USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol II > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64
Mr. Flanagan was married in East Oakland. April 14, 1896, to Miss Mamie Baker, who was born in San Francisco. Her father, William Baker, was a native of Spain, and was one of the pioneer miners in this state, and after making a good stake invested in East Oakland real estate and lived retired until his death, which occurred February 22. 1902. Mr. Flanagan is a stanch Republican, and has represented his party in the city and county conventions. For three years he was a member of Company E. of the Na- tional Guard of California, being corporal. He affiliates with the Independ- ent Order of Foresters, the Ancient Order of United Workmen. the Tribe of Ben Hur, the United Moderns. the Improved Order of Red Men, the Fra- ternal Order of Eagles and the Knights of the Royal Arch.
GEORGE FRANK GARDNER.
George Frank Gardner is well known in Napa county as a public official whose loyalty and devotion to the general good and to the specific duties of his office stand as an unquestioned fact in his career, and at this writing, in the spring of 1904, he is serving as deputy tax collector and deputy treasurer. A native son of California, he was born in Wooden Valley. Napa county, on the 8th of September, 1855. His parents were George Gordon and Sarah T. (Rice) Gardner, the former a native of Arkansas and the latter of Tennes- see. In the paternal line he is descended from an old southern family.
George Gordon Gardner, the father, served as a soldier in the Mexican war. In 1849 he came to California but shortly afterward returned to Ark- ansas. He then again came to this state and later went south, being married in Tennessee in 1852. In that year he brought his bride to the Pacific coast, traveling across the plains with. an ox team.
In the maternal line George F. Gardner is of German lineage. His mother bore the maiden name of Sarah T. Rice. Her mother, who was a Miss Dodson, was born in the United States and became a member of the Rice family by her marriage. which was celebrated in Tennessee. The
585
HISTORY OF THE NEW CALIFORNIA.
brothers and sisters of George Frank Gardner are John H., a resident of Idaho; J. B., who is living in California: C. W., who is the wife of T. I. F. Johnson ; and N. Ada, the wife of G. W. Hill, an insurance agent of Napa.
George F. Gardner became a public school pupil in 1861 when six years of age, and pursued his early education in Napa and Solano counties. He afterward attended Napa College, where he continued his studies until 1873, but in the meantime he had entered the business world, becoming head clerk in the general mercantile establishment of Mansfield & Theodore, in Vaca- ville, California, when but fifteen years of age. He remained there for three years, and after the completion of his college training entered the employ of Van Beever & Thompson, general merchants at Napa, California, with whom he continued for six months, when the firm became Thompson & Beard. His connection with the house continued for seven years or until August, 1881, after which he went to Lakeport, where he spent two and a half years as manager and part owner of the enterprise conducted under the name of the Farmers' Business Association. He continued there until 1884, and was afterward, for one year, in Soscol valley, Napa county. He next went to Monticello, California, where he engaged as clerk in the general mercantile store of George S. Mckenzie, with whom he continued until 1887. In that year he opened up the now celebrated Samuel Springs on Los Putas Rancho, at Berryessa, Napa county. There had been no improvements made there at that time, not even a road leading to the spring, but Mr. Gardner com- menced the work of development and remained there for a year. He then became bookkeeper for James & Son of Napa city.
It was while occupying that position that Mr. Gardner was elected, in 1892, to the position of tax collector and treasurer for Napa county, entering upon the duties of the office in January, 1893, for a term of two years. He was afterward elected for two subsequent terms of four years each, and con- tinued in the position for ten consecutive years, or until January, 1903, and is now serving as deputy tax collector and deputy treasurer, so that the office still has the benefit of his efficient service and long experience.
On the 17th of November, 1880, in Soscol Valley, Napa county, Mr. Gardner was united in marriage to Miss Dora L. Hill, a daughter of James Hill, a pioneer farmer of California, who came to the state in 1852. Mr. and Mrs. Gardner have three sons: James Ernest, who is twenty-one years of age and is a civil engineer with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in Utah; George Cecil, nineteen years of age, a stenographer in the employ of Deweese & Gardner; and Edgar Frank, seventeen years of age, who is a rodman in the civil engineering corps with his brother in Utah.
