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 54

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 54

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Alderpoint is about eight miles southeast of Fort Seward and located on the Eel river, on the line of the Northwestern Pacific railroad just completed, which connects Eureka with the metropolis on the bay. The railway survey was made in 1910, and since June, 1911, the town has been the active center of road building operations, grading, blasting, tunneling, etc., the temporary quarters of hundreds of laborers, mechanics, engineers and other employees, as well as officials, and has been visited by a number of the magnates interested in the work of construction. With such a mixed population, of many shifting elements, the duties of the postmaster have been anything but casy-in fact, all the local officials have found their work complicated by the unsettled state of affairs. Nevertheless, Mr. Phillips has endeavored to give the best of service to all, and he has proved himself admirably fitted for responsibilities, carning the respect and good will of the many with whom he comes in personal contact in the discharge of his duties. His temperate habits and intelligent grasp of his work recommend him to the best element in the community. The office is still in the fourth class, but is doing a steadily increasing business, and the town bids fair to become an important trading point now that the railroad has opened communication with nearby communities.

Mr. Phillips is thoroughly alive to the possibilities of his adopted town, and willing to do all in his power to promote her best interests. Having driven the first nail in Alderpoint, he feels naturally a particular interest in her improvement and development along building lines, but is as ready to work for her good in any other commendable way, standing for good gov- ernment and progress however expressed. He has built a home for himself and family there, showing his faith in the stability of the advancement already made, and as a man of reliable character and an accommodating official is regarded as one of the citizens to whom the town may look for its continued prosperity. Courteous and unassuming, he has displayed high

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principle and fidelity in everything intrusted to him, and commands universal respect. His faith in the town is such that, in February, 1915, he went into the grocery business in partnership with J. A. Merrill, under the firm name of J. A. Merrill & Co., and the postoffice is in their store.

Mr. Phillips married Miss Eugenie Moore, born near Atlanta, Georgia, and a daughter of J. S. and Elizabeth (Rice) Moore, also natives of Georgia. Mrs. Phillips went to Arkansas with her father when seventeen years of age, and three years later her marriage occurred. Of the eight children born of this union four survive: Joseph Scott, Thomas Arthur, Otis and Goldie, all making their home with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Phillips are both earnest Methodists and are taking an active part in the organization of a church at Alderpoint. In Arkansas Mr. Phillips served as a member of the board of school trustees and also as justice of the peace.

CHARLES WILLIAM WALKER .- A native of Switzerland, born at Giubiasco, in the canton of Ticino, April 23, 1870, Charles William Walker left the home of his parents and came alone to the United States when he was a lad of but fifteen years. He landed in New York without money or friends and began the struggle for a livelihood under a severe handicap. For a number of years he met with difficulties that would have discouraged and broken the spirit of a less determined and ambitious youth, but to him they were only a spur to his energies and in the end he has won prosperity and a place of honor and respect among his fellow citizens of Humboldt county, where he has made his home since 1891.

Mr. Walker is the son of Baptiste and Kate Walker, both natives of Switzerland, his father being a farmer. His boyhood days were spent on the farm and for a few brief years he attended the public schools of the district. His father died when Charles was a year old and there were several small children in the family. This necessitated that each of the children should aid in the earning of the livelihood and when Mr. Walker was fifteen he de- termined to come to America, feeling that the opportunities here were greater than in his native land. On arriving in New York he sought employment wherever it was to be obtained and for a number of years endured the greatest hardships. He worked in restaurants and hotels and so managed to live and to save a little money. At the end of a year he decided to come to the Pacific coast and reached San Francisco, November 1, 1888, with ten dollars in cash, all the money that he possessed. He went from there to San Luis Obispo county, finding employment on a dairy ranch where he remained for three years. In 1891 he came to IHumboldt county and again secured employment on a dairy ranch, working for A. Kuhen at Ferndale. Later he took charge of this ranch for Mr. Kuhen, managing and superintending the dairy for four years. The following six years he worked on various ranches in this section of the county.

