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 77
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 77
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Mrs. Martin, of Maxwell; Gladys, Mrs. Gassoway, also of Max- well; Clark, assisting his father; and Mary, the wife of Max Vann, of Williams. A firm believer in good educational advan- tages for the children, Mr. Gobel is an ardent supporter of good schools, and has served as trustee of Glenn Valley school district for seventeen years. He is kind-hearted and liberal, and has always been willing to help worthy enterprises that have had for their aim the betterment of the conditions of the people. Politic- ally, he has always been a Democrat.
ELMER J. HUTTMANN
A native son of California, Elmer J. Huttmann was born near Paicines, San Benito County, October 24, 1892, the son of Theodore Julius and Dora A. (Carmack) Huttmann, born in Germany and Paicines, Cal., respectively. The mother was a sister of George Carmack, the first discoverer of the Klondyke, while on the first government survey in Alaska; he now resides in Seattle. The father came to San Francisco when nineteen years of age, and became a farmer in San Benito County. On the dis- covery of gold in the Klondyke, in 1898, he made the trip over Chilcoot Pass into the frozen North. He was foreman for George Carmack, and also had a claim of his own. He was reasonably suc- cessful in his mining ventures; and on his return to California he invested in San Francisco realty. He died at St. Helena in 1907. After his death, his widow continued to look after the real estate, with the aid of her sons, and in the spring of 1915 traded for the old Bank place, near Lodoga. Her family consisted of seven children, six of whom are living: Margaret C., Mrs. Elliott, of Oakland; H. A. and Elmer J., who are farming in partnership; Mabel A., Mrs. Wilson, of Tres Pinos; Hazel, Mrs. Evans, of Lodoga; and William, also of Lodoga.
Elmer J. Huttmann was reared on the farm in San Benito County, and received a good education in the public schools. When he was nineteen years of age, the family moved to San Francisco, where he assisted his mother in the care of her prop- erty. In looking up lands, he found that the old Bank ranch at Lodoga was for sale, and made the trip to the place to investi- gate the property. Being impressed with its value, he indneed his mother to make the exchange for their city property. They located on the ranch in the spring of 1915, and operated it together until the fall of 1916, when he leased it with his brother, H. A. Huttmann. The ranch comprises nine hundred fifty-six acres,
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located on Indian Creek. Six hundred aeres is under the plow. The place is well watered, and is a most excellent stock ranch. Besides growing grain, they raise a considerable amount of hay. The crops are put in with a Titan engine, of ten-horse pull, and with an eight-mnle team. They are making a specialty of raising Berkshire hogs, of which they have some splendid specimens. Through close application, and the adoption of modern methods, the Hnttmann brothers are making a marked success.
In Indian Valley, occurred the marriage of Elmer J. Huttmann with Lillian Rees, who was born in Colusa, the daughter of Dr. J. S. Rees, who is represented elsewhere in this work. Mr. Huttmann is a very enterprising and progressive young man, and lends his support to the movements that have for their aim the building up of the county and the welfare of its citizens.
WILLIAM NELSON McVAY
A native son of Colusa County, William Nelson MeVay was born on the place he now owns, on July 3, 1875, a son of the late Joseph McVay, who is mentioned more fully in the sketch of his son, Irwin N. MeVay, in this work.
William MeVay was the second of three children in his parents' family, and was brought up on the home farm, receiving his education in the public schools, Sackett's private school in Oakland, and Depen and Adellock's Business College, Oakland. After the completion of his studies, he returned home and farmed the home ranch for eight years. He was interested with his father in cattle-growing in Modoc County until 1901; after which, with his brother I. N. McVay, he farmed a part of the Moulton place for one year, and then purchased a half interest in the H. C. Nelson ranch of five hundred fifty-five acres, with his mother. This ranch was near the old home, and he moved on it and farmed it for four years. In October, 1906, having divided the farm with his mother, he sold his portion and located in San Francisco, where he became engaged in general contracting in the bay cities until 1912, when he sold his outfit and returned to Colusa County, where he had become owner of four hundred fifty acres of the Joseph MeVay ranch, located on the east side of the Sacramento River, five miles southeast of Princeton. It is a splendid ranch, with rich and productive soil. Here Mr. McVay is engaged in general farming.
In Elk Creek, Mr. MeVay was united in marriage with Miss Grace M. Rawlins. She was born in Texas, the daughter of Rev.
