USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol II > Part 22
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Mr. Russell was born in August, 1837, and is a native of county Kerry, Ireland, his parents being Thomas and Anne (Stack) Russell, whose family numbered sixteen children, but three of whom now survive, the brother of Thomas being James B. Russell, who is a glass manufacturer residing in Glassport, Pennsylvania, while the sister is Mrs. Margaret Rolfe, whose hus- band is a pioneer settler of Stockton, California, coming from Maine to the Pacific coast at a very early epoch in the settlement and improvement of the west.
Thomas Russell acquired his early education in the public schools of the Emerald Isle, and at the age of fourteen years accompanied his parents on their emigration to America, the family home being established in Canada. Not long after this the father died, and the widow and her children moved to East Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Thomas Russell and his brothers learned the glass-making trade. He followed that pursuit for two years and then went to sea, leading the life of a sailor for eight years and visiting all the leading ports of the world. In this way he gained a broad and compre- hensive knowledge of different lands, their peoples and the customs. On the Ist of January, 1860, he arrived in California, having made the voyage around Cape Horn from Boston on a sailing vessel. He sailed in the coast trade during the year 1861 and a part of 1862, making trips between Puget Sound and San Francisco, and during that time was engaged in transporting most of the ties used in the construction of the San Francisco & San Jose Railroad, now the Southern Pacific line. In the latter part of 1862, how- ever, he left the water and made his way to Santa Clara county, where he entered the employ of the Menton Brothers, butchers. He was connected with that trade until the fall of 1865, when, desiring to engage in business on his own account, he rented a tract of land at Mountain View for one year. On the expiration of that period he removed to Mayfield, where he continued until the fall of 1869, and at that time he took up his abode near Milpitas, where is now his place of residence. He at first rented three hundred acres of land which was a part of the Warm Spring ranch, and during the ten years he paid $17,500 in cash rent. This tract he afterward purchased for $15,000, and has made it his home continuously to the present time. It is pleasantly located about a mile and a half north of Milpitas, on the Oakland road, and is a splendidly improved property. He has erected there a beau- tiful residence, has also built good barns and other necessary outbuildings, and has all modern equipments. Horses and carriages prove an easy means of access to the city, and his proximity to Milpitas enables him to enjoy all of the advantages of town life and at the same time have the privileges and conveniences of a country home. He is engaged in general farming and also devotes considerable attention to the raising of Durham cattle and fine horses. When he first rented the property there were no improvements upon it, not even a house, a barn, a pump or a fence. It was in that first decade in which the real struggle of his life came, but he possessed youth,
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indomitable courage, unflagging industry and strong determination, and thus he succeeded in conquering difficulties and obstacles which would have utterly discouraged many a man. Like most men who came to California, Mr. Russell spent a few months in the mines, searching for the precious metal in Tuolumne county, but he did not find this entirely congenial and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, in which his labors have been rewarded with splendid results.
In 1866 occurred the marriage of Mr. Russell and Miss Marguerite Mullen, a native of Ireland, who crossed the Atlantic to New York in early girlhood days. It was after her removal to California that she met Mr. Russell, to whom she gave her hand in marriage. Seven children have been born of this union: Annie, who is now the wife of Michael Moran, a farmer residing on Half Moon Bay: Mamie, who is engaged in teaching in the public schools; Marguerite, who is also a public school teacher; Frank, who married Marcella Holland, of Trinity county, California, and was a graduate of Santa Clara College and is now engaged in the commission busi- ness at San Francisco: Katie, a teacher of music: Alice, a teacher in the public schools; and Emmett, who is on the home farm. The children have been provided with excellent educational privileges and all are graduates of the normal school at San Jose and have been very successful in their chosen vocations.
Mr. Russell is broad-minded in his political views, generally voting as his judgment dictates without regard to party affiliation. Regarded as a citizen, he belongs to that public-spirited, useful and helpful type of man whose ambitions and desires are directed in those channels through which flow the greatest and most permanent good to the greatest number, and it is therefore consistent with the purpose and plan of this work that his record be given among those of the representative men of his adopted county.
