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 70

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 70

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Encouraged by the prompt and complete recogni- tion by the legal journalists, Mr. Freeman began at once to cast about for another unoccupied field; and a year later he had finished for the press his treatise on "Cotenancy and Partition," perhaps the most intricate and perplexing theme in law. By many this work is regarded as his masterpiece. Challenging at the outset the definitions of Littleton, Blackstone, Kent, Preston and others, and showing wherein they were incomplete or incorrect, by careful comparison, revision, elimination and modification he formulated his own definitions, which are remarkably clear, sim-

Yours Truly, A.G. Freeman

Josephine R Freeman

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

ple and complete. In 1876, his next work, "On the Law of Executions in Civil Cases," was published, a kind of Centennial contribution by California scholar- ship to the celebration of the first 100 years of the American nation; and this was followed later by a work on "Void Executions, Judicial and Probate Sales."

in 1879, at the death of Mr. Proffett, who had edited the first twelve volumes of "American Deci- sions," and had ably performed his part up to that time, Mr. Freeman was engaged to take his place; and in one sense, his great life-work began as Mr. Proffett's successor, for he had the best chance to present the result of his studies and observations to the public, instead of keeping them solely for his own individual use, and he came more and more into prom- inence in the reporting and annotation of some eighty- eight or eighty-nine volumes of "American Deci- sions" and in some 135 volumes of American State Reports. This editorial engagement with the Ban- croft-Whitney Company led to Mr. Freeman's removal to San Francisco, in which city he grew into social as well as professional eminence. Each of the vol- umes referred to contains a large number of carefully written notes, some of them reaching the dignity of a monograph or a treatise upon the subject discussed. He came to be generally recognized as one of the greatest analyists of his time, if not one of the most proficient in the entire history of English law; and his works are today recognized, as they have been for years past, and are cited and respected as author- ity by the highest courts in the land.

Mr. Freeman was a Republican, and on account of his legal lore and his high standards of patriotism he served his party as did few in his time, until 1873; but in this year, so memorable for his first publica- tion of national import, he assisted in the formation of the Independent Taxpayers' Party, and he was honored as one of its nominees for the State Assem- bly in 1875. He had in his charge, as legal adviser or attorney, the affairs of many corporations and solid men of both the metropolis and the capital city of the state; and he amassed a well-earned fortune, so that from a business standpoint, too, his career was a marked success.

At the bride's home, at Elk Grove, in 1867, Mr. Frecman was married to Miss Josephine B. Foulks, a native of Ohio, and the daughter of Alfred Foulks. of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Freeman is a gifted, accom- plished and charming lady, whose life-story is very properly given in greater detail elsewhere in this work. The youngest of five children in a notable fam- ily, she was graduated from the Pacific College at San Jose, and became greatly interested in Mr. Frce- man's work, and assisted him in every way she could, especially in the matter of encouragement and delight in seeing him gain his ambition. She has one child, Mfabel, the wife of Benjamin Romaine, an attorney of San Francisco. Mr. Freeman was decidedly a domestic man, although he found pleasure in the circles of the Odd Fellows, to which he belonged. He traveled much over the United States and Europe, and spent the winter of 1900-1901 visiting Germany. Holland, Belgium, France, Italy and Egypt. He had become deeply devoted to Sacramento, city and county, and also to San Francisco and to northern California in general; and posterity owes him a kindly thought for what he did to make easier the 25

paths of those coming after him. He breathed his last at his home in San Francisco, on April 11, 1911.

Mr. Freeman loved Sacramento County and its people, and he was fond of spending his leisure time on the old Freeman Rancho, some 275 acres on the Cosumnes River, which he regarded as a plaything, finding real sport in its trim fields of alfalfa and its fine dairy herd of well-selected cows. Many of the improvements here were due to his progressive, enter- prising and enthusiastic spirit, and to his desire to make such a property highly and creditably produc- tive, and attractive from a scientific as well as from a practical standpoint.

