USA > California > Contra Costa County > History of Contra Costa County, California; with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 44
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Charles E. Chapman grew up in Clayton and was one of the pupils in its early public school. His father was the owner of a ranch one and one-half miles east of Clayton and it was there that Charles was em- ployed up to the time that he was twenty years old. Then for eight years he worked in the Mount Diablo winery, after which he was employed for seven years as wine maker at Glen Terry. Removing to a ranch near Stock- ton he became a bean raiser for two years, going from there to the Cowell Portland Cement Company, where for more than seven years he was a valued worker in the chemical laboratories. On account of his failing eye- sight he was obliged to resign from this position in 1921 and then returned to his home in Clayton.
In addition to other employment, Mr. Chapman was a constable for a period of twenty-two years and was noted for the fearlessness with which he discharged the duties of this, at times, perilous office. In 1912 Mr. Chapman had a narrow escape from death at the hands of a man whom he had arrested, one John Lincoln. The prisoner attacked Mr. Chapman, who was unarmed, and endeavored to shoot him. Mr. Chapman, with quick presence of mind, grabbed him by the throat and was choking him as he fired. The bullet went wild and shot the prisoner himself in the head. In 1920 he was fired at twice by one Frank Tutt on whom he was attempting to serve a warrant of arrest. Tutt was shooting to kill and it was not until after the second shot had been fired that Mr. Chapman was obliged to shoot and kill his assailant in self-defense.
Mr. Chapman was married October 17, 1888, to Miss Sally Naoma Mitchell, a native of Lake County, Cal., and they are the parents of four children. Wilda is the wife of Ed. Stafford of San Jose, and they have three children, Verndon, Lysle and Neill. Dr. Herbert Samuel Chapman is a successful physician and surgeon of Stockton, is married and has two children, Duff Gordon and Barbara. He served in the navy during the war, enlisting and being commissioned a lieutenant. Later he was trans- ferred to a hospital in France, where he became chief surgeon; also in this capacity he served on the S. S. Prinz Frederick Wilhelm, and made
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twenty-seven trips during the war and afterwards during the return of troops. He received a commission as captain before his discharge. Clar- ence, who was a member of the Third Division with General Liggett's 18th Field Artillery in France, went over as a corporal and came back a lieutenant. Victor B. is now a student at Stanford University, where he is taking a course in civil engineering and drafting.
ISAAC N. MORGAN .- Until the survey of Contra Costa County was made a vast territory was controlled by Jerry Morgan, father of the subject of this sketch. Jerry Morgan was born in Cherokee Nation, Ala., in 1819, and removed to Illinois while a young man, and later became a member of one of the first bands of intrepid souls that braved the perils of forest, plain and desert in their journey to California in 1849, with ox- teams and with mules. After his arrival he worked for one year in the gold mines on the American River. His father was called to the Mexican War and was killed in one of the engagements. After his father's death Jerry returned to Illinois and married Miss Sarah Ellis. In 1853 the young married couple made the long journey across the plains in a big wagon train bound for California. They first settled in the Ygnacio val- ley and it was while on a hunting trip, in search of bear and elk, that Mr. Morgan was attracted to the territory which was afterwards to bear his name. He said to his wife, "I think I will go over there and settle."
With his eight yoke of oxen he hauled lumber from the Santa Cruz mountains to build his home, which was erected in 1856. For a time he controlled considerable land of the county until a survey was made and he was alloted 2400 acres in the section still known as Morgan Territory Precinct in Contra Costa County, which was so named in his honor. Jerry Morgan was one of the friends of Dr. John Marsh and well known among the other early settlers of the county. He died January 23, 1906, having been the father of fifteen children.
Isaac N. Morgan, youngest son of Jerry Morgan and fourteenth child, was born in Morgan Territory on March 5, 1862. His education was received in the early pioneer schools and he grew up in the business of farming and stock raising. When eight years old he rode the range with his saddle horse, and a few years later he became a plow boy, doing all kinds of work on the ranch with the assurance of a veteran. He has developed into one of the substantial citizens of the county, is a successful farmer and stock grower, a man of broad and liberal views who is highly esteemed by all who know him. He is the owner of 180 acres of rich land in Morgan Territory Precinct and is a public spirited individual. He has served on numerous grand and trial juries, but has never run for public office although often solicited to do so. His father, Jerry Morgan, was a prominent Odd Fellow, having donated $500 toward the building of the first Odd Fellow building in Pacheco.
