An illustrated history of Sonoma County, California. Containing a history of the county of Sonoma from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, Part 105

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 786

USA > California > Sonoma County > An illustrated history of Sonoma County, California. Containing a history of the county of Sonoma from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time > Part 105

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HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.

He rented a farm in Sonoma Valley which he condneted the next year, then established a shop at the Embarcadero, running it until 1863, anp spending the next two years in the United States Government employ at the Mare Island Navy Yard. Returning to Sonoma in 1865, hie again entered into partnership with MeHarvey and Hope, where he remained until the fall of 1868. He was then employed at the navy yar l until 1870 at which time he returned and estab- lished his present shops. Mr. Lyon has long been identified with Sonoma County and is well known throughout the Valley of Sonoma. Ile has for over thirty-three years been a member of Sonoma Lodge, No. 28, I. O. O. F. Ile is also a member of the Pueblo Lodge, No. 165, A. O. U. W. In politieal matters he is a strong Republican. An ardent believer in the public school system, he has for several years served as school trustee. In 1857 Mr. Lyon married Miss Harriett Akers, the daughter of Stephen and Lotha (Snead) Akers, of Sonoma Valley. To this marriage six children have been born, three of whom are now living: Nellie, who married Professor C. L. Ennis, living at Anaheim, Los Angeles County; Ada, wife of Albert F. Panli of Sonoma; and Grace.

AUGENE H. LIGHT was born in Elkhart County, Indiana, June, 22, 1840. Ilis father, Emannel Light, was a native of Virginia, and in early life located in Ohio, where he married Miss Harriet Prudent, a native of that State. In 1838 his parents mnoved to Indiana, and there his father engaged in farming, and also worked at his trade of a car- penter and builder. Mr. Light's mother died in 1842. Ilis father then married Miss Emily Bentley, a native of New York. In 1853 his father and family crossed the plains with ox teams, to California, and located in Monterey Connty, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising until 1556. In that year he came to Sonoma County, and took up his residence in

Santa Rosa. Here he purchased twelve acres of land-what is now known as Kroucke's Park- which he planted with fruit trees, and, in 1859, he purchased 100 aeres just east of the town of Santa Rosa. The subject of this sketch was a member of his father's family during these vari- ons moves. He was reared as a farmer and fruit grower, and, after his arrival in this county, received the advantages of schooling in the public schools, and also later was in attend- ance at Professor Scott's academy in Santa Rosa. Ilis father sold off his 100 aere tract, forty acres to G. W. Davis, twenty acres to George Ilood, and twelve aeres to Mr. Brad- shaw. Mr. Light purchased the rest, which he sold in 1866 to G. W. Davis. In 1866 he accom- panied his father (who hal sold his twelve acre homestead to William Hinton), to Dry Creek, above Healdsburg, and for the next two years was engaged in farming upon the Bennett place, which he and his father had rented. His father then moved to Tulare County, and Mr. Light returned to Santa Rosa and rented 140 aeres of G. W. Davis. After harvesting one crop of grain from this land he purchased, in 1869, 108 acres from William Cooper, on the Petalnina road, five miles south of Santa Rosa. He there engaged in general farming until 1573, when hesold out to HI. Moore. and, returning to Santa Rosa, he again rented and tilled the farm of Mr. Davis for about two years. He also purchased a town lot of one acre, upon which he took up his residence. After ceasing his farm occupa- tions he engaged in teaming and contracting in Santa Rosa until 1982. In that year he sold his town property and purchased eighteen aeres of improved land one mile and a half east of Santa Rosa. Since that time Mr. Light has devoted his attention to the improvement and cultivation of this land. Mountain View Farin -as he appropriately names it-under his energetic and intelligent labors, is destined to become one of the most beautiful and produc- tive orchards in his section. There are now six acres in orchard, producing French prunes, pears, apples, peaches. apricots, figs, walnuts,

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etc. There is also a small vineyard, yielding a large variety of the most approved table grapes. Besides the fruit already mentioned, a great variety of berries are also cultivated. These lands are well watered, there being several never- failing springs upon the place. Mr. Light has availed himself of this, and devoted a consider- able portion of his land to the cultivation of vegetables, which find a reuly and remuner- ative market in Santa Rosa. A neat and sub- stantial cottage and suitable out-buildings are among his improvements. Mr. Light has from early boyhood been identified with Sonoma County. He is a well known and respected citizen, progressive in his views, and ready to aid in any movement tending to advance the interests and welfare of the community in which he resides. He is a consistent member of the Christian church. In political matters he is a strong Republican. In 1870 Mr. Light was united in marriage with Miss Nannie Robinson. No children have blessed this union. Mrs. Light is the daughter of John W. and Sarah (Whitton) Robinson, who came to California in 1849, and residel in Napa County until 1865, when they took up their residence in Sonoma County. Mr. Light's parents are now residents of Shasta County.

