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 64
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 64
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In the fall of 1866 Joseph Stanton was appointed deputy sheriff by I. N. Cain. He held this position for four years, and was then elected to the office of sheriff for the term of two years, and reelected in 1872 by a large majority. He was popular with all classes of people, carried out the duties of his office with tact and fairness to all, and gave good satisfaction. After he retired from the office, he became connected with an enterprise to connect Colnsa, Calistoga, and Napa by telephone. In the prosecution of his work he crossed Lake County. His attention was attracted to Indian Valley, and with a partner he bought a relinquishment
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there, becoming owner of some twenty-four hundred acres; and af- ter the government survey, he acquired title to this property.
Mr. Stanton married a second time, his second wife being Mary Green. With her and his family he moved on to his land and began raising sheep, conducting the business with profit for four years. He then came back to Colusa County, and soon was appointed under sheriff by D. H. Arnold. For seven years, also, he had the contract to furnish the supplies and care for the in- mates of the county hospital, after which he was again made un- der sheriff, by W. T. Beville. He continued in that position until 1890, when he was once more elected sheriff, serving a four-year term. He was then appointed lieutenant of the guard at Folsom prison, a position he filled for ten years. He was there at the time of the break led by Evans and Sontag. After his retirement from the lieutenancy, until he finally retired to private life, he was dep- uty sheriff under his son, Claude D. Stanton. He died in 1914; and his wife died the following year. Of the four children by his first marriage, two are still living. His second marriage resulted in the birth of ten children, seven of whom are still living. Politically, Joseph Stanton was a stanch Democrat. Fraternally, he was a Knight Templar Mason, and a Past Master of Colusa Lodge, No. 240, F. & A. M. He was an active member of the Christian Church.
Claude D. Stanton was the third child in order of birth in the family of Joseph Byron Stanton, by his first marriage, and first saw the light of day on March 28, 1863, on Grand Island. He was reared and educated in Colusa County, and followed farming until he started in the hotel business at Arbuckle, where he owned and conducted the American Hotel until he was burned out. Then, on completion of the Hotel Ash, he became "mine host" there, and ran that hotel until he became sheriff of the county. He was elected to that office in 1906, and entered upon its duties on Jan- mary 1, 1907. In 1910 he was reelected without opposition, and again in 1914-an evidence of his popularity with all political par- ties, and of the efficiency of his conduct of the office. He holds a high place in the esteem of his fellow citizens throughout the county, all of whom have only good to say of him, and of his dis- charge of the duties intrusted to his care.
In 1884 Mr. Stanton was united in marriage with Mrs. Ala- meda (Kilgore) Black, a native of Sutter County, and a daughter of one of the pioneers of Colusa County. Mr. and Mrs. Stanton are very hospitable and charitable people; and their liberality and kindness of heart are manifested in many ways. When Mr. Stan- ton's sister, Mrs. Adah Winship, died, they took and cared for her son, B. A. Stanton, whom they reared and educated. He gradu-
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ated from the College City High School, and is now purser for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company in San Francisco. They also reared a daughter of Mrs. Winship, Clara, now Mrs. Williams, who is residing in London, England. Mr. Stanton was made a Mason in Meridian Lodge, No. 182, F. & A. M., at Arbuckle, and is a member of Colusa Chapter, No. 60, R. A. M., and of Colusa Commandery, No. 24, K. T. He is also an Elk, holding member- ship in Marysville Lodge, No. 783, and is a member of Colusa Par- lor, N. S. G. W .; and with his wife he belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star.
ORD L. LEACHMAN
To what extent the agricultural interests of Glenn County, and those of the individual farmer, have been advanced through the Farm Bureau, and how much the experience, wisdom and elo- quence of Ord L. Leachman, the Bureau's appealing auctioneer, have contributed to that organization's success, those who are as- sociated with the Burean, and who have worked side by side with Mr. Leachman and come under the spell of his oratory, can well testify. Born at Lineville, Wayne County, Iowa, February 4, 1886, Ord was reared and educated there, graduating from the high school. He also attended and graduated from the Normal School of Lineville, and after finishing his course taught for the period of three months.
Deciding to move to Des Moines, Mr. Leachman learned the barber's trade, and opening a shop there conducted the same for nine years. He also became one of the organizers of the Brother- hood of American Yeomen, and boasted a record for new mem- bers of the order, doing one hundred sixty-five thousand dollars' worth of business during his first month as solicitor. Arriving in Corning, Tehama County, on July 16, 1913, he bought out a bar- ber's shop there, and also engaged in the anctioneering business. While in Corning, he assisted Gumble, the auctioneer, as a part- ner, and added considerably to the volume of his operations.
