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 97

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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HISTORY OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY

few years. He had been engaged at various times in farming, mining, and in building and contracting, and had witnessed the growth and development of the country through many changing stages. He was a member of one of the oldest and best American families, the progenitor of the Deckers in America having settling in New Amsterdam, one of the earliest settlements of New York, and descended from a good old Dutch family. The Decker Brothers, manufacturers of the famous Decker piano, are own cousins of the late honored citizen of Rohnerville. Mr. Decker was a man of strict integrity and splendid character, and through years of industry he had accumulated an appreciable fortune. His daughter, Mrs. Williams, who kept his home and gave him her affectionate care, was one of the first white girls to be born in Humboldt county, and is herself a pioneer of many interesting experiences.

Mr. Decker was a native of New York, born January 28, 1833. His father, Peter L. Decker, was born in Schoharie county, N. Y., and was a logger and chopper by trade, and also owned a small farm. He was married in 1812, and died in 1835, at the age of forty-eight years. The mother was Cornelia Swart, the daughter of David and Nancy Swart, and a native of New York, her maternal grandmother having been born during the Revolu- tionary War. After the father's death Mrs. Decker, Sr., gathered her five children, of whom Jacob H. was the youngest, and moved to Branch county, Mich., where she located two hundred acres of land near Butler. There young Jacob was reared, attending the public schools of the district, the school house being made of logs, with hewn logs for benches and desks, with other accom- modations in proportion. In 1853, at the age of twenty years, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Rossman, born in Onondaga, N. Y., in 1834, and in 1855 he came to California, by way of the Isthmus of Panama, landing at Sacra- mento. From there he went to Whiskeytown, on Clear creek, Shasta county, and later went up into the Sierra Nevada mountains and engaged in making boards and shingles. The following year his wife and baby joined him at Shingletown, where he continued until October 1, 1856, when he came to Hydesville, crossing the mountains and arriving there October 15. There he found employment with Dr. Felt, making shingles, and later kept a livery barn in Eureka, in 1858. He built the Decker Hill road over Decker Hill back of Field's Landing, and still later he purchased one hundred sixty acres of land which he cleared and improved, adding to his tract until he had three hundred sixty acres, all improved. About this time diphtheria and typhoid fever broke out and three of Mr. Decker's sons were stricken and died. He became discouraged and sold his valuable property for a small sum and re- turned to Michigan, together with his wife and two remaining children. He bought a farm in Butler township, Branch county, and farmed there for four years, during which time another child was born. Here again dread disease found them and two children were lost through scarlet fever. Selling his Michigan property, Mr. Decker returned to Humboldt county in October, 1873, residing here until his death, being for the greater part of that time engaged in carpentering, contracting and building. Only one of his children lived to maturity, this being Luella, born at Field's Landing. She is now the widow of Thomas L. Williams, who died near Rohnerville in 1886, and is the mother of two children, Elizabeth, the wife of J. O. Branstetter, a carpenter of Rohnerville, and herself the mother of three children, Maxine, Clifton and

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Van. Mrs. Decker, the mother of Mrs. Williams, died in June, 1887, at the age of fifty-three years.

Three times during the years of his residence in California, Mr. Decker had journeyed back to Michigan for a visit. In the days of his young man- hood he was a Democrat, but the guns fired against Fort Sumter changed him into a Republican, and he became a stanch Progressive. He always took an active part in the political affairs of his community and held various public offices, serving on several occasions as deputy sheriff, and filling the office with marked ability. He was a member of the Ecl River Lodge No. 210, I. O. O. F., with which he affiliated many years ago. Mr. Decker was held in the highest esteem by all who knew him and was acknowledged to be one of the finest men of the county.

