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 47
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in the meantime been able to buy the land upon which his shop and house were built, and secured a clear title to 200 feet on the avenue. He then built another building, which was leased to a butcher, rented his shop and gave his attention to the hardware and implement trade. In 1909 it was deemed advisable to establish a post office, as the population had grown to such numbers that mail facilities were unhandy for the people. The post office was located in his store, and he was the post- master at what was then called Rust, after him. Three years later he resigned the office and in 1914 sold the hardware business and re- tired; but after four years he again took over the hardware store and ran it for two more years, until in 1919, since which time he has been looking after his property interests and living retired. When the City of El Cerrito was incorporated in 1917, the new post office was changed to that name and was moved across the street, the old site and Mr. Rust's property being in the Annex, now a part of El Cerrito.
In the pioneer days the settlers were always extended credit by Mr. Rust, material for homes such as came from a hardware store being supplied to them and every assistance extended that was possible, to help along the growth of the community. His material for his shop and for his hardware store was all hauled from Berkeley, Oakland and the landing by his old white horse, which became a well-known sight on the avenue before automobiles became the fashion. To help out the farmers who had broken some piece of machinery, his ringing anvil could be heard far into the night and from a very early hour after mid- night, in order to have the parts mended and not inconvenience the farmers. He remembers when the first automobile was driven to his place by a hardware salesman, who often sold direct to the ranchers such machinery as Mr. Rust did not carry. The first trip to a certain rancher met with disappointment, for the salesman was driven off the place because he drove a car. The farmer raised hay, and the auto did not consume that commodity !
Mr. Rust was married in 1886 to Lina Wagner, also born in Han- over, and two children blessed this union. William G., now a plumber in Portland, Ore., is married and has a son, Robert. Herman, an elec- trician in El Cerrito, is married and has two children, Serena and William. On June 13, 1914, Mrs. Lina Rust passed away at the age of fifty-six years, mourned by a wide circle of friends. On April 24, 1918, Mr. Rust was again married, Minna Voges becoming his wife. She was born in Germany, but came to America in 1902, and after spending four years in Indianapolis came to this State. Her mother passed away in March, 1926. Mr. Rust and his wife plan to take a trip to Europe in May, 1926, to visit friends. Fraternally, Mr. Rust is a member of the Sons of Hermann, in which order he is a Past Grand Master. When the final pages of history for Contra Costa County are written, there will be a page reserved for Uncle Billy Rust, in memory of the good he has done his fellow citizens in this end of the county.
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MRS. ANNE BEIER .- Mrs. Anne Beier, widow of the late Scren A. Beier, and for thirty-six years a resident of the Pleasant Hill district of Contra Costa County, is a native of Sonderjylland, Denmark, and a daughter of Christen Peter and Anna Katrina (Skovdal) Toft. She was reared in Denmark and brought up in the Lutheran Church there, and when twenty-one years of age came to San Francisco, in June, 1876. There she was married to Soren A. Beier on August 25, 1883, the ceremony being performed by the Reverend Mr. Gronsberg.
Soren A. Beier was also a native of Sonderjylland, Denmark, born on February 19, 1849, and reared in his native land. Mr. and Mrs. Beier resided in Oakland for seven years following their marriage, both being employed by a prominent millionaire family of that city. On November 20, 1890, they came to Contra Costa County and invested their savings in a home ranch of fifty-four and one-half acres, which together they im- proved and planted, converting a wilderness into a productive ranch and making a cozy home for themselves. Theirs was a most happy wedded life, and after the death of Mr. Beier, on October 24, 1914, Mrs. Beier continued to make her home on the place; but in 1924 she sold the ranch to a nephew, Alfred Toft, who made a visit to Denmark that year. Mrs. Beier's many excellent qualities of mind and heart have won the respect of the entire community.
MRS. MARY FRAZER .- One of the best-loved and most highly honored pioneer women of Contra Costa County is Mrs. Mary Frazer, widow of the late George M. Frazer, a descendant of William Beverley Frazer, one of the earliest settlers in Contra Costa County and a well-known rancher and stock man. George M. Frazer, after a lifetime of great usefulness and activity, passed away at his ranch at Glen Frazer on June 20, 1923. He was the oldest in a family of ten children born to William Beverley and Delilah (Cook) Frazer, both of whom crossed the plains with ox-teams in the early forties. They lived for a time in Oregon, where they were married, and in 1859 came to Contra Costa County and in time became extensive ranchers and landowners. Here they reared their family of nine children.
