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 67
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JILES SANFORD BOGGESS
During the colonial period of our national history the Boggess family became identified with the upbuilding of the south, and in the early part of the nineteenth century there was a distinguished state , senator of Georgia who bore the name of Ahaz Jefferson Boggess. In addition to his service in the state assembly he filled other offices, in- cluding that of sheriff. He was also an officer in the Mexican war and a prominent man in public affairs, filling many positions of responsi- bility. At the time of his death he was serving as state comptroller. The Civil war was then in progress and during the discharge of his duties as a state official he contracted typhoid fever, which terminated fatally. Afterwards his widow, Marguerite, came to California and made her home with her children in Sacramento until her death, which occurred at the residence of James Holland, corner of Eighteenth and G streets. Among their descendants one of the most distinguished was a grandson, J. Holland Laidler, who was killed in the Philippines, and in whose honor the Spanish war camp of Sacramento received its name.
At the old family mansion at Carrollton, Carroll county, Ga., Jiles Sanford Boggess was born March 26, 1853. When the Civil war began he was old enough to realize its sufferings and to undergo its hard- ships, but not large enough to bear arms for his native commonwealth. Its disastrous results long lingered in his mind, the wreck of the fam- ily fortune, the loss of estates, the suffering of privations and the starting out anew when at last the war had ended. He earned a live- lihood by operating a sawmill, but in the fall of 1876 he sold the mill and came to California. April 12, 1876, he had been united in mar- riage with Miss Martha Whittle, a native of Carrollton, Ga., and a woman of gentle, self-sacrificing disposition, noble in character and tender in devotion to her family. The young couple arrived in Sacra- mento in 1876 and began housekeeping here, while Mr. Boggess earned
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a livelihood by lighting the gas and oil street lamps. During 1878 he relinquished that position and moved to a ranch in San Joaquin county, where he remained for six years. Upon selling out he took his wife east and south and spent a year in travel. On their return to Sacra- mento he engaged in the grocery business for two years and later for three years he acted as superintendent of the James McNasson ranch of fourteen hundred acres.
Coming to Oak Park in 1890, Mr. Boggess erected the fifth house in the suburb and his death occurred at his Oak Park home, No. 3318 Orange street, September 6, 1910. For four years he had been a mem- ber of the firm of Tinnon & Boggess. Meanwhile he also was a local leader in the Democratic party and for ten years had served as a member of the county central committee, also for eight years attended every county and state convention of his party. For a period of four years he served as road overseer under Morris Brooks and for two terms he was deputy constable under C. B. Lightfoot, later filling the office of constable for sixteen years. With all of his family he held membership in the Oak Park Baptist Church. Fraternally he held membership in the Improved Order of Red Men. Surviving him are his wife and four children, three children having preceded him in death. Those living are, Ahaz C., Adelia, Marguerite, and Herbert Gardner. All continue to reside in Oak Park, where the older son resides with his mother and continues his father's business, and the younger son is identified with a brother-in-law in the contracting busi- ness.
One who knew Mr. Boggess well and honored him deeply said of his passing: "His was a noble, generous nature. He had an eye that could see distress and a heart that was constantly attuned to relieve it. He did not leave much of this world's material goods, but left a wealth of kind, noble and generous deeds that will live long in the memories of those who knew him. He did not believe in keep- ing the alabaster boxes of his love and kindness sealed up until his friends were dead. He believed that the man who scatters the flowers of sympathy and affection in the pathway of his fellowmen, who lets into the dark places of life the sunshine of human sympathy and happiness is walking the right path of life. There was a daily beauty about his life that won every heart. In temperament he was mild and conciliatory. He gained confidence when he seemed least to seek it."
