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 74

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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Company, and from there he went to work for the Vance & Ham- mond Company, remaining in their employ for twelve years, and being for the entire time engaged in working in the woods. In the spring of 1907 he gave up this line of occupation and went to Santa Cruz county, where he was employed by the Humboldt Contracting Company for eighteen months.

It was in 1908 that Mr. Underwood returned to Humboldt county and bought out the general merchandise business of W. W. Shipley, at Trinidad, which enterprise he is still conducting with much success. He is owner and manager of the business and has extended and enlarged its scope since taking it over and has materially increased his trade.

The marriage of Mr. Underwood took place in Trinidad, December 8, 1897, uniting him with Miss Martha Watkins, the daughter of Warren and Rose Ann Watkins, and a native of Trinidad, born April 20, 1872. She has borne her husband one child, a son, Warren.

Since his marriage Mr. Underwood has always made his home in Trini- dad, and has been closely associated with public matters of interest for many years. In politics he is a Republican and a stanch party man, and has on numerous occasions represented his party at important conventions. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, at Blue Lake, and of the local lodge of the Odd Fellows. His success in business is due to his careful and con- scientious application to duty, as well as to his ability, good management and industry.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Underwood are descended from splendid old pioneer stock. The mother of Mrs. Underwood, Mrs. Rose Ann Watkins, is the oldest settler in Trinidad at the present time. She is a native of Vermont and came to Humboldt county in 1863 and has continuously resided here since that time. She has witnessed many changes in the country, and her tales of the early Indian troubles are full of interest, having lost none of their thrills through the intervening years.

The father of Mr. Underwood was John Underwood, a native of Indiana, born in Parke county, September 13, 1831. When he was three years of age he removed with his parents to Illinois, where they lived for a short time, later moving to Missouri and locating near St. Joseph, Buchanan county. Here he attended the public schools up to the age of seventeen years, and for a few years after that continued to live at home with his parents, helping his father on the farm. Later he went to New Mexico where he engaged in teaming and freighting, making the trip from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe during the Mexican war (1848-1849). Returning after a time to his home in Missouri, he made the long journey across the plains to California with his parents, in 1853. They left their home on May 10, and were five months in making the trip, using ox teams all the way, and arriving at Redding, Cali- fornia, in October. From there they went to Hayfork, from which point they were obliged to complete their journey on mule-back and with pack-horses across the Coast range to the coast itself, finally reaching Arcata after a hard and perilous journey.

The father of John Underwood, and the grandfather of the present respected citizen of Trinidad, was William Underwood, a native of North Carolina, born in 1800. The mother was Matilda Colcleasur, born in Ken- tucky in 1804. Her marriage to William Underwood took place in Indiana in 1822. William Underwood was a hatter by trade but for many years he

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followed the occupation of the farmer, both in Illinois and in Missouri, as well as after coming to California. Immediately after arriving at Arcata he took up a government claim of one hundred sixty acres on Dow's prairie where he followed farming until the time of his death, December 5, 1875. He is remembered now by but a few of the oldest settlers, but the property is still known by his name. His wife died December 28, 1889, on the home place, which is still in the possession of the family.

Shortly after the family was established on their Dow's prairie ranch, the son, John Underwood, went to Gold Bluff where he secured employment and where he remained until 1859. In June of that year he moved to Oregon, locating in Marion county, where for a short time he engaged in farming. Later he took up a government claim in Clackamas county and again engaged in farming and stock raising. While living there he was married to Caroline Elizabeth Wills, a native of Des Moines county, Iowa, born November 12, 1846. She was the daughter of James Wills, who crossed the plains to Oregon in the early days. From this union have come seven children, of which the present honored citizen of Trinidad is the third born. They are : Matilda, now deceased; Milburn Gipson, also deceased; James Andrew ; William Thomas, deceased; John Jackson, of Orange county; Fred Wills, and Norman Owen, both farmers at Mckinleyville.

