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 94
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THOMAS B. GRAY.
Prominently identified with the business interests of Nevada City is Thomas Benton Gray. The Keystone state has furnished California with a large proportion of its exemplary men whose warm sympathy and willing lands have been prominent factors in the upbuilding of this great state. Among the number may be mentioned Mr. Gray, who was born in Sunbury. Center county, Pennsylvania, on the Ist of July, 1834. On the paternal side the ancestry can be traced in this country back to 1620, when the Gray fam- ily was founded in America. For many generations the Grays were prom- inent in England, and Sir John Gray was killed at the second battle of St. Albans, in 1461. The family crest was a lion couchant. Desire Gray, a
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daughter of Edward Gray, married a Mr. Kent and with him came to Amer- ica in the Mayflower, in 1620, she being the first white woman to land in this country. Her brother, John Gray, came later. He was a government pensioner, having lost an arm in the English navy. From him our subject is descended, being of the sixth generation removed. In all of the wars of the nation representatives of the name have loyally defended American rights. John Gray, the second of the name and a son of John Gray, the first, was born in the latter half of the seventeenth century and married Ruth Hebbard, in Beverly, Massachusetts, on the 28th of April, 1704. He died February 29, 1712, and his widow afterward became the wife of Benjamin Webster. John Gray, a son of John and Ruth ( Hebbard) Gray, was born in Beverly, Massachusetts, May 17, 1707, and at Windham, Connecticut, on the 26th of February, 1728, married Anne Hebbard. After her death he wedded Catherine Gardner, at Sharon, Connecticut, the wedding taking place on the 18th of September, 1747. She was the great-grandmother of our sub- ject and died in Sharon, in 1761.
James Gray, a son of John and Catherine ( Gardner) Gray, the grand- father of our subject, was born in Sharon, Connecticut, August 3. 1759. On the 26th of March, 1786, in Sharon, he married Parthena White, who was born in Sharon, in 1768. They had five sons and four daughters, of whom John White and James were born in Rutland, Vermont, while the others were natives of Hartwick, Otsego county, New York. In 1805 the grandfather, James Gray, removed from Bath, Steuben county, New York, and with his family settled in what has since been known as Gray's Valley or Hollow, in Tioga county, Pennsylvania. He owned a tract of dense timber land a mile square, on which a few settlers lived in log cabins, and in the forests there were many deer, elks, bears, panthers, wolves and foxes. Gray's Valley has since continuously been the home of some members of the family. At present Lafayette Gray, a second cousin of Thomas B. Gray, is living there. The grandfather, James Gray, died at the home of his son Victor, in Covington, Pennsylvania, in 1845. He served throughout the Revolutionary war, part of the time under his brother, Captain Silas Gray. of the Fourth New York troops. He was in several battles, notably the storming of Stony Point, July 15, 1779.
On the maternal side Mr. Gray, of this review, is also descended from old Revolutionary stock. His grandfather, Royal Cole, who was born in Dutchess county, New York, in 1757, served in the war for independence in the Fourth New York militia and also with Rhode Island troops. He was at the battle of Brandywine, Trenton and Princeton and was with Wash- ington's forlorn hope at Valley Forge in the winter of 1776. His wife. Hannah Cole, acted as a nurse in the Revolutionary war. They reared two sons and seven daughters and made their home in Wellsboro, Tioga county. Pennsylvania, where they both died. The grandfather was ninety-seven years of age at the time of his death, which was occasioned by patriotic excitement July 4, 1852. His wife was more than ninety years of age when called to the home beyond.
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John White Gray, the father of our subject, was born in Rutland, Ver- mont, January 3, 1788, and removed with his parents to Gray's Valley, Tioga county, Pennsylvania. When the country again became engaged in war with England he donned the uniform of the nation and went to the front under General Ilarrison. During the battle of Chippewa he sustained a severe wound in the forehead from a well-directed saber blow of an enemy. Prior to the war, in 1806, he had purchased the remaining time of his minority of his father for three hundred dollars, and entered upon an active, useful and sucessful business career. He founded the city of Covington, Pennsylvania, and was for many years a leading politician in that state, being twice a member of the Pennsylvania legislature. He was a great admirer of Thomas H. Benton and Stephen A. Douglas, having met them and worked with them in politics. He also enjoyed the personal friendship of General A. C. Dodge, W. F. Coolbaugh and Henry Gear, all since United States senators. It was Mr. Gray who first named Mr. Coolbaugh in the Democratic convention as a candidate for state senator of Iowa. In 1842 he removed from Pennsylvania to Iowa, locating in the city of Burlington.
