USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol II > Part 12
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In 1901 a great fire completely destroyed the plant, leaving only a few blackened cans to mark the industry and labor of these years. Mr. Hunt was in the east at the time and Haywards wondered whether the cannery would . be rebuilt, but the town was not long left in doubt, for the company was not to be daunted by a fire and the work of reconstruction began. Every- thing was on a larger, more modern and complete scale than ever before, and soon the new factory, without a superior in the state, was ready to be put in operation.
The fruit canned by Hunt Brothers Company is shipped throughout the civilized world, and the label of the company upon a can is a guarantee that the fruit is of the finest quality and is packed under the direction of
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men thoroughly conversant with the business. No matter how large the season's output may be, it is always sold, there being no difficulty in finding a market for the product. From June until October the cannery is practically a city by itself. Not only from this immediate vicinity but from adjacent counties families come to work during the seasons. Everything possible is done for the comfort and convenience of the employes, whose privileges are such as few employes of city factories enjoy. Good wages are paid and many a person is enabled to provide for the winter by the proceeds of his labor in the summer in connection with the Hunt Brothers cannery. The company has erected one hundred and thirty comfortable cottages which are rented to workers at a nominal figure. Perhaps no better estimate of the growth of the business can be given than to furnish a table showing the output of canned goods each year. In 1888 there were fifteen hundred cases, in 1889 four thousand cases, in 1890 forty-two thousand. in 1891 fifty-one thousand, in 1892 twenty thousand, in 1893 fifty thousand, in 1894 fifty thousand, in 1895 twenty-five thousand, 1896 forty-two thousand, 1897 fifty thousand, 1898 sixty-four thousand, 1899 ninety-three thousand, 1900 one hundred and twenty thousand, 1901 one hundred and fifty thousand, 1902 one hun- dred and eighty-three thousand, and in 1903 two hundred and forty-two thousand cases. This shows that in nine seasons . the business has increased tenfold. The company packs all kinds of fruits and also tomatoes and aspar- agus, and the total number of the cans used in the year 1903 was about six million, which if placed end to end would stretch across the country for six hundred miles, The pay-roll, exclusive of the heads of departments and office help, from the Ist of June, 1903, until the Ist of November of the same year was ninety-five thousand dollars. Most of the money is circu- lated in Haywards, which indicates at a glance that the cannery is of vast benefit to the town. During the height of the season eleven hundred people were employed.
The company is now building another factory in Antioch, where aspar- agus will be packed. This will be under the management of J. W. Nelson, formerly of the Oakland Preserving Company, who has recently been with the California Canners' Association. The Hunt Brothers Company also owns a fruit-packing establishment and cannery at Gridley, Butte county, California, which has a capacity of thirty thousand cases annually. The members of the company are also interested in the Hawaiian Pineapple Com- pany of Honolulu, incorporated, and Mr. Hunt has taken a very important part in the development of the pineapple industry on the islands. The com- pany is planting one thousand acres there as rapidly as possible to that fruit. The cannery has already been built and in a few years the output will reach several hundred thousand cases of pineapple. The company also owns two hundred acres of orchard land in Stanislaus county, California, and in Contra Costa county they have contracted with fruit growers and have done much to encourage the fruit-raising industry in this part of the state. At present the officers of the company are : J. H. Hunt, president: A. C. Baum- gartner, vice president, the latter acquiring his interest about two years ago;
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the W. C. Hunt estate; and two or three other stockholders, whose holdings are comparatively small.
