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 64

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 64

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Both of Mr. Bradford's parents have passed on. James Bascom Bradford, the father, was a direct descendant of Gov. William Bradford of Plymouth Colony. An extended history of his life, with por- traits of him and his excellent wife and helpmate, appears elsewhere in this history. Their good names will ever occupy prominent places in the annals of Sacramento County.

The marriage of George Bruce Bradford, which occurred May 7, 1905, at Fresno, united him with Birdie Ruby Lenz, born in San Jose, a daughter of Bernhardt and Rebecca Lenz, both natives of Ger- many. Her father came to California in early days, and for years conducted a barber shop in San Jose; he is now living retired in that city, with his wife. Mrs. Bradford is the youngest in a family of three children. She was educated in the San Jose grammar and high schools, finishing with a course at the state normal school in her home city; and she taught school

before her marriage. Two children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Bradford: George Bruce, Jr. and Betty Virginia. Like his father before him, Mr. Bradford is a member of Elk Grove Lodge No. 173, of the Masons, and is past master of the order. Both he and his wife are members of Eastern Star Lodge No. 109, of Elk Grove; and Mrs. Bradford is past worthy matron in that order. They are representative Californians, descendants of pioneers, whose work they are worthily carrying on. In 1914 the post-office was moved from Bruceville to the Bradford Ranch, and Mr. Bradford was postmaster from that time until the rural-carrier route was established. Aggres- sively progressive, and a willing, intelligent and tire- less worker. gifted with good judgment and excep- tional executive ability, George Bruce Bradford worth- ily maintains the traditions of the Bradford family, and in this he is loyally supported by his excellent wife and able children. Comfortably domiciled on the old Bradford home place, he reflects great credit upon his family and ancestral locality.

MRS. BIRDIE RUBY BRADFORD .- A native daughter of California, prominently associated with the social and civic life of her community. is Mrs. Birdie Ruby Bradford, wife of George Bruce Brad- ford, vice-president and treasurer of The J. B. Brad- ford Properties, Incorporated, and an extensive agri- culturist, viticulturist and stockman near Bruceville, in the Elk Grove section of Sacramento County. Mrs. Bradford was born at San Jose, Santa Clara County, on January 1, 1884, a daughter of Bernhardt and Rebecca Lenz, both natives of Germany. Her parents came from New York in 1877, as young man and young woman, and met while crossing the Isth- mus of Panama. Their acquaintance ripened into friendship and affection, and two years later, at San Jose, Cal., they were united in the bonds of matri- mony.

Birdie Ruby Lenz received her elementary educa- tion in the public schools of San Jose, graduating from the San Jose High School in June, 1901. She then entered the San Jose Teachers' College, from which she was also duly graduated after the comple- tion of her courses, in June, 1903; and for one year prior to her marriage, she was employed as a school teacher.

On May 7, 1905, at Fresno, Cal., Miss Lenz was united in marriage with George Bruce Bradford, son of the late James Bascom Bradford, pioneer miner, merchant, and viticulturist, whose life-history is out- lined on another page in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Bradford are the parents of two children: George Bruce, Jr., aged seventeen years; and Betty Virginia, aged thirteen years. Mrs. Bradford favors the prin- ciples and policies of the Democratic party, and is very conscientious in her exercise of the political franchise. Interested in educational matters, she takes an active part in the work of the Parent-Teacher Association of Galt. She is an active member of Elk Grove Chapter, O. E. S., has served in all the offices of the order, and has held the chair of matron two different terms; and she is also a member of the Fri- day Club of Elk Grove and the Tuesday Club of Sacramento. In her religious life she is associated with the Third Church of Christ, Scientist, of Sac- ramento.

