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 148

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

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WILLIAM SELBY LEWIS .- Sacramento has always been fortunate in the quality of men to whom has been entrusted the heavy responsibility of fire- protection for the community, involving both the conservation of valuable property and the protection of precious lives; and she is never likely to be disap- pointed if she continues to select for such important posts men like William Selby Lewis, the wide-awake, far-seeing and faithful captain of Engine No. 6, at Oak Park. His popularity is the most natural thing, when one knows his own appreciation of each and every man associated with him in the arduous work, and sharing with him the heavy responsibility of the office and department.

A native son, with a very commencdable pride in the Golden State with which he is thus historically linked, Mr. Lewis was born in Sacramento on August 27, 1890, the son of John and Jennie (Roberts) Lewis, the former a native son, and the latter a native daughter. They were substantial rancher-folk, and they are still living and enjoying some of the fruits of their worthy labors.

William Lewis attended the public schools, and as a youngster learned the blacksmith trade in the shops of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, where he remained for three years and eight months. Then he was in San Francisco for a short time, and after that, in 1913, he availed himself of an opportunity to join the Sacramento fire department, glad to serve his native city, and feeling a special fitness, for more reasons than one, for this kind of venturesome work. Although a married man, Mr. Lewis served in the World War. On September 22, 1917, he entered Battery C, 347th Regiment, Field Artillery. 91st Division, training at Camp Lewis, where he was made sergeant. He was sent overseas on July 13, 1918, and served in the St. Mihiel sector for eight days in the front lines. After the armistice he was for a time in

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

the Army of Occupation, being stationed at Fehren. near Thryer, and later returned to Brest. On his return to the United States he was honorably dis- charged at the Presidio, April 26, 1919, when he returned to his post in the Sacramento fire depart- ment. He is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Mr. Lewis has been captain for the past two years, and he wears his uniform with becoming dignity, always otherwise clad in good democratic sociability and fraternity, so that he is ever affable and approach- able, ever willing to respond. He was first with Engine No. 5, and then he came to his present posi- tion at Oak Park. In 1915 he was one of fourteen men selected to go to the firemen's contest at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, and there he won first prize in ladder-climbing and was awarded a medal. He plays the saxophone in the Sacramento Firemen's Band and is vice-president of the organization. He belongs to the Firemen's Reliel and Protective Association, and is ever ready to do what he can to improve the department in other than official ways. He is fond of baseball and also of hunting and fishing.

In San Francisco, on February 10, 1917, Captain Lewis was married to Miss Edith Florence Holm- drup, a native of Sacramento and a daughter of Hans and Anna (Petersen) Holmdrup, natives of Den- mark. Mr. Holmdrup has been in the employ of the Southern Pacific for many years and is now rate clerk. Edith Holmdrup was reared and educated in this city and is a graduate of the Sacramento high school. They have two children: June and William Selby, Jr. Captain Lewis belongs to the Knights of Pythias.

EDSON D. BRIER .- Sacramento is fortunate in the eminent ability of many of her noted contractors, including such leaders as Edson D. Brier, not only the city, but the county profiting by the presence and activity here of these wide-awake, aggressive men of affairs. A native son, Mr. Brier was born at Lodi, on April 12, 1890, and his parents were John W. and Mercy Ann (Switzer) Brier, the former a Congrega- tional minister and an extensive writer. At the age of six years, he came across the great plains into California, and was one of the genuine forty-niners. The grandmother of our subject named Death Valley. Both of these worthy parents are dead, but they have left a sweet and lasting memory. Grandfather Brier was a circuit rider in the M. E. Church, and he founded congregations all over California.

Edson D. Brier attended the public schools of Lodi, and then went to the Hopkins Art Institute in San Francisco, and there he availed himself of three scholarships, and took portrait, figure and landscape work. After that, he followed the profession of art for some time; but little by little he became convinced that he could be of greater service to the world along more practical lines.

At Lodi, therefore, in the years 1914 and 1915, Mr. Brier got into the building game; and then he was with the Western Union Telegraph Company, and traveled in their interest. Next, he associated himself with Messrs. Trainor & Desmond, in the real estate game, and for the past two years he has been a contracting builder again, operating especially in Sacramento. He built the Milton J. Ferguson home, several flat buildings and some of the finest

residences, and in each case his success has been that of one who realized all the anticipations, and fulfilled all the expectations of the patron. He be- longs to the Master Builders, the Builders' Exchange, and the Kiwanis Club, and never loses an opportunity to boost the county in which he operates. In politics, he is a Democrat.

