USA > California > Alameda County > History of Alameda County, California. Volume II > Part 8
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In San Francisco, Mr. Hahn was united in marriage to Miss Josephine Duffy, a daughter of Terrence and Ann (Markey) Duffy, who were early settlers in this state. Mr. Hahn was a member of Liberty Lodge No. 35, K. P., which he rep- resented in the grand lodge three times; Liberty Company, No. 11, Uniformed Rank, K. P., of which he was first lieutenant; Vorwarts Lodge, No. 113, I. O. O. F., and Andrio Aerie, No. 7, F. O. E. While living in San Francisco he was a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West, but did not identify himself with that organization after coming to Oakland. His life was characterized by high ideals, fidelity to principle and a sincere interest in the welfare of those about him, which prompted him to many deeds of distinctive service. He earned a reputation as an enterprising, progressive man of affairs, and a broad-minded, charitable and upright citizen, traits which the public was not slow to recognize and appreciate, and at his death many splendid testimonials to his life and character indicated the strong hold he had on the hearts of his fellowmen.
LOUIS RUSCHIN
Louis Ruschin, who is enjoying very satisfactory success as a realtor in Newark, has attained his present place in the business world through his persistent and deter- mined efforts and the high principles which have governed him, and no citizen of his community stands higher than he in the estimation of his fellowmen. Mr. Ruschin was born in Germany and came to the United States alone at the early
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age of eight years. He could not speak a word of English and had attached to his coat a tag, giving his name. He came to his uncle, Joseph Bock, in San Francisco, and secured his education in the historic Lincoln school. At the age of fourteen years he started to work in his uncle's bakery, where he was employed until 1890, when he came to Newark and went to work in the Southern Pacific railroad shops. Later he worked in the James Graham Company store. For eighteen years he was employed as a clerk in the general store of F. Falk, after which he engaged in business in Newark. He has property interests in this district, which engage his time and attention, and is one of the well-to-do and substantial citizens of Newark. He is a member of the advisory board of the Centerville branch of the Bank of Italy and belongs to St. Anthony's Hospital Association of Oakland.
Mr. Ruschin was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Murphy, a native of Ireland, and they are the parents of two children, Julia and Louis John. The son is in high school and is an eagle scout of the Boy Scouts of America. Mr. Ruschin has been very active in the public affairs of his locality, having served as a member of the board of school trustees and of the sanitary board. About fifteen years ago he organized the volunteer fire department, of which he has been chief continuously to the present time, and he formerly served as county game warden and as a deputy state game warden. He is affiliated with Centerville Lodge, No. 170, K. P .; Hay- ward Lodge, No. 1139, F. O. E .; San Jose Lodge, No. 401, L. O. O. M .; the advisory board of the American Legion, the U. P. E. C. and the I. D. E. S. Everything relating to the welfare and progress of the community in which he lives has enlisted his earnest support and he has been an important factor in affairs of importance. Cordial and friendly in manner, he is widely acquainted throughout this section of the county and all who know him hold him in high regard.
JOSEPH V. LOPES, JR.
Joseph V. Lopes, proprietor of Lopes' garage, at 8419 East Fourteenth street, Oakland, has been identified with his present line of business for many years and possesses a thorough technical knowledge of automobile mechanics, so that he has been able to render a high quality of service to his patrons. Born in San Francisco on the 17th of March, 1889, he is a son of J. V. and Anna (Kelly) Lopes, the latter a native of Portugal. His father came to California about forty years ago and was married in San Francisco, where he long engaged in the restaurant business, and was also widely known as a wine expert. His wife died in 1926.
Joseph V. Lopes, Jr., attended the public and high schools of San Francisco and then learned the trade of bicycle making, which he followed until the bicycle was gradually superseded by motorcycles and automobiles, to the repair of which he turned his attention. In 1906 he came to Oakland and was employed as an automo- bile mechanic until 1921, when he established his present business, which he is profitably conducting. He has a well equipped garage and repair shop, in connection with which he carries a large line of supplies and accessories, and also maintains a gas and oil service station. He takes pride in the high quality of his work, for
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which he has gained a well-earned reputation, one of his business principles being that every customer must leave his place satisfied.