Geo B Bradford

3. 7. 1radford

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

CLINTON L. WHITE .- Among the oldest and most distinguished members of the California Bar, widely and favorably known throughout and beyond the confines of Sacramento County, is Clinton L. White, who has gained an enviable place as a coun- selor and attorney, having acquired, during his long years of practice, a clientele highly appreciative of his knowledge of the law, his keen interpretation of legal questions, and his straightforwardness in giving the most conscientious and dependable advice. He was born on September 6, 1850, on a farm about two miles east of the village of Springville, Linn County, Iowa, where he spent his boyhood working on the farm in summer, and attending the district school in winter. In the autumn of 1868, satisfying an ambi- tion to get a higher education, he matriculated at Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa; and in the spring of 1874 he was duly graduated from that in- stitution, after which, in August of the same year, he came out to California, and in the fall took the required normal examination and was granted a teacher's certificate. He began teaching in the Hun- gry Hollow district, in the foot-hills in Placer County, and put in eight months in the schoolroom, while he read Blackstone outside of school hours. He then entered the law office of George Cadwalader in Sac- ramento, as both a clerk and a student, and there spent two years in assiduous application to the study of law. Licensed to practice by the supreme court of California in 1877, he at once began in Sacramento to follow the profession of his choice. He met with success from the very beginning, and so did not experience the long period of hardship and semi- starvation which the majority of young lawyers have to undergo before being recognized as professionally capable. Early in life. he learned that industry will beat genius; and for many years past he has been among the busiest of men, either in the more ex- tended study of general legal principles or in their special application to matters of business entrusted hy confiding clients to his management. In 1879, he prepared the manuscript for a book on Criminal Law which was published by the Bancroft-Whitney Company, and which was well received by the pro- fession-a natural success for one who, in 1880 and again in 1881, was secretary of the Judiciary Com- mittee of the California State Senate.

For the two years 1881-1882, Mr. White filled the office of deputy attorney-general of California, and in that capacity was in almost constant attendance upon the supreme court, arguing the state's side of the criminal cases in which appeals had been taken. He served for ten years in the California National Guard, beginning with the rank of lieutenant, and reaching that of major and judge-advocate. In 1892 he was a member of the Board of Freeholders, which prepared the charter for the governing of the city of Sacramento; and in 1908 and 1909, he served a term of two years as mayor of Sacramento. In 1912 he was a delegate to the Republican National Conven- tion in Chicago, and in 1916 he was a delegate to the Progressive National Convention. In 1919, the de- gree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by his Alma Mater, Cornell College.

Soon after leaving the office of George Cadwala- der, Mr. White became associated with Wilbur F. George under the firm name of White & George. About two years later the firm was dissolved, and

Mr. White became a partner with A. L. Hart, at that time attorney-general of California, under the firm name of Hart & White. After the dissolution of this firm, Mr. White practiced law by himself for some years, until the foundation of the well-known firm of White, Hughes & Seymour; and upon the election of Joseph W. Hughes to the superior court of Sacramento County, the firm became White & Seymour, and continued as such for several years. It was then dissolved, and Arthur M. Seymour was elected district attorney of Sacramento County. In May, 1901, Mr. White and Arthur E. Miller of Sac- ramento entered into a partnership and conducted business under the firm name of White & Miller until the election of Mr. White as mayor of Sacra- mento. Then they took in as co-partner Judge C. E. Mclaughlin, under the firm name of White, Miller & Mclaughlin. Upon the dissolution of this firm, Messrs. White and Miller took in Irving Needham and Clinton E. Harber as partners, and their prac- tice was continued under the style of White, Miller, Needham & Harber. On January 1, 1914, the firm was further augmented by the addition of Herbert E. White. Since then the personnel of the firm has remained the same, the five members of the firm working together in perfect harmony. They have been exceptionally successful and prosperous, repre- senting, among others of their important clientele, the National Bank of D. O. Mills & Company. the People's Bank, the Equitable Life Insurance Com- pany, and the New York Life Insurance Company, in their local interests. Mr. White is one of the larg- est stockholders in the People's Bank, in which he is serving as a member of the board of directors.

On January 1, 1885, Clinton L. White married Miss Margaret Olive Mckinney, of Stirling, 111. Two children were born of the fortunate union: Edith M. White, a graduate of Cornell, Class of 1909; and Herbert E. White, who was graduated from Stanford University in 1911, and is now a member of the law-firm of White, Miller, Needham & Harber, of Sacramento, actively and successfully engaged in the practice of his profession. Mr. White was be- reaved of his gifted, devoted and loving wife on De- cember 20, 1914, since which time his life has been deprived of its chief source of inspiration. Despite this heavy personal affliction and loss, however, his life has been unceasingly active in constructive ef- fort, and the work he has accomplished has been of distinct value to the community and the state in which he has lived and toiled. Mr. White's entire professional life has been spent in Sacramento Coun- ty, in whose development and growth he takes pride and pleasure. He is indeed loyal to the city of his adoption, and his fellow-citizens in turn esteem him most highly for his generous and kindly nature, his integrity and honesty of purpose, and his many sterling attributes of mind and heart.

