USA > California > Merced County > A history of Merced County, California : with a biographical review of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 42
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Henry Nelson attended school in San Francisco and Merced Falls and at Nicholson's Seminary in Stockton, in 1865, and the Pacific Business College in San Francisco in 1866. This school became the nucleus of Heald's Business College, Mr. Heald being Nelson's teacher. In the first school he attended, the first in San Francisco, on Washington Street, Professor Pelton was the principal. His school days over, young Nelson returned to Merced County and be- gan driving team for his father, who ran Nelson's Flouring Mill at Merced Falls, delivering flour through Mariposa and parts of Tuo- lumne and Fresno Counties for three years. They sold over $2,500,- 000 worth of flour from the mill during its existence from 1854 to 1893, mostly in the hills. He then became solicitor for the mill, and also was bookkeeper a little later. In 1866 he was taken into part- nership by his father, William Nelson, in the mill at Merced Falls. He secured the stock subscribers for the Merced Falls Woolen Mill erected there in 1869. In 1868 Mr. Nelson bought wheat up and down the Merced River, some 500 tons, paying thirty dollars a ton for same; in two weeks the price jumped to fifty dollars per ton and he made a profit of $10,000. On April 4, 1872, the woolen mill burned down, also the flour mill. The fire is supposed to have caught in the picker room of the woolen mill. Nelson & Son had the con-
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trolling interest, amounting to about $20,000, in the concern. Both mills were rebuilt, but were again burned to the ground on September 23, 1893. While living in Merced Falls, William Nelson was post- master of the place and Henry had all the work to do for about thirty years; he also was secretary of the Woolen Mill Corporation.
Henry Nelson was married on June 16, 1869, at the Odd Fellows Hall in Hornitos, to Miss Lola Antoinette Lawrence, a daughter of Michael and Adelia (Heicox) Lawrence. Her father was born in Alsace-Lorraine and her mother in Naugatuck, Conn., and Mrs. Nel- son first saw the light at Lyons, Wayne County, N. Y. Of their mar- riage the following children have been born: William H., of Yose- mite; Mrs. Lola A. Cease, superintendent of Ahwahnee Sanitarium; Alma May, wife of John Taylor, of Merced; Inez Mildred, wife of Louis Dorn, of San Antonio, Tex .; Miss Etta Myrtle, of Merced; and Beatrice Hazel, who married Frank J. Duncan, of Merced.
Mrs. Nelson came out from the East with her father and three sisters, via Panama. Eudora married William Franklin Overstreet; and their daughter Fanny Eudora, who became the wife of George Kelsey, was reared by Mrs. Nelson after the death of her mother, when she was a little girl. William Lorenzo Overstreet, brother of Mrs. Kelsey, is editor of the paper at Carmel. Gussie married James D. Craighan, and their children are: Lilly, of San Francisco; Mrs. Minnie Morris, of Hollywood; Nettie Louise, a teacher in San Francisco; Mrs. Della Viola, wife of Charles K. Weller, of Fort Bragg; Mrs. C. E. (Favorite May) Kocher, of Berkeley; James D. Jr., of Sacramento. Louise, the oldest sister of Mrs. Nelson, mar- ried Mr. Logsdin and died on March 26, 1905. The four brothers of Mrs. Nelson are: Dr. Lorenzo Lawrence, who died in Sonoma about 1894; W. H. H. Lawrence, who died in Salinas in 1924 at the age of eighty-six; Raymond, who died in Mexico; and Francis, who died in early childhood in New York State. The mother also died there, after which the remaining members of the family came to California.
Mr. Nelson has always voted the Republican ticket on national issues, but in local affairs he considers the men best qualified for pub- lic office, regardless of their politics. He served as a member of the board of supervisors from District No. 1 for four years. Frater- nally he was a member of the Odd Fellows, having joined Willow Lodge No. 121, I. O. O. F., at Snelling, when he was twenty- one ; later he withdrew to join Hornitos Lodge No. 99, I. O. O. F., where he held his membership until about 1896. He also belonged to the Oso Encampment at Bear Valley, and passed the chairs of the lodge in the early nineties; and he was a member of the workmen
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until 1910. In early days Mr. Nelson belonged to the Sonora Rifle Club, of which Fred Sutton, Dr. Bromley, and Mr. Nelson are the only survivors.
