USA > California > Mendocino County > History of Mendocino and Lake counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading, men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 102
USA > California > Lake County > History of Mendocino and Lake counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading, men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 102
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The Baltimore and Frederick Mining and Trading Company, in which Samuel S. and his brother Harry Baechtel became partners, was organized in the spring of 1849 for the purpose of speculation in California. The capital stock of $30.000 was raised by a contribution of $1.000 from each of the thirty
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members, who with their equipment and funds came west via Panama. Imme- diately after their arrival they bought a sawmill and erected it in Marin county at a place still known as Baltimore Gulch, near what is now Larkspur. How- ever, so much lumber was shipped in that the business proved unprofitable and the majority of the members became dissatisfied, soon giving up the work to try their fortunes in the mines. Two remained besides the Baechtel brothers and in the end the four succeeded in selling the mill for $14,000. During 1851 the brothers removed to Lagunites, Marin county, and spent a year in the stock business, afterward going to Bolinas in the same county and resuming the same business. On the organization of Marin county in 1851 Samuel S. Baechtel was honored by being elected the first sheriff and he served in the office for eight months. During 1853 he returned to his old home near Baltimore, where he remained for ten months. In a search for stock range he and his brother accidentally came into Little Lake valley in 1855. The country pleased him. The range was in excellent condition. The drove of two hundred and fifty head of cattle flourished. It was not until 1870 that the country became settled up to such an extent as to force him to dispose of his cattle and he then took up the sheep industry. Little by little his holdings increased and when in 1893 he and his brother divided their possessions and dissolved their partnership, each was left with an excellent sum to represent returns from their years of labor.
For some years after coming to Mendocino county Mr. Baechtel remained a bachelor. His marriage took place October 7. 1861, and united him with Miss Harriet E. Henry, who was born in Illinois and is a daughter of the late William Henry, a pioneer of this county. Of their union four children were born, namely: Gordon, a general contractor, also a member of the firm of Baechtel Bros .. at Willits; William H., cashier of the Bank of Willits; Lizzie M., who cares for her parents in their advancing years ; and Luther S., head bookkeeper for the Irvine & Muir Lumber Company. For some years the family held mercantile interests in Willits and operated a concern known as the Standard Commercial Company, but this was eventually sold, and since then the father has been retired from business and agricultural enterprises. He still keeps posted in politics and votes the Republican ticket with the same fidelity displayed during the earlier history of that political organization. No one is more interested in the progress of the county than this honored pioneer who always has given of his best to movements for the permanent benefit of the people.
JOSEPH NELSON REA .- It is a noteworthy fact that the cashier of the Mendocino Bank of Commerce, Mr. Rea, and the president, Mr. Grindle, were born in the same month of the same year (November of 1844) and both came to California in the same year (1869). Both have been integral ele- ments in the material upbuilding of the city and county of Mendocino, both have aided generously movements for the agricultural, moral, commercial or educational progress of their adopted locality, and both have risen to rank among leading local financiers. Side by side they have labored for the benefit of the bank. Together they have promoted its usefulness and enlarged the sphere of its activities, making of it an institution of the utmost value to the well-being of the community. Nor has their citizenship in local enterprises been less important than their financiering and banking connections and both have discharged efficiently but unostentatiously every duty devolving upon them as citizens.
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Born in Ripley county, Ind., November 28, 1844, educated in the public schools of that county and trained to self-support from early years. Mr. Rea enlisted in the Union army at the age of twenty years and was assigned to the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Illinois Infantry, but later was transferred to the One Hundred and Fifty-second Regiment, assigned to the army of the Cumberland in Tennessee. From the ranks he rose to be second lieutenant and served as such until he was mustered out of the army in September, 1865. The next few years were spent at the old home, at Flora, Ill., but in October of 1869 he came to California, settling at Ukiah, Mendocino county, where he secured a position as clerk in a store. Later he was connected with a mer- cantile business at Potter Valley, this county, from which he removed to the Round valley, where he became engaged in sheep-raising, and in addition he also carried on a general store. From 1891 to 1895 he was supervisor from the third district. Upon being elected treasurer of Mendocino county in 1897 he removed to the county-seat and there continued in office for eight years Since 1907 he has been cashier of the Mendocino Bank of Commerce and has made Mendocino his home. While living in Illinois he married in 1868 Miss Mary J. Eddy, a native of that state. The three children of the union reside in Ukiah, namely : Mrs. Alice Handy, Dr. S. L. Rea and Dr. Frank E. Rea. In fraternal connections he is identified with Covelo Lodge No. 231, F. & A. M.
