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 56
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 56
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Mr. Sites rents about half of his ranch, and operates the bal- ance himself. He raises about six hundred acres of grain each year, and devotes the rest of the land to raising cattle. His brand, W. S., is well known. He has had a varied experience in grain- raising, having sold wheat as low as sixty-nine cents per cental. The highest price was received in 1917, when he sold for three dol- lars and seventy-five cents per cental. Once before he sold wheat as high as two dollars and seventy-five cents ; and he has sold blue- stem wheat for two dollars per cental in years past.
Mr. Sites was first married in 1882, on Grapevine Creek, Co- Insa County, to Miss Maggie Shearin, a native of Missouri, born in Montgomery County, the daughter of Joseph Shearin, a farmer. Mrs. Sites died in January, 1904, leaving eight children: Laura, Mrs. Harmon of Stony Creek; Clara, Mrs. Ainger of Grimes; Dora, Mrs. Peer of Antelope Valley; Henry, operating a part of the home ranch; Louise, the wife of M. E. Pence, a rancher in An- telope Valley; Birdie, Mrs. Harold Harden of Maxwell; Alice,
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Mrs. Rebstock of San Francisco; and William, who is at home. The second marriage of Mr. Sites took place in San Francisco, on November 12, 1911, when he was united with Mrs. Hattie V. (Schardin) Malloway. She was born in Woodland, Yolo County, a daughter of Nicholas and Helen (Hunt) Schardin, natives of Germany and Michigan respectively, and successful ranchers near Woodland. Mrs. Sites was the sixth child in order of birth in a family of eight children. She married William Malloway, a far- mer near Maxwell, where he died, leaving three children: Jesse, serving in the United States Aviation Corps; Helen, Mrs. Faust of San Francisco; and Robert, who is still at home.
On Mr. Sites' ranch are the remains of an old Indian ranch- eria which was formerly occupied by Digger Indians. There are now only two brothers of them left at the rancheria, one of whom is working for Mr. Sites. The old Indian burying ground still re- mains. Many years ago, some Spaniards came through the valley ; and on one occasion they killed two Indians. As a result, all the rest left, remaining away for many years. It was not until after Jolın Sites settled here that an Indian, afterwards called Humpy, showed up. John Sites taught him how to pump or draw water, and do other work. He remained three weeks and was paid for, his work, and then he left. After a while Humpy returned, and with him were several other Indians; and the Indian rancheria was built up again. It is narrated how Humpy and his brother Bush, in the early days before the Indians' exodus, had a fight with a grizzly bear that had been wounded and had killed their brother. The two took revenge, besting the brute in true native style with their hands and with home-made weapons, long lances with flint heads, having no firearms. It is also told how the Span- ish would steal young Indians and take them south and work them practically as slaves. On one occasion John Sites and a man named Van Bibber were camping in a canyon, when they saw three men skirting the ridge, apparently avoiding them. Mr. Sites and Mr. Van Bibber took their guns and started after them, when two of the three men ran away, leaving one, who was found to be an Indian boy of fifteen years. Undoubtedly more of this cruel practice existed in early days than has ever been realized. The country in and about Antelope Valley abounds in interesting inci- dents ; and it is indeed pleasing to hear Mr. Sites relate his remin- iscences of the locality, particularly of the aborigines and of the early hunting days. In early days Mr. Sites and his brother John often hunted big game. Mr. Sites still enjoys the sport, and nearly every year goes on a hunting trip. Of late he goes to Hat Creek and Mt. Lassen, where he meets with success, each year bringing back his trophies of deer horns.
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Mr. Sites was for years a member of the board of trustees of Antelope school district. His wife is now a member and the clerk of the board. He is an independent Democrat, and a member of the County Central Committee; and he has served on the grand jury.
JACOB FRUCHTENICHT
Colusa County and the state of California owe a debt of gratitude to the men of enterprise and public spirit who have untiringly given of their time and effort to aid in establishing the industrial interests of their communities on a firm foundation, and thus also in building up one of the greatest commonwealths of our union of states. Of this number Jacob Fruchtenicht is counted a leader in his section. He was born near Uetersen, Holstein, Germany, on November 6, 1851, and was a son of Deiterich and Annie (Kahke) Fruchtenicht. The mother died when her son Jacob was a child of five years. There were three other children in the family: Deiterich, now in California ; John, in Washington; and Anna, in Germany. The father married again, and had the following children by that union: August, Herman, Otto, Rebecca (deceased), Augusta, and Elizabeth (who died aged six months). The father is still living in Germany, at the advanced age of ninety-two.
