USA > California > Sacramento County > An illustrated history of Sacramento County, California : containing a history of Sacramento County from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future portraits of some of its most eminent men, and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also prominent citizens of today > Part 44
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matters and institute work. Prof. and Mrs. Iloitt have two children, one son and daughter: Ralph H., seventeen years of age, just graduated from the Sacramento High School; and the daughter, Gladys, who is twelve years old, and in the Sacramento Grammar School.
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J. RHOADS. Among the long resident citizens of Sacramento who still take an active interest in her affairs, is the one with whose name this sketch is commenced. A. J. Rhoads is a native of Philadelphia, born in August, 1830, his parents being Andrew D. and Rebecca (Denby) Rhoads. His mother was a native of North Carolina. His father was born in Maryland, and came of an old family of that State. He removed to Philadel- phia, where he followed the profession of an architect, and during the years before the con- solidation of the city was one of the commis- sioners of Spring Garden, and later a member of the Select Council of the city. He resided in Philadelphia until his death. The subject of this sketch spent his boyhood days in his native city, and in her public schools received his edu- cation. In 1850 he came to California, leaving New York September 11, on the steamer Geor- gia, and after crossing the Isthmus of Panama, resumed his sea voyage in the steamer Repub- lic (Captain Hudson), landing at San Francisco in November. He came at once to Sacramento, and was soon on his way to the mines. He went to the diggings at Red Dog, Nevada County, but after mining a short time returned to Sacramento, and engaged in the draying business. He was so employed about ten years, and at the expiration of that time opened the old Sacramento Theater on Third street, and ran it abont one year, and in the occupation of hotel and exchange keeper. Ile is now retired from active business pursuits, though yet re- taining a lively interest in public affairs. Mr. Rhoads holds a prominent position in the coun- cils of the Republican party, and has been
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constantly a working member in the party or- ganization, serving in the city, county and State committees, etc., and having great influence in the direction of affairs. In the days of the old volunteer fire department, when the leading business and professional men "ran with the machine," Mr. Rhoads has acted in the ranks and served as foreman for a number of years of Confidence Engine, No. 1. He is now a men- ber of the Exempt Firemen. In 1871-'72 he was Sergeant-at-arms of the House of Repre- sentatives, General Assembly of California. Mr Rhoads was married in Sacramento to Miss Til- lie Tuill, a native of Portland, Maine. They have one son living of their children, viz., Frank- lin M. Mr. Rhoads is an enterprising man, and has figured in Sacramento history since the early days. Ile has been an eye-witness to the growth of Sacramento to its present position as a city, and the complete transformation it has under- gone from the days when "Gold was King."
UDGE SAMUEL C. DENSON. The sub- ject of this sketch, although still in the prime of life, has been so prominently identified with the social, material and profes- sional interests of Sacramento County-so well known, not only for pre-eminent legal acumnen as a jurist and a member of one of the most widely-known legal firms on the Pacific Coast, but also for the close, never- failing personal inter- est which he has ever manifested in all measures having for their object the advancement of the community in which he has had his home for more than twenty years-that a brief page from his life's history cannot but be interesting to his many friends and acquaintances, as well as to the student of history who in after years shall by this means be enabled to " point a moral and adorn a tale." In both the mental and physical characteristics of Judge Denson one can trace the rich warm blood of Sonthern " chivalry " which flows throngh his veins, tem- pered and broadened, it is true, by the "vim "