John Underwood continued farming in Oregon for a number of years, meeting with much success. It was in 1876 that he returned to California, locating on the home place in Humboldt county, as the death of his father the previous year had left the mother without protection and the farm with- out a manager. He has continued to reside on this ranch on Dow's prairie since that time, having charge of his mother's affairs until the time of her death. When he took over the property it consisted of the original one hun- dred sixty acres, only partly improved ; he cleared the balance and put it in shape for farming, in which line he is now engaged. Forty acres of the place have been sold, leaving only one hundred twenty acres at the present time.

John Underwood is the only old pioneer at present residing on Dow's prairie, and many and interesting are the accounts that he is able to give of the days long gone by. He was living here during the worst period of the Indian troubles and during one summer served actively with the troops that were out to quell the marauders.

Mrs. John Underwood is also one of the carly pioneers of this section. Her father was James Thomas Wills, a native of North Carolina, born June 12, 1812, and her mother, Elizabeth Wills, was a native of Virginia, born May 30, 1815. They crossed the plains in 1853 to Oregon, at the same time that the Underwood family was making the crossing, to California. They located in Clackamas county, Oregon, and remained there until the time of their death.

JOHN ALBERT THEODORE WYATT .- Jacob Riis often said that he was a better American than any native-born citizen of the Republic, be- cause, while the native had no choice in the question of selecting his country, he, Riis, came to the United States because he knew perfectly well that it was the most wonderful country on the face of the earth, and made his selection deliberately and intelligently. And, following his deductions, one would be obliged to say that John Albert Theodore Wyatt is a citizen of the same class, for after spending a quarter of a century wandering

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over the face of the earth, first in the English navy, and later as mate on a merchantman, visiting strange ports and journeying afar into many lands, he came in 1865 to Humboldt county, still as a sca-faring man, fell under the spell of the locality, and forsaking his former calling, settled within its generous confines, and never since that time has been beyond its boundaries. For most of this time he has followed farming and stock raising and has met with appreciable success. He is now living retired from active life, and is spending his declining years in his pleasant home in Arcata, where he resides with his family.

Born in Ludwell, Wiltshire, England, October 1, 1838, Mr. Wyatt attended the public schools until he was sixteen, when he joined the navy, and was assigned to the drill ship Victory as a recruit, where he remained until he was twenty-one years of age. After his time of service had ex- pired he sailed on the merchant vessel Queen of the Lakes, making several trips to India and the islands of the East, to South America, and was for some time in Mediterranean ports. After this he shipped on various mer- chantmen for a period of eleven years, again visiting many parts of the world. The last of these trips brought him to San Francisco as second mate, under Capt. Adam Sedwick, arriving in September, 1865. Here he remained for a year and a half, working in and around the ship yards and in the coasting trade to Puget Sound, and then accepted a berth as first mate, this time on the Old William Arctic, bound for Humboldt Bay. Arrived here, he determined to give up the life of the seaman permanently and locate in Humboldt county. Without effort he secured employment at the Vance sawmill, where he remained for some time, being later transferred by the company to Eureka. After a number of years Mr. Wyatt gave up lumbering and renting a ranch at Bayside, from Stillman Daby, for a term of five years, he engaged in farming. This was the first venture of the erstwhile sailor as a tiller of the soil, but he was clever and industrious, and his efforts brought just returns. The high tide waters from the bay, however, caused him much trouble, and he was at last forced to give up this place, afterward renting from William Carson, on a three-year lease, and continuing his former occu- pation. Prospering again in his farming enterprise, he purchased fourteen acres from Carson, at Bayside, cleared the land, which was heavily timbered and covered with heavy brush, and later opened a store on the highway which he fronted. This latter undertaking did not prove successful, and eventually he traded both the store and the acreage for a tract of one hundred seventy- seven acres on Kneeland Prairie, all of which was unimproved. It was the work of many months, even of years, to clear this tract and bring it all under cultivation, but this Mr. Wyatt did, and engaged in farming and stock raising with splendid success, this being his home for twenty years. In 1903 the Kneeland Prairie property was sold, and another ranch of one hundred seventy-five acres on Fickle Hill was purchased. This was held until 1913, when it was also disposed of, and Mr. Wyatt moved into Arcata, where he owns a handsome home.

