USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol II > Part 18
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Mr. Holland is a member of some of the leading fraternal and social organizations of Oakland, among them being the F. and A. M., Foresters, !V. O W., Reliance Athletic Club, Athenian Club and the Nile Club. His political creed is that of the Republican party. . He was in July, 1898, appointed United States referee in bankruptcy, and has since filled this office.
COLONEL JESSE BEECH FULLER.
Colonel Jesse Beech Fuller, who is serving as United States pension agent at San Francisco, was born on the 16th of May, 1841, being a native of Cold Water, Branch county, Michigan. He is a son of Esbond Gillette and Elizabeth (Beech) Fuller. The Fuller family is of English descent and was founded in America by Samuel Fuller, who crossed the Atlantic in the historic Mayflower. He settled first in Connecticut, and subsequently representatives of the name removed to Vermont. They bore an active part in events which framed the early history of America and were also partici- pants in the Revolutionary war. Edward Fuller was the twenty-first signer of the government compact which was made on board the Mayflower. Abraham Fuller, a granduncle of Esbond Gillette Fuller, was a captain of the Revolutionary war. The paternal grandmother of Colonel Fuller was a descendant of the celebrated Ward family, of which Alexis Ward was a member. He became an officer of the Revolutionary war, was captured and was held as a prisoner at Quebec for three years, but at the end of that time succeeded in making his escape and returned to the American lines. John Ward, the grandfather of Mr. Fuller's grandmother, was also a Revo- lutionary soldier and valiantly aided in establishing independence, and after the close of hostilities was pensioned in recognition of the services which he rendered to his country; his death occurred in the year 1831. Milton H. Fuller, the grandfather of Colonel J. B. Fuller, was a captain in the war of 1812.
Esbond Gillette Fuller was a native of Vermont and a lawyer by pro- fession. He came to California in 1878 and practiced law in Marysville, this state, where his remaining days were passed, his death occurring in 1892. He married Miss Elizabeth Beech, a native of New York and also a representative of an old American family that was represented in the colonial wars and also the war of 1812. Mrs. Fuller passed away in Michi- gan in 1853. In the family were two daughters, both of whom are now deceased.
Jesse Beech Fuller, the only surviving member of the family, acquired
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his early education in the public schools of his native city and when fourteen years of age went to Vermont. There he became a student in the New Hampton Preparatory Institute at Fairfax, where he remained for a year and a half, after which he entered Hillsdale College at Hillsdale, Michigan. On putting aside his text books he entered upon his business career as a teller in a bank at Cold Water, Michigan, and was thus engaged until after the outbreak of the Civil war in 1861. Prompted by a spirit of patriotism, he then enlisted in the First Michigan Battery of Artillery, afterward the Fourth Michigan Battery, which became Battery D of the First Michigan Regiment of Light Artillery. He served with General Thomas until the close of the war and participated in many important engagements. He was made captain of his battery, was later brevetted lieutenant colonel and was mustered out in September, 1865. The same loyal spirit which had domi- nated his ancestors was manifest in his own military career, and he made for himself a creditable record as a defender of the Union cause.
Following the close of hostilities, Colonel Fuller went to Chicago and became connected with the American Express Company. In 1869 he arrived in California and after a few years spent in San Francisco went to San Rafael in 1874. There he was agent for the Wells Fargo Company, having charge of their express business at that place until 1878, when he was trans- ferred to Marysville, and acted in that capacity until 1894, when he was appointed bank commissioner, filling the position for four consecutive years. In 1898 he was appointed to the position of United States pension agent at San Francisco and is now acting in that capacity.
In 1862 was celebrated the marriage of Colonel Fuller and Miss Mary Cressy, a native of Michigan and a daughter of Dr. Cressy, of Hillsdale, that state. They became the parents of one child: Mary, who is now the wife of Dr. E. E. Stone, superintendent of the State Insane Asylum at Napa, California. In 1867 Mrs. Fuller died, and in 1873 Colonel Fuller wedded her sister, Carrie A. Cressy. By this union there are two sons and a daughter, John H., who is special agent for the Norwich Union Fire In- surance Association located in San Francisco: Ada Irene, who is living with her parents; and Justin K., who is a student in the public schools of San Francisco.