HERBERT E. WHITE .- A widely-known attor- ney who is esteemed for both his knowledge of the law, and particularly his familiarity with legal pro- cedure in the settlement of estates, and his unques- tioned and unquestionable integrity in a busy prac- tice, is Herbert E. White, a native of Sacramento, in intimate touch with Sacramento traditions and conditions. He was born on January 18. 1888, the son of Clinton 1 .. and Olive (Mckinney) White, the

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latter a noble woman who passed to her eternal reward in 1914. Mr. Clinton L. White, whose life- story is narrated with some detail elsewhere in this historical work, is still living in Sacramento.

Herbert E. White was not satisfied when he had finished the grammar-school courses available in the schools of his neighborhood, but he pushed on through the Sacramento high school, and in 1911 was graduated from Stanford University, when he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Two years later, he was among the graduates of the law department of the same university, and then he was given the J. D. degree. He was a good student, and honest, hard work at study brought quite as many rewards as his equally conscientious and industrious application in legal practice later. In 1914, when only twenty- six years of age, Mr. White served a short period as superior judge, having been elected to succeed the late Judge Hughes. He is an honored member of the Sacramento County Bar Association, in which he is always to be found on the side of a sane en- forcement of adopted law. His membership in the Native Sons of the Golden West attests to his patri- otic sentiments toward this state.

In 1914, Mr. White and Miss Oritta Elliot of Sac- ramento were married at Sacramento, the lady being the daughter of Henry Elliot, descendant of an old- time family, himself the junior member in the well- known firm of contractors, Messrs. Sprange and El- liot, and of a member, on the mother's side, of an- other pioneer family bearing the good old name of Osborne, early settlers in Ohio. Olive Elizabeth is the one child of this fortunate union. Mr. White is a member of the B. P. O. Elks, and of the Hermitage Club. He is fond of both walking and gardening, and in the cultivation of his comfortable home-place, gets a good deal of out-of-door exercise.

PERLEY K. BRADFORD .- A successful ranch- er, who has been useful to his day and generation not only through his scientific and eminently prac- tical agricultural pursuits, but also through his serv- ices in the proper discharge of the duties of public office, is Perley K. Bradford, who has been a super- visor of Sacramento County, and who resides at the old Bradford homestead off the Sacramento-Thorn- ton road, about twenty miles south of Sacramento. He was born on the Bradford home-place, near Bruceville in Sacramento County, on July 8, 1872, the son of James Bascom and Sarah G. (Kilbourne) Bradford, worthy pioneer citizens, an extended sketch of whom will be found on another page in this his- torical work.

In 1850 James B. Bradford crossed the plains to California, having been preceded by his twin broth- er, William Barton Bradford, who arrived in Cali- fornia in 1849. During the fifties he had an exten- sive experience in gold-mining, farming and mer- chandising. He became interested in mines in Placer, Eldorado and other counties. In the fall of 1850 he went to Salem, Ore., and engaged in farming near Salem. Returning to California in 1851, he resumed mining in Shasta County, and in the fall of that year he located in Sacramento County. In 1852 he went to Diamond Spring in Eldorado County, and then engaged in business in partnership with his brother William B. Bradford. Under the firm name of J. B. and W. B. Bradford, the two brothers engaged ex- tensively in general mercantile pursuits in different

places in California and Nevada, having branches in various mining camps. They had learned the store- keeping business very thoroughly in their father's store at Washington, Ind., where they grew up and where the father, George Bradford, was a successful merchant and leading citizen. With the money they made in their mercantile business, they bought gold- mines, and although they met with success at mining as well as in store-keeping, they experienced the usual gold-miner's luck; at times they were worth nearly a million, particularly as the owners of the celebrated "Last Chance" gold-mine in Placer Coun- ty, which through no fault of their management they finally lost. The partnership was dissolved in 1859. Seeing the great risks and uncertainties involved in gold-mining, James B. Bradford resolved never again to engage in it.

