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 43
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 43
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D. A. Shellooe was one of the promoters of the plan to have Glenn County participate in the Panama-Pacific International Ex- position and in the San Diego Exposition. He represented the county at both places, and was one of the eight commissioners of the Northern California counties that considered it wise to go south to San Diego with an exhibit, to show the people of the Southland the wonderful opportunities of this favored part of the state, of which they know comparatively little. Great good has resulted from this outlay of money; for it has brought the North and South in California into closer harmony. After the expo- sition in the Southern city had closed, he was the one man who was instrumental in having the board of supervisors of Glenn County vote to install the exhibit used at the Fair in the state building in Los Angeles, as a permanent feature. He has worked for years to have the Iron Canyon project made a distinct district, where waters can be impounded and used for irrigating a wide area, thus encouraging immigration and settlement. These are but a few of the activities that have been vital objects of interest to Mr. Shellooe, who is working for the good of the county at all times, and particularly in the endeavor to bring about the enactment of constructive legislation.
On January 18, 1899, Daniel A. Shellooe was united in mar- riage with Miss Emma Golden, a native of Bay City, Mich., and
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a daughter of Michael Golden, of whom more extended mention will be found on another page of this history. Mr. and Mrs. Shellooe have the following children, who make their family circle complete and happy: Daniel Anthony Golden, Edward Vincent, William Marion Raymond, Sarah Albertine Marie, Mar- garet Anne, Daniel Augustine, Jr., John David, and Sarah Ida Marie. The three older sons were all in high school at the same time, the youngest being a little past thirteen years of age when he entered. As they have reached school age, they have all been given the best opportunities to obtain an education, to enable them to take their places in the world.
Mr. Shellooe is a member of Red Gum Camp, W. O. W., at Germantown, and of the Elks Lodge at Chico. Politically, he is well known in the state as a stanch Democrat, in national affairs. He has served on the County Central Committee for years, and in 1904 he was elected a delegate to the state convention. He has championed the cause of public schools, and has promoted good-roads campaigns and good-government movements, ever since he has been old enough to vote. He is a director of the Glenn County Garage. With his wife, Mr. Shellooe enjoys a wide circle of friends throughout Glenn County. The family worship at the Catholic Church in Willows. In summing up the career of "Dan" Shellooe, as he is familiarly known by all, one might say, in brief, that there is no man in the county who wields a greater influence in places where it is likely to do the most good for the greatest number of people, than he.
WILLIAM THOMAS BEVILLE
Owing to the long period of his residence in Colusa County, and his close identification with its political affairs, William T. Beville has become known among a large circle of acquaintances throughout the county, where he has aided materially in advancing the best interests of the people. He was born at Wythesville, Wythe County, Va., August 18, 1844. At the breaking out of the Civil War he was attending school; but he volunteered for ser- vice in the Confederate army in Company K, Eighth Virginia Regiment, and served until Lee surrendered, at the close of the war.
Thinking to better his condition in the Far West, Mr. Beville came to Colusa County, Cal., in 1868. Almost as soon as he arrived, he became a deputy in the office of the county clerk, where
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he continued until 1870. That year he received the appointment of under sheriff to J. B. Stanton; and he served under him for four years. When J. L. Howard was elected to the office of sheriff, in 1874, he appointed Mr. Beville to the same position, which he held until the close of his term of office. In 1875 Mr. Beville was elected county assessor. To this position he was re- elected, filling the office for four years with perfect satisfaction to all. When J. M. Steele was elected sheriff of the county in 1880, and Mr. Beville's term of office had expired, he was appointed un- der-sheriff by Mr. Steele. Four years later, when Mayberry Davis succeeded Mr. Steele, Mr. Beville was appointed to the same office by him, serving until Mr. Davis was himself succeeded in office. In 1886 Mr. Beville was elected sheriff of the county; and two years later he was reelected to the same office. He is now serving as under sheriff, by appointment of C. D. Stanton.
