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 91
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After having completed the studies of the Placerville public schools and also for a time having clerked in a Sacramento grocery, in 1873 Henry F. G. Wulff attended evening classes at Heald's Business College at San Francisco, from which he graduated in 1874, and in the meantime he earned his livelihood by clerking in a grocery store in the daytime. For one year he was employed in the coining room of the mint, and after resigning this position he went to Virginia City, Nev., continuing there until June, 1879, when he was appointed United States ganger in the Internal revenue officer for the Sacramento district. For nineteen years and three months he was identified with the Internal revenue office, meanwhile acting as chief deputy of the local department for ten years. While thus engaged he drew every check paid out for the construction of the new postoffice, the check in payment for the ground being the only one not drawn by him personally. When he had resigned as chief of the department he embarked in the real-estate business, during 1898 becoming a member of the firm of Kromer, Wiseman & Wulff. The retirement of the senior member of the firm in 1901 cansed a change to the present title of Wiseman-Wulff Co. In addition to carrying on a general real estate, loan and insurance business, the firm has pioneered sub-division work in Sacramento. Among their most important tasks was the improving of eleven thousand acres at Knight's Landing, Yolo county, forming the Fair ranch at one time owned by the senator of that name. Under the name of the Sacramento Farms Co. they purchased this bottom land, which is as fertile as the far-famed valley of the Nile. On reclamation work here $350,000 has been spent, the results of the expenditure appearing in the first erop (1911) raised after the work had been completed, when six thousand acres yielded more than
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eighty thousand sacks of grain. Mr. Wulff has been secretary of the company since its organization.
By marriage of Mr. Wulff to Miss Lonisa Galvin a son, Albert HI., was born, who is now connected with a wholesale grocery business in Sacramento. After the death of his first wife Mr. Wulff married Miss Elizabeth Stelter May 2, 1888, and thus became connected with one of the old and honored pioneer families of Sacramento county, her father, Frederick Stelter, having been a resident here since 1860. Of the second marriage there are three children, namely: Fred L., who is identified with his father in the real-estate business; Ramona and Horace B., who are students in school. The family attend the Lutheran Church. In politics Mr. Wulff stands stanchly by the principles of the Republican party and in 1911 he was its candidate for trustee from the ninth ward. For years he has been prominent among the Odd Fellows, belonging to Eldorado Lodge No. 8 and Occidental Encampment No. 42, and in 1910 he occupied the office of grand patriarch of the Grand Encampment of California. In the capacity of grand representative he attended the Sovereign Grand Lodge in September of 1911, held at Indianapolis, Ind., to which important gathering delegates were sent from lodges in every part of the world. His taet and counsel have been most helpful to the local advancement of lodge work and thus to the general prosperity of the order.
WILLARD WARNER
Legion is the name of the men who, coming to Sacramento in early life, have achieved here a gratifying degree of material success without the prestige of an influential family name and without the aid of capital in their first personal enterprises. It is proof of the opportunities afforded by the capital city that these men, with few exceptions, have risen out of obscurity into civic prominence and individual prosperity, contributing in their personal achieve- ments to the advancement of the community selected as their perma- nent place of residence. Not the least noteworthy among these progressive, prosperous business men may be mentioned Willard Warner, who by an apparent chance became identified with the business to which he has given whole-hearted and effective at- tention. When he came to Sacramento and sought a means of liveli- hood, the fact that he had a previous experience in a laundry establishment made it possible for him to secure work as driver of a laundry wagon, and from that beginning he rose through sue- cessive steps until finally he was chosen secretary and manager
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of the Cascade laundry, one of the well-known industrial plants of the city and an organization that has built up an immense business through careful attention to the needs and desires of customers.
