USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol II > Part 38
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Mr. Graff affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Danish Brotherhood, and in politics he is a Democrat. He was mar- ried in 1889 to Miss Margretha Petersen, also a native of Denmark and of an old Danish family, and she came to California in 1881. They have three children, Agnes, Arthur and Chester.
JOHN W. SHORT.
John W. Short, for the past six years postmaster of the city of Fresno, has been an honored resident of this city since 1880, and for eighteen years of that time he was connected with the newspaper interests of the city. He is a man of much executive and technical experience in the journalistic pro- fession, as also a man of ability in other lines of activity. He was initiated into the mysteries of the printer's craft while a boy, so that almost his entire active career has been spent in that line of work, and as one of the pub- lishers of the Fresno Republican for many years he wielded considerable influence in matters affecting the general welfare of his city and this section of the state.
Mr. Short was born in Shelby county, Missouri, in 1858, a son of Ham- ilton and Emily (Wharton) Short. Mr. Short's brother, Frank H., is a well known attorney of Fresno, and his biography in this volume contains further facts concerning the family history.
Mr. John W. Short received his public school training in Nebraska City, Nebraska, and when he left school at the age of fifteen he at once ap-
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prenticed himself to learn the printer's trade, working in the office of the Papillion Times. He continued in the newspaper work in Nebraska until 1880, which was the year of his arrival in Fresno. He was employed for a time as printer and writer on the Republican force, but after a year he bought a half interest in the paper and became one of its editors. He and J. W. Shanklin established the first morning daily in Fresno. Later the Republican was reorganized and a stock company assumed control, Dr. Chester Rowell being its president and Mr. Short vice president and man- ager. The latter continued in this position until June 12, 1898, when he received his appointment as postmaster of Fresno from President McKin- ley, and four years later was reappointed by President Roosevelt. He is a very popular official, fully alive to the interests in his charge, and his admin- istration has been extremely satisfactory to all concerned.
Mr. Short has always taken an active part in the affairs of the Repub- lican party in both state and county. He was married in 1887 to Miss Jessie G. Francis, a native of Calistoga, California, and a daughter of J. H. Francis, and her uncle, George M. Francis, is editor of the Napa Register. Mr. and Mrs. Short have three children: James V., John Douglas and Marjorie.
FRANK SHAY.
Frank Shay, representing the law department of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company with offices in San Francisco, was born in Brockport, New York, November 18, 1855. He is a son of Peter and Mary (Murphy) Shay, both of whom were natives of Ireland. They came to America in 1848, settling in New York. Mr. Shay's people were prominently and actively identified with public and political interests in Clare county, Ireland, where they were extensive landowners. His great-grandfather was one of the leaders of the revolution of 1798. Peter Shay was a capitalist and after coming to America lived a retired life in New York for a number of years. In 1860 he brought his family to California, locating in Sacramento, where both he and his wife yet reside, he having reached the advanced age of eighty- two years, while Mrs. Shay has attained the Psalmist's allotted span of three- score years and ten. In their family were three sons.
Frank Shay was a little lad of about five summers at the time of his parents' removal to Sacramento, and in the schools of that city he acquired his preliminary education, which was supplemented by a course in the Uni- versity of California, in which he was graduated with the class of 1875. At that time the degree of Bachelor of Laws was conferred upon him. He entered upon his business career in the capacity of private secretary to Adolph Sutro, of Virginia City, Nevada, and in 1876 became connected with the law department of the Central Pacific Railroad Company, at San Francisco. Two years later he was appointed private secretary by Governor Leland Stanford, and in 1885 entered the law department of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, with which he has since been identified. He is a leading representative of its legal interests, and in the control of the business of the office manifests comprehensive knowledge of corporation law.
