History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches, Part 46

Author: Morrison, Annie L. Stringfellow, 1860-; Haydon, John H., 1837-
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1070

USA > California > San Luis Obispo County > History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches > Part 46

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In 1809, with his brother David, he engaged in dairying near Petaluma, Me cab being located about on the line of Sonoma and Marin counties. Nonest wwwr. with B. Tomasini, he leased land, bought one hundred ten mih womes, al until 1876 ran a dairy near Point Reyes station. Then HE Mieweed in his hollings and came to San Luis Obispo County. On I arnyal be leased land north of Cayucos, stocking the twelve hundred

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eighty-six acres with about one hundred seventy-five head of dairy stock, and so successful was he with the business that in 1884 he was able to buy the entire ranch, which he still owns.

As soon as he became a landowner he began needed improvements by adding to the house, and building barns and a modern dairy house. He set cut an orchard and ornamental trees, and made of his place a first-class dairy and home ranch. From time to time he has added to his holdings and now owns six hundred seventy-two acres on Toro creek, six hundred seventy acres on Villa creek, eleven hundred thirty acres near Cayucos, and about fourteen hundred acres near Morro. All of this land is devoted to the stock and dairy business, and to grain raising. With three partners, Mr. Muscio bought a ranch of seventeen hundred acres near Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara county, which was improved and carried on as a dairy and stock ranch until they sold it several years ago. Today he is the owner of five thousand one hundred fifty-eight acres of land, all acquired by his own efforts.

But the management of his landed interests does not represent the extent of Mr. Muscio's activities; he is a stockholder and a director in the Commercial Bank of San Luis Obispo, and was connected with the Dairy- men's Union of San Francisco and, for a time, with the banking interests of that city. He was one of the organizers and one of the first directors of the Bank of Cambria ; but when he moved to town he resigned from the board. As a trustee of his school district he aided materially in building up the Someo school, giving it the name of his native town; he assisted with the building of the Catholic church of Cayucos, and in every way has shown his interest in the upbuilding of the county. He has been a Mason for the past thirty-five years, holding membership in San Simeon Lodge No. 196, F. & A. M. He is a member of San Luis Chapter No. 62, R. A. M., and of San Luis Obispo Lodge No. 322, B. P. O. Elks.

In San Francisco, June 25, 1871, Abram Muscio was married to Assonta Righetti, who, like himself, is a native of Switzerland and born in the same town. Of this union six children have been born. They have been given every educational advantage to make them useful men and women. Dante is cashier of the Calaveras County Bank ; and Romilio R. is vice-president of the Commercial Bank of San Luis Obispo. Both these young men were sent to Europe for four years, to complete their education ; and they can speak Italian, French and German fluently. Both are graduates of Ilcald's Busi- ness College of San Francisco. Sila, a graduate of King's Conservatory of Music of San Jose, is the wife of J. Maino; Lillian graduated from the State Normal, and is teaching in the public schools of San Luis Obispo; Adina is a graduate of the San Luis Obispo Business College, and Florence is a graduate of the same institution and of Mills College, at Oakland, and both reside at home.

After a long and useful career, Mr. Muscio retired from active partici- pation in business in 1907 and is enjoying the fruits of his labors in his beau- tiful home-one of the finest in the city-purchased from J. J. Crocker and located at 793 Bushon street. He is respected as a self-made man by all who know him. He attends to his own business, making frequent trips to his properties, and spends such time as he can at the old home, to which he is much attached, and he is much interested in stock and land. Mr. Muscio is a Republican.

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MRS. LUCY GILLIS .- It is interesting to chronicle the life history of a woman who has made a success of farming and stock-raising, in spite of the wobIs against her at times, and who, by her energy and foresight, has be- come well to-do, and prominent. Such a woman is Mrs. Lucy Gillis, who lis been a resident of San Luis Obispo County since 1879. She was born near kahoka, Clark county, Mo., a daughter of James and Louisa (Lucas) Mckenzie, natives of Kentucky and Indiana respectively, who became farm- ers in Missouri, where the father died. Her mother was again married, her second husband being Peter Gillis, who had returned from a trip to Cali- fornia, where he was a cattle-raiser and dairyman near San Simeon, in San Luis Obispo County. He had been a pioneer of this state, having crossed the plains with ox teams in 1855, locating first near what is now Dixon, Solano county, where he remained until about 1868, when he moved to San Luis Obispo County and engaged in dairying and raising stock. There his first wife, Nancy Emily Webb, passed away. Having married again, Peter Gillis returned to California and resumed his vocation on his ranch; and there his second wife passed away when she was about sixty-five years old. Mr. Gillis died at the home of Mrs. Lucy Gillis, in the Red Hills, at the age of eighty-two.

