History of Humboldt 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 106

Author: Irvine, Leigh H. (Leigh Hadley), 1863-1942
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Los Angeles, Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1328

USA > California > Humboldt County > History of Humboldt 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 106

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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

Boiler Works in 1907-08, and in 1908 took a position with the Western Steel Plate & Construction Company, of Portland, Oregon, for which he was engaged as foreman of construction in the state of California. In this connection he erected oil stills and cooling boxes at Oleum, near Crockett ; put up acid tanks for the DuPont Powder Company : did work for the Union Oil Company at Fresno, Cal., where he put up four oil tanks ; put up a large tank for the California & Hawaiian Sugar Refining Company near Port Costa, its diameter being one hundred fifty feet and it being thirty feet in height. Returning once more to Eureka he resumed work with his old employer, Mr. Langford, until he took the position of deputy sheriff, to which he was appointed January 1, 1910, under Sheriff R. A. Redmond. His chief appreciates thoroughly the system and efficient methods which this capable young man has helped to introduce into the conduct of the sheriff's office, and the people have found him as trustworthy and public spirited as they expected, when his appointment was recommended. Personally he is a young man whose fine traits have appealed to all who have come in contact with him. The sheriff's office has never been in better condition than it is today or more ably conducted, a condition for which Mr. Ross should receive his share of credit. As a representative of substantial Humboldt county citizenship, and a man of exceptional qualities as proved by his conduct in all the relations of life, he deserves the high place he holds in the esteem of the people he is serving so faithfully. He is a member of the B. P. O. E. and I. O. O. F. lodges at Eureka, and of the Eureka Development Association. Politically he is a Republican.

On March 17, 1907, Mr. Ross was married at Eureka to Miss Nettie Vreeland, a native of that city, daughter of John and Harriet (Stagg) Vree- land. Mr. and Mrs. Ross live with her parents at No. 815 N street, Eureka ; they have one child, Helen Catherine.

CHARLES C. GIULIERI .- Since the year 1888, Charles Celeste Giulieri has made his home in California, having come here from Switzer- land, whence two of his brothers had preceded him to the United States. Born in Cognasco, Ticino, Switzerland, February 15, 1872, Mr. Giulieri was the son of Dominic, a farmer of that place, where his death occurred in the year 1913, and Rosa (Calzascia) Giulieri, who died in 1892. The family of four brothers and one sister are all at present residents of the state of Cali- fornia, and are namely: Stephen, who is a dairyman, of Salmon Creek; John, following the same occupation at Cock Robin Island, in Humboldt county ; Filomena, now Mrs. Martin Ambrosini, of Ferndale ; Charles Celeste, a dairyman of Beatrice; and Enos, a dairyman at Table Bluff. Like his brothers, Charles Giulieri grew up on the home farm in Switzerland, receiv- ing his education in the local public schools, when he was sixteen years of age removing to California, where two of his brothers were already living, his first employment in the new country being at a dairy in Calistoga, Napa county, where he remained for a period of nine months. Removing to Humboldt county, he was engaged in the same line of occupation at Bear River Ridge until 1891, when he went to Santa Barbara county, working at a dairy there for three years, after which he spent about five years in the same work in Plumas county. January of the year 1899 saw his return to Humboldt county, where, having saved his money, he engaged in the dairy

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business on an independent basis, with his brother Stephen purchasing a one-half interest in the Tierney ranch, two years later buying out his brother, since which time he has continued in business alone, meeting with much success in his occupation and becoming well and favorably known in that community. The estate is one of one hundred and twenty acres, situated on Salmon Creek, seventy acres of which are rich bottom land, whereon Mr. Giulieri is enabled to raise all the green feed necessary for his fine dairy herd which consists of forty-five cows, mostly of the Jersey breed. He is also the owner of forty acres located about three miles northeast of Fern- dale, which property he rents; and together with his brother Stephen owns sixty acres on Salmon Creek where his brother conducts a dairy. Mr. Giu- lieri was one of the organizers of the Eclipse Creamery, and for many years a director therein, where his practical experience and fine success in the dairy business made him a valued assistant. In 1903 he made a trip to his old home, revisiting the scenes of his boyhood, a town which was also the childhood home of his wife, formerly Miss Albina Piini. Mr. and Mrs. Giulieri are the parents of four children, Rinaldo, Walter, Alfred and Emma Giulieri. In his political interests Mr. Giulieri is a member of the Repub- lican party and fraternally he is allied with the Woodmen of the World in Loleta, Cal.