THOMAS ALEXIS MACK
Of southern birth and lineage, Thomas Alexis Mack displays in his character many of the qualities that have distinguished citizens of that section of our country for generations, and have won for him- self a popularity and esteem which place him among the influential citizens of Merced County. He has been an active participant in public affairs for the past thirty-five years; for ten years he served as a constable of Merced, then became shotgun messenger for Wells, Fargo Express Company, a position he held for nine years, during the time when gold was transferred from the mountains to the rail- road, and each trip was fraught with danger. Mr. Mack established a reputation for courage and fearlessness, which led to his appoint- ment as a deputy sheriff in 1911. Upon the death of Sheriff Cornell, Mr. Mack was appointed to fill his position, and in 1916 he was elected without opposition; again in 1919 he was elected to succeed himself and still again in 1922. His service has been characterized by the strictest integrity, unbounded courage and a spirit of progress that has had a beneficial influence upon the community in general.
Thomas Alexis Mack was born in Carter County, Ky., in 1857, a son of John and Catherine (Roach) Mack, farmer folk in the southern State. Both parents are now deceased. Mr. Mack attended public school in Kentucky and assisted his father on the farm until 1880, when he removed to Washington County, Iowa, where he farmed for three years. His desire to come West was realized in 1883, when he settled at Snelling, Merced County, and found work on the Montgomery ranch. It was not until 1888 that he became a resident of Merced, which has been his place of residence ever since.
The marriage of Mr. Mack united him with Miss Nettie Yoakum, a native daughter of California, and of this union three children have been born. Maude is now the wife of A. T. Munn and they have one daughter, Virginia; the family resides in Los Angeles. George Tho- mas is an engineer for the State Highway Commission; during the World War he served in France for two years; and William Alexis is with the Yosemite Lumber Company. In politics Mr. Mack is a Democrat. Fraternally, he belongs to the Woodmen of the World and Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the Merced Chamber of Commerce.
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WILLIAM T. WHITE
Among the well-known men and progressive citizens of Merced County is William T. White, president of the White-Crowell Com- pany, Inc., of Livingston. He was born in Paris, Ky., on May 27, 1868, and was orphaned by the death of his father that same year, while his mother passed away ten years later, in California. William T. White grew up from infancy in the Golden State and received his education in the schools of Merced and San Jose. When he was twelve years old he entered the employ of Miller and Lux, Henry Miller treating him as a son, giving him every advantage possible with the corporation, and this close friendship lasted until the death of Mr. Miller. Promotion followed promotion and soon young White was placed in charge as manager of the Miller and Lux store and other interests at Los Banos. Mr. White's entire life, with the exception of seven years, has been spent in Merced County. Two years he was in the hotel business in Jamestown, two years in the merchandise business in Coulterville, and three years were spent in Old Mexico as a foreman in railroad construction.
In 1901 Mr. White returned to California and again entered the employ of Miller and Lux, where he remained until 1909, the period making him one of their trusted employees for twenty years. The last mentioned year he came to Livingston and purchased the interest of the late R. W. Hammatt in the general merchandise store, the firm becoming White and Crowell; this partnership was continued until 1919, when the business was incorporated under the firm name of White-Crowell Company, Inc. The officers of the corporation are William T. White, president; J. J. Boyle, vice-president; and L. E. White, secretary-treasurer. Mr. Boyle is in charge of the dry goods department, C. R. Davis is the head of the hardware department. Their grocery department was discontinued on January 1, 1923 and the business now includes dry goods, hardware and clothing, with a complete stock in each department.
On November 4, 1891, William T. White was united in marriage with Miss Sadie M. Crowell, a sister of F. E. Crowell, a former partner with Mr. White, and daughter of the late G. F. and Sarah (Warfield) Crowell. Mr. and Mrs. White have two children, Lester Eugene, mentioned on another page in this volume, and Ethel M., whose first husband was W. C. Close; her second marriage united her with N. C. Matthews, cashier of the First Bank of Livingston. Mr. White has been active in all movements for the advancement of his section of Merced County, was one of the organizers of the First Bank of Livingston, is an extensive rancher, landowner and vine- yardist, having a twenty-acre alfalfa ranch, a half interest in a fine
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forty-acre vineyard, and a half interest in a seventy-acre vineyard and alfalfa ranch near Livingston. During the World War he was at the head of the Red Cross and all bond drives in his section and helped put Livingston "over the top" each time. He served two years as the president of the Livingston Merchants Association, which he helped organize. He is the present president of the Boosters' Club, and was active in getting Livingston incorporated as a city of the sixth class in 1922. A friend of education, he serves as vice-presi- dent of the Merced Union High School, and was seven years a mem- ber of the board of trustees. He was the moving spirit in securing the Union High School for Livingston, the high school building being completed in October, 1924 at a cost of $150,000. Mr. White was appointed a member of the advisory committee to the board of super- visors on county highways, being appointed by the supervisors, and through their untiring efforts the many miles of concrete highways have been constructed in the county. In 1913 he completed one of the finest homes in Livingston, where the family reside. There has been no issue put forth for the advancement of Merced County that he has not done his share, giving of his time and means to keep Merced County and its diversified interests on the map. Fraternally, he is a member of the Elks and Knights of Pythias in Merced, and the Odd Fellows and Woodmen of the World in Los Banos, having been a member of the last two over thirty years.