Mrs. Gillis was the youngest of the Mckenzie children, the others being Frank, who lives on the old farm in Clark county, Mo .; Wilbur, who is in Blackton, Ia .; Mrs. Lizzie Pullins, who died in Missouri and one of whose seven children, Polk Pullin, came to California and is now engaged as a partner with Mrs. Gillis; Mrs. Jane Lucas, who died in Missouri; Nancy, Mrs. Rowe, who resides in Portland; and Albert, who is a resident of Lompoc, Cal. Mrs. Gillis was brought up in Missouri and was educated in the public schools of her time. Though having limited advantages, she has acquired a liberal education by private reading and study. She was united in marriage at San Simeon, in 1887, to Polk Gillis, a native of Iowa, who was a California pioneer of 1854, when he, with other members of his family, came across the plains with ox teams and wagons. He settled in Solano county, where he began general farming and raising stock. Coming to San Simeon, he engaged in the dairy business, and is recognized as one of the pioneers in that special department of agriculture in this section of the county.

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Gillis continued ranching and dairy- ulg for five years, milking about one hundred fifty cows, panning the milk, skimming by hand and churning with horse power, and then making the butter into rolls, and packing and shipping it to San Francisco. The water for scalding the pans was heated in a large boiler, and all the work that is Mit. Ione by machinery was done by hand. In 1885 they sold out their dairy mel moved to the Red Hills section above Shandon, the headquarters for their operations since that time, where they pre-empted one hundred sixty acres LID homesteaded a like amount. It was here that Mr. Gillis died, June 7, Wowwgel sixty-four years.

Juste the years that Mrs. Gillis has lived here, she has been at the To ler an als ihr nagement of affairs ; land has been added from time to time, andl'ho pourle has been broken up and down to grain, usually netting good Taifunis The 1.helt now comprises about twenty-five hundred sixty acres, and Te locanal nit wit.t i- known as Gillis canon, about nine miles from Shandon in The place is well fenced and is watered by numerous springs

Mm Lucy Filler

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and creeks; and the stock that is raised here is of the best grade. One thousand acres is under the plow, and three hundred fifty acres is sown to wheat each season. The cattle are Herefords and Durhams, and the well-known brand, bar LP, is her personal mark of ownership. In her farming operations, she is associated with her nephew, Polk Pullins, who gives his personal attention to the stock and to the farm.

One child was born to Mrs. Gillis-Elbert, a farmer and stockman in Gillis cañon. She has always been interested in the cause of education and is serving as a member of the school board of the Alliance district. Since becoming a citizen of the county, more than thirty-eight years ago, she has witnessed many changes and improvements in farming, besides changes in the citizenry of the county, where she is well and favorably known.

CHARLES A. CHEADLE .- The leading poultry ranch of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties is owned by Charles A. Cheadle, founder of the Berros Cove Poultry Ranch, the largest of its kind in the two counties. Mr. Cheadle was born in Pike county, Ill., November 21, 1857, a son of George L. and Sarah Jane Cheadle, both of whom are now living retired in Santa Maria at the ages of eighty-three and seventy-nine respectively. Their six living children are Mrs. Zella Connor, of Nebraska; Mrs. Nettie Griffin, of Tucson, Ariz .; Mrs. Annie Ables, of Orange county, Cal. ; George W., of Santa Maria ; Charles A. ; and William.

The father crossed the plains to California with ox-teams in 1863, and settled at Danville, Contra Costa county, where he started blacksmithing and built up a fine business, running three forges. He was the pioneer of his trade in that town, and in 1870 sold out and began farming at the Cotton- woods, fifteen miles southwest of Hill's Ferry, Merced county ; and from there he went to Tulare county, and in that part now embraced in Kings county took up a government claim of one hundred and sixty acres near Hanford. This he proved up on and improved, farming successfully until he sold out in 1881 in order to locate in Santa Barbara county. In 1883 he located in San Luis Obispo County, and, with Nelson Archibald, bought seven hundred acres near Los Berros, and it became known as the Archibald & Cheadle tract. Here he farmed until he retired to private life in Santa Maria.

