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 98
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While gaining prominence in business and acquiring a reputation for never having failed in any enterprise, Mr. Cox also wielded a wide influence in the Democratic party. As the nominee of his party he was elected state senator in 1882 and served through two regular and two special sessions, after which he declined further nomination, although he was the choice of the Democrats of the district. On three different occasions he was appointed a member of the state board of agriculture and in that capacity he proved efficient, intelligent and patriotic, working strenuously and incessantly for the promotion of the farming interests of the state. During November of 1857 he mar- ried Miss Jennie A. Holdridge, of Eldorado county, who was born in Cortland county, N. Y., and who survives him, remaining at the family residence, No. 2020 T street, which he had erected after his retirement from business. They were the parents of two sons and three daughters, of whom one son and a daughter died in childhood, while the other son, Crawford, was killed by the explosion of a gas engine. The surviving members of the family are Mrs. Jennie Peltier and Mrs. John E. Short, both residents of Sacramento.
OTTO RAIFF
As a whole the immigrants coming to the United States have made good, and, with few exceptions compared to the whole mass, the offspring of these immigrants have made exceedingly good. Otto
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Raiff was born in Germany in 1862 and was educated in the public schools there. When he was fourteen years old he was apprenticed to the sheet metal worker's trade, which he mastered and followed there until he was twenty-one years old. Then, in company with his brother, August, he came to the United States and located in Dayton, Ohio. There he remained about five years, when, in 1887, he came west to Sacramento. Soon after his arrival he found em- ployment at his trade with H. G. Hayes, with whom he remained about a year. In 1888 he transferred his services to Carlow and Miller, for whom he worked diligently until 1904, giving sixteen years of faithful devotion to their business. In the year last mentioned he took an interest in the concern with H. J. Miller and O. J. Edlar and has since been identified with them in an enterprise which has grown to be one of the largest of its kind in the northern part of the state, having filled many important contracts for plumbing and sheet metal work and having others of equal importance which Mr. Raiff and his asso- ciates plan to undertake in the near future.
February 28, 1891, Mr. Raiff married, at Sacramento, Miss Annie Debrunner, a native of Switzerland, and they have one child, Varna, born December 8, 1901. Fraternally Mr. Raiff affiliates with the Owls and with the Turners' societies.
JAMES T. CHRISTIAN, M. D.
Greater than all other fields of labor in its opportunities for the exposition of the finer qualities of the human soul, the medical world has proven the crucible for many a wavering character, further refining and strengthening those who are by nature of worthy principles and lofty ideals. Of a thoughtful and humane temperament, patient and sympathetic to a marked degree, is Dr. Christian, who has practiced in Galt and vicinity four years. He has demonstrated thoroughly his innate power in his work, his magnetic personality playing no inconsiderable part in his success. Born November 17, 1878, in Lockeford, San Joaquin county, Cal., he was the son of James L. and Martha (Givens) Christian, natives of Kentucky. The father came to California in 1852 via the Nicaragua route, and was a pioneer in Sacramento and San Joaquin counties.
Upon completing his public school course, James T. Christian attended Woodbridge College for four years, and in 1899 entered Cooper Medical College at San Francisco, never, throughout his years of study, relinquishing the great purpose which guided him. Shortly after receiving his degree in 1902, he was appointed house
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physician for the Southern Pacific Hospital in San Francisco, and after three years of faithful service resigned his position to take up his profession in Tuolumne county, Cal., where he remained until his removal to Galt.
Dr. Christian was married in Goldfield, Nev., December 21, 1906, to Miss Edith Leesburg, of Whiting, Kans., and to their union were born James L. and Samuel H., both of whom are splendid, sturdy children. In 1911 was completed the new residence of the family, which is one of the most modern in this vicinity.
