USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol I > Part 47
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Dr. Allen was born in Bangor, Butte county, California, July 31, 1871, a son of John E. and Mary (Baine) Allen, who are both living in Bangor. His father was a practicing physician until 1888, and then went into the general merchandise business at Bangor, which he still conducts. He is also the present postmaster at that place.
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Dr. Allen received his education in the public schools, finishing at the high school in Oroville, Butte county, and subsequently entered the medical department of the University of California, where he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1896. For the following two years he practiced in the French Hospital at San Francisco, and in 1898 moved to Stockton, where he opened his office and has been in continuous practice ever since. For one year he served as house physician of St. Joseph's Hospital at Stock- ton.
Dr. Allen is a member of the San Joaquin County Medical Society. He affiliates with Stockton Lodge, B. P. O. E., with Stockton Parlor No. 7, N. S. G. W., and is physician for the Foresters and the Royal Arch. He is Republican in politics. Dr. Allen has four brothers and sisters, as fol- lows: Anna Belle, the wife of William C. McDougall, of Idaho; Serney E., in the general merchandise business at Bangor, California; and Elmer B. and Grace, in 'Bangor with their parents.
JAMES MARSH.
When the history of the Marsh family in its identification with Califor- nia is traced out, the earliest dates must be placed nearly fifteen years before almost any other active connection of Americans with this coast. In the pages of this history the year 1849 will be found in by far the greater num- ber of instances to record the earliest time at which the prominent families of the present made permanent settlement along the Pacific coast. But in the case of Mr. James Marsh, the prominent and well known citizen of Stockton, while he himself does not date his coming before the turning of the half century, he was perhaps mainly influenced in making this country the choice of a home by his uncle Dr. John Marsh, who was in his time a lead- ing physician and surgeon of California and one of its most influential and progressive pioneers. Dr. Marsh came across the plains in 1835, being one of the very first who treaded the unknown wilds, and he had to blaze his own way across the deserts and mountains where some fifteen years later the eager gold-seekers would rush in almost continuous procession. In 1840 he settled in Contra Costa county, and was well known there for his ability and skill in the medical profession. He was a well read man, broad-minded and of strict integrity, and for many years wielded much power in the county. He also owned a large ranch and was a successful and enterprising busi- ness man. As he was one of the first physicians of California, so he was among the first to interest themselves in the cattle industry. He had great faith in the resources and possibility of this country, and in 1841 he wrote, for the New Orleans Picayune, a descriptive letter setting forth the wonders of the climate and the soil and forecasting the future of the region which has since become the state of California. His picture was most just and accurate and his prophecy has since come true in all its details, justifying his faith in the wonderful Golden state. He was a college-bred man, and very versatile in his pursuits and accomplishments. His worth to the state was prematurely ended by his assassination in 1856.
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In the year 1851 James Marsh was living in the eastern states and was a young and ambitious man of twenty odd years. He had been born in what is now the town of Peabody, Massachusetts, October 26, 1827, being a descendant of old New England families and a son of James and Mary (Felton) Marsh, both natives of Massachusetts. He had received a good education in his native state, but when he was ready to start out in life on his own account he was not highly advantaged in the way of capital, and he is largely a self-made man. In 1851 he set out for the distant west, go- ing around by the Isthmus of Panama. From San Francisco he went to Contra Costa county and became manager of his uncle's ranch, which posi- tion he held for three years and a half. Then for a short time he was engaged in the mercantile business in San Francisco, and subsequently conducted a hotel at Georgetown in Eldorado county. He later returned to Contra Costa county, and at his uncle's death was appointed administrator of the large estate. After this was settled satisfactorily to all concerned he lo- cated, in 1858, in San Joaquin county, and in this rich portion of the state has since centered his interest and activity. He first settled on the Copper- opolis road near Stockton, and lived there until the fall of 1892, when he moved into the city of Stockton, and now resides pleasantly situated on Vine street. He owns a fine ranch of some five hundred acres in the county, and after a life of more than three quarters of a century he can look back upon much achievement in the world of affairs and he enjoys all the com- forts and amenities of life that his age could desire.
