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 88

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 88

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

chusetts in 1637, and also a descendant of the Hon. Jedediah Peck, distinguished in his day in the Em- pire State as both a legislator and a judge. Else- where in this history will be found a fuller account of the life-work of this eminent aunt of Mrs. Chap- man. Mrs. Chapman graduated from Rockford Col- lege, and at the Seminary at Rockford followed her professional work, that of a tutor in art and music. She was associated with her aunt for many years in the successful conducting of this institution of higher learning, and these years she regards as the happiest of her years of experience as a teacher. Two sons, born of this fortunate union, bade good- bye to the world in early life; Robert Sill passing away at the age of five, and Ralph when only ten months old.

Mr. and Mrs. Chapman came out to the Golden State in 1897, in order to enjoy the benefits of a milder climate, and to both of these worthy people Dame Nature, as expressed through her lavish gifts to California, has been most kind. Their orchard embraces eighteen and one-half acres, and is pleas- antly situated on the Winding Way, about twenty miles to the northeast of the capital. Both Mr. and Mrs. Chapman do considerable writing; and with their pens they have produced much that is of benefit to others. Mr. Chapman is a member of Kilpatrick Post, No. 712, of the G. A. R., at Austin, Ill .; and he belongs to both the Masons and the Odd Fellows, of Chicago.

James Griffith

Almon Chapman

Mrs Amelia M Chapman.

551

HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

ANNA P. SILL .- No one who knew the life and work of the late Anna P. Sill, the founder and first principal of the Rockford Female Seminary, at Rockford, Ill., can doubt for a moment that when the monumental history of the struggle after and the attainment of higher education for women in America shall finally be written, her inspiring ideals and the magnificent fruits of her toil and sacrifices will be given conspicuous and most honorable place-as well they should be, considering the part they have played in the making of such noble and famous women as Jane Addams and others.

Anna Peck Sill was born in Burlington, Otsego County, N. Y., on August 9, 1816, and inherited both the intellectual and moral qualities of a long line of Puritan ancestors. Her family was descended from John Sill, of England, who emigrated with his wife Joanna to this country in 1637, and settled in Cam- bridge, Mass., just about the time when Harvard College was founded; and about 1789, her grand- parents removed from Lyme, Conn., to Otsego County, settling in a wilderness now the site of Burlington. Deacon Andrew Sill, her grandfather, was a pillar in the Congregational Church for thirty- one years, and shouldered a musket in the War of the Revolution. He lived to be over ninety years of age. His son, Abel Sill, the father of our subject, was a farmer; he died of typhoid when Anna was' but seven years old. Her maternal grandfather, the Hon. Jedediah Peck, became a man of great influ- ence in his day, as both a New York legislator and a judge. His eldest daughter, Anna's mother, was a woman of great energy of character, a good scholar in her day, especially in mathematics, and a woman of piety, industry and taste; and the fact that she trained her children in the homely virtues of hon- esty, economy, industry and strict moral and physi- cal integrity, had momentous results in the life of the woman now under review.

Anna Sill's early life was a free and happy one, and she grew up in a house which stood on a high elevation surrounded with hills and valleys, with the Catskill Mountains in the blue distance to the east. a deep valley to the south, and to the west a deep ravine with sheer rocky walls overhung with trees and bushes, and spanned with a rustic bridge, below which ran a clear stream of rippling water. She was sent to school when not more than four years old; and the daily walk through summer's heat and winter's cold to the old red schoolhouse, one mile away, stamped indelible impressions on her mind. She was well trained in spelling, geography, gram- mar and arithmetic, but she was also carefully trained in all household duties, including spinning, weaving and setting cards for carding wool and tow. She also found time to braid bonnets made from June grass, and for embroidery.

With the advent of the age of reflection, came a craving for better school advantages, and her soul also cried out for its God. In the year 1831, when powerful revivals swept New England and New York, her religious life and experience began to grow, and in 1836 she left Burlington, when about twenty years of age, and for seven months taught school at Barre, near Albion. In November, 1837, she entered Miss Phipps' Union Seminary, one of the first institutions for girls and young women in the state. And there she remained for more than five years, also teaching, after a while.