NIELS J. HANSEN .- A very interesting man, one who has sailed around the world, is well traveled, well read and a good conversationalist, Niels J. Hansen, of Ferndale, Cal., came to this country from far away Den- mark, where he was born in Bagenkop, Langeland, July 15, 1860, the son of Hans Hansen, a farmer of that fertile little island, who also owned a sloop and was engaged in the transportation of freight and followed the coasting trade for many years, the last part of his life being spent with his son Niels in Humboldt county, Cal.

The education of Niels Hansen was received in the public schools of his native land, and at the age of fourteen, having always been interested in sailing, he went to sea, visiting many different parts of the world, in the trade along the western coast of South America rounding Cape Horn several times in the German sailing vessel Mexico, sailing around the Cape of Good Hope also, and in the northern trade making trips to Iceland, in all following the sea for a period of eight years. Giving up this life, Mr. Hansen decided to make his home in California, and coming to Humboldt county, he arrived in Eureka on April 1, 1883. His first employment in this country was with Niss Nissen for a year, after which he was engaged in fishing in Eel river for a season, then working on the Bunker Hill ranch for a couple of years. In the year 1886 he purchased his present ranch of seventy-five acres on Cock Robin Island, in Humboldt county, which for some years he devoted to the purposes of dairying. In 1898 renting the place and selling his stock, Mr. Hansen joined the rush to the Alaska gold fields, going by the Stickeen River route to Tesland Lake at the head of the Yukon River. From the mouth of the Stickeen river to Telegraph Creek they hauled their provi- sions on hand sleds and from the latter place to Tesland Lake, one hundred fifty-six miles, where his company constructed boats by which they came down the Yukon to Dawson. The party wintered at Dawson, doing pros- pecting for others and also some logging, but the logs stranded and their

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work in that line was lost, their work at Dawson likewise not proving a success, on account of the failure of their employer, and although they brought suit, nothing was gained thereby. Leaving then for St. Michael's, they stopped at different places along the Yukon, finally taking a schooner for Seattle, Wash., arriving in Eureka, Cal., after a hard trip of two years' duration in the frozen north. Mr. Hansen then went to San Francisco, and secured work at Harbor View Baths, of which he had the management for seven years, resigning there in order to return to dairying once more, and is now the owner of a fine herd of fifty cows, mostly high grade Jerseys, and on his ranch on Cock Robin Island, which consists of very fertile soil, he is enabled to raise all the hay and green feed necessary for his herd. Besides his business interests, Mr. Hansen is also one of the original stock- holders of the Valley Flower Creamery, is a member of the Ferndale Dairy- men's Association, the Danish Brotherhood and Aurora Lodge No. 51, Knights of Pythias at Ferndale, of which he is past chancellor. He was married in Oakland, Cal., to Miss Harriet Boyd, who was born in St. Louis, Mo.

CHARLES FREMONT GOFF .- Among the pioneer families in the region around Petrolia, in the Mattole valley, the Goffs have been well known for over fifty years, the family having resided there since 1859. Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Goff, parents of Charles F. Goff, the present postmaster at Petrolia and otherwise prominently associated with public affairs at that place, lived to see the locality reach its modern state of development, both having attained the ripe age of ninety years, passing away only a few years ago. They were widely known among the carly residents, and even in the days when hospitality was almost a necessary virtue were noted for the cheer and kindly welcome given to all who came to their door, their generosity and liberality reflecting the best sentiments which prevailed in the locality.