For several years Mr. Marsh served as president of the Grangers' Un- ion in Stockton, and gave especial attention to the department of hardware and agricultural tools. He was married in July, 1852, to Miss Mary A. Ranney, who was born in Vermont, came out to California via the Panama route and her death occurred in 1891. Mr. Marsh has an adopted daugh- ter, Orpha A., who resides with him. He is a Republican in politics, and attends the First Presbyterian church in Stockton. He is very public-spirited, and has in many ways given his efforts and influence for the upbuilding and advancement of the county where he has made his home for so many years.
H. C. SHAW.
The state of Maine has furnished the country with many prominent men in different lines of business and professions, and in central California the name of H. C. Shaw, whose death at the age of more than threescore years and ten occurred at Stockton, in October, 1904, stood out as a synonym for whatever good can be said of any good citizen. He figured most prominently in the business annals of California, and his record stands unblemished by any act calculated to bring forth adverse criticism.
He was born in Steuben, Maine, November 9, 1833, and was a son of William N. and Nancy (Stevens) Shaw, both deceased. Up to the age of thirteen he remained at home attending district school, at which time he went to North Yarmouth, Maine, and after a period in school in that locality entered Phillip's Academy at Andover, Massachusetts. His first business
A. b. Shaw
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experience was in Boston as a clerk in a store, and in 1851 he came to San Francisco and for one year was with his brother in the shipping and com- Inission business. Believing that a better future awaited him in mining, he entered into this occupation at Bidwell's bar on the north fork of the Feather river. Owing to sickness overtaking him he was unsuccessful in this ven- ture, and the effects of his sickness remaining with him he went to the Sandwich islands to recuperate. On his return he went to Washington ter- ritory and accepted a position with C. L. Strong at a trading post on Neah bay, where he remained two years. He then went to Washoe district in Nevada, but, sickness again overtaking him at the big trees, he returned to Washington. In 1861 he came to Stockton and clerked in a hardware and agricultural implement store, and later on, when the business was incorpo- rated, he was one of the stockholders. Since that time he has purchased the interests of his partners and owned the entire business at the time of his death. The Shaw plow works are known throughout the coast country, and from a small beginning the business has been built up to its present large proportions. It has a very large clientele of customers and an enor- mous business is transacted. Honorable methods and strict attention to business ethics and principles have placed the standing of the house second to none on the coast. Colonel Shaw had hosts of friends who were most loyal to him, and it is safe to say that no man in the state stood higher in their regard. A most pleasing personality, a true consideration for the rights of others and a warm-hearted and charitable nature have been domi- nant factors in drawing to him the regard of his associates. In a word, he was popular because he deserved to be.
In 1901 Colonel Shaw married Miss Laura Hart, a native daughter of the state. He was a Republican in politics, and a member of the Masonic order, having attained the Knight Templar degree, and also of the Elks and Odd Fellows fraternities.
JAMES U. CASTLE.
James U. Castle, who resides at 505 South California street, Stockton, is a typical California pioneer and representative in a high degree of the enterprise and business capacity of those who cast in their lot with this country during the early days and were eminent factors in its growth and development and likewise shared in its prosperity and wealth of resources. He is one of the most influential citizens of San Joaquin county as it exists to-day, but the story is often told of him that when he arrived on the western coast during the palmmy days of the fifties, all the capital that he could call his own was "two bits" and a ten-cent piece, so that in the success that he has since wrought out he has well proved the mettle of his character and his ability to meet all the exigencies of life.
Mr. Castle's ancestry is English, and he comes of substantial stock and lineage. He was born in New York state, February 28, 1830, being a son of Hasting and Mary (Champlin) Castle, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Vermont. His maternal grandfather Champlin was a Revo-
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lutionary soldier and served throughout the struggle that made the colonies free.
