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, 1923, Part 130

Author: Reed, G. Walter
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1026

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braving many dangers as a messenger and runner, and was in several engagements at St. Michel, in the Argonne, and at Lys-Scheldt.

THEODORE C. POOLE .- The life history of Theodore C. Poole is a record of the interesting and successful undertaking of a man who has known how to avail himself of opportunities. A native son of Sacramento County, he was born on Andrus Island, April 29, 1876, a son of Francis and Sarah (Norman) Poole, both natives of Illinois. Francis Poole crossed the plains to California with ox teams in 1852 and mined until 1860, when he returned East and was married to Miss Sarah Norman. Before returning East he had purchased a ranch on Andrus Island and to this ranch he brought his bride, where they resided until 1882, when they removed to the vicinity of Sac- ramento, where he farmed. Eight children were born to them: Albert; Minnie; Anna; Theodore C., our subject; Alice; Blanch; Edward; and Ernest. The father passed away at the age of sixty-five, the mother surviving him until she was seventy years old.

Theodore C. Poole attended the American River district school and from his boyhood learned farming. At twenty-one years of age he leased 160 acres and engaged in fruit-growing on Andrus Island; his pres- ent ranch home is a portion of this which he pur- chased, and is devoted to orchard and asparagus- growing. A believer in cooperation as the best means for marketing the farmer's crops, he is a member of the California Pear Growers' Association.

At San Francisco, in November, 1908, Mr. Poole was married to Miss Eva Rice, a native of Susanville, Cal., daughter of George and Anna Rice, early settlers in Lassen County. One son has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Poole, Theodore, Jr. In 1918 Mr. Poole erected a fine residence on his ranch. He is a Demo- crat in politics and fraternally is a past grand of the Isleton Lodge, No. 108, I. O. O. F. He was made a Mason in Franklin Lodge, F. & A. M., at Courtland; and he and his wife are members of the Rebekah Lodge at Isleton, of which Mrs. Poole is a past noble grand. For eight years, from 1915 to 1923, Mr. Poole served as justice of the peace of Georgiana Township.

JOSEPH FRANCIS NEVES .- One of the land- owners and successful asparagus growers is Joseph Francis Neves, who came to the United States from the Azores Islands when he was eighteen years of age. His birth occurred at Fayal, October 16, 1876, a son of Manuel Francis and Mary Gloria (Paniero) Neves. Manuel Francis Neves. went to Brazil, South America, when he was a young man and spent twenty years farming there; he returned to Fayal where he married and reared a family of five children: Rosie, of Fayal; Mrs. Francis Charamuga, of Ryde; Manuel, living at Fayal; Joseph Francis, our subject; and Anna, also of Fayal. The father of our subject died at the age of eighty years, the mother is still residing at Fayal, aged eighty years.

Joseph Francis Neves received a public school edu- cation at Fayal and at eighteen came to America and spent five months at Newport, R. I .; then he removed to Santa Clara County, Cal., where he spent seven years working on ranches throughout the county; in 1898 he removed to Sacramento County and worked in the delta for one year.

The marriage of Mr. Neves united him with Miss Josephine Smith, a daughter of John Smith, repre-

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seuted elsewhere in this history. She was born near Ryde. on Grand Island, and was educated in the Geor- giana school. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Neves spent two years on the John Smith ranch; then leased the Joseph Green ranch, 340 acres, for the next thirteen years; the family then removed to San Jose, but only remained for one year. In 1922 the family settled on seventy-five acres willed to Mrs. Neves by his father; Mr. Neves also owns seventy acres south of Ryde on Grand Island, which is de- voted to general farming. Nine children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Neves, seven of whom are liv- ing: Joseph, who is married and has a son, Walter; Ernest, Albert, Lillian, Vernal, Juliet, Gerald, Julia and George, both deceased. Mr. Neves belongs to the U. P. E. C. Lodge of Rio Vista and the I. D. E. S. of Isleton. Mrs. Neves is a member of U. P. P. E. C. at San Francisco. They are Republicans in national politics.

STEPHEN FREDERICK BOVYER .- A repre- sentative California business man is Stephen Fred- erick Bovyer, the wide-awake and progressive man- ager of the Rickenbacker Sales Company at 1205- 1207 K Street, Sacramento, in which city he was born, at the corner of Third and M Streets, on October 29, 1878, the son of Stephen T. and Elizabeth H. (Davis) Bovyer. His father was a pioneer who came to Cali- fornia in 1854, and was a carpenter by trade, which he followed for a time; later he was a captain on the boats plying between Sacramento and Red Bluff on the Sacramento River. He died on July 30, 1922. Mrs. Bovyer, devoted wife and mother, died in 1918.

