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 99
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In 1912 E. M. Tilden purchased the Berkeley Lumber Company; in 1917 he bought the Hogan Lumber Company in Oakland; in 1924 added the fifteen lumber yards of the Sunset Lumber Company, located in the principal towns and cities in Central California, to his holdings ; and in 1925 took over the Pacific Pipe and Tank Company and the Na- tional Mill and Lumber Company, both in Oakland. Now the Tilden Lumber Company's interests include thirty lumber yards and mills in the State, with offices in New York, Salt Lake City and Honolulu; and with agents in nearly all of the South American States. The business
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receives the undivided attention of E. M. Tilden, who realizes that every successful enterprise must have a recognized head and leader.
As early as 1902 Mr. Tilden began to be interested in the banking business. He could see the necessity of establishing a bank at Point Richmond. It was largely through his solicitation that Waverley Stair- ley, then located at Red Bluff, came down here and soon afterward the Bank of Richmond, the pioneer financial institution of this city, was established. Mr. Tilden served as a director for ten years. With others he established the First National Bank of Richmond and is its president, and he is vice-president of the Mechanics Bank of Richmond. His interests are many and large, for in addition to those already men- tioned he is president of all the Tilden Lumber companies; president of the Elks Hall in Richmond; president of the Builders Exchange of Ala- meda County ; a director in the East Bay Industrial Association, the East Bay Title Insurance Company of Oakland, besides some other interests of lesser magnitude. Notwithstanding his many connections and large interests Mr. Tilden drops business cares when he leaves his office and thoroughly enjoys the hours between with his friends and his family. He has never aspired to political preference although solicited many times to become a candidate for office. He has helped promote every com- munity interest in Richmond, the Elks Hall, City Hall, Richmond's new commercial hotel, etc. The volume of business of the Tilden Lumber Companies exceeds five million dollars annually, being the largest retail lumber business in the State. Over 1100 men, nearly all Americans, are employed in various capacities by this organization and the East Bay dis- trict is Mr. Tilden's particular field. His companies also do a consider- able export business.
On February 17, 1892, E. M. Tilden was united in marriage with Miss Jane Eakle, of Woodland. She was one of twelve children in the family of Christian and Margaret Jane (Edrington) Eakle, Kentuckians. The father crossed the plains in the early days, driving an ox-team, and did his part to help maintain the great commonwealth of California. Mr. and Mrs. Tilden have the following children : Waverley, born March 18, 1893, now manager of the Tilden Lumber and Mill Company in Oak- land, is married and has a daughter, Barbara; Helen, died at the age of thirteen; Edwin, born April 18, 1906, works in the Berkeley office of the Tilden Lumber Company. Waverley served in the World War and saw eighteen months service in France. Mr. Tilden is an Elk, a Mason and a Shriner. Mrs. Tilden is active in church work.
During the World War Mr. Tilden operated his mill and lumber yard night and day executing government contracts. He built the main office for the Bethlehem Ship Building Company known as the adminis- tration building. The building was planned and erected and ready for occupancy in one week's time. Mr. Tilden finds his recreation in travel- ing and at the various resorts, where he is free from business cares. 28
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WARREN A. DAVIS .- Numbered among the successful business men of Crockett, whose excellent business judgment and untiring energy have contributed largely to the substantial growth of city and county, is Warren A. Davis. He was born at Somersville, Contra Costa County, on February 24, 1884, the son of William Augustus Davis, who was born in Schuykill County, Pa., April 25, 1859, and Libbie F. (Hughes) Davis, born in Bangor, Wis., July 22, 1860. The elder Davis accompanied his parents to California in 1861. They were William R., born May 14, 1816, and Ann (Parry) Davis, born July 1, 1824; and they had the fol- lowing children : Hannah, Joseph A., Mrs. Lizzie Morgans, William A., David A., Mary A., and John J. The Davis family settled in Calaveras County, and there lived until 1868, when they came to Contra Costa County and located at Nortonville.