Mr. Lopes was united in marriage to Miss Teresa Sannebeck, who was born and reared in San Francisco, and who has been a true helpmate to him, assisting him in his business as office manager. Mr. Lopes is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Native Sons of the Golden West, and the Elmhurst Merchants Association, of which he is vice president. He is a lover of outdoor sports, particularly of aviation and baseball. In civic affairs he gives his earnest support to every movement for the advancement of the city's interests. Because of his honorable business methods and his excellent personal qualities, he commands the respect and good will of all who know him.
JOHN G. SARMENTO
Among the old and well known families of Alameda county, none is held in higher esteem than the Sarmento family, of San Leandro, of which John G. Sarmento is a worthy representative. He is now devoting his attention to the management of his mother's ranch, in which work he has shown industry and good business judgment. The Sarmento family was founded in this state in 1851 by Joe Sarmento, who came here from Portugal and bought land at San Leandro from the McClures, paying six hundred dollars an acre for seven acres now comprising the home place, and which is now worth probably four thousand dollars an acre. This land was at one time a part of the Soto grant, title to which came from the King of Spain in the early part of the nineteenth century. It later became known as Rancho San Leandro and was numbered among the great ranches of this part of the state. The Sarmento tract is located at the southern city limits of San Leandro. Among the children born to Joe and Mary Sarmento is Joseph Francis, who was born in Niles, California, March 13, 1867, and was married, on April 5, 1893, at San Leandro, to Miss Mary Louise Bowers, a native of Buffalo, New York, and a daughter of John and Barbara Bowers, both of whom were born in France, where they were reared and married. Her father had learned the plumbing trade in his native land and after coming to this country followed that line of work in Buffalo, New York, and in Oakland, California, of which city he was one of the pioneer plumbers. He and his family resided for awhile in East Oakland, but later came to San Leandro and established their residence on Orchard avenue, where both parents died. Their daughter, Mary Louise, was about seventeen years of age when the family came to this state and has resided here continuously since. By her marriage to Mr. Sarmento six children have been born: Joseph Antony, who is a cook in Los Angeles, California; Alfred, who remains on the home ranch; Edward Joseph, who also is at home; Eugene John, a bookkeeper, who married Miss Maimie Burges and resides on Seventy-ninth avenue, Oakland ; John George, who was born August 2, 1903, secured his educational training in grammar and night schools, and is now managing the home place for his mother, who now owns it; and Arthur, deceased. John G. has devoted himself closely to the cultivation of the ranch, in which he has shown himself capable and discriminating in his operations, and throughout the community he is regarded as an up-to-date and
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enterprising farmer, commanding the respect and good will of all who know him. A half brother, George G. Sarmento, now deceased, was an expert blacksmith, well known to the early residents of San Leandro, and ran a shop at Hepne and Clark streets, where he enjoyed a large patronage. The Sarmento family has always stood high in the confidence and respect of the people of the community, being generous and hospitable, and is numbered among the worthy old families of Alameda county.
ALPHEUS KENDALL
After a long and successful career as a building contractor and planing mill operator, Alpheus Kendall of Oakland, is now retired from active business and is spending the golden sunset years of life in well earned leisure, secure in the es- teem and admiration of many friends. A native of Maine, Mr. Kendall was born at Abbot, Piscataquis county, January 7, 1849, and is a son of Stedmon and Mary Jane (Chandler) Kendall, also natives of the Pine Tree state. The father was born in Bath and remained a resident of Maine until seventy-five years of age, when he came to California and made his home with his sons and daughter until his death. His wife, who was born in Monmouth, Maine, passed away in that state. Alpheus Kendall had two younger brothers and a sister, Noah Chandler Kendall, George Harry and Lucy Weeks Kendall, who now reside in Oakland, while Corra Kendall Jackson and Ada Kendall have passed away.
