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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01148 4406 E
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THE CAPITOL, SACRAMENTO
A HISTORY C
OF
THE NEW CALIFORNIA
ITS RESOURCES AND PEOPLE
EDITED BY
LEIGH H. IRVINE
AND ASSOCIATED EDITORS ON PIONEER DAYS, AGRICULTURE, MINING, IRRIGATION, MANUFACTURING, RAILROADS, EDUCATION
" Knowledge of kindred and the genealogies of the ancient families deserveth highest praise. Herein consisteth a part of the knowledge of a man's own self. It is a great spur to look back on the worth of our line." -. LORD BACON.
" There is no heroic poem in the world but is at the bottom the life of a man." -SIR WALTER SCOTT.
ILLUSTRATED VOL. II
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY NEW YORK CHICAGO
1905
1339448
HISTORY
OF
THE NEW CALIFORNIA.
THOMAS M. BROWN.
135.
Thomas M. Brown, who since 1877 has continuously filled the position of sheriff of Humboldt county, is an officer whose record is above reproach and no more incontrovertible proof of his fidelity to duty could be given than the fact that he has been so long retained in the position by popular suffrage. He is, moreover, one of the pioneer settlers of California and in the year 1849 crossed the plains, and his mind therefore bears the impress of the historic annals of the state as it has emerged from primitive conditions and become imbued with all the enterprise, improvements and evidences of civilization. heretofore characteristic of the east.
Mr. Brown is a native of Tennessee, his birth having occurred in Over- ton county, that state, on the 26th of January, 1829. His parents were John W. and Rachel (Allen) Brown. The father was born in Kentucky in 1807. and with his parents removed to Tennessee during his early boyhood. In 1829 he became a resident of Illinois, settling in McLean county, where he continued to reside until 1841. In that year he removed to northwestern Missouri, and in the various places in which he made his home at different times he carried on the occupation of farming. While living in Missouri he was called to public office, and for twenty years served as county clerk of Harrison county. His demise was in 1873. It will thus be seen that fidelity in official service is one of the salient characteristics of the family. His wife was a representative of an oid southern family.
Thomas M. Brown received but limited educational facilities, attending the country schools for a few months during the winter seasons in both Illi- nois and Missouri. He was an infant at the time of his parents' removal to the former state, and was but twelve years of age when they became resi- dents of Missouri. There he attained his majority, and in April, 1847, was x married and began farming. He followed that pursuit for two years in » Harrison county, and in April, 1849, started for California. The year before gold had been discovered and marvelous tales were told of the opportunities « for the rapid acquirement of wealth on the Pacific coast. Mr. Brown, there- « fore, determined to seek a fortune in California and with an ox team crossed the plains, traveling for day after day until at length his eyes were gladdened
545
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HISTORY OF THE NEW CALIFORNIA.
by the sight of the Eldorado of the west. He arrived at the American river in the month of October, and after a few days spent at Sacramento pro- ceeded to Stockton, California, and thence to Tuolumne county, where he engaged in mining about a mile and a half south of Jimtown. A few months later he started for Trinity county with an ox team. He paid fifteen hun- dred dollars in gold dust for four yoke of oxen and a wagon, and after reaching his destination he engaged in mining, continuing in that industrial pursuit until the spring of 1857. He was located variously in Trinity, Shasta and Klamath, and at the last named place he was appointed deputy sheriff of Klamath county. After serving for a year and eight months he returned to Missouri, and in 1860 brought his wife to California. Again the trip was made across the plains with an ox team, five months being con- sumed in completing the journey.
Mr. Brown established his home at Orleans Bar on the Klamath river. then the county seat of Klamath county. In 1861 he was elected sheriff of the county and held the office continuously until 1874, when the county was re-organized and the section in which he lived became a part of Humboldt county. During the following three years he engaged in mining on the Klamath river, and in 1877 he was elected sheriff of Humboldt county and has been re-elected at each succeeding election to the present time.
