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 88
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 88
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three months after his arrival in the United States he took the first steps toward securing naturalization papers, giving notice of his desire to become a citizen. After a year in Chicago he moved to Wisconsin and not only fol- lowed the trade of carpenter as before, but in addition bought a tract of raw land and engaged in general farming. In Chicago he married Miss Maggie Kelch, a native of Coblentz, Germany, and they are the parents of six children, as follows: William, working with his father; Mary, Mrs. Schranger, of Washington; John, also of Washington; Tillie, Mrs. Banneman, residing with her father; Martha, Mrs. Schippes, of Lake county ; and Fred, who is at home.
Upon disposing of his property in Wisconsin and removing to the west, in May, 1876, Mr. Finne settled in Mendocino county, where he has since made his home one and one-half miles north of Calpella on the Willits road. By pre-emption he secured a claim to one hundred and forty-seven acres of unimproved land. The first task, that of clearing the land, entailed much hard work and would have discouraged a man of less energy than Mr. Finne, who since the completion of that arduous labor has fenced the tract, put up buildings and made improvements. As early as 1879 he planted the first grape vines. During 1881 he set out sixteen acres and by subsequent increase he now has a vineyard of fifty acres. Through all the period of his residence on the farm he has engaged in the manufacture of wine. During the first year he was obliged to buy grapes for that purpose, but since then he has had a limit of wine production in the output of his own vines. The winery is said to be the oldest in the county in continuous operation and the product has an established reputation on the coast, so that sales are made at the highest market prices. The care of the farm and the supervision of the winery leave Mr. Finne little leisure for participation in public affairs and he takes no part in politics aside from voting the Republican ticket at general elections. How- ever, he is heartily in favor of any movement for the benefit of the com- munity and is truly loyal to the welfare of his adopted country.
BANK OF WILLITS .- Incorporation under the laws of the state of California gave existence to the Bank of Willits, which dates the beginnings of its history from April 11, 1904, and the opening of its doors for business from the 2d of May following. The original board of directors included the following gentlemen : P. N. Lilienthal, president ; W. A. S. Foster, vice-presi- dent ; W. H. Baechtel, cashier; A. J. Fairbanks, Gordon Baechtel, Luther Redemeyer, J. S. Rohrbough and P. I. Lancaster. A decision was made Jan- uary 20, 1912, to reduce the number of directors from seven to five. From the first the bank has made a steady growth in strength and profits. During the decade of its existence it has lost less than $200 in bad notes, a record little short of remarkable when the large volume of its business is taken into consideration.
The headquarters of the institution continued to be in rented property on the north side of Commercial street near Main until October, 1911, when the business was moved into the new home of the bank on the southeast corner of Commercial and Main streets. The handsome building erected for a home to the bank has been provided with a very modern equipment and sub- stantial conveniences that compare favorably with the appurtenances of a city institution, and those interested in its welfare have felt the greatest gratification at its steadfast hold upon the commercial element of the com-
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munity. Since the inception of the concern various changes have been made in the personnel of the staff and the directorate now comprises the following gentlemen : W. A. S. Foster, president ; J. W. Lilienthal, vice-president ; W. H. Baechtel, cashier; A. J. Fairbanks and P. I. Lancaster. H. M. Burke serves as assistant cashier and Mrs. Verna Corbett is the clerk. The policy of the bank is prudent and conservative as is evidenced by the adding of profits to the surplus, thereby increasing the financial strength of the concern. The financial condition of the bank at the close of business, August 15, 1913, ap- pears as follows :
Resources : Cash, $29,868.29; bills receivable, $316,193.52; bonds, stocks and warrants, $67,790.00; furniture and fixtures, $2,171.80; due from banks, $47,488.25 : bank premises, $11,281.25. Total, $474,793.11.
Liabilities: Capital (all paid in). $50,000.00; surplus. $30,000.00; un- divided profits, $21,845.54; dividends unpaid, $750.00; depositors, $372,197.57. Total. $474,793.11.
