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 39
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 39
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Parkfield was the town nearest to his home, and in the schools of this place William P. Mur- ley received a fair knowledge in the rather primi- tive schools. He was twenty-three years of age at the time he started out on his own behalf and became a land owner, having homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land in the county. He had made this his home for about eighteen years, when, in 1898, he sold out his ranch and removed to Parkfield, and for two years conduct- ed two blacksmith shops in the town. Selling out at the end of two years, he turned his atten- tion once more to agricultural pursuits by the purchase of the William Imess ranch, near Park- field, and here he has since been contented to re- main. The ranch comprises one hundred and sixty acres, upon which Mr. Murley carries on diversified farming, raising successfully the va- rious grains grown generally in this locality, be- sides which he raises a large number of hogs.
Mr. Murley's marriage occurred in 1887, unit- ing him with Miss Alameda Chenny, a native of Alameda county, and a lifetime resident of the state. She passed away December 5, 1893, leav- ing, besides her husband, one daughter, Della Maggie.
VIRGIL FRANSCIONI.
The possibilities afforded by the west to men of untiring energy find an apt illustration in the lives of men who have come hither from lands across the seas and who have achieved competen- cies in spite of the handicaps of unfamiliarity with our language, our soil, our customs and our people. Such has been the experience of Virgil Franscioni, who was born in Canton Tic- ino, Switzerland, February 2, 1854, and who im- migrated to the United States in 1871 at the age
of seventeen years. Letters from a cousin in Watsonville had been received in Switzerland, giving glowing accounts of California, and these reports had been the incentive that led the young emigrant to seek our country. After reaching San Francisco he traveled on the old stage line across the mountains from Gilroy to Watson- ville and found his cousin, who about two weeks later procured for him a position in the brewery of Charles Kulitz at a compensation of $15 per month together with board and lodging.
Althoughi entirely unfamiliar with the English language, Mr. Franscioni was so willing and cap- able that after the fourth month his employer in- creased his wages to $20 per month. By working around the house he not only gradually learned English, but also became a great favorite with the children of the family, who were reluctant to part with him when he left there in order to start out for himself. With two partners in 1873 he leased the Viga del Ria ranch near Aromas in Monterey county and there they raised grain. Their wheat was sold for $1.30, barley for $1.10 and oats for $1.40. At the expiration of a year the ranch passed into different ownership and the partners then moved to the Chittenden ranch in Santa Cruz county, where they rented land at $7 cash in advance an acre for several years, growing wheat and barley. After three years, in the fall of 1876, removal was made to a farm near Chittenden Station. The first season (1877) was very dry and the partners paid $5.50 an acre for the land, but raised no crops whatever. The year 1878 was no better, for, although rains were abundant, the grain was destroyed by rust. Late in the fall of 1878 Mr. Franscioni with a partner moved to a farm owned by Guadaloupe Anzar comprising four hundred acres, where they re- mained until 1888, meantime giving the owner one-fourth of all the crops and receiving free pasturage for the horses when they were not be- ing worked.
After having settled upon the Anzar farm Mr. Franscioni established a home of his own, being united in marriage, November 29, 1881, with a daughter of Pedro Marentes. Of this union were born two daughters and four sons, namely, Elvezio V., Joseph L., Albina, Frank, John and Claudine, all of whom are living with the excep- tion of the last mentioned, who died at the age of
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seven years. During the year 1889 the family removed to the Pedro Zabala place on the Arroyo Seco, where seven years were spent, but the most of the seasons were very dry and therefore unre- munerative. For some years Mr. Franscioni has made his home on the Doud place of twelve hundred acres, where he has eleven hundred acres in grain, seventy acres in summer fallow and thirty acres in pasture. The work on this place has been rewarded with a due measure of success that is not only encouraging to the pro- prietor, but also gives him added standing and prestige as a farmer. Long years of intelligent and arduous labor are meeting with the returns they merit, and the many friends of Mr. Fransci- oni rejoice that he has reached the position to which he is entitled by industry and perseverance.
WILLIAM L. BROWN.
