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 31
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 31
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Mr. Hiner was only twenty years of age when he set out from his Indiana home with the mines of California as the goal of his ambition. The party of which he formed a part, consisted of thirty-one persons under the guidance of Cap- tain Andrews. They left Indiana in April, 1854, and crossed the Missouri river at Council Bluffs on the first of May following. Upon reaching California, August 15, Mr. Hiner went to the mines of Shasta county, and it was while there that he experienced the outbreak of the Rogue River Indians. He remained in that vicinity about two years, when he went to Camp Seco, in Calaveras county, and during the year spent there he was successful far above the average in his mining ventures. With the proceeds of his year's work he engaged in buying and selling cattle until 1859, when he went to Sonoma county and followed ranching for about four years. A desire to once more indulge his taste for mining led him to rent his ranch in Sonoma county, and go to Idaho territory, where he mined for a time, but as he was not successful he finally turned his attention to the butcher business there. He had been gone only about a year, when he returned to Sonoma county and resumed operations on his ranch, carrying it on until 1868. That year he sold his property and came to Monterey county, following teaming in Salinas for two years, after which he located in Soledad. From there he went to Gonzales in 1875 and engaged in the butcher business for three years, closing it out at the end of that time. The year of his arrival in Gonzales he got up the first Fourth of July celebration ever held in the town, and one of the first in the county.
Mr and Mrs Lee Dudgeon
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
He was chairman of the committee, Senator Hoag of Sonoma county delivered the address, and D. K. Edwards read the Declaration of In- dependence. After disposing of his butcher business Mr. Hiner went back to his old home in Indiana for a visit. One year in the east sat- isfied him and it was with considerable satisfac- tion that he turned has face toward the west once more. Since then he has made his home in Chualar, where until 1908 he was engaged in the butcher business.
Mr. Hiner's first marriage united him with Miss Margaret A. Reed, a native of Kentucky, but at the time of her marriage a resident of Santa Rosa, Cal. She died in 1876, leaving two daughters, Sarah Isabelle and Emma Abiah, both of whom are now married. The former is the wife of E. H. Alt, of San Mateo, Cal., and the mother of one son, Leslie, an employe of the First National Bank of San Francisco. The younger daughter, Emma Abiah, is the wife of David Laughry, of Seattle, Wash. In 1886 Mr. Hiner married his present wife, who in maiden- hood was Christine Ebson, and a resident of Chualar. One child has been born of this mar- riage, Eldridge, who has attained young man- hood and is now engaged in ranching in this county. In his political belief Mr. Hiner is a Republican, but it was on the ticket of the Demo- cratic party that he was elected to the office of justice of the peace in Monterey county, in which capacity he served acceptably for fourteen years. He was made a Mason in Salinas in 1869.
LEE DUDGEON.
When Mr. Dudgeon came to California in 1903 and settled in Monterey county he brought with him a knowledge of farming as conducted in the middle west, and this knowledge adapted to western conditions has resulted in the success which is his today. On his ranch near Soledad he makes a specialty of stock-raising, and that he thoroughly understands the business in which he is engaged may be judged from the fact that wherever his cattle or hogs are entered at fairs he carries off many premiums.
A native of Ohio, Mr. Dudgeon was born April 2; 1870, in Gambier, Knox county, and in
that vicinity he was reared and educated. Brought up in a farming community he naturally drifted into the life of the agriculturist when he- attained mature years, and in the vicinity of his- old home in Ohio he made his first venture in. stock and sheep raising. Subsequently, in 1899, he moved to Adams county, Iowa, where for over three years he continued this line of agri- cultural activity. As previously stated, it was. in 1903 that he came to California, and since that time he has made strides in his calling that. may well fill him with pride. He first located in King City, Monterey county, but after remain- ing there for eighteen months he moved to Sole- dad and purchased twenty acres in the Salvation Army colony and one hundred and seventy acres of the Soledad Mission ranch. Previous to this, however, he had leased one hundred and twenty- five acres which was partly in alfalfa, and on the rest of the land he raised thoroughbred Here- ford cattle and Berkshire hogs. During the four years he was in charge of this property he was. very successful, his cattle and hogs taking prizes wherever they were entered for competition. At the present writing ( 1909) he has about sixty head of thoroughbred cattle and about fifty hogs on the ranch near the Mission, although it is his intention to put this land all in alfalfa in the. near future, the smaller ranch having been put in alfalfa since it came into Mr. Dudgeon's pos- session. No one in Monterey county is more enthusiastic over the possibilities of its future- than is Mr. Dudgeon, who has traveled over the state in the interests of his business and has come to the decision that this particular section surpasses all others, and as one of her younger ranchers and business men he will undoubtedly realize all of his expectations.
