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 141

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 141

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

1235

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

quarrying and contracting business, having opened up and equipped with the most modern machinery one of the best quarries to be found in California, which quarry he is now operating.

It may be said that to Mr. Haw much credit is due for the good condition of the streets of the city of Eureka and the roads of Humboldt county. The stone from his quarry is of the variety known as tachylite, being a basaltic lava in a glassy or non-crystalline condition and contains over forty-two per cent silica and is now used universally in Eureka for concrete work, for the city streets and also for county roads.

The education of Mr. Haw was received in the public schools and at business college, after which he was identified with railroad and lumbering interests in Humboldt county, later being elected to the office of county clerk of Humboldt county, which office he filled for two terms or eight years. His marriage to Alice L. Young took place in Eureka and they make their home in the handsome residence owned by Mr. Haw on H street in Eureka.

It will be seen that the progressive spirit of his father and grandfather, who settled and improved the wild districts of new lands, is not wanting in W. HI. Haw, by whose initiative and industry the native resources are being developed and improved in the California county where he makes his home.

CHARLES EUGENE FALK .- A native son of California, and for his entire lifetime a resident of his native state, Charles Eugene Falk is today a son of whom the commonwealth may well be proud. He knows every phase of the lumber industry and every department of the work from the judging of the standing timber and the felling of trees to the last detail of the business management and office work. It is this thoroughness, together with his native ability and application to business that have given him the important position of superintendent of the Elk River Mill and Lumber Company, which he now fills so efficiently.

Mr. Falk was born in Eureka, August 4, 1869, the son of Noah Falk (one of the oldest living pioneer lumbermen of the county) and Nancy N. (Brown) Falk, a native of Maine. The mother removed with her parents to Wash- ington Territory when she was a young girl, and there she met and married Noah Falk. Both parents are still living in Arcata, where they have made their home for many years. The father is still hale and hearty, although he is well past the age of seventy-nine, and takes an active interest in all the affairs of his great business interests. A native of Pennsylvania, born about 1836, he came to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama in 1852. He became interested in the lumber industry in Humboldt county at an early date, and it was he who organized the Elk River Mill and Lumber Com- pany, and who has been its president and leading spirit down through the intervening years, still retaining both the name and the actual position of interest and control.

The boyhood days of Charles Eugene Falk were spent in Eureka, where he received his early education, first attending the public schools, and later attending the Lytton Springs Military Academy in Sonoma county, for some three years and a half. When he was about twenty years of age he went to work for the Elk River Mill and Lumber Company, and has since then passed through every department of this plant. At first he put in three years in the blacksmithing department, learning all the details of the work

1236

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

there and becoming a proficient workman. This company, which is practically owned by Mr. Falk's father, operates a sawmill, shingle mill, planing mill, and other associated industries, and manufactures redwood lumber of all kinds and grades. The mills and shops are all under one roof, and only the latest devices and machinery are employed. The company owns a shipping wharf at Bucksport, this county, where the product is loaded directly on the ocean steamers. There are one hundred sixty men employed on an average by this company. In addition to the mills and shipping plants the company operates extensive lumber camps and owns its standing redwood timber. The company is one of the oldest in the county, as well as one of the best known. The officers are: Noah H. Falk, president and manager; W. J. Wrigley, secretary-treasurer; and Charles Eugene Falk, superintendent. They sell through J. R. Hanify & Co., at San Francisco, located on Market street, and through the Humboldt Lumber Association, in Eureka.

Both Mr. Falk and his father are men of rare ability and business judg- ment. They have been instrumental in the development and upbuilding of a splendid industrial enterprise, which has flourished for many years as the direct result of their industry and application. They have made for them- selves a place in the life and history of their state and county that is worthy of emulation, and their record for fair and honorable business methods is unsullied and unstained.

The marriage of Mr. Falk took place in 1893, uniting him with Miss Blanche Alice Graeter, of Dillon, Mont., the daughter of August Graeter, a pioneer miner of Bannack City, Mont. He was for many years one of the foremost men in the Montana mining fields, and it was he who built the first electric dredger at Bannack City. He is now retired and still lives in Mon- tana. Mrs. Falk has borne her husband three children, all natives of Eureka. They are: Muriel A., now a student at the University of California at Berke- ley, where she is specializing in vocal music ; Drury Noah and Dorothy Ann, the latter two being both students in the Eureka High School.

