USA > California > Glenn County > History of Colusa and Glenn counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 37
USA > California > Colusa County > History of Colusa and Glenn counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 37
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On May 24, 1905, Mr. and Mrs. Burrows celebrated, with their children, their golden wedding, and were the recipients of congratulations and best wishes from a large circle of friends who knew them more or less intimately. In April, 1916, Mrs. Bur- rows moved to Willows, where she lives surrounded by every comfort. She is the oldest woman settler of Glenn County now living.
AMIEL KAISER
One of the largest stock-raisers and grain farmers of Glenn County, Amiel Kaiser was born at Ploen, in Holstein, Germany, May 12, 1879. His parents, Frederick and Katherina (Pries) Kaiser, both were natives of Holstein, Germany. Of their family, Emma was the first to come to California, where she married John Pieper. They now reside in Oregon. The other children are:
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ITenry, who died in Glenn County; William, a farmer near St. John; Sophia, Mrs. Gattsch, of Oakland; Andrew, a farmer near Germantown; and Amiel, of this review. Several of the children having migrated to Glenn County, Frederick Kaiser, with his wife and two yonngest sons, Andrew and Amiel, voyaged to the United States, locating at Willows, Glenn County, where they engaged in farming. The father died in 1896, and six months later the mother passed away.
Amiel Kaiser received some schooling in Germany, and fin- ished his education in Willows and Germantown, Cal. His father's death left him on his own resources at the early age of sixteen years, when he started to earn his own way, going to school in winter and doing farm work during the summer months. He worked eighteen months for Herman Quint on his ranch east of Germantown. His next employment was on the Kelly ranch, where he remained four years. At the end of that time he began working for his brother, Andrew Kaiser, later becoming foreman for him, in charge of his large ranch interests.
After working for his brother nine years, Mr. Kaiser started in to farm for himself. He rented the Western ranch, at St. John, Glenn County, and engaged in grain farming, having seven hun- dred acres nnder enltivation; and one year he put in twelve hnn- dred acres. He next rented the Peter Garnett ranch for three years, and farmed eleven hundred acres, two hundred acres of which was pasture land. In all this extensive farming Mr. Kaiser proved successful. He is now renting three sections, nineteen hundred twenty acres, of the James Talbot ranch, eighteen miles southwest of Willows. He has abont twelve hundred acres nnder plow, putting in about one half of it to grain each year, besides which he raises cattle, hogs and mules. He specializes in the Berkshire breed of hogs, keeping a registered boar, and raises from two to three hundred hogs yearly. He carries one hundred head of cattle of his own, and also a larger herd on shares. His brand is the well-known Quarter-circle K.
Mr. Kaiser is in every sense of the word a self-made man, ow- ing his snecess entirely to his own efforts. He is a man of untir- ing industry, and is at the same time gifted with far-sightedness and business ability. As a citizen, he is progressive and public- spirited, always willing to do his share to further the good of the many. His well-deserved prosperity is an example of what can be accomplished by a young man of sixteen when thrown on his own resources, if his efforts are accompanied by industry and natural business ability, two qualities which make of obstacles but another step in the ladder.
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Mr. Kaiser's marriage took place in Germantown, Septem- ber 25, 1907, when he was united with Miss Martha Hill, a native daughter. She was born in Germantown, Cal., a daughter of Max Hill, a native of Holstein, Germany, and one of the early settlers of Germantown, Glenn County. He was married here on Septem- ber 22, 1877, to Miss Wilhelmina Pries, also a native of Germany. They were farmers at Germantown, where they owned and oper- ated four hundred acres two and one half miles northeast of the village. In 1915 Mr. Hill retired; and the home farm is now be- ing operated by his son, Henry. Mr. Hill was twice married; and of the two children by his first marriage Henry is the only one now living. Of his second marriage there was only one child, Martha, now Mrs. Kaiser, Mr. and Mrs. Kaiser have had four children born to them: Florence, Ernest, Bernhardt, and Hugh. The family are members of the German Lutheran Church, and have the respect and esteem of a wide circle of friends in their community.
