A memorial and biographical history of northern California, illustrated. Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy...and biographical mention of many of its most eminent pioneers and also of prominent citizens of today, Part 99

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1000

USA > California > A memorial and biographical history of northern California, illustrated. Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy...and biographical mention of many of its most eminent pioneers and also of prominent citizens of today > Part 99

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HARLES W. FICKERT .- Prominent among the leading business men and citi- zens of Red Bluff, Tehama County, Cali- fornia, we find the name of Charles W. Fickert, now deceased. His parents were natives of Germany, and he was born in that country, December 14, 1827. When he was eight years of age he came with his parents to America. They settled in New York city where he was reared and educated and learned the trade of jewelry-case making. He removed to Phila- delphia and carried on his business there until 1861, when he came to Red Bluff, California. Here he started in business as a cabinet-maker and continued it until 1868. In that year he turned his attention to the furniture business. He subsequently erected the building, 32 x 115 feet, which he used as his furniture store. His business grew with the development of the town and county, and, under his able management, it soon became the leading enterprise of the kind in Tehama County. Mr. Fickert built one of the finest residences in the city, at the corner of Jefferson and Cedar streets. He was a stock- holder in and one of the organizers of the Tehama Bank of Red Bluff, and he erected the building in which it was located. For forty- one years he was a member in good standing of the I. O. O. F., and filled all the chairs of the order.

In 1853 Mr. Fickert married Miss Bertha Hagar, a native of Hesse-Cassel, Germany.

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Three children were born to them in Camden, New Jersey. One died in that city and two, Laura M. and William Charles, they brought with them to California. Mrs. Fickert's death occurred July 5, 1888.

Jannary 18, 1890, Mr. Fickert was taken suddenly ill with heart disease and expired fifteen minutes from the time he was taken sick. His sudden death was a great shock to his be- reaved family and his many friends throughout Tehama County. During his life he had often expressed his preference for that kind of death when his time should come to go.

William C. had been his father's assistant in the business since 1872, and had grown up to thoroughly understand its every department. He was reared and educated in Red Bluff, and upon the death of his father he became his suc- cessor to the business.

In 1887, Mr. Fickert took for his wife Miss Nellie A. Partell, a native of Russia. This union has been blessed with a son, Arthur H., born in Red Bluff.

Mr. Fickert is a member of the I. O. O. F., in which order he has occupied all the chairs. He is also a Master Mason, and is Steward of hie lodge. Politically he is a Republican. Mr. Fickert resides with his family in their fine residence in Red Bluff.

HARLES A. CAMPBELL is a prominent citizen and business man of Red Bluff, Tehama County, California. He was born in Mount Pleasant, Henry County, Iowa, Janu- ary 1, 1853, and was brought to California in his mother's arms when he was two months old. His parents, William and Elizabeth (Hughes) Campbell, were both natives of Pennsylvania. They had six children, the two youngest, the subject of this sketch and his sister, being twins. Upon their arrival in California, his father became a pioneer hotel-keeper and also ran a saw-mill in Nevada County. The family removed to Yolo County, where Charles A. at-

tended school. He subsequently went to col- lege for two years at Oakland. Upon his return to Yolo he clerked two years in the store of Mr. A. Griffith. In 1871 he came to Red Bluff and accepted the position of book-keeper for the firm of Frank Campbell & Welton, remaining in their einploy two years. Then he was em- ployed as book-keeper for the Blue Ridge Flume & Lumber Company, being at the inills two years. After that he returned to Red Bluff and formed a copartnership in the general mer- chandise business, the firm being Bahney, Campbell & Company. They carried on the business four years, at the end of which timne the present firm of Morris & Campbell was formed, the latter being the active partner. Their store, 25 x 100 feet, is located on Main street between Oak and Pine, and they do a large business, dealing in dry goods, carpets, millinery and fancy goods.

In addition to his other business enterprises Mr. Campbell is also interested in land. He is interested with others in 255 acres of choice fruit land, fifty acres of which have been planted to prunes. He intends to continue the work of tree-planting until the whole of it is in fruit. They have a delightful and artistic home, the surroundings of which give evidence of the taste and refinement of its inmates.

Mr. Campbell was married, in 1878, to Miss Mary E. Ludwig, daughter of William Ludwig. They have had three children, two of whom are living, Edith F. and George L., both born in Red Bluff. Mrs. Campbell is an active member of the Presbyterian Church and Sunday-school. Mr. Campbell is a member of the Masonic order, a Knight Templar, and a member of the A. O. U. W. Politically he is a Republican.

