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 29

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 29

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prevailing on the coast, for he had to pay $600 for a steerage passage to San Francisco, and was offered $800 for it before he had a chance to sail. He refused the offer, and arrived at San Francisco August 18, 1849, going at once to the gold fields in Yuba county, where he mined for about four months. He had fair success, but although he also had mining interests subsequently from time to time he never did a great deal in that line. In the spring of 1850 he entered Humboldt county at Trinidad in his search for the mouth of Trinity river. While he and the captain were ashore the schooner was driven back to sea and the men were obliged to live with the Indians until they started to walk to the site of Eureka, a distance of thirty-six miles. After- wards the discovery of Humboldt bay was reported. The schooner was recov- ered and returned to the captain, who went away in it, but Mr. Ricks re- mained, and it is claimed that he was the first white man to remain perma- nently in Eureka. The region was then a wilderness. Later, in partnership with R. G. Crozier, under the name of Crozier & Ricks, he embarked in gen- eral merchandising, and these men soon foresaw the advantages of the loca- tion, acquiring an undivided half-interest in the new townsite. Mr. Ricks soon purchased his partner's share, however, and within a short time had begun his active campaigning for attracting thither desirable business enter- prises, such as the town needed, by offering them advantages which he knew were substantial. In 1854 he attended a session of the legislature to work for the location of the town site, doing much to secure the passage of the act "to provide for the disposal of lots in the towns and villages on the public lands of Humboldt county." Mr. Ricks had judged the value of the location properly, although it was covered with forest when he arrived here. Feeling that it could have no logical rival on the bay, he exerted himself to the utmost to begin its development early, and though his farsighted plans sometimes seemed larger than conditions would warrant at the time they were laid, time has shown that he did not overestimate the possibilities of the town or its adjacent territory. In 1855 he represented Humboldt county in the state legislature, and at the close of his term was re-elected, undoubtedly in recog- nition of his services in securing the passage of the act transferring the county seat from Uniontown (now Arcata) to Eureka, which was successful prin- cipally because of his efforts. It was in 1861 that he received the appointment of district attorney of Humboldt county, to fill an unexpired term, and he acquitted himself creditably in that position.

In the spring of 1862 Mr. Ricks determined to make another mining venture, and in company with sixteen other men equally ambitious and daring set out for the Salmon mines. His diary shows that they left Lewiston April 29th, and the many interesting items which follow make good reading and reminiscences, but the experiences to which they allude could hardly have contributed to keep up the spirits of travelers in a wilderness going away from civilization, and with no prospects of any alleviation of their hardships for weeks to come. A pack train owned by James Boon and N. B. Brown took them to the Mountain house, the packing costing thirty cents a pound. The second day out a horse stampeded, swam the Snake river, and lost a hundred pounds of flour. The principal fare of the party consisted of tea, bread, beans and bacon, with molasses made from sugar. Several Indian farms were passed on the way, and occasionally they could buy milk from the farmers, who refused, however, to sell beef except at exorbitant prices.

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Mr. Ricks mentions borrowing a needle and thread from a squaw at one of the Indian ranches, to mend his suspenders, and the note that he saw where she made butter but did not have any of it to eat sounds rather wistful. On May 11th they traveled fifteen miles up the Salmon river, and met forty or fifty men returning from the mines rather discouraged. In the evening a severe wind and rain storm came up, and the discomfort after a hard day's journey (judging from his notes) seems to have made Mr. Ricks homesick, though he evidently did not indulge this feeling long, as in the next paragraph he relates that "the trip may prove beneficial" by making him thankful for his comforts at home. On May 16th he arrived at Florence, where he met friends and had a substantial supper, bread, bacon, fresh beef, coffee, dried apples and sugar. He refers to Florence as a mining town with a few log buildings and a population of five thousand men. He mentions cooking the meals, doing his washing and sewing, and in fact kept a record which throws much light on the typical life of prospectors and miners in the early days. The expressage on ietters was $I each. On June 10th Mr. Ricks bought the Starrar claim, for which he paid $1,150 and in which he gave an interest to his brother Samuel. He made some money getting out gold, but sold the mine a week or two later, he and his partner making about $250 on the claim. Subsequently he had interests in others, as he mentions one which paid but little, and the good bargain he made selling another. His diary closes August 9th, the date of his arrival in San Francisco.