Stephen F. Bovyer attended the local Sacramento schools, and at the age of twenty-three, attended a business college, which training was of especial ad- vantage to him, for he had left the school room at the age of fifteen and gone into the shops of the. Southern Pacific, where he worked for three years. For five years he was a pilot on the Sacramento River, and leaving the water he worked in the store owned by John G. Miller. He left there to join the Earl Fruit Company as private secretary to C. F. Holland, a post he filled with credit for six or more years. Next he was private secretary to Thomas H. Longton for four years, and next a branch manager for the Henderson-Longton Company, at Reno, Nev .; then he was with the same company as city salesman in Sacramento for a year, and still later was in business for himself.

In March, 1920, Mr. Bovyer established the P. & B. Company and handled standard makes of automo- biles, continuing as manager of that concern until he sold out to become the manager of the Rickenbacker Sales Company, one of the most effective agencies in northern California for the extension and safe- guarding of the interests pertaining to motoring, and one of the best-equipped headquarters for this high grade motor car. He has the coupe, the sedan, the phaeton and the sport roadster. This company is also the distributing agent for Sacramento County for the Castoline Oils, the most effective lubricating oil on the market. The company employs three sales- men and maintains its own service shop, and in sev- eral ways it points the way for others to follow. Mr. Bovyer was one of the originators of the Appleby Plan for the disposition of the so-called used cars in Sacramento City, a plan that has proved a great boon to the motor car dealers.

At Sacramento. on June 21, 1903, Mr. Bovyer was united in marriage with Miss Hattie Albertina Rounds, of San Francisco, a gifted lady and Native Daughter of the Golden West, and they both are deeply interested in the past as well as the future of Sacramento County. Mr. Bovyer is fond of hunting and of all out-of-door sports and is ready and willing to assist in the promotion of all worthy enterprises that will benefit his home city and state.

JOSEPH L. KNOWLES .- The supremacy of Sac- ramento, both city and county, is nowhere better at- tested than in the enviable position and influence of her lawyers among the members of the California bar, including the highly progressive attorney, Jo- seph L. Knowles, whose offices are in the Capital National Bank Building, in Sacramento, the town in which he was born on December 21, 1892. His father, Jay G. Knowles, came out to look over the Golden State in 1885, while his mother, who was Anna Wagener before her marriage, migrated westward later; and here they were joined in matrimony. Mr. Knowles became a successful manufacturer of cigars in Sacramento, and now he and his devoted wife are able to enjoy the well-earned results of their labor and investments.

Joseph Knowles attended both the grammar and the high schools of Sacramento, and then became a student at the University of California, from which institution he was graduated in 1915, with the A. B. degree. Two years later, he had conferred the J. D. degree; and later he went abroad for post-graduate work at the Inns of Court, in London. Before en- tering upon that cherished experience, however, Mr. Knowles enlisted in the United States Army in the 4th Division, in which he served for eighteen months in France, Germany and England; while in the serv- ice he took his post-graduate course and on his re- turn to America, he took up the practice of law at the California capital. As might be expected, he is deeply interested in Sacramento County, past, pres- ent and future; and his public-spiritedness leads him to respond to any rational call likely to advance the day when both California and Sacramento will come to their deserved own. He belongs to the American Legion, and to Sutter Fort Parlor No. 241, N. S. G. W.

ARTHUR FREDERICK HENNING .- An ex- perienced, far-seeing, and very progressive business man is Arthur Frederick Henning, the accommo- dating and popular secretary and manager of the Re- tailers' Credit Association, Inc. He was born at Chi- cago, Ill., on September 18, 1890, the son of Fred and Helen Henning, and was a product of the public grammar and high schools, and St. Andrew's College, where he studied for three years. He also pursued business courses in a commercial college, and after that he was with the Union Bank of Canada, in Win- nipeg, Manitoba, for four years.

In 1910, Mr. Henning came down to California and Sacramento, and for a season he farmed, and then for three years he was with the Weinstock, Lubin & Company. He it was who originated the plan of the credit organization in Sacramento, and in 1913 he took over the management and built it up. As a result, he is one of the valued and influential mem- bers of the Chamber of Commerce in Sacramento, and a member of the Rotary Club. He belongs to

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the Republican party and supports heartily any leg- islation favorable to sound trade.

