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 49
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 49
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91
When the county division question came up, Mr. Trexler aligned himself in favor of the project, and gave of his time and influence to bring it to a favorable culmination in the organization of Glenn County. For some years he has served as a trustee of the Mills Holm school district, and was clerk of the board when the schoolhouse was completed. He is a member of the Odd Fel- lows and of the Woodmen of the World.
MRS. CHARLES W. COCKERILL
It can be said of Mrs. Charles W. Cockerill that no woman has done more for the general good of the public in Princeton and vicinity than has she. Her ability as a local correspondent for varions papers of the Sacramento Valley and the Bay cities has ever kept Princeton and its happenings before the reading public; her untiring energy and zeal as a citizen of Princeton have done much to make the town a desirable place in which to live, and to raise to a higher plane the morality of the people; and she has been actively interested in every project that would mean a permanent and substantial benefit to both citizens and 29
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town. No citizen of Colusa County is more in accord with the spirit of progress than this tireless worker and public upbuilder.
Upon a time without a date, a man without a name was seen by unknown neighbors to frequent a burn in the Highlands of Scotland. Superstition, strong in the dawn of civilization, prompted these fearsome Scots to name the solitary stranger the Wraith of the Burn. In time the name became Wraithburn, Wrathburn, Rathburn, Rathbone, and Rathbun. Publie spirit, independent thought, and free speech have been strongly char- acteristic in the members of this family. Two Rathbone brothers sought freedom from religious oppression in Plymouth Colony, in its earliest history; and one of the brothers died during the first winter in the wilderness. The survivor, John Rathbone, married a Pilgrim widow; and many children were born unto them, and unto their children's children.
Religious oppression became intolerable to father John Rath- bone; and he and his family followed Roger Williams to the colony of Rhode Island, where, from the "Island of Roses," sprang one of the largest families in America. Sons and daugh- ters of the Rathbuns have ever kept pace with the "course of empire" in its westward march. More often, indeed, they would appear upon the farthermost edge of the frontier. Appleton wrote of their family: "Their names should be written in his- tory's pages in letters of gold, for their service to their country and for their interest in the betterment of mankind." The route of the Rathbuns from Rhode Island to Colusa and Glenn Counties, Cal., was opened by Joseph Rathbun, who left his native state of Rhode Island for Ohio, where he married Mary Davis, and then pushed on to Montgomery County, Mo. Here their youngest son, Jesse Perrin Rathbun, the father of Mrs. Cockerill, was born in 1842. The wife and mother died two years later; and in 1846 the father married again. In 1848, Erskine and Edwin Rathbun, brothers of Jesse Perrin, crossed the plains to California; and soon after their arrival gold was discovered, and they went into the mines to hunt the precious metal. In 1852, Joseph Rathbun and his two sons, Davis and Jesse Perrin, joined the older broth- ers in California, crossing the plains with a herd of fine dairy cattle, and made a stop in Sonoma County, where the business proved profitable. Joseph Rathbun served in the second session of the state legislature, and helped organize the first California State Fair Association. Schools were scarce; and in 1860 the father decided to return to Missouri with his two sons, where they became students in St. Charles College. Out of some three hun- dred students in the college, these two boys were the only sup- porters of the Union cause. Joseph Rathbun took an active part
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in the Union cause. He was a polished speaker; and he did not hesitate to voice his sentiments against slavery. He met with an accident that caused his death in Missouri, being thrown from a buggy while bidding good-bye to his friends, preparatory to returning to his California home. He died in 1867.
When his studies were completed, Jesse Perrin went home and began to teach. In 1864 he married Mary E. Johns, born in Franklin County, Mo. Two years later, during which time a daughter Alice, now Mrs. Cockerill, was born, the call of the West proved too strong to be resisted longer, and he decided to return to this state. He started with his wife and baby, coming via Nicaragua and locating in Sonoma County. Some years later the family settled in southern Colnsa County, and later near Wil- liams, where they lived from 1870 to 1897. Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun then located in College City, where they now live. Mr. Rathbun has been engaged in mining and in farming during the passing of the years, and at the age of seventy-four is still hale and hearty. Into their family ten children were born, three of whom died in early childhood. The others are: Alice, Mrs. Charles W. Cockerill, of Princeton; Joseph Edwin, a business man in Hollywood, Cal .; Dr. William T., county physician of Colusa County; H. Adell, wife of M. T. White, a real estate man in Los Angeles; Ross B., an electrician in the employ of the Guggenheims; Earl H., who was killed on Angnst 11, 1907, by a premature explosion in a quick- silver mine at Cedarville; and Jessie, who married Dr. Ernest Foster, of Hanford, Cal.