WILLIAM MUMBY
In improving the opportunities that have come his way, Mr. Mumby, the proprietor of the principal hardware store in Dos Palos, has evinced both discretion and sound business judgment and has won an enviable place among the upbuilders of his locality. He was born in Lincolnshire, England, April 14, 1874, a son of William and Sarah Mumby, who came to Ontario, Canada, in the fall of 1874, when their son, William, was only six months old. After nine years in Canada they came to Saline County, Nebr., in 1883, where they engaged in farming. In February, 1895, they came to Dos Palos and farmed again. They both died in 1906.
The son, William, was educated in Nebraska and growing up on a farm, he drove teams for his father when he was only ten years old. From 1895 to 1906 he carried on a dairy farm in Merced County ; after that he was construction foreman for Miller & Lux, and steam engineer, a trade he had learned in Nebraska. In 1911 he started in the hardware business in Dos Palos on his own account, and six months later lost his business by fire. Then he reopened a
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store and as the business has expanded he has moved from one loca- tion to another, each time to larger quarters, and is now quartered in the Odd Fellows building. In 1924 he erected a warehouse 50x90 feet. In 1923 he erected a fire-proof building, 45x180 'eet, occupied by the Ford agency.
Mr. Mumby had five sons by his first wife, Susan Archer, whom he married in 1898, and who died in November, 1906; they are: William E., in Long Beach; Granville A., who married Eva Elling- son ; Isaac Desmond, in Long Beach; Delmar and Maurice Odell, at home. The maiden name of his second wife was Mamie Gies, and she is a native of California; they were married in June, 1920, and there is one daughter by that union, Luella Frances. Mr. Mumby is a member of the Dos Palos Sanitary Board, and $30,000 bonds have been voted and sold to install a sewer system for Dos Palos. He is a member of Santa Rita Lodge No. 124, I. O. O. F., of Dos Palos, Rebekah Lodge No. 333; Dos Palos Tent No. 31, K. O.T. M.
THOMAS BLACKSTONE RECTOR
A successful rancher and business man of Merced County is Thomas B. Rector, a native son of the State, born in Merced County near Hopeton, on February 10, 1863, the second son and child of Elbridge Gerry and Amanda (McFarlane) Rector, pioneers of Cal- ifornia, the former now deceased but the latter is a resident of Ber- keley and at the age of ninety-four is in possession of all her faculties and enjoys life to its full. A full detailed mention is made of the family on another page of this history.
After finishing his school work, Thomas B. Rector was employed on his father's ranch until he accepted a position as clerk at Snelling with Simon-Jacobs Company, where he remained for five years. He next was interested in extensive grain-farming on the bottom lands during 1887-1888, meeting with fair results. He then entered the employ of John Ruddle and moved to the Rotterdam Colony and ranched there in 1892. At Hornitos, Mariposa County, he was next engaged as a rancher, then moved back to Merced County and bought forty acres of land at Atwater, which he fully improved. He now owns ten acres near Atwater, two and one-half acres lying in the town limits. He has since made this section his home and is now living retired from farming activities.
The marrage of Thomas B. Rector united him with Miss Mary Ellen Little, born at Hopeton, a daughter of the late William Little, a pioneer in California of 1852, when he had crossed the plains. He followed stock-raising and ranching all his life. Mr. and Mrs. Rec-
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family Collier
Ann ElizaCollier
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HISTORY OF MERCED COUNTY
tor have had five children, viz: William Gerry, of Oakland, is mar- ried to Miss Genevieve Hart and they have one daughter, Marian; Archibald Thomas, of Atwater; Mary Lee, a graduate of the Univer- sity of California, Class of 1924, married Paul Thornton and now lives in Petaluma; Stanley and an infant are both deceased. Mr. Rector is a Democrat and he has served as a trustee of the Snelling district. The family are members of the Methodist Church.