MRS. JOSEPHINE B. FREEMAN .- Always interesting as a worthy representative, on the one hand, of one of the most estecmed pioneer families of early days, and again as the widow of the late Abra- ham Clark Freeman, one of the most scholarly and distinguished attorneys and lawyers on the Pacific Coast, Mrs. Josephine B. Freeman enjoys an influen- tial and enviable position, in which she daily renders society some needed or commendable service. She was born in Mansfield, Ohio, the daughter of Alfred Foulks, a native of Beaver County, Pa., and after- wards the founder of Rome, Ohio, where he was the pioneer merchant, and where he remained until his demise. Mrs. Freeman's mother, before her marriage, was Euphemia Pugh, also a native of Mansfield, and a cousin of United States Senator George Ellis Pugh; and after her husband's death, she brought her fam- ily of five children out to California. They crossed the plains with her brother, J. Wood Pugh, and for six months traveled on their way with comparative safety, despite the many dangers due to Indians and natural conditions. She purchased land at Elk Grove, and improved two ranches, setting out there one of the first vineyards in the county. She was a wonder- ful woman, endowed with much business ability, and was greatly interested in the Golden State, in which she saw such promising opportunities. She died at the age of seventy-three, leaving five children, among whom Mrs. Freeman was the youngest.

After completing the required studies in the local schools, Miss Foulks attended the College of the Pacific at San Jose. Having secured the coveted parchment there, she returned home and soon after was married to Abraham Clark Freeman, the rising young lawyer, their union proving a very happy one until he was called away. She brightened and blessed both his life and her own, always taking a deep inter- est in his work, and encouraging him in every way in the attainment of his ambition as a scholarly analyst in law and as the author of the first book of national import produced on the Coast, and one of the most authoritative and successful volumes of which Amer- ican scholarship may boast. One child, named Mabel, was granted to Mr. and Mrs. Freeman. She is the wife of Benjamin Romaine, a prominent attorney in San Francisco.

Since Mr. Freeman's lamented death, this accom- plished and ever approachable lady has continued to reside at their beautiful home, at the corner of Wash- ington and Presidio Avenues, in San Francisco, over- looking the bay, a home of which she is especially fond. Both the artistic residence and the picturesque grounds were originated by her, and the home may well be regarded as one of the modest but dignified

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show-places of the metropolis. She also owns a moun- tain home named "Pine Hurst," in Placer County. This estate includes the whole of the summit of Soda Springs Valley, or about 500 acres on the North Fork of the American River, declared by many to be next in beauty to the Yosemite, and has a fine automobile road leading to the very doors of "Pine Hurst." She divides her time between her city home, her ranch, and the mountain home, "Pine Hurst." and from each she dispenses a genuine California hospitality.

Mrs. Freeman is a member of the San Francisco Woman's Press Club, the Society of California Pio- ncers, the California Club, the Laurel Hall Club and the Assembly, and was one of the founders of the Salon. She is fond of literature and travel, and has a well-selected library. With her husband, Judge Freeman, she traveled in the United States, Mexico and Alaska, and in both 1900 and 1901 in Europe, when they visited the British Isles and the storied lands of Holland, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy and Egypt. Since the inevitable laws of Nature sum- moned her late and widely esteemed husband from earthly scenes and labors, it has been a matter of peculiar consolation and satisfaction to many that one who shared his high ideals is left to carry out in some measure his unfinished work.

JOSEPH A. FRANCIS .- Since 1902 Joseph A. Francis has been connected with the public service of the city of Sacramento and he has contributed in a substantial manner to the general growth and expan- sion of the city; since 1918 Mr. Francis has been chief engineer at Sump No. 1 of the drainage system of the city, a most important position that requires ability and experience. Sacramento is the native city of Joseph A. Francis, who was born there on July +, 1876, a son of G. H. L. and Catherine (Preston) Francis, natives of Boston, Mass., and Ireland, re- spectively. G. H. L. Francis came to California in 1850 and was an engineer on a steamboat on the Sacramento River; later with his father, G. H. L. Francis, Sr., he ran two trading boats on the river, carrying farm products. One of these burned and the other sank. The mother of our subject came to California by way of Cape Horn in 1865, and was married to G. H. L. Francis in Sacramento. They had eight children, three of whom are living. Both parents are now deceased.

Joseph A. Francis attended the public schools in Sacramento; then became an employee of the West- ern Union Telegraph Company as messenger, where he remained for six years, during which time he learned operating; then for two seasons he worked in a box factory; he also learned the confectionery business and was engaged in that business for six years; in 1902 he became a fireman in the employ of the city of Sacramento in Sump No. 1, then at the foot of S Street, under his father, and in 1910 was advanced to the position of engineer; in the meantime the plant was moved to Front and U Streets. He worked in this capacity until 1918, when he was put in charge as chief engineer of Station No. 1 of the drainage system of the city.

