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 50
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 50
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After finishing at the high school in Colusa, Luke R. Boedefeld entered the social science course at the University of California, and was graduated in 1903, with the degree of A. B. The follow- ing year was spent in Hastings Law College; but the father's failing health necessitated a change of plans for the young man. Turning from the law to farming and horticulture, he assumed the care of an orchard of one hundred acres of prunes owned by his mother. After three years with J. L. Jackson in the grain busi- ness, he engaged for another like period in grain-buying for him- self. This he gave up in order to devote all his attention to super- intending the orchard, and to performing the duties of the office of horticultural commissioner, to which he was appointed in 1910. He was the first county horticultural commissioner under the new law establishing the office, and is now serving his second four-year
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term. To facilitate the work of his office, he has divided the county into five separate districts.
Mr. Boedefeld is well and favorably known throughout the entire county, and in fact all over the Sacramento Valley. He has prepared and read papers on the fruit industry at various gath- erings in the Sacramento Valley. He knows the needs of the orchardist, and has made a special study of the parasites and diseases that harass their trees, so as to be able to recommend the control measures necessary in order to combat them success- fully; and he keeps abreast of all new discoveries for the benefit of the industry. He is meeting with hearty cooperation from the fruit-growers, and it is safe to say that no one stands higher in the esteem of the people of the county than Luke R. Boedefeld.
WILLIAM W. GATLIFF, M. D.
Without doubt one of the best-known and most popular men, especially in professional ranks, in this section of Glenn County, is Dr. W. W. Gatliff, a native of Butler County, Mo., where he first saw the light on March 15, 1857. His father was Elias Gatliff, a native of Kentucky, who joined the Confederate forces, and was killed in the Battle of Pea Ridge in 1863. His mother, also a na- tive of Kentucky, was Miss Rachael Boyd, before her marriage. She makes her home with her son at Butte City.
When twelve years of age, William Gatliff removed with his mother to Thorp Spring, Hood County, Texas, where he was educated at Addran College. He showed much proficiency in his studies, and was encouraged to try for a professional career; and in time he graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at St. Louis.
Having received his degree of M. D., Dr. Gatliff came to the Pacific Coast and began the practice of medicine at Bellingham, Wash. Later, he came to Butte City, and in 1887 he began his practice here; and since then he has been steadily at it, with a rec- ord of thirty years in one locality. In the days when one rode horseback all over this section, and often, by day and by night, vis- ited remote places to relieve the suffering of patients, the prac- tice of a physician was no sinecure. As one result of these many years of faithful and successful application, Dr. Gatliff is now the vice-president of the Glenn County Medical Association, and a highly honored member within its ranks; and he is also a mem- ber of the State Medical Society, and of the American Medical Association.
www. Taltif.
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For a while, Dr. Gatliff owned and conducted a well-known drug store at Butte City, but later sold out his stock and good-will to others. He now owns a three-hundred-twenty-acre stock ranch near Elk Creek.
In the Elk Creek district Dr. William W. Gatliff married Miss Mattie Rawlins, daughter of the Rev. T. F. Rawlins, of whom ex- tended mention is made on another page of this history. Of this union one daughter was born, Loraine, now the wife of James James, and the happy mother of a son, William H. James.
URIAH WAVERLY BROWN
Attorney at law, member of the firm of Brown & Albery at Colusa, president of the First National Bank and the First Sav- ings Bank, of Colnsa, Uriah Waverly Brown is a prominent citi- zen and upbuilder of Colusa County. He was born on November 24, 1860, in Dekalb County, Mo., twenty miles from St. Joseph, a son of William D. and Martha. (Bentley) Brown, conscientious Baptists and farming folks of that state, who, in 1865, crossed the mountains, desert and plains to Oregon. There they spent two years, located at Corvallis. The train in which they traveled con- sisted of abont one hundred persons, well armed, and prepared to protect themselves from the Indians that infested their path. Coming to California in 1867, the family settled in Antelope Val- ley, twenty-five miles west from Colusa, and there raised grain and sheep for many years. Mrs. Brown died in Red Bluff, in 1873, during a temporary residence there. Mr. Brown was again married, to Ada Simpson, by whom he had one danghter, Esther, now Mrs. W. E. Dunlap, of Antelope Valley.