Aside from his splendid reputation as a business man, Mr. Falk is well known in fraternal and social circles. He is a prominent Mason and an influential member of the local Elks, in both of which orders he is very popular. In politics he is a Republican, and is interested in public questions of all kinds, being especially keen when the issue involves matters of local import. He is progressive and a firm believer in the future of Eureka and Humboldt county, and is one of the stanchest boosters that the region possesses.

ROCCO AQUISTAPACE .- A successful and enterprising business man, liberal and well liked in the community where he resides, Rocco Aquistapace has made for himself a fine record in the country of his adoption. His birth occurred in his early home in Italy, near Sondrio, Lombardy, on January 6, 1863. Mr. Aquistapace's father, who was also named Rocco, was a farmer and dairyman, and the young Rocco was educated in the public schools of his native land and assisted his father upon the home farm, learning much of the business of dairying, which he was to follow for some years after coming to California. At the age of twenty years he enlisted in the Fifth Alpine Regiment of the Italian army, served the regular time of two years and was honorably discharged. In 1889 he determined to try his for- tune in America, and consequently came to California, first stopping at San

1237

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

Francisco, and thence removing to Santa Barbara. His first employment in this country was three years spent at a dairy in the Santa Maria valley, atter which he returned to Italy for a visit to the old home and to see his parents, who were then living but have since died. For seven years Mr. Aquistapace remained in Italy, his first marriage taking place there, uniting him with Amelia Cortoni, a teacher in that country. After her death he was married to Celestina Pedroncilli. By his first marriage there were two chil- dren, namely, John, who is serving in the Fifth Alpine Regiment in Italy, the same regiment in which his father served in carly manhood, and Elena, who is now Mrs. John Baracca and resides in Eureka, Cal. By his second mar- riage Mr. Aquistapace is the father of one son, Henry. Until the year 1899 Mr. Aquistapace remained in Italy, where he followed farming, but like many others who have lived in California, he felt a desire to return to this country. So, with his family, he came once more to Santa Barbara county, and in July, 1900, removed to Eureka, securing employment on a dairy in the vicinity of that city, and later at the Pacific Lumber Company's sawmill at Scotia, Cal. In the year 1912 Mr. Aquistapace started out in a new line of work, purchasing the old Humboldt House on First street, Eureka, which he reopened under the name of Hotel Lombard, in memory of his home in Italy, and since that time has met with much success in this new occupation, managing an excellent hotel and having a large trade. Fraternally Mr. Aquistapace is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose, and in his political interests he is associated with the Republican party.

ANDREW P. NELSON, superintendent of shipping for the Eel River Valley Lumber Company at South Bay, was born at Töndern, Schleswig-Hol- stein, Germany, September 19, 1888, the son of Anton and Annie Nelson, who immigrated to Humboldt county, Cal., in the spring of 1889, when Andrew was an infant of six months. Here the father followed the lumber industry, first in the employ of the Pacific Lumber Company as tallyman and inspec- tor and afterwards with the Eel River Valley Lumber Company for seventeen years as superintendent of shipping at South Bay, a position which he re- signed to engage in the lumber business at Richmond. There he incorporated the San Pablo Lumber Company of Richmond, of which he is manager, the company being engaged in the retail lumber business there.

Of the four children comprising the parental family, Andrew P. Nelson is the oldest. He spent his childhood at Fields Landing, receiving a good education in its public schools. In 1902 he entered the employ of the Pacific Lumber Company at Fields Landing as tallyman and continued in that capac- ity for a period of eleven years. In February, 1913, he resigned to accept the position of superintendent of shipping for the Eel River Valley Lumber Company at South Bay to succeed his father, who had resigned. He has con- tinued in the position ever since, his many years' experience qualifying him well for his duties. He is interested with his father in the San Pablo Lumber Company of Richmond. Fraternally he is a member of Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. In his political views he is a staunch Republican.