In 1847 Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Surilda J. Poynter, a native of Kentucky and a daughter of John Poynter, a representative of an old Kentucky family. They now have one daughter, Martha J., who is the wife of H. B. Hitchings, now chief of police of Eureka, California. Mr. Brown and his family were widely known in this section of the state and re- ceive the favorable regard and friendship of many with whom they have come in contact. He is a worthy representative of the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, while his political support is given to the Democracy. In citizenship he is loyal, progressive and public-spirited, and as an official is strictly fair and impartial in the discharge of his duties, performing all public service without fear or favor. He receives the strongest endorsement and commen- dation of men of all parties, and is, indeed, classed among the best citizens of Humboldt county.
JUDGE JOHN TYLER CAMPBELL.
Judge John Tyler Campbell, who took up his residence in Santa Rosa thirty years ago, has from the first stood among the most prominent and public-spirited citizens. His career both previous and subsequent to that time has been marked with highest ability and executive energy, so that not only his immediate community and city but the state and country have felt the power of his influence. His public career has been especially honorable and useful, and California is happy and fortunate to number him among her most noted citizens.
The biographer cannot do better in this connection than to quote a personal opinion of Judge Campbell, written by the late Attorney General
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HISTORY OF THE NEW CALIFORNIA.
George A. Johnson, and expressive of the characteristics which have ele- vated the Judge to his position in public estimation.
"Judge Campbell is an able lawyer, an exemplary citizen, and in private life has won the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens. He is a good, pure, excellent man, of singular, genial nature and correct deportment. At the bar he has the respect and kindly regard of all his professional brethren and the confidence and esteem of the bench. He is an effective and pleasing orator, and is honored throughout the county, and in Santa Rosa, where he resides, is trusted and liked by all classes of people. He is a fine lawyer, ranking with the ablest at the bar here, is clear, methodical and learned. Where he is known he exerts a commanding influence. With a fine presence, a singular sweetness of temper and a most captivating address, he attaches all classes of people to him, and his companionship is sought and prized by all. As a legislator he held the highest rank. As the presiding officer of the house he evinced great knowledge in parliamentary law, and was clear, ready and decisive in his rulings.
"He is charming in social intercourse and the delight of the social circle. He is warm-hearted, and never deserts a friend. He is well versed in litera- ture, is versatile to a high degree, has been a constant student and an in- veterate reader all his life. He has written numerous short stories and been a contributor to magazines and periodicals. He is a most interesting con- versationalist, and always has at hand apt and ready quotations; is humorous and entertaining, and draws around him hosts of warm and devoted friends. In a word, few better men have lived in California than the Honorable John Tyler Campbell."
Judge Campbell is a native of that old and famous county of Pike, in the state of Missouri, and was born in the town of Bowling Green, Septem- ber 9, 1842. He was the seventh in order of a family of eleven children. His father was the Rev. James Washington Campbell, a native of Williams- burg, Virginia. His mother, Sophia A. (Henry) Campbell, was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and was the daughter and the youngest child - of Colonel Malcolm Henry, who was a gallant soldier during the war of the Revolution. The great-grandfather on the Campbell side was likewise a colonel in the patriot army during the struggle which set the colonies free from trans-Atlantic domination. He was one of the hardy Scotsmen who rallied to the cause during the darkest hours of the Revolution, and partici- pated in the battle of King's Mountain in addition to other of the noted en- gagements in the Carolinas.
Judge Campbell received his early education in the public schools of Pike county, and he has a vivid recollection of that section of old Missouri as it was in ante-bellum days. His advanced training was received in McGee College at Macon, Missouri. When the Civil war broke out he was not yet twenty years old. He espoused the Union side, and soon after his enlistment attained to the rank of captain in the Thirty-second Missouri Volunteer In- fantry. He was appointed major of the Fifty-second Missouri Infantry, but the war ended before the regiment was mustered into service.
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HISTORY OF THE NEW CALIFORNIA.
After the war he took up the study of law, was admitted to the bar, and located in Kansas City, where he was elected prosecuting attorney of Jackson county and also city attorney. He also served as police judge. Thus, be- fore his removal to the Pacific coast he had attained prominence in public life, and had manifested his ability as an influential leader of men.