In his family Mr. Boggess was devotion itself. The happiest hours of his life were passed in the society of wife and children. Nothing pleased him more than to bestow upon them some appre- ciated gift. In their joys and personal affairs he maintained an un- ceasing interest. His older son, after completing his studies in the Sacramento high school and the University of California, became an assistant to him in his business, gained a thorough knowledge of the same and was able to succeed him at the time of his demise. The
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younger son also was given first-class educational advantages and aided in his preparation for the responsibilities of life. The daughters became accomplished Christian women, active workers in the Oak Park Baptist Church, and their sincere characters prove the value of wise parental training as well as the influence of an honorable ancestry. Adelia is the wife of Frederick G. Rees, D.D.S., who was born at The Dalles, Ore., March 10, 1882, the son of a pioneer Baptist min- ister at one time quite well-known throughout the west. Orphaned at an early age, he made his home with grandparents at Loyalton, Sierra county, Cal. After two years in the Loyalton high school he entered the San Francisco College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he took the regular dental course, graduating in 1904. Since then he has engaged in professional work with the exception of eighteen months in the gold fields of Nevada. For six months he practiced at Loyalton, but desirous of a larger sphere for professional work in 1906 he came to Sacramento, where he has since had his office in Oak Park. Decem- ber 23, 1906, he married Miss Adelia Boggess, by whom he has two children, namely: Jiles Denton, who was born November 16, 1907; and Frederick Lewis, December 17, 1909. Fraternally he is con- nected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, while in religion he is of the Baptist faith.
William M. Kennedy, who married Marguerite Boggess, was born on Prince Edward Island, Canada, November 22, 1877, and at the age of seventeen went to Boston, where he learned and followed the trade of carpenter. Desirous of broadening his education he attended school in Boston and also took a night course in study in architecture, graduating with a high standing in that profession. From Boston he traveled west to Spokane and after six months in that city traveled south to California, where he has since made his home in Sacramento. For a time he engaged in carpentering, but in 1906 he began to take contracts and now he ranks among the leading men of his occupation in the entire county. In addition to having contracts for houses in Oak Park, Davisville, Sacramento and other places, he has recently had a contract for a $43,000 building for Louis Schindler opposite the postoffice. Another recent contract was for the elegant residence of P. Roeman on the Upper Stockton road. Several fine bridges for the county were erected by him' and he also had the contract for the Oak Park postoffice. While giving close attention to the details of his work, he does not neglect any duty that falls upon a public-spirited citizen. Although not a partisan, he is loyal in citizenship and well posted regarding national problems. Upon the death of his father- in-law he filled out his unexpired term as constable and for four years
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he also acted as deputy constable in Oak Park. In fraternal relations he holds membership with the Improved Order of Red Men and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His only living child, Wilma, was born in September of 1910. Another child died in infancy, these hav- ing been born of his union, February 18, 1906, with Marguerite Bog- gess. With his wife he is an earnest communicant of the Oak Park Baptist Church and a liberal contributor to its maintenance, while Mrs. Kennedy is also very active in the work of the Rebekahs of Oak Park.
CLARENCE M. GRIFFETH
The manufacture of ice cream and butter is conducted now along scientific lines, and there is no man in the business in Northern Cali- fornia who is more progressive or more determined to do the very best in his field of labor that can be done than Clarence M. Griffeth, whose establishment, built up from a small beginning, is located at No. 2008 N street, Sacramento.
Born in Sacramento July 13, 1884, Mr. Griffeth was educated in the public school and at a modern business college, and then for ten years was employed by his father, M. B. Griffeth, in the latter's grocery at Seventeenth and M streets. Early in 1910, with his father and mother, he began his present enterprise in a 10x12 room at the rear of his father's store, with no machinery but an ordinary crank freezer which he operated by hand. In three months he had a com- mercial freezer and a motor, and in April, 1911, moved to his present commodious quarters, where he has the most up-to-date plant of its kind in the city, making and selling on an average four hundred and fifty gallons of ice cream daily.
In October, 1911, Mr. Griffeth began the manufacture of creamery butter. In order to excel in this branch of his enterprise he took a special course in butter-making at the California state dairy farm at Davisville, which included special instruction in the handling of cream. He is now contemplating the enlargement of his place of busi- ness and the introduction of very material improvements, in order to meet the steadily increasing demand for his ice cream and butter. Although he gives the greater part of his time to the manufacturing business, he is also interested in his father's grocery business.
September 17, 1905, Mr. Griffeth married Miss Mabel Lynan of Sacramento. He is a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West. As a business man he is public-spirited and progressive, having at heart the best interests of the community.
