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 89
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 89
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White & Williams, Chester White bought a third interest in the business, which was continued under the same name, and they had a lucrative trade, owning one of the most popular establishments in the town. Mr. White re- tained his connection with the store for five years, selling out in 1893 to en- gage in farming, which has since occupied practically all his attention. His brother was a resident of Lakeport for ten years, and died in 1906 in San Bernardino county.
Ever since his removal to Scotts valley Mr, White has lived on the farm of one hundred and twenty acres which his wife inherited from the estate of her father, L. C. Burriss. For a number of years Mr. White was a success- ful dairyman, but he gave up that branch of farming because it was too stren- uous. He came to Lake county originally for the benefit of his health, which had not been robust, and agricultural life here has improved his physique greatly. He is able to work hard and has turned his labor to good account, now having the ranch well improved and well stocked, and devoted to general farming, though barley is his principal crop; he has a commercial orchard of nine acres, seven acres of which are planted in prunes, and a family orchard of two acres, all in excellent condition and bearing profitably. His stock com- prises thirteen head, six milch cows and seven horses, and he has between forty and fifty hogs. Though he commenced life with no advantages or capi- tal, Mr. White has advanced steadily, and his reputation for strict integrity as well as thrift makes him one of the most respected citizens of his neighbor- hood. Everything that makes for the common welfare has his encourage- ment and support, and he takes an active interest in promoting education and church work, believing both to be forces for good that should never lack support. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and votes with the Democratic party.
Mr. White was married in Lake county, in 1887, to Miss Josephine Bur- riss, daughter of Lewis C. Burriss, one of the first settlers in Scotts valley, who left a large estate, though he died a few years after coming to this sec- tion. Of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. White, Roy W. now lives at Oakland, where he is assistant county surveyor; C. Clifford, who lives at Lakeport and is engaged in teaming, married Marie Boyer; Vera V. is at present a student in the San Jose State normal, class of 1916; Louis B. is at- tending public school; Sarah M. died when seven months old.
WILLIAM H. KELLY .- It would be impossible to make any compre- hensive mention of Mendocino county without due reference to the late William H. Kelly, who from the time of his arrival here as early as 1852 until his passing in 1895 identified himself with every movement for the upbuilding of the region. Especially is the city of Mendocino indebted to him for an intelligent contribution to its early development. Through his influence churches and schools were erected. Realizing the importance of education and religion to the highest advancement of any community, he aided such movements with a cheerful self-sacrifice that had its root in his own sturdy and progressive temperament. With a number of pioneer lumberinen he erected a small sawmill in Mendocino, later became the pioneer store-keeper in the little village, where he put up a number of dwelling-houses and a public hall. Every line of enterprise felt the impetus of his activity and intense application. The memory of his labors lingers in the community and his name is entitled to a permanent place in the local annals.
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All through his life Mr. Kelly was a man of intense industry and unfail- ing energy. When a mere child he became self-supporting. For some time he engaged in lumbering on Prince Edward Island, where he was born in 1821 and where his father, Peter Kelly, was employed at the trade of a ship- builder. Leaving his native island, he first found employment at Eastport, Me., whence he sailed to the Bermudas. The discovery of gold in California caused him to go to the Isthmus of Panama. At that time thousands of emigrants were crossing the isthmus on their way to the gold mines and he decided there was an opening for a merchant in the village of Panama, so he and a friend embarked in merchandising there. On the death of his partner he disposed of their interests and came to San Francisco, thence to Benicia, where he worked at shipbuilding. In company with J. B. Ford, E. C. Williams and Harry Meigs in 1852 he came to Mendocino county and assisted in build- ing the first sawmill in the old town of Mendocino. In the beginning he took charge of the logging, until a store was found necessary, and then with Mr. Woodward he began merchandising, under the firm name of Kelly & Wood- ward. This was the first store in Mendocino. In the early '60s he and his partner built the first mill at Caspar, where they manufactured lumber for several years, finally selling to J. G. Jackson. During this time he continued the general merchandise business in Mendocino and after the fire built a new store on the corner of Main street and the coast road, which, in accordance with his expectation, proved a better location. He was also postmaster for some years. Mr. Kelly's holdings at that time comprised valuable timber land on Pudding creek, as well as the Comptche ranch, which was later sold to the present owners, the Openlanders. As the pioneer merchant of the place he formed a wide acquaintance throughout all this section of the country. His judgment concerning men was excellent. Frequently he trusted some of the pioneers beyond the limit of their credit, but seldom did it prove that he had been deceived in his estimate of his debtor. Many were indebted to him for their start in business, and his wholesome influence was of great value in the early progress of town and county.