The marriage of Mr. Dudgeon occurred in Ohio, February 18, 1897, and united him with Miss Jennie Ulrey, a native of Iowa, but who had gone to Ohio, where they were married.
WILLIAM B. FILCHER.
Since establishing his home in Pacific Grove a number of years ago, Mr. Filcher not only has become prominently identified with the buying and selling of town lots, but in other ways he
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
has been associated with local development. Per- haps in no way has he been more helpful to the county and town than in his unique method of advertising local products. By experiments he and his son, Ross W., have found a chemical which acts as a preservative without the use of alcohol, and this they utilize by placing a suffi- cient quantity in large glass retorts, containing fish or marine animals or fruit that they desire to preserve for exhibition purposes. More than fifty varieties of fish have been preserved, as well as every kind of fruit, vegetable and grain, and their large collection furnishes a unique and complete advertisement of Monterey coun- ty's products. In this work they have received the praise of Professor Heath, an authority on such subjects. For their method of preserving fish they received the highest award of the State Fair at Sacramento and the auxiliary fair at Idara Park, Oakland, also the gold medal at the World's Fair at Seattle in 1909. Mr. Fil- cher has collected and exhibited the products of Monterey county for the past three years, and during the last two years has received more awards than any other county in the state. In 1909 he received the highest number of awards ever granted to a single county in the state. Of recent years he has been testing the climatic conditions of the county as affecting grains and potatoes, and the outcome of these tests will be of the greatest importance to the farmer.
Near Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1855, William B. was born to the union of T. J. and Eliza (Adams) Filcher, natives of England. In 1859, when four years of age, he was brought to Cali- fornia by his father in a wagon drawn by oxen. During boyhood he remained on a farm near Marysville, Yuba county, where he aided his father for a number of years, and later, with a brother, bought one thousand acres of productive land near Marysville, later adding to this tract, and there he became interested in raising stock and grain. During 1886, however, he turned the management of the ranch over to his brother and removed to Modoc county, where he conducted a stock farm. From there he returned to Yuba county in 1889, and in 1903 came to Pacific Grove, where he owns a comfortable home at No. 412 Sixteenth street. While living near "Marysville, Governor Budd appointed him to
fill out an unexpired term as supervisor of Yuba county, and at another time he was elected to the office for one term.
The first marriage of Mr. Filcher was sol- emnized near Lincoln, Placer county, Septem- ber 19, 1877, and united him with Miss Amanda Gray, a native of Missouri, who died in 1896. His present wife, whom he married January 3, 1900, was Mrs. Eugenia Smith, a native of Cali- fornia. Three sons were born of his first mar- riage. Of these Roy M. was graduated in 1906 from the University of California, after which for two years he filled a position as chemist with the Western Meat Co., and more recently has accepted a position as manager of the agri- cultural test farm of the University of Nevada at Logan. Of the two other sons, Ray is de- ceased and Ross assists his father in his de- velopment work at Pacific Grove. In the or- ganization of the Fraternal Brotherhood at Pa- cific Grove Mr. Filcher took a leading part and was honored with the office of its first presi- dent. Strong in temperance views, he has been prominent in the Order of Good Templars and has held the office of deputy grand chief in that organization.
CHARLES HARRISON WINCHELL.
Upon the foundation of industry, integrity and courage, laid by the early settlers of California, later generations have built a structure broad and deep. When the final history of the west shall have been written due credit will be given both to the pioneers whose indomitable courage amid privations began the work and to the later generations whose progressive spirit developed the commonwealth dear to every loyal heart. To the latter class belongs Charles H. Winchell, the son of the early pioneer, V. V. Winchell and his wife, who prior to her marriage was Miss Ada- line Cockrill. Their son Charles was born in November, 1864, while the family home was in San Jose. From there the parents removed to Monterey county in 1875, settling in the Salinas valley not far from the town of Blanco, and two years later they located in Long valley.