Frank Shay
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On the 13th of February, 1877, was celebrated the marriage of Frank Shay and Miss Elva J. Bell, a native of New York, and a daughter of W. S. Bell, mining engineer and a representative of an old New York family. He came to California in the year 1849, attracted by the discovery of gold on the Pacific coast, and has since been prominent in the mining circles of this state, doing much to develop the rich mineral resources in this part of the coun- try. To Mr. and Mrs. Shay have been born four children, two sons and two daughters : Elva Frances, Frank Willis, Leland and Hazel M.
In his political views Mr. Shay is a Republican, and while he keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day he has never sought or desired public office, his attention being ever occupied by his business duties and interests. Although the width of the continent separates him from his birthplace, he is practically a native son of the west, for almost his entire life has been passed in California, and he has ever been imbued with its spirit of progress and advancement, co-operating in considerable measure with movements that have had for their object the promotion of the welfare of the cities in which he has made his home.
CHESTER ROWELL, M. D.
Chester Rowell, M. D., ranks not only as the oldest established and most prominent physician of Fresno, but also as one of its leading and most public-spirited business men. He has made this city his home and center of activity for about a third of a century, and much of public benefit has ac- crued through his generous enterprise and wholesome personality. He has taken a leading part in the financial affairs as organizer and president of a leading bank, and his activity in politics makes him one of the most influ- ential Republicans of this part of the state.
Dr. Rowell was born in Woodsville, New Hampshire, October 7, 1844, a son of Jonathan B. and Cynthia (Abbott) Rowell, both natives of New Hampshire. The ancestors of the family settled in New England as early as 1632, and many of the family were military men, some taking part in the war of the Revolution and the war of 1812. His father was a mer- chant and farmer, and also was a man of affairs and considerably in public life. He brought his family out to Illinois in 1849, and died there soon afterward, and then the eight boys of the household, of whom Dr. Rowell was the seventh born, scattered to various parts of the country and found each his niche to fill in life.
Dr. Rowell was educated in the public schools of Illinois, and was only in his seventeenth year when the rebellion called him to arms. He and four of his brothers enlisted in the Union army, and served till the close. After the war he continued his literary studies at the Lombard University in Galesburg, Illinois, and in December, 1866, came out to California. He read medicine with Dr. Isaac Rowell, a prominent physician of San Fran- cisco, and in 1870 graduated from the University of the Pacific, in the medical department, with the degree of M. D. He was engaged in practice in San Francisco up to 1875, and then took up his residence and practice in
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Fresno, where he has remained to the present time. In point of length of service he is the oldest practicing physician in the county. He organized, in 1876, the Fresno Republican, and is still president and owner of a con- trolling interest. He was one of the founders of the People's Savings Bank of Fresno in 1890, and has been its president from the beginning.
As mentioned above, Dr. Rowell is very much interested in Republican politics, and has been elected to the state senate three times, in 1879, in 1898, and in 1902. He was appointed regent of the University of California in 1891, and was reappointed in 1894 for a term of sixteen years. In 1900 he was a delegate to the Republican national convention, and was on the platform committee.
CHARLES LEWIS TISDALE, M. D.
Dr. Charles Lewis Tisdale is one of the best known representatives of the medical profession in central California, having become well known as an educator and as a general practitioner, whose service has also extended to the field of hospital service. His attainments in this department of scientific research have long since enabled him to leave the ranks of the many and stand among the successful few, and the profession as well as the public accord him prominence in his chosen field of labor.
Each state of the Union has sent its representatives to California, and Dr. Tisdale is among the native sons of New York who have found homes on the Pacific coast. He was born in Auburn, in 1858, his parents being Dr. Thomas P. and Flora (Lewis) Tisdale. His early mental training was received in the public schools of Elmira, New York, his literary training in the Michigan State University, at Ann Arbor. He then entered upon prep- aration for the medical profession, and in 1878 was graduated from the Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago, after which he went to the Sand- wich islands, where he engaged in practice for five years.