Returning to Eureka, Mr. Ricks was soon busily engaged with his busi- ness affairs once more, devoting most of his attention to the improvement of his large holdings of real estate in the town. He erected and owned more buildings than any other man of his day there, including a number of fine residences and business blocks, but did not confine his activities to this line, doing much incidental improving which benefited the whole place. He built the Ricks waterworks, including the elevated reservoir, which was sup- plied with water from artesian wells distributed by steam power through nine miles of piping to the business parts of Eureka. The Palace stables, still owned by his heirs, were built and stocked by him. The development of the lumbering industry in this region was prosecuted very successfully through his wise counsel, and its profitable operations not only proved a desirable investment for capital, but added to the general wealth by providing employ- ment for many men in this part of the state, and enlivened commercial enter- prises accordingly. Mr. Ricks donated land for a number of public causes which he also supported with his financial means when necessary, and he not only started some of the most serviceable projects, bitt was ever liberal in lending his aid and influence to those promoted by others. Through his efforts inducements were offered to manufacturing enterprises to locate here, and he never lost faith in the future of the city, even when hard times threat- ened to engulf it. Many undertakings which he knew could not give him returns on his investment for years, but which were highly desirable, were fostered by him in the early stages of their existence, because he was public- spirited enough to wait for his own rewards in order to give many the benefits to be obtained.

Mr. Ricks was frequently called upon to serve in public trusts, to which he invariably gave the same care that he devoted to his private interests. He was a member and president of the first board of trustees of Eureka,

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and president of the first fire company, which was organized in 1864. He belonged to the Humboldt County Pioneers' Association and to the State Pioneers' Society, and fraternally was a prominent Odd Fellow. A Democrat in his political convictions, he enjoyed politics and was one of the influential party workers in his section, his ability as a speaker making him a valuable factor in campaigns. Mr. Ricks died in his sixty-seventh year, June 21, 1888, at San Francisco, and on June 28th was laid to rest in Eureka cemetery, the Odd Fellows conducting the funeral services. The wide range of his sym- pathies and interests could easily be judged by the throng which attended, the largest gathering ever known in Eureka up to that time, representing citizens of all classes from his home town and surrounding points. His sons took up his work where he left it, and their records speak well for the heritage of character and substantial qualities which he bequeathed to them.

Mr. Ricks returned to Indiana to marry Miss Adaline Amelia Fouts, their wedding taking place June 4, 1854. She was born February 16, 1829, in Clark county, that state, daughter of Jacob Fouts and granddaughter of Jacob and Mary Fouts, who came to this country from Germany before the Revolution and settled in North Carolina. There Jacob Fouts, father of Mrs. Ricks, was born October 17, 1775, and passed his early life. In 1806 he settled in Clark county, Ind., where he took up a large tract of land and followed farming very successfully until his death, December 27, 1836. He was drafted for military service during the Indian troubles, by General Har- rison, but having a large family of small children hired a substitute. Politically he was a Democrat, but not active in the party or in public affairs of any kind. His first wife, Isabel Dugan, of North Carolina, died in early woman- hood, leaving two sons, Angus and Edward, the former of whom was in business for many years at Lexington, Ind., as a merchant ; he died at the age of forty-eight years. Edward died in August, 1854.