Charles A. Cheadle was but six years old when the family crossed the plains and he well remembers events of the journey. He attended the public schools, and when he had completed the courses he assisted his father to get the ranch near Hanford under cultivation, dug irrigating ditches and built fences and otherwise made himself useful about the place. On coming to this county, he continued to assist his father, and later began independent operations by renting two hundred acres which he farmed successfully for two years. He is now the owner of fifty-five acres at Los Berros, which he farms to grain and corn.

Mr. Cheadle started his poultry business on this ranch in 1909, with seventy-five laying hens which he bought of the Model Poultry Farm, and from that small beginning he has 4,000 laying hens, and one of the most modern chicken ranches in this section. He is breeding up to the McFar- lane strain. In 1916 he bought 1.100 one-day-old chicks and one hundred of the best breeders. The incubator house contains six modern machines with a

SAN TEIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

comenterable sauce of revenue. A bookkeeper and two lady clerks and a Martor complete the list of employes of the corporation. A complete stock of drwgs wool medicines of all kinds is carried, and courteous treatment, prompt Service and a square deal are the aim of the Gardner-Wheaton Company.

Mrs. Gardner is a charter member of the Improvement Club and the Minerva Literary Club. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and sang in its choir for years. She has an excellent ear for music, and her work as a chorister in the church will not soon be forgotten. This posi- tion has descended to her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Charles V. Gardner, who 1. endowed with more than ordinary musical ability. Politically, Mrs. Helen L. Gardner supports the men, women, and measures that, in her estimation, pre best suited for the prevailing conditions. She is president of the Gard- Ter-Wheaton Drug Company, and is interested in every forward movement. She resides in her cozy home at 419 South Broadway, where she is sur- rounded by all the comforts of life, and by the society of her many friends.

WILLIAM JOHE .- It is to the German Empire that the United States has become indebted for some of her best and most progressive citizens. They are to be found everywhere and engaged in every line of work, and almost all of them have made good in their chosen vocations. Of this number mention may be made of William Johe, one of the men who have seen the city of San Luis Obispo grow from a mission town to its present proportions, and have seen the country develop into prosperous ranches and dairy farms. He was born in Grossherzogtum, Hessen, Germany, June 15, 1842, a son of Adam and Katherina (Heilman) Johe, both born and raised in the same part of the country. William attended the public schools in Germany until he was fourteen years old, and then began working for wages. From the age of seventeen until he was twenty-six, he worked on the home farm; then he came to the United States, arriving in May, 1868, in Santa Clara county, where he had two brothers, Leonard and George M. Johe. The first five years were spent in Santa Clara working for wages. At the end of this time, in 1873, he came to San Luis Obispo County, thinking he could better his condition ; and he has always considered it a wise move, for he has pros- pered in his adopted home, and has won a host of friends.

Arriving in this county, he leased from Goldtree Bros. one hundred sixty heres of land lying next to where the county hospital now stands, and for five years remained there, when he moved to another of the Goldtree ranches four miles south of the town, where he continued for two years. His brother, George M. Johe, was a partner with him in the enterprise. At the end of two years. Mr. Johe moved to the Los Osos and bought a place of nine Iindred acres; and there he embarked in dairying and stock-raising on a larger scale, being joined one year later by his brother. Two years after- woord they divided the property, William Johe remaining on his portion for the Blowing eighteen years. In 1897, he bought his home place of one hundred Www fores on the Laguna. Here he has thirty-five acres of alfalfa and carrito a very successful farming enterprise.

M. Tole was married in San Luis Obispo to Annie Elizabeth Hornbach, Terem Germany ; and they have five children : Leon ; George; William D., Ad Henry : and Elizabeth. Mr. Johe served fifteen years as school to Go De . Osos district, and did much to maintain good schools there. Whey It nloved to his present place and became a member of the board

Og Saugo

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of trustees of the Laguna school district, there was no fence around the school yard and the building was in need of repair. The district was out of funds, and he at once inaugurated an economical régime, in consequence of which there was soon enough money to buy lumber ; and he and the other trustees built a fence about the yard and put the building in repair. He served as one of the trustees for about seven years and did much to further the cause of maintaining a good school. Ever since he became a citizen of the county Mr. Johe has been a supporter of the churches and the schools, and an advocate of good roads and of movements for uplifting humanity and bettering conditions generally.