D. SINK is president of the Cloverdale Wine Company, which has an exten- sive plant in Cloverdale, near the depot of the San Francisco & North Pacific Rail- road. The winery was established in 1873 by I. DeTurk, whom the present owner succeeded. The building is of brick, 100 feet square, and is two stories in height. The possible storage capacity is 300,000 gallons, and about 70,000 gallons of wine are made per annum, the most improved machinery being nsed. They usually keep over from 25,000 to 30,000 gallons. The officers of the Cloverdale Wine Company are as follows: W. D. Sink, president; J. G. Heald, secretary; 'and William Caldwell, treasurer.

Their wines have a high reputation, and com- mand a ready market. W. D. Sink, the presi- dent, is a native of Philadelphia, born May 2, 1841, his parents being Daniel aud Phebe (Hodges) Sink, the former a native of Massa- chusetts, and the latter of Philadelphia. When the subject of this sketch was two years old his parents removed to Rome, New York. In 1849, the father came out to California, via Cape Horn, on the ship George Washington, and was followed by his wife in 1851. In 1853 W. D. Sink eame ont, also via Panama, landing at San Francisco February 16, from the steamer Sierra Nevada, and at Stockton joined his father, who was in business there. A short time afterward they went to the mines at Ein- pire Gulch, in Calaveras County, and were there and at Reynolds' Ferry until 1859, when they caine to Cloverdale. Here the father started the first stage line out of Cloverdale, running to Ukiah, and W. D. Sink had charge of the stable at the Ukiah end of the line. After two years he went to ranching near Cloverdale, and his father also has a ranch near by. Mr. Sink was married in this county, in 1965, to Miss Mary Etta Cooley, a native of Marietta, Ohio. They have five children, viz .: Carrie, Walter, Fred, Bert and Addie. Mr. Sink is a member of the order of Chosen Friends, I. O. O. F., and of the A. O. U. W. Politically he is a Republican, a member of the county central committee, and and has been a delegate to the State and county conventions of his party. He is an active, enterprising man, and takes an interest in everything tending to the advancement of the interests of Cloverdale and Sonoma County. His ranch, containing 600 acres, is situated one mile north of Clover lale, on the old Ukiah ro ul. When he settled on it in 1861 it was all timber land, with no improvements, but has undergone a wonderful transformation since that time. He has now twenty acres in fruit, ranging in age from five to twenty years, only about one acre of the latter age, but all in bearing. The trees are peaches, plums, pears, apricots, cherries, ete. He has fifty acres in vineyard, from three

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HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY.

to fifteen years old, about five acres being of the older vines. They are Missions, Zinfan Iel, Feher Szagos, Muscat and Black Hamburg. The re- mainder of the place is devoted to general farming.

IIARLES KNUST is proprietor of the Sulphur Creek Vineyard and Winery, situated at the head of Cloverdale district Russian River Valley, one mile from Clover- dale. The ranch contains 215 acres of land, of which thirty-four acres are in vineyard, two in orchard, sixteen in grain, and sixty in bench land, partly cleared, which will be set out in prunes and olives, with probably some peaches. The vineyard ranges in age from five to fifteen years, the vines being principally Zinfandel, Burgundy, Chasselas, Tenturier, Rose of Peru, Blaek Hamburg, Blaek Malvoise. Black Prince, Tokay, Black Morocco, Muscat of Alexandria, Mission, and small amounts of many other choice varieties. The storage capacity of his winery is 10,000 gallons, and the entire cooper- age is 12,000 gallons. Ife makes up only his own grapes. He has been making San Francisco the market for his wines, and gets the very high- est prices. His orchard consists of prunes and peaches principally, also some figs, oranges, cherries, etc. Mr. Kunst is a native of Han- over, born January 31, 1837, his parents being Christopher and Dorothea (Wissel) Kunst. He attended public school from the age of six to fourteen years. At the age of fifteen he went to llamburg, where he attended private school and took English lessons. He traveled through various Rhenish provinees, where he had many relatives, and there became familiar with the wine business. In May. 1856, he sailed from Hamburg on the sailing vessel Horizon, and with only one stop, at Valparaiso, arrived at San Francisco in December, 1956. He re- mained there over two years, turning his atten- tion to anything he found to do. He went to the mines at Downieville, Sierra County, and