Mr. Henning was married to Miss G. A. Sehaden, a native daughter of Sacramento, in 1912, and they now have one child, Lloyd. He is a thirty-second- degree Scottish Rite Mason, a Shriner, and a member of the Seiots. He is the manager of the Sacramento Community Chest for 1923. He is fond of outdoor life, and enjoys the natural advantages of Sacramento County. The local commercial and financial world owes something definite to Mr. Henning for his strenuous and successful work in steadying and ex- panding trade conditions here, and in working to hasten the day when this highly-favored section will come to its own.

FRED J. HARRIS .- The bar of Sacramento City and county is well represented in the person of Fred J. Harris, city prosecuting attorney of Sacramento and one of the leading lawyers of the northern part of California. He was born in Iron River, Mich., on November 15, 1883, a son of James and Sophia (Sher- man) Harris, and one of seven children born to this worthy couple, five of whom are now living. James Harris was a miner and met an accidental death in a mine accident in 1896. Mrs. Harris remained in Michigan until 1910, when she came with her family to Sacramento; and she has since lived here.

Fred J. Harris received his education in the gram- mar and high schools of Iron Mountain; then he entered the University of Michigan and was gradu- ated with the class of '08 with the degree of L. L. B. Upon removing to Sacramento in 1910 he became associated with Charles O. Busick in the practice of law until his election to the superior bench in 1915; since then he has carried on private practice. In 1921 he was appointed city prosecuting attorney; and in this position of much responsibility his retentive memory, his deep knowledge of the law and his clear logie have particularly fitted him to capably fill his office to the satisfaction of all concerned. He main- tains his offices in the Mitau Building, where he ear- ries on his independent practice.

Mr. Harris is a Republican in politics and has been identified with the progressive branch of this party. He belongs to the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Com- mandery in Masonry and the Ben Ali Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., and is a past master of Concord Lodge No. 117, F. & A. M. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the D. O. K. K., and the Lions Club, and is a member of Westminister Presbyterian Church. As a public-spirited citizen he aims to help boost Sacramento County and has won a host of friends in his adopted city.

FRANK L. McNALLY .- A wide-awake, progres- sive executive, invaluable both to his employers and also to their patrons, is Frank L. MeNally, the divi- sion commercial superintendent of the Pacific Tele- phone and Telegraph Company at Sacramento. He was born at San Francisco, in 1876, and started life with the advantage of the bay city environment and as the son of T. Y. and Josephine ( Clayton) McNally, highly esteemed pioneers of their generation. The father died when Frank was very young; but the lad enjoyed the benefits of the public schools in San Francisco, after which he commenced early in the telegraph messenger service. He was willing to com-

menee at the lowest round, and the result was that he was afforded the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of all departments of the telegraph and telephone business.

In June, 1920, Mr. MeNally came to Sacramento and began to fill the position he now dignifies through his efficient and faithful service, he being the first to occupy this office, for the commercial division herc was first created in 1920. From the beginning, he has worked tirelessly to improve the relations between the public and the company, by providing still better service, if that could be effected, and by making the public better acquainted with both the problems and the motives of the company; and those familiar with his record since he came to the capital, will attest that his efforts have not been in vain. He is today one of the most popular officials representing a great corporation rendering the publie a vast service, in all the valley. Some of this success is undoubtedly due to his equally agreeable experience as district superintendent of the western half of the state of Washington in 1911, and the following years, before he came here.

Mr. McNally was married to Miss Ella E. Kenny, of San Francisco, in 1910, the ceremony taking place in that city, and the union has proved a very happy one. They have one child, Jean Ellen. Mr. MeNally belongs to the Masons, in which he has attained to the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, and he belongs to Ben Ali Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., and is a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West, the Sutter and Del Paso Country Clubs and the Rotary Club. Independent in his political acts, he is a man above party restraints, and so always endeav- ors to support only the best men and the best meas- ures for the welfare of the community.

