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 91

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 91

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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

is a Republican of the progressive type, and is always to be found on the side of progress and right, placing principle before party affiliations at all times, and in all local matters giving precedence to the character and type of the man, rather than to mere party lines. He is an advocate of temperance re- form and works earnestly for a "dry" town, and is also in favor of state- wide prohibition. In his political principles he is aided and supported by his wife, who is recognized as one of the most capable and efficient women in Garberville, and whose power for good is recognized wherever she is known.

NAZARETH ACADEMY, BOARDING AND DAY SCHOOL .- Estab- lished in Eureka June 22, 1912, under the supervision of the Right Reverend Thomas Grace, D. D., Bishop of Sacramento, and with the assistance of the Very Reverend L. Kennedy, V. G., rector of St. Bernard's Church in Eureka, with the Sisters of St. Joseph in actual charge of the work of establishment, the Nazareth Academy has, within the short time elapsed since its founding, assumed a place of importance in the educational life of the county and state. This Community of Sisters is known throughout the world for its splendid educational work as well as its charity and philanthropy, its schools being among the most successful. The Sisters of St. Joseph were canonically established at Le Puy, France, March 10, 1651, and since that time many schools of high standard, as well as hospitals, have been established and much splendid work accomplished. Bishop Grace, having heard of the proficient work done by the sisterhood in the Archdiocese of Chicago, requested that a school be opened in his diocese. After mature deliberation, Mother M. Bernard determined to answer the call provided she were given the assistance of sufficient volunteers to undertake the work of establishing the new school. Volunteers were not wanting and those especially fitted for the work were selected. The city of Eureka was the location chosen and accordingly plans were made for the founding of the present Nazareth Academy, which is now playing such an important part in the education of the county.

Monsignor Kennedy has been untiring in his efforts from the very begin- ning and. through the co-operation of his parishioners, the buildings, Naza- reth Academy and Nazareth Convent, have been erected at C and Dollison streets. The high standards of learning and excellent social and moral train- ing of the Academy are attracting the attention of parents of all denomina- tions. Pupils are always under the watchful supervision of the Sisters, and parents may be certain that care is taken to foster and develop in the minds of their children those principles of virtue which alone can render education profitable.

The scope of the new educational institution is such as to recommend it to those desiring a broad and comprehensive training for their children, as it includes academic, commercial, preparatory, primary and kindergarten work, each branch containing the latest modern requirements in that particular line. Foreign languages, painting, dramatic art and physical training receive special attention, while the department of music is conducted on the plan of the best conservatories of Europe. All instruments are taught, special attention being given to the piano, violin, harp and to the voice. The domestic art and science department offers a complete course in these branches. All students are entered on probation. Monthly tests are given and reports sent to parents or guardians, the progress of the student being indicated by the com- bined results of these reviews and of their class work.

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NAZARETH ACADEMY

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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

The location of the Academy is ideal in every particular. Its elevation commands a wonderful view of the surrounding country-a view that cannot be surpassed for beauty and grandeur, and which is seldom equaled. Spread- ing below on one side may be seen the picturesque Humboldt bay and the vast Pacific, where the sunsets are ever a marvel of beauty, while on the landward side are the stately redwood forests and the magnificent snow- capped mountains. This healthful location with its atmosphere of peace is most conducive to study.

Soon after the arrival of the Sisters the real work of the Community was taken up. Bishop Grace visited Eureka and on July 17, 1912, gave the habit of the sisterhood to the first candidate of the Community. The second re- ligious reception was held January 6, 1913, when the first two of Eureka's young ladies were received. Up to the time of this writing six other young ladies of the same city have entered.

The chief work of the Community is educational, hence it is the custom of the Community to educate talented young girls in that line of work for which they are best fitted. Upon entrance they are immediately placed in the training school of the Community and firmly grounded in its educational principles and methods before being permitted in any of its departments as teachers. Those showing no aptitude for the work of teachers are trained in other lines such as nursing, etc.