On the expiration of that period Dr. Tisdale returned to the United States, and continuing his studies was graduated from the New York Homeopathic Medical College, in the class of 1884. Returning to California he located in Alameda, where he has practiced to the present time, and in addition he has won distinction as an educator in the line of his profession. From 1890 until 1897 he was professor of physiology in the Hahnemann Medical College of the Pacific, and from 1897 to the present time, 1904, he has been the professor of the theory and practice of medicine in the same institution. He is also one of the trustees of the institution and the vice president of the board.
Dr. Tisdale is a member of the state board of medical examiners, and- for the past fifteen years has been the treasurer of the California State Homeopathic Medical Society. He is manager of the publication known as the Pacific Coast Journal of Homeopathy, a paper of much value to the profession : is visiting surgeon to the Fabiola Hospital at Oakland, and for the past four years has been county physician to Alameda county, while for five years he has been United States pension examiner of the third congres-
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sional district. His activity has thus extended to many departments of medical science and practice, in all of which his labors have proved of value.
Dr. Tisdale is likewise recognized as one of the leading representatives of the Republican party in his county, taking deep interest in its growth and doing all in his power to secure the adoption of its principles. He was chair- man of the county convention in 1902 and now belongs to the county central committee. He is also vice chairman of the congressional committee and one of the executive committee of the Alameda Republican Club. He is now serving as a member of the board of education of Alameda, and was its presi- dent from 1892 to 1900. In his fraternal relations he is a Mason and an Elk.
In 1884 Dr. Tisdale was married to Miss Emma Krum, of Schoharie, New York, a daughter of Franklin Krum, of that place, and they now have three daughters, Dean. Ruth and Dorothy. The Doctor is a man of broad culture and strong intelligence, qualities which render him popular socially as well as professionally. In connection with his calling he is continually overburdened by the demands made upon his time and attention. He is recognized as an industrious and ambitious student, and a gifted teacher. Genial in disposition, unobtrusive and unassuming, his expressions concern- ing brother practitioners are always friendly and indulgent, and he has gained the favorable regard of other representatives of the science of medicine by reason of his skill and his unfaltering adherence to the highest ethics of the profession.
J. O. TRABER.
J. O. Traber, of Fresno, is a rising young lawyer of this city and has attained recognition in a constantly increasing patronage and generally wid- ening influence in business and political circles. He has lived nearly all his life in Fresno county, and his great popularity and thorough knowledge of the law insure him high rank in the legal profession of this part of the state.
He was born in Mendocino county, California, July 19, 1872, a son of John W. and Anna ( Kane) Traber, the former a native of New York and the latter of Vermont. His father is known as one of the veteran and pioneer educators of California, and has devoted the best years of his life to the teaching profession. After teaching two years in Missouri he moved out to California, and has taught in the public schools of Fresno county almost continuously for thirty years.
Mr. J. O. Traber naturally had every encouragement to gain the best possible educational advantages. After the public schools he spent two years at the state normal in San Jose, and he was then employed in teaching in Fresno county for three years. To prepare himself for the legal pro- fession he went east to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and entered the Michigan State University, where he was graduated in 1896 in the law department with the degree of LL. B. He returned to Fresno and in 1897 began prac- tice, which he has continued to the present time.
Mr. Traber is one of the influential young Republicans of the county, and has been a delegate to county conventions and done his share of polit-
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ical work. In November, 1902, he was elected to the state legislature for a two years' term, and was earnestly public-spirited in all his work in the lawmaking body of the state. His fraternal affiliations are with the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World.
Mr. Traber married, in 1899, Miss Mayme Kane, a native of Michigan and a daughter of James Kane.
MILUS KING HARRIS.
Milus King Harris is one of the longest established lawyers of Fresno county, having first hung out his shingle and announced himself willing to accept legal practice in Fresno in August, 1878. Since that date his career has been one of much prominence both as a lawyer attending to an extensive private clientage and as one of the leading men on the bench of the county. He has always exerted broad and generous influence on the public and professional life of his community, and his great popularity is evidence of his personal worth and sincerity and integrity of character.