Alpheus Kendall acquired a good public school education in Maine and after- ward learned the carpenter's trade. His father owned and operated a carding mill where the white fleece was carded, rolled and prepared for the weavers by the crude methods and equipment of our forefathers. When Alpheus was thirteen years of age, the uninsured mill, which constituted the family's only source of revenue, was destroyed by fire, and the young son found it necessary to lay aside his school books and assist in supporting the other members of the household. The family, undaunted by the catastrophe, immediately selected and located upon a tract of raw undeveloped land, which in a few years yielded to the energy, skill and perseverance of the Kendalls, and became a very productive and profitable farm.
In 1870, when twenty-one years of age, Alpheus joined the Greeley colony and journeyed westward to Colorado, where three hundred and fifty members of the company settled and organized a town which they named for Horace Greeley. Upon leaving that community, Mr. Kendall visited Denver and witnessed the driving of the last spike in the construction of the transcontinental railroad. But the call to the west was uppermost in Mr. Kendal's mind, and in the fall of 1873 he stood upon the western shores of California and looked out upon the broad Pacific ocean. After a brief sojourn at Pescadero, he sought the center of pop- ulation and located in San Francisco, finding employment at his trade in that city and in Oakland. He assisted in the construction of the magnificent mansions erected by Crocker, Stanford and Hopkins, who, with Mr. Huntington, were the active builders of the Central Pacific Railroad into California, and whose activity in business, politics and civic affairs constitute an important part of the history of California. From San Francisco, Mr. Kendall removed to Oakland, but some time
Alpheus Kendall
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later, on account of ill health, went to Humboldt county, California and secured employment in a mill. Upon recovering his health, he returned to Oakland and was employed in the shops of the Southern Pacific Railroad until the fall of 1877, when he formed a partnership with Charles A. Littlefield and engaged in the contracting business under the firm name of Littlefield & Kendall. The month of June, 1880, is an important mile post in Mr. Kendall's life, for it was then he leased a small planing mill at the corner of Second and Grove Streets, and with a cash capital of five hundred dollars and a small delivering outfit, laid the foun- dation which developed into an enterprise showing a clear investment of nearly three quarters of a million dollars, and to which he gave his constant and active attention until his retirement in 1912. In 1892 the mill was incorporated under the name of Pacific Coast Lumber & Mill Company. Mr. Kendall was a tireless worker and his remarkable success has been attributed in a large degree to the outstanding example he set for his employees and associates. His subordinates were always welcomed to his presence and were made to feel at liberty to discuss their own trials and tribulations, as well as the best interests of the institution of which they were made to feel a part.
In 1883 Mr. Kendall became interested in a saw mill at Blue Lake, Humboldt county, known as the Blue Lake Mill and which was later incorporated under the name of Riverside Lumber Company. He conceived the very economic idea of shipping all short material to his planing mill in Oakland, and in this way saved millions of feet of lumber from which he realized an excellent profit. The saw- mill was operated by his nephew, H. W. Jackson. Later Charles Nelson became associated with Mr. Kendall's Riverside Lumber Company, and organized the Charles Nelson Lumber Company, purchasing the business of the Corbell Lum- ber Company and also acquiring the Mad River railroad. The Charles Nelson Company is still in existence, Mr. Kendall still remaining one of its stockholders, with James Tyson as president and H. W. Jackson, vice president and director. In his business affairs, Mr. Kendall has met with a substantial measure of suc- cess, and in addition to his other interests, is the owner of two well improved citrus fruit ranches near Orosi, Tulare County. One of these ranches consists of one hundred and sixty acres and the other of over one hundred acres, all planted to oranges, lemons, grapefruit, grapes, alligator pears and other fruits and nuts.
When thirty-four years of age, Mr. Kendall was united in marriage to Miss Edna Bell Gould, who was born in Nova Scotia and is a daughter of James and Martha Jane (Swindell) Gould. One daughter was born of this union, Corrie Elsie Kendall, who died in 1892. In 1899 he built the comfortable and attractive home in which he lives and in which are found some particularly fine specimens of California redwood and Oregon ash,-the accumulation of careful selections over a period of many years. With his wife, he has traveled extensively through- out the United States, Alaska, the Far East and Islands of the Pacific.
