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 78
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 78
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Sr., usually spends a part of the summer in Alaska. Since the latter part of the '80s he has found it advantageous to maintain the city office, and for this reason, as well as for the educational advantages thereby possible for his children, he has made his home in Oakland through all of these years. He has just completed and is now occupying a comfortable residence at No. 775 Kingston avenue. Occasional visits have kept him in touch with his old friends in Mendocino and Humboldt counties, where his energy and capa- bility, his warm heart and manly nature always have appealed to men in a manly way.
JOHN SNOW .- The early American identification of the Snow family with New England gave several generations of the name as factors in the ma- terial upbuilding of Massachusetts, but in the first half of the nineteenth century the name became transplanted into Northern Alabama through the settlement of Dr. Charles Snow upon a country estate one mile north of Tuscaloosa. This cultured gentleman, who combined a thorough knowledge of the medical profession with an intelligent oversight of a large plantation, married Miss Virginia Penn, a native of Virginia and member of an old family of that commonwealth. Their youngest child and only son, John, was born at the Alabama plantation May 24, 1844, and passed his early years unevent- fully at the homestead in the suburbs of Tuscaloosa, where he gained a knowledge of cotton planting and other departments of agriculture as fol- lowed in the south. The outbreak of the Civil war when he was seventeen years of age changed the whole current of his existence. From the school, where he had been pursuing a course of study with the leisurely indifference of youth, he hastened to the southern army, enlisted in Lumsden's battery and gave to his native region an eagerness of service and strength of devotion limited only by his physical capacity. Nor did he retire from the army until the end of the struggle of four years, although he had suffered greatly from the hardships of camp and the perils of the battlefield. Broken in health, he was left at the age of twenty-one to face a future darkened by the fall of the Confederacy and the agricultural ruin of the south. Chance directed him to mercantile pursuits and throughout all of his active business life he fol- lowed such lines of enterprise.
First as a grocer and then as proprietor of a general store, Mr. Snow ultimately developed the J. Snow Hardware Company of Tuscaloosa, dealers in hardware, agricultural implements and machinery of all kinds. The firm became the largest of its kind in that part of Alabama. The name of the proprietor was a synonym for honesty and fair dealing. For years it was his custom to spend his winters in Tuscaloosa and his summers six miles east of that city, on the Hurricane river, where he had an estate, Hurricane, of five hundred acres, forming a beautiful country home. About the year 1890 he disposed of his interests in the south and removed to Mendocino county, Cal., where in 1907-09 he served as justice of the peace at Willits. His removal to Ukialı, his present place of residence, was largely influenced by his purchase of the Ukiah garage of John Thornton, for the benefit of a son-in-law, George Richardson, an exceptionally skilled mechanic. Under their man- agement the garage has become very successful, doing probably nine-tenths of the business of the entire city in its line. For many years Mr. Snow officiated as a vestryman and treasurer of the Episcopal Church in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and his devotion to that creed has never wavered throughout his long
John Snow
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life. Fraternally he is a stanch advocate of the principles of Masonry, and joined the order in Tuscaloosa. He is a member of Abell Lodge No. 146, F. & A. M. He was also made a Royal Arch Mason in Tuscaloosa. but is now a member of Ukiah Chapter No. 53, R. A. M., and has also transferred his membership from Tuscaloosa to Ukiah Chapter No. 33, K. T. At different times he has officiated as presiding officer of lodge, chapter and commandery. All movements for the benefit of the order or for the aid of its members receive his cordial co-operation. One of his most striking characteristics is a pronounced literary taste. Few men in the county are more conversant than he with literature ancient or modern. In the days of his large business enterprises he yet found leisure to keep in touch with the world's masterpieces of thought and in later years of larger leisure his happiest hours are those spent with a favorite book. With his scholarly tastes there lingers nothing of the bookworm or the recluse, for there is always apparent in his attitude toward the world the spirit of valor that kept him in the army during four years of suffering and defeat and there is noticeable also an alertness in pub- lic questions, a familiarity with topics of the business world and an intimate knowledge of soil, trees and flowers, that mark the man of broad vision and versatile tastes.