The Nazareth Academy, being the first school that the Sisters of St. Joseph have opened in northern California, is planning to extend its work in the state. Other schools will be established, the first one to be at Ferndale, under the direction of Reverend J. J. Gleason, who is pastor of the Catholic population there. Thus will the splendid work of the Sisters of St. Joseph extend from the Mother-House in Eureka and develop in other parishes as well.

GEORGE G. CURLESS .- The foreman of the Blocksburg ranch of the Russ Investment Company has been engaged in farming and ranching the greater part of his life, and indeed to fill the position of foreman of this immense ranch, which almost surrounds the town of that name, one would need to have had much experience along that line.

George G. Curless, the foreman of this estate, which is one of the largest stock ranches in northern California, is the son of Biar Curless, a pioneer and rancher of the county who, with his family, and driving his cattle before him, crossed the plains to California in 1859, making three trips, settling in Placerville, Cal., and later in Humboldt county near what is now the town of Blocksburg, and it was here that George G. Curless was born, June 6,1875, being one of seven children all of whom were educated in Hum- boldt county. His mother. was Lovina D. (Shaw) Curless, a courageous woman of the old times, who made three hard trips across the unsettled plains with her husband and encouraged and helped him in every way possible dur- ing his energetic and hard-working life.

Until the age of nineteen Mr. Curless remained at home upon his father's ranch, receiving his education in the public schools at Larabee Creek, then leaving home for good and making his own way in the world from boyhood. He was employed by the month until his marriage in 1895 to Miss Ida Perry, one of the seven children of Stephen B. Perry, a California pioneer who came from Illinois in 1852 and died on his ranch in Humboldt county at the age

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of fifty-three years. A brother of Mrs. Curless is William O. Perry, a ranch- man devoting particular attention to the raising of cattle and sheep, and the owner of fine property on the road between Alderpoint and Blocksburg. By his marriage with Miss Perry Mr. Curless has one son, Earl.

Mr. Curless at first followed farming and homesteaded one hundred sixty acres in the vicinity, which he proved up on. After spending one year in the country about Stockton, and four years in teaming from Ukiah to the dam constructed by the Snow Mountain Water and Power Company, in Potter valley, Mendocino county, in 1911 he became foreman for Z. Russ & Sons Company, now the Russ Investment Company, first at their Forest Home ranch on Bear River Ridge, where he remained for two years, in 1914 coming in the same capacity to the Blocksburg Ranch of the same company, where he continues to the present time.

FRED M. KAY .- One of the native sons of the state of California is the county clerk of Humboldt county, Fred M. Kay, who was born in Eureka, in that county, on July 26, 1871, the son of Moses and Mary A. (Snyder) Kay. The father was born and brought up in Ohio, removing thence with his parents to Hillsdale county, Mich., the journey being made by teams over the corduroy roads through the swamps of Ohio and Michigan. On his father's side Mr. Kay comes of Revolutionary ancestry, his grandmother having been Annis Bickett, whose father served in the Revolutionary war. Mr. Kay's mother, though born in Ohio, was the daughter of John Snyder. of an old Virginia family, a man who saw service in the War of 1812; and the great-grandfather Snyder was a hatter living near General George Wash- ington, whose friend he was and for whom he made hats.

The year before the birth of Fred M. Kay, his family removed to Eureka, Cal., where they arrived in December, 1870, and although the father had for years been looking forward to the time when he could live in the land of gold and sunshine and enjoy the California climate and the hunting and fishing here, he died about a week after his arrival in Eureka, leaving his wife and a family of nine children. Mrs. Kay, however, courageously assumed the responsibility of bringing up her large family, and remained a year at Eureka, then for a time living near Fortuna, and later at Rohnerville. In the year 1877 she located a homestead near Bridgeville, in the same county, where she resided for fifteen years, leaving there to return to Eureka, where she lived until her death in 1910. Mrs. Kay was a woman of much force of character and brought up her children with a view to their becoming honored citizens in the community, and she may well be called one of the true pioneer women of this state. Fred M. Kay, the youngest of her children, grew up mainly on the ranch at Bridgeville, having plenty of outdoor work and exer- cise, and became a strong and healthy lad. His early education was received in the public schools, and this he supplemented by a course in the Eureka business college, where he was graduated in 1892. His first employment was a summer spent on a ranch in the Eel river valley, after which he became a clerk in Eureka, and later was bookkeeper in the Standard office for more than a year. For a time he tried mining in Trinity county, Cal., but returned to clerking, first for F. W. Phillips in Rohnerville, then in San Francisco, soon becoming a deputy in the county clerk's office in San Francisco, a posi- tion which he filled for two years. Again for a while he was engaged in mining, this time in Shasta county, Cal., on his return to Humboldt county