Alice Rathbun grew up in Colusa County, and attended Pierce Christian College until she was forced to stop on account of ill health. When she was twenty-eight, she married Charles W. Cockerill; and in 1908 they came to their present home in Prince- ton. Mr. Cockerill was born in West Virginia, and came to Colusa County in 1887. He is now engaged in farming and in land- development work. Five children were born to them. Olive C., a graduate of Princeton High School and of the Chico Normal, is a very successful and popular teacher in the schools of Arbuckle, where she specializes in domestic science, domestic art, manual training, indoor art, and household chemistry. In 1916 she was chosen queen of the Rose Carnival at Williams. She was also elected to represent Colusa County in Sacramento, at the celebra- tion of the opening of the causeway. A son, M. Dean, is inter- ested with his father in growing rice near Princeton. The other children are Kern L., Alden Reed, and Nellie Pearl, all at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Cockerill and their family hold a high position in the social life of Colusa County. Mrs. Cockerill took a promi- nent part, doing more than any other person, in organizing the
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Princeton Joint Union High School District. Her newspaper articles did much towards the erection of the John Boggs Memo- rial at Princeton. For years she has been collecting interest- ing views and historical pictures of Princeton and vicinity, which she has made into a valuable album. This has been loaned to various fairs and expositions, and has elicited wide comment as a work of rare merit. She has an artistic temperament, and has executed some fine amateur paintings; and this talent has been inherited by her daughter, Olive C.
THOMAS A. RICE
On his well-improved property of five and one half acres in Colusa, resides Thomas A. Rice, a highly respected and well- known citizen of the county, who has made his own way in the world from early boyhood. A son of the late Martin Luther Rice (mention of whom will be found on another page of this work), he was born in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, on July 10, 1861, and was edu- cated in the common schools and reared on a farm until he was nineteen, working for wages as a farm hand. In 1880 he came to California and joined his father, who was living in Colusa. Upon his arrival here, he went to work in the country as a ranch hand; but he did not like farm life in California, and decided to learn the carpenter's trade. He served an apprenticeship under his father, who was a carpenter; and when he had mastered the trade, he went to work for others. He spent some time in Portland, Ore., in 1883-1884, coming back to Colusa in 1884 and entering the employ of the firm of Rice & Stuart, contractors and builders.
Owing to ill health, Mr. Rice gave up work at his trade, tem- porarily, and went to Elk Creek, now in Glenn County, where he farmed for seven years, regaining his health. He then went to Santa Rosa and engaged with a nursery, representing the Sonoma Valley Nursery Company, from October, 1891, to May, 1892, when he once more came back to Colusa, where he has since lived. He bought his small ranch and improved it, and has now a very comfortable home. In addition to operating his ranch, he works at his trade at times, and also keeps a fine Hambletonian stallion, that is known throughout this section of the valley. Mr. Rice is a public-spirited man; and as far as he is able he supports all movements for the upbuilding of the county.
In 1888, at Elk Creek, Thomas A. Rice was married to Miss Lucinda Mendenhall. She died when their daughter Lucinda was born. When the babe was seventeen days old, she was taken into
MAMerrill
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the family of Mrs. E. W. Jones, by whom she was reared and educated, and with whom she is now making her home, in Berkeley. By his second marriage, on December 2, 1893, Mr. Rice was united with Miss May Buckius, of Pasadena. They had one child, Velma Carradine, now living at home with her father. Mrs. Rice died on February 1, 1898. Some years later, on August 1, 1905, Mr. Rice was united in marriage with Miss Myra W. Robinson, a native of Colusa and a daughter of Jesse Robin- son, a "forty-niner" from Pennsylvania, who crossed the plains with ox teams and followed mining at Carson City, Nev., and teaming in California. Jesse Robinson was married in Colusa to Miss Lizzie J. Wilmot; and they had three children: Myra W., Mrs. Rice; Charles D .; and Ollie D. Mr. and Mrs Rice are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, in Colusa, where they are well and favorably known.
