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 26

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 26

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year the partners followed the new venture with great success, then, in 1875, sold their interests to Baird & Cotterel.

Following this venture Mr. Graham went to work for the Flanigin & Bronson Company, contracting in the logging business, and remained with this company for two years. In 1877 he entered the employ of John Vance, again contracting for logging, this time operating on Lindsay creek. Here he remained for four years. In 1881 he secured contracts under the Carson & Flanigin Company, and the following year formed a company with G. W. Chandler, Al Kendall and M. F. Henderson and bought land on Blue Lake, where they built a mill. Soon after the mill was completed Mr. Graham also purchased several hundred acres of land in the vicinity. In 1886 they moved the mill to Riverside, where they have manufactured lumber ever since. In connection with the work of the mill Mr. Graham took charge of the logging, and it is with this that he has been associated ever since. In 1889 the com- pany bought out Mr. Chandler, and in 1886 H. W. Jackson had bought the interest of Mr. Henderson. This left Mr. Graham and Al Kendall as the only members of the company who were also a part of the original organiza- tion. In 1889 they incorporated the mills and lands as the Riverside Lumber Company and conducted the business under that name. This venture has prospered from the first and is now one of the oldest and best established business concerns in Humboldt county.

In 1903 the company bought out the lumber mill at Korbel, operated then by the Korbel Lumber Company, and consolidating this with the Riv- erside Lumber Company, incorporated the business under the name of the Northern Redwood Lumber Company, under which both mills are now operated. The mills cut annually about fifty million feet of lumber, which is brought by rail to their yards in Arcata and the Arcata wharfs, from which point it is shipped to the east as well as to Australia, South America, West Indies and Mexico. The company operates a large dairy farm near Korbel. Mr. Graham owns one hundred sixty acres on Arcata bottom which he devoted to dairying and farming for several years, giving his personal attention to this industry, but at present the farm is rented to tenants. Another of his interests is the tannery at Arcata, he with others buying out the old tannery about 1903, and it is known as the Devlin Tannery Company.

Mr. Graham has also been interested in the general merchandise busi- ness, being one of the founders of the store known as the Seeley & Titlow Company, the original business being purchased from a Mrs. Spring in 1902. He is interested in the creamery business in Arcata and the surrounding country also, and is a prominent member of the Arcata Creamery Associa- tion. He was also one of the founders of the First National Bank of Arcata, of which he is a director and a heavy stockholder.

A distinct line of public interest and welfare has been touched by Mr. Graham in his association with the telephone and railroad enterprises of Humboldt county. He was one of the founders of the telephone company operating between Arcata and Crescent City, and is at present one of the stockholders in the company. His railroad interest is in the line from the Arcata wharf to Korbel, where he is interested in the mills.

In politics Mr. Graham is a Republican, and he has always been keenly interested in the doings of his party and in the general welfare of the state and nation from a political standpoint, while his interest in local issues is vital

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and influential. He is a progressive and always on the side of social better- ment and civic uplift. In fraternal and social circles he is well known and deservedly popular. He has a host of friends in every walk of life and in every grade of society who admire and trust him, and who esteem his friendship as a jewel of rare price. He is associated with a number of promi- nent fraternal organizations, among which may be mentioned Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E., Humboldt Lodge No. 77, I. O. O. F., in Eureka, and the Hoo Hoos.

The marriage of Mr. Graham occurred in Eureka, March 4, 1875, uniting him with Miss Martha Adeline Montgomery, a native of Texas, where she was born December 30, 1857. Mrs. Graham came to California with her parents when she was a small child. They located first in Modesto, soon afterward going to the Sacramento valley, and later, in 1872, they removed to Humboldt county. Mrs. Graham bore her husband eight children, as fol- lows: James Francis, deceased; Addie Lu, now Mrs. Bert Hill, of Ar- cata ; Henry, deceased ; Norman A., of Arcata ; Fred Osborn, deceased ; Hazel, the wife of Ernest Tierney, of Eureka; Mildred and Earl. The younger generation of Grahams are all well and favorably known in Humboldt county, where they were all born and educated, and where they all reside. Mr. and Mrs. Graham are members of the Presbyterian church.

