way. Ukiah is not blest to the extent of Fort Bragg, as
none of the foreign population have entered into this competition. But there
are enough, and man}- honored names appear on their list of officers : First,
always in the field, come the ^Masons" several organizations :
Abell Lodge, F. & A. M.. was instituted June 19, 1860, with charter
members as follows : J. B. Price. M. Y. Cleveland, N. S. Fanning, William
Henry, L. M. Warden, O. H. P. Brown, and J. A. Shore. The first officers,
both under dispensation and charter, were J. B. Price, W. M. ; M. V. Cleve-
land, S. W. ; N. S. Fanning. J. W. ; William Henry, Treas. ; L. M. Warden,
and G. C. Smith, Secy. The present officers are F. T. Barker, W. M. ; Hale
-McCowen, Jr., S. W. ; P. ^^". Handy. J. W. ; J. R. :\Iatthews. Treas. : Ed V.
Henley, Secy. Membership, one hundred and thirty.
Ukiah Chapter No. 53, instituted July 3, 1878. Charter members : J. W.
Jenkins, J. L. Burchard, T. L. Carothers, J. H. Donohoe, T. L. Barnes,
J. Updegrafif, L. D. Montague, B. C. Bellamy, George McCowen, S. Horn-
brook, J. Albertson. The first officers were J. W. Jenkins, M. E. H. P. ;
E. W. King, E. K. ; G. W. Heald. G. S. ; J. S. Reed, Treas. : Sam Wheeler,
Secy. The present officers are T. P. Anderson. E, H. P.: William Finne.
K.;'f. T. Barker. S. ; J. H. Barker. Treas.; C. U. White, Secy. Membership,
eighty.
Ukiah Commanderv No. 33, instituted March 17, 1892. Present officers:
T. M. Cleland, E. C. ; l" W. Babcock, G. : J. R. Matthews, C. G. ; J. D. Palmer,
A'lENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 83
S. W. ; G. P. Anderson, J. W.; F. C. Gowell, Recorder; J. H. Barker, Treas.
Membership, fifty-six.
Kingsley Chapter, O. E. S., instituted July 23, 1881. Charter members:
W. L. Bransford, Patron; M. E. P. McCowen, W. M.; Emma Metzgar,
W. A. M. Present officers : Ella McCracken, W. M. ; Ed. D. Henley, W. P. ;
Delia McKay, W. A. M. ; Martha Toles, Secy. ; Emma Cranz. Treas. Mem-
bership, one hundred and fifty.
Casimir Chapter, O. E. S., instituted April 13, 1907. Present officers:
Celia Lobree, W. M. ; William Finne, W. P. ; Martha H. Redemeyer, A. W.
M. ; Nellie F. Gibson, C. ; S. B. Hatch, Secy.
Ukiah Lodge No. 174, L O. O. F., instituted July 20, 1870. Charter
members : E. W. King, N. Ellis, C. Hofman, J. R. Short, J. P. Clark, Robert
White, W. W. Cunningham, W. H. White. First officers: E. W. King,
N. G. ; C. Hofman, V. G. ; N. Ellis, Secy. ; J. R. Short, Treas. Present officers
are: L. H. Foster, N. G. ; B. D. Van Nader, V. G.; W. O. White. Secy.;
J. Roller, Treas. Membership, one hundred and fourteen.
A. O. U. W., Ukiah Lodge No. 33, instituted May 14. 1878. Present
officers: W. D. L. Held, W. M. ; L. P. Anker, F.; N. Anker. Fin.; A. O.
Carpenter, Recorder. Membership, twelve.
Fraternal Brotherhood, Ukiah No. 263, instituted December 18, 1902.
Officers : Oscar Olsen, P. ; Frank Olsen, V. P. ; Al Sawyers. Treas. ; Jerry
Olsen, Secy. Members, seventy.
Yokia Camp 369, W. O. W., instituted April, 1898. Present officers:
W. G. Poague, C. C; C. R. Thomas. A. V. L. ; C. H. Duncan. Banker;
C. Bailey, Clerk. Membership, sixty-one.
Ukiah Aerie 319, instituted in May, 1903. Present officers: H. A. Keller,
P. AV. P. ; C. F. Benton. W. P. ; O. L. Olsen, W. V. P. ; O. F. Hargis, W. C. ;
J. C. Warren, W. S. ; W. S. Van Dyke, W. T. Membership, two hundred
and sixty-seven.
Yokaya Tribe 110, L O. R. M., instituted August 16, 1901. Present offi-
cers: G. L. Smith, S. : Fred Figoni, S. S. : S. P. Garaventi. J. R. S. : R. L.
Hutchinson, Proph. ; H. L. Kohn, C. R. ; A. L. Tracy, K. of W.
Ukiah Camp 9017, M. W. A., instituted in December, 1900. Present offi-
cers : W. H. York, C. ; L. J. Holzheiser, A. ; H. L. Kohn, C.
American Yeoman, Independence Homestead No. 1219.
Ukiah No. 63, K. O. T. :\I.. instituted in Tune. 1900. Present officers:
F. P. Bull, L. C; B. F. Davidson. P. C. ; A. W. Custer. K. of R. Member-
ship, thirty-one.
Cornelia Rebekah Lodge No. 205, I. O. O. F., instituted in March, 1894.
Officers: H. M. Carpenter, N. G.; Mrs. Elizabeth Chalfant, V. G.; Sallie
Thomas, Secretary. Present officers : Mrs. Emma Kirtley. N. G. ; Catherine
Sloper. V. G. : Mrs. Kate B. Prather, Secy.; Laura Shattuck. Treasurer.
Membership, one hundred and fifty.
CHAPTER VII
Potter Valley Township
This township was formerly part of Calpella township, which was
divided, the western part annexed to Ukiah. and the eastern part. i. e..
Potter Valley, became a township unto itself. It comprises the drainage
basin of the east fork of Russian river as far south as the head of Covote
•84 iMEXDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Valley, and reaches north to Little Lake Township on Eel river, and east
to the county line of Mendocino and Lake, and is about fifteen miles in
extreme length and ten miles wide.
It has the general climate and soil characteristics of the other interior
valleys — river loam and rich black clover land in the valley and generally
sandy soil on the hills, though in some places the black, almost adobe, shows
in the hills.
The incorporation of Potter Valley includes the whole township prac-
tically and was so made for the purpose of excluding saloons from its neigh-
borhood. The valley proper is seven miles long and two miles wide at
most, and is nearly all in a high state of cultivation, and now that the
waters of Eel river have been turned into the head of Russian river by the
Water and Power Company much irrigation is probable in the near future.
Alfalfa is much raised in the upper end of the valley, and there yields three
good crops without irrigation, and can easily be brought up to six or
eight cuttings, as in the heat of summer it may be cut with profit every
month from May to November. In the southeastern corner of the valley,
J. D. Brower, the pioneer in irrigation there, has a considerable retaining
dam and has been using the water for alfalfa for several years. Hay, wheat,
oats, barley and corn are the principal crops : there are many fine orchards
and three or four hopyards. Potatoes, pumpkins, squashes, beets, carrots,
tomatoes, etc., are grown for home use, but none for market. Premium
watermelons and the "Golden" muskmelon originated here.
Thomas and William Potter and M. C. Briggs were the first whites to
locate in the valley, coming here in 1852, though their families did not
arrive until two or three years later. In 1856-7 John Gardner and
Fowler were in the valley with a band of horses. In 1857 Dick Swift and
Samuel Chase arrived, and Berry Wright and Williams. Samuel Mewhin-
ney and family and John Leonard and family came in the spring of 1858.
In that year also Samuel, Lewis, Stoddard and James Neil, John McCloud,
William Eddy and others. In 1859 the valley was virtually full of settlers.
In that year Thomas McCowen, A. O. Carpenter, Andrew Lefever, William
Van Nader, Samuel McCullough and others arrived. Later the Carner
family. Vans, Wattenberger, Boice, Wolfe, McCreary, Fuller, Pursell
arrived. There is no locality in the county where the old original stock is
so well represented in name and blood as in Potter Valley. Their increase
has overflowed into the surrounding hills and little nooks, intermarried,
and "possessed the land." Recently an agent was in the valley desirous
of purchasing four hundred acres in a body for the purpose of founding a
school, but $200 per acre was no temptation to either old or young.
Building was difficult as the timber was mostly oak in the valley and
pine on the hills and not fitted for log houses. A few of these were put up,
some were built of shakes, both oak and pine — some of the latter was whip-
sawed- — and most of the houses had oak puncheon floors. Two adobes were
also put up and stood for years. By 1863-4 roads were dug out so that
redwood was brought in from the western branch of the river, some
eighteen to twenty miles, though this also was split lumber. A little sawed
lumber was procurable from the head of Redwood valley, from Reed's mill,
and some from Holden's mill on Ackerman creek. A sawmill was built by
William Van Nader in 1874 on the mountain east of the valley, but it was
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 85
of too small caliber to do more than furnish finishing and flooring, and it
was afterwards moved to Round valley and taken by the government. Prac-
tically all the lumber for the many fine houses and large barns in the valley
has been hauled by teams from twelve to twenty-five miles, as well as a
majority of the fencing. Wire fencing was then unknown, but is now
taking the place of the wornout redwood pickets and oak rails.
In the early times supplies were packed in from Healdsburg, and it was
no uncommon occurrence for a horse to knock itself ofif the narrow trail
and go rolling down the mountainside. Experience taught them to give a
tree or rock more room for their packs when passing.
The road out of the valley to Coyote was made by private work, some
men voluntarily laboring twenty to thirty days on it. A road was also
made north toward Round Valley, and a branch of it to Little Lake. Even-
tually there was another over the divide to Eel river and up to Gravelly valley.
L. B. Frazier built a steam mill about ten miles out on Sanhedrin, in the
yellow and sugar pine timber, and moved it nearer as the timber was ex-
hausted. The sugar pine was mostly shipped to San Francisco, and the
yellow pine used in the box factory in Ukiah. In early days, from 1861 to
1865, political feeling was bitter; and at the time of the death of Lincoln
three arrests were made in the valley, Thad W . Dashiell and John McCall
(for rejoicing at the death of Lincoln), and a school teacher, Miss Buster
(for trampling the flag under foot). They were soon released and returned
to the valley. In after years Mr. Dashiell was taken to task for voting the
Republican ticket. His only reply was, "I packed sand at Alcatraz for the
privilege of expressing my opinion." Separate schools were maintained at
one time, with politics rather than geography as a dividing line.
One of the first Fourth of July celebrations that the county witnessed
was held in this valley. For music William Van Nader manufactured a drum
by cutting a section of a fir tree, hollowing it out, heading it with deer
<kins, and in the morning its resonance could be heard the whole length of
the valley.
Dances were held at private houses lasting from dark to daylight, and
sometimes a breakfast was served to favored guests who were nOt in a
hurry to go home. Quilting and fencing bees were often held, thus helping
the husband and wife at the same time. And the people collected just as
hilariously to labor for a sick neighbor as they did to dance at his husking.
Occasionally a bear hunt enlivened the leisure hours, and more than one
was tracked through the valley to the chemissal around, and brought home
in triumph. Not always, though, for on one occasion a huge-footed beast
was tracked along the western slope the whole length of the valley and
far into the hills north. At another time, following the bear into the brush,
the hunters found themselves surrounded by three bears, and backed out
to more advantageous positions, securing one of the trio eventually. Wild
oats covered the hills and clover the valley, either or both growing to the
height of three feet, and game w^as abundant. In 1858 bear would nighth"
prowl around and investigate the rail-making operations of settlers, but
not take a hand at it. If the farmer needed meat, and was too busy to
hunt, a rifle and a few l)ullets were given "Hunter Jim,'" and venison ap-
peared on the supper table — but not bear meat. No Indian would molest
Hruin. Rears were believed to emiiody the spirits of bad Indians.
86 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Potter has ever been a temperance community, and it has been many
years since a saloon flourished here. In an early day the "Sons of Tem-
perance" was established there, but died out, yet its influence remained.
Over the hill on Eel river several times a saloon has been opened, and on the
southern line of the township, at Cold creek, another, but the supervisorial
district having voted dry this latter has been transformed to a soft drink
emporium. The town was incorporated in July, 1889, and includes so large a
portion of the township that it is practically all of it. The present officers
are: Trustees, C. B. Neil, D. Burkhardt; John Gavin, Mayor, T. P. Hopkins,
Treas. The assessed valuation for 1913 was $489,961 ; tax rate, seventy-five
cents; population in 1910, 576, with a registered vote of 179. The registra-
tion for the municipal election of 1914, of course, includes the female voters
and is 270.
Fine corn is raised in the valley without irrigation, frequently without
a shower upon it from planting to harvest. Alfalfa is constantly increasing
its area, and now that the waters of Eel river are available for pumping
and even for ditching much more will be sown with a purpose of beef and
pork production.
The Snow Mountain Water and Power Company's enterprise has
greatly benefited the valley, though some consider it a detriment, on account
of its increasing the flow of water in Russian river to the extent of washing
the banks. This enterprise has its head in Gravelly valley, fifteen miles
easterly in Lake count}'. There a dam 140 feet high and 600 feet long
is proposed, which will impound 2500 acres of water, backing it up the main
stream seven miles and up Rice fork three miles. A careful measurement
of the water flow was had all through the season in 1905, and at the dam
site the stream (Eel river) raised nineteen feet one day, running five miles
an hour and 250 feet wide. It was estimated that there was water enough
in that one day to supply San Francisco three years. Shafts have been
sunk 75 and 100 feet on either side of the river at the dam -site and a tunnel
run under the channel to connect them in the endeavor to locate the bed
rock. It was the intention to construct a cement core dam twenty feet or
more thick, and then fill the channel full above and below with detritus
from the high hill on both sides for 800 feet, and locate the overflow half a
mile distant through a low gap in the ridge, returning the water to the
stream a half mile below the dam. Whether this plan still holds we may
not say. Something over a million dollars has been spent on the project,
but not needlessly, as it is being used for electric purposes without this large
projected retaining dam. Two miles north of Potter, by road, is a diverting
dam of 300 feet length, forty-foot base, sixty-five feet high. From this a
tunnel was run 5900 feet through the mountain to Potter. There is a twenty-
foot head above the tunnel, which is 6x7 feet clear and has 400 feet fall to the
dynamos in the valley. The tunnel is mostly in serpentine rock, cemented
on the bottom and timbered sides and top. There are two lines of service
pipe from the tunnel down the hill to the dynamos, three in number, of 4000
horsepower each, and room for another in the power house. Electricity
is furnished for Potter valley, Ukiah town and valley. Lake county, nearly
all of Sonoma county and considerable for Napa. The system connects
with the Bay Counties' system, so that mutual assistance is rendered in
time of need. The Bay Counties is short of power in the winter, while the
Snow Mountain is short in the late summer. Eventually the water from
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 87
the dynamos will be ditched along the hill base on both sides of Russian
river, and then will the whole territory blossom as the rose from April to
December. The water may be easily taken out again in two diiiferent
places between Ukiah and Cloverdale and its good work be multiplied.
What the intention of the company is in regard to the water after it leaves
its dynamos, no one can say except themselves, and they have not spoken
except to say that if the farmers will dig the ditches they will supply the
water at $3 per acre per annum. Meantime several are pumping the water
without paying for the privilege.
Some of the best soil in the State lies in Potter, but it has been fear-
fully abused, cropped year after year, or, rather, decade after decade, return-
ing nothing of what has been taken off, not even the straw, which has been
generally burned. Of late years much hay has been shipped out, besides
the grain, and this course has had its effect. The first wheat in the valley
threshed sixty-six bushels to the acre, and now the same land, after fifty
years' constant cropping, yields only twenty bushels, though five and one-
quarter acres recently yielded three hundred bushels.
Fruit, especially pears, apples and plums, luxuriate, of unsurpassed
flavor and coloring, and peaches yield crops about three years out of five.
Prunes also are excellent, but are not generally raised. Hops yield heavily
of first-class quality. Not much is done in root crops except at the upper
end of the valley, where beets and potatoes thrive.
Minerals there are on every side: Copper, gold, manganese, etc., but no
one has ever made expenses in working the leads. Alabaster exists in the
mountains north and asbestos also.
There are three schools in the valley, which are open about nine or
ten months in the year, in charge of competent teachers.
Two large farms in the valley have been purchased by Russians, one
of which has been cut in long, narrow sub-divisions, half a mile long and
a few rods wide, after the old country custom. They have built their houses
on the comparatively worthless hill ground and cross the river to their
daily toil. The women do much of the farm work, while the men work out
or are off in San Francisco or the coast mills at work.
At one time there was a grist mill on the southern line of the township,
but the miller grew old with his mill, and it burned down just after its insur-
ance ran out. It had once been drowned out, but was moved to higher
ground, and the ditch which brought water for its wheel was run higher up
the stream. It finally had an engine as auxiliary power. The water is now
used for irrigation purposes. .A mill company was formed in 1891-2 and a
grist mill built in the lower end of the valley. The incorporation of the
company followed in 1898, but it did not run long thereafter.
Spottswood's hop kiln was burned in 1883 with his crop of hops: loss
815,000, insurance $1,000. In 1891 a scheme for irrigation by ditch from
Eel river was broached, but came to nothing. Eraser built a new bridge on
the river in November, 1891, above Coal creek, and the same has been re-
built in 1913. In February, 1896, Robert Marders' four-horse team went
off the grade, down seventy-five feet, with only trifling injury. In 1898 an
ear of corn was on exhibition measuring eleven inches long and nine inches in
circumference. And George Shinn originated the Golden muskmelon, which
rivals Burbank's creations.
88 MEXDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
In the last five years there have been twenty-five good residences built — ■
perhaps the best by A. F. Busch, in the past year, which has all the modern
improvements save an elevator. The valley has been singularly free from
fires, only the one hop house and one dwelling house having been burned
in the recollection of the oldest inhabitant living.
Colonel Marders, one of the ill-fated victims of the tunnel-train fire in
Mexico, was born and grew to manhood in this valley. The valley boasts a
monthly paper, issued by Irvine & Muir, the Commercial Bulletin. There are
three grammar schools in the valley, well attended and open from nine to
ten months in the year. There are two churches in the town of Centerville.
two stores, drug store, blacksmith shop, liotel, livery stable, barber shop and
about twenty dwellings. The town is situated in the center of the valley,
with a postoffice in one of the stores and daily mail from San Francisco via
Ukiah.
The valley has its quota of orders; the principal ones in interest are as
follows :
Potter Valley Lodge No. 215, A. O. V. W., was instituted January.
1890. Eli Jones." W. M.: Rose Sides, Secy.: J. Eddy. O. : M. R.'Bevens,
Treas.
Fraternal Brotherhood No. 764 was instituted September 9, 1910.
Present members, twelve. Officers: Fred Bucknell, Pres. : Leon T. Grover.
V. P.; Mrs. Charles .\. Carner, Sec: Charles A. Carner, Treas.
A. O. F.— Officers: J. G. Newman, C. R. ; Fred Sagehorn, S. C. R. ; N. A.
Barnett, Treas. ; H. O. Sweeney, R. S. Members, forty-one.
Potter Valley Grange No. 115, instituted in July, 1874. E. V. Jones,
W. M.; James Eddie, O. : Miss Rose Sides, Sec. Fifty-six members. The
society possesses a two-story store and hall, and has $300 cash in its treas-
urv, which is augmented $250 per annimi from the rent of its store building.
CHAPTER VIII
Sanel Township
Sanel township lies entirely on the tributaries of Russian river, and the
main stream, and in the winter just past, 1913-14, Russian river reversed
conditions and laid on Sanel township. It is bounded north by Ukiah, east
by Lake county and west by Anderson township, with which it joins to
form the First supervisorial district. It takes its name from the name of its
main valley, and that from the Indian tribe which formerly owned the
territory comprised in the township.
Its soil and climate are the same as Ukiah, with a little more of the drift
of southern fog, which often tempers the heat of summer mornings. Its
productions are much the same as Ukiah, and the larger part of the valley is
given over to hops and alfalfa to the exclusion of other crops. Of fruit it
produces quite a large quantit\- of pears and prunes, which are of surpassing
quality.
The hill land is generally of a better quality than other localities and
aflfords the best of grazing and. indeed, good crops of grain wherever utilized
for that purpose. In 1863-4, ciuite a tract was cultivated in tobacco, but
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 89
early and heavy rains created so damp an atmosphere (which was not taken
into account in the curing) that the product resulted in an almost total loss.
The entire valley was covered by a grant procured in 1844 by Ferdinado
j-'eliz. comprising four leagues of land extending from the Seven Mile House
to the southern end of the main Sanel valley. Feliz brought in cattle not
long after that date and erected an adobe house 30x50 feet square just south
of the present town of Hopland. His family was located here before 1853,
and in 1854 Luiz Pena and others joined him. Feliz sold land at ridicu-
lously low prices to any who would buy. and his descendants have nothing
left of the huge domain but a town lot in East Hopland. John Knight was
Feliz' legal adviser and immediately present friend, and was instrumental
in procuring the confirmation of his grant, and received for his services the
northernmost league of the grant. This latter tract took the name of
Knight's Valley, and now is occupied by the three Crawford ranches, two
Henrys, McGlashan, McNab, Parsons and some smaller tracts. In 1856
Alfred Higgins and family and H. VVillard arrived. In 1857 the new ar-
rivals were Amos Snufifins, J. A. Knox, John McGlashan, and J. W. Daw;
1858 witnessed the advent of S. Myers, W. E. Parsons, L. F. Long, B. B.
Fox and E. H. Duncan, soon followed by William Andrews, R. Moore,
George McCain, P. A. Roach, C. Snufifins, B. E. Edsall, J. R. Henry, H. G.
Pike and William Cole. Of these not one is now living, W. E. Parsons, the
last survivor, having died suddenly early in 1914. Of the generally large
tracts settled upon only one or two are now occupied by their descendants.
In the extreme southern portion of the township is a settlement called
Hermitage, so named by S. W. Knowles, who settled there in 1858, bringing
a drove of cattle from Sonoma. The venture not succeeding well, he went
back to Sonoma, returning again in 1859. He raised the first hops in Men-
docino county, drying them in the loft of his barn and selling them in Peta-
luma for thirty cents per pound. The business seemed promising, and he
tried another crop, but having no contract, the buyer in Petaluma offered
only twelve and one-half cents, and that killed the business at once. Her-
mitage is not even a hamlet, but a continuation of farms along a narrow
valley on the headwaters of Dry creek, to the Knowles place, where long
was the post office, just at the head of the rough canon that engulfs Dry
creek on its way to Russian river at Healdsburg. The valley is so narrow
that the proposed railroad extension from the Albion cannot help being detri-
mental to the immediate farming interests by reason of cutting througli the
best lands they have.
The town of Hopland was located at Sanel in 1859 by Knox. U'illard
and Connor with a saloon. Soon afterward Thomas Harrison opened up a
store in a tent, but sold to Connor, who had disposed of his saloon interest.
Dr. H. G. Pike settled there as physician, removing to a mountain home
on the -Anderson valley road, and returning many years after to die. Yates
Weldon began blacksmithing in that year also. In 1874 the building of a
toll road down the east side of the river threw all the travel that way, and
the town of Sanel moved over bodily (except a brick store which \\'. W.
Thatcher had built in 1870) and became Hopland. The town flourished
until the building of the railroad on the west side of the river and the estab-
lishment of a depot at the old town, when nearly all the business fluttered
back to be brooded by the spirit of progress once more at Sanel. But,
through some freak of good fortune. Hopland retained its post office and
90 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
name for several years, until the department, learning of the proximity of the
two offices, consolidated the two at Sanel and called it Hopland, and so it
now is. The town boasts one large two-story brick block and one brick
store ; all the rest are of wood and nearly all are one-story structures. The
business houses now occupied are as follows : Two hotels, three general
stores, one blacksmith shop, one shoe shop, one barber shop, one livery, one
feed stable, two fruit and ice cream parlors, three churches (Methodist,
Catholic and Christian), one school, one public hall, and about twenty dwell-
ings. The hall is occupied twice a week with the "movies" and dances are
frequent.
A large acreage of the valley is in alfalfa, pears, prunes and hops, and
but little grain is raised. A considerable part of the main valley is subject
to overflow, but not to a damaging extent. Dairying is carried on to a
limited extent ; the largest dairy, on the Foster ranch, was discontinued, and
Durham cattle, Hungarian ponies and chickens superseded Jerseys. This
ranch is one of the finest and best improved in the county, and is owned by
A. W. Foster of San Rafael, whose son, Benjamin, is now in charge. An
older son, Robert, was electrocuted on the place in May, 1914. They have
the most elaborate outfit for the poultry business to be found anywhere, and
all breeds worth mentioning. D. M. Burns of ''mazuma" fame has a large
range devoted at .present to Hereford cattle. Formerly it was run to fine
blooded horses. Four miles south of Hopland is the Hood ranch, where a
large tract is devoted to fine Merino sheep.
In 1911 an eflfort was made to interest the California Northwestern in
the building of a branch road from Hopland to Lakeport, but that road
would only agree to furnish rails and terminal facilities at Hopland and take
bonds for the same. Capital to the amount of $80,000 was subscribed, an-".;
has been expended on six and one half miles of road bed, the easiest part of
the proposed road. Heavy grading, a 1300-foot tunnel and twenty-three
miles more stare the projectors in the face, and nothing has been done for
over a year. C. M. Flammond. Pres.; M. C. Gopcevic, Vice Pres. ; Joseph
Levy, Treas. ; Euvelle Howard, Secy., were the first officers. The present
officers are : L. H. Bogg, Pres. ; M. S. Sayre, Vice Pres. ; James Levy, Treas. :
R. B. Woodward, Secy. Total cost of road, including equipment, estimated
at SS.SO.OOO.
There are two roads from the township to Lake county, a toll road from
Pieta, four miles south of Hopland, intersected three miles out by a road
from Hopland, and a county road from Hopland. There is also a road over
the mountain to Yorkville, and two roads south to Cloverdale. One of
these is generally appropriated by the State highway now nearly completed
from Cloverdale to Hopland. Two roads also connect the town with Ukiah,
on either side of the river, altogether making about forty miles of public
roads to keep in repair.
A cannery company was organized in 1901, with a capital of $3,000,
mainly for Bartlett pears, which reach their highest perfection in this valley.
Its officers at present are J. W. Harris, Pres. ; S. E. Brooks, Secy, and Treas.
The Bank of Hopland was organized in 1906, through the efforts of
J. W. Harris, first as a branch of Cloverdale Bank, but later, in 1912, it be-
came an independent bank, with C. B. Shaw, Pres. ; S. E. Brooks, Vice
Pres.; J. W. Harris, Secy, and Cashier: Emmett Jones, Asst. Cashier; J. \V.
Hiatt and D. M. Burns, additional directors. At present its statement is as
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 91
follows: Bonds, $10,000; loans, $58,188; cash, $12,846. Contrary capital,
$25,000; surplus and undivided profits, $1023; deposits, $56,211.
Of secret societies the town has been bereft, there having at one time
been several.
Of mines there have been innumerable, but none has paid. Copper and
cinnabar are the principal indications. Having no milling timber except a
little on Dry creek in the extreme southwestern part of the township, only
one mill has flourished, and that only for a short time. Gould, Brush and
\^'alker built a mill on Dry creek in 1866 of 15,000 capacity. After a few
years' run it was moved to the head of the east fork of Russian river, and
eventually was known as Reeves' mill.
L. F. Long has the honor of first introducing the hop industry on a
commercial scale in the county and township, though S. W. Knowles on
Dry creek first demonstrated the adaptability of our climate to this industry
Mr. Long made a fortune in the business and lost it in the same. He died
December 8, 1904.
Sanel and Anderson townships form the First supervisorial district and
have voted "dry" for the second time with a fair working majority. The
town had been a turbulent commvinity before that, and many crimes marked
King Alcohol's reign in this vicinity. Now only one soft drink emporium
usurps the place of five saloons, and it is more than probable that the alco-
holic drouth will continue.
Of summer resorts, Duncan's Springs holds a favored place with the
public. It is one and a half miles south of Hopland on a shoulder of Sanel
Peak — a sharp, triangular mountain rising some 2500 feet above the valley
floor. The Howell family, Brookes & Sanborn incorporated in December,
1895, with $50,000 capital, and the springs have been successfully run since.
McDowell's, four miles east of town, has also been a noted resort, but not
at present open for travelers.
Hopland has had some catastrophes in the past, from which she has
recovered with California elasticity. A business block, store, livery and
saloon burned, with sixteen horses; loss, $28,000; insurance, $9,800. Brookes
house and Sturtevant hophouse burned. The building of the toll road from
Pieta to Highland, 1891, was a heavy blow, as it took away nearly all the
lake travel. The washing away of the bridge at Pieta has restored the
travel to Hopland, but the adoption of automobiles has caused more speedy
passage and little stopping for meals or lodging. August 5, 1908, fire on
Sanel peak drove the wild animals to the valley and fourteen deer were
killed in the fray. Oil indications reported three miles east of town, and
more cinnabar five miles south. E. Dooley's house burned in August, 1906.
A quartz vein was worked for seventy-five feet and $1200 taken out.
92 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
CHAPTER IX
Round Valley Township
This township takes its name from that of its principal valley, and that
from its shape. It lies entirely on the head waters of the easterly sources
of Eel river, and is bounded north by Humboldt and Trinity counties, east
by Tehama, south by Little Lake and west by Little Lake and Long Valley
townships. It is extremely mountainous, being embraced as it were by the
Mayacmas range and an offshoot therefrom, and surrounded by peaks that
exhibit white tops in winter, and on the eastern range snow lies in places
until late summer. It has two considerable valleys, Round and Eden, and
numberless small ones of one farm, size, and much cultivatable land not to
be classed as valley land. Generally both hill and valley land are fertile
and a great deal of it remarkably so. The soil is of the same general char-
acter as the other sections heretofore spoken of, wash loam in the valley's,
with some black land both in the hills and valleys. Indeed, the major part
of the good land in the hills is black clover land, sometimes approaching
adobe. Wherever this latter has been contiguous to the valleys it has made
its mark on the soils therein. This is especially noticeable in the southern
part of Round valley, which has much black land. The northern or upper
end of the valley is more of the wash loam, and when settlement was first
made it was quite swampy and more or less of it was entered as swamp lands.
The cutting down of the creek beds has nearly corrected that, and an ap-
propriation of $8,000 by Congress for clearing the channel lower down the
valley will probably entirely relieve it of surplus water except in midwinter.
The timber is pine of several varieties, including sugar, yellow, digger :
oaks of several varieties, cedar on the highest ridges, madrona and buckeye,
manzanita, mahogany, steel brush, chemissal, etc., for covering of the rocky
hills. The timljer near the valley has been exploited to a great extent, so
that ten or twelve miles' haul is necessary in procuring lumber. Much of the
finishing and roofing stuff is hauled from Branscomb, thirty-five miles, over
two considerable ranges elevated a thousand feet above the valley. Not-
withstanding this handicap, many fine residences have been built in the last
few years, notably in 1912-1913, when some thirty-five or more were erected.
Originally selected by the Indian Department for a reservation station
in the handling of the aboriginal people of northern California, the first
settlers certainly had knowledge of the intention in regard to the valley and
could hardly complain, no matter how much of it the department might have
appropriated to that use. But the vacillating, undetermined course of it.s
agents in later years exasperated those who came in later under the im-
pression that all land not in immediate occupancy and use by the govern-
ment was open to settlement. This condition of aflfairs greatly retarded
the growth and prosperity of the township, and in a measure prevented
permanent improvements of value.
Early Settlement
The date of the first discovery of Round vallev by white men is defi-
nitely fixed as occurring in 1854, but there is an uncertainty as to who it
was. Frank Asbill claims it. and was possibly the first white man in the
valley, though one Williams claims to have seen the valley from the eastern
hills prior to the .Asbills coming into it. Charles Kelsev blazed a trail from
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 93
Clear Lake through Round valley in 1854. To which of the three the honor
belongs is the subject of doubt to some of the old settlers of the valley. It
is conceded that Frank Asbill named both Round and Eden valleys, which
is honor enough for one man. TTie Asbills, Frank and Pierce, passed
through Eden Valley and camped on north or middle Eel river, and in
pursuit of their horses the next morning, May 15, 1854, Frank saw the
valley, reported to his comrades that it was large and nearly round, and
then and there christened it Round valley, and it has since retained the
name and shape. They reported encountering a band of Indians, and in a
"fight" killing forty of them. As these Indians were never known after-
wards to stand up and fight even in defense of their women and homes, the
slaughter may be doubted. The Asbill party did not then remain in the
valley. A few days later another party, consisting of George E., James and
Calvin White, George Hudspeth and Dr. Atkinson, arrived in the valley
from the eastern side. The trail of the Kelsey party was still discernible,
and they had left their names cut on a tree. The White party saw no In-
dians, which certainly indicated the cowardly nature of the natives, as other-
wise they would have attempted reprisals for the deaths inflicted by the
Asbill party. George E. White located a claim, built a cabin and left it in
charge of Charles Brown. As if to claim proprietorship of the valley, he
built a second cabin, and all his actions thereafter were as domineering as
the lord of a principalit}'. Devinna and Craft built the third cabin on what
was afterwards the Melendy farm. Lawson and Arthur built the next house
where now stands the two-story dwelling built by George Henley. The
Lawson and Arthur house was really the beginning of Covelo, the only town
in the township. These latter settlers brought in a drove of hogs, the pro-
genitors of untold thousands. S. Hornbrook came to the valley in 1856. In
1857 John Owens, J. H. Thomas, T. D. Lacock, C. H. Eberle and others
came in, and George E. White and C. H. Bourne brought in two droves of
cattle. C. H. Diggins, S. P. Storms, E. S. Gibson, A. Leger, D. C. and D.
W. Dorneau. P. A. Witt and Randall Rice arrived and located in dififerent
parts of the valley. There were nineteen white men who wintered in the
valley in 1857-8 and two women, whose names cannot be ascertained. They
put in their spare time making buckskin clothing for the men. The first
child born in the valley was Harry Storms.
The first mail was by private subscription and was carried horseback
by Jesse Holland in the summer of 1858. It was continued in this way for
several years, the first mail contract by the government being let to C. H.
Eberle in June, 1870. The year 1869 saw a road completed from the valley
to Ukiah, mostly by private subscription and work. The two forks of Eel
river were bridged in the '70s. but washed away before the planks showed
any marks of wear. Contractors would not believe the tales of high water
old settlers told them and built too low. TTie first court was held in 1859,
C H. Eberle having been appointed a justice of the peace, and on this
occasion he fined two Indians $70 for stealing.
In 1858 sixty-one soldiers came into the valley, but only remained a
short time. Again in 1863 a military post was established, and seventy
soldiers were sent in. Captain Douglas commanding. Soon after a company
of cavalry came in as reinforcements. The post was maintained until the
reservation was turned over to the care of the Methodist Episcopal church,
in pursuance of Grant's policy toward the Indians.
94 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
The first sawmill was built by Andrew Gray in 1862, a water power,
and in 1864 two buhrs were put in for the manufacture of flour. In 1868
the mill was sold to the government. Brown & Cummins built a sawmill
east of the valley; Henley built one west of the valley; H. L. Zeek now
has a sawmill about ten miles northeast of the valley, 10,000 feet capacity,
and A. J. Fairbanks put in one near Dos Rios, thirteen miles west, of 8000
feet capacity.
In 1856 the farm was established at what is now the reservation by the
government and called Nome Cult station. It was used only as a stock
range, and no elifort was made toward cultivation for some time. It was
principally a breeding and fattening station for beef to supply the reserva-
tion on the coast. In 1858 it was declared a reservation, and then the trou-
bles of the settlers began. At first it was to contain 25,000 acres, but in 1868
its limits were extended northerly to the summit of the range. On March
30, 1870, by proclamation of the president, all the land embraced within its
boundaries was set apart for reservation purposes. On March 3, 1873, its
boundaries were limited and more definitely described as follows : All within
a line between townships 22 and 23 on the south ; main Eel river on the
west; north Eel river on the north; Hull and Williams' creeks and Middle
Eel river on the east, containing 102,118 acres. The vast principality was
ostensibly given over for the care of about 1000 Indians of the Pomos,
Ukiahs, Little Lakes, Redwoods, Conches, Pit Rivers, Yukas and Wy-
lackies. ]\Iost of the Pomos. Ukiahs and Redwoods returned to their
old homes and there are seldom more than 500 at the reservation. The
government has spent upon them ten times the money the land brought
which they used to call theirs, and the end is not yet in sight. Only occa-
sionally one of them attains a standing in business, education being wasted
on 95 per cent, of those who have been aftorded the opportunity. Of those
who have adopted white man's ways and shown business talent may be
mentioned Henry Henley, who is a halfbreed of Nevada parentage, and is
reputed worth $25,000. He was taught to read and write by Thomas Henley
and for some years was "major domo" of their 1000-acre ranch. Another,
Ed Smith, Lake County Indian, and Frank Perry, Redwood tribe, are espe-
cially good citizens. The latter has his house insured for $1500. Also in
this connection we would mention Wesley Hoxie, Jack Anderson, Alex
Eraser and Raymond Brown.
The reservation was managed first by civilian appointees, then by a
military officer detailed for that purpose, then it was turned over to the
Methodist Episcopal church and by them relinquished to civilian appointees
again. S. P. Storms was in charge in the '60s, a man of great energy. He
has been known to make the trip horseback from Ukiah to Round valley,
sixty miles, in a day, in midwinter, swimming every stream. Succeeding
him was Austin Wiley, Fairchild, Wilsey, Lieut. Connolly, Patrick, Liston
Sheldon, Burchard, Yates, Johnson and Wilson. The Rev. Burchard was
held in great esteem by the Indians, and his memory is cherished among
them as father and prophet. At the present time the reservation is cut down
to one hundred and sixty acres of the best land in the valley and five hun-
dred acres of range land adjoining. In 1913 the one hundred and sixty had
on it the school, dormitories, office, laundry and other buildings, about ten
in number. There are from one hundred to one hundred and twenty in the
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 95
school with only two teachers. Pupils are taken to the sixth grade. Three
young Indians fired the school house, in the basement of which was stored
a large amount of provisions. The whole was a total loss.
In 1894 apportionment of land was made to individual Indians and fami-
lies : To heads of families, ten acres (valley land); each child, ten acres;
wife, five acres. In 1909 further apportionment was made of sixty acres
mountain land; and to those who had received no land at the previous date
sevent.y acres was allotted. They are not allowed to alienate the land for
twenty-five years. Rations are issued to twenty-five old, helpless Indians ;
otherwise they are supposed to be self-supporting, except those in the
school, who are kept in boarding.
At one time, when Philo Handy was head farmer, the reservation
threshed 30,000 bushels of grain, all the product of Indian labor. In 1881
the production was 3150 bushels wheat, 1060 oats, 1850 barley, 1500 corn,
20,980 pounds hops. There were of stock ninety horses, thirteen mules,
one hundred and forty-nine hogs, thirty oxen, four hundred and fifty-two
cattle. At the same time the Indians owned one hundred and ten horses,
seven mules, one hundred and fifteen hogs, and produced 672 bushels wheat,
148 oats, 325 barley, 600 corn, 60 beans, 12,000 melons, 3000 pumpkins and
90 tons hay. They built 410 rods board fence, 320 rods rail fence and re-
paired fourteen and one-half miles of fence. The mill ground 250,000 pounds
wheat for agency and 2500 pounds for the Indians, and 411,000 pounds wheat
and 32,000 of barley for settlers, almost entirely Indian labor, even to the
engineer. The sawmill cut 177,000 feet.
The land is extremely fertile, producing everything without irrigation :
Alfalfa, three cuttings of two, one and one-half and one ton, respectively;
twelve sacks of wheat, thirty sacks of barley, fifty bushels corn, watermelons
of seventy-five pounds weight, etc.
Covelo
Covelo was so named by C. H. Eberle, after a Swiss village of that
name. The beginning of the town was the Lawson and Arthur house.
Dorman & Hornbrook erected a saloon next and Jacob Updegrafif a black-
smith shop. The first store was by Lieut. B. S. Coffman in 1860, suc-
ceeded by Riley & Bransford, and a hotel by Thomas White. A company
of regulars came into the valley late in 1856, and added zest to the society.
They remained ostensibly to protect the settlers from the Indians, but their
officers reported that the protection was needed the other way. They re-
moved at the opening of the Civil war, and were replaced by a company of
California volunteers.
After 1862 building proceeded as rapidly as the one sawmill could supply
the lumber. Up to that time logs, split shakes or whipsawed stuff supplied
the building material. In 1861 some trouble was experienced from raids
made upon stock by the outside Indians, and in an attack on one of their
camps L. D. Alontague was shot in the leg, the only white wounded, but a
dozen Indians were killed. In 1861 500 Wylackies drove off thirty-seven
horses and were overtaken at Horse Canon by ten whites and forty Indians;
one hundred and twenty of the raiding party were killed. Of the pursuing
party only two were wounded, L. D. Montague and H. J. Abbott. On the
6th of August, 1862, Wylackies again attempted to drive off stock, and were
96 - MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
routed with a loss of twenty-two killed. L. D. Montague was seriously
wounded and Shade Lamb killed. The next summer the raid was repeated
and nearly all the band of Indians killed, and Sharman and another white
man killed. The following winter George Bowers was killed by his Indian
servants, after he had killed two of them. These raids employed the settlers'
attention to such an extent that building was slow. In 1866 L. D. Mon-
tague erected a hotel and saloon. Ira Hoxie built a livery stable, and a meat
market was erected by C. H. Eberle.
In 1868 Dan Stephens, William Mantle and an Indian drove cattle to
Sonoma county; returning, Stephens was drowned and Mantle was killed
by an Indian arrow as he was swimming Eel river. These were the first
deaths among the whites in the valley. The same year Kettenpum valley,
thirty miles north, was raided by what was called the "gun" Indians from
Humboldt, and a white man and squaw killed, the ranch plundered and
burned. A week later the same band attacked the Hayfork and Douglas
toll house, but were driven oflf, after wounding one man and killing a dog.
In 1872 Riley and Bransford were merchandising in Covelo, soon chang-
ing to Fairbanks and Bransford. J. M. Ellis stocked a store there in 1873,
and Henley Bros, in 1877.
Thompson and UpdegrafT supplied a sutler's store on the reservation in
1877, and a drug store in Covelo in 1879. In 1873 the road was built from
the valley to Ukiah, mostly by private subscription, S. Hornbrook. who
was also the first postmaster, superintending the work. In 1879 bridges
were built across both Eel rivers, but only stood a few months. The con-
tractors would not believe the tales of high water given them by old settlers,
hence built too low. This mistake has been repeated on the state highway,
as also on the extension of the Northwestern above Willits. In August,
1881, fire destroyed the business part of the town, entailing a loss of $55,000;
insurance $19,000. The stores destroyed were Marks and Rosenberg, Henley
Bros., Thompson's, Bransford's, and Cunningham's hotel. Chambers and
White's saloons. Rebuilding proceeded rapidly, and Prising block was fin-
ished in December. With thousands of acres of range at this time, the reser-
vation advertised to buy 100,000 pounds of beef. T'he Methodist Episcopal
church at this date relinquished the care of the reservation. In 1882 George
E. White built a hotel and other buildings. The cook house at the Indian
school on the reservation, August 23, 1883, was burned. Twenty buildings
were erected in the town in 1883, among them a hotel by Enoch Gibson com-
pleted in February, 1884, at a cost of $12,000. United States Inspector visited
the reservation, remaining six weeks. H. B. Sheldon resigned, having been
superintendent six years. Two hundred and sixty-nine acres of hops in the
valley at this date, and the result was the bankruptcy of most of the owners.
A new road was opened from Eden valley to South Eel river in 1884,
increasing the distance some miles, and bettering the grade slightly. Super-
intendent Wilsey resigned in 1886, and C. H. Yates assumed the duties Jan-
uary, 1887. In September forty-two soldiers. Battalion I, from the Presidio,
in command of Captain R. G. Shaw and Lieutenants Davis and Mott, were
ordered into the valley to remove the settlers' stock from the reservation,
but were ordered out again in October.
Congress appropriated $100,000 to buy out settlers on the reservation,
and commissioners were appointed to appraise their improvements, etc. The
coal field on South Eel river was being worked spasmodically by the land-
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 97
owners, or by those having options on the purchase of it. The vein is trace-
able for twenty miles along the western side of the valley and makes a bar
across the river twenty feet thick. The coal is a lignite of good heating
quality. Tunnels have been run in seventy-five and one hundred and forty
feet, and some two tons taken to the city. The extension of the Northwestern
passes within six miles of the vein. In 1891, contract was let for the building
of a bridge on ]Main Eel river, on the road to Laytonville, which was opened
in 1887, for $18,349.
March 11, 1892, Captain Daugherty and seventy-two soldiers arrived in
the valley, remaining only a short time. All kinds of rumors regarding the
coal mine reported to have been bonded — that Flood and Mackey bought
out all other holdings, that contract was let for railroad to it, etc., all
proved myths. In December, 1897, Captain R. G. Shaw with forty-one sol-
diers and seventeen wagons, marched into the valley, after a strenuous time
on the road. September 5, 1898, William Russell and an Indian "Hacka"
met on the street on horseback, and both being tuned up each wanted the
whole road in which to show off his horsemanship. A duel ensued between
both men and horses. The Indian was dismounted, but no serious injury
inflicted.
A fire in July, 1899, destroyed Yourie's barn, two saloons, and the old
Henley house was torn down to prevent further spread of the flames.
J. L. Burchard retired from the agency in 1900, after nine years' service,
regretted by all, both Indians and whites.
Gas was discovered in June, 1901, but no use made of it, except talk.
The Indians gave a grand dinner, on the 4th of July, 1900, barbecuing
five beeves. In 1903, a movement was inaugurated for the establishment of
a union high school, and in 1904 bonds were voted to the amount of $6000,
and classes were organized. Game continued abundant, especially the preda-
tory kind ; bear and wildcats were common. Two bear were killed close to
town; on January 18, 1904, Dave Mackey killed three bears, three panthers,
and a coyote.
There are three families in the valley on the Rooseveltian basis, having
respectively seventeen, sixteen and fourteen children. Long may they live.
In April, 1905, a body of Japs were brought up from San Francisco, for
work in the hop fields, but were peremptorily ordered "deported,'' and they
were.
Major J. McLaughlin arrived in the valley, August 17, 1905, to appraise
the 66,000 acres to be thrown open for settlement. It was expected to be
open for filing upon by January, 1906. Dos Rios bridge declared unsafe.
Half the town of Covelo, and nearh' all the business portion was destroyed by
fire July 26, 1905. Rudee's store, $12,000 loss; insurance $4000; Rohrbough's
five "buildings, loss $8000; W. Grist, $1500; Goldberg, loss $300; Perry, $300;
Shutler, $500, etc. Total insurance $10,000. Total loss $35,000.
Grasshoppers innumerable northerly of the valley. A sale of reservation
cattle brought five and a quarter cents per pound.
Stewart & Zeek sawmill sending in lumber. A big storm the third week
in March, 1907, raised the water to an extremely high stage. Congress ap-
propriated $8000 for clearing the outlet creek. August, the Buck mountain
section survey is helping the valley. A party of eastern capitalists arrive to
examine the coal fields. Work on coal fields progressed during 1909, as the
option was to expire May 1st; 9000 acres belong to the Flood estate, and about
98 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
lOCX) acres to local settlers. May 20, 1909, road to Sacramento Valley opened
for travel. Further subdivision of the reservation by H. J. Johnson in Janu-
ary. 1910. Contract let for three miles on new road from Dos Rios to the
south end of the valley to Henley ranch, on a grade of six' per cent, and 1000
feet below the old road. April 10. 1912. six inches of snow fell in the valley.
Bond election of $1500 April. 1912. His:h school (Union) built with bonds of
$6000.
Ed Gibson, D. English, H. B. Hayden and Henry Henley (Indian) all
have artesian wells, water rising to the surface with about seven gallons flow
per minute. A creamery has been in operation for some years. President,
Ed. Gibson ; vice-president, J. S. Rohrbough : F. F. Spurlock, E. A. Gravier,
George H. Ells, secretary and treasurer.
The town now consists of three general stores, candy store, two black-
smith shops, shoe shop, barber shop, butcher shop, saddler, two hotels, tvi^o
restaurants, flour mill, two drug stores, one millinery store, high school and
grammar school, and about thirty dwellings. The town having voted dry
the second time, several saloons have now become residences. The flour
mill has a capacity of twenty-five barrels in a twelve-hour run. It is roller
style, but is to be superseded by a better one, capable of a largci' output in
another season.
Roimd Valley has been a turbulent community from early days to the
present. Land disputes, cattle stealing, and kindred feuds have been the
cause of several homicides. Some of them have been attributed to the machi-
nations of George E. White, who for many years dominated the country north
of the valley, and at one time claimed title to nearly 30,000 acres of range land.
And, though he is dead and gone to his long account, the aftermath of the
old feuds still takes toll of individuals, and of the public through expensive
criminal trials.
In an early day, as before mentioned, a flourishing lodge of Good Temp-
lars existed, but when the saloons began using its passwords, it broke up in
dis.gust. At present there are in the vallev the following societies :
" Covelo Lodge, No. 231, F. & A. M. ' Instituted June, 1873. The first
officers were: J. M. Ellis, W. M.; T. L. Barnes, S. W. ; J. Updegraff, J. W.;
J. Anthony, Treas. ; W. L. Bransford. Secy. The present officers are : George
M Biggar, W. M. ; Charles Hurt. S. ^^'. : L. B. Tuttle, J. W. ; ^^'alter Hargrave,
Secy.; E. A. Gravier, Treas.
Augusta Chapter. No. 80, O. E. S. : Dora Asbill, W. M. ; Walter Har-
grave, W. P.; Hattie Tuttle. A. M.; Ethel Hargrave, Sec; George H. Ells,
Treasurer.
W. O. A\'. Present officers : George Biggars, C. C. ; Charles Bucknell,
A L ; Robert Redwine, Secy.; S. P. ^^'est, Treas. (since died).
A lodge of I. O. O. F. was maintained for some years, but finally suc-
cumbed to inertia. There is talk of reviving it in the near future.
The educational facilities of the valley are excellent, with the high school
and surrounding grammar schools, and there is probability of soon being
another of the latter in the valley.
There are features worthy of note outside the valley proper. Among
them the most noteworthy is the Eden ^^alley principality of W. G. Henshaw.
Frank Asbill claims to have named this lovely valley also, and it is rightly
named. Bursting on the vision of the tired traveler after forty miles of up-
and-down climbing, a couple of miles of level land covered with waving
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 99
grain, or green grass and flowers, it indeed seemed paradise before the grounds
about the house were laid out by the artistic hand of Carl Purdy. A valley
about two miles long, level as a floor, with a bright stream flowing the whole
length until late in summer, bordered by grain and poppies, it is a rest to the
eye and body. ^Y. G. Henshaw bought the original ranch some years ago,
and has added to it b}' purchase, two large tracts and several small ranches,
until the estate now contains 25,000 acres. About 300 acres of level land
surround the residence, which is modern, with water and gas distributed
through the residence, and fine grounds surrounding, a carload of shrubbery
and ornamental trees having been transported by rail from San Francisco
and thirty miles by wagon. Three hundred fine dairy cows graze on the hill-
sides, and ten Hereford bulls, several elk and a bufTalo or two, provide,
with the abundance of native game, both profit and sport. Reeves and Van
Dusen operated a sawmill in the valle}' in 1881-2, but it was closed down and
moved to Low Gap.
North of Round valley is another large range, a remnant of the George
E. White principality, that of J. S. Rohrbough, containing 4300 acres, of fine
grass country. East of Eden valley is the Squires range of 4560 acres, now
owned by Oscar Cooper. West of Eden lies the Bigelow estate of 4877 acres,
and there are several others running into the thousands of acres. One may
judge from this what a vast country is included in the township. Scattered
through the hills on all these big tracts are flats and small valleys adapted
to garden and orchard culture. While in the main valley are about 25,000
acres, only about 10,000 are in cultivation. This vast country has a popula-
tion of only about one thousand souls.
In 1907 eighty-four square miles were added to the Stony Creek forest
reserve, nearly all from this township.
Eden valley was purchased in 1895 by a Catholic priest named Jerome
and a colony of several families settled upon it. The financial part proved a
failure, and Father Jerome was drowned in Eel river in 1896. and the colony
was abandoned.
In 1910 a road was completed from Covelo to Elk creek on the Sacra-
mento side of the mountain, crossing the ridge at an elevation of nearly 4000
feet. It is not used to any extent as a freighting outlet, being too steep in
grade and narrow. Also a road extends some distance towards Trinity
countv.
CHAPTER X.
Long Valley Township
This township was cut otY from Little Lake, and its southern bnundary is
near a pond on the old road about a mile from Sherwood valley, the line
separating it from Little Lake running nearly east and west ; the western
boundary is down the coast slope some distance, so that a considerable body
of redwoods falls to its share, having on its western flank Ten Mile and West-
port townships. On the north Humboldt county, some distance north of
Laytonville, about thirty-five miles ; and on the east Round ^"alley township.
It is extremely mountainous, having but one valley of any great size, after
which the township was named, and, as its name indicates, having very little
width. In extreme length it is about six miles, and nowhere over a mile
100 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
wide, and oftener only half a mile. The soil is the ever-present wash loam,
and many of the hills seem to have almost identical characteristics and are
quite fertile.
Ten Mile valley is only a farm of a few hundred acres, and between it
and Long valley is another.
The climate is colder than Ukiah, on account of its elevation, which is
about the same as Round valley, and the degrees of heat and cold about the
same, the extreme range being from °10-|- to °100+ winter and summer. It
is usually blessed with early rains in the fall, and later rains in the spring
than the southern part of the county, which is an advantage for feed and
cropping, but its excess of rain above Ukiah is a disadvantage. Snow often
falls, and sometimes lies even in the valleys several days, but not often.
The first settlers in the valley were Jackson Farley, George Woodman,
Harry Schroeder, George and Edward Dutton and William Poe in 1857.
Dr. G. W. Sargeant brought in the first family in that year. Jerry Lambert,
with wife and three children, arrived in 1858, and J. G. Wilson, wife and two
children. A. Requa and wife, Clement Beattie and Thomas Smith came late
in the fall. Early in 1859 Rufus Ward and B. S. Burns arrived. A daughter
of Jerry Lambert's, Miss Abigail, and Richard Kenney were the first to marry
in the township, in 1860. The first school was taught the same year by a
Mr. Dennison, and Rev. Cox held the first church service, in 1859. In those
days the Indians were a little troublesome to lone travelers, or a ranch un-
guarded. Mrs. Bowman was attacked in the absence of her husband, and
after killing two of her assailants guarded her children four miles to a neigh-
bor's. Jack Farley lost a large band of horses, and trailing them, overtook
them in charge of a band of Indians. He killed several Indians and recovered
the whole drove save one which the Indians had stopped to kill and eat.
Woodman made a regular business of raiding Indian villages, capturing chil-
dren and taking them to Sonoma and Napa for sale. He was overhauled in
Ukiah once, his prisoners taken away by the district court, and placed in the
hands of the district attorney, who parceled them out among his friends,
which proved no better fate than Woodman had prepared for them.
Cahto is a small valley at the edge of the redwoods west of Long valley.
It was almost a swamp of about 400 acres, considerably higher in altitude
than Long valley. It was drained by a ditch into a gorge, and in the course
of years has washed a channel two hundred feet wide. There is another set-
tlement on the creek which is the head of South fork of Eel river, farther
west than Cahto, called Branscomb, where a small spot of open land has
been enlarged by clearing up redwood land after the timber had been cut off.
It is here that the heaviest rainfall in the county is experienced, having
reached the enormous amount of 118 inches one season. There is a mill here
which supplies nearly all the lumber for Long valley, and considerable is
hauled to Round valley, though that entails a haulage of about forty miles
over three quite difficult elevations. The mill was built in 1888, and is
of 15,000 feet capacity, and has cut about 5,000,000 feet of lumber, only run-
ning part of the time. It is run by an incorporated company, A. Haun & Sons.
Some miles farther down the stream is the finest body of redwood timber in
the county. It is estimated that two hundred and eighty acres bear 20,000,-
000 feet, easily accessible, either by railroad to the bay or to the coast. There
is considerable pine timber, yellow and digger, and much has been cut into
lumber; but is poor for outside work, as it warps, swells and shrinks so much.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 101
There was a sawmill west of Long valley, which also ground some grain in
an early day, but only the oldest inhabitant remembers its existence. There
was also one about three-fourths of a mile from Cahto, which has also long
gone to decay. Near the Dos Rios bridge, in the eastern part of the town-
ship, a mill to cut lumber to use on road construction was erected by Fair-
banks and Baechtel in 1910, of 10,000 feet capacity. The Vassars have an-
other south of Laytonville, which cuts 8000 feet a day.
Laytonville is the only town in the township, and consists of two each
of hotels, stables and stores, a blacksmith shop, ice cream and barber shop,
telephone and telegraph station, and a dozen dwellings, scattered over much
ground, and the inevitable schoolhouse. The town was founded by F. B.
Layton, who built a blacksmith shop and dwelling in 1874. Viers and Rem-
ington opened a store there in November, 1885. A huge panther killed at
Cahto. Layton's house was burned on July 30, 1881, loss $2000. The Haas
ranch of 5200 acres was sold to George A. Knight for $11,000. He has since
bought two other ranches in the south end of the valley, to give him an outlet
to the public road and for cropping purposes, making about 8000 acres.
April 1, 1901, C. A. Lockhart located 150 mining claims on Red mountain,
twenty miles east of Usal and about as far northwest of Long valley. Ar-
rangements were made to put in a ten-stamp mill. The ledge is traceable
about four miles at 3000 feet elevation. Jack Farley died in 1898, aged 103
years.
November 17, 1896, mail driver drowned in Ten Mile creek. Branscomb
shot three bear in one tree in December, 1900.
Laytonville burned in August, 1904, destroying two hotels and their
stables, a store and a saloon ; loss $10,000. insurance $6000. A cloud-burst on
Rattlesnake creek in September, 1904. Thirteen inches of snow in the valley
Januar}', 1907. Laytonville again wiped out by fire, destroying Northwest-
ern store, Helm hotel and barn and tank house. Pinches' and Yates' resi-
dences, and telephone office, September 24, 1907; loss $15,000, insurance $10,-
000. The government bought the Braden ranch for the Indians in March, 1908,
for .$2500, which barely affords them a resting place.
Autos were put on the stage route from Sherwood through Laytonville
in 1910. When the road down the outlet to railroad connection at Longvale,
fifteen miles, was finished in 1912, autos were changed to that route through
to Humboldt for summer use. J. LI. Braden, a pioneer in the valley, thirty-
two years justice of the peace, died July 31, 1913. Of the old original settlers
none are left, and some of the families are not even represented by descendants
of rhe name.
A celebrated bear, old Twotoes, so-called from having lost part of his
foot in a trap, was killed by G. E. Lovejoy and E. G. Bigelow, September 30,
1907. He measured six feet in length, and his spread of forelegs was even
greater. Such a bear works havoc with stock. Sheep will return to their
sleeping place though routed out night after night by bear. J. M. Standley
on a hunt in the edge of Humboldt, killed an old bear, and three cubs of 200
pounds weight each, in one pile, in less than two minutes. They were fat
as hogs, having been depredating on sheep for several weeks.
On the Sargeant place a mile north of Laytonville there is a large mineral
spring, which runs an uninterrupted stream of water, but is so strongly
impregnated with sulphur that it cannot be used for any purpose. The valley
is unique in one way, as the waters divide near the north end and flow to
102 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
the north and south, and reach Eel river twenty miles or more apart. Fruit
is an uncertain crop in the valley, but on higher ground surrounding it pears,
apples and plums usually bear crops and berries flourish.
Cahto was once the only town in the township. It was founded by Rob-
ert White and John P. Simpson in 1856. They opened a hotel in 1861, and a
store in 1865 ; and proceeded to drain the valley. They put up a small mill
a short distance west, afterwards moving it down into the redwoods. H.
Chadbourne put in a blacksmith shop, Isaac Smith a saloon, and it became the
metropolis of the township. F. B. Layton also started a blacksmith shop, but
unfortunately for Cahto, a quarrel with the town authorities led him to
relocate in Long valley proper, hence Laytonville. Successive fires destroyed
the hotel (which was rebuilt), the stables, store, saloon and a dwell-
ing, in 1867, 79 and "91, and nothing remains but the hotel and three
small dwellings and the Odd Fellows' hall. The Independent Order
of Odd Fellows was instituted July 20, 1872. The first officers were : J. G.
Killian, N. G. : Robert White, V. G. ; J. C. Grime, Secy. ; J. C. Talkington,
Treas., who, with I\I. Vassar and William McKinney, were the only charter
members. The present officers are H. F. Britt, N. G. ; M. A. Norris, V. G. ;
Frank Purdy, Secy. ; A. A. Grothe, Treas. Forty-eight members. The meet-
ing place has been changed to Laytonville, as their-sessions often last until
late and there are no accommodations at Cahto for man or beast.
A road was opened from Laytonville to Covelo in 1885, which livened
the town considerably, but its full effect was not experienced until the bridge
at Eel river was built in 1892, when all the winter travel to and from Covelo
was diverted this way.
One of the curiosities of the township is the mud springs, some six miles
west of Cahto on a small spring branch that runs into a creek leading west to
Eel river. It is a side hill gently sloping south, of blue clay formation, and
over its surface, in the fall, are several mud cones from five to six feet high, in
which the mud seems to be boiling, occasionally running over, and thus
building up the walls. Some assert that they ebb and flow with the tides,
but no one has remained on watch long enough to give data from which to
confirm that theory. In the winter the rains wash down the cones, or the
mud is too thin to build up. so that they can only be seen at their best in the
late fall.
For a time it was believed that the extension of the railroad would go
through Cahto valley, and down South Eel river, on account of the heavy
body of redwood that would be entered about six miles west of Cahto. It
exiends from that point to Humboldt bay, and would certainly seem to have
been worth the effort in that direction. It is extremely probable that time
will bring a branch road in that direction, as it is an easy grade from Long-
vale, and only twenty miles to the timber.
Asbestos was discovered in Jackson valley (Branscomb), by J. R. Tracy
in 1902, and traces of gold and copper in numerous localities, but none, so far,
ricli enough for profitable work.
Laytonville has an excellent hotel, and always has had, notwithstanding
the numerous fires. For many years Mrs. Van Helm conducted a hotel, as
also the post office and stage office. For many years she only had an anti-
quated dwelling, but its table was alwa3's first-class. Burned out twice, she
relegated the task to some one else in 1913.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 103
There are several princely domains in this township,- not least among
them being that of George A. Knight, the San Francisco lawyer, which con-
sists of over 8000 acres, of which several hundred are susceptible of cultiva-
tion. As it is not stocked to its full capacity he has complained that deer
constitute his greatest annoyance. The Hardin ranch stretches for miles
south of and includes a portion of that valley, is excellent range, and in places
heavily wooded with immense tan oaks. A large section of it was in 1858
orrginally settled by A. F. Redeme3-er. who remained there many years, until
his removal to Ukiah, where he became very wealthy.
J. H. Clark has a large range of 4736 acres stretching from Cahto
south nearly to Sherwood, and from the road west to and into the redwoods.
He runs sheep of the Rambouillet breed, known everywhere as of the best.
The average annual clip of his sheep is seven and one-half pounds per head.
His range is fenced with posts six feet high, and barbed wire from the very
ground up, and close watch is kept to see that it is unbroken by falling limbs,
rushing torrents, or wandering hunters. Usually from 1700 to 1800 sheep
are wintered without loss, and with neither feed nor protection, except what
nature supplies. Seven hundred to nine hundred lambs are marked each
season. The grasshoppers of 1913 so denuded the range that the young grass
had no protection from frost, and the heavy winter rains had a stronger hold
for erosion than usual. The family consisted originally of the parents and
three boys and a girl, and came to their present location three miles west of
Cahto, in 1869. Two brothers, Frank and William, and the parents have
died. J. H. Clark married Annie P'owzer, daughter of a pioneer of Sanel, and
they have reared and educated a family of five, ready for high school, at
home. In that region, Mr. Clark says, this 1913-14 has been a phenomenal
season. The highest water he has a record of was on March 5, 1879. On
March 4, 1880, the temperature was 10° above zero. Previous to the present
March, the highest temperature for the month, the 14th, 1888, 86° above.
Last Tuesday, St. Patrick's day, the mercury registered 95", and remained
there for nearl}- three hours. March has heretofore been a stormy month.
The coldest in forty-two years was January 14, 1888, with the mercury down
to 6°. The coldest this winter (1913-14) has been 28°.
The finishing of the California Northwestern through to Humboldt will
cut off from this valley most of the through travel, and probably reduce the
mail service, though the building of the state highway through the valley will
insure the automobile travel. Thirty autnmoljiles passed through the town
one day last summer, 1913.
CHAPTER XI.
Cuffey's Cove Township
T'his township, the southern portion of the original Big River township,
was so named because of the early-da\- presence of Nigger Nat, who divided
the honors of first settler with Frank Farnier, i. e., "Portuguese Frank." The
township is bounded on the north by Big River township, at Salmon creek,
east by Anderson township, south by Arena, and west by the Pacific Ocean.
It is about thirteen or fourteen miles, nearly square in extent, and has almost
no open land except on the immediate ocean bank, and there not more than
a mile wide, often less. But this land is, or has been, of unparalleled richness,
104 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
being of great depth of vegetable sandy loam, washed from the timbered
ridges of solid walls of foliage to the east.
Navarro river is the largest stream, and Elk and Greenwood creeks are
respectively about ten and twelve miles long, heavily timbered, rushing moun-
tain water courses in winter, purling brooks in summer. Railroads have been
up both streams a short distance to mills long since faded away, and Green-
wood is likely again to have one extended nearly to its head in pursuit of
timber. Since the inauguration of the flying skidder, the Greenwood mill
proprietor does not hesitate to run a railroad into the bottom of any gulch,
run a heavy cable from side to side of the canyon, garnish it with heavy
blocks, drop a chain down to and around a log, with donkey engine raise it
clear of a tangle of brush and logs, run it out over the rails, and lower it to
the waiting log trucks. All this is done in less than half the time it would
require to clear the way for it to be dragged along the ground to the train.
Then, too, the track may be up from the bottom of the gulch as far as con-
venience dictates, and logs can be lifted and carried from either below or
above the train. Nine men and a boy load 70,000 feet of logs per day.
Greenwood is another mill town, though it has considerable agricultural
country immediately along the coast, and uses all, or nearly all, that is pro-
duced thereon. Considerable cleared land on the ridges back of town has
been brought into cultivation for hay and orchard, and produces the best in
the- market of apples, pears and plums, and peaches also, some miles inland.
The neighborhood was once the premium potato locality, but continued crop-
ping, without potash fertilizer has caused a deterioration of that product.
The first known white settler in the vicinity was Frank Farnier, after-
wards generally known as Portuguese Frank, and as a neighbor he had
Nigger Nat. It has been supposed that the name originated from his pres-
ence, but another legend attributes the cognomen to Charles Fletcher. He
was down from the Navarro in the harbor which as yet had no name. \\'hile
speculating what to designate the landing he saw a large bear climbing the
bank, and at once christened it Cufifey's Cove, and the name still holds.
The Switzer Bros, bought out Nigger Nat, and later sold to Alichael Dona-
hue ; James Kenney bought out Frank Farnier, but no date can be given, as
there is no record of either transaction, and the parties are all gone or dead.
Farnier died in 1904 at the reputed age of 103. The early history of the
place is in obscurity, as little information can be derived from the one or
two old settlers still living, so that most of the history, as in nearly all this
book, must be written from the personal recollection of the writer.
The Greenwood brothers, Britt, William Boggs and James, arrived about
1854, and built a large house, for that era, on the second bench back from
the ocean bluff and nearly east of the present town of Greenwood. It was
for a long time the starting point for a trip across country, via Anderson, to
the county seat and Cloverdale. Osro Clift built farther up the ridge at a
later date, and kept such travellers as presented themselves at his hospitable
dwelling. The Greenwoods sold to H. Bonee in September, 1873, for $9435, 519
acres. In 1874 Bonee sold to John Cummings, a one-armed man, one acre,
where was a saloon for some years. H. Bonee sold to William Bonee in 1887
twenty-one acres located near the same place. The latter sold to J. S. Kim-
ball, who sold to L. E. White, and then began the building up of that vast
lumber enterprise, and the decadence of the town of Cufifey's Cove. L. E.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 105
White eventually bought the Greenwood ranch, and several hundred acres
adjoining, and the site of the present town, from Michael Donahue, in 1883.
On Greenwood creek, where is now the mill dam, was once a hotel and
livery business, kept by James Greenwood, until 1871, when he sold to J.
Turner. Afterward John Reed operated the place, receiving deed therefor
from Thos. Kenney, both in 1876 and 1878. Turner also deeded the same
property to Reed in 1877.
What was once Cuffey's Cove owed its rise and prosperity to James
Kenney, who in 1865 bought land there from Albert Miller, having previously
bought of Farnier, and in 1869 bought again from Clinton Gurnee, and in
1873 of Thomas Musgrove ; and in July, 1877, of John A. Coflfey. This latter
piece was fifty acres of the "northwest corner of the Cufifey's Cove ranch."
It is safe to say that he bought the most of his land twice or three times over,
such was the indeterminate state of land titles at that early day.
Mr. Kenney recognized the feasibility of shipping the vast amount of
timber to be cut on the adjacent ridges, and consequently the value of title
to the shore, and did not hesitate to buy every shadow of a title claimed.
His one mistake was in thinking no other shipping point was available in the
neighborhood. The first shipping was done with a short chute and lighters ;
but a longer chute was soon designed, under which the vessels could be
moored to receive cargo, thus saving one handling of the timber. For some
years only split stuff was shipped, but bark wood and lumber added to the
work to be done, and it became a busy place.
The town was surveyed and mapped in March, 1876, and the first lot
sold of record was to J. D. Gow, 40x80 feet, July 1876, for $1000. Afterwards
bought by J. S. Kimball, August 5, 1876. September 19 a lot 40x80 feet
was sold to Thomas Lvnch for $500. October 16, J. K. Salter, 80x40 feet,
$300. December 20, J. K. Reyburn, 40x80, $400. Elizabeth Kitchens, De-
cember 20, 40x80, $950. Some of these lots were afterwards sold for double
the original price. Now, none so poor as to own them. Even as late as
March, 1883, Catherine Ballentine paid $500 for a lot in the town. In 1887
J. S. Kimball sold lots in the town to L. E. White, and on the same date
twenty-one acres near or on Greenwood bluff. With his business in ties,
and mills projected and built, L. E. White was dissatisfied with the shipping
facilities of the Cove, and to the end that he might handle and enlarge the
plant, both for his own needs and the benefit of the public, he offered Kenney
$40,000 for his holdings there, in 1887. Kenney asked $75,000. White at
once put in motion his surveyors and engineers, sea captains and wreckers,
and Greenwood is the result. There have been fewer marine casualties at
this landing than at any other doing a like business, on the coast. The pur-
chase of large tracts of timber, and the building of the mill dam and railroad
soon followed. The latter has stretched itself, feeling for timber, up Elk
creek, and out over the divide to Alder creek, and' even up to the last spring
at its head, taking everything in the shape of timber that would square eight
inches. In the '60s and 70s or later nothing less than eighteen inches was
considered fit to saw. The L. E. White mill is one of the most complete
on the coast, and is the only one that has not been burned. The country
traversed by this road is as bare as a fire-swept prairie. The railroad is about
twenty-five miles in length, and must tunnel through to the watershed of
the Garcia, where the company has much good timber, or be soon discon-
tinued. The company has cut off over 13,000 acres, and has about as much
106 :\[ENDOCIXO AND LAKE COUXTIES
more, but not in compact form. They have been building a railroad up
Greenwood creek for more timber. A railroad was built from Cul¥ey's Cove
landing to and up Greenwood creek, in all about three miles, to the sawmill
there. It was built by A. W. Hall for Fred Hehnke in 1875-6, but torn up
before L. E. White began operations at the Greenwood landing. It had
served its purpose when the mills which fed it were discontinued, owing to
low price of lumber.
A\^ith characteristic energy L. E. White had the big mill at Greenwood
in running order by 1890; the wharf and chute under construction, and it
has run almost uninterruptedly ever since under his management until his
death in 1896, under his son, W. H. ^^^^ite, until his death in 1898, and since
then Mrs. W. H. White, and later under her second husband, F. C. Drew.
(L. E. White and son each died on the 4th of July.) The mill has cut 110.000
feet in a day, and averaged 60,825 feet during March.
Cuffey's Cove for some years was the headquarters for J- S. Kimball's
multitudinous timber operations, until he moved to Westport. He built nu-
merous schooners fitted with auxiliarj^ power and hotels everywhere along
the coast. Several times almost on the verge of bankruptcy, his genius
became more brilliant under adversity, and he emerged with a fortune. In
May, 1886, a fire at the Cove burned eight buildings; loss $35,000, insurance
$15,000. In April, 1892, fire again destroyed a store, hotel and three saloons.
In 1891 a lot was deeded for a Catholic church. Another big fire in 1911 de-
stroyed the most of the deserted buildings, and Cuffey's Cove became a
memory only. John Conway is almost the only one of the old-timers.
Greenwood is essentially a mill town, and should milling discontinue its fate
would be much the same as that of Cuffey's Cove. It has about 400 in-
habitants, except on Sunday, when an additional hundred floats in from the
woods, and the few farms above and below. Of business houses it has six
hotels, each graced with a bar; one blacksmith shop, two confectionery stores,
two barber shops, one butcher shop, one jewelry store, one livery stable, two
general merchandise establishments, one photograph gallery, and no use for
an}- more. The mill company maintains a good hotel, and a large general
store. Under L. E. W^hite a fair business understanding with the employees
was established, and it has been maintained by his successors. No labor
troubles have interfered with the work of the company. He prosecuted the
tie business at a loss to give work to men with families in dull times. Five
hundred thousand ties have been shipped here in a year ; but now about
250,000 in the limit. The company runs three steamers from its wharf to the
city continuously, for both passengers and freight.
Beneficial societies are represented in Greenwood by :
Court Greenwood, No. 8225, A. O. F., organized June 4, 1904. Present
membership, fifty. Officers: I. W. Freeberg, P. C. R. ; Donald Buchanan,
C. R. ; Albert Popeck. S. C. R.; John P. Conway, Sec; H. Anderson, R. ; Emil
Hagland, Treas.
U. A. O. D., Elk Grove, No. 186, instituted October 28, 1906. Number
of members one hundred. Present officers: V. Bettigo, N. A.; V. Luchinetti,
V. A.; A. Falleri, Treas; O. Vivian, Sec; V. Bacci, A. P.
There are also other societies, but no rejiorts have been received from
them.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 107
South of Greenwood lies quite a stretch of fine farming land, half a mile
wide, of unknown depth of soil, as one might say, three or four farms deep,
all under a high state of cultivation. Some day it will be refertilized by the
tons of kelp obtainable all along its ocean shore. Six miles down there was
for a time a busy little place called Bridgeport, but little is done there now
save farming and a creamery, which latter was established in February, 1900,
and has been in operation since. The shipping formerly done here by chute
proved too precarious, two vessels having been wrecked, and it has been
abandoned, as have all the mills which once existed in the neighborhood.
A store was burned out there in March, 1886.
Six miles north of Greenwood is or was Navarro, once a busy mill town,
with a thriving hotel and livery business. Fire and bankruptcy have ended
it all. Nothing is left at the flat at the mouth of the river but rotting piles,
and one or two of the original dwellings, and they will soon go the wa}^ of
the others. The mill was burned in July, 1890, and rebuilt a mile up the
ri\er. run a few years and closed down, $500,000 in debt, and assigned to
A. J. Clunie. The employes took possession of the mill store, and paid
themselves the back wages due for labor. The mill was again burned in
November. 1902, and the property lies idle. It has been bonded to the
American Steel \\'ire Co., and to other parties, and is now supposed to be
the property of the Pacific Coast Redwood Co. — J. C. Cook, et al. Charles
Fletcher, a hardy sailor, was the first known settler in this vicinity, and his
is the principal house now standing, built in the early '50s. For many years
he maintained a ferry here, first with a dugout for the traveler, and a swim
for his horse. Later a flat boat increased the accommodation. J. B. Har-
grave settled on the ridge north of the river and maintained a stopping place
for travelers, and graded a trail a mile and a half to the ferry, which was
afterwards widened to accommodate wagons. Haskett Severance arrived
in 1858, and with his brothers. Ben and Frank, assumed the job of furnishing
the mill with logs. River driving was the established trade, and where suc-
cessful was extremely remunerative. But the loss of a season's logging from
the breaking of a boom often threw the logger thousands of dollars in debt.
Haskett Severance bought the Hargrave place, of eighty acres, on the ridge,
and settled down to farming, hotel, livery and teaming business. He also
built a large hall for the neighborhood dances, and was the life of the com-
munity for many years until his death in 1888. Mrs. Severance was the good
angel of every broken and maimed woodsman from miles around, and many
owed life itself to her careful nursing. She died in Boston in 1892, but was
brought home and laid by her husband and daughter in Little River cemetery.
Charles Wintzer did a large business in a store, express, mail and bank-
ing for several years, but closed out when the mill closed down, and the store
burned in 1897. Several hotels and saloons were operated between the
Severance hotel and Salmon creek, but have all been deserted since the
mill there ceased existence. The bridge across the river has been washed
out twice, once in 1897. and again in 1914. A ferry is each time established
in the interim, and in February of this jxar the boat sunk without casualty.
A move is being made to establish a new road from Salmon creek round
the point to the Navarro, avoiding the two steep long hills now used. At
Navarro Flat in years gone the A. O. U. W. and I. O. G. T. flourished, and
there was a church and public hall, which latter stood the ocean's force, high
water of the river, and the earthquake, to perish at last by fire. The Green-
108 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
wood mill and logging establishment has been singularly free from serious
accidents and fire. One old mill man remarked in a letter last year (1913)
that it was her turn next, but he has not lived to see his prophesy fulfilled.
A landslide at the mill killed one man in the '80s, and two men were killed
in one week in the mill in March, 1914.
Thomas Walsh was an early settler in the Bridgeport neighborhood,
and south of him one Moody held sway over hundreds of acres, but did not
remain to acquire any title. James Nolan was another of the early settlers.
A. W. Hall, after a busy life in Point Arena and later at Cufifey's Cove, settled
on a fine ranch just south of Elk creek, built numerous improvements, and
died there. C. J. Buchanan now owns the place, one of the best on the coast.
The earthquake of 1906 badly damaged the ranches between Elk creek and
Alder creek. Huge sections of land broke loose from the steep hillsides and
slid down upon the farms, burying the soil from two to four feet under gravel
and clay, in places sliding down a quarter of a mile.
CHAPTER XII
Little Lake Township
This township is in the center of the county, and bounded on the north
by Round valley and Long valley, east by Round valley and a little strip of
Lake county, south by Potter and Ukiah townships. It contains about
eleven government townships, i. e., 253,440 acres, with only one considerable
valley, and several smaller ones of one to four ranches each. Little Lake
valley, the largest, contains about 12,000 acres of tillable land; if it were
properly drained, of exceeding fertility. The soil and climate are very much
the same as Round valley and Long valley, though the soil more generally
approaches the river loam than either of them. The hardier fruits and veg-
etables thrive, especially along the slightly elevated land bordering the
valley, and the often occurring table lands in the surrounding hills. Fog
often envelops the valle3% both from the coast and a ground fog generated
by the swampy character of the middle and lower part of the valley. The
range of the mercury in summer is from 40 to 104 degrees, with occasional
rises to 110 degrees: in winter 13 to 60 degrees, with occasional lapses to
12 degrees.
There is not much timber in the township, for mill purposes, except the
fir and redwood along its western border, where it has followed the ocean
fogs over the ridge, and the western line of the township trenches upon the
timber west of the ridge. Through the valley are a profusion of huge white
oaks, and white, black and post ash, madrona, and pepperwood. Fir and pine
dot the hills and ravines over the eastern slopes.
Until the coming of the railroad was authoritatively announced in 1900,
the valley was so isolated by distance and bad roads that little progress could
be made. The best land in the valley was held at only $35 per acre, and only
crops enough were raised for home consumption and nearly all the flour
used was hauled in from Ukiah or below. A. E. Sherwood was the first
permanent white settler in the township, and in 1853 located in Sherwood
Valley, where he remained until his death. The Baechtel Bros., Samuel,
Harry and Martin, brought a band of cattle from Marin County in Septem-
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 109
ber, 1855, and Samuel and Harry remained there until Harry died in 1913.
Following them were Daugherty, Shondreau, Potter, J. G. and R. S. Rowli-
son, Partin, Duncan, Levi Felton, Darby, Arnett, and William Fulwider.
Nearly every one of these left the valley sooner or later, except Felton, Ful-
wider and Daugherty, who died there. J. L. Broaddus, W. C. James and
Hiram Willits next came, bringing wives with them, the first in the valley.
The first child was a boy born in the James family and the first girl was
born in the Upp family.
The first approach towards a town was at the Baechtel ranch, where a
store was opened by W. C. James in 1865, and a saloon in 1859. In 1860
a public hall was built there, about 30x40, and there a dance was given
July 4th. A rupture in business relations here, as in Cahto, led to an opposi-
tion town, and Willits was located about a mile north. Kirk Brier of Peta-
luma, opened a store where Willits is now located in 1866. J. M. Jones
opened a blacksmith shop and a saloon soon followed, and henceforth it was
a town. Hiram Willits soon purchased the store and continued it until
1883, when he sold out to Cerf & Lobree, who in turn sold to Irvine & Muir.
Just north of the town Mr. Willits built a two-story dwelling, the only one
in the valley for many years, and he and his good wife were first and fore-
most in the social life of the valley.
A thirty-three pound salmon was caught in 1860. Countless thousands
of these fish come up the streams in the fall with the first freshet; and in
the late winter and spring a like number of steelheads come up. There was
a tannery three miles south of Willits in 1864, and for several years after,
but has long since disappeared. So, too, a distillery was fitted up near the
same place, but the project was abandoned before any spirits were run. At
the same locality W. C. James operated a grist mill in 1860, but nothing
remains of it but the water ditch, now used for irrigating purposes, and the
deep cut where stood the water wheel. In 1875 F. L. Duncan built a steam
grist mill in Willits, of twenty barrels capacity, with two runs of buhrs.
It was improved by Capt. J. A. Morgan and T. L. Kelley, but the venture
did not pay and was abandoned, although it was running as late as 1890.
It was then turned over to H. B. Muir for the benefit of the creditors of
Morgan & Kelley, sold and resold, leased and re-leased, and is now the
property of John Havens. He, in company with Barney Schow, established
a tannery there, but operated it only a short time, producing $17,000 of
leather one year. In 1885 Scudamore Reynolds. Rice & Mason opened a
store in Willits and ran it for a few years.
The Blosser Bros, built a sawmill two and a half miles up Willits creek,
run by water power, in the early '60s. It was afterwards fitted with steam.
In 1877-8 it passed into the hands of H. L. Norton, and was run by him
for several years. It had a capacity of 20,000 per day. He cut nearly
3,000,000 feet of lumber. He purchased about 3,000 acres of timber, but
legal complications were too much for the enterprise. After lying idle some
years the N. W. Redwood Co. bought part of the land and built a 40,000-
foot mill in 1901, antedating the coming of the Northwestern railroad.
