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 67
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 67
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STAHL BROTHERS
John and Christopher Stahl, prominent landowners and ranch- ers of Germantown, Glenn County, owe their success primarily to the fact that they have worked faithfully together toward that end; and each can be content in the knowledge that he has done his share to make the benefit mutual. In 1883 the brothers formed a partnership and purchased a half section of land, pay- ing twenty-two and one half dollars an acre and going consid- erably into debt in the venture. They have worked off all indebt- edness, and now own the large ranch free and clear. They are successfully farming the land together, as they have done since they acquired the property, planting it to grain and also raising some cattle and hogs. Being pioneers of their section, they have seen it advance with the years into a thriving farming center ; and their own success has been a part of the growth of the com- munity.
John and Christopher Stahl were born near Grand Island, Colusa County, on December 24, 1857, and April 8, 1860, respec- tively. They are the sons of B. Stahl and Margaret Stahl, natives of Germany. The father came to California in 1856, making the
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perilous journey over the plains, and on his arrival settled near Grand Island and engaged in farming, continuing in this occupa- tion until his death, which occurred in 1863. The mother passed on in 1895, at the home of her sons.
John Stahl received his education in the school districts of Webster, Sandy Gulch, Meridian, and Mud Creek, Butte County, north of Chico, and after completing his studies he worked for wages on different ranches from 1874 to 1883, when he joined his fortunes with his brother and the partnership was formed. He has remained single, making his home with his brother on their joint ranch.
Christopher Stahl received his schooling in the Meridian and Webster districts of Butte County, after which he worked for wages thirteen years on the Mackintosh ranch, and ranches on Stony and Butte Creeks. He united his interests with his broth- er's in 1883, and from that date has worked for their mutual success, as his brother has done. On November 22, 1896, in the Germantown district, he was united in marriage with Miss Frances L. Papst, a native of Canada, and a sister of William H. Papst, one of the old settlers of Glenn County, in whose sketch, in another part of this history, will be found a biography of her family.
Prior to the time when they located on their ranch, the brothers remember, the entire section from Tehama County to Yolo County was one great cattle and sheep range, and also a pasture for wild geese. In the tule land on Stony Creek, deer were often caught with the lasso.
HANS H. MARTENS
A pioneer of Glenn County, and one who helped build up his section of the state, Hans H. Martens was born on February 5, 1839, in Dellstedt, Holstein, Germany, and was raised on his father's farm there, receiving a practical training in agriculture, which he put to good nse later on in his adopted country-as so many others have done who, though born and reared in a far country and among entirely different surroundings, have come to California, taken up their homes, developed the barren land into farms covered with rustling grain, and pastured the hills with teeming herds of cattle.
California was the land of Mr. Martens' desire. In 1865, when in his twenty-seventh year, he came to the Golden State by way of Cape Horn, his first stopping-place being Dixon, Solano County. He was employed on a farm from 1866 to 1871, at
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which time he came to what is now Glenn County and settled near the present site of Germantown, where he bought three hundred and twenty acres of land. He set to work to make a fruitful farm of the unbroken land, farming to grain and raising some cattle and hogs, and meeting with deserved success. In the midst of his farming activities, he found time to do his share toward helping any projects which meant the advancement of the community in which he had made his home. Mr. Martens was one of the founders of the Lutheran Church of Germantown, and always took an interest in its work. He was also a charter member of the Rochdale Store of that place. A man of broad interests, he was ready at all times to help in furthering any and all things which had for their object the common good; and as such his memory is respected.
On October 30, 1875, occurred the marriage which united Mr. Martens with Wiebcke Dethlefs, who was a native of Gans- horn, Holstein, Germany, and came to Germantown in 1875. Mr. Martens made one trip back to Germany, to visit his friends and relatives, going by way of Panama; and when he returned he brought a party with him, his wife being one of the number. Eight children were born of their union: Claus F., who married Iva Oakes, and has one child; Mrs. Dora C. Berens, who has two children; Mrs. Cecelia A. Silva, the mother of one daughter; Alma R .; Richard A .; Anna P., deceased; Arthur H .; and Mrs. Freda M. E. Yoder, who has two children. There are six grand- children in the family. Mr. Martens served as a trustee of the school in White Bank district. His death occurred on March 19, 1915.
