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 106
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 106
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Sarah Elizabeth Foster Burton was educated in the schools of Eel River district. Her first marriage, in 1883, was to James H. Patton, a native of Ohio, who died in 1890. Of this union there were two children, Bertha, Mrs. Gray, and Eva, Mrs. Cyrus, both of Covelo. Her second marriage was in Covelo, in 1892, uniting her with Andrew H. Burton, a native of Harrison county, Mo. They followed ranching on Poonkiny for seven years, when they sold the ranch and stock and bought thirty-three acres near Covelo. where they engaged in raising alfalfa. In February, 1913, they sold the ranch and located in Covelo, where Mr. Burton died June 11, 1913. Of this union there is one daughter. Callie I., a graduate of Covelo high school, class of 1912, and now engaged in teaching school.
Mr. Burton was a member of Covelo Lodge No. 231. F. & A. M., and was buried with Masonic honors.
Mrs. Burton continues to reside in Covelo, where she owns three resi- dences, the care of which with other interests occupies much of her time. She is well and favorably known for her charitable deeds and many kindnesses toward those that have been less fortunate. She is an active member of Augusta Chapter No. 80, O. E. S., of which she is past matron.
JAMES WILLIAM BOGGS .- The president of the Farmers' Savings Bank of Lakeport has the distinction of being a son of the founder of this substantial old institution and a grandson of the honored pioneer and alcalde of the northern district of California. Hon. Lilburn W. Boggs, governor of Missouri during the eventful period of the Mormon hostilities. The eldest living male descendant in California of this one-time governor was born on a farm in Jackson county, Mo., not far from the present site of Kansas City, August 10. 1843, and in 1850 he came across the plains with his father. Henry Carroll Boggs. Of that momentous journey his recollections are somewhat vague and indistinct, but he vividly recalls the excitement in connection with the arrival of the party at Sutter's Fort in Sacramento county, August 20. 1850. While some of the expedition established a permanent home in the valley of the Sacramento, the Boggs family tarried but for a while, moving on to the village of Sonoma in the fall of the same year, and from there going on to Napa county. A home was established in Lake county in 1864, and the father in 1874 founded the Farmers' Savings Bank, of which he continued to act as president throughout the entire period until his death. September 28, 1898. Individually he did more to develop Lake county than any other citizen of his day, and it was the desire of old friends that his body might be interred there, but the fact that his father and mother were laid to rest in a cemetery in Napa county led to his interment in the family lot at that point. To indicate his remarkable devotion to the county and his willingness to sacrifice
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personal considerations for the public good. it may be stated that the county had authorized the issuing of $26,000 in bonds for the building of the county road, a most vital project to the development of the back country. There seemed difficulty in placing the bonds and, to hasten the consummation of the work, H. C. Boggs personally paid cash for these bonds and thus made possible the building of twenty-six miles of road from Lawley toll road to the town of Kelseyville. While material causes received constant encouragement and aid from him, he never for a moment forgot the claims of religion upon the soul, but endeavored to exemplify in his life the teachings of the Lord and was true to the doctrines of the Christian Church.
From the age of twenty-one years James William Boggs has been a resident of Lake county, and since the death of his father in 1898 he has officiated as president of the Farmers' Savings Bank. In addition he is a stockholder in the Clear Lake Railroad Company, of which his brother, Lilburn H., is president and which proposes to construct a standard gauge road from Lakeport to Hopland on the Northwestern Pacific Railroad. Dur- ing 1880 with his wife (formerly Miss Josephine Boggs) he moved out to the Boggs & Harbine mill, which he had leased from his father and Mr. Harbine. Returning the next year to his farm in Big valley, he remained there until he was elected president of the bank and then established a home in town. With J. D. Stephens of Woodland, the owner of the Highland Springs resort, and a number of farmers in Big valley as well as several business men in Lakeport, he promoted the building of the toll road from Highland Springs to Pieta, a distance of fifteen and one-half miles, and under his oversight as superintendent of construction, with Professor Kelley of Lakeport as civil engineer. the surveys were made and the road located. It is a matter of interest to know that it took from April 30 to September 18, 1891. to construct the road, and the grade work was done mainly by Indians, there being ninety red men out of the one hundred and fifty employed in building the grade. However, the bridge work and the blasting were done wholly by white men. Besides his other interests Mr. Boggs owns three hundred and twenty-two acres known as the Argonaut Stock Farm. This is the place where the first cheese was made in Lake county in 1856 and where he engages in breeding thoroughbred Durham cattle, Poland-China hogs and Shropshire sheep. Throughout Lake county he is well known and universally honored for his work's sake. In the affection of the people he has a permanent place, and this is a tribute, not only to his identification with a prominent pioneer family, but more especially to his own splendid personal attributes and exemplary character.
