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 46

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 46

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ler Co. On leaving Falk & Co. he became foreman of lumber yards for the Riverside Lumber Company in Arcata and continued with their suc- cessors, the Northern Redwood Lumber Company, and Mr. Jacobs has been one of their trusted employes ever since. When he at first took charge of the yards in Arcata, the work had only been started for a short time and the enterprise was not very large. It increased rapidly, however, and is now one of the large lumber yards in the county. The management of Mr. Jacobs has been in no small measure responsible for the growth of the busi- ness and his work has been unusually efficient and capable.

Aside from his splendid qualities as a business man, Mr. Jacobs has many warm personal friends. He is a Republican in politics, and is well informed on topics of general interest and wide awake to all that pertains to the welfare of the community.

The marriage of Mr. Jacobs took place in Arcata, December 5, 1891, uniting him with Mrs. Inez Jane (Brown) Armstrong, a native of Ohio, born in Perrysburg, Hancock county, July 16, 1848. Her father was Ben- jamin Brown, born in Canada, April 24, 1804. He married Julia Ann Blaisdel, in Albion, New York, in 1833. Mrs. Brown was a native of New York state, born August 24, 1817. Mr. Brown was a millwright by trade and lived in Ohio for many years, following his trade there until 1852, when he came with his family to Oregon, locating in Washington county, on the Tualitan river. He remained for some time, but eventually removed with his family to Humboldt county, Cal., making the trip from Oregon on horseback and locating at Arcata. Here he engaged in the carpenter's trade and also con- tracting and building. He died in Arcata, March 5, 1875. His wife passed away at the family home in Arcata, January 11, 1889.

The daughter, Inez Jane Brown, now Mrs. Jacobs, crossed the plains with her parents in 1852, when she was a child of some four years. The family located in Oregon and there she spent her girlhood. Later they removed to Humboldt county. She remained at home with her parents, attending school most of the time until her marriage with William Armstrong, September 15, 1867. Mr. Armstrong was a native of Kentucky, born January 18, 1838. He crossed the plains with his parents in 1851, coming directly to California and locating in Humboldt county. Here he followed the occupation of farming until the time of his death, July 9, 1880. There were three children born of this union, all of whom are well and favorably known in Arcata and Humboldt county. They are : Emily S. Armstrong, married in 1885 to James B. Sherborn; Jessie Armstrong, married in 1890 to George Hinckley; and Calvin Armstrong, married in 1898 to Miss Mabel Dickerson. The second marriage of Mrs. Armstrong, uniting her with Mr. Jacobs, was solemnized December 5, 1891.

In the intermarriage of the Jacobs-Brown-Armstrong families, three of the oldest and most honored pioneer families of the county have been united. They have all been residents of Humboldt county for many years and have been actively associated with the development of the best interests of the county and of the state. Both Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs are well known through- out the county and are popular with a wide circle of friends and acquaint- ances. Their home in Arcata is full of comfort and good cheer and is a popular gathering place with their many friends.

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HOGAN J. RING, M. D .- To comparatively few physicians is it given to remain in one location for more than a quarter of a century, winning the confidence of an increasing list of patients and caring for, in sickness, the little ones of those whom years before they had successfully brought through the usual ailments and contagious diseases of childhood. Such has been the happy experience of Dr. Ring, who since 1887 has continuously engaged in practice at Ferndale and is now the owner of one-half interest in the Ferndale general hospital, finding in his private and hospital practice, in membership in the Humboldt County and California State Medical Associations, and in service as medical examiner for various life insurance companies, the diversi- fied professional activities essential to modern medical progress. There is always interest in tracing the steps which lead our foreign-born citizens out of obscurity into professional or commercial prominence, and in the case of Dr. Ring we find that his first step toward independence occurred in his migration to the new world from Norway, where he was born near Chris- tiania, February 17, 1851, and where he had passed an uneventful youth on a farm about ten miles from the capital of Norway. During 1866 he sailed across the ocean on the Emerald, an old-fashioned sailing vessel, that even then was losing its prestige in the growing popularity of the more expensive liners. Via the St. Lawrence river and the great lakes he traveled to Min- nesota, where he settled in Fillmore county. Being an excellent violinist, he used that talent to defray the expenses of two years of study in the Pres- ton schools. After leaving school he was employed for four and one-half years as an apprentice and clerk in a Preston drug store. During 1872 he and his former employer opened a drug store at Whalan, Minn., and he managed the business for two years, then hired a manager, but still retained his interest in the concern.