On the 29th of January, 1891, Mr. Hunt was united in marriage to Miss Margaretta Mock, who was born in Santa Rosa, California, a daughter of Wesley Mock, who is now living retired and who came to this state in 1849, settling as a pioneer in Santa Rosa. He and his wife recently celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. When the original ceremony took place fifty years ago James G. Fair and Robert A. Thompson were the witnesses. Not long after this Mr. Fair had to give up his house because he could not pay the rent, but as the years advanced he became one of the millionaire princes of California. To Mr. and Mrs. Hunt have been born two sons, Wesley Jackson and Joseph Harold.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Hunt is a Mason identified with various Masonic bodies and is a Knight Templar of Oakland Commandery No. II. The business men who have been the pioneers in inaugurating and build- ing up of the chief industries in this section of the country find in Mr. Hunt a worthy representative. He has been instrumental in instituting a business concern that has proved of great value to Haywards and the surrounding districts, adding greatly to the general wealth as well as to his individual prosperity. Certainly there has come to him the attainment of a distinguished position in connection with the great material industries of the state, and he has left and is leaving his impress upon the commercial world. He is a man of distinct and forceful individuality, of broad mentality and mature judgment, and is honored and respected by all not only because of the bril- liant success to which he has attained, but also by reason of the straightfor- ward honorable business methods that he has ever followed.
THEODORE WILLIAM LEYDECKER.
Theodore William Leydecker, postmaster of the city of Alameda, Cali- fornia, has been a resident of this place for more than a quarter of a century, he having located here in 1876.
Mr. Leydecker, as his name suggests, is a native of Germany. He was born March IO, 1849, son of Anton and Anna (Oltmann) Leydecker, both natives of Germany and members of families that had long resided in that country. He grew up on his father's farm, attending school at Otterndorf until he was fourteen years old, and early in life developed a desire to see something of the world. Accordingly, in 1864, he came alone to America, arriving in New York on May 21st. For three years he remained in New York. Then he came to California, first to San Francisco, where he engaged in the retail liquor business. Since locating in Alameda in 1876 he has taken an active interest in its growth and development. From 1892 to 1896 he was one of the trustees of the town, and since March I, 1898, he has been postmaster, having been re-appointed in April, 1903. He affiliates with the Republican party and has always shown an enthusiastic interest in both local and state politics, frequently serving as delegate to the conventions of his party.
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In 1888 Mr. Leydecker married Miss Wilhelmine Kriete, a native of England, and they have three children, Walter, Arthur and Theodore. He has membership in the F. & A. M., I. O. O. F. and I. O. R. M.
FRANK KILBURN MILLINGTON.
To Frank Kilburn Millington belongs the distinction of being the sec- ond white child born in Encinal, now Alameda, California, and he is now the oldest "native son" living in Alameda.
Mr. Millington was born July 28, 1855, son of James and Lydia E. (Kilburn) Millington, both natives of New York state. James Millington came to California in 1849. After mining for a few years, he settled in Ala- meda, where he engaged in work at the carpenter's trade and later in con- tracting, which he followed for many years. For twelve years he was city clerk of Alameda. Both he and his good wife are still living, he at the age of seventy-eight years, she at seventy-seven, and they are among the few pio- neers of the city that are left. Their family consists of one son and four daugh- ters. Of the latter, Alice E. is the wife of George F. Hildreth; Minnie G. is the wife of D. W. Martin, May E. married William Hardy, of Seattle, Wash- ington, and Eva is now Mrs. Marcus McLane.
The son, Frank K., attended the public schools of his native town until he was sixteen years of age, the next two years he was variously employed, and at nineteen he learned telegraphy. In 1880 he entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Railway Company, first as brakeman of a freight train. He was rapidly promoted, and in 1895 was appointed assistant station baggage agent at San Francisco, which position he now fills.
In October, 1876, upon the organization of the volunteer fire depart- ment of Alameda, Mr. Millington's name was among the charter members, together with that of the present chief, F. K. Krauth, and he has been identi- fied with the department from that time to the present. He was secretary of the hook and ladder company at one time and subsequently its foreman. In October, 1895, he was made assistant engineer of the First District, which position he holds at the present writing.
Mr. Millington has a wife and one daughter, Ruby. His marriage was in 1881 to Miss Frances E. Haile, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of Charles H. and Polly S. Haile, early pioneers of Alameda. Mr. Millington is a Republican, and a member of the A. O. U. W., W. O. W. and I. O. R M.
EDWARD L. MOODY.
