USA > California > Sacramento County > History of Sacramento County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, 1913 > Part 2
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895
Dozier, Melville, Jr
657
Driver, Elisha S. 648
Dunn, Chauncey H 484
E
Ebel, Mark H
759
Eckhardt, Henry
689
Ehret, Louis D.
770
Eldred, Charles H
1013
Elkus, Louis
999
Elliott, James F.
935
Ellis, Charles J
982
Ellis, Rev. John H
1001
Ellis, Rev. William F.
752
Emigh, Clay W 797
Emigh, James L. 796
F
Fairbank, Herbert A 523
Fairfield, Willard A 936
Fancher, Frederick B
801
Farren, John 937
Fical, Charles A 1042
Ficks, George W
750
Filcher, Joseph
1014
Fischer, Jacob
897
Fisher, J. Hayes, M. D
1047
Fisk, Katherine B
745
Fitzgerald, Peter A
573
Folger, Alfred
898
Foster, Stephen
938
Foster, Walter T. 884
Fox, David
685
Frasinetti, James
747
Fratt, Francis W
1043
Frommer, Bernard 941
G
Gallup, William R 1025
Gardner, Mrs. Anna G 951
Geary, William 887
Geiger, Charles 788
Gerber, Edward H. 888
Gerber, John A., Jr 1016
Gerber, William E 947
Gibson, Francis 985
Gillespie, Edward, Sr 950
Godard, Charles W 986
Gore, William R 886
Gormley, William F. 891
Goulden, James. 942
Grace, Thomas 427
Graham, Charles H 987
Grant, William E 771
Green, Charles F
436
Green, George 988
Gregory, Frank 705
Gregory, T. T. C. 1029
Griffeth, Clarence M. 664
989
Griffin, M. W
H
Hall, Thomas B 839
Halloran, Martin
837
Harlow, John M 736
Hart, James V 488
Hartmann, George 696
Haynes, Edward.
818
Haynie, Stephen W 695
472
Henry, L. 1011
Hicks, John B 949
Hinkle, Isaac
917
Hinsey, William W.
743
Hipple, George W
545
Hobrecht, Joseph C 956
767
Hook, George 955
Hopkins, A. S.
831
Hopkins, O. G
491
Hotchkiss, George W 647
798
Hullin, Nicholas J 762
Humbert, Hubert J 524
Hummel, Joseph F
952
Huntress, James S. 513
Hutton, Frank O.
1012
Irvine, Richard C
900
J
Jacobs, Julius S 850
Jenks, William M 733
Johns, Fred J. 614
Johnson, Grove L. 500
Johnson, Hiram W. 836
Johnson, Joseph W 588
Johnston, John W 953
Johnston, William A 529
Jones, Edward S 849
Jones, Thomas R 507
Junior, Eugene A 493
K
Kaufman, August
768
Kaufman, Carl
763
Hencken, William
Hodson, Burton M
Hulings, Burton F
I
xiii
INDEX
Kavanaugh, Edward C. 619
Keach, George. 919
Kennedy, William M
663
Martin, Fred L. 699
Kessler, Adam B
1056
Kestler, Gustave A
739
Mathews, Herschel B 441
Keyes, Henry 880
Kiesel, Frederick W 815
Kilgariff, Henry J.
503
Mayer, George H 526
Kimball, Moses N 881
Mealer, Thomas 724
Meister, Albert 800
Kleinsorge, Charles E 1003
Meredith, Craddoc
973
Meyer, Frank 906
Knight, Ralph. 499
Meyer, William A 777
578
Mikulich, Andrew
907
Mill, Russell W
749
Miller, Frank C.
972
Miller, John H., Jr.
449
Miller, O. H
668
Morrill, William D 921
Morris, Edward.
481
Morrison, Alexander W
785
Larkin, John
644
LaRue, Hon. Hugh M 729
LaRue, Hugh M., Jr 435
Latourrette, John! 757
Lavenson, Gus 942
Lawton, John
847
Lawton, William D 814
Leonard, Albert
1010
Leonard, Harry W.