WILLAM B. McCABE .- Though Mr. McCabe is not one of the oldest residents of Lake county in point of age, there are few of its citizens who can boast a longer residence there. He came here with his parents in the fall of 1858, settling in Big valley. in what was then Napa county. The family had migrated to California some five years previously. Born December 21, 1851. in Navarro county, Texas, Mr. McCabe was only two years old when his parents, Philip Thurman and Lucinda (Mccutcheon) McCabe, came to this state. They were natives of Missouri. For a year after their arrival in California they lived at Volcano, in Amador county, thence moving to Healds- burg, in Sonoma county, and from there to Lake county, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Mr. McCabe bought one hundred and sixty acres of land at Hell's Bend, Big valley, and settled on that place, his wife dying there when forty-two years old. He also died in Big valley, in 1912, at the advanced age of ninety. Of the nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Philip T. McCabe two died in infancy in Texas, the others growing to matur- ity, viz .: Mary is the widow of John Jones, who resided in the East Upper Lake precinct, in Clover valley, and she has four children living; Narcissa, who lives in Scotts valley, Lake county, is the widow of Charles Jones; William B. is mentioned below ; Alpheus, deceased, a farmer and stockman, married Jennie Johnson and left five children; Philip, who lives at Upper Lake, married Elvira Wainscott, and has a family of eight children ; Amanda lives in Round valley, Mendocino county, widow of William Tony (she has no children living) : Thomas is a farmer in Spokane county, Wash.
William B. McCabe lived at the home place in Big valley until fourteen years old, when his father sold out and moved to Scotts valley. He continued to work at home until twenty-two years old, at which time he married, and he has since been engaged in farming on his own account. The property he now occupies, at the head of Clover Creek valley, is the old Waldfogle place, and comprises two hundred acres, one hundred and twenty of which are plow land. It is owned by his son-in-law, Frederick L. Morrison, from whom he
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has rented it for the last six years. Mr. McCabe carries on general agricul- tural pursuits, raises cattle, hogs, horses and poultry, and is an industrious and persistent worker. He is an intelligent man and a thoroughly good citi- zen, and he and his good wife have earned the respect in which they are held by all their neighbors. Mrs. McCabe, whose maiden name was Hannah Wainscott, was born in Decatur county, Iowa, where her parents, James and Artemisia (Sheppard) Wainscott, were married. The father was a native of Tennessee, the mother of Virginia. They came to California over the plains in 1862, by ox team, and first settled in San Joaquin county, where Mr. Wain- scott farmed for a time. Coming to Lake county, he spent about one year here, and then moved over to Mendocino county. He and his wife are now deceased. They had a family of eight children, five of whom survive: Alex- ander, living at Fresno, Cal .; Louisa, in Sonoma county, this state; Mary, at Point Richmond, Cal .; Sarah, who died in childhood : Hannah, Mrs. McCabe ; Belle, who married and died in Texas, leaving eight children ; Elvira, wife of Philip MeCabe : and Mattie, who died in childhood.
Mrs. McCabe was five years old when she crossed the plains with her parents. She and her husband have had eight children, namely: Philip, of Wardner, Idaho, engaged in silver and lead mining, married Bertha Thomp- son, of Washington; Trueman, who is unmarried, is a farmer residing at Harrington, Wash .; Orville, who married Alice Graham, a native of Oregon, lives at home with his father, assisting him in the operation of the ranch ; Annie L. is the wife of Frederick 1 .. Morrison; Leslie, who lives at Oakland, married Myrtle Jeanette, of Ukialı; James is a miner at Wardner, Idaho; Caswell died when eleven years old; Zula, who lives at Wardner, Idaho. is attending the Kellogg-Wardner high school. Mr. and Mrs. McCabe are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Upper Lake. He is a Demo- crat on political issues.
