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 75

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 75

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The inside of the prison has also changed for the better in proportion to the outside development, much attention having been given to the problems of sanitation, and health conditions never were better there than they are today. Year by year witnesses the completion of added buildings, the assembly hall, 50 by 125 feet, having been finished in 1922. This will also be used as a school, and at times for enter- tainment, such as moving pictures, so that it will well serve more than one good purpose, and so fill a long-felt want. According to the program of War- den Smith, Folsom State Prison will assuredly in time become more than ever an ideal place of both detention and reform, realizing his ambition, to use his own words, of being an institution "to employ the inmates busily, and as far as possible fit them for work at which they may find employment when re- leased." It is not surprising, therefore, that Warden John Joseph Smith is widely known as a man of con- servative personality, well-posted as to human nature. He has an unusual reserve supply of nervous energy, and is a man of great native ability, not so much as

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a public man, but rather as an executive. His econ- omical and efficient administration at Folsom Prison is now a matter of state public record.

How important it is that such a man of great re- sponsibility should rise to his enviable position in state and national prison affairs, and reform by a well-planned and most careful and conscientious dis- charge of his duties as prison warden, may be judged from an official record as to state prisons in the biennial report filed with Governor William D. Stephens by the State Board of Prison Directors, showing a marked increase in the population of both the San Quentin and Folsom prisons, resulting from a decided increase of crime among first-offenders. Since 1909, the report shows, the population at Fol- som has increased 155, while that at San Quentin is 684 greater. Since that year, there were on June 30, 1919, in San Quentin, 1,932 prisoners, in Folsom, 989; on June 30, 1920, in San Quentin, 1,924 prison- ers, in Folsom, 988; on June 30, 1921, in San Quen- tin, 2,188, in Folsom 1,050; and on June 30, 1922, in San Quentin, 2,616, in Folsom, 1,144. Relative to second-term convicts, the report says: "Since 1917, all prisoners with previous criminal records, that is, repeaters, have been incarcerated in the prison at Folsom. The figures relating to population reveal the fact that there has been no very great increase in the population at Folsom, indicating no unusual num- ber of commitments of repeaters-those who served terms previously-and this would be gratifying were it not unhappily the fact that the figures relating to population at San Quentin show very decided in- crease in the number committed as first-termers. We believe that in course of time this plan will prove beneficial in weaning from crime and criminal ten- dencies those serving their first term, thus decreas- ing the percentage of repeaters."

Referring again to conditions existing and impera- tive, and such as make it a subject of congratulation to the citizens of the state that such a man as War- den Smith is at the helm, the report continues: "Ex- amination of the prisoners at the time of entering show many not only physically defective but mentally backward-ignorance and disease, combined, having contributed to crime"; and it concludes: "There is no doubt in our minds about the wisdom and efficacy of granting paroles in cases where the facts and the records indicate that parole will be an important fac- tor in rehabilitation of the individual and not incom- patible with the interest of society."

Mr. Smith was married the first time in 1899, to Miss Rose Schmidt, who passed away in 1910. His second marriage united him with Miss Muriel Swain, the daughter of Daniel Webster and Emma Alice (Brown) Swain. Daniel Swain came as an early sea captain and settled in San Francisco in 1850. Mrs. Smith's half-brother, H. B. Titcomb, is president of the Southern Pacific of Mexico. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were married on November 14, 1913, and three chil- dren have blessed their union: Lucile, Jacquelyn and John Joseph, Jr., the eldest two being in school. Warden Smith's home was formerly in the admini- stration building, but the warden's residence was completed in 1915 at Represa. It is an imposing structure of sixteen rooms, costing $11,000. The work of erecting the edifice was done entirely by con- vict labor. The beautiful gardens and flowers at Re- presa, again the fruit of convict skill and labor, add very much to the attractiveness of the place. He

is a popular member of the B. P. O. Elks, Lodge No. 1108 at San Rafael. His hobby in outdoor re- creations has been duck-hunting, and it is said that in this sport but few ever excel him, for he is a "dead shot."

It is worthy of interest, in view of the warden's early repugnance to agricultural pursuits-notwith- standing that his experience in that field has un- doubtedly enabled him to render a real service to the state in helping to solve the vexed problems of prison employment-that he has once more taken up farming, owning eighty acres of rich land in Sutter Basin, a short distance from Knight's Landing, which he devotes to general farming. He also recently bought sixty-four acres of rough wooded land on Al- der Creek, where he has commenced to develop a vineyard, planting there the Thompson seedless grapes, said to be best adapted to that soil.

