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 50
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148
Politically Mr. Hough has always been a straight Republican, and he is prominent in the local councils of the party, being a member of the county central committee, on which body he has done excellent work. Personally he is the kind of friend and neighbor much desired in any community. His optimism and cheerfulness have enabled him to overcome difficulties without making too much of them, and his readiness to undertake any duties or responsibilities that come his way has made it possible for him to advance his own interests steadily and at the same time to help out others as oppor- tunity offered or necessity seemed to call. It has well been said, "He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast." Frank A. Hough has found great pleasure in serving his friends at all times, and their loyalty is his best reward.
B. F. STERN .- One of the most enterprising mercantile establishments in Eureka is that of the Humboldt Commercial Company, whose president, B. F. Stern, is a merchant of forty years' experience, a native of Humboldt county, and one of the most energetic "boosters" for Eureka and one of the largest contributors to her progress. His sons, L. E. and H. A. Stern, are associated with him, as vice president and secretary of the company, re- spectively. They are wholesale dealers in staple and fancy groceries. Mr. Stern has given largely of his time to projects for placing Eureka in better communication with other points, and for public utilities and conveniences that attract a high class of residents and wide-awake business men. Mr. Stern's birthplace was Arcata, then known as Uniontown, where his father, Henry Stern, was a pioneer merchant.
Henry Stern was a German by birth, and leaving his native country when a young man landed at New York, where he remained for a short time. In 1850 he came to California by way of the Isthmus, and settled in Humboldt county, carrying on a general mercantile business at Uniontown (now Arcata) during the remainder of his life. He lived to be only thirty-two years old, dying in 1862 of a hemorrhage brought on by seasickness when he was crossing the Humboldt bar. In 1854 he married, at Arcata, this county, Miss Emily Armstrong, daughter of Thomas Armstrong, who first came to California in 1848, returning cast for his family, whom he brought across the plains in the year 1852. The first civilized community the ox train reached on the Pacific coast was at Shasta, whence they proceeded down to San Fran- cisco on a flatboat, from there coming by sailboat to Arcata, being three weeks on the trip. Four sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Stern : B. F., Oscar D., George D., and Henry S., of whom two survive at this writing, B. F. and Henry S., a dentist in San Francisco.
B. F. Stern, the eldest child of his parents, was born June 4, 1856, and was reared and educated at Arcata, attending the public schools. When six-
438
HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY
teen years old he went to work there, beginning to earn his living as a farm hand in the employ of Isaac Minor. At the age of eighteen he entered the line he has ever since followed-during a period of forty years there have been only thirty days that he has not been deriving an income from the mer- cantile business. His first position of the kind was as clerk in the store of A. Brizard, at Hoopa, Humboldt county, and since 1897 he has had his own establishment at Eureka, which he acquired that year under the name of the Humboldt Commission Company. In 1906 the business was incorporated under the laws of the state of California as the Humboldt Commercial Com- pany, under which title it has since been carried on; the officers have been previously mentioned. Mr. Stern began doing business at the location which has been retained as highly convenient, at the foot of D street, the storehouse and wharf being his property. The wharf frontage is one hundred twenty feet long, and a spur of the N. W. Pacific railroad runs to the store- house, so that the transportation facilities, both by land and by water, are all that could be desired. The large three-story building is well stocked with sugars, spices, salt, flour, meal of various kinds, soaps, candies, canned goods, salt fish, cigars, and household goods, the assortment being large and com- plete to meet the steady demands of the trade which has been built up. Three salesmen are kept constantly busy covering the territory adjacent to Eureka. When the business was first established on the present basis William Cluff, of the William Cluff Company, pioneer grocers of San Francisco, joined the Sterns to assist in the organization, but since his death his interest has been taken over by Mr. Stern. Having begun to learn the details of the grocery trade in a humble capacity, Mr. Stern is thoroughly familiar with his business from every standpoint, and he has combined his comprehensive under- standing of its needs with untiring industry in the application of his ideas to the work of holding old customers and gaining new ones. The substan- tial patronage he now caters to has been acquired by years of study of the wants of buyers, of their appreciation of the best service, and progressive methods in the handling of orders. The shipping facilities of the firm are a great advantage, and the system employed is up-to-date in every particular, eliminating needless labor and providing the quickest service with less "red tape" than the merchant of the last generation would have thought seemly. The Humboldt Commercial Company does its banking through the Bank of Eureka. In addition to the business property mentioned, Mr. Stern has other holdings of value in the city, besides his timber lands in the county.