Mr. Graham at present makes his home in Arcata, where he has a com- fortable residence, and where his business interests center. He is a notable figure on the streets, and an important factor in the affairs of his city and county. He is a splendid type of the pioneer men who have made Hum- boldt county a land of beautiful homes and fertile farms, and the transforma- tion through which he has witnessed the county pass is great indeed. Yet he has ever kept abreast of the times, and is today modern and progressive in the broadest sense of the word.

ELMER J. FROST .- Tracing his lineage back through Colonial ancestry to Merrie England, and himself a native of Maine, Elmer J. Frost is, never- theless, today one of the most loyal and devoted of California's sons. He came first to Humboldt county when he was twenty-three years of age, and although he returned to his native state, and later spent several years as a resident of Minnesota, he never at any time gave up the idea of returning to California eventually to make his home. He has been variously engaged in business, but for the greater part of his time he has been associated with the lumber industry, having been connected with some of the largest companies in the county in various important capacities. He is now serving as super- visor of the fourth district in Humboldt county, his first term of four years expiring January 1, 1915. He was before the people for re-election in the fall of 1914, and his record was such that at the primaries he received ten hundred and thirty votes majority over two opponents, and he will continue his public service as supervisor.

Mr. Frost was born at Bethel, Oxford county, Me., January 23, 1851, the son of James C. Frost, a native of the same county, in which he lived and died. The grandfather, Nathaniel Frost, was a farmer, and also a native of Maine, where he spent his lifetime, working in the woods during the winter time and farming in the summer months. The great-grandfather of Elmer Frost on the paternal side came to America from England in Colonial days and settled in Maine, where the family has since resided. It is descended from

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a well-known old English family, which is still located in the mother country. The mother of the present esteemed citizen of Eureka was Mary E. Rowe, and her Grandfather Rowe was a soldier in the Revolution. She also was descended from sturdy old English stock, but with a generous strain of Irish blood intermixed. She became the mother of eleven children, eight sons and three daughters. Of the sons four came to Humboldt county, where they are now well known and highly respected citizens.

The boyhood days of Mr. Frost were passed in his native state, where he attended the public schools, working in the woods and on his father's farm in the vacation times, after lie was twelve years old. He attended the high school at Maysville, Me., for one year, and then went to work in the woods, contracting and working as a carpenter in bridge building. Later he worked for two years with Albert Burley (the first president of the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad) as a surveyor in the timber country.

It was in 1875 that Mr. Frost first came to Humboldt county, he being the first of the brothers to come to California. After working in the lumber woods for two years he returned to Maine and remained for a year, then going to Minnesota, where he remained for five years, being engaged prin- cipally in lumbering. It was in 1885 that he returned to Humboldt county, arriving in Eureka November 29 of that year, his three brothers having preceded him, and all located in this county. For three years he was em- ployed by the Falk Lumber Company, on Elk river, as their head chopper, and then had charge of the Russ claim (timber) for the Excelsior Redwood Com- pany of Eureka for three years. At a still later date he became head chopper for the Carson Lumber Company on Lindsay creek, serving in this capacity for six years. For ten years he served as special police in Eureka, and when off duty worked as a carpenter. In the capacity of special police he gave the greatest satisfaction, and made many warm friends.

When he was twenty-three years of age (1874) Mr. Frost was united in marriage in Caribou, Aroostook county, Me., with Miss Ella M. Starbird, daughter of W. R. and Angeline (Washburn) Starbird, who came to Hum- boldt county in 1899, and died here some time later. Of this union was born one child, Lulu E., now the wife of Charles H. Falor, chief electrician for the Western States Gas & Electric Company of Eureka, and the mother of one child, a son, Laurence Falor, aged eighteen years.

