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 144

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

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blessed this union, Harry, Roy and Vera. Both sons responded for service in defence of their country in the World War, Roy joining the Pacific Coast Guards, but he was not accorded the privilege of getting to France. He resides in San Francisco. Harry enlisted in the army, on the other hand, trained at Camp Lewis, and crossing over to France, served in the Evacuation Hospital, No. 16. He is married and re- sides at Cle Elum, Wash., and has one daughter, Elizabeth. Vera married Otto Boyer.

GROVER W. BEDEAU .- A practicing attorney in Sacramento is Grover W. Bedeau, a native son, imbued with a patriotic devotion to the Golden State. He was born at Marysville, on June 26, 1892, the son of W. B. and Minnie Bedeau, both natives of Marys- ville, and both members of old, pioneer families.

Grover W. Bedeau, after he had finished his high- school study, spent four profitable years at Stan- ford University, and then took the state bar exami- nation. With his usual success in academic work, he passed the tests creditably, and was admitted, in 1916, to practice; and he has continued a lawyer ever since. He maintains well-equipped offices in the Nicolaus Building, and devotes much of his attention to increasing his knowledge of local conditions. Mr. Bedeau is a thirty-second-degree Scottish Rite Ma- son, and a charter member of Ben Ali Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and is also a member of the Sciots and the Odd Fellows.

WILLIAM DE BACK .- An experienced, progress- ive and very energetic executive who has done much to make popular the institution he represents, is Will- iam de Back, the superintendent of the Bayside Can- nery at Isleton. He was born at Vorden, Cal., on February 7, 1890, the son of William and Marie (van Ede) de Back, Hollanders who came out to Cali- fornia about 1885, and settled at Vorden. The father, a carpenter and building contractor, lived to be sixty-seven years old, survived by his devoted wife, who is still residing at Vorden. William is next to the youngest in a family of six children, the others being Paul G. de Back, of Isleton; Gilbert, in Vorden, and Harry, Joseph, William and John, the youngest, in Sacramento.

William de Back attended the Walnut Grove dis- trict schools, and at the age of seventeen went forth into the world to make his own way, He was first employed by the California Fruit Canners' Associa- tion, of Vorden, and learned every department of the canning industry, continuing with that plant for six years, He then took up electrical contracting, made his headquarters at Isleton, and had, besides, a place of business at Oakley. He did wiring and installed electrical pumps, but at the end of two years he went off to the Hawaiian Islands, and became the assist- ant superintendent of a cannery for the Pearl City Fruit Company there. He remained for three sea- sons, or for two years and eight months, in the Islands, and on his return to California was in the stage-line business operating the Isleton-Sacramento auto stage from 1915 to 1918. In the latter year he sold his interest to take a position with the Bayside Cannery at Isleton, beginning with the winter of 1919. And there, for four seasons, he has been super- intendent of their plant, which packs asparagus, spinach, string-beans, pumpkins, carrots and vege- table salad. Mr. de Back votes for the candidates

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and for the measures he deems best, regardless of party dictates.

The marriage of Mr. de Back and Miss Ethel Crump, a native of Clarksburg, Cal., took place on March 8, 1913, at Isleton. the bride being a daughter of J. C. Crump and his devoted wife, who was Miss Alice Feran before her marriage. Mr. Crump is a farmer, and he is steadily to be seen at work at Isleton. Ethel attended school at Clarksburg and Isleton, and in that locality she was reared. She at- tended Sacramento high school and then prepared for teaching in a private school at San Francisco, and she taught school at Isleton. They have one child, a daughter, Alice Helen. Mr. de Back is a member of Isleton Lodge No. 108, 1. O. O. F., and is a past grand of the order. He is also a member of Sacra- mento Lodge No. 6, B. P. O. E., and was made a Mason in Rio Vista Lodge, F. & A. M., and was a charter member of Isleton Chamber of Commerce.

WALTER SCOTT HARTIN .- Among the most popular of all headquarters calculated to give delight to the ambitious and particular housewife, the Isle- ton Meat Market, whose proprietor is the obliging Walter Scott Hartin, enjoys a vogue such as should spell prosperity, year after year. He was born at Parsons, Kans., on December 27, 1875, the son of John Henry Hartin, and his good wife, Indiana, the former born in Kansas, while the latter, as her name might indicate, hailed from the land of the Hoosiers. Grandfather Hartin was a frontiersman, on the Kau- sas plains; and the family stock evidenced all the sturdiness for which the old-time American pioneer was famous.