When twenty-one years old Issac N. Morgan was married to Miss Jane E. Howard, daughter of Robert Howard, a steamship engineer who
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lived in San Francisco and was employed on the line running from San Francisco to Panama and return. Mrs. Morgan was born in England but was brought to this country while an infant, living in New York and Panama before her arrival in San Francisco at the age of ten. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan attended the same school as children. They are the parents of fourteen children. Robert R., a government trapper, makes his home in Morgan Territory; Sadie, wife of Jacob P. Ackerman, a farmer near Brentwood, has four children; Alice, wife of Henry C. Hansen, a farmer near Brentwood, has six children; Albert J. died from pleuropneumonia and influenza at Camp Lewis in 1918 at the age of twenty-three; Jerry married May Hansen, resides on a ranch near Brentwood, and they have four children; Elizabeth, wife of Burnett McNamara, rancher and hor- ticulturist near Knightsen, has one child; John Howard spent more than a year in France and two Fourths of July on the ocean ; he married Lillian Van Buren, and is a foreman for the Balfour-Guthrie Company at Brent- wood, and they have four children; Willard J. served a year at Camp Kearny during the World War; Ada, wife of Valentine Hansen, rancher and vineyardist of Marsh Creek, has three children; Marian, wife ' of Hector Logan, near Brentwood, machinist for Balfour-Guthrie Company, has one child; George F., single, helps run the home ranch; Charles Ellis works for the Associated Oil Company at Avon; Edith is at home; and Howard also works for the Associated Oil Company at Avon.
EDWARD WALLACE NETHERTON .- A native son of Contra Costa County, newspaper man, and representative citizen of the State, Edward W. Netherton, known to his intimate friends as Ed. Netherton, was born at Point of Timber, now Byron, on July 20, 1869, the son of pioneer parents. His father, John Smith Netherton, a direct descendant of Capt. John Smith of Pocahontas fame, was born near Liberty, Clay County, Mo., in 1834, and crossed the plains in a covered wagon drawn by oxen and landed in California in the summer of 1850. He went at once to the mines in the vicinity of Hangtown, in the Mother Lode sec- tion, and followed mining on the American, Cosumnes and Mokelumne Rivers, and in other sections of the Sierras until 1856. Deciding that he could better his condition at some other occupation he quit mining and came to Contra Costa County and engaged in ranching in Moraga Valley.
In 1858 John Smith Netherton married Matilda J. Estes, daughter of Joel and Jane Estes, all of whom had come to this State, across the plains with an ox-team train from Ray County, Mo., in 1850, and lo- cated first in Solano County, later moving to Moraga Valley. The Estes had come from an adjoining county in Missouri and had crossed the plains about the same time as had Mr. Netherton, but had never met until they had all located in Moraga Valley, this county. This valley is now the home of many wealthy people of the bay counties. Mr. Netherton was one of the men who did real things to make this state what it now is.
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John Smith Netherton and his wife reared a family of nine children : Carrie Luella; William Price, prominent attorney and banker of Santa Cruz; Frethias J., an attorney and former state superintendent of public instruction of Arizona, and a delegate to the U. S. Congress from the then territory of Arizona; Edward W., of this review; George E., business man of Martinez; Walter E., retired rancher; Delbert W., rancher; Elmer E., who was killed in an accident when he was seven; and Clara Belle, who died at the age of fifteen. The father died at the age of eighty-nine years, after living a life rounded out to the full and filled with results of good works for the benefit, not only of himself and family, but for the good of the general public and State. He was the third settler in the Point of Timber district of this county and there became a prosperous farmer and large land owner. The mother died in 1913 at the age of seventy-five years.
Ed. Netherton received his education in the public schools of Contra Costa County and in the Oakland High School, supplemented in the school of hard knocks, and experience, thus fitting him for the tussle for a livelihood. His first work was with the Oakland Tribune, owned by William C. Dargee. With John P. Cooper, Ed. was the first man to get the news of the insurrection in the Hawaiian Islands when the Queen Lilioukalani government was overthrown; he was the first to get the news by boarding an incoming vessel from the islands, there being no cable or wireless at that period. The entire story was published in the Examiner, no other paper in the world having the story until later.