Aside from his business and official relations Mr. Frost has many warm personal friends throughout the county. He has always been especially well liked by his business associates and by the men who have worked under his direction. Prominent in fraternal circles, he was made a Mason in Caribou (Me.) Lodge, and after going to Minnesota he was one of the organizers and the first master of Perham Lodge No. 157, and at the present time is a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., and is also a member of Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. He has always been keenly interested in political and governmental affairs and has stood for progress along sane and sensible lines, and for all that tends toward the betterment and upbuilding of the municipality and of the community generally. In his duties as super- visor of the fourth district he is especially interested in the management of the Humboldt county hospital, the care of the indigent poor and the super- vision of the county roads, in all of which he has been faithful to the trust reposed in him.

Domingo Jamon

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DOMINGO ZANONE .- When a young man Domingo Zanone, whose name became well known among the cattlemen of Humboldt county, Cal., came to the western hemisphere from his home in Italy, where he was born in Genoa on March 9, 1828, his father already having spent several years in America. On first coming to the United States, Domingo Zanone remained for a time in Pittsburg, Pa., where he was employed in an iron foundry, after which, in October of the year 1849, he set out for California from New York City, with no expectation of the roundabout journey which was before him. Although it was his intention to come by way of the Isthmus of Panama, his course of necessity followed a different line, the trip consuming a period of eighteen months. The vessel upon which he set sail was obliged to stop at Rio de Janeiro, in South America, to repair a leak, and as the yellow fever was at that time prevalent in that city, their passage money was returned to the passengers, many of whom, among them being Mr. Zanone, secured passage on a steamer bound for Buenos Ayres, from which city they there- after crossed the pampas plains and Andes Mountains to Valparaiso, in Chile, a journey which covered forty days, after which they embarked for San Fran- cisco, arriving there on the first day of June, 1850.

After his arrival in California, Mr. Zanone for seven years followed mining-on the Feather river, he and his brother Anthony working in partner- ship. They dammed the river to engage in hydraulic mining, but lost $17,000 in the enterprise, which bankrupted them. Remaining in the mining district after his first failure, Mr. Zanone by faithful endeavor accumulated considerable money, which, however, he also lost in unwise investments. He then put about $10,000 into a cattle ranch on Dry creek, in Butte county, Cal., which he stocked with cattle, and remained in that section of the country until the year 1865, when with his brother he came up to Humboldt county and established himself in the stock business in the Mattole valley. From the first the business was very promising, and Domingo Zanone was the first man to drive cattle south from this territory, taking the first drove of beef cattle that ever left the Mattole country down to Santa Rosa. Later he made shipments by boat to San Francisco and sold large consignments to that market, where his large operations and reliable transactions made him well and favorably known. His energy and wideawake methods kept his business constantly on the increase, and he continued to be associated with his brother until the middle seventies, their partnership at that time being dissolved. It was then that Domingo Zanone returned on a visit to Italy, where he married, coming again thereafter to the Mattole country in Cali- fornia to resume business, becoming well known all over the western part of Humboldt county as a cattle raiser, dealer and shipper, and retaining large interests in the stock business until the end of his days. At one time he was part owner of the old steamship Ferndale, which was employed in the ship- ment of cattle from Port Kenyon on Salt river to the San Francisco markets, and besides being the owner of hundreds of acres of property in Humboldt county, was also a director in the old Humboldt Bank and of the woolen mill, and the trusted associate and friend of many of the best known business men in that section of the state. The ranch which he purchased near Petrolia in Humboldt county and to which he from time to time made additions now comprises an area of fifty-two hundred acres of grazing and tillable lands whereon are raised hay and vegetables for the feeding of stock, Mr. Zanone

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having been the owner of a thousand head of cattle on the estate. Aside from his Petrolia property, he owned five other ranches, all of which, since his death, are leased to others by his wife and comprise two eighty-acre ranches in the Eel river valley, two dairy ranches in the Elk river valley, and four hundred twenty acres at Colma, near Redwood City in San Mateo county. He was also the owner of a business block and residence at Eureka, Cal., where his family home is located, a most attractive residence with grounds covering three acres at the corner of Sixteenth and G streets, occu- pied by his widow and family.

