USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol I > Part 49
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Born in Ireland on the 14th of February, 1842, William McLaughlin is a son of George and Susan (Bonner) Mclaughlin, who were also na- tives of that land. The father, following the occupation of farming there, died about 1857, while his wife passed away about 1876. The son pursued his education in the public schools of his native country, where he remained until 1859, when as a youth of seventeen he crossed the Atlantic imbued with a resolute purpose of enjoying the opportunities of the new world and utilizing all means at hand for the acquirement of an honorable competence. He located first in Philadelphia and for seven years was employed in a gas- meter shop. He came to California in 1865 by way of the isthmus of Panama, located in Sacramento, and. at once engaged in the business of trucking, which he has since followed, being a pioneer in this enterprise in the cen- tral portion of the state. He has also been connected with various other
Ipn All Laughlin
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business enterprises, including the Pacific Mutual Insurance Company, be- coming one of the directors of the local organization. He is now financially interested in the California Fruit Canners' Association, the Consumers Mutual Supply Company, the San Jacinto Mining Company, of which he was one of the first stockholders and directors, and was one of the first directors of the Key City Mining Company, owning and operating mining properties in British Columbia. He is likewise one of the directors of the Sutter Mining Company, composed exclusively of residents of Sacramento, and is a stockholder in the John Breuner Company, of San Francisco. His business activities and investments have thus extended to various lines of enterprises and diversified industries and have brought to him an excellent financial return.
In was in 1876 in Sacramento that Mr. Mclaughlin was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ferrell, who was born in Philadelphia and is a daughter of Thomas Ferrell, a bookkeeper employed in a wholesale house of this city and a representative of an old American family. Four children have been born of this union, one son and three daughters: Elwood, Ethel, Elouise and Eleanor. Mr. Mclaughlin is recognized as one of the lead- ing representatives of Democracy in Sacramento county, and has been al- most continuously in office since 1880. During the past twenty years he has been to every county and state convention of his party, and in 1883-4 served as supervisor of the county. He was also elected city trustee under the old charter. when only three members composed the city council. hold- ing the office from 1888 until 1891, inclusive. In the fall of 1896 he was elected county supervisor for four years and was re-elected in 1900 for an- other term of four years. He has been very active in managing county af- fairs, and his efforts have been exerted along progressive yet practical lines that have proved of material benefit to his section of the state. He is a Mason, having attained the Knight Templar degree of the order, and is a popular citizen. He has through his own exertions attained an honor- able position and marked prestige among the representative men of his adopted county, and with signal consistency it may be said that he is the .architect of his own fortunes and one whose success amply justifies the ap- plication of the somewhat hackneyed but most expressive title-a self-made man.
ALBERT ELKUS.
One of the most popular residents of the city and county of Sacramento is Albert Elkus, the leading clothing merchant of the county and also a Republican whose influence in the party has made him one of its most prom- inent representatives. His life history displays many elements worthy of emulation, and in the city where his entire life has been passed he has many friends, a fact which indicates that his career has ever been honorable and straightforward.
Mr. Elkus was born in Sacramento on the 17th of August, 1857. His father, Louis Elkus, came to America from Posen, Germany, at the age of twelve years, and was for a long period a well known manufacturer and
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wholesale dealer in men's furnishing goods in San Francisco. His business career was attended with a high measure of success and he exerted a par- ticularly strong influence in public affairs, especially among people of his own race. He was president of the Jewish congregation of San Francisco for thirty-one years, and after his removal to Sacramento he served as supervisor of the county for two terms. He married Cordelia DeYoung, a sister of M. H. DeYoung, proprietor of the San Francisco Chronicle and a daughter of Michael DeYoung, who died in pioneer days while enroute for California. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Elkus were the following named: William, George, E. S., Edward, Louis, Charles, Albert and Ida. The daughter is the wife of Dr. S. S. Kahn, of San Francisco.