WILLIAM FRANCIS DONNELLEY .- The first representative of the Donnelley family in the United States was Patrick, born in County Tyrone, Ireland, August 5, 1822, deceased in Mendocino county May 3, 1896. Through- out a long and useful existence he adhered to the faith of the Roman Catholic Church and its teachings gave him especial comfort during his last fifteen years, when a stroke of paralysis prevented him from engaging in active work of any kind. In his native land he had attended the national schools, had been confirmed in the church and had learned the trade of stone cutting. When seventeen years of age he came to Philadelphia, where he followed his trade. In 1849 he joined the gold-seekers bound for California via the Isthmus of Panama. After landing in San Francisco he proceeded to Sierra county and began to prospect and mine for gold. More successful than some of the Ar- gonauts of that era, he came from the mines with a little gold secured from the claims he operated for a number of years. He married in Marysville, July 23, 1857, Anne Browne, a native of County West Meath, Ireland, who had come to New Orleans with her brothers and thence to California about 1855. In October, 1858, Mr. Donnelley became one of the early settlers of Mendocino county, where he bought a squatter's right in Anderson valley near the pres- ent site of Boonville. In addition he took up a pre-emption claim of one hun- dred and sixty acres. His agricultural undertakings were at first upon a very small scale, but as the land responded to his efforts he enlarged his interests and finally became one of the leading land-holders of the valley. When the first attempt was made to establish a public school in the valley he heartily co-operated with the plan and became one of the founders of that most important project. Other worthy enterprises also had the benefit of his constant aid and energetic co-operation. He was indeed one of the most hon- ored Irish-American citizens of the county and his work as a pioneer entitles him to lasting remembrance in local annals. Mrs. Donnelley, who still resides at the old home, became the mother of six children, five of whom grew up, and of these William F. is the fourth oldest.
At the old home ranch near Boonville in Anderson valley William Francis Donnelley was born March 20, 1865. The schools of the valley gave him fair advantages. Owing to the long-continued ill health of his father he became the manager of the large holdings embraced by the ranch and had charge of the estate in the interests of his mother and sister as well as himself. The
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homestead embraces twelve hundred and twenty acres of land, one hundred acres of which are under cultivation and yield large returns annually. Aside from the valley tract, the balance of the property forms a vast range, suitable for the pasturage of cattle, sheep and horses. Always Mr. Donnelley has made a specialty of the stock industry. His judgment of animals is excellent. Advice concerning herds and flocks is regarded as authoritative if it comes from him. From 1909 to 1912 he served as deputy inspector of sheep for the state of California, under appointment from Charles Keene, and in that very responsible position he proved efficient and capable. In politics he has voted with the Republican party ever since casting his first ballot. Like his father, he is an earnest member of the Catholic Church. He continues to make his home with his mother, for whom he and his sister Mary Anne affectionately care in her declining years, and whom they surround with the comforts ren- dered possible by the intelligent early labors of their father and mother.
LESTER C. GREGORY, M. D .- The substantial qualities demanded of a successful physician and surgeon find expression in the mental endowments and forceful personality of Dr. Gregory, who in addition to practicing his profession in Fort Bragg with growing patronage has owned and managed the Pacific drug store since 1908, finding in the related duties of physician and pharmacist duties of such importance as to engross his attention and at the same time prove profitable in a gratifying degree. While he is not a native Californian (having been born at Muscatine, Iowa, March 4, 1873), he has made this commonwealth his home from the age of eight years and is a typical westerner in his warmth of devotion to adopted country, in his optimistic spirit and in his aggressive, efficient energy. When he accompanied his parents, Harvey and Almira (Bamford) Gregory, to the west in 1881, he settled with them in the city of Santa Rosa, but later went on a farm in the locality and aided in the cultivation of the land. Until his death in 1910 the father acted as secretary of the Farmers' Fire Insurance Company, in the organization of which he had been a leading promoter.