and energy of the early "pioneer," who held the plow and sowed the seed, and made fruitful the broad prairie lands of Illinois. Judge Denson's father was a farmer, a native and scion of one of the old families of North Caro- lina, who emigrated to southern Illinois in the early days, was there married to a Miss Craw- ford-a Virginian. They settled in Adams County, near Quincy, and there the subject of this sketch was born on the 23d of September, 1839. He was educated at the well-known Abingdon College, and at an early age deter- mined to enter the legal profession, but, like many another ambitious youth, his close appli- cation to study impaired his health to such an extent that it was deemed necessary, for a time at least, that he should seek " other fields and pastures new." He joined an emigrant party then just being made np to cross the plains with teams to the new " El Dorado," hoping in this way not only to find the " promised land," but also the golden boon of health, withont which all else is nanght. Upon his arrival in Butte County, and after a brief experience in the mines, he engaged in teaching school and re- sumed his legal studies in the office of Judge Thomas Wells at Oroville. Three years later, in March, 1864, he went to Carson City, Ne- vada, where he commenced the practice of law, having been admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Nevada soon after his arrival in that Territory. In November of that year he took his seat in the Assembly of the first State Legis- lature of Nevada, serving as chairman on the judiciary committee of that body, Two years later, November, 1866, he was elected district attorney of Ormsby County, and was re-elected to that office upon the expiration of the term; but, feeling the importance of a wider field of usefulness, he soon afterward resigned the office, removed to the capital city, and entered into a law partnership with Judge H. O. Beatty, a native of Kentucky, whose daughter Mary M. became his wife. In 1875 Mr. Denson was ad- mitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, and on January 1, 1876, he took
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his seat as Judge of the Sixth Judicial District of California, composed of the countics of Sac- ramento and Yolo, defeating Judge Louis Ram- age and Judge A. P. Catlin in the contest for that office-a position which he held until 1879, when under the new constitution it was abol- ished. He was immediately elected Superior Judge under the new constitution, for a term of five years, but resigned his position three years later to form a partnership with Judge W. H. Beatty, which continned until the elevation of the latter to the office of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California in 1888. But prior to this, in December, 1871, Judge Denson was elected City Superintendent of Public Schools of Sacramento, holding this office for two years, and when in 1879 the Sacramento Free Library was established he was selected by the city officials as one of its directors and was elected president of the board by his fellow mem- bers. Ever ready to extend a helping hand in any good work, Judge Denson has become one of the best known members of the Masonic frater- nity in the State; has passed the chair of Union Lodge, No. 58, F. & A. M., has held the dis- tingnished office of Deputy Grand Master, and Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of California; is a member of Sacramento Chapter, No. 3, Royal Arch Masons, and of Sacramento Coun- cil, No. 1, and Sacramento Commandery No. 2, Knights Templar. He is recognized everywhere among his associates as a man of public spirit.
OHN WALSH, rancher, four miles from Galt, was born in Ireland, February 20, 1840, and left his native country for Bos- ton, Massachusetts, June 16, 1863, and arrived there July 29, following. In 1868 he came to California on the steamner Montana. After re- maining in San Franciseo a short time, he spent two years in San José; 1870-'74 he was in Stockton, and then settled upon his present place, known as the old King ranch. It com- prises 160 acres of fine land, which is devoted
to hay and grain. Richard Walsh, the father of John, was born in Ireland in 1816, and died in that country in 1856. Mr. John Walsh mar- ried, at Stockton, March, 1878, Mary Flaherty, who was born in Ireland. Their four children are: William, Abbie, Maggie and John P.
OE TASH, a gardener on the river road, about seven miles from Sacramento, on a fine ranch of thirty-six acres, was born on one of the Azores Islands in 1846, and caine to California in the fall of 1865, by way of the Isthinns of Panama, and settled where he now resides. His wife, Lucina, is also a native of the Azores. They were married in Sacramento. Their children are four in number, namely: Marcell, Frank, Francis and Merian.