When Walter Scott Hartin was six months old, he was brought by his father to Rio Vista, where Mr. Hartin was active for years buying fruit for Libby, McNeil & Libby's in the Delta section of the Sacra- mento River. Walter attended the Rio Vista schools, and when eighteen years old, began to learn the but- cher's trade, at that place. He then joined the Libby, McNeil & Libby service, and for six and one-half years was superintendent of the Isleton canning plant. After that, he conducted a butcher shop for ten years, having his headquarters in an old frame building where the Isleton barber shop is now lo- cated; but when the Gardiner Bros. erected a brick business block, and several persons had attempted to conduct a fresh meat store there, and failed, he tried his luck and won out there. This is really not to be wondered at, for Mr. Hartin thoroughly under- stands this line of trade, with all its puzzling details.

Mr. Hartin also owns a tract of 120 acres in Inyo County, formerly school lands; and this tract is sit- uated in Deep Spring Valley amid a fine stock-rais- ing country. At present, Mr. Hartin is a member of the board of trustees of the Isleton school district, evidencing by his service to his fellow-citizens in that capacity his deep interest in the community in which he lives and prospers. He is a Republican, believing that the objects of the Republican party mean most to the capitalist and the wage-earner, and are conducive to increased trade.

While at San Francisco, on October 3, 1916, Mr. Hartin was married to Miss Mabel Mary O'Conner, a native of the bay city, with one living sister, Mrs. Viola Turner, of Modesto. Two children have blessed the union, Walter Scott, Jr., and Wayne Scott. Mr. Hartin belongs to the Isleton Lodge No. 108, f. O.

O. F., and he and his popular wife are both members of the Rebekahs. He is a booster for this rapidly growing delta region and he is an enthusiastic mem- ber of the Isleton Chamber of Commerce. He was an active supporter for the incorporation of Isteton and was elected the first city treasurer.

LUCIUS F. GOULD .- An energetic business man of progressive ideas and up-to-date business methods is Lucius F. Gould, who was born December 14, 1883, in Clay County, Nebraska, near Harvard, the county seat, the son of Cleon and Martha (Eller) Gould. The family came to Orangevale, Cal., in 1892, where they settled. His father, a meat dealer, is still living at Hayward, Cal., at seventy-two years of age, and his mother passed away in 1920 at an age of six- ty-eight.

Mr. Gould was educated in the public schools and in the school of experience. He took a course in de- signing and building and then became an apprentice in the carpentering trade. He followed this work until four years ago, when he engaged in contract- ing for himself, specializing in the building of the better class of houses and flats.

Lucius F. Gould was united in marriage with Miss Evelyn Ade'l Millard, of Perkins, a native daugh- ter of the Golden State. Fraternally, he is a Scot- tish Rite Mason, belonging to the Shrine, and an Odd Fellow, of Sacramento No. 2, of which he is past grand. He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Master Builders and Builders' Exchange. Politically he adheres to the Republican party. He is especially fond of baseball, and is deeply interested in the welfare of Sacramento County, being numbered among the public-spirited and respected citizens of the growing community.

LOUIS FLEISCHBEIN .- A man of especial worth, who easily impresses others with both his nat- ural ability and his acquirements through experience is Louis Fleischbein, who was born July 8, 1865, at Quincy, 111., the son of Anton and Anna B. Fleisch- bein. He attended the public schools and the D. L. Musselman Business College at Gem City. His first position was as an elevator boy. He then went to work in a boiler shop, where he learned the trade and was later employed as a machinist. For three years he had charge of Chic & Alton Company's shops, located at Bloomington, Il. He then went to Bear- ing Cross, Ark., where he took charge of the shops there. In 1910, he came to California and was with the Western Pacific Company for one year. For five years he conducted a general merchandise store on Mormon Island. He sold out and settled in Oak Park. On September 1, 1921, he built the Buck Horn Garage, a fireproof structure.

Mr. Fleischbein was married to Mary R. Doty of Liberty, Adams County, Ill., March 20, 1888. They are the parents of three sons and one daughter: Nina May, the eldest, deceased when seventeen months old; C. L., who fought in the World War; W. H., who served as chief machinist and interpreter in the Navy during the World War; and O. J, who was in the first draft drawn in California. The sons are members of the firm and are first-class mechanics. They do general repair and machine work, and have a full line of general supplies. This garage is the only place in Sacramento that possesses a two-ton Manly wrecker, which is a decided asset to them, inasmuch

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

as it can take a machine out of a river, and can handle some of the most difficult and hopeless situations where cars have been run into ditches, etc.

