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 49

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 49

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).

In the city of Eureka, Mr. Morgan was married on November 2, 1892, to Miss Rose Ella Wilson, who was born in Vinton, Iowa, but grew up in Humboldt county, Cal. The parents of Mrs. Morgan were Eli Wilson, a native of Ohio, who removed to Iowa, and thence in 1875 to Eureka, Cal. ; and Sarah (Dudgeon) Wilson, also a native of Ohio, who accompanied her hus- band, a bricklayer and mason by trade, to Eureka, where they later died, leaving five children, of whom Mrs. Morgan is the youngest. Both Mr. and Mrs. Morgan are attendants at the Presbyterian Church, and in his political preferment Mr. Morgan is a supporter of the Republican party.

GEORGE M. BRICE .- Although a native of England, where he was born May 18, 1854, in the county of Surrey, George M. Brice has been a resident of Humboldt county, Cal., since 1871, and has from that time to the present been engaged in business enterprises that have aided materially in the development of the county, adding to its resources, opening up new fields of endeavor, and in a multitude of ways associating himself inseparably with the history and life of his adopted state.

The early life of Mr. Brice was passed among the green fields and flowering hedges of his native Surrey, where his family had dwelt for many generations, his father being a farmer, and well and favorably known. The home conditions were, nevertheless, meager and did not offer flattering op- portunities to the ambitious boy. From across the water came tales of great wealth that could be accumulated by thrift and industry, where vast acres of fertile land could be had for the taking. These tales were fireside conversa- tion in the Surrey home, and in the countryside where the lads of the neigh- borhood attended school. The result was practically inevitable, and when young Brice was sixteen he determined to leave school and seek his fortune in the new world. He accordingly joined with another young man of the village, one James Robarts, and came to California in 1871, locating in Hum- boldt county. His first occupation was as a farm hand on a dairy farm on Bear Ridge. In the fall of the same year he entered the employ of John Kemp in his butcher shop at Ferndale, where he remained five years. In Ferndale, June 18, 1876, occurred the marriage of Mr. Brice, uniting him with Miss Clara Francis, a native of Ferndale, the daughter of Francis and Grace Francis, pioneers of this town and the original owners of the present

427

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

site of Ferndale. Of this union were born six children : Herbert F., manager Ivanhoe hotel; Leslie P., and George M., both deceased; Gwendolin, Mrs. R. A. Griusell, of Oakland : Letha C., and Harry C., at home.

The same year (1876), Mr. Brice opened a butcher shop in Ferndale, prospering in this business, until 1880, when he sold the shop and engaged in the livery business. In this new undertaking he started on a small scale, but the business grew, and later he operated the stage line to Singley's station, and for five years he prospered in this line of endeavor.

Other fields were calling him, however, and in 1885 he sold his livery business to Barnes & Adams, and renting a good farm, commenced a profitable career as a farmer and dairyman, the property being known as the Francis ranch. Here he continued until 1892, when he gave up his occupation as a farmer and, returning to Ferndale, repurchased his former livery business, which was then owned by Barnes, Scott & Hicks, in partnership with Ed Carr, and a year later Mr. Brice bought Mr. Carr's interest and continued the business alone. Extending the scope of his operations, Mr. Brice now has, in addition to the Ferndale interests, several stage lines into the surrounding country, chief among these being the line between Petrolia and Ferndale, and from Ferndale to Fern Bridge. The first of these lines, operating between Ferndale and Petrolia, is the continuation of one of the pioneer stage lines which he had originally purchased, with the stables, having been continued intermittently since. Another department of the livery business which Mr. Brice has operated with great success is teaming and freighting, his teams maintaining the commercial connection with the thriving little city of Fern- dale and the surrounding territory, which is as yet not adequately supplied with railroad transportation.

The hotel business also has proven a profitable field of endeavor for Mr. Brice, and he owns the Ivanhoe Hotel in Ferndale, which he has operated successfully since 1909.

Mr. Brice is recognized as one of the leading citizens in his home city, and has always taken an active interest in the public school system, as well as in all movements for the upbuilding of his city and county. He is a loyal Republican in both local and national issues. He has for a number of years served as city trustee, with great satisfaction to the people in general, and has been given various positions of trust and influence. He is a citizen of high principles and sterling worth.