Albert Elkus, the seventh brother, is indebted to the public school system of Sacramento for the educational privileges he enjoyed. He pursued his studies until he had entered upon the high school course, and he has also gained very practical business experience, wide and comprehensive knowl- edge, possessing an observing eye and a retentive memory. At the age of fourteen years he began to learn the typesetter's trade, which he followed for more than two years. In 1873, however, he joined his father in the clothing and general furnishing-goods business, a relation that was maintained for about twenty-two years, when, in 1895, the partnership was dissolved, the father removing to San Francisco, while Albert Elkus established a retail clothing store, which he has since conducted. He is now at the head of the largest enterprise of the kind in Sacramento, having a very extensive trade, which brings to him a good profit. He also owns a second furnishing-goods store in Sacramento and a large retail establishment in Folsom, California. He is watchful of every detail of his business pointing to success, and yet there has been no esoteric phase in his career, his prosperity having been won through close application, unremitting diligence and careful management.
In matters of citizenship Mr. Elkus manifests the same strong purpose and deep interest which he shows in his business affairs, and the Republican party has found in him a stalwart supporter. He is frequently a delegate to city, county, and state conventions, and his influence carries weight among the leaders of Republicanism in central California. He was the president of the Central Republican Club, about a year ago, when that club won the primary fight for the organization. He was a member of the convention which nominated George C. Pardee for governor of the state, and in Novem- ber, 1901, was elected city trustee of Sacramento for a term of four years. At that time he was chosen chairman of the board and in 1904 was again elected chairman, so that he is now acting in that capacity. In the same year he was the Republican nominee for mayor in the city, but was defeated by a vote of five hundred and sixty-three. It was the saloon and gambling element that conspired to defeat him and they claimed one thousand votes. Mr. Elkus has long been recognized as an important factor in matters political, 'and is one of the most popular men in the city and county and has put forth his efforts as an official to advance the best interests of the municipality, pushing forward the wheels of progress along lines of material upbuilding, moral reform and general improvement.
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On the 28th of May, 1882, in Oakland, California, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Elkus and Miss Bertha Kahn, who was born in New York and is a daughter of Israel Kahn, now deceased, who was formerly a leading merchant of Oakland. Her brothers now have the largest department store in Oakland. Mrs. Elkus is a lady of superior musical culture and natural talent, being recognized as one of the best pianists in the state, and is the president of the Saturday Musical Club, of Sacramento, the largest musical organization in the United States with one exception. She has held the office four consecutive times, and she is most popular with the members of the organization, possessing not only superior powers in the line of her art, but also excellent executive ability and that personal quality which for want of a better term has frequently been called personal magnetism. She is also the president of the local Red Cross Society and a member of its state board. To Mr. and Mrs. Elkus have been born two sons, Albert and Fred. The former is a student in the State University at Berkeley, where he has won fame in musical circles. He had already attained distinction as a musician and composer when eleven years of age, and one of his compositions written at that age was played in the Weinstock and Lubins concert, while another was rendered at an open air concert. He is now at the age of nineteen years the composer of many excellent musical selections, many of which have been rendered in leading concerts of the west. He frequently composes extempo- raneously, and his marked talent has given him a prestige in musical circles equaled by few. The other son, a student in the high school, also possesses excellent musical gifts and is a fine violinist.
Mr. Elkus has various fraternal relations, being connected with the Native Sons of the Golden West and is a past president of his local parlor and one of its trustees. He is also connected with the Elks and the Eagles, and is a past grand president of the Order of B'nai Brith, while at the present time he is one of the executive committee of the National Order of B'nai Brith, of America and Europe. He is the president and was one of the organizers of the Sacramento Driving Club, which was formed in 1900. He is likewise the president of the Sacramento Jewish Congregation, a posi- tion which he has held for eight years. His activities have thus touched upon many lines relating to the business development, the fraternal, political and social growth and progress of the city. His genial manner, his unfal- tering courtesy, his genuine worth of character and strong personal traits have won for him the regard and friendship of the vast majority of those with whom he has come in contact and made him a representative citizen of Sacramento.
JUDGE ELIJA C. HART.