The marriage of Mr. Walker, which took place in 1900, changed his mode of living, for he rented a ranch at Pleasant Point on a three years' lease and engaged in farming for himself. For the first two years he met with much success, but the third year the river flooded the ranch, washing away many acres of the land and with it practically all the profits of several years' work. In May of that year Mr. Walker sold his interests at Pleasant Point and moved to Arcata, where he rented the ranch of M. P. Roberts and again engaged in dairy farming, remaining but a few months and then disposing of his

Patrick Mackay

Joanna In mackey.

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interests to Albert Kausen. In 1904 he rented a property from the Dolbeer & Carson Lumber Company and followed his former occupation here on the ranch which he still operates. When he first took charge of this ranch he commenced dairying on a small scale and has gradually increased the scope of his enterprise until at present he has a herd of some forty milch cows and one of the most profitable places in the valley. He is also extensively engaged in stock raising. In his farming he has given much attention to the raising of potatoes and has met with unusual success in this venture. The ranch consists of two hundred acres of improved land and is a handsome property and is located six miles north of Arcata.

In addition to his attention to the farm and its varied interests, Mr. Walker has become associated with outside interests as well. In the fall of 1914 he purchased a forty-three-acre ranch at Ferndale from C. de Carle, which he leases for a dairy ranch. He is especially interested in the United Creameries of Arcata, in which he is a stockholder. He is also a stockholder in the bank of Arcata and is interested in the new hospital in Arcata.

Since coming to Humboldt county Mr. Walker has met with several severe reverses, but he has persevered and is now one of the prosperous farmers in the valley. He is a self-made man in the best sense of the word and is an example of what thrift, industry and application will do for a man in Humboldt county. Aside from his business interests he has many warm friends and is popular with a wide circle of acquaintances. He is a prominent member of the Knights of Columbus, and with his family is a member of the Catholic Church in Arcata. In politics he is a Republican and a stanch party man, being always found in line for the support of party principles. Mr. Walker attributes his success in no small degree to the help and encourage- ment of his wife.

The marriage of Mr. Walker took place in Eureka, December 31, 1900, uniting him with Cecelia Peinn, a native of Locarn, Ticino, Switzerland. She came to California when she was a girl, making the long journey alone, and coming to San Francisco where she had a brother residing at that time. She has borne her husband three children: William P., Elsie Ida and Katie ; the latter died at three years. The eldest of these is now attending the Arcata public schools.

PATRICK MACKEY .- For years the late Patrick Mackey and his brother John were associated in the cattle business as large operators on the Cooskey range south of Petrolia, Humboldt county, where they settled as early as 1860. Thus Patrick Mackey was a resident of this section for over fifty years, his death occurring October 8, 19.10. He was spared to see his adopted state emerge from primitive conditions, and being possessed of an energetic and ambitious nature himself had a hand in the development of his locality, where his name will have a permanent place in history as one of the courageous spirits who undertook to wrest fortune from an untried land and found justification for their faith in its resources and in the unqualified success which rewarded their efforts. Widely known and honored in his gen- eration, the residents of Petrolia and the rest of the Mattole district take pride in the fine memorial which his widow has erected at that place-the Catholic church building, which occupies a beautiful location overlooking the village. The site was donated by Mrs. Zanone, of Eureka.

Mr. Mackey was a native of Ireland, born January 15, 1825, in Queens

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county, and was a young man when he came with his parents to the western world. At first he lived in New Brunswick, where he found employment at chopping and other heavy work in the lumber woods, for which his large frame and powerful build well fitted him. Later he removed to Minnesota, and in 1858, in company with his brother John, came to California, coming by way of Panama to San Francisco, and thence the same year to Humboldt county. During their first two years they worked in the lumber woods, and in 1860 came down to the Mattole district, settling on the Cooskey range, where Patrick Mackey took up three hundred twenty acres of land. For a few years he had a hard row to hoe, but the prospects were sufficient to hearten him, and he and his brother soon found themselves profitably engaged in cattle growing on the range, where they continued to operate for many years. In time they bought out other holdings, becoming the owners of about fifty-five hundred acres of range land, of which about twenty-seven hundred fifty acres belonged to Patrick Mackey, they being equal partners. About thirty-six years ago he also purchased the McAuliffe place, the tract of one hun- dred sixty acres now owned and operated by his daughter, a mile and a half south of Petrolia, and located on the Mattole river. He married a member of the McAuliffe family, which has also been settled here since pioneer days. The Mackey brothers' extensive interests as cattle growers were acquired entirely through their own good management and intelligent foresight, which prompted them to take advantage of the opportunities this section offered, and they were ranked deservedly with the most substantial business men of their day, citizens whose value in the upbuilding of the region is more and more appreciated as time goes on. He was a Democrat in political opinion, but not active in party or an aspirant to public office.

