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 48
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 48
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was a favorite of his. Emperor William was then captain of the Second Company; and Mr. Grimm was a member of the Ninth Company of the same regiment. He served his full three years and received his honorable discharge. After completing his mili- tary service, he continued to work in Germany, on a farm, for two years. His thoughts then turned to America, the land of desire for so many of the ambitions young men of Germany; and he de- termined to seek his fortunes here. On March 15, 1882, he sailed from Hamburg; and on March 31, he arrived in Castle Garden.
Staying in New York only one day, Mr. Grimm took the train for the Pacific Coast, acting as leader for twenty-eight of his coun- trymen who were making the journey with him. Their destination was Willows, Cal .; and on arriving there Mr. Grimm went to work on a farm owned by his friend, John Johansen, where he re- mained for three years. He then went to Dixon for one year; and while there he became acquainted with Miss Augusta Koop, a na- tive of Hanover, Germany, whom he married in 1885. A daughter was born to them; and sixteen days after the birth of this child, the mother died. This daughter was named Mamie. She is now the wife of Ray Young, a rancher in Sutter County, and is the mother of one child.
Mr. Grimm became manager of the old W. H. Williams stock ranch, a position he held for four years. During the last year there, he was married the second time, taking for his bride Miss Kina Moritzen. She was born near Tondern, in Schleswig-Hol- stein, and came to California with Mr. and Mrs. Fredk. Monson, who had been back to Germany on a visit. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Grimm went to Winters, Cal., and engaged in the restaurant business. They remained at Winters four years, and then came to Willows and rented the Johansen ranch, on Stony Creek. After spending three years here, they rented another ranch for two years. They then came to Grimes, in Colnsa County, and leased the Monson ranch of four hundred sixty-five acres, which they farmed successfully for fourteen years.
In 1913, Mr. Grimm rented from the late Samuel H. Hine his two-hundred-fifty-acre ranch near Grimes. For three years he operated the place with success. This year (1917), the plow land is rented to the Hamilton Sugar Beet Company. Mr. Grimm re- tains fifteen acres, which he has planted to alfalfa; and he is also cultivating five acres he owns at Grimes. The family live in the beautiful residence recently erected by the late Samnel Hine, near Grimes.
Mr. and Mrs. Grimm became the parents of four children: Laurence, in the employ of the Standard Oil Company at Grimes; Leonard, deceased; Amanda, wife of A. A. Thayer, Jr .; Rita, wife
Nathan Province Elvira Promises
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of John Burtis. The three living children are residing at Grimes. The second child, Leonard, was injured by falling from a horse. He was an invalid for twelve years, and then passed away. In all his renting operations Mr. Grimm has brought to hear a thor- ough knowledge of agriculture, and has managed so successfully that he is now independent, and can live in the enjoyment of a well-earned rest. Of his thirty-four years in California, four were spent in Yolo County, six in Glenn County, and twenty-four in Co- lusa County. For eighteen years he has resided at Grimes. He and his wife, and their family, are highly respected and esteemed by their many friends in the community. Despite the fact that he served in the Emperor's crack regiment, in which the present Em- peror William was a captain, Mr. Grimm is a patriotic citizen of his adopted country. His loyalty and allegiance are given to the nation that welcomed him and his countrymen when they came seeking a place for themselves on her hospitable shores. He has been road overseer for the Grimes district for the past eight years. He has been school trustee for twelve years, and has just been elected for another three years. Mr. Grimm has at all times been active in furthering the best interests of the community, and has been an influential factor in its advancement. Fraternally, he is an Odd Fellow, a Past Grand of Grimes Lodge, No. 266, and is serving as Grand Guardian of the Grand Lodge of California.
NATHAN PROVINCE
A veteran of the Civil War, one of that band of gallant men who are rapidly growing fewer as the years go by, and of whom there will soon be none left to receive the homage of grateful hearts throughout the nation for the brave stand they made for freedom and an undivided Union, the late Nathan Province spent the evening of his days in ease and plenty, with his life partner by his side and surrounded by children, grandchildren, and great- grandchildren, all eager to make his last years happy. A native of Fayette, Fayette County, Pa., he was born on May 2, 1840, a son of Jesse Province, also a native of Pennsylvania, whose father, Joseph Province, was born near Providence, R. I., and later settled in Pennsylvania. Jesse Province, father of Nathan, was a farmer in Pennsylvania, whence he went to Monroe County, Ohio, and followed farming, later removing to Kansas, where his death occurred. He married Celia Spencer, also born in Penn- sylvania; and they became the parents of fifteen children, five girls and ten boys, seven of whom served their country in the
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War of the Rebellion. One was wounded in battle, and died. The mother passed away in Kansas.
