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 118

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 118

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While engaged in mercantile pursuits at Westport, Mr. Cameron was married, on December 25, 1884, to Miss Nettie Hickman, a native of Monte- cello, Ind., the daughter of Benjamin Franklin Hickman, who was born in Jasper county, Ind., December 6, 1840, the son of Hiram and Eleanor (White) Hickman. Previous to the Civil war, Benjamin F. Hickman had removed to Grant county, Wis., and there he was among the first to respond to the call for troops, enlisting in Company K of the Twentieth Wisconsin Regi- ment of Volunteer Infantry, serving three years and being wounded at the battle of Prairie Grove, Mo. He was married in Rosedale, Ind., on Novem- ber 22, 1864, to Jennie B. Fisk, the daughter of John J. and Elizabeth A. (Page) Fisk. Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Hickman came to California with their two little daughters, Nettie and Nona, in 1872, the father thereafter following the trade of harnessmaker at Bloomfield, Sonoma county, till 1882, when he located at Westport, where he engaged in contracting and building until the time of his death, which occurred on December 1, 1896. A violinist of much ability, his services were continually sought for parties and dances, where he enjoyed much popularity. Since his death, his wife resides in Eureka. Their

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daughter, now Mrs. Cameron, a cultivated and refined woman, was brought up and educated in Westport. Mr. and Mrs. Cameron are the parents of four children, namely. Edwin Franklin, who took a four years' course in civil engineering at the University of California, and is now in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad, making his home in Berkeley ; Mrs. Agnes B. Carlson; Mrs. Vreda E. Hess; and Guy O. Cameron, who is with the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company, and, like his two sisters, makes his home in Eureka.

GEORGE MURDOCK SCOTT .- One of the upbuilders of the city of Trinidad, in Humboldt county, Cal., is George Murdock Scott, who, since the year 1880, has been a resident of this part of California, whence he came from his home in far-away Nova Scotia.

It was in May of the year 1880 that Mr. Scott arrived in California, making his home for some time thereafter with John Vance, in Essex, Hum- boldt county, in 1894 removing to Trinidad, where he bought out the Tom Fitz blacksmith shop and continued in business there for eight years. After selling out his business in that line, Mr. Scott gave up blacksmithing, and since April 7, 1907, when his wife was appointed postmaster at Trinidad, he has acted as assistant, and takes an active part in the affairs of the office, being also a member of the board of city trustees of Trinidad and president of the board, or mayor of the town. When he came to Trinidad, there was no public water supply in the place, the water being brought from springs and pumps by the residents, and he realized the great need of a water sys- tem. He and his wife are now the principal owners of the Trinidad Water and Supply Company, a company which was incorporated on June 29, 1908, of which Mr. Callstrom is president, Mr. Scott vice-president and superin- tendent, and his wife secretary, and by the efforts of this company the waters of old Mill creek have been brought to the city, providing a sufficient water supply with a pressure of sixty pounds. In order to do this, it was neces- sary to buy a right of way across the Hammond Lumber Company's land, and a galvanized iron pipe line was laid, one and three-quarters miles in length to reach the city. It will thus be seen that Mr. Scott is a public- spirited man who takes an intense interest in the welfare of the district where he has chosen to make his home. He is also the owner of property at Trinidad, and he and his wife are known for their enterprise and liberality.

The grandfather of Mr. Scott was a Scotchman, who brought his family with a colony from his native land to Nova Scotia, where he became a land- owner and farmer, his son James, the father of Mr. Scott, having been born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and come with his family to the new country, where he was a farmer and also blacksmith. Mr. Scott's mother, formerly Margaret Nicholson, was born in Gallowayshire, Scotland, and removed with her par- ents to Nova Scotia at the same time with the Scott family ; her parents died there, and there also took place her marriage to James Scott. Of their eight

children, George Murdock Scott was the youngest, and was brought up on the farm, educated in the public schools and learned the blackmith's trade under his father, working with him until seventeen years of age. At that time he left home, going to Spring Hill Junction, where his sister, Mrs. Har- rison, lived, and where he became a brakeman on the Inter-Colonial Railroad, but eighteen months later met with an accident which resulted in the loss of his left foot. It was a few years after his recovery from this operation that

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Mr. Scott removed to California, where he has continued to make his home ever since. From Nova Scotia, where his birth occurred in the town of Pug- wash, in Cumberland county, January 19, 1859, to Humboldt county, Califor- nia, where he has spent the latter part of his life, is indeed a long journey, and one which has taken him through varied scenes on the American conti- nent, but that Mr. Scott has never regretted the change is proved by the active interest taken by both himself and his wife in the affairs of the Cali- fornia city where they make their home.