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becoming manager of Mr. Phillips' store in Rohnerville, which position he held for about two years. Returning to Eureka, he in December, 1902, entered the county clerk's office as deputy, and continued as such for twelve years.

In the fall of 1914, Mr. Kay was a candidate for county clerk, and at the primary election received a majority of fifty-two hundred votes and was elected without opposition at the November election, taking the oath of office on January 4, 1915, being well qualified for the position by his long experience in the office. He also has served one term as a member of the Board of Education of the city of Eureka from the fifth ward, having been a member of the Board at the time the high school bond election was held and the new high school built. A Republican in politics, he was for many years secretary of the Republican County Central Committee, while fra- ternally he is a member of Eel River Lodge No. 147 of the Free and Accepted Masons, now of Fortuna ; an Odd Fellow of Eel River Lodge No. 210 at Rohnerville ; the Woodmen of the World, of Eureka; and the Eureka Aerie No. 130, F. O. E.

Mr. Kay was married in Hydesville, Cal., to Miss Jessie H. Dobbyn, who was born at Camp Grant, this county, the daughter of William B. Dobbyn, a veteran of the Mexican war, and a California pioneer of 1849, and a very prominent horticulturist of Camp Grant, Eel river section, afterwards of Rohnerville, a man who was for many years a supervisor of his district. Mr. and Mrs. Kay are the parents of four children, namely: Kendall K., city editor of the Humboldt Times, and a rising young newspaper man ; Irene N., a graduate of the Eureka high school, who assists Mr. Kay in his office ; William B. ; and Margaret Kay.

HERBERT ANSON BARBER .- Although educated for the profession of a teacher, and engaging in that calling for several years, the career of Herbert Anson Barber, at present postmaster of Blue Lake, has been varied and interesting. He has been engaged in pursuits that have called for active and even strenuous labor, and also for careful management and able leader- ship, and in all of them has he met with splendid success. That he has many friends and well-wishers in Blue Lake has been attested by his recent appointment as postmaster.

Mr. Barber is a native of Ohio, having been born in Seneca county, July 16, 1855. Here he passed his boyhood days, attending the public and high schools of his district, and proving himself to be a scholar of more than ordinary ability. His father was Joel Barber, a native of Pennsylvania, born in Erie county in 1822. He was a man of scholarly attainments and a college graduate, and for many years was engaged in teaching. For a period of ten years he taught in Ohio, but later in life he gave up his profession, purchased a farm for himself and for the remainder of his life was a tiller of the soil. In this he was very successful and prospered. He died in 1888. The mother was Mary Mead, born in Seneca county, Ohio, in 1832. There she met Joel Barber and was married to him in 1853. She became the mother of four children, two sons and two daughters.

Herbert A. Barber early in life decided to follow in the footsteps of his father and become a teacher. He attended college for two years and having here, as well as in the high school, shown splendid ability as a student, he was able to take up his work as a teacher at the age of nineteen. After graduating from Olivet college he accepted a position to teach in the schools

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in Traverse City, Michigan. After a time he gave up this work to engage in mining and freighting. Later, in pursuit of these new undertakings, he re- moved to Montana, locating in Helena. Here he was very successful in the freighting business, but fortune refused to smile upon his ventures as a miner.

It was in 1882 that Mr. Barber first came to California. Ill health made it necessary for him to give up his interests in Montana, and he located eventually in Blue Lake, Humboldt county. The change of climate wrought the desired result in his physical condition, and within a short time Mr. Barber was again able to take up his active interests in life. He entered the employ of Isaac Minor, going into the woods to fell trees. He remained in this work for twenty-six years, and during all that time continued in the service of Mr. Minor.