Mr. Wyatt was married in Eureka April 21, 1877, to Miss Nancy War- field, a native of Morgan county, Ill., the descendant of an old Southern family resident in Illinois since 1827. Mrs. Wyatt was reared near Jackson- ville, Ill., coming to Humboldt county, Cal., in 1876. Since locating in the county Mr. Wyatt has made many friends and is recognized as a man of

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ability and worth. He has never been interested in political matters, although he is identified closely with matters of local interest, otherwise his attention is centered almost wholly on his business interests.

Since locating here in 1865 he has not been outside of the county, finding here those things which satisfied him, and after his many years of roving, being well content to call Humboldt county home, and proud to be classed among the California pioneers, and to have done his share in the development and upbuilding of his community.

MARSHALL PATRICK .- Crossing the plains with his parents and five brothers and sisters in 1852, when he was but a babe of three years, locating first in Sacramento, where the family home was devastated by the great fire of 1852, and later journeying by wearisome stages and by devious ways, through rugged country where there were no wagon roads, and even the pack trails were rough and dangerous, Marshall Patrick came to the Eel river valley in 1853, where his father had taken up a claim of one hundred sixty acres of land, and on which he established his family. Here the chil- dren of this dauntless pioneer couple were reared near where Marshall Patrick resides today, amid the scenes of his childhood. He has witnessed the trans- formation of the wilderness into a land of beautiful homes and flourishing towns and villages. He has seen the perilous mountain trails give way to wide roads and winding boulevards as smooth as a floor. He has watched the slow transformation of the modes of travel from the ox-team and pack- horse days down through the varying changes of wagons, light carriages, rail- roads and now the swift automobile. He himself trudged many weary miles through the wild woods to the little log school-house, while the children of this generation are gathered in stately structures of wood and stone. Mr. Patrick has seen varying changes in his own fortunes as well, but he has never yet regretted the turn of the wheel of fortune which brought him to California, and today the welfare of his adopted state is as dear to him as ever.

His father, Nehemiah Patrick, was born in Wyoming county, Pa., June 1, 1813. He attended the schools of that locality for a short time and then took up the blacksmith's trade. His wife, and the mother of his chil- dren, was Jane Daily, also a native of Wyoming county, Pa., born June 6, 1817. They were married in Pennsylvania in 1835, and for several years fol- lowing Mr. Patrick engaged in farming there. In 1843 he removed to Illinois, locating in Whiteside county in the northern part of the state near Rock river and eighteen miles from the Mississippi river. Here he engaged in farming and blacksmithing with appreciable success. There were few settlers in that locality and the means of travel were very cumbersome, there being no bridges, all rivers being crossed by ferry boats. The lure of the far west was penetrating all the land and the reports of opportunities in California and Oregon were so flattering that Mr. Patrick determined to remove his family and settle on the Pacific coast. Accordingly in 1852 the perilous trip was accomplished, the party leaving their Illinois home on May 4, and reaching Sacramento October 15.

Having seen his family comfortably established in Sacramento, the father set out to look after the location of Spanish grants, and it was while he was away that the great fire of 1852 swept over Sacramento, leaving them home- less. Mrs. Patrick and her brood were far from helpless, however, and

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managed to save everything but the stove. Their possessions were then piled in the wagon and hauled to a place of safety, where the family encamped for two weeks. Later they left Sacramento and traveled overland to Hum- boldt county. There were no wagon roads and everything had to be packed over the trails on horseback, this being the only means of transportation for man or goods. The trip was made by way of Weaverville and across the mountains to the head of Mad river on down to Arcata, and from there to Eel river valley by way of Table Bluff, up the Slough to Salt river, finally arriving at Centerville, these last stages being made by water, and the last stretch to the ranch again by pack-horses. The father had taken up a pre- emption claim of one hundred sixty acres, part timber and part prairie land and started farming, besides running a blacksmith shop. Later, in 1858, he built a saw-mill on Price creek and engaged in lumbering, but with indif- ferent success, and sold his interests in a short time. The farm, however, proved to be a good one, and the family prospered.