This mill was burned in 1902, loss $30,000, well insured. It was rebuilt on
improved lines, and has ever since been run to its full capacity. In January,
1909, the lumber in the yard at Willits invoiced 10,000,000 feet. There was
quite a fever of small mills in the township at one time, running on the scat-
110 . MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
tering pine timber. None of them lasted long, or sawed much lumber, and
piles of sawdust only remain to mark their location.
In 1861 H. T. Hatch built a Avaterpower mill at the foot of Sherwood
valley, which could run only on the winter rains impounded on a meadow
which furnished hay and grazing in the late summer. It was first fitted
with an overshot wheel, then a turbine and finally with steam. Its capacity
was 10,000 feet per day, and it cut about 5,000,000 feet before its market was
destroyed by other mills nearer the building operations of the county. It
was closed down in 1895 and opened up and run a few weeks in 1900, dis-
mantled and moved down to where the Northwestern mill now is.
Northwest of Willits \\'. T. Coffer operated a sawmill for some years in
the '90s, but it has long been discontinued. In 1901 the corporation of Irvine
& Muir was formed for mercantile purposes, and in 1903 the Irvine & Muir
Lumber Co. was incorporated. They had acquired the business stand of
the original Willits store and greatly enlarged it into three departments.
In 1902 they built a large mill in Two Rock valley, six miles west of Willits,
hauling the output with teams to the railroad. The mill has cut from fo.ur
to six million feet per annum, exhausting the timber on 1500 acres, and
they have there about 500 acres yet to cut. In 1909 they began the erection
of a large mill in the "Big Basin," on the western slope some fourteen miles
from Willits. The mill fired up for regular work June 1st, 1910, and cut
20,000,000 feet in the first nineteen months, its capacity being 50,000 per
day. The firm owns about 7900 acres and estimates its product will amount
to 300,000,000 feet. The lumber is railed to Fort Bragg and shipped from
there by water. The firm has a deck 75x600 feet, with traveling derrick to
handle the lumber at the mill. The mill is the latest in all its appointments,
including all the labor-saving appliances invented to date. Among others
is the applied method of hauling logs up an incline of 1200 feet, drop])ing
them down 600 feet on the other side of the ridge, the loaded cars hauling
up the empty ones. Three men and a boy delivered 50,000 feet per day at
the mill. They do a business of nearly half a million per year.
W. S. Melville operates a shingle mill eight miles west of Willits, which
cuts 100,000 in ten hours. It was first built in 1903, and ran for four years,
making twenty million shingles on 160 acres. There was also made on the
tract a large amount of split stuff, ties, posts, shakes and pickets. The
mill was then moved to its present location, where he has cut about fifty
million shingles, besides split stuff, on 450 acres, and has 250 acres yet to
work up. At one time Mr. Melville had a 15,000-foot sawmill on the first
tract, but cut only one million feet when the mill was moved to Island
Mountain to cut timber for the extension of the Northwestern Pacific rail-
road. The Whiteds built a mill on the Blosser tract in 1008 of 25.000-feet
capacity.
The township contains about eleven government townships, which makes
its area 253,440 acres. Of this immense area there are probably all told
30,000 acres susceptible of profitable cultivation in all the valleys and benches
distributed through its mountains. Little Lake valley at the most contains
about 12.000 acres, two-thirds of which is cultivatable land when properly
drained. But little over half that amount is now so used, the balance being
pastured or cut to wild ha}-. Potatoes, beets, turnips, cabbage, peas and all
the hardy vegetables thrive and grow to great size, but the climate in the
late spring is uncertain for corn, beans, tomatoes, etc., though sometimes
:\IEXDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 111
successful in favored localities. As pasture land it is unrivaled in the county,
the natural grasses keeping green until late summer, afifording dairies the
best of opportunity for profitable business.
The principal and really only town is Willits, which is located on the
western edge of the valley, well towards the southern limit. It is one mile
square and was incorporated in 1888, and has had the usual difficulties of
small towns to contend with. Its streets are graded, but as yet no pave-
ments have been laid. The sidewalks of its one business street are cemented
and crossings laid with stone. Private corporations furnish water and light,
and the town has laid complaint about the terms thereof before the State
Commission. The supply is really inadequate, for the last season's scant
rainfall caused a scarcity of water for municipal purposes. School facilities
are unexcelled, there being a Union High School and two fine grammar
schools, the former employing four teachers. The main business street fol-
lows the track of the original county road, with its crook from a straight
line, and is -closely built up for half its length, while the residence sections
scatter over the remaining portion of the square mile. Quite a lovely sec-
tion of the town on the west is not in sight of the main street, being back of
quite an eminence. There are but few brick buildings in the town, and the
disastrous effects of the great earthquake of 1906 did not encourage the
building- of them. However, quite a large one is now on the point of com-
pletion, 60x100, two stories, for a post office and film theatre. It has the
finest, largest and most complete hotel in the county, "The Willits," with all
the modern improvements except an elevator, and one that belongs to a past
age — a six-foot fireplace. .\ large brick hotel was entirely demolished by
the earthquake, and its site is now appropriated by the post office above
spoken of. The town has free postal delivery.
The business houses may be enumerated as follows : Seven hotels, three
lodging houses, seven real estate offices, two drug stores, four barber shops,
two livery stables, two boot and shoe stores, two photograph galleries, four
milk depots, three tailor shops, six billiard halls, three butcher shops, two
expressmen, two deliverymen, two halls, five restaurants, one undertaking
establishment, one feed stable, seven tobaccconists, two blacksmiths, one
lumber office and yard, eleven saloons, two bakeries, four plumbers, two
coffee houses, two laundries, one garage, sixteen merchandising establish-
ments, two jewelry stores, two wholesale liquor stores, one film theatre,
one fish market, one bottling plant and one newspaper. At times there have
been two papers extant in the town and symptoms of a third. Charles Mast
started a paper in the early '80s ; A. L. Dobie issued a paper called the
X-Ray, but fire extinguished it. In 1900 the Little Lake Herald was issued
by White & Pennington, and passed to the latter in 1903, and was later
merged into the News. The latter was established by S. P. Curtis and by
him sold to Broback, who moved the paper's headquarters to Ukiah and
issued it as the News and Saturday Night, its ostensible home being Willits.
P. L. Hall obtained possession of it and after a short time sold it in 1906 to
Dr. Liftchild, who sold it to Fred Loring in 1907. The Herald was merged
in the News, and it now fills all the requirements of the town and is ably
conducted by Mr. Loring.
The Central Hotel was destroyed once by fire and rebuilt of brick.
Though damaged by the earthquake, it is still on the map. There are several
Italian hotels, small, half lodging house and half saloon, that accommodate
112 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
the laboring class of that nation, who are numerous in the mills and on
the railroad.
The Willits Mercantile Company has a large department store, half
brick and half wood, well appointed and stocked. Just at present the paving
of the main street, at least, is being agitated, and on that question a recall
is being urged against a trustee of the town. One garage attends to the
wants of the smoke wagons, and all other branches of business are fully
supplied with good stocks, including the undertaker.
The census of 1910 gave the town 1153 population. The assessment of
1913 totaled S493,879, and the rate for town purposes seventy-five cents
on the $100. The present officers are ; Mayor, F. L. A. Gorlinsky ; Trustees,
C. B. Melville, E. H. Roth, A. J. James, O. O. Butcher; Marshal, E. V. Liv-
ingston ; Clerk. L. C. Cureton ; Treasurer, W. H. Baechtel.
Of secret societies the town has more than enough, and the bug ha=
bitten the foreign population as severely as the native.
Little Lake Lodge No. 277 was instituted August 8, 1878, The first offi-
cers were : W. L. Brown, N. G. ; J. S. Holman, V. G. ; A. O. Ross, Secy. ; L.
Barnett, Treas. A hall was erected in the same year, 70x30, two-story, and
a library started. It was destroyed by fire in 1898 and rebuilt larger and
better in 1899. The present officers are: C. L. James, N. G. ; H. A. Walker
V. G. ; P. L. Hall, Secy.; W. T. Saxon, Treas. Number of members, one
hundred.
Lagunita Rebekah Lodge No. 248 was instituted April 13, 1900, by the
then president of the Rebekah Assembly, Helen M. Carpenter. The present
officers are Annie Bowen, N. G. ; Maud De Camp, V. G. ; Estelle Loring,
Secy.; Sophronia Irvine. Treas. Number of members, one hundred and
thirty-eight.
Willits Lodge No. 365, F. & A. M., instituted January 3, 1905. Present
membership, eighty. Officers : George Yonde, W. M. ; James E. Daniels, S.
W. ; G. C. Lewis, J. W. ; W. T. Saxon, Treas. ; F. N. Loring, Secy.
Woodmen of the World, No. 444, instituted May 29, 1903. Present
membership, ninety-five. Officers: W. P. Heap, C. C. ; A. L. Moffit, A. L.;
W. T. Saxon, M.
Knights of Pythias No. 19. Instituted January 12, 1904. Present mem-
bership, sixty. Officers: E. S. Conner, C. C. ; R. C. J. Ritchell, V. C. ; J. J.
Keller, K. of R. and S.
Willits Grove No. 158, Druids. Instituted July 19, 1903. Present mem-
bership sixty-five. Officers : A. Figone, A. P. ; S. Pietronone, N. A. ; S. Fig-
one, V. A. ; A. Reeves, Secy.
Fraternal Brotherhood No. 494. Instituted July 26, 1906. Present mem-
bership, twenty-nine. Officers: M. C. Arthur, P.; George Smith, V. P.; M.
Argetsinger, Treas. ; Eva M. White, Secy.
Willits Aerie No. 826. Instituted November 15, 1904. Present mem-
bership, one hundred and twenty-seven. Officers: O. O. Butcher. P.; G. F.
Teal, V. P.; E. M. Whitney, Sec; F. N. Loring, Treas.
Women of Woodcraft, Golden West Circle No. 686. Instituted Jan-
uary 14, 1908. Present officers, Elsie Teale, G. N.; Ada Campbell, A.; Tillie
Mohn. B.; Margaret Eldridge, C. Beneficial members, twenty-five; social, 15.
Willits Lodge 862, Loyal Order Moose. Instituted January, 1911. Pres-
ent membership, one hundred and fifty. Officers, W. H. Clay, D.; O. O.
Butcher, V. D.; E. M. Whitney, Secy; G. E. Mitchell, Treas.
.MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 113
The Bank of Willits was incorporated April 11, 1904, with a paid-up
capital of $50,000. It has an earned surplus of $30,000, undivided profits of
$17,709, and has resources of $444,377. W. A. Foster, Pres.; J. W. Lilien-
thal, V. P.; W. H. Baechtel. Ca.shier: C. M. Walker, Asst. Cashier.
The first agricultural fair in the county was held in Willits in Septem-
ber, 1879, the society having been incorporated the December before. As a
fair it was a success, but a pecuniary loss, especially to one director who
paid $500 out of his own pocket to close up its affairs. Fairs were held in
1881-2-3-5. but the later ones were under and by state subsidy in part. All '
were successful in demonstrating the fertility of the soil and the energy of
the township's citizens. Again in 1912 a fair was held at Willits, and a
wonderful display of farm produce made. Three and a half pound potatoes,
ninety pound squash, thirty-five bushels of wheat and sixty-seven of barley
to the acre was vouched for. It was a credit to those having in charge the
prosecution of the enterprise.
A large dairy has been maintained on the n(^)rthern confines of the town
on the farm of E. F. DeCamp ; 10,862 pounds of butter was one year's pro-
duction. A half dozen such dairies could easily find good forage, and the
wild hay indigenous to the land is excellent for that purpose. The streams
of the township teem with salmon in the fall after the first high water and
with steelheads in the early spring. In 1896 a trapping establishment was
prepared at the lower end of the valley for the purpose of securing eggs
of the latter fish for stocking the streams of the, territory tributary to the
Northwestern railroad. It did not prove a favorable locality, as nearly every
winter high water completely submerged it. and it was discontinued in 1909
and relocated near Potter valley. A\'hile it was in use from 750,000 to
1.500,000 eggs were procured yearly.
There are numerous small valleys scattered through the mountains
of the township. Two Rock, Wheelbarrow, Scott Valley and others, only a
farm in size, but Sherwood Valley, ten miles north of Willits, is more con-
siderable in size, stretching along a small stream for two or three miles, but
nowhere more than a quarter of a mile in width. The first settler here was
A. E. Sherwood, in 1853. and he remained in the valley continuously until
his death in March, 1900. Samuel Watts came in 1857 and was killed by
Indians, the only white man known to have suffered at their hands. David
Son and Sylvester Hatch were the next who remained in the valley for any
length of time. L5rock and Benjamin Henderson arrived in 1858. the latter
with a wife, who did not stay long, deeming it too far from civilization,
and the Hendersons themselves soon left.
There are two dairies operated in the valley and more might be profitably
maintained. The valley is elevated much above Little Lake Valley, and is
cold in winter and has usually heavy spring and fall rains, insuring a longer
season of green feed than the country farther south. There was a fine body
of redwood along the west slope of the valley, but it has been mostly fed
into the iron maw of the Northwestern mill near Willits. A branch road
penetrates the valley, and the legs, ties, bark, wood, etc.. are railed to the
mill and the city beyond. In April, 1905, tanbark from this section was being
shipped to Japan, and 2500 cords were burned in the woods. The State high-
way misses this valley, as it follows the watercourse from Willits down to
the forks of the outlet, thence up the north branch to Long valley.
114 :\IENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Willits has a public library, managed mostly by a society of ladies,
though it has masculine representation on its board of trustees. A move is
being made at this date to secure aid of Carnegie to erect a suitable library
building, which will probably be successful through his known liberality in
this direction.
May 5, 1881, an earthquake was felt in the town. The northbound stage
was stopped by a deer getting tangled in one of the front wheels in its
frightened flight across the road. June 14, 1882, the stage was robbed a few
miles from town. Elisha Frost killed a panther measuring ten feet from tip
to tip, the largest ever known in the county.
The Daugherty tract, adjoining the town, one hundred and sixty acres,
sold for $9,125 ; much of it has since been cut up into lots. In April, 1885,
James -Frost was killed by his uncle, Isom Frost, as the result of an old feud,
and in the melee Andrew Hamburg was killed by James Frost, under a mis-
apprehension. The beginning of the feud dated back to 1865, when one
Frost and five Coates were killed near Baechtels. and Martin Frost was
killed some years later by James Frost. The only one who was punished
was Isom Frost, who served a long term in San Quentin for the killing of
James Frost.
The new Baptist Church was dedicated in September, 1885. The same
year Hiram Willits struck gas and oil in a well and laid pipes to his store,
but nothing came of it of much benefit. J. L. Broaddus died August 22,
1886, one of the first and best settlers in the valley. In February, 1887, two
earthquakes were felt in- two successive days. There was much complaint
about coyotes about this time, and Brower and Hall killed seventeen wild-
cats in the year. The stage was again held up in December, 1895, and in
April, 1896, on the grade north of ^^Mllits, it was found upset, pinning the
driver under it dead, and everything combustible burned.
In 1898 Willits was devastated by fire, burning off nearly all the east side
of the main street, including the Odd Fellows two-story hall. Loss, $30,000.
The average rainfall for the months of September and October in the valley
is one inch and two and a half inches, respectively. In September, 1900,
William Ellis, superintendent of the Eden Valley ranch, drove his team into
the "Black Pool" on the road north, and the horses were engulfed in quick-
sand. The Northwestern Redwood Company built their large mill, and No-
vember 15, 1901, the railroad reached Willits. A flagpole one hundred feet
high was erected to celebrate the occasion. December 21 the stage was again
held up, but the robber only realized $1.75. Jaspar Christy, the driver,
caused the arrest of two of his passengers for using bad language — an un-
heard-of proceeding before this date — $100 fine. June 12 fire destroyed the
business part of town, fourteen buildings, loss $30,000. Palace Hotel, a two-
story brick, completed by Charles Whited December 6. A. W. Foster bought
the Willits & Johnson farm, 259 acres, for $42 an acre. The Hotel Willits,
built thereon, opened March 23, 1902. Buckner hotel, two story brick, opened
the same month, was completely destroyed by the earthquake of 1906. E. H.
Harriman inspected the Northwestern railroad with a view to purchase May
20. August 25 first serious accident occurred on the railroad, on the exten-
sion to Sherwood. Locomotive ran away, ditched ; five were killed and four
injured, employes. Fire company organized in September. Willits Water
Company incorporated in October. April, 1903, rumors of the transfer of
railroad to Harriman interests, which continued at intervals for some years.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 115
until finally consummated in 1907. Electric light schedule promulgated:
Residence, $1 for three lights; hotels, fifty cents each up to twenty-five lights;
stores, first two $1, excess forty cents each. June, 1903, report of trustees
on new school house and furniture totaled $8,702. California Northwestern
Railroad report for the year: Gross earnings, $1,222,554.95; operating ex-
pense, $858,746.50; other expense, $312,433.76; net, $51,374.80. October, wool
shipped by Irvine & Muir, 37,000 pounds. Average rainfall for October
twenty-seven years, 6.59 inches. November 30, rain to date, 20.67 inches.
Survey from the bay to Eureka by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe fin-
ished August, '04. High School organized. Valuation of town, $893,101.
Tax rate forty cents. Eight thousand cords of tan bark shipped at $12
valuation. In the Northwestern yard, 4,000,000 feet of select lumber. Ir-
vine & Muir's yard, 2,000,000 feet. Mohn's store burned February 9, 1905;
loss $10,000, insurance $2600. Frank Brown made 30,000 shakes from one
redwood tree, which sent out numerous sprouts after he was done work on it.
Mrs. Mary Broaddus died October 24, 1906, one hundred and two years of
age, one of the first white women in the valley. May, 1907, railroad com-
pleted ten miles to Sherwood. Willits News passed into the hands of F. N.
Loring. Ordinance passed to the eflfect that only eight saloons should be
allowed in the town, whenever the superfluous ones should be eliminated
down to that number; license to be sufficient to yield $3200 revenue. The
Northwestern mortgaged to the amount of $35,000,000 June, 1907. Authorita-
tive assertion of joint ownership of the same by Southern Pacific and Atchi-
son, Topeka and Santa Fe.
Gas and petroleum struck near town. An oil well was sunk 275 feet,
with no astounding effect. Tax rate seventy-five cents. Work on extension
of railroad toward Eureka on a three-mile contract begun in November, but
shut down December 20. Little Lake Herald leased to Bourke & Carlyle,
who ran it about a year. July, 1908, right of way mostly secured for rail-
road extension. Bonds voted, $30,000, for high school building. Construc-
tion ordered on extension of railroad north between Shively and Dyerville,
seven miles, estimated to cost $3,000,000. A company formed to bore for
oil, gas or coal August 12, 1907. The Northwestern Redwood Company
purchased 500 goats. Artesian water and a strong flow of gas from a well
on the east side of the valley. Northwestern Railroad Company offered the
town a lot for a hall. The Willits Oil Development Company incorporated
with $50,000 capital February, 1908. June 7, public library trustees appointed
and a ladies' band organized. .\uto stages put on line north. Survey of
wagon road down the "Outlet" accepted. January, 1909, fire alarm system
with sixteen boxes installed, .\pril 5th, ,$30,000 sewer bond election carried
and bonds sold for $30,711. December 31 stage connection with the Fort
Bragg railroad at Irmulco, eleven miles from Willits. January, 1909. in-
ventory of lumber in Northwestern Railroad Company yard footed up 10,-
000,000 feet. February 23, train wreck on Sherwood branch, several injured.
Automobile service to connect with Fort Bragg train. Sewer contract let
at $17,312.95. Orders from Harriman to proceed with construction of rail-
road extension to Eureka from both ends; $10.00,000 appropriated for the
work, September 17. De Camp creamery installed a 150-pound churn. H. C.
Wade died November 22; claimed to have been in valley in 1853. A 40-inch
turbine installed at Northwestern mill for the generation of electricity.
116 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Midland Lyceum course inaugurated. Methodist Episcopal Church dedi-
cated.
June, 1910, Fort Bragg stage upset, one killed, three badly injured, of
whom one died later from the effects of the injuries. The railroad let con-
tract to clear timber from right of way down the Outlet, about eight miles.
It is expected to produce 16,000,000 feet of lumber. Northwestern mill
erected sheds in town for 1,000.000 feet of lumber. Storm sewer flooded.
Gold and slate rock discovered west of town.
January, 1911, mining corporation formed, $250,000 capital. April 4,
four and one-tenth inches of rain fell. New road to Potter Valley. North-
western Pacific put up a 30-000-gallon water tank in railroad yard. Heaviest
grade on survey to Eureka seven-tenths per cent, heaviest curve ten degrees.
Longrale thirteen miles; Dos Rios fourteen miles further, to Round valley
road. Gap in Fort Bragg rail connection closed December 19. Northwestern
Railroad Company built a reservoir on hill north of town of 110,000 gallons,
auxiliary for fire purposes. Thirty-one new buildings erected in town in
1912. School bonds for new school house in the Daugherty addition sold
at a premium. Half acre of potatoes yielded 8600 pounds. November 5,
heavy rain washed 50,000 feet of logs out of Irmulco dam. February, 1912.
saloons ordered by ordinance to close Sundays, and from one to five a. m.
week-days: license to be $600 per annum. In 1913 tunnel on Fort Bragg
road burned out for 300 feet. The winter of 1913 was particularly disas-
trous to the railroads in the section, owing to the extreme high water. The
Fort Bragg road was shut off for several days by slides and the burning of
the tunnel. The California Northwestern was blocked both north and south ;
in the north for several days.
In the southern part of the township is Walker valley, a veritable para-
dise in summer. It is an estate of about 15,000 acres, and the central valley
contains about 300 acres of fine land, and was originally four pre-emption
claims. In this valley the former proprietor, W. W. Van Ansdale, sowed
a large acreage of alfalfa. This he irrigated by means of standpipes and
spray nozzles, by water collected from springs by pipes leading to a central
reservoir on the hill. A fine, large, modern residence and outbuildings were
erected, and death intervened just as he had begun to live. As this mag-
nificent domain is virtually a game preserve, one may imagine the number
of deer which make it their refuge before and during the open season.
Trout abound in its waters, and it has always been the mecca of anglers
who are permitted within its bounds.
CHAPTER XIII
Westport Township
Westport township comprises all that part of Mendocino county north
of Chadbourne gulch, the north line of Ten Mile township, and east of Long
Valley township, with Humboldt county for its north line and the Pacific
ocean for its western limit, into which it reaches as far as wind and weather
will permit by means of various and numerous wharves, shipping cables,
etc. It has the same general features of surface and soil as the more south-
ern townships, but is rougher, more mountainous, heavier timbered, and less
level land within its borders. There are no large streams in it, Usal creek
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 117
being the mcst considerable, only ten or twelve miles long. Timber in its
various forms is the main, all-abounding product, though hay, grain and
potatoes sufficient for ordinarj^ home consumption are produced and some
oats shipped, all of unexcelled quality. Peas and string beans grow luxuri-
antly, and in 1911 C. G. Lewis began canning them for the public and is
competing successfully with the highly prized Clear Lake brand.
The climate is equable and not as foggy as farther down the coast, a
headland on the north. Cape Mendocino, deflecting it in a measure.
The first known white settler was Lloyd Beall, who was at the site of
the present town of \\'estport in 1864, and from the appearance of his sur-
roundings must have been there some years. His house stood near a spring
between George P'ee's present residence and the town. At the same time
Alfred Weges settled a short distance north, on the creek to which he gave
his name.
November, 1864, Beall sold a half interest in all the country lying be-
tween Chadbourne gulch and the point where the Lfnion Landing now is to
E. J. Whipple, together with thirteen horses, two hundred and ten cattle and
thirty hogs, for $1600. At that time M. C. Dougherty was getting out tim-
bers on the hill above where the school house stands to build a chute for
shipping potatoes in a four-ton boat moored below the bluf?, near by. March,
1865, Osborne & Heldt sold Beall and Whipple 640 acres for .$600, just
south of Chadbourne gulch. At that time the land was unsurveyed, and
only possessory title could pass. April 1, Beall and Whipple divided the land,
Beall took the land south of DeHaven and Whipple that north of that creek.
Brenner and H. Helmken sold land to Beall near the future chute : the de-
scription is such that one cannot identify. March, 1877, Boyd & Switzer
seem to have possession of the property, and sold eight acres and right of
way to F. Helmke, who started in to build a chute and wharf, but gave way
to J. T, Rogers in the fall, who obtained a franchise February 5, 1878, and
built or completed the chute. There was no harbor or protection from wind
or heavy ocean swell, so that loading was uncertain. To facilitate fast work
when conditions were favorable, Mr. Rogers duplicated his wharf and chute.
The one had a span of 275 feet, and its outer end rested on a large rock,
from which a cable and pulley conveyed the cargo to and from the vessel ;
150,000 feet could be shipped in a day.
Now the town began to grow apace. Fields Bros, built and stocked a
store in 1877. George W. Stevenson opened a saloon, the first building in
the town; Sampson opened another; George McPhee opened a store in
1878; J. H. Murphy a livery stable in 1879; the same year Fred Johns built
a large hotel, which is one of the few buildings still standing. J. S. Kimball
built a big hotel, which he afterwards sold to Charles Kimball and Cooper.
This became the drummers' favorite house for a time, but closed its career
by fire, as have many other buildings. Saloons and hotels were built in ad-
vance of necessity, and whenever a mill shut down business languished.
At one time there were four hotels, as many stores and seven saloons, be-
sides hotel bars. Thousands of ties, hundreds of cords of bark and millions
of feet of lumber were shipped monthly, and in 1881 up to August 19 twenty-
eight schooners had been loaded.
Weges Creek mill was built in 1881 by Pollard & Blaisdell. who failed
in 1882. and the mill went into the hands of Gill, Gordon & McPhee, who
ran it until 1889 and closed down. It was moved to De Haven. Gordon's
118 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
ran.ch, by Gill & Gordon, and afterwards went into the possession of the
Pollard Lumber Co. and has long stood idle. W. Graham built a mill at
Weges creek in 1881, and took in as partners Chester and McGowan, and
failed in 1885. Hansen Hilton fell heir to it in a business way, and it was
afterwards known as the California Lumber Co. All these mills were of
capacity of from 25,000 to 40,000 feet per day. J. S. Kimball put in a mill
half a mile north of the town of 40,000 feet capacity, which he ran about six
years to 1885. He also built and stocked a store, continuing it to 1892. His
operations in lumber, ties and bark were colossal and continued until 1892.
The Pollard Lumber Company obtained a franchise for chute at Westport
September, 1905.
McFaul & Williams built a mill on Howard creek, two miles north ot
Westport, in 1875, and ran a railroad to Union Landing, two miles farther
north. Since then it has passed into the hands of the West Coast Lumber
Co. and at this writing February, 1914, an application in bankruptcy is pend-
ing. J. S. Kimball sold his store at Westport to Hart in 1899. Three build-
ings in town were burned in 1900. Commercial hotel and Stevenson's house
burned. McFaul & Keene put in a mill at Switzer gulch in December, 1883,
At that time, or rather in 1884, there were five mills within four miles of
Westport, running spasmodically, and the greater number of them are ready
to run yet, whenever the price of lumber and capital conjoin.
Of the stores, only two remain, Dr. T. H. Smith and Lowell's. One
hotel, one saloon, one blacksmith shop, one stable, and twenty occupied
dwelling houses. Fire and decay have taken more than half the buildings,
and what remain are dilapidated. At one time there were both Masonic
and A. O. U. W. halls.
R. A. Hardy obtained a franchise for wharf and chute six miles north
of Westport, and gave his name to the place, in 1892, and the following
year contracted 60,000 ties. Bark wood and ties were the only shipments
until 1903, when the remains of the Rockport mill were brought over to
Hardy, and a fine mill of 40,000 feet capacity was erected. A good two-
story hotel was also built, as were stables, store, dwellings, etc. The whole
passed into the hands of the Pennsylvania & New York Lumber Co. in 1907
June 4, 1911, it was burned with 3.000,000 feet of lumber, nearly as much
being saved. As the timber tributary was not sufficient to warrant a new
sawmill, a shingle mill was erected in 1913, but not run until the fall of 1914.
This company now owns the coast up to near Needle Rock, thirty miles.
Rockport mill was built by W. R. Miller in 1877 of 40,000 feet capacity,
and was destroyed by fire. The wharf and chute were erected in
1876 and were the finest in the county. The track and wharf are about three-
fourths of a mile long, finishing with a steel wire suspension span 275 feet
long to an island and cable. It is supported by seven all-steel wire cables,
the first erected on this coast. The mill burned in 1889, since which time
nothing has been done here.
The first white settler here was Leonard Dodge, and he obtained fran-
chise for chute a little north of Cottoneva in 1876. In 1866 A. J. Lowell
settled on the creek three miles up and soon after Henry Devilbiss arrived
and remained some years.
Usal mill was built in 1890. A wharf 900 feet long and about three miles
of railroad were put in. It was burned July 12, 1902. The Usal timber was
the largest in the county, but of poor quality. It seemed to have belonged
MENDOCINO ANT) LAKE COUNTIES 119
to an earlier era than other timber along the coast, and it was so full of
doted places and wind cracks that it did not yield more than half the lumber
its size indicated. The wharf was difficult to maintain and repeatedly lost
sections. Nothing is now doing at the place. Kildufif & Proudfoot lost
a shake mill by fire on August 4, 1901.
Northport, six miles farther north, was once a busy place, shipping bark
and ties, but there is no activity there now.
At Little Jackass gulch R. H. Anderson did a shipping business in 1875,
but it was discontinued in a short time as the timber tributary to it was
sold — 6,000 acres to one Eastern concern at $40 per acre. Still farther up the
coast is Needle Rock. The first settlement here was made by Captain Mor-
gan and son in 1868. With D. W. McCallum, they began operations to de-
velop a shipping place, but both Morgan and McCallum died before their
object was accomplished. J. B. Stetson, Jr., acquired the property in 1890
and built about three miles of railroad and shipping facilities in 1891. A
small mill was built about three miles back, but only ran a short time and
was removed. In 1898 Needle Rock passed into the hands of the Needle
Rock Company, which incorporated the following January with $30,000
capital and the following subscribers to the stock : W. P. Thomas, Wiley
English, Ed DeCamp, J. F. Clark and H. B. Muir, $18,000 having been sub-
scribed by them. The property has been leased for some years by Stewart
& McKee. There are about 150 acres of farming land and 1600 acres of
grazing land back of the landing.
A few miles farther north is Bear Harbor. The first knowledge we can
get of the place is that in 1862 J. A. Hamilton and William Oliver drove a
band of cattle there from Point Arena. Oliver was killed by the Indians.
What became of the cattle is unknown at this time. Capt, J. A. Morgan and
son, L. A. Morgan, were there in 1868, and sold the place to Kaiser Bros.
C. C. Milton began preparations for building a chute, but was drowned at
Rockport. In 1884 W. A. McCornack bought land of the Kaisers and again
in 1888, and built a chute in 1892. In February, 1893. he sold the chute and
adjoining land to Messrs. Pollard, Dodge, Stewart and Hunter; they, with
A. B. Cooper, incorporated in July as the Bear Harbor Lumber Co., $200,000
capital, $80,000 subscribed. In the next year the company surveyed a rail-
road to and down Indian creek, nine miles. The grade was finished and rails
laid in 1898. In 1899 a tidal wave struck and demolished the wharf and ,
chute, drowning one man. H. N. Anderson built a large mill at the terminus
of the road, and before it was running was struck by a falling scantling,
receiving fatal injuries. The mill has not started up to date. September 11,
1912, an engineer, Rankin, and a large party of capitalists examined the prop-
erty, but nothing resulted therefrom.
A wagon road was built from Bear Harbor to Low Gap to connect with
Humboldt county system. About the harbor is eighty acres farming land
and 1500 acres grazing land. At Andersonia, near the mill, are several small
farms, and some good bottom land and about 3000 acres grazing land. The
first settlers there were Sam Pearcy, Bob Jones and Macoosh Mudgett in the
order named. It was at one time a voting precinct, but has of late been
discontinued as such.
All the roads on the upper coast section were built for the convenience
of hauling timber products down hill to the mills or shipping points, and
are steep and narrow. No matter how steep they were, there must be no
]20 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
uphaul with the load. And as the most of them were made by private work,
the way that took the least work was the way selected. Gradually all this is
being remedied. The steep climbs up and down the gulches are nearly all
eliminated along the coast by long, high bridges, and grades are being made
around instead of over the points to be avoided. The grade immediately
south of Westport gives the most trouble of any in the county. Every wet
season it either slides out or in and the past winter it has done the former
to quite an extent.
.\t the present time and for a year past there has been no sawmill
running between Fort Bragg and the Humboldt line, in which territory at
one time there were ten mills ; and now there are five lying idle.
Of wrecks there have been many on this section of the coast, and for a
short time there was a newspaper in Westport to chronicle them, the News
and Argus 1882-3. It was started solely to catch the land entry advertise-
ments and as soon as the bulk of the land was entered its ephemeral exis-
tence terminated. The Meriwether. H. H. Knapp, Sea Foam and Humboldt
were lost at Westport in 1885-7 ; the Venture and Silver Spring at Rockport,
and some others.
Game is at all times abundant, especially the predatory class. Two
boys, Pat and Louis Roach, killed two panthers, a bear and two cubs, in an
hour in 1882. And three bear were killed at Usal in 1908. Of highway rob-
beries this section has been remarkably clear. A notable one occurred at
Usal November, 1899, when a saloon and eight men were held up, resulting
in a loss of $3,000. Had it occurred fifteen minutes later it would have been
$600 more.
CHAPTER XIV
Early History of Lake County
Lake county. California, is frequently referred to. by persons of travel.
experience and imagination, with appropriateness in respect to its physical
characteristics, as the Switzerland of America. The Walled-in-County is
another title applied to the section. These synonyms and its legal appellation
fitly describe in a few words this isolated and naturally favored part of the
Golden State.
To briefl.v enlarge on its topographical features, the county is a region
of mountains and lakes, situated in the Coast range, midway between the
Sacramento valley and the Pacific ocean, about one hundred miles due north
of San Francisco. It is a ]:)lateau. with a mean altitude of 1500 feet above
sea level. The boundary lines in the main follow the summits of the en-
circling mountain ridges. From many points of access, there bursts on the
traveler at the moment of crossing the boundary line a comprehensive view
of Lake county. It is spread out in a panorama below him, the wide, peaceful
expanse of Clear lake occupying the center of the picture, surrounded by
rolling hills and the checkerboards of cultivated valleys. Mt. Konocti rises
solitarily 2500 feet sheer from the level of the placid lake, a majestic chieftain
or guardian of the scene, as his Indian name signifies. From Konocti, almost
in the geographical center of the region, can be seen the greater part of the
1332 square miles of the county's area. In an almost unbroken circle from
the viewpoint stretches the rim of rugged and dark pine-forested mountains.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 121
With the exception of the extreme northern part, which drains through Eel
river, into the Pacific ocean, and a section in the south draining via Putah
creek into the Sacramento river, the entire county is a single vast water-
shed, its streams flowing into Clear lake, from which the only outlet is
Cache creek, flowing through a tortuous gorge in the hills, through Yolo
county into the Sacramento ri\-er.
Early Indian Inhabitants
In this secluded region, favored with an equable climate and beneficently
provisioned by nature in plant growth, game, and the waters so teeming with
fish that at spawning running streams were choked with them, there lived
before the white invasion thousands of the aboriginal inhabitants, the Indians.
These were for the most part of the general family of the Pomos, va-
rious tribes of which, speaking slightly different dialects, inhabited different
valleys. Some of these tribes whose names have been adopted in geographi-
cal nomenclature were the Guenocks and Locollomillos, who lived between
Clear lake and Napa in sections now known as the Loconomi valley, Guenoc
rancho and Callayomi rancho, adjoining Middletown ; the Lupilomis, living
near the present site of Kelsey\'ille ; the Napobatin, meaning "many houses,"
which was the collective name of six tribes living at Clear lake, the principal
ones of which were the Hoolanapo. living just south of the present site of
Lakeport, and the Habenapo, located at the month of Kelsey creek on the
north side. These Pomos were closely related to other tribes living in the
Russian River valley and intervisited frequently with the Sanels, living at
the site now occupied by Hopland.
The aboriginals of Long and Indian valleys on the east side of Clear
lake, and on Cache and Putah creeks, to the south, belonged to a Northern
California division different from the Pomos, and were related to the tribes
of Napa valley. For instance, in the spring of 1849, when ex-Governor L.
W. Boggs of Missouri desired to secure a body of the upper country Indians
to work for a gold prospecting party at the headwaters of the Sacramento,
he sent a chief of the Suisuns, who easily interpreted for the white men.
In Long valley the chief tribe was known as the Lolsels, or Loldlas.
This name signified "wild tobacco place." The chief of the Lolsels at
the time of the first settlement of white men was Clitey, then probably eighty
years old. He became very friendly with J. F. Hanson, one of the first white
settlers in that section, who learned the Indian language, acted as an inter-
preter and was greatly liked by the Indians. Clitey. with jiart of his tribe,
was driven by civil war to the present L'pper Lake region.
Many of the names applied to the various tribes by early historians were
the local appellations given to them by the Hoolanapos, and were not often
the names that the tribes called themselves. Augustine was chief of the
Hoolanapos for many years in the time of the beginning of the white in-
vasion.' He was intelligent and bore a name for veracity and probity, and
his accounts furnished most of the information of early Indian life in the
Clear Lake region. Totaling the estimates of the many small tribes, fur-
nished by Augustine, it is probable there were between four and five thou-
sand Indians in the territory when the whites first invaded the country. The
L^nited States census of 1880 gave the Indian population as 765. Their pre.s-
ent number is 490.
122 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
The aboriginal inhabitants were not rated very high by historians Ban-
croft and Gibbs. They were of the division commonly known as "Diggers,"
and were short and thick-set, not symmetrically built, and had very dark
complexions. But they had many good qualities, which persist in their pres-
ent day descendants. These Indians were skilful hunters and fishers, and
expert with game traps. They made active and trust)' vaqueros as early as
the middle forties, under the regime of Salvador Vallejo, and Stone and
Kelsey found them very willing and efficient workers.
According to the index of the advancement of primitive races evidenced
by the existence and character of boats used, the Clear Lake Indians de-
serve a leading place. They built boats with willow poles for keel and gun-
wales, withes for ribs, and interwove tules for covering. The boats were not
perfectly watertight, but were seaworthy. In later periods they made log
dugouts, with fire as the chief implement. In basket-making, the Pomos
excelled, and at this day their handicraft is much prized. Many of their
baskets are fine specimens of close and complicated weaving and beautiful
feather work. They build houses of willow pole frames, thatched with grass
or tules, and conical or round in shape. In agriculture and other vocations
they now do as well as many white men.
The Clear Lake Indians practiced many weird and not ungraceful dances,
the most interesting being the fire-eating dance, in which the men hold
glowing coals between their lips. These dances are now given only at rare
intervals and only by the older members of the tribes, the knowledge and
skill displayed in them having apparently been lost to the younger generation.
Legend of Konocti
There are but a few Indian legends extant, most))' touching on the physi-
cal features of the country and the forces of nature, showing the limited
extent of the Pomos' imagination and religious ideas. One of these legends
is interpreted as follows :
Konocti was a proud and powerful chief, with a beautiful daughter
Lupiyomi. His rival was a young chief named Kah-bel, who loved Lupiyomi
and his passion was reciprocated. Konocti refused his consent to their
marriage and was challenged to battle by Kah-bel. On either side of the
Narrows of Clear lake the mighty chiefs took their stand, and hurled rocks
at each other across the water. The Indian narrator in support of this legend
points to the immense boulders strewn to this day over these mountain sides.
The Indian girl grieved over the deadly contest, and Little Borax lake, in-
tensely impregnated with mineral, attests to her bitter tears. Kah-bel was
killed, and his blood is now seen in the red splashes on the gashed side of
Red Hill, on the north shore of the Narrows. But old Chief Konocti also
succumbed to his wounds, and sank back to form the rugged volcanic rock
pile which bears his name. The maiden Lupiyomi was so distraught over
the death of both her lover and her father she threw herself into the lake
and her unfailing tears now bubble up in the big soda spring, Omarocharbe,
which gushes out of the waters of Clear lake at Soda bay.
Mexican Land Grants
The territory now embraced in Lake county was so remote from the
points of early discovery and the highways of the padres that it attracted but
few of the Spanish-Mexican settlers of California. But three land grants
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 123
from the Mexican government have ever been claimed, and of these but two
were approved by the United States courts. The history of the third and
rejected one, of most historic interest, is best told in the opinion of Judge
Ogden Hoffman, of the United States district court, in the case of United
States vs. Teschmaker, et al., given at Sonoma in September, 1866.
On January 4, 1853, the claimants petitioned the board of land com-
missioners for confirmation of their claim to the place known as Lup-Yomi,
containing fourteen square leagues. In support of their claim a grant was
produced, dated September 5, 1844, purporting to be signed by Manuel
Micheltoreno and conveying to Salvador and Juan Antonio Vallejo the land
known as Laguna de Lup-Yomi, to the extent of sixteen square leagues.
On the map accompanying the grant the sheet of water now known as Clear
lake and a considerable tract of land around it was rudely delineated. As
no evidence from the archives was offered, and a memorandum written on
the grant to the effect that note of it had been taken in the proper book was
found to be false, the supreme court had refused to confirm the claim and
remanded the case to the district court for further testimony. On the trial
before Judge Hofifman, one Vincente P. Gomez sought to support the grant
by an expediente purporting to contain a concession of the land in question.
This document contained a petition signed by Salvador Vallejo, and dated
May 23, 1844, soliciting for himself, and for Antonio Vallejo, Rosalia Olivera
and Marcos Juarez, a tract of land south of the lake thirty-two square leagues
in extent.
On the grounds of the difference in the claims solicited in the grant and
the expediente, the fact that the signature of the Mexican secretary had been
torn off the latter, and the lack of archive testimony, the claim was rejected.
By the time of this decision the section designated in this grant, comprising
Big, Scotts, Upper Lake and Bachelor valleys, was well settled by Ameri-
cans, who, anxious to prove rights to the land they had occupied, had em-
ployed S. K. Welch to represent them in the court. There was great relief
and satisfaction over the decision in favor of the United States, and the
settlers' lands were surveyed and entered up regularly.
There is no doubt but that Salvador Vallejo had undisputed possession
of the territory embraced in the grant for a number of years. Chief Augus-
tine in later years gave a list of the major-domos who had charge of Vallejo's
cattle. It is established that Vallejo tried to sell this grant to several Ameri-
cans before 1850, and negotiations were at one time pending between him
and Governor Boggs.
Callayomi grant for three leagues, in what is known as the Loconomi
valley (in the heart of which Middletown is now situated), was ceded to
Robert T. Ridley on June 17, 1845. by M. Micheltoreno, governor-general of
California, and was approved by the Department Assembly, September 26,
1845. The United States survey showed the grant to contain 8242 acres.
Col. A. A. Ritchie and P. S. Forbes filed a petition claiming this grant, with
the board of land commissioners, February 12, 1852, and their claim was
confirmed and a patent issued in December of that year. The owners of
this grant were never in conflict with settlers to any considerable extent.
In 1871 the land was divided into small tracts and disposed of to actual
settlers.
Guenoc grant, comprising 21,220 acres, adjoining to the north and east
the Callayomi grant, was ceded by the Mexican government to George Roch
124 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
on August 8, 1845. by Pio Pico, governor of California, and approved by the
assembly the following month. Col. Ritchie and Paul S. Forbes also claimed
this grant, and the board of land commissioners confirmed their petition,
patent being granted to them in December, 1852. There were at one time
a number of settlers on the land of this grant, and all were evicted by the
patentees.
CHAPTER XV
First White Settlers in Lake County
Knowledge of the first visit of a white man to the territory now embraced
in Lake county, or of its date, is now lost in the misty vistas of tradition.
Whoever he may have been, his pioneering was scarcely less venturesome
or romantic than the early deeds of Daniel Boone and other pathfinders.
The section was wild and isolated and thickly peopled with primitive Indians.
Grizzly bears and panthers were numerous, and resented intruders.
It is authentically related that at a very early date a party of white
hunters passed one winter in the valley near Lower lake. The narrative
states that they were making their way from the Oregon country and instead
of keeping on down the Sacramento river, had started across the moun-
tains, heading for the old Russian settlements at Bodega and Fort Ross.
The Russians had left these settlements in 1841, and it is apparent from the
course of these pioneer trappers that they were not aware of this and also
did not know of the existing settlements in Napa and Sonoma valleys. This
party built a log hut at the lower end of Clear lake, which is believed to be
the first white man's habitation in the county.
No direct evidences exist of possible visits of the hunters of the Russo-
American Fur Company, which company established its trading post at
Bodega in 1811, and that at Fort Ross a few years later. As their hunting
excursions would easily extend up the Russian river as far as the rancheria
of the Sanel Indians, who were related to the Hoolanapos of Clear lake, it
is quite probable that the Russians would hear of the big lake, visit and hunt
on it. Indeed the fairer complexion of an occasional Indian noted by early
settlers indicated a slight infusion of Russian blood in these tribes.
The first actual occupation of the country, warranting the title of a
settler, was that of Salvador Vallejo. In 1835 General Mariana Guadalupe
Vallejo was placed in command of the Mexican forces north of the Bay of
San Francisco, with headquarters at the Presidio Sonoma. He proceeded to
subject all hostile Indians in his territory to Mexican rule. An expedition
was organized in 1836 to make a foray into the Clear Lake region, then
unknown to the Spaniards except by reports of the Indians. Captain Salva-
dor Vallejo, a brother of the commandante, and Captain Ramon Corrillo
commanded the force of soldiers. But little is recorded of the operations of
the expedition, but its success was evidenced by the tractableness of the
Indians following it, especially toward the Spaniards.
It was in consideration of these services that Salvador Vallejo applied
for the Laguna de Lup-Yomi grant. His possession of the land was prob-
ably, however, based on pre-emption, sustained by his brother's military
authnrity. The date of ^'allejo's occupation of the valley is fixed at 1840.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 125
This time is based on old Chief Augustine's statement that it was about ten
years before the killing of Stone and Kelsey. Vallejo brought many cattle
into the valley, putting them in charge of a major-domo and ten vaqueros.
They built a rude log house and a corral on the land now occupied by Mrs.
M. A. Rickabaugh's ranch in Big valley, near Kelseyville. The late Judge
Woods Crawford stated that when he came into the valley in 1854 the re-
mains of this corral still existed, and in 1837 some of the stakes (it being
an upright pole stockade) were dug out of the ground in a good state of
preservation.
Augustine stated that the first major-domo was one Juarez, who re-
mained several years. The next was named Guadalupe, who married an
Indian woman, but lost her because his abuse drove her back to her tribe.
Next in succession were Moretta, an American named Hubbard, and one
Pinola. The Indians did all the work, constructing the house and corral, and
herding the cattle. The vaqueros rode bareback, with only a "hackamore"
bridle to guide their bronchos. In time the stock had multiplied until the
valley was filled with cattle, and they had become wild as deer and difficult
to herd. Vallejo finally drove out all the cattle he could round up, but
disposed of about eight hundred head to Stone and Kelsey when they came
to Lake county.
The Adventurous Career of Stone and Kelsey
The most interesting and tragic chapter in the history of the early set-
tlement of Lake county is undoubtedly the adventurous career of Stone,
whose given name is unknown, and Andy Kelsey, in the county for several
years, and their massacre at the hands of the Indians. Conflicting views
are held as to the blame of this killing, based on the evidence of white
settlers and of Chief Augustine, but the consensus of opinion is that the
deed was justified by the harsh and unjust treatment given the Indians by
these two frontiersmen. Making due allowance for the rude stage of de-
velopment of that time and of the Indians" semi-savagery, the facts stand
out that Vallejo's major-domos had lived among them for years without
trouble, and that a succession of cruelties was practiced on the meek ab-
origines by Stone and Kelsey, arousing resentment which became warfare
and resulted in their death.
In the fall of 1847, Stone, Shirland, Andy Kelsey and Hen Kelsey, the
last named two being brothers, secured from Salvador Vallejo the use of the
land which he claimed, with their purchase of his remaining stock in the
county. Stone and Andy Kelsey came to the rancheria and took possession
of the place aufl cattle. Their operations began with the construction of an
adobe house forty feet long bj^ fifteen feet wide, divided into two rooms and
a loft above, which was situated on what is now the Finer ranch, just west
of and across the creek from the present town of Kelseyville.
The work was done by Indians, practically without pay, and the ra-
tions and treatment given them were far short of what they had been used
to when working for the Spaniards. Resenting this, the Indians complained
and got only harder tasks and whippings for their dissatisfaction. Trouble
began to brew, and the Indians helped themselves to what they could find
and killed not a few cattle for food.
Stone and Kelsey realized their increasing danger and inveigled the
Indians to store their weapons in the loft of the house. In the spring of
126 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
1848 the Indians became aggressive, and numbers of them gathered at the
rancheria and besieged the two white men in their house. A friendly Indian
made his way to the Sonoma settlement, carrying word of the perilous situ-
ation. There a relief party was formed, consisting of Ben and Sam Kelsey,
William M. Boggs, Richard A. Maupin, a young lawyer from Kentucky,
Elias and John Graham. They rode horseback over the rough trail via the
present sites of Santa Rosa, Calistoga, over St. Helena mountain, through
Loconomi valley, over Cobb mountain, and down Kelsey creek. Ems Elliott
had joined the expedition at his father's ranch near the Hot Springs, now
Calistoga. The ride took about thirt_y-six hours of almost continuous
traveling.
A Night Attack Upon the Indians
They arrived at their destination after dark and halted in the creek bed at
some distance from the house, while Mr. Boggs reconnoitred. He crossed the
creek, made a detour to the left and came out on the high ground just south
of the building. The sight which met his eyes was a wild and weird scene
of savagery, enough to curdle the blood, which left in the minds of those
witnesses a vivid recollection which lingered to their last days.
The adobe house loomed up in the night, dark and silent. Surrounding
it, shrieking and yelling like fiends, danced a horde of naked savages. The
squaws hovered over the fires, adding their dismal wails to the pandemonium.
It required courage of a high order for eight men to resolve to attack those
hundreds of impassioned Indians, to risk their lives to save the besieged
whites, but not a man of them failed.
A council was held on the return of the scout, and the party determined
to make a mounted charge with noise to stampede the Indians, but to avoid
shooting if possible. They rode silently to where Mr. Boggs made his recon-
noissance. Down a short and steep hill they spurred their horses, with wild
yells, right into the thick of the howling savages. So complete was the
surprise and so fierce the charge, the Indians broke and fled in all directions.
In a few minutes not one of them was in sight.
At the sound of white men's voices and horses" hoofs. Stone and Kelsey
quickly unbarred the doors of their fortress, from which they had not ex-
pected to come out alive. It was learned the principal cause of the Indians'
hostile demonstration had been the withholding of their bows and arrows
by the white men. That the aboriginals had been weaponless no doubt
contributed to the fortunate outcome of what seemed in advance a desper-
ate encounter.
The Indians soon finding out that other Kelseys were in the party, whom
some of them knew, and no shots having been fired, they came out of hiding
and conferred with the whites. A pretense that a big force of soldiers, with
their "boom booms," was coming, had a quieting effect on the Indians. Stone
and Kelsey had been shut up in the house for several days and had eaten their
last rations.
Their hazardous experience did not teach Stone and Kelsey any lesson
of forbearance and pacification with the Indians. On the morning after the
rescue, the Kelsey brothers summoned the entire tribe and picked from them
one hundred and forty-four men to constitute an expedition against a small
band living in Scotts valley, who were believed to have been the marauders
on the cattle herds. The ten white men led the expedition, and later were
joined by Walter Anderson and a young man named Beson, who had just
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 127
come into the Lower Lake region. The party passed the present site of
Lakeport, then went west to the head of Scotts valley, and proceeded down
the valley, scouring the country for the objects of their pursuit. They
reached the junction of Scotts valley and the Blue Lakes canyon late that
night without having found the Scotts valley Indians. The next morning
some of the bucks in the expedition brought in a wounded captive. This
Indian indicated that his band was farther up the Blue Lakes canyon. The
pursuit continued till the party reached the divide, now the boundary line
between Lake and Mendocino counties.
Believing that the captured Indian had deceived them, Ben Kelsey tied
the unfortunate up to the limb of a tree and compelled every Indian to cut a
switch, march past and give him a blow on the bare back. Kelsey was
remonstrated with by others of the white men, and the prophetic remark was
made that somebody's blood would pay for that brutal scourging. After his
beating, the captive revealed the hiding place of his tribesmen, on a mountain
west of the mouth of Blue Lakes canyon, probably Cow mountain. The
Kelsey Indians made a dash up the mountain side and captured the entire
band, dragging and driving them to the valley below. That night was
afterward described by members of the party as about as harrowing an
experience as they had ever felt, when the dozen white men camped in the
wilds with hundreds of bucks of two warring tribes, both of whom had deep
grievances against the whites. The next day the entire body of Indians was
marched by way of Tule lake and Clear lake to Kelsey's ranch, a few of the
whites making a detour into Scotts valley and burning the rancheria of the
captured tribe.
The Sonoma settlers left for their homes, and Stone and the Kelseys
continued in their acts of aggression and injustice toward the Indians. That
summer a party of bucks was taken to the Kelsey ranch in Sonoma and
made to build adobe houses. Chief Augustine was one so taken. He said
that when he ran away and returned to Lake county he was imprisoned in a
sweathouse for a week. He said many Indians had been whipped by Stone
and Kelsey.
The outrage that aroused the deepest resentment in the hearts of these
simple and long-suffering redmen, and which constituted the direct inciting
cause for the massacre of that pair of cruel yet remarkably daring pioneer
whites, was the gold hunting expedition. In the spring of 1849, in the gold
excitement, a party was organized at Sonoma to go prospecting at the head-
waters of the Sacramento river. The expedition, as organized, comprised
Sam and Ben Kelsey, ex-Governor L. W. Boggs (who, however, did not go
with the party), \\'iniam M. Boggs, Salvador Vallejo, Alf Musgrove, A. J.
Cox, John Ballard and Juan Castinado. On formation of their plans, Ben
Kelsey went to Clear Lake and got fifty picked men of the Indians.
Of that band, the early authorities state that probably not more than
one or two Indians ever got back to Lake county. Hunger, disease, priva-
tion and their Indian enemies decimated their numbers. The blame is placed
mainly on Ben Kelsey. He found selling the expedition's supplies more
profitable than prospecting, and depleted their provisions. The Indians
starved, and malarial fever worked its ravages. The Indians who returned
told a heart-rending story. When months passed and their sons and brothers
did not return, "Kelsey blood shall pay the penalty," was the revengeful
thought of the remainder of the tribe.
128 MENDOCIXO AND LAKE COUNTIES
The Massacre of Stone and Kelsey
Stone and Andy Kelsey remained in Lake county during this expedi-
tion, and their conduct toward the Indians became more outrageous. It
was a sport to shoot at them to see them jump, and to lash the helpless red-
men, to amuse chance white friends who came into the region. They seized
Chief Augustine's wife and forced her to live with them. This squaw played
a leading part in the conspiracy which brought on the white men's death.
In the fall of 1849, when Stone and Kelsey were away with the vaqueros,
attending to their cattle one day, Augustine's squaw poured water into their
loaded guns. The next morning some of the Indians made a charge on the
house. Kelsey was killed outright with an arrow, shot through a window.
Stone escaped upstairs, and on the Indians rushing up after him, jumped out
of an upper window, ran to the creek and hid in a clump of willows. By this
time the entire rancheria was aroused to bloodthirstiness, and all the bucks
joined in the search for Stone. An old Indian found him and killed him with
the blow of a rock on the head. The bodies were buried in the sand of
the creek bank. A simple stone on the bench above Kelsey creek, now
occupied by the Kelseyville I. O. O. F. cemetery, marks the graves of that
adventurous if vicious pair of pioneers of Lake county.
The Indians' feeling of security from further invasion of the whites was
rudely dispelled in the spring of 1850. A detachment of soldiers under
Lieutenant Lyons (afterwards the brave general who fell at Wilson's creek,
near Springfield, Mo., in the Civil War) was sent to punish them for the
Stone and Kelsey massacre. The soldiers came over Howell mountain, via
Pope and Coyote valleys. When they arrived at the lower end of Clear lake,
they learned the Indians had taken refuge on an island in the northern end
of the lake. The soldiers sent back to San Francisco or Benicia and secured
two whale boats and two small brass cannon. These were arduously brought
up on wagons, the first vehicles ever in the county, over narrow trails and
niugh, unbroken country.
Government Punishes the Indians
A number of volunteers from among the settlers joined the military
expedition. Part of the soldiers, with the cannon, proceeded in the boats up
the lake. The others rode up the west side of the lake. This party was in
command of Lieutenant George Stoneman (afterward General Stoneman,
and noted in the War of the Rebellion). The rendezvous of the white men
was at Robinson's Point, south of the island. During the night, part of the
detachment went by land around the head of the lake with the cannon, ap-
proaching to the nearest point on the north side. In the morning a few rifle
shots were fired by the latter to attract attention. The bullets failed to
carry to the island and the Indians gathered on the shore on that side and
jeered at the whites. Meanwhile the soldiers in the boats came up on the
opposite side, and at a signal, the cannon opened fire. The cannister shot
plowed through the surprised rednien. killing and wounding many at the
outset. The panic-stricken Indians rushed to the south side of the island and
a line of soldiers rose up from the tules and received them with a deadly
fire of musketry. Beset on every side, the remaining redmen jumped into the
water and attempted to swim to the mainland. Tales of the white partici-
pants and Indian traditions differ as to the extent of this massacre, but there
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 129
is little doubt but that at least one hundred Indians were killed or drowned
in the engagement. The name of Bloody Island, still attached to this site,
attests to the sanguinary nature of the conflict.
The soldiers proceeded over the mountains to Potter and Ukiah val-
leys, engaging in other skirmishes, and returned to Benicia by way of Russian
River valley and Santa Rosa. Their wagons and boats were left at Clear
lake, and parts of them were found in various sections of the county within
comparatively recent years.
The First Permanent Settlement
Without doubt, Walter Anderson was the next white settler after Stone
and Kelsey. He, with his wife, who was unquestionably the first white
woman in the county, settled near the present site of Lower Lake in 1848. A
young man by the name of Beson lived with him for a period. Anderson
moved on to Mendocino county in 1851.
The next house after the Stone and Kelsey adobe was a log cabin built in
1853 by Robert Gaddy, Charles Ferguson and C. N. Copsey. It was located
about one and one-half miles west of the site of Lower Lake. The second
house was built the same year, near the present Quercus landing on Clear
lake, by J. Broome Smith and William Graves, the latter as a boy being
a survivor of the famous Donner party. The third house was built by Jef-
ferson Warden, in the fall of 1853, in Scotts valley, on what is now the Walter
Faught place. Joe Fournier, a Frenchman, had a cabin there. None of
these men had families. \\'illiam Scott settled in this valley in 1848 and gave
it his name, but did not remain long.
In the spring of 1854 there arrived a party consisting of Martin Ham-
mack and his wife, his son Brice Hammack and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Woods
Crawford, Mary and Martha Hammack (the three last named women being
daughters of Martin Hammack), John, William, Robert J. and Sarah, younger
children of the party's leader, all of whom crossed the plains from Missouri
to Shasta county. With them were John T. Shin, J. J. Hendricks, J. W.
Butts, J. B. Cook and his son, W. S. Cook, who accompanied the party from
Shasta county ; and several others who did not become permanent settlers.
The party camped where Kelseyville now stands, on April 8, 1854. Elijah
Reeves and family arrived three days later. The Hammack party came via
Napa City, Yountville, over Howell mountain into Pope valley, over Pope
mountain into Coyote valley, thence to Lower Lake, and over Seigler moun-
tain to Big valley. In Coyote valley, vaqueros in charge of stock owned by
Jacob P. Leese, tried to drive the party off, thinking them land jumpers.
They camped enroute at what are now the Mclntire and Dorn ranches. A few
nights after their arrival in Big valley, a big grizzly was killed within their
camp.
The men of the party commenced erection of habitations. They went
up on Seigler mountain, split out and shaved cedar boards six feet long. The
heavier timber was hewn out of oak. The house occupied by Woods Craw-
ford was the first built. It was located on what is now the Joe Wooldridge
ranch. The two Hammack homes were built about a mile east of Crawford's.
This party brought in about two hundred head of horses and cattle and
engaged in stock raising. The bears were considered more dangerous at
that time than the Indians.
130 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
What was known as the Elliott party came into this section in the fall
of 1854 and located in the Upper Lake region. This party consisted of Wil-
liam B. Elliott and wife, two unmarried sons and a daughter, aged twelve
or fourteen years, two married sons, Alburn and Commodore, with their
wives, and Benjamin Dewell and his wife, who was a daughter of Elliott.
Dewell and wife preceded the others by a month. They settled on Clover
creek, a quarter-mile above the present town of Upper Lake, the Elliotts
locating on the east side of the creek and Dewell on the west side. This
party brought four or five hundred head of stock and engaged in stock
raising.
In the spring of 1855, Lansing T. Musick and Joseph Willard, with
their families, came in and settled at the present Mendenhall place. Musick
engaged in farming, hunting, trapping and had a little stock. Willard en-
gaged in raising hogs.
A Mr. Barber settled a quarter mile above the present site of Lower Lake
in the fall of 1854 or early in 1855. J. R. Hale settled a mile further up
Seigler creek. Dr. W. R. Mathews (subsequently the first county clerk)
and the Copsey family located in what was known as the Copsey settlement,
three miles south of Lower Lake, about 1855. These were all men of families.
The first settlers in Scotts valle}' were G. C. Cord, a gunsmith, and a man
named Ogden, brothers-in-law, with their .wives, who located on the present
Chester White ranch but remained only two or three years.
George M. Hanson, a man prominent in the early history of Illinois, who
was a member of the senate of that state when Abraham Lincoln made his
first appearance as a legislator and who placed Mr. Lincoln's name before
the national convention as a candidate for vice-president in 1856, brought
three of his sons to what is now Lake county, in 1854. They prospected the
region thoroughly and first settled on Middle creek, near Upper Lake. Mr,
Hanson returned to Yuba county and the sons, who were David M., James
Francis and Daniel A. Hanson, soon moved to Long valley.
In Coyote valley the stone house on the Mexican grant existed as early
as 1852, and two men were there in charge of stock belonging to A. A.
Ritchie. In Loconomi valley the first settlers were the Bradfords, at what
later became the Mirabel mine.
The first merchandising business in the county was started in 1855
by a man named Johnson, who sold in 1856 to Dr. E. D. Boynton, from
Napa. He built a store and put in more goods, at Stony Point, later called
Tuckertown, a short distance south of the present site of Lakeport.
Richard Lawrence, Green Catran, Daniel Giles and Benjamin Moore
were the first settlers in Bachelor valley, in the middle '50s. These men
were unmarried, from which fact the valley received its name.
In the Lower Lake section. I. B. Shreve, C. N. Copsey and L. \\'.
Parkerson settled in 1851. W. W. Hall came in 1854, Terrell Grigsby located
Seigler Springs in 1854. In 1856 there came C. C. Allen, O. J., John C. and
Thomas Copsey, William R. Mathews and family, N. Herndon and family,
William Slater and family, and Jarvis Cable, W, C. Goldsmith came in
1857, and in 1858 Charles Kiphart, Calvin Reams, A. Hill, A, S, McWilliams,
E. M. Day, O. N. Cadwell and Ed Mitchell, all men with families, Robert
Gaddy, Charles Ferguson, J. R. Hale, S, A. Thompson, C. L. Wilson, L. H.
Gruwell, William Kesey and E. P. Scranton were also early settlers in this
section. A man by name of Burns located in the vallej^ named after him in
f
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 131
1857. In 1855 William E. Willis settled near the lake in Burns valley, and
he sold to Jacob Bower in 1857. George Rock came into Coyote valley as
agent for Jacob O. Leese as early as 1850 and built a log house where the
stone house of the Guenoc ranch now stands. There followed him J. Broome
Smith, Robert Watterman, Capt. R. Steele, Robert Sterling and J. M. Hamil-
ton. Benjamin Knight, Richard and Perry Drury settled in Long valley
in 1855.
Establishment of Government
The first act in the way of establishing government in the Clear Lake
region was in 1855, when this territory was embraced in Hot Springs town-
ship of Napa county. On April 14 of that year, the Napa county supervisors
appointed S. Grigsby a justice of the peace and C. N. Copsey constable. On
November 6, 1855, Clear Lake township was organized as part of Napa
county. It included Lupoyomi, Coyote, Cobb and Scotts valleys, and the
smaller valleys about Clear Lake. Two voting precincts were established,
known as Upper Lake and Lower Lake. At the general election of 1855,
R. H. Lawrence and L. Musick, both residents of the Lake section, were
elected respectively justice of the peace and constable of Hot Springs town-
ship.
Two school districts were organized in Clear Lake township April 7,
1856. Other elections resulted in the following list of officers who served
previous to the organization of Lake county in 1861 : In 1856: H. B. Hough-
ton and A. Brown, justices; Woods Crawford and P. Rickabaugh, constables;
1857: J. Bower and Woods Crawford, justices; G. Keith and Thomas Boyd,
constables; 1858: J. F. Houx and W. W. Merridith, justices; J. C. W. Ingram
and James Gray, constables; L. T. Musick, supervisor representing the town-
ship; 1859: J. F. Houx and G. A. Lyon, justices; J. T. Shin and C. Elliott,
constables; 1861: H. Winchester and W. C. Ferrell, justices; L. T. Musick
and J. Dotey, constables. January 3, 1861, William C. Ferrell and James
German were appointed justices, and C. N. Copsey appointed constable.
February 4, 1861, O. A. Munn was appointed justice.
CHAPTER XVI
Organization of the County
On May 20, 1861, an act delining the boundaries and providing for the
organization of Lake county was approved by John G. Downey, governor
of California at that time. Woods Crawford, William Manlove and Alex-
ander McLean were appointed commissioners to establish precincts, appoint
election officials and canvass the votes for the election to choose county
officers and to locate the county seat, which election was set for the first
Monday of June, 1861. The officers elected at this time were O. A. Munn,
county judge; W. H. Manlove, sheriff; W. R. Mathews, county clerk; G. W.
Marshall, district attorney; N. Smith, treasurer; E. Musick, surveyor; J. W.
Smith, coroner; Supervisors: First district, S. Hunting; second district,
J. H. Jamison; J. W. Maxwell, third district. The commissioners had desig-
nated two places as suitable locations for the county seat, Lakeport, then
known as Forbesville, and Lower Lake. The first-named place was the
132 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
choice of the electors, and was re-named Lakeport, the name being sug-
gested by Woods Crawford, at the time of organization.
Peregrination of the County Seat
While Lakeport is at the present time the county seat, its location there
has not remained undisturbed. On the night of February 15, 1867, the court
house at Lakeport was destroyed by fire, and with it were burned all the
official records of the county, rendering difficult the compilation of political
history previous to that date. This fire was undoubtedly the work of an
incendiary, stirred to the deed by the intense rivalry among towns of the
county for the court house location. Dissatisfaction with Lakeport as the
county seat manifested itself soon after the organization of the county.
County buildings had been erected at that place, and the offices located
therein.
Partisans of the other towns secured the passage of an act by the State
Legislature calling for an election on April 20, 1864, to again vote on the site.
Lakeport, Kelsey Creek, later re-named Kelseyville, and Lower Lake, which
was also called Grantville, were designated as the eligible locations. The
vote again favored Lakeport, and the people of that town were exultant, but
the outsiders still dissatisfied. In 1866 another legislative act was secured,
calling for an election in September, 1867, Lakeport and Lower Lake being
the contending points.
Between the passage of this act and the election, the court house was
burned. This removed the strong argument in favor of Lakeport of existing
buildings. In the interim before the election the supervisors rented a build-
ing of John O'Shea to temporarily domicile the county offices. Kelseyville
being out of this election, the votes of that section were keenly sought after
by the rival parties. The published statement of the result of that election
was Lakeport, 378; Lower Lake, 365; giving Lakeport a majority of thir-
teen; but when the board of canvassers met they decided Lower Lake had
won by seven votes. Lakeport citizens were loud in their recriminations
and charges of fraud against Lower Lake partisans.
Shortly after the election, the county officers moved their quarters to
Lower Lake, the order to remove being issued by the supervisors November
4, 1867. Lakeport people did not give up the fight, but began a suit to con-
test the election. A mandamus to require the officers to return to Lakeport
was issued JMarch 28, 1868, but this was not obeyed by the officials. In
October, 1869, the matter was tried before a jury in the court of Judge J. B.
Southard at Napa City. The jury found in favor of Lakeport. The judge
referred the case to the legislature, and again an act providing for an election,
the fourth concerning the location, was passed, set for May, 1870.
The partisans recognized this as a determining contest, and rivalry for
votes was again intense. A few years of experience with Lower Lake as the
location had brought about a considerable change in Kelseyville sentiment.
The election resulted in 479 votes for Lakeport, and 404 for Lower Lake, a
majority of 75. The northern end of the county voted unanimously for
Lakeport, Kelseyville voted four to one in that town's favor ; even a few
votes for Lakeport were recorded in the Lower Lake section.
Following the destruction of the county records in 1867, the supervisors
re-established boundaries of townships and supervisorial districts. These
comprised Lower Lake, Big Valley, Upper Lake and Knoxville townships.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 133
In 1874 a local option election, on the question of licensing the liquor traffic,
was held, resulting in total vote in the county of 460 in favor of licensing and
211 against the traffic. A. E. Noel of Lower Lake was elected delegate from
Lake county to the convention which formulated the new constitution of
California in 1878.
Lower Lake Township
The first house in the town of Lower Lake was built by E. Mitchell in
1858. Herrick & Getz had a store there in 1860. The first hotel was opened
by Dr. Bynum in 1865, the first saloon by C. N. Adams in 1861, the first
blacksmith shop by L. B. Thompson in 1860. From the time of location
of the county seat at that place in 1867, the growth in population was
steady and rapid. Lower Lake had in her early years the novel distinc-
tion of a young lady druggist, Miss Delia Walls, one of a very few of her
sex in that profession, and in full charge of a drug store at the age of sixteen
years. In its early history Lower Lake had transportation connections with
the outside world by two stage lines, one running from Calistoga through
Lower Lake to East Lake, the headquarters of the Sulphur Banks mine, and
the other from Woodland to Lower Lake.
This town had visions of great development about 1867. The county
seat question had been decided in its favor. About that time the Clear
Lake Water Company began operations. This company proposed to erect
a woolen mill, flour and lumber mills, on Cache creek, which should turn
out in manufactured form all the wool, grain and timber produced in the
county. The projects on paper looked roseate, and the bright prospects
were generally accepted by the people, but the decrees of destiny seemed
cruel. The company did construct a dam across the creek, erect quite an
extensive building and install machinery for flour, saw and planing mill.
At the time all products, beyond the needs of the limited county market,
had to be hauled by team one hundred miles to tidewater. What might have
been the outcome of the company's promises will never be known, as the
hand of fate in the shape of an indignant people ended the company's
activities. In a night, their dam was destroyed and the mill burned to the
ground. The loss of the county seat followed, and seemed a death-blow
to the bright hopes of Lower Lake's people. They quickly recovered courage,
and steady and substantial growth came in the following years.
Destruction of Cache Creek Dam
Probably the most stirring event in the county's history, its details
being still vividly remembered by living pioneers and frequently revived
by recent water company operations, was the destruction of the Clear Lake
Water Company's dam across Cache creek. This intense expression of the
people's cumulating resentment occurred in November, 1868. In the minds
of early residents, not a few now living who participated in the memorable
affair, the demolition of the company's property was a justifiable retribution
for wrongs inflicted on the people, a taking of justice in their own hands
when their reasonable appeals had been ignored, when the company per-
sisted in maintaining the dam and no compensation for their injuries was
allowed the people by the law and its officers. The deed of the citizenry
is openly defended as a necessary relief from intolerable oppression — that
while in violation of the written law, it had the sanction of the higher law
134 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
of the people's welfare. The burning of the mill being asserted to be acci-
dental, and the destruction of the dam justifiable, the only wrongdoing
acknowledged by members of the party was the appropriation of a few
sacks of grain by individuals to feed their horses. This slight turpitude is
held to be the basis for the county authorities' final surrender of ground
in the compromise, which fixed the judgment of $20,000 upon the county.
This judgment still partially hangs over the county, and upon it and another
early obligation for purchase of a toll road of double that amount, over
$90,000 interest, and $34,500 principal, has been paid by the citizens.
The story of the early dam's destruction is picturesque and stirring. A
dam, of slight height, had existed for some years at the Fowler mill on
Cache creek, two miles below its outlet from Clear lake and near the town
of Lower Lake. Orrin Simmons, acting as agent for the Clear Lake Water
Compan}', purchased the mill and land in the fall of 1865. At the session
of the Legislature that winter, lobbyists for the water company secured
passage of an act authorizing the company to "build and keep in repair a
lock," etc. L. M. Curtis, W. G. Hunt, E. R. Lowe, J. D. Longhenour, S. N.
Mewing, J. A. Hutton, G. W. Woodward, H. C. Derby, Charles Traver, N.
Wyckoff, R. Day, N. Coombs, J. D. Stephens, William Gordon and F. S.
Freeman were the men to whom the authority was given. Provisions of the
act granted the rights for thirty years, gave permission to remove obstruc-
tions in the stream, and required that the lake level should not be lowered
during the months of July and August more than one foot below where it
usually stood in said months, nor be raised at any time above the usual
natural height. The company was given control of all water in the creek,
excepting the use to other riparian owners of water for stock and domestic
uses.
The company commenced construction of the new dam in August, 1866,
and it was finished in December, 1867. An unusually heavy rainfall occurred
in both of these winters. The dam was of stone, with wooden cribs built into
it for foundations of the mill. As to its height, there are conflicting reports,
some witnesses stating the flood-gates were arranged to hold the lake
level at thirteen feet above high water mark. W'hatever its height or the
cause, the lake level rose in the winter of 1867-68 to several feet above the
highest water ever before known. It reached the level of Main street in
Lakeport and flooded the lowlands about the lake, where the damage was
greatest, orchards being destroyed, land being unusable for planting crops,
and houses vacated. The lake level receded but two feet in the following
summer, instead of the average fall of nine to ten feet. Sickness prevailed
to an alarming extent, both of a malarial and membranous character, seven
children dying in one family from diphtheria. The high water, standing
stagnant on many ranches, was generally believed to be the cause of the
epidemic.
The company had been sued, and the dam declared a nuisance several
times by the grand jury, but no heed was paid. The legal quandary was
that the people could sue only in their own court, and a jury could not be
obtained that the company could not challenge and dismiss by reason of
prejudice or interest. The company would not ask for a change of venue.
A suit for $15,000 damages was brought in Mendocino county by a Mr.
Grigsby, one of the affected land owners, in which he was supported by
other Lake county citizens. This suit was taken to the State Supreme Court.
I
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 135
On the third indictment by the grand jury of the dam as a nuisance, it was
tried before Judge J. B. Southard at Lower Lake. Upon that occasion the
judge said: "I see no redress for the injured parties around the margin of
the lake, in civil law, but there is such a thing as a higher law."
The people grasped the import of the judge's words, which were spoken
on W^ednesday, November 11. 1868. Plans were secretly made for a move
on the dam on the following Saturday, the 14th. Couriers were dispatched
over all the northern end of the county. On the day set determined men
began to assemble at Lakeport. By noon probably 250 were gathered. The
expedition moved, on horseback and in wagons, toward Lower Lake, pro-
vided with arms, blankets and provisions sufficient for a week's campaign.
The rendezvous was at the Lost Spring ranch, since known as the J. H.
Jamison place, about three miles west of Lower Lake. About three hundred
and twenty-five men assembled there that night. The body elected Jacob
Bower and J. B. Robinson to take charge of removal of the dam, and J. W.
Mackall as military commander. From that time forward everything was
done with order and discipline.
Vigilance Committee Seizes Officers and Tears Out Dam
On the morning of Sunday, the 15th, Commander Mackall and ten
picked men started early for Lower Lake, arriving there at 8:00 o'clock
that morning. This advance guard took into custody the county officers,
then located at that town, who were W. H. Manlove, sheriiT; F. Herrenden,
deputy sheriff; J. B. Holloway, county judge, and Sarshel Bynum, county
clerk, and also L. P. Nichols, superintendent of the water company. The
main body of citizens arrived soon afterward, and great surprise and interest
were aroused in the town's population. The officers keenly resented their
arrest, the sheriff, especially, in the language of one witness, "bucking
furiously." This official demanded the right to "read the riot act" to the
"mob." as he termed them. He was given the privilege and the crowd
listened with amusement and in perfect order. Then the sheriff was ordered
to take his seat and not leave it. and he obeyed implicitly. Another humor-
ous incident relieved the tense situation. The county clerk had been placed
under guard of Jacob Welty, a gray-bearded mountaineer of over eighty
years, and diminutive in stature. Mr. Bynum protested that he would not
submit to the outrage and proceeded to move ofi. Old Mountaineer backed
ofif until he could get the barrel of his old-fashioned muzzle-loading flint-
lock on a horizontal, and leveled it on the clerk, shouting in stentorian tones :
"Stand, Sarshel, I say; STAND." This exclamation became a by-word with
which jMr. Bynum was plagued by enemies and mischievous friends to the
end of his days.
At 8:30 o'clock Mackall and his vanguard preceded the main body to
the mill, and there took charge of four men employed on the premises. When
the crowd arrived, a double patrol was formed, the inner circle about the
mill being three hundred j^ards in diameter, and the outer guard fifty yards
beyond. There were twenty men in each circle, and guard was relieved, in
military style, every two hours.
When all the preliminaries were arranged, Rev. B. Ogle, a Baptist
minister, asked a blessing on the undertaking. Then this man of God, and
upon the Sabbath day, took off his coat and worked with as willing arms
as anj' one of the party. The men first removed to a safe distance all the
136 AIENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
grain and other contents of the mill, including the machinery, which work
was not completed until nightfall. While the men were at supper, fire was
noticed in the building, and every efifort was made to extinguish it but
without success. A small dwelling house and the adjoining bridge were
saved. This incendiary deed was done without the knowledge or consent
of the leaders of the expedition, and the destruction of the mill was greatly
regretted.
On Monday morning the work of tearing out the dam by use of block and
tackle was begun. Removing the heavy stones took all of that day and part
of Tuesday morning. The water went out with a tremendous rush toward
the completion of the work, turning big logs end over end. The force
of the wave of impounded water was felt at Cacheville, in Yolo county
about thirty miles down the creek. The demolition completed, the men dis-
persed to their homes. No liquor had been allowed within the lines, and
general orderliness had been observed.
Water Company Sues the County
On January 29, 1869, the Clear Lake Water Company commenced suit
in the Twelfth District Court against Jacob Bower and 183 other citizens
of Lake county, the list including the names of all the participants that
could be ascertained. The company claimed $250,000 damages. Its counsel
were McM. Shafter. Seawell and Hubbard. A change of venue was secured
and the trial was held at Fairfield. The jury found that the dam was a
nuisance and sustained the people in abating it. The company appealed to
the Supreme Court from this decision. A\'hile this suit was in progress, the
water company began another action against the Lake county supervisors
for $50,000 actual damages and $100,000 accumulated damages. This suit
was tried in Yolo county in ^lay, 1871, the jury disagreeing, being eleven
for the county and one for the company. A second trial was held in Yolo
county in September of that year, and while this was in progress, a com-
promise was agreed upon. Its terms were that each party was to pay its
own costs, and the county was to allow judgment against it for $20,000,
which the company was to accept in bonds. The unpaid remainder of these
bonds, which were re-funded several times, is now held by the state of
California.
Lower Lake had the finest school house in the county, a two-story
brick building, erected in 1877. The Lower Lake brewery was started in
1870 by Keitz & Co., later sold to C. Hammer and in 1875 to C. F. Linck,
and which c perated under various proprietors until 1903. A planing mill
was started by S. H. Thompson in 1877. A newspaper called the Observer
was published at this town in 1866, but no record exists of the identity of
its first editor or proprietor. D. M. Hanson founded the Clear Lake Sentinel
in 1866, advocating Lower Lake for the county seat. After that object was
accomplished, Mr. Hanson moved his paper to Yuba City.
The Lower Lake Bulletin was started August 28, 1869, by L. P. Nichols,
later conducted by J. B. Baccus, Jr., in 1879 by John B. Fitch, and acquired
by A. E. Noel in October. 1885, by whom it was run until his death in
March, 1893, when his widow assmned charge and has since edited and pub-
lished the paper.
The Clear Lake Press was also established in Lower Lake by Mr.
Baccus, in 1885. For a period it was edited by ^^'. H. Adamson, and moved
to Lakeport by John L. Allison in 1891.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 137
CHAPTER XVII
Lakeport and Other Towns
The first store at Lakeport was built in 1856 by Dr. E. D. Boynton
(though a man named Johnson sold goods there in 1855) at a point, later
known as Tuckertown, on the present southern boundary of the town. He
disposed of the merchandising business to Cyrus Smith, and the latter sold
to George Brewington and Burr Caldwell. These proprietors built a new
store on the knoll in the south limits of Lakeport, now the Piatt Addition,
and moved their stock to it. George Nutter and then Aaron Levy acquired
this business in 1858 and the latter only retired from continuous service in
merchandising at Lakeport in December, 1913.
William Forbes had pre-empted a claim of one hundred and sixty acres
on the present site of Lakeport in 1859. He erected a small wooden build-
ing on a site which is now south of First and west of Forbes streets. When,
on the organization of the county, in 1861, the commissioners were investi-
gating possible sites for the county seat, Forbes offered a free grant of forty
acres to the county for the location of its capital upon his property. They
accepted his offer, insofar as they had authority, and when the county seat
election resulted in Lakeport's selection, Forbes deeded the land. The title
to a strip of this grant, overflowed land on the present town's lakefront. is
still held to rest in the county judge, now represented by the superior judge.
The town sprang into existence upon settlement of the county seat
location. James Parrish started the first blacksmith shop, on the east side of
Main street, south of First. The Clear Lake Journal was founded in Sep-
tember, 1865, published weekly by E. B. Wilson & Co., but had a brief exist-
ence. In October, 1866, J. H. F. Farley established the weekly Clear Lake
Courier. The business men of that period as shown by the advertising
columns of its early issues, were J. S. Downes, M. D. ; S. K. Welch, attorney;
Woods Crawford, attorney; S. Chapman, shoemaker; J. R. Millett, dentist;
J. Southard, barber; J. T. Mathes, saloon; H. Cohen, H. Charmak and A.
Levy, general merchandise ; Col. Lansing T. Musick, hotel. About nine
business buildings, the courthouse, which occupied the present site, and a
few dwellings constituted the extent of the village in 1866. Development
was slow while the county seat was at Lower Lake, but on its restoration in
1870. Lakeport commenced a rapid and steady growth. It had 400 popula-
tion in 1870.
