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 83
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 83
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On the home farmn at West Acton, Mass., Eri Huggins was reared and educated, attending the public schools there until he was about fourteen years old. The fact that his elder brothers had enlisted in the war set fire to his ambition to emulate their example, and he therefore left school and offered his services at the nearest recruiting station, in March, 1862. Natu- rally, on account of his age, his offer was rejected, but this did not in the least dampen his ardor, and in the hope of finding an opening elsewhere he went to Washington, crossing the long bridge and demanded that he be enlisted in Company B. Second Wisconsin Infantry, known as the Iron Brigade, and on April 1, 1862, his name was placed on the muster roll as a private in that company. His active service covered a period of three years and twenty-four days, and included action in nineteen battles and numerous engagements, among them second battle of Bull Run, Gainesville, Va., South Mountain, Antietam, Fitzhugh's Crossing, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Mine Run, as well as the Wilderness campaign. After the long siege of Petersburg activities ceased through the surrender of General Lee.
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At Black and White Station, Va., he was mustered out April 24, 1865, and after receiving his honorable discharge he returned to Massachusetts but he soon removed to Wisconsin, and in Janesville found employment in an uncle's store. The experience was very beneficial and the proceeds enabled him to enter commercial college and in a measure make up for his break in his grammar school work caused by his army service. After the completion of the college course he went to Chicago, Ill., where he was employed two years as a clerk. In 1870 he went to St. Louis, where he became connected with a wholesale house as a traveling salesman. His territory covered the states of Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Nebraska, Iowa and Indian Territory. His acquaintance with California began in 1883, when he came to San Fran- cisco, and being pleased with the outlook determined to remain permanently in the west. An opening as traveling salesman with an implement house presented itself and for three years he continued in the employ of this house. It was at this time, 1886, that he came to Fort Bragg, the town at that time being little more than a hamlet. With a keen foresight Mr. Huggins saw the future possibilities of the growing town and determined to remain and not only profit financially by its business advantages, but also give a helping hand in its growth and upbuilding. For a time he was manager of the Fort Bragg Redwood Company's store, then a small concern, which has since been taken over by the Union Lumber Company, and is now a business of large proportions. He was assistant postmaster for a few months, or until he received the appointment of postmaster in 1887. In 1890 he resigned his position with the lumber company to engage in the merchandise business on his own account, his store being on the corner of Main and Laurel streets. The post office was then located in his store, besides which he was also agent for the Wells Fargo Express Company. In 1894 he gave up the position as postmaster and devoted his entire attention to his mercantile business until 1896, when he sold the business and engaged in the writing of insurance until he was once more appointed postmaster, in 1898, a position which he has filled continuously ever since. Altogether he has been in the employ of Uncle Sam as postmaster for twenty-four years.
Since coming to Fort Bragg Mr. Huggins has erected a comfortable home on Franklin street, which is presided over by his wife, whom he married in San Francisco February 28, 1889, and who was in maidenhood Miss Harriet Wilson. She was born in Ticonderoga, N. Y., the daughter of Hiram and Isabelle (Wright) Wilson, both of New York. Mr. Wilson was at one time a lumber manufacturer in the east and later was engaged in the mercantile business. Mrs. Huggins was a graduate of Ticonderoga Academy and prior to her marriage followed the teacher's profession. For a term Mr. Huggins was president of the board of trustees of the city, was president and a director of the Fort Bragg Building and Loan Association, and was one of the first school trustees of the town. He was initiated into Masonry in St. Joseph, Mo., and is a charter member of Fort Bragg Lodge No. 361, F. & A. M., and is also a member of Mendocino Chapter No. 88, R. A. M. He is also identi- fied with Missionary Ridge Post No. 156, G. A. R., at Fort Bragg, of which he is post commander. In the duties of postmaster Mr. Huggins has a valued assistant in his wife, whose appointment to the office has covered a period of twelve years. She is a member of Sapphire Chapter No. 260, O. E. S., of
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which she is past matron. Both Mr. and Mrs. Huggins are communicants of the Episcopal Church, and both lean to Republican principles in their political inclinations.