CATANO JOSEPH SOUZA AND MARIA DOROTHY SOUZA .- How much California, as well as many other parts of America, owes to the Portuguese who, while leaving their beautiful island country to find more promising conditions in the New World, yet brought with them those homely virtues and that industry and persistence which beautify life and make for success, is shown in the story of Catano J. Souza and his wife and widow Maria, long honored and esteemed in this part of the state. The late Catano J. Souza was a very successful man, one who could foresee the growing greatness of his locality. After he had been living here about two years he made his first purchase of land, ninety acres on the Oso Flaco, although at the time he possessed but eighty dollars and one horse; but he went into debt for $2,000 to become a landowner. He worked hard and saved his money, and in three years had his place free of debt, and in fourteen years he sold it for $9,000.

With this to start on, he again bargained for two hundred seventy acres in the same locality and went into debt for $36,000. After owning his land for twenty-five years, he made an exchange with the Union Sugar Co. in December, 1909, for the valuable ranch he left to his heirs, which is now being successfully farmed to beans. This is known as the Sherman ranch, located near Santa Maria on the Guadalupe road. The record of his career in the management of these eight hundred splendid acres, together with that of his widow who took up the responsibility when he died, should be inspiring, especially to the newcomer with both the future and fortune ahead.

Mrs. Souza was born in the Azores, the daughter of Joseph Brass, whose sketch we give elsewhere, and she was a sister of Anton V. Bras, the first of that family to come to California. When Anton had enjoyed the invigor- ating climate of California for a couple of years, he sent for Maria and another sister, who married Anton J. Souza, and they came together, arriving here when Maria was but eighteen years of age. In 1886, the latter was married to Catano J. Souza, and until Mr. Souza's death they lived in un- alloyed happiness. Catano Joseph Souza, or as he was called in Portuguese, Caetano Jose de Souza, was born in the island of Flores, one if the Azores group, September 24, 1863, and came to America when he was seventeen years of age. His father was Manuel J. and his mother Mary Souza ; and both par- ents were born, lived and died in the Azores.

Leaving his native island in 1880, Catano Souza sailed the ocean for two years, and finally settled in the Santa Maria valley. He and his wife proved hard workers and soon made money, especially when they came to devote their land to the growing of beans ; so that for some time he was a prominent 22

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

rancher uil fimlowiner in that part of the state. Eight children were born To the suffers Mary, the wife of John P. Domingues, a rancher in the Samia Aasta Willey Annie, who died, aged eighteen ; Frank C., a rancher who married Wh- Miha Lewis, and whose sketch will be found elsewhere in the nume_ joint I another rancher whose sketch is also given, and who married All -- Wells Zanetti; Catano, who died when he was fifteen ; Manuel C., stigle. , witcher in partnership with John P. Souza; Isabella, who passed www. wii March 23. 1917, at the age of seventeen years and eleven months; all BLar ie, who attends the high school.

(. ). Souza was an Elk, and lived in a comfortable residence at 503 East Main street, Santa Maria. From there he easily reached the three hundred hans-seven acres of upland and a little piece on the north side of Santa Maria Twer. now held by his widow. When he died, the funeral took place from the Attholic church, under the auspices of the I. D. E. S. and the U. P. E. C. Societies and the B. P. O. Elks, of which he was a member; and there was the largest cortege known in that vicinity, the procession slowly winding to Santa Maria Cemetery.

MARTIN LUTHER TUNNELL .- The life history of Mr. Tunnell is me of unusual interest, full of incidents and possessing that fascination which attaches to all lives of our pioneers. Through a career that covered the Urcater part of the nineteenth century and the opening years of the twen- neth. he welcomed all advancement and witnessed the remarkable develop- Ment of the United States. and saw the trans-Mississippi desert transformed mmo one of the most fertile regions of the world. and the remarkable growth m 1opulation of this rich western country. By birth and descent a South- Arier, and for many years identified with the South, he spent so large a Wrtion of his life in the West that he was a typical Westerner, a grand rep- tentative of the pathfinders, so few of whom remain to enjoy the comforts of the present day.