Encouraging the spirit of helpfulness among the business men of Eureka, and its citizens generally, Mr. Stern has helped many worthy enterprises, and if his own affairs have prospered thereby so have those of his neighbors. He has been working enthusiastically towards a "larger Eureka," has been a loyal member of all the development associations and promotion clubs, and was particularly active in establishing the chamber of commerce, of which he has been president. He was one of the original members of the Railroad Promotion Committee, whose object was to obtain through railway connec- tion with San Francisco; is a member of the Humboldt and Eureka Develop- ment Associations, and of the Humboldt Promotion Committee, and has given valuable service in the interest of all these bodies.
Born during the pioneer period of this region, Mr. Stern has a distinct recollection of the excitement during the Indian trouble of 1862, and remem-
439
HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY
bers being taken to the old Coddington store at Arcata for safety, the women and children being protected there when most of the men were required for defense. He has a wide acquaintance among the surviving pio- neer residents of Eureka, Arcata and Hoopa valley.
Mr. Stern married Miss Julia Hopkins, the ceremony being performed at Arcata in 1878. She came to California from Missouri. Four children have been born to this marriage: Charles F., now a member of the State Highway Commission, married True Aiken, and they reside at Berkeley, Cal .; L. Edgar, of Eureka, vice president of the Humboldt Commercial Com- pany, married Grace Cochrane; Walter E., of Eureka, engaged in the general insurance business, married Ida McCoy, of Red Bluff, Tehama county, Cal .; Henry A., secretary of the Humboldt Commercial Company, married Mar- guerite Smith, of San Francisco.
ALFRED BARNES .- The call for volunteers in the Union Army during the Civil war received a quick response from Alfred Barnes, who responded to the first call for troops, volunteering in a company from Kane county, Ill., for three months' service, but the quota of men for this call being already filled, they volunteered for three years and were mustered in at Dixon, Ill., May 24, 1861, as Company H, 13th Ill. V. I. They were first sent into Mis- souri and after aiding in the building of Ft. Wyman, named after the colonel of their regiment, young Barnes saw service in various skirmishes up to the time of the battle of Chickasaw Bayou, Miss. There he was captured by the rebels and confined in the prison at Vicksburg and later held as a prisoner of war at Jackson until paroled and sent to New Orleans, La. In April, 1863, he boarded the steamer Fulton bound for New York City and, on his arrival in the North, made his way immediately to Illinois, remaining at home recu- perating for a time. Nothing daunted, however, he again reported for duty, rejoining his regiment at the front in time to participate in the battle of Lookout Mountain and later Missionary Ridge and Ringold, Georgia. After passing the winter at Woodville, Ala., Mr. Barnes with others was guarding Madison Station, Ala., when he was again taken captive by the enemy. This unfortunate circumstance happened May 17, 1864, just seven days prior to the expiration of his term of enlistment. He was again held a prisoner, this time at Cahaba, Ala., and was afterward transferred with three hundred others to Meridian, Miss., where they suffered extremely from cold through an entire winter in an open stockade. In the spring the prisoners were returned to Cahaba and in March, 1865, when the Alabama River rose so that it was impossible to longer keep all of the men there, arrangements were made with those in charge of exchange of prisoners and they were sent to Black River, Miss., where they were kept inside of the Union lines and properly fed. Although guarded by the Union soldiers they were prisoners of war until the cessation of hostilities. IIe was afterwards mustered out at Springfield, Ill., June 7, 1865. With the close of the war he exchanged the uniform of a soldier for the garb of a tiller of the soil and farmed in Illinois for two years when he moved to Gentry county, Mo., and was identified with the interests of that section for fifteen years, during which time he improved and operated a farm. In December, 1882, Mr. Barnes came to Humboldt county, locating at Dows Prairie, north of Arcata. Appreciating the possibilities of this sec- tion, he turned them to the best possible advantage and was soon the owner of three hundred and sixty acres of land, devoted to general farming,
440
HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY
stock-raising and dairying. Here he continued to reside until 1903, when he rented his property and moved into Eureka, where he has since lived re- tired. In 1913 he disposed of his ranch. He is one of the prominent citizens of this well-favored locality and has many friends among those who, like him- self, are public-spirited and enterprising.
