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 70
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HENRY DEHN
Significant service to the material upbuilding of Sacramento has been characteristic of Mr. Dehn during the long period of his identi- fication with the city. Dating his arrival here as well as his first per- manent location upon American soil from September 2nd of the Cen- tennial year, he came hither direct from Germany, where he was born March 10, 1858, and where preceding generations of the family had lived as far back as the genealogy can be traced. From the first period of his association with the capital city he was prescient of its possi- bilities for growth and development. While earning a livelihood through an association of ten years with the old Sacramento brewery and during the early '80s also serving as secretary of the Sacramento Brewers' Association until that organization disbanded, he did not fail to keep posted concerning the local property valnations and the de- velopment of the building business. When the eastern part of the city was still a marsh he bought the block between J and K streets, extending from Twenty-eighth to Twenty-ninth. The tract appeared entirely worthless and of course was purchased at a low figure. Cov- ered by a slough, its main use had been to furnish a place for the town boys to swim. By putting in over ten thousand yards of dirt he con- verted the block into one of the finest business and residence localities of the eastern district of Sacramento. Here for a time was located the first electric-car barn of the city, here the first electric car was put to- gether and from here it began its regular rounds of travel. The old building still stands on his premises, but has not been used for street car purposes for many years.
After relinquishing the position in the brewery Mr. Dehn gave his attention to the taking of contracts and he is now one of the oldest
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contractors of Northern California. Many of his contracts have been for street work and the building of city sewers. As the Sacramento foreman for the San Francisco Street Improvement Company, he had charge of the building of the first macadam road on K street. Many other important improvements were made under his supervision. Per- haps no one is more familiar than he with the condition of Sacramento streets, sewer work and building business, and it may be stated as a fact generally known that all work done under his oversight has proved substantial and permanent. When he first became a citizen of the United States he entered into local politics and rendered efficient assistance to the Democratic party in Sacramento, but his ambitions did not lead him into office-seeking and at no time has he sought official honors from his fellow-citizens. Of his original holdings he has sold a portion, but still owns one-fourth of a block of the original purchase, besides which he has one-fourth block facing Sutter's Fort on Twenty-eighth street. On this property stood the first printing- office in Sacramento, also here, facing the alley, once stood the first hospital of the town. The story is told that in the early mining days a miner was brought to this hospital who had $40,000 in gold-dust. While delirious he escaped from attendants, carried his bags of gold outside and buried the treasure, which has never been found to this day, although different parties have dug for the gold and for some time a dredger also was operated in the vain hope of locating the hidden wealth. When mining was still a very prominent industry it was the custom of miners to come from the mines with their sacks of gold and gamble at Sutter's Fort. Some of the dust would be dropped to the ground and often Mr. Dehn secured the sweepings, which amounted to more than at first thought would be supposed. Remem- bering the conditions of the country at the time of his arrival and noting the remarkable change brought about by slow degrees, he has been a witness to advancing prosperity and has contributed his own quota to the steady advancement of the city.
FRANK GREGORY
It is characteristic of the native-born sons of California that they maintain an intelligent association with all movements for the per- manent upbuilding of the state, and in this respect Mr. Gregory vies with others who boast a lifelong identification with the commonwealth. By reason of his residence in Sacramento, where he was born Febru- ary 22, 1867, and where he has remained throughout his entire life, his interest in the capital city is particularly keen. Perhaps few 39
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men in the town are better posted than he concerning measures for the advancement of the city and county, projects for the making of necessary improvements and plans for the building of structures necessary to every community in the transaction of its public business and the care of its dependent or criminal element. The family of which he is a member has been very prominent in Sacramento, his brother, Hon. Eugene J. Gregory, having filled the office of mayor, while their father, Julius, a pioneer of the city, held an influential position in its business circles for many years.
