USA > California > San Benito County > History and biographical record of Monterey and San Benito Counties : and history of the State of California : containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present. Volume II > Part 15
USA > California > Monterey County > History and biographical record of Monterey and San Benito Counties : and history of the State of California : containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present. Volume II > Part 15
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Mr. Parsons' first recollections of California take him back to the Napa valley, where he passed the first winter, and from there he came to Monterey county and located near Salinas, where for four years he was variously occupied, generally, however, on ranches in the country round about. His first independent ranching was on four hundred acres which he rented, known as the Jacks ranch, about four miles from Chualar, and this was under his supervision for eighteen years. Some time after locating on the ranch he rented three hundred acres adjoining and has since devoted the entire acreage to raising grain. Since 1889 he has made his home on a ranch of six hundred acres of land in close proximity to Chualar, which he purchased that
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year, and on which, in addition to carrying on general ranching he makes a specialty of raising cattle and hogs. No improvements of any kind had been made on the place when he assumed charge of it, so all that it is today is the result of his presevering efforts.
Mr. Parsons' marriage, in 1877, united him with Miss Alice Fusell, a native of Iowa, and of the three children born to them, Frank I. is a resident of Salinas, and Arthur C. and Harvey F. are still at home with their parents. Mr. Par- sons is greatly interested in school matters and for the past three years has served as trustee of Deep Well district.
WILLIAM JOSEPH NESBITT.
The sheriff of Monterey county was born in Fayette county, Ill., April 21, 1853, and during infancy was orphaned by the death of his par- ents, Nathan and Eliza May (Smith) Nesbitt, after which bereavement the orphan was taken into the home of an aunt. Under these circum- stances he could not secure educational ad- vantages and at the age of thirteen he started out to make his own way in the world. Be- tween the years of seventeen and nineteen he was employed as a laborer on an Illinois farm. At the expiration of that time, in 1871, he came to California and soon secured employment on a ranch near the northern boundary of San Luis Obispo county.
Three years of labor on a ranch gave Mr. Nesbitt the experience and capital necessary for a modest start in the sheep industry and he thereupon bought a flock and started out for himself. For three years he continued in that business and then for a year he engaged in buy- ing and shipping cattle for Goodshaw & Bran- denstein at Soledad. Coming to the Salinas val- ley in 1878 he was employed on a ranch for a time. Later he was detailed for special duty as a deputy under C. Franks, sheriff of Monte- rey county. In 1882 he was elected marshal of Salinas and for two years he filled the position, after which he became constable of Alisal town- ship. Soon afterward he entered the office of the sheriff, John L. Matthews, whose deputy he continued to be for six years.
After a term as city marshal, which position he filled with the same fidelity noticeable in his previous service in that capacity, Mr. Nesbitt in 1902 was elected sheriff of Monterey county. In. 1906 he was re-elected for another term and is still filling the office with characteristic courage and impartiality. In the administration of the law he is fearless and in the discharge of his duties, prompt. His election to this and other offices held by him was on the Republican ticket. In his allegiance to that party he has been stanch at all times. Fraternally he is connected with the Woodmen of the World and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. His marriage united him with Miss Frances Camilla Dunham, a na- tive of Iowa. Three children were born of their union, namely: Winifred, who married Archi- bald Taber and resides at Berkeley; Forest B. and Mildred, who are with their parents.
During the period of his service as deputy sheriff Mr. Nesbitt has personally traveled as many miles as any other person in the same po- sition in the state and more than once he has. been called to other states in searching for crim- inals. The arrest of William Larry of Castro- ville was a case in which he bore a leading part, in company with Sheriff Matthews. Larry had been carrying on depredations in his locality. Chased to his home, he shouted defiance to the pursuers and barricaded doors and windows, but Deputy Sheriff Nesbitt forced the door and ar- rested the culprit. At another time two high- waymen, who had held up the agent of the Santa Maria depot, escaped in a box-car from Santa Barbara county. The news was telegraphed to Sheriff Matthews at Salinas and that officer with deputies went to the train. Deputy Nesbitt forced open the door and thereupon both the officers and the criminals began to shoot. In the fusillade that followed, one of the criminals was killed, another wounded, and a third was then placed under arrest.
