USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol I > Part 57
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Mr. Kiesel was born on the IIth of February, 1874, in Corinne, Utah, his parents being Frederick J. and Julia (Schansenbach) Kiesel, both of whom were natives of Ludwigsburg, Germany. In childhood the parents came to America. The father went to Utah in the '50s and was there en- gaged in merchandising, living at Corinne for some time. For the past twenty-five years he has been engaged in the wholesale grocery business at Ogden, Utah, and occupies a very enviable position in mercantile circles in that state.
Frederick William Kiesel remained under the parental roof until nine years of age and then went to Germany, where he acquired his early education at the public schools. He afterward became a student in the Greylock In- stitute at South Williamstown, Massachusetts, and in 1892 matriculated in Harvard College, completing a full four years' course within those classic walls. He was graduated in 1896, and, thus well equipped for important and responsible business cares, he came to California, locating first in Sacra- mento, where he organized the California Winery. He became general man- ager of this business and has since occupied the position. The company operates the largest independent plant in the state, having a capacity of two million gallons of wine annually and owning fifteen hundred and thirty-seven acres of land, all planted to grapes. On the Ist of April, 1898, Mr. Kiesel was appointed receiving teller in the California State Bank, and in the fol- lowing year was made assistant cashier, while on the retirement of Mr. Gerber he took his place as cashier and is now thus identified with banking interests of the city.
On the 18th of December, 1901, occurred the marriage of Mr. Kiesel
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and Miss Jane Birdsall, a native of Sacramento and a daughter of Fred Bird- sall, one of the organizers and directors of the Sacramento Bank, with which institution he was connected up to the time of his death. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kiesel are well known in the capital city, where they have a large circle of friends. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, while his political allegiance is given to the Repub- lican party. He has, however, never sought or desired public office, prefer- ring to give his best energies to his business affairs, which are now being capably conducted. He carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes, and although yet in early manhood he has gained a very creditable and honorable position in financial and manufacturing circles of California.
JOHN M. HIGGINS.
John M. Higgins, foreman of the bindery department of the state print- ing office and a member of the general assembly of California, is a native of New Jersey, born September 3, 1863.
He pursued his education in the grammar and high schools of San Francisco and was graduated when seventeen years of age. He then entered upon his business career, by being apprenticed to the bookbinder's trade under A. Buswell. After the retirement of Mr. Buswell in 1885 Mr. Higgins pur- chased the business of his employer, which he conducted under the firm style of J. M. Higgins & Company until 1889. In that year he sold out and came to Sacramento to accept an appointment in the state printing office, where he continued until March, 1903, as a journeyman. At that date he was appointed foreman of the bindery department and is now acting in the latter capacity, his practical and comprehensive knowledge of the business well qualifying him for the discharge of the duties which devolve upon him in this connection.
Mr. Higgins is a member of the bookbinders' union, No. 35, and he also holds membership relations with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. In his political views he is an earnest and stalwart Republican, having taken an active interest in local and state politics. He has labored earnestly for the success of his party and has frequently been a delegate to county and state conventions. In 1903 he was a member of the thirty-fifth general assembly from the eighteenth district of California. He has a wide acquaintance among the leading statesmen of California as well as in business circles and merits the high regard in which he is universally held.
JAMES LOUIS GILLIS.
James Louis Gillis, state librarian of California and a resident of Cali- fornia, has been a well known factor in political circles on the Pacific coast for about fifteen years, and is well known to many of the leading men, espe- cially in legislative halls, where he has done important service as chief clerk of various important committees.
Mr. Gillis was born in Richmond, Washington county, Iowa, October
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3, 1857, and is a son of Charles and Emily Eliza (Gelatt) Gillis. His ma- ternal grandparents were Richard and Eliza (Morey) Gelatt, the former a native of Savoy, Massachusetts, and the latter of Charlton, Worcester county, Massachusetts. The ancestry in the maternal line can be traced back to John Gelatt, who came from Paris, France, about the time of the French and Indian war in 1755, being then eighteen years of age. He was the son of a wealthy silk manufacturer and he settled in Taunton, Massachu- setts. He died at the very advanced age of about one hundred years, pass- ing away in Savoy, that state, to which place he had previously removed, making it his home until his demise. He left three sons and a daughter- John, George, Abraham and Lydia.