A member of both the California State and American Medical Associations, Dr. Christian is recognized by his colleagues as a man whose future success is assured, owing to his keen judgment and untiring energy, combined with absolute integrity and regard for others. Fraternally, he is allied with Galt Lodge, F. & A. M., Pine Tree Lodge, No. 131, I. O. O. F., of Tuolumne, and Galt Parlor, N. S. G. W., and he maintains also a deep interest in all civic mat- ters worthy of consideration.
ARCHIBALD M. CAMERON
Among Sacramento's prominent business men is A. M. Cameron, who is best known as president of the Sacramento Laundry. Born in Dundee, Scotland, October 13, 1876, he is the son of William and Belle (Low) Cameron, the former of whom was a railroad man and passed away in Dundee. The mother is now Mrs. A. J. Holcombe, M. D., of Los Angeles. When a young hoy Mr. Cameron came to America, located near Winnemucca, Nev., and lived with his grand- parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Scott, on a cattle ranch. In 1884 they removed to Sacramento, Cal., where for several years he attended the public schools and then a business college. At the age of fifteen he went to work for the Sunset Telephone Co. as a messenger and afterward served that company as night operater. Subsequently for several years he was employed by A. Walker, a produce and grocery merchant, serving as clerk, and then for three years was a driver for the Union Laundry. In 1903 Mr. Cameron with several others organized the Sacramento Laundry, located at the corner of Front and O streets, and the venture has been successful from the start. Mr. Cameron is president of the company. During the first year they ran three wagons and each year have added to their delivering facilities until they are now the owners of twelve wagons. In 1909, in connection with their laundry, they started the Sacramento Sanitary Cleaners branch. Throughout the vicinity, within a radius
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of a hundred miles from the city, they have twelve laundry agencies, and their business is constantly growing.
On December 10, 1896, Mr. Cameron was married in Sacramento to Miss Abbie S. A. Conrad, a native of Washington, Yolo county, Cal., and the daughter of George H. Conrad, the latter an old settler of the state. Mr. Cameron is a member of the Presbyterian church, and fraternally unites with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Maccabees.
VACTOR T. CHAMBERS
A comparatively brief period has been sufficient to prove that in placing a branch of the Gorham-Revere Rubber Company, No. 917 Sixth street, in Sacramento it has met a decided need in the material progress of the capital city. As a general rubber store, carrying almost anything that is made of rubber, it is the first of its kind. While it is essentially a factory branch and dealing almost entirely with dealers and jobbers, it yet has a retail end which includes anto tires and auto sundries.
This branch of the Gorham-Revere Rubber Company keeps a comparatively large stock of rubber hose, belting, both rubber and leather, and packings for factories, railroad shops and agricultural purposes, in fact, anything in the mechanical line of rubber goods for which there is a common call. It carries also drug sundries, oil clothing, rainproof overcoats and cravenettes, rubber boots and shoes. A complete vulcanizing and tire repair plant is also maintained and operated by William M. Rigdon, an expert in this line who has had a large experience in tire factories.
The manager of this branch, Vactor T. Chambers, of whom a slight biography will follow, is a descendant from an old Sonthern family and himself the inheritor of qualities that gave the race prominence in the original development of Kentucky. He was born at Covington, that state, April 1, 1886, and had the good fortune to enjoy the excellent educational advantages offered by that cultured southern city. The information thus acquired was supplemented by study in the Cincinnati University. The educational training gained in that institution has been broadened through habits of careful reading and close observation, so that he is the possessor of a com- prehensive knowledge valuable in business, in society and in public affairs. Upon leaving the university he was connected with a brokerage business, but after eighteen months he turned his attention to other activities. For one year as manager and for a similar
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period as receiver, he was connected with the Harrison Water and Light Company, of Harrison, Ohio, from which city in 1907 he came to California. A connection of several months with the advertising department of the Sacramento Bee formed the first business associations of Mr. Chambers in the west and later for one year he served as assistant secretary of the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce under the secretary, A. L. Crane. After severing his connections with that department he became identified with the growth of the Sacramento Builders' Supply Company, a recent but valuable acquisition to the important industries of the city, of which he was assistant manager until April, 1912, when he resigned to establish the Sacramento branch of the Gorham-Revere Rubber Company.