DICK K. FRENCH .- The descendant of an early pioneer family of Cali- fornia, and himself a native of Trinity county, where he was born October 14, 1882, Dick K. French is a young man of excellent worth, and stands high in the esteem of employers and friends. His family resided for many years in Van Dusen township, Humboldt county, and he has many warm friends in this section. He is the son of Greenleaf C. and Mrs. Orinda (Bean) (Bur- gess) French. His father died at Burr creek, five miles south of Bridgeville, where he owned a handsome property which he was farming at the time. He was about fifty-five years of age, his death occurring in 1893. The mother has been married three times, and is now the wife of W. H. Barnwell and resides on a farm on Burr creek. After the death of her first husband, John Burgess, she was married to Greenleaf C. French, the father of the subject of this sketch, and after his death she became Mrs. Barnwell. By her first husband she became the mother of three children : Benjamin and John, both deceased, and Esther, now the wife of Henry M. Marvel, in the employ of the California Central Creameries, at Ferndale, and an old teacher of Humboldt county. By Mr. French there were four children : Addie L., now the wife of W. H. Sweet, residing in Ferndale and employed in the California Central Creameries ; Dick K., the subject of this sketch ; Alden A., employed at Ferndale; and Susan Jane. By her present marriage Mrs. Barnwell has one child, William H. Barnwell, Jr.

The father of Mr. French, Greenleaf C. French, was a native of Maine and came to California, locating in Trinity county, when he was a young man. He engaged in mining and packing supplies into the mining camps and was very successful. He was married to Mrs. Orinda (Bean) Burgess in Trinity county, and removed to his farm on Burr creek, Humboldt county, in April, 1883. Dick K. French was eleven years of age when his father died, and life took on a different aspect. He had attended the public schools up to that time, and also received further advantages, but commenced to work out for others before the marriage of his mother to Mr. Barnwell, and has been making his own way in the world since he was eighteen years of age. He was for a time engaged in farm work, and then took to teaming and stage driving and is an expert in the handling of horses. In 1907 he entered the employ of the Helmke Stage Company, but after a time gave this up and took to ranching as an independent venture, following the fortunes of the farmer for three years, with varying success, near Burr creek. Eventually, however, he returned to the service of the Helmke Stage Company, and is

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now engaged in driving a four-horse freight team, carrying freight to the store at Blocksburg, where he makes his home.

WILLIS B. MEAKIN .- One of the richest and most fertile ranches in the region of Pepperwood is that owned by Willis B. Meakin, and located in Pepperwood Bottoms, which section is declared to be "as rich as the valley of the Nile" of fabled story and song. Mr. Meakin owns about forty- three acres, which he has brought under a high state of cultivation, and which is one of the most beautiful places in the vicinity. In 1913 he erected a handsome two-story frame dwelling, at a cost of $5,000, which, with one possible exception, is the most modern and complete residence in this part of the valley. While he is engaged in diversified farming, more and more he is giving his attention to horticulture as the years go by. He purchased this property in 1902 and has improved it since that time, clearing the land of a heavy growth of timber and bringing it up to its present high condition. He has made the place a very profitable one, and in all his undertakings he has the unstinted support and cooperation of his faithful wife, to whom he gives much credit for his success.

Mr. Meakin is a native of Pennsylvania, born January 2, 1856, the second in a family of eight children born to George and Lucy A. (Bliss) Meakin, also natives of Pennsylvania, where they were married. Shortly after the birth of their second child, Willis B., the parents removed to Linn county, Iowa, where the father engaged in farming, and also followed logging, con- tracting for getting out hardwood logs, such as hard maple and hickory, for manufacturing purposes. He died in Iowa at the age of fifty-two years. The mother came to California in 1896, locating near Pepperwood, in Hum- boldt county. Later she went to Eureka, where she died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Annie Masters.

Willis B. Meakin grew to young manhood on the farm in Iowa, at- tending the public schools and assisting his father with the care of the home place. He also farmed for himself, meeting with deserved success. During the summer of 1896 he came to California, driving overland with horses and wagons and arriving in Humboldt in July of that year. After reaching his destination he resumed farming and in 1902 purchased his present property. His marriage occurred in Eureka in 1897, uniting him with Miss Julia Bliss, a native of Morris county, Kan. Mrs. Meakin is a daughter of Isaac and Sarah (Trowbridge) Bliss, natives of Clearfield county, Pa., and New York respectively. They were married in Iowa, after which they removed to Osage county, Kan., and later to Morris county. In 1896 they came to California with their family, locating at Pepperwood, where they died. Of their eleven children eight grew up, and of these Mrs. Meakin is third oldest. Mr. and Mrs. Meakin had eight children, only five of whom are living, their first-born having died at birth; Ora, the third child, living to be five, and Allen, the seventh born, dying in infancy. All the living children are residing at home and are well and favorably known in their community. They are George W., Earl, Stanley, Willard, and Thomas.