PERCY W. HANDY .- A lifelong resident of California, born near Georgetown, Eldorado county, June 26, 1867, and from earliest memories associated with the then frontier environment of Mendocino county, Mr. Handy is familiar with agricultural and commercial conditions in this portion of the state. Particularly has it been his privilege to study titles and records, and his intelligent grasp of every department of conveyancing enables him now to render most efficient service as a partner in the firm of Connolly & Handy, owners of the Ukiah Guarantee Abstract and Title Company. Under the present able management the business has increased. Although the partnership is recent, dating from 1912, already the firm has established a place of its own in the business life of city and county, and a continued development may be predicted for the future.
When about three years of age Percy W. Handy was brought to Mendo- cino county by his parents. The sketch of his father, Philo Handy, will be found elsewhere in this volume. When ready to enter school he was sent to the country school in Round valley. Later he had the privilege of attend- ing the high school at Santa Clara, this state, and still later he was a student in the San Jose Business College. Upon returning to Mendocino county he engaged as a bookkeeper in a general store at Covelo. Coming to Ukiah in 1899 he entered into partnership with Messrs. Smith and Donohoe, under the name of Smith, Donohoe & Co., in the abstract and title business in all of its details. For six years he was identified with the business and when it was sold to Mr. Anderson he continued with the new owner for two years. During 1908 he was appointed deputy postmaster of Ukiah and for three years he held a clerical position in that office, but since 1912 he has devoted himself exclusively to the abstract business in partnership with P. Connolly. In early life he was engaged in the cattle business in the Round valley, having his brother Fred as a partner, but since coming to Ukiah he has relinquished his ranch interests. By his marriage to Miss Alice Rea, a native of Mendocino county, he has two children, Dorothy and Marion. Mrs. Handy is the daughter of Joseph N. Rea, the cashier of the Mendocino Bank of Commerce of Mendocino. Fraternally Mr. Handy was made a Mason in Abell Lodge No. 146, F. & A. M., is a member of Ukiah Chapter No. 53, R. A. M., and also of the Maccabees.
PHILO HANDY .- The veteran of the Civil war and pioneer of Mendo- cino county whose name introduces this article claims Ohio as his native commonwealth. Born in Lake county December 3, 1841, his early life passed uneventfully at the old Ohio homestead and nothing of especial interest individualized his history until the opening of the Civil war, when he went to the front as a private in the Union army. Being in Illinois at the time, April, 1861, he enlisted in Company D, Fifteenth Illinois Infantry, and with this regiment he endured all the perils of war and the discomforts of camp life and forced marches. He was first wounded at the battle of Shiloh in 1862 and was seriously wounded in the battle of Hatchie River, Tenn., in 1863. Finally physical disability obliged him to accept an honorable discharge from the army. After he had regained his health he came to California in 1864. For a time he made his home in Eldorado county, where he engaged in the lumber business for four years, after which he engaged in fruit growing in
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Santa Clara county. About 1869 he became a pioneer stock-raiser in Round valley, where in time he established a large flock of sheep.
With all of his activities Mr. Handy has found time to take a prominent part in local affairs. For a number of years he served as superintendent of the Round Valley Indian reservation. During 1887 he was elected assemblyman to the California state legislature and his service proved helpful to the district. The discovery of gold in the Klondike allured him to Alaska in 1897, after which he remained for a considerable period around or in Dawson, returning to Mendocino county in 1901. The year after his return to Ukiah he was appointed postmaster and filled the position with the greatest efficiency, for two terms, since which time he has been retained as assistant postmaster. As under-sheriff he gave the county capable service for some years, nor was he less capable and trustworthy in the capacity of deputy United States marshal. For years he has been connected actively with the Grand Army of the Republic and the Masons. His family comprises five children, namely : Fred Steward, at the Mendocino State Hospital; Percy W., abstractor, of Ukiah; Ada, Mrs. Ernest Wheeler, of Porto Rico; Florence, of San Fran- cisco; and Hazel, Mrs. Melone, of Santa Rosa.