The wife of Domingo Zanone, formerly Miss Magdalena Ghio, of Genoa, Italy, where their marriage was celebrated on September 18, 1874, is an excellent business woman, possessed of fine executive ability, and an earnest member of the Catholic Church, and since her marriage has never returned to her native land. Of her family of seven children, six are now living, their names being as follows: Magdalena; Mercedes, now the wife of Frank Shanahan, a rancher of Eureka; Augusta and Eugenia, who make their home with their mother at Eureka; Domingo Anthony, represented elsewhere in this volume, and Ernest J., both of whom are cattle raisers in Petrolia. At the time of his death, which occurred at his home in Eureka on December 16, 1901, Mr. Zanone was known as one of the wealthiest citizens of the county, an ardent Democrat in his political convictions, and a man who gave of his time and means to the advancement of the interests of his party, taking an active part in its councils, and for eleven years having acted as a member of the county central committee. In Humboldt county, where he for so many years made his home, Domingo Zanone will long be remembered as one who left a fine record for industry, sincerity and the respect and confi- dence which he inspired in all who knew him, and few who have come to our country from foreign shores have left a more enduring impress on the affairs of our western coast than has Domingo Zanone.

DOMINGO ANTHONY ZANONE .- The sons of the late Domingo Zanone, known to his generation in Humboldt county and in San Francisco markets as a veteran cattleman of the Mattole valley, are keeping up the reputation attaching to their name, which has long been synonymous with success in the cattle business in this region. Domingo Zanone, the father, came to America from Italy when a young man, and settled in Humboldt county in 1868, where he became a large landowner, acquired valuable prop- erty at the county scat, and was associated with various business enterprises which marked the progress of events in northern California.

Of the family of seven children, six of whom are now living, Domingo Anthony Zanone was born March 8, 1887, in Eureka, Cal., and received ex- cellent educational advantages, taking his preparatory training in his native city, where he attended the primary and high schools, afterward studying at St. Mary's College, Oakland, Cal. His brother Ernest attended the same educational institutions, and they are now in partnership in the cattle busi- ness, owning and operating the Zanone stock ranch in the Mattole valley, a tract of thirty-six hundred acres devoted to the raising of high grade Here- ford and Durham beef cattle, the ranch having seven miles of ocean front, which is a distinct advantage, since the frost is thereby lessened and the grass rendered more abundant. The brothers inherited this property from their father, and though too young at the time of his death to have had the

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benefit of much business training under him, they have inherited his aptitude therefor, as the condition of their land and the excellent routine along which their work is conducted give evidence. The management is worthy of older heads, and is undergoing constant improvement in the hands of these alert young men, whose industry alone would insure large returns. Though Domingo Zanone, who is represented elsewhere in this history, was so sincere a Democrat, both the sons are Republicans on purely political ques- tions, experience having proven to them that the principles of the latter party are for the best interests of the great majority of the people of our country.

HON. ARTHUR WELLSLEY HILL .- The district attorney of Hum- boldt county is one of the native sons whose record is most praiseworthy and who, imbued with the spirit of progress, most firmly believes in the future advancement of this section of the state. A member of one of the honored pioneer families, he was born in Eureka in 1864 and received the excellent advantages which the schools of this city offered, while in addition, after having completed a high school course here, he was a student in the University of California and in 1893 was graduated from the Hastings Law School. One year prior to graduation he had passed the examination before the state supreme court in Sacramento and had been admitted to the bar of the state with a most creditable standing in all papers. After an association of one year with A. P. Van Dusen in law practice at San Francisco he returned to Eureka and has since here practiced his profession, with a growing reputation for thorough knowledge of its varied technicalities.