CHARLES LINTON KNIGHT .- A man who has been connected with different lumber mills on the Mendocino coast in one way or another is Charles L. Knight, who was born in Brownsville. Pa., May 5. 1860. the son of Abel and Ann (Linton) Knight, natives of Pennsylvania, who removed to Tonganoxie, Kan., in 1866, and to Mendocino county in 1875. Here the father was employed at lumbering for a time. but retired and spent his last days in Haywoods.
Charles Linton Knight was educated in the public schools of Tonganoxie, Kan. In 1877 he arrived at Point Arena. Cal., but located at Schooner Gulch. and the same year began work in the lumber industry in Amasa Saunders' mill of that place. He continued there until 1880, when he entered the employ of the Gualala Lumber Company, in which he worked his way up to edger,
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later to sawyer and afterwards was made mill foreman, a position he held with the company for thirteen years out of twenty-three employed by them. When the company sold to eastern parties he came to Greenwood, where he spent one year with the L. E. White Lumber Company as mill foreman. In March, 1904, he came to Mendocino as mill foreman for the Mendocino Lum- ber Company, a position he has filled faithfully ever since.
Mr. Knight was first married in Gualala to Miss Eleanora Coats, a native daughter. She died in Gualala, leaving two children, Charles Chester, who is assistant manager of the Crescent Wharf and Warehouse Company at San Pedro: and Edith Ella, who died when eleven years of age. His second marriage united him with Miss Kate Randolph, of Point Arena, and of this union there are two children, Gladys, a graduate of the Los Angeles State Normal, and now taking a special course at the Santa Barbara Normal. and Laurence, attending the Mendocino high school. For many years he was trustee of the Gualala school district, and is a Republican. Fraternally he is a member of the Point Arena Lodge and Encampment of the Odd Fellows. and also the Rebekahs, as well as a member of the lumbermen's association known as the Hoo Hoos.
ANDREW LAPPINEN .- A resident of Fort Bragg since 1893, Andrew Lappinen was born in Vasaland, Finland, May 18, 1873. His father, Matti. was a farmer, and naturally Andrew was reared on the farm, his education being obtained in the public schools. In 1890 he came to the United States, the first three years being spent in Orange, Tex., where he was employed in the lumber woods. In June, 1893, he came to Fort Bragg, Mendocino county, and was in the employ of the Union Lumber Company until 1900. He then purchased the lot on Harrison and Redwood avenue and built the Fort Bragg hotel, which was completed in 1901, and he has since been proprietor and manager of it. He has also built two stores adjoining. In addition to this he is also interested in farming on his ranch of two hundred and forty acres near Albion, where he is engaged in stockraising.
In Fort Bragg occurred the marriage of Mr. Lappinen with Katherina Keranen, also a native of Finland, and they have one child. Flma.
CHARLES E. DAHL .- Among the well known and successful business men of Fort Bragg can be mentioned Charles E. Dahl, a native of Replat, Vasaland. Finland, born June 24, 1874. and he received a good education in the common schools of that locality: January 10. 1891. he emigrated to Michigan and immediately came on to Greenwood, Mendocino county, Cal., where he was in the employ of the lumber company. He followed the busi- ness for many years, two years being spent at Santa Cruz in the same line of work. After his marriage at Greenwood, which united him with Miss Anna Lorholm. he engaged in business there until 1901, when he came to Fort Bragg and purchased the Eagle hotel. Two years later he sold it and built a business honse on the corner of Redwood avenue and Franklin street. Meantime he made a trip back to the old home in Finland and upon his return was more pleased with this country than before. In 1907 he sold the building on Redwood avenue and Franklin street and purchased the Fort Bragg cigar factory. After continuing the business for one year he sold it. In 1908 he purchased the lot on Franklin street where his present hotel stands and built the White House hotel. of which he has since been proprietor. He also owns a fifty-foot-front business house on Franklin street opposite his hotel.