Clear Lake College was instituted at Lakeport in September, 1876, by
Prof. John A. Kelly. Seven youths were admitted to the academic department
at that time. It won public favor to the extent that fifty-four students were
matriculated during its first year. The college was incorporated under the
title of Clear Lake Collegiate Association, on January 12, 1881. with the fol-
lowing officers: John A. Kelly, president; Samuel Clendcnin,' vice president;
S. K. Welch, secretary; Thomas Haycock, treasurer; H. W. Rice, auditor.
At the first commencement exercises, June 9, 1881, the degree of B. A was
conferred on William J. ]\Iewhinney, of AL A. upon James L. Woods, and
LL.D. upon S. K. Welch and S. C. Hastings. This college succumbed to
adversity in a few years. A private school conducted by Miss Mary Stark
commenced tuition in January, 1879, and continued for a short time.
138 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Prof. John Overholser established the Lakeport Academy in 1884. The
school was first conducted in a building at the corner of Fourth and Forbes
streets, Lakeport. It had four pupils on the opening day, but sixteen regis-
tered before the year was out. Professor Overholser taught alone for two
years. Subsequent assistants were Miss Rooney, Miss Eloise Boone, Miss
Sara Haycock, the latter being now Mrs. J. G. Crump of Lakeport.
In 1890 the Academy was incorporated, the first board of directors being
W. D. Rantz of Scotts Valley, A. M. Reynolds, Marshall Arnold, Lilburn
H-. Boggs. Milton Wambold, W. A. Maxwell and Frank D. Tunis of Lake-
port. Two thousands dollars was subscribed in stock, with which a building
was erected on land donated by Mrs Zilphia A. Carly in the north end of
Lakeport.
The Clear Lake Union High School district was formed on May 4,
1901, by nineteen school districts in the northern and central parts of the
county. The proposition carried by the small majority of five votes, the
result being 192 votes for and 187 against. Lakeport voted strongly for it and
Upper Lake almost solidly against it.
The late Charles W. Haycock was one of the strongest advocates of the
high school. The first trustees, one elected from each district, were W. E.
York, J. R. Garner, C. M. Hammond, chosen chairman; John M. Wiles,
Walter Phillips, John Morrison, C. W^hite, C. M. Crawford, W. N. Thompson,
Ira Carpenter, Thomas Patten, Perry Emerson, Alonzo Lea, Palmer, Sim-
mons, Mrs. Clark, J. Callahan, W. W. W^oodward, Frank Greene. The
trustees were unable to agree unanimously on a site, and at an election on
July 31, 1901, Lakeport was selected, receiving 300 votes to Upper Lake's
244. C. M. Hammond, J. W. Morrison and W. E. York constituted the first
executive committee.
The district rented the Academy building, and Professor Overholser
became the science instructor. Prof. F. G. Sanderson was the first principal,
and Miss Ora Boring was also a teacher. The high school started with forty
students, October 1, 1901, and attendance rapidly increased. Subsequent
principals have been Ovid Ritter, Dr. A. A. Mackenzie, Horace N. Caldwell
and J. LeRoy Dixon. A proposition to bond the district for $30,000 to
build a new school failed of the necessary two-thirds vote at an election
on May 23, 1913, the proposed bond issue receiving 472 votes to 411 against.
The Bank of Lake was organized March 10, 1874, with capital stock ot
$100,000. The first officers were S. Bynum, president; A. Levy, treasurer;
F. D. Tunis, secretary; George Bucknell, S. K. Welch, A. F. Tate, S. Broad-
well, S. Bynum, J. T. Boone, J. R. Cook, A. Levy, C. Hartson, Dr. J. S.
Downes, and A. G. Boggs, directors. Its present directors are W^illiam A.
Lange of San Francisco, W. E. Greene of Santa Rosa, A. Levy, M. S. Sayre,
president; L. J. Shuman, Joseph Levy, W. C. Moore of Lakeport.
The Farmers' Savings Bank was incorporated December 14, 1874, also
with capital stock of $100,000. Its incorporating directors were R. S. John-
son, also president ; William J. Biggerstaff, J. H. Renfro, D. V. Thompson,
Lindsay Carson, D. J. Taylor and George Tucker. J. W. Mackall was the
first cashier. Lindsay Carson, a brother of the famous frontier scout, Kit
Carson, became president in 1875. L. H. Boggs became assistant cashier
in 1876, and his father, Henry C. Boggs, was elected director and presi-
dent in 1878. G. W. Finer and J. F. Burger became interested in this bank
in the same year. The present directors of this bank are J. W. Boggs. pres-
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 139
ident; J. Banks, F. H. Boggs, H. C. Boggs, W. D. Rantz, of Lakeport; S. T.
Packwood of Upper Lake ; Andrew Smith of Big Valley.
The Lakeport flour mill was built by L. A. Young and Hill in Novem-
ber, 1871. The builders sold it to H. C. Boggs in 1873, and in 1875 M. Starr
became proprietor, operating it until 1895, when J. Banks and J. M. Church
bought it. J. Banks has conducted it alone since 1907.
A brewery was established by R. O. Smith in 1863, located at first in
Scotts Valley, but in the fall of 1864 moved to a site one-half mile west of
Lakeport. This institution ceased business about 1900.
Tradition tells of the establishment of three newspapers in the earliest
years of Lakeport's existence, but no definite record is known of them.
These were the Times, with John Pendegast at one time editor; the Journal,
of which David Pitman lamo was one of the editors and proprietors in
1865 ; and the Democrat. All were of brief duration. The Clear Lake Courier
was started by J. H. F. Farley, a printer, on October 6, 1866. C. B. Woods
was the editor, and the paper's policy was strongly Democratic, almost
openly advocating secession.
The Lake County Bee was established in Lakeport March 8, 1873, by
J. B. Baccus, Jr. L. Wallace becarhe a partner in the Bee June 14, 1877,
and on August 23rd of the same year, C. S. Smyth bought the interest of
Baccus. The next year R. W. Crump bought Smyth's interest, and he and
Wallace conducted the paper from October 24, 1878. On September 18, 1879,
A. C. Jackson became part proprietor with Crump. April 20, 1880, A. C.
Jackson & Co. succeeded Crump & Jackson.
The Lake Democrat, of the same political belief as the Bee, was started
June 15, 1875, by A. A. R. Utting, who continued in charge until April,
1879, when John R. Cook came into possession. On September 11, 1880,
the Bee and Democrat were consolidated, with J. R. Cook and A. C. Jack-
son as editors and proprietors. The Bee-Democrat was successively edited
by Marshall Arnold in 1891, and George Ray in 1892. The Avalanche was
founded by R. J. Hudson and run by H. A. McCraney and T. H. Rush in its
brief existence about these years. W. L. Rideout worked on the Avalanche
from 1893, and succeeded to its management in 1895. Frank W. Beach and
Burt G. Sayre acquired the Bee, which had then dropped the additional name
of Democrat, in 1893. Fred N. Loring and Henry Howe conducted it in 1895;
Loring and Rideout took charge of it in August of that year. H. W. Wood
edited it for a month in 1903. Rideout returned to its management, leased
and later sold to H. F. Cross, who conducted it. with exception of a month
under Harry Odell, until November, 1913, when J. J. Morton took charge.
Following the removal of the Clear Lake Press from Lower Lake to
Lakeport in 1891 it was conducted by John L. Allison. January 4, 1895, the
paper come into possession of the Hanson brothers, Nathan, Frank and
Da\id M., the last-named editing it. Before the end of that month, Mr.
Allison recovered the plant and resumed management, associating with him
David F. Mclntire and the latter's mother-in-law, Mrs. Marcia Mayfield.
June 7th of the same year, Mayfield & Mclntire acquired Allison's interest.
On September 16, 1905, Percy H. Millberry leased Mrs. Mayfield's share and
continued in partnership with Mclntire until October 5, 1907, when Ben S.
Allen leased the latter's interest. Allen retired December 15, 1907, Millberry
assuming the entire lease. Millberry installed the first standard linotype
140 ■ MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
in Lake county on April 15, 1912, and purchased the paper in September,
1913.
Lakeport was incorporated in 1888, and is still the only incorporated town
in the county. The present courthouse was built in 1870, and received an
outer cement coating in 1906. The A. Levy brick block was burned in 1890,
and immediately rebuilt and a story added. Lakeport citizens voted $15,400
bonds for a municipal water system December 20, 1898. System was com-
pleted in 1899 and has been successfully conducted since. Municipal wharf
built in 1904. Town installed septic sewer system in 1907. Municipal library
opened May, 1907. Cricket a favorite sport in county during 1891-94. Burns
Valley and Lakeport teams met San Francisco cracks. Water carnivals given
at Lakeport in July, 1896, and in June, 1907. Lake county voted saloons out
in 1893; hop buyers boycotted county growers; in 1895 county returned to
"wet" column. In April, 1912, Lakeport abolished saloons ; in November of
same year people passed by initiative an anti-saloon ordinance for entire
county, the first entire county going "dry" in California. Lakeport confirmed
anti-salcon stand by larger majority in April, 1914. Electricity first furnished
Lakeport in 1911 by Mt. Konocti Light and Power Co.
The first recorded sailboat on Clear-Lake was the "Plunger," sixteen feet
long, owned by J. Broome Smith. It was brought over the mountains by
wagon. The next boat of importance was a forty-foot schooner built by Henry-
Alter in 1862. The "Lady of the Lake," of twenty-five feet length and unusual
breadth, was launched by Captain Carr in 1866, and was a favorite pleasure
yacht for many years. The "Hallie" was the pioneer steamer on the lake.
She was purchased in San Francisco by Capt. R. S. Floyd and brought by
wagon by Capt. J. K. Fraser from Napa to Lower Lake. On the mountain
road the wagon upset and the craft was precipitated into a canyon, but was
reloaded without serious injury. The "Hallie" was launched in July, 1873. In
.August of that year Mrs. Chapman had a wharf built opposite her property
on the lake, the present Benvenue hotel site, which was the first wharf in Lake-
port. The Hallie was raised from the lake-bottom at Sulphur Banks by R. D.
Winters in 1908, rebuilt, and is now in use by the Yolo A\'ater and Power
Company dredger tender. This boat was originally a tender for the U. S. S.
Kearsarge.
The "Emma Garratt" was the next steamer, and was built in Lakeport in
1874, by Captains J. B. Robinson and William S. Luke. This craft was of
seventy-five feet length, had a stern paddle-wheel, and cost $7000. She was
operated for passenger and freight service between Lakeport and East Lake.
The "Mamie Coghill" was another old-time steamer operated on the lake by
the Bank of Lake. The "City of Lakeport," built by Captain Floyd in 1875,
was a seventy-eight foot model of the then finest steamers of the Pacific
Mail Steamship Company of San Francisco, having but nine feet beam, and
was brig-rigged. Up to 1879 the City of Lakeport made daily trips between
Lakeport and Lower Lake, Capt. J. K. Fraser commanding. This steamer was
used on the run between Lakeport and Bartlett Landing until 1906. She sank
at moorings ofif Lakeport in 1908, and a few months later was raised, beached
and broken up. The first wharf of the Bartlett Springs line was built in 1888,
at the foot of Second street.
The Colusa, Lake and Mendocino Telegraph Company had a telegraph
line from Colusa to Lakeport in 1874, which was afterward extended to Calis-
toga. In 1881 C. E. Lark acquired this line, and changed the company name to
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 141
the Northern Telegraph Company. The earliest public travel was by horse
stage lines into the southern end of the county, via Napa and Pope Valley, and
later from Calistoga, via Middletown, Cobb Valley, and Kelseyville to Lake-
port. In the '70s the most favored stage route was from Cloverdale, then the
terminus of the Donohue railroad, via Kelseyville, Lakeport and Upper Lake
to Bartlett Springs. Another line ran from Lakeport via Upper Lake, Witter
Springs, Pearsons Springs and Blue Lakes to Ukiah. Steamer service con-
nected Lakeport and East Lake (Sulphur Banks).
Kelseyville
This town, near the site of the first white man's habitation in the county,
had no development for years after the massacre of Stone and Kelsey. A
blacksmith named Benham started a shop there in 1857. Associated with him
was a wagon-maker named German. No other business place was established
until 1864, when T. F. Fall opened a store. Rosenbreau & Pace also estab-
lished a store and boarding house in the same year. The town has since grown
slowly but steadil}^ The New Era was published there by Otha L. Stanley
in 1890. The Kelseyville Sun was started in 1901 by McEwen & McEwen,
and conducted by them until sold to E. E. Bryant in 1912.
Upper Lake
Following the first settlement of this section, as described in the general
history, there came in J. M. Maxwell, J. B. Howard, M. Shepard, J. Gilbert,
L. A. Young, J. M. Denison, J. F. Crabtree, Caspar Sweikert, George A. Lyon,
Sr., A. J. Alley, George Bucknell, T. P. Maxwell, M. Waldfogel, S. H. Alley,
C. C. Rice, D. V. Thompson, J. B. Robinson, R. C. Tallman, J. F. Burger,
J. O. Sleeper, J. Pitney, M. Sleeper. One of the first schools was located at
Upper Lake, J. W. Mackall, later cashier of the Farmers' Savings Bank at
Lakeport, being the first teacher. William B. Elliott had a blacksmith shop
there in 1856.
The formation of the town began in 1866, when a man named Bukofsky
had a store there, and Caspar Sweikert a blacksmith shop. Bukofsky sold to
Houghton, and he to N. McCrosky. Henry Taylor established the first hotel.
William Elliott erected a grist mill in 1858, which was operated until 1867.
The Upper Lake planing and grist mill was erected in 1875 by Thomas
Keatley.
Stock raising and alfalfa growing for seed have been the principal indus-
tries of this section. The establishment of bean canneries has given Upper
Lake a big business growth.
Bean Canning
Henry Wambold was the pioneer in the string bean canning industry.
While proprietor of Laurel Dell resort in 1900, he experimented in that line,
and gave up the hotel business to operate a cannery at Tule Lake. In 1899
he started to reclaim that shallow and tule overgrown body of water, to utilize
the rich silt, which made fertile bean land. His successor, the Lake County
Canning Co., has completed this reclamation and operates a big cannery, built
in 1909.
A. Mendenhall established a bean cannery near Upper Lake in 1897, and
has (iperated successfully every season since, giving employment to 400 people
in the season.
142 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
The Lakeport CannerJ^ a stock company, started in 1902, under direction
of Mr. Wambold and C. L. Tindall, but failed in a few seasons by reason of its
distance from the bean fields.
In 1868 I. N. Chapman, a surveyor sent by the United States authorities
to survey the Lupyoma grant, which had been declared government land, at-
tempted a scheme to deprive the settlers of their lands. Delaying the making
of entries, he took his field notes to San Francisco. Judge A. P. McCarty
suspected Chapman's designs, obtained appointment as his deputy, and notified
every settler to file the proper papers, which were hurried by messenger to the
land office at Sacramento. Within a few days applications came from San
Francisco speculators for practically all the lands within the grant. Chapman
had connived with these applicants and aided them by making new plat books,
but the conspiracy was defeated by McCarty's prompt action.
Beginning of Middletown
Guenoc was the name of a village started in Coyote valley, which had but
a brief existence. Herrick & Getz had a store there in 1860, the first store in
the southern end of the county, but moved it the same year to Lower Lake.
Strader & Clark started a store there in 1866, and O. Armstrong had a saloon
there soon afterward. An Odd Fellows' hall was built, but was moved to
Middletown in 1871. The founding of the latter town, nearer the quicksilver
mines and at the junction of two roads killed Guenoc.
The first house was built at Middletown in the fall of 1870 by J. H. Berry,
who conducted a hotel therein. O. Armstrong started a saloon in the same
year. C. M. Young bought a half-interest in the townsite in 1871. D. Lobree
started the first store in 1872. The town developed and prospered in the da.ys
of extensive quicksilver mining in that section. It was then, as now, con-
nected by stages with Calistoga, Lower Lake and Lakeport. A brewery was
established in 1875 by Munz & Scott, which continued under varying manage-
ment until recent years. The Middletown Independent was established in 1886
by P. B. Graham and J. L. Read. Read bought Graham's interest in 1889 and
later in the same year sold a half interest to W. C. Pentecost. In 1895 Read
again acquired full control, placed T. A. Read as editor until 1899, and then
Warren E. Read until 1904, when the paper was sold to J- D. Kuykendall. The
latter conducted it one year and sold it back to J. L. Read, Warren Read again
becoming editor. On October 11, 1906, the paper passed to A. O. Stanley, who
published it up to January 1, 1911, when he leased it to his son, "Mort" Stanley.
The Independent was Republican in politics up to 1906, and independent since.
Quicksilver mining in this section reached the height of its development
about 1895. The Great Western Mine, operated by Andrew Rocca, employed
250 men and was equipped with modern machinery. This mine had been
located in 1850, but little development was made until 1872, when E. Green and
Hiram Taft operated it. The Mirabel mine was another large producer. The
Great Western and other small mines still produce considerable quicksilver.
A franchise to construct and operate a toll road was granted by the Legis-
lature in 1866 to John Lawley, a Mr. Patterson and Henry Boggs. The road
was built in 1867 from Calistoga over Mt. St. Helena to Middletown. The
toll road is still in operation by the Lawley heirs, a suit in 1909 to terminate
the franchise by reason of the death of the original grantees having been de-
cided in their favor.
MExNDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES • 143
CHAPTER XVIII
Some of the Resources of Lake County
Mining for borax was conducted in 1856 at Borax lake, east of Clear
lake. Dr. J. A. Veatch was the discoverer of the mineral, and formed the
California Borax Company, comprising Messrs. Peachy. Billings, Heydenfeldt,
Ayers, Maynard and others. The apparatus for extracting the borax from the
lake bottom was crude, and the enterprise was not profitable. Gen. W. S.
Jacks, an Englishman named Oxland and Colonel Lightner successively
worked as manager. The early miners of this company discovered a bonanza,
however, when prospecting on the shore of the east arm of Clear lake. They
mined there for sulphur, evidences of which existed widely, but soon discov-
ered the section was rich in cinnabar, or quicksilver ore.
First operating in 1874, under the old name of the California Borax Com-
pany, then consisting of John Parrott, Tiburcio Parrott, W. F. Babcock, D. O.
Mills and the William Burling estate, the corporation was changed to the Sul-
phur Banks Quicksilver Mining Company. With inadequate machinery, in
the first two years of operation, quicksilver to the value of $600,000 was pro-
duced. The average monthly production in 1876 was valued at $40,000. Harry
Lightner was the first superintendent. Sulphur Banks grew to be a town of
1000 population, 600 of the people being Chinamen, who worked in the poison-
ous fumes of the furnaces and concentrators. The mine greatly developed
other business in the county. F. Fiedler was the superintendent in the flush
times up to 1881. The operations previous to that time had all been surface
workings, but shafts were sunk that year. The country abounds in hot springs,
and it was found to be impossible to work for any distance below the surface.
The production began to decline. John F. Jefifress, Richard White, Robert
Dinsmore and other superintendents operated on a gradually lesser scale.
Riley A. Boggess had been connected with the mine, and in 1901 he promoted
the formation of the Empire Consolidated Quicksilver Mining Company,
floated a considerable amount of stock in the East and secured the names of
prominent New York capitalists for directors. The new company purchased
the Sulphur Banks and the Abbott mines in Lake county, and the Central
and Empire mines in Colusa county. The mines were never opened, and the
stockholders' money was wasted. The record of the Sulphur Banks since
has been constant litigation and abandoned works, but it is believed by many
that rich ore still exists there.
Mineral Springs
The many mineral springs of Lake county, possessing curative powers,
and which are now intensively utilized by the summer resorts built up around
them, and bottling works which conserve and put on the market the entire
flow of some of them, were known early. The aboriginal Indians were familiar
with the medicinal virtues of not a few of these springs and visited them in
numbers. In this way Capt. A. A. Ritchie discovered Harbin Springs at a
very early date. He obtained possession by location and held them six years,
disposing of the site to James Harbin, who owned the place for eleven years,
when Williams and Hughes acquired the springs. The buildings burned
September 6, 1894, at a loss of $35,000. Various owners have since held the
resort, which has been a favorite training headquarters for pugilists.
144 . MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Anderson Springs were located in 1873 by Dr. A. Anderson and L. S.
Patriquin, and opened to the public in 1874. Daughters of the original locator
conducted this resort to within a few years.
Adams Springs were located upon by Charles Adams in 1869, and suc-
cessive owners were Whitton brothers, J. S. Friedman and E. R. Moses.
Adams has been brought to a high state of development and popularity by
Dr. William R. Prather, prominent in political circles in California, who has
been its proprietor for twenty-seven years.
Howard Springs were discovered in 1877 by C. W. Howard, who opened
them to the public and transferred his interests to August Heisch the same
year. This is still a flourishing resort.
Seigler Springs were a favorite resort of the Indians when the white men
first came. These aborigines had rude baths arranged in the streams, making
possible regulation of the temperature of the boiling waters. A man named
Seigler was the first white locator. Dr. J. T. Boone made preparations to
develop the place in 1868. Alvinza Hayward and W. Cole of San Francisco
bought the property in 1870, and planned on a large scale to make it a popular
resort of the Pacific Coast. An immense sum of money was spent by them
in constructing a race track, building barns, landscape gardening, etc. Object-
ing to the high assessment which their improvements induced, the pro-
prietors allowed the place to go almost to ruin. Through many vicissitudes
and changes of management, Seigler Springs is still a favored place for
tourists.
Highland Springs were discovered by an old hunter named Ripley in the
'60s. He did little more than build a cabin and dig a tunnel into the creek
bank. Ripley sold to H. H. Nunnally and he to Dr. A. B. Caldwell, who began
building a hotel in 1871. H. Shartzer and S. M. Putnam purchased the place in
1872. The extensive hotel was completed in 1875. Dr. Bates and a Mr.
Hughes were later proprietors, the latter turning over the property to the
mortgagor, John D. Stephens, who, associated with Joseph Craig, conducted it
for years. The present hotel was built in 1897.
Henry Wambold built the new hotel at Laurel Dell in 1900, and sold it to
Edgar Durnan in 1901. Blue Lakes was a well-known place of resort as early
as 1880. The Blue Lakes Realty Co., under management of H. W. Kemp,
has greatly improved this resort in recent years.
Soda Bay possesses the distinction of the huge soda spring bubbling from
the waters of Clear lake, whence the name of the resort is derived. This fea-
ture is not only a wonderful natural phenomenon, but was celebrated by the
early Indians as one of their few mythological conceptions. The water, strongly
charged with carbonic acid gas, arises also at various points from the waters
of the bay John O'Shea, an early coroner of the county, lost his life by as-
phyxiation while bathing in this spring. Rev. Richard Wylie of Napa was the
first owner of the property, and he leased it in 1879 to A. K. Gregg.
Glenbrook is another resort, situated in Cobb Valley, which has been a
favored place, especially with fishermen, since early days.
Saratoga Springs were originally known after the name of the first propri-
etor, J. W. Pearson, who located them in 1874. He sold to J. J. Kebert in 1878.
The hotel was erected in 1874. John Mahrtens was a proprietor of this resort
for many years up to his death in 1913.
Witter Springs were discovered by Benjamin Burke in 1870, and were pur-
chased by Dr. Dexter Witter and W. P. Radcliff the following year. A road
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES ' 145
was built in 1872, and the original hotel in 1873. B. Holler was owner in 1892.
Many cottages were built at intervals, and a magnificent and immense hotel put
up in 1905.
Greene Bartlett, then a hunter, discovered the group of springs which have
since borne his name, in 1870. Trying the efficacy of the water for his rheuma-
tism, with satisfactory results, he guided a party of fourteen similarly afiflicted
friends to the place, and claimed they found a remedy for their ills. Mr. Bart-
lett located on the site, and successive managers of the resort were a Mr.
Gordon, W. W. Greene, Long & Brown, D. Alexander, J. C. Crigler, the Mc-
Mahon brothers, and C. C. McMahon. Beside the original hotel and many cot-
tages, two big and thoroughly-appointed hotel buildings have been erected in
recent years.
Big Valley township had the first settlement of white men, as has been
previously described. The pioneers who followed soon after the Hammack
party include the following, many of whose names are still represented by
descendants in the county: Charles Goodwin, Daniel Giles, Dr. J. S. Downes,
William Forbes, James Parrish, Dr. E. D. Boynton, George Tucker, George
Brewington, B. Caldwell, A. J. Plate, A. Levy, Robert Gaddy, J. H. Huston,
W. A. Thompson and family, Peter Clarke, J. B. Cook, W. S. Cook, Preston
Rickabaugh, Seth Rickabaugh, B. F. Shaul, G. W. Gard, A. Kouns, H. Cohn,
R. Kenned}', J. Ingram, S. F. Tucker, A. A. Slocum, C. A. Finer, J. M. Huston,
P. M. Daley, E. B. Bole, J. C. Crigler, Hiram Allen, J. C. W. Ingram, J. T.
McClintock, J. H. Jamison. In Scotts Valley there settled Greenbury Hen-
dricks, E. C. Riggs, William Gessner, John Lynch, J. M. Sleeper, J. Davis, A.
F. Tate and J. H. Moore. In Cobb valley: John Cobb, Simon Bassett and his
son, William D. Bassett. In Cold valley: H. R. Bolter; and in Paradise valley,
Isaac Alter.
Mills
While the accessible timber of Lake county has never been extensive,
small mills for supplying local demands were established from the earliest
period of white occupation. The Bruce saw mill existed on Cache creek in
1856. Thomas Boyd, known as "Dobe" Boyd, from the fact of his having lived
in the adobe house built by Kelsey & Stone, built the next mill, a saw and grist
mill combined, on the slope of Mt. Hannah, in 1858. It was burned in 1860,
and rebuilt on the road between Kelseyville and Cobb valley. Subsequent pro-
prietors were Allen & Shaul Brothers, Benjamin Moore, and H. C. Boggs.
John Cobb built a saw mill in Cobb vallej- in 1859. J. M. Harbin built a saw
mill at the summit of Cobb mountain in 1873. Thomas Allison built a flour
mill on Kelsey creek, two miles above Kelseyville, in 1860. It was burned, but
rebuilt in 1867, and owned successively by Allison & Standiford, and Peter
Burtnett. The Lower Lake flouring mill was built in 1869 by J. M. Everetts
and William Davy, was operated in 1871 by William Saywood, and in 1881 b}'
M. N. Young. Joel Stoddard had a mill northwest of Middletown in 1881.
The early mills in the Upper Lake section were the following: Pine Mountain
mill was built by J. Bateman and M. N. Young in 1865. Subsequent owners
were H. A. Humphrey & O. Smith, W. H. Manlove, and L. A. Young. The
Denison mill was moved from Mendocino county by A. J. Stroup, locating on
Little Horse mountain, and in 1872 to Pine mountain, operated later by Deni-
son and G. H. Haynes. J. F. Hanson built a small mill at the head of Long
valley in 1875. J. J. Andray had a mill a short distance above Bartlett Springs
146 MEXDOCIXO AND LAKE COUNTIES
in 1875 and 1876. Mills of recent years have been the Gunn & Akers, Peter-
son and Smith mills in the Cobb-Mt. Hannah section, Mason Bros, on Elk
mountain. M. B. Elliott on Bartlett mountain, the McKinley flour mill and elec-
tric light plant near Middletown.
Roads
The first roads connecting Lake county with the outside world were from
the south via Napa county. The next public communication was established
from Cloverdale by two roads, the Dodson road, built in 1865, and Matt Lea
toll road, built in 1877. Col. Fred Long built a new wagon road from Hopland
to Lakeport, striking the valley through Manning canyon, which was com-
pleted in June, 1890, at a cost of $5000. In the early '90s all roads into the
county were toll roads owned by private individuals. In 1899, after continued
agitation for a free road, the supervisors purchased the Long road for $3500.
Owing to some legal defect in the proceedings the county treasurer refused to
pay the warrant. Long abandoned his road and lost his rights, and neither
he nor his heirs received payment for it. The Blue Lakes toll road, connecting
Upper Lake with L^kiah, was purchased and made a free road in 1896.
The Highland Springs and Squaw Rock toll road was built in 1891, con-
necting what was then called Clear Lake station on the Donohue railroad with
Big valley. J. D. Stephens, proprietor of Highland Springs, and county citi-
zens subscribed the funds, $27,000. J. W. Boggs superintended the building.
The primitive horse stages over this road were superseded by automobile stage
service in 1907. The Lake County Automobile Transportation Co. was incor-
porated, with M. S. Sayre, William O. Edmands and Euvelle Howard the first
directors. At about the same time, \\'illiam J- Spiers installed auto stages on
his lines from Calistoga via Middletown.
Fruit Growing
Stock and grain were the earliest farm products of this sectitm. Cheese
making was among the first industries. The only fruit grown was in family
orchards. Prunes were extensively planted in the early '80s. W. G. Young,
the owners of the Mills and Hilsabeck ranches, and J. W. Boggs being pio-
neers in this line. Later, following a decline in prices, most of the prune
orchards were torn up. Bartlett pears, now the best product of the county,
ivere first grown in 1885. Joseph Laughlin and George Akers setting out the
first trees. Pears are also raised on the Boles and Allison ranches.
Clear Lake Water Utilization
From the beginning of white settlement in this region the use oi the flood
waters of Clear lake has been a constant source of controversy between indi-
viduals or corporations, seeking to utilize them for irrigation and power, and
the owners of lake frontage lands. The 45.000-acre area of this lake has been
a natural reservoir, storing a volume of water from three to thirteen feet in
height above the average low water mark over that area, the amount depending
on the winter's rainfall over its immense watershed. The restricted outlet of
the lake. Cache creek, prevents the flood waters from running off rapidly.
The first friction over the water rights was the notable episode of the de-
struction of the dam in 1868. Clear lake was declared navigable by the Legis-
lature March 29, 1878. with a provision that there should be no interference
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 147
with rights of swamp and overflowed land owners around the margin of the
lake to reclaim.
A survey was made by F. Formhals in November, 1892, for a project to
convey water in iron pipes for six miles from the Fowler mill site to the
junction of the two forks of Cache creek, there to be used to generate elec-
trical power. A narrow-gauge railroad from Rumsey up Cache creek was
proposed to utilize the power.
In the Legislature of 1892-93 Senate Bill No. 730 was passed, granting
Clear lake to Lake county, but Governor Markham vetoed it. Incorporation
papers were filed by James Armstrong, F. A. Simons, J. H. Culver, J. B.
Treadwell and C. H. King in December, 1893, for a project to develop Cache
creek to generate 40,000 horsepower for electric lighting and power in the
city of Oakland.
At about the same time A. S. Halladie filed notice of appropriation of
60,000 inches of water, to be diverted from Cache creek, at what was known as
the Grigsby rififle, the junction of Seigler creek with Cache creek. Another
appropriation by the same man sought to take the water at the Fowler mill
site. A dam across Cache creek, and ditches, pipes and flumes to convey it
nine miles below, where it was to generate electrical power, were fea-
tures of the project, as was also the electric railroad from Rumsey to Clear
Lake. The probable real purpose of this plan was to use the appropriated
water for irrigating in Yolo county.
J. D. Stephens had filed notice of appropriation of water from Cache
creek in Yolo county in June, 1859, the Clear Lake Waterworks Company in
1871, Cacheville Agricultural Ditch Co. in the same year, the Capay Ditch Co.
1879. Dozens of claims were made in Yolo and Lake counties which ended
with posting and filing. Some of these early claims and use of water formed
the basis upon which the Yolo Water and Power Company is now conducting
extensive operations.
The acquisition of Kelsey creek falls to generate electric power for Lake
county was agitated by citizens of Kelseyville in February, 1894.
The U. S. Department of Agriculture thoroughly investigated the Clear
lake and Cache creek irrigation and power possibilities in 1890, through James
M. Wilson, C. E.
C. G. Baldwin of Claremont, near Pomona, sought rights to utilize
waters of lake, promising power and light to towns in the county.
Westinghouse Electrical Company offered in November, 1896, to con-
struct a railroad from Vallejo to Lower Lake, in consideration of $20,000
subsidy from each of Lake and Napa counties, and grant by riparian owners
of their lake frontage.
The Clear Lake Electric Power Company secured twenty 40-acre tracts
of land in Cache creek canyon, and completed the survey for their dam in
March, 1898. This corporation proposed to use jiower for lighting but not
for railroad purposes. The directors in 1898 were R. Wylie, president ; J. K.
Eraser, vice-president; E. P. Clendenin, IT. P. Goodwin. E. H. Winship, gen-
eral manager.
Thomas J. Rodman sought in 1904 to build dam and keep outlet free of
obstruction, not to allow water to rise above Gyi feet above C. M. Hammond
low water mark. Attorney General Webb gave his opinion July 20, 1904,
that state has control of Clear Lake. Senator J. B. Sanford introduced bill in
Legislature February 25. 1905, for an appropriation of $20,000 to widen and
148 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
deepen outlet of lake to prevent winter damage. Bill passed the Senate but
v/as defeated by Ways and Means Committee.
Construction of the Snow Mountain Power and Water Company project
of utilizing Eel River in Gravelly Valley for electrical power in Mendocino
county was completed in 1907.
The Central Counties Land Company Bubble
Of all the paper projects and promotion schemes which had after repeated
failures made Lake county water development and railroads a byword, probably
the most sensational was that of the Central Counties Land Company, which
absorbed the county's interest in 1906 and 1907. This was one of the activities
of J. Dalzell Brown, who was sentenced in April, 1908, to San Quentin peni-
tentiary for eighteen months for his part in wrecking the California Safe
Deposit and Trust Co. Lake county people received much of the money of the
depositors in that wrecked institution.
The most widely advertised part of the Central Counties Land Com-
pany's project was the construction of a boulevard entirely around the cir-
cumference of Clear lake, a distance of eighty miles. One unit of this, a 2000,-
foot wooden trestle bridge across an arm of the northern end of the lake, was
completed in September, 1907, at a cost of $12,000. Brown had a splendid
concrete mansion built on the northeast shore at a cost of $60,000. The Hotel
Benvenue in Lakeport was bought and luxuriously furnished, principally
for the use of Brown and his associates when in the town. Underlying these
frills was the plan to acquire the lake waters for power and irrigation pur-
poses. E. P. Vandercook, one of Brown's associates, filed an appropriation
of 30,000 inches in Cache creek, in December, 1906. The Capay Ditch Com-
pany and Yolo County Consolidated Water Company lands along Cache
creek, the holdings of the Craig and Stephens interests, were deeded to the
new corporation. Riparian lands about the lake were bought at high prices.
The ranch of Heinze Springe, comprising three miles of lake frontage, upon
which the Brown mansion was built, was bought for $55,000. Of this, $27,000
was paid Springe in various installments, and later, upon the company's failure,
he recovered the land and the mansion, beside retaining the money paid.
The Yolo Water and Power Company Operations
A deed of all the company's holdings to cover a $5,000,000 bond issue was
filed in Lake county in October, 1907. Several efforts to rehabilitate the cor-
poration's project were unsuccessful. Its property interests have recently
been acquired by the Yolo Water and Power Company.
The latter company, the only one in the county's history engaging in ex-
tensive development work and apparently capable of carrying out its
plans, commenced operations early in 1912. A blanket condemnation suit was
commenced against all the owners of lake frontage, 207 individuals in all. With
one exception, that against W. P. Mariner, these suits have not been prose-
cuted, but the company has been buying riparian lands or overflow rights. A
concrete dam has been built across Cache creek at the Fowler mill site,
intended to raise the lake level ten feet above low water mark. A dredger
has also been built and commenced operations at reclamation work.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 149
County Development
Commencing in 1907, the county supervisors adopted the plan of con-
structing steel and concrete bridges to replace wooden structures, and the
following were built, at the rate of one a year: 150-foot steel bridge across
Scotts creek near Upper Lake, 1907, cost $5,630 ; 300-foot steel, across Kelsey
creek at Kelseyville, December, 1907, cost $13,800; concrete, crossing St.
Helena creek at Middletown, July, 1908, $5,865 ; steel, crossing Cache creek
near Lower Lake, October, 1909, $4,358 ; crossing Scotts creek at Sailor
ranch in Scotts Valley, 1910; smaller bridges over Middle and Clover creeks
above Upper Lake, 1911; over Copsey creek. Spruce Grove district, 1914.
Railroad Projects
With n(jt a mile of railroad within her borders. Lake county history has
been a succession of projects on paper and in the air, with but few ever
reaching any material performance. It was a favorite joke with Judge T. B.
Bond, an old-time lawyer of Lakeport, that he had in his time subscribed a
million dollars for railroads, but was never called upon to pay a cent. The
rim of mountains encircling the county has been a discouraging obstacle to
railroad construction.
The earliest project was probably that from Rumsey up the Cache creek
canyon, for which a survey was made by R. W. Gorrill in 1879. It was
supposed to have been fostered by the Southern Pacific.
Marshall Arnold of Lakeport was the chief promoter of a road from
Ukiah in 1884, in which considerable Lake county capital was expended. The
Taylor scheme from Hopland on a mileage basis soon followed this. A road
from Napa county by the McNulty-Pettibone syndicate in 1884 gave great
promise for a time, and was believed to have been blocked by the Southern
Pacific. Col. Fred Long proposed a wooden railroad from Hopland soon after
completing his wagon road.
A survey was made via Blue Lakes to connect with the then San Fran-
cisco and North Pacific railroad at Ukiah, in 1890. Another survey was made
from Ukiah via Blue Lakes and Scotts Valley, by F. H. Long in 1891. Collis
P. Huntington of the Southern Pacific proposed in the same year to build into
Lakeport for the consideration of the use of Clear Lake waters. A. H. Spurr
offered a proposition to Huntington in 1892, but received no satisfaction.
An electric line was proposed from Pieta to Lakeport in 1892, twenty miles
of road and equipment to cost $120,000.
The Clear Lake and Russian River Railway and Navigation Company
was incorporated in November, 1892. The first directors were F. W. Gibson,
president ; A. H. Spurr, R. W. Crump, D. W. White, M. Justus, A. Levy, C. E.
Phelan, M. S. Sayre, W. J. BiggerstaiT, William Gessner, H. B. Wells, L.
Sailor, W. D. Rantz. Its stock subscription required that no money should
be paid until the road was in operation.
At a mass meeting at the court house in Lakeport, October 1, 1893, the
Clear Lake and North Pacific railroad, a new proposition, was submitted.
The previous Clear Lake and Russian River Company favored this, and urged
stock subscribers to transfer their subscriptions to the new company. E. B.
Taylor solicited subscriptions. He and M. S. Sayre drew up a construction
contract and placed it in escrow in a San Francisco bank. Grading was to
150 MENDOCIXU AND LAKE COUNTIES
l>egin at once. Professor Kelly made the survey and estimated the total cost
at $300,000.
Richard W'ylie proposed in 1896 a road from Napa county through Conn,
Sage, Chiles and Pope valleys, thence up Butts canyon to Middletown, the
mines and springs. Lower Lake, up the lakeshore to Kelseyville and Lake-
port, a distance of eighty-five miles.
In June, ISOO. W. B. King projected the San Francisco and Clear Lake
railroad to build a broad-gauge steam road via \'allejo, Xapa, Sage and Pope
valleys, to southern end of lake. He wanted Lake county to subscribe $50,000.
This scheme was capitalized at $3,000,000.
^V'hat is known as the Boggs road was incorporated in 1903, under the
name of Clear Lake Railroad and Electric Power Company. Its capital stock
was $1,000,000, and it asked a $60,000 subsidy. The directors were L. H.
Boggs, Dr. W. R. Prather, J. W. Boggs, of Lake county ; G. W. Young of
Napa. W. C. Phillips and R. H. Bingham of Los Angeles. G. M. Dodge
surveyed the route from Cloverdale to Kelseyville. The Lakeport town trus-
tees and the county supervisors granted franchises to this company, which
vicre later forfeited for non-use.
The Santa Fe companj- made a survey through Lake county near Potter
Valley south to tidewater in 1904, in an elTort to tap the redwood regions of
Mendocino and Humboldt. This, a likely project, was abandoned when that
company joined with the Southern Pacific in the purchase of the California
Northwestern, or Donohue road, giving the Santa Fe the desired feeder,
in 1905.
The Napa and Lakej^ort Railroad Company — the R. M. Hotaling project —
was one which gave great promise of success in 1905 and 1906 ]\Iany citizens
believe the earthquake and San Francisco fire of April 18, 1906, and the
resulting money stringency, alone prevented the building of this road. W. M.
Rank, W. A. Cattell, C. K. Field, R. H. Bishop, J. \Vilder, D, D. Sales, Geo.
H, Alastick, James L. deFremery and Theodore A. Bell were associated with
Hotaling. This company asked no subsidy, but offered part of its $2,000,000
capital stock for sale at half par value. About $25,000 was subscribed, and
many rights of way were given.
Coincident with the highest point of this road's progress, the Clear
I.ake and Southern Company came into the field. It endeavored to secure
rights of way, but asked for no stock subscriptions. H. G. Comstock, Guy C.
Calden, H. L. Johnson. J. \\'. Dorsey and A. H. Elliott addressed a meeting in
Lakeport in October. 1905, making glittering promises, but nothing sub-
stantial materialized. This move was apparently an effort to obstruct the
construction of the Napa & Lakeport road.
The next project of importance was a local enterprise. Col. J. E. Fulton,
W. S. Fry, J. A. Sparks, D. F. Mclntire. \V, P. Mariner, J. J. Petty, R. M.
Beattie, Dr. O. T. Griner of Lakeport, Dr. A. E. Dickenson and J. W. Pres-
ton of Ukiah. J. R. Garner of Upper Lake, ^^'illiam Johnston of Kelseyville,
"Pop" McCrea of McCrea's resort, were interested at periods of this road's
promotion. First called the Sonoma and Lake County Railroad Compau)',
when organized in the fall of 1906 and incorporated in April, 1907, the name
was changed to Highland Pacific in September, 1909, when the capital stock
was increased to $2,500,000. The route first proposed was from Lakeport
via Highland Springs to Fulton on the Northwestern Pacific road. Later the
AIENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 151
survey, made by D. F. Mclntire, was extended to Santa Rosa. This company
sold about $104,000 in stock.
C. E. Loss, Walter M. James, T. F. Bonneau, William M. Willett, and
FI. B. Chase promoted the Clear Lake Traffic Company in October, 1908, later
incorporated as the Clear Lake Northern Railroad Company, capitalized "for
$1,000,000. The names of William L. Gerstle, William H. Tevis and Henry
T. Scott were later connected with this project. This company proposed a
hue from Hopland or Pieta to Lakeport. and completed its survey in March,
1909. The stock subscription in the county reached the sum of $127,000.
R. D. Winters, then a prominent citizen and contractor of Lakeport,
agitated a road from L'kiah via lilue Lakes in 1909, but met with little encour-
agement.
The Santa Rosa and Clear Lake Railroad Company had been co-operating
with the Highland Pacific at its start, but in December, 1910, projected a
narrow-gauge road via Kellogg to Middletown and Lower Lake. J. W.
Barrows and P. D. Reynolds were the engineers. A survey, several miles of
trail, and some six-foot grade were accomplished.
The latest and still pending railroad possibility is the Clear Lake Railroad
Company. Its principal agitator was Z. T. Spencer, a merchant of Lakeport,
when the project was launched at that place in March, 1911. The first plan
was for a narrow-gauge road from Hopland to Lakeport, estimated to cost
S200.000. D. F. Mclntire made a reconnoissance of the proposed route. The
company was incorporated May 17 of that year, the first directors being L. H.
Boggs, S. E. Brookes of Hopland, Milos M. Gopcevic, C. M. Hammond, presi-
dent; Euvelle Howard, H. V. Keeling, C. C. McAIahan of Bartlett Springs,
Joseph Levy, M. S. Sayre. Z. T. Spencer, A. H. Spurr. The capital stock was
$500,000, of which 316 persons subscribed the total amount of ,$95,400. C. R.
Rankin made the surveys. Over $78,000 in money was paid in by the stock-
holders. Ground was broken at Hopland on November 18, 1911, and the
contractors, Elliott & Axman, continued at intervals with the grading until
April, 1912, completing about seven miles of the twenty-three mile route.
All of the money subscribed was expended, and the directors found great
difficulty in completing the financing. A renewed effort to sell $50,000 in
stock, to make possible the required bond issue, was started in July, 1914, and
promises success. The present directors are L. H. Boggs, president; M. S.
Sayre, L. P. Clendenin, Lewis Henderson, H. V. Keeling, W. P. Mariner,
S. E. Brookes. Joseph Levy, C. M. Hammond, A\'. P. Hill, A. H. Spurr.
CHAPTER XIX
Officials, Schools, Churches and Fraternities
Following are the princi])al public officials who have ser\ed Lake county
since its organization, with the term of their service:
Assemblyman, the county during these years being a sejiarate Assembly
district: f. M. Coghlan, 1864-7; J. C. Crigler, 1868-71; W. W. Stillwagon,
1872-3; S." K. Welch, 1874-5 and 1878-9; R.' \'. S. Ouigley, 1876-7; A. P. Mc-
Carty, 1880; H. J. Crumpton. 1881-4; E. W. Britt. 1885-6; L. H. Gruwell,
1887-8; C. M. Crawford. 1889-90; J. H. Renfro. 1891-2; these Lake county
men elected from Colusa-Glenn-Lake district, Thos. ]. Sheridan, 1901-2; Frank
II. Smy the, 1907-8.
152 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
County Judge, O. A. Munn, 1861-3; J. B. Holloway, 1864-71; E. M. Paul,
1872-9; Superior Judge, R. J. Hudson, 1880-9; R. W. Crump, 1890-03, died in
office; M. S. Sayre, appointed 1903, elected 1904-14.
Sheriff, W. H. Manlove, 1861-2 and 1868-9; J. C. Crigler, 1863-7 and
1878-9; T. B. Burger, 1870-3; J. C. W. Ingram, 1874-7; Peter Burtnett, 1880-2;
L. H. Boggs, 1882-8 and 1891-4; Gawn Moore, 1889-90; G. W. Pardee, 1895-8;
John P. Moore, 1899-1906; George W. Kemp, 1907-10, killed m office May 5,
1910; Lyon Eraser, 1910-14.
Clerk, W. R. Mathews, 1861-5 ; S. Bynum, 1866-73 ; W. Mathews, 1874-5 ;
H. A. Oliver, 1876-84; Thomas Bynum," 1885-6; M. S. Sayre, 1886-8; W. L.
Anderson, 1889-94; H. W. Brewer, 1895-02; E. M. Alter, 1903, four months;
Shafter Mathews, won contest for election, 1903-14.
District Attorney, G. W. Marshall, 1861 ; Woods Crawford, 1862, 1866-7,
1872-3, 1885-6; J. H. Thompson, 1863-5; S. K. Welch, 1868-71 and 1891-2;
A. E. Noel, 1874-5; E. Townsend, 1876-7; D. M. Hanson, 1878-9 and 1883-4;
R. W. Crump, 1880-2 and 1887-8; M. S. Sayre, 1889-90 and 1895-02; D. F. Mc-
Intire, 1893-4; H. W. Brewer, 1903-6; Charles W. Haycock, 1907, died Feb-
ruary 28, 1908; C. M. Crawford, appointed 1908, elected 1910-4.
Recorder: Combined with clerk from 1881 to 1884; W. A. Thompson,
1885-86, same official also auditor, 1887-8; N. Phelan, 1889-92; George W.
Minstrell, 1893-8; Frank W. Beach, 1899-02; Euvelle Howard. 1903-6; J. W.
Beck, 1907-14.
Treasurer: N. Smith, 1861-2; J. B. Cook, 1863-7; W. S. Cook, 1868-71;
T. W. Everett, 1872-7; David Williams, 1878-84; O. V. P. Day, 1885-8; R. V. S.
Ouigley, 1889-92; P. T. Boone, 1893-4 and 1899-14; W. C. Moore, 1895-8.
Assessor: E. Musick, 1861-3; N. Phelan, 1864-7 and 1880-1; H. H. Nun-
nally, 1868-71; H. Allen, 1872-9; T- L. Smythe, 1882-6; W. H. Cunningham,
1887-94; S. S. Russell, 1895-02; C. M. Young, 1903-6; Fred H. Merritt, 1907-14.
Superintendent of schools : County clerk acted until 1864. T. Sleeper,
1864-5; A. P. McCarty, 1866-7; J. W. Mackall, 1868-9; Mack Mathews, 1870-3
and 1880-6; L. Wallace, 1874-7; J. W. Shirley, 1878-9; Mrs. S. M. Gillett,
1887-94; Mrs. E. K. Harrington, 1895-8; Charles W. Haycock, 1898-06; Miss
Hettie Irwin, 1907-14.
Coroner: J. W. Smith, 1861; S. A. Copsey, 1864-5; L. T. Musick, 1868-9;
W. R. Mathews, 1870-1 ; H. H. Lull, 1872-3 ; public administrator, L. C. Bur-
riss, 1868-9; J. Jenkins, 1870-1: J. O'Shea, 1872-3; the two offices combined
after this date; J. O'Shea, 1874-9; J. Male, 1880-2; Ira G. Yates, 1883-4; S. A.
Copsey, 1885-8; W. M. Woods, 1889-92; Mack Mathews, 1892-8 and 1903-14;
R. H. Lawrence, 1899-02.
Surveyor: Joel Willard, 1862-5; L. M. Musick, 1866-7; I. N. Chapman,
1868-9; George Tucker, 1870-5, 1883-4, and 1887-8; B. R. Wardlaw, 1876-7;
R. H. Lawrence, 1878-9; J. A. Kelly, 1880-1; S. H. Rice, 1885-8; D. F. Mcln-
tire, 1889-90 and 1906-14; J. B. Laughlin, 1891-2; Wright Mathews, 1893-04;
John L. Stubbs, 1905, appointed on death of Wright Mathews, elected 1906,
failed to qualify.
Auditor: A. H. Spurr. 1889-90; H. B. Sheldon, 1891-2; R. H. Lawrence,
1893-8; office combined with clerk 1899-02; F. W. Crawford, 1903-6: B. J.
Turner, 1907-14.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 153
Tax Collector: Office combined with sheriiif until 1888; E. P. Clendenin,
1889-90 and 1895-8; Elbert Hudson, 1891-4; office combined with treasurer
1899-02; Frank R. Farrier, 1903-September, 1913, resigned; M. J. Manning,
appointed, 1913-4.
Supervisors : First district, in 1884 number changed to Second, S. Hunt-
ing, 1861-3; D. D. Jones, 1864-7; J. W. Everett, 1868-71; A. F. Morrell, 1872-3,
1878-80 and 1895-02; R. K. Nichols, 1874-7; L. H. Gruwell, 1881-2; R. F.
Miles, 1882-6; H. H. Wilson, 1886-90; A. M. Akins, 1891-4; J. M. Adamson,
1903-14.
Second district, number changed in 1884 to First; J. H. Jamison, 1861-5
and 1876-7; E. L. Green, 1866-9; A. F. Tate, 1870-1; I. M. Davee, 1872-5;
G. E. McKinley, 1878-82; T- M. Hamilton, 1883-4; Dallas Poston, 1885-8; C. M.
Young, 1889-90; G. W. Rawson, 1891-2; George W. Kemp, 1893-6 and 1901-6;
Frank H. Smythe, 1897-1900; Hazen Cheney, 1907-12; T. A. Read, 1912-4.
Third district : J. W. Maxwell, 1861 and 1870-1 ; C. C. Rice, 1862-7 ; D. V.
Thompson, 1868-9; J. B. Robinson, 1872-9; Wm. Gessner, 1880-2; L. A.
Young, 1883-4; David Alexander, 1885-94; J. N. League, 1895-8; Charles W.
Phillips, 1899-14.
Fourth district, formed in 1884: L. A. Young, 1885-8; S. K. Welch,
1889-92; William Gessner and Samuel Clendenin tied in November, 1892,
election ; at special election in following month Gessner won and served until
1896; George A. Lyon, 1897-04; Thomas Patten, 1905-14.
Fifth district, formed in 1884: Lewis Henderson, 1885-08; John Kelsay,
1909-14.
Lakeport Town Officials: First meeting. May 10, 1888. Dr. M. R.
Chamblin, president; J. M. Hamilton, C. E. Phelan, Marshall Arnold, W. E.
Greene, trustees; James N. Hamilton, clerk; W. A. Thompson, Treasurer;
W. M. Woods, marshal; J. J. Bruton, attorney. H. M. Condict was appointed
clerk in September, 1888, on the death of Jas. N. Hamilton.
J. M. Hamilton resigned as trustee in 1889, and L. G. Simmons was
appointed. M. R. Chamblin served until 1892; C. E. Phelan to 1890; M.
Arnold to 1891, resigned, place filled by F. D. Tunis, to 1892; W. E. Greene to
1894, president in 1891, and elected a-ifain 1899. Other trustees serving at
various periods: Edward Cohn. 1890; P. T. Boone, S. S. Russell, 1892; David
Williams and N. O. Smith, 1894; J. W. Byrnes, 1895; Sanford Bruton. B. N.
Fisher, M. Wambold, 1896; Joseph Levy, 1898, and succeeding terms; W. T.
Whitton, H. D. LaMotte, 1904; A. H. Spurr, 1904; J. M. Church, 1904;
Samuel Edmunds, W. W. Page, R. M. Beattie, 1908; F. H. Boggs, 1910;
W. C. Moore, Fred A. Greene, Dr. W. R. Lane, 1912.
Succeeding clerks were A. B. McCutcheon, 1890; C. E. Phelan, 1891 ; M. S.
Sayre, 1891, resigned in 1892, reappointed same year; H. V. Keeling, 1894-08;
H. B. Churchill, 1908-14; George H. Neal, 1914. Treasurers: F. H. Boggs,
on death of W. A. Thompson, 1894; Frank Howe, 1894-1903; John G. Crump,
1903-14; P. T. Boone, 1914. Marshals: W. E. Hixson, 1891, on death of Woods;
Sam Allen, 1891 ; James W. Laycock, 1892; J. E. Mitchell. 1894-8; R. E. Barry,
1898-02; R. J. Hammack, 1902-08; J. H. Miller, 1908-14. Town attorneys:
Charles F. Fishback, 1889; Thomas B. Bond, 1890; Woods Crawford, 1892;
D. F. Mclntire, 1897-03; H. V. Keeling, 1903-10; H. B. Churchill, 1910-14.
Town recorder: H. W. McGee, 1889; S. G. Gully, 1889; D. H. Atherton,
1891 ; W. W. P. Bruton, 1895; J. J. Bruton, 1899-14.
154 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Schools
Of the early history of schools in Lake. county, the official records were
destroyed in the courthouse fire of 1867. They existed from the time of county
organization, the county clerk acting as superintendent of schools up to 1864.
when T. Sleeper was elected to that office. The first school was established
in Big valley, near the home of Thomas, or "Dobe," Boyd, now the Ricka-
baugh ranch. The following districts were organized up to 1869, with a total
attendance that year of 760 pupils: Cinnabar, Lower Lake, Excelsior, Rincon.
Morgan Valley, Burns Valley, Loconoma, Uncle Sam, Kelsey Creek, Lake-
port, Blue Lake, Big Valley, Pleasant Grove, Upper Lake. By 1881, Ash-
land, Bachelor Valley, Bartlett Springs, Cobb Valley, Calayomi, Clover Creek,
Cache Creek, Eureka, East Lake, Fair View, Great Western, Gravelly Valley.
Highland, Lakeshore, Liberty, Mountain, Middletown, Spruce Grove, Sul-
phur Bank and Scotts Valley districts had been formed and the attendance
that year \yas 1569. Other districts formed since, some of which have lapsed
or been merged into others, are : Mountain Mill, West Lake, Middle Creek.
Alcove, established 1892; Mono, San Hedrin, Gruwell, Sunset, in 1896;
Konocti, 1910; Hammond, 1912; Big Canyon, 1913, and Long Valley, 1913.
Churches
The Methodist Episcopal Church South was the pioneer church within
the bounds of Lake county, having been organized in a school house in Big
Valley in 1857. Rev. Norman organized the church. Subsequent early pas-
tors in Lakeport, Big and Scotts Valleys, were Revs. Hawkins, Jones and
Clampett, up to 1865; P. O. Clayton, 1865; W. A. Spurlock, 1866; J.L. Porter,
1867; Y. D. Clanton, 1868-9; H. X. Compton, 1870-1; L. J. Hedgpeth, 1872;
John Woodin, 1873; W. E. Murry, 1874; R. F. Allen, 1875-7; I. C.Vendergast.
1878-9; B. F. Burriss, 1880; J. C. C. Harris, 1881.
The Episcopal church was represented under the title of Trinity Mission
from 1876 to 1881, with Rev. W. S. Neals in charge. The present church was
built by Mrs. A\^illiam B. Collier in 1901 as a memorial to her little son, John
Pierre Collier.
The First Baptist Church of Lakeport was organized in 1861, Rev. S.
Reily being the first pastor. He was succeeded by Revs. J. N. Burroughs,
1862; D. G. Loveall, 1863; T. D. Banner, 1865-6; B. Ogle, 1866-76; E. Waller.
1876-8; D. L. Taylor, 1868; G. H. Lillard, 1879; R. C. White. 1880.
Clear Lake Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized
in 1857. Early preachers were S. W. Norman, James Corwin, G. B. Davis.
George A. Lyon, Noah Burton, Asa J. White. The first camp meeting was
held at Upper Lake. The Kelseyville church was built in 1870.
The Catholic church has had a mission in this field since 1867. The first
priest was Father Luciano O'Suna. The St. Turibius Mission O. F. M., Rev.
Fr. Philemon Toepfer, Superior, is planning to build a fine new church and
parish house at Lakeport.
The Presbyterian church at Lakeport was organized August 9, 1874.
Lots for church site and parsonage were secured in 1878. The house of
worship was built in a different location in 1883. The Upper Lake congrega-
tion with its edifice was an integral part of the Lakeport church till 1912.
For most of the time until 1907 the time and service of the ministry were
shared with the Presbyterian church at Kelsevx'ille. .\11 nf the ministers
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 155
were stated supplies though several times the congregation either called or
Vi^as ready to call and settle a permanent pastor. The first membership
including the Upper Lake congregation was thirteen. The succession of
ministers serving six months or more is as follows : James L. Woods, five
years, 1873-78; James A. Mitchell, one year, 1879-80; Jacob B. Rideout, five
years, 1882-87; Stewart S. Caldwell, one year, 1887-88; Edwin H. Jenks, three
years, 1888-91 ; Hervey W. Chapman, twelve years, 1891-04 (with one addi-
tional year alone at Kelsey 1890-91) ; Henry C. Meredith, one-half year, 1905;
(a Methodist, J. L. Woods, Presbyterian moderator of sessions) ; Wilhelm C.
Spaan, two years, 1905-7; Winfield C. Scott, half a year, 1908-09; John P.
Hearst, Ph.D., ten months, 1911 ; George F. Haerle (Congregational) 1912.
Fraternities
ODD FELLOWS: Clear Lake Lodge No. 130, I. O. O. F., was organized
at Lower Lake January 16, 1867. The charter members were W. P. Berry,
D. M. Hanson, the only one now living; William Farmer, William Kesey,
H. Allen, H. H. Nunnally and J. H. Berry. D. M. Hanson was the first Noble
Grand. W. C. Goldsmith, still living, was initiated into this lodge in 1867.
The lodge built its hall in 1868.
Friendship Lodge No. 150 was organized at Guenoc December 25, 1868,
with \\'illiam Farmer, J. H. Berry, H. H. Nunnally, O. Armstrong, M. Getz,
AVilliam Amesberry and William T. Miles as charter members. Its first
Noble Grand was J. H. Berry. They built a hall at Guenoc and in 1871 moved
it to Middletown. A new hall was built in 1875.
Lupyomi Lodge No. 173 was instituted at Lakeport July 16, 1870. The
charter members were S. K. Welch, first Noble Grand ; Louis Charmak, W. L.
Phillips, J. C. Parker, J. O. Johnson and J. W. Robbe. This lodge erected the
brick building now known as the Scudamore & Co. store, on credit, and
through neglect and mismanagement the creditors took it over in 1885, the
lodge charter then being taken to Kelseyville. At the latter place the lodge
built a hall in 1886, which was destroyed by fire in 1889, but promptly rebuilt.
Konocti Lodge had been organized in Kelsevville in 1875, but lasted but a
short time.
Upper Lake Lodge was instituted January 8, 1876. The charter members
were Dexter Witter, D. T. Taylor, Orrin Smith, Mark Asher, C. Johnson, C.
G. Grove, L. Gurnett, W. Ballinger, R. P. White, W. H. Woodard, G. K.
McMath, F. M. Gully, and H. Palmer. Dexter Witter was the first Noble
(irand. Their present building was erected in 1898.
Lakeport Lodge No. 351 was instituted April 11, 1889, by L. Carpenter,
(iawn Moore, George A. Lyon, S. S. Russell, first presiding officer ; Thomas
Haycock, W. Keithly. J. R. Edwards, D. C. Rumsey, G. E. Moore and O.
McCraney.
MASONS: Clear Lake Lodge No. 183, F. & A. M., was organized at
Lower Lake February 4, 1867. The charter members were L. B. Thurman,
Charles Wormwood, C. Noble Copsey, W. R. Mathews, T. M. Harris, D. M.
Hanson, J. D. Hendricks. W. W. Davis, J. C. Crigler, Z. C. Davee, J. U.
Adams. Charles Stubbs, F. M. Herndon, William Christiansen, C. C. Ruch,
L. P. Nichols. L. B. Thurman was the first Master.
156 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Hartley Lodge No. 199 was instituted May 1, 1869. Its charter members
were Allen D. Green, first Master under dispensation ; Woods Crawford, first
Master under charter; D. V. Thompson, L. C. Burris, J. W. Casebeere, M.
Sleeper, Thomas Hayter, Ed L. Greene, A. Levinson and William Meredith.
The members serving as Master have been Allen D. Green, 1869; Woods
Crawford, 1870-2, 1889, 1892-3 ; J. C. W. Ingram, 1873 ; James Parrish, 1874-5,
1886, 1888; F. D. Tunis, 1876; John R. Cook, 1877; J. W. Mackall, 1878-9,
1881-5, 1887; John W. Elliott, 1880; Marshall Arnold, 1890; G. W. Mallory,
1891; Angelo Biggi, 1894; C. J. Monroe, 1895, 1900; C. W. Kellogg, 1896;
David Williams, 1897; M. S. Sayre, 1898; G. W. Myers, 1899; J. F. McClure,
1901 ; Euvelle Howard, 1902; Herbert V. Keeling, 1903-4; Jabez Banks, 1905;
C. W. Haycock, 1906 and 1908; A. M. Reynolds, 1907;" Shafter Mathews,
1909; J. M. Church, 1910; Dr. William R. Lane, 1911 : John D Monroe, 1912;
D. W. Greene, 1913; George H. Neal, 1914.
Lakeport Lodge No. 34, A. O. U. W., was organized May 23, 1878, with
the following charter members: J. C. W. Ingram, first Master; H. A. Oliver,
A. P. McCarty, Theodore Deming, R. W. Crump, J. B. Baccus Jr., A. A. R.
Utting, Enoch Yates, J. F. Cowan, Thomas G. Adams, J. F. Scott, Dr. H. J.
Crumpton, G. H. White, P. M. Daly, F. H. Vallette and G. W. Wilson. The
lodge flourished for a period, but experienced reverses and finally dissolved
about 1909.
■'^■M^^-^J^
BIOGRAPHICAL
HON. JOHN QUINCY WHITE.— More than three decades of close
personal identification with the bar and the bench of Mendocino county have
given to Judge White an enviable reputation as an able attorney and an
impartial jurist. In this era of restless change it is something to have spent
so long a period in one community, something to have won his way to influ-
ence as he has done, something to have risen to prominence in the eyes of his
fellowmen and something to have erected steadily and conscientiously the
intellectual and professional structure which indicates his aims and purposes
in life. Withal it is something to indicate an attorney's capability and integ-
rity that he should be chosen on the Democratic ticket in a Republican county
to serve as judge of the superior court, and re-elected at the expiration of the
first term, thus indicating the satisfactory nature of his impartial, able service
as judge. It is also worthy of note that at the primary election in 1914 he was
re-elected by a large majority.
Descended from a long line of southern ancestors, Judge White was born
in Lafayette county, Mo., February 3, 1852, and was a son of John and
Lucretia (Williamson) White, natives respectively of Tennessee and Ken-
tucky. Primarily educated in public schools, he later attended a seminary
in Lafayette county and in 1872 came to California, where he attended the
Christian College in Santa Rosa for four years. Immediately after his gradu-
ation in 1876, receiving the A.B. degree, he returned to Missouri and matricu-
lated in the law department of the State University at Columbia, where he
completed the regular law course in 1878, receiving the degree of LL.B.
During the same year he opened an office for law practice at Warrensburg,
that state, .\ year later he removed to Colorado and engaged in practice at
Trinidad, but in 1883 he again came to California, this time establishing resi-
dence at Ukiah. where he has since risen to prominence as lawyer, citizen
nnd jurist.
In 1878 Judge White married Miss Lula H. Sparks, of Lexington, Mo.,
who died in Ukiah in 1908. In February, 1913, he married in San Jose Miss
Harriet Ortley, a native of Santa Clara county, and a graduate of the San
Jose State Normal. For some years she was principal of the Alviso schools.
With his wife Judge White is a member of the Christian church.
Shortly after his arrival in Ukiah Mr. White was elected district attorney
of Mendocino county and that position he filled for two terms. At the
expiration of his period of service he formed a partnership with W. P. Thomas
under the firm name of White & Thomas and continued in active and suc-
cessful practice until he was called to serve upon the bench. In 1902 he was
elected judge of the superior court of Mendocino county and at the expiration
of the first term in 1908 he was re-elected for another term of six years.
Frequently he has been called to serve as judge in important cases in other
counties of the state, and, wherever his service has been, he is known for the
fairness and impartiality of his decisions. When off the bench his friend-
ships are as strong as those of any man, but in court he is not swayed by the
160 MEXDOCIXO AND LAKE COUNTIES
friendship of litigants or lawyers, and it is largely this attitude of mind that
lias gained him the confidence of the judges of the higher courts. His name
stands for fine public service and progressive citizenship. The movement for
the establishment of the Mendocino state hospital .had in him a promoter from
.its inception. During the erection of the administration building of the hospital
group he served as a member of the board of directors and was consulted re-
garding everv phase of the management, but later retired from the directorate.
COL. CHARLES MIFFLik HAMMOND.— Ma Tel vineyard, situated
on the eastern shore of Clear lake, and famous for the beauty of its site and
abundant natural resources. Colonel Hammond's six hundred acre estate and
palatial residence are noted among the most inviting spots in that section of
Lake county — the East Upper Lake precinct. Thirtv years of scientific care
have made it one of the show places of the county. Its grapes and olives have
helped to make local products take first rank with their kind. Though he
has become one of the most public-spirited citizens of the county. Colonel
Hammond is a New Englander born and bred, his ancestors on both paternal
and maternal sides having lived in or around Boston, Mass., for several genera-
tions. He is a native of Massachusetts, born at Nahant August 4, 1861, but
his early life was spent at New London, Conn., whither his parents moved the
summer after his birth. Gardiner Greene Hammond, his father, was born in
Boston in 1833, and died in 1902. By occupation he was a farmer, cultivating
the fine tract of two hundred acres which he owned at New London, on Long
Island sound. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Crowninshield
Mifflin, was born in Boston in 1835, and difed in 1877. Of the si.x children
born to them, Elizabeth Crowninshield, wife of William Appleton, of Boston,
was killed in a railroad accident in the year 1880, at the age of twenty-three ;
she left one child. Gardiner Greene, Jr., is a resident of ^lassachusetts. Charles
Mifflin is mentioned below. Susan Greene is the wife of William O. Edmands,
of Lake county, a farmer. Mary Crowninshield, who died leaving two chil-
dren, was the wife of Edward Brooks and lived at Hyde Park, Mass. Edward
Crowninshield, who lives on the old home place at New London, Conn., mar-
ried Anna Chapin Rumrill. of Springfield, Alass.
Charles Mifflin Hammond passed his boyhood on his father's farm at New
London. \\'hen eleven years old he entered St. Paul's School at Concord, N.
H., a preparatory institution for boys, where he took the classical course,
graduating in 1879. In the fall of that year he matriculated at Harvard,
where he pursued the general course, graduating in 1883. It was only a few
months later that he came out to California, arriving at Rutherford, Napa
county, in January, 1884. To acquire the necessary experience he began
work as a farm hand for Captain Niebaum, who was a vineyardist, and on
whose place he gained his first knowledge of viticulture, learning the care of
the grapevine and its product thoroughly. From the start he studied his
chosen work scientifically, and time has proved that his efforts have not been
wasted. During his first year in California he made a trip into Lake county
and was so well impressed with the land that in partnership with his brother
Gardiner he made a purchase of twelve hundred and thirty-four acres, in the
Upper Lake precinct, taking possession on November 1st. His brother sub-
sequently sold his interest in this tract to their brother-in-law, Mr. Edmands,
who now owns about six hundred and forty acres of the property. Colonel
Hammond retaining six hundred. He has beautified his land by extensive im-
MEXDOCINC) AND LAKE COUNTIES 161
provements and systematic development, and the natural advantages of the
site have been turned to the best possible use. Twenty years ago he set out an
olive orchard of twenty acres, which is still in prime bearing condition, and he
also has a vineyard of twenty-five acres, the varieties including Black Bur-
gundy, Alataro, Carignan, Cabernet Sauvignon, a few Zinfandels, Sauvignon
Vert, and White Semillon. His beautiful field lands are also a valuable
portion of the property, and he has given proper attention to their cultivation,
which has proved highly profitable. Many of Colonel Hammond's ancestors
have been manufacturers and men of large affairs in other lines of business,
hut agriculture has evidently been a wise choice in his case, though undoubt-
edlv the business ability he has inherited has been an important factor in the
handling of his large interests, which he has managed with consummate abil-
ity. His home is four miles southeast of the town of Upper Lake.
As might be expected from one of his training, accustomed to environ-
ments where literary education and general culture have become a matter of
course. Colonel Hammond has been zealous in securing such benefits for his
adopted community, and it was largely due to his efforts that the only high
school in Lake county, the Clear Lake Union high school at Lakeport, was
established. His strenuous efforts and material help made the school possible,
and he is still serving as one of its trustees. There are many other evidences
of progress in Lake county introduced or encouraged by him. Though con-
servative and not given to favoring things which have merely the attraction of
novelty to recommend them, he is a true friend of progress and good govern-
ment, as he has shown on numerous occasions. He has given his influence
and substantial aid to the Clear Lake railroad, is a director of the company,
and was Lake county's representative in the Sacramento Valley Development
Association. Straightforward and outspoken. Colonel Hammond is thor-
oughly sincere and honest in his views and in giving expression to them,
and though he may have met and incurred opposition it has been in the
spirit of his ancestors who preferred to fight in the open rather than use
roundabout means of gaining their ends. His heritage of training and con-
science would permit him to take no other course than the direct one, and all
his methods will bear close scrutiny, and not leave unpleasant surprises for
the future to reveal. From his own large possessions, and the extent to which
their value has been endangered by the dam on Cache creek, the outlet of
Clear lake, being built by the Yolo Water & Power Company, it might seem
that his efforts to stop the activities of that company were actuated by selfish
motives, but it is well known that protection for himself will mean the same
for many others, and he has made stubborn resistance to encroachments, in
behalf of his fellow citizens as well as on his own account. He has led the
opposition to the company and has proved a powerful adversary, his strict
integritv holding the confidence of his co-operators, and his unyielding dis-
])osition in what he believes to be a just cause encouraging them to hold out
lor their rights, for the attempts of the Yolo company to acquire the shore
lands of the lake for a sum which would be less than a million dollars — •
which acquisition would virtually control the forty thousand acres of the lake
Ijroper — he considers to be absolutely ridiculous. From the Yolo company's
own figures it is shown that the value of ten feet of water in the lake, when
used for power and irrigation purposes, is worth a million dollars a year,
and he sees no reason whv this should not accrue to the people of the county
162 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
;uinually instead of a beggarly pittance being paid once to a few lake shore
owners. The closing of the dam would absolutely destroy many thousands
of acres lying below the proposed high water level of ten feet, and two-thirds of
Colonel Hammond's place would be ruined, as it would be under water till
a period of the year when it would be impossible to farm it. The Colonel
would like to see what he considers Lake county's greatest asset conserved
and saved for the use and benefit of her people, as he believes the wealth
of the county generally will be greater if her resources are devoted to enrich-
ing them instead of an outside corporation. Hence his support has been
given to the side he regards as most deserving.
Colonel Hammond acquired his title by being appointed to serve on the
staff of Gov. James N. Gillett of California with the rank of lieutenant-colonel,
and has kept up old associations through his membership in the University
and Harvard clubs of San Francisco. He also belongs to the Somerset Club
of Boston. On political questions he adheres to the Republican party, and is
unfailing in his loyalty to its traditions and former achievements, the glories
of its triumphs during the Civil war period, and the years of unbroken suc-
cess which followed.
On December 18, 1888, Colonel Hammond was married, in Massachusetts,
to Miss Harriet Paine Lee, daughter of George Cabot Lee, the sister of the
first wife of ex-President Roosevelt. They have no children. Mrs. Hammond
was formerly a Unitarian, but she is now associated with the Episcopal Church.
EDWARD PORTER. — The proprietor of the Richelieu, a native son of
Ukiah, was born June 10, 1868, and is the son of Edward and Julia E. (Weller)
Porter. The father, who was born and reared in Iowa and there learned the
trade of harness-maker, came across the plains with oxen and wagons about
1865 in company with his father-in-law, Elisha Weller, and other members of
the same family. Arriving in Mendocino county, Mr. Weller took up land
three miles south of Ukiah and Mr. Porter took up work at his trade. The
former prospered to such an extent that he ultimately held the title to three
large ranches, but the latter, less fortunate in his business undertakings and
starting back to the east, was never heard of again, the supposition being that
he met with an accidental death on the plains. Surviving him are four children,
namely : John E., now of Bakersfield ; Van A., who is living at Upper Lake ;
Edward, of Ukiah ; and Malinda May, Mrs. Tallman, who makes her home at
Bartlett Springs, Lake county. The mother is now the wife of P. C. Phelps
and is living at Upper Lake, Lake county.
After he had completed the studies of the Ukiah public schools Edward
Porter took up the task of earning a livelihood and for a time worked on the
ranch of his mother in Lake county. Later he followed other occupations. For
nine years he was employed as stage driver for Len Barnard between Fort
Bragg and Westport. Upon returning to Ukiah he engaged with B. S.
Hirsch of the Grand hotel for three years, since which time he has been
proprietor of the Richelieu. In Ukiah he was united in marriage with Miss
Lulu E. Rhodenbaugh, who is a native of Kansas City, Mo. Although not a
partisan in politics, he is stanch in his support of Republican principles.
While making his headquarters at Fort Bragg he was an active member of
Alder Glenn Parlor No. 200 in that town, also took an influential part in the
work of Santana Tribe No. 60, Improved Order of Red Men, and since return-
ing to Ukiah he has become a member of Camp No. 319, F. O. E.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 1^5
HON. MORTON SMITH SAYRE.— The judge of the superior court
o{ Lake county, who is likewise president of the Bank of Lake and vice-pres-
ident of the Clear Lake Railroad Company, as well as a large stockholder in
the Northern California Telephone Company, was born at Reedtown, Seneca
county, Ohio, December 2Z. 1847, and is a son of John B. and Mary A.
(Hanks) Sayre. The father, a native of Benton Center, Yates county, N. Y.,
!:iarried Miss Hanks in Steuben county, that state, and took his young wife
to the then frontier of Ohio, where he improved a farm. Four children were
born on the Ohio homestead and about 1853 the family returned to York
state, where the four youngest children were born. All but one of the eight
lived to maturity, namely: Evaline, who died at the age of eighteen years;
Morton Smith, the well-known jurist of Lake county; Rozilla G., the widow
<f Theodore Colgrove and a resident of Los Angeles; Grattan W., a railroad
man connected with the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, with headquar-
ters in Chicago; George H., a gold miner now at Tonopah, Nev. ; Dwight O.,
u stock dealer living in Missouri ; and Angle F., wife of V. S. Johnson, of
South Dakota.
Between the years of six and ten Judge Sayre lived on a farm in Steuben
county, N. Y., and attended the public school in that vicinity. About 1857
his father was injured so seriously that he was left an invalid' and, no longer
able to engage in farming, he removed to Hammondsport, Steuben county,
where in an effort to regain his health the savings of years of arduous labor
were expended. However, the son was sent to the common schools and
Hammondsport Academy. While a student in the academy he relinquished
school work to enlist in the Union army. Early in 1864, when but sixteen
years of age, he became a private in Company E, One Hundred and Sixty-
first New York Infantry. Assigned first to the department of the Gulf under
General Banks and later to an engineering brigade on the lower Mississippi
under Colonel Bailey, he was next transferred to the Thirteenth Army Corps
under General Canby and marched from Fort Morgan at the mouth of Mobile
bay to Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, where he took part in the memorable
.siege, thence crossed the bay to Mobile. In November, 1865. when still less
than eighteen, he was mustered out at Tallahassee, Fla.. and honorably dis-
charged. During his absence in the army his parents had moved to Almond,
Allegany county, and he joined them there, attending the local academy for
three winters and earning a livelihood by day tasks in the summer months.
He also taught at Bishopville, N. Y., for one winter. When twenty-one he
entered Alfred University, but stopped the next winter to teach school.
Through all of this period he was earning his own way and paying for his
education.
Attracted to Iowa by its opportunities, Mr. Sayre lived at Denison from
the spring of 1870 until 1880. In 1872 he married at Almond, N. Y., Miss
Delia Genung, of Almond, that state, who died in 1877, leaving one child,
Burt G., now in the hardware business at Lakeport. Beginning in a bank
at Denison as clerk, Mr. Sayre rose to be assistant cashier as well as attor-
ney for the institution. In his leisure hours he had read law with Judge M.
H. Wygant, of Denison, and about 1876 he was admitted to the bar at Council
Bluffs, not, however, practicing in that state except in connection with the
bank's law affairs. A serious throat trouble caused him to resign his bank
166 AIEXDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
position and seek a change of climate in California, where he spent the years
1880-85 in business in San Francisco. Being not in the least benefited there,
he came to Middletown, Lake county, in 1885, and immediately his health
began to improve, which caused him to become a permanent resident of the
county. Elected county clerk in 1886, he moved to Lakeport during Decem-
ber of that year. After two years as clerk and two years as district attorney,
from January, 1891, to January, 1895, he engaged in law practice with ex-
Judge R. J. Hudson, under the firm title of Hudson & Sayre. In 1894 he was
again chosen district attorney and re-elected in 1898, serving until January 1,
1903. At the expiration of the last term he formed a law partnership with
II. V. Keeling under the name of Sayre & Keeling.
On the death of Hon. R. W. Crump he was appointed by Governor
George C. Pardee to fill the vacancy as judge of the superior court. In 1904
he was elected to the same office and four years later was again chosen as
his own successor. His decisions in the court are governed bv a wide knowl-
edge of the law and a uniform impartiality of temperament and have won
for him the respect of the higher courts, as well as the admiration of local
people and a reputation for high legal attainments and wise decisions. With
his wife, who prior to their marriage on New Year's day of 1907, was Mrs.
Maude M. Swayze of Lakeport, he has an enviable social standing in circles
where culture and breadth of mental vision, supplementing honorable prin-
ciples, are the open sesame. In politics he votes the Republican ticket.
Always interested in Grand Army work, he has been the most efficient and
popular promoter of its interests and has served as commander of Gaylord
Post at Upper Lake. At this writing he is inspector of the Nineteenth Ma-
sonic district. He was made a Mason at Denison, Iowa, and afterward took
the Royal Arch degrees at Dunlap. With his wife he has co-operated in the
work of the Eastern Star and the Rebekahs, while he is now past noble grand
of Lakeport Lodge No. 351, I. O. O. F. Besides his interests in the bank
and the railroad and his financial connection with other local enterprises, he
is the owner of town property at Lakeport and also unimproved country hold-
ings as well as two improved farms in Lake county, all of his interests being
concentrated in the county to whose permanent upbuilding he has been a
constant contributor.
WILLIAM O. EDMANDS.— There are two notable estates on the east-
ern shore of Clear lake, in Lake county, those of William O. Edmands and
his brother-in-law. Colonel Hammond. They have been established here since
the summer of 1884, when three Boston men, including Colonel Hammond,
his brother Gardiner Hammond and Mr. Edmands, purchased twelve hundred
and thirt3'-four acres in the Upper Lake precinct, Gardiner Hammond subse-
quently selling his interest in the tract to INIr. Edmands, who now has about
six hundred and forty acres of it. He has made further purchases, his hold-
ings comprising between eight hundred and nine hundred acres. Chosen pri-
marily for its agricultural and horticultural possibilities, this property has
been improved under the ownership of Mr. Edmands with the idea of bring-
ing out all of its advantages, with the result that he has a beautiful country
home and a large acreage whose value is being increased yearly by scien-
tific cultivation. The systematic care expended on the land has been pro-
ductive of effects reaching beyond the immediate reward of good crops, it
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 167
has vitalized several branches of fruit culture in the locality and stimulated
other agricultural interests. Mr. Edmands is occupied with the oversight
of his extensive operations as general farmer, stockman, orchardist and viti-
culturist.
Mr. Edmands was born in Massachusetts December 23, 1859, at Newton,
just outside of Boston. His father, also named William O. Edmands, was
a business man of Boston, connected with many substantial enterprises, as
more of his ancestors have been, principally in railway and financial opera-
tions. His mother, whose maiden name was Frances A. Stickney, was born
in Boston, and was also of old New England lineage. She spent her later years
in California, much of the time at Lakeport, and died in August, 1912. William
O. Edmands is the only child of his parents. In his early boyhood he attended
public and private schools in Newton, where he prepared for college. Matricu-
lating at Harvard in 1880, he pursued a course of special scientific study there
for three years. He came to Lake county, Cal., in the summer of 1884, and
was one of the trio of Boston men who invested heavily in lands on the
eastern shore of Clear lake as previously mentioned. His home has been here
ever since. The attractions and possibilities of the location appealed to him
so strongly that he found real pleasure in supplementing nature's gifts with
man's industry, and the ideal conditions he has developed are the outcome
of years of thoughtful care. He has superintended personall}' the planting
and culture of his orchards, vineyards, olive and eucalyptus groves ; the lay-
mg out of drives ; improvements along the lake shore ; cultivation of plow
lands ; and the numerous other details involved in the proper management of
an estate so thoroughly well handled. Mr. Edmands is a fancier of blooded
stock of all kinds. By well-directed energy he has accomplished much to en-
hance the attractions and convenience of his property, and he has not spared
himself in looking after it. The ranch is located on the shores of Clear lake,
about four miles east of Upper Lake.
Mr. Edmands has a splendid residence on a hill overlooking an arm of
Clear lake. There is nothing lacking which contributes to the pleasure or
comfort of the family, and a launch and automobiles make all the local points
easy of access. Mr. Edmands is a true New Englander on the question of
education and in public-spirited support of all projects for the general good.
He has stood firmly with his fellow landowners in Lake county to maintain
his rights against the aggressions of the Yolo Water & Power Company,
which he considers a menace to individual property holders under present
conditions. He has been a Republican in politics, and is a great admirer of
many of the policies and aims of his friend Colonel Roosevelt. A representa-
tive of old Pilgrim stock, he has the independent courage of thought and up-
rightness of character which have typified his ancestors for many genera-
tions, and his honorable motives and sincerity of purpose toward his fellow
men have gained him the highest measure of respect from the people among
whom he has settled.
