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 79
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 79
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two stores and above is a modern lodging house. Mr. McElroy also owns sev- eral residences on Main street, in fact all of his holdings are on this thor- oughfare except his residence, which is located at No. 44 Mendocino street. In religion Mr. McElroy is a Methodist. Politically he is a stanch Repub- lican, but inclines to the progressive branch of that party in its recent develop- ments. The people of Willits have the highest confidence in his energy as a citizen, in his uprightness as a man, and in his efficiency as a building con- tractor.
THOMAS GEORGE TURNER .- One of the thriftily kept ranches in the Lower Lake precinct of Lake county is the property of Thomas George Turner, in Burns valley, who carries on general farming, fruit growing and stock raising on a tract of one hundred and ten acres which he has improved greatly during his residence there of almost thirty years. It lies along the shore of Clear lake, and with many natural advantages and systematic culti- vation has become a beautiful place. Mr. Turner was brought up at Bir- mingham, England, where he was born April 21, 1847. His father, Joseph Turner, was a gun manufacturer in that country, the eldest son in the firm of Joseph Turner & Sons, whose business had been established by Joseph Turner, the head of the firm. They turned out shotguns and rifles, and man- ufactured many pieces for the English army.
Joseph Turner married Miss Martha Parks, who was born near Birming- ham, and lived and died in England, as did also her husband. He passed away when his son Thomas was but three years old, leaving three children : Joseph, who came to America and died in Missouri; Thomas George; and Kinbury, now living near Birmingham, widow of Thomas Gilman, a whole- sale grocer and druggist of that place. The mother remarried, her second husband being Benjamin Davis, by whom she had two children: John P., who is a farmer in Burns valley, Lake county; and Hannah, married and living in England.
Thomas George Turner barely remembers his father, who died when he was only about three years old. As he was not strong in his boyhood he was sent into the country to live, and grew up familiar with rural life, learn- ing to till the soil in his native land. He attended private school near Bir- mingham. He came to America in 1874, and settling at Bedford, in Taylor county, Iowa, bought a farm there and worked it for five years. The climaté, however, proved too rigorous, and he sold out and came to Lake county, Cal., arriving at Lower Lake April 9, 1880. His first investment in land here was among the hills, near Kelseyville, but he sold that place after five years' ownership and then bought his present property, which he has since occupied. He has labored industriously and methodically in the work of improving it, has remodeled the house and barn, put up fences, and attended to many other details which add to its appearance and valite. There is an abundance of white building sand and gravel for road purposes on his land, and he sells both in considerable quantities, the quality being so exceptional that there is considerable demand for both. Mr. Turner takes no special credit for what he has achieved in his agricultural work, but as every improved farm adds to the assets of the neighborhood he has done his share in its advance- ment. He has given all his attention to his work, and has declined to hold any political office, though solicited to do so by his fellow citizens. Though conservative he is thoroughly progressive, and ready to do whatever lies in
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his power to further the interests of Lake county. He is a Republican in political sentiment.
While living in Iowa, on January 1, 1877, Mr. Turner married Miss Neoma Hoover, a native of that state, where her father, Benjamin B. Hoover, a Kentuckian, settled while the Black Hawk Indians were still there, his death occurring in February, 1906. Mrs. Hoover, formerly Mary Ann Hinkle, a native of Illinois, still resides in Iowa, in which state she was married. Mrs. Turner was the second in the family of eleven children. She received her education in Taylor county and taught school before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Turner have no children. Mr. Turner was reared in the faith of the Episcopal Church, Mrs. Turner in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
WILLIS N. GRAHAM .- The brothers Willis N. and John J. Graham are large landowners and sheep raisers in the Bachelor Valley precinct of Lake county, and also hold a large acreage in the Forty Spring valley on Bartlett mountain, their operations having increased steadily during the last few years. They have four hundred acres of tillable land and to some extent are engaged in its cultivation, but the greater part of their attention is given to the sheep business, and they have prospered by hard work, enterprising methods and the exercise of good judgment in their transactions, using their heads as well as their hands in caring for the interests they have acquired. Typical repre- sentatives of the Graham family and the sturdy, intelligent Scotch stock from which they spring, they are known for their sagacity, progressive ideas and practical application of their principles to the affairs of everyday life, and are counted among the highly desirable citizens of the county in which their home and business interests lie.
