USA > California > A Volume of memoirs and genealogy of representative citizens of northern California, including biographies of many of those who have passed away > Part 69
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Mr. Mundorf was married in 1861 to Miss Elizabeth Kline, a native of Germany, and their union was blessed with nine children, of whom seven are yet living, namely : Lizzie, now the wife of Richard Inch: George, who is married and is engaged in business with his father ; Kittie A., who married, November 27, 1900, John Reid and resides in Sonora: Maggie, Daisy MI., Lottie and Luzie. His children were all born in Tu lume county and assist their father is conducting his very extensive business, while two men are also employed in the store. The family have a very commodious residence and Mr. Mundorf is to-day the possessor of a handsome competence. well earned by honorable business methods.
In 1861 he was made a Master Mason in Tuolumne Lodge, No. 8, and since that time he has taken the Royal Arch, council and commandery degrees. becoming thoroughly familiar with the teaching's and tenets of the fraternity and exemplifying in his life its principles of mutual helpfulness, benevolence
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and brotherly kindness. His Democracy has been a part of his life since he gained the right of franchise, and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his ability, have called him to public office. He has been treasurer of his county and is now the mayor of the city. His administration has been of practical benefit, and he has been the promoter of needed reforms and improvements, exercising his official prerogatives in support of all that he believes will prove of general good. His career has ever been upright and honorable and his friendship is prized most by those who know him best.
JUDSON ARTHUR HOLLAND.
The combination of English and German ancestors such as is repre- sented by Dr. Judson Arthur Holland, of San Andreas, Calaveras county, California, has in all periods of our history resulted in good citizenship. Dr. Holland, whose standing as a citizen and as a physician has been recog- nized by his choice to the office of county physician of Calaveras county, was born on his father's farm, a mile and a half from San Andreas. August 4. 1858, a son of William August and Theresa ( Frank ) Holland. natives of Berlin, Germany, the father of the former being English. William August Holland settled at Whitehall, New York, in 1849, and engaged in the to- bacco business. In 1852 he came to California and took up mining, and his wife joined him three years later. Four children were born to them after they came to this state. Their daughter. Emma T., is the widow of John Rathgeb, and lives at Alameda. Jerome F. is an engineer and resides in San Andreas. Hattie E. died at the age of twenty-three years. Mr. and Mrs. Holland were reared in the Lutheran faith, but the latter has during recent years been a Congregationalist. They are honored by their fellow citizens as pioneers and because they possess those sterling qualities which constitute good men and women.
Dr. Holland was educated in the public schools at San Andreas and at the state normal school at San Jose. He then taught in the public schools of Calaveras county for sixteen years, and then took up the study of medi- cine, being graduated at the Cooper Medical College in the class of 1894. Im- mediately after receiving his diploma, he entered upon the practice of his profession at San Andreas, and has met with marked success and has a large and increasing practice.
In 1884 he married Miss Agnes Mercer, who bore him three children,- Sumner R. and Eloise P. ( twins), and Agnes P. The mother died in 1889. Dr. Holland's present wife, whom he married in 1897, was Miss Marietta Godfrey, a native of New Jersey, a lady of much education and refinement who is an active and efficient worker in the Congregational Sunday-school.
The Doctor was made a Mason in San Andreas Lodge. No. 78, F. & A. M .. in 1896, and soon became thoroughly posted in the work of the order and is now in his second term as the master of his lodge. He is an Odd Fellow also, being a past grand of San Andreas Lodge, No. 50, and P. D. D. G. M. of his district, and a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West and is
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a past president of the local parlor of the organization last mentioned; he is also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Mrs. Holland holds membership in the Eastern Star order, and the lodge of the Rebekalı degree. They have a pleasant home, and Dr. Holland's professional suc- cess and personal popularity constitute an ample guaranty as to their future.
CHARLES H. SCHROEBEL.
It is worthy of note that the majority of the pioneers of California were young or comparatively young men. They did not come to mold a new community in accordance with antiquated customs which had been worn out elsewhere. They came open-eyed, susceptible to conviction, ready to take conditions as they existed and shape them according to the time and place. How they succeeded every one knows who is at all familiar with the his- tory of the state. One of the most far-sighted of these pioneers is the man whose name appears above, and therefore we enter upon record an account of his ancestry, his life and his success.