HIRAM A. GREENWOOD
Since an early date the Greenwood family has been identified with the development of the agricultural and stock interests of the Sacramento Valley. Especial mention is due to Hiram A. Greenwood for the part he took in laying the foundation for the present-day prosperity of the section about Orland. now within the confines of Glenn County, but when he located here, in Colusa County. A native of New York State, he was born on February 7, 1835, of a family long identified with the Atlantic States. He received his education in the common schools of his native state, remaining a resident there until 1864, when, desiring to explore the Western country, he set out with horse teams to cross the plains, desert and mountains, on the way to California. Mr. Greenwood was chosen captain of the wagon train; and this duty made it necessary for his wife to drive nearly all the way to California. Many hardships were endured on the journey. In- dians were encountered, and several fights ensued. Some of the men of the party were killed, and many horses were stolen. The eldest child of Mr. and Mrs. Greenwood was taken ill and died, and was buried on the plains.
On arriving in this state Mr. Greenwood took his family to Red Bluff, where he located them, and then began freighting be- tween that city and Susanville. Rates were high; and during the three years he was so engaged he was able to save enough to start in farming. He then leased the Rawson ranch, near Red
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Bluff, and began his operations as a grain-grower. In 1870 he moved to the vicinity of St. John, on the Sacramento River, and later to what became known as the Greenwood ranch, three miles south of Orland. With the passing of the years he became very well-to-do, adding to his landed interests very materially until, at the time of his death, he left one of the most valuable properties in Glenn County. About 1885 he had moved to Stony Creek; and there he passed away, on April 27, 1888. Public- spirited in all things, Mr. Greenwood promoted all projects for the public good. He was a liberal supporter of schools, churches, and charitable organizations, and aided in the establishment of public markets. In politics he was a strong Republican, and a stanch advocate of good government. A man of strong person- ality and kindly nature, he made and kept friends; and when he died, he was mourned throughout the entire county.
On March 29, 1859, Mr. Greenwood was united in marriage with Harriett M. Harvey, in her native state of Illinois. Mrs. Harvey survived her husband until January 25, 1905, at which time she died on the ranch near Orland. They had four children, three daughters and a son. The oldest child died while crossing the plains; and a married daughter died on December 22, 1888. Eva E. Behrens, of Redwood City, and Willis A., survive. Mr. Greenwood was a member of the Baptist Church, and held mem- bership with the Odd Fellows Lodge at Chico. His success was of his own making; and he was recognized as an important factor in the development of the best interests of the Sacramento Valley.
WILLIS DREW
A highly respected resident of Glenn County, now living retired in his comfortable home at Orland, Willis Drew is well deserving of all the honor shown him. He was born on a farm in Perry County, Ind., August 30, 1845, a son of Jonathan and Elizabeth (Sampley) Drew. The father was born in Vermont and was descended from an old New England family, while his wife was a native of Georgia. Jonathan Drew located in Perry County and there engaged in farming and raising tobacco. Later he moved across the river into Kentucky, where he continued in the same occupation. In 1848 he became a settler, in Jones County, Iowa, on the then western frontier, where he improved a good farm and raised grain and stock until 1862, in which year we find him crossing the plains to California. On his arrival here he located in Sutter County, and was there engaged in
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raising grain and stock until his family had scattered and he and his wife were once more alone. He then made his home with his son Willis, until his death in 1902, at the age of ninety-two. His wife also died at this son's home.
Third in order of birth in a family of ten children, Willis Drew attended the common schools in Iowa, and at the age of seventeen came with his parents to this state. He worked in the mines for a time, and then went into the timber of the Sierras, where, with a brother, he began taking contracts for getting out logs. He was engaged in this enterprise for five summers. Re- turning to Sutter County, he farmed there until 1872, finding that a surer way to prosperity. Meanwhile, he began looking about for some good land; and this he found in Colnsa County, in the vicinity of Elk Creek, now in Glenn County, where he pur- chased a half section and began its improvement, raising grain and stock with profit. In 1880 he homesteaded one hundred sixty acres, seven miles north of Elk Creek. In addition to farming, he did a general teaming business; and for one season he owned an interest in the Oriental Sawmill. In 1889 he bought the property that became known as the home place, which he improved by erecting suitable buildings, and which has ever since been devoted to grain and to stock-raising. He retired from active work in 1913.
