USA > California > Alameda County > History of Alameda County, California. Volume II > Part 10
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Charles H. Seccombe received his elementary education in the public schools of the middle west and South Dakota, and then entered Carleton College, from which he was graduated, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1892, receiving also his Master's degree from that institution in 1895. He entered Chicago Theological Seminary, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1895, and was ordained to the ministry of the Congregational church. His church work brought him to California in 1906 and soon afterward he started the study of law privately. On April 6, 1916, at Los Angeles, he was admitted to practice and began his professional labors at Riverside, where he remained about one year, when he came to Oakland, where he has since resided and practiced law. For several years he was a member of the law firm of Dutton, Seccombe & McDonough. On the 1st of April, 1927, he formed a law partnership with Henry F. Edson, and, sens- ing the possibilities of the Fruitvale district of the city, they opened an office at
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1354 Fruitvale avenue, where they have built up a large and steadily increasing practice.
Mr. Seccombe was united in marriage to Miss Georgia M. Luley, a native of Minnesota and also a student in Carleton College. To them have been born two children : Mrs. Dorothy Carlson, who is a matron of the Fred Finch orphanage; and Frederick T., who is in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Mr. Seccombe is a stanch republican in his political views and has always taken a keen interest in public affairs. He has frequently been urged to run for public office but has refused to do so. During the World war he was an effective Four Minute speaker and has worked and given freely of his time and talent for the advancement of the public welfare, being, particularly interested in the East Bay district. Thoroughness and diligence have characterized all his labors, professional and otherwise, and he has been loyal to principle in every relation of life, so that he is well worthy of the confidence and trust which are reposed in him by his fellowmen.
ELON ARWIN ORMSBY, M. D.
One of the leading physicians of southern Alameda county is Dr. Elon A. Orms- by, of Centerville, where for over two decades he has successfully practiced the healing art, having built up a large and remunerative practice. The Doctor was born at Petaluma, California, September 8, 1870, a son of Walter Alfred and Lucy Grace (Price) Ormsby, the former born at Ypsilanti, Michigan, and the latter at Waukesha, Wisconsin. His father was a watchmaker by trade and was long in the employ of the Illinois Watch Company, serving as foreman for many years. In 1868 he came to California, locating at Petaluma, where he engaged in watch- making and where his marriage occurred. Later he became associated with his father in the operation of the first planing mill in Petaluma, but the mill and lum- ber yard were destroyed by fire, entailing a heavy loss. Mr. Ormsby then went to work at the Blethern & Cary mill, at First and Washington streets, in Oakland, but later resumed watchmaking, and his death occurred in that city in 1877. He was a republican in politics.
Elon A. Ormsby attended the public schools of Oakland, graduating from the old high school at Twelfth and Market streets, the first high school in that city. He then matriculated in the California Medical College, in San Francisco, and won the degree of Doctor of Medicine, in 1896. He engaged in the practice of his profession in Oakland, but about two and a half years later moved to Ransberg, this state, where he remained two and a half years, going from there to Concord and thence, three years later, to Linden, where he practiced two years. For the past twenty-one years the Doctor has been in Centerville and has gained a wide reputa- tion as an able and dependable physician.
In 1897 Dr. Ormsby was united in marriage to Miss Augusta N. Rodgers, who was born in England, a daughter of Dr. Samuel and Elizabeth (Nicholson) Rodgers. She came to this country at the age of eighteen years with her parents, who located first in San Francisco, but later moved to San Diego. Her father, who was a graduate of Oxford College, England, was a physician and was on the medi-
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cal staff of the Bartholomew Hospital. He has also been a clergyman of the Pro- testant Episcopal church and had built several churches in England. Dr. and Mrs. Ormsby have five children, namely, Virginia Grace, Phoebe C., Arwina Elizabeth, Arwin Elon and Dorothy Marjorie. The Doctor is a stanch republican in his poli- tical views and is ready at all times to cooperate with his fellow citizens in all movements for the betterment of the community along material, civic or moral lines. He is a member of Alameda Lodge, No. 167, A. F. & A. M., of which he is a past master ; Oakland Consistory, A. A. S. R .; and Aahmes Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Oakland. Cordial and friendly in manner, he has a wide acquaintance and commands the unqualified confidence and esteem of the entire community.
