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 114

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 114

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Mr. Teel is a splendid man, and a fine type of California pioneer. He has lived an exceedingly active and useful life and is still full of strength and vigor. His children are all grown and in homes of their own, and there are only himself and his wife left in the home-nest. Mr. Teel has seen more of the coast country than the majority of men, and is unusually well informed on conditions and resources of the country. He has surveyed and cruised for timber and land owners of Chicago and other eastern centers, throughout many of the counties of California, and has been in every county in Oregon but one, and has been professionally employed in most of them. He has been in all the coast counties of California, and has been as far south as Tehachapi. In all his travels, he stanchly avers, he has found nothing which compares with Humboldt county, and it is needless to say that he is a stanch booster for Humboldt. In his opinion there is nothing that compares with the Hum- boldt county redwoods. Humboldt county stands first in the dairying indus- try, and the mineral resources of the county have not been touched.

In this latter phase of county development Mr. Teel is peculiarly well fitted to speak. On his farm on Eel river there is natural gas escaping in such quantities and of such a quality that it can be easily ignited by means of a lighted match. He is satisfied that the southern end of the county will

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yet form a gas and oil field of great importance and wealth. He has surveyed and cruised over almost every portion of the county, and is satisfied that the county is rich in minerals as well, especially in copper. In the Horse Moun- tain district, he avers, the outcroppings and showings of minerals are exten- sive and the ore is very rich in copper, platinum and gold.

Mr. Teel is regarded with the greatest respect and admiration wherever he is known, and his word is accepted as thoroughly trustworthy. He is an Abraham Lincoln Republican, but has never been actively associated with the affairs of his party. He is progressive and in favor of advance legislation, and stands for civic betterment and social progress in all lines.

OSCAR L. KNUDSEN .- In 1908 Oscar L. Knudsen, member of the firm of Knudsen & Lundblade, Eureka, started the business to which he has since devoted practically all his attention, and a year and a half later joined fortunes with Mr. Lundblade. Mr. Knudsen has charge of the automobile agency at No. 317 Fifth street, in the Eagles' building, while his partner looks after the bicycle and motorcycle end of the business, established at No. 332 Fifth street. Their operations cover a wide range, and their ener- getic management has resulted in building up a large trade in the various branches which they combine so satisfactorily. Mr. Knudsen passed most of his boyhood at Eureka, and returned to the town in 1905, since which time he has resided there. He is a native of Norway, born February 10, 1884, at Haugesund, from which port his father, Capt. L. J. Knudsen, sailed for many years.

Captain Knudsen was also born at Haugesund. He married in his native land, and came to Eureka when his son Oscar was four years old, the family residing there until 1896. Captain Knudsen commanded vessels sailing out of Stavanger and Haugesund, Norway, for years, and having visited Eureka on several of his voyages decided to make his home there, its many attrac- tions and advantageous location appealing to him strongly. After settling there he commanded several vessels sailing out of Eureka, but when he was transferred to a boat which did not call at Eureka any more he con- cluded to move to Oakland, where he has been living since 1896. He is now captain of the schooner "Virginia," which is in the lumber trade, making trips to the west coast of South America. Three children were born to him and his wife, Oscar L., Helen and Kenneth, the daughter and younger son being natives of California. Helen resides with her parents at Oakland. Kenneth is proprietor of the Sequoia Tire & Oil Company, of Eureka, doing business at No. 319 Fifth street.

Oscar L. Knudsen lived at Eureka from the age of four years until the family removed to Oakland in 1896, and received his early education here, completing his course in the Oakland high school, from which he was graduated in 1899. For four years afterward he followed his father's calling, and he rose to the position of second mate, in which capacity he sailed on the "Manila," a schooner in the lumber trade, to Chile, South America. Mr. Knudsen had received some training in the Polytechnic high school at San Francisco, supplemented with study at Macy, in evening schools. In 1903 he entered the machine shop of Murray Brothers, San Francisco, to learn the machinist's trade, working there until he came to Eureka in 1905 to take a position with the Eureka Foundry Company.