In the midst of his growing prosperity Mr. Kelly did not forget his kindred in their far-distant home, but he returned thither to bring back with him his father, brothers and sisters, for whom he cared with unfailing affec- tion and genuine interest. His father, a man of deep religious temperament, was one of the founders of and for many years served as elder in the First Pres- byterian Church of Mendocino. Being a fluent speaker and well versed in the Scripture, he was able to serve as a local preacher and did much good in the early days when religious conditions had not yet been firmly established. Mr. Kelly himself contributed generously to the churches, and though he was himself a Presbyterian, his wife was an enthusiastic Baptist, and to please her he gave the lot and erected the Baptist house of worship, this being a tribute of regard to his wife as well as to the congregation itself. Mrs. Kelly was Eliza Lee Owen, daughter of Arthur L. Owen, of Prince Edward Island, and their family consisted of four children, namely: Daisy S., wife of Alexander McCallum, of Mendocino; Russell B., who died in 1886; Elise A., wife of Louis P. Drexler, of San Francisco; and Otis W., who married Annie A. Maguire and resides in San Francisco. Mrs. Kelly is in her nine- tieth year and in perfect physical health. She resides at the old home and is now the oldest settler in Mendocino. Mr. Kelly bought and sold large timber
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tracts, and throughout the long period of his residence in the county he never ceased to be an important factor in the development of the lumber business. As previously indicated, however, he did not limit his labors to one industry, but remained to the end an active element in all movements for the general welfare of the county.
RICHARD BOURNS .- County Sligo, in the north of Ireland, was the native locality of Richard Bourns and 1830 the year of his birth, his parents having been Thomas and Elizabeth (Evans) Bourns, lifelong residents of the Emerald Isle. At the age of fourteen he left the national school in which he had been a pupil and took up the trade of shoemaker, serving an apprentice- ship of four years. During 1848 he crossed the ocean to the United States and secured employment as a journeyman in New Jersey, later working as a shoemaker in Allegheny and Butler counties, Pa., and in Paris, Ky. On the outbreak of the Civil war he returned to Pennsylvania from Kentucky and enlisted in Company C, Fourth Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, which he accom- panied to the front. For three years he served with his regiment at the seat of war. Upon receiving an honorable discharge in 1864 he resumed work at his trade, settling at West Elkton, Ohio, where in 1870 he married Mrs. Philanda (Mote) Hunt. daughter of Jeremiah Mote, and a widow with two sons, Albert and Hillery Hunt. Of her second marriage there were born three children, namely : Richard Thomas ; Ruth A., wife of Dr. D. A. Marsan, and William L. The death of Mrs. Bourns occurred in 1901. From Barton county, Mo., where Mr. Bourns engaged in farming and stock-raising, in 1874 he brought his family to California and settled at Point Arena. where he followed the trade of shoemaker. Later he secured a tract of land near Point Arena and devoted his attention to the tilling of the soil and the raising of stock until he retired, and now makes his home at Belvedere, Marin county. Always interested in Grand Army affairs, he had the honor of being the organizer of Fredericksburg Post No. 97, G. A. R., which held its first meeting December 6, 1885, and of which he served as commander and adjutant.