GEORGE ROETH
George Roeth, one of the most valued-and- highly esteemed citizens of Oak- land, where he took up his permanent abode a half century ago, has for the past fourteen years been successfully engaged in business as proprietor of the House- wives Free Market, the largest free market in Oakland.
His birth occurred in Baltimore, Maryland, on the 8th of March, 1859, his parents being Ferdinand and Wilhelmina (Ehrenphort) Roeth, both of whom were natives of Germany. They were married in 1852. The father, born in 1822, was a young man of twenty years when, in 1842, he crossed the Atlantic to the United States and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he embarked in business as a dry goods merchant. At the time of the Civil war his business was confiscated by the rebels, and in 1867 he removed to Kankakee, Illinois, where he carried on general merchandising until his death in 1872. His widow, who survived him, passed away at Kankakee, Illinois, in 1878. Their family numbered eleven children.
George Roeth, their fourth child, began his education in the schools of Balti- more and continued his studies in Kankakee, Illinois, for he was a lad of but eight years when the family home was established in the latter city. There he attended the grammar and high schools and assisted his widowed mother in the conduct of her business interests until he had attained the age of eighteen.
In 1878 Mr. Roeth came to California, and his arrival in Oakland was coinci- dent with the advent of the first railroad here. He obtained employment as book- keeper and cashier with the J. Lusk Canning Company, in the service of which concern he continued until 1884, supervising the labors of one thousand China- men. Subsequently he turned his attention to the box and lumber business, incor- porating the Eagle Box & Manufacturing Company in 1885, and doing business at the foot of Market, Myrtle and First streets in Oakland for a period of thirty years. He also associated himself with the Great Eastern Quick Silver Mining Company, Inc. in Sonoma county, of which he is president and principal owner. Since 1914 he has managed the Housewives Free Market, which is the largest free market in Oakland, located at Washington and Sixth streets and Clay and Fifth streets. It is open to the public on Wednesday and Saturday of each week. Mr. Roeth, moreover, is actively identified with manufacturing interests in Oakland and is widely recognized as one of the city's substantial and representative business men.
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In 1896 he was one of twelve citizens who organized the first manufacturer's ex- hibit, which was maintained for three years. The first exhibit was held in the Mills tabernacle at Twelfth and Webster streets. At the time of the earthquake and fire of 1906, Mr. Roeth was elected treasurer of the Masonic bodies and was put in charge of all the money that came to Oakland from the Masonic lodges of the different states for the relief of sufferers, and to his duties in this connection he gave his attention from six o'clock in the morning until midnight for an entire month. As president of the Union National Bank at Twelfth and Broadway streets he saved over one million dollars to depositors during the panic of 1907 and every depositor was paid in full. His connection with any undertaking insures a prosperous outcome of the same, for it is in his nature to carry forward to suc- cessful completion whatever he is associated with. He has earned for himself an enviable reputation as a careful man of business and in his dealings is known for his prompt and honorable methods, which have won him the deserved and un- bounded confidence of his fellowmen.
On the 1st of June, 1887, Mr. Roeth was united in marriage to Louise J. Ped- rini, a lady of Swiss and Italian descent, who was born at Garden Valley, Eldorado county, California. They are the parents of two daughters and a son, namely : Guglielma Louise; George Roeth, Jr., who is associated with his father in the gro- cery business in the Housewives Free Market building in Oakland under the firm style of Roeth & Roeth; and Eunice Dagmar, the wife of Lawrence D. Sherman.
Mr. Roeth is a Knight Templer and thirty-second degree Mason and a worthy exemplar of the teaching and purposes of the craft. He is a Shriner, being a mem- ber of the Aahmes Temple of Oakland, which he helped to organize. His reli- gious faith is indicated by his membership in St. Paul's Episcopal church and his life in every relation has been such as to commend him to the warm regard and friendship of all with whom he has come in contact.