In Sutter County, Willis Drew was united in marriage with Martha Elizabeth Vanderford, who was born in Michigan, a daughter of Napoleon B. and Martha (Silver) Vanderford. Mrs. Vanderford was born in Toronto, Canada. Napoleon Vanderford was born in Steuben County, N. Y., August 22, 1827, and was taken by his parents to Ann Arbor, Mich., in early childhood. He received his education in the common schools; and in 1851 began operations as a lumberman and contractor. In 1858 he came to California by way of Panama. Going to Sutter County, he took up a quarter section of land, to which he added from time to time until he owned four hundred eighty acres. In 1876 he sold out and moved to the Elk Creek section of Colusa County. There he bought two thousand acres of land and was engaged in raising sheep and cattle until 1903, when, upon the death of his wife, he leased the ranch, and later sold it, and made his home with his children. He was a stanch Republican, and was active in the movement to organize Glenn County, serving on the board of supervisors for twelve years. Mr. Vanderford was always a con- sistent member of the Christian Church.
Of the marriage of Willis Drew and his wife, seven children were born: Laura Elizabeth, who married E. F. Zumwalt; Sarah Ellen ; William Walker, a rancher in Modoc County; Napoleon B.,
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a teacher in the Sacramento High School; James Edison, of the Elk Creek district; Leland Stanford, principal of the Orland grammar school; and Truman Willis. Mr. Drew is a Republican, and a member of the Christian Church.
EDWARD HEATHCOTE
A resident of Colusa County, living nine miles north of Colusa, Edward Heathcote, now in the ninety-first year of his life, is in point of years the oldest living white settler in the county. He was born at Furness, England, sixteen miles from Manchester, on March 14, 1827, a son of Joseph and Hannah (Bailey) Heathcote. When he was sixteen years of age, in 1843, he came to Waukesha, Wis .; and seven years later, in 1850, he crossed the plains with ox teams to California. For about five years he mined for gold at Nevada City, Cal. Not meeting with the success he had expected, he then turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. He came to Colusa County in 1856, bought some land, and began farming. He was successful in this venture, and kept adding to his land until he became owner of seven hundred twenty acres, which he controlled until 1912. He then sold out, and is now living retired with Mrs. Mary G. Jones.
In the Heathcote family there were twelve children, seven of whom grew up. George died in Wisconsin; Hannah was married in Winconsin to James Jones and came to Colusa County, where she died, the mother of five children; Edward is the subject of this review; Joseph died in Wisconsin; Mrs. Mary Woodard died in Iowa; Mrs. Elizabeth Wright died at Red Bluff, Cal .; and Samuel died in Orland, in 1916. Mr. Heathcote has taken an active inter- est in public affairs. He has served on grand juries, and has been a member of the board of trustees of Butte Creek school district. In politics he has usually aligned himself. with the Republicans. He is a strong advocate of temperance. Now in the evening of a long and busy life, Mr. Heathcote is still well preserved. He has retained his faculties, and is an interesting conversationalist, dis- coursing on events of the early days in the state in an entertain- ing manner. He has lived a conservative and consistent life, and has made a host of friends since he became a pioneer settler of Colusa County.
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Edward Heathcote
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DAVID BROWN
A life spent in successful private enterprise and faithful public service, with nothing to mar its efficiency or cloud its record, is an achievement worthy of mention in the biography of California pioneers. David Brown has been a resident of Cali- fornia since 1869. During the long period of his residence in the state, he has watched its development and helped in its advancement, with a keen perception of its resources and future possibilities. Born in Ontario, Canada, on June 24, 1850, he came to California when a yonth of nineteen. Being entirely dependent upon his own efforts, and eager to do any work that would teach him the methods used in his new surroundings, he worked for some years as a farm hand on ranches in Yolo, Merced and Colusa Counties. It is from just such beginnings that many of our prominent pioneers have sprung, who have made a name and place for themselves in the annals of the state.
