History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches, Part 55

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

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3Th and Mrs Freeman have seven children : Ona, Thelma. Richard, Izvor Ralph. Ernest, and May.

Hong greatly interested in the cause of education and in providing good bowl de gretman is serving as a trustee of Ranchita district. Fraternally, De 11 000000 is a Mason, a member of San Miguel Lodge, No. 285, and in 0 . 10 20 Democrat. Mr. Freeman and his estimable wife are very hos- of, and not really to give of their time and means toward any move- mart int the betterment of the community.

MATHIAS R. SWALL .- The town of Arroyo Grande has drawn within No probl . Bm its many men whose business capacity and fine traits of Wp Wollt be a credit to any community, and foremost among these Mor R. Swall, business man, banker and promoter of the best interests

fiori in La Salle county, Ill., March 19, 1862, a son of TheTwo w bt ( Haines) Swall, the former a native of Germany. Of De amon twelve children were born. Mr. Swall brought his family to Cali- Trowe got towarily settled in San Jose in 1865; then he moved to the

Rega & theem

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

San Joaquin valley and until 1871 farmed near what is now Tracy. le oest went to Monterey county, where he followed the same work until ill owned to Ventura county in 1875, and engaged in raising beans. In 1881, he moved to that part of Los Angeles county now known as Sherman ; and there In lived retired until his death, in 1896.

Mathias R. Swall attended the public schools of California. In 1880 he started in to learn the butcher trade in San Jose : and after three years he was competent to carry on business for himself and was thus engaged until 1888. when he sold out and started to look for a good location for an energetic business man desiring to grow up with the community. Finally arriving in Arroyo Grande, he found his opportunity and bought out a shop; and there. during the following eighteen years, he conducted a growing business, in the meantime buying and selling stock on a large scale. lle disposed of the shop in 1906, and relinquished the cattle business in 1908.

In 1901, the Commercial Bank of San Luis Obispo established a branch of their institution in Arroyo Grande. Mr. Swall became one of the local stockholders ; and in 1903, when the branch bank was purchased by local capitalists, he became a director of the new organization, known as the Bank of Arroyo Grande. In 1908 he was elected vice-president, and in 1910 became president of the concern. It has been largely through his efforts that the bank has grown to its present prosperous condition and is so firmly estab- lished in the community. It has grown from a modest business to a bank of considerable importance in the coast region, and holds the confidence of a large number of depositors.

Mr. Swall was united in marriage at Los Gatos, April 25, 1885, with Miss Mary Mullen, who was born in San Mateo county, a member of a pioneer family, and of this union there are the following children : Mabel, now Mrs. L. R. Parsons, and William, Raymond, Romie, Francis, Earl, Lester, Edith. Malcolm, Elwin. Marian and Eva. Mr. Swall is a Republican in politics. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, has passed through all the chairs, and has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge; and he is a member and past officer in the Modern Woodmen of America. He is an active member in the Epis copal Church.

HENRY SANFORD WILLSON. Prominent among those whose longevity attests to the wonderful climatic advantages of Creston, and equally eminent among those whose own personal recollections reach back into the earliest annals of the region. Henry Sanford Willson is a native san. . long identified with San Luis Obispo County that he is the oldest settler in the Highlands, and the second oldest in the vicinity of Creston. He was born il San Juan, Monterey county, July 16, 1855, the son of Dan Willson, a brick- layer and a member of an old Yankee family, who first saw the light my January 22, 1827. His father worked at his trade in New England until. um pelled by the gold fever of 1849, he came to the Pacific Coast. With his brothery Dorson, he went to Boston and joined a company of fifty four adventures- who purchased the sailing vessel "Emma Isadora." under Captain Mellent and sailed her around Cape Horn. Quite one hundred sixty-four days enti tu party arrived at San Francisco, September 12, 1849. Continuing ont pk ton, they sold the vessel, divided the proceeds, and dissolved the contrary after which each went his way into the mines, to seek for gold and fortalt One of this party was James Mitchell, a Scotchman, who in later vero

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SAY LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

homestead in Thighlands, San Luis Obispo County, adjoining the place hos beld by our subject, and resided here until he died.

