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 69

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

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JOHN MARTIN WIEGAND .- A successful rancher whose progressive methods and untiring in- dustry, together with his foresight and aggressive enterprise, entitle him to the prosperity rewarding his years of labor, is John Martin Wiegand, a native son, having been born at St. Louis, in Sierra County, on August 21, 1866. His father, John Wiegand, was a native of Berlin, Germany, and a stationary engi- neer; and in Pennsylvania he was married to Miss Maria Ritlinger, after which, in 1862, he came to Cali- fornia by way of the Isthmian route, and for a while tried his luck at mining. Then he followed his trade, being always in demand, and passed away at the ripe old age of seventy-eight, having rounded out a very useful life. Mrs. Wiegand, who was always a favor- ite in her circle of friends and acquaintances, breathed her last in her sixty-fourth year, the mother of six children. Elizabeth has become Mrs. Eugene Squier of Daly City; John M. is the subject of this review; Rosina married Marion Bringham, and is deceased; Katie is now Mrs. Lewellyn Snook of Englemine; George is a resident of Represa, Cal .; and Lilly, Mrs. A. Schofield, was the youngest of the family and is deceased.

John Wiegand attended the grammar school in the Sierra district, and at the age of twenty, started to make his own way in the world. He first mined in Sierra and Plumas Counties; but in 1903 he went to San Francisco and worked in the Union Iron Works, continuing there until 1906, and from that year until 1912 he followed the carpenter trade in the bay region. In 1912, he came to Thornton and purchased ten acres due west of Thornton, which he farmed to alfalfa and grain for six years, and then, selling out, he removed to a point three miles south- east of Galt, on Dry Creek, where for three years he leased a vineyard of forty acres. He then moved to Twin City colony and purchased ten acres of land two miles north of Galt; and this he has devoted to a dairy and alfalfa ranch. A house was already on the place, but Mr. Wiegand has made the other im- provements there, and has lived on the ranch ever since.

On August 20, 1900, and at Reno, Nev., John Mar- tin Wiegand was married to Mrs. Clara A. Black, the daughter of Joseph and Martha (Goldthorp) Hutchison, the former a native of Scotland and a pioneer who came to California in 1849, traveling across the plains from Illinois. Miss Goldthorp was a native of England. Mr. Hutchison settled at Wea- verville, in Trinity County, in early days, where he

had a cattle and sheep ranch; and at Weaverville, Mrs. Wiegand first saw the light. Her father also had stock in Tchama County, and later went into Sierra County, where he built the first hotel at Sierra City, and after that he had a butcher shop there. He re- tired and removed to San Francisco, where he died at the age of eighty-four, his good wife passing at the age of eighty-eight, at the home of Mrs. Wiegand. Miss Hutchison married George Black, a native of Ayr, Canada, who had come to California in early days and who was a Mason and an Odd Fellow; and they had two daughters, May, who has become Mrs. C. P. Willing, of Sacramento, and Nettie, who is Mrs. Antone Costa, at Goodyear Bar, in Sierra County. By her present marriage with Mr. Wiegand, she has one son, Roy Walter, who is an employe of Latourett & Company, in Sacramento. He married Gladys Stickle and they have a daughter, Louise Genevieve.

Mr. and Mrs. Wiegand not only have the joy of their children, but they have the companionship also of several grandchildren. Mrs. Costa has five chil- dren, George, Tony, Norman, Ralph and Anna Ber- nice. Mrs. Willing had two children. Lloyd Willing was a medical student, and served in the late World War in France, and he died eleven months after his return. His sister, Mrs. Emma Eckstein, lives in Sacramento, and has a son, Phillip.

Mr. and Mrs. Wiegand are Prohibitionists. He is a member of Golden Nugget Parlor No. 94, Native Sons of the Golden West, of Sierra City, and has passed through all the chairs, and Mrs. Wiegand is a member of the Golden Bar Parlor of the Native Daughters, also of Sierra City. She is a Rebekah, too, and is past noble grand of the Sierra City lodge, but at present is a member of Golden City Lodge of San Francisco.

ISAAC M. RIFFE .- A rancher who admirably illustrates the independence of the experienced, indus- trious farmer, is Isaac M. Riffe, living three miles north of Galt, a native of Ray County, Missouri, where he was born on Washington's Birthday, in the year 1852, the second in a family of ten children. His parents were John and Margaret (Dameron) Riffe, and his great-grandfather was a real frontiers- man of Missouri; and his father was born and reared in the same place in which our subject first saw light.

