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 54
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 54
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the war, and Leander attended the subscription schools as a boy. While he was growing to manhood, the Civil War was in progress; and he was a witness of many scenes of violence he would like to forget. As the war progressed the schools were abandoned; raiding parties helped themselves to horses, cattle and food- stuffs; and the settlers often had to hide in the hills and in the woods, and bury their money and food in order to save them. Many a night Leander and an older brother stayed in the woods all night, hiding away from Confederate officers who wanted to enlist his brother in their cause. Five of his brothers were in the Union army. Three died during the war, and one was seriously wounded. Those were strenuous times. The Old Dominion se- ceded, but Western Virginia remained steadfast in its allegiance to the Union. Mr. Ballard well remembers the time of the elec- tion of delegates to the State Constitutional Convention. Dele- gates were elected throughout the western part of the state; and the election for their precinct was held in his father's house be- tween midnight and daylight. West Virginia was admitted to the Union June 20, 1863. Public schools were then organized, and young Ballard, regretting very much that his education had been curtailed, attended them for a time.
Mr. Ballard's father had a large tract of land, most of it rough and hilly, with only about forty acres suitable for cultiva- tion. Here Leander Ballard grew up, and at the age of twenty- five married Miss Almeda Workman. Two children were born to them. One was a daughter, Maud, who married James Alder- man, of that state. She had one child, Marie, now a young lady, who makes her home with Mr. Ballard. His wife died in their native state, and he was married a second time, to Miss Minnie Bown, born in Lawrence County, Ohio, who moved with her par- ents to Boone County, W. Va., when she was a baby; and they have three children, Homer, Goldie and Geraldine.
Mr. Ballard was engaged in farming in West Virginia, and kept a general store at Bald Knob, in that state. He also acted as resident agent for non-resident landowners for some time, looking after some fifty tenants. In 1902 he decided to come to California and spend the balance of his days. He had worked hard, had become well-to-do, and felt entitled to a rest. He closed up his affairs, and, with his family, left for this state, arriving in Sacramento on September 15. He and his wife came to Colusa, were much impressed with the conditions there, and bought a twenty-acre tract of the J. B. De Jarnatt tract. This he improved and farmed, in 1909 adding thirty-eight acres to his first holding. He has farmed carefully and well, and now has
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fifteen acres in prunes, set out in 1915, 1916, and 1917. In the last-mentioned year he completed a beautiful modern bungalow residence on the property, making it an attractive suburban home. Mr. Ballard and his wife are Methodists in religious belief. They have an ever-widening circle of friends in their home section.
HARRY F. OSGOOD
A clear-headed, dependable financier, Harry F. Osgood, cash- ier of the First National Bank of Colusa, and of the First Savings Bank of Colusa, holds a high position in banking circles of the Sacramento Valley. He was born in Tuolumne County, Cal., May 26, 1865, a son of the late E. H. Osgood of San Luis Obispo, who was born in Hancock County, Maine, and became a pioneer of Cal- ifornia in 1854. He was a marble-cutter by trade; but the dust in- jured his lungs, and he decided to come to California and seek his fortunes in the mines. Upon his arrival here in February, 1854, he went at once to the mines of Tuolumne County, and took up mining as a business. While there he was married to Eliza Jane Root, a native of the Green Mountain State. They had three sons, Frank, Harry F., and Willis. The mining venture did not prove as successful as Mr. Osgood had anticipated when he was in far- off Maine; so he turned his talents to the carpenter's trade and became a contractor and builder. In 1874 he moved with his fam- ily to San Luis Obispo; and during the remainder of his life he executed contracts for buildings, bridges and wharves. He died in 1915 at the age of eighty-six. His wife had passed away in 1878, soon after their removal to San Luis Obispo.
The only child of the family to grow to matnrity, Harry F. Osgood attended the public schools of San Luis Obispo, and Hes- perian College. He entered the office of the Pacific Coast Railway Company in San Luis Obispo as a clerk, where he remained for some time. An opening then presented itself, and he entered the employ of the San Luis Obispo County Bank. Here he learned the banking business, and made a wide acquaintance among the finan- ciers in various parts of the state. In 1902, Mr. Osgood was of- fered a position as assistant cashier of the Farmers and Mer- chants Bank of Colusa, which he accepted. Later, upon the organ- ization of the First National Bank and the First Savings Bank, of this city, in 1911, he was selected as cashier of both institutions; and since that date he has filled these positions most acceptably. Ile has worked his way up by diligent application and conserva- tive methods; and today he holds a high position in the banking
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circles of the state, and in the esteem of the citizens of Colusa County, where he cooperates with all progressive movements.