in Nashville. Tenn., Martin Luthern Tunnell first saw the light. Febru- OF 23. 1824. a son of John and Nancy (Worthington) Tunnell, who were 1og Me foriner on February 23, 1773, and the latter on June 11, 1784, and dler marriage took place. December 16, 1800, in Tennessee. Martin Tun- well spent lis summers on the home farm, and his winters in attending the Meiner cin-1. mui] he struck out for himself. Then he entered the service w Min zwergeweht and took part in the Mexican War, serving three years. - mwtried. May 11. 1848, in Nashville, Tenn., to Salina Haskins, wwf Iblan 1 Margaret Haskins ; and three years later. in 1851, out- w fie big trip across the plains with ox teams and prairie schooners. pertences were met and overcome on the long journey, and no and one ordinary are recorded. On arriving in California, Mr. que into Sonoma county and engaged in farming and rais- the men who were working in the mines, believing that to success as to dig for gold on his own account. He -- and in September, 1868, came on down to Santa Bar- med and farmed a quarter section cornering on the north- wow Wain and Broadway, where stands the Bradley Hotel. Wiemell located a homestead of one hundred sixty acres we heb miles southeast of his first location, and continued La fini brought him success further north. The ranch has

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since been known as the Tunnell ranch and is still in the possession of the family, as is part of the land that cornered on the main business streets of what is now Santa Maria, but which, long after he settled there, was called Central City. The name was changed in order to have a post office in the settlement. He engaged in raising stock, his brand being MT, which was registered in Santa Barbara county in 1869, and was among the very first to be registered there, and which was known far and wide to Indians, cowboys and all stockmen.

Several children were born to this worthy couple. John L. married Ella M. Cook, and died May 6, 1914, leaving three children ; Francis M. married Emma Hopper, has eight children and lives at Los Olivos; Eliza J. married W. K. Hobson of Santa Maria and has one child: Thomas J. married Mary Bradley, and they have five children and reside in the Santa Maria valley ; James M. died January 2, 1904, from the effects of a horse kick in San Fran- cisco; William H., of this city, married Fannie Davis, and they have three children ;. Martin L., of Kernville, Cal., married, and his wife died some years ago, leaving a son ; George R., of Santa Maria, married Ellen Kortner and has two children ; Henry C. married Fannie Stowell and lives south of the city ; and Nellie A., wife of Charles Shattuck of San Francisco, has one son, Neal Sedgwick, by a former marriage. These children were all reared to be useful men and women and have taken their places in the busy affairs of life; and like their parents, they make and hold their friends by their sterling qualities of manhood and womanhood.

All enterprises having for their object the good of the community found Mr. Tunnell an advocate and friend, ready to give substantial aid. No worthy object of charity ever appealed to him in vain. Though never a seeker for office himself, he gave his support to his friends. He voted the Pro- hibition ticket at national elections. He was an active supporter of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He and his wife were happy in the society of their children and grandchildren. Mr. Tunnell passed away on September 9. 1903, and his wife passed to her reward on February 5, that same year.

GEORGE R. TUNNELL .- It is but natural that a native son of the state should be interested in the welfare of his own section of country and. as far as is possible, assist all worthy projects that have for their object the preservation of data relative to the comings and goings of the pioneers. the betterment of the community at large and the moral uplift of the people. Such a man is George R. Tunnell, who was born at Ukiah, Mendocino county, and when a child of two years was brought by his parents, Martin Luther and Salina (Haskins) Tunnell, who crossed the plains with ox-teams in 1851 and settled first in Sonoma county, later lived in Mendocino county and in 1868 came down to Santa Barbara county and settled on a tract of land that cornered on the main streets of what is now Santa Maria, then known as Central City.

It was in this pioneer environment that George grew to manhood, and attended the first school established in this section, called the Pleasant Valley school, in the building erected on land donated by his father for that purpose. In those days the young folks would have the old-time dances and other festivities to break the monotony of frontier life and farm work: and there were other interesting affairs, such as the annual rodeos, when the cowboys and stockmen would gather to cut out and brand their stock. Mr. l'unnell

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History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches, Part 46

Author: Morrison, Annie L. Stringfellow, 1860-; Haydon, John H., 1837- Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company Number of Pages: 1070

Author: Morrison, Annie L. Stringfellow, 1860-; Haydon, John H., 1837-
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1070