USA > California > Alameda County > History of Alameda County, California. Volume II > Part 54
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later went to the Utica mine, in Calaveras county, where he served as electrical foreman in the power plant. From there he went to the Crocker Sugar Factory, at Crocketts, Contra Costa county, where he was employed as first assistant engineer. In 1904 Mr. Kahn was appointed superintendent of the electric light plant in Alameda and has filled that position to the present time. He has had charge of the street lighting system, as well as of the police and fire alarm systems, and under his able direction the department has functioned in a manner that has gained for him much favorable comment. Alameda has a splendid electric plant and system, consisting of a main plant and three sub-stations, and the public service is equal to that of any city in the state. Mr. Kahn has shown himself highly qualified for the responsible place which he so capably fills and is regarded as one of the city's most efficient employes.
He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the Scottish Rite branch of the order; Aahmes Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Oakland; the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks; and the Fraternal Order of Eagles at Alameda. A man of quiet and unostentatious manner, he is, nevertheless, forceful and energetic and his accomplishments since coming to Alameda have gained for him an enviable place in the confidence and respect of his fellowmen.
HERMAN RITTIGSTEIN
One of the outstanding figures in the material development of the Bay district is Herman Rittigstein, of Oakland, whose operations in real estate have been of a character and magnitude which have immeasurably contributed to the progress and prosperity of the city. Mr. Rittigstein was born in Stockton, California, on the 8th of March, 1886, and he is a son of Adolf and Anne (Ruble) Rittigstein, both of whom were natives of Austria, the former born in 1837 and the latter in 1860. The father was one of the pioneer merchants of Oakland, having con- ducted a retail hardware and paint business here for over forty years, com- mencing about 1880.
Herman Rittigstein received his early education in the public schools of Oak- land, to which city the family had moved in 1891, and was graduated from high school in 1904. In September, 1905, he entered the University of California, but, having as a boy spent much time about his father's store, where he gained con- siderable business experience, within a year after entering the university active commercial life attracted him and on February 13, 1906, he laid aside his text- books and yielded to the lure of the boom mining camps of Nevada. He spent a year there, during which period he engaged successfully in various business enter- prises, and on his return to California he decided to acquire a legal training. To this end, in September, 1907, he entered the law school of Leland Stanford University, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1910.
Immediately after graduation, Mr. Rittigstein returned to Oakland and entered the real estate business. From the very start he made a profound study of and concentrated his activities on Oakland's central business properties and has been
HERMAN RITTIGSTEIN
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very successful in this special field of operation. He soon became generally recog- nized in Oakland as the outstanding authority on the leasing and development of business property and has maintained this position of leadership for over fifteen years. By reason of the fact that he has located more big business concerns and caused the erection of more new buildings in Oakland than any other person during that period, his efforts and judgment have exercised a tremendous influence on the growth and development of the business district of this city. His latest and greatest achievement came in March, 1927, when he not only personally negotiated the thirty-million-dollar merger of the H. C. Capwell Department Store in Oakland with the Emporium Department Store of San Francisco, but also sold the merged institutions two blocks of ground at Twentieth and Broadway streets, Oakland, for many millions of dollars. This entire transaction was the largest of its kind ever negotiated in the west and the great new H. C. Capwell Depart- ment Store, at Twentieth and Broadway, one of the largest and finest in America, stands as a monument to his genius for real estate development. In 1915 Mr. Rittigstein formed a partnership with F. Bruce Maiden, under the firm name of Maiden, Rittigstein & Company, engaged in a general real estate and insurance business, specializing in business property sales, leasing and management. The firm maintains leadership in its field in Oakland.