In 1843, she underwent a mental conflict regard- ing the choice of a life-work that would be of benefit to others, and for a while struggled with the problem of going abroad as a missionary: and in the autumn she made her way alone and, almost unbefriended to Warsaw, where, after many discouragements, she opened a seminary for young ladies on October 2 of that year; and before the close of the year, the school numbered 140 pupils. In 1846, she took charge of the female department of the Cary Colle- giate Institute at Oakfield, in Genesee County; and when a convention of Congregationalists and Pres- byterians, wishing to establish collegiate education of the highest New England type in what was then the Northwest, opened a seminary in northern Illi- nois, afterwards removed to Rockford, Miss Sill went thither, to Rockford, in 1849, to open a school for young ladies as preparatory to the seminary. On July 11, she was able to write: "Today com- menced school, and laid the foundation of Rockford Female Seminary. Opened with fifty-three scholars. O Lord, fit me for my work, and glorify Thyself thereby." In her opening address, Miss Sill said to the young ladies, drawn up in a row on the lawn: "This is like the sunshine of this beautiful day, dropping light into our hearts." The immediate, large success of the school, was soon recognized as the germinating of the Rockford Seminary, and the citizens of Rockford quickly responded by subscrib- ing over $5,000 for buildings, while the ladies of the town gave another $1,000 to beautify the grounds.

In 1851, the first class, fifteen in number, entered upon their courses. The next year, the corner-stone of the first edifice was laid, the officiating clergyman, Rev. Aratus Kent, cleverly taking for his text: "That our daughters may be as corner-stones pol- ished after the similitude of a palace." Miss Sill had from the first a clear and practical idea of the end in view and the work that needed to be accom- plished, and early set before her mind Mount Holy- oke Seminary as the model after which this new Western seminary was to be built. She realized the great power and influence for good lying latent in the young women of the West, and she threw herself with such energy into the task before her that by December, 1853, her health began to give way, and she was forced to go East. Her visit to Boston and other centers of wealth and influence, however, re- sulted in her bringing back $5,000 with which to advance the good work already halted in part for lack of funds; and the subsequent history of the institution for some years is the record of continued struggle for means wherewith to continue its ex- panding program-a struggle that might have term- inated in failure but for the character, example and courage of the founder. She got some fun out of the experience, however, and in 1865 wrote to a friend about her "mission to the East": "Just fancy me in the 'Hub of the Universe,' the center of all right motion, the sun of civilization, enlightenment and refinement, one of the 'Western beggars'." Not- withstanding its vicissitudes, Rockford Seminary continued not only to grow, and to build up the lives of American young women, but it became an import- ant factor in promoting and sustaining foreign mis- sionary work. One of the greatest obstacles it had to encounter, however, was not the lack of funds, but the widespread prejudice to the higher education

552

HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

of women-a prejudice Anna P. Sill did much in her life to dissipate forever.

Space will not permit mention of the many inter- esting details in the further development of this remarkable institution, the life-work of this remark- able woman. In 1884, after thirty-five years of un- remitting labor, Miss Sill resigned her position as Principal, and retired to the quieter, but not less hon- ored, position of Principal Emerita; and in 1889 she suffered severe shock and set-back through the tragic death, from pneumonia, of her last surviving brother, and his wife and two children. While on a visit to her niece, the wife of Almon Chapman (whose life-story is given elsewhere in this work), at Ridgeland, near Chicago, she was taken ill; and just as she was con- valescing, a very favorite child of her niece, a little hoy of four, was taken away by death. By the advice of her physician, she returned to Rockford, and on Founder's Day, June 11, she was confined to her room; and from that time, she spoke little during her illness of eight days. She received the intimation of her approaching end calmly and silently, and sought no opportunity to speak any "last words"; and she died peacefully on June 18, 1889, only a week before the annual commencement exercises of the institution she loved so well. At her funeral, attended by a concourse of mourning admirers, a vacant chair, with a wreath of flowers upon its back, stood upon the platform; and below, resting upon the casket, were two large sago palmns, emblematic of victory.

