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 66
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 66
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And when we went out on dress parade I held my head higher than any old maid. I kept it so clean looking, spick, span and new, For I surely was proud of the bright army blue.
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But alas! for all the care of the soldier in blue, His clothes will grow shabby 'spite of all he can do. And when he goes onto the field of battle, 'Midst the cannon's loud roar and the musketry rattle,
No bullet respects either the gray or the blue, But riddles your garments all thru and thru. Thus at Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland river, In the midst of a storm that caused us to shiver,
When the battle raged fierce 'mid cannons' loud roar, A wild Rebel bullet thru my little coat tore- A hole in the front, a slit in the back, The bullet was gone! I ne'er could get track Of the vile little missile that dealt such a whack
At the Little Blue Coat I wore at Fort Donelson.
After the war Mr. Boggs was engaged for some time as deputy county clerk of Boone county, Iowa, but his health breaking down he resigned and went to farming in the hope of recovering. The change was gratifying in results, and he has continued to follow that calling ever since, by industrious application to his enterprises gaining an honorable competence. In 1900 Mr. Boggs came out to California and settled at Long Beach, where he acquired considerable property, though he has suffered a loss of nearly $7000 through depreciation of value caused by the panic of 1907. In 1911 he came to Lake county, where he is making his home on a tract belonging to his daughter, Miss Genevra E. Boggs. It consists of one hundred and forty acres on the Spruce Grove road, three acres having been sold off since they located here, and is five miles south of Lower Lake. Miss Boggs bought this place, and her father is homesteading the one hundred and sixty acres adjoining. He has set out seven hundred almond trees and three hundred other kinds of trees, all of which are doing well.
Mr. Boggs has taken much pleasure in his connection with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is one of the most interested Sunday school workers at Lower Lake, every Sunday morning finding him at the head of his class there, teaching the Scripture lesson. Undoubtedly his clean, Christian life has had much to do with his wonderful mental and physical preservation. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to Post No. 181, at Long Beach, and in politics he is in hearty sympathy with the aims of the Progressive party.
Mr. Boggs was married in Iowa in the year 1865 to Miss Zilpah J. Capps, a native of Indiana, and two children were born to their union : Edwards A., now living in New York City, who married Estella DeVine; and Genevra E., who is principal of a school at Pacheco, Contra Costa county.
HANS PETER HANSEN, who came to Newport, Mendocino county, in 1888, was born in Blokhusene, Jylland, Denmark, September 9, 1865. His father was a cooper and farmer, and the son was given a good education in the public schools. When fourteen years of age, Hans Peter was appren- ticed to a wood-turner, with whom he remained for three and a half years, at the end of which time he determined to go to sea. He spent his first sea- son on a Danish vessel running to Sweden, and then took ship on board an English vessel. Afterwards he sailed from Germany and Holland to various
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ports of the world, and in his voyages he has been around Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn. He was a sailor on the A. J. Fuller, which sailed around the Horn and landed in San Francisco in March, 1888. It was here that he left the vessel and determined to remain in California. He sailed on a coaster for one month, then left it and located in Westport in the employ of the lumber yard, loading cargoes of lumber most of the time for the Pollard Lumber Company. Since 1907 he has been in charge of the wharf and property of the company. He is also interested in and owns a considerable amount of property in Westport.
Mr. Hansen's first marriage took place in Westport, where he was united with Miss Lizzie Jones, who was born in Mendocino county. She passed away in that city, her three children all dying from diphtheria. His second marriage, also in Westport, was to Mrs. Mary (Sherwood) Elvers, born in Sherwood Valley, and daughter of the founder of the valley. They have two children : Dewey and Truman. By her first marriage Mrs. Hansen had two children: Otto Elvers, who assists Mr. Hansen in his work, and May Elvers. Fraternally Mr. Hansen belongs to the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica, the Loyal Order of Moose, and the Ancient Order of Foresters. In religion he is a Lutheran, and in political affiliations a Republican.
