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 26
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 26
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John G. Tillman was born April 5, 1861, and in 1882 he married Elizabeth Donaldson, a na- tive of Nebraska, who died March 14, 1907, at the age of forty-four years. Their only daugh- ter, Maudie, is a student in Notre Dame convent at Watsonville. The son, Thaddeus C., a grad- uate of the Salinas high school and Hastings Law College in San Francisco, is a practicing lawyer, with offices at No. 906 Broadway, Oak- land. He married Katie Dougherty of Salinas, and they have one son. Politically a Democrat, Mr. Tillman has served at different times as a delegate to the county conventions of his party, and in other ways has promoted its local welfare. In fraternal relations he is identified with the Woodmen of the World at Salinas and the Fra- ternal Brotherhood in the same city.
JOHN P. RAYMOND.
From the time of his arrival in California un- til his demise it was the privilege of Mr. Ray- mond to witness almost one-half century of pro- gress. The era of gold mining which he found here has been replaced by an epoch of com- mercial activity and agricultural and horticul- tural prosperity. The desert has responded to
has been made productive to a degree once thought to be impossible. Fertile valleys bask in the sunshine of spring and glow with the golden flush of summer's harvests. Cities have arisen where once the sheep and cattle roamed over the ranges unmolested. On every hand may be seen evidences of the fruition of the hopes of the pioneers, who builded wisely and well for future generations.
Honored among the pioneers now gone to their last rest is the name of John P. Raymond, a pioneer of 1852 on the coast. Born in Merri- mack county, N. H., December 23, 1827, he was a son of Peverly and Hannah (Fletcher) Ray- mond, also natives of that state. The early rec- ollections of the boy were associated with a farm where parents and children united in a struggle to wrest from the soil the necessities of existence. The labor was tedious and the results far below what the effort justified. Mr. Raymond early in life began to long for a sphere of wider ac- tivity and while yet a mere lad he left home, go- ing to Lowell, Mass., where he secured employ- ment in a mercantile establishment. During 1852 he came via the Panama route to California and settled in San Francisco, where he engaged in the grain business for a considerable period. Al- though he was unfamiliar with the occupation he soon became a local authority on the subject of grain and his judgment as to buying and sell- ing was considered almost infallible. He was the pioneer and the leader in exporting flour to the Orient and wheat to England from San Francisco, continuing until 1872.
Coming to Salinas that year, Mr. Raymond built and conducted large grain warehouses for Isaac Friedlander, the grain king of California. For many years he remained in charge of these . warehouses and meanwhile he became known throughout the entire Salinas valley as an expert in the grain business as well as the pioneer grain- buyer in this section of the state. His business activities were prolonged until he had attained the age of three score years and ten, when, in 1897, he left Salinas and retired to his ranch in Solano county. There his death occurred in 1900. A man of irreproachable character, gen- erous disposition and warm heart, he made and retained friends, and was universally respected
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by the many with whom he had been brought in contact during a long and active business life. Fraternally he was prominent in the local work of the Odd Fellows. In 1858 he married Sarah C. Morrill, a native of New Hampshire. They became the parents of five children : Elisebeth H. and Fletcher, of Pacific Grove; Peverly, in Alaska ; John P., of Chicago; and Katherina M., wife of T. R. Jamison, of San Jose. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Raymond has estab- lished her home in Pacific Grove, where she is surrounded by the comforts rendered possible by the wise management of Mr. Raymond, second- ed by her own sagacious co-operation and tact- ful counsel.
FRANK KISER.
We feel justified in saying that probably no one in Monterey county has a more thorough understanding of the dairy business than Frank Kiser, whose inherited tastes and inclinations for his calling have been brought to a point of perfection through the concentration of his ef- forts along this line for over a quarter of a century. He is a descendant of a long line of ancestors in Switzerland, where dairying has been brought to an art, and until a lad of thirteen years he was reared in an environment con- ducive to a practical knowledge of the business. A native of the Canton of Opwalden, he was born on his father's farm there in April, 1868, and up to the age of thirteen years his time was occupied in studying his lessons in the public schools when not assisting his father in the home duties of the farm.
