USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol II > Part 43
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Sheriff Mckenzie's official career was full of thrilling experiences. It was he who found the skull of the notorious Pete Olson, the murderer of Mrs. Herman Lyons. The murder was committed before Mr. Mckenzie took the office of sheriff and alleged Olsons had been arrested for the crime in every quarter of the world. Mr. Mckenzie took the trail of the scene of
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the murder and with the aid of a dog recovered the skull, proving the death of the real Olson beyond any doubt, the identification being absolute. The find was made two years after the commission of the crime. Sheriff Mc- Kenzie played a most prominent part in the pursuit and capture of Carl Schmitz and William Roe, the murderers of Mrs. J. Q. Greenwood. This crime, which is one of the most notable in the annals of the west, was com- mitted seven miles south of Napa on the 14th of February, 1891. Early in the morning of that day Mr. Mckenzie was notified that a crime had been committed. He went immediately to the Greenwood home, a magnificent country mansion, and there found J. Q. Greenwood with three bullets in his head, sitting in a chair with his hands tied behind him. He was barely alive and able to give but a disjointed account of the bloody assault, which had been made by a brace of robbers upon himself and his wife. In an adjoining room Mrs. Greenwood was found dead. She had been securely tied and there was a bullet through her head. A watch pawned by two men at Vallejo Junction furnished Mr. Mckenzie with his first clue. He found the watch had been repaired by a Napa jeweler for one William Moore, of Suscoll, California, who had until a short time previous worked for a rancher, Pete Lynch. Following the trail of Moore, the sheriff found that he had stayed over night at the old California Hotel in San Francisco. His signature taken from the register together with a bundle of papers the murderers had dropped at Napa Junction gave the sheriff additional material on which to work. These papers contained the names of a number of San Francisco women, and from them Sheriff Mckenzie learned the real name of William Moore was Carl Schmitz and that he was from Chicago. The hunt proceeded and in January, 1892, Carl Schmitz, in an intoxicated condi- tion in Denver, Colorado, admitted that he was wanted in California. In- formation of this found its way to the Denver detectives and Schmitz was arrested. His appearance corresponded with the description that had been sent out from California in circulars to the officers and Mr. Mckenzie was at once notified. Requisition papers were issued by Governor Markham and Mr. Mckenzie with these went to Denver to get his prisoner. In the Den- ver jail Schmitz made a full confession to the Napa sheriff. He still main- tained, however, that he had been forced to assist in the commission of the crime by his companion. This declaration was supported by Greenwood himself, who had recovered from his injuries. Schmitz, however, was tried at Napa, sentenced to life imprisonment and is now serving out his term at the state penitentiary.
In 1896 Sheriff Mckenzie received notice from Los Angeles that a man answering the description of Schmitz's partner had been on a pro- longed debauch in a saloon just outside of that city. He at once notified the Los Angeles authorities to arrest the suspect and proceeded south to get his prisoner. He found that he was the man wanted and Rowe was brought back to Napa, tried, convicted and hanged, the execution taking place on the 16th of January, 1897. Rowe after his sentence had been pronounced confessed to nineteen murders, thus clearing up the mystery of many crimes which had baffled the officers of the east and west.
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An incident that illustrates the rapid methods of Sheriff Mckenzie was the pursuit and arrest of the Harbin Spring Stage robbers in July, 1892. The holdup took place on Mount St. Helena, a mile below the Lowell house. A stage full of passengers were relieved of all their valuables, by a couple of highwaymen, who tock to the brush and disappeared in truly black boot fashion. A few hours after the commission of the crime Mr. Mckenzie was on the spot and with his posse followed the trail which led into Sonoma county. During the night the trail was temporarily lost, but the course of the men was again discovered at two in the morning between Calistoga and Kelloggs in Knight Valley, where on a lonely road the sheriff and a deputy held up and arrested the robbers, Mooney and Burke. The arrest was made within twenty-four hours after the commission of the crime, and within forty-eight hours from the time of the holdup the robbers had been con- victed and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment each. " Badman " Scott, the gun-fighter, who shot a man named Vaughn, was captured by Mr. Mc- Kenzie and is now serving a fifteen years' sentence in the penitentiary.