Colonel Fuller belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained high rank. He is a past eminent commander of Marysville Com- mandery No. 7, K. T .; is past master of Yuba Lodge, F. & A. M .; and past grand patron of the Order of the Eastern Star. He also belongs to the Mystic Shrine. In other fraternal circles he has won distinction and is now a past commander of the Commandery of California of the Military Order of Loyal Legion of the United States; past department commander of the Department of California and Nevada, G. A. R .: is secretary of the Union League Club; and a member of the Bohemian Club. Much of his life has been spent in public service, and whether in military or in civic office he is equally true to his duty and to the trust reposed in him, his course being such as to commend him to the confidence and good will of all with whom he has been associated.
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THOMAS FRANCIS BARRY.
Thomas Francis Barry has, during the fifty years of his life, been much before the public eye, and has displayed conspicuous ability in divers places of trust and responsibility. His versatile talents were manifested at an early age, before he had completed his college course, and his broad subsequent experience with men and the world has placed him in the front rank of Cali- fornia lawyers, legislators, army officials and public-spirited citizens.
Mr. Barry is one of the oldest native sons of San Francisco. His parents, Michael John and Mary (Doyle) Barry, were of good Irish stock, the Barrys and Doyles having intermarried and having lived in the counties of Cork and Tipperary for sixteen generations. Michael John Barry and Mary Doyle arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1847, and were married there, where they resided until 1853. They then cast in their lot with Cali- fornia, and a year later, on the 19th of February, 1854, their son Thomas Francis was born to them in the new city of San Francisco.
He was educated in the public schools of San Francisco, but his col- legiate training was obtained in the University of California. He graduated at the head of his class, in 1874, and was honored as "medal man" for being the best Latin and Greek scholar in the University. He was retained as a tutor in the University for one year, and then Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, the patroness of the University and the widow of United States Senator Hearst, induced him to become tutor for her son William Randolph Hearst, who has . since taken rank among the world's greatest newspaper organizers and has loomed on the national political horizon as a probable candidate for Demo- cratic presidential honors. A year or more of traveling over the world fitted young Hearst for entrance to Harvard, and Mr. Barry then decided to pre- pare himself for his professional career. When only twenty years old, by virtue of his high standing as a military graduate of the University of Cali- fornia, he was selected by Major General D. W. C. Thompson as major and aide on the latter's staff. He resigned this position in 1875, and entered the Columbia Law School at Washington. Here he showed such quick and keep comprehension of the law that he completed his course with high honors in nine months, although he did not graduate. He returned to San Fran- cisco in 1876, and has since that time been one of the leaders at the bar in this city.
Mr. Barry was elected to the state legislature in 1882, and during his term became the author of the Barry Bill, which has been the basis of settle- ment for railroad questions. In 1883 he was elected major of the Third Infantry, National Guard of California, and was successively advanced to different ranks until he became commander of his regiment. He was in command of the regiment when it subdued the railroad riots at Sacramento in 1895. In September, 1895, he retired from the command. When the Spanish war broke out in 1898 he joined the California Heavy Artillery as first lieutenant, and during his six months of service was lieutenant in com- mand of a battery, was quartermaster of the artillery camp and commissary and ordnance officer of the joint volunteer and regular batteries of artillery.
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June 9, 1882, Mr. Barry was married to Miss Maria Dolores Rodriguez, a representative of one of the most respected of the old Spanish families of Mexico. Mr. and Mrs. Barry have two daughters, Maria Dolores and Amelia Louisa.
HARRY BAEHR.
San Francisco county figures as one of the most attractive, progres- sive and prosperous divisions of the state of California, justly claiming a high order of citizenship and a spirit of enterprise which is certain to con- serve consecutive development and marked advancement in the material up- building of the section. The county has been and is signally favored in the class of men who have controlled its affairs in official capacity, and in this connection the subject of this review demands representation as one who has served the county faithfully and well in positions of distinct trust and responsibility. He is now occupying the position of auditor, to which he was elected in 1902.