Among the energetic and enterprising citizens of Monterey county who have selected ranching as their vocation in life, and who, from indica- tions, are realizing their anticipations, is William L. Brown, a large ranch owner and extensive cattle raiser of San Lucas. A native son of Cali- fornia, he was born in the city of Sacramento, July 16, 1868, the son of Alonzo and Mary (Bevins) Brown, who had made their home in the latter city for many years, but who, in 1880, removed to Monterey county and lived near San Lucas and San Ardo up to the time of their death.
William L. Brown gained his initial training along educational lines in the schools of his birth- place, and after the family home was transferred to Monterey county he continued his studies in the schools of Long Valley. When he had laid aside his school books he immediately took steps to obtain a practical knowledge of the electrical business, for which purpose he went to San Jose, and after following the business for two years he was qualified to accept and fill contracts on the Fisher system. An evidence of his workmanship along this line may be seen in the first electric road that was laid in San Jose. After following the electrical business for a number of years, however, he gave it up, and, coming back to Monterey county, in Peach Tree township, home-
steaded one hundred and sixty acres of land, which became the nucleus of his present holdings. Subsequently he purchased one hundred and six- ty acres of land, adjoining which he has partly under cultivation, the other portion being devoted to stock purposes, raising horses and hogs quite extensively. In addition to the property already mentioned Mr. Brown, up to 1900, rented nine hundred acres of the Trescony grant in this vi- cinity, all of which he farmed in barley.
The marriage of William L. Brown occurred September 12, 1895, and united him with Miss Bertha Seeley, a native of Pescadero, San Mateo county, Cal. Five children have been born of this marriage, Bertha E., Alta L., Neola, Frank- lin W. and Iva. It is the ambition of the parents to give to each child the best advantages their means permit and thus prepare them for what- ever responsibilities the future years may bring to them. In his political inclinations Mr. Brown is non-partisan, casting his vote and giving the weight of his influence for the candidate most capable of filling the office, regardless of party name. Both Mr. and Mrs. Brown are identified with the Fraternal Brotherhood, holding member- ship in the lodge in San Luis Obispo.
ROBERT G. MAULDIN.
Ranking high among the energetic and sub- stantial citizens of Salinas and Monterey county is Robert G. Mauldin, who, in taking up and carrying on the contracting and building busi- ness laid down by his worthy father, is making a name for himself among the best business ele- ment in this city. He is a native of Salinas, born September 13, 1874, into the home of W. P. and Nancy (Hurley) Mauldin, both of whom were born and reared in the south.
The schools of his home city furnished Robert G. Mauldin with a good educational foundation, and to this he has continually added by the read- ing of well-selected literature. His school days over, he apprenticed himself to learn the carpen- ter's trade from his father, and from then until the death of the father the two were closely asso- ciated in their business interests. As he became more and more proficient in learning his trade his value to his father increased in a like ratio,
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until, at the time of the death of the latter, the son was fully qualified to continue the business alone. He is his own architect, the ability to draw his own plans being the result of constant appli- cation on his part, and not the training of any school or college. Among the many residences which he has designed and erected in this city may be mentioned the following: The residence of Benard Nogues, on Central avenue ; H. Hitch- cock, South Main street; F. F. Whitcomb, on Front street ; Fred Raine; A. E. Cooper, on San Juan street; P. C. Christiansen, on Harvest street ; Taylor Nixon, on California street ; Rob- ert Grant, on Castroville street ; Mrs. Graves, on California street ; Judge Wallace, on Harvest street ; J. J. Leigh ; C. A. Andersen, located north of town, and also the Gun Club house, on the Espinosa ranch. Mr. Mauldin is one of the most public-spirited young men in his home city, whose welfare and good name he holds parallel to his Own.
FRANK E. HOOK.
A fair degree of success, represented by the acquisition of a ranch in Monterey county, has rewarded the exertions and wise judgment of Frank E. Hook, an influential rancher, owning and operating a tract in the vicinity of Gon- zales. It was his good fortune to come to Cali- fornia in boyhood and to grow to manhood in the midst of the scenes not far distant from his present sphere of activity; hence he was en- abled to study the soil, climate and environment before taking upon himself the responsibilities of an independent worker. Fortified by habits of industry, integrity and perseverance, he started out to make his own way in agricultural affairs, and since then he has won a position among the large ranchers of his district.