In his political affiliations Mr. Gardner is a Democrat and has mani- fested a public-spirited interest in the questions and issues of the day where- on depend the municipal and national welfare. He belongs to several fra- ternal organizations, including the Improved Order of Red Men, the Native Sons of the Golden West and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He is also identified with all branches of Odd Fellowship, and his wife, very prominent in the ladies' auxiliary of that fraternity, is now the vice-president of the
586
HISTORY OF THE NEW CALIFORNIA.
Rebekalı Assembly of California. Both have a wide acquaintance in the or- der, and are held in high esteem wherever their fraternal or social relations have made them known.
JAMES CARROLL OWEN.
Fifty-five years have passed since James Carroll Owen came to Califor- nia to cast in his lot with the pioneers. People of the present century can scarcely realize the struggles and dangers which attended the early settlers, the heroism and self-sacrifice of lives passed upon the borders of civilization, the hardships endured, the difficulties overcome. These tales of the early days read almost like a romance to those who have known only the modern prosperity and conveniences, but to the pioneers of the primitive times far removed from the privileges or conveniences of city or town the struggle for existence was a stern and hard one, and those men and women must have possessed indomitable energy and sterling worth of character as well as marked physical courage when they voluntarily selected such a life and successfully fought its battles under such circumstances as prevailed in the far west.
Mr. Owen was born in Schuyler county, Illinois, on the 23d of January, 1831, and was a son of Thomas Harvey and Mary (Payne) Owen, the for- mer a native of North Carolina and the latter of Kentucky. The ancestral history of the family dates back to Revolutionary times. Thomas H. Owen, the father, was a soldier of the war of 1812. In 1849 he came to California, accompanied by his two sons, James C. and Leander Franklin Owen. They established their home in the Golden state and here two years later were joined by the mother, three brothers and a sister, who had come by way of the water route to join the father and the other two sons. All located in the Suisun valley, and the father and sons turned their attention to mining. They also built a ferry, operating it across the Tuolumne river, a mile and a half below LaGrange. But this was sold in 1851, at the time the mother and younger children came to California by way of the isthmus route. A broth- er, John Wren Owen, who also arrived in the Golden state in that year, took up swamp land where the town of Suisun is now located. He was associated in this enterprise with Captain John A. Morgan and Captain Jo- siah Wing, the former a commander of a sloop and the latter of a schooner. They secured about seven or eight acres of high land and divided it into town lots, at which time John Wren Owen built the first house in the village, James C. Owen assisting in its construction. They also established the first grocery store in Suisun, its patrons having to go through the tules to reach it.
James C. Owen secured the privilege from his brother to build a shed in which to store grain next to the grocery store, and he purchased as high as two hundred tons of grain per month at the price of three dollars per ton. Subsequently his brother engaged in the livery business, while James turned his attention to dealing in hogs and in buying land in the vicinity of Suisun. He also engaged in the butchering business, but abandoned this in 1863, and about this time he entered the employ of John B. Lemon, who
587
HISTORY OF THE NEW CALIFORNIA.
was afterward county treasurer of Solano county and who employed Mr. Owen to attend to his teaming business about the Rees river. Mr. Owen also engaged in speculating in provisions in connection with freighting, sell- ing the goods which he purchased wherever he could obtain the best prices, but especially to emigrants and to the people in Virginia City and Carson, Nevada.
In the year 1864 James Carroll Owen returned to Suisun, where he conducted a hotel, the Pacific House, for a year. He then went into the saloon business, which he carried on for two years, and in 1867 removed to Lake county, California, where he purchased a ranch in connection with his father and brothers. On this he engaged in stock-raising and for some time, he remained there, establishing the Zenzen House, a sulphur springs resort. He was appointed postmaster, holding the office at Zenzen for twelve years. In 1881 he came to Napa, where he now resides, and while residing here was employed as a commercial traveler for a short time. In 1883 he was elected city marshal of Napa and held that office for three consecutive terms. Since his retirement from the position he has been engaged in dealing in real estate and has handled considerable valuable property. He piped the first water to Suisun in 1858. This was in company with R. B. Cannon. Water was developed from a well one mile out of town.
