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 23
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 23
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Mr. Markkula married in Fort Bragg Mrs. Jennie (Anias) Heikkila, who was also born in Finland. They have three children: Reina Regina and Raymond Frederic, twins, and Armas Clifford. By her first marriage, Mrs. Markkula had four children: Jennie, Axel, Helja and Lea. Mr. Markkula is a valued member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a Re- publican and for fifteen years has been a member of the Fort Bragg Hook and Ladder Company, being treasurer of the association.
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HON. THOMAS LANGLEY CAROTHERS .- In point of age, expe- rience and actual identification with the bar of Mendocino county, Mr. Carothers has the distinction of being the oldest attorney in the county seat. With justice it may also be stated that none possesses a more comprehensive knowledge of the law than he, and certainly none is more logical in reasoning, more forceful in argument, more eloquent in speeches before judge and jury or more keen to penetrate the hidden motives for which the efficient attorney must search in many criminal and civil cases. His broad knowledge of the law comes principally from experience and habits of close observation and careful study, rather than from extended terms of attendance at law colleges in his young manhood, but the education acquired through his own determined efforts at self-culture has been in no respect less valuable than that which a modern college could afford. Whether alone or in practice with a partner, always he has represented the highest and best in his profes- sion and has stood as a leader of the bar in the local courts.
A native of Illinois, born in Carthage, Hancock county, September 26, 1842, Mr. Carothers left there in 1853 and accompanied his father James H. Carothers across the plains via the overland route. A period of farming near Petaluma was followed by the removal of the family to Sacramento in the spring of 1859 and the father engaged in teaming until the disastrous floods of 1861-62 caused him to return to Petaluma, where he took up teaming and hauling. Meanwhile the son had attended the Sacramento high school and had taken up the study of law in that city with Harrison & Estee, and continued his studies in Petaluma with the Hon. George Pearce, being admitted to the bar in 1863. For two years he held a position as deputy district attorney of Sonoma county. During the spring of 1866 he came to Ukiah, hung out his shingle in front of one of the primitive frame structures characteristic of the town in those days, and gradually built up a practice in this community. Ever since coming here he has acted as a notary public.
When the practice of the law did not occupy his time, Mr. Carothers turned to the cultivation of the soil. For some years he was interested in viti- culture. Buying one hundred acres of raw land, he planted vines, cultivated the vineyard, developed it into a productive property, and then sold at some profit. During 1872 he became district attorney of Mendocino county, filling the office until 1874. In 1884 he was the nominee for Congress on the Republican ticket, but suffered defeat with the balance of the ticket in this district. Ever since the law went into effect in 1898 creating the office of United States referee in bankruptcy, he has filled the position for Mendo- cino and Lake counties. At the time of the building of the Mendocino county state asylum (now the Mendocino State Hospital) at Ukiah he was a member of the Board of Directors, and during the first six years of the exist- ence of the hospital he filled the office of president of the Board of Trustees. Since 1893 he has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the city of Ukiah, and for more than two decades he has been president of the board, a position equivalent to the office of Mayor. It would be difficult to name any criminal or civil case of great importance in the county with which he has not been connected. In 1883 he prosecuted the famous Mendocino outlaws and secured the conviction of all. At another time he defended the famous Frost vendetta case, which figured extensively in the early history of the county. As a criminal lawyer he has gained prominence throughout this portion of the state. Fraternally he has been Master of Abell Lodge
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No. 146, F. & A. M., a member of Ukiah Chapter No. 53, R. A. M., and Ukiah Commandery No. 33, K. T., of which he is Past Commander. One son, Mack, now deceased, was born of his first wife, Lucy P. Pierson, a native of Illinois, whom he married in 1866 and who died thirty years afterward. His second marriage was solemnized in Ukiah in 1897 and united him with Mrs. Isabelle (Church) Reeves, a native of Ashfield, Franklin county, Mass. She was a descendant of Capt. John Church, who came to Massachusetts in the Mayflower.