Born in Fulton, N. Y., January 4, 1865, Willard Warner was taken to Iowa at an early age by his parents, Joseph W. and Harriette Warner, who settled at Clear Lake near the shores of one of the most beautiful bodies of water in the northern part of the state. On the shores of the lake there had been started a small hamlet, which since has developed into a popular summer resort. The little school of this village gave him his early educa- tional opportunities and afterward he carried on his studies at Luverne, Rock county, in the southwestern part of Minnesota. At the age of fifteen years he removed to Washington and for two years attended the Seattle high school, later securing employ- ment in a laundry of the same city. During the year of 1885 he came to Sacramento and secured work as a wagon-driver with the American laundry.
A gratifying offer from the Union Laundry Company caused Mr. Warner to leave the other firm in 1899, after which he acted as manager of the Union until 1903, when a consolidation was effected of a number of plants under the title of the Cascade Laundry Company. Of this he since has acted as secretary and manager. Employment is furnished to one hundred persons and a general laundry business is conducted, customers being largely people of Sacramento, although there is a growing patronage from other towns. In addition to the management of this impor- tant business, with its increasing responsibilities and constant need of intelligent oversight and tact, Mr. Warner holds the office of treasurer in the California Expert Cleaners' Company, which was organized largely through his personal efforts and as a result of his realization of the growing need for such an industry. The Sacramento Laundry Club also has the benefit of his active co- operation and wide knowledge of the business. With the mani- fold cares connected with his special work, he has not been able to participate in politics aside from casting a Republican ballot at all national elections. One of his favorite forms of recreation has brought him into prominence among the members of the Sacra- mento Bowling Club, whose most expert players confess to his superior skill. For some years he has been identified with the Loyal Order of Moose. His marriage took place in Seattle, Wash., May 19, 1890, and united him with Miss Flora Rich, by whom he has three children, namely: Eugene, who is employed as bookkeeper at the Cascade Laundry; Philo, who is a student in St. Francis convent; and Adeline, who is attending the Sacramento public schools.
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WILLIAM S. WATSON, M. D.
The lineage of the Watson family is traced to the nobility of England and afterward the family was established in the United States. The historical annals of Great Britain indicate that for more than thirty-five years Sir Thomas Watson, M. D., held the honored place as physician extraordinary to Queen Victoria. Dr. Watson of Sacramento is the son of William Watson, who was a brother of Sir Thomas Watson and was a man of classical education, and the highest culture, a graduate of the noted university at Cambridge, and for years connected with a Philadelphia college as instructor in higher mathematics and classics. While identified with the educational interests of that eastern city he was united in marriage with Miss Priscilla Price, who traced her ancestry to Scotland but claimed Philadelphia as her home city. Later they established a residence in Indiana for a brief period and were associated with the pioneer educational development and social de- velopment of that then frontier state; while there the birth of their son, William S., occurred in September of 1853. Inheriting from his parents a degree of intellectuality, as well as a keen ambition to acquire knowledge, his progress through the lower schools of learning was swift and while yet a mere lad he matriculated in Bellevue Hospital Medical College of New York City. At the expiration of the regular course of lectures he was graduated with the class of 1870, with the degree of M. D. Two years later he embarked in practice in Central Illinois, but his talents demanded a different field of professional labor and in pursuance of his ambitious plans to specialize in medical work he went to the Hudson river district of New York. For a long period he resided at Fishkill on Hudson and Matteawan, Dutchess county, and New York City, the changes of headquarters being made by reason of professional demands or business activities.
The achievements of Dr. Watson in the realm of medicine during his long residence in the east reflects a permanent lustre upon his professional reputation. For fourteen years he conducted as sole proprietor the River View Sanitarium near the banks of the Hudson in Dutchess county. The institution was founded and maintained for the treatment of nervous and mental troubles. Later on he associated himself with William T. Jenkins, M. D., a former health officer of New York City, in the founding of a charitable hospital for the care and treatment of those unfortunates who were ill and penniless. Such work, although not financially remunerative, had its rich reward in the consciousness of promo
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ting a needed and beneficent philanthropy. It was during the period of his residence in Central Illinois that Dr. Watson was married and there his .only son, William Martin Watson, was born. He is now engaged as a bank and corporation attorney and is one of the leading professional men of New York City, where likewise he is prominent in society and in civic affairs.