893
Levering, Charles D 1045
Lewis, Thomas 715
Limbaugh, Leonard M
735
Lindsay, Arthur H
894
Lindsay, William K., M. D.
816
Lothhammer, Charles
928
Lowry, Felton
628
Lubin, David
833
Lubin, S. J
434
Luce, Niron 922
P
Patterson, John L. 552
Paule, Charles
442
Peck, F. S. 783
Perkins, Charles C 806
Pfund, Edward F
1030
Phillips, Sidney M
494
Phinney, Cassius M
902
McFarland, Ray D. 625
Mckenzie, Francis R 590
Pierce, John A
684
Pike, John E. T
742
Pipher, Joseph E
456
McMahon, John. 471
Powers, William M .. 610
McWilliams, Hugh 764
Prouty, Simon
1031
Mackinder, Willis A 970
N
Nagle, John L 497
Nathan, Charles P
651
Nauman, Harry A 587
Nelson, Jacob
627
Nethercott, George H.
482
Noble, George W
518
Noyes, Charles T
508
0
O'Kelly, T. J.
1051
O'Neil, Thomas W
822
Owen, Harry D
740
McCurdy, Arthur H
466
McDougal, George 835
McDougall, Donald. 1008
McElwaine, R 901
McEwen, Edward J 1009
Phinney, George A 1035
McKevitt, Frank B 510
Mckinstry, J. K. 459
784
Kohler, Ferdinand 890
Krebs, Harry G 944
L
Lafferty, Frank A 787
Langley, William A 636
Muddox, Harry
478
Muddox, Ralph H. 1048
Murphy, Patrick H 1027
Mangan, James. 709
Manning, Frank J 451
Marty, Benjamin 447
Mauldin, Hugh 778
Mayden, John 781
Kitt, Fred T 946
Klune, J. Bernhard. 830
Knight, William L. 622
Mikle, Pleas
Koch, Bernhardt P
892
Koch, Otto J
Prouty, William H 1037
xiv
INDEX
Quaas, William H Q 457
Strachan, Hugh M 971
Strachan, James 845
Strand, William A 673
Studarus, John. 565
Sullivan, Daniel D. 753
Swinney, John A. 605
Switzer, Herbert C. 1007
T
Taverner, George M. 595
Telfer, C. Allison 846
Thishy, George 632
Thomson, Frederick F. 795
Thorp, Harry 433
Thorp, Sidney 541
Timm, Richard 717
Townsend, George H. 908
Trainor, Isaac J 531
Twitchell, Edward
535
TT
Uren, Stephen
925
W
Wachhorst, Eugene 1005
Wahrhaftig, Moses S 968
Walke, Adolph 931
Walker, Joseph E 594
Walton, Frederick S 1050
Warner, Willard 913
Warren, Lloyd G 600
Washburn, O. F. 930
Watson, William S, M. D. 915
Weisman, William J. 910
Welch, Benjamin 567
Wentz, John H
711
Wentzel, Charles E.
928
Werner, Charles 616
Wiesenhofer, Frank X 792
Wilder, James A 598
Wiley, David E 916
Williams, Lincoln P 969
Willis, William L 593
Wilson, Jesse W 517
Wise, Philip. 929
Woodburn, Elwood J 794
Woods, John L. 597
Wulff, Henry F. G. 911
Y
Yardley, Herbert E 637
Yell, Archibald 1040
Yoerk, Charles A 727
Young, Charles J 811
Younger, Andrew 643
Yule, William
1002
R
Raiff, Otto 978
Randle, George N. 452
Raper, Robert. 641
Read, Herbert J. 1004
Rees, Frederick G
663
Reese, Edward E.
603
Reese, John
955
Reynolds, Aaron B
Richards, William F
721
Riley, John
718
Rohb, Charles S
532
Roberts, John
455
Rooney, Stephen
J
693
Ross-Roan, Mrs. Mary 469
Ruhstaller, Frank J
851
Runyon, Solomon 903
Russell, Samuel W 460
Rutter, James.
556
Ryan, Frank D.