It had been the ambition of Dr. Ring from boyhood to enter the medical profession, but the way did not open until he had accumulated a little fund through the savings of his work as a druggist. Thereupon he began the study of therapeutics and in 1877 he was graduated from the Bennett Medical Col- lege of Chicago. After some months at Whalan he removed to Hastings, Neb., in the fall of 1878 and in 1881 located at Grand Island, Neb., and while there served as coroner of Hall county for two years. From there he came to California in 1887 and settled at Ferndale, the scene of all his subsequent professional labors. August 1, 1876, he married Ida O. Lowe, who died at Ferndale, June 7, 1901, leaving five children, namely: John Glenellyn, of Fruitland ; Verna Ilelen, Mrs. P. W. Hunter. of Fortuna ; Mildred, Mrs. W. S. Moore, of Ferndale ; Ronald Lowe, attending the University of California ; and Arden G., attending Ferndale high school. The second marriage of Dr. Ring was solemnized October 7, 1903, and united him with Mrs. Eleanor (Black) Andreasen, a native of Ireland, and the widow of Olaf Andreasen, of Ferndale. Of this union there are two children, Harlyn J. and Ingwald M. Dr. Ring's fraternities, in most of which he has served as medical examiner, include membership in Ferndale Lodge No. 193, F. & A. M., Ferndale Chap- ter, R. A. M. ; Ferndale Lodge No. 220, I. O. O. F., in which he is a past grand ; Aurora Lodge No. 51, K. of P .; Woodmen of the World; District Court No. 976, Court of Honor ; and Grand Island (Neb.) Lodge No. 1, A. O. U. W., of which he served as the first medical examiner. A number of valuable prop- erty holdings in Humboldt county indicate his desire to accumulate a com-

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petency for later years when active professional interests will no longer be possible, while his love of the artistic and beautiful is indicated by his attractive residence in Ferndale, a place made attractive by his personal su- pervision of the grounds and at the same time delightful through the gracious hospitality extended by the Doctor and his wife to their guests.

JOHN TRIGG .- The life story of the man who began at the bottom of the ladder and worked his way up round by round, planting his feet always firmly on the rungs of honesty, reliability and industry and in the end reaching the top, with many years of strength and usefulness yet to enjoy, is certain to contain, not only much of interest, but, as well, much that may be of great profit to the young man who is himself starting out on his journey of life with his own fortune to carve from the untried future. In such biographies may be mentioned John Trigg, of Ferndale, who came to Humboldt county from his native province in Canada, when he was yet a young man and commenced to work by the month on the various farms in the county. The service that he rendered was always to the best of his ability and that was no small thing. He was ever willing, industrious and eager to learn, and so always found ready employment. As the years went by he accumulated a comfortable bank account, and later engaged in farming and dairying for himself. Today he conducts one of the most profitable and attractive dairy farms in the county, modern and up-to-date in all its appointments and highly sanitary. His milk check for the month averages throughout the summer months the goodly sum of $500, and in addition he has the various by-products of the dairy and the increase from fifty head of graded milch cows. Mr. Trigg is a progressive man in the broadest and best sense of that word. He is giving his children the best educational advantages that the country affords, and they are exhibiting a marked aptitude in both music and scholarship. In all the interests of the community he is wide-awake to the welfare of the public and stands for progress and general improvement along sane and substantial lines.

Mr. Trigg was born near Whitby, about thirty-two miles east of Toronto, Canada, January 7, 1859, the son of William Trigg, Sr., and Mary Ann (Edwards) Trigg. His grandparents, both paternally and maternally, were natives of England, born in Kent, close to the Aldershot Barracks. In his own family there were ten children, all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood, and eight of whom are living at present. They are: Mariah, died at the age of twenty-five years ; John, the subject of this article ; William, dairyman at Ferndale; Sarah H., the wife of C. A. Pettigill, residing at Coquille, Ore .; Robert, farmer at Whitby, Canada, where he owns the old Trigg farm ; George, residing at Ferndale, Whatcomb county, Wash., where he is engaged in the dairy business; Lucy E., the wife of George S. Davis, dairyman at Coquille, Ore .; Charlotte E., wife of W. L. Kessner, dairyman at Coquille, Ore .; Mary. J., the wife of George W. Kistner, bicycle repair shop, Ferndale; and Elizabeth, who died at the age of twenty-one.