On the 16th of September, 1832, John White Gray married Miss Mary Susan Cole, in Gray's Valley, Tioga county, Pennsylvania. Thomas Benton, of this review, is their eldest child. Amanda Sarah, who was born March 15, 1837, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was married February 4, 1857, to Homer H. Hemenway, at Lansing, Iowa. He is now a lumber merchant of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Their children, all natives of Lansing, Iowa, are Grant C., born January 8, 1858; Genett M., born December 8, 1860; Laura D., born November 17, 1864: Mabel G., born August II, 1867; and
Robert W., born April 26, 1872. Henry Clay Gray, a brother of our sub- ject, was born in Burlington, Iowa, August 15, 1842, and during the Civil war became a member of the Chicago Mercantile Battery, which command was under General Sherman in all of his operations in the west and pro- tected his retreat across the Yazoo river after his disastrous attack upon Vicksburg. Henry C. Gray married Matie Mason, in Chicago Illinois, in 1873, and is living in that city, where he has long been a grain broker and a member of the board of trade.
After the removal of his parents to Iowa, Thomas B. Gray remained with relatives in the Keystone state until fourteen years of age, when he joined the family in the west. He acquired his preliminary education in the public schools and completed his collegiate course in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, i11 1852. In 1854 he came to California and engaged in mining in Sierra county for three years. On the expiration of that period he returned to Iowa, where for a time he was connected with the educational interests of the state as a teacher. He also learned the printer's trade in the office of the Burlington Hawkeye. In 1864 he again came to the west, locating in Mon- tana, where he carried on farming. He also served as county assessor and county treasurer there for a period of six years, and on leaving Montana removed to Virginia City, Nevada, where he occupied the position of prin- cipal of the high school and was elected county superintendent of public
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schools in 1882 for two years. On the expiration of flap term he came to Nevada county, California, and had charge of the school here from 1884 until 1889. He was a most successful educator, having the ability to impart clearly and readily the knowledge he had acquired, and his faithful performance of each day's duty gave him courage and inspiration for the work of the next day. He is now largely interested in mining, being the principal owner of the Buckeye mine, which has yielded many tons of very rich ore. He also has the district agency for the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, and in the various branches of his business has met with creditable success.
In 1866, in Montana, Mr. Gray was united in marriage to Miss Cornelia Brooks, a native of Missouri, and they now have four children, all born in the Gallatin valley, Montana: Nettie, the wife of J. W. Fly, of Bozeman, Montana, born December 13, 1867; Lucy, at home, born October 16, 1869; Charles R., born September 15, 1874; and Harry B., born December 11, 1871. The latter has recently returned from Manila, being a member of Com- pany C, First Montana Regiment of Volunteers, with which command he participated in sixteen different engagements during his service in the Phil- ippine islands.
In politics Mr. Gray takes an active interest, supporting the Democratic party. Socially he is connected with the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the Royal Arch chapter and Eastern Star. He has filled the most impor- tant offices of the lodge and is a worthy representative of the craft. His identification with the educational and mining interests of Nevada county has made his history and integral part of the annals of this section of the state.
ALFRED L. GATZMAN.
When we view the extensive interests controlled by one individual we realize that the day of exclusively small undertakings is past and the era of gigantic enterprises is upon us. Alfred L. Gatzman is now extensively engaged in farming and stock-raising, having two thousand acres of splen- did wheat and grazing land in Stanislaus county, seven miles southeast of Knight's Ferry.