Nathan Province was the tenth child born to his parents. When he was eight years old, the family moved to Ohio, where he was reared and educated in the public schools of Monroe County. In December, 1861, he enlisted in Company C, Seventy- seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered in at Marietta as Corporal, and took part in the Battle of Shiloh, after which he was sent west and served in the Battle of Brownsville, Ark., and at Little Rock. He served also at Mobile Bay, Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely. In January, 1864, he veteranized, and then served, in the same regiment, until the close of the war, and for one year thereafter, being sent to Rio Grande during the Maximilian upris- ing. He was mustered out on March 28, 1866, as First Sergeant, at Brownsville, Tex., came back to Ohio, and received his hon- orable discharge at Columbus.
After his discharge from the army, Mr. Province followed farming in Ohio; and there his marriage occurred, in Washington County, March 5, 1867, when he was united with Miss Elvira Edwards, a native of Monroe County, that state, and a daughter of Benjamin R. and Ethelinda (Cline) Edwards, both natives of Ohio. The father also served in the Civil War, in the One Hun- dred Sixteenth Ohio Regiment, and was crippled during his ser- vice for his country. Elvira was the oldest of seven children born to her parents.
In 1869, Mr. and Mrs. Province removed to Kansas, locating in Wamego, Pattowatomie County, where they bought railroad land on Kaw bottoms, improved a farm, and raised bumper corn crops. Mr. Province, however, was troubled with asthma; and to benefit his health they came to California, in May, 1879. Here he recovered his health and, locating near Elk Creek, Glenn County, homesteaded one hundred sixty acres, which he later sold. He purchased another ranch south of town, sold it in turn, and then, in February, 1914, bought the present ranch, situated one and one half miles west of Elk Creek. He was the owner of over eight hundred acres here. The ranch is devoted to grain and to the raising of cattle and hogs. Assisted by his son Oscar, who still manages the place, Mr. Province met with the best of success in his undertakings ; and their cattle brand, the letter U, is known through- out the valley. On November 11, 1917, Nathan Province passed away at his home. He was buried on November 13, in the cemetery at Elk Creek.
Ten children of this worthy pioneer couple are living, as follows: Albert, in Orland; Harvey, a stockman in Elk Creek; Porter, in Yuba County; Benjamin F., a carpenter in Elk Creek;
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Oscar, manager of the home ranch; Mary, Mrs. Vanderford, of Elk Creek; Kate, Mrs. Wilbur Smith, of Oakland; Ethelinda, Mrs. Manson, of Elk Creek; Etta, Mrs. Dixon, of Elk Creek; and Fern, at home.
In March, 1917, Mr. and Mrs. Province celebrated their golden wedding, a large gathering attending, including all of their chil- dren and grandchildren, with the exception of four of the latter. All had an enjoyable time. A bounteous dinner was served, fol- lowed by music and songs; and the occasion was one that will be long remembered by all present.
The family are members of the Christian Church of Elk Creek. Mr. Province had always been a member of the G. A. R. before settling at Elk Creek; but as there is no Post or Circle near by, he was here deprived of the pleasure of that fraternity of kindred spirits of the days of '61. Politically, Mr. Province was a Republican.
WILLIAM WALLACE BROWN
For over thirty years a resident of Colusa County, William Wallace Brown has within that period risen from the status of a farmer's hoy, dependent upon his own resources and ability to make his way in life, to that of one of the largest landowners and most successful agriculturists and stock-raisers of this section of the state. Of Scotch ancestry, his grandfather, Townsend F. Brown, was born and reared in old Virginia; but early in their married life, he and his wife went on horseback to Kentucky, where they lived for a time, and then moved to Atchison County, Mo., where their son, Townsend F. Brown, Jr., was born and reared. Townsend F. Brown, Jr., married Mary Tolson, also a native of Missouri; and they became the parents of six children, two sons and four daughters. The mother passed away in Mis- sonri, in 1915, aged seventy-seven years; the father, at the ripe old age of eighty-four, still lives there, and also one son and three daughters. One daughter resides in Wyoming.