In 1852, when our subject was less than one year old, his parents crossed the great plains with cattle and teams, traveling by way of the Salt Lake route; and his father first settled in the redwoods of Santa Clara County, although in 1853 he went to San An- drcas, in Calaveras County, and for four years tried his luck in placer mining. He then went to Stockton, and worked at the trade of carpenter for four years. Then he moved to the mines in Calaveras County, and mined for eight yeras at Comanche Camp. In 1868 he went into San Luis Obispo County and spent two years on the Avala grant, leasing the ranch there, and then he went to Morro Bay, and farmed there for two years. He then removed to Santa Clara and settled at Alviso, on the Gunn Ranch, where he lived for two years, and after that he moved into Santa Cruz County, on Bean Creek, where he farmed for two years. Then he went to Wallowa Valley, Ore., staying there a year; and next he moved to Gilliam County, in the same state.

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and farmed for two years. Returning to California, he settled in Monterey County, south of Soledad, among the hills, where he raised stock. Still later, he went to San Jose for two years, and after that to Paso Robles, in San Luis Obispo County, where he had a fruit ranch for four years. At Santa Barbara, and at Goleta, he farmed for a couple of years; and he died there at the age of eighty-one, his devoted wife passing on to her eternal reward at the age of seventy-nine. Both were splendid types of the pio- neer settler, blazing the way for others to comfort- ably, safely and prosperously follow.

When sixteen years old, Isaac Riffe struck out for himself, riding the range trails for big cattle-men; and he roved throughout the South, when it was still in Spanish grant form, passing four interesting and altogether profitable years in that manner; and then he accompanied a band of cavalry horses from Monterey County, taking them to Yellowstone Park and Montana for delivery to the quartermaster of the United States army. On his return to California. he traveled by way of the southern route, through Arizona, materially adding to his knowledge of the world, and on reaching San Luis Obispo County again, he resumed riding the cattle range. He also drove a freight train from San Luis Obispo Landing over the mountains to Bakersfield and the San Joaquin Valley, continuing that line of work Ior four years.

Mr. Riffe then came to San Joaquin County for a while, and then for another four years he was employed by James Taylor, just south of Wood- bridge. He then went to Wallowa County, in Ore- gon, and worked there as a farm hand for two years. and after that he drove a stage line over the Haley- Salisbury Route, in Oregon, Washington and Idaho for six years. He was united in marriage at Wallowa, Ore .. on November 23, 1884, to Miss Mahala Mott, a native of Battle Creek, Mich., who was born in 1862, her parents being Richard Price and Eliza (Boody) Mott, natives of New York, who were taken to Michigan by their parents while still children. Mr. and Mrs. Mott had seven children, who accom- panied them to Seward Center, Nebr., and there Mrs. Riffe was educated. In 1877, her father went to Wallowa County, Ore., and there he spent the re- mainder of his days.

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Riffe moved to Yumatilla County, Ore., and leased farm-land until 1893, when he moved south to Templeton, Cal., and farmed there for a year. Then he was in San Luis Obispo County for fourteen years in the employ of the Southern Pacific Company. In August, 1907, he re- moved to Douglass County, Ore., and leased land until 1912, when he moved to Klamath County, and farmed there until 1914. He then came back to Cot- tonwood, Cal., and farmed for a year, and in 1915 he came to Sacramento County, and near Galt has farmed ever since. He leases 254 acres of J. W. An- grave, and has a stock farm. He is a Democrat, and believes in the efficacy of Democratic platforms to cure agrarian ills.

Five children have been granted Mr. and Mrs. Riffe. Charley is with his father. Mrs. Mattie May Davis is the second child. Helen Maud passed away at the age of five months. Ruth Ellen became Mrs. Frank Michael; she was the mother of a daughter, Viola May, and breathed her last in 1911. Grover Cleveland is at Hollywood. There are also several

grandchildren to gladden Mr. and Mrs. Riffe's family circle. Mrs. Davis has three children: Harold Almer, George Martin and Harry Richard; and Grover Cleveland Riffe has a son, Donald Arthur.

EDWARD T. HAUSCHILDT .- Sacramento County owes much of her present prosperity and wealth to the many brave native sons and daughters who have come to her assistance from other sections of the Golden State, and have contributed what they could, by their industry and thrift, toward the devel- opment of Sacramento's natural resources. Prominent among such far-seeing, optimistic workers, may well be mentioned Edward T. Hauschildt, the enterprising rancher, who owns 423 very choice acres about three miles to the northeast of Galt.