Mrs. Carothers was the widow of Tapping Reeves, a native of Owego, N. Y., born March 7, 1832, the son of Lorenzo and Mona (Clark) Reeves, the former a merchant. A brother of Mr. Reeves was D. W. Reeves, a celebrated musician and composer, and leader of Reeves Band at Providence, R. I. A sister, Lucinda J. Reeves, was teacher of music, painting and drawing and a prominent leader in social, church and public affairs in Ukiah. Tapping Reeves became a prominent machinist and engineer. Coming to California via Panama in 1851, he was afterwards engineer at the Albion mill, and while there invented an edger as well as other improvements for the saw mill. In 1871 he built a saw mill in Reeves Canyon near Ukiah, where he engaged in the manufacture of lumber until his death in 1885. In Fairmont, N. Y., in 1875, he married Miss Church and to them was born a daughter, Edna Mary, who graduated at Leland Stanford University as A.B. in 1905, and is now a teacher in the Mendocino High School. Mrs. Carothers is a member of Kingsley Chapter, O. E. S., and is an active member of the Presbyterian church.
CYRUS GORDON TURNER .- The tenant on the large stock farm in Long Valley precinct, Lake county, known as the Spring Branch farm since October, 1909, Mr. Turner is engaged in raising general crops and to some extent in stock growing. He is a man known for his straightforward disposi- tion and reliable character, and his industry and evident public spirit have made him a most desirable citizen of the section where he resides. Practically all of his life has been spent in Lake county, for he was only a child of six years when his parents settled in the Loconomi valley, near Middletown, where he was reared.
Mr. Turner's father, John Turner, was a native of Virginia, and served during the Civil war as a soldier in the Confederate army. He was married in Missouri to Ruth Cummings, a native of that state, and they came with their family to California in the year 1870, the parents passing the remainder of their lives in Lake county. Until he retired, John Turner was a farmer and stockman. His death occurred near Lower Lake in 1908, when he was seventy-five years old, many years after that of his wife. They had a family of seven children: William, who died in Jerusalem valley, Lake county, when thirty-one years old, was married and had two children; Cyrus G. is mentioned later ; Samuel conducts a pool hall in Lower Lake; Josie was the ivife of Charles Hopper and died leaving two children ; John died at nineteen ; Emma married George Copsey and died leaving two children; Sallie is the wife of John Wright, of Santa Rosa, and has a family of six children.
Cyrus G. Turner was born August 8, 1863, in Clay county, Missouri, and was six years old at the time the family left that state for California. His mother died when he was but eleven years old, and he began to work out as a farm hand when a boy of twelve. Nevertheless, he managed to acquire a 11
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good education, attending school winters and doing chores to pay his way meantime. His first employer was "Tom" Parker, for whom he continued to work off and on for several years, perhaps remaining with him three years in all. Farming has always been his occupation, and he has been renting land for a number of years, having been in Little High valley for several years before he came to the Spring Branch farm, usually known as the Quigley farm. in October. 1909. It is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Brown, of Richmond, Cal., and comprises seven hundred acres of good land. upon which he raises mixed crops, meeting with gratifying success in his operations. His stock includes fourteen head of cattle. twenty-two hogs and six horses, and he is also engaged in raising chickens and turkeys. The present condition of the place betokens the thrifty care which Mr. Turner gives to it, and his work and upright life have won him the highest respect of his neighbors in the precinct.
On November 1. 1903, Mr. Turner married Miss Nora Estella Cunning- ham, of Lower Lake, who belongs to pioneer families of this section in both paternal and maternal lines, being a daughter of William H. and Nancy Jane (Howard) Cunningham and granddaughter of James Howard, who estab- lished Howard Springs Resort. Mr. Cunningham was well known as a black- smith at Lower Lake for years, and served ably as assessor of Lake county. He died recently, and his wife is also deceased. They had two children, Nora Estella and Bertie Leone, the latter now the wife of Thomas A. Wing, a carpenter, who lives in Merced county, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Turner have two children, Ruth E. and Bertie E. Mrs. Turner is an excellent cook and housekeeper, and like her husband has many good personal qualities which have won her the regard and esteem of her neighbors. On political questions he is a Democrat, but he has not been active in either party affairs or public matters.
WILLIAM C. GOLDSMITH .- There is no better known citizen in the town of Lower Lake than its venerable postmaster and oldest pioneer, William C. Goldsmith. He has lived there continuously since August, 1858, has been justice of the peace thirty years, for the last twenty-four years consecutively. and postmaster for the past fourteen years, holding the office now under ap- pointnient from the Wilson administration, though he himself is a stanch Republican. He is a veteran Odd Fellow, having belonged to the order for forty-seven years.
