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 60

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 60

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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

maidenhood Miss Jennie Hartford, a native of Canada and a daughter of Robert Hartford, a pioneer ship joiner of Humboldt county. Mr. and Mrs. Moore have a son, Joseph H., who assists his father in his large business undertakings.

The political views of Mr. Moore have brought him into the Progressive party and he has been an active local worker. Interest in the progress of his home city has led him to fill local offices and aid civic projects in every way practicable. For a time he served on the Eureka Board of Education. Under Assessor Connick he served as deputy county assessor, and in June, 1913, he was elected councilman from the fifth ward of Eureka, since which election he has devoted much of his time to movements connected with the progress of the city and the permanent welfare of the people. His fraternities are the Improved Order of Red Men and Foresters. A man of principle and public spirit, he has taken part in the actual material development of the county and on frequent occasions has figured in important movements for the commercial advancement of his home city.

JOEL SEVIER BURNELL .- With the coming of the vast army of immigrants into California during the gold-mining era there arrived at the mines a young New Yorker, Joel Burnell by name, who had been allured to the west at the very beginning of American occupancy and had crossed the plains in 1849 with a large expedition through New Mexico and Arizona, entering California from Yuma. After having mined with little success for a few years, in 1852 he drifted into Humboldt county and bought a squatter's claim of one hundred and sixty acres (later government land), which he proved up on and proceeded to develop. In those days it was difficult to find a market for crops. Humboldt county was so sparsely settled that a home market was lacking. It became a regular custom for this pioneer to cross the mountains to Weaverville, Trinity county, and there sell to the miners the rolls of butter, the product of the skill of his wife as a butter-maker. These trips would take two or three weeks, during which time the faithful wife was left at home alone in what was then a wilderness inhabited by Indians and wild animals. Being a man of deep religious temperament and excellent knowledge of the Bible, he often utilized these trips as an opportunity to preach the Gospel to miners. For one year he held services at Ferndale and in the '60s he preached in different parts of the Sacramento valley. The . early establishment of the Methodist Episcopal denomination along this part of the coast was due in no small part to his self-denying efforts in the cause and to the work done by him without expectation or desire for pay, but wholly for the good of the church. Around the farm in the southern part of the county where he settled in 1852 there grew up a small settlement of farmers and in his honor the railroad station was known as Burnell. This was the terminus of the railroad for many years.

The marriage of Joel Burnell united him with Nancy Jane Stringfield, a native of Illinois, and a daughter of Sevier Stringfield, a Kentuckian for some years resident 'in Illinois, but after 1853 a farmer near Hydesville, Humboldt county. The family of Joel Burnell comprised the following children: Man- fred C., now of Chico; Louis M., ex-district attorney of Humboldt county and a resident of Eureka ; Mrs. Electa J. Houck, of Oregon ; Walter S., who resides in Escondido; William A., deceased; Elizabeth, a teacher in this

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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

county, who became the wife of David Jenkins and died in Kansas City, Mo .; Fred C., who died when nineteen years old: Joel Sevier, who was born near Hydesville. Humboldt county, March 15, 1868, and is now a practicing attor- ney of Eureka ; and Ida Burnell, a successful teacher in the Eureka schools.

After completing the studies of the old Eureka Academy the study of law was undertaken by Joel Sevier Burnell, who remained in the office of his older brother, Louis M., until he was admitted to the bar in August, 1897, and since then he has continued in practice at Eureka. In addition to the details of professional work he devotes considerable time to the supervision of an apple orchard which he is developing at Camp Grant. Fraternally he is a member of Fortuna Lodge No. 221, I. O. O. F., and is secretary of the Association of Veteran Odd Fellows and also has membership with Centen- nial Rebekah Lodge. His family consists of two children, Cummings J. and Elvie, and his wife, formerly Miss Elvie S. Cummings, who is a native and lifelong resident of Humboldt county, her father, L. J. Cummings, having crossed the plains in 1851 via the northern route through Oregon and as early as 1868 established himself permanently as a resident of Humboldt county.

