USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol II > Part 48
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Mr. Schroeder was born in Spenceville, Nevada county, California, December 22. 1865, being a son of John F. and Catherine (Schmidler ) Schroeder. His mother was a native of Wisconsin, of German lineage, and most of her family reside in Chicago and Milwaukee. John F. Schroe- der was a native of Germany and of a prominent German family. He came to America in 1848, and out to California in 1856, making his first location in Placerville. He was in the hotel and general mercantile business in Marysville, Spenceville and Rough and Ready, and in the latter two places held the office of postmaster altogether for forty years. He was supervisor of Nevada county from 1886 to 1888, and was prominent in both the public and business life of this section. He is now retired, and with his wife re- sides in Grass Valley. There are three daughters in the family: Mrs. C. L. Brown, of Berkeley, California: Mrs. H. O. Abbott, of Oakland: and Miss Lillie.
Mr. Henry C. Schroeder was educated in the public schools at Rough and Ready, and in 1887 graduated from the Pacific Business College at San Francisco. For the following four years he was with the wholesale coal firm of J. McDonough and Company in San Francisco. He then re- turned to Nevada county and engaged in mining, which he followed ex- clusively for four years and has continued and increased his operations in that industry ever since, although much of his time has been devoted to
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public duties. In 1894 he became deputy county assessor under W. H. Martin, and after four years was elected on the Democratic ticket as prin- cipal of that office, and was re-elected in 1902, so that he has already for ten years been efficiently performing the important duties of the office. He has been active in political affairs, but has never attended the conventions.
Mr. Schroeder is interested in the Blackberry mines on Deer creek, and is manager of the Wapiti Mining Company, which owns the Blackberry group. They own a large ledge, in some places over twelve feet thick, of free-milling ore, and five hundred tons of the rock that has already been crushed has an average of over five dollars to the ton. There is about a thousand feet of tunnels in the ledge, and the work is done at present by a two-stamp mill and a concentrator. There is a water pressure of four hun- dred and twenty feet, and five hundred feet of backs on the vein.
Mr. Schroeder married, December 18, 1897, in Nevada City, Miss Jennie M. Adair, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Isaac Adair, a former wagon-maker of Nevada City, but now deceased. She is of an old Ameri- can family of Scotch origin. Mr. Schroeder affiliates with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Foresters, the Na- tive Sons of the Golden West, the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of Honor.
GEORGE T. ROLLEY.
George T. Rolley, who when admitted to the bar was the youngest attorney in California, and who, although now but thirty years of age, is enjoying in the practice of his profession in Eureka a clientage of which many an older man might well be proud, has gained his prestige in his chosen calling by unwearied industry, close application and thorough prep- aration of his cases, as well as their careful presentation before court or jury.
Mr. Rolley is a native son of Illinois, his birth having occurred at Morris, that state, in 1874. His father. Joseph Rolley, was a native of Eng- land, and after coming to America was united in marriage to Miss Bertha McDonald, who was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Establishing his home in Illinois, he there engaged in farming for a number of years, and in 1874 he removed with his family to California, locating at Fortuna, Humboldt county, where he again carried on general agricultural pursuits and stock-raising. He died in the year 1896, while his wife passed away in 1897. In their family were nine children: Annie, who is the widow of William Dinsmore: Frank; William; Minnie, the wife of F. Legg; Mary, the wife of J. E. Hasier: Albert; Gertrude, wife of Frank Parker; George T .; and Charlie.
George T. Rolley pursued his education in the public schools of Fortuna, · California, and completed a business course in the Eureka Academy. He left school at the age of nineteen years and then began reading law with Congressman J. N. Gillett as his preceptor. He was admitted to practice in 1895 and has continued in the profession up to the present time with a clientage that is constantly growing in volume and importance. In 1904 he formed a partnership with E. C. Cooper.
