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 67

Author: Irvine, Leigh H. (Leigh Hadley), 1863-1942
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Los Angeles, Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1328

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from there to Warren Creek for a year, when they located in Scotia, where he completed the grammar school, June, 1894. He then attended the high schools at Arcata and Eureka for two years, but gave up the rest of the terms to engage in lumbering in the woods at Scotia. Later he entered actively in the management of his father's general merchandise establishment in Loleta.

Albert Van Duzen, Sr., is also a native son of California, having been born near the San Gabriel Mission, Los Angeles county, Cal., May 7. 1855, and he is the son of Isaac Van Duzen, one of the old pioneers who crossed the plains in 1852, by way of the southern route, and located in Mariposa county. Here he entered on one hundred sixty acres of government land and for a time engaged in teaming and hauling and later moved to Humboldt county in 1865. Here he located at Table Bluff and rented what is known as the Bluff House. His son, Albert, Sr., then attended the public schools of the district and also in Arcata until fifteen years of age and in 1875 he married and moved to Trinidad, where he drove the mail route for two years, from Trinidad to Arcata. Later he engaged in teaming with ox teams and for five years drove an ox team in the woods, logging in Del Norte county. He then returned to Trinidad and continued his teaming for Cooper Brothers for one year, and from there moved to Mad river valley and drove for Korbel Broth- ers, and for three years was engaged by the Minor Company at Glendale. He was one of the last men in the county to give up the ox-team method of transportation, hauling the last logs at Scotia with ox-teams. He then moved to Loleta and opened a general merchandise store, where he still resides. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and in national politics favors the ideas of the Republican party. He was united in marriage with Florence Cartwright, born in Racine, Wis., and of their union there have been two children, Albert, Jr., and Theodore, who assists his brother in the store.

Mr. Van Duzen, Jr., in the management of the store, keeps it well stocked and up to date, having added to the stock from time to time until now they have the largest and finest store in Loleta. A new building has been built where the store is now housed. They have been very successful since coming to Loleta and have done a great deal for the advancement of the community. Mr. Van Duzen, Jr., has been secretary of the Board of Trade for a number of years. He is a stanch Republican, always entering heartily into all move- ments for the general upbuilding of the town.

He was married in Eureka to Mildred Olive Hannah, a native of that city, and they have been blessed with three children: John Henry, Theodore Lewis and Paul Stillman. Mr. Van Duzen, Jr., is public-spirited, enterprising and industrious.

JAMES T. FRASER .- It is not a misstatement of fact to say that there is no work in which one may engage which has greater possibilities for benefiting and uplifting humanity along broad and deep lines than has the teacher's profession. This had been the life work of Mr. Fraser's forebears for several generations, and while he himself is not engaged directly in that occupation, he is still interested in educational matters and exerts an im- portant influence in Eureka as a member of the school board. As the name might suggest, the family is of Scotch origin, and the grandfather of James T. Fraser, also James Thomas Fraser, a native of Inverness, Scotland, was

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closely related to the MacDonalds and MacGregors of that shire. He was a man of splendid learning, a college graduate and it was with this training that he came to the new world and became a school teacher in Nova Scotia, teaching in both the English and Gaelic languages. His love of learning he bequeathed to his children, and his son Donald became a noted geologist. Another son, Abraham, the father of our subject, and a native of Pictou county, Nova Scotia, was also an educator of note, and a graduate of the college in Pictou. In addition to teaching the general branches he specialized on music, making a specialty of teaching in classes, in which he proved un- usually successful. He was also a valued leader in religious work, especially in the Presbyterian church, of which he was a member. His usefulness to the world was cut off when he was comparatively a young man, his death oc- curring when he was only forty-nine years of age. His wife was in maiden- hood Susanna McIntosh, a native of Smithfield, Nova Scotia. Her family had also originated in Scotland, her father, George McIntosh, a native of Greenock, establishing the family in Nova Scotia, where he became a farmer. The mother still makes her home in Caledonia, Guysborough county, Nova Scotia.