PAUL GRAZIOLI .- From Italy to California is a long journey and a complete change in modes of living for a boy of eighteen years, but this has been the experience of Paul Grazioli, an ambitious Italian youth who left his native home to see what life held for him in a new country, whither many of his countrymen had preceded him to seek their fortunes. Mr. Grazioli was born in Liverno, Brescia, Italy, on April 28, 1888, the son of Stephen Grazioli, a farmer of that district, and received a good education in the pub- lic schools of that country. Leaving home in 1906, he set out for San Fran- cisco, Cal., where he arrived, as numerous of his compatriots had done before, to seek employment in a new land. After two months spent at Petaluma, Cal., he went to Monterey, in the same state, where he was employed as a gardener upon the beautiful grounds of the Hotel Del Monte, an establish- ment which is famous the country over as a favorite resort for tourists. Re- turning to San Francisco, Mr. Grazioli worked there for eight months in a paint factory, in June, 1908, removing to Humboldt county, where he was employed in dairying at Mckinleyville, and later at Bayside, after which he was employed for a period of eighteen months by two different dairies at Loleta. Having acquired the necessary experience for independent work and also saved his money during the years of his employment by others, Mr. Grazioli, in the autumn of the year 1910, formed a partnership with Battiste Tomasini, a native of the same country as himself, and also making a success of his business endeavors in California, and the two men, under the firm name of Tomasini & Grazioli, rented the John Plitsch ranch at Stone Lagoon in the same county, where they have since that time been engaged in conducting a large and prosperous dairy of eighty cows. Aside from being an industrious and energetic dairyman and making a success of this line of business, Mr. Grazioli also has engaged in stockraising upon the ranch with his partner, the two being the possessors of a fine herd of cattle.

Although actively engaged in his business, with a faithfulness of endea- vor which is bringing him a large measure of success, Mr. Grazioli yet finds time to interest himself in the political affairs of his adopted home, and in this connection is an upholder of the principles of the Republican party.

JAMES EMANUEL MATHEWS .- To an exceptional degree the youth of James Emanuel Mathews represented a contest against obstacles, a strug- gle with hardships and a constant familiarity with privation. When only four years of age he was orphaned by the death of his father, and thus was added to New York City, where he was born on the 22d of February, 1845, another poor boy, orphaned and friendless, illy prepared to cope with the difficulties of existence and deprived of any satisfactory educational advantages. As a newsboy selling the Brooklyn Eagle he earned his. first money and he con- tinued with that paper for a number of years. It was the custom of the

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boys, while waiting for the Eagle to be issued each day at three o'clock, to go to the Columbia street hill and play "shinney." It was also the custom of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, then at the height of his fame, to pass along the street about that hour of day. One afternoon in 1858 Mr. Mathews accidentally struck the famous minister with a shinney block. At once Mr. Beecher seized the boy by the coat collar and hurried him to the top of the hill, where he put him into the hands of a policeman, under arrest for the offense. However, the officer released him and dropped the charges, upon hearing from witnesses an account of the affair and learning that it was entirely the result of accident.

During the Civil war Mr. Mathews was employed on steamers running from New York to Havana, Vera Cruz, Aspinwall, New Orleans, Galveston and Charleston, S. C. While in Havana in 1864 a lady offered him the situa- tion of overseer of her plantation in Matanzas, Cuba, but he declined, feeling that the position entailed too much responsibility for one of his youth and lack of experience. As his ship cruised on the coast of Florida early in 1865 a gunboat, painted lead color, was sighted and passed. On returning from Havana the same boat was seen, but this time it was painted black and car- ried its flag at half-mast. Investigation as to the reason gave the first news of the assassination of President Lincoln to the crew of the vessel homeward bound. On casting anchor in the harbor of New York they found an im- mense throng of people forming a line that extended from the City Hall to the Battery, all eager for a last glimpse of the face of their martyred presi- dent, then lying in state in the City Hall of the metropolis of the east.

