USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol II > Part 9
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CARL DAHLGREN.
Carl Dahlgren, an artist of San Francisco, was born March 12, 1841, in the kingdom of Denmark. He is the third in a family of nine children, whose parents were Ulrich and Sophia (Basa) Dahlgren, both of whom were natives of Denmark, representing ancient Scandinavian families. The son began his education in the public schools of Skjelskior, his native town, and at the age of fourteen years put aside his text-books, prompted by a desire and ambition to become a painter and artist and wishing therefore to prepare for this field of labor. At the age of nineteen years he removed
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to Copenhagen, and while in that city was employed in his uncle's book store. He continued to act in that capacity until 1864, when there came a decided change in his life from the routine of mercantile experience to that of mili- tary service. He enlisted as a volunteer in the Austrian and Prussian war and continued with his command until the close of hostilities in 1865.
Mr. Dahlgren then returned to Copenhagen, and in 1867 saw the fru- ition of his cherished desire, for in that year he entered upon the study of art, first under the direction of his uncle, Asmos Kaufman, while soon after- ward he became a student in the Academy of Fine Arts at Copenhagen, and he completed his studies there under the noted artist, Charstn Henreksen, in his private academy, in the fall of 1869. Subsequent to this time he traveled over the provinces of Denmark and in 1872 came to America, locating first in Salt Lake City, where he was employed as a draftsman in the surveyor general's office, remaining there for three years. On the expiration of that period he opened an art school in Salt Lake City. In the meantime he had made trips with the surveying parties sent out by the governor general, and on such trips he was enabled to secure sketches of sections of the country which up to that time had not been explored and which in after years proved very valuable in his artistic work. Mr. Dahlgren to-day bears the distinc- tion of being one of the finest artists on the Pacific coast. He has made con- tinued advance in his profession and his works include landscapes, figures and portraiture.
On leaving Salt Lake City Mr. Dahlgren came to California in 1878 and resumed his profession with a studio in San Francisco, where he has continued up to the present time. Some of his paintings are scenes taken from the Latin quarter of San Francisco, and on these he has won the high- est commendation and compliment. He also does excellent pen-and-ink work for illustrating purposes, and for a number of years was head illus- trator on the California Magazine. His inherent love of beauty in form and color has been developed through close study and effort, and to-day the work of Carl Dahlgren ranks among the best productions of the west.
In 1878 occurred the marriage of Mr. Dahlgren and Miss Amalia Kjær, a native of Denmark. They have made their home in Oakland for the past twenty-five years, and four children have been born to them: Reuben K .. Dagmar, Carl Milton and Ulrich. Mr. Dahlgren is a member of the San Francisco Art Association. He is widely known in the west and has a host of warm friends in San Francisco, his disposition being affable and genial. his manner at all times courteous and that of a refined and cultured gentle- man.
JAMES B. NEWMAN.
James Bartholemew Newman, who for thirty years has been a resident of California, making his home in Napa, was born in Essex, England, on the 21st of September, 1851. He is a son of John and Hannah (Merritt) Newman, both of whom were natives of the same country, where their respect- ive ancestors had lived for many generations. The father still resides in England and has now reached the venerable age of eighty years.
