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 81

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 81

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Ellen & Smith.

Chas. R. Smith

737

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

time) indicates the nature of his services to the county. While he is a Republican, he is not a partisan and numbers many friends in the ranks of the local Democracy. While he has been giving the best of himself, his fullest energies and most exacting accuracy to details of office, others have grown prosperous in business or on farms and now stand high in financial circles. Such, however, has not been his fortunate fate. The county has taken of his strength and greatest mental and physical efforts, giving nothing in return but a living, so that like the majority of county officials the world over he has little of permanent benefit to show for the laborious toil and exacting duties of a county office. His reputation for accuracy has followed him from one office to another. In his seven years of service as deputy audi- tor and auditor, his work has been absolutely correct, as experts have testi- fied and so the reports have been made to every grand jury for the last seven years. The duties of auditor are varied and at times complicated. His experience has given him the opportunity to become one of the best-posted men in county affairs in Humboldt county and, while familiar with every office, he gives it as his opinion that the office of auditor is one of the most difficult to fill.

The Carr family is of Irish lineage and was established in America two generations ago by the parents of John Carr, who took him from Ireland to Canada when he was two years of age. Later he came to the States. The discovery of gold caused him to drift to California, where he met and married Delilah Turner, a native of New Jersey. Fraternally Thomas K. Carr is connected with the Native Sons of the Golden West, the Eagles, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Royal Neighbors, a branch of the Woodmen. In addition he is identified with the subordinate lodge and Encampment branch of Odd Fellows, as well as the Canton branch and Rebekah branch, and has passed through most of the chairs in the order with the exception of those in the Rebekah branch. The Humboldt Club has his name enrolled among its members. While not directly connected with any religious organ- ization, he is in sympathy with the doctrines of the Baptist Church. His first marriage took place March 19, 1883, and united him with Mary G. Nick- erson, daughter of W. H. Nickerson, of Fairhaven. May 25, 1911, he was united in marriage with Mrs. Florence A. Bast, daughter of Jeremiah Dough- erty, of Rohnerville, Humboldt county, and the widow of George Bast, by whom she has two children, Mildred Bast and George Wilbur Bast. By his first marriage Mr. Carr is the father of four children, namely : Lloyd Vernon Carr, who married Alida Crocker ; Hazel G., now Mrs. Joseph M. Hinman ; Elizabeth DeEtte. now Mrs. E. B. Sandelands ; and Nell Elise, who married John Brubaker, of Salt Lake.

CHARLES R. SMITH .- The variety of occupations which Humboldt county offers to the enterprising and thrifty, combined with her remarkable climatic features, has attracted a sturdy class of agriculturists and those con- templating the purchase and development of farm lands, for they not only have the prospects of success in raising crops, but the assurance of a good market where other industries are profitably prosecuted. The adaptability of southeastern Humboldt county, and particularly the Eel river district, for fruit growing, is becoming known through the results which those who have attempted fruit raising have attained, and none has done more in the way of affording practical examples of her possibilities in this line than Charles

738

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

R. Smith, of Alderpoint. A Wisconsin man, of German extraction, he came here some twenty odd years ago, and in 1895 took up a homestead which now forms part of his valuable ranch of five hundred fifty acres. Now he is reckoned among the substantial, well-to-do farmers of his section, having by his own exertions acquired a good property and made excellent headway in his farming operations.

Mr. Smith was born July 26, 1861, near Oshkosh, Wis., son of Henry and Harriet (Hales) Smith, the father a native of Germany, the mother of England. They were married in Wisconsin, and Henry Smith is now living in Sacramento at the age of eighty-four years. IIe followed the trade of mason and bricklayer besides farming in his active years. C. R. Smith is the eldest of the four children born to his parents. His childhood and youth were passed in his native state, and from an early age he was familiar with work in the timber regions, a training which has proved very valuable in the improvement of his present property. For twelve months he was employed in the woods near Waupaca, Wis., as chopper, logger and teamster. Upon his removal west he located first in Montana, for two years working as a market gardener at Boulder, that state. In 1892 he came to Humboldt county, Cal., and for a time was at Hydesville, in 1895 taking up a homestead of one hundred sixty acres, now included in his five hundred fifty-acre ranch situated a mile southeast of Alderpoint, in southern Humboldt county. Mr. Smith has given all his time to the improvement of this ranch, but it is his accomplishments in the line of fruit raising which are most notable and of particular importance to the locality. He has cleared a tract of twelve acres, which he has planted to various kinds of fruits, peaches, apples, walnuts, cherries, almonds and a number of fig trees, as well as grapes. His trees are from one to seven years old, and his apple trees in bearing are remarkably thrifty, but it is his peach crop that deserves particular mention. In fact, he has the reputation of producing the finest peaches in northern California, Elbertas, which show exceptional qualities as to size, color and flavor. There is a demand for all he can supply.