Under the Wilson administration Ed. Netherton was chief of the sales tax division in the Internal Revenue service with headquarters at the custom house in San Francisco, directing a force of forty-five men and making a collection of federal taxes of more than $2,000,000 per month. This position he held during Wilson's administration, 1917 to 1922. The balance of his life has been spent in newspaper work.
The marriage of Ed. Netherton with Alice Carpenter, daughter of Daniel S. and Sarah (Curry) Carpenter, was celebrated in Martinez on May 12, 1892, on the same street in which they now live. They have one son, Raymond Wayne Netherton. Mrs. Netherton's father was among the first settlers in this county and served as tax collector for sixteen years. The mother crossed the plains in the early fifties and set- tled in Moraga Valley and is still living. Mr. Carpenter died at the age of seventy-five years. Their family consisted of thirteen children, seven of them being girls and all of them living with their families in Martinez. Mr. Netherton is a Democrat, having served his party as Chairman and Secretary of the County Central Committee and as a member of the State Central Committee. He is a member of the International Typographical Union. His recreation is found in hunting and fishing and doing politics. He is a staunch friend, a hale fellow well met and has hosts of friends in this and adjoining counties, all wishing him the best of luck.
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ALFRED SEYMOUR ORMSBY .- One of the leading attorneys of Contra Costa County, and a man of unusual attainments, Alfred Sey- mour Ormsby came of a long line of legal and professional men, and it was but natural that he should reach success in life through keen mental ability, coupled with an integrity of character which endeared him to all who came in contact with him, both as a man and as a help in legal difficulties. A native Californian, born at Petaluma on December 23, 1871, he was the son of Alfred Walter and Lucy Grace (Price ) Ormsby, who were married in San Francisco on October 14, 1868, and became the par- ents of three children : Elon A., a physician and surgeon at Centerville; Alfred S., of this review; and Arthur Walter, a merchant at Walnut Creek. The wife and mother still lives at Walnut Creek, aged seventy- eight years.
The Ormsby family is of Norse origin. About the year 1706, they left Norway and emigrated to the north of Ireland, where during the course of the centuries many members of the family rose to prominence in the legal and medical professions. The progenitor of the Ormsby family in America was John Ormsby, who settled at Tecumseh, N. Y., in Co- lonial times, and from him the line ran to his son, Benjamin; grandson, Elijah; great-grandson, Alfred Walter; and great-great-grandson, Alfred Seymour Ormsby.
Elijah Ormsby was born in Buffalo, N. Y., and was graduated from an academy in New York State in 1841. He became a lawyer, practicing in his native state for a time, and then removed to Chicago, where he continued in his profession. He was a strong abolitionist and was a per- sonal friend of Abraham Lincoln; and his voice was heard in political campaigns, for he was a distinguished public speaker, with the courage of his convictions. He was a graduate of the University of Michigan, class of 1861, and during the Civil War served as captain in Company M, 16th Michigan Volunteer Infantry.
After the war, in the fall of 1865, Elijah Ormsby came to California and resumed the practice of law; and when his son, Alfred Walter Ormsby, reached manhood, the law firm of Ormsby and Ormsby was formed, and became widely known as successful attorneys in the Bay region. In connection with their law business they became largely inter- ested in the planing-mill business, and owned and operated planing mills at San Francisco, Oakland and Petaluma. Elijah Ormsby died in San Francisco in 1887, having attained the advanced age of eighty-six years. Alfred Walter Ormsby died at the early age of thirty-four years, in Oakland.
Alfred Seymour Ormsby was reared in Oakland, mainly, and attended the public schools of that city. When only seventeen years old, in partner- ship with his oldest brother, Elon A., he took over a stock of jewelry and ran a store until after he graduated from the Oakland High School in 1889. After his graduation he pursued a law course in Oakland, and was
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admitted to the bar in 1898. After some years spent at Walnut Creek, he moved to Martinez, on August 1, 1911, and became one of the leading trial lawyers in Contra Costa County, enjoying an exceptionally large general practice ; in later years he gradually began to specialize in real estate law. He was a prime mover in the organization of the Contra Costa Bar As- sociation. His long and honorable connection with the legal profession in the county gained him the confidence of the entire community.