Mr. Patrick was the first man to set out an orchard in his locality and one of the first in the entire valley. He planted an extensive orchard to apples and cherries and again was very successful in their culture. He acquired much property, owning several hundred acres in the Eel river valley and much range land around Mattole, this being well stocked with cattle and horses. The Patricks were among the first to establish a home in this section of the county and are remembered as real pioneers of an early day. The children were Giles, Zipporah, Bingham, Marshall, Mary and Josephine, all of whom are well known in Humboldt county. Mrs. Patrick was a de- voted mother and a truly wonderful woman of the pioneer type, strong, resourceful and kindly. She died in 1884.

Marshall Patrick was born in Whiteside county, Ill., March 1, 1849. His early life, so far as his own recollections were concerned, was centered about the farm in Eel river valley. He attended the Grizzly Bluff schools until he was eighteen, and lived at home working with his father on the farm for a number of years. After the death of his father he bought a part of the home place and engaged in dairying and farming. Later he sold this property and purchased a ranch of eighty acres all improved. He also took up land in the Mattole section and engaged in cattle-raising on the range, but with only partial success, and here also he met with severe loss by range fire which swept away practically all of his property in this location. He then returned to Grizzly Bluff and went to work on a ranch, where he received an injury from which he recovered only a short time ago. At present he has retired from active business and makes his home in Wadding- ton. Mr. Patrick is well known and highly esteemed by his associates. He is a member of the Masons and the Knights of Pythias, and is a Republican in politics, being for many years closely associated with the affairs of his party.

WILLIAM ALBEE ROBINSON .- The name of Robinson has for many years been associated with the most extensive farming and stock- raising interests of Humboldt county. The founder in this state, William S. Robinson, the father of William A., was a man of great strength of character, pronounced experience and business ability and well fitted for the large respon- sibilities which came to him. The death of this popular citizen, in 1907, when in his seventy-ninth year, is still recalled with expressions of regret by his

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numerous friends and business associates. He was born in Virginia but passed his early manhood in Tennessee and Missouri. His changeful youth had well prepared him for whatever of vicissitudes he might encounter and the term self-made applied to him in its truest sense. In 1850 he crossed the plains with ox teams, to California, and in 1854, in company with Joseph Russ, crossed the mountains to Humboldt county and located at Arcata, coming here from Sacramento Valley. Strongly outlined against the history of this part of California is the career of W. S. Robinson, who at the time of his decease was one of its wealthy residents, having accumulated a vast property numbering two thousand acres. He married Miss Electa L. Albee and to them were born nine children, of whom William A. was the fourth, his birth occurring in Arcata, June 19, 1869. The mother is still living, making her home at Eureka, where she is a member of the Congregational church.

As a boy William A. Robinson studied in the public schools of Bridgeville and, on the completion of his education, assisted his father in the manage- ment of the home place. In 1902 he assumed entire charge of the ranch, giving his attention for many years to the raising of sheep. In 1911, having disposed of his sheep, he began cattle-raising with desirable results, soon gaining an enviable reputation in the business world, devoting the entire ranch to the raising of cattle and fattening them for the market. While he had the influence of his father to aid him in starting out, yet it may be said of him that, even without such influence, his own perseverance, wise judgment and common sense would have brought him prosperity and prom- inence.

In politics he is a Democrat, while fraternally he is a member of Eureka Lodge No. 652, B. P. O. E. Mr. Robinson was married in 1907 to Miss Florence Knowles, a native of Mendocino county, this state, and they have one daughter named Elizabeth. Always interested in the cause of education, Mr. Robinson has for many years been a member of the board of trustees of the Bridgeville school district, serving as clerk during the entire time, and the school house is the same he attended his last few years of school.