Mr. Rittigstein is a member of the Masonic order, the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, the Athens Athletic Club, the Berkeley Country Club and the Stanford Alumni Association. He is a Jew in his religious faith and gives his political support to the republican party. At the age of nine years Mr. Rittigstein evidenced considerable talent for pen and ink drawing and cartooning, in which he indulged to some extent for several years, but eventually gave up the prospects of an art career to study law. At Leland Stanford he was best known for the success he achieved in the management of various college activities. Whatever success has rewarded his life work has been the result of diligent application, a keen under- standing of human nature and a vigorous, colorful personality. Because of his outstanding accomplishments, his sterling integrity, his fine public spirit and his genial and courteous manner, he commands the unequivocal confidence and respect of all who have come in contact with him.
WILLIAM HENRY PARKER
One of Oakland's leading business men and prominent officials is William H. Parker, who conducts a successful real estate and insurance business, and is also rendering able service as city commissioner. He was born in Medford, Jackson county, Oregon, on the 22nd of June, 1884, a son of William Henry and Fannie (Jones) Parker. The father, who was born in Fulton county, Illinois, July 18, 1845, is descended from English ancestors who came to America shortly after the arrival of the "Mayflower," and among whose posterity was numbered President Garfield. The mother was born in Dallas county, Iowa, March 2, 1851, and was also of English descent.
William H. Parker received his educational training in the public schools
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of Oregon, in which state he resided until 1900, and has since lived in Oakland. After leaving school he learned the trade of a harness and saddle maker, at which he worked for thirteen years, and then spent ten years in the cleaning and dyeing business. In 1923 Mr. Parker embarked in the general real estate and insurance business, to which he devoted his attention closely until January 3, 1928, when he was appointed undersheriff of Alameda county. He filled that position until July 1, 1928, when he assumed the office of commissioner of the city of Oakland, and was elected vice president of the city council, for a while acting as mayor of Oakland.
On March 8, 1914, in the Protestant Episcopal church in Oakland, Mr. Parker was united in marriage to Miss Anna Harley, who was born in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, September 12, 1887, and was educated in the public schools of Ontario and Ladies' College at Ottawa. She is a member of the Women's City Club, the Order of the Eastern Star and the Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem, being an officer in the two last named organizations. She is a daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Grant) Harley, both of whom were born in Cornwall, Canada. Her paternal grandparents were natives of England, and her grandfather, Samuel Harley, was a general in the Canadian army. Her maternal grandparents were born in Scotland, and her mother was a relative of General U. S. Grant.
In his political views Mr. Parker is a republican and has always taken a deep interest in public affairs. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Order of the Eastern Star, the Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem, in which he is watchman of shepherds; the Sciots, in which he has passed through the chairs; the Woodmen of the World, in which he has held all of the offices; the Modern Woodmen of America; the Knights of Pythias and the Loyal Order of Moose; and he also belongs to the Service Club, the Kiwanis Club, the Sciots Club and the High Twelve. He and his wife are earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He has had considerable military experience, having served for seven years in the Fifth Regiment California National Guard, in which he attained the rank of first sergeant. He is greatly interested in all outdoor sports, being particu- larly fond of golfing, boating, fishing, hunting and horseback riding. He is a man of sterling qualities of character, sound judgment in practical affairs, open hearted and straightforward in manner, and cordial and unaffected in his social relations, so that throughout this city he commands not only public confidence but also the sincere regard of all who have come in contact with him.
OLIVER ELLSWORTH
Among Alameda county's best known citizens stands Oliver Ellsworth, who for nearly forty years has been engaged in the practice of law, maintaining an office in the Mills Building of San Francisco, where he commands a large clientele. He is also rendering splendid service as mayor of Piedmont and is regarded as one of the best citizens of the East Bay district. Mr. Ellsworth, who is a direct descendant of Oliver Ellsworth, chief justice of the United States supreme court from 1796 to 1800, was born at Mission San Jose, Alameda county, April 7, 1867,
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and is a son of Henry T. and Harriet (Bryant) Ellsworth, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Massachusetts. His father came to California, by way of the Isthmus of Panama, in 1851, and located at Mission San Jose, where he became engaged in farming, in which he prospered, becoming the owner of six thousand acres of land. In 1881 the family moved to Niles, where the father continued his farming operations and the old ranch there is still in the possession of the family.
