USA > California > Napa County > History of Napa and Lake Counties, California : comprising their geography, geology, topography, climatography, springs and timber, together with a full and particular record of the Mexican Grants, also separate histories of all the townships and biographical sketches > Part 93
USA > California > Lake County > History of Napa and Lake Counties, California : comprising their geography, geology, topography, climatography, springs and timber, together with a full and particular record of the Mexican Grants, also separate histories of all the townships and biographical sketches > Part 93
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HUSTON, J. H. Was born in Callaway County, Missouri, May 3, 1841. In April, 1864, he started across the plains for California with mule teams, and arrived in Lake County in November. Here he engaged in farming and speculating until 1873, when he went to Colusa County, where the same business was prosecuted for two years. He then returned to Lake County, where he has since resided. He at present resides about four miles south from Lakeport. Mr. Huston married, October 11, 1871, Miss Cora L. Boggs, a native of Missouri.
HANSON, J. F. Was born in Coles County, Illinois, June 11, 1833, where he resided with his parents on a farm until he was fourteen years of age, when the family crossed the plains to California, with ox-teams, arriving in the Sacramento Valley in October, 1848. The father's family spent the winter at the Lassen Ranch, while J. F. and his brother, Nathan E., engaged in mining on the Feather River. In the spring of 1849 J. F. went to Yuba City and ran a ferry across the Feather River for about four months. He then engaged in teaming to the mountains for four months, and in the fall he went to Santa Clara, where he attended school till about July 1, 1854. He then returned to Yuba City, and at the end of two weeks came to Lake County in company with his father, D. Brunson, - Washburne, D. Hamblin, and Daniel Hanson, a brother. This party settled on different places in the vicinity of where Upper Lake now stands. At the end of eighteen months J. F. returned to Yuba City and spent about six months ; and in February, 1856, he returned to Lake County and settled where he now resides, in Long Valley, where he owns five hundred and twenty acres. He also has an extensive sheep range in Weldons Valley, near the Sulphur Bank, comprising between one thousand eight hundred and two thousand acres. On his place in Long Valley there is a fine grist and saw mill, which will be found described elsewhere.
HAYCOCK, THOMAS. Was born in New Brunswick August 31, 1824. When but a child his parents moved to Maine. When the subject of this sketch was about thirteen years of age they moved to Canada. In 1854
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Thomas went to Minnesota, where he spent about four years and then came to California via Panama, arriving at San Francisco November 30, 1858. The first six months after arriving were spent in the mines of Nevada County. He then went to Plumas County, where he followed the same business until 1863, when he bought a hotel and ranch at Meadow Valley, which he conducted until 1867. He then again engaged in mining, which he prosecuted until 1874, when he returned East, where he remained a few months, returning to Plumas County in the fall of the above year. The next three years were spent in Plumas and Butte Counties, and in March, 1877, he came to Lake County and settled in Scotts Valley, where he now lives. Mr. Haycock married, November 22, 1852, Miss Sarah E. Turner, who died July 28, 1855, leaving one child, Sarah E. He married secondly, November 10, 1874, Mrs. Isabelle Sweazy, a native of Canada.
HENDRICKS, GREENBURY (deceased). Was born in Tennessee, December 9, 1827. When but a young boy his mother died, and he with his father went to Missouri, where he followed brick-making until September, 1853, when he went to Texas, where he followed farming until April, 1859, when, with his family, consisting of wife and two children, he crossed the plains to California. After a long and tedious trip they arrived in Tulare County, in September, 1859, where they resided until December, 1861, at which time they came to Lake County and settled on a farm in Scotts Valley. Here he was engaged in farming until his death, which occurred April 22, 1876. Mr. Hendricks was married, June 26, 1853, in Cape Girar- deau County, Missouri, to Miss Mary A. Stepheson, by whom he had seven children : Lafayette, Amanda E., Lydia, William G., Joseph W., John B. and Robert E.
