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 78
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Moses Adams, the third child of the family, acquired his elementary edu- cation in the public schools of Vermont, and at the age of eighteen began to learn the carpenter's trade, following that vocation in the east until 1862, in which year he came to California, in August. In Sacramento he joined his brother Otis, who had come to this state in 1854, having made the journey across the plains. They proceeded to Aurora, in Esmeralda county, Nevada. where for some time the subject of this review engaged in contracting and building. He then returned to the southern mines and engaged in the search for the precious metal at Angel's Camp and vicinity for two years, but met with only moderate success. Subsequently he returned to the east to visit his parents, relatives and friends, and since then has made the trip across the continent four times. After remaining for some time at his old home in Vermont, he went to Chicago, where he was engaged in the building business for a year, after which he returned to California, where he has since resided. The year 1873 witnessed his arrival in Modesto. The town had been founded in 1870, and Mr. Adams began work on the new court-house which was then being erected. Through the past twenty-seven years he has been actively engaged on many of the leading structures, including the Odd Fellows build- ing, of which he was also the architect, and the Modesto bank building, having charge of its construction and making it one of the model bank buildings of the state. During his residence in the city he has won a creditable reputation by reason of his skill, his executive force and his thoroughly reliable methods.
Mr. Adams belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having become identified with the fraternity in all its branches, his connection there- with covering a period of more than a quarter of a century. He passed all
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the chairs in both the subordinate lodge and the encampment. In politics he has been a life-long Republican, and is earnest in his support of the party which stands for the protection of American industries, for national expan- sion and which believes in upholding the supremacy of the flag wherever it has been planted.
Mr. Adams returned to the east in 1890, and on the 24th of September of that year was united in marriage, in his native town of Waterford, to Miss Mary E. Ladd, who was born in that town and is a representative of that branch of the Ladd family of which his mother was a member. She had for some years been a successful teacher in her native state and is a lady of sterling worth, culture and refinement. Their union has been a most happy one, and on the 24th of May, 1892, there came to bless their home a little son, whom they named Ezra Parker. Theirs is one of the pleasant residences of Modest". It was erected by Mr. Adams and is surrounded by orange and other fruit and ornamental trees which were planted by him. Both Mr. and Mrs. Adams enjoy the warm regard of a large circle of friends in Modesto and in the best homes of the community they receive a cordial welcome.
PHILO H. MEDLEY.
Philo Hamilton Medley, of Modesto, is engaged in the book and sta- tionery business and conducts a well appointed store in which he receives a liberal patronage. Ile was born in the town of Howland, Trumbull county. Ohio, on the 17th of July, 1836, and is of Welsh and Scotch ancestry. His grandfather, Elijah Medley, emigrated to New York at an early date, and his son, Elias Medley, was born in Ohio, whither the grandfather had removed during the pioneer development of the Buckeye state. The father of our sub- ject was educated in Ohio and in 1846 removed to Grant county, Wisconsin. having in the meantime married Miss Margaret Aun Espey. a rative of Penn- sylvania. Her ancestors were Scotch and located in the Keystone state at an early date. On his removal to Wisconsin Mr. Medley was accompanied by his wife and four children. Ile purchased government land in Grant county and became a pioneer farmer there, continuing to devote his energies t agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred in 1881, when he was seventy-two years of age. His good wife survived him until 7894, when she passed away, at the age of eighty-jour. Two children were added to their family in Wisconsin, and six of the seven children still survive.
Philo H. Medley, being the only one of the family in California, was reared on his father's farm in the Badger state, working in the fields through the summer months, plowing, planting and harvesting. In the winter season he comhed his lessons in an old time log school-house furnished with slab Seats al he med by an ingens, fire place. In 1859. when he was twenty one yours of age, he crossed the plains to California, with oxen, in company with thirce gentlemen. They had one wagon and three yoke of oxen and were well armed. this being prepare 1 for any attack that might be made by the lians or the desperate character, that then infestel the west. They made
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the journey by way of Salt Lake City and at length arrived safely at their destination, after five months spent upon the road. Mr. Medley first located at Placerville, Eldorado county ; thence came to the Sacramento valley, work- ing on a farm for four months, at thirty dollars per month. Subsequently, however, he returned to Placerville and for eight months engaged in driving three yoke of oxen from that place to the mountains, hauling shakes. For this service he received thirty-five dollars per month. Later he began work at the blacksmith's trade, which he followed in Placerville from 1861 to Jan- uary, 1863.
