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 87
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 87
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117
J. A. NELSON .- Steadfast devotion to the welfare of Mendocino county and unwavering faith in the future progress of Fort Bragg were the prin- cipal factors entering into the identification of Mr. Nelson with the real- estate business, which he now follows as the head of the J. A. Nelson Realty Company, as a partner of C. V. Starr, a native son of this county. That this portion of the state faces a future of growing prosperity and continued devel- opment is his conviction, based upon a careful study of conditions, environ- ment and location. With this firm belief in his chosen location, it follows inevitably that he is well adapted to the real-estate business, and we find him at present handling the Gamble tract and the Sherwood villa tract in the east- ern part of Fort Bragg, also Little Valley sub-division, a tract of fifty-five hundred acres, which is divided into suitable farms for homeseekers.
The son of John A. Nelson, a native of Maine, who crossed the plains during the memorable decade of the '50s, J. A. Nelson was born in Sacra- mento, Cal., June 22, 1864, and for a time in boyhood attended the San Fran- cisco schools, the family having removed thither from the capital city. Later residence was established in Santa Clara and thence he went to Gilroy, where he first became connected with the railroad service. From a very humble position he gradually advanced until he was promoted to be a locomotive engineer on the Southern Pacific Railroad between San Francisco and Castro- ville. A later run had its terminus at Paso Robles. It was only by energy, intelligence and perseverance that he had been enabled to rise to a post of responsibility to the company. Efficiency was his motto and faithfulness his leading attribute. For a time he was employed by the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company, and his railroad service also took him into Washington and Idaho, so that he has a thorough knowledge of the great west. Eventually tiring of the hardships of railroad life, he resigned from the service and in 1892 came to Mendocino county.
For a number of years Mr. Nelson was employed in the filing of saws in a lumber mill at Greenwood. Next he secured a position in the Caspar sawmill, where he rose to be manager of the plant, filling the position for eleven years to the satisfaction of all concerned. April 18, 1906, he became a citizen of Fort Bragg, where for four years he engaged as a hardware merchant and since has carried on a real-estate business. He is well posted concerning values of property, not only in Fort Bragg, but also throughout the entire county, and his judgment is helpful to men considering investments in land. With characteristic quickness of decision he formulates opinions concerning any property put on the market and subsequent developments seldom cause any change in his sentiments, but usually confirm his original judgment. His family consists of a son, Rea, and Mrs. Nelson, formerly Miss Kate Dough- erty, of Greenwood, a native of Mendocino county and the daughter of a pioneer. Numerous fraternal organizations have received the benefit of his
833
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
co-operation and intelligent allegiance. Besides being prominent in the Wood- men of the World, he is past president and past inspector in Alder Glen Parlor No. 200, N. S. G. W., at Fort Bragg. Particularly has he been interested in Masonry. He was made a Mason in Mendocino Lodge No. 179, F. & A. M., which had his capable assistance, and he became master of that lodge, be- sides being past high priest of Mendocino Chapter No. 88, R. A. M., which he and C. J. Wood organized. He is also a well-known member of Ukiah Commandery No. 33, K. T. That small ranchers might obtain a ready market and higher prices for vegetables and berries and thus make their places produce a profitable income, Mr. Nelson saw the need of a local cannery and with this end in view he began talking about the project. The result was the farmers became interested, agreed to raise vegetables and berries, and a new cannery is now being built. Another important enterprise he is greatly interested in is the building of a large modern hotel for Fort Bragg, and plans are now being formulated for the erection of a splendid structure in the business center of Fort Bragg for that purpose. When the movement was first broached concerning an exhibition of Mendocino county products at the Portola and Land shows in San Francisco in 1913 he became a pro- moter of the worthy cause and has since given considerable attention, thought and time to the work, both as chairman of the publicity committee and as a co-worker in all departments contributing to its success.