ON. NEWTON BOOTH .- Among those who came to Sacramento in 1850 was Newton Booth, who afterward filled so important a place in the business, political and social history of Sacramento and of California. The firm of Booth & Co. (composed, at this writing, of Senator Booth and C. T. Wheeler), has been in existence since the pioneer days of California; and though its membership has on several occasions been changed, it has at all times ranked among the leading houses of the city and State. In July, 1849, T. M. Lindley and L. A. Booth organized the grocery firm of Lindley & Booth, doing business at the old nam- ber, 38 K street. In May of the following year they were succeeded by Forshee, Booth & Co., composed of John Forshee, L. A. Booth and Job Dye. The two latter gentlemen retired from the firm in the spring of 1851. Abont that time Charles Smith and Newton Booth com- menced business on J street, in the grocery trade, under the name of Smith & Booth. Sac- ramento, though then a small place, was yet a very busy one and was looked to as almost the
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. sole source of supplies for the many mining camps already at work, as well as those which were being continually opened up. Her mer- chants generally did a jobbing business. Smith & Booth were essentially a wholesale house, though through the necessities of the trade at that day they did not refuse retail customers. The fire of 1852 left Sacramento almost where she had started, and the firm suffered with the rest. Shortly afterward L. A. Booth, one of the organizers of Lindley & Booth, became a part- ner, and the firm assumed the name of Booth & Co. Thus the house continued until 1856. In that year Newton Booth retired and returned to Indiana, while the firm consolidated with Kleinhans & Co. (who had commenced business in 1852), but the name was not changed. C. T. Wheeler and T. L. Barker also became part- ners in 1856. In 1860 Newton Booth again became a citizen of Sacramento, and rejoined his old firm. There were no more changes until 1863, when L. A. Booth and Mr. Barker retired and J. T. Glover became a member, continuing until his death, which occurred in 1885. This left the firm as at present constituted-Newton Booth and C. T. Wheeler. Senator Booth is a native of Washington County, Indiana, born December 30, 1825. His father, Beebe Booth, a native of Connecticut, was a son of one of the heroes of the American Revolution. At an early age he went to what was then the far West, locating at Salem, Washington County, Indiana, in 1816. There he engaged in merchandising, and afterward published there the first news- paper issued in Indiana. He was married there to Hannah Pitts, a native of Chatham County, North Carolina. Her father, Andrew Pitts, emigrated from North Carolina to Washington County, Indiana, in 1809, being one of the pio neers of the State. Newton Booth was reared to the age of sixteen at his native place, and in 1841 his father removed the family to Terre Haute, the new scene of his business enterprise. Newton Booth was sent to Asbury (now De Pauw) University, at Greencastle, to complete his education. This institution now ranks
among the leading educational seats of this country. At that time, with Bishop Simpson as president, its standing was at least as high as at present. It was the leading university of the West, and its faculty had been happily chosen from the most learned men of the day. Mr. Booth completed the course before he had reached his majority, and was graduated in the class of 1846. A mercantile career had been marked out for him. bnt after an engagement of two years in one of his father's stores at Terre Haute, he commenced reading law in the office of W. D. Griswold, with whom he became asso- ciated as partner after his admission to the bar in 1849. The story of the golden wealth of California, however, had for him the usual charm, and he determined to try his fortune there. In company with a young Terre Haute business man, Walter W. Reynolds, he started on the long journey. They were among the passengers of the steamer " Cherokee," which early in 1850 made the trip from New York to Chagres. From Panama to San Francisco they were passengers on the "Oregon," which steamed through the Golden Gate on the 18th of October, bearing the glad tidings of the ad- mission of California as a State of the Union. They came at once to Sacramento, and both be- came business men here. Mr. Reynolds after- ward went to Placerville, where his death sub- sequently occurred. When Mr. Booth arrived in Sacramento, the first great cholera epidemic was raging here, and he went to Amador County, where he was sick for some time. In February, 1851, he returned to Sacramento. and was soon engrossed in business. In 1862 he entered public life for the first time, being in that year chosen to the State Senate. On the 6th of September, 1871, he was elected Governor of California, assuming the dnties of the office December 8 of that year. While in the guber- natorial chair he was elected, December 20, 1873, by the independent legislature of that year, to the Senate of the United States. On the 27th of February, 1875, he resigned the office of Governor to assume the duties of his
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new position, and on the 4th of March following took his seat in the Senate. He served as an honored member of that body, and with credit to the State until the expiration of his term, in 1881. He was one of the working members of the Senate, and was particularly active in ac- complishing the adoption of the silver certificate, and redemption of subsidiary coins-measures which were especially grateful to the Pacific Coast, though of national importance as shaping the financial . policy of the country. He also pushed to passage a bill for the settlement of land titles in California. He was placed on the committee on public lands, committee on pat- ents, committees on manufactures and on ap- propriations, and during a portion of his term was chairman of the two latter. Since retiring from the Senate he has given his personal atten- tion to his extensive wholesale business. Senator Booth has always been inclined to literature, and in times past his lectures on scientific and other topics have been the source of much pleasure and profit to citizens of Sacramento, as well as an incentive to study in many directions. A noteworthy feature of the political preferment of Senator Booth is, that it has come to him on his merits, as an independent, and not as a re- ward for party service or through party machi- nations.