Oliver Ellsworth attended the grammar schools and graduated from the high school at Oakland, after which he entered the University of California, from which he was graduated, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in 1888. He pre- pared for a professional career in the Hastings Law College, of San Francisco, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and at once opened an office in that city. After the earthquake and fire of 1906 Mr. Ellsworth moved his law offices to Oakland, where he remained until 1909 and has been a prominent figure in the legal circles of San Francisco as well as this county, being regarded as one of the able and dependable attorneys of this section of the state.
Mr. Ellsworth was united in marriage to Miss Lillian Mastick, who was born in San Francisco and is a descendant of one of Alameda county's pioneer families. To this union has been born a daughter, Beatrice, who is the wife of E. A. Wilson, of San Mateo, California. After coming to Oakland Mr. Ellsworth became actively interested in local public affairs and served two terms as a member of the city council, during one term of which he was president of that body. He is the second mayor of Piedmont, in which city he lives, and has served continuously for sixteen years, during which time he has been active and influential in promoting the development and improvement of that locality, his administration being marked by a progressive spirit that has kept apace with the splendid growth of that district during recent years. Mr. Ellsworth is a member of Piedmont Lodge, No. 521, A. F. & A. M .; Oakland Consistory, A. A. S. R .; Aahmes Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S .; the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco and the Mount Diablo Country Club, as well as the National State and San Francisco Bar Associations. He is also a director of the Globe Mutual Building and Loan Association of San Francisco. A man of alert mentality, wide learning, strong character and stanch integrity, he commands not only the respect of his professional colleagues, but also the unqualified confidence and esteem of his fellowmen and is regarded as a distinct asset to his community.
CHARLES L. BIEDENBACH
Charles L. Biedenbach, principal of the Berkeley high school, holds a distinctive place in the educational circles of California, because of his high attainments, his progressive ideas and his success as a school executive. Mr. Biedenbach was born in San Francisco, January 13, 1865. and attended the public and high schools of that city. He entered the University of California, from which he was graduated in 1886, after which he taught school in San Luis Obispo county for two and a half years. In 1889 he came to Oakland as principal of the Peralta school, after which
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he was a teacher of the Alameda high school for one and a half years. He returned to Oakland in 1892 as a teacher in the high school, filling that position until 1901, when he came to Berkeley as principal of Mckinley school, which he developed into the Mckinley Junior high school. In 1912 he became principal of the Berkeley high school and has held that position continuously to the present time.
In 1887 Mr. Biedenbach was united in marriage to Miss Lulu C. Colby, whose father, A. D. Colby, was one of the pioneers of Berkeley, having in the early days operated a grain farm at what is now College and Clairmont avenues. Mr. and Mrs. Biedenbach have five children. Mr. Biedenbach is a member of Durant Lodge, No. 268, F. & A. M., at Berkeley, of which he is a past master ; is a past president of the California High School Teachers' Association and the California Teachers' Association; is president of the Alameda county board of education, and since 1913 has been secretary of the State Council of the California Inter- scholastic Federation. To Mr. Biedenbach belongs the distinction of having been one of the first persons in the United States to advocate the establishment of junior high schools, which are now regarded as a very desirable feature of our educational system, and he is generally regarded as the father of the idea. A man of sincere purpose, devoted heart and soul to his profession and with a genuine interest in the mental, moral and physical development of the young, he is well worthy of the high place which he holds in the hearts of the people of this city.