In San Luis Obispo, Mr. Osgood was united in marriage with Miss Florence Gregg, born in Iowa; and they have three children: Lois, a senior in the Colusa high school; Gethel, a junior; and Florence. Their comfortable bungalow home on Sixth and Oak Streets evidences good taste, and radiates good cheer to their many friends. Mr. Osgood is a member of Colusa Lodge, No. 240, F. & A. M., of which he is a Past Master. He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church; and Mrs. Osgood is a member of its Ladies' Aid and Missionary Societies. In the later development of Colusa, Mr. Osgood has made his influence felt for the good of the town; and he is counted as one of her public-spirited men.
GEORGE LORENZO BROWN
During his long years of residence in California, dating from 1849, when he was a lad of seven years, and including the period of the American occupation, George Lorenzo Brown has witnessed the development of the state from early pioneer conditions to its present high position in the galaxy of wealthy and prosperons commonwealths. His father, Thomas Brown, was born in Dur- ham, England. He was a man of superior education and a mining engineer of international reputation. He went to Scotland in the interests of his profession, and while there married Emma Gregory, of the famous Gregory clan, that has given to the world many men of military and historical prominence. From Scot- land Mr. Brown was sent by his government to Barcelona, Spain, to construct a government smelter, after the completion of which he had charge of the mining operations, and the smelter, for two and one half years. He then left for the United States, and upon his arrival located in Dubnque, Iowa, in 1847, where he remained a little over a year. The excitement attendant upon the dis- covery of gold in California spread over the country; and being interested in mining, Mr. Brown could not resist the call of the West. With his family, he joined a train of fifty wagons, drawn by slow-going oxen, the party numbering some seventy persons ; and in 1849 they came by the Lassen route to California. Mr. Brown was chosen captain of the train. During the long journey of six months' duration, they endured many hardships and snf- fered many privations. They had two severe battles with Indians, in which twelve of their party were killed. They arrived in Butte County, six miles above Oroville, where Thomas Brown
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put in the first flume ever built in the state for mining purposes, on the north fork of the Feather River. His years of experience as a gold-mining expert made him an authority on the subject, and he was able to use the most satisfactory methods of that period for washing out the gold. During this time he opened a hotel in Forbestown; and it was in this section that he discoy- ered one of the great lodes that is now a paying property. He organized a company and raised $90,000, which was intrusted to a member of the company to be taken back to Connecticut for the purchase of necessary machinery. He was never heard from, and was probably killed and robbed. The claim passed into the hands of an English syndicate, and is now a profitable mine. Mr. Brown died at Marysville, at the age of seventy years; and his wife passed her last days in Red Bluff, dying at the age of sixty-five. They had six children: Martha, Mrs. Williams, of Marysville; Joseph, also of Marysville; Susan, Mrs. Parks, deceased; Eliza- beth, Mrs. Barkman, also deceased; Jonathan, buried in Yuba City; and George L., of this review.
George Lorenzo Brown was born near Glasgow, Scotland, on the Isle of Sky, February 12, 1843. He learned to speak Spanish during the two and a half years the family lived in Barcelona, Spain. The long trip across the plains is stamped indelibly on his memory, as are the early days in California. He had but a limited opportunity for an education; and the broad knowledge he pos- sesses has been gained by contact with the world and by reading good literature. In 1862 he enlisted for service in the Civil War, at Marysville, in Company F, under Captain Dean, and served in California. He was wounded by a bayonet thrust in a fight with a secessionist, at Colusa, and was honorably discharged. After the war he engaged in farming. In 1881 he moved to Colusa County and bought forty acres of land, to the cultivation and development of which he has since given his attention, besides leasing other property.