MORRIS A. MERRILL
A breeder of blooded stock, and one of the leading ranchers in the Sacramento Valley, Morris A. Merrill was born near Kane- ville, Kane County, Ill., April 30, 1851, a son of Nathan and Ann (Morrell) Merrill, natives of New Hampshire who became early settlers in Kane Connty. Upon his arrival there, Mr. Merrill bought land, built a log house, broke the prairie with oxen, and opened up a valuable farm. His wife died on the Illinois farm, and soon afterwards the bereaved husband joined his children in California. He passed away in Willows at the age of seventy-six years. The seven children in their family were: N. S., of Merrill, Klamath County, Ore .; Ann, Mrs. Jones, who died in Illinois; William R., now a resident of Colusa; Abbot, who was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil War, was wounded at the battle of Gettysburg, and is now living at Redding; C. H., a resident of Merrill, Ore .; Morris A., of this review ; and Henrietta, Mrs. Scog- gins of Merrill, Ore. From 1858 to 1863-a very trying time, as it was during the war-the family lived in McDonald County, south- west Missouri. They managed, however, to get back to Illinois.
In 1865 Morris A. Merrill came to California with his broth- ers, William R. and Abbot. On the journey they had a thrilling experience, when face to face with death. They sailed from New York on the steamer Golden Rule, bound for the Isthmus; and when near that coast, the vessel was wrecked and the passengers were cast upon an island, where they were obliged to remain with a food supply hardly sufficient for ten days, their rations being
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limited to a sea biscuit and a pint of water a day. Finally they were rescued by a United States gunboat and taken to Greytown, and thence to Aspinwall; and from there they crossed the Isthmus and landed in San Francisco from the steamer American, on July 2, 1865, their journey having consumed forty-two days.
Making his way to the Sacramento Valley, Morris A. Merrill secured employment on a ranch in Butte County, where he rode the range as a cowboy; soon he came to Colusa County, where he readily found employment. In 1872, with a brother, Charles, he leased a section of land seven miles southwest from what is now the site of Willows, and for two years farmed to grain. In 1874, having succeeded as a grain raiser, he purchased three hundred twenty acres, next to the place he rented. The land was raw and undeveloped. He put the first plow in the ground, and soon had it under cultivation. To further enhance the value of the place, he set out trees, fenced the land, erected a house and farm buildings, and generally improved it. For years he farmed the ranch to grain, besides renting other land, at times having as high as twenty-five hundred acres in wheat and barley, and using four ten- horse teams to do his work. As he met with success, he added to his holdings, buying and selling three different ranches in the vicinity of the home place at a profit. His home place has three hundred sixty acres, some of which is checked and planted to al- falfa, and irrigated by a pumping plant installed for the purpose.
During all these years Mr. Merrill has raised horses and mules, some of the best marketed in the state having come from his ranch. He began that industry in 1908, raising Jacks and Jen- nies, and breeding a superior grade of stock. As a result he has taken more first prizes, blue ribbons, and cups in the past three years than any other man who has exhibited the same number of animals. In five years he has secured twenty first prizes, two sec- ond prizes, and two third prizes, and has never exhibited an ani- mal that did not take a prize. At the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, he exhibited ten head, taking prizes on each one. He owns the Jacks Frenchie and Silver Tone Mam- moth, the latter being imported, and as finely bred an animal as there is in the United States.
Mr. Merrill married Miss Florence Chamberlain, a native daughter of California, by whom he has three children : Lovell C., Frank A., and Mrs. Geraldine Westby, who now resides in Oak- land. The sons are both well-known ranchers in Glenn County. Mr. Merrill is a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge in Willows. For more than fifty-two years he has been an active developer of the Sacramento Valley; and for forty-five years he has lived in what is now Glenn County. He has served on grand and petit
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juries, has been active in the movements that have been projected to build up and bring settlers into the county, and is among the most influential of the men now living here; and he is well and favorably known as a public-spirited citizen.
MILLER H. JELLISON
There is one man now living in Princeton, Colusa County, who, since 1904, has gained many friends by his careful and con- sistent attention to duty in handling the United States mail between Norman and Princeton, and also by his courteous treat- ment of all passengers who ride on his stage. He is a son of Alexander Jellison, a Pennsylvanian who went to Illinois and settled in the vicinity of Sycamore. At the breaking out of the Civil War, Alexander Jellison enlisted in Company A, One Hun- dred Fifth Illinois Sharpshooters. He served through the war, and at its close settled at Packwaukee, Wis. He married Almeda Hodge. Mr. and Mrs. Jellison died in 1908, within two months of each other. They had five children, of whom Miller H. is the only one living.