An uneventful period of employment as a glassblower in a factory did not quench the love of adventure innate in the young New Yorker, so that he was ready, at an hour's notice, to set sail from his city December 10, 1867, on a steamer bound for Panama. Thence he sailed up the Pacific on the steamer Constitution, which landed in San Francisco January 23, 1868. For some time he was employed on steamers out of San Francisco to other ports of the Pacific ocean. Later he engaged briefly in selling charts of Grant and Colfax and Seymour and Blair. From San Francisco he came to Eureka in March of 1871. Early experiences around newspaper offices and later adventures in the world peculiarly adapted him for the book business, in which he has since engaged. Recently he celebrated his fortieth anni- versary of business association with Eureka. Although his stock is mainly books and stationery it is not limited to these lines, but is so varied that one in search of some unusual novelty, not to be found elsewhere, is frequently advised to inquire at his store, with the result that the article desired is often found there. The first name of the shop was The Little Store Around the Corner, which came to Mr. Mathews through early familiarity with the historic church around the corner in New York City. Later the business was referred to as The Old Curiosity Shop, but with the frequent accessions to the stock and a change of location to the Gross block, one of the substantial and modern buildings of Eureka, the name of the business has been changed to The Home of Music, Song and Story. The shop ranks as the pioneer piano house of Humboldt county, and the sale of pianos has been an impor- tant accessory of the business for many years. 'Recently Mr. Mathews came into prominence through the fact that, after having represented the San

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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

Francisco Examiner in Eureka for twenty-seven years or more, as a reward for continued and faithful service he was presented with a handsome en- graved gold watch by William Randolph Hearst. Politically he is a life- long Democrat, devoted to the party. Interest in his adopted locality ap- pears in the fact that he is a charter member of the Chamber of Commerce. His fraternities are the Eagles and Foresters. Besides his business property and home in Eureka, the family own four thousand acres of timber land, mostly located north of Eureka. His marriage was solemnized in San Fran- cisco, his bride being Delia Lineger, who was born in Australia but has lived in California from the age of six months. They are the parents of three children, Ellenor Rose, Mary Gertrude and Florence Catherine, all of Eureka.

ISAAC MOXON .- Although not a native of the United States, Isaac Moxon has for the greater part of his life been a resident here, and for almost thirty-five years has lived in Humboldt county, Cal. He is as stanch and loyal a son of the Stars and Stripes as may be found in any place, and during his years spent on the coast has been an active factor in the building up and development of his community, where he is today one of the foremost citi- zens. His undertakings have prospered greatly, and although he arrived in Humboldt county with only $700, he now possesses hundreds of acres of rich lands, many head of stock and wide fields of grain, and his wealth cannot be estimated in dollars and cents, so rapidly are his holdings increasing in value.

Mr. Moxon is the son of Henry and Abigail (White) Moxon. His father, a native of Nova Scotia, born in 1826 at Shipanacady, of English descent. He followed farming and lumbering in Carleton county, New Brunswick, the greater part of his life, and in both enterprises was very suc- cessful. His mother was a native of Hudson, Me., but removed to New Brunswick with her parents. where she married, the officiating clergyman being Parson Harton. She became the mother of fourteen children, four of whom died very young, and ten living to grow to manhood and womanhood. Of these six are living at the present time (1914). Isaac, the fourth oldest in order of birth, was born in Shipanacady, Nova Scotia, June 15, 1857, but in the fall of 1858 removed to New Brunswick with his parents. He resided on his father's farm near Woodstock, New Brunswick, where as a child he at- tended the public schools. Later he attended the best private school in the neighborhood, until he was sixteen years of age, when he stopped school and worked with his father on the farm. When he was twenty-one, he de- termined to come to the United States, where reports led him to believe con- ditions were better and wages higher. Accordingly he went first to Minne- apolis, and from there went to work in the sugar pine woods logging, on the Moose river, remaining for three or four years. The demand for men on the Pacific coast was very great at that time, and the wages paid were even better than those received along the Northern Mississippi, and so in April, 1881, Mr. Moxon determined to again move westward, this time choosing California as his stopping place. He arrived in Humboldt county, May 31, 1881, and went immediately to work in the woods, logging in the lumber camps, where he remained for a few years. The first year he was in the employ of Kirk, Minor & Culberg on Warm creek, and also worked for Frank Graham, all pioneer lumbermen of Humboldt county.