GEORGE L. HOOSON
In the improvement and development of Hayward, George L. Hooson has been a prominent figure. As a cement contractor, he has done a large amount of sewer, sidewalk, road and foundation work, in which he has been highly successful. Mr. Hooson is a native of the locality in which he now lives, having been born in Hay- ward on the 9th of June, 1880, and is a son of Casper and Catherine (Sullivan) Hooson, the former born in Alsace-Lorraine, Germany, and the latter at St. Johns, New Brunswick. The father and his brother George came to the United States when young men, locating in Ohio, where they worked at the carpenter trade. In 1849 Casper Hooson joined the gold rush to California, coming across the plains, and for several years worked in the mines of northern California. Later he lo- cated at Union City, Alameda county, where he was employed at the carpenter trade and also did contracting, until during the early '60s, when he moved to Hay- ward. Here he successfully followed the same line of business up to the time of his retirement, and his death occurred in 1902, when he was ninety-seven years of age.
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His wife came to San Leandro in 1876, was married here, and her death occurred here in 1916.
George L. Hooson was reared in Hayward, where he attended the grammar school to the age of fourteen years, when he went to work for Geary & Grindell, liverymen and undertakers. He remained with that firm for fourteen years, and then went to Sacramento, where for four years he was employed by F. A. Lafferty, who operated a large livery business. Returning then to Hayward, he went to work in the livery and undertaking establishment of Sorensen Brothers, with whom he remained three years, quitting that firm to go into the cement contracting busi- ness, in which he is still engaged. He has done a vast amount of work in his line throughout this part of the county and, due to his honest and thorough workmanship and his honorable business methods, he has won not only large material success, but, what is of more value, the confidence and respect of the public.
In 1908 Mr. Hooson was united in marriage to Miss Leona L. Kerr, who is a native of Illinois, and they are the parents of one child, George W., who is a gradu- ate of the Hayward grammar school and is now a student in St. Elizabeth's school at Oakland. Mr. Hooson takes an active part in local public affairs and is an ardent supporter of the republican party. He is a member of Cypress Camp, No. 141, W. O. W .; Eden Parlor, No. 110, N. S. G. W., Lodge No.86, I. D. E. S .; and is also a director of the Hayward Builders Exchange. He has led an industrious life, idleness being foreign to his nature, and has so ordered his actions as to earn the sincere respect of all who know him, being regarded as one of the substantial and dependable citizens of his community.
JOSEPH A. TURGEON
Joseph A. Turgeon has gained a wide reputation throughout the Bay district as a decorating and painting contractor, his enviable standing in that field of business being based on the high quality of his work and his honorable methods. Mr. Turgeon was born in South Dakota, December 19, 1886, and is a son of Philip and Meridah (Patry) Turgeon, both of whom were natives of Quebec, Canada. They were reared and married in that city and later went to South Dakota, where the father engaged in farming and stock raising, carrying that business on successfully until his untimely death by drowning in the Missouri river. His widow is now living in Iowa.
Joseph A. Turgeon spent his boyhood days on his father's ranch and his early education was received in the grammar schools of that locality. He attended high school in Sioux City, Iowa, and then learned the trade of painting, which he fol- lowed there until 1911, when he came to Oakland and engaged in contracting as a painter and decorator. In this business he has met with very gratifying results, soon gaining a reputation for artistic taste and dependability, and during the inter- vening period has successfully handled some of the largest contracts in his line in this district, among which are the Scottish Rite temple, the California State Auto- mobile Association building, the new Telephone building, the Pacific Gas and Electric building, the Oakland Bank building and the Medical building, as well as
JOSEPH A. TURGEON
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the Medical building in Fruitvale. He does all kinds of work in his line and employs from ten to sixty men, all of whom are expert workmen. Mr. Turgeon is pains- taking in his work and takes pride in rendering service which is entirely satisfactory to his customers.
In 1917 Mr. Turgeon was united in marriage to Miss Vera Entwistle, who was born in Colorado, and they are the parents of one child, Veralee. Mr. Turgeon is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and in 1925 was made a member of the board of directors of the Builders Exchange. His extensive opera- tions have made him well known throughout the northern part of Alameda county and his integrity of character and genial manner have won for him a large circle of friends, who esteem him for his genuine worth as a man and citizen.