In 1888 Mr. Edmands married Miss Susan Greene Hammond, daughter of
Gardiner Greene and Elizabeth Crowninshield (Mifflin) Hammond, who are
more fully mentioned in the sketch of Col. Charles Alifflin Hammond, brother
of Mrs. Edmands. To Mr. and Mrs. Edmands has been born one son. William
Hammond.
168 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
GEORGE W. STOUT, M. D.— The distinction of being the oldest
physician in j\Iendocino count)' in point of years of continuous professional
service belongs to Dr. Stout, who arrived at Ukiah November 14, 1884, and
since has built up an important practice extending throughout this section of
the county. As might be expected of one identified Vifith the same community
for a period considerably more than one-quarter of a century, he is earnest
in support of progressive movements and capable in the forwarding of civic
enterprises. Withal he is one of the local leaders in his profession and through
a growing practice he has become an important factor in the professional
history of Mendocino county. In addition to medical work and civic enter-
prises he is interested in financial affairs and serves on the directorate of the
Savings Bank .of Mendocino County.
The history of the Stout family is traced to Seargent and Penelope Stout,
who were identified with the early settlement of New Amsterdam. Jacob M.
Stout, the father of our subject, was born at Oxford, Hamilton county, Ohio,
in 1816, and in 1826 removed with his father to Greene county, 111., where he
was a practicing physician for forty-four years. The wife of Jacob M. Stout
was in maidenhood Maria Henderson, the descendant of Scotch and English
antecedents. She became the mother of eight children, of whom seven are
living, the subject of this sketch being the youngest. Two of the sons, H. C.
and J. C, participated in the Civil war as members of Company I, Ninety-
first Illinois Infantry. H. C. passed away in Illinois, and J. C. is now a prac-
ticing physician in Oakland, Cal.
Near Whitehall, Greene county, 111., George W. Stout was born February
7. 1858. When he was ten years old he found himself on the frontier, and
the experiences in self-reliance there gained proved of much value to him in
later life, \^'hen he was fourteen years old he rode over six hundred miles
from Illinois to Kansas, accomplishing the trip in t*en days. All the phases
of frontier life became familiar to him during the years that he rode the range
and handled stock. Meanwhile he had attended grammar school in Illinois,
and after completing his studies found employment in a drug store and
studied medicine with his father and his brother, J. C, both practicing physi-
cians. Under them he gained much practical experience as a physician before
his graduation from the American Medical College of St. Louis in
1883, so that with the conferring of his degree he was ready for successful
work as a practitioner. A trip to California in 1875 had given him a favorable
impression of the Santa Clara valley, so in 1883 he returned to that part
of the west, joining his brother, J. C, at San Jose. From that place he came
to Ukiah the following year, and has practiced medicine here for thirty years.
Dr. Stout was married in Ukiah July 12, 1904, to Miss Lorena B. Harris,
a native of California and the daughter of William Harris. The latter, a
native of Indiana, came to Dutch Flat, Placer county, Cal., in the early '50s.
Dr. Stout is a member of Ukiah Lodge No. 315, K. P., of which he is past
chancellor. He is a member of Schaffner Co., Uniform Rank, and is colonel
of the Fifth Regiment, Uniform Rank, of California. He is also a member
and past master of Abell Lodge No. 146, F. & A. M. ; past high priest of Ukiah
Chapter No. 53, R. A. M., and past eminent commander of Ukiah Com-
mandery No. 33, K. T. He claims the distinction of being the second oldest
living past associate grand patron of the Grand Chapter, Order of Eastern
Star, California.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES l7i
HALE McCOWEN. — A long service in the official employ of Mendocino
county has been sufficient to demonstrate the ability of Hale McCowen and
his admirable qualifications for a position requiring accuracy, promptness and
a high order of intelligence. Such is the success of his record as county
clerk that he has been accorded honors from others not of his own locality,
and during the convention of the County Clerks" Association of California,
held at San Francisco in 1912, he was signally honored by being elected
president of the association, a position that he is well qualified to fill with
credit to himself and satisfaction to all concerned. To be selected for such a
position affords ample testimony as to his high standing among those filling
positions similar to his own, while his popularity in ?iIendocino county is
indicated by his long retention in public office.
Hale McCowen was the son of Thomas and Amily (Leonard) McCowen,
both of whom were born in New Jersey, but who came to Mason, Ohio, with
their respective parents, there growing to mature years and marrying.
Thomas McCowen was a physician in Ohio, and later near Indianapolis, Ind.
In 1855 he removed to Douglas county, Kans., in 1857 starting across the
plains with ox-teams. He became a pioneer farmer and physician in Potter
valley, where he pre-empted land. On his retirement, he and his devoted
wife located in Ukiah, where they spent their remaining years and passed
away. Their family comprised five children: George, a dentist, now living
retired in L'kiah ; Helen, Mrs. A. O. Carpenter, of LTkiah ; Emily, Mrs. Horton,
of Seattle; Hale, and Blanche, Mrs. Landis, of Petaluma.
The first impressions of Mendocino county gained by Hale McCowen
were fixed upon his mind at the expiration of a tedious journey across the
plains in a "prairie schooner" during the summer of 1857. At the time of
landing in California he was a boy of nine, his previous years having been
spent on a farm near Indianapolis, Ind., where he was born August 17, 1848,
and where he had gained his first impressions of life. Although he found
much to interest him in the undeveloped, unsettled west, there remained in
his heart a homesick longing for the familiar conditions of his earliest years
and at the age of eighteen he availed himself of an opportunity to return
east, via Panama and New York, and in Havana, 111., he completed his studies
in an academy.
When Mr. McCowen returned to California from Illinois in 1869 he made
the trip on the second through overland train, the journey taking fourteen
days. Going immediately to the old homestead in Potter valley he there
followed farming and stockraising until 1872, when he came to Ukiah to clerk
in a store. Later, with the savings of that period of employment, he paid
his expenses in Heald's Business College in San Francisco, where he was
graduated in 1874, and was then employed by Dewey & Co., a large publish-
ing house of that city, for a year. The next year he served as bookkeeper
with Rea & Ellis, and then returned to a clerkship in Ukiah. During January
of 1887 he was offered and accepted the appointment as deputy county clerk
and auditor under Samuel D. Paxton. This represented the beginning of his
association with the office of county clerk. Such was his ability in the posi-
tion that he was nominated by acclamation and in November, 1890, was
elected county clerk and auditor and continued to be re-elected his own suc-
cessor from term to term until 1899, when the two offices were separated, and
he was elected county clerk, in all being re-elected six times. That position
he has filled with honor and fidelity up to the present time, and is undoubt-
172 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
edl)' the oldest county clerk in point of years of service in the state of Cali-
fornia.
Meanwhile Mr. McCowen has been a leading factor in civic development.
The growth of Ukiah is a matter of deep and constant interest to him. Its
educational and moral upbuilding receives his generous aid and its business
affairs have his substantial co-operation. Fraternally he is past noble grand
of Ukiah Lodge No. 174, I. O. O. F., and is a member of Cornelia Rebekah
Lodge No. 214. He was made a Mason in Abell Lodge No. 146, F. & A. M.,
in 1878, and is past master; is past high priest of Ukiah Chapter No. 53, R. A.
M., and is past patron of Kingsley Chapter No. 58, O. E. S. ; also past eminent
commander of Ukiah Commandery No. 33, K. T., and is a member of Islam
Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of San Francisco. During the existence of the
I. O. G. T. lodge he was worthy chief templar.
The marriage of J\Ir. McCowen occurred in Redwood valley, August 18,
1880, uniting him with Miss Fannie TTiomas, a native of Georgia, daughter of
Dr. J. R. Thomas, a man of letters. To them have been born two children,
Mary L., Mrs. Cunningham, and Hale, Jr., a -graduate of Leland Stanford
University, with degree of J. D. He was elected district attorney of Mendo-
cino county at the primary election August 25, 1914.
ROBERT L. RICHARDS, M. D.— The medical superintendent of the
Mendocino state hospital is an Ohioan by birth, parentage and education.
Born at New Lexington in 1869, graduated from the Ohio Wesleyan L'ni-
versity in 1891 with the degree of A. B., and from the Medical College of Ohio
fmedical department of the University of Cincinnati) with the degree of M. D.
in 1894, afterward an interne in the City Hospital of Cincinnati and a prac-
ticing physician in Cincinnati, his residence in Ohio terminated with the
year 1900. when he went abroad to devote especial study to nervous dis-
eases in the L'niversities of Berlin and Munich. From the very beginning of
his medical career he has been deeply interested in nervous and mental dis-
eases, concerning which he is now regarded as an authority by members of the
profession. He has been a frequent and liberal contributor to leading medical
journals and wrote the section entitled "Nervous and Mental Disorders in
Their Military Relations" in the most recent and complete work of this
.sort, i. e., the two-volume edition of "Modern Treatment of Nervous and Men-
tal Diseases" by White and Jellifife. Fraternally Dr. Richards is a member of
Alpha Tau Omega and the Masons, while in the hne of his profession he is a
member of the Alilitary Surgeons Association of the United States and the
American Medico-Psychological Association. His father was Dr. A. B. Rich-
ards, who was a graduate of the same medical college as his son, and who
served as a surgeon in the Civil war.
From the time of his arrival in San Francisco in 1902 until his resignation
September 20, 1912, Dr. Richards was associated with the medical corps of
the United States army as a specialist on mental troubles. The development
and first introduction into the army of military psychiatry may be attributed
to him. During the years of his identification with the medical corps he saw-
service in Cuba and the Philippines, was stationed for fifteen months at Wash-
ington, D. C, as surgeon in the government hospital for the insane, held an
appointment as surgeon for the insane on Ward's island and also served as
surgeon at the Presidio hospital, San Francisco. In all of these appointments
he received recognition as an expert in mental diseases. Upon resigning from
the army with the rank of Captain Medical Corps he became medical super-
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 173
intendent of the Mendocino state hospital for the insane, succeeding E. W.
King, M. D., who had served in that capacity from July 1, 1893, until April,
1912.
The California state legislature in 1889 passed a bill authorizing the
establishment of a hospital for insane at Talmage, three miles from Ukiah.
The first board of managers were T. L. Carothers, Dr. E. W. King, Archibald
Yell (all of Ukiah), J. B. ^^'right of Sacramento and Cornelius O'Conner of
San Francisco. The site selected by these men is perhaps as beautiful and
suitable as could be found in the valley and comprises one thousand acres lying
in the foothill region, with distant stretches of valley and mountain providing
picturesque environment and attractive view. The first board not only
selected the site, but also built the main ward building, kitchen, laundry and
boiler house. Subsequent boards erected the administration building, assem-
bly hall, two cottages, stable, dairy barns and other buildings. The total
cost of land, buildings, equipment and furnishings exceeds $1,000,000. The
institution maintains a garden raising all vegetables needed except potatoes; a
dairy furnishing the table with milk and butter ; a poultry yard providing
eggs for kitchen use ; and fruit trees and vines that afford fruits and grapes
for table use. Springs in the mountains east of the asylum fill a reservoir pro-
viding the institution with a fine water supply and in addition there are sev-
eral flowing and pumping wells. Over $500 per da)' is spent in maintain-
ing the hospital, outside of the funds necessary for permanent improvements,
construction and repairs. Electricity furnishes an adequate lighting system,
modern plumbing has been introduced and every other modern convenience
has been installed for the convenience of patients and attendants. A complete
hydro-therapeutic outfit has been established in both the male and female
departments and the laboratory and operating room equipments are complete
and modern. Each patient receives a careful study by one of the staff and
is then presented for consideration to the whole staff. Special attention is
paid to occupational work for the patients and the results have been most
satisfactory. The daily menu has been pronounced one of the best in the state
by Professor Jaffa.
Upon the opening of the hospital December 12, 1893, sixty patients were
brought from the Stockton asylum and two days later a similar number came
from the Napa asylum. So rapid has been the increase that there are now
about ten hundred and fifty patients and more than one hundred and thirty
employes, the whole forming a system directly under the control and scientific
oversight of the medical superintendent and his trained assistants.
HOWARD P. PRESTON.— The history of the Preston family is traced
to old Southern ancestors, whose lives and accomplishments contributed to
the making of history in that section of country. Tennessee was the field of
activity for several generations and at Woodbury, that state, Howard P.
Preston was born December 6, 1884. Woodbury was also the birthplace of
his father, H. L. Preston, who is now president of the First National Bank
of that city and one of the old-time bankers of the state, having been inti-
mately associated with banking circles for the past thirty-three years. During
the trouble between the north and south his sympathies were naturally with
the Confederate cause and none of General Forrest's captains was more faith-
ful and trustworthy than Capt. H. L. Preston, who commanded the Thirty-
third Tennessee Cavalry. Four times he was wounded while on the field of
174 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
battle, but none of them incapacitated him for service and he was enabled to
finish his term of enlistment. For a time after the close of the war he carried
on farming in Tennessee, but soon drifted into the banking business and has
followed it continuously since. His wife in maidenhood was Thankful C.
Doak, like himself a native of Tennessee, and the granddaughter of Rev.
Samuel Doak, who bears the distinction of being the founder of the Presby-
terian Church in America. Prior to this he had been a clergyman of note in
Scotland. The mother passed away August 19, 1892.
Seven children were born to H. L. and Thankful C. (Doak) Preston, all
of whom are living and taking their place worthily in the world's activities.
The eldest, W. D., is cashier of the First National Bank of Woodbury, Tenn.,
of which the father is president; T. R. is president of the Hamilton National
Bank of Chattanooga, Tenn., and holds the same position in the Hamilton
Trust and Savings Bank, this being an oflF-shoot of the parent organization
(combined assets of the two banks being eight millions of dollars) ; Mina is
the wife of Albert M. Dement, of Cortner, Tenn. ; C. AI. is cashier of the
Hamilton National Bank of Chattanooga and the Hamilton Trust and Sav-
ings Bank ; John ^^^ is United States district attorney for northern California ;
H. L., Jr., is an attorney in Ukiah ; Howard P. completes the family. After
completing the grammar school course in his home city he attended the Uni-
versity of Tennessee in Knoxville, and left that institution in 1901. Subse-
quently he was associated with the Thatcher Medicine Company, a wholesale
drug company of Chattanooga, as traveling salesman for five years. His
identification with the west and with Mendocino county in particular dates
from the year 1907, when he went to Ukiah and became associated with the
Ukiah Guarantee, Abstract and Title Company. As vice-president of the
company he found his time fully taken up with the duties that the office
imposed. After an association of about six years with the company he with-
drew and came to Fort Bragg, and soon afterward organized the Fort Bragg
Commercial Bank. The papers of organization bear the date of !Ma'rch, 1912,
but it was not until two months later that the bank was opened for the receipt
of business. The institution is housed in a substantial re-inforced steel and
concrete structure especially built for the use of the bank, and is a model
building of its kind. The Fort Bragg Commercial Bank was organized with
a capital stock of $50,000, and now has a surplus of $7,000 and deposits to the
amount of quarter of a million, all of which proves beyond question that it has
passed the experimental stage. ]\Ir. Preston has been cashier of the bank
since its organization, and much of the success of the institution has been due
to his unexcelled business judgment and quick perception.
The marriage of H. P. Preston occurred in Ukiah and united him with
Miss Effie Case, who was born in Los Angeles, where she was reared and
educated primarily, completing her education in the LTkiah high school. Po-
litically Mr. Preston is a Democrat, stanch in his defense of that party's prin-
ciples, and personally he is pleasing in manner, gracious in hospitality, and
withal a gentleman in the best sense of the word.
GEORGE T. HEYWARD.— It has been the good fortune of the North-
western Redwood Company to secure for its service men of capacity for this
arduous work, men possessing strong vitality and remarkable powers of en-
durance, with the tireless energy' and resolute purpose that carries to suc-
cessful completion the large enterprises inaugurated by the concern. One
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 175
of the youngest of these assistants is George T. Heyward, son of Jesse Hey-
ward and himself as stanchly devoted to the welfare of the company as has
been his father. As a result of his industrious efforts he has advanted Step
by step and has made good to a degree indicative of his native endowments
of mind and body. Born at Guerneville, Sonoma couiity, January 5, 1888,
he is a representative of a pioneer family of Northern California and inherits
the virile, resourceful qualities that made his grandfather a forceful pioneer
in the west. Both he and his father have been lifelong residents Of this sec-
tion of the state and as native sons of the commonwealth have endeavored
to promote its best interests, although taking little part in political campaigns
aside from the casting of a Republican ticket at national elections.
The grammar and high schools of Sonoma county afforded fair educa-
tional advantages to George T. Heyward, whose keenness of observation and
quickness of mental comprehension give him a fund of varied and valuable
knowledge. Since coming to Willits in 1903 he has assisted his father, first
taking quite a humble position and about 1910 receiving promotion to be
assistant foreman, in which responsible position he is now engaged. The
comfortable bungalow which he erected on State street is presided over
graciously by his wife, Lela, who was born, reared and educated at Willits,
and in Ukiah October 30, 1909, was united with him in marriage. Her
parents are Everett and Margaret (Symonds) Endicott, the former for some
years the postmaster at Willits, but now a resident of Berkeley. Both 'Sir.
and Mrs. Heyward are actively associated with Willits Chapter No. 314, Order
of the Eastern Star, and his Masonic connections include membership in
Willits Lodge No. 365, F. & A. M., in which in 1910 he was made -Jl Mason.
A young man possessing worth of character and energy of temperatnent, he
is devoting himself whole heartedl}' to his duties and is a valuable acquisition
to the community.
HON. JOHN BUNYAN SANFORD.— Any history of Mendocino
county would be incomplete without prominent mention of the "Gray Eagle
of Democracy," the editor and proprietor of the Dispatch-Democrat of Ukiah,
who as the controlling factor in a leading paper labors for the moral, educa-
tional and commercial welfare of Mendocino county, and, while voluntarily
drawing away from partisan prejudice, yet exhibits a striking devotion to
the principles of his party. With an unusually profound knowledge of public
affairs, with an unusually powerful mind capable of analyzing motives behind
deeds, and with a temperament enthusiastic yet impartial, he is admirably
qualified to guide the policy of an influential paper and to stand at the head
of a great party organization. Since he assumed control, January 1, 1898, the
Dispatch-Democrat has led the van in every movement for advancement, has
advocated schools capable of affording the best training to the young, and
has headed every enterprise for good roads, well-kept premises, substantial
business blocks and modern improvements. Civic pride is apparent in the
policy of the editor. As a pungent and forceful writer he has attained a
wide reputation. His critical analysis of public events adds interest and value
to the paper. \\'hile recognizing the widespread public unrest increasing
in volume within the period of his recollection, he is not oblivious to the ele-
ment of personal equation, which indeed more and more appeals to his humani-
tarian nature.
176 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Born at Mulberry, Tenn.. Alay 17, 1869, a son of Rev. S. L. and Jane
(Kennedy) Sanford, the former a Baptist minister holding successive pastor-
ates at Ukiah. Potter Valley, Willits and Lakeport, Cal., John Bunyan San-
ford received his training in the public schools of Ukiah, the San Jose State
Normal School and the San Francisco Business College. For eight years he
taught in Mendocino county, first at Yorkville and Boonville and later as
principal of the schools at Willits and Point Arena. Continued interest in
educational work was evinced by a service as a member of the Mendocino
county board of education for several years. On relinquishing school work he
entered the field of journalism and since has been at the head of the Dispatch-
Democrat, making his home meanwhile at Ukiah. On Christmas day of 1898
he married Miss Nina B. Hughes, daughter of Rev. J. H. Hughes, a prominent
minister of the Christian Church. They have an only son, Henry Grady San-
ford, born May 20, 1901. In fraternal work Air. Sanford is prominent. For
four years he was high chief ranger of the Ancient Order of Foresters and
for six years he was entrusted with the editorship of the Ancient Forester,
finally resigning owing to the pressure of other duties. In the Iroquois
State League he has been honored with the office of grand sachem. The
Woodmen, Red Men, Elks, Eagles, Odd Fellows and Masons also number
him among the members of their local organizations.
Identification with public affairs began when Mr. Sanford was elected to
the California state assembly in 1894. Satisfactory service resulted in re-
election in 1896 and 1898 and in three successive elections to the state senate,
"v'iz. : 1902, 1906, 1908. Altogether his service in the legislature covered a period
of eighteen years. During his last term he has had the honor of being the
oldest member of that body from point of service. For one term he was a
member of the board of trustees of the San Jose State Normal School. In
1904 he was a delegate to the Democratic national convention and in 1912
was chosen an alternate, while at the Democratic state convention held at
Fresno in 1908 he was chosen chairman. From 1908 to 1910 he acted as vice-
chairman of the Democratic state committee and in 1912 he was elected a
member of the Democratic national committee to serve for a term of four years.
For sixteen years he has been chairman of the Democratic legislative caucus
and for a similar period president of the Democratic Press League. His
.sobriquet of the "Gray Eagle of Democracy" came to him not alone through his
forceful editorial writings in defense of party principles, but also through his
service in "stumping" the state in numerous campaigns, where his familiarity
with party doctrines, his earnest advocacy of old Democratic principles, his
logical reasoning and remarkable faculty of interesting and impressing aud-
iences united to place him at the head of the party in the state. He was
appointed register of the United States land office at San Francisco, Cal., by
President AVilson on June 25, 1914, and is at present performing the duties
of that office.
FRANK W. NOEL.— The Noels have been people of influential stand-
ing in Lake county from its early days, especially well known at Lower Lake,
where the late Hon. A. E. Noel owned and edited the Bulletin until his de-
cease, since when it has been conducted by his widow. A. E. Noel served
his fellow citizens in various positions of honor and responsibility. He was a
member of the Constitutional convention which prepared the present consti-
I
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 177
tution of the state of California, and he was a leading member of the bar in
Lake county, where he was elected district attorney. Later he became owner
and editor of the Lower Lake Bulletin, which his widow now publishes.
Frank W. Noel, son of Hon. A. E. Noel, was born at Lower Lake July
7 , 1873. He had excellent educational advantages, and also the benefit of
newspaper training under his gifted father. When a young man he set type
in the Bulletin office for his father, and he subsequently engaged in the livery
business at Lower Lake, running a stable for four years, from 1900 to 1904.
After the firm of A. M. Akins & Sons began their large general business at
Lower Lake he became a clerk in the store, remaining with that concern for
seven years. He has a high reputation for business ability and sterling per-
sonal qualities, which have long been associated with the name he bears. He
is a member of Clear Lake Lodge, No. 130, I. O. O. F., of which he is Past
Grand.
On December 31, 1902, Mr. Noel married Miss Minnie Leona Manlove,
daughter of William Henry and Susan (Thompson) Manlove, the former of
whom had the honor of being the first sheriff elected in Lake county. He held
the office two terms. \ir. Manlove was a native of Petersburg, Va., and died
March 17, 1900, on his farm in Big Valley, Lake county. His wife, Susan
(Thompson), now a resident of Lakeport, is a daughter of Major Thompson,
of Big Valley, one of the earliest settlers in Lake county. Nine children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. Manlove: One died in infancy, the others being: Louise,
now the wife of Nick Cocking, a stockman at Ukiah, Mendocino county; James
Joel, a farmer, living in Scotts valley ; Virginia Bell, wife of Shaffer Mathews,
county clerk of Lakeport ; Minnie Leona, Mrs. Frank W. Noel ; Katie, who
married Ed. Manlove, of Sacramento, and died when twenty-one years old,
leaving one child, William Alfred, who is now in the employ of the electric
railway company at Woodland, Cal. ; Hattie Lee, wife of R. F. Kerr, a farmer
kt Merced, Cal., and agent for the Wells-Fargo Express Company there ;
William D., member of the firm of Manlove & Boone, Anaconda, Mont., dairy-
men and butchers ; and Navarro Pauline, wife of G. W. C. Mitchell, a black-
smith, of Selma, Cal.
Minnie Leona Manlove, now Mrs. Frank W. Noel, was born and reared
in Big Valley, and obtained her early education in the public school there.
Later she took a course at the Lakeport academy, received a diploma, and
upon examination obtained a teacher's certificate. She completed a normal
course, being thoroughly prepared for teaching, which profession she has fol-
lowed for the last twenty-five years, seventeen years of the time at Lower
Lake, where she has been principal for the last seven years. The Lower Lake
grammar school, of which she is the efficient head, has eight grades, and
seventy pupils are enrolled. Mrs. Noel's close association with her pupils
and the families to which they belong has made it possible for parents to have
an intimate personal knowledge of the work she is doing for their children,
and the appreciation and loyalty which they have shown has not only been
evidence of sympathy and a desire to co-operate in her efiforts, but has also
been a warm tribute to her high character and womanly worth.' She and her
husband ha\e used their influence to promote and encourage every good
movement set on foot in the community, where they are held in the highest
esteem. Mrs. Noel is a member of Laguna Parlor, No. 189, N. D. G. W., of
which she is a past president and past district deputy grand president.
178 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
CHARLES HENRY HURT.— The memories of a lifetime associate Mr.
Hurt only with California, for although a native of Missouri, born in Henry
county January 20, 1850, he was only three years of age when his parents,
William and Mary J. (Ogan) Hurt, both natives of Missouri, crossed the
plains with their few household necessities carefully packed in a covered
wagon drawn by oxen. The journey, made during the summer of 1853, was
one of great hardship and privation. Misfortunes more than once threatened
to exterminate the little party of emigrants. Of these troubles the small son
was happily ignorant, nor has he clear and distinct recollections of the early
days at Lakeport, Lake county, where his father settled in 1855 and endured
all the vicissitudes incident to an endeavor to establish farming in a new
country upon a paying basis. Schools were few and widely scattered. It was
not possible for the lad to attend regularly, but he learned much of importance
as he aided his father in the daily round of toil, and the practical experience
thus gained laid the foundation of his subsequent success. At the age of
twenty-three years a desire to earn ready money for himself caused him to
leave home and secure employment in a saw-mill. However, the call of
the farm lured him back to country life and since then he has devoted his
attention to agriculture in its various departments. To the worthy pioneer
couple were born sixteen children, ten of whom are still living, namely :
Charles H., of whom we write; William Irvin, residing in Redwood valley;
James W., a farmer in Poor Man's valley ; A. J., of Upper Lake ; Molissa,
now Mrs. Gravier of Covelo ; Parthena, Mrs. Bates, matron of the Round Val-
ley Indian School ; Levi, of Covelo ; L. B.. of Round Valley ; Adah, Mrs. John
Eldred, of Los JMolinos ; and Ida, Mrs. Cyrus, of Covelo, the two latter being
twins. The father spent his last days in Round valley, where the mother still
resides, aged eighty years.
Upon his arrival in Round Valley, Mendocino county, .\ugust 15, 1884,
Mr. Hurt secured eighty acres of land, which in 1891 the government bought
from him to form a part of the present Indian reservation. Being pleased with
conditions here, he decided to buy another farm and establish himself per-
manently as a resident. On the east side of the valley he bought an eighty
that forms the nucleus of his present highly improved property, .\nother tract
of eighty-three acres was bought in 1904 from John \\'illiams. and in the
same year he purchased eight hundred acres of range land on the south of the
middle fork of Eel river. His neat residence and adequate farm buildings are
located one mile east of Covelo. Among the residents of Round valley he has
a reputation as one of the most efficient farmers and stock-raisers. Nor does
the care of the land and the stock represent the limit of his energies, for in
addition he has been an upbuilder of the local telephone system and during
1912 consented to serve as a director of the Round Valley Creamery, in
which he holds considerable stock.
Mr. Hurt was married in Lakeport June 21, 1874, to Miss Sarah Jane
Scudemore, a native of Illinois, who came with her father. Godwin Scudemore,
to Scotts valley. Lake county, in 1869. They have reared a large family and
have endeavored to train each child to habits of industry and self-reliance and
to high principles of honor. Mary, Mrs. M. N. Spurlock, and Alice, Mrs. Long,
both reside in Covelo ; Agnes, Mrs. Rhoads, resides at the Middle Fork ; Mattie,
Mrs. R. C. Gray, is in Williams valley ; James, who married Bertha Begley
and has two children, is a farmer adjoining the old home; Molissa. Mrs. W. A.
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MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 181 '
Gray, died April 20, 1911, leaving three children; Lottie married A I Brush
a farmer m Round valley; Kate. Mrs. Laurence Hansen, resides in Willits'
-Martm C. married Winnie Jamison and is superintending the Middle Fork
ranch : Charles H.. Jr., died January 1, 1890, at the age of one month- Byron
IS a clerk for the firm of Long & Biggar ; Grover C. and Toe are assisting their
father m operatmg the home ranch ; and Vida is also under the parental roof
As a member ot the Democratic party Mr. Hurt has maintained a warm inter-
est m local politics. He served for nearly seven years as deputy United States
marshal for the Northern District of California under Baldwin and afterwards
under John H. Shine, during which time he performed the duties of the office
with fidelity and conscientiousness. In fraternal relations he holds member-
ship with Covelo Lodge No. 231, F. & A. M., of which he was Master for eight
years and to whose charities he contributes when called upon He is also
a member of Ukiah Chapter No. 53, R. A. M., and with his wife is a member
01 Augusta Chapter No. 80, O. E. S. Modern agriculture represents his chief
interest. He is a believer in modern methods of farming and is quick to adopt
any new method of planting or caring for the crops if once convinced of the
utility of the plan. High grades of stock and the latest machinery may be
seen on his farm, while the general appearance of thrift indicates that he is a
farmer of efficiency and intelligence.
AUGUSTUS M. AKINS.— It is a matter of interest that the modern
establishment of A. M. Akins & Sons, leading general merchants at Lower
Lake, Lake county, stands on the site where he began work on coming to the
town in 1862, in the employ of Herrick & Getz. Living in this region from
pioneer days, Mr Akins, though himself ahvays engaged in ordinary business
pursuits, has been brought into contact with many of the most exciting phases
of Its development and growth, and has had a rich variety of experiences with
ihe characters and adventures which form so appropriate a background for
the history of California. His own career to some extent has been typical of
1 he era through which he has lived, for he was carrying on an independent
business at an age when most youths are learning to take care of themselves,
and he is one of the leading citizens of his town because he has shown the
qualities which entitle him to such standing.
Mr. Akins belongs to an old American family. His grandfather. Middle-
ton Akins, was born in Georgia, moving from that state to Arkansas with
his son John and the latter's family in the year 1847. John Akins, who was
the father of Augustus M. Akins, died in Arkansas, and the family (including
the grandfather) subsequently came to California, in 1856. They made the
journey by the southern route overland with ox teams through the Indian
country, being robbed of stock by them. Arriving in San Diego, they re-
mained for a year and a half, and then moved up to Los Angeles county,
living at El Monte for two years. Then they followed the coast route up to
Clear Lake, settling on Coal creek, three miles southeast of Kelseyville, in
1859. The mother of Augustus M. Akins, whose maiden name was Lucinda
Rudy, was married (second) near Kelseyville in the fall of 1861 to S. A.
Copsey, by whom she had one child, George W., who died in March, 1910.
To her marriage with John Akins were born five children : Jane, the eldest,
married Robert Denham, of Kelseyville, who started the first blacksmith shop
at that place, and she died at Woodland; Augustus M. is mentioned below;
Mary Elizabeth, now Airs. Rannels, resides at Lower Lake; Emaline is the
182 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
wife of Thomas Faley and lives at Calistoga; Martha is the wife of J. C.
Copsey, a farmer near Lower Lake.
Augustus M. Akins was born May 23, 1845, near Augusta, Ga., and was
only an infant when the family moved to Arkansas. He was a boy of fourteen
when they settled in Lake county, and on April 1, 1862, he came to Lower
Lake, where he found employment with Herrick & Getz, merchants, who had
their store on the site where he is now located. Part of the time he was en-
gaged in clerking, but he was mostly employed at outside work, taking care
of teams, etc. He was less than seventeen when he began teaming on his
own account, that work taking him all over Lake county, and thus he laid
the foundation for his substantial fortune and the extensive business he now
conducts. He drove two, four or six horse teams, as occasion required,
freighting to Calistoga, Knoxville and other places, and did so well that he
has always been engaged in busirress for himself since. His first year's wages
amounted to one hundred and iifty dollars, and he attended school about
three months that year. Gradually he built up a profitable trade, at one time
running six six-horse teams to Sulphur Bank, Calistoga and Knoxville. After
Mr. Herrick withdrew from the mercantile business Mr. Getz was burned
out, and Air. Akins bought the old Herrick & Getz lot in Lower Lake, in
1909-10 erecting thereon the fine modern store building in which the mercan-
tile business of A. M. Akins & Sons is now established. They began business
in June, 1904, in the old Palestine building, and their trade has been expanding
ever since. Their present quarters, to which they moved in 1910, comprise a
store forty by sixty feet in dimensions, the finest in the town, with a large
warehouse fifty by sixty feet some fifty feet to the rear, and a lumberyard to
the southeast of this property. The store is clean, light and dry. well venti-
lated and conveniently arranged, and occupies an ideal location. The stock
includes boots and shoes, dress goods and other dry goods, hats and caps,
and jewelry. In the warehouse is the heavy stock, such as oils, machinery,
farm implements of all kinds, fencing and fencing wire, hardware, cement,
hay and grain, salt, etc. — a comprehensive line designed to meet all the needs
of the many patrons who find this a most satisfactory trading place. Rough
and dimension lumber is handled at the lumberyard. The firm are agents for
Studebaker automobiles. Three clerks are employed all the year round, the
members of the firm also helping in the store, and besides there are two
teamsters and another outside man, as well as a bookkeeper. The firm is
composed of Augustus M. Akins and his two sons. Alma and Frank, and the
manner in which they have conducted their business has given a decided
impetus to trade conditions in the town. Mr. Akins' early business opera-
tions gained him a wide acquaintance. Though for a number of years he
was brought into close association with many men of rough character and
loose principles, he has always kept his own course straight, living a tem-
perate, industrious life, which has been the means of keeping the confidence
of all who know him. As one of the foremost residents of Lower Lake, he
holds an influential position among his fellow citizens, and well deserves their
high regard. He has served one term as supervisor of his district, giving
public-spirited attention to his duties. In political connection he is a
Democrat.
In 1871 Mr. Akins joined Clear Lake Lodge, No. 130, I. O. O. F., at
Lower Lake, and he has passed through all the chairs and represented that
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 183
body in the Grand Lodge ; for the last fifteen years he has been serving as
treasurer of the Lower Lake Lodge.
One of Mr. Akins" experiences in his young manhood will serve to show
The dangers to which pioneer residents were exposed in their ignorance of
the character of many who came into this section, then so far from civiliza-
tion. One evening, soon after he began working for Herrick & Getz, he was
eating supper with a stranger when Jack Stubbs, then constable, and Frank
Harrington, as his assistant, came in and ordered the stranger, seated beside
Mr. Akins at table, to give himself up. Instead he drew a Bowie knife and
advanced upon the officers, whereupon Stubbs shot him dead. It was after-
^vard ascertained that he was an escaped convict from San Quentin.
On January 4, 1872, Mr. Akins was married to Miss Elizabeth Bainbridge,
in Sacramento. She was born in England, and in 1857 was brought to
America in infancy by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John and Alice Bainbridge,
pioneer farmers of Sacramento county. Mr. and Mrs. Akins have two chil-
dren. Alma M. and Frank P., both of whom are in partnership with their
father in the firm of A. M. Akins & Sons. Alma J\I. Akins, born at Lower
Lake November 19, 1872, is married to Madeline Mahan, and has two chil-
dren, Raymond and Marie. Frank P. Akins, born at Lower Lake October 1,
1875, married Maude Knauer of Lower Lake, and they also have two children,
Leila and Donna.
MATT MARKKULA. — Well known among the farmers and orchardists
of Little Valley is Matt Markkula, who came to Fort Bragg in 1888. He
was born April 9, 1871, in a place in the northern part of Finland. His
father, Isaac F. Markkula, a carpenter by trade, came to Michigan in 1882,
his family joining him in 1883 in Houghton county, where he followed lum-
bering. Five years later the family moved to Fort Bragg, Cal., where the
father was employed at carpenter work with the Union Lumber Company
until he retired. He is now seventy-three years of age. The mother before
her marriage was Louisa Tuomaala, and she died in 1906. Of their seven
children, three are living: Matt Ma;-kkula being the second eldest.
Attending the public schools until the age of twelve, Mr. Markkula then
came to Michigan where he found it necessary to go to work and was em-
ployed in the woods with axe and saw from daylight until dark. At this occu-
pation he continued until 1888, when he came to Fort Bragg and first worked
at making ties, later being in the lumber yard of the Union Lumber Company.
It was in the car shops of this company that he began the carpenter trade in
1898. and he learned car repairing. From this he rose to the position of
assistant foreman, and in 1902 became foreman of the car shop, this position
including the oversight of the car department, pattern and paint shop. He
owns a farm of forty acres in Little Valle}', a distance of six miles from Fort
Bragg, as well as two residences in the same city. He is now engaged in
farming and orchard growing.
Mr. Markkula married in Fort Bragg Mrs. Jennie (Anias) Heikkila, who
was also born in Finland. They have three children : Reina Regina and
Raymond Frederic, twins, and Armas Clififord. By her first marriage, Mrs.
Markkula had four children : Jennie. Axel, Heija and Lea. Mr. Markkula
is a valued member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a Re-
publican and for fifteen years has been a member of the Fort Bragg Hook
and Ladder Company, being treasurer of the association.
184 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
HON. THOMAS LANGLEY CAROTHERS.— In point of age, expe-
rience and actual identification with the bar of Mendocino county, Mr.
Carothers has the distinction of being the oldest attorney in the county seat
With justice it may also be stated that none possesses a more comprehensive
knowledge of the law than he, and certainly none is more logical in reasoning,
more forceful in argument, more eloquent in speeches before judge and jury
or more keen to penetrate the hidden motives for which the efficient attorney
must search in many criminal and civil cases. His broad knowledge of
the law comes principally from experience and habits of close observation
and careful study, rather than from extended terms of attendance at law
colleges in his young manhood, but the education acquired through his own
determined efiforts at self-culture has been in no respect less valuable than
that which a modern college could afford. Whether alone or in practice
with a partner, always he has represented the highest and best in his profes-
sion and has stood as a leader of the bar in the local courts.
A native of Illinois, born in Carthage, Hancock county, September 26,
1842, Mr. Carothers left there in 1853 and accompanied his father James H.
Carothers across the plains via the overland route. A period of farming
near Petaluma was followed by the removal of the family to Sacramento in
the spring of 1859 and the father engaged in teaming until the disastrous
floods of 1861-62 caused him to return to Petaluma, where he took up teaming
and hauling. Meanwhile the son had attended the Sacramento high school
and had taken up the study of law in that city with Harrison & Estee,
and continued his studies in Petaluma with the Hon. George Pearce, being
admitted to the bar in 1863. For two years he held a position as deputy
district attorney of Sonoma county. During the spring of 1866 he came to
Ukiah, hung out his shingle in front of one of the primitive frame structures
characteristic of the town in those daj's, and gradually built up a practice
in this community. Ever since coming here he has acted as a notary public.
When the practice of the law did not occupy his time, Mr. Carothers turned
to the cultivation of the soil. For some years he was interested in viti-
culture. Buying one hundred acres of raw land, he planted vines, cultivated
the vine3'ard, developed it into a productive property, and then sold at
some profit. During 1872 he became district attorney of Mendocino county,
filling the office until 1874. In 1884 he was the nominee for Congress on
the Republican ticket, but suffered defeat with the balance of the ticket
in this district. Ever since the law went into effect in 1898 creating the office
of United States referee in bankruptcy, he has filled the position for Mendo-
cino and Lake counties. At the time of the building of the Mendocino county
state asylum (now the Mendocino State Hospital) at Ukiah he was a
member of the E'oard of Directors, and during the first six years of the exist-
ence of the hcispital he filled the office of president of the Board of Trustees.
Since 1893 he has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the city of
Ukiah, and for more than two decades he has been president of the board,
a position equivalent to the office of Alayor. It would be difficult to name
any criminal or civil case of great importance in the county witli which he
has not been connected. In 1883 he prosecuted the famous Mendocino
outlaws and secured the conviction of all. At another time he defended
the famous Frost vendetta case, which figured extensively in the early history
of the epunty. As a criminal lawyer he has gained prominence throughout
this portion of the state. Fraternally he has been Master of Abell Lodge
y^ ^, Qx-iu(t^Uju/
-MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 187
No. 146, F. & A. M., a member of Ukiah Chapter No. 53, R. A. M., and
Ukiah Commandery No. 33, K. T., of which he is Past Commander. One
son, Mack, now deceased, was born of his first wife, Lucy P. Pierson, a
native of Illinois, whom he married in 1866 and who died thirty years
afterward. His second marriage was solemnized in Ukiah in 1897 and united
him with Mrs. Isabelle (Church) Reeves, a native of Ashfield, Franklin
county, Mass. She was a descendant of Capt. John Church, who came to
Massachusetts in the Mayflower.
Mrs. Carothers was the widow of Tapping Reeves, a native of Owego,
N. Y., born March 7, 1832. the son of Lorenzo and Mona (Clark) Reeves,
the former a merchant. A brother of Mr. Reeves was D. W. Reeves, a
celebrated musician and composer, and leader of Reeves Band at Providence,
R. I. A sister, Lucinda J. Reeves, was teacher of music, painting and drawing
and a prominent leader in social, church and public affairs in Ukiah. Tapping
Reeves became a prominent machinist and engineer. Coming to California
via Panama in 1851, he was afterwards engineer at the Albion mill, and
while there invented an edger as well as other improvements for the saw mill.
In 1871 he built a saw mill in Reeves Canyon near Ukiah, where he engaged
in the manufacture of lumber until his death in 1885. In Fairmont, N. Y.,
in 1875, he married Miss Church and to them was born a daughter, Edna
Mary, who graduated at Leland Stanford University as A.B. in 1905, and
is now a teacher in the Mendocino High School. Mrs. Carothers is a member
of Kingsley Chapter, O. E. S., and is an active member of the Presbyterian
church.
CYRUS GORDON TURNER.— The tenant on the large stock farm
in Long Valley precinct, Lake county, known as the Spring Branch farm since
October, 1909, Mr. Turner is engaged in raising general crops and to some
extent in stock growing. He is a man known for his straightforward disposi-
tion and reliable character, and his industry and evident public spirit have
made him a most desirable citizen of the section where he resides. Practically
all of his life has been spent in Lake county, for he was only a child of
six years when his parents settled in the Loconomi valley, near Middletown,
where he was reared.
Mr. Turner's father, John Turner, was a native of Virginia, and served
during the Civil war as a soldier in the Confederate army. He was married
in Missouri to Ruth Cummings, a native of that state, and they came with
their family to California in the year 1870, the parents passing the remainder
of their lives in Lake county. Until he retired, John Turner was a farmer
and stockman. His death occurred near Lower Lake in 1908, when he was
seventy-five years old, many years after that of his wife. They had a family
of seven children : William, who died in Jerusalem valley, Lake county,
when thirty-one years old, was married and had two children ; Cyrus G. is
mentioned later ; Samuel conducts a pool hall in Lower Lake ; Josie was the
wife of Charles Hopper and died leaving two children ; John died at nineteen ;
Emma married George Copsey and died leaving two children ; Sallie is the
wife of John Wright, of Santa Rosa, and has a family of six children.
Cyrus G. Turner was born August 8, 1863, in Clay county, ^Missouri, and
was six years old at the time the family left that state for California. His
mother died when he was but eleven years old, and he began to work out as
a farm hand when a bov of twelve. Nevertheless, he managed to acquire a
188 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
good education, attending school winters and doing chores to pay his way
meantime. His first employer was "Tom" Parker, for whom he continued to
work off and on for several years, perhaps remaining with him three years in
all. Farming has always been his occupation, and he has been renting land
for a number of years, having been in Little High valley for several years
before he came to the Spring Branch farm, usually known as the Ouigley
farm, in October, 1909. It is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Brown, of Richmond,
Cal., and comprises seven hundred acres of good land, upon which he raises
mixed crops, meeting with gratifying success in his operations. His stock
includes fourteen head of cattle, twenty-two hogs and six horses, and he is
also engaged in raising chickens and turkeys. The present condition of the
place betokens the thrifty care which Mr. Turner gives to it, and his work
and upright life have won him the highest respect of his neighbors in the
precinct.
On November 1, 1903, Mr. Turner married Miss Nora Estella Cunning-
ham, of Lower Lake, who belongs to pioneer families of this section in both
paternal and maternal lines, being a daughter of William H. and Nancy Jane
^Howard) Cunningham and granddaughter of James Howard, who estab-
lished Howard Springs Resort. Mr. Cunningham was well known as a black-
smith at Lower Lake for years, and served ably as assessor of Lake county.
He died recently, and his wife is also deceased. They had two children, Nora
Estella and Bertie Leone, the latter now the wife of Thomas A. Wing, a
carpenter, who lives in Merced county, this state. ]\Ir. and Mrs. Turner have
two children. Ruth E. and Bertie E. Mrs. Turner is an excellent cook and
housekeeper, and like her husband has many good personal qualities which
have won her the regard and esteem of her neighbors. On political questions
he is a Democrat, but he has not been active in either party affairs or public
matters.
WILLIAM C. GOLDSMITH.— There is no better known citizen in the
town of Lower Lake than its venerable postmaster and oldest pioneer, William
C. Goldsmith. He has lived there continuously since August, 1858, has been
justice of the peace thirty years, for the last twenty-four years consecutively,
and postmaster for the past fourteen years, holding the office now under ap-
[jointment from the \\'ilson administration, though he himself is a stanch
Republican. He is a veteran Odd Fellow, having belonged to the order for
forty-seven years.
Indiana is Mr. Goldsmith's native state. He was born in Knox county
.April 2. 1830, son of Henry and Elizabeth (Ferkins) Goldsmith, the former
born in Harrisburg, Pa., of Dutch descent, the latter at Beaver Pond, Ky.,
of French extraction. In 1833 the family moved out to what is now Scott
county, in Illinois, settling at Winchester, where Henry Goldsmith passed
the rest of his life, engaged at his trade of boot and shoe maker. He died at
Winchester in 1856. and was buried there. His wife's death occurred there
also, in 1875. Of the children born to this couple seven grew to maturity.
William C. Goldsmith was the eldest, and his early life was spent at Win-
chester, where he served an apprenticeship of four and a half years at the
trade of harness maker with W. C. Gwin. At the end of that time he began
to work as a journeyman harness maker, in 1849, following his trade at various
locations. Greenfield. Tersevville and Rockford, in Illinois; St, Louis. Mo.; and
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 189
in 1850 returned to Indiana, where he worked mainly at Vincennes, though he
was also employed at Petersburg, Pike county, and Washington, Daviess
county. He left the latter place in February, 1852, to go to California, leaving
the parental home at Winchester, 111., March 28, 1852, in company with his
father and uncle, John Goldsmith, and James Hamilton. They had a large
immigrant wagon and four yoke of oxen, and equipment and provisions for the
long journey across the plains. About April 1st they crossed the Mississippi,
at Hannibal, Mo., went over the Missouri at St. Joseph, Mo., camping there
six days, and on May 6th started overland toward the coast, making their
way along the south side of the Platte river. They arrived at Hangtown, Cal.,
August 8th, by which time the father was so discouraged that he started back
lor Winchester the next day. William C. Goldsmith went over to Kelsey's
Bar, on the middle fork of the American river, and hired out as a cook. He
also mined, farmed in the Santa Clara valley, and did other work, at different
places, but after coming to California he followed his trade for only one month.
He gave up farming in the Santa Clara valley when his crops dried up, and
later was in the wood business at Grass Valley, coming from there to Clear
Lake, Lake county, in 1857. In the fall of the year he went back to Marys-
ville, where he worked the next year until the harvest was over, returning to
Lake county and arriving at what is now Lower Lake in August, 1858; since
the 23rd of that month he has been a permanent resident of Lake county.
Now, at the age of eighty-four years, he is hale and hearty, and as he has
never required the services of a doctor or a dose of medicine since he settled
here his advice is, "If you want to live always, come to Lake county." In 1861
Mr. Goldsmith went into the sheep business in Morgan valley, continuing to
engage in that line until April. 1866, when he sold out and came to Lower
Lake to live. He bought his present property there, a tract of twenty-three
acres, in 1870. For twenty-four years he was engaged in the liquor business in
the town, giving it up about 1901, when he became postmaster, at the age of
seventy years. His popularity is well attested by the fact that he has been
continued in office ever since, having many friends among the Democratic
element in town as well as in his own party. His duties are conscientiously
and faithfully performed, and he also serves as justice of the peace, first taking
that office in the year 1867. Twent3'-four years ago he was re-elected, and has
retained the office to the present. He has also been deputy assessor for super-
visor district No. 2, having filled that position ably for two terms. ]\Ir. Gold-
smith's first presidential vote was cast for John C. Fremont in 1856. He was
one of the petitioners for the establishment of Lake count}-, which was made
\ip of territory taken from Napa and Yolo counties.
Mr. Goldsmith stands high in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, to
which he has belonged for forty-seven years, holding membership in Clear
Lake Lodge, No. 130, at Lower Lake, of which he is the oldest resident mem-
ber. He has been through all the chairs, has been representative to the Grand
Lodge six times, and is a member of the Veteran Odd Fellows at San Fran-
cisco. While still in the east, in 1845, Mr. Goldsmith joined the Christian
Church at Winchester, 111., but he has never transferred his membership.
In 1860 Mr. Goldsmith was united in marriage with Miss Martha C. Asbill,
daughter of William Asbill. who arrived in Lake county in 1859. Of their
family, six grew to manhood and womanhood, viz. : John lives at Willows,
Glenn countv : Elizabeth is in San Francisco; William resides at Willows;
190 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Arthur is deputy postmaster at Lower Lake ; Edna is the wife of Ed. P. Reiley
and lives in New York City; Clinton, who lives at home, is an employe of the
Yolo Water and Power Company.
A. MORTIMER STANLEY. — Among the prominent and well known
publishers of Lake county is the gifted editor of the Middletown Independent,
a newspaper of large circulation in southern Lake county and one of a decided
influence. Mr. Stanley, popularly known as "Mort" Stanley, is an original
writer, a clear and logical thinker, with a touch of wit and humor, yet kind-
hearted and sympathetic, all of which attributes merit the popularity he
and his paper enjoy. The Independent was established by Pentecost & Read
twenty-seven years ago and has been published continuously ever since under
several different managers. Pentecost & Read were succeeded by J. L. Read,
the present postmaster at Middletown, who owned the paper until 1902, when
it was taken over by J. D. Kuykendall. He, however, retained it only one
year, J. L. Read again assuming proprietorship and continuing until 1905.
During this time it was edited by his son, W. E. Read, and it was issued
by them until 1906. The next proprietor was A. O. Stanley of Fair Oaks, Cal.
His son, A. Mortimer Stanley, became editor and publisher, taking a half
interest and leasing the other half from his father, and about January 1, 1915,
he expects to take over the entire Independent newspaper and job printing
plant. This plant has for its equipment two job presses, one lever press, two
hundred fifty fonts of type, two stones, cases, paper cutter, typewriter, etc.
In policy the Independent has embraced the idea of county ownership of
Clear lake and is now strenuously advocating that the lake with its power
and irrigation projects become the property of Lake county, thus saving to
the people the most valuable asset of the community.
A. Mortimer Stanley was born at Lower Lake, Cal., September 23, 1888,
in a camp wagon. His mother in her girlhood days was Miss Cora C. Ander-
son, a native of Texas, who came to Lake county with her parents at the
age of ten. She was the mother of seven children, three of whom are still liv-
ing: Julietta, now wife of W. D. Hays, a ranchman, living north of Middle-
town ; John Edwin, a rancher in Big Canyon, and Alfred Mortimer. When
Mr. Stanley was six months old the family moved to Modoc county, where
he lived the first ten years of his life. Then they moved back to Lake county.
He was always a precocious child and began writing for newspapers at the
early age of eleven. Two years later he felt the lure of the outside world and
left home to commence work as "devil" for the Surprise Valley Record in
Modoc county. Here he advanced rapidly. Within a year he was setting
type and at the age of seventeen was editor of the Middletown Independent
under the direction of his father. The Stanley family consists largely of
newspaper men and writers. A. O. Stanley, the father, contributed to weekly
newspapers, and a sister, Melmoth, who died at the early age of seventeen,
was a poet of some little promise.
Mr. Stanley was married at Lakeport to Miss Frances Waterbury, a
native daughter of Middletown, and a granddaughter of A. S. Armstrong,
Middletbwn's oldest white settler. To them has been born a daughter, Mel-
moth, now four years of age.
I
^^^^^^^m^\^.§
i^^
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 193
JOHN McGLASHAN. — Strange and even weird happenings brought ex-
citement to the experiences of the late John AIcGlashan in three continents
during his early years. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1818, he was reared
amid conditions radically different from those of the present century. After
an attendance at the national schools in Edinburgh he ran away from home
when he was about seventeen and sailed for Australia, a long voyage in the
days before steamboats had come into universal use. For nine years he
served as sergeant of police in Australia and upon resigning his commission
he returned to Scotland to renew the associations of youth and again visit
the scenes familiar to childhood. His next voyage had New York for the
destination and upon his arrival there he followed the trade of a type-maker.
Meanwhile gold had been discovered in California and the eyes of the entire
world had been turned to the west. Believing that he himself might find a
favorable opening on the Pacific coast, in 1850 he took passage on a ship
bound from New York to San Francisco via the Horn.
It was a cosmopolitan throng and a city of tents that met the vision of
the young Scotch emigrant when he left the ship in the harbor of San Fran-
cisco. Immediately he began to look about him for an investment His first
step was the forming of a partnership with Mr. Gilchrist in a book and sta-
tionery business on Montgomery street, San Francisco, under the firm title
of McGlashan & Gilchrist. Soon he bought the interest of his partner and
conducted the business alone. During 1856 he sold out and then traveled
over the state looking for a desirable place to invest and locate. Coming
to Petaluma by steamer, from there he came by horseback with Mr. Carey,
his bookkeeper, up the valley to the present site of Hopland. After having
spent three months in search of a desirable location, he found what he sought
in a portion of the Sanel grant, one of the few Spanish grants to which a
clear title could be given. He had brought $50,000 in gold, in order to pay
cash for any purchase decided upon. It was, therefore, a brief task to find
the owner of the grant, Don Fernando Fehx, make due negotiations with
him and pay for the sixteen hundred acres of land selected. The receipt of
so large a sum in gold delighted the old Don, who promptly divided it with
his sons and all proceeded to enjoy a grand celebration in honor of the sale.
The grant originally comprised eighteen thousand acres and extended
seven miles along both sides of the river. In 1858, two years after Mr. Mc-
Glashan had bought his tract out of the vast estate, the old Don divided
the land among his children, excepting only one hundred acres given to
Richard Harrison, a surveyor, and one thousand acres given to John Knight
for his services in investigating the title. This last acreage now belongs to
John Crawford. Previous to this two thousand acres had been sold to the
Gardiner family. On the west side one thousand acres were given to Jose,
son of the old Don. Jose in turn sold the property to E. H. Duncan for one
hundred and fifty head of cattle worth perhaps $20 per head. An adjacent
tract was given to Louis Penia, another to the north presented to his daugh-
ter, Mrs. William Andrews, while the next one thousand acres were given to
another daughter, Mrs. Alvina Orta. On the Hopland side one thousand
acres were given to Mrs. Murray. To Mrs. Edsell was given one thousand
acres upon a part of which the village of Hopland now stands. A daughter,
Mrs. Guadalupe Penja, was given a tract, as were three sons, Lencho, Cistro
and Necho. On this vast grant cattle roamed in great droves, large fields
194 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
were under cultivation to grain and corn, and later alfalfa and hops were
raised with profit, while orchards also became a source of revenue to the
owners. The old Don, once the owner of this lordly estate, died in poverty.
On a natural elevated mound overlooking the valley Mr. McGlashan
built a ranch house and named the place Burnee Hill ranch. The original
building stands, although somewhat changed in appearance by reason of
additions that have been made to it. The wood in the old house was hand-
planed and was brought from San Francisco. In those days it was custo-
mary to bring all provisions and supplies from the California metropolis and
there he bought the first piano ever brought into Mendocino county, a grand
square Steinway, which was brought from Petaluma by ox-teams, packed
jround with sacks of flour. It took five days to make the trip. The land
which Mr. McGlashan purchased was the first portion of the vast grant
for which any money was paid, previous sales having been in the nature of
exchanges. When he began to cultivate the land he used oxen to turn the
first furrows in the soil. There was little machinery and such implements
as were in use showed crudity of form that involved dissatisfaction in their
handling. However, in spite of these disadvantages and many other hard-
ships, the owner of the ranch prospered, his crops were large, his stock flour-
ished and his name became well known throughout the county. Among the
improvements made on the land was that of fencing, at a cost of $10,000,
the entire place, so that he was enabled to cultivate his crops more success-
fulh' and to herd his stock more satisfactorily. The raising of Spanish merino
sheep was one of his specialties. To secure the finest breeds he paid $400
for a buck and $75 for an ewe, from which foundation he built up a flock
pure in quality and accounted one of the best in Northern California. After
many years of strict attention to ranching in 1880 he retired to Ukiah and
built the residence on Perkins and Dora avenue in which he died in 1895.
While still in England he had joined the Masonic Order, but took little part
in the work after coming to California. He was twice married, first in 1856
in New York to Miss Elizabeth Hewes, who was born in England, and second
in San Francisco in 1889 to Mrs. Anna (Bennett) Pope, who was born in
Newport, Ky., the daughter of W. H. and Maria (Hornbrook) Bennett, na-
tives of Pennsylvania and Kentucky respectively. Mr. Bennett participated
in the Civil war in a Kentucky regiment, serving as captain. Later he was
a member of the Pinkerton detective force, subsequently assessor of Newport,
Ky., for twelve years, and still later he served as mayor of that city. By
trade he was a boat builder and for many years he ran a boat yard in Cin-
cinnati, Ohio. Mr. Bennett, who was a prominent j\Iason and Odd Fellow,
passed away in Newport, Ky., while his wife died at the home of j\Irs. Mc-
Glashan. The only daughter born to her parents, Mrs. McGlashan was edu-
cated in the public schools and in St. Azabra Convent, and graduated from
the Newport high school. Her first marriage occurred in Newport and united
her with John Pope, a printer by trade. In 1883 Mr. Pope and his wife left
Chicago for Ukiah, where he bought the Ukiah City Press. Subsequently
he died while on a trip to Placer county. Mrs. Pope continued to edit the
Press until her marriage to Mr. McGlashan. By her first marriage there
was one daughter, Fannie H., Mrs. Jesse Williams, of San Francisco. Of
Mr. McGlashan's second marriage one daughter survives him, Jeanie, Mrs.
Hawn, of Ukiah. Four vears after the death of Mr. McGlashan his widow
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 195
married Edward Gambrel, who was born on the Gibson ranch in Round
valley, Mendocino county, April 5, 1864, being the son of Smith W. and
Sallie (Onyett) Gambrel, natives respectively of Virginia and Evansville,
Ind. The family comprised five children, those besides himself being Lena,
Anna, Charles and Smith. During the early '50s the father came to Cali-
fornia and settled in Mendocino county, where for years he carried on farm
pursuits in the Round valley. For years he was a leading factor in local
affairs and served as justice of the peace. In young manhood Edward Gam-
brel engaged in the dairy business at Oroville, Butte county, whence he re-
turned to Mendocino county and since 1897 has been identified with the work
on the McGlashan ranch. Fraternally he is connected with the Elks of Santa
Rosa. Mrs. Gambrel gives her time to the supervision of the Burnee Hill
ranch and to her property in Ukiah. With Mr. McGlashan she built the Mc-
Glashan Building in Ukiah, where the postofifice is located, besides which
she owns residence property there. She and her present husband still con-
tinue the raising of fine Merino sheep. Burnee Hill ranch is one of the show
places of the county. The lawn, which is like velvet, is irrigated from a spring
a mile away, the water being stored in a reservoir of eight thousand gallons'
capacity. For domestic use water is brought from another spring three-
quarters of a mile distant, coming from a solid rock. The ranch comprises
sixteen hundred acres and runs for one mile along the Russian river, and is
r-.lmost three miles in width.
BYRON CLARK. — Maine has made a worthy contribution to the citizen-
.•^hip of California during the course of westward migration, but none of her
representatives proved more worthy or steadfast in his endeavors to upbuild
and advance the interests of his chosen home place than the late Byron Clark.
The descendant of an old New England family, long resident in that rugged
section of country, he was born in Ellsworth, Me., November 22, 1855. the
son of Capt. Curtis Clark, the owner and master of a coasting vessel. The
public schools of Ellsworth supplied the educational advantages which young
Byron was permitted to enjoy, and after his schooling was completed he was
variously employed in the east until the call of the west brought him to
California in 1874. He was then a young man of about nineteen years, full
of energy and determination, and he did not lack for opportunity to show his
capabilities. Coming to Mendocino he found employment with the Mendo-
cino Lumber Company, beginning to work for them in the woods. The work
proved congenial and he rose from one position to another until he was finally
made superintendent of the woods, a position which he held for about nme-
teen years. Subsequently he was a boss in the woods for the Union Lumber
Company for a number of years, and still later he held the same position with
the Caspar Lumber Company, and it was while associated with the latter
company that his death occurred, IMarch 14, 1909. The lumber interests of
the county lost a valued worker in his death, for he was thoroughly con-
versant with all details of the business and his services were in constant de-
mand ; his family lost a devoted and indulgent husband and father, and the
community a loyal, public-spirited, unassuming citizen who has been sadly
missed. He was a man among men, one of Nature's noblemen who had
won his way to success by his own self-reliance and energy. Fraternally he
was also well known and very popular with his associates. He was a mem-
196 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
ber of Mendocino Lodge, No. 179, F. & A. Isl., also of Mendocino Chapter
and the Order of the Eastern Star of the same place, Ukiah Commandery No.
33, K. T., while in the Odd Fellows order he was connected with lodge, en-
campment and the Rebekahs. Politically he gave his allegiance to Republican
principles and candidates.
A marriage ceremony performed in Ukiah February 3. 1886, united the
destinies of Byron Clark and Miss Oleva Burger. She was born near Lay-
tonville, Cal., the daughter of James and Nancy (Lambert) Burger, natives
of Kentucky and Iowa respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Burger were married
in Iowa and from that state they started for California with ox-teams in the
early '50s. They settled in Long valley, where Mr. Burger became well
known as a successful stockman. His later years were passed in Ukiah, and
in that city his death occurred in 1899. Mrs. Burger still continues to make
her home in Ukiah. Of her five children four are living, Mrs. Clark being
next to the oldest. The greater part of her early life was passed in Ukiah,
v/here she attended grammar school, and later she attended the San Jose
state normal. Putting her knowledge to good account she adopted teaching
as a profession and followed it for eleven years, eight years of this time being
passed in the schools of Alendocino. After the death of Mr. Clark she re-
moved to Ft. Bragg and has made this city her home ever since, giving to its
welfare a wholesome interest that is characteristic. With her two children
she resides in a comfortable home which she erected on Brandon Way. The
son, Russell, is a graduate of Mendocino high school and the Santa Rosa
Business College ; and the daughter, Leonora, a graduate of Mendocino high
school and San Jose State Normal, is a teacher. Mrs. Clark is a member
of the Presbyterian Church of Mendocino, in the work of which she is deeply
interested. She is past matron of Ocean View Chapter, O. E. S., at Afendo-
cino, is past noble grand of Far West Lodge of Rebekahs of that place, and
for several terms was district deputy. Personally ^Irs. Clark is a woman of
noble characteristics, and all who are privileged to know her feel the impress
of her radiant good nature.
W. R. MORRIS. — One of the youngest men in the employ of the Union
Lumber Company is the foreman of the yards, W. R. Morris, who is a native
of the great middle west. He was born in Chicago, 111., May 30, 1890, a son
of H. F. Morris, who was a native of the same state, born in Ouincy, and a
banker in Chicago at the time of his death. His mother, Evelyn Schumacher
before her marriage, was born in \\'isconsin, and now makes her home with
her son in Fort Bragg.
W. R. Morris received his preliminary education in the public schools
of Chicago, and later he attended the University of Chicago, altogether receiv-
ing educational privileges above the possibility of the average young man.
Some time after the death of the father, Mr. Morris and his mother came
west, in 1908, coming direct to Alendocino county and to Fort Bragg. The
son was fortunate in securing employment readily, accepting a position with
the Union Lumber Company, and he has remained with the company ever
since, being now foreman of the yards, a position which he has since filled with
entire satisfaction to his superiors. The only organization with which he is
afifiliated is the Hoo Hoo, a lumbermen's organization well known throughout
the west. Politically Mr. Morris is a Republican.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 199
DAVID T. JOHNSON. — Unusual executive ability has marked the career
of David T. Johnson and ofifers great promise for the future enterprises of this
native son, whose efficiency and integrity have given him leadership in the
stock industry and made his name powerful along the entire north coast. To
what degree his expertness in the stock business is a matter of early environ-
ment and training, to what degree it came to him by inheritance and to what
extent it results from a most careful study of every detail connected with such
work, it would be futile to inquire, nor does it concern the present purposes of
this narrative, which deals with facts, not with theoretical problems. Suffice
it to say that certain mental endowments and certain conditions of environ-
ment combined to make him an expert judge of stock and thereby to enable
him to become a leader as stockman in the northern part of the state. His
earliest memories of the home near Chico (where he was born) are asso-
ciated with the buying and selling of stock and with the conversations of
his father in regard to the good or poor qualities of animals. The elder John-
son, whose name likewise was David T., and who was born near Bridgeton,
Me., had come to California during the early '50s. An initial experience as a
miner proved unsuccessful and he sought other means of earning a liveli-
hood. For years he was associated with Sam Perrington in the buying of
stock and the selling of meat in the mines. The butcher's trade proved
profitable and gave him a start. During April of 1872 he brought his family
to Round valley and became an extensive sheep-raiser of the locality, besides
continuing to handle cattle. Until 1880 he lived in the village of Covelo, but
then bought and settled upon a tract of ninety acres adjacent to the town.
This property is still owned by his heirs, David T., George T. and Francis.
When he died in August, 1890, he left to his family this home and the stock
upon the place, but to have accumulated that neat estate indicated that he
was a man of excellent business ability.
The marriage of David T. Johnson, Sr., at Howland Flat, Cal., had united
him with Miss Mertie A. Larkin, who was born in New York state and
received excellent educational advantages, being a graduate of Jonesville
Academy. After completing her studies in the academy she came to Cali-
fornia via Panama. A woman of remarkable ability and business acumen,
after the death of her husband, with the aid of her sons she continued the
stock business and general ranching. With the most optimistic faith in the
rising valuations of land, she began to purchase unimproved tracts whenever
the opportunity offered. Always she advised her sons to buy land as an
investment. The result was all she could hope for and more than even her
most sanguine predictions had foreseen. When the sons were still in their
twenties they saw the wisdom of their mother's ideas demonstrated on more
than one occasion and they joined her in reaching out in the purchase of
landed property, ^^'hen she passed awa)' at San Francisco, January 18, 1910,
it was felt to be a distinct bereavement not only to her sons, but also to the
Presbyterian Church (of which she was a generous and sincere member),
to general circles of society and to the entire community of Round valley.
With superior business judgment she united gentleness of disposition, amia-
bility of temperament and nobility of spirit, while loyalty to family and friends
was also one of her attractive traits.
Since the death of their mother the sons have continued in the stock
business, with David T., as the elder, the manager of their extensive
interests. Primarily educated in Round valley, he later had the advantages of
200 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Heald's Business College, from which he was graduated in 1892. Having
been trained to the stock industry from boyhood and having the encourage-
ment of his mother, he soon became a leading factor in the cattle, sheep and
hog business in the coast counties. As the herds increased, the lands also
were enlarged until the brothers now have thousands of acres in JMendocino
and Trinity counties, where graze their herds and flocks. They specialize with
French Merinos and are the largest sheep-growers in Mendocino county. In
the cattle industry they are breeding Red Durhams. About five hundred acres
are tillable, now devoted to the raising of grain and alfalfa hay. Besides
cattle and sheep they are raising horses, mules and hogs, and their business
also includes the buying of stock, the feeding of the same and the shipping to
San Francisco markets. With a view to draining the level lands Mr. Johnson
brought to Round valley a steam tile machine and has manufactured tile of
the three, six and eight-inch sizes, some of which, used successfully on his own
lands, have been secured by others for tiling purposes. Always the results
have been satisfactory. A progressive rancher, solicitous to build up the
community and always in the forefront of any beneficial movement, he is
aiding in the development of the valley and is furnishing an example of
patriotism, loyalty to community and business integrity that others may well
emulate. Through mental habits of a broad and expanding order he has
reached out into many avenues of activity and usefulness, but always his
interests in land and stock are uppermost in his thoughts and future plans,
and he is giving to his chosen occupation the intelligent efficiency of long
experience as well as the practical common sense that characterizes all of his
dealings.
ERNEST ENDERLIN.— An industry which is still in the incipient stage
in Lake county, the raising of milch goats and production of goats' milk, has
a most able advocate in the person of Ernest Enderlin, now a resident of
Lower Lake, where he has been settled since 1905. Mr. Enderlin is a native
of Baden, Germany, born December 25, 1879. When he was four years old
his parents brought their family to America, arriving at San Francisco, Cal.,
about 1883-8-1 — father, mother and eight children. The parents are residents
of the Lower Lake precinct in Lake county, having a forty-acre farm in Little
High valley, at Spruce Grove. Mr. Enderlin is now sixty-eight years old,
Mrs. Enderlin sixty-four. Of their family, Frieda (a half sister of the rest)
is now the wife of Christian Eskelson, of San Mateo, Cal., proprietor of a
creamery; Louise is married to E. B. Hinton, clerk in a mercantile establish-
ment at Chico, Cal. ; Mary Magdalena is the wife of A. P. Mefford, a farmer,
of Calistoga; Ernest is next in the family; Henry is a farmer, operating the
Steinhart ranch ; Sophia is the wife of Ralph Hopper, of Lower Lake ; Hattie
is the wife of Jens Nielson, a farmer at Ukiah, Mendocino county; George is
employed on the farm belonging to the State Agricultural College at
Davis, Cal.
Ernest Enderlin attended school in San Francisco, and when a youth
began a four years' apprenticeship to the trade of machinist in the shops of
the Pacific Rolling Mills (now the Risden Iron Works) in that city. Mean-
while, however, when seventeen years old, he came to Lake county and for
two years was located at Lower Lake, returning to San Francisco to finish
his apprenticeship. Subsequently he was employed as a machinist at the Dow
Pump Works, Eagle Gas Engine Company and United Iron Works at Oak-
land, continuing thus until a few years after his marriage. In 1905 he re-
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 201
turned to Lower Lake and bought his present home in the western part of
the town, having between three and four acres of ground and a comfortable
house. Of late years he has done little at his trade, being engaged principally
as a professional nurse, in which work he has proved very successful, his
congenial personality and skillful attention winning the highest praise from
all who have had need of his services.
Some time ago Mr. Enderlin began to take an interest in the subject of
producing goats' milk, which at the present time has a market value of fifty
cents per quart, being rich in the butter fats which are so nutritive and easy
of digestion. The difficulty at present in this country is to get stock goats
for breeding purposes, of the milch varieties, as the government has stringent
quarantine regulations against the foot-mouth disease, barring all suspicious
importations. There is no disease among the goats in Lake county, but the
number is limited. For the last three years Mr. Enderlin has given attention
particularly to the breeding of his herd, and he now has fifteen head of high-
grade Toggenburg-Saanen milch goats. Milch goats are worth from twenty-
five dollars to seventy-five dollars apiece, and a good animal yields from two
to four quarts of milk daily. Mr. Enderlin estimates that there is probably
about one hundred thousand acres of unoccupied brush land in Lake county
which would furnish proper pasture for goats, and when eaten down by them
could easily be prepared for orcharding, ready for the planting of apple, pear
and olive trees, or vineyards. The industry has gigantic possibilities in the
county. Condensed goat milk would solve the perplexing question of infant
feeding in many a community, and condensing factories, Roquefort cheese
factories and even sanitariums where invalids, especially dyspeptics, could be
benefited by the milk diet, are some of the features which the development
of this business might bring out. i\Ir. Enderlin has given considerable time
to the study of this problem, and he has done much writing on the subject,
contributing articles to live stock and agricultural papers, including the Goat
Journal. He is local correspondent for the Lake County Bee and the Kelsey-
ville Sun, as well as other papers, and he is doing his best to start a movement
in favor of the project which he feels would add to the riches of the county
and bring benefit to many, from the standpoint of health as well as financial
rewards.
When twenty-two years old Mr. Enderlin was married in San Francisco
to Miss Eva Marie Rousseau, and they have had six children, all of whom are
vet at home, namely: Blanche, Evelyn, Rousseau, Milton, Harold and
Euvelle. Mr. Enderlin is well known in the local fraternal bodies, being a
member of the Lower Lake Blue Lodge and a Master Mason, and a past
grand of Clear Lake Lodge. No. 130. I. O. O. F., of Lower Lake.
LORENCE E. ALLISON.— The wide-awake town of Kelseyville has
proved a good field for progressive business men, its residents appreciating
the efforts local merchants make to give them good merchandise and service,
and the benefit has been mutual. Though still one of the younger of the well-
known storekeepers in the place, Lorence E. Allison, senior member of the
firm of Allison & Stone, has established himself thoroughly in the confidence
of the townspeople, and the trade he has built up within a few years would
seem astonishing to any unfamiliar with conditions in the community or with
his energetic character. His honorable career is considered a credit to the
town, for he is a native of Kelsewille. Though his success is his own, the
202 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
community has profited by it also, and in patronizing his up-to-date store so
liberally has made possible many of the conveniences he has been able to
place at the disposal of his customers.
The late J. Roily Allison, father of Lorence E. Allison, came to Lake
county in the sixties, and his father was a rancher in California in the early
days. J. R. Allison married Mrs. Florence L. (Barker) Kelsey, a native of
Massachusetts, who came to California with her parents when a girl of four-
teen years, the family settling in Lake county. By her first marriage Mrs.
Allison had four children, two of whom died in infancy, Susan and Elmer C.
living to maturity. Susan is the wife of C. H. Peugh, a farmer, living at
Modesto, Cal. ; Elmer C. is a member of the firm of Renfro & Kelsey, butchers,
of Kelseyville, and his father ran the pioneer butcher shop there, built forty
years ago, but he has built a new one in 1914. Three children were born to
Mr. and Mrs. Allison : Lorence E. ; Alton Grant, who is married and lives at
Kelseyville; and Gladys, wife of A. N. Orcutt, a miner, of Garfield, Utah.
Lorence E. Allison was born February 14, 1884, and grew up in Kelsey-
ville, receiving a public school education. He began work at the age of four-
teen years, clerking in the general merchandise store of W. H. Marshall, at
Kelseyville. When sixteen he went to Santa Rosa to take a course in Sweet's
Business College, and after graduating returned to Kelseyville and resumed
work with his old employer, with whom he remained for several years. For
one year he was at Lower Lake with M. Levy, and for a short time he clerked
at San Rafael with Hugh Gorley, with those exceptions continuing in Mr.
Marshall's employ until he embarked in business for himself, in 1911, at
Kelseyville. He commenced with a notion store, adding to his stock as trade
demanded, and enlarged his accommodations, until he found himself at the
head of one of the largest mercantile establishments in the town. On Decem-
ber 1, 1912, he took Donald R. Stone into partnership, and these young men
have made a thorough "go'' of their venture. Their comprehensive stock of
general merchandise includes everything for which there is likely to be any
call — groceries, crockery, hardware, tinware, dry goods, hats and caps, boots
and shoes, wire fencing and farming machinery, Mr. Allison being agent for
the International Harvester Company's implements. He also has the agency
for the Spires stage line. Mr. Allison's policy of fair and square dealing has
not only brought him customers, but has also established his credit with the
wholesale and jobbing houses. The store is centrally located, and the stock
is displayed in an attractive and orderly manner, and conveniently arranged.
There is no doubt that Mr. Allison's high personal character has been the
main factor in his success, for he began with few advantages and had an up-
hill road for some years, though his perseverance and industry proved suf-
ficient to help him overcome the difficulties he had to encounter before he
became well established. His fellow citizens have shown their trust in his
ability by selecting him for local offices, among them that of postmaster, which
he filled from 1911 to 1913. He has also been popular in the social organiza-
tions of the town, having been president of Kelseyville Parlor, No. 219, N. S
G. W., and council commander of Clear Lake Camp, No. 810, W. O. W. In
politics he gives his allegiance to Republican principles.
In 1907 Mr. Allison married Miss Mary E. Grigsby, daughter of the late
P. D. Grigsby, of Lower Lake. They have had two children. LeRoy Ellwood
;.nd Dialtha Gladvs.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 205
JOHN SYLVANUS ROHRBOUGH.— Associated with the agricultural
development of Round valley is the name of John S. Rohrbough, who is one
of the most widely known citizens and one of the heaviest taxpayers in Mendo-
cino county. From the age of seventeen years he has made his home in the
coast country of California, having come hither in 1876 from Buckhannon,
Upshur county, W. Va., where he was born February 12, 1859. He is the son
of Jacob H. and Marella (White) Rohrbough, also natives of Upshur county,
where the father was a farmer and business man, and on his mother's side is
a descendant of the Jackson family of Revolutionary stock. He is the third
in the family of four children and received a common-school education in his
native place. The presence of an uncle, G. E. White, in Mendocino county
was the factor governing his removal from the east and his arrival here during
1876, after which he was engaged as an employe on the ranch of his uncle
in Round valley at a salary of $20 a month. Industry and energy were
apparent in his earliest associations with agriculture. An innate spirit of
frugality enabled him to save his first earnings to be used in the purchase
of property, his first purchase being the flour mill in Covelo, where he has
manufactured that product ever since by the steam full roller process, with
a capacity of fifty barrels. He also engaged in the stock business, renting
land and as he was able purchasing small ranches, thus becoming the owner
of several thousand acres. And when his uncle G. E. White's large holdings
were offered for sale by various banks and insurance companies on fore-
closure of mortgage he took over all of them, going into debt for the larger
part. Continuing to raise wheat and manufacture it into flour, which he
shipped as far as Ukiah, and engaging in the raising of hay and feeding of
cattle, he was enabled to settle the obligation, his diflferent ranches now
embracing in all some twenty-five thousand acres of tillable land in Mendo-
cino, Humboldt and Trinity counties, over two thousand acres being level
valley land nearly in the center of Round valley, forming one of the richest
and most fertile tracts in the county, a small agricultural empire reflecting
credit upon the ability of its owner and forming a source of merited pride
on his part. He makes a specialty of raising large herds of cattle, which
range on his diflferent ranches, his brand being 55. For some years he has
been breeding full-blooded roan Durham cattle on his home ranch, and these
bulls are turned loose on his different ranges. He has also sold more than
a score of these full-blooded animals to stockmen in the county, so contribut-
ing greatly toward bringing the quality of the cattle to a high standard. He
also owns large flocks of sheep, breeding French Merinos, and has raised a
large number of horses and mules. In the operation of his ranch he uses
the latest machinery, using the largest traction engine manufactured, a
Rumely oil pull 30x60, for plowing as well as pulling the combined harvester.
He is rapidly converting different fields into alfalfa and rents some of his
lands for dairy purposes, which is rapidly taking a lead in intensified farming.
A crowning feature of Mr. Rohrbough's refined home is to be found in
the gracious hospitality of the cultured hostess, Mrs. Jennie Myrtle (Fetty)
Rohrbough, who is of West Virginian birth. Her birth occurred in Lewis
county and her education was received in Buckhannon at Wesleyan College,
from which she was graduated in 1893. The same fall she came to California,
and on the 3d of April, 1894, in Round valley, she became the wife of Mr.
Rohrbough. Seven children have been born of their union, namely: Evan,
206 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
attending the University of California, studying on the experimental farm
at Davis ; INIarella, attending Hamlin's School, San Francisco ; John, attend-
ing the grammar school ; Lummie, deceased ; Beverley, Shirley, and Margaret,
deceased. Mrs. Rohrbough is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal
church in Covelo.
In the past years Mr. Rohrbough has spared neither expense nor personal
attention to promote the general welfare of Round valley. Progressive and
moral movements inaugurated in recent years have received his support. In
this connection it may be stated that he has been associated with the develop-
ment of the creamery in this valley, and also the local telephone system,
holding stock in both concerns. For a number of years he has been a director
r,i the Bank of W'illits, in which he holds a large block of stock. It may be
said that he is truly a representative of the type of men who are causing
Mendocino county to forge to the front as an agricultural center. While a
stanch advocate of Democratic principles, he has confined his interest along
these lines to the support he could give to the men and measures of his
party. Not only in the interests of his children, but also for the larger interests
oi the county, he has sought to advance the welfare of the schools of Round
valley and has been in favor of advancing the standard of education to meet
the enlarged demands of the twentieth century. Although highly successful,
the fact that his character is free from self-seeking and self-aggrandizement
enables him to wield a more than temporary influence in afifairs of the valley
and county.
WILLIAM H. SMITH.— In 1906 William H. Smith moved into the
town of Lower Lake to settle down in retirement, after forty years and more
of farming. He still retains valuable agricultural property in Lake county,
one farm in ^\'eldon valley and another in Burns valley, having lived on the
former place for twenty years before he gave up active work. He came to
Lake county from Illinois, in search of health, and was fortunate in finding
a climate which brought back his strength and enabled him to continue his
labors successfully for many years. Mr. Smith has prospered by dint of in-
dustry and commendable management, and deserves the respect which all
his fellow citizens accord him. He is a leading member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church at Lower Lake.
Mr. Smith is a native of the town of Parrish, Oswego county, N. Y., born
March 13, 1842. His father, Franklin Smith, went into the backwoods of
Oswego county to clear up a farm and establish a comfortable home for his
little family, but he died before he had been able to accomplish much toward
the improvement of his place or to accumulate much of this world's goods.
He had married Elizabeth House, who was left with four young children :
Martha, now the widow of William Dillworth, living in Hamilton county, 111. ;
Barnard, who is farming in Knox county. Neb. ; Oscar, who was only sixteen
years old when he enlisted during the Civil war in the Twenty-fourth New
York Cavalry, was captured, and died while a prisoner at Andersonville, and
William H. The mother remarried, her second husband being Martin Stern
fnow deceased), by whom she had six children. She lived and died in New
York state, reaching the age of seventy-four years.
William H. Smith was but seven years old when his father died, and soon
afterward he went to live at the honie of an uncle, Joel Andrews, who was
engaged in farming in Oneida county, N. Y. Lentil he was nineteen he con-
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 207
tinned to make his home there, though from the time he was seventeen he
worked out on farms for others. On April 24, 1861, at Utica, N. Y., he
enlisted in the Union service, and was mustered in at Elmira, that state, as
a member of Company A, Twenty-sixth New York Volunteer Infantry, which
was attached to the Army of the Potomac. He took part in many important
engagements, including Cedar Mountain, Thoroughfare Gap, Rappahannock
Station, Second Bull Run, Antietam and Fredericksburg, and was honorably
discharged in 1863, at the expiration of his term of service, with an excep-
tional record. In the fall of 1863 Mr. Smith went to Kendall county. 111., and
for two years was engaged in farming. Returning east, he spent two winters
working in the Michigan pineries, and then bought a farm in Champaign
county, 111., which he intended for his permanent home. He set about the
cultivation and improvement of his property, and met with decided success
in his work, remaining there for a period of eighteen years, until failing health
made a change seem desirable. It was for this reason he came to California,
in 1886, living for a year in Ventura county, and then coming to Lake county,
and settling in Weldon valley, where he farnied until his retirement. The
farm he bought there contains one hundred and fifty-seven acres, ten acres
of which are in fruit, and besides he owns fifty acres in Burns valley, all level
grain land. Mr. Smith has. derived a good income from his land, which he
has improved systematically and is now under profitable cultivation. He has
various interests at Lower Lake, being a member and treasurer of the Masonic
Lodge there and member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which he has
served officially in several capacities, having been steward and trustee, and
still holding the latter office. His political connection is with the Republican
party. Though he began life under adverse circumstances, Mr, Smith has
overcome them by his steady persistence and application to his work, and
he is respected for his industrious career and for his high Christian character.