LEO ARTHUR MITCHELL
One of our representative citizens, who has made his influence felt in his community, and who has demonstrated what it is pos- sible to accomplish with land that for years was considered of no use except for the raising of grain and as pasturage for sheep, is Leo Arthur Mitchell, who resides in the Jacinto district, on part of the Walsh tract. A native of Canada, he was born in the Province of Quebec, on July 8, 1877, a son of Paul A. and Alex- andra M. Mitchell. The father was born in County Cork, Ire- land; and the mother, in Montreal, Canada. Leo A. Mitchell was educated in MeGill University, at Montreal, receiving the degree of B. A. in 1893. The following year the degree of B. P. was conferred upon him; and in 1897, still further honors came to him when he received his B. S. degree from the same institution,
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and also from the Paris University. Still later, in 1899, he was graduated from the Sorbonne University. With this excellent training he was equipped to take his place in the world, in what- ever sphere he might choose as a life work.
His college days over, Mr. Mitchell enlisted and served four years in the Royal Northwest Mounted Police, after which he engaged in farming in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, and later in British Columbia, where he became interested in horti- culture, being one of the pioneers in this branch of agriculture in that part of the country. He met with a well-deserved success, but disposed of his interests there and came to Glenn County, Cal., in 1910, and bought sixty acres of land that had been a grain field. Here he has set out an orchard of thirty acres of prunes and five acres of figs; and on the balance of the land he raises corn and alfalfa. In spite of discouraging forecasts by some who declared, even after he had an orchard about two years old, that trees would not grow on the land, he stuck to his project, and now is about the only rancher in that district who is making a real suc- cess of his venture. He has brought to bear upon his enterprise all of the valuable experience gained in Canada, using his brains as well as his brawn-though he is not afraid of hard work. Where he has set the pace, others are falling into line; and before many years the fruit industry of Glenn County will be one of its largest sources of revenne-all of which goes to show what scientific horticulture and intensive farming will accomplish. Mr. Mitchell's orchard is now five years old, and is already yield- ing good returns for the time and money expended npon the property, which has been improved by himself since he settled upon it. He has faith in the county, and believes that with proper care, and an analysis of the soil in the various sections, its lands will be made to yield handsome returns.
On November 30, 1909, in Calgary, Canada, Leo Arthur Mitchell was united in marriage with Mrs. Gertrude (Kingsley) Baker, a native of Brooklyn, N. Y. By a former marriage she had six children: Alfred James; John Gilbert, a student at the Uni- versity Farm, at Davis; Hannah Veriane, a student in the high school; and Florence Annie, Ernest Owen, and Willis Friend. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell two children have been born. These are Walter Paul and Gertrude A. Mrs. Mitchell is a mem- ber of the Episcopal Church, while Mr. Mitchell belongs to the Catholic Church. Fraternally, Mr. Mitchell holds membership in the Odd Fellows Lodge at Willows, where he is always a wel- come visitor. He is a quiet, unostentatious man, who makes and retains friends ; and with his good wife he is held in high esteem throughout their section of the county.
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HANS HENRY REHSE
On July 3, 1869, Hans Henry Rehse landed in San Francisco, a stranger among a people whose customs and language were unfamiliar to him. A native of Germany, he was born in Holstein, March 8, 1850, where he attended school until he was sixteen. One of his brothers, Ehler Rehse, had come to California and was located near Dixon, Solano County; and Hans Henry Rehse came to join him, arriving in New York, whence he came directly to California, by way of Panama. He went to the first public school in Dixon for a short time after his arrival, in order to become familiar with the language, and soon found employment as a clerk in the first store at Dixon, He and his brother came in the fall of 1870 to Germantown, Colusa (now Glenn) County. That same year he took up some land, on which he proved up and engaged in raising grain. Mr. Rehse's parents, Peter and Annie Rehse, came to California in 1874, and spent their last days with their son.
In 1883 Mr. Rehse was married to Miss Margarita H. Hinrichs, a native of Holstein, Germany, who had come to Cali- fornia in January of that year. After their marriage they located on a tract of six hundred forty acres of railroad land, which he purchased, and to which he later added a quarter section, making eight hundred acres. Of this he still owns seven hundred acres, on which he is carrying on a very successful business as a prac- tical farmer. In connection with his farming operations, he manages a threshing outfit during the season, in the northern part of Glenn County.