A son of Nathan Graham, one of the most respected residents of Lake county, Willis N. Graham was born July 13, 1868, at Worthville, Jefferson county, N. Y., and was about ten years old when his father moved his family to Minnesota. They were there only a few months, however, coming to Lake county in 1879, and as his father's assistant Willis Graham became familiar with ranch life and the details of the various interests his father had acquired. The latter bought seven hundred and sixty acres in the county, and his son Clinton R. Graham holds a deed in escrow for fifty acres of this property, and his daughter, Bertha L. Arps, has the title to one hundred acres, the remaining six hundred and ten acres being held by Willis N. and John J. Graham. Four hundred acres of this land are adapted for agricultural pur- poses. Since 1904 these brothers have also homesteaded and bought six hundred acres in Forty Spring valley, on Bartlett mountain, on which they keep their cattle and sheep in the summer season, bringing their herds and flocks to Bachelor valley for the winter. They are breeding high-grade Percheron horses, Durham cattle, Poland china hogs and Ramboulette sheep. The brothers are hard workers, and have been successful in the various lines which have engaged their attention. Their principal crops are potatoes and beans, and they have a fifteen-acre prune orchard now nearly thirty years old which is still bearing. Like his father and brother, Willis N. Graham is a Socialist in sentiment.
In 1898 Mr. Graham married Miss Elsie Morrison, daughter of Samuel Morrison. She died leaving one child, Elsie, who lives with her maternal grandmother in East Upper Lake precinct. Mr. Graham's second marriage, which took place in 1900, was to Miss Sylvia Dunton, daughter of Jerome B.
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and Malinda A. (Goff) Dunton, who reside at Lodi, San Joaquin county, where Mr. Dunton is a successful vineyardist. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Graham, Freda, Nathan, Ross and Dorris. Their home is on the Ukiah road, three miles west of Upper Lake.
WILLIAM D. RANTZ .- Worthy of recognition as one of those who have been identified with the agricultural upbuilding of Lake county is this honored and well-known citizen of Lakeport, formerly the owner of extensive landed interests in Scott's valley, but now largely retired from the strenuous activities of the farm. A worker in boyhood and in the early maturity of his physical powers, he is still a worker in the afternoon of existence and always exemplifies to others the gospel of work with the joy that it brings and the satisfaction aroused in the contemplation of the day's task well done. With many other manly qualities he combines business sagacity, clear mental vision, keen insight and scrupulous integrity. In regard to land values in Lake county and the feasibility of industrial projects his judgment is eagerly sought by people of his acquaintance and the end usually verifies the wisdom of his counsel.
Descended from Pennsylvania-Dutch ancestry on the paternal side, Wil- liam D. Rantz was born in Wabash county, Ind., near Laketon, on Christmas day of 1841, and is a son of Daniel Rantz, who was born and reared in Penn- sylvania, and there married Elizabeth Kitchen, a native of England. When William D. was a child of only four years he lost his mother by death and later his father married a second time. At the age of twelve years he left Indiana with the family of his father and settled in what is now Vernon county, Wis., where he remained until seventeen years of age. Then, in company with an older brother, Addison S. Rantz, he started for California, making the trip overland with ox-teams and wagons, and arriving at Placer- ville, Eldorado county, on the 24th of November, 1859. During the first two years of western experience he engaged in mining, after which he operated a dairy and also raised stock for fourteen years in Eldorado county. Thence he came to Lake county in 1874, bringing with him his family, which then con- prised besides his wife their three children, Flora, Stephen H. and Eva, all born in Eldorado county. Six children were born after the removal of the fam- ily to Lake county and here too a great sorrow came into the home in 1874. with the death of Flora and Eva from typhoid fever within one month of each other. The wife and mother, who bore the maiden name of Amelia T. Glines, was born in Iowa, came to California with her parents in 1860 and settled in Eldorado county, remaining there until her removal to Lake county, where she died in 1906. Of her nine children the two eldest daughters died as previously mentioned. The eldest son, Stephen H. Rantz, M. D., a graduate of the University of California, is engaged in the practice of his profession at Placerville, Eldorado county. Nellie M., the widow of George Wray, lives at Lakeport and has three children, Victor and Ruth (twins), now students in the Lakeport Union high school, and George. The fifth child, Nora A., mar- lied J. A. Waldo, a farmer living near Blue Lakes, this county ; they are the parents of four children, May, Maude, Arthur and Nora. The sixth child, William Addison Rantz, D. D. S., is engaged in practice of dentistry at Placer- ville. The seventh member of the family circle, Maude married Curtiss Thompson, of Big valley, and has one child, Vernoy Thompson. The eighth child, Mrs. Harry Hudson, is the mother of two children, Grace and Rodney J., and lives at Alpha, province of Alberta, Canada. The youngest of the
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family and the only one still with his father is Lester B., a graduate, class of 1914, Lakeport Union high school and now a student in the dental depart- ment of the University of California.