Stephen Goff was a Southerner, born in Guilford county, N. C., January 17, 1811. When a young man he moved out to Wisconsin, where he lived until some time after his marriage, and during that period he served in the Black Hawk war, from the time of his enlistment to the end of the trouble ; in his later years he received a pension for this military service. By occupa- tion he was a carpenter. In the year 1849 he came across the plains to the Pacific coast with a train of ox wagons, leaving his family in Wisconsin. Going up to Oregon, he was engaged in the stock business there for the next five years, and returned to the cast by way of the isthmus. The voyage from Aspinwall (now Colon) to New York City was made in a United States mail steamer, and was marked by at least one exciting incident. A Spanish war vessel fired two shots across the bow of the ship to halt her, and a Spanish officer came aboard and made a hasty examination, the ship being allowed to proceed as soon as he retired. Mr. Goff rejoined his family in Wisconsin and in 1855 set out with them for the west by the plains route. Their first stop in California was in Shasta county, and in 1857 they came to Humboldt county, living about one year at Rohnerville before removing to Petrolia, in the Mattole valley, where they settled in 1859. The Indians were active and hostile at the time, and after several white men had been killed the government troops at Eureka were sent down to protect the settlers. The Goffs were

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here throughout the primitive period, and have done their share toward the opening up and improvement of the country, not only from a material point of view, but through their support and encouragement of the best influences set on foot in the vicinity. Mr. Goff bought the property on the Mattole river known as the old Goff ranch, and there he made his home to the end of his long life. He worked industriously to rear his large family in comfort and to provide them with the best the times afforded. His progressive spirit made him the recipient of public honors in the early days. Even during his short residence in Oregon he had been elected to represent his district in the state legislature, and about 1862 he was elected assessor of Humboldt county, serving two successive terms; his deputy was William H. Wallace. He always took an interest in the welfare of the county and in seeing good men in office.

At White Oak Springs, Wis., Mr. Goff met Miss Mary Deborah Hinton (born April 3, 1818), whom he married there, April 3, 1837, and who survived him six years, his death occurring March 11, 1902, hers in 1908, at their home place on the Mattole river. As previously mentioned, both lived to be over ninety years old. Mrs. Goff was a famous nurse in the early days, and prob- ably as popular and well known for her kindliness and sweet disposition as for her more practical qualities. In her professional capacity she was called upon to minister among all classes, and never lost an opportunity to relieve suffering and pain, or to do a generous or gracious act, especially among the poor and needy. She attended many births, and being a woman of intelligent mind realized the necessity for records and their value and took the pains to record births and deaths in the valley for a long period. Her benign and helpful character endeared her to a wide circle which appreciated the good she did in her unselfish life, and she is held in loving memory all over the territory where so many years of her life were spent. To Mr. and Mrs. Goff were born twelve children : Elender married William Edington, of Sioux Falls. S. Dak., and died leaving three sons: Anna A., the widow of Joel Benton, lives at Oakland, Cal .; James H. married Mary Patrick, and died leaving five sons; Silas M., a stockman, of Baker City, Ore., married Miss Sarah Crank: Stephen T., who lives at Heppner, Ore., married Clara Patter- son ; Thomas H. married Sarah Goodman, and both are deceased; John B., a stockman, is located at Lone Rock, Ore .; Mary is the wife of Frank Gouthier, of Coquille, Ore., a stockman; Charles F. is mentioned below; Harry C., deceased ; Lillie M. died when sixteen years old; the eldest child was a son that died in infancy.

Charles F. Goff was born February 9, 1860, at Petrolia, on the old Goff ranch down the Mattole river, and grew up there. He received a good public school education in Petrolia district. Remaining with his parents until after he attained his majority, he went to Oregon in the year 1882 and lived there over ten years, principally in Grant county. In 1893 he returned to his native county and resumed work on the homestead ranch, where he remained until he took the agency of the Pacific Telegraph & Telephone Company at Petrolia, being local manager. He is associated with all such enterprises in the vicinity, being a stockholder, director and manager of the Petrolia Tele- phone Company, which is the exchange for the Upper Mattole Telephone Company. His duties with the various concerns combine to their mutual advantage, for having a line on all the facilities in the locality he is able

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to see that it has the best service possible, there being no elements to conflict under the present arrangement. On March 1, 1914, he was appointed post- master at Petrolia, another arm of service in which he has proved very capable, looking after the best interests of his fellow citizens with his customary fidelity. His businesslike methods and executive ability fit him admirably for all his responsibilities, and his prompt attention to every duty has called forth much favorable comment, of which his sincere desire to please makes him worthy.