Mr. Schroebel is a native of Alabama, born March 12, 1827, and is of German and French lineage. His grandfather, Henry Schroebel, emigrated to the new.world from Germany, taking up his abode in South Carolina, and in that state his son, Jacob Henry Schroebel, the father of our subject, was born. There he remained until after his marriage to Miss Louise A. Colzy, of French ancestry, her father having been a refugee from the mas- sacre of San Domingo. After their marriage they removed to Alabama, where they continued to reside for some years. The father was a Baptist minister and a devout Christian. For many years he served as the pastor of the church of his denomination in Mobile, filling that position when, in 1843. he was stricken with yellow fever and died. He was then forty-two years of age. His noble life, characterized by the broadest human sympathy and a most earnest desire to lead men to take cognizance of their souls' needs was an unalloyed benediction to all who knew him, and his influence was that of the echo which "rolls from soul to soul and grows forever and forever." His good wife survived him and attained the age of sixty-three. They became the parents of five daughters and two sons, four of whom are now living, two being residents of California: Mrs. Laura L. Ruggles, the matron of the Protestant Orphan Asylum at Mobile, Alabama: Mrs. Mar- garet Mercer. of Angel's Camp: Mrs. Jane T. Stokes, living at Mobile, Ala- bama: and Charles H., of this review. The latter acquired his education in Mobile, Alabama, and began life on his own account as a clerk in a store. In 1850 he sailed from New Orleans to Chagres, thence proceeded up the river in a canoe to Gorgona and from there by mule train to Panama, where he took passage on the sailing vessel Glenmore for San Francisco, arriving safely at his destination on the 15th of May, 1850. He went direct to Stock- ton and thence to Tuolumne county, where he was engaged in placer-mining at Columbia. He was not very successful, however, and in consequence re- turned to Stockton, where he paid seventy-five dollars for a scythe and snath
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and engaged in cutting hay. Hle sold this product to teamsters and received a good price for it, and with the money which he earned in that way he came to Calaveras county, locating near San Andreas.
There Mr. Schroebel engaged in selling goods and in freighting, mak- ing his home in that locality for four years. In 1859 he began raising sheep in this county, and has since been connected with that business, which is now one of the leading industries on the Pacific coast. He came to his present ranch in 1884 and here owns a good residence and sixteen hundred acres of land. He raises horses and cattle as well as sheep and has been very suc- cessful as a stock dealer, his business having attained extensive proportions, thus bringing to him the success which is the desired reward of earnest effort. Ile resided near San Andreas for fifteen years before engaging in the sheep business and had a wide and favorable acquaintance in that portion of the state. In public affairs he has always been prominent. Throughout his entire life he has been a stanch Democrat and in 1855 he was appointed deputy sheriff. He resolved to rid the county of the desperadoes which ren- «lered life uncertain at all times and menaced property, and thus for some years he was almost constantly in the saddle in pursuit of criminals that then visited this portion of California. He proved a very important factor in ridding the county of that very undesirable class of citizens, whereby all human life and privileges were jeopardized.
In 1861 Mr. Schroebel married Miss Eliza A. Abbott, a native of Ar- kansas and a daughter of Joshua Abbott, one of the pioneers of California. They had twelve children, all of whom were born in this state, namely : Laura, who died in infancy: Beauregard, who died at the age of thirty-four years, leaving a wife and one child: Louisa, now Mrs. Eproson, of Milton : Lizzie, the wife of Walter J. Robie, of Milton: Charles: Lee: Addie, wife of John .A. Banks: Willie, who died when sixteen months old: Margaret Ruth and Kate, who are at home; and Daniel and Richason, twins, who also are under the paternal roof. The children have been carefully reared and into their minds have been instilled lessons of industry and honesty, so that the fam- ily is one held in the highest regard in the community. Mr. Schroebel has given his attention closely to his business, having become identified with no societies or taken an active part in politics. As a citizen, however, he is pub- lic spirited and progressive, manifesting a deep interest in everything pertain- ing to the general welfare.
JOHN STEEL.
The pioneers of 1852 who are still living in California are not numerous and there is not one of them who is better known and more highly regarded by his fellow citizens than John Steel, of San Andreas, Calaveras county who is also one of the many good citizens whom Germany has furnished to the United States. Mr. Steel comes of old "fatherland" families and was horn at Merzhausen, Germany, April 5. 1825. a son of Justus and Mary ( Wat- erman ) Steel. His father, who was a forest overseer, was a worthy citi .en
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and a most devoted member of the Dutch Reformed church, and John Steel. of San Andreas, and one of his sisters, are the only ones of his eight children who survive. The daughter is Mrs. Anna Wagner, a widow, and lives at Stockton. When Mr. Steel was three years old his good father died, but his mother, who was most devoted to her children, lived to be eighty years old.