Coming to Sacramento in 1908, Dr. Watson opened an office at No. 501 K street, but later removed to the new Nicolaus building, where now he occupies a modern suite, provided with all up-to-date appliances. In the midst of a successful professional career he found leisure in the east to identify himself with progressive civic movements. Not only did he serve with the greatest efficiency as mayor of Mattea- wan, but twelve years later he was elected to the same position at Fish- kill on Hudson and was the incumbent of the mayor's chair at the time of selling his sanitarium, which was in 1900. He is a member of Beacon Lodge No. 283, F. & A. M., and Highland Chapter No. 83 R. A. M. at Newburgh on Hudson. Professional associations enlist his co-operation and wise assistance. Besides being connected with the Sacramento County Medical Association and the California State Medical Association, likewise the French Society of Electro- Therapy, he is a charter member of the American Electro Therapeutic Association. For twenty years he served as examiner of lunacy for the state of New York and for four years he has acted in the same capacity for the State of California. During his many years of medical research work, he has written many articles for the medical and lay press, upon current topics, recently on the cause for the increase of the insane, treatment of the insane and educational matters, etc.
DAVID E. WILEY
Genealogical records show that several generations of the Wiley family lived and labored in Maryland, their principal place of residence having been Harford county, whence their descen- dants scattered into many portions of the United States. The ancestral mansion stood at Norrisville, a small town lying near to the state line of Pennsylvania, near also to the placid waters of the Susquehanna river and not far distant from the Chesapeake bay. There occurred the birth of David E. Wiley June 20, 1858, and there in 1825 the eyes of his father, Hon. David Wiley, first opened to the light. The latter had been the recipient of fair advantages in the select schools common to the early half of the nineteenth century and, although he limited his attention to farming and stock-raising,
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he not only attained prominence in that occupation, but also be- came a leader in civic affairs, in business enterprises and in pro- gressive projects for the welfare of his commonwealth. In recog- nition of his noteworthy achievements and gennine talents for the public service he was chosen as a member of the Maryland as- sembly in 1881 and 1883 and at the time of his death, February 27, 1887, he was still very prominent in the state. As a farmer he was progressive. In the stock business he aimed to raise only the best grades. No finer herd than his might be found in all of Harford county. To him belonged the distinction of sending the first carload of cattle ever shipped to England, while he constantly bought and sold in the markets of the eastern cities. During early manhood he married Mary S. Terril, who was born at Norrisville, Md., and died there in June of 1865, while still in the prime of womanhood.
The schools of Norrisville were excellent in their standard of training and in their discipline. Hence David E. Wiley had ad- vantages superior to those possible to many of that period. When he left school at the age of eighteen he secured employment in a mercantile establishment in his home town and there he remained for twelve years. Meanwhile from 1882 to 1884 he served as justice of the peace in his home township. Coming to California in 1888 he entered the mint and remained an employe of the government until 1904, when he resigned to devote his whole attention to a store at Folsom, which he had honght in 1903. After having en- gaged in merchandising for seven years he sold ont in 1910. Since then he has acted as agent for several old-line insurance companies and also has carried on a cigar business. While still a resident of Maryland he was united in marriage, September 24, 1884, with Miss Edith May, a member of an old Maryland family and a woman of culture and education. In addition to his family resi- dence Mr. Wiley owns another dwelling-house in Folsom. Through- out all of his life he has favored Democratie principles and at all elections he supports the regular party nominees. In fraternal rela- tions he holds membership with the blue lodge of Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Eagles, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Rebekahs, to which last-named his wife also be- longs.
ISAAC HINKLE
The quiet round of important duties discharged with painstaking care has filled the life of Mr. Hinkle since he left his Indiana home for the greater opportunities offered by the far west. An apparent chance brought him into the work for which nature had qualified
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him and ever since his removal to this state more than thirty years ago he lias been identified with the irrigation industry. Perhaps few men are more conversant than he with this business whose value to the development of the west cannot be overestimated. That his knowledge is appreciated by others is proved by the fact that since 1882 he has acted as superintendent of the North Fork Ditch Com- pany. Although the ditch has changed ownership a number of times he has been retained through all the various managements, besides which he has acted as superintendent for all outside water.