When Mr. Rehse located in this section, there were no county roads of definite direction. Since then, roads have been con- structed and bridges have been built; and an air of general pros- perity now pervades the county. Mr. Rehse has passed through some trying times; but he is optimistic as to the future, and has steadily forged ahead until he now occupies an enviable position in the county. He was one of the founders of the Rochdale Store at Germantown. He served on the board of directors, of which he was chairman, and of which he has for eight years been the president. He is a stockholder in the Glenn County Bank, and other interests have claimed his support and wise counsel. He was one of the organizers of the Germantown Lutheran Church, and secretary of the board of managers. As a friend of education he has done much to further the cause in the Emigrant district by serving as one of the trustees and as clerk of the board for
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years. In politics he is a Democrat, in national affairs; but in local matters he supports the men best qualified for the office. When Mr. Rehse came to California, it was with the purpose of making a permanent home here, and from young manhood he has been in favor of, and has worked for, every measure that would make this a better place in which to live. He believes that every voter should be educated to vote intelligently before going to the polls, in order that he may be able to appreciate the advantages, and effectively support the principles, of the government under which we live.
Of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Rehse three children were born : Agnes, who married Martin Michael, and has three children, two sons and one daughter; Minna, the wife of Fred Peterich, and the mother of two daughters; and Otto, who is farming on the home ranch with his father. Otto Rehse married Miss Emma Goetch, and they have one son. Some years after Mrs. Hans Henry Rehse had come to California, her parents followed her to this state; and they lived here until their deaths. She has one sis- ter, Mrs. Ehler Rehse of Germantown. One brother, John Hin- richs, lives in Germantown; and another, Henry Hinrichs, lives in Orland. Mr. Rehse is one of the oldest settlers in this section of Glenn County, and commands the respect of all with whom he is associated. He has made his own way in the world, and as nearly as possible has lived up to the Golden Rule. With all who know him, his word is as good as his bond.
BENJAMIN F. CALVERT
What can be done on five acres of good land, and done so well that others are encouraged to try to imitate the experiment, is well demonstrated in the good work accomplished by Benjamin F. Calvert, the well-known ranchman. On September 27, 1862, he was born in Marion County, Mo .- a good place for one to start life, especially one with an agricultural taste and ambition. There he was educated and there he was reared, farming on the home ranch until 1892. In that year Mr. Calvert came to California, and settled in Glenn County. For seven years he was employed as a farm hand, working on both the Glenn and the Peter Garnett ranches; and nowhere could he have found an environment more favorable for his development.
In 1899, Mr. Calvert bought five acres of rich land from Peter Garnett-land that was a mere barley field when he took charge of it-paying sixty-five dollars an acre. This he farmed, soon
2.
Das G. White 0
mrs Edna White
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building an attractive home and outhouses, and planting an orchard. He has brought the place up to a high state of cultiva- tion, thus assuring himself of a good income. The ranch is irrigated by a pumping plant installed by himself. He has set out apricots, prunes, plums, peaches, strawberries and black- berries, and has also laid out a vegetable garden, with all kinds of garden truck, the whole presenting to the visitor a unique and pleasing sight.
JAMES ALBERT AND EDNA WHITE
Since she succeeded her late husband, James Albert White, as superintendent of the Colusa County Hospital, Mrs. Edna White has proven her capability and efficiency in the management of this institution. She possesses in an eminent degree the qual- ities of kindness, discipline and executive ability needed in her position.
James Albert White, a native son of California, was born in San Jose, April 3, 1870, the fifth child in a family of ten children born to his parents, Thomas and Mary Ann (Ford) White. He grew up on the home farm near Gilroy, attending the public schools; and after his father's death, he managed the home place for his widowed mother, who is still living in Gilroy, at the age of seventy-five years.
Mrs. Edna (Milne) White, also a native of the Golden State, was born near New Almaden, Santa Clara County, a daughter of Alexander and Isabelle (Forbes) Milne. The father was born in Scotland, and was brought as a child to Canada. The mother was born in Canada; and there she met Mr. Milne, to whom she was married in 1872. In the meantime Mr. Milne had made the long journey to California in 1868, and returned to Canada to claim his bride. Eight children were born of this union: Ellen Edna, Mrs. White; William A., Isabella, and Mary Louise, all of Gilroy; Jessie M., of Colusa; and John T., Annie G., and James Charles, also living in Gilroy.