The only son, U. W. Brown, was brought to Oregon when a child of five years. After coming to California, he attended the district schools of Colusa County, and later, through his own efforts, paid his way through Pierce Christian College, at College City, graduating in 1882 with the degrees B. S. and B. L. During the ensning four years he taught school, meantime reading law nn- der the preceptorship of Richard Bayne; and in 1887 he was ad- mitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the state. Opening an office in Colusa, he at once began to build up a practice, and in time formed a partnership with Mr. Albery. Mr. Brown is recognized as the leading lawyer of Colusa County, and has been retained in many important cases at the bar. He has many financial interests in the county, and is the owner of some very valuable farming lands. He was one of the organizers, in 1899, of the Cook's
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Springs Mineral Water Company, and served as its president; and was also one of the organizers, and is the president, of the First National Bank, and of the First Savings Bank, of Colusa. He is a prominent Mason, belonging to the Lodge, Chapter, and Com- mandery, and to Islam Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in San Francisco; and is Past Commander of Colusa Commandery No. 24, K. T. He is also a member of the Colusa Lodge of Odd Fellows, and of the Odd Fellows Association, organized in 1895, which built the Odd Fellows building, and of which he has been president ever since. Mr. Brown is a member of the Christian Church, and for years has served on the board of trustees of the local congregation.
Mr. Brown was united in marriage, in Colusa, with Miss Emma Lovelace, who, like her husband, was born in Missouri, and who came with her parents to California in 1868. Four chil- dren have been born to them: Azile, the wife of Harmon M. Albery; Harris Nesbit; Uriah Waverly, Jr .; and Bentley Love- lace, who, with their parents, hold a high place in the citizenship of Colusa County. A Democrat in principle, Mr. Brown never allows partizanship to interfere with his good judgment, but supports the men he considers best qualified to fill the offices, regardless of party. He has always been a stanch supporter of Colusa County and its best interests, and is ever ready to lend aid to all worthy projects for its upbuilding. It is to such men that the state of California is indebted for its progress and expansion.
MICHAEL O'HAIR
Owing to the long period of his residence in Colusa County, and his elose identification with its ranching interests and its political affairs, the late Michael O'Hair became known among a wide circle of acquaintances in the Sacramento Valley. Like many other men who have helped to develop this state, he was of foreign birth and lineage. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, October 10, 1845. When he was three years old, his father, John O'Hair, brought his family to New York. There he engaged in the mercantile business until 1852, when he took his family to Michigan, and a year later to Illinois. Still later, he settled in Floyd county, Iowa, and engaged in farming.
Michael O'Hair was educated in the public schools of Iowa. At the age of seventeen, in February, 1863, he enlisted in the Union army for service during the Civil War, joining Company K, Seventh Iowa Cavalry, and was mustered in at Davenport, Iowa.
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His regiment, under General Sully, was the first expedition of white men that ever crossed the Bad Lands; and they had many encounters with Indians. With others of his regiment, Mr. O'Hair relieved Captain Fisk and his train of emigrants. While in that section of country, he saw the first steamboat that went up the Yellowstone. Under his commanding officer, Colonel Pattee, he assisted in laying out Fort Du Rosh at Sioux Falls, and also Fort Firesteel, on the James River, both in South Dakota. At the close of the war he was mustered out and honorably discharged by gen- eral order. He spent one year in the vicinity of his old home in Charles City, Iowa, and then secured employment in the building of the Union Pacific Railroad, gradually working his way west un- til he arrived in California, in 1869. After remaining in San Francisco a short time, Mr. O'Hair went to Puget Sound and spent one season in the lumber camps of that section, and then came back to San Francisco. He then came to Colusa County, and engaged in ranching near Princeton. Three years later, he and his brother William bought thirty-six hundred acres on Stony Creek, on the boundary line between Tehama and Glenn Counties, and began raising grain. About 1886, while that district was still a part of Colusa County, Michael O'Hair was elected a member of the board of supervisors from the fifth district. He was chosen chairman of that body, and served with satisfaction to his constit- uents. During his term in office the question of county division was agitated. It did not receive his support, as he was opposed to increased taxation. In 1887 he assisted in organizing the Kraft Irrigation District. In 1896 he sold his property in Glenn County, and purchased the old Jerry Powell ranch, situated four miles southwest of Colusa; and on its nine hundred acres, and the eight hundred acres adjoining, which he leased, he raised large erops of grain and considerable numbers of stock, specializing. in Short- horn Durham cattle. He met with more than ordinary success financially, and won and held a high place in the esteem of his friends and neighbors.