Mr. Louis Fleischbein is a Scottish Rite Mason, belonging to the Commandery. He has always been fond of hunting and has a fine collection of animal heads from the animals which he has killed. As a Republican, he has sought to elevate civic life stan- dards, and is particularly interested in the growth and prosperity of the community.

CLIFFORD PRUDHOMME. - A wide-awake, prominent, and prosperous representative of an 111- teresting pioneer family, is Clifford Prudhomme, the son of Moses J. and Sarah Jane (Worsley) Prud- homme. His father, an expert blacksmith, was one of the pioneers who crossed the plains in 1850. His mother, also a pioneer, was born in New York; she came to California with her brother when a young girl. Both parents are now deceased.

Clifford Prudhomme was born in Auburn, Cal., on July 8, 1885. He was educated in the schools of his native city and then he learned the electrical busi- ness and worked his way in the various cities of the United States. In 1907 he was employed as a jour- neyman and foreman by the Electrical Supply . Com- pany, in whose service he remained for nine years, and during this period he had charge of some of the largest jobs in the city. He then obtained a posi- tion with Scott, Lyman and Stack Company. In 1919 he opened a place of business, with a partner, whom he later bought out. Mr. Prudhomme has installed the electrical work in the Crystal Ice plant. Wahl's stationery store, China Toggery, and the homes of Mr. Devlin, Curtis Cutler, J. C. Carly, and others. He is rated as an expert electrician and is the manufacturer and designer of several types of fixtures, and he specializes on finishes.

In San Francisco on November 30, 1911, Clifford Prudhomme was united in marriage to Nellie W. Sutter, of Montana. They have been blessed with two children, Jack and Earl. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Knights of Pyth- ias. Politically, he is a Republican. He is especially fond of outdoor sports.

CARL F. VINING .- Whatever else Carl F. Vin- ing, the popular contractor of 2909 G Street. Sacra- mento, may or may not be able to do, he will prove to everybody's entire satisfaction, that in matters electrical, calling for a knowledge of the latest scien- tific word, and an application of the latest methods and apparatus, the capital city is on the map, and there to stay. Born at Dalton, Ga., on July 5, 1885, he first came to this section about seventeen years ago. Felix J. Vining, the lumber and cotton-gin man, was his father, who had married Miss Sarah Eliza- beth Cain; and both are still living, to enjoy the de- votion of a circle of admiring friends, and to feel a satisfaction in having lived in such an age of progress. They sent Carl to both grammar and high school, in his native Georgia district, and when he had said good-bye to school-books, he was in the steel mills in Alabama for a couple of years. Then, having pre- viously learned the rudiments of the electrical game, while at Chattanooga, Tenn., he took it up in earnest; and coming out to California in 1906, he came to Sacramento, convinced that here lay his destiny.

Mr. Vining worked as a journeyman, and then was superintendent for Messrs. Scott, Lyman & Stack, for two years, and in 1918 he engaged in business for himself. He did the electrical work in the Zeller- back Paper Company Building and that of the Good- year Tire Co., and the Bowman Carriage Factory, as well as that of the Avery Tractor Plant, and the Union Stage Depot, Fifth and I Streets, Sacramento; and for many of the finest individual residences, apartments and flats. This volume of business re- quires the services of five or more men to help turn out the steady volume of work. He is a member of the Sacramento Electrical Club, and gives his support to the Sacramento Builders' Exchange. He is

Republican.

Miss Grace Emily Kelly, a native daughter of Sac- ramento, became Mrs. Vining on August 7, 1917, the ceremony occurring at Sacramento; and they have three children, John Sydney, Doris Eileen and Emily Ruth. Mr. Vining is a Mason of the thirty- second degree, and he finds recreation in both the Shrine and the Sciots. He belongs to Lodge No. 6 of the Elks, and to Redjacket No. 28 of the Red Men. He likes to hunt and fish, which is another way of saying that he finds Sacramento a sporting county worth coming a long way to enjoy.