HARRIS, THOMAS M. Was born in Pennsylvania December 19, 1828. Here he resided on a farm until 1853, when he crossed the plains to Cali- fornia. Like all early comers, Mr. Harris engaged in mining, which he fol- lowed until December, 1859, at which time he located one hundred and sixty acres in Yolo County. From this land the first lots were sold for building purposes in the town of Woodland. In June, 1862, having disposed of all his interests in Yolo County, he came to Lake County, where he has since resided. Since his advent into Lake County, Mr. Harris has been engaged in several different pursuits, among which might be mentioned stock raising, farming and hotel-keeping, and at one time, while keeping hotel at Lower Lake, lost his all by fire. He is at present engaged in wool growing, about six miles south from Lower Lake. Mr. Harris was married, May 24, 1849, to Miss Prudence Simpson, a native of Pennsylvania. Their children are, Laura, Alpheus, Ella and Thomas M., Jr. They have lost Alonzo, Prudence and Bruce.
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HENDRICKS, J. D. Was born in Henry County, Tennessee, April 24, 1833. In October, 1855, he went to Missouri, where the winter was spent, and in the spring of 1856 started across the plains for California. In September of the above year, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, was reached. Here he spent two years at different occupations, and then went to Oregon, where farming was prosecuted for eight years. In December, 1866, he re- turned to California, and settled on his present place, consisting of six hundred and forty-seven acres, located about one mile south of Lower Lake, in Lake County. Here he is engaged in farming and wool growing. Mr. Hendricks married, October 21, 1857, Miss Mary F. Dillard, a native of Missouri. Their children are, Charles E., born July 26, 1858; Frank, born October 4, 1860; Addie, born January 9, 1863; Vina, born November 24, 1864 ; John, born May 1, 1870; Flora, born March 3, 1875 ; and Grace, born April 9, 1880.
HUDSON, DAVID. Whose portrait appears in the body of this work, was born in Lexington, Missouri, October 15, 1820, where he resided with his parents until he was about seventeen years of age. He then moved with his parents to Dade County, where they died in 1840. David remained there engaged in farming and stock raising until 1844, when he returned to Lexington and remained there until May, 1845, when he, in company with his brother William, and his sister and her husband, John York, now of St. Helena, started across the plains for Cali- fornia, and arrived at Johnsons Ranch October 15th of that year. They arrived in Napa Valley about the first of November, and spent the first winter where Calistoga now stands. In the spring of 1846 he en- gaged in the Bear Flag War, and then joined the Mexican volunteer service, being in it until 1847. In the spring of that year he returned to Napa Valley and bought land near St. Helena. He went to the mines in El Dorado County, upon the discovery of gold, where he operated with good success, often digging out $125 a day. In the fall of 1848, on account of failing health he returned to Napa Valley and settled on land which he had pre- viously bought, and engaged in farming and stock raising until 1873. He found that his health was failing, his trouble being asthma, hence he moved to Lake County and settled on his present place, consisting of one thousand two hundred acres, located in Coyote Valley, where he has since resided, being engaged in farming and stock raising. Mr. Hudson was married, December 9, 1847, to Miss Frances Griffith, a native of North Carolina. They have six living children: Rodney J., Livonia, Elbert, Luella, Ada and Robert L .; and have lost one, Bertha.
HARRIS, JAMES A. Is a native of Butler County, Pennsylvania, and was born October 30, 1839. When he was thirteen years of age his
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parents moved to Iowa. Here farming was prosecuted about five years, when he engaged in teaching school for about three years. We next find Mr. Harris in the gold mines of Colorado, where he remained about eighteen months, when he returned to Iowa and engaged in dairying. In July, 1862, he enlisted and served as a private for three years in the Northern ranks. At the end of this time he returned to Iowa and resumed his dairying busi- ness about one year; then, on account of failing health, he came to Cali- fornia. He came via Panama and arrived at San Francisco November 4, 1866. As health was the chief object, he sought the desirable climate of Lake County, and settled about three miles south from Lower Lake, where he now resides, being engaged in farming and stock raising. Mr. Harris married April 22, 1862, Miss Louisa C. Parker. She died January 2, 1873, leaving three children : Eugene, Erwin and Katie. He married secondly, April 14, 1875, Miss Lina Powell, by whom he has three children : Ralph A., Carl N. and Martha. She died September 5, 1881, leaving three children, as above named.