Charles Gillis, the father of Mr. Gillis, was born in Victor, Ontario county, New York, and was married there to Emily Eliza Gelatt, who was a native of Jay township, Clearfield county, Pennsylvania. For some years they resided in Washington county, Iowa, but during the early childhood of their son James L. they removed to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where they lived until April 9, 1861, when they started for California with ox teams, arriving at Empire City, Nevada, in August of the same year. There the father decided to remain, and opened a hotel which he conducted until 1863, when he turned his attention to mining at Carson City, Nevada, and James L. Gillis there entered the first school of the town. In the spring of 1864, however, the family took up their abode on a farm in Antelope valley, where they resided until 1866, when they came to California, reaching Placer- ville in December. Christmas day of that year was spent in that place, and in January, 1867, they continued their journey to Sacramento, where they remained until 1870. In that year the family home was established at San Jose, and in the fall of 1871 they returned to Sacramento. The father died in San Francisco at the age of seventy-five years, and the mother is still living, making her home with her son James L. Gillis. There are also two living daughters, Emeline Lucretia and Sabra Nevada, while two sons and four daughters have passed away.
During the period of the family's first residence in Sacramento James Louis Gillis was a student in the public school there, and after their return to that city he entered a private school conducted by Rev. M. Goethe. He had been reared amid the wild scenes of western pioneer life, and his edu- cational privileges were somewhat desultory. He left school on the 12th of August, 1872, and became a messenger boy in the service of the Sacramento Valley Railroad Company, with which corporation he was connected until 1894, during which period he had filled various positions, including that of telegraph operator, bill clerk and assistant superintendent, in fact had been advanced through almost every position from that of messenger boy to a place of great responsibility.
In the meantime Mr. Gillis had been married. On the 25th of Decem- ber, 1881, he wedded Miss Kate Petree, of Sacramento, and to them were born three daughters, Mabel R., Emily G. and Ruth M.
After leaving the railroad employ Mr. Gillis was appointed chief clerk of the committee on ways and means of the assembly session of 1895. by
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Hon. Judson Brusie, and at the close of the session he was appointed keeper of the archives in the office of the secretary of state, filling that position until 1897, when he was again made clerk of the committee on ways and means. On the close of his second service in the assembly, he again en- tered the office of the secretary of state and later resigned there in order to accept the position of deputy in the state library. In 1899, on the assembling of the state legislature, he was appointed for the third time as chief clerk of the ways and means committee. On the Ist of April, 1899, upon the resignation of the state librarian, Frank T. Coombs, he was elected state librarian for the term ending in April, 1902. He has been active in Re- publican politics since 1890 and has labored effectively and untiringly for the best interests of his party, employing every honorable means possible to secure Republican successes. His fraternal affiliations connect him with Court Sutter, I. O. F., the Elks lodge and the Sacramento Athletic Club, and he is widely known and popular in fraternal and political circles in Sacramento. Few men of his years have more intimate knowledge concern- ing the pioneer history of the great west, but from his early boyhood days he has lived on the Pacific coast and the vivid impressions of boyhood pre- sent him with a strong and accurate picture of conditions in California dur- ing the early years of his residence in the state.
EVERIS ANSON HAYES.
There is particular interest attaching to the career of Everis Anson Hayes, for he is a representative of a type of American manhood of whom the country has every reason to be proud. He occupies a notable position among the business men of Santa Clara county, and to this rank he has risen through the utilization of possibilities that lie before all. His native talent has led him out of comparatively humble surroundings to large worldly suc- cess through the opportunity that is the pride of our American life, and he stands to-day as the leading factor in the ownership and control of many large enterprises of the west that have contributed to the general commer- cial activity and prosperity as well as to his individual success.