William Wallace Brown was born in Missouri, in Rockport, Atchison County, on August 30, 1865. He received his education and grew to manhood in that state, attending the public schools, and working on the farm. He early learned the rudiments of farm work, and began to drive a team of horses when hut a lad of eight years. In 1886 he accompanied his parents to California, where they settled in Colusa County and rented the Tolson ranch of four hundred eighty acres. Not taking to life in California, after their long residence in the Southern state, the parents went back to Missouri. The son, however, remained, and started in to make
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his way to success in his new surroundings-a task that has re- quired foresight and unremitting industry, and the meeting of set- backs and small failures with renewed determination to reach his goal. In partnership with Emmet Tolson, his cousin, he ran the old William Tolson ranch for a time; and later, in 1890, he bought the home ranch of four hundred forty acres from the Tolson es- tate. He built his house and barns, fenced the land, and started in to raise grain on an extensive scale, also devoting some of the land to the raising of cattle, mules, and hogs. In 1900 he pur- chased an additional four hundred eighty acres from the same estate, and enlarged his ranch operations, taking advantage of modern machinery and methods. He used a thirty-two-mule-power combined harvester, which makes a twenty-foot cut, and in other ways increased the efficiency and multiplied the results of his efforts in such a manner as to assure the realization of his am- bitions while yet a man in the prime of life. Among his other business interests, Mr. Brown is a stockholder in the Colusa County Bank and the First National Bank of Colusa.
At Grand Island, Colusa County, in 1891, William Wallace Brown was united in marriage with his cousin, Miss Cora E. Tol- son, a native of Grand Island and a daughter of William Tolson, a well-known Colusa County pioneer and landowner, and one of the "forty-niners" of California, who took part in the Mexican War and came to California at the expiration of that conflict. He was an uncle of Mr. Brown, another of whose uncles, Franklin D. Brown, was a pioneer and a Mexican War veteran, and came to California with General Fremont in 1846. Of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Brown three children were born: Two sons, Clyde F., and LaVerne Townsend, who have formed a partnership and are renting the four-hundred-eighty-acre ranch owned by their father ; and one daughter, Crystal, aged eighteen, a Senior in the Chico State Normal School, preparatory to entering the State Univer- sity at Berkeley. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are active members of the Grand Island Christian Church, of which Mr. Brown is a trustee, and to which they donated the site for the church edifice, which is located on a corner of their home ranch. For six years Mr. Brown was a member of the board of trustees of the Dry Slough school district, during which time the present school building was erected on a corner of his four-hundred-eighty-acre ranch. These are in- stances of Mr. Brown's public-spirited devotion to the betterment of social and economic conditions in his county. A man of broad views and keen insight, his enterprise and liberality have been of material help in the upbuilding of his section of the state. Fra- ternally, Mr. Brown is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America, at Grimes.
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PETER KROHN
A resident of Colusa County since 1885, Peter Krohn is well known in the business circles of Grimes and vicinity, where he is recognized as a man of upright principles and honesty of purpose in all his dealings. He was born in Holstein, Germany, August 19, 1865, a son of Peter and Elsabe (Albert) Krohn, the fourth in a family of five children born to his parents. The others are: Christine, who resides in Germany; John, in Petaluma, Cal .; Joa- chim, in business in Petaluma; and Ernest, a well-driller in Santa Clara County.