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Mr. Dahl owns a comfortable modern residence which he built on the corner of Fir and McPherson streets, where he resides with his wife and four children, the latter being Alfred, Jennie, Einar and Clarence. Fraternally he is a member of the Red Men, Eagles, Druids, Moose and Royal Arch, to whose philanthropies he is a liberal contributor. While he has never sought office he is an influential man and is a stanch Republican.
EDWIN HUDSON PERCY, JR .- Among the young men holding responsible positions with the Union Lumber Company at Fort Bragg is E. H. Percy, Jr., who was born in Eureka, Cal., September 7, 1881, son of Edwin Hudson and Nellie (Cole) Percy, both natives of Battle Creek, Mich. His paternal grandfather, Abraham Percy, was born in St. Lawrence county, N. Y., where he married Sarah Harrison, a native of Jefferson county, N. Y., and in 1836 they located in Calhoun county, Mich., where he was a government surveyor and afterward engaged in lumber manufacturing. The father of F. H., Jr., followed lumber manufacturing in Michigan until 1876, when he came to Humboldt county, Cal., where at different periods he was superin- tendent for Dolbeer Carson, Excelsior Redwood Company and Vance Red- wood Company's mills. In 1907 he came to Mendocino county and built a mill at Hardy creek for C. A. Hooper & Co., then rebuilt the mill at Glen Blair, after which he ran the Jenner mill for a year. In 1910 he located in Ukiah, where he built the K. & P. garage, to which he is now giving his attention. Their family comprises three children : Earl, a traveling engineer for the Standard Oil Company, now in Australia ; Edwin, of whom we write; and Nellie, Mrs. Brown of Mill valley.
Edwin Hudson Percy, Jr., from a boy, had worked as a machinist at the Sonora Lumber Company's mill, and after graduating from the Eureka high school in 1900 entered Lick Polytechnic school in San Francisco, taking a mechanical engineer's course for two years. He then assisted in putting the machinery in the Hardy creek mill. after which as engineer and machinist he had charge of the machinery of the Glen Blair mill for three years. Resigning, he became chief engineer for the Northwestern Redwood Company at North- western, a position he held for four years. In 1910 he resigned to accept his present position as chief engineer of the Union Lumber Company's mill at Fort Bragg, and since then has been in charge of the machinery in the mill as well as their electric light plant.
In Ukiah occurred the marriage of Mr Percy and Miss Lura Kirtley, who was born in Yuba City, and they have one child named Kirtlev. Mrs. Percy is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Politically he believes in and supports the principles of the Republican party.
JAMES WILLIAM KELLEY .- The commercial and agricultural activities of Round valley have a prominent representative in the person of James William Kelley; proprietor of a meat market at Covelo and owner of one of the mountain farms that have proved so well adapted to the stock industry. When first he came with the family to Mendocino county he was scarcely four years of age. Prior thereto his parents had lived in Oregon and he was born in Klamath county, that state, October 31. 1867. As soon as old enough to enter the primary department of the public school he was sent to the Covelo school. Later he attended the grammar school at Mendo- cino City and for a short time was a pupil at Sacramento, the later home of the family. His school studies were completed in San Francisco, from which city he accompanied his parents back to Mendocino county, again settling
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in Round valley. Together with his father he engaged in raising stock and tilling the soil, which gave him a practical experience of inestimable value to his mature years. During 1884 he was given charge of a ranch owned by his mother and consisting of four hundred acres of stock range. By reason of the character of the land he specialized in stock.
Upon the sale of the mountain ranch in 1897 Mr. Kelley entered a claim from the government. The tract included one-half section of mountain land, suited to the raising of stock, and this ranch he still owns, finding it a most desirable accessory of his butcher shop, operated by him at Covelo since 1909. In the shop he has every modern equipment. The first ice plant in Round valley was installed by him, and it has been his aim to furnish to his cus- tomers only the best of meats, kept under the most cleanly and sanitary con- ditions. The slaughter-house that he owns is not only commodious, but is maintained in a scrupulously sanitary condition, and it is a matter of pride with him that the utmost shall be done to satisfy the most critical of cus- tomers. In politics he votes the Democratic ticket. Fraternally he is asso- ciated with the Woodmen of the World. On Christmas day of 1898 he married California May Short, who was born in Round valley, the daughter of James Green Short, an honored pioneer of the valley. They are the parents of four daughters, Clair, Birdie, Hazel and Leona.
