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 76
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throughout Humboldt county. Mr. Anderson is a member of Hydesville Lodge No. 250, I. O. O. F., of which he is past grand, is a member of Hydes- ville Encampment No. 59, and with his wife is a member of Hydesville Rebekah Lodge No. 98, of which Mrs. Anderson is past noble grand. In 1910 Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were delegates to the Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows and Rebekahs at Fresno.
HECTOR ALBERT NELSON is one of the pioneers of Humboldt county, of which he is also a native, and is the son of one of the oldest pioneer families of the county. His father and mother both came to this section of the state at an early day, and here their home was established and their family born and reared. Mr. Nelson at present resides on the old home place, where he was born and where he grew to manhood. Ile has made a decided success of his undertakings and as a prosperous farmer is well known and highly esteemed in Arcata and the surrounding country.
Mr. Nelson was born in the old Nelson home, Arcata Bottoms, January 17, 1864, and his boyhood days, and in fact most of the years of his life, have all been passed in or near Arcata, where he has a host of life-long friends. He received his education in the public schools of Arcata, and later attended Heald's Business college in San Francisco, where he was graduated in 1885. After completing his studies he remained at home, working for and with his father on the home place until the time of his father's death, which occurred March 6, 1896. Since that time he has himself conducted the farm, following the line that had interested his father, namely diversified farming and dairying.
This home place is a ranch of eighty acres and is all in a splendid state of cultivation, and is one of the best cared for places in the valley, as well as one of the best improved. When he first went into the dairying business Mr. Nelson had a herd of fifteen cows, which he has since increased to forty head. He has given careful attention to the details of the work and has met with appreciable success in his business. His property is constantly increasing in value, as are also his stock, while each year improvements are added to the farm, which in themselves enhance its value.
The marriage of Mr. Nelson with Miss Angie Maria Brown took place July 28, 1907. Mrs. Nelson is the mother of one child, a son, Frederick Morris Nelson, who is the pride of his father's heart. Mrs. Nelson is the daughter of an old pioneer family of California, and was born in Petaluma, Sonoma county, August 25, 1875. She received her education in the Petaluma public schools, graduating first from the grammar schools and later from the high school. Her parents eventually removed to Humboldt county, where she met and was married to Mr. Nelson.
The parents of Mr. Nelson are both from the other side of the Atlantic, his father being a native of Denmark, while his mother was born in Germany. The father was Christian Nelson, who was born in Denmark, July 7, 1822. He attended the public schools of his native village but a short time, as both his parents died when he was a small lad. At an early age he decided to become a sailor, and for about fourteen years he followed a sca-faring life. He came first to San Francisco in 1854, and from there sailed up the coast to Trinidad. At this time he had determined to give up the sea and for a time he worked in a sawmill, and later spent some time in the mines, remain- ing at Gold Bluff for about two years. Then he was farming at Little River Bridge, but in 1862 was driven out by the Indians, so in the fall of 1862 he
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came to Arcata and purchased eighty acres of bottom land, which at the time of purchase was unimproved. This was later cleared and brought into a high state of cultivation, and has since then been the home of the family. The mother of Mr. Nelson was Augusta Bayreuther, born.in Saxony, Germany, February 10, 1832. She came to California by way of the Isthmus, making the trip directly from Germany. She was married to Mr. Nelson, Sr., in Humboldt county in 1858. Their union was blessed by four children, three of whom are still living. The aged mother is still living on the old home place where her children were born and reared and which holds for her so many happy memories.
Mr. Nelson is a man of keen interests in all questions of the day, is well informed and broadminded and decidedly liberal in his views. He is a Republican and is interested in all the affairs of his party, both locally and in matters of state and national policy, although he has never been actively engaged in politics.
MADS P. HANSEN .--- This thrifty farmer and business man of Rohner- ville township is a citizen of whom Humboldt county may well be proud. A foreigner by birth, and without advantages of friends or money when he settled here, he has worked his way to a position of affluence and high standing by reason of his substantial qualities, shown in his good citizenship as well as in the management of his personal affairs. Mr. Hansen was born July 29, 1847, in North Schleswig, Germany, son of M. P. and Elizabeth (Holst) Hansen. He was reared in his native land, and had excellent educational advantages, so that he was well trained for the practical work of life before he left home.
