Historical and biographical record of southern California; containing a history of southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century, Part 93

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1366

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The second marriage of Mr. Rush took place in Los Angeles June 22, 1884, his wife being Mrs. Emma F. Seaverns, a native of Water- town, N. Y., and a daughter of Truman and Meriel (Graves) Murray, also natives of New York. Her paternal grandfather, Ichabod Mur- ray, was born in Vermont, and married Lois, daughter of Lieutenant Doty, a soldier of the war of 1812. The record of the Doty family is traced back to the historic Mayflower, and its members participated in the Revolutionary war. Truman Murray was the youngest of twelve children, and became a brick and stone mason and contractor. Removing to Wisconsin in 1844, he settled in Beloit, thence went to Jef- ferson, and about 1857 settled in Galesburg, Il1. During the Civil war he served as drum major in an Illinois regiment, but was honorably dis- charged by reason of physical disability. After the war he lived for a time in Aurora, Ill., then went to Pawpaw, Mich., and in 1872 came to California. He died in Santa Barbara in 1879, at the age of seventy-four years. Fraternally lie was a member of the Masonic order. His wives were all natives of New York. Of the first union two children were born, one now living. A half brother, William T. Murray, served in the Civil war and is now living in Peoria, Ill. Mrs. Rush was born in 1842 and was six days old when her mother died. She was reared in Wisconsin and Illinois and received her education in Lom- bard University. In May of 1872 she came to Santa Barbara and in the fall of the same year was married to Henry H. Seaverns, of Dorches- ter, Mass., who came in 1848 to California via Cape Horn. During the days of gold he mined in the northern part of the state, but finally bought a ranch in Montecito, where he died in 1876. Of this union there was one child, Alice, who is now Mrs. H. C. Jenkins, of Carpinteria. To Mr. and Mrs. Rush have been born two chil- dren, Pearl and Amy Ruby.

H. L. COFFMAN, M. D. A thorough medi- cal course, embracing the study of the profes- sion in all of its branches, has qualified Dr. Coff- man for successful practice in Santa Monica, his chosen field of labor. In deciding to make this profession his life work, it was his ambition to equip himself thoroughly, and he entered upon his studies with all the ardor and determination of youth. During 1896 he was a student in the University of Southern California, but the fol- lowing year transferred his attention from its lit- erary course to its medical department. In 1898

he matriculated in the Medico-Chirurgical Col- lege of Philadelphia, from which he was gradu- ated in 1901. Meantime he had secured consid- erable professional experience in local hospitals and now has a diploma from the Philadelphia Lying-in Charity. Immediately after graduat- ing he came to Santa Monica to enter upon ac- tive practice, and in addition to this he has also become interested in horticulture. As president of the company that owns Rancho Del Mar, he has been engaged in improving the land and has set out eighty acres in soft-shell walnuts. The ranch lies three miles from town and will undoubtedly in time become one of the valu- able properties of the coast region.

Four generations of the Coffman family were born in Virginia, whither the original ancestors came from Holland. Various members took part in the colonial and Revolutionary wars, and patriotism has always been a family characteris- tic. Charles A. Coffman, the Doctor's father, was born in Botetourt county, Va., October 25, 1833, a son of Samuel Coffman, who was a planter near Lynchburg. When fifteen years old he went to Illinois and was employed as a guard in the state penitentiary at Alton. In 1851 he started across the plains with wagons and ox- teams, and after a perilous journey of six months landed in Marysville, where he mined. Returning to Virginia in 1859, he married Mary Elizabeth Hampton, who was born in Bedford county, that state, August 30, 1839, and died in Los Angeles in 1870. They became the parents of four children, namely: Frank A., born No- vember 24, 1861, now a horticulturist of Ri- vera; Mattie, Mrs. H. S. White, of Rivera; Ed- gar C., born September 20, 1864, now a large walnut-raiser of Rivera; and Harry L., who was born in Sacramento, Cal., October 1, 1866, and is now a physician of Santa Monica.