As the oldest in the family, George M. was brought up to work on the home ranch and shared its responsibilities from youth. He was born near Turner, Marion County, Ore., on June 21, 1848, and came to Mar- tinez with his parents in 1859, and the large ranch holdings of his father, about one-half section of land, purchased shortly after their ar- rival, afforded him ample opportunity to learn the rudiments of ranch work and also how to overcome the obstacles placed in the way of ranching in those pioneer days, when only the sturdy survived. He continued as his father's right-hand man until his marriage, at Danville, September 4, 1874, to Mary Nicholson, a native of that place, her birth occurring on August 13, 1855. As a bride she came to the Frazer place,
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one mile east of Martinez, and there her husband became the owner of several hundred acres of land, built his ranch home, and reared his chil- dren. The young pioneer couple prospered as farmers and stock raisers. Mr. Frazer raised blooded Durham cattle and registered hogs, often exhibiting his stock at the Contra Costa County fairs, where he was usu- ally awarded first premiums for the excellence of his stock. They were heart and soul in the development of the county, especially in the matter of educational and moral uplift, good roads, and the general ad- vancement of the district. Mr. Frazer was one of the prime movers in making possible the building of the Santa Fe Railway through Contra Costa County, donating the right of way through his land, and also do- nating twelve acres of land for a depot and station purposes, the station being named Glen Frazer, in his honor. As they prospered, Mr. Frazer had bought land about three miles west of Martinez, in Franklin Canyon, which is now the Frazer home place and is developed into a splendid ranch comprising 700 acres, situated near Glen Frazer station, and one of the show places of the county and there Mrs. Mary Frazer makes her home. The 320-acre ranch upon which Mr. and Mrs. George M. Frazer originally located near Martinez was sold and in 1914 became the prop- erty of the Shell Oil Company and is now the site of their great refinery.
Mary Nicholson Frazer was one of a large family of children. Her father, John Nicholson, was born in Delaware, and came to California in 1853, crossing the plains in a train of covered wagons from near Quincy, Ill. He settled at what is now Danville, Contra Costa County ; the old Spanish settlement of Pacheco was then the nearest town, river- boats being then able to reach that point. John Nicholson married Frances Fields, born in Illinois of southern extraction; both the Nichol- son and Fields families were of English ancestry. The mother died in Danville, at the age of eighty-three, after which the husband and father came to live with his daughter, Mrs. Frazer, in Franklin Canyon. Ten children were born to this pioneer couple: Henry, a rancher in Monterey County, died at the age of seventy-nine; George, a rancher near Dan- ville, passed away at the age of forty-eight; Isabella Frances, widow of Theodore T. Ramsay, resides in San Jose; John William, died at the age of forty-two; Mary D., of this review; Martha Ann, married Charles Nelson and lived in Oakland until her death in 1925; Golder Andrew, died when reaching young manhood; Joseph, died in infancy; Adena, widow of Frank Wedgewood, resides in Oakland; and an infant, died unnamed. John and Frances (Fields) Nicholson were among the hon- ored pioneers of the Danville section of this county and their lives were of worth to the community where they aided in building for posterity.
Mr. and Mrs. Frazer became the parents of six children who grew to maturity. Marion died at the age of twenty-four years. Charles B. is a rancher on the home place, part of which he owns; he married Mabel Coats and they have four children: James, George W., Clarence, and
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Luella, Mrs. Carbean, who has two children, Betty and George Walter. Laura married, for her first husband, Frank Wolcott, by whom she had three children: Oliver Frank; Marian, who married Harry Johnson, a dentist in San Francisco, and has a son Francis and a daughter Betty; and Ruth, now Mrs. Elvin Nicholson and the mother of two children, Robert and Patricia. Frank Wolcott died and his widow married an older brother of his, Willard M. Wolcott, and they now have two children, Sarah Jane and Georgia. Hugh L., a graduate of the San Jose State Normal School, is a surveyor in the employ of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company ; he married Esther Dyer and they have a home in Vallejo. Alexander McG. married Olive Julian, of Franklin Canyon, and they have two children, Julian and Ralph, and live on part of the home ranch, part of which he owns. Ethel is the widow of Barney Swearingen and makes her home in Richmond. Mrs. Frazer makes her home on the old home ranch in Franklin Canyon, and is surrounded by her children and grandchildren and a host of devoted friends.