In 1872, William Thomas Beville was united in marriage with Miss Lulu Williams, a native of Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Beville had three children: Virginia, who became the wife of Dr. G. I. Cason and is now deceased; Mrs. Willie May Harding, of San Francisco; and Clarence Beville, of Colusa. Mr. and Mrs. Beville are hospitable and charitable people; and they have a host of good friends in Colusa and the surrounding counties. In 1872 Mr. Beville was made a Mason, in Colusa Lodge, No. 240, F. & A. M., in which he is now serving his thirty-seventh year as secretary; and with his wife he is a member of the Eastern Star, of which Mrs. Beville is Past Matron. Mrs. Beville has been an active member of the Methodist Church since her girlhood.
JOSEPH A. SUTTON
Missouri has given many of her sons and daughters to swell the population of California. Some of these harkened to the call in the gold-mining period; but the majority, descended from far- mer folk, have given their attention to tilling the soil. Among the latter we mention Joseph A. Sutton, of the Delevan district, in Colusa County. He is a native of Pike County, Mo., and was reared on a farm and educated in the district schools, until he was eighteen. At that time many were migrating to California from his section of the country; and in 1865 he came by way of Panama to this state. On his arrival he at once turned his attention to farming, working on a ranch near Knights Landing, Yolo County.
On October 20, 1868, over forty-nine years ago, Mr. Sutton, then a young man, came to the district now known as Delevan, in
James & Salat
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Colusa County, and started the nnelens of his present landholdings by taking up a government claim of one hundred sixty acres of raw prairie land. Here he built a box house, began planting both fruit trees and shade trees, broke the land, and put in his crop of grain. As snecess crowned his efforts, he kept adding to his hold- ings, until he now owns eight hundred acres. His property is wel! improved with modern barns; a good honse replaces the origina! cabin; and a general air of prosperity pervades the premises. Mr. Sutton has raised grain and stock all these years, at times leasing land in addition to his own. His harvests have been bountiful, and his income has been good.
Joseph A. Sutton was united in marriage with Mary J. Ken- ard, also a native of Missouri; and they have four children : Wal- ter; Mrs. Dolly Burgi and Mrs. Ruth Sale, both of Willows; and William K., at home. As a pioneer of Colusa County, Mr. Sutton has watched its development with interest. He has followed the even tenor of his way, aiding good causes, and helping to main- tain good schools and good government. In every sense of the word, he is a self-made man.
JAMES ROBINSON TALBOT
Among the many pioneers of the Sacramento Valley who have come and gone in the last half century, some to other locations and many to that "bourne whence no traveler returns," James Robinson Talbot occupied a place of exceptional prominence, won by years of industry and energy and the exercise of that balanced judgment which bespeaks the successful business man, whether as a tiller of the soil or as a participant in the busy marts of commerce. Mr. Talbot's extensive ranch was located in the foot- hills southwest of Willows, where he and his brother first took up land to engage in the stock business, many years ago, and where he was actively interested in the management of his property until his death in January, 1906.
Born in Montgomery County, Mo., December 19, 1823, Mr. Talbot was a son of Christopher Talbot, the latter a native of Kentucky, where, in the vicinity of Somerset, he farmed until 1809. In that year he located on the banks of the Missouri River, in Montgomery County, Mo., where he became an extensive planter, owning a large number of slaves and engaging in the cultivation of tobacco. His death occurred in that location at the age of sixty- five years. In Kentucky he married Susan Parish, a native of Virginia, and she died in Missouri in 1844. They were the parents
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of nine children, six sons and three daughters, of whom James R. Talbot was the sixth in order of birth.
James Robinson Talbot received a limited education through the medium of the common schools of his native state, after which, in young manhood, he worked as a hand on the farm of his brother Thomas I. On the 6th of May, 1849, attracted to the West by the gold excitement, he left Missouri as a member of the train com- manded by Captain Furnes, the journey being made with ox teams via Fort Hall, up the Platte and Green Rivers, and thence to Sac- ramento, where they arrived on the 26th of August. Mr. Talbot remained in that city until the following spring, and then went to Nevada City and for a time engaged in mining. Not meeting with the desired success, he then engaged in teaming from Sacra- mento to the mines of Auburn and Yuba River, and Rose's Bar, being so occupied until 1851. Later, he went to Sutter County and engaged in the cattle business and general farming. After four years spent in that county, he removed to Colusa County, where, with his brother, Thomas I. Talbot, he took up three hundred twenty acres of land and engaged in the stock business. In 1857 they dissolved partnership, Thomas I. taking the land in Modoc County and James R. remaining on the original property. From that modest beginning he increased his acreage to fifteen thousand four hundred acres. For many years he was one of the prominent stockmen in this part of the state. His place became the head- quarters of the stockmen of Northern California, and there they were always royally entertained. At one time Mr. Talbot also farmed about ten thousand acres to grain, the yield sometimes reaching about one hundred thousand bushels. After 1902 he made a specialty of sheep, having from twelve thousand to twenty- five thousand head. He developed his place into a well-improved ranch, provided with good and substantial buildings for the accom- modation of livestock and farm implements. The place is well watered by several springs and creeks.