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He became thoroughly familiar with casting and general machine work, and remained with that concern until he began business on his own account, in April, 1908, at first handling bicycles and motorcycles and doing general repairing. On December 9, 1909, the firm of Knudsen & Lundblade was formed, Mr. Knudsen selling a half interest to Mr. Lundblade, as the busi- ness was increasing at such a rate that there were opportunities too good to be neglected. They deal in Hudson and Overland automobiles, while the shop at No. 332 Fifth street is conducted almost exclusively in the interest of the motorcycle and bicycle trade and repair work. They deal in most of the popular makes of wheels, including the celebrated "Indian" motorcycles. They make a specialty of motorcycle and general bicycle repairing, for which their establishment has attained considerable local prominence. The business has shown steady expansion, due entirely to the close attention the young men have given their work, their reliability both as salesmen and machinists, and their integrity in all business transactions.

Mr. Knudsen is a music lover and a talented performer, having at one time been a leading member of the Eureka Military Band, but since his business has required so much attention he has given up active participation in such matters. He is an honorary member of the Norden Singing Society of Eureka. Socially he holds membership in the Elks and the Eagles.

In 1905 Mr. Knudsen was married at Eureka to Miss Selma Johansen, daughter of Samuel Johansen, a rancher at Mckinleyville, this county, and they have four children: Lucile, Ione, Beatrice and Claude. Mr. Knudsen, being optimistic for the future of Eureka, has invested in real estate and is a booster for the city.

NIELS P. A. GRUNDT .- Since coming to Eureka in 1892, Mr. Grundt has made good, thereby proving his own force of character and sagacity of judgment, as well as the possibilities afforded by this section of the country to a foreign youth endeavoring to secure a financial foothold in a land whose people and resources were unknown to him. His own birth in Den- mark and a long line of ancestry identified with the same country mark him as a Dane with the fine, sturdy traits for which the people of that land are noted the world over. Born April 16, 1867, he was twenty years of age at the time of first coming to America and during that first association with the new world he worked on a farm near Oshkosh, Wis., later at Duluth, Minn., and finally in the state of Washington, arriving on the Pacific coast in 1888. Going back to Denmark, he remained for a time, but the newer country had cast its magic spell upon him and he again sought its shores in the hope of establishing a permanent home. This time Wisconsin was his objective point, but soon he proceeded west to Oregon and found employment at Portland. When he landed at Eureka in 1892 he was with- out means, but he had a splendid capital in his rugged physique, stalwart frame and tireless energy. With these assets he has forged his way to the front ranks of business men.

After being employed three years on the Buhne ranch, Mr. Grundt bought a small farm outside Eureka, close to what is now Sunnyside, and engaged in raising garden truck, later driving a milk wagon for the Buhne dairy. Next he bought a small grocery at 2100 California street. In a more than ordinary degree he seemed well adapted to business affairs.

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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

From the first he had the confidence of customers, and after a couple of years he sold his first store, and in 1900 he built a two-story, modern and substantial block at the corner of Myrtle avenue and R street, and here he has since utilized the lower floor for the display and storage of his large grocery stock. It has been his custom to take advantage of every oppor- tunity to increase his sales and enlarge the business. During 1911 he pur- chased the Lohide store, at Fifth and B streets, one of the oldest stores in the county, selling a part of the stock at the original place of business, removing the balance to his establishment at No. 535 Myrtle avenue and selling to private customers at a fair profit. In fact, he took advantage of bargains in any line and always seemed equal to an emergency, disposing of them quickly, giving the people an opportunity to buy at a low figure, yet making a reasonable profit for himself. After coming to California he married Anna Halvorson, a native of Port Kenyon, Humboldt county, and a daughter of the well-known pioneer, H. J. Halvorson. Fraternaliy he is a member of the Danish Brotherhood.

Mr. Grundt, since the second day after his arrival in Humboldt county, has had but one employer, namely, the Buhne dairy, since which time he has been in business for himself. However, prosperous identification with com- mercial affairs does not represent the limit of the association of Mr. Grundt with Humboldt county, for in addition he has been a sagacious real estate dealer and investor. He has purchased several tracts of acreage in and around Eureka, which he has subdivided and sold in lots. He owns valuable property in the heart of Ferndale. More recently he purchased the old Whitmore ranch of fourteen acres, south of Eureka. It lies on a beautiful elevation, overlooking the bay and having a splendid view of the mountains. He now makes his residence on the place and has plans for laying out the rest in city lots. Adjoining his residence is a grove of spruce which he has left in its natural state for a park. All of his purchases have been made with discretion and careful thought and their profitable management indicates his own keen discrimination as a real estate buyer, as well as the possibilities offered by this county to all sagacious purchasers.