CLEAR LAKE RAILROAD COMPANY .- The Clear Lake Railroad Company, a corporation under the laws of the state of California, was incor- porated May 22, 1911, with a capital stock of $500,000, divided into five thou- sand shares of par value $100 each. Its purpose is to build a line of railroad from Hopland, in Mendocino county. to Lakeport, in Lake county, standard gauge.
Officers: L. H. Boggs, president; M. S. Sayre, vice-president ; Joseph Levy, treasurer ; R. R. Woodward, secretary ; L. H. Boggs, M. S. Sayre, Joseph Levy, Herbert V. Keeling, L. P. Clendenin, W. P. Hill, S. E. Brookes (of Hopland), Lewis Henderson, W. P. Mariner, A. H. Spurr, Charles M. Ham- mond, directors ; Herbert V. Keeling, attorney.
The engineers engaged by the company claim the road can be constructed for $550,000, including cost of equipment, and railroad experts predict that the line will be profitable. That is, it may be expected to yield a fair rate of interest on the cost of construction after setting aside the sinking fund. There is another railroad in California almost similar in extent and cost-the Amador Central, running from lone to Jackson, costing $550,000-whose gross receipts are thirty-five per cent., six per cent. net, and the company is now discounting its twenty-year bonds.
The necessary capital for the Clear Lake railroad is now in sight, and all the rights of way have been obtained in Mendocino county and the majority in Lake county. Seventy-six thousand two hundred seventy-two dollars and six cents has already been expended in the work of construction. exclusive of general expenditures. Branches are planned from Laképort to „Upper Lake; Highland to Kelseyville, thence on the main line to Lakeport. The articles of incorporation will also permit the company to build boats and maintain service on Clear lake, thus connecting 'all portions of the county with the commercial centers of the state and the outside world.
Report of State Railroad Commission pertaining to the Clear Lake Rail- road Company : The application of the Clear Lake Railroad Company for permission to issue stocks and bonds sufficient to finance the project was
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approved and granted by the State Railroad Commission in a decision ren- dered in San Francisco on Wednesday, October 29, 1913, and supplemental order issued on May 14, 1914, which authority and figures are here quoted.
The commissioners' order, which is signed by John M. Eshelman, Alex. Gordon and Max Thelen, authorizes the issue of five hundred shares of capital stock and $500,000 face value in bonds of $500 denomination running twenty- five years and bearing interest at six per cent. Conditions attached to the order are as follows: The capital stock shall not be sold at less than par : the bonds shall not be sold at less than eighty-four per cent. That proceeds shall be used for construction of the road for items appearing in engineers' summary of cost. Before any stock or bonds are issued the company shall present to the commission a plan by which all or a major portion of the stock shall be paid for or subscribed and secured prior to the issue of bonds. and also a plan by which interest on bonds may be waived or guaranteed for three years. The company shall present a trust deed or mortgage of all its property to secure said bonds. After company shall present satisfactory plans tor complying with these conditions the commission will issue supplemental order specifying necessary conditions and usual provisions in reference to accounting, time limit for issuance of stock and bonds. and payment of fee on bonds.
The conditions requested for completing and financing Lake county's railroad are seen by this to be no small difficulty. The directors, however, are confident that they can be met, by proper response of Lake county citizens who have public spirit and progressiveness enough to want a railroad, and who realize the benefit such a project will bring to the county. The commis- sion's order favors the project greatly in that stock is not required to be paid for before bonds are issued, or before the road is built, as long as the required amount is subscribed and secured. Another favorable feature is that $225,000 of the bonds are practically sold under the order of E. A. Palmer, on which the guarantee of interest will probably be waived. The commission con- sidered that a portion of the bonds ought to be taken by local people, who should pay par value for them. If this is done considerably less stock need be sold.
Commissioner Thelen's opinion goes into details of the proposed road, citing the following well known facts: Route: From Hopland through Sanel valley, over small ridge to Col. Dan. Burns' ranch, up McDowell valley, thence six miles of maximum four per cent. grade to the grade summit, a 1,300-foot tunnel, then right bank of Highland Springs creek, recrossing same. three miles of four per cent. grade coming down, following route of Pieta road two miles to Highland Springs; thence northerly skirting low foothills of Big valley to Lakeport, a total length of twenty-three and a half miles ; maximum curvature, twenty-four per cent.