Mr. Castle grew up in Delaware county of New York state, and what education he enjoyed in his youth was rather meager and was obtained mainly in the subscription schools of the neighborhood. In 1847, when he was sev- enteen years old, he accompanied his parents to what is now Kenosha county, Wisconsin, and later moved to Grant county of the same state. In 1852 he left the latter county and set out for California, where he purposed to estab- lish himself and gain his success in life. He was accompanied on this jour- ney by his two brothers, George H., a former sheriff of San Joaquin county, now deceased, and Christopher C., who now resides in Eldorado county. They joined the usual emigrant train of those days, and, crossing the Mis- sissippi on April 5, 1852, arrived in Hangtown (now Placerville), Califor- nia, on the following August 20. From then on until 1856 Mr. Castle em- ployed his energies in mining on the middle fork of the American river. In 1856 he came to San Joaquin county, and he and his brother Christopher were partners in agricultural enterprises until 1861. They owned nine hun- dred and sixty acres of land on the French Camp road four miles east of French Camp, and in 1860 on five hundred and ninety acres of this land sown to barley and wheat they raised fourteen thousand bushels of barley and six thousand bushels of wheat, which is considered one of the best yields in the history of the sand plains in that district. In 1861 the brothers dissolved part- nership and James located on a ranch at what is now known as Castle Switch, six miles north of Stockton, and has followed with almost unbroken success his agricultural operations down to the present time. For several years he has also carried on a dairy enterprise. Castle Switch, located on the Southern Pacific Railroad between Lodi and Stockton, was named in honor of Mr. Castle and was located on land formerly owned by him.
March 31, 1868, Mr. Castle was married to Miss Emma Watkins, who was born in the state of Wisconsin. Mr. Castle is a Democrat in politics, and throughout his residence in San Joaquin county has been known for his devotion to the public welfare and the upbuilding of the community. He fraternizes with the Ancient Order of United Workmen at Stockton.
Mr. Castle has for many years had interests in mining enterprises and has met with much success in these operations. He is a member and a di- rector of the Farmers' Union and Milling Company, with which he has been associated since 1873, and was one of the promoters and organizers of the same. It was formerly and until a few years ago known simply as the Farmers' Union, and has since been merged and formed into the present con- cern, which has its headquarters and warehouse at Stockton, and Mr. Castle has been a director since its organization.
HOWARD M. FANNING.
Howard M. Fanning, well known among the pioneer Californians, is now and has been for many years a resident of Stockton, his home being at 345 East Channel street. A truly self-made man, and one of the best
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representatives of that class of Americans, having wrought out his own career since he was fourteen years old, since which time he has made his mark in merchandising, farming, stock-raising and in business and civic affairs in general, Mr. Fanning merits full consideration in a history of his state, since his name would be one of the first to occur to his fellow citizens in speaking of the prominent old-timers.
Mr. Fanning was born in Troy, New York, June 3, 1826, so that he is now well in the shadow of his eightieth year. He was a son of Richard W. and Ann Eliza (Smith) Fanning, his father a native of New York state and his mother of North Carolina. The Fanning family is one of the oldest on American soil. It is said on trustworthy evidence that the original Fanning ancestor came from England in 1620 and settled in Connecticut along the shores of Long Island Sound and there founded the family among whose numerous later descendants is found the subject of this sketch.
The private schools of Troy, such as they were at that time, furnished him his early education, but when fourteen he assumed the mantle of re- sponsibility and entered upon life for himself. From that time for three years he was in the employ of Mr. Elisha Waters, in his day a well known druggist of Troy, and during this time he learned the drug business quite thoroughly. Also during this period he attended three terms of night school, in the last winter session taking a course in mechanical drawing which was of much practical aid to him in his later work. After leaving the employ of Mr. Waters he became connected with the coach and car building indus- try at Troy. In November, 1846, he went to Jersey City, where for a short time he was employed in car building, and subsequently returned and con- tinued the same occupation at Troy. At Brandon, Vermont, he, in com- pany with Mr. Myron J. Gilbert, took the contract to build cars of all de- scriptions for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad, and they built the first equipment of rolling stock for that road.