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Mr. Rolley is recognized as a prominent factor in political circles, being one of the leaders of the Republican party in Eureka. His fitness for office led to his selection for the general assembly in November, 1902, for a term of two years, so that he is now a member of the state legislature. He has always taken an active interest in local and state politics, has frequently been a delegate to the county conventions and in 1900 was a delegate to the state convention. His attention, however, is chiefly directed to the duties of his profession, wherein he has won notable success, and undoubtedly he is des- tined to attain still greater success. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, to the Fraternal Order of Eagles, to the Woodmen of the World and to the Foresters of America. Mr. Rolley is a popular young man, possessing qualities which win strong friendships and gain high regard.
CAPTAIN JOHN H. ROBERTS.
Captain John H. Roberts, president of the Sacramento Transportation Company, is one of California's substantial and reliable business men whom the state of Michigan has furnished to the Golden state. He was born in the city of Detroit, February 22, 1832, and, although he has now passed the Psalmist's span of threescore years and ten, he is yet active in the control of the business of which he was until recently the manager, being still the presi- dent of the company. His father, John T. Roberts, was born in North Wales and on coming to the new world established his home in Illinois, where he resided until 1850, when he came to California with his son, John H., making the long and arduous trip across the plains. They went to the placer mines in Nevada county, and afterward Mr. Roberts settled upon a ranch in Yolo county, bordering Sacramento river, near Knight's landing. His re- maining days were devoted to agricultural interests there and his death oc- curred in 1894. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Margaret Williams, and was born in North Wales, died in 1873.
Captain Roberts was a student in the public schools of Chicago, Illinois, in his boyhood days, but his privileges were somewhat limited, for at the early age of twelve years he began earning his own living, securing employment in a store in that city. As before stated, he came to California with his father, making the overland trip when a young man of eighteen years. For a year and a half he was engaged in Placer mining in Nevada county, and then went to his father's ranch near Knight's Landing, where he remained for four- teen years, buying timber which he cut for wood and sold in the Sacramento market. He also engaged in flatboating on the river for fourteen years, and in 1866 became identified with the steamboat interests on that stream. He was a pilot and steamboat manager, and since that time has been identified with that business. It was in 1866 that he organized the Sacramento Wood Company, of which he has since been the president. This company, how- ever, was re-organized at a later date, under the name of the Sacramento Transportation Company, and from its earliest inception Captain Roberts has been its president, and was its manager until a very recent date. The run is made from San Francisco to the head of navigation on the Sacramento
I. H. Roberto
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river and also on the bay of San Francisco. The company owns eight steam- boats and about twenty-five barges. The tonnage of freight is mostly on the upper Sacramento above the capital. Captain Roberts has had some very interesting incidents as a prospector in the mountains and also as a steamboat man, and has been a witness of the development of business conditions in the west and of the marked enterprise which has led to the rapid growth and up- building of this section of the country. The company with which he is con- nected also conducts a brick yard down the river in connection with the opera- tion of the boats. The scope of this business is also extended- to mining in Shasta and Siskiyou counties, and to the railroad transportation and lumber- ing business in Sierra and Plumas counties. Throughout his business career Captain Roberts has employed the natural resources of the state in the acquire- ment of a comfortable competence and has made for himself an honorable record by reason of his straightforward methods and his devotion to trade principles that will bear the closest investigation and scrutiny.
In September, 1869, in San Francisco, Captain Roberts was united in marriage to Miss M. H. Walrath. At the time of the Civil war he was a member of the Sacramento Military Company, but no call was issued for this organization and he therefore did not engage in active service. He has always been a Republican since the organization of the party, and was a member of the charter commission which framed the Sacramento city charter now in force. He has a wide acquaintance among old-time residents of this portion of the state, and is himself a pioneer settler whose history well deserves men- tion in this volume.
WILLIAM J. SWARTZEL.
The life history of William J. Swartzel shows that his is a strong and self-reliant nature-one that can rise superior to adversity and untoward circumstance and make circumstances and opportunities serve his own ends. Such a course always, sooner or later, wins success, and this has been again exemplified in the career of Mr. Swartzel, who is now actively identified with one of the leading productive industries of Humboldt county. In this con- nection he is engaged in the operation of a planing mill and the manufacture of shingles, shakes, sash and doors.