Mr. Barnes was born in the town of Alexandra, Jefferson county, N. Y., April 28, 1838, while his father, Ira Barnes, was a native of Steuben county, same state. The latter followed general farm pursuits near Alexandra until 1846 when he removed with his family to Illinois, locating near Aurora, Kane county. He witnessed the remarkable growth and development of that state and himself contributed in a large degree to the prosperity and progress of Kane county. He was married to Eliza Carnegie, a native of New York. She was the daughter of Andrew Carnegie, whose father also bore the name of Andrew and came from Scotland. Mr. and Mrs. Ira Barnes passed their last days in Illinois. They were the parents of seven children, of whom Bertha became Mrs. Westover and died while a resident of Illinois: Maria is Mrs. Randall of Aurora : Andrew passed away while a resident of Kansas ; Crowell makes his home in Aurora; Mary, Mrs. Sherwin, spent her entire life in Illinois ; while Ethelbert died at the old homestead in Kane county, December, 1914. Alfred was a lad of seven years when his parents moved to Illinois and he received his education in the public schools, after which he assisted in the farm work until the outbreak of the Civil war.
The marriage of Alfred Barnes and Miss Charlotte M. Willey was sol- emnized in Kane county, Ill., November 4, 1867. Mrs. Barnes is a native of that county and a daughter of Sardis Willey, born in New York state. To them have been born six sons, of whom Frank is a merchant at Silver Lake, Wash .; Harry resides at Turlock, Cal .; Fred died in Missouri ; Ralph died while liv- ing in Los Angeles; Earl is Deputy Game Warden at Eureka and Verne is a farmer near Arcata. Mr. Barnes was made a Mason in Aurora, Ill., and is now a member of Arcata Lodge No. 106, F. & A. M. He is also prominent in Colonel Whipple Post No. 49, G. A. R., and in politics is a Progressive Repub- lican.
SAMUEL SIMPSON SILKWOOD .- The possibilities of Eureka have called forth the most creditable ambitions of a few men who were destined to make their way in the business world, and whose strength of character and conservative judgment have served as the fundamental growth of the com- monwealth. This has been emphatically true of Mr. Silkwood, whose well directed energies have not only placed him among the men of means in the city, but have invested him with an invariable reputation for business sagacity and integrity.
A native son of California, Mr. Silkwood was born in Sacramento, May 21, 1864. His father, Obadiah S. Silkwood, was a native of Greene county, Ill .. while his grandfather, Thomas, hailed from Kentucky. The latter was of English and Welch descent and, on making his home in Illinois, met with success in his agricultural operations. When a young man of twenty years, the father left home, and without means or influential friends started out to fight the battle of life with a sure hope of victory. Purchasing ox teams he drove across the plains in a prairie schooner, arriving in Sacramento in 1851 and for several years thereafter prospected in Sacramento, Placer and Ama- dor counties with indifferent success. Failing to meet with the hoped for
441
HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY
good fortune in the mines, Obadiah S., in 1867, came to Eureka, the little hamlet at that time having but one steamer a month visiting its port. On his arrival he purchased a tract of raw land, but was engaged in its cultivation for only one year, then entering the employ of a lumber company as woods- man. So efficient were his services that it was not long before he was made foreman, remaining with the company for some time, or until he again began mining. This was in the year 1879 and for three years he was engaged in hydraulic mining on the Trinity river, Humboldt county, and also on the Klamath river, Siskiyou county, with his son, Samuel S. At the expiration of that time he returned to Eureka, making his home with our subject until his demise, in 1904. His death was mourned as a general loss. Humboldt county lost a typical citizen, one who had started in life with nothing but his own talents and upright character, and who gained the respect and con- fidence of his fellow men. Fraternally he was a Mason.