The second marriage of Mr. Rantz was solemnized in April, 1908, and united him with Mrs. Ellen A. (Hendricks) Farrier, who was born in Tarrant county, Tex., and accompanied the family of her father to Lake county in 1861, settling in Scott's valley, where she grew to womanhood, and where she was united in marriage with William Farrier, a native of Arkansas. Suc- cessively they lived in Lake and Humboldt counties and in the state of Ore- gon. Of that union two daughters were born, namely: Ada Grace, wife of Clyde Brewer, who is connected with the city government at Ukiah, Cal .; and lba E., wife of Walter Faught, a farmer in Scott's valley. From 1874, when he became the owner of a farm in Scott's valley, until 1900, when he sold the property, Mr. Rantz was identified with the agricultural development of that part of Lake county, where he improved a fertile tract of four hundred acres and also utilized one hundred and sixty acres of hill land for pasture. Since leaving the farm he has occupied a comfortable residence in Lakeport and has devoted himself to looking after his various interests. After casting his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, he continued to be an advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party and to vote for every Repub- lican presidential nominee up to the time of Woodrow Wilson, when he changed his vote to favor the Democratic candidate. Both he and his wife are deeply interested in the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church South at Lakeport, he being a member of the board of trustees, while Mrs. Rantz holds office as vice-president of the Home Missionary Society and is further a leading worker in the Ladies' Aid Society.
HENRY HAMILTON VAN NADER .- Descended from paternal and maternal ancestors who were identified with California from the early period of American occupancy, it is natural that Henry H. Van Nader should cherish the most ardent affection for his native commonwealth and should be devoted with especial fervor to Mendocino county, his birthplace and the center of his intelligent activities during mature years. Born in Potter valley June 1, 1868, he lived at various other places during boyhood and for six years worked on the ranch of J. E. Holladay, but in 1901 acquired the title to his present property situated in the valley below Ukiah. This prop- erty, formerly the T. F. Beatty ranch, comprises one hundred and twenty- three acres of fine land, a considerable portion of which is under profitable cul- tivation to hops, while the balance is devoted to alfalfa and grain. The owner is one of those practical, far-seeing farmers whose presence in Men- docino county proves helpful to the general development and whose identifica- tion with agriculture benefits both himself and his community. In the county of his birth his prestige as a farmer is firmly established, while his influence as a citizen is far-reaching in behalf of progressive measures and philan- thropic projects.
The Van Nader family was established in California by William P. Van Nader, a cooper by trade, whose birth occurred in Ohio in 1836 and who was a young man of twenty at the time he crossed the plains in 1856, hoping in the then unknown and undeveloped west to find opportunities greater than those offered in the east. At first he was employed to hew timber in the redwood forests near the Russian river in Sonoma county. The timber
H. H. Van Graden
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was made into lumber and utilized for. house-building. As early as 1858 he arrived in Potter valley, whither only a few. settlers had preceded him, and here he put up a. log cabin for a friend. At Pomo he built a small cabin and started the first store in the new hamlet. Later he took up.a claim of five hundred acres in the valley. Besides building a saw-mill near Pomo, he built and operated one in Summit valley, but eventually sold out to the government. Going to Santa Barbara county, he built the first stable and hotel at Santa Maria, which later came into prominence owing to the dis- covery of oil. When he had disposed of his interests at Santa Maria he removed- to San Luis Obispo and embarked in the livery business. Upon returning to Mendocino county he became wharf agent at Point Arena. Next he was employed as log foreman at the dam on the Garcia river, after which he- had charge of the camp at the north fork of the same river, working in the interests of Messrs. McClure & Arthur. On coming to the valley south of Ukiah he raised hops on shares, renting twenty acres for that purpose. Later he bought land near Ukiah and developed the farm on which his remain- ing years were passed in busy profitable service as an agriculturist.