In 1871 Mr. Brown married Mary Gilchrist, who was born in Nevada; and they had nine children: Lorenzo, superintendent of the Colusa Water Company; George, a farmer near Colusa; Engene, proprietor of a garage in San Francisco; Mary, who married Clark Hall, of Sacramento; Charles, superintendent of the William Ash ranch; Peter H., a farmer in Colusa County; Agnes, at home; Albert, a student in Santa Clara College; and Francis, at home. The family are members of the Catholic Church. In polities Mr. Brown votes independently, according to his convic- tions, regardless of party lines. He is well informed; and his knowledge of early conditions in California, and fund of personal
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experiences, would make an interesting volume if it were written. In the evening of their days, he and his wife are enjoying life, in the knowledge that they have done the best they could to help in the making of this glorious state.
SEAVER BROTHERS
The firm of Seaver Brothers, of Colusa County, is engaged in general or mixed farming, and owns five hundred fifty acres of land, six and one half miles north of Colusa on the Sacramento River, besides leasing three thousand acres in the valley. The Seaver brothers are among the most prosperous and successful men in the county, and represent a pioneer element of the period of 1852 in California. Their father, Charles Seaver, was born near Lowell, Mass. He was an old-time teamster, who came via Panama to Marysville, Cal., in 1852, and engaged in freighting to the mines at Carson City, Nev. He was well known among many of the early mining men of the Northwest. Charles Seaver mar- ried Annie Timoney, a native of Ireland who arrived in Marys- ville in 1854. She died on June 11, 1903, at the home of her sons in Colusa County, at the age of sixty-nine years. Mr. Seaver passed away on October 5, 1887, when sixty-one years old. Their four children are: Eliza J., Mrs. Sorrel, who, with her husband, lives on the Seaver Brothers ranch; John Henry, farming near Chico; and George W. and Charles Franklin, of the firm of Seaver Brothers.
George W. Seaver was born on January 28, 1866, in Marys- ville; and Charles Franklin Seaver was born on July 31, 1868, in the same place. George W. Seaver was married in Modoc County, October 31, 1893, to Miss Emma Fisher, who was born in Oroville, July 26, 1870; and they have one son, Lloyd W., a graduate from the gas engineering course of the Oakland Polytechnic. The Seaver brothers came to Colnsa County with their parents in Angust, 1869. They were reared on the farm, received a good public school education in their home district, and began ranching at an early age, working by the month until they felt able to make a venture for themselves. Their first large venture was made in Glenn County, where they leased large tracts of land at Mills Holm and raised wheat and barley; but the low price of grain from 1892 to 1896, during the hard Democratie times, broke them. Wheat was seventy-one and one half cents per hundred, and barley fifty-eight cents, and they had fifty thousand sacks to sell. After reimbursing their finances, they began once more in
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Colnsa County. They got a start by handling wood during the slack season, putting in twelve months in the year. They now own their own property, upon which they have set out forty acres to French prunes, besides an orchard and a fine garden. Their place is well improved with buildings suitable for their needs, and they lease three thousand acres, where they have three thousand sheep, and one thousand acres in beans, barley and hay. They keep about one hundred fifty hogs; twenty-five cattle, with a fine Durham bull at the head of their herd; and thirty mules. They were among the organizers of Cheney Slough Irrigation Company, pumping water from the Sacramento River, from which they irrigate their ranch.
Seaver Brothers bring to bear all of the modern methods in use on up-to-date farms, working in harmony at all times. By intelligent application to their work, they have won a well- deserved success, and attained a high standing in financial circles. While giving their entire attention to their farming operations, they have not neglected the duties of citizenship. They have assisted all worthy enterprises that have been promoted to build up Colusa County and the Sacramento Valley, throughout which they are well known as aggressive and prosperous stockmen and grain-raisers.
MAX PAUL SCHOHR
That the fame of Colusa County as a grain-raising section had early reached agricultural districts all over the world, is evidenced by the fact that Max Schohr, now a successful rancher of Grand Island, had, as a boy in Germany, read stories of America and California, and of farming and wheat-growing in Colusa County. These stories first inspired him with a desire to see for himself the land where this phenomenal development of which he read and heard, was taking place. Max Paul Schohr was born in the town of Friedberg, Province of Brandenburg, Prussia, on May 26, 1880. His father, Heinrich, and mother, Bertha (Sagert) Schohr, were both natives of that country, and are still living there, engaged in farming. Their son, Max, received his education in the public and high schools, and completed the course at the Gymnasium, after which he learned practical farming, as an apprentice, on a sixty-five-thousand-acre, scientifically managed farm in that country. He then attended the University of Koenigsberg for three semesters, obtained his diploma, and at twenty-one years of age went into military training in the Prus- sian army, remaining one year. Having never forgotten the
JA Ryan
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stories he read, as a boy, of California's miles of waving wheat fields, and having in the meantime seen still further literature on the subject, he decided to fulfil his early desire and journey to America to investigate conditions on the Pacific Coast. Sailing from Bremen, in 1905, he landed at Galveston, Texas, and became . manager of a sugar plantation in Louisiana. Later he bought a one-hundred-eighty-acre plantation, paying a purchase price of fifteen hundred dollars, and in a comparatively short time sold the property for seven thousand dollars.