engaged in mining there, but afterward was employed in the quartz mills of Mr. Reese at Sierra Buttes, where he was engaged for over three years. Ife then bought a ranch on the bank of Truckee River, at O'Neill Station, and named the place the "Truckee House," and when the railroad passed through, he went to Reno, Nevada, and engaged in the mercantile business. From 1870 to 1882 he was one of the largest merchants in Reno. He came to Sonoma County in 1882, and located where he now resides. While a resident of Reno, he was married in Ukiah to Miss Sarah Bartlett, a native of Missouri. They have five children, viz .: Lillian, wife of Judge Hastings, one of the leading men of California: August E., who is in charge of the Ilastings wine cellar in Lake County, where he has been very successful in wine-making; Edwin, who is with the Clover- dale Banking and Commercial Company; and James and William. Mr. Knust is a member of the A. F. & A. M. at Cloverdale. He took his blue lodge and chapter degrees at Downie- ville. For five years he was master of the Reno Lodge, and high priest of the chapter at Reno three years. Ile was made a Knight Templar in De Witt Clinton Commandery, Virginia City, and now belongs to Santa Rosa Com- mandery.

OHN H. OVERTON was born in Lex- ington, La Fayette County, Missouri, March 2, 1833. Ifis parents, John W. and Mary (Tetherow) Overton, were natives of North Carolina, the latter of German descent. The Overton family were of Scotch descent, repre- sentatives of the family first coming to this country during the reign of Charles H., of England. The Overtons were in sympathy with the Cromwell movement, and when Charles was restored to the throne, they had to leave England, and emigrated to America, settling in Virginia. John Overton, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a soldier in the Revolutionary

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war. After he was discharged, in 1734, he moved from Virginia to North Carolina, and from there to Tennessee in 1807. There were several members of the family who moved to Tennessee, and Overton County of that State was named for some of them. In 1829 the family mnoved to Illinois, near Vandalia, and in 1831 to Missouri, where the old gentleman died in 1833. In 1848 John W. Overton and his family moved to Dallas County, Texas, where he remained until April, 1853. At this time the family, consisting of Mr. Overton, his wife and six children - five sons and one daughter- crossed the plains to California, coming from San Diego by steamer to San Francisco. They went to Stockton, where they resided five years, and then moved to Vallicita, Calaveras County. In the winter of 1863 he moved to Sonoma County, where he died in August, 1875. ITis wife is still living in the county. John H. Overton spent ten years in the middle and sonthern mines of California and in the mines of Arizona and Mexico. In 1864 he came to this county and has since resided liere. Oeto- ber 14, 1865, he moved onto his present place in Vallejo Township, consisting 290 acres, de- voted principally to dairying and stock-raising. Mr. Overton was married in 1876 to Sarah Beeson, a native of England. They have four children: Mary A., William R., Arthur E., and John A.

E HAY BROTHERS, vineyardists and proprietors of the Icaria winery, are located south of Cloverdale. Living on separate places they have a winery on each ranch, the total storage capacity being 40,000 gallons. Their land is well adapted to the culture of the grape, and the wine manufactured by them enjoys a high reputation and com- mands the most advanced prices. Their land is a portion of what was formerly the property of the Icarian Colony. A. De Hay, senior member of the firm, purchased the prop-

erty from the Bank of California for the colony in 1881, and in 1886 it was divided up. On his place he has 110 acres, of which twenty-five acres are planted to the following varieties of wine grapes: Gray Riesling, Sauvignon Vert, Carignane, Mataro, Malbecand Zinfandel. These vines range in age from three to seven years. In the spring of 1889 he added ten acres more of vineyard, the varieties being Sauvignon Vret and Pinot Blanc. A. De Hay is a native of France, born June 16, 1842, his parents being Pierre Antoinne and Louise (Fagnez) De Hay. ITis paternal grandfather was a soldier of the great Napoleon. On his mother's side his re- mote ancestry is traced back to Spain. Mr. De Hay spent his early life at his native place, and there received his schooling. When in his fourteenth year he went to Aras, and there learned the trade of barber. He afterward traveled all through France and was four years in Paris. One summer he spent in the Pyre- nees Mountains, at a famous resort, and the fol- lowing winter he spent at Saragossa, Spain. He then returned home and entered the army for the short term, returning home subject to call after six months' drill. In 1864 he went to London, and two years later took passage on the ship Hudson for New York, where he landed Angnst 3, 1866. A few days later he went to Philadelphia with a young English friend, and for three or four months following was engaged on a farm seven miles from Westchester, among the Quakers. Abont Christmas he went to Washington, and was engaged at his trade that winter at the National Hotel. Thence he went to Chicago, and a few months later to Atchison, Kansas, and from there to Topeka. He then went to a French settlement in the same State, and embarked in the general mercantile business. A year later he sold out and went to Wamego, where he conducted a barber shop for about two years. Hle next went to Adams County, and bought a barber shop in Corning. After three or four years there the colony of which he was a member dissolved, and he with relatives, came to California, locating for a short time at St.