Accompanied by his wife and one brother, in 1860 Charles A. Coffman returned to Califor- nia with a train of emigrants. On his arrival in Marysville he resumed mining and freighting, doing much hauling from Sacramento and Marysville to Carson City and the Comstock mines in Nevada and also into Idaho. In 1868 he sold out his freighting business and in the fall of 1869 came to Los Angeles. From 1877 he lived on a tract of land at Ranchito until his death, October 11, 1898. The two hundred and fifty acres'that he improved were largely devoted to walnut-raising, and he was one of the very first men in Southern California who took up the growing of soft-shell walnuts as a probable re- munerative industry. Almost one hundred acres were in this product, in the raising of which he was remarkably successful. He assisted in or- ganizing the Walnut Growers' Association of Southern California and afterwards served as a director until his death. Politically he always voted with the Democratic party, and in fraternal

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relations he was connected with the Odd Fel- lows. To those pioneers of Los Angeles county who survive his name brings up feelings of deep- est regard for his many manly qualities and re- gret that he has gone from among his former associates.

As success rewarded the efforts of C. A. Coff- man it became possible for him to surround his family with every comfort and give to his chil- dren the educational advantages of which he had been deprived. His older sons adopted the occupation in which their father had met with such unusual success; but the youngest son early showed professional aspirations and was therefore given a liberal education, graduating from the Los Angeles high school in 1884. For some years afterward he devoted his attention to the improvement of a twenty-acre ranch of wal- nuts, but he never lost sight of his cherished desire to become a physician, and finally entered the profession. He is a member of various pro- fessional societies, and is also connected with the Southern California Orange Growers' Associa- tion. For many years, under Mr. Scott, he served as horticultural inspector. His political views bring him into sympathy with the Repub- lican party, and in fraternal connections he is a member of the Independent Order of Foresters. His marriage, in Santa Monica, united him with Nellie, daughter of James M. Orr, of this city. They have one son, Earl. The family attend the Presbyterian Church, of which Mrs. Coff- man is a member.

NEAL CALLAHAN. This successful and popular hotel man of Santa Barbara was born in Buffalo, N. Y., November 25, 1869, a son of Timothy Callahan, for many years a grain mer- chant of Buffalo, and later one of the clerks in the surrogate office. His mother, Mary (Hughes) Callahan, was born in Ireland, and was the mother of thirteen children, eight of whom at- tained maturity, and five are now living. Until his twelfth year Mr. Callahan lived in Buffalo, N. Y., and then removed to Cleveland where for five years he engaged in tile setting. He then became clerk for Mr. Brennan, of the Empire Hotel, and later filled a similar position at the Oxford. Following still further the fortunes of Mr. Brennan, he came to California in 1889 as clerk of the Hoffman House in Los Angeles, returning again with his employer to Cleveland, where he remained until locating in Santa Bar- bara in 1894, as manager of the New Morris House. In 1899 himself and sister, Mrs. Bren- nan, sold the New Morris House, after which Mr. Callahan went to San Francisco and for a short time there engaged in the hotel business. Upon returning to Santa Barbara he ran the Langham for seven months, and then took up the management of the Mascarel and New Mor-

ris in partnership with his sister, Mrs. Brennan. In the combined hotels there are one hundred and twenty-five rooms, the rates at the Mascarel being from $2.00 to $2.50 per day, and at the New Morris, $1.50 to $2.00 per day. Both lio- tels are conducted on first-class principles, and one may be comfortably housed and well fed in the midst of the most agreeable surroundings.

In Cleveland, Ohio, Mr. Callahan married Jennie Hawks, who was born in Ravenna, Ohio. Mr. Callahan is a Democrat in politics, and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. Fra- ternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Independent Order of Foresters, and is one of the charter members of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, of which he was one of the organizers and is the present treasurer. Mr. Callahan has a bright future before him in the hotel business, and he is a worthy successor of that other hotel man, John Brennan, who is so well remembered by his hosts of friends, and under whose wise and conservative instruction he received his first les- sons in the art of successfully entertaining the migrating public.

ISAAC M. CLARK. Though principally known as one of the most scientific and success- ful farmers in the Lompoc region, Mr. Clark has several just claims for distinction, not the least of which is a mechanical ability practically dem- onstrated by several useful inventions. Among these is a spray for destroying insect pests on fruit trees, known as the I. M. Clark coal oil and lye washı spraying process, which also stim- tilates the growth of the tree, and has been of- fered by him to the United States Government department of agriculture. It was patented in 1901. Another invention is a device to prevent a baby chair from tipping over. This ability is undoubtedly inherited from his father, Abra- ham Clark, who was born in New York state, and during early life was a practical mechanic, in later life turning his attention to farming. He first came to California in 1852, and in 1856 re- moved his family to Alameda county, where his death occurred in 1876, at the age of seventy- four years. He married in his young manhood Leah Spear, a lineal descendant of the original owner of Trinity church, New York City.