RICHARD THOMAS BOURNS .- Between the harbor and the main street of Fort Bragg are located the great mills of the Union Lumber Com- pany, which are in reality the life blood of the town and the epitome of the lamber industry in this section of the state. Not only is the concern the dominating feature of the redwood lumber industry in Mendocino county, but with its allied companies it is one of the largest factors in the redwood lumber market of the entire world. In addition to the Fort Bragg mill, where fifty million feet of lumber are cut every year, the company owns the majority stock in the Mendocino Lumber Company at Mendocino City and the Glen Blair Lumber Company, besides handling the output of the Irvine & Muir Lumber Company at the Irmulco mill, which altogether makes the concern one of the largest sellers and shippers of redwood in the world. Shipments of tanbark, shingles and railroad ties add to the enormous volume of the company business. During the busy season almost one thousand men are employed in mills and camps. It is therefore a matter of importance for a man to rise out of the ranks and advance to a post of great responsibility, which is the record of Mr. Bourns, who entered the employ of the organiza- tion in March, 1901, as timekeeper at Fort Bragg and has since passed through almost all of the departments, in addition to serving for four years as city salesman at San Francisco. For the last few years he has been engaged in
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special sales work besides having charge of the grading and cutting at the different mills, and meanwhile he continues to make Fort Bragg his head- quarters. On May 15, 1914, he was elected vice-president of the First National Bank of Fort Bragg, and since then has been devoting his time to the duties of this position in the directing of the affairs of the bank.
From the age of two years Mr. Bourns has considered Mendocino county his home. He was born at Le Roy, Barton county, Mo., September 25, 1872, and in October, 1874, was brought to California by his parents, who settled at Point Arena. At the age of eighteen he secured a grammar-school teacher's certificate and began to teach in Mendocino county. As an instructor he was so careful, painstaking and efficient that he rose to be principal of the Point Arena school, which position he resigned in 1899 in order to become book- keeper for the Little Valley Lumber Company at Cleone. Two years later he transferred to the Union Lumber Company and has since continued with this great organization. In 1899 he married Miss Virginia E. Rice, daughter of WV. I. Rice, a pioneer of Willits. In his family there are two sons, Richard C. and Philip W. For some years he has been a director of the First Bank of Savings at Fort Bragg. Fraternally he holds membership with the Im- proved Order of Red Men and the Elks of Santa Rosa Lodge. Interested in public affairs and well-posted concerning national problems, he gives his support to Republican principles and has given efficient service as secretary of the county central committee of his party.
LUTHER SHELBY BAECHTEL .- No name is more closely inter- woven with the early development of Little Lake valley than that of Baechtel, for the two brothers, Samuel and Harry Baechtel, were the first settlers in this portion of Mendocino county, having brought in a bunch of cattle for pasturage on the wide and excellent range and finding conditions so promising that permanent settlement followed as a matter of course. Further mention of the family appears on another page in the sketch of Samuel Baechtel, father of Luther Shelby Baechtel, the latter the youngest child and born at the cld homestead January 29, 1872. During his boyhood educational advantages were far inferior to those of the present day, but through attendance upon the school in the Sawyer district he laid the foundation of an education that habits of reading and close observation have made broad and liberal. He had the further advantage of a complete course of study in the Lytton Springs Col- lege, Sonoma county, from which he was graduated with the degree of B. S. in 1890, at the age of eighteen years. He then entered the Willits store of the Standard Commercial Company, whose owners were members of the Baechtel family and whose interests he promoted through six years of work as office man and bookkeeper, and when the business was sold to Irvine & Muir in 1896 he devoted his time to settling the affairs of the retiring company.
Meanwhile gold had been discovered in the Klondike, and a love of adventure, as well as the hope of finding some profitable mining claim for himself, led Mr. Baechtel to Alaska in the spring of 1898. Accompanied by a brother, William, he sailed from San Francisco to Dyea and thence traveled with pack-horses over the Chilkoot Pass to the Klondike region. During the course of the tedious journey a disastrous slide occurred while he was in camp, and he took a part in recovering the bodies of the men from the snow- slide. When the Yukon river was reached a boat was constructed of lumber which they whipsawed themselves, and in this the party proceeded as far as
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the mouth of the Stewart river, where he and seven other gold-seekers spent the summer in prospecting without results, going as far as three hundred miles up the Stewart river toward the Rocky mountains. The approach of winter weather forced him to go into winter camp at Dawson. In the spring he changed the scene of operations to a branch of the Hunker creek, but with little better luck than before. In the fall of 1899 he sailed down the Yukon and at St. Michaels secured passage on a steamer bound for Seattle. In 1900, with his brothers, Gordon and William, he formed the firm of Baechtel Bros., and embarked in the stock business in Eden valley, Mendocino county, where for nearly three years cattle and horses were kept on the range. In 1903 the business was sold to W. G. Henshaw. Since then Mr. Baechtel has engaged in the subdividing of lands and the sale of real estate, but also continues in ranching and raising stock with his brothers, owning one ranch in Round valley with them as partners and two ranches in Little Lake valley. In addition since January, 1904, he has had charge of the bookkeeping depart- ment of the Irvine & Muir Lumber Company. From the organization of the Bank of Willits he has been interested as a stockholder.
