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 53
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Elisha Hales was educated in the Tuolumne County schools and in young manhood tried mining: later he teamed between Sonora and Oakdale for about six years; then for a number of years he worked in quartz mines. He removed to Boulder Creek and engaged in team- ing in the Santa Cruz mountains for eight years, when he located in Merced County in 1907, bought lots in the Townsite of Gustine and ran the first grocery store. Selling out in 1909, he then bought the ranch where he now lives.
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At Santa Cruz, November 26, 1892, Mr. Hales was married to Miss Edith Maddocks, native of San Mateo County, daughter of the pioneers Frank and Sarah (Rodgers) Maddocks; her father was a timberman. There were five children in this family: Roy; Edith, wife of our subject; Austin, deceased; Worth; and Ethel. Mr. and Mrs. Hales are the parents of two children: Dalton E. and Irma. Mr. Hales still owns ten acres of the original forty acres which lies on the west of the city of Gustine. Since 1919 he has served as deputy as- sessor of Merced County of the 4th Supervisoral district. He is a Republican in politics and is a member of Romero Lodge No. 413 I. O. O. F. of Gustine. Mrs. Hales belongs to the Pride of Romero Rebekahs of Gustine.
RICHARD F. KERR
An enterprising dairy farmer of Merced County and a director of the Bank of Gustine, Richard F. Kerr has the distinction of being a native son of the Golden State, born near Danville, Contra Costa County, on Februray 17, 1872, the son of Thomas F. and Miss Susan C. (Chrisman) Kerr, natives of Missouri and California, re- spectively. Thomas F. Kerr was born on March 27, 1849, in Jasper County, attended the public schools there and in 1864 came to Cali- fornia and settled in Contra Costa County and engaged in farming. Soon after he went to Kern County and was engaged in raising sheep, and in 1877 came to Merced County, remaining until 1890, when he removed to Santa Clara County. Mrs. Kerr was born in Contra Costa County, daughter of J. P. Chrisman, a California pioneer of Forty-nine, who came from Missouri and settled at Danville, Cal. Into the home of Thomas F. and Susan Kerr seven children have been born, four living, viz : Stuart; Mrs. Susie B. Fancher, of Pacific Grove; G. L. of Gustine; and Richard F., of this review. Those who have passed away are John M., May C., and Jessie I. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr are residing in Pacific Grove, aged seventy-six and seventy-two respectively.
Richard F. Kerr attended the grammar school in Merced Coun- ty and the high school and business college in San Jose. After leaving school he conducted a resort at Highland Springs, Lake County, for twelve years. In 1906 he settled at Gustine, where he purchased a farm of 300 acres two miles from town on which he has since engaged in the dairy business with increasing success ; he now has a herd of about 225 head of dairy stock, milking on an average of 120 head. He disposes of his products through the creameries.
On Christmas Eve, 1895 at Lakeport, Cal., Mr. Kerr was united in marriage with Miss Harriet L. Manlove, a native of Lake County,
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daughter of W. H. and Sarah (Thompson) Manlove. Her father came around the Horn in 1849 from Virginia and located in Lake County, where he became a very prominent citizen; he was the first sheriff of Lake County and helped to organize that county, in which he was a farmer all his active career. He passed away at the age of eighty-three years; his wife died in 1922. Mr. Kerr is one of the directors in the Bank of Gustine. He is treasurer of the San Joaquin River Water Storage District, which takes in parts of Stanislaus, Merced, Madera and Fresno Counties, one of the most important projects in this part of the State. He is Democratic in politics, and fraternally, belongs to Romero Lodge No. 413 I.O.O.F., in Gustine.
MARTIN ERRECA
The Province of Basque, in the south of France, has given us a number of our most substantial citizens. One of the most prominent in wealth and influence at Los Banos is Martin Erreca, farmer and banker. Born May 31, 1880, he was eighteen years old when he left for the United States in 1898. In his native land he had been by occupation a sheep-herder, and he naturally followed the same business in this country, beginning in Arizona, at thirty dollars per month. But it was hard and trying times which he had in the Williams and Ashfork districts; at one time in the mountains, he was obliged to cut boughs and vines from the trees for eight days and nights to keep the sheep from starving.