GEORGE PATMORE .- Born in London, England, December 12, 1843, George Patmore came to California in the year 1861, making the trip across the ocean on the steamer Great Eastern, this being the steamer's second trip. From New York he engaged passage to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama and thence up the coast to San Francisco. His first location was in

1238

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

Sierra county and from there he removed to Yuba county. In that county in 1868 he was married, and about two years later, in 1870, removed to Humboldt county. Locating first at Elk Prairie, now called Fruitland, he drove the mail route for a time from Hydesville to Strong Station, and was also em- ployed on the neighboring ranches. Later he rented a ranch and engaged in ranching for himself, but in 1872 moved to Camp Grant, where he assumed active charge of the ferry on Eel river. On account of Indian hostilities he was forced to remove from the district, first taking his family to Rohnerville and afterwards to Bryan's Rest. What is now Bryan's Rest he located as a claim and improved it. He later sold his interests in Bryan's Rest and went to Rohnerville. His wife died there February 14, 1876, when twenty- five years of age.

In Rohnerville Mr. Patmore engaged in teaming and hauling up and down Eel river valley, driving a four-horse team from Rohnerville to Eureka, besides which he also engaged in painting and decorating, a trade he had learned in London, England. Later he took up a timber claim, and home- steaded and bought land until he had a tract comprising one thousand acres. Still later he purchased the old Dobbyn range adjoining his timber land. He then engaged in the raising of cattle and sheep, continuing in this business until 1900, when he opened a general merchandise store in Rohnerville. Leav- ing his ranch to the capable management of his son, Mr. Patmore was enabled to remove to Rohnerville, where until his death, August 18, 1914, he spent his time looking after his store. His stock originally consisted of books and stationery, and to this was added later a supply of groceries and a butcher shop was also installed. Still later he started a furniture and hardware department and a plumbing and machinery store with a line of agricultural implements. From time to time he added to the stock, until it became the finest in the town, occupying five store buildings, of which he was the owner.

Mr. Patmore was married in Brown's Valley, Yuba county, in 1868, being united with Miss Elizabeth Wright, a native of Indiana and the daughter of Jesse and Sarah Wright. The Wright family crossed the plains with ox teams in the '50s and while still on the plains the father died. The mother continued the journey to Yuba county, where she remained until she came with Mr. and Mrs. Patmore to Humboldt county. At the age of ninety years she now resides on the frontier of Alberta with a son. Mrs. Patmore became the mother of five children of whom three are living: Mary, of Rohnerville ; George W., of Dyerville ; and Elizabeth, Mrs. Evers of Fortuna.

Fraternally Mr. Patmore was a charter member of Onward Lodge No. 380, I. O. O. F., of Fortuna, was also a Veteran Odd Fellow, while in politics he favored the principles of the Republican party and was always ready to promote any movement for the good of the community.

FRED S. BAIR .- The proprietor of Bair's Garage in Eureka and of the Three Cabins ranch on Mad river, where he is extensively engaged in sheep raising, Fred S. Bair is a native son of Humboldt county, born at Arcata, October 9, 1881, the son of Thomas Bair, a pioneer and man of affairs in Humboldt county, who is represented on another page in this work. Pri- marily Fred S. Bair attended the public schools in Arcata and then entered Mount Tamalpais Military Academy at San Rafael, where he was graduated in 1901. Returning to Humboldt county he began ranching and since that

1239

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

time he has engaged in stock raising, making a specialty of raising sheep, in which he has met with much success. The Three Cabins ranch contains eighteen thousand acres of land in one body, located on Mad river and Boulder creek, about forty miles from Eureka at the junction of Butler valley with the Korbel road. The ranch is well watered with numerous springs and streams, having a frontage of nine miles on Mad river, while Boulder creek flows through the ranch from the headwaters to its mouth, where it empties into Mad river. It is beautifully wooded with pine, redwood, tan and white oak and other varieties of forest trees and abounds in very picturesque scenery. The grass grows luxuriantly and besides ample range and pasture for his flock of eight thousand head of sheep and other stock, Mr. Bair makes an abundance of hay on which to winter his stock. He has large and suitable barns and other buildings and the ranch is well improved for its purpose. His flock is high grade and he secures blue ribbon bucks from the State Fair at Sacramento to head his flocks. There are also three sulphur springs in different parts of the ranch.