Late in 1849 Mr. Fanning started for California, which was henceforth to be the scene of his active and prosperous endeavors. He made the trip by way of New York, the isthmus and San Francisco, being sixty days en route between the extremes of his journey. He arrived in this state early in 1850, and in the same year located in San Joaquin county. Until 1856 he was in the business of contracting and building on his own account, but in that year moved to his ranch about two miles south of Stockton, on the Sharp road, where, on three hundred and fifty acres of land, he carried on farming and stock-raising for many years. He moved back into Stockton in 1866, and has since been a resident of that city. During this time he also continued his agricultural operations, and for three years conducted the well known Pioneer Tannery. For a number of years past he has been in the real estate and insurance business at 535 East Main street, and he is well known in the business circles of his city.
For two terms, or six years, he served as supervisor, representing the Stockton district. He is active in the affairs of the Republican party, and for two years served as a member of the Stockton city council. He is affiliated with Morning Star Lodge No. 68, F. & A. M. He is a member
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and ex-president of the San Joaquin Society of California Pioneers. His church connections are with the First Baptist church of Stockton.
Mr. Fanning was married on Staten Island, New York, October 4, 1848, to Miss Louise Butts. She was born in Delaware county, New York, June 25, 1829, and she accompanied her husband to California in 1850. Of the six children born of this union of more than half a century's duration, three are still living: Clara F., widow of Frank Bugbee, late of Stockton, and Jennie D. and Harry H., in Stockton.
NEWEL K. FOSTER.
Newel K. Foster, a physician and legislator and equally well known in professional and political circles as one worthy of public regard and con- fidence, was born in Canterbury, Merrimac county, New Hampshire, in 1849. His parents were David M. and Sarah ( Robertson) Foster, the for- mer a native of the Granite state, while the latter was born in Maine. The ancestors on both the paternal and the maternal lines came to New England prior to the Revolutionary war, and the paternal grandfather, Asa Foster, gave valiant aid to the colonists in their struggle for independence, while later he became a colonel in the state militia of New Hampshire. The maternal grandfather served his country in the war of 1812.
David M. Foster was a farmer by occupation and a man fearless in advocacy of his honest convictions. He became recognized as a leader in political thought and action in his community, and was one of the original abolitionists, doing everything in his power to promote an anti-slavery sen- timent. He took an active part in public life and several times represented his district in the state legislature, leaving the impress of his individuality upon the laws which during that period found their way upon the statute books of the state. He died in 1883, honored and respected by all who knew him. He left a family of two sons and a daughter, of whom Dr. Newel K. and Mrs. C. W. Emery, of Oakland, are now the surviving members.
Dr. Foster was reared upon his father's farm in New Hampshire and attended the district schools of that state, acquiring therein his preliminary education. In 1869 he matriculated in Cornell University and was gradu- ated on the completion of a four years' course in 1873, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. His literary training was then supplemented by prep- aration for a professional career. He entered the Michigan State Univer- sity at Ann Arbor, in which he studied medicine, while later he took the degree of Doctor of Medicine in the Long Island College Hospital, of Brooklyn, New York, being graduated with the class of 1878. He prac- ticed first in Tompkins county, New York, where he remained for three years, and in 1882 went to Laramie, Wyoming, where he continued in practice and was also surgeon for the Union Pacific Railroad Company until 1886. That year witnessed his arrival in California. He located in Oak- land, where he followed his profession until April, 1903, when he was ap- pointed secretary of the state board of health and removed to Sacramento. He had for two years been a member of the Oakland board of health, and
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in 1900 was elected a member of the state legislature, where he discharged his duties with such ability that in 1902 he was re-elected and is now serv- ing for the second term.