In 1902 Mr. Erreca came to Los Banos and with his two brothers herded sheep on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Later he went into partnership with his brother, J. B. Erreca, and engaged in the sheep business on a large scale. At one time they had 6000 head. Later he went into sheep-raising on his own account. Then he sold out and turned his attention to grain farming, being one of the largest grain farmers on the West Side. He had from 2700 to 3000 acres in wheat and barley south of Dos Palos on Panoche Creek, and was quite successful.
Mr. Erreca married Miss Marie Louise Laxague, a native of France, and they have three children, John, Peter and Norine. Mr. Erreca became a citizen of the United States in Merced in 1923. He is a director in the Bank of Los Banos, and formerly was a director in the Portuguese-American Bank. He bought his first automobile in 1917 and now is the owner of a Cadillac, his second car. Mr. Erreca is a loyal and enterprising citizen and believes in progress along all lines.
Martin Erreca
Marie Louise Erreca.
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THOMAS D. CALKINS
The development of the Great Golden State is due to the energy and patience of the pioneers who left their comfortable homes in the East and came to the West and helped in the task to establish a State. One of these families was the Calkins', who trace their ancestry, by well preserved records, not only back to the Eastern States, but to the nobility in England. M. D. Calkins, father of our subject, was a native of Ohio and in 1852 came to Nevada City, Cal. He had mar- ried in the East, Elizabeth A. Sayles, also born in Ohio, who joined him in California in 1853, and their first child was born here. Later the family returned east and established the family home in Chicago, where Mr. Calkins became established as a journalist. He made numerous trips to California to look after his mining interests here, until in 1878, when he returned with his family. Both he and his wife died in San Francisco.
Thomas D. Calkins was born in Elyria, Ohio, on April 13, 1858, the second of seven sons, of whom three are still living. He attended the public schools in Illinois, also an academy in Chicago. In 1879 he came to California and established a newspaper in Forest City, called the Sierra County Tribune, which he moved to Downieville two years later, and conducted it for ten years. He then sold out and moved to Sutter Creek and was proprietor of the Amador County Record for another ten years. We next find him in San Francisco, where, with his two brothers, he established the Pacific Coast Miner, a mining and engineering journal, which was sold three years later to the Mining and Engineering Journal of New York. T. D. Calkins was one of the organizers of the Calkins Syndicate and in San Fran- cisco he established the Orchard and Farm publication. After the fire and earthquake of 1906, when his material fortune was swept away, he sold his interest in the syndicate and spent four years as editor and owner of the Haywards Review, at Haywards; then he was four years in Monterey as owner of the Daily Cypress. In 1917 he came to Atwater and purchased the Atwater Signal, established in that town in 1911 by L. F. Atwater, since which time he has built up a good circulation and also does a good job printing business.
Thomas D. Calkins was united in marriage on October 1, 1884, with Mary M. Farley, daughter of Judge M. Farley of Alabama, who brought his family to California in 1869. He served in the State legislature from Monterey County in the sessions of 1882-1883. Mary Farley was born in Fairfield, Texas, and was a sister of Henry Farley, at one time sheriff of Monterey County and who was killed in 1899 by the bullet of a bandit. He was once postmaster at Gon- zales and prominent in the Native Sons of the Golden West. Three children have blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Calkins, viz .:
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Malcolm, connected with the Merced Sun; Donald Reid, proprietor and editor of the Ceres Courier ; and Lucile, wife of R. T. Hughes, of Napa. Mr. Calkins has a record for having put in nearly forty-five years active work in the newspaper business. He has always been closely identified with the life of the State and has helped make its history.
JOSE F. FREITAS
A prosperous rancher of Merced County, who has become inde- pendent through his own unaided effort, Jose F. Freitas is now an influential part of community life in his district of the county. Born April 11, 1862, at Faja Grande, Flores, the Azores, he is the son of Francisco J. and Violante (Freitas) Freitas, both of the Azores Islands. His father was a veterinary surgeon in Don Pedro's army from 1832 to 1833, and received three major wounds in campaigns in Spain and Portugal. He died a farmer, which occupation he took up in later life, in Flores, and there his wife died, also, after reaching the venerable age of seventy-seven years; she was a remarkable woman in many ways, and passed on these characteristics to her descendants.
