History of Fresno 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, Volume I, Part 124

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858-
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1362

USA > California > Fresno County > History of Fresno 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, Volume I > Part 124

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He was a member of the Republican State Committee from 1906 to 1912, and from 1916 to the present time (1919). In the interval from 1912 to 1916, he was a member of the Progressive State Committee. He was chairman of the Republican State Convention of 1910, the last delegate con- vention held in California, and was chairman of the Republican State Com- mittee from 1916 to 1918. He was delegate to both the Republican and Progressive National Conventions in 1912, and had the unique experience of serving on the subcommittees on platform, of nine members, of each of these committees, thuis assisting in the drafting of the national platform of two political parties the same year. He was also a delegate to the National Progressive Convention of 1916. From 1912 to 1916 he was National Com- mitteeman for California on the Progressive National Committee. Returning to the Republican party in 1916, he was elected state chairman of the party committee the next day after he had changed his registration to Republican. He was a member of the National Campaign Committee of sixteen members, in the Hughes campaign of that year. Since 1918 he has not taken active part in organized politics, though retaining his membership on the Repub- lican State Committee.

Mr. Rowell was a member of the board of state commissioners of the Panama-Pacific Exposition, is a regent of the University of California, and a director in the California Development Board and was a member of the executive committee of the California State Council of Defense. He served as vice-president of the National Municipal League, is a member of the Associated Press and the American Publishers' Association and of numerous scientific and literary bodies. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Golden Bear, college honor societies, and of the Delta Tau Delta college fraternity.

At Chicago, on August 1, 1897, Mr. Rowell was married to Miss Myrtle Marie Lingle, of Webb City, Mo., and they have three children, Cora W., now a student in the State University, Barbara and Jonathan.

C. T. CEARLEY .- Prominent among the business men and worthy citi- zens of Fresno stands the name of C. T. Cearley. a native son, born in Ala- meda County, November 21, 1865. The greater part of his boyhood was spent in the bustling city of San Jose. As a young man just entering business life, his inclinations turned in the direction of newspaper work, resulting in his securing a position with the San Jose Times, and later in his purchasing a one-third interest in that paper, which he retained for four years. Disposing of this interest, he removed to Fresno in September, 1891, in the interest of, and as agent for, the San Francisco papers. Recognizing in Fresno, the center of the raisin industry of California, the brilliant prospects of future advance .. ment which have since been more than realized, Mr. Cearley, with keen busi- ness discernment, saw a good opening in that city for a stationery store, which he at first established on a small scale. The business prospered until it reached such proportions that in 1906 he incorporated it under the name of C. T. Cearley, Inc. The firm continues to do a large and growing business

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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

in the sale of books and stationery. The most important branch of the business, however, consists in wholesaling paper and paper bags. At present there are twelve employees.

Mr. Cearley was appointed by President Wilson as a member of the ex- emption board for Fresno City and served with his usual ardor and zeal. He was also city director of the Fourth and Fifth Liberty Loan Drives.

Shortly after coming to Fresno, Mr. Cearley joined the Masons, and he has since taken an active part in Masonic affairs. He is a Past High Priest of Fresno Chapter and Past Commander of Fresno Commandery, as well as a prominent Shriner, and is also a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.

MARTIN LUTHER WOY .- One of the best-known ranchers and oil and real estate men in the state is Martin Luther Woy, the son of George Woy, a Pennsylvania farmer, stockman and horse fancier who emigrated from Ohio to Illinois in 1864 and drove to Clinton, Dewitt County, Il1., the first band of sheep. In 1884 he came to California and located at Pomona, and there he retired to enjoy some years of well-earned leisure. This bless- ing, however, was affected by the death there, on May 2, 1886, of his good wife Elizabeth, who passed away in her seventy-ninth year. Mr. Woy died at his home, aged eighty-seven years, on June 20, 1906, the father of five boys and nine girls, all of whom except one girl and two of the sons are living today.