Mr. Meakin is a Republican in his party politics, and is keenly alive to the benefits of progressive legislation, both local, state and national. He is interested in educational matters, and gives of his best efforts for the public welfare at all times.

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U. S. GRANT MYERS .- As the owner and proprietor of Myers Resort, located on the state highway, nine miles south of Dyerville, on the road between that point and Garberville, U. S. Grant Myers is well known throughout Humboldt county, and especially so in the southern part. With the completion of the new state highway, which passes directly by his place, he plans to enlarge his house and accommodations, and to conduct a large summer and tourist resort. The location is especially suitable for such an enterprise, and there seems no reason that such an undertaking should not meet with exceptional success. The south fork of Eel river flows past the very door, and fish are plentiful therein, while game of all kinds may be secured in the mountains near by. Fruits and vegetables of all kinds are now supplied for the table from the home place, where they are grown to perfection, the soil being especially adapted to their growth. Milk, cream, butter and eggs are also supplied in abundance from the home place, and the table at Myers Inn is noted for its excellency. In addition to all this are the beauty of location and scenery, than which there is nothing more magnificent to be found in the state. Personally Mr. Myers is well fitted for such a business, having that charming, pleasant, genial manner which in- stantly puts his guests at their ease.

A native of California, Mr. Myers was born near what is now Carrville, Trinity county, January 9, 1864, and came into Humboldt county when he was four years of age, and has since that time made this his home. His father was Elias Myers, a native of Missouri, and his mother, Sarah D. Camp, of Dubuque, Iowa, where she met and married Mr. Myers. Later, accompanied by an uncle of the husband's, Andrew Myers, familiarly known as "Uncle Andy," the young couple crossed the plains with ox-teams and wagons, and came to California in 1860, locating in Trinity county. "Uncle Andy" had been to California before, having made his first trip in 1850. He made his home with his nephew and wife for many years, and was a well known pioneer, passing away at their home at the age of ninety-one years. The young couple continued to reside in Trinity county until 1867, when they came to Rohnerville, Humboldt county, where they remained for their first winter, purchasing the squatter's rights of Farris and Brock to the present site of Myers Inn the following spring, paying $1,000 for the one hundred sixty acres. They began at once to make improvements and this was their home place for many years. Both are now deceased, the father passing away in Missouri at the age of seventy years, and the mother dying in Eureka at the age of seventy-two. They were the parents of six children: Etta, wife of Willis Nichols, residing at Camp Grant, where she died in 1914, leaving two children by a former marriage, namely, Arthur M. Hungerford, now a master mechanic at the Hammond Lumber Mills, at Astoria, Ore., and Daisy, now the wife of Harry Potter, residing at Tacoma, and the mother of two children ; Hosea E., who first married Emma Carr, and by her had three children, later marrying Martha Hamilton, by whom he had two children (he was in the stock business in Trinity county and was so engaged when he was attacked by a mad bull and gored to death) ; John G., a rancher at Camp Grant, married to Kate Turner, of Bull creek, and died leaving nine children ; Clara, who was the wife of J. C. Day, and died at El Paso, Tex .; Christie J., living in Los Angeles county, where he is engaged in farming, and is married to Miss Mary McGill, of Table Bluff; and U. S. Grant Myers, the subject of this sketch.

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There were no public schools within reach of the Myers farm when U. S. Grant was of school age, and he was necessarily sent away to receive his education. He graduated in due time from Heald's Business College, in San Francisco, in 1884, and then returned to Humboldt county, where he assisted with the management of the home farm. In 1897 he went to the Klondike, making the journey by way of the White's Pass route, sledding over the mountains to Windy oven, there building boats and coming down the Yukon, arriving in Dawson, June 18, 1898. He engaged in placer mining there for two years and met with an appreciable amount of success, clearing several thousand dollars through his efforts. In 1900 he returned from the frozen north and on March 19, 1901, in Eureka, he was married to Miss Mattie C. Smith, a native of Hayesville, Keokuk county, Iowa, to whom he had been betrothed before his trip to Alaska. Mr. and Mrs. Myers are the parents of four children, all natives of Humboldt county. They are: Nevada California, U. S. Grant, Jr., Andrew Fay and Lesser Roosevelt.