In 1908 Mr. Barber was appointed to his present position as postmaster at Blue Lake, in which he has proven himself to be especially efficient and well fitted for the duties involved. Mr. Barber is also the local agent for the Arcata and Mad River Railroad. Aside from his official relations, Mr. Barber has a host of personal friends, and is also associated with a number of fra- ternal societies and lodges in which he is deservedly popular. He is a mem- ber of the Masonic Lodge, having been received into the order more than twenty-five years ago, and is also an Odd Fellow of thirty-seven years standing.

The marriage of Mr. Barber occurred in Eureka, April 26, 1894, uniting him with Miss Emma Phillips, the daughter of D. P. Phillips. She is the mother of one child, a daughter, Ruth, who is at present attending the high school at Arcata.

Since coming to Humboldt county Mr. Barber has been very successful in all his undertakings. He is keenly interested in all questions of public welfare and civic progress, and is one of the trustworthy citizens of the community.

ALEXANDER GILLIN McCLOSKEY .- Born and reared in the north of Ireland, and descended from the sturdy race of Irish farmers who have kept the traditions of their fathers green and the tenets of their faith ever fresh and untainted it goes quite without saying that Alexander Gillin McClos- key brought with him to America something of the flavor of the Emerald Isle, coupled, be it said, with a native wit, an insight into human nature, and a gift of shrewd business judgment, that is not always vouchsafed even to the Irish. And it may also be added, that the wise old saying about "The Irish for luck" seems to apply quite completely to him, although it has not been "luck" at all, but rather clear-headed wisdom and patient application to business, which have made the financial rise of this son of Erin almost phenomenal. Coming to Humboldt in 1888, then a man well past the two- score mark, and starting his life in the new land as an employe in a sawmill, he is now reckoned as one of the substantial business men of the county, and has recently retired from active business to enjoy the just reward of his industry.

County Antrim is the native heath of Mr. McCloskey, his birth occurring there June 24, 1844, on the farm of his parents. He was the son of Henry McCloskey, who like himself was born in County Antrim (April 8, 1822), and upon whose home farm the family life centered. The father followed farming the greater part of his life, but on different occasions he was in the employ

Alexander & mall ory

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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

of the government as a surveyor. In 1846 he removed for a short time to County Westmeath, the change being necessitated by his service for the government. When this work was completed he returned to County Antrim, residing in Armory Parish until the time of his death, in November, 1906. Here he had devoted his time to farming, in which he was prosperous, and he also owned a grist mill and a sawmill, the raw material for the latter coming from New Brunswick.

At the time when Alexander McCloskey was ready to enter school the only educational institution within reach was a religious school, to which he was sent. There he remained until he was seventeen years of age, and the succeeding two years he worked for his father on the home farm. The marriage of Mr. McCloskey to Miss Martha Hill, also a native of County Antrim, born July 19, 1845, occurred August 3, 1863, when the bridegroom was but nineteen years of age, and the bride a year younger. With his marriage the young man branched out for himself, renting and conducting a farm, and also engaging as contractor for the building of bridges and roads. In this latter venture he prospered and at one time owned the largest con- tracting business of this character in County Antrim. Prospering in his busi- ness, young McCloskey began investing his profits in real estate, purchasing first a farm of ninety acres, and at various times thereafter other plats of land, until he was recognized as a man of affairs and means. On one of these farms there were lime works and a boric acid plant, which covered six acres, and which he managed until 1874.