Born on June 3, 1854, in Hancock County, Ohio, the eleventh child in the family, Martin attended the country school until he was seventeen years of age, when he started out to earn his living. He secured a position in mercantile business, and in that line continued until 1887, when he came to California. For a while he was at Fresno, and then he had a store at Pomona. When this was sold he returned to Fresno and on J Street embarked in the livery business. He commenced in May, 1889, and during the next eight years, while continuing in business, was very successful. In 1897, however, he sold out and took up what has proven far more remunerative-the real estate and oil business. Among Mr. Woy's real estate ventures may be men- tioned the buying and plotting, with two partners, of the Poppy Colony, one of the largest real estate tracts subdivided in Fresno. He was also one of three partners who plotted the Wyhee home tract. He is interested in farm- ing, and owns a ranch of 640 acres in the American Colony, which he im- proved as an alfalfa and stock ranch. He also owns a large ranch in the Tehachapi fruit section of Kern County.

Mr. Woy is interested in raising fine stock, particularly standard-bred horses, which he has bred and trained for years. He himself owns some of the finest pacers and trotters in California. Among these is Lulu B., who made a trotting record, as a three-year-old, of 2:1114. Another notable horse raised by Mr. Woy was Miss Macklie, a fast trotter. He owns the pacer J. C. L., who won all the races in which he started in California in 1918, and received the mark of 2:0512. He also owns Pavana and other horses of note. He maintains his racing stables in Fresno and takes keen delight in training his steeds.

Mr. Woy was one of the early pioneer oil men in Coalinga and Kern County. When he went to Coalinga, only Chancellor & Canfield and the Confidence Oil Company were operating, on Sections 20, 31, 19 and 15. When the first development began there, he became actively identified with the movement, organized the Commercial Petroleum Oil Company, and imme- diately began developing the oil in the Coalinga field. He was vice-president and general manager of the company, and much of the enterprise that marked that concern's aggressive programs must be credited to him. He also or- ganized and accepted the presidency of the Woy, Machen & Madsen Oil Company, which has been so successfully operating in Coalinga. Superin-

Thomas Dann

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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

tending the drilling of the second oil well in the Midway field in 1901, Mr. Woy, as might be expected, was identified with the control of large tracts of land in the Midway section, and he owns outright a large body of land in the Midway field now under lease to the Midway Oil Company of Port- land, Ore. His career as an operator in oil has been exceptionally successful.

For four years Mr. Woy was chief of police of Fresno. Always a lead- ing Republican, he has taken an active part in public affairs, and has con- tributed to the growth of Fresno and vicinity. He is a leader in the Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Woy was first married in 1875, to Miss Martha McCaudless of Kansas City, Mo., who was an exemplary Christian woman and an active worker in the Methodist Church and its charities, always aiding those who had been less fortunate. After a happy wedded life of thirty-five years, she passed away. No children came to bless the union. Four years later Mr. Woy was again married, at San Francisco, on May 16, 1914, to a most esti- mable lady, Miss Alice Kelly, a native of California : and one child, a son named Martin Luther, Jr., has come to gladden their hearts. The Woy home is the center at all times of true California hospitality, and Mr. and Mrs. Woy enjoy the good-will of a very large circle of friends and admirers. He is a member of the Sequoia Club.

THOMAS DUNN .- One of the prominent pioneers and developers of Fresno County, Thomas Dunn left his imprint on the community where he spent so many years of his life, and where he gave of his vigorous activities to the accomplishment of pioneer labors for the welfare and upbuilding of his section of the state. His life was an admirable example because of his breadth of interests, his sturdy character, and for his disinterested devotion to worthy causes. A native of Canada, when a babe in arms the family moved to Racine, Wis. The parents both died when Thomas was a small lad, and he was placed with a family that raised him to manhood.

Ambitious, even at that early age, he started west with a prairie schooner to Pike's Peak, Colo., during the famous gold rush to that region. Then the Civil War broke out, and he enlisted in the Thirteenth Colorado Cavalry and served three years. Later, with a partner, he went to Texas and from there drove a herd of longhorn cattle to Montana, the first man to import Texas cattle into that territory. He remained in Montana, in the cattle business, until 1885.

In 1886, Mr. Dunn located in Fresno, and engaged in ranching, purchas- ing, in 1888, eighty acres of vineyard near Malaga, planted to two-year-old Muscat grapes. For fifteen years he operated this ranch, in the meantime in- vesting in other ranch and city property. In 1890 he bought a forty-acre vineyard southwest of Fowler; he invested in Fresno real estate and built the Dunn Block, on J Street, and also a business block at 827 I Street, both buildings standing today ; in addition to this development, he owned a busi- ness block at Sanger. Mr. Dunn had large oil interests in Kern County and in the Coalinga district. His death occurred January 2, 1913.