WILLIAM JARDINE CLAYTON .- The owner of a fruitful estate in the Lower Lake precinct of Lake county, a mile and a half south of Lower Lake on the Middletown road, William J. Clayton has possessed and worked that property for over thirty years and has kept it up to the high standard for which it is noted by his intelligent development of its best points. Farming has been his life work and rightly, for he has proved his ability as an agricultur- ist and shown the proper appreciation of the worth of his calling. Now, with a handsome acreage as the substantial reward of an industrious career, he also has the respect of all his fellow citizens, being highly regarded in the community where he established his home so long ago.
Mr. Clayton's native land is Tasmania, formerly known as Van Diemen's Land, where he was born November 24, 1835. His father, Capt. George Thomas Clayton, was a native of England and reared in that country. During the greater part of his active life he was a mariner, and a successful one, becoming a sea captain, in which responsible capacity he was engaged for a number of years. In England he married Miss Elizabeth Funge, who was also born in that country, at Greenwich, in the vicinity of London. Mr. and Mrs. Clayton lived in New Zealand, and Mrs. Clayton was on a trip with her husband to Tasmania when her son William was born. In 1848 the father decided to come to California, and here he arrived in January, 1849, coming by way of China. His family followed him in 1850. Captain Clayton remained in San Francisco for a short time, but becoming a victim of the gold fever he gave up the sea to devote himself to mining, passing the remainder of his days in California. At the time of his death, which occurred in the year 1856, when he was something over sixty years of age, he was residing at Yount- ville, in the Napa valley. His widow survived many years, dying in San Francisco at the age of eighty-six. Their family consisted of three children. One daughter, Mrs. Harry LaMotte, now lives at Lakeport; the other daugh- ter, Emily, died in 1850.
William J. Clayton was reared in Koraca, New Zealand, until with his mother and two sisters he joined the father in San Francisco in 1850,
Ir Clayton
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at which time he was a youth of fourteen. Though he came of good family he lived in a day when boys were not always given the best of advantages, and his case was no exception. Then when his father died the family had not much to fall back upon, and his assistance in the general support was neces- sary, and for a number of years he worked by the month at farming, con- tinuing thus until he felt he could take the responsibility of renting land to cultivate on his own account. He had worked for three or four years in Solano county. Finally he was able to purchase a tract, in Napa county, one hundred and thirty acres, which he continued to improve as long as it re- mained in his ownership. From there he came to his present location in Lake county, in 1883, buying his property there in November of that year and settling upon the place where he has remained continuously since. He has really two farms, aggregating two hundred and seventy-five acres, and his principal crops are hay and grain, which under his efficient methods of cultivation he has found highly profitable. He has also some good stock, keeping ordinarily twenty head of cattle, four horses, fifty hogs and about one hundred chickens, all of which show the same care which characterizes every- thing else around the place. Mr. Clayton has the true taste for agriculture which is a necessary element of successful farming in these days of progres- sive ideas about the most important industry followed by mankind, and the comfortable circumstances he now enjoys have been attained entirely by devotion to his chosen work and sustained effort to keep abreast of the times. Being a great reader, he has not only followed the trend of current thought as it affects his own vocation especially, but has also kept well informed on events of public interest generally. Like many men of sound intellect who have been left to gain an education unaided, he has a reputation for common sense which makes his opinions sought and respected, and personally he is held in the highest regard by all whom he counts among his friends and acquaintances.
Mr. Clayton is a member of the Masonic fraternity, at present belonging to the lodge at Lower Lake; he formerly belonged to the lodge at Yount- ville, where he served as master. His political views have led him to support the men and measures of the Republican party, but beyond that he has taken no part in public matters, never seeking preferment of any kind. He is a man of thoughtful and kindly nature, and has made many friends in the course of his long life.
WARREN HERBERT PHELPS .- The Phelps family has been settled in Mendocino and Lake counties since the '60s, and Warren H. Phelps has married into the Johnson family, his wife being a daughter of the esteemed Matthew Johnson, who now makes his home with his daughter, Mrs. Francis L. Mosier, on a ranch in the East Upper Lake precinct adjoining the one which Mr. and Mrs. Phelps occupy.