It was not until July 26, 1888, that Mr. McCloskey left Ireland and set sail for America, leaving his family to care for the home until he should be ready for them to join him across the sea. He came directly to Humboldt county on his arrival in San Francisco and secured employment with John Vance at Essex, on the Mad river, where he remained for eight years, work- ing in the sawmill and in the lumbering camps, eventually being transferred from Essex to Samoa by the same company. The year following his coming to Essex (1889) his wife disposed of the holdings in Ireland and with her children joined the husband and father in California. Here in 1896 they purchased their first farm, a tract of forty acres, all unimproved. The clearing of this land was made doubly profitable by the plan of using the timber to make bolts for the California barrel factory, located in San Francisco. Other tracts were handled in the same way, the bolts being shipped to San Fran- cisco until the opening of a barrel factory in Arcata created a market nearer home. The second forty acres were purchased from John Hannah, and 1897 witnessed the acquisition of yet another tract of the same size, while 1899 saw fifty more acres added. Up to 1900 Mr. McCloskey was still engaged in logging, but at that time gave up other interests and devoted his attention to real estate and farming. In 1901 he bought one hundred acres of the Hum- boldt Manufacturing Company, of Arcata, at Essex, and in 1903 secured the Shore ranch of two hundred forty-three acres from Ed Vance. This latter property was purchased for $10,000 and in 1913 it was sold for $20,000. Since coming to Humboldt county Mr. McCloskey has met with unusual success. Much of this time he has been interested in farming and dairying, having made every department of his work a paying investment.

Since making his home here, Mr. McCloskey has been vitally interested in all affairs of local import, and especially keen in politics. He has taken an

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active part in the deliberations of his party, his affiliation being with the Progressive Republicans. Several times he has been chosen as delegate to party conventions, and has served the interests of his constituents with great satisfaction to all. He is progressive in other matters as well as in politics, and stands firmly in his community and county for all movements for the betterment of conditions along all lines. He is also prominent in Masonic circles, having been made a Mason in St. Johns Lodge No. 89, F. & A. M., in Ireland, in 1865, also joining Bushmills Chapter No. 14, R. A. M., in Ireland, in 1875.

Mr. McCloskey retired from active business several years ago and now lives retired on the home farm near Arcata. His wife died on September 28, 1913, on this same farm, where the family had spent so many happy years. It is an interesting fact that the late Mrs. Alex. McCloskey brought her bed and feather-bed from Ireland to the United States and slept on it en route, and after coming to California used it until her death, so that it can be said of her that she never slept a night after her marriage except on this bed. There are five children, now all grown and living on their own places in the vicinity of Arcata. They are James, Henry, Dan, Annie (Mrs. Wilson) and Mary Eliza (Mrs. Kane).

MAY R. CRAIGIE .- A native of Nevada county, Cal., and a resident of Garberville during her girlhood days, having come here as a child of eleven years, Mrs. May R. Craigie is today one of the leading business women of the thriving little city, and an important factor in the life and welfare of the city as well. As Miss May McCharles she grew to womanhood, and went from here to San Francisco to become the bride of Peter Craigie. After her hus- band's death she lived for many years in Grass Valley and cared for her aged father there. Later she returned to Garberville and took charge of the Ex- change Hotel, the leading tourist and commercial hotel in the southern part of Humboldt county, which she at present conducts, assisted by her son. Mrs. Craigie is a clever business woman, a shrewd investor and a clear- headed judge of men, women and affairs. She owns an appreciable amount of property in the vicinity of Garberville and within the city limits, and also some valuable lots in San Francisco.

Mrs. Craigie was born in Nevada county, Cal. Her father, Harrison McCharles, was a forty-niner, having come to California in the fabled year. He was a native of Kentucky, and a wagon maker and blacksmith by trade. He was married in Kentucky to Rosalie A. Wyman, a native of Canada, and of old English descent. Mr. McCharles followed his trade in Kentucky until the gold excitement caused him to determine to come to California. He came from New York by the Nicaragua route, arriving in San Francisco in 1849. He went at once to Nevada county, where he became interested in the mines near Grass Valley, where his wife and children joined him in 1851. He also took up a homestead of one hundred sixty acres, which he improved and farmed at various times, with varying success. Ile was interested in live stock, and especially in the breeding of fine horses and was noted through- out Nevada county for always having good horses. After a time he became separated from his wife, but continued to reside in Grass Valley until the time of his death in 1900, he being then eighty-nine years of age.

Mrs. McCharles removed to Garberville in 1871; after residing here for some years she married John Ray, and continued to make this city her home

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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 91

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