Born in Wisconsin in 1865, Frank E. Hook was a boy of nine years when he accompanied his parents to California and settled in Santa Cruz county, where he received a common- school education. At the age of nineteen years he started out to earn his own way and secured employment as a farm hand near Gonzales. In this way he continued to earn wages until 1887, when he began to farm for himself, renting a part of the Gonzales and Windsor ranches. For
nine years lie cultivated the soil of the Wind- sor ranch. With the proceeds of his labor he invested in land of his own. During 1902 he bought four hundred and thirty acres where he now lives. Previous to this he had taken up one hundred and sixty acres of government land and had purchased three hundred and twen- ty acres from his mother. In addition he ac- quired one hundred and sixty acres by purchase from Lee James, and more recently he bought from Bert Faler a tract of ninety acres. Alto- gether his landed possessions aggregate eleven hundred and sixty acres, a considerable part of which is under cultivation to barley. Beans also are raised in large quantities. The pastures fur- nish grass for his cattle and horses. Berries of various kinds are raised on the ranch, and oranges, too, are to be found there, the small grove proving what may be accomplished with citrus fruits in this locality. While the climate is not so well adapted to oranges as other parts of the state, the flavor of the product is of un- usual sweetness and delicacy.
The marriage of Mr. Hook united him with Miss Mary Allen, of Gonzales, and by that union five children were born, namely: Myrtle, Frances, Frank, Thomas and Elizabeth. It has been the aim of the parents to give the children the best advantages their means render possi- ble, and with that object in view they are train- ing them carefully at home and giving them the opportunity to attend the neighboring schools. The family enjoys the esteem of acquaintances throughout Monterey county.
JOHN BRAY, JR.
A native son of California, born in New Idria in 1880, John Bray, Jr., has spent his entire life in this section of the state, and has been an in- terested and intelligent spectator of the progress along the various avennes to which his attention has been drawn. At the time of his birth, his . father, John Bray, Sr., was following mining in the mines of New Idria, and in this vicinity the family made their home for a number of years thereafter. When he was about five years old the home was transferred to Nevada, where the father continued mining operations for three
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years more, after which he gave up the calling altogether, and coming to Long Valley, Monte- rey county, has since been interested in a ranch- ing enterprise.
Although John Bray, Jr. attained school age before coming to Long Valley, it was not until his parents located here that he began his school- ing in earnest. In the meantime he had become familiar with agricultural affairs through assist- ing his father on the home ranch, mornings and evenings, and when school was not in session dur- ing the summer months giving valuable service which was to redound to his credit in later years. When his school days were passed he took up life on the home ranch and worked side by side with his father in the cultivation of the home place, the association proving mutually pleasant and helpful. When he was twenty-two years of age, however, Mr. Bray felt not only competent to undertake a ranch of his own, but dem- onstrated this belief by renting a large acreage in this vicinity, the same on which he now re- sides. This comprises twelve hundred acres of land known as the William Griswold ranch, of which he has three hundred acres in barley and the remainder is used as pasturage for cattle, of which he raises large numbers, besides raising horses and hogs quite extensively.
Judging of his future success by what has al- ready resulted from his efforts it is not too much to say that he is destined to be one of the most successful ranchers and cattle-raisers in this part of Monterey county, and as one of her younger generation of agriculturists his progress is noted with interest.
Politically Mr. Bray is a Republican, and in his fraternal affiliations is identified with the Knights of Pythias of San Lucas.
JOHN WHITAM.
For more than twenty years Mr. Whitam has made his home on a ranch in Monterey county and during that long period he has enjoyed in- creasing prosperity, although not unfamiliar with seasons of agricultural depression and periods characterized by the unprofitable handling of stock. Keenness of judgment that does not over- look the most minute detail connected with his
affairs has enabled him to overcome difficulties. insuperable to one of weaker vision or less co- gent wisdom. With a mental outlook broadened. by wide experience, he is now devoting intelligent supervision to his ranch and from the fertile acres is gleaning a neat income each year. All. of the improvements on the place represent his painstaking labor and even the roads leading to. the ranch were built under his superintendence.