WILLIAM G. COLLIER
Remembered as an early pioneer of California, a man of erudition and scholarly attainments, and a citizen whose efforts were always given towards the advancement of public interests, William G. Col- lier is named among the representative men of the State as the "Father of Irrigation" and as a leader in the early days of the settling of Merced County. A native of Kentucky, he was born in Shelby County on July 17, 1827, a son of Michael and Amelia (Wilcox) Collier. The latter was a grandniece of Daniel Boone, and on her father's side was descended from a long line of Doctors of Medicine and Doctors of Divinity. Michael Collier, a Mason of high degree, was a prosperous merchant, following the mercantile business for some years, or until his death early in life. After he died his widow removed to Missouri with her family and settled in Boone County.
William G. Collier passed his boyhood and early manhood in Missouri, and finished his education with a three-years course in the University of Missouri at Columbia. He left the university before his graduation, to take charge of his brother's lumber business, this brother having gone to California as a gold-seeker; and soon after, he bought out his brother and conducted the business for himself until he, too, decided he would come to California, which he did in 1853, selling out his varied interests and embarking in a train that crossed the plains with oxen and the oldtime prairie schooners. Mr. Collier experienced the usual experiences of the pioneer in the long journey of six months crossing desert, plain and mountains; and upon his safe arrival in the Golden State he went to Tuolumne County and there engaged in the lumber business, also taking a very active part in the upbuilding of the county, where he served as a member of the board of supervisors for a time.
The year 1859 marks his advent into Merced County. Here he settled on the Merced River about five miles from its mouth and en- gaged in stockraising; and when the grain era began, he was among the first to engage in that industry. He kept adding to his landhold- ings until he came to own some 3000 acres, which he superintended.
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Besides ranching, Mr. Collier did a great deal of surveying for Miller & Lux, as well as for others who needed his services. He was very far-sighted and could see the benefit to be obtained by the ranch- ers if they could get water on their lands; and to William G. Collier, more than to any other man of his time, is due the credit for the irri- gation of the lands in Merced County. He promoted the first irriga- tion enterprise of any size in the entire State, that of the Robla Canal Company, which was incorporated on March 30, 1870, and was financed and managed practically by himself, in company with W. P. Sproul and S. Baltzley, with its principal place of business at the Col- lier Ranch. Of this company Mr. Collier was the president. Its organization was the result of years of planning and in putting it into practical operation he introduced a measure that was to figure largely in the agricultural development of the Valley. He was also associated with The Farmers' Canal Company, which later became the Crocker . Huffman Land & Water Company, and was thus the forerunner of the great Merced Irrigation District.
Mr. Collier served as county surveyor of Merced County several terms, and in many ways did his full part to place on a safe and sound foundation the future welfare of Merced County.
Mr. Collier was united in marriage on July 29, 1851, in Chariton County, Mo., with Miss Ann Eliza Jackson, daughter of George Jackson, who served as a judge in his county and was a political leader there. George Jackson was a brother of Governor Jackson of Mis- souri, and was also related to Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. Of this fortunate union were born the following children: Amelia Collier Stone; Harriet Collier Whitworth; Laura Collier Munson; Elizabeth Lee Collier Olds; Frances Collier Hartman; George Jack- son Collier, deceased; William Lee Collier, who married Bessie Eliza- beth Guier ; Mary Collier; Carolina Calhoun Collier, deceased; Vir- ginia Washington Collier; Sara Boone Collier; and Lillian Collier.
Mr. Collier was much interested in politics, and was a stanch Democrat. He was baptized a Catholic, but was, reared by Baptist parents; he had no active church affiliations. He died October 9, 1883 ; and in his passing, Merced County and the State of California lost a most loyal citizen. Mr. Collier was a great reader, an ex- ceptionally well-informed man. He was a thinker, a scholar. In early manhood he had taught school for a short time, until he entered larger spheres of activity. He was held in high esteem by all who knew him, or had business or social relations with him; and no one was ever turned away whom he thought in any way deserving of his assistance. An unselfish man, his first thoughts were for his family and friends, and his name will ever be held in memory by posterity.