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The subject of this review spent the days of his boyhood and youth in his native land under the parental roof and acquired his education in the public schools and at Newport grammar school of that country. He was twenty-one years of age when he resolved to try his fortune in America, having heard favorable reports concerning its opportunities and privileges. Thinking that he might benefit his financial condition, he crossed the At- lantic in April, 1872, taking passage on the ship Peruvian, which, however, never reached its destination, being wrecked off the coast of Halifax. The passengers from this ill-fated vessel were picked up by the steamer Moravian and taken to Baltimore. Mr. Newman did not remain on the Atlantic coast, but proceeded at once into the interior of the country and in Chicago secured employment as a stone-cutter. This was shortly after the great fire of that city, when much building was going on, and he was paid five dollars per day for his services, the day being eight hours in length. He remained in Chicago until 1873, when he again started westward and at length reached San Francisco. Almost immediately afterward, however, he came to Napa, where the work of construction on the state asylum for the insane was being carried on. On this building he secured the contract for cutting the stone for the windows, and he has since been identified with building interests in Napa, and through his chosen vocation has contributed in large measure to the substantial improvement and progress of the city. As a business man he is known for his thorough reliability as well as his excellent workman- ship, and his labors have therefore been attended with the success that has made him one of the substantial residents of Napa. Some of the more im- portant buildings which Mr. Newman has constructed are the entrance to the Tulocay Cemetery, the St. Helena School buildings, Goodman Library and the Schupert Building, the Martin Block, being all erected of stone. A local publication has this to say of his establishment :
" At the Napa Stone, Marble and Granite Works, 16 Third street, next to Palace Hotel, Scotch and American granite monuments, headstones, vaults and curbing in granite, marble or concrete are made, and bridge and building work is done, and all work is guaranteed to be as good as any work done in the state. In the line of cemetery work, Mr. Newman's designs are the very latest and his work the very finest. Many of the handsomest and most costly vaults and monuments in Tulocay Cemetery were done by him. And as contractor and builder his work stands in the first class. At present he has in hand the Goodman Library and the St. Helena Grammar School building. These buildings are all to be of stone from the foundations up."
On the 29th of February, 1888, Mr. Newman was united in marriage in Napa to Miss Minnie E. Mitchell, of this city, and their union has been blessed with two sons, Raymond Webster and Harold Merritt, aged respect- ively twelve and ten years. Mr. Newman is identified with several fraternal societies. In the Independent Order of Odd Fellows he has become a mem- ber of the lodge, the encampment and the order of the Rebekahs, with which his wife is likewise identified. He is also a faithful representative of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the blue lodge, chapter and commandery,
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thus having attained the Knight Templar degree. Since becoming an Amer- ican citizen he has given his allegiance to the Republican party and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day. About two years ago he was elected a member of the city council of Napa, and in community affairs is deeply interested, putting forth every effort in his power to promote the welfare and progress of his city. He has served as school trustee for the past six years. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to America, in fact has more than realized his hope, for in this country he has found the opportunities he sought, and through the exercise of his energy and by the persistency of his purpose has gained a comfortable com- petence and at the same time has secured a good home and won many friends in the city of his adoption.
WILLIAM FRANCIS MILLIGAN McALLISTER, M. D.
Dr. William Francis Milligan McAllister, who has attained distinction as a representative of the medical fraternity in central California and is now medical director of the Veterans' Home of this state with the rank of major, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 5th of July, 1844. His par- ents were Hiram and Orilla (Fox) McAllister, the former a native of the Keystone state and the latter of Connecticut. The ancestry can be traced back in an old Quaker family for three or four hundred years. The great- great-grandfather of Dr. McAllister came from Scotland, having, however, previously settled in Dublin, Ireland, whence he crossed the Atlantic to the new world. The ancestors in the direct paternal line belonged to the McAl- lister clan, one of the original twelve clans of the highlands. In the maternal line Dr. McAllister is descended from an old Connecticut family, which has been represented in New England through many generations. The paternal grandfather of the doctor was a native of Philadelphia, and after arriving at years of maturity was married there to Miss Goforth, also of that state. The Goforths were Quakers. In Philadelphia occurred the birth of Hiram McAllister, who after attaining man's estate devoted his time and energies to the work of a carver and gilder in Philadelphia. In 1855, however, he removed to Kansas, being one of the pioneer settlers of that state. There he spent his remaining days, passing away in 1894. He had survived his wife for a long period, her death having occurred in Kansas in 1877.