In the year 1914, Mr. Brier married Miss Estell Whitten, a native daughter of California, and they have one child, Lois Jeanette. Mr. Brier belongs to Sunset Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West, and Sacramento Lodge No. 6, B. P. O. E., and his associations with these fraternal organizations make him more than ever deeply interested in Sacra- mento County, past, present and future.

ALBERT E. CLARKE .- Although of English birth, Albert E. Clarke has spent practically his entire life in the United States and has identified his interests with those of his adopted country, being now numbered among the leading directors of the noted bands in America. He was born in Newark, England, on June 9, 1861, the son of Richard and Katherine (Clarke) Clarke. His parents were laid away to rest in their native land when he was but a child.

Albert E. Clarke was educated in the public schools of Dublin, and after the death of his parents he attended the military school, now the Royal Hibernian Military School. For six years he was in the British army, and it was during this period that his musical education began. He emigrated to America and stayed in Boston, Mass., for one and one-half years, and also stayed in Portland, Maine, for one year, and he then went to Chicago, Ill., where he remained for twenty-six years. He played at McVickers Theatre, and soon after became th . bandmaster of the Ist Regiment, National Guards of Chicago, and he served in this capacity for two years. During this period he also was the director of Clarke's Illinois State Band. At Clay Center, Kans., he became the bandmaster of the 2nd Nationa! Guards of Kansas. Then he removed to Bisbee. Ariz., and for two years he was instructor of the Copper Queen Band. In Phoenix, Ariz., he organ- ized the Boys' Band, and made a very fine record, · and in Tucson, Ariz., he made a world's record by organizing a Boys' Band and turning them out in thirty-two days from the time he started. For two and one-half years he remained in Los Angeles. When the World War broke out he was made director of the 2nd Regiment Coast Guard Artillery Band. In Aberdeen, Wash., to took charge of the Aberdeen Motor Corporation, and was employed by this concern for two years. In 1921, Mr. Clarke came to Sacramento and organized Clarke's Sacra- mento Band, which gives municipal concerts.

Mr. Clarke was married in Halifax to Miss Isa- bella Mclellan, of Cape Breton, N. S. She died in Los Angeles in 1919, leaving three children: Albert E. Jr., solo trombonist in the Cleveland symphony orchestra; Minnie Belle, wife of Walter C. Anderson, a banker in Galt; and Florence, wife of Carl E. Day, an attorney of San Francisco.

Mr. Clarke is interested in all musical organiza- tions that are beneficial to Sacramento. He was president of the Sacramento musicians' union for one year and he organized a band of 315 pieces for the big music week in Sacramento in 1922, the largest

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

ever brought together here. He is director of the Sacramento Elks' Band and also organized the Fire- men's Band in Sacramento. Mr. Clarke is a Demo- crat. Fraternally, he is an Elk and a Mason. He is very fond of athletics and is an expert swimmer.

JOHN J. BRESLAN .- An employment agency which, on account of its wide and exceptional con- nections, its enviable status among those wishing the services of others, and its constantly increasing list of superior applicants, has rendered a valuable service in making Sacramento City and Sacramento County the most desirable places of residence and activity, is that of Breslan & Company, whose animating spirit is the popular John J. Breslan, a native of Oakland, Cal. He was born on November 13, 1874, the son of Peter and Catherine (Ford) Breslan, the former a member of the 5th Massachusetts Battery in the Civil War, with three years' service in the field, and like his good wife, a native of Ireland. They came ont to California in the sixties, and were married here. They made many friends in their sojourning among, and cooperating with, the builders of the new state, and now that they are deceased, men speak well of them.

When John J. Breslan was seven years of age his parents moved to San Francisco, and there he attended the public schools. At the age of fourteen he began work in stores in San Francisco and later for Risden Iron Works, meantime attending night school. About 1892 he came to Sacramento and this has been the scene of his operations ever since. In 1900 he started an employment agency under the name Bres'an & Company, and has continued the business ever since. He is now the oldest established employment agent in Sacramento and has been suc- cessful from the day when he first opened an office .. Those who come to him for confidential assistance know that he will help them, if he can.