On the 22d of January, 1857, Mr. Owen was united in marriage to Miss Phoebe Ellen Rush, a native of Indiana, the wedding taking place in Suisun valley. They have four children: Letitia Adeline, who is now the widow of John Maxwell; Dora Etta, the wife of William Smith of Napa; Mary Ella, the wife of Alfred Booth, of Petaluma, California ; and Charles Clin- ton, who is married and resides in Vacaville. The parents of our subject have both passed away, the mother in 1878 and the father in 1879.
Mr. Owen has been an Odd Fellow since 1861, becoming a member of that organization at Suisun. Not only has he seen central California de- veloped from a wild district with only a few white inhabitants to a rich agricultural, horticultural and commercial center, containing thousands of good homes and enterprising towns inhabited by an industrious, prosperous, enlightened and progressive people, but he has participated in and assisted in carrying on the work of development which was necessary to produce a change which is so complete that it has come to be popularly referred to as magical.
JOHN WYNKOOP GILKYSON, JR.
John Wynkoop Gilkyson is a native son of the Golden west, his birth occurring at Chico, Butte county, California, February 5, 1875, and he is a son of John W. and Ruth (Hobart) Gilkyson, the former a native of Penn- sylvania and the latter of Michigan. On the maternal side Mr. Gilkyson is descended from Edmund Hobart, who came from England to America May 7, 1633, locating in Charlestown, Massachusetts, with his family; Garret A. Hobart, former vice-president of the United States, being a lineal descendant of this emigrant. Members of this family were participants in the Revo- lutionary war, Daniel Hobart having been an officer in Colonel Colman's
588
HISTORY OF THE NEW CALIFORNIA.
regiment, and was killed at the battle of White Plains, fighting under General Washington, October 28, 1776. Its representatives also took part in all the early wars and were prominently identified with the early history of the country. Randal Hobart moved west, locating in Michigan in 1831, where he made his home until 1849, and was the first registrar of deeds of Calhoun county and magistrate of the town of Marshall. With his son William he came to California in 1849, settling in Butte county, his family joining him in 1852, and he filled the positions of deputy county clerk, county judge and magistrate. In 1856 he joined the conference of the Methodist Episcopal church and became an able minister of the gospel, having been superannuated in 1862, and his death occurred on his farm near Chico, Butte county, in February, 1870. In his family were twelve children, four sons and eight daughters.
John W. Gilkyson, the father of him whose name introduces this re- view, came to the Golden state in 1850, settling at Bidwell's Bar, Butte county, where in the early days he followed mining and for many years con- ducted a hotel at Bidwell's Bar, while in later years he was prominent in public life, holding the positions of city clerk of Chico, recorder of Butte county and was assistant commissary under Governor Perkins at the San Quentin prison. Retiring from active life at the age of sixty-five years, he thereafter made his home in San Jose, where he passed away in death on the 3d of January, 1903, at the age of seventy-three. Throughout life he was an active worker in the ranks of the Republican party. His wife was called to the home beyond on the roth of January, 1902, aged sixty-two years.
John Wynkoop Gilkyson received his elementary education in the pub- lic schools of Butte county, later attending the Boys High School and the grammar school of San Francisco, graduating therein at the age of eighteen years. When only twelve years old he became a messenger boy for the Pacific Bell Telephone Company in this city, performing his duties during the day and attending school in the evenings, and two years later, when fourteen years of age, was promoted to the position of inspector of tele- phones. Since then he has taken up switch-board work and was placed in charge of the bell department of the company's factory in San Francisco, later, in 1899, having been made manager of the western branch office, and in 1900 the company incorporated under the name of the Pacific States Tele- phone Company. In 1901 Mr. Gilkyson was made local manager of the company's office at San Jose and in the latter part of the same year was appointed county manager of the San Jose district, including the counties of Santa Clara, San Mateo and Santa Cruz. His long continuance with this company stands as unmistakable evidence of his ability and the confidence resposed in him by its officers-a confidence that has never been betrayed in the slightest degree.