Mr. Smith has erected suitable barns and other outbuildings on his farm, and there is also a comfortable dwelling, which he intends to replace with a modern structure before long. In the year 1911 he built a cottage at Alder- point, the first house completed at that place, and also a commodious livery barn, which he rents for that purpose.

In all his enterprises Mr. Smith has had the competent cooperation of his wife, who has proved her capability in many ways. June 15, 1911, he married Miss Ellen Mathison, who was born at Fortuna, Humboldt county, the eldest of the eight children born to her parents, Nis and Mary (Petersen) Mathison, born in Slesvig, Germany. They came to California before their marriage and were united in Sonoma county about 1874. Later they came to Humboldt county and in the fall of 1875 came to Blocksburg, where they became farmers and where Mr. Mathison died. He helped to build the over- land road. The mother resides near Alderpoint with her son Fred. In the neighborhood of Fort Seward Mrs. Smith located a homestead upon which she proved up, and also took up a timber claim, owning both as the result of her own efforts. A woman of excellent personal qualities and kindly dis- position, she has not only been a helpmate in the best sense of the word to her husband, but a good neighbor and friend to all with whom she has been

739

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

brought into contact. By his former marriage, which took place in Wiscon- sin, Mr. Smith had two children: Walter F., an experienced horticulturist, who engaged in ranching near Alderpoint ; and Hattie E., Mrs. Greene, whose husband is bookkeeper and cashier at the Sacramento office of M. P. Fuller & Co.

JAMES WILLIAM HENDERSON .- For forty-five years Eureka num- bered among her residents the late James William Henderson, who settled here in 1865, after sixteen years of the experiences and adventure which fell to the lot of those who braved the dangers of life in the uncivilized days of the west. When he settled down to business he proved himself as capable and courageous as in the more spectacular activities of his early life, so much so that for years no one challenged his title as the leading citizen of IIumboldt county. Mr. Henderson had been impressed with the attractions and advan- tages of Eureka some years before he came to make his home in the city, and from the time he took up his residence here until his death was one of its most zealous spirits, putting his own means into city and county property and doing his utmost to develop local resources. His own investments being so heavy, it was but natural he should desire to promote the improvements necessary to insure the stability of their values, but his enterprises to that end always benefited others as well, and he never kept on the safe side of the market himself by lack of respect for the rights of others. He operated extensively in real estate, was one of the organizers of the first bank in the county, had other banking interests later, took a hand in the development of the oil lands in the county, and for ten years before his death conducted the Humboldt Bay Woolen Mills, a manufacturing plant which has afforded profitable occupation for a number of industrial workers. It would be diffi- cult to summarize his work, however, as his capital and energy flowed into many channels, carrying good indirectly as well as directly, so that it would be hard to tell where his influence ended.

Mr. Henderson was of Scotch ancestry, his early antecedents moving from their native country to the North of Ireland to escape religious perse- cution. John Henderson, his grandfather, emigrated from the North of Ire- land to America, and his father, Edward Henderson, was born in New York state and passed all his life there. By occupation a farmer, he made a good living for himself and family and was a well respected man in his neighbor- hood. He was an active member of the Episcopal Church and took consid- erable part in such work. Politically he was originally a Whig, later a Dem- ocrat, and he entered heartily into party work in his state, taking keen en- joyment in the campaigns. Mr. Henderson married Martha Jopson, a native of Wales, and they became the parents of six children. Mr. Henderson died when about seventy-five years old, his wife living to be ninety. She, too, was a devout member of the Episcopal Church.