AMBO BROTHERS., Jacob and Isaac, are retired ranchers and live at Red Bluff, California. Their father, Adonijah Ram . bo, was born in Virginia. Ile married Miss Nancy Little, a native of North Carolina, and

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by her had six children, five sons and one daughter. Jacob was born in Wayne County, Indiana, November 15, 1828, and was educated in his native State at South Bend. He came to California in 1850 and settled ten miles east of the city of Sacramento. For a year he mined in Coloma County, after which he formed a partnership with William Burt and engaged in the blacksmith business. At that time James Burch ran the stage from Sacramento to Hang- town. Rambo & Burt shod fifty horses for him, at $16 each. During those days the fare to Hangtown was $25. After being in the black- smith shop for a year he took up a ranch and engaged in farming. He raised the first crop of barley ever produced in that part of the county. He sowed, cradled and bound it in sheaves, and sold it to travelers for horse feed, at two bits a sheaf. Later he returned to his trade and carried on both blacksmithing and farming in Sonoma and Tellama connties for over twenty years, meeting with excellent suc- cess.

Isaac Rambo was born March 12, 1834, and followed his brother to California in 1860. He bought forty two horses in Indiana at an average cost of $80 each, drove them across the plains to California and sold them at $300 apiece. Their brother Calvin also came this time. Isaac Rambo went to Humboldt and Nevada counties, took up some mining claims, and was there for three years. He then sold out and entered into a partnership with his brother Jacob, both in mines and farmning, and has been with him ever since. Their partnership began in Sonoma County, and in 1868 they came to Tehama County and purchased 320 acres of land on Red Bank. For their first crop, sixty tons of oats and barley hay, they received $30 per ton, an amount equal to the purchase price of the land. After farming that ranch three years they sold it and bought 700 acres, located sixteen miles northeast of Red Bluff. While conducting this property they were eminently successful. In addition to other things they raised many hogs, which cost them very little and brought them

large returns. Their immense crops of hay they sold to millers in the mountains. They also raised sheep. One year they had four thousand, and the price of wool was fifty-one cents per pound. This ranch they sold at a handsome profit, have since bought and sold property, and now own 1,020 acres of land, which is rented and is being cultivated.

In February, 1888, Mr. Isaac Rambo mar- ried Miss Emma Rambo, his third cousin. He had the great misfortune to lose her at the birth of their little daughter. He named the babe Emma, for her mother, and confided her to the tender care of his most amiable friends, Mr. and Mrs. Crumbangh.

The Rambo brothers have a pleasant home in Red Bluff, where they reside; the elder brother is the housekeeper and Isaac takes care of the yard and horses. In politics they are stanch Republicans. Jacob Rambo has been one of the Supervisors of the county for three years. He has served as City Trustee several terms and now (1890) holds that office. Both have been successful business men, and are highly respected by their fellow citizens.

G. DUNCAN, a farmer near Capay, Yolo County, was born October 1, 1828, in Amherst County, Virginia, the son of John I. and Margaret (Toler) Dun- can, natives also of that State, who moved to the northern part of Missouri when their son was a small boy. Remaining with his parents until 1850, the subject of this sketch, in company with his brother, William H., came overland to California, with Dr. Lane, who supplied the penniless boys with the necessaries of the jour- ney, in consideration of half their earnings for a year. They followed mining at Mud Springs for three months, but with little profit, and Dr. Lane agreed to release them with three months' work for him, which proposition was accepted and the work done. The brothers then followed mining again, until the spring of 1853, when

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they took up a tract of land two and a half miles from their present place. In 1869 they dis- posed of that farm to Mr. Woodard. During the previous year they had bought the place where they now reside, a mile from Capay, where they now have 7,300 acres, besides eighty acres near Woodland.

Mr. Duncan was married in Woodland, March 13, 1879, to Miss Mary Franklin, a native of California, and they have one child, who was born in 1883 and is named Elvira G.

ARWIN B. LYON was born in Orleans County, New York, March 17, 1836. His parents, John M. and Charlotte (Cramer) Lyon, were both natives of New York, the for- mer of Scotch ancestry and the latter of Duteh. Darwin B. was the oldest of their three children. When he was five years old the family removed to Michigan and settled on a farm near Jackson. Soon after this the father died.