In San Francisco, on the 19th of June, 1895, Mr. Gilkyson was united in marriage to Hattie W. Tennis, a native of that city and a daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Struve) Tennis, who were early settlers in Cali- fornia. The one son born of this union, Darwin F., is now aged seven years.
1
589
HISTORY OF THE NEW CALIFORNIA.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Gilkyson is a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and his political support is given to the Republican party.
HENRY CALVIN BROWN, M. D.
The state of California with its pulsing industrial activities and rapid development has attracted within its confines men of marked ability and high character in the various professional lines, and in this way progress has been conserved and social stability fostered. He whose name initiates this review has gained recognition as one of the able and successful physicians of the state, and by his labors, his high professional attainments and his sterling characteristics has justified the respect and confidence in which he is held by medical fraternity and the local public.
Dr. Brown was born February 28, 1862, in Palmyra, Maine, his par- ents being Calvin Henry and Amelia (Stewart) Brown, who were also na- tives of Maine and were of Scotch descent. His maternal grandfather came from Scotland and settled in the Pine Tree state about 1805. The doctor's father as a lumberman and timber cruiser, carrying on quite an extensive business in these lines. At the outbreak of the Civil war he espoused the cause of the Union and enlisted in the First Maine Cavalry. In the family was but one daughter, who is now Mrs. Erwin of Michigan.
Dr. Brown was only about three years of age at the time of the removal of his parents from the Pine Tree state to Michigan, and he pursued his education in the public schools of Muskegon, Michigan, and also attended the high school there. At the age of sixteen years he put aside his text-books and was for several years employed as a clerk in a hotel. On attaining his majority he passed an examination before the United States government in- spectors and qualified to pilot vessels on the Great Lakes. He devoted his attention to that task for several years, until 1885. Determining to enter professional life, he became a student in Rush Medical College of Chicago. He had two years prior to that time taken up the study of medicine in the same institution, but his course was interrupted. In February, 1887, he was graduated. He entered upon the practice of medicine in Muskegon, Michi- gan, and there maintained his office until 1889, when he came to California, settling in San Jose, and here he entered upon active professional work and has won for himself a creditable place in the confidence and regard of the public because of his professional skill and his genuine personal worth. For two years he was physician to the county almshouse and was physician to the county hospital for three years, discharging his duties in these connec- tions in addition to the labors of a large and growing private practice.
In 1891 occurred the marriage of Dr. Brown and Miss Tenie Booksin, a native of Colusa county, California, and a daughter of Henry Booksin, a pioneer settler of Colusa county, dating his arrival in California from 1851. Both the doctor and his wife have a wide acquaintance in San Jose, and the circle of their friends is constantly growing. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
590
HISTORY OF THE NEW CALIFORNIA.
He is also a member of the Sons of Veterans, his political allegiance is given to the Republican party and he takes an active interest in local and state poli- tics. In 1899 he became president of the board of trustees of the State Normal School at San Jose and filled that position continuously for four years until 1903. In the latter year he was elected city health officer and is now secretary of the board of health. He ranks high professionally, polit- ically and socially, and, possessing the alert, enterprising spirit which is so characteristic of the west, he has exerted a strong and beneficial influence in public affairs.
WILLIAM F. GORMLEY.
William F. Gormley, who is engaged in the undertaking business and is now serving as coroner of Sacramento county, is numbered among the sons of Ireland who have found in the opportunities of the new world the open gateway to success and advancement. His birth occurred on the Emerald Isle on the 5th of March, 1862, and his parents, Thomas and Mary Anne (McGoldrick) Gormley, were also natives of that country. The father came to California in 1872, locating at Georgia Slide, Eldorado county, in order that he might take charge of the mining interests of his brother-in-law, Will- iam Hughes, who was killed in the mines. Later Mrs. Gormley and the children joined the husband and father on the Pacific coast and after two years the family removed to Sacramento. The father was a pattern-maker and a machinist by trade, and in this city he entered the employ of the Southern Pa- cific Railroad Company.