The arrest of the notorious Doc. Rivers and the speedy conviction fol- lowing was another incident of the efficiency of Sheriff Mckenzie. Rivers became engaged in a difficulty with a man named Winton and killed him on First street in Napa in front of the Napa Hotel. The coroner's jury had much difficulty in determining the real cause of death, for the victim had received a knife thrust and a blow upon the head with a blunt instru- ment, either of which wounds might have caused death. Mr. Mckenzie soon found the knife with which Rivers had stabbed Winton, recovering it from the bed of the Napa river, but as the other injury was deemed the more serious the jury hesitated to render a verdict. While the case was pending Mr. Mckenzie uncovered a pair of brass knuckles, which he proved Rivers had been exhibiting in a restaurant. The jury convicted him on the evi- dence produced and he was sentenced to a life term at San Quentin, where he died. Among the other famous captures made by and under the leader- ship of Sheriff Mckenzie may be mentioned the pursuit and capture of the notorious stage robbers, Buck English and his partner Breckenridge. The former was sent to the penitentiary for life and the latter for twenty-five years. Mr. Mckenzie also accomplished the arrest of the murderer Schwab, who was taken back to Texas and there executed for the murder of his sister. He also arrested George Clark, who killed his brother, William Clark, at St. Helena and was convicted and executed.
On the Ist of January, 1899, Mr. Mckenzie retired from office with a record which is unsurpassed for efficiency in the annals of California. Since that time he has been engaged in stock-raising and in the transporta- tion business and is largely interested in running-horses. He now owns a number of horses at different tracks in this country. He has large property interests in the Hawaiian Islands and makes trips twice a year to superin- tend his possessions there. In addition to his property in California. he owns a magnificent country home a few miles from Napa.
On the Ist of May, 1883. at Monticello, California, Mr. Mckenzie was united in marriage to Miss Alice M. Clarke, who died on the 2d of October,
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1899. They had four children, but the first born died through accident when a year old. The others are George Stanley, now seventeen years of age, who is attending the business college at Napa; Cordelia and Ethel, who are students in the public schools at Napa.
Mr. Mckenzie is identified with several fraternal organizations, includ- ing the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Foresters of America and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and he has firm faith in its principles. He is a man of fine personal appearance, of genial manner and is popular with a large circle of friends who entertain for him the warmest regard, while his record as an official and his success in business affairs well entitle him to mention among the representative men of central California.
WILLIAM D. MCCARTHY, M. D.
Dr. William D. McCarthy, of San Francisco, is one of the prominent physicians and surgeons of this city, where he has enjoyed a large general practice for the past twenty years, and he is especially well known for the part he has taken in military affairs in this state and for his creditable services during the late war with Spain.
Dr. McCarthy is a native of Boston, Massachusetts. His father, P. D. McCarthy, was born in Ireland, and for a number of years was in the boot and shoe business in Boston, being a successful merchant. He came out to California in 1860, but died soon after.
Dr. McCarthy received his education in the public schools, then at St. Mary's College, and took his medical courses at the Cooper Medical College, at San Francisco, where he graduated in 1882. While still in college he had been interne and chief druggist. Since his graduation he has engaged in a general practice in the city, and his recognized professional ability and his social prominence have made him a very popular physician, and for a number of years he has had all the business he could consistently attend to.
In 1887 he organized the medical department of the National Guard of California, having during the same year entered the state military as major and surgeon of the Second Artillery. When the Guard was reorganized he took charge of the Second Brigade as major, and on May 2, 1898, was ap- pointed chief mustering medical officer of the National Guard of California. He was made brigade surgeon by General Merritt, and went as chief surgeon of the first expedition to Manila under General Anderson. He was chief surgeon and acting surgeon general, and as such organized the first hospitals in the Philippines. On the arrival of Colonel Lippincott, the regular army surgeon, he was assigned to charge of Camp Dewey, and during one of the battles had charge of the field. His service was under Generals Anderson, King and Wheaton, and he remained on the islands until the First California Infantry was sent home. He served as deputy surgeon general and division surgeon until October 20, 1903, at which date he resigned. He has been a member of the board of health of San Francisco for a long time, and is a member of the Order of Military Surgeons of the United States.