The subject of this sketch was reared and educated in Michigan, and, in 1853, at the age of seventeen, came across the plains to Califor- nia. A part of the way he drove cattle. He met a party on the plains with whom he came to the Golden State, first going to El Dorado County. In that and in Amador County he engaged in mining until the fall of 1859, meet- ing with a miner's luck, making and losing money. He engaged with others in fuming the American River. It was a great enterprise and the first of the kind, the lumber for the work being let down the mountain with ropes, the cost being $300 per thousand feet for the lumber. They completed the work, and had it not been for the heavy rains it would have made them all rich; but it was carried away by the flood, and an immense amount of labor and ex- pense was lost.

From there Mr. Lyon went to Jackson, Ama- dor County, and engaged in the express business with Freeman & Co. He also acted as agent for

the Alto Telegraph Company, learned telegraphy, and remained there a year and a half. In Sep- tember, 1859, he came to Red Bluff, where he was similarly employed until 1867. He then resigned his position and became book-keeper for the old Antelope Ranch and Mill Company. The following fall he went to Chico, in the em- ploy of General Bidwell, and held that position until after Mr. Cone had bought the Antelope property, when he returned there, remaining one year. Next, he went to Austin for the Western Union Telegraph Company and for Wells, Fargo & Company, going from there to Tehama, where he held the position until the railroad was built to Red Bluff.

In January, 1871, Mr. Lyon purchased the Red Bluff Hotel, in partnership with Dr. Olen- dorf, and conducted it until 1874, at the same time being agent for Wells, Fargo & Company. In that year he sold out and accepted the po- sition of cashier of the Tehama County Bank. A year later he resigned, and for four months tried his luck in the mines of Shasta County. At that time the Sierra Lumber Company was organized, with Mr. Hayward and General Chipman managers. Mr. Lyon was employed as book-keeper and acted as cashier a greater portion of the time. When the new company was organized in October, 1879, he was made superintendent and filled that important place until January, 1884. He then resigned and entered into a partnership with Mr. Garrett, in the hardware business, at Red Bluff. They employ five men, and also carry on plumbing and tinning in connection with their hardware business. Their store, 50 x 80 feet, with base- inent under it and shop at the rear, is located on Main, between Oak and Sycamore streets.

Mr. Lyon was married in 1879, to Miss Georgene Olendorf, a native of New York. They have two sons, both born in Red Bluff: Darwin B., Jr., and William Daniel.

Politically Mr. Lyou is a Rupublican. Ile was Postmaster of Red Bluff during a portion of Buchanan's administration. He has held the office of City Trustee, and two terms he served

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as Deputy Treasurer of Tehama County. He is a Master Mason and an A. O. U. W.

0 VAN ZEE, farming near Woodland, was born in Holland, September 14, 1828, son of Garret and Mary (Dikop) Van Zee. His father, a farmer, died there in 1878. In 1851 Mr. Van Zee came to America. For the first two years he was employed on a farm in Iowa. He then came to California, and followed min- ing four years, at Gibsonville. In 1857 he came to Yolo County, rented a piece of land seven miles from Sacramento and engaged in farming one year; then, taking up a piece of land near Willow Slough, six miles from Woodland, he engaged in farming. In 1869 he bought half a section of land two and a half miles from Wood- land. In 1879 he bonght his present place, and now owns there 395 acres of land, of which forty-one acres are in grape-vines.

For his wife he married, in'Yolo County, 1869, Ernestina Fourch, who was born in Germany in 1851, and their six children are: William, Mary, Fred, Sarah, Garret and John.

EORGE WALKER WESTLAKE, M. D., is a native of Mercer County, Pennsylva- nia, born May 28, 1843. His ancestors were English people, and settled in Pennsylva- nia in Colonial times. His grandfather, George Westlake, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He had a son, also named George, born in Pennsylvania, who become a farmer and who married Miss Fanny Parker. She was a native of his own State and a daughter of John Parker, a Pennsylvania farmer. To them were born ten children, the subject of this sketch being the ninth. Three are deceased.

Dr. Westlake took his first lessons in a log school-house in Pennsylvania; went to Pine Grove Seminary one year; taught school in win- ter and attended one term of six inonths at

Hillsdale College, Michigan; and went to Bowen College, Iowa, one year.

When the war broke ont, in 1861, he enlisted in Company I, First Iowa Regiment. He went to the front with his regiment and was taken prisoner at Wilson's Creek, August 10, 1861. By taking oatlı that he would not again take up arms against the Confederacy or raid the State of Missouri during the war, he was released. He returned to Pennsylvania and engaged in the study of medicine with his brother, Dr. E. C. Westlake, of Cherrytree, and was a student till the fall of 1863, when he took his first course of lectures at the Western Reserve College, Cleveland, Ohio. In the spring of 1864 he re- ceived the appointment of hospital steward in the One Hundredth Pennsylvania Regiment, and served to the close of the war. In the winter of 1865 he attended the Ohio Medical College, and received the degree of M. D.