In the parochial schools of Ireland and of Scotland William F. Gormley acquired his elementary knowledge, which was supplemented by study in the public schools of Sacramento after coming to California. He was a lad of about ten years when he arrived in this state. When fifteen years of age he started out in life for himself, and it has been through the utilization of ad- vantages which surround all that he has gained success in life. He first started out as an apprentice in the bookbindery of F. Foster, at No. 319 J street, and there he remained for nine years, his close application promoting his efficiency and enlarging the scope of his labors until he became a skilled binder, thoroughly familiar with the business in its various departments. In 1886 he secured a position in the state printing office, being in the bindery department. He first served under Colonel J. J. Ayres, state printer, and afterward continued under the administrations of Peter Shoaff, Captain J. D. Young, and A. J. Johnston, who advanced him to the position of assistant foreman of the bindery, in which capacity he served until 1897, when he re- signed to engage in the undertaking business, in which he has continued up to the present. In this he has succeeded beyond his greatest expectations, and his business now returns to him a very desirable financial income.
Through the enterprise and public spirit of Mr. Gormley, Sacramento is to be provided with an accessory to its public institutions which will fill a long-felt want and on which the citizens of the county have good cause for congratulation. Since his introduction to the office of coroner, he has had it forcibly brought to his attention that the public morgue was utterly unfit for
WE gonuly
591
HISTORY OF THE NEW CALIFORNIA.
the county, as the accommodations were totally inadequate to care properly for the unfortunates placed there. At his own expense and without asking any outside aid or assistance he has constructed a handsome two-story brick building, which, in addition to his undertaking parlors, he has provided with a morgue with all modern conveniences and which is second to none on the coast. In its construction he has observed the latest methods, especially with strict regard to sanitary conditions and it is a credit to the community. The entire building, forty by eighty feet, has been built with regard to the proper conditions necessary for the conduct of this branch of the public service, and in its completion Mr. Gormley has done much to uphold the dignity of the office which he so worthily represents. Such instances of public spirit are rare and Mr. Gormley's enterprise will be surely remembered and appreciated by the citizens of Sacramento county.
On the 8th of January, 1897, Mr. Gormley was united in marriage to Miss Minnie E. Fogarty, a niece of the late Bishop Manogue, the first bishop of the Sacramento diocese and the builder of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, having contributed largely toward its erection out of his private funds. To Mr. and Mrs. Gormley have been born two sons and one daugh- ter: William Manogue, Thomas Grace, and Mary Frances.
Mr. Gormley is a popular and valued representative of various fraternal organizations. He belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Red Men, the Knights of the Maccabees, the Order of Foresters, the Royal Arcanum, the Fraternal Brotherhood, the Young Men's Institute, the Fra- ternal Order of Eagles, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Catholic Knights of America. He is also a member of the Sacramento Athletic Club. He has been identified with the local labor organization since becoming a jour- neyman, belonging to Bookbinders Union No. 35. In 1896 he was a state delegate to the international convention of the Book Binders, held at Buffalo, New York, and was also a delegate to the national meeting of the Catholic Knights of America, held in Omaha, the same year. For the year 1893-4 he was president of the local federated trades council. His political support is always given the Democracy, and in 1902 he was elected county coroner for a term of four years. This election was certainly a compliment, for he re- ceived a majority of seven hundred and three when the county went Republi- can, nearly all the candidates on the Democratic ticket being defeated that year. For three decades, Mr. Gormley has been a resident of Sacramento and has become widely known, his many friends appreciating his good quali- ties and sterling worth.
G. P. BURKETT.
G. P. Burkett, president of the San Jose Transfer Company, in which connection he has been instrumental in developing a business of profitable proportions, was born in Jefferson, North Carolina, in 1856. His father, Daniel Burkett, was a representative of an old German family, and he mar- ried Nancy Johnston, who was descended from Scotch ancestry. Their son, G. P. Burkett, was educated in the public schools of his native state, and in
592
HISTORY OF THE NEW CALIFORNIA.
1876, at the age of twenty years, started out in life on his own account. He followed farming in the state of his nativity until 1879, when he removed to Colorado, and there resumed agricultural pursuits, but through two years luis crops were ruined by drought and he sold his land. He removed to Pueblo, Colorado, in 1881, and entered the employ of the Fisher Brothers Transfer Company, with whom he remained until 1883, when he came to California.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.