Mr. Goff was married during his residence in Oregon, July 15, 1884, to Miss Mary Lightfoot, born in Salem, Ore., the daughter of Samuel and Maria (Salisbury) Lightfoot, born in Indiana and Ohio respectively. They crossed the plains overland and were married in Oregon. For a time they farmed in Marion county and later were stock-raisers in Umatilla county, where the father died in September, 1913, and the mother in October, 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Goff have a remarkably pleasant home. Of the four children born to them, Agnes died when twelve and Grace when eight years old. The eldest living child is Maude May, now the wife of Gilbert Langdon, a resident of Petrolia, and the mother of two children, Mildred and Charles Elsworth. The other child, Elva Elaine, is now twelve years old. Mr. Goff, although not a member, attends the Methodist Episcopal church at Petrolia. The congrega- tion has just erected a new house of worship and Mr. Goff served very efficiently as a member of the building committee; he is a trustee of the church and a willing helper in all its activities. Fraternally he is a member of the Woodmen of the World.

CELSO PEDROTTI .- Among the enterprising and successful young men engaged in the dairy business in Humboldt county, Cal., may be men- tioned Celso Pedrotti, who, though of foreign birth, was attracted to this country by the success of several of his relatives who had preceded him to the new world. Many years previous, his father, John Pedrotti, had come to California when a lad of about fifteen years of age, and had spent many years on the Pacific coast, in Marin, Sonoma and Humboldt counties, being engaged in the mercantile and livery business in Rio Dell and afterwards in Scotia. Returning to his native Canton Ticino in Switzerland, Mr. Pedrotti was there married to Delfina Sartori, and devoted himself to the hotel business in Giumaglio, in Canton Ticino. Of the thirteen children of John and Delfina Pedrotti, Celso is the next to the oldest. He received his educa- tion in the public schools of the town of Giumaglio, where he was born August 7, 1891, and in the fall of 1907 removed to Ferndale, in Humboldt county, Cal., where he was employed for three years on the ranch of his uncle, Elvezio Pedrotti, and for two years more on the estate of his cousin, Horace Pedrotti, and for a time on various other ranches in the vicinity, until finally starting in business for himself.

Leasing his present place of seventy acres of bottom land, which he has stocked with a dairy herd of forty cows, where he likewise is enabled to raise sufficient hay and green feed for his herd, Mr. Pedrotti, with the experience gained while in the employ of other ranchers, and with the practical ability which is characteristic of him, is making a success of his chosen line of work, and is well liked by all with whom he has dealings. In his political interests, he is a supporter of the Republican party, and in fraternal circles is well

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known as a member of the Independent Order of Foresters. His marriage was solemnized in Eureka, Cal., his wife, formerly Miss Sunta Gnesa, being a native of the same canton in Switzerland as Mr. Pedrotti.

DAN DUSINA .- Among the progressive sons of other lands, who have made their home in California, after a few years of employment by others starting out in business for themselves and reaping success in their chosen lines, may be mentioned Dan Dusina, who, after securing employment and practical experience in several dairies in Humboldt county, Cal., for a time, is now the successful operator of a ranch of one hundred and thirty acres stocked with a large herd of cows, where he also engages in agricultural pursuits.

The son of Bartol Dusina, a stockman and farmer of Italy, Dan Dusina was born in that country, at Ona Degna, in the province of Brescia, December 6, 1881, where he was educated in the public schools and until 1904 assisted his father on the farm and in the business of stock raising. In the latter year he removed to California, in order to try his fortunes in the New World, of which such glowing reports had been brought by others of his countrymen who had met with success there. In March of that year, Mr. Dusina went to Eureka, Cal., finding his first occupation in working in the woods at Philbrook, in the same county, but this not being to his liking, he removed to the town of Ferndale, a month later obtaining employment with Martin Pedrezini at Loleta for a period of eight months. His next employment was with De Carli for ten months, after which he was engaged at different dairies in the vicinity of Loleta and Ferndale, and this being the line of occupation which appealed to him most strongly, it being the one to which he was accustomed in his home in Italy, Mr. Dusina concluded to start in business for himself, he now having received practical experience in the methods of carrying on this work in the new country. He therefore, in October, 1909, leased the Frazer place of one hundred twenty acres, for a period of seven years, where he successfully carried on a dairy consisting of forty-five cows, but in 1912 sold his interest to his partner, Mr. Flocchini, after which he rented the Peterson place of eighty acres for three years, having there a herd of sixty milch cows. Again making a change in his location, Mr. Dusina in November, 1914, leased the present ranch, the Kelly place near the town of Waddington, and here he now operates one hundred and thirty acres of rich bottom land, which he has stocked with a dairy of eighty cows, being also engaged here in the raising of alfalfa, corn, clover, carrots and beets in large quantities. At his new location, Mr. Dusina is making a decided suc- cess of the business, thoroughly understanding every part of the work, both from his early experience in his boyhood's home and from his employment upon various dairies when he first came to California. A Republican in principles, he is well known in the community as a liberal and enterprising man, and holds the esteem of everyone with whom he is associated.