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T. F. Rawlins, who is also represented in this work. Mr. and Mrs. McVay have one child, Virginia. Mr. MeVay was made a Mason in Colusa Lodge, No. 240, F. & A. M .; and he is also a member of Colusa Chapter, No. 60, R. A. M., and of Colusa Com- mandery, No. 24, K. T. With his wife, he is a member of Wild Rose Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star. Mr. McVay is well and favorably known in Colusa County, and is looked upon as an able and enterprising man.
MRS. EDITH MORRIS McGAHAN
A lady whose first recollections are of California, Mrs. Edith Morris MeGahan was born in Jacksonville, Jackson County, Ore., the daughter of Lewis and Almarinda (Bradley) Morris, who were born in Kentucky and Tennessee respectively. They removed from Kentucky to Missouri, and in 1850 crossed the plains with ox and cow teams over the Oregon trail to Oregon, locating in the Rogue River Valley, and later in Jacksonville, where they en- gaged in stock-raising. In 1860 Mr. Morris brought his family to Yolo County. He bought land, which, however, was claimed by the Hagar grant; and though Mr. Morris fought for his title, he lost his case and had to leave his place. In 1867, he located at Stony Creek, near what is now Stonyford, where he improved a farm. He died in 1886, at the age of seventy-five years. Mr. Morris helped to build up the schools of his community, serving as trustee of his district. Mrs. McGahan's mother died in 1901, also at seventy-five years of age. This worthy pioneer couple had six children : Thomas Wesley, a farmer near Stonyford; William Adrian, a rancher near Fouts Springs; John Manor, a farmer on the old home place; James Mason, lookout man at Sheet Iron, in the Forest Reserve; Ida Amazonia, Mrs. A. T. Welton, of Stonyford; and Edith, of this review.
As a babe, Mrs. McGahan was brought to California by her parents, and resided in the Stonyford section from seven years of age, and was educated in the public schools of the vicinity. She was first married in Colusa, in 1881, to Joseph M. Walkup, a na- tive of Kentucky. The union proved unhappy, and she separated from him. By this marriage she had four children, whom she raised and educated : Claude Vivian, a painter in Oroville; Arthur Joseph, farming near Stonyford; Roy Lester, forest ranger, with headquarters at Mill Creek Station; and Orrin A., teaming at Por- tola. She was married a second time in 1904, at Colusa, to George Thomas MeGahan, who was born in Sutter County. He was a
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blacksmith and wagon-maker, and had a shop in Stonyford for over twenty-two years, where he built up a thriving business. In 1906 Mr. MeGahan was elected justice of the peace in Stonyford Township, and served one term. In 1914 he was again elected. He died during his term of office, on January 8, 1917. Mr. MeGa- han was a Mason, a member of Snow Mountain Lodge, No. 271, F. & A. M., and was buried with Masonic honors. Politically, he was a Republican. For a time he held the office of postmaster under the government. After her husband's death, Mrs. McGahan was appointed justice of the peace, on February 20, 1917, by the board of supervisors, which office she is filling at the present time. She resides at her home on a forty-acre ranch adjoining Stonyford, looking after her interests there. In her religions views, she be- lieves in the doctrines of the Christian Church. She is a charter member, and was the first Matron, of Eowana Chapter, O. E. S.
JOSEPH VIRGIL SANDERSON
Joseph Virgil Sanderson, the efficient superintendent of the Rodgers ranch at Fruto, for the Central Pacific Land and Lumber Company, was born in Grayson County, Texas, in 1890. When he was six years of age, his parents moved to Clinton, Okla., where he was brought up on the farm and had the advantage of the public schools. When fourteen years of age, however, he started to paddle his own canoe, and began learning the painter's trade at Arapaho, Okla. He worked under his preceptor for three years, and thereafter worked at his trade in Enid and Oklahoma City until November, 1912.
In November, 1912, Mr. Sanderson located in Willows, Glenn County, where he followed his trade for three months and then entered the employ of the Central Pacific Land and Lumber Com- pany, being employed on the Rodgers ranch near Bayliss. Here he ran the Holt Caterpillar sixty-five horse-power engine, and ap- plied himself so closely and successfully to his work that he was selected as superintendent of the Rodgers ranch at Fruto for the same company in February, 1915, a position he has held ever since. This ranch has an area of fifty-five hundred acres, all of which is under his supervision. The ranch is operated with a caterpillar engine and an eight-mule team; and a thousand acres of grain is raised each year. About six hundred head of cattle are fed and fattened for market on the ranch yearly. All of the straw is saved and run through a cutter, and is then mixed with rolled barley. When wet to the right proportion with water and
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salted, it is fed to the cattle with most excellent results. The barns and buildings on the ranch are large and commodious, and ample to care for the fodder and stock.