PETER ELWOOD FERRARA .- Prominent among the young business men of Humboldt county, who are making fame and fortune for themselves by their industry and application, may be mentioned Peter Elwood Ferrara. On his father's side he descended from an old Italian family, and is the son of Giuseppe Ferrara, well known as the "Salmon King of Humboldt County," and the pioneer in the fish industry of this section of the state. On his maternal side he descended from an old castern family; his grand- father, Elwood Hammitt, crossed the plains to California in the '50s and became a prominent pioneer of Humboldt county. Young Mr. Ferrara is also in the fish business, having succeeded to his father's interests several years ago, and is making a splendid success of his enterprise, doing from $75,000 to $200,000 worth of business each year, the variation depending upon the run of the fish. He is also one of the stockholders in the Diamond Fruit Company of Eureka, and is the manager of the wholesale department and the traveling salesman for the company, giving his time to this enter- prise during the off seasons for fishing.

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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

Mr. Ferrara is a native of California, having been born in Eureka, Hum- boldt county, March 14, 1881. His father, Giuseppe, is a native of Sicily, Italy, where he was reared and educated. His grandfather was a fisherman and fish dealer, with an extensive shipping and commission business in Rome, where Giuseppe Ferrara received his first business training. There were also extensive vineyards, where much wine was manufactured and sold directly in the larger Italian cities. The father left his native land to escape the compulsory military service, coming to America in 1870, and landing at Boston. For several years he was employed at different places 'in the east, being for a time in Philadelphia and in Chicago, and in 1873 he came to California, by way of the Isthmus of Panama, landing at San Fran- cisco in the spring of the year. For two years he was engaged in fishing in the Sacramento river, and in 1876 he came to Humboldt county, where he immediately engaged in fishing, being especially interested in the salmon fishing on the Eel river, although he also had boats on Humboldt bay and on the Pacific ocean. He had retail shops in Eureka, and also did an exten- sive wholesale business in San Francisco, Sacramento, and other large Cali- fornia cities. He married Henrietta Hammitt, a native of Oregon, at Eureka, in 1876, and of this union were born four children, of which Peter Elwood is the second in order of birth.

Peter E. Ferrara began his career in the fishing business when he was but four or five years of age, commencing at that time to go out in the boats with his father on Eel river. He received his education in the public schools of Eureka, and also graduated from the Eureka business college. Later he went to Alaska, and was in the employ of the Alaska Packers' Associa- tion, at Loring, Alaska, for four years, from 1898 to 1902, having signed a contract for that time and remaining during the designated period against great odds. Shortly after his return to Eureka he was married to Miss Sadie Carmichael, a native of the San Joaquin valley (California), and located at Loleta for seven years, being variously employed during that time. For a time he was with the Wheat, Pond & Herald company, milk condensers, then with the Colebrook Creamery, also milk condensers, then with the Farmers Creamery, in the butter-making business, and lastly as foreman for the Libby, McNeil & Libby Company, milk condensers, all being situated at Loleta. While thus engaged he purchased his first business in 1905 and has continued the business ever since.

Since returning to Eureka Mr. Ferrara has been exceedingly prosperous. His fish business is very extensive, and his wholesale trade in San Francisco, Sacramento, Oakland, and other large cities is very large. He makes a specialty of the famous Eel river salmon, doing an exclusively wholesale and commission business. During this time he has enlarged the business four- fold. As part owner of the Diamond Fruit Company, and traveling sales- man for the company, he has another growing interest which yields a handsome profit yearly, and is constantly increasing in value. Fraternally he is a member of the K. of P. and the W. O. W. and politically he is a Republican. He owns a fine residence on F street, handsomely improved, where he makes his home. He is more than ordinarily popular in Eureka, where he is acknowledged to be a man of superior worth and integrity.