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Dr. McCarthy married Miss Catherine Hammond, a daughter of John Hammond, a San Francisco pioneer. They have six children, Justin F., H. W., Fabian, John, Margaret and Helen.
CHARLES ASHLEY GARTER.
The family name of the subject of this review has long been found on the records of jurisprudence in California, for the father of Charles Ashley Garter, Ephraim Garter, was for many years a practitioner of Shasta county and also served as district judge of the ninth judicial district of the state. He was a native of New York and descended from an old Mohawk Dutch family that was established in the Mohawk valley at a very early period in the settlement of New York. The year 1849 witnessed his arrival in California, and he soon won prominence as a member of the bar. He made the journey across the plains and located in Shasta county, where in addi- tion to his private practice he performed the duties of the office of district attorney. He afterward became senator of Colusa, Shasta and Tehama counties and in 1863 was chosen judge of the ninth judicial district, serving for many years upon the bench. His decisions were strictly fair and im- partial and he ever sustained the dignity of the law, winning "Golden opin- ions from all sorts of people." He died in 1880 in Shasta, California, at the age of seventy-two years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Fisher, was also a native of the Empire state and a representative of an old American family. There were but two children in their family, the daugh- ter Martha becoming the wife of Felix Tracy.
Charles Ashley Garter acquired his early education in the public schools of New York and also attended the Wyoming Academy of that state until thirteen years of age, when he was brought by his parents to California. In this state he was apprenticed to learn the printer's trade in Shasta on the Shasta Republican, and after serving for some time there he went to Oak- land, where he attended the Durant School, which 'subsequently became the University of California. He was a student in that institution until 1859. when he went to Buffalo, New York, and in that city prepared for entrance to Harvard College. In 1861 he matriculated at Harvard where he remained until 1863, when, after completing the work of the sophomore year, he was obliged to discontinue his studies on account of ill health, and returned to Shasta, California.
In July, 1863, Mr. Garter accepted a position as clerk with the Wells- Fargo & Company's Express at Shasta, serving in that way until 1864, when he entered the College of California at Oakland, being graduated in that institution with the class of 1866, at which time the degree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred upon him. Subsequently the College of California deeded all of its right to the University of California, including its present site, and in turn all graduates of the former institution were adopted as alumni of the latter, and Mr. Garter received his diploma and the degree of Master of Arts from the University of California.
Following his graduation Mr. Garter entered the law office of Samuel
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Chas A Garter
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Wilson, of San Francisco, under whose direction he pursued his studies, and in 1866, went to Albany, New York, and was enrolled as a student in the Albany Law School. He brought a splendid record for scholarship and was graduated there with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, following which he was admitted to practice in all of the courts of the Empire state. In January, 1868, however, he returned to California and entered upon the practice of his chosen profession in Shasta, where he remained until 1873. He then removed to Red Bluff, where he resumed his professional labors, enter- ing into a partnership there with Colonel E. J. Lewis, who was a prominent Democratic politician as well as an able lawyer at that bar. This relation was discontinued after one year and Mr. Garter continued to practice alone until 1878, when he entered into partnership relations with General N. P. Chipman, the firm of Chipman & Garter continuing until 1890. In that year Mr. Garter was appointed United States attorney for the northern district of California by President Harrison, and held the office until 1894, when he returned to Redding, Shasta county, and organized the firm of Garter, Dozier & Wells, of which he remained the head for three years, from 1897 until 1901, when he came to San Francisco, where he is now located in practice.
Mr. Garter is a Republican in his political allegiance, and in 1886 was the candidate for Congress from the first congressional district of Califor- nia, but was defeated by a small vote. He has taken an active part in politi- cal work, doing everything in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of the Republican organization. His attention, however, is chiefly given to his professional duties, and he has succeeded in gaining a large clientage and winning for himself a prominent position in the ranks of the legal fraternity of California.