Indiana is Mr. Goldsmith's native state. He was born in Knox county April 2. 1830, son of Henry and Elizabeth (Ferkins) Goldsmith, the former born in Harrisburg, Pa., of Dutch descent, the latter at Beaver Pond, Ky., of French extraction. In 1833 the family moved out to what is now Scott county, in Illinois, settling at Winchester, where Henry Goldsmith passed the rest of his life, engaged at his trade of boot and shoe maker. He died at Winchester in 1856, and was buried there. His wife's death occurred there also, in 1875. Of the children born to this couple seven grew to maturity. William C. Goldsmith was the eldest, and his early life was spent at Win- chester, where he served an apprenticeship of four and a half years at the trade of harness maker with W. C. Gwin. At the end of that time he began to work as a journeyman harness maker, in 1849. following his trade at various locations, Greenfield. Jerseyville and Rockford, in Illinois ; St. Louis, Mo .; and
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in 1850 returned to Indiana, where he worked mainly at Vincennes, though he was also employed at Petersburg, Pike county, and Washington, Daviess county. He left the latter place in February, 1852, to go to California, leaving the parental home at Winchester, Ill., March 28, 1852, in company with his father and uncle, John Goldsmith, and James Hamilton. They had a large immigrant wagon and four yoke of oxen, and equipment and provisions for the long journey across the plains. About April 1st they crossed the Mississippi, at Hannibal, Mo., went over the Missouri at St. Joseph, Mo., camping there six days, and on May 6th started overland toward the coast, making their way along the south side of the Platte river. They arrived at Hangtown, Cal., August 8th, by which time the father was so discouraged that he started back tor Winchester the next day. William C. Goldsmith went over to Kelsey's Rar, on the middle fork of the American river, and hired out as a cook. He also mined, farmed in the Santa Clara valley, and did other work, at different places, but after coming to California he followed his trade for only one month. He gave up farming in the Santa Clara valley when his crops dried up, and later was in the wood business at Grass Valley, coming from there to Clear Lake, Lake county, in 1857. In the fall of the year he went back to Marys- ville, where he worked the next year until the harvest was over, returning to Lake county and arriving at what is now Lower Lake in August, 1858; since the 23rd of that month he has been a permanent resident of Lake county. Now. at the age of eighty-four years, he is hale and hearty, and as he has never required the services of a doctor or a dose of medicine since he settled here his advice is, "If you want to live always, come to Lake county." In 1861 Mr. Goldsmith went into the sheep business in Morgan valley, continuing to engage in that line until April. 1866, when he sold out and came to Lower Lake to live. He bought his present property there, a tract of twenty-three acres, in 1870. For twenty-four years he was engaged in the liquor business in the town, giving it up about 1901, when he became postmaster, at the age of seventy years. His popularity is well attested by the fact that he has been continued in office ever since, having many friends among the Democratic element in town as well as in his own party. His duties are conscientiously and faithfully performed, and he also serves as justice of the peace, first taking that office in the year 1867. Twenty-four years ago he was re-elected, and has retained the office to the present. He has also been deputy assessor for super- visor district No. 2, having filled that position ably for two terms. Mr. Gold- smith's first presidential vote was cast for John C. Fremont in 1856. He was one of the petitioners for the establishment of Lake county, which was made 11p of territory taken from Napa and Yolo counties.
Mr. Goldsmith stands high in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, to which he has belonged for forty-seven years, holding membership in Clear Lake Lodge, No. 130, at Lower Lake, of which he is the oldest resident mem- ber. He has been through all the chairs, has been representative to the Grand Lodge six times, and is a member of the Veteran Odd Fellows at San Fran- cisco. While still in the east, in 1845, Mr. Goldsmith joined the Christian Church at Winchester, Ill., but he has never transferred his membership.
In 1860 Mr. Goldsmith was united in marriage with Miss Martha C. Asbill, daughter of William Asbill, who arrived in Lake county in 1859. Of their family, six grew to manhood and womanhood, viz .: John lives at Willows, Glenn county ; Elizabeth is in San Francisco; William resides at Willows;
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Arthur is deputy postmaster at Lower Lake; Edna is the wife of Ed. P. Reiley and lives in New York City ; Clinton, who lives at home, is an employe of the Yolo Water and Power Company.