The marriage of Mr. Ormsby, which occurred on November 30, 1893, united him with Miss Alice A. Waite, a native of Hannibal, Mo., and daughter of Cornelius and Ann (Pocklington) Waite, both natives of England, the former born in Leicestershire, and the latter in Lancashire, that country. Cornelius Waite followed contracting and building in Oak- land after coming to this country. He was a noted singer, and for many years sang in London Cathedral; in Oakland he sang with the Hughes Quartette and in the Orpheum Club. Mrs. Ormsby was reared in Oak- land, where her parents were great social favorites. Her mother likewise was a person of artistic tastes and ability. Both Cornelius Waite and his wife reached the age of eighty-six years, and then Mrs. Waite was called to her last resting place, dying in Walnut Creek in 1924. Mr. Waite still resides in that city, making his home with a daughter. Three children came to bless the union of Mr. and Mrs. Ormsby. Dorothy Mildred, the oldest, died at the age of eight years. Walter Arwin is a graduate of Stanford University, class of 1922. He married Margaret Swift, a gradu- ate of the University of California and a teacher of English and music in the Alhambra Union High School in this county. Walter is the assistant manager, at Martinez, of the Richmond-Martinez Abstract Company, Inc. Alice Marion was graduated from the Martinez High School, class of 1925, and is now attending the State Teachers' College of San Francisco.
In Fraternal relations Mr. Ormsby was prominent. He was a mem- ber of Alamo Lodge No. 122, F. & A. M., in Walnut Creek; belonged to Richmond Commandery No. 59, K. T .; and was a member and a Past Patron of Almona Chapter No. 214, O. E. S. He belonged to the Native Sons; to Richmond Lodge No. 1251, B. P. O. E .; and to Martinez Loyal Order of Moose. In politics he was a staunch Republican. While living in Walnut Creek he served as justice of the peace. He served for two terms as chief deputy district attorney under A. B. Mckenzie and Thomas Johnston, the latter succeeding A. B. Mckenzie in that office, and proved to be an able and fearless prosecutor. In religious belief he was an Epis- copalian. In all walks of life he was an honorable and upright man, one who won the respect of his fellow men and who was sincerely mourned at his passing. His death occurred in Martinez, on January 15, 1925. He was buried with full Masonic rites; and the funeral, one of the largest ever held in Contra Costa County, attested to the high esteem in which he was held in the hearts of his countless friends in the community.
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LOREN MARCELLUS LASELL .- The merchant prince of Contra Costa County, L. M. Lasell, founder of "The Emporium of Contra Costa County," now the largest department store in this section, with its four- teen completely stocked departments, is easily recognized as the leading figure in commercial circles in Martinez. In 1885, when Mr. Lasell began hauling lumber for his Martinez store from Nortonville, he little dreamed that inside of forty years he would have the largest store in Martinez, nor that his trade would come from such a wide radius as it now does, due to the wonderful system of highways and the hundreds of automo- biles that travel over them; yet he was far-sighted in locating here, be- cause of the natural advantages Martinez had to offer even in the early days when nearly all of the grain of the State was shipped from this county, both by rail and water, and the fact that his early expectations have been surpassed by actual realizations is proof of his stick-to-it-iveness and also of his faith in the people-and their faith in him, for "Once a customer of Lasell, always a customer of Lasell." In the historical sec- tion of this history mention is made of the erection of the first store building Mr. Lasell occupied. The location at that time was thought to be out of the business zone, but Mr. Lasell had faith in his business and knew he could draw the people to him by offering goods at the right prices. This he did, and has always done; and as a consequence his store has had a gradual growth from a small general merchandise store to the present modernly equipped and completely stocked establishment which would be a credit to any city.
L. M. Lasell was born at Birch Ridge, half way between St. Albans and Lake Champlain in Vermont, on April 12, 1851, the son of Smith and Sarah (Skinner) Lasell, farmers in Vermont. They had a family of nine children. Merrill was born on January 10, 1847, enlisted in the Union Army for service in the Civil War, and was honorably discharged at close of the war, after which he married and reared a family. He died in Plattsburg, N. Y., January 17, 1917. Haskell was born on August 15, 1849, is a carpenter by trade, and is still living in Plattsburg, N. Y. Loren Marcellus is our subject. Marshall was born on May 15, 1853, farmed in Clinton County, Vt., and is still living. Fred A. was born on June 10, 1854, came to California and worked in the store owned by L. M. Lasell, later had a store of his own at Crockett, and died December 20, 1918, in San Francisco. Alvah S. first saw the light on October 23, 1856, was an exceptionally able business man, and ran flouring mills for the Sperry people. He died on January 15, 1917. Henry was born on July 20, 1858, and is a farmer in Clinton County, Vt. Erastus P. was born on May 7, 1860, and is a dealer in musical merchandise in Rich- mond, Cal. The only daughter is now Mrs. Jennie S. White. She was born on December 13, 1862, and lives at Plattsburg, N. Y. The father, Smith Lasell, was born May 6, 1822, in Vermont, served in the Union Army during the Civil War, suffered great hardships and endured severe
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privations in the swamps in Florida and was honorably discharged, but never regained his health nor arose from his bed. He died at his farm home near Ellenburg Depot, N. Y., November 4, 1878. The mother, Sarah (Skinner) Lasell, was born on January 16, 1824, and died on April 21, 1901.