Dr. W. F. M. McAllister pursued his early education in the public schools of his native city, and at the age of sixteen years entered upon the study of medicine under Dr. Hall, of Kansas. When the Civil war was in- augurated he entered the army, with which he served for four years, and from 1863 until 1865 was a hospital steward of the United States army. After the cessation of hostilities he went to Kansas, and was later graduated on the completion of a course in medicine in the University of Pennsylvania in March, 1870. He was then appointed a surgeon by the Pacific Mail Steam- ship Company at New York and went around the world in that capacity, leaving New York city on Christmas eve in 1870 and arriving in San Fran- cisco in April, 1871. He continued in the mail service until 1875, and in
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July of the latter year was appointed quarantine officer for the port of San Francisco, holding that position until 1880. In 1883 he was again appointed to the same position and served continuously until 1890. During that time he was the first United States commissioner of immigration in California, and also the first United States quarantine officer, holding all three positions at the same time. On his retirement in 1890 he entered upon the private practice of medicine, in which he continued until 1894, when he was ap- pointed medical director of the Veterans' Home of California with the rank of major, and has since acted in this capacity, covering a period of ten years.
In 1878 Dr. McAllister was married in Oakland, California, to Miss Margaret Donnelly, of Ohio, and to them was born one son, Henry H., who is now twenty-three years of age. He is a graduate of the Lowell high school and is a mining engineer in Siskiyou county, California. In 1885 Dr. McAllister was again married in San Francisco, the lady of his choice being Miss Grace Payton, of Stockton, California. They have one daughter, Payton McAllister, who is one of the most promising vocalists in the state, having already won fame both as a singer and pianist. Mrs. Mc- Allister is a lineal descendant of the Washington family. Moncure D. Con- way was her cousin, and the Payton family were the owners of the famous Tuscolon in Virginia, dating back to a period prior to the Revolutionary war.
Dr. McAllister belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has at- tained the Knight Templar degree. He is a member of the Napa county board of health, Napa County Medical Association and State Medical Asso- ciation, and in his practice he has attained high rank, having a comprehensive knowledge of the great scientific principles which underlie his work. He has continuously promoted his efficiency through further research and inves- tigation and his skill is recognized by the profession, and the laity ranks him among the leading physicians and surgeons in this part of the state.
JAMES EDWARD MCCUE, M. D.
James Edward McCue, who is filling the position of assistant medical adviser of the Veterans' Home of California at Yountville, Napa county, was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on the 18th of April, 1868, a son of Michael and Sarah (Dwyer) McCue, both of whom were natives of Penn- sylvania. In the paternal line the family had been represented in the Key- stone state for a long period, but the maternal ancestors of the doctor were of Irish birth, his grandparents both being natives of the green isle of Erin.
Dr. McCue acquired his early education in the public schools of Youngs- town, Ohio, to which place his parents removed during his early boyhood days. He was graduated there on the completion of the regular course with the class of 1885, and in that city he entered upon his business career as an employe in the drug store of Manning & Mckeown. He continued with that firm for seven years, being one of their most trusted and faithful em- ployes, and during that time he gained a comprehensive knowledge of the drug business, and the preparations of the various remedial agencies to be
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found in the establishment of that character. Believing that he would have better opportunities in the far west, however, he left Ohio in 1892 and came to California. He engaged in conducting a drug store in Oakland, Cali- fornia, for five years with a fair measure of success, after which he entered upon the study of medicine, matriculating in the Cooper Medical College at San Francisco, in which he completed a regular course and was graduated on the 23d of April, 1901. His early practical experience was received as house surgeon in Lane Hospital at San Francisco, acting in that capacity for a year, at the end of which time he was appointed assistant medical adviser of the Veterans' Home of California at Yountville, where he is now located in the active discharge of the duties that devolve upon him in connection with that profession.
Dr. McCue belongs to the Masonic fraternity and also holds member- ship with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In the line of his profession he is connected with the Napa County Medical Society and the State Medical Society. He is a young man of enterprise, industry and laud- able ambition, and his professional career has shown that he possesses the force of character and ability that will make his career one of continuous progression.
DANIEL W. CARMICHAEL.