The seventh in a family of ten children, nine of whom are still living in California, I. M. Clark was born in Monroe county, Mich., January 16, 1845. His impression of the place of his birth is rather vague, for he was but ten years of age when the father, mother and eight chil- dren made the trip to California. He therefore owes his education to western schools, and that substantial agricultural training so usefully and successfully applied in his mature years. His earliest laudable ambition was to possess a farm

Bath, Alesvalues

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

of his own, and to become through the exercise of his own energies one of those capable and practical tillers of the soil, upon the efforts of whom depends the prosperity or depression of the whole country. The first decided change that entered his life was in March of 1865, when he enlisted at San José in Company E, First Cali- fornia Volunteer Cavalry, under Captain Mc- Elroy, having previously spent three years as a member of the Home Guard. The regiment was sent to Arizona and the chief duty of Mr. Clark was as escort with the paymaster, in which capacity he rode in all three thousand miles. When the year was up he was honorably dis- charged at Drum Barracks, Los Angeles, in 1866.

After the war Mr. Clark traveled over the state in search of a desirable permanent location, and in 1868 settled in the Pajaro valley with his brother, W. G., near Watsonville. Later they purchased a stock farm of nine hundred acres in San Benito county, and became extensively engaged in the raising of hogs and horses, the partnership amicably continuing until 1878, when Mr. Clark became the agent for Major J. L. Rathbone. His duties and responsibilities were varied, and extended to the management of the major's large ranches, and to the sale of his lands. In 1885 Mr. Clark gave up this line of work and decided to go into an independent business, removing the same year to Lompoc, where he purchased eighty acres of land to which was soon added ten more acres, the whole lying at a corner of the town. This property has been so well developed that it has few superiors in the neighborhood, and has netted its owner more than fair returns for labor and capital in- vested. A comfortable and pleasant residence adorns the ranch, and modern and convenient barns and outbuildings have from time to time been erected. The best procurable implements make light work of the raising of crops, beans being a staple article, but a specialty is also made of all kinds of fruit, particularly apples.

The subject of mining has of late years been prominently connected with Mr. Clark's money making ventures, and it is safe to predict that he will in the future have the same good luck which has attended him in the past. He has in- terests in the Kramer mining district in San Ber- nardino county, the results of which are already gratifying. The mines are located nine miles south of Kramer, and there are to be found gold, iron, silver, and lead. He also owns an- other quarter section in the district where oil wells are being developed. For his interests in Kramer Mr. Clark is indebted to the sugges- tions made him by his wife's brother, D. T. Dun- can, who is the efficient and successful manager of the Kramer mining property.

In 1879 Mr. Clark married Juliet C., daughter of Mrs. A. E. Duncan, a native of Missouri, and

who came to California when one year old. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have adopted Vida Fern, who is four and a half years old. A Republican for many years, Mr. Clark espoused the cause of the Democratic party in 1896, since which time his votes have been in sympathy with the latter party. He is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, and is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

CAPT. ALEXANDER C. DRAKE. There is no portion of the life of Captain Drake con- cerning which he has greater reason to be proud than the period of his service in the Civil war, when, as captain of Company I, Eighth Maine Infantry, he led his men in more than one de- cisive engagement. He was born at Plymouth, Penobscot county, Me., February 27, 1840, his parents being Richard and Lucinda (Cooper) Drake, natives respectively of Unity and Plym- outh, Me. His maternal grandfather, Alex- ander Cooper, was a farmer by occupation and of English descent. The paternal grandfather, Richard Drake, Sr., was born in Bridgewater, Mass., of English ancestry, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. Removing to Maine, he settled at Unity, Waldo county, where he engaged in farming and the manufacture of brick. Through much of his active life Richard, Jr., was a farmer at Detroit, Somerset county, Me., and there his death occurred; his widow still makes that place her home. Of their ten children Alexander Cooper Drake was second in order of birth. The others now living are as follows: Mrs. Clarissa Harding of Detroit, Me .; Herbert L., a tanner of Mellen, Wis .; Mrs. Emma Rich, of Auburn, Me .; Richard, and Mrs. Vina Cook, both of Detroit, Me. There were three sons in the Civil war: Alexander C .; Alvin, of the First Maine Cavalry, who died of yellow fever in Florida after the close of the Rebellion; and William Hannibal, who served in the United States navy until his death, which occurred dur- ing the war at Brazier City, La.