CAPT. JOHN EDWARD JOHNSON .- One of the best known of the younger generation of seafaring men who make Eureka their home is Capt. John Edward Johnson, master and part owner of the little gasoline schooner Magnolia, which plies between this port and Brookings, Ore., making the round trip twice each week. Captain Johnson is a native of California and came to Eureka in his mother's arms, when a babe of but three weeks. Since that time he has become well known here, although he has not made his home in this city continuously. He has sailed the high seas for many years and during that time has twice circumnavigated the globe, visiting most of the world-famous scaports.

Captain Johnson was born in San Francisco, February 13, 1875, the son of Peter Johnson, a native of Kalmar, Sweden, and a ship carpenter by trade. During young manhood the father came to Humboldt county and followed his trade here, also working in sawmills as a millwright. In early life he also followed the sea for a time. His wife, and the mother of our subject, was Katherine (Redmond) Johnson, a native of New York city. The parents came to San Francisco in, 1874, shortly after their marriage, making the trip around the Horn in a sailing vessel in which Mr. Johnson shipped as the ship carpenter. Arriving in California he determined to quit the sea, and located the following year in Humboldt county, where he remained until 1899. From that year until 1906 he made his home in San Francisco, then removing to Lomita Park, San Mateo county, where both parents are now living. There were nine children in this family, all native Californians, and all born in Eureka save the eldest, Capt. J. E. Johnson. The other children are : William August, now residing in San Francisco; Marie A., the wife of F. E. Gist, residing at Long Beach : Elizabeth R .; Arthur, a ship carpenter ; Charles, an engineer ; Eleanor, Katharine and Edith C., all residing in San Francisco.

The boyhood days of Captain Johnson were spent in Eureka, where he received his education in the public schools. When he was about fourteen years old he began to work at the carpenter's trade under his father, and at the age of seventeen he went to sea. His first sailing was with Capt. James F. Higgins, now deceased, on the stcamer Farallon, which went ashore in

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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

Alaskan waters several years ago. After continuing with Captain Higgins for a few months he shifted to other vessels. He has followed the sea con- tinuously for twenty-two years, with the exception of three years when he was associated with the D. K. B. Sellers Commission Company, of Eureka, being employed in the warehouse at the foot of D street. In March, 1894, he shipped in the Maggie C. Russ, built at Eureka, later sailed with the barkentine Amelia to Honolulu, and returned with her to Puget Sound. At the time of the Spanish-American war he enlisted at Mare Island in the

United States navy, being assigned to the cruiser Philadelphia, on which he saw much service. They raised the flag over the Hawaiian Islands August 12, 1898, and in the spring of 1899 went to the Samoan Islands. In June, 1899, Captain Johnson was honorably discharged, after which he returned to Eureka, and during the following winter was with the schooner J. G. Wall. Later he was on the Lizzie Vance in the lumber trade, and afterward was on various sailing vessels until 1902, when he joined the barkentine Hawaii in Newcastle, Australia, remaining with her for two years and eight months. On one voyage, in 1904, he made the run to Puget Sound as master. In 1905 he left the Hawaii and joined the schooner Vine, on which he made a trip to Point Barrow, Alaska. This was his last trip on sailing craft, there- after signing only on steam vessels. In the employ of the North Pacific Steamship Company he commanded the Newport for Charles P. Doe, of San Francisco, sailing between Eureka and San Francisco for a year. Later he commanded various other small steamers until in 1909 he took charge of the J. J. Loggie, continuing with it until February, 1912 (this boat was wrecked in October of that year), when he took charge of the steamboat Antelope for Captain Coggeshall, remaining with her until June, 1913, at which time he started in business for himself as a partner of Captain Crone, leasing the gas steamer Coaster for the season. He then determined to build a craft of his own, and for this purpose entered into a partnership with Capt. Walter Coggeshall, and the splendid gasoline schooner Magnolia was built for them at the Fairhaven shipyards, in the spring of 1914, being ready for service in May. Of the latest design and first class in every detail, it is sixty-five feet long, seventeen feet in the beam, and was constructed at a cost of $12,500. It has a capacity for eighty-five tons of freight, and is propelled by two forty- horsepower standard gasoline engines. The offices of the Magnolia Trans- portation Company are located in Eureka, at the foot of F street. Their schedule calls for sailings twice weekly, their destination being Brookings, Ore., making stops at Crescent City and Requa, Cal., the latter on the Klamath river, with Captain Johnson always in charge.