JOHN B. HILL .- One of the old pioneers in Humboldt county, Cali- fornia, John B. Hill is well and favorably known here, having made his home in this district since the year 1869, when he made the journey across the continent on one of the first trains to California.

Born near Oak Bay, Charlotte county, N. B., on January 22, 1844, John B. Hill was the son of James, also a native of New Brunswick. The grandfather, Daniel Hill, was born in the state of Maine, married to Sarah Sprague, and became a farmer in Warwick, N. B. The great-grandfather, David Hill, is connected with the early history of our country, having served under Maj. Robert Rogers, the famous Indian ranger on Lake Champlain, during the French and Indian war. He was one of the first English settlers of the town of Machias, Me., where he went in the year 1763, in 1779 removing to Calais, Me. His wife was Elizabeth Holmes, of Plymouth, Mass.

The third oldest in a family of seven children, John B. Hill was brought

428

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

up in the town of Calais, Me., from the age of five years, his parents, James and Cynthia (Leighton) Hill, having gone there from New Brunswick in 1849. He received his education in the public schools, and from boyhood worked on the farm and in the woods, the latter being the principal occupa- tion for the young men of that vicinity during the winter months. In the spring Mr. Hill was employed in driving on the St. Croix river, becoming an expert swimmer, as much at home in the water or riding a log as walking on the river banks. The good reports of high wages paid for the same kind of labor in Humboldt county brought about his determination to come to the Pacific coast. Accordingly, in the fall of 1869 he made the long trip across the continent, coming immediately to Eureka. During the greater part of his first winter in this state, Mr. Hill worked at shingle making, being later employed in the woods on Ryan Slough by his cousin, Charles W. Hill, with whom he continued for twelve years, most of the time in the capacity of head chain-tender. Leaving the woods at the end of that time, he spent several years in Alex. Cookson's shipyards, and helped build the Halcyon, Lena Sweasey, Fidelity, and Challenger, the Halcyon now being the only one afloat. Then, with his brother William, he bought land on Harrison avenue, Eureka, whereon the two men built a brick plant and for two years were engaged in the making of brick, after which Mr. Hill continued the manu- facture of brick independently, as the best clay was on his ten acres of land, and it was only after twelve years that he gave up the business and went into gardening and the raising of fruit. For some years he raised strawberries extensively, having three acres of his property given up to this fruit exclu- sively, but of late years he is devoting the land more to gardening and the raising of potatoes, attending personally to the work, although he is now advanced in years.

The marriage of Mr. Hill to Louise Whittier took place in Charlotte county, N. B., and they became the parents of seven children, of whom four are at present living : Edith, wife of Peter McRae, a grocer on Myrtle avenue, Eureka; Chester, a shingle weaver in Eureka; Wesley, employed in the Eureka post office; Warren, with the Electric Light Company in Eureka. Mr. Hill is a supporter of the principles of the Republican party, his fra- ternal associations being with Fortuna Lodge No. 221, I. O. O. F., at Eureka, and with the Odd Fellows' Veteran Association in Eureka.

GILMAN C. KNAPP .- One who comes of a line of patriotic forebears, on both the father's and the mother's side, is Gilman C. Knapp, a well-known mechanic of Eureka, Cal., who resides with his family at his Bucksport home, designed and built by himself. The grandfather of Mr. Knapp, Zelotes Knapp, was a pioneer of Ohio and later also of Iowa, the grandmother being Ann Baker, whose father served in the War of 1812. Their son, Edward Y. Knapp, the father of Gilman C., was born at Melmore, Seneca county, Ohio, July 31, 1838, and at the age of twelve years accompanied his parents to Iowa, in 1863 enlisting in Company L of the Third Iowa Cavalry Regiment, which was a part of the detail that captured Jefferson Davis. Having served until the close of the war, Edward Knapp followed farming in Decatur county, Iowa, also operating a woolen mill in Leon, in the same state. His marriage occurred in Decatur county, Iowa, uniting him with Miss Gertrude Mudgett, who was born near Defiance, Paulding county, Ohio, the daughter of Major Gilman C. Mudgett, who was born in New Hampshire and served

429

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

during the Civil war in Company L of the Third Iowa Cavalry, where he enlisted as captain and was later promoted to major of the regiment, three of his sons also serving in the same company. Major Mudgett later removed to Humboldt county, Cal., where he was engaged in farming and was promi- nent in politics, serving one term as a member of the state legislature. Edward Y. Knapp, the son-in-law of the Major, also came to Humboldt county, locat- ing in 1875 at Eureka, where for a while he followed the pursuit of farming, later becoming a millwright and shingle manufacturer. He and his wife both reside in Eureka, and of their three children two are now living, Gilman C., and Edward Y., Jr., who resides at Arcata, Cal.