Judge Elija Carson Hart, now serving for the second term as judge of the superior court of Sacramento county, is one of the strong and hon- ored representatives of the California bar. It is a well attested maxim that the greatness of a state lies not in its machinery of government, nor even in its institutions, but in the sterling qualities of its individual citizens, in their capacity for high and unselfish effort and their devotion to the public
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good. The record of Judge Hart is one which confers honor and dignity upon society, because it has been characterized by excellent use of his native talents and powers and by straightforward relations between himself and his fellow men. Starting out for himself at the early age of twelve years, he has steadily advanced in those walks of life demanding close appli- cation and strong mentality, and he now stands as the conservator of jus- tice between his fellow men, and in his official career manifests the deepest regard for the dignity of the office.
Judge Hart is a native of Nevada, his birth having occurred Septem- ber 9, 1857. His father, James Hart, was a native of Ireland and married Sarah Cavins. He was left an orphan at the age of nine years and shortly afterward came to America, sailing as a cabin boy. He followed the sea in that way for several years and then located in Greene county, Indiana. There he learned the cabinet-maker's trade, which he followed until his twentieth year, after which he engaged in teaching for a number of years, and while thus engaged he devoted his leisure time, outside of the school- room, to the study of law. Thus prompted by a laudable ambition, he pre- pared for a profession in which he was destined to become a prominent member. He was admitted to the bar in Indiana and afterward came to California with his brother-in-law, Judge A. L. Rhodes, now of San Jose. Mr. Hart located first in Sutter county and afterward in Colusa, where he entered upon the practice of law, and also served for one term as district attorney of Colusa county. He then resumed the private practice of law, in which he continued up to the time of his death, in 1875. He left a large family of children: Mrs. Richard Jones, of San Francisco; Mrs. Stephen Addington, of Colusa; A. L. Hart, who was attorney general of California but is now deceased; Hon. T. J. Hart, who has also passed away; George and James, both deceased; Samuel R., an attorney of Sacra- mento; Dr. A. C. Hart, a practicing physician of the capital city and a member of the state board of health; Royal R .; and William Curran.
Judge Elija C. Hart, also of this family, received but limited training in the schools, for conditions made it necessary, when he was twelve years of age, that he should earn his own living, and he entered the office of the Colusa Sun in order to learn the printing business. He was there employed until his twentieth year. When twenty-one years of age, so favorable was the regard which he had won from his fellow townsmen, he was elected city clerk of Colusa, but after occupying that position for several months he resigned in order to take editorial control of the Oroville Mercury, at Oro- ville, California. Six months later he purchased the Willous Journal, of Colusa county, which he conducted as publisher and editor until June, 1884, when he sold the paper and came to Sacramento.
Here Judge Hart entered upon the study of law under the direction of his brother, A. L. Hart, who was then practicing in Sacramento, and in August, 1885, he was admitted to the bar, passing an examination before the supreme court. He entered upon his professional career in the capital, and in April, 1886, was elected city attorney for a term of two years. In April, 1888, together with the other candidates on the Republican municipal
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ticket, he was defeated, although he polled a larger vote than many of the members of his party. At the general election in the fall of the same year, however, he was elected to represent the nineteenth assembly district in the state legislature, and at the municipal election of 1890 was again chosen city attorney and served for two years, while in the spring of 1892 he was re-elected. In the fall of the same year he was chosen to represent Sacramento county in the state senate for a term of four years, and in 1896 was elected judge of the superior court of Sacramento county, being the only Republican elected to office in the county that year. This was certainly a tribute to his personal popularity and indicated the confidence reposed in his professional ability by his fellow citizens. That his course justified this favorable opinion is manifest by the fact that he was re-elected in 1902 for another six-year term, so that he will remain upon the superior bench of the county until 1909.
In 1878 Judge Hart was married to Miss Addie Vivian, a native of Missouri, and a daughter of H. J. and Nancy B. (Cooper) Vivian. Her father died in her early girlhood, and her mother afterward came to Cali- fornia, about 1873, with her family, her death occurring in Sacramento in 1887. Four children have been born to the Judge and his wife: Thea Vivian, James Vivian, Elija Carson and Hendley Rhodes.