The marriage of Captain Johnson took place in Eureka December 14, 1907, uniting him with Miss Cecelia Johnson, the daughter of George T. Johnson, who located in Eureka in 1875 and died here February 24, 1912. Of their union have been born two children, Sophie Kathrine, aged six, and Edward Cecil, aged four years. Shortly after his marriage Captain Johnson built a bungalow on Fourteenth street, where with his family he has since made his home.

Aside from his business interests Captain Johnson is popular in many lines of activity, and is associated with the affairs of his home city. He is wide awake and progressive and is always in favor of progress and improve-

James Roll

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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

ment and stands for social, civil and municipal uplift and betterment. Fra- ternally he is a member of Fortuna Lodge No. 221, I. O. O. F., and of Hum- boldt Parlor, N. S. G. W., of Eureka. He is also a member of Major Frank Rice Camp, United Spanish War Veterans, and is a member of California Harbor, Masters, Mates and Pilots of the Pacific, with headquarters at No. 36 Stewart street, San Francisco. Socially both Captain and Mrs. Johnson have many warm friends and are popular members of their social circle. Mrs. Johnson and the children are members of the Episcopal church of Eureka, and she is prominent in the various lines of church activities.

JAMES ROSS .- For almost forty years the fortunes of James Ross have been identical with those of Humboldt county, and he is one of the men whose industry and unwearying effort have changed the county from a virgin forest into a land of homes, where plenty smiles and prosperity reigns. When he first came to this locality in 1876 the beautiful little city of Arcata, where he now resides, was an undreamed-of possibility, and only towering trees marked the present site of the habitation of man-Eureka itself was but a straggling village and there were but few settlers throughout the valley.

Mr. Ross is a native of Ireland, born in the town of Broughgammon, County Antrim, June 5, 1853, and descended from a long line of sturdy Scotch and Irish ancestry. His father was William Ross, a native of Scot- land, born in Inverness. He was a millwright by trade, but much of his life had been devoted to farming, which occupation he was following at the time of his death, which occurred about 1857. The mother was Ann McCurdy, born in County Antrim, Ireland, where she was married to William Ross and where she lived until her death. She bore her husband four children, three sons and one daughter.

The boyhood days of James Ross were passed on his father's farm in Ireland, where he remained until he was about twenty-two. His father died when he was a lad and he continued to make his home with his widowed mother, attending the village schools until he was sixteen years of age, and later he cared for the farm. On his determining to seek his fortune in America Mr. Ross lost no time in setting sail. Arriving at New York, he set out to cross the plains to San Francisco, from which point he went at once to Humboldt county, arriving here April 14, 1876. His first employment was on Vance slough, where he worked at loading lighters going down to meet the vessels on the bay, but he remained here only a short time. Later he went to Salmon Creek and was employed in the sawmill owned by the Evans, Mckay & Marks Company, remaining here until the closing of the mill in 1878. Fol- lowing this he secured a position with Flanigan & Co. in their Bayside mill, soon afterward, however, securing a position in the D. R. Jones mill on Gunthers Island.

The possibilities of farming in this new country were ever fascinating to Mr. Ross and he had from the first been on the alert for an opportunity to secure a tract of farming land and return to his occupation of tilling the soil. In 1879 he rented a tract of one hundred twenty acres of bottom land, all but a small portion of which was unimproved, the tillable soil being only about forty acres. The remainder was a wilderness of trees and brush, and this he set to work to clear and bring into a state of cultivation. Bit by bit this was accomplished, and today he has one of the finest properties in the

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valley, cleared and highly improved. It was not until 1901, however, that he finally purchased this tract, although for many years he has been engaged in farming and dairying here. This latter line of industry had appealed strongly to Mr. Ross and he was one of the organizers and supporters of the first creamery in the valley, which was at first known as the Arcata Creamery No. 1, but which is now owned by the United Creameries Company. Mr. Ross laid his plans for dairying as soon as the creamery was an assured fact and his first milk was delivered some three or four days after its opening. He is at present one of the stockholders of the enterprise and a stanch supporter of the industry. His first herd of cows numbered but six head, but now he has one of the best herds in the valley, and one of the best dairies as well.