A. MORTIMER STANLEY .- Among the prominent and well known publishers of Lake county is the gifted editor of the Middletown Independent, a newspaper of large circulation in southern Lake county and one of a decided influence. Mr. Stanley, popularly known as "Mort" Stanley, is an original writer, a clear and logical thinker, with a touch of wit and humor, yet kind- hearted and sympathetic, all of which attributes merit the popularity he and his paper enjoy. The Independent was established by Pentecost & Read twenty-seven years ago and has been published continuously ever since under several different managers. Pentecost & Read were succeeded by J. L. Read,
the present postmaster at Middletown, who owned the paper until 1902, when it was taken over by J. D. Kuykendall. He, however, retained it only one year, J. L. Read again assuming proprietorship and continuing until 1905. During this time it was edited by his son, W. E. Read, and it was issued by them until 1906. The next proprietor was A. O. Stanley of Fair Oaks, Cal. His son, A. Mortimer Stanley, became editor and publisher, taking a half interest and leasing the other half from his father, and about January 1, 1915, he expects to take over the entire Independent newspaper and job printing plant. This plant has for its equipment two job presses, one lever press, two hundred fifty fonts of type, two stones, cases, paper cutter, typewriter, etc. In policy the Independent has embraced the idea of county ownership of Clear lake and is now strenuously advocating that the lake with its power and irrigation projects become the property of Lake county, thus saving to the people the most valuable asset of the community.
A. Mortimer Stanley was born at Lower Lake, Cal., September 23, 1888, in a camp wagon. His mother in her girlhood days was Miss Cora C. Ander- son, a native of Texas, who came to Lake county with her parents at the age of ten. She was the mother of seven children, three of whom are still liv- ing : Julietta, now wife of W. D. Hays, a ranchman, living north of Middle- town; John Edwin, a rancher in Big Canyon, and Alfred Mortimer. When Mr. Stanley was six months old the family moved to Modoc county, where he lived the first ten years of his life. Then they moved back to Lake county. He was always a precocious child and began writing for newspapers at the early age of eleven. Two years later he felt the lure of the outside world and left home to commence work as "devil" for the Surprise Valley Record in Modoc county. Here he advanced rapidly. Within a year he was setting type and at the age of seventeen was editor of the Middletown Independent under the direction of his father. The Stanley family consists largely of newspaper men and writers. A. O. Stanley, the father, contributed to weekly newspapers, and a sister, Melmoth, who died at the early age of seventeen, was a poet of some little promise.
Mr. Stanley was married at Lakeport to Miss Frances Waterbury, a native daughter of Middletown, and a granddaughter of A. S. Armstrong, Middletown's oldest white settler. To them has been born a daughter, Mel- moth, now four years of age.
John MışGlashan
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JOHN McGLASHAN .- Strange and even weird happenings brought ex- citement to the experiences of the late John McGlashan in three continents during his early years. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1818, he was reared amid conditions radically different from those of the present century. After an attendance at the national schools in Edinburgh he ran away from home when he was about seventeen and sailed for Australia, a long voyage in the days before steamboats had come into universal use. For nine years he served as sergeant of police in Australia and upon resigning his commission he returned to Scotland to renew the associations of youth and again visit the scenes familiar to childhood. His next voyage had New York for the destination and upon his arrival there he followed the trade of a type-maker. Meanwhile gold had been discovered in California and the eyes of the entire world had been turned to the west. Believing that he himself might find a favorable opening on the Pacific coast, in 1850 he took passage on a ship bound from New York to San Francisco via the Horn.
It was a cosmopolitan throng and a city of tents that met the vision of the young Scotch emigrant when he left the ship in the harbor of San Fran- cisco. Immediately he began to look about him for an investment His first step was the forming of a partnership with Mr. Gilchrist in a book and sta- tionery business on Montgomery street, San Francisco, under the firm title of McGlashan & Gilchrist. Soon he bought the interest of his partner and conducted the business alone. During 1856 he sold out and then traveled over the state looking for a desirable place to invest and locate. Coming to Petaluma by steamer, from there he came by horseback with Mr. Carey, his bookkeeper, up the valley to the present site of Hopland. After having spent three months in search of a desirable location, he found what he sought in a portion of the Sanel grant, one of the few Spanish grants to which a clear title could be given. He had brought $50,000 in gold, in order to pay cash for any purchase decided upon. It was, therefore, a brief task to find the owner of the grant, Don Fernando Felix, make due negotiations with him and pay for the sixteen hundred acres of land selected. The receipt of so large a sum in gold delighted the old Don, who promptly divided it with his sons and all proceeded to enjoy a grand celebration in honor of the sale.