When "grub" was twenty-five cents a pound, Dan and Dorson Willson walkedl a hundred fifty miles to the Mariposa mines. The brothers afterward alfie over to Gilroy, where they had a store, and cut the first hay in that vomity. They traded over a wide region, doing business with the Spanish Tawalies in the Soap Lake country ; and it was there that Dan Willson met My Becente Sanchez who, in 1854, became his wife. She was born on the Sanchez ranch between Sargent Station and San Juan, a daughter of Don Jose Maria Sanchez, a native of Mexico, who owned a ranch of several leagues nd was a large stockman, raising a large number of cattle and horses. Having a great quantity of tallow and other cattle products, he manufactured much -nap : and from the industry thus created arose the name of the lake. Death wertook him in a tragic way, for he was accidentally drowned one night while Crossing the Pajaro river, and his body was never found. The property was divided between Don Jose's four children. Becente received a large share; ind she and her husband moved onto the ranches. Some of the land lay at San Juan, and some of it within the city limits. Dan Willson served twenty years as a trustee of the San Juan school district. In his last illness, he went by llollister ; and there, in 1906, at the age of seventy-eight, he died, and was buried with full Masonic honors.

Besides Henry S. Willson, four children were the issue of this union : George S., deceased : Emma, now Mrs. McElwee, of San Luis Obispo ; Elbridge 1. of San Jose; and Alma S., who is in Hollister. Henry was brought up at San Inan and Gilroy, where he attended the public schools and worked on a farm. In 1875, he came to Carissa Plains, San Luis Obispo County, and engaged in sheep-raising, partly with his father, and was among the first to rave sheep in that section. In the dry year of 1877, he drove a flock of Imteen hundred sheep to Watsonville, and the following year brought what Mw- lett of them to Palo Prieto.

In September, 1878, he came to Highlands with his father's old friend, James Mitchell, and engaged with him in the cattle business on Mitchell's Homestead. in 1879 he took a flock of sheep to Los Alamos, Santa Barbara county, and in the fall brought them back here, maintaining them until he sold we m order to engage again in the cattle business. At the end of five gue, he dissolved partnership with Mitchell, but continued to raise stock.

Inly. 1883, he had located his homestead and hauled the lumber from os kab obispo with which to build the necessary house and barns. He 1000 4h wo to raise hay and fodder, and about that time established his of Wwith an S at the top, lying flat. He is still in the sheep and making a specialty of the Durham strain, and also raises thor- He is also engaged in the raising of grain. He has bought wwwcode or 1. 5 different times, adjoining his own, commencing with a 11 001 acre purchase. He now possesses twelve hundred Www- cho ce body on Indian creek. The Willson ranch is well U Ily om nis springs and creeks, and lies ten miles east of Creston.

WO This Willon first came here, he was made a trustee of the Io Hvem welivost dotriet, and helped build there the first schoolhouse of lower. he helped organize the Highland school district,

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

and was a trustee for many years, and for some time clerk, a position he still holds. He is also serving as roadmaster of his district.

On January 7, 1877, at Soledad, Henry Sanford Willson was married to Miss Sarah Shepherd. She was born in what is now Hollister (then in Monterey county), and was a daughter of Dr. William N. Shepherd, a native of the vicinity of Bowling Green. Ky. Her grandfather, a farmer, was a Virginian, who settled in the Blue Grass State, where he died. Her father studied medicine and began practice as a homeopathic physician. He also learned the trade of stone and brick mason. He came to California in 1852, crossing the plains with an ox team. He stopped for a while in Alameda county, and then, in 1854, located on the grant now called Hollister. He thought it was Government land, and made improvements, but after several years found that it was still a grant, and that he must lose everything. He then moved to the Penoche country, where he took up land ; but this he soon gave up. He returned to San Juan, where he remained for several years, and then in succession moved to Gilroy and San Jose, farming and raising cattle. Finally reaching the Highlands, he homesteaded and proved up on a tract, which he later sold. He then retired to San Juan, where he died at the age of seventy-nine. His wife was Miss Elizabeth Clark, before her marriage. She was a native of Illinois, who crossed the plains with friends in a party that included Dr. Shepherd, to whom she was married on her arrival in California. At Gilroy she breathed her last, the mother of nine children, five of whom are still living. Mrs. Willson, who passed her childhood in the San Juan district and was educated at the public schools there, was the eldest of all; while the others are Mrs. Mary Beckwith, of Gilroy ; Mrs. Martha Blackwell, of Stanis- laus county ; Mrs. Laura Prather, of Kings county ; and Eugene N. Shepherd, of Arizona. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Ilenry S. Willson are Lillie, other wise known as Mrs. Lyman Willson, of Gilroy ; Edith, who married Mike Barba, of Creston : Hazel, who is Mrs. Ramon Barba, of the same place ; IFarry, who lives at Carissa Plains: Edward, who is in Carpinteria ; Dan, who is a rancher at Templor Mountain, Kern county ; and Winifred and Ma bel, who live at home with their parents.

