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 91

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

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

The marriage of Mr. De Coc, in June, 1917, united him with Miss Consuelo Peart, a native daughter of Sacramento; and they are the parents of two sons, Darold D., Jr., and Tisdale P. In politics, Mr. De Coe is a Democrat. Fraterually, he is a Scottish Rite and Knight Templar Mason and a Shriner; and he also belongs to the Elks, the Native Sons of the Golden West, the American Legion, and the Kiwanis Club of Sacramento.

EDWARD J. O'DONNELL, SR .- A well-im- proved and valuable farm in the San Juan belt pays tribute to the care and labor bestowed upon it by its owner, Edward J. O'Donnell, Sr .. who has resided within the borders of the Golden State for a quarter of a century. He is a representative of one of the old and prominent families of Ireland and traces his an- cestry in a direct line to the owners of Castle Donegal. . There the family have lived for generations, and it was at Ardara that Mr. O'Donnell was born, on June 9, 1855. He is the youngest son and only surviving member of the family of James and Ellen (Carbarin) O'Donnell, and was reared and educated at Ardara.

Mr. O'Donnell remained on the Emerald Isle until he reached the age of twenty-two years, and then sought the opportunities of the New World, taking out his first citizenship papers at Rochester, Minn., in 1877. On leaving that state he went to the Puget Sound country, locating in Seattle, Wash .; and in 1895, while a resident of that city, he became a nat- uralized American citizen. For three years Mr. O'Donnell was employed at the Lake Stevens lumber mill on Lake Stevens, in the capacity of steam en- gineer. Thereafter he purchased a farm, which he continued to operate until 1898. He then came with his family to California, and is now the owner of a productive farm of 160 acres, situated eleven miles northeast of Sacramento, in the San Juan belt. He has made a close study of soil and climatic conditions here, and specializes in the growing of grain, in which he has been very successful, his methods being both practical and progressive. Mr. O'Donnell was the only member of his family to come to the West, but he has never had occasion to regret his choice of this location. His brother, Patrick O'Donnell, preceded him to America, settling in Hartford, Conn., where he conducted a blacksmith shop until his death, which occurred about twenty years ago.

In 1879 E. J. O'Donnell married Miss Lucy I. Mor- ris, who was born in Indiana and was but five years of age at the time her parcuts made the journey to Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. O'Donnell have five chil- dren: Edna D., who married George G. Strickland, of Santa Cruz, Cal .; Edward J., Jr., who assists in operating the home ranch; Roselle Ellen, the wife of John F. Barrett; Alice, who married J. E. Stanley, of Lake County, Cal .; and Della I., who is the wife of E. M. Tucker and resides in North Sacramento. There are now fourteen grandchildren in the family circle.

Mr. O'Donnell is a progressive Republican of the Roosevelt type, and has always taken a deep and help- ful interest in community affairs. He is a strong ad- vocate of the cause of education and served for four years as a trustee of the San Juan school. He is a lover of good literature and keeps abreast of the times in every way. He has worked diligently and persistently as the years have passed, and his present success is well merited, for it has been won through methods that neither seek nor require disguise.

EDGAR D. TURNER .- Great changes have taken place on Andrus Island since Edgar D. Turner located there in 1899. From a wild and swampy condition, of unpromising aspect, this island has developed under the untiring industry of well-to-do farmers into one of the garden-spots of this locality. His birth oc- curred in St. Albans, Maine, on January 20, 1863. His parents were N. B. and Alice (Reed) Turner, also natives of Maine, where N. B. Turner was a manu- facturer of shovel handles. Edgar Turner is one of eight children born in his parents' family. The father passed away in Maine in 1891; the mother had pre- ceded him, having passed away when Edgar Turner was eight years old.

Edgar D. Turner received a good education in the grammar and high schools in St. Albans, Maine; Pittsfield Institute, at Augusta, Maine; and the busi- ness college in that place. After completing his edu- cation, he entered his father's business. In California he cast his first vote as an American citizen for James G. Blaine. In 1885 he removed to Guerneville, So- noma County, where one of his brothers had pre- viously located and had established a sawmill; he worked for his brother for ten years, most of the time in a store. In 1899 he removed to Sacramento County and purchased forty acres a half mile above Isleton on Andrus Island; since then he has added by purchase 143 acres, and in addition has bought 120 acres below Isleton and another sixty acres in the Holland traet near Clarksburg, all of the land being devoted to fruit and asparagus.