HUDSON, JUDGE RODNEY J. Whose portrait it affords us pleasure to present in the body of this work, was born at St. Helena, Napa County, February 20, 1850, and is the son of David and Frances Hudson. Judge Hudson springs from a fine family, his father being a scion of the well-known and highly esteemed Catron family of Tennessee, one of whom, for a period of thirty years, was a highly distinguished Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. His mother was a native of North Carolina, and is allied by blood to one of its best families. Young Hudson grew up at his birthplace, and made the best of the imperfect advantages for obtaining a primary education, which the then inefficient conditions of the schools offered. At the age of fifteen he entered an academy at Sonoma, which was conducted under the auspices of the Presbyterians, where Latin and the higher mathematics were taken up. At the end of the term he wrote and delivered his maiden oration, which was highly complimented by the Professors of the Academy, and served to show clearly the bent of the boy's mind, the latent powers that lay within him awaiting proper development. He then returned to his father's farm, but books had a much greater attrac- tion for him than the humdrum, prosaical avocation of tramping up and down a furrow behind a plow, and a book was generally carried to the field, which received much more attention than the work in hand. He then spent three years in attendance at the St. Helena public schools, which were then of high grade, and here he learned to read Latin fluently and made consider- able progress in the higher mathematics. During his attendance at this school, and while yet only eighteen years of age, he made his debut into the political arena. In 1868, during the campaign of Seymour and Blair on
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Godwin Seudamore
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the one side and Grant and Wilson on the other, a political meeting was held in St. Helena. The late Hon. W. W. Pendegast was the speaker of the evening, and among those present were young Hudson and his father and mother. At the close of Mr. Pendegast's speech the audience began to call loudly for Rodney Hudson, whose abilities as an orator were even then well- known among his friends and acquaintances, and by them fully recognized. When the calls for the young man became so persistent that it became evident that the crowd would not hear a refusal, his father departed, either thinking that his presence would embarrass the boy, or not desiring to be pre- sent to witness what he considered inevitable failure. His mother, too, felt that a crisis in the boy's life was just at hand, and with her womanly sensitive- ness shrank instinctively from witnessing it. But the father's flight and the mother's fears were unnecessary, for the youthful orator was equal to the occasion, and for the space of half an hour he held the audience with his fluent and graceful oratory, and surprised even his best friends by his knowl- edge of the political issues of the day. Owing to his youth, the effort was regarded with a great deal of favor by all who heard it, and created quite a sensation, and from that time on he has always sustained a high reputation as a public speaker. His next move was to take charge of the St. Helena public schools, having a scholarship of about two hundred, and two assistant teachers. In 1869 he entered the University of Michigan. In a short time his health failed, and he was forced to quit school and return to California. He then entered the law office of Thomas P. Stoney, then County Judge of Napa County, as a student, where he remained for one year. On the occa- sion of the Fourth of July celebration at St. Helena in 1872, young Hudson, then only twenty-two years of age, was called upon to deliver the oration for the occasion. An extract from the Napa Register, then edited by G. W. Henning, will give an idea of the merits of the effort produced by Mr. Hudson on that occasion : "The oration was by Rodney J. Hudson, whom St. Helena may be flattered to call her 'boy.' Rodney-he will excuse the familiarity-looks the orator. He has a talent which, if cultivated, will place him in the very front rank of public speakers. His personelle and the fact that he was their own, created an interest in him which was not diminished in the least by his finely turned and patriotic periods. * We hope he will not go into politics. There is a crown awaiting him in his legitimate professional career which will set more lightly and gracefully upon his head than ever politician's will." In the fall of 1872 he entered the Law School at Lebanon, Tennessee, then presided over by the venerable Judge Carothers. While there he delivered an oration on Washington, which was compli- mented very highly by the Nashville Union, an extract from which we include in this connection : " His audience was thrilled with delight, ex- cited alike by the spirit and eloquence of his words. The Golden State
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may well be proud of her representative in the Law School of the University." He graduated at this school and returned to California in 1873. In 1874 he formed a law partnership with the leading prac- tioner in the southern part of the State. After having been there for four or five months he was called upon to make a Fourth of July address, of which the Los Angeles Star says : "The oration was the most superb effort of the kind ever made in Los Angeles. It was beautiful in all its points, and may be considered an oratorical gem of the first water. We have heard the oration spoken of everywhere as excellent, but not more so than its delivery, which was very fine." In 1875 he was nominated and elected by the Democratic party to the position of District Attorney of Los Angeles County. His first case was for murder, and the man was defended by Col. J. G. Howard, confessedly the ablest criminal lawyer in Southern California. The accused was convicted, and when the District Judge came down from the bench he said : " Mr. Hudson, you have conducted this case as well as any lawyer." He retained the office for two years, when, on account of failing health, he came to Lake County and opened a law office. Here he began at once to build up and maintain a good practice, rarely