Never wanting in the matter of a response to civic duty, and always willing to participate actively in any movement for the expansion and uplift of his community, Mr. Willson takes a keen interest in politics, generally voting according to Republican standards. In the service of that party he has been a member of the County Central Committee.

CHARLES H. PEARSON .- Whoever has reveled in an old New Fing land country store-the one store, if you please, in a small, but wide awake community, and one, perhaps, cut off more or less from the great outside world- where a little of everything, so to speak, and sometimes an astomsh ing assortment and quantity, considering the population, is sold, could not fail to enjoy a visit to just such an unpretentious, but important, establish ment as that of Charles 11. Pearson, the veterin leading merchant and pro- neer of Los Alamos. His father was Richard Pearson, a native of the north of Ireland, who died when Charles was two years old. His mother was Elizabeth Whitcher, a native of England The parents migrated to Candida . and in 1872, seventeen years after her husband's death, the mother came with her only boy to California, where she lived until her death at the ripe age of eighty.

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

dnr at Comprem, in the province of Quebec, December 5, 1852. Charles FEL Pymesatt Was Meteen when he came to California. He came from Mon- Tratta Koll Pruis o, via the Union Pacific Railway, and continued south to Monterey potfifte, The stopped at Castroville for a while with an uncle, Charles At Inyiter, Morbl m Salinas and San Juan, and then, in 1876, removed To sullapre, where he began clerking for H. J. Laughlin & Co.

In 1870 hy pums to Los Alamos, which then had only a half dozen houses acilteryJamml. He had learned the blacksmith's trade in Canada ; and now To powned a blacksmith shop, with a cousin. When, at the end of three VMps. IT. 1 laughlin established a branch store here. Mr. Pearson became his wonfidential clerk, and stayed with him until 1886. Here he bought the lot on the corner long owned by him, the sale of which had been deferred because of a minor, and for which he had waited two years, and built the store now long famous under the firm name of C. H. Pearson. He commenced with t half dozen lines of goods, and gradually enlarged his stock of general merchandise until it included staple and fancy groceries, dry goods, boots and shoes, hardware, agricultural implements, crockery, hats, caps and mil- linery-the goods of late easily totalling a round twenty-five thousand dol- lars in value. Thirty years ago, too, he laid in a stock of coffins and caskets, and so, in a measure, has facilitated the work of the undertaker.

About that time Charles Pearson went back to Canada. In the days of his childhood at school he had known Miss Jeanette Spafford, and now he jour- neyed across the continent to claim her heart and hand. Their marriage is blessed by two children, Nettie Elizabeth and Agnes Marian, who con- tribute to the attractiveness of his home and to the high esteem in which his family is everywhere held.

But Mr. Pearson is not only a merchant-he is a farmer as well. He owns three ranches ; one of fifty acres, another of a hundred, and a third of sixty-five, all of which lie in the Los Alamos valley. In addition, he rents 2,500 acres on the Bell ranch, for which estate he was agent for many years. This is devoted mainly to stock-raising. Ever since he came here, in 1879. he has liked the country, and these successful ventures in lands and stock have made him a most optimistic supporter and booster of Los Alamos. Particularly has he been impressed by the operations of Mr. E. L. Doheny, of Los Angeles, who bought the Bell ranch in 1916 for $1,800,000-a sale con- summated by T. C. Blakeman, a San Francisco attorney. Mr. Doheny has already brought in one five-hundred-barrel well on the tract, while two more are ready to come in.

Vir. Pearson is a Republican. He voted for Grant, in 1872, in Monterey mouity He has always been a public-spirited citizen, taking a commendable uferest in politics, and he has had something to do with public office himself. We be decertelly performed such ordinary duties as that of jury service, and Twofier yours as clerk of the board of school trustees. At the present on her deran Wriff under Sheriff Stewart, by whom he was appointed melo 1.1 Ur- term. He has taken an active part in every project for the In Herment of the community. IIe has welcomed the Pacific Coast Railway w IL um aolagey ; and he has aided in the development of farming, stock- To draw and in the erection of good schools and churches. The What AFan to- Wier years, however, has been the advocacy of the State Wiewww Be - 31-cited apostle of good roads, and was somewhat respon-

A. J. Hansen

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SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

sible for having the route of the State Highway so laid out that it ride through Los Alamos.