In 1904 Mr. Talbot purchased an interest in Fouts Springs, a summer resort, located below the pine belt on Stony Creek, in the Coast Range, near Snow and Sheet Iron Mountains. The water of this spring was awarded the first prize, a gold medal, at the Louisiana Exposition, for its superior mineral properties. This property he constantly improved until it became one of the popu- lar resorts of Northern California. It is reached by stage from Maxwell, Colusa County, the forty-five miles so traversed being in the midst of beautiful scenery. Mr. Talbot was also interested in business and residence property in Willows, as well as in farming land in Oregon and Northern California. Although a man of splendid business ability, who conducted his affairs according to
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strict business principles, he was nevertheless very lenient, and rather than resort to foreclosure, allowed many a mortgage to go by default. His word was as good as his bond, and was so con- sidered by all who knew him. An independent man, he sought no favors ; but he was ever ready to do a favor, being generous with his means, and charitable in an nnostentatious way towards those less fortunate than himself. He made no display either of his wealth, which had been honestly won, or of his acts of charity. Ile was of a jovial disposition, kind and honest in all his actions; and those who knew him appreciated him for the sterling qualities which were his by inheritance and training.
In Marysville, Cal., in 1875, Mr. Talbot was united in marriage with Mary Dever, a native of Ireland. Her death occurred on August 21, 1892, at the age of sixty-four years. In his political convictions, Mr. Talbot was a stanch supporter of the principles advocated by the Democratic party, but never desired official recognition, both because of the claims of his many business inter- ests, and also for the reason that he was domestic and quiet in his tastes, and always preferred the peace of his own fireside to the emoluments of public office.
JOHN MCCUNE
The manager of the Daily and Triweekly Colusa Sun, John MeCune, was born at Monticello, Piatt County, Ill., on July 20, 1869, and grew up in his native county. James McCune, his father, was born in Ireland, of Scotch and Irish progenitors, and came to the United States, where he was married in New York to Miss Caroline Brody, a native of the Empire State. James MeCune was a printer by trade; but later in life he became a brick and cement contractor. He died in Piatt County about 1873. His widow lived in Monticello, where she reared her family in the face of many privations. She died there about 1909, at a ripe old age.
John MeCune had but a common-school education. He began working at the printing business in the office of the Bulletin, in Piatt County, when a lad of fifteen, and soon after secured a posi- tion in the Herald office at the same place, which he held for two years, becoming foreman of the job-printing department and of the press room. At the age of seventeen he went to Chicago to try to better himself, and was promised the aid of a friend to help him to a position. On his arrival, the job not being to his liking, he determined to come West. He came to the Coast, and
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visited Seattle, Tacoma, Portland and San Francisco. In 1888, in the latter city, he worked on the Alta, Call, and Chronicle; and afterwards, in Sacramento, on the Record Union. He later located in Woodland, and with Edward Prior, ran the Weekly Leader during the campaign of 1888, after which he accepted a position with the Woodland Democrat, owned by E. E. Leake. He remained in that city, working on that paper and the Wood- land Mail, until 1892, when he accepted a position as foreman on the Colusa Sun, with which paper he has since been connected.