Jose F. received his schooling in the public schools of his native land. He was reared on a farm, but was never satisfied with the out- look for advancement at home, and his correspondence carried on with two older brothers, A. J. and John, who had preceded him to California, in 1864 and in 1867, respectively, and had done well in the mines near Folsom, decided Jose F. to come to the new country himself and there find the opportunities lacking in the home land. At the age of nineteen he boarded the barque Sarah, crossed the Atlan- tic to Boston, taking twenty-eight days for the voyage and arriving June 17, 1882. He concluded his long journey by settling in Mari- posa County, Cal., meeting his brothers there, and he immediately started to work as sheep herder in the mountains. In the following years he bought an interest in the business, in 1886, and followed sheep and wool growing until 1893, living at Indian Gulch and making his summer camp at Tuolumne. That year he sold out his interest, and reinvested in land in Merced County, moving to Buhach Colony in 1898, and there he engaged in sweet potato growing. He sold his ranch in 1915, having in the meantime, in 1913, invested in Ash Tract, where he now owns forty acres, a well developed ranch devoted to general farming.
The marriage of Mr. Freitas, which occurred in May, 1901, at Merced, united him with Mrs. Lucinda Z. (Souza) Bispo, then a widow with two sons. Four children have been born to them : Violet, Joseph, Mary, and Frank. Mr. Freitas is prominent among his
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countrymen as Past President of the U. P. E. C .; and he has for the past twenty-two years belonged to the Woodmen of the World of Merced. December 28, 1888, he received his U. S. citizenship papers, from Judge Corcoran, at Mariposa, and he is a Republican in politics, with a real interest in all civic and national affairs. A pro- gressive minded man, he is a great reader and takes more than a passing interest in world events. His interest in local matters is shown by the fact that he was instrumental in organizing the Buhach District school, and served as school trustee for eight years. Mrs. Freitas is a member of the S. P. R. I. S. I., and both give liberally to charities and all good causes. In 1910 Mr. Freitas donated an acre of land to the Buhach Immaculate Conception Catholic Church Asso- ciation. His success has come to him through years not unmixed with adversity, and he is ready and willing to help others in their struggle for a place in life.
L. F. ARNOLD
Whoever labors to secure the development of his country, striv- ing to bring out its latent resources and devoted to the general wel- fare of the people, he it is that earns a place as a public benefactor and is entitled to mention in the pages of history. Of such may be chronicled the name of L. F. Arnold, who owns, cultivates and lives on his fruit ranch of thirty acres two and three-quarters miles south- west of Winton. He was born at Pittsburgh, Pa., on September 12, 1877, a son of Laurence A. and Margaret (Mertz) Arnold. His father was born in Germany and came to Pennsylvania, where he married Margaret Mertz and became a truck farmer. They reared a family of ten children, and both died aged seventy-two years.
L. F. Arnold was the third of his father's family of ten children. He grew up and attended the public schools and worked on his father's farm at Beaver Falls, Pa. He took a commercial course in a busi- ness college and was bookkeeper in a Pittsburgh grocery house. Mr. Arnold came to California in 1903, and to Fruitland precinct in 1909, after six years spent in San Francisco. He moved out to his present ranch in 1910 .. It is an excellent fruit ranch with a comfortable country house and was once a portion of the Crocker-Huffman holdings.
In 1907 L. F. Arnold was married to Miss Clara Steiner, one of the three daughters of John and Phoebe (Grismore) Steiner. She was born and grew up at Bluffton, Ohio, where her father was a car- penter and builder. He died eighteen years ago. Her mother is still living at Merced. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold have five children, as fol- lows : Paul I., in the high school; May P., in the grammar school;
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and Frank S., Howard C., and Ruth E. Mr. Arnold and his good wife take an active interest in public affairs. He has served as election judge, on the school board and on the Fruitland Center of the Mer- ced County Farm Bureau and is now president of the latter bureau. For many years he served as president of the Arena branch of the National Farm Loan Association. He is a director of the Atwater Fruit Exchange.
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HARRY A. LOGUE
Among the foremost citizens of Winton, Merced County, Cal., is Harry A. Logue, the resident agent for the Cooperative Land & Trust Company. A man of energy, resolution and persistency he is justly recognized as one of the most progressive citizens of the Win- ton section. Mr. Logue helped to lay out, sell and settle up the Parr Colony in the Fruitland section of Merced County; he also helped to lay out the town of Yam, and through his efforts a postoffice was established and he became the first postmaster. Recognizing the advantages of the Winton section he turned his attention to this part of the county and has been the most active spirit in the advancement of this locality ever since.