He was born April 2, 1858, in Weaverville, Trinity county, California, and is a representative of one of the pioneer families of this state. His father, William Baehr, came to the Pacific coast in 1849, attracted by the discovery of gold in this section of the country. He was of German par- entage and his birth occurred in Hanover. He became well known as a manufacturer of quartz jewelry, doing business at Sansome and Clay streets ' in San Francisco. He was among the first jewelry manufacturers in this city and carried on an extensive and profitable business for many years. His death occurred here January 9, 1900, and thus passed away one of the honored pioneers and respected representatives of commercial life on the Pacific coast.
Harry Baehr was a lad of only four summers when brought by his parents to San Francisco, and in the public schools of this city he pursued his early education, which was supplemented by a course in City College. He left school at the age of fifteen years and entered upon an apprentice- ship to his father in order to learn the jewelry trade, but when he had com- pleted the term of service he turned his attention to general merchandising, in Fresno county, California, in 1870. He there continued until 1880, when he became paymaster on the Glen ranch in Colusa county. This ranch covered about sixty-three thousand acres, and annually five hundred and fifty thousand dollars were paid out to the men employed. In the fall of 1882 Mr. Baehr left that position and located in Tacoma, Wash- ington, where he turned his attention to general merchandising; but that country was visited by a financial panic in 1885 and he left Tacoma and returned to San Francisco, where he engaged in the insurance business as city agent, representing the Phoenix Assurance Company of London, with which he continued until 1899. He was also at one time connected with the Daily Alta California and was in charge of the business affairs of that paper during the last ten years of its existence. In 1899 he was appointed deputy recorder, and in 1900 was appointed cashier of the license office.
Harry Backs.
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ยท Two years later, at the biennial election of 1902, he was chosen by popular suffrage for the position of auditor for a term of two years, to which office he was re-elected in November, 1903. A contemporary publication has said of him in this connection :
"Mr. Harry Baehr, the newly elected auditor, is one of the most pop- ular men in municipal politics. He is peculiarly fitted to ably perform the important work of this department of our government, because of his broad experience in general business and his close relationship with large insur- ance companies and other corporations, and also as cashier of the license office of this city.
"There are few, if any, offices in the government of San Francisco which demand a more rigid attention to detail, or that need to be system- atized more perfectly than the auditing and the examination of the city's accounts. Further, it demands a clear brain, keen perceptive faculties and a full knowledge of other departments of the city. Mr. Baehr, having served in three distinct departments in San Francisco's municipal govern- ment, is in an excellent position to know what the expenditures in such de- partments should be. In addition to this, he is conservative and thorough in his work, and is a statistician and an accountant of recognized ability. His fitness to cope with the problems incident to this office has been shown to the public early in his administration.
"Mr. Baehr has an enviable reputation in this city for his honesty, his conscientious work, and his close attention to his duties, and the municipal- ity is fortunate in having such a man at the head of this all-important of- fice, for it can readily be appreciated that anything but the strictest atten- tion to the accounts and expenditures of the various departments of the city, or anything but the most conscientious application, would result in an unnecessary and perhaps disastrous cost to the tax-payers of thousands of dollars. The bond required from the auditor is fifty thousand dollars, no other being larger excepting the treasurer and tax collector, which are each one hundred thousand dollars."
He has always given his support to the Republican party and has been unfaltering in his advocacy of its principles. In June, 1884, in Tacoma, Washington, Mr. Baehr was united in marriage to Miss Linea L. Bowers, a native of Pennsylvania. Her father was at one time a United States mar- shal. To Mr. and Mrs. Baehr has been born one son, Walter Harry, who is now seventeen years of age and is pursuing a course in the Polytechnic high school of San Francisco. Mr. Baehr is a Mason, thoroughly informed concerning the tenets and teachings of the order and exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft. He has advanced to high rank in Masonry, having attained the thirty-second degree of the York Rite. In all business and official relations he has been found conscientious and in- dustrious, and his political record is commendable because of the honorable methods he has followed in all his political work and his fidelity to the pub- lic trust in the discharge of the duties of office.
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NOBLE HENRY BAUGHMAN.
Noble Henry Baughman, of San Francisco, California, was born in Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1849, son of John F. and Susan E. (Swigert) Baughman, both natives of Pennsylvania and descended from Revolutionary ancestors.