Mr. Harris was born in Sumner county, Tennessee, March 31, 1853, a son of Isaac W. and Martha ( Hassell) Harris, both native Tennesseeans and of old pioneer families of that state, the first ancestors having settled from Kentucky and Virginia. His father followed the occupation of farming, and was one of the successful men in that line in his part of the state.
Mr. Harris received his higher education in the Kentucky University at Lexington, graduating in 1873. For four years he was engaged in teach- ing school at St. Elmo, Kentucky, and he then entered Vanderbilt University at Nashville and graduated from the law department in 1878. In August following his graduation he came to Fresno and made the beginnings of the practice that has assumed such extensive proportions in the subsequent years. On March II, 1887, he was appointed, by Governor Bartlett, a superior judge, and in the following year was nominated for the office by both the Democrats and Republicans, being elected without opposition and receiving within one hundred votes of the combined total of ballots given in Fresno county to both Harrison and Cleveland. In 1894 he was again nominated by the Democrats for the same office, but this time the party lines were closely drawn, and he, with the entire Democratic ticket, was defeated by the com- bined Republican and Populist vote. He then resumed his private law prac- tice and has continued it without interruption to the present time. He has a large clientage, especially among corporations, being attorney for the follow- ing: The Raisin Growers' Association, the Bank of Central California and the Consolidated Canal Company, etc. During his term as superior judge he tried many important cases, especially some relating to water rights, and he tried and sentenced the notorious outlaw Chris Evans, who is now serving a life term. He has always been active in Democratic politics since casting his first vote. He has fraternal affiliations with the Masons.
Mr. Harris was married in 1884 to Miss Julia Tyree, who was also born in Sumner county, Tennessee. She is a niece of William B. Bate, for the past eighteen years United States senator from Tennessee and also governor of the state for two terms.
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JOHN ALEXANDER STANLY.
For many years a distinguished member of the bar of San Francisco and for a number of years judge of the county court, John A. Stanly so directed his energies and abilities as a member of the legal profession that he came to be highly honored while he lived, and his death was the occasion of sincere and general sorrow. The concensus of public opinion accorded him prominence and his legal associates acknowledged his ability, which made him the peer of many of the ablest lawyers not only of San Francisco but of the state.
A native of North Carolina, John Alexander Stanly was born in New- bern, in 1833, and was a son of Alexander and Catherine (Smith) Stanly, both of whom were natives of the same state and were representatives of old families that for several generations had lived in North Carolina, the arrival of their ancestors there antedating the Revolutionary war.
Judge Stanly spent the days of his boyhood and youth in his parents' home. He studied law and entering upon the active practice of the profes- sion soon demonstrated his ability to successfully cope with the intricate and involved questions which continually confront the courts. His equipment was good, for he had made thorough preparation for his chosen calling, and in his practice he qualified himself to the best of his ability before entering a courtroom to present his cause to judge or jury. Logical in his arguments, strong in his reasoning and clear and forceful in his utterances, he won many notable forensic victories which constitute a part of the judicial history of this state.
In 1865 Judge Stanly came to California and continued in the active practice of law almost to the time of his death. Locating in Oakland he established a home which is still a part of the family estate. In 1873, when forty years of age, he was elected judge of the court of the city and county of San Francisco. On the bench his course was marked by the same com- mendable qualities which have characterized his career as a lawyer and citi- zen-absolute fidelity to duty and a masterful grasp of every problem which presented itself for solution. He was mentioned in connection with other positions of political preferment and was made the candidate of his party for a position on the supreme bench, but was defeated by Judge Beatty. When he first came to California he entered into a law partnership under the firm name of Stanly & Hayes, at the northwest corner of Clay & Montgomery street, in San Francisco, and later the firm became Stanly, Hayes & Stanly, the last named being Edward Stanly, an uncle of the subject of this review. Subsequently John Alexander Stanly became associated with Judge McKin- stry, who afterward became chief justice of the state, and the firm occupied a foremost rank in the legal circles of the state.
