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 92
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of the far west. Early in life he learned the trade of boiler maker and in 1869 he had the honor of putting together the first train that started for the east over the newly completed system of the Southern Pacific Company. From the first he was interested in all move- ments for the upbuilding of the state and gave liberally of his time to promote progressive projects.
The marriage of William D. Morrill in 1864 united him with Mary H. Pulaski, who was born in Galveston, Tex., and now resides at No. 1529 E street, Sacramento. Five children came to bless their union, but they suffered a deep bereavement in the early demise of three of these, the only survivors being Jessie and William H., both of whom are married and living in Sacramento. As early as 1852 Mrs. Morrill was brought to California by the family and afterward she attended school in Sacramento, where her father, August Pulaski, opened the first harness shop and for years carried on a large trade along the line of his chosen occupation. It was said that he was an expert in the manufacture of harness and few of the men of his day and locality could compete with him in the line of his specialty. As a citizen he was quiet but progressive, unostentatious but liberal, and in all measures for the civic welfare he stood on the side of progress and development. At one time he owned many acres within the limits of Sacramento, a part of the tract covering the present site of Eighth and J streets, but he disposed of the property before it had become val- uable. Three of his family, all of them being daughters, continue to make their home in Sacramento, among them Mrs. Morrill, who has witnessed the slow but sure growth of the capital city, has kept posted concerning its advancement and recalls with pride the remarkable transformation wrought in its aspect since she first saw it as an insignificant village with a transient and undevoted population, form- ing a striking contrast to the progress and patriotism noticeable in the twentieth century.
NIRON LUCE
A radical change from the environment of his early life came to Mr. Luce with his removal from Maine to California. As a boy at Farmington, Me., where he was born in 1836, he had become familiar with conditions existent in the far northeast regions of our country. The impressions made upon his plastic mind in youth were never forgotten, although they were dimmed by later and more pleasurable experiences in the agricultural activities of the west. The rigorous climate of Maine and the unpromising soil, with the forests of pine trees and the multitude of streams, imparted to the inhabitants
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in their isolation something of like attributes, for they exhibited a dauntlessness of courage in trial, a fixedness of purpose in adversity and a resolution of character in business associations that brought them snecess notwithstanding the discouraging conditions under which they often labored.
Seeking an environment more favorable for permanent residence and profitable labor, Mr. Luce left Maine at the age of nineteen and made the long voyage to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Immediately after his arrival in the west he settled in Placer county and became identified with the ranching interests of that region. In order to secure a start he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of raw land. This he brought under cultivation and improved with buildings. It was his far-seeing judgment that an investment in land would prove profitable eventually. Acting upon that theory he began to buy out squatters' claims. For this purpose he incurred a heavy debt, but he planned his enterprises in such a manner that he always was ready to meet the interest when due. With the increase in valuation of the land his financial standing became assured and he entered into the gratifying reward of his early foresight. At his death, December 16, 1901, he left to his family a splendid estate of fifteen hundred and twenty acres in Placer county, on which he had raised profitably both stock and grain. The widow, finding the care of so large a tract of great burden, finally disposed of the ranch and in 1910 established a residence in Sacramento, where at No. 1613 Eighteenth street she is now surrounded by all the comforts of life.
It was not until a considerable period had elapsed subsequent to his location in California that Mr. Luce formed home ties, his marriage in 1867 uniting him with Miss Lottie Wheeler, a native of Maine, and the danghter of a minister who served in the Baptist denomination throughont the entire period of his useful and consecrated maturity. Eventually Mrs. Wheeler came to California and settled in Placer county, where she died at an advanced age. Three children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Luce, but they had the heaviest bereave- ment of their wedded life to endure when their only son was taken from the home by death. The older daughter, Effie, was educated in Placer county and is now the wife of G. A. Wessing, of Sutter county. The other daughter, Miss Ida, who resides with her mother, is a woman of culture, qualified by nature and by education to enjoy the advantages connected with a residence in the capital city. The welfare of his family was always close to the heart of Mr. Luce. For them he labored with patient industry and for them he accumu- lated his large acreage of land, in order that he might leave them beyond the reach of material want or financial struggle, and in his last days it afforded him gratification to realize that his efforts in their behalf had been crowned with such abundant success. As a citizen 52
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he was loyal to the interests of his county, a believer in Republican principles and a stanch supporter of the party, but not a politician in the nsnal sense of that word, his desire being to promote the com- mon good of the people and to avoid all partisan activities.