Frederick L. Morrison, son-in-law of William B. McCabe, is one of the large land owners on the east side of Clear Lake, his holdings, besides the property where the McCabes live, comprising eight hundred and ten acres which was part of his father's estate. His father, Samuel L. Morrison, was one of the pioneers of Lake county, and his brothers are also prosperous resi- dents of the Upper Lake section.
MATTHEW JOHNSON .- For many years a most active farmer and business man, Matthew Johnson is well known all over Lake county, where he settled in the year 1860, over half a century ago. He did not give up the direct management of his affairs until past eighty years of age, and is still a large landowner, though he has relinquished all of the work in connection with the care of his property of late. With one exception all his surviving children are settled in California, and he makes his home with his daughter Annie, Mrs. Francis L. Mosier, who resides on the Bartlett Springs road northeast of the village of Upper Lake. This venerable citizen of Lake county comes of pioneer stock which has had a hand in the making of history for over a century in this country, his forefathers having been frontiersmen in their day and helped to advance the borders of civilization. All of his grand- father Johnson's family but three sons were killed by the Indians ; his paternal grandmother lived to be almost ninety years old. His grandfather Gatliff. on the maternal side, fought in the Indian troubles under Daniel Boone in the early days of the settlement of Tennessee and Kentucky.
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Hugh and Rebecca (Gatliff) Johnson, parents of Matthew Johnson, were both natives of Kentucky. When their son Matthew was eleven years old they moved out to Missouri, settling in Lafayette county. where the father engaged in farming. They continued to live there many years, until Matthew had established himself in California, whence he returned to Missouri in 1867 for his parents, whom he brought to this state. Here the father met an acci- dental death, being thrown from a horse, when seventy-two years old. After that the mother went to live with her sons Moses and William Johnson, at Buda, Texas, where she died in 1896, at the extreme old age of ninety-seven years. Of the family of eleven children born to Hugh and Rebecca Johnson ten grew to maturity, and all became strong and active physically.
Matthew Johnson was the third child and eldest son in his parents' family. Born March 29, 1828, in Whitley county, Ky., on the Cumberland river, he lived in his native state until eleven years old. Then he was on his father's farm in Missouri until he married and commenced farming on his own account. When he came to California in 1860 he brought his wife and four children across the plains with him, and settled on a farm near Kelsey- ville, Lake county. In 1866, by way of Nicaragua, Mr. Johnson returned to Missouri, and the following year came back with ox and horse teams across the plains bringing his parents with him. In 1868 he bought one hundred and sixty acres from the government one mile east of Upper Lake, and since then has continued to add to his possessions as opportunity and prosperity enabled him, acquiring ownership of three farms, comprising four hundred and fifty acres. As he had but $5 at the time of his arrival in this state he may justly be called a self-made man, and his own early struggles to gain a footing were sufficiently trying to make him take great pleasure in helping his children when they set out in life. Besides engaging in farming he ran a threshing outfit and had a large patronage in that line, wearing out three separators during the time he carried on that business-a period of eighteen years. He built the toll road from Bartlett Springs to Bear Valley, Colusa county, over Bear mountain, a creditable piece of work. Mr. Johnson was noted for his industry, which he kept up until far along in years, and his well spent life won him the esteem and friendly regard of the many who had dealings with him or enjoyed his acquaintance in any way. Though now in his eighty-seventh year he is well preserved, and continues to take a keen inter- est in his family and the affairs of the locality of which he has so long been an honored resident. Beloved by his children, and holding the affectionate re- gard of neighbors and other friends, he is spending the days of his retirement in enviable circumstances.
On March 17, 1853, Mr. Johnson was married, at Oak Grove, Mo., to Miss Sarah Jane Carpenter, who was born April 8, 1836, in Rensselaer county, N. Y., of old New England stock, her ancestors having come to America on the Mayflower. They settled in Massachusetts. Mrs. Johnson died at the homestead at Upper Lake June 18, 1899, the mother of twelve children, eleven of whom survived her: George W., who was born in Missouri, is now a farmer in Butte county; Robert Eddy, born in Missouri, now resides in Nevada county, where he is engaged as a farmer and fruit grower; Rebecca, born in Missouri, is the widow of Thomas Motherall, and makes her home at Yuba City, Sutter county ; Fannie is the wife of P. W. Hudson, of Sacramento county ; Mary Esther, widow of J. D. Ball, resides in Morrow county. Ore. ; Charles, who died when forty-three years old, married Mary Alley and left one
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child, a daughter, Ruth, now a pupil in the high school at Ukiah (he was a farmer at Upper Lake) ; William owns a forty-acre farm in the East Upper Lake precinct, Lake county ; Annie is the wife of Francis L. Mosier, a black- smith, of Upper Lake, and has one child, Willmat ; John B. is an orchardist in Butte county, this state; Sabra Spurgeon, an electrician, lives at Sacramento; Hattie E. died in infancy ; Lucy Ellen, wife of W. H. Phelps, has two children, Mina and Lena (they live in the East Upper Lake precinct), adjoining the home of Mr. and Mrs. Mosier.