One of California's native sons, he was born in Stanislaus county. on the 20th of March, 1862. His father, Thomas Gatzman, emigrated from Germany to Boston, Massachusetts, when a young man and was there mar- ried to Miss Bertie Reves. He came to California by way of the isthmus of Panama in the year 1851 and for some time engaged in the bakery busi- ness above Sacramento, after which he removed to a good stock ranch north of Knight's Ferry, there engaging in stock-raising for some years and sub- sequently took up his abode in Dry Creek valley, Stanislaus county, where he made his home up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1888, when he was seventy years of age. His wife still survives him and is now seventy- six years of age. They had five children, three daughters and two sons.
Alfred L. Gatzman, the youngest of the family, acquired a limited edu-
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cation in the district schools, but in the more rigorous school of experience he has gained a practical and complete knowledge and is now one of Stanis- laus county's most enterprising, industrious and successful farmers and stock-raisers. He was married on the 16th of January, 1884, to Miss Eliza- beth Emma Smith, who was born in Stanislaus county in 1857, a daughter of William A. Smith, whose birth occurred in Sangamon county, Illinois. and who came to California in 1852. While en route to this state he was married, at Fort Kearney, to Miss Sarah Ward, a daughter of Isaac Ward, a wealthy farmer of Platte county, Missouri, who emigrated to California at the time Mr. Gatzman crossed the plains and became a prominent pioneer of San Joaquin county. He spent three years in Oregon, thence removed to Shasta county, this state, and from there to Columbia in Tuolumne county. Later he took up his abode in Dry Creek valley in Stanislaus county, near where Mrs. Gatzman now resides. He had two hundred and forty acres of land on which he made a good living. Later he removed to the hills, where he owned fifteen hundred acres of land and was engaged in the stock busi- ness, first raising sheep and later cattle and horses.
He died on the 13th of February, 1898, at the age of sixty-five years, and the community mourned the loss of one of its highly respected citizens. His widow still survives him and is now in the sixty-eighth year of lier age. They were the parents of thirteen children, of whom nine are still living. Mrs. Gatzman was the fourth member of this family and by her marriage she has become the mother of eight children, as follows: Lillian Alice. Flos- sie May, Rose Clarina, Alfred Edward, Mary Belle, Bessie Lee, Frank Ray- mond and Fred Karl. In 1890 Mr. Gatzman purchased the farm in Dry Creek valley which had formerly belonged to his wife's father and where she was born. It now comprises part of his extensive landed possessions, for he to-day owns two thousand acres of fine land, which is devoted to the raising of wheat and live stock. The rich soil makes his business profitable and he thus secures a good return for his labor. His wife is the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land in the foot-hills. Of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Mr. Gatzman is a member, belonging to Stanislaus Lodge, No. 170, at Knight's Ferry; also of Summit Lodge, No. 112. F. & A. M., at the same place; his wife holds membership in the Order of the Eastern Star. In politics he is a Republican. Having spent their entire lives in California and having long resided in Stanislaus county, Mr. and Mrs. Gatzman are widely known and their many excellencies of character have gained for them a high standing in the esteem of their many friends.
GEORGE D. KELLOGG.
A well known representative of the business interests in Newcastle, Placer county, is George D. Kellogg, who is now a prominent fruit-grower, buyer and shipper of all kinds of fruits. He is a native of the state of New York, born in Litchfield, Herkimer county, on the 23d of June, 1843. He traces his ancestry back to Samuel Kellogg, one of the Puritans who landed
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from the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock. His grandfather, Noah Kellogg, fought under Washington in the Revolution. Several generations of the family have resided in Connecticut.
Nathaniel Kellogg, the father of our subject, was born in Rome, New York, on the 23d of August, 1797, and married Miss Sarah Sizer, a native of Russell, Massachusetts, a descendant of Colonel Sizer, who was General Washington's private secretary and was of English, French and Portuguese ancestry, representing the families of those nationalities that early located in the colonies. Nathaniel Kellogg was a farmer, and in May, 1847. removed to Wisconsin, locating on a tract of land adjoining what is now the site of the city of Madison. The State University agricultural farm was afterward on a portion of the land which he entered from the government in pioneer days, and developed from its primitive condition to a high state of cultivation. He attained the age of eighty-eight years and died in 1886, while his wife departed this life in August, 1899, at the age of ninety-four years. They were Methodists in religious faith, and were the parents of eleven children, four sons and seven daughters, nine of the family still surviving.