In 1869 the young man came to the United States, and for four months lived in Illinois, but he decided on California the year of his arrival in this country, and has remained here ever since. The first four years of his resi- dence in this state he was employed as a laborer near Oakland, meantime gaining a knowledge of the language and familiarity with American customs. In 1873 he came thence to Humboldt county, and the same year located the property in Rohnerville township where he has since carried on farming on his own account, having one hundred twenty-nine acres of valuable land. He has been successfully engaged in general agriculture, but has made a specialty of dairying, keeping about forty cows the year round, and finding a steady market for the milk and his other products. As opportunity has offered he has turned his attention to other undertakings, in which his good judgment and business capacity have been equally apparent. He owned three acres of land in the village of Alton, which he platted in town lots, and he has also acquired commercial interests there, owning the only store and the only livery stable in the place, both of which he conducts with commend- able enterprise. Mr. Hansen's ambition and progressive disposition have gained him a place among the most active residents of his locality. All who have had dealings with him testify to his absolute honesty and unquestion- able methods, which have established him thoroughly in the confidence of his fellow men wherever he is known. He has taken an intelligent interest in the welfare of his township, especially regarding public school facilities, which he regards as highly important, and he gave excellent service to the township in the position of school trustee. He was nominated for the office of supervisor, but defeated. In politics he has been a Republican, and he
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has taken part in the local campaigns, wielding considerable influence in his neighborhood, where he has done good work for the party. Socially he is an Odd Fellow, holding membership in Hydesville Lodge No. 250.
Mr. Hansen was married to Harriet Dinsmore, a native of Illinois, daugh- ter of the late J. O. Dinsmore. They have had a family of four children, namely : John A., who lives in Yuba county, this state; Winifred, deceased ; Christina M., Mrs. Nathan Hauck ; and George.
FREEMAN ART .- The development of a large establishment out of the small business established in Eureka in 1906 is attributable to the capable efforts of Emma B. Freeman, the founder and present proprietor of the studio and a woman whose intense love of the beautiful and picturesque in nature led her in early childhood to follow the bright-plumaged birds to their hidden haunts in great trees ; to study the flowers as they bloomed uncul- tivated and often unseen along the wayside; and to watch the changing cloud in the sky and every phase of scenery that allures the possessor of an artistic temperament. When she decided to develop her remarkable natural talent and to make drawing, painting and photography her life work, she selected Humboldt county as the spot best adapted to her occupative duties. The results proved that her selection was not amiss. It has been her privilege to tour practically every portion of northern California, taking with her a complete outfit of photographic necessities or a drawing and painting outfit. With these she has made pictures of the sun-kissed seashore, the isolated mountains and the dense forests. A special atmosphere of romance seems to envelop these reproductions of picturesque spots and even a most casual glance at the large assortment of local pictures displayed in her studio proves her to be a true lover of nature and an expert in photography.
A visitor to the Freeman art store on the corner of Fifth and H streets, Eureka, finds much to interest the mind and awaken the admiration. Beside the thousands of views taken in every part of the county there are many redwood novelties and Indian baskets, all but the latter manufactured on the premises, as well as art leather goods, artistic souvenirs and an assortment of material for the framing of pictures. Every branch of photography is in evi- dence, including copy work, enlarging of pictures, and scenic and commercial reproductions, together with the usual forms of portraiture.
Emma B. Freeman's portrait work is now being sought by publishers. Recent issues of Collier's, Leslie's, Sunset, Outing and other publications are using her prints. Iler artistic studies of the native Indians are being ordered not alone from different parts of the United States, but from other countries. The State Library at Sacramento has commissioned her to place with them her entire collection of Indian pictures; so that with her local work she is adding fame to northern California as well as winning the deserved honor that comes to herself as a true artist.