WAYNE MILLER .- A representative of impor- tant affairs in the larger circles of the Sacramento commercial and industrial worlds, is Wayne Miller, President of the Universal Motor Company, at the capital city. He was born in San Francisco in May, 1888, the son of Charles E. and Louise (Knowlton) Miller; the former was a native son, having been born of a sturdy pioneer who came round the Horn in Argonaut days. Charles E. Miller married an Eastern woman who also had the temerity to brave a sailing voyage around the Horn, accompanying her father, who located in California in pioneer days. Considering all that these worthy folks went through, it is pleasant to record that Mr. and Mrs. Miller are still living, the center of devotion from an admiring cirele of steadfast friends.

Wayne Miller was sent to France for his education, and eventually enjoyed an excellent engineering course there in the polytechnic school in Paris. When he returned to America, he began to follow liis profes- sion, that of construction engineer, finding enough to do, for the most of the time, at Berkeley; and in 1907 he helped to build the two railroad bridges across the American River at Sacramento.

In 1913, Mr. Miller embarked in the automobile business in Saeramento; and three years later he helped to have the company incorporated with which he is now associated. He remained the first presi- dent until he went into the United States service in the World War, and he began his military service in behalf of his native country as Ist lieutenant in a

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tank corps. He saw seventeen months of active serv- ice overseas and this experience has contributed im- measurably to his knowledge of many things likely to make casier the solution of vexing industrial prob- lems in the quieter times of peace. He is a member . of the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce. The com- pany now handles the Lincoln, the Ford and Fordson tractors, and they have been very successful in plac- ing a large number of these machines in this ever- expanding section.

Mr. Miller married Miss Geoffrey Hall, of Sacra- mento, the ceremony taking place at Sacramento, in 1916, and one child has blessed this union, Dorothy Hall Miller. He is a member of both the Sutter and Del Paso Country Clubs, and in addition to his club life, finds a healthful diversion in hunting and fishing.

LESLIE D. CHADWICK .- Prominent among the mercantile leaders of Sacramento County who are steadfastly contributing toward the development of the great Golden State may well be numbered Leslie De Forest Chadwick, the popular merchant of Wil- ton. A native son, he was born at Brentwood, in Contra Costa County, on May 1, 1885, the son of Joshua Weston and Emma (Howard) Chadwick, the former a native of Sheldon, Vt., who came out to California in 1878. He was a farmer, and died at the age of sixty-five, breathing his last at Brentwood in 1918. Mrs. Chadwick was a native of San Ramon Valley, California, and is still living at the age of fifty-nine. Grandfather Howard, a native of Virginia, came out to California in 1849, and crossed the great plains to get here. He first mined for a short time, and then farmed at several places in California. His last twenty years he spent at Marsh Creek, where he died at the age of eighty-six. Mr. and Mrs. Chadwick had five children: Leslie De Forest, the subject of our review, was the eldest; Effie is Mrs. Raymond Bonnickson, of Brentwood; Lee H. is with his brother in the store at Wilton; Edith is Mrs. Lloyd Geddes, of Antioch; and Robert is in Sacramento.

Leslie Chadwick attended the grammar school of the Liberty district at Marsh Creek until he was fif- tecn years old, and then worked for his father for four years on the ranch; and from nineteen to twenty- one he attended the Liberty union high school at Brentwood. In 1906, he became a locomotive fire- man on the Western division of the Southern Pacific, and for six years he made his home at Oakland. He then fired for two years for the Southern Pacific Railroad on the run out of Napa.

In 1914, he came to Wilton and bought out the grocery business that had been started about six months before by Mr. Batten, an old veteran of the Civil War; at that time a very unimportant establish- ment, which, however, by good management Mr. Chadwick has developed into a very profitable enter- prise. Such indeed has been the increase of trade under his new management that he has found it nec- cssary to crect an addition to his store building; and he now has all the trade he and his brother can han- dle. Hc deals in general merchandise, and he serves the community by wisely anticipating their wants, and also by buying and selling only the best, at the most reasonable prices possible. When Wilton was granted a post-office, he was appointed postmaster; and he has filled that responsible office ever since.

He is also the agent for the American Railway Ex- press at Wilton. He also owns some property in the town of San Leandro, Alameda County.