Mr. Sanderson was married in Oklahoma to Miss Beulah Hull, who was born in Iowa. They have had three children: Lotys (deceased at six years of age), Maxine, and Joseph Walter. Mr. Sanderson is proving himself a capable farmer, and is devoting his energy to the best of his ability to making the exten- sive operations of his employers a success. He is affable and agreeable, and is well liked by everyone.
FREDERICK LAUX
Frederick Lanx, a resident of Colusa County for fifty years, was born at Oppenheim, Germany, February 28, 1867, the son of Frederick and Katherina Laux, who migrated to America in 1868, locating in Colusa County that same summer. The father engaged in farming on Colusa Plains for a time, and then bought a ranch on the east side of the Sacramento River, three miles south of Princeton, in Colusa County. After a residence of eight years there, he sold the place and removed to Stonyford, in 1883, where he purchased three hundred twenty acres of land and continued his farming operations. To this property he added by preemption and homestead claims and by purchase, with the aid of his son Frederick, until they had one thousand acres of land. The father died in November, 1912. For years he held the office of school trustee. His widow continues to reside on the old home place. This worthy couple had four children, of whom Frederick is the eldest. Katie, Mrs. Elwin Golden, and Annie, Mrs. Farley, reside in Stonyford; and Edward is associated with Frederick in his farming operations.
Frederick Lanx was educated in the public schools of Colusa County. After coming to Stonyford, he assisted his father in im- proving the place, grubbing and clearing many an acre. When twenty-one years of age he preempted one hundred sixty acres ad- joining the ranch, and later homesteaded one hundred sixty acres, six miles south, which he proved up on and still owns. Since his father's death, he has continued to farm in partnership with his brother. They sold off two hundred eighteen acres of the old ranch. By reason of his assisting his father in the purchase and development of the ranch, he was entitled to the ownership of four hundred eighty acres of the place, which, with his other holdings, makes him the owner of eight hundred acres in this vicinity. He
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is preparing to raise alfalfa; and with this in view he has ar- ranged for a pumping plant for irrigation. His farming opera- tions include the raising of grain and cattle; and he also runs a small dairy. For many years he was engaged in raising horses and mules, and was the owner of a Percheron stallion and a high- bred Jack. In 1914, however, he sold the horses and mules; and he is now enlarging his herd of cattle. Mr. Laux is by nature a genius around machinery; and during the season, he is engaged in running grain and rice separators. He enjoys hunting, and is well acquainted with the mountain country of Colusa, Glenn, and Lake Counties.
GEORGE RICHARD GILLASPY
Beautifully located at the foot of the Atwood grade and over- looking the Stony Creek country, lies Glazenwood Ranch, the prop- erty of George R. Gillaspy, a native son of California, born in Green Valley, Solano County, November 30, 1866. His father, Jerry Gillaspy, was born in Kentucky in 1825, where he married Harriette Reynolds. They removed to Missouri, and there en- gaged in farming. Jerry Gillaspy served in the Union army in the Civil War. In 1864, with his family, he crossed the plains to California in the train with Dr. Glenn, and located in Green Val- ley, Solano County, where he purchased a farm. This he operated for sixteen years, after which he moved to what is now Glenn County, and for five years engaged in farming two miles below Elk Creek. From here he removed to near Tehama, where he re- mained two years, and then again returned to the Elk Creek dis- triet. Here he farmed until he retired. His death occurred at the home of Mr. and Mrs. G. R. Gillaspy, on September 28, 1911, when he was eighty-six years of age. His wife died in 1915, aged eighty-seven. Of their family of fourteen children, ten grew up as follows: Sarah, Mrs. Herbison, of Solano County; David, a stock- man, who died on Grindstone Creek; James, a farmer in the Grind- stone district; Thomas, who died in the vicinity of Elk Creek; Annie, Mrs. M. Squires, of Chico; Mary, Mrs. J. S. Sale, of Wins- low; George R., of this review; William, who died at Winslow; John, a resident of Elk Creek; and Hattie, Mrs. McHood, of Cordelia.