Mr. Francis' marriage, in 1900, united him with Miss Mary J. Mitchell, a native of Canada, and they have one son, Joseph A., Jr. Mr. Francis' political allegiance is not confined to any one party, but he

prefers to cast his vote for the candidate best fitted to serve the public. Fraternally he is a member of the Eagles and Red Men.

GEORGE SWANSTON .- A man of affairs who left a deep imprint on the history of the upbuilding of Sacramento City and County was the late George Swanston, wealthy landowner and cattleman, and head of the large packing-plant of Swanston and Son. He was born near Salem, Ohio, January 3, 1866, a son of Charles and Nancy (Powers) Swan- ston, natives respectively of the North of Ireland and of Pennsylvania. Charles Swanston moved from Ohio to California in or about 1881; and here he be- came a successful cattleman and the senior member of the firm of Swanston and Son, continuing actively in business until his death in April, 1911, at the age of seventy-eight years. His wife had passed away many years before, leaving him two interesting chil- dren: George, the subject of this interesting review; and Lillian, now Mrs. McCaslin, of Oakland.

George Swanston was reared in Ohio and received a good education in the public schools of that state. Coming to Sacramento County, California, when a boy of fifteen years, he took a course in Atkinson's Business College, in the capital city, and after his graduation took up active business with his father, learning the cattle business in all of its details and soon developing into a most excellent judge of stock, having acquired a keen appreciation of their value. Their business was conducted under the title of Swanston and Son; and through their combined efforts it grew to large proportions, and success crowned their efforts. They had valuable holdings on River- side Road, and there they started a small packing- house. This grew rapidly by additions, as their busi- ness expanded; and here too they built the first cold- storage plant in Sacramento, and so became leaders in their line.

After his father's death, George Swanston incorpo- rated the business under the old firm name, Swanston & Son, and made plans for enlarging the business, erecting the large new packing-plant at North Sacra- mento, where he owned a large acreage. The plant is substantially built, and is modern and up-to-date in every way, being the largest and finest plant of its kind in the Sacramento Valley. Mr. Swanston was president and manager of the corporation; and his years of experience, coupled with his natural tact and business ability, made it a financial success. Mr. Swanston was a large landowner in Sacramento County, and also owned extensive holdings in Lake, Colusa, and Yolo Counties. He was a director in the National Bank of D. O. Mills & Co.

At the home of Mr. Ward, sixteen miles north of Sacramento, on the Auburn road, in Sacramento County, on May 1, 1888, Mr. Swanston was married to Miss Jennie Ward; and their union proved a very happy one. Mrs. Swanston is a native daughter, born in Eldorado County, being a daughter of Robert and Mary A. (Slater) Ward. The father was born in England, and came out to California via the Isthmus of Panama when he was a young man of seventeen years; while the mother crossed the great plains with her parents in an ox-team train when a girl of cight years. As was usual in the early days of gold, Robert Ward followed mining for some years. Then he set- tled down to the more certain occupation of farming,

Farge Swanston

Jennie E Swanston

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becoming the owner of a good farm on the Auburn road in Sacramento County, where he reared his family; and there he resided until he passed on. His widow now makes her home in Sacramento. Eight of their children grew up and are living, Jennie being the second oldest.

Mr. Swanston, after having gained in a few years great wealth and influence, was not permitted to enjoy the fruits of his labor; for he passed away on July 3. 1923, mourned by his family and many friends. He was a man highly esteemed, who had given of his best efforts to develop the great natural resources of northern California.

The union of Mr. and Mrs. Swanston was blessed with the birth of two children: Lillis, the wife of Harry G. Krebs, a popular business man of Sacra- mento; and Robert, who since his father's death has assumed the presidency and management of the firm of Swanston & Son. Mrs. Swanston continues to reside at the family home on Riverside Road, sur- rounded by her children and many friends and enjoy- ing her attendance at the Saturday Club and the Christian Science Church, of which she is a member. Mr. Swanston donated $10,000 to the city of Sacra- mento for the purpose of erecting a fountain to the memory of his father. This fountain will be located in the William Land Park. He was a member of the Elks and the Sutter Club; and being deeply interested in civic improvement and the progress of the county, he was an active and influential member of the Sacra- mento Chamber of Commerce. He was a man who was able to plan ahead, having a mind gifted with foresight and vision, coupled with an unusual amount of patience, which enabled him to wait for the oppor- tune time to bring his enterprises to a successful issue. All in all, he was one of the substantial build- ers not only of Sacramento County, but also of Northern California as a whole.