In 1875 occurred the marriage of Dr. Foster and Miss Jennie Smiley, a native of New York. They had one son, Harry, who is attending college, his attention being principally given to the study of medicine. Mrs. Foster passed away in 1893, and in 1895 Dr. Foster was again married, his sec- ond union being with Maude A. W. Camp, who was born in Chicago and is a daughter of James M. and Henrietta Jane (Gilliland) Camp, who came to California in the early '70s. There is one child of this marriage: Ruth Maude, who at the age of seven years is attending the public schools of Sacramento. The Doctor and his wife have gained many friends, the lios- pitality of a large number of the best homes of the city being extended to them. Dr. Foster holds membership relations with the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, and he has always taken an active interest in state as well as municipal politics, desiring the adoption of the principles which he believes contain the best elements of good govern- ment. He is a member of the State Medical Society, the Alameda County Medical Society and the Sacramento County Medical Society, and through the interchange of thought and experience in these organizations he has added largely to his own knowledge, while reading has greatly broadened his professional horizon and rendered his efforts most efficient in checking the ravages of disease. In his present official service his work is of an im- portant character. He is doing a work which has far-reaching results in promoting the healthy conditions of the state.
JOHN WHICHER.
John Whicher, deputy superintendent of state printing at Sacramento, was born July 4, 1855, in Urbana, Ohio, his parents being Isaac and Rachel Jordan (Holman) Whicher. In the paternal line he is of Eng- lish lineage, the first American ancestors settling in New England during the early part of the seventeenth century. Isaac Whicher was a native of Vermont and during the greater part of his life was a railroad contractor. However, he received military training at Buffalo, New York, and at the time of the Civil war became an officer of the Fourth Iowa Infantry. Fol- lowing the cessation of hostilities he made his way to the mines of Colorado and served as a member of the legislature during the territorial government of that state. There his death occurred in 1882. Two of his sons were also soldiers of the Union army. The mother was a native of Indiana and was of Irish descent, her ancestors coming from the northern part of the Emerald Isle to the new world. The family was established in Kentucky and later generations removed to Indiana.
John Whicher, now the only surviving member of his father's family, was taken by his parents from Ohio to Iowa in 1857, a location being made in the city of Des Moines, where he attended the public schools. When the
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Civil war was inaugurated his father and two of his brothers joined the army and the family then became scattered. John Whicher, being left with his mother, started out to earn his own living at a very early age. When a youth of fifteen he was apprenticed to learn the printer's trade, and fol- lowed that pursuit in Iowa until 1879, when he removed to Colorado, en- gaging in the printing business in Leadville and in Denver. In 1887 he came to California, and establishing his home in San Luis Obispo there con- tinued to follow his chosen pursuit until 1894, when he was elected county clerk for a term of four years and discharged his duties so acceptably that on the expiration of that period he was re-elected, in 1898. He served in that capacity until the first of January. 1903, when he was appointed deputy superintendent of state printing. He had in the meantime, from 1899 until 1903, been manager and represented the creditors' interests in the defunct County Bank of San Luis Obispo, but resigned that position in March, 1903, in order to enter upon the duties of his new appointment. He is well quali- fied by broad and practical experience for the work which he assumed in this connection, and as deputy superintendent of state printing his service has been very acceptable to the general public and those familiar with the work of the office.
In 1882 occurred the marriage of Mr. Whicher and Miss Isabelle C. Hoffman, a daughter of Thomas Hoffman, who was a pioneer farmer of Iowa, locating in the state in 1852, when the work of improvement and prog- ress had scarcely been begun, especially along agricultural and commercial lines. The wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Whicher was celebrated in Des Moines, Iowa, and has been blessed with three children, but all died in infancy. Mr. Whicher belongs to the Masonic fraternity and to the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. He is a stanch advocate of Republican principles, has taken an active part in state politics, and in 1892 and again in 1894 was a member of the state central committee. His interest in everything pertaining to the welfare and progress of the state is deep and sincere, and in as far as he has found it possible has co-operated in public measures for the general good.
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