Jacob Fruchtenicht was educated in the German schools in his neighborhood, and at the age of nineteen, in 1870, sailed from Hamburg for the New World, with California as his objective point. From New York he took passage on another steamer for Aspinwall, crossed the Isthmus on the railroad, and then took ship for San Francisco, where he arrived in due time. He first found work in Alameda County, where he labored a few months; and in the fall of the same year he came to Colusa County. He worked as a ranch hand for various ranchers for about ten years, saving his money, and in 1880 bought out Joe HIauchilt, and with a partner, Jasper Kolpien, began farming on the one hundred fifty acres thus acquired. Three years later he bought out his partner, and ever since has been managing his operations alone. When he bought his partner's interest, he also bought his one hundred fifty acres, and in 1892 added thirty-four acres more, giving him three hundred thirty-four acres of fine land, which he has been cultivating for years with good success. lle raises grain, hay and stock, and has a small dairy of Holstein and Jersey cows. The improvements seen on the place today were put there by Mr. Fruchtenicht himself, who has worked
& / Hastings
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hard and successfully to build up a good property. With his son John he also owns three hundred twenty acres one half mile south of his place; and they also rent other lands.
Mr. Fruchtenicht chose for his first wife Annie Rechter, who died about a year later, leaving a baby boy seven days old, named John. The second marriage united him with Maria Rech- ter, a sister of his first wife. She was born in Holstein, Germany. Of this union eleven children were born: Herman, who married Josie Hahn, and lives in Arbuckle; Lillie, wife of Rolla Hill, of Grimes; Annie, who died aged two years; Charles, who died aged eight months; Mary, Mrs. Grove Beckley, of Grimes; and Otto, Emma, Hilda, Wilbert, Jennie and Ernest. The family are mem- bers of the Lutheran Church, and Mr. Fruchtenicht is a supporter of all the charities of that organization. He was naturalized in 1877, and has been a member of the county grand jury. In poli- ties he is a Republican on national issues; but in local affairs he considers men rather than party. A self-made man, he has won his success by hard work and good management, and now is able to enjoy comforts of which he had to deny himself while working hard to acquire a competence.
GEORGE WASHINGTON HASTINGS
Those men and women who were trained to useful occupations under the pioneer conditions when the Middle West was the fron- tier, and who received their education in the log schoolhouses, have been the bulwarks of our civilization. Their ranks are thin- ning rapidly; yet there are still some of them left to recount the hardships and privations endured, which, when compared with our modern conveniences and facilities, seem almost unbearable. George W. Hastings, of Maxwell, is one of these pioneer men. He was born near Mansfield, Richland County, Ohio, on November 21, 1833. His father, James Hastings, served in an artillery regi- ment in the War of 1812; and his grandfather Hastings served in the Revolutionary War, and was in the Battle of Bunker Hill. The paternal great-grandfather came from England and settled in New Hampshire. George Hastings' mother was Prudence Dick- erson, a native of Vermont.
George W. Hastings lived in Ohio, and attended school there until he was sixteen. The family then went to Johnson County, Iowa, settling near Iowa City, where the father improved a farm. George finished his education in the log schoolhouse there, after which he engaged in teaming. There were no railroads in that
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section, and all produce had to be hauled to the larger market places or to the wharves on the Mississippi River at Muscatine for shipment. He hauled logs to Iowa City until he was twenty-two, and then left home for a trip through Louisiana and Texas, returning to Iowa in the fall of 1860, where he farmed in Polk County until 1865.
In 1865 Mr. Hastings joined a wagon train of three hundred people, with wagons drawn by both oxen and horses, for the journey to California. They left Des Moines in April, 1865, and arrived in Marysville in September. Mr. Hastings went to work on a ranch, and later rented some land on the Sacramento River near Meridian, in Sutter County, where he raised grain until 1869. That year he came over into Colusa County, and for three years farmed on the Hagar ranch near Mooney's ferry. In 1873 he ventured out on the plains and bought one hundred sixty acres north of Maxwell; and there he has lived ever since. He planted fruit and shade trees, erected a house and other buildings, and engaged in raising grain. For over forty years Mr. Hastings ran a threshing outfit through five counties in the valley; and he is well known all over the section where he traveled.