Born in the town of Leon, in Decatur county, Iowa, March 18, 1871, Gilman C. Knapp came to California with his parents when only about four years of age and was educated in the public schools of Eureka and Arcata. In 1884 he entered the employ of the old Riverside Lumber Company, now known as the Northern Redwood Lumber Company, beginning his work under the supervision of H. W. Jackson, as a filer, later operating a shingle machine. After seven years spent with this company, Mr. Knapp went with Ole C. Hanson to Bayside, where he worked as filer and mill foreman. Later, renting the Baird mill on Ryan Slough, he ran it for a year, then accepting the position of superintendent of George Pinkerton's mill at Freshwater for five years, while there inventing and patenting the Knapp shake machine for sawing shakes. This proved a success and he later sold the patent to the Eureka Foundry Company. In 1903 he entered the employ of the Whiting G. Press Company, becoming a stockholder therein on the incorporation of the company, and has been the secretary and superintendent of the same ever since. During the thirty years and more of his business life, Mr. Knapp has given special attention to the machinist trade as pertaining to the im- provement of machines and saws for the manufacture of shingles and shakes. His revision of saw-filing for shakes and shingles is well known to every shingle-mill operator on the Pacific coast. In addition to his mechanical ability in shingle mills. Mr. Knapp has spent several years studying the mechanism of automobiles and is also doing considerable work in that line.

He has several real estate holdings besides his residence which he built in the town of Bucksport. His marriage to Miss Rhodena McLean, a native of Nova Scotia, was solemnized at Eureka, and they are the parents of one child, Helen. Fraternally Mr. Knapp is a member of the W. O. W.

EDMUND V. PRICE .- Since the age of five years, Edmund V. Price has made his home in California, having come here with his family in May, 1876, from Gilman, in Iroquois county, Ill., where he was born October 27, 1870, the son of William Price, a native of Ohio, and Lucetta (Brown) Price, a native of Indiana, where the parents were married, removing thence to Gilman, IHl. The father was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war, as were also two of his brothers, while his uncle, Gen. Sterling Price, of Missouri, was in the Southern army. William Price carly brought his family to California, where they remained for a few months at the town of Woodland, locating thereafter near Philo in the Anderson valley, in Mendo- cino county, at which place he engaged in stock-raising. The death of his wife took place at Healdsburg, Cal., while he himself died in Los Angeles, in the same state.

Of the eight children of William Price, Edmund V. was the youngest,

430

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

and was educated in the public schools of Mendocino county, in the Adven- tist College, Healdsburg, and also in business college, after which he was apprenticed at the confectioner's trade in San Francisco. After learning the trade, Mr. Price started in that business at Angeles Camp, but soon selling out, he located in San Bernardino, Cal., where he engaged in the same occu- pation until 1903, the time of his removal to Red Bluff, Cal., where he started a confectionery establishment, building up a large and successful business in this line. In 1914, finding that the fumes in the factory were making inroads upon his health, Mr. Price sold out and settled in Humboldt county, where he purchased the old Malone ranch, known as the Englewood ranch and consisting of one hundred sixty acres, beautifully located on Eel river in the Englewood valley, three and one-half miles from Dyerville. Here Mr. Price engages in stock-raising in a picturesque locality supplied with mountain as well as mineral springs, an attractive spot which he is converting into a summer resort, since it is situated on the state highway within easy access of the several centers of population. An enterprising business man, he is well fitted to improve such a place and to make a success in this new ven- ture, and by piping water from the mountain springs and putting in all other improvements possible, he is making of his establishment a vacation resort which is certain to win a high standing. among places of this nature.