March 5, 1807, in Clark county, Ind., Mr. Fouts married for his second wife Susanna Fouts, who was born in North Carolina June 1, 1787. Although bearing the same surname, she was not a relative, her parents, Jacob and Isabel Fouts, having been born and reared in Pennsylvania, going from there to North Carolina, and then to Clark county, Ind., where the father was profitably engaged in loaning money until his death, at the age of sixty-eight years. His wife survived him, dying at the age of seventy years. Of the union of Jacob and Susanna (Fouts) Fouts, ten children were born, namely : Two that died in childhood; Hiram ; Belinda ; Rebecca ; Nancy; Thomas D .; Mary ; Daniel L .; and Adaline A. Hiram Fouts, born February 27, 1808, spent his entire life in Clark county, Ind., being engaged in farming until his death, September 11, 1860. Belinda Fouts, born August 18, 1810, died in San Francisco in 1862. She married T. J. Henley, who served as a member of Congress from Indiana two terms and was afterwards a man of prominence in California, serving as Indian agent and being postmaster at San Fran- cisco in 1853. Rebecca Fouts, born October 21, 1813, married McGannon Barnes, and continued a resident of Clark county, Ind., until her death in 1887. Nancy Fouts, born November 14, 1816, was a bright and active woman in spite of her years, and resided in Louisville, Ky., until her death about 1912; she married William A. Ingram, a tanner by trade, who served a number of years as sheriff of Clark county, Ind. Thomas D. Fouts, born January 12, 1819, removed to Texas as a pioneer settler of Denton county, where he was

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employed in farming until his death, in 1890. During the Civil war he and two of his sons served as home guards in the Confederate army. Mary Fouts, born February 19, 1821, married S. S. Crowe, and died in Scott county, Ind., February 12, 1846. Daniel L., born July 28, 1823, came to Cali- fornia in 1853, settling in San Francisco, where his death occurred June 4, 1893. He was at first employed in the collector's office, and was afterwards a clerk in the office of the Indian agent. Adaline A. Fouts was reared in Indiana, receiving her education in Clark county. In 1853 she came with her sister, Mrs. Henley, to California, sailing from the Isthmus of Panama to San Francisco in the steamer Golden Gate. After a visit of seven or eight months in San Francisco, Miss Fouts returned to Indiana, and remained there until her marriage with Mr. Ricks.

Coming to California by way of Nicaragua, Mr. and Mrs. Casper S. Ricks landed in San Francisco August 15, 1854. Eureka, their home, was then a small town, with a few rude buildings on Front street, and but fifteen women, all told, in the place. In 1855, before the town site was granted, Mrs. Ricks purchased of D. D. Williams the block bounded on the north and south by Third and Fourth streets, and on the east and west by E and F streets, giving $300 for it, and paying with money of her own. She subsequently built up the block, and in the division of the estate a part of this block fell to the share of the son Thomas F. In 1902 Mrs. Ricks and her son H. L. disposed of the remaining three lots in the block, selling them for $75,000. Mrs. Ricks, whose death occurred November 26, 1903, witnessed the growth and development of the city with great pride and pleasure, taking as great an interest in its advancement and prosperity as her husband, to whom she was ever a devoted helpmate and companion. Of a bright and cheerful dispo- sition, she always encouraged him in his undertakings, and aided him by her sympathy and wise counsels. Although Mrs. Ricks had passed the allotted span of life, during her last years she was as bright and active as a woman of fifty years, retaining the mental and physical vigor of her younger days. In her will she bequeathed her entire property to her son Hiram Lambert Ricks, except a legacy of $5 to her son Thomas F. Ricks, he having received his portion some years previous, and naming her son Hiram Lambert Ricks as sole executor without bond. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Ricks three children were born, namely: Thomas Fouts, who died in 1910; Casper 'Stine- mets, Jr., who died in 1906; and Hiram Lambert.

By those who knew her best the following tribute is paid to Mrs. Ricks : "That she was a woman of marked ability and kindness is attested by all. It is said of her that those who knew her the longest liked her the best, which is about the best testimony to a sterling character.

"If there were any special qualities that could be mentioned it is the fact of her many kind deeds and her brilliant intellect. As a neighbor and friend in Eureka, which means almost the beginning of the city's history, her many friends can tell of her good deeds. They were of the kind that caused people to feel that they came from the goodness of the heart and caused them to be doubly willing to attest them.

"Of her intellect scarcely too much could be said since she was a wide reader and a ready thinker, and thus was well informed. This was particularly true on questions of the day and political subjects. It is said of her that no member of Congress could be mentioned but that she knew his place and his

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record. In political belief she was a Democrat of the old order and being deprived of a vote felt free to express her views and ably defend them."