William Augustus Davis received his education in the public schools, and was graduated from the Pacific Business College in 1877. He then entered the employ of W. W. Dodge in Nortonville, as a salesman, con- tinuing there four years. In 1881 he went to Somersville and engaged in the general merchandise business with John Hughes as a partner. In 1883 he was married. Later he moved to Martinez and was associated with L. M. Lasell in business. In 1886 he went to Brentwood and started in business on his own account. Selling out, he went to Los Angeles in 1899, and thence came to Crockett in 1901. His brother, John J. Davis had started a business enterprise in Crockett in which William A. Davis was financially interested, and upon the latter's coming here he soon took an active part in the conduct of the store. John J. retiring from active participation, the business was incorporated under the name of Davis Brothers in 1904. William Davis continued active in the business until his death, which occurred on July 14, 1907. He was a member of Car- quinez Lodge No. 337, F. & A. M., and of the Eastern Star; he also took an active part in church work. Besides our subject there is a daugh- ter, Edna May Davis, who is a teacher of Spanish and French in a high school in Los Angeles. She is a graduate of Stanford. Mrs. Davis makes her home in Los Angeles, taking occasional trips to Contra Costa County.
There is some interesting pioneer history connected with the maternal side of the family. Warren A. Davis' grandfather was Rev. David Hughes, born in Bala, Wales, on December 28, 1832. He married Sarah Francis on Thanksgiving day, November 20, 1856, in Utica, N. Y. She was born in Trenton, N. Y., on May 3, 1834, and had several chil- dren. The Hughes family came to America in 1844 and settled in Deer- field, N. Y., where David Hughes was educated. David Hughes was a cousin of former Secretary of State, Charles Evan Hughes. In 1875 he was ordained to the ministry at Cambria, Wis., and his first pastorate was at Bangor, Wis. He remained there until 1881, when he came to California and located in Nortonville. After four years in Nortonville, he went to San Francisco and ministered to the Welsh people there for a number of years. His next field of endeavor was in Los Angeles,
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whither he went in 1888. In November of that year he organized the Welsh Presbyterian Church on Second Street and Broadway. In 1893 he organized the Bethesda Presbyterian Church, maintaining both churches until 1902, when he resigned because of failing health. He died on December 26, 1903. The Los Angeles papers said of him that he was a great Bible student and a learned man. He left a widow, one son, John F. Hughes, and the following daughters: Mrs. W. A. Davis, of Los Angeles ; Mrs. B. F. Hicks, of Oakland, now deceased, whose daughter, Mrs. Will Jones, lives in Crockett; Mrs. Everett B. Thomas, of Los Angeles ; Mrs. Jennie Rees, of San Francisco; Miss Sarah E. Hughes ; and Mrs. Frances W. Mohlman, of Los Angeles. Mrs. Hughes died in 1915, mourned by many friends.
It will be noticed that the middle initial "A" is carried throughout the successive generations of the Davis family. Sometimes the name has only the letter, as in Warren A., simply to carry out the family characteristic. The Davis farm in Wales was named Warren, and Warren A. Davis was given his first name in honor of the old homestead.
Warren A. Davis accompanied his parents in their various removals, and attended the schools in Brentwood; Los Angeles, where he had two years of high school work; and Crockett, where he was graduated in the first class from the John Swett High School. He then entered Stanford University, majoring in electrical engineering, and was graduated in 1907 with the B. A. degree. His father's death soon after he came out of col- lege did not permit him to follow his chosen career, and he took a place in the Davis Brothers' store as a clerk. C. L. Dodge, county treasurer, was then manager of the business, and he is still interested in it. A. N. Sullenger, county auditor, was also one of the original stockholders. Several now employed in the firm were connected with it at the beginning. In 1910 Warren A. Davis became manager, a position he still holds. In carrying on the business, many new innovations have been added to better serve customers, and also to simplify methods.