He was born in Alameda County, on November 7, 1865, the son of Henry and Minnie (Knip) Haus- childt, his father being a sturdy pioneer who reached California in a sailing vessel by way of Alaska, while his mother sailed around the Horn, also in the early, romantic days. They were married at San Francisco, and came to be blessed with six children: William, Edward T., Augusta, and Fred; and Rose and Min- nie, both deceased. Henry Hauschildt settled at San Leandro, and engaged in farming; and there his son Edward was born. Then for a while the father cul- tivated ranch-land at Livermore, later removing to the West Side, near Tracy; but after three very dry years, he went "broke." Taking his team and wagon and family, he then started north from there, and at Hicksville, now Arno, he stopped and talked with Mr. Hicks, telling him of his bad luck, and also dis- cussing his future intentions. Mr. Hicks told him that all the good land to the north had been taken, and advised him to stop right there; but Mr. Haus- childt answered that he had no food, nor any money to buy food, whereupon Mr. Hicks, pointing to some hogs rooting in the fields, asked, "What's the matter with one of those?"

This being a truly friendly invitation to stop, Mr. Hauschildt did so, and settled on the McConnell Ranch, which he rented for a while. He then pur- chased the original home place of 419 acres, paying nine dollars an acre, and after he had built a home there, he moved his family onto the place. This home was located three miles to the northeast of Galt, now on the Galt-Herald highway. The sons stayed with their father and purchased additional land, until Messrs. Hauschildt & Sons owned over 1,000 acres. Today Edward T. Hauschildt has 423 acres, the last ranch purchased by the Hauschildts. Henry Hauschildt, a worthy pioneer whose name ought always to be honored, died at the age of sixty- five; and his devoted, equally worthy and brave wife a'so closed her eyes to her earthly labors in her sixty-fifth year.

Edward Hauschildt was educated in the public schools, attending the Grant grammar school. At Sacramento, on September 25, 1901, he was married to Miss Ella Agnes Carr, who was born at Clay Station, in Sacramento County, the daughter of Sey- mour and Mary (O'Neil) Carr. Her father was a pioneer Californian who did his part in developing the Golden State; and his life-story is very appro- priately given elsewhere in this historical work. Twenty-one years ago Mr. Hauschildt built his home and planted beautiful trees around it, and since then he and his faithful wife have reared a family of four

Edward J. Hauschildt. Ella A. Hauschildt

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

sons. Clarence E. and F. Erwin, the two eldest sons, graduated with the class of 1923 from the Galt high school, taking the agricultural course. A fur- ther honor came to F. Erwin when he won the "Indi- vidual" silver cup, given by the Sacramento Chamb: " of Commerce, in a stock-judging contest in which four schools of the county entered into competition; and he was also a member of the Galt high school team that won a silver cup. William Lloyd is in the high school, and Francis H. is a pupil in the grammar school. Mr. Hauschildt is a Republican. He is a member of the Grangers of Galt, as are also Mrs. Hauschildt and the two oldest sons; and all are members of the Pomona Grange of Sacramento, in which Clarence is an officer. Mr. Hauschildt also belongs to the Knights of Pythias at Galt. He has been a director of the Arno school district for eight years, and was clerk of the board there. He also owns a residence in the town of Galt. An enthusias- tically loyal native son, he is a vigorous "booster" for the locality in which he lives.

CURTIS A. BOLTON .- A native son who has made a great success in two different and important fields of industry, is Curtis A. Bolton, the merchant and rancher at Clay Station, where he was born on January 16, 1873. His father, Curtis Bolton, was a native of New York state and came out to California in 1851. He married Miss Elizabeth Lonins, an Englishwoman, who came to the United States when she was a little girl. The worthy couple had three children, one younger, and one older than our sub- ject. Myrtle is Mrs. A. Hauschildt, of Sacramento; Genevieve has become Mrs. William D. McEnerney, of Galt. When Curtis Bolton, the father, came to Sacramento County, he worked on the Meiss Ranch, northeast of Clay. He then acquired 480 acres near Clay Station in two parcels of land, and he farmed this until his death.

Curtis A. Bolton went to the Clay school and then took up ranching with his father; and when the latter died, he continued to operate the ranch. He now manages both of the places his father acquired, raises sheep and has a dairy. In 1907, Mr. Bolton purchased the general merchandise business of E. J. Steele at Clay Station, and he has since conducted this as a modern establishment which has proven of great con- venience to the community. He has also been post- master of Clay since the date of the store purchase, and for four years he served as justice of the peace of the Clay district. At present, he is a trustee of the Galt union high school.