The marriage of Mr. Dunn united him with Mattie Iliff, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, but reared in Illinois; her death occurred in Fresno, June 11, 1916. Five children were born to this worthy couple, as follows: Mattie I., wife of Arthur Perkins, stockholder, director and manager of Barrett-Hicks Hardware Company of Fresno; William F., district manager for the Asso- ciated Oil Company, Fresno; Lieut. Thomas M., now with the United States Army ; Lillian S., wife of the late Edward M. Voigt of Fresno; Herbert I., the only one born in Fresno, and who is First Lieutenant in the One Hun- dred Twenty-eighth Field Artillery, U. S. A., and who served as an Aviation Observer overseas; he was a student at Stanford University and attended the first officers' training school at the Presidio, San Francisco, receiving his commission.

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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

While devoting his energies to business and developing his interests, Thomas Dunn was ever a willing worker for the good of his community, and served the public with the same devotion to duty that he gave to his per- sonal affairs. He was a member of the board of trustees of the City of Fresno under the new city charter, from the Eighth Ward, and served four years in that capacity : he also served as park commissioner under Mayor Chester Rowell, and in all other work for the advancement of Fresno, city and county, he was wise in counsel and efficient in execution, and his passing removed from the community a man in whom reposed the sincerest respect and admiration of all who knew him. He was a prominent and well posted Mason and stood high in his lodge. Thomas Dunn was a candidate for mayor of Fresno, but withdrew in favor of Chester Rowell. He was a member of Atlanta Post, G. A. R., at Fresno, taking an active interest in all of its affairs. and showing his sympathetic spirit and loyalty by always attending the fun- erals of its members. In the cause of temperance he was an active worker but was not radical.

HONORABLE ANGUS MARION CLARK .- As one of the old pioneers of the state, A. M. Clark, who passed away December 2, 1907. is remembered by his friends as a man who did much to further the growth and interests of California, where he chose to cast in his lot. He was born in Madison County, Miss., August 25, 1831, and was brought up on a farm in that southern state until he attained the age of nineteen, attending private school in a log cabin schoolhouse. In January, 1850, he started for the Pacific Coast to join his father, Angus Archibald Clark, of Scotch descent, who was living in Nevada County, Cal., and one among the many who came west in 1849 seeking golden rewards in the mining camps of those early days. Crossing Mexico to Mazatlan. young Mr. Clark took passage from that seaport to San Francisco, where he arrived in May, going thence to Nevada County. For sixteen years he followed the occupation of mining. and in 1867 came to Millerton, Fresno County, and engaged in copper mining at Buchanan, for six years, meeting with varying success.

In 1873 he was elected by his appreciative fellow-citizens to the com- bined offices of county clerk and recorder of Fresno County, taking office in March, 1874, at Millerton, then the county seat. In the fall of 1874 he moved the county records to Fresno and in September of that year assisted in lay- ing the corner stone of the new court house. In 1878 he formed a partner- ship with W. H. Mckenzie, as Clark & Mckenzie, in the abstract business in Fresno, which continued for some years. After eleven years service as county clerk, he retired from the office, and in 1884 he and Mr. Mckenzie bought a controlling interest in the Fresno Loan & Savings Bank. Mr. Clark was elected to the Assembly of the State Legislature in 1885, from Fresno County, serving the term to the satisfaction of his constituents. In 1885 he also served as school trustee in Fresno, and in 1887 was elected to the Board of City Trustees, resigning in 1889. His last political office was that of city recorder of Fresno, serving several terms, and as Judge of the City Court his decisions were rendered with the greatest fairness.

He organized and was one of three owners of the Harrow Gold Mining Company. Their mines, located in the foothills near Millerton and equipped with modern machinery, were good producers for a number of years. In later years of his life, Mr. Clark had gold mining interests at Auberry Valley. He was also a large owner of city property.