In reviewing the history of Edward L. Moody one is reminded of the words of the great New York financier, "If you're not a success don't blame the times you live in, don't blame the place you occupy, don't blame the cir- cumstances you're surrounded with,-lay the blame where it belongs, to yourself. Not in time, place or circumstance, but in the man lies success. If you win success you must pay the price." Realizing the truth of this, Mr. Moody has paid the price of concentrated effort, of indomitable energy, of perseverance and of well applied business principles and has won the victory
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which he started out to win years ago. He is now the president of the Ber- ryessa Fruit Growers' Association and in this connection is controlling one of the important productive industries of Santa Clara county.
Edward L. Moody was born at San Jose on the 13th of September, 1857. His father, Charles Moody, was a native of New York and represented an old American family that was founded in the Empire state at an early epoch in its development. After arriving at years of maturity he married Martha J. Lee, who was a native of Arkansas. The year 1849 witnessed his arrival in California, having crossed the plains with an ox team. San Jose was his destination and he became a pioneer in the lumber and flour-milling business at that place. In 1856 he established the first flour mill in the Santa Clara valley on Coyote creek and was associated with his father and brothers in the enterprise. He continued in the milling business up to the time of his death, covering. a period of more than one-third of a century, and the mill which he owned and operated was the nucleus of the business now owned and controlled by the Sperry Flour Company, formerly known as the Central Milling Company. This corporation now controls one of the largest milling enterprises in the United States. The death of Mr. Charles Moody occurred in 1890 and his wife passed away in 1904. They were the parents of eight children : Mrs. E. T. Sawyer; Mrs. W. C. Kennedy ; Charles Henry, who is an orchardist of the Santa Cruz mountains; Edward L., of this review; Al- bert R., who is deceased; Elton Byron; Mrs. Edward Ament; and Mrs. Horace Cureton.
Edward L. Moody began his education at the usual age as a pupil in the public schools of San Jose, where he continued his studies until he had completed the high school course. He was also a student in a local business college, and he put aside his text books at the age of seventeen years in order to enter upon an active business career. He learned the milling business with his father and followed that pursuit until a few years ago, but in recent years has been identified with the fruit-raising industry, which is one of the most important sources of wealth to California. In 1898 he planted a large orchard at Berryessa and now has forty acres devoted to the production of prunes and apricots. He has made a close study of the needs of fruit trees in this portion of the country, and he carries on his business along modern progres- sive lines. He is also the president of the Berryessa Fruit Growers' Asso- ciation, which owns and controls one of the largest fruit-drying plants of the county, drying and packing from four to six thousand tons of fruit an- nually. The success and growth of this concern is largely due to his efforts, his enterprising activity being an essential factor in its control.
In 1883 occurred the marriage of Mr. Moody and Miss Minnie Shaw, a native of Berryessa, Santa Clara county, and a daughter of Isaiah Shaw, who was one of the first settlers of this part of the state, having come to Cali- fornia in 1849. As the years advanced Mr. Shaw was widely known as an extensive farmer and also controlled important dairy and horticultural in- terests. His death occurred in 1889. To Mr. and Mrs. Moody have been horn two daughters, Hazel and Mildred, who are still with their parents. Mr. Moody votes with the Republican party, but the honors and emoluments of
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office have had 110 attraction for him, as he has preferred to give his attention in undivided manner to his industrial and agricultural interests. His activity in business, however, has not only contributed to his individual prosperity, but has also been an active factor in the development of this part of the state, and he is now accounted one of the representative and influential men of Santa Clara county.
EDWARD HENRY HOPPE.
Edward Henry Hoppe, who is identified with agricultural interests and is also serving as justice of the peace in Sacramento, was born in Evansville, Indiana, June 6, 1859. His father, William Hoppe, was a native of Ger- many, belonging to a prominent family of that country, owning one of the largest cutlery establishments in Solingen. He came to America in 1847, locating in St. Louis, where he followed the chosen pursuit of the family, being engaged in the cutlery business there. He afterward removed to Evansville, Indiana, in 1852, and in connection with a partner conducted what was called the Mechanics Foundry, situated at the corner of First and Pine streets in that city. There he remained continuously for more than two decades, and in 1875 came to California, locating in Sacramento. Here his remaining days were passed, his death occurring in 1880. In early man- hood he had wedded Miss Julia Fisher, who was born in the fatherland, where her ancestors had lived through many generations. She survived her husband for almost a quarter of a century and died in Sacramento in February, 1903. In the family were five sons and three daughters.