Mr. Hayes was born in Waterloo, Wisconsin, on the Ioth of March, 1855, and is of Scotch descent. The family was founded in America in 1683 by George Hayes, who on leaving the land of hills and heather settled in Connecticut. The loyalty of the family was demonstrated in active field serv- ice in the early colonial wars and in the war of the Revolution. Anson E. Hayes, father of E. A. Hayes, engaged in railroad contracting for a number of years, was also an active factor in mercantile circles in Ohio, and later fol- lowed farming. He wedded Miss Mary Folsom, whose ancestors came from England to America in 1643, settling in New Hampshire. That family also furnished several patriots to the war for independence. The father of Mrs. Hayes was a minister of the Baptist church.
Everis A. Hayes was a pupil in the public schools of Waterloo, Wis- consin, in his early boyhood days, and in 1873 was enrolled as a student in the Wisconsin State University, being graduated from the law department
E. A. Hayes.
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of that institution with the class of 1879. He also completed the classical course, winning the degrees of Bachelor of Letters and Bachelor of Laws.
Following his graduation Mr. Hayes opened an office for the practice of law in Madison, Wisconsin, September 1, 1879, and there remained in active connection with the profession until June, 1883, when he entered into partnership with his brother, J. O. Hayes, and with Colonel John H. Knight, under the firm style of Knight & Hayes, for the practice of law in Ashland, Wisconsin. There they were connected with litigated interests until 1885. In the meantime the brothers had invested in mining interests, which now claimed their entire time and attention, and they withdrew from the law firm in order to give their undivided attention to the operation and control of the Ashland and Germania Iron Mines, near Ashland, E. A. Hayes acting as president and manager of the company until 1891, when he resigned the lat- ter position. It was their successful mining investments that created for the Hayes brothers the nucleus of their present fortune and made possible their extensive realty and business holdings.
In 1887 E. A. Hayes came with his family to Santa Clara county, Cali- fornia, and jointly with his brother purchased a fine country property which they have since made their home. Their business interests have called them back and forth from Wisconsin to California, for they still have their in- vestments in the mining regions of the former state. In company with his brother M'r. Hayes purchased the San José Herald in 1900-the leading even- ing paper of the county, and in 1901 they bought the San Jose Mercury, the leading morning paper of the county. They are also interested in mining in California, operating and owning several gold mines, both having been actively engaged in the development of mining resources of the Mississippi valley and of the west for the past seventeen years. The property on which they make their home is six miles from San José, at Eden Vale, and comprises over six hundred acres, of which one hundred and eighty acres is comprised within their orchards, while more than three hundred and seventy-five acres is de- voted to general farming purposes, and fifty acres is laid out in one of the most beautiful parks in all California, this country seat being scarcely equalled in loveliness throughout the entire valley, and by few homes of the state. Since coming to California the brothers have also engaged in the breeding of fine horses, principally for their own use.
On the IIth of October, 1884, Mr. Hayes was married to Miss Nettie Porter, who is a graduate of the State University of Wisconsin, and was at- tending there when her husband was a student there. Three children have been born to them: Sibyl, Anson and Harold. The wife and mother died in the spring of 1892, and on the 18th of July, 1893, Mr. Hayes wedded Miss Mary Louisa Bassett, who was one of his schoolmates at Waterloo and is a graduate of the State Normal School at Whitewater, Wisconsin. There were by this union four children, of whom three are living: Phyllis, Loy and A. Folsom.
Mr. Hayes belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and to the Grange. His political support is given to the Republican party, and he takes an active and co-operative interest in local and state politics, and
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through the medium of his journalistic interests also supports the principles which he believes contain the best elements of good government. In busi- ness affairs he is energetic, prompt and notably reliable. He has been watch- ful of all the details of his business and of all indications pointing to pros- perity, and thus he has gained wealth, but this has not been alone the goal for which he is striving, and he belongs to the class of representative Ameri- can citizens who promote the general prosperity while advancing individual interests.
HENRY C. BELL.