MRS. ANNA SMITH
It has been the privilege of Mrs. Smith to witness remarkable changes in the appearance, condition and population of the west since the time when she first arrived in California sixty years ago. The excitement caused by the discovery of gold had not yet faded before the more important enterprises pertaining to the npbuilding of the great western empire. The entire trip from her native commonwealth of Ohio, where she was born near Columbus in 1835 and where she had been reared, made an indelible impression upon the mind of the young girl of seventeen, and she recalls the interesting fact that, after disembarking from the ship at the Isthmus of Panama, she was put on the back of a mule for transportation across to the Pacific ocean, whence she sailed up to San Francisco on the ship Blond in 1852. Arriving at Sacramento she found a small village of rude shacks and tents, crowded with a populace whose principal topic of conversation was that of mining and whose favorite vice was gambling. Prices of all commodities were high and the cost of living, an interesting theme of conversation in the present era of the world, offered a problem as serious to the poor of that period as to those of the twentieth century. Even the smallest articles brought a quarter instead of a nickel as they would in the present day, while no one seemed to recall that pennies were in existence. A church stood on K street at that time and there the young girl became the wife of John White, a native of England, and a pioneer of substantial traits of character. The following year, 1853, was made memorable to the couple, not only by reason of the birth of their first child, John A., at the family home on the corner of Third and O streets, Sacramento, but also because of the disastrous flood and even more calamitous fire of that season.
When the eldest child was three years of age the family removed to Folsom and there remained for a considerable period. Besides the child mentioned four others were born to the couple, but only two of the entire number now survive, those being John A., of Sacra- mento, and Emma, Mrs. Lowrey, of San Francisco. Mr. White, who was an interested worker in the blue lodge of Masonry and a con- tributor to movements for the public welfare, was deeply mourned
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when he passed away in 1861, but he left to the community the example of disinterested service as a pioneer and a true champion of his adopted country. During 1890 his widow was united in mar- riage with Daniel Smith, a native of Scotland, who was a physician in Sacramento county. His death in 1902. left Mrs. Smith once again alone, but with the companionship of her surviving children to gladden her declining days. In her quiet home at No. 723 Seventh street, Sacramento, surrounded by the comforts made possible by years of energetic work and cheered by the friendship of other pioneer women of the city, she passes the twilight of her useful existence in tranquil contentment.
STEPHEN UREN
For more than one-half century Mr. Uren has been identified with the development of the Sacramento valley and during the whole of this long period he has been a resident of the city of Sacramento, where he is still living, now retired from the heavy responsibilities of his younger years. Of English birth, he was born in Cornwall Sep- tember 10, 1837, and was the son of William and Bathsheba (Sincock) Uren, the former a blacksmith and machinist by trade and for many years employed as foreman in a large shop in Cornwall. It was there that the son learned all the details connected with blacksmithing. When he crossed the ocean in 1857 he was well qualified to earn a livelihood at his occupation. For almost one year he was employed in the copper mining district of Ontonagon county, Mich., from which place he returned to New York City for the purpose of starting to California. The steamer Constitution conveyed him to Aspinwall. After he had crossed the isthmus he resumed the voyage on the steamer Golden Gate, which cast anchor in San Francisco October 15, 1858. Coming from the coast city to Sacramento county, he worked for two years at his trade near Folsom, then spent a year in the mines of Eldorado county. After working for several months in Virginia City, Nev., he returned to Sacramento, and here he since has made his home.