Alexander Milne brought his bride to California and settled in Santa Clara County, where he engaged in teaming, hauling timber to the mines, and later located on his ranch near Gilroy, where he is still living, and where his daughter Edna was reared and educated. It was there that her marriage took place, in 1903. She accompanied her husband to Colusa, where he was employed as a clerk in the National Hotel. He remained in that position from 1901 until 1906. On April 9 of the latter year he was appointed to the position of superintendent of the Colusa County
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Hospital. The satisfactory performance of the duties devolving upon him is evidenced by the fact that he held this position unin- terruptedly until his death, which occurred on February 12, 1914, when he was but forty-three years of age. Mr. White was sur- vived by his widow, Mrs. Edna White, and two children, Francis Alexander and Evelyn Isabelle.
During her husband's incumbency as superintendent, Mrs. White had always taken an active part in the conduct of the hos- pital; and she was appointed to succeed him in the office left vacant by his demise. She understood the needs of the institu- tion, and found no difficulty in filling the position to the satisfac- tion of all concerned. Mrs. White is the first woman appointed to the superintendency of a county hospital in California. She is an exceptional woman, broad-minded and intelligent; and her management of the Colusa County Hospital is a credit to her administrative ability, and evidence of her devotion to a pub- lic trust.
The Colusa County Hospital comprises thirty-nine acres of land adjoining Colusa on the southeast, with suitable buildings and appliances for its purpose, which is that of a hospital and home for indigents of the county, though a few pay patients are admitted. Any practising physician can get a patient into this hospital by first getting the County Pliysician's permission. There is an operating-room for surgical cases. The pesthouse is located some distance away, in a separate building; and all patients suf- fering from contagious diseases are carefully segregated. The patients receive kindly the patient care at the hands of the super- intendent, besides whom are employed her sister, who acts as her assistant, a steward, a cook, a farmer and a laundryman. The grounds are utilized in maintaining the establishment. Fruit and vegetables are produced for the table; a dairy herd provides fresh milk for the inmates; a large, well-kept poultry yard fur- nishes a supply of fresh eggs; and cattle and hogs are also raised on the place.
FRANK C. HURLBURT
In Sacramento County, Cal., on December 11, 1865, Frank C. Hurlburt was born. He is a son of Thomas Baker and Fostina E. (Booth) Hurlburt, and was the fifth, in order of birth, in their fam- ily of nine children. The father, who was born in Vermont, was a steward in a hotel in New York until he came to this state, in 1850. He first located in the little town of San Jose, where he ran a hotel for two years. He then sold out, and coming to Colusa County,
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settled on the Jacinto grant, and engaged in the cattle business until 1864. He came at a time when Monroeville was the county seat. Mr. Hurlburt was the first road boss in the Jacinto road district, and did much to lay out and build good roads in that section. On account of high water at times, and droughts at others, he lost all he had made, and finally moved back to Sacramento County for a year.' In 1865 he went to Yolo County, took up half a section of good land, eight miles southwest of Woodland, and once more engaged in farming and raising stock. In 1876 he was carrying on a butcher business in Dixon, Solano County; and in 1878 he became a resident of Gilroy. The next year he went to San Fran- cisco and was there engaged in the restaurant business until he retired. After a varied and useful career, he died in April, 1905. Mrs. Hurlburt was born in Keene, N. H., and it was there that she met and married her husband. She died in Yolo County, on Sep- tember 21, 1873.
Frank C. Hurlburt attended the grammar and high schools in San Francisco until he was sixteen, when he started to learn the trade of a shoemaker. At the age of eighteen, however, he came to Germantown and began working by the month, acquiring valuable experience in various branches of agriculture. In 1896, purchasing an equipment and leasing land, he started farming for himself, and from the beginning met with very satisfactory success. Later he was able to buy some land, which he has improved, and is now the owner of sixty-four acres, besides which he leases considerably more. He is farming to grain, and is also engaged in the raising of stock.
On February 26, 1891, Mr. Hurlburt and Christina Mudd were united in marriage at Germantown. She was born in Missouri, but was brought to California by her parents when a babe in arms; and her life has been spent in this section, where she was raised and educated. Four children have been born to them: Clarence, Mel- vin, Lavella and Lola.