On Angust 1, 1915, Mr. Leachman sold out his shop and stand, and then came to Orland, seeking a larger field for his auction bus- iness; and that his choice of a business locality was well-advised is shown from the volume of his sales since coming to this vicinity. One of his large sales was that of the ranch property known as the Downing estate, which he sold for fourteen thousand dollars. In February, 1917, Mr. Leachman was appointed salesman to the Glenn County Farm Burean, a live and very important organiza- tion, through which over four hundred farmers pool their interests
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in the sale of cattle, sheep, hogs and grain, leaving to Mr. Leach- man the task of disposing of their products. This he does in car load lots, working for a commission; and the arrangement is of great benefit to the farmers, not only relieving them of work and worry, but enabling them to get much better prices than their products would otherwise command. Being a good talker, Mr. Leachman is able to reap results, if anyone can.
But Mr. Leachman has not only cared for the interests of oth- ers-he has had a sensible eye to some provision for himself. He owns a ten-acre ranch in Corning, and a forty-acre ranch in the Plaza district, on the Thompson tract, in Orland. This has been nicely developed, and is planted to alfalfa. In addition, he has a well-improved farm in Illinois, and his extensive private auction business. His success and popularity in this particular line may be determined from the fact that he conducts fully ninety-five per cent. of all the larger sales that are made, in both Glenn and Tehama Counties.
Some years ago Mr. Leachman was married to Pearl R. ('ritchfield, of Iowa, an attractive lady and a talented musician, who has become the mother of a promising son, William Ord. Both Mr. and Mrs. Leachman are popular in social circles. Mr. Leachman is an active member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
CURRY M. FRENCH
A native son of the state, and a representative of one of the pioneer families of Glenn County, Curry M. French was born on September 6, 1886, at Willows. His parents, Milton and Lizzie (Williams) French, are both natives of Missouri, and are men- tioned on another page of this work.
Curry M. French was educated in the public schools of Wil- lows, and was graduated from the high school of that city, after which he at once became associated with his father in his large ranching interests. Upon the death of his parent he took charge of the home place, and since that time has had actual charge of the thousands of acres which his father had accumulated. For years this property has been planted to wheat and barley, and has been devoted, also, to the raising of cattle, hogs and sheep, thou- sands in number.
Mr. French is a Mason, a member of Laurel Lodge, No. 245, F. & A. M., of Willows. In business relations he is a director of the Bank of Willows. He married Miss Lulu L. Jacoby, a native of Cedar Falls, Iowa, and a lady of refinement, who, with her
F. W. Troxel Jessie Troxel
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worthy husband, has a wide circle of friends throughout this part of Glenn County. Mr. French is a worthy successor to his father, and, like him, is a supporter of all movements that have for their aim the advancement of the best interests of the county and the uplifting of the people. He gives his personal attention to the de- tails of his extensive interests; and as the years pass he is widen- ing his influence in the community, where he is highly respected.
FRANK W. TROXEL
Among the successful ranchers, stock-raisers and dairymen of Glenn County, and in the front rank of those who have worked hard for what they possess and take pride in maintaining the highest standard, is Frank W. Troxel. He was born in Glenn County, December 13, 1870, a son of William T. Troxel, a native of Illinois, and Eliza (Johnson) Troxel, a daughter of William and Sarah Johnson, and a native of England. The parents met in California, and were united in marriage at Dixon, Solano County. William T. Troxel was the son of Daniel Z. and Eleanor (Zum- walt) Troxel, born in Maryland and Ohio, respectively. They left their Illinois home in 1853, wintered in Iowa, and the following year set out, on April 9, with an ox-team train of emigrants, some sixty wagons, under the leadership of Capt. James Zumwalt, for the long trip across the plains to the Golden State of California; and after a six months' journey they arrived in Placerville. In 1857 they located in Solano County. For a time Mr. Troxel did teaming from Sacramento to the mines, and then began farming near Dixon, when he had saved enough money to buy an outfit. He later became an early settler of what is now Glenn County, farming the Peter Garnett ranch a few years, and then went back to Solano County. Still later he returned to Glenn County, bought land in the Kanawa school district, improved a ranch, and farmed there until 1888. He then sold out and located on Stony Creek, three miles south of Elk Creek, where he purchased two hundred four acres ; but thinking to better his health and the health of his wife, he again sold out and went to Solano County. Ten years later, however, we find him back in Glenn County, on Stony Creek, where with his son Frank he bought the old West ranch; and on this place he passed his last days, dying at the age of eighty-one years. His widow still resides on the home place, and is sixty- eight years of age. They had ten children, eight of whom were sons ; and nine of the family are still living. These are: George, of Dixon; Frank W., the subject of this sketch; Albert, in Wash-
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ington; Emma, Mrs. Scull, of Patterson, Cal .; Delbert, of Sacra- mento; Cors, Mrs. Itchertz, of Winters; Joseph, of Woodland; and Lloyd and Cecil, who reside in Elk Creek.