In December, 1888, Michael O'Hair and Miss Hattie Hunter were united in marriage. She was a daughter of Mrs. Pallas Love. Mr. and Mrs. O'Hair had one son, William Hunter O'Hair. Mr. O'Hair cast his first presidential vote for Gen. George B. McClellan, and ever after supported the principles of Democracy. He helped organize the Grand Army Post at Orland, and also the John F. Miller Post at Colusa, and was Past Commander of both. He was a member of Colusa Lodge, No. 240, F. & A. M .; Colusa Chapter, No. 60, R. A. M .; and Colusa Commandery, No. 24, K. T .; and with Mrs. O'Hair he was a member of the Eastern Star Chap- ter. He was also a member of the Independent Order of For-
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esters. At the time of his death he was serving as supervisor from the second district of Colusa County. After a long and useful life, Mr. O'Hair passed to his reward on September 28, 1912, mourned by a large circle of friends. His manly traits of character and his genial manner had endeared him to all classes. During his long connection with the vicinity of Colusa he was associated with the development of the county, and promoted the welfare of its people.
ALONZO LUCE, SR.
"Like father, like son" is a familiar phrase, quite applicable to the successful careers of the elder and younger Alonzo Luce, who are both deserving of a place of honor in the history of Glenn County. Alonzo Luce, Sr., was born at Hoosick Falls, N. Y., May 24, 1827, the only child of Daniel and Patience Luce. He received his education in the local public schools, and went to work on a farm when fifteen years of age. Elsewhere than behind the plow, however, he had received his first introduction to hard, exhausting labor; for he toiled as a tow-boy on the Erie Canal, where, week in and week out, he traveled the border path for miles, driving the canal horses used to haul the heavy and slow-going boats.
In 1852 he came to California by way of Panama, and for a while mined on American River. Then he went to a ranch ten miles above Colusa, where he worked for wages. In 1857 he set out for Sonoma County to engage in the cattle business. Seven years later he settled on a ranch two miles southwest of Newville. Here he prospered, farming to grain and raising cattle and hogs, and in time came to own fifteen hundred twenty acres in his home place, and nine hundred sixty acres near Paskenta, in Tehama County.
March 24, 1859, witnessed the marriage of Alonzo Luce to Miss Elizabeth MeKay, a native of Canada, where she was born on October 10, 1836. She was the daughter of Daniel MeKay, who came to California in 1857, and had a blacksmith shop at Santa Rosa. In 1863 he moved to Tulare County, where he conducted a stock ranch eighteen miles east of Visalia. In 1872, he removed to Nevada, and two years later he died there. Mr. and Mrs. Luce were the parents of five sons and three daughters: Isaac D. and John, both of Paskenta; Alonzo, of whom mention is made on an- other page of this work; Guy M., of Woodland; Zachariah, on the home ranch; Clara, Mrs. Milligan, who died at Corning, January 1, 1917; and Mrs. Alice Millsaps and Mrs. Estella Givens, both of
Alongo Luce Hattie Luce.
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Newville. Mr. Luce passed away on February 20, 1907, a few months before the death of his wife, on June 16 of the same year. These aged pioneers were held in high esteem by their community, where their passing was mourned as a public loss.
ALONZO LUCE
The men who are today developing California's opportunities, which in pioneer days were opened up by those dauntless men and women who braved every danger to get to the "land of promise" and, after their arrival, began to shape the destinies of the new state, so that their descendants might enjoy prosperity, have shown their aptitude to build on the foundation left them as an in- heritance. Of this number, mention is due Alonzo Luce, a native son of Glenn County, born on his father's ranch at Newville, Sep- tember 13, 1869.
Alonzo Luce attended the public school in the district near the home ranch, assisting his father when not in school. Later he went to Wyoming and rode the range. Here his duties took him over a broad expanse of country, extending one hundred miles along Green River, and back to a depth of sixty miles. In his string were some fourteen saddle horses. He became an expert rider, as well as a roper. Upon his return to California he rented his father's ranch and engaged in raising stock and grain with ex- ceptional ability until 1905.