The birth of Harry A. Logue occurred at St. Louis, Mo., on October 2, 1856, and he is a son of William O. and Martha Ann (Beadle) Logue, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively. William O. Logue started across the plains in 1860, his destination being Colorado. At the outbreak of the Civil War he entered the Navy and rose to chief engineer and served throughout the war in this capacity; after the close of the war he located at Trenton, Ill., but the West called too strongly and with a company of friends he started again across the plains for the gold fields of Colorado. The company encountered hostile Indians and for several days they had a running fight with them and a number of their company were killed. The father located at Black Hawk, Colo., where he engaged in mining.
Harry A. Logue attended public school in Colorado and as he grew to young manhood he became interested in mining pursuits and was interested in this line of work in a number of states and terri- tories. When he located in Merced County in 1906, his development instinct took the form of establishing town sites and this kind of work has proven most interesting and lucrative.
At Tombstone, Ariz., on June 16, 1889, Mr. Logue was married to Mrs. Jennie Clark, widow of Robert E. Clark, and a daughter of George and Sophia Burns. Mrs. Logue was born in Pennsylvania, of Scotch and English ancestors; by her first husband she has one son, Robert E. Clark, now known as Robert E. Logue, a traveling sales-
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man for the Holt Manufacturing Company, his territory being in Alaska. Mr. and Mrs. Logue are the parents of four children : Sophia is the wife of G. W. Wilhoit and they have four sons. Martha is the wife of A. E. Smith, postmaster at Winton; they have two children. Harry A. Jr., married Grace Gibbons, and they have two boys. He manufacturers electric water heaters. Virginia is the wife of Kenneth Brown, a salesman, and they reside in Los Angeles. Mr. Logue is of an inventive turn of mind and has obtained United States patents for an automatic headlight for automobiles, and an automatic block which may be attached to the rear wheels of any automobile. He is also interested in horticulture and owns a five-acre almond orchard at Winton, and in addition owns his residence in town.
AUGUST C. M. TETZLAFF
One of the pioneer ranchers of Merced County, and a man who aided materially in its development, August C. M. Tetzlaff came to this country when a youth of eighteen years, and by the steady appli- cation of industry and honesty, he built up a name for himself as one of the prominent agriculturists of the San Joaquin Valley, and a man to be relied upon at all times by his fellow-men. Born October 14, 1853, in Germany, he was the son of William A. Tetzlaff, a native of that country and a tailor by trade, who, with his son Frank, emi- grated to the United States, and after a short time spent in Baltimore, they both came to California, in 1870, and in 1871 August and two sisters came to America, one sister remaining in Philadelphia; the other and August joined them in California. His mother had died in Germany, and when August arrived in Merced County he entered ranch life as a wage earner on the Applegate Ranch.
The second season in the new country, the two brothers, August and Frank Tetzlaff, entered agriculture on their own account, as joint partners, rented land and engaged in grain growing in the vicin- ity of the Eugene Morley property. They soon invested in land on Mariposa Creek, formerly the Healy property, purchasing it thirty- five years ago, and continued their ranching activities on an extensive scale, by subsequent purchases adding to their holdings until they owned 2440 acres, and erecting all the ranch buildings, prospering accordingly. They owned 100 head of cattle, and with sixty head of mules, raised and shipped large quantities of wheat and barley from Lingard and Merced, becoming well-known figures in financial circles in the Valley. Both were steady, quiet men, highly respected and esteemed by their many friends in the community. August C. M.
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Tetzlaff died in April, 1910, in San Francisco, and Frank passed away in 1912.
The first marriage of August C. M. Tetzlaff united him with Sarah Lauder, who died in 1889, survived by three children: Mrs. Sarah M. McMaster, of Merced; Godfrey M., now deceased, sur- vived by a widow and two children; and Mrs. Dorothy E. Roduner, of Merced.
On June 20, 1899, occurred the second marriage of Mr. Tetzlaff uniting him with Kate Patterson, the fourth of five children born in Mariposa County to the late David and Mary O. (Mckenzie) Pat- terson, both natives of Scotland, who came to California during the gold excitement, and settled in Mt. Buckingham, Mariposa County. It was in the Patterson home at Mt. Buckingham that the marriage occurred, and Mrs. Tetzlaff's brother, Daniel P., is now residing there. Her parents died when she was a child, and she was reared by an aunt, Mrs. Daniel Gonigal, a sister of her father. Four child- ren blessed their marriage: Herman D., the efficient manager of the home ranch in Merced County, who married Georgia Conway of Merced; Archie C .; William A .; and Emma C.