Mr. Breslan was married in Stockton to Miss Louise Lawless of Mainc. Mr. and Mrs. Breslan are both Republicans. They are enthusiasts for base- ball, and other outdoor sports.

ROLAND L. McKERN .- The advancement made in recent years in the art of practical sign-writing is interestingly indicated by the increasing demand for the high grade work of Roland L. McKern, the widely-known commercial artist of Sacramento. He was born at Dayton, Wash., on September 12, 1885, the son of A. P. and Isabel Eccles MeKern, who came to California from Arizona in 1897, settled in San Francisco, and are now living at Berkeley. Being Westerners, familiar with the conditions of a country in the making, Mr. and Mrs. McKern have been able to assist in the development of the resources of the Coast, and they are entitled to some of the honors gladly given pioneers.

Roland L. McKern attended the grammar schools in Washington and Arizona and the Santa Ana high school, and then he entered the service of the tele- phone company in Santa Ana, and had risen to be installation man when he left there. His artistic sense was quickened by his experience in the great artistic outdoors, and he took up the work of a com- mercial artist, illustrator, etc., and learned his trade thoroughly. He took a course in drawing and letter- ing in the International Correspondence Schools of

Scranton, Pa., and since then has continued the study as a member of various art classes.

In 1917, he came to Sacramento, and for three years he was with Mr. Funk, the outdoor advertiser in Sacramento, until on August 1, 1919, he estab- lished a sign and picture business which made him popu'ar throughout and beyond Sacramento County, and he did much of the decorating of the store-fronts during the recent celebration of "The Days of '49." He employed several men, cach thoroughly compe- tent; and because Mr. McKern gave his personal attention to every detail, assuming all responsibility and exercising care for good work, he was re- markably successful. What "McKern, the Artist," could not produce, and on short notice, at the most reasonable rates, was not worth going outside of Sacramento to try to get. In June, 1922, Mr. Mc- Kern was induced to accept the position as head of the designing department of Foster and Kleiser, who had taken over the interests of Mr. Funk and who cover the whole Pacific Coast as outdoor adver- tisers. Since then Mr. McKern has given all of his time and talent to his position, which gives him un- limited opportunity to exercise his talents and orig- inality. At his residence in North Sacramento he has erected a studio where he uses his spare time and exercises his taste and ability in making pictorial backgrounds and theatrical scenery.

On November 1. 1912, and at Bellingham, Wash., Mr. McKern was married to Miss Emma Louise Welch, a favorite daughter of the old Keystone State; and they now have four children, to brighten their home life. Philip Ross and Mildred Louise are the elder; and Alice Betty and Roland, Jr., the younger.

Mr. McKern is a Democrat, but his support is given in the heartiest manner, and with no partisanship, to local men and measures, for he believes in allowing nothing to stand in the way of attaining the best for the community in which he resides and prospers. He is active in civic affairs, and his influence makes for better citizenship.

JOHN R. CONNELLY .- An attorney whose life- story since he established himself in practice in Sac- ramento, now having a handsome suite of offices in the Ochsner Building, is the record of a learned and eminently capable lawyer who has more and more made good, is John R. Connelly, a native of Minne- sota, where he was born, the son of Michael and Elizabeth (Martin) Connelly, the former a farmer born in England, who came to the United States before the Civil War, and served throughout the great struggle; the latter. on the other hand, a native of Connecticut, who had come West, and mar- ried in Minnesota. They settled on a farm near St. Paul and reared eight children, two daughters and six sons, and bravely did their part in helping to develop the section of country in which they lived. and by their lives and example to improve local social conditions.