Born in Howard county, Ind., April 9, 1855, Isaac Hinkle was the son of Henry and Hester (Brock) Hinkle, natives of Ohio and Tennessee respectively, and who were farmers in Howard county, Ind. Having been reared on the farm, such education as he pos- sesses was acquired in the public schools which he attended only three months a year. Such success as he has won (and it is by no means unimportant) comes from his determined but unassisted ap- plication. During 1881 he came from Indiana to California and settled at Anburn, where he at once began to work for the North Fork Ditch Company. The corporation recognized his worth and promoted him to be superintendent the following year, when he took charge of a section of the ditch at Folsom. The business being located in this village he established a home here and has since lived in the town, whose prosperity he has promoted, whose growth he has fostered and whose real-estate interests he has developed through the buying and selling of land. In the capacity of agent he has handled a great deal of property and at this writing owns three hundred and sixty acres of valuable land on the Auburn road near Folsom, where he is engaged in fruit and stock raising, besides which he has a number of building lots on the same road across the American river, and on one of these he has erected a substantial resi- dence for his own home.
Upon the organization of the Bank of Folsom in 1910 Mr. Hinkle was one of the original subscribers and assisted in the promotion of the new enterprise with customary zeal and sagacity. The honor of being chosen the president on its organization came to him, and his identification with the concern was made more complete through his service as a member of the board of direc- tors. When he came west he was a single man, but four years later he started a home of his own, being united in 1885 with Miss Jessie Brown, who was born and reared in Tennessee, received an excellent education there, and after coming to the west engaged in teaching prior to her marriage. Three children blessed their union, but the only daughter, Ethel May, died at the age of nine months and the younger son, Allen, passed away at the age of two years,
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leaving but one survivor in the family, Henry J., who is now married and a resident of Folsom.
In national campaigns Mr. Hinkle gives his support to the Democratic party. Locally he is independent and favors the men whom he deems best qualified to represent the people irrespective of their party views. At no time in his life has he sought official honors and the only public position he has ever consented to fill is that of member of the Folsom board of education, in which post he has given time and influence toward the upbuilding of the schools. Having been deprived of higher educational advantages in his youth, he has been especially solicitous that the children of his home town should receive every desired opportunity to fit them- selves for life's responsibilities. Religion enters with harmonious rhythm to perfect a rounded character and both he and his wife have found pleasure and help in their relations with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Both enjoy their membership in the Rebekah Lodge No. 166, at Folsom, while in addition Mr. Hinkle has been prominent and active in the general work of the Odd Fellows. Shortly after his arrival in the west he joined Auburn Lodge No. 7, I. O. O. F., in which he has served through the chairs and is past grand. After coming to his present location he identified himself with Folsom Encampment No. 24, I. O. O. F., in which he filled all of the chairs, being past chief patriarch at the time of this writing.
GEORGE KEACH
As an illustration of the commercial opportunities afforded by Sacramento and also as an index to the ability of the man himself, mention belongs to the record established and the reputation achieved by George Keach in the commercial history of the capital city. When first he arrived here it was a poor workman with his kit of tools, a journeyman who had followed the trade of an upholsterer in various parts of the country and who had been attracted to the great west by reason of the glowing reports. In the busy years that have since brought their changes, their opportunities and their suc- cesses, he has found the climate healthful, the people congenial and the business openings equal to his own ability, so that he has no reason to regret the decision that brought him to the coast country and made him a business man in Sacramento.
In studying the Keach family history we find that William and Melinda Jane Keach were married in Indiana and died at Logansport, that state, the former in 1884 and the latter a year later. For
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twenty years he had engaged in the furniture business in Chicago, where both before and after the great fire he was an influential busi- ness man and a public-spirited citizen. His son, George, was born at Logansport, Ind., October 23, 1863, and was graduated from the high school of that city in 1882. He was one of a large family, the majority of whom reside in the east, although one of his brothers, William Henry, a pioneer investor in property at Butte, Mont., still makes his home at that place and is now one of its most wealthy retired real-estate operators.