LESTER F. STERNER
Lester F. Sterner, manager of the San Leandro branch of the American Trust Company of California, has had a splendid record, embracing considerable expe- rience in banking, and since coming to San Leandro has gained general recognition as a man well worthy of public confidence, while socially, he has won many warm friends throughout the community. Mr. Sterner was born in Delaware, Ohio, on the 15th of September, 1895, and is a son of Professor J. F. and Daisy (Sanderson) Sterner, also natives of Ohio. The father was formerly a teacher of commerce, accounting and penmanship at Heidelburg University, Tiffin, Ohio, but is now a member of the faculty of Heald's Business College in Sacramento, California, to which city he went in 1913.
Lester F. Sterner spent his boyhood and youth in Tiffin, Ohio, where he at- tended the public and high schools and had one year in Heidelburg Academy. He accompanied his parents on their removal to Sacramento and also attended the high school in that city one year, when it became necessary for him to go to work. En- tering the employ of a Sacramento firm, he became a traveling salesman for farm implements, his territory embracing the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys. He later worked as a reporter for R. G. Dun & Company, in which capacity he covered Sacramento, Butte and Tehama counties, and subsequently he became a real estate salesman for the Nathan & Michael Company, of Sacramento, but later was pre- vailed upon by the Dun company to reenter its service. He was sent to Oakland and soon afterwards was put in charge of that firm's business in Berkeley and northern Oakland. He had been with that company about one year when he walked into the First Savings Bank of Oakland to learn something regarding a certain case which he was investigating. He was offered a position by that bank, and, re- signing his position with R. G. Dun, he became a teller in the bank in 1920. The First Savings Bank was affiliated with the First National Bank of Oakland, both being controlled by Mr. Bowles, who owned the American National Bank of San Francisco. Mr. Sterner remained with the savings bank for two years, filling posi- tions in every department, and when the Bowles banks were merged into the American Bank, in 1922, Mr. Sterner was appointed manager of the Diamond branch of the American Bank at Oakland. In 1924 he was sent by Mr. Bowles to
7V2
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San Leandro as assistant manager of the branch bank at this place and on March 1, 1928, was appointed manager.
On March 17, 1917, in San Francisco, Mr. Sterner was united in marriage to Miss Marjorie Wilson, a native of Ohio who was a classmate of his at Tiffin. To them has been born a daughter, Phyllis. Mr. Sterner is a republican in politics and has shown a commendable interest in public affairs. He is now serving as a member of the San Leandro board of education, to which he was elected in 1927, is a member of the Kiwanis Club, of which he is president, and has served as a di- rector of the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Sterner has served in the military forces of his country, having been with the United States Army in Mexico in 1916, serv- ing six months at Nogales. Mrs. Sterner is a prominent member of the Alta Mira Club and the Women's Club of San Leandro and both are members of the Presby- terian church. Mr. Sterner has been loyal and true to every interest with which he has been identified and has shown a high type of business ability, being a man of cool judgment and discretion, and is rendering effective and able service in the posi- tion which he holds. He has consistently supported the best interests of his com- munity and is numbered among its most highly regarded citizens.
LEON C. FRANCIS
Colonel Leon C. Francis, one of the highly respected citizens of Oakland, is ably and efficiently filling the responsible position of county jailor. He has a long and honorable military record and is in every respect well qualified for the post which he now occupies. Born in Portland, Oregon, on the 11th of July, 1878, he is a son of Albion and Ella (Chapman) Francis, both of whom crossed the plains in 1852, the Francis family locating in Oregon City in the Willamette Valley of Ore- gon and the Chapmans in Washington, of which localities they were pioneers. Al- bion Francis and Ella Chapman became students in the Oregon State University, at Salem, where they met and were married. The father became a musician and in 1896 removed to Oakland, where he followed his profession to the time of his death, in 1902. He is survived by his widow, who now resides at Pacific Grove.