Judge Hart is identified with several fraternal organizations, includ- ing the Knights of Pythias, the Elks and the Red Men. In his political allegiance he is a Republican, and for two years was the secretary of the Republican state central committee, while for many years he was a mem- ber of the executive committee and for two years was its vice chairman. His public service has ever been actuated by high and honorable princi- ples, whether in the law-making or law-enforcing departments of the mu- nicipal and state government. He was the advocate and champion of many legislative measures which have redounded to the public good, and in the discharge of his duties on the bench his rulings are characterized by strong impartiality, equity and a correct application of legal principles to the points in litigation. The world instinctively pays deference to the man whose success has been worthily achieved, and such deference and respect are accorded Judge Hart.
JOHN N. WOODS.
John N. Woods, who resides in Stockton at 135 North Stanislaus street, is one of the most extensive land-owners in San Joaquin county. He is a fine example of the enterprising man who came to this state in the early days and centered his activity in one locality, and by industry and the best of busi- ness. management built up a solid and permanent success. But the mere rec- ord of Mr. Woods' present possessions and prosperity would be of little mean- ing if the story of how he gained them should be omitted, for back of the present is a long career of hard-wrought victories, of self-denial, of persever- ance, and wise and strenuous endeavor with large purposes in view, and from it has emerged the large and broad-minded character and sterling integrity
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which hosts of friends and acquaintances estimate as Mr. Woods' most endur- ing honor and reward.
Mr. Woods, who has passed so worthily nearly all the years of his active career in San Joaquin county, is a native of the state of Indiana, born in Fay- ette county, June 7, 1837, being a son of Johnson and Louisa M. (Estes) Woods, the former a native of Brown county, Ohio, and the latter of In- diana. The Woods ancestry is Welsh, and he is a descendant of one of three brothers who emigrated from Wales to Virginia early in the eighteenth century.
When John N. Woods was three years old his parents moved to Andrew county, Missouri, and became the first settlers of Savannah, the county seat. His father built the first house in that town, and the first white child born in the town was Savannah Woods, who was named after the town. It was in this place that the son John N. was reared, and where he first set his feet upon the road of life and experienced his first hardships. He received his education in the schools of that town, but most of his training has been re- ceived in the practical affairs of after life. He was fourteen years old when the death of his father occurred, and as he was the oldest of the family the responsibility of caring for his mother and two brothers and two sisters in large measure devolved upon his shoulders, and right well did he show him- self equal to the task. After his father's death he secured a position as clerk in a mercantile establishment in Savannah, and continued in this employ- ment for five years. He next went to Knightstown, Indiana, and became a clerk in the store of Robert Woods and Company, Robert Woods being his uncle, and he remained with this firm until he came out to California in 1857. He was then just twenty years old, and he made the long journey by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He came direct to San Joaquin county, and his first occupation was clerking for his uncle, J. H. Woods, one of the pioneer residents and merchants of Woodbridge. After continuing for eighteen months in this capacity, he went into business for himself, being a member of the general merchandise firm of Porch and Woods, at Woodbridge, which establishment continued until the dissolution of partnership two years later, after which Mr. Woods continued the business alone for a short time.
In the spring of 1858 Mr. Woods located three hundred and twenty acres of government land near Woodbridge, and in 1864 moved onto this and began farming and stock-raising. In 1863 he had brought the rest of the family out to California, consisting of his mother and two brothers. His mother is now in her eighty-fifth year, and makes her home with her son A. J. Woods, in Tulare county. Mr. Woods resided on his ranch until 1877, in which year he became a resident of Stockton, where he has remained ever since. On the three hundred and twenty acres of his original ranch he laid out the village of Acampo, in the northern part of the county, and this has grown to be a very prosperous community and its promotion and develop- ment proved an especially profitable enterprise to Mr. Woods.
