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 30
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 30
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L. W. Babcode
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LYMAN WILBERT BABCOCK .- Significant of his ability as an in- structor is the fact that Mr. Babcock has been connected with the schools of Mendocino county since 1882, when he came to California and secured a position as teacher in the school at Little River, one of the then thriving towns in the lumber regions along the Pacific coast. More than three decades of usefulness in the educational field have been given by him ; and the present high status of Mendocino county schools may be attributed largely to his intelligent. long-continued, and efficient association with the work. In his present office of county superintendent of schools, which position he is now filling for the second term, he is endeavoring to advance the school system and raise it to a still higher standard, an important task in which he receives the co-operation of teachers and also, to a large extent, of tax-payers. It is a source of pride to him that he has been identified with the educational work of the county through so long a period and that he has been privileged to promote the same through his own intelligent efficiency. In his opinion there is no task in the world nobler than that of strengthening the mind and char- acter in the critical, plastic period of youth, thus equipping the pupil for the battle of life. Hundreds of students have come under his guidance and profited by his instruction. Men and women now in middle age speak of his work as instructor with sincere appreciation and in his more recent activities as county superintendent he has secured the enthusiastic support of the teachers of the county in his efforts toward continued educational upbuilding.
Born in Tompkins county, N. Y., November 2, 1857, L. W. Babcock was the son of Benjamin and Mary (Meacham) Babcock, natives of New York, where the father was a farmer, but in 1859 removed with his family to Wells- boro, Tioga county, Pa., and later served for three years in the Civil War in the army of the North. Lyman W. Babcock was reared at Wellsboro and from an early age attended the common schools of Pennsylvania, also the State Normal at Mansfield, from which he was graduated in 1879. For a time he taught in that state, but in 1882 he became a resident of California and a teacher at Little River, Mendocino county.
After three years in that little lumber town he came to Ukiah as principal of the grammar school, which position he held for eight years. On the estab- lishment of the Ukiah High School in 1893 he was elected principal, where he continued for thirteen years, meanwhile accomplishing a work of the highest importance in connection with the new institution. Having worthily filled that position, he was called to one of even greater importance. During the fall of 1906 he was elected county superintendent, taking office in January, 1907. In 1910 he was elected for another term of four years, which began January of 1911. Aside from his educational work he has been prominent in Masonry, being made a Mason in Abell Lodge No. 146, F. & A. M., of which he is Past Master ; he is Past High Priest of Ukiah Chapter No. 53, R. A. M., and Past Commander of Ukiah Commandery No. 33, K. T., and with Mrs. Babcock is a member of Casimir Chapter No. 252, O. E. S.
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His family consists of Mrs. Babcock and one son, Raymond Arthur Bab- cock, M. D., the latter a graduate of Hahnemann Medical College of San Francisco and now a practicing physician at Willits, this county. Mrs. Bab- cock was formerly Annie R. Pullen, born in Little River, whose parents, Charles and Elizabeth (Coombs) Pullen, natives of Maine, settled in Mendo- cino county in 1864, where Mr. Pullen built a mill at Little River. Mrs. Pullen is still living, at the ripe age of ninety-two years. Mrs. Babcock has 14
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been engaged in educational work for several years and is now assisting her husband as deputy county superintendent of schools, thus bringing into use- fulness her years of experience in the schoolroom.
GEORGE WASHINGTON FIFIELD .- It is not usual to find anyone of Canadian birth bearing the name George Washington, but Mr. Fifield, though born near London, Ontario, is of American parentage and lineage, the family having long been settled in New England. He is one of the Lake county farmers who have had wonderful success in growing fruit, and he has also become quite heavily interested in the raising of Angora goats, owning four hundred at the present time. His farm in the South Kelseyville precinct is located back in the mountains, on a plateau, and the results which have at- tended his industrious cultivation of the property show that there is much valuable land adapted to fruit raising up in the hills, covered with brush and timber. What Lake county will be when all of it has been intelligently devel- oped is food for the active imagination. Mr. Fifield has made a demonstra- tion on his property which should be an encouragement to all interested in the agricultural possibilities of this region. He homesteaded his tract of one hundred and sixty acres in 1890, and beginning with practically nothing has established a fine home and improved his land. having fourteen hundred fruit trees in bearing.