Henry C. Bell, who has been serving as United States internal revenue collector at Sacramento since 1898, has been prominent in the industrial and public life of this state for nearly thirty-five years, during which time he has gained a high reputation for business integrity, executive ability and genuine worth of manhood. Since his early achievements as a soldier boy in the Civil war he has been an active worker in every enterprise to which he has put his hand, and among other things to his credit is that of being one of the first to place California fruit culture among the profitable industries of the state. Since taking his present office he has shown his fitness for his duties and responsibilities, and has given universal satisfaction.
Mr. Bell was born in Pennsylvania, October 3, 1846, and comes of English descent. His father, John Bell, was also a native of Pennsylvania, where he followed farming, and died in 1878, at the advanced age of seventy- eight years. During the war of 1812 he served as teamster for the United States army. Mr. Bell's mother, Ann (King) Bell, was born in Pennsyl- vania and died in 1877. Her brother, Dr. King, was a surgeon during the Civil war, and was a prominent physician in Pittsburg until his death. Two of Mr. Bell's brothers are deceased, and his brother Franklin, who was wounded in the Civil war, was a hardware merchant and a rancher, and is now retired and living in Palo Alto.
Mr. Bell was educated in the public schools of Pennsylvania, and in 1863, at the age of sixteen, enlisted in a company of Pennsylvania infantry and took part in a number of engagements before his discharge. In 1864 he re-enlisted and was enrolled with the signal corps, with which he re- mained until his discharge, August 15, 1865. He was in front of Richmond for eleven months, on signal and dispatch duty, and during the winter of 1864 was stationed back of Portsmouth. Mr. Bell spent the winter of 1865-6 in Kansas, and in the following spring went to Boulder, Colorado, and en- gaged in freighting and teaming across the plains for four years. In 1870 he came to Marysville, California, and clerked for six years, and then em- barked in the grocery business at Oroville, which he continued for fifteen years. He was one of the promoters of the Oroville Citizens' Association, which introduced the citrus industry in 1886, and the results of their work and the subsequent cultivation have had a marked effect on the prosperity of the state. Prior to 1886 only a few boxes of seedlings were raised, but now the product is measured by the carloads. Mr. Bell sold his interests in Oro- ville at the time of his appointment to his present office.
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He has been active in the interests of the Republican party, especially while in Butte county, and was a delegate to several state conventions. He was elected a member of the board of supervisors of Butte county in 1892 and served four years. In 1898 President Mckinley appointed him col- lector of internal revenue for the fourth district, with headquarters at Sac- ramento, and he has been capably serving in that position ever since.
Mr. Bell was married at Central House, Butte county, California, Octo- ber 7, 1876, to Miss Minnie Hutchings, a native of Canada and a daughter of the late Finneas Hutchings, a farmer of Butte county. They have two daughters : Mrs. Edith I. Asher and Miss Minerva Bell, the latter at Mills Seminary. Mr. Bell is a Mason of high degree, belonging to the blue lodge, the Knights Templar and the Mystic Shrine. He was one of the organizers of the Grand Army of the Republic at Oroville, and was the first commander- of the post, serving for two terms.
ALBERT J. WAGNER.
The reader of mature years who has traveled much can easily picture to himself a hotelkeeper whose geniality is so pronounced that his very pres- ence breathes hospitality. Such a landlord is Albert J. Wagner, proprietor of two of the principal hotels of Stockton, the Imperial and Yosemite. Al- most throughout his entire business career he has been a hotel man, and the successful management of his houses have made for them and himself many friends, some from remote parts of our great country.
Mr. Wagner was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, November 21, 1854. a son of William and Anna (VonGansen) Wagner, both now deseased. The father was an officer in the Prussian army, in which he served with distinc- tion, and in 1873 he came to California, taking up his abode in the city of Ventura. After completing his education in the public schools the son Al- bert engaged as a clerk in a bank, and after coming to Ventura, California, in 1875, embarked in the hotel business, as owner of the Occidental. He was also a stockholder in the Anacapa Hotel, which he conducted until 1888, after which he went to Aberdeen, Washington, and conducted the Sargeant House for six months. In all these various removals his business ventures were attended with success, and after leaving Aberdeen he went to Salem, Oregon, and opened the Willamette Hotel, which he conducted until 1898, and in that year came to Stockton and purchased the Imperial. In May. 1903, he also purchased the Yosemite Hotel, both of which he is now con- ducting in a highly satisfactory manner. Both are well established hostelries, and the present proprietor is not the least successful of those who have pre- sided over them, in fact his peculiarly well adapted characteristics and affabil- ity of manner make him a host most attractive to the traveling public.