When Mr. Ross commenced dairying his land was not in a condition for farming, but at this time he has one of the most profitable ranches in the valley and is noted for his success in diversified farming. He raises a variety of crops and there is no waste to his acreage as he utilizes every part of the farm. In 1912 he planted four acres to potatoes and from this tract he dug four hundred fifty sacks of fine potatoes. He has met with great success in every department of his work and is classed as one of the most prosperous farmers of that locality. His property is rapidly increasing in value and will continue to do so, as it is rich in soil and well located.

The marriage of Mr. Ross occurred in Arcata, July 30, 1879, the Rev. J. S. Todd officiating. Mrs. Ross was Miss Ann Jane Christy, and like her husband a native of Ireland, born in County Antrim, January 6, 1852. They attended the same school during childhood, and often played together in the fields and meadows, their respective homes being perhaps a quarter of a mile apart. When Mr. Ross came to America he carried with him the promise of the future Mrs. Ross to join him when he should have ready a home for her, and when the call came she made the long journey alone, coming by way of New York and San Francisco, to Arcata, being married immediately on her arrival. She has borne her husband five children, three sons and two daughters, all well known and deservedly popular in Arcata, where they have been born and reared. They are: Samuel John, residing in Arcata; James, deceased ; Anna Jane, who married D. A. Ross and resides in San Francisco ; Katie May and William C., both at home.

Mr. Ross is a self-made man in every sense of the word. He arrived in Humboldt county with nothing but his faith and courage and industry, and his desire and determination to have a home. He has labored with unfalter- ing application and has been justly rewarded. His family is one of the most highly esteemed in the community and Mr. Ross is accredited as one of the most reliable citizens of the county. He is popular with a wide circle of friends, where his splendid qualities of heart and mind have made for him a permanent place. He was made a Mason in Broughgammon Lodge No. 72, F. & A. M., and is now a member of Arcata Lodge No. 106, F. & A. M. ; was raised to the Royal Arch Chapter in Bush Mills Chapter No. 114, in Ireland, and is now a member of Eureka Chapter No. 52, R. A. M. He is also a promi- nent member of Anniversary Lodge No. 85, I. O. O. F., in Arcata. In politics he is a Republican, although he has never been actively associated with the political affairs of his community. Together with his family Mr. Ross is a member of the St. Johns Episcopal church in Arcata.

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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

WILFORD E. PEACOCK .- For the last four years the Pacific Coast Steamship Company has been represented at Eureka by Wilford E. Peacock, who has been in the employ of that concern during the great part of his residence in California. He came to the state in 1902, and after a stay of seven months at Los Angeles moved up to San Francisco, not long afterward securing a position with his present employers. When he had served a year in the San Francisco office he was stationed at Eureka as cashier under C. W. Hayden, his predecessor as agent, whom he succeeded in July, 1910. By his uniform courtesy and efficiency in the discharge of his duties, his attention to business and willingness to oblige the patrons of the company, he has become a respected and popularly known resident of Eureka, where he has proved a most desirable citizen. In turn, he has become an enthusiastic admirer of the beautiful little city where he has had his home for several years, and is ready to aid in movements for her welfare whenever possible.

Mr. Peacock was born March 1, 1875, at Melrose, Monroe county, Iowa, son of Samuel D. Peacock, a farmer and stockman, now conducting a large stock ranch at Salina, Kans. The father married Mary Jane Eads, a distant relative of the great civil engineer of that name, who built the Eads bridge at St. Louis and other great works. The immediate ancestors of W. E. Peacock are from Bullitt county, Ky., but the family was settled in Virginia in the early days of this country's history, and came originally from England. To Mr. and Mrs. Samuel D. Peacock were born six children, of whom W. E. is the second eldest child and second son. He is the only member of the family in this state. The father was a member of Company C, Eighteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil war.