Mr. Hurlburt has never neglected the duties of a citizen. He has been active in the ranks of the Republican party, has done jury duty, served as trustee of the school in his district, and in 1908 was elected supervisor from the third district of Glenn County. This office he held until 1913, serving his constituents with fairness in all matters. He has also served as county horticultural commissioner. Mr. Hurlburt is a handy man with tools, and has built houses and bridges by contract. Fraternally, he is a member of Chico Lodge, No. 423, B. P. O. Elks. He is a successful farmer and stockman, and a citizen of public spirit who can always be counted upon to advance the interests of Glenn County.
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ALBERT MEHRENS
To be called a Native Son of the Golden West is in itself an honor, for California has meant much to our union of states, both in the days of its early history and in this later time'; but Albert Mehrens is entitled to the added sentiment of pride which attaches to the pioneers-those sturdy men and women who braved unknown dangers and endured severe hardships to reach this far western coast, and here laid the foundation for the prosperity of those who have followed the path they blazed. Hans Mehrens, father of Albert, was a native of Germany, and came to the United States and to California by way of Panama, in 1865. He located in Solano County, where he remained, working as a farm hand, for the following ten years. With his savings he came to what was then Colusa County and settled in that part now set apart as Glenn County, where he began the improvement of a ranch. To this he added from time to time, until he had two hundred eighty acres well improved, which became known as the home place. Prior to coming to this section, Hans Mehrens had married in Sacramento, in 1875. With his wife he became a resident of the section near Germantown, where he lived and prospered and became an integral part of the growing community. Mr. Mehrens is public-spirited and has always dis- charged the duties of a citizen with fidelity. He is a man of progressive ideas, and has advocated every movement for the upbuilding of the county and the betterment of conditions in his community. He is living in retirement, at the age of seventy- seven, on the home ranch, where his wife also passed her last days.
Albert Mehrens, the only child of his parents, was born on January 10, 1880, on the ranch where his father had settled in what is now Glenn County. As he grew up, he attended the public schools and worked on the home ranch, doing such chores as a lad of his years was able to do. As he grew older, he asso- ciated himself with his father and took a man's part in the work about the place, and learned the art of growing grain under almost every condition. He later operated the home place with good results, besides leasing additional land with a partner, A. Gram, raising between six hundred and seven hundred acres of grain each year.
On December 28, 1910, Albert Mehrens was united in mar- riage with Miss Dora Deichmann, a native of Germany, who had come with her mother to California in 1902. Mr. and Mrs.
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Mehrens are members of the Lutheran Church at Germantown. In politics, Mr. Mehrens supports the policies of the Democratic party on national issues, while in local matters he supports the men he considers best qualified to hold the offices. Both he and his wife have a wide circle of friends in their section of the county, and are highly respected by all who know them. They have reached through their own efforts the position they now occupy, and Mr. Mehrens is counted one of the successful and up-to-date farmers of Glenn County.
PETER VOLQUART AND JOHANNES JACOB BERENS
That Germany has contributed many of her worthy sons to the citizenship of the United States is demonstrated by the roster of every state in the Union; and California has received a large num- ber of sturdy and loyal German men and women to swell the numbers of her increasing population. The Berens Brothers repre- sent the sturdy manhood of their native land. Peter Volquart and Johannes Jacob Berens were born in Tating, the former on Janu- ary 11, 1869, and the latter on June 18, 1871. Their parents, Claus Peter and Annie Elizabeth (Moelk) Berens, were natives of Ger- many, where they were among the thrifty farmer folk, and immi- grated to the United States in 1874 with their family, coming soon after to California. A brother of Mrs. Berens was living in Colusa County, and thither the family proceeded. Upon their arrival there, the father found work as a ranch hand. He continued work- ing until he had saved enough money to make a start on his own account, and then secured one hundred sixty acres, two miles north- east of Germantown, now in Glenn County, where he began farm- ing and little by little accumulated some money. In 1884 he moved into Tehama County, where he farmed for four years, after which he came back to Glenn County, and for the next nineteen years rented land west of Germantown. Claus P. Berens died on Octo- ber 10, 1913. His good wife had died in 1877. There were three children in the family: Peter V., Johannes J., and a sister who is now deceased.
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