On a hill overlooking Willits and Little Lake valley stands the comfor- table residence erected by Mr. Baechtel and presided over by his hospitable wife. May 24, 1903, he married Miss Turberg Simonson, daughter of Ole Simonson, represented on another page of this volume and widely honored as a pioneer of Mendocino county. Mrs. Baechtel was born and reared in Willits and taught school prior to her marriage. Their family numbers five children, namely: Marjorie Turberg, Richard Samuel, Harriet Luthera, Maxine and William Edwin. In politics Mr. Baechtel is a Republican of the progressive type. Devotion to civic affairs appears in his efficient service as a member of the board of trustees of the town, over which he presided as chairman during two years, and has since been equally active in other capacities. Tactful as trustee, he has endeavored to create and promote a community spirit of mutual helpfulness and to advance progressive measures which his business experience convinces him would be of advantage to the general welfare.
WILLIAM HEESER .- The life which this review depicts began in Germany August 28, 1822, and closed in California April 8, 1906. Generations of the name had lived and labored in Rhenish Prussia near the banks of the Rhine, and there. at Coblentz, was the home of his parents, Eberhard and Julia (Heusler) Heeser, people of true worth and culture, whose high ideals were imbued by the son and became a part of his own character. Private and public schools aided him in the acquisition of a liberal education, and the University of Berlin supplemented the earlier and more rudimentary advan- tages. Additional training equally valuable but somewhat different came to him through work in the counting house of his father, but the death of the latter and his own arrival at maturity changed his plans and caused him to broaden his views relative to future work. Seeking the United States, he went from Baltimore, Md., to Providence, Ky., and opened a general store. Three years later, in 1847, he returned to Prussia, renewed the friendships of his youth, enjoyed a visit with kindred, and on returning to America brought with him several of his relatives and friends. For a time he engaged in mer- chandising in Wisconsin and Illinois.
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The discovery of gold in California directed the attention of the young German to the possibilities of the far west and he decided to seek an opening in this part of the country. During the spring of 1850 he left Illinois with a party of emigrants equipped with horses and wagons and landed in California August 3 of the same year. After spending some time in San Francisco, he settled in Napa county and in 1856 sold the ranch he had previously pur- chased there. September 11, 1857, he arrived at Mendocino, where he first kept a store, later owned and operated a farm, and for years before his death published the Mendocino Beacon. During the spring of 1858 he bought the W. H. Kelly ranch adjacent to town. For a time he had as partner in this enterprise his brother, August H., who was born in Germany August 10, 1829, but the interest owned by the brother he eventually purchased, after which he platted a part of the farm and sold it in town lots. As early as 1858 he became justice of the peace, the following year was appointed notary public, from 1864 to 1867 served as county supervisor, and from 1877 to 1880 filled the same office through election on the Democratic ticket.
The building of roads engaged the attention of Mr. Heeser in an early day. Realizing the need of good roads aside from the Indian trails (then the only means of access to the interior) he spent much time in travel and inspection of the country, thus enabling him to locate and later build the wagon road from Mendocino to Little Lake (now Willits). Afterward he constructed the road from Mendocino to Ukiah. As road overseer and United States deputy surveyor his work was of inestimable value to the county. Personally he reaped no profit from such undertakings and at times even lost money of his own in filling contracts for roads, but he considered that he received compensation in the knowledge of a service done and in the benefit to his health derived from camping for months in the timber belt. December 18. 1865, he married Miss Laura A. Nelson, a native of Bangor, Me., who passed away July 9, 1895. Their only child, August Alfred, was born Feb- ruary 5, 1877, and survives them, continuing his father's business.