AMES O'NEIL is well known throughout this and adjacent counties and in the city of San Francisco as the manager of the Riverside Brickyard. He was born in Ireland in 1831, and came to California in March, 1856. At first he engaged in the trade of plastering in the city of Sacramento during the year 1856, and he continued to carry on this business ex- tensively until 1874. About the same time he entered into brick manufacture for himself, con- tinuing ten years. Selling out then, he took his present situation as superintendent of the yard. The works here are run by steanı power. The clay is hauled over a short railroad of their 19
own. Most of the time 175 hands are em- ployed. The capacity of the works is about 18,000,000 a year. The brick manufactured here are all shipped to San Francisco by boat. The kilns are of the modern kind, a patent method called the continuous-burning kilns, as they are kept running night and day. Mr. ('Neil has three grown children: Frank, Nellie and Willie.
ADFORD B. RUSSELL, a farmer of Ala- bama Township, is a native of this county, born in 1860, and has spent nearly all his life here. After marriage he settled down upon a fine ranch of 160 acres, devoted principally to grain and hay, four and a half miles from Galt, on the road to Ione. Mr. Russell married Miss Mattie Emerson, who was born in San Joaquin County, this State, in 1867. William Russell, the father of Radford B., was born in Kentucky in 1818, and his wife, Malinda, was born in Arkansas in 1827, and both are still living, making their home with the subject of this paragraph.
D. COMSTOCK .- Among the deserv- edly popular business men of the Capi- tal City, the genial proprietor of the Comstock Furniture Warehouse takes prece- dence; and a brief mention of his antecedents and his business career will be read with inter- est by his many friends. We offer no apology in according to him so prominent a place in the historical volume of this county, in connection with the representative business men of to-day. Twenty-one years ago he began business for himself in a very small way, opening a store for the sale of household furniture on the northeast corner of K and Fifth streets. His business has grown with the growth of the Capital City, fostered by the careful, conservative, yet ener- getic management of a thorougly practical busi-
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ness man, whose constant aim has been to keep well abreast of the times, and whose business motto of " Quick sales and small profits," whose urbane manner, strict integrity, and desire to please all who have the good fortune to deal with him, has brought him hosts of friends and a gratifying success, which fact is fully shown by even a casnal visit to his spacious and well- stocked warerooms, still at the old stand, Fifth and K streets, but now covering four times the original space, and where to-day is conducted a business, both wholesale and retail, which is perhaps exceeded by no other house in his line in the Capital City. William Dutton Comstock, like so many of the successful inen of this gen- eration, is a typical Yankee, by birth and edu- cation as well as ancestry. He was born May 19, 1839, in Jeffrey, Cheshire County, New Hamp- shire, the son of Jonathan J. and Roaucy (Dut- ton) Comstock, and spent his early years among the everlasting hills of his native State, and grew to manhood upon his father's farm. Filled with an ambition for a larger sphere of useful- ness than was possible within the environments of his country home, at the early of twenty years he started out to begin the battle of life on his own account, going directly to the " Hub," where for four years he satisfactorily filled the position of a clerk, and in this way laying the broad foundation of practical experience upon which in after years the structure of his fortune should be bnilded. In the spring of 1864, he was one of the passengers upon the steamer " Champion" bound for the " Land of Golden Promise." He crossed the Isthmus, and when on the 27th of March, the "Golden Age," with her precious cargo, passed through the Golden Gate and landed at " Frisco," young Comstock was one of those who, for the first time gazed upon the future metropolis of the western civilization. On the 10th of April following he came to Sac- ramento, with the intention of going to the mines, but, receiving the offer of a clerkship in the variety store of George W. Badger & Co., hie wisely decided to cast his lot with the for- tunes of the capital of this great commonwealth.
Three years later he was united in marriage to Miss Snsan F. Gregory, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and shortly after that event, began as above stated the real business of his life. Mr. Comstock has taken an active personal interest in public affairs, and at the present time he holds the position of president of the Board of of Fire Commissioners, and it is hoped that the increasing cares of an extensive business will not in the future prevent his acceptance of other offices of trust and responsibility in city, county and State. He is an active member of several prominent societies.