Though conservative, he has never been an enemy of progress, and he can
always be counted upon to support good government, though he himself has
never had any desire to take a hand in the administration of public affairs.
In 1872, while living in Champaign county, 111., Mr. Smith was united in
marriage with Miss Minerva J. Hofifman, of that county, but a native of
Butler county, Ohio. They have had a family of five children : Eugene died
in Illinois when sixteen months old; Viola died when eleven months old;
Edward Franklin died when fifteen years old ; Evelyn Cornelia is the wife of
W. J. Foster, who is now cultivating Mr. Smith's farm of one hundred and
fifty-seven acres in Weldon valley ; Erva Amanda is the wife of Andrew
Johnson, a farmer in Big valley. Lake county.
LAFAYETTE HENDRICKS. — When recognition is taken of those
who have been primarily influential in the development and agricultural
upbuilding of Lake county, to few should greater tribute be paid than to
LaFayette Hendricks, whose energies have been given to the promotion of
the farming interests of this section of the state and who is a scion of the
stanchest of pioneer stock. The reputation of the Hendricks family through-
out the county is most enviable. Hard-working, good-hearted, generous,
efficient, kind and helpful, their members have formed the very essence of the
backbone of the cleanest citizenship of their several communities, and in this
respect Mr. Hendricks has not been surpassed by other representatives of the
name. .A^ most dependable man and an exceptionally capable farmer, he
208 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
devoted all of his active years to agricultural pursuits, but the destruction of
his farmhouse by fire in 1911 caused him to bring his family to Lakeport and
establish a home here, retaining, however, the highly-improved dairy ranch
of forty-four acres located directly north of the creamery in Scotts valley,
and also his stock ranch of five hundred and fifty-five acres about five miles
north of Lakeport, devoted to stock raising.
One of the earliest memories (somewhat vague and indistinct, it is true)
of LaPayette Hendricks pertains to the removal of the family from Texas,
where he was born near Fort Worth September 8, 1854, to California, whither
a tedious journey with ox teams brought them in 1859. The parents, Green-
berry and Mary Ann (Stephenson) Hendricks, were married at Cape Girar-
deau, Mo., and later settled in Texas, where two children were born, La-
Fayette and Ellen A., the latter now the wife of William D. Rantz, a promi-
nent resident of Lakeport. After coming to California the family lived for
two years on a ranch in Tulare county four miles east of Visalia, but about
the middle of December. 1861, thej' arrived in Lake county and settled in
Scotts valley, where the father died in April, 1876, before he had succeeded in
clearing and improving his farm of one hundred and sixty acres. Meanwhile
there had been born in Lake county one daughter and four sons, namely :
Lydia S., the widow of W. W. Waldo and a resident of Lakeport; William
G., who died at twenty-seven years and whose widow, Nellie B. (Keys)
Hendricks, is still operating the farm in Scotts valley, having with her their
three sons, Archie M., Ernest and William ; Joseph W., who married Airs.
Little, of Lakeport, and is engaged in farming in Scotts valley ; John B., a
well-known farmer and perhaps the largest walnut grower in Lake county ;
and Robert Edward, who married Miss Bertha Whitton and is a partner in
the Hendricks-Crump Company, of Lakeport.
Until after the removal of the family to Lake county it had not been
possible for LaFayette Hendricks to attend school and his advantages here
were very meager, although he was a pupil in the first school ever started in
Scotts valley. Since leaving school he has read widely and carefully, and
thus has gained a fund of knowledge most valuable to him. His mother, who
is still living in Lakeport, hale notwithstanding her eighty-two busy years,
and her second husband, Z. Morrison, donated the ground on which stands the
Scotts Valley Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Hendricks family as-
sisted generously in the erection of the edifice. During 1881 Mr. Hendricks
married Miss Emma M. Glines, who died in 1891, leaving a daughter, Eva
Pearl, now the wife of Roy B. Embree, of Lakeport. The second marriage
of Mr. Hendricks was solemnized in 1894 and united him with Miss Sadie
L. Morris, member of one of the earliest families to settle in the state of
Missouri. Of this union there are six children, viz. : Clarence Clififord and
Emma V., students in the Lakeport Union high school ; Marion L., Etta Marie,
Olive I. and Elzada Louise, pupils in the Lakeport grammar school. The
family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in the main-
tenance of which Mr. Hendricks assists to the extent of his ability. Until
removing to Lakeport he served for some years as clerk of the board of
trustees of the Scotts valley grammar school. Other interests include the
holding of stock in the Clear Lake Railway Company and membership in the
Taxpayers' Association of Lake county, in which he is now serving as a
trustee.
^a-L^c^ ^;^l^:^
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 211
HORACE FREMONT MILLIKEN.— It has been given to Mr. Milliken
to pass his entire life near the sea. During- his first twenty years he hved in
Maine, where his parents, Horatio and Julia (Blaisdell) Milliken, were born,
and where his own life began June 20, 1854, in the village of Surry, almost
within sight and sound of the tempestuous waves that dashed against the
rock-bound coast of Maine. During 1874 he traveled across the continent to
San Francisco, thence proceeded by steamer to Petaluma and from there trav-
eled by stage to Mendocino City. At the time lumbering formed the chief
industry in Mendocino county. Naturally he turned to work in the lumber
camps as offering the easiest means of securing a livelihood. In a short time
he gained a comprehensive knowledge of the business in its different depart-
ments. For six years he was employed to drive ox-teams and later he became
superintendent of logging for the L. E. White Lumber Company at Whites-
boro. L^pon resigning from the lumber business he carried on a hardware
business in Mendocino county for seven years. A tour of inspection through
Southern California as early as 1881 had resulted in the purchase of raw land
at Cucamonga, in San Bernardino county, and for some years he divided his
time between his interests there and in Northern California, meanwhile im-
proving the raw land with a vineyard, a peach orchard and an orange grove.
Upon coming to Fort Bragg in 1888 i\Ir. ]\Iilliken bought a tract of land in
the midst of the redwood forest, just a little ways back from the ocean, and
there he erected a residence. Since then the trees have been cut away for miles
back of his place and his home is now the center of the residence district of
the town. In 1893 he purchased twelve hundred acres on Pudding creek one
mile east of the city. At the time the land was in its primeval condition, but its
crude condition did not in the least dampen the ardor of the new owner. On
the other hand it seemed to whet his ambition to put it in a state of cultivation
as rapidly as possible, and with this object before him he set to work dili-
gently to clear and improve it. When this was accomplished he enclosed it
with good fencing and stocked it with cattle, sheep and hogs. He also estab-
lished his own slaughter house and butcher shop so that he was able to supply
the town and valley with meat. The clearing and improving of the ranch
entailed the expenditure of a large sum of money and required a long time
and much hard work. The result, however, has justified all that has been
expended in its accomplishment, and today it is the consensus of opinion
that it is the finest and best improved stock ranch in the country round about.
The ranch is still in his possession and under his immediate management.
With his son Leland E., Jr., Mr. Milliken owns three hundred and fifty acres
of land near Livingston, Merced county, all under irrigation and in alfalfa,
the son having the management of the property. For many years Mr.
Milliken carried on a hardware business on Main street in Fort Bragg. In
all probability, however, he has accomplished the greatest good to the com-
munity through his services as the owner and builder of the Fort Bragg Water
plant. The first attempt to supply the town with a water system resulted from
his foresight and energy. In 1889 he established a small concern, which has
since expanded with the growth of the place and is now capable of furnish-
ing water to a city of more than five thousand inhabitants. A careful study of
the building of a water plant convinced Mr. Milliken that not only were red-
wood logs far less expensive than iron pipe, but they have the further advan-
tage of being non-conductors of heat and cold, and on account of the smooth-
212 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
ness of the wood a freer flow of water is permitted. Experience proved the
sagacity of his judgment. After the logs had been in use for sixteen years it
was decided to replace them with larger pipe. On being taken up the logs
were found to be sound and in the very best condition, hence it strengthened
his confidence in the value of redwood as the most serviceable and practicable
pipe to conduct water, and he has consequently used it in his entire system.
This makes Mr. Milliken the pioneer in the use of and also in the demonstra-
tion of the fact that redwood pipe is superior and more valuable than any
other as water pipe.
The possessor of varied talents, Mr. Milliken enjoys instrumental and
vocal music and was for many years the leader of the Fort Bragg band.
Music, however, does not fill all of his leisure moments, for he is an enthusiast
at chess and checkers and nothing pleases him more nor gives him more
diversion than to match his skill with the best-known players of the games.
Mr. Milliken's activities as a citizen years ago led him to aid in the
organization of a volunteer fire department for the city. Formerly he served
as a member of the board of town trustees and president of the school board,
while at this writing he is president of the board of trustees of the Fort
Bragg Union high school, and also officiates as president of the library board.
Until the formation of the Progressive party he took no part in politics, but
he was then prevailed upon to accept the chairmanship of the Progressive
Republican county central committee, in which capacity he worked faithfully
in behalf of his party. He was made a Mason in Fort Bragg Lodge No. 361,
F. & A. M., and is a member of Mendocino Chapter No. 88, R. A. M., and with
his wife is a member of Sapphire Chapter No. 230, O. E. S., and of the Order
of Pocahontas. Mr. Milliken is also a member of the Loyal Order of Moose
and the Improved Order of Red Men.
At Mendocino, on May 7, 1881, Mr. Milliken was married to Miss Anna
Mitchell, who was born in St. Johns, New Brunswick, but has spent her
life principally in California, having come here with her mother in 1875. They
became the parents of three children, Leland E., Julia Edna and Horace Leroy,
the last-named dying at the age of six years. Leland E. Milliken chose for his
wife Miss Elizabeth Holbrook, of Berkeley, and they have a daughter. Julia
Edna Milliken became the wife of Edwin L. IMcKinlay, and they reside in
Berkeley. There is no movement started for the benefit of the citizens and
business interests of Fort Bragg or Mendocino county that does not have the
liberal support of Mr. Milliken, to which he contributes liberally of his time
and means.
BENJAMIN ROBERT PARROTT.— Over twenty-five years ago
Benjamin R. Parrott came into Lake county looking for desirable land, and
he preempted a tract of one hundred and sixty acres lying in what is now
known as the Mountain District precinct, formerly included in the South
Kelseyville precinct, where he has resided continuously since. He has made
considerable improvement in his property, particularly in the setting out of
fruit trees, giving his attention particularly to the raising of fruit, in which
he has found a profitable field of labor. His brother, Edwin O. Parrott, occu-
pies this place with him, assisting him to some extent in its cultivation.
Mr. Parrott has been in the west since he was eighteen years old. Born
"May 6, 1846, at Rushville, in Schuyler county. 111., he is one of the eight
children of Thomas Jefiferson and Virginia (Henley) Parrott, the former a
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 213
native of Virginia, the latter of Lexington, Ky. The father was ten years
older than the mother, and both parents lived to the age of seventy-eight. Of
the family, Virginia, now nearly eighty years old, is unmarried, and lives on
the old Parrott home place in Schuyler county, 111.; Samuel died in infancy;
Cornelius died in infancy ; Thomas died in Sioux City, Iowa (where he con-
ducted a feed store), leaving a wife and two children; Julius has had a suc-
cessful life and is now living in retirement at Rushville, 111. ; Benjamin Robert
is next in the family ; Cornelia is unmarried and living at the old home place ;
Edwin Othello, born July 10, 1853, was for many years in the service of th<!
Southern Pacific Railroad Company as brakeman and conductor, and is now
making his home with his brother on the ranch in Lake county.
Benjamin Robert Parrott had rather limited advantages in his youth,
but he had plenty of practical experience to prepare him for life. When only
a young man of eighteen years he started across the plains with one hundred
and eighteen head of horses and two mules, arriving at Virginia City, Nev..
June 11, 1864. It was not easy to find employment, and though he was ready
to take anything he could get in the way of honest work, he once went without
a bite to eat for three days while looking for something to do. He finally took
a job as car pusher. When he came to California he arrived in Nevada county
without a cent, and he went to work on a ranch for a dollar a day. The
employment was not steady, and when not working he was charged $1 a
day for board. After a time he went to Todd's valley, in Placer county, this
state, where he followed mining, running a placer mine. He also worked in
the hydraulic mines, receiving $3 a day and his board, and remained at that
location for one year. Thus he went from place to place in the state, search-
ing for his uncle, Robert Hendley, and finally found he had gone to the Reese
river, where he contracted mountain fever. From there Mr. Hendley then
returned to Yolo county, where he died, and Mr. Parrott found his grave, at
Knights Landing. In 1887 Mr. Parrott arrived in Lake county, locating upon
the tract where he has since made his home, and filing upon one hundred and
sixty acres as his preemption. Although he had only $9.50 in money when he
settled here, he has made his way ahead steadily, proved up on his land and
paid for it, and continued to improve it from year to year, having a comfort-
able house, barns, fences and a commercial orchard of fourteen acres. His
orchards now contain sixteen hundred trees. The fourteen acres are planted
principally in prunes, and Mr. Parrott has had abundant crops, his fruit net-
ting him a good income. As he has done all the work himself, clearing the
land from its primitive state, setting out the trees, cultivating and gathering
his crops, he has accomplished considerable, and he is respected by all his
neighbors for the steady industry which has been necessary to bring his
property into its present condition. All that he owns has been gained by hard
work, and he well deserves the prosperity that his years of application havo
finally brought. His brother is like himself a man of estimable character, anri
they are well liked among their fellow citizens. They keep bachelors' hall on
the farm, being the only members of their family now in this section.
Mr. Parrott was married in San- Francisco, and the only child born of
the union, Harry T., is deceased. He is a member of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, belonging to the lodge at Kelseyville, and though not per-
sonally active in public aflfairs is interested in the success of the Republican
party, which he supports with his ballot.
214 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
EDWARD HENRY LONG.— A keen, perceptive mind, a natural busi-
ness ability and an unfailing sense of honor have been the attributes which
have brought Edward Henry Long success, and added to this he has a genial,
unselfish and sympathetic nature which manifests itself in his every day
life to such an extent as to bring him many warm friends and a wide patronage
in his mercantile business. His experiences have been many, filled with
hardships and failures to discourage a less stalwart heart than Mr. Long's,
but he has faced them one by one with unflinching determination to win and,
though still in his prime, he has reached a prominent position in his vicinity
which few have attained.
Born August 22, 1881, in Potter valley, Mendocino county, Mr. Long
is the only child living of a family of four born to Thomas E. and Ida M.
(Carner) Long. His father was a stockman, farmer and merchant, and was
surpervisor of the Third District of Mendocino county at the time of his
death. Edward Henry was a mere child when he was taken to Santa Bar-
bara, where his parents made their home for four years, and then returned
to Mendocino county, locating in Rovmd valley. Here his father purchased
thirty acres of land, which was unimproved, and at once set to work to clear
it and put it in shape for cultivation. As the son grew older he was sent to •
the neighborhood grammar school, which course he completed, meanwhile
assisting his father on the farm during spare hours. Later he took a course
in Sweet's Business College at Santa Rosa, from which he was graduated,
and then returned home to work with his father in his store in Covelo, and
after his father's demise he assumed charge of his alYairs. To make matters
worse, the store burned to the ground a short time afterwards. Being a
total loss, he wound up the business, and in the spring of 1903 moved to
Lake county and remained at Witters Spring for some time, his health having
failed him, and the change and rest soon restored him to his normal self. He
removed to Willits and for a time worked as clerk in a store, later spending a
few months in L^kiah, whence he returned to Round valley and worked at
farming. A short time later he purchased from his mother a half interest
in the home ranch and for three years met with great success in farming that
land, making his chief occupation the raising of hogs. However, in Novem-
ber, 1911, he sold out his interest and moved to Covelo. where January 6,
1911, he had bought a half interest in a general merchandise store, now known
as Long & Biggar, and which business is now his present field of energy. Here
his excellent business judgment, his energy and industrious application to
matters of moment have been the means of bringing good results, and he
enjoys the respect of his fellow business men throughout the county.
Independent in politics, while primarily a Democrat, Mr. Long believes
m voting for the man he deems best fitted for the ofifice, and he has proven
himself a conscientious and active citizen wherever local matters have been
concerned. He believes in the making of permanent improvements in the
town where his interests are centered, and has built a new, modern residence
at a convenient distance from the business center. While not a member
of any church, he believes in their influence for moral good and lends his sup-
port to them as well as the Sunday schools. He married December 18, 1905,
Alice Hurt, who was born in Lake county, and five children have been born
to them : Harold, Gerald, Thomas, Joseph and Leta Alice.
.MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 217
NATHANIEL WARREN KENT.— That it is possible to secure a sub-
stantial degree of success in Mendocino county the prosperity of Mr. Kent
abundantly proves, for he is the owner of a large and well-improved ranch
two and one-half miles south of the village of Mendocino in the Little River
district, and is extensively engaged in stock-raising, dairying and kindred
industries. Recently he has added a creamery to his other enterprises. The
plant is modern and well-equipped. The quality of the output is indicated by
the statement that he has received the highest awards for his butter at local
fairs. In the creamery as in every other department connected with the farm
thrift, sanitation and intelligence predominate. The oversight of the owner
is everywhere in evidence. In the selection of stock for his dairy he exercises
the most careful judgment in securing the best Jersey blood and in this way
he is building up a very valuable herd.
Perhaps the prominence of Mr. Kent in agricultural circles is due in some
degree to the fact that he has been a lifelong resident of Mendocino county
and the son of an honored pioneer family. His father, William Henry Kent,
who was born in Mount Vernon, Me., came to California in 1851 via the
Isthmus to San Francisco. His first venture in the west was in the mines,
but it was not a success, and by the time he was reduced to four bits he
concluded it was time to seek other employment. His familiarity with logging
in Alaine induced him to seek similar work in Mendocino county. At first he
engaged in logging on Big river, and eventually he became camp boss. In
1857 he bought a squatter's claim from Mr. Beall, and this he improved and
continued to make his home until his death. He was greatly interested in
Toad-building, often using his own teams to carry out projects that he deemed
essential, and he served one term as supervisor of his district. In maidenhood
his wife was Miss Charlotte Cofren, of Vienna, Me., and her mother was
Sarah Greeley, a member of the same family as Horace Greeley. Mr. and
Mrs. Kent were married in Maine and in 1855 Mrs. Kent came by way of
Panama to Cloverdale, Cal., from there riding horseback on the Indian trail
to Mendocino county. Only two white women had preceded her here. The
history of the Kent family in this country is traced back to the first settlement
made in Connecticut in 1640, from there going back to the twelfth century in
England. To William H. Kent and his wife two children were born, Everett
William, who died in 1902, and Nathaniel W., whose name heads this sketch,
.^t the old homestead on Little river, where Nathaniel W. Kent was born.
June 10, 1864, he learned the rudiments of agriculture and acquired skill in
the care of stock. A course of study in Heald's Business College, San Francisco,
cpialified him for commercial affairs. His mother died September 2, 1891, and
his father passed away January 25, 1906, leaving to him the ranch of four
hundred and ninety-six acres at Bridgeport and two hundred and seventy
of the old home place at Little River. The example of the father was fol-
lowed by the son. who gave considerable attention first to sheep and later to
dairying. Through energj- and patience he has developed one of the finest
dairies in the district and the enterprise is proving profitable as well as
popular. For a number of years his father had the largest butchering busi-
ness in Northern California and our subject aided him in the business. He
had charge of the slaughter house on the ranch, and killed thirty cattle a week
for a time. His Jersey herd has been bred to a high grade, representing the
St. Lambert strain largely. .\ part of the ranch is devoted to intensified farm-
218 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
ing, large crops of peas and beets being raised and furnishing feed the year
around.
The Kent farm house is said to be one of the finest country homes in
Mendocino county. The home is presided over graciously by Mrs. Kent, for-
merly Mary Emma Phelps, a native of Owatonna, Minn., born May 16, 1868,
the daughter of Oriville and Mary (Butterfield) Phelps, born in New York
and Michigan respectively. About 1884 the family came to California, but in
the fall of 1887 Miss Phelps returned to Minnesota, and there the following
year she became the bride of Mr. Kent, their marriage being solemnized June
1, 1888. Seven children were born of their union, namely: Dwight N. of
Vallejo; Ralph L., deceased; William Howard; Ruth, Donald, Edith and
Florence. Mr. Kent was made a jNlason in INIendocino Lodge No. 179, F. &
A. M., and with his wife is a member of Ocean View Chapter, No. Ill, O. E.
S. The family are associated with the Presbyterian Church in religious affili-
ations. Active in politics, Mr. Kent has been chosen delegate to local con-
ventions of the Republican party and has been influential in promoting its
interests. Both as a neighbor and as a farmer he stands high. His popu-
larity results from a lifetime of devotion to the interests of the community and
a progressive spirit that inspires him to advocate all measures for the general
welfare. To such men as he the county is indebted for past progress and
future prospects.
HIRAM KENNEDY. — Within the spacious bounds of the Kennedy
ranch in Long vallev may be found an establishment so complete in every
detail that it should be the pride of its owner, who has been a pioneer in that
region in more respects than one. He has occupied his home tract there since
1859, and is now one of the largest land owners in the locality, principally
engaged in the raising of cattle and hog? for the beef and pork market. But
for a period of twenty-nine years he was extensively interested in dairying,
in which line he was perhaps the first farmer east of Clear Lake to meet with
enough profitable success to justify his continuing it. He has made and sold
tons of first-class butter, and in the early days of the Bartlett Springs Resort
in Lake county supplied the dairy products used there, to which fact doubtless
much of its popularity was due, as it was famous for the excellence of its
table. Mr. Kennedy is a "Yankee" by birth, and though most of his long
life — he is now in his eightieth year — has been spent in California, he still
"etains many typical New England qualities, not only the thrift and pride of
independence, but also the keenness of intellect and ingenuity which marks
the true sons of that section. His energetic personality, alert bearing and
physical activity evince the executive ability which has made his many
achievements possible.
New Hampshire is Mr. Kennedy's native state, and he is of the fourth
generation of his family in this country, his great-grandfather, James Ken-
nedy, having been born in Londonderry, Ireland, from which country he came
to America. He made a settlement in what is now Hillsboro county, N. H.,
near the Unconono mountains. The first white child born at Gofifstown, that
state, was Thomas Kennedy, a cousin of James Kennedy (father of Hiram
Kennedy), to which fact the inscription on the shaft of native slatestone
which marks his grave bears witness. One of Hiram Kennedy's aunts bore
the maiden name of Louisa Stark, and she was a granddaughter of General
Stark of Revolutionary fame, who lies buried at Manchester, N. H. James
I
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 219
Kennedy, grandfather of Hiram Kennedy, was born at Gofifstown, as was his
father, James Kennedy, Jr. The latter was engaged as a sawmill man at
Gofifstown until he came to California among the "argonauts of '49," making
the trip around the Horn in the bark "Chester," which proved to be a very
slow vessel, the tedious, stormy voyage consuming nine months. He landed
at San Francisco in April, 1850, and engaged in placer mining until joined
by his son a few years later, eventually entering into agricultural work with
him, and he died at his son Hiram's home in Long valley some years ago,
lacking only five months of completing his ninetieth year. He had married
Phoebe Robie, who was a native of Maine, their marriage taking place at
Gofifstown, N. H., where she died at the age of fifty-three. Six children were
born to this union, Clarinda, Diantha, Roberta, Hiram, Almus and Esther.
Clarinda died in 1893. Diantha, who is also deceased, married William
Moody, a sea captain, and lived in Boston, Mass. ; she had two children.
Roberta, deceased, married James Colby, a farmer, and had one child ; they
lived at Dunbarton, near Gofifstown. Almus, a veteran of the Civil war, was
a painter until his retirement ; he married Miss Belle Wilson, of Davis, Cal.,
where they now reside ; they have no living children. Esther is the wife of
Albert F. Morrell, a prominent resident of the Morgan valley, and they have
had five children.
Hiram Kennedy was born at Goffstown, N. H., November 20, 1834, and
obtained his education in the public schools there. When sixteen he went to
work for the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company at Manchester, N. H., and
he gained a very thorough knowledge of boilermaking and machinist work
under his boss, Mr. Farrier, a highly competent man, who turned out some
fine locomotive boilers. By that time Mr. Kennedy's father had gone to
California, and the youth did the best he could to make his own living and
also help his mother, trying so earnestly that although he had a very severe
boss he worked his way up steadily, himself becoming head of the shop. At
the age of nineteen he left to follow his father to the west, expecting to join
him at Volcanoville, where the family had last heard from him, and where
he was following placer mining. Bidding good-bye to his mother and the
rest of the home folks, he sailed from New York on the steamer "George
Law" to Aspinwall, and crossed the isthmus, being obliged to go eleven miles
of the way on foot. At Panama he embarked on the "Sonora" for San Fran-
cisco, where he arrived after a twenty-six days' journey from New York City,
which he had left August 4, 1854. The voyage up the coast from Panama
was marked by many unpleasant experiences. Cholera claimed twelve of the
passengers, and sixty miles below San Francisco the boat ran on a rock, but
managed to get away and finish the trip. Mr. Kennedy proceeded at once
to Volcanoville, only to learn that his father had gone to Shasta county.
Being out of money, the young man took a position at the "Illinois House," a
Dutch hotel on J street, Sacramento, with a man named Merker, and worked
there three months liefore he found where his father was. They met at Dicks-
bury, and from that time mined together in Butte and Plumas counties. The
father was about discouraged, believing the mines were played out, and after
following that work for a few years more they resolved to try their fortunes
in land and agricultural operations.
When Mr. Kennedy and his father came into Lake county in 1859 they
had but eighteen hundred dollars between them, and they put thirteen hundred
220 MEXDOCI.XO AND LAKE COUNTIES
dollars into their first purchase, acquiring a possessory right in one hundred
and sixty acres. They bought from the original settlers, Ben Knights and a
Mr. Willis, known as Knights & Willis, and later had the land surveyed,
acquiring the patent from the government. At that time James Kennedy and
his sons Hiram and Almus each took up one hundred and sixty acres, Hiram
Kennedy afterward pre-empting one hundred and sixty acres and homestead-
ing a tract of eighty acres. His other one hundred and sixty consisted of lieu
lands. His holdings at present, including land he has bought from the govern-
ment and others, aggregate a little less than two thousand acres. The story
of his busy life betv^een his arrival in Long valley and the present is one of
constant effort, yet he also found time for hunting in the early days and
missed none of the experiences which constitute the "atmosphere" of a region
opening gradually from its primitive state to one of advanced development.
Few men know more of the typical phases of life in the early days than he.
and few have taken more interest or pains to preserve relics and valuable
mementoes of those times.
At the time he commenced dairying Mr. Kennedy took in a working
partner, J. Durst, with whom he was associated for two years, since when
he has been in business on his own account except as his sons have become
interested with him. His large dairy was a profitable venture throughout
the twent}--nine years he made a specialty of that branch, but he has given it
up to devote all his attention to the raising of beef and pork, in which he deals
extensively. He has one hundred and twenty-five head of cattle and one
hundred and fifty hogs on hand as a rule, has facilities for killing, scalding
and cutting over fifty hogs a day, and also has a large smokehouse, sometimes
curing hams and bacon from as many as one hundred hogs in a year. His
product is high class and much in demand in the local market. All the opera-
tions are conducted in the most systematic modern manner, the equipment
on the place being conspicuously perfect in every detail, for his son Albert
is an all-around electrical engineer and machinist, and he and his father
manage all the repair work of every kind necessary on the ranch. Wagons,
machinerj' of various kinds, and everything about the place are kept in first-
class order, facilitating the work immensely. A waterworks system has been
installed, so that the barns, cattle and hay yards, house and wash rooms are
supplied with an unlimited flow of pure mountain water, and power is fur-
nished for running a grindstone and the dynamo for electric lighting. The
machine shop is well equipped with drills, lathes, and woodworking and iron-
working machinery. Mr. Kenned}- has rebuilt his home, but a number of
the timbers which his father hewed out for the original building still remain.
It is a commodious and comfortable house, unpretentious, but suggesting
the generous scale on which all his work has been carried on.
In his machine shop Mr. Kennedy has quite a collection of traps, in-
cluding a grizzly bear steel trap about seven feet long, which was made by
the pioneer blacksmith at Lower Lake, Mr. Tremper, in the early days. Hunt-
ing was his principal recreation for a number of years after he settled here,
and he has killed grizzly, cinnamon, brown and black bears in Long valley,
his house being decorated with rugs from the hides of bears, deer, panthers,
foxes and other wild animals he has hunted. He has also preserved carefully
the skulls of different varieties of native wild animals, such as bears, panthers,
etc.. while dozens of deer antlers tell the storv of his successes. However, he
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 221
has relinquished this sport, and he allows no shooting on his own premises, a
fact which the deer seem to have learned, for they browse there unafraid,
seeming to understand the full freedom and absolute protection assured them,
from deer hounds as well as from hunters. In consequence, herds of deer
may be observed from the porch of Mr. Kennedy's residence with the aid of
a telescope almost any day, grazing in large numbers, from twenty to fifty
together. He is indeed a typical member of the stock from which he springs.
Many of the Kennedys have been educators, many have shown a genius for
mechanics, and many like himself have been successful farmers and financiers,
large landowners and influential members of the communities in which their
lots have been cast.
In the year 1872 Mr. Kennedy married Miss Rose Wilson, of Davisville,
Yolo county, Cal., daughter of Alexander and Eliza (Cronk) Wilson, the
father a native of England, the latter born in New York, of Holland-Dutch
descent. They came to California from Pennsylvania (in which state Mrs.
Kennedy was born) in 1863, sailing from New York and crossing the conti-
nent by the Nicaragua route, and Mrs. Kennedy was brought up in Yolo
county. Three children have been born of this marriage: Alexander W.,
mentioned more at length below ; Milo Russell, a physician and surgeon oi
Eagleville, Modoc county, this state, who married Winona .'Kdams and has
three children, Mabel, Milo and Thomas ; and Albert H., also mentioned later.
Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy are both prominent in 'Masonic circles, his mem-
bership being with Lower Lake Lodge, No. 183, F. & A. M., and with the
Royal Arch Chapter ; he has been a master I\Iason for fifty years. Mrs. Ken-
nedy is a member of Lower Lake Chapter, No. 231, O. E. S., and is one of its
past matrons. Politically. Mr. Kennedy has been a Republican in sentiment,
hut party affairs have never engaged much of his attention, though he is in-
terested thoroughly in public movements. In his eightieth year, he is still
■.vorking and enjoying his work, and he is blessed with good health, though
he has had his share of misfortune in that respect, having in the course of
his life had six accidents, runaways, etc. Though seriously injured more than
once, he has recovered completely, so far as permanent effects are concerned.
Alexander W. Kennedy, eldest son of Hiram Kennedy, was born at the
Kennedy homestead May 19, 1873, and has spent his whole life in Long valley.
The home place, with its varied and numerous interests, has always ofTered
plenty of outlet for his energies and business ability, and from the time he
was able to help he became his father's mainstay there. His own house,
barns, etc., are located about half a mile above his parents' home in Long
valley, and he has one hundred acres in his own name, besides a homestead
of one hundred and sixty acres which he has taken up. General farming,
principally stock raising, has occupied his attention, and his industrious appli-
cation to everything he undertakes, as well as his unassuming but reliable
character, have made a substantial place for him in the good will of his neigh-
bors and friends everywhere. His sense of fairness and justice are recognized
by all who have had dealings with him, in any of the relations of life. Any-
thing that tends to benefit the general welfare finds his encouragement and
support ready, and he is a worthy representative of the name he bears. Mr.
Kennedy was married about ten years ago to Miss ^lary Schindler, of High
vallev, and thev have two children. Svlvan and Bertha.
222 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Albert H. Kennedy, youngest son of Hiram Kennedy, was born October
15, 1878, on the old Kennedy homestead place in Long valley, and grew up
there amid conditions which were a constant incentive to one of his mechani-
cal turn. He attended school in Long valley, and afterward took a course at
Van der Naillen's school of engineering in San Francisco, attending there
for a year and a half, and graduating in 1902. Going to Monterey county, he
took a position with the Spreckels Sugar Company, which he held for nine
months, at the end of that time going to San Francisco again, doing drafting
and electrical engineering. His next change was to the employ of the Alaska
Packers' Association, for which he went to Naknek, Bristol Bay, Alaska, as
electrician, remaining there five months. The next spring he went up again
and stayed for a year and a half, in the employ of the same company, and on
his return to San Francisco took a position at Santa Rosa with the Pacific
Gas and Electric Corporation, with which he continued a year and a half. A
defective switch caused an accident in which he had his hands badly burned
and came within an ace of death, and this experience made him decide to
make farming his life work thereafter. He has a homestead of one hundred
and sixty acres adjoining part of the Hiram Kennedy land, his own and his
brother's and father's holdings totaling about twenty-five hundred acres,
principally devoted to stock, grain and hay farming, with the production of
beef and pork as a specialty. Here he has had abundant opportunity to work
out many of his own ideas in mechanical lines, besides adapting the best of
others' minds. His mechanical ability is universally recognized, and he has
been made manager of the Associated Farmers' Telephone lines of Lower
Lake, a sort of co-operative arrangement among the local farmers, each valley
having its own line, and all uniting to maintain a central exchange at Lower
Lake, where two operators are engaged. The day service is from seven in
the morning until eight at night.
In 1909 Mr. Kennedy married Miss Daisy Brady, of Davis, Yolo county,
and they have one child, James Burnell. Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy are interested
keenly in Masonic work, Mr. Kennedy being the present master of Clear
Lodge, No. 183, F. & A. M., at Lower Lake, serving his fourth year in that
position ; he and his wife belong to Lower Lake Chapter, No. 231, O. E. S.
MRS. ROSA D. EXLEY.— Of old and honored southern lineage, Mrs.
Exley was born near Elizabethtown, Hardin county, Ky., and is a daughter of
the late Rev. C. S. and Nancy (Daugherty) Daugherty, who, although bearing
the same name, came from families entirely unrelated. For sixty years, from
early manhood until his death at a venerable age, Mr. Daugherty gave the
most efficient and self-sacrificing service to the Methodist Episcopal Church
South, whose ministry he adorned and whose doctrines he upheld with intel-
ligent zeal. Meanwhile he owned and managed his fine plantation of one
thousand acres near Elizabethtown, where were wont to gather fellow-
ministers to receive practical counsel and cheerful encouragement from this
learned man of the church. His devotion to his family was equalled only by
his love of the church, and he gave to wife and children the affectionate atten-
tions that gave him the first place in the heart of eacli. There were five chil-
dren and three of these are still living, Mrs. Exley being the youngest child
and the only daughter. So rapid was her advancement under the capable
AlENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 223
training of her father that at the age of sixteen she was qualified to teach
school, and for seven years she followed that profession with commendable
zeal and noteworthy success.
There had been two brothers of Rev. C. S. Daugherty who were attracted
to California by the lure of the gold fields. The second of these left Kentucky
early in 1857 and undoubtedly perished on the plains, but no word of his
fate ever came back to the waiting relatives. The other brother, Benjamin,
had crossed the plains in 1855 on muleback and had arrived in Sacramento
with fifty cents as his total capital. Fortunately he secured work at once
with a lumber company and was paid $8 per day. Soon he drifted to the
mines at Marysville, but did not find the hoped-for fortune in the camp or
river bed. Directing his attention to the. acquisition of land, he became a
pioneer of Little Lake valley, Mendocino county, and took up one hundred
rind sixty acres of government land near the present site of Willits. There
he remained until his death in 1883. All through this part of the country
he was known as General Daugherty, the title coming from his skillful re-
sistance of Indian attacks on the plains, where he so shrewdly and success-
fully outgeneraled the savages that he was given a military title among his
acquaintances. Having no family to inherit his property, it fell to the brother
in Kentucky, Rev. C. S. Daugherty, who in 1901 with his son, Robert, came
lo Mendocino county and laid out the Daugherty addition to Willits. When
the business had been settled and the addition sold Mr. Daugherty returned
to his Kentucky plantation in April, 1904, and there he passed away February
5, 1914, having survived for some years his aged wife, who died at the old
home June 28. 1908. Their daughter, Mrs. Exley, joined her father and
brother at Willits March 28, 1902, and in San Francisco November 23, 1904,
she became the wife of M. D. Exley, who was born and reared in that city.
A painter and decorator by trade, he has continued to follow the trade since
his marriage, although a portion of his time is given to the ranch owned by
Mrs. Exley and located one mile west of Willits. Two hundred and five
acres are devoted largely to pasturage, hay and grain, and stock-raising has
been made a vital part of the farm work.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Exley consists of four children, namely :
Fred Cornelius, Rosa Daugherty, Alice Roberta and Richard Martin. In
addition Mrs. Exley took into her home a lonely girl of twelve years. Rose
Kramer, who now at nineteen years is repaying the kindnesses of the past by
her own affectionate devotion to the entire family and particularly to the
small children. This act on the part of Mrs. Exley is indicative of her helpful,
kindlv and capable disposition. Brimming over with the milk of human kind-
ness, she is ever ready and anxious to assist those less fortunate than herself
and never allows an opportunity to pass for the doing of some unselfish act
in the interests of others. For years she has been a communicant of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. Descended from stanch old Democratic fore-
fathers, she is ardent in her advocacy of the same principles and takes much
interest in public affairs. To an exceptional degree she possesses business
ability and all of her interests are controlled with sagacious judgment, while
combined with this important attribute are cheerfulness under all circum-
stances, gentleness and a loyal devotion to family and friends.
224 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
JOSEPH CROCKETT HALLIDAY.— When recognition is taken of
those who have been primarily influential in the commercial, agricultural and
financial advancement of Point Arena, to none should greater tribute be paid
tlian to Joseph C. Halliday, whose energies have been given to the promotion
of the interests of this section of Mendocino county and whose influence in
this line has been prolific of results. It was here that he established head-
quarters and home in 1875 and here he has since commanded the unqualified
esteem of the entire community, his sterling character and wise business
judgment having gained for him distinctive popularity in the town to which
his loyalty is of the most insistent type. Diversified abilities have led him
into difl^erent lines of endeavor, not the least important of these being the
ownership of the stage line from Mendocino to Cazadero, Sonoma county, a
distance of ninety miles, this being the longest stage system in the entire
state. For years this line has been of the greatest convenience to people
desiring to make connection with the North Shore Railroad for San Fran-
cisco. To cover the distance in the shortest possible time about forty horses
were purchased, permitting the changing of teams five times during the jour-
ney. Provision also was made for board and lodging for travelers at seven of
the stations. The route is one of beauty and picturesqueness. At times the
road rises hundreds of feet, above the breakers and aiTords an attractive vista
of the ocean, while elsewhere it leads travelers down through green and
fertile valleys with giant redwood trees and winding rivers along whose banks
are flowers of beautiful colors and extraordinary variety. Such a trip in the
flush of spring or in the mellowing days of autumn is a delight to the eye
and a source of genuine satisfaction to the mind.
In studying the personal history of Mr. Halliday, we find that he was born
near Pictou, Nova Scotia, February 1, 1854, being a son of James and Mary
I Crockett) Halliday, and in youth an apprentice to the trade of blacksmith.
After a year as a journeyman at Pawtucket, R. I., he came by railroad to
California in 1874 and followed his trade at Mayfield, Santa Clara county.
During 1875 he came to Point Arena and bought the Hugh Graves black-
smith shop, where he and his partner, F. Mathews, did all kinds of work in
wood and iron, also made and repaired wagons and carriages. Afterward he
had other partners, being successively with F. M. Spaulding, L. Archibald and
N. P. Howe, to the last-named of whom he sold the business in 1908. For
years he has been interested in agriculture. The O. McNeil ranch, adjoining
the Point Arena lighthouse grounds, he bought in 1887, afterward purchasing
the Spaulding and Minor ranches, which gave him four hundred and fifty
acres in one body. On that place he made a specialty of dairying. At this
writing he owns fourteen hundred acres of land and conducts the dairy industry
on a large scale. Associated with W. M. Booth, H. Merrell. N. Everson
and A. McClure, he built a sawmill and carried on a lumber business for
some years at Riverside on the Garcia river. Another enterprise that engaged
his attention was the livery business at Point Arena, where with W. H. Has-
kell as partner for a time, and afterward alone, he developed a barn equipped
with fine rigs and horses and built up an excellent patronage among people
lond of the beautiful drives in the locality. Lately he has built a large garage
which is run in connection with his livery to care for the automobiles of the
motorists that are penetrating the coast country, as well as having an auto-
mobile liverv. To him may be gi\'en the credit largely for the building of tlie
Ji^. V lf}Uo. ^. ^ .(^Ou^^-^
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 227
Point Arena high school in 1908 and for the building of road Ijridges along the
coast; that is, the Garcia and Alder creek bridges, and the rebuilding of the
Gualala bridge, the latter the largest bridge in Sonoma and Mendocino
counties, replacing a structure that had been destroyed at the time of the
earthquake. During 1912 he sold out his creamery at Manchester and since
then has managed the Point Arena creamery. With the management of his
large farm and dairy interests, and with the presidency of the Bank of Point
Arena (of which he has been the leading executive since its organization in
1903) he is one of the busiest men in Mendocino county as well as one of the
most influential at Point Arena.
Through the marriage of Mr. Halliday to Kate Hiett, a native of Iowa,
Mr. Halliday became the father of ten children, namely: Mary; Albert, who
took up telegraphy as his life work ; Henry, who became connected with the
livery business of his father; Charles, Benjamin, Lawrence, Thomas, Helen,
Bertha ; and Grant ; the latter died in infancy. The fraternities of Mr. Halliday
are the Ancient Order of United Workmen ; Garcia Lodge, I. O. O. F. ; Point
Arena Lodge, F. & A. M., of which he is a past master; and Mendocino Chap-
ter, R. A. M. From boyhood he was reared in the Presbyterian church and is
;in active member of the Presbyterian church at Point Arena, being one of
the board of elders. Essentially a business man and with insistent demands
upon his time in his varied business undertakings, he has had no leisure for par-
ticipation in political affairs and is far from being a partisan in his attitude
toward problems of national importance. Alert in the promotion of every
enterprise tending to advance the general welfare of Point Arena, he has yet
been guided in judgment by due conservatism and by thoughtful study of the
subject under consideration. Progressive and patriotic, he has supported all
movements for the general welfare and is regarded as one of the solid, reliable
men of the county.
JAMES H. DENISON. — The name of Denison is closely associated with
the history of pioneer development in Lake county, one of the important early
thoroughfares there, the Upper Lake and Bartlett Springs toll road, having
been constructed by James Madison Denison, father of James H. Denison.
The latter is doing his share toward keeping the family reputation up for
live ideas and the ability to put them into execution. The good he has done
in promoting the raising of Angora goats alone would be worthy of notice
as the establishment of an industry which has already proved its worth in
the county, and his recent activities in behalf of the plan for the utilization
of the waters of Clear lake for power purposes seems likely to gain him
further recognition in his locality. He is extensively engaged in farming
and stock raising, both on the Bonham tract, where he lives, and on his own
ranch of three hundred and twenty acres located on Cache creek. He has
been a lifelong resident of the county, having been born June 23. 1876, in
Upper Lake precinct.
James Madison Denison, his father, was a native of Lawrence county,
Ohio, born November 24, 1818, and went west when a young man of eighteen
years, settling in the state of Iowa. There he followed farming until the year
1852, when he crossed the plains to California, bringing his family with him.
The journey was made by ox teams, and they arrived in Placer county in
October, Mr. Denison following mining there for several years, until his re-
moval to Lake county in 1857. Making a settlement on Middle creek, near
228 ^MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Upper Lake, he engaged in farming there until 1861, when he returned east
iind enlisted in the LTnion army, serving till the close of the war; he was first
lieutenant of Company B, 20th Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry. During
this time his family remained on the farm in California, to which he returned
in 1866, resuming farming, which he carried on successfully for several years
more. In 1875 he constructed the toll road between LTpper Lake and Bartlett
Springs, and in various other ways he was active in improving conditions in
this section, being thoroughly identified with its best interests to the close
of his life. His industrious nature and high character, and his faithful service
during the Civil war, gained him the sincere respect of the many who knew
him. and his name has a permanent place among those who helped to lay the
foundations of civilization here. He died December 8, 1876, leaving a widow,
Mary (Jewell) Denison, and eight children, viz. : Margaret E., Merritt L.
(who has not been heard from since he went to Alaska), Alice, Mary Ann,
Victoria, Laura, James Henry and Olive C. ; one child, Daniel W., is deceased.
The mother was a native of New York, and died when her son James was
thirteen years old. She and Mr. Denison were married in 1843.
James Henry Denison was about eight years old when his father died.
During his early years he lived at the Denison toll house on the Upper Lake
and Bartlett Springs road, remaining there, though not regularly, until he
reached the age of twentj^-three years, and he had charge of the station from
the time he was twenty-one until he left it permanently, about two years later,
and his first business experience was gained there. He gave it up to embark
in the industry which has since received the principal share of his attention,
the raising of Angora goats, a business which to his mind had a real future
in this region for one who would take it up seriously. That was seventeen
years ago, and he has never had any reason to regret his choice of an occupa-
tion. Though he was one of the first in Lake county to enter upon the branch
of stock raising, he has made a thorough success of it, undoubtedly because
he has not been afraid to venture his best resources upon it, but also because,
although fearless in what he tmdertakes, he has the acumen to combine
caution with progress in a distinctly advantageous manner. His work in this
line has undoubtedly been the most important factor in establishing the
Angora goat industry permanently in his section, and he has done more than
any other one person in that direction, a fact which is universally recognized,
for he is looked up to as an authority by all interested in the business. At
present he owns about twelve hundred pure bred Angora goats, and is ex-
tensively engaged in breeding. Most of his stock is kept on the Richard D.
Bonham farm, the tract of thirteen hundred acres on the Long \'alley road
where he makes his home, and which he rents from the owner, the rest being
on his own land, the three hundred and twenty acres on Cache creek. The
greater part of his time and attention is given to his stock, but he could hardly
confine himself entirely to one line, particularly as his agricultural operations
involve other interests. He was one of the most enthusiastic supporters of
the Yolo Water and Power Company's right to establish a dam and operate
a power plant to utilize the waters of Clear lake for power, he and Mr. Carl
Ebbinghauser being foremost as champions of what they believe to be a
decided force for advancement in their locality. They felt that the wealth of
water and valuable power which might be derived from the lake should not
longer be allowed to go to waste, and worked zealously while the matter was
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 229
being contested, in 1913, for a project which seems to promise to be of great
benefit. The recent decision of the State Water Commission, in favor of the
company, giving them the right to construct and maintain a dam at Cache
creek and use the same for power purposes, justifies Mr. Denison's position
in the matter as sustained by so high an authority, and reflects credit on his
foresight and his courage in advocating what he considered right in the face
of opposition. As usual, he held to his opinions in the most optimistic man-
ner. Genial, jovial and wide awake, he makes and keeps friends wherever
he goes.
Mr. Denison's marriage to Miss Mabel M. Foutch, of Lake county,
daughter of J. W. Foutch and his wife Lucretia (Knighton), took place in
1904. Mr. Foutch is a native of Iowa. To Mr. and Mrs. Denison have been
horn five children, Blanche D., Welty C, Norma Olive, James B. and Ada
Margaret. The home is a notably happy and cheerful one, and Mrs. Denison's
fine personalit}' and lovable character are its controlling elements.
GEORGE H. NEAL. — In the capacity of secretary of the Lake County
Title & Abstract Company, the leading concern of its kind in this part of
California, George H. Neal has established a reputation which augurs well
for the years he has before him. The company of which he is secretary and
one of the directors has been doing business since 1905, and its high standards
of accuracy have come to be so well recognized that it is now commanding
by far the largest proportion of local patronage, its valuable work in making
records which shall be of permanent worth being highly appreciated. This
company owns the only complete set of abstract books in Lake county.
Until he was thirteen years old Mr. Neal lived in San Francisco, where
he was born July 17, 1885, and obtained his first instruction there in the
common schools. Later he was a pupil in the Clear Lake Union high school
at Lakeport, as a member of the class of 1907. Most of his business career
has been spent in his connection with the Lake County Title & Abstract
Company, at Lakeport, and much of its success may be attributed to his
conscientious, painstaking work. In this association he has become regarded
as one of the rising young professional men of Lake county, and his com-
prehensive knowledge of land laws would form a substantial proportion of a
legal education. The study and research work he has felt necessary for the
proper performance of his duties have shown his adaptability for the pro-
fession of law, and the thoroughness and care with which he attends to the
preparation of the documents sent out from his office would make him a
successful worker in any line requiring mastery of detail. It is not likely
that there is another man in Lake county with an equal knowledge of its
land titles. Mr. Neal was made a Mason in Hartley Lodge, No. 199, F. &
A. M., in Lakeport in 1906. and stands high in Masonic circles, being the
present master of his lodge.
In 1910 Mr. Neal married Miss Anna LaMotte, a native of San Fran-
cisco and a daughter of Harry D. LaMotte, retired, of Lakeport, mention of
whom will be found elsewhere in this work. They have one child, a daughter,
Katherine. Their home is in Lakeport, where Mr. Neal's mother, Mrs. Ida
E. Neal, also resides, one of the most esteemed members of society in that
town.
230 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
REV. JOHN SIMPSON ROSS.— There is no more vital or interesting
feature of pioneer history than that afiforded by the life and work of the
clergy of the early days, whether in California or elsewhere — men who rode
through wild and rugged country to preach the gospel to the settlers, to
christen, to marry, to bury the dead, and to give spiritual comfort and help
to the sore afflicted. Such an one as this is the Rev. John S. Ross, who
since 1869 has been a resident of California, save for a brief period of fifteen
months spent in his former home in Ontario, Canada ; and during all this
time he has been actively engaged in religious work, preaching and teach-
ing in Mendocino county when it was little more than a wilderness, and do-
ing much to establish the Baptist church in this part of the state.
When Reverend Ross first came to California in 1869 it was in an effort
to regain his shattered health, and he expected to remain only during the
winter and then to return to his charge in Ontario. He located at San Pablo,
Contra Costa county, where he preached during the winter, and in the spring
his health was so much improved and he was so pleased with the climate
and general conditions that he determined to remain on the coast. Accord-
ingly he sent his resignation to his church in Ontario and took up the work
in California which was to be his labor of love for so many fruitful years.
In March, 1870, he came to Caspar, Mendocino county, and in June of the
same year his family joined him here. There was no church at Caspar at
that time, and he preached in the various private houses, and also extended
his work up and down the coast, preaching in private homes and in school
houses from Mendocino to Beall's Landing, now known as Westport. There
were no roads and no bridges above the Noyo river, and he was compelled
to travel on horseback over the trails, which were often rough and dangerous,
and to swim the rivers and creeks. He had many narrow escapes from acci-
dents and even from death, but the love of the work and of the cause which
he represented were deep in his heart and he pressed onward without thought
of fear or faltering. In these early days when there were few ministers and
fewer churches the denominational lines were loosely drawn, and for nearly
a year Reverend Ross, though himself a Baptist, preached for the Presby-
terian congregation in Mendocino.
It was in 1874 that he organized the Baptist church in Caspar, and a
few years later the organization was able to build a church edifice, and for
thirty-five years he was pastor of the congregation. During all these years
he also preached along the coast from Navarro to Usal. His career has been
full of interest and many unique experiences have fallen to his lot. He has
preached more than three hundred funeral sermons, and has united more
than three hundred couples in marriage. There is no possible way of even
estimating the number of sick and dying that he has visited up and down
the coast, nor yet of the number of sermons that he has delivered in out-of-
the-way places and under unusual circumstances, for he never missed an
opportunity to do either, and no record was ever kept of such occasions —
they were all a part of the day's work.
Other churches organized and built by the Reverend Ross are the Bap-
tist churches at Kibesilah and at Westport, and also at Fort Bragg. Of
this latter he was also the pastor for the first five years of its life. In all
of these various places he had organized Sunday schools in the early days
/
iU<}—^
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 233
before the churches were built, and so laid the foundation for the later work
by a steady growth through preceding years.
A call from Tiverton, Bruce county, Ontario, came to Reverend Ross
in 1875 and he accepted, returning at once to the Canadian city. He re-
mained but fifteen months, however, coming back to California at the end
of that time, on account of the ill health of Mrs. Ross's mother.
Reverend Ross is a native of Scotland, having been born near Tain, Ross
shire, March 31, 1834. His father was William Ross, also a native of Ross
shire, and his mother was Elizabeth Simpson. While the Reverend Ross was
still a lad he was left an orphan. He continued to reside in Scotland, where
he received his early education, learning to read and write both the English
and Gaelic language. His knowledge of the Gaelic has been carefully kept
up, and today he is as much a scholar in this language as in English. In
1847 he came to Ottawa, Ontario, where he continued to attend school. His
uncle, John Ross, with whom he made his home, desired that he should learn
the tinner's trade, but there was no opportunity for an apprenticeship at
the time so he learned the shoemaker's trade instead. He served for four
years under one man and mastered every detail of the trade, but did not enjoy
it, so after a short time gave it up. After this he followed various occupa-
tions until he began his studies for the ministry, earning the money mean-
while for his schooling. After graduating from the Toronto Normal school
he began teaching, following this profession for five years, and thus earning
his way through college. He spent two years at the Collegiate University
at Ottawa, and then entered the W^oodstock College, in Ontario, where he
completed his course in theology, graduating in 1863, and at Thurso, Canada,
September 24, 1863, he was ordained a minister in the Baptist church and
immediately took up his religious work. He was pastor of two churches on
the Ottawa river, one in Clarence, Ontario, and the other in Thurso, Quebec,
from 1862 to 1869, when on account of broken health he came to California.
The marriage of Mr. Ross occurred in Glengarry county, Ontario, Sep-
tember 15, 1864, uniting him with Miss Jane Ralston, the daughter of Robert
and Ann (Gordon) Ralston, natives of Scotland, and early settlers in Bran-
don, Quebec, where their daughter Jane was born. Mrs. Ross has borne her
husband five children, all of whom are still living and are residents of Men-
docino county, where they are well and favorably known. They are William
H., who is a farmer and supervisor of the fourth district in Mendocino county;
John S., manager of the Mendocino'Lumber Company; Elizabeth, now Mrs.
Ross-Miller; Robert, farming with his brother William H. ; and Anne. All
of the family, with the exception of John S., reside on the home farm near
Cleone, thus making a practically unbroken family circle.
The Reverend Ross is so well known throughout JNIendocino county
tJiat there is scarcely a section where the mention of his name, especially
among the older settlers, will not recall some event of an early day, and
bring forth some kindly word of praise for the aged preacher. The Baptist
church owes much to this earnest, conscientious and God fearing man for his
splendid service, and those v/ho came under his ministrations remember him
with deep love and reverence.
"WILLIAM H. ROSS.— The severest test to which the standing of a
man among his fellows can be given is the test of public service, especially
when the office lies within the gift of the people themselves; and when a
234 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
man can successfully stand this test it is a pretty definite proof that he is
four-square. And this is the case with William H. Ross, supervisor of the
fourth district for Mendocino county, for his service has been of such a nature
that even his political opponents have been compelled to concede that he is
the right man in the right place, and that the county is more than fortunate
to have him in this capacity.
]Mr. Ross is a native of Canada, having been born at Clarence, on the
Ottawa river, in Ontario, June 25, 1866. He is the son of the Rev, John
S. Ross, whose sketch precedes this. William H., the eldest of five children,
came to Mendocino county with his parents in 1870. His boyhood days were
spent here, and his education received in the public schools of the county.
After the completion of his education he engaged in teaming and contract-
ing with different lumber companies, being with the Mendocino Lumber Com-
pany for nine years.
It was in 1896 that Mr. Ross, together with other members of his family,
purchased the ranch on which he now makes his home. This property lies
about one-half mile above Cleone, and consists of some two thousand acres,
fronting on the Pacific. It is especially well adapted for stockraising, and
shortly after its purchase Mr. Ross gave up his other interests and with his
brothers engaged in farming and stockraising on the new property, the ven-
ture proving a success.
In 1912 Mr. Ross became the Republican candidate for supervisor of
the fourth district and was duly elected for the term commencing January,
1913. This is the largest district in the county, and the care of the mountain
roads requires much time and effort ; but in spite of these facts the service
of the new supervisor is proving pre-eminently satisfactory, and everywhere
within the district, which extends from Salmon creek on the south to the
Humboldt county line on the north, are to be found evidences of his ability
to take care of the work devolving upon him, and consequent appreciation
of the residents.
PIETRO MARTELLA. — Many of the citizens who have helped to make
Alendocino county the growing and expanding place it is today have come
from sunny Italy, and among them is Pietro Martella, the proprietor of the
new Piedmont hotel in Fort Bragg. He was born at Locarno, Canton Ticino,
Switzerland, July 25, 1864, and was there reared on his father's farm, being
educated in the public schools. In 1889»he came to California and spent the
first two years on a dairy at Bodega. Sonoma county, then coming to Fort
Bragg, Mendocino county. Here he engaged in making ties for the Fort
Bragg Lumber Company, then for their successors, the L'nion Lumber Com-
pany. He subsequently concluded to engage in ranching and purchased a
farm five miles from Fort Bragg, which he operated for four years.
Mr. Martella engaged in the hotel business in Fort Bragg as proprietor
of the Italia hotel, but four years later he sold it and leased the new Piedmont
hotel in partnership with John Zaina. The latter was born in Lombardy,
Italy, and came to Mendocino county in 1900. They equipped the hotel with
new furnishings and it is modern and up-to-date in every way.
Mr. Martella was married in Fort Bragg, being united with Jennie
Provibali, who died in Fort Bragg in December, 1913. Fraternally Mr. Mar-
tella is a member of the Druids and politically is a Republican.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 237
HON. JOHN W. PRESTON.— Judging: from the prominence attained
by Hon. John W. Preston in the legal affairs of California it might be sur-
mised that fortuitous circumstances surrounded him throughout his career,
and that his appointment to the office of district attorney of the Northern
District of California was the natural outcome of such conditions. Such was
not the case, however, for all that he has attained has come to him as the
result of his own efforts and a noble determination to attain excellence in
whatever he attempted. This standard of life was established in his youth
and was clearly exemplified in the singleness of purpose followed during his
school days, for he took advantage of every opportunity for acquiring knowl-
edge that it was in the power of his parents to bestow.
Woodbury, Cannon county, Tenn., was the birthplace of John W.
Preston, and this was also the birthplace of his father. Hugh L. Preston, the
present president of the First National Bank of that city, and the careers of
both men have been identified with the most consistent and trustworthy
public men of the community. John W. Preston was reared in the home of
his parents, Hugh L. and Thankful C. (Doak) Preston, his birth having
occurred May 14, 1877. For many years the father was county judge of
Cannon county, Tenn., was also at one time sheriff of the county, besides
which he served acceptably in both houses of the legislature of that state.
John W. Preston received his elementary education in the public schools
of his native place, later attending Burritt College, from which he graduated
in 1894 with the degree of A. B. He carried off the honors of his class in
being the youngest addition to the alma mater in the history of the institution.
Following his graduation he further pursued his studies by taking a post-
graduate course in Bethany (W. Va.) College, continuing in that institution
for one year. Close observation, a natural tendency to study and a quick,
ready intellect contributed to his excellent standing, and the study of law
was the natural result of his search for a professional career suited to his
abilities and equipment. Before his admission to the bar he practiced in
Cannon and Van Buren counties, Tenn., and was regularly admitted to the
supreme court of that state in 1897, while yet in his nineteenth year. From
that date his career in the legal world broadened and grew, bringing to him
important cases which he was specially qualified to handle. Dispatch in his
decisions and satisfaction to his clients brought him into high repute, and he
was at once in possession of the high esteem and confidence of all who had
trusted their complicated legal affairs to him.
It was in 1902 that ]\Ir. Preston inaugurated the L^kiah Guarantee,
Abstract and Title Company, of which his brother, H. L. Preston, Jr., was
secretary, and which became recognized as one of the most solid financial
institulions in this section of the country. The business was sold out in 1911.
Mr. Preston came to Mendocino county in 1899, and almost immediately he
was as well established in his profession here as he could have hoped to be
had he twice his years and experience to his credit. His sagacity and clear
understanding of the law and forceful and honorable execution of all matters
that came to him formed the entering wedge that paved the wa}^ to his ap-
pointment in 1913, by President Woodrow Wilson, as United States district
attorney for the Northern District of California, and the masterful way he
has filled the position demonstrates the wisdom of the appointment.
The law firm of Preston & Preston, with headquarters in Ukiah. is com-
josed of John \\". Preston and his brother, H. L. Preston. Jr.. and their
238 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
large clientele is not confined to that city and its vicinity, but extends
throughout Northern California.
In politics John W. Preston is a Democrat, a man of progressive and
liberal views on all questions that affect the well-being of town, state or
nation. He served as a member and chairman of the central committee of
his native county in Tennessee, and in the same capacity he also served for
several years in Mendocino county. In 1908 he was elected to the state
legislature by a majority of four hundred and eighteen over a popular op-
ponent in a Republican county of over twelve hundred majority. Like him-
self, Mr. Preston's brothers are all self-made men who have achieved success,
all being bankers of well-known repute, and with them he is interested in
three institutions in Tennessee and two in Mendocino county, the latter the
Fort Bragg Commercial Bank, of which he is a director, and the Willits Com-
mercial Bank.
Mr. Preston's marriage united him with Miss Sarah Rucker, a native of
Nashville, Tenn., and member of a well-known Southern family, their mar-
riage occurring in the south, in 1902. Two children have been born to them,
Elizabeth and John W., Jr.
SHAFTER MATHEWS.— Throughout his entire boyhood Mr. Mathews
had no advantages except such as his determination and energy made possible.
His first chance to attend school came when he was eleven, and after fifteen
he had only such opportunities as studying at night offered, supplemented by
a course in the Chautauqua reading circle and such other forms of self-help
as ambition grasps. There was no form of manual labor too difficult for his
energetic efforts, but with characteristic foresight he realized the future value
to him of a good education and he employed spare hours in broadening his
fund of general information. Politics interested him from youth and always
he has been a stanch Democrat. Since 1902 by successive re-elections he has
filled the office of county clerk. The records in his office show that according
to the 1910 census Lake county then had a population of fifty-five hundred
and twenty-six, while the population of Lakeport was eight hundred and
seventy. In his belief the population will be greatly increased with the build-
ing of the Clear Lake Railroad, and his faith in that project caused him to
become a stockholder in the company. Lake county has been noted for its
observance of law and order. From November, 1908, to November, 1909,
there were only three criminal cases in the superior court; from November,
1909. to November of 1910, six criminal cases; from November, 1910 to 1911,
.one violation of the fish law; 1911 to 1912, one criminal case; 1912 to 1913,
eight criminal cases.
Among the gold-seekers whom the great discovery of gold brought to
Hangtown in 1850 was William Mathews, a native of Indiana and a member
of an old Virginia family. Shortly after his arrival he found that there was
little hope for him of securing a fortune in the mines, and as early as 1853
he came to Lake county to seek employment as a day laborer. During 1864
he settled at Lower Lake, where he teamed and cut timber in the woods.
Later removals took him to other points, but eventually he returned to Lower
Lake, and there he died in 1904 at the age of seventy-two. In Lake county
he married Miss Eliza Roberson, who, at the age of sixty-three, is still making
her home at Lower Lake. They became the parents of four children, namely:
MENDOCINO AND. LAKE COUNTIES 239
Shafter, who was born at Lower Lake February 13, 1870; Jennie, wife of J.
L. Sylar, proprietor of the Spring ranch at Upper Lake ; Walker, who resides
at Lower Lake with his mother, and Edna, wife of Andrew Jones, a stockman
at Lower Lake. For a time the father ran a sawmill in Mendocino county
and engaged in teaming at Cloverdale, Sonoma county, but when Shafter
Mathews was eleven years of age the family returned to Lower Lake, and
here he found out what a school house really looked like. A brief attendance
at school was appreciated and enabled him to lay the foundation of an educa-
tion largely self-acquired. After he had worked in the woods and at any other
occupation possible to his youth he became a printer's devil and learned the
trade of typesetting with the Lower Lake Bulletin and the Clear Lake Press.
From the age of eighteen until twenty-eight he ran a mercantile wagon for
Morris Levy, and during that period he made many friends among the people
of Lake county. From 1898 to 1902 he took contracts for cutting saw timber
in this county, and meanwhile cut several million feet of logs, which made
him a fair profit. In 1903 he married Virginia B. Manlove, daughter of
William Manlove, an old settler whose death occurred in 1902 at Lakeport.
Besides being a member of Lakeport Parlor, Native Sons, Mr. Mathews is
identified with the Masons, having been made a Mason in Hartley Lodge, No.
199, Lakeport, and an Odd Fellow in Clear Lake Lodge, No. 130, at Lower
Lake, and has been through the chairs in the local lodges of both organiza-
tions.
HENRY L. WILDGRUBE.— A resident of Lake county since 1856,
Mr. Wildgrube may well be counted among its oldest settlers, and he is the
oldest living pioneer of High valley, where he has a one hundred and sixty
acre farm now cultivated by his son-in-law, Aaron B. Shaul. He started the
first store at Upper Lake, and while conducting it met many of the men
whose names are now linked with the history of the early days. His own
experiences, typical of those times, make interesting reminiscences, and
Mr. Wildgrube has a mind which has enabled him to appreciate the changes
he has witnessed in his long residence in this region. Germany is his native
land, and he was born Februarv 25, 1835, at Ragoon, in the Duchy of Anhalt,
which is entirely surrounded by Prussian Saxony. His father, Henry John
Wildgrube, was a merchant at that town, which then had a population of about
two thousand, and his mother was Leopoldina Volkmann ; they lived and died
there. The family has always had honorable standing, the Wildgrubes
being typical members of the well-to-do merchant class.
Henry L. Wildgrube was the only child of his parents, and he received
excellent educational advantages, attending public school in his home town
until he reached the age of twelve years, after which he attended a private
school. Besides having thorough instruction in the ordinary branches and bus-
iness principles, he studied French and Latin, and he has never lost his fond-
ness for books or his appreciation of the value of good and early training.
Full of ambition, he decided to come to America to seek his fortune, and he
was only a youth when he crossed the ocean, landing at Philadelphia. Hav-
ing no friends, and unable to speak English, he took whatever work he could
find at first, and was making good progress when his father died and he re-
turned to the old country to claim his inheritance. At that time he was
twenty, and while he was engaged in straightening out the affairs of his
240 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
father's estate he was impressed into the German military service, in which
he had to remain until he received his honorable discharge. When he received
his discharge he at once came back to America, and on July 1, 1856, arrived
at San Francisco, having made the journey by way of New York and Panama.
In Oakland he met a merchant, Mr. Stark, a Bohemian, who told him he was
about to go to Upper Lake, and that there was no store at that point. On his
advice Mr. Wildgrube opened a store there August 23, 1856, and made a suc-
cess of the venture, but he wanted a ranch, and he soon bought the possessory
right in a tract at LIpper Lake (the one now owned by Mack Sleeper) from an
old man, Mr. Willard, then eighty years of age, one of the last survivors of the
Lewis and Clark expedition of 1805. Mr. Wildgrube paid fifty-two dollars for
his right. But he did not remain long on that place, and after leaving it was
on the Morrison place for a while, first coming to his present ranch in 1857
and settling there permanently in 1859. About the latter year he bought the
possessory rights therein from Sam Morrison, long before the government
land was surveyed, in 1868. The first house in which he lived there was one
that had been used for a bear pen, but he soon erected the one which has
since been his home, and which has many features typical of the pioneer
homes in this section. It has always been a hospitable home, and the large
fireplace, built out of native stone, gives it an air of comfort and cheer long
remembered by those who have been fortunate enough to enjoy its shelter.
Mr. Wildgrube has fenced his property and made other improvements there
besides putting the land under cultivation, in which work he was engaged
until recent years, his son-in-law now renting the place and carrying on the
work.
Among the many interesting experiences which Mr. Wildgrube had in
pioneer days were the frequent bear hunts, and at one time he had a very
narrow escape, being but eight feet from a vicious grizzly bear with her two
cubs when he and his companion succeeded in killing her after an exciting
encounter. Though German born, Mr. Wildgrube speaks English perfectly.
His early education has been supplemented by constant reading, and he is
looked up to by all who know him as a scholar and a thinker, his conversation
showing that he deserves the reputation he enjoys. He has always main-
tained an intelligent interest in current events, particularly the development
of his own locality. When he came here Lake county had not been formed,
being then included in Napa county, so that he has watched her progress from
the very beginning.
Mr. Wildgrube was married in 1869 to Miss Mary Ann Britton, a native of
County Fermanagh, in the northern part of Ireland, part of the Province of
Ulster, and she died at her home, February IS, 1878. A family of five children
was born to them : One that was born dead ; William and Catherine, twitis,
the former dying when thirteen months old, the latter married to Jacob Pluth,
of Upper Lake (they have four children, one son and three daughters) ; Julia
May, Mrs. Aaron B. Shaul (Aaron B. Shaul is represented on another page
in this work) ; and Henry James, who "is a lawyer at Richmond. Mr. Wild-
grube is a member of the German Reformed Church, and in political opinion
has held to the doctrines of the Republican party. Mr. Wildgrube was mar-
ried the second time to Louisa Straub, born in Germany. She died October
19, 1909.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 243
HON. JAMES MILTON MANNON.— The genealogy of the Mannon
family shows an identification with America dating back to the eighteenth
century. At the outbreak of the war of 1812 one of the family, William
Mannon, a native Virginian and at the time of the second struggle with
England a youth scarcely on the threshold of man's estate, enlisted in the
federal service and remained at the front until hostilities had ceased. There-
after he migrated from his native commonwealth to Kentucky and from that
state went into Ohio, where he took up a tract of wild land in Adams county
and began the strenuous task of converting the virgin soil into remunerative
acreage. Before he had succeeded in his difficult work death came to him, so
that his wife, a Miss Paul (a native of Ireland, of Scotch ancestry) was left
with the care of the farm and the large family of children. Both thrived
under her management ; the farm increased in value and the sons and daugh-
ters entered upon active lives of industry and honesty. One of the sons,
Robert Mannon, was born in Adams county, Ohio, and in young manhood
removed to Brown county, in the same state. There he secured a large farm,
on which a small brick house had been erected and a few acres had been
cleared. Agricultural operations brought him prosperity and he was rated
a well-to-do farmer for that day and locality. From one farm to another in
the same county he moved, buying and selling at an advantage. His last
days were passed on a farm in Jefferson township and there he died at the
age of seventy-six years.
During the era of pioneer development in Brown county, when it was
being transformed from frontier into productive acreage, a young Scotch-
man crossed the ocean from the highlands of his native country and pur-
chased a large tract of military land in the new section of Ohio. A man of
ability, supplementing the Scotch thrift with American enterprise, he became
an extensive landholder. At his death he left to each of his sons and daugh-
ters a good farm, .\mong the sons was one, Samuel McFerson, who settled
in Union township on land inherited from his father and remained there until
his death, which was caused by an accident, ere he had reached middle age.
His wife, who bore the maiden name of Martha Culter, was born in England
and came to the United States with her parents, the family becoming pioneers
of Brown county, Ohio. Among the children of Samuel and Martha McFerson
there was a daughter, Eliza, who was born in Brown county and there married
Robert Mannon. Five children were born to their union, namely : Martha,
Mary, James Milton, Robert A. and Lizzie May.
Born April 9, 1847, in Union township. Brown county, Ohio, James
Milton Mannon was primarily educated in the primitive log schoolhouse of
his native district. .\t the age of fifteen he entered the high school at Rus-
sellville. Brown county. Afterward he continued his studies in the academy
ai Bloomingburg, Fayette county. Next he became a student in the State
Normal School in Lebanon, an institution now known as the Ohio National
University. Meanwhile he had taught his first term of school in Byrd town-
ship, Brown county, and later taught in other localities. During 1873 he
came to the Pacific coast and after a tour of inspection through Southern
California he located in San Luis Obispo county. For a year he engaged as
!)ookkeeper at a quicksilver mine near Cambria and later he clerked in a
general mercantile store. F(^r two vears he served as office deputy assessor
244 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
of San Luis Obispo county. During 1877 he served as police judge of San
Luis Obispo. On a ranch near Cambria in which he owned an interest he
established his headquarters in the fall of 1877. At the same time he began to
serve as deputy assessor of that district. Elected justice of the peace in the
fall of 1879 and also appointed notary public, he opened an office at Cambria,
where he conducted a general business in conveyancing. For a .year he
owned a one-half interest in a sawmill. Aleanwhile he had devoted himself
diligently to the stud)- of the law and in 1881 was admitted to practice before
the courts of the state, and the same year located in Ukiah.
As a leading attorney of Ukiah, as district attorney of Mendocino county
for one term beginning in January, 1887, as a member of the city council and
for four years president of that body, and as superior judge of the county
from 1897 to 1903, Judge Mannon has been prominent in professional, political
and public affairs of the city which has been his home since 1881. During
all of this period he has been a leader in local Republican politics. For
several years he served as chairman of the county central committee. One
of the founders of the Savings Bank of Mendocino county, he served as its
vice-president from its organization until the present year when he was
elected its president. He has also been a stockholder in the Bank of Willits
from its organization. From 1891 to 1895 inclusive he officiated as treasurer
of the Mendocino State Hospital. Besides being a member of the Union
League Club of San Francisco, he is fraternally a member of Abell Lodge
No. 146, F. & A. M., of which he is a past master; a member and past high
priest of Ukiah Chapter No. 53, R. A. M.; past commander of Ukiah Com-
mandery No. 33. K. T. ; a member of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of San
Francisco, and is serving his third term as a member of the executive com-
mittee of that body; a member of Ukiah Lodge No. 174, I. O. O. F. ; Ukiah
Lodge No. 213, K. P. ; Schaffner Companj' No. 29, Uniform Rank, K. P., and
as Colonel served on the Brigade Staff, K. P. of California. Judge Mannon
lias given of his time and means toward the upbuilding of the county, and with
that viewpoint has taken active part in different business men's associations
organized for that purpose.
The marriage of Judge Mannon was solemnized at Windsor. Sonoma
county, December 8, 1875, and united him with Miss Martha Clark, who was
born in Bureau county. 111., a daughter of Charles and Mary (Hamilton)
Clark. Mrs. Alannon has taken a prominent part in civic and social affairs
'.n Ukiah and there is no movement that has had for its aim the betterment of
the city's social and moral conditions but has had her hearty support. Of
late years she has been manifestly interested in the growth of the Ukiah Public
Library, having been a member of its board of directors since its organization.
Mr. and Mrs. Mannon are the parents of two sons, Charles McFerson and
James Milton, Jr. The elder son, a graduate of Leland Stanford L'niversity
in 1898 and Hastings College of Law in 1900, is now associated with his father
in a large law practice at Ukiah, also has served as city attorney of Ukiah
since 1909, is secretary of and attorney for the Merchants' Association oi
Ukiah and ranks among the influential young men of affairs in this portion
of Northern California. Like his father, he is prominent in the Knights
Templar, devoted to the principles of the Republican party, comprehensive in
his knowledge of the law, brilliant in oratory, logical in reasoning and forceful
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 245
in personality. The younger son was graduated from the University of
California in 1899, and from Hastings College of Law in 1902, and has since
engaged in the practice of law in San Francisco, where he is a member of the
well-known firm of McCutchen, Olney & Willard.
RALPH THOMPSON DUNCAN.— A comparatively recent but very im-
portant accession to the business enterprises of Willits is the Rex Drug Com-
pany, dispensing chemists and manufacturers of the Rex remedies. When
the founder of the business came to the town in the fall of 1910 he purchased
Reed's pharmacy, but soon found the building too small for the growing
business. Accordingly in 1911 he secured and remodeled his present loca-
tion, putting in new fixtures, a soda fountain and the first plate glass front in
Willits. Especially unique is the ice-cream parlor, which is attractively fin-
ished in redwood bark, with an artistic effect unsurpassed by any similar
institution in the county. The manufacture of ice cream and confectionery
is carried on under the most sanitary and wholesome conditions, while in an
entirely separate department are manufactured the Rex remedies, including
Ralph's health tablets, Rex Lightning Liniment, Rex Mendo-Tone (a tonic),
Rex skin cream (a cure for poison oak), Rex benzoated lotion (for the com-
plexion) and Rex croup syrup, a cough mixture for children. The prescription
department is located on the mezzanine floor. In 1913 E. Y. Himmelwright
was taken into partnership as a member of the Rex Drug Company, making
possible a still further enlargement of the business and an even closer atten-
tion to every detail of the several departments.
A native of ]\Iendocino county, Ralph Thompson Duncan was born at
Ukiah May 8, 1887, and is a son of Charles Henry and Elizabeth (Shattuck)
Duncan, also natives of California. The paternal grandfather, Jacob Duncan,
came from Virginia to the Pacific coast in a very early day and became a
pioneer builder in L^kiah, where later Charles H. engaged successively in the
hotel and banking business and as steward for the Mendocino state hospital.
After twelve years in the last-named position he returned to the banking
business and became assistant cashier for the Bank of Ukiah. There were
three children in the family. The second, Ralph T., a graduate of the Ukiah
high school, class of 1905, had begun the study of pharmacy while only in the
seventh grade of the grammar school. For some time he was employed in
the Hoffman (afterward the Gibson) pharmacy. In order to acquire a thor-
ough knowledge of the work he took the full course in pharmacy in the Col-
lege of Physicians and Surgeons at San Francisco and in 1907 he passed an
examination before the state board of examiners. Meantime he had gained
practical experience as an employe in a San Francisco pharmacy. From that
city he returned to Mendocino county and has since engaged as a pharmacist
in Willits, where he has improved and developed one of the finest drug and
ice-cream establishments in this section of the state. Along the line of his
chosen occupation he maintains membership in the California Pharmaceutical
Association. Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Rebekahs at Willits, and is proud
of the fact that when only eight years of age he was chosen as drummer boy
for the Knights of Pythias in Ukiah. In San Francisco he married Miss Iris
Clare, a native of College City. Colusa county, the mother of one child, Mar-
jorie Iris Duncan, and a leading member of the Rebekahs and Eastern Star
at Willits.
246 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
SAMUEL DUNCAN. — Life presents to every earnest mind obligations
the discharge or neglect of which marks the difference between men. That
Mr. Duncan has been earnest in meeting every duty brought to him by des-
tiny is evidence of his resolute purpose and dominant will. The greater part
of his life has been passed in Mendocino county, where he has been familiar
with agricultural conditions from his earliest recollections and where he now
makes his home one mile south of Hopland. A member of an honored pio-
neer family, in whom there appeared a strong sense of responsibility in the
welfare of the county and state, his own devotion to the coast country and his
high spirit of patriotism are easily explained as attributes of heredity. The
family formed a part of the early civilization of California, bone and sinew
of her strength and progress. Their tj^pe of sturdy fearlessness and pioneer
instincts, with its touch of romance and its suggestion of future conquest, no
longer is to be seen in the west, for the passing of the frontier means also the
passing of the pioneer.
In the tiny hamlet of jMark\J^€M^ Sonoma county, Samuel Duncan was
born January 10, 1857, and from there he was brought to the neighboring
county of Mendocino by his parents, Elijah Hall and Elizabeth (Craddock)
Duncan, in the same year. Primarily educated in public schools, at the age
of sixteen he spent eight months in a private institution at Ukiah and then
attended a private school at Santa Rosa. Upon his return to Hopland he
devoted his time wholly to the ranch of his father, and for eight years he
and his brother, E. J., managed the place successfully, making a specialty of
the stock industry. During 1898 he sold out his interests to the brother and
moved to San Francisco, where he was in the employ of Harron, Rickard &
McCone and also had charge of a lodging house. In 1901 he returned to Hop-
land to superintend the Duncan estate (comprising three ranches of some
five thousand acres) for his mother, continuing this until her death in 1905.
At this time he and his brother Robert were appointed administrators, and
the estate was divided and settled. He now owns some five hundred and
fifty acres of the old Duncan ranch, fifty acres of which is bottom land, ten
acres being in hops, six acres in pear orchard and the balance in alfalfa. For
five years Mr. Duncan was engaged in the general mercantile business in Hop-
land, until 1912, when he sold to his brother William.
Favoring Democratic views and interested in national problems, Mr.
Duncan has been prominent in local politics. For six and one-half years he
held the position of supervisor from the first district. In that capacity he
endeavored to promote the interests of the people of his district, favoring
good roads, good schools and modern improvements. November 25, 1882,
he married Miss Marguerite Copple, a native of Nodaway county, Mo.
whence in 1872 she came to California with the family, who settled near Hop-
land, Mendocino county. Three children were born to the union of Mr. and
Mrs. Duncan, namely: Mervin, deceased; Clarence and Ruth. The measure
of the prosperity of Mr. Duncan is well merited, having been secured by per-
severance and intelligent application to work. As a result of industry and
ability he has advanced step by step. Wise management has made him pros-
perous in business and in agriculture, while fine personal traits have won for
him the regard of acquaintances and the warm admiration of associates.
,u^y< e^i-^<^
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 249
ALPHEUS ZENO JONES.— The firm of Jones Brothers, ranchmen and
extensive landowners in High valley, in East Lake precinct of Lake county,
is composed of the two brothers, Alpheus Zeno and Andrew Jones, sons of
the late J. W. Jones, of Upper Lake. Besides the operations they carry on
upon their own large holdings, being engaged in cattle raising in High valley
they rent the Watts ranch, a tract of eighteen hundred and twenty acres at
the head of Burns valley, in Lower Lake precinct, upon which they keep
fifteen hundred head of high-grade Merino sheep. Though both are still
young men, they have been in business for a number of years and have gained
a standing worthy of members of one of the old pioneer families in this region,
being known as sell-reliant, able and deservedly respected citizens. They are
proud of the fact that their family has done its share in the opening up of the
county and its continued development, and are doing their part to make this
section desirable both as a business territory and a region of good homes.
They are energetic about inaugurating improvements and public-spirited in
seeing that others' rights are respecfd as well as their own — traits which have
won them the hearty good will of all their neighbors.
John William Jones, father of the Jones Brothers, was a native of the
state of Missouri, born February 27 , 1836, and was but a child when his
parents moved thence to Arkansas. In 1856 he came to California, making
the journey across the plains, and the first seven years of his residence in this
.state were spent in Plumas county. During that time he was variously occu-
pied. From there he went to Marysville, Yuba county, where he remained,
however, only a short time, going to the San Joaquin valley, where he spent
a year. Returning to ]\Iarysville, he passed the next two years there, returned
lo Plumas county for six months, and then came to Lake county, in the fall
of 1867. After a short stay he went to Plumas county again, but in 1868 came
back to Lake county and made a permanent settlement, the rest of his active
years being given to the improvement of his five hundred and twenty acre
ranch, where he had his home, about three miles from L^pper Lake on the
Bartlett Springs road. He died at L^pper Lake in the year 1912, when seventy-
five years old. Mr. Jones was married in 1867, in Lake county, to Miss Mary
E. McCabe, like himself a native of Missouri, and she survives him, being
now about sixty-eight years old. Nine children were born to them, viz. : John
William, who is a dairyman at Bartlett Springs ; Edward, who died when
twenty years old ; Franklin, who died when eighteen years old ; Lucinda, who
died in 1909, unmarried; .^aron and Mary Catherine, twins, the former of
whom died when six weeks old, the latter now the wife of A. A. Pluth, a
farmer in Upper Lake precinct ; Alpheus Zeno ; Andrew ; and Narcissa, who
died in 1905, at the age of twenty-one years.