He then went to Aurora, Nevada, and opened a shop of his own. Aurora was then a very rough town, in which crime was prevalent, being committed with a high hand and the lawless element was so bold that no man's life or property was safe. In 1864 a Peter Johnson, a farmer, was murdered, and Mr. Medley was one of those who served on the coroner's jury. The deed was so bold and the gang was so daring that they had no trouble in ascertaining the perpetrators of the crime, John Daily being the leader. Associated with him in this and other crimes, was "Black-leg" Gallagher and "Three-fingered" Jack and another man. Two days after the verdict of the jury was announced a vigilance committee took those men out and hanged them in broad daylight in the presence of more than one thousand people, a company of volunteer infantry and a company of cavalry giving their assent to the execution! When the rough characters of the community saw that the law-abiding citizens had taken matters into their own hands and that criminals were to be prosecuted, they fled the district and life was thus made more secure.
Mr. Medley continued in business in Aurora until 1867, when he went to Columbia, Tuolumne county, where he carried on blacksmithing for a time, and subsequently conducted the Fallon Hotel. In 1873 he came to Modesto, where he opened his book and stationery store and continued to conduct the same until 1885, when he sold out and retired from business. He was not actively connected with commercial affairs again until 1896, when he again opened a book and stationery store and is now enjoying a good trade in that line. He carried a large and well selected stock; and his earnest desire to please his patrons, combined with his unfailing courtesy and honorable business methods, has secured to him a very creditable success.
Mr. Medley is a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, has passed all the chairs in its various branches, and had the lionor of being chosen district deputy grand master. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity. His military connection began withi his enlist- ment as a private in the National Guards of California, becoming a member of Company D, of the Sixth Regiment. He was elected to serve as the second lieutenant for two years, and was then appointed on the staff of Colonel Eugene Lehe, with the rank of first lieutenant, and was the inspector of rifle practice. After the termination of Colonel Lehe's term he continued on the staff of Colonel J. J. Nunan, acting in the same capacity during the latter's service of four years. He was also for four years on the staff of Colonel S. S. Wright, and on the expiration of that period, at his own request, he was put
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on the retired list with the rank of first lieutenant. He had efficiently and intelligently served in the National Guard of California for fourteen successive years, making an honorable record in connection with the military history of the state. Mr. Medley has accumulated considerable property in Modesto and is living there amid a host of warm friends, whose confidence and good will he enjoys in an unusual degree.
ELI D. CLARK.
Eli D. Clark, the owner of the New El Dorado Hotel at Eldorado, Cali- fornia, is a native of the state of Iowa, born on the 15th of December, 1854. Rufus B. Clark, the father of the above-named gentleman, was a "Forty-niner." He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1795, and passed the greater part of his life in the middle states. After his arrival in California in 1849 he at once engaged in placer mining in Eldorado county, and met with signal suc- cess. In 1852 he returned east and made up a company which he brought back with him to this state, he having charge of this party while en route, as he also did of the first company with which he crossed the plains. He resumed mining in Eldorado county, which he continued uninterruptedly until 1860. That year he brought his family to California. He had married, in 1848, Miss Elizabeth Merritt, of Iowa, and two children were born to them in that state, one of whom is now Mrs. Lucy Margaret Levy, a resident of San Francisco. Another child, a son, was born to them in Lake Valley, California. Mr. Clark also had three children by a former marriage.