FRANK LAWRENCE GAFNEY .- Critics of California, impressed with her phenomenal progress, have more than once commented on the great work accomplished, from the admission of the state into the Union until the present day, hy the California bar, so ably represented in Sacramento County by the popular attorney, Frank Lawrence Gafney. A native son, always proud of his association with the Golden State, he was born in Eldorado County in 1880, first seeing the light on Washington's birthday, the son of Nicholas Gafney, who came out to Cali- fornia in the early fifties, crossing the great plains with the typical ox-team outfit of that day. He came from Maryland, and married Miss Margaret McDon- ald, a native of Illinois. Both were admirable people, and devoted parents; and both are highly esteemed, now that they rest forever from their labors-Mr. Gafney as one of the early miners in Eldorado Coun- ty who worked hard, and helped others as well as himself, and Mrs. Gafney as one of those noble women whose very presence did much to ameliorate the rude and sometimes harsh conditions of pioneer mining life.

Frank Lawrence Gafney was lucky to attend both the grammar and the high school of his locality, and growing up, to study law under Grove L. John- son, than whom there was no one in his time and neighborhood who understood more about legal com- plexities. Mr. Gafney was a law stenographer for a number of years, or until, on February 24. 1915, he was admitted to the California bar. For eight years prior to that he had been deputy county recorder under the Hon. C. A. Root, and that activity alone afforded him the most valuable experience. He has practiced law here continuously ever since, and it is safe to say that there is no member of the Bar Asso- ciation more esteemed for both ability and character,

and the relation of the two in daily professional work. Very naturally, Frank Gafney is deeply interested in the welfare of Sacramento County, and finds an ap- peal in its historic past and its promising future. Mr. Gainey belongs to the Foresters of America and Lodge No. 6 of the Elks of Sacramento, and when time permits, he seeks other fraternal cheer in a good game of baseball or in hunting.

FRANK A. HOLDENER .- Among the men who for the past twelve years have utilized the opportuni- ties offered in Sacramento for business progress, and who have thereby attained success, is Frank A. Holdener, the well-known contractor and builder, whose offices are located at 2608 R Street, Sacramento. . His activity in his chosen line of work has contributed to general progress and improvement, as well as to his individual prosperity. He is a native of Switzer- land, born at Ober-Yberg, January 12, 1886, in the same country where General Sutter was born. His parents were Joseph Frank and Mary Holdener, both natives of the same country. The father is a shoe merchant; the mother has passed away. The Hold- ener family is traced back to the eleventh century in Switzerland, and are among the oldest and most prominent families in that country. Mr. Holdener also traces his ancestry back to Werner Staufacher, one of the three leaders in the struggle for the Inde- pendence of Switzerland.

Frank A. Holdener acquired his education in the schools of his native country, supplementing it with at- tendance at the colleges, where he majored in archi- tecture. He served the required time in the Swiss army and received his honorable discharge, after which he was free to go wherever or whenever he wished. When twenty-one years old he came out to the land of the Stars and Stripes, crossing the continent to the Pacific Coast and coming directly to San Francisco, where he arrived on February 1, 1907, and where he was employed at his trade for a number of years. In 1910 he removed to Sacramento, where he engaged in the general contracting business, his especial line of work being the contracting of concrete structures. Among his notable work is the concrete bridge over Butte Slough, the apartment building at the corner of Twenty-seventh and I Streets in Sacramento, the Nicolaus schools at Nicolaus, Del Monte Creamery in San Francisco, several apartment houses in San Francisco, Yuba City High School, and the dams for the Cosumnes irrigation project, as well as a num- ber of fine residences in Sacramento. All of his work is first-class, and his dependability insures a rapidly increasing business. In his work of construction, he is aided by having the most modern and up-to-date equipment, so that he can handle any contract, from the smallest job to a million-dollar structure. He has now under construction a quarter of a million dol- lars' worth of work. Sometimes his work necessi- tates his employing 150 men. Mr. Holdener has es- tablished his warehouses and offices at 2608 R Street.

Mr. Holdener's marriage united him with Miss Caroline Gemsch, born in Switzerland, and they have a son, Joseph A., and a daughter, Frances Elizabeth. Fraternally, Mr. Holdener is a member of the Sacra- mento Lodge No. 6, B. P. O. Elks, and the Foresters of America. He is also a member of the Rotary Club and the Bowling Club of Sacramento, and of the Builders' Exchange, Master Builders' Association, and Chamber of Commerce.