On February 18, 1867, at Eureka, Mr. Mackey married Miss Joanna Mc- Auliffe, who was born in County Cork, Ireland, and came to Boston, Mass., in childhood, and about 1865 came to Humboldt, where two uncles, John and Dennis McAuliffe, were pioneer ranchers on Mattole river, coming in 1858 ; of the union of Mr. and Mrs .. Mackey was born one child, Georgina. Mrs. Mackey now makes her home at Ferndale. She and her daughter retain the large holdings Mr. Mackey acquired, renting the range land. As already men- tioned, Mrs. Mackey erected the fine Catholic Church at Petrolia as a memorial to her husband, in the region where during half a century of upright living he had formed many ties among long-time associates and cherished friends, and where his public-spiritedness could always be counted upon to aid all movements for the upbuilding of the community and betterment of its citizens.

Miss Georgina Mackey was born on the Cooskey range, about twelve miles south of Petrolia, and received her education in the excellent convent at Eureka. She is now engaged in agricultural pursuits on her own account, living on the old McAuliffe place of one hundred sixty acres previously re- ferred to, a very productive ranch which she is bringing up to its best pos- sibilities by modern methods of cultivation. Her executive ability and thor- ough comprehension of the requirements of the work are manifesting them- selves clearly in her success, which has made the venture profitable as well as enjoyable. Miss Mackey has evidently inherited a good measure of her parents' business acumen, for Patrick Mackey gave his wife a large measure of the credit for his success, and her enterprise is meeting with deserved rewards.

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Being especially interested in the pioneer history of Humboldt county and particularly of the section in which her life has been spent, Miss Mackey prizes a copy of the Humboldt Times of April 8, 1876, which contains a description of the Mattole river (the Indian name for clear water) by the first white man that ever beheld it, and which we are able to present through her courtesy :

"Mattole River and Valley .- In looking over the files of the Humboldt Times, many items connected with the early history of the county present themselves to view. In the issue of September 23, 1854, an article appears headed, 'Mattole River and Valley,' giving a description of the discovery of the Mattole river. It is as follows : Mr. Hill in his last trip down the country found a large river hitherto unknown to the people of this section, called by the Indians Mattole, which he says is as large as the Eel (Weeott) river. The Indians apparently had never seen a white man here. Mr. Hill had with him Indians from the Bay who interpreted for him. The Mattole Indians had no knowledge of any settlement below them. Upon the assurance of the Indians he had with him, the wild ones came to him. Mr. Hill struck the river a few miles from the ocean. He describes the valley of the river in glowing terms. The lands are rich, with open prairies sufficient for a large settlement of farmers. The lands above the river bottom are open timbered table lands, easy to clear, and affording sufficient timber for fences and fire- wood for ages to come. Near the river cottonwood is the principal growth, but as you recede from the water spruce, pine and redwood predominate. The prairie is covered with the finest specimen of clover, which grows to an almost unheard height. The timbered lands are covered with wild oats and several varieties of grass. The great feature of the valley is the climate, which from the description given will compare favorably with any portion of the state. There it is warm; no fogs, no cold north winds. The sun shines out clear and bright, as if not ashamed to show itself. Mr. Hill was surprised on his return to learn that the sun had not been seen during his absence."

MRS. FLORA BROWN POINSETT .- When only a child Mrs. Flora Brown Poinsett came with her parents across the plains from Illinois to make her home in California, accompanied also by her grandparents, Samuel and Jane Handy, the journey west being made by the slow method of ox teams. Her father, Adam Brown, was a farmer, born in Illinois, where he was mar- ried in the town of Marshfield to Naomi Handy, a native of that place. Of the three children in the family, Flora, Louise and John A. Brown, the first is now Mrs. Poinsett, of Arcata, the second died at the age of eighteen years, and John A. now resides at Iaqua, Cal.

