USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol II > Part 10
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Mr. Fowler was married more than forty-six years ago in Calistoga to Miss Catherine Magness, a native of Arkansas, and five children have been born of this union : Harriet, who is now the wife of J. H. Mallett, Jr., who is living in Webster street in San Francisco, and is connected with the Renters' Building and Loan Association; Lillian, the wife of Sherwood Bird, also of San Francisco; Catherine, the wife of E. E. Kindlespire, of the same city; Albert Henry, who died in childhood; and Maude, the widow of W. T. Din- woody.
Mr. Fowler is a member of the Masonic fraternity and has always lived in harmony with the teachings of the craft. There are few residents of Cali- fornia who have had more intimate connection with the history of the state and whose minds bear the pictures of prominent events in pioneer days for a . greater period than Mr. Fowler, and because of his long and honorable con- nection with the state he certainly deserves mention among its representative men.
FRANK H. BENSON.
Frank H. Benson, engaged in the practice of law in San Jose, is one of the native sons of the Golden west, his birth having occurred in Santa Clara, California, on the 21st of March, 1873. He is a son of Sandford G. and Ida E. (Currey) Benson, both natives of Indiana. The father is a son of the Rev. H. C. Benson, who for many years was editor of the California Christian Advocate and a pioneer Methodist minister on the Pacific coast,
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having come to California in 1851. He engaged in preaching the gospel in this state during the early mining days and for many years thereafter, and filled various charges throughout the central portion of California, his in- fluence being one of the potent factors in the moral development of the var- ious localities in which he resided for any length of time. Sandford G. Ben- son accompanied his father to California in 1851, and for many years has been engaged in the printing and publishing business, having for a long pe- riod been connected with the editorial staff of different papers. He married Miss Ida E. Currey and to them were born two daughters: Carrie, the wife of F. B. Currey, of La Grande, Oregon; and Aida L., at home.
Frank H. Benson, the only son, began his education at the usual age as a student in the public school and continued his course until he had mastered the high school curriculum of his county. He afterward spent a short time at Stanford University, and then returning to San Jose entered the journal- istic field as a reporter on a local paper. Subsequently he filled a similar posi- tion in connection with the San Francisco Call, but determining to enter the legal profession he matriculated in the Hastings College of Law at San Fran- cisco in 1895 and pursued a three years' course, being graduated in 1898 with the degree of Bachelor of Law. He entered upon the practice of his chosen profession in June of the same year and has continued to the present time. At the election in 1902 he was chosen by popular suffrage to the office of justice of the peace, in which he is now serving, and he makes a capable representa- tive of the people in this connection because his decisions are fair and im- partial.
Mr. Benson is a young man of social nature, a genial disposition, a strong purpose and laudable ambition. He belongs to the National Union, to the Foresters of America, to the Native Sons of the Golden West, to the Woodmen of the World and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and has gained many warm friends in these different fraternities. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, and he keeps well informed on the great questions which have divided the country into national political organizations. His aid and co-operation are given in behalf of the principles in which he believes, and as a local and state worker in Republican ranks he is well known.
JOHN B. CORY.
John B. Cory, standing as one of the prominent representatives of fruit- raising and shipping interests in central California, has largely displayed the qualities of the pioneer in the development of an extensive and important business. He has wrought along new lines, and his efforts, guided by sound judgment and keen discrimination, have been resultant factors in success. He has made opportunity where none existed and has gradually progressed, finding in each transition stage of his business career opportunity for a further step in advance. He now resides about four miles east of Acampo, California. in San Joaquin county, and the ranch which he is conducting comprises eight hundred acres of valuable land.