In 1881, when he was only a lad in years, al- though he had had considerable experience when it is remembered how faithfully he had worked in his father's interests, Frank Kiser bade farewell to home surroundings and family and set sail for the United States, coming direct to California, where he felt sure greater opportunities were to be found than in the more crowded east. As his only experience had been along the line of dairy- ing it was natural that in locating here he should seek employment of this character, and in So- noma county he was successful in finding con- genial work on a ranch where he remained for eight years, during which time he gained con-
siderable experience in the American method of dairying. It was with this knowledge and ex- perience that he went to Hollister, San Benito county, and established himself in business on his own account, a location and undertaking wisely chosen, for during the six years he fol- lowed the business he met with splendid success. It was about 1895 that he came to Monterey county and located on the Malarin ranch of two hundred acres not far from Chualar. Here he makes a specialty of dairying, having about one hundred and fifty cows, and in connection with his ranch he maintains a cheese factory. On the land not used for dairy purposes he raises grain and alfalfa, having about one hundred acres in the latter. Probably Mr. Kiser's suc- cess in his undertaking may be attributed largely to the excellent facilities for irrigation with which his ranch is equipped, the system being thoroughly modern and efficient.
Mr. Kiser's marriage united him with Miss Theresa Kiser, a native of this vicinity, and at the time of her marriage a resident of Chualar. Four children have blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Kiser, named in the order of their birth as follows : Joseph, Frank, Mary and Ellis, all of whom are at home with their par- ents. Politically Mr. Kiser is a Democrat, ac- tive in the well-being of his chosen party, as he is also in the welfare of his home locality.
PHILIP HENRY.
An illustration of the opportunities afforded by California is set forthi in the life and activ- ities of Philip Henry, an extensive rancher of San Benito county and a man honored and re- spected by all about him for his integrity, pro- gressive spirit and keen intelligence. To him, as to thousands of his countrymen, California has indeed been a land of opportunity. When he was a lad of twelve years he came to the United States with his parents from Hanau, Germany, his birthplace, but shortly after coming here he was left an orphan by the death of both parents. Thus early in life his sturdy physical and mental equipment was brought into play, but he was equal to the emergencies, and the experiences which he then passed through proved invaluable
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to him in later years. The family first located in Galveston, Texas, and from there went to San Antonio, same state. Altogether Mr. Henry re- mained in the latter city about five years, when, in 1849, he went to El Paso, the little settlement having just risen to the dignity of a fort. It was about this time that his experiences came to a climax in his capture by the Comanche In- dians. They kept him in captivity for five days, when he was rescued by Col. Jack Hayes and freedom restored to him.
Mr. Henry's associations with California date from the year 1853, and call to mind the days when all transportation was by means of mule- team. The rapidity with which the country had grown in population on account of the discovery of gold had made transportation facilities out of all proportion to accommodations and many there were who grasped this opportunity to supply a demand which paid many fold upon the invest- ment in mules and vehicles. Mr. Henry found employment with one of these far-sighted men, Capt. F. X. Aubry, driving a team to and from New Mexico for a time, or until he caught the gold fever. Going to the mines of Tuolumne county he worked diligently for two weeks, but his work bringing him no returns he forsook the undertaking and the locality as well, going from there to Stockton, where he resumed work with his former employer in the transportation busi- ness. His duties took him into New Mexico and Arizona, where his experiences with the Indians followed in rapid succession, and the constant jeopardy to which his life was exposed led him to seek more peaceful surroundings. It was then, in the spring of 1854, that he returned to California, locating at that time in Santa Clara county, and later in Plumas county. A year was passed in each location, after which he returned to Santa Clara county and located upon a ranch which he cultivated successfully for fifteen years. At the expiration of this time, in 1869. he came to San Benito county and located upon the ranch which has since been his home. This comprises one hundred and twenty-five acres of productive land near Hollister, upon which he makes a specialty of raising hay and grain. While the duties of maintaining his ranch consume a large portion of his time, he is still not unmindful of his obligations as a citizen and allows nothing to
interfere with the discharge of such duties as. devolve upon a public-spirited man.