The winter of 1860-1 Mr. Clark and his family spent at Suisun, and in the spring he went up to the summit below Lake Tahoe, on the western side, and built what became known as Clark's Station. It was afterward called the Teamsters' Home, and later Philips Station. Subsequently Mr. Clark pur- chased the Van Sickle Hotel, to which he removed, and still later went to Lake Valley, purchased a ranch and built a hotel, which became known as the State Line House. He also speculated in mining operations and in a large ice plant at Virginia City. In the fall of 1867 he engaged in the hotel business at Shingle Springs. He remained there, however, only a short time. removing thence to Puget Sound, where, though then advanced in years, he was prom- inent and active in the movement which tended to the growth and prosperity of Seattle. Hle died in Seattle, in 1870, at the age of seventy-two years. Ilis widow survives him and is now a resident of Sacramento, where she enjoys the esteem of a large circle of old acquaintances. Of Rufus B. Clark it may be said that he was a thorough pioneer. New scenes and new enter- prises had for him a fascination, and he had the pluck and courage to carry through whatever he undertook. Up to the very close of his life he was active and progressive. He was patriotic and he reared a family of patriotic sons, two of whom, Mason and Sylvester, enlisted in the Union army during the Civil war and served until the conflict was ended, each receiving then an honor- able discharge. Mason is, and has been for years, a resident of Seattle, where he is operating in timber lands. He is a surveyor.
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Eli D. Clark was educated in Shingle Springs and at Placerville. During the time when teaming was such a profitable business he took advantage of the tide and made considerable money in hanling goods from Sacramento City to Placerville, and over the mountains to Bodie, Virginia City and Carson. In this freighting business he drove a six-horse team. Afterward he was variously employed. For some years he was in the saloon business in Eldo- rado. He conducted the Ivy House in Placerville and three years ran the Depot saloon at that place. In 1895 he built the New El Dorado Hotel, at Eldorado, which is the leading hotel in the town and which he has conducted the past five years. He also has other property interests here, owning the post-office building and a livery-stable building.
Mr. Clark was happily married on the 16th of May, 1884. to Miss Hattie Fitzgibbons, a native of Eldorado, and the union was blessed in the birth of two children,-Jessie Leola and Hattie Anneta. Mrs. Clark departed this life December 11, 1899. She was a member of Placerville Parlor, Native Daughters of the Golden West, and was a woman whose many estimable traits of character endeared her to her circle of friends.
Mr. Clark is a member of the Foresters of America, Court Confidence, No. 117, and is also a Druid, affiliating with California Grove, No. I. Politically he is an enthusiastic Republican.
JAMES LEFEVRE.
The Canadian-French element in our national commonwealth is descende.1 from French ancestry and has been a factor for good in our population. although it perhaps has not been so much in evidence as some other elements. The reason of this is probably in the fact that the people of this blood are not ambitious for publicity, but are lovers of home and have therefore not emigrated to all parts of the country as rapidly as other peoples that could be mentioned : yet they are found on the Pacific coast, and in Tuolumne county the French Canadian citizenship is worthily represented by the family of Lefevre, of which James Lefevre, a prominent resident of Quartz, is a well known member.
James Lefevre, who has ably filled the office of justice of the peace at Quartz and is at this writing a prominent Republican candidate for the office of county supervisor of Tuolumne county, is a son of Abraham and Mary Louise (Qutnel) Lefevre, both of whom were born of French ancestry in Canada, where their forefathers were early settlers. Abraham Lefevre, who was a native of Montreal, born October 17, 1815. in the course of events set- tled in Missouri, and there his son James was born, April 19, 1852. In 1856. when the subject of this sketch was four years old, his father came with his family to California and located at Stevens Bar, Tuolumne county, where he mined and conducted a hotel until 1866. In the year just mentioned he removed to Quartz mountain, where he resumed hotel-keeping and took up quartz-mining, and remained until his death, which occurred July 24. 1884. when lie was sixty-nine years old. His wife survived him until June 18,
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1899. when she died, at the age of seventy-eight years. He was a pushing. industrious, thoroughly reliable business man, of much private enterprise and public spirit. James Lefevre is his only child.