Edward Henry Hoppe as a student in the public schools in Evansville, Indiana, mastered the elementary branches of English learning, and then entered the high school, manifesting special aptitude in his studies and being graduated at the comparatively early age of fourteen years. He then began to learn the trade of general blacksmithing, serving an apprenticeship, when his health failed him and he came to California, arriving in this state with the family on the 3d of May, 1875. Here he worked in the Southern Pacific Railroad shops for six months and was afterward employed by different firms of Sacramento as a general or traveling salesman. About 1892 he located in Sutterville and became engaged in farming, which pursuit he has since followed, and in his agricultural labors has met with good success.
On the 9th of March, 1885, Mr. Hoppe was united in marriage in Sacra- mento to Miss Carrie Taft, who was born in Nevada City, California, and is a daughter of C. C. Taft, a pioneer miner and mill owner of this state. The family, however, is of English descent and was founded in Vermont in early days. Five sons and two daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hoppe : Edward, Charles, Willie, George, Atkinson, Crystal and Aloma, all in school. Mr. Hoppe is connected with the Fraternal Order of Eagles and gives stal- wart political support to the Republican party. He has been active in its councils, frequently serving as a delegate to its county conventions, and he wields considerable influence in its ranks. All matters pertaining to the wel- fare of his community have received his earnest endorsement. In 1900 he was appointed justice of the peace and soon afterward was elected to that
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office for four years' term. In the fall of 1903 he was once more chosen for the position, so that his present term will cover the period from 1904 until 1908. Being chosen for a second term by popular suffrage is certainly an indication of the confidence of the general public in his ability and his fidelity to the trust reposed in him.
DAVID HOBSON.
In a life of intense and well directed business activity, resulting in suc- cess, Mr. Hobson has also found time to devote to the higher purposes of existence as represented in the church and through its various lines of effort for the uplifting of humanity. He has become especially well known as a leader in temperance circles, and he has made for himself a record which is untarnished and which has gained for him the unqualified regard and esteem of his fellow men.
Mr. Hobson is a native of North Carolina, his birth having occurred in Surry county in 1822. He is a son of Stephen and Mary (Bond) Hobson, both of whom were natives of North Carolina and were representatives of an old southern family. His mother was a daughter of John Bond, the famous preacher of the Society of Friends, who devoted fifty years of his life to active service as a representative of that denomination. The grandmother of Mr. Hobson was a member of the Vestal family and a daughter of Thomas Vestal, of Chatham county, North Carolina. Her mother was a daughter of Charles Davis, who ran away from his home in London and came to Amer- ica. He was sold at Philadelphia in order to pay his passage, and when he had worked out his term of service he established a home of his own and became the progenitor of the family in the new world. To Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Hobson were born five sons and one daughter, but the subject of this review is the only one now living.
The father was engaged in the iron industry, and at the age of fourteen years David Hobson, who up to this time had largely directed his energies toward the acquirement of an education, went into the iron works which his father had and followed that pursuit until his twenty-second year. Then he spent two years in school. It was in 1850 that he started for California, for he desired that he might share in the successes which were crowning the efforts of so many men on the Pacific coast. Crossing the plains he traveled on week after week and month after month until the distance between him and his destination was perceptibly lessened, and at length he reached the end of the journey, arriving at Sacramento on the 4th of October. He did not tarry long in that city, however, but came to Santa Clara county and soon afterward went with his brother, Stephen Hobson, to the mines in Tuolumne county. There he followed mining until the spring of 1853, and was very successful in his search for gold, making enough in that way to purchase property. He bought one hundred and seventy-five acres of land near Ber- ryessa, Santa Clara county. In 1855 he went back to the mines, but since 1859 has made his home on this tract. He planted his first orchard in the . spring of 1860 on the east side of Coyote creek, and has been engaged in
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fruit-raising and general farming up to the present writing, in 1904. He was one of the first settlers of this district, arriving here when it was largely a frontier region and when the work of improvement and progress had scarcely been begun. As the years have advanced he has witnessed its trans- formation and has borne an important part in the material development of this portion of the state.