The education of Charles H. Winchell was re- ceived by applying himself diligently to his studies, attending the public schools in the various
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
places where the family resided. When his school days were over he set out with equal dil- igence to get a footing as a wage earner, his first work being as a teamster, which he followed for some time in Monterey county with very satis- factory results. Since coming to San Lucas in 1877 he has followed various lines of endeavor, but none of them has proved as satisfying or remunerative as his ranching enterprise. His first experience along this line was in 1906, when he undertook the cultivation of three hundred acres of land in Long valley, which he carried on with success for about one year. It was about this time, 1906, that he was chosen by his constituents to serve in a public capacity, his election as constable of Peach Tree district oc- curring that year, and he is still efficiently serv- ing in this capacity. It was in 1908 that Mr. Winchell located on his present property, lying near San Lucas, and comprising three hundred acres of land well adapted to raising barley, of which commodity he makes a specialty. This is what is known as the Veach ranch, and is owned by J. D. Veach.
In his marriage Mr. Winchell was united to a native daughter of the state, Miss Nettie Ver- dugo, whose entire life has been passed in Mon- terey county. Two bright, interesting children have blessed their marriage, Erma Irene and Cyril Charles, both of whom are still at home. In his political affiliations Mr. Winchell is a Dem- ocrat, and believes firmly in the principles for which that party stands.
HENRY ALEXANDER HUNTER.
As superintendent of the Monterey county hospital Henry A. Hunter is filling a position for which he is well suited, both by temperament and qualifications, and if fitness for the position is allowed to be the standard for retention in office, without doubt his position is assured indefinitely. In looking after and caring for the patients in the institution, which number between forty-five and sixty throughout the year, Mr. Hunter em- ploys seven persons, and it is needless to say that the patients under their care receive the most thoughtful attention and conscientious treatment.
Henry A. Hunter is a native son of the state, his birth having occurred in Amador county in 1860. His father, James G. Hunter, was a na- tive of Scotland, who came to the United States at the time of the gold discovery. By way of Cape Horn he made his way to the Eldorado which was attracting the attention of the world, and here, with the passing of years, he has wit- nessed the wonderful transformation that has been wrought. By trade he was a mining en- gineer, and for many years had charge of the Hayward mines as engineer. Now in his nine- tieth year, he makes his home in the city wherein he first touched foot on California soil, San Fran- cisco. Eight children originally comprised the parental family, three daughters and five sons, but of the number one daughter is now deceased. Henry A. Hunter was educated in the public schools of his birthplace, Sutter Creek, and also in Heald's Business College. He was an am- bitious lad, and at the age of eighteen, upon leav- ing college, he apprenticed himself to learn the machinist's trade. It was this preparation which fitted him for the position he filled with merited success with the Southern Pacific Railway Com- pany for about twenty-four years as foreman of rolling stock, with headquarters in San Francisco and Castroville. The latter point was the end of the division, and he made his home there for sev- eral years. When the building of the road had been started from Soledad he then moved to Castroville, making it his headquarters until the division was changed to Salinas. He moved to that place, and for eight years continued in the employ of the company. In 1906 he received the appointment to his present position at the county hospital.
In his marriage Mr. Hunter chose a native daughter in Miss Bertha Rudolph, whose birth occurred in San Francisco. In every sense of the word she had been a lielpmate to her husband, for in whatever he has undertaken she has encouraged and aided him by her sympathy and co-operation. Four children have been born to them, as follows : Rosa, the wife of Fred Rudolph, a jeweler in San Francisco; Otto Harry, who learned the trade of machinist from his father and is now filling a position as engineer in San Francisco; and Bertram and Lester James, who are em- ployed by the Southern Pacific railroad. Po-
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
litically Mr. Hunter is a stanch Republican, hav- ing was done in Oakland, where the necessities ing represented his party in a number of state of life were obtainable at low prices. and county conventions, has been a member of the executive committee of the party in Monte- rey county, and on this ticket was elected to serve as a member of the council of Salinas. Fraternally and socially he belongs to a number of organizations, among them the Mechanical Union, Native Sons of the Golden West of Cas- troville, Salinas Lodge, No. 614, B. P. O. E., and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. During the nearly quarter of a century that Mr. Hunter was associated with the railroad interests in and around San Francisco he witnessed many won- derful changes in conditions, civilization and progress following the railroad, and this has been the principal factor in the development of the en- tire west.
