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 154

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

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, 1923 > Part 154

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In June, 1918, Mr. Hallander's residenee, as well as his shop, burned to the ground, but he immediately rebuilt his shop twice the size of his former place, and equipped it with new modern machinery, and eleetrie power. He manufactures trucks and ma- ehinery and implements for asparagus growing and hauling. In 1919 he built a new bungalow residenee, where he resides with his family. Mr. Hallander is a Republican in politics and fraternally belongs to Sacramento Lodge No. 6, B. P. O. Elks, and is a past grand of Isleton Lodge No. 108 of Odd Fellows and with his wife is a member of the Rebekahs.

WILLIAM C. BAKER .- William C. Baker was born in Nodaway County, Mo., September 16, 1884, a son of William C. and Catherine (Sturm) Baker, both natives of Wisconsin. William C. Baker, Sr., located in Missouri when he was fifteen years old and became a prominent stock-raiser and shipper; he passed away at the age of fifty-seven years and the inother of our subject was forty-two when she passed away. Eleven children were born to them: Nicholas; Michael; Tillie; Henry; Catherine; Theodore; Charles; Louise; William C., our subject; Ola; and Laura, all living.

William C. Baker began his education in the dis- trict school near his father's farm in Nodaway County; then entered high school; then attended the Maryville Seminary and the University of Missouri at Columbia. After completing his education he entered the First National Bank at St. Joseph, Mo, as a bookkeeper, where he remained for five years; then he accepted a position with a wholesale candy and cracker company as bookkeeper and billing clerk and remained with them for four years. Mr. Baker came to California in 1913 and was lumber inspector for the building of the Panama-Pacific Expo- sition buildings, which occupied him until July, 1914, when he became identified with Libby, MeNeil & Libby, as superintendent of their plant at Ryde; this plant operates about 100 days each season and packs about 100,000 cases of asparagus grown on the delta of the Saeramento River.

The first marriage of Mr. Baker occurred at Mary- ville. Mo., April 24, 1907, and united him with Miss

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

Kathryn Langan, a native of Missouri, daughter of William and Theresa Langan. They were the par- ents of one daughter, Kathryn. Mrs. Baker passed away in 1913 at Maryville, Mo. Mr. Baker was sub- sequently married to Mrs. Hester ( Allison) Prevost, a native of Dixon, Cal., a daughter of Irvine Allison, who came to California with his father when he was a young boy. Mr. Baker is a Democrat in politics and is now serving as deputy sheriff of Sacramento County.

STEPHEN UREN .- For more than three score years Stephen Uren has been identified with the development of the Sacramento Valley and during the whole of this long period he has been a resident of the city of Sacramento, where he is still living. Of English birth, he was born in Cornwall, September 10, 1837, and was the son of William and Bathsheba (Sincock) Uren. the former a blacksmith and machin- ist by trade and for many years foreman of a large shop in Cornwall. It was there that the son learned all the details connected with blacksmithing. When he crossed the ocean in 1857 he was well qualified to earn a livelihood at his occupation. For almost a year he was employed in the copper mining district of Ontonagon County, Michigan, from which place he returned to New York City for the purpose of start- ing to California. The steamer Constitution con- veyed him to Aspinwall. After he had crossed the Isthmus he resumed the voyage on the steamer Golden Gate, which cast anchor in San Francisco. October 15, 1858. Coming from the coast city to Sacramento County, he worked for two years at his trade near Folsom, then spent a year in the mines of Eldorado County. After working for several months in Virginia City. Nev .. he returned to Sacramento, and here he has since made his home.

After a period of employment on the capitol build- ing, Mr. Uren secured employment as a blacksmith, December 20, 1866, in the shops of the Southern Pacific Railroad; September 7. 1871, he was pro- moted to be assistant foreman under A. F. LaSholles: May I, 1876, he was made foreman of the blacksmith shop; the rolling mills were also under his direction and the first bar was rolled out in July, 1881, under his supervision. In 1888, 11,000 tons of metal were turned out by the mill and during November, 500 men were employed in the rolling mill and black- smith department. The forgings for the building of the heaviest steamboat ever made on the Pacific Coast (including those for the ship Piedmont) were manufactured under the direction of Mr. Uren, whose success with such tasks was a matter of common knowledge to the workers in the shops.