Mr. Tetzlaff was a man of high honor and principle; he believed in forwarding the progress of his community, and his ranch was, and still is, conducted successfully, a symbol of the man who built it up. He built the fine residence, which he lived to enjoy less than two years. Today the Tetzlaff ranch is conducted on an extensive scale, modern methods being used throughout by the sons, who manage the business jointly with their mother. Mrs. Tetzlaff is prominent in social and fraternal circles in her home community, and is a member of the Pythian Sisters, and the Women of Woodcraft. The family attend the Presbyterian Church.
PETER RAHILLY
A well-known grain and stock man of the San Joaquin, Peter Rahilly is a native son of Merced County, born on January 18, 1879, the fifth of nine children born to Michael and Ellen (Walsh ) Rahilly, who were then living on a ranch four miles south of Merced. Michael Rahilly was a native of Kerry County, Ireland, and his wife, Ellen, of Tipperary, that country; he came out to Napa County, Cal., in 1866, and she followed in 1868, and their marriage occurred in Napa County. There he worked for wages for five years, driving a plow- team at fifteen dollars a month in order to get a start in the new country. He had served in the United States Union Army during the Civil War, and came west at the close of the conflict, to seek his fortune.
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In 1877, with the Dugans, Sullivans, Grogans, Thorntons, Sheehys, Bairds, O'Donnells, and others to the number of thirty-six, he moved to Merced County from Napa, and he invested his savings of $1300 in a 160-acre ranch and started farming on his own account. In the meantime, on account of three dry years and one year when the wild cattle ate his crops, he worked out on the harvesters and headers, and with his yearly savings added more land to his holdings, until he finally owned 5600 acres and was identified as one of Mer- ced County's extensive grain and stock men. The community where he settled had in the beginning but three neighbors, in 1877, August Smith, Charles Healy, and E. T. Givens; and the miles were many between ranch homes. By the practice of strict economy, this sturdy pioneer made rapid strides in the farming business, and he remained active through his eightieth year, his death occurring at the age of eighty-one. The wife and mother passed on when fifty-seven years old, from an attack of pneumonia.
Peter Rahilly received his education at the Russell district school, and with his parents became closely identified with the agricul- tural progress of his district, which line of work he has followed all his life, and he is now the owner of 800 acres of ranch property, and a newly constructed residence with all modern improvements, both in his home and ranch equipment. He specializes in grain and stock raising, and his firsthand knowledge, gained while growing to maturity on the home ranch, has made success assured. His stock, 160 head of cattle, and thirty-five mules and horses, is in the best condition, and he is known throughout the district as a pioneer's son, who works for the good of the community, as well as for his own interest. He served as clerk of the Russell school board for eight years, and is a member of the U. P. E. C. of Merced.
The marriage of Mr. Rahilly, in August, 1908, united him with Miss Mary Furtado, born at El Nido, Merced County, a daughter of the late John F. and Mary (Silva) Furtado. She was reared and educated in the Russell school district. Five children have blessed their union: Peter Jr., Ellen, Michael, Margaret, and Jack. Mrs. Rahilly is clerk of the Russell school board.
John F. Furtado, deceased pioneer, was a prosperous rancher of the El Nido District. He was born at Flores, the Azores, and was preceded to California by a brother, Antone, who was a successful rancher at Suisun, in the sixties. John worked on his brother's ranch for three years at fifteen dollars per month. He had no knowledge of English, but was a good worker, and knew how to save the money so hardly earned. At the end of that time, coming to Merced County, he entered the employ of August Smith, at twenty-five dollars per month, and at the end of seven years was made a partner with Smith
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in the sheep and wool business and bought land, 160 acres at ten dollars per acre. This was in 1876, and from that time on he pros- pered, and by subsequent purchases added to his land to the extent of 4000 acres. Great credit is due his foresight and integrity, with- out which he could not have made the success which was his, and which placed him among the highest ranks of Merced County's ranchers at the time of his death. Besides becoming a citizen, he was active in the Republican party, and was a member of the Merced County Central Committee. His death occurred at the early age of fifty-eight years, while his good wife passed on aged fifty-two. She was also a native of Flores, and eight children blessed their union : John, William, Mary (Mrs. Rahilly), Margaret, Lena, Minnie, An- tone, and Ella.
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