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Helena. Ile bought an interest in a barber shop, and then set abont seeking a location for a colony of his friends, finally picking out the locality where he now resides. He was married in Kansas to Miss Maria Laroux, a native of the Island of Jersey. Her father, a prominent man, having been a member of the Republican Con- gress of France, was exiled by Napoleon III. Ile died in Sonoma County, where he was pub- lishing a French paper, in 1885. His brother Pierre was a great philosopher. Mr. and Mrs. De Ilay have six children living, viz .: Paul, Emil, Alice, Henrietta, Louise and Armand. One child, Marie, is deceased.

B ARTLEY CARY was born in Crawford County, Ohio, May 15, 1829. His parents were Quakers and were both natives of Pennsylvania. Able Cary, his father, was born under the shade of the Alleghany Moun- tains. By his first marriage there were seven children, and after the death of his wife he was married again to Susanna Quaintance, by whom he had four children. Mr. Cary was among the first settlers of Bucyrus, Ohio, where he lived until 1840, when he moved to Steuben County, Indiana, and died there in 1855 or 1856. Bart- ley Cary is a son by his father's last marriage. When he was quite young he was bound ont to his eousin, Aaron Cary. for a period of seven years. He was to learn a trade and go to sehool three years of the time, but so far as the school- ing was concerned he received very little, and was put to work in a tannery, where the inost of the time he was grinding bark. After being thus employed for about four years, he became tired of his lot, and leaving his eousin, he went to Indiana, where his father was then residing. For a part of a year he worked in a tannery there. He then went into the pineries of Wis- eonsin, and engaged in logging on the Chippewa River, and in rafting on the Mississippi as far as St. Lonis, making two trips to that place. one in 1845 and the other the next year. He 1

then returned to Angola, Indiana, and entered a cabinet shop, where he remained one year, after which he went over the State line to Hills- dale, Michigan, and hired out as a journeyman to a man named Peck. who carried on the cabinet business at that place. In 1852 Mr. Cary started overland for the Pacific coast, leaving Angola on the 9th of May, and on the 27th of Angust following, landed in Gold Can- on. Nevada, where the city of Dayton now stands. There he spent the winter with some forty miners and the next spring went to Placer- ville in this State. He engaged in the mines there until 1854, when he returned to Nevada and located in the Carson Valley. He, in con- nection with his nephew, Edwin Cary, bought and took up land, where they carried on busi- ness together for five years. They opened a store in the valley, within two miles of where Sheridan now stands, and right under the mountain Toncodilum, which towers upward a distance of 5,075 feet, and there conducted a business, trading with the emigrants on their way to California .. Their goods were packed over the mountains from Placerville. Some rough and exciting events took place, one in particular which stands as a matter of history in that locality, and that is the hanging of a man known as Lucky Bill. He was a noted and dangerous character, who at that time had a ranch about a inile from where Mr. Cary's was, and he was also engaged in trading and dealing in stock. For a crime in which he became implicated he was hanged by a vigilanee party of about fifty men, on a flat near Clear Creek. At the time of leaving that neighborhood, Mr. Cary sold his interest to his nephew, went over on Carson River and took up a piece of land where he re- mained until the fall of 1861. In that year lie returned to the East, and on the 4th of February, 1862, was married in Angola, Indiana, to Maria Bigler, a native of Richland County, Ohio. The following March he, with his wife, again erossed the plains, arriving in Carson Valley August 4. They remained on the ranch, on Carson River, where Mr. Cary was engaged in