HENRY H. BUHNE .- To mention the name of Henry H. Buhne is to call to mind not only the gallant Captain who had sailed the high seas and finally crossed the bar into the Humboldt bay, but also the Captain's son who worthily has won his way to business success and has developed the large interests previously secured by his father in this section of the state. The younger man was born September 22, 1858, in the county of Humboldt, and has been a lifelong resident here, preserving the integrity of a family name that began to be prominent during the pioneer period of American occupancy and has increased in prestige with the passing years. Varied enterprises have engaged his attention since the termination of a clerkship of seven years in the Humboldt County Bank and in no instance has any interest terminated in disaster, but all have reflected the wisdom of his judgment and the remarkable energy of his temperament. As early as June of 1879 he was placed in charge of the logging industry, the milling business and the tow-boat concern owned by his father, and he continued the management of the same until 1884, when the entire holdings were sold to the California Redwood Association, a Scotch syndicate. Meanwhile during 1882 and 1883 he had been in full control of the Humboldt County Bank, and when it is understood that all of this work was in his charge when he was scarcely twenty-five years of age it will be realized that he is a man of unusual mental power and rare discretion.

The California Redwood Company being unable to carry on the tow-boat business, it reverted to the original owner and again came under the manage- ment of Henry H. Buhne, Jr., who continued in charge until another sale was made to the Humboldt Lumber Manufacturing Association. Meanwhile he had opened a small branch store on Second street opposite the Vance hotel. From that small beginning he developed a large trade in hardware and sport- ing goods and it is said that he now has the finest and best stock in that line on the Pacific coast. The original quarters have been outgrown and now occupancy is had of a large, modern building on the corner of E and Second streets, Eureka. The large timber interests of his earlier life were sold in 1884, in order that he might concentrate his attention upon industries that were beginning to crowd out the once unrivalled lumber business.

By his marriage to a daughter of E. P. Vance, a leading pioneer of Hum- boldt county, Mr. Buhne has one daughter, Dorothy, now a student in a school for young ladies at Berkeley. Already a pianist of local note, Miss Dorothy gives promise of attaining fame in her chosen art and it is the expectation that her musical education will be completed in Europe. When twenty-one years of age Mr. Buhne became connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, both of which orders still have his name enrolled on their lists. He is said to have been the father of the local lodge of Elks at Eureka and his work in the interests of the order has been steadfast and helpful. Aside from the fraternities his social and commercial connections are varied and include membership in the Hum- boldt Club, the Sequoia Yacht Club and the Humboldt Promotion Committee. For two terms he served as a member of the city council of Eureka and in other ways he has promoted the welfare of the community. A man of positive convictions, he braved criticism in accepting the chairmanship of the

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vigilante committee that drove the Chinese from Eureka, but his firm stand in the matter was appreciated by all who had the welfare of the community at heart. With equal unhesitant courage he has championed movements which he believed to be for the well-being of the county, but which had arrayed against them men of loyal spirit and considerable prominence. In- deed his firmness has been a factor in community development, and credit is due him for his large share in the progress made by the county commercially and from an industrial standpoint.

HON. MELVIN PARKER ROBERTS .- One of the early-day pioneers of California, having made the journey westward in 1860 by way of the Isthmus of Panama, is Melvin Parker Roberts, veteran miner and lumber man, and at present engaged in dairy farming adjoining Arcata, and one of the large land owners in Humboldt county. He was for a short time engaged in mining in the gold camps in California and Nevada, and later was a promi- nent figure in the lumbering industry of this county. He has within later years returned to the calling of his fathers, and his farm is one of the best improved and most prosperous in the community.