California may well be proud of such a native son as John Joseph Smith, who has contributed much in his life and work to making the Folsom State Prison famed beyond the confines of the Golden State; and Sacramento County will ever be grateful for his de- votion to an ideal, whereby, when it was found ad- visable to locate such a penal institution within its borders, he did so much to make it a credit rather than a blemish to the otherwise attractive section.

JESSE WISE .- A prominent, wide-awake rancher of Sacramento County, who is vitally interested in the progressive movements of the community, is Jesse Wise, who was born at Walnut Grove, Sacra- mento County, on July 16, 1869, a son of Joseph and Nancy Jane Wise, whose sketch appears on another page of this history. He attended the local schools, and three months before he reached his majority he started to work for himself. He leased eighty acres of land on Andrus Island and worked on it for four years. He then went to Tyler Island and leased 300 acres of land, which he devoted to beans and grain. After residing there for several years, he removed to his home-ranch, at Walnut Grove, in 1900. He was deeded sixty-four acres of land by his father, and later he purchased thirty-nine acres more from his sister. He now owns 107 acres in one body. Here he established a home for himself and family, and has resided there ever since. Sixteen acres of this ranch is devoted to pear orchard, and the balance to aspar- agus and onion seed.

Jesse Wise has been in the seed business for about six years. The gathering of the seed is a particular job; for each ripened seed head has to be cut and gathered carefully by hand, so as not to spill any seed, and placed in a woolen sack and then emptied into big piles on canvas, where they are spread to dry. Afterwards the seeds are rolled out, cleaned in a mill, and then washed to get rid of the light, float- ing seeds that are worthless. After drying, they are again cleaned, and are then sacked and made ready for market. Mr. Wise irrigates his place with an electric pumping plant, and by close application has gained splendid results.

On July 21, 1895, at Oakland, Cal., Jesse Wise was united in marriage with Augusta Pauline de Laguna, a native of San Francisco, where she was reared and educated. Her father, who was an early pioneer, was one of the men to organize a school in that city; his people were educators, and he was nat- urally adapted to this line of work. Augusta Pauline

Jesse Wise

This Jesse Wise

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

also taught school before her marriage. She was a graduate of the San Francisco Normal. A cultured and refined woman, she possessed a beautiful voice and took an active part in local social affairs. She was a very charitable woman, and through her benev- olent ministrations was very helpful to the needy. Sad to relate, she passed away on August 11, 1922, leaving a void in her family and among her friends that cannot be filled. Mr. and Mrs. Wise were blessed with two children. Jesse Vance is prominent in radio circles; as manager of the Pacific Coast Di- vision of the Radio Relay League, he has one of the largest lists of acquaintances over the United States of any amateur radio operator. Paul Frederic is assisting his father on the home ranch. Mr. Wise in- dorses the platform of the Republican party. Since 1907 he has served as trustee of Reclamation District No. 554. It is now in splendid shape, and all cx- penses have been paid except the outlay for this last year's improvements.

HENRY JOHN BRADLEY .- A time-honored name in the history of Sacramento County is that so worthily represented by Henry John Bradley, of the firm of W. H. Bradley & Sons. He was born at Sunderland, near the mouth of the River Wear, Eng- land, on October 3, 1880, the son of William H. and Elizabeth Maria (Cormack) Bradley. W. H. Bradley came out to America in 1883 and located at Carbon- dale, Amador County, and was joined by his family in 1884, meeting them in Sacramento upon their ar- rival here. In 1886 the family removed to Sacra- mento, and here Mr. Bradley engaged in selling hay and grain, also dealing in insurance. He also served two years, from April 1, 1892, to April 1, 1894, as captain of police of this city, and was noted as a very efficient officer. He had purchased the Gurney Cab Company and had his office and stable where the Ochsner Building now stands, near the corner of Seventh and K Streets. When the Ochsner Building was erected he moved his stable to his home place at 2320 H Street, where he maintained it until June 1, 1903, when he bought the property at 1015 Eleventh Street and here continued his livery and hack busi- ness. This building was an old livery stable, erected by J. D. Lockhardt in 1889, and is one of the old landmarks still to be seen in Sacramento. In 1906 William H. Bradley engaged in the auto-livery business, thus founding the oldest garage in the city, and becoming a pioneer of the auto-livery business in Sacramento. Mr. Bradley, who was a member of the Sons of St. George, having rounded out a useful and eventful career, in which he had done much to develop the county, died on August 3, 1920; while Mrs. Brad- ley breathed her last on June 5, 1921. In December, 1916, the two sons, Henry John and Allan C. Bradley, took over the business, and now conduct a general garage-livery.