555

HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

WILLIAM EDMOND NEWBERT .- A highly progressive, thoroughly representative man of affairs in Sacramento County is William Edmond Newbert, president of the Newbert Implement Company, of Sacramento. He was born in Sacramento County, at the "Mississippi Bar," on April 29, 1867, the son of George W. and Mary Jane (Millard) Newbert, and his father had the distinction of being a pioneer of 1852, coming all the way from Maine across the wide plains, as did Mrs. Newbert, who accompanied her parents, the Millards, also sturdy pioneers. Meeting in the Golden State, Mr. Newbert and Miss Millard were married in Brighton Township, after which he mined for a while, and then entered the employ of the old Placerville Railroad.

Mr. Newbert next engaged in farming, and after that he was in business near Perkins. He came to Sacramento as a deputy sheriff, and for twenty years he was connected with the sheriff's office. He then engaged in the hotel business, and managed the Bruce House, and after that the American Eagle; and when he passed away he was, officially, a dep- uty sheriff. His demise occurred in his fifty-sixth year and was the cause of wide regret. Mrs. New- bert, who was also beloved, died at the age of sev- enty years.

William E. Newbert attended the rural Brighton schools, and after a while went to the old Washing- ton primary in Sacramento at the corner of Thir- teenth and G Streets, and the grammar school at Six- teenth and J Streets, now known as the Mary Wat- son School. Finishing his studies, he went to work, and engaged in the retail hardware business with Joseph M. Martin at 920 J Street, where he remained for twenty years. He finished the unexpired term of his father as deputy sheriff, and then he came to work for Messrs. Baker & Hamilton, dealers in hardware and implements. Removing to Courtland, he tried the general merchandise business, joining Bauer, Miller & Newbert; but severing his connections, he returned to Baker & Hamilton, in the capital city. They moved their wholesale business to San Fran- cisco, and it was then that the Newbert Implement Company was formed, in March, 1913, to handle farm implements and farmers' hardware, and Mr. Newbert has been president ever since.

Mr. Newbert played professional baseball for five years with the old Alta baseball club, as short-stop and he is naturally fond of sport and out-of-door life, and especially of hunting and golf. He belongs to the Native Sons of the Golden West, is a member of Lodge No. 6 of the Elks, is a Mason of the third degree, and is affiliated with the Eastern Star, and in each of these organizations enjoys an enviable popularity.

JAMES HAYES .- The interesting correlation of commercial and agricultural affairs at Elk Grove is well illustrated in the activities and success of James Hayes, the retired butcher and fruit rancher, who hails from Audrain County, Mo., where he was born on April 15, 1868, the son of Robert McCoy and Caroline Cornelia (Thomas) Hayes, farmer-folk, making a specialty of milling. The elder Hayes has long since ciosed his useful career; but Mrs. Hayes is still living. James Hayes attended the country school in rural Missouri, and after that helped his father on the farm. He left home at the age of fourteen, to work for wages, in order to get money to pay his way to

California; and when about seventeen, he managed to migrate to the Coast, and on his arrival here, he went to work for Messrs. Pauley & Son, at Tehachapi, where he continued for some six years. Then he went north to Oregon and Washington, where he worked as a butcher, and later he returned to Tehachapi. Coming back to Pauley & Son's, he was with them for two years; and then he came to Lincoln, and re- mained for six years.

In 1898, Mr. Hayes came to Elk Grove, attracted by its certain future prospect, and showed his faith by buying out a butcher shop and engaging in that busi . ness, continuing actively until in August, 1922, when he sold the business and leased the building. As the pioneer merchant in the town he is naturally entitled to all the honors accompanying that distinction. Not only did Mr. Hayes conduct his market, but he devel- oped a fine prune orchard near his slaughter-house and those eleven acres are now coming into bearing. He retired from commercial activity because he wished to develop his new forty-acre ranch located about three miles northeast from Elk Grove, where he has set out an orchard of prunes and peaches and here he now makes his home, having moved his city home onto his ranch. He has a fine system of irrigation with concrete pipes throughout the ranch and a deep well that he pumps by electric motor.

Mr. Hayes has been married three times. By his first wife, who was Miss Mamie Slattery in maiden- hood, he had a son, William Edward Hayes, now of New York City. His second union was with Miss Nellie Drake and they had a daughter, Dean Hayes, now living in San Francisco. For his third wife he chose Mrs. Hattie Graham, daughter of Dr. James Caples, an esteemed pioneer, and she shares with Mr. Hayes the admiration of a wide circle of friends. Mr. Hayes is a stanch Republican and a public-spirited citizen of Sacramento County.