GEORGE MORTON TERRILL, M. D.
Dr. George Morton Terrill, well known in military circles and widely recognized as a leading representative of the medical fraternity in San Fran- cisco, was born on the 22d of February, 1859, in Salem, Virginia. His father, Dr. George Parker Terrill, also a native of the Old Dominion, repre- sented one of the southern families that were established in Virginia at an early epoch in the colonial history of that city. The grandfather was very prominent in the public life of Virginia for forty years, and through many generations served as a member of the legislature, leaving the impress of his individuality upon the laws that were enacted during his connection with the assembly. The brothers of Dr. George Parker Terrill took a very promi- nent part in military affairs at the time of the Civil war, being adherents of the Union cause. William R. Terrill became a brigadier general, and was chief of artillery in McCook's Division at the battle of Shiloh. He was killed at the battle of Perryville in 1862. Dr. George P. Terrill was for thirty-five years a practicing physician at Salem, Virginia, and his thorough prepara- tion for his profession and his devotion to the duties which it involved brought
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George In Derrice
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to him a large patronage, and made him one of the leading representatives of the medical fraternity in his native state. He married Sarah Dold, who was born in Lexington, Virginia, and was also a representative of an old southern family. The ancestral history of the Dolds, like that of the Ter- rills, can be traced back to the early part of the seventeenth century, when the work of colonization had just been begun in Virginia. To Dr. George P. and Sarah Terrill were born three sons and three daughters. One son, Francis H. Terrill, resigning a position in the United States navy, settled at San Francisco, where he entered upon the practice of medicine, which he fol- lowed until 1888, when he was succeeded by his brother, George.
Dr. G. M. Terrill supplemented his early educational privileges by study in Roanoke College in Virginia. Following the completion of his literary course he matriculated in the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, and, pursuing the medical course, was graduated in the class of 1883, at which time the degree of Doctor of Medicine was conferred upon him. Returning then to his na- tive city, he engaged in practice in Salem, until 1885, when he came to the Pacific coast. Joining the United States army, he was appointed acting as- sistant surgeon and was in active duty in the Apache campaign in 1885-6, in the command of Captain Lawton, who afterward became General Lawton and was killed in the Philippines. Following his return to San Francisco Dr. Terrill entered upon the practice of medicine and became the successor of his brother Dr. F. H. Terrill, upon the latter's death. He has a large patronage, which is of an important character, making constant demands upon his time and attention. He is a thorough and discriminating student, careful in his diagnosis of a case, and his judgment is rarely at fault in matters pertaining to his profession. Anything that tends to bring to man the key to that com- plex mystery which we call life receives his earnest attention, and his read- ing along scientific lines has been broad and comprehensive, thus qualifying him in high degree for the onerous and responsible duties which devolve upon the physician.
In June, 1899, Dr. Terrill was united in marriage to Miss Anna Hutton, a native of California, and they occupy an enviable position in the social cir- cles of San Francisco. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and is a past brigade surgeon of the National Guard of California. Patriotism has ever been one of the salient characteristics of the family, and Dr. Terrill has manifested this trait of his ancestors by active co-operation in military affairs in his adopted state. He is a man of broad learning and culture. pos- sessing the progressive spirit of the day, and these qualities have made for him an enviable place in both social and professional circles in San Francisco.
WILLIAM PENN LYON. JR.
This is an age of progress and of mammoth enterprises, and in no section of the country are so important or extensive interests controlled by the individual-as taken in contradistinction to corporation-than in Cali- fornia, where most business is conducted on a large scale. Among the representative citizens of the Santa Clara valley now engaged in the promo-
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tion of the fruit-raising industry is William Penn Lyon, Jr., a man of re- sourceful ability and of manifest business discernment. He stands to-day as a typical representative of American manhood, alert, energetic and pur- poseful, and while he has achieved splendid success it is the legitimate out- come of his own labors and careful management.