GEORGE LINCOLN HAMER .- A long identification with the stock industry in Lake county gave to Mr. Hamer an intimate knowledge not only of that county itself, but also of the surrounding region, and he thus formed a large circle of acquaintances in Mendocino county, while also becoming familiar with the possibilities of the coast country. When eventually he closed out his cattle interests in the county of Lake he transferred his head- quarters to Ukiah, and since has devoted his time and attention to the livery and feed business. Since he embarked in his present line of work in 1908 he has equipped the barn with vehicles of every description and with first- class livery horses, and is prepared to accommodate customers with up-to-date outfits. Besides a large assortment of private rigs he runs a bus from Ukiah to the state hospital. In his own line of business he is regarded as capable and efficient, and his business adds another to the list of important enterprises at the county seat.
The fact that he is a native of the state indicates that Mr. Hamer comes of a pioneer family, and inquiry reveals that his father, Solomon S., crossed the plains to California during the summer of 1849. In the early days he raised cattle on Mound street, Alameda. His son, George L., was born March 13, 1861, and the only other surviving member of the family is a daughter, Flora E., Mrs. Barker, of Alameda. When only sixteen years of age George L. left school and went to the vast unoccupied ranges of Lake county, where he secured land north of Upper Lake. The favorable opening for cattle- raising led him to adopt that business. It was in 1877 that he first em- barked in the stock business in Lake county, and during 1880 his father joined him there, where the two carried on large cattle interests. The fatlier died in 1890, and the son continued afterward alone until 1908, when he sold his stock and land holdings and established himself in the livery business at Ukiah. He is a lover of fine horse flesh and has some splendid specimens of standard horses, among them Nustine, a Wilks and Decoration W. (by Wayland W.), the latter a pacer, and both are among the finest specimens in the county. Mr. Hamer was married in Willits to Miss Ella Mosier, a native 35
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of Nebraska. In this city he is regarded as a citizen of progressive spirit and energetic temperament, a discriminating judge of stock and an honorable business man, whose integrity and sagacity are unquestioned.
SAMUEL M. ORR .- The genealogy of the Orr family indicates a colonial participation in American affairs. As the frontier receded further toward the west with each passing decade, so was the family brought more closely in touch with western development. Of all of the name it was given to the late Samuel Orr most intimately to be identified with the westward march of progress. The vicissitudes of an interesting frontier experience took him into different states and kept him in the forefront of developing civilization. Born in Harrison county, Ky., January 7, 1817, his busy and useful existence was prolonged until near the close of the nineteenth century. It was his privilege to witness the building of railroads, the introduction of telegraph and telephone, the perfecting of electricity and gas. and the un- numbered smaller inventions that made the nineteenth century the most re- markable in the history of the world. As early as 1837 he became a pioneer of Illinois, where he settled with his parents in Champaign county. During 1840 he made another important move, this time crossing the Mississippi into Missouri and taking up land in Van Buren county. During the decade of his sojourn in that state he developed raw land, improved a farm with trees, buildings and the other necessities of progress, and made himself a valued citizen in the then frontier community. June 8, 1845, he married Miss Urith Murray, a native of Missouri, and a woman of noble character, who proved a faithful, affectionate and capable helpmate until death parted them.
The discovery of gold in California caused the attention of Samuel Orr to turn toward the vast unknown west. Attracted by the possibilities of the country, he closed out his interests in Missouri and brought his family to the mining regions during the summer of 1850. After an unsuccessful year in the mines he moved to Sonoma county and took up land. During the resi- dence of the family at Old Sonoma in that county a son, Samuel M., was born October 26, 1856. In 1858 removal was made to Mendocino county, where land was taken up in an isolated location twelve miles north of Ukiah. For six years the family lived on that ranch and engaged in raising cattle, sheep and hogs. In 1864 a home was established in Ukiah, and in 1865 and 1867 Mr. Orr was elected treasurer of Mendocino county, where his two terms of service were characterized by efficiency and progressiveness. He was bereaved by the death of his wife April 4, 1867, and his own demise occurred April 6, 1894, in Ukiah, where he was widely known and honored for his fine qualities of mind and heart. In his family were the following named sons and daughters: James H .; Barbara J., deceased ; Thomas D .; Samuel M .; Rachel B., Mrs. F. A. Wegger; John L .: Rose L., Mrs. A. P. Wegger ; Mary A., Mrs. McClelland; and Murray, the latter deceased.