Leaving the home farm at seventeen years of age, Alexander C. Drake began to learn the tanner's trade in Detroit, Me. When the first call came for volunteers, April 25, 1861, he was the first man to volunteer from his home town, enlisting as a private. When his company was ready to go, the illness of many of its members caused another company to be sent first, and so several months passed before he had any ex- perience of war. September 7, 1861, he was mustered in at Augusta, becoming.a private in Company D, Eighth Maine Infantry, and serv- ing four years in that regiment. Sent south, the men were placed in defense of Washington, and thence were sent on an expedition to Hilton- head, S. C., assisting in its capture. For two years they were stationed at different points in South Carolina, after which Mr. Drake returned

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to Maine on a furlough. In the spring of 1864 he joined the army of the James, and took part in the battle of Drury's Bluff, Cold Harbor and the siege and capture of Petersburg, also wit- nessed the surrender of General Lee at Appo- mattox Court House. His first promotion came to hini May 12, 1864, when he was commis- sioned second lieutenant of Company D at Ber- muda Hundred. During the same year, on the 2Ist of November, he was raised to first lieuten- ant of the same company, and January 23, 1865, received a commission as captain of Com- pany I, Eighth Maine Infantry, in which capac- ity he continued until he resigned July 6, 1865, at the close of the war. His predecessor as cap- tain of Company I was Capt. William M. Mc- Arthur (a relative of Gen. Arthur McArthur), who was promoted to the rank of a colonel of the regiment, and at the close of the war was brevetted brigadier-general. While at Bermuda Hundred, Captain Drake was twice injured in the battle, May 20, 1864, but the force of the ball was lessened by reason of it striking the gun first.

On taking up the pursuits of peace when the war ended, Captain Drake became a grocer in Bangor, Me., but soon returned to Detroit, that state, where he carried on a grocery and also acted as postmaster. On selling out, he re- moved to Bangor, but later became interested in a milling business in Detroit and manufac- tured lumber extensively. His next occupa- tion was that of contracting and building at Bangor, and from there he went to Boston to take up similar work. In 1886 he came to California, and for fourteen years engaged in the building business in Pasadena, meantime building and selling perhaps twelve houses. Since 1900 he has been retired from business activities. For some four years he was county deputy assessor, and he has also been city deputy assessor for some time. He was mar- ried in Bangor, Me., in 1865, his wife being Miss Georgiana S. Andrews, who was born at Co- rinna, Penobscot county, Me.

The political views of Captain Drake bring him into active sympathy with the Republican party. In religion he is a Universalist and a deacon in his church. While in Maine he was made a Mason at Newport and now holds mem- bership with Pasadena Lodge No. 272, F. & A. M., also is connected with the Royal Arch Chapter and Eastern Star at this point. In the latter organization his wife is an interested worker, and in addition is connected with the Women's Relief Corps. The days of his war service are kept in memory through his active participation in the affairs of John F. Godfrey Post No. 93, G. A. R., of which he has officiated as commander, and he has also been honored by the position of aide-de-camp on the staff of the national commander, General Lawler.

H. R. MULLER. The spirit of enterprise which has dictated the career of Mr. Muller, and his ability to apply himself to the work at hand, have resulted in a large measure of success, and gratifying returns for labor and money invested. He was born in Prussia, Germany, June 24, 1824, and was reared and educated and engaged in business for several years in his native land. In 1850 he immigrated to the United States, and two years later came to California and located at Hangtown (now Placerville), where he be- came interested in placer mining. After a few years he lived for a time at Volcano, Amidor county, and in 1853 established a tanyard be- tween Volcano and Jackson, which establishı- rent is entitled to the credit of having tanned the first sole leather in California by the old hemlock bark process. For four years the tan- nery did a large and successful business, after which it was sold to other parties. Mr. Muller then went into the wholesale liquor business in partnership with John Tripp and later started a wholesale brewery enterprise, which continued until 1860. During that year he went to Vir- ginia City, Nev., when that place was just start- ed. There he rented an old established brewery and made beer for two years, after which he sold out and bought the William Tell House, and much other town and country property. The hotel was fitted up and rented, and in 1865 the owner thereof started with three heavy wag- on loads of liquor for Salt Lake City, but, upon being refused the right to sell, he went to Mon- tana and speculated for a while, and finally re- turned to Virginia City, Nev.