In San Jose, on November 20, 1897, Mr. Turner was married to Miss Anna M. Talmadge, born on a ranch near Vorden, Cal., a daughter of C. V. and Marjorie Talmadge. Mrs. Turner was a graduate of the normal school at San Jose, Cal., and for a number of years previous to her marriage was engaged in teaching. Mr. and Mrs. Turner are the parents of one son, Edgar D., Jr., a graduate of the law depart- ment of the University of California. In political views Mr. Turner is a stanch Republican. Frater- nally, he belongs to the Sacramento Lodge, No. 6, B. P. O. Elks. Mr. Turner gave the right of way for the new drawbridge connecting Grand Island with Andrus Island, which is now nearing completion.

JOHN FRANKLIN DALE .- California's fame as one of the most desirable states in the Union in which to live has undoubtedly been duc, in part, to the superiority of her excellent educational system, and that educational system has seldom or never been better represented than by the high school of Sac- ramento, whose principal is the successful pedagogue, John Franklin Dale. He was born at Arkabutla, Miss., on February 15, 1878, the son of Edward Hill Dale, a progressive and prosperous farmer who came to California when our subject was four years old. He had married Miss Virginia Catherine Thompson, a charming lady of accomplishments, who has con- tributed much to making their home circle one dis- tinguished for its refined atmosphere and inspiring ideals. Under such an environment, John Franklin Dale grew up, attending the public schools and a private college, and taking up teaching after passing the examinations required for the grammar grades.

John Franklin Dale also went to college for four years, and in 1898 he came into Tulare County, where he was principal of a school for four years. He then became vice-principal of the Tulare high

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

school, and held that responsible post for five years. In 1908 he came to Sacramento, and was vice-prin- cipal of the high school for nine years. He was next principal of the Harkness Junior School for three years, and in 1920 he became the high school's prin- cipal. While in Tulare County, he was president of the county board of education for eight years.

Mr. Dale was married in 1920, to Miss Sarah Maud Green, the ceremony taking place at Sacramento; and the happy couple have since enjoyed the best of life, largely because of what they have put into it. They are fond of tennis, and Mr. Dale likes hunting and fishing. He is a thirty-second degree K. C. C. H. Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, an Odd Fellow and a Red Man, and he belongs to the Rotary Club. In national politics a Democrat, Mr. Dale has always sought to act as independent of political party trammels as possible in purely local affairs, and in that way has become one of the effective and appre- ciated boosters.

MRS. RUTH SHERFEY .- A highly-esteemed resident of Sacramento County is Mrs. Ruth Sherfey, of Clay Station, a native of McMinn County, in east- ern Tennessee, where she was born into the family of Jasper Ware and his good wife, who was Miss Elizabeth Cate before her marriage, the Wares being old Tennessee planters, while the Cate family also dated back in the stirring history of that state. Mr. WVare was a farmer, and when our subject was twelve years old, he moved to the northern part of Arkansas. He homesteaded land, which he never improved; and having disposed of his holdings there, he moved into the southern part of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Ware had five children, among whom Ruth was the eldest; Susan Elizabeth, Allen, and Emma and Simeon, both deceased, being the younger brothers and sisters.

On May 7, 1875, Miss Ware was married to John Wilson, the ceremony taking place at the Ware home- stead in Arkansas. John was the second eldest of six children, Francis being older, and Samuel, George (now deceased), Anna, and Robert being younger. Mr. Wilson was a native of Camden, Ark., and was a farmer.

In 1889, Mrs. Wilson came to California with her husband and he leased land at Clay, and cultivated it for eleven years, returning then to Arkansas for two years, when they came back to California. He worked on ranches and farmed for himself; and he worked at Forest Hill, getting out mining timber, and then farmed at Auburn. While living in Arkan- sas, he was justice of the peace. He died at Auburn, March 30, 1907, aged fifty-seven, esteemed and mourned by all who knew him.

In December, 1908, Mrs. Wilson was married at Auburn, Cal., to Allen Sherfey, a native of Illinois, who was seven or eight years old when he reached California with his parents. He grew up in this county and later he raised sheep, and had about 2,000 in his flock. He was a Democrat, and a member of the Ione Lodge of Odd Fellows. Mr. and Mrs. Sherfey lived at Clay, and there the home in which Mrs. Sherfey is now living was built in 1915. He was the center of a circle of very devoted friends, and was also truly mourned when he died, on Aug- ust 12. 1918, when in his sixty-third year.