John B. Cory is numbered among California's native sons, his birth
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having occurred in San Jose, on the 20th of February, 1854. He is a son of Dr. Benjamin and Sarah (Braby) Cory, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Missouri. The father has passed away, but the mother still makes her home in San Jose, California, and is now more than seventy years of age. Dr. Cory was among the honored and valued pioneer physicians of California, locating at San Jose about 1849. He emigrated westward from Ohio in 1847 and on completing the long and arduous journey across the plains established his home in Oregon. After a short time, however, he came to California, and in 1849 settled in Santa Clara county. In the exercise of his professional duties his life proved of the utmost value to his fellow men. His work necessitated long rides often fraught with hardships, difficulties and sometimes dangers, but he never faltered when there came to him a call from the sick, his labors being prompted by a broad humanitarian spirit as well as by a legitimate desire to acquire financial success. He figured promi- nently in public affairs as well as along professional lines, and left the impress of his individuality for good upon the early development and the later prog- ress and improvement of his portion of the state. He was a member of the California state assembly during its first session and aided in forming the early laws of the commonwealth. He was a man of strong purpose and marked capability, and certainly California is indebted to him as one of its founders and promoters. He died in the year 1899, respected by all who knew him. His wife came to California in 1850, crossing the plains with her people and establishing her home in San Jose, where she later gave her hand in marriage to Dr. Cory. One of the esteemed pioneer women of the state, she can relate many interesting incidents concerning the early days of California's development.
John B. Cory pursued his education in the public schools, continuing his studies through successive grades until he had completed the high school course in San Jose. He afterward entered the University of the Pacific in his native city, and when his education was completed he became a factor in business life in central California. Through several years he was engaged in stock-raising near San Jose and for three years devoted his efforts to public service as deputy auditor of Santa Clara county. In 1883 he turned his at- tention to the fruit industry at Vacaville, California, where he resided until 1888, when he came to San Joaquin county, and has since made his home upon the ranch which is now his place of residence. Comprising eight hun- dred acres of richly cultivatible land, it is devoted to the raising of peaches, prunes, apricots and grapes. The fruit which he ships is of superior quality and finds a ready sale on the market. This ranch is one of the best equipped for the purposes in the state. There are drying and packing plants and, in fact, all the facilities needed to promote the business and make the products of the ranch a marketable commodity. The place is irrigated with the water of the Mokelumne river by means of a pumping plant upon the ranch. The orchards were set out under the immediate supervision of Mr. Cory, who is a part owner of this valuable property, being associated with Frank H. Buck. of Vacaville, Solano county. Giving undivided attention to the development and improvement of this place, his efforts have been attended with excellent
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success. He has made a close and systematic study of fruit-raising in Cali- fornia and understands the subject thoroughly from the scientific as well as the practical standpoint, so that among fruit growers of this part of the country his opinions are largely regarded as authority. He is now the treasurer of the Frank H. Buck Company, incorporated, and in the control of a constantly growing business is meeting with the prosperity which is the deserved reward of his energy, perseverance and close application.
On the 23d of April, 1884, Mr. Cory was married to Miss Nellie Buck, a daughter of L. W. Buck, of Vacaville, California, now deceased. In his political affiliation Mr. Cory is a Republican, but, while keeping well in- formed on the questions and issues of the day, is content to do his duty as a private citizen rather than a public official. He is a member of the Masonic order at Woodbridge and has taken the Knight Templar degree at Stockton, California. Few men are more prominently or more widely known in San Joaquin county than John B. Cory. He has been an important factor in busi- ness circles and his popularity is well deserved, as in him are embraced the characteristics of unbending integrity, unabating energy and industry that never flags.
HENRY MELVILLE AYER.
Henry Melville Ayer, supervisor of the third district of Santa Clara county, was born in Milpitas on the 22d of November, 1866, his parents be- ing Samuel Freeman and America (Evans) Ayer.
His father was a pioneer of 1860, and with the exception of two years served the county as supervisor from 1875 to the time of his death in 1899. His mother was a daughter of Josiah Evans, one of the early settlers of Mil- pitas, and still resides at the old home ranch. Henry M. Ayer is a graduate of the San Jose high school and University of the Pacific. Since his matur- ity he has been dealing in cattle. In the year 1898, however, he offered his services to the country as a soldier of the Spanish-American war, enlisting in Company M., of the Eighth California Volunteer Infantry, of which he was made sergeant.
In 1896 Mr. Ayer was united in marriage to Miss Louise Schemmel, a native of San Jose and a daughter of H. L. Schemmel, who is supervisor of music in the State Normal School of San Jose.