DAVID BRANDON .- From the age of eighteen years Mr. Brandon has made his home in California. Prior to that he made his home in Lennox county, Ontario, Canada, where he was born in the town of Napanee, Decem- ber 15, 1856, the son of Matthew and Rose A. (Close) Brandon, both natives of Canada, where they carried on farming. David Brandon received a good education in the public schools of his native place. Upon coming to California in 1875 he found employment in Contra Costa county, but six months later he went to Cherokee, Butte county, where for six years he was employed in lumber camps. During the spring of 1881 he came to Mendocino county and settled at Ukiah, from which point as headquarters he entered the employ of the Mendocino Flume and Mining Company. While working for that concern he had charge of the erection of the large flume in the valley and superintended at Leonard's lake the building of trestle work one hundred and forty-nine feet above ground. The spring of 1882 found him at a logging camp near Westport on the coast, where he remained for four years. As an employe of the Noyo Lumber Company he worked at Noyo superintending the manu- facture of ties, and then came to Fort Bragg, where now he has a comfort- able home on Fir street. In 1889 he started to take contracts to furnish rail- road ties on his own account. The entire work was under personal super- vision, the selection of the timber, hewing of the trees, shaping of the logs and every detail of construction work up to the turning over of the material to the railroad company. He is still engaged in contracting to get out ties, and has contracts for seventy-five thousand ties thus far in 1914. In less than a year and a half, some years ago, he got out six hundred thousand ties.
He owned twenty-four acres on Brandon Hill which he laid out into resi- dence lots, himself building a splendid residence as a pattern, and the addition is today the finest residence portion of the city.
It might be expected of one so enterprising in road work, so keen in understanding the needs of good highways, so aggressive in his determina-
834
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
tion to secure first-class transportation for vehicles of every kind, that his service as supervisor would be helpful to that branch of county development, and such we find to be the case with Mr. Brandon, who served as supervisor from the fourth district during four years, 1908-12. Through his efforts the roads in the district were improved, and numerous bridges built. If the difficulties under which he had to work and the limited amount of money at his disposal for road purposes are taken into consideration there is, perhaps, no feature of Mendocino county more strikingly characteristic of its mountain roads than the stretches of highway such as may be found in the portion of the county surrounding Fort Bragg. The efforts of Mr. Brandon changed the entire character of the highways and have made them an important part in the development of the county. While the coming of a railroad to this section will be most important, it is to be questioned if such an enterprise will he of greater community value than has been the careful extension of the highways. Such a worthy work entitles Mr. Brandon to be numbered among the most progressive and helpful citizens of his district and in other ways also he has promoted the community well-being. In politics he has not been active, his efforts for civic upbuilding being made as a private citizen and not as a politician. By his marriage to Mary Dougherty, a native of Mendocino county, he has one son, Leo, now employed as a teller in the Commercial Bank of Fort Bragg, in which Mr. Brandon himself is interested as vice-president and a director, having been one of its organizers.
JOHN J. MORTON .- Though born in the city of Lancaster, England, John J. Morton, the editor and proprietor of the Lake County Bee, is never- theless of a truly American family. He is a son of Pierre Morton, who fought in the Confederate army and who was the author of the Morton Bonds. Pierre Morton was a member of the same family as the John Morton whose monument now decorates the graveyard near Philadelphia and whose name may be found attached to the Declaration of Independence.
John J. Morton first came to America when about eight years old, and returned to England at the age of thirteen. He is a graduate from Trinity College in the city of Dublin and also of the Canon Baggott classes of scien- tific agriculture in the same city. Taking up the study of medicine, he re- ceived a thorough foundation in that profession followed by an extensive hospital experience at Bartholomews and other clinics in London. He served two years as army surgeon under the Egyptian government in 1896-7, under the title of "Morton Bey". He was present at the battle of Omdurrmann, which overthrew the Kaliliffa army, and witnessed the surrender of the French fort of Fashoda and the pulling down of the French flag there. In 1898 he returned to America and the next summer proceeded with a number of mining people to South Africa. There he was forced to remain during the siege of Ladysmith and was twice seriously wounded. He was trans- ported back to England on the hospital ship Princess May and then returned to his home in America, in the year 1900, since which time he has been engaged mainly in literary and scientific work, though he served as medical expert in Venezuela for some six months. Returning from there to Miami, Fla., he took up the literary and development work already begun under the interest of H. M. Flagler, the builder of the East Coast Railway in Florida. He has also visited in Mexico, where he was connected with English interests.