In 1878 Mr. Wagner married Miss Sarah Brooks, a daughter of Will- iam Brooks, of Kentucky, and they have four children: Alma, Daisy, Emma and Alberta. Mr. Wagner gives his political allegiance to the Democracy, and in 1888 served as railroad commissioner for Oregon.
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DANIEL L. DONNELLY.
Daniel L. Donnelly, attorney and counselor at law in Sacramento, was born on the 6th of May, 1873, in Sutter Creek, Amador county, California. He is, therefore, yet a young man, but his years seem no limit to his pro- fessional skill and ability, for he has already attained a clientage that many an older practitioner might well envy. The family is of Irish lineage. His father, Daniel Donnelly, Sr., was born in Limerick, Ireland, and in his boy- hood days came to the new world. He was afterward an engineer in the Union navy during a period of the Civil war and in 1866 came to California. He was general manager of the machinery department of the Comstock mine during the succeeding year and then went to Sutter Creek, where he pur- chased the Sutter Creek foundry, one of the oldest enterprises of the kind in the state. This became his property in 1868 and he conducted it success- fully up to the time of his death. He possessed splendid mechanical ability and inventive skill and was the patentee of the famous high-pressure Don- nelly undershot wheel, which was afterward sold to the Risdon Iron Works of San Francisco. He also invented several pumps and thus gave to the mechanical world a number of valuable devices. His death resulted from a railroad accident, being thrown from a train in 1890, this resulting in his death. He was one of the best known men in the mining districts of this state and while his business skill and capability gained him prominence in his chosen field of labor his personal traits of character and sterling worth also won him high regard and gained for him many warm friendships. That he was a most popular and honored citizen is shown by the fact that he was chairman of the board of supervisors of Amador county for twenty years, and he had no opposition when a candidate for the office. His business inter- ests took him all along the Tuolumne mother lode. His genial manner and real consideration for others gained him deep regard and confidence. In early manhood he married Sarah E. Kerfoot, who was born in England and is now living in Sacramento.
Daniel L. Donnelly is indebted to the public school system of Amador county for the early educational privileges he enjoyed, and later he attended the Oakland high school, in which he was graduated in the fall of 1893. From 1890 until 1891, however, he had charge of the foundry which was sold. in the latter year. In 1894 he took up the study of law in Hastings Law College in San Francisco, the law department of the University of California, and was graduated in May, 1897, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. During the period of his college days he was also librarian of the Alameda county law library. Following his graduation he went to Amador county, where he entered upon the practice of his chosen profession with John F. Davis, who was afterward elected state senator and is now code com- missioner. This partnership was dissolved on the Ist of January, 1902, and Mr. Donnelly then came to Sacramento, where he formed a partnership with A. M. Seymour, who is now district attorney for the county. During. the period of his law practice in Amador county he was, with Mr. Davis, an attorney in the case of Hayward, Hobart & Lane, and also represented the
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Kennedy Mining Company, the Chichizola estate, WV. A. Nevills, the Key- stone Manufacturing Company and others in important litigated interests, in fact, the firm stood at the head of the legal profession in Amador county and its practice was most extensive and important. Since coming to Sacra- mento he has engaged in the general practice of law and here he has secured a clientage which in extent and importance is indeed enviable.
Mr. Donnelly endorses the principles of the Democratic party, taking an active interest in politics and has continually attended the county conven- tions since attaining his majority. He belongs to the Native Sons of the Golden West, and is a young man of recognized ability, whose power in his profession has enabled him to take rank with many an older man and win through his skill and comprehensive knowledge of the principles of juris- prudence many notable victories at the bar.
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