Singularly fortunate has Mrs. Freeman been in interpreting the scenic grandeur of Humboldt county in a series of photographs that have attracted wide and favorable attention from art critics and connoisseurs and that afford gratification to her friends who possess the utmost faith in her artistic abilities. It is indeed a source of general gratification that there is an artist within the county capable of reproducing local scenic beauties and thus making it possible for the entire country to understand and realize the
Frank y lain
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landscape attractions that make this section one of the most picturesque spots in the west.
FRANK L. CAIN .- As assistant postmaster of Alderpoint, and the first bona-fide resident of the now thriving little town, Frank L. Cain has taken a prominent part in the affairs of the community since its beginning, and is today one of its most influential residents. His name is indelibly associated with the fame and fortunes of the North-Western Pacific Railroad, whose advent into this region is responsible for the birth of the new town, through the fact that the "golden spike" which marked the completion of the line was driven at "Cain's Rock," a landmark which was named for him on account of its being located at a point in Eel river where Mr. Cain home- steaded in 1898. The opening of the North-Western Pacific Railroad, which formally occurred on October 23, 1914, marked an era of great importance in this part of California, and Alderpoint, which had been a prosperous little town during the period of construction, has since grown into a place of com- mercial importance, and promises to be one of the prominent county towns.
Mr. Cain is a descendant of an old pioncer family of great prominence in California, he being a nephew of ex-Governor Burnett, the first American governor of California, through his maternal ancestry. His mother was Elizabeth Burnett, familiarly known by her family and intimate friends as "Betty Burnett," and was an own sister of Peter H. Burnett, the aforemen- tioned governor, and an aunt of Judge Albert Burnett, of the appellate court at Sacramento. His father, Robert Cain, a native of Kentucky, was a man of means, but lost much property during the Civil war. He had moved to Platte City, Mo., many years before, and died there in 1869, at the age of seventy-six years. After his death his wife came to California in 1875 with her children, with the exception of Emmett, who remained in Missouri. The family located at Cloverdale, and later removed to Williams, Colusa county, where she died in 1883, at the age of sixty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Cain, Sr., were the parents of four children, all sons, and all well known residents of California at this time, with the exception of Robert Emmett, the second born, who resides in Oklahoma, where he is engaged in farming. Of the other sons. the eldest, Burnett, resides in Los Angeles, where he is a promi- nent contractor and builder : Frank L. is the subject of this sketch ; and Henry MI. is a contractor and builder in Los Angeles. The mother was married to Dr. Ware May before her marriage to Mr. Cain, and by the first union was the mother of six children.
Frank L. Cain is a native of Platte City, Mo., born January 12, 1854, and there grew to maturity, receiving his education in the local public and high schools. After coming to California with his mother in 1875 he worked on various ranches in Sonoma county, being employed by the month, and later engaged in the sheep business in Sherwood valley, Mendocino county, where he owned a thousand head of sheep in partnership with his brother-in-law, Oliver Todd. Later he disposed of his interests there and went to Los Angeles, where he lived for four years, from 1882 to 1886. He then returned northward, locating at Cloverdale, and engaged in the cattle business on the Crigler ranch, a property of two thousand acres, raising both cattle and hogs, and meeting with success. After a time he disposed of his interests there to good advantage and went to Fort Bragg, Mendocino county, where he pur- chased and improved a place, which he later sold, and then came to Hum-
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boldt county, where he has since resided. In 1898 he homesteaded a ranch of one hundred and sixty acres on Eel river, this being the property located at Cain's Rock, of golden spike fame, and at that time Blocksburg was the nearest postoffice. In 1910 Mr. Cain sold this ranch. He came to Alderpoint in 1907 and bought two lots, building a residence and a small barn, in which he kept four stage horses for the Helmke Stage Company. At this time the surveys for the North-Western Pacific Railroad were being run, and from this small beginning the town of Alderpoint has grown to its present promis- ing proportions, with a growing population and prosperous business district which supplies the tributary country. When the postoffice was instituted in 1909 Mr. Cain was made assistant postmaster, and has occupied this position continuously since that time. He is a Democrat in politics and takes an active part in the affairs of his party, being especially interested in all questions of local importance, in which he takes a leading part. He has served in various capacities, being a member of several election boards, and also having served as judge of elections. He is a man of high moral integrity and is honored and respected wherever he is known.