The boyhood days of Mr. Trigg were passed on the home farm near Whitby, where he remained until he was twenty-four years of age. The educational advantages were meager and he being the eldest boy many responsibilities fell upon his shoulders when he was yet a lad. He early assumed a full share of the farm work and worked with his father until at the age of twenty-four years he determined to make an independent start 11

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in life. For the following three years he worked for various farmers in his community and, at the end of that time, when he was twenty-seven, together with his brother William, came to Humboldt county, Cal., where he has since made his home. The brothers arrived in Ferndale on the night of January 20, 1885, and at noon of the 23d they went to work, by the month, on a dairy ranch in the vicinity. For eight years Mr. Trigg continued this work, giving the best of service, making many friends and accumulating a substantial bank account. About this time he met and married Mrs. Esther LaMar, the widow of John LaMar, and the only daughter of James Smith, who will be remembered as one of the few pioneers of the Ferndale district. He was born in Yorkshire, England, and came to America when he was twenty-nine years of age. He settled in Delaware and lived in the East for three years. During that time he was married in Delaware, and with his bride started for San Francisco, coming by way of the Horn on a sailing vessel taking nine months for the trip. He remained in San Francisco for six years and then came to Humboldt county, locating on the ranch that was his home until the time of his death, at the age of ninety-two years. He was president of the grange and an important factor in the development of the Ferndale district.

The year before his marriage Mr. Trigg rented the Smith ranch and has continued to conduct this property ever since. He owns, in addition, twenty- five acres, and also rents an additional seventy-five acres adjoining, besides owning a one hundred-acre dairy ranch at Coquille, Ore., and forty acres at Ferndale, Wash. On his local property Mr. Trigg has recently installed the Sharpless system of milking machine, which he finds a success and great convenience in milking his fifty cows. He has been interested in the creamery business of this district and was a director of the old Pioneer Creamery Com- pany, which sold out to the Libbey McNeill Company. He is an important factor in the dairy interests of the county and is recognized as a man of knowledge and authority on such subjects. He is also well informed on all subjects of general farming and agriculture and takes a prominent part in all that pertains to these industries in Humboldt county, and especially in the vicinity of Ferndale.

In addition to his prominence in commercial circles, Mr. Trigg also occupies an equally prominent place in church, educational and fraternal circles. He became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church seven years ago and is now a trustee and a prominent worker in that denomination. He has been a member of the Knights of Pythias in Ferndale for more than twenty-six years and a member of the Odd Fellows in Ferndale for more than twenty-five years and during all that time has given of his best for the good of both orders. He has been a member of the Rebekahs for twenty-five years and of the Myrtle Encampment for three years, and was a charter member of the Woodmen of the World. He is also a member of the Fraternal Brother- hood and of the Women of Woodcraft Circle. In his political affiliation Mr. Trigg is a Republican. His support has always been given for the advance- ment of the best interests of the community and for the upbuilding of the community and of the state.

At the time of her marriage with Mr. Trigg Mrs. LaMar was the mother of four children by her previous marriage, and these children have been reared and educated by Mr. Trigg as his own. They are: Grace and Edith, both residing at home ; George K., residing in Trinity county ; Ernest J., residing

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at Battle Ground, Wash., and married to Miss Sarah Wooldridge, of Fortuna. Mr. and Mrs. Trigg also became the parents of four children, as follows: Leslie P., a graduate of the Ferndale High School, class of 1914; John W., Jennie E., and Robert S., all students in the Ferndale schools and residing at home with their father. Mrs. Trigg, who for so many years was a prominent figure in the social, church and fraternal circles of Ferndale, having been closely associated with her husband in all such activities, died July 10, 1906, at the age of forty-seven years. Since her death Mr. Trigg has devoted his time exclusively to his children and to his commercial interests.