losing a case before a jury. Mr. Hudson sprang boldly and nobly into the great fight made for the new Constitution, urging its adoption by the people with the great- est vigor and eloquence. He took the field and made several brilliant and telling speeches, and was called the captain of the new Constitution forces in Lake County. In 1878 he was put in nomination for the position of Superior Judge of Lake County. It was a matter of serious doubt with his best friends whether or not he could win in the contest, his youth and limited acquaintance militating much against his chances of success. As for himself, he saw that only energy and determination could make success possible, and he made a thorough and personal canvass of the county, and then just upon the eve of the election addressed the people of the county in almost every voting .precinct, which was evidently the great element of his success, as he was able to bring out the merits of his own case with a master hand. He was elected by a large plurality, showing that good work had been accomplished. Once elected, the problem of convincing the people of his judicial fairness and integrity confronted him. Upon taking the bench he announced to the bar that he would endeavor to be impartial and upright, and that he knew that he would be independent, as he did not owe his election to any corporation or powerful influence, but to the people. That he has kept his promise is attested by all the bar of Lake County. He has the reputation of observing a uniform courtesy to the bar while presiding, of being positive in his rulings, and swift to retreat when shown to be in error. Of Judge Hudson the Bulletin of Lake County says : " His rulings exhibit fine legal acumen, and he is one of the best judges in
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California, and after a while Lake County will be proud to help place him in Congress, where his singular abilities as an orator may have a fitting field in which to display their powers." Rodney J. Hudson is the youngest, but one, of the Superior Judges in this State; and who can read this sketch and see how he has climbed up the ladder, round by round, until he reached that high position when only twenty-nine years of age, without feeling proud of our grand American principles of liberty which give to worth, merit, and real labor, their just meed of reward. He was united in mar- riage in April, 1881, to Miss Panthea Boggs, daughter of A. G. Boggs, of Napa City.
HAMILTON, J. M. Was born in Philadelphia, December, 1820. His parents died when he was quite young, and most of his early years were spent at school. After finishing a collegiate course preparatory to applying himself to the study of medicine, he visited a brother-in-law in Delaware, who was farming near New Castle, where he became so much pleased with the life of a farmer, he determined to adopt that as his own vocation. He lived with this gentleman, D. W. Gemmill, until his marriage in 1841, when he began farming on his own account. In June, 1846, he left Delaware for the purpose of visiting Texas, and spent the remainder of that year until December in traveling through the western part of the State, from Galves- ton to the Rio Grande, and returned to New York by sea. After his return to Delaware he decided upon reading law, and for a time was a student with Hon. J. M. Clayton. In 1850 he was appointed Assistant United States Marshal for Delaware. The succeeding winter he accepted a propo- sition from another brother-in-law, the late Captain A. A. Ritchie, to come to California and engage in farming on the Suisun Rancho in Solano County, then just purchased by Ritchie and Waterman. In April, 1851, he left Philadelphia with his wife and two children for California ; and after a pleasant voyage of one hundred and thirty-five days around Cape Horn in the ship "Tartar," Captain Webber, arrived in San Francisco August 22d. On his arrival, learning that settlers had taken possession of most of the land in Suisun, and not wishing to be drawn into any controversy with them, he bought a farm in Napa Valley, a short distance from Napa City, settled there, and engaged in farming until the fall of 1860, when he became interested in quicksilver mining in Pope Valley. In the fall of 1865 he moved with his family over to the stone house in Coyote Valley, and engaged in farming and general stock raising. At the organization of the State Grange Patrons of Husbandry, in Napa City, July, 1873, he was elected to the office of Overseer. At the meeting of the State Grange in San José, in October of the same year, he was elected by an almost unanimous vote to the position of Worthy Master for two years. As repre - sentative of the Patrons of this State, he attended the meetings of the
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National Grange in St. Louis, in 1874, and Charleston, South Carolina, in 1875. In March, 1854, he assisted in the formation in Napa City of the first agricultural society in California, and was elected as its president. He came into what is now Lake County (then a part of Napa) for the first time, October, 1851. At that time there was not a white person making this his home. The old Kelsey adobe, and a log house near where the present stone house in Coyote Valley now stands, were the only buildings that had been reared by white men. Until the time he came into the county to make it his permanent home, business or pleasure called him here frequently, and he has not been absent from it for more than a few months at any one time since his first visit. He claims to be the oldest living resi- dent of Lake County. In the fall of 1858 he was appointed County Super- intendent of Schools for Napa County, which then included the whole of this territory. This position he held for several years. He divided this portion of the county into school districts, examined applicants, and gave certificates of qualification for teachers, and set the machinery of the public school system into operation. For more than twenty-five years he has been in some office of trust and responsibility, frequently holding several at the same time, in Napa and Lake Counties ; and the satisfaction he has given in the discharge of his duties is evidence of his ability and integrity. He now lives near Guenoc, and is engaged in the practice of law.