Henry J. Bradley was able to attend the schools of Sacramento, having come here when he was three and one-half years of age, and when sixteen he took up railroad work, as fireman with the Southern Paci- fic. He was married on December 13, 1904, to Miss Grace V. Bagwill, a native of Sacramento, whose parents settled here in 1876. In national politics he is a Republican, but he is too broad-minded and pat- riotic to allow a narrow partisanship to interfere in any way with his hearty support of the best man and

the best measures for the city and county in which he lives, and where he and his firm have so prospered. Mr. Bradley is fond of hunting and fishing.

ALLAN CORMACK BRADLEY .- The joy of living in Sacramento, the privilege of availing one's self of the modern conveniences of life, is largely due to such enterprising, progressive pioneers as the es- teemed Bradley family of the capital city, whose tradi- tions are carried forward by Allan Cormack Bradley and his brother, Henry J., making up the present membership in the firm of W. H. Bradley & Sons. Allan C. Bradley was born in the busy harbor town of Sunderland, near the mouth of the River Wear, Eng- land, on October 15, 1882, and his parents were Will- iam H. Bradley, and his good wife, who was Miss Elizabeth Maria Cormack, before she was married. The father came to California in 1883, and located at Carbondale, Amador County. When Mr. Bradley died, on August 3, 1920, he left behind a very en- viable record; and Mrs. Bradley, who closed her earthly career on June 5, 1921, was held in equally high esteem. Mr. Bradley had founded and developed the enterprising firm of W. H. Bradley & Sons, and he was thus able to bequeath to Messrs. Henry J. and Allan C. Bradley one of the most promising and most desirable business establishments in Sacramento.

Allan Bradley (who was born after his father had left home for the New World) was brought by his mother to Sacramento, where in time he pursued the usual courses of the grammar schools. Then he became a messenger boy, and after that took up the telephone business, which he followed for eleven and one-half years, or until he joined his father and brother in the automobile trade. The livery establish- ment was burned out on September 1, 1913, and all the machines there were destroyed, although about forty-two horses were saved, and the firm sustained a loss of $60,000; but with characteristic enterprise the Bradley boys forged ahead, just the same as before.

In June, 1907, at Sacramento, Allan C. Bradley was married to Miss Mildred Milliken, born in Sacramento, and they had one son, Allan W .; he is now a student in the high school and a member of the Boys' Band and the High School Band. Mr. Bradley's second marriage, in June, 1911, united him with Miss Mildred Anita Baker, a native of Elk Grove, Cal., and they have a daughter, Anita C. Mr. Bradley is a member of the Masons, the Sciots, and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a Republican in poli- tics, but he favors broad views and whole-hearted support for all important local movements looking to the welfare of the community as a whole.

FRED C. BROSIUS .- The success that follows individual, earnest effort has come to Fred C. Bro- sius, whose residence in California dates from 1884, when, as a child of two years, he was brought by his parents to the Golden State. Since 1917 he has held the important position of county horticultural commissioner for Sacramento County. His birth occurred in Philadelphia, Pa., January 2, 1882, a son of Fred W. and Mary Brosius. Both parenes are still living. Fred W. Brosius, accompanied by his wife and small son, came to California in 1884 and engaged in farming pursuits.

Fred C. Brosius received a good education in the public schools of California and his boyhood was

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

spent on a farm, where he acquired valuable knowl- edge along all agricultural lines. After reaching young manhood, hie invested his savings in farm property of his own and put into use the practical experience gained on his father's farm. In 1913 he was chosen inspector of the department of agricul- ture and four years later became horticultural com- missioner, having charge of eight inspectors; he has also been secretary of the State Association of County Horticultural Commissioners and secretary of the California Exhibitors' Association. He was in charge of the assembling of the county exhibit for Sacramento County for the great advertising cam- paign at the State Fair. In February, 1922, he was appointed superintendent of the nursery service with the state department of agriculture.