Mr. Henry's marriage united him with Miss H. A. Oliver, and three children have been born to them, as follows: George Henry, a resident of King City, Monterey county ; Hattie, the wife of William Johnson, on a ranch near by; and Lillian, the wife of Harry Regnart, of Santa Clara, Cal. Born of good old New England stock, Mrs. Henry is a native of Bath, Me., in which state she taught school before her mar- riage. In 1863 she came to California with a brother. She has been back east twice since coming to California.
EDWIN B. RICH.
The city marshal and tax collector of Pacific Grove was born in Boston, Mass., August 8, 1852, and is a son of James and Elizabeth ( Bris- coll) Rich, natives respectively of Maine and Manchester, England. The maternal grand- father, Thomas Ogden Briscoll, a native of Eng- land. attained distinction in Boston as the first manufacturer of silk in the United States and was a man of prominence in that city. At the age of only twelve years Edwin B. Rich started out to earn his own way in the world and from that time forward he was self-supporting. The first work to which he gave his attention was the furniture business, in which he served an apprenticeship. Later he learned the trade of a gold-gilder, at which he served an apprentice- ship with Lawrence, Wylde & Hull, of Cornhill, and then was employed in the Boston art gal- leries as long as he remained in the east. Dur- ing the early part of the 'zos he was a member of the Junior Champions baseball team of Charlestown, whose success in their game gave them national popularity. For some years he was identified with the militia, being a member of Company H. Fifth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, and later Company A, First Battalion, Unattached, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia.
His arrival in California and his residence in Pacific Grove Mr. Rich dates from January 24, 1888, when he settled in the city that has since been his home, and now resides at No. 105
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Seventeenth street. July 16, 1889, he was elected marshal and tax collector of Pacific Grove and these positions he has held since the first elec- tion. Under his service as marshal Pacific Grove has become one of the most orderly cities in the state. Its record for the proper observance of law and order remains scarcely surpassed by any other city. This gratifying condition is due in large degree to the efforts of Mr. Rich, seconded by the large citizenship of law-abiding, peaceable residents. For more than half of this time he also has served as superintendent of streets and meanwhile has endeavored to maintain the streets in a satisfactory condition for safe travel. While living in the east he was married at Charles- town, Mass., in 1874, to Miss Jennie T. Goward, a native of the old Bay state and 'a lady of excel- lent education. Two children were born of their union. The daughter, Gertrude, married W. C. Gretter, of Pacific Grove. The son, C. E. Rich, is a resident of Alameda and employed in a hotel in San Francisco. Fraternally Mr. Rich is iden- tified with Salinas Lodge No. 614, B. P. O. E., and is further connected with the Monterey Lodge of Odd Fellows, of which he has officiated as secretary since 1898. His political views are in accord with Republican principles and he uni- formly supports the men and measures of that party.
HON. N. A. DORN.
Supplementing the sagacious judgment of the counselor and the eloquence of the attorney with the' impartial spirit of the jurist, Judge Dorn has rendered his commonwealth signal service both at the bar and on the bench and his pro- found knowledge of jurisprudence has brought him into a conspicuous position among those of his profession throughout the entire state. Na- ture liberally endowed him with the talents nec- essary for success in the law. Acute reasoning faculties aided a logical mind in weighing diffi- cult and intricate problems. Careful study of the most eminent authorities enabled him to acquire the familiarity with the science of the law nec- essary for the correct administration of justice and indispensable also to the successful pleader at the bar.
Although not a native of California, having
been born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, May 27, 1852,. Judge Dorn lias spent practically his entire life in this state, where he was brought by his par- ents when he was less than one year old. The family settled on a ranch near Watsonville and at different times the father owned and conducted farms in various localities. From an early age. Judge Dorn displayed a judicial bent of mind and an eager thirst for knowledge, which im- pelled him to grasp every opportunity of ac- quiring a broad and liberal education. From the first the science of law attracted him to its study and while a student he familiarized him- self with the highest authorities on state and national codes. The broad professional knowl- edge acquired thus early laid the foundation of subsequent success.