At Fort Des Moines, Iowa, on June 12, 1861, Mr. Hastings was married to Mary M. Harris, who was born in Indiana, June 8, 1840. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hastings: Mary Rosa, Mrs. Ellis of Maxwell; James W., a farmer near Glenn; Isaac M., a conductor in Sacramento; Prudence, Mrs. Kelly, also of Sacramento; Newton H., a farmer near Maxwell; Ida, Mrs. Roscoe, who lives in Sacramento; George W .. ^ farmer near Max- well; Georgia Viola, Mrs. Laban of Arizona; Hattie, Mrs. Turner of Oakland; and Matthew E., who is assisting his father. There are eight grandchildren and one great-granchild to brighten the evening of Mr. Hastings' life. Mr. Hastings was bereaved of his beloved wife, on January 28, 1911. Her passing was mourned by a large circle of relatives and friends.
Mr. Hastings is a prominent Mason, a member of Maxwell Lodge, No. 288, F. & A. M. He has served as a school trustee, and been active in maintaining good schools; and he has been a mem- ber of the county grand juries. Now at the age of eighty-four, he is still hale and hearty; and with the aid of his son, Matthew E., he still runs his ranch, where for over fifty years he has been a grain farmer. He is public-spirited and hospitable, and has always been on the square in all of his dealings. He has friends all over the Sacramento Valley.
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CHARLES WILLIAM LOVELACE
The state of Missouri has given this portion of the West many of her stalwart sons, and they have proven important fac- tors in the upbuilding of the communities in which they have cast their lot. One of these is Charles W. Lovelace, who was born in Montgomery County, Mo., on February 27, 1860. He is a son of John and Ann (Shearin) Lovelace, natives respectively of Vir- ginia and North Carolina. Mr. Lovelace is therefore a true son of the South, both by birth and by ancestry; and he also has the honor of being a descendant of pioneers of California, as John and Ann Lovelace came to the state, via Panama, in 1867, bringing their family with them, and settled in Bear Valley, near Sulphur Springs. Here the founder of the family bought land and engaged in the cattle business. This worthy couple were the parents of seven children, as follows: Lucy, wife of G. B. Harden; Martha, wife of Wm. H. Miles; and Charles W., Mrs. U. W. Brown, John H., Walter, and Stewart.
Charles W. Lovelace received the foundation of his education in the schools of Bear Valley, and afterwards attended Pierce Christian College, where he was graduated in 1883. He then tanght school for one year in Bear Valley, after which he engaged in farming, first renting land near Colusa, and later in the hills near Sites. He finally settled in Maxwell, in 1898, and engaged in the real estate business, buying and selling large ranches, princi- pally in Colusa County. He has probably owned and sold more land than any one else in the community. Mr. Lovelace owns forty acres east of town, planted to alfalfa, and three hundred twenty acres south of town, which is being developed into a fine ranch. This ranch is devoted to the raising of alfalfa, catte, sheep and hogs. Besides these properties he also owns about one thon- sand acres of farming lands in this vicinity, in addition to his resi- dence and other property in Maxwell, where he makes his home.
On Grand Island, June 1, 1884, Charles William Lovelace was united in marriage with Nellie J. Clark, a native of Colusa County, born near Grimes. She is a daughter of an old pioneer of Cali- fornia, Andrew Clark, who crossed the plains in early days and was a farmer and stock-raiser on Grand Island, and also in Modoc County. Her mother was Martha Grimes, a sister of Cleaton Grimes, the founder of Grimes, and an own cousin of Gen. U. S. Grant. Mrs. Lovelace's grandmother was named Susan Grant. Nellie Clark attended Pierce Christian College before marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Lovelace are the parents of four children : Blanche,
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a graduate of San Francisco State Normal School, and a school- teacher in Inyo County; Esther, wife of A. M. Anderson; William H., assistant cashier of the Bank of Maxwell; and Clark, manager of his father's large ranch properties.
Mr. Lovelace is one of the prominent and successful ranchers of Colusa County. He is a self-made man, and owes his success entirely to his own capabilities. Aided by a good education, he has made the most of his opportunities, and well deserves the suc- cess which has crowned his efforts. He is a strong advocate of progress and advancement, and a willing supporter of worthy pro- jects for the development of his district.
MRS. CLARA C. PACKER
It did not need the enfranchisement of women to bring out the executive ability and far-sightedness of Mrs. Clara C. Packer, of the Princeton precinct, Colusa County; for she inherited from her father, James Jones, a California pioneer and a successful merchant at La Porte, Plumas County, those qualities which have given him the reputation of being one of the best business men in his county. These, with her own sound common sense and native ability, have made her one of the best-known women in the north- ern part of the Sacramento Valley; and she has the further dis- tinetion of being the only woman director of a bank in Colusa County.