J. H. LOWMAN
The leading undertaking establishment in Alameda is that owned and conducted by J. H. Lowman, who is recognized as one of the most capable and efficient funeral directors in this part of the state, having been in business here continuously for twenty years. He was born in Mansfield, Ohio, December 29, 1882, and secured his education in the public schools of that city. At the age of twelve years he started to learn the undertaking business and was one of the first undertakers in the United States to practice embalming. For five years he had an undertaking business of his own in Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained until 1907, when he came to Alameda, California, and formed a partnership with James Fowler, under the firm name of Fowler & Lowman. This business proved successful and in 1913 Mr. Lowman bought his partner's interest, though the original firm name has been retained to the present time. This was the second undertaking business to be established in Alameda and Mr. Lowman has always commanded his full share of patronage in his line, owing to his up-to-date methods, the splendid equipment which he has always maintained and his thoughtful and painstaking attention to the needs and comfort of those who have required his services.
Mr. Lowman married Miss Helen M. Anderson, who was born and reared in San Francisco, and they are the parents of a daughter, June E., who is now twelve years of age. Mr. Lowman is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons in all of its branches ; Alameda Lodge No. 1015, B. P. O. E .; the Fraternal Order of Eagles ; the Improved Order of Red Men; the National Union; Independent Order of Foresters; and Optimist Club, of which he was the first president. He
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has shown a deep interest in the advancement and welfare of his community and was a member of the first local service board of the city. His successful business career and excellent personal qualities, as well as his kindly and courteous manner, have gained for him the genuine respect of his fellowmen and he has long been regarded as one of the representative citizens of Alameda.
THE BANCROFT LIBRARY
Without question, the most complete and comprehensive collection of books, manuscripts, newspapers, maps and other material bearing on the history of any particular section of this country is the Bancroft Library, of the University of California. This great collection, which involved a stupendous amount of labor and great expense, over a long period of years, was the work of Hubert Howe Bancroft, historian and historical publisher, and covers in particular the best region of the Pacific slope, from Alaska down through the Central American states, but also contains much valuable matter relating to the entire Rocky Mountain district, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas, and touching upon Louisiana under Spanish dominion, and most of the islands of the West Indies. There are, approximately, in the original collection sixty-five thousand printed books and pamphlets, over five thousand volumes of newspapers, two thousands maps, atlases and engravings and two hundred and fifty thousand manuscripts. The manuscripts cover the archives of the Spanish missions, includ- ing many of the originial records, supplemented by letters and other documents ; Spanish governmental and commercial affairs in North and Central America, and relative to the later Mexican régime ; consular papers, originals and transcripts of diaries of early American trappers, traders, overland pioneers and gold hunters, the log books of early trading craft and valuable miscellaneous papers bearing upon every phase of life in the Rockies and on the coast ; several hundred dictated narra- tives of California pioneers, as well as important documents bearing upon the Spanish dominion in the entire southwest. The printed books and pamphlets include the best known and most useful items printed on the subject within the scope of the collection, the documentary collection itself being authoritatively stated to be one of the best half dozen in the country ; a representative collection of leading Mexican official and historical sets, and one of the best collections of early voyages extant in America. The maps, atlases and cosmographies are especially numerous, some of the maps being old and rare. The California branch of the collection of newspapers includes all of the earliest as well as the most important files, which are a most valuable source for the economic, social and political phases of history, while supplementing this is a vast collection of classified newspaper and magazine scraps, amounting to three hundred volumes and a large mass in loose form. There is much special material, bearing on American ethnology, exploration, naval and military affairs, colonization, political development, the early fruits of scientific research, the beginnings of literature and other arts, embracing, in short, the growth of culture in western North America and along the shores of the Carribean sea and the gulf of Mexico during four centuries of the civilizing process. By this
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general outline it may be seen that Mr. Bancroft's collection is almost priceless, and fortunate indeed was the University of California when, in 1905, it was given the opportunity to purchase the library. On receiving the proposition relative to its purchase from Mr. Bancroft, the board of regents secured the services of Reuben G. Thwaites, superintendent of the Wisconsin Historical Library, to examine and appraise the collection. After a thorough and careful examination, he was enthusi- astic in his recommendation to the University to accept the proposition, his con- servative appraisal of its value being at more than twice the amount asked for it- indeed he stated that the value of the collection was equal to any sum that was available for its purchase.