Peter Krohn was apprenticed to the shoemaker's trade when fourteen years of age, serving a period of four years; and at eighteen he became a journeyman. Having heard of the oppor- tunities for industrious and ambitious youths in the New World, he determined to try his fortunes there; and bidding good-by to his family and friends, he sailed from Hamburg on the S. S. Less- ing, of the Hamburg-American line, landing at Castle Garden on November 14, 1883. He secured employment on his arrival, in the saddle department of a New York City riding school, where he re- mained for six months. He then went to Hoboken and obtained a position as a clerk in a grocery store. After spending some time there, he decided to continue his journey to the Western Coast. Coming to Arbuckle, Colusa County, in April, 1885, he found employment in farm work on different ranches in the Sacra- mento, Santa Clara, and San Joaquin Valleys. With one em- ployer, E. J. Miller, now a rancher fifteen miles south of Grimes, he remained for a period of eight years. Afterwards he was em- ployed on the Stovall-Wilcoxson ranch near Williams for two years. In Williams he met the young lady who became his wife, Miss Clara Doldt. She was born and reared in Brookfield, Linn County, Mo., a daughter of Andrew and Margaret (Hoffman) Doldt. The father died in Missouri; and the mother is still living in that state. Both parents were born near Aurora, Ill. Mr. and Mrs. Doldt were married in Illinois, and later moved to Missouri. Ten children were born to them, of whom six are still living, two sons and four daughters. Mrs. Krohn came to Williams in the year 1899; and on August 27, 1902, she was married to Mr. Krohn at Colusa.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Krohn settled in Grimes, where Mr. Krohn established his business as harness-maker and dealer in horsemen's general supplies. He also does first-class boot and shoe repairing, having learned that trade thoroughly
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when a lad. He bought the lot where his building now stands, in 1903, and built his store and residence that same year. Both he and his wife are thrifty and industrious, and content with their lot in life. They are free from cares, and make a good living, owning their own premises, store and home, with a fine family garden on the grounds. Three children have been born to them : Madella Christine, Aaron Sylvester, and Jewell Lorell. Mr. Krohn is regarded as one of the dependable citizens of his com- munity. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in Colusa, May 7, 1895, while living in the San Joaquin Valley. He took a homestead near Los Banos, Merced County, on which he proved up, and which he afterwards sold. He is a member of Grand Island Lodge, No. 266, I. O. O. F., of which he is a Past Grand; and with his wife he is a member of Valley Rose Rebekah Lodge, No. 311, at Grimes. He and his wife are both Lutherans, in which faith they were reared. Politically he has always been a Republican.
REV. FATHER C. C. MCGRATH
A man of strong Christian character, earnest consecration, and unselfish devotion to the holy work he is carrying on, Father MeGrath has accomplished great good for the church and the people, in his various fields of activity in California. He was born on Bantry Bay, County Cork, Ireland, in 1853, and spent his youth there in gaining an elementary education in the national schools. In 1869 he joined an uncle, Jeremiah Murphy, a con- tractor and builder in the United States, who was living at Worcester, Mass. There the young lad worked at the builder's trade four years, in the meantime attending night school and taking special studies in drawing and designing. From early boyhood he had entertained a great desire to enter the priest- hood; and during the days when he was working at his trade, he prayed earnestly that his ambition might be realized, although his circumstances offered small hope of attaining his desire. He 'saved his earnings, however, depositing them in the People's Savings Bank; and at the end of the four years, with some addi- tional assistance, he was enabled to enter St. Charles College, in Howard County, Md. Two years later he entered St. Vincent's College, at Latrobe, Pa .; and there he completed his classical and theological courses. On July 6, 1882, in the seminary, he was ordained by Bishop Twoig for the Sacramento diocese, in California. He at once came back to the Coast; and during the first month spent here he was assistant to the priest at Virginia
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City, Nev., after which he went to Marysville, where he remained nearly a year at the cathedral. The next year he was pastor of St. Monica's Church in Willows, being the pioneer in that locality. His parish was poor, and he suffered many hardships. His next charge was in Crescent City, Del Norte County, where he had charge of St. Joseph's Church for four years, and built up a large congregation. In 1887 Father MeGrath was sent to Yreka. He completed the building of St. Joseph's Church at that place, and also built the parish house and three beautiful altars in the church. During the next few years he was busily engaged in various places, doing work for the Master. He ministered at Fort Jones and at Etna, where he improved the buildings and erected altars; he attended the church at Callahan's ranch, forty- two miles from Yreka, and erected a new church at Sawyers Bar, eighty miles away; he founded the congregation at Dunsmuir, where he planned the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was dedicated by Bishop Manogue in 1889; and he also attended other missions in Siskiyou County. During the seven years of his labors there, he had au assistant but one year. His rides, which were long and dangerous, were made either on a mule or by stage, over mountains, in deep snow, through a wild country ; and he had many hairbreadth escapes-one on February 22, in a runaway of the stage team down a mountain, when for- tunately no lives were lost.