520
Ryan, Henry P
Ryan & Cippa. 670
Rydberg, Herman 675
S
St. Joseph's Academy 606
Saner, Joseph 635
Sargent, Franklin H
856
Sawyer, John H
1038
Schad, Isidor
539
Schad, Thomas 540
Schaden, Alfred 1039
Scheld, Philip
547
Scheunert, Wilhelm R. H
550
Schneider, Casper V. 1049
Schnetz, Henry
701
Sellinger, George P 802
Sellon, George C 828
Seymour, Henry 826
Shannon, Hunter W. S.
940
Sharpe, Elton D. 958
Shaw, F. E., M. D. 613
Sheehan, Edgar M 549
Shields, Peter J 755
Silva, Charles F 439
Silva, Manuel S., M. D 709
Sisson, Benjamin L 876
Slight, Samuel B 960
Smiley, Hugh J 557
Smith, Mrs. Anna. 924
Smith, Herbert F 669
Steffens, Joseph 853
Stewart, Louis 562
863
670
THE CAPITOL IN 1875
HISTORICAL
INTRODUCTION
"Serene I fold my hands and wait, Nor care for wind, nor tide, nor sea ;
I rave no more 'gainst time or fate,
For lo! my own shall come to me.
"The stars come nightly to the sky, The tidal wave unto the sea ;
Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high, Can keep my own away from me."
-John Burroughs.
Such has been for many years the attitude of a large part of this grand state, the empress that sits throned on the shores of the Pacific, conscious of her charm and confident of the future that awaits her, and that is drawing as a magnet the dwellers of colder climes and more inhospitable shores to the land of sunshine and flowers. And such has long been the attitude of Sacramento county, the peer of any in California. But a transformation has begun and the future will witness the unfolding of the bud of beauty into a perfect flower that shall surpass the most sanguine expectations. With a city that will expand in the future into the largest inland city on the coast, all her advantages will keep pace with her evolution and she will take her proper place among the gems that grace the diadem of the great empire of the Pacific coast, the magnificent state that took for her motto "Eureka," and might well have added to it "Excelsior."
It may be safely said of Sacramento county that she has played a more important part in the history of the state than any other county within the borders of California. Embracing in her confines the most precious gifts of the lofty Sierras and the foothills at their base-the fertile alluvial soil washed down from their hillsides and canyons to fill up the inland sea of which she was once a part-making her a second valley of the Nile, no whit inferior to the original in fertility and productiveness, she is almost without a peer. But the mountains and foothills were not niggardly in their munificent gifts, for in addition to her splendid soil they sprinkled it liberally with golden dust and nuggets that enriched many a one of the Argonants and of the generation that succeeded them, and is to this day pouring millions into the pockets of the men who are mining the precious metal on the lands adjoining the American river.
Sitting majestically on the banks of the magnificent river that forms her western boundary, she has beheld for half a century barges
1
6
HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY
and steamers bringing her choicest prodnets down the bosom of the river to the sea, to supply the markets of the coast cities and of lands beyond the ocean. With the summer's sun and the winter's rain, aided by the balmy winds of spring and autumn, her crops follow each other in annnal succession, and are sent abroad to feed the less fortunate dwellers of Occident and Orient and to spread the fame of her wealth of resources to distant lands. Well has she played her part so far, but it is an insignificant one compared to that which she will play in the near future, when instead of a few thousands, this magnificent valley of the Sacramento shall support millions of happy, prosperous men, women and children of the mighty empire that is developing so rapidly on the western coast of our country. And now has come to her a quickening of perception that will have far-reaching results. Her own has come to her. She realizes the value of her birthright and will take advantage of it to the fullest extent. Agriculture, horticulture, commerce and manufacturing all feel the impulse resultant on the real- ization of her power and opportunity, and her watchword is "Onward."
In the days before the American occupation, Gen. John A. Sutter, the pioneer of pioneers of the state, saw with the vision of a prophet the future of the country, and built his fort near the confluence of the Sacramento and American rivers, to become, a few years later, the objective point of the wagon trains which wended their weary way across the trackless wilderness of this vast continent. Here many a company of immigrants, worn out with their long journey and often half starved and in distress, arrived and were fed and relieved from the stores of the generous-hearted old pioneer, and rested and recu- perated under the protection of his fort. Here was for many years the point where the gold seekers, landing from their long and danger- ons voyage around the Horn, arrived on boats from San Francisco, and fitted themselves ont for the mines. Here, too, was the supply point for these seekers for gold after they had begun with pick, shovel and rocker, to delve their fortunes from the rich placers of the foot- hills. Here, then, began the making of the history of the Golden state.