While giving his attention to the business with intelligent and unflagging devotion Mr. Chambers has not held aloof from the social opportunities which the capital city affords. On the other hand he is both prominent and popular in the most select social circles and occupies a leading place in the activities of the University, Sutter and Sacramento Country Clubs, while his skill in tennis has brought him into leadership among the members of the East Side and the McKinley Park Tennis Clubs. In addition he retains membership with the Sigma Chi Fraternity of the Cincinnati University.
CHARLES J. ELLIS
The staple productions of the Sacramento valley are of a nature so diversified and an aggregate so enormous that to properly handle and ship the output demands freight facilities the equal of those furnished by the railroads to any other portion of the great west. No less is it incumbent upon railroad officials to place the manage- ment of the work in this section with an agent thoroughly familiar with every detail. The appointment of Charles J. Ellis as freight agent at Sacramento was, therefore, a recognition of his abilities on the part of officials of the Southern Pacific Railroad, with which he had been long and honorably associated in other capacities. Natural ability supplemented by fine educational advantages, qualifies him for important responsibilities and enables him to protect the interests of the shippers, while at the same time advancing the general business of the railroad.
Into the home of Charles and Emma Ellis at Burlington, Iowa, Charles J. Ellis was born in May of 1850. His early recollections cluster around Burlington, then an important river town with large
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shipping interests. After he had received his primary schooling there he was sent to England in 1862 and entered the Mechanics' Institute at Leeds, where he carried on the regular course of study for two years. Later he was a student in a business college at Leeds for six months. Upon his return to America he secured a clerkship in the office of an architect at Burlington and there he continued for six years, meanwhile mastering the details of architecture and fitting himself for the profession. However, the work was not wholly to his liking and he did not select it as a permanent occupation in life. After a year as a clerk in the office of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad he spent a similar period as cashier for the Empire fast freight line.
Upon coming to California in 1874 and identifying himself with the interests of the state Mr. Ellis secured employment as draftsman in the office of an architect in San Francisco, but six months later he resigned the position in order to enter upon railroad activities with the Southern Pacific Company. Indicative of his fitness for such work is the fact that he was retained as cashier for eleven years and then, in recognition of his able service in the interests of the railroad, was in 1889 promoted to be freight agent at Sacramento, a position that he has since filled with tact, discretion and intelligence. In the midst of his diversified duties as agent he has found leisure for active co-operation with the blue lodge of Masonry and for participa- tion in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, as well as for association with the genial membership of the Sutter Club. The Republican party has received his earnest support in all elections and he has kept well-posted concerning movements affecting the national prosperity. After he came to the west he was married at San Fran- cisco in May of 1881 to Miss Mary Bradford, by whom he is the father of two sons. The elder, Charles C., holds a clerkship in the California National Bank; and the younger son, Chester Bradford, is a student in the University of California.
CHARLES M. DERBY
Several successive generations of the Derby family lived and labored in the east. The first of the name to seek a permanent home on the Pacific coast was Daniel B. Derby, a native of New York state and for a number of years engaged in business in Pennsylvania. Accompanied by his wife, Ella (Hammon) Derby, and their three children he left Pennsylvania for California early in the '80s and settled at Oakland. With characteristic energy he devoted himself
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to the nursery business with such ardor, zeal and intelligence that he became widely known for the quality of the stock in his fields. From the main office at Oakland he shipped young stock to every part of the state, as well as to Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Skill and integrity enabled him to build up an enviable reputation as a nurseryman. The secret of his success was the scrupulous exactness with which he superintended every detail. Later however he turned to other pursuits, removed to Vacaville, Solano county, and bought land which he developed into fine fruit orchards. To some extent he has drifted back to his former work. Many of his early patrons still depend upon him to furnish them with young trees for their orchards and ranches. Notwithstanding his long and active business career he is still busily occupied with the care of his orchard business and shows no trace of weariness of body or mind.