The estimate to complete and equip for operation the proposed railroad which have been projected (proposed) into this county. These include the Highland Pacific from Santa Rosa to Lakeport, estimated to cost $2,775,000; the McNulty Pettibone Syndicate proposition of many years ago, which did actual construction work on route from Napa to Middletown; later the project of W. B. King over practically the same route; the Cloverdale and Lakeport Electric Road, just prior to 1906; the Hataling, Napa and Lakeport Road, through Butts Canyon, figured at a cost of several millions; the Clear Lake and Northern, for which $150,000 was subscribed locally : the narrow
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gauge project from Ukiah into the county ; a survey up Putah creek from Napa county ; and another survey credited to the Santa Fe over the Blue Lakes Pass, through Willits and Porter valley, intended for a through line to Eureka.
Of the present project the decision relates that eight hundred and fifty- four shares of stock have been issued, of par value of $85,400, on which $74,892.50 cash had been paid in to June 30, 1914, $3,625 received as partial payments for eighty-five shares not yet issued, and $6,000 borrowed on notes, total receipts being $84,517.50, all of which has been expended on the con- struction and expenses incurred to June 30, 1914. Six or seven surveys have been made, and between six and seven miles of railroad grade constructed from Hopland east, with exception of two small gaps, necessary culverts in- stalled in this grading, and a considerable amount of lumber and piling secured for timber and trestles and tunnel; 126.31 acres of right of way have been donated, of approximate value of $6,943.80; 22.4 acres purchased at a cost, including attorneys' fees and recordation, of $4,820.47 ; 119,28 acres on govern- ment land covered by approved filing maps ; so that the company has still to acquire 30.3 acres of right of way, valued at between $1,900 and $2,000. Since the hearing B. H. Henderson, as agent for the Platte estate, has placed in escrow a deed to the right of way through that property, 2.7 acres, valued at $5,400.
The estimate to complete and equip for operation the proposed railroad is as follows: Grading, clearing, etc., $159,883 ; tunnels, $78,000; steel trusses, $9,900; pile and frame trestles, $28.590; culverts, $1,948; ties, $29,250; rails. $88,125; track fastenings, $3,000: track laying and surfacing. $19,200; fencing right of way, $1,500; crossings and signs, $400; station buildings, $2,000: platforms, $400; shop building and engine house, $1,000; shop machinery and tools, $250; water stations, $2.000; fuel tank, $1,250; engineering and super- intending, $5,000; law expenses, $1,054; stationery and printing, $100; over- haul, $650; equipment, cost of one locomotive, one combination car and one coach, $9,000; two box and two flat cars, $2,500; contingencies, $25.000. Total, $470,000.
In summing up the reports made as to freight and passenger traffic actually existing under present conditions, and probable increase if road is built, the decision gives the average ratio, arrived at by the Interstate Commerce Commission from its investigations of operating expenses and taxes com- pared with gross revenue to be seventy and eight-tenths per cent In view of the relatively high operating expense of this project. due to grade and curva- ture, the commission suggests the advisability of giving serious consideration to operation by electricity, and advises the directors to secure information on this point.
The decision shows that this commission, which has had several years' close insight into railroad matters, existing and projected, unqualifiedly recon- mends the Clear Lake Railroad project, believes it a legitimate and feasible scheme which should be consummated. This approval is demonstrated in the following verbatim language of Commissioner Thelen :
"This commission has done its best to ascertain whether the proposed railroad if constructed will be able to earn operating expenses and interest on securities, as well as lay aside funds for depreciation and retiring securities. On the one hand are the failures of the past, and the relatively small present population and the high operating expense. On the other hand consideration
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must be given to the large amount of present freight and passenger traffic and certainty of increase. It is the policy of the commission to encourage as far as possible the development of state public utility enterprises. Par- ticularly is this true when no utility of like character at present serves the field, and when the utility has no elements of promotion scheme, but is an earnest and bona fide effort of citizens of the community to develop their portion of the state and thereby increase the wealth and prosperity of the state. The present enterprise is of that character. Under these circum- stances this commission will resolve every reasonable doubt in favor of the enterprise and see that reasonable conditions are prescribed, so as to safe- guard the enterprise as far as possible."
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