The greater part of the childhood of Mrs. Flora Brown Poinsett was spent in Humboldt county, Cal., where her family settled near the mouth of the Mad river and engaged in farming and stock raising, the Handys locating on a ranch on Arcata Bottoms, which is still owned by members of the family. Later Mrs. Poinsett's father returned to Illinois, and after his death the mother was married to Christopher Columbus Sands, an expert ox teamster of Humboldt county, where she continued to make her home. Mrs. Poinsett well remembers the Indian uprisings in the neighborhood of their California home, when Henry Minor was killed, and the people of

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Uniontown (now Arcata) and that vicinity gathered in the old stone store (at that time the only store there), of which they made a fort for safety, expecting attacks from the Indians any time during the day or night. The education of Mrs. Poinsett was received at the local public schools and under the instruction of Prof. James B. Brown, and at the age of eighteen she began teaching at Fairhaven, on the Peninsula, in Humboldt county, continuing that work for a year, until her marriage, which took place in Eureka, on July 29, 1872, uniting her with Mr. Joseph B. Poinsett, who was born in New Jersey and came to Humboldt county as a young man. During the Civil war he served in the California regiment, stationed at Hoopa, and for seventeen years was in the employ of William Carson as sawyer and foreman, after which he located a farm at Alliance, buying the old Hutchinson place of twenty acres, where he engaged in dairying. In 1907 Mr. Poinsett sold this property and purchased the present estate on the Boynton Prairie road, two miles above Arcata, which at that time consisted of four hundred forty acres of wild land, which he improved greatly, the land being on a high elevation, overlooking Humboldt bay, with a splendid view of Arcata, Eureka, the Mad river and the Pacific ocean and beach. The estate is well kept with a com- modious residence and attractive gardens, and here at Hillcrest Farm, as the place is appropriately named, Mrs. Poinsett, with the aid of her son, con- tinues to operate the ranch successfully since the death of her husband, which occurred on May 4, 1912, he being well known in the vicinity as a stanch Republican, and in fraternal circles as a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Thirty acres of the property are under cultivation, whereon hay and green feed are raised for the stock, the rest of the estate being used as grazing land, and Mrs. Poinsett, who has proved herself an excellent business woman, is meeting with much success in her dairy business on the ranch, as well as in the raising of stock, fine draft horses, poultry and turkeys. In her religious associations she is a member of the Methodist Church, and is also a prominent member of the W. C. T. U. at Arcata, having taken an active part in its philanthropies for the last twenty years. She has two sons, Charles Bethel and Elwood Jay ; the former resides at Pinole, and the younger makes his home with her, assisting her in conducting the ranch.

JAMES P. ANDERSON .- Descended from a sturdy old Danish family, and himself a native of Denmark, James P. Anderson is one of the most highly honored and respected citizens of Humboldt county, as well as one of the most prosperous. He came to California some forty-odd years ago, and has since that time resided continuously in Humboldt county. The son of a farmer, he turned naturally to the soil in the new land, and has made a great success of farming and stock raising in this locality. As befitting one whose faith in the future prosperity of the county and of the state is an abiding one, Mr. Anderson has from the early stage of his residence here invested heavily in land, and today many hundreds of acres of the finest acreage in the county are owned by him. He is still active in the management of his affairs and spends his time between his different ranches and his residence in Arcata.

Mr. Anderson was born in Bornholm, Denmark, on one of the islands in the Baltic Sea, May 1, 1846. His father was Anders W. Anderson, also a native of Denmark, born in 1801, and died in 1870. He followed the occupa- tion of farming for the greater part of his life and was very successful. The

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mother was Caroline Anderson, born in Denmark in 1810 and died in 1890. She was married to Mr. Anderson in 1840, and of this union six children were born.