In 1910, Mr. Schohr turned his face toward the West and came to California. He was engaged as manager of a ranch for the Portland Cement Company in Solano County, and then as manager for the Tisdale Ranch, in Colusa County, in 1912. In 1913 he was united in marriage with Miss Elva E. Browning, daughter of J. W. Browning, of Grand Island, one of the largest individual landowners in the county. Mr. and Mrs. Schohr are residing on their ranch on Grand Island. Mr. Schohr is a man of broad mind, and keeps himself well informed as to new devel- opments in agriculture, applying theory to practice whenever he sees an advantage in so doing. Mr. and Mrs. Schohr have two children.
JOHN ANDREW RYAN
A California hotel-keeper who will long be remembered by his patrons, both tourist and resident, for the warm hospitality and the spirit of comfort and cheer always to be noted in his hostelry, and so suggestive of the old-fashioned days, was John Andrew Ryan, the late proprietor of the Williams Hotel at Williams, Colusa County. His father was Dennis Ryan, a farmer, who migrated from Illinois to California in 1870, and located in Solano County about seven miles from Snisun. He later farmed near Knoxville, Napa County ; but after retiring, he passed his latter days in comfort and happiness with his son at Williams. He died in 1896. His wife, who was born in Illinois, was in maidenhood Elizabeth Earle. She died on the ranch in Napa County. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Ryan.
John Andrew Ryan, the oldest of the children, was born on December 1, 1863, in Springfield, Ill. He was but a lad of seven when he accompanied his parents to California. For a time he was given every advantage for gaining an education; but circum- stances made it necessary for him to go to work when he was about thirteen, and thereafter he was self-supporting and made his home with Abraham Clark in the Berryessa Valley. In 1882 he
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came to Colusa County and entered the employ of Reuben Clark, a leading rancher of this county, and remained in his employ for a number of years. He next was engaged with J. C. Stovall, and continued with him for some time. In the fall of 1893, he was ap- pointed deputy county assessor, serving under William Hurd until the expiration of his term in office. Mr. Ryan then engaged in the liquor business.
On July 4, 1900, John A. Ryan assumed charge of the Wil- liams Hotel; and from the very first day of his management it bore the impress of his strong and pleasing personality. The hotel was a commodious house, well fitted and furnished, and was appreciated by all its patrons.
On March 6, 1901, Mr. Ryan was united in marriage with Miss Mary Tully, a native of Fredericksburg, Chickasaw County, Iowa, and a daughter of Ambrose J. Tully. Her father was born in Huron County, Ohio, was left an orphan when but five years old, and in his eleventh year was brought to Green County, Wis., where he completed his schooling. At the age of fifteen he went to Chickasaw County, Iowa, where he worked as a farm hand until 1863. Having then resolved to reach a point farther west, he crossed the plains with ox teams to Carson City, Nev., followed mining for a few years, and in 1866 located near Benicia, Solano County, Cal. Here he farmed extensive areas of land and en- gaged in ranching. From 1870 until 1872, he made his residence and farmed at Kelseyville, Lake County. Meantime he had be- come interested in farming in Colusa County, and in 1872 he moved there. It was in 1881 that he purchased the ranch which became his residence place until he died. It comprised six hun- dred forty acres, four and one half miles southeast of the town of Williams, although he farmed a greater area, making a specialty. of raising wheat. He also owned thirty-two hundred eighty acres in McMullen and Duval Counties, Texas, and also a stock ranch of four hundred eighty acres lying sixteen miles southwest from Wil- liams. He had been in poor health for some years previous to his death, which occurred on December 22, 1897.