OTTO HENNING SEAHOLM .- No better citizens can be found any- where than those contributed by the Scandinavian peninsula, and Mendocino county has been fortunate in this regard, for a considerable number of the population here are natives of that section of Europe. Mr. Seaholm was born in Ovedskloster, Malmohuslan, Sweden, January 10, 1868, the son of William and Magdalena (Anderson) Seaholm. The father, who was super- intendent of large lumber interests in his home town in Sweden, died there in 1908, and his wife is still living in Linkopingen at the age of eighty-one years. Seven children were born to these parents, and six of them are living. The fourth in order of birth in the family was Otto H., who was given good school advantages, not only attending the grammar school near his home, but also graduating from the high school in Lund. It had been his intention to prepare for the medical profession and he had made some headway in his studies along this line, but finally abandoned the idea and instead turned his attention to military affairs, altogether serving four years in the Swedish army in the Light Horse Artillery. At the end of this time he was honorably discharged as a non-commissioned officer.
Following his army experience Mr. Seaholm set out for America in 1893, landing at Ontario, Canada, where he passed one year, having secured employ- ment as a traveling salesman. The next year he went to Chicago, Ill., there being interested in the insurance business as the representative of the New York Life Insurance Company. One year in the middle west sufficed, how- ever, and in the year 1895 we find Mr. Seaholm in San Francisco, where for three years he was employed as bookkeeper and accountant for Schutz Park, after which he was inspector with the Equitable Gas Company for two years. He then opened a store for the sale of Welsbach lights, an undertaking that he conducted successfully for two years. Disposing of his interests in San Francisco at the end of that time he came to Fort Bragg in 1902, since which time he has been interested in the lumber business in the employ of the Union Lumber Company. First employed in the mills and later in the yards, in 1907 he became steward and was given charge of the commissary department for all of the lumber and railroad camps for the company, a position for which he has proved himself fully capable.
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In San Francisco Mr. Seaholm was married to Miss Nanna Berglund, who like himself is a native of Sweden. Three children were born of this marriage, Lillian, Olga and William, and the family make their home on Brandon way, the residence having been erected by Mr. Seaholm. Since coming to this city Mr. Seaholm was made a Mason in Fort Bragg Lodge No. 361, F. & A. M., of which he served as master in 1910. He also belongs to the Woodmen of the World. In the Presbyterian Church, of which he is a member, he serves as an elder, and as a strong temperance advocate his voice is often heard in protest against the use and sale of intoxicating liquors. Progressive and enterprising, Mr. Seaholm is interested in everything that tends to uplift and benefit his fellow-citizens, and all respect him for his splendid example as a substantial citizen.
EUGENE W. ROSE .- A brief review of the various interests which Mr. Rose handles so successfully would be enough to prove that he has the energetic temperament from which much may be expected. More complete knowledge of the numerous branches of business in which his activity has found an outlet show that he is the kind of man who "does things," attending thoroughly to all his enterprises, which give evidence in their thriving con- dition of his able management and unremitting care. He is a resident of Lower Lake, and his ranch and stock interests are in that section of Lake county. The well known Palmer ranch of eight hundred acres, at the head of Morgan valley, is the principal property operated by him, though the total acreage under his care is over twice that much, including as it does his own tract of one hundred and sixty acres, his wife's ranch of two hundred acres, and a tract of six hundred and forty acres which he rents from Mr. Getz. Mrs. Rose owns a quarter interest in the Palmer ranch.
Mr. Rose is a native son, born August 8, 1864, in Napa county, where his parents settled early in the '50s. John R. Rose, his father, was born in the state of Kentucky, and his mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Franklin, was a native of Missouri, and they were married in the latter state. It was not long afterward that the young couple came overland to California to try their fortune in the land of golden promise, and they made the long trip by ox team. They made their home in Napa county, where their large family of children, three sons and six daughters, was born, and there they continued to reside until the year 1886, when they moved north into Lake county. The mother still survives, at the age of seventy-eight years, making her home in Lower Lake.