Mrs. Packer is the daughter of James Jones, a native of Cum- berland, Md., who came to California in 1862 with his parents, Anstin and Celia (Spill) Jones, both born in England. The fam- ily migrated from Maryland to Plumas County, Cal., in 1862. In La Porte James Jones began clerking in a store, at the age of thirteen, and soon after began buying and selling gold dust on his own account. Later he became a merchant; and today he is one of the prominent old business men of his county. Mr. Jones is a Mason and an Odd Fellow. His wife, California Remington, was born in Forbestown, a daughter of a pioneer family. She died in La Porte, leaving eight children, of whom Mrs. Packer is the oldest.
Clara C. Jones received her education in the schools of Plu- mas County, from which she graduated; and on October 17, 1897, . she was united in marriage with Albert Marshall Packer. For seven years thereafter they lived at La Porte, and then moved to San Francisco, where Mr. Packer followed the carpenter's trade. In 1905 Mr. Packer purchased the Lincoln tract of thirteen hun-
Clara I. Packer
a. M. Packen
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dred acres, the present home place in Colusa County. Here he erected a fine three-story residence, which was destroyed by fire in 1909. He then rebuilt on the same site as before. Mr. Packer was not spared to enjoy his new home very long, for on March 12, 1910, he died, on his ranch, leaving his widow, three children, and his mother, to mourn his loss.
Albert Marshall Packer was born in Sierra County, November 25, 1861. He was a son of William Packer, who came to Califor- nia in 1854, and grandson of Job Packer, a native of Pennsylvania and a member of the Society of Friends. William Packer was born in the Keystone State, and was among the first Pennsylva- nians to settle in California. He was a miner, as were two of his brothers, George F. and Marshall, who had come to this state in 1852, to seek their fortunes in the mines. While working his mine at Rock Creek, William Packer went back to Pennsylvania ; and on January 2, 1861, married Miss Sarah Emily Young. He came back with his wife to California, where their son, Albert M., was born. William Packer died on Slate Creek, Plumas County, in January, 1903, aged seventy-two years. After his death his widow made her home with her son and her daughter-in-law. She was hale and active until her seventy-eighth year, when she died sud- denly, on June 14, 1917. She was owner of a farm of one hundred sixty acres back in her home county in Pennsylvania.
After the death of Albert Packer, the care of the ranch fell upon his widow, who then showed her ability to manage financial affairs. She leases part of the land, six hundred acres being in rice and four hundred in barley, and farms the balance, with her cousin, Walter Mortimore, as her superintendent She became a stockholder in the First National Bank of Colusa, and later was elected a member of the board of directors.
Mrs. Packer's three children are: Ella, a graduate of the Co- Insa high school, now a junior at the University of California, at Berkeley; Nettie L., a student in the Princeton high school; and George Albert. With all her diversified interests, Mrs. Packer still finds time to give to charitable enterprises, and lends her sup- port to projects that have for their aim the general improvement of conditions in her community and throughout the state. She has a wide acquaintance in the Sacramento Valley, where she has made many warm friends.
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MR. AND MRS. G. H. HIGH
Mr. and Mrs. High are operating a ranch about three miles from Grimes. Mr. High is a North Carolinian, while Mrs. High (who was formerly Rose Isabella Poundstone) was born in Amador County, Cal. Mrs. High was educated in the Convent at Benicia, and was married to Mr. High in 1900. They are successfully carrying on the four-hundred-acre ranch property in Grand Island precinct, Colusa County, specializing in grain- raising and hog-raising-two industries for which Colusa County is noted. Mr. and Mrs. High are the parents of three children: Marcella, Herbert and Muriel. The family enjoy the esteem and respect of many friends in their community.