Miller H. Jellison was born at Packwaukee, Wis., April 26, 1867. He attended the common school's for a time, and finished in the high school at Wabasha, Minn. He became interested in farming in early manhood in South Dakota, where he also took a very prominent part in politics. Later he moved to Washington, and was engaged in the real estate business at Spokane. His next move was to Binford, N. D., where he conducted a livery stable. Here he contracted rheumatism, which reached such a stage that he had to dispose of his business. He then came to Cali- fornia to seek relief at some of her fine springs and resorts. He selected Wilbur Springs, and fully recovered the first year he was in the state. So well satisfied was he, that he decided to make his permanent home here. For three years he managed Campbell & Peterson's large stock ranch, in the foothills of Colusa County; and two years were spent as manager of Cook's Springs, during which time he did much to make that a popular resort.
In 1904, Mr. Jellison became a resident of this locality, when he purchased thirty-eight acres of unimproved land, part of a large barley field subdivided by J. B. De Jarnatt, of Colusa. Here he began to improve a home. He erected a comfortable house, built barns and outbuildings, fenced the place, and devel- oped water. He set out a family orchard, planted alfalfa, put in
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a garden, started a dairy of fourteen cows, and also began in the poultry business. A diversified farming enterprise has met with success throughout this section of the state; and no one has realized more satisfactory results than Mr. Jellison. To add to his revenue he secured the government mail contract to trans- port mail between Princeton and Norman. In connection with this he established a stage business, and has been carrying passengers to and fro. Having confidence in the possibilities of this section as a rice center, Mr. Jellison leased land and put in four hundred acres of that grain in 1917, which bids fair to pro- duce a good crop. All in all, he is a busy man ; and he is reckoned one of the "live wires" of Princeton.
In 1889, in Faulk County, S. D., Mr. Jellison was united in marriage with Mary A., daughter of John and Louise (Marquette) Linke, natives of Germany. They had both been married before, and were both the parents of children. One brother of Mrs. Jellison, William Linke, a resident of Canada, is with the British colors in France. Mrs. Jellison was born in Wisconsin, and was teaching school in Faulk County, S. D., at the time of her mar- riage. One child, Robert Jellison, adds cheer to their home. Mr. and Mrs. Jellison are hard workers. They are progressive and public-spirited, and have made many friends in their community. Ever since attaining his majority, Mr. Jellison has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has passed through all the chairs of the subordinate lodge, and to Grand Warden in the Grand Lodge of South Dakota, prior to moving away. He now holds his membership in Maxwell Lodge.
MARTIN LUTHER RICE
The late Martin Luther Rice, of Colusa, was one of the most prominent contractors and builders in Colusa County in his day. He was born in Pennsylvania, received a fair education in the common branches, and learned the trade of the carpenter under skilled mechanics. In 1856, then a young man, he went to Iowa, where he worked at his trade in Mt. Pleasant; and there he was married, in 1858, to Miss Elizabeth Allender, born in that state. He continued working at his trade until the time of the Civil War, when he enlisted in Company D, Fourth Iowa Cavalry, and served from October, 1861, to October, 1864. He was honorably dis- charged from the service, and resumed his occupation in Iowa. On July 11, 1872, he was bereaved of his wife; and the following vear he once more set his face to the West. Arriving in Cali- fornia, he mined for two years at Placerville, and thereafter went
Carl Ho. Jasper
Pauline
casper
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to Marysville, where he stopped a short time, after which he came to Colusa and worked at his trade until 1876. That year he returned to the East, visited the Centennial Exposition at Phila- delphia, and renewed old acquaintances at his former homes in Pennsylvania and Iowa. Upon his return to California, he was married, on December 30, 1876, to Miss Josephine Silver. He then began taking contracts, and erected, among other buildings, the First Methodist Church, South. He superintended the erection of the Odd Fellows building in Colusa, and built the grammar school at Arbuckle, as well as other buildings of every descrip- tion. For years he was the leading contractor in Colusa County. Many bridges throughout this section of the Sacramento Valley were constructed by him. He died at the age of eighty-two years, on September 13, 1912, and was mourned by a wide circle of friends.
Of the marriage of Martin Luther and Elizabeth (Allender) Rice five children were born: George W., who died at the age of eleven years, and Thomas A., Amon Ulysses, Martha J., and Perry Franklin. Of the second union, there were seven children: James Edward, who died in infancy; Mary Viola, the wife of Lee I. MeIntire, of Pasadena; Luther V., of Stockton; Porter Eugene, of Woodland; Alice Josephine, a teacher in Sacramento; Ella Grace, a stenographer in Sacramento; and Lucinda Irene, the wife of Walter Newbeaur, of San Francisco.