John R. Connelly was able, as he grew up, to go to the normal school at Mankato. Minn., and then to matriculate in the University of Minnesota, where he received the B. S. degree in 1910, and two years later the LL. B. degree, having worked his own way through school and university. In 1913, he came West to California, and commenced to practice his profession under the shadow of the capital. He has

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

been "fairly successful," according to his own modest version, but those well acquainted with his demon- strated capacity, some of the results of his labors, and his considerable circle of devoted and admiring friends, feel that he has done very well, wielding an enviable influence for uplift and for the betterment, at all times, of local civic . conditions. He belongs to both the state and the county bar associations. He chose Sacramento for his professional field after spending a year looking over the country, by means of the convenient automobile, before he made his decision to pitch his tent here, believing that Sacra- ment presented the best opportunities for health, en- joyment and financial success, and he has never re- gretted his choice. He is a man above mere party. which means that he is a non-partisan, broad-minded booster for the section in which he lives, labors and thrives.

Mr. Connelly is an Elk, a Knight of Columbus of the fourth degree, a member of the Sons of St. George, one of the Red Men, and a member of the Grange. He is fond of tennis, as might be supposed, when one recalls that as a student at the university, he belonged to the athletic team and held the two- mile record. First, last and all the time, he is a patriotic American, and finds true pleasure in help- ing to hasten the day when everybody will know that California is the best place in the world in which to live.

J. EDWARD WATERS .- An experienced execu- tive, whose fidelity to an important trust has enabled him to render a real service to the public, thereby entitling him to public confidence such as he seems in large measure to enjoy, is J. Edward Waters, the plant superintendent of the Sacramento Gas Company, who was born on his father's ranch in Sutter County, California, on April 29, 1878, the son of James and Virginia (Long) Waters, the former a native of New York State, descended from English ancestry, and the latter a native of Virginia, where she was born of Scotch parentage. Mr. Waters is now dead, having rounded out a very useful life; but Mrs. Waters is still living, in California, idolized by those knowing her intimately. The worthy couple were joined in wedlock in California; and from their for- tunate marriage, sprang twelve children, eight of whom are still living. These include Fred, Mrs. Minnic Green, Mrs. Laura Freitas, J. Edward, the subject of this biographical review, Henry Franklin, Mrs. Ida Keigel, Herbert, and Mrs. Tessie Muller; while the children now mourned as having passed on to the Great Beyond are Mrs. Cora White, Irving, who lived to be twenty-two, Lottie, who died aged fifteen, and Rose, who died in infancy.

James Waters, the father, came out to California in a sailing vessel in 1857, via Cape Horn, on. a ship commanded by his brother, but when the vessel reached San Francisco he deserted the ship and went into Mendocino County, with a party of explorers. All the rest of the party were killed by a band of Indians; and having escaped with his life, young Waters made his way into Yolo County, and secured work there in a packing house. He was in Sacra- mento the year of the great flood of 1862, and took Governor Stanford in a rowboat from Sutter Fort, through the watery streets to the steamboat landing, where the Governor boarded a boat for San Francisco. He later settled on a ranch in Sutter County, where he died at the age of seventy-seven.

He was one of the pioneer business men of the state, and brought the first hive of bees to northern Cali- fornia. Afterward, he followed bee-raising, truck- gardening and dairy farming. Mrs. Waters crossed the great plains to California with her parents in carly days, and now resides on the old home ranch in Sutter County.

J. Edward Waters attended the district schools of Sutter County, and then followed farming until he was twenty-one years of age. On July 16, 1900, he entered the employ of the Sacramento National Gas Company (now the Sacramento Gas Company); and he has been with that corporation ever since, and is today the oldest employee of the company. His first work was the laying of a gaspipe on Second Street; and soon after he was put in charge of the pipe-laying crew. Next he was in charge of the service depart- ment, in the houses; later still, he learned how to make gas, and became the foreman of the gas works. Since 1909, he has been superintendent in charge of gas-making, and has had an average of eighteen men under him. He also invented and perfected a gas- making machine, and has made several improvements on other machines in the plant. He has thus become an employee of great value to both the company and the city, particularly as he is enthusiastically devoted to the best interests of Sacramento, both town and county. Nor is he without something to show in the matter of his own thrift and prosperity; for he owns four houses in Knight's Landing.