.\lpheus Zeno Jones, usually called Zeno Jones, was born Juh^ 9, 1881. at
I'pper Lake, where he was reared. His education was obtained in the public
schools. When but sixteen years old he started in business with his brother
Andrew, the boys becoming interested in the raising of Angora goats, in
which they were pioneers hereabouts. Their stock was bought from H. H.
Harlan, in Colusa county, and at the time there were few others owned in
Lake county. For four years they rented land from their father, and also the
Waldfogel place, and about the end of that period they changed to the cattle
and sheep business, which has since occupied all their attention Some years
ago there was another partner in the firm, their cousin, H. M. Jones, who
250 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
is now engaged in the livery and undertaking business at Lower Lake. The
association was dissolved by mutual agreement, the cousin taking the livery
and stage line, the brothers the land, cattle and sheep. How well the Jones
Brothers have succeeded may be estimated from the extent of their present
possessions and operations. In High valley. East Lake precinct, they own
a stock ranch of sixteen hundred acres, bought in 1913, upon which they raise
cattle, having from eighty to eighty-five head ; six years ago they bought
three hundred and twenty acres on Cache creek, Lake county ; and they rent
the Watts ranch of eighteen hundred and twenty acres in Burns valley,
where they take care of their sheep, fifteen hundred head of high-grade
Merinos. By maintaining high standards and following the most approved
modern methods in their work, these young men have helped to better the
grade of cattle all over the region, and the value of their influence is fully
appreciated in Lake county. Personally they are men of high character, in-
telligent, fair-minded, and well disposed toward all with whom they come in
contact, and their names are respected wherever known. Zeno Jones lives
upon their cattle ranch in High valley, while Andrew Jones makes his home
on the Watts place. The latter married Miss Edna Mathews, sister of Shafter
Mathews, county clerk of Lake county, and they have one child, Audrey.
PERCY C. BAYLIS.— Since 1900 Mr. Baylis has given nearly all his
iittention to carpenter work and contracting, and he is building up a business
and reputation which promise well for his future. The number of substantial
structures in the vicinity of his home, in Burns valley, and elsewhere in Lake
county, stand as evidence of the reliable and workmanlike manner in which
his contracts are filled. He has been practically a lifelong resident of the
county, having been here all his life except for the time he was away attending
school and a couple of years in Oregon, and he has looked after his various
responsibilities in such a way as to invite the confidence and esteem of his
fellow men. His father, the late Dr. A. W. Baylis, was well known to the
people of Lake county in his day as a physician and surgeon, and his untimely
death was widely mourned.
Dr. Baylis was a native of England, and came to California broken in
health and with the idea of giving up practice. He settled in Lake county,
and soon found his professional services much in demand, as might be ex-
pected in a new country, where a good physician is always sure of a welcome.
He met his death by accident, in 1879, being drowned in Clear lake by the
upsetting of a sailboat, and left a wife and a large family. Mrs. Baylis, whose
maiden name was Phoebe Morris, was also born in England, and resides now
in San Anselmo, Marin county, Cal. To Dr. and Mrs. Baylis were born nine
children, namely : Mrs. Zoe E. Bigelow, who is a widow and lives with her
mother ; Irene, Mrs. Webber, of Oakland ; Ernest, who is a miner in Mexico ;
Mrs. lantha Anderson, who lives in Lower Lake; Percy C. ; Maud, Mrs.
Young, living in Texas ; Mabyn, who lives with her mother ; Harold, who
died in Mexico ; and Theodosia, Mrs. Lilly, also living with her mother.
Percy C. Baylis was born October 6, 1871, in Burns valley. Lake county,
where he passed his youth, and after attending the local public schools went
to high school in Oakland and San Francisco. For about two years he was
engaged in mining in Curry county, Oregon, and when the mines shut down
he came back to Lower Lake, in his native county, soon finding employment
on the Wrey ranch, adjoining that town on the south. There he continued
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 251
for some time, becoming assistant superintendent, a position he held for
several years, during which time he gained valuable experience, in various
branches of ranching and also in looking after large interests, fruit growing
especially being carried on there extensively. Meantime he had acquired
thorough familiarity with carpentry, to which most of his time has since been
given, and a number of fine residences in Lake county are specimens of his
skill, the summer home of his brother-in-law, Louis Jago, at Point Lake View,
on the banks of Clear lake, being particularly worthy of note. His own resi-
dence there also, in which his family pass most of their summers, is a creditable
piece of work, and is one of the substantial things Mr. Baylis has done to
attract buyers to this site, in which he is much interested. It is a location of
great natural beauty, which makes it highly desirable for summer homes. Web-
ber's dance hall and the clubhouse at the lake shore, and the summer residence
of R. W. Beale, all at Point Lake View, are also of his construction, and show
a conscientious desire on the part of the builder to do his work well, from
both the useful and the artistic standpoint. In connection with his building
operations Mr. Baylis also engages in agricultural work to some extent,
living on and cultivating his wife's ranch, a seventy-acre property at the head
of Burns valley, a part of the old O'Ferrell place.
Mr. Baylis married Miss Fannie Jago, who was born at Gibraltar, daugh-
ter of Major General Jago, a British army officer. She is the sister of Louis
Jago, a prominent business man of Lower Lake, proprietor of Jago's cash
store. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Baylis : Percy Nor-
man, Alice Fannie, Inez Mary, Jack A. and Thyra C, twins, Frances Mary
and Beatrice Victorine. The home life of the family, though quiet and un-
pretentious, is wholesome and animated by the real spirit of helpfulness and
cordiality. Before her family monopolized her attention Mrs. Baylis gave
considerable time to painting and music, doing particularly good landscape
work, and she is a pianist of pleasing ability. Mr. Baylis has taken no special
part in public life, but he is a Republican in his political views and interested
in the success of his party.
GAUDENZIO VALENTI. — Near Lucca, in Tuscany, Italy, in the year
1850, was born Gaudenzio Valenti, and there he was raised on a farm and
went to the local schools. On August 7, 1871, he came to California, and
followed farm work in San Mateo county, until 1873, when he went to Whites-
boro, Mendocino county. He found employment as a woodsman with James
Britt, for whom he was the first to work in the woods. When the L. E.
White Lumber Company purchased Mr. Britt's interest, Mr. Valenti con-
tinued with them, and in his long period of employment with this company
he became woods boss, and later foreman on construction. In 1889 he came
to Greenwood and helped to build the railroad; he also built the first two
landings.
Mr. Valenti changed from this occupation in 1892, buying a ranch ten
miles out on the Boonville road, where he improved and operated the farm
which he still owns. In September, 1904, he started a hotel business in
Greenwood, the Italia hotel, of which he has been the proprietor ever since.
In Italy Mr. Valenti married Zefifera Tovani, who was also born in
Tuscany, and of this union there are three children : Edward is running the
home ranch ; Fravia is Mrs. Bacci ; and Pio resides in Italy. Mr. Valenti in
his political affiliations is a Republican, and he has served faithfully as
trustee of the district schools.
252 ArENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
JOHN RILEY GARNER.— In the Upper Lake region the name Garner
carries the idea of substantial business ability, for which its representatives
have been noted during the thirty years and more of their residence in Lake
county. They are no less conspicuous for high moral qualities and honorable
citizenship, as valuable factors in the upbuilding of the community and in
all lines conducive to progress and wholesome development. The family is of
Revolutionary stock and English origin, John R. Garner being of the fourth
generation in this country. It is noteworthy that so far back as the lineage is
traced the Garners have been successful stockmen, the branch in California
carrying on the traditions of the name in that respect. John Garner, the great-
grandfather, came to this country from England in colonial days and settled
m Virginia. He fought in the Revolution. His son John, grandfather of
John R. Garner, lived at Salem, Marion county, 111., and died there in 1833,
of cholera. Much of the information he possessed regarding the family history
died with him.
Valentine Garner, father of John R. Garner, was a native of North Caro-
lina, was a very successful farmer, trader and stockman, and lived to his
eightieth year. In young manhood he moved out to Missouri, where he mar-
ried Sarah Edington, a native of Tennessee. Eight children were born to this
union. Nancy was the wife of George Linn, and they settled in Napa county,
Cal., where she died in 1894; they had three children. John Riley is men-
tioned below. William, a retired farmer, resides near Niangua, Webster
county, Mo. Martha was the wife of Benjamin F. Shields, and died in
Webster county. Mo., leaving three children. Diantha, who was the wife of
P. D. Grigsby, came to Napa county, Cal., and died in 1908; she left seven
children. Jane, wife of Jesse Elmore, died in Webster county. Mo., leaving
three children. Susan, Mrs. Callaway, lived and died in Webster county.
Mo., survived by one child. Frances is the wife of John Shook, a retired
farmer, of Webster county, Mo.; they have five children. The mother of
this family died in her thirty-sixth j-ear. and the father remarried, having
seven children by the second union.
John R. Garner was born in Webster county. Mo., July 22, 1838. and
passed his early years in that state. When a young man of nineteen he came
to California with his sister Nancy, who was the wife of George Linn, and
tlie party was prepared to engage extensively in farming operations, bringing
two hundred head of cattle, ten horses and six mules across the plains, besides
the oxteams to carry their personal effects and household goods. Arriving
at Napa September 18, 1857, five months to a day from the time they started,
John R. Garner rented land from the Yount grant and farmed same until
1863. Then he bought land near Oakville and he farmed in Napa county for
twenty-five years altogether, with more than ordinary success. In 1883 he
disposed of his property there, making a trade with Capt. M. G. Ritchie for
twelve hundred acres in Long Valley, Lake county, to which he moved in
March, 1883. Having added to his original tract by purchase, his interests
iiave continued to expand steadily, and a few years ago the John R. Garner
Stock Farm Corporation was formed to make the management more conve-
nient, John R. Garner being president of this corporation, in which he is the
principal stockholder. The corporation owns twenty-seven hundred acres all
in one body in Long valley, and Arabella post office is located on this land.
Lentil a short time ago John R. Garner gave most of his operations personal
/^ (^ ^.^.M...-^-^
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 255
care, but he has withdrawn from the exacting work of late, his sons taking
active charge. As previously noted, the Garners have been growers and
traders of stock for several generations, handling horses, cattle, hogs and
sheep, and their knowledge of the business has made them regarded as
authorities wherever they have had dealings. John R. Garner's father and
grandfather followed this line as well as farming, and his sons are doing the
same. A number of members of the Garner family have gathered great
wealth, and there is an estate in probate in St. Louis now, amounting to
several millions of dollars, left by Henry Garner who recently died intestate
and childless.
For the last twelve years John R. Garner has made his home at the vil-
lage of Upper Lake, where he has a fine residence on a knoll near the school-
house, and seven and a half acres of highly improved land. Besides his
holdings in the John R. Garner Stock Farm Corporation he owns a farm
of one hundred and twenty acres one-half mile east of Upper Lake. As a
citizen no resident of Upper Lake or vicinity has higher standing. Clean,
upright, conservative but not reactionary in his ideas, he has spent a useful
life and is now enjoying its rewards. The Garners are characteristically gen-
erous in their dealings with their fellow men, whether in their personal or
business relations, and John R. Garner is no exception to the rule. His sense
of responsibility toward his fellow men is strong, and he is willing to do his
share, but he has declined to serve his community in any official capacity.
His intelligent outlook on public affairs, especially such as affect his home
locality, and his helpful attitude there, stamp him as one of the most valuable
citizens of the county. In church connection he is a member of the Chris-
tian denomination, which has the largest religious organization in Lake
county — its church at Lakeport ; Mr. Garner and his family have assisted
materially in building up this church, and he has filled the office of elder very
acceptably. Politically he is now associated with the Progressive party.
During his residence in Napa county, November 13, 1864, Mr. Garner mar-
ried Miss Aramanta Roberts, a native of Tennessee, who came to California
across the plains with her parents in 1861, and died May 13, 1913, at the age
of sixty-six years. Twelve children were born to this union : William V. died
when three years old ; Thomas E. lives near Ukiah, and is engaged as a farmer
and trader; Joseph W., of Santa Rosa, Cal., was formerly a stockman and
farmer; John F., a former stockman, resides at Lower Lake, Lake county;
Louis L., of Arizona, is employed by a transfer company at Jerome, that
state ; Fred W. is on the home ranch ; Bush died unmarried when twenty-four
years old ; Julia died when six months old ; Lloyd R. is a stockman and farmer
at Upper Lake ; one child, a son, was still born ; Leland J. is a stockman and
trader at Upper Lake ; and Florence E. is the wife of Floyd Edward Woodson
ot Upper Lake.
MRS. CLORA LANGLAND.— Nearness of . vision sometimes prevents
clearness of insight into the character and motives of others, hence the diffi-
culty of accurately measuring the influence of neighbors and intimate asso-
ciates. However, there are many instances of men and women appreciated and
honored by their most intimate friends, and in such a list belongs the name
of Mrs. Clora Langland, superintendent and proprietor of the Langland hos-
pital at Ukiah, founder of the institution opened in 1913 on the corner of
Spring and Stevenson streets, and leader of an enterprise that from both
256 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
philanthropic and financial standpoints is of importance to the city. The
immediate success of the work obliged her to add another cottage to the
institution and there are now ample accommodations, modern equipment,
;.anitary environment and an operating room with every facility for that class
of work. Through her practical ability as a nurse, combined with business
efificiency of an high order, she is admirably qualified to establish and develop
a hospital that will form a permanent asset in the public institutions of city
and county.
Herself a native daughter of California, JMrs. Langland is a member of a
pioneer family of the state. As early as 1851 her grandfather. Jack Alley,
started from Michigan for the west, accompanied b)^ his wife (who died en
route) and their children, one of whom, John, was born in Michigan in 1846.
Reared in California and familiar from early childhood with the picturesque
but sparsely settled regions of Lake county, John Alley became a farmer,
stockman and horticulturist at Upper Lake, owning and operating a farm
three miles north of that town. One of his specialties was the raising oi
pears, in which profitable industry he was a pioneer. Fraternally he was a
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Surviving him at his
death in 1908 were his widow and seven children, Mrs. Langland, a native
of Upper Lake, Lake county, being the eldest of the children. The widow,
who bore the maiden name of Ella AIcMath, was born in Niles, Mich., and in
1857 came to California with her parents, Archie and Elizabeth (Kimmel)
McMath. The voyage was made via Panama to San Francisco, thence by
wagon to Lake county. While still owning the old homestead in Lake county
Mrs. Alley now makes her home with her eldest child, Mrs. Langland. The
latter, after having completed her common-school education, entered the
Children's hospital, San Francisco, for the purpose of taking the nurse's train-
ing course. She continued there until her marriage in that city, in June of
1899, to Robert Langland, a native of San Francisco and a builder by trade.
Four children were born to their union, namely : Jack, Madelene, Robert and
Raymond. In 1905 the family settled in Lake county, but shortly afterward
came to Ukiah and there Mr. Langland followed the building business until
his death, in November, 1911.
Having engaged as a nurse in Ukiah for a number of years and having
taken patients in her home, Airs. Langland at the death of her husband de-
cided to devote herself exclusively to hospital work. To better qualify for
such work she took a course of study in the City and County hospital at San
Francisco in 1912. Returning to Ukiah, she practiced as a nurse until 1913,
when she opened the hospital of which she has since been the executive head.
The institution is private and has had the support of the leading people of the
community, for there is a warm interest in Airs. Langland and a deep confi-
dence in her ability as nurse and practical business woman. So closely has
her time been given to professional duties and home responsibilities that she
has had no leisure for participation in public movements, religious activities
or woman's clubs, but maintains a warm interest nevertheless in all measures
for the uplift of humanity and is stanchly true to the doctrines of the Presby-
terian Church and to the principles of the Republican party, as well as other
enterprises neither religious nor political, yet indissolubly allied with the pro-
gress of a community.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 259
LYMAN WILBERT BABCOCK.— Significant of his ability as an in-
structor is the fact that \lr. liabcock has been connected with the schools of
Mendocino county since 1882, when he came to California and secured a
position as teacher in the school at Little River, one of the then thriving
towns in the lumber regions along the Pacific coast. More than three decades
of usefulness in the educational field have been given by him ; and the present
high status of Mendocino county schools may be attributed largely to his
intelligent, long-continued, and efficient association with the work. In his
present office of county superintendent of schools, which position he is now
filling for the second term, he is endeavoring to advance the school system
and raise it to a still higher standard, an important task in which he receives
the co-operation of teachers and also, to a large extent, of tax-payers. It is a
source of pride to him that he has been identified with the educational work
of the county through so long a period and that he has been privileged to
promote the same through his own intelligent efficiency. In his opinion there
is no task in the world nobler than that of strengthening the mind and char-
acter in the critical, plastic period of youth, thus equipping the pupil for the
battle of life. Hundreds of students have come under his guidance and
profited by his instruction. Men and women now in middle age speak of his
work as instructor with sincere appreciation and in his more recent activities
as county superintendent he has secured the enthusiastic support of the
teachers of the county in his efforts toward continued educational upbuilding.
Born in Tompkins county, N. Y., November 2, 1857, L. W. Babcock was
the son of Benjamin and Mary (Meacham) Babcock, natives of New York,
where the father was a farmer, but in 1859 removed with his family to Wells-
boro, Tioga county. Pa., and later served for three years in the Civil War in
the army of the North. Lyman W. Babcock was reared at Wellsboro and
from an early age attended the common schools of Pennsylvania, also the
State Normal at Mansfield, from which he was graduated in 1879. For a
time he taught in that state, but in 1882 he became a resident of California
and a teacher at Little River, Mendocino county.
After three 3"ears in that little lumber town he came to Ukiah as principal
of the grammar school, which position he held for eight years. On the estab-
lishment of the Ukiah High School in 1893 he was elected principal, where
he continued for thirteen years, meanwhile accomplishing a work of the
highest importance in connection with the new institution. Having worthily
filled that position, he was called to one of even greater importance. During
the fall of 1906 he was elected county superintendent, taking office in January,
1907. In 1910 he was elected for another term of four years, which began
January of 1911. Aside from his educational work he has been prominent in
Masonry, being made a Mason in Abell Lodge No. 146, F. & A. M., of which
he is Past Master; he is Past High Priest of Ukiah Chapter No. 53, R. A. M.,
and Past Commander of Ukiah Commandery No. 33, K. T., and with Mrs.
Babcock is a member of Casimir Chapter No. 252, O. E. S.
His family consists of Mrs. Babcock and one son, Raymond Arthur Bab-
cock, M. D., the latter a graduate of Hahnemann Medical College of San
Francisco and now a practicing physician at Willits, this county. Mrs. Bab-
cock was formerly Annie R. Pullen, born in Little River, whose parents,
Charles and Elizabeth (Coombs) Pullen, natives of Maine, settled in Mendo-
cino county in 1864, where Mr. Pullen built a mill at Little River. Mrs.
Pullen is still living, at the ripe age of ninety-two years. Mrs. Babcock has
260 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
been engaged in educational work for several years and is now assisting her
husband as deputy county superintendent of schools, thus bringing into use-
fulness her 3'ears of experience in the schoolroom.
GEORGE WASHINGTON FIFIELD.— It is not usual to find anyone
of Canadian birth bearing the name George Washington, but Mr. Fifield,
though born near London, Ontario, is of American parentage and lineage,
the family having long been settled in New England. He is one of the Lake
county farmers who have had wonderful success in growing fruit, and he has
also become quite heavily interested in the raising of Angora goats, owning
four hundred at the present time. His farm in the South Kelseyville'precinct
is located back in the mountains, on a plateau, and the results which have at-
tended his industrious cultivation of the property show that there is much
valuable land adapted to fruit raising up in the hills, covered with brush and
timber. What Lake county will be when all of it has been intelligently devel-
oped is food for the active imagination. Mr. Fifield has made a demonstra-
lion on his property which should be an encouragement to all interested in
the agricultural possibilities of this region. He homesteaded his tract of one
hundred and sixty acres in 1890, and beginning with practically nothing has
established a fine home and improved his land, having fourteen hundred fruit
trees in bearing.
The Fifield family was settled in New England during Colonial times and
took an active part in supporting the American cause during the trying days
of the struggle for independence. Hiram Fifield, father of George Washington
Fifield, was born in Vermont, and reared in a "Shaker" community. How-
ever, he was still a bo}" when the family removed to Canada, where he became
a successful farmer, owning one hundred acres of land near London, Ontario.
In Canada he married Eliza Black, a native of New Brunswick, and of the
thirteen children born to their union eleven grew to maturity. The parents
died in Canada.
George Washington Fifield was born December 16, 1855, on the home-
stead near London, and was the youngest son and ninth child in the family.
He attended common school in his native country, and when a young man
learned the business of making gas with coke and oil. For a short time he
was in the service of the Hudson Bay Company, in what is now Alberta and
Saskatchewan, later returning to Ontario. In 1887 he came to California, and
m 1889 was joined by his family, consisting at that time of his wife and four
children. For about a year after he came here he was engaged in work on the
Leland Stanford university buildings, worked on the Southern Pacific road
with the bridge builders and carpenters, and for a while was employed on the
Market street railway in San Francisco. But by 1889 he had decided to take up
land and try agriculture, and that year he settled in Lake county, taking up
one hundred and sixty acres in the South Kelseyville precinct, located on the
Cloverdale road. He had $19.60 left after reaching the land, and no roof but
the emigrant wagon. But he set bravely to work, and what he has accom-
plished by his own industry is almost hard to believe. All the family are dili-
gent workers, and by capable management and the steady labor which his
strength has made possible "Mr. Fifield has overcome the obstacles which his
lack of means and equipment at first placed in his way. Being a carpenter
and handy with tools he has had the advantage of doing all the necessary
work in that line about the place, saving many an expenditure, to say nothing
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 261
of the saving of time and the convenience of understanding mechanics. Mr.
Fifield has twenty-two acres of his land cleared and fourteen hundred fruit
trees set out, and their healthy condition, showing no trace of scale or moss,
is sufficient indication that the location is a proper one for orchards. The
fruit is of particularly fine flavor and coloring. There are eight hundred
prune trees, four hundred Bartlett pear trees, peaches, figs and plums, Mr.
Fifield having planted a few Satsuma and greengage plums (which are doing
well). He has a family vineyard. He has three vines of the celebrated Zante
currant (a kind of seedless grape or raisin), which bears currants one year and
grapes the next — some years both. The one which he planted at the south-
west corner of his house has grown wonderfully, being now without doubt the
largest cultivated vine in Lake county. Mr. Fifield trained one branch around
the west side of the house, the other along the south side, and it now encircles
the house completely, the arms having a total length of one hundred and eighty
feet and screening the walls and porches. It grows luxuriantly and bears
abundantly, some of the clusters being as much as fifteen inches long, and
the fruit is sweet and of excellent quality.
Some time ago Mr. Fifield began the raising of Angora goats, in which
he is now quite extensively interested, having four hundred head at the present
time and adding to his stock yearly. He has two good wells upon his land, has
built a comfortable farmhouse, substantial barns and a house for storing
and drying fruit, and has many conveniences which make the place highly
desirable as a home. Though he has never attempted to convert it into a
summer resort he has a number of guests each summer, the limits of house
room making it necessary for him to decline accommodations to many who
would enjoy spending vacation time on his ranch. His wife is a famously
good cook and model housekeeper, and both Mr. and Mrs. Fifield have the
faculty of making their guests feel thoroughly at home in their cozy place.
They are willing to do all in their power to help the time pass pleasantly, and
the large house on the place put up for drying and storing fruit when not
in use for that purpose is converted into a clubhouse and provided with an
excellent piano, so that summer guests and the young people of the neigh-
borhood may use is as a social center, a convenient place for dances and other
gatherings. There is a magnificent view from a knoll in the orchard on the
Fifield farm, Lakeport. Clear Lake, Mount Konocti, and the roads to Middle-
town and Lower Lakes being in plain sight. Mr. Fifield has labored earnestly
and faithfully, and his honorable life has won him the respect and esteem of
all his fellow citizens.
Mr. Fifield was first married, at Ayr, Canada, to Miss Sarah A. Denman,
who was born at Woodstock, Ontario, and died in Lake county in 1901.
She was the mother of four children, Willard George having been eleven years
old when the family removed from Canada, James Artwell nine, Ernest seven,
and Charles John five. Willard George is now an engineer on the Southern
Pacific railroad and resides at San Luis Obispo ; he married Miss Agnes Mc-
Cullough, of San Francisco, and they have two sons, Willard George and
Herbert Donald. James Artwell (Artie), who is employed as a motorman on
the Key route, Oakland, married Miss Iva Hamill, a native of Pennsylvania,
and they have three children, Beth, Bobbie and Jack. Ernest is a farmer and
stock-raiser at Sites, Colusa county. Charles John is a farmer, owning one
hundred and sixty acres of land in Lake county ; he married Emma
262 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Ferguson, who was a native of San Mateo county. In 1912 Mr.
Fifield married (second) Mrs. Mary E. (Robinson) Vince, of Sarnia,
C)ntario, who was born at Yale, Mich. She had three children by her
first marriage : Harry Russell, an electrician, of Flint, Mich. ; Mabel Ruth,
wife of John Hickey, of Sarnia, Ontario, cashier for the Flint & Pere Mar-
quette Railway ; and Olive Irene, wife of Donald W. Hicks, painter of auto-
mobiles in the employ of the Buick Company, at Flint, Mich. (Mr. and Mrs.
Hicks have one child, Mabel Edna.) Mrs. Fifield is a Presbyterian in relig-
ious connection. Mr. Fifield is an advocate of New Thought and a firm be-
liever in the tenets of the creed. On public questions he is a Socialist, well
informed on the doctrines of his party and hopeful of the triumph of its best
principles. He is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Kelseyville and has
passed all the chairs, while Mrs. Fifield belongs to the Rebekahs.
LEONARD BARNARD. — Long identification with the pioneer stage
systems of Mendocino county gave to Mr. Barnard the acquaintance of prac-
tically every member of the then frontier settlements lying along the ocean
or back in the midst of the redwood forests. From a small beginning he
worked his way forward until he was operating lines in almost every part of
Mendocino county as well as in a portion of Humboldt county and even now,
although railroads have taken the place of the old stage-coach to a large
degree and consequently his lines are not so extensive as formerly, he still
has a system that covers a large amount of territory and keeps him in touch
with the development and in warm friendship with the inhabitants of these
districts. From his earliest recollections he has been familiar with this
county. Maine is his native commonwealth and he was born at Augusta, Ken-
nebec county, in 1859, but in 1871 at the age of twelve years he accompanied
the family to California, his father, Ira Barnard, a carpenter by trade, making
his home in Mendocino City for many years. As early as 1880 Leonard Bar-
nard became interested in the stage-coach business. From his home town of
Mendocino City he ran a line to Noyo and later extended it to Kibesillah,
thence to Westport on the ocean and from there to Bear Harbor. Eventually
he had the line put through to Scotia, Humboldt county, and thus brought
isolated communities in touch with one another. At one time he was pro-
prietor of a system from Mendocino City to Ukiah. For ten years before the
railroad was built he also ran a stage from Fort Bragg to Willits and for a
considerable period he has made Fort Bragg his home and business head-
quarters.
The operation of stage lines does not represent the limit of the energies
of Mr. Barnard, who also is vice-president of the First National Bank and
president of the First Bank of Savings in Fort Bragg. Politically he is one
of the leading Republicans in the town. During a service of twelve years as
trustee of Fort Bragg he was foremost in promoting projects for civic growth
and for nine out of the twelve years he was retained as president of the board.
In addition he has served as a supervisor of Mendocino county for eight years,
being chairman of the board six years of that time. Fraternally he has iden-
tified himself with Santa Rosa Lodge of Elks and has held office in the local
lodges of Eagles and Red Men. By his marriage to Miss Lillian King, a native
of Canada, he has one son, Harold, now engaged in stock-raising on his ranch
on the Eel river.
c.^.s^
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 265
PROF. CHESTER D. FLOWERS.— The supervising principal of the
Ukiah grammar schools was born in Alerrimack, Sauk county, Wis., in 1868,
and is the son of James T. and Mary (Michael) Flov/ers, the former a native
of Pawlet. Rutland county, Vt.. descended from a colonial family of New
England, and the latter a native of Canada, descended from French ancestry.
During the Civil war the father served for three and one-half years as a
member of the Fourth ^^^isconsin Light Artillery, receiving an honorable
discharge at the expiration of the struggle. Some years later he removed
to Minnesota and settled at Adrian, Nobles county, where Chester D. received
a grammar-school education. Afterward he attended the high school at
Siou.x Falls, S. D., and in 1889 came to California, where he studied under
Prof. B. F. Higgins at Mendocino City and also took the normal course at
the Mendocino high school. Entering upon the profession of teaching as
a life-work, he secured a position in the Mitchell creek school and v/as so
successful in the management of the school that he was retained for four and
one-half years, resigning eventually to take a higher position as principal
of the Mendocino grammar school. Five years were spent at the head of
that school, and efficiency in the position led to his appointment in 1904 as
principal of the grammar school of Ukiah.
It is in this position, the title of which has been changed to that of
supervising principal, with similar changes in the regime of work, that
Professor Flowers has achieved his highest success and made good to an
extent attracting the attention of educators throughout this part of the state.
The manual training department which he personally conducts is said to
be unrivalled in efficiency. The scope of its influence is wide. Its power in
training the young along lines suited to their special abilities is conceded to
be great. Efficiency has marked his work as a teacher. The results testify
concerning his ability in his chosen line of labor. To keep in touch with
modern educational progress he is a student of pedagogical literature and a
member of the California State Teachers' Association as well as the National
Educational Association. In politics he has taken no interest aside from
voting the Republican ticket at national elections. Horticulture, an occupa-
tion for which the soil and climate of Mendocino county are well adapted,
has interested him to such a degree that he has acquired and developed land,
including twelve acres in pears two miles southeast of Ukiah and eight and
one-half acres in a pear orchard located in the Waggenseller addition, both
tracts in excellent condition with abundant promise of increased values with
the development of the trees. At Ukiah, December 11, 1895, Professor
Flowers married Miss Anna D. Stickney, who was born at Little River,
Mendocino county, and is a daughter of Ruel and Ann T. (Coombs) Stickney,
natives of Maine. The latter, now widowed, is making her home with Mrs.
Flowers. As early as 1856, when a mere lad, Mr. Stickney made his first
trip to California from Maine, to which state he later returned and there
married, coming again to the west in 1862 accompanied by his young wife.
For many years he engaged in cutting down timber at Little River, where
he owned a sawmill for the making of lumber. Eventually he retired from
active business cares and continued to make his home in Little River until
his last illness. His death occurred at St. Helena in 1898, at the age of seventy-
four.
266 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
W. IVY ALLEN. — Lake county is properly named in honor of her
abundant water supply, which includes many springs famous for medicinal
waters as well as purity, and around a number of these have sprung up health
resorts which have made this region celebrated throughout the state. Of
special renown is the Highland Springs hotel and resort, which is open all
the year round to health and pleasure seekers, and which in the complete-
ness of its equipment meets the requirements of all tastes and ages and offers
opportunities for quiet rest or varied recreation as guests desire. Within
the present year, 1914, it has come under new management, the Aliens having
taken charge March 1st, W. H. Allen as lessee and proprietor of the hotel
and immense estate, with his son, W. Ivy Allen, as manager. The latter has
also succeeded to the agency of the Wells-Fargo Express Company at this
point and has been made postmaster at Highland Springs, in both of which
positions he will be able to see that his patrons have the best of service, and
his previous reputation as a business man is sufficient guarantee that his
duties will be discharged satisfactorily to all concerned. The father is an
experienced ranchman, so the large stock farm will be in good hands, and
there is every prospect for the continued prosperity of the resort, which has
had merited popularity for some years.
The Aliens came to the coast from Rock Island, 111., in 1854, when W. H.
Allen was a boy of ten years. He was born at Rock Island, and they drove
from that point across the plains to Portland, Ore., with a bull team. The
principal part of his active business career has been spent at San Jose. Santa
Clara county. Cal., and he has been extensively interested in ranching, being
well fitted to take charge of the twenty-three hundred acres included in the
Highland Springs property. It is a fine stock farm, and dairying is carried
on to some extent, all the dairy products used at the hotel being supplied from
the cattle on the place. Air. Allen and his son took possession March 1, 1914,
and have been busily engaged in familiarizing themselves with the numerous
details necessary to its skillful management. W. H. Allen married Miss
Annie Russell, who was born at San Jose, Cal., and they now make their
home at the Highland Springs resort. Six children have been born to them :
Florence is the wife of \\". E. Hart, who will be associated with his brother-
in-law, W. Ivy Allen, in the management of the resort ; W. Ivy is mentioned
below; Leslie R. is in the employ of the Cahfornia Fruit Canners' Associa-
tion, being at present stationed at Honolulu; Zella is the wife of J. M. Mc-
'".rath, of Stockton. Cal. ; Elmer and Evelyn are both at home.
W. Ivy Allen was born December 6, 1885, and grew to manhood at San
Jose, where he obtained a good practical education, attending public school
and later completing a commercial course in the business college at that place.
In his sixteenth year he began work, in May 1900, entering the employ of the
California Fruit Canners' Association, in a humble capacity, washing cans.
Remaining with his concern until he resigned, in October, 1913, to become
associated with his father in their present enterprise, he rose steadily, being
promoted on his own merits from time to time, and in the winter of 1911 the
companv showed its confidence in his ability and trustworthiness b}' sending
him over to Honolulu. Subsequently he became assistant superintendent, and
was so engaged when he gave up the work to join his father, who had ar-
ranged to take over the Highland Springs resort. With energy, executive
ability and alert faculties, and a sympathetic understanding of the demands
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 267
of his new work, he has an active and successful career before him. All the
old attractions of the place will be maintained, and new features added which
promise to be desirable, and there is no reason why the hotel and resort should
not retain their large patronage under the liberal regime planned by Mr. Allen
and his father. The resort itself is worthy of some description.
The mineral waters of Highland Springs are noted for their curative prop-
erties, and physicians of authority testify to their efficacy and usefulness, the
Seltzer water especially being considered the most agreeable and useful alka-
line water in the country. With this attraction as the nucleus, there has
developed a most delightful resort, open all the year round, but particularly
desirable in the summer season, being located in a beautiful valley among the
picturesque mountain peaks of Lake county, where the exhilarating atmos-
phere alone would be found beneficial to anyone. Being only a short distance
north of San Francisco, it is within easy reach of a large population in this
section of California, and though many come to enjoy the health-giving
medicinal waters, as many or more are attracted by the sheer beauty of the
place. Though the grounds around the hotel buildings are orderly and well-
kept, they have been skillfully arranged to retain all the natural charm with-
out any of the drawbacks of wild land, trees and shrubbery have been planted
or left wherever their presence would enhance the effect, and wild flowers are
still plentiful in this favored spot. The main hotel building is spacious, and
the architect showed his appreciation of the surroundings in its exterior and
interior arrangements ; its reception room is the finest in *any hotel of the
kind in the state. The old hotel building is used as an annex, .\mong the
numerous provisions made for the enjoyment of guests one of the most popu-
lar is the large, modern, concrete bathing pool, with plenty of room to swim
and dive in deep water, and a shallow part for those who merely wish to
plunge or are learning to swim. The porcelain bath tubs are supplied with
water from various springs, of medicinal value. On the grounds are facilities
for those who indulge in tennis, crocjuet, billiards, bowling, shufifleboard, card
playing, horseback riding and dancing, a variety which could hardlj' fail to
please all tastes : and hunting, fishing and automobile excursions to the lakes
and other points of interest in the vicinity are regular features of life at the
resort. For those who prefer a restful time, there are shady nooks provided
with hammocks which are comfortable even on the warmest days, and the
beautiful groves which are the pride of the vast acreage surrounding the hotel
of¥er seclusion and quiet at all hours. As a family resort it is particularly
well liked as offering substantial comforts, especially for those who make pro-
longed stays. A laundry on the grounds, with equipment for doing work
expeditiously and scientifically, is an unusual feature and one which adds
much to the convenience of patrons. The cuisine has always been noted for
its excellence, and service may be had at any time during the day or evening
in the grill room, an advantage which brings many automobile parties that
way. Water from the Seltzer spring is served at table.
This section is blessed in having good roads, laid out through beautiful
stretches of scenery practically accessible only b}' automobile. Highland
Springs is situated eighty-seven miles from Sausalito Ferry, the road travers-
ing the entire length of the productive and picturesque Sonoma valley. At
Pieta the traveler strikes a very gradual grade, over an unexcelled and well
268 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
sprinkled mountain road, the most delightful part of the trip — twelve miles
to the Springs. The rugged gorges and wooded canyons below, the view out
over the Russian river valley, one of the most fertile regions in all California,
on one side, and the mountain peaks on the other, combine to impress the
beholder with the lavishness of nature's hand in this beautiful district and
form a pleasing introduction to one of the most attractive country resorts
on the Pacific slope.
ERNEST LEE WILLIAMS.— Although not of Californian birth, the pro-
prietor of the Hopland meat market belongs to a pioneer family of the state
and represents the third generation of the name identified with the common-
wealth. His father, John S., whose birth occurred at old Sonoma in 1848, had
the distinction of being the first white child born in Sonoma county. At the
age of two years he was orphaned by the death of his father and subsequently
his mother became the wife of Lindsay Carson, a brother of Kit Carson, the
noted scout. Remaining with his mother and stepfather in California until
he had reached man's estate, he then went back to the home of relatives in
Missouri and took up farm pursuits in Monroe count)^, where he married
Miss Ella Boone, a niece of the great frontiersman and Indian fighter, Daniel
Boone. Eleven children were born of their marriage and of these the fourth,
Ernest Lee, was born on the home farm near Paris, Monroe county. Mo., Jan-
uary 13, 1876. The father in 1882 brought wife and children to California and
shortly afterward settled on a farm in the Sanel valley, Mendocino county.
Eventually he refired from agricultural labors. .A.t this writing he is engaged
as janitor of the Healdsburg high school.
At the time of the arrival of the family in Mendocino county Ernest Lee
Williams was a child of six years. Hence his schooling was obtained wholly
in the schools of this county and his agricultural education was also the result
of practical training on the home farm here. April 15. 1906. he entered the
meat market of Eugene Girard as a clerk. The business later was bought by
^Ir. Barker, from whom in the fall of 1908 Mr. ^^Mlliams acquired its interests.
During 1913 he moved to his present place of business at Hopland, where he
has large refrigerator capacity and a cold-storage plant of one ton capacity.
It is said that his slaughter house is the finest and best equipped in the entire
county. It has been his aim to secure the finest quality of meat and to sell
the same at prices as reasonable as the scarcity of good stock will permit.
Besides owning and operating the market he owns a ranch of twenty-four
acres near Hopland and of the tract he has planted twelve acres in Bartlett
pears, with the intention of developing a profitable fruit farm out of the invest-
ment. In politics he is stanchly Republican. At one time he served as deputy
county assessor under M. A. Thomas, By his marriage in Santa Rosa to
Mayme Ward, a native of Hermitage, Mendocino county, he has two sons,
.A.lvin and James. As might be expected of one allied with such families as
the Carsons and the Boones, he is devoted to the welfare of the country, thor-
oughly patriotic in sentiment and willing to aid in any practicable manner all
enterprises for the general upbuilding. Having been a resident of Mendocino
county throughout the greater part of his life, he has seen its development from
an unimproved tract of valley and forest land into a community of citizens
prosperous, substantial and progressive, with growing opportunities for men
of character and efificiencv.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 269
FREDERICK G. STOKES.— Located along Kelsey creek, in the South
Kelseyville precinct of Lake county, is the thriftily kept ranch of Frederick G.
Stokes, whose systematic industry and thorough cultivation are increasing
its value yearly. Mr. Stokes is an Englishman by birth, but Lake county
has no more public-spirited or loyal citizen, for he believes firmly in her pos-
sibilities and is working untiringly to make the most of his own property. He
has become specially interested in horticulture, in which he has not only
had much practical experience but has studied faithfully to familiarize himself
with the best ideas and methods of modern growers.
Born in Cambridgeshire July 12, 1870, Mr. Stokes spent his early years
in his native land. When a young man he served a year as accountant at
Birmingham, and spent another year at sea, making a trip to the East Indies.
In 1888 he came to California, where he had a friend in Dr. Wrightson, the
analytical chemist, who was located at Napa. .\t the time of his arrival he
had but $10 left, and he went to work in Sonoma county cutting cordwood,
the first occupation which offered. He had to take a contract to cut twenty-five
cords in order to secure the job, and as he was unused to that kind of labor
it was a somewhat trying experience, but he carried it through, and for sorrte
time afterward did any kind of work he could find in order to keep employed.
Finally he rented a vineyard of fwenty-five acres, with which he did fairly
well for four years. Then he took a trip back to England, and his father,
who was an auctioneer, horseman and farmer, offered him a partnership. But
he had already learned to love his adopted state, and he returned. Three years
later he again made a visit to England, and on coming back took charge of
the ranch of P. H. Atkinson, in Sonoma county, continuing three years in that
capacity. At the end of that period he rented the Atkinson ranch for two years,
until his removal to Lake county some sixteen years ago, and for seven years
had contracts to work vineyards in Sonoma county for A. B. Carey. Though
his means were limited he bought one hundred acres of the property he now
owns and operates, and commenced its development, and at the end of five
years he had fifteen acres in Bartlett pears. Subsequently he bought eighty
acres more, adjoining his first purchase, and though he had to go heavily in
debt for his land he has managed to carry on its improvement systematically
from year to year, and most of it is under excellent cultivation. Mr. Stokes
has devoted himself largely to the raising of pears, prunes and grapes, giving
particular attention to horticulture in his agricultural operations. Besides the
fifteen acres of Bartlett pears on his own place, he rents ten acres more
planted to the same fruit, and planted out and has charge of twenty-five acres
of vineyard. In 1910 Mr. Stokes took the examination for horticultural com-
missioner in Lake county and passed, but lost the appointment to the position
b)^ one vote and is again a candidate for the appointment.
By his first marriage Mr. Stokes had one child, which is deceased. His
second marriage was to ^Irs. .\gnes Olson, a native of Sweden, who came to
.America when twelve years old. Her first husband. Captain Olson, was a
sea captain, well known at the bay ports, and he died in Lake county, whither
he had come in the hope of benefiting his health. Two children were born to
Mr. and Mrs. Olson, Leonard and Helen, both of whom live with Mr. and
Mrs. Stokes, to whose union no children have been born. Mrs. Stokes is a
model cook and housekeeper, and their home is beautifully well kept and neat
under her capable management. Mr. Stokes is modest of his achievements,
270 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
but his worth is generally recognized among his fellow citizens, and the con-
dition of his fine property, which is on the Mill road south of Kelseyville
mill, is sufficient testimony of his industry and intelligent labors. His wife
owns a small property also.
So thoroughly does Mr. Stokes believe in California that he has induced a
number of his family to settle here. His father, Frederick Stokes, lived and died
in England. He was a stockman, farmer and auctioneer, and at one time agent
tor the Duke of Newcastle. His first marriage w^as to Ellen Cox, a native of
England, who died in that country leaving two children, Frederick G. and
Mary, the latter the wife of John W. Hodgekinson, a poultry raiser, of Santa
Rosa, Cal. By his second union, with Sarah Cox, he had a family of six
and after his death the widow with other members of the family came to the
Lake county ranch, where the latch string is always out. The children were
named as follows : Bert, who died in Lake county, Cal. ; Charles, now en-
gaged as bookkeeper for Folger & Co., in San Francisco ; Sydney, who took
an auto and mechanics' course at Heald's, but follows farming and for
several years has owned and operated a hay baler; Janet, a stenographer at
Santa Rosa; Ethel, a trained nurse of Santa Rosa; and I\Iay, also a trained
nurse, now the wife of Dr. Dwire of Los Angeles.
MOSES C. BRIGGS.— The discovery of gold gave definiteness to the
iialf-formulated plans of a young Missourian, who as a nephew of Kit Carson
possessed many of the qualities that gave success to that noted scout and
whose previous life, flowing in the monotonous channel of farm routine, had
given him no opportunity to gratify his love of adventure and his desire to see
the world. Howard county in Missouri was his native locality and September
24, 1827, the date of his birth. In such an environment during the first half
of the nineteenth century there were no educational advantages. Schools
were few and widely separated. On lonely, undeveloped claims the frontiers-
men labored to provide the necessities of existence for the family. Game was
plentiful and the lad became skilled in the use of a rifle. Nor was he less
useful in the care of stock and the tilling of the soil. At the age of twenty-two
he left the old Missouri home. Thenceforward he was identified with the
development of Northern California. On the 15th of October, 1850, he ar-
rived in Sonoma county. Capable, robust and resolute, he had no difficulty
in finding employment and until the spring of 1852 he remained in the employ
of Captain Mallagh as superintendent of the Santa Rosa ranch.
It was during a tour of inspection, in search of pasturage for large herds
of cattle, that Moses Briggs and William Potter discovered Potter valley in
1852. As they halted their hoi"ses and looked down upon the beautiful but
unoccupied spot at their feet, doubtless their feelings to a certain extent
resembled those of Balboa who some three and one-half centuries before,
from his vantage ground on the Isthmus of Darien, caught the first glimpse
of the great Pacific ocean. l\Iuch as he was pleased with the valley, however.
Mr. Briggs did not find it convenient to settle here at once and it was not until
he had spent five years on the Fitch grant near Healdsburg that in 1857 he
became a farmer in the region where Mr. Potter had preceded him. In 1859
he moved to L'kiah, put up a livery barn, began to operate a stable and con-
tinued in the business until 1861. Returning to the ranch in the valley, he
resumed agricultural pursuits. However, in 1865 he again established a home
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 271
in Ukiah, built another livery barn and resumed business. In 1867 he went
back to the ranch, where he specialized in sheep-raising and the sale of wool
until 1870. Until his death, which occurred in 1892, he continued to reside
in the valley, where he was honored as a forceful pioneer, prominent Mason,
generous citizen and capable farmer. In this same valley, honored by all,
still lives his widow, formerly ]\Iiss Elizabeth Potter of Missouri, a sister of
the discoverer of the valley, and also a pioneer of California, crossing the plains
with her parents in 1845, a woman possessing the substantial qualities neces-
sary to frontier existence. She became the wife of Mr. Briggs August 18,
1852, and in all the hardships incident to life in a then undeveloped region
she proved his helpful counselor and capable assistant, ministering to his
comfort with whole-souled devotion, and wisely rearing her children, Nancy
(Mrs. Boulon), Jennie J. (now Mrs. Matthews), Belle G. (now Mrs. Elston),
Charles S. and Moses C. The splendid qualities that gave value to the citizen-
ship of the pioneer members of the Potter and Briggs families appear in the
present generation and form an endowment even more desirable than the
broad acres of this charming valley.
WILLIAM POTTER.— Nomenclature appeals to the student of history
with peculiar force when it gives permanence to the identification of pioneer
or prominent citizen with any community. Potter valley is of interest not
only because it is the abode of a prosperous agricultural population, but also
by reason of the name recalling the identification therewith and discovery
thereof by William Potter, a California pioneer of 1845 and a native of Mis-
souri. Little is known concerning the early life of this adventurous frontiers-
man. It is evident, however, that the environment of his boyhood was such
as to develop his inherent qualities of energy, fearlessness, endurance in priva-
tion and patience in hardships. In all probability the long journey across the
plains with his parents proved less arduous to him than to them, for to an
eager youth, sturdy of limb and stout of body, such a trip would prove a con-
stant voyage of discovery. Nor did his adventures cease with the arrival of
the family in the Sacramento valley, where his father took up land near the
present site of Chico. The old homestead later was embraced in the famous
Bidwell ranch. At the expiration of two years he left that place and settled
at Healdsburg, Sonoma county, where he remained for three years.
Accompanied by Moses Briggs, a frontiersman of like tastes and love of
adventure, William Potter traveled through northwestern California during
1852. On one of the mountain tops that overlook Potter valley from the east,
they halted their horses and gazed down upon the vale below that was green
with the promise of spring. The charming bit of nature at their feet aroused
their keenest pleasure. With the bold spirit of frontiersmen they determined
to graze their cattle in the valley and make it their home. Thus for a time
at least they were masters of the valley and all it contained. Although Mr.
Potter did not die here (for he was visiting in Texas at the time of his death)
his later years were intimately associated with the agricultural development
of the region and he never ceased to cherish a warm affection for the beau-
tiful little valley of his discovery. Soon after he came into the locality there
followed him his two brothers, James and Thomas, also a cousin, Abner, and
four sisters, namely : Ruth Ann, Mrs. Samuel Chase, now deceased ; Rebecca,
Mrs. Gordon, deceased ; Elizabeth, the widow of Moses Briggs ; and Mary
Jane. The entire familj^ became vital factors in the local upbuilding and
272 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
joined with their relative, the original discoverer, in developing its large
resources and laying the foundation of its present prosperity as an agricul-
tural and horticultural center.
ADOLPHUS MENDENHALL.— Close to Upper Lake village, on the
west, lies a fertile tract whose principal product, string beans, together with
the work of its preservation, might well be the subject of one of the most
interesting chapters in the development of either agricultural or industrial
possibilities in Lake county. It is unlikely that there is another tract of
similar extent in the county equally productive, for intensive farming in one
particular line has been most successfully attempted there, and the story of
Adolphus Mendenhall's prosperous venture is typical of the modern applica-
tion of scientific knowledge to the furtherance of commercial projects. The
days are passed when the student had no place in the world of practical
things. The thinker and the worker have combined their resources with the
happiest results in an undertaking of this sort, where scientific agriculture
and scientific business have united in the building up of an establishment
which has aided in the prosperity of hundreds. The Clear Lake brand of
canned string beans holds its own in the market today.
It was Henry Wombold, a market gardener, located at Laurel Dell (Blue
Lake), in Lake county, some twenty-five years ago, who discovered the
adaptability of the soil and climate of the Upper Lake country to the growing
of a very superior quality of string beans, which produced profusely with
proper care. But it was left to Mr. Mendenhall to make a success out of
this knowledge from a commercial standpoint, and he not only brought the
production of the vegetable up to its greatest possibilities, but also found
that the canning could be done with special advantage right at the source
of supply — and put his ideas into practice. The result is that he is the owner
of what is generally considered the most remunerative industry in the county.
His plant, known as the Clear Lake Cannery, requires as many as four hun-
dred and fifty people for its operation during the busy season. Its importance
in relation to the general prosperity of the community may be reckoned from
that fact alone. Some account of the man who is at its head will be interest-
ing. Mr. Alendenhall belongs to an old Lake county family of German
extraction, whose members have been settled in this country, however, for
several generations. Samuel and Amy Lee (Stevens) Mendenhall, grand-
parents of Adolphus Mendenhall, were natives of North Carolina, in which
Jtate they were married. They were farming people, and for a number of
years lived in Indiana, whence they moved westward to Iowa in the early
'50s. The mother died there. In the year 1864 the family moved from Iowa
to Idaho, where they lived for nearly five years, in 1869 coming to California
and first making a settlement in Contra Costa county. Within a couple of
years, however, in 1871, they changed their location to Lake county, making
a permanent home here. The grandfather died in Lake county in his eighty-
ninth year. The family consisted of eleven children: Aaron, Elijah. Isaac,
Annis, Henley, Cerelda, Joseph, John, Sylvia, Nelson and Jacob Lowell.
Joseph Mendenhall, son of Samuel Mendenhall, was born September 9,
1837, in Greene county, Ind., where he lived until fifteen years old. He then
went with the family to Iowa, subsequently moving to Idaho and California,
as already related. When they arrived in Lake county, in 1871, he settled
•Tlong Scotts creek in Scotts valley, in the Bachelor ^'alley precinct, home-
^. 4k^o/^^^i^.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 275
steading a tract of eighty acres, and his father pre-empted another eighty
acres, which Joseph bought from him later. This property is eight miles
west of Upper Lake. He and his wife still live there. Mr. Mendenhall was
married in Iowa, in 1858, to Miss America Phillips, a native of Des Moines,
(laughter of James Phillips, and they became the parents of ten children, two
dying in childhood, when eight and ten years old, respectively. The others
are: Adolphus ; Arvilla L., Mrs. A. L. Harris, of Cloverdale, Sonoma county;
Olive I., Mrs. George Meadow, living in Scotts valley ; Alexander, a farmer
in Siskiyou county, this state ; Bert, who lives at home and takes care of the
f)roperty of his parents ; Sarah Jane, wife of Miner Eaton, of Mendocino
county ; Nina, wife of Harry Rhodes, living in Arizona, and Maude, wife of
Lou Mann, living at Saratoga Springs, Cal. A fuller account of this family
appears elsewhere.
Adolphus Mendenhall was born in Iowa, near Des Moines, September
12, 1859, and was a boy of only twelve when the family settled in Lake county.
His educational advantages were such as the public schools aflford. When
a youth he began to do farm work, to which he had been trained from child-
hood, helping around home, arid after his marriage he began on his own
account, at Fresno for two years, then returned to Bachelor valley, where
he was located for ten years. However, he did not invest in any land until
he purchased his present place in Lake county, about 1893. His holdings
at present consist of one hundred and sixty-seven and a half acres, all adjoin-
ing Upper Lake on the west, and comprising three dififerent ranches. He
first purchased the D. V. Thompson place and forty acres from the McClure
estate, to which he added the Dr. Woodard place, and all the land is of the
best quality for his purpose. One hundred and thirty acres are entirely
devoted to the raising of the celebrated White Creaseback string beans, a
bush variety which Mr. Mendenhall had found especially fine for canning
purposes. He was the first man to make the raising and canning of this
variety profitable, and the first to make a demonstration on so large a scale
of the suitability of the soil hereabouts to its culture. The cannery which he
has established is taxed to the limit of its capacity during the height of the
season, and Mr. Mendenhall is making preparations to enlarge it so as to
increase the output thirty to fifty per cent. The gross annual receipts from
the business run between $80,000 and $90,000 at present, and have been
showing steady expansion from the start. AJjout thirty thousand two-dozen
cases of No. 2 cans (about two pounds each) and about four thousand one-
dozen cases of No. 8 cans (about six and two-thirds pounds each) are put
up each year. The growth of the business is a credit to Mr. Mendenhall's
ability in both the agricultural and the commercial lines, for its proper con-
duct requires expert knowledge in both and executive faculties of the most
reliable order. His plant is considered a valuable contribution to Lake
county's interests.
Equally entitled to credit for the success of this industry and its bearing
on the upbuilding and developing of Lake county's natural resources is Mrs
Mendenhall, who from the first has shared with him the responsibilities and
trials of the early years of their doubts and fears, for it has not been accom-
plished without strenuous effort on their part. It was many seasons before
tliey felt that they could breathe easy, as the saying is. This is the seven-
teenth season, their first regular pack having occurred in 1897, although in
276 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
1896 they put up samples, the preparation of which was accomplished on the
kitchen stove, and was a successful demonstration. The outside work having
to be superintended by Mr. Mendenhall, it has devolved upon Mrs. Menden-
hall to act as secretary of the establishment, thus making it necessary for
her to give her attention to the books and correspondence of the concern.
The product of the cannery is now shipped into various parts of the western
states, and also to far-away Alaska. Both being indefatigable workers, it is
not to be wondered at that the result has been satisfactory and more than
fulfilled their most sanguine expectations.
Mr. and Mrs. Mendenhall improved their property with regard to appear-
ance as much as from the economic standpoint, showing themselves thor-
oughly in sympathy with the modern idea that neatness and thrift must go
hand in hand. Recently a very fine country residence has been built, two
stories high and very commodious, and the family enjoy all the comforts of
a well appointed home. Mr. Mendenhall's time is practically engrossed with
business affairs, and his activity in politics is limited to voting, in support
of the Democratic party. He is an Odd Fellow in fraternal connection, be-
longing to Upper Lake Lodge No. 241.
Mr. Mendenhall was married in Bachelor valley, September 18, 1881, to
Miss Lottie Huner, who was born in Lewis county. Mo., the daughter of
James and Lucy (Cox) Huner, natives of Missouri and Illinois, respectively.
The father, who was a farmer, died in Missouri. In 1864 the mother came
to California with their only child, Lottie, and in 1869 came to Lake county,
the daughter receiving her education in the schools of Bachelor valley. Mr.
and Mrs. Mendenhall have one child, Eva M., the wife of Charles A. Sanborn
and the mother of two sons. Elwell A. and Carrol M., who are the pride of
the home.
JAMES A. HARRIS. — Coming to California shortly after the close of
the Civil war, primarily with the object of restoring his health, which had
become impaired during his service in that conflict, Mr. Harris has been a
resident of the Lower Lake precinct, in Lake county, continuously since — a
period of almost fifty years. To the eighty-acre tract which he bought soon
after his arrival he has added steadily until his holdings now aggregate four
hundred and eighty acres, nicely improved, advantageously situated on the
Middletown road, and beautiful with the evidence of his unremitting atten-
tion in its cultivation and upkeep. All the details of the property are looked
after with the thoroughness and system characteristic of Mr. Harris. A
native of Pennsylvania, and descended from two families whose history has
been intimateh^ connected with progress in the western part of that state, he
is a typical representative of the stock whence he springs, and some record
of whose activity will be found interesting.
James Harris, his father, lived for a number of years at Harrisville, a
town in Butler county. Pa., some fifty miles northwest of Pittsburg, and had
extensive interests in the town and surrounding country. He was a merchant
at Harrisville, owned two farms adjoining that place, and was also engaged
in smelting ore and in the manufacture of pig iron, having two furnaces
twelve miles north of town. In 1852 he moved west, settling near Keokuk,
Lee county, Iowa, where he engaged in farming for three years. He then
moved to Grinnell, Iowa, where, after a few years spent on a farm, he engaged
in the drug business, which he continued until the time of his death, which
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 277
occurred when he was sixty-eight years old. He had married Miss Mary
A. McKee, daughter of Judge McKee, of Venango county, Pa., and as the
Harrises were the leading people at Harrisville, so the McKees were promi-
nent in the vicinity of McKeesport, which was named for the family. Mrs.
Harris lived to her eighty-ninth year. She and her husband were the parents
of ten children, of whom we have the following record: Ephraim H., who is
now deceased, was a physician and lived at Grinnell, Iowa ; Thomas McKee
came to California and settled in Lake county, where he lived and died, be-
coming quite prominent as a hotel man and farmer; Susan, who is deceased,
became the wife of Henry Hill, a farmer of Poweshiek county, Iowa; Samuel
E., who lives at Denver, Colo., was engaged during his active years as a
carpenter and building contractor ; Jane A. became the wife of Rev. Compton,
a Presbyterian minister, and died near Sacramento, Cal. ; Sarah, who now
lives at Lewis, Iowa, is the widow of Theodore Worthington, who was a
wagonmaker at Grinnell, Iowa ; James A. is mentioned below ; William J. is
a banker at Lewis, Iowa ; Joanna H., who lives at Grinnell, is the widow of
Hiram Haynes, a lawyer; Mrs. Mary V. Keegy lives at Grinnell.
James A. Harris was born October 30, 1839, and his birthplace was
Harrisville, the town named in honor of his paternal ancestors. He was about
twelve years old when he went west with his parents to Iowa, where he grew
up, and he attended the common schools in both Pennsylvania and his new
home. He also had the privilege of a year's attendance at Grinnell College.
His school days over, Mr. Harris engaged in the dairy business, continuing
that in connection with other agricultural work until the Civil war came on.
He had married meantime, nevertheless he offered his services to his country
August 15, 1862, enlisting at Montezuma. Iowa, in Company B, Fortieth
Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered in at Iowa City, and
under the leadership of General Grant saw service throughout the Vicksburg
campaign. He was next at Little Rock, in the Camden campaign under
General Steele, participating in the Battle of Jenkins Ferry, and fought with
the Army of the Southwest in the Trans-Mississippi Department, seeing con-
siderable hard service. Having suiTered from fever, his health was broken
during his army life, but he remained in the service until after the end of the
war, receiving an honorable discharge and being mustered out August 2, 186.5,
at Fort Gibson, Cherokee Nation (now Oklahoma).
Returning to his home in Iowa and finding his health did not improve
s.itisfactorily, Mr, Harris resolved to try a residence in California, and he
made the journey west in 1866, bringing his family by way of New York and
Panama to San Francisco, where they landed about the 1st of November.
Thence they proceeded immediately to Lower Lake, Lake county, where his
brother, Thomas ^ilcKee Harris, was then running a hotel, and not long
afterward, in 1867, Mr. Harris made his first purchase of land, the eighty
acres which has become the nucleus of a very fine ranch. During the forty-
eight years and more which have passed since, he has increased and improved
his possessions as prosperity enabled him, until now he has four hundred and
eighty acres, principally planted in hay and grain, and also valuable for stock
raising purposes, Mr. Harris at present having thirty head of cattle, thirty
hogs and one hundred and fifty chickens, besides nine fine horses. His com-
fortable home, well cared for orchard, substantial fences and other well chosen
improvements, combine to make the place highly desirable, a credit to the
278 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
neighborhood as well as to the man who has accomplished its development.
Mr. Harris devotes all his time to his agricultural interests, nevertheless he
is an ardent Progressive in his political views, and he has long been a Grand
Army man, having just cause to feel proud of his fine war record.
Mr. Harris was married at Deep River, Poweshiek county, Iowa, a few-
months before his enlistment, to Miss Louisa Parker, a native of the state of
Ohio, whose parents, T. J. and Catherine (Trout) Parker, were married in
Ohio, where Mrs. Parker was also born. I\Ir. and Mrs. Parker lived at Deep
River. Mrs. Harris died in 1873 in Lake county, Cal., in her thirty-first year,
leaving three children, namely : Eugene, who lives at Kennett, Shasta county,
Cal., where he is engaged in mining and also conducts a lodging house ; Erwin
J., also a miner at Kennett, Shasta county ; and Katie M. is the wife of Dr.
James Ciley, a dentist, of Colusa county, and they have two children. By his
second marriage, to Miss Lina C. Powell, who was born at San Rafael, Cal.,
and died in 1881, Mr. Harris also has three children: Ralph A., who assists
his father in the management of the home place ; Carl N., who is also assisting
his father; and Martha L., who is married to Charles Shreve and has two
children (Mr. Shreve is employed bv the Transfer Company at Los Gatos,
Cal).
HOWARD B. SMITH.— During the residence of his family at Point
Arena, Mendocino county, Howard B. Smith was born March 8, 1865. The
son of sturdy pioneers, staunch patriots and energetic workers, he was reared
in an environment conducive only to thrift and progress. As a boy he at-
tended grammar school in Ukiah and aided in the cultivation of the home farm,
which was situated about one mile southeast of the city of Ukiah. He fol-
lowed farming and teaming up to March 1, 1888, when he entered the assessor's
office and acted as deputy assessor until August 11, 1888, when
he became associated with C. H. Duncan in the business of abstracting and
searching of land titles. On October 1, 1889, Mr. Duncan sold his interest in
the abstract business to R. E. Donohoe and the firm name was then changed
to Smith & Donohoe. In 1892 Messrs. Smith & Donohoe purchased the plant
known as the Mendocino County Abstract Bureau from Peery & Barnett and
consolidated the two plants. In 1900 P. ^^^ Handy became a third owner
with Messrs. Smith and Donohoe and the entire abstract plant was incor-
porated under the name of Smith, Donohoe & Co., proprietors of the Mendo-
cmo County Abstract Bureau. In December, 1905, Messrs. Smith & Handy
purchased the interest of Mr. Donohoe in the business and were sole pro-
prietors until March 1, 1906, when they disposed of all their interest in the
abstract plant to George P. Anderson. During the year 1906 Mr. Smith gave
his attention to the winding up of the estate of his brother, Henry Smith,
who had been killed in December, 1905. while in the performance of his
duties as sheriff.
On January 1, 1907, Mr. Smith accepted the position of under sheriff under
his old partner, Mr. Donohoe, who in the meantime had been elected sheriff
ot Mendocino county. After the expiration of his term as under sheriff' Mr.
Smith again became associated with Mr. Donohoe, they establishing the
Smith & Donohoe Realty Company, for the transaction of a general real estate
and surveying business. On February 1, 1914, Mr. Smith accepted the cash-
iership of the Commercial Bank of Ukiah, and as Mr. Donohoe's time was
^^P'TS^^-^^.^^^.J^
MEx\DOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 281
so much taken up with the duties of surveying the Smith & Donohoe
Realty Company was dissolved by mutual consent.
Mr. Smith has served the city of Ukiah continuously since April, 1906,
as city trustee and is now a candidate without opposition for his third term,
(jtherwise he would never allow his name to go before the people as a Candi-
date for public ofifice. During the last eight years he has witnessed great
strides in the public improvements of Ukiah, among them the covering of
the business streets with standard pavements, the building of the new city
hall at a cost of $10,000, and the Carnegie library, at $8,000. With C. M.
Mannon he was interested in the erection of the public auditorium on State
street, known as the Victory Theater, which is a fireproof building with a
seating capacity of one thousand. One of the largest and finest opera houses
on the coast north of San Francisco, it was built at a cost of $25,000 and is an
nrtistic and substantial addition to the architectural beauty of the city. Mr.
Smith is a horse enthusiast and as such has brought into and raised some of
the best standard-bred horses in Mendocino county. In partnership with
others he owns the Ukiah Park grounds, upon which is situated what is said
to be the best half mile track in California, and over which many contests
of speed have been displayed in the past.
Mr. Smith was married in Ukiah April 11, 1894, to Miss Mabel Ames, a
native of Ukiah, where she was reared. She is an accomplished musician,
having devoted many years to teaching the piano, and shares with her hus-
band the friendship of many associates. Mr. Smith was made a Mason in
Abell Lodge No. 146, F. & A. M., of which he is past master, and is also
a member of Ukiah Chapter No. 53, R. A. M., and Ukiah Commandery No. 33:
K. T., of which he is past Eminent Commander. In San Francisco he holds
membership in Islam Temple, N. M. S., and with his wife is a member of
Casimir Chapter No. 252, O. E. S., both being past officers of the order. In the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows Mr. Smith is past noble of Ukiah Lodge
No. 174. All of the interests of a lifetime of activity center in Mendocino
county with Mr. Smith, who cherishes a deep affection for the region of his
!>irth and the home of his boyhood. All of his life has been passed almost
within sound of the sea and within the shadow of the great mountains of the
west. At Ukiah, where his parents were the first settlers, he has been con-
lent to remain without desire to follow the allurements of localities less dear
to him. In common with practically all of the men who have been lifelong
residents of the county he maintains a deep and unceasing interest in move-
ments for the public welfare and contributes of his time and influence toward
such measures.
JAMES ALEXANDER GUNN. — By birth an Englishman, by destiny an
American and by choice a Californian, Mr. Gunn came to Lake county in
1880 without money or friends and with a family dependent upon his efforts
for their support. Out of the hardships of those early years he has risen to
prosperity and prominence and is now a leading business man of Kelseyville
as well as justice of the peace and promoter of religious and temperance
movements. Possessing natural ability as a mechanic, in early life he learned
several trades and these came to his relief in days of financial loss. After
coming to Kelseyville, when he was disabled by a very severe injury and
reduced to abject poverty, his rigid honesty still remained and his determina-
tion to conquer adverse circumstances knew no defeat. Taking up the man-
282 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
ufacture of furniture and organs in Kelseyville, he soon acquired a saw-
mill and ultimately built up a business that is especially interesting as the
very first manufacturing plant for furniture and organs in the county. For-
tune smiled on him and ultimately he became well-to-do, while his sons are
following him in the attainment of success and the exercise of wise business
qualifications.
In London, England, August 26, 1841, James Alexander Gunn was born
m the home of John Hugh and JNIargaret (CameronJ Gunn, natives respectively
of Edinburgh and Inverness, Scotland. The father, a wine merchant of great
prominence, was supposed to be wealthy, but at his death in 1848 it was
ascertained that he had become heavily involved and left little or no property.
This changed the future of the family. There were four children, of whom
James Alexander is the sole survivor. His mother died in London at the
age of eighty-four. When he was ten he was put to work in the office of a
London physician and later earned a livelihood in other ways. .\t the age
of sixteen he was apprenticed to the trades of cabinet-maker and undertaker
and served for five years, meanwhile working twelve hours a day and learning
the trades thoroughly. Later he was variously employed in a piano factory
and a pipe-organ factory, then for three years was employed as a ship joiner.
Meanwhile, March 20, 1864, he married Miss Emma LTnderwood, of London.
When they came to America in 1869 they had two children. For a year Mr.
Gunn was employed as foreman of a reed-organ factory at Woodstock, On-
tario, and the firm then became Karn, Gunn & Staebler. Out of that developed
the Karn Organ & Piano Company, one of the largest organ and piano manu-
facturing companies in Canada.
Although already on the road to independence ^Ir. Gunn decided to
leave Canada for California on account of the ill health of his wife. Arriving
in San Francisco in 1876, he settled in Oakland and found employment in a
pipe-organ manufacturing business. For three and one-half years he remained
m that position. ?ileanwhile he had lost all of his money through buying
stocks in mining concerns. It became necessary to start anew and he then
came to Lake county in 1880 and bought a claim on which to establish a home.
In order to earn a livelihood for his family he began to tune pianos and organs
in Big valley, .\bout that time his leg was broken by the kick of a mule.
He was brought to Kelseyville for medical attention, but was forced to wait
thirty-six hours for the return of the only doctor, who had been called away
from town. Recovery was slow. Discouragements were many, for he was
an utter stranger to the people and had only $30 in his possession. However,
with his restoration to strength there came a turn in the tide of misfortune.
The establishment of a planing mill and the manufacture of furniture and
organs gave him a new start in the business world, where he prospered to a
gratifying degree. In 1887 he established a general mercantile store in
Kelseyville. which is now managed by his eldest son, James A., Jr. For
sixteen years or more he has served as township justice of the peace. During
the last legislature a request was made to ascertain the amount of fees paid
to justices. The supervisors of Lake county telephoned to him inquiring as
to the amount of his fees. This caused him to look over old records and in
so doing he ascertained that there were several times more criminal business
brought to court when there were saloons as in the times when the district is
"drv."
6^oT
'/m^U^'
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 285
The Gunn family are of the Presbyterian faith and ^Ir. Gunn officiates as
treasurer and trustee of the congregation at Kelseyville. In politics he is a
Republican of the progressive type. Fraternally he was made a Mason in
Oxford Lodge, Woodstock, Ontario, but now belongs to Hartley Lodge No.
117, F. & A. M., in Lakeport. Ofhis family of seven children the eldest,
Emma, and the youngest, Joseph, died in infancy. James A. Jr., married Miss
Molander and has two children, Helen R., and James Alexander, the third
of that name. Emily is the wife of William Fultz, of San Rafael. Francis
George is a physician practicing at Willits. Arthur John married Viola Irwin
and has two children, Clayton and Muriel ; they reside at Kelseyville. Eliza-
beth is the wife of Dr. C. H. Walworth, of Oakland, and the mother of two
children, Charlotte and Josephine.
PETER TRIBBLE BOONE.— The county treasurer of Lake county is a
member of an historic colonial family of America that had representatives
among the planters of Virginia during the eighteenth century. In a collateral
line he is a descendant of Daniel Boone, the famous scout, whose love of the
forests and the frontier led him across the mountains from Virginia to Ken-
tucky. Less noted but not less valiant than he was his brother. Squire Boone,
likewise long identified with the Blue Grass state, and whose son, William,
a Kentuckian of considerable prominence, was the father of Nestor W.
Boone and the grandfather of P. T. Boone. The history of Daniel Boone is
familiar to every boy scout who loves the woods and streams far from the
haunts of men, who prides himself on expert marksmanship and who de-
lights in fishing and hunting with all a sportsman's joy. His early settle-
ment in Kentucky, then inhabited only by Indians, made him one of the
founders of that state ; yet dear as it was to him, with the incoming of settlers
and the diminishing opportunity for hunting he found his soul yearning for
the solitude of nature. Therefore he was impelled to make yet another
move and his last days were passed in Missouri, where he died in Warren
county. Under the authority of the Kentucky state legislature his nephew,
William, went to Missouri and from Warren county conveyed the remains
of the great scout back to Kentucky, where the body was buried in state at
Frankfort. Thus did Kentucky render a last tribute of honor to one of her
greatest men. Mr. Boone's mother was Matilda Tribble, the daughter of
Rev. Peter Tribble, a Baptist minister from Madison county, Ky.
At the time of the removal of Nestor W. Boone to Boone county, Mo., in
1847, P. T. Boone, who was born in Christian county, Ky., June 6, 1837, was
a boy of ten years, able already to assist materially in the care of stock and
the general farm work. After leaving Lathrop .Academy when eighteen years
old, he became a clerk in a mercantile store in Boone county. A few years
later, July 17, 1862. he married Miss Laura Bower, daughter of Dr. G. M.
Bower, of Monroe county. Mo. Five children were born of their union,
namely; Bower; Mrs. Eloise Scranton, who died in Riverside; Catherine A.;
Jesse T. ; and William, who died in Los Angeles when seventeen years of age.
During 1874, the family left Missouri for California and settled in Lakeport,
Lake county, where for some years Mr. Boone acted as manager for the mer-
cantile house of Scudamore & Co. From the time of casting his first ballot
he has been stanchly devoted to Democratic policies. The party recognized
his ability and honored his faithfulness by electing him county treasurer in
1894, and from that year to the present he has filled the office continuously,
with the sole exception of four years following a Republican victory at the
286 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
polls. At the primary election held on August 25, 1914, he was re-elected.
Experience has given him a high degree of efficiency and he is highly re-
spected for his loyal devotion to the welfare of the county, his strict hon-
esty in the smallest details connected with the treasury and his ability to dis-
charge all official duties with skill and accuracy.
CHARLES MARSH YOUNG.— In the early days of Middletown, Lake
county, C. M. Young was one of the most prominent business men of the
place, and he has recently returned to spend the days of his retirement there
after a number of years on his large ranch in Coyote valley. The home he
occupies he built in 1872. Though he has passed the threescore and ten mark
he has relinquished all the care of his interests only within the last year, and
is still looking after his afifairs with his usual capability. His congenial nature
and straightforward dealings have drawn numerous friends to him in the
course of a busy life, and his kindness of heart has endeared him to the many
who have always found their relations with him pleasant to remember. In
the early seventies, when Middletown was being laid out, Mr. Young became
interested in the consequent real estate transactions. He ran the Lake County
House — still the leading hostelry at Middletown — for a number of years, and
was also engaged in other lines, at one time, in fact, having the hotel, a general
store, meat market and livery barn. Though he has had some business
reverses they have not proved serious drawbacks, and he is now a large
landowner in Lake county, his holdings in Coyote valley comprising nine
hundred and sixty acres of valuable land. He has held public positions, prov-
ing a very competent and trustworthy official, and the story of his well
rounded life has its place in the history of Lake county.
Born near Petersburg, Menard county. 111., March 8, 1841, Mr. Young
is the youngest child of his parents. His father, Matthias Young, a native of
Kentucky, married Mrs. Hannah (Smith) Pantier, who was born in New
York state, and she died on the Young homestead in Menard county, when her
son Charles was five years old. Of the five children born to them three grew
to maturity : Mary, widow of David Ogden, of Sundance, Wyo., has three
living children ; William A. is in the soldiers' home at Sawtelle, Los Angeles
county, Cal. ; Charles Marsh is mentioned more fully later. The father remar-
ried after the mother's death, and had one child, a daughter, Lizzie (Mrs.
Higgins) by the second union. Matthias Young's death occurred at his
home in Menard county when Charles M. Young was eight years old. By
occupation he was a farmer, and he was one of the early settlers in Menard
county, taking an active part in its organization. Mr. Young's grandfather, a
native of Scotland, served in the Revolutionary war, and bore the title of major.
During that war he was left on the field for dead, but recovered, though he
had received nineteen saber cuts on the back.
Charles Marsh Young was reared on the farm, and his childhood was
typical of the times and locality. He obtained his schooling during two
months' attendance in the winter season, being obliged to assist with the
farm work from an early age. He began to plow when only eight years old.
In 1863 he set out for California, coming across the plains with teams, but
stopped in the then territory of Nevada and for five months was engaged at
ranching in the Carson valley. In January, 1864, he came on to San Fran-
cisco and returned to Illinois via Panama and New York, and then by rail
to Menard county. His brother, William A., had just been discharged from
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 287
the army, having been badly wounded. The same year the brothers started
together overland with teams and wagons for the Idaho mines, over which
there was great excitement at the time, but at Colonel Bridgers cutoff they
branched off, William continuing on to Idaho and Charles M. to California.
He located in Sonoma county, where he rented a place and farmed two years.
In 1866 he married, and shortly afterward moved into Lake county, arriving
in Coyote valley January 18, 1867. During the next four years Mr. Young
rented grant land, and then bought a farm a mile north of what is now Mid-
dletown — about October, 1870. At that time considerable teaming was done in
that region, hauling sulphur and borax, and stages ran between Lower Lake
and Calistoga. This point being about centrally located between these places
it came quite naturally by the name of Middletown. Its reputation was
further extended from the fact that it proved a good junction for the patrons
of Harbin Springs, the first mineral springs in the county to attract great
attention, and liberally patronized even as early as 1870. When the quick-
silver prospects at the Great Western mine began to boom another impetus
was given to the opening up of the locality, and Oscar Armstrong and John
H. Berry (the latter a brother-in-law of Mr. Young) bought forty acres from
the Callayomi grant, and later forty acres more from William J. Armstrong.
In 1872 they proceeded to lay out the town site of Middletown, which was
surveyed and platted as it is at present in 1874 by B. R. Wardlow. In 1871
Mr. Young bought Mr. Berry's interest in the project, and the firm became
Young & Armstrong. Mr. Armstrong dying in June, 1872. his widow, Mrs.
Mary E. Armstrong, who still survives, succeeded to his share in the business,
which was continued under the same name, the firm selling lots and engaging
in the other enterprises incidental to starting the town. In 1870 Mr. Berry
built a four-room house (on the present site of the Lake County House)
which became the first hotel in Middletown. Mr. Young bought him out in
1871 and put up a two-story building on the same ground, making a four-
leen-room house. In 1875 he moved the frame building back on the prem-
ises and erected the brick part, finishing it practically as it stands today. In
this connection he started the first brickyard at Middletown, making the
bricks for his hotel. In 1873 he built the livery barn at Calistoga and Union
streets. Mr. and Mrs. Young conducted the hotel from the time he purchased
it until 1885, his wife's assistance proving very valuable in the management,
seeing to the comfort of patrons and insuring satisfactory service. Mr.
Young then traded the house for his fine ranch in the Coyote valley, which
he continues to own. They lived there from 1885 until about 19C0, when
they returned to Middletown. About 1892 Mr. Young bought the general
store which his sons Wirt H. and Baxter E. had started, and he carried on the
business for two years, until burned out in 1894. He had no insurance, and
the $4000 stock was a total loss. He had had a previous loss by fire, having
had his livery at Sebastopol, Sonoma county, burned out; at that time he
lost about $1000, having no insurance. When the store burned he went back
to the ranch, living there until October, 1913, except for two years during his
term as county assessor (1902-06). There he gave most of his attention to
agricultural pursuits, though he held the office of supervisor for six years. He
was first appointed, by Governor Stoneman. to fill a two-years' vacancy, at
the end of this service being elected for the full term of four years. In political
connection he is a Democrat. He is a member of Friendship Lodge No. 150,
288 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
1. O. O. P., at 2\Iiddletown, being the present noble grand, and his wife
belongs to the Rebekahs. She is a leading member of the Presbyterian Church
of INIiddletown, taking special interest in mission work and the activities of
the ladies' aid societj'. In all of Mr. Young's enterprises she has been his
valued coworker, and she has had her full share in his success. They occupy
the residence on Union street, Middletown, which he built in 1872.
On November 20, 1866, Mr. Young married ]Miss Lutitia M. Berry, who
was born at Fulton, 111., daughter of Baxter Bell and Elizabeth (Cameron)
Berry, the father a native of Tennessee, the mother of Kentucky. Mr. and
Mrs. Berry moved to near Oskaloosa, Iowa, and from there came overland to
California in 1852, settling in Sonoma county, where they were pioneers. Of
their nine children only three now survive : Lamira S., Mrs. Cannon, of Mid-
dletown ; Lutitia M., Mrs. Young; and Eva, Mrs. Scudder, a resident of Sebas-
topol, Sonoma county. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Young :
Wirt Haight, now engaged in farming in Coyote valley, married Lizzie
Hughes, and they have two children, Ethel May and Wirt Raymond. Baxter
Ewing, now located at Oakland, Cal., married Miss Hattie Adamson, by
whom he has one child, Margaret Lois. Lizzie M. died when about three
years old. Charles W. is at Sacramento, engaged as foreman in the reclama-
tion of lands along the Sacramento river, in the employ of the California
National Bank; to him and his wife Velma (Brooks) have been born two chil-
nren, Charles Glenn and Lutitia Adeline.
FARMERS' SAVINGS BANK, LAKEPORT.— With an authorized
capital stock of SIOO.OOO, divided into one thousand shares of the par value
of $100 each, but with only twenty per cent, or $20,000, paid in at the time
of organization, the Farmers' Savings Bank of Lakeport was established
December 8, 1874, and in the forty years of subsequent enterprise has had a
history of growing prestige and unwavering confidence on the part of de-
positors. Those at the head of the institution have been conservative to an
unusual degree, but this very spirit of conservatism has been their shield
figainst unwise investments or heavy loans, so that they stand now as finan-
ciers of unquestioned ability, abundantly able to guide the destinies of the
concern through future responsibilities.
The names of the persons who subscribed the original $20,000 are as
follows: J. H. Renfro, H. Charmack, C. A. Finer, Z. C. Daver, Thomas Allison,
T. T. Scott, Martha C. Reeves, Robert Oliver, D. P. Shattuck, H. C. Boggs,
T. \y. Boggs, W. J. Nicholson, Charles Finer, James B. Jamison, Thomas
Ormiston, Benjamin F. Shaul, Aaron White, Charles Mclntyre, John Gard,
AVilliam Stonebraker, A. H. Nobles, G. \\'. Gard, Seth Rickabaugh, John Pos-
lels, Preston Rickabaugh, W. F. Kelsey, D. D. Davis, William Nobles, I. N.
Gard, James Kelsey, ^^'ill^am Gard, J. R. Allison, John Kelsey, \^'^illiam G.
Reeves, Thomas B. Reeves, Latanus N. Nobles, John R. Lamb, J. E. Shirley, H.
J. Cooper, W. A. Christie, Jonas Ingram, J. W. Robbe, Louisa Thompson, J.
C. Thompson, N. \V. Washburn, Lindsey Carson, W. J. Butler, G. C. Rippey,
John Lynch, J. ^^'. Mackall, George Tucker, H. D. Snow, Woods Crawford,
A. P. McCarthy, M. C. Tucker, George W. Wilson, R. S. Johnson, J. M.
^Martin, J. J. Bruton, Price Snider, Henry Palmer, M. Asher, R. C. Tallman,
William J. Biggerstafif, John Jones, S. Ballinger, Peter Clark, Robert Buck-
nell, Sylvia Thomas, J. W^ Doty, D. T. Taylor, A. B. Hughes, N. H. Thull,
D. V. Thompson, L. Gnrnett, D. O. McCarthy, G. A. Lyon, R. Phillaber,
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 291
George T. Martin, S. C. Combs. Daniel McLean, E. B. Bole and D. O.