Taking a leading part in the deliberations of local politicians and pro- gressive citizens, Mr. Hill became well and favorably known in other lines than that of the law. As early as 1896 his name was brought forward as a candidate for official honors, and during 1897-98 he ably represented the district as assemblyman in the state legislature. He served as deputy attorney until January, 1914, at which time he was appointed district attorney for the unexpired term of the late Kenneth Newett, Jr. So conscientiously, diligently and well did he perform his duties that at the fall election in 1914 he was elected district attorney of Humboldt county by a large majority. In prose- cutions he has been prompt to protect the interests of the county, intelligent in the application of the law and capable of carrying intricate cases through to the end. Although far from being an elderly man, he has seen within his recollections many changes in the city of his birth and the county of his lifelong identification. In every advance that has been made he takes a com- mendable pride. His encouragement is given to movements for the material growth of the community, and two very influential local organizations, the Eureka Board of Trade and the Humboldt Club, have been benefited by his active co-operation and efficient assistance. He was made a Mason in Hum- boldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., and is also a member of Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E., and Lincoln Lodge, K. of P. In the line of his profession he is a member of the Humboldt County Bar Association and the State Bar Association of California. By his marriage to Nanita Patten, a native of Vermont, he has two children, Dorothea and Arthur W., Jr.

The founder of the Hill family in Humboldt county was an uncle of the district attorney, Stephen Hill, a pioneer of 1854, who married Isabella Wilson, a native of New Brunswick; his death occurred on Christmas day of 1906, and that of his wife on the day following Christmas in 1907. A younger

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brother of Stephen Hill, John by name, born in Charlotte county, New Bruns- wick, in 1834, and deceased in Humboldt county, July 20, 1911, was a man of sterling character and splendid energies. Destiny gave to him no favorable surroundings in youth, but made it necessary for him to begin to earn his livelihood at the age of twelve years. There were few opportunities for a lad of twelve in the world, but he managed to earn his board and clothes, though having no opportunity to save anything or to gain any educational advantages. To an unusual degree he might be termed self-made. The long hours and the hard work of the lumber camps of Maine did not daunt his determination nor drive him from the occupation, for he still continued in it after moving to Wisconsin. Indeed, he was among the first to take up work in the lumber woods of that state. During 1859 he came via Panama to California, spending one month between New York and San Francisco, and then joining in Humboldt county his brother, Stephen, who had established a logging camp on Ryan slough near Eureka. After a considerable period of association with the brother in lumber interests he withdrew to take up farming on the old Hill place near Ryan slough, where he resided until his death, meantime in addition to agriculture establishing and maintaining a brick plant on his property. The people of the county, fully appreciating the worth of his citizenship, accorded to him and his brother a place among their foremost citizens and recognized him as a farmer and business man of judicious management and great perseverance. Through his marriage to Mary A. Baldwin, a native of New Brunswick, he was the father of four sons, all living and all men of standing and professional or business prestige. They are as follows: George F., a contractor in Eureka; Arthur W., district attor- ney of Humboldt county ; Dr. E. J. Ilill, of Arcata ; and Dr. Howard S. Hill, of Seattle.

FELICE FRANCISCONI, proprietor of the Italian-French bakery in Eureka, is a young man of worth and enterprise who has built up a creditable business. He was born in the city of Lucca, Italy, April 2, 1878, the son of Giuseppe Francisconi, a carpenter and builder. Felice attended the public schools until fourteen, when he began learning the carpenter's trade under his father and continued at it for about eight years. As a result of the glowing reports which had come regarding California he decided to come to the Pacific coast, thinking he could better his condition. In January, 1902, he arrived in San Francisco, where for several years he followed his trade, and while living there, May 9, 1909, he was married to Miss Elide De Llosso, also born in Lucca, Italy. Her father, Giuseppe De Llosso, came to the United States and settled at St. Paul, Minn., where for several years he was engaged in the merchandise business, after which he returned to Italy. As a girl Mrs. Francisconi lived in St. Paul, Minn., where she attended school, but returned to Lucca, Italy, when thirteen years of age. There she com- pleted her education, later coming to San Francisco with her aunt, and in that city she was married to Mr. Francisconi.

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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 26

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