Besides his property on the state highway, where he makes his home, Mr. Myers owns a one-half interest in the property of one hundred twenty acres which he owns together with his late sister, Mrs. Etta Nichols, the other half interest being owned by her estate. The home place, however, is the especial pride of Mr. Myers' heart and is receiving his most ardent attention. He has one hundred acres under a high state of cultivation, with seven hun- dred bearing apple trees, and a young orchard of three hundred Bartlett pear trees, all of which are in magnificent condition. He raises a large crop of sweet potatoes for the market cach season, the soil here being especially adapted for their growth. This is also true of sweet corn, and his fields of this succulent vegetable are of the finest to be found. His gardens of other vegetables and small fruits, berries, etc., are not to be excelled, and his orchards contain practically every variety of fruit grown in the temperate zones. In addition he maintains a first-class dairy and chicken ranch, and each year markets about fifty hogs.

In his interest in local affairs Mr. Myers is quite up to date and his grasp of political situations, both local and national, is of the best. He is an enthusiastic Progressive, and is giving his best effort for the measures which he deems best for the development of the county and state. He commands the respect and admiration of his neighbors and friends, and receives the best wishes of all who know him.

FRANK LESLIE KEHOE .- Mr. Kehoe has spent most of the years of his manhood up in Alaska, and has but recently settled at Briceland as the successor of his brother-in-law, John W. Bowden, in the mercantile busi- ness, but he is no stranger to Humboldt county, and is finding himself quite naturally in close touch with its affairs once more. One of a family whose members one and all are possessed of impressive personality, he is favorably remembered at Rohnerville, where his youth was spent, and has already attained a place in the popular esteem at Briceland, where his progressive policy and enterprise have assured the continued success of the business he took over a little more than a year ago. He is a brother of William Kehoe, of Eureka, a leading attorney of the county and at present serving in the state senate from his district.

Mr. Kehoe's parents, William and Elsie (Hammersley) Kehoe, were of eastern birth, the father a native of Maine, the mother of Pennsylvania, in

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which latter state they were married. Their first two children, both daugh- ters, were born there. In 1876 the family came to California, first settling in Mendocino county, where they lived until the year 1883. Then they re- moved to Eureka, Humboldt county, and thence in April, 1884, to Rohner- ville, this county, where William Kehoe engaged in hotelkeeping, conducting the Grand Hotel until his death, which occurred in 1888. His widow took up the work thereafter, carrying on the hotel very successfully until 1910, when a paralytic stroke incapacitated her for active duties and she retired. Her home is now at Fortuna, Humboldt county. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Kehoe: Clara is the wife of Fred Leach, hardware merchant at Fortuna : Lottie is married to J. W. Bowden, who until recently had the general store at Briceland now operated by F. L. Kehoe; William, present state senator from the First Senatorial district, is a member of the firm of Coonan & Kehoe, attorneys, who have offices in the Gross building at Eureka ; Frank Leslie completes the family.

F. L. Kehoe was born in Mendocino county January 17, 1880, at Cuffey's Cove, on Greenwood creek, near Elk, and spent practically all of his boyhood and youth at Rohnerville, where he obtained a good education in the public schools. The family was well known there in connection with the hotel business, and the young man widened his own circle of acquaintances as clerk in the store for Mr. Phillips and as one of the local favorites among baseball players who brought fame to the town. In 1900, in company with twelve other young men, from Fortuna, Scotia and Rohnerville, all towns of Hum- boldt county, he went up to Alaska hoping to win fortune in the gold fields. They sailed from Eureka on the steamer Humboldt, to Seattle, where they embarked for Skagway, Alaska, arriving February 14. Proceeding up the White Pass to Lake Linderman and Lake Bennett, they assembled the dog teams at the latter place and left there February 22, pushing on over the trail to Dawson, six hundred miles from Bennett. They reached their destination March 14 and celebrated Saint Patrick's day there. At no time during the trip did the thermometer rise above twenty degrees below zero (Fahrenheit), and at Fort Selkirk, on the Yukon, they experienced a temperature of sixty- five degrees below.