After he had received the degree of A. B. from the Pacific Methodist College of Santa Rosa. Lester C. Gregory matriculated in the Cooper Medical College of San Francisco and continued a student in the institution until he was graduated in 1895 with the degree of M. D. A year was spent as interne in the Veterans' Home at Yountville, Napa county, and in June of 1896 he came to Mendocino county, establishing headquarters at Elk on the coast, where he continued until his removal to Fort Bragg in 1906. The increased opportunities offered by the larger town influenced him in his decision to come to Fort Bragg, where in addition to practicing his profession he conducts a modern, well-equipped establishment known as the Pacific drug store. By his marriage to Miss Maude Hayward, a native of Eureka, Cal., and a daugh- ter of the late Capt. H. M. Hayward of San Francisco, he has two sons, Lester and Claude. Since the organization of the Fort Bragg Commercial Bank, in which he was a promoter, he has been a member of the board of directors. Having faith in the stability of real estate and lands in Fort Bragg and the coast country he has invested and owns valuable property in city and country. Professional matters engage his interest at all times and it is along this line that he consented to serve as deputy county health officer. For some years he has been a member of the California State and Mendocino County Medical Associations. Besides being connected with the Improved
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Order of Red Men, he is active in Masonry and has been one of the influential members of Mendocino City Lodge No. 179, F. & A. M., as well as of the Mendocino Chapter No. 88, R. A. M.
P. CONNOLLY .- Upon his arrival in California from the east during 1882, a tour of inspection and investigation brought Mr. Connolly to Mendo- cino county, and here he has since remained, identified with local develop- inent, optimistic regarding the future of the county, a contributor to its permanent growth and associated with a number of enterprises of general value to the community The fact that he has great faith in the county and implicit confidence in the richness of its resources is in itself a testimony for this portion of the state, for long residence here and habits of close observa- tion enable him to judge accurately as to conditions and possibilities. After his arrival in the county he was employed in the timber business at Navarro on the coast, intending to learn every detail of the lumber business and make it his life occupation. In 1888 he entered the sawmill and in a short time was promoted to the position of head sawyer in the Navarro mills. However, an accident changed all of his plans and forced him to relinquish all identifi- cation with milling and lumbering. In this emergency his friends, recogniz- ing his ability for official work demanding exactness and accuracy, prevailed upon him to become a candidate for county recorder of Mendocino county. He was nominated in 1898 and elected by a fair majority, and at the expiration of the term was again chosen for the office, which he filled with decided ability and painstaking care, serving until January, 1907.
Mr. Connolly was one of the organizers of the Commercial Bank of Ukiah, of which he became the first cashier, filling the position for five years and since that time remaining on the board of directors. During 1909 he and P. WV. Handy purchased from Preston & Preston the Ukiah Guarantee Abstract and Title Company, which he since has aided in conducting as a general title and abstract business, and which is recognized as one of the solid institutions of the county. By his marriage at Navarro in 1888 to Miss Mary Hurley, a daughter of Dennis Hurley, one of the pioneers of Mendocino county, he has a family of six children, namely: Thomas E., civil engineer, a graduate of the University of California ; William D. and Margaret E., graduates of Ukiah high school; Robert Emmett, attending the Ukiah high school; Gertrude and John Leonard, all living in Mendocino county.
DREEME LIFE BALL .- A lifelong resident of Mendocino county, Mr. Ball has seen the gradual development of its agricultural interests, the im- portance of its lumbering activities and the growth of its towns, mean- while being particularly connected with Albion on Albion river, where he is a property owner and deputy sheriff. His birth occurred in Anderson valley, this county. October 9, 1872, son of J. D. and Melissa (Kendall) Ball, natives of New York and Vermont, respectively. The father came across the plains to California in 1850 and two years later settled in Anderson valley where he followed farming until his death. Dreeme Life Ball spent his first twenty years on his father's ranch in Anderson valley, where he attended the country schools. Leaving home to earn his own way in the world he went to Ukiah and found employment in a brickyard. While in that work he devoted his leisure hours to study and thus was able to secure a teacher's certificate, after which he secured a position as teacher in the Olive Spring school dis- trict. The following year he changed to the Hanson school district, where he
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taught successfully from 1894 to 1897 and then relinquished teaching in order to enter upon the duties of yard foreman for the Albion Lumber Company, with whom he remained until 1903. Resigning his position during that year he engaged in ranching, his specialty being the dairy industry, in which he has met with considerable success. During 1898 he erected a building in Albion, where he is now engaged in business. He also laid out the south addition to Albion, a considerable portion of which is sold out. He is now serving as deputy sheriff, and aside from his interests in Albion he is a stock- holder in the Fort Bragg Commercial Bank.