Mr. Chadwick was married at Sacramento on Feb- ruary 21, 1918, to Miss Florence Barkley, a daughter of James and Mary Barkley, who first saw light at Fairplay, Eldorado County. Her father was a stock- man, had a large cattle-range, and owned about 1,200 acres of range and farm land in Eldorado County. He is still living at the fine old age of sixty-eight, and resides at Placerville, where he is cheered by the companionship of his devoted wife. Mrs. Chadwick attended the Fairplay grammar school, and then went to the Stockton Normal, and she taught school for eight years in Sacramento County, previous to her marriage. She was one of a family of seven children. Pearl is Mrs. Joseph Schwarts, of Stockton; Maude is the widow of Wm. Snyder, and lives at Lodi; Mabel is the widow of Wm. Cooper, and lives ncar Pearl; Mamie is Mrs. Charles Young, of Stock- ton; Florence, the fifth-born, is the wife of our sub- ject; James also lives at Stockton; and Ann is Mrs. Cleo Mortimer, of Placerville. The Chadwicks have one son: Donald Irvin. Mr. Chadwick is a Republi- can, and a member of the Knights of Pythias, of Napa.

MELVILLE F. DOYLE .- The important inter- ests entrusted to the experienced contractors of the city and county of Sacramento, who have long en- joyed an enviable repute, are well represented in the activities of the Valley Construction Company, located at Harriett and Fifth Streets, with yards in Broderick, whose prompt discharge of all duties and obligations is due no doubt in part to the exceptional efficiency of its proprietor, Melville F. Doyle. He was born in San Francisco, in 1891, the son of George B. and Matilda C. (Cruyl) Doyle, who repre- sented pioneer California families. His father, who is now deceased, having rounded out a useful and hon- orable career, was also a native of San Francisco, and his mother came to the Golden State when she was a child and now resides in Alameda.

Melville Doyle was educated in the parochial school near his home, and then became a student at St. Igna- tius College, and there and later he received theoret- ical and practical instruction and training in engineer- ing work. In 1915 he came to Sacramento, and four years later helped to organize the Valley Construc- tion Company, Inc., and became its manager, continu- ing in that position until the company discontinued business and dissolved the corporation. In January, 1923, Mr. Doyle engaged in business for himself un- der the name of the Valley Construction Company, which does a general cement contracting business, specializing in concrete irrigation and sewer work. Some of the larger contracts handled by Mr. Doyle were those for F. W. Kiesel, W. H. Devlin, Albert Meister and Hayward Reed. He keeps, on an aver- age, twenty-five men on his pay-roll, and manufac- tures his pipe at his yard in Broderick. He is also part owner of the oil and service station which serves the motoring public and is located adjoining his yards. Mr. Doyle is a member of the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce.

In January, 1921, Mr. Doyle was married to Miss Marian Norris, of Sacramento, the ceremony occur- ring at Sacramento. They have one daughter, Mar- ian Gloria Doyle. Mrs. Doyle shares with her hus-

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band his public-spiritedness, and his willingness to engage in work for the benefit of the locality gen- erally. He is a man above party, and never loses an opportunity to work for the selection of the best men and the endorsement of the best measures.

WILLIAM EWART HIBBITT .- An experienced warehouseman whose energy, activity and versatility contribute to his rendering excellent service to a large number of persons, is William Ewart Hibbitt, pro- prietor of the Lawrence Warehouse Company at Sacramento, with offices at 1108 R Strect. He was born in Stockton on October 22, 1889, the son of William Henry Hibbitt, who had married Miss Sarah Churchill, the former a merchant tailor who came from London, England, and settled with his family in Stockton in 1882. Both of these good folks are now deceased, and well do they deserve their rest from wearying labors.

William Ewart Hibbitt enjoyed the advantages of both the grammar and the high schools of Stockton. and then he commenced an apprenticeship as press- man in a local printing office. In May, 1906, he came to Sacramento, and after that he completed his trade. He went to Crockett, in Contra Costa County, and joined the California-Hawaiian Sugar Refining Com- pany, and he was with that concern for six years as warehouseman.

In 1915 Mr. Hibbitt entered the service of the Lawrence Warehouse Company when their business was just established, and there he was the factotum, doing warehouse and office work as well, and he con- tinued with this company, going through the various offices, until in March, 1922, he was able to purchase the business, which employs some fifty people and has six large warehouses. The concern does a general storage business, local and long-distance moving, and acts as distributing agent for large Eastern manufac- turers. He is a director in the Chamber of Com- merce, and he belongs to the Rotary Club; and being fond of outdoor life, he is deeply interested in this section of California, offering its unrivaled facilities for every kind of healthy recreation.

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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, 1923, Part 130

Author: Reed, G. Walter Publication date: 1923 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1026

Author: Reed, G. Walter
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1026