EDGAR J. CAMP .- An experienced executive, particularly familiar with horitcultural conditions in California, Edgar J. Camp, manager of the Earl Fruit Company, of Florin, has done much to advance the interests not only of that enterprising and popular concern, but of a particular corner of the Californian agricultural field. He was born in Sacramento County, on a farm, on December 18, 1886, the son of James Edgar and Nettie M. (Taylor) Camp, who came to California in 1862, and were substantial farmer folk here. Mr. Camp, after having put in years in developing parts of the great Golden State, and having both earned and received the esteem and the good-will of his fellows, died in 1910, leaving a very desirable record for usefulness. The many friends of Mrs. Camp, on the other hand, are glad that she is still living, to add, by her company and winning personality, to their happiness.

Edgar J. Camp enjoyed both grammar school and high school educational advantages, and then he started at the bottom rung of the ladder, to learn the fruit business. Filling one position after another, he worked his way up, becoming sales manager, and then general district manager; and having been with the Pacific Fruit Exchange for four years, he has also been another four years in his present position, to the satisfaction of all who have dealings with him.

Mr. Camp is himself a successful grower of fruit and a vineyardist, and is also a shipper in a modest way, and as such he has done much to develop the Florin district, his experience as an individual assist- ing him also in his capacity as manager. He is there- fore interested to a healthy degree in both the his- toric past and in the promising future of Sacramento County.

The marriage of Mr. Camp to Miss Mary D. Fair- bairn, a native, gifted daughter of Sacramento County, took place at Mayhews, in the year 1907; and now four children gladden the hearth of the Camp house- hold. They bear the names, Bruce, Doris, Frances and Barbara; and they also have their circles of

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friends. Mr. Camp is an Odd Fellow and a Red Man; and in politics he is a Republican, although always a broad-minded non-partisan hooster for Florin, Sac- ramento and California.

OTTO BAAK .- The interesting traditions of the past, when art and industry joined hands, are pleas- antly recalled by the workmanship and unique treas- ures of Otto Baak, the very efficient and popular jeweler of 2926 Thirty-fifth Street, Sacramento. He came from the state of Iowa, having been born near Crawford, on a farm, on April 21, 1878; and his par- ents were August and Elizabeth (Linsted) Baak, worthy farmer folk in Iowa. Mr. Baak died in his fowa home; but Mrs. Baak breathed her last in Chi- eago, to which center the family had removed when Otto was a boy.

Otto Baak attended both publie and private schools, getting a very good educational foundation which has always helped him in his high-grade and difficult work, and in his dealings with a more exaeting, be- cause more knowing body of patrons; and then he was apprenticed to learn the jeweler's trade, and worked for Marshall Field & Company in their jew- elry department. And then, for six years, he was associated with the Western Electrical Company in their experimental department.

In 1914, Mr. Baak came out to Elk Grove and tried ranching for six months; but finding the experience somewhat different in setting out potatoes and setting diamonds, he sold his ranch at the end of the year, and came on to Sacramento. He located at Oak Park, and established his jewelry business, which has become one of the commercial as well as art-indus- trial attractions of the choice neighborhood. He was a siek man when he came here; and now he is strong and robust. He carries a full line of jewelry, often offering novelties not to be found down town, and he makes the most expert repairs to jewelry needing his attention, charging only what an article or a ser- vice is worth. He belongs to the Merchants' Club of Oak Park, and is a welcome member there.

When Mr. Baak married, in 1899, he chose for his life companion Miss Clara Schwartz, of Chicago; and they have two children. Herbert graduated from Concordia College at Oakland, in January, 1922; and Esther is a stenographer. Mr. Baak is president of Trinity Lutheran Church; and is a stanch Repub- lican.

WILLIAM F. WALTERS .- A native son who has made his mark as a teaming contractor in a seetion of the country where teaming, in olden days, was a surer means of striking gold than to swing a pick and trust to Juck, is William F. Walters, of 1810 C Street, Sacramento, in which city he was born on February 10, 1882. His father, William F. Walters, came to California as a young man, and set up as a butcher, and Miss Mary Burns, whom he married, also saw the Coast early, when she was a girl; he has been dead, but not forgotten, these twenty-seven years, but Mrs. Walters is still living, and her many friends are always glad to greet her.