Mr. Swartzel was born in Chester county, Virginia, in April, 1854, a son of Henry Harrison and Sarah (Brubeck) Swartzel, both of whom were natives of that state and were members of old Virginian families that were represented in the Revolutionary war. The father was a merchant and miller and continued in business in Augusta, Virginia, up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1896.
In his youth William J. Swartzel attended the parochial schools, but his educational privileges were somewhat limited, for it was necessary that he leave school at the age of fourteen years and begin clerking in the store of his father, who was absent from home-serving as a soldier in the Confed- erate army. For about two years the son was employed in that way, and then began working for an uncle who was engaged in merchandising in Virginia. In 1872 the family removed to Illinois and the following year
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to Missouri, and in the latter state the father engaged in farming. William J. Swartzel, accompanying his parents, aided in the work of the farm in the middle west until 1874, when he started for California, and after a summer spent in the Sacramento valley he came to Eureka, where he secured a position as clerk and tallyman for the Springville Mill Company, at For- tuna, remaining with that enterprise until 1879. During this time he formed a partnership with T. G. Greig, in the livery business, and after severing his connection with the milling company, he assumed the management of a livery business, which he conducted until 1880, when he sold out to his part- ner, Mr. Greig. He next began merchandising on his own account in Fortuna, where he remained in business for five years, or until 1885, and in the meantime he had resumed active connection with the lumber industry as a manufacturer of shingles and shakes, and in the operation of a planing mill. In this he has continued to the present time. In 1897 his plant was entirely destroyed by fire and he lost all that he had, but with determined purpose and renewed courage he set to work to retrieve his lost possession. He built a new planing mill and in connection with the manufacture of lum- ber he has engaged in the manufacture of sash and doors, shingles and shakes. In 1888 the business was incorporated, and Mr. Swartzel was chosen secretary of the company. He has since been elected president, and the successful conduct of the enterprise is attributable in very large measure to his practical knowledge of the business, his executive force and careful attention to the enterprise in both principle and detail.
In 1878 Mr. Swartzel was united in marriage to Miss Emma Gushaw, a native of Yolo county, California, a daughter of G. F. Gushaw, a pioneer of that county. Eight children have been born to them, as follows: Frank, Edna, Ada, Delbert, Willa, Hazel, Laura and Budd. The family is well known in this part of the county and the members of the household occupy an enviable position in the social circles in which they move.
Mr. Swartzel's name is on the membership roll of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias fraternity. His political allegiance is given the Democracy, and he has been called upon to fill several local offices of trust and responsibility. He was elected supervisor from the second district in 1891 for a term of four years, was re-elected in 1895 and for a third term in 1899, so that his incumbency covered twelve years, his re-election going to prove his popularity as an official and the confidence that he had won by his fidelity to duty. He was also postmaster of Fortuna from 1880 until 1888, and in every position of trust and responsibility in which he has been called to serve, whether of a public or private nature, he has always proved himself loyal and efficient.
WILLIAM HANSON EVANS, D. D. S.
One of the successful and highly skilled representatives of the science of dentistry in Napa, California, is Dr. William Hanson Evans, who was born in St. Louis, Missouri, January 4, 1857. His father was John B. Evans, a native of Wales, who came to America and in St. Louis, Missouri, was
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united in marriage to Miss Judith Hanson, whose birth occurred in England. The father was a lawyer by profession and for a number of years engaged in practice in Missouri. The son pursued his education in the public schools of that city, completing the high school course by graduation and after- ward went to Kansas. He returned to his native state, however, in 1877, and matriculated in the St. Louis Dental College, where he pursued a thor- ough course that well qualified him for the active duties of the profession. He practiced dentistry for ten years in Atchison, Kansas, and in 1887 came to California, settling in Napa county. Here he has remained continuously since, and during the seventeen years which have passed he has won for himself a place of distinction in the dental fraternity in this part of the state. He has now an office well equipped with modern appliances for the conduct of his business, and he ever keeps in touch with the advancement that is continually being made in the profession, utilizing modern methods and adding to this a superior mechanical skill which is one of the strong elements of success in the dental practitioner.