He came to California in 1874 and took up his residence in Santa Rosa, where he has ever since had his permanent home. In the following year he was elected city attorney, and also in 1876. He was assistant district at- torney of Sonoma county in 1877. He was elected to the legislature and served in the session of 1883-84, for a part of the time being speaker of the house. In 1886 he was appointed American consul to New Zealand, and in 1888 was appointed consul to China. While at the latter post a vacancy oc- curred in the imperial German consulate, and, with the permission of the president of the United States, he was appointed by the German emperor as acting German consul in China, which position he held for three years, and at its conclusion he received a letter of commendation from the emperor.
At an election held in 1900 he was elected one of the board of free- holders called to frame a new charter for the city of Santa Rosa, and was chosen president of the board. He is now and has been for the past five years. a director of the Sonoma County Law Library, is a director in the Athenaeum Company and a director of the Masonic Hall Association. He has been a library trustee of the Santa Rosa public library, and for three years was president of the Sonoma county board of education. Fraternally he is a past chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias, a past worshipful master of the Masons. blue lodge, a past high priest of the chapter and a past eminent commander of Santa Rosa Commandery of the Knights Templar.
Judge Campbell married, in 1869, Miss Mary Reed, and they have two children : Ross Campbell is an attorney-at-law in Santa Rosa; and Lucy E. is the wife of J. Iver M. Drummond, now residing in London, England.
JAMES WILLIAM JESSE, M. D.
James William Jesse, M. D., has for a number of years been one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Santa Rosa. He entered the profession with a broad and thorough equipment, obtained by some years of preparation in one of the best schools in the United States. His devotion to his work and his skill in its practice, combined with his genial nature and sympathy. early gained him a representative clientage, and he has progressed into high favor as a practitioner. He has also been interested in affairs of more gen- eral nature, and is always interested and willing to hear his part in enterprises pertaining to the general welfare of his town and county.
Dr. Jesse was born in Mexico, Missouri, in 1857. His father, Royal A. Jesse, is a Baptist minister, and his mother was Mary E. Boswell, a native of Virginia. James W. Jesse was educated in Columbia College at Mexico, Missouri, and after a full course in the literary departments there he entered the medical department of the College of the City of New York, from which he received his degree of M. D.
549
HISTORY OF THE NEW CALIFORNIA.
Dr. Jesse has been a resident and a practitioner of Santa Rosa since 1890. He served as mayor of the city for one term, and at the present time is city health officer and county physician. He is surgeon for the Southern Pacific Railroad and the California and Northwestern Railroad, and also surgeon for the Red Cross Sanitarium. He is president of the Santa Rosa Medical Society. He has a handsome residence on the corner of Fifth and King streets, and also owns the building in which his offices are located. He affiliates with the Masons and the Elks, and has always taken a prominent part in political affairs of the city, county and state.
Dr. Jesse married Miss Mary E. Higgins, of the state of Missouri. Marie Fitzpatrick Jesse, their daughter, is now twenty years of age, and is a student at Mills College, California. The family are held in the highest esteem in social circles, and are prominently identified with much of the life of the city.
WILLIAM M. WILSON.
William M. Wilson, superintendent of the Eagle Bird and El Ora Mines Company and financially interested in mining operations at Maybert, California, was born in Butte county, this state, on the 15th of November. 1865. His father, William M. Wilson, Sr., was a native of Scotland, be- longing to a distinguished family of that land that numbered among its members some of the speakers of parliament. In the year 1852 William M. Wilson, Sr., came to California. Mining was the principal industry of the state, and to that labor he directed his energies and continued to follow that pursuit throughout his remaining days, being largely engaged in the de- velopment of the mineral resources of California. He owned a number of mining properties in the neighborhood of Oroville in early days, also at Cherokee, and was an owner in the Spring Valley Quartz mine above Oro- ville that has recently been sold. His death occurred February 5: 1904, and he is still survived by his wife, who bore the maiden name of Jessie McDonald. She was born in Edinburg. Scotland, and is now living at Cherokee, Butte county, California.