& # Bedwel
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JOHN F. BEDWELL
In Poinsett county, Ark., at Crowley Ridge, John F. Bedwell was born March 14, 1868. His father, Samuel K., a man of good abilities and a millwright by trade, built the first flour mill at Memphis, Tenn., and other pioneer mills of different kinds in that vicinity. In 1871 the family moved to Fulton county, Ark., where the mechanic turned farmer and lived until April, 1908, when he died. His wife, formerly Eveline Lampkins of Tennessee, bore him six children, of whom our subject was the youngest.
When John F. Bedwell was eleven years of age he left home to paddle his own canoe, going to Newport, Ark., where he worked on a farm two years. Then, at the age of thirteen, in 1881, he came to the Pacific coast and located in Los Angeles, where he found employment in a nursery at which he busied himself until he was sixteen. After that he was a fireman in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, and as such worked on trains between Los Angeles and Bakersfield and Los Angeles and Barstow two years and between Los Angeles and Colton one year. Then he resigned his position to go into the real estate business, and he and his partner put on sale one of the first tracts exploited at Pasadena. For eight years he operated successfully, buying and selling land in large and small parcels, for himself and others; then he disposed of his in- terests in Los Angeles and vicinity and went to Arizona. He car- ried on business in various parts of that state until 1900, when he went to San Francisco and was for four years a salesman in a music store. After that he was similarly employed in Sacra- mento two years. January 1, 1907, he opened a real estate office in Sacramento, and in 1909 John F. Fleisher became his partner in the handling of large holdings in Sacramento, Placer and Sut- ter counties. Their offices are at No. 704 J street, Sacramento, and at Pleasant Grove, Sutter county, and in their undertakings they are meeting with merited and unusual success.
The present Mrs. Bedwell was in maidenhood Lucy Jones, a native of Sacramento. By a former marriage Mr. Bedwell has three children, as follows: Edna, Mrs. Melliken, of Fresno; William Wilbur, em- ployed on the transport Sheridan, plying between San Francisco and Japan, and Irvin F., who is serving in the United States navy.
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O. H. MILLER
As a factor in local material and commercial upbuilding the Sacramento Valley Development Association under the secretarial supervision of O. H. Miller has wielded a permanent influence and exercised a beneficial effect. Great as were the achievements of the pioneers in the original settlement of the locality, it was reserved for the progressive minds of the present generation to secure the greatest local advancement and upon the foundation of past ac- complishments to erect the superstructure of twentieth century pros- perity. Possibly few men have been more helpful in their efforts and certainly no one has displayed more persistent application than Mr. Miller, who as secretary of the association named and also in the capacity of a private citizen has been instrumental in securing a betterment of conditions in the valley.
The Miller family was identified with the very early history of Chicago. The records show that John Miller was instrumental in securing the incorporation of the city of Chicago during the year 1833. Afterward for years he there engaged in extensive business enterprises. Among his children was a son, Capt. Tobias Charles Miller, a native of Chicago and a graduate of Knox college at Gales- burg, Ill. To him came the distinction of being chosen as a member of the first government exploring expedition sent into the west under the auspices of the department of the interior. Although only six- teen years of age at the time, he endured the hardships of the long trip across the plains with uncomplaining fortitude and proved a distinet help in the compilation of important data as well as in the blazing of a path for future emigrants. Four times he crossed the plains with emigrant or government expeditions, and his knowledge of the west was exhaustive.
Shortly after the opening of the Civil war Tobias Charles Miller enlisted as a private in the Chicago Board of Trade Battery of Fly- ing Artillery, and for three years he served at the front with his regiment, taking part in many notable engagements, among them the battle of Gettysburg. As a result of a bursting shell he was seriously wounded at Gettysburg, after which he was commissioned captain in recognition of meritorions services. At the time of the assassination of President Lincoln he was stationed at Nashville, Tenn., as a mem- her of the staff of his cousin, Gen. John F. Miller, who at that time was in charge of troops in Tennessee. At the expiration of the war he was chosen the first United States marshal in Tennessee, with headquarters at Nashville, and for some years continued in that office. Later he served by appointment as United States internal revenue collector. Before he retired from office he had become inter-
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ested in the lumber business in the south. About 1882 he came to California and settled in Contra Costa county. For many years he was one of California's foremost citizens, serving in the constitu- tional convention and also as United States senator from this state. His death occurred August 13, 1898.