During the residence of the family at Greenville, Pa., Charles M. Derby was born September 8, 1878, moving to California with his parents in the early 'S0s. The memories of early childhood clustered around Oakland and Vacaville, Solano county, where in turn he graduated from grammar, high school and business college, in addition to completing a course in engineering. Upon starting out upon a career, he chose to identify himself with the gold dredging industry, which was then in its infancy and accepted employment in that occupation at Oroville, Butte county, Cal. He soon acquired practical knowledge of that business and later served a number of years as superintendent and manager of various companies operating in Butte, Yuba, Calaveras, and Sacramento counties. In January, 1909, he became a stockholder in Natomas Consolidated of California, a $25,000,000 corporation engaged principally in gold dredging and land development, and since that time has been manager of the company's business at Natoma, Sacramento county, where he has active charge of its extensive gold dredging operations, employing a total of several hundred men. The officials of the company recognize in him a careful business man and efficient executive.
In 1910 Mr. Derby assisted in the organization of the Bank of Folsom, at Folsom, Sacramento county, becoming a director of the bank at the time of its opening for business in November of that year and continuing to the present in that capacity.
On November 18, 1903, Charles M. Derby and Miss Ethel V. Elder of Marysville, Yuba county, were united in marriage at Sacramento. Two years later a son was born to them in Calaveras county, and after living to be nearly three and one half years old was suddenly taken away in a most unfortunate accident on November 15, 1908, while the family were residing at Natoma. A daughter was born to them on August 7, 1910, and at this time is the only child of the household.
While giving his time and attention almost exclusively to the duties of his position, Mr. Derby has found time to identify himself
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with other local enterprises and is prosperous and public spirited. He is a member of the Scottish Rite Masons of Sacramento, rising to membership in Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at San Francisco, and is actively identified with the philanthropies of Masonry as his principal lodge affiliation.
FRANCIS GIBSON
Upon the occasion of the jubilee parade in commemoration of the annexation to Sacramento of the growing suburb of Oak Park a gray-haired gentleman of about seventy-five years was observed in the line of march, easily and tirelessly pushing a decorated wheel- barrow loaded down with flowers and vegetables taken from his own garden in Oak Park and raised by his own personal work. At the various stops along the line of the parade he regaled the onlookers with impromptu speeches, exhibiting his display of home-grown products as the result of the labor of a man advanced in years as a forcible illustration of the possibilities lying before men young in years but his equal in determination, industry and painstaking application. To one and all he declared that a long residence had convinced him of the greatness of Sacramento and its possibilities for future growth. The celebration occurred October 21, 1911, and on the 15th of November the annexation jubilee committee awarded him a handsome silver loving cup, appropriately engraved, as a permanent testimonial to the originality and success of his entry.
This California pioneer of 1858 is a native of England, born January 17, 1837, and at the age of twelve years came to America with his parents, who made a brief sojourn at Fultonville in the Mohawk valley of New York and then removed to the province of Ontario, Canada, settling at Ingersoll not far from the shore of Lake Erie. At the age of twenty-one years the young man left home to make his own way in the world and proceeded via Panama to California, where he settled in Sutter county near the Sacramento river. The years that followed were filled with agricultural activities as well as the management of a warehouse business and a cheese factory. To him, in partnership with Mr. Baldwin, belongs the distinction of having made the first cheese in Sutter county. As a dairyman he was pro- gressive, resourceful and sagacious, and the returns from his dairy investments were well merited. In addition he made a specialty of the poultry industry and for years had from one to two thousand turkeys on his ranch. Movements for the agricultural upbuilding of the region received his judicions support. No pioneer was more progressive than he and none more industrious. Through his own
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unaided efforts he acquired the title to about thirteen hunderd acres of ranch land in Sutter county. Over these broad acres roamed his large herds of stock and his fine milch cows. Until advancing years taught him the need of lessened activities he was one of the foremost farmers of the entire county, always busy and usually successful in his ventures. As he studied the country and became more familiar with its possibilities his own devotion to the country increased and he has formed the opinion, as a result of long experience, that no commonwealth surpasses our own in the vastness of its resources and the magnitude of its opportunities.