Fraternally Mr. Price is well known as an active member of the Fra- ternal Brotherhood, while in his political preferences he is an upholder of the principles of the Republican party. His marriage took place in Los Angeles, uniting him with Miss Anna Wilson, a native of that city, whose father, William Wilson, was one of the pioneer settlers of the state of California.

WILLIAM WHITE KING .- One of the old settlers of Humboldt county, Cal., a man who has won the esteem and friendship of all those with whom he is associated, William W. King may well be classed among the pioneers of the state of California.

Born near Warrensburg, Johnson county, Mo., on March 1, 1841, he was the son of Robert L. King, a native of Jefferson county, in eastern Ten- nessee, who was the son of Edward King, born in Jamestown, Va., and married in the same city to Susan Lewis, the couple moving, after their mar- riage, to Tennessee. Robert L. King was a blacksmith, and, removing to Johnson county, Mo., purchased a farm there ten miles west of the town of Warrensburg, where he built and conducted a blacksmith's shop until his death, which occurred there in 1854. His wife, the mother of William W., was formerly Margaret Haynes, and was born in Tennessee and died in Missouri, being the great-granddaughter of a soldier in the Revolutionary war by the name of Cox. Of her nine children, seven are now living, namely : Susan, now Mrs. Still, of Eureka; Edmund Peter, who came to California in 1853 and now lives with his brother William ; Unity J., now Mrs. Smith, resid- ing in Henry county, Mo. : William W., of whom we write ; Martha E., now Mrs. Crumbaugh, of Missouri ; Sarah F., now Mrs. Cleland, living in Mis- souri ; and John Russell, a resident of Eureka; Elizabeth and Louisa Ann, both having died in Missouri. William W. King grew up on his father's farm in Missouri, attending the carly schools in that locality. In April, 1864, he removed with other members of his family including his sister, Mrs. Susan Still and family, to Oregon, crossing the plains with ox-teams, taking six months for the trip, and settling for a time at Sublimity, Ore. However, the

games Je Blackburn

Mary J Blackburn

435

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

party remained only a year at that place, for in 1865 they came to Crescent City, Cal., shipping their goods and bringing their stock by trail down the coast to Eureka, William W. walking all the way in order to drive the cattle. For a year they rented a farm on the Elk river in Humboldt county, then one on Humboldt hill where they made their home for two years. In 1868, purchasing the Willow Brook ranch ten miles south of Eureka, near the mouth of Salmon creek, they cleared and improved the land for a stock ranch and dairy farm, Mr. King having purchased the ranch in partnership with his brother-in-law, James E. Still, and after the death of Mr. Still, in 1887, Mr. King and his sister owned and operated the place together until 1901. At that date they rented the property for a dairy and purchased ten acres at No. 2701 Harrison avenue, in the suburbs of Eureka, which Mr. King cleared and improved, building thereon a comfortable residence, and engaging in the raising of vegetables. In the division of the property, Mrs. Still now owns the ranch, while her brother is the owner of the town home. Mr. King is a popular and enterprising man, interested in the welfare of the community where he resides and always helpful to those with whom he has any dealings. For eight years he was school trustee in the Salmon Creek district, and has for four years been trustee in the Worthington district where he now resides. In his political interests he is a supporter of the Democratic party.

JAMES FELIX BLACKBURN .- Through two decades of active and honorable business pursuits Mr. Blackburn was identified with the develop- ment of Humboldt county. Although that identification dates back to an earlier period in local history, his name is still remembered as that of a man of sterling character and commercial enterprise. Of Canadian birth and parentage, he was born in Newport, Hants county, Nova Scotia. June 4, 1839, and received such meager educational advantages as the locality and period made possible. It may be said that his accomplishments in the world of affairs were duc wholly to his own determined will and untiring perse- verance, for he had no one to aid him in securing a start, but even in boy- hood earned his own board and clothing. While he never attained great wealth he was successful in attaining that which is far more to be desired, the esteem of associates and the warm regard of intimate personal friends. Of progressive temperament, he aided many movements for the carly ad- vancement of Humboldt county, where he established a home early in the '60s and where he continued to reside until the lamentable accident occurred that caused his death.