CRAIG R. THOMPSON .- A resident of Humboldt county for more than fifty years, and today one of the most influential and enterprising citizens of the new town of Alderpoint, Craig Rickey Thompson is well known as a rancher of means and ability and also as a contractor and builder, this latter occupation being the one that he is following at the present time, although he still owns his splendid farm of three hundred twenty acres near Alder- point. He was one of the first men to build in Alderpoint when this thriving. little city sprang up on the line of the new North-Western Pacific Railroad- and has been instrumental in promoting many enterprises that have been beneficial to the town. He has erected a handsome two-story residence of logs, where he makes his home, and which is one of the especially attractive places of the town. His work in contracting and building has prospered and he has erected a number of very attractive homes in Alderpoint, while not neglecting his business elsewhere. He is very influential politically and takes an active part in the affairs of his party, he being a stanch Republican. He is now serving as deputy sheriff of Humboldt county, having received his appointment under Sheriff Redmond of Eureka. In all matters of local or county import, Mr. Thompson is ever in the lead, and his hearty support may always be counted upon for any movement which stands for progress and upbuilding.
Mr. Thompson is a native of Missouri, born in St. Clair county, June 30, 1857, the son of John and Mary Ann (Nelson) Thompson. Both his parents were natives of Pennsylvania, where they were reared, educated and married. After their marriage they removed to Iowa and later to Missouri, where they were engaged in farming, being very prosperous. In 1860 they crossed the plains with ox teams and arriving in California they located near Sacramento City. Their trip across the plains was made by way of the Salt Lake route and occupied four months. In 1861 the family again moved, this time settling on McDermott's prairie, at the confluence of the Van Dusen and Eel rivers, in Humboldt county. There Craig R. grew to young manhood, he being but a babe of four years when the family came to Humboldt county, and since that time this has been his home, although he has spent some time in Oregon, Idaho, and other parts of California. His father owned a large ranch near
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Boise, Idaho, and another near Oregon City, Ore., and for a number of years he was employed on one or the other of these properties. From Oregon he went into Lake county, Cal., and later on to Ventura county. In 1870 he returned to Humboldt county and located near Rohnerville, where he farmed- for a time and also engaged in stock raising. There were eight children in his parents' family, of which he was the sixth born. They are: Hugh J., who resides with his brother, Craig : Martin, who died recently at the age of sixty- two years, in Humboldt county ; Margaret J., deceased, but was the wife of D. E. McKee, of Mendocino county, and the mother of nine children ; John F., engaged in the barber business in AAlderpoint ; Howard, a rancher at Alder- point ; Craig Rickey, subject of this sketch ; Robert, a rancher in Potter valley, Mendocino county, is married and has three children; Abraham Lincoln, residing in Alderpoint. Both parents are deceased, having passed away in Potter valley, Mendocino county, the father at the age of eighty-seven and the mother at eighty-two.
Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, who was Miss Sadie Anna Burgess before her marriage, were married in December, 1889, in Blocksburg. She was born in Douglas City, Trinity county, the daughter of George W. Burgess, of Blocksburg, who is also represented in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have six children : Augustus, Edith, Gaston, Vina, Clara and Ellis, all of whom are still residing at home. Mr. Thompson came to Blocksburg in 1884 and purchased a farmi which he conducted for eight years, this property now being owned by George W. Burgess. In 1903 he came to Alderpoint and engaged in the contracting and building business. The family own two acres in Alderpoint where they reside, in addition to the farm near there. He is acknowledged to be one of the leading men of the county as well as of Alderpoint and vicinity, and is a man of more than ordinary worth, integrity of character and business judgment.
ALBERT L. PATTON .- A son of one of the early settlers in Van Dusen township, Humboldt county, Cal., is Albert L. Patton, a deservedly popular man of more than usual worth. His father, Walter Milo Patton of Iowa. came to this district twenty-seven years ago. He was married in California to Sarah M. Cobble, a native of Ohio, and was the father of eight children. They made their home on the Rohrborough ranch in Humboldt county, which the father leased for several years and later became foreman of the same ranch, his death occurring in 1909. His son Walter is today foreman of the same ranch which his father formerly managed.