On August 13, 1900, Mr. Bolton married, at San Francisco. Miss Ray McCoy, who was born in Texas, the daughter of worthy folks who died when she was a little girl. When still a mere child, she came to California accompanying her sisters and brother, and she was reared by her aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. John Wilson, of Clay. The former, a farmer, is now deceased, while the latter, remarried, is still living at Clay as Mrs. Sherfey. Mrs. Bolton was one of four children: George was the eldest; Clara is at Seattle, Wash .; and Lon is a sergeant in the United States Army. Mrs. Bolton also went to the Clay district school. Mr. and Mrs. Bolton have three children: Fred, Lois and Helen. Mr. Bolton, who votes with the Republicans in matters of national import, is a member of Galt Parlor, Native Sons of the Golden West; and he is also a Mason.

CHARLES KIRKPATRICK DAVIS .- This pio- neer farmer of Andrus Island, Sacramento County, makes his home on the ranch where he was born January 4, 1861, a son of Hugh and Rosanna (Smith) Davis. Hugh Davis was born in Canada in 1833, but removed to Illinois with his parents and remained there until 1852, when he came via Panama to Cali- fornia. As was usual with newcomers to California in those days, he tried his luck in the mines, but had no success. He then went to San Francisco, but his funds dwindled until he only had fifteen dollars left when he bought a ticket to Sacramento. On the boat he met a man by the name of William Wilcox, a large landowner about one and one-half miles above the present site of Isleton, who became interested in the young man; and as a result of this interest, Hugh Davis went to work for Mr. Wilcox, cutting cord wood, for which he received one dollar and a quarter a cord. Mr. Davis saved his money and finally bought 107 acres of swamp land, the same ranch where our subject resides at the present time; he became a prominent figure in the reclamation work of Andrus Island in the building of the first levees. Mr. Davis, in common with other ranchers, sought an outlet for the produce of this ranch, and as there were no regular steamer lines, they were forced to rely on their own efforts. He owned his own sloop, loaded it with his own and neighbors' produce, and transported this to Sacramento, Stockton, Benicia, Vallejo, and Antioch. He married Rosanna Fellows Smith, a sister of the late Hart F. Smith of Isleton. He was interested in the cause of education, and in a skiff he went from place to place among the Sac- ramento River islands, obtaining subscriptions of money from the trappers, hunters and wood-choppers to purchase the lumber with which he and his neigh- bors built the first schoolhouse, south of Walnut Grove, in the Georgiana district. He passed away in 1871, aged thirty-seven years; his widow continued to reside here until her death in 1909. Six chil- dren were born to this pioneer couple: Angie, deceased: Charles K., our subject; Nettie; Herman; Robert, deccased; and Hugh. Charles K. Davis was only ten years old when his father died. His edu- cation was obtained at the Georgiana school, being supplemented by private study and reading.

On June 15, 1902, Mr. Davis was married to Miss Hilda Dorothea Johnson, born ncar Isleton, Cal., a daughter of John Johnson, a native of Denmark, who was an early day farmer here. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are the parents of six children: Angie is now Mrs. J. V. Agers, of Stockton; Mary Christine; Charles K., Jr .; Marion; Hilda Dorothea; and Hazel Winifred. Mr. Davis has set out orchards at three different times, and each time they have been torn out by floods; seventy acres of the home ranch is in orchard. Mr. Davis is a Republican in politics. Fraternally, he was made a Mason in Rio Vista, being a member of Lodge No. 208, F. & A. M. He is also a member of the Isleton Lodge No. 108, I. O. O. F. For thirty years Mr. Davis has served as clerk of the board of trustees of the Georgiana school district and for sixteen years was deputy sheriff of the county and for seven years served as deputy assessor. J. V. Agers, son-in-law of Mr. Davis. served on the border in the Villa campaigns, then he entered the U. S. Navy in 1917 and trained at the Great Lakes Training Station, Chicago; he was dis- charged in 1919.

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

ABRAHAM CLARK FREEMAN .- In the long line of distinguished California jurists, some of them native sons of the great Golden State, and many more the worthy representatives of older commonwealths than those on the Pacific, it is doubtful if any bid fair to attain a more certain immortality than the highly esteemed and beloved Abraham Clark Freeman, whose most fruitful and useful life was eventually rounded out at the apex of indisputable success. He was a gentleman, a scholar and a patriot, who sought by the improvement of each golden moment to add something of value to life, and earnestly strove to hasten the day when the state of his early adoption should rise to its rightful place in the galaxy of the nation's commonwealths.