One of the most noted cases with which Dep- uty Nesbitt was connected was that of Amos Virgin. During 1893 many robberies and dep- redations brought terror to the people of Mon- terey and Pacific Grove. Old men and women were maltreated, bound and gagged. Several persons were shot at in the streets. Every meth- od was followed that criminals employ to carry
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on their nefarious work. For nearly one year this state of affairs continued. Meanwhile the citizens of the two towns were afraid to be out on the streets after dark. It seemed impossible to secure the least clew to the prepetrator of these outrages. At last suspicion pointed to Amos Virgin, one of the prominent men of Pa- cific Grove, and a leader in one of the churches. Virgin applied to a physician to have a bullet extracted from his leg. This fact came to the notice of the sheriff's office and they began work- ing on the case from that slender clew and finally secured evidence strong enough to war- rant arrest. Confronted with the mass of evi- dence, Virgin broke down and confessed to Mr. Nesbitt, later was sentenced to life imprison- ment, and then was charged with other crimes besides the six on which he had been sentenced, so he was taken from the penitentiary and tried on the other charges, receiving an additional sentence of ninety-five years.
DONALD G. MACLEAN.
The establishment of the MacLean family in the United States dates back to the first half of the nineteenth century, when James and Cather- ine (Gillis) MacLean, natives of Scotland, with a number of other families, formed a colony and became pioneers of the then territory of Florida. The environment was that of the wilderness and the swamp. Indians still roamed at will through the dense forests and by frequent attacks upon a few unprotected settlers kept the latter in a state of constant suspense. For almost a year at a time the MacLean family had no communica- tion with the outside world, these long periods of isolation being caused by fear of the savages. In order to protect themselves from the threat- ened danger boats were built, in which the en- tire family would take refuge, sailing down the bay until they were out of immediate danger from the red men. While the Indians had no weap- ons except poisoned arrows, they were such ex- pert shots that they could easily kill the white men at a distance of fifty yards. Their depreda- tions were continued until the admission of Florida as a state. The United States govern- ment then forced the Indians to remain on their
reservations and the settlers were thus enabled. to pursue their daily avocations in safety.
During the residence of the family in Florida Donald G. MacLean was born in Walton county,. that state, September 18, 1841, and there he at- tended private schools. By the time he was nineteen he had graduated from an academy and had entered upon the study of medicine. When. the Civil War began he was opposed to secession, yet his love for the people of the south led him to offer his services to the Confederacy and he- gave up his medical course in order to enlist in'
Company D, First Florida Regiment, the first militia that left the state for the front. Col. William Miller commanded the regiment. For- two years Mr. MacLean was on the firing line- and for another two years he was in the medical department, meanwhile serving successively un- der Generals Braxton Bragg, Albert Sidney Johnston, Joseph E. Johnson and John C. Breck- inridge. At the battle of Corinth in 1862 he- was very close to General Johnston when the latter fell. With General Bragg he went on a memorable raid through Kentucky. He was in: action at the fall of Pensacola, battle of Shiloh, siege of Corinth, the battle of Murfreesboro, Vicksburg, Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, and during the latter part of the war he served as hospital steward and assistant surgeon. Just before the fall of Atlanta he was sent to Florida to assume charge of the state hospital.
After the close of the war the young soldier remained in Florida for a year or more with his father, a large planter in that state. During 1867 he came via Panama to California and secured employment on a farm near Stockton. The fol- lowing year he took a course of medical lectures at the Tolland Medical College, San Francisco, after which he practiced the profession for five. years at Snelling, Merced county. During 1873, on account of failing health, he relinquished his- practice and bought a ranch near Bakersfield, where he remained for fourteen years and mean- while engaged in raising fine stock. He was one- of the very first to experiment with the raising of alfalfa in that locality. On selling out in Kern county in 1887 he came to Monterey county and established his home at Salinas. Later he bought a part of the Buena Vista ranch of seven- thousand acres and began to subdivide it into-
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smaller tracts. During 1898 he embarked in the real estate and insurance business at Salinas, where he now represents the Home Insurance Company of New York, the German American Company and the Standard Accident Company.