Upon being admitted to practice in 1874 the young attorney opened an office at Salinas, where the following year he was elected district. attorney of Monterey county. The ability dis- played in the conduct of important cases led to his re-election in 1879 and he gave noteworthy service for a period of three years. The knowl- edge of the law evinced in that position brought him conspicuously before the people and led to his election in 1890 as judge of the superior court of the district. For twelve years he served on the bench with honor and distinction. The cases brought to his court for decision had the benefit of his broad professional knowledge, keen mind, splendid reasoning faculties and im- partial spirit. When he retired from the bench it was with a record unsurpassed for impartial administration of the law and the reputation he had won followed him to San Francisco, where, in 1903, he opened an office and resumed pro- fessional practice.
In fraternal relations Judge Dorn is asso- ciated with the Elks, Eagles and Druids. At different times he has owned large tracts of ranching property in Monterey county and now has valuable real estate in Salinas, including the Bardin house on Main street. His popularity in the most select circles of society is shared by his wife, whom he married in 1902 and who bore the maiden name of Jennie de la Montanya. By a previous marriage he is the father of four children. namely: Carl D., who is associated with the Judge in the San Francisco law office ;
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Mabel, wife of C. H. Hirst, residing in Wash- ington ; Ethel, who married Dr. Walter Whit- lock, of Utah; and Marcella E., of San Fran- cisco. Since his retirement from the bench the Judge has availed himself of the added leisure thus made possible to indulge himself in his favorite pastime of travel and recently he re- turned from a tour around the world, during which he made a study of the laws and customs of the different nations, while also visiting points memorable in the history of ancient periods.
GRANVILLE S. NASH.
An early period in the colonization of New England witnessed the arrival of the Nash family from their ancestral home across the ocean. The original immigrant settled in Maine, where several successive generations wrested from the sterile soil a meagre livelihood. Shaw Nash made his home at Columbia in the eastern part of the state and there he married Delia Mc- Caslin, who like himself was born and reared in Maine and remained a lifelong resident of that commonwealth. Their son, Granville S., was born at Columbia April 3. 1842, and received such educational advantages as the schools of the locality and period afforded. At the age of seventeen years he came to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama, accompanied by his mother and a sister, his father and two older brothers having come to the state six years previously, in 1853. The father followed mining at first, later lived at Warm Springs, and about fifteen years previous to his death he removed to Hollister, the mother surviving him by one year. On his arrival in this state the subject of this sketch made a brief sojourn at Center- ville, Alameda county, and later engaged in farming with his father near Warm Springs, in the same county. From that locality he removed to Salinas, Monterey county, and began to farm near that city, where he remained for three years.
It was during 1871 that Mr. Nash came to San Benito county, where he since has made his home. The first location that he selected here was a ranch of four hundred acres situated a few miles south of Hollister, where he engaged in
raising stock and general farm products. After a few years he purchased another farm of one hundred and four acres, also near town. Later he disposed of the property and with a partner became interested in a stock ranch of twenty thousand acres, being the larger portion of the Quien Sabe ranch, where he engaged in raising blooded stock and also conducted a dairy of three hundred and sixty-five cows. Upon dis- posing of these interests he established his home in Hollister, where he bought an interest in the Farmers' Exchange. Subsequently he
acquired a majority of the stock and has acted as president and general manager of the business. A large trade has been established in hardware, groceries, furniture, paints, wall- paper, etc., and in addition an undertaking de- partment has been built up, the whole forming one of the substantial institutions of the county, into every part of which the trade of the Ex- change extends.