Mr. Johnson has always been a Democrat on political questions. His religious connection was with the Baptist Church, with which his family has also been identified.
E. E. BRYANT .- Numbered among those who are enthusiastic and opti- mistic regarding the future greatness of Lake county is E. E. Bryant, editor of the Kelseyville Sun. He was born in the city of Monticello, Wright county, Minn., June 12, 1869. When very young he went into the offices of the Journal-Press at St. Cloud, Minn., where he learned the printer's trade from its foundation. He also became an expert stenographer and typist. In 1902 he came to California and later took a position as private secretary to A. Christeson, vice president and general manager of Wells Fargo & Company at San Francisco, in whose offices he worked for some ten years. For a time he made his home in Oakland, until in December, 1911, when he moved to Kelseyville, buying out the Kelseyville Sun, a newspaper which for ten years had been successfully edited by J. S. McEwen (popularly known as Captain McEwen), it having been originally started by him and Nora A. McEwen. The broad-minded views and public spirit of the editor are evidenced in every issue of the paper, showing him to be an able editor whose highest object is to promote the public welfare of his community.
On September 15, 1896, Mr. Bryant was united in marriage at Rose Creek, Minn., with Miss Alice Sutton of that place. To them was born one child, Leah, a junior in the Clear Lake Union high school at Lakeport. Mr. Bryant joined the Masonic order at Elk River, Minn., where he still holds his mem- bership. During his residence in Minnesota he was appointed clerk of the district court of Sherburne county, was elected and re-elected, serving three terms before resigning. His entire career has proclaimed him an honorable, high principled man, of clever intellect, and a thoughtful and conscientious friend of the people.
GIOVANNI QUARTERONI .- The Commercial hotel of Willits is known from one side of the county to the other not only for its excellent service and its fine meals, but principally for its genial, big-hearted host, Mr. Quarteroni, who is a native of Italy, having been born in Lombardi April 8, 1873. Receiving his earlier educational training in the schools of Lombardi, he later located in St. Gallen, Switzerland, where at the age of sixteen he became apprenticed to the machinist's trade in the iron works located there. Completing the apprenticeship he followed his trade for a number of years. He decided to come to America and in 1901 came directly to California and located in Gualala where he engaged in lumbering until 1903. Then he came to Willits and was in the employ of the Northwestern Redwood Company for seven years. Relinquishing this position he became the proprietor of the Italia Europa hotel on Main street where he was very successful and acquired a good business. This hotel becoming too small for the amount of trade. in 1914 he erected a large new hotel of fifty-foot frontage on Commercial street
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near the depot and opened the present popular Commercial hotel, one of the finest, if not the largest. hotels in the city. Modern in every way, it is the pride of Willits.
Mr. Quarteroni still continues to own and manage the Italia Europa hotel on Main street and is a very successful business man. He is a mem- ber of the Eagles and the Druids and is a past master in both lodges. Po- litically a stanch Republican, he is always ready to favor any ideas of the local party that pertain to the good of the city. He married in St. Gallen, Switzerland, Assunta Stephani, a native of Austria, and of their marriage there are three children, Louis, Hugo and Ferdinand, all sturdy boys and the pride of their parents. Mr. Quarteroni is a very enterprising and liberal man, always seeking new improvements for his hotels in Willits. He is well liked in the community and is always up-to-date in his business methods.