Daniel WV. Carmichael, who is engaged in a general real estate and insurance business in Sacramento, owes his success to his own well directed efforts, his judicious investment and enterprise, and not only in business circles is he well known but as a political leader exerts considerable influ- ence, laboring earnestly for the growth and advancement of the Democracy.
Tlie Carmichael family is of Scotch descent and was founded in Amer- ica in the early part of the seventeenth century. The father, William M. Carmichael, was born in Georgia and was a farmer by occupation. He came to California in 1875, accompanied by his eldest son, Thomas. They afterward returned to the east, but as his other sons reached maturity he advised them to seek homes on the Pacific coast that they might enjoy the advantages offered by this great and growing section of the country. Ac- cordingly Hilliard and William C. Carmichael made their way westward to California, and Daniel W. arrived on the Ioth of January, 1885.
Upon the farm belonging to his brother Thomas in Stanislaus county, Daniel W. Carmichael began working, but about a year later he entered the Stockton Business College, wishing to acquire a practical business training to supply his early educational privileges, received in the public schools of Georgia. When he had completed his course of study in Stockton he came to Sacramento and secured employment in the printing office of Good Broth- ers. He was afterward employed as a bookkeeper by Kendall & Company until the Ist of January, 1895, when he turned his attention to the real estate and insurance business, in which he has since engaged, with ever increasing success, doing a business which has now reached a large annual figure and extends throughout California. During the excitement concerning the dis- covcry of oil in 1899 he was one of the first to realize the possibilities in this
FMCarmichael, .
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direction, and securing a tract of one hundred and sixty acres in the heart of the oil region in Kern county was among the first to strike oil. The property has since proved a very valuable one. It was purchased for fifteen dollars per acre, and in three years time ten acres were sold for forty-five thousand dollars, so that Mr. Carmichael has realized a splendid return from his investment. which indicated his keen sagacity and business foresight. He now has a large clientage in the line of his business, and has arranged important realty transfers throughout the state.
On the 12th of January, 1892, Mr. Carmichael was united in marriage to Miss Myrtie Robb, a native of Nevada and a daughter of Charles S. and Candace Robb, who came from Illinois to California in the '70s, locating in Sacramento. Her father has been continuously in the service of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, being one of the oldest conductors on the line.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Carmichael is a Mason and also belongs to the Odd Fellows and Elks lodges. In politics he is a Democrat, and in 1895 was elected city treasurer of Sacramento, filling the position for two years. He has attended city and county conventions through the past decade, and was also a delegate to the Democratic national convention held in Kan- sas City in 1900, when W. J. Bryan was nominated for the presidency. Mr. Carmichael has been the secretary of the last two state conventions, in which Mr. McGuire and Mr. Lane were respectively nominated. He has several times served as chairman of the city central committee and has always taken an active part in local, state and national politics, his opinions carrying weight in the councils of his party in California. His citizenship is char- acterized by a lofty patriotism and marked devotion to the causes which he believes will promote local and national welfare, and he is honored by rea- son of his loyalty to his honest convictions as well as by reason of his business successes and capability in the world of commerce.
HENRY FOWLER.
The days of chivalry and knighthood in Europe cannot furnish more in- teresting or romantic tales than our own western history. Into the wild mountain fastnesses of the unexplored west went brave men, whose courage was often called forth in encounters with hostile savages. The land was rich in all natural resources, in gold and silver. in agricultural and commercial possibilities, and awaited the demands of man to yield up its treasures, but its mountain heights were hard to climb, its forests difficult to penetrate, and the magnificent trees, the dense bushes or the jagged rocks often sheltered the skulking foe, who resented the encroachment of the pale-faces upon these "hunting grounds." The establishment of homes in this beautiful region therefore meant sacrifices, hardships and ofttimes death, but there were some men brave enough to meet the red man in his own familiar haunts and under- take the task of reclaiming the district for purposes of civilization. The rich mineral stores of this vast region were this added to the wealth of the na- tion : its magnificent forests contributed to the lumber industries and its fertile
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valleys added to the opportunities of the farmer and stock-raiser, and to-day the northwest is one of the most productive sections of the entire country. That this is so is due to such men as Mr. Fowler, whose name is inseparably interwoven with the history of the region. No story of fiction contains more exciting chapters than may be found in his life record, but space for- bids an extended account of these.