The Fifield family was settled in New England during Colonial times and took an active part in supporting the American cause during the trying days of the struggle for independence. Hiram Fifield, father of George Washington Fifield, was born in Vermont, and reared in a "Shaker" community. How- ever, he was still a boy when the family removed to Canada, where he became a successful farmer, owning one hundred acres of land near London, Ontario. In Canada he married Eliza Black, a native of New Brunswick, and of the thirteen children born to their union eleven grew to maturity. The parents died in Canada.
George Washington Fifield was born December 16, 1855, on the home- stead near London, and was the youngest son and ninth child in the family. He attended common school in his native country, and when a young man learned the business of making gas with coke and oil. For a short time he was in the service of the Hudson Bay Company, in what is now Alberta and Saskatchewan, later returning to Ontario. In 1887 he came to California, and in 1889 was joined by his family, consisting at that time of his wife and four children. For about a year after he came here he was engaged in work on the Leland Stanford university buildings, worked on the Southern Pacific road with the bridge builders and carpenters, and for a while was employed on the Market street railway in San Francisco. But by 1889 he had decided to take up land and try agriculture, and that year he settled in Lake county, taking up one hundred and sixty acres in the South Kelseyville precinct, located on the Cloverdale road. He had $19.60 left after reaching the land, and no roof but the emigrant wagon. But he set bravely to work, and what he has accon- plished by his own industry is almost hard to believe. All the family are dili- gent workers, and by capable management and the steady labor which his strength has made possible Mr. Fifield has overcome the obstacles which his lack of means and equipment at first placed in his way. Being a carpenter and handy with tools he has had the advantage of doing all the necessary work in that line about the place, saving many an expenditure, to say nothing
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of the saving of time and the convenience of understanding mechanics. Mr. Fifield has twenty-two acres of his land cleared and fourteen hundred fruit trees set out, and their healthy condition, showing no trace of scale or moss, is sufficient indication that the location is a proper one for orchards. The fruit is of particularly fine flavor and coloring. There are eight hundred prune trees, four hundred Bartlett pear trees, peaches, figs and plums, Mr. Fifield having planted a few Satsuma and greengage plums (which are doing well). He has a family vineyard. He has three vines of the celebrated Zante currant (a kind of seedless grape or raisin), which bears currants one year and grapes the next-some years both. The one which he planted at the south- west corner of his house has grown wonderfully, being now without doubt the largest cultivated vine in Lake county. Mr. Fifield trained one branch around the west side of the house, the other along the south side, and it now encircles the house completely, the arms having a total length of one hundred and eighty feet and screening the walls and porches. It grows luxuriantly and bears abundantly, some of the clusters being as much as fifteen inches long, and the fruit is sweet and of excellent quality.
Some time ago Mr. Fifield began the raising of Angora goats, in which he is now quite extensively interested, having four hundred head at the present time and adding to his stock yearly. He has two good wells upon his land, has built a comfortable farmhouse, substantial barns and a house for storing and drying fruit, and has many conveniences which make the place highly desirable as a home. Though he has never attempted to convert it into a summer resort he has a number of guests each summer, the limits of house room making it necessary for him to decline accommodations to many who would enjoy spending vacation time on his ranch. His wife is a famously good cook and model housekeeper, and both Mr. and Mrs. Fifield have the faculty of making their guests feel thoroughly at home in their cozy place. They are willing to do all in their power to help the time pass pleasantly, and the large house on the place put up for drying and storing fruit when not in use for that purpose is converted into a clubhouse and provided with an excellent piano, so that summer guests and the young people of the neigh- borhood may use is as a social center, a convenient place for dances and other gatherings. There is a magnificent view from a knoll in the orchard on the Fifield farm, Lakeport. Clear Lake, Mount Konocti, and the roads to Middle- town and Lower Lakes being in plain sight. Mr. Fifield has labored earnestly and faithfully, and his honorable life has won him the respect and esteem of all his fellow citizens.