In inheriting the name of his father Samuel M. Orr inherited also the sterling characteristics of that honored pioneer. During early life he attended the public schools of Ukiah and aided in ranch work, but in the '80s he became interested in carpentering and later made a special study of architec- ture, in which he is regarded as an expert. He has drafted plans for many buildings of importance and value. In addition he has had the contract for the erection of many of these buildings. Some that he built in early days still stand in an excellent state of preservation, bearing silent testimony to the efficiency of his workmanship. The Episcopal Church of Ukiah was
J. Fr. Spurlock Mrs T. F. Sherlock
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erected by him, also the primary department of the Ukiah grammar school, the J. A. Gibson, Rudee, Rodgers and Swanson buildings, and the residences of Dr. A. L. Gibson, Kirk Ford, Charles Bartlett, W. W. Cunningham, C. P. Smith, William Held and William A. Ford. The plans for the block of Mrs. W. D. White were furnished by him. Schoolhouses in different parts of the county have been erected under his management and from his plans, and he also had the contract for one of the connecting buildings of the state hospital. At this writing he serves the county as superintendent of bridge construction and draws plans for bridges of wood and concrete, also superin- tends construction work on both classes.
Fraternally Mr. Orr was made a Mason in Abell Lodge No. 146, F. & A. M., is a member of the Woodmen of the World and is past grand of Ukiah Lodge No. 174, I. O. O. F. During 1875 he married Miss Mary M. Mankins, daughter of Peter and Emily (Lynch) Mankins and a sister of D. M. and P. E. Mankins, Mrs. J. R. Knowles and Mrs. R. E. Donohoe. Her father, a native of Missouri, crossed the plains to California during the pioneer period and settled first in Monterey county, but in 1863 came to Mendocino county and engaged in farming north of Ukiah, where he died in 1871. For many years he had been a leading local worker in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mrs. Mankins lived to the age of eighty-two years. Mrs. Orr was born in San Juan, Monterey county, but was reared and educated in Ukiah. She is a member of Kingsley Chapter No. 58, O. E. S., and Cornelia Rebekah Lodge No. 205, of which she is past noble grand, and she has been a delegate on several occasions to the Rebekah grand assembly of California. She is also an active member of the Baptist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Orr have one child, Grace, who is the wife of C. T. Lyman, of San Francisco.
THOMAS FRANKLIN SPURLOCK .- As an instance of the power of determination in the overcoming of obstacles, the life of Mr. Spurlock merits attention by reason of his early privations, his friendless, orphaned condition, and the final attainment of a fair degree of agricultural success. A lifelong resident of California, born at Leesville, Colusa county, June 1, 1869, he was orphaned at the age of thirteen and became a resident of Woodland, Yolo county. There he lived with his uncle, J. H. Harlon, until seventeen, his education being obtained in the public schools. In 1886 he came to Mendocino county and for a time hauled ties at Greenwood, thence coming to Round valley in 1889, buying three claims on the Eel river six miles below what is now known as Two Rivers. With this land as a start, he proceeded to agricultural efforts. The task was one of utmost difficulty. Without means, he yet had an abundance of energy and a robust constitution that enabled him to endure deprivations and to do the work of two men on the farm. For eight years he lived on claims and developed land, which he devoted largely to stock raising. By constant labor and many sacrifices he finally attained farming success. Meanwhile a desire to be nearer town that his children might have educational advantages led him to dispose of his stock range in the hills, and his present home place of seventy-seven acres lies in Round valley, one-quarter of a mile east of Covelo, one of the neatest farms in this fertile valley. Besides dairying he is interested in the fruit industry and has sixteen acres planted to Bartlett pears. The location is unri- valled for fruit and there is every reason to believe that his experiment with pears (he being the first in the valley to plant this fruit) will bring to him a
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large measure of prosperity at no distant day. He owns one hundred and sixty acres in the hills about one and one-half miles west which is used for stock range, and also owns a half interest in the old Eldred ranch of four hundred and eighty acres about a mile southwest of Covelo, two hundred acres being valley land utilized for grain and hay, the balance for range for stock.