Shattuck,
The present board of directors of the bank comprises the following named
gentlemen : J. W. Boggs, J. Banks, J. W. Byrnes, F. H. Boggs and W. D.
Rantz, all of Lakeport ; together with S. T. Packwood, of Upper Lake, and
Andrew Smith, of Finley. The officers for 1914 are as follows: J. \V. Boggs,
president; Jabez Banks, vice-president; F. H. Boggs, cashier and secretary;
H. L. Boggs, assistant cashier ; and George R. Smith, assistant cashier. The
institution is well and safely managed under the personal and intelligent
supervision of the officers and directors, who have established a reputation
for a conservative spirit in all business transactions and have thereby drawn
to their list of depositors many of the best and most successful business men
of Lake county.
FRED C. HANDY. — It would be impossible to present any resume of
the Alendocino state hospital without due mention of Fred C. Handy, for-
merly secretar}^ and now steward and business manager of the institution.
The position that he fills is one demanding the highest efficiency and wisest
judgment. Decisions of importance must be made promptly, problems must
be solved sagaciously and large affairs must be governed with wisdom. No
less than fifty different departments come under his immediate supervision.
All purchases are made by his authority and with his approval. The task of
distribution also comes within the scope of his jurisdiction. All of the con-
struction work of recent years (aggregating in value more than $500,000) has
been superintended by him personally. In addition he has charge of the
kitchen, dining-room, dairy, laundry, bakery, shops, etc. ; also manages the buy-
ing and selling of the stock, the care of the stables and the cultivation of the
great estate of one thousand acres comprising the hospital farm, the whole
forming a task of such magnitude that the greatest care and an unusual
amount of time are demanded for its Successful consummation and the
maintenance of a high-class business system is absolutely imperative.
A native of Eldorado county and a lifelong resident of California with
the exception of a few years spent in Honolulu during the incumbency of a
position of official importance, Mr. Handy understands conditions as they exist
in the west, is familiar with the development of this section of the country
and has great faith in its future progress. He was born near Placerville,
November 26, 1865, a son of Philo and Laura (Roper) Handy, natives of Ohio
and Illinois respectively. The father served in the Fifteenth Illinois Regiment
under General Grant, in which he received wounds at the battle of Shiloh.
After the close of the war, in 1865, he crossed the plains to California with
teams and wagons. He followed mining until 1870, when he located in
Round valley, Mendocino county, and thereafter followed farming. Fred C.
Handy attended the grammar schools and the Santa Clara high school, as
well as the Academy of Science, from which he was graduated in 1884. Upon
returning to Mendocino county to take up the active duties of life, he devoted
his attention for a time to the raising of sheep and the tilling of the soil in
Round valley. Later he filled a number of offices with intelligence and
fidelity, being connected with the offices of county assessor, county tax col-
lector and county clerk as a deputy and later serving as undersherifT of the
county. Before the Mendocino state hospital had been completed he was
chosen secretary of the institution and entered upon his duties October 1.
292 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
1893, after which he filled the position for eight consecutive years. Next
he spent three years in Honolulu as deputy United States marshal. Upon
his return to California in 1903 he was chosen steward or business manager
of the Mendocino state hospital and in that important position he has placed
the business afi'airs of the institution upon a sound basis. Of the officials
who became connected with the hospital at the time it was started in the lat-
ter part of 1893, he alone remains. Under different administrations and
various boards his work has been alike satisfactory. Naturally, he is some-
what progressive in his views, somewhat of a reformer in his ideas. Many
of the reforms for which he worked he has had the gratification of seeing
adopted. His life has been given to service to his commonwealth. To pro-
mote the welfare of the institution with which he is connected, to increase its
usefulness and enhance its efficiency, comprise ambitions that form the very
foundation of his character, the keynote of his energetic temperament. Yet
he has not centered himself selfishly upon the one ideal nor limited himself
narrowly to the one institution : on the other hand, with his wife, who was
Miss Amy Morrison, a native of California, he has been a power for good in
all movements for the social and educational upbuilding of the community ;
he has been and still is a director in the Bank of Ukiah and has made other
associations in business or public affairs. Fraternally he has had many im-
portant connections. In Masonry he is past master of Abell Lodge No. 146,
F. & A. M., past high priest of L^kiah Chapter No. 53, R. A. M., commander of
Ukiah Commandery No. 33, K. T., past patron of Kingsley Chapter, O. E. S.,
and for some years served as inspector of this Masonic district. In the local
lodge of Odd Fellows he is past grand, while he furthermore has been influ-
ential locallv in the Knights of Pvthias, the Eagles and the Woodmen of the
World.
ALLEN SAMUELSON.— A native son of the Golden West and
descended from an old pioneer family of California, Allen Samuelson is today
one of the rising young men of Mendocino county, occupying a position of
responsibility with one of the largest lumber companies in that part of the
state. He was born at Albion, Mendocino county, July 28, 1889, and is the
son of August and Catherine (Miller) Samuelson, who came to California
almost forty years ago. The father is a native of Sweden and is descended
from one of the old and highly honored families of that country. After com-
ing to California he became an edger in the sawmills, holding at different
times positions with various mills, but making his residence at Fort Bragg.
Although born at Albion, Mr. Samuelson spent his boyhood days in Fort
Bragg, where he still has many life-long friends. His education was received
in the public schools of the busy little city, where he attended the grammar
schools, and for a short time the high school. The lure of the business world,
however, proved too strong for this ambitious youth, and after a short time
he discontinued his studies and was apprenticed as a filer in the Union Lum-
ber Company's mill at Fort Bragg. Here he continued for four years, and
rose to the position of second filer. Later he entered the employ of the
Irvine-Muir Lumber Company at Irmulco, as head filer, a position of trust
and responsibility. ' After a time he resigned this position to go to Vancouver,
B. C, as second filer in lumber mills located there. The northern city, how-
ever, failed to hold this native son away from the land of his nativity, and at
the end of a vear he returned to accept the position of head filer with the
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 293
Northwestern Redwood Company in their Mendocino county mills, entering
upon his new duties December 1, 1913
Mr. Samuelson is still with this company, and is accredited as one of
their most trusted employes. He makes his home at Northwestern, where he
is well and favorably known and possesses a host of warm friends. He is
a member of the Redmen at Fort Bragg, and is considered one of the most
promising young men in the county. His success is due entirely to his
steady and earnest application, his unfaltering reliability and trustworthiness,
and to his general skill in his chosen occupation.
The Samuelson family is one of the oldest and best known in Mendocino
county, and is highly respected and honored. There are seven children, of
whom Allen Samuelson is the eldest, and all are worthy citizens of their
native county.
WILLIAM WEIGAND.— The proprietor of Hotel Willits, who ranks
among the leading landlords of Mendocino county and is an active member of
the California Hotel Men's Association, has engaged in the hotel business
from early life, meanwhile acquiring an experience and familiarity with details
that gives efficiency to his present management and a high degree of success
in return for his labors. Although a native of Pennsylvania, born in the city
of Philadelphia, December 11, 1867, from the age of three years until about
twenty he lived at Oppenheim on the Rhine in Germany. His father, Philip,
who was born at Dahlheim, Hessen Darmstadt, spent a considerable time in
Philadelphia where he was among the first fire brick manufacturers in that
city. In 1870 he took his family to Germany and there remained until death.
Four of the brothers in the family enlisted in the Union army during the
Civil war and three of them perished on fields of battle during that great
struggle.
Returning to the United States in 1887, William Weigand settled in
Boston, Mass., and embarked in the hotel and catering business. Three years
later he removed from Boston to Minneapolis and became interested in the
same line of business. For a considerable period of years he conducted an
enterprise with fair profit. The year 1898 found him in California. He located
at Windsor, Sonoma county, and became proprietor of the New Western hotel
until the railroad was completed to Willits, when he assumed the management
of the Hotel Willits. After a year he left to engage in business for himself,
but at the expiration of eighteen months he again leased the Willits, of which
he since has been the popular proprietor. This is not only the largest hotel
in the county, but claims distinction as being without a superior in the mat-
ter of eciuipment and accommodations and was also the first to establish a
dining room a la carte. The lobby of the hotel has been made attractive with
a substantial maple floor, a large fireplace and neat furnishings. The Eagle
cafe and restaurant are owned by Mr. Weigand, who is also the owner of the
building in which the cafe is conducted.
Through his marriage in Minneapolis to Miss Mary Oversett, a native
of Risfjorden, Norway, Mr. Weigand gained a thoroughly competent help-
mate, who is now giving personal attention to the management of the Hacienda
hotel of sevent3'-three rooms, located at No. 580 O'Farrell street. The Hotel
Willits, which Mr. Weigand purchased in November, 1913, and annex include
ninety-five large rooms, comfortably furnished and equipped with modern
conveniences. In addition he is the owner of the old Quass ranch, which
294 ^lENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
he uses for a summer home and which is situated six and one-half miles north
of town. At no time has he been active in politics and his interest in public
affairs is limited to the casting of a Republican ballot at national elections.
Fraternally he holds membership with the Sons of Hermann, the Aerie of
Eagles at Willits. and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Santa Rosa.
WILLIAM FORD. — One-half century of change and progress has
brought its sweeping transformation, lifting obscure towns into the prestige
of largely populated cities and bringing the swift motor car into the highway
where once could be seen only a primitive ox-cart with its load of human
freight or a lonely plowman taking his weary way to his shack on a homestead
claim, — such are but a few of the changes I\Ir. Ford has seen since he arrived
in Mendocino county in 1864, a pioneer in the great northern sections of Cali-
tornia as yet unknown to the farmer and undeveloped in resources. His had
been a life of hardship and privation and he was prepared b}' training for the
difficulties in his path as a pioneer farmer, in the district surrounding Ukiah.
The home in which he was reared had been destitute of comforts and he had
been obliged to work laboriously, with infrequent opportunities to attend
school. His parents, John and Hopy (Highsmith) Ford, were farmers on the
then frontier of Illinois and it was in Crawford county, that state, he was born
August 25, 1831. In his long life he has seen a remarkable advancement. He
came west in 1850 almost two decades before the completion of the first
transcontinental railroad. Since then railroads have spanned the countrj',
electricity has been made a factor in community development, the telephone
and telegraph, with the more modern wireless system, have obliterated dis-
tance, and now the most remarkable task of the ages, the great Panama
canal, is nearing completion. With customary interest in great enterprises
he has kept posted concerning all of these factors in modern advancement,
not allowing old age to diminish his deep interest in all that makes for the
good of the country.
For fifteen months after coming to California Mr. Ford worked in and
near Placerville, after which he engaged in getting out timber in the heart of
the redwood district near Pescadero, San Mateo county. Two years were
spent in the milling business near Watsonville. Santa Cruz cojnty. Next
he went to the San Juan valley, Monterey county, and entered land, but
finally had to abandon the claim owing to the difficulty in establishing a
title. It was then that he sought ^lendocino county. Here again he was
confronted by the difficulty in securing a clear title to land. The large body
which he secured did not have a clear title established and he was forced to go
through the most strenuous labors to establish his claim to the property.
Calling the attention of others to the dire need of having correct titles, he
started an interest culminating in the present secure land measures for the
orotection of the titles of land owners. When once his title was guaranteed
he began to improve the tract, consisting of one thousand acres purchased from
Thomas Gibson and fourteen hundred acres entered as homesteads and
claims. Afterward he added to it until he had about twenty-seven hundred
acres located five miles northwest of Ukiah. The great range was well
adapted to stock and he made a specialty of horses, cattle and sheep. At times
his flocks numbered as many as twenty-five hundred head. The lowlands
were devoted to crops, mainly alfalfa, of which he cut two crops each year.
Meanwhile he had purchased the residence <if Judge ^IcGarvey in ITkiah.
<%^^fe^r2^.C^^/^
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 297
and here he and his wife (Sarah Lynch, a native of Arlcansas) estabHshed
a comfortable home and reared their children.
The Ford household consisted of the following children : James Alfred, a
farmer on the home place ; Martha Ann, deceased ; Marj^ Elizabeth, who mar-
ried James York, of Mendocino county ; ^Vi^iam .\dolphus, in the real estate
business and who made a specialty of raising hops in this county for years ;
Julia Hopy, who married F. Arnold Ford, also of this county; Enoch M., a
farmer near the old home place and supervisor of Mendocino county ; and
Sarah Belle, who married M. Banker, of Ukiah. Mr. Ford was bereaved by
the death of his wife September 29, 1913, at the age of seventy-three. The
first presidential vote of Mr. Ford was cast in 1854 and ever since then he has
supported the principles of the Democratic party. During 1870 he was elected
treasurer of Mendocino county and served for four years ; again in 1890 he
was chosen for the same office, that time continuing in the position for eight
2/ears. For years he has officiated as a trustee and class leader in the Metho-
oist Episcopal Church. Not only is he a pioneer of California, but in addition
lie ranks as one of the state's workers, one of those who aided in developing
the hitherto unknown resources of the west and whose efforts have been of
value, not merely to himself and family, but in a larger degree to all the people
if the county and to everyone interested in the agricultural development of
Northern California.
JUDGE FRANK A. WHIPPLE.— Among the many important accom-
plishments which the efforts and indefatigable will of Justice Whipple have
brought to completion none perhaps has carried as intense weight and figured
as conspicuously as the securing of the high school for Fort Bragg, in the
face of great opposition, the fight even being carried through the courts, and
it is the children of this section of the coast who are the greatest benefactors
of his untiring labor and unselfish effort. A gentleman, a scholar and an
unusually keen business man. his forceful character has been felt in many
avenues throughout the vicinity, but educational matters hax^e most attracted
his attention.
Judge Whipple was a native of Oberlin, Ohio, the son of Henry E.
Whipple, who came from his native Williston, Vt.. to Oberlin when a young
boy. Aft'orded excellent educational advantages, he was a graduate of the
Oberlin College, later becoming a professor in same, and for some years re-
mained in that capacity, during the time being ordained minister. He re-
signed the professorship finally to accept a call to Hillsdale (Mich.) College,
aided in its establishment, and served as professor there for a long period. He
figured prominently as aid on the staff of Governor Blair, war governor of
Michigan, and in 1870 resigned and came to the coast. As editor of the
Humboldt Times, which paper was owned by his brother, he served efficiently
until appointed to a position in the government mint at San Francisco, where
his last days were spent. He was an earnest preacher and during his life
had preached in the Baptist Church for sixty-four years all told. His wife,
who was Elizabeth Packard before her marriage, was born in Massachusetts
of splendid family. Her death occurred in Fort Bragg; the mother of three
children, she was an exemplary parent and teacher, imparting to her family
the beauty of thought and refinement which is a marked characteristic in
them today.
Born October 2.^, 18.50. Judge Whipple was his parents' secmid child. He
298 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
was reared in Hillsdale, Mich., entering the public schools and then Hillsdale
College, in which the foundation of his unusual fund of knowledge was laid.
Leaving college, he engaged for a time as clerk in the store of his brother
there, and in 1872 followed his father to California, locating in Mendocino
county, and engaging in the mercantile business at Kibesilah, which place is
situated fifteen miles north of Fort Bragg. There was no mail route into this
town, and his strong influence toward bettering conditions was immediately
felt in the community by his succeeding in procuring the mail route and the
establishment of a postoffice at Kibesilah. While living here, in 1885, he was
appointed justice of the peace of Ten Mile Ri.-er township, and at the end of
this term was elected, and has been re-elected each term since, covering a
term of service of twenty-nine years. In December, 1887, when the mills
were moved to Fort Bragg, he moved there also, it being in the same town-
ship, and established his office, where he has since performed the duties of
justice of the peace and followed the business of general conveyancing, in-
surance, etc., with marked success.
Judge Whipple married in Hillsdale, Mich., Miss Frances A. Smith, a
native of Hillsdale county, that state, where for a time she was engaged in
educational work. To them were born four children, viz. : Allen, Genevieve
(Mrs. C. E. Sherrick), Henry and Frances (Mrs. Ray Pedrotti), all of them
residents of Fort Bragg. The Judge is prominent in the Red Men fraternity,
being a charter member of Santana Tribe No. 60 at Fort Bragg; he is past
officer and served as the Great Sachem of the Great Council of California in
1897-98, and three times attended as delegate the Great Council of the LTnited
States : is also past officer of the Knights of the Maccabees. A Republican in
political sentiment, well versed on all current subjects pertaining to national
and local politics, he has been active in and served as chairman of the County
Republican Committee. He served for twenty years as a member of the board
of school trustees, refused office for five years, and was again prevailed upon
to accept office in 1914. As has been mentioned before, he was the prime
mover in the action to secure the Fort Bragg high school, remaining to fight
it through after other members of the committee had resigned because of the
conflict. He served as the first president of the board, justly meriting the praise
and gratification which he received from the citizens of Fort Bragg.
MRS. HARRIET C. BIGGERSTAFF.— A long-time resident of Lake-
port closed her life history and a personage of position passed from among
her friends with the death of ]\Irs. Harriet C. (Savage) Biggerstafif, November
23, 1896, at the age of seventy years. This history began in the Kentucky
home of Pleasant M. Savage November 17, 1826, took on interest through
an excellent education in Lexington, a cultured city of the Blue Grass state,
and developed into useful service and individual efl^ort through her removal
to Missouri to engage in teaching. After having devoted the year 1852 to
educational work at Glasgow, Mo., in a female seminary of which her brother,
Rev. George S. Savage, held the principalship, she removed to Plattsburg,
same state, in 1853 for the purpose of teaching the children of a deceased
brother. In that city she became the betrothed bride of William J. Bigger-
stafT, with whom she was united in marriage June 1, 1854. Of her influence
as wife too much cannot be said in terms of praise. At the time of her mar-
riage Mr. BiggerstafT was not a Christian, but such was the influence of her
godly life, such the splendid power of her active Christianity, and such
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 299
the impression created in his mind concerning the exalted state of purity in
which the true Christian lives, that he was impelled to seek peace with God
and the gracious consolations of religion.
Surviving Mrs. Biggerstaff are six children, while three sons, Charles
William, Pleasant M. and Charles Morton, died at the age of about eighteen
months. The eldest daughter, Emma Kate, is a school teacher in Lake
county, and the second, Anna, teaches music in San Francisco. Harriet C.
is the wife of E. W. Britt, of Los Angeles; Noraine is the wife of Alda N.
Ferris, a druggist of San Diego; Frederick M. is a musician in San Francisco;
and Eugene, of Berkeley, is connected with a wholesale poultry house in San
Francisco. All of the children were born at Plattsburg, Mo., excepting
Frederick M. and Eugene, who were born after the removal of the family to
St. Joseph, in that state. The youngest son married Elizabeth Clayton, of
Los Angeles, and has two children, Eugene Knight and Harriet Elizabeth.
The third daughter, Mrs. Britt, is the mother of two children, namely : Con-
^•tance, Mrs. David Barmore, of Los Angeles, and Agnes Wickfield Britt ;
Mrs. Britt and her two daughters are now making a tour of the world.
From 1867 until 1874 the family resided at St. Joseph, Mo., and from the
latter year until her death Mrs. Biggerstafif was intimately identified with
social, business and religious afifairs in Lakeport. In her younger years she
was an active church and Sunday school worker, and even after the cares of
a large family deprived her of the privilege of aggressive church work she
never lost her interest in the success of religious truth. Methodist preachers
ever found a cordial welcome in her home. Descended from the sturdy
pioneers of Methodism, she had early imbibed a spirit of religion and indeed
could not remember a period in her childhood when she had not been identi-
fied with the people of God. A devoted Christian mother was of great help
to her in the formative period of her character. In turn she gave to her
husband and children the benefit of this deep spirit of piety and religious
oversight. With rapt attention she daily read her Bible. The inspiration
she drew therefrom aided her in years of toil, in bereavement and sorrow, and
became her mainstay as well in hours of joy and domestic happiness. In
religious opinions she was very positive yet considerate of the sentiments of
others; economical in her own expenditures, yet generous to those in need;
always prayerful, earnest, capable and efficient, the ideal wife, whose life
became so closely interwoven with the life of her husband that it might have
been said of them in the words of the Scripture, "They twain shall be one
flesh." While her Bible remained through life her best-loved book she studied
other literature, particularly such as pertained to agriculture and horticulture,
or gave information concerning the cultivation of roses, her favorite form of
recreation. Never neglectful of the temporary needs of her family, she yet
recognized the greater importance of ministering to and promoting their
spiritual welfare, and to such work of love her mature years were devoted.
It has been the prayer of Mrs. Biggerstafif that she might be spared to
rear her children, and when the youngest was twenty-four years of age she
remarked that her prayer had been answered and her life work accomplished.
Already she had begun to feci the call from eternity. On the 3d of November,
1896, she was stricken with paralysis and on the 23d the silver cord was
loosed and the golden bowl was broken. Peacefully the long and useful
pilgrimage ended and she entered into that rest which remains for the people
300 .MENDUCI.XO AXD LAKE COUNTIES
of God. Hers was a bright and luminous Christian life. The spirit gained
from association with and descent from aggressive Methodists gave her deep
religious fervor and enabled her to meet the trials of life in a cheerful manner,
supplying her with the tact and gentleness that is the flowering of a long
line of Christian ancestry. The reviewing of her tranquil but forceful exist-
ence inspires a feeling of reverence and gratitude, and arouses admiration for
the qualities of heart and mind that make possible the ideal wife and the
ideal mother.
RALPH R. BYRNES.— It is said of the sheriff of Mendocino county
that he is not only one of the youngest, but also one of the most able public
officials in the state of California. This is the judgment of his friends and
also of those who, unacquainted with his exemplary personal character, yet
find much to admire in his fearless administration of the duties of his office.
To say of him that as a man he is trusted for his high qualities of mind and
heart, as a friend he is respected for his generosity and kindly spirit, and as
an official he is brave and impartial, is to briefly summarize his interesting
career. He belongs to that class of native sons whose personality invites
esteem and whose ability indicates a bright future in the political arena of
the county. Reared in the midst of conditions familiar to him today, inured
to hard work from early life, energetic of will and fearless of purpose, he is
conceded to be one of the most popular young men, whether in politics or in
private life, within the limits of the county today.
The Byrnes family was founded in California by Michael J. Byrnes, a
native of Boston, Mass., and a western pioneer of 1862. After years of
identification with the farming interests of Humboldt county he came to
Mendocino county in 1880 and settled near the coast, where he worked in the
lumber mills and in the woods near Little River and Mendocino. For twenty
years he served as constable and as a deputy sheriiif of the county, and until
his death in 1902 he was closely identified with public enterprises, giving to
his adopted community the benefit of a progressive citizenship. Fraternally
he was connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. By his
marriage to Mary Hite, a native of Virginia, he became the father of five
children, namely: John, Grace, Ralph R., Miles J. and Dorothy. Ralph R.
was born during the residence of the family in Mendocino City and he re-
ceived his education in this county, of which he has been a lifelong resident.
Jn selecting an occupation, he took up the business that had interested his
father and from early youth has been familiar with lumbering in all of its
departments, working mostly with the Albion Lumber Company on the coast.
His genial temperament and attractive personality have brought him into
local prominence and have made him popular in various fraternities, including
the Santa Rosa Lodge of Elks, the Masons, and Eastern Star at Mendocino,
and the Eagles in Ukiah. During 1910 he was selected as the standard
bearer of the Republican party for the office of sherifif and, entering the race
with customary energy, he was elected by a gratifying majority. Since
assuming official duties he has served his constituents honestly, faithfully
and intelligently, and has proved an enemy to lawlessness in every form. By
doing his duty, he has made the office of sherifif feared and respected by evil-
doers and law-breakers. In this work he has had the assistance of Lee Cun-
ningham as under-sherifif and a staff of capable deputies in various parts of
the county. It is worthy of note that at the primary election in 1914 jNIr.
Byrnes was re-elected sherifif Ijy a majority of over four thousand. Men-
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 303
docinu cuuiity regards him as one of the coming men of the
Republican party and it is the belief of his friends that his name will be placed
high on the roll of successful officials in the public life of the state. Under
the name of Smith & Byrnes he is one of the proprietors of the Eagle livery
stables in Ukiah.
HETTIE IRWIN. — Chicago has its Ella Flagg Young and the entire
country has watched with interest her progressive reforms in the educational
work of that great city. Lake county has its Miss Hettie Irwin, and in a local
way her work, too, has aroused deep interest. Women of this type inspire
confidence in the perpetuity and the improvement of the public school system
and in the value of its achievements through the preparation of the youth of
the land for positions of confidence and responsibility. Not only is Miss Irwin
a woman of exceptional judgment and broad information concerning peda-
gogy, but she possesses in addition the important faculty of inspiring the
children of the county with an aspiration to ascend to intellectual attainment.
Moreover, she is pronouncedly popular, as was evidenced in her election
against a Democratic majority of about three hundred and against opponents
who were candidates of recognized strength and quality.
It is a source of some pride to Miss Irwin that she is a member of a
family that has given to the country professional men of note, who have risen
by very appreciable merits and who in different parts of the country have
added prestige to the family name by their own alert mentality and indepen-
dent views. In the opinion of friends, the life of Miss Irwin herself adds
luster to the intellectual achievements of others of the name. Descended
from Virginian forebears and from John Irwin, the original immigrant, a man
of some prominence in his chosen locality and in the period just prior to the
Revolution, Miss Irwin is a daughter of Isaac Denman and Sarah (Laughlin)
Irwin. The former, born in Putnam county, Ind., near Greencastle, whither
his parents had removed from Kentucky, became a pioneer of Nebraska,
where he remained, with the exception of a brief sojourn in Missouri, until
he brought his family to California and settled in Lake county. At the age
of sixty-nine (1914) he is now practically retired. His brother. Benjamin H.
Irwin, of Tecumseh, Neb., was a lawyer of state-wide prominence during the
prime of his professional enterprises. A cousin, Rowen Irwin, is now district
attorney of Kern county, while another cousin, John L. P. Irwin, is district
attorney of Kings county. Others have gained success at the bar, while there
have not been wanting some of the name to rise to local distinction in the
ministry and in educational circles.
When the family left Nebraska for California. Miss Hettie Irwin was a
small child. Her only sister, Viola, now a teacher in Scotts valley, is the
wife of Arthur J. Gunn, owner of a sawmill near Kelseyville. One of her
brothers, George P., is clerking in a general mercantile store at Kelseyville.
while the other, Charles Jasper, is a Methodist Episcopal minister, now
i.astor of a congregation at New Harbor, Me. All of the four were born in
Nebraska with the exception of Mrs. Gunn, who is a native of Missouri. After
having had the advantages of the grammar schools and Clear Lake Academy
at Kelseyville, Miss Hettie Irwin began to teach school at the age of eighteen.
From the first she displayed rare adaptability for the work. The children
under her charge made excellent records in their studies. The standard of
scholarship was advanced. Modern methods were introduced. A close and
304 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
appreciative student of pedagogy, she endeavored to utilize in her classes
the best counsel of the wisest educators. After thirteen years as a teacher in
the Lake county schools she was elected county superintendent on the Re-
publican ticket in the fall of 1906, and four years later was chosen her own
successor, a fact that gives silent but eloquent tribute to the character of her
work. In the county there are fifty-one licensed teachers now engaged in
teaching, while the thirty-nine grammar schools and two high schools come
directly under the scope of her authority, their work and progress forming
a portion of her responsibility, while at the same time their success is the
highest aspiration of her official record. She is identified with the Presby-
terian Church of Kelseyville. Holding extraneous matters subordinate to
the exacting demands of her office as county superintendent, she has devoted
her time and talents to the important task in hand, and has asked no higher
reward than the conscientiousness of v\^ork well done in the promotion of
the educational interests of the county.
GEORGE CALVIN LEWIS.— The youngest in the family of twelve
children whose parents were Benjamin F. and Alary (Anderson) Lewis and
the only one of the entire num.ber to migrate to the Pacific coast, George
Calvin Lewis was born at the old homestead near Bunker Hill, Berkeley
county, W. Va., June 10, 1864, and became familiar with agricultural pursuits
at an age when the majority of boys are free from responsibilities. As the
eider children one by one started out to earn their livelihoods in the world
he was left to assume more and more the management of the farm, whose
cultivation he endeavored to promote in such a manner as to secure a liveli-
hood for the remaining members of the family. From early youth he cherished
an ambition to settle in the west, but it was not until 1891, at the age of
twenty-seven years, that such a move was possible for him. Leaving the old
home neighborhood he came alone to California and found employment at
Fresno, whence after spending a year he removed to Mendocino county.
Since 1892 he has made his home and headquarters in or near Willits, where
in that year, on the 16th of November, he married Miss Carrie McKinley, a
native daughter of the county, born at Ukiah, educated in local schools and
with a large circle of intimate friends throughout this locality. During the
early '50s her father, James McKinley, a Missourian by birth and parentage,
came across the plains and settled in California. For a long period he and
his wife, Sarah (Frost) McKinley, lived on a farm near Ukiah, but in 1884
they established a home in Willits, wliere he died in 1909, and where Mrs.
McKinley is still living.
After an efficient service of twelve years as foreman for Hawley Bros. &
Co., nurserymen, at Willits, Mr. Lewis then purchased his present home farm
of fifty-five acres, situated one and one-half miles northeast of town, and here
he has since made a specialty of raising potatoes. The soil is well adapted
to the potato vine and he usually averages from seventy-five to one hundred
sacks of spuds to the acre. Since coming on the farm he has been in the
employ of the Northwestern Lumber Company at dift'erent times, but during
the busy season on the farm he devotes his attention exclusively to the man-
agement of the crops. In his family there are four children now living,
George Calvin, Jr., Walter, Vivian and Georgia. One daughter, Virginia,
died at the age of three years and four months. For a number of years Mr.
Lewis served as school trustee in Little Lake district. The cause of free
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 307
education has in him a firm advocate. He believes thoroughly in training
the young for the responsibilities of life and favors any movement for raising
the standard of education. Politically he votes with the Democratic party.
In fraternal relations he is a Moose and a Mason, having been made a Mason
in \^'illits Lodge, No. 365, F. & A. M., in which he is now junior warden.
Both he and his wife are leading workers in the Willits Chapter, No. 314,
Order of the Eastern Star, in which Mrs. Lewis is conductress. Not only in
that organization, but also in general social circles, they are admired for their
optimistic outlook upon life, their broad humanitarianism and their sincere
fidelity to every duty of citizenship.
EUGENE'eVE'rETT HOLBROOK.— The distinction of being the first
Republican recorder ever elected in Mendocino county belongs to Eugene
E. Holbrook, who in 1906 was selected by the Republican party as their
candidate for the office and who, entering upon the campaign with an enthu-
siasm and confidence surprising in view of the usual Democratic victories, won
the election by a majority of more than six hundred votes, a striking tribute
to the popularity of the man. A victory so important and noteworthy proved
gratifying to members of the party as well as his personal friends. Nor was
the success of his service less gratifying, for it brought about his re-election
in 1910, and his second term happily has exhibited the same accuracy in de-
tail, the same promptness in work and the same exactness in all records char-
acteristic of the first term. The people have found him vigilant, tactful and
politic, ready to use his business and official experience for the good of the
county, interested in the promotion of worthy enterprises for the upbuilding
of the county and in every respect a desirable citizen and able official.
The father of our subject, also Eugene E. Holbrook, was born in Smelsers
Grove, Grant county, Wis., and later in life was a merchant and farmer at
Alden, Iowa. After a severe attack of pneumonia he was compelled in 1871
to come to California for his health. Leaving his family to settle up his
affairs he came to Potter valley in May of that year, but he had waited too
long before coming, for he died August 10, following, two da)'s after the birth
of the son who was named for him. The father of E. E. Holbrook, Sr., was
Dr. Ora L. Holbrook, a practicing physician in Smelsers Grove, Wis., and
his wife was Louise Hayes, the daughter of ex-President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Mrs. Holbrook was before her marriage Susie Nash, a native of Illinois. As
soon as it was possible to dispose of her affairs after the death of her hus-
band, she brought her family to Potter valley, in May, 1873, that being the
home of her mother and step-father. Life Farmer. Mrs. Holbrook's father,
Robert Nash, served in the Civil war as a captain in an Illinois regiment and
lost his life in service. His widow subsequently became the wife of Life
Farmer; she passed away at Cloverdale. ]\Irs. Holbrook resided with Mr.
and Mrs. Farmer until her second marriage, to William Wilson, after which
they engaged in the merchandise business in Potter valley until their retire-
ment to Ukiah, where they now live.
Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Holbrook, Sr., and of these
our subject is the only one living. He was born in Alden, Iowa, August 8,
1871, and has lived in California since 1873, his earliest recollections being
of Mendocino county. During boyhood he attended the district schools in
Potter valley, completing his education by a course in the Ukiah Business
College. His step-father, Mr. Wilson, owned one of the leading general stores
308 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
in the valley and during vacations he assisted as a clerk, later giving his entire
time to such work. For three years he clerked in the store of J. P. Hoffman
in Ukiah, and meanwhile made many friends by his courteous attention to
the needs of customers. A service of eight years as town treasurer of Potter
valley increased his popularity and also gave him a knowledge of official
duties, qualifying him for his present task as county recorder. Mr. Holbrook
has again become interested in the business life of Potter valley, where with
a partner, George P. Anderson, he owns a general merchandise store. While
he owns valuable ranch land in the valley, he now makes his home at No.
508 North State street, Ukiah, where the comfortable residence is presided
over with gracious dignity by his wife, formerly !Miss Frances A. Busch.
Her father, J. G. Busch, was one of the most highly honored and esteemed
pioneers of Potter valley and she lived there prior to her marriage in 1896,
as well as a number of years afterward. Three children bless the imion, viz.:
Nina B., Helene L. and Eugene E., Jr. Fraternally Mr. Holbrook is past
chancellor of Ukiah Lodge, No. 213, K. of P. : past captain of Schaffner Co.,
No. 26. U. R. K. P., and is acting adjutant of the Fifth Regiment, U. R. K. P.
of California. He is a member of Ukiah Lodge No. 174, I. O. O. F., the Re-
bekahs and the Ancient Order of Foresters, of which he is a past officer.
With his wife he is a member of the First Christian Church of LTkiah and a
member of its board of trustees. The history of the Holbrook family can
be traced back to the early settlement of Pennsylvania, while the Nash fam-
ily came from New England.
JOSEPH T. BERRYHILL.— The history of the world with its age-
long cycles of advancement shows no era more progressive than that which
Mr. Berryhill has witnessed, and in which he has borne an honorable part.
Ninety years have brought their remarkable changes since his eyes first
opened to the Hght. His childhood belonged to that remote period when rail-
roads and steamboats were in the infancy of their development, when tele-
graph and telephone systems were unknown and free education had not been
accepted as a policy of the government. At the time of his birth, which
occurred in Greene county. Ohio, June 16, 1823, that commonwealth was
situated at the very edge of civilization. Beyond it stretched the vast and
desolate frontier, inhabited only by savages and wild animals. The popula-
tion of the United States was approximately only ten millions, mostly on or
near the Atlantic seaboard. The region west of the Mississippi river was
known as the Great American desert. He was born some time before Oregon
territory was added to our country and before Texas had been annexed to our
domain ; the war with Mexico occurred when he was a young man. and when
gold was discovered in California he was following the trade of a carpenter
in Iowa. He recalls the time when Queen Victoria ascended the throne of
England and when the first cable message was sent across the Atlantic ocean.
He has lived to a serene old age in the possession of his faculties and still
maintains a deep interest in local and public affairs, although it is no longer
possible for him to participate in such movements.
From 1840 to 1842 Mr. Berryhill lived in Indiana, where he learned the
trade of a carpenter. Removing to Iowa in 1842, he followed the trade in that
state until 1867, and from that year until 1875 he engaged in farming and
carpentering in Missouri. Upon coming to California in 1875, he settled at
Mendocino and followed his trade for two vears. The next two years were
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 309
passed on a ranch at Caspar. During 1879 he moved to the vicinity of Ukiah
and settled on a farm of one hundred and seventeen acres situated south of
the town, where he engaged in general farming and hop-raising. The market
for hops was variable. In some years he could scarcely meet expenses, so low
was the price, while at other times he was paid as high as seventy-five cents
per pound. In 1892 he sold the farm and bought land in Potter valley, but
the encroachment of old age obliged him to retire from agricultural labors,
and he then sold the property. Not only is he the oldest living Mason in
Potter valley, but he also has the distinction of being the oldest member of
the blue lodge in California.
The first marriage of Mr. Berryhill was solemnized October 24, 1844, and
united him with Jane Butler, who. was born in Wisconsin and died in Mis-
souri on the 4th of July, 1867. His second marriage occurred August 7, 1868,
his wife being Mrs. Cynthia (McBride) Falkenberry, who was born in Ken-
tucky and died in California in 1896. March 9, 19C9, he married Mrs. Sarah
A. (Roulston) Ingram, who crossed the plains in 1861 and settled in Sacra-
mento county. By her former marriage she was the mother of three sons,
Fred S., Charles W. (deceased) and George B. Ingram. The twelve children
comprising the family of Mr. Berryhill were born of his first marriage. Six
of these are now living, namely : Mrs. Celia Heath, of South Bend, Wash. ;
Mrs. Laura Jones and Mrs. Alice Mitchell, both of Healdsburg, Cal. ; Thomas,
who makes his home in Missouri; George, a resident of Fort Bragg; and
Frank, of Geyserville, Sonoma county. A son, James, now deceased, enlisted
in the Union army at the first call for volunteers in 1861 and served until the
close of the Civil war, being in a number of important engagements under
Generals Grant and Sherman. Mr. Berryhill is proud of his children and
their high standing as citizens ; he is also very proud of the fact that he has
fifty-four grandchildren and forty-six great-grandchildren now living. In
the waning of life's busy day he finds comfort and happiness in the society of
his wife and children, and in promoting the welfare of his descendants to the
second and third generations.
DAVID LEANDER SAWYERS.— Southern lineage is indicated by the
Sawyers genealogy. Born, reared and married to Elizabeth King in Kentucky,
Thomas Sawyers moved from that state to Missouri, where his wife died.
In Clark county. Mo., June 5, 1850, he married Peggy Hay, a Virginian by
birth, but from childhood a resident of Missouri. The discovery of gold had
aroused a deep interest in the Pacific coast country and Mr. Sawyers was one
of the thousands attracted to the west by its alluring promises to settlers.
May 3, 1854, accompanied by his wife and two children, he started from the old
Missouri home with o.x-teams, wagons, provisions and other necessities of
the long overland trip. The tedious journey came to an end September 30,
of the same year, with the arrival of the family in Grass valley, Nevada
county, Cal., and at Rough and Ready, a prominent mining camp of the period,
a son, David Leander, was born November 6, 1855. When this child was a
year old the family removed to the vicinity of Petaluma, where Mr. Sawyers
bought a claim and proved up on the same. Three times he was forced to pay
for the four hundred acres included in the claim and even then he lost the
property through later proof of the tract belonging to a large land grant.
Forced to seek a new location, he brought his family to Little Lake valley,
Mendocino county, January 31, 1857, and at once purchased one hundred and
310' MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
sixty acres one and one-half miles southeast of the present site of Willits.
So sparsely settled was the country at the time that Mrs. Sawyers was the
third white woman to establish a home in the valley. Farming and stock-
raising were conducted upon an extensive scale and the original tract was
enlarged through purchase until the home ranch finally embraced about one
thousand acres.
With all of the labor involved in the management of so large a stock
ranch Mr. Sawyers found time for educational, religious, civic and fraternal
associations' and for years was regarded as one of the leading citizens of the
community, an influential Democrat, a deacon and trustee in the Baptist
Church and a generous promoter of the public school system in the valley.
Through the various degrees in Masonry he rose to the thirty-third, which
was conferred upon him during a trip made for that purpose to Glasgow,
Scotland. His death occurred at the ranch on Christmas day of 1879. For
Tnany years he was survived by his wife, who passed away at Willits January
18, 1914. Of their seven children the two eldest were born in Missouri, namely :
Marshall N., now of Ukiah ; and Mrs. Annie O. Simonson, of Willits. The
others are natives of California, namely: David Leander, whose home is at
the head of Redwood avenue in Willits; Mrs. Fannie Hicks, of Santa Barbara;
Wade Hampton, of Fresno; George Edwin, of Santa Barbara; and Robert
L., of Willits. The earliest memories of David Leander Sawyers are asso-
ciated with Little Lake valley. On reaching man's estate he became manager
of the homestead and continued there until 1879, when at the age of twenty-
four he embarked in general contracting for the building of roads in Men-
docino county. Since then he has built many roads both in mountains and
in valleys. Among his contracts were those for roads over Redwood moun-
tain, from Hardy to Juan creek, from Sherwood to Fort Bragg, twenty-three
miles down the Eel river for the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, a portion of
the state highway and numerous other important projects. Meanwhile until
quite recently he engaged in farming and stock-raising on the old Baechtel
ranch, but this enterprise has been sold in order that he might devote his
attention wholly to road building.
The marriage of Mr. Sawyers and Miss Sarah E. Whited was solemnized
at Willits November 5, 1876, and resulted in two children, the daughter being
Mrs. Fannie Belle Rogers, of Willits ; the son, Louis D., is an assistant
of his father in the contracting business. Mrs. Sawyers was next to the young-
est among the seven survivors in a family that originally numbered twelve
children, whose parents. Doc Anderson and Sarah (Bishop) Whited, on coming
to California purchased the first through tickets sold from Burlington to Sac-
ramento over the Central Pacific Railroad. The family settled on a ranch in
Little Lake valley, jXIendocino county, where both Mr. and Mrs. Whited
remained until death. The latter was a Virginian by birth and a member
of an old southern family. In politics Mr. Sawyers votes with the Democratic
party. Besides two terms as city trustee he has served several terms as a mem-
ber of the board of education. Well known in fraternal activities he has been
connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Woodmen of
the World. In 1876 he was initiated into Willits Lodge No. 277, I. O. O. F.,
in which he has officiated as noble grand and representative to the grand
lodge. In Masonry he is identified with Willits Lodge No. 365, F. & A. M.
For some years he has been interested in the work of the Rebekahs, in which
OOiXT/Uz^XjL.,^
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 313
Mrs. Sawyers is past noble grand and ex-district deputy, being a leading
worker in the order and well posted in its ritual observances. Besides being
one of the most prominent Rebekahs in the county she is keenly interested in
religious work and has been identified for years with the Baptist Church at
Willits, a generous assistant in its charities and a promoter of its missionary
movements.
CHARLES WILLIAM MATHEWS.— To direct the organization of a
banking institution is no slight task and even greater difficulty attends the
early history of the concern, which must be guided by wise hands and devel-
oped by intelligent minds broad in their outlook, yet capable of infinite pains
v>?ith details. The Fort Bragg Commercial Bank has a sound financial basis,
due to the executive ability of its officers, who direct the policy of the con-
cern wisely, energetically and forcefully. The structure on Main street occu-
pied by the bank has an equipment modern, substantial and complete, in-
cluding large fireproof safes, twentieth-century fixtures and model accessories.
Organized in March of 1912 and opened for business on the 1st of May fol-
lowing, with a capital stock of $50,000, the bank has prospered from the start
and within the first year its deposits had increased more than $100,000. The
officers and directors, who also were the organizers of the institution, are as
follows: C. W. Mathews, president; David Brandon, vice-president; H. P.
Preston, cashier; J. W. Preston, B. A. Lendrum, M. H. Iversen and L. C.
Gregory.
From the age of seven years, in 1870, Mr. Mathews has been a resident
of California and of Mendocino county, having come here with other mem-
bers of the family from his native city of Ottawa, Canada. The early home
ot the family in the west was at Caspar, where the father engaged on timber
contracts in the redwoods, the son assisting him in logging camps or work-
ing in saw mills during the vacation period of school life. On completing
the studies of the common schools he secured a clerkship in the Bank of Men-
docino and from that city in 1891 came to Fort Bragg to enter the employ
of the Union Lumber Company, in whose office he has risen from a humble
place to the responsible post of cashier. In addition to his banking business
he still acts as cashier of the company with which he has been identified for
more than a score of years and which justly may attribute to him much of
its local strength and stability.
The marriage of Mr. Mathews united him with Miss Carrie Blake, a
native of Massachusetts, and their union has been blessed with three chil-
dren, William C, Inez A. and Phyllis M. Mr. Mathews was made a Mason
in Fort Bragg Lodge No. 361, F. & A. M., and is a member of Mendocino
Chapter, R. A. M., Santana Tribe No. 60, I. O. R. M., and with his wife
is a member of Sapphire Chapter, O. E. S., of which he is past patron. Always
interested in the cause of education, he has served for over ten years as a
member of the board of school trustees of Fort Bragg and has been secre-
tary of the board. He is an active member of the Baptist Church, and has
served as a member of the board of deacons as well as on the board of trustees.
Efficient in business, keen in financial dealings, devoted in friendships and
loyal in citizenship, he belongs to that class of people whose presence has
been helpful to Mendocino county and whose progressive spirit has aided in
its commercial development.
314 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
HON. LILBURN W. BOGGS.— The life which began in Lexington, Ky.,
January 14, 1798, and closed in Napa county, Cal., March 19, 1861, was lifted
out of the ordinary routine by the romance of war service, of political turmoil
and of victorious achievement. While ex-Governor Boggs is claimed in the
annals of Missouri as one of the early governors of that commonwealth and
as a leader during the dangerous period of JNIormon hostilities, his name also is
identified with the pioneer period of western development and with the open-
ing of an overland trail for emigrants prior to the discovery of gold. Much
as he loved Missouri and dear as was the home of that interesting and event-
ful period of his career, he developed an attachment equally deep for the
California home of his last years and experienced the gratification common
to all high-principled men when success in the west enabled him to pay to the
last penny the large indebtedness into which he had been plunged by reason
of the great panic of the latter '30s. To retrieve these losses in his own state
had seemed impossible, so at an age when many men would have feared
launching their bark in a strange stream he came across the plains to make
a new financial start in the world. The subsequent discovery of gold aided
him greatly in his business afifairs and enabled him to make good the losses
of the past, besides leaving him a competency for his declining days. It was
given to him to devote to California about fourteen years of stirring activity
and then his health began to fail, dropsy of the heart developed and after
suffering for more than a year he passed from pain into the peace of eternity.
The Boggs family originally settled on the eastern shore of Maryland,
hut during the latter part of^ the eighteenth century John M. and Martha
(Oliver) Boggs sought a home in the then unsettled regions of Kentucky,
where the former died in young manhood, leaving a son Lilburn W., to take
up the burden of self-support in boyhood years. To this lad destiny brought
an early experience in warfare. At the age of sixteen he enlisted in the war
of 1812 and under Capt. Levi Todd, of Fayette county, Ky.. he spent eighteen
months at the front, taking part in the battle of the Thames or Tippecanoe be-
sides other minor engagements. On his return he became a bookkeeper in
the old Insurance Bank of Kentucky, but at the age of eighteen went to St.
Louis and from there removed to Franklin on the Missouri river, opposite
the present site of Boonville. Later he was stationed at Fort Osage as deputy
factor for paying Indians their annuities, ^^'hile in St. Louis he had married
Miss Julia Bent, daughter of Judge Silas Bent, and she died early in 1821,
leaving two sons, Angus and Henry Carroll. In addition to the work at
Fort Osage he engaged in business for a time at Marias DuCene. While the
family were living at the latter post his elder son had a narrow escape from
death. The two small boys, Angus and Henry Carroll, were amusing them-
selves sliding on the ice, when the elder slid a little too far and fell into the
opening. The swift current swept him down under the ice to a point where
there was an air-hole. .An old Indian, whose wigwam was near by, witnessed
the accident. Without a moment's hesitancy he seized a rail, ran down on the
ice, laid flat on his body, shoved the rail along in front of him over the thin
ice and finally reached the spot where the small boy was becoming exhausted
from the cold and from his vain efforts to retain a hold on the breaking ice.
Reaching out with great care the Indian grasped the child, hauled him on the
ice and bore him to safety, then stalked oflf to his wigwam with as little
concern as though he had not risked his life in a most dangerous and coura-
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 315
geous act. The father of the child was known as the "Big Trader" among
the Indians and he at once sent for the rescuer, thanked him most earnestly and
inquired as to how he could reward him. Pointing to a huge pile of trade
blankets the Indian replied "One blanket." Such was the gratitude of the
father that the Indian not onl}' received one blanket, but as many as he
could carry and other articles dear to the heart of a savage were also heaped
upon him.
The second marriage of ex-Governor Boggs was solemnized in 1823 and
united him with Panthea G. Boone, daughter of Jesse Boone and grand-
daughter of the famous old Kentucky pioneer, Daniel Boone. A new home
was established at Harmony, Mo., on the Neosho, a branch of the Osage
river, at which point Mr. Boggs was engaged, in trading with the Indians for
furs and pelts. The first child of the second marriage was born at Harmony,
Thomas Oliver Boggs, a comrade of Kit Carson on the plains and for more
than forty years a resident of Las Animas, Colo., and engaged as a trader
among the Indians as an agent of the great Bent's organization of furriers.
From the post at Harmony the family removed to Six Mile Settlement in
Jackson county. Mo., where in October, 1826, occurred the birth of the second
son, William M. Boggs, also a plainsman and later captain of the emigrant
train to California. From Six Mile Settlement the family removed to Inde-
pendence, where i\Ir. Boggs engaged in the mercantile business. All of the
children of his second marriage were born in Jackson county with the excep-
tion of a son, George W., whose birthplace was JeiTerson City.
The personal qualities of Mr. Boggs were so attractive, his intellect so
profound and his interest in the state so great that naturally he rose to influ-
ence. After serving as representative, senator and lieutenant-governor he
was honored with the office of governor. After the burning of the old state
house he was engaged to visit the east and purchase supplies for the com-
pletion of the new capitol, a splendid structure for those times, begun about
1837 and finished in 1840, constructed of white freestone, with six granite
columns in front, thirty feet between cap and base, six feet in diameter, and
placed in a circle at the main entrance, over which on a stone slab appear the
names of Governor Boggs and the other state officers. His service as governor
was filled with anxiety and trouble, but he persisted in independent appoint-
ments despite of enmity aroused. He was no weakling, to be controlled by
party machinery. Dissensions arose with leading statesmen who regarded
themselves as supreme in power, but no criticism could turn him from a
course he believed to be right. His frontier friends and backwoods associates
n'ere treated with a hospitality gracious and cordial; the poor were welcomed
to his home with as much tact and kindness as the rich received. Many a man
was indebted to him for a start that in after years led him to fortune and
success. His greatest trouble as governor was with the Mormons, who had
formerly lived near Independence, Mo., but after hostilities that threatened the
shedding of blood had been exiled, retreating to Nauvoo on the Mississippi
river in Illinois. The later troubles of this sect in Illinois are a matter of
history and only terminated with the shooting of Joe Smith in the Hancock
county jail in Carthage and with the exile of the Mormons to the then desert
of Utah. Meanwhile the activity of Governor Boggs in causing their removal
from Missouri had embittered Smith and he had prophesied that the Governor
would die of violence within twelve months. Shortly after that prophecy Orin
316 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Porter Rockwell had attempted to assassinate the Governor, who by the
merest chance escaped death. Two balls lodged in the left side of his brain,
one lodged in the fleshy part of his neck and one passed through the hollow of
the neck and came out at the roof of the mouth. The attempted murder pros-
trated him for a year, but did not prevent his election to the senate and his
splendid service in behalf of his district in that body.
On completion of his service as senator ex-Governor Boggs settled on a
farm near Independence, thence went into that town and later purchased a
farm in Cass county, but the death of his eldest daughter, Martha, at that place
caused him to become dissatisfied and he returned to Independence. Mean-
while a number of his friends had investigated the country west of the Rocky
mountains and had given favorable accounts of natural resources and cli-
mate, but doubted the advisability of families attempting to cross through the
unexplored intervening country. Captain Rickman, who had been west as far
as Yerba Buena (now San Francisco) advocated the idea of a trans-continental
railroad and he and the Governor would converse for hours over the feasi-
bility of such an enterprise. As early as 1842 the Governor wrote an article
on the subject addressed to Shadwick Penn, then the editor of the St. Louis
Republic. The article described an overland route for the railroad via Santa
Fe (much the line later taken by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe) with the
exception that his starting point was to be Independence, Mo., and his ter-
minus, San Diego, Cal. His estimate of the cost of construction was based on
such cost in Pennsylvania and was remarkably near the true cost of the
later undertaking. The original article on the subject is still preserved and
is in the possession of the Sonoma Pioneer Society.
Against the advice of many timid and conservative counselors the Gov-
ernor determined to migrate to California. His eldest sons. Angus and Henry
Carroll, who were married and living on farms in Jackson county, did not
care to accompany him, although the latter followed in 1850. The eldest child
of the second marriage had gone to Bent's ford and so it was the fourth son,
\\"illiam M.. who had charge of the expedition which left Independence May
10, 1846. Just before starting William M. Boggs married Sonora Hicklin,
daughter of John Hicklin, who in early life had been an intimate friend of the
Governor and his comrade on expeditions among the Indians. At Ash Hollow
on the Nebraska river William M. Boggs was chosen captain of the party
which included about one hundred families. The wisdom of the choice was
proved by the success of a most dangerous trip. All of his party reached their
destinations in safety with the exception of the Donner family and their imme-
diate friends, who decided to take a cut-off against which the captain advised.
Their terrible sufferings in the Sierra Nevada mountains and their subse-
quent fate are matters of history. Being an expert marksman Captain Boggs
supplied the large expedition with buffalo-meat and other game and was
therefore exceedingly popular, besides which he showed the pluck in hard-
ships that invariably wins admiration from others.
Previous to the arrival of the Missourians in the Sacramento valley in
November, 1846, they were met by Colonel Fallon of the Fremont part}-, who
Informed them that the American flag was flying in California and that
recruits were being gathered for the army of Colonel Fremont. Later Gen-
eral Vallejo tendered the ex-Governor the use of his house on the Petaluma
rancho and there the family spent the wet winter in 1846, with no society
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 31?
except an occasional visit from the General. In the spring the Governor
entered into merchandising in Sonoma, where Colonel Mason, the military
governor of California, appointed him alcalde of the northern district, his
jurisdiction to extend to Sacramento and to include Sutter's Fort, thence
extending northward to the Oregon line and down the coast to the bay,
including all of the country north of the bay of San Francisco. Among the
duties of the alcalde was the performance of marriage ceremonies and fre-
quently Governor Boggs rode thirty or more miles in order to officiate at
weddings. He read the service at the marriage of Dr. Robert Semple, the
founder of Benicia, and Miss Frances Cooper, daughter of Stephen Cooper,
who erected in 1848 the first hotel at Benicia. He also united in marriage
William Edgington and Nancy Grigsby, daughter of Capt. John Grigsby, of
the Bear Plag party ; also many other young couples of pioneer prominence.
Other duties of the office of alcalde included the trying of cases and the
maintenance of order, with authority to call on the military if necessary. It
happened that in one case Captain Sutter had been ordered to appear before the
court, but instead of responding in person he sent an Indian with gold dust
amounting to about $300, stating that gold had been discovered on the Ameri-
can river and his business was of such importance that he could not obey th?
summons. This was the first news received at Sonoma concerning that most
interesting event. People at once rushed for the mines, but the Governor
continued at Sonoma, took charge of gold dust for returning miners, built up
a very large trade as merchant and in a few years had amassed a small for-
tune. In 1852 he sent two sons to Missouri to buy fine stock and in that way
some splendid Durham cattle were brought into Napa county that proved
most valuable in the future history of the stock industry there. His last years
were passed happily on his farm in Napa valley and at death his body was
mterred in the Tulucay cemetery in that county, where his wife, who passed
away September 23, 1880, was buried by his side. Many of the most im-
portant state papers of Governor Boggs were lost or destroyed by fire, a fact
greatly deplored by the representatives of the present generation as well as by
patriots interested in the preservation of early history. One of the docu-
ments still in existence, dated at Copenhagen, April 21, 1840, and signed by
the Royal Society of Northern Antiquarians, informs him of his election as a
member of that society, organized in furtherance of the perpetuation of pre-
Columbian history of America. The letter is partly in the Danish language
and is a beautiful specimen of penmanship, signed by the president as well as
the secretary, and bearing the legal seal of the society. By chance this docu-
ment has been preserved, while many other papers equally interesting and
perhaps even more important, have passed out of existence, depriving the fam-
ily of the pleasure of a complete understanding of events entering into the
history of this pioneer governor and shaping his policy in public affairs.
Enough, however, has been preserved to indicate his forceful intellect, splen-
did capacity for leadership, intelligent .grasp of national issues and rare devo-
tion to his country and his home.
CAPTAIN JOHN KAY ERASER.— There is hardly a better known
resident along the shores of Clear lake, in Lake county, than Captain Fraser,
who came to this region almost fifty years ago, in 1866, and has lived here
almost continuously since. He is one of the forceful characters which are
necessary to the successful development of a section in its early days, and he
318 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
has continued to occupy an important position in his community to the
present, his high standing as a business man, influence in civic matters and
personal integrity being of definite vakie in promoting its welfare. As a
typical representative of the Highland Scotch race from which he springs, it
might be expected that he would possess the qualities of physical hardiness
and mental fitness which have distinguished its scions for generations. In
.T maternal line he is descended directl}' from a sister of Lovat, who fomented
the last Jacobite uprising. After Lovat was beheaded his sister crossed the
Atlantic to the new world, settling in Nova Scotia, and her posterity inter-
married with the Erasers.
Hugh Eraser, grandfather of Captain Eraser, came to Nova Scotia from
Scotland, and there his son, Hugh Smith Eraser, the Captain's father, lived
and died. The latter fought in the Erench-English war. He married Mrs.
Hannah (McKenzie) McKay, who also passed all her life in Nova Scotia,
and who was a member of a family as famous in Canada as her husband's,
the McKenzie river in British America, which drains the great Arctic slope,
being named for her family, while the Eraser river is so called in memory of
the family here under consideration. There are no names in the great north-
west of more historic importance, and few of the explorers whose deeds are
known have been more honored. Hugh Smith Eraser died at the age of sixty
years, his wife at the age of sixty-eight. She had four children by her first
husband. John George, Roderick. Carmichael and Christobal ; and nine by her
marriage to Mr. Eraser, viz.: Alexander, Elizabeth, Anna B., Sarah. Robert,
Smith, Mary, Thomas and John Kay. Duncan Eraser, one of the governors
of Halifax, was a cousin of Mr. Eraser.
John Kay Eraser was born at New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, December 2,
1844, and his educational advantages were meager, as he grew up in a stony
region still in its pioneer state, and the nearest school was two miles distant.
Until sixteen years of age he lived on his father's farm, from that time until
he was twenty serving an apprenticeship to the trade of carpenter and builder
on the island of Cape Breton. Then he went to New York Cit)^ to follow his
trade, and after remaining there one spring and one summer proceeded to
Charleston. S. C, and Savannah. Ga., whence he returned to New York.
Meantime he was employed as a journeyman carpenter. In the early fall of
1866 he set out from New York for California, going b}^ the Nicaragua route
and arriving at San Francisco in October of that year. Again he went to
work at his trade, and his employer, William Murdock, needing a man to
come up to Lake county to build a dredge on Borax lake, sent him. He arrived
here in December and at once commenced the construction of a steam dredge,
the first of its kind ever built in the county, and used in the dredging of
Borax lake. His work on the dredge and around the borax mine lasted
twenty-three months, until the borax was exhausted, after which he went to
the silver mines at Hamilton, Nev. Returning to San Erancisco after six
months' work in the silver mines, he resumed carpentry in that city, doing
general building work until he decided to come back to Lake county in 1870.
For a year or so he was engaged in mining and refining sulphur at Sulphur
Banks, in 1871 buying some land at Elgin Point to the improvement of which
he devoted about a year. Selling it in 1872, he turned his attention more par-
ticularly to the boat business, with which he has ever since been associated.
In May, 1873. he went to San Erancisco to get a steam launch for Capt. R. S.
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 319
Floyd. She was first called the Hallie, after Captain Floyd's daughter, was
afterward rebuilt and renamed the Hazel, and in 1913 was bought by Captain
Anderson, of Lakeport, who changed her name to the Bartlett, as she is now
known. All these years she has been sailing the waters of Clear lake. Cap-
tain Fraser continued in Captain Floyd's employ for a period of eighteen
years, taking full charge of all his land holdings, aggregating between seven
hundred and eight hundred acres, and also looking after the Bellvenue resort
at Lakeport. wliich had a successful career under his management. About
1892 he did some gold mining in Arizona, but he retained his California prop-
erty, having a home ranch of one hundred and sixty acres of which he held
the ownership until he sold in 1905, the year he came to his present prop-
erty, which was formerly the Blunt place. He also took up one hundred and
twenty acres on University scrip, but has sold some of this land, having at
present one hundred and fifty acres, lying in what is known as the Mountain
District precinct (formerly the North Kelseyville precinct). The tract has
a frontage of about forty rods on Clear lake, and the Captain has established
a complete boatbuilding plant there, having a boathouse, a place to build and
repair boats, a marine railroad for the convenient hauling in of launches to
]>e repaired, and a well equipped machine shop. As a boatbuilder he has a
reputation equaled by few. In 1874 he built the City of Lakeport for Captain
Floyd, the largest steamboat ever on Clear lake and in her day the fastest
boat in the world in her class, her speed being between seventeen and
eighteen miles an hour. She measured seventy-four feet over all, with a nine-
loot beam. The Henrietta, a gasoline launch constructed in 1906, was the
first boat the Captain built at his present place. In 1907 he built the Hiesther,
the fastest boat on the lake at that time, which in June, 1907, won the silver
cup in a race with the Battee and the Vaslav, the latter Gopcivich's boat.
Again in 1909 she won the cup, and she has had another victory since, holding
the record on Clear lake yet.
In the spring of 1900 Captain Fraser went up to Alaska, returning in the
fall. He was engaged in dredging at Nome, working for "Borax" Smith's
brother, B. G. Smith. Though now seventy years of age. Captain Fraser is
as robust and active as ever, and his success in recent years in motorboat
building is conclusive evidence that he has not fallen behind the times in any
degree in the business which has won him such high reputation and afforded
him so much pleasure. It has always been his pride to keep in the lead in
this respect as he began, for the steamboat he brought here from San Fran-
cisco for Captain Floyd was the first on the lake ; he ran her for several years.
His present home is beautifully situated, adjoining the fine property of Cap-
tain Behr on the west, and like that place is ideally located, being no less
remarkable for grandeur of scenery than for the mild climate which is the
result of its protected position on the east side of Mt. Konocti, with the hot
springs of Clear lake to further modify the temperature. Captain Fraser was
well adapted by nature for the hardships of pioneer life, coming of stock whose
lastes led them to exploration and blazing the way for the less venturesome,
snd he has survived the privations and toil of the early days with constitution
and health unimpaired. His upright life has earned him the thorough respect
of all who know him.
In Lakeport in October, 1874, Captain Fraser married ^liss Clara Lyon,
sister of George A. Lvon, horticultural commissioner of Lake county, and she
320 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
died leaving five children: Lyon, who is at present serving as sheriff of Lake
county ; Richard Floyd, who is engaged in farming in Oregon ; Lovett K., an
attorney, of San Francisco; Yolland L, an electrical engineer, who resides
at Lakeport ; and Clara, a graduate of the University of California, 1914. The
present Mrs. Fraser was in her maidenhood Miss Elizabeth Paul, a native of
Rothiemay, Banffshire, Scotland (but reared in Aberdeen), who came to
A^ictoria, British Columbia, from that country in 1904, and from Victoria to
California with her brother, Dr. Ellis Paul, and sister, Jane Paul, who were
the lessees of Buckingham Park, Lake county, for five years, 1905 to 1910.
They were married at Buckingham Park in January, 1907. Mrs. Eraser's
intelligence, hospitality and sincerity of character have won her many friends
in the neighborhood of her home. In religious views Mr. and Mrs. Fraser are
Presbyterians.
JOHN P. HOFFMAN.— The memorable summer of 1849 brought a mot-
ley throng of Argonauts across the plains, men young and old, high and low,
vi every occupation and profession, and in all of this vast army of emigrants
perhaps none was more alert of perception, more capable in action or more sin-
cere of purpose than John P. Hoffman, a stalwart young man of twenty-three
years, whose savings from a small salaried position as school teacher were
devoted to transportation expenses on that long and eventful journey. Born
near Milton, Pa.. December 5, 1825, there had been no occurrence of especial
interest in his boyhood and youth, which had been passed in a quiet routine of
liome duties and school attendance. More fortunate than some of those early
miners, he secured some returns in his mining operations and after he had
engaged in placer mining at Sonora, Weaverville and Placerville until he had
accumulated over $2000 in gold, he fastened $1500 of his precious treasure
in a belt around his body and started for the east. The sailing vessel, Trescot,
in the voyage from San Francisco to the Isthmus, was becalmed for thirteen
days, so that the harbor was not reached until some time later than was usual
for that voyage. However, he eventually reached his destination and invested
his gold in merchandise in Chicago and Milwaukee, shipping the stock of
goods to Lena, 111. From there a few years later he moved his stock to
Springville, Linn county, Iowa, where he opened a store. The business flour-
ished to a satisfactory degree, but his mind reverted so frequently to the sights
and scenes of California that he finally determined to return to the coast.
Meanwhile he had married in Springville Iowa, Miss Jane B. Kirkwood, a
native of Elkhart county, Ind., and a school teacher.
The family consisting of husband and wife and infant child left Iowa
April 19, 1860, and arrived at lone, Amador county, Cal., August 19 following,
after a tedious and eventful trip across the plains. The first location was near
lone on a well improved farm which proved a successful undertaking. Next,
removal was made to Mendocino county, where Mr. Hoffman selected Ukiah
as a location especially desirable by reason of its healthful climate. Near the
town he selected and purchased a tract of seven hundred and forty acres,
known as the old John Hopper ranch. This property had one of the very first
orchards planted in the valley and he added to the same by the planting of
fruit trees of choice varieties. Much of the land was covered with brush. It
was possible at that time to engage Indians to clear off the brush. The land
cleared, he took up the task of cultivation and in this he was uniformly suc-
cessful. For years grain formed his principal crop. The entire ranch was
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 323
fenced under his personal supervision and at heavy expense. Later he bought
mountain land suitable for the pasturage of his herds of cattle. The man-
agement of the large ranch did not represent the limit of his activities. With
characteristic energy he threw himself into many movements for the upbuild-
ing of the community. Seeing the need of a substantial financial concern, he
was one of the promoters of the Bank of Ukiah and was the first president of
the institution. From that time until his death in February of 1903 he con-
tinued as a director of the bank and his high standing gave weight and
solidity to the institution. In order to oversee his large business interests he
moved from the ranch into Ukiah, where he bought a residence and conducted
a general mercantile business. He believed thoroughly in the public schools
and served acceptably as trustee of his district. The Republican party received
his ballot in local and national elections. For years he was one of the largest
contributors to the Methodist Episcopal Church of Ukiah and that denomina-
tion had in him one of its most loyal supporters and leading local workers. He is
survived by his widow, who resides on the old homestead, surrounded by
members of her family and friends. She is a woman of large information and
a strong character, and it was largely due to her perception, assistance and
wise counsel that Mr. HoiTman met with such splendid success. It was also
due to her oversight and supervision of the children's studies that they ob-
tained their good educations, and the moral training which they received
made them citizens of worth, and men and women of the highest ideals.
There were eight children in the family of the late John P. HoiTman.
Of these four survive, viz. : Mrs. Emily J. Pettis, Mrs. Ella McKinley, Mrs.
Nellie Sanford and John Hofifman. The first-named in 1876 became the wife
of Charles E. Pettis, who was born at Somerset, Bristol county, Mass., Febru-
ary 12, 1854, and received a seminary education in the old Bay state, supple-
mented by attendance at the University of the Pacific at San Jose, Cal., in
1873. A year after his arrival in the west he came to Ukiah and since then
(1874) hehas been more or less identified with this section of the state. After
a term of service as bookkeeper with his brother, W. H. Pettis, and a period
of business association with J. P. Hofifman, he accepted the advice of friends
and relinquished business for a ministerial career. After four years of theo-
logical study in the Methodist Episcopal conference, he was ordained to the
ministry of the Gospel and admitted to the conference. For twenty-seven
years he preached the Gospel in Marin, Amador, Santa Clara, Monterey and
Mendocino counties. Eventually in 1912 he retired from the ministry and
erected a house on the ranch of ninety acres at Talmage near Ukiah, where
he and his wife have since given their attention to the improvement of the
property and the building up of a remunerative ranch. Their sons have left
the home roof to take up life's activities, the eldest, John A., having entered
the law as an attorney at Fort Bragg, while Charles H. has engaged in ranch-
ing and cattle-raising in Arizona and Edward V. is clerking in San Francisco.
The youngest, Ashley B., a musical genius whose talents have been developed
through study in Europe, now conducts a studio in San Francisco, where
he ranks among the leading pianists and composers and where his remarkable
musical memory and unerring accuracy in the art have elicited the most
flattering comments from the press. Alice is at home.
324 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
EUGENE McPEAK.— The history of the :\IcPeak family in America
is indicative of that strong pioneer temperament which led the march of
colonization from the Atlantic seaboard by successive steps across the con-
tinent to the Pacific coast. It was Henry McPeak who transplanted the name
from North Carolina to Tennessee, Vv-here he settled on a plantation in Ruther-
ford county and married Nancy Fain, a native of Virginia. In their young
married life they became pioneers of Arkansas, where he developed a tract
of wild land into a productive plantation. On that ranch, situated near
Osceola, a son, Eugene, was born March 4, 1837. From Arkansas the family
crossed the line into Missouri during 1840 and settled on an unimproved
tract of land thirty miles from the nearest school. There were two sons in
the family, Eugene and Peter, the latter now a resident of Guerneville, Sonoma
county, Cal. It was impossible for the boys to attend school owing to the
great distance. Nor had they the advantage of education through contact
with neighbors, for settlers were few and they were isolated to a degree un-
common even in that pioneer period. Fortunately, the mother was a woman
of culture and had received an excellent education in an academy near Mur-
freesboro, Tenn., so that she was able to instruct her sons in the public-school
branches as well as impress deeply upon their consciousness the necessity of
honor, integrity and industry.
The father died on the home farm near New Madrid, AIo., in 1848, and
in 1852 the mother came to California, where she died at Willits at the age
of seventy-five years. At the time of crossing the plains with an ox-team
train, Eugene McPeak, then a rugged, stalwart youth of fifteen years, was
given the charge of the cattle, and he drove the herd all the way across the
plains until they were sold to a trader at the sink of the Humboldt. Arriving
at Placerville he found work. In 1854 he went to Plumas county and there
and in Sierra county he engaged in mining with fair success until 1857, when
he took up government land four miles west of Santa Rosa. With the aid
of his mother he proved up on a tract, which he devoted to general farming
and stock-raising. When that place was sold he bought three hundred and
twenty acres in the same vicinity. The latter farm he operated until 1877,
when he sold out and came to Little Lake valley, Mendocino county. Here
he bought and improved a farm of two hundred and eighty acres five miles
southeast of W'illits. About sixty acres were put under cultivation to grain
and hay, but the principal acreage was devoted to range for cattle, sheep and
hogs. In 1910 he sold the farm and retired to Willits, where he owns an acre
homestead on Humboldt street, with an irrigation plant for fruit and vege-
tables made possible by an electric motor of standard make.
At Santa Rosa, Cal., June 19, 1870. Air. McPeak married Miss Mary J.
Norris, who was born in Bloomfield, Davis county, Iowa, and came across
the plains in 1859 with her parents, Charles and Martha (Harris) Norris,
natives of Ohio, .\fter successive temporar)^ sojourns in Missouri and Iowa,
Mr. Norris had decided to migrate to California and brought his family west
with wagons and ox-teams as well as a drove of cattle. At the expiration of
six months he landed in California and took up government land six miles
from Santa Rosa, where he developed a farm and remained until his death.
His widow is still a resident of Sonoma county. Of their seven children six
are still living, Mrs. McPeak being the eldest of the number. For years she
has been an earnest worker in the Christian Church, in the Rebekahs and in
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 325
Willits Lodge No. 314, Order of Eastern Star. Together with Mr. McPeak
she has been a capable worker in the interests of education and for twenty
years served on the board of education in Whitcomb district. When the
high-school board was organized and the building erected, Mr. McPeak was
a member of the board, and his efficient services in that capacity covered
eight years. For four years he was a member of the board of trustees of
Willits and during two years of the time he was honored with the chairman-
ship. In politics he votes with the Democratic party. He was made a
Mason in Lafayette Lodge No. 126, F. & A. M., at Sebastopol, and later
became a charter member of Willits Lodge No. 365, F. & A. M., besides which
he has been interested in the Eastern Star. The soul of honor in all the
relationships of life, he has formed heart to heart links stretching out into
a circle of friendships which encompass every locality in which he has lived.
Everyone speaks well of his fine qualities of character. While his life has
been quiet and unmarked by stirring events, it has been none the less very
useful to his community. Through high principles of honor and generosity
of soul he has stood foremost among the citizens pledged to the welfare of town
and county and instrumental in promoting enterprises of permanent value
to both.
DAVID FRANKLIN, M. D. — From the time when, a lad of fourteen
years, Dr. Franklin arrived in New York City December 1, 1870, alone and
friendless, with no means of support except such as his own energy made
possible, he has traveled widely and met with many thrilling experiences, the
jnost harrowing and disastrous of which were associated with the San Fran-
cisco earthquake in 1906. A native of this country, born at Brooklyn (Old
Williamsburg), N. Y., May 16, 1855, he was only two years of age when his
father, John, returned to Sweden, the land of his birth, and took up mercantile
enterprises at Tursby, so that the Doctor's earliest recollections cluster around
the home of his ancestors. Conditions there, however, were not to his liking
and at the age of fourteen he ran away from home, coming back to the land
of his birth and earning a livelihood through the selling of papers. Industry
and energy enabled him to pay his way through the night high school in
New York City. Although fairly well educated by this course of study, he
was not content until he had taken a complete medical course. As early as
1873 when eighteen years of age he matriculated in the medical department of
New York University. His own efforts defrayed all the expenses of the
course and in 1878 he received the degree of M. D., after having paid all ex-
penses in connection with a thorough medical education. It was his good
fortune to have among his preceptors Dr. Plummer, a surgeon of national
fame.
Shortly after his arrival in San Francisco, October 22, 1879, Dr. Franklin
opened an office at Sixth and Market streets. The interests of health forced
him to later relinquish his practice and seek the benefits of an outdoor occu-
pation, for which purpose he rode the range in Wyoming. The year thus
spent was filled with exciting incidents, but repaid him through the restora-
tion of his health. Next he enlisted in the United States navy as a member
of the Rogers expedition in search of the crew of the Janet. The course of
the long voyage took them into the Arctic ocean above Point Barrows and
there they met with a serious misfortune in the burning of their ship, after
which they spent the winter among the Eskimos and finally were rescued
326 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
and brought back to the United States on the revenue cutter Bear. On the
return to San Francisco the Doctor resumed practice and remained in the city
until after the great earthquake and fire of 1906. when he was burned out and
lost all of his possessions. Forgetting his personal misfortunes, he set himself
to the task of aiding the injured and worked as a surgeon in the relief camps,
where he witnessed many distressing sights and was able to assist greatly
in the alleviation of suffering. When there was no further need of special
assistance he sought other places of professional labor, spending a time at
Caspar. Mendocino county, also at Fort Bragg and Laytonville. September
15, 1913, he came to A\'illits and opened an office, also erected a hospital of
seventeen rooms and a well-equipped operating room. The building, recently
completed and newly equipped, ranks with the best of the kind north of San
Francisco and will afford to people of the community the best of medical care
and skilled attention in all cases of sickness or operations of a critical nature.
The present wife of Dr. Franklin, whom he married at Fort Bragg, was
Miss Windla Johnson, who was born in Finland of Swedish descent. While
in San Francisco he had married Miss Tina Love, who was born at Half Moon
Bay and died at San Francisco, leaving an only child, Mrs. Evelyn E. Fitz-
patrick, of Los Angeles. After the death of his first wife he was united with
Miss Sophia Erickson, who was born in Sweden and died in Nevada. The three
children of that union, Oscar G. A., Elsa Clinstene and Carl J., are living in
Nevada. In politics the Doctor is a progressive Republican. In the various
places of his residence he has been allied with different fraternities, with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Genoa, Nev. ; with Ivanhoe No. 5,
K. of P., in San Francisco ; with the Improved Order of Red Men at Van-
couver, Wash. ; with the Eagles at Eureka and the Moose at Willits, being
at present physician of the last-named lodge.
JOHN S. ROSS. — A knowledge of the lumber industry acquired through
years of experience enables Mr. Ross to discharge with efficiency his respon-
sible duties as manager of the Mendocino Lumber Company. In fact, so
remarkable is his grasp of the business, so alert his mind in grasping all of
the intricacies connected with the work, so resourceful his judgment and so
sagacious his decisions that he has gained a wide reputation in his chosen
calling. The reputation as one of the most successful lumber managers
on the Pacific coast has come to him through his own determined efforts and
unsurpassed ability. Flattering offers to fill similar positions in the east have
been made to him, but he prefers the west for his home and has resided in
Mendocino county throughout so much of his life that the ties of friendship,
business relations and material enterprises bind him very closely to the spot.
Of Canadian birth, born in Ottawa in 1867, John S. Ross, is the son of
Rev. John S. and Jane (Ralston) Ross, born in Scotland and Canada, respec-
tively. He was brought to California by his parents in 1870 and has been
identified with Mendocino county from the age of three years up to the pres-
ent time. Here he attended the public schools and laid the foundation of
the broad fund of information which now gives him a reputation as one of
Ihe best-posted men of his community. One of the first positions he ever held
was that of bookkeeper in the Discount Bank at Mendocino and the Bank of
Mendocino. After two and one-half years as a bank clerk in December of
1886 he becatne connected with the lumber industry, his first work in that
tine being as bookkeeper with the Pudding Creek Lumber Company. Seven
7. (<r /s^^
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 329
years were spent with the same concern and during the last three years of
the time he acted as manager. Since then he has engaged as manager in
charge of diflferent lumber companies, having had charge of the L. E. White
Lumber Company at Greenwood for eighteen months and the Little Valley
Lumber Company for two and one-half years. Since September 1, 1902, he
has held the position of manager of the Mendocino Lumber Company, where
his comprehensive knowledge of the industry and his long experience have
been of inestimable value to the organization.
Association with the lumber industry, which has been so important a
factor in the history of Mendocino county, by no means represents the limit
of the activities of Mr. Ross, who has contributed of his time and talents to
enterprises connected with the material upbuilding of town and county, and
has been particularlj^ active in the founding and growth of the Mendocino
Bank of Commerce, being now vice-president of the bank and a member of
its board of directors. Sterling qualities of character have given him a prom-
inent place in commercial circles and in the regard of many friends. The
high principles of Masonry have enlisted his cordial support and he has been
I)rominent for years in Mendocino Lodge No. 179, F. & A. M., and Mendocino
Chapter No. 88, R. A. M., being Past Master and Past High Priest, and with
Mrs. Ross he is a member of Ocean View Chapter No. Ill, O. E. S., both being
past officers in that Order. He is also a member of Ukiah Commandery No.
33, K. T. Conscientiously faithful in every department of life, his citizen-
ship has been of that ideal type so essential to the permanent progress of
any community. Sharing with him the esteem of acquaintances is his wife,
formerly Miss Lulu Willis, who is a native daughter of California and re-
ceived an excellent education, being a graduate of the Santa Rosa High School
and the University of Nevada at Reno. For two years she was engaged in
educational work in that state. Mrs. Ross is the daughter of Rev. F. M.
Willis, a native of Illinois, who rode horseback across the plains when a young
man, accompanying a train in 1850. He graduated from the old Sonoma
Academy and has been a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church for over
fifty years. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Ross comprises two children, Dor-
(,'tiiy and John S., Jr.
MARTIN VAN BAKER.— A long identification with the stock business
in the west, especially in Nevada and Eastern Oregon, has given to Mr.
Raker a thorough knowledge of this section of the country and has made
him conversant with every detail of one of the leading industries for a vast
region of forest range and foothills. Hardships necessarily have come into
such a career. Privations were accepted as a part of the business during
those long years in the open, but there was much of pleasure in the work
and at times something of profit, although the remuneration was not com-
mensurate with the labor involved. Only a few years ago he closed out
his interests in the range country and shortly afterward purchased two
hundred and six acres about two miles northeast of Willits, where since he
has engaged in the raising of grain, hay and potatoes.
The earliest memories of Mr. Baker cluster around Northern California,
though he was born in Wilson county, Iowa, near the Missouri line, in January,
1857. It was in the spring of the same year that his parents, H. W. and Eliza-
l^eth (Wilkerson) Baker, brought their five children across the plains with a
330 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
party of homeseekers. The expedition was of considerable proportions and Mr.
Baker, who owned the major portion of the drove of cattle, was chosen
captain of the train, which he brought through in safety. The trip was made
less difficult by reason of his previous overland journey to California in 1850
and the return trip to the old home a few years afterward. Nor did these
two journeys represent the limit of his knowledge of the vast region west
of the Mississippi, for he had served throughout the Mexican war as a wagon
master and had seen much of the frontier. In recognition of his faithful
service during the war he was awarded a medal by congress and this valued
keepsake is now in the possession of a grandson, Raymond Baker, During
1857 the family settled at Napa, where the father became landlord of an hotel.
Three years later he removed to the Bodega valley. Sonoma county, and
secured a tract of raw land for farming purposes. Twice he paid for the land,
but even then lost it through later proof that it belonged to an old grant.
The year 1865 found the family in Mendocino county, where the father
.spent two years on a farm in Walker valley and then bought a claim in the
mountains between Potter valley and Willits, about ten miles east of the
latter place. On this ranch he developed mineral springs that even to this day
hear the name of Baker Springs. His last days were passed in Santa Maria
and he died there in 1909, while his wife also passed away at the same place.
Of their twelve children eight are now living. The fifth of these, Martin Van,
was eight years of age at the time of coming to Mendocino county and lived
here until 1874, when he began to ride the Nevada range as a cowboy for the
Riley & Hardin ranch. At the expiration of three years he was transferred
to the firm's ranch in Eastern Oregon near Burns and there he made his
headquarters for many years, raising horses for one-half interest in the sales.
Unfortunately he refused an ofifer of $14,000 for his part of the stock. At the
time stock was high and he considered his share worth much more than the
sum offered, but eventually he was forced to sell four hundred head for
$1,000, such had been the depreciation in the values of horses. One of his
most exciting summers was that of 1878, when the Bannock Indians were
on the warpath and kept the cattle and the camp on the move without much
rest.
After his heavy loss in the horse business Mr. Baker was hired by
Mr. Riley to take charge of a herd of twelve thousand cattle and for ten years
he remained on the range until all of the drove had been sold and the business
closed. Meantime he had bought from Mr. Riley the Cahto ranch in Long
valley, Mendocino county, and for a time he made his headquarters on this
place, but when he had sold it he went to Nevada as manager for
Mr. Hardin of the Humboldt Cattle Company. When the interests of that
corporation had been sold he returned to Mendocino county in 1909 and the
following year bought the farm northeast of Willits which he has since
operated. Throughout all of his life since attaining maturity he has voted the
Democratic ticket. While living in Oregon he married Miss Alice Thornberg,
of Burns, that state, a native of Kansas. They are the parents of one son.