John, who was the seventh in the order of birth, received a good educa- tion and learned the shoemaker's trade. As was the custom with mechanics in Germany, he soon set out on his travels as a joiner, and in 1848 "brought up" at New Orleans, Louisiana. From New Orleans he went to St. Louis, where he was paid twelve dollars a week, which was ten dollars and fifty cents a week more than he would have been paid for the same work in Germany. In the spring of 1852 he and five other young men bought a wagon and shipped it to Independence. Missouri, and followed it to that point and went out in the country and bought four yoke of oxen, which were to draw the wagon and their belongings to California. Not one of the five had had any expe- rience with oxen and at first they had considerable difficulty in yoking, hand- ling and driving their eight-ox team, but the wagon rolled out of Independence on its long western journey on the 8th of May. That year ( 1852) is mem- orable in history for its epidemic of cholera, and the fatalities among Cali- fornia emigrants were numerous and alarming. The young men met many people who had abandoned the journey and were coming back to their old homes, utterly heart-sick, and they saw many shallow graves by the wayside in which emigrants, men, women and children, had been buried only to be dug up by the wolves! Indians were numerous, but made them no trouble. Immense herds of buffalo were encountered from time to time. From the Sink of the Humboldt westward Mr. Steel and some companions made the journey on foot and arrived at "Hangtown" November 15. 1852, two weeks before their team got there.
There was no water with which to mine, and he could not work at his trade until the wagon came with his shoemaker's tools ; but he went to chopping wood for a brick-yard and earned fair wages until his tools arrived, when he opened a shop at "Hangtown." He got ten dollars a pair for coarse boots, two dollars and fifty cents for putting on half soles and fifty cents for each patch ; but as a sack of flour cost forty-nine dollars and other necessaries were proportionately high it will be seen that it cost him a great deal to live. Still. with characteristic German thrift, he saved some money and became the owner of a mine on North Beaver creek, which yielded him eleven dollars a day for three years. Then. in 1855. he came to Calaveras county and bought a mine at Lattimer's Gulch, which he worked, at a loss, two years and then abandoned. Next he bought a hydraulic mine, had difficulty with the owners of the water, and in 1861 soll it and came to San Andreas, where he again turned liis attention to shoemaking and to the management of a ranch six miles south of the town, which he had taken up before it had been surveyed. He now owns two thousand acres and has raised cattle and sheep extensively. but he has made and mended shoes during all of the thirty-nine years of his
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residence there, doing good and honest work and is still working for custo- mers who came to him more than three decades ago and has no idea of retiring from his bench.
In 1852 Mr. Steel was married, at "Hangtown." to Miss Josephine Hlodecker, whom he had known in St. Louis and who was the daughter of the late Philip Hodecker, and they have had four children: Mary, the eldest daughter, is the wife of John C. Early, of San Andreas. George Edward is married and is connected with his father in his ranch enterprise. William Walter has become prominent in connection with mining interests. Andrew Lincoln, the youngest, was born November 8, 1864. the day on which Mr. Lincoln was elected the second time the president of the United States: for Mr. Steel is a Republican, stanch and enthusiastic. Ile has been an Odd Fellow for fifty years, and is not only one of the oldest but also one of the most honored members of the order in the state. He has been the treasurer of his lodge so long that he cannot remember when he was first elected to the office.
PARDON BOWEN SMITH, SR.
California is under heavy obligations to the New England Yankee. He arrived here early in the history of her development and has been a potent factor in all her progress and prosperity. Pardon Bowen Smith, Sr., a na- tive of Maine, arrived in California in 1850, and is yet living on a fine ranch near Jamestown, Tuolumne county, honored as a pioneer and respected as a citizen.