Attendance at night schools as well as the regular classes of the public schools gave Frank Gregory fair educational advantages in the years of youth. After leaving school he assisted his father in the details of the business, but since 1907 he has been associated with the office of county clerk as deputy. After the appointment of E. F. Pfund, the present incumbent of the office of county clerk, Mr. Gregory was retained as deputy, a fact which testifies eloquently as to the recognition given to his faithful services. Besides serving as deputy since 1907, he also has been assigned to the duty of acting clerk of the board of supervisors of Sacramento county for the same period. The years from 1908 to 1911 were most important in the history of Sacramento county, for during that period bonds were issued to the amount of almost $1,500,000, and contracts for construction were let on bids, which embraced the construction of the new county jail, the new courthouse, new roads and new permanent bridges.
The immense amount of construction work begun and the large amount of bonds issued indicate the overwhelming volume of business transacted in the office of the county board of supervisors. It is, in- deed, stated authoritatively that the amount of work accomplished during the service of Mr. Gregory as deputy has more than doubled that of any previous period in the county history or any previous record made by other deputies. Such a statement in itself proves the energy with which he has attended to his duties and the speed with which he has prosecuted his work, while his accuracy is attested by the fact that few mistakes have ever been found in any book of the office, notwithstanding the large volume of the records made. The work, indeed, is practically faultless, and indicates that the office has in its deputy a man of dispatch and accuracy, a worker of rare quali- fications as well as practical common sense. In addition to his other enterprises, he served for five years as secretary of the State Anti- Debris Association, a society organized for the purpose of keeping clean and open the rivers where hydraulic mining was in constant operation. The Chamber of Commerce numbers him among its mem- bers and his identification therewith has been used to promote the commercial prosperity of Sacramento. In fraternal matters he holds membership with the Eagles and blue lodge of Masons, and he is also a member of the Sacramento Athletic club.
James Mangan
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JAMES MANGAN
A native son of California and of Sacramento, James Mangan was born May 18, 1865. His father, Peter Mangan, married Miss Kate Hennesy, who came from Ireland to California when she was quite young and with three sisters located in this city. The elder Mangan came to California in the pioneer days and located in Sacramento, where he was a blacksmith and a veterinarian. He was interested in local politics and met with success as a business man. He passed away in 1880, and his son, after leaving the public school, learned the blacksmith's and horseshoer's trade under the instruction of Harry Bennett of Sacramento, and he has followed that vocation to the present time. After leaving Mr. Bennett he was employed as horse- shoer on Haggin grant, and later for David Ahern in the same capacity, and he continued there until he started a shoeing shop in San Francisco. A year later he returned to Sacramento and bought an interest in an old shoeing shop with John Wizel. This was located on Ninth street, and he continued doing business at this location for four years, at which time he sold out in order to buy ont Winters & Morgan at No. 1228 J street, which has been his place of business since. He makes a specialty of the shoeing of horses. In his political affilia- tions he is a Democrat and he was recently the nominee of his party for the office of city trustee to represent the Eighth ward. In the pri- mary election in 1912 he was unanimously nominated as the Demo- cratic candidate for supervisor for the Third Supervisorial district of Sacramento. He is a member of the Master Horseshoers' Association, and he and his family are communicants of the Catholic church. His mother is his housekeeper; his brothers Frank and Peter Mangan are connected with the Sacramento fire department; Mary, his eldest sis- ter, married T. L. Enright of this city; his sister Martha is the wife of Charles Nichols of Sacramento, and Belle, his youngest sister, is a member of his household.
As a whole, the immigrants coming to the United States have met with success, and with few exceptions, compared to our whole popula- tion, the offspring of these immigrants have been exceedingly suc- cessful. This fact is well illustrated in Mr. Mangan's career. He is a skillful mechanic, a man of enterprise and progressive ideas and a public-spirited citizen who loyally does his part in the promotion of the general good.
MANUEL S. SILVA, M. D.