In 1860 James B. Bradford took up a claim of 160 acres from the government, and during the same year he built a board cabin, which for several years was his only dwelling-house. It is still standing upon the place, a most interesting relic of the past. This 160 acres Mr. J. B. Bradford cultivated until he passed away there, in 1907, at the age of eighty- one. It still continues to be the Bradford home- place. Some years after her husband's death, Mrs. Bradford died, at the age of seventy-two. She was highly esteemed, and truly mourned, as was her hus- band. There were only two children in the family, Perley K. and his brother, George B., both of whom were reared on the Bradford ranch and attended the Mokelumne school, which was in their home district. For a number of years the elder Bradford engaged in general farming, and then became inter- ested in viticulture, in a small way at first, in the year 1866, setting out fifteen acres to wine-grapes, which was the first vineyard in his vicinity. He kept increasing his vineyard until he had 115 acres plant- ed, and became widely known as the pioneer vine- yardist, as well as one of the largest grape-growers in the county. In 1889 he began the manufacture of wine in a small way, building a winery, and enlarg- ing his plant from year to year until it had a capacity of 3,000 tons of grapes and a production of 400,000 gallons of wine annually.

In 1897 he took in his two sons-namely, Perley K. Bradford, the subject of this review, and the younger brother, George B. Bradford-as partners in the business, and the firm name became J. B. Bradford & Sons. The two sons entered heartily into the business, and soon after their father's death they put in a spur of switch-track at an outlay of $16,000, which was borne half and half by the West- ern Pacific and themselves; and they also made many other important improvements. The two brothers have continued farming on the old home- place, and together they have prospered. They con- tinued to make wine up to 1920, upon a special per- mit, and only the purest wines were sent out from there. Now 140 of the 160 acres is devoted to all kinds of wine-grape growing, the ranch being irri- gated by two plants until recently operated by steam, but of late by electricity. The pumps are respectively six and four inches in size.

The Bradford brothers have also acquired, since their father's death, several extensive parcels of land. They own 840 acres on the lower Cosumnes River, known as the Brewster ranch, four miles west of Galt, 200 acres of which is fine bean-land, while the

Perleyk Bradford

Mary

ry Belle Bradford.

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

balance is devoted to farming and pasture; 620 acres, known as the French place, on the Cosumnes River; 840 acres at Michigan Bar; and 4,620 acres on the Bear River, between Auburn and Grass Valley. This last was really some eight ranches joined together into one by a large syndicate that had intended, when the purchase was made in 1916, to throw it on the market in subdivisions; but the World War upset the syndicate's plans, and the Bradfords were able to purchase the land at an attractive figure. It is fine fruit-land, and there is a great deal of river-oak on the place, at least 50,000 cords being a rough esti- mate; and the owners intend to cut and sell the wood, which ought alone to more than pay for the pur- chase of the land. They also have three and one- half sections of land in the mountains of Eldorado County. Instead of using this land themselves, the Bradfords lease it to the government, and in return get the lease of the entire "Long Canyon" on the north fork of the American River, where they can run 800 head of cattle during the summer months. Mr. Bradford and his brother have incorporated their properties under the name of the J. B. Brad- ford Properties, Incorporated, valued at $750,000, bonding them at $200,000. Perley Bradford is presi- dent of the corporation, while George B. is vice- president and treasurer. Outside of the corporation, Mr. Bradford and his brother own forty acres of land at Clay Station, said to be prospective oil land. Be- sides owning and operating or leasing out the above- named properties, the Bradfords lease about 2,000 acres of land northeast of Galt on the Cosumnes River, 1,600 acres near Slough House, twenty miles east of Sacramento. Cattle-raising is now their prin- cipal business. Both the home of Perley K. Bradford and the home of George B. Bradford were built on the home-farm before their father's death, and are most comfortable, ornate country residences. Perley K. Bradford is a stanch Democrat, and at present is the vice-chairman of the Democratic Central Com- mittee.

A man of large and important interests, Perley K. Bradford entered upon a public career, in the fol- lowing of which he has been of great service to this favored section of the Golden State. In 1912, he was elected supervisor of the fifth supervisorial district of Sacramento County, and served from 1912 to 1916. While supervisor, he was instrumental in getting the concrete road from Thornton to Franklin through his district, and this improvement has been of the greatest benefit to thousands of people.