835
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Mr. Morton has been variously engaged in literary and newspaper work in San Francisco. In conjunction with other railroad men he published the Railroad & Steamship Directory in 1906-7, which was probably the most comprehensive directory of its kind ever published in the west. After the earthquake of 1906 and the panic of 1907 he resumed his editorial work in the south until in 1912, when he came to Lakeport. In October, 1913, he took over the Lake County Bee, the pioneer newspaper of Lake County and the paper which gave to that county the peculiar cognomen of The Valley of the Moon. On January 22, 1914, appeared the first number of the Bee under Mr. Morton's proprietorship, in which is clearly laid out the aims and policies of the paper.
Mr. Morton was married to Miss Dixie Lee Woods, the accomplished daughter of Dr. H. B. Woods, well known as an ex-Confederate soldier.
LAURISTON A. MORGAN .- Very early in the history of the Ameri- can colonization of California there came to the state a gentleman from Connecticut, John A. Morgan by name, whose subsequent activities identified him with the lumbering and milling interests of Mendocino county, then in the zenith of their activity. Capt. John Morgan, as he was called, first ran a schooner on the river between San Francisco and Sacramento, making his home in the latter city. Afterwards he lived in San Francisco and ran ves- sels to Noyo river. On giving up the transportation business he resided for a few years at Noyo (where he was engaged as mill superintendent), then at Bear Harbor, afterwards at Mendocino, and later removed to Wil- lits, where he purchased the flour mill which he conducted for some years. He and his wife, Eunice (Avery) Morgan, also a native of Groton, Conn., both died at Willits. The birth of their son, the late Lauriston A. Morgan, occurred in Groton, Conn., April 10, 1846, and he came to California with his mother in 1852, his education being obtained in the schools of San Fran- cisco and Sacramento, but he availed himself of these to their utmost and became a well-informed man, qualified for identification with important af- fairs. During early life he became familiar with the logging camps and the hewing of the great redwood timber. In addition he learned every detail of the saw-milling industry. When seventeen years of age he came to Noyo, Men- docino county, and after coming to the city of Mendocino he was postmaster and merchant for some time. He was also superintendent of shipping for the Mendocino Lumber Company for four years, then became cashier of the Dis- count Bank, a position which he held until his death in 1899. The only fra- ternal organization of which he was a member, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, numbered him among its prominent local workers and officers for many years.
Surviving Mr. Morgan are his widow, Catherine (Denslow) Morgan, and an only son, Charles Lauriston. The latter, a skilled musician, went to the Philippines as a member of the First California regimental band and later spent five years in Washington, D. C., as a member of the Marine band. He was married to Miss Emma Lohr of Washington, and they reside in Stockton. Mrs. Morgan was a native of Rainbow, Conn., and a daughter of Charles W. Denslow, who was born at Granby, Conn., and died in Mendocino county, Cal., in 1890. As early as 1866 the family became residents of Cali- fornia. While living in the east Mr. Denslow had been connected with a plant for the manufacturing of machinery and on his arrival at the coast he 39
836
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
secured employment with the Mendocino Lumber Company. Throughout the balance of his life he continued with the same concern, filling various posi- tions up to and including that of manager. Meanwhile he had erected and sold a number of cottages in the town. In other ways he had promoted the upbuilding of the place. Movements for the benefit of the community had received his endorsement and he was particularly interested in religious affairs, having long been an earnest member of the Presbyterian denomina- tion and a generous contributor to church and charitable projects. The mother of Mrs. Morgan was Miss Martha Harmon, a native of Suffield, Conn., who passed away in that state. Mrs. Morgan is also an active member of the Presbyterian church, and of the Far West Rebekah Lodge.