Five children were included in the parental family and James T. Fraser was the third in order of birth. Besides himself two others of the family are residents of Eureka, Mrs. Margaret Zerlang and J. M. James T. Fraser was born in Caledonia, Guysborough county, Nova Scotia, August 24, 1869, and his boyhood and youth were passed in his native heath. After attending the public schools of that place and obtaining a good education he began work- ing on the farm and in the woods, and still later became interested in mining there. He was about seventeen years of age when he left the family home and started out in the world independently, coming to the United States at that time and locating in Minneapolis. There he found employment at team- ing and log driving on the Mississippi river, as well as in the woods. Alto- gether he remained in that section for about three years, then setting out for the far west, and his advent in Eureka dates from July, 1889. During that summer and following ones he was employed in the redwoods, while during the winter seasons he devoted his time to learning the boiler-maker's trade in Langford Brothers' boiler works. After completing his trade he continued in the employ of the firm under whom he had had his training. During 1896 and '97 he had charge of the pump station of the Eureka water works for the Ricks Water Company, but at the end of this time he returned to his old employers, continuing with them and becoming one of their most trusted employes. So trustworthy was he held to be that he was sent by the firm to various places in this and other states in charge of important work that needed the supervision of an expert.

In 1914 Mr. Fraser was elected justice of the peace of Eureka township and January 4, 1915, he assumed the duties of the office, his term covering four years. It is Mr. Fraser's intention to fit himself for the practice of the law, and for this purpose he has been reading law for some time, and will continue his studies while holding the office of justice.

In Eureka, on July 31, 1896, Mr. Fraser was united in marriage with Miss Dora Zerlang, a native of this city and the daughter of Charles Zerlang. The latter, a native of Prussia, Germany, immigrated to Nova Scotia, and from there came to California, becoming a pioneer settler. In 1871 he came

Victor Hugo

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to Eureka, where he owned and ran lighters, and it was while pursuing his daily duties that he was accidentally drowned in Humboldt bay. In Nova Scotia he married Elizabeth Williams, who was born in Guysborough county, and of her eight children Dora, Mrs. Fraser, was next to the oldest. Some time after the death of her husband Mrs. Zerlang became the wife of Fred Haase, of Eureka. Three children have been born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Fraser, A. L., Elizabeth Zerlang and James Thomas. Mr. Fraser was made a Mason in Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., of which he is past master, and with his wife is a member of Camelia Chapter No. 63, O. E. S., he being past patron. In the Loyal Orange Institution of the United States, of which he is a member, Mr. Fraser is past grand master of the state, and both himself and wife are active members of the Presbyterian Church.

VICTOR HOPE .- Coming to Blocksburg forty years ago, and since that time continuously residing here and conducting a flourishing business until he retired from active life a few years ago, Victor Hope is known as one of the oldest and most substantial residents of this part of the county. He is a pioneer in the truest sense of the word, and blazed the way for more than one industry or undertaking. He purchased a blacksmithing business on his arrival here, and is well known to the farmers and ranchers for a radius of thirty miles. He invented a side-hill plow which he manufactured and sold for many years, and also invented and manufactured a picket weaving machine. He built a tiny cabin back of his shop, cleared a small patch and improved it by planting a garden and orchard, he being the first man to plant apples in this vicinity, thus demonstrating the suitability of this locality for this great industry. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hope are very musical, he being an accomplished violinist, while his wife is a pianist of ability. In an early day they played very often for dances and other social events, but in recent years their music has been their chief social pleasure. They are both very socially inclined and are popular with a wide circle of friends.