For protecting his flocks from bears, mountain lions, coyotes and wild cats, Mr. Bair has a pack of splendid hounds and it is the consensus of opin- ion that his kennel contains the fastest hounds in the state.

Aside from his extensive ranching interests Mr. Bair is also engaged in the automobile business in Eureka. In 1915 he built the Bair garage, a fire- proof structure, 63x100 feet, of reinforced concrete, on the corner of Sixth and D streets-as fine and complete a garage as can be found in the state. It is fully equipped with the latest machinery, being the most complete machine shop in the county. He has the agency for the Locomobile, Cadillac and Oakland automobiles and the Knight & Savage tires.

The marriage of Mr. Bair occurred in Eureka, uniting him with Miss Mabel Mitchell, also a native of Humboldt county. Mr. and Mrs. Bair are well and favorably known and popular among their many friends, not only in this county, but throughout the state. Fraternally Mr. Bair is a member of Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. In politics he is a Democrat. He is a member of the California State Automobile Association as well as the Ameri- can Automobile Association, and prominent in all movements for the upbuild- ing and betterment of conditions in the county and state.

FRANK LAUGHLIN .- An experienced woodsman who has been a resi- dent of Humboldt county since October, 1877, and connected with the lumber industry since 1880, is Frank Laughlin, foreman of woods for the Hammond Lumber Company, having charge of logging operations at Trinidad. He was born at Linn, Osage county, Missouri, May 7, 1865, being the second oldest of a family of seven children born to John and Louisa (Senefce) Laughlin, natives of Kentucky and France respectively. The father was a farmer and served as sheriff of Osage county during the time of the Civil war. In 1877 he brought his family to Humboldt county, locating on a farm at Alliance, where he and his wife resided until their deaths.

Frank Laughlin was brought up on the farm in Missouri, where he attended school until 1877, when he accompanied his parents to Humboldt county, attending school in the Alliance district. When seventeen years of age he began working in the woods in the employ of the Vance Lumber Company, slinging water on the skids or wetting the logging road, thus

1240

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

making it possible for the big bull teams to haul a string of logs. When the Hammond Lumber Company purchased the interests and mills of the Vance Lumber Company he continued with them in the same capacity until the donkey engine came into use and did away with the old ox teams for logging. During winters he engaged in chopping, and logged during the summers, and altogether he has been employed in the lumber industry for thirty-five years, being with the Vance company and its successors since 1880. His close application to his duties and his experience in the different kinds of work connected with the estimating, felling, logging and transportation of red- wood timber were recognized in 1906, when he was selected foreman of the woods at Trinidad, a position which he has faithfully filled.

Mr. Laughlin's marriage occurred in Arcata, January 13, 1896, when he was united with Miss Lizzie Folts, a native of Humboldt county, born in Bay- side. Her parents were early settlers of the county. To Mr. and Mrs. Laugh- lin have been born four children, Austin, Jessie, John, and Florence. In his political views Mr. Laughlin is a stanch Republican.

EDWARD GEORGE KRAMER, owner and proprietor of the Revere Hotel at Eureka, while himself a loyal son of the Golden West, is descended from the sturdy stock of German parentage. His parents, George and Alice (Gries) Kramer, were both born in the Fatherland and grew to maturity on their native heath. By way of the Panama route they came to California, in 1852, and settled in Nevada county, near Nevada City. Here the father engaged in ranching and in the merchandise business for thirty years, becom- ing known as one of the most worthy and respected members of his com- munity. In 1884 he removed with his family to Eureka, where he purchased the Revere Hotel. He immediately improved this property and erected a sub- stantial addition to meet the demands of the city for a first-class hostelry. As the genial landlord of the Revere, he presided over its fortunes until 1892, when he retired from active business, although he continued to be a well- known figure in Eureka until his demise, which occurred in Oakland, Novem- ber 14, 1914.