His first marriage occurred in 1865, at Sacramento, when he was united with Emma Glidden, who died in Fresno in 1880. They were the parents of four children, all of whom are living. Ada Belle, who is the wife of L. R. Williams, is now residing in Cottonwood, Shasta County, and is the mother of two children, Marion, now Mrs. A. T. Brown of Cottonwood, and A. Bush Williams, serving in the U. S. Army. Their second child, Sadie P. Clark, is assistant librarian of the Fresno County Library. Angus Clark, assistant

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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

secretary and land agent for the Keyroute System, resides in Berkeley. He married Martha Fisher of Woodland, and they are the parents of two children : Katherine Janette and Angus. The fourth child, Frank Marion, is with the Western Pacific Railroad in San Francisco.

By his second marriage, which was solemnized December 25, 1882, Mr. Clark was united with Sarah Bemis, a native of Framingham, Mass., who came to San Francisco in 1876. Mrs. Clark is the only charter member of the First Baptist Church now living in Fresno, having always been an active worker in the church, and has done grand work in the organization of charity in Fresno. Mr. Clark was a very prominent Mason, being a Past Master of Fresno Lodge No. 247 F. & A. M. and was also past High Priest of Fresno Chapter No. 69 and Past Commander of Fresno Commandery No. 29, K. T., and a member of Islam Temple A. A. O. N. M. S. in San Fran- cisco. Mrs. Clark and the two daughters, Mrs. Williams and Miss Sadie. were members and Past Matrons of Raisina Chapter No. 89 O. E. S.

It is to such men as A. M. Clark, that Fresno County today owes much of its present greatness, development and prosperity, for with his energy and optimism he was always working to build up the county ; was aggressive in the cause of education and zealous for a splendid school system, and a high standard of morals. Thus the best interests of his town and county were always nearest and dearest to his heart.

FRANK HOLLAND .- To serve for thirty-six years in the employ of the same corporation is a record of which any man may be proud. This has been achieved by Frank Holland, who was born in Marietta, Ohio, January 9, 1854, and crossed the plains to Virginia City, Nev., with his parents in 1863, a boy of nine years. He remembers many incidents of the trip, and a diary his mother kept of experiences on the way is prized very highly by the son. A few extracts from the diary are given here: "Started across the plains with wagons drawn by horses, April 16, 1863. Passed many ox teams of emigrants bound for California. Game is very plenty. Visited by friendly Indians. Saw buffaloes by the thousands. Traveled all day with- out water. Passed a grave of an emigrant who died August 31, 1862. Cele- brated July 4th with big dinner and games. On July 8, Mrs. Miller, one of our party, gave birth to a son. Passed a spot where a train was attacked by Indians and some of the emigrants were killed. Arrived Virginia City, August 7, 1863."

Frank Holland received his early education in Keokuk, Iowa, from which place the family started across the plains. He attended school in Virginia City, where his parents resided for many years. He saw the place grow and was there during all the gold-mining activities in pioneer days. In 1868 he was sent to California to attend Brayton College, Alameda County. Later this college became the California College, founded by Prof. F. M. Campbell, who later became State Superintendent of Schools. The present University of California was formerly the California College, and was moved to the present site in Berkeley. As assistant to the landscape gardener Mr. Holland helped lay out the University grounds and set out many of the trees that now adorn the campus.

In 1870 Mr. Holland went to work for Bamber & Company, who ran a local express company, having charge of the delivery of newspapers. He also worked in and had charge of the old Badger Park in Oakland, an old picnic ground in the pioneer days. He carried papers of the pioneer news- papers of Oakland. The Evening Termini, and Oakland Daily News. While here he learned the printer's trade. Later he returned to his home in Vir- ginia City, and after two years went to Bishop Creek, Inyo County, Cal., and with a partner tried ranching for a time. After this he went to Bodie. Mono County, Cal., and worked in the grocery store of Kirsch Braun & Son. He returned to Bishop Creek and entered the employ of J. W. Stoughten-

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borough, general merchant. In June, 1883, Mr. Holland went to Los Angeles and entered the employ of the Wells Fargo Express Company, and since that time has not been off the payroll of that company. This is certainly a great record, and he wears a gold button given by the president of the company which reads: "Faithful service thirty-five years. Wells Fargo Express Com- pany." He went to Tucson, Ariz., from Los Angeles, and drove the first express wagon for the company there, and in 1888 he arrived in Fresno, when the present city was but a village. He drove the first and only express wagon in Fresno, did all the collecting and delivery, tending the train, and helped do the office work. George Edmonds was the local agent for the company at that time.