It was in 1875 that Mr. Hope came to California, locating at once in Blocksburg, where he bought out the blacksmith shop of John Stemmons, this being the first business of the kind in Blocksburg, and is still owned by Mr. Hope and leased out by him. He was born in Washtenaw county, Mich., March 22, 1847. His father, the Rev. S. B. Hope, of the Universalist church, was born and reared in New London, Conn., while his mother, Lucy Moore, was born and reared in Ontario county, N. Y., where she met and married the Rev. S. B. Hope, who was attending college in that county. After their marriage they came by ox teams to Washtenaw county, Mich., where Mr. Hope, Sr., engaged in farming. Both parents died there, the father at the age of sixty years and the mother living to be seventy. There were ten children in their family, all of whom lived to maturity save two, Victor being the sixth born. He attended the public schools until he was fourteen years of age, and then ran away from home and traveled extensively. From the time that he was fourteen until he was twenty-six he was in every state and territory of the United States, except Washington, Oregon and Montana. He learned the blacksmithing trade at Schoolcraft, Kalamazoo county, Mich., and became a journeyman blacksmith and an expert horse- shoer. He is a natural machinist and has so been able to accomplish much

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more at his trade than would otherwise have been the case. He came to Colorado and worked for a time in the gold mines, prospecting for gold where Leadville now stands. He then went to Nevada and worked in the Belcher gold and silver mines on the Comstock lode at Gold Hill. From there he went to Reno, where for one summer he was employed in the lumber woods, and then came to Humboldt county in the fall of 1875, settling at Blocksburg, where he has since made his home. Mr. Hope was a strong. Union sym- pathizer and at the time of the Civil war he tried to enlist in the cause of free- dom, but the loss of an eye by an accident many years before prevented his being accepted. He drove cattle across the plains from Texas to Nevada and was in many skirmishes with the Indians where the fighting was close and sharp. He learned to understand the savages, however, and after coming to Blocksburg he had no trouble with them, although this place was one of their meeting places and on the exact spot where his residence now stands the Digger Indians had a large wickiup, and here they congregated and held their war dances. Often as many as five hundred bucks and squaws were assem- bled here, but there was never any resultant trouble. About two years ago Mr. Hope met with a serious accident. While he was drilling a premature blast of dynamite nearly tore his hands off, besides which he received other injuries, from which he was laid up for months, and even yet he cannot close his hands with a firm grip.

The marriage of Mr. Hope took place in 1879, uniting him with Mrs. Emily (Tooby) Prior, the daughter of George J. and Emily (Close) Tooby, both natives of England, the father having been born in Gloucester and the mother in London, within sound of Bow-Bells. Mrs. Hope was born at Gloucester, and there was reared and educated, especial attention being given to her musical education, in which line she has marked talent. She was married there to Thomas M. Prior and came to Alderpoint in 1874. By this marriage she had two children: Gertrude, now the widow of Elisha Bosworth and residing in Eureka with her four children; and Douglas H. Prior, of the Tooby & Prior Cattle and Land Company. Mr. and Mrs. Hope have one child, Roscoe Moore, who resides at home and manages the Hope ranch of five hundred acres, of which this capable young man owns about one-half.

The parents of Mrs. Hope both died in England, where her father was especially well known and respected. One of her brothers, George J. Tooby, formerly an extensive sheep owner, now lives in Eureka. All of his six children are well known in Humboldt county, and. E. N. Tooby is the present county assessor, just having been re-elected. He is one of the extensive land owners and stock men of the county and is held in high esteem.

Mr. Hope is a Democrat and has always taken an active interest in all local affairs, being broad minded and progressive, and having the courage of his convictions. Mrs. Hope is a member of the Episcopal church, in which she was reared. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hope are in sympathy with the cause of education and their influence in local affairs has always been felt on the side of right. They are also keenly interested in the early pioneer history of the county, and particularly of this section, being well informed on all details of early history and land marks.