After a sojourn of two years in Northern Michigan and Wisconsin George Keach came to Helena, Mont., and thence to Denver, Colo., where he was engaged in the furniture business for two years. Later he was engaged in mining in Larimer county, Colo., for about four years, next coming to Sacramento in 1896, and later traveling through Nevada with his kit of tools. On his return to Sacramento the same year he secured employment with a local furniture store, where he remained for eight years. At the expiration of that time he opened a small repair shop at No. 1003 K street, where also he carried a small line of furniture. A few months afterward, Jannary 1, 1907, he removed to larger quarters at No. 1003 J street and No. 923 Tenth street. At that location he built up a large trade; he incorporated the Home Furniture Company, with himself as president and manager and his wife secretary and treasurer. His principal aid in winning the confidence of patrons was his unwavering honesty. In even the smallest sale he always has been scrupulously honest and customers have come to realize that they may depend upon the straightforward expression of his opinion. No sales have been made under false impressions and no goods are allowed to be sent out from the estab- lishment under a misrepresentation. As a consequence of this accuracy and integrity of business management the proprietor has built up a wide reputation and now he receives orders from almost every part of Northern California. In Jannary of 1912, upon the completion of the modern fireproof structure on Ninth between K and L streets, one of the finest buildings in the Sacramento valley, he removed to that location, where he has leased thirty-six thousand square feet, including one-half of the entire ground floor and the entire three floors above. In addition to the trade with private families the proprietor has furnished various hotels throughout, also a number of apartment houses in Sacramento, and on several occasions he has bought the lease to new apartment houses, which he had furnished complete and then sold the lease.
The marriage of Mr. Keach took place in Sacramento September 22, 1904, and united him with Miss Nora Jacox, formerly. of Flint, Mich., and the daughter of a retired farmer. The only surviving child of the union is Adalaide Allene, born September 21, 1905. The son,
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Howard, died at the age of nine months. Mrs. Keach is a member of the Saturday ('lub and holds membership with the Baptist Church, to the work of which Mr. Keach has contributed with characteristic generosity. Various organizations have received the benefit of his active co-operation, including the Fraternal Brotherhood, Moose, Modern Woodmen of America and Woodmen of the World, also the Knights of Pythias and the Improved Order of Red Men, in which latter he has passed through all of the chairs. He is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Retail Merchants' Asso- ciation and the Pacific Coast Advertising Club. In citizenship he has been progressive, promoting the advancement of his adopted city by every influence within his power and supporting all enterprises which he believes for the permanent welfare of the people. The measure of his prosperity is well deserved, for it has resulted from industry and the exercise of business ability. His tireless energy and resolute spirit have carried to completion large business under- takings and have given to him a position of prominence among Sacra- mento's distinguished men of affairs.
WILLIAM D. MORRILL
An identification with California during the eventful era of the '50s gave to Mr. Morrill a thorough knowledge of the crude, unde- veloped conditions that eventually were replaced by a cultured citi- zenship and a prosperous commercial environment. Although it was not his privilege to survive until the accomplishments of the great aims of the pioneers were realized he contributed his quota thereto and when his earth life came to an end in 1885 at the age of fifty years, there were not wanting friends to bear testimony to the integrity of his character nor old settlers to witness concerning his helpfulness in the strenuous tasks devolving upon the pioneers in their loyal and patriotic attempts to raise the standard of citizenship in their adopted commonwealth. Before coming to the west in 1851 at the age of sixteen he had seen much of the east and had enjoyed the excellent advantages of the Boston schools, as well as a brief attendance in the schools of Pittsburg. He was, however, a native of Van Diemen's Land, Australia, and was born in 1835 during the residence of the family there while his father held the position of American consul. It was not until he was almost twelve years of age that the family returned to Pittsburg and in 1849 his father joined the vast throng of gold-seekers leaving the Atlantic coast for the then unknown regions
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