L. M. Lasell was reared on the Vermont farm of his Grandfather Skinner and obtained but a limited schooling, having to start out for himself at the age of twelve as a farm hand on his uncle's farm, for twelve dollars per month, working from four A. M. until after dark much of the time. For the most part, therefore, he is self-educated; but he took delight in attending the old-time spelling schools and often spelled down the whole neighborhood. He was also fond of arithmetic and liked to study; nor was he afraid of hard work. After some years he entered the employ of the J. G. Rodgers Iron Company, at Au Sable Forks, N. Y., manufacturers of a variety of things in iron and steel for blacksmiths and buildings; and while with this company, because of his expertness in figures he became examiner of the bookkeepers' work and was sent to Jay, Essex County, to take charge of the weighing up of the iron at the forge, and also the grain at their gristmill at Jay. Desiring to see Cali- fornia, he came out here on a sight-seeing trip and never returned East. He became bookkeeper for G. K. Smith, merchant at Biggs, Butte County; and the following spring he went to San Francisco and met Conro & Dodge, who wanted him to go to Nortonville in Contra Costa County and take charge of their store at that place, then a thriving mining town, but now defunct. Mr. Lasell accepted the position and met with very good success in his work for nine years. He then came to Martinez and built a frame building, which is still standing, put in a stock of gen- eral merchandise, used the newspapers for liberal advertising, and began rapidly to build up a very substantial business, for he bought and sold goods and produce right. His strict attention to details inspired his cus- tomers with confidence in him, and as the country began to be settled he enjoyed an increase in his business from year to year until the ultimate result of this small beginning is shown in the up-to-date store building in Martinez and the many other interests Mr. Lasell has in Contra Costa County. He was one of the organizers of the First National Bank, served on the board of directors, and was a pillar of strength to the in- stitution. This is now known as the Martinez Branch of the American Bank of San Francisco. He owns the Alhambra Springs property of 300 acres, from which pure mineral spring water is piped to Martinez and there bottled and shipped to many places from their bottling plant adjacent to the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks and water transporta- tion. Alhambra Pure Spring Water is widely known and has a wide distribution from its offices in Oakland and San Francisco, as well as from Martinez. Mr. Lasell is a heavy stockholder in the American Toll Bridge Company, now building bridges across Carquinez Straits
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from South Vallejo to Crockett and from Antioch to Collinsville, both of which will prove a boon to autoists, all of whom are now obliged to ferry across. The company is now running a steam ferry as an aid in trans- porting autos until the bridges are completed.
Mr. Lasell has been twice married. His first wife, whom he married in Contra Costa County on January 22, 1878, was Miss Sarah E. Wight, born in California, a granddaughter of the late Harry Randolph Wight, who made his first trip to California in 1848, from New York. He be- came a prosperous rancher in New York Valley in this county and lived to be ninety-four years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Lasell had three children : Cora Lasell Craft, of San Francisco; L. Wight Lasell, of Berkeley; and Ernest Randolph Lasell, who is mentioned on another page in this his- tory. Mrs. Lasell died in August, 1915. The second marriage of Mr. Lasell, which occurred on January 12, 1918, united him with Miss Sadie Davenport, who is connected with the best pioneer families of California, and who capably presides over the home which they purchased at the head of Green Street. She is interested financially in the L. M. Lasell Company copartnership. Mr. Lasell has never sought public office, al- though he has served as a member of the board of city trustees and has always been in favor of civic betterment and has exerted his influence for the upbuilding of Contra Costa County in general and Martinez in particular. He is a staunch Republican, and leans towards the Christian Science faith. In summing up his life, it can be said that there has never been a more public-spirited man in the county than L. M. Lasell.
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