ALBERT MAURICE DINSMORE, D. D. S .- The president of the Ferndale Chamber of Commerce, who is also proprietor of the Dinsmore jewelry store at this place as well as a dental practitioner of experience, is a member of a pioneer family of Humboldt county, where he was born at Rio Dell, February 23, 1879, and where he received public-school advantages. An early desire to enter the dental profession led him to matriculate in the dental department of the University of California, where he took the regular course of lectures, graduating with a high standing in 1904. Meanwhile, in order to assist in defraying the expenses of the university course, he had taught school for ten months in his native county. On returning home from the university he opened a dental office at Ferndale, where later he became a charter member of the Chamber of Commerce and in 1909 bought out the jewelry business of R. H. Edwards, now conducted under his own name. With his wife, who was Cavy E. Miner, a native of Petrolia, Humboldt county, he has a high social standing in the community. His fraternities are numerous and include the Knights of Pythias, Native Sons of the Golden West; Ferndale Lodge No. 193, F. & A. M. in which he is past master ; Ferndale Chapter No. 78, R. A. M., in which he is past high priest; Eureka

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Commandery No. 35, K. T., and Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of San Francisco.

The founder of the Dinsmore family in Humboldt county, the late John Owen Dinsmore, the grandfather of Dr. Dinsmore, was born in 1816 on the banks of the Kennebec river in Maine and died at his western home June 21, 1891. In early life he engaged in logging and lumbering, but the failure of his health caused him to go from Maine to Texas in 1846 and for a few years he taught in the south. Improved by the change of climate, he returned to Maine and remained there until the discovery of gold in California caused him to come to the west. At the end of the first year he went back as far as Illinois and bought a farm in Knox county, where an uncle lived. Soon he moved to Henry county, same state, where he met and married Margaret J. Davis, a native of Indiana, born April 1, 1832, but from infancy a resident of Illinois.

The second trip of John Owen Dinsmore to California was made in 1859 in company with his brother, Bradbury, Mrs. Dinsmore and the three children remaining on the Illinois farm. Coming direct to Humboldt county and locating at Iaqua, he engaged in the cattle industry, but the depreda- tions of the Indians forced him to move his cattle nearer the coast on the Mattole river. In the fall of 1860 he sold the stock and returned overland to Illinois. During May, 1861, accompanied by his family, he came west, land- ing in Humboldt county on the 4th of September. During some of his over- land trips he acquired a tract of land in Kansas and that property he still owned at his death. After two years as a renter in Humboldt county he purchased one hundred sixty acres on the Eel river. It necessitated long years of the most arduous toil for him to reclaim and improve the land, but it is now as valuable as any farm in the county. In politics he was prominent in local Republican affairs and served for two terms as supervisor. Of his eight children Thomas died in infancy and William, a very influential rancher, died at the age of forty-eight. Wallace became an attorney at Marysville. Harriet, Mrs. M. P. Hansen, settled on a ranch near Alton. Clara married George Cooper, and Mrs. Dinsmore, after the death of her husband, made her home on the Cooper ranch. George died at seventeen years and Sophia in infancy. Harold became manager of the old homestead for his mother, and inherited forty acres of the tract as his individual property.

William Dinsmore, son of John O. and father of Dr. Albert M., was born in Henry county, Ill., August 29, 1855, came to California when about seven years of age, lived on the home farm until his marriage at the age of twenty- one and then settled at Rio Dell, Humboldt county. Six years later he bought one hundred thirty acres and moved to the new property, thirty acres of which he planted in apple trees. The orchard has been considered one of the best in the county and its value was largely due to the care of the original orchardist in selecting the best varieties of trees. For some years William Dinsmore served as school director. His fraternities were Eel River Lodge No. 147, F. & A. M., of Rohnerville; Ferndale Chapter No. 78, R. A. M .; Hydesville Lodge No. 250, I. O. O. F., and Ilydesville Encampment. At his death, June 7, 1903, he was survived by his wife and five children, Albert M., Fred A., George E., Elsie and Mabel L. Mrs. William Dinsmore was Annie, daughter of Joseph and Bertha (Thompson) Rolley, natives respectively of England and Pennsylvania. In 1844 her father settled in New York City and

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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 74

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