The efficiency of the department under his charge was greatly increased through the introduction of Mr. Uren's own inventions. On April 27. 1880, he patented a device for forming car links, which previ- ously had been made by hand, the new process reducing the cost about one-third. On October 6, 1885, he patented a process for the manufacture of nuts at the rate of one per minute, superseding the old method which required half an hour for each nut. December 1. 1885, he patented a wrought-iron brake- shoe which possessed an advantage over the cast- iron shoe in the ratio of five to one. On May 28. 1889, Mr. Uren secured a patent on a slot attachment on a bolt-heading machine, which has the distinction

of being the only device in existence that will simul- tancously head a bolt and slot the key, this being one of his most important inventions. On May 27, 1889. he patented a spike-making mechanism, and on Octo- ber 6, 1903. a reverberatory heating furnace. Owing to his advanced years he retired from active work on September 30, 1907. Honored in many movements, he was especially prominent in the International Mas- ter Blacksmiths' Association and during 1893 served as chairman of the committee that effected the organ- ization in Chicago, being elected president three years later.

The marriage of Mr. Uren took place in Sacra- mento, September 9, 1865, and united him with Miss Mary Walch, who was born in Ireland, August 12. 1844, and came to California in May, 1863. Four sons and three daughters came to bless their union: William Stephen married Miss Anna McDonald and they are the parents of two daughters, Gertrude and Marjorie: Edward married Miss Lulu Crompton and they have two daughters, Nell and Ruth; Mary G. became the wife of L. P. Kerner, and four children were born to them, Harry, Louis, Gertrude and Frances: Stephen J married Miss Annie Theresa Burke and three children were born to them, Ray- mond Stephen, Cleta Mary and William Donald: the youngest son, Walter, passed away in 1905, at the age of twenty-eight; Grace Ella married Alfred Schaden and they are the parents of two children, Harold Alfred and Claire; Nellie Maude became the wife of Hazard Snowden Williamson and they have two children, Dorothea Marie and Ursula Jane. His wife passed away March 14, 1917, well-known. much loved, honored and respected by all who knew her. For many years Mr. Uren made his home in a resi- dence he built at Thirteenth and G Streets, the first residence built on the north side of that block on G Street, and he was ridiculed for going so far out. He has since built two additional residences, one a four- flat and the other a two-flat residence, and two small cottages which he still owns. He now makes his home with his granddaughter, Mrs. Charles L. Swan- ton, at 3524 H Street.

RICHARD EARL MITCHELL .- A dairyman who is thoroughly familiar with California conditions affecting the highest and best production in his field. and whose accomplishments have advanced the hus- bandry in the Golden State, is Richard Earl Mitchell, one of the highly esteemed citizens of Wilton. He was born in Gilpin County, Colorado, on February 7, 1891, the son of Richard and Ellen (Jose) Mitchell, both natives of England, who came to the United States when they were young. His father lived in Canada for a while, and also mined in Alaska. He took up mining in Colorado, and in Oregon, and fol- lowed the hard game in California, until recently; and our subject is living with his father, on the lat- ter's place at Wilton. There were three children in the family. Mildred is deceased. Maude is Mrs. Harry Back, and resides in England. Richard Earl is the subject of our story.

Richard Earl Mitchell went to school in Colorado. Oregon and California, for when he was six years old, his father moved to Gold Hill, Ore., mined there for a while, and then Earl and his mother went back to Colorado, where they settled for a while at Central City, and then moved to Denver. In 1904. however,

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they came back to the Coast and California, and lo- cated in Mono County, where the father was mining, having come to California from Oregon, and he later went into Placer County, for the same purpose. In 1914 he came to Sacramento, and eight years later he bought a ranch of ten acres at Wilton where, with the aid of his son, Earl, he has since conducted a small dairy. Earl Mitchell himself mined for two years in Placer County, and when the family came to Sacramento, he started working in the store depart- ment of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and was with that corporation for five years. At the outbreak of the late war, he joined the Spruce Division, and after the armistice, returned to his father on the ranch at Wilton, and has since then devoted himself to the scientific study of dairying, making it his pride to assist his father in maintaining one of the most sani- tary, up-to-date dairies in the county. He also main- tians an interest in politics and votes regardless of the hampering of party ties. He belongs to the Sac- ramento Post of the American Legion.