EDMUND J. BOLCE.
Business associations that gave him an insight into the possibilities of other sections of the country did not lessen the devotion of Mr. Bolce to his native California and for some years he has been identified with the agricultural inter- ests of Monterey county, where he leases the Cornett place in Natividad precinct. Although he has made his home on this estate for a com- paratively short period, already he has met with success in its management and during the season of 1908 he sold a large amount of fruit at excel- lent prices. The orchard of fifty-seven acres is mainly in apricots and cherries. By efficiency in the care of the trees and the harvesting of the fruit, a neat income has been realized by the pro- prietor of the property.
The founder of the Bolce family in the west was William J. Bolce, who left his wife and child in New York and came via the isthmus to Cali- fornia with the intention of mining. After his arrival he changed his plans and decided to em- bark in agricultural pursuits, for which purpose he rented a tract in San Ramon valley, Contra Costa county, but later bought land of his own near Danville. The high water of 1861-62 brought disastrous results and caused heavy losses, but he did not allow himself to become discouraged, and eventually he gained a competency through his labors in raising fruit. The most of his trad-
Shortly after settling in the west Mr. Bolce sent for his wife, Kate, and their daughter. The latter married D. Snively and resides in Monte- rey. Other children were born after the family settled in California. These are: George, of Natividad; Daniel, who is employed in the San Francisco postoffice and makes his home in Oak- land; Mrs. Fannie Irving, of Oakland; Harold, who was educated in the California State Univer- sity and is now a resident of New York, being a writer of wide reputation and unusual ability ; and Edmund J., who was born on the farm near Haywards, Alameda county, June 14, 1876, and received a fair education in the local schools. The mother of the family died in Oakland in 1901. The father died in Monterey in March, 1909, at the home of his daughter. Notwithstanding his eighty-eight busy years, he was robust, active and deeply interested in the affairs of life up to the last. In politics he always gave his allegiance to the Republican party.
After having engaged for three years in the butcher business at Oakland, Edmund J. Bolce went to Spokane, 'Wash., at the request of his brother, Harold, who had founded the "Out- burst," and desired the aid of Edmund in edito- rial work and the conduct of the paper. Upon selling out his interests in Spokane, Mr. Bolce went to Chicago and for seven months was em- ployed in the business department of the Inter- Ocean. From Chicago he returned to California and engaged in dairying, and stock and grain raising in Monterey county. Three years later he went to Oakland to engage in the meat busi- ness. After nine months in Oakland he went to the Kootenai district in British Columbia, where for six months he was employed as assayer of the Whitewater deep mines. During the autumn he returned from the mines and established a feeding station near Chico, Butte county, to which he brought stock that had been purchased in Oregon. One year afterward, in 1903, he came to Monterey county and settled on the Pat- ton place, where for four years he engaged in raising grain and beans. From there he moved to the Cornett property, where he now makes his home, and where, as previously stated, he has engaged in the fruit business. In addition to
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
raising fruit he has English walnut trees on the place and finds the sale of the walnuts a source of additional income.
The marriage of Edmund J. Bolce united him with Sara Wright, daughter of Jonathan Wright, a veteran of the Mexican war, and a pioneer of California, who now at the age of eighty-eight years is making his home in Monte- rey county. Mrs. Bolce was born and reared in this county and received a fair education. Of her marriage there are three sons, Everett, Ashley and LeRoy. It is the ambition of the parents to give the sons the best educational advantages their means permit, in order to qualify them for the responsibilities of business life. Like his father, Mr. Bolce has always supported Republican prin- ciples and like him also he has become devotedly attached to California, believing it to be, in cli- mate, soil and people, the peer of any of the older states of the Union.
