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 76
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 76
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Coming to California in 1885, Mr. Martin engaged in lumbering in Humboldt county. During 1887 he came to Mendocino county and took up timber land at Half-way House, where he remained until 1890. For ten years he operated a ranch eight miles northwest of Willits, and when he finally sold that property he retired from ranching and established his home in Willits. His marriage was solemnized in Holt county, Mo., and united him with Miss Jennie F. Minton, who was born and reared in that county, and is a woman of earnest Christian character and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Her parents, John and Mary Ann (Noble) Minton, were natives, respectively, of Alabama and Pike county, Mo. The father, being taken from Alabama to Tennessee at an early age, removed from the latter state to Missouri in young manhood and settled in Franklin county on a farm, but afterward followed the same occupation in Holt county, where he 34
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died. His widow spent her last days with Mrs. Martin in California and died at the age of ninety-one. Mr. and Mrs. Martin were the parents of four children, three of whom attained maturity, namely: Mrs. Daisy Viola Moore, of Willits; John Wesley, also a resident of this town; and Clarence Byron, who remains with his parents. In fraternal relations Mr. Martin is a demitted Mason and a member of the Loyal Order of Moose, while in politics he is a Republican of progressive tendencies.
TALIAFERRO F. HUDSON .- Practically the entire life of Mr. Hudson had been passed in the west and southwest. Not even vague and indistinct memories of the place of his birth linger in his mind. When less than one year old he was brought to California, where and in Arizona he has lived a life of action and adventure, witnessing the remarkable changes in the country, the expansion of its industries, the development of its lands and the constant increase in population. Early in life he became an expert marksman. More than once his skill as an unerring shot saved his life, for in those early days conflicts with Indians were frequent and full of peril. To consider the dangers through which he passed causes one to wonder that he escaped unscathed, but he seemed to lead a charmed life. The poinoned arrows of Fate were deflected from his path, although he fear- lessly braved every danger and gained a reputation as a brave frontiersman among the Apaches of Arizona. As evidence of the dangers of that new country, he states that he saw as many as forty-four men killed on the streets of Tombstone during his seven years in town. The cattle-rustlers were almost as dangerous to meet as the Indians themselves, and frequent en- counters between cowboys and cattle-stealers livened the lonely deserts of the vast southwest. Among his intimate personal friends in those days was General Lawton, the noted Indian fighter, and he was intimate with others scarcely less widely known in the west.
Accompanied by his family, comprising the wife, five sons and two daughters, Martin Hudson crossed the plains during the summer of 1848. Gold had not yet been discovered. The emigrant trail was almost deserted. The tide of travel had not set in toward the great west. During the spring of 1848 the family settled in Sonoma county, and the father bought a tract of land two and one-half miles square near what is now the village of Glen Ellen. From that time until his death he remained in the same neighbor- hood, meanwhile helping to make roads, build schoolhouses and churches, and open up to desirable settlement an unimproved expanse of country. A man of deep religious spirit, he erected the first house of worship used by the Baptist congregation at Santa Rosa. All of his life was given to deeds of kindness. Of himself and his own happiness he never thought, but freely gave of his time, means and influence to aid others. Five of his children are now living, a daughter, Mrs. Lydia Atterbury, and a son, Henry W., in Berkeley; John W., in Sacramento; Martin Perry, of Santa Maria; and Taliaferro Flournoy, the latter born in Lexington, Lafayette county, Mo., September 19, 1846, and reared in Sonoma county, where he attended public schools and the college at Sonoma. During youth he studied pharmacy. At the age of nineteen he started the first drug store at San Luis Obispo. On selling it he removed to San Francisco and found employment with a druggist.
Coming to Ukiah in 1870, Mr. Hudson held a position for two years under Dr. T. L. Barnes, after which he owned and operated a drug business in Cloverdale for two years, and then one in Santa Rosa for six years. From
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1879 until 1908 he made his home in Arizona. From 1880 for seven years he operated a drug store at Tombstone, and then located on his ranch in the Dragoon mountains. During the famous Apache wars in the territory he was engaged in the cattle business, and his own life, as well as the safety of his stock, was in constant jeopardy. Selling his herd of cattle in 1893, he resumed the drug business. After four years at Tempe he sold out and opened a drug business at Phoenix, where for eight years he had the leading drug store of the city. At the same time he bought and sold land. At one time he owned the Black Diamond mine in Arizona, and while working on that property he had a narrow escape from being killed by savages.