In June, 1883, was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Evans and Miss Lucy M. Hutchinson, a daughter of Joseph M. Hutchinson, a prominent miller. They are well known in social circles of Napa and have a large number of friends who extend to them cordial hospitality. Dr. Evans belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, to the Woodmen of America and to the Eagle Cycling Club, a local order of which he was the founder and the first president. His social qualities have made him popular, and thus he is well known in Napa both professionally and socially.
FLETCHER ARNOLD CUTLER.
Fletcher Arnold Cutler, who is engaged in the practice of law in Eureka, was born in 1864 at Chinese Camp, Tuolumne county, California, in the pioneer days of that district. His parents were Thomas and Sarah L. (Buck) Cutler, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Maine, while both were representatives of old American families that furnished aid to the patriot army in the Revolutionary war by sending some of their members to fight for the cause of independence. Thomas Cutler came to California in the year 1849 and followed mining in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties for a short time, and afterward he engaged in merchandising in the latter county, and in 1869 removed to Eureka, where he resumed his mercantile operations, becoming a well known business man of this portion of the state. He served as collector of the port of Eureka for a number of years, was a member of the city council and was widely recognized as a man of influence in commercial and political circles. In 1896 he took up his residence in Oakland, where he spent his remaining days, passing away in 1902 at the age of seventy-eight years. Mrs. Cutler was one of the pioneer school teachers of Humboldt county, becoming identified with educational work within its borders in 1854. She still survives her husband and makes her home in Oakland. In their family were two sons and two daughters: Thomas B., who is cashier of the Del Norte County Bank; Fletcher Arnold;
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Maude, who is the wife of H. R. Compton, county surveyor of San Joaquin county ; and Mary, who is living with her mother.
In his early youth Fletcher A. Cutler was a student in the public schools of Eureka, afterward attended the boys' high school of San Francisco and then entered the Berkeley gymnasium at Berkeley, California. In 1885 he took up the study of law with his uncle, S. M. Buck, as his preceptor, that gentleman being one of the pioneer practitioners and recognized leaders of the bar of northern California: Mr. Cutler continued his studies for three years, and in 1888 was admitted to practice, after which he formed a part- nership with his uncle and was associated with him until 1898. He thus had good advantages at the outset of his career, and yet in no profession or calling in life is advancement so largely dependent upon individual merit and unwearied industry as in the law. In 1898 he was appointed by Gov- ernor Budd as superior judge of Del Norte county, which position he held until 1902. He then returned to Eureka, where his boyhood days had been passed, and here entered into partnership with J. N. Gillette. He has a remarkable capacity for the swift and orderly dispatch of business, and this was manifest during his career on the bench, for he allowed no disputatious wrangling of lawyers and refused to allow dilatory postponements. In Eureka, his new field of labor, he has displayed the same characteristics that won him confidence and respect while he was upon the bench and have al- ready made him a conspicuous figure in legal circles in central California- solid intellectual ability, thorough knowledge of the law, great fairness and a personal bearing that contains dignity and firmness with unfailing courtesy.
Mr. Cutler was married in 1887 to Miss Eicula M. Warner, a native of Nevada and a daughter of Captain Charles G. Warner. They have one daughter, Lucie, who is attending school at Berkeley, California. Mr. Cutler is a very prominent Mason, having attained to high rank in both the York and Scottish rites, and he is also a grand trustee of the Grand Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West. His political views accord with the principles of Democracy, and in the discharge of the duties of citizenship he manifests a conscientious obligation and fidelity to the welfare of county, state and nation that are most commendable.
JAMES B. LEAMAN.