In June, 1868, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Garter and Miss Jen- nie E. Kelsey, a native of New Jersey and a daughter of John B. Kelsey, of Rockaway, New Jersey. They had two children, but lost both. Grace, who died at the age of six years, and Ashley K., who died at the age of twenty- five. Mr. Garter has a wide acquaintance throughout the state and is promi- nent in social as well as professional circles. He is not learned in the law alone, however, for he has studied long and carefully many subjects which are to the statesman and the man of affairs of the greatest importance, and has ever kept abreast of the best thinking men of the age.
COLONEL FRANCIS E. BECK.
Colonel Francis E. Beck, paymaster general of the National Guard of California and manager of the San Francisco branch of the International Banking Corporation, is one of the able and well known financiers of this city and state. He is practically a native resident of San Francisco, and since he began his career in a financial direction some thirty years ago he has risen steadily and taken high rank among the business men of the western metropolis, with responsibilities and promotions always keeping pace with his expanding business power and resources.
Colonel Beck was born in New York city in 1852, and was brought to
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San Francisco in the same year, when he was eight months old. His father, A. G. Beck, was a professional accountant, and died here in 1876. His mother was Almina (Burnett) Beck.
He was educated in the public schools of San Francisco, and received his technical training in preparation for his banking and business career under the able guidance of his father. During his boyhood he was employed in various establishments of San Francisco, and in 1876 he entered the Anglo- California Bank, and was promoted to various positions until he held the post of assistant cashier at the time he left that institution. In August, 1902, he accepted his present position of manager of the branch of the International Banking Corporation. This company has a capital stock of eight million dollars, and has branches all over the eastern world.
Colonel Beck is a prominent Mason and a member of the Elks, and is identified with a number of clubs, being a director of the Union League Club. He has been connected with the National Guard of the state for many years, having joined Company G of the Second Artillery as a private, remained with it till it was mustered out. Governor Budd made him a lieutenant colonel on his staff, as did also Governor Gage, and he was later appointed colonel and paymaster general on Governor Pardee's staff.
Colonel Beck has been married twice.
THOMAS EDWARD GREEN.
Thomas Edward Green is one of the prosperous and prominent resi- dents of Napa county, where he is now successfully engaged in agricultural and horticultural pursuits, having a valuable and productive tract of land, on which he has made his home since 1897. Prior to that time he was a contractor, whose superior skill in business won him pre-eminence as a rep- resentative of the great department of labor with which he was connected, and as a business man he has ever been conspicuous among his associates not only for his success, but for his probity, fairness and honorable methods. He makes his home in Napa, but his work has carried him into other sec- tions of the state and he has formed a wide acquaintance in central portion of California.
Mr. Green is a native of Australia, his birth having occurred in the city of Sydney on the 5th of December, 1841. His parents were Thomas and Maria (Kaveney) Green, both of whom were natives of Ireland, whence they went to Australia about 1839. They remained residents of that country for a decade, and in January, 1850, came to America, arriving in that month in California. As pioneer settlers of the state they were actively identified with the early development and Thomas Green bore a substantial part in the progress and improvement of his community. He remained a resident of California for more than a third of a century, passing away in 1886. while his wife died in 1885. Their eldest daughter, Maria, died in Napa, California, August 29, 1901, and John, a brother of our subject, died June 13, 1900. One sister, Delia, is now living in San Francisco, while a brother, Joseph C. Green, now fifty-three years of age, is engineer in the big print- ing establishment of H. S. Crocker, of San Francisco.
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Thomas Edward Green was only about eight years of age when he came with his parents to this state. He continued his studies until eleven years of age, but has been largely educated through the acquirement of the practical knowledge that comes through business experience and contact with the world. In the year 1859 he began working in the Jackson Brewery, which his father had established in 1853, and there remained until 1870, when his father retired from the enterprise. In 1874 Mr. Green began mining in Grass Valley, Nevada county, California, following that pursuit for several years. In 1881 he became superintendent of the construction of the dam for the Walnut Grove Water Company between Phoenix and Prescott, Arizona. That gigantic contract was completed in 1883, and Mr. Green afterward went to San Francisco. continuing in business as a con- tractor. In 1895 he took the contract for the construction of section B of the San Francisco sea wall, and completed it with credit and profit. The contract for this important work had been let to a company that was unable to carry on the work for more than thirty days and then failed. Mr. Green, being the heaviest creditor of the company, was made assignee and com- pleted the work. He came to Napa county in 1897 and has since been en- gaged in farming and fruit-raising in Browns Valley.