Mr. Fifield was first married, at Ayr, Canada, to Miss Sarah A. Denman, who was born at Woodstock, Ontario, and died in Lake county in 1901. She was the mother of four children, Willard George having been eleven years old when the family removed from Canada, James Artwell nine, Ernest seven, and Charles John five. Willard George is now an engineer on the Southern Pacific railroad and resides at San Luis Obispo ; he married Miss Agnes Mc- Cullough, of San Francisco, and they have two sons, Willard George and Herbert Donald. James Artwell (Artie), who is employed as a motorman on the Key route, Oakland, married Miss Iva Hamill, a native of Pennsylvania, and they have three children, Beth. Bobbie and Jack. Ernest is a farmer and stock-raiser at Sites. Colusa county. Charles John is a farmer, owning one hundred and sixty acres of land in Lake county; he married Emma
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Ferguson, who was a native of San Mateo county. In 1912 Mr. Fifield married (second) Mrs. Mary E. (Robinson) Vince, of Sarnia, Ontario, who was born at Yale, Mich. She had three children by her first marriage: Harry Russell, an electrician, of Flint, Mich .; Mabel Ruth, wife of John Hickey, of Sarnia, Ontario, cashier for the Flint & Pere Mar- quette Railway; and Olive Irene, wife of Donald W. Hicks, painter of auto- mobiles in the employ of the Buick Company, at Flint, Mich. (Mr. and Mrs. Hicks have one child, Mabel Edna.) Mrs. Fifield is a Presbyterian in relig- ious connection. Mr. Fifield is an advocate of New Thought and a firm be- liever in the tenets of the creed. On public questions he is a Socialist, well informed on the doctrines of his party and hopeful of the triumph of its best principles. He is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Kelseyville and has passed all the chairs, while Mrs. Fifield belongs to the Rebekahs.
LEONARD BARNARD .- Long identification with the pioneer stage systems of Mendocino county gave to Mr. Barnard the acquaintance of prac- tically every member of the then frontier settlements lying along the ocean or back in the midst of the redwood forests. From a small beginning he worked his way forward until he was operating lines in almost every part of Mendocino county as well as in a portion of Humboldt county and even now, although railroads have taken the place of the old stage-coach to a large degree and consequently his lines are not so extensive as formerly, he still has a system that covers a large amount of territory and keeps him in touch with the development and in warm friendship with the inhabitants of these districts. From his earliest recollections he has been familiar with this county. Maine is his native commonwealth and he was born at Augusta, Ken- nebec county, in 1859, but in 1871 at the age of twelve years he accompanied the family to California, his father, Ira Barnard, a carpenter by trade, making his home in Mendocino City for many years. As early as 1880 Leonard Bar- nard became interested in the stage-coach business. From his home town of Mendocino City he ran a line to Noyo and later extended it to Kibesillah, thence to Westport on the ocean and from there to Bear Harbor. Eventually he had the line put through to Scotia, Humboldt county, and thus brought isolated communities in touch with one another. At one time he was pro- prietor of a system from Mendocino City to Ukiah. For ten years before the railroad was built he also ran a stage from Fort Bragg to Willits and for a considerable period he has made Fort Bragg his home and business head- quarters.
The operation of stage lines does not represent the limit of the energies of Mr. Barnard, who also is vice-president of the First National Bank and president of the First Bank of Savings in Fort Bragg. Politically he is one of the leading Republicans in the town. During a service of twelve years as trustee of Fort Bragg he was foremost in promoting projects for civic growth and for nine out of the twelve years he was retained as president of the board. In addition he has served as a supervisor of Mendocino county for eight years, being chairman of the board six years of that time. Fraternally he has iden- tified himself with Santa Rosa Lodge of Elks and has held office in the local lodges of Eagles and Red Men. By his marriage to Miss Lillian King, a native of Canada, he has one son, Harold, now engaged in stock-raising on his ranch on the Eel river.