On June 16, 1909, Warren A. Davis and Miss Florence M. Linekin were united in marriage. Theirs was an old-fashioned home wedding in the house in which they now live. Mrs. Davis is a graduate of the State Teachers' College at San Jose, Class of 1907, and was teaching in the schools of Crockett at the time of their marriage. Her father, Warring- ton Young Linekin, was born in Maine, followed the sea for a time, and came to California at the time of the gold rush. Warrington Young Linekin was a horseman of note. He was a practical veterinarian, and was for many years the leading local authority on the horse and his dis- eases, and was called on from far and near, in and around Hayward, to treat sick horses. At the time of the severe earthquake of 1868, he was farming for Mr. Cunningham, and was taking a very heavy load of grain to the warehouse in Hayward on the Crow Canyon road with a twelve- horse team. The quake loosened many great rocks, which crashed down the hillsides and across the road; but he and his team and wagon miracu-
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lously escaped unhurt. For a time Mr. Linekin was a dealer in hardware in Hayward, and then held public office there. Mrs. Davis' mother was one of the neighborly women found in every locality, and nursed the sick, helped care for the dead, and extended sympathy to all who needed it. She was Anna Wrede in maidenhood, and was born in New Orleans and came to California in 1854, crossing the Isthmus of Panama with her parents. They settled in Sonora, Cal., where she married Mr. Linekin in 1867, after which they moved to Hayward. They had six children: Mrs. Alice LaBaree, teacher in the Crockett school; Mrs. Nellie L. Baldwin, of Danville; Mrs. Mary L. Reid, of Danville; Mrs. Sarah E. Hoyt, in Hayward; Kittie Adele, deceased; and Mrs. W. A. Davis. Mrs. Linekin died in 1916 at the age of sixty-seven, and Mr. Linekin died in 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have two boys. Warren Alwyn was named by his great-grandmother Hughes, the middle name being taken from the Welsh, meaning "Loved by All." He is attending the California Poly- technic School at San Luis Obispo, where he has taken up agriculture. John Allison is in the Crockett Grammar School.
The activities of Mr. and Mrs. Davis have been many. He became a director in the Bank of Pinole upon its locating a branch in Crockett; is the chairman of the committee appointed to arrange for the numbering of houses in Crockett; was one of the live wires in the reorganization of the Business Men's Association; is secretary of the Contra Costa County Grocers' Association ; was one of the exponents of the Community Church idea, which has proven successful, and was superintendent of Sunday school for several years. Upon the death of his father he was placed in his position as a trustee of the Congregational Church, and is now presi- dent of the board of the congregation group of trustees. At the time of the building of the Community Church in 1913-1914, he served on the building committee. He is active in the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion work, local and county, and in the work of the Boy Scouts, and has represented various organizations at outside conventions many times. Mrs. Davis has been active in church work, both as a teacher in the Sun- day school and as a member of the Ladies' Aid and missionary societies of the church. She is a charter member and the corresponding secretary of the Carquinez Women's Club. During the World War she had charge of the Belgian Babies' Fund, working under Mrs. Spreckels of San Francisco in this district, and was presented a medal by the Belgian duchess who had charge of the work in Belgium. She is chairman of the Industrial and Social Relations Committee in the Alameda District C. F. W. C., comprising five counties, and especially interested in the social conditions in Contra Costa County. She has served as a member of the committee from the Contra Costa Federation of Women's Clubs that made the survey of condition at the old detention home and presented same to the supervisors, the result being the erection of a new and suit- able building for this purpose. Being much interested in such work, Mrs. Davis hopes to see a Welfare Council organized here in the near future.
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JAMES A. SILVAS .- A native of Contra Costa County James A. Silvas was born in the Briones Valley, the son of Cipriano Silvas, a native of Chile, S. A., who was born on September 26, 1823. His parents were Eusavia and Teresa (Henry) Silvas. Cipriano was a well educated man and a school teacher in his native country. He came to California with the gold rush, landed in the Pinole Valley and took up farming, raising grain, other farm products and stock, first in the southern part of the valley but later went to the upper end, which was called Briones Valley in honor of that old pioneer family, and there he lived and prospered until his death. He had married Mrs. Mary Acosta, whose maiden name was Alvarado and she was born in Los Angeles. Their children were: Henry B., born in 1862 and now living in Richmond. Joseph E. who was born on March 5, 1864, educated in the public schools of Briones Valley and reared to ranch life until reaching manhood, then learned the carpen- ter's trade, which he is still following; he married Miss Mary Maderas, Pinole, daughter of J. J. and Amelia Maderas and they have five chil- dren : Edward R., a machinist; Luella May, Lucille, Norbert Leslie and Harold Joseph are at home. Adella Silvas married F. Abrott and lives near Pinole; Cipriano, who lives in Pinole; Albert R., of Martinez: James A., of this review; Edward, in Berkeley, where he is a carpenter and builder; and Theresa, Mrs. John Curran, of Pinole. The father died on July 11, 1913, and the mother on February 19, 1924.