George R. Gillaspy was brought up on the ranch in Green Valley until fourteen years of age, when he came to what is now Glenn County with his parents. After completing the local school, he was employed on his father's farm, later becoming as-
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sociated with him in the management of the ranch, on which he remained until his marriage, in 1891, when he purchased the old Squires place of three hundred thirty-four acres in the Grindstone school district and began in the cattle business. In this business he has achieved marked success, and has become a man of affluence and affairs. To his original purchase Mr. Gillaspy later added three hundred twenty acres, so that he now has six hundred fifty- four acres in his home ranch. The place is well improved and is principally devoted to the raising of cattle of the Durham and Hereford breeds. His brand, 72, is well known over this section. Besides this property Mr. Gillaspy also owns two hundred forty- three acres at Fruto. The home place is known as Glazenwood Ranch, on account of roses of that variety on the place.
Aside from raising cattle and doing general farming, Mr. Gil- laspy was for some years overseer of the roads under Supervisor Jackson. In 1913, in partnership with George Vanderford, he took a contract for building two and a quarter miles of road on the new Atwood grade, which is an easy grade in comparison with the old; and the job was well and satisfactorily completed.
In the Grindstone district, on December 10, 1891, George Rich- ard Gillaspy was united in marriage with Miss Marticia Vander- ford. She was born at Marysville, and is the daughter of Napo- leon B. Vanderford, a California pioneer, who is represented in this work in the sketch of his son, George Vanderford. Mr. and Mrs. Gillaspy have four children: Arthur Lee, Claude Delmer, Hattie Ella, and Lester Vincent. Mr. and Mrs. Gillaspy were members of the Grindstone Christian Church, of which he was a trustee and in which Mrs. Gillaspy was superintendent of the Sun- day school. The congregation was disbanded, however; so they are now active members of the Elk Creek Christian Church. Both are liberal, and ready to help any movement for the betterment of local conditions and the moral uplift of the people in the community in which they live. In his views on questions of national policy, Mr. Gillaspy favors the Democratic party.
J. S. REES, D. D. S.
A native son of California, J. S. Rees was born near Stony- ford, Colusa County, on July 15, 1869. His father, Stephen Rees, came to California in the early fifties, and in the early sixties came to Little Stony Creek, Colusa County, where he met and married Elizabeth Smith, a native of Utah, and a sister of John Smith, the founder of the old town of Smithville. After his marriage he en-
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gaged in ranching with success, becoming the owner of a farm in Bear Valley and also of one in Indian Valley. He died at the age of eighty-three. His widow now resides in Napa. Of her six liv -. ing children, Dr. Rees is the eldest.
Dr. Rees graduated from the dental department of the Uni- versity of Baltimore in 1893, with the degree of D. D. S. He prac- ticed in Colusa till 1899, and thereafter in Oakland until 1903, when he quit his profession to engage in ranching. He is now farming his father's old ranch in Indian Valley, which is still owned by his mother. On this place he is engaged in raising grain, alfalfa, cattle, and hogs.
Dr. Rees was married in Colusa to Anna Meacham, a native of Indiana ; and two children have been born to them : Lillian, Mrs. E. J. Huttmann, of Indian Valley, and Harold. Being interested in the cause of education, Dr. Rees is serving as clerk of the board of Ashton school district. In his ranehing operations he is meet- ing with deserved success.
CAPT. WILLIAM ASH
A far-seeing pioneer who amassed a handsome estate and for- tune because he had faith in California, and especially in her un- rivaled land, was Capt. William Ash, who was born on January 30, 1822, at the old Ash family homestead in rugged and picturesque Devonshire, England, near the long-famons seaport town of Dart- mouth. He was the youngest of fifteen children, and hardly knew his parents, for they had both died while he was yet a mere boy. In his youth he learned the carpenter's trade, and soon after left his native land, sailing for America when he was yet in his teens. He joined his brothers in Philadelphia, worked for a while at his trade there, and then went to Georgia. After something less than two years, however, he returned to the Quaker City. There he might have remained, had not the excitement incidental to the dis- covery of gold in California seized him, as it did others, and urged him to set out at once for the enchanted land on the shores of the Pacific. Leaving New York in 1852, he sailed for Aspinwall, boated up the Chagres River, crossed over the Isthmus by a flimsy railroad and on mule-back to Panama, and took passage on the John L. Stevens to San Francisco, where he arrived in November. Attracted to the redwood section near Cape Mendocino, he helped to build and equip a sawmill there, returning to San Francisco after twenty months, when the work on which he was engaged had been successfully completed.