The marriage of Mr. MacLean took place in July, 1873, and united him with Susan Howell, who was born on the plains as the family were coming from the east. Her father, Benjamin F. Howell, became a pioneer of Merced county and she received her education in the schools there. There are three children in the MacLean family, namely: Catherine, Hazel D., who is a student at Leland Stanford University, and James, a graduate of the Salinas high school. Fraternally Mr. Maclean has been active in the local lodge, Improved Order of Red Men. Po- litically he is a stanch Republican. For seven years he served as deputy assessor of Monterey .county. During 1905 he was appointed proba- tion officer by Judge B. V. Sargent and his of- fice now has an annual average of one hundred and fifty tramp boys, who are picked up from the road and sent back to their homes. Fre- quently he has found homes for boys where they will be treated with kindness and affection. His devotion to duty as probation officer has caused 'him to be known among similar workers through- out the state and it is largely due to his con- scientious labors that Monterey stands fifth among the counties of the state in the work along this line of philanthropy.
WILLIAM WATSON McCOY.
The life which this sketch depicts began in Juniata county, Pa., February 22, 1818, and closed in the Corral de Tierra, November 26, 1887. Between the two dates was encompassed a record of usefulness and industry, whose early manhood found fruitful activities in the work of a teacher and in surveying. After settling in Ohio Mr. McCoy laid out the village of Crest- line and held the office of county surveyor. While living in Ohio he was united in marriage, Feb- ruary II, 1847, with Miss Catherine Johnson, who was born in Washington county, Pa., Feb- ruary 18, 1823. Four children were born of their union, but one was removed in infancy by
death. The three surviving members of the family are as follows: George Watson, an em- ploye of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and a resident of Sacramento ; William Johnson, a well-known instructor in music residing in Oakland, and John Wesley, born February 13, 1856, and now living in Corral de Tierra.
Settling in Indiana during the year 1861, Will- iam Watson McCoy embarked in the hotel busi- ness at Indianapolis and continued in that city until a fire destroyed his hotel. As a quarter- master in the Union army he went to Nashville in 1864 and later in that city conducted a livery barn, a hotel and also the stockyards. Suffering the loss of his property through fire, he removed to Missouri and purchased a large tract of land at $8 an acre. There he engaged in raising stock. Meanwhile his eldest son had come to California and engaged in railroading. From him reports went back to Missouri concerning favorable openings in the west.
In this way Mr. McCoy was led to remove to the coast accompanied by his two sons. Later he was joined by his wife, who had remained back in Ohio for a visit with old friends. For a time he carried on a hotel in Salinas. During 1876 he settled on the Shepherd place in the San Miguel canon, then an undeveloped region with few settiers. In 1877 he came to the Corral de Tierra, securing the title to thirty-four acres. The tract was covered with chaparral and re- mained in the primeval condition of nature. Through securing a squatter's right and through the taking up of railroad land by his son, he eventually secured the title to four hundred acres, which he transformed into a valuable ranch and here he made his home until death, meanwhile starting a vineyard and planting a large number of fruit trees. During early life in Ohio he took an active part in Masonry and built the Masonic hall at Bucyrus, that state. A Bible that he had at the time of his marriage more than sixty years ago is now in the possession of his son, J. W. In character honorable, in energy unwearied, in disposition friendly and accom- modating, and in principles sincere, he proved a valuable addition to the citizenship of this valley, where his friends were as numerous as his acquaintances.
Upon accompanying his father to California,
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
J. W. McCoy at first helped to manage the hotel at Salinas and later found use for his mechanical ability in the operating of a traction engine. For a time he also conducted a hotel at San Luis Obispo. After his father settled on this ranch he assisted in putting in the crops, and during the balance of the year operated threshing and stationary engines. While he was employed on the Santa Fe out from San Bernardino to San Diego his father died and he then resigned his position in order to take charge of the home ranch. Since returning to the place in 1890 he has planted a fine orchard of peaches, pears and apples, to which he adds of the best varieties from time to time. In addition to raising fruit he makes a specialty of poultry and stock for the dairy. All of his work is personally superin- tended, which accounts in a large degree for his success.