The supervision of his various ranches, although carried on with a devo- tion and skill evidenced in the thrifty appearance of his holdings, still leaves Mr. Spurlock leisure for outside interests, prominent among which is a steam threshing machine which since 1904 he has owned and operated. The sepa- rator is of modern equipment and mode of operation and the people of the valley find it a most necessary adjunct of their harvesting seasons. For the past nine years lie has been breeding English shire horses and now owns Nateby Manners, a pure bred English shire sired by Lockinge Manners, which was imported to Illinois and afterwards brought to California. It is a large bay weighing nineteen hundred pounds and one of the finest specimens of horse flesh in the county. The Round valley creamery, a co-operative enter- prise of great value to the community, numbers Mr. Spurlock among its directors, and in addition he owns stock in the telephone system of the valley, another enterprise originated and promoted by local men of prominence. In politics he votes the Republican ticket and in fraternal relations he is a Ma- son, being affiliated with Covelo Lodge No. 231, F. & A. M., and with his wife is a member of Augusta Chapter No. 80, O. E. S., of which Mrs. Spurlock is past matron. The improvements on the ranch are modern, the fields well tilled and the fences substantial, while the buildings show that convenience has been made a study. The farm-house is a model of neatness and comfort, and indicates the supervision of a capable housewife, for such indeed is Mrs. Spurlock, whose assistance has been of the utmost aid to her husband in his efforts to secure financial independence. Born at Honcut, Butte county, this state, she bore the name of Mary Ann Eldred until her marriage, November 29, 1893, to Mr. Spurlock. They are the parents of seven children, Horace E., Carl H., Zora C., Frank, Emmett, Cyril and Isabel.
WILDER START PULLEN .- It was a memorable event in the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Pullen when, having sold their ranch, they were able to pur- chase the old homestead on Little river where almost forty years before they had plighted their troth and taken the solemn vows of marriage. At this pio- neer country home, two and one-half miles south of Mendocino City, they welcome their guests with a gracious cordiality that partakes of the hos- pitality characteristic of bygone days, yet so active are they in mind, so rugged of body and so progressive in spirit that they belong emphatically to the present era of advancement. While they still cling to the old farm-house with its tender memories, no touch of sentiment is allowed to delay their energetic efforts toward the improving of the place. He believes in the intro- duction of modern methods of cultivation and the equipping with machinery and stock adapted to present needs. Besides the management of the property Mr. Pullen still follows the trade of carpenter, a leading occupation of his younger years. His father, Charles Pullen, was likewise a carpenter and built the first mill on Little river, the family having come to California during the early '60s from New England and thereafter making a home in Mendocino county.
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Born in Kennebec county, Me., June 13, 1848, and during boyhood a pupil in the schools of Augusta, that state, Wilder Start Pullen arrived in Mendo- cino county on the 4th of July, 1864, coming by way of the Isthmus. For a year he engaged in chopping wood in the timber. Next he was employed in the mill on Little river, after which he worked in the mill on Big river. Hearing of the gold strike in the White Pine mines he started for that district in 1869, but unfavorable reports came to him when he had gone as far as Truckee and northward, so that he decided to abandon the plan. Returning to the Eel river in Humboldt county he resumed work in the redwoods. The spring of 1870 found him back in Mendocino county, where he bought sixteen acres, a raw tract of land two and a half miles south of Little river, and began to farm on a small scale. In addition he engaged in shipping lumber down the coast from Big Gulch, having erected chutes for the purpose. His farm he im- proved and brought to a high state of cultivation, having also a large herd of high-grade cattle.
On February 12, 1873, Mr. Pullen married Miss Emily Etta Stevens, at the home of her father, Isaiah Stevens, on Little river. Mrs. Pullen was born in Kennebec county, Me., April 5, 1849, and arrived in California with her parents July 17, 1864, coming also via Panama. Two years afterward she began to teach in the public schools of Mendocino county and continued edu- cational work for eight years, until the time of her marriage, being one of the most prominent teachers of that period.