She is a granddaughter of the late Adolph Pfister and a niece of Henry A. and Herman C. Pfister, the former county clerk of Santa Clara county.
ANDREW WOLF.
Andrew Wolf is a venerable member of the old guard of Forty-niners to whom will always be the credit for the first great work of developing the magnificent resources of California. Laudations of the strenuosity, the preseverance, the industry, the heroism and the upright integrity of these pioneers will never fail to he recorded in the history of the Golden state. and now that the actors of those wondrous deeds will themselves soon re- tire from the stage of life, it is more than ever fitting that the Californians of the present-almost two generations removed from the golden days of
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'49-should vividly realize and again and again have presented to them the figures so bold and prominent of men whose like will not be seen again on earth.
From the thronging concourse of Argonauts who passed over the great American desert in the first years after the discovery of gold, there is none living at the present time more truly representative or a better example of the industry and wise and sagacious business management which culminated in success than Mr. Andrew Wolf, who for fifty-five years has been asso- ciated with the best and highest interests of San Joaquin county, and who has been for a number of years a resident of the city of Stockton. He is at the present writing not only one of the oldest men in the county but also perhaps the oldest citizen in point of length of residence. When he arrived one fall day in 1849 Stockton was a place of tents, and there was no sign of permanency or stability in the civilization of San Joaquin county. Mr. Wolf has been one of the great factors in creating a solid and substan- tial community of industry and a body politic, and as one who is well on in the eighties of life he receives and deserves the veneration and esteem of all who are a part of this great state and interested in its annals.
This honored old citizen of Stockton made his advent into life and the world in the state of Ohio, at his parents' home on Beaver creek in Greene county, on May 26, 1821. He was a son of John W. and Mary (Hawker) Wolf, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. The family was of German ancestry. His father was born in 1791 and died in 1878. He was an infant when taken to Ohio, and from that state volun- teered for service in the war of 1812, and was among the troops surren- dered by Hull at Detroit. His wife died in 1835.
Mr. Andrew Wolf is a self-made man and began achieving his own fortune from an early age. He was fourteen years old when he left his home in Greene county and went to Dayton, Ohio, where he engaged at clerking in the grocery store of his uncle, William Van Cleaf. Three years were passed in this occupation, and he then became a dry goods clerk in the store of Samuel Brady at the same place. A year later he entered the grocery business for himself, as a partner in the firm of Coblentz & Wolf, which carried on business in Dayton for several years. In 1847 he sold out his interest and went to Iowa, where for the next two years he was in the em- ploy of some merchants and where he added to his reputation for business sense and ability. .
It was while at Muscatine, Iowa, that the great news of the Eldorado reached Mr. Wolf, and the repeated tales of golden discoveries filled him with ardor to participate in the stirring scenes of California life. He in- spired several friends with the same desires, bought his outfit and joined an emigrant train having about twenty wagons and ox teams, and set out across the plains. He left Muscatine on April 5, 1849, arrived at St. Joseph and by the lucky finding and completion of an unfinished boat made the passage of the Missouri river on May 14, and by the middle of August arrived in Hangtown, now Placerville, California. The party came by Fort Laramie, and the Sublette cut-off, and just before leaving the Truckee val-
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ley for the crossing of the Sierra Nevadas they camped over night in the cabin made famous as having been built and occupied by the ill-fated Don- ner party. The entire journey was made safely, although the cholera threatened the lives of all and caused the death of one man. From Hang- town Mr. Wolf and several friends went to Gold Run near by, and during three days' mining he cleaned up fifteen hundred dollars. He was then blinded by poison oak, and was compelled to leave, setting out for Sacra- mento, and after spending four days in that city started for San Francisco, but on the night of October 15th he stopped at Stockton, where he was led to locate permanently, and has centered his business interests and activity in San Joaquin county ever since.