JOHN CHRISTENSEN .- As a leader among the Danes at Ferndale, and a prominent factor in commercial, social, fraternal and educational affairs of his home community and of Ferndale district, John Christensen takes his rightful place as a man of splendid qualities of heart and mind, wonderfully energetic and progressive and especially successful in his many business undertakings. He is president and general manager of the Valley Flower Creamery Company, and was one of the prime movers in its organization and establishment, besides conducting two of the most profitable dairy farms in the district. He is a prominent member of the Odd Fellows and also a member of the Danish Singing Society at Ferndale and other Danish benevolent associations in which he is a leading spirit. His home life is altogether delightful, his wife being a woman of much charm of manner and pleasant hospitality, who takes a great interest in the success of her capable husband. There are five children in the family and all are more or less musical, and several musical instruments grace the home. While Mr. Christensen is intensely interested in his business affairs he also finds plenty of time for the enjoyment of the companionship of his family and for the social life of the community where he makes his home.

Mr. Christensen is a native of Denmark, born at Sig in Jutland, Sep- tember 24, 1878. His father, Wilhelm Christensen, was a dairy farmer and owned a splendid ranch of eighty acres. He is now deceased. The mother was Metta P. Larsen in her girlhood days, and is now living in Denmark at the age of fifty-eight years. She was the second wife of her husband, and bore him four children, of whom John, the subject of this article, is the eldest son. There were also four children born of the first marriage, Bodil, Mrs. C. P. Frey, the wife of a dairy farmer at Modesto, being a half sister of Mr. Christensen, they being the only members of their family in America. Mr. Christensen was reared on his father's farm in Denmark, where he early learned to do his share of the farm labor, working hard when he was yet a mere boy. He attended the public schools and was confirmed in the Lutheran church. When he was but little past fourteen years of age he went to Schleswig, Germany, and learned the creamery business, serving an appren- ticeship of eighteen months. In 1894 he came to America, landing in New York in May, and coming at once to Humboldt county, the journey being made with his half sister, Mrs. Frey, who now resides at Modesto. They came to Port Kenyon on the Salt river, on the steamer Weeott, which was then making the run from San Francisco to this point, which is Mr. Christen- sen's present home. He went to work on the Francis place at Ferndale for one N. P. Hansen, as a dairy hand, and continued to work for wages on various dairy ranches of the district until some two years after his marriage, which occurred in 1900, uniting him with Miss Elise Jacobsen, a daughter of

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J. T. Jacobsen, a farmer of Metropolitan, who has a family of nine children, of whom Mrs. Christensen is the eldest. In November, 1902, Mr. Christen- sen rented a ranch and engaged in the dairy business for himself. His first place was the Grinsell place, which he still conducts, and three years later he also rented the Zanone place, and now runs them together, milking in all about eighty cows.

Mr. Christensen was also the manager of the old Pioneer creamery for five years, and then, in order to benefit himself and his neighbors by the establishment of a creamery nearer home, he helped to organize and establish the Valley Flower Creamery, of which he is president, as well as general manager. This is one of the most sanitary and up-to-date plants in the county, all the latest scientific devices and methods being in use. It is capi- talized for $20,000, divided into four thousand shares at $5 per share. Mr. Christensen does the testing and also the buying of all supplies, and the marketing of the product. Other officers are: Eugene Larsen, vice-president ; Robert H. Flowers, secretary and bookkeeper, and the Russ-Williams Bank- ing Company, treasurer. On the board of directors are John Rossen, A. Zana, John Brazil, Anton Enos, Robert H. Flowers and John Christensen. This creamery is a great financial success and is meeting the needs of the com- munity in a splendid manner.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Christensen have many warm friends in their home neighborhood, in addition to the many business associates of Mr. Christensen, who is well liked by those who come in contact with him. Mr. Christensen is a member of the Ferndale Lodge No. 379, I. O. O. F., and has taken an active part in the affairs of the order for many years, passing through all the chairs. He is a member of Myrtle Encampment, of which he is Past C. P., and was representative at the Grand Encampment at Santa Cruz, in 1911, and was there appointed Deputy Grand Patriarch by the Grand Master. He is especially prominent in the Danish societies, and is an influential member of the Dania Society and also of the Danish Brotherhood, being an ex- president of both ; he is also active in the local Danish Singing Society.

