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 96
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960
HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY
SAMUEL BROOKS SLIGHT
More than one-half century of identification with the history of Sacramento county, covering the period between his birth October 19, 1858, and demise January 27, 1910, gave Mr. Slight a broad and com- prehensive knowledge of this portion of the west, while extensive travels into other regions made him conversant with the magnitude of the undeveloped resources of our commonwealth. He was proud of the fact that he could claim California as his native state and proud also that his parents were among the goodly throng of emigrants to whose dauntless courage was due the original American occupancy of ancient Spanish and Indian habitations. No fortune ever rewarded the efforts of the industrious pioneer couple, but they gained that which is more to be desired, the esteem of all associates and the deepest affection of their family. Without any financial aid from them and without even the advantages of a good education, their son whose name introduces this article won his way to a substantial degree of success and in the span of life's brief but busy day accumulated a neat competency for his wife and children. His start in the earning of a livelihood was made through an apprenticeship to the trade of a carriage-maker, which later he followed as a journeyman and finally became a salesman in the same line of business.
The marriage of Samuel Brooks Slight, in Sacramento in 1888, united him with Miss Josie Wittenbrock, a native of Sacramento county, and the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Wittenbrock, of Germany, who came to the west during the eventful era of the '50s, establishing a home in Sacramento county and remaining there until death. Mr. and Mrs. Slight became the parents of three children. Their only daughter is now the wife of J. A. Holland and resides in Sacramento. The sons are Henry Cyril and Bertram, the elder of whom, while still making his home with his mother in the comfortable city residence, devotes much of his time to the care of her ranch. The ranch is on a part of the Haggin grant about four miles east of the city. This consists of forty-five acres devoted to hop culture, a business with which Mr. Slight became familiar and in which he was considered an authority. Notwithstanding the demands of business affairs, he found leisure for the oversight of the ranch and by his per- sonal efforts made the place profitable as an investment. Certain of the fraternal organizations received his especial aid, among them being the Elks and the Eagles, and for years he also took a warm interest in the Native Sons of the Golden West, his membership being with the parlor in the capital city. In public affairs he took little part, yet he was a loyal citizen, progressive in principle and favoring all
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improvements of permanent value to the city. Official honors did not appeal to him, for his tastes led him to find his highest happiness in his home and among his personal friends, rather than in the turmoil of partisan politics. By his own unaided efforts he accumulated a competency and left to his family an estate representing years of thoughtful, intelligent and arduous application to business affairs.
HARRY W. ADAMS
One of the most prominent men in the commercial world along the Pacific coast and one who has devoted careful study of freight rates throughout the United States to the extent that he has procured many improvements in conditions in that department, is Harry W. Adams, who fills the important position of traffic manager of the Pioneer Fruit Co., at Sacramento, Cal. The life of Mr. Adams has been a reverse of the usual order of procedure of the active California citizen, for he was born on the Pacific coast and went East as a child. instead of being born in the East and coming to the West. His father, who was a major in the United States army, devoted practically his whole life to military service and passed away some years ago.
Harry W. Adams first saw the light of day in San Francisco, on July 10, 1861, but after a few years in the East, he finally re- turned to the coast and his native city. He attended the public schools and upon leaving his studies became variously employed for a few years, then going to Salt Lake City, to become clerk in the Union Pacific Railroad office there, and he soon advanced to the position of assistant general freight agent, which he held for a number of years. After that he was connected with the freight departments of the Union Pacific, Oregon Railway and Navigation Co. and Texas Pacific Railway Co., and came to be known as one of the best informed freight and traffic agents in the entire West. Eventually he was induced by Mr. Bills to come to Sacramento, and accept the position of traffic manager of the Pioneer Fruit Co., which he is holding at the present time with that efficiency and trustworthiness for which he is known among the business people in that line of work. By careful observation and studying the freight rates throughout the country he was instrumental in reducing the rate to the Atlantic seaboard from $1.45 to $1.15, and a corresponding reduction to points west, and this accomplishment has been the means of saving for the farmer many hard-earned dollars. Mr. Adams' company ships fruit all over the United States, and from time to time sends large consignments to foreign ports.