The boyhood days of Mr. Anderson were spent on his father's farm, where he assisted with the regular work. He attended school, such as was afforded at that time in Denmark and received such other advantages as the time and country afforded. He remained at home with his parents until he was eighteen, and during the next three years served in local militia. At the expiration of this period he determined to come to America and seek his fortune in the new land, where the tales of wonderful opportunities gave such splendid impulse to ambition and youth. Accordingly he made the journey, and arrived in New York, April 29, 1867. In Warren county, Pennsylvania, he secured employment on a farm, where he remained for some time, also working for a time in a tannery in the same county.

Tales of the still greater opportunities offered in the rich farming districts of the far west continued to lure the young man, and he early determined to hoard his carnings, and as soon as they were sufficient to make the trip to California, hoping there to find the real "promised land." Accordingly, in 1869 he left Pennsylvania, making the journey to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and arriving in San Francisco in February of that year. From San Francisco he went to Stockton, where he found employment with the Central Pacific Railroad, then under construction. In the summer of the same year he was employed on a steamboat operating from Stockton to Fresno, on the upper San Joaquin river, and while working here contracted malarial fever, which necessitated a change of climate. As a result Mr. Anderson went to Sonoma county, where he secured work on a farm. In the winter he came to Humboldt county and went to work for Lawrence Ford, making stave bolts, remaining with him but a few months. Later he con- tracted for the building of a canal from the slough up to the land-head of the tide water, where Creamery No. 1 now stands. After the com- pletion of this task he went to work for H. S. Daniels (who at that time owned the ranch where R. W. Bull lives now) and remained with him for two years, being engaged in general farming. Mr. Daniels also owned a mountain ranch known as Angels Ranch, and after a time Mr. Anderson bought a half interest in this property and they engaged in farming and stock-raising in partnership. Soon after this arrangement Mr. Daniels sold his interests to J. Carlson; and in 1881, two years after the first purchase of the ranch, Mr. Anderson bought out the interest of Mr. Carlson and became the sole owner of the property. The ranch consists of farming and range land about three miles above Korbel. At this time it contained between seven hundred and eight hundred acres, and Mr. Anderson engaged in stock- raising and general farming. From time to time he has purchased adjoining acreage and today Angels Ranch comprises about twenty-five hundred acres and is known throughout the county as one of its best ranches. In his enter- prises there Mr. Anderson has been especially successful.

When his children were of an age to attend school Mr. Anderson pur- chased a ranch near Blue Lake and removed there with his family as Angels Ranch was too far from the town for the children to receive the proper advantages of school, with the then conditions of travel. Later, when they had completed the grammar school course, he purchased a twenty-acre place

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with large residence in Arcata, and removed his family there that the children might have the advantages of high school. Here he engaged in dairying for many years.

Mr. Anderson has always been interested in the purchasing and improv- ing of acreage, and at the present time owns several valuable properties in the county. Among these the best known are Angels Ranch, which is operated under his own management; an apple orchard at Blue Lake, which is one of the best in the county; and the home property at Arcata. All of these have been greatly improved and developed since their purchase by their present owner and are today a credit to the county. Recently Mr. Anderson sold ten acres of his home place, sub-dividing it, and disposing of it as resi- dence lots, it being known as the Anderson Subdivision. There is also a valuable ranch in Vallejo which he has owned for several years. Angels Ranch is devoted to raising sheep and Angora goats and general farming, raising full-blooded and graded Southdown and Shropshire sheep and Mohair Angora goats.

The marriage of Mr. Anderson took place in Arcata, Humboldt county, June 14, 1879, uniting him with Miss Emma Anderson, a native of Skaane, Sweden, born September 29, 1859. She came to the United States alone when she was yet a young girl, coming directly to Humboldt county, where she has since resided. Her parents, Christian and Hanna Anderson, came to California six years later and are well known residents of Humboldt county, making their home in Blue Lake. Mrs. Anderson has borne her husband nine children, eight of whom are living. They are: Mary Caroline, Mrs. Oliver Brown, of Blue Lake; Martha Elizabeth, Mrs. John Dinsmore, of Bridge- ville; Hazel Hellen, Mrs. Lem Yokum, of Arcata; Edith Christina, Mrs. George Minor, of Glendale; Harry C., assisting in operation of the home farm; James Paul, attending University of California; George C., attending high school, Arcata; and Wilford, attending the grammar school.

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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 54

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