Edward Stanly was the possessor of extensive and valuable realty in- terests in California, and in 1871 he deeded to Judge Stanly four thousand acres of land situated in Napa county. It is now called Rancho Rincon de los Carneros and has been converted into one of the finest and most extensive
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vineyards of the state, hardly equalled through California. It continued in the possession of the judge up to the time of his death, which occurred in September, 1897.
Judge Stanly was married in Oakland, in the '50s, and left one daughter, the wife of T. B. Coghill, a prominent wholesale grocer of San Francisco, residing in Oakland. Their children are Stanly Coghill, Edward Stanly and Bessie, and the second named is the present superintendent of the Stanly ranch.
WILLIAM J. MORGAN.
Progress has always centered in the towns and cities and civilization has been advanced not by the individual but by the concerted effort of many directed by the mind of one possessing keen sagacity, an appreciative under- standing of possibilities and an adaptability that enables him to utilize the means at hand and to combine forces so as to produce new possibilities and to evolve large results. William J. Morgan in the control of extensive busi- ness interests has shown himself to be a man of splendid business capacity, keen discernment and unfaltering determination, and Sacramento acknowl- edges its indebtedness to him for his active co-operation in the promotion of its industrial interests.
Mr. Morgan is a native of Oregon, his birth having occurred near Portland on the 9th of April, 1866. He is a son of Charles Richard Mor- gan and a representative of a famous old American family, many of whose members have distinguished themselves in war, finance and statesmanship.
His father, a native of Kentucky, became a dry goods merchant of that state, and in the year 1866 crossed the plains to Oregon, where he became prominently identified with stock-raising interests and the breeding of blooded cattle. He married Jane Gates, also a native of Kentucky and a representative of an old American family. Her death occurred in 1875 when she was forty-two years of age, and Mr. C. R. Morgan passed away in 1887 at the age of sixty-four years. In the family were the following named: James W .; John J. : George A .; Martha, the wife of David Clark ; and Mary A., the wife of J. B. Keates.
William J. Morgan began his education in the public schools of Port- land, and continued his studies there until he was graduated on the comple- tion of a course in Columbia College of Portland with the class of 1889. He thus obtained a thorough business training and was well equipped for life's practical and responsible duties. After leaving this school he removed to San Francisco, where he became connected with publishing enterprises, the field of his labor extending from San Francisco to Portland. He was engaged in the publication of historical works, concerning the Pacific states and territories until 1899. In 1899 he returned to Portland, where he was engaged in the clothing business, and, then becoming associated with United States Senator John H. Mitchell and other prominent business men of Port- land, he turned his attention to the development of the oil industry in Cali- fornia. He operated extensively in the oil fields during 1900 and 1901, but owing to the depressed condition of the oil market at that time he directed
gry Morgan
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his energies into other channels and became the promoter of various indus- trial enterprises.
Establishing his home in Sacramento Mr. Morgan organized a corpora- tion for the manufacture of ice and for the conduct of a cold storage plant. The company was capitalized for one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars and Mr. Morgan was elected president and general manager at the various annual meetings. The success of this enterprise has been greater than was at first anticipated. The business is conducted under the name of the Consumer's Mutual Supply Company. At the outset there were many predictions that he would be unable to interest capitalists to carry out the plan that he advanced when he came to Sacramento. Strong interests were arrayed against the proposed enterprise and every possible device was em- ployed to thwart the project and discourage those who were asked to sub- scribe for shares in the undertaking. No one not familiar with the nature of these obstacles can form even a remote conception of the discouragements that faced Mr. Morgan until success crowned his efforts. He never faltered, however, in his labors, nor did he become discouraged by any hindrance, and here stands to-day in Sacramento a splendid building as a monument to his labors, it being the finest of the kind for manufacturing purposes in Sacramento.
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