Sacramento County may well be proud of such pioneer families as these, and every resident of this

region will join in doing honor to this very repre- sentative Tennessee lady who has done so much, in her day and generation, to make the world better for her having lived in it.

JOSEPH MARTINEZ BORBA .- A successful asparagus and fruit grower on Grand Island is Jos- eph Martinez Borba, who owns a 205-acre ranch two miles above Isleton. He was born on Terceira, one of the Azores Islands, October 8, 1878, a son of Joseph Martinez and Anna Felicia (Ignazia) Bor- ba. His father was born in 1853, and his mother in October, 1858. Joseph M., of this sketch, is the eld- est of ten children, the others being Mary, John, Jesse, Rosie, Ignacia, Francis, Frank, Manuel, and Joseph. Both parents are living at the old home on the Azores Islands, aged seventy and sixty-five years, respectively.

Joseph M. Borba received a public-school educa- tion in his native land and remained at home with his parents until he was twenty-two years of age, when he came to California and worked for wages on a dairy farm at Menlo Park, San Mateo County, working long hours and each day for $15 a month. Then he settled in the delta, near Isleton, on the Sacramento River, where he leased forty acres for three years and raised vegetables. He then bought fifty-five acres of his present ranch two miles above Isleton on Grand Island, and four years later bought a 155-acre ranch half a mile away from the home place, which is also equipped with an electric pump- ing plant, both places being improved to orchards. He has improved his farms with a fine residence and other farm buildings, and is successfully raising fruit, asparagus, beans, potatoes, etc.

At Sacramento, in March, 1906, Mr. Borba was married to Miss Mary Caroline de Rosa, a native of Pico, in the Azores Islands, a daughter of Joseph and Anna de Rosa and the youngest of four chil- dren. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Borba was blessed with one child, Anna. Mrs. Borba passed away in 1917, and subsequently Mr. Borba was. married to Miss Mary De Mello, born on Andrus Island, Cal., a daughter of Luiz De Mello, a farmer on Andrus Island. She received her education at the Georgiana school. They are the parents of five children: Jos- eph, Mary, Manuel, Vernal, and Edna. Mr. Borba is a member of the Isleton Lodge, I. D. E. S., and the Ryde Lodge, U. P. E. C., being treasurer of both lodges.

Mr. Borba worked very hard to get a start. He put in long, hard hours each day in the dairy at small pay, and later worked on the California Trans- portation Company's boats at $35 a month; but he saved his money, and in that way was able in time to purchase a small ranch, since which time he has been very successful. He has become a prosperous and well-to-do rancher, and is now enjoying the fruits of his labors. In 1905 Mr. Borba made a trip back to the Azores to visit his father and mother and other relatives, and spent five delightful months going over the scenes of his childhood and visiting the old swimming-hole. On his return to California he was more pleased than ever that fortune had caused him to cast in his lot with the land of sun- shine, gold, and flowers. Mr. Borba owns a fine residence at 551 Junipero Street, Pacific Grove, to which the family make frequent trips. Mr. Borba is liberal and enterprising, and is ever ready to assist worthy objects for the improvement of the county.

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

CAPT. PETER BENJAMIN GONZALES .- Probably one of the best-known and most expert captains on the Sacramento River, one whose genial manner has made him a host of friends, is Peter Benjamin Gonzales, who was born on May 2, 1878, at Oakland, Cal. His father, Martin Gonzales, who was one of the oldest captains on the Sacramento River, and whose sketch is also included in this volume, was married to Charlotte Swenson. Both parents are now deceased.

Peter Benjamin Gonzales was educated in the pub- lic schools of Oakland and the Oakland Business College, where he was graduated. In 1895 he started out to work as a cub pilot for the Sacramento Trans- portation Company, now the Sacramento Navigation Company, and was employed for two years without wages while learning navigation. After serving two years as a barge pilot, he received his pilot papers and was employed by the Sacramento Transportation Company, whom he has served ever since. For three years he was on the steamer Red Bluff, with Cap- tain Allen, and in 1911 he took charge of the steamer Dover as captain. It is interesting that his father was the oldest captain and he was the youngest on the Sacramento River, both working for the same company. Since then he has been master of all the company's boats-the Colusa, San Joaquin No. 1, San Joaquin No. 2, Jacinto, Dover, Red Bluff, Flora, San Joaquin No. 3, which was burned, and the steamer Verona, which was also burned. He is now the senior captain in actual working service with this company. He has had a successful career as master of boats, and is highly esteemed as a navigator.