Mr. Kehoe took a job logging on Moose Hide creek, and after about three months in the Klondike country went down to Nome in a small open boat, being the only one of the original party to undertake this journey. He followed the uncertain game of mining and prospecting for five years without making a single large stake. Returning to Rohnerville on a visit, he was at home from November, 1904, to the latter part of February, 1905, when he joined another stampede to Alaska, with the same results as before. He lost the winter without returns. From June, 1906, to 1908, he was at Fairbanks and vicinity, and then bought an interest in a business at Fox, Alaska, where he was associated with two other men, storekeeping and mining. In the fall of 1910 he sold his interest at Fox, going to Iditarod, where he and his partners had established a branch store that year, the place being a new mining camp on the lower Yukon which offered exceptional opportunities. Mr. Kehoe remained in business there until 1912, and in 1913 came back to Cali- fornia. Though in common with a large percentage of those who went up north to search for gold he was disappointed in that particular, he had no reason to regret his venture, for he was decidedly successful as a merchant,

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accumulating enough to give him a good start when he was ready to resume life in his old home territory.

In 1913 Mr. Kehoe bought out the business of his brother-in-law, J. W. Bowden, who had the only general store at Briceland, where he built up a large and profitable business. Since it came into his hands it has been con- ducted along the lines which for a number of years have made it a popular trading center, and Mr. Kehoe has devoted himself to studying the tastes of his customers and the demands of his patronage, which he endeavors to meet in the most satisfactory manner. He gives strict personal attention to all the details of the trade, and the fifteen-thousand-dollar stock from which it is supplied comprises everything likely to be called for in the way of staple and fancy groceries, hardware, boots and shoes, hats and caps, dry goods, clothing, furniture, crockery, tinware, toilet articles, patent medicines, in quality and assortment calculated to please all classes. It would be difficult to find a better selected range of goods, and the patrons appreciate the oppor- tunities which Mr. Kehoe's enterprise presents at their very doors. Mr. Kehoe is interested in the upbuilding of his section of the county, and when the test for oil in this field was launched he contributed his influence and means, becoming an original stockholder of the Briceland Oil Company. Personally he has lost none of the pleasing qualities which made him so popular as a youth, and the many years during which he has been accustomed to come into contact with people of all kinds on grounds of common interest have made him a broadminded and sympathetic human being, a fact which those who enjoy any degree of acquaintance with him readily concede. He and his brother have many similarities of character, all the family, in fact, enjoying a reputation for charm of presence which is well deserved. Mr. Kehoe has entered public life to the extent of serving as one of the registra- tion clerks in southern Humboldt county (of which there are four), in which capacity he has registered one hundred people for the primaries. His ener- getic career even in the brief period since his return to the county has made him welcomed as a substantial acquisition to the ranks of the most reliable citizens of this section.

Mr. Kehoe was married at Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1909, to Miss Myrtle Townsend, of that place, but a native of the state of Nebraska. Two children have been born of this union, Lottie and Clara. Mr. Kehoe became a Mason in St. John's Lodge No. 9, F. & A. M., Seattle, Wash. For ten years he has been a member of Eel River Lodge No. 210, I. O. O. F., at Rohnerville.

R. AMBROSE .-- For thirty years Mr. Ambrose, the present postmaster at Miranda, has been a resident of Humboldt county, and he is particularly well known in and around Rohnerville for his musical attainments and suc- cess as a teacher of music. The greater part of his life has been devoted to that profession, though his career has been varied by experiences of many kinds. With his natural talent for music developed by careful training and constant practice, Mr. Ambrose was a fine performer on the cornet and violin during the days of his active career as a musician, and as band master and orchestra leader his services were in constant demand.

Mr. Ambrose was born in Herefordshire, England, June 11, 1840, and grew up in his native land. His education was received in the national schools, which correspond to the public schools in this country. In 1865 he went to London, where he was engaged as a professional musician for the

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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 97

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