It was at this time that Mr. Luce branched out and began buy- ing and shipping stock, his business growing to large proportions with the passing of the years. At present he is engaged in buying cattle, sheep and hogs, his experience in various parts of the West well fitting him both for the difficult task of selecting stock, and for the equally great responsibility of disposing of it. In this work he represents the Willard Commission Co., of the Union Stock Yards in Portland, Ore., one of the best-known firms on the Pacific Coast. His operations are extensive ; he deals and ships in train-load lots. When opportunity arises, he buys five or six hun- dred head of cattle, and ranges them until they are in shape for the market.
As might be expected of one who has moved about so much among the mountains and valleys, Mr. Luce has been identified with mining in one form or another. He located three chrome mining claims, which he sold for twenty-five thousand dollars; and he still owns another claim of the same mineral. He also located and still owns a manganese claim in Tehama County, while he has located a very promising coal claim in Shasta County. 30
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At Willows, on November 21, 1894, Mr. Luce was united in marriage with Miss Hattie Dobkins, a native of Willits, Mendo- cino County. Her father, Jacob Styles Dobkins, was born in Mis- souri. He became a pioneer of California, where he married Re- becca Campbell, a native of San Leandro. Grandfather John T. Campbell was born in Scotland. He married in his native country and, emigrating to California, became a prominent farmer of Ala- meda County, where he died at his home on April 29, 1917, at the age of eighty-seven years. Mr. Dobkins followed the trade of blacksmith at Willits, and later had a shop at Newville, where he continued as the village blacksmith until his death on April 20, 1904. His wife died on November 22, 1909. Besides Mrs. Luce, his children are Mrs. Nettie MeBain; Mrs. Myrtle Johnson; and Lee R., Ida, and Lena Dobkins. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Luce five children have been born: Lorena; Inez, Mrs. John Bie- lar; and Myra, Daisy, and Lenus A.
In connection with their large interests as feeders of stock, Mr. Luce and Mr. Willard shipped out of Willows, in the season of 1916-17, five hundred fifty head of cattle in one shipment, val- ued at sixty thousand dollars, and one shipment of five thousand sheep, representing about fifty thousand dollars. Mr. Luce is ever ready to do his duty as a citizen of the state, and has supported movements for the betterment of his county at every opportunity. He is one of the best-known stoekmen in the Sacramento Valley, where he is highly esteemed for his integrity of character, and his honesty and square dealing.
ALLEN KITCHIN
The junior member of the firm of Harbison & Kitchin, of Colusa County, was born in Darke County, Ohio, January 26, 1855, a son of Alfred and Hannah (Harbison) Kitchin, the former born in Pennsylvania, and the latter in Darke County, Ohio. Of seven children, Allen was the next to the youngest. When twelve years of age he went with his parents to Illinois. He attended the district schools in Christian County, and a business college in Springfield, where he graduated. When he was twenty-two years of age, he began for himself, raising corn, oats and hogs with con- siderable success. Wishing to branch out on broader lines, he went to Dakota and preempted land near Aberdeen. He proved up on his land, but afterwards sold it, and engaged as a dealer in agricultural implements in Aberdeen for some time. He next spent two years in business in Minneapolis, and then farmed in Oregon from 1887 to 1889. In the fall of 1889 he came to Cali-
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fornia, and at once settled in Colnsa County, where, in partner- ship with his cousin, James C. Harbison, he engaged in grain- farming and stock-raising with marked success. Today he is recognized as one of the substantial men in the county.
While not especially interested in politics, Mr. Kitchin sup- ports the principles and the candidates of the Republican party, and is ever ready to do his duty as a citizen. He is public- spirited, favoring every movement for the good of the county, and lending his active support so far as he is able. He is quiet and reserved, and during his many years of residence in the county he has made a host of friends, who appreciate him for his upright and manly character.
BYRON D. BECKWITH
Searcher of Records, real estate dealer and writer of fire insurance, Byron D. Beckwith, of Colusa, is one of the substan- tial men of the county. He was born at Newhope, San Joaquin County, March 8, 1884. His father, the late Byron De la Beckwith, was born in Ohio, across the Virginia state line, July 16, 1839, and married Mary Oliver in Stockton, Cal., a native of the Old Domin- ion State, who had come to California at an early day. She died when her son, Byron D. Beckwith, was only five years old. A daughter died in infancy.