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which necessitates clever manipulation of the shipments and a thor- ough knowledge of the best arrangement and order of shipping.
Mr. Adams is a member of the San Francisco Transportation Club and the Sutter Club of Sacramento. He affiliates fraternally with the Masons, having attained to the thirty-second degree, Scot- tish Rite, and is also identified with the Order of the Eastern Star. In 1890 he married Miss Lula Holladay, a native of Illinois, who is a lady of culture, interested in charitable work and a member of the Tuesday Club of Sacramento. She is identified with the Order of Eastern Star and is one of the Past Grand officers of the Grand Chapter of California.
ALPHONSE ARNOLD
In the German province of Alsace-Lorraine, Alphonse Arnold was born December 11, 1858, a descendant of many generations of European ancestors of high character and worthy achievement. He was educated in public schools in his native land and in 1884 came across the Atlantic to America, landing in New York in August. From the eastern metropolis he went to the Southwest, locating at San Antonio, Texas, where he remained till in 1887, working as a cooper, he having acquired a knowledge of that trade in the old country. From San Antonio he came west to San Francisco, where he was employed in a cooperage about fifteen months, and thence he came to Napa county, in June, 1888. There he worked for wages till, eventually, he established a cooper's shop at St. Helena, which he managed with success during the ensuing eight years. Disposing of the St. Helena interests of A. Arnold & Company, he came to Sacramento and took charge of the cooperage shop oper- ated by Jolm Ochsner. In April, 1903, he bought the shop, then located at No. 816 Second street. May 1, 1904, he moved the en- terprise to the site at No. 320 R street, which it has since occupied and where he has made one of the latter-day business successes of that part of the city.
While he was living in Texas, Mr. Arnold married, January 17, 1885, Pelagia Burgunder, who died April 25, 1905, leaving a son, Louis, born March 25, 1892, who is now acquiring a knowledge of the cooper's trade under his father's careful instruction. Self- made in the best sense of the term, Mr. Arnold is in all things thor- oughly up to date. His cooperage establishment is perhaps the best plant of its kind in Northern California. He is a member of the Druids, helpful to all the interests of the order, and is a devoted and generous adherent to the Catholic church. In many ways he has demonstrated his characteristic public spirit.
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HARRISON BENNETT
Long and honorable service in the Civil War gives distinction to the life history of Mr. Bennett and entitles him to the gratitude of all true patriots. When he was a young man, with his education uncompleted and his life plans only vagnely ontlined, the hidden depth of his patriotic spirit was revealed by his instant desire to offer his services to the Union at the outbreak of the Rebellion. It was thought at the time that the trouble could be quelled in a very brief period, therefore he was accepted for three months beginning May 1, 1861. His original service was as a private in Company B, First Michigan Infantry. Later he re-enlisted as sergeant in Com- pany G of the same regiment which was assigned to the army of the Potomac, where one year later he was promoted to hospital steward. Among his engagements were the first battle of Bull Run, the Peninsular campaign, the battle of Gettysburg, the second contest at Bull Run, Fredericksburg and the Wilderness. From time to time he was promoted and held the commission of first lieu- tenant when he was discharged at Louisville, Ky., July 9, 1865, after his third enlistment, being mustered out of the service by rea- son of the close of the war.
The Bennett family is of old eastern ancestry. Isaac B., a native of Wayne county, N. Y., grew to manhood in that part of the state and there married Sibyl La Dne, who was of French and German parentage. The young couple left their friends and relatives and sought the cheap lands of the northwest with the intention of ere- ating a home on the frontier. For some time they lived in Lena- wee county, Mich., where their son, Harrison, was born August 1, 1841. From the land in Lenawee county the father cleared off the heavy timber; he then built a cabin home, placed the virgin soil under cultivation, and eventually became prosperous. He sold this place and bought a farm in Jackson township, Jackson county, and there spent the remaining years of his useful existence. His wife survived him, dying at the advanced age of eighty-six. When an aged woman, but well preserved physically and mentally, she came to Sacramento and enjoyed a visit with her son, Harrison, returning to Michigan to pass hier closing years.