C. D. Flowers.
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PROF. CHESTER D. FLOWERS .- The supervising principal of the Ukiah grammar schools was born in Merrimack, Sauk county, Wis .. in 1868, and is the son of James T. and Mary (Michael) Flowers, the former a native of Pawlet. Rutland county, Vt .. descended from a colonial family of New England, and the latter a native of Canada, descended from French ancestry. During the Civil war the father served for three and one-half years as a member of the Fourth Wisconsin Light Artillery, receiving an honorable discharge at the expiration of the struggle. Some years later he removed to Minnesota and settled at Adrian, Nobles county, where Chester D. received a grammar-school education. Afterward he attended the high school at Sioux Falls, S. D., and in 1889 came to California, where he studied under Prof. B. F. Higgins at Mendocino City and also took the normal course at the Mendocino high school. Entering upon the profession of teaching as a life-work, he secured a position in the Mitchell creek school and was so successful in the management of the school that he was retained for four and one-half years, resigning eventually to take a higher position as principal of the Mendocino grammar school. Five years were spent at the head of that school, and efficiency in the position led to his appointment in 1904 as principal of the grammar school of Ukiah.
It is in this position, the title of which has been changed to that of supervising principal, with similar changes in the regime of work, that Professor Flowers has achieved his highest success and made good to an extent attracting the attention of educators throughout this part of the state. The manual training department which he personally conducts is said to be unrivalled in efficiency. The scope of its influence is wide. Its power in training the young along lines suited to their special abilities is conceded to be great. Efficiency has marked his work as a teacher. The results testify concerning his ability in his chosen line of labor. To keep in touch with modern educational progress he is a student of pedagogical literature and a member of the California State Teachers' Association as well as the National Educational Association. In politics he has taken no interest aside from voting the Republican ticket at national elections. Horticulture, an occupa- tion for which the soil and climate of Mendocino county are well adapted, has interested him to such a degree that he has acquired and developed land. including twelve acres in pears two miles southeast of Ukiah and eight and one-half acres in a pear orchard located in the Waggenseller addition, both tracts in excellent condition with abundant promise of increased values with the development of the trees. At Ukiah, December 11, 1895, Professor Flowers married Miss Anna D. Stickney, who was born at Little River, Mendocino county, and is a daughter of Ruel and Ann T. (Coombs) Stickney, natives of Maine. The latter, now widowed, is making her home with Mrs. Flowers. As early as 1856, when a mere lad, Mr. Stickney made his first trip to California from Maine, to which state he later returned and there inarried, coming again to the west in 1862 accompanied by his young wife. For many years he engaged in cutting down timber at Little River, where he owned a sawmill for the making of lumber. Eventually he retired from active business cares and continued to make his home in Little River until his last illness. His death occurred at St. Helena in 1898. at the age of seventy- four.
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W. IVY ALLEN .- Lake county is properly named in honor of her abundant water supply, which includes many springs famous for medicinal waters as well as purity, and around a number of these have sprung up health resorts which have made this region celebrated throughout the state. Of special renown is the Highland Springs hotel and resort, which is open all the year round to health and pleasure seekers, and which in the complete- ness of its equipment meets the requirements of all tastes and ages and offers opportunities for quiet rest or varied recreation as guests desire. Within the present year, 1914, it has come under new management, the Allens having taken charge March Ist, W. H. Allen as lessee and proprietor of the hotel and immense estate, with his son, W. Ivy Allen, as manager. The latter has also succeeded to the agency of the Wells-Fargo Express Company at this point and has been made postmaster at Highland Springs, in both of which positions he will be able to see that his patrons have the best of service, and his previous reputation as a business man is sufficient guarantee that his duties will be discharged satisfactorily to all concerned. The father is an experienced ranchman, so the large stock farm will be in good hands, and there is every prospect for the continued prosperity of the resort, which has had merited popularity for some years.