The partnership of Muller & Tripp lasted until 1862. Mr. Muller engaged in mining for many years and in 1869 located a gold and silver mine in Pioche, Nev., and subsequently sold the mine for $30,000. After spending a year in San Fran- cisco, he came to Santa Barbara in 1875, and bought property upon which he erected a brew- ery. For over twenty years he manufactured steam beer, and he now owns the building and much other property as well, including a ranch at Eagle Canon. In 1898 he came to Summer- land and leased land on royalty, upon which he sunk seven wells averaging two hundred feet deep, and which realized about fifteen bar- rels a day. As the possibilities unfold and the prospects brighten, Mr. Muller is convinced that this is indeed the opportunity of a lifetime, and one of those ever appearing chances to profit by the wonderful workings of unfolding mother nature.

In politics Mr. Muller is a Democrat, and takes an active interest in local undertakings. He is one of those reliable and capable German- Americans who benefit the communities in which they live, and are foremost in all that makes for the advancement of their neighborhood. A great and intelligent reader, he keeps posted on all

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current literatures and happenings the world over, and is a delightful and instructive compan- ion. He was married at Virginia City in 1867 10 Nina Bernard who is now deceased.

JUSTIN PETIT. While very few French people are to be found in California, those re- siding in the state are in every way upholding the dignity of their native land and reflecting credit upon its citizenship. Mr. Petit was born in the department of Fresne, St. Mame's (Haute- Saône), France, November 18, 1851, and in childhood was brought to this country by his parents, John B. and Elizabeth Petit, settling upon a farm in Clearfield county, Pa. At the close of the Civil war the family came west as far as Kansas, settling on a farm in Douglas county, where the mother died at the age of sixty-one years. Surviving her for a long period, the father came to California and in 1894 died at the home of his son, Justin, when about eighty-five years of age. In the family there were eight children, four of whom are living, namely: Mrs. Henrietta Roussey, of Santa Pau- la; Mrs. Annette Laurent, of Oxnard; Frank and Justin who are farmers of Ventura county.

The larger part of his schooling Justin Petit received in Kansas. After leaving school he began to farm and this occupation he contin- ued in Kansas for some time. Returning in 1876 to Clearfield county, Pa., he worked in the timber and saw mills for four years, his brother, Frank, operating a saw mill there. November 21, 1878, is a well-remembered date in his life, for on that day he arrived in California. Starting out as a farmer, he rented a portion of the Colonial ranch. As his means increased he acquired land by purchase. His first purchase consisted of one hundred and sixty acres which he bought from Hon. Thomas R. Bard. At this writing he owns a homestead of two hundred acres near Oxnard, Ventura county; also one hundred and sixty acres six miles southeast of his home; and one-third in- terest in eight hundred and seventy acres on the Semi grant. The improvements of his home ranch were made by him personally, and it is due to his persevering industry that the prop- erty is to-day counted one of the most valuable ranches in the village. Among his specialties are lima beans, sugar beets, grain and deciduous fruits. He has a lemon orchard that bears every year, although the land is not under irrigation. The home ranch is valued at $300 an acre, and a farm in his wife's possession near Oxnard is val- ned at the same price. In 1896 the family resi- dence was erected, and it stands to-day as one of the finest farm homes in Ventura county, where it was also the first farm residence lighted by electricity.

The marriage of Mr. Petit occurred in Ven- tura county in 1884 and united him with Miss

Frances Kaufman, who was born in Minnesota and came across the plains with her parents in childhood. They have a family of seven chil- dren, namely: Mary E., Alfred J., and Anna C. (twins), Edward William, Joseph B., Ida and Jessie. While in sympathy with many of the Democratic principles, Mr. Petit is independent both in national and local politics, and in casting his vote is not influenced by party bias. In many respects his success has been remarkable. When he came to Ventura county he had no means and was obliged to rent land at first. From that somewhat discouraging beginning he has worked his way forward to a position among the most successful farmers of the county.

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Historical and biographical record of southern California; containing a history of southern California from its earliest settlement to the opening year of the twentieth century, Part 93

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co. Number of Pages: 1366

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago, Chapman pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1366