Mr. Lyon was born on the 23d of August, 1861, in Racine, Wisconsin. His father, William Penn Lyon, Sr., was one of the distinguished citizens of that state and is now an honored resident of San Jose. He is descended from the old Coffin family of Nantucket, Massachusetts, that was established in New England at a very early epoch in its colonization. His birth, how- ever, occurred in Chatham county, New York, October 28, 1822, and in that state he was married to Miss Adelia Duncombe, who was born there. About 1844 they removed to Wisconsin, and in the years of his early man- hood Judge Lyon worked on a farm in the Badger state, also engaged in teaching school and in the meantime took up the study of law, which he diligently pursued until 1846, when he was admitted to the bar. From that time forward he devoted his energies to the practice of law for many years. In 1850 he became a resident of Burlington, Racine county, Wisconsin, and five years later took up his abode in the city of Racine, where he was destined to rise to prominence that was not limited by the confines of the municipality but extended in the state and ultimately won him the position of chief justice of Wisconsin. In the early part of his professional career he served for four years as district attorney at Racine, Wisconsin, and in 1859, having been elected a member of the state legislature, was chosen speaker of the house and served through that session of the general assembly. In 1861 he offered his services to the government as a defender of the Union cause and for one year was a captain in the Eighth Wisconsin Regiment, after which he was promoted and served for three years as colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteers. Patriotic devotion to the nation has ever been one of his strongest characteristics, and he has left an impress for good upon the public life and allowed no opportunity to pass for the promotion of the welfare of his country along substantial lines. He has ever felt a deep and earnest interest in the soldiers, and he was called upon to deliver the oration at the time of the presentation of the battle flags of Wisconsin to the state. On many other public occasions he was selected as orator, and as a public speaker gained fame because of his eloquent and earnest presentation of every subject which elicited his attention.
Following the close of his military service, Judge Lyon returned to Racine and for five years served on the bench of the district court. In 1871 he was elected a member of the supreme court of Wisconsin, and continued in active connection with that high tribunal until 1894, acting for two years as chief justice. He came to the supreme bench by appointment of Governor Fairchild, and he carved his name deeply on the keystone of the legal arch. He has great respect for the dignity of judicial place and power, and no man ever presided over a court with more regard for his environments than did Judge Lyon. His opinions are specimens of judicial thought, always show- ing logic, and he never enlarged beyond the necessities of legal thought in
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order to indulge in the drapery of literature. His mind during the entire period of his course at the bar and on the bench was directed in the line of his profession and his duties. For two years after the retirement from the judgeship he engaged in no active work, but in 1896 was offered an appoint- ment as a member of the State Board of Control, and assuming the duties of chairman of the board, he maintained a watchful, intelligent, just and kindly interest in the great charitable, reformatory and penal institutions of the commonwealth. His term of service would have extended until the 15th of April, 1905, had he not tendered his resignation to Governor LaFollette in 1903. The motive power that prompted his resignation was his desire to come to California that he and his wife might spend their remaining days with their two children, William P. Lyon, Jr., and Mrs. Jay O. Hayes, and now he is living in retirement from further professional labor, enjoying in large measure the real comforts and pleasures of life, which should ever crown an era of great activity and usefulness such as has been the business career of Judge Lyon.