Upon returning to Ukiah in 1908 Mr. Hudson bought one hundred and eighty acres three and a half miles south of the city, which he greatly im- proved and sold in 1910 at a handsome profit. For a time he also owned a ranch in the Redwood valley. Since selling his ranches he has lived some- what retired from business, although he still has valuable interests in Mendo- cino and Lake counties, including a large interest in the Lake County Can- ning Company, of which he was one of the organizers and its first vice- president. He also has an interest in coal mines on the middle fork of the Eel river in Mendocino county. He was made a Mason in Abell Lodge No. 146, F. & A. M .. in 1872, and is also a Royal Arch Mason. In religion he holds membership with the Methodist Episcopal Church South of Ukiah. His first wife was Elizabeth D., the daughter of John Ingram, of Santa Rosa. She died in Phoenix in 1903. On Christmas day of 1908 he was united in marriage in Ukiah with Miss Ida H. Govette, a native of Somersetshire, England, and a sister of Rev. Harold Govette, presiding elder in Fresno. Two sons were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Hudson, Taliaferro Flournoy, Jr., and Edwin Martin.
WILLIAM VAN ALLEN .- The Van Allen family comes of old Knickerbocker stock, some of its members being among the settlers of New Amsterdam, and the mother of William Van Allen was a Miss Ackerman in maidenhood, lineal descendant of Anneka Jans. An identification with Ukiah covering the entire period since the fall of 1882 entitles Mr. Van Allen to be denominated a pioneer, while his substantial qualities as a citizen have enabled him to assist in the permanent advancement of his chosen community, not only materially as a carpenter in the erection of many buildings that still stand as monuments to his painstaking care and building skill, but also in those less visible but no less important movements that give a city its reputa- tion for good or ill in other communities of the county and state. A native of New York and a carpenter by trade, he also acquired a thorough knowledge of surveying and did considerable work in that line in the early platting of western towns and laying out of county roads. Surveying and carpentering did not represent the limit of his activities, but in addition, until the failure of his health forced him to relinquish all business enterprises, he engaged in the buying and selling of real estate and handled realty transactions for other parties. Formerly also he was one of the leaders in the county Repub- lican work, and not only served as a delegate to local conventions, but also to the national convention held in Chicago.
The marriage of William Van Allen united him with Miss Frances Knapp, a native of New York. They became the parents of seven children that grew up, namely : Flora, wife of J. J. Carpenter, of Fort Bragg; Fred, who was the owner of the Tulare Register at the time of his death, in Feh-
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ruary of 1912; Carrie. Mrs. D. MacDonald, of Los Angeles; M. Clinton, a deputy clerk in the Los Angeles office of the state supreme court; Kate, the wife of R. C. Greenough, of Fort Bragg; William R., a resident of San Diego; and Lew K. Van Allen, M. D., a rising young physician of Ukiah, formerly connected with a drug business in this city for nine years, but who, since graduating from the Hahnemann Medical College of San Francisco in 1909, has given his attention to medical practice. He was born in Hastings, Neb., and came to California with his parents when two years of age in 1882. He attended the grammar and high schools of Ukiah, graduating from the latter in 1898, after which he took up the study of pharmacy. Later he became manager of a drug store, a position which he retained until taking up his studies in medical college.
Dr. Van Allen was married in Ukiah in 1902 to Miss Elizabeth Hughes, who was born in Tehama county, and they have two daughters, Joy and Ruth. Dr. Van Allen is a member of the State Homeopathic Medical Society and the American Institute of Homeopathy. Besides a gratifying private practice this popular physician serves as medical officer for the local lodges of the Odd Fellows, Foresters and Maccabees. He is a member of St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is a member of the official board and superintendent of the Sunday-school. A progressive Republican, he officiated as president of the local club at the time of the launching of the progressive movement that resulted in the election of Hiram Johnson as governor of California.