From the fall of 1849 till the autumn of 1851 he was engaged in freighting between Stockton and various mining districts, and then for two years was in the livery business at Stockton in company with the late Charles Dallas, the firm being known as Wolf & Dallas. This partner- ship was dissolved in the fall of 1853, and from then until 1865 he con- ducted a livery establishment in his own name. In the last-mentioned year he turned his active attention to ranching and stock-raising, locating on his fine place of eight hundred acres where Burnham station now is, about eight miles from Stockton. He continued his personal management of these farming interests until 1875, when he returned to Stockton, although he still retained his ranch and gave it his supervision. Since 1875 he has made his home in Stockton, and his fine residence is located at 741 East Weber street. He still owns his well improved ranch at Burnham, and has many other interests throughout the county. He was one of the organizers and promoters and for some time served as president of the Grangers' Un- ion at Stockton. He was also president for several years of the corpora- tion known as the McCall Scraper Company, which had its headquarters and did a large business in Stockton. He owns considerable real estate in the city, and has done much in the way of building up and improving the city. He is now serving as a director and also a member of the finance committee of the Stockton Savings and Loan Society, and through these means and in many other directions has manifested his great public spirit and interest in the welfare and permanent good of San Joaquin county. During the early fifties he served as a member of the city council of Stock- ton for one term.
Mr. Wolf is a member of the San Joaquin Society of California Pio- neers, and his wife is a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the same organ- ization. He has been a member of the Odd Fellows fraternity for nearly sixty years, since he joined Buckeye Lodge No. 47, I. O. O. F., at Dayton, Ohio, September 3d in 1845, and in 1852 he transferred his membership to Charity Lodge No. 6, at Stockton, where he has affiliated ever since. He and his wife are members of St. John's Episcopal church in Stockton, and he is serving as vestryman. In politics he has been a stanch Republican since the birth of that party, but most of his political enthusiasm has gone rather for the benefit of the general welfare than to practical party work.
August 17, 1852, Mr. Wolf was married to Miss Amanda D. Dwelly,
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a native of Machias, Maine, and who had come to California in the fall of 1851 in company with her mother and her step-father, the late Peter Mun- son, a well known pioneer of San Joaquin county. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wolf: Laura, the wife of Wellington T. Smith, died March 27, 1889, but the other three children are still living. Frank is a resident of Burnham station; George L. is in Stockton; and Delia is the wife of Dr. J. J. Meigs, a well known physician of Oakland, California.
FREDERICK DELANO MARSH.
Frederick Delano Marsh, of the firm of Burnham & Marsh Company, San Francisco, California, is one of the leading business men of this city. Mr. Marsh is a native of Boston, Massachusetts. He was born June 10, 1865, son of Henry F. and Julia (Delano) Marsh, both natives of Massachu- setts and descended from ancestry whose history in this country dates back to the days of the Mayflower. The Delanos were participants in King Philip's war. Henry F. Marsh emigrated to California with his family in 1869 and settled in San Francisco, where he was engaged in mercantile busi- ness for many years, up to the time of his death, in 1900. His family con- sisted of five sons and two daughters.
At the time the Marsh family became residents of California, Frederick D., the subject of this sketch, was four years of age. He received his educa- tion in the grammar and high schools of San Francisco, leaving school at the age of eighteen to engage in business. He was first associated with the firm of Easton & Eldridge, real-estate dealers, with whom he remained six years. In 1889 he went to Santa Clara, where he was engaged in the real estate business for a short time. Returning to San Francisco, Mr. Marsh entered into partnership with J. W. Burnham, under the firm name of Burn- ham & Marsh Company, which has since successfully conducted a large real estate business, dealing in both city and country property, also having a large rental and collection list.
Mr. Marsh married Miss Genevieve Burnham, daughter of James W. and Sarah Jane (Gibbons) Burnham. Mr. Burnham came to California in '49 as a pioneer, and was identified with the early history of the state, hav- ing the honor to be what was known as a "Vigilant." Mr. and Mrs. Marsh have two children, Genevieve and J. Wallace. Their second born, James Burnham, is deceased.
Mr. Marsh is fond of his dog and his gun and knows the joys of the true sportsman. He is a member of the San Francisco Club, a social organiza- tion composed of some of the leading business men of the city, and is also a member of the Masonic order. Politically he is a Republican.
JAMES W. GILLOGLY.