The ranch owned by Mr. McCoy has oil de- posits and also contains petrifactions which con- clusively prove that the place was at one time covered by water. In the deed conveying the property from its former Spanish owners men- tion is made of the century plants on the land and it is said that mescal, a Mexican wine, was manufactured on the place from these plants. In politics Mr. McCoy voted the Republican ticket. Fraternally he is identified with the Druids and at one time was active in the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1884 he married Hattie Morgan and they became the parents of two children, namely: John A., an electrician in Oakland, and Arthur, a steno- grapher, also in Oakland. The present wife of Mr. McCoy, with whom he was united November 2, 1893, was formerly Miss Emma Weber and was born in Placer county, this state.
DUNCAN STIRLING.
The schools of Monterey county have an effi- cient superintendent in Duncan Stirling, who is a native of Ontario, Canada, where he was born August 18, 1864, the youngest son of William and Jane (McNaughton) Stirling, both natives of Scotland, but pioneers in the wilds of that section of Canada, where they went soon after their marriage. By trade the father was a
weaver, and he followed this business during his residence in Canada, or until 1867. In that year the family came to California, taking passage on a vessel which landed them on the Isthmus of Panama, and after crossing that neck of land boarded another vessel, which took them to San Francisco. From there they came direct to Monterey county, where the father gave his at- tention to agriculture. He first followed farm- ing in the Carmel valley for two years, later lo- cated on the Estrada ranch, and still later was on the Cooper ranch, near Castroville, where he followed the raising of grain, beans and potatoes until his retirement in 1890. In that year he purchased a ranch of forty acres near Salinas, where he is now living retired at the age of about seventy-eight years, in the possession of all of his faculties and interested in all things that have for their object the upbuilding of the county. His wife died in January, 1903, aged seventy-three years. Five children were born to William and Jane (McNaughton) Stirling. Margaret, who became the wife of B. E. Ca- hoon, resides in the Jamesburg district; Nellie is the wife of C. R. Whitcher, of Castroville ; John W. resides near Gonzales; Duncan is the subject of this review. The youngest of the children, a daughter, died in infancy, about one year after the family settled in California. William Stirling is a member of Alisal Lodge, I. O. O. F., having been a member of Salinas Lodge in Castroville, which was finally merged into Alisal Lodge, and he is further identified with the order as a member of the encampment.
Duncan Stirling was about three years old when the family located in Monterey county, and here he was reared and educated. He first attended the county schools near his home, sup- plementing this training by a course in the San Jose normal school, from which he graduated in 1886, and still later he took a course in the University of California. Returning to his home county, he began teaching in the grammar school in Castroville and later at Salinas, where he remained for a number of years. During this time he served as a member of the board of edu- cation of Monterey county. In 1902 he was elected superintendent of schools in Monterey county, and in 1906 was re-elected to the office. and under his management the schools have been
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gradually advanced in the work done and in length of terms. He has given special atten- tion to the business management, and in this he has made wonderful strides, for in all his deal- ings with the different boards he has been just to them and the teachers. The sanitary condi- tions have been made better in many of the buildings throughout the county, and he has been a leader in all movements to keep in harmony with the schools.
During the time Mr. Stirling has been a resi- dent of the county he has been devoted to the cause of education and has had but little time for outside matters. However, in 1909 he be- came associated with the company that suc- ceeded W. J. Hill in the publishing of the Sa- linas Index, and has since taken an active in- terest in the business.
Duncan Stirling and Miss Ella Grant Mullis were united in marriage in May, 1890. Frater- nally Mr. Stirling is a member and past grand of Alisal Lodge, No. 183, I. O. O. F., member of the Encampment, Canton, Patriarchs Mili- tant, and Rebekahs, and is also a member of the Woodmen of the World and Independent Order of Foresters.
GARRETT J. PATTON.
A blessing in the disguise of misfortune may in a word be given as the cause which brought Mr. Patton to California in 1875. Ill-health, brought on by over-work while he was just en- tering young manhood, made a change of scene and climate not only advisable, but necessary, and thus it was that he left his home in Wiscon- sin and came to California to visit a relative. The change had the desired result on his physical condition, and so charmed had he become with the country in the meantime that he was unwill- ing to leave it. As has been the case time without number, he became a permanent resident of the state and one of its best citizens and stanchest upbuilders.