The Bank of Mendocino, a mutual savings concern, was opened by Mr. Heeser in 1870, and the following year he organized the Mendocino Discount Bank. At first he officiated as president of both, but later he filled the office of secretary for many years. October 6, 1877, he and W. H. Meacham estab- lished the Mendocino Beacon, of which he became sole proprietor a year later and which he continued to publish up to his death. For a time he also owned papers at Point Arena, Fort Bragg, Westport and Kibesilah, but eventually all were sold excepting the plant at Mendocino. In addition to writing for his papers he was the author of a treatise, "About the Flood and the Universe," advancing a theory to harmonize science with the Biblical account of the flood. For years he was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Mendo- cino and the teacher of a Sunday-school class. Prior to starting for Cali- fornia in 1850 he was made a Mason. About 1852 he became a member of California Lodge No. 1, F. & A. M., in San Francisco. During 1865 he aided in organizing Mendocino Lodge No. 179, F. & A. M., of which he served as master, while his Masonic affiliations were broadened through association with the Royal Arch Chapter, the Knights Templar Commandery, the Scottish Rite and the Eastern Star. His services as an editor, farmer, county officer, road builder and church man indicate that he had a high sense of the duty of citizenship, while distinctive loyalty to Mendocino county made his in- 40
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fluence potent and benignant, and invariably prompted objective confidence on the part of associates.
STEPHEN K. BITTENBENDER .- A member of an old Pennsylvania family and himself a native of that state, born near Berwick, October 22, 1859, Stephen K. Bittenbender is the youngest child of John Bittenbender, who was born in Schuylkill county, Pa., and in youth learned the trades of blacksmith and machinist. A genius in the difficult task of tempering steel, he was engaged for years in that capacity with the firm of Bowman & Jackson, car- builders, at Berwick. Eventually resigning and removing to Knoxville, Iowa, he successfully identified himself with both the banking and the real estate business. To his youngest son he gave the educational advantages of Carthage (Ill.) College, from which he received the degree of A. B. in 1880 and that of A. M. in 1895. After his graduation with honors as valedictorian of his class he went to Nebraska as principal of the schools at Ponca.
It was during the period of his residence at Ponca that Mr. Bittenbender first became interested in the milling industry, the original experience being in flour mills, while later he became equally familiar with the lumber mills. For twelve years he had a practical and encouraging experience as manager of the Ponca flour mills, in which he bought an interest. The destruction of the mill by fire caused him a very heavy loss and wiped out the labor of more than a decade of tireless application. Forced to consider a new location, it was then that he first came to California. From 1895 to 1898 he made his home in the Santa Clara valley near Campbell, where he bought an orchard. The work of horticulture in that particular locality proved neither interesting nor profitable, so that he removed to Missouri and engaged as manager for Stough Bros., at Chicopee, having charge of the manufacture and sale of lumber for the firm. When all of their holdings had been sawed, and having negotiated for a sale of the remaining property, he engaged as manager for the Missouri Lumber and Mining Company at the same place, where he continued for three and one-half years. Meanwhile he still owned the orchard in the Santa Clara valley and on leaving Missouri he brought his family back to California, but shortly left the vicinity of San Jose for Mendocino county in 1901 and became an employe of the Northwestern Redwood Company at Willits. In 1907 he became mill superintendent for the company at North- western, a position he has filled ever since. For many years he had been interested in the study of law during his leisure hours, and in June, 1903, successfully passed a bar examination and was admitted to practice in all the state courts. While he has not practiced the profession, he has found a knowledge of the law most helpful to him in general business affairs.
During the period of the attendance of Mr. Bittenbender at the college in Illinois he formed the acquaintance of a popular young college student, Miss Elizabeth Stough, of Ponca, Neb. Their marriage was solemnized in Ponca a few years after they had completed their collegiate education. Their two sons, Duane and Lloyd, are both employed with the Northwestern Redwood Company. The family adheres to the Lutheran faith, both Mr. and Mrs. Bittenbender being members of families that had clung to that religion from the period of the memorable reformation by Martin Luther. In fraternal connections Mr. Bittenbender belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, besides having membership with his wife in the Order of Rebekahs at Willits.
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