James A., attended the Briones school and at an early age began busi- ness as a saloonkeeper, continuing for twenty years, although part of the time he engaged in the haberdashery business, carrying on both lines of business at the same time until he sold the saloon and has since given his entire time to the other line and has been successful. He is a hale fellow well met and always ready to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate than himself. He is a good story-teller and of jovial disposition and likes to have people about him. He has a fondness for dogs and has owned some fine animals. He believes in progress and supports all pro- gressive movements for the public good.
ALPHEUS RICHARDSON .- Numbered among the pioneers of the Golden State was the late Alpheus Richardson, who arrived here in 1852. He was born on October 3, 1830, and died on December 12, 1915. Between these two dates many years were spent by him in worthwhile endeavor. He was born in Marion County, Ohio, and was there reared, and received his education. In 1852 he came to California in a company under the leadership of Colonel Hollister. After his arrival he worked for a time near Marysville, and then engaged in placer mining in Placer County for one year, and "went broke." With the characteristic deter- mination for which he was noted, he again went to work for wages, saved his earnings, and with them embarked in ranching; but this also proved a failure at that time. He reached Gilroy, Santa Clara County, and en- gaged in raising hogs, paying high prices for them. Unfortunately, when
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they were ready to sell the prices were low and again he did not make any money. He came to Contra Costa County and tried raising cattle for a couple of years, but then gave that up and went to Oregon in 1863. Again he tried mining in Alpine County, with the usual luck of the ordi- nary miner. In 1865 he again came to this county and settled in the Point of Timber section, where, with the experience of his former years as a rancher, he soon began to make headway, and on land that was once considered worthless made a success of his efforts. His principal crop was wheat, and by summer fallowing he made this pay, even in dry seasons. He took an active part in all movements for the best interests of the peo- ple among whom he lived, and in time became a well-to-do man. At the time of his death he was accounted a leader among the men of his com- munity, and was mourned by a large concourse of friends.
Mr. Richardson married Miss Avyette Taylor, a sister of Volney Taylor. She was born on October 27, 1848, and died on May 29, 1907. Both Mr. and Mrs. Richardson are buried in the Point of Timber Ceme- tery about two miles north of Byron. They both became well and favor- ably known in Contra Costa County, and were always working to ad- vance its best interests. Their home was one of the show places in the eastern section of the county. After making a success of his farming, Mr. and Mrs. Richardson took a trip, in 1876, throughout Canada and the Eastern and the Western States, and attended the Centennial Exposi- tion at Philadelphia, traveling some 8000 miles. Their good works live after them.
JOHN FRANCIS O'NEILL, SR .- The subject of this sketch, John Francis O'Neill, Sr., was born in Ireland in 1842 and was a son of John Francis O'Neill, who brought his family to California in 1845 and settled in Calaveras County, where the father conducted a general merchandise store. Both our subject and his father died in the month of February, 1890, aged forty-eight and eighty-four years, respectively. From Cala- veras County the family came to Contra Costa County and took up farming on the Sobrante grant of 18,000 acres owned by Victor Castro and his brother, Jose Castro. Our subject was educated in Santa Clara College and his life was spent as a rancher on the Castro property. He used to tell of having a job of driving a horse for twenty dollars a week, but lost it when the man got a mule that needed no driver.
Mr. O'Neill married Miss Isabella Castro, born in Stege, on July 10, 1848, the daughter of Victor and Louisa (Martinez) Castro, both pio- neer Spanish families who owned thousands of acres of land in this county. Mrs. O'Neill was educated in a convent in San Francisco that stood where the Palace Hotel now is and said they could look out of the window and see the men dumping the dirt that filled in the bay from Montgomery Street. When she was eighteen years old Miss Castro came up to San Pablo Creek to keep house for her brother, Patricio, and remained there three years, or until her marriage. For a wedding trip
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they went to San Jose. They farmed on the grant till 1888, when they moved to Pinole, where she still lives. There were eight children in the family: John Francis, who is mentioned on another page of this work; Louise, Mrs. J. Walton, of Pinole; Edward, of Oakland; Josie, Mrs. Charles Poinsett, of Hercules; Jovita, Mrs. R. Robinson, of Hercules ; William, a twin of Mrs. Robinson, died aged two years; Fred Lawrence, a machinist; Annie, Mrs. McDonald, was born two months after the death of her father. Point Isabella is where the Vigoret Powder Works was located and it was named in honor of Mrs. O'Neill, for it was from this point that her father corralled and shipped his cattle.