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In 1884, Mr. Moxon met with a serious accident, which changed the trend of his life, determining him, as it did, to give up the life of the woods and take to agricultural and farming pursuits. A heavy log slid and crushed his leg, making active work in the lumber camps out of the question for a long time. It was then that he purchased thirty acres of bottom land near Arcata, which is at the present time his home place. This tract is beautifully situated on the higher bottom, and so is absolutely free from danger of floods, being well above the high water line. At the time of the great flood in 1860 this property was the only one in that region that was not touched by the high waters, most of the surrounding places being completely submerged.

After purchasing this place, Mr. Moxon improved it and engaged in farming. In 1895 he began dairying with a herd of twenty-five milch cows, which he has since materially increased. When he first began farming he made a specialty of raising potatoes and grain ; has raised as high as one hun- dred sacks of potatoes to the acre, and as high as one hundred forty-seven bushels of barley to the acre.

Later, his business enterprises prospering, he was enabled to make addi- tional investments, and he has always chosen to put his surplus capital back into the soil. In partnership with Ralph Bull, in August, 1911, he purchased six hundred eighty acres of land on Big creek, in Trinity county, known as the Big creek ranch, upon which the partners are engaged in raising live- stock, grain and alfalfa. In 1913 they cut three crops of alfalfa from their fields, averaging over five hundred tons. Since purchasing this property they have improved the land and brought it under a high state of cultivation, while at the same time they have added to their equipment all manner of modern implements and buildings, until at the present time they have the most thoroughly modern ranch in Trinity county.

On the home place of Arcata bottom land great improvements have also been made. Also to the original thirty acres additions have been made from time to time until now it comprises one hundred twenty acres, all highly im- proved, lying two miles west of Arcata. This place is devoted to dairying (stocked with Holstein cattle), and like the larger place, has proven to be a great financial success. The place is well improved with three residences and two sets of barns, and a family orchard, and it is the consensus of opinion that these buildings are among the best and most modern in this section, and the ranch is the cleanest from weeds, in fact the only one that is free from mustard. The original $700 which Mr. Moxon brought with him to Humboldt county has grown and doubled and redoubled itself so many times, and so often, that there is no semblance of the original nest-egg left in the vast holdings of the former lumberman. Mr. Moxon is interested vitally in the dairy and creamery interests of Arcata, having been an active factor in their upbuilding, and is a stockholder in the United Creamery.

The marriage of Mr. Moxon and Miss Emma Amelia Nelson took place at the home of the bride in Arcata, December 14, 1884. Mrs. Moxon was born at Little River Beach, Humboldt county, Cal., May 22, 1859, the daugh- ter of Christian and Augusta (Bayreuther) Nelson, among the oldest settlers of Humboldt county. They came to Arcata from Little River Bridge, where they were driven and burned out by the Indians. Mrs. Moxon became the mother of five children, four sons and one daughter, all living at present

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save the eldest, Chris Christian, who passed away in 1887. The other mem- bers of the family are Isaac Leland, now operating the home ranch ; Leslie Augustus, and Clarence Hector, managing the Big creek ranch ; and Gertrude Elaine, who is now Mrs. Axel Anderson of Arcata. All are well and favor- ably known in Arcata, where they were born and reared, and where they now have many warm friends. The sons are all members of several prominent lodges and are well known in business and social circles. All three are members of the Masons, and I. Leland and Leslie also belong to the Odd Fellows. Isaac Moxon, Sr., is himself a prominent lodge man, and is well known as a member of the Odd Fellows and also of the Woodmen of the World. He is a veteran Odd Fellow and a member of Anniversary Lodge No. 85, I. O. O. F.

In politics Mr. Moxon is a Republican, as are his sons, but he has never taken an active part in political affairs. He is interested in all matters which pertain to the welfare of the community. In all his business dealings Mr. Moxon has an established reputation for honesty and square dealing that places him high in the scale of business standards and gives him a place in the affairs of his city and county that is without a superior. He is one whom young men would do well to emulate.