In 1881 Mr. Woods, in partnership with his brother E. W. S. Woods, purchased what was known as the "Old Buzzard Roost" ranch, in Tulare county, consisting of eighty-five hundred acres of land formerly owned by
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George Crossmore; and by subsequent purchases they increased this tract to thirteen thousand acres, which they devoted to grain and stock-raising, and which was a large source of revenue during the years of their ownership. In 1888 they disposed of 10.700 acres of the ranch for $375,000, the same having cost them at time of purchase an average of five dollars and fifty cents per acre. In 1888 Mr. Woods and his brother began investing in land on Roberts Island in San Joaquin county, and by purchases made at various times this firm of Woods Brothers has at the present writing eighty-three hundred acres on the island, all of which is reclaimed and under irrigation and among the most productive estates in the county. The brothers also own a ranch of eight hundred acres near Lodi, three hundred acres of which is planted to vineyard, and this is another one of the many profitable enter- prises to which Mr. Woods has directed his energies in a successful manner. After his removal to Stockton in 1877. Mr. Woods was elected secretary and one of the managers of Grangers' Union, of which Andrew Wolf, of Stock- ton, was then president. He continued his official connection with the Un- ion for nearly five years, and was identified with much of its work and finan- cial success.
Mr. Woods affiliates with Woodbridge Lodge No. 131, F. & A. M., with Stockton Commandery No. 8, K. T., and is also a member of the Scottish Rite bodies of Masonry. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks in Stockton. He is a leading churchman of Stockton, and has been identified with the Methodist Episcopal church South for many years, and during her lifetime his wife was also equally active in the work of that religious society. He has served as steward of the church for many years, and is relied upon as one of the stanchest supporters of the denomination. His political allegiance has always been given to the Demo- cratic party.
December 22, 1864, Mr. Woods married Miss Annie V. Farmer, and their lives ran happily side by side until her death on April 7, 1900. She was a woman of many graces of character and a beneficent influence in home and in the social circles of which she was so prominent a member. She was a native of Missouri, being a daughter of Washington Farmer, late of San Joaquin county and formerly of Missouri. Two daughters were born to Mr. and Mrs. Woods. Jessie L. is the wife of George E. Wilhoit, who is a member of the firm of R. E. Wilhoit and Sons, of Stockton. Mary L. is the wife of A. F. Maher, of Stockton.
BENJAMIN F. HOWARD.
Benjamin F. Howard, now serving in his fourth term as county super- intendent of the schools of Sacramento county, has gained much distinc- tion as an educator in this section of California, and during his long con- nection with the schools of this locality has succeeded in greatly raising the intellectual standard and promoting the efficiency of the system as a prepa- ration for the responsible duties of life. Indeed, the constant aim and the general character of Mr. Howard's life work are summed up in the famous
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dictum of Sidney Smith, that " The real object of education is to give chil- dren resources that will endure as long as life endures; habits that time will ameliorate, not destroy; occupation that will render sickness tolerable, soli- tude pleasant, age venerable, life more dignified and useful, and death less terrible."
Mr. Howard was born in Sacramento, California, October II, 1851, his parents being Marcus Jay and Jane (Kelso) Howard, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of North Ireland. His parents came out to California in 1850, establishing their pioneer home in Sacramento, and the family was identified with the early growth and development of that city.
Mr. Howard acquired his early education in the district schools of Sacramento county, and this was supplemented by study in the public schools of the city of Sacramento and of Oakland, and he also spent one term in the State University. At the age of eighteen he began teaching, being connected with the public schools of Sacramento and Yolo counties, and for seven years was principal of the Washington school of Yolo county. In 1886 he was elected superintendent of the schools of Sacramento county, assuming the duties of the office on the first of the following January. He has been elected for four consecutive terms, and on the expiration of his present term in 1907 he will have filled the position for twenty years. Under his administration the schools of the county have made steady ad- vance, increasing in number of schools and the enrollment of pupils, and the standard of excellence has been continually raised. He is very enthusi- astic in his work, always alert to learn of new and improved methods, and frequently introducing original ideas with excellent results. That the favorable opinion which the public passed upon him at the outset of his official career has been in no degree set aside or modified, is shown by the fact that he has been three times re-elected.
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