ELISHA C. HARLAN .- In all sections of the world the pioneer is highly honored, especially in California, where the present generation realizes that the marvelous development that has characterized the early decades of the twentieth century is due to the determination of those hardy and fearless pioneers who with heroic fortitude faced the hard- ships of an overland journey and the greater hardships connected with the transforming of an unknown and sparsely settled region into one of the greatest commonwealths in the United States of America. The subject of this sketch, Elisha C. Harlan, is a worthy son of an honored pioneer of California, and is himself a native son, having been born in San Francisco, June 9, 1850, a son of Joel and Minerva (Fowler ) Harlan.
Joel Harlan was born in Wayne County, Ill., on September 27, 1828. He was a son of George Harlan, who was born on January 1, 1802, in Lincoln County, Ky., and who married Elizabeth Duncan in 1823. In 1846 George Harlan outfitted for the trip across the plains, having covered wagons drawn by oxen. He brought his wife and son Joel with him, and was accompanied by William and Henry Fowler. The two last named had come to this State in 1843 and Henry worked on the General Vallejo home in Vallejo. They soon returned to their home, only to de- cide to come again to California with the Harlan train. George Harlan's train was the very first train to cross the great desert south of Salt Lake. The following were the children of George Harlan: Rebecca, Mrs. Ira Van Gorden, died in 1847; Mary, Mrs. Henry C. Smith, died in 1923; Joel; Nancy, Mrs. L. B. Huff; Elisha, deceased; Jacob, died in 1848 in Santa Clara. Elizabeth Duncan Harlan died in Santa Clara County in 1846. The second wife of George Harlan was Catherine (Fowler) Har- grave. Their children were Sarah Ann, Mrs. J. H. Farley; and George. George Harlan, the father, died on July 8, 1850, at Mission San Jose.
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Joel Harlan and other members of the family were stopping at Mission San Jose prior to locating in San Francisco in 1846. He con- ducted a livery stable and ran a dairy, milk being delivered on horseback in those days. San Francisco had only a little over 250 population at that time. When gold was discovered he sold his livery business and other interests, went to Coloma, and opened up a general store, which he operated for a year. He then moved to San Lorenzo, bought a place and remained a short time, and then bought a ranch on the county line between Alameda and Contra Costa County in 1852. Some time later he ex- changed that ranch for 1040 acres located where Elisha C. Harlan, our subject, now lives, in the San Ramon Valley. To this he added until he owned 1756 acres. This land has never been divided among the heirs of Joel Harlan.
Joel Harlan was married in 1848 to Minerva Jane Fowler, at Sonoma, Cal., the ceremony being performed by ex-Governor Boggs, of Missis- sippi. He and his wife had the following children: Elisha C., of this review; Laura M., deceased; Mary, Mrs. William Llewellyn, deceased ; Helena, Mrs. Fred Osborne, of Oakland; Horace, deceased; Henry, de- ceased; Fred, of Pittsburg; and Addie, Mrs. Fred A. Stolp, of Piedmont.
Elisha Harlan attended school at Oakland and supplemented his studies with a course in Heald's Business College on Post Street. At one time, also, he attended a military school for one and one-half years. After leaving the business college he returned to the home ranch and helped with the managing of the place until his father's death. After the death of his father he purchased a ranch for himself from the heirs of Major Russell, and here he made his home for twenty-five years, and also operated the old home place. At the request of his mother he finally moved back to the old home ranch, where he now resides. He is engaged in cattle-raising, and even now, though seventy-six years old, rides his horse every day to superintend the 1200 acres of the Harlan Ranch.
On November 14, 1872, Elisha C. Harlan was united in marriage with Elmina Plamondon, the daughter and only child of Euzebe and Eleanor (Fillbrook) Plamondon, the former of French descent, the latter from Canada. She was reared and educated in Portland, Ore., and at Notre Dame in San Jose, where she specialized in music, finally graduat- ing in Salem, Ore., under her old teacher. Mr. and Mrs. Harlan were blessed with two children : Mabel P. and Joel A. Mabel P. married Frank Davidson and now resides in Oakland. She has one son, Harlan W., a graduate of Oakland High School and the University of California. He
is married and has a son, Harlan W., Jr. Joel A. is deceased. Mr. Harlan is a lover of life in the great out-of-doors and is especially fond of deer-hunting and fishing. He has inherited from his father and grandfather a fondness for cattle-raising, and it can be said to his credit that he maintains the splendid record of the Harlans for good cattle. Fraternally he was a member of Danville Parlor, N. S. G. W., and also
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of the Grange. He has manifested his interest in educational matters by serving as a school trustee of his district. Possessing a cheerful and optimistic spirit, Mr. Harlan has a wide circle of warm friends and is highly esteemed in the community where he has resided for so many years.