On the 3Ist of August, 1871, in San Francisco, Mr. Green was united in marriage to Miss Annie R. Judd, a native daughter of California. Her father, John Judd, was one of the early miners, following that pursuit when most people engaged in quartz mining. In his political affiliations Mr. Green is an active Democrat deeply interested in the success of his party, yet never seeking or desiring public office. He has been a very successful man in all that he has undertaken and as a consequence he has amassed a goodly fortune. He is now devoting much care and attention to the training and culture of a favorite niece, Miss Alice Dolan, the daughter of Mrs. Maria A. Dolan, who was his eldest sister.
JOSEPH M. KELLEY.
Among the enterprising and up-to-date business men of Oakland, Cali- fornia, is Joseph M. Kelley, proprietor of the Yosemite Laundry. Mr. Kelley claims the city of Chicago as the place of his nativity. He was born November 2, 1868, son of Edward and Catharine (Prendiville) Kelley. Edward Kelley was a native of New York and was for many years a deep sea captain. Later he was for several years captain of boats on the Great Lakes, and finally he settled in Chicago and devoted his attention to the marine insurance business, remaining there thus occupied up to the time of his death .. Mr. Kelley's mother is still a resident of Chicago. Her people settled there as early as 1836, when that now great city was in its infancy. Joseph M. Kelley is one of a family of two sons and three daughters, and in his native city received his education in the common and high schools. He left school at the age of sixteen and shortly after, on account of ill health, came to California. The genial climate of this sunny state agreed with him and he soon decided to make this his permanent home. Accordingly he lo-
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cated in Oakland and established a laundry business, which he has continued up to the present time.
An active and enthusiastic Republican, Mr. Kelley has been honored with official position by his party. In 1899 he was elected to the assembly and he was re-elected in 1901. In 1902 he was elected county supervisor for a term of four years, and as chairman of the building and grounds com- mittee and also chairman of printing, license and franchise committee, he has rendered efficient service.
Mr. Kelley married, December 2, 1902, Miss M. Bell Mathews, a native of Sacramento, California, and a daughter of Dr. W. P. Mathews, who was a member of the California state board of health for a period of ten years.
Mr. Kelley has membership in a number of the popular fraternal or- ganizations of Oakland. He belongs to the Elks, Eagles, Knights of Pythias, W. O. W. and the California Yacht Club. Of the last-named or- ganization he is a director.
THOMAS BAIR.
Figuring prominently in financial, industrial and agricultural interests in Humboldt county, Thomas Bair, the president of the Bank of Arcata, is widely and favorably known in his section of the state. He makes his home in Arcata and is a native of Arkansas, his birth having occurred in Madi- son county in 1844. He is a son of Hugh and Martha ( McChristian) Bair. The father was a native of Ohio and the mother of Tennessee, and the former was a farmer by occupation. Both he and his wife, however, died during the early boyhood of their son Thomas.
The latter was educated in the public schools of Madison county, Arkan- sas, although his advantages in that direction were somewhat limited. In 1855 he came to California with his uncle, Hill Doherty, who settled in Shasta county. Mr. Bair then started out in life for himself at the early age of eleven years. He went to Trinity county, where he obtained employ- ment in the mercantile establishment of Charles Stanhope, but two years later he went to Red Bluff, where he was employed by a freighting company, operating to the mines in Siskiyou and Trinity counties. Realizing his need of better education he attended the public schools of Red Bluff. From 1863 until 1866 he was in Idaho, Montana and British Columbia, and in 1867 he came to Humboldt county and established a pack mule freight line from Ar- cata to Trinity and Siskiyou counties. After several years he became a post trader at Fort Gaston, Humboldt county, on the Hoopa Valley Indian res- ervation, where for sixteen years he conducted a mercantile freighting and transportation business for the United States government. In 1892 he sold out his interests and has since devoted his attention to other business activi- ties. In 1887 he had established the Bank of Arcata and was elected its president, in which capacity he has since served, and as the head of its in- terests has so directed his efforts as to make it one of the leading financial enterprises of the county, now doing a successful and extensive general
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