On the retirement of his father, Edward George Kramer, the oldest son, took over the business and has since conducted it. He was born at North San Juan, Cal., Nevada county, August 21, 1867, and was seventeen years of age when the family moved to Eureka. He attended the public schools of this city, and associated himself at an early age with his father in the hotel business, and so was amply fitted to take up the entire management when the father was ready to lay it down. This long experience has not been in vain, and today he is one of the most popular hotel men with the traveling public that California boasts, and is the personal friend of half the commercial men on the coast.

Aside from the hotel business, Mr. Kramer has extensive real estate hold- ings, and is generally identified with the commercial life of his home city. He is a director of the Humboldt County Bank, and part owner in the Puter- Dungan tract, an exceedingly valuable water front property. Mr. Kramer has just completed a summer home on his place on Reed mountain, near Garber- ville and two miles from the highway. It is most complete and modern in its appointments and establishes a precedent which others will undoubtedly follow. Needless to say, Mr. Kramer is a stanch believer in the future of

1241

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

Humboldt county and is one of the most enthusiastic and substantial boosters that Eureka boasts. His close association with commercial travelers and the traveling public generally has afforded him many splendid opportunities to forward the welfare of the city and county, and it is an acknowledged fact that he neglects none of them. He has always been identified with all move- ments for the advancement of Eureka and has done much for the general betterment of the city which is his home. He is a charter member of the Eureka Aerie No. 130, Eagles, and a member of the Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E.

In San Francisco, in 1892, Mr. Kramer married Miss Mattie Hardewig, a native of that city, and their union has been blessed with two daughters, Olive and Helen. Other well known members of this family are the brothers of Mr. Kramer, Ralph, Herbert, and Clarence, the latter being deceased.

JOHN HENRY BLAKE was born in Clarkson, Monroe county, N. Y., January 31, 1850, the son of Joseph C. and Lucinda Blake of old Colonial and Revolutionary stock. His education was obtained in the district school, the Clarkson Academy and at the Brockport State Normal, after which he kept books in his father's store in Hartford. Next he learned the printing business on the Hartford Dayspring, owned and edited by O. D. Hudsell, one of Horace Greeley's old students. The newspaper business not agreeing with his health he learned telegraphy and worked as operator for the Chicago & West Michigan Railroad, now the Pere Marquette ; afterwards as operator for the Standard Oil Company in Clarion county, Pa. In 1879 he came to California, settling in Woodland, Yolo county, where he followed several pursuits until 1883, when he came to Humboldt county. He bought a half interest with his brother-in-law, C. B. Bryant, in Christmas Prairie and some years later he purchased the interest of Mr. Bryant and continued farming and stock raising alone. In the fall of 1903 he moved to Arcata, where he now resides. However, in 1902 he built the pioneer telephone line in Humboldt from Christmas Prairie to Blue Lake for his own use; the following year he built lines to Arcata, and others followed rapidly until at present he has about seventy-five lines and one hundred fifty telephones with two centrals, in Blue Lake and Arcata. Besides being the sole owner of the Blake Telephone Company he owns large timber holdings as well as property in different parts of Humboldt county, to say nothing of interests in mines, and has achieved success financially.

Since moving to Arcata Mr. Blake has taken an active interest in all things for the betterment of the city and county of his adoption, helping to organize the first chamber of commerce and the federated commercial bodies, serving a year as president of the last named. He is a charter mem- ber of the Arcata Club and also a member of the M. E. Brotherhood, of which he was president for one term.

On September 1, 1875, Mr. Blake was married to Rosa A. Bryant, the daughter of Delos and Mary Bryant, prominent farmers of Coloma, Mich., and the present year, 1915, together with their two children, J. C. and M. L. Blake, and seven grand-children, celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary. Mr. Blake is intensely interested in numismatology and has the largest collec- tion of coins in the county, among them both colonial and continental cur- rency and coins, and one particular piece, a silver medal made especially

1242

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

for and given to the Indian Chief Pontiac by King George III of England and worn by the former during the remainder of his life, is worth thousands of dollars. He also has a cabinet of Humboldt county Indian and pioneer relics as well as a large number of guns and pistols, no doubt the largest private collection in the state.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 141

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