HENRY ALBERTSEN .- One of the oldest settlers in El Cerrito is Henry Albertsen, now retired from all activity and living in the enjoy- ment of a well-earned competency and fairly good health. He was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, then a part of Denmark, on September 21, 1843, grew to manhood there and attended the schools of his neighbor- hood. During the war between Denmark and Austria he served as a team- ster; he had a brother who also saw service in the same struggle and after the war both came to America. They stopped in Davenport, Iowa, for three years and in 1867 arrived in California.
Soon after landing in California our subject went to San Pablo and found work on ranches, continuing till 1869, when with a partner he be- gan baling hay on the various ranches from Golden Gate to Pinole and met with very good success; one season was spent in the vicinity of An- tioch. Mr. Albertsen leased land from the Castro family and raised hay on it. He continued baling hay for twenty-eight years and made and saved considerable money. At that early day the ferry boat plying be- tween Oakland and San Francisco made only four trips daily, and so few were the buildings that Oakland was plainly seen from this section with the naked eye. The sidewalks were made of wood and the streets were not paved, only sandy stretches of thoroughfare composed the prin- cipal streets of that city. Wild ducks, rabbits and other game were in abundance, no one taking the trouble to shoot them for use.
Some eighteen years ago Mr. Albersten bought a lot and erected a cottage .in what is now El Cerrito and here he is still living. He knew almost every person in this section of the country at that time, now he is practically a stranger, as almost all of the pioneers are dead. He has al- ways been favorable to all methods that spelled progress for this county and assisted so far as he has been able.
PAUL DE MARTINI .- A splendid type of the substantial Italian- American citizenry of Contra Costa County is found in Paul de Martini the subject of this sketch. As a county official and as an enterprising individual Mr. de Martini has consistently labored to be of service to the country of his adoption. He was born in the historic city of Genoa, Italy, September 15, 1844, the son of Andrew and Catherine de Martini. In 1861, at the age of seventeen, Mr. de Martini embarked from the same city from which Columbus had once set out on a memorable voyage and, like the famous navigator, he too found a new land of opportunity. He had been lured by the tales of gold to be found in California and he first engaged in placer mining in Calaveras County. After four strenuous years at that work, in 1865 he came to Contra Costa County, settling
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in Concord. He first engaged in market gardening on the Galindo tract. From there he moved to Nortonville, where for more than two years he conducted a boarding house. He then came to Clayton, which has since been his home. He bought land from Joel Clayton and planted a vine- yard of wine grapes and until the time of the passage of the Volstead act Mr. de Martini conducted a winery and engaged in the manufacture of high-grade wines. Now that this has become one of the obsolete occupa- tions his lands are planted to almonds, from which he annually secures fine crops.
Mr. de Martini has been honored by his fellows with the office of county supervisor for two terms serving from 1896 to 1900 and from 1900 to 1904. In politics he is a Democrat and takes a keen interest in the political happenings of the day. Despite his advanced years he is still active and vigorous mentally and physically. He was married in Concord, January 10, 1869, to Ansonia Maria Bartano, also a native of Italy who came to this country when one year old. Mrs. de Martini died in 1881. Four children resulted from this union: Walter, a success- ful attorney of San Francisco, is married and the father of two children : Henry is a prosperous farmer and stockman; Paul, a court interpreter, is married and the father of two daughters; Lillian Monia died at the age of twenty-four, unmarried.
THOMAS EDWARDS .- The two survivors of the Edwards fam- ily, that was the first to settle in what is now the town of Crockett, are Thomas and David, two brothers, who are still making Crockett their home and the scene of their activities. The family consisted of six boys and one girl. Thomas was born at Knight's Ferry on August 19, 1851, and was educated in the schools of the State and was associated with his father in the settlement of Crockett. This has been his home since boy- hood and he has been interested in every phase of its growth and progress. The old Edwards home is built on an Indian mound fronting the bay and this was an ideal location for a home. This mound has yielded many relics and skeletons of the Indians of the country surrounding. "They have gone, they have vanished and cold is their clay; For the steel of the white man has swept them away."