In the family were three sons and four daughters, namely : William M .. of this review: D. D., who is superintendent of the Omega Mine in Nevada county, California; A. M., who is superintendent of the Spring Valley Quartz mine in Butte county, for the United Gold & Copper Company; Mrs. Mar- rian Nisbet, of Oroville, California ; Mrs. Belle Williams, also of Oroville: and Jeannette and Nellie, who are residing with their mother at Cherokee.
William M. Wilson, whose name introduces this review, was educated in the schools of his native county. He wished to acquire a practical and comprehensive knowledge of the mining business in all its departments, and has devoted all his time to practical mining. He has been superintendent of different mines throughout California, during which time he has done work for various companies in examining mines. and has been quite largely inter- ested in mining deals and projects. He is now a stockholder in several min- ing corporations and has negotiated the sales in Nevada county of both quartz and gravel properties.
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HISTORY OF THE NEW CALIFORNIA.
The mining properties in this portion of the state have a very promising outlook, and the work will be carried on extensively during the season of 1904. Mr. Wilson is a Republican in his political views, but does not seek or desire public office, preferring to give his attention to his business affairs, and but few men are better informed concerning mines and mining than he. He has made a close study not only from the scientific but also from the practical standpoint and has gained a comprehensive knowledge, which has been put to the test in the development of the properties, which under his direction have become paying investments.
EDWARD P. HILBORN.
Edward P. Hilborn, deputy state surveyor general of California, is one of the young and progressive and able civil engineers of the state, and has made a most creditable record in the profession since his graduation from college some ten or more years ago. He executed some important work for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company before he was appointed to his present office, and he has gained recognition as a thoroughly capable en- gineer, with a large field of useful endeavor before him.
Mr. Hilborn was born in Suisun, Solano county, California, February. 10, 1871, being a son of Edward P. and Mary F. (Wing) Hilborn. His father was born in Maine and died in California in 1897. He was of an old American family, and his grandfather was captain of a company in the Revolutionary war. He came to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama in 1852, and after mining for a year or so located in Solano county, in 1854, and during the remaining forty or more years of his life he engaged in stock farming and in commercial enterprises in Suisun. He was one of the prominent men of the county, and his brother, S. G. Hilborn, was United States congressman from the third California district for three terms. Mrs. Mary F. Hilborn, a native of Massachusetts and of an old family of that state, is still living at Suisun. Her father was one of the first captains to bring a ship around the Horn during the Eldorado mining days of California, and he afterward settled in Solano county. Edward P. and Mary F. Hilborn were the parents of three sons: Arthur, engaged in stock-raising and mercantile business at Suisun; Louis, an attorney at San Francisco; and Edward P.
Mr. Edward P. Hilborn was educated in the public schools of Suisun, and in 1891 graduated in the college of civil engineering at the University of California with the degree of B. S. He soon afterward secured employ- ment with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, and took a party on the coast division from Santa Margarita to Santa Barbara. He was in the employ of the company for five years, and then returned to Suisun for the purpose of settling up his father's estate. In January, 1903, he was appointed chief deputy state surveyor general, under Victor H. Woods, and has credit- ably discharged the duties of that office since.
Mr. Hiiborn is a Republican, has attended county and state conventions, and was a member of the state central committee from 1898 to 1902, and
Skilbom
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HISTORY OF THE NEW CALIFORNIA.
has been on tlie county central committee since 1898. His present position is the only political office he has ever held. He and the other members of the family have always exercised much influence in the political affairs of Solano county. He is a Knight Templar Mason and a Shriner, and a mem- ber of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
FRANK C. POLLARD.
Frank C. Pollard, under sheriff of Siskiyou county, has been prominent in the business and official affairs of Yreka and the county for more than fifteen years. He is a native son of the state, being a son of one of the pio- neers, and he is a good type of the man of western energy and enterprise. During his career of forty years he has engaged in various lines of work, merchandising, hotel-keeping, and in the administration of the duties of several elective offices, and throughout has held the esteem and confidence of all his fellow citizens and associates.