J. A. MONTGOMERY .- The population of California seems truly cosmopolitan in its nature, sometimes attracting people from the four corners of the globe. Among its people there is a considerable representation of Canadians, whose qualities make of them solid, substantial citizens, loyal to the country of their adoption. Manitoba has contributed her share of our fine men, notable among them Mr. Montgomery. Although still a young man lie has become a highly respected citizen of Ukiah. He comes of English parentage, being the son of J. A. and Mary (Ruler) Montgomery, and was born near Griswold in the province of Manitoba, October 15, 1882. Receiving his early education in the provincial schools, at an early age his parents inoved to the States, locating near Carrington, N. Dak., where he engaged in farming, also attending the local schools. When seventeen years of age he made his way to the coast, locating first in Livermore, where he followed farming eleven months, after which he apprenticed himself to a blacksmith in Livermore, learning the rudiments of the trade. After two and a half years at the trade he became homesick for his old home and made his first trip back to North Dakota, but the call of California was too strong, so he came back after only spending five months at home. This time he came to Carnegie, Alameda county, where he entered the brick and terra cotta works as a black- smith. remaining in their employ three months. Coming to Mendocino county he purchased a blacksmith's shop at Sherwood, where he engaged in business, also branching out in the general contracting business, and con- tinuing in these lines until the fall of 1911, when he located in Ukiah. Pur- chasing the business and good will of a Mr. Chesall, on State street, he has ably continued the business, meantime installing an electric motor and purchasing new machinery throughout. He has also installed all appliances for wood-working and has a fine triphammer. He has invented several useful mechanical devices, notably a saw set.
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Mr and Two & Million miller
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In Ukiah Mr. Montgomery was married to Rosalie Holzhauser, a native daughter of California. She graduated from the Ukiah Normal School and was a teacher at the time of her marriage. They have two children, James A. Jr., and Eleanor. They are both devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Montgomery is a Republican, adhering closely to his party's ideas. He is a fine business man and a thorough mechanic, highly respected for his integrity, business methods and his success in his chosen field of labor.
GEORGE MILTON MILLER .- For almost a quarter of a century a resident of Bell valley, and having during this entire time made his home on the ranch of which he is now the owner and manager, George Milton Miller is today one of the most prosperous and best known of the farmers and stock- raisers of Mendocino county. His ranch, which is located about seventeen miles northwest of Ukiah, near Boonville, comprises about twenty-four hun- dred acres of splendid land, and was formerly the property of James O. Mc- Spadden, one of the best known and most highly honored of the Mendo- cino county pioneers. It is one of the finest places in the valley, being well located and handsomely improved.
Mr. Miller is a native of Virginia, having been born at Abingdon, Novem- ber 28, 1874. He is the son of Isaac and Margaret V. (Duff) Miller, both natives of Washington county, Va. The father was a carpenter and cabinet maker, and during the Civil war he served with distinction in the Con- federate army, being a member of a Virginia regiment which was under the command of General Lee. Following the war the family resided on a farm near Abingdon, Va., and there their three children were born, the present honored citizen of Bell valley being the youngest and the only son. He passed his boyhood on the farm and attended the public schools of Abingdon. When he was seventeen years of age he determined to come to California, and accordingly made the westward journey alone, arriving at Ukiah, March 22, 1891, with just $5.75 in his pocket. He was not afraid of work, however, and the scarcity of funds gave him no serious concern, save that it spurred his ambitious determination to secure employment. With this in view he started for the coast, expecting to find work in the lumber camps, but instead he secured a position in Bell valley with his brother-in-law, James O. Mc- Spadden, and went to work on his ranch. For nineteen years Mr. Miller continued in the employ of Mr. McSpadden, first as a farm hand, and later as manager of the large ranch, with its many interests and responsibilities. The confidence of Mr. McSpadden in the young man was unqualified and fully justified, and in 1910 the property was deeded to him and the former owner retired from active business life. Mr. Miller had been the superintendent of the ranch for the twelve years previous and so there was no change in the business methods when the change of ownership took place. He continued the former policies, raising grain and hay, and giving much attention to his stock-raising. He is making a specialty of raising sheep, having on his ranges a fine flock of some fifteen hundred head of Spanish merinos.
The property owned by Mr. Miller is one of the best improved places in the valley. It contains some twenty-four hundred acres, all of which is fenced, and it is well watered by Soda creek and Jimmie creek, the latter being so named in honor of Mr. McSpadden (James). There are also numer- ous fine springs on the property, several of them being splendid mineral
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springs. In 1912 a handsome new residence of twelve rooms was erected. It is strictly modern in all particulars, and contains the most modern con- veniences and appointments for comfort and convenience.