Successful identification with the medical profession individu- alizes the personal history of Dr. Silva and gives the prestige of progressive prominence to his citizenship in Sacramento, where he
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is recognized as a physician of talent and as a gentleman possessing the highest culture and attainments. Not alone may it be said con- cerning him that almost the whole of his professional career has been passed in the capital city, but it may be added further that much of his life in childhood and youth was passed here, this place having been the environment of early memories. The culture of institutions at other points was added to his mental equipment, for he was af- forded exceptional educational advantages in the Santa Clara val- ley and in San Francisco. The period of infancy and indeed up to the age of fourteen years was passed by him under the care of his parents in the kingdom of Portugal, where he completed the local high school course. Indeed, practically all of the later scenes painted on memory's walls are associated with Northern California, and his devotion to this region presents another example of that high type of loyalty characteristic of those who proudly claim themselves to be lifelong residents of the commonwealth beside the sunset sea.
Born June 19, 1868, in Pico, Azores Islands, where his parents, Manuel L. and Rosa Silva, had temporarily established a home, Dr. Silva descends from a long line of Portuguese ancestors. The family was founded in the new world by his father, a man of great enter- prise and indomitable courage, who, originally attracted to California during the '50s by reason of the discovery of gold, remained to em- bark in farm pursuits in Yolo county, where ranching was yet in a primitive condition of development and the possibilities of agricul- ture entirely unknown. The locality presented a remarkable contrast to that of his early years, which had been spent on the Azores Islands off the coast of Portugal, in his native town of Pico. With char- acteristic adaptability of temperament he entered into harmonious relations with the people around his new home, studied the soil until he had acquired a thorough knowledge of its needs in cultivation and prospered to a degree fully merited by toil and enterprise. From 1868 until 1882 he engaged in business in Portugal, where he pur- chased ocean ships adapted to the carrying of general merchandise and with such cargoes he traveled to the Azores Islands, disposing of the goods and then returning to the mainland for new purchases. When he returned to California in 1882 he retained his interest in the Portuguese vessels, but gave personal attention to the development of a ranch near Freeport, Sacramento county, remaining on the Cali- fornia farm until 1886, when he returned to Portugal for the purpose of giving undivided attention to the management of his ships and merchandise. Since then he has been active and successful in the same business.
The return of the family to Portugal made no change in the edu- cational program outlined for the son, who continued a student in local schools and the Christian Brothers college until 1885 and then spent a year in St. Mary's college, Oakland, after which he became a
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student in the Santa Clara college near San Jose, where his classical education was finished, graduating with the degree of A. B. Later he took up the study of medicine in the California Medical college at San Francisco, from which institution he was graduated in 1897 with the degree of M. D. and an excellent standing. While apparently well qualified for professional work, he felt his limitations to such an extent that he took a post-graduate course in the College of Phys- icians and Surgeons in San Francisco. His degree came from that institution in 1901, and since then, with the exception of three years in San Jose, he has engaged in practice at Sacramento, where he ranks among the most distinguished and efficient physicians of the city.
The marriage of Dr. Silva and Miss Mary Vieira was solemnized in Santa Clara, this state, in October of 1892, and has been blessed with three children. Manuel, the eldest, now a bright youth of fifteen years, is a student in the Sacramento high school. The younger children, Joe and Agnes, are pupils in the Sisters convent on Third and O streets. The family are earnest supporters of the work main- tained by the Roman Catholic church and Dr. Silva has been a leader locally among the Knights of Columbus. In addition he has associated himself with the Druids, Eagles and Fraternal Brother- hood. Stanch in allegiance to the Republican party, his devotion, although intense, is less conspicuous than his sturdy loyalty to the nation and his deep affection for the commonwealth.
JOHN H. WENTZ
A comprehension of the baffling intricacies connected with finan- cial affairs forms a conspicuous attribute of Mr. Wentz, who in be- coming identified with the banking business has entered a field of activity for which his natural tastes as well as his mental training admirably qualify him. While his residence in Folsom and his identi- fication with the substantial institution known as the Bank of Folsom cover a comparatively brief period only, already he has established himself among the permanent, progressive citizenship of the thriving town and also has acquired an enviable reputation for skilled finan- ciering. The confidence of business men has been with the bank from the first and the list of depositors grows with assured steadiness. Since the organization, during the autumn of 1910, of the Bank of Folsom it has been under the personal supervision of Mr. Wentz as cashier and manager, while Isaac Henkle has officiated in the capacity of president. The directors include a number of sagacious business
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men, who guide the investments and guard the safety of the loans with intelligent judgment.