After working for wages for several years, Mr. Brown set- tled in Orland, Glenn County, in 1877. In 1876, he and his brother had first come to this section; and at once seeing the possibilities it afforded for irrigation, they thought it the place to put a stake and build up with the country. Here Mr. Brown built a livery stable, which he conducted for twenty-five years and eleven montlis, continuously. For eight years his brother, Thomas Brown, was his partner; but after that time Mr. Brown was sole owner of the business. He has met with deserved success in his various undertakings, meanwhile finding time for the public posi- tions he has held, and taking an active part in all projects for the advancement of his section of the state. He is now serving his fourth term as supervisor of Glenn County, making fourteen consecutive years in office, during which he served for one term as chairman of the board. He has proved himself a most able county official; and his record for unswerving loyalty to the connty's best interests has gained for him the firm friendship and support of his community. He has always been a great advocate of good roads; and the roads in his district are kept in the best of condition. He has a thorough knowledge of conditions throughout this entire section. Progress is his watchword; and he gladly does his share in support of all movements for the good of his county. He is a member of the Glenn County Farm Bureau and a director in the Orland Creamery; he served as a director in the Orland Unit Water Users' Association; and in early days he was a director in the Lemon Home Ditch Company. 22
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The marriage of David Brown united him with Alzora Harelson; and they are the parents of seven children : Mabel, wife of W. B. O'Hair; Arnold, connected with hospital work in Berke- ley, Cal .; Lena, wife of J. W. Rucker; Zozie, wife of W. E. Carroll; and Opal, Ima, and David, Jr. The home ranch, two and one half miles northwest of Orland, consists of three hundred eighty acres, and is one of the most productive in the county. Mr. Brown has seeded eighty acres of it to alfalfa, and the bal- ance is devoted to grain and pasture land. He maintains a dairy of forty blooded Jersey cows, and has one hundred twenty-five head of cattle besides. With all the varied interests that have occupied his attention since he made his residence here, Mr. Brown has found time to be an important factor in the development of his district ; and he is today one of the best-known and best-liked men in the county. Fraternally, he is a Mason, a member of Orland Lodge, No. 285, F. & A. M.
LOUIS M. REAGER
A pioneer educator, and for more than ten years a member of the county board of education of Glenn County, Louis M. Reager has made his influence felt for good in his native connty. The son of Martin A. Reager, a forty-niner, whose sketch is given elsewhere in this history, he was born in Colusa County, December 21, 1861; and practically his entire life has been passed within the old county bonndary lines. His schooling was obtained in the common schools and in Pierce Christian College, at College City, from which he was graduated in 1885. He at once secured a school and began teaching; and during the years that have inter- vened since then he has been following his chosen career. Today he is recognized as one of the leading educators of Colusa and Glenn Counties.
Mr. Reager has taught in Orland, where for seven years he was principal of the high school, and for two years, of the gram- mar school; and in the Hamilton and Bayliss districts. In 1916- 1917 he was principal of the Bayliss school. So satisfactory have been his services that he was chosen a member of the Glenn County board of education. For more than ten years he has served in that position, part of the time as president of the board. By his service on the board he has aided materially in bringing the public school system to its present high state of efficiency.
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Mr. Reager has wisely invested in city and country property. He owns a fine dairy ranch of eighty-two acres east of Orland, a part of the property once owned by his father, which was pur- chased in 1860. He also owns thirteen acres west of town, and has his fine home place of three and one half acres in the city. He is a Mason, belonging to Orland Lodge, No. 265, F. & A. M., of which he is a Past Master.
On November 9, 1887, occurred the marriage of Louis M. Reager with Miss Anna Durham. Mr. and Mrs. Reager have two children, Orrin D. and Xavie. Xavie is a teacher in the Orland grammar school.
DOUGLAS CRAMER
A "booster" for Arbuckle and Colusa County, as well as one of the leading business men and the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Arbuckle and College City, Mr. Cramer is making a name for himself in the Sacramento Valley. He was born near Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, on January 20, 1861. His father, King Cramer, was born aboard a vessel three days before it reached New York City while his parents were migrating from Germany to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was reared and educated. In 1852 he crossed the plains to California; and there he followed mining until 1855, when he returned to Cincinnati via Panama, and there married Elizabeth Hildreth, a native of that city. They followed farming there until the father's death. The mother afterwards came to California, and resides in Arbuckle, aged eighty-six years. She had two children, Charles and Douglas, both residing in Arbuckle.
Douglas Cramer was educated in the common schools, and was reared on the Ohio farm until he was eighteen years old. In 1879 he came to California to begin life on his own responsi- bility. He was willing to work at any honest labor to gain expe- rience of Western men and methods; and for three years he worked as a rancher in Yolo County. In 1883 he engaged in the butcher business at Yolo; and from there he went to Fresno, where he continued in the same business in the shop of W. J. Williams. After a time spent in Fresno, he returned to Yolo County, and for six years ran a shop of his own in Dunnigan. In 1903 he came to Arbuckle and entered the employ of Houchins & Mitchell. Four years later he purchased the interest of Mr. Mitchell; and since then the firm has carried on business under the firm name of Houchins & Cramer. They conduct an up-to-date meat market, modern in all its appointments, owning and operat-
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ing their own slaughter house, and draw patronage from a wide section of country surrounding Arbuckle. Prompt service and courteous treatment of all is the motto of this enterprising firm.