During 1867 Mr. Gibson married Mrs. Esther Bennett, who was born in England and died in California in 1883. The two children of the nnion have also passed away, Fred dying at the age of eleven years and George when a child of five. After the death of his first wife he married her sister, Mrs. Zelina Prosser, of Sacramento, whose death occurred in 1904, leaving him alone and withont any relatives (except by marriage) in the United States. Twice he has returned to Canada to renew the friendships of youth and to visit his two brothers, one of whom, Hon. Joseph Gibson, has become a man of prominence, frequently addressing the Canadian parliament and otherwise identifying himself with public issues. Retiring from agri- cultural pursuits in 1900 Mr. Gibson came to Sacramento and has since bought and sold considerable property at Oak Park, where he now resides at No. 3219 Fourth avenne. After becoming a citizen of the United States he gave his allegiance to the Republican party. Twice he had the privilege of voting for Abraham Lincoln for presi- dent and he still continues to cast his vote in favor of the men and measures advocated by his party.
CHARLES WILLIAM GODARD
The distinction of being a pioneer does not belong to Mr. Godard, yet when it is stated that he has been identified with the development and business history of Sacramento for more than thirty years it will be realized at once that he is no recent acquisition to the city's ranks nor unfamiliar with the commercial development of the past. The family of which he is a member claims old southern ancestry and became established in Missouri during the period of frontier environ- ment. His own early recollections belong to that state, for he was born in Clinton county in January of 1862 and is a son of H. L. and Frances Godard. As soon as old enough he was sent to school and there studied the common branches until he had completed the course
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stipulated for the grammar grade, after which he entered the high school. At the age of fourteen years he left school and thereafter he earned his own way in the world. In the midst of many hardships and privations he developed self-reliance and became accustomed to depend upon his own native resources through the most trying dis- couragements.
The trade which attracted the early attention of Mr. Godard as offering a means of livelihood was the occupation of a blacksmith, and he served an apprenticeship that began when he was fourteen. As soon as he had served his time he began to work as a journeyman and soon acquired a local reputation for skill as a horse-shoer. How- ever, he was still a mere lad not yet ont of his teens when he left Missouri and sought the opportunities of California, settling at Sacra- mento, where for one year he was employed by Wheeler & Nixon in their horse-shoeing shop. Then he opened up a shop of his own and this he continued to manage until 1900, when he sold to other parties. Meanwhile he has proved himself to be skilled in all departments of blacksmithing and especially proficient in the shoeing of horses.
The business with which Mr. Godard became identified in October of 1903 and which has engaged his attention from that time to the present, forms one of the well-known amusement ventures for which the city has gained a wide reputation. As proprietor and owner of three theaters, known as the Liberty, Majestic and Acme Theaters, he has developed the use of moving pictures for entertainment, amuse- ment and education. Some of the films exhibited in his theaters are ex- ceptionally fine and have attracted admiring comment from critics, while all have been selected with experienced judgment and artistic appreciation. In politics Mr. Godard votes with the Republican party. Fraternally he holds membership with the Elks, Eagles, Knights of Pythias and Independent Order of Odd Fellows. For a long period after his location in Sacramento he remained a bachelor, but eventually he established domestic ties, his marriage December 5, 1906, uniting him with Miss May Burges, of Sacramento. They are the parents of one daughter, Margaret.
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CHARLES H. GRAHAM
For many years a favorable and well-known baseball player on the Atlantic as well as the Pacific coast, Charles H. Graham won the friendship of many followers of that athletic sport, but owing to pres- sure of his personal affairs relinquished that professional field to devote his time to his business in Sacramento. He was born in Santa Clara, Cal., April 24, 1878, his parents being P. J. and Catharine 56
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