Brought up on a ranch, and accustomed from boyhood to hard labor, Frank Troxel lived with his parents until he was twenty-one, and then started out for himself, engaging in farming and the stock business at Elk Creek. On February 4, 1891, in Colusa, he married Jessie Elizabeth Corbin, a daughter of David and Addie (West) Corbin, and a native of Glenn County. Her father came across the plains with John Williams, bringing a band of cattle, and became a successful stockman, specializing in sheep on his twenty-seven hundred acres north of Elk Creek. He met an acci- dental death, being thrown from a horse at what is now Winslow, in June, 1878. His wife had passed away on December 24, 1877. Two of their sons, Edward and Lloyd, died in 1878. Mrs. Troxel is the only child of the family now living. She was but five years old when her father died, and was left a fortune in land; but unfortunately, in the settlement of the estate she was left with nothing, though later she received one thousand dollars on a com- promise settlement. On her mother's side, Mrs. Troxel is a grand- daughter of John and Martha (Wood) West, born in England and Indiana, respectively, who crossed the plains and became pioneers of California. They were well-to-do farmers on Elk Creek, where they died.
Through her grandmother, Mrs. Troxel inherited two hundred acres south of Elk Creek, where she and her husband located after their marriage. Mr. Troxel bought, two hundred forty acres adjoining; and the property is devoted to grain, stock and a dairy. The land is well improved with a comfortable residence, and with barns and fences, and thirty acres are seeded to alfalfa, which is irrigated with water from Stony Creek. The dairy business has been remunerative, the cream being shipped to Orland. Under the supervision of Mr. Troxel a high degree of success has been attained.
Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Troxel: Etta, Mrs. W. E. Sale, of Winslow; and Ray, Ralph, Lester, Roy, May, and Harold. Mr. Troxel is a wide-awake citizen. In political mat- ters he aligns himself with the Republicans. Fraternally, he is an Odd Fellow, a member of Newville Lodge, No. 321. Among ranch- men, he is highly esteemed as a man of affairs. He has been the president of the Elk Creek Farmers' Bureau since the time of its organization.
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CHARLES M. HARELSON
The city marshal of Orland, Charles M. Harelson, is a native son, born six miles from Stockton, on July 2, 1863. His first work was on the farm of an uncle, John H. Harelson, on the Waterloo road. He worked for his board in summer, and attended school in the winter. Later, he was one of a threshing-machine crew in San Joaquin County.
In 1880, Mr. Harelson came to Orland with his father, and . was soon working for David Brown, a brother-in-law, with whom .he continued, in his livery-stable business, for five years. He next worked for a time as a day-laborer on different ranches, and then, in 1887, moved to Modesto, where for a year and a half he was employed on the Sperry ranch. The next year he came back to Orland, and in the fall was elected constable, which office he filled with signal ability for four full years. In 1892 he went to Ar- buckle, Colusa County, and for another four years was in the draying business. After that, he entered the city of San Fran- cisco, where he followed the same line of work until 1906, the year of the earthquake. We next find him in Contra Costa County, where for two years he had charge of a fruit ranch near Danville. Returning to Orland, he freighted from Monroeville to Orland.
An important turning-point in Mr. Harelson's career was reached when he was appointed city marshal of Orland, which po- sition he still holds. In this official capacity he has served the community in a number of notable criminal cases in Orland or vicinity, and has succeeded in capturing and bringing to justice some of the worst criminals. For example, he was connected with the notorious Wilt murder case, assisting in the murderer's arrest, and later taking him to San Quentin prison. He also arrested Fraley, the passer of bad cheeks, in Orland.