Raymond Carl, a graduate of Sweet's Business College at Santa Rosa and
now engaged as bookkeeper for Fairbanks & Baechtel, Willits. While living
in Oregon Mr. Baker was made a Mason in Burns Lodge, F. & A. M., and he
now belongs to Willits Lodge No. 365. while both he and his wife are charter
(^- ^~ J0yv^^^6<^
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 333
members of Willits Chapter No. 314, Order of the Eastern Star, and Mrs.
Baker has been honored with the office of matron ever since the organization
of the chapter.
ROBERT JAMES DRYDEN.— The proprietor of the Little Lake sta-
bles has been interested in the livery business at Willits since 1900, when he
opened a small barn on the present site on Main street and embarked in the
business that he still follows. Having very little capital, he was forced to
begin upon a small scale, but it was not long before he had gained the confi-
dence of business men and was establishing a trade that gave gratifying
promise for the future. At first he kept very few horses ; now he has twenty-
one head of good drivers. Needing more room, he erected his present large
stable, 72x120 feet, two floors, all devoted to the livery business. The equip-
ment of vehicles is complete, well-assorted and modern. Everything pertain-
ing to the carriages and harness is maintained in first-class condition, indica-
tive of the careful, close oversight of the proprietor. In 1914, seeing the need
of garage and automobile livery in Willits, he associated himself with Barney
Schow and built a garage 62x130 feet, adjoining his stables, but facing Hum-
boldt street. TTiis is a two-story steel building, the first floor for automobile
storage and repair shop and second floor for painting and storage. Automo-
biles are kept on hand for hire as well as for sale.
While giving his attention closely to the building up of a good trade and
the enlargement of his business, he has not neglected the duties of good citi-
zenship, but has found time to serve as a member of the city school board and
the board of trustees of Willits, in which capacities he has labored to promote
the best interests of the people.
The son of Nathaniel Dryden, a California pioneer who crossed the plains
from Missouri during the summer of 1849, Robert J. Dryden was born at
Georgetown, Eldorado county, this state, November 6, 1867, and passed the
first fifteen years of life in his native county. During 1882 he came to Little
Lake. Mendocino county, and found employment on a ranch, after which,
either in the employ of others or in working for his own interests, he engaged
in raising sheep and cattle in the valley. Always he was skilled in the treat-
ment of stock and was regarded as an expert judge of horses, which he could
break and manage with skill, and it was this fondness for horses that led him
into establishing a livery barn at Willits. Since coming here he has been
made a Mason in Willits Lodge, No. 365, F. & A. M., and with his wife is a
member of the Eastern Star. He is also a member of the Eagles, Odd Fellows
and the Woodmen of the World. By his marriage to Lillie Longland, a
native of the county and a daughter of George Longland, one of Mendocino
county's most honored pioneers, he has two children, Roberta and Ernest.
HENRY EUGENE WITHERSPOON.— Each section of our United
States has its own characteristics, varying from each other as widely as the
causes which produce them. The nationality of the settlers, geographical
location, climate, are only a few of the reasons which underlie this individual-
ity. In California and other western states where similar soil conditions pre-
vail the agricultural population must depend so la,rgely upon the diversion
of the waters of their lakes and streams to irrigate the fertile but drj' soil that
water rights and privileges have grown to be a matter of paramount im-
portance. Out of their use and abuse has grown a recognition of the necessity
for observing the rights of all — no one to profit to the detriment of others.
If properly conserved, if each has his due share, the supply is more than
334 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
enough for all. In the struggle to maintain this equable distribution of
nature's gifts to his native state, Henry Eugene Witherspoon has applied his
talents to mastering the laws of water rights, to such good purpose that he
is a recognized authority on this vital subject. With much of the originality
and native western boldness in his makeup, he has striven almost single-
tianded in this cause which lies nearest his heart, efficient, watchful, tireless,
never despairing of accomplishing what he has set out to do — to hold the
natural title of the people against intrusion until such time as wisdom shows
them they may claim it without fear. Mr. Witherspoon's career in the law
has been brief but brilliant. Though he has actually given all his time to
practice for less than ten years, he has been acknowledged a worthy opponent
by the best legal talent in Lake county, the fact that he has been ranged
against such forces neither discouraging nor terrifying him nor interfering
with his successful handling of highl)^ important cases. Water and mining
laws have occupied most of his attention, but he has been engaged in some
famous litigation of other nature and has proved he may be trusted to defend
the cause of his clients whatever the legal points may be. He is a member
of the law firm of Bull & Witherspoon, his partner being Franklin P. Bull, of
San Francisco, where they have offices on the sixth floor of the Pacific build-
ing. Their other office is at Lakeport, Lake county, in the Levy block.
Mr. Witherspoon's father, John Witherspoon, was a civil and mining
engineer by profession, and having charge of the building of the Southern
Pacific road over the Sierra Nevada mountains in Nevada county, Cal., made
his home for about three years at Donner Lake, where Henry Eugene Wither-
spoon was born June 30, 1866. His mother, Elizabeth (Halligan) Wither-
spoon, was a native of Pittsburg, Pa. They had three children, all sons, two
dying in infancy. When Mr. Witherspoon was a young man his father mys-
teriously disappeared, nothing having been heard from him since 1893. He
had become much interested in mining in the southwest, in Arizona and
Mexico, and it is believed he was killed by the Yaqui Indians in Mexico, in
the Sierra Madre mountains. At the time Mrs. Witherspoon was living at
San Jose, Cal., where she remained for several years afterward, in 1909 com-
ing to Lakeport to join her son. She died August 30, 1910.
Mr. Witherspoon's first recollections are of Oregon, where the family lived
on a farm three miles from Jacksonville from the time he was three years old
until he was six. From that time until he was twelve they were at Cliico,
Cal., where he attended grammar school, and from there moved to Virginia
City., Nev., where he graduated from high school. He then went to Arizona
and followed his father's example, getting into the mining game, following
copper mining at Bisbee and Ash Canyon. Coming back to California he
attended the normal school at San Jose, from which institution he was gradu-
ated in 1885. For the next twenty years he was engaged at the teacher's
profession. In 1884 he had begun to teach mathematics in the normal school,
where he was retained in that capacity until 1886. Then he became a public
school teacher, and advanced steadily in the various positions he filled, begin-
ning in country schools, later acting as high school principal, and eventually
becoming a professor of higher mathematics. After teaching at Scotts Bar,
Etna and Fort Jones, in Siskiyou county, Cal., he went to Nevada, where he
was engaged at Virginia City and Battle Mountain. In 1895 he came to Upper
Lake, Lake county, Cal., and was principal of the grammar schools from that
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 335
year until he abandoned teaching, in 1906, for the legal profession. Mean-
time he had studied law, making practically all his preparation by himself,
and in 1900 being admitted to the Supreme Court of California. Though he
had some experience as a lawyer while engaged in educational work, he did
not enter upon practice formally until June, 1906. His partnership with Mr.
Bull was formed in 1910.
Within a few years Mr. Witherspoon found himself in the thick of litiga-
tion involving such large interests that the confidence of his clients was an
acknowledgment of strong faith in his trustworthiness as well as ability.
His splendid victory in the Green Bartlett will case — the second largest will
case ever fought out in Lake county, and kept alive for a period of two years — ■
;is attorney for a contesting heir, was a triumph sufficient to make a reputa-
tion for a lawyer. Other suits, some of them among the most important con-
ducted in the county, have been intrusted to him with equally happy results.
One of his first notable achievements was the winning of the case of W. P.
Mariner in the condemnation suit of the Yolo Water & Power Company
against Mr. Mariner and two hundred and eight other defendants. The trial
lasted about two weeks and the case was decided in favor of Mariner, who
was awarded $25,500 for his lands, a sum so large that the company would
not give it. However, they abandoned their condemnation suit. This is the
most famous of all the cases growing out of disputed water rights in Lake
county.
At first thought there would seem to be little intimate connection between
mathematics and the law, but Mr. Witherspoon has turned the mathematical
bent inherited from his father and skill developed in his work as a teacher into
the most practical possible use. His precision and infinite patience with details
may undoubtedly be attributed to this training. x\gain, his genius for leaving
no stone unturned, however trifling the matter may seem, and thus meeting
emergencies before they arise, probably had its origin in the same source.
Whatever the cause, it is a fact that he calculates his precedures to a nicety,
and though he is fluent, eloquent and above all well grounded in the law, he
makes as careful preparation of all his cases as if he expected to be beaten
and had to do his utmost. He investigates the facts of every case as thor-
oughly as possible, then looks up all the statute and substantive law relating
thereto before he drafts his proceedings, and his court papers are always
systematically and conscientiously prepared, for he is in the habit of briefing
every case exhaustively long before he draws his complaints and other plead-
ings. His phenomenal success in winning cases rests on a substantial founda-
tion. His ready wit, courage and fine diction are impressive, yet he never
relies on these or takes a chance on slighting little matters, which might
appear unimportant on the surface to a more superficial thinker. His imagina-
tion and the comprehensive study which he gives to everything he undertakes
show the earnestness and sympathetic interest of which he is capable. Re-
sourceful, untiring and sincere, he combines ability with perseverance and
insight which make him a force to be reckoned with whenever he is engaged
on a case. In appearance Mr. ^Vitherspoon is not unlike the late Colonel
Ingersoll.
To illustrate the value of his training in mathematics we have some of
the incontestable evidence he has used in his hard-fought cases. When he
was working on the Green Bartlett will case he made a complete diagram, a
336 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
sort of chart-like arrangement showing the family history, all the facts in
the case, and the citations of law applicable to every point appearing there-
with — a collection of facts which made a powerful argument by itself. His
wonderful mastery of the figures which play so important a part in the trial
of cases pertaining to water rights is astounding. He can figure out the in-
tricate and gigantic problems dealt with by the civil engineers as well as they.
His calculations on the water pressure on the proposed dam at Cache creek,
the contents of the Clear lake basin at low water, at high water, etc., are
beyond criticism. The litigation afl'ecting Clear lake in Lake county, in
which he has been interested, divides itself into three periods : His work as
attorney for D. W. Shetler, in his attempt to utilize the waters of Clear lake
for irrigation purposes ; as attorney for the Yocolano Company in its opposition
to the Yolo Water & Power Company ; as attorney for the citizens of the county
against the aggressiveness of the Yolo Water & Power Company. It may be
stated that the Taxpayers' League is composed of seven hundred and fifty tax-
payers and was organized primarily to prevent the granting of the permit for
utilization of the waters of Clear lake b}^ any private corporations.
With painstaking system Air. Witherspoon has gone into every phase ol
this big problem and its effect on the welfare of so many of his fellow citizens.
Believing he is in the right, and furthering the public good in opposing the
selfishness of interests whose self-interest has provoked the censure of some
of the leading men of the day (including Theodore Roosevelt), he has not
spared himself in his efforts to see that the people get a square deal. Begin-
ning at the beginning, he has made charts of Clear lake showing the high and
low water marks ever since the records have been kept, and his knowledge
of the levels, etc., is most exact, so that he goes into court armed with proofs
of his statements which there is no gainsaying. One of his briefs on this
subject has become a celebrated legal document. It has been all through
Wall Street, New York, and the various courts. The history of the conten-
tion of the people of Lake county with the Yolo ^^'ater & Power Company is
taken up exhaustively therein.
Mr. Witherspoon's library on the "law of the waters" is said to be the
most comprehensive owned by any lawyer in the LInited States, if not the
most complete of the kind anywhere. A unique and valuable collection, it is
typical of himself. \\ ith his faculty for covering all the ground, getting so
familiar with his subject that he lives it, he has not been content with modern
works, but has endeavored to obtain everything on water law which has ever
been published, including Babylonian. Egyptian, Roman, Mexican and Spanish
customs and laws. His law publishers have a standing order for every new
and valuable work on the subject issued, anywhere. Besides, his books in-
clude Pacific Reports, Lawyers' Reports Annotated, American and English
Annotated Cases, .American and English Encyclopedia of Law (second edi-
tion). Encyclopedia of Forms, Encyclopedia of Pleading and Practice, Ameri-
can Leading Cases and United States Supreme Court Reports. He is a mem-
ber of the Lake County Bar Association and a Republican in politics.
Mr. Witherspoon has a nice country home in the West Upper Lake pre-
cinct of Lake county, a fine productive ranch containing forty acres of valley
in that very fertile section. Besides, he is interested with others in twelve
hundred acres of grazing land. He was married January 1. 1896, to Miss
Maud Sleeper, daughter of the late D. O. Sleeper, of Ujjper Lake, whither he
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 339
came in the year 1855. Mrs. Witherspoon's mother, whose maiden name was
Mary J. Way, also came to Lake county in pioneer times. She, too, is de-
ceased. Mr. and Mrs. Witherspoon have had three children : Floye E., who
died December 3, 1906, tlie day she was three years old ; Wanda Janet, born
in 1907 ; and Gertrude, born in 1909. Mrs. Witherspoon is a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church at Upper Lake and active in its work, being
president of the Ladies' .\id Society.
JAMES HUSTON BURKE.— The history of the early agricultural
development of Mendocino county forms in many respects a record of the
lives of its pioneers. Bravely they surmounted obstacles, cheerfully they
faced difficulties and efficiently they solved the problems incident to existence
on the frontier. Nor is James Huston Burke less efficient or patient than
his companions in the difficult task of development, for he has worked with a
determination, industry and energy that could not fail to produce results.
From the time of his arrival in the west, more than fifty-five years ago, he
has been an efficient factor in the material upbuilding of the state. He studied
the needs of the soil, planted crops adapted to the climate, pioneered in the
raising of alfalfa and hops, started an orchard of dififerent varieties of fruit,
and in every respect proved a resourceful, competent tiller of the soil.
Descended from an old southern family, James Huston Burke was born
in Clay county, Mo., November 15, 1834, and spent the years of boyhood in
that county and Jackson county, same state. His father, Alexander Burke,
was a native of McMinn county, Tenn., where he grew to manhood and
married. Some years after his marriage he moved to Missouri and settled
in Clay county, where he operated tlat-boats on the Missouri river. April
24, 1853, the father, with the family, left the old Missouri home and started on
the long journey across the plains, traveling with wagons and ox-teams. An
uneventful journey was brought to an end at Sacramento during October of
the same year. For a time the father held a claim on Hood's grant in Sonoma
county. Upon selling the claim he began to mine at Prairie City, Sacra-
mento county, and in that same county he engaged in dairying and stock-
raising. Returning to Sonoma county, he bought a squatter's claim on Mark
West creek and there engaged in raising stock. Upon coming to Mendocino
county in 1864. he bought a ranch south of Ukiah, near property owned by
his sons, and there he engaged in farming and sheep-raising. His last days
were passed in retirement at his home in Ukiah, where his death occurred in
1897. By his marriage to Susan Shelton, a native of Tennessee, he became
the father of ten children, of whom four are deceased, John William, Thomas
Lee, Martha and Susan. The six still living are James H., Francis M.. An-
drew, Mrs. Mary Standfield, N. R. and Joseph.
The eldest of the children, James H. Burke, accompanied the family to
California in 1853, and thus introduced to the hardships of western pioneer-
ing, took up the work manfully and found a livelihood as a farmer, besides
which he worked in the mines. During the fall of 1857 he and his brother
J. W. came to what is now Mendocino county (then a part of Sonoma),
driving with them from Cloverdale four yoke of oxen. .\t that period roads
had not been made. The trails over the mountains were seldom used and
formed an uncertain mode of progress. Wild animals were numerous.
Dangers abounded on every hand. The two young travelers, with their
wagon and oxen, brought one thousand |)ounds of flour with them on that
trip. On their arrival they purchased nine hundred and seventy-four acres
340 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
of the Yokayo rancho in the valley south of Ukiah, extending from Robinson
creek to Burke Hill, about two miles. On the land some former squatter
had put up a rude cabin. A well also had been provided and furnished an
abundance of water. With that exception, the entire work of improvement
fell upon them. In addition to the ordinary hardships of such a condition,
they were unusually troubled by the wild animals that killed their sheep and
cattle and entailed heavy losses upon them. In 1866 hops were planted on
the farm for the first time and in 1872 that crop was sold for sixty cents per
pound. During 1872 James H. bought the interest of his brother, but later
sold a part of the property to Mr. White and later some to Messrs. Higgins
and Moore, still retaining, however, about two hundred and eighty acres, on
which he raises alfalfa, hay, hops and fruit. He has been twice married and
is the father of two children. Green C. Burke, who manages the farm, and
Mrs. Nellie Stipp, of Los Angeles.
NEIL ANKER. — \\'hen fifteen years of age, but already a man in endur-
ance of privation and hardship. Neil Anker left the old home in Hadersleben,
Schleswig (where he was born in 1843), and began to earn a livelihood as
a cabin boy in the trans-Atlantic trade. For a decade or more he sailed the
high seas and visited many of the leading ports of the world. Six times he
rounded Cape Horn, three times he made voyages to Cuba and on more than
one occasion he also visited South America. During one of the voyages to
England the ship was wrecked off the coast of Land's End and the lives of
the crew were saved with difficulty, the vessel itself and its contents being
lost. During 1867 he passed navigation in Liverpool and became an officer
on the Van Dieman. a new steel ship. To gain promotion from boy to officer
while yet a young man indicates the high quality of his service. After a
voyage to Australia and thence to California he left the ship at San Fran-
cisco in 1868 and went to Santa Rosa, where he was employed in the manu-
facture of pressed brick. The call of the sea, however, was still too strong
for him to be satisfied as a landsman and during December of the same year
we find him again bound for Australia, this time as a passenger on the ship
Moses Taylor, to Honolulu, where he t-ook ship for Sj'dney. No business
opening presenting itself in Australia, he shipped with Captain Newell back
to San Francisco and that voyage ended his life as a sailor.
An experience in brick-making and other occupations filled the first
days of the residence of Mr. Anker at Cloverdale. Sonoma county. In 1873
he began trucking with one team. From that small beginning he built up a
t-teady business. In 1887, two years before the railroad was built to Ukiah.
he came to this place and here he has since engaged in the truck business,
which in 1910 was incorporated as the N. Anker Company, with himself as
president, his eldest son as treasurer and manager and the second son as
secretary. An auto truck as well as eighteen head of horses are utilized to
meet the demands of the business. Aside from a general truck and transfer
trade, the company engages as general contractors for the leveling of land
in Mendocino and Lake counties. Their interests are further diversified by
identification with viticulture through the ownership of fifty acres in a vine-
yard together with a small orchard. The barns of the company are located on
the corner of Mill and Main streets, while the warehouse stands in the heart
of l^kiah on Stanlev street.
^mMJLl^
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 341
While engaged in business at Cloverdale Mr. Anker established domestic
ties, being married, May 6, 1877, to Miss Katie Ludvig, who was born in
Eggensund near Flensborg, Schleswig, then a part of Denmark. During
girlhood Mrs. Anker came to California and settled in Cloverdale. Eight
children were born of the marriage, namely: Joe C, who died at the age of
twenty-one ; Louis C, treasurer and manager of the N. Anker Company ; Mrs.
Amelia Ganter, who died at twenty-eight years ; Florin E., now with the Cali-
fornia Telephone & Light Company at Santa Rosa ; Myrtle E., the wife of
W. B. Dickie, of Ukiah ; Neil M., who has the agency at Ukiah for the Stand-
ard Oil Company, a position which Mr. Anker himself filled for sixteen years;
Katie L., wife of Oscar Olson, of Ukiah ; and Gladys, who is a skilled musician
and brightens the family home with her cheerful presence. In politics Mr.
Anker is a Republican. Both he and his wife are members of the Ukiah
Presbyterian Church and he has served on its board of trustees. When his
parents were growing old he sent to the old home in Denmark for them and
had them join him in California, where their last days were happily passed
under the affectionate care of his wife. In the fraternities he has been con-
nected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows and the Masons. While living at Cloverdale he was made a
Mason in Curtis Lodge, of which he officiated as master for three years. At
this writing he belongs to Abell Lodge No. 146, F. & A. M., at Ukiah, and
with his wife holds membership in Kingsley Chapter No. 58, O. E. S., besides
being identified with the Rebekahs. At Cloverdale he was a leading Odd
Fellow and since coming to Ukiah he has been officially connected with the
lodge in this city.
J. E. WELLER. — The financial interests of a large aggregation of the
people resident in and near Fort Bragg are wisely conserved through the
agency of the First National Bank of Fort Bragg, an institution that during the
more than two decades of its existence has had a steady growth in number
of depositors, amounts of deposits and confidence of the public. Business
men have found the concern alive to their welfare and concerned in their
prosperity. Those desirous of commercial credit or loans have been accom-
modated generously, when the security of the funds has not been jeopardized
thereby. All in all, the organization has been governed by a directorate pro-
gressive yet cautious and accommodating yet conservative, and these prin-
ciples have been carried out in the policy of the officers, particularly in the
executive supervision of the president, J. E. Weller, who in 1891 came to
California and settled at Fort Bragg shortly after the establishment of the
l^ank, and entered the institution in a minor capacity, gradually advancing
until he was finally promoted to his present position of authority and financial
leadership.
A native of Bradford county, Pa., and a graduate of the high schools at
Athens, that state, T. E. Weller has been self-supporting from the age of
seventeen years and meantime has developed qualities of self-reliance and
sagacious judgment of the utmost value to him in the serious undertakings
of his business career. For three years he was employed in the Santa Fe
office at Topeka, Kan., and in the same city he gave five years of commercial,
salaried service to the firm of Stephenson & Peckham. From Kansas he came
to California, where ever since he has been identified with the First National
Bank of Fort Bragg and as a leading citizen and president of the local Cham-
342 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
her of Commerce, he has been a leader in civic alifairs. In this town he has
fraternal connections with the Odd Fellows and Masons and his associations
of that nature are increased by membership in the Santa Rosa Lodge of
Elks and the Improved Order of Red Men. His family consists of his wife
and daughter. Lucille, the former having been Miss Helen Stewart, of Glens
Falls. N. Y.
EDWARD E. BROWN, D. D. S.— The president of the Fort Bragg
Garage and Machine Company came to California with the intention of
devoting his energies to the practice of the dental profession, but a later
development of trouble with his eyes caused him to turn over to an assistant
the care of his office and since then he has engaged in business pursuits.
Like many of the men whom the possibilities of California have attracted to
its commercial and professional circles, he claims Canada as his native land,
and was born at Picton, Province of Ontario, but passed the years of youth
mainly in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The completion of common-school studies
was followed by a decision to take up the study of medicine, to which science
he devoted two years of conscientious application, only to decide at the
expiration of the time that the practice of the profession did not appeal to
him. Thereupon, in 1892, he began to train himself for dentistry, taking up
the profession as a student in Minneapolis and eventually receiving his
degree from the dental department of the Central University of Kentucky at
Louisville. Upon coming to California he entered the College of Physicians
and Surgeons at San Francisco, from which he received the degree of D. D. S.
and in 1898 opened an office at Fort Bragg, where from the first he proved
himself to be conscientious, skillful and thoroughly efficient in all lines of
dental work. In 1907 he took a post graduate course at Haskell Post-
graduate School of Dentistry in Chicago. When it became necessary for
him to relinquish at least temporarily all active association with the office,
he established an assistant therein and turned his attention to business
affairs.
The Fort Bragg Garage and Machine Company was incorporated Feb-
ruary 14, 1910, and the present officers are: E. E. Brown, president; W. H.
Dixon, vice-president ; J. E. Weller, secretary ; L. Barnard, treasurer. The
company maintains a modern garage, equipped with everj' facilitjr and device
a:ssociated with the most recent development of the motor business. A gen-
eral electrical and supply department adds to the importance of the shop and
every modern electrical appliance is carried in stock, with an expert electrician
in charge. The garage is the headquarters and agenc)^ for tAvo popular cars,
the Buick and Ford. In addition to maintaining a close supervision of the
shop and his other interests in Mendocino county, the president of the com-
pany is serving as Mayor. He had been elected a member of the board of
trustees in April of 1913. and in 1914 was elected president of the beard.
With his wife, who was Miss Emma E. Neff, a native of Port Huron, Mich.,
and formerly a teacher in the public schools of Mendocino count}', he has a
high social standing in the community and has a circle of friends as large as
his list of acquaintances. Prominent in a number of fraternal orders, he is
acting as keeper of the records and seals of the Knights of Pythias, also is
past master of Fort Bragg Lodge No. 361, F. & A. M., besides being clerk of
the local organization of the Woodmen uf the World and a member of the
Order of Eagles. Professionally he is a member of the alumni association
of the College of Physicians and Surgeons and the California State Dental
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 345
Association. He is very much interested in good roads and everything
tending to make automobiling more enjoyable and profitable. He is a mem-
ber of the California State Automobile Association and the American Auto-
mobile Association.
LILBURN H. BOGGS. — Perhaps in no respect has the progress of Lake
county been retarded to a greater degree than in the absence of adequate
transportation facilities connecting it with the outside world of activity. As
the stage line to the best of its ability grappled with the serious problem of
transportation, there were not wanting men of ability and optimism to
seriously consider the possibility of constructing a line for steam cars. Always,
however, the expensive matter of mountain construction with attendant
tunnels has deterred public-spirited men from inaugurating an enterprise. It
has been left to Lilburn H. Boggs to display the tremendous energy and
undaunted pluck for which several generations of the family have been noted
,ind which found distinguished expression in the life of his grandfather, Gov-
ernor Lilburn W. Boggs, a pioneer of 1846 in California and alcalde of the
northern district of this state. As president of the Clear Lake Railroad Com-
pany he is now promoting the construction of a railroad from Lakeport to
Hopland, there to connect with the main line of the Northwestern Pacific
Railroad. Although the distance is not great the state railroad commission
estimates the total cost of construction and equipment at about $750,000 and
already $75,000 has been expended by the company in making the survey
between the two towns named and in the grading of the road preparatory to
the laying of ties. It is the ambition of the president and the other pro-
moters of the enterprise to make it possible to celebrate the completion of the
railroad at the time of the great Panama Canal Exposition in 1915, thus enab-
ling visitors to San Francisco at that time to inspect the beautiful scenery
and stud}' the natural resources of Lake county, should they be so inclined.
When Henry Carroll and Martha Jane (Young) Boggs started from
Jackson county, Mo., to join other members of the Boggs famil}' in Cali-
fornia, their son, Lilburn H., was only three months old, his birth having
occurred Februar)' 4, 1850. During 1864 the family came to Lake county
and the father organized the Farmers' Savings Bank, which still is owned
and operated by others of the name. Lilburn H. Boggs was educated in
public schools, McClure's Academy at Oakland and Heald's Business College
in San Francisco. On the organization of the Farmers' Savings Bank in 1875
he became assistant cashier and continued as such for seven years, when he
resigned to take charge of the sawmill on a tract of four thousand acres of
sugar pine, yellow pine and fir, in which he also had a one-third interest. This
tract is located just north of Middletown, on Boggs Mountain, and is wholly
within the limits of Lake county. The manufacture of lumber was continued
lor about five years, and the acreage and forest are still retained. For years
-Mr. Boggs has been a leader in Democratic councils. As early as 1882 he
was elected sherift" and thereupon accepted the office and began to devote
Iiis attention to the duties of the office. Twice he was re-elected to the office
for consecutive terms and again, after an interval in which there was a
Republican victory, he was returned to the ofirce for two more terms, finally
retiring in 1895. Throughout the five terms of his incumbenc}' the office was
filled with energy, fearlessness and tact, and his long retention as sheriff
indicates the popularity which he gained among the people of the county.
346 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
The family residence of Mr. Boggs on a ranch of three hundred and fifty
acres in Big valley is a modern, substantial structure befitting the dignity
of the family name. The lady who graciously presides over the home was,
prior to her marriage in 1871, ]Miss Sarah C. Elgin, of St. Helena, Napa
county, a native of Missouri and a daughter of W. A. Elgin, a pioneer of St.
Helena. There are now four living children, the eldest daughter. Lew, having
died at fourteen years of age. Floyd H. is now cashier of the Farmers' Savings
Bank at Lakeport, in which the youngest child, Henry Carroll, acts as assist-
ant cashier. The elder daughter, Irene, resides on the home ranch with her
parents, and the younger, Beut Y., is the wife of George Voss, a druggist of
Lakeport. To the prestige of the family name Lilburn H. Boggs has added
by his honorable identification with the development of Lake county and
particularly by his public-spirited efforts to secure for it the advantages of a
railroad.
JAMES M. KERR. — A well-known citizen of Mendocino county is the
hotel proprietor at Albion, James M. Kerr, who was born near Campbellford
in the province of Ontario, Canada, July 6, 1858, and was bereft of his father,
William, in May of 1864. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Ellen
Meikeljohn, was born in Fifeshire, Scotland, April 14, 1828, and at the age
of fifteen years accompanied her parents to America, in 1843, settling with
them on a Canadian farm of broad acreage but scant improvements. At the
age of twenty years she became the wife of William Kerr, who was born in
Ireland; and his death in 1864 left her with a family of seven children and
practically nothing for their support. For this reason the children were
obliged to become self-supporting at an early age. The son, James M,, was
sent to a Canadian farmer to work for board and clothes. He was ten years
of age at the time and his work consisted mainly of the chores that form so
large a part of farm work. jNIeanwhile he was sent to school in the winter
months. He continued farm work in Ontario until 1881, when he went to
Saginaw, Mich., where he secured employment in a saw-mill and continued
!or five years. Then he began to do railroad work.
During 1886 Mr. Kerr became an apprentice in the machine shops of the
Pere Marquette Railroad at Saginaw, where he gave special attention to car
construction. From Saginaw he was sent to Holly, Mich,, in 1891 to act as
inspector of cars for the same company. Upon the transfer of station and
holdings to the Grand Trunk Railroad corporation in 1896, he resigned his
position and took up other lines of enterprise. With W'alter J. Moore as a
partner he embarked in the ice business at Saginaw. At the expiration of
three years he bought the interest of his partner in the business, which he
continued for a short time alone and then sold to L. C. Smith & Co. Later
he entered other lines of work, but the failure of his health resulting from
rheumatism caused him to seek the benefits of the California climate. A first
trip to the west was made in 1903. Soon he returned to Michigan greatly
benefited by the vacation and change of climate, but the rigorous winters of
his home state brought on a return of his former trouble and in 1904 he came
to California to settle permanently. A few months in Mendocino county
benefited him greatly, and after nine months in business at Caspar he sold out
and joined his brother. Robert Kerr, in conducting the South Side hotel in
Albion. The death of his brother in 1910 left him the sole manager of the
business, in which his mother, who came to Mendocino countv in 1887 and at
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 347
first settled on Salmon creek, is also interested. Fraternally he is connected
with Aerie No. 833, Fraternal Order of Eagles at Fort Bragg, and also is a
member of Holly Lodge No. 134, F. & A. M., at Holly, Mich. At Peterbor-
ough, Canada, February 19, 1880, he married Miss Sarah Jane Dohert}', who
was born in the province of Ontario April 23, 1859, and died at Holly, Mich.,
February 19, 1894, leaving two daughters, Stella May, Mrs. Fred Barton, of
Saginaw, and Ethel Irene, who lives with her father.
HANS ANDERSON. — There is much work of a highly responsible na-
ture involved in the management and successful conduct of the famous Bart-
Ictt Springs resort, in Lake county, a health and summer resort which has
had long continued popularity. The water, noted for its medicinal qualities and
highly esteemed for table use, is bottled and shipped in large quantities, being
well known all over the Pacific coast especially, and in Central America as
well. The site of the resort was discovered about forty years ago by a man
named Bartlett traveling in search of health, and the delightful atmospheric
conditions and mineral water so benefited him that he settled there. This
was the beginning of a sanitarium which has since been visited by people from
all parts of California, as well as from other states. For over eighteen years
Hans Anderson has been engineer at the resort, and being a skillful machinist
and plumber has been very valuable in looking after much of the equipment
necessary for the comfort of the guests and the important sanitary arrange-
ments.
Mr. Anderson was born in 1868 at Chicago, 111., where his early life was
spent. He had common school advantages in his native city, and started to
learn his trade there, in 1888 coming out to California and first settling in San
Francisco. At that place, at Sacramento, and at Dixon, Solano county, he
continued to enlarge his experience as a machinist, and over eighteen years
ago he took the position of engineer at Bartlett Springs, where he has been
employed continually since. The very fact that he has been retained there so
long speaks well for his ability and reliable character. He has adapted him-
self to the increased demands of his position as the place grew and developed,
the care of the machinery and plumbing being a very important part of the
direction of the vast establishment which has grown up at this point. Some
idea of the responsibilities of his work may be gained from the statement
that there are eighteen hundred acres of land in the Bartlett Springs property ;
that there are in all about two hundred buildings, including the three main
hotel buildings, imposing and modernly appointed structures, and a number
of housekeeping cottages upon the grounds for those who prefer family life,
accommodating in all about five hundred guests ; and there is a large swim-
ming tank, steam laundry, and other conveniences which come within his
province. The building erected for the season of 1911 has twenty rooms with
baths and toilets, winter dining rooms and kitchen, hot and cold water in
each room ; there are two rooming houses besides the hotel cottages, and an
inclosure with fourteen tents furnished for hotel use with running water in
each. As a number of families make their summer home at this place every-
thing is done to provide for their wants, and besides stores of various kinds
there is a butcher shop equipped with a complete refrigerating plant, with
facilities for making over a ton of ice a day. The cement swimming tank is
twenty by eighty feet in dimensions, and the mineral, tub and vapor baths
must all be liberally supplied, so that it will be seen that keeping the ma-
348 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
chinery and plumbing of this large and well organized establishment requires
executive ability and thorough knowledge of sanitary engineering as well as
mechanical skill. It is conceded that the obliging assistants have had much
to do with the satisfaction guests have expressed with the excellent service,
and Mr. Anderson has done his share toward looking after the comfort and
health of those who have come to seek health or pleasure in this ideal spot.
His industry and honorable life have won him the respect of his employers,
who appreciate his devotion to their interests. By thrift he has been able to
accumulate some valuable property, having three fine income properties at
Sacramento and two residence properties at Lakeport. Though quiet and
unassuming, without any desire to take part in public affairs, he takes a
deep interest in their efficient administration, and is public-spirited about sup-
porting high principles and the men who stand for them : politically be be-
lieves in the doctrines of the Republican party.
In 1897 Mr. Anderson married Miss Katie Lynch, step-daughter of John
Ryan, a ranchman in the East L'pper Lake precinct of Lake county, by whom
she was brought up. Mrs. Anderson died in the fall of 1913, and the only child
born to this union is also deceased. Mr. Ryan and Mr. Anderson have been
associated in various matters for a number of years. Mr. Anderson is an Odd
Fellow in good standing, belonging to the lodge at Dixon. Solano county.
CHARLES WHITED.— The postmaster at Willits, who was appointed
to the office May 20, 1913, by President Wilson, taking the office July 11, 1913,
lanks among the leading citizens of the valley and for years has been a leading
factor in local public affairs, serving as town trustee for four years and also
filling the office of town clerk with recognized fidelity and intelligence for
.eight" years. Practically all of his life has been passed in Mendocino county.
for, although a native of lo'wa. having been born near Burlington, he was
only two years of age when in 1869 his parents, Joseph and Mary (Short)
Whited, came to California and selected for a permanent location the valley
where subsequent years of energetic and business-like application deservedly
have given them a high standing among pioneer families. Under the careful
training of the father, who was the pioneer builder in Willits and rose from
day work as a carpenter to the taking of important contracts, the sons, Charles
and L. R., were instructed in every detail connected with the trade, so that
in their present partnership as builders they are enabled to fill contracts with
the most scrupulous exactness and devotion to detail. One of their recent im-
portant contracts has been that for the completion of eight miles of state
highway north of Ukiah, a large enterprise in which they had D. L. Sawyer
as an associate. In addition they have been awarded contracts for the build-
ing of many concrete bridges in the county, as well as the contracts for all
of the houses erected at the plant of the Irvine-Muir Lumber Company.
From the age of sixteen years Charles Whited largely has devoted his
time to the building business, although also in early life he taught school for
a short time, operated a threshing machine and a sawmill and engaged in
ranching in the valley. After some time given to ranching he erected the
Palace hotel, now the Central, on Main street and served as proprietor of the
same for ten years, meanwhile rebuilding it after it had been destroyed by fire.
A goodly number of the houses and business buildings in Willits stand as
monuments to his efficiency as a carpenter and he is still active in this line
of work. Those who once have engasred his services retain thereafter a high
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 351
opinion of his skill in the building business. By his marriage to Miss Eliza-
beth J. Vincent, daughter of Frank Vincent, a pioneer blacksmith of the
valley, he has one son, Carl, a graduate of the Willits high school and now
an assistant in the A\'illits postofifice.
JOHN THOMAS BOND.— Mr. Bond has a fine estate of six hundred
and forty acres in Morgan valley, all the improvements on which are the
result of his own ambitious eflforts. The eldest son of one of the oldest
settlers in this region, he was born in the valley, has passed all his life on
his native soil, and has the distinction of having been one of the pupils in
attendance the first day school was opened there. All the members of the
family have large interests in the locality, and he is no exception. Henry
Bond, his father, popularly known as "Harry" Bond, came into Lake county
in the year 1857, and has been a resident of Morgan valley since 1860. A
native of England, born in Somersetshire March 12, 1832, son of Thomas
and Mary (Ewletts) Bond, he is now past eighty-two years of age, but active
and attending to various business aflfairs, a typical representative of the
Quaker stock from which he springs. His parents had a family of five children :
Amelia, who lived and died in England, became the wife of Charles Cullen
and had three children ; Henry is mentioned later ; Thomas was an old-time
miner who came to California in pioneer days ; John died in Australia ; William
was in Australia when last heard from. The father lived and died in Somer-
setshire, where he followed the business of liveryman. He passed away in
1860, at the age of seventy-nine years, his wife dying in England at the same
age, in 1869.
Henry Bond passed his early life in his native land, coming alone to
.\merica when a youth of seventeen, in 1849. Sailing from Liverpool, he
landed at New York City after a voyage of eight weeks and three days, and
proceeded from there to Skaneateles, N. Y., where he hired out as a farm
hand. He earned $15 at his first job, and for his second, in which he remained
eight months, was promised $8 a month, but the employer proved to be
"poor pay." and Mr. Bond had to sue him for settlement of the note, which
he received after much trouble. His next work was for a Quaker, with whom
lie remained four months, and after continuing to be employed thus for about
five years he made up his mind to try gold digging in California. On the 1st
of April, 1854, he embarked at New York for Panama, crossed the isthmus
and came up to San Francisco, where he arrived April 12th. The mines were
his objective point, and he was soon engaged in placer mining on the south
fork of the American river, making $3.50 a day "rocking." After a little
while, when he had acquired some experience, he took up a new claim with
two partners, and during the five months they worked it they made $5000
apiece. Until 1857 Mr. Bond continued mining, and by hard work and thrift
had accumulated $13,000 in the few years of his stay in California. But the
work did not agree with him, having brought on rheumatism, and finally an
Occident made him decide to give it up and return to farming, though under
very different conditions from those with which he had become familiar in
his youth. While he was engaged in hydraulic mining a bank of earth caved
in and fell on him. injuring his head and hurting him so badly in other respects
that he had to be turned over to the care of two doctors. At the time he
weighed one hundred and eighty pounds, and had always been well and
hearty, but he has never fully recovered his physical strength.
352 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Leaving the mines. Mr. Bond came to Lake county in 1857, first settling
in Coyote valley, where he took up the tract later known as the Phelan place.
Within a couple of years, however, he was dispossessed by the Ritchie Com-
pany, who claimed it by right of former grant, and in the spring of 1860 he
!iioved into Morgan valley, where he has since made his home. His first
purchase was the home tract upon which he has resided ever since, and to
which he has added by other purchases made from time to time, until he
now owns seven hundred acres, besides which he has given his sons John
and Joseph about one hundred and sixty acres apiece. He has resided longer
at the same place than any other present resident in the valley, and his
industrious years have been well rewarded. Though he faced new agricul-
tural conditions when he settled down to farming, he adapted himself readily
to them, as his success testifies, for he is one of the most prosperous men in
his section. Besides attending to his own aiTairs he has found time to do
good work for the locality, his services as school trustee hr.ving covered a
period of eighteen years. Since 1856 he has voted the Democratic ticket and
given his influence and aid to the candidates and measures of the party.
At the time of his settlement in Lake county Mr. Bond was unmarried.
In 1859, while living in Coyote valley, he married Miss INIartha Capps, by
whom he had three children : John Thomas, who is a farmer in Morgan
valley; Willie, who died when two years, two months old; and Joseph, who
is a farmer in Morgan valley. About 1870 Mr. Bond married for his second
wife Miss Mary Gentry, and to them were born four children, namely:
Mamie, living in Nevada, who is the wife of Charles Burr and has one child ;
Frank, who married Iva Smith and has five living children (they live on the
liome ranch) ; Nettie, who died when eighteen 3'ears old ; and Maude, who is
the wife of Charles F. Frederickson, a Morgan valley farmer, and has six
children.
John Thomas Bond was born October 21, 1861, in Morgan valley, and
was reared on his father's ranch there. There, too, he obtained his early
education, beginning to attend public school the first day it was opened in
the valley, with Mr. Knight as teacher. Later he had the advantage of one
winter term's attendance at the private school in Lower Lake taught by ]\Irs
Delmont. The home place was the practical school where he had training
for his life work, and there he acquired the systematic methods and enter-
prising spirit which have marked every one of his undertakings. Since he
commenced life on his own account he has acquired ownership of six hundred
and forty acres in his native valley, and he has put a lifetime of well-directed
labor in its development, all of which has been accomplished under his
direction. Here he has established a most comfortable home, and he is
profitably engaged in general farm work and stock raising, keeping ordinarily
tliirty head of cattle, eight horses and mules and forty hogs. Mr. Bond has
taken consideral^le pride in the advancement of his locality, most of its
transformation from the primitive state having taken place in his day, and
he has not onlj' done his share bj- opening up his own property to cultivation,
but he has been public-spirited about assisting in the promotion of its social
and educational interests. His particular work has been as member of the
school board and school trustee, in which latter position he served twelve
years. On purely political questions he is a Democrat like his father.
o2:r^^^^^^%^ ^^^"f^
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 355
When twenty-five years old, on May 1, 1887, Mr. Bond married in Morgan
\ alley Miss Frances Palmer, who was born at Davis, Yolo county, and
whose father, Jasper V. Palmer, settled in Morgan valley in 1870, becoming
one of its highly prosperous ranchmen and leaving an estate of eight hun-
dred acres, which is a notable property. Mr. Palmer lived in Illinois when a
boy and came across the plains to California with ox teams in 1854, following
mining for a few years. He then returned to New York, where he was mar-
ried at Savona in 1859 to Deborah M. Wing, a native of that state, returning
to Illinois in 1861 for a time before again crossing the plains to California,
where they resided first near Davis, then came to Lake county in 1870. Mr.
Palmer died at Santa Rosa in 1907, Mrs. Palmer's death having occurred at
the old home in 1897. Of their five children four survive, Mrs. Bond being
che third in order of birth. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
*^ond : Joella Rose is the wife of Hugh Cross, of Lakeport, former editor
of the Lake County Bee, and has two children, Gertrude I. and Ralph H. ;
Henry Victor assists on the home farm ; Amy Alice is married to Richard
Ford, who is in the boating business at Lakeport, and has a son, John Herbert.
Mr. Bond is a member of Lower Lake Parlor No. 159, N. S. G. W., and
has been active in the interests of that organization, which he has served as
trustee. His wife is a member of Laguna Parlor, N. D. G. W. No residents
of Morgan valley are more highly respected by their neighbors and many
friends than Mr. and Mrs. Bond, who always give of their time and means
to any movement for the upbuilding and advancement of the county.
LATHROP MALPAS, M. D. — One of the most startling developments
oi the opening era of the twentieth century has been the advance made by
women in every professional and occupative activity. Particularly has the
medical science shown the results of the identification of women with its
advance. In the study of therapeutics, in the development of the science of
materia medica, in the practice of the profession and even in surgical cases
requiring the most exact and unerring skill, women have stood side by side
with men, winning a prestige that formerly would have been regarded as
impossible and achieving a success that is drawing the science out of the
realm of the empirical into the region of certainty, absoluteness and positive
results. It is not too much to say that Dr. Malpas has borne her share in this
task of advancement and by her own pronounced progress in the profession
has shown what it is within the power of women to accomplish when their
faculties are trained and their mental endowments rightly developed.
The distinction of rising to prominence among the professional leaders of
Northern California supplements with Dr. Malpas the honor of being a native
daughter of the state (having been born at San Jose) and the further honor
of being the daughter of a devoted minister of the Gospel, Rev. Levy B.
Lathrop, a New Yorker bj' birth and a Forty-niner by choice. The recipient
of exceptional educational advantages, she attended the Hollister high school
and after graduating therefrom became a student in Florence College. Later
she took a course of study in Miss Field's Seminary at Oakland and still later
had the advantages of a commercial course in Heald's Business College at San
Francisco. In 1897 she was graduated from the Cooper Medical College,
after which she spent one year as an interne at the San Francisco Children's
hospital and a year in similar practice at Santa Barbara. After a period of
professional service in the McNutt (afterward the St. Winifred) hospital at
356 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
San Francisco, she came to Ukiah in 1902 and has since conducted a hospital
at this point, making a specialty of the treatment of women's and children's
diseases and of surgical operations connected with the same. Journals devoted
to therapeutics receive her careful study. It is ever her aim to keep abreast
with modern developments in the profession and to this end she is a student
of medical literature and an interested member of the Mendocino County,
California State and American ]\Iedical Association, being secretary of the
County Medical Society. All civic enterprises for the improvement and up-
building of Ukiah and Mendocino county receive her hearty co-operation, and
she gives willingly of time and means to forward all such movements. Evi-
dence of her popularity in the county and city of her residence appears in her
selection as chairman of the Ukiah Woman's Board for the Panama-Pacific
International Exposition of 1915 at San Francisco, and in her recent service
as matron of Casimir Lodge No. 252, Order of the Eastern Star, as well as in
her distinct success as a physician and the recognition of her skill as a
surgeon.
FRED LANGERMANN.— The head of a large family, with several sturdy
sons whom he desired to interest in agriculture. Mr. Langermann made no
mistake when in 1910 he came to Lake county and bought a tract of sixty acres
in the South Kelseyville precinct. Since that time he has been making good
as a farmer and getting established in the neighborhood where, in addition
to managing his own property, he recently rented a ranch of three hundred
and twenty acres from a neighbor. To manage so large a tract means intelli-
gent work and unwearied energy, but he has proved equal to every emergency
and shows the same sagacity in farming that he exercised in carpentering and
contracting. Indeed, he is still in the building business and in all probability,
as soon as his sons have gained efficiency in agricultural enterprises, he will
return to specializing in contracts, for there is every reason to believe that the
future is exceptionally bright for the building trades in Lake county.
Seven miles from Hamburg in Germany Fred Langermann was born July
1, 1857, and from there in 1868 he crossed the ocean to America with his
mother, brothers and sisters, settling in Minnesota, fifty-four miles north of
St. Paul, where he attended schools and gained a knowledge of the English
language. Early in life he became proficient in carpentering, for which
indeed he seemed to possess a decided native ability. During 1890 he left
Minnesota for Oregon and settled in Portland, where he found employment
at his trade. Little by little he rose in the confidence of those who had build-
ing contracts to give, and his success in construction work of all kinds was
exceptional. In concrete as well as in frame construction he acquired pro-
ficiency and his only reason for giving up his work in Oregon to settle on a
California farm was the desire to get his sons started along efficient lines of
agriculture. During 1910 he left Sheridan, Yamhill county, and came down
to this state, where he selected a favorable location in Lake county. While
living in Sheridan he was one of the leading Masons of the blue lodge and was
also active in the work of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. During
his residence in Minnesota, he married Miss Filora Pemberton June 25, 1882,
and they are now the parents of seven children, namely : John, who aids his
father on the home farm : Henry, who is married and living in San Francisco;
Clifton and Earl, both helping on the farm ; Griffin, Pearl and Ralph, attending
school, all bright and capable young people whose preparation for efficient
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 357
life work is the chief ambition of their parents. Mrs. Langermann was born
in Henry county, Iowa, daughter of William H. and Eliza P. (Davis) Pem-
berton, born in Ohio and Illinois, respectively. The father was a miller and
also a minister in the Baptist church. Mrs. Langermann's maternal grand-
father, Griffie Davis, was born in Virginia and was an uncle of Jefferson
Davis. Mr. and Mrs. Langermann are both members of the Order of the
Eastern Star.
JAMES O. McSPADDEN.— Another of the real California pioneers, one
who came to the state when he was but twenty-one, is James O. McSpadden,
now one of the most prosperous farmers and stockmen in Mendocino county.
He crossed the plains with ox teams in 1858, and has lived in the west con-
tinuously since that time, principally in California, but for a time having
lived in Nevada.
Mr. McSpadden is a native of Tennessee, having been born in Calhoun,
McMinn county. May 16, 1836. He is the descendant of an old Scotch family
which settled in Virginia in an early day. His father was James Walker
McSpadden, and was born in Virginia, removing to Tennessee when he was
a young man. When the son James was yet a lad the family returned to
Virginia, and he was reared on his father's farm there, attending the public
.schools in his district. When he was twenty-one years of age he determined
to come west, and crossed the plains in a "prairie schooner" with ox teams in
1857, in company with a man named Thomas Potter, starting from Missouri.
Arriving in California, he remained for a year at Napa, and in 1858 located
in Mendocino county. He was employed for a number of years on various
ranches in Anderson valley, and also worked in the woods and in the lumber
camps and saw mills. He finally settled in Bell Valley, where he engaged in
farming and stock-raising.
During the earh' part of his residence in the west Mr. McSpadden spent
two years in Nevada, but the conditions there did -not appeal to him, and at
the end of that time he returned to California, and has since then made his
home continuously in Mendocino county. He has been very successful in the
stock business, and has purchased and improved several tracts of valuable
land. He is at present owner of one of the finest properties in the valley, and
is one of the oldest settlers in the county. He is highly respected as a citizen
and as a friend and neighbor, and enjoys the friendship of a wide circle.
The marriage of Mr. McSpadden took place in Ukiah June 19, 1893, unit-
ing him with Miss Maria Miller, who lived but eighteen months after her mar-
riage. Mr. McSpadden has not remarried.
SWAN W. YOUNG. — Among the health and pleasure resorts of Lake
county which lia\e enjoyed continued favor for years, Newman Springs has
become well known for its comforts and fine location, as well as for the waters
whose curative qualities are sufficient to attract many. Mr. Young has been
the proprietor since 1898, and with commendable enterprise has succeeded in
building up a fine patronage, in spite of the fact that there are various other
resorts in the region which have been much longer established. His chicken
dinners are so popular as to make his place a favorite stopping point for
driving parties, and his mechanical skill is often in demand for the repair
of vehicles of all kinds — a very present help to those overtaken with acci-
dents on the road. Mr. Young has a powerful physique and in his younger
358 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
days was an amateur pugilist of some note, hence the club room with athletic
appliances and training quarters at his resort.
A native of Sweden, Mr. Young was born near Christianstad October 6,
1862, son of West and Kate Young. His mother died when he was only a
boy, and the father remarried. There were four children by the first union :
Swan W. ; Nils, a bricklayer and plasterer by occupation, who resides at
Galesburg, 111. ; John, a railroad man, also living at Galesburg; and a daughter
that died in infancy. To the second marriage were born two children : Carrie,
who is married and lives in Chicago, 111. ; and Joseph, a bricklayer, settled in
British Columbia.
Ever since his mother died Swan W. Young has made his own way in
the world. When a young man of nineteen years he came to America, and
during his first four years in this country lived at Galesburg, 111. Then he
spent some time in Kansas and worked in Colorado, at Denver, being engaged
at grading on the Denver & Rio Grande railroad. Within a short time, how-
ever, he came to California, first locating at San Francisco, and in 1888 coming
to Lake county, that year entering the employ of the Bartlett Springs Com-
pany. During the summer season he was engaged as stable man at the resort,
in the winters returning to San Francisco, where he worked as longshoreman
or at any other employment — generally heavy work — which would bring him
an honest living. Because of his steadiness and reliability, and his aptitude
for mechanical work, he was made head stable man, and while thus engaged
became an expert horseshoer — a valuable accomplishment, most important to
the safety of travelers among the mountains. There are comparatively few
blacksmiths who understand the shoeing of horses as thoroughly as Mr. Young.
Having worked steadily and saved his money, he concluded to try business
on his own account in 1898, and accordingly bought the place, known as New-
man Springs, one and a half miles northwest of Bartlett Springs, that year.
It is situated in the Bartlett Springs precinct, and one of the several fine
springs on his property yields a water which looks and tastes exactly like
that of the celebrated Bartlett spring. The Newman or Soap Creek spring
is another particularly fine one, and there is another spring strong with iron.
These waters have high medicinal value, obstinate cases of eczema and other
skin ailments having been known to yield readily to their continued use, and
their effects on the liver and kidneys are invigorating and salutary. They are
recommended highly as an antiseptic and alterative, stimulating all the secre-
tions of the body, eliminating diseased conditions, and particularly benefiting
cases of sciatic rheumatism, blood poisoning and similar maladies.
Newman Springs resort is delightfully and romantically situated among
the Bartlett mountains in close proximity to the Big Horse mountain. Dur-
ing Mr. Young's ownership it has been improved in many respects which have
increased its desirability both as a health and a pleasure resort. The Newman
house having burned down, he replaced it with a substantial building, and
the barns and bathhouse are also of his construction. His versatility and skill
as a mechanic have stood him in good stead in all this process of development.
He is able to do cement work and carpentry as well as the experienced trades-
man in these lines, and combined with his capacity for much heavy work
this has been a great advantage where there is so much to be done with
proper help not always available. The fine bathing house he has built has a
lank large enough to accommodate a score or more of bathers. Mr. Young
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 361
keeps personal oversight of the table provisions and service, a fact which is
thoroughly appreciated by those who relish good home cooking such as he
places before his guests. Together with his pleasant personality the many
good points of Newman Springs are drawing an increased patronage yearly.
He has the faculty of making his guests feel at home, and his obliging dispo-
sition complements a familiarity with the requirements of his business which
assures them that everything possible will be done for their comfort.
Mr. Young is six feet tall and weighs two hundred pounds — all solid
muscle. His fists, arms and shoulders are tremendous, and though he never
entered the pugilistic ring except as an amateur he had the reputation of
delivering as heavy a blow as some of the famous professionals. But although
he acquired great skill in the art of self-defense and boxing he did not attempt
to follow it as a professional, in spite of his manifest qualifications. But his
former prowess has kept him interested in such sports, and a number of
pugilists have come to the springs to take the baths and train, the club-
room and training quarters being fitted with punching bag, dumbbells and
ether appliances. Mr. Young is justly popular and respected, and in his suc-
cess has the good-will of all who know him.
JOSEPH MARTIN CHURCH.— On the Canadian side of Lake Erie
within fifty miles of Niagara Falls, near Brantford, Brant county, Ontario,
Joseph Martin Church was born on New Year's day of 1858, the eldest
sron of Seth and Harriet (Harrison) Church, the former of Canadian birth
and the latter of English blood. Of his immediate family there still remain
in Brant county an own brother, George W., of Brantford, and a half-brother,
Duncan Church, who lives on a farm ten miles west of Brantford. The
original American location of the family had been in New England and
Philip Church, a native of that section of country, but in young manhood
a resident first at Troy, N. Y., and later at Syracuse, the same state, had
been the first to establish a home in Canada, where for a long period of
industrious activity he engaged in lumbering, an occupation in turn followed
by Seth and Joseph Martin Church. The latter at the age of fifteen removed
with other members of the family to a farm and for a year aided in the
tilling of the soil. A decided bent for machinery and mechanical work led him
to become an apprentice in a shop at Brantford at the age of sixteen and
there he not only learned the trade of machinist, but in addition studied
the principles of engineering. I-fis wages the first year were $4 a week,
the second year $7, the third year $10, while the fourth, when practically
a finished machinist, he received only $12 a week, and during all of this
time he paid his own board. At the end of this period of training, he began
to work as machinist and engineer in Ontario and it was not until 1886, when
he was twenty-eight, that he gave up work in Canada for the purpose of
removing to California. During 1888 he returned to Ontario and married
Miss Alpharetta Churchill of Brantford, who accompanied him to the west
and presides with tactful hospitality over their comfortable home.
For the first year of California residence Mr. Church ran a stationary
engine for a creamery at Bakersfield owned by the Carr and Haggin interests.
Coming to Lakeport in 1887, he became engineer at the Lakeport flouring
mill and after seven years in that capacity he and Jabez Banks purchased the
mill, which they operated under the title of Banks & Church. After a
successful period of co-operation in that business, in 1906 Mr. Church sold
362 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
his interest to Mr. Banks and embarked in general merchandising. He is
now the proprietor of the largest department store in Lakeport, his establish-
ment containing a varied assortment of dry goods, groceries, shoes, men's
furnishings and other merchandise, the stock and fixtures having a conserva-
tive valuation of $20,000. The closest attention is given to every detail
connected with the store. Prompt payment of bills gives such advantages
in discounts that prices are often much lower than in other establishments
in town. Besides attractive prices, the store is also noteworthy by reason
of convenience of arrangement, harmony of displays and completeness of
appointments. Added to all else is the unvarying courtesy of the proprietor,
whose genial but commanding presence inspires confidence and whose inter-
est in the wants of patrons causes him to do all within his power to fill
their orders efficiently and with promptness. Aside from his duties at his
business establishment he finds leisure for the work of the local Masonic
Blue Lodge, in which he is a Past Master (having been made a Mason in
Hartley Lodge No. 199, F. & A. M. of Lakeport, and for the duties of
steward and trustee in the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Although not
a politician, he keeps posted concerning public affairs and votes the Repub-
lican ticket. Versatile in abilities, with the talents that would have brought
success in varied lines of endeavor, he is a splendid type of the Canadian-
American citizens of California and is highly honored in Lakeport. where
his devotion to the church, his interest in charities, prominence in business,
combined with and inspired by a serene disposition and earnest Christian
character, give him a place in the very forefront of the progressive citizenship
of the place.
OSCAR E. MEDDAUGH.— The veteran druggist of Lakeport has been
engaged in business at his present headquarters in the Levy block on the
corner of Third and Main streets since the year 1893 as the sole proprietor
and for five years prior thereto had an interest in the same concern as a mem-
ber of the firm of Maxwell & Meddaugh. Although identified with the apothe-
cary's business for perhaps thirty years altogether. Mr. Meddaugh is still in
the prime of manhood, with the possibility of many years of continued service
in the future. We pay homage to such men as James G. Blaine, who wrote
instructively on Twenty Years in Congress : but twenty or more years in
the drug business in the same place attracts little attention, although it is an
accomplishment equally valuable and worthy of praise. During all of these
years Mr. Meddaugh has maintained his reputation for ability and integrity.
He and his wife have reared a family of four children and their highest am-
bition has been to give to each the best of educational advantages. But his
achievements have not been limited to business integrity and domestic wel-
fare ; always he has been a positive factor for the moral good and spiritual
uplift of the community. Not only is he a leading member of the Baptist
L hurch of Lakeport. but he is also a strong temperance advocate and an
active worker for the prohibition cause. At times his business has been
threatened and he may have lost trade by his temperance sentiments, but he
has never failed to speak out boldly against the saloon and the legalized
liquor traffic. In national politics he votes with the Republican party. A
man of positive convictions and purposeful character, he believes in the good
and eschews the bad. In all local matters he desires to stand for the greatest
good to all, for progress, truth and right. Such men furnish the best types of
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 363
tlie citizenship of California and are a source of uplift to their adopted com-
munities.
In the county of Oxford near the town of Tilsonburg, Ontario, Canada,
Oscar E. Meddaugh was born February 6, 1863. There he received a common-
school education and there he learned the drug business with William Mc-
Donald of Tilsonburg. After considerable experience he became a registered
pharmacist. During 1886 he married Mary E. Haycock, who was born and
reared near Tilsonburg. Accompanied by his wife he came to California and
arrived at Lakeport September 22, 1888. Immediately afterward he bought
an interest in the drug business of W. A. Maxwell on Main street. At the
time of the completion of the Levy block in 1891 the business was moved to
the present location, where since 1893 Mr. Meddaugh has been the sole pro-
prietor of an important concern, carrying a stock that, with the fixtures, rep-
resents a very large investment. Meanwhile he and his wife have erected a
handsome residence in Lakeport and have become prominent in the repre-
sentative social activities of the town, where their attractive home is known
as a center of gracious hospitality. Their eldest son, E. Stuart, is a member
of the class of 1914, University of California; the only daughter, I. Jean, is a
junior in the same institution; the third child, G. Wallace, is a sophomore in
the Lakeport Union high school ; and the youngest son, Oscar E., Jr., is a
pupil in the Lakeport grammar school.
WILLIAM LLOYD WALLACE.— Of the qualities that combine to
give individuality to the character of Air. \\'allace a stranger is most forcibly
impressed by his progressive spirit. In agriculture he has little use for anti-
quated methods whose only recommendation is their long usage. If a modern
innovation appears to be feasible he does not hesitate to experiment with it,
whether the innovation be in the line of soil cultivation or new machinery or
in the care of stock. It is said that he was the first farmer in Redwood valley
to install a silo. Having made a study of ensilage and the feeding of silage
to cattle and milch cows during the winter months and having become con-
vinced of the utility and economy of the project, he decided to experiment along
this line and the result already has justified his faith in that modern develop-
ment of stock-feeding. In irrigation matters also he has been a pioneer and
promoter. Realizing that the long summer droughts form the greatest draw-
back to successful farming in Mendocino county he took steps to secure irriga-
tion from the river and through his foresight in this direction he is enabled
to raise crops valuable but not otherwise possible.
In the neighboring county of Humboldt, at Eureka. Mr. Wallace was
born September 16. 1887. and there he attended the public schools, graduating
in 1906 from the Eureka high school and then spending a year as a student
in a business college. After about one year in the employ of the Santa Fe
Railroad Company, he came to the Redwood valley and since then has been
identified with the farming interests of Mendocino county. On July 21. 1912,
he was united in marriage with Miss Rena Ford, who was born in Mendo-
cino county March 12. 1892, the daughter of E. M. Ford, and granddaughter
of William Ford, honored pioneers intimately associated with the early his-
tory of this section. With his wife Mr. W'allace holds membership in the
J^piscopal Church. Fraternally he is connected with Eureka Camp No. 652,
P., P. O. E. On coming to this county October 11, 1909. he purchased fourteen
hundred and fifty acres comprising what is known as the old English ranch
364 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
and he was the first man to file a water right on the Russian river above
Calpella. Sixty-five acres, being bottom land, proved exceptionally well
adapted to alfalfa, which he raised in large quantities. On that farm he made
a specialty of Durham cattle and Berkshire hogs. Early in 1912 he sold the
ranch to the Finnish colony and in June moved from the place to his present
farm of one hundred and sixty acres, of which he is a half owner with Wesley
Ford. It is highly cultivated land situated two miles north of Ukiah on the
road to Willits. The largest plant on the river for irrigation in Mendocino
county is to be seen on this ranch and they find it a valuable acquisition during
seasons of drought. Forty acres of the land are kept in grain and forty-eight
acres in hops, while twenty acres are seeded to alfalfa and three acres are in a
thrifty orchard of Bartlett pears, the whole forming a valuable estate whose
\ aried products bring in a neat income as a reward of the care and skillful
management of the owners.
FRANK DUNCAN. — The entire life activities of Frank Duncan were
identified with the vicinity of Hopland, where he was born at the old home-
stead of his father, Elijah Duncan, March 30, 1875, and where, having com-
pleted the studies of the grammar school in the village, he engaged in the
butcher business with his brother, Elijah, Jr., later with James Clendenin.
purchasing the livery stable previously owned by Mr. Buckman. At the
expiration of eight years the livery business was sold and he thereupon
devoted himself to the improvement of his farm of one hundred and forty
acres at the foot of Duncan's Peak, about three-fourths of a mile south of
Hopland. This tract he had acquired some years prior to his removal from
town. For a number of years Ijefore his death, which occurred July 1, 1911.
he devoted himself exclusively to the cultivation of the rich valley land
embraced within the boundaries of. the farm. While he had a vineyard of
twenty acres on the ranch and found the raising of grapes a profitable
adjunct of general agriculture, he was not a specialist. The list of products
from his farm included grain and hay, cattle and hogs. It was his belief
and the opinion also of his wife, whose intelligent co-operation greatly aided
him in the expansion of their interests, that the raising of diversified products
protected farmers from the financial troubles that invariably accompany the
failure of a specialized line of labor; hence he divided his interests between
grain, fruit and live stock, and by this means each year witnessed a gradual
and profitable expansion of his interests. Fraternally he was identified with
the Foresters and maintained an interest in their work.
It was, however, in his home that the hopes and happiness of Mr. Dun-
can most deeply centered. There his noble qualities stood out in greatest
prominence. To promote the welfare of wife and child was his highest
ambition. Arduous application and unwearied energy enabled him to leave
them comfortably situated on the home farm, which Mrs. Duncan with the
efficient help of her father. Judge James Clendenin, continues to operate with
sagacious judgment. The Clendenin family is of Scotch lineage and was
founded in America during the colonial era. Jock Clendenin, the great-great-
grandfather of James, having crossed the ocean from Scotland and settled in
Kentucky in 1773. At the beginning of the next century the family became
represented in Illinois. \A'illiam Simpson Clendenin. a native of Old Kaskas-
kia. 111., served in the Black Hawk war in the same regiment with Abraham
Lincoln, ^^^^ile serving in the army he was stationed for a time in Wisconsin
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 365
and there became interested in lead mining. On receiving an honorable
discharge from the army he returned to Southern Wisconsin and took up
mining in Grant county, where his son James was born at Potosi December
21, 1849. The discovery of gold in California attracted him from the lead
mines of Wisconsin, and in 1850, leaving his family at the old home, he joined
the rush to the gold fields, where for five years he engaged in mining in the
Sierra Nevadas. On returning to ^Visconsin he remained for eight years in
various business activities and meanwhile offered his services to the Union
at the time of the Civil war, but was rejected on account of age. Prevented
from fighting under the stars and stripes, he brought his family to California
in 1863 and settled on raw land near Ripon, San Joaquin county, whert he
followed farming until his death.
The journey across the plains with horse and mule teams was made by
James Clendenin with his parents when he was thirteen years of age. After
reaching his majority he engaged in raising grain in San Joaquin county.
During 1892 he came to Mendocino county, accompanied by his family, which
comprised his wife and two daughters. Elizabeth and Charlotte. The latter
;;fterward became the wife of H. G. Grant, a hardware merchant in Clover-
dale. The former was born near Stockton and June 5. 1902, at San Francisco,
became the wife of Frank Duncan, their union being blessed with one daugh-
ter, Dorothy. Mrs. Laura (Seavy) Clendenin, the mother of Mrs. Duncan,
was born in Washington cotinty. Me., and was a daughter of Seth A. Seavy.
vho came around Cape Horn to California in 1852, and followed mining for
some years. Returning to Maine, he volunteered in the Union army at the
(opening of the Civil war and remained in service for four years, being honor-
;ibly discharged at the close of the struggle. Later he returned to California,
where eventually he died in San Francisco. For many years James Clen-
denin served as a member of the school board and at this writing he is justice
of the peace. One of his first enterprises after coming to Mendocino county
was the planting of a prune orchard on the east side of the river. After dis-
posing of the orchard he engaged in the livery business with Mr. Duncan
and since the death of the latter the Judge has given much of his time to the
supervision of the farm in the interests of his daughter, Mrs. Duncan.
THOMAS D. BALDERSTON.— One who has merited the recognition
of the peo]:ile of this cotuity for his inflexible honor, his integrity and the
sterling traits of character which have been evidenced in his every move-
ment in business, social and public life is Thomas D. Balderston, proprietor
of the Calpella Hcitel. Xaturally endowed with unusual qualities of mind
and experienced in the ways of life by his travels and the many trades he
has followed, he has acquired an inner knowledge of the world which few
men possess. His first home was in Dolington, Bucks county. Pa., where he
was born May 29, 1861, the son of John and Elizabeth (McMaster) Balder-
ston, who sent him to the common schools of the district and reared him
to a life of industry, \^'hen sixteen years of age he left home to go to Texas,
where he worked at various trades for a short time. The spirit of wandering,
the desire to see the world and a hope to find better and more lucrative em-
ployment, took him to many states in the Union until in 1885, when he came
to Rocklin, Placer county, Cal., where he entered the employ of the Southern
Pacific Railroad Company as brakeman. Later as conductor and then as
yardmaster. he remained with the compain- until abmit 1897. when he resigned
366 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
to conduct a hotel and rooming house. He continued for about ten years in
this enterprise, in which he was quite successful, but later moved to Emery-
ville, where he engaged in the lodging house business for several years.
When Mr. Balderston came to Mendocino county in March, 1910, he
settled in Calpella, where he purchased a hotel and also a feed and fuel yard,
and this is the business he follows today. Popular, genial and thoughtful in
all his dealings, he enjoys a gratifying patronage which attests to his good
management and sagacious judgment. He is a charter member of the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows at Rocklin, where he became a member at
twenty-six years of age. Mrs. Balderston was in maidenhood Miss Grace
Kuhfeld, a native of Sierra county, Cal.
ELIJAH RENSHAW POTTER.— That Mr. Potter was among the
very earliest settlers of Round valley is attested in the fact that when he
came to this district it contained forty residents, there being thirty-five men,
three women and two children. Of that small company of pioneers, who
endured the privations of frontier existence and met with courage the vicissi-
tudes of life in a region far removed from railroads, he is perhaps the only
survivor. One of the most serious obstacles which the pioneers confronted
was the enmity of the Indians, who were at the time so numerous that de-
termined co-operation on their part would have exterminated the white men.
It was necessary to keep a vigilant outlook, lest in an unexpected hour the
savages would surround a home for an attack. Mr. Potter knows much about
the dangers in this direction, for he was onl}' fifteen years of age when he
fought his first battle with the red men, this being at Silver Creek, Eldorado
county. Later he bore a part in other skirmishes, in which the victories of
the settlers forced their enemies to seek other hunting grounds. He served
m two different Indian wars, in 1851 and 1859, on account of which he draws
a pension. Of course there were no schools in those days, but as families
began to take up homesteads and children became numerous in the valley,
it was necessary to provide buildings and teachers so that schools could be
started, and in all of this forward work he bore a part.
Near the Tennessee river on a farm in Jackson county, Ala., Elijah
Renshaw Potter was born December 1, 1835, and from there in 1843 he was
taken by his parents to Springfield, Mo. The family was poor and the neces-
sity of self-support took him from school at the age of thirteen. When gold
was discovered in California and messengers brought the great news to Mis-
souri he was fourteen, an age when many boys would hesitate about leaving
home on a long journey, perhaps never to return. Whh customary enthusiasm
and fearlessness he joined an expedition bound for the west and on his arrival
began to prospect in Placer county. He vividly recalls the wild excitement
prevailing at the time of the admission of California into the Union, September
9, 1850. For ten years he was employed at hydraulic mining in Shasta county
and during a part of the time he met with encouraging success.
A trip of investigation to ]\Iendocino county convinced Mr. Potter of
the fertility of its soil and the value of its forests. He took up a pre-emption
claim of one hundred and sixty acres in Round valley, cleared the land and
began the task of cultivation, in due time proving up on the property, which
he then sold. Thereupon he took up another claim a short distance from the
first, and this he still owns, having much of the time devoted it to the raising
of hogs and cattle. About 1Q08 he purchased his present home place in
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES -367
Covelo, where he still engages in farming. Notwithstanding his advanced
age he still follows the trade of a trapper with skill and success.
For four years he served as road overseer of Round valley, where from
1905 to 1909 he also filled the office of justice of the peace. Although he never
studied law, he displayed considerable knowledge of the profession as justice
and his decisions were characterized by impartiality and intelligence. Public
aflfairs always have interested him and he devotes much of his leisure to the
thoughtful consideration of national problems. In religion he upholds Baptist
doctrines and has long been identified with the denomination.
Mr. Potter was married in Ukiah in 1868 to Miss Susan M. Atkinson,
born in Placer county, Cal., and they have three children, viz., P. G., Melinda
(Mrs. Bucknell) and Robert A., all of Covelo.
WILLIAM W. THATCHER.— The changes wrought in Mendocino
county by about one-half century of progress have been witnessed and to a
l.irge degree promoted by Mr. Thatcher, a pioneer upbuilder of Hopland and
vicinity. It was during 1867 that, having heard favorable reports concerning
this county and further being informed of a general store offered for sale
.it Hopland, he came on horseback over the mountains to Ukiah and there
turned southward, in due time arriving at Hopland, where in less than an
hour he had purchased Conner's store. The quickness of judgment exhibited
m that transaction is one of his leading characteristics, and even now, when
more than four score years have laid their burden upon body and mind, he
still surprises acquaintances with instantaneous decisions whose wisdom is
proved by subsequent events. When once a decision is made, no later vacil-
lation or regret mars his purposeful activities, and this attitude of mind appears
in the fact that from 1867 to the present time he has continued to be the owner
of the same store, although with advancing years he has turned over to his
son, Evan, its general management. When he came here and for some years
after his arrival the population was to some extent transient and not alto-
gether desirable, but later the floating element sought other centers oi
activity and the permanent population took on its present form of thrift,
energy and high principles of honor, giving to this part of the county a
citizenship as desirable as it is prosperous and efficient.
I'rom early life Mr. Thatcher was familiar with privations and inured to
hardships. He was born near Springfield, Clark county, Ohio, November 8,
1831, and at the age of fourteen his father. James, having died, he took up
the burden of the famil}' maintenance and the farm management. Of course
it was not possible for him to attend school with any regularity, hence he is
mainly self-educated. The energy and determination of the little family made
possible the buying of a small farm, and this he managed until the second
marriage of his mother, after which he was free to take up the trade of
a carpenter under an old acquaintance, Jimmie Johnson. The fact that an
uncle, Hezekiah Thatcher, had sent back favorable reports from California
led him to come to the west via the isthmus in 1854, at first joining the uncle
in Yolo county, sixteen miles west of Davisville. In the following decade
he earned a livelihood along various lines of enterprise. Day labor as a
carpenter and the building of a ferry boat to cross the tules preceded the
operation of a livery barn at Placerville. On the burning down of the stable
he engaged as storekeeper at the Daily ranch, seventeen miles west of Sacra-
mento. Next he built an inn at \\'hitehall on the road from Sacramento to
368 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Virginia City, and this he conducted with fair success until the building of
the railroad' took him off the regular line of daily travel, after which he
changed his location to Mendocino county. In 1869 he burned the brick used
in the erection of a new store room and here he has since carried on a general
mercantile business. In the meantime he has bought and sold a number of
ranches and has seen property double and treble in value. About 1890 he
erected the Thatcher hotel at Hopland, a substantial building with large
rooms, high ceilings, modern equipment and excellent accommodations for
the traveling public, the place being considered at the time of its erection
by far the best-built hotel in the county.
In politics Mr. Thatcher has been a Republican ever since the organiza-
tion of the party. Temperance principles receive his stanch support. Move-
ments for the upbuilding of Hopland have his co-operation, and even now,
although obliged by advancing years to forego a leading part in progressive
projects, his support is none the less stanch and his patriotic spirit none the
less genuine. By his marriage in Sacramento to Miss Sarah E. Roach, a
native daughter of California, he is the father of five children now living,
namely : .Arthur, an attornev in Eureka ; Evan, who has charge of the store
at Hopland ; Millie, who married John Kemp and lives in Los Angeles ; Sarah
and Edith, both of whom married attorneys, the former now in the Sandwich
Islands and the latter a resident of California.
WILLIAM DUNCAN. — The original identification of the Duncan family
with Mendocino county dates back to July of 1858, when Elijah Hall Duncan
became one of the earliest settlers in the fertile valley surrounding the present
site of Hopland. TTiere was little except the soil to attract an American to
this then isolated region, whose primitive inhabitants, the savage Indians, still
lingered among the lonely mountains and threatened the white settlers with
extinction. With the utter fearlessness that had always been one of his lead-
ing attributes of character Air. Duncan proceeded to carry out plans for
permanent settlement. By a payment of $1,000 in cash and fifty head of
cattle he was able to obtain the title to seventeen hundred acres, part of
which he afterward sold at $2.50 per acre, and that eventually, proving to be
valuable for the raising of hops, became very high-priced. On that great
ranch he first built a rude shack which did service until he moved to the
county road, when he built a five-room log cabin. This later gave way to a
modern and commodious residence erected on the hill by the county road, at
the end of Duncan lane. His possessions finally embraced three ranches
aggregating forty-one hundred acres, on which he engaged in raising farm
products as well as horses, mules, cattle and sheep. Erom his home could be
seen Duncan's peak, which was named in his honor. His name is also perpet-
uated in Duncan springs, which he discovered on his ranch and which, on
an analysis of the water, was discovered to contain curative properties in
highly valuable proportions.
The life of this honored pioneer began in Tennessee December 8, 1824,
and closed in Mendocino county July 23, 1889, after three years of failing
health. That he achieved success was due to his own inherent powers and
not to any favors shown him by destiny. When only eight years of age he
was deprived by death of his father and mother. The family' previously had
moved to Missouri and there he learned the trade of a tanner and for some
years operated a plant of his own. .\pril 15, 1856, he married Elizabeth
yCUyCC^Z^i^
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES 371
Craddock, a native of Virginia. Their bridal tour consisted of a trip across
the plains to California. A wagon drawn by oxen conveyed the necessities
of the long journey. In addition they had on starting one hundred and sixty
head of cattle. Of these the Indians took forty head. With the balance they
were able to embark in stock-raising after their arrival in Sonoma county on
the 7th of September. The original location was six miles east of Healds-
burg, whence in the summer of 1858 Mr. Duncan brought his family and his
cattle to the mouth of Feliz creek, where he began ranching and stock-raising
in Sanel valley. Always a promoter of any enterprise for the benefit of the
farming interests of the district, he was the second man to set out hops, and
for years had on his ranch the largest field of this crop grown in the entire
county. There still stands in the valley the old hop kiln erected by him,
which was one of the first of its kind here. Besides drying his own hops m
the kiln he accommodated his neighbors in the same way and proved a most
helpful citizen as well as a progressive farmer. His wife, who survived him,
continued at the old homestead until her death April 28, 1905. Their family
numbered ten children and six of these are still living, the youngest being
William, who was born July 31, 1872, and who received his education in local
schools and the San Francisco Business College. After the death of his
father he took an active part in the management of the ranch.
Upon his marriage in 1895 to Miss Jennie A. Barker, a native of Mendo-
cino county, Mr. Duncan rented the sheep ranch east of Hopland that be-
longed to the family estate. The property is still under his supervision and is
owned by himself and a brother, E. J., being devoted by them to the sheep
industry. The tract comprises three thousand two hundred and seventy acres
and contains at this writing about fourteen hundred head of Spanish merino
sheep. Mr. Duncan makes his home in Hopland, where in 1912 he bought
the general mercantile store formerly owned by his brother, Samuel, and this
establishment he is now managing with efficiency and success. In politics he
votes with the Democratic party. Although not identified with any religious
organization, he is a generous contributor to the Christian Church, to which
his wife belongs, and he has also aided other movements for the uplifting of
the community. In his family there are three children, Neva, Terrel LeRoj'
and William H. His enterprising spirit is recognized by his acquaintances,
who appreciate his willingness to give of his time and influence to aid local
projects of merit. In his circle of associates he is esteemed for his sterling
worth.
CHARLES MARTIN BUCKNELL.— The northern coast country oi
California has been the home of Mr. Bucknell throughout his entire life.
From his birth, which occurred October 23, 1867, the family lived in Lake
county until the fall of 1879, when removal was made to Mendocino county.
His schooling had commenced in his native county and was continued in
Round valley, but his educational opportunities were meager, and the in-
formation he now possesses is the result of self-culture and observation
rather than attendance at school. Comforts were few in his childhood home.
The most diligent labor was necessary in order to provide for the family the
necessities of existence ; there was no thought concerning the luxuries. With
willing hands and cheerful heart he took up his share of the burden and
aided his stepfather in the maintenance of the family, continuing to thus
assist until the time of his marriage to Miss Linnie Potter, a native of Round
valley and member of an honored pioneer family.
372 MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Steady work for a number of years on ranches and the utmost economy
in every expenditure put Mr. Bucknell in a position where it was possible for
him to invest in land. The purchase of one hundred and fifty-nine acres in
1893 made him one of the land-owners in Round valley, where he farmed for
some time with the usual share of reverses and successes. Renting the farm
to a tenant in 1902, he became an employe on the Dave Johnson ranch, where
he remained for seven years. On selling the home farm at that time he
invested the proceeds in a livery business at Covelo, where at present he
owns the only livery and stage stables in the entire valley. Besides the usual
livery trade he hauls freight for stores in Covelo and owns a passenger stage
and fast freight line between Covelo and Dos Rios, a distance of fourteen
miles. As a business man he is energetic and efficient, keeping a close over-
sight of every detail connected with the stable and the stage line and manag-
ing affairs so as to secure a profit without making an undue charge for
services in his line. In politics he votes the Republican ticket. Fraternally
lie is connected with Covelo Camp No. 635, Woodmen of the World, while
in religion he is an earnest member of the Baptist Church.
GUY HASKETT.— The fourth in the family of five children that blessed
the union of Samuel W. and ^Miranda (Barnes) Haskett, who are represented
elsewhere in this volume, was Guy Haskett, who was born in Petaluma, Cal.,
December 19. 1859. He was reared in Ukiah, where he attended the public
schools until nineteen years of age, when he began working on neighboring
ranches. He married when quite young, and after marriage he was employed
on the Walker Valley ranch for Mr. Angle, later buying a ranch of his own
of one hundred and sixty acres in the Little Lake valley, three miles east
of Willits. Here he engaged in raising hay and potatoes for about twenty
years, making this ranch his home and actively superintending all affairs
pertaining to it.
Mr. Haskett was married in Ukiah to Anna Angle, the daughter of
Rench Angle, a native of Hancock county. 111., having been born there in
1828. In 1831 Mr. Angle's parents moved to St. Clair county, that state,
and there he received his education. When fifteen years old he started out
in the world for himself, first going to Chariton county. Mo., and later to
Ouincy. 111., where he was employed in chopping wood along the Mississippi
river for fifty cents a cord. He then went to Warsaw, Hancock county. 111.,
and while there learned of the gold strike in California. Starting for the west
May 15, 1850, he first located in Placerville September 23 following, and
there he remained until 1854, when he purchased a farm twelve miles from
Marysville. Not finding conditions as favorable as he hoped, he moved .to
Mendocino county and engaged in farming in Walker valley, where he
bought the home place of one thousand acres, adding to his original purchase
until he had sixteen thousand acres devoted to sheep raising and general
farming, and here he passed the remaining years of his life. While spending
the winter of 1858-59 in the vicinity of Victoria, on Vancouver Island, he
discovered the first gold found on the island, since which time more or less
of the precious metal has been mined there. INIr, Angle married in June, 1859,
Catherine Orender, a native of Illinoi 
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