Brought up in the Episcopal Church and always a supporter of churche .. Mr. Pearson, together with his wife and daughters, has in recent years been. member of the Presbyterian Church at Los Alamos.

MORTEN PETER HANSEN .- What may be done by any loyal citizen in enthusiastically setting forth the true conditions in and advantages of California, and so attracting the outsiders to the Golden State, may be seen in the chance circumstances through which Morten Peter Hansen, a member of the good old family of Jens Peter Hansen, came to the Coast and eventually cast in his lot with the community of Shandon. His mother was Petrenella Madsen, and she is still living at the old home where Morten passed his boy- hood days, although her husband, an ardent Lutheran like herself, died at the age of seventy-six.

Morten Hansen was born at Stege, Moen, Denmark, November 27, 1863, the son of a farmer, and so grew up on a farm, while he attended the public school of his district. When he had finished with teachers and books he worked out on other farms, and then, for a year, learned the shoemaker's trade. In 1881, he came to the United States and to Cedar Falls. Ia., where he put in four years on a farm and nursery. His thoughts had already been turned westward, and he planned to push on to Dakota; but just then he ran across a man, Hans Hansen, who had been in San Luis Obispo County and who told Morten in such terms of enthusiasm and confidence of the many advantages of climate and soil, and opportunities in the undeveloped state, that the young Dane determined to give up all thought of Dakota and make for California instead.

In 1885, therefore, he crossed the great plains, nor did he stop until he reached San Luis Obispo County, where he set to work in dead earnest to get a foothold and make good. In the beginning he was compelled to work out, to chop wood, to engage himself with a thresher. to dig wells and to drive big teams. Disappointed with his experiences, he was inclined to re- turn East at the end of the first year. Ile stayed, however, and the longer he remained the more he liked the new country. In the first few months he received but eighteen dollars per month, but when he had saved forty dollars he filed on his homestead, although that one act alone took half his capital. On his arrival in the vicinity of Creston and Shandon, he found raw conditions indeed. There were no fences, wild cattle roamed over the hills, and the only safe way to travel was on horseback instead of on foot

For a time Mr. Hansen resided at San Luis Obispo and at Morro ; but in 1886, believing that he would like the mountains better, he come to ( re- ton and Shandon, and there homesteaded a hundred sixty acres ind pre empted another hundred sixty, four miles south of Shand on. Hle built cabin, broke the land, improved the farm, and built neighboring roads Fo him, as a pioneer, it was also reserved to see the first furrow turned " Creston and, as the years went by, to note the wonderful transformation ir mm wild nature to improved farms and pastures.

His first crop was obtained in the second year, when he cut hav, and by the third year he had sixty acres all sown by hand He traded his gram for three head of horses, and the fourth year he raised twenty-one hundred sacks on about two hundred acres of land. He at last got on his feet ; and

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SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

seven years 'für fre con ht a quarter section of land, which gave him four Mindre eighty deres in one body. He leased land and farmed sixteen hun- Ared acres, six hundred twenty being in grain. In one year he harvested over Hoe the usand sacks.

In 1911 he bought his present ranch of one hundred sixty acres from the original homestead of George Post, one and a half miles from Shandon, on Which the old town of Starkey and post office were located before the town if shandon was started. There was but the beginning of a settlement, and both general store and drug store were on his ranch. Mr. Hansen built a new residence, made improvements, and raised grain with success. He added to Hi- holdings by purchasing two lots in Richmond, and has since acquired unable lots and buildings in Shandon. He also owns sixty acres of bottom Vind at the forks of the San Juan, Cholame and Estrella rivers. On one of i. properties he has sunk two artesian wells, one to the depth of two hun- led seventy-eight icet, and the other three hundred fifteen feet, both flowing wells, out of which he is able to irrigate seventeen acres without a reservoir, which gives him six crops of alfalfa annually. All of his land is suitable for the raising of that product, and he is rapidly seeding the entire acreage. He has a dairy also, with twelve Holstein and Jersey cows ; and he raises cattle, draft horses and hogs.