For a number of years past James B. Leaman has been identified with the business interests of San José, California, and is numbered among the lead- ing and substantial residents of the city. He was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the Ioth of February, 1829, but later was taken by his parents to Ohio, where his father was a merchant and mill owner, and in its public schools and the academy at Dayton he received his educational train- ing. Leaving the schoolroom at the age of sixteen years, he entered the em- ploy of Crawford & Company, shoe-last manufacturers of Dayton, where he remained until his twentieth year. In August, 1849, Mr. Leaman left that city for California, via the Isthmus of Panama, on the S. S. Panama, David Bailey, commander, and he arrived in San Francisco in October, 1849.
J. B. Leaman
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He first took up his abode at Park's Bar, but in 1853 removed from there to Marysville, where for the following two years he was engaged in the hotel business, and on the expiration of that period, in 1855, was elected to the office of constable of Marysville, continuing therein for one year. In 1856 he was elected by the council as a police officer, in which he remained until 1867, and from 1867 until 1868 he served as the city assessor. In the mean- time, in 1862, he had been appointed chief engineer of the fire department, and discharged the duties of that office until 1868.
In that year he returned to Dayton, Ohio, to again visit the scenes of his boyhood and youth, and on his return to San Francisco in the following fall was appointed night inspector in the custom house, where he remained until 1878, in that year resigning to organize the Madera Vineyard Com- pany, purchasing and planting six hundred and forty acres of land, also built a winery and two store houses, forty by eighty feet, and made many other improvements. In 1882, however, Mr. Leaman sold his interest to his part- ners and returned to San Francisco, and two years later, in 1884, came to San José, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1890. In that year he embarked in the laundry business in the suburbs of the city, at 429- 431 West Santa Clara street, which proved the foundation of his present ex- tensive business. The firm was incorporated on the 26th of December, 1894, with a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars, and the following officers were elected: J. B. Leaman, president; Mrs. Leaman, vice president; and George Leaman, secretary. In September, 1894, the laundry was destroyed by fire, proving a total loss to the owners, but upon its site now stands the present large establishment, containing the most up-to-date and modern machinery, and this company was the first to use oil as fuel in San José. He thoroughly understands the laundry business in every detail, and this is one of the leading institutions in the city.
In 1856 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Leaman and Miss Pamelia Humphrey, she being a daughter of Jacob Humphrey, a lumber merchant of New York. Three children were born of this union: Minnie, who died at the age of ten years; Robert H., the director of the laundry; and Grace, now Mrs. Jeff and a resident of Stockton, California. For his second wife Mr. Leaman chose Mary B. Harmon, of Los Angeles, this state, and two children have blessed their union: Lelia May and James B., Jr. Mr. Lea- man is a member of Morse Lodge No. 257, I. O. O. F., of San Francisco, and is a past president of the Santa Clara County Pioneers of California. In political matters he is a stalwart supporter of Republican principles.
WILLIAM H. BRAY.
William H. Bray, mine owner and superintendent of the Posey group of mines near Nevada City, California, was born in New Jersey, October 9, 1865. His father, William H. Bray, was born in England, but was de- scended from ancestors who lived in the north of Ireland. For many years he was superintendent for the Thomas Iron Company at different mines located in New Jersey and New York and on Lake Champlain. This in-
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cluded the iron mines of Essex county, New York. He never sought office, but was always a prominent local leader in Republican circles. His death occurred in the year 1900. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary . H. Thomas, was born in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, and belonged to an old American family that was represented in the patriot army during the Revo- lutionary war. Her three brothers were soldiers in the Union army during the Civil war, one of them, Joseph Thomas, being captain of a company which took part in that struggle. The Thomas family is of English lineage and Mrs. Bray still resides at the old home in New Jersey. By her marriage she had four sons and two daughters. The sons are William H., of this review ; E. M., a mining engineer of California; O. S., who is in charge of the Red Cross and Huron Bank mines, of Nevada county; and G. T., an architect of New York city. The daughters are Elizabeth, a teacher of music and elocution in New Jersey ; and Effie M., a high school teacher at Dover, New Jersey.
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