JAMES F. WORTHINGTON .- The father of James Fulton Worth- ington was a California pioneer, located at Worthington Prairie, now a suburb of the city of Eureka. Born in Wisconsin, William Worthington was there married to Elizabeth Johnson, a native of New York state, and fol- lowed the occupation of farming in Wisconsin until in 1854 he crossed the plains by ox team, with his wife and two children, and came to Humboldt

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county, Cal., where he cleared and farmed the land on Worthington Prairie and engaged in stock raising. After a few years he removed to Table Bluff, and from thence to Waddington, Cal., where he purchased a farm and engaged in the dairy business. There his death occurred in April, 1910, at the age of seventy-eight years, his wife's death taking place two months later, the cause of the death of each being typhoid fever. Of their family of eight children, seven are living, James Fulton Worthington being the fourth oldest. He was born at Table Bluff, Nov. 20, 1859, receiving his education in the public schools, and until twenty-one years of age remained at home assisting his father on the farm. At that time he purchased ninety-four and one-half acres, a portion of the ranch where he was born, and for nine years was engaged in the dairy business there, with a herd of thirty-three cows, mak- ing butter which he sold in the city of Eureka. Selling this ranch in 1889, he rented a place at Waddington for six years, consisting of forty acres, then leased one hundred acres from John T. Pollard on Coffee creek, where for twenty years he ran a dairy of sixty cows. As early as 1903 Mr. Worthing- ton bought the old Charlton place of one hundred and twelve acres, located on the coast, to which in 1911 he added the ninety-four acres adjoining it on the south, and the next year forty-seven acres more, all adjacent, making in all an estate of two hundred fifty-three acres, situated on the coast with a half mile of coast line, and devoted to pasture land and the raising of hay and green feed for dairy purposes. For a period of twelve years Mr. Worth- ington has operated both this ranch and the Pollard place on Coffee creek, but in 1914 disposed of the latter lease and moved his stock to his coast ranch, where he now milks a herd of forty cows and is also engaged in the raising of stock, and resides a part of the time upon this extensive ranch, and a part of the time at his Ferndale residence.

Politically, Mr. Worthington is a member of the Republican party, while his religious associations are with the church of the Latter-Day Saints. In fraternal circles he is known as a member of the Woodmen of the World, while the interest he takes in educational matters is shown by the fact that he was a school trustee of the Waddington district for many years, nine years of which time he was clerk of the board. He was married in Eureka, in May, 1881, to Miss Elizabeth Pollard, born in Dixon, Solano county, Cal., the daughter of John Pollard, a pioneer of Solano county and then of Hum- boldt county, where he purchased the Pollard ranch on Coffee creek. Mr. and Mrs. Worthington are the parents of eight children, namely: John, an electrician in Southern California ; Margaret, now Mrs. Rogers, of Fern- dale ; Clarence, who died at the age of twenty-one years : Joseph, who resides at Ferndale; Mabel, now Mrs. Robinson ; June, now Mrs. Benjamin Goff, of Ferndale; and Myrtle and Josephine, who still make their home with their parents.

PANCRAGIO MORANDA .- The early life of Pancragio Moranda was spent in Switzerland, where he was born at Vogorno, Canton Ticino, January 4, 1861, and grew up on the farm of his father, Bartol Moranda, attending the public schools of Vogorno. Desirous of trying his fortune in California, as he had heard from returning countrymen of the great opportunities there, Mr. Moranda in 1880 came to San Francisco, the first employment he secured being on a dairy farm near Petaluma, his next engagement being in San

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History of Humboldt 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 106

Author: Irvine, Leigh H. (Leigh Hadley), 1863-1942 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Los Angeles, Historic Record Company Number of Pages: 1328

Author: Irvine, Leigh H. (Leigh Hadley), 1863-1942
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Los Angeles, Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1328