HANSON, DAVID M. Was born in Coles County, Illinois, December 21, 1840. He came to California with his parents in 1849. He received his education at the Pacific University, Santa Clara County, and at the Emery and Henry College, Washington County, Virginia. He studied law in the office of Zach. Montgomery, in Marysville, California, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1861. He was appointed Clerk of the United States District Court, under Judge G. N. Mott, and filled that position at Virginia City, Nevada, for three years. He then began the practice of law, asso- ciated with Judge Jesse S. Pitzer. In 1864, he moved to Clear Lake, pur- chasing the property now known as the Ritchie ranch in Long Valley. In 1866, in partnership with I. C. McQuaid, Esq., he went to Idaho and engaged in the practice of law. In 1867, he engaged in the publication of the Clear Lake Sentinel, at Lower Lake, and for a number of years, associated with his father, he continued in the newspaper business, publishing successively the Clear Lake Sentinel, Sutter County Sentinel, Marysville Evening Telegraph, and Gilroy Advocate. He then retired from the business and lo- cated permanently at his home in Lake County, where he engaged in sheep raising and the practice of law. In 1878, he was elected to the position of District Attorney, which he filled with due credit to himself and the entire satisfaction of the people. Mr. Hanson is well and extensively known in Lake County, having canvassed it in the discussion of public questions. He
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now resides on his place which he has appropriately named the " Valley Ranch," in Lake County, three miles east of the celebrated Sulphur Bank. From his residence a grand view is afforded of Clear Lake and Lakeport. He has a wife and two children, and with the favor of Providence lives contentedly with the promise of happiness and contentment in future store.
HANSON, HON. GEORGE M. (deceased.) The life of this gentle- man was a long and eventful one. His California history is familiar to many of the first immigrants to this State. As he was not only one of the early immigrants to this coast, but also a pioneer of the Clear Lake region, we cannot give a complete chronicle of the early history of Lake County without the assistance of Mr. Hanson's experiences here. George M. Han- son, whose portrait will be found in the body of this work, was born in Tazewell County, Virginia, March 13, 1799. In the year 1819 he married Miss Polly Ellington, at Lebanon, Russell County, Virginia, and became the father of seven sons and three daughters, all of whom reached the age of maturity, and six of whom survive him. His oldest and only living daughter is Elizabeth, the wife of Captain J. G. Allender, of Watsonville. His sons now living are, William P., an early settler of this county, now a resident of Willows, Colusa County ; Nathan E., James Francis, Daniel A. and David M., all of whom are at present and for many years have been living among the scenes of Clear Lake. For twenty- six years Frank has lived on his present ranch at the head of Long Valley. Two years after his marriage the subject of this sketch moved to Kentucky and engaged in the mercantile business for a short time; thence he emi- grated to Clark County, Illinois, at that time a wild, unsettled country, and there lived for twenty-five years, much of that time being spent in public life. Being a man of exemplary habits and scrupulous integrity, his worth was soon recognized in his community, and he was directly called to serve as a legislator. He soon became prominent, and was regarded by all as one of the leading men in the halls of legislation. He served twelve consecutive years in the House and Senate of Illinois, and was intimately acquainted and associated with the men who subsequently became so famous in the history of that State and of the nation. He was in the Senate of · Illinois at the time Abraham Lincoln made his first appearance as a legis- lator, and his reminiscences of the Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Doug- las of that day were of peculiar interest. During the year 1847 Mr. Hanson visited Texas, and traveled all over that State on a tour of inspection with the view of moving there and making a permanent settlement should the country suit him. Not being favorably impressed with it, however, he re- turned home, and the following year began preparations for a trip across the continent with his family, having then in view the territory of Oregon,
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