In the meantime Mr. MeCune was united in marriage with Miss Lemma Gammill, by whom he has one daughter, Bertha, the. wife of Ray Seymour. Mr. MeCune enjoys life, loves Colusa and its people, and works for a better and larger city, giving his whole time to the business management of the paper, which reaches every part of the county. The Colusa Sun stands for uplift and improvement in all things. Mr. MeCune is a charter member of the Fraternal Brotherhood. Politically, he is a Demo- crat; and he is highly regarded as a public-spirited and high- minded citizen. He is a member of the Catholic Church.
FRANK S. REAGER
Perhaps there is no resident of the county more familiar with its resources and its exceptional advantages and prospects than Frank S. Reager, the former secretary of the Orland Water Users' Association, who has spent most of his life within or near the county boundaries. Frank S. Reager is the son of Martin A. Reager, of whom mention is made an another page of this work. He was born on his father's farm, six miles east of Orland, in 1868. He attended school in the Plaza district, and then entered Pierce Christian College, at College City. He grad- nated from the Orland Normal School, and then taught school in Shasta County for a couple of terms. In 1890 he became a candi- date for county surveyor, and made a good fight in a spirited campaign, being defeated hy only a few votes. He then returned to Glenn County, and resumed teaching, and soon had charge of the Orland schools. Here he made an enviable record as a progressive educator, and rendered particularly efficient service in the work of organizing the Orland High School. His work here was in a measure responsible for his election as county superin- tendent of schools, a position he filled for eight years, from 1899 to 1907, with entire satisfaction to the communities under his jurisdiction.
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After the expiration of his term of office, Mr. Reager returned to Orland and began the direction of work on the government irrigation system. In February, 1907, he helped to organize, and was elected a director and secretary of, the Orland Water Users' Association, a position he held until March, 1917. He thus became one of the leading men of Glenn County, and was soon made presi- dent of the Bank of Orland. He is now vice-president, as he was one of the organizers, of the First National Bank of Orland; and he has long been associated with minor corporations. For many years he has been a trustee of the Orland schools. Mr. Reager is the owner of a fine four-hundred-acre ranch at Ord, on the Sacra- mento River, devoted to grain; and he has other ranch interests in the county.
In 1899, Frank S. Reager married Miss Emma Scribner, the daughter of an early settler in California. Her father was a farmer, and also a merchant. He ran a store, with branches at Newville, Orland, and Paskenta. The home life of Mr. and Mrs. Reager is brightened by five attractive and promising children : Mary A., Bernice, Helen, Josephine, and Frank S., Jr. The family are members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Reager is a Mason, a member of Orland Lodge, No. 265, F. & A. M., of which he has served as treasurer for years; was one of the organizers, and is now the secretary, of Orland Masonic Temple Association; and is a member and Past Noble Grand of the Orland Lodge, I. O. O. F., and a member of Chico Lodge, No. 423, B. P. O. Elks.
CHARLES DAVIS McCOMISH
An experienced newspaper man, and one who made his influ- ence felt in Colusa County as editor and owner of the Colusa Herald, C. D. McComish is descended from a long line of patriotic ancestry. His great-grandfather, Roger MeComish, was in the United States Navy under Commodore Perry, on Lake Erie; and after Perry's victory, he settled in Western Pennsylvania, being the founder of the family in that state. Nelson McComish, the father of Charles D. MeComish, was a soldier in the Civil War. He moved to the Coast from Pennsylvania, in 1899, and settled with his family, in Palo Alto, while his sons were attending college there. He is now living in San Jose, at the age of eighty years. His wife was Martha Jane Davis, a lady of Welsh descent. She died in San Jose, March 26, 1915, aged about seventy years.
Charles Davis McComish was born at Penn Run, Indiana County, Pa., on January 7, 1874. When he was three months old
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his parents moved to a farm in Pine Township, that county; and there he was reared until he was fourteen years of age. His father, Nelson McComish, was a surveyor; and to work at his calling, it was better to live at the county seat. So the family moved to Indiana, the county seat of Indiana County, where he followed his profession. Charles D. MeComish graduated from the high school in 1891; and two years later he graduated from the Pennsylvania State Normal School at Indiana, after which he taught school for four years-two in Cambria County, one year in Westmoreland County, and one year at Dravosburg, Allegheny County, where he was principal. He resigned his position here to enlist in the Spanish-American War. On April 28, 1898, he enlisted in Company F, Fifth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, but having contracted typhoid fever in camp at Lexing- ton, Ky., he went home on a furlough, and was mustered out in bed, November 2, 1898, and honorably discharged.