Napa county was Eugene W. Rose's home throughout his youth and early manhood, and he has been familiar with the stock business all his life, having been trained to the work from boyhood. Farming and teaming, in fact any kind of honorable occupation, also widened his early experiences, all of which he has found valuable in the various undertakings of his mature years. He moved with the family to Lake county in 1886 and has resided here continuously since, and he established his home in Lower Lake eleven years ago. His interests have expanded steadily, and he has proved himself capable of keeping them well in hand, managing the eighteen hundred acres under his supervision with skill and understanding. He is quite extensively engaged in the cattle business, keeping fifty head of stock, and for the last few years has been buying stock for the Simpson Brothers, of Calistoga, Cal., in his native county. Carrying on agricultural operations on an extensive scale, he also combines teaming with his other activities, making the different
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branches of his business work together profitably and to their common ad- vantage. Straightforward and without pretense, he is a man who wins confi- dence and retains it, and his dealings in all the relations of life have been such as to gain him a high place in the regard of all who have known him. He is a member of Lower Lake Parlor No. 159, N. S. G. W., and has been honored with election to the presidency of that body. Without taking any active part in politics he has maintained an interest in the success of the Democratic party, which he supports at the polls.
Mrs. Rose belongs to one of the old pioneer families of the Morgan valley, her father, Jasper V. Palmer, having settled there in 1870. At that time he had been a resident of California for a number of years. He was a native of Steuben county, New York, born September 29, 1836, and lived in Illinois before he came out to California, making the trip in 1854 in a "prairie schooner." He arrived here in October. Mr. Palmer made a trip back to his old home in Illinois in 1860, again crossing the plains. In the year 1870 he settled in Lake county, upon the beautifully located and well watered tract of eight hundred acres now widely known as a fertile and valuable property, and upon which he made many improvements during his industrious life. All of this estate is still owned by his heirs. There is a watering trough in front of the house to which the supply is piped from a never-failing spring of soft pure water near by, and this has been a favorite watering place for travelers through Morgan valley for years, being quite famous in the locality. On October 22, 1859, Mr. Palmer married Deborah Wing, like himself from New York state, and of the six children born to them Eddie and Jasper are deceased. The survivors are Carrie, Alice, Frances and Nettie. The father died in 1909, aged seventy-four: the mother December 13, 1897, at the age of sixty-four.
Mr. Rose married Nettie Palmer in Lakeport October 8, 1894, and their only child, Deborah, is now the wife of Craig Knauer, of Lower Lake, the proprietor of a garage in that town ; Mr. and Mrs. Knaner have two children, Cleta and Harvey Eugene. Mrs. Rose is a member of Laguna Parlor, N. D. G. W.
BENJAMIN DEWELL .- The first settlement at what is now Upper Lake, Lake county, was made by Benjamin Dewell and his wife, and the latter still survives to tell the tale of their early struggles and triumphs. Mr. and Mrs. Dewell were the first permanent white settlers in Lake county, and they had been in California a number of years prior to their removal hither, having come from Missouri in the same train across the plains in 1845. The story of that emigration and of the experiences of the party during the sub- sequent troubles arising out of the Mexican war situation is related in the sketch of Mrs. Celia H. Dewell, widow of Benjamin Dewell.
The late Benjamin Dewell was born October 27, 1823, in Ohio, and moved to Indiana with his parents in 1840, residing there until he came out to Cali- fornia in 1845. He crossed the plains with quite a large company, which included Mr. and Mrs. William Bell Elliott and their family, one of the daughters being Celia H. Elliott, whom Mr. Dewell married a few years later. Arriving in the Napa valley in October, 1845, Mr. Dewell spent the succeeding winter near where Calistoga is now located, and in the spring of 1846 went to Sonoma. He was one of the famous "Bear Flag party" which made and raised the "Bear Flag" at Old Sonoma June 14, 1846, his mother- in-law, Mrs. Elliott, furnishing part of the cloth from which the flag was
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made. After that incident Mr. Dewell was one of those who joined Fre- mont's command, and in the fall of 1846 they were ordered to the southern part of the state. Upon their arrival at Los Angeles they found a treaty had been entered into and the war was over, Mr. Dewell returning to Sonoma. In the spring of 1847 he settled in the Guilicos valley, where he followed farming and stock raising until his removal to Lake county, in May, 1854. Meantime, on May 5, 1850, he was married at Santa Rosa to Celia H. Elliott, and they journeyed to their new home with about twenty-two head of horses and one hundred cattle. At that time they had no definite plans about mak- ing a permanent location. They made their home on a tract of one hundred and sixty acres just north of the present village of Upper Lake, and their children still own part of this property, Samuel M. Dewell having ten acres of it and his sister Lottie fifty acres, while ninety more belong to Mrs. Dewell, who resides there. On this place Benjamin Dewell passed the remainder of his long life, following farming and stock raising until his retirement. His death occurred in 1903. In 1870 a piece of the land was sold to Mr. McCray -not part of Mr. Dewell's original one hundred and sixty acres, but some which he had purchased subsequently-on which the village of Upper Lake was platted. Though he had no desire for the influence and prominence of political position, Mr. Dewell took a very active part in laying the foundations of local government on a good basis and in securing for the community all proper advantages, encouraged progressive movements of all kinds, and gave an impetus to all local affairs of importance which will continue to be felt for many years. Personally he was well liked, his quick sympathy and broad- mindedness winning the confidence of all with whom he came in contact. Though he and his wife were never church members they helped to build all the churches in Upper Lake and could be counted upon to aid all other good works.