After a period of employment on the capitol building Mr. Uren secured employment as a blacksmith, December 20, 1866, in the shops of the Southern Pacific Railroad. September 7, 1871, he was promoted to be assistant foreman under A. F. La Sholles. May 1, 1876, he was promoted to the position of foreman in the blacksmith shop, succeeding George Genshlea. The rolling mills also were under the direction of Mr. Uren and the first bar was rolled out in July of
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1881 under his supervision. For the year 1888 eleven thousand tons of material were turned out by the mill and during November five hun- dred men were employed in the rolling mill and the blacksmith depart- ment. The heaviest steamboat forgings ever made on the Pacific coast (including those for the ship Piedmont) were manufactured under the direction of Mr. Uren, whose success with such tasks was a matter of common knowledge to the workers in the shops.
The efficiency of the department under his charge was greatly increased through the introduction of Mr. Uren's own inventions. Several of these may be enumerated. April 27, 1880, he patented a device for forming car-links, which previously had been made by hand. The new process reduced the cost about one-third. October 6, 1885, he patented a process for the manufacture of nuts at the rate of one per minute, superseding the old method which required one-half hour for each nut. December 1, 1885, he patented a wrought-iron brake-shoe, which possesses an advantage over the cast-iron shoe in the ratio of five to one and which is now in great demand by railroads in every part of the United States. May 28, 1889, a slot attachment to a bolt-heading machine, which has the distinction of being the only device in existence that will simultaneously head a bolt and slot the key; this is conceded to be one of his most important inventions. Another patent is on a method utilizing scrap cast-steel, which is composed into ingots and rolled down into bar steel. May 27, 1890, he patented a spike-making mechanism. His latest patent, that for reverberating heating furnaces, bears date of October 6, 1903. By reason of advancing years he retired from the shops September 30, 1907. Since 1881 he has made his home in a residence that he built on the corner of Thirteenth and G streets and in 1911 he erected an attractive four-flat building adjacent to his own house. Honored in many movements, he was especially prominent in the Master Black- smiths' Association and during 1893 he served as chairman of the committee that effected the organization at Chicago. Three years later he was chosen president and ever since then he has been active in the order, often serving as committee member or as official, and doing all within his power to promote its usefulness.
The marriage of Mr. Uren took place in Sacramento September 9, 1865, and united him with Miss Mary Walch, who was born in Ire- land August 12, 1844, and came to California in May, 1863. Four sons and three daughters came to bless the union, namely: William Stephen, born June 18, 1866; Edward, March 31, 1868; Mary G., March 22, 1871; Stephen J., August 2, 1873; Walter, December 6, 1876; Grace Ella, November 24, 1879; and Nellie Maude, March 6, 1882. The eldest son, now employed as assistant chief clerk in the motive power department of the Southern Pacific Company, married Miss Anna McDonald, a native of Toronto, Canada, and they are the parents
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of two daughters, namely: Gertrude M. E., March 30, 1902; and Marjorie, October 26, 1909. The older daughter was born in Sacra- mento and the younger in San Francisco. William S. is a native of Sacramento and his brothers and sisters likewise claim the capital city as their native place. The second son, Edward, learned the machin- ist's trade in the railroad shops at Sacramento and while living here patented a rotary engine. During 1892 he was married at Oak- land to Miss Lulu Crompton, by whom he became the father of two daughters, viz .: Nell, born in Portland, Ore., August 9, 1893; and Ruth, born in San Francisco March 20, 1895. The elder of these two girls, Nell, was reared in the home of her grandfather, Stephen Uren, and has received excellent advantages in the Sacramento schools.
The eldest daughter of Stephen and Mary Uren was given her mother's name and October 25, 1891, became the wife of L. P. Kerner, who was born in San Francisco April 20, 1865, and is now connected with a real-estate firm in that city. Mr. and Mrs. Kerner are the parents of four children, namely: Harry, born in San Francisco Sep- tember 24, 1892; Louis, March 3, 1896; Gertrude, March 29, 1899; and Frances, April 6, 1907. The third son of Stephen and Mary Uren was given his father's name and is now first assistant foreman of the blacksmith shop and rolling mills of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company at Sacramento. For a wife he chose Miss Annie Theresa Burke, who was born in Sacramento July 29, 1878. They have three children, viz .: Raymond Stephen, born November 9, 1900; Cleta Mary, February 2, 1902, and William Donald, March 26, 1912, all natives of Sacramento.
The youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Uren was taken from them by death. Walter Uren received a fair education in the grammar- schools and later learned the machinists' trade in the Southern Pacific shops at Sacramento, thence going to San Francisco, where he died November 4, 1905. Interment was made in the Eastlawn cemetery of Sacramento. The second daughter, Grace Ella, he- came the wife of Alfred Schaden, who was born in Sacramento April 21, 1878, received a fair education in the city schools and now engages in the grocery business in Sacramento. There are two chil- dren in the Schaden family, namely: Harold Alfred, born September 22, 1907; and Claire, October 30, 1910. The youngest member of the Uren family, Nellie Maude, was married June 14, 1905, to Hazard Snowden Williamson, who was born in Walla Walla, Wash., July 25, 1878, and is now conducting at San Francisco one of the largest candy factories on the western coast. They have two children, Dorothea Marie, born September 20, 1906, and Ursula Jane, November 26, 1911.
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CHARLES E. WENTZEL
The manager of the Sutter Photo-Engraving Company of Sacra- mento, Cal., is Charles E. Wentzel, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, born November 16, 1862. After finishing his studies in public schools of his native city, he was for two years a student in the high school. He then learned the photo-engraving business and when he had mastered it was for some time employed in prominent photo-engraving estab- lishments in Cincinnati and Chicago. In the meantime he made several trips to the Pacific coast, which he first visited in 1895, and it was in 1904 that he first located in this state, for a time being employed in San Francisco.
The history of the Sutter Photo-Engraving Company dates from February, 1906, when the Howes Electrotype & Engraving Company was organized and incorporated. Ten months after it began business, Mr. Wentzel acquired an interest in it and it was reorganized under its present name with Charles E. Wentzel as vice president and manager. The plant and processes of this concern are kept thoroughly up-to- date; it turns out an excellent grade of engraving and electrotyping, having just installed a new electrotyping plant, and it is enabled to turn out a class of work equal to any in the large cities of the east.
In July, 1889, Mr. Wentzel married Miss Catherine Houtz, of Cin- cinnati, Ohio, and they have a daughter, Anna, who was born in 1903. Mrs. Wentzel, who is a lady of much culture and of great social popularity, is a member of the Tuesday club.
CHARLES LOTHHAMMER
This musician, once well known in Sacramento and vicinity, was born in Germany and died in Sacramento in August, 1885. He was in his time a leader among local musicians, was prominent as a Turner and long affiliated with Schiller Lodge, I. O. O. F. Frank, honest, outspoken, in all his aspirations friendly and helpful, he was beloved by all who knew him.
Early in his life Mr. Lothhammer enlisted as a musician in the band of the Third Regular Volunteer Infantry and at the expiration of his term he re-enlisted at Watertown, N. Y. He was captured and taken prisoner. Afterward he was exchanged, his health shattered, and he received his honorable discharge. After his discharge from the service he located in Sacramento and soon attained a high place
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in his profession. He married Mary Clara Clark, who survives him. Her father, Casper Kloth, who was born in Hanover, was married there to Gertrude Fersen. He brought his family to the United States, they later coming as pioneers to California, where they died. Mrs. Lothhammer bore her husband a daughter, Gertrude Frances. Since her husband died she has made her home in Sacramento, where she has lived since childhood.
PHILIP WISE
The proud privilege of claiming Sacramento county as his native place belonged to Mr. Wise. Nor was he less fortunate in being able to boast of a lifelong identification with this same portion of the state, for he was born at Walnut Grove, Sacramento county, Cal., October 18, 1857, son of Joseph and Nancy J. (Phipps) Wise. The parents crossed the plains in the '50s.
The son of a pioneer who had been attracted to the west by the discovery of gold and who, disappointed in his hopes of finding a fortune in the mines, had settled down to ranching pursuits on a large tract of raw land, it was the fate of Philip Wise as a boy to undergo all the hardships incident to existence in an undeveloped farming country of unknown possibilities. Schools were few in that period of our history. The sparsely settled country regions forbade any permanent educational work. Whatever education he received, it was largely through his unaided application to books and his own desire to obtain the knowledge necessary for the business affairs of life. When attendance at school was possible he availed himself of such opportunities and at other times he assisted in ranch work, thereby gaining a diversified knowledge of agriculture most helpful to him in his life work as a farmer. After years of successful effort in the agricultural districts of Sacramento county in 1896, at the age of thirty-nine years, death terminated his earthly activities.