Mr. Pollard was born at Magalia, Butte county, California, April 2, 1864, a son of J. D. and Emeline (Church) Pollard. His father was born in New York, and died in San Diego, California, in 1887. He came, via the Isthmus of Panama, to California in the early fifties, and during most of his career in the west was engaged in the hotel business, having estab- lishments at different times in Butte county, Donner Lake, and at Reno, Ne- vada. He later conducted a butchering and dairy establishment at Reno. In the sixties he owned a stage line from Reno to Virginia City, over the Gieger grade, and he was known throughout the west for this enterprise and his Donner Lake Hotel, which was the old stage station on the overland stage route at the head of the lake. He was a strong Republican. He and his wife were both of English descent, and the latter, a native of New York, is still living at the age of eighty-four years, at Dayton, Nevada. Besides Frank C., there are four other children: J. D. and Charles. A., residing at Reno, Nevada; Sarah, wife of James Schiveley, of Wyoming; and Nellie, wife of H. W. Bonham, engaged in mining near Dayton, Nevada.
Mr. Frank C. Pollard received his education in the public schools of Reno, concluding his studies at the age of eighteen. For seven or eight years he assisted his father in the hotel and butcher business in Reno, and in 1888 came to Yreka, where he has found the field of greatest activity ever since. After being in the employ of G. H. Peters for three years he went into the county clerk's office as deputy, remaining there for six years, two years under George D. Butler and four under Allan Newton. The four years under Newton he acted as clerk of the Superior Court. While serving under Butler he was elected city clerk, which office he held two years. In 1898 he entered the employ of Julian and Wadsworth, butchers and packers of Yreka, and continued in that line of business for three years. He had entire charge of the business and handled all the funds, his position being that of executive agent for the owners. The firm did a business of about forty thousand dollars a month. After leaving that establishment he was a clerk in the mercantile house of A. Wetzel for a time, and was then man-
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HISTORY OF THE NEW CALIFORNIA.
ager of the Clarendon Hotel until January, 1903, when he was appointed to his present office of under-sheriff of Siskiyou county, by Sheriff Charles B. Howard. The tender of this place was entirely unexpected and unsolicited · by him, and he was chosen in preference to several announced applicants.
Mr. Pollard is an active Republican, and in the fall of 1898 was nomi- nated by acclamation in convention for the office of county auditor and re- corder, but met the defeat which befell all the Republican ticket that year. He has fraternal affiliations with the Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
He was married in Yreka, February 7, 1891, to Miss Anna Fried, a native of Yreka and a daughter of George and Sophia Fried, who were both born in Germany. They have one child, Bernard F.
DR. WILLIAM D. F. WARD.
Dr. William D. F. Ward, who has recently taken his place among the leading practitioners of Santa Rosa, has had a successful career in his pro- fession, and has gained a merited high place among the physicians of the state. During the decade in which he has been a resident of California he has manifested remarkable skill in the successful prevention of disease and the alleviation of human suffering. He has gained the high regard of the citizens of Santa Rosa during his brief residence among them, and his ca- reer in this charming city will be marked with the same high degree of suc- cess which has been vouchsafed his previous efforts.
Dr. Ward was born in Canada, January 12, 1855, a son of Burton and Jane (Goodwin) Ward, both deceased. His father was a merchant and farmer. He moved from Canada to Boston, and was naturalized and there- after remained a citizen of the United States.
Dr. Ward received his early education in the excellent schools of Can- ada, and attended Amherst Academy in Nova Scotia and other institutions of learning. He received his medical diploma in Canada, and in 1894 took a post-graduate course in California Medical College. He first located for practice in Eureka, Humboldt county, California, and in July. 1903, came to Sonoma county, where he has already gained a fair share of the professional patronage.
Dr. Ward married, in 1877, Miss Mary Hunter, a daughter of Martin Hunter, of Parrsboro, Nova Scotia. They have two sons, Phil Demill and Harry, both at home. Dr. Ward is a Mason, affiliated with the Egyptian Masons, in which branch he has taken ninety degrees.
FRANK M. O'CONNELL.
Frank M. O'Connell, popularly known in the business circles of Yreka as Dr. O'Connell the druggist, has followed one line of business ever since he was seventeen years old. He began learning the drug trade as an all- round clerk, and his steady progress since then to positions of greater re- sponsibility, to manager of a drug house and finally to ownership of his own
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