CARL HENRY JASPER
A sturdy pioneer who has helped to pave the way for others, and in so doing has also made straight and smooth a path for him- self until today he is looked upon as one of the founders of the commonwealth, is Carl Henry Jasper, one of the most successful and prosperous ranchimen of Glenn County. He was born in Han- over, Germany, October 15, 1849, and was reared in that section, on a farm, and given a common school education according to the excellent German standards.
At the age of seventeen, he crossed the wide ocean to America to seek his fortune in the New World, and found his first work in a store in New York City. There he was employed for seven months; and in the meantime, by hard application in the evenings, he learned to talk every-day English. When thus equipped, he set out with his face toward the West, and traveled as far as Mason County, Ill., where for a year he worked on a farm.
In 1869, the ambitious young man resumed his journey west- ward. He crossed the continent to California on one of the first
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steam trains that made their way over the prairies, although it then took three weeks for the entire trip. He first located near Sacramento, where he had an elder brother, Chris Jasper, and worked for wages on ranches until 1872. Then he came to his present ranch, where he has since lived.
In the beginning, he took up one hundred sixty acres of gov- ernment land. He now owns one section of fine acreage, and farms considerable rented land besides. Decidedly a self-made man, he possesses only what he has acquired by hard work and commendable saving; and today he is a man of affairs, and one of Glenn County's best-known citizens.
On November 19, 1882, Carl Henry Jasper was married to Pauline Brown, born in Baden-Baden, Germany, September 11, 1860; and she became the mother of four children. Henry A., the eldest son, was born on his father's ranch near Orland, on October 23, 1885, and was educated at the Plaza School. After that, he farmed with his father on the home place, and later rented six hundred forty acres of land west of Orland, where he raised grain on his own account for three years. In November, 1916, he bought his present ranch of eighty acres, three miles east of Orland, for- merly known as the Downing ranch. There he raises alfalfa, al- monds and garden truck. He is aided in his endeavors by his good wife, who was Ruby Johansen.
Herman W. and Chris K. Jasper, the second and third sons, are with their father on the home place. The only daughter, The- resa C., is the wife of the well-known contractor, A. F. Kronsbein; and they have one daughter, Paulina.
Mr. Jasper has erected all the buildings on the place-the house, barn, sheds, etc .- has planted both the shade trees and the family orchard, and in many ways has contributed to make this one of the most attractive ranches in the vicinity.
Mr. Jasper belongs to the Lutheran denomination. He is one of the pillars of the Lutheran Church of Germantown.
LUKE R. BOEDEFELD
The important office of horticultural commissioner of Colusa County is being filled most acceptably by Mr. Boedefeld, one of her native sons, who was born in Colusa, October 16, 1879, and grew to manhood in his native town. He attended the grammar school, and was graduated from the high school in 1897. His father, the late Joseph Boedefeld, was one of the well-known citizens in the county, and was chairman of the first horticultural commission of
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the county, serving for some time; and he was likewise one of the pioneer prune-growers of the county. Joseph Boedefeld was born in Westphalia, Germany, and came to California, via Panama, in 1869, settling in Colusa. He had been brought up in the clothing business; and on his arrival here he engaged in that occupation, establishing a clothing store on Fifth Street in 1870. He was one of the pioneer merchants in that line in Colusa, and continued actively in business until 1903, when he sold out. For years he served as one of the city trustees; and he was a member of the committee that laid out West End Park. Mr. Boedefeld took great pride in furthering the interests of the county. He bought some land and set out an orchard to prunes as an experiment, thereby becoming one of the pioneer orchardists here. That orchard is today one of the most profitable in Colusa County. The industry, an infant one in 1891, has grown to large proportions, and now means much to the county. Mr. Boedefeld died on October 28, 1911, at the age of seventy years. Joseph Boedefeld was married in Colusa to Mary Elizabeth Sherman, distantly related to General John T. Sherman. She was born in New Orleans, La., and came to Marysville, Cal., with her mother and sister Katherin, in 1863. She was then a girl of twelve years of age. Her education was obtained in a convent at Marysville. Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Boedefeld, nine of whom are living: Robert T., of Oakland; Elizabeth, Mrs. M. J. Boggs, of Colusa; Francis S., of Santa Rosa; Luke R., of this review; Josephine, Mrs. W. W. Wilson, of Marysville; Paul H., of Oakland; Gertrude, of Colusa; Marie, Mrs. S. E. Crockett, of Sacramento; and Bernard S., of Colusa. Walter died at the age of twenty-four, and Lawrence at the age of two years. Mrs. Boedefeld survives her husband, and is living at the old Boedefeld residence in Colusa.
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