William F. Walters enjoyed the training of both grammar and high schools, and when ready to go to work, took un teaming for a livelihood. He liked it so well that he engaged in business for himself in 1912, and now he has six head of horses in well-kept

stables at the above-mentioned address, and no end of good patrons, who appreciate the value of his experience and his equipment, and the worth of his willingness and dependability. Recently, he hauled the sand for the Chamber of Commerce Building, and Bruner's New Addition; and he is in such de- mand by leading contractors that they alone might easily keep him employed. It has come to be un- derstood that when once Will Walters is on the job, the job's half finished.

In national polities a Democrat, William Walters is even more an American citizen, and quite as much a loyal booster of the section where he lives, works and prospers. He finds the historic past of Saera- mento County interesting, and believes that the Sac- ramento of the future will be still more promising.

JESS W. HOOPES, JR .- A contractor undertak- ing general work and equipped with such experience and up-to-date outfit that he is both frequently in demand and enjoys the confidence of his many pa- trons, is Jess W. Hoopes, a Pennsylvanian born at Media, on August 20, 1897, the son of Jess W. and Sarah (Thompson) Hoopes, the former a city official of Media, who left, when he died, an excellent record in the discharge of a public trust. Mrs. Hoopes, whom everybody liked, has also closed her earthly career.

Jess Hoopes attended the public schools of Media, and then took some Y. M. C. A. extension courses, and after that he was an apprentice to the carpenter's trade. Then, from 1915 to 1919, he was in the Amer- ican navy, and after that, he came to California, and has been busy and progressing ever since. After one or another experiment, Mr. Hoopes established him- self in general contracting just one year ago, and by confining himself to the building of homes, he has been called upon to erect a goodly number of the better class of dwellings. So active has he been, that he has had to employ on an average not less than five men, and the prospects are that that number must soon be increased. He is properly appreciative of what Sacramento County has done for him, and it is doubtful if a more loyal booster for this favored sec- tion of the state could be found. In politics, he is independent of party ties.

In 1920, Jess Hoopes married Miss Adelaide Green. of Pennsylvania; and they have had three sons to gladden their married life, George, Ralph and Will- iam. Mr. Hoopes is a Knight of Pythias. He is fond of hunting, and is a genuine baseball fan.

TIM ANSPACH .- The California auctioneer is usually a man of exceptional experience, at least one may judge so from the example of Tim Ans- pach, the live-stock dealer noted for his extensive and varied operations, and also locally famous as a popular auctioneer. He came from lowa, having been born there on December 10, 1886, when he was welcomed into the family circle of E. W. and Alice (Wharton) Anspach; he grew up the son of a live- stock dealer, and so from boyhood had the advan- tage of learning much, of what he wished to know for his business equipment in life, from his father. who was formerly in business at the Union Stock- yards at Omaha. Mrs. Ansnach, whom everyone loved who once came to know her, has breathed her last, but the father is still living.

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Getting the foundation of his educational training in the grammar and the high school, Tim Anspach also pursued college studies, and then he made his first ventures in the live-stock business. He came to Sacramento in 1915, to buy horses for the French government, and then he went to Cheyenne, for the same purpose. In the spring of 1917, however, hav- ing been so agreeably impressed by the capital city, he located permanently in Sacramento; and until the armistice, he was kept more than busy supplying horses to the United States government, at Rose- ville. At the close of the war, he established the Tim Anspach mule agency, and for a season was located at the fair grounds. Then he bought prop- erty at the corner of Thirtieth and R Streets, and there he both sells and rents stock to contractors, making notable wholesale deals. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, and does what he can to support the progressive programs of this important Sacramento institution.

Mr. Anspach was married to Miss Maria Charlton in 1916, the ceremony taking place at Kimball, Nebr .. and she shares his delight in fine horses, in horse- manship and in the game of polo. Mr. Anspach be- longs to Lodge No. 39 of the Elks at Omaha: he is public-spirited, and with his good wife is always ready to support heartily any well-endorsed move- ments promising uplift or progressive development.

A. E. ERICKSON .- A native of industrially famed Sweden who has been very successful as a general contractor, is A. E. Erickson, who was born on October 5, 1877, the son of Erick and Maga En- glebrickson, the former also a contractor, and an experienced farmer besides. Despite his long and arduous service, where for years he has been highly- esteemed by his fellow-citizens, Mfr. Erickson is still living, amid the scenes familiar to him in the pas- toral land of Sweden; but Mrs. Erickson, who was kindness itself to everybody, and whose demise is very naturally mourned, has laid aside forever the cares of life and entered into rest eternal.

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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 144

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