Mr. Kendall has been a life long supporter of the republican party and has always manifested a keen interest in the welfare and progress of his city and community. Mr. Kendall is a close student of economics, well read and posted on all the subjects dealing with politics, business affairs and economics. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, still retaining his membership in the Blue Lodge No. 39, of Penobscot Dexter, Maine, in which he was raised. The Scottish
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Rite degrees from the fourth to the thirtieth were communicated to him by Albert Pike in San Francisco in 1883, in order that Albert Pike might have the three additional and necessary members to establish a Lodge of Perfection in Oakland. Mr. Pike was one of the most prominent Masons of the country and many lodges throughout the United States are named in his honor. Mr. Kendall is now the only surviving charter member of the Oakland Lodge of Perfection and is a Knight Commander of the Court of Honor, which is the next step higher than the thirty-second degree in Scottish Rite Masonry. He also has membership in the Mystic Shrine, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Union League Club of San Francisco; the Commercial Club, the Athens Club, and the Claremont Country Club. Honesty of purpose and fidelity to every trust and honor in every relation of life, have characterized his entire career, and he enjoys the unquali- fied confidence and respect of his fellowmen.
HENRY B. MARLIN
Henry B. Marlin, of San Lorenzo, who has been a resident of Alameda county for three-quarters of a century, is one of its most highly esteemed citizens, for he has led an active and useful life, devoted mainly to agricultural pursuits, in which he realized a measure of success which has enabled him to practically retire from active business affairs. Mr. Marlin was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, No- vember 2, 1850, and is a son of John and Eliza (Bowers) Marlin, also natives of Perry county, Pennsylvania. John Marlin became one of the pioneers of the Pacific coast, to which he came by way of the isthmus of Panama. He first located at Astoria, Washington, where, in partnership with three of his brothers, he engaged in the lumber business. In 1852 he came to Alameda county, California, and located as a squatter on a piece of land in the San Lorenzo district. He farmed there for awhile, but was finally compelled to give it up, at which time he bought one hun- dred and thirty-five acres near San Lorenzo, for which he paid Louis Steitz four thousand dollars. With the exception of about twenty-five acres of timber land, this was all an open field and was located about half way between San Lorenzo and Roberts' Landing. He cleared the twenty-five acres and entered actively upon the cultivation and improvement of the tract, which he devoted to general farming and the raising of vegetables. In 1863 he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in San Lorenzo, for which he paid five hundred dollars down and assumed an indebtedness of eighteen thousand dollars. Thirty acres of the tract was in fruit, two acres being planted to cherries, for which he received as high as one dollar a pound. So successful was he in the management of his properties that in two years he had paid off his indebtedness and had twenty-seven thousand dollars in bank. He then bought the John B. Ford ranch, in the Mt. Eden district, for which he paid twenty-seven thousand five hundred dollars, and during the remainder of his life he devoted indefatigable energy to the operation of the three ranches, setting out more orchards and erecting substantial farm buildings, and met with such success in his business affairs that at the time of his death, which occurred November 2, 1878, at the age of fifty-six years, his estate was valued at one
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hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Mr. Marlin was an active supporter of the republican party, but never aspired to public office. His brother, Brady W. Marlin, served as supervisor of Eden township for seventeen years. Fraternally Mr. Marlin belonged to the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at San Lorenzo and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows at Hayward. His ranches were devoted to raising grain, vegetables and fruit, and he ran large herds of cattle and horses, in the handling of which he showed excellent judgment.
To John and Eliza (Bowers) Marlin were born the following children. Mary E., who resides in San Lorenzo, is the widow of the late Henry Smyth, one of the pio- neer business men of that locality, having been a blacksmith and a manufacturer of implements, carriages and wagons. Henry B. is second of the family. Margaret is the widow of T. Armstrong and resides at Hayward; Kate, now deceased, was the wife of John Tychsen, a vineyardist of Napa county, California. Josephine became the second wife of John Tychsen and resides in Napa county. Annie, who died at San Lorenzo, at the age of twenty-seven years, married Charles Jaycox, to which union was born one child, Charles, who went down with the ill-fated "Titanic" on April 15, 1912. She was later married to Wesley Mohr, and to them was born a son, Wesley. John P. is a rancher at San Lorenzo. The mother of these children died in 1863, at the age of about thirty-six years, and subsequently Mr. Marlin married her sister, Sarah Bowers, who also is deceased.