James William Henderson, the eldest child of the family, was born on a farm in St. Lawrence county, N. Y., June 9, 1828, and he received his educa- tion in the local public schools and at Potsdam Academy, in his native county. His early life was spent on the farm, and he was the first of the family to leave home, having started for the west in the spring of 1849. The lure of the mines was irresistible, and he set out to make the trip overland. Reach- ing Council Bluffs, Iowa, he went north from there and spent the summer in Minnesota. In the fall he went down the Mississippi river, stopping at St.

740

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

Louis, where the first railroad convention held in the west was then in session, endeavoring to devise ways and means of constructing a railroad to the far west. The principal speakers were Daniel Webster and Stephen A. Doug- las, and Mr. Henderson stayed over for the privilege of hearing their argu- ments. Then he proceeded down the river to New Orleans, where he bought a ticket to San Francisco via Panama, the fare being one hundred eighty dol- lars. He reached his destination in February, 1850, without available funds, and his first experience was typical of the times. A young man he had met during the ocean voyage loaned him thirty-five dollars and they went together to the Middle Fork of the American river, where they were quite successful in their search for gold on the Spanish bar. It was not long before Mr. Henderson was able to repay the thirty-five dollars, and he and his "friend in need" were congenial companions. In the winter of 1850, Mr. Henderson returned to San Francisco, remaining until spring, when he made a trip by steamer to Portland, Oregon, to buy produce for shipment to San Francisco. Upon his return he bought an assortment of merchandise at auction and shipped it to Portland. Then for a time he was at the mines on the Feather river, but did not do well there, and went back to San Francisco for the winter. In the spring he went to the Spanish bar again, and much to his satisfaction had better success than before, buying a claim for six hundred dollars which he sold for eight hundred after taking out ten thousand dollars worth of gold. This was his last mining venture. In 1852 he made a trip back east, visiting his old home in St. Lawrence county, N. Y., and after spending a few weeks there went out to Illinois and Iowa, where he bought a band of horses which he drove across the plains. This undertaking turned out very profitably, as he was able to sell at an average price of eight hun- dred dollars a team, the horses having cost him one hundred dollars apiece. The result was so encouraging that he went east again in 1853, this time purchasing both horses and cattle, which he drove across the plains and kept near Sacramento for a year before selling them. In 1855 he made another trip, to Missouri, where he bought one hundred mules which he succeeded in getting to the coast country without serious accident or loss, keeping them for a year near Stockton, until they were in such fine condition that he obtained top prices for them.

By this time Mr. Henderson had concluded to go into the stage busi- ness, and in the fall of 1857 he established himself at Petaluma for that pur- pose. He carried on an extensive business from that point for six years, hav- ing the first overland stage line in northern California. Although he did not drive, he had to take the responsibility for all the losses, which were some- times considerable, highway robberies being frequent in those days and the Indians to be reckoned with: one night they killed ten of the horses and burned a large supply of his hay. Besides the above business, Mr. Hender- son had the contract for carrying the overland mail between San Francisco and Weaverville, Trinity county, a distance of four hundred miles, part of which had to be made on horseback. While at Petaluma he also engaged to some extent in the stock business and ran a livery in partnership with Mat Doyle. He first visited Eureka in 1860 on some matters pertaining to his mail contract, and the impression he gained then was so pleasing that when he disposed of his stage line he decided upon this place for his home, settling here in 1865.

741

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

Mr. Henderson began to deal in land about the time of his removal to Eureka, and for many years he held the record as the largest individual dealer in real estate in the county. He acquired fifteen thousand acres of sup- posedly valuable agricultural land, and at the same time bought large tracts of timberland, on which he realized handsomely, paying a dollar and a quar- ter an acre for it, and selling at five dollars. He owned different tracts from time to time, buying and selling, and in 1890 disposed of five thousand acres at twenty-five dollars an acre. He retained a ranch of ten thousand acres, which he leased, and several smaller tracts of land.