At the home of his bride, on April 30, 1901, Mr. Bradford was married to Miss Mary Belle Wood, the daughter of H. T. and Mary Ann Wood, whose in- teresting life-story is given elsewhere in this histori- cal work. Three children have blessed their union: Muriel Alice, James Hiram, and John Thomas. Mr. Bradford is a past master of Lodge No. 173, F. & A. M., of Elk Grove, having been raised to the degree of Master Mason on December 17, 1897; and Mr. and Mrs. Bradford are members of the Eastern Star of Elk Grove, in which Mrs. Bradford is a past matron. Mr. Bradford also belongs to Lodge No. 6, B. P. O. Elks, of Sacramento, and to the Eagles of the same city. Mrs. Bradford has been twice dis- trict deputy grand matron of the Eastern Star. Dur- ing her first term, ten years ago, the district extended from Stockton to Modesto; while under her present tenure of office the district runs from Sacramento to

Placerville, in Eldorado County, a wonderful growth and expansion indeed. Mr. Bradford is a mem- ber of the Native Sons of the Golden West, at Elk Grove, and is president of the Native Sons Building Association, which has been incorporated for $50,000, and organized to build the new home of the Native Sons in Elk Grove. Mr. Bradford was a prime mover in this project, and was actively instrumental in se- curing funds to start the building. Mrs. Bradford is a member of the Native Daughters, Elk Grove Parlor. At the present time she is holding the exalted position of grand trustee of the grand parlor of the Native Daughters of the Golden West, and is dis- charging the duties pertaining to her trust in a man- ner reflecting credit on California's native daughters, of whom she is a true type. Sacramento may well be proud of Mr. Bradford and his gifted wife, as well as of his brother and the splendid record of the Bradford family as a whole, which has always stood for the laying of a broad, deep foundation for the permanent development of the great California com- monwealth.

MRS. MARY BELLE BRADFORD .- Mary Belle Bradford is the wife of Perley K. Bradford, of Bruce- ville, Sacramento County, and a daughter of Hiram T. and Mary Ann (Miller) Wood, pioneers of Sac- ramento County, biographical mention of whom ap- pears elsewhere in this work. Her father was born in Missouri, and when a child of only two years, in 1852, crossed the plains with his parents, who at first settled in Oregon, before coming on to California. Her mother, Mary Ann Miller, was born on April 12, 1863, at Fairfield, Solano County, Cal., and was married to Mr. Wood at Knight's Landing on No- vember 10, 1881.

In 1890, Mr. and Mrs. Hiram T. Wood came to Sacramento County, and since 1901 they have resided upon their ranch in the Colony school district, where they now own one of the finest forty-acre vineyards in the valley. They are numbered among the highly honored residents of Sacramento County, and are the parents of five children: Mary Belle, of this review; Myrtle Elizabeth, the wife of Clarence Martin, a machinist on the Bradford Ranch; Kathryn Rebecca, wife of Walter Martin, prominent rancher near Bruceville; William Thomas, a well-to-do rancher at Susanville; and his twin sister, Rilla May, the wife of R. P. Clark, expert accountant for the Westwood Lumber Company, residing at Westwood, Cal.

Mrs. Mary Belle Bradford belongs to the second generation of California's native daughters. Her maternal grandmother, Elizabeth (Barker) Miller, was born in Missouri, and was a pioneer of 1852, having crossed the plains in that year. She lived to see the ripe old age of ninety years, passing away in 1922. The maternal grandfather, Thomas Miller, was born in Pennsylvania, and also crossed the plains in 1852, and became a rancher at Fairfield. Mrs. Bradford was born near Dixon, Solano County, but grew up in Sacramento County and attended the grammar and high schools at Elk Grove. She was married at the age of cighteen.

Always a prime favorite socially, Mrs. Bradford has been a member of the Native Daughters of the Golden West, for the past eighteen years, first join- ing the La Bandera Parlor of that order in the City of Sacramento, from which she demitted in order to become a charter member of Liberty Parlor at Elk Grove, in which she served as its first president. At

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the June session, 1923, of the Grand Parlor held at Stockton, she was elected to the exalted position of Grand Trustce, an office which she is in every way qualified to hold, and which she is now filling with credit and to the satisfaction of all. With her hus- band she takes an active interest in Masonry. She belongs to the Elk Grove Chapter of the Eastern Star, in which she enjoys the distinction of having been twice past matron. She is likewise deeply inter- ested in all matters pertaining to good government and is well informed in regard to the leading politi- cal affairs of her home precinct, and in matters affect- ing the interests of the county, state and nation. Notwithstanding all her social and political function- ing, however, her home continues to be the center of her dearest affections. As the mother of three interesting children-Muriel Alice, James Hiram, and John Thomas-and as the wife of Perley K. Brad- ford, she finds her greatest delight in presiding over the Bradford household, and is well and ably keeping up its traditional hospitality.

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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 64

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