Mr. Roberts is a native of Maine, having been born in St. Albans, Somer- set county, April 21, 1841, the son of Joseph and Atlant (Ireland) Roberts, both natives of Somerset county, Me. The grandfather, Joseph Roberts, also a native of Maine, was a blacksmith of ability, while Grandfather Joseph Ireland, a native of New Hampshire, was a farmer and drover in Maine. On the Roberts side the family is of Welsh origin, while the Irelands came of Scotch antecedents. Joseph Roberts, Jr., was a member of the Baptist de- nomination, and as was the custom in those early days he preached gratis and farmed for a livelihood. The early life of Melvin P. Roberts was spent on the farm, he attending at first the public schools and later St. Albans Academy, in the meantime during his spare moments assisting his father with the labors of the farm. When he was seventeen years of age he com- pleted his education and commenced to work for farmers in the vicinity and to accumulate a fund of his own, with a view to coming to California as soon as he was financially able. It was in 1860, when he was nineteen years of age, that he finally determined to make the venture, and the same year he landed in San Francisco. The voyage from New York to Aspinwall was made on the Northern Light, and from Panama to San Francisco on the Uncle Sam. Immediately Mr. Roberts went into the mining district on the south Yuba but did not like the conditions existing there, so returned to the Sacramento valley, where he secured employment for the summer on a farm. In the fall of the same year he returned to San Francisco, and from there went into the lumber country, making the journey in November on the old steamer Columbia, a side-wheel passenger steamer, and arriving in Eureka after an extremely rough passage. He soon found employment, at first with the Dolbeer & McLain Company in their sawmill, remaining with this com- pany for three years. The last two years he had charge of a crew of men as overseer. In 1863 Mr. Roberts went to Santa Clara and entered a business college, remaining about six months, when the Reese river gold excitement in Nevada was at its height, and he gave up school to join a party of gold- seekers. Later he went to Virginia City and again worked in the mines, but he did not like the close confinement of underground work, so gave up this line of occupation and removed to the Washoe valley, where he soon found

MR Moberg

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work with Folsom, Bragg & Co., working in the woods. In the fall of 1864 Mr. Roberts returned to Humboldt county and purchased a claim consisting of six hundred acres of large redwood timber, and the following spring he commenced logging on this claim, continuing thus until in 1868, and meeting with much success. At that time he sold his claim to William Carson, and made a trip to his old home in Maine, spending about eight months there. Upon returning to California he purchased an interest in the Russ, Wood & Co. lumber interests, and the following spring he contracted hauling spruce on Salmon creek. In the fall of the same year he became actively associated with the company in which he was interested, but three years later he sold his interest.

It was in 1880 that Mr. Roberts became actively interested in farm lands, purchasing an interest in a stock range and farming land on Mad river, upon which he followed farming and the raising of cattle and sheep. In 1882 he purchased a ranch west of Arcata, consisting of eighty-two acres of bottom land, and on this established a dairy business, being the first to engage in dairying in Arcata as a business. This place he afterwards sold and pur- chased a ranch adjoining Arcata on the east, the farm at present containing two hundred and twenty-five acres, all under a high state of cultivation, and devoted principally to dairying. Mr. Roberts also owns a ranch of thirteen hundred acres of range land at Southfork, near Garberville, devoted to stock- raising. Mr. Roberts was one of the leading men in the Arcata Improvement Company, an organization which has succeeded in reclaiming about one thousand acres of marsh land, and he was president of the company until the holding was sold.

Politically Mr. Roberts is a Republican, and has always taken an active interest in the affairs of his party. He was elected assemblyman from the second district in 1900, serving the session of 1901. He is at present a member of the board of trustees of Arcata. He is progressive and wide awake to all that makes for the best interest of the community and state. He is also well known in fraternal circles, having been made a Mason in Arcata Lodge No. 106, F. & A. M., of which he is past master ; is a member of Eureka Chapter No. 52, R. A. M., Eureka Commandery No. 35, K. T., and Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., San Francisco. He is also a charter member of the Arcata Club.

The marriage of Mr. Roberts took place in Arcata with Miss May Louise Nelson, who was born near Arcata, the daughter of Christian and Fredericka A. Nelson, pioneers of Arcata, where Mrs. Roberts was reared and educated. She is the mother of three children: Fredericka Atlant, now Mrs. Dolson, of San Francisco; Melvin P., Jr., attending the O. A. C. at Corvallis, Ore., and Hazel May, a senior in Arcata high school.

GEORGE H. CLOSE .- The Standard Furniture Company, of which Mr. Close is the manager and owner, stands at the forefront of the enterprises contributory to the commercial advancement of Eureka. The proprietor gives the credit of his success to the opportunities offered by the town, but many believe his own personality and wise business judgment formed an equal factor in laying the foundation for a concern of permanent value to the community. While he has been in touch with the history of Eureka ever since he landed here in 1883 and meanwhile has made his home here the

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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 29

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