Thomas Edwards was married in Crockett on April 20, 1892, to Annie Ashby, and they have had the following children : Edith E., now Mrs. A. G. Dyer of Crockett and the mother of a daughter, Violet; Stanley P., who married Lucy Chapin and has a daughter, Patricia ; Thomas A., employed in the sugar refinery; Arnold B., valuation engineer at the C. & H .; and Grace Crockett, attending the State Teachers' College in San Jose.
Mr. Edwards was graduated from the grammar school in Martinez in 1867, and from the Pacific Business College in San Francisco in 1873. He has lived in Crockett all his adult life. He was one of the organizers of the Congregational Church in 1884, and served as postmaster from 1905 to 1915, during which time the parcel post and Postal Savings Bank
H. W. Bolt
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went into effect. He is a member of Crockett Lodge No. 329, I. O. O. F., and a member and Past Master of Carquinez Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M. For twenty-five years he has represented the American Railways Express Company, and for twenty years has handled the news agency for the San Francisco papers. He is highly respected by all who know him, and has had the best interests of Crockett at heart at all times.
HENRY W. BOTT .- A descendant of parents who were among the early settlers in the State, Henry W. Bott is one of the most highly res- pected citizens of Concord, Contra Costa County, where he has repeatedly served as chairman of the city board of trustees. Born in Tassajara Valley, Contra Costa County, on September 18, 1855, he is the son of George and Mary (Alcorn) Bott, the former a native of Germany, while the latter was born in St. Louis, Mo., and crossed the plains to California in 1849. The father left St. Louis, Mo., in 1849, lured.by the gold discovery in California, and crossed the plains with a train of covered wagons drawn by ox-teams, encountering many hardships and dangers, for their train was attacked by the Indians at several places on the long overland journey. Arriving in Sacramento in the spring of 1850, George Bott first went to the mines in Calaveras County, and later to Nevada County. Four children were born to him and his good wife : Mrs. Mary Harmon, residing at Pine City, Whitman County, Wash .; Emma, the wife of Chief of Police Cook, in San Luis Obispo; Henry W., of this review; and Francis, deceased at six years of age. By a former marriage the father had one child, George Bott, Jr., now the janitor of the courthouse at Martinez. The mother died in 1861, when Henry was only six years old. The father reached the advanced age of ninety-eight years, and for many years before his death made his home with Mr. Bott at Concord.
After the mother's death the children were scattered, and Henry W. Bott started out to make his own living while yet a boy. He worked on ranches at Walnut Creek, and in the Pacheco and Alamo Valleys. In 1874 he was working with a threshing machine, and about this time he decided to learn the blacksmith's trade. Starting on May 24, 1874, to work for the pioneer blacksmith, William Bowman, on the same corner where the blacksmith shop now stands, he continued to work for Mr. Bowman for nine years and three months, and then went to Santa Cruz, where he worked at his trade for one year. Returning to Concord, he bought out his former employer and took for a partner Thomas G. Smith; and for the past forty-five years, under the firm name of Bott & Smith, they have conducted the leading blacksmith shop in Concord and the surrounding country. Both master blacksmiths and wagonmakers, their shop is well equipped with machinery for that work, and they have a long and hon- orable record for efficient service and square dealing.
Mr. Bott has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Cynthia Harmon of Pacheco, who became the mother of two boys, both of whom
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died with the "flu." His second marriage united him with Miss Nellie Welch, and their union has been blessed with two daughters: Madeline, widow of Robert Skinner, a lieutenant in the Marines during the World War who died in November, 1925, leaving a son, Robert Skinner, Jr., now with Mr. and Mrs. Bott; and Winnetta, now Mrs. William Davis, of San Francisco.
Always deeply interested in civic affairs, Mr. Bott took an active part in the incorporation of the city of Concord. He was elected to its first board of trustees, has been repeatedly reelected, serving for many years as chairman, and is still a member of the board. He stands for the best in- terests of the people and is justly popular, being able and honest and fair. During the World War Mr. Bott served on all the Liberty Bond drives and helped Concord go over the top in each drive. A consistent Democrat. he is opposed to all "sumptuary legislation." He is a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge at Concord, has been through all the chairs, and is a Past Grand of the order.
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