The Allens came to the coast from Rock Island, Ill., in 1854, when W. H. Allen was a boy of ten years. He was born at Rock Island, and they drove from that point across the plains to Portland, Ore., with a bull team. The principal part of his active business career has been spent at San Jose, Santa Clara county. Cal., and he has been extensively interested in ranching, being well fitted to take charge of the twenty-three hundred acres included in the Highland Springs property. It is a fine stock farm, and dairying is carried on to some extent, all the dairy products used at the hotel being supplied from the cattle on the place. Mr. Allen and his son took possession March I, 1914, and have been busily engaged in familiarizing themselves with the numerous details necessary to its skillful management. W. H. Allen married Miss Annie Russell, who was born at San Jose, Cal., and they now make their home at the Highland Springs resort. Six children have been born to them : Florence is the wife of W. E. Hart, who will be associated with his brother- in-law. W. Ivy Allen, in the management of the resort ; W. Ivy is mentioned below: Leslie R. is in the employ of the California Fruit Canners' Associa- tion, being at present stationed at Honolulu ; Zella is the wife of J. M. Mc- Grath, of Stockton, Cal. ; Elmer and Evelyn are both at home.
W. Ivy Allen was born December 6, 1885, and grew to manhood at San Jose, where he obtained a good practical education, attending public school and later completing a commercial course in the business college at that place. In his sixteenth year he began work, in May 1900, entering the employ of the California Fruit Canners' Association, in a humble capacity, washing cans. Remaining with his concern until he resigned, in October, 1913, to become associated with his father in their present enterprise, he rose steadily, being promoted on his own merits from time to time, and in the winter of 1911 the company showed its confidence in his ability and trustworthiness by sending him over to Honolulu. Subsequently he became assistant superintendent, and was so engaged when he gave up the work to join his father, who had ar- ranged to take over the Highland Springs resort. With energy, executive ability and alert faculties, and a sympathetic understanding of the demands
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of his new work, he has an active and successful career before him. All the old attractions of the place will be maintained, and new features added which promise to be desirable, and there is no reason why the hotel and resort should not retain their large patronage under the liberal regime planned by Mr. Allen and his father. The resort itself is worthy of some description.
The mineral waters of Highland Springs are noted for their curative prop- erties, and physicians of authority testify to their efficacy and usefulness, the Seltzer water especially being considered the most agreeable and useful alka- line water in the country. With this attraction as the nucleus, there has developed a most delightful resort. open all the year round, but particularly desirable in the summer season, being located in a beautiful valley among the picturesque mountain peaks of Lake county, where the exhilarating atmos- phere alone would be found beneficial to anyone. Being only a short distance north of San Francisco, it is within easy reach of a large population in this section of California, and though many come to enjoy the health-giving medicinal waters, as many or more are attracted by the sheer beauty of the place. Though the grounds around the hotel buildings are orderly and well- kept, they have been skillfully arranged to retain all the natural charm with- out any of the drawbacks of wild land, trees and shrubbery have been planted or left wherever their presence would enhance the effect, and wild flowers are still plentiful in this favored spot. The main hotel building is spacious, and the architect showed his appreciation of the surroundings in its exterior and interior arrangements; its reception room is the finest in `any hotel of the kind in the state. The old hotel building is used as an annex. Among the numerous provisions made for the enjoyment of guests one of the most popu- lar is the large, modern, concrete bathing pool, with plenty of room to swim and dive in deep water, and a shallow part for those who merely wish to plunge or are learning to swim. The porcelain bath tubs are supplied with water from various springs, of medicinal value. On the grounds are facilities for those who indulge in tennis, croquet, billiards, bowling, shuffleboard, card playing, horseback riding and dancing, a variety which could hardly fail to please all tastes ; and hunting, fishing and automobile excursions to the lakes and other points of interest in the vicinity are regular features of life at the resort. For those who prefer a restful time, there are shady nooks provided with hammocks which are comfortable even on the warmest days, and the beautiful groves which are the pride of the vast acreage surrounding the hotel offer seclusion and quiet at all hours. As a family resort it is particularly well liked as offering substantial comforts, especially for those who make pro- longed stays. A laundry on the grounds, with equipment for doing work expeditiously and scientifically, is an unusual feature and one which adds much to the convenience of patrons. The cuisine has always been noted for its excellence, and service may be had at any time during the day or evening in the grill room, an advantage which brings many automobile parties that way. Water from the Seltzer spring is served at table.
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