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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

EDWIN AUGUSTUS LIGHT .- A Native Son of the Golden West, and also of Humboldt county, and after spending almost twenty years in Eastern Oregon, where he met with great financial success, Edwin Augustus Light, feeling the lure of the home-call, which eventually is certain to reach all true Californians when they wander away from the land of their birth, returned a few years ago, and has since been engaged in the hotel business amid the scenes of his early boyhood. Born in Union Town (now Arcata), October 30, 1851, the young Edwin received his education in the public and high schools of his native village, graduating when he was nineteen. He immediately secured employment with John Bull, who was the leading butcher near Arcata, working with him in the stock business of supplying his market, and remaining with him for ten years without the loss of a single day. From here he went northward, when he was about thirty years of age, finally locating in Eastern Oregon and engaging in the cattle busi- ness. For eleven years he bought and sold for a San Francisco wholesale house, supplying beef for the H. Morfett Company. For eighteen years Mr. Light remained in Oregon, extending his interests in the stock business and accumulating an appreciable fortune by his industry and application. But home was calling, and he returned to San Francisco, from there finding his way into Humboldt county, where he possesses a multitude of lifelong friends. Once here he determined to engage in the hotel business and secured the lease on a resort hotel on Bear river ridge, which he conducted with much success until 1904, when he disposed of it to an advantage to John Dowd.

Mr. Light, having become interested in the resort business, sold one piece of property to purchase another, and from Bear river ridge he came to Carlotta and leased the Carlotta Hotel, a popular resort hotel, located at Van Dorn and Carlotta streets. Since December, 1911, Mr. Light has conducted the business, meeting with great success. Ile is well fitted for the management of a summer resort of this type, being a man. of genial disposition, kindly and cordial in his manner, while at the same time being fully alive to all business interests, and keeping himself thoroughly con-

versant with all the details of its management. His hotel interests, how- ever, do not absorb his entire attention, and he owns and operates a line of teams which handle all the hauling and freighting between Carlotta and Harris, on the south. He is also an active member of the Republican party, and is vitally interested in all political questions of the day, especially in their influence on local and state issues. He is a member of the Central Republican committee, and has served his party in various capacities of importance in days gone by.

Another of the varied activities of Mr. Light is his interest in fraternal organizations of which he is a member. He is prominent in the Eureka Lodge, B. P. O. E., and has been a delegate on eight different occasions to the Grand Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West, of which he has been an influential member for many years.

Mr. Light was first married in Arcata to Susan Yocom, born in Shasta county, Cal .; she died at Carlotta, leaving him three daughters : Carrie, Mrs. Bolt of Gridley ; Mary, Mrs. Harrow of Alturas; Ida, Mrs. Norman, a resi- dent of Napa. He was married again at Ferndale, being united with Miss

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Daisy Kemp, a native of Ferndale, who is of a pioneer family and has been engaged in educational work for many years. She is a very prominent member of Ferndale Parlor, Native Daughters of the Golden West, as well as of the Ferndale Woman's Club.

JOHN CONRAD MONROE .- Descended from old castern families, John C. Monroe was born in Carroll county, Iowa, October 19, 1870, and is the son of Joseph Warren and Julia (Gyzlchart) Monroe. Joseph Monroe was a native of Logan county, Ohio, and here he attended the subscription schools for a short time, leaving to engage in farming with his father. Later his parents moved to Carroll county, Iowa, in 1850. They were among the first settlers in this section and here he engaged in farming. In 1861, at the opening of the Civil war, he enlisted in an Iowa regiment, serving in the army of Tennessee for four years and eight months, taking active part in over thirty battles, notably the battle of Lookout Mountain and the battles on the march through Georgia. After the close of the war, he re- turned to Iowa in 1865 and again engaged in farming, following this for ten years. In 1875, leaving his family in Iowa, he decided to come to California, and, coming direct to Humboldt county, he remained here one year, returning home at the news of his wife's death. Then, taking his seven-year-old son, John C., he again started for the west, coming by rail to San Francisco, and located the second time in Humboldt county, and here he was employed by the Falk & Hawley Lumber Co. in the woods for a number of years. Later he purchased two claims and engaged in ranching and stock-raising and for twelve years he was very successful. While living in Iowa he served as Justice of the Peace, and here he became a member of the Masonic order. He has now retired from active life and is living on his son's ranch in Eureka, with his daughter, Mrs. Jennie Sellers. John C. Monroe attended the public schools of Arcata until the age of fifteen, when he left school to earn his own living. He was first employed in a shingle mill and later contracted for himself in the making of shingles. In 1899 he rented his father-in-law's ranch of ninety-six acres of highly cultivated bottom land located at Bayside and engaged in farming and dairying, and he now possesses a fine herd of Guernsey cows. He is a member of Blue Lake Lodge No. 347, I. O. O. F., and is an ardent Republican, and although he has never sought office he has always been interested in all movements for the good of the community. He entered into marriage with Marguerite I. Smith, a native of Eureka, Humboldt county, and of their union there are four children : Wilber, Ernest, Curtis and Bertha. Mrs. Monroe's father was John Smith, a native of New Brunswick, and while in the east he was actively engaged in farming. In 1856 he came to California via the Isthmus of Panama, locating in Humboldt county, and here he engaged in logging for a number of years and later purchased the home place of ninety-six acres at Bayside. He returned to New Brunswick and there married Mar- guerite Isabel McKinsey, in 1869, and together they returned to Bayside, California, and located on his ranch, where he resided until the time of his death, December 10, 1913; his wife had passed away six years previously. Mr. Monroe has been very successful in his dairying and farming interests since taking charge of the Smith ranch, and is a progressive, enterprising man, respected by all in the community. He was one of the original stock-