HAUNCEY H. DUNN. Among the best representatives of the Sacramento bar is the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. He is a native of Hamilton County, Ohio, born at the village of Laurel, September 25, 1856, and son of Rev. Thomas S. and F. M. (Conkling) Dunn. Both parents were born in Ohio, and there the father was educated for the ministry, and ordained a minister of the Meth- odist faith. In 1860 the family came to Cali- fornia, via Panama, and located temporarily in San Francisco. Rev. T. S. Dunn attended the conference shortly afterward held in Santa Clara, and was appointed to a charge in San Jose. Ile officiated two years there, and a life term each at Placerville and Virginia City, Ne- vada; then three years at San Jose again, when he was called to Oakland. After he had pre- sided for three years in the pulpit there, his health had so failed him that he was impelled to ask for the Napa charge, which request was granted, and he remained at Napa one year. His next charge was the Central, Mission street, San Francisco, where he officiated two years; after a pastorate of one year at Grass Valley, he went East, and there visited relatives and at- tended the Centennial. Returning to Califor- nia, he was installed for three years over a Stockton charge, and followed this with two years at Alameda, three years at Sacramento,
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and three years at San Jose. In September, 1887, he assumed the superannuated relation, and made his home on his ranch near Ev- ergreen, Santa Clara County, until February 24, 1889, when he quietly passed away. Chauncey H. Dunn, subject of this sketch, was reared to manhood principally in this State. He finished his education at the University of the Pacific, San Jose, but taught school a portion of the time after commencing attendance there in order to pay his own way through college. He made up for lost time, however, by night study- ing, and each year passed his examination with his class. After completing his education, he taught school regularly three and a half years, and during a portion of that time read law by night. During vacation he read with Judge Patterson (now one of the Justices of the Su- preme Court), and for a year afterward bor- rowed books from the judge's library while residing at Stockton. In August, 1881, he commenced attendance at Hastings' Law School. By May, 1882, he had completed the entire two years' course of lectures, and read the whole course. He came to Sacramento in May, 1882, and continued his reading in the office of L. S. Taylor. On the 13th of July, 1882, he was admitted to practice in the Superior Court, and on the 20th of November following began practicing in the Supreme Court. About the 1st of September, 1882, he commenced work on " American Decisions," as associate editor with A. C. Freeman. In July, 1883, he formed a partnership with Hon. J. N. Young, which he continued until Mr. Young removed to San Francisco in December, 1886. About the first of January, 1884, he completed his labor on the " American Decisions." Mr. Duun has always been an active champion of temperance principles, and in November, 1883, when a Prohibition paper was founded here, he identified himself with the Prohibition party. He was candidate for city attorney on the party's first regular ticket in 1884, and his name has been on the ticket in each succeeding election. He has also been secretary of the central com-
mittee of the party for this county since 1884. Since 1886 he has been superintendent of the Sunday-school of the Sixth Street Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Duun was married in September, 1884, to Miss Merrinm V. Blas- del, a native of Indiana, daughter of Captain E. W. Blasdel, and niece of ex-Governor Blas- del, of Nevada. Mr. Dunn is one of the most respected young men of Sacramento, and is a credit to his profession, on account of his fine character and abilities.
M AJOR W. A. ANDERSON, one of the leading lawyers of the Sacramento bar, is a native of Wisconsin, born at Min- eral Point, February 25, 1845. His paternal grandfather, an Edinburg Scotchman, came to America prior to the Revolution, and located in Pennsylvania. When the struggle for inde- pendence with the mother country came on, he joined the patriot army, and served with honor throughout the war. Hartford Anderson, father of the subject of this sketch, was reared in Pennsylvania, his native State. He subse- quently went to Missouri, locating in Scott County, where he was married to Miss Susan Atkins, a native of Kentucky, born near the Ohio River. In 1843 the family removed to Mineral Point, Wisconsin, where he opened a large carriage manufactory. He was among the first to move in the matter of going to California after gold was discovered there, and in the latter part of 1848 he started with his family by wagon and ox team for this far-away land. At Council Bluffs they fell in with other ontfits, and together they took up their journey across the plains. They spent the winter on the plains and of course endured many hardships. They lost their way, and when the Anderson family learned their location, they were up near the Oregon line. They proceeded through the Leiaesdorff cut-off, and made their first stop at a settlement at Lassen's. Mr. Anderson bought flour of Peter Lassen at $1 a pound. They
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