John F. Baughman was a shoe manufacturer in Lancaster, Ohio, and later in Nauvoo, Illinois, where he died in 1882, at the age of sixty-nine years. His widow is still living in Nauvoo and is now eighty-one years of age. Their family consists of four sons and one daughter.
Noble H. received his education in the Lancaster high school and the Springfield Business College, graduating in the last named in 1863. He served an apprenticeship of three years to the trade of shoemaker, and after- ward was employed for some time as bookkeeper, up to 1869, when he went to Illinois. He spent four years in Illinois and came from there to California, locating in Sacramento, where he engaged in the manufacture of shoes. In 1882 he removed to Ione and turned his attention to a general mercantile business with B. Isaacs & Brothers, with whom he remained till 1900, the year he came to San Francisco. Here he engaged in a wholesale boot and shoe business at No. 10 Sutter street, under the firm name of McCune-Baughman Shoe Company, and continued in this business three years. He sold out in 1903 and, with H. H. Budd, became interested in the manufacture of a roof paint. Also he has an interest in the firm of Bates & Company, doing a wholesale commission and brokerage business at 205 Front street.
At Keokuk, Iowa, in 1873, Mr. Baughman married Miss Christina E. Huber, who was born at Nauvoo, Illinois, third in the family of twelve children of Martin and Phillipina Huber. Mr. Huber was for many years a prominent business man of Nauvoo, a manufacturer of wagons. He and his wife are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Baughman have had six children, only two of whom are living-Clarence O. and Ruth.
Mr. Baughman is identified with the Masonic order, having member- ship in the following: Union Lodge No. 58, F. and A. M .; Sutter Chap- ter No. II, R. A. M .; Sacramento Council No. I, R. & S. M .; Sacramento Commandery No. 2, K. T .; Yerba Buena Lodge of Perfection No. I: God- frey de St. Omar Council No. I, K. K .; San Francisco Consistory No I, A. A. S. K .; and Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. Politically he is a Republican.
FREDERICK SPRAGUE CONE.
Frederick Sprague Cone, justice of the peace, Alameda, California, was born December 6, 1872, in San Francisco, son of William H. and Laura (Mastick) Cone.
William H. Cone was a native of Michigan. He came to California in 1856, settling in San Francisco, where he made his home for many years. The most of his active life, up to the time of his retirement, was passed as a commercial traveler. He died May 2, 1903. His wife, who was a native of Ohio, died in 1872. She was a sister of E. B. Mastick, one of the pioneers
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of Alameda county. In the Cone family were three sons, the subject of this sketch, William H. and Seabury Mastick.
Frederick S. Cone received his education in the common and high schools of Alameda. He left school at the age of fifteen and learned the gilders' trade, at which he worked for a few years in San Francisco. Then he went to Sierra county, California, where for one year he had charge of a gold mine. After some time spent at Port Costa, he returned to Alameda in 1896 and became associated with the Argus Publishing Company, of which he was business manager for three and a half years. Next he was with the Daily Encinal as business manager, until 1903, when he was elected justice of the peace for a term of four years.
Mr. Cone was married February 9, 1901, to Edith Gertrude Ellery, a native of Alameda, and a daughter of Epes Ellery, of Alameda.
Fraternally Mr. Cone has numerous connections. He has membership in the F. and A. M., B. P. O. E., I. O. O. F., N. S. G. W., Royal Arcanum, W. O. W., Highbinders, California Press Association, Unitarian Club, Sierra Club and Alameda Boating Club. Of the last-named organization he is vice president.
HENRY CURTNER.
The history of the pioneer settlement of Santa Clara county would be incomplete without the record of this gentleman, who from its early days has been a prominent factor in its substantial growth and improvement. When California was cut off from the advantages and comforts of the east by the long hot stretches of sand and the high mountains, ere the railroads short- ened distance and annihilated time, he came to California and braved all the trials and hardships of pioneer life in order to make a home in the golden west-rich in its resources, yet unclaimed from the dominion of the red men and untransformed from the primitive condition in which it was left by the hand of nature. It was in the year 1852 that Mr. Curtner arrived in this state, and through the intervening years he has been an active factor in business life, devoting his energies to agricultural pursuits and to real estate operations, making his home at the present time in Warmsprings, Alameda county.