For years Mr. Harelson has bred fine poultry on his two-acre place at Orland, which is especially adapted for that enterprise. At one time he had nine varieties of fancy chickens, including the Buff Leghorns, the Brown Leghorns, the White Minorcas, the White Wyandots, the White Plymouth Rocks, the Black Lang- shans, the Silver-laced Wyandots and the Anconias. He has taken blue ribbons at all of the poultry shows in San Francisco, Ala- meda, and Oakland, and at various exhibits in Colusa and Glenn Counties. At present he carries only the Anconia strain, of which he has a hundred fifty laying hens. His breed is finer than any other in this section of the state. So superior are his fowls, that he has sold roosters as high as ten dollars each, and eggs for a
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setting at two dollars and fifty cents a dozen. He has also dis- played intelligent enterprise in the importation of stock from the famons "Shepard's" poultry farm in Indiana. All in all, by his enthusiasm and industry in the poultry business, and at consider- able expenditure of means, Mr. Harelson has attained an enviable position in the front rank of poultry fanciers.
On July 11, 1888, in Orland, Mr. Harelson was married to Miss Mary E. Griffith, a native daughter of Lassen County; and now five children bless their happy home. These are Clio M., Charles A., Rolla A., Clarice, and Grace M. Harelson.
ADELBERT JAMES HARELSON
Prominent among the contractors of Orland, A. J. Harelson is a native of Grant Connty, Wis., where he was born on June 29, 1859. His father was Ezekiel Harelson, a native of the Blue Grass State; and his mother, before her marriage, was Mariah Paterson, who came from Paterson, N. J. In 1850, by the slow and laborious process of an ox-team trip across the plains, the elder Harelson came to California and mined for a while at Placerville. Later, he returned East and brought his family with him to California, in 1861, by way of Panama. He homesteaded a piece of land near Stockton, and farmed there until 1869, when he once more returned to the East. On his coming back to California, he settled again at Stockton, but after a while removed from there to Merced. He was a carpenter by trade, and his skill and experience were soon in demand, both at Stockton and at Merced. Seven children, in- eInding three daughters, now married, were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ezekiel Harelson: Mrs. David Brown and Mrs. Thomas Brown, both of Orland; Mrs. E. C. Fitzhugh, of Ronnd Valley; A. J. Har- elson, the subject of our sketch; C. M. Harelson, also of Orland; and two others, Mattie and William, who died in childhood. Eze- kiel Harelson died at Orland at the home of his son, A. J. Harelson.
Following in his father's footsteps, A. J. Harelson learned the trade of a carpenter in Stockton and Merced. In 1877 he came to Orland, when there were only three buildings here. For a time he was engaged in shearing sheep in the mountains near Orland, and afterwards he worked in a general merchandise store owned by Raphael & Company. With that well-known establishment he remained eleven years, until it was bought ont by Scribner & Com- pany, and for three years after.
In 1889, Mr. Harelson bonght out the Griffith Blacksmith Shop & Carriage Building Company, which he ran for twelve
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years. Part of the time he was associated in partnership with George E. Wright.
Mr. Harelson has built more residences in the Orland section than all the other contractors put together, and may fairly be called the pioneer builder of this district. Among the structures erected by him here are the residences of J. J. Lachmier, George Harrger, Gatman, James Monroe, E. Minton, and many other fine homes in Orland and its vicinity. He erected all the United States Government buildings in Orland, and has worked on many business blocks in the town. Recently he tore down the first frame building constructed in Colusa County. This was on the Jefferson Walker ranch. When it was built, the lumber had to be hauled from Mon- roeville. Underneath this historic structure, Mr. Harelson found an old ox-yoke which had been brought across the plains in early days. Mr. Harelson was foreman in the building of the Weed Opera House, and for some years was building foreman of the Weed Lumber Company. After the fire in San Francisco, in 1906, he went to that city, and aided in the building operations there.
Mr. Harelson was the first assistant postmaster of Orland, his services beginning in 1877; and with William Morrissey he was the proprietor of the first irrigation ditch built in the district, and furnished water to the neighboring farmers for irrigation pur- poses. He also helped to dig the first well in Orland on the site of the Masonic Building. In company with Frank Reager and Wil- liam Morrissey he planted the first orange and lemon grove, in 1898, in Orland. It was one of the show places for years, and did much towards building up Orland. The partners owned five acres in the heart of the town, and this tract was later subdivided into home lots and sold off. Besides this venture, Mr. Harelson has assisted in the development of many fruit orchards in the district. He has served for years as a school trustee.