The marriage of William P. Van Nader united him with Susan Hughes, who was born in Missouri and was brought across the plains at the age of one year. Four children were born of the union, namely : Henry H., Lulu (Mrs. Wilson), Herbert D. and Fred C. The mother has lived in Ukiah since the death of her husband. Her parents, John C. and Jane (Washburn) Hughes, natives of Missouri, crossed the plains in 1849 during the memorable season following the discovery of gold in California. . Like many of the first comers, Mr. Hughes tried his luck in the mines. However, a brief experience in Sacramento county proved so unsatisfactory that he relinquished mining and removed to Sonoma county, where he took up a claim near Sebastopol. While still in middle age, he passed from earth in 1857 and the following year the mother brought her children to the Redwood valley in Mendocino county, where for many years her sons carried on a ranch. Of the family there now survive Mrs. G. W. Brown, Mrs. Susan' Van Nader and George W. Hughes. Both the Hughes and Van Nader families possessed the sterling qualities indis- pensable to the true pioneer and their descendants in the present generation are proving true to the heritage of honesty and integrity and are adding to the family prestige through their own capable, industrious and intelligent business efforts.
JOSIAH JACKSON BRUTON .- The venerable "Judge" Bruton, as he is familiarly known, is one of the most popular and beloved residents of Lakeport. As pastor of the Christian Church in that town for sixteen years, and justice of the peace for a period of twenty years, in both capacities he has had special opportunities to see the needs of his community and serve it well, and his faithfulness to every trust has won him the love and esteem of so wide a circle that it would be difficult to say how far his influence is felt. Though now eighty-one years of age, he is frequently called upon to officiate at marriages and funerals, and on other occasions, because of the affectionate regard in which he is held, and the cheer and comfort he has carried into many homes will make his name a household word in Lake county for many years to come. Judge Bruton has led a busy and interesting life, and he has an interesting family history. The name was formerly spelled Brewton, and the family originated in Switzerland, being Huns and closely allied to
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the Donahugh tribe. From that country they were transplanted to England, where Philip Brewton, the great-grandfather of Josiah J. Bruton, was born. He came thence to America in Colonial days, settled and married in South Carolina, and had three sons, Philip, Jonas and David.
David Bruton, son of Philip, was born in South Carolina. His removal to Kentucky came about in this way: Richmond White lived in North Carolina, near the South Carolina line, and was a neighbor of the Brewtons. He had twin daughters, Mary and Grace, and when David Bruton was sixteen years old he fell in love with Mary, who was eighteen. The White family determined to move to Kentucky, and a day or two after they set out for their new home David started after them on horseback, and overtook them. When his father found he had gone he, too, set out to follow on horseback, and caught up with the party after several days' travel. At first he attempted to persuade his son to return to the parental roof, but the boy refused steadfastly and his father had to go back without him, first giving his blessing to the young couple, who were married and spent their honeymoon on the road to Kentucky. They settled in Montgomery county and became leading residents of their locality, David Bruton representing that county in the state legisla- ture and serving as sheriff of Madison county, Ky. It was he who changed the spelling of the name to Bruton. Of the children born to him and his wife three sons and three daughters lived to rear families of their own, viz .: Enoch, Kitty, Nancy, James, David and Sallie. As his grandson Josiah re- members him, David Bruton was about six feet, two inches in height, with black hair and dark eyes, very precise in speech and deliberate in action. Many of the Brutons have been tall, spare and dark-complexioned. Mrs. Mary (White) Bruton was a small, wiry woman, with dark hair and hazel eyes. She was noted for her energetic disposition and industrious habits, and when seventy years old could knit a pair of woolen socks between sunup and sunset.