William Penn Lyon, Jr., was a lad of ten years when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Madison, Wisconsin. He pursued his edu- cation in the public schools, was graduated on the completion of a high school course and afterward entered the University of Wisconsin at Madison at the age of sixteen years, being graduated in that institution in 1881 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then entered upon his business career in the auditing department of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he remained until 1884. In that year he returned to Madison, and after one year spent as a student in the law depart- ment of the State University, during which time he acted as amanuensis for his father, who was then serving on the supreme bench of the state, he entered the law office of Knight & Hayes at Ashland, Wisconsin, continuing his reading under the direction of these well known attorneys. In the spring of 1886 he once more matriculated in the university and was graduated with his class, at which time the degree of Bachelor of Laws was conferred upon him. He then located for practice at Ashland, and while there became interested with Hayes Brothers, now of San Jose, in the iron mines of the Gogebic range in northern Wisconsin. He remained in his native state until 1890, when he came to California, locating at Edenvale, Santa Clara county, where he has since engaged in the production of fruit and the culti- vation of fine orchards, carrying on business on an extensive plan, his fruit orchard covering more than one hundred acres. In the fall of 1903, in connection with the Hayes Brothers, he organized and incorporated the Edenvale Fruit Company and erected a large plant for the purpose of drying and curing the fruit of this section of the state for shipment to the eastern markets. He is a man of enterprise, watchful of opportunities, alert in their utilization, and his business integrity also stands as an unquestioned fact in his career.
In the fall of 1889 Mr. Lyon was united in marriage to Miss Ellen L. Chynoweth, a native of New York and a daughter of Thomas and Emily Chynoweth, who were early settlers of the Empire state and went to Madi-
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son, Wisconsin, in 1855. Two children were born of this marriage, but the elder, Carroll, died in infancy; William Penn, born in 1894, is at home with his parents.
Since coming to California Mr. Lyon has taken a very active and influential part in Republican politics and in public affairs bearing upon the improvement of existing conditions in the state. He is now an active mem- ber and was one of the organizers of the Good Government League of the county, formed to prevent the rule of machine in politics. He was nom- inated by the Good Government party in 1900 for the position of state senator, but was defeated. He is greatly opposed to misrule in municipal affairs, and to anything that partakes even of the nature of indirectness, believing that political affairs should be conducted as business is, upon a straightforward, honorable course. He belongs to the Phi Kappa Psi fra- ternity, with which he became identified when a university student. He was a president of the Farmers' Club for the year 1902, and has put forth earnest and effective effort in behalf of the promotion of agricultural and horticultural interests in the state. The consensus of public opinion places him in the front rank among the representative honored citizens of his county, and his prominence is not less the result of a successful career than of an honorable private life characterized by consideration for the rights and privileges of others and by kindliness and geniality manifested in his social and home relations.
THEODOR GIER.
The consensus of public opinion concerning Theodor Gier is indeed favorable, and Oakland numbers him among its most representative and valued citizens. Few men have done as much to promote business activity and prosperity in this city, and in community affairs he has been very influ- ential, his labors proving a co-operant factor in the successful conduct of many enterprises that have been of material benefit to this section of the state. A native of Germany, he was born on the 24th of May, 1860, in Peine, Hanover. His father, Henry Gier, who belonged to a prominent German family, was a railroad superintendent. He spent his entire life in his native country and died in the year 1900. His wife, who bore the maid- en name of Marie Behrens, was also of an old and distinguished family of the fatherland and her death occurred in 1892.
In different schools of his native country Theodor Gier acquired his education and then entered a general wine and merchandising business in Peine. When eighteen years of age he went upon the road as a traveling salesman and covered the greater part of Germany. The year 1881 wit- nessed his emigration to America. He spent twelve months in Chicago, during nine of which he was employed in a grocery store. He afterward visited various eastern cities in search of a permanent location, and in July, 1882, came to California, since which time his interests have been identified with those of the golden west. For two months he was employed in a grocery store in San Francisco, and then went to Los Angeles, where he
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remained for a month. He next purchased a small ranch at Anaheim, but sold this property in 1883 and located in Oakland, where he opened several grocery stores, which he conducted with success until 1890. He then con- centrated his energies toward the development of a wholesale liquor busi- ness, supplying the trade and families. In 1893 he purchased a vineyard at Livermore, in 1898 one at Napa, in 1901 a second at Livermore, and in 1903 became owner of another vineyard at St. Helena, Napa county, so that his landed possessions now aggregate one thousand acres, four hundred and fifty of which are devoted to the raising of grapes. He manufactures a large proportion of his own wines and expects soon to engage in the manufac- ture of brandy. His principal brand of wine is known as Giersberger, and he controls the most extensive business in his line in this district of the state. He was one of the organizers and promoters of the Merchants' Exchange, served as one of its directors for eight years, and for the past two years has been the president. He was one of the organizers and directors of the Se- curity Bank & Trust Company, which has recently been formed with a capi- tal stock of one-half a million dollars.