Since acquiring the library, the University has constantly added to it and today the collection is estimated to be worth between one million and one and a half million dollars, much of its contents being priceless from the fact that were it destroyed it could not be replaced. At its purchase the Bancroft Library was located on Valencia street, San Francisco, but in the summer of 1906 was removed to the University, being first assigned to the top floor of California Hall. On the completion of the Charles Franklin Doé Memorial Library building, this collection was given a place on the fourth floor of this building, which is fireproof and also houses the great University of California library, which is of course general in its scope. The tremendous task of classifying, arranging, indexing and other details incident to making the great collection readily available to the students of history has been done by a corps of able and competent librarians and historians, under the general direction of Dr. Herbert Eugene Bolton, than whom none better qualified could have been selected. Herbert Ingram Priestley, professor of history in the university, is the librarian, and is ably assisted by T. T. Hill, author and historian.
HON. JOSEPH R. KNOWLAND
A satisfactory biographical record of Alameda county must include specific reference to the life and labors of the Hon. Joseph R. Knowland, whose career as statesman, newspaper publisher, business man and citizen has gained from him a high place among the able and distinguished men of this county.
Mr. Knowland was born at Alameda, Alameda county, on the 5th of August, 1873, and is a representative of one of the well known pioneer families of Cali- fornia. His father, Joseph Knowland, came to this state in an early day and became one of the prominent and successful business men of Alameda county, acquiring one of the most extensive and important lumber interests on the Pacific coast. Joseph R. Knowland attended the public schools and Hopkins Academy and com- pleted his studies in the University of the Pacific. He was associated with his father in the lumber business and in the latter's various shipping interests.
Later he turned his attention to public affairs, for which he had a natural in- clination, and showed a deep interest in community development. When twenty- five years old he was elected to the lower house of the state legislature from the forty-seventh district by a majority of fifteen hundred votes and served in the regular session of 1899 and the special session of 1900. In that body he did
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effective work as chairman of the committee on commerce and navigation and in 1900 was reelected by a majority of two thousand. He was made chairman of a special committee appointed to investigate the police department of San Francisco, and as a result of the disclosures made during this investigation he introduced a bill which was enacted into a law, prohibiting Chinese girl traffic. In 1902 Mr. Knowland was elected to the state senate from the fourteenth senatorial district by a majority of twenty-eight hundred votes and served in a capable manner as chairman of the committee on banking. During his entire legislative career he was actively identified with all movements calculated to improve public morals and elevate the standard of citizenship. His consistent record in his efforts along con- structive lines led, in 1904, to his nomination to fill out the unexpired term in the fifty-eighth congress of Hon. Victor H. Metcalf, who had been appointed secretary of commerce and labor. He was elected to the fifty-ninth congress by a plurality of seventeen thousand three hundred and eighty-four, was later reelected to the sixtieth congress and again to the sixty-third congress. As a member of the important committee on interstate and foreign commerce he took an active interest in legislation concerning the Panama canal and led the fight on the floor of the house for free tolls for American ships engaged in the coastwise trade. He con- sistently supported the principle that the United States should receive the largest possible benefit from the canal and voted in favor of a provision in the Panama canal bill preventing railroads owning or controlling steamships from operating through the canal when they were competing with railroad lines in traffic. Pains- taking and exact in everything, he was not content with second-hand information on the subject and made four trips to the canal zone during the construction period, studying conditions and operating methods, and was thus able to speak with author- ity on everything pertaining to its building and use. Among other important legislation actively supported by him was the bill to suppress the white slave traffic, and he introduced a bill to enlarge the provisions of the existing law relating to this. In 1914 Mr. Knowland was an unsuccessful candidate for United States senator.
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