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W. H. OSBORN
As a dealer in real estate and an active member of the Merced County Republican Central Committee and as justice of the peace of Township No. 8, W. H. Osborn of Atwater has been closely identified with all forward movements for the upbuilding of Merced County and of this section of the San Joaquin Valley. A native son, he was born in San Francisco, on February 12, 1856, the eldest of six children (four living) of Henry Augustus Osborn, a pioneer of 1850 in California. He was born in Oxford, Conn., on February 13, 1829, grew up there until he was sixteen, then came to California via Cape Horn. Much suffering was endured by the passengers on that eventful journey, but finally young Osborn arrived in San Fran- cisco, where he later engaged in the draying business. He was a member of the San Francisco Vigilant Committee of that early day and was always much concerned in the world events during his entire lifetime. He was a step-brother of the late J. W. Mitchell, a Forty- niner and a San Joaquin Valley pioneer. Mr. Osborn peddled goods out of San Francisco and Stockton to the miners in Tuolumne and Amador Counties in a cart drawn by oxen; and he also mined in that section. He went through the flood of 1862 while he was ranching on the Mitchell place on Cherokee Lane between Stockton and Wood- bridge. He farmed on a large scale for that period as the harvesting was done by hand; no modern conveniences were even thought of at that time .. He went to Jackson, Amador County, and for seven years mined in what was once the richest of the gold fields at Poker Flat; he also got out timbers for the mines and did some farming on 160 acres. In 1868 Mr. Osborn went to Turlock and for a time rented land of J. W. Mitchell, but later he invested in 640 acres one mile west of town, the property adjoining the cemetery. Today that same ranch is under irrigation and divided into ten and twenty-acre farms. He married on May 13, 1855, Minerva Jane Baker, born in Arkansas, but living in Amador County. She crossed the plains with an ox-team with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Baker, who settled at Poker Flat. She died at the age of forty-nine, survived by five children. Mr. Osborn died on January 4, 1915, aged eighty-six.
W. H. Osborn attended school in Amador, San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties and when twenty-one took to ranching on 1600 acres leased from J. W. Mitchell four miles east of Turlock, raising wheat and rye, and for seven seasons he met with fair success. In 1884 he went to Madera County, and eight miles south of the town of that name, farmed 1700 acres of the Mitchell property, but did not meet with even fair returns and he came to Atwater, where he has since lived and become a potent factor in the progress of the town. He owns fifty acres in his home place and twenty acres near by. About
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thirty years ago Mr. Osborn set out his first orchard and planted alfalfa. He has made his second setting of peaches and has exhibited his fruit at the various fairs in the State. His entire property has been brought to a high state of cultivation.
Mr. Osborn was married on December 25, 1878, to Miss Lucinda E. Bonnett, a native of Iowa, who came to California in 1864 with her parents, David D. and Elizabeth (Ronk) Bonnett. Her father was born in West Virginia on March 21, 1835 and went to Okaloosa, Iowa, as a pioneer farmer in 1858. With a party of emigrants and with a four-horse covered wagon he came with his family to Utah Territory, and then with ox-teams via Salt Lake, to California. He resided in Lockeford for four years, cleared his land of the timber, which he hauled to the fuel yards in Stockton, for the tan bark, and was engaged in farming. Between 1870 and 1880 he farmed rented land, some 1120 acres, on the present site of Denair, Stanislaus County. He retired from active work about five years before he died, being one of the last of the old pioneers to give up. He pros- pered and invested in 640 acres, which is now under the Turlock Irrigation District and has been colonized. He was twice married. His first wife, Elizabeth Ronk, was born in Indiana on February 6, 1839, and died in Turlock. His second marriage united him with a Mrs. Bradley, who now resides in Minnesota. Mrs. Osborn attended the same school as did her husband, a pioneer school house with but one room where all grades were taught. Of this union of Mr. and Mrs. Osborn five children were born, viz : Oro E., who married Frank E. Smith and died leaving three children, Bertha, Elvira and Rich- ard; Eathel E., Mrs. W. H. Hurd of Patterson, the mother of three children, Elta, Fern and Erma; W. Lloyd, of Atwater, married Ethel Oswalt and they have six children, Hazel, Ellen, Lester Lloyd, Paul- ine, Verna and Walter William; Nathaniel Dade, of Atwater, mar- ried Ruby Herrod and they have a son Dean. Nathaniel Dade en- listed for service in the World War but never got over seas. And Arita E., Mrs. Perry Deardorff of Patterson and the mother of a son, Alvin. A great-grandchild, Marvin M. Simpson, son of Bertha Smith Simpson of Tulare, brightens the home circle of the Osborn family. The Christmas holidays always find at the Osborn family home in Atwater the foregathering of the Osborn clan. Mr. Osborn has always been an active Republican and since 1900 has been a mem- ber of the County Central Committee. On the organization of Town- ship 8, in February, 1914, he was appointed by the supervisors the justice of the peace. He tried his first case on March 7. He estab- lished his real estate office on Front Street in February, 1907, and with the exception of a few months in 1908, when he was a partner with Owen Brothers, has operated alone. He was the local agent
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