The Beckwith family migrated from Normandy, France, to England, from which country two brothers later came to America. One of these settled in Virginia, and the other at Plymonth, in Colonial times. Mr. Beckwith is descended from the Virginia branch of the family. His uncle, James R. De Beckwith, came to California in 1848, and settled in San Joaquin County at about the time of the discovery of gold by Marshall. Mr. Beckwith's father came at a later date, and settled in the same county. He was the first settler in the town of Lodi, and erected the first brick building there, in which he conducted a drug store; and he was appointed the first postmaster of the town. He acquired con- siderable land in that part of San Joaquin County, which he later sold; and also acquired interests in Shasta, Tuolumne, Calaveras, Tulare, San Joaquin, and Alameda Counties. He traveled exten- sively, always boosting his adopted state. To his son's knowledge, he made sixteen trips back to New York State. A man of great executive ability, he went into various irrigating projects. He was a firm believer in irrigation, and was such a strong advocate of it that some of his friends questioned the sanity of his views. He
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organized and was the leading factor in the Woodbridge Canal and Irrigation Company, in 1881. This project proved a success ; and though it had its ups and downs, it is still in existence. This was one of the first irrigation schemes put in operation in this part of California. At the first Irrigation Congress held in San Francisco, he became acquainted with the late Will S. Green, of Colusa, and learned of the Central Irrigation Project of Colusa County. This was organized under the Wright law; but internal troubles arose through divergent interests, and led to its financial failure and abandonment. It was Mr. Beckwith who devised a plan for its reorganization and conduct. He went to work in a quiet way, devoting several years to it. Litigation in the federal courts had tied up the work for several years; but he succeeded in interesting outside capital, so that the ditches could be com- pleted, and one hundred seventy-five thousand acres was placed under irrigation. He was then sixty-three years of age, and was still active and mentally alert. This irrigation project was incor- porated as the Central Canal and Irrigation Company; while his successors reincorporated it as the Sacramento Valley Irrigation Company, and the Sacramento Valley West Side Canal Company, a parent and a subsidiary company, respectively. To protect his interests, Mr. Beckwith had to enter snit; and the case of Beck- with vs. Sheldon et al. ran through all the courts of California, being in litigation for twelve and one half years. He was repre- sented by Ernest Weyand, of Colusa; A. L. Shinn, of Sacramento; J. W. Dorsey and Judge S. C. Denson, of San Francisco. This was one of the most celebrated irrigation cases ever tried. It established many very important points of law, especially those involving a trust relationship. This project was held to be a fiduciary trust. Under the strain of prolonged litigation, Mr. Beckwith was taken ill and died in 1904. His only son, Byron D. Beckwith, of this review, as sole heir and administrator, carried the litigation to the end; and in 1915, by the ruling of the state supreme court, affirming the decision of Judge M. T. Dooling, the trial judge of the superior court of Yolo County, Mr. Beckwith was awarded a large amount of money.
Byron D. Beckwith grew up in Colusa. His mother died at Woodbridge in 1889, and he was only thirteen when his father moved to this city, where he was educated. On account of the illness of his father, he quit school at an early age, and has had charge of business matters since he was a lad. George W. Peltier, of Sacramento, a friend of his father, came to his aid financially, and the case so long in litigation was brought to a successful close. At the age of twenty-four, Mr. Beckwith began working in the abstract office, of which he is now the owner. He also engaged
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in the real estate business, later purchasing the business of Senator J. W. Goad. His set of abstract books are complete in every detail. He also owns the Yuba County Abstract Company, at Marysville, besides writing a general fire insurance business. With J. W. Kaerth, he prepared data for the third official county wall map of Colusa County, in 1915. This is very complete and accurate, and a very valuable addition to the geographical litera- ture of the county.
For five years Mr. Beckwith served as captain of Company B, Second Infantry, N. G. C. He was postmaster of Coluisa from 1909 to 1912, when he resigned. He owns a ranch of seven hun- dred forty acres, eight miles north of Colusa, and in 1917 planted one hundred acres to French and Robe de Sargent prunes, besides farming extensively to beans, corn and alfalfa.
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