The grant originally comprised eighteen thousand acres and extended seven miles along both sides of the river. In 1858, two years after Mr. Mc- Glashan had bought his tract out of the vast estate, the old Don divided the land among his children, excepting only one hundred acres given to Richard Harrison, a surveyor, and one thousand acres given to John Knight for his services in investigating the title. This last acreage now belongs to Jolin Crawford. Previous to this two thousand acres had been sold to the Gardiner family. On the west side one thousand acres were given to Jose, son of the old Don. Jose in turn sold the property to E. H. Duncan for one hundred and fifty head of cattle worth perhaps $20 per head. An adjacent tract was given to Louis Penia, another to the north presented to his daugh- ter, Mrs. William Andrews, while the next one thousand acres were given to another daughter, Mrs. Alvina Orta. On the Hopland side one thousand acres were given to Mrs. Murray. To Mrs. Edsell was given one thousand acres upon a part of which the village of Hopland now stands. A daughter, Mrs. Guadalupe Penia, was given a tract, as were three sons, Lencho, Cistro and Necho. On this vast grant cattle roamed in great droves, large fields
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were under cultivation to grain and corn, and later alfalfa and hops were raised with profit, while orchards also became a source of revenue to the owners. The old Don, once the owner of this lordly estate, died in poverty.
On a natural elevated mound overlooking the valley Mr. McGlashan built a ranch house and named the place Burnee Hill ranch. The original building stands, although somewhat changed in appearance by reason of additions that have been made to it. The wood in the old house was hand- planed and was brought from San Francisco. In those days it was custo- mary to bring all provisions and supplies from the California metropolis and there he bought the first piano ever brought into Mendocino county, a grand square Steinway, which was brought from Petaluma by ox-teams, packed around with sacks of flour. It took five days to make the trip. The land which Mr. McGlashan purchased was the first portion of the vast grant for which any money was paid, previous sales having been in the nature of cxchanges. When he began to cultivate the land he used oxen to turn the first furrows in the soil. There was little machinery and such implements as were in use showed crudity of form that involved dissatisfaction in their handling. However. in spite of these disadvantages and many other hard- ships, the owner of the ranch prospered, his crops were large, his stock flour- ished and his name became well known throughout the county. Among the improvements made on the land was that of fencing, at a cost of $10.000, the entire place, so that he was enabled to cultivate his crops more success- fully and to herd his stock more satisfactorily. The raising of Spanish merino sheep was one of his specialties. To secure the finest breeds he paid $400 for a buck and $75 for an ewe, from which foundation he built up a flock pure in quality and accounted one of the best in Northern California. After many years of strict attention to ranching in 1880 he retired to Ukiah and built the residence on Perkins and Dora avenue in which he died in 1895. While still in England he had joined the Masonic Order. but took little part in the work after coming to California. He was twice married, first in 1856 in New York to Miss Elizabeth Hewes, who was born in England, and second in San Francisco in 1889 to Mrs. Anna (Bennett) Pope, who was born in Newport, Ky., the daughter of W. H. and Maria (Hornbrook) Bennett, na- tives of Pennsylvania and Kentucky respectively. Mr. Bennett participated in the Civil war in a Kentucky regiment, serving as captain. Later he was a member of the Pinkerton detective force, subsequently assessor of Newport, Ky., for twelve years, and still later he served as mayor of that city. By trade he was a boat builder and for many years he ran a boat yard in Cin- cinnati, Ohio. Mr. Bennett, who was a prominent Mason and Odd Fellow, passed away in Newport, Ky., while his wife died at the home of Mrs. Mc- Glashan. The only daughter born to her parents, Mrs. McGlashan was edu- cated in the public schools and in St. Azabra Convent, and graduated from the Newport high school. Her first marriage occurred in Newport and united her with John Pope, a printer by trade. In 1883 Mr. Pope and his wife left Chicago for Ukiah, where he bought the Ukiah City Press. Subsequently he died while on a trip to Placer county. Mrs. Pope continued to edit the Press until her marriage to Mr. McGlashan. By her first marriage there was one daughter. Fannie H., Mrs. Jesse Williams, of San Francisco. Of Alr. McGlashan's second marriage one daughter survives him, Jeanie, Mrs. Hawn, of Ukiah. Four years after the death of Mr. McGlashan his widow
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