MERLIN W. STEWART .- Among the successful practicing lawyers of Sacramento is Merlin W. Stew- art, who was admitted to the bar July 2, 1919, and has since been engaged in private practice; on Febru- ary 1, 1922 he was appointed to the position of county law librarian, which he is filling to the entire satis- faction of the people of the community. He is one of California's native sons, born in San Jose, March 19, 1895, a son of Marcus and Alice (Dunlap) Stew- art. The Stewart family removed to California when Marcus Stewart was a small boy. Marcus Stewart was a painter by trade and died January 24, 1923. in Sacramento; the mother is still living.

Merlin W. Stewart was educated in the public schools and studied law in private. He took the bar examination, was admitted on July 2, 1919, to the bar of California, and then began private practice. Al- though a young man in years, he is steadily forging to the front in his profession and he is making a splendid record for himself in the capital city.

CLARENCE D. TODD .- A most interesting establishment in whose activities, output and fame the citizens of Sacramento naturally take a just pride, is that of Clarence D. Todd, the owner of the Sac- ramento Art Glass Works, at 1610 J Street, Sacra- mento. He was born at Washington, D. C., in Sep- tember, 1887, the son of George M. and Kate (Vail) Todd, who eventually came to locate here. In the meantime, and prior to their coming, Clarence Todd attended both the grammar and the high schools of the district in New Jersey in which he was then liv- ing, and later engaged in lampshade work, following his high-art trade in Philadelphia and also in New York, where he had the good fortune to be associated with Messrs. Tiffany & Company.

In 1912, Mr. Todd came to California, and the fol- lowing year he established this business in Sacra- mento, making a specialty of art-glass and glazing of all kinds. He has contracted for all the art-glass required for certain store-fronts in town, and he has also handled the W. P. Fuller Company glass-work, catering to the demands of northern California and Nevada. It was the Todd establishment that supplied the glass and glass-work for the St. Elizabeth Church, the Catholic Oak Park Church, and also the Presby-

tcrian and Weslyan Churches, and he supplies the art- glass and metal lights in all the modern homes erected in Sacramento and vicinity. In 1923, Mr. Todd purchased the lot at 1610 J Street and erected the first unit of a four-story building, a modern struc- ture suitable for his needs.

Mr. Todd married Miss Florence Marie Merrifield in 1915, the ceremony taking place at Stockton; and their union has been blessed with the birth of one child, a daughter named Florence Nan. Mr. Todd belongs to the Knights of Pythias, in which he has gone through all of the chairs, and is a past chancel- lor; he takes an active part in the Knights of Pythias work, and is now secretary of the insurance depart- ment. Politically he is a Democrat. Like all resi- dents of the county, he is fond of outdoor life.

MANUEL FERNANDEZ .- An interesting, rep- resentative, and enterprising business man of Sacra- mento, is Manuel Fernandez, the genial proprietor of the Capital Fuel Company, 514 S Street. He was born in 1883, in the Azores Islands, the son of Man- nel and Rosa (Jacinto) Fernandez. Mr. Fernandez, Sr., came to the Golden State in the early days and it was while he and his wife were on a vacation in the Azores that their son, Manuel, was born. They set- tled in Freeport, Cal., where they farmed. He died in 1917, and his wife is also deceased.

Manuel Fernandez attended the public schools at Freeport and helped his father on the ranch until he engaged in the wood business on X Street, Sacra- mento, in 1912. He then went to Oregon for a short time, and on his return was employed by the Kane and Trainor Ice Company, whom he served off and on for ten years. In 1920 he opened his fuel yard at 500 WV Street, and has succeeded in developing it into a beneficial enterprise. On January 19, 1919, he was united in marriage with Miss Juanita Perez, the daughter of Joseph and Petrona Perez. Mr. Fer- nandez is a highly honored and respected citizen and well deserves the esteem conferred upon him by a large circle of friends.

GEORGE ARMISTEAD WORK .- Promising among the more recent accessions to the ranks of distinguished members of the legal fraternity in Cali- fornia, and already prominent for having demon- strated talent, scholarship and rare qualities, George Armistead Work, the attorney, has established him- self enviably in Sacramento city and county. He was born at Jackson, Miss., on March 16, 1889, the son of George A. Work, the planter, and his wife, who was Lydia Herron before her marriage, both of whom are now deceased. They were highly esteemed as representatives of the old school and as worthy of the best that the social life of the South could pro- duce; and they left an enviable record for having benefitted the world during their sojourn here.