FONTAINE JOHNSON .- Sacramento has long been famous for such gifted members of the legal profession as Fontaine Johnson, the senior member of the firm of Johnson & Lemmon. He was born at Colusa, Cal., on October 3, 1884, the son of Julian W. and Lottie J. (Raker) Johnson, the former a native of California, while the mother came from Illinois. Grandfather Johnson had crossed the great plains in 1849, impelled hither by his vocation as a preacher; and once here he became a teacher and a farmer. Julian Johnson has been principal of one grammar school in Sacramento for thirty- three years. Another son, Matt F. Johnson, Jul- ian's brother, was a judge on the Superior Bench of California in Sacramento County for a number of years; and a brother of Mrs. Julian Johnson, John E. Raker, was for several years congressman from the second district in California. Mr. and Mrs Julian Johnson were married in California.

Fontaine Johnson attended the grammar and high schools, graduating from the latter in 1904, and in 1908 he was given the coveted degree of Bachelor of Laws from the University of California. He began his actual practice of law in January, 1909, choosing Sacramento for his field; and since then he has been more than successful. The following year he joined in partnership to establish the firm mentioned above. Their reputation both for a knowledge of the law and for exceptional fidelity to the interests of every

client has brought them a patronage constantly grow- ing to a most gratifying degree.

At Sacramento, in 1917, Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Nina D. Sutliff, of Sacramento, the daughter of the well-known physician. Dr. F. B. Sutliff, of that city, and both husband and wife are well and pleas- antly known in fraternal circles. Mr. Johnson is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and a mem- ber of the Divan of Ben Ali Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S .; he is an Elk, and also belongs to Sunset Parlor, Native Sons of the Golden West. He was a director of the Chamber of Commerce, and is a past presi- dent of the Rotary Club. He belongs to the ranks of the Republicans, but he votes independently in local matters. He served in the World War as a member of the Field Artillery at Louisville, Ky., and was a captain in Company G, 159th Infantry, N. G. C. After his discharge from duty, upon the signing of the armistice, Mr. Johnson resumed the law practice he had entered upon prior to enlistment.

KASPER THALER .- A well-known, widely expe- rienced and thoroughly up-to-date general contractor and builder, who has been effective in the upbuilding of Sacramento County, is Kasper Thaler, who was born January 6, 1855, in Bavaria, the son of Andres and Catherine Thaler. Both parents passed away in the land of their birth.

Kasper Thaler attended the schools of Bavaria, and also went to college, where he studied architecture and cabinet-making, at which he became a mechanic, being able to make tables and chairs by hand. When he was twenty-two years old, he came to the United States and located in Chicago, where he stayed for six months. He endured many inconveniences be- cause he was unable to speak the English language. He relates that on one occasion, while taking dinner, the train on which he was a passenger left without him. However, he finally arrived at Leadville, Colo .. where he worked as a carpenter. He then went to Denver, where he put up a brewery and a soap fac- tory, and then went to Salt Lake City, but inasmuch as he was not a Mormon he could not get employ- ment and was therefore obliged to go to work as a laborer in the smelters. He built a house for one of his fellow workers and then put up twenty-four houses at the smelter, doing all the work himself. He also built a church and a large white-lead works. In six months, he was able to save approximately $2.100. After going to San Francisco, he made his way to Shasta County where he took up a homestead fifteen miles from Redding, which he gave up. On his return to San Francisco, he built many fine houses and a church, and after six years came to Sacramento in 1891, where he went into the contract- ing and building business. He was a builder of the Odd Fellows Hall in Florin and many other fine places in Sacramento, and has remained here for over thirty years.

Mr. Thaler was united in marriage in 1885, with Margaret Goeller, and they are the parents of three children: Paul, who was with the W. P. Fuller Com- pany and passed away when he was twenty-seven years old; Alvina, the wife of Mr. R. A. Brawnson, and mother of a son; and Margaret, now Mrs. H. O. Heffren, the mother of a girl. They are also the grandparents of two children. Mr. Thaler has been a member of the Foresters of America for over thirty- five years and for four years he served as a grand

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trustee; he has been a member of the Odd Fellows for over a quarter of a century and now is the pianist of the Oak Park Lodge. He is very fond of music and has composed a number of pieces for bands; he was the organizer of the Florin band and led it for four years, and has been an instructor on wind instru- ments for many years. In politics he is a Republican and has always worked for the candidates of that party. He likes Sacramento County better than any place he has seen in his travels and is interested in the development of its resources, building homes for the people and subdividing an eighty-acre ranch at Florin into small tracts and selling them to home-makers; and he still owns several valuable lots which he in- tends to improve.