On the 4th of July, 1897, Mr. Ball married Miss Louise R. Handley, who was born at Albion, Mendocino county. She was the daughter of Thomas J. and Sophia (McGimsey) Handley, born in Jackson county, Mo., and Napa, Cal., respectively. Her grandfather, William Handley, was born in Vir- ginia in 1836 and removed to Lafayette county, Mo., where he learned the blacksmith trade and where he married Miss Mary Ish, coming overland to Napa in 1852. In 1857 the family returned to Missouri but in 1861 they again crossed the plains to Contra Costa county. In 1863 they removed to Nevada and in 1865 again returned to California, locating on one hundred and sixty acres of land on Albion Ridge, Mendocino county. Thomas J. Handley was born in 1852 and married at Boonville in 1875. He engaged in farming on Navarro ridge and later at Albion, where he died May 20, 1908. His widow afterwards married Alf Howard and resides in Fort Bragg. Louise R. was an only child of Thomas J. Handley and his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Ball now own the old Handley ranch adjoining Albion on the south. Fraternally Mr. Ball holds membership in the Order of Eagles at Fort Bragg and, while not a regular attendant upon the lodge meetings, he keeps in touch with its work and con- tributes to its maintenance.
ROBERT T. POLK .- The various members of the Polk family of Lake county are worthy representatives of a name which from its association with United States history alone would command respect. Planted in this country in early Colonial days, it is typical of the best in the Scotch-Irish element whose strong intellectual and moral qualities set a high standard of citizenship during the formative period of the nation. Robert T. Polk's father, T. W. Polk, was an own cousin of James Knox Polk, eleventh president of the United States, being one of the grandsons of Ezekiel Polk. We give the genealogy as it appears in the "Genealogies of the Presidents": "James K. Polk, born in Mecklenburg county, N. C., November 2, 1795, son of Samuel (1771-1827) and Jane Knox (1773-1848) Polk, grandson of Ezekiel (born about 1737) and Mary Wilson (daughter of Samuel Wilson) Polk; and great-grandson of William (1701-1769) and Mary Knox Pollock. William Pollock (the original form of the name 'Polk') was the son of Robert (died 1727) and Magdalena Tasker Pollock, who emigrated with their family from County Londonderry, Ireland, to Somerset county, Md., about 1694. William Pollock removed from Dorchester county, Md., to Hopewell township, Cumberland county, Pa., about 1738, and thence, a few years later, to Mecklenburg county, North Carolina."
Other authorities say Robert Pollock came from Ireland in 1659 or 1660 and settled in Maryland in the latter year ; he changed the name to Polk. They also vary from the former account in stating that he came from Ross, County Donegal, Ireland. Col. Thomas Polk, brother of Ezekiel, was chairman of the Mecklenburg convention which adopted what is termed the Mecklenburg
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Declaration of Independence, long before the legislature of Virginia instructed her delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for separation from Great Britain. He was subsequently a member of Congress and colonel of the Fourth Regiment, North Carolina militia.
Ezekiel Polk was captain of a company of rangers during the Revolution and did service in the woods and mountains protecting the frontier from invasion of the Indian allies of Great Britain. He was also an active member of the Mecklenburg convention.
T. W. Polk, grandson of Ezekiel Polk, was born in Indiana, and spent his early life in his native state. There he married Eliza La Rue, a native of Ohio, and of the six children born to them but two survive, Robert T. and Nellie, Mrs. McDougall, who resides at Hollywood, Los Angeles, Cal. The other four died when young, all unmarried. Mr. and Mrs. Polk lived at various places before deciding to come to California, in 1864, making the trip from Ohio and across the Isthmus of Panama. Mr. Polk had owned slaves and consid- erable property, but having lost his servants through the Emancipation Proc- lamation had very little left when he determined to begin life over again on the Pacific coast. He first settled in Napa county, living there for twenty years, during which he prospered steadily, owning two pieces of land there, which he sold before his removal to Lake county, in 1884. At that time he was quite well-to-do, but he was getting old, and so his son Robert has had the management of the home ranch ever since the family arrived here. Mr. Polk died on his ranch about twelve years ago, surviving his wife for two or three years. Her death occurred at Lakeport, Robert T. Polk being at that time engaged in the livery business there and residing in the town.