George D. Kellogg was the youngest of the four sons. He was edu- cated in the public schools of Madison, Wisconsin, and was just ready to enter the State University, in the nineteenth year of his age, when his coun- try's urgent call for volunteers to aid in suppressing the Rebellion caused him to put aside his idea of pursuing a collegiate course and join the army. The blood of the Revolutionary heroes was in him and with the example of the illustrous ancestor before him, and prompted by the spirit of patrioti-m. he went forth in defense of the country, enlisting August 6, 1862, with Company A, Twenty-third Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He served in the Army of the Tennessee, Mississippi and of the Gulf under Grant, Sher- man and Canby and for ninety-seven days he was constantly under fire. le participated in seventeen battles and for forty-seven consecutive days was engaged in fighting at the siege of Vicksburg. He was never absent from his company for a single day, and though the missiles of death flew thick around him and his comrades fell on every side he never received a scratch. Two years after the great struggle for the supremacy of the Union, Governor Lucius Fairchild of Wisconsin commissioned him brevet captain for meri- torious services in the charge on Vicksburg. He had enlisted in August, 1862, and remained at the front until honorably discharged on the 20th of July, 1865, having faithfully served his country for three years. He returned to his home a hero and a victor and his splendid army record is one of which he has every reason to be proud.
In 1869 Mr. Kellogg was happily married to Miss Lavinia II. 11un- tington, of Mazomanie, Wisconsin, a daughter of John Huntington, an English gentleman. Her mother, Miss Ellanor Hughes, was of Welsh ances- try. They removed to Moundville, Vernon county, Missouri, and Mr. Kel- logg engaged in farming there. On the ist of April, 1875. he started for California. Their daughter, Jessie M., was born at Moundville, Vernon county, Missouri, May, 10, 1875, and is now living with her father at his
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pleasant home in Newcastle, California. She is a graduate of the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music, and is a very proficient musician and musical instructor. In August, 1875, Mrs. Kellogg, with the two children, joined her husband in their California home, where Mr. Kellogg had a position as a bookkeeper for the Bear River Mill Company, at Alta. Their oldest son, Herbert, died at the age of three years. The other son, George H., has been added to the family since its arrival in California, his birth having occurred in Alta, Placer county, March 4. 1877. He is at home and assists his father in his fruit-shipping business, as head bookkeeper. The fam- ily remained at .Alta for a time, but on the 15th of November, 1878, removed to Newcastle where they still reside. Mr. Kellogg's home ranch, which adjoins the town, contains sixty acres, and on it he has orchards of choice fruits. There is also a very pleasant and delightful residence and an air of culture and refinement pervades the place. In addition to this farm he now has ser- eral tracts of land in different parts of the county and town devoted to the growing of both deciduous and citrus fruits. In 1881 he established his fruit buying and shipping business and he now has a large fruit-packing house and evaporator, and convenient offices, supplied with all the appli- ances needful for the conduct of his business in modern style. He has a splendid display of the fruits of this section in large glass jars. He has a very large trade and finds a ready sale in the market for the products of his own orchards and any other fruit which he handles, and is thoroughly informed on horticulture in many of its branches. He has been very active and prom- inent in promoting fruit-culture in Placer county, and this has contributed in a large measure to its prosperity, for this industry has now become one of the most important in northern California. In his business methods he is ever honorable and straightforward and he also enjoys the reputation of being one of the most progressive and liberal men of his town. He takes a very deep interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of Newcastle and his name always heads the subscription list of any enterprise that is being estab- lished for public benefit.
Mr. Kellogg's aid and interest in church work is of the most commend- able character. He is a very zealous and consistent member of the Method- ist church of Newcastle, giving of his time and means freely to its support and to the advancement of its welfare. He became a member of the church in 1867 and since that time has been very active and earnest in its work. always ready to aid in any movement for its upbuilding and progress, yet at the same time performing his labors in the spirit of the admonition, "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." Since coming to New- castle he has served as the recording steward of the church, as trustee, stew- ard and for twenty-one years he has been the faithful and loved superint 11- dent of the Sunday-school. It is safe to say that during the last two decades he has become known to every child and young person in the town, and in them he takes a very deep interest. His cordial greeting, kindly manner a.id words of advice and assistance are treasured by them, and it is safe to say that no man in Newcastle is more beloved by the young than Mr. Kellogg.