It was to Sacramento, too, that Marshall, long before the irrup- tion of the dwellers of every clime hastening to be first on the ground to gather the treasure, brought for Sutter's inspection the bright pieces of yellow metal found in the race at Coloma, and it was from Sacramento that, after that conference, the news went forth to the world that the gold placers of California held ont the opportunity of acquiring wealth to all who possessed the nerve and confidence to come and seek for it.
The history of a nation, a state, a country or a city, has a number of natural divisions, each interdependent with regard to the others, and which form a harmonious whole when brought into proper relation to each other. Political, governmental, industrial and commercial, each has its province in promoting the general welfare of a community
7
HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY
Not more interesting and romantic was the search of Jason allu his Argonauts for the Golden Fleece than was that of his prototypes who braved the wilderness with its hostile Indians, or endured the tedium and the dangers of the voyage round the Horn in search of the precious metal with, which California was endowed. There is a fas- cination which never grows old or lessens as one listens to the remin- iscences of the old pioneers and their tales of their journeyings to the new Eldorado under the lure of gold; and one lives over again with them the exciting experiences they met with, both on their way and after their arrival. Such a polyglot community never was drawn to- gether, surely, banded in one common aim, but still each one pursuing his own way independently and striving to acquire wealth as quickly as possible and return to his old home. A few did so, but with the majority the case was different. They never dreamed that they were to be founders of a great state which would hold their memory in reverence and respect them for their sturdy, earnest qualities. Alas, they are fast dwindling in numbers and only a few brief years will see them among us no more.
The lure of gold is one of the strongest incentives to man, induc- ing him to leave home and its loved ones, to brave well-known and certain danger and to tempt fate in the most daring manner. Perhaps the spice of danger and adventure lends force to the lure, although optimism must necessarily be the most potent factor. Other men have made fortunes quickly and comparatively easily, why not he? We hear only of the successful ones, but rarely of the unsuccessful, their priva- tions or sufferings, and the dazzle of gold blinds us to the reverse side of the question. The struggles and privations of the thousands who joined in the mad rush to Alaska in the last decade are very little known or considered. Rotten ships, condemned years before, were chartered to take them on the treacherous sea voyage, laden to the gunwales with passengers and freight, and with the chances against their proceeding a hundred miles on their journey before experiencing shipwreck. And yet men fought and pleaded for a chance to brave the perils of the journey and the certain suffering from cold and hunger and other perils after their arrival in the land of the Great White Silence. So it was in the days of '49. The long six months' journey across the plains and lofty mountains, with only a trail to follow. the dangers of Indians, floods, fire and starvation could not deter the dauntless ones who took up their journey of more than two thousand miles through the wilderness, many of them with their wives and children.
Right here it is only just to give their due to the women-the pioneer mothers of whom we hear so little-the women who forsook home and kindred to follow their husbands through all trials and dangers to the unknown lands and to assist with their labors and coun- sel, and with the children of the rising generation, in the shaping and
8
HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY
moulding of a great empire whose fame was destined to reach the uttermost parts of the earth. Like the pioneer women of the great west and the Mississippi valley, they have not received their meed of praise and recognition of the important part they played in empire building. While the men labored, the women had to make the home as comfort- able as conditions allowed, to rear and care for and clothe the children and to endure all sorts of privations. Theirs the test of patience and courage to meet and overcome, to cheer and encourage under adverse circumstances, and well the pioneer women did their part. Not the least of their tests was the scarcity of female companionship, as for several years but few women came to this coast, and they were widely scattered after their arrival. The coming of a woman to a mining camp was a great event and roused all the latent chivalry of the rough men of the community, who vied in doing her honor and making her comfortable and mitigating the conditions around her. She was placed upon a pedestal and surrounded by adoring subjects. A man would be safer in committing murder than in insulting or injuring her.