W. E. Peacock grew up at Melrose, being about thirteen years old when the family moved from Iowa to Salina, Kans., where after completing the grammar schools he attended Roache's Business College. Following this he attended a school of telegraphy in the same city, and when eighteen years old went to work as assistant at Oakley, Kans., on the Union Pacific road. He remained there for about six months in that rank, and was then assigned to a station and became station agent at Grinnell, Kans., whence he was sent back to Oakley, doing relief work and night work. In 1900 he went to Salt Lake City to take a position with the Bell Telephone Company, which then contemplated putting in telegraph instruments, using the same wires installed for the telephone service. Mr. Peacock was engaged to install the system on the lines of the Bell Telephone Company at that point, and remained at Salt Lake for fourteen months. Then, as already related, he came to Cali- fornia. His experience at Eureka has been pleasant, his work congenial, and his excellent personal characteristics and capability have won him many friends, in both business and social circles. He is a typical employe of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, which has a reputation for unimpeach- able service to its patrons and demands the highest qualities in those in its employ. Its steamer City of Topeka is the fastest and finest boat plying between San Francisco and Eureka. The company's office is at No. 213 E street, the warehouse and docks at the foot of C street.

In May, 1912, Mr. Peacock was married, at Eureka, to Miss Mabel Klepper, of that place, and they have one child. Virginia. Socially Mr. Pea- cock belongs to Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. ; the Humboldt Club, and the Eureka Development Association.

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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

FLETCHER A. CUTLER .- Until his removal a few years ago to San Francisco, Judge Cutler made his home at Eureka, and he still retains im- portant interests in Humboldt county, the scene of his early life and of the successes which marked the beginning of his brilliant career at the bar. He is now practicing with ex-Governor Gillett, as the junior member of a partner- ship established over ten years ago. His experience on the bench was obtained as judge of the Superior court of Del Norte county. Paternally and maternally Judge Cutler may be proud of the part his immediate ancestors have had in the history of Eureka. His father was a business man of the town for many years after his settlement here, in 1869. His mother was the first public school teacher here.

The Cutler family is one of long standing in this country, the emigrant ancestor, Puritious Cutler, having come from England and settled in Massa- chusetts during the early Colonial period. It was represented on the Colonial side during the Revolutionary war, and a number of the name have been known for distinguished military service, political prominence and professional attainments. Thomas Cutler, the Judge's father, was born March 29, 1829, on a farm in the town of Killingly, Conn., and grew up there. He came to California with the first rush of settlers after the discovery of gold, making the voyage around the Horn on the George Washington, which landed him at San Francisco in August, 1849. So far as known, only one of his fellow passengers on the voyage outlived him. Proceeding immediately to Moke- lumne Hill, in Calaveras county, he began mining, and had more than average success there and at his later locations, Chinese Camp and Copper- opolis, also engaging in merchandising. In 1869 he removed to Eureka, in Humboldt county, where he was in business as a merchant for over a quarter of a century following, until his retirement in the year 1896. For several years he served as collector of the port of Eureka, and he was honored with various other positions of trust in his adopted city, where his high character and ability received deserved recognition. From the time he took up his residence here he was active in its business and public life, taking a promi- nent part in the administration of the local government, and by his con- spicuous efficiency and public-spirited conservation of the welfare of his fellow citizens won so high a place in their esteem that his name will be permanently enrolled among those who established its institutions upon a sound basis. Though he began life without capital other than his abilities he accumulated a comfortable competence and did well by his family, in all of the relations of life so conducting himself that he was considered one of the worthiest citizens of his generation, to which he was widely known. In 1901 he moved to Oakland, Cal., hoping that his failing health would benefit by the change, but though he had been a strong man in his prime he did not rally, and he died June 30, 1902. He was buried in Mountain View cemetery, Oakland, with Masonic rites, the services being conducted by Live Oak Lodge, F. & A. M., and a committee representing the Society of Cali- fornia Pioneers, of which he was a member. He had been a charter member of George Washington Lodge, F. & A. M., of Chinese Camp, Cal. Mr. Cutler married Sarah L. Buck, a native of Watertown, Maine, who came alone to California when a young woman and soon afterward located at Eureka, where she was the first public school teacher. She afterwards joined her brother at Chinese Camp, and taught there for a few terms, until her marriage.

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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 60

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