In the southern part of Humboldt county are valuable oil lands, and Mr. Henderson early interested himself in their development, which he found quite different from his anticipations. In 1874 Thomas Scott, the Phila- delphia capitalist, sent him seventy-five thousand dollars for investment in these lands, and he set about placing it to the best advantage. But although there were plenty of areas where oil seeped from the ground profusely, boring did not produce sufficient quantities for commercial purposes. Mr. Henderson prospected in 1875, with no results which justified continuing operations, yet it is almost certain that some way may be devised to obtain the oil, and the heirs to the land, in selling it off, have reserved the oil rights in the deeds.

In 1873 Mr. Henderson was one of the organizers of the Humboldt County Bank, the first institution of the kind in the county, and in 1880 was elected president, holding the position continuously for over twenty years, until January 20, 1904. At the meeting of the directors on that day they presented Mr. Henderson a loving cup inscribed, "Presented to J. WV. Henderson by the directors of Humboldt County Bank as a token of esteem, January 20, 1904." It was accompanied by a set of resolutions praising his services to the bank and showing their appreciation of his high personal character. Meantime, in the year 1893, he had taken a prominent part in establishing the Home Savings Bank of Eureka, took an influential part in the direction of its affairs, and in 1901 became president, serving until 1903. In 1900 he founded the Humboldt Bay Woolen Mills Company, and person- ally looked after all the details of construction and equipment, going east to purchase the machinery, and sparing no pains to make the plant a model industrial institution. He was president of the company from the time of its formation, and its conduct constituted the chief interest of his later years. His death occurred July 13, 1910.

The only public office which Mr. Henderson held was that of registrar of the United States land office, in which he served for one term, in 1868. However, he had his father's taste for politics, was a Republican from the time of the Civil war, and for many years never missed a county or a state convention of his party. In 1878 he joined the Masonic fraternity, becoming a member of Humboldt Lodge No. 79, F. & A. M., and he subsequently was received into Humboldt Chapter No. 52, R. A. M.

Mr. Henderson's share in the opening up of Humboldt county to trade and commerce, the life of usefulness he chose among his fellow citizens, and the honorable example he left to posterity, will endear him in the memory of every resident of this section who knows anything of his life work and ambitions. They were unselfish ambitions, for he was broad-minded and liberal, and the success of his personal enterprises was due solely to wise

742

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

management and almost infallible judgment, combined with indefatigable attention to details and untiring perseverance in the prosecution of his under- takings. He lived to see his dreams realized, for his residence in Eureka extended from pioneer days to modern times, and few men are permitted to have more than a vision of the results of their endeavors. Those who build for the future must do so on faith-must have the imagination which stimu- lates them to effort without hoping to share the rewards.

Mrs. Henderson, whose maiden name was Amelia Josephine Youle, was a native of New York City, and came to California in 1859 with her father, Adam Youle. They were married in 1860, and to this union were born seven children, five sons and two daughters, three of whom died in childhood; Edward William died in his twenty-fifth year; Ida is the wife of Ernest Sevier, an attorney, of Eureka; Alice is a resident of Cloverdale; George Y., also living in that city, manages the estate and is a director in the Humboldt National Bank, besides being extensively engaged in general farming and stock-ranching. He is also constructing an extensive irrigation system at Xenia, Trinity county, taking water from the headwaters of Dobbyn's creek, sufficient to irrigate a large area.

GIUSEPPE FERRARA .- Known throughout his section of the state as the "Salmon King of Humboldt county," Giuseppe Ferrara is today one of the wealthy and respected citizens of Eureka, and a splendid example of the possibilities offered to the industrious young man by the West. He is now a widower, and resides on Washington street where he has made his home for thirty-three years. He has lived in Humboldt county for thirty- seven years and has been extensively engaged in the fish industry in Eureka, fishing for salmon and other fish in the Eel river, Humboldt Bay and in the Pacific ocean, and also buying from the fishermen; he has sold to the retail trade in Eureka but his principal wholesale markets have been San Francisco, Sacramento, and other large cities of California. Mr. Ferrara is the pioneer in the fish industry in Humboldt county.