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His high Christian character and good work are admired even by those not connected with the church, and in his life he has certainly obeyed the injunc- tion, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." In 1900 Mr. Kellogg Had the honor of being elected a lay delegate to represent the Methodist church of California at the general conference held at Chicago. He discharged the duties of this office in the most creditable manner, as a representative of the California church.
In politics he may be termed a Republican-Prohibitionist. endorsing many of the principles of the Republican party and at the same time strongly favoring the prohibitionist movement. He is ever ready to do what he can to rescue his fellow men from the curse of intemperence and is identified with the Independent Order of Good Templars, in which order he has served them as grand chief templar for two terms, and as a representative to the supreme lodge. He also belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen and to the Grand Army of the Republic, and was one of the organizers of the Colonel E. D. Baker Post, No. 71. He acted as its first commander and has since continued to be one of its most reliable members. He and his family have the high regard and respect of a host of friends.
WARREN C. GREEN.
Of the mercantile interests of Georgetown Warren C. Green is a well known representative, and he is also one of the most prominent and successful mining men of the county. Of California he is a native son, his birth having occurred in Placer county on the 22d of July, 1862. His father, R. P. Green, was born in Springfield, Illinois, in 1824, and engaged in lead mining at Galena, that state. He came to Eldorado county at an early epoch in the development of California and engaged in placer mining. In 1859, however, he returned by way of the water route for his family, and with them came across the plains to the Pacific coast. They were annoyed by the Indians and the men in the train sometimes stood guard all night to give the warn- if the savages should make an attack. On other occasions they traveled all night in order to escape the red men.
On the second trip Mr. Green was accompanied by his brother, Wright F. Green, who now resides in Los Angeles.
On again reaching the Golden state the father of our subject located in Placerville where he continued mining. At one time he was connected with a mining venture whereby he lost five thousand dollars, but subsequently hc took out gold enough in six months to meet all his indebtedness. In 1864 his wife died, in the twenty-fourth year of her age, leaving to him the care of their two sons, Edwin and Warren C. He then discontinued mining and was in the stock business for some years, In 1880 he removed to Montana, locating at Corvallis. They were eleven months traveling by wagon, spending the winter at Salem and reaching the Bitter Root valley on the 26th of July, 1880. There the father located on four hundred and eighty acres of land on which he erected a good home, making it his place of abode until his life's
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labors were ended in death, on the 24th day of February, 1895, when he was in his seventy-first year. Edwin Green, who came to California with his father and mother, on the former's second trip across the plains, is now associ- ated with his brother in the store at Georgetown. He married Emily Gardner and they have five children : Ruth, Walter. Frank, Hazel and a baby. The Green brothers are rated among the most enterprising business men of the county and are proprietors of the leading mercantile establishment at George- town.
Warren C. Green was educated in the public schools of Eldorado county and in Colusa county, and at the age of eighteen he put aside his text-books to learn the more difficult lessons in the schools of experience. He embarked in mining as a common laborer and was employed in that way for two years, after which he served as a foreman of mines for two years. On the expiration of that period he became a mine owner and mine superintendent, but con- tinued his active connection with the development of mines until January, 1899, when he purchased a general mercantile store in Georgetown. He has since conducted this enterprise and has found it a profitable source of income, but he is still largely interested in the development of the mineral resources in this part of the state, and has seven hundred acres of mining land four iniles east of Placerville. For a number of years he has been one of the most active and successful promoters of mining in his county and he has in his possession thirty-two pieces of pure gold taken from his mines that are valued at from twelve to one hundred dollars, the value of the entire collection being eight hundred dollars. He also has a five-dollar gold piece which was made in 1849, of pure California gold, the government permitting private parties to coin gold at that early day. It was found by a placer miner when washing for gold and is a very valuable piece of money which would command much more than its face value. Mr. Green has purchased and sold many mining properties and his dealings have brought to him an excellent financial return. At one time he had three hundred acres of land on the Georgetown divide which he sold to the Two Channels Mining Company mostly formed of Indi- napolis capitalists.
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