George Armistead Work came to California and availed himself of the University facilities here, after he had put behind him both grammar and high school work; and he was duly graduated from the University of California in 1913 with the degree of J. D. He prac- ticed law in San Francisco and Rio Vista for two years, and was city attorney of the latter flourishing town. In June, 1919, he came to Sacramento. His progress here has been marked by a rapid mastery of California legal and other conditions, and by the

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natural fruits of his having set a high standard, and then lived up to it. in all of his dealings with clients, society and the bar. He is known for his public- spiritedness, and is interested in Sacramento County history and traditions, both past and in the making.

A democratic American, rather than merely an American who persists in shouting for democracy. Mr. Work served for two years in the World War as a member of the American army. He entered as a private, served abroad as one of the 344th Bat- talion, Tank Corps, and was commissioned lieutenant before the end. He was married, March 16, 1921, to Miss Geraldine Graham, born at Colusa, and they have one son, George Armistead, Jr.

HERBERT BRUGLER .- Another enterprising representative of the automobile industry in Folsom City who has done much to cater to the convenience and comfort of the fast-increasing motor public, is Herbert Brugler, half-owner of the People's Garage and in charge of the repair department and general mechanical work. A native son with plenty of pride in the great Pacific commonwealth in which he first saw light, he was born at San Jose, on October 27, 1893, and his parents were Calvin and Eliza (Sein) Brugler. His father was a pioneer horticulturist and vineyardist of Santa Clara and Tehama Counties, and made no little contribution toward the development of California husbandry.

Herbert Brugler, as the son of a ranch superintend- ent, grew up amid farm environment, and he also worked in the fruit field, and at canning, for several years. In 1912, he took up garage work at Folsom; and under F. J. Newman, he learned the machinist's trade at Folsom Garage.

On April 21, 1917, and at Sacramento, Mr. Brugler enlisted for service in the great war, joining the 23rd Aero Squadron, and he was sent to Kelly Field, where he remained a ground mechanic until January, 1919. His experience at the government aero station gave him a finished knowledge of the finest detail in machine work; and when he returned home in 1919, he was naturally desirous of following his trade. The result was a partnership with his companion in the war, Paul Murer, whose life-story is given elsewhere in this work; and now together they are conducting one of the best-equipped and best managed garages in the state, representing, as busy business men, the best expression of progressive enterprise. Mr. Brug- ler is a charter member of the American Legion, and he belongs to the Natoma Lodge No. 63, of the Masons.

CAPT. WILLIAM FRANKLIN LOWER .- The career of William Franklin Lower has been character- ized by industry, perseverance and progressiveness; he has been a capable member of the Sacramento fire department for the past twenty-nine years and is well known and highly respected by all who know him. He was born in Albany, Iowa, September 19. 1862, a son of William and Margaret Lower, natives of Illinois. The family came to California via Pan- ama in 1863, and while en route the mother of our subject passed away at sca on the trip from New York to Aspinwall. The father continued the jour- ney and located in Sacramento, where he engaged in contracting until his death. Many of the early buildings give credit to his ability as a builder.

An only child, William Franklin Lower was reared in the capital city and received his education in the public schools. After leaving school, he assisted his father in his building until he had become assistant postmaster at Madison, Yolo County, where he continued for one year. He then tried his hand at farming at Santa Barbara; and after this he re- turned to Sacramento and entered the Southern Pa- cific shops, where he worked for fifteen years. Mean- while he was a call man of the Sacramento fire de- partment, his first service beginning in 1892, although the department books only show 1894. In 1894 he became a fireman and acted as captain of Engine No. 4 at Twenty-sixth Street from the time the fire house was built; when Oak Park was annexed to the city, Mr. Lower was made captain of Engine No. 6. lo- cated on Fourth Avenue between Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth Streets.

The marriage of Mr. Lower united him with Miss Kate Trofcer, who was born in Washington, D. C. Locally he gives his support to progressive, construc- tive legislation, regardless of party lines, supporting the best man for public office. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Owls.