Warren H. Phelps was born in the year 1877 in Ukiah, Mendocino county, son of Philander Charles and Julia (Weller) Phelps. He married Lucy Ellen Johnson, who was born in the East Upper Lake precinct, daughter of Matthew and Sarah Jane (Carpenter) Johnson, and has lived there all her life. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Phelps, Mina and Lena. The family live on a ten-acre ranch owned by Mrs. Phelps, and occupy a comfortable and pleasant residence, one story throughout and attractively arranged, which is a most desirable home and very much of an improvement to the property. Mr. Phelps is engaged as inspector of the electric light line from Davis to Chico,
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Cal. Mrs. Phelps is an intelligent and agreeable woman, a neighbor whose worth is valued in the locality.
Philander Charles Phelps, father of Warren Herbert Phelps, is now en- gaged in ranching in the West Upper Lake precinct in Lake county, owning forty acres located on the Middle Creek road. He is a native of Ontario, Canada, born July 31, 1844, and his parents were also born and reared in Canada, but his grandfather Phelps was born in New York state and the grandmother in Pennsylvania. Mr. Phelps learned the trade of blacksmith from his father, and followed it in various places-at Toledo, Ohio; Terre Haute, Ind .; Dixon, Ill. Returning home he worked in Canada for a year, and in New York for a short time, before coming out to California. The trip was made by way of Panama, and he was first at Alvarado, Alameda county, later going to Ukiah, Mendocino county, where he was in business, buying a blacksmith shop and also owning a half interest in the Palace Hotel for ten years. He has now retired from his trade, devoting all his time to the cultivation of his ranch, which is located two and three-quarters miles north of the village of Upper Lake.
Mr. Phelps married Miss Julia Weller, a native of Illinois, and they have had a family of three children: Charles died unmarried, when twenty-seven years old; Warren Herbert has been previously mentioned; David, born in 1879, at Ukiah, now a farmer in the Middle Creek valley, married Alice Dearing.
J. TOBIAS BLOSSER .- No name has been more intimately identified with the agricultural enterprises in the vicinity of Willits than that of Blosser. Particularly prominent in local affairs have been Tobias Blosser and his twin brother, John, who were born in Jefferson county, Iowa, September 6. 1849, and were brought to California when less than one year old. After a decade in other parts of the state the family became pioneers of Willits during the latter part of 1860. Here the brothers attended school and aided their father on the home ranch. An opportunity to locate homesteads and pre-emption claims was improved when they attained the age of twenty-one, and for perhaps ten years all of the brothers had interests in common, but ultimately the connection was dissolved with the exception that the twins still continued their interests together. Throughout all of their mature years they have worked harmoniously and efficiently, each considering the interest of the other as though it were his own, each showing toward the other the kindly consideration and quiet but deep regard that forms the foundation of all permanent friendships. In physical appearance as in mental traits they show a marked resemblance. So much alike are they in form, features, manners and tastes that strangers find it difficult to distinguish them, and when they are able to puzzle friends their enjoyment of the situation is especially keen. Much of their time is given to their ranch of eleven hundred acres five miles southwest of Willits, where they are engaged in raising cattle and Spanish merino sheep as well as grain and hay. For thirty years or more they operated a threshing machine, caring for their own grain and that of the neighbors, but ultimately they sold the outfit when the burden of its opera- tion began to tax their strength.
The residence of Tobias Blosser is in Willits, off the Fort Bragg road, and is presided over hospitably by Mrs. Blosser, who prior to their marriage at Long Beach, March 21, 1887, was Miss Vienna Thompson. Their family comprised two children, but one, Jesse, was taken from the home at the age
Oscar Cochard
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of nineteen, leaving as the only survivor Miss Pearl Blosser, a graduate of the Willits high school. Born at Two Rock, Sonoma county, Cal., Mrs. Blosser was fifth in order of birth among nine children now living, whose parents, Jesse and Margaret (Cameron) Thompson, were natives, respec- tively, of Missouri and Illinois. Both Mr. Thompson and his wife were brought to California when mere children, and the latter still recalls the terrors of the trip caused by Indian attacks. After he had engaged in mining as a temporary expedient, Mr. Thompson took up ranching and made his home at Two Rock, Sonoma county, but in 1869 brought the family to Mendo- cino county and purchased the old Monroe ranch, about a mile west of Willits. For a considerable period he operated the farm, but eventually sold and established a home in Southern California. His death occurred at Hot Springs, Tulare county, about 1909, and since then Mrs. Thompson has made lier home at Garden Grove in the southern part of the state. Both Mr. and Mrs. Blosser are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Willits, in which for many years he has played the 'cello and otherwise aided in the musical department. From boyhood he has been a lover of music Without any opportunity for study under musicians of genius, he and other members of the family trained themselves in the art and developed Blosser's band, of which he was leader, and Blosser's orchestra, for years the leading musical organizations of this part of Mendocino county and the frequent guests of near-by cities on occasions of conventions, political gatherings and patriotic celebrations.