WILLIAM WILLIAMSON .- Stock-raising and more recently dairying have formed the principal occupations of Mr. Williamson and by throwing into their pursuit his energies as well as sagacious supervision he has risen to a position of influence among the farmers of Mendocino county, his lifelong home and the center of his present increasing enterprises. The first representative of the Williamson family in California was Lindley Williamson, born in Pennsylvania, who crossed the plains to California at the time of the gold excitement, afterwards making several trips overland bringing cattle to the Sacramento valley. He became a pioneer of Round valley, where he was a stockman, and where he married Mary J. Lightfoot, a native of London, Canada.
As a boy William Williamson lived on the ranch at the east end of Round valley, where he was born September 4, 1873, and where he learned the details connected with the raising of hogs, cattle and horses. Carefully trained to a knowledge of stock-raising, he was well qualified to embark in the undertaking with hope of success and after the death of his father he succeeded to the management of the old homestead, comprising four hundred and fifty acres of valley land. With practical intelligence and great energy he managed the property up to the death of his mother in 1903, clearing it of a heavy indebted- ness contracted in the lifetime of his father, after which the estate was divided among the four children. Since then he has owned and operated one hundred and sixty acres left to him by his mother and well adapted to the stock industry and the dairy business.
Careful study of the dairy business convinced Mr. Williamson that his land was well adapted to that purpose, and accordingly in 1912 he embarked in the industry. While only a brief period has elapsed since he bought his herd of milch cows and established the business, already the results are prov- ing satisfactory and it is believed that continuing prosperity awaits his efforts in this direction. In order to have every facility for modern, sanitary dairying. he recently erected a large and substantial dairy barn, equipped with the latest conveniences and said to be the most complete of its kind in Round valley. After settling the estate he took a homestead in Trinity county, and purchasing some adjoining land he engaged in stock raising for five years. Though he has since sold this ranch he still has cattle running in that section, his brand being 88, which he established in 1888. Although he is still in the prime of life, already his success has been noteworthy. Thrift and industry have given him prestige among other farmers. Through unceasing labor lie has risen to rank among the progressive, prosperous farmers of the valley. So closely has his attention been given to farming that, aside from voting the
837
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
Democratic ticket, he has had no leisure for politics, nor has he identified himself with any fraternity with the exception of the Masonic Order. His family consists of his son, Joseph William, and Mrs. Williamson, whom he married September 19, 1910, and who was formerly Miss Edna May Morgan. She was born near Salem, Ore., but was a resident of Round valley several years before her marriage.
JOHN J. STAHELI .- A resident of Lake county for nine years only, since 1905, John J. Staheli is a comparative newcomer, but his energetic dis- position has carried him so far forward during that period that he has become known through his achievements for the county as well as for himself. Be- sides taking advantage of the magnificent possibilities offered in the cultivation of the land, he has gone a step beyond, carrying on the preparation of food stuffs for the market at the source of supply, and keeping the income from the operations involved in the locality, to enrich its resources further. Soon after his arrival here Mr. Staheli evolved the idea of drying fruits for the market in the vicinity where they were produced, a proceeding which operates for good in both directions, the farmer being sure of a market for his crops inde- pendent of uncertain transportation, and the business man being enabled to rely upon having first-class products accessible at the proper time. To say that Mr. Staheli carries a payroll of $4000 monthly during the season, and that last year he did a business amounting to $75,000, conveys some idea of the wealth he is helping to keep within the county. The headway he has made since entering this line is the more remarkable since he had no previous expe- rience in agricultural work. However, his familiarity with the grocery trade had brought him into touch with market conditions and standards of quality which have proved as valuable as the numerous other phases of the business he has since mastered.
Mr. Staheli is a native of St. Gall, Switzerland, and his father, John Staheli, was engaged in the typical business of the place, as a manufacturer of embroideries at St. Gall, living and dying in Switzerland. He attained the age of sixty-four years. The mother, whose maiden name was Bertha Braendli, is now seventy-five years old, and in the enjoyment of fine health. She makes her home with her son John in Lake county. Of her four children three grew to maturity : John J .; Emil, a farmer, living at Corning, Cal. ; and Ernest, who died in Dubuque, Iowa. The latter was married and had five children.