England is the native place of John Whitam and 1842 the year of his birth. At the age of nineteen he crossed the ocean to Canada, in- tending to become a permanent resident of that dominion. However, the climate proved far from satisfactory, nor were the financial prospects al- luring, consequently after a time he crossed into the States, settling in 1864 in Cass county, Mich.,. where he rented land and engaged in farming. The business of trading in stock also consumed considerable of his time. Coming from there- to California in 1886, he settled in Santa Clara county near the village of the same name and took up the business of horticulturist. In the- autumn of 1888 he sold out there and came to Monterey county, where in partnership with a Mr. Huff he purchased seventeen hundred and twelve acres located between King City and San Lucas. The two men continued together for four years, meanwhile acquiring quite a herd of stock as well as conducting general agricultural operations.
At the expiration of four years the land was. divided between the partners, Mr. Whitam re- taining nine hundred and eleven acres which he still owns and manages, having at this writing five hundred acres in barley and wheat, and util- izing the balance of the tract for the pasturage of the milch cows, calves, horses and hogs. Dairy- ing is one of the principal industries conducted on the ranch and has proved a source of profit to the owner, who, in addition to other improve- ments, has planted a small vineyard on the place. Another profitable work is the bee industry, for which purpose there are one hundred colonies of honey bees, and this occupation has proved remunerative considering the small outlay re- quired for its successful management.
The marriage of Mr. Whitam united him with Miss Eliza Gard, who was born in Michigan and by whom he has one son, James Edward, 110W-
.
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
an assistant on the home place. The work of organizing the blue lodge, F. & A. M., at King City, received the enthusiastic support of Mr. Whitam, who since then has been one of the generous supporters of the lodge work. As early as 1859 he became identified with the Baptist church, to which he has since adhered with loyal devotion. When the Baptist Sunday school was started at San Lucas he was one of the leaders of the movement, as he was also in organizing and building the Baptist and Methodist church in the same village. Ever since the organization of the work he has been a leading member of the ·congregation and one of its principal supporters. For some time he has officiated as superintend- ent of the Sunday school at San Lucas and he was further prominent in organizing the Sunday school at King City, where also he assisted in the building of the church. Religious move- ments always have received his warm support. Other enterprises for the well-being of the peo- ple, whether temporal or spiritual, also have en- gaged his sympathy and enlisted his support. To an unusual degree he has been prospered in his undertakings, but he retains the same friendly spirit, earnest helpfulness and warm heart that characterized him when, without means or friends, he came to the west, a stranger in a strange land, eager to take his part in the ma- terial upbuilding of the country.
JOHN SEEGELKEN.
Although he is not a native-born citizen of the United States, no one cherishes her good name and does more to uphold her institutions than John Seegelken, a resident of California since 1862, and of Monterey county since 1873. A native of Germany, he was born in the prov- ince of Hanover, June 18. 1846, the descendant of ancestors who had made the Fatherland their home for many generations.
Until he was sixteen years of age John Seegel- ken remained with his parents, and in the mean- time had been given excellent advantages in the schools for which Germany is noted. His educa- tion, youth and sturdy frame were the chief as- sets with which he set out from his native land in 1862, the fact that his brother, Richard, was
in California awaiting his arrival adding consid- erably to his natural courage. In later years this brother returned to Germany and died in his na- tive land. Mr. Seegelken had learned the coop- er's trade before leaving Germany, and, going to San Francisco, followed it for ten years. He then went as far north as Oregon, and in Port- land had no difficulty in finding plenty of work. He had been in this country altogether about ten years, when, in 1873, he came to Monterey coun- ty, and with the money which he had accumulated in the meantime established himself in the sheep business. He began with a modest size band, adding to it from time to time, until it finally numbered eight thousand head. This was before the fence law made restrictions on the range; so materially did it affect the sheep business in general that Mr. Seegelken sold off his stock and concentrated his efforts on a ranch devoted to general farming. In 1882 he purchased a tract of two hundred acres near Salinas, for which he paid $100 per acre, putting the land in grain and potatoes, and he also raised horses for his own use. Subsequently he sold this ranch for twice the price he had paid for it, and with the pro- ceeds purchased the two hundred acres on which he now lives, paying for this property at the rate of $70 per acre. Of this tract he has one hun- dred and twenty acres in beets, this commodity being one of the chief products of this part of Monterey county, which is disposed of to the sugar factory at good prices. In addition to rais- ing grain to some extent, he also has a fine or- chard, having twenty acres in apricots, besides raising large quantities of almonds and apples.