OSCAR COCHARD .- Each day there may be seen working in his little shop at Covelo the pioneer who made the first saddles and harness ever used in Round valley, a man who although somewhat advanced in years still exhibits a skill unsurpassed by younger generations and who, with the regularity and dependability of a Seth Thomas clock, has completed the tasks of the day by the setting of the sun. That one who served throughout the entire period of the Civil war and in five subsequent years of Indian warfare, should still be working actively at his trade, never missing a day from his accustomed place, indicates that he is the possessor of an unusually rugged frame and fine constitution. The physical strength necessary for endurance of hardships belongs to him, together with a cheerful optimism that has carried him courageously through many a tedious and undesirable task. The cheerful temperament, the spirit of endurance, the habit of thrift and economy, are his inheritance from a long line of Swiss ancestors. A native of Basel, in the little Alpine republic, born February 15, 1842, he was a son of John Cochard, a skilled landscape gardener who held a very responsible position as head gardener for the president of Switzerland, con- tinuing in that post until the time of his death.
With a common school education and a knowledge of the trade of harnessmaker, Oscar Cochard started out at the age of seventeen to make his own way in the world. An uncle had migrated to New York City and thither he went in 1859, only to learn that he did not have the correct address of the relative, whom indeed he never afterward heard of. However, he was more fortunate about finding work. For two years he had employ- ment as a day laborer in New York City. Shortly after the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted as a private in the Thirty-fourth New York Inde- pendent Battery, which he accompanied to the front and with which he served all through until the close of the war. Meanwhile he took part in 30
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many small skirmishes besides thirty-two large engagements, including those at Bull Run, Manassas, Sharpsport, Weldon Railroad, Vicksburg, Fredericks- burg and the Wilderness. Throughout much of the period of service he had charge of the battery wagons. In all of the battles he was wounded only twice and on neither occasion was the injury serious enough to oblige him to leave the field of battle. For five years after the end of the Rebellion he continued in the army, serving in Company A, Ninth United States cavalry, and under General Crook fought the Snake and Piute Indians on the frontier. On receiving an honorable discharge he traveled over much of the west and finally, in 1870, drifted to Round valley, Mendocino county, where he took up the trade of saddler and liarnessmaker.
A short period beginning in 1876 was given to work on the Indian reservation, after which Mr. Cochard held a government position for eight years. Next he engaged in raising hops on rented land, but a disastrous experience of two years turned him into other work. On a rented tract of ninety acres he engaged in general farming, but this did not prove as profitable as he had hoped and for that reason was discontinued. Since then he has devoted his attention to harnessmaking and repair work in leather and recently has purchased several lots in Covelo, where he has built his shop and residence, for he believes Covelo will develop into a country town of considerable importance, owing to its location in the midst of a rich and fertile valley. Mr. Cochard was married in Covelo to Mrs. Mary (Bill) Busch, who was born in Nieder Wesel, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany. She is a member of the Presbyterian church, and is identified with the Rebekah Lodge.
SAMUEL TATE PACKWOOD .- Of the comparatively recent comers to Lake county there is no better known resident than Samuel T. Packwood, who arrived here from Washington in 1905. As farmer and capitalist he has within a few years become one of the most important business men of the county, where he has established the reputation which might well have been predicted by those familiar with his career in his old home state. His achieve- inents there in the matter of starting and carrying out irrigation projects were so noteworthy as to place him among those who directed her most vital enter- prises and to gain him state-wide fame.