The marriage of Mr. Miller occurred in Ukiah, January 11, 1901, uniting liim with Mrs. Emily (Ball) Wallach, a native of Anderson valley, Mendocino county, Cal. Mrs. Miller was formerly married to J. R. Wallach and to them were born twins, Ronald and Beatrice Wallach, on April 10, 1899. The chil- dren were deprived of their father by death during their early infancy, and have never known any other father than George Miller, who has been a kind and thoughtful parent. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller has been born one son, Milton McSpadden, on November 2, 1911, he being named in honor of the former owner of the ranch. Mrs. Miller is the daughter of J. D. Ball, one of the first pioneer settlers in Mendocino county.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Miller are well known to a host of friends in their community, being deservedly popular with a wide circle. Mrs. Miller is a mem- ber of the Christian church in Boonville, where the various members of the family attend worship. Since coming to California Mr. Miller has made two trips to his old home in Virginia, first at Christmas time, 1910, and again in 1913, on this latter occasion taking his family with him.
Mr. Miller is deeply interested in all the affairs of his community, and is known as a progressive and public spirited man. He is a Democrat in poli- tics, but has never been vitally associated with the movements of his party, although he is well informed and independent in his opinions and judgments.
As an important member of the Miller household may be found their friend and benefactor, James O. McSpadden, who has made his home with the family since the marriage of Mr. Miller. Mr. McSpadden's wife was an elder sister of Mr. Miller. She died eighteen months after her marriage and Mr. McSpadden has since remained single. He is a man of sterling character and is honored and respected as one of the highest type of California pioneers. He came to California in 1857, and has been a resident of Mendocino county since 1858. His life history is given elesewhere in this volume.
WILLIAM JEFFERSON HILDRETH .- The presence in Mendocino county of this pioneer rancher and old Indian fighter forms a link between the remote past contemporaneons with early American occupancy and the present twentieth-century era with its remarkable developments and con- tinued material progress. To be a link in the chain of western progress is neither trivial nor unimportant. Due honor belongs to Mr. Hildreth for the part he has played in the material upbuilding of his chosen community. While pursuing the quiet routine of ranch duties he was always eager to assist in local matters, gave freely of his time and influence to worthy enterprises and counted no day lost that was given to the service of his community. In an era of transition and change it is especially worthy of note that he remained on one ranch for a period of forty years and did not retire from the old home- stead until advancing years rendered its responsibilities too heavy for his failing strength. Since his retirement in 1904 he has leased the land to tenants and has made his home in West Henry street, Ukiah, where he is surrounded by comforts forming a striking contrast to the privations ex- perienced in the early period of his residence in the county.
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An expedition that crossed the plains during the summer of 1850 con- tained among its members an energetic, capable lad of fifteen years, W. J. Hildreth, a native of Lewis county, Mo., born August 17, 1834. Upon the arrival of the party in California this youthful Argonaut tried his luck in the mines of Diamond Springs, Eldorado county, remaining there until 1855, after which he spent two years in Trinity county and one year in the mines of Shasta county. It was during the spring of 1858 that he saw Mendocino county for the first time. Its noble forests of great redwoods and firs, its brooks that came rushing down the mountain side, its towering peaks mantled with snow and its green valleys rich in the promise of crops to the tiller of the soil, all these things impressed him favorably. After six months in the beautiful Round valley (which though undeveloped was yet very attractive) he came to Ukiah in the fall of 1858. Here he met Judge Hastings, who employed him to drive to Eden valley sixteen hundred head of cattle and four hundred head of mares and colts. Upon his arrival in the valley he ran them on shares and remained to oversee the stock, which were pastured in a space sixteen miles square, between the Middle and South Eel rivers. The task was one of difficulty and even danger. Indians repeatedly killed the increase of the cattle, and their proximity forced the herder to be ever on his guard. Not a few times battles were fought by the settlers, and finally the white men in the valley organized a company, selecting as their captain Walter Jarboe. The company was authorized by the state legislature to act in defense of the settlers, and was the means of reducing the depredations of the Indians, and finally they were forced to leave the locality and stay on the reservations.