Mr. Lefevre was educated in Tuolumne county, inherited the family homestead and was in the liquor and hotel business until 1897, and was associated meanwhile with various mining enterprises. He sold his interest in the Clark mine for five thousand dollars and now has an interest in the Lava Hill mine, which is being operated with success. He is a business man of ability and his interest in county affairs has led him into public life. He has always voted the Republican ticket and worked for the success of Republi- can principles. He was elected a justice of the peace in 1898 and has filled that office with so much fidelity and good judgment that the decisions he has rendered have given general satisfaction, and not one of them has been reversed by a higher court. In the fall of 1900 he was nominated by his party for the office of supervisor of the fifth district of Tuolumne county, but was defeated. He is not a member of any secret society, is quiet and unas- suming and has never made any special effort to gain public favor. His hos- pitable home is one of the landmarks of the town and he and his family are widely known and highly respected.
In 1874 Mr. Lefevre married Miss Helen Sweet, who was born in Illi- nois, in 1854. and came with her parents to California in 1856. They have three children : Mabel, who married G. H. Cornell; James Edward and Ruby.
WILLIAM N. FINNEY, M. D.
Devoted to the noble and humane profession that has for its object the alleviation of human suffering. Dr. Finney has gained notable precedence as a regular physician and surgeon. He is practicing in Lincoln and his patronage is extensive. He was born on the Ist of February. 1849. in Vienna, Johnson county, Illinois, and on the paternal side is a representative of one of the old families of Virginia, while his maternal ancestors were from Tennessee. His paternal grandfather became one of the pioneer set- tlers of Illinois, and there G. P. Finney, the Doctor's father, was born and reared. When he had arrived at years of maturity he married Miss Rachel Latham, who also was a native of Illinois and a consistent member of the Methodist church. Mr. Finney followed agricultural pursuits as a means of livelihood, having for his family a wife and eight children. He died in the thirty-ninth year of his age. and his wife departed this life in her thirty- fourth year. Only two of the children now survive.
The Doctor acquired his preliminary education in the public schools, and his professional training was obtained in the Missouri Medical College, in which he was graduated in March, 1878. He began the practice of his profession at Clear Creek. Illinois, and for six years was a member of the medical fraternity of Missouri, also conducting a drug store there. In 1888. however, he disposed of his interests in the Mississippi valley and came to California, establishing his home in Lincoln, where he soon acquired a large
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and lucrative practice. He realizes fully the responsibility which devolves upon the profession and is therefore a close and earnest student, who embraces every means that will assist him in preserving health and life. He has made judicious investments of his capital and is now the owner of a good resi- dence in Lincoln and a ranch of one hundred and fifty acres, on which he is raising Jersey cattle and fine poultry. The loyal and patriotic spirit of Dr. Finney was manifest in his boyhood, and on the Ist of January, 1865, when he was only fifteen years of age, he enlisted in Company E of the Twenty- ninth Illinois Infantry, for service in the Union army. With his regiment he was sent to Texas to aid in suppressing secession movements there and in guarding government property. At the close of the war he received an honorable discharge, and while in the east he was a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic and served on the pension board for two years. He is a Royal Arch Mason, is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and of the Independent Order of Foresters. He is of a genial nature and sterling worth which renders him a favorite with his brethren of these fraternities. His political support is given to the Republican party and he and his family are Congregationalists in religious connection.
The Doctor was married, in Eldorado, Saline county, Illinois, to Miss Rachel Baine, and three children were born to them: Charles Edward, who is now engaged in the drug business; Ellen, now the wife of F. C. DeLong; and Alice B., the wife of H. Taylor. Both daughters are residents of New York city. The mother died in 1885. and after coming to California Dr. Fin- ney was married to Mrs. Martha F. Leavell, who by her first marriage had two sons: Lewis and Arthur, whom they have reared. One is now in the drug business, the other in the grocery business. There are two children by the second marriage: John Marshall and Norma Frances.
Dr. Finney is a popular resident of Lincoln, rendered so by his uniform courtesy, kindly disposition and interest in others' welfare, as well as his professional skill and ability.