Mr. Smith was born in Kennebec county, Maine, October 18. 1831. Ilis ancestry was English and the American progenitors of his family were among the early settlers at Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, and in Rhode Island, and he is of the eighth generation born on American soil. In the maternal line he is descended from those Wings who have taken their place in history as pioneers of New England and with the Smiths as patriot sol- diers in the Revolution. Mr. Smith's father, Pardon Bowen Smith, was born at Readfield, Maine, and married Lucinda Wing, a native of Maine and a daughter of Ebenezer Wing, of Revolutionary fame, who fought for his country in the war of 1812, as his father before him had fought in the Revolution. He died in 1842. in his fiftieth year, his wife in 1884, in her eighty-third year. the latter at Colwich, Sedgwick county, Kan- sas. Mrs. Smith, who was of the seventh generation of her family born in Massachusetts, was a woman of good ability and education, and Mr. Smith was a man of much force of character, who bequeathed a good name to his children, of whom he had eight, five of whom are living at this time.
Pardon Bowen Smith, the subject of this sketch, lived on his father's farm in Maine until he was twelve years old, when he began the battle of life for himself. He had received some education in the common schools near his home. In 1846, when he was fifteen years old. he secured employment in a bakery, in which he remained until, in 1849, under the influence of the
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gold fever, he sailed from Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, around the Horn for California. He embarked September 1, 1849, and arrived at San Francisco, February 15, 1850, paying for his passage by employment on the vessel as a baker and receiving ten dollars a month besides his board. After staying two weeks at San Francisco, he went up to Stockton on the brig Vesta, the same which took the filibuster Walker to Nicaragua, and ar- rived there two weeks after leaving San Francisco. After a fortnight's stay at Stockton, he went on to Wood's creek, Tuolumne county, where he en- gaged in placer mining with considerable success and where in 1851 he bought a water ditch, since known as Smith's ditch, which he has owned and managed advantageously to this time. It is eight miles in length and in the early days supplied water for placer-mining, but is now used to sup- ply water for irrigation and for quartz-mining at Jamestown, Campo Seco, Stent and Quartz. He also bought five hundred acres of land on which, in 1855, he built his present good ranch residence. He has a quartz mine within a mile of his home on the Fleming vein and still mines extensively, taking out thousands of dollars each year.
During the Civil war Mr. Smith was the captain of a militia company organized for home protection and to aid in keeping the state of California in the Union. That period witnessed many exciting and trying events in Tuolumne county and is sometimes referred to as "days that tried men's souls," and a great debt of gratitude is due to the patriotic Union men who had the courage of their convictions and stood out boldly for the right re- gardless of personal consequences. Mr. Smith has been a Republican since the organization of that party. He is a man of much public spirit and takes high rank as a business man. He and his wife have a wide and influential acquaintance and are held in the esteem of all who know them. He was married in 1854 to Miss Johanna J. Lyon, a native of Sidney, Maine, whom he had known since she was a little girl and who came out to California in 1856. They have had ten children, eight of whom are living. Matilda, their eldest daughter, was born at Augusta, Maine, and is the wife of Gilbert B. Neighbor. Pardon Bowen Smith, Jr., and George W. Smith, men of fam- ilies, live near their parents. Abraham Lincoln Smith is a member of his father's household. Johanna J. married H. M. Pease. Cynthia is the wife of Frank W. Mugler. Mary married Lemuel M. McRae. Walter H. lives at Columbia, Tuolumne county.
CHARLES H. BURDEN.
One of the prominent business men and public officials of Tuolumne county. California, is Charles Henry Burden. the subject of this sketch. He is a native of England, born on the 18th of October. 1847. his parents being Charles and Caroline ( Old) Burden, natives of England. Mr. Burden. with wife and four children, emigrated to America. reaching Tuolumne county in April. 1854. where he immediately engaged in mining, meeting with sic- secc, but later losing his earnings in the New York mine. He was a cabinet-
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maker by trade, and moved to Sonora in 1858, where he followed his trade for a season, and then bought a stock of furniture and founded the business which his son has since carried on with so much success.
In 1861 Mr. Burden lost his stock by fire. but he immediately rebuilt and began again, continuing at the same location until his death, in 1895, at the age of seventy-two years. His record was that of a reliable and honest Isiness man for forty-six years, a stanch upholder of the principles of the Republican party and a man to be trusted with either public or private affair .. He had been town trustee for twelve years, of Sonora, for ten years being chairman of the board. In England he had been prominently identified with the Order of Odd Fellows, hokling prominent positions, and in California became a valued member. His wife died two years later, the fiftieth anniver sary of their marriage having been passed together. Both were devoted members of the Episcopal church, in which Mr. Burden has been warden for many years. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Burden in Cali- fornia, the family record being: Elizabeth Ann, now Mrs. S. Il. Jefferds ; William M .: Julia, who died on the passage to America, and was buried at sea: Frederick George. a dealer in paints, oils and wall paper, in Sonora: Martha Grace, who married Richard Inch, but is deceased; and Carrie, who died in Sonora.