In 1883 Mr. Harelson was joined in wedlock to Miss Ida Thruston, daughter of Dr. William Thruston, the pioneer physi- cian of the Orland district, who settled here in 1877. He was a na- tive of Missouri, and a graduate of the St. Louis Medical College, and had practiced medicine in his native state. Dr. Thruston served as an army surgeon in the Civil War, and helped many old soldiers in California to get their pensions. He died in 1913, at the age of ninety-three, full of honors and beloved and regretted by a wide circle of friends. His children were Mrs. A. J. Harel- son; Joseph, of Orland; William, of Weed; Sally, of Sacramento; Minnie, of San Rafael; and Lucy, of Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Har- elson became the parents of two sons : Ellsworth C., who holds the position of assessor of Glenn County; and William, who died at the age of two years, at Alder Springs.
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CLARENCE R. WICKES
A family closely and honorably identified, for two genera- tions, with the development and history of Willows, is that of Clarence R. Wickes, the affable assistant cashier of the Bank of Willows, who was born at Toll Gate, W. Va., May 2, 1872, the son of Cyrus R. Wickes, a native of Albany, N. Y., who, in 1876, came west to Reno, Nev., where he worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. In 1883, he moved to Maxwell, Colusa County, and became station agent for the same railway company. Two years later he was transferred to Willows, where for many years he represented the Southern Pacific in the same responsible position. He died some twenty years ago, while holding that po- sition. During his long residence in Willows, he was an active participant in many movements making for the progress of the community. Cyrus Wickes was twice married, his second wife, before her first marriage, being Miss Jane Miller. By his first marriage he had a son, Frank R. Wickes; while his second wife had a daughter, Valonia Clinton, by a previous marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. Wickes five children were born: Clarence R., the subject of this sketch, who is the third in order of birth; Harry O., of Castella, Shasta County; Lew, E., of Willows; Charles E., of Dunsmuir; and Bertram A., of Wolf Creek, Ore.
Clarence Wickes attended the grammar school at Willows. He became the wide-awake messenger boy of Wells Fargo & Co., and afterwards, on January 1, 1888, entered the employ of the Bank of Willows, where he has been ever since.
For years Mr. Wickes bought and sold real estate on specu- lation, and thus disposed of the first subdivision of ranch land in the Willows section-some forty acres of the Hub Marshall ranch, long well-known in the realty world. In partnership with John Graves and James W. Snowden, he bought outright sixteen hun- dred acres of land to the northeast of Willows, subdividing the greater part into small ranches, and selling the same at attractive prices. A part of the tract was exchanged for a ninety-two-acre apple orchard near Watsonville, in Santa Cruz County, sixty acres of which is now bearing excellent apples. This property Mr. Wiekes, with his partners, still owns.
In 1894, Mr. Wickes entered a new field, as the organizer and proprietor of the Wickes Art Store on Walnut Street, Wil- lows, which he retained until 1914, when he sold the property. As a merchant he was the first to introduce six-o'clock closing and Sunday closing. The former was adopted by the other merchants
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about two years later; but it took nearly ten years for them to fall in line with Sunday closing. In 1894, also, Mr. Wickes succeeded the A. A. Nordyke Fire Insurance Company, the pioneer firm in that line in Willows.
Mr. Wiekes was united in marriage with Miss Cora Faye Potts, a native of Colusa, by whom he has had two children: Thelma J., a student at the College of the Pacific at San Jose; and Cora Elizabeth, who attends the grammar school at Willows. Mr. Wickes has been an active worker in the temperance cause for many years. As chairman of the Anti-saloon League, and one of the trustees of the State Anti-saloon League, he has been a factor in bringing about local temperance reform and making most of Glenn County go dry. He is a member of the Methodist Church of Willows, and a steward of the same; and for sixteen years he has been superintendent of the Methodist Sunday school. As a trustee, he made the address at the, laying of the corner-stone of the new church. For many years, he was a trustee of the Willows Public Library, and was president of the board when the corner- stone of the Carnegie Library was laid, and made the address of the day. For two years he was secretary of the old Willows Ath- letic Club. Mrs. Wiekes is also active in church work. She is president of the Women's Missionary Society, and also gives of her time and talent to the musical work of the church. Her sing- ing is much enjoyed by music lovers, who appreciate her voice, and her earnest and soulful rendition of the sentiment of sacred selections. Altogether, the influence of this estimable couple, in Willows and its vicinity, has been a powerful factor for good; and their participation in any local endeavor is always welcome.
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