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In 1854, Mr. Ash began contracting at Marysville; and after a time he undertook teaming into the mountains from that center, and across the state line into Nevada and Idaho, his traffic soon becoming so extensive that he employed five teams of twelve and fourteen mules each. This he continued until railroading hit over- land teaming a hard blow, when he retired, in 1869, to venture in other fields. His hardihood and fearlessness had become known; and when the Modoc Indians, in 1868, went on the war-path, he organized a company of whites to lead in exterminating the Red- skins, and became captain of the volunteer militia. This hazard- ous but patriotic experience led to his designation as Captain, a title of honor he bore the balance of his days.
In 1870, Captain Ash leased a large ranch west of Berlin Sta- tion; and after farming the six sections to wheat for fourteen years he bought a portion of the splendid estate, thus acquiring two thousand choice acres in one compact area, situated six miles northwest of Arbuckle. Arduous as was the task of developing so large a ranch, Captain Ash was equal to it, for he had had charge, for a while, of six thousand acres in that vicinity, using from twelve to fifteen teams, and he was one of the first to use combined har- vesters. For his home ranch he employed six ten-mule teams and a Holt combined harvester. At one time Captain Ash was a heavy investor in sheep, having on his farm a flock of no less than three thousand head; but later he gave his attention especially to the breeding of high-grade cattle and horses. He also owned a ranch of twelve hundred eighty acres seven miles northeast of Willows, in Glenn County; a ranch of seven hundred eight acres five miles east of Germantown, also in Glenn County; two thou- sand acres of well-improved land six miles north of Colusa, in Co- lusa County; and a foothill ranch of fourteen hundred acres, with plenty of timber and suitable for stock, four miles southwest of his home.
Capt. William Ash was married to Mrs. Louisa Gonter, by whom he had three sons: William Henry, a graduate of the Stockton Business College, and secretary of the William Ash Com- pany (whose sketch is to be found elsewhere in this history) ; George, a director in the William Ash Company, who resides in Arbuckle; and Louis, also a director in the William Ash Company, who is farming the old Ash ranch. All of the sons have profited by the advantages offered for commercial training in the Califor- nia metropolis, and have since made their mark. In 1884, Captain Ash built for himself and family a spacious and most comfortable residence, surrounded by lawn, shade trees and a productive fam- ily orchard. Particularly fond of birds, he had built there an aviary one hundred feet square, at that time one of the largest in
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the state; and this was a well-known attraction to scientists and others, since it contained many varieties of California birds, and also various species of imported birds. In 1904 Captain Ash erected the well-known hostelry known as the Ash House, at Ar- buckle, long the finest hotel building in all Colusa County.
Once an active Democrat, Captain Ash, at the outbreak of the Civil War, joined the ranks of the Republican party; and a Re- publican he thereafter remained. When Governor Budd was elected Governor of California, Captain Ash was chosen as the representative in the Assembly from Colusa, Glenn and Lake Counties, although those districts were decidedly Democratic. While a member of the house, he aided in the election of United States Senator Perkins; fathered and put through a bill prevent- ing the old form of marriage by contract ; and in many other ways sought to contribute his experience and moral influence in laying broad and deep the foundations of the great commonwealth that was to be. Captain Ash was a man of recognized financial stand- ing, and a stockholder in the Colusa County Bank. He was made an Odd Fellow in 1858, joining the lodge at Marysville. His de- mise occurred on August 10, 1906. Mrs. Ash, the highly-esteemed widow of the Captain, still makes her home in Colusa County; and her children reside in the same county, worthy bearers of an hon- ored name.
GEORGE VANDERFORD
A lifelong resident of the Golden State, Mr. Vanderford may be considered, as he was brought here when a child of five years, from his birthplace in Kalamazoo, Mich., where he was born on January 23, 1853. His father was Napoleon Bonaparte Vander- ford, a native of Chemung County, N. Y., whose parents moved to Michigan when he was a little child, settling near Kalamazoo, where they set to work to improve a farm. Grandfather Silas Vanderford was a soldier in the War of 1812. He died when his son was but twelve years old, and the lad had to "hoe his own row" from that time until his death. Napoleon B. Vanderford was married to Martha Silver, a native of Ontario, Canada. In 1858, he brought his family by way of Panama to California. Landing in San Francisco from the Great Eastern, he at once made his way to Marysville, and near that place engaged in tilling the soil. He owned the ranch that is now the site of Sutter City, in Sutter County, and from there moved, in 1875, to Elk Creek, in what is now Glenn County. He bought a ranch on Grindstone Creek, and farmed and raised stock very successfully on his fifteen hundred acres.
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