Since coming to the United States Mr. Seegel- ken has traveled over the country considerably, having made a trip to New York in 1868, and has also made three trips east by way of Panama. At no time during the years that he has made his home in the United States has he wished that Fate might have directed his footsteps elsewhere, for here he has succeeded in all that he has un- dertaken, and has acquired plenty of this world's goods to satisfy the most ambitious. He has taken an interested and helpful part in advancing projects of a public nature, such as schools, churches and good roads; in fact, no measure which has at heart the good of the community lacks his co-operation. Politically he is a believer
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in Democratic principles. Mr. Seegelken has never married, and ever since coming to this country has made his home with his brother, Henry, and his family.
F. A. BRINDEIRO.
The life which this narrative sketches began in the Azores Islands, thus making him a sub- ject of Portugal, his birth occurring in August, 1843, in the island home of his parents, Manuel F. and Mary Brindeiro. Educational facilities were limited indeed in his native land, but such as they were Mr. Brindeiro made the most of them, and with the later advantages of reading and observation he has been enabled to take his place in the world side by side with those whose opportunities outnumbered his own many times.
With the approach of manhood years Mr. Brindeiro realized more than ever the lack of opportunities in his own country for the ambitious young man, and in 1862, after many voyages
to different parts of the world, including Aus- tralia, finally came to California. He first lo- cated in the San Joaquin valley, where he secured a position as a herder of sheep, and later, by frugally saving his earnings, he was enabled to become owner of a band of his own. For this purpose he came to Monterey county and pur- chased sheep of Z. Hebert, beginning the busi- ness in a small way, but increasing his band from year to year, as his means enabled him to. Discouragements overtook him in the dry year of 1877, when the sheep business became very unprofitable, and as soon as possible he dis- posed of his band. With the proceeds of the sale he purchased fifty acres of land for which he paid at the rate of $100 per acre, four and one-half acres of this land lying inside the pres- ent limits of Salinas. At first he put all of the land in grain, but the low price which this com- modity brought in the market made it unprof- itable to continue raising it, and therefore he began to purchase stock to convert it into a dairy ranch. He also began raising alfalfa for feed, and by increasing the size of his herd from time to time, has now more than thirty milch cows and is doing a very successful dairy busi- ness.
Mr. Brindeiro was united. in marriage with Miss Mariana Deserpa in 1882, and of the ten children born them, only six are now living, two sons and four daughters, as follows: Joseph, Paul, Olive, Frances, Emily and Mary, the latter the wife of Frank Vierra. Appreciating the loss of advantages in his own boyhood, Mr. Brindeiro has left no stone unturned to give his children the best opportunities possible for an education, and he has the satisfaction of watch- ing their development to noble manhood and womanhood. As a citizen he has never failed to do his part, always supporting substantially all projects for the improvement of conditions in his community, and has been a stanch advo- cate of good schools.
REID BROTHERS.
One of the reasons for the development of Monterey county as an agricultural center is to be found in the presence of enterprising young men, trained to a knowledge of their specialty and capable of carrying out this knowledge along the most approved lines. This, in brief, may be said to describe the Reid Brothers, both young men of push and enterprise, who, as proprietors of a large ranch in the vicinity of San Lucas, are making a name for themselves as agriculturists which men of twice their years and experience might envy.
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