The marriage of Mr. Brosius united him with Miss Ida Collins of Sacramento and they are the parents of two children, Fred, Jr., and Ida. Mr. Brosius is a Mason and in politics is a Republican.

GEORGE B. GREENE .- Not many pioneer fami- lies may boast of such interesting annals as those of George B. Greene, the well-known orchard-owner at Courtland, and his distinguished forebears. He was born at Leesburg, Loudoun County, in the Old Do- minion of Virginia, on March 4, 1849, a son of Josiah Buckman Greene and his good wife, who was Caro- line Pettingell Beal before their marriage. Josiah was a son of Josiah Greene, 4th, and Clarissa (Sweetser) Greene, his wife, and was born on September 10, 1818, in Salisbury, N. H., and died on his ranch near Court- land, Cal., on April 28, 1889, at the ripe old age of seventy years, seven months, eighteen days. He was buried on a spot treasured by himself on his ranch near Courtland, on the banks of the Sacramento River; but when the protection district was formed and the levees were raised, his grave, and others, would have been covered; hence, George B. Greene and Lester D. Greene (the two sons living at that time), purchased a plot at East Lawn Cemetery, Sac- ramento, and had the bodies of their father and mother removed from the burial place on the ranch.

Josiah Buckman Greene's father was a traveling jeweler in New Hampshire, and when he died, Josiah B. took up his father's business and became an ex- pert jeweler. He extended his business from New Hampshire to the southern part of Old Virginia, and established a route that took him a whole year to cover. He was paid a salary by the farmers along the route to inspect and keep their respective clocks in good condition, and he traveled this route in a spring wagon. ln 1846, Josiah B. Greene moved to Leesburg, Va., and there established a jewelry store. He also built a hotel, and later rented this hotel out to a man by the name of Turner; and this hotel be- came one of historic fame on account of its relation to the Civil War.

In November, 1847, Josiah B. Greene married Miss Caroline Pettingell Beal, a daughter of Thomas and Abigail Beal. Caroline (Beal) Greene was born on May 31, 1818, and died on the ranch near Courtland on June 28, 1893. The couple were married Novem- ber 27, 1847. Of their four children, George B. Greene was the only one born in Virginia, and is the only one of the family now living. Lester Downing Greene was born on the ranch in Yolo County, on June 2, 1854, and died on February 5, 1917. Albert Sweetser Greene was born on January 24, 1857, and died on January 2, 1869. Frank Hollister Greene died at the age of three

and a half years. Caroline Pettingell Beal, Josiah Greene's wife, was a playmate of his in childhood, and they were also neighbors up to the time of their marriage.

Josiah B. Greene was called the "blackest of black Republicans," when war was brewing, and the South- erners began making things very unpleasant and un- safe for his life. He was an out-and-out Abolitionist, and his life was threatened many times. In the gold excitement in California he saw .an opportunity for slipping away from this hotbed of trouble; so he sold out his jewelry business at Leesburg, Va., and moved to Salisbury, N. H. There he left his wife and son, our subject, and set off for California by way of the Nicaraguan route, accompanied by his brother Syl- vester and a friend named Willard Hazen. They landed in San Francisco in the first week of January, 1850. In San Francisco, Josiah Greene bought a "squatter quit-claim title," for a ranch up the Sacra- mento River, paying $600 cash for it. He completed the deal without seeing the land, because he had ob- served that wherever farmers cultivated river land, they seemed to prosper better than the farmers on the prairies.