In Sacramento, Captain Gonzales was united in marriage with Miss Gertrude Horn, of San Fran- cisco. They were blessed with a little girl Muriel, who is now the wife of Mr. Edward T. Dudley of Los Angeles, and the mother of one child, Edward Dudley. Mr. Gonzales is a member of the National Mates and Pilots' Association. Politically he affili- ates with the Republican party.

JOSIAH ARVIN POLHEMUS .- A broad-minded and public-spirited man, ever ready to cast his influ- ence on the side of any movement for the good of the community as a whole, is Josiah Arvin Polhemus, a worthy, honorable official, who has served for twen- ty-four years as justice of the peace. He was born on April 9, 1859, at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the son of Cornelius B. and Emma (Kennedy) Polhemus. In 1850, his father, a carpenter and miner, crossed the plains and came to California; here he remained for five years. He then returned to Iowa and married Emma Kennedy. In 1859, after the birth of their son, Josiah A., they crossed the wide expanse and settled in the Golden State. Mr. Polhemus' father passed away in 1886; his mother is also deceased.

Josiahı A. Polhemus was educated in the public schools in the vicinity of Elk Grove. He started working on the farm when a mere boy and has been at this work ever since. He purchased a farm and en- gaged in grain-raising; he now owns twenty-four acres he has improved to vineyard and orchard. Since 1897 he has served as justice of the peace.

Josiah A. Polhemus was united in marriage near Elk Grove, October 10, 1883, to Miss Emily Stickney, a native of Princeton, Ill., the daughter of Edwin

W. and Mehitable (Fifield) Stickney, who brought their family across the plains in 1863. Mr. and Mrs. Polhemus are the parents of seven children, five of whom are living: Elbert, Josiah Arvin, Jr., George, Mrs. Emma Burney and Clarence. All of the sons except Elbert served in the World War. Mr. Pol- hemus is a stanch Republican and belongs to the fra- ternal order of the Foresters of America. He is also a member of the Elk Grove Grange.

HARRY G. KREBS .- The commercial activities of Sacramento find an able representative in Harry G. Krebs, a native son of the capital city, who, as a life- long resident thereof, has acquired a breadth of in- formation regarding local conditions that is equalled by few and perhaps surpassed by none. The business to which he has given the larger share of his time has proved a lucrative investment, and has attained high standing among establishments of a similar nature in the city. A large stock of paints and wall paper is kept on hand, the sale of these being in- creased by the fact that contracts are also taken for interior decorating and exterior painting. It is the aim of the proprietor to keep in stock a complete assortment of paints and preparations for interior finishing, and the very latest styles of papers. Strictly up-to-date in the stock carried, and strictly honorable in the methods of conducting his business, Mr. Krebs has won the confidence of a large circle of patrons.

A member of an old family of California, and him- self a native of Sacramento, he was born June 9, 1880, a son of Charles Henry and Charlotte (Mueller) Krebs. He received a public school education in this city, and since leaving school has devoted his attention to business pursuits. The father crossed the plains to California in 1850, and ten years later the mother came via the Isthmus of Panama. The father passed away in 1892, but is survived by his widow, who makes her home in Sacramento. On March 18, 1909, the business, which had been established in 1854 by the father, Charles H. Krebs, and named after him, was incorporated as C. H. Krebs & Co., of which Harry G. Krebs was made treasurer. His brother, Franklin H. Krebs, was also interested in the busi- ness until his death in 1913. In 1919 the Krebs build- ing was remodeled and modernized, thus enabling Mr. Krebs to carry a larger and more complete stock, the new entrance and location being changed to Seventh Street, where they occupy numbers 1008-1012, but in the same building.

The marriage of Mr. Krebs took place on January 15, 1908, and united him with Miss Lillis N. Swan- ston, also a native of Sacramento, and the daughter of George Swanston, a wholesale butcher and well- known citizen of Sacramento. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Harry G. Krebs: Swanston, Ward, and Nancy Jane. Mr. Krebs is active frater- nally, being a member of the Sacramento Parlor, N. S. G. W., a Knight Templar Mason, and a charter and life member of Ben Ali Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and has been a director and is also an ex-director of the Rotary Club and a member of the Del Paso Country Club. The Republican party has received his ballot in all national elections since his majority. He has manifested in all his undertakings, whether in private or in civic affairs, a spirit of progressiveness and enter- prise which has brought him success and the confi- dence of all with whom he has dealings.