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holders and builders of the United Creameries, Inc. This company began business about eight years ago and has built up a large business. The main plant is near Arcata, where all the manufacturing of butter and casein is done, and from here it is shipped out. There is a skimming station at Bay- side and one on Mad river on Arcata bottoms, the cream being then brought to the Arcata creamery. Mr. Monroe has been a director of the company for the last five years and has served as president of the board. Mrs. Monroe is a member of the Presbyterian church at Bayside, Mr. Monroe being a member of the board of trustees.

JOHN HENDERSON BROWN .- California has always pointed with pride to her native-born children, and one of these is John Henderson Brown, who was born at Grizzly Bluff, Humboldt county, January 13, 1856. Mr. Brown's father, Thomas Brown, was born in Tennessee, thence removing to Missouri, and in 1849 he crossed the plains with ox-teams to the gold fields of California. He spent some years in the mines and then came to Humboldt county, about the year 1852, and engaged in farming at Grizzly Bluff, being one of the first to locate in the wilds. IIe had to go to Eureka for provisions and during the early years many a trip was made on foot. He went through the Indian troubles, his family being in continual danger of being massacred, a fate which befell others on the Eel and Van Dusen rivers. The father took part in rounding up some of the Indians and in taking them to the Hoopa reservation. He died at Centerville. The mother was Sarah Dean, born in Missouri. She also crossed the plains with her parents in the pioneer days. She died at Grizzly Bluff. She was the mother of seven children, six living, of whom John Henderson is the second oldest.

John Henderson Brown attended the public schools until sixteen years of age, remaining at home for a few years after finishing his education, working on the home place at general farming. Going to Rohnerville when nineteen years old, he apprenticed himself to learn the blacksmith's trade, serving three years in the shop of Fred Leach, but in 1878 he gave this up and, going to Centerville, he there engaged in farming for two years. Then he went to Fortuna and again opened a blacksmith shop for himself and ran it for four years. Selling out the business and all his interests in Fortuna in 1885, he moved to Rio Dell, where again he engaged in his trade and continued in the same until 1908, his shop being the only one in Rio Dell. For twenty-eight years he successfully conducted the business in Rio Dell, the farmers coming for miles around to have their work done by him. He sold this business to H. Hansen. During 1894 and 1895 he was engaged in the hotel business. In 1896, his health beginning to fail him, he went to the Mark West springs, in Sonoma county, and remained there one year and was greatly improved in health. He then returned to Humboldt county, but practically retired from active business, leasing his shop for short terms to others. In April, 1901, he purchased a ranch of forty acres in Rio Dell and engaged in dairying, but for the last three years he has leased his ranch and has retired to his home place to rest from the many cares of his active life. In national politics he is a stanch Republican and is a member of the Alton chapter, N. S. G. W. He was married in Rohnerville to Christina Ellen Smith, a native of Jefferson county, Iowa, having been born there

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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 114

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