For a brief period after coming to California in 1861 Mr. Blackburn engaged in mining around Grass Valley and Gibsonville, but it was yet early in the '60s when he settled in Humboldt county. During a visit at his old home in Nova Scotia in 1876 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary T. Burke, who was born and reared in Newport, Hants county, that peninsula, and who, since the death of her husband, has continued to reside at the old home on the water front at Bucksport in Eureka. This land had been pur- chased by Mr. Blackburn during the carly period of his identification with the farming interests of the county and he had not only engaged in farming, but also in the poultry business, besides taking contracts for general teaming and for grading the country roads. While engaged as contractor for the railroad, in constructing the Table Bluff tunnel in August, 1883, he was accidentally killed by the caving of the tunnel. His sudden death was a

436

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

source of sorrow to his family, as well as to his friends throughout the county, and was recognized as a distinct loss to the local citizenship.

FRANK ALBERT HOUGH .- The Houghs became established in Cali- fornia some sixty years ago, and the representatives of the family in every generation have been noted for their energetic dispositions, initiative and sterling integrity, qualities which Frank A. Hough possesses in generous measure. He is a likable man, and moreover enjoys the friendship of his associates as keenly as they appreciate his congeniality. His parents and grandparents lived and died in Contra Costa county, Cal., and his father and grandfather were also well known among the business men of Lake county, where they built up the Hough Springs resort.

Sylvanus Hough, grandfather of Frank A. Hough, was a native of New York, of English descent, following the butcher business in New York state. In the year 1852 he came to California, making the long voyage around the Horn, and settled on one thousand acres of the Mexican land grant in Contra Costa county, where he engaged very extensively in the dairy business. His ability kept pace with his opportunities and he met with phenomenal suc- cess, proving entirely capable of handling the immense interests he acquired. He accumulated wealth, but the title to his land was attacked in the courts, and a long-drawn-out law suit ensued which was fought bitterly and not concluded until after his decease. Meantime he continued his business activities, he and his son Orlando S. Hough developing the Hough Springs resort in Lake county, which they sold. Sylvanus Hough lived to the age of sixty-seven years. Most of his family joined him in California in 1854.

Orlando S. Hough, father of Frank A., lived in New York state until 1860, when he followed his father to California. He was engaged before he left the east, and his bride-to-be, Miss Emma Lucinda Bassett, came out to the coast in 1863, when they were married at the "Russ House," in San Francisco. They settled in Contra Costa county, and died there. Mr. Hough carried on the famous law suit after his father's demise, but it was ultimately decided against the Houghs on technical grounds, and they found themselves penni- less after years of successful business operations which had brought them affluence and promised independence.

Thus it was that Frank A. Hough spent his youth under rather adverse circumstances. But he inherited ambition and ability, and he has never been afraid to apply himself to hard work, so if he was denied financial capital in his early years he had other qualities to compensate. Born June 6, 1865, in Contra Costa county, he grew to manhood there, but he has lived in Hum- boldt county for over twenty years, and during that period has made a place for himself among the substantial citizens of his locality. He owns three hundred twenty acres of ranch land in the Mattole valley, in the neighbor- hood of Upper Mattole, and has managed to improve it steadily since it came into his possession, having valuable agricultural and stock interests there. At present he is also engaged in getting out saw logs for Joe Bagley's sawmill on the Upper Mattole river, and is also cooperating with Mr. Bagley in an- other enterprise, the planting of English walnut trees. Mr. Bagley has undertaken this on a somewhat extensive scale, and Mr. Hough has given him valuable assistance.

In 1891 Mr. Hough married Miss Sadie A. Roscoe, daughter of Wesley Horton Roscoe, an old settler in the Upper Mattole district, who is fully

437

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

mentioned elsewhere. Five children have been born to this union: Roscoe, a graduate of the Pacific Technical College, of Oakland, now employed in the garage at Arcata, Humboldt county; Hazel, who is a graduate of the San Jose state normal school, class of 1915, now teaching in Humboldt county ; Esther, a graduate of Ferndale high school, is attending the Arcata normal ; Harold, who is attending the Ferndale high school and also assists his father upon the home ranch; and Wayland, who attends the local public school. Mrs. Hough is a woman of keen intellect and clever mind, and she acts as local correspondent for the Humboldt Standard and the Ferndale Enterprise. She is a member of the Baptist Church at Eureka.

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 49

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