Mr. Cramer was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth C. Bolander, who, with her husband, enjoys the esteem of a wide circle of friends. Fraternally, Mr. Cramer was made a Mason in Yolo Lodge, No. 81, in the year 1882, but is now a member of Meridian Lodge, No. 182, F. & A. M., at Arbuckle, of which he is a Past Master. He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. To the later-day development of Arbuckle, there is no man who has lent his support more willingly, or with a freer hand, than has Mr. Cramer.
LEONARD THOMPSON
A pioneer who will be long and gratefully remembered for his uprightness of character and his rare personal qualities, and for the influence of his example in the community in which he lived, was Leonard Thompson, now deceased, who was born in Ohio, in 1831. He was a son of Samuel Thompson, a Methodist minister, who died at the home of his son, in Iowa. When Leonard Thompson was only fifteen, he moved from the Buckeye State to Henry County, Iowa; and there he was raised on a farm. In a few years, with characteristic enterprise, he was tilling the soil for himself; nor did he take his hand from the plow until he had made his position secure among Iowa farmers.
In the fall of 1875, he came West, to California ; and arriving in Orland, he bought a hundred forty acres of raw land, six miles to the southeast of the town. At that time there were very few settlers in the neighborhood. It was a difficult task to improve the place and make of it a habitable home and a paying invest- ment. However, he leveled the land, fenced it in, built a house and barns, and planted trees; and in the end the Thompson ranch and ranch house were an attractive sight to all who saw the place. The fig trees on the ranch are now among the largest to be found anywhere in California. For many years, Mr. Thompson ran the ranch, farming to grain; and when he gave up active life, his sons carried on the work he had begun. Of late the place has been managed by Frank W. Thompson, who lives two miles south of Orland. The land is still being devoted to grain-raising.
Leonard Thompson was twice married. One son by the first marriage, Thomas A. Thompson, is the father of one daughter, Lucille. The second marriage occurred in 1856, when Mr. Thomp-
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son was united with Miss Hannah Newby, a native of Henry County, Ind., born in 1841, who moved to Henry County, Iowa, in 1852. W. Lawrence Thompson, a son born of this union, is mar- ried and has three sons, Verner, Lester and Ralph. For forty-two years Mrs. Leonard Thompson has lived on the old home ranch; and she recalls with interest the pioneer days in Colusa County, when all the trading was done in Chico, Butte County, some twenty miles from the ranch, and at Jacinto. At that time Orland was not on the map. Leonard Thompson was a man of fine education. He was fond of books and had a well-stored mind, having been for years a wide reader. In keeping with his natural aptitudes, he early turned his attention to the field of education. In every way possible he supported California schools; and for years he served as a trustee in the Plaza district. When he died, in 1908, California lost one of her most conscientious and efficient citizens.
HOSEA B. TURMAN
One of the leading cattle men of Colnsa and Glenn Counties, who has succeeded despite the many obstacles thrown in his way, is Hosea B. Turman, who was born in Clark County, Ohio, Jann- ary 24, 1846, the son of Isaac and Frances (Lowe) Turman, both natives of Ohio. With the usual ox team and a drove of cattle, his father crossed the plains in 1854, taking six months for the journey, and shooting wild game, including the buffalo, for food. The family settled near Petaluma, and engaged in stock-raising; and in 1866 the father retired from active business life.
Hosea Turman's first independent ranching operations began in 1866, when, with Tom Harlan, he leased three hundred acres of land of the old Colonel Hagar ranch, four miles south of Colusa, paying a hundred fifty dollars a year rental for the entire lot. They had many exciting adventures with cattle thieves and horse thieves in Colusa County in those days; and notwithstanding their unremitting vigilence, Mr. Turman lost many of his cattle and his best horses. When he was able to do so, he drove a band of cattle to Grass Valley, in Nevada County, continuing there in cattle-raising; and he bonght a large lot of land, in 1868, in Bear Valley, from which he anticipated much profit. In 1870-1871, however, he was farming near Williams, and the drought of that season swept away nearly all that he owned. In the spring of 1872, Mr Turman settled in Ash Valley, Modoc County; but after a short time he went to Reno, Nev., for horse trading. The next
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