Mr. Ferrara was born in Sicily, Italy, where his father, Peter Ferrara, was a fisherman and fish-dealer, taking cargoes of fish to Rome, Genoa, Venice, and other Italian cities, where they were sold both at retail and wholesale. . The father also owned a vineyard where he made wines, shipped and sold his product in the various Italian cities. The young Giuseppe was only eight years of age when he first went to Rome with his father to assist in the care of the extensive shipping and commission business which he maintained there. He remained in Rome but a short time, but acquired much valuable information and experience regarding the conduct of the business during that time, being intimately connected with his father's diversified enterprises. He grew to maturity on his father's farm, where the family resided in peace and prosperity, but in order to escape the arduous military service which his native country exacted of her young men, he determined to come to America. Accordingly in 1870 he set sail, and landed at Boston, whence he proceeded to Philadelphia, where for about two years he was employed in a gas pipe fac- tory. Later he went to Chicago and engaged in making white lead for paint, remaining there about two months. He then went to San Francisco, by way of New York and the Isthmus of Panama, reaching his destination in the spring of 1873. For two years he was engaged in fishing in the Sacramento river, and in 1876 he came to Eureka, where he has since made his home. He

743

HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

immediately engaged in fishing in the Eel river, and has continued to follow this occupation since that time, meeting with success, and accumulating a fortune from the fruits of his industry.

Mr. Ferrara's marriage took place in Eureka, in 1876, uniting him with Miss Henrietta Hammitt, a native of Oregon but now deceased. She became the mother of four children: Jelorma, who died when two years of age : Peter Elwood, of Eureka, a fish dealer and commission merchant who has succeeded to his father's business, and who is one of the most promising young men of the community today, and whose sketch also appears in this work : Henrietta, the wife of Charles Perrona, of Eureka ; and Albert Frank, a fish- erman on the Klamath river, residing in Eureka.

During his long residence at Eureka Mr. Ferrara has assisted materially in the upbuilding and development of the fish industry. Through his whole- sale enterprises he has handled much of the product of the small fishermen of the region, and so has kept alive the independent fisherman. His business has grown to large proportions.

Mr. Ferrara, like all native Italians, retains a large place in his affections for his mother country, and he collected an extensive fund for Malta sufferers, contributing largely thereto himself, during the late disastrous earthquakes and famine there. He is now seventy-three years of age, but is still hale and hearty, and is keenly interested in the events of the day.

OTTO DOCILI .- The province of Brescia, in Italy, has sent many of her sons to make for themselves a home in California, whither they have been attracted, many of them, by the good reports of their countrymen returning from California to visit their native land. Among these newcomers from a foreign land should be mentioned Otto Docili, an enterprising young dairy- man of Grizzly Bluffs, Cal., who is making a success of his chosen work in this country.

Born in the city of Brescia, Italy, December 23, 1880. Otto Docili was the son of Louis Docili, a farmer of that country, and grew up on his father's farm at Mura, in the province of Brescia, remaining at home until his removal to California in 1908. Leaving his wife in Italy, he set sail for America, and arriving at San Jose, Cal., on March 6, of that year, he went to work the same day at Loran Station, in Santa Clara county, three months later removing to Modesto, Cal., where he found employment on a dairy. On March 6, 1909, he was employed by George Thompson, at Loleta, in Humboldt county, remaining with him three years, at the end of which time his family joined him and he went to work for Joseph Bonomini, who was in the dairying business, returning, however, to the employ of Mr. Thompson at a later date, after which he worked for a time for Wilson Elliot. It is much to the credit of Mr. Docili to state that all these changes were made by him without the loss of a day's time. Finally determining, however, to go into business for himself, in February, 1913, he leased a dairy ranch in Ryan's slough, near Eureka, where he engaged in the dairy business, independently, at the Bel- mont dairy, as he named his place, also running a milk delivery route in Eureka. Selling his lease and route in December of the next year, the fol- lowing January he leased his present place at Grizzly Bluffs, a ranch consisting of one hundred twenty acres of good meadow and farm land, where he has a herd of fifty cows for which he raises his own hay and green feed.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 81

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