While living in the south Captain Miller had married at Nash- ville in 1868 Miss Malona Hanks, a native of Ohio and a very near relative of Nancy Hanks, the mother of Abraham Lincoln. Prior to her marriage she had engaged in teaching school for a number of years. Of her four children, the eldest, John Grant Miller, born June 21, 1870, is a resident of Contra Costa county and has charge of the old homestead of one hundred and fifty acres. The youngest son, Orson H., was born at Twinsburg, Summit county, Ohio, August 20, 1882, and has been a resident of California from his earliest recollections. During boyhood he attended the schools of Clayton, Contra Costa county, and Berkeley. After starting out in the news- paper business he was connected successively with the Berkeley Gazette, Chico Enterprise and the Marysville Appeal, the last-named being one of the oldest newspapers in the whole state. Since 1906 he has devoted his attention to the secretaryship of the Sacramento Valley Development Association. In fraternal affairs he holds mem- bership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. March 8, 1903, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Douglass of Berkeley. Two children were born of this union, Frances Ruth on January 15, 1907, and Robert Lincoln on March 7, 1912.
HERBERT F. SMITH
That successful wood and coal dealer of Sacramento, H. F. Smith, whose place of business is at No. 2814 J street, was born in San Francisco March 8, 1877, a son of Harry and Ann (Beaver) Smith. His father is living in San Francisco, but his mother has passed away. Mr. Smith gained his early education in Santa Cruz and later attended school in Sacramento. For a time after laving aside his books he was variously employed. At length he secured a position with the California Fruit Canning Association, which he retained for some years. After that he went into the service of the California Winery, for which concern he traveled five years. Then as a member of the grocery firm of Hart & Smith he had two years' experience in the branch of commerce indicated. His present en- terprise was undertaken in October, 1911, and has been prosecuted thus far with great success.
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June 5, 1906, Mr. Smith married Anna E. Rudech, of Sacra- mento, who has borne him two children, Gregory B., March 14, 1907, and Ellen Beatrice, October 20, 1910.
May 7, 1898, Mr. Smith enlisted in Company F, Sixth Regiment, California Volunteer Infantry, and served one year in the military operations in which our government was then engaged. In politics he is independent; he is a member of the United Commercial Trav- elers Association, No. 140, of Sacramento; and he and his family are communicants of the Catholic Church.
RYAN & CIPPA
A thorough knowledge of the undertaking business and an intelli- gent supervision of the details connected therewith characterize the well-known firm of Ryan & Cippa. Formerly located at Nos. 1017 and 1019 Fourth street, Sacramento, in 1913 they located in their present commodious quarters at No. 1214 K street. In addition to being well located the parlors are elegantly furnished and the chapel is large and well suited for its purpose. Since forming the co-partner- ship Messrs. Ryan and Cippa have gained a growing prestige in the commercial circles of the city. Henry P. Ryan, the senior member of the firm, was born February 23, 1870, in Sacramento, where his father, Thomas P. Ryan, engaged in business from 1860 until 1908. The public schools and business college of the city enabled him to secure excellent educational advantages, but at a very early age he left school in order to learn the rudiments of the printer's trade. In the composing room of the Sacramento Bee he learned to set type and later acquired a knowledge of other departments of the occupa- tion, remaining with the same paper for a period of twenty years. His identification with the undertaking business began in 1906, when he embarked in business with William Crowell. At the expiration of two years he purchased the interest owned by his partner and then continued alone until 1910, when the partnership of Ryan & Cippa was formed.
April 19, 1892, H. P. Ryan was united in marriage with Miss Mary Wetzel, of Sacramento, and they are the parents of three sons, Henry M., Thomas J., and Charles A., the two eldest of whom are now working as printers with the Sacramento Bee. For years Mr. Ryan has been actively identified with the Typographical Union. The Native Sons of the Golden West number him among their inter- ested members. Other organizations to which he belongs are the Young Men's Institute, the Knights of Columbus and the U. P. E. C.