The following year, having recovered from his illness, Mr. MeComish came to California and entered Stanford University, where he took the four-year classical course and was graduated in 1903 with the degree of A. B. He then returned to his Eastern home, and was engaged as city editor of the Indiana Gazette for eighteen months. In 1904 he visited the St. Louis Exposition, and then came on to California with the intention of buying a news- paper in some likely town, and traveled over the state looking for a place in which to locate. He was in Sacramento when the levee below the city gave way, washing away dwellings and the school- house in the Lisbon district; and he was asked to take charge of the school at Riverside brickyard. This he did, finishing the term for the lady teacher, who had been drowned ont by the flood. He then came on to Colusa, bought the Colusa Herald from John L. Allison, and took possession on June 1, 1905. It was then an eight-page weekly. Mr. McComish soon made it a four-page semi-weekly. The Herald was anti-saloon in the face of sixteen saloons, each with a gambling place in connection, run- ning seven days a week and twenty-four hours a day; and there was likewise a booming red-light district. The fight carried on by the Herald was a factor in regulating the saloons, closing them on Sundays, abolishing the gambling, and doing away with the red-light district; and the movement resulted in a much more moral city in general. The Herald also agitated street and side- walk improvements, running an honor-roll in the paper, of all who pnt in cement walks. Now there are two miles of paved streets in the city; and cement walks are pretty generally placed all over the town. Mr. MeComish erected the Herald Building in 1909-1910,
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and as owner of the building was the first man to put his name on a street-paving contract.
On February 1, 1916, Mr. MeComish disposed of the Herald in order to take up the study of law, which he is at present pur- suing in the office of Judge Ernest Weyand. He took the course in law at the summer session of the University of California in 1916. This last spring he took time from his studies to plant thirty-two and one half acres to almonds and to put out two thousand Muscat grape-vines, near Arbuckle; and he also found time to write the History of Colusa County for the Historic Record Company of Los Angeles.
In 1909 Mr. MeComish was united in marriage with Miss Dorothy Wickersham, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. G. Wicker- sham, of Marshalltown, Iowa. Mrs. McComish is a graduate of the University of Iowa, and was for several years a teacher in the high school at Colusa. Two children have been born of this union, Paul and John Davis. Mr. MeComish is a member of Colusa Lodge, No. 133, I. O. O. F., and has passed all the chairs in the order. Both he and Mrs. McComish are members of the Presby- terian Church, of which he is a trustee.
HON. ERNEST WEYAND
Prominent among the native sons of Colusa County is Ernest Weyand, Judge of the Superior Court of California in his native county. He was born on his father's ranch near Stonyford, on September 8, 1869. He attended the common schools of his home district, meanwhile assisting with the work on the ranch until he was seventeen, when he moved to Colusa with the family and en- tered the high school, from which he was graduated in 1889. Mr. Weyand at once entered upon the study of law in the office of H. M. Albery, later Superior Judge of Colusa County, and was ad- mitted to practice in 1892. At the November election that year he entered the race for the office of district attorney and was elected on the Republican ticket. He served a two-year term, and was reelected for four years, the term having been lengthened in the interim. At the end of his second term he retired to private practice.
Always active in Republican politics and wielding a strong in- fluence in the councils of the party, Mr. Weyand consented in 1904 to make the race for the assembly from the district comprising Colusa, Glenn and Lake Counties. He was elected, and served throughout the regular session of 1905 and the special session in 1906. For six years he served as one of the trustees of the town
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of Colusa. He practiced law until September 1, 1915, when, upon the death of Judge Albery, he was appointed by Governor Hiram W. Johnson, to fill the vacancy. In the fall of 1916 he became a candidate to fill the office of Superior Judge. Although he had two strong opponents, he received a majority for the candidacy over both, and was elected without opposition in November of that year. The absolute fairness of Judge Weyand in all matters per- taining to the duties of his office is well shown in the folowing re- mark made by him: "I do not want any friend of mine to think he can come into court and get a shade the best of it from me."
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