Mr. Hobson was married in 1866 to Miss Mary Langensee, a native of Germany, who came to California with her parents about 1863. Their mar- riage has been blessed with twelve children, eight of whom are now living, as follows: Elizabeth, the wife of Benjamin Van Horn, of Santa Clara; Annie; Philip; David; Alfred; Edna; F. Benjamin; and Celesta.
Mr. Hobson has been a member of the Sons of Temperance for forty- eight years, and is a past grand chaplain of the Grand Division and past worthy associate. He has been a frequent contributor to the press upon the temperance question and has written tracts and published more than two hundred thousand pages of temperance and other literature at his own ex- pense. This has been quite widely distributed, and the seeds thus sown have not been without their harvest. His interest in all that pertains to the moral progress in the community is most marked, and has been manifested in tan- gible form by liberal contributions to the support of Christian work. He donated the land on which the house of worship of the Friends Society has been built, on Ninth street in San Jose. He is now one of the trustees and district steward of the Methodist church at Berryessa. His political support is given to the Republican party, and in matters of citizenship he manifests a public-spirited interest.
CHARLES BELDING.
Charles Belding has had a business career in Stockton, California, that covers half a century. The record of his life, in brief, is as follows:
Charles Belding was born in Hampshire county, Massachusetts, July 12, 1831, son of Joshua and Rosetta (Cooley) Belding, both natives of Massachusetts and representatives of families long resident in America. Joshua Belding was a farmer. When his son Charles was five years old he removed with his family to Pennsylvania and settled on 'a farm in Wyoming valley, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits the rest of his life and where he died. He was the father of three sons and one daughter. The latter, Sofronia, was the wife of George S. Thompson, of Wheeling, West Virginia. One of the sons, Rufus, is deceased, and the other two are in California, Lyman having come to this state in 1856.
In the district schools near his home in Wyoming valley, Pennsylvania, Charles Belding received his early education. At the age of fourteen he entered Wyoming Seminary, at Kingston, Pennsylvania, where he was a student until he reached the age of sixteen. Then he went to Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, and secured employment in a mercantile establishment, re- maining there until he was twenty. At this time the California gold fever raged high all over the country, and among its victims was young Belding. .
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He dates his arrival in California, February 24, 1852. With him, like most new-comers then, the mines were the first attraction, and with pick and shovel he tried his luck in the placers. Mining, however, did not bring the results he had anticipated, and in August of that same year he came to Stockton and entered the employ of Lippincott & Vaughan, soda-water man- ufacturers. In 1855 he became one of the firm, buying a branch of the business at Murphy's and going there to take charge of same. Two years later he returned to Stockton, to their original establishment, which he has since conducted, Mr. Lippincott retiring in 1871. Meantime Mr. Belding also became interested in agricultural pursuits and since 1870 he has had exten- sive farming interests in both San Joaquin and Butte counties. And for seventeen years he has been in public life, filling from time to time various local offices. For nine years he was public administrator of the county. Also he served as councilman, library trustee, and mayor of the city.
In April, 1859, Mr. Belding married Miss Josephine Latimer of Cala- veras county, daughter of Daniel Latimer, who came to California in 1849 and was one of the pioneers of Calaveras county. They have four children -Walter L .; Juliet, wife of R. P. Lane; Laura, wife of George M. Clark; and Herbert C. For many years Mr. Belding has been a worthy member of the Masonic Lodge.
GEORGE THOMAS.
George Thomas is a substantial citizen and prosperous farmer of San Joaquin county, residing near Linden. He is especially well thought of in his community because he has acquired by his own diligent and thrifty efforts the material comforts with which he is now surrounded, and worked his way from almost a penniless start to a position where he is now a prop- erty owner, enjoys influence among his fellow citizens, and can point with pride to his past career.
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