In January, 1850, therefore, the three men who had come to California together boarded a Sacramento River boat to go up to the newly purchased ranch; but the river was so swollen by the heavy rains that the boat passed right by his land, and Mr. Greene was unable to locate his property. The three com- panions went on to Sacramento, the trip requiring three weeks from San Francisco, and there they pur- chased lumber to build a flatboat. They then floated this flatboat down stream, and finally found the property sought, by asking everyone along the river who owned the next ranch. Josiah B. Greene at length landed just below a point called Oak Grove, and camped there, for his ranch was still under water several feet deep at that time; the water was clear as crystal, like that of a mountain stream, and it was most interesting to look down into its depths and spy the objects beneath. Many settlers became discouraged at the state of their land, and did not hold on to what they had; but Mr. Greene, like the true Yankee, was a man of unyielding will and de- termination. He was conscientious, serious-minded and industrious, and he made up his mind that even- tually this river land must become very valuable. He built on this ranch, and then left his brother Sylves- ter and Mr. Hazen in charge of the place, and went to the mines. He took a claim, followed placer min- ing all summer, and made good wages, finally selling his claim at a good figure; but within three weeks' time after he had disposed of it, the purchaser struck a pocket of gold that netted him $10,000-giving Mr. Greene food for thought. Upon selling his mine, he returned to his ranch and found that his brother and Mr. Hazen had harvested and stacked fifty tons of wild hay; the hay was of blue-grass and wild clover that had grown four or five feet tall, and that year the hay had a value of $50 per ton. After that year, Mr. Greene remained on the ranch, raising vegetables and hauling them to the mines on the hills, and in re- turn receiving big money for them.

In the fall of 1851, Josiah Greene went back to New Hampshire, and on his return to the Coast he brought with him his wife and son George, then three years old, traveling by way of Nicaragua, and arrived on Merritt Island, in Yolo County, on May 16, 1852. George Greene was the first white boy on the Sacra-

Les. B. Greene

alice Stanley Greene

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

mento River below Sacramento, and his mother was the third white woman. On the way to California with his family, Josiah Greene made a contract with a Mr. Julien (who afterward settled below what is known as Freeport, in Sacramento County) to have him drive a bunch of cattle from St. Joseph, Mo., to California; and although the herd was depleted in numbers by the trying trip across the plains, Mr. Greene took the herd to Hangtown, now Coloma, and there started and conducted the first commercial dairy in California. This herd was kept at Hangtown for a season, and then Josiah Greene returned to his ranch on the Sacramento River, and there for years continued dairying.

In 1866, Josiah Greene, grandfather of our subject, died in New Hampshire, and his son Sylvester Greene returned to New Hampshire to settle the estate. He never returned to California, but died at Salisbury, N. H. During his stay in California, he had pur- chased the "Ding" ranch from Daniel De Gross, and just previously to his going back to New Hampshire, his brother Josiah B. Greene bought this ranch from him. The way the Ding ranch received its name is unique, and worthy of mention. In 1852, a stroller along the Sacramento River fished from a stream a piece of board with the letters "Ding" painted on it, for the board had originally been part of a sign ad- vertising a "boarding" house, but that portion with the first four letters had been broken off. The party nailed it upon a tree, and there it remained for years afterward, the ranch thereafter always bearing that name.

In 1852, Josiah B. Greene built the first levee that was ever erected in California. It was built for the purpose of keeping the flood-waters from his dwell- ing, and was thrown up around his home in Yolo County. He constructed it with his own teams and men. The reenforcements were made of sycamore logs and sticks, and when Merritt Island was finally completed in the reclamation district, the actual cash output amounted to more than $350 per acre, and this did not include the value of the labor which the father of our subject and other property-owners had put into it. Josiah B. Greene lived on the home ranch ad- joining the Ding ranch until his death. Although he was not a churchman, the Sabbath day was always kept on his ranches. Mr. Greene's estate on Merritt Island at the time of his death included 1,125 acres and he owned an additional 750 acres in the Pierson district, in Sacramento County, devoted to dairying. He was a lover of flowers; and his home, the first to be built on Merritt Island, was a truly beautiful spot.

George B. Greene, the immediate subject of this sketch, attended the Richland district school, and from July, 1868, to November, 1870, he attended a private school at Petaluma, where he took up those subjects which he deemed likely to benefit him in his career. In March, 1871, he rented his father's dairy farm, and had a dairy of 125 milch cows. He oper- ated this ranch until January, 1876, when he located on his father's Randall Island property of 114 acres, devoted to the cultivation of fruit, there being 2,500 trees then on the ranch. These 114 acres he leased until 1884, when he purchased the land from his father. He increased the development to 8,000 trees, pears, peaches, plums and cherries, and later sold off twenty-seven acres. He still owns eighty-seven acres, including the home, and he has developed an irriga- tion plant having a twenty-horse-power electric mo-

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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 75

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