ARTHUR EARL CARTWRIGHT .- The popular fire chief and fire warden of Scotia is one of the important men in the city, and on his shoulders rests the grave responsibility of preventing the devastation of the town by fire, this being a constant danger in the lumber town, where the means of conflagration are unusually plentiful. Mr. Cartwright was elected as fire chief by the members of the various volunteer fire companies of Scotia, and was appointed fire warden by the Pacific Lumber Company, in whose employ he had been for a number of years, holding positions of trust and responsi- bility, and in every instance proving himself well worthy of their confidence.

Mr. Cartwright is a native of California, born in Yuba county, January 25, 1882. His father, Harry B. Cartwright, was a native of Pennsylvania, and came to California at the time of the gold rush in 1849, making the trip by way of the Horn. For a time he followed placer and quartz mining in Sierra county, and then went into Yuba county and took up a claim of government land and engaged in farming and stock-raising. Mining appealed to him far more strongly than farming, however, and he continued to engage in the more hazardous occupation from time to time, whenever he could be spared from his farm, for many years. He was married to Miss Maria Frances Seth, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to California via Isthmus of Panama, in 1851. They became the parents of six children, as follows : Phoebe, now the wife of Emmett Gleason, a rancher, residing on the old Cartwright place in Yuba county ; Wallace, who died at the age of eight years ; Elizabeth, who died at the age of two years; George W., a contractor and mill builder, at present engaged with the Buhne Hardware Company of Eureka ; Edna, Mrs. Davis, residing in Seattle, Wash .; and Arthur Earl, the subject of this sketch. The parents came to Eureka when Arthur Earl was seven years of age, and there he passed his boyhood days, attending the public schools and high school. Later he went to Everett, Wash, where he was engaged with a real estate and insurance firm, and while in their service he also studied typewriting and stenography. After a year spent at Everett

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he returned to Eureka in 1903, and went to work as a millwright under his brother George. At the same time he joined fire company No. 5, in Eureka, and commenced to take a great interest in the subject of fire protection. While with his brother he assisted in the building of the Holmes-Eureka mill, at Eureka, and of the Little River Redwood Company's mill at Little River, in Humboldt county. It was in November, 1910, that Mr. Cartwright eventually came to Scotia, and entered the employ of the Pacific Lumber Company as millwright superintendent, being in this position until May 1, 1914, when he assumed his duties as fire chief and fire warden, which he has since discharged with efficiency.

Mr. Cartwright was interested in the work of the fire department from the time that he came to Scotia, and is thoroughly familiar with the plans and requirements of its work. He was a charter member of the fire depart- ment known as the Scotia Volunteer Fire Department, organized in 1910, with Charles Wescott as fire chief. He became foreman of Company No. 1 in 1912. He is now carrying out the plans originally laid out by the com- pany and hopes to prevent another such disastrous fire as that which occurred in 1912 destroying the dry kilns at mill "B". New fire proof kilns have since been built, and other modern means of fire protection have been adopted by the Pacific Lumber Company recently. The fire department consists of five hose companies of twenty men cach, one engine company of eight men and eight fire policemen. Each company has a foreman and an assistant foreman, and each has its own hose cart and hose house. The arrangements for the water supply are very complete and modern, and with the capable supervision of Mr. Cartwright there should be no great difficulty in handling any situation which might arise.

The marriage of Mr. Cartwright occurred in Eureka, February 23d, 1911, uniting him with Miss May Cameron, born in Eureka. Mr. Cart- wright takes an especially keen interest in all that pertains to the general welfare of Scotia, and any movement for its betterment, educationally, so- cially, or commercially is given his instant and hearty endorsement. He is a man of great ability. ingenuity, popularity and force of character, and is a power in the local affairs of his party, he being a stanch Republican. He is also prominent in fraternal affairs and is a member of several beneficial orders, among which may be mentioned the Odd Fellows, his membership being claimed by the Fortuna Lodge. Mr. Cartwright is also well known in Eureka, where his mother still makes her home, and where he is a frequent visitor. His father died in Yuba county a number of years ago, at the age of seventy years.

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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 118

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