Mr. & Carr

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

FRANK E. GRAY .- An expert plasterer who is an experienced contractor, is Frank E. Gray, of 3660 First Avenue, Sacramento, the city in which he was born on April 15, 1891. His father, George Gray, came out to California by way of the Horn, in 1856, while his mother, who was Miss Ida Steele, followed in 1861, accompanying her parents across the Kit Carson trail; and at Oleta they were married. Grand- mother Lucas is still active at the age of eighty-five. Mr. Gray mined for a while, and then he became a railroad conductor on the Southern Pacific; and when he died, full of honors and rich in friends, in 1909, he was the oldest railroad man on his division.

Frank Gray attended the public grammar school, and then went for a short time to the high school. and when old enough to do so, he learned the plas- terer's trade, which he has followed ever since. From the beginning, he made a record for good, faithful work; and by 1914 he was able to establish himself in business, and ever since he has continued on his own responsibility. He has plastered all the new schoolhouses except three in Sacramento, the County Hospital buildings, the Mull Building, the Sutter Hos- pital, and many of the finest residences; and to carry on this work, he has employed ten men regularly, and sometimes more. He belongs to the Builders' Ex- change, and is a Republican.

Mrs. Gray was Miss Hannah F. Rhoden before her marriage, and she came from Minnesota, although she was reared in Sacramento. Four children have been born of this fortunate union; and they are El- mer, Marion, Jack and Robert. Though a very busy man, Mr. Gray still finds time to enjoy an occasional outing, and his chief hobbies are hunting and fishing. Mr. Gray is ever ready to give of his time and means for the moral, civic, and material upbuilding of his native city.

CHARLES S. SMITH .- For more than half a century a resident of Sacramento County, Charles S. Smith is well known especially in the Galt district, where he has for many years extensively engaged in fanching. New York was Mr. Smith's native state and there he was born in Fulton County, October 4. 1848, his parents being Arthur A. and Sarah (Van- derburg) Smith, both natives of the Empire State. The father, who was a merchant in Fulton County, lived to be seventy-four years old, Mrs. Smith pass- ing away when sixty-two.

One of a family of three children, Charles S. Smith spent his boyhood days near the scene of his birthplace. In 1867, when eighteen years old, he started for California via the Isthmus of Panama. leaving New York on March 7, and landing at San Francisco on April 2, 1867. He soon made his way to the Reese River country near Austin, Nev., work- ing in the mines and quartz mills there for two years. Coming to Sacramento County from there, he has ever since made his home here except for one year spent in Mendocino County, Cal. After raising stock and poultry in various parts of Sacramento County, he purchased a ranch of 640 acres about ten miles northeast of Galt and there he engaged in farming until about two years ago, when he disposed of his farm property and removed to Galt, where he is now living, retired from active business after a busy life.

At Sacramento in June, 1880, Mr. Smith was mar- ried to Miss Dalila Robillard, born in Montreal, Can- ada, of French ancestry, her parents being Alexis 37

and Louise (St. Denis) Robillard. Mrs. Smith, who was one of a family of twelve children, came to Cali- fornia in 1878. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the parents of five children: Alexis and John of Galt; Sarah, Mrs. Howery of Acampo, Cal .; George of Galt; Joseph, the youngest, is deceased, giving his life for his country while a member of the American forces in Siberia during the World War. He was honored by his comrades in the American Legion, the Galt organization being called the Smith-Lippi Post. Mrs. Smith died at Galt, August 15, 1921, aged sixty-four. Mr. Smith is a Republican in politics and is promi- nent in Masonic circles, being master of the Galt lodge, and a member of the Eastern Star.

WALTER C. CARR .- Though retired from active participation in business affairs, Walter C. Carr is one of the strong and influential men of the Fruitridge sec- tion adjacent to the city of Sacramento, having for the past twenty-five years been associated with its best moral and material growth. He was born on his father's farm near Plymouth, N. H., February 16, 1842, the youngest of four children born to Jacob and Harriet (Beattie) Carr, both natives of New Hamp- shire. Jacob Carr was of Scotch descent, while Har- riet Carr came from an old English family who settled in America in early colonial days. Jacob Carr and his wife were reared, educated and married in New Hampshire, where they became prosperous farm- ers and continued to reside until their demise. Walter C. Carr received his education in the public schools of New Hampshire, and after completing his school course was associated with his father on the home place until his twenty-first year, when he began farm- ing on his own account.

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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 91

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