After the close of his long army service and a subsequent visit among relatives in Michigan, Mr. Bennett went to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where he took a course of study in the Eastman Business Col- lege. Immediately after his graduation he took passage on a ship for Panama, thence crossed to the Pacific side and traveled by steam- er to San Francisco, where he remained for three years. In 1868 he came to Sacramento, where he has since resided. For one year
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he clerked in a drug-store and later he was retained as bookkeeper for R. Stone & Co. During 1875 he entered the Sacramento Sav- ings Bank as teller and continued with that institution until 1910, when he resigned and retired on a pension. His identification with the bank covered a long period of years and reflected great credit upon his fidelity, trustworthiness, intelligence and wise judgment.
The first marriage of Mr. Bennett was solemnized at Sacra- mento in 1875 and united him with Miss Emma Allen, who was born in New York City and received her education in the schools of that metropolis. Very shortly after her marriage she died at the family residence in Sacramento. During 1877 Mr. Bennett was united with Mrs. Lizzie Lardner, the widow of Frank Lardner. His only son, Willie, died at the age of two years. The only daughter, Sibyl, is the wife of Presley Johnson and the mother of two chil- dren, Beth and Edloe. The Grand Army of the Republic always has received the interested co-operation of Mr. Bennett, who, since 1873 has served as quartermaster of Sumner Post No. 3, at Sacra- mento, and also was honored by election as its commander. In 1910 he was appointed Assistant Adjutant General of the Department of California and Nevada, serving one term. He is also a member of the California Commandery Military order of the Loyal Legion. The old comfortable family home at No. 714 Seventh Street, Sacra- mento, was erected from plans and specifications designed by Mr. Bennett, who also aided in the work of construction and decoration, being handy with tools and a natural mechanic. Many of his leisure hours during business associations were devoted to the improve- ment of the grounds and the care of the home, and since his re- tirement from the bank he has no task more enjoyable than the oversight of the place and the cultivation of the trees and flowers that adorn the grounds. Since then he has purchased a home at 530 Twenty-first Street, where he now resides. During his long residence in the city he has proved the value of his citizenship and his worth as a man of most exemplary habits, of tried integrity and the highest principles of honor.
PETER BOHL
At a period when the vast regions west of the Mississippi val- ley were yet very sparsely settled and the lands near the Pacific coast were held in large grants by representatives of the Spanish nobility, the Bohl family lived upon a small farm near Georgetown, Ohio, and the father, George Bohl, frequently hanled tanbark to
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the tannery owned by his intimate personal friend, the father of Ulysses S. Grant. There were five sons and three daughters in the parental family and three of the eight are still living, namely: Frederick, who at the age of more than ninety years makes his home near Peoria, Ill .; Mrs. Sarah Ludwig, of Moweaqua, Shelby county, Ill .; and Peter, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, October 23, 1830, and whose advantages were so meagre that he may be called a self- educated and self-made man.
When news came concerning the discovery of gold in California the older brother, Frederick, made an immediate resolution to seek his fortune in the west. Accompanied by his young wife he started across the plains with a party of emigrants. Scarcely more than one-half of the long journey had been accomplished when Indians attacked the emigrants and stole the horses belonging to Mr. Bohl. Fortunately his wife had some jewelry and silverware with her and these she sold in order to raise enough for the purchase of another team. It had been their intention to go direct to California, but circumstances forced them to alter their plans and they went to Oregon first, arriving there with nothing but a gun and a dog. Fish- ing and hunting not only afforded them a scanty subsistence, but enabled them to earn a little money and with this Mr. Bohl went on to California, leaving his wife in Portland, Ore. Upon his ar- rival in Sacramento he started a small bakery. With the first money earned he sent for his wife. In the meantime his younger brother, Peter, had taken the gold fever and had come to Califor- nia. By way of Panama he came to San Francisco from Peoria, Ill., where he had been working for two and one half years, in the meantime saving all the money he could to pay for the expensive trip.