We have the following record of the eleven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Dewell: Sarah and Jane died in infancy; Samuel Madison is mentioned in the following sketch; Orlena, wife of Samuel Jones, a farmer of Clover creek, Lake county, has three children, Benjamin, Celia and Ruby ; Luella, twin of Orlena, is the wife of Frank McClure, a resident of Lake county, and has one child, Elmer; Elmer E., lives at home; May became the wife of Herbert Carter, a rancher near Upper Lake, on the Bartlett Springs road. and died leaving two children, Alton and Wells, both of whom reside with their grandmother, Mrs. Celia H. Dewell; Lottie, lives at home; John K., is now engaged in operating the ranch for his mother; Charles W., a carpenter and builder, residing at Kelseyville, Lake county, married Miss Grace Thompson, of Big valley, and has one child, Benjamin; and Irene, also lives at home.
SAMUEL MADISON DEWELL .- The eldest son of Benjamin Dewell, our subject was born October 19, 1857, on the old Dewell homestead place, which adjoins his present property. He grew up there, and obtained his education in the local public schools. As there was plenty of work at home he began early, plowing and driving when a mere boy, and learning the details of farming so that he was a real help to his father. When twenty years old he began to run sheep for himself on Snow mountain, and did very well, having a drove of three hundred. After four years there he sold out and went up to Washington territory, where he remained one winter, on his return making his first purchase of land, ten acres of his father's original
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tract. Since then he has added to it until he now owns one hundred and ten acres, located in the West Upper Lake precinct, which he devotes to general farming, fruit growing and stock raising, combining the various branches of agriculture very profitably. For some time he was engaged in the dairy business, in which he met with notable success, but after getting his land paid for he returned to the sheep business, and he now has four hundred head of grade Shropshires. He is improving his flock steadily, and intends to get full-blooded Shropshires. Mr. Dewell has a high reputation, not only for honor in all his business relations, but also for those sterling personal qualities which have come to be considered synonymous with the name he bears. His work and worth entitle him to the highest respect. While his time has been given mainly to business, and he has taken no direct part in public affairs, his support and sympathy long went to the Republican party ; he is now a Socialist in his ideas, and like his honored parents he gives his influence and aid to every beneficial movement set on foot in his community. The present Mrs. Dewell bore the maiden name of Margaret Gillespie. A native of Humboldt county, Cal., she is a woman of intelligence and fine character, a competent housekeeper, and has assisted her husband materially in the conduct of his affairs. By a former marriage to Miss Ida Richardson, Mr. Dewell has a daughter, Elizabeth, who is now the wife of Carroll Dimmick, of Oakland.
FRANK FREDERICK AULIN .- A native of California and of Mendo- cino county, where he has spent his entire life, Frank Frederick Aulin is today one of the splendid young business men of this county, and in Fort Bragg, where he makes his home, and where he has been known from his early childhood, he is accredited as one of the most reliable and trustworthy of men. He is descended from one of the old pioneer families of the state, and his father before him was highly esteemed and respected in Fort Bragg. where he was in business for many years.
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