In studying the personal history of Mr. Wentz we find that he traces his lineage to Germany. His father, Capt. Abial Livingston Wentz, was born in Ohio and moved to Iowa, settling in Burlington, where he entered into railroad work. At the beginning of the Civil war he enlisted as a private in the Twenty-fifth Iowa Infantry, which lie accompanied to the front, taking part in numerous engagements of great importance to the final results. After the expiration of his first enlistment he re-enlisted in the Twenty-ninth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. In recognition of his valor in battle he was promoted and commissioned captain of his company and served in that capacity until the close of the war, when he was honorably dis- charged. Returning to Burlington, he entered the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad and with them rose to be a conductor, which position he filled until he met death in a rail- road accident. For years he had been identified with the subor- dinate lodge of Odd Fellows in Burlington, being Noble Grand of Washington Lodge, No. 1, that order, at the time of his death; and he was also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He was known throughout that city as an upright man, a patriotic citizen and an efficient railroad official. He is survived by his wife, who in maidenhood was Ida Elizabeth Grennough, and she still makes her home in Burlington.
In his native city of Burlington the excellent public schools af- forded John H. Wentz fair educational advantages in both the or- dinary branches and in a commercial course, and later he had the further advantage of pursuing his studies in Drake University at Des Moines. These opportunities did not come to him unsought and undesired, but were the direct result of his own efforts. From the age of eleven years he had been self-supporting and thus he learned self-reliance, determination and perseverance in the great school of experience. For a considerable period of his young manhood he was employed by Swift & Co., in their offices at Chicago, St. Louis and Omaha. While in the real estate business in Des Moines, Iowa, he was married at Mount Ayr, Ringgold county, Iowa, on August 9, 1902, to Miss Edna Pearl Roby, a native of Mount Ayr. They have an only son, John Roby Wentz. The family came to Cali- fornia in 1904, and bought property at Sacramento, where Mr. Wentz later engaged in the real estate business, also being interested in the promotion of the Sacramento' Trust Company. It was in 1910 that he organized and established the Bank of Folsom, which he has since managed with characteristic fidelity, genuine intelligence and keen foresight. The increase and development of the bank's business has been most gratifying to the stockholders, and the com- munity as well, and it is undoubtedly destined to fill a longfelt want
Torn Leves
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and to aid very materially in the upbuilding as well as adding pres- tige to the commercial worth of Folsom, which it would have been impossible to acquire withont its influence.
THOMAS LEWIS
Starting out in life as a Welsh collier boy, working twelve hours a day, for six pennies, away down deep in the coal mines, and rising from this lowly occupation to an inventor, manufacturer and bene- factor to the people of this great state, is the story of the man whose name heads this article, whom destiny has put in a place of prom- inence among the enterprising citizens of Sacramento. He was born at Wrexham, Denbighshire, North Wales. An ocean and many thou- sand miles were between the boy and his destiny, but inevitably they would meet, and it happened in 1881, when Thomas Lewis came to Sacramento.
The parents of Thomas Lewis were John and Ruth (Roberts) Lewis. They were not rich in this world's goods, but they were rich in love for their boy and did for him what they could to the end that his way through life might be less rugged than the one they had found. He would necessarily have to labor, but labor under fair con- ditions would be good for him, and they were determined that he should be able to labor with his head as well as with his hands. Ac- cordingly, they sent him to school, where he got a glimpse of things beyond the dull horizon of his daily life. It should be noted that not all the boys of his acquaintance were thus favored in that time and place. As a boy of seven he had to go to work in a mine as a door boy, and thus he was employed until 1875. At this time he and a partner were working in the bottom of a six hundred-foot shaft. cleaning out the sump; here an accident happened that was a hair- breadth escape. A six-foot steel rail used as a balance on the engine became detached and fell down the perpendicular shaft, but fortun- ately it entered the side of the shaft above and away from them and buried itself in the rock. When told of their narrow escape they thought it over and the next day started for New York.