Pioneers have told the writer of the appearance of the country adjoining Sacramento on the south in the days of '49 and '50. "A man could ride over the plains on horseback," they say, "and tie the wild oats across his saddle bow, as they rose often above the head of a man on foot. Droves of antelope were to be seen on the plains and deer were to be found in the groves along the river, while in the tules and along the sloughs and lakes in the southern part of the county herds of elks passed most of their time." And yet, with those fertile plains at their doors, such was the fixity of the idea that had taken hold of men's minds and impelled them to the mines, that they scoffed at the few wise ones who planned to take up land and go to farming. "What!" they would say, "would you go out there and drudge, when you could go to the mines and pick up gold? Why, you would starve to death out there! Not any land for me."
But among them were men who had left the farm in the east to come to California. These men saw that while many lucky ones made their fortunes more or less quickly in the mines, there were thousands of others who lived from hand to month or went broke in quest for gold. They looked on the face of the country and, like the Israelites, "found it good." They realized that the soil that would produce such crops without cultivation would produce bounteously when properly cultivated. They realized too that the gold diggers must be fed, and that feeding them would bring its reward in rich profits. They knew the stock must have hay in the winter as well as in the summer, when every spear of grass was dried up in the absence of rain. So the wise men took up tracts of land. Some of them purchased large grants which had been given by the Mexican government, as had Sutter's. They prepared to feed the hungry, and their descendants are carrying out their plans today. The land which the miners, in their ignorance
9
HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY
of the effects of climatic conditions in the valley, designated as a desert, has proved "a land flowing with milk and honey," and has promoted the growth of an industrious and prosperous community which has done its share in the upbuilding of the great commonwealth that extends along the shore of the Pacific for a distance almost as great as that of the Atlantic states on the ocean that washes the east- ern shore of our country.
The great possibilities of our county are only in their first stage of development. The days of the stock and cattle men and of the herds that covered the land are gone. The days of wheat-raising that followed them are almost past and the era of intensive farming has come. The small home of a few acres, where the work that in the days of the wheat farmers was distributed over a quarter or half section is now concentrated on ten or twenty acres, has begun to take the place of the big ranch. Instead of sparsely settled plains where the farm house, barns and corrals were the only signs of habitation, and the rancher depended on the peddler's wagon to supply him with vege- tables and fruit ; where perhaps a few straggling fowls were to be seen around the barn yard, and the rancher brought out from the town his butter, eggs, condensed milk and bacon, are now to be seen the orchard and vineyard, with perhaps a patch of alfalfa yielding green feed the year around for the cows and chickens. "The old order changeth, yielding place to new." The country is daily growing nearer to the city. The telephone, the parcels post, the rural delivery which brings to the farmer his daily paper and his letters and keeps him in touch with the markets on which he depends for the sale of his products- all are making the farm more attractive to the rising generation. The immense holdings of the wheat barons are passing away and in place of the scattered bunk-houses where in winter the men who ran the gang-plows and sowed the seed and in summer the harvester gangs passed their nights, are the small farms of settlers, with comfortable homes growing in beauty and attractiveness and the children are to be found who will grow up as the next generation of our citizens. The schoolhouse, the cornerstone of our nation's greatness, begins to dot the landscape and the church and postoffice soon are seen, a nuclens for the thriving communities that are springing up and will soon cover the state thickly, as they do in the east. We are coming into our own at last.