James Bruton, father of Josiah Jackson Bruton, became a very prominent citizen in Montgomery county, Ky., where he was extensively engaged in farming, owning four hundred acres of as "fine land as ever lay out of doors." He was the leader of the Whig party in that county, which like his father he represented in the state legislature. He was a man of commanding presence, six feet, one inch tall. His wife, Susan (Jackson), of Kentucky, was a daughter of Francis Flournoy Jackson, who was born in Ireland in 1760 and came to the United States in early life. When a young man he settled at Bryant's Station in Fayette county, Ky., where he met and married Sarah Grant, by whom he had five sons and five daughters: Samuel married a Miss Mason ; Josiah married Miss Martin : Israel married Miss Lipscomb ; James T. married Miss Trible : William married Miss Laywell ; Edith married Enoch Bruton; Susan married James Bruton; Rebecca married David Bruton; Sarah married Willis Daniel; Amanda married George Robinson. The father of this family was a counterpart of "Old Hickory" in appearance and action. He was about six feet in height, very spare in huild, with light blue eyes and fair complexion. He always fought his way through. Though a great trader and successful in business, he was too generous to accumulate a fortune. He lived to the age of ninety-three years.
James Bruton lived to be fifty-five years old, his wife Susan to the age of fifty-eight. Thirteen children were born to them, three dying in infancy. The following grew to maturity : Mary Jane, Sally Ann, David, Francis,
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Jesse Enoch, Josiah Jackson, William J., Martha Susan, Rebecca G. and James Grant. All but two of this family married, and two still survive, Josiah Jackson and James Grant, the latter a resident of Centralia, Missouri.
Born October 28, 1833, in Montgomery county, Ky., Josiah Jackson Bruton spent his boyhood and youth there. His education was obtained in subscrip- tion schools, where he finished a course in mathematics and the sciences, and he read the first principles of law. During the summer he would assist his father on the plantation, pursuing his studies in the winter season. In 1853 the entire family moved to Missouri, servants and all, settling near Centralia. He married there in 1858, and subsequently farmed in Missouri on his own account, owning one hundred and sixty acres of fine land, which he sold when he decided to immigrate to the Pacific coast. Foreseeing the bloody times ahead, which he felt certain would arise out of the slavery question, he preferred to take his family away from the scene of trouble, and they started across the plains in 1861 with an ox-team, Mr. and Mrs. Bruton and their one child. In September of that year they settled in San Joaquin county, Cal., moving to Lake county in 1864 and settling two miles south of Lakeport. Mr. Bruton bought a tract of one hundred and sixty acres on which they con- tinued to reside for seventeen years, at the end of which time they moved into Lakeport, where he purchased his present home and a block of ground. His home has been in the town for thirty-two years.
In 1868 Mr. Bruton began to preach as a minister of the Christian Church. He was first set apart for the work by the church in Big valley, and he founded the church of this denomination at Lakeport, which he served as pastor for sixteen years, until he resigned, but his interest has never abated, and he has always been looked upon as the "balance wheel" of the organization. He is still acting as president of the official board, and is often called upon for ministerial services. Both as pastor and as justice of the peace he has been called upon to perform numerous marriage ceremonies, and it is said he has married more couples and preached more funeral sermons than any other man who has ever lived in Lake county. His wide acquaintance and personal popularity, because of his known integrity of character, have kept him busy performing offices for many who would be satisfied with no other clergy- man when it was possible for him to be present.
After giving up his ministerial duties Mr. Bruton turned to the law, which he had begun to study during his young manhood, and he was admitted to the bar in 1887, practicing in the superior court until about ten years ago. His mental activity and tenacity of purpose are well illustrated in this, for it is rare for a man of his years to enter a new line of work and pursue it so successfully. For twenty years he has served as justice of the peace in supervisorial district No. 4, of Lake county, having been repeatedly reelected. and he has also been honored by being chosen as supervisor of that district, holding the office for parts of two terms. Politically he is a Democrat. Con- sistent with his own high character, he has always had the interests of the county at heart, giving his influence and encouragement to any movement which had her advancement in view.
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