A native of Wisconsin, Garrett J. Patton was born in Juda, Green county, September 1, 1850, into the home of G. R. and Ruth (Johns) Pat- ton, both natives of Pennsylvania, in which state both families were well represented. The father
was a minister of the Gospel in the Baptist denomination, having prepared for his calling in the east, but afterward came west to take 11p- his field of usefulness in Wisconsin. There his son Garrett J. was born and reared, receiving a fair education in the public schools of his home town, Juda, and subsequently he was priv- ileged to take a course in the University of Wisconsin, graduating from that well-known in- stitution in the class of 1873. His school days over, he set about without loss of time to become self-supporting, entering into this undertaking with the same energy and determination that had characterized the previous years in school. A
physical break-down was the result of this con- tinted strain, and it finally became necessary for him to take a rest to recuperate his lost strength. It was this condition of affairs that brought him to California in 1875 to visit his cousin, John WV. Patton, who had come to the state many years previously and had become a wealthy rancher in Monterey county. After visiting in Salinas for a time Mr. Patton located on a ranch near Gon- zales which he carried on successfully for a number of years, but what was better than finan- cial success was the fact that he had in the meantime recovered his lost health. Subsequent- ly he purchased a ranch of three hundred and sixty acres in the Fairview district, property which formerly belonged to the Blinn heirs, and here he has since made his home, carrying on general ranching with very satisfactory results.
Mr. Patton's marriage united him with Alida Perry, the daughter of the late O. H. Perry, a prominent citizen of Chualar, and five children were born of their union. Clyde E., Ina, Edith and Ruth have all grown to manhood and wom- anhood, while the youngest child, Perry J., who was born in 1895, is a student in the high school of Gonzales. The parents have given their chil- dren every opportunity possible to fit them for lives of usefulness, and in return they are prov- ing themselves worthy and appreciative by their upright and straightforward lives. Mr. Patton has never had any desire to hold public office, although if he had been willing to serve any office in the gift of the people might have been his, for he is a man of versatile ability and knowledge, conservative and calm in his judg- ment, and would have made an excellent public
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servant. However, beyond serving as trustee of the local school district he has declined all official honors. Personally Mr. Patton is a man whom it is a pleasure to meet, for he is well informed and is an excellent conversationalist.
JACOB PRIMER LEESE.
The ancestry of the Leese family is traced to Germany, whence one Jacob Leese came to America with General Lafayette and shortly afterward received severe injuries in the battle of Brandywine. He was carried from the field by Adam Primer, a resident of Philadelphia. After recovering from his wounds he married Joanna Primer, a daughter of his rescuer, and in 1800 settled in St. Clairsville, Ohio, where he kept a hotel. His son Jacob was one of the six children born of this marriage, his birth occur- ring August 19, 1809. In 1825 his parents re- moved to Cincinnati and there he joined them two years later, on the expiration of his service as a merchant's apprentice. In the fall of 1829 he started for Baton Rouge to take charge of the business there, but while en route to his desti- nation, stopping at Memphis, he strolled through the city and accidentally picked up a newspaper in a hotel. There he noticed an account of a hunting and trading expedition being fitted out for the Rocky mountains by Capt. John Rogers and Calvin Coffee. A desire for adventure and the hope of gaining a fortune led him to join the expedition. About February I he left Memphis for Fort Smith, the headquarters of the expedition, and on his arrival there presented himself to Captain Rogers. The company was organized April 1, 1830, and consisted of forty- two men, under command of Capt. Robert Bean.
After traveling across the plains for three months the party struck the cross-timbers of Texas, where they took a northerly course across the plains. About the latter part of August they reached the Arkansas river, along which they traveled to Pike's Peak. There they spent a few days and then entered the mountains. In Novem- ber they established the camp one hundred miles above Pike's Peak, but on the 27th of that month the Indians massacred two of their men, de- stroyed their winter quarters and escaped with
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