The history of the Packwood family in America dates from the period of the French and Indian war, when two brothers, from Scotland, came here as soldiers in the British army for service in that conflict. After its close they settled in Virginia, and had their share in the activities of that colony. Their descendants are numerous, and longevity, large stature, strength and self- reliance are family characteristics which have persisted in all the succeeding generations. Samuel T. Packwood's paternal great-grandfather back in Vir- ginia held a reunion at which four hundred of the family were present. His son, Elisha Packwood, a native of Virginia, lived to be about ninety years old, dying in California, where he had eventually settled.
John Packwood, father of Samuel T. Packwood, was born in Virginia February 22, 1804, and always retained the distinguishing traits of the old- time frontiersman and planter. Gradually he pushed on westward, among the most venturesome pioneers, until he reached the Pacific coast, though he did not settle here permanently. He was married in Indiana to Abigail Tinder, a native of Kentucky, whose parents were early settlers in Indiana, and many of the Tinders were Baptist missionary preachers. Mr. and Mrs. John Pack- wood lived for a time in Missouri, thence coming out over-the plains to what
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is now Oregon, then included in Washington territory, in the year 1845. Passing through the Willamette valley, he located on Puget sound for a few years, in 1849 bringing his family to California. Here he settled at Coloma, near where gold was originally discovered in this state while digging a mill race for a sawmill, and he established a ferry across the American river, just above Salmon Falls, in what is now Eldorado county. Later he built a toll bridge over the river, on the road between Sacramento and Hangtown (now Placerville), owning that as well as the ferry and operating both. He was also interested in ranching, both as a farmer and stockman. His wife died at Salmon Falls in 1852, when but thirty-one years old, and was buried there, and in the spring of 1853 he returned to Missouri with his family, by way of the Isthmus of Panama. At that time he had $15,000, a fortune for those days, and he loaned out considerable money in Missouri. His death occurred in Barry county, that state, in 1879. Ten children were born to John and Abigail (Tinder) Packwood, viz .: Peggy, who is now eighty-two years old, is the widow of George Shaser, and lives on the Snohomish river, at Sultan, Wash. She had thirteen children. Orpha died in Kansas during the time of the Civil war, leaving three children. Lucinda, a resident of Texas, is the wife of Frank Proctor, a farmer, and has a large family. Melinda married Charles Galliack, and died in August, 1913, at Olympia, Wash., leaving a large family. Mary, widow of William Packwood, lives near Los Angeles and has a family ; her brother Samuel has seen her but once during a period of forty-two years. Isaac died unmarried. Samuel Tate is mentioned below. Ann died in Newton county, Mo .; she was married and left one child. Elvira married Andy Lee, who died leaving a large family ; she lives near Twin Falls, Idaho. Elizabeth, living at Exeter, Barry county, Mo., is the wife of Thomas McClure, a farmer ; she has one child.
Samuel Tate Packwood was born July 4, 1842, in Platte county, Mo., and was seven years old when he first came to California. He was almost eleven when the family returned to Missouri, and his education was such as the common schools of the day afforded. He was still living in his native state when the Civil war broke out, and he had the very unusual experience of serving in both the Confederate and Union armies. In 1861 he enlisted in Shelby's Brigade of General Price's army, and served until the spring of 1864, when he was captured by the Federals and taken to the government prison at Rock Island, Ill. In the fall of 1864 he enlisted in Company K, Second United States Volunteers, serving with that regiment until he received an honorable discharge on November 22, 1865, and participating in the battles of Wilson Creek, Pea Ridge and many other noted engagements. At the expiration of his term he returned to Missouri, settling in Barry county and engaging in farming and kindred pursuits. In 1874 Mr. Packwood started west with his little family, wife and two children, their two wagons and two mule teams forming part of a train of forty. At Colorado Springs a daughter was born and named Colorado (she is usually called Collie) for that reason. The journey was very trying, Mr. Packwood having contracted mountain fever, with which he was ill for three weeks while they were en route, never- theless when they arrived in Washington after a six months' trip theirs were the only ones, of the forty wagons which set out together, to pull up at West Kittitas. Mr. Packwood was practically "broke," having but fifty dollars in money, his cattle and mules and two wornout wagons. There he settled
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