Mr. Gier, however, has not confined his attention solely to the building up of these enterprises, but has directed his efforts into channels through which flow the greatest good to the greatest number. He is a citizen whose public spirit and progressiveness are numbered among his salient character- istics, and his efforts in behalf of Oakland have been far-reaching and bene- ficial. He has ever looked beyond the exigencies of the moment to the possibilities of the future, and has planned not only for the temporal good, but for the permanent development of the city. He was one of the pro- moters and vice-president of the Oakland Exposition, the movement being instituted six years ago, and since its organization he has been for four years the manager. Through these means and in other ways he has done much toward educating the people to do their trading at home, and success has followed his efforts in this direction. He has brought to his fellow townsmen a realization of the benefits this brings to the community, and all lines of business activity have felt the stimulus of his efforts. He is president of the board of commissioners for Alameda county to the Louis- iana Purchase Exposition and at the time of this writing had the county's exhibit almost ready for shipment. One of the most important works that Mr. Gier has done in behalf of his fellow men has been in connection with the building of the tunnel between Alameda and Contra Costa counties, and had it not been for his intervention the project that has resulted in such widespread benefit to both counties would have been indefinitely tabled. When the question regarding the expense of the undertaking arose it was found that Contra Costa county could not stand this proposition, and the law did not authorize Alameda county taking up the additional burden. When the deadlock seemed imminent Mr. Gier, who represented the Ala- meda executive committee, stepped into the breach, personally guarantee- ing to raise the fifteen thousand dollars that was causing the trouble, and the counties agreed to each pay half of the balance. On that guarantee the tunnel was constructed and Mr. Gier's obligation was faithfully discharged.
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On the 9th of February, 1886, in Oakland, Mr. Gier was married to Miss Ferdinande Hornung, a native of Marysville, California, and a daugh- ter of Dr. G. Hornung, one of the pioneer residents of this state, who is now engaged in conducting a drug store in Marysville, California. Three daugh- ters have been born of this marriage: Grace, Elsa and Amalie. In the social circles of the city the family occupies an enviable position, and Mr. Gier is also well known as a representative of various fraternities. He be- longs to the Masonic lodge, is a charter member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, has membership relations with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and many other fraternities and societies. He has held positions in all of these and has passed through the chairs of a number. He is likewise the president of the Arion Singing Society of San Francisco. His political allegiance has been given to the Republican party since he became an American citizen. He believes heartily in the policy of the party, and has frequently been a delegate to city, county and state conventions. He has no political aspira- tions for himself, preferring to devote his energies to his numerous busi- ness activities, and yet he is an earnest advocate of his party and does all in his power to promote its success. He was chairman of the finance commit- tee appointed to raise funds to properly entertain President Roosevelt on his trip to the Pacific coast. In January, 1903, he was highly honored by Emperor William of Germany with a presentation of an Order of the Crown in recognition of services rendered on the occasion of the visit of Prince Henry to this country. Mr. Gier took a prominent part in the entertain- ment of the Prince, and as the result is now the possessor of a gold medal, of which there are but two others in the United States; those were pre- sented by Germany's emperor to the mayor of Chicago and to the mayor of New York. These three presentations are the first that have ever been made to any but German subjects. The San Francisco Call at the time devoted considerable space to an exposition of the matter.
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