Henry Fowler was born nineteen miles from St. Louis, in St. Clair county, Illinois, on the 17th of June, 1822. His father was William Fowler, a native of New York, and his mother, who bore the maiden name of Cather- ine Spead, was also born in the Empire state. The year 1817 they removed westward, locating in Illinois. The father was a carpenter and joiner by trade and also carried on agricultural pursuits. They remained residents of Illinois until about 1832, when they removed to Henry county, Missouri, where the father again engaged in farming. In 1843, accompanied by his son, William Fowler, Jr., and William Hargraves, he crossed the plains into Oregon. They stopped first at Oregon City, where all worked at the carpenter's trade through the winter months. In June, 1844, they left the Sunset state, and, crossing the Siskiyou mountains, reached the mission of Sonoma county in California. In that locality they entered the employ of General Vallejo, in whose services they continued until they had earned money enough to buy four thousand acres of land. The purchase was made in September, 1845, for eight hundred dollars, and the tract of which they came into possession included Calistoga Springs. Eventually they sold this property to Samuel Brannan for forty-five thousand dollars, a fact which in- dicates in large measure the great growth of the state and the rise in realty values. William Fowler, the father, continued to make his home in Cali- fornia up to the time of his demise, which occurred in Calistoga in 1866. His wife long survived him and died in Napa in 1883.
Henry Fowler was a young man of about twenty-one years when he came to the Pacific coast, and well does he remember the incidents of the journey, fraught as it was with hardships and difficulties that were met by all the frontiersmen who made their way across the country in that epoch which antedated the era of railroad travel. Mr. Fowler continued his association in business with his father for some time and afterward joined General Hart- son in dealing in East Napa property. There they built the Palace Hotel and otherwise contributed to the material improvement and substantial up- building of the place. In an individual enterprise Mr. Fowler became the owner of two hundred acres of land at the north end of Main street in Napa. He received but limited educational privileges in his youth, but manifested in his business career keen sagacity and ready recognition of business condi- tions and opportunities, and as the years have advanced he has prospered in his undertakings, becoming one of the substantial citizens of his county. He has also been very prominent and active in public affairs, shaping the munici- pal history, and in early days was connected with a number of important events which have left their impress upon the annals of the state. He was chosen city trustee of Napa at the time of the incorporation of the town, and
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has always been a co-operant factor in the measures and movements that have contributed to public progress and improvement. He was associated with one important historical event-the raising of the old Bear flag as a symbol of the state and a sign of dis-association with Mexican rule. General John C. Fre- mont had raised the American flag in Monterey, California, at which the Spaniards of the locality took offense. General Fremont made his way as quickly as possible to Sutter's Fort near Sacramento and then went on with all speed until he arrived in Oregon-upon American soil. Then Lieutenant Gillespie came on with orders to be in readiness with military aid and there had to hire escorts and follow him further into Oregon. Fremont returned to California and gathered as many of the Americans as he could get in and about Sutter's Fort. In the meantime William Hargraves, Captain John Grigsby and Benjamin Kelsey went to see General Fremont's company and were told to go and capture Sonoma and to take captives Salvador Vallejo and also General Vallejo and a Frenchman by the name of D. Prudhomme and an American Jacob P. Lee, a brother-in-law of General Vallejo. Henry Fowler was working on a ranch when the Bear flag was raised, and General Fremont took full charge of Vallejo Fort. He had made his trips northward by way of San Rafael and Sausalito, and the Bear flag which was raised was made by Bill Todd, a relative of Mrs. Abraham Lincoln. Twenty-five Ameri- cans agreed to go down and rescue Mr. Todd, who was held prisoner by the Spaniards, and this they did after a shooting affray which frightened off fifty or sixty Spaniards that were with Todd. The latter was later brought to Sonoma.
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