Robert T. Polk was born December 5, 1852, in Missouri, and though only in his twelfth year when the family came to California had lived in various states, Kansas City, Mo., Arkansas, Texas and Ohio. The next year the father made a settlement in Napa county, and though but a youth of thirteen the son did a man's work from that time, being depended upon as the reliable assistant at home. He could drive a team as well as any man. and handled all the other work with the same skill, which was especially fortunate because he was the only son, and his father took pride as well as comfort in his help. Besides the common and grammar school advantages which Napa county afforded at that day he had a course at the Lincoln grammar school in San Francisco, from which he was graduated in the year 1872. Returning to the home place, he continued to work with his father, and moved with him to Lake county in 1884, settling on the fine place just east of Upper Lake, and in the East Upper Lake precinct, which he still owns and now resides upon. The father built the substantial dwelling which is on this property, and Robert T. Polk has further improved it with fine large barns. He holds two hundred and ninety-seven acres, his father having divided up the land between the mother and two children about four years before he died. Mr. Polk follows general farming, and is heavily interested in stock raising, having cattle, horses and hogs and making a specialty of the latter, raising between two and three hundred every year.
Mr. Polk's personal standing is fully equal to his good reputation as a bus- iness man of ability and strict integrity. He is a prominent Odd Fellow, be- longing to Upper Lake Lodge, No. 241. of which he has been a past grand for twenty years, and which he has represented in the grand lodge at Los
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Angeles and Sacramento. On political questions he is usually in sympathy with the Democratic party, but he endeavors to support such policies as he believes will work the greatest good to the greatest numbers.
While a resident of Napa county Mr. Polk was married to Miss Evan- geline Hawkins, daughter of H. B. Hawkins, late of Napa county, and they had one child when they came to Lake county with Mr. Polk's parents. Three sons have been born to them : Percy W. is a druggist and in business at Upper Lake; he married Lula Clark, of Blacks Station, Yolo county, Cal., and they have two children, Helen and Percy. Robert C., who also lives at Upper Lake, owns the drug store here in partnership with his brother, and they also have a sawmill on Bartlett mountain and an apple orchard in the same vicin- ity ; he married Gertrude Clark (no relation to his brother's wife), of Upper Lake, and they have one child, Robert. Roy H., who is employed in the auto- mobile business, in a garage at Oakland, Cal., married Ruth Cleveland. Mrs. R. T. Polk holds membership in the Presbyterian Church. She also belongs to the Rebekahs, the woman's auxiliary of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
CHESTER WHITE .- One of the prospering farmers in the Scotts Valley precinct of Lake county, Mr. White is meeting with well deserved success in his work, for he has made his way unaided to the substantial position he now occupies. His own experiences have undoubtedly awakened in him the desire to make things easier for others, and he is always interested in movements which look to the bettering of existing conditions, especially those which provide opportunities for the young and prepare them for the responsibilities of life. For a number of years he was a business man at Lakeport, and since the year 1893 has lived on his present farm, where he was formerly quite ex- tensively engaged in dairying.
Benjamin F. and Virenda (Campbell) White, parents of Chester White, had a family of seven children, three of whom died young, the others being: William, who died unmarried at the age of twenty-four years; Julia, who died in 1875, unmarried ; Daniel, who died in 1906; and Chester. The father, who was a Southerner, died in 1864, when his son Chester was but five years old, and the mother had died when he was only two. He was born in 1859 in Gallatin county, Ill., and after his father's death went to live with his grand- father Campbell for one year. For a short time afterward he lived at the home of a man named Ross, then with a Mr. Smith and later with a Mr. Fowler, none of whom were related to him. When fourteen years old he left Gallatin county and went to the home of an uncle, H. W. White, a traveling man, in Hamilton county, Ill., with whom he remained a year. He was next with a man named Hamill, in Hamilton county, and when he was seventeen his brother Daniel married and settled in Hardin county, where the boy gladly made his home. Daniel White was a physician by profession, and he owned a farm of eighty acres, his brother Chester looking after its cultivation until they came out to California, in 1883. For the first month Chester White was in Colusa county, and in June found himself at Lakeport, Lake county, where his brother immediately bought an interest in a store and placed him there as a clerk. The firm was then V. Lee & Co., but Mr. Lee soon sold his share to David Williams, and the Doctor continued in partnership with him for some time, the firm of White & Williams doing a thriving general mer- cantile business. After five years' work as a clerk for V. Lee & Co. and
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