WILLIAM JAMES BIGGAR, SR .- A long line of sturdy ancestors, of whom many representatives figured conspicuously in the early political con- troversies in Ireland, has afforded the unusually thorough and sterling qual- ities of mind and body which are possessed by William James Biggar, one of the earliest settlers and one of the most progressive citizens of Mendocino county, Cal. Originally the Biggar family were residents of Scotland, but later generations emigrated to the north of Ireland, where their home was made for many decades. In County Tyrone there is today an archway known as the Biggar arch, upon which there appears the motto "Giving and For- giving" which has been known as the Biggar crest or motto. During the time of the Irish Land Laws agitation, when Charles Stuart Parnell was active in Parliament. Joseph Gillis Biggar was the member from the County of Tyrone in favor of more liberal land laws. This Joseph Gillis Biggar was the uncle of William James Biggar.
Born August 7, 1837, in Cookstown, County Tyrone, Ireland, Mr. Biggar was the son of John and Anna (Gould) Biggar, both of whom were natives of Ireland. The mother belonged to a Scotch family who made their way from Scotland into the north of Ireland in early times because of religious persecution. Opportunities for a thorough educational training were denied William J. owing to the early death of his father, who left him the care of his mother and seven sisters when he was but twenty years of age. Mr. Biggar's stanch character and noble heart here became evident in his assumption of the duties of the head of the household. Born on a farm he grew up in this environment, acquainting himself with all the details of that life and making agriculture his chief occupation. Save working in the woods, clearing brush and improving his property at Navarro, Mendocino county, he has worked at farming all his life and his present condition of prosperity is due alone to his own untiring effort and indefatigable will.
Mr. Biggar came to California in January, 1870, by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Going by boat from New York to the Isthmus and thence by water to San Francisco, he made his way to Sonoma county, where he worked on a farm for about four years. Then going to Mendocino county he settled at Navarro, where he continued to live until about 1905, meanwhile engaging in farming and lumbering, but he is now making his home in Covelo. On the last call for volunteers which was made by President Lincoln Mr. Biggar en- listed in the New York Regiment and with them started to the front, but hostilities ceased before reaching the field and he did not see active service. His politics at this time were Republican and he since then has ever united
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his interests with that party until 1912, when he joined the Progressive party. His interest in the welfare of his community has prompted him to fill several minor appointive offices such as road overseer, school director, etc., but he has never sought nor desired any elective office. In religion he and his family are members of the Protestant Episcopal church, in which they are devout workers.
Mr. Biggar's marriage occurred February 22, 1869, at Williamsburg, Ontario, Canada, to Mary Stuart, the daughter of William Stuart of Dickin- son's Landing, Ontario. Six children came to bless their union: Arthur Wilbur, a bridge contractor residing in Berkeley, married Effie Switzer; John Stuart, died in 1896; William James, Jr., an attorney of Bellingham, Wash., and a leading candidate for member of congress, married Sarah M. Vance ; Charles Frederick died March 15, 1911 : George Milton married Louella Cary ; and Bryon Bowman died in 1881.
A glance over the genealogy of Mrs. Biggar gives an unusually splendid family history which leads back to Mary Queen of Scots, and contains among its members many celebrated representatives. Mrs. Biggar is a sister of William Stuart of Westport, Minn., who was a son of William Stuart, land surveyor of Dickinsons Landing, Ontario. The latter's father, George Stuart, was a barrister, who held the commission of captain in the British army dur- ing the war of 1812, and his father, James Stuart, M. D., was surgeon in the King's Royal Regiment. serving the colonies during the Revolutionary war. Dr. James Stuart, whose name is mentioned in several books in the Congres- sional Library at Washington, D. C., was a native of Inverness. Scotland. and was descended from James Stuart. Earl of Moray, a natural son of King James V. of Scotland, and a half brother of Mary Queen of Scots. The Earl of Moray was Regent of Scotland from 1567 to 1570, and was leader of the Protestant party in Scotland during the Reformation.
With her husband Mrs. Biggar enjoys the friendship of a host of friends in Mendocino county. They are particularly well known among the pioneers of this section who have shared with them the vicissitudes of early life in a new country and as well the joys of prosperity and good fellowship. Es- teemed by all his associates, honored and loved by his old time friends, he holds the deepest affection and respect of his family, to whom he has afforded all the advantages possible for a thorough education and every comfort and joy that it was his to give.
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