THOMAS ROBERT SCOON.
The combination of pure Scotch and English blood with that of good American families has in all periods of our history been productive of a high order of citizenship. Of such stock is Thomas Robert Scoon, the dep- nity auditor and recorder of Stanislaus county, California, and in 1900 the candidate of the Republican party to represent his district in the state legis- lature. James Scoon, his father, was born in Scotland, and came to the United States with his parents when he was seven years old. The family settled first in the state of New York and removed thence to Michigan and thence to Marshall county, Illinois, where in the course of events James Scoon married Alice Manock, a native of England and a daughter of Thomas Manock, who had lived in the United States since her childhood. James Scoon became influential in his township in Marshall county, Illinois, and held many important offices there.
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Thomas Robert Scoon was born at his father's old home in Marshall county, Illinois, April 3, 1874, and came with his father's family to Cali- fornia in 1886. The family settled in Tulare county, where James Scoon, who had served through the Civil war as a member of Company D. Seventy- seventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, soon became well acquainted through other ex-soldiers and was for a time a prominent stock-raiser. He now lives in Alameda county, where he is well known as a stockman and produce and meat dealer. He has attained to the age of fifty-six and his wife to the age of fifty-two. They have had five children, four of whom are living, their two daughters in their parents' household and their son, Walter T., at Fresno, where he is in the employ of the First National Bank of Fresno.
Thomas Robert Scoon was educated in public schools in Tulare county and at the University of California. For three years he was a grocer at Oakdale, Stanislaus county, and during that time was the assistant post- master at that place. In October, 1899. he was appointed deputy auditor and recorder of Stanislaus county, a position for which his ability as a busi- ness man and his special qualifications as a fine penman and expert accountant eminently fitted him. His activity in the work of his party no less than his efficiency in office commended him so strongly to the good opinion of his fel- low citizens that he was in 1900 nominated by the Republicans to represent his county in the state legislature. Although he was defeated he ran one hundred and fifty ahead of the ticket in his own county, and was later appointed to a position in the navy department, bureau of construction and repairs, by the secretary of the navy.
Mr. Scoon is a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias and holds the office- of keeper of records and seals and master of finances in the local organization of that order. He has identified himself with many movements which in his opinion have promised to benefit his fellow citizens, and his public spirit has been found equal to all demands upon it under any and all conditions. His fidelity and ability are such that he is most w rthy to fill any high position to which he may be called, and he occupies so safe a place in the good will of his fellow citizens that his further advancement is a matter only of time and opportunity.
ALEXANDER KELLEY.
Vexander Kelley, of Eldorado, dates his arrival in California in the year 1852. Following is a resume of his life history :
Alexander Kelley was born in Hopkins, New York. January 6. 1830. and is descended from Scotch ancestors who were among the carly settlers of Vermont. His grandfather Kelley fought for independence in the Revo- lutionary war. Alexander Kelley, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Vermont and was married in New England to Miss Mary Davis, a native of Boston, Massachusetts. They removed successively to Pennsyl- vania, Ohio, Missouri and Iowa, and finally to Utah and Idaho. Previous
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to their removal to the far west they were converted to the Mormon faith. The father reached the ripe old age of eighty-six years. The mother was seventy-four when she died, her death occurring at Ogden, Utah. They were the parents of seven children, of whom four are living, Alexander and William D. being the only ones in California. George Kelley, an older brother. was in the Mexican war, and at its close came to California and was dis- charged in Los Angeles. He was at Sutter's Fort and at Coloma when gold was discovered, and worked there until the following summer. Then with a company of sixty he left for Utah. This party was well armed, having three of General Sutter's guns with them, and they opened the route across the mountains. At Tragedy Springs they had a fight with the Indians, in which three of the party-Cox, Bruitt and Allen-were killed. In 1851 George Kelley met his parents and other members of the family at Salt Lake. He returned to California the same year, was engaged in different pursuits here, and during the gold excitement in Idaho went to that place. He was never afterward heard from.
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