The mother of Samuel S. was Catherine (Fay) Silkwood, a native of Ireland. After coming to the United States she was married in New York City, to a Mr. Foley, by whom she had one son, Michael Foley. On the death of her husband she joined her three brothers in California, making the jour- ney to the Golden State via the Isthmus of Panama. While living in Sacra- mento she met and married Obadiah S. Silkwood. To them were born four children, namely: Thomas P., an engineer in the State Hospital at Ionia, Mich. ; Mrs. Margaret Smith, residing in Eureka; Samuel S., of this sketch ; and Mary S., Mrs. B. O. Hart, of Oakland. At the time his parents moved to Eureka, Samuel was a lad of three years. Here he completed his education in the public schools and began work as an apprentice at the carpenter's trade, soon becoming one of the recognized contractors and builders of the city, attaining a success greater than is reached by many men, even though they are persistent, industrious and persevering. This is doubtless due to the fact that he has the qualities just named and has besides a well-balanced mind and sound judgment.
About 1894 Mr. Silkwood operated the Rock Creek mine, on Klamath river, Siskiyou county, in partnership with his father, but three years later returned to Eureka and resumed his profitable business of contracting and building. Aside from building numerous residences and business houses, he erected the Union Labor Hospital and remodeled the court house. July 6, 1911, he was appointed harbor master of the Port of Eureka by Governor Johnson and since that time has devoted his entire time and attention to the duties of the office. The port includes all of Humboldt Bay, extending from Fields Landing to the Arcata wharf.
Mr. Silkwood was married in Eurcka to Miss Kate Waters, a native of Canada. They occupy a most attractive home which Mr. Silkwood built at No. 1929 B street. Fraternally he is a charter member of Eureka Aerie No. 130, F. O. E., and was elected a trustec at its organization. Three months later he was honored with the position of secretary, holding this office for nine years, or until made chaplain of his lodge. Indeed in such esteem was he held that he was elected president and during his incumbency of this office had the pleasure, in 1913, of dedicating the new Eagles' Eurcka home, which is one of the most beautiful and complete lodge buildings in the state. During its construction he was secretary of its board of directors. He is likewise a member of Humboldt Parlor No. 14, N. S. G. W., a member of the Druids, is
442
HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY
past arch and was for two years grand trustee of the Grand Grove of Cali- fornia. Politically he is a Progressive and works for the interest of that party.
JOSEPH EMANUEL HODGSON, B. S .- The county treasurer of Humboldt county was born at Camp Floyd, Utah, July 12, 1860, and was taken to Oregon in 1863 by his parents, Richard and Eliza (Parkinson) Hodgson, natives of England. The family was in humble circumstances. The hardships of frontier existence fell upon them with unceasing rigor. It was with the hope of bettering his condition that the father took wife and children from Utah to Oregon, making the journey with wagon and team, all the household effects stored in the "prairie schooner" that formed the family home through several months of tedious travel. One year was spent in mines near Auburn, after which the father again took up the problem of seek- ing a new location. This time he came south through the Sacramento valley and from there proceeded to Santa Rosa, where he made a permanent home and found employment. The son, Joseph E., was sent to the common schools and the Pacific Methodist College, aiding by his own efforts to secure a thorough education. After his graduation from college with the degree of B. S. he took up the work of a teacher and for two years taught in Sonoma county, but in 1885 removed to Humboldt county and here taught school for twenty years.
As might be expected from so long an identification with the schools in different parts of the county Mr. Hodgson made a large circle of warm per- sonal friends, so that when, after a service as station agent for the North- western Pacific Railroad at Elinor, he began his campaign for county treas- urer, friends rallied to his support from every district and they triumphantly secured his election to the office in 1910. He assumed his duties in January, 1911, and was re-elected in 1914 without opposition, which demonstrates his popularity and the satisfaction with which he fills the office. In addition to his official duties he has found time for participation in local progressive move- ments and for service as a member of the board of trustees of the chamber of commerce, besides which he is a member of the Eureka Development Association.
Fraternally Mr. Hodgson is a member of Loleta Lodge No. 56, I. O. O. F., and Hydesville Encampment No. 59, being past grand and past chief pa- triarch, and is now serving as district deputy grand master. With his wife he is a member of Centennial Rebekah Lodge ·No. 100. He is also a member of White Clover Camp No. 398, W. O. W., at Loleta, of which he is past council commander, and is also a member of Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E., and of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Loyal Order of Moose. In Santa Rosa, January 10, 1887, occurred the marriage of Mr. Hodgson and Miss Mary M. Stevenson, a native of Dundas, Canada, but who was reared and educated in Santa Rosa, Cal. They are the parents of five children, namely : Alice Elizabeth, Joseph David, Amy Muriel, Ernest Richard and Effie Zoca.