Leon C. Francis was educated in the public schools of Portland, Oregon, gradu- ating from high school, after which engaged in the piano business for a number of years. He was long a member of the National Guard, having been captain of Company A of the One Hundred and Fifth Infantry, which afterwards became the Fifty-ninth California Regiment, in which he was promoted to the rank of major, and when the Mexican border trouble arose and the regiment was ordered south he was commissioned lieutenant colonel and afterwards, colonel. He continued in command of the regiment during the World war, but was not ordered overseas. After the war he was retired, with the rank of brigadier, and on January 3, 1927, was appointed to his present position as county jailor. His previous army experience has been valuable to him, as he is accustomed to handling men, and in his relations with the prisoners of the jail he has shown an earnest desire to be of real help to them in encouraging them to make a new start and be real men. His efforts have not
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been without results and have been greatly appreciated not only by the people of whom he has charged but by all others interested in reclaiming human derelicts.
Colonel Francis was united in marriage to Miss Mary Peters, a native of Cali- fornia, and they are the parents of six children, Albin F., Ramona, Dorothy (the wife of Harry L. Hoffman, Jr.), Chester, Lureil and Robert. The Colonel is a republican in his political views, and is a member of the republican state central committee. He belongs to the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Sciots, the American Legion, the Forty and Eight, and the Sheriff and Police Association. He has shown a helpful interest in Alameda county, standing for those things which are calculated to advance the public welfare, and his loyalty, splendid service and ex- cellent personal qualities have won for him a high place in the esteem and respect of his fellowmen.
STANLEY R. STERNE
Stanley R. Sterne, who has been engaged in the practice of law in Oakland since 1914, was born in Mariposa county, California, on the 26th of April, 1883, and is a son of Joseph A. and Elizabeth (Phillips) Sterne. The father came across the plains to California in 1850, while the mother was brought by her parents to this state in infancy. The father engaged in mining for a number of years and later served as a deputy sheriff. His death occurred in 1890 and he is survived by his widow.
Stanley R. Sterne attended the public schools, graduating from the Berkeley high school in 1907, and then entered the University of California, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1912. He next attended the law school of his alma mater and was graduated in 1914, with the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence, and on his admission to the bar engaged in the practice of his profession, to which he has since been closely devoted. He is a constant student of his profession and is regarded as thoroughly dependable, giving his best effort to every cause entrusted to him. He is an active supporter of the republican party, is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Berkeley and belongs to the California State Bar Association.
GEORGE WALTER KAVANAGH
George W. Kavanagh, the capable and efficient manager of the Rosenberg Com- pany, at Hayward, has been a resident of this locality for thirty years and is num- bered among its most highly respected citizens. He was born at Vallejo, this state, on the 2nd of July, 1872, and is a son of John P. and Johanna (McDonald) Kav- anagh, the former of whom was born in Rochester, New York, and the latter at Kinsale, Ireland. The father came to California in 1850 by way of the Isthmus of Panama and for several years was engaged in mining in the northern part of the state. Later he became foreman for the Southern Pacific Railroad at Cape Horn,
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where tunnels were being constructed, and in a powder blast in one of the tunnels he received serious injuries, from which he eventually recovered. Afterward he located at Vallejo, where he was employed as a ship carpenter, and his death oc- curred there in 1907, when he was eighty years of age. While mining in California he was married and is survived by his widow, who is now eighty-seven years old. He was independent in his political views, though a man of strong opinions on the issues of the day, and in 1880 he was a candidate on the workingmen's ticket.
George W. Kavanagh was reared to the age of fifteen years in Vallejo, where he secured a good education in the public schools. Going then to San Luis Obispo county, this state, he engaged in farming, following that occupation until twenty- five years old, when he entered the University of California. In 1898 he came to Hayward and for awhile engaged in teaming. Later he became a dealer in hay, grain and building material, which business he conducted until 1911, when he sold out to the Rosenberg Company, the present owners, and was at that time made manager, in which capacity he is still serving. He has devoted his efforts closely to the business, which has enjoyed a successful career, the volume of sales increas- ing steadily through the years until this is now one of the leading concerns in its line in this part of Alameda county. The building which has been occupied by the present business for so many years was at one time utilized as a grammar school, the first in the state, the timbers for which were cut in the forests of Maine and brought around the Horn to San Lorenzo in 1850. In it many of Hayward's now prominent people secured their early education and it is regarded as one of the landmarks of the neighborhood.
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