Thirty-one years before, on November 22, Mr. Tully had mar- ried Miss Polly Jones, a native of Kendall County, Ill., born on August 20, 1840. In company with Abe Clark, she crossed the plains in 1864, driving one of the teams. She was of New England ancestry, a daughter of Jonathan Jones, who was born in Ver- mont, whence he removed to Illinois, and from there to Chickasaw Connty, Iowa. Mrs. Tully made her home with Mrs. Ryan until her death, on March 5, 1904. Mrs. Ryan was the only child of her parents, and was educated in the public schools of Colusa County, later graduating from the normal department of the Stockton
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Business College, after which she was engaged in teaching until the death of her father.
In polities, Mr. Ryan was a Democrat; and fraternally, he was a Past Grand of Central Lodge, No. 229, I. O. O. F., at Wil- liams. In 1908 he sold out his hotel business and devoted his time to looking after his varied interests. He was interested in the Jones Hot Springs property on Sulphur Creek, and during the season of 1914 he took personal charge of it, meeting with his usnal success until he sold the place to the Wilbur Springs Com- pany, on October 19, 1914. He was a stockholder in both the Cortina and the Freshwater vineyards; and upon this enterprise, as upon all other ventures, he brought to bear his pleasing person- ality and high sense of honor. He died on November 3, 1916, mourned by a large concourse of friends.
GEORGE A. BERGER
There is no man better posted on race-horses of the United States than George A. Berger, a quiet, unassuming, but pros- perons rancher living in Colusa County, six miles north of Colusa. He was born near Laytonville, Long Valley, in Mendocino County, November 3, 1864, the son of James L. Berger, a Missonrian who settled in Iowa and there married Mary Jane Lambert, a native of that state. They crossed the plains overland with ox teams to California in 1852, during the gold excitement; and for a time Mr. Berger wooed Dame Fortune in the mines. Not being as successful as he had anticipated, he went to Mendocino County and there engaged in farming. He was an enterprising man, who could turn his hand to almost anything. Later he moved to Ukiah, where he built and ran a livery stable, and also conducted a meat market. There were five children in their family: Three danghters, still living in Mendocino County; George A., of this review; and James, who died in Ukiah. Mr. and Mrs. Berger made friends wherever they went. Their last days were spent in Ukialı.
George A. Berger attended the public schools in Mendocino Connty, and also pursued a course of study at Heald's Business College. From a lad he assisted his father in the butcher and stock business. In 1882 he sailed from San Francisco on the General Knox around Cape Horn to Liverpool, taking five months and four days to make the trip, and spent about eighteen months in England and on the Continent, returning to New York City on the sailer W. H. Starbuck. On his return to California, he
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became interested in horse-racing, acquired a string of horses of his own, and followed the race-courses over the United States. He trained horses for some of the most prominent race-horse men, among them Spreckels, Gaylord, Chase, Baldwin, and others. He would buy likely colts and train them. Among others he owned Toledo, one of the fastest two-year-olds in California, and also Solaris and Cousin Carrie. He would spend about six months of each year about San Francisco, and then go to Denver, Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City, and on to New York, and come back via Portland, Ore. He continued this life until 1906, when laws adverse to profitable racing knocked out that sport. It was then that Mr. Berger went to farming, at first settling in San Luis Obispo County, near Santa Margarita, in 1907, where he farmed on the Murphy grant, raising grain and stock. He remained there until 1910, when he came to Colusa County and bought from the Moulton Irrigated Lands Company thirty acres, which he im- proved and still owns. In 1916 he moved to his present place on the Weis ranch, where he has two hundred forty acres in barley and sixty-five acres in alfalfa. He is also raising rice. Since engaging in ranching, Mr. Berger has met with very good success. He keeps abreast of the times, is public-spirited, and has a wide acquaintance all over the country.
On April 1, 1892, Mr. Berger was united in marriage in Fresno with Annie E. Bronaugh, daughter of Robert B. and Dorcas (Swope) Bronaugh. Her father was born in Louisville, Ky. He made five trips across the plains, coming finally in 1865 to make his home in California, and eventually settling in Fresno, where Mrs. Berger was reared from the age of eight. They have one son, William G., now a young man of twenty-one. Mrs. Berger accompanied her husband in all his travels about the country in his racing days, and is as much interested in good stock as her husband. Both are happy and contented, and have a wide circle of friends in Colusa County.
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