In 1894 he was appointed pastor of St. Mary's Church in Red Bluff. Here he remodeled the church, and built a parish house, superintending the work, which was done from his own designs. Not having the money to complete the work, he did much of the interior finishing and decoration with his own hands. On all the ornaments, both inside and out, he made free use of the shamrock, which, being emblematic of the Blessed Trinity, and of the faith of his forefathers in the Island of Saints, he considers more appropriate for church decorations than the California poppy, so generally used by local architects. The church, priest's house, and parish school are located in grounds surrounded by ornamental and fruit trees, near the Sacramento River, where the steel bridge spans the stream, and command a fine view of the snow-capped mountains in the distance. While at Red Bluff, Father McGrath attended the Redding church until it was able to sustain its own pastor. Later he built the church at Keswick, erecting altars and making the ornaments himself. During this time he attended the old Shasta church and the congregation near Tehama. He built the church at Corning, beginning its erection in 1903, and holding mass in it five weeks later; and in May, 1904, it .
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was dedicated. That same year he was transferred to his former parish at Willows, where he repaired the church.
In 1911, Father MeGrath located in Colusa; and since then he has served the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, and has entered heartily into the best interests of Colusa and the sur- rounding country. This is a large and important parish, and has many activities. He has greatly improved the property at Colusa. He has charge of the congregations at Meridian and Grimes, and also ministers to the congregation at Princeton, where he has drawn plans for a new edifice. In Colusa he is the head of the Convent School, with Mother Mary Agnes in charge. Father McGrath publishes an annual church directory of Colusa, which contains a fund of original local information and abounds with witticisms. He is highly respected by everybody, and no citizen is more public-spirited than he.
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JOHN WESLEY TREXLER
A ranchman who, through application of the results of scien- tific investigation, and untiring attention to details, has brought the raising of both sheep and cattle to a high plane in California, is John Wesley Trexler, the son of Henry Trexler, a native of Pennsylvania, who took up his residence in the South. From Alabama Henry Trexler moved to Mississippi; and in 1857 he became a pioneer in the wilderness of Arkansas, where he died six years later. His wife, who was Elizabeth Halsey before her marriage, died in Arkansas in 1861. Ten children, six of whom were sons, were born to this worthy couple, John Wesley being the ninth.
John Wesley Trexler was born on May 28, 1853, in Alabama. He went with his parents to Mississippi, and thence to Arkansas, where he attended school until he was nine years of age. He then left home and went to live with a Mr. Bates in Memphis, working for him on a farm until 1865. Afterwards he went to Crittenden County, Ark., where he continued to work as a farm hand, receiving more experience than dollars for his efforts. In the spring of 1875, when he was entering upon young manhood, Mr. Trexler came across the plains to California, and on his arrival went to work as a ranch hand in different counties for two years. In 1877 he purchased his first land in this state, located west of Red Bluff, Tehama County; and here he cleared the land and farmed for himself with fair success. Later he moved west of Corning, where he also tilled the soil. In 1885 he sold out his
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home place, but continued to operate the last-named ranch until in 1889, when he came to what is now Glenn County and leased the Mills Holm place, ten miles west of Willows. When he took charge of it, there were no fences. He has fenced and cross- fenced the place, the latter at his own expense, and has devoted its acres to the stock business and to grain-farming. In 1892 he gave up his lease and bought sixteen hundred acres of the Robinson ranch, meantime again leasing the Mills Holm ranch, and farmed both places until he gave up the Robinson ranch. He also leased five thousand acres of the Glenn ranch, operating over ten thou- sand acres for two years.
Mr. Trexler has followed sheep-raising with success; but about five years ago he sold off his bands of sheep and bought shorthorn Durham cattle, and is now making a specialty of that branch of the stock industry. He is classed with the leading stockmen of the Sacramento Valley. His well-known brand is JT combined, having the appearance of a J with a T top.
On April 18, 1898, John W. Trexler and Miss Grace Flood were united in marriage at Newville. She was born in that local- ity, a danghter of John Flood, a pioneer of this county. Of this marriage seven children have been born: John William; Beulah, wife of Fred Minge, of San Francisco; and Vernon Abner, Mary Ellen, Roy Anson, Genevieve, and Edna Augusta.
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