Upon his return to Ukialı in 1862 Mr. Hildreth bought two pre-emption claims of three hundred and twenty acres in the valley to the south. Soon he had the land stocked with cattle. As his herds increased, it became neces- sary to secure more land. Buying additional tracts from the grant and settlers from time to time, he ultimately acquired three thousand acres, but a portion of this he has since sold. The Hildreth ranch is located five miles south of Ukiah and contains about twenty-five hundred acres, extending to the Lake county line. Cattle-raising formed his principal occupation, but at one time he also engaged in the sheep industry, and at another time he specialized in dairying. About fourteen years after he left Missouri he returned to that state via Panama, and there in 1865 he married Miss Mary F. Bevans, a native of Lewis county, Mo., and the daughter of Joseph H. Bevans, a pioneer of 1849. The young people passed their honeymoon travel- ing by horse and mule teams back to the coast. On their arrival they took up housekeeping on the Hildreth ranch in Mendocino county and continued there for four decades, meanwhile becoming prosperous and influential and holding a high place in their community. Thirteen children were born of their union and ten of these are still living, namely: Mary G., Mrs. John C. Ruddock, of Ukiah ; William R., of this county ; George, of Stanislaus county ; Joseph C., of San Francisco; Lewis M., of this county; Walter J., of this county ; Irene, Mrs. William Bond, of Ukiah; Victor and Vincent (twins), running the ranch; and Pauline, attending the University of California hospital. Always interested in public affairs, Mr. Hildreth was prominent in local politics during his younger years and filled the offices of under sheriff. justice of the peace and county supervisor with efficiency, impartiality and intelligence.
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CHARLES A. ALDRICH .- The development of the poultry industry in Mendocino county may be attributed to a few progressive men, notable among whom is C. A. Aldrich, prime mover in the organization of the Ukiah Poultry Association and president of the same until other business responsi- bilities compelled him to relinquish official duties. The work of the associa- tion has been in itself an education to poultrymen, who before the effort to co-operate had been the sufferers from lack of system in the industry The custom then was to dispose of the eggs at local groceries and take the pay in merchandise, a measure apparently satisfactory to the grocer, but in reality profitable to no participant. Buying feed in small quantities at high prices and selling eggs in small quantities at low prices, the poultrymen were often discouraged. Realizing that co-operation was essential to success, Mr. Aldrich took hold of the problem primarily in his own interests and by help- ing himself has aided also every poultry-raiser in the association, comprising some sixty members. Through his efforts a cash market was found for the eggs in San Francisco at the very highest ruling prices and soon thousands of eggs were being shipped regularly to the city. Feed was purchased in carload lots and distributed among the members of the association. The express company was persuaded to reduce the rate nine cents per case. All of these things strengthened the industry in and around Ukiah. The workers ceased to bemoan lack of profits and instead told of their returns with gratifi- cation. The success of the enterprise was an object lesson as to the value of co-operation.
Mr. Aldrich was born in Brooklyn, Windham county, Conn., August 1, 1854, and was orphaned at a very young age by the death of his father, a goldsmith. During boyhood he made his home with his mother at Water- bury, Conn., whence in 1875 he came to California. At Oakland he found employment with the California Pottery Company, one of the pioneer con- cerns of its kind in the state. In the interests of that company he went to Sacramento, but the failure of his health obliged him to resign his position. During the fall of 1879 he came to Mendocino county and for three years had charge of the stage station on the line of the old coaches running between Eureka and Cloverdale. Later he remained in Long valley for two years. In 1885 he married Miss Euphrasia Angle, daughter of a pioneer cattleman of Walker valley, Mendocino county, who at one time owned twenty thou- sand acres of land. They are the parents of six children, all natives of Mendo- cino county, namely : Allan G., Winthrop, Helen E., Sabin A., Margaret and James M. About the time of his marriage Mr. Aldrich became a citizen of Ukiah, and here he since has made his home. For ten years he conducted a livery business and after 1901 he devoted considerable time to carriage and automobile painting and now has the leading business of the kind in Ukiah. Meanwhile he has been deeply interested in chicken-raising. He was the first poultryman in the county to raise thoroughbred white leghorns. Each year he has imported stock from the east, and thus has maintained the purity of the flock to such an extent that he never had a chicken off color. He was the first in Ukiah to use the trap nest. The record of each hen is kept and no eggs are sold for hatching unless the hens have a record of at least two hundred eggs per annum. Orders for eggs and pullets come to him from every part of the state, while he has shipped cocks and cockerels to breeders all over the west as well as to the Hawaiian Islands. For a number of years he sold incubators, brooders and other supplies for poultrymen, but this was
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