JOHN EDGAR CAIN
The Bank of Arbuckle stands for prosperity and conserva- tism; and much of its prosperity, and present solid standing in the community, and among the banking concerns of the Sacra- mento Valley, is traceable to the individuality of its genial cashier, John Edgar Cain. A native of the county, Mr. Cain was born on Grand Island, January 17, 1860. His education was obtained in the public schools of Colusa; Hesperian College, at Woodland; and Pierce Christian College, at College City, where he remained three years. Upon leaving this institution of learning he em- barked in business under the firm name of Cain & Martin, con- tinning in this relation for five years, after which he farmed for a like period with very satisfactory success. Mr. Cain then was employed in the general store owned by H. H. Seaton, at Arbuckle, for about eighteen months. While thus engaged he helped organize the Bank of Arbuckle by interesting others in the enterprise; and upon its organization, on July 1, 1901, he became assistant cashier. He also owned considerable stock in the bank, and was its secretary and a member of its board of directors. In 1907 he was made cashier, and the interests of the Bank of Arbuckle, which started with a capital of $50,000, have since received his careful attention. In 1917 its capital, surplus and undivided profits were $70,000; its deposits were $100,000 in excess of 1916; and it had earned a surplus of $20,000, making it a sound and growing concern. Its officers are: George C. Meck- fessel, president ; C. B. Morrison, vice-president ; John E. Cain,
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cashier; and these, with H. V. Traynham and Asa Kalfsbeck, make up the very efficient board of directors, who work in har- mony at all times.
The pioneer of the Cain family, who founded the name in Cal- ifornia, and gave to the state two stalwart sons who have followed in the footsteps of their honored sire, was Isaac Newton Cain, who crossed the plains from Missouri in 1849, when a young man of twenty-six years. He was born in Clay County, that state, on August 27, 1823. His early life had been spent on a farm, and he was well equipped to carry on the work of a farmer wherever he might be located. He was peacefully following that occupation when the news of the discovery of gold in California changed his plans, and he decided to go West and seek his fortune in the mines. With his brother William and others, he crossed the plains over the old Santa Fe trail, and arriving at his destination, mined for about five years. In 1855 he took up government land on Dry Slough, improved it, and began raising grain and stock. He be- came a very prominent man in Colusa County. In 1866 he was elected public administrator and coroner, and the following year moved to Colusa. Upon the death of the sheriff of the county, he was appointed to fill the vacancy; and at the next general election he was a candidate for the office, and was elected. He filled the office for a number of years. Subsequently Mr. Cain engaged in the mercantile business with the firm of Harris, Hart & Com- pany, and later with the firm of Estell, Cain & Lovelace, until he sold out in 1874 and moved to a ranch near College City, where he farmed until his death, in August, 1901. For fifty years he was a deacon in the Christian Church; and he was one of the organizers, and for ten years was president of the board of trustees, of Pierce Christian College. Fraternally, he was a Mason. In 1854, in Mis- souri, Mr. Cain married Mrs. Susan Jane (Brasfield) Miles, a widow with one son, W. H. Miles, who became a prominent man in Colusa, serving as county clerk several years. Mrs. Cain bore her husband five children, of whom two sons are living, John Edgar and T. D. Cain. The latter married Ella Glasscock, of Yolo County; and they had four children.
In College City, John E. Cain was united in marriage with Lizzie L. Clarke, born in Indiana, a daughter of William J. Clarke, who came to California and settled in Yolo County in 1850, and later farmed for twenty years in Colusa County. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Cain nine children have been born: Ellsworth, book- keeper in the Bank of Arbuckle; Edna, married to W. H. Love- lace; Celia; Vernon, a rancher in the county ; and Fern, Mildred, Virgil, Norma and Marjorie. Mr. Cain was one of the original stockholders in the Arbuckle and College City Rochdale com-
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panies. He served as a trustee, and as clerk of the board, of the Pierce Joint Union High School, comprising twelve districts. He is a stanch Democrat, always ready to do his part to advance the best interests of the county; and no man has done more towards the expansion and development of the Arbuckle district than John E. Cain.
JOHN C. WARD
This worthy citizen and pioneer of Arbuckle came to Califor- nia in 1869, and has taken part in the wonderful development of the state since that date. A native of North Carolina, John C. Ward was born on March 17, 1840, and was reared in that state and in Tennessee, where his parents had moved when he was a lad. At the breaking out of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Con- federate army, in which he served valiantly, being twice wounded -once in the side and once in the arm. At the close of hostilities he resumed his trade as harness-maker, which he followed for sev- eral years in Versailles, Mo. Having fully made up his mind to come to California and cast in his lot with the growing Western state, he closed up his business and came. Mr. Ward spent the first year here on a ranch north of what is now the site of Arbuckle. He built the very first house in the place, and opened a harness shop to do repair work for the ranchers in the neighborhood. For many years he conducted this shop, and later was engaged as a carpenter, and as a contractor and builder, working on many of the buildings in the growing town, as well as in the surrounding country. For some time Mr. Ward was constable of the town; and in many ways he has shown his public spirit in furthering the best interests of the community, where he has lived for almost half a century. He helped to organize Meridian Lodge, No. 182, F. & A. M., of which he is a charter member.
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