Mr. Holland has seen many changes in Fresno since those early days. At one time he owned and conducted a wholesale and retail confectionery and ice cream parlor on J Street. For the past few years he has been an ex- press messenger for the company, with headquarters in Fresno, and is still at work. He is an active member of the local lodge of the Loyal Order of Moose.

JOHN NEAL .- A highly-esteemed pioneer, hale and hearty at the age of eighty-one, is John Neal whose wonderful memory recalls in vivid detail the most interesting incidents of earlier California history, in the making of which he played more than an ordinary part. He was born at Veve. Ind., on December 31, 1837, the son of William A. Neal, who first saw the light in Scott County, Ky., on February 4, 1804. He had married Ruth Leap, who was born in Lancaster, Pa., on February 14, 1811. The grandfather Neal was of Scotch-Irish descent, in a family originally called O'Neal, but the first syllable of the name was left off when members migrated to America. Here he became an orderly sergeant on General Washington's staff, and representatives of our subject's family have served in all the wars from the time of the Revolution down to the present war against the Germans. Two uncles of John Neal were with General Jackson at New Orleans, and two other uncles served with General Harrison at Tippecanoe. Among John's mother's ancestors, Grandfather Leap came from Bingen on the Rhine, and some of his brothers served in the War of 1812.

John was reared on a farm in Indiana, worked there during the summer- time and attended the district school during the winters. When, however, the Civil War started, and President Lincoln issued his call for troops, for three months' service, he was one of the first to enlist. At Bennington, Ind., he joined the Seventh Indiana Infantry, and when the three months had elapsed, he reenlisted in the Sixth Indiana Infantry, formed a company and became second lieutenant. Later he was promoted to be first lieutenant, and as such he served with valor throughout the war, participating in many of the important battles, including those of Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga and Atlanta. He was with the squad who fired on Gen. Robert Selden Garnett at Carrick's Ford, the first Confederate general killed in that war, and he was present when Gen. Joseph Eggleston Johnston surrendered his sword to General Sherman at Raleigh. On August 12, 1865, he was mustered out at Indianapolis, and brought home with him the last shell fired by Gen. John C. Breckinridge's brigade at the Battle of Shiloh, together with the old sword he himself carried through the war. When the civil contest was over he followed the trade of wagon maker at Bennington, Ind., for many years.

His first trip to California was made in 1884, when he remained for a couple of years. He engaged in building lumber mills, and erected one in Tulare County, on Redwood Mountain, two on Pine Ridge, the latter for A. W. Petrie, and one on Hopkins Creek in Humboldt County. But, despite the agreeable experiences he had in California, he returned to his home town in Indiana and there again followed wagon-making.

George W Bonds

Lena S. Bonds

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HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

In 1900 he arrived in Fresno and built the home in which he now lives at No. 530 Raisina Avenue; and he followed here the trade of a carpenter until he retired. He had married Mary Jane Day, a native of Bennington, Ind., where she was born on March 2, 1840, but she died at Fresno on December 12, 1904, leaving four sons who are still living. These are : William C., Charles C., John W and Edward C., who is a first lieutenant in the Ameri- can Army, belonging to Company L., One Hundred Fifty-ninth Infantry, Fortieth Division, in active service in France. He was a member of the Californian National Guard at Fresno, and when the Mexican trouble com- menced in 1916, he was made sergeant-major and went with his regiment to Nogales, Ariz. On his return home, mindful of the enviable record of so many Neals in various American wars, he reenlisted to war on autocracy. Mr. Neal is a Democrat in national politics; is one of the influential G. A. R. men of Indiana, and in that state he was also made a Mason and an Odd Fellow. Now in the years of his well-earned retirement he can proudly contemplate the fact that he is grandfather to eleven children and great-grandfather to six, and that like his own offspring, they reflect great credit on the family name.

GEORGE W. BONDS .- One who has aided materially in the develop- ment of the natural resources of Fresno County, is George W. Bonds who was born in Paducah, Ky., in 1847, the second oldest of a family of eight children born to William D. and Charity Elizabeth (Clark) Bonds, natives of Tennessee and Kentucky, respectively. William D. was a blacksmith and followed his trade in Kentucky and later in Douglas, Union County, Il1., until he retired and there both parents passed away.

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History of Fresno 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, Volume I, Part 124

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858- Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company Number of Pages: 1362

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858-
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1362