Mr. Lewis had heard much of America, where all people were free and where poor people might become independent by honest work and wise planning and careful saving. He had often dreamed of going to that far-off land of promise, and so his dream came true. He traveled in the east, working at landscape gardening until 1880, his companion being Joseph Fardo, a Quaker landscape gardener, and then they went to British Columbia and Alsaka. After a year spent
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there he came to California and settled in Sacramento in 1881. Some of the ideas he had imbibed in his brief schooling had remained and certain of them had been developed by his experience with the world. Not successful in finding employment at his trade, his attention was directed to the profits to be made at digging sewers and cesspools, and sewers and cesspools were even more essential to everyday life than winding paths and banks of bloom, and-was he not in America to make his way, was he not here to do the best that he could? That is what he did until he could do better. To some the yielding to such necessity would have been tragic. He did not look at it in that way. So he took the chance that offered and he has prospered. Later he turned to the manufacture of fertilizers and chicken food, and this venture also has been successful. He has not forgotten the joys of landscape gardening. His taste for the beautiful in nature is as fine as ever it was, and he may return to that work, but he is doing so well and building up such a fine business that it is a credit to himself and the city. His manufacturing plant is located one and a half miles southwest of Sacramento, where he makes the Tom Lewis fertilizer, which is shipped all over California. This product is the result of twenty years of study and experimenting, and wherever it is used the fruit produced is superior in size, flavor and quality to that raised by other commercial fertilizers, and the value can best be recognized when one is told that he sold twenty-five tons to Morrows, who are interested in the Armour Packing Company. C. M. Phinney, who has used his fertilizer on his orange and olive groves in Fair Oaks for two years, in a letter of recommendation states that the fertilizer is superior to any other he has experimented with, and that the first year's use yielded him an orange crop fifty per cent greater than in any previous year. A seedling walnut, planted eight years ago, by the use of the fertilizer has grown to very large proportions. It has branches spreading a radius of forty feet, is about thirty-five feet in height and is now bearing a large crop of walnuts. Mr. Lewis is unquestionably a great benefactor to the horticulturists and floricul- turists of California, and his product is doing more to build up the farming and fruit interest of the state than any other single article.
In his political ideas Mr. Lewis is independent, trusting all parties as far as he can, trusting none of them too far. He is a Methodist, helpful to all of the varied interests of his cosmopolitan and demo- cratic church. He has married twice, and by his first marriage has a son, John Lewis, who is a plasterer. His present wife was formerly Miss Nora Wilson, a native of Nebo, Pike county, Ill., daughter of Austin and Lucretia Wilson, who came to Sacramento, where the father was a builder. The marriage occurred in 1905 in Sacramento, and two children were born to them, Bethyl and Anna.
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RICHARD TIMM
It took Richard Timm, the present proprietor of the California Planing Mill, situated at the corner of Second and Q streets, Sac- ramento, years to finish his wanderings and settle down to business. But he did it and he is none the worse for wear. He was born in Altona, Holstein, Germany, January 3, 1864, one of the sons of the household of William and Matilda Timm, prominent citizens of that sturdy old German state. Children are schooled in Germany and schooled hard, and the boy Richard had his work in the public schools and afterwards in the gymnasium laid out for him till he was eighteen years old. Then he took a medical course at the University at Kiel and he was ready for the New World and its adventures. Naturally he went as far west as he could on the American conti- nent, and in the California mines around Placer county he dug and shoveled and washed for almost two years. His next appearance was in Los Angeles, where he filled an engagement as bookkeeper for Helman, Haas & Co., wholesale grocers. Here he remained for three years, and another year, spent in Mexico as a correspondent "in an office, made four years spent in the south before he returned to the upper portion of the state.
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