Starting for the coast in January of 1853 Peter Bohl arrived in Sacramento not long after the subsidence of the disastrous fire and flood of that year, without a dime and in debt $150, but with plenty of pluck and a courage and determination to succeed. Imme- diately he began to work in his brother's bakery. The trade was phenomenal. It was impossible to count the money they received and so they put it in sacks, which they weighed and concealed under the counter. The front door had no lock and it was kept closed by means of a large squash. Notwithstanding the great risk thus taken, the proprietors of the bakery never lost anything except one-half a cake, which was taken by a man who pushed the door open and en- tered when no one was in the shop. After he had worked in the bakery for some time Mr. Bohl attracted the attention of Mr. Wright. who operated the Central hay and feed yard, and he gave him a lease of the business without any capital. Six months and twelve days later, when the emigrants began to arrive, he was paid $2000 for
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the lease by a Mr. Cone. Although he had been in the state for comparatively a very short time, the young business man now had $3000 and with it he bought one-half interest in a building on Tenth and J streets. For a time his brother owned the other half interest, but this he also acquired later and he still owns this now valuable corner. £ During 1856 he bought his brother's interest in the bakery, which he conducted for eight years. Afterward with Will- iam Hedrick he conducted a grocery and grain business for five years, this being at the time when Ben Crocker was buying grain for the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Upon a return from visiting in the east Mr. Bohl in 1871 be- came identified with William P. Coleman in the real estate busi- ness, and their pleasant and profitable association continued until the death of Mr. Coleman thirty years later. At this writing Mr. Bohl holds office as vice-president and is a director of the J. C. Carly Company, a large real-estate and insurance firm. In ad- dition he acts as director of the Sacramento Building and Loan As- sociation, also as a director of the California State Bank. He still gives personal attention to the management of his valuable prop- erty interests and to the development of the city along the lines of commercial, social and educational progress. Particularly has his interest in education been constant and deep. Appreciating the ad- vantage of an education through his own deprivation thereof, he has done all within his power to promote the schools of the state and has been especially helpful in his identification with the University of the Pacific at San Jose, which he served as a trustee for twenty years with the greatest capability. In politics he supports the best man regardless of polities, although in national issues he favors the Re- publican platform of principles. For forty-five years he has been identified with the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Sacra- mento and meanwhile he has promoted many church enterprises, among them the building of the splendid edifice now occupied by the congregation. During 1855 he married Miss Julia Hanck and after her death he was again married, being united in 1907 with Mrs. Agnes M. Juergenson of Sacramento. His first wife was a na- . tive of Germany and received an unusually thorough education, becoming a woman of culture and refinement. Her father was a man of prominence and held the principal municipal office in the city where he lived. During his occupancy of his high position he entertained officers of the emperor and distinguished men from every part of Germany, as well as from other parts of Europe, so that his daughter from her earliest recollections enjoyed advan- tages of an unusual order in social contact with people of distinc- tion. Of her marriage there were three children born, but one died at an early age. The two survivors are daughters, Amelia C. (a
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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY
musician of prominence), and Laura (wife of Edward Plucker, of Sacramento). The family has a wide acquaintance in Sacramento and enjoys the friendship of people of culture and influence.
ALFRED J. BROWN
What lies within the power of a resolute purpose to accomplish for itself appears in a record of the activities of Alfred J. Brown, one of Sacramento's successful business men, a citizen who has risen steadily in material affairs notwithstanding the handicap of adversity that orphanage threw over the years of his youth. Born November 26, 1866, he is a son of the late Thomas Brown, for years a valued employe of the Waltham Watch Company, but later con- nected with the Cornell Watch Company at Grand Crossing, a sub- urb of Chicago, Ill. When the latter corporation established a branch factory at San Francisco, he was sent west to superintend the new plant and remained in charge of the same until the death of Mr. Ralston. which was followed by the failure of the company. When forty-five years of age he died in San Francisco, having for some time survived his wife, who passed away when only thirty- four years of age.