One of the strongest interests of Mr. Christensen's life has been in educational affairs. His own early advantages were seriously curtailed, but after coming to Ferndale he attended night school for many months, taking advantage of every opportunity to improve his knowledge of the English lan- guage and to acquire general information, and in both these ambitions he was exceptionally successful. His interest in the school system of the county has taken a practical turn and he has given his hearty support to the up- building of the public school in the Port Kenyon district, where he makes his home. This district stands throughout the county as being an excep- tionally good one. It employs two teachers and has a term of nine months each year. The average daily attendance is fifty-four pupils and the records of scholarship are very high. The building is commodious and well cared for and the salaries paid are good. The board of trustees consists of Mr. Christensen, Charles Sweet and Archie Morrison. Mr. and Mrs. Christensen have themselves five children who have profited by the splendid conditions of the local schools, where they have attended. They are: Therese Marie, Walford John, Bernard Lester, Verna Petrea and Curtiss Clarence. The interest of Mr. Christensen in educational progress is, however, far from selfish, being along broad lines of culture and progress.

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CHARLES PARSONS SOULE .- Mr. Soulé's association with the busi- ness life of Humboldt county has been and is primarily as a banker, but his influence as an authority on financial matters has extended into various fields of enterprise. His strong personality, liberal ideas and courage in taking a progressive stand on questions affecting vitally the welfare of town, county or wider territory have made him one of the live factors in the promotion of all movements whose object has been the betterment of local conditions, whether of a business nature or purely in the interest of social improvement. Possessed of ability which needed an adequate outlet, and high principled in his dealings with all men, he has been found competent and trustworthy in every test. He is an honorable descendant of honored American ancestry. The name he bears has been a respected one in New England from Colonial days. His father, Philander Soulé, born in Maine in 1812, emigrated to Cali- fornia in the early '50s, locating at San Francisco, where he joined his brother, Samuel Soulé, who became a prominent business man. After a stay of a year or more in San Francisco he returned to Maine, where he remained until 1867, that year returning to California with his family and settling at San Francisco, in which city he made a permanent home. He died there in 1896, at the great age of eighty-four years. Mr. Soulé was a farmer, and at various times in his life also engaged in merchandising. He married Abigail Burn- . ham, who died in 1853. The Soulés trace their lineage back to George Soulé and Miles Standish, both passengers on the Mayflower in 1620.

Charles Parsons Soulé was born September 18, 1851, at Winslow, Me., and was named for a cousin of his mother, a prominent business man of New York. His education was obtained principally in his native state, in the public schools and at Colburn Classical Institute, Waterville. After coming to San Francisco, in November, 1867, he took a course at the Pacific business college to receive special preparation for business. His career as a banker began in July, 1868, when he became messenger in the employ of the Bank of California, in San Francisco, and at the instance of that institution he was sent the following year to Virginia City, Nev., where he acted as bookkeeper in the office of the Virginia City and Truckee Railroad Company. Returning to the Bank of California in the spring of 1870, he was employed as clerk there until the summer of 1871, when he went back to Nevada to take the position of bookkeeper for the agency of the Bank of California at Hamilton, White Pine county. In January, 1873, he was offered the position of cashier in the bank of Paxton & Curtis, at Austin, Nev., and accepted, holding it until he was elected to represent his district in the Nevada legislature, for 1879-80. At this time he moved to Reno and was admitted to membership in the banking firm of Paxton, Curtis & Co., the association lasting until the firm discontinued banking operations in that state in the spring of 1889. Mr. Soulé then returned to California, in the fall of the year settling at Eureka, where he has since resided.

It was not long before Mr. Soulé was in the thick of business activities here. Largely as the result of his efforts the Bank of Eureka and the Savings Bank of Humboldt County, in both of which he holds positions of high re- sponsibility, were established, and their success has been attributed measur- ably to his farsighted policy and conservative management. He was director and cashier of both banks until 1902, when he was elected president of the Bank of Eureka and vice-president of the Savings Bank, in which capacities

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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 46

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