Mr. Curtner was born in Fountain county, Indiana, on the 17th of Jan- uary, 1831, his parents being Jacob and Nancy (Heaton) Curtner, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Tennessee. The father was a farmer by occupation and in the period of pioneer development in Indiana he went to that state, where he secured a tract of land and developed a farm. The family numbered ten children.
Henry Curtner was reared upon the old family homestead in the county of his nativity, and while he devoted his labors to the work of the fields dur- ing the summer months, he gave his attention to the mastery of the branches of English learning taught in the public schools throughout the winter sea- sons. He continued at home until he had attained his majority, when he resolved to seek his fortune in the far west and made preparation to come to California. He journeyed by way of the isthmus of Panama and arrived
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in the Golden state on the 20th of October, 1852. The story of pioneer conditions here at that time is largely familiar to the world, and yet no one who did not live through these experiences can fully comprehend the diffi- culties that the frontiersmen met. After remaining at Mission San Jose for about four years, Mr. Curtner settled in Alameda county, where he turned his attention to farming, and since that time has given his energies uninterruptedly to agricultural pursuits and to real estate operations, buying and selling much property. He has negotiated many important real estate transfers and in his line of business is well known. Moreover, he has been largely interested in raising cattle in both Nevada and California, and at the present writing is president of the Milpitas Land and Livestock Company, a corporation owning about thirty thousand acres of land, devoted to the raising of hay and cattle and capitalized for three hundred thousand dollars. Success comes as the legitimate result of well applied energy, unflagging determination and per- severance in a course of action when once decided upon ; she smiles not upon the idler or dreamer, and only the man who has justly won her favor does she deign to crown with blessings. In tracing the history of Mr. Curtner it is plainly seen that the prosperity which he enjoys has been won by the commendable energies above mentioned. A number of the important busi- ness interests of central California have felt the stimulus of his energy and executive ability, and his efforts have formed an important element in pro- moting business activity here, nor has he been remiss in citizenship. On the contrary he has been a co-operant factor in the movements for the general good, and thus is deserving of mention among the representative men of Alameda county.
In 1857 was celebrated the marriage of Henry Curtner and Miss Lydia Kendall, a native of Indiana and a daughter of James Kendall, who was one of the old settlers of that state. Eight children were born to them, of whom seven are yet living, namely: Walter J., who is conducting a sheep ranch in San Benito county; Frank S., a farmer of San Jose; William M., who follows farming at Milpitas; Allen E., who devotes his attention to agri- cultural pursuits and fruit raising; Josephine, a teacher of music; Grace, the wife of W. Realey, of San Jose; Howard, who died in 1864; and Jacob. Mrs. Curtner died in 1878, and Mr. Curtner was again married, his second union being with Mary Meyers, also a native of Indiana, and they became the parents of two sons, Albert H. and Arthur D. After the death of his second wife Mr. Curtner was married in 1884 to his present wife, who bore the maiden name of Lucy Latham. She is a native of Springfield, Illinois.
Mr. Curtner gives his political allegiance to the Republican party and is always deeply and actively interested in local and state politics, regarding it the duty as well as the privilege of every American citizen to support the principles in which he believes. Few men are more prominent or more widely known in this section of the state than Mr. Curtner, for he has been an important factor in business circles and his popularity is well deserved, as in him are embraced the characteristics of an unbending integrity, unabat- ing energy and industry that never flags.
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EDWARD MACFARLANE EHRHORN.
The great state of California is splendidly endowed with natural ad- vantages. Its mineral resources have added greatly to the world, its forests have been an important contributor to the lumber industries and its orchards have made it a fruit-producing center known to the world. It has been along the latter line that Mr. Ehrhorn has directed his energies, and as a scientist has won a notable place in horticultural circles because of his com- prehensive understanding of the great natural laws and scientific principles which underlie his chosen field of labor. He has made a close study of the subject of fruit culture and of everything upon which it is dependent, and is not only familiar with the requirements of the different kinds of fruits as to soil and climatic conditions, but also thoroughly understands the ravages made by insects and the best methods for the extermination of the pests. Because of his research and investigation along the last-mentioned line his labors have been of marked benefit to his fellow men, and in this connection he has an acquaintance and reputation that are not confined by the borders of California.
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