C. R. & C. W. BEARD .- Prominent among the business men of Sacramento who have made the in- fluence of both city and county felt far and wide, are Messrs. C. R. & C. W. Beard, the enterprising and very progressive proprietors of the popular estab- lishment, Melvin & Sons. That business was estab- lished far back in 1861 by William Melvin, and at his death was taken charge of by his son, H. G. Melvin, who conducted it, with certain improvements and ex- pansion, until 1912, when our subjects succeeded to the control of affairs. H. G. Melvin died in 1917, a popular and original figure, welcome with his stories of the early days when the business was' a general blacksmith shop.

Now, under the more aggressive technicians, the brothers Beard, there is a first-class shop for the re- pair of automobiles, with of course every facility for smithy work, in which four experts are employed: and it is needless to say that the able and thoroughly capable men are in a position to undertake, with every reasonable guarantee, any kind of repair or original devising such as the complicated activities of the highly developed motor-world today demand. Partly because of their success and their steadily expanding business, the Beards are deeply interested in Sacra- mento County and are willing and ready to do all in their power to advance the best and most lasting in- terests of this favored portion of the Golden State.

C. R. Beard was born at Gallup, N. M., on June 30, 1888, the son of William M. and Alice (Frost) Beard; while Clarence William Beard, his brother, was born on December 28, 1886, at Dallas, Texas. The family came here to California in 1890, and at Sacramento the boys went to school. In that city, too, under the mnost exacting, but the most helpful of apprentice- ships, they learned their trade. C. R. Beard was married to Miss Anna Mckenzie, of Chicago, and has two children, Clyda A. and Honora U. Clarence William took for his wife Laura Dubaker, of Sacra- mento, and they have two children, Malba and Clar- ence W. The Beards are Republicans and support movements for civic advancement. Sacramento Coun- ty may well be proud of such worth-while citizens.

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CHARLES LEHMAN .- A man who is always to be found among the leaders in any progressive public project, is Charles Lehman, an able, successful and far-sighted business man of Sacramento, who is one of the owners of the National Employment Agency, located at 926-930 Second Street. He was born in New York City, N. Y., in 1879, a son of Max and Clara Lehman. When Charles was a baby of one year, his parents migrated to California and the father engaged in business in San Francisco, and he still makes his home in that city.

Charles Lehman received his education in the grammar and high schools of San Francisco; and after his graduation from the latter institution in 1896, he then entered the employ of a wholesale produce house. He thereafter continued in this line of busi- ness until he established his own produce business in San Francisco, which he operated for five years, when he sold out and engaged in the employment business. In 1916 he organized the National Employment Agency in Sacramento. Practically every day he is sending out from 100 to 150 men in various occupa- tions, such as ranching, lumbering, teaming, mining, industrial and large construction projects, all over the state of California and southern Oregon. The National Employment Agency has grown to be the largest business of its kind in the Sacramento Valley.

Mr. Lehman is married and has two children, Claire and Richard. He is a Republican in national politics.

OWEN THOMAS STACKPOOLE .- For more than a quarter of a century Owen Thomas Stackpoole has been a resident of Sacramento and during that period has continuously worked for the Southern Pa- cific Railroad Company, steadily working his way upward until he now occupies the position of chief train dispatcher for the Sacramento division of the Southern Pacific Railroad, with headquarters in Sac- ramento. His birth occurred in Reno, Nev., Septem- ber 24, 1882, a son of Patrick and Mary Ann (Mit- chell) Stackpoole. The family removed to California shortly after the birth of their son and settled in Plumas County, and there Patrick Stackpoole died in 1882. The mother and three sons then returned to Nevada and settled in Verdi, where Stack, as he is familiarly called by all of his friends, received his education in the public schools and there grew to young manhood. He entered the railroad office at Verdi and the agent taught him telegraphy. It was in1 1897 that he became identified with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and in 1904 he entered the Twelfth Street yard office in Sacramento, where he remained as telegraph operator until 1907, when he entered the present office as operator and clerk under the chief dispatcher. In 1908 Stack became a train dispatcher and four years later was made assistant to the chief dispatcher, where he worked for four years; then on July 1, 1916, he was made chief dis- patcher of the above division. For twenty-six years he has been steadily at his work in the various posi- tions without interruption, a record of which his friends, as well as himself, are proud.

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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 154

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