The schools of Vacaville, Solano county, and of San Joaquin county gave to Alfred J. Brown the benefits of a primary educa- tion, but the necessity of self-support obliged him at the age of ten years to earn his own livelihood. For a time he worked for board and clothes as an assistant on a ranch near Ripon, San Joa- quin county. Later he received wages as his work increased in value. When he had saved a small sum beyond his ordinary needs he came to Sacramento and took a course of study in the business college, after which he secured employment with the Capital Pack- ing Company. Leaving that firm at the expiration of one year, he entered the employ of W. S. Kendall & Co., money brokers, of Sac- ramento. His next position was that of bookkeeper with L. L. Lewis & Co., owners of the pioneer hardware store in Sacramento. Eventually he associated himself with the John Breuner Company, one of the largest firms in Northern California. Beginning as a bookkeeper he soon proved his worth as an assistant and secured several promotions from time to time, until in the year 1902 he was chosen financial manager and for many years was secretary of the large establishment.
Mr. Brown owns an attractive residence on Sutter Terrace which has been beautified through his own tasteful efforts, supple- mented by the artistic co-operation of his capable wife, formerly
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Miss Ella Ruth Brown, who prior to their marriage was a leader among the young people of the capital city, as she has since been prominent with the older established social circles of the place. In fraternal matters Mr. Brown for years has been an active worker in the blue lodge of Masonry, while he has further enlarged his fraternal relationships through co-operation with the Woodmen of the World and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Brown owes much of his success in business to the high standard he has adopted in all his business relations, all his dealings being guided by honesty and integrity of purpose. When it is recalled that he received no extraneous aid in struggling against adverse circum- stances and that he fought his own way forward to success, it is realized that great credit is due him for the tenacity of purpose that inspired his actions and the determination of will that enabled him to wrest victory from what with some others so often results in defeat. The city with whose success his own is associated re- ceives his loyal support in all measures for its permanent upbuild- ing and owes its rising progress to the patriotic devotion of its large corps of citizens who, like Mr. Brown, cherish for its insti- tutions the deepest affection and most profound respect.
MOSES S. WAHRHAFTIG
The subject of the sketch was born about 1860 in the town of Kovel, government of Volhynia, Russia. His father was the chief rabbi of the town and died before Moses was ten years old. For some time it was the ambition of his mother and others who cared for his education that he should ultimately occupy his father's position. Fate, however, decreed otherwise. One of his guardians was a regularly admitted legal practitioner and prepared him for the practice of law.
In 1882 M. S. Wahrhaftig came to the United States, and after a few weeks' stay in New York arrived in California, where he has resided ever since with the exception of about a year spent in Ore- gon. Ignorant of the English language, and without means, he was obliged for some time to eke out an existence by manual labor, especially on farms, for which he acquired quite a taste. We thus find him in his early career riding a hay-mower or rake, as well as walking behind a plow. Among his other occupations were as- saying and printing. To the latter art he contributed most of his first ten years' residence in the metropolis of California. He was initiated into the San Francisco Typographical Union in 1890, but
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in the same year acquired a ten-acre tract of land at Orangevale, where his mother and a brother and family settled with him. An invasion of locusts in 1891 caused considerable damage to his fruit ranch, and it became necessary for him to fall back on the printer's case for earning a livelihood for himself and the folks on the ranch. Coming to Sacramento, for some time he worked in the printing offices of Carraghen and Anderson, State Printing Office, A. J. Johnston's printing office and others until about 1894, when the great railroad strike took place. He then conceived the idea that another daily paper could be published in Sacramento, and The Daily Times was thereupon founded. It supported the People's party, and lasted until after the November elections. He then con- nected himself with the North California Herald, a pioneer German paper published in Sacramento, for which he worked as reporter, solicitor and compositor. At the same time he was reading law.
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