HON. JOSEPH RUSS .- The abiding influence of this man, whose won- derful powers of organization, stimulated by visions of the demands of the fu- ture, created some of the most productive industries of Humboldt county, has never been more apparent than at the present day. The keenness which enabled him to foresee the possibilities of the enterprises upon which he embarked; the breadth of imagination which governed his plans for their
Jishodgson,
445
HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY
expansion and development during a generation beyond his own time; the wise provisions for the welfare of the community which he advocated during his legislative career : all these and more are seen better in the light of their present usefulness than they could be before the fruit began to ripen in the sunshine of success. To outline the many projects which Mr. Russ matured and put into practical operation will give some idea of the magnitude of his undertakings. The details, all of which he grasped in his comprehension of the whole, are past the understanding of the average individual.
Mr. Russ belonged to sturdy New England stock, the self-reliant type trained by generations of industry and frugal living to make the most of environment, to exalt the importance of moral integrity and mental discipline, to be honest, thrifty and independent. He was a native of Maine, born December 19, 1825, in Washington, Lincoln county, and was ten years old when his parents removed to Belmont, Waldo county, that state, where he grew to manhood. The greater part of his education was acquired in the district schools there. When he reached his majority he went to Dartmouth, Mass., and commenced his independent career, remaining there two years, at the end of which period he ventured in business on his own account, at Fall River, Mass., engaging in teaming and merchandising. He was disappointed in the results, and tried another line at Appleton, Me., buying an interest in a sawmill, and giving some time to its operation, at the same time carrying on a grocery store. He continued thus for about three years. During this time tales of the gold discoveries on the Pacific coast fired his ambition, and he determined to seek his fortune in the mines. But he already had the foresight which was later to be so large a factor in his success. Instead of rushing out without preparation or definite plans of any kind he made ready to embark in business upon his arrival, buying material for a building which he had made in sections, which would only need joining when he reached his destination. He took passage on the "Midas," which went around the Horn, and purchased a large quantity of flour at one of the ports en route. He landed at San Francisco March 15, 1850, after a five months' voyage, but saw fit to alter his arrangements, and selling his building and flour at a small profit joined six other men, the party buying a boat and starting up the river to Sacramento. There they sold the boat, and Mr. Russ proceeded to White Oak Springs, where his sawmilling experience proved valuable, as he took charge of a sawmill at that point for two months. After that he contracted to build a bridge across the American river, and upon its completion took other work of the same kind. In the summer of 1850, with a partner, he opened a general store at Volcano, Amador county, but it was not a success.
It was then Mr. Russ went into the cattle business, in which his name and fame will live for many years. Purchasing a herd, he drove it to the Yuba river and disposed of it at moderate profit. Soon afterward he made another investment of the same kind in that section, upon which he realized so handsomely that he had enough capital to go into business, opening a hay and feed yard in the Sacramento valley, and purchasing teams which he employed in the transportation of freight between Colusa and Shasta. At Placerville he bought a herd of cattle which he drove to Humboldt county in the fall of 1852 and grazed upon Bear River Ridge. He was one of the first to explore the Eel river valley and surrounding country, and he was so impressed by the resources of the region generally that he took up a claim
13
446
HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY
near Capetown, on the strength of his conviction that here were to be found more natural advantages than he had observed in any other part of the state. In the fall of 1853 he was associated with Berry Adams in the purchase of a large number of beef cattle in Sacramento, and they drove them to Hum- boldt county and opened a meat market at Eureka, with which Mr. Russ was connected for two years. He then went to the forks of the Salmon river and established a market of his own, spending two years at that loca- tion, from March, 1855, to the spring of 1857. Purchasing another drove of beef cattle in Oregon, he took them down to the banks of the Bear river, and again opened a market in Eureka, where the Russ meat market is still a popular trading place. Before long he commenced to invest in grazing lands, acquiring the nucleus of an estate which now includes fifty thousand acres and more in Humboldt county, stocked with four thousand head of cattle, thirteen thousand sheep, and horses and mules in large numbers. In 1870 Mr. Russ erected the sawmill still conducted under the name of Russ & Company as the Excelsior Mills 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.