THOMAS H. ARMSTRONG .- The ancestry of this business man, Thomas H. Armstrong, is traced back to an old New England family. Grandfather Armstrong crossed the plains to California from III- inois in 1849 while still a lad, braving the dangers with a true pioneer spirit; he returned East in 1851 and was married there, and outfitting at St. Joseph, Mo., he returned to California, with his bride. They had many skirmishes with the Indians and lost much of their outfit. He settled in Eldorado County. where he teamed to the mines, then went to Placer County, where he mined and engaged in logging. He came to Sacramento County in 1902, and here he farmed and teamed, passing away in August. 1904. The grandmother died in Iowa in 1898. They had eleven children, among whom were the following: George WV. Armstrong was for a number of years the county clerk of Placer County and died while in office. Le Roy Armstrong was prominent in educa- tional circles and was principal of the Alameda schools. He was editor of the "State School Journal" and is now with the United States Book Company of Los Angeles.

Thomas H. Armstrong was born in Grass Valley, Cal., June 21, 1890, a son of Frank Perry and Maggie (Halligan) Armstrong. Frank Perry Armstrong was born in Palcer County and became well-known as an athlete, for many years holding the championship as foot racer for northern California; an uncle of our

556

HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

subject for many years was district attorney of Nevada County. Both parents are living in Sacra- mento and father and son are in partnership in the brokerage business in the capital city. Thomas H. Armstrong was educated in the public schools, and took a course in business. For a number of years he was engaged in the building business; he was fore- man of the cement work on the tower at the state fair grounds; also the Sacramento Hotel and the Travelers' Hotel. Mr. Armstrong has also been in- terested in agriculture and at the present time owns a small ranch of five acres near the city.

The marriage of Mr. Armstrong united him with Miss Mary Hetherington and they are the parents of one daughter, Agnes. Mr. Armstrong has liberal ideas regarding the political inclinations of office- holders, and believes that principle rather than party should win. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows and is an active and prominent member of the Eagle Lodge of Sac- ramento, having charge of the Sacramento Eagle Drum Corps and is also past state president of Cali- fornia field music for the Eagle Lodge of California, and a member in many civic organizations.

RAY H. MAYHOOD .- A financier whose integ- rity, coupled with his experience and known desire to serve in the great work of hastening the day when California shall come to its own, is Ray H. Mayhood, the popular proprietor of the Mayhood Motor Com- pany, Inc., handling the Durant car at 1520 K Street, now recognized as among the most progressive of Sacramento County institutions. He was born on a farm in Solano County, California, on May 16, 1881, the son of J. B. and Addie (Copley) Mayhood, who had married in New York State and had come out to California in 1870. Mrs. Mayhood has closed her useful and beautiful life, leaving the heritage of a precious memory, but her devoted husband still lives, esteemed by all who know him.

Ray Mayhood attended both the grammar and the high schools of his locality, after which he took up special study in preparation for what he had the ambition and the courage to do. He became office manager Ior Hale Brothers, of Sacramento, and continued in that responsible post for seven years; and then he was secretary for two years of the Sac- ramento Valley Trust Company. In 1912 he came to the Fort Sutter National Bank, as exchange teller, and he worked up to vice-president and manager, continuing until 1923, when he organized his present company, in which he has been able to do much to advance the prosperity and the welfare of individuals, and at the same time to get behind public movements making for the betterment of the community, the state and the nation. He belongs to the Republican party, but is non-partisan in matters of local civic uplift.

Mr. Mayhood was married April 18, 1909, to Miss Iliff Purcell, of Sacramento, the ceremony taking place at Sacramento; and their union has been made the happier by the birth of two sons, Jack and Billy. Mr. and Mrs. Mayhood belong to the Del Paso Country Club, and they devote part of their leisure time to golf and fishing. They enjoy an enviable social popularity, being always ready to respond to social undertakings in their community. Mr. May- hood is a member of Fort Sutter Parlor, N. S. G. W., and of Concord Lodge No. 117, F. & A. M .; and he belongs to the Chamber of Commerce.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 88

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