He was born at Warsaw, Hancock County, or not far from that town, on May 15, 1843. He went to the local public school, and early manifested a love for study. Despite the limitations imposed by the time, and the geographical location of his home, he fitted himself for teaching, and when only seventeen or eighteen years of age took charge of a school in the district next adjoining the one in which he him- self had been reared. He was an only child of Obediah S. and Nancy (Clark) Freeman. His grand- father, Abraham Clark, served in the Revolutionary War; and his great-grandfather Clark, also named Abraham, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

When his father decided to migrate to the Pacific Coast, Abraham Clark Freeman agreed to accompany him. In April, 1861, therefore, he set out with his parents to cross the great Plains; and after a trip of five months, they arrived in California, and settled at Elk Grove. A month later, Abraham began an engagement for the winter of 1861-1862, to teach a district school in San Joaquin County. About that time he had the novel experience of a trip to Sacra- mento during the flood. Although he did not particu- larly relish the work of the pedagogue, he stuck to his task, then of particular appeal because of the formative state of society here, until July, 1862. Returning to his father's farm, he remained there until September 6, 1863; and it having been decided that he should abandon teaching and take up the study of law, he then went into the capital city, found a lodging place, and began work in the office of the Hon. M. M. Estec, then district attorney of Sacra- mento. In July, 1864, only nine months after he had entered Mr. Estee's office, he was admitted to the bar, on examination by the Supreme Court ot Calı- fornia; and that coveted honor was conferred upon him six weeks after he had attained his majority. He remained in the district attorney's office for the remaining two years of Mr. Estce's term, and also during the four years' incumbency of his successor, James C. Goods. With the expiration of Mr. Goods' tenure of the office, Mr. Freeman's official duties were also terminated, in March, 1870. Before this connection with the district attorney's office was severed, Mr. Freeman had formed a partnership with the Hon. Thomas J. Clunic, and later, in 1872, he was associated with the Hon. J. K. Alexander, afterwards a judge of the Superior Court of California; and also, in 1879, with G. E. Bates, with whom he removed to San Francisco, in 1886.

Although a man of frail constitution, Mr. Freeman managed to maintain good health, and to cultivate a

sound mind in a sound body. He was no mere the- orist, but was eminently practical, and possessed of undisputed ability and skill in the trial of cases, as well as in their presentation and argument; and he was very naturally laid hold of for other service than that to which, with a becoming modesty, he had aspired. He was a member of the constitutional con- vention of 1878-1879, and in the latter year was appointed by the governor a commissioner to suggest amendments to the codes, and to adapt them to the new constitution. Later he was appointed by Gov- ernor Gage a member of the code commission, his associates being Judge D. Enis of Los Angeles and Judge Van Vleet of Sacramento.

While still an obscure, struggling lawyer, in 1873, he attained more than a local reputation as a legal author by one of his greatest works, "A Treatise on the Law of Judgments," now popularly known as "Freeman on Judgments," which enjoyed an imme- diate fame and is doubly interesting today because it was the first treatise of national scope written or pub- lished in California. Its recognition and success, in fact, were unprecedented; for surprise at the fact that a law treatise should be written and published in the extreme West grew to astonishment as the high char- acter of the work came to be understood. As in all of his writings, remarkable for a vigorous condensa- tion, Mr. Freeman's style was crisp and incisive. He was able to state the most complex doctrine in a few words and yet clearly; and the "American Law Review" said of the "Treatise on Judgments": "It seems impossible for a young lawyer to have com- posed so good a book, in so good a manner; yet it seems also impossible that, if old in law, so able a lawyer should not long since have become familiar to the profession everywhere, and we confess to a painful doubt lest he turn out to be some eminent barrister, whom not to know is only to confess our own ignorance." It is no wonder, therefore, that the discovery of a new work displaying such learning and grasp of mind, produced by a man virtually unknown outside of his home town, and - little known there, should come as a surprise to veterans of the Bar. This was a mystery which excited curiosity even in the Supreme Court of the United States; and for years Mr. Freeman had in his office a framed clipping wherein one of the Supreme Justices was quoted as expressing his positive conviction that Abraham Clark was a nom de plume assumed for some unknown reason by a lawyer of great reputation, but who, for some reason or other, was not yet ready to be known as the author of the work on "Judgments." This monumental work, "Freeman on Judgments," has gone through four or five editions, and holds the field without a rival as the authority on the subject of which it treats.

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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 69

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