John J. Staheli spent the earlier years of his business career in handling embroideries and laces. Born October 25, 1863, he lived in Switzerland until eighteen years old, meanwhile serving an apprenticeship in a wholesale em- broidery house at St. Gall. Later he went to Paris, France, and for twelve years continued in the same line, in the employ of American importers of laces and embroideries, for six years with Goldenburg Brothers & Company, the following six years with Van Burger & Company (both of New York City), in their buying offices in Paris. Soon after his marriage he came to America and settled in Dubuque, Iowa, where his two brothers were engaged in the retail grocery business. Buying out one of the brothers, he carried on the store in partnership with the other for twelve years. At the end of that time they sold their interests in Dubuque and came to Corning. Cal., John Staheli living there for six months. Thence, in 1905, he came to Kelseyville, Lake county, and invested in the one hundred and fifty acres just south of
838
MENDOCINO AND LAKE COUNTIES
that town which he has since cultivated. Over a third of his land is set out in fruit, fifteen acres in Bartlett pears, twenty acres in French prunes and twenty acres in grapes. Zinfandels. He has thirty acres in grain. In 1908 he commenced the drying of fruits, in which he has become so extensively interested that he not only uses all his own crops but those of a number of other fruit growers in the locality. Seventy-five tons of pears and probably fifty tons of prunes constitute his average yearly production of dried fruits, which he disposes of to the wholesale grocery trade. During the season he also packs and ships fresh pears and peaches, which go to the eastern mar- kets in carload lots. Three years ago, when he did a business which ran up to $60,000, he bought practically all the pears raised in the county, besides fifty tons of prunes, and he employed nearly one hundred people, many of them women, his payroll reaching $4000 monthly. In addition to this were his expenses for freight and teaming. His equipment for evaporating fruit, principally pears, is up-to-date and sanitary in every particular. He has a winery to take care of the abundance of grapes he raises. All of this has meant expenditure as well as profit for Mr. Staheli. His farm has been well improved and conducted in the most systematic manner, and the expense of developing this property, with orchards, vineyards, winery and evaporating plant, has averaged $3000 a year. Mr. Staheli's remarkable judgment and no less remarkable industry are happily combined with executive and financial ability which enables him to realize on every possibility. His old-world train- ing and experience have proved a solid foundation for the daring and enter- prise characteristic of his adopted country which he seems to have assimi- lated so readily, and his fellow citizens in Lake county are willing to concede that few have done as much to carry its reputation out into the business world. Personally he is respected and popular, and has entered heartily into the life of the community where he has established his home. For eight years he has served as clerk of the Rincon school district, and he is a member of the Demo- cratic county central committee. He is one of the directors of the Lake County Telephone Company.
While engaged at Paris, France, Mr. Staheli returned to Switzerland to marry a girl from his old home, Amelia Baumann, of Zug. They have had four children : Bertha, a graduate of the San Jose State normal school, class of 1914, she completing the course in the Union high school at Lakeport and is now teaching in the home district; Marie graduated from the Union high school at Lakeport. class of 1914; John and Matilda complete the family.
LOUIS FINNE .- The careful, economical training of a humble home in Germany proved of inestimable value to Mr. Finne when, having started out to make his own way in the world, he crossed the ocean to America and began for himself among strangers, without money, and with nothing to aid him except an expert knowledge of carpentering. It had not been possible for him to secure thorough educational training, although, in common with the custom of the country, he had been sent to the local schools until fourteen years of age. Born in Bertrich, Rhenish Prussia, March 26, 1846, it was about 1860 when he left school to take up occupative work. Besides serving an apprenticeship of three years to the trade of carpenter he also devoted considerable time to assisting his father on the home farm, and it was not until 1870 that he had saved an amount sufficient to pay the expenses of the voyage to the new world. Arriving in Chicago, he found day work as a carpenter and
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.