In the spring of 1866 he located at Mechan- iesville, Pennsylvania, and engaged in the prac- tice of his profession for two years, after which he removed to Ronseville, where he practiced six years. He then located in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, and from there, in 1875, came to Red Bluff, California. Here he has met with eminent success in his profession. In 1876 he bought property at the corner of Pine and Jef- ferson streets, and in 1884 he built a splendid moderu home. The Doctor has interested him- self, with a partner, in fruit culture. They have 300 acres in trees and are planting twenty acres each year, making a specialty of apricots, French prunes and peaches. For three years the Doctor had charge of the Tehama County Hospital.

In 1866 Dr. Westlake was married to Miss Isabel Wolfkiel, a native of Venango County, l'ennsylvania. She is the daughter of Jacob Wolfkiel, a native of Germany. They have one ehild, born in Mechanicsville, Pennsylvania, Ida May, now the wife of Dr. Hamilton Stittson. They reside at Seattle.

Dr. Westlake is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and also of the A. O. U. W. By his

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fellow citizens he is regarded as a man of ster- ling character and a physician of rare ability. His political views are in accordance with Re- publican principles.

OHN H. WALKER, a farmer near Black's Station, Yolo County, was born in Hanover, Germany, July 6, 1830, the son of Herman H. and Helena (Sinning) Walker, both natives also of that country; his father was most of his life a sea captain. In 1849, Mr. Walker, the subject of this brief notice, emigrated to Amer- ica, remained a year at New York and then sailed for California, landing at San Francisco in the antumn of 1850. After working in the mines until 1857 he visited Germany, returned eleven months afterward and followed mining again till 1861, when he revisited his native place a second time, remaining until 1869, this time becoming married, September 16, 1862. On returning to California. he rented land for three years, following agricultural pursuits, and then he purchased the place where he now resides, comprising 480 acres well improved and now in fine condition. It is about three miles north- east of Black's Station.

Mr. Walker married a daughter of Herman and Elizabeth (Mams) Baldwin, a native of Germany. Their children are: Herman J., born July 30, 1863; John F., December 20, 1866; William J., February 15, 1870; Elizabeth M., June 6, 1872; and Helen E., July 25, 1874.

ILLIAM ROBERT HALL, Clerk of Tehama County, California, was born in Sacramento city on October 11, 1853. The ancestors of the family on the father's side were Scotch people, who settled in North Carolina at an early period in the history of this country. His mother's parents were of German extraction, and settled in Virginia in 1818. His father, Andrew Lovelace Hall, is a

native of Kentucky, born March 6, 1824, and emigrated to California in 1850, settling below Sacramento city in what is now called Hall's Basin, and engaged in farming. In those days all kinds of farm products found a ready mar- ket in the mining localities, and good success crowned his efforts until the winter of 1851-'52, when he, among many others, went with the tide. The great flood of that year swept away everything he had; so. not meeting with the success that was anticipated, like all other Ken- tuckians-being a great lover of horses-moved to Sutter County, near the Marysville Buttes, and engaged in raising running-horses, which was more profitable to him than farming in the tule lands. In the summer of 1852 he met Miss Amanda M. E. Garr, daughter of Mark F. Garr, the Sheriff of Sntter County (who came across the plains in 1849 from the State of Virginia), and after a courtship of several months the conple were married.

Mr. Hall, the subject of this sketch, is the oldest of eleven children, seven of whoni are still living in Tehama County. He was edu- cated at the Pierce Christian College, Colusa County, and also took a complete course in Heald's Business College, San Francisco. In 1876 he engaged in farming with his father, which he continued for a number of years in Tehama County, raising fruits and grain. In 1886 he was nominated for County Clerk by the Democratic County Convention, but in the election was beaten by 142 votes. In 1888 he received a renomination by acclamation and was elected by fifty-six majority. In 1890 he received the nomination for the same office withont opposition, and was elected by the flattering majority of 881. The office duties include those of Clerk, Auditor and Recorder. Mr. Hall is a man of good business ability, and believes in filling an office when elected to do so, and makes an officer worthy of the com- mendation of all tax-payers, Republicans and Democrats alike. While his official duties call him away from his farm, his brothers are culti- vating his lands with theirs.