Henry B. Marlin was reared on his father's ranch in San Lorenzo and secured a good public school education for that period. Under his father's supervision he became a good farmer and remained at home until he had attained his majority, when he went to Napa county, California, and worked on a ranch. Soon afterward he worked on a stock ranch in Nevada, where he was put in charge of five hundred head of cattle, for which work he received fifty dollars a month and board. He later cultivated a farm on shares for about one year and then went to work as a freight teamster for J. R. Pritchard, the pioneer freighter of Nevada. He drove sixteen horses on heavy freight wagons, hauling provisions and machinery to the mines at Eureka, Nevada, and bringing back bars of silver and lead from the smelters at Eureka, which were placed aboard the cars at Palisades, California, thence shipped to the wharfs, where they were loaded on vessels for England. On the death of his father, in 1878, Mr. Marlin inherited a portion of the estate and he and his brother, John P., bought out the interests of the other heirs in the home ranch of two hundred and ten acres, for which they paid five hundred dollars an acre, amounting to eighteen thousand dollars. This money was all paid before the death of their stepmother, who willed her share of the estate to Henry B. and John P. Marlin, who set out orchards and raised large quantities of fruits and vegetables. Henry B. Marlin in later years has devoted his land almost entirely to truck garden- ing, in which he met with very satisfactory success, and he now has the land leased, and is quietly enjoying a well earned leisure.
In 1877 Mr. Marlin was united in marriage to Miss Sophia Petersen, who was born in Denmark and is a daughter of the old pioneer, Captain Petersen, who was in command of one of Captain Roberts' vessels, shipping goods and passengers to and from Roberts Landing, which in early days was the port for San Lorenzo. Mr. and Mrs. Marlin have four children : May, the wife of Charles Case, of Piedmont, an employe of the Redwood Lumber Company, of San Francisco; Henry, store-
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keeper at the county hospital on Foothill boulevard, who married Miss Naomi Kennedy and has two children ; Alice, who is the wife of Budd Haley, president of the Bank of Hayward, and has two children; and Stanley, district manager for the General Petroleum Company at Hayward, who married Miss Jesse McFadden and has one child. Mr. Marlin is a member of Eden Lodge, No. 113, A. F. & A. M., one of the oldest Masonic lodges in California, and during all of the years of his residence in this community he has been recognized as one of its most progressive and public-spirited citizens, giving his support to all measures for public betterment, while his social relations have been such that he has commanded the friendship and good will of all who know him. In 1927 Mr. and Mrs. Marlin celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage and the event was the occasion for a gathering of their numerous friends and the receiving of many sincere congratulations and expressions of esteem.
RUFUS M. WHALEY
Rufus M. Whaley, of Oakland, is rendering a high type of service to his com- munity, for, in the capacity of assistant adult probation officer, having charge of the more extreme cases in the police and justice courts, he has been able to exert an uplifting influence over many who have been in need of encouragement and the right kind of counsel. He has had wide experience in dealing with lawbreakers and is well qualified by temperament and training for the duties which he is per- forming. Mr. Whaley was born in the Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, on the 7th of February, 1887, and is a son of Rufus M. Whaley, who served as United States marshal of the eighty-third district, comprising Indian territory, in the days when that section of the country was infested with bad men and criminals of every character, and won a high reputation as a law officer.
Rufus M. Whaley, Jr., received his educational training in the Indian Industrial University and was deputy sheriff in the first sheriff's office in Indian territory, serving in that capacity during the Crazy Snake Indian uprising. He liked that line of work and later served as deputy sheriff in Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma. In 1920 he came to California and in the same year was appointed deputy sheriff of Alameda county, in which office he continued for five years, when he resigned to accept his present position, to which he was appointed by the judges of the superior court. He is given the most difficult cases and enjoys his work, for it gives him a splendid opportunity for the reclaiming of the "down and out," and he has received high commendation for the splendid results which he has achieved. At the same time, he is stern and insistent where discipline is required and has proven able and resourceful in handling the cases assigned to him.
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