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WILLIAM CARSON .- It is difficult to say anything of William Carson without referring at once to the salient feature of his business career, his preeminence in the redwood lumber industry in Humboldt county. One of a little group of Canadians from the province of New Brunswick who started out together in the famous year of the exodus to California, instead of "striking it rich" in the mines he found his early training in his native woods the best possible preparation for success in his new field. He did follow mining part of the time during the first few years after his arrival, but it was as a lumberman that he acquired fame and fortune, and did most to attract attention to the resources of his adopted county. When the comforts and luxuries of the civilized world began to find their way into the settlements about Humboldt bay and the social order became established, none was more prompt to encourage the improved living conditions made possible by the numbers of, enterprising tradesmen and merchants who flocked to this promis- ing region. Eureka especially felt the impress of his interest and generosity. His heavy investments in local undertakings and property were not made entirely with the idea of personal profit, for all of them contributed to her upbuilding. He did not hesitate to show his faith in her prospects in the most substantial manner, putting his capital into buildings and public utilities as the spirit of the town warranted such expenditures, and doing more than his share in the furtherance of projects which were purely the expression of civic pride. The North Mountain Power Company, now known as the West- ern States Gas & Electric Company, was one of the ambitious concerns he fostered to success. Something of the man's wonderful mental and physical vigor may be understood from the fact that he remained in active connection with his large financial and lumbering operations up to the age of eighty-five years. As one of the characters whose deeds stand out in the records of the early days he could never be forgotten, and he was spared to see and take part in so much of the modern development of his section that his name enters into practically all of her history from 1849 to the present.

Mr. Carson was born in Charlotte county, New Brunswick, July 15, 1825, and had his early experience in lumbering there, assisting his father, who was engaged in getting out ship timber for exportation to Liverpool. The year of the gold excitement he decided to join the adventurers flocking to Cali- fornia, and on September 18, 1849, embarked at The Ledge, New Brunswick, in the ship Brazilian, which was several months on her journey around the Horn, arriving at San Francisco April 1, 1850. His companions were Oliver Gilmore, Jeremiah Whitmore, Daniel Morrison and Sandy Buchanan, all like himself woodsmen from New Brunswick. They found temporary employ- ment at San Francisco, part of the time rolling out (by hand rollers) gold bars, from which the fifty-dollar slugs of those days were made. Going to Sonoma city, the party bought wild horses from the Mexicans, packed their goods and proceeded to the Trinity gold fields. When they struck the water- shed of the Eel river on their journey north they mistook the stream for the Trinity and followed its downward course until their approach to the ocean told them they were on the wrong track. They eventually reached their destination and worked there during the summer of 1850. Food in that region being scarce and high priced, they decided to winter in Humboldt county, where game of all kinds was plentiful, and therefore made their way to the bay, arriving late in October. At that time Martin White was about to build

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a small slash sawmill with an estimated capacity of four thousand feet per day, and for this mill Mr. Carson and his companions contracted to supply logs. On the 1st of November, 1850, they started out and located their log- ging camp between Ryan's slough and Freshwater, at a point where spruce and similar timber of a size suitable for a small mill was available, close to the slough. It was at this camp, in November, 1850, that Mr. Carson and Jerry Whitmore cut the first tree for a saw log that was ever felled in Hum- boldt county. Thus began his remarkable career as a lumberman. "His history has been similar to that of many of the successful pioneers of Cali- fornia. He came to get gold out of the ground, but he did not get it in the shape of virgin metal, but in the form of another product of the ground, the wonderful lumber resources of this county."

After a winter of logging the party again went to the mines, starting March 1, 1851. They arrived at Big Bar, on the Trinity, about the middle of the month, and resumed work on the claims they had left the year before. During that summer they constructed the Arkansas dam across the Trinity. The following May they learned of the construction of a sawmill on Hum- boldt bay by Ryan & Duff, and leaving the mines they went to the Sacra- mento valley, where they bought oxen with which they drove to Humboldt, with the view of engaging in logging. Reaching Humboldt again in August, 1852, the original party divided, and Mr. Carson went into the lumber busi- ness, with which he was thereafter permanently associated. In the summer of 1854 he operated the Muley Mill in Eureka, located at the foot of I street, and during that year worked as a sawyer, his shift being every day and every alternate night. In the fall he shipped on the Cydras the first cargo of red- wood lumber which was sent out from Humboldt bay, all previous shipments having been of spruce and fir. The partnership between William Carson and John Dolbeer was formed in 1863, and continued until the death of Mr. Dolbeer in 1902.