James W. Gillogly, city clerk of Alameda, California, is one of the en- terprising and popular young men of the town. He is a native of Ogden, Utah, born in 1874, son of James Lee and Lydia Lucelia (Webster) Gillogly, both natives of New York. On his mother's side the ancestry is traced back
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to England, the progenitor of the family in this country having landed here in 1635, among the New England Puritans. Mrs. Gillogly's great-grand- father was one of the early governors of the state of Connecticut. In 1870 James Lee Gillogly and his wife moved from New York to Ogden, Utah, where Mr. Gillogly as an Episcopal minister was engaged in work in con- junction with Bishop Tuttle. Their work also extended into Idaho and Wyoming. Mr. J. L. Gillogly died in 1882, and after his death his widow moved with her family, consisting of three boys and two girls, to Missouri. She has made her home in Alameda, California, since. 1896.
James W. Gillogly received his early education in Ogden, in an Episco- pal school. At the age of thirteen he entered the Shattuck Military School at Faribault, Minnesota, where he graduated in 1893, being captain of his company at the time of his graduation. He came to California in 1894, first to Fresno county, where for a few years he was engaged in the vineyard busi- ness. Then he came to Alameda and entered the employ of the Oakland Transit Company. In 1900 he was appointed deputy city clerk of Alameda, where his efficient service and popularity gained for him election to the city clerk's office in 1901, and re-election without opposition in 1903, the last elec- tion being for a term of four years. Mr. Gillogly is a Republican. His first election, however, was on the independent ticket. In April, 1904, he was elected captain of Company G Fifth Regiment National Guards of Califor- nia.
He is identified with a number of the popular fraternal organizations of Alameda, including the Elks, Royal Arcanum, Maccabees, W. of W. and K. of P.
WILLIAM HAMMOND, JR.
The real estate firm of Hammond & Hammond, of Alameda, California, is composed of father and son, William Hammond, senior and junior. The latter is a native of California and dates his birth in Alameda, July 29, 1876.
The senior William Hammond is an Englishman by birth. In early life he came to California, locating in Alameda county, among its pioneers, and here for thirty years he has been identified with the real estate business, for the past decade having his son associated with him, and carrying on extensive operations. His wife, whose name before marriage was Margaret Banahan, was born in Ireland.
The younger William Hammond grew up in Alameda, receiving a com- mon and high school education. Leaving school at the age of seventeen, he accepted a position as clerk in a wholesale grocery establishment, with which he was connected for five years. From this he turned to the insurance busi- ness, in which he was engaged two years. He played professional base ball in the Northwest League for five seasons. In the meantime. in 1894, he be- came interested in the real estate business with his father, and to this he now devotes his whole attention.
Mr. Hammond married, in 1902, Miss A. Guy, who was born in Oak- land, California, daughter of William Guy, the well known sculptor of that
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place. A native of this state, Mr. Hammond maintains membership in that popular organization known as the Native Sons of the Golden West. He is also a member of the Elks.
ERNEST M. KEYS, M. D.
Ernest M. Keys, M. D., one of the representative physicians and lead- ing citizens of Alameda, California, is a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he was born May 14, 1855, son of Luther H. and Frances (Haven) Keys. His mother was a native of Kentucky, and died in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His father, a native of Ohio, moved from that state to Iowa in 1849, settling in Cedar Rapids, where he was engaged in the practice of medicine for many years. In 1876 he moved to Kansas and is still a resident of the latter state.
Ernest M. Keys was the second born in a family of four sons, his broth- ers being John, Charlie and Luther. Up to the time he was nineteen years of age Ernest M. attended the public schools of Cedar Rapids. Then he decided to take up his father's profession and accordingly began the study of medicine in his father's office. In 1875 he entered the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, where he spent three years as a stu- dent and in 1878 received the degree of M. D. Immediately thereafter he took up the practice of medicine in Iowa, and remained in his native state until 1888, when he came to California. Four years he practiced at Liver- more, and from there came to Alameda, which has since been his home and where he has established a large practice. Since coming to California Dr. Keys has identified himself with Alameda County Medical Society and the California State Medical Society. He keeps himself well posted and up-to- date on all matters pertaining to his profession, and is recognized as one of the progressive and successful physicians of Alameda.
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