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Mr. Hall was united in marriage on the 31st day of December, 1889, to Miss Agnes Isabel Duncan, a native of Iowa, daughter of William Duncan, of Red Bluff. She came to California with her parents in 1875, and completed an un- finished education in the State Normal School, at San José, California, and engaged in teach- ing school in Tehama County. In 1884 she was offered the position of second assistant in the Red Bluff High School, and filled that position until she was married to Mr. Hall. She is a member of the Christian Church, which is also attended by her husband. Mr. Hall is a member of the I. O. O. F., N. S. G. W., and the Masonic lodges at Red Bluff. An ardent lover of California and her institutions, be is ever ready to aid in any enterprise that will benefit the State or the county of his choice.

F. MURRAY and his brother, John Murray, are the owners of and are con- ducting the French Gulch meat- market, the only business of the kind in the town.

He is a native son of the Golden West, born within two miles of French Gulch, November 17, 1858. His parents, Timothy and Catherine Murray, natives of County Cork, Ireland, came to the United States in 1852, and to California in 1856. He is one of a family of six children, of whom two sons and a daughter are deceased, and two sons and a daughter survive. His sister is the wife of John C. Frank, and resides in French Gulch. The subject of this sketch was reared and educated in his native place. He learned the blacksmith trade in Redding, and worked at the business there five years. He was the blacksmith for the Niagara mine three years. In 1886 he and his brother opened their present business, and have conducted it success- fully since that time. They purchased the pioneer meat-market of the town.

Mr. Murray was married in 1878, to Miss Lovina Dale, a native of the State of Iowa. To them three children have been born, all in

French Gulch, namely: Katie E., George T. and John C. Mr. Murray is Past Grand of the I. O. O. F. Lodge of French Gulch, and is also a member of the A. O. U. W. He is an active, intelligent and obliging representative son of California. In politics he is Democratic.

OHN MURRAY, junior member of the firm of Murray Brothers, French Gulch Meat Market, was born in French Gulch, California, November 9, 1866. He is the son of Timothy and Catherine Murray, natives of County Cork, Ireland, who came to this country in 1852, and to California in 1856. Mr. Mur- ray was reared and educated in his native place. In April, 1890, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Hooper, also a native of Frenchi Gulch.

The firm of Murray Brothers is doing a snc- cessful business. They keep on hand a supply of choice meat, and make every effort to please their customers. T. F. takes charge of the in- door part of the business while John does the outside work. Both are trusty and enterprising business men. In politics they affiliate with the Democratic party. They are members of the Native Sons of the Golden West, and the subject of this sketch is Treasurer of Highland Parlor, No. 133.

DWARD S. RUSING, railroad agent at Black's Station, Yolo County, was born in Fountain County, Indiana, about six miles from Covington, August 15, 1830, a son of John and Margaret (Loveless) Rusing, natives of South Carolina. He landed in San Francisco March 26, 1864, and in a short time went to the placer mines, where he was engaged in digging gold for eleven years, and from that time until the present he has been in the em- ploy of the railroad company, for the last eight years in his present position. He owns a nice

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little home at Black's, and is a member of the orders of Freemasonry and Chosen Friends. He is faithful to his company as well as accom- modating to the public.

August 7, 1878, in Oakland, California, he married Miss Henrietta Blyther, who was born in the State of Maine, in 1848, and the chil- dren in their family are two daughters: Grace M., born October 19, 1879, and Hazel O., August 3, 1883.

RS. DONNA M. COLEMAN, favor- ably known as one of the prominent teachers of Shasta County, California, is a native of Delaware County, New York. She was educated in that State and began her career as a teacher in the city of Syracuse, where she taught successfully for five years. She came to California in 1856, and nearly all the time since has been engaged in her favorite pursnit, for which she has proved herself su eminently fitted. In 1875 she was elected County Superintendent of Schools, on the Re- publican tieket, and served in that capacity for eleven years. It was during her administration that the system of graded schools was intro- duced, which has proved so beneficial and has made the schools of Shasta County compare favorably with any in the State. She is now (1890) the Principal of the Shasta schools and President of the Board of Education of the county. She is noted for her quiet, orderly and efficient school work.

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A memorial and biographical history of northern California, illustrated. Containing a history of this important section of the Pacific coast from the earliest period of its occupancy...and biographical mention of many of its most eminent pioneers and also of prominent citizens of today, Part 99

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 1000

Author: Lewis Publishing Company. cn
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1000