Isabella Castro, daughter of Victor Castro, was born in the adobe house that still stands near the county line in El Cerrito. Her father owned the Sobrante Grant in partnership with his brother, Jose. Victor Castro was the first white child born at the Presidio in San Francisco. The old adobe house was built by Mr. Castro and it can never pass from the Castro family. To keep Victor Castro from going to serve in the Mexican War the father of Miss Louisa Martinez suggested the mar- riage with his daughter and unite the fortunes of two prominent fam- ilies. The wedding was a result. Mrs. J. F. O'Neill, Sr., lost her mother when she was but two years old and her father married Valecia Coriea, of Sonoma County and chartered a steamer to bring his bride to San Francisco. She lived only two years, dying at the age of twenty- two. The third wife of Victor Castro was Mrs. Julia Lupton. Victor Castro died aged eighty-five and is buried in the garden of the old adobe.
JAMES B. McCABE .- A man who has seen activity as a railroad employee since 1882 is James M. McCabe of Richmond. He was born in Toledo, Ohio, on October 8, 1861, and attended the public schools in pursuit of an education. When he was twenty-one he went to work as an engine wiper at Detroit, Mich., and in 1884 he began firing a loco- motive on the road as an extra man. Mr. McCabe had two brothers with the Southern Pacific in California. In 1886 he came to California, stopping at Needles, and entered the employ of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. For fourteen years he ran out of Needles to Barstow, firing until his promotion in 1889 to engineer. When he first went to Needles there were but six houses in the town, and a lunch counter was operated by Stackpole and Lincoln where now the famous Harvey Houses on the Santa Fe system supply the demand for hotel and eating house. From Needles Mr. McCabe was transferred to Stockton and ran over the Valley Division until coming to East Yard, as Richmond was then called, in 1900. There was no place for a man to locate his family at that time, and the eating tent was conducted by Mrs. McNally at the place where the electric street car tracks cross the Santa Fe tracks. When Hotel Critchett was completed, in the fall, Mr. McCabe brought his family here. After coming here he worked on construction train filling the yard and then on the branch road into Oakland from Richmond. In 1903 he
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was able to move his family into a house just completed, which he had rented, and two years later they moved into a home he had erected at No. 77 Scenic Avenue. For the past twenty-six years Mr. McCabe has had a run out of Richmond. He says there have been many changes in railroading since he started, and especially is this true since he came to Richmond. There was no fresh water for engines then, and the salty water from the wells here was not good for boiler use. Mr. McCabe is very popular with his railroad associates, and with his many friends out- side of railroad circles. He belongs to the Riverbank Division of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, No. 839.
Mr. McCabe married Mrs. Annie Stone at Needles, Cal. She was born at Walnut Creek, Contra Costa County, and has a son George by her first marriage. Mr. and Mrs. McCabe have a son, Melvin, born at Needles on March 23, 1896. He graduated from the Richmond High School and then entered the Agricultural College at Davis, but the World War interfered with the completion of his course. He enlisted in the Masonic Ambulance Corps and served eighteen months in France, and was in the Argonne campaign. After the war he returned home for a short time and then went to Washington, where he married a lady he had met while training at Camp Lewis. They have two children, Carol and Chester. He is engaged in the grocery business at Tenino, Wash. George Stone was reared by Mr. McCabe and learned the machinist's trade. He is now living in Los Angeles. He married and has a son, Burvel, who lives with Mr. and Mrs. McCabe. Mrs. McCabe has al- ways taken an active part in all community affairs since locating here. She is a member of the Eastern Star. Mr. McCabe believes Richmond has a bright future marked out for it as a coming city on the Bay. His source of recreation and his hobby is fishing, and he indulges in this pastime upon every opportunity.
WARREN D. WOOD .- A resident of Richmond since 1912, when he came here to enter the engine service with the Santa Fe Railroad, Warren D. Wood has been much interested in watching the development of his chosen home locality. He was born in Jonesboro, Ark., on August 29, 1878, and he went to the public schools of his neighborhood. He had two brothers who served in the World War; Fred, who served in the engineer corps and was over seas for twenty-seven months; and Oliver, who served with the 20th Engineer Corps and was over seas for about a year.
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