Albert L. Patton, the eldest son of this early settler in the county, was born at Scott's Valley, Lake county, Cal., September 28, 1875, his early years being spent in Round Valley, Cal., until he came with his parents to Hum- boldt county in 1889, where he makes his home today. Besides owning a ranch, Mr. Patton attends well and faithfully to the duties of road overseer, his district extending from Poll Gates to within three miles of Blocksburg, including fourteen miles of mountain road, and it is the concensus of opinion that his are the best kept mountain roads in the county. Mr. Patton engages in general farming and stock-raising on his own ranch of eighty acres, besides eighty more which he rents from his mother, who is the present owner of the father's estate of two hundred forty acres, which still remains undivided. In 1900 Mr. Patton married Miss Cora Shields, who is a native of the state of Idaho but has spent most of her life in Humboldt county, whither she came
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with her parents when a child. A daughter and son have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Patton: Gladys and James. In his political views Mr. Patton is allied with the Republican party. He was elected constable of Van Dusen township, for a term of four years, entering upon the duties of that office January 4, 1915. Always interested in the cause of education he is serving as trustee of Alderpoint school district.
JACOB M. KEES .- In 1850 there came west across the plains Andrew Kees, a carpenter and builder and a native of Pennsylvania, with his wife, Zerelda (Fry) Kces, whom he had married in St. Louis, Mo., and their five children, of whom the youngest was Jacob Kees, who had been born in St. Louis, December 2, 1848, and was to become one of the carly settlers in Humboldt county, Cal.
The family of Mr. Andrew Kees settled in Albany, Orc., in the Willamette valley, in the autumn of 1850. In 1860 they removed to Walla Walla, Wash., and there the son Jacob attended the public schools and later Whitman Seminary. The mother died in Oregon at the age of forty ; the father married a second time, having two children by his second wife. He is now deceased, his death having occurred in Oregon.
The father was a stockman, keeping about five hundred head of cattle, and the son Jacob started out for himself in the cattle business, doing fairly well, though he suffered severely in the panic of 1870, when he was obliged to sell his cattle at ten dollars per head, receiving the money in greenbacks which were at that time worth only sixty cents on the dollar. He then took up a homestead of one hundred sixty acres in Umatilla county, Orc., and a preemption of one hundred sixty acres adjoining and devoted his time to farming, which he continued for a number of years. While living in Oregon he ran a threshing machine of twelve horse-power for fourteen years ; and it was in Oregon, as a grain farmer, that he made most of his money.
Sixteen years ago Jacob Kees sold one and one-half sections of land in Oregon and removed to Humboldt county, Cal., mainly on account of his health. He came to Blocksburg, Cal., driving a team of horses, with his family and effects, overland by wagon. Here in Humboldt county he was burned out seven years ago, everything he owned being swept away by fire, he having no insurance. At present he owns a general purpose ranch of one hundred twenty-five acres well located on Larabee creek, a half mile north of Blocks- burg, in Humboldt county, which he has improved and named Maple Dale Farm. Here he has dwelt for a number of years, being an enthusiastic booster of the county, where he is a member of the Blocksburg Farm Center and for four years held the office of Justice of the Peace. Mr. Kees has demonstrated the fact that both tobacco and hops of the first quality can be successfully raised in Humboldt county.
Mr. Kees' wife was Miss Mary Frances Galloway, born in Omega, Nevada county, Cal., the daughter of James Galloway of Ohio, who came to California during the mining excitement of 1852, and Harriet (Schooling) Galloway of Missouri, who, after the death of her father, Joseph Schooling, in Missouri, came overland to Grass Valley, Cal., with her mother, whose maiden name was Margaret Wilson. Mrs. Kees was raised in Oregon and lived in Yamhill county when she married Mr. Kees, and they have had three children, two living and one deceased: Lelah D., who married Dr. Stephen Fleming of San Francisco and has two children, Marion and Lelah Rose ; and
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