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stoek-raising until November, 1867. when he again went East. this time via the Nicaragua route. They then made their residence in Indi- ana for over three years, during which time the ranch in Nevada was rented, until sold for them by Mr. Cary's brother. In 1870 Mr. Cary returned to the coast and bought of his nephew the original place where he first settled in Car- son Valley, and remained in that locality until 1881. The last two years of his residence there he rented the ranch and lived in Carson City. From there, after selling his ranch in October, he moved to Santa Clara County, California, and for nearly a year kept a livery stable in San Jose, and on the 13th of July, 1882, came to this county and bought his present place in Vallejo Township, two miles from Petaluma. The ranch contains fifty acres, and is devoted to general farming. It can be credited to Mr. Cary that he has made seven trips across the plains. He has been a Mason since 1868, and now belongs to Arcturns Lodge, No. 180, of Petaluma. Mr. and Mrs. Cary have had three chidren: Hattie Mabel, born in Angola, Indi- ana, May 5, 1864, and died January 25, 1867; Ed and Fred, as they are commonly called, are twins, and were born in Waterloo, DeKalb County, Indiana, May 25, 1868.

HARLES GEARING, of Mendocino Town- ship, is a native of Prussia, born January 31, 1826, and a son of Christ and Eliza Gearing. His father was a dealer in stock, hides, tallow, etc. Charles was reared in his native country, and between the ages of five and fourteen years he attended school, after that accompanying his father in his business. In 1846 he went to Bremen, and there took pas- sage on the sailship Capelar (Captain Krudop), bound for Baltimore, which port he reached after a voyage of forty-six days. He remained in the vicinity of Baltimore for a time, then went successively to Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. At the latter city he remained

quite awhile, then went to Baltimore again. From there he journeyed by stage to Cumberland, Maryland, and from there to Wheeling, West Virginia. Hle was for some time employed there on the construction of the suspension bridge, and afterward in farming in that vicinity. From there he went to St. Louis, where he re- mained until 1852. In that year he went to New Orleans, and in company with others. chartered a steamer for Chagras. Instead, how- ever, they were landed at Aspinwall. From there he went afoot across the Isthmus. Ile remained in Panama about six weeks, camping. A large party, including Mr. Gearing, took pas- sage in an old sailing vessel bound for San Francisco. The vessel was quite unmanageable, and the voyage became a tedious one. When 1,500 miles from port they found the water was giving out, and all hands were placed on an allowance of one pint a day. They headed for land, and reaching a Mexican port, took in a fresh supply of water and started anew. They lost their bearings and put into the Sandwich Islands. By paying a large price, fifty of the passengers were enabled to take passage on a schooner for San Francisco. As Mr. Gearing had but $2.50 left he was compelled to stay by his ship. Finally they got a good start, and sailed through the Golden Gate twelve days be- fore the schooner arrived. The boat, which was the Sacramento, Captain Henry commanding, was condemned as soon as it reached San Fran- cisco. They had been at sea 143 days in a tide which was liable to have gone to the bottom at any time. After a time Mr. Gearing went to the mines of the North Fork of the American River, near Anburn. After remaining there five or six months and getting a splinter of rock in his eye, he was compelled to go to Sac- ramento where he could be doctorcd. From there he went to a point below Thompson's Flat, near Chico, where he again followed min- ing for one winter. He then engaged in farm- ing on a raneli fourteen miles from Sacramento, for another man, and after a couple of years was compelled to take the place for his pay.

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He farmed there several years, and also burned charcoal. In 1857 he went to Oregon, and in the following year returned to California and located in the vicinity of Fort Ross, Sonoma County, where he dealt in cattle. In 1862 he sold his cattle, on account of the severe win- ter, and disposing also of a fruit store which he had in Petaluma, he went to Truckee, Ne- vada County, and there followed gardening. Ile then returned to Sonoma County, and re- mained with friends in Blucher Valley for a time. Mr. Gearing was married in San Fran- cisco to Miss Jessie MeKay, a native of Nova Seotia, and soon after engaged in farming in Crane Valley, Sonoma County. One year later he opened a buteher shop in Sebastopol. In 1872 he came to Healdsburg and opened a meat market here. Four years later Mr. Miller (of Miller & De Lano) became his partner, this partnership continuing three years. His health would not allow him to continue in the business, and he has since resided at his present home, convenient to Markwell's slaughter-house, which he is conducting. Mr. and Mrs. Gearing are rearing a child, Maggie Powell, daughter of Mrs. Gearing's sister. Politically Mr. Gearing is a Republican.

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An illustrated history of Sonoma County, California. Containing a history of the county of Sonoma from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, Part 105

Author: Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 786

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 786