The marriage of Mr. Wise had been solemnized in Freeport, June 24, 1885, uniting him with Miss Mary L. Beach, who was born at Freeport, Sacramento county, and is a daughter of the late Julius C. Beach, an Ohioan who came to the west during the memorable year of 1849, afterward identifying himself with the pioneers of Sac- ramento county. Mr. Beach returned east and was married in October, 1855, to Mary E. Davis, who was born in Pittsburg, Pa., and they came by way of Panama to his home in Sacramento county, where they resided until death took them. They were the parents of a son and five daughters. Mrs. Wise was the fourth eldest of her parents' fam-
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ily; she received her education in the public schools of Sacramento county and is a well-informed woman, keeping abreast of the times and being especially conversant with the early history of our county. She has witnessed the gradual development into the prosperity and progress characteristic of the present era. While giving patriotic support to movements for the civic growth and county welfare, her time since her marriage has been devoted chiefly to her family, whose happiness is ever uppermost in her thoughts. Her first deep bereavement came in the death of her son, Joseph Clinton, a bright boy of four years. and later she was bereaved by the untimely passing of her husband. Three children are now living, the eldest of whom, Carol M., is the wife of Milo E. Dye, of Walnut Grove, Sacramento county, and they have one child, Grove Ernest, born October 9, 1907. The others, Mabel E. and Philip E., remain with their mother, and all are a source of blessing, joy and comfort to her.
O. F. WASHBURN
From Maine to California is the width of a continent, but these states are two points in the life of O. F. Washburn, of Sacramento. He was born in Kennebec county, Me., November 25, 1849, on the farm on which his father, Abisha Washburn, was born and reared. He is related to the well-known Washburn family which furnished governors for Maine, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Illinois.
When a young man Mr. Washburn went to Portland, Me., and engaged in the wholesale grocery business. In May, 1876, he was married to an old schoolmate, Miss Ray Williams. Their wedding trip to the Centennial Fair at Philadelphia was really the first lap of their immigration westward, for after doing the wonders of the great one-hundred-year exposition they left for California, coming by the way of the Isthmus of Panama, and located in Los Angeles, where they remained for several years. Then, after two years spent in connection with the wholesale grocery business in San Francisco, he opened the American Cash Store in Stockton, which was success- fully conducted under the firm name of Parmalee & Washburn. After selling out his interest in the business to Mr. Parmalee Mr. Wash- burn came to Sacramento in 1885 and established the American Cash Store at No. 915 K street. After two years the business was moved to a larger store in the Clunie building, on the corner of Eighth and K streets, where it soon developed into the first store in its line in the city. In 1901 Ex-Governor Fancher became associated and the cor-
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poration was formed of which Mr. Washburn is president and Mr. Fancher secretary and treasurer. The quarters again becoming too small, in 1909 Mr. Washburn and Mr. Fancher built a three-story brick building with an eighty-foot frontage for the company. The various departments include grocery, market, delicatessen, bakery and hard- ware, and the sixty-seven people and seventeen delivery wagons are not one too many for the daily work of this big establishment.
Mr. and Mrs. Washburn became the parents of two children, one of whom, Virginia, died at the age of seventeen; the other daughter, Alice, was married August 17, 1904, to George B. Lorenz, who is identified with the People's Savings Bank, and they have two children, Robert Washburn, born June 22, 1905, and Edith Virginia, born October 25, 1911. Mrs. Washburn has also done her share of the firm's work and contributed considerably to the success it is today. She was the confidential bookkeeper for ten years and her practical oversight of the affairs of the establishment has been invaluable. She is prominent in the club life of her home place. Mr. Washburn can trace his family line back to the Pilgrim Fathers and the Mayflower.
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