The trade of a millwright, the business of shipping lumber down the coast and work as a carpenter kept Mr. Pullen busily engaged for years, but in addition he found time to interest himself in farming, stock-growing and fruit-raising. On his ranch he developed a fine orchard of assorted trees of apples, peaches and prunes. Aside from carpentering on houses and store buildings, he assisted in the construction of several dams on rivers and had charge of the building of a number of wharves. All of his work was sub- stantial and permanent. It was not enough for him to merely complete a bridge, a wharf or a dam ; he must satisfy his own mind concerning the dura- bility and efficiency of the work. Nothing slipshod was allowed to pass uncorrected. Such was his reputation for careful, accurate work that he was selected by Henry B. Muir to direct the rebuilding and repairing of the dam at Irmulco. In the days of his active business interests he had no leisure for public affairs, nor is he now identified with politics in any way, it being his preference to devote himself to private business and farming pursuits. In all of his work he has had the able co-operation of his capable wife, who proved a worthy helpmate and industrious co-worker, lightening his burdens by cheer- ful assistance, lessening disappointments by her sympathy and promoting success by her judicious counsel.
HARRY LINCOLN MCELROY .- It is not enough to say of Mr. Mc- Elroy that he is a leading contractor in Willits, for he has other interests so broad and so varied that he could not easily be limited to one line of enter- prise. In addition to being interested in the local water company and being also founder of the Willits News, he has been a property owner and a pro- moter of movements for the permanent welfare of the village chosen as his home and business headquarters. Thorough information in regard to prop- erty valuations has enabled him to invest very profitably in town property as well as in country holdings, and in addition to these he was the builder and one-half owner of the Mohn & McElroy block, said to be one of the most
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attractive and substantial buildings in the entire county. Not for him has the path to success been strewn with roses. Privations and hampering condi- tions interfered with his progress and restricted his achievements, but he pushed forward with resolute courage in itself deserving of gratifying returns.
Born in Canton, Stark county, Ohio, June 13, 1866, Mr. McElroy is the son of Capt. William and Emma (Harding) McElroy. During the Civil war the father served in an Ohio regiment, rising from private to be captain of his regiment. In January, 1876, he brought his family to California and from that time until his death he followed farming near Lakeport, Lake county. His death occurred in Lakeport, 1913,, while his wife had passed away five years previously. Of the eight children born to them seven are living and of these Harry L. is the eldest. As a boy he attended the schools of Canton and it was his privilege to attend the Methodist Episcopal Sunday-school there at the time when ex-President William McKinley was the superintendent. He was in his tenth year when he came to California and settled in Lakeport, in Jan- uary, 1876. For some years he made it his custom to attend school in the winter season and work in the summer at any occupation that offered. Dur- ing one season he drove the street sprinkler wagon in Lakeport, another sea- son he worked in the grain fields and still another summer was devoted to work in a butcher shop. Meanwhile he had entered the Lakeport Academy and in 1886 he was graduated from that institution with a high standing. Immediately afterward he became an apprentice to the trade of carpenter, at which he served for three years under a brother-in-law, W. H. Lyons. Mov- ing to Ukiah in 1889, he took up carpentering and mason work. Meanwhile, May 11, 1888, he had married Miss Addie May Lincoln, who was born in Boston, Mass., and by whom he had one son, Floyd Lester. After eighteen months in Ukiah he moved to Pendleton, Ore., living there thirteen months, during which time he had building contracts, but as he had taken them at prices far too low there was practically no margin of profit in them. Before moving his family to Pendleton he purchased at auction a claim to one hundred and sixty acres for $590 and this he proved up on, but did not develop.
Returning to Ukiah with only $11 to show for his arduous labors in Ore- gon, Mr. McElroy followed the trade of carpenter for a time. During Sep- tember of 1892 he moved to Riverside in Southern California and for nineteen months engaged in driving a delivery wagon for butcher shop. Not satisfied with conditions and opportunities there he returned to Ukiah and took up work with F .. M. Mason, a contractor and builder, for whom he continued at day wages through five years. In addition he contracted for himself during one year. Although he had bought property at Ukiah and had anticipated remain- ing in that town, the opportunities afforded at Willits caused him to remove to this village in 1901. Here he bought two lots and put up two store build- ings, both of which, however, were destroyed by fire in the same year. For six months he engaged in the undertaking business with H. C. Mohn, to whom he later sold his share in the enterprise. On property purchased on Main street between Mendocino and Wood streets he built three stores oppo- site his other two stores. In one of the last stores erected he opened the first news depot in the town in 1903. Three years later he sold the business in order to devote himself to contracting and the real-estate business. In the fall of 1913, in partnership with Harry Mohn, he built the Mohn & McElroy block, on Main street between Commercial and Mendocino streets. This is a concrete fire-proof building 50x92 feet, the first floor being occupied by
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