As a man of business affairs, Mr. Hansen is a member and a director of the Farmers' Alliance Business Association of Paso Robles, and he is also interested in the Paso Robles Mercantile Co., of which he is a director. He also has stock in the Co-operative Oil Co., which is located on the "Jim" Hughes ranch in Red Hills on the San Juan river. He is also a stockholder m the Vulcan Fire Insurance Co., of Oakland, Cal.

At oll Starkey, December 30, 1897, Morten Hansen was married to Miss Elizabeth Boring, who came from Mill Creek, Huntington county, Penn., We daughter of Michael T. and Rebecca (Sloan) Boring, farmers in that Mrs. [fansen was educated in that vicinity and came to San Luis Uni.po County in 1897. Six children have been born of this marriage : James I dear M., Arma Marie, Bessie M., Harry W .. and David S., all at home. Vr llansen has seen much of the world, crossing the Atlantic and the American continent three times, revisiting old home scenes in Denmark, and During England. On one of his trips he sailed from England to New York wedle "lusitania," and on his journeys between the Atlantic and the Pacific od - isted the majority of important American cities. He is independent a conduire with progressive principles.

GEORGE WINFIELD GILLESPIE .- The proprietor of the only black- , wwwcamfria, an efficient and painstaking mechanic, George W. been a witness of the rapid growth of San Luis Obispo County, Ik ri cor the old Gillespie ranch, two and one-half miles west of Datafra. September 6, 1867, a son of William M. and Caroline Of both-pie The father lived in various states until 1849, when I .fhr W one others he set out to cross the plains with mule Months later, however, when he arrived at his jour- wi fiut nine of the original members with the party, some ha Ing been killed by the Indians. On arriving here, Ihave to the mines; but he did not "strike it rich," Mul talents to other lines of activity. Going to

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SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS

Sonoma county, with a partner, he built a sawmill, got out lumber and found a ready sale for it. The methods at that time were primitive, but these pio- neers made the best of conditions as they found them and usually got better results than they anticipated. In 1862 he came to San Luis Obispo County and bought timber land on Santa Rosa creck. Ilere he erected a sawmill and cut down the timber, manufacturing it into lumber. This was the second saw- mill built in this county. After the timber had been cleared. Mr. Gillespie began farming and stock-raising. In 1891 he went to Pine Mountain, and there put up a sawmill. He also engaged in mining quicksilver, owning the l'ine Mountain and the Ocean View quicksilver mines. During his resi- dence in the county, Mr. Gillespie was road master of his district for several years. He and his wife, who was a native of New York state, had eight chil- dren, seven of whom are living, George W. Gillespie being the fifth in order of birth.

George W. Gillespie attended the public school of Cambria and the schools on San Simeon creek and San Simeon bay until he was sixteen. He worked with his father until he was twenty-four, and then apprenticed himself to learn the trade of blacksmith with Mr. Eubanks of his home town. Two years later, he went to Alameda county, where he was employed at ranching for one year near Pleasanton. He then returned to Cayucos and embarked in the black- smith business in 1894, and a short time later formed a partnership with James Pedrotta, which continued until 1903, when Mr. Gillespie sold out to his partner. He then located in Cambria and started in the blacksmith's business. In 1905 he bought out the old Eubanks shop. lle has built up a large trade and has been successful financially. the does general black- smithing and repairs all kinds of machinery. His shop is equipped with the most modern and up-to-date machinery : and the genial proprietor has won a host of friends by his courteous treatment and fair dealings.

On February 11, 1905, Mr. Gillespie was united in marriage, at San Luis Obispo, with Miss Bertha Evelyn Wittenberg, who was born in Arrowen Grande, and they have two children, Muriel and Evelyn. Mrs. Gillespie instituted El Pinal Parlor, Native Daughters of the Golden West, at Cambria. while Mr. Gillespie is a charter member of Cambria Parlor. Nafive Suns al the Golden West, organized November 9, 1889, with twenty ame member- of whom only five are left. The parlor now has sixty members. Mr Oilk pu is a past president and has served as a delegate to the Grand Parlor two times and is a very active member of the order. His political preferences are weili the Republican party. From 1894 until 1903 he served as constable of tavu cos: and he has in many other ways demonstrated his executive ability, and is looked upon as one of the leading citizens of the coast section of the coulis

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History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches, Part 55

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