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In religion he is in sympathy with Roman Catholic doctrines and has been a generous contributor to the work of the church.
The junior member of the firm, Fred T. Cippa, is likewise a native son of Sacramento, his birth having occurred here May 20, 1874. His father, Thomas Cippa, came to America via Australia from his native Switzerland and after landing in San Francisco in the spring of 1866 proceeded direct to Sacramento. At the time of his arrival in this city he was eighteen years of age. Beginning entirely without means he worked his way forward to a substantial degree of success. On the Marysville road seven miles from Sacramento he owned a ranch of one thousand acres, where he not only tilled the soil and raised grain, but in addition made a specialty of the dairy in- dustry. It was in 1866 that he became a resident of this county and during the next forty years he was prosperously connected with gen- eral agriculture in the locality, meanwhile having the co-operation of his family in the acquisition of substantial success. After he came here he remained single for some years and then was united in mar- riage, becoming the father of eight children, of whom Fred T. is the second eldest.
Farm pursuits and attendance at school filled the youthful years of Fred T. Cippa, but upon attaining his majority he started out to earn his own way in the world. For three and one-half years he worked at the butcher's trade with Friend & Long. Next he began to learn the undertaking business with Clark & Booth and continued with them for a short time. His next position was in the employ of W. F. Gormley, an undertaker, with whom he remained for eight and one-half years. During seven years of this period he served as deputy county coroner. His present business relations with Mr. Ryan were formed in 1910 and have been both enjoyable and profitable. Like Mr. Ryan, he is identified with the Native Sons of the Golden West and like him also he holds membership with the Young Men's Insti- tute and Knights of Columbus, while in addition he is connected with the Fraternal Brotherhood. For three years he served in Company E, California National Guard, and at the time of the great fire in San Francisco he was stationed with Troop B in that city for one month.
WILLIAM A. STRAND
Thorough knowledge of the electrical business acquired by a long experience while in the employ of others abundantly qualified Mr. Strand for the capable management of like affairs when he began for himself independently. Since he embarked in business in
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Sacramento he has enjoyed a steady but rapid progress until now the establishment of which he is sole proprietor ranks among the largest of its kind in all of Northern California, having the trade not only of people in Sacramento, but also of many residents of adjacent communities. Three different departments unite to form the business, one of these being the sale of electrical supplies, another being the furnishing of special designs in fixtures, while the third is the taking of contracts for the wiring of residences and business blocks, for motors, or anything pertaining to electricity.
Very soon after the discovery of gold in California a youth from Stockholm, Sweden, crossed the ocean to America and united his destiny with those of other pioneers of the vast and undeveloped west. This young man, by name William Alfred Strand, possessed the rugged constitution and sterling mental attributes necessary to life in a frontier community, and he became well known in San Fran- cisco, where for years he carried on a general mercantile store. While he did not acquire great wealth, he was prospered in his business undertakings and at the same time he won the friendship of those with whom he had commercial relations. Some years after he left his native land and settled in California he married a young lady of Swedish birth. He passed away in San Francisco, and she is now residing in Alameda. They became the parents of six chil- dren, four of whom are now living.
The son who bears his father's name is a native of San Fran- cisco and was born October 27, 1880. Upon the completion of his schooling he secured employment at any occupation promising an honorable livelihood and it was not until shortly afterward that he entered the business in which his interests since have been centered. This was the starting to learn the electrical trade in the plant of the Edison Light and Power Company, of San Francisco. For four years he continued with that concern and then, when eighteen years old, started an electrical business in the same city, known as the Golden Gate Electrical Company, which he conducted with sig. nal success for three years. On February 16, 1900, he was united in marriage with Miss Addie Giovanni, a resident of San Francisco. The wedding tour of the young couple consisted of a trip to Oregon, where Mr. Strand had secured a position as superintendent of con- struction of new telephone lines in a logging camp twenty-five miles from Portland. At that camp, which was known as Lacenta, he re- mained for two years and meanwhile, October 29, 1901, his daughter, Violet, was born. After returning from that place to San Francisco he was engaged for one year as foreman for the Snell electrical works.
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