ELMER ELLSWORTH TRINE.
. After varied experiences as a cowboy on the plains between the Mississippi river and the Rocky mountains, Mr. Trine came to California and for years has been identified with the build- ing interests of Pacific Grove, where until re- cently he made his home at No. 502 Lobos ave- nue. The family of which he is a member comes from old eastern lineage. His father, Rev. John Trine, a native of Pennsylvania, was a man of unusual ability, earnestly devoted to the minis- terial service, loyal to the welfare of his country and a true friend to the needy and unfortunate. The talents which he possessed brought him the friendship of the highest, and his large charity won for him the affectionate respect of the most humble. Among his friends, perhaps the most distinguished were Abraham Lincoln and Gen- eral Custer. Another friend scarcely less famous was E. E. Ellsworth, colonel of the New York Zouave regiment, in whose honor he named the son, Elmer Ellsworth, who was born in Harrison county, Ohio, during September of 1861. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Hannah Wright, was born in Illinois, a member of a pioneer family of that state.
One of the childhood recollections of Elmer
E. Trine is that of being carried in the arms of Abraham Lincoln, who frequently visited the family and always noticed the lad who bore the name of his friend, Colonel Ellsworth. After having completed the studies of the home schools, Mr. Trine started out to seek his livelihood and in 1871 he became a cowboy on the Nebraska plains, where he remained for eight years as an employe on cattle ranches. Meanwhile he drove cattle from Kansas to North Dakota and ac- quired a thorough knowledge of the buying and selling of stock. His trips took him to almost every part of Iowa, Dakota. Nebraska and Mis- souri, and as he invariably rode on horseback he had every opportunity to inspect the country he passed through. During 1879 he removed to Fort Pierre, S. Dak., and from there he drove to the Black Hills, hauling provisions and grain with oxen and wagons. More than once he met with thrilling experiences in the Black Hills, whose isolated, unprotected location exposed him to the assaults of the Indians, and on one occa- sion he was surrounded by savages while he was herding cattle, but fortunately they made no at- tempt to capture or kill him.
The marriage of Mr. Trine caused him to abandon the nomadic existence of a cattle-herder and settle in a home of his own, but after a time, owing to ill-health, he removed from Ne- braska to Oregon, where he remained about three years. Then for two years he engaged in the harness business at Plymouth, Amador county, Cal., and in November, 1889, he located in Pacific Grove. Formerly he was employed by the government at the Presidio in Monterey. where he had charge of the erection of various buildings. From 1903 until the spring of 1909 he followed contracting and building at Pacific Grove, where he had charge of building about seventy-five cottages. Different positions in the employ of the government were filled by him, in- cluding that of patrol to guard the coast at Pa- cific Grove against smugglers of opium. He was the first incumbent of the office of night police at Pacific Grove, besides which he filled other posts of local trust and responsibility. In March. 1909, Mr. Trine moved to Santa Cruz and formed a partnership with E. H. Day in the real estate business.
Miss Nancy Ziegler became the wife of Mr.
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Trine in Cedar county, Neb., and since then she has shared with him the esteem of the people in the various communities where they have re- sided. They are the parents of seven children; namely : Clarence Lloyd, the well-known plumber at Pacific Grove; Tessie B., the wife of A. E. Moorhead, an inventor living in San Fran- cisco; Mamie, the wife of Wilfred Lynch, of Crockett, this state; Mclellan, living in Oak- land; Frances, who married Everett Finley, a surveyor in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company; Myrtle, who remains with her parents ; and William, who is employed as a carpenter at the Presidio of Monterey.
WILLIAM P. MAULDIN.
The Mauldin family is one well represented in Monterey county, the name standing for strong business ability, keen and far-sighted discern- ment, as well as a personal integrity which has won the confidence and esteem of all who have had either business or social relations with mem- bers of the family. The family came originally from the south, William P. Mauldin having been born, in South Carolina in 1834. Brought up in an environment that made slavery seem right and necessary, it was natural that when war between the north and south was declared he should take sides with the Confederacy. At the opening of the conflict he volunteered his services and served throughout the war in a Mississippi regiment.
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