The marriage of Mr. Nash and Miss Letitia A. Cates, a native of Maine, was solemnized in 1865, and was blessed with four children, two of whom survive. The son, Erastus, is associ- ated with the father in the business, and the daughter, Carrie, is the wife of Howard Hend- ricks, of Susanville. They have one daughter. F. A. Movements for the benefit of his home town receive the enthusiastic aid of Mr. Nash, who in the capacity of school trustee and in other positions has been enabled to promote projects for the general welfare. The excellent schools of the city reflect the wisdom and energy of men who, like himself, have filled the position of director, giving generously of their time and means without expectation of any return except such as is represented by the advancement of local educational interests. In political faith he has adhered to the principles of the Republican party. In fraternal circles he has been both prominent and popular and the list of his fra- ternal associations is important, including mem- bership in the Improved Order of Red Men. the Fraternal Aid, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, besides which he is allied with the lodge, canton and encampment of Odd Fellows, as well as the kindred organization of Rebekalı. While taking an interested part in the activities of these various orders and dis-
John Hahnalmak
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
charging the duties that fall to the lot of a progressive citizen, he has always believed his most important duties to lie along the line of commercial matters; hence he has thrown him- self, heart and soul, into the development of the business of which he is now the head and the success of which is largely to be attributed to his splendid mental powers and unwearied energies.
JOHN SCHMALMAK.
The agricultural interests of Monterey county - are well represented by John Schmalmak, who for the past eight years has demonstrated his ex- ceptional ability as a rancher on the Cooper property, located near Salinas, and of which for the past year he has had entire charge in the ca- pacity of foreman. The Schmalmak family is of German origin, and the branch to which John Schmalmak belonged had for many generations lived and flourished in the province of Sleswick- Holstein. Strictly speaking, however, their his- tory is associated more particularly with Hol- stein, prior to the conquering of the duchy of Sleswick by the Austrians and Prussians in 1863- 64, and the merging of the two provinces in 1866. Born in Holstein in 1862, Mr. Schmalmak grew to a sturdy manhood in his native sur- roundings, and in the well-equipped schools for which Germany is noted he received a good edu- cation.
The chief assets which John Schmalmak pos- sessed when he landed upon the shores of the New World in 1888 were a sturdy frame, pluck and perseverance and a determination to make a success' of his life in spite of the obstacles which confront the average immigrant, lack of knowl- edge of the language and familiarity with the customs and habits of the people. The vessel on which he made the voyage cast anchor in the port of New York and from there he came by rail to the metropolis of the middle west, Chicago, where for two years he was employed in the works of the Illinois Steel Company. In the meantime he had become interested in the Pacific coast country and was determined to visit the country and learn of its advantages from short range. Setting out with Washington as his ob- jective point, he finally reached Puget Sound,
where he remained ten months in the employ of a railroad, and at the end of that time came south into California. Anderson, Shasta county, was his first stopping place, and there as in Washing- ton, he was employed on a railroad for two years. Working his way still further south we next find him in San Joaquin county, there, too, interested in railroading, but after eight years in that local- ity he changed both his location and occupation, going to Bisbee, Ariz., where he became interested in mining. From Bisbee he went to Globe, Ariz., there as in the former place still continuing his mining investigations, but after two years he gave up the business and has since been inter- ested in ranching in Monterey county.
Mr. Schmalmak's identification with Monterey county and Salinas dates from the year 1901, from which time until 1907 he was employed on various ranches throughout this part of the country. It was in the year last mentioned that he assumed his duties on the Cooper ranch, his previous experience of several years making his services specially valuable, and in 1908 he was given entire charge of the ranch as foreman. The property includes three hundred acres of choice land, every acre of which is productive and yields large crops of grain, potatoes and beets.
THOMAS S. HAWKINS.
With many important enterprises for the up- building of San Benito county the name of the president of the Bank of Hollister is indissolubly associated, but of all his acts of beneficence un- doubtedly none will leave a more lasting impres- sion for good upon the community than his gift of the Hazel Hawkins memorial hospital, which was dedicated November 23, 1907, with services appropriate to the occasion. After a presenta- tion speech on the part of the donor a response was made by N. C. Briggs, as chairman, and the address of the day was then delivered by Judge M. T. Dooling. The closing addresses were de- livered by Dr. McNutt of San Francisco and Father Closa of San Juan. An act of the state legislature of 1907, approved by the governor, was passed providing for the conveyance, hold- ing and protection of property and the creation of trusts for the founding, endowment, erection
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