10
HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY
CHAPTER I
SACRAMENTO COUNTY
Sacramento county is situated on the river from which it is named (Rio Sacramento, river of the Sacrament), being bounded on the north by Placer county, on the east by Eldorado and Amador, on the south by San Joaquin and on the west by Yolo and Solano. Sacra- mento City is the county town as well as the capital of the state. The city is in 38° 35' north latitude and 121° 30' west longitude from Greenwich. The county contains nine hundred and eighty-eight square miles, only a little less than the area of Rhode Island. The popu- lation of the county according to the census of 1910 is sixty-seven thousand eight hundred and six, but it is rapidly increasing, owing to the era of rapid development which has set in during the past five years. The coming of a new transcontinental railroad-the Western Pacific-and the approaching entry of the Great Northern and Santa Fe, as well as several interurban electric lines either already con- structed or in course of construction, have greatly hastened its rapid progress and prosperity. The magnificent river that flows along its western boundary bears on its bosom, it is stated, almost as much freight annually as the mighty Mississippi does. While the figures are not at hand to verify this statement, it is certain that the tonnage of grain, wood, fruit, vegetables and other products of the State which are carried on the river by steamers and barges totals an immense amount and relieves the railroads of a very great amount of freight dur- ing the busy season, and is a decided factor in keeping down freight charges in the valley. The river flows through a country unsurpassed in fertility in the whole world and producing a vast variety of grain, fruit and vegetables. On the river and the islands bounded by its various channels and tributaries, in addition to the fruit orchards that have been celebrated for their fine fruit for nearly a half century past, asparagus and celery growing have of late years become a most important and yearly increasing interest, the former furnishing many thousands of cases of canned product, which is shipped all over the world.
Sacramento County was one of the large wheat growing counties many years ago, but as wheat growing became less profitable and the land became more valuable, it gradually became utilized for vineyard and orchard production, for which most of the land in the county is admirably adapted. Hence of late years Sacramento has become the chief shipping point for all kinds of fruit except the citrus varieties, and as its soil and climate have been found to be of the best for the citrus fruits, their production has been rapidly increasing, both in quantity and quality, the latter being found to be inferior to none
11
HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY
raised elsewhere. A peculiar feature of the climatology of Sacramento and the adjoining counties on the east and north is found in what is known as the thermal belt in the foothills and higher portion of the plain, where the citrus fruits ripen to perfection and so much earlier than in other sections that they are from a month to six weeks earlier than those in the southern part of the State. They are there- fore marketed before the frosts come, reaching the eastern markets before the holiday season and of course bringing the highest prices. Besides these, all varieties of decidnons fruit grow in profusion and perfection, the shipments in 1909 reaching as high as two hundred carloads in one day, and on one day in July, 1912, totaling two hundred and twenty carloads.
The city of Sacramento is thirty-one feet above the sea level, the river below Colusa having a very gradual fall. The mountains which form the walls of the valley are visible on both sides of the city, and the panorama of the river, plain, foothills and mountains as seen from the dome of the capitol is a grand one, Mt. Shasta and Lassen Peak, more than two hundred miles away, being visible on some clear days. The climate of the city and county is tempered by the Sierra Nevadas and the Coast Range, and the humidity of the air in the summer is perceptibly lessened by being shut out from the ocean to a large degree by the Coast Range. For this reason, while the ther- mometer on some days in summer shows a high reading, the absence of moisture in the atmosphere renders it much more comfortable than in a moister climate, and sunstrokes and heat prostrations are practically unknown. Sacramento valley is about one hundred and fifty miles long, with a breadth of about fifty to sixty miles, and is walled in by two ranges of mountains, the Sierra Nevadas on the east, and the Coast Range on the west. They gradually approach each other until they come together in Shasta county. At the head of the valley Mount Shasta stands, looking down from his snowy heights like a hoary sentinel placed there to watch over the welfare of the country below. Beneath him winds the Sacramento river, on its way to water the fertile plains to the south. The alluvial lands along the river slowly merge into the plains, and they gradually rise until they meet the foothills with which the valley is fringed, the foot- hills in turn giving way to the higher ranges, the loftiest peaks of which are Pyramid Peak, ten thousand and fifty-two feet in altitude, and Alpine, ten thousand and twenty-six feet, in the Sierra Nevadas; and Mount Johns, eight thousand feet high, in the Coast Range. To the southwest fifty-three miles rises Mount Diablo, in a detached range, three thousand eight hundred and fifty-six feet high, while the Marysville Buttes, from forty to fifty miles north, rise two thousand feet out of the level plain and cover an area of fifty-five square miles. Adjoining the alluvial lands along the river are the plains, the soil of which is a sandy loam, a reddish land containing some clay, and a
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