Mr. Waters was married in Sacramento November 28, 1900, to Miss Hattie Green, a native of Sutter County, and the daughter of Barnard L. Green, the esteemed pioneer now deceased, who crossed the plains with an ox-team, and then farmed in Sutter County; his widow was Mary E. Smith, born in Mis- souri, and she crossed the plains with her parents when thirteen and now makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Waters. She is seventy-three years of age. Of Mr. and Mrs. Green's children, four are still living: James W .; B. L .; Charles B .; and Hattie, now Mrs. J. E. Waters. Mr. Waters belongs to Lodge No. 109 of the Fraternal Brotherhood, River Lodge No. 256 of the Odd Fellows, Occidental Encampment No. 42, and Lodge No. 10, Foresters of Amercia, and with his wife is a member of Capital City Lodge No. 160 of the Rebekahs, in which Mrs. Waters is a past noble grand and still takes a very active interest.

AURELIO ALBERTINI .- An experienced dairy- man to whom many Californians owe something for his industry and progressive methods, is this wide- awake Swiss-American, who was born in Canton Graubunden, Switzerland, on October 14, 1883. His father, Batista, was a painter by trade, who passed away in his seventy-first year; while his mother, Barbara, lived to be only fifty. They had nine child- ren, and our subject was the youngest of the family. When twenty-one years old, he started out for him- self, crossed the ocean to the United States, and made his way to California, where he settled in Plumas County, on a dairy farm, working for a while for wages. From Plumas County, he went to Carson City, Nev., and there he worked at various lines. On returning to California, he took up ranch work in one after another county, and for a while he had a dairy ranch near Salida, in Stanislaus County.

In 1922 Mr. Albertini came into Sacramento Coun- ty and purchased seventy-eight acres two miles east

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

of Herald, on which he conducts a small dairy; and in this arduous duty he is ably assisted by his devoted wife, who was Miss Mary Genacci before her mar- riage, on August 30, 1919. She was born at Daven- port, in Santa Cruz County, and was the daughter of Charles and Mary Genacei, both natives of Canton Ticino, the former a dairyman who came to the United States about forty years ago. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Albertini. Charles is the elder; and Aurelio the younger. While at Red- wood City, in San Mateo County, Mr. Albertini be- came a citizen; and since he has come to enjoy the franchise, and to support the best men and the best measures for Sacramento County and Galt, he up- holds the principles of the Republican party.

MARTIN J. BRENNAN .- For thirty-one years of his active career Martin J. Brennan was in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company; nine years ago he removed to Andrus Island and has since been the manager and superintendent of the upper Andrus Island pumping plant and drainage canals. He was born in County Mayo, Ireland, November 10, 1865, a son of Patrick and Catherine (Hopkins) Brennan, natives of the same country. The parents were farmers and lived and died in Ire- land, the father at the age of seventy-seven and the mother at thirty-six years of age. Eight children were born to them: John Thomas; Martin J., our sub- ject; and Patrick, William, Ellen, Mary, Kittie, and Anna.

Martin J. Brennan received his education in the grammar schools of Ireland. In 1882 he came to the United States and stopped at Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained for one year; then he came West to California and soon found a position in the rail- road shops of Sacramento as a mechanic, where he worked for four years; in 1887 he began firing out of Sacramento to Truckee and ten years were spent in this job. He then became a locomotive engineer on the Southern Pacific lines from Ogden, Utah, to El Paso, Texas, and spent seventeen years thus engaged. After his retirement he settled on Andrus Island, where he has charge as engineer and superintendent of the pumping plant and drainage canals on the upper part of the island for Reclamation District No. 556. Mr. Brennan owns four different residences in Sacramento.

On April 25, 1893, Mr. Brennan was married to Miss Mary M. Green, a native of St. Louis, Mo., and a daughter of W. H. and Sarah E. (Cowell) Green. W. H. Green was a farmer in Missouri who crossed the plains to California with a mule team in pioneer days; later he returned to Missouri and there was married and in 1876 returned to California with his wife and three children: Angie, Frank, and Mary M., Mrs. Brennan. Mr. Green was employed at the Southern Pacific shops in Sacramento until he retired; he passed away at the age of seventy-nine years. Mrs. Green now resides in Sacramento at 2312 H Street, aged eighty years. Mr. and Mrs. Brennan are the parents of nine children: William M. is an engineer for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company; Angie is deceased; Austin James; Thomas, deceased; Ruth; Arthur; Jack; George; and Edwin. Their son Austin James entered Company B, 117th United States Engi- neers of the 42nd Division, and served twenty-two €1

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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 148

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