The Daily Humboldt Standard in its announcement of Mr. Carson's death mentions him as the dean of redwood manufacturers of the state, and he was survived by only one of the pioneers in that line, Noah Falk, who went into the business considerably later. But it was not merely because of his prominence as a lumber manufacturer that Mr. Carson was entitled to recognition among the leading men of the state. Financial institutions and public utilities of various kinds were among the useful enterprises he pro- moted, and while he was interested in most of the local undertakings of the kind his operations extended all over the state. He was one of the founders of the Humboldt County Bank, of the Bank of Eureka and of the Savings Bank of Humboldt County. As one of the incorporators of the Eel River & Eureka Railroad Company, and one of those who made possible the Bucksport & Elk River railroad and the Humboldt Northern railroad, in both of which he held interests, he deserves credit for the introduction of transportation facilities which brought new business and new life into his section, enabling it to compete with other localities on terms of comparative equality. The first large modern brick business structure in Eureka was the Carson block, the three-story building which occupies a quarter of a square at the northeast corner of Third and F streets. Mr. Carson built it in 1890, at a cost of $100,000, besides which he put $30,000 into the part of the second and third floors devoted to theater purposes. At the time of the erection of the building

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a number of citizens of Eureka were clamoring for a modern playhouse, and it was to meet their wishes that Mr. Carson fitted up the theater, which is still considered the finest between Portland and San Francisco. The North Mountain Power Company, which has since become the great electric power and light distributing concern of the county, now known as the Western States Gas & Electric Company, also numbered Mr. Carson among its foun- ders. Outside of Humboldt county, the Milford Land & Lumber Company, the San Diego Lumber Company and the West Coast Lumber Company owed their development to Mr. Carson's participation and influence, which he also exerted towards building up the shipping so important to the lumber com- panies. In the latter connection he was one of the powers of the Humboldt Lumber Manufacturers' Association of Eureka, which handled exclusively foreign lumber shipments from the mills represented in its organization, and operates the tugs Relief and Ranger on Humboldt bar.

It is noteworthy that Mr. Carson continued to give his personal attention to his large milling and other interests up to two years before his death, re- maining in active business up to the age of eighty-five years, when he turned his affairs over to his sons, whom he had trained for the purpose, J. M. and C. Sumner taking charge of the milling and lumbering operations at Eureka, and W. M. Carson having charge of the San Francisco offices.

Except as a life member of the Humboldt Club, and a member of Hum- boldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., Mr. Carson belonged to no social organiza- tions. Nothing more complimentary to Mr. Carson could be cited than his popularity as an employer. It is no exaggeration to say that in the great county of Humboldt, and probably in all California, there was none more re- spected and beloved by his employes. Nor was there an employer who gathered about him better men. He was a friend to them all, particularly in sickness and in trouble, although they may not always have realized it. In his own early experience he became thoroughly familiar with their side of affairs and their attitude, and he never forgot the lessons then learned, as his regard for their comfort, sympathy in all his dealings with them and kindly understanding well showed. It is significant that in the court records of Humboldt county there is no instance of a suit for damages for personal in- juries to which Mr. Carson was defendant.

Mr. Carson died February 19, 1912, after several months' illness, at his home in Eureka. His modesty and unassuming disposition had always made him averse to publicity so far as his personal affairs were concerned, but just before the San Francisco fair C. P. Soule, of the Bank of Eureka, of which Mr. Carson was president, prevailed upon him to compile a brief autobiog- raphy, and the outline of his career which appeared in the Daily Standard at the time of his death was written from notes taken then and formed the basis of the present article.

In May, 1864, Mr. Carson was married to Miss Sarah Wilson, of San Francisco, whose death in 1904 terminated a union remarkable for happiness and devotion. They are survived by four children : J. Milton and C. Sumner, of Eureka; William M., of San Francisco; and Mrs. Carlotta C. Tyson, of Piedmont, Cal.

The beautiful residence on the mill site, at the head of Second street, was one of the most significant indications of Mr. Carson's affection for Eureka. This palatial dwelling, not excelled by any other home in the state, was one

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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 67

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