Charles Henry Burden was six years of age when his parents came to Tuohunne county. He was sent to the best schools in the neighborhood. but the education to be obtained in them, at that time, was very incomplete and Mr. Burden is, in a great measure, a self-educated man, possessing a large fund of general information. Ile entered the furniture business with his father, continuing until the latter's death, when the property and business was inherited by the sons. After two years of partnership. Charles bought the interest of his brother, since then continuing it alone. It is the pioneer house of its kind in Sonora, and Mr. Burden has shown taste and judgment in his selections, seeming entirely to suit his patrons of every degree through- out the county.
The marriage of Mr. Burden took place July 1, 1869, to Miss Emma H. Reuter, a native of New York, of German ancestry. They have six living children, namely: Charles II., Jr. ; William Edwin: Emma Grace, the wife of George Brown: Caroline Augusta; Frederick E. and Ralph L. Mr. and Mrs. Burden occupy one of the most beautiful homes in Sonora, the taste and refinement of the surroundings reflecting its owners character. They both are valued members of the Episcopalian church, to which Mr. Burden has recently presented a fine toned organ, in honor of his beloved mother who was so long one of the church's most valued members.
In politics Mr. Burden has taken an active part for many years, being a stanch upholder of Republican principles, and has been the president of the Mckinley club of Sonora. Socially he is connected with many organizations. being a member of Mount Horeb Lodge, No. 58. 1. O. O. F., and of Bakl Mountain Encampment No. 4. 1. O. O. F., being the recording secretary wi the latter ; a member of Tuohne Lodge, No. 8, F. & A. M. : also Royal
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Arch and Knight Templar, having received all the York rite degrees; also a past workman of the A. O. U. W. In Mr. Burden is found a citizen who has been truly interested in the prosperity of his country, his section and his family and church.
HENRY B. RHODES.
The horologe of time has marked over fifty-one years since the date when Mr. Rhodes arrived in California, and thirty-two years were added to the cycle of the century while he maintained his connection with the inter- ests of the Golden state. He was called to the home beyond in 1881, but is well remembered by many of the residents of Calaveras county as a man of sterling worth and high principle, reliable in business and honorable in all the walks of private life.
He was born in Virginia, in February, 1812, and many of the better ele- ments of his English and German ancestry were manifest in his career. The family which he represented was early founded in the Old Dominion. In the schools of his native town of Winchester he acquired his education, and. having arrived at mature years, he wedded Miss Margaret Wise, a native of the Old Dominion and a daughter of one of the heroes of the Revolution After their marriage they removed to Missouri and in 1849 Mr. Rhodes crossed the plains to California with oxen. In his neighborhood a company was formed, their train being composed of thirty wagons. While making the long journey across the almost interminable stretches of hot sand and over the mountains that impeded their progress toward the Pacific coast they met with no misfortunes, nor were they molested by the Indians. They arrived in Hangtown in September and Mr. Rhodes spent his first year in California in placer-mining, principally at Wood's creek in Tuolumne county. Later he opened a store at Peoria Bar on the Stanislaus river, conducting the same until 1852, when he sold out and went to meet his wife and little son, WV. H. H. Rhodes, their first born. The mother with her child was then en route for California, coming by way of the istlimus of Panama. The reunion was a very happy one and they located at Twenty-eight Mile House, where they conducted a hotel for some time. Subsequently they came to the ranch upon which Mr. Rhodes spent his remaining days and which is now owned and operated by his sons. The land was not then surveyed, but he secured six hundred acres and engaged in raising stock, hay and grain, and, his finan- cial resources increasing, he added to his farm until he became the owner of six thousand acres of land, one of the best ranches in this section of the state. He also owned realty in other places, being one of the most extensive landholders in central California. On his home farm he erected a very commo dious frame residence and other needed buildings for the shelter of grain and stock; in fact all modern improvements and accessories are there found. He has had as high as eight thousand sacks of wheat upon his place at one time, two hundred head of cattle and from five to seven thousand head of sheep. His business, thus assuming mammoth porportions, was so capably conducted that he secured for his labors a very handsome financial return.
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