JOHN EHRHARDT .- It is interesting to chron- icle the life history of the pioneer, the man who in his prime entered the wilderness and claimed the virgin soil as his heritage, and did not hesitate to en- dure great hardships and privations that the coming generations might enjoy the present-day civilization. Such a man is the venerable old pioneer John Ehr- hardt, who was born in Hesse-Kassel, Germany, on October 8, 1837, a son of John and Dorothy (Ger- hardt) Ehrhardt. His father was a shepherd; and one fall, while thus employed with a neighbor, he discovered a fox in a tree, which they caught. It proved to be a silver-tail fox, and Mr. Ehrhardt, as an honest man, paid his friend a liberal half for his share in the hide, intending to use it for comfort and wear. But his friend unwittingly had told of the capture; and as the laws of the country compelled anyone obtaining a fox-pelt to deliver it to the cus- tom-house, another friend informed Mr. Ehrhardt just in time, and by taking a short cut he beat the officers to the custom-house and saved himself a term of imprisonment for violating a law preventing people from enjoying the fruit of their labor. Although he was paid a pittance of about $1.75 for the fur, the thought of the injustice rankled in his mind; and he stated to his son that he would take him to a country where he could be a free man. So this incident un- doubtedly changed the whole course of young John's future life. The mother having passed away in Ger- many in 1848, in 1850 the father brought his sons John, Henry and George, and a daughter, Mary, to Baltimore, Md., and soon afterwards to Missouri; and in 1852, with his son John, he crossed the plains, driv- ing a band of 7,000 sheep. After wintering them in Ogden, Utah, he brought them on through to Shel- don, Sacramento County, where he sold them. He re- turned again to Missouri, but young Johu chose to remain in California, where he made his own way by herding sheep. He had had much experience in this line of work, for as a boy of only fifteen years he had done a man's work while crossing the plains, assisting in bringing a large band of sheep into the Sacramento Valley. While making this trip he was fortunate in meeting the famous scout and hunter Kit Carson on the Platte River, and in 1853 he met him again in Slough House, whither he had come with a band of sheep from Mexico. This fortunate meeting in 1853 took place soon after they had arrived from the East and while they were making their headquarters at Slough House. Kit Carson gave young John two Mexican sheep-dogs, which he after- wards possessed for many years, and which proved very valuable dogs.

John Ehrhardt had received a good elementary edu- cation in Germany, and after his arrival in America he studied by himself and by diligence soon learned to read, write, and speak English; and this private reading he has continued, so that today he is a well- informed and well-posted man. Ou being thrown on his own resources in California, he lost no time, but worked steadily; and saving his money, he was soon able to engage in sheep-raising on his own account, succeeding so well that by 1860 he sold his flocks and started raising cattle, making his headquarters on Union Mound, in the tules, eight miles south of Franklin. He purchased land and continued in busi- ness there for twenty years, and then sold and pur- chased an 800-acre ranch from John Whitcomb, at Twelve-Mile House, where he has had his headquar- ters ever since. As early as 1871, Mr. Ehrhardt drove his cattle to Modoc County. He purchased a section of land in Surprise Valley, an ideal place, where he ran cattle for many years, engaging in raising, buying and driving cattle to the Sacramento and San Fran- cisco markets, mostly to the latter place. His years of experience and his good judgment of cattle stood him in good stead, and he was very successful, his brand (J E, connected or separate) being well-known all over the state. In early days he ran a dairy, when it required much time and labor to care for the milk. In those days the milk had to be panned and skimmed and the pans washed and scalded; the cream was churned by hand, and the butter, after being thoroughly worked by hand and made into rolls, only brought from ten to fifteen cents a pound. In spite of this, he persevered, until in time his herds of cattle had grown to such an extent that he gave up dairying and devoted his time to cattle-raising and farming, raising Durham cattle and grain on his 800-acre ranch. At one time he owned 2,000 acres in the tules, but after many years he disposed of his holdings. In 1907 he sold his Modoc County ranch, and soon afterwards gave his sons each a portion of the home ranch, retaining 375 acres, which, as he says, he keeps as a "nest egg." This he still super- intends and farms, raising grain and cattle.

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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 70

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