USA > California > San Luis Obispo County > History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches > Part 64
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Mr. and Mrs. Tanner are members of the Presbyterian Church at Morro. being among the founders and builders of the church. Ile is one of the ruling elders of the church. Both have been members of the board of trustees Di Excelsior school district, Mrs. Tanner being the present clerk of the board.
ANDREW MEHLSCHAU .- The substantial and well-to-do citizens of the vicinity of the town of Nipomo have no better representative than Andrew Mehlschau, who is actively identified with the agricultural develop ment of this part of the county, and stands high among the keen, progressive ranchers of the locality. A man of strong individuality and excellent busi ness ability, he has been identified with this section for many years. \ native of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, he was born on January 1. 1863, at Apen rade. He attended school there until he was fifteen, and then went to sea. where he began at the bottom of the ladder. As a sailor before the mast he visited many of the important ports of the world during the six years that he followed the sea, after which time he came to America, and soon after to San Luis Obispo County.
Arriving here in 1883, he worked for wages on a dairy ranch near ledna until 1884. and then went to Nipomo and for three years engaged in farm work. Then, with a brother, Hans Mehlschau, he began a partnership bitsi ness on leased land near Nipomo and for the next twenty-two years farmed eight hundred acres to grain and general products. In 1890 this partnership was welded closer by the purchase of land, which was added to from time to time. In 1908 a division of property was made by the brothers, and thes
SEX LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS
wow ench have added to the improvements on their individual holdings. Anifrew Aletlecbaut erected his fine country residence in 1909 and is con- ducting golairy equipped with all modern appliances and doing a general farming busmess with a merited share of success.
In San Lu- Obispo, on August 6, 1892, the marriage of Andrew Mehlschau and Miss Lizzie Lorensen was celebrated. She was born in Schleswig-Holstein at the same place as her husband on May 21, 1872, and came alone to San Luis Obispo, where she had a sister living. They have eight children: Dora, Mary, Peter, George, Andrew, Christian, Meta and Elmer, all educated in the public schools of the county, where Mr. Mehlschau has served as trustee of Nipomo district for twelve years and as clerk of the board part of the time. Supplementing their public school course, Dora and Peter are attending the California Polytechnic at San Luis Obispo. Mr. Mehlschau is a charter member of Nipomo Lodge No. 164, Knights of Pythias, has passed through the chairs of the order, served as a delegate to the grand lodge in 1900, and for the past twenty years has been master of finance of the local lodge. He is public-spirited, generous, successful, and progressive, and has a host of friends throughout the county.
FRED D. CROSSETT .- In the life of this successful citizen of San Luis Obispo are illustrated the results of perseverance and energy, coupled with judicious management and integrity ; for he began his independent career at an early age, and by close application to business has reached the envi- able position of manager of the San Luis Obispo branch of the Channel Commercial Co. Mr. Crossett was born in Cedar Falls, Ia., January 8, 1870, a son of Andrew C. Crossett, who was engaged in the farming implement business in Cedar Falls. Fred attended the public school in his home town until he was twelve, completing his studies at the age of fifteen in Racine, Wis., and then went to Benzie county, Mich., where he was employed in the lumber business and in a merchandise store at Otter Creek, working his way from the bottom of the ladder to the position of manager of the store.
There he remained until 1897, when he came to Los Angeles and em- berked in the confectionery business; and after one year he sold out and Went to Santa Barbara. Here he bought out another confectionery business url under the firm name of Crossett & Miles carried on a successful business two years, and then, disposing of his interest, went into the chicken-raising Interess. This lasted only eighteen months, however, when he sold out.
1 1904, with the money he had saved from his various investments, Mr. frosti bought an interest in the Channel Commercial Co. and started in as lowMejor, two years later being made manager of the Santa Barbara laanew md continuing for three years. In 1907 he became manager of the lo och a san Luis Obispo. He has given his time and attention to the La New soweof ile business here and by exercise of his executive ability has ed the business for the company in this section.
Tacos. 1800, the Channel Commercial Co. was organized in Ven- of that city, who is now the president of the company, w1 00 M W.w. n, of Santa Barbara, secretary and treasurer. Their maybe seproto pace 14x14; but since that small beginning the business Hos la0 G and now has a far-reaching effect on the commercial this Dare -t California. They operate successful branches in San 0 -500000 1; rbara, Ventura and Los Angeles, and have a floor
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space of over seventy-five thousand square feet. The business has grown to very large proportions, and ranks high in the business circles of the state.
Since becoming a citizen of San Luis Obispo, Mr. Crossett has given his time and attention to the betterment of local conditions, has allied himself with the local commercial bodies for the promotion of the welfare of the busi- ness interests, and has won a place for himself as well.
In Empire, Mich., on April 13, 1896, Mr. Crossett was united in marriage with Mary A. Nichols, who was born in Ohio.
(Since the above writing, Mr. Crossett has been transferred to Los Ange- les, where he will occupy a higher position with the Channel Commercial Co.)
JOSEPH B. F. LEE .- The representative of a prominent old family of Virginia, and the present manager of the Hearst ranch, Joseph B. F. Lee has made his influence felt in the county he has selected for his home. He was born at Wide Water, Stafford county, Va., December 6, 1878, and attended the public school of Fredericksburg, supplementing this with a college course preparatory to entering upon his self-supporting career.
At the age of seventeen he came to California, and in 1806 arrived in San Simeon and found employment on the Ilearst ranch: and he soon became an assistant of Captain Murray Taylor, and later of A. Moncure, until 1908, when he succeeded A. Moncure, who had resigned, as manager. This position Mr. Lee has since held.
Mr. Lee is a member of San Luis Obispo Lodge No. 322, B. P. O. Elks. He is a man of public spirit and a supporter of all movements that have for their object the building up of the county and the advancement of the welfare of its citizens. By his marriage with Julia Estrada, herself a native daughter, he allied himself with one of the oldest families in California.
JOHN B. BERKEMEYER .- The junior partner in the firm of Deiss & Berkemeyer has been a resident of this county since 1895, during which time he has identified himself closely with the commercial life of the city. He was horn in Prussia, April 12, 1871, and when he was ten years old his parents brought him to this country and settled on a farm in Conway county, Arkansas Ile was there reared, attended school and, until he reached manhood, helped with the work on the farm. It was in Arkansas that he married Lizzie Weber, who was also born in Germany. They have five children. Joseph, a sales man in the Fulton Market, was born in Arkansas; and M rie. Charles, Bern hardt and Francis were all born in San Luis Obispo.
In 1895, Mr. Berkemeyer came to California and, under his present part ner, learned the trade of butcher : and in 1890 he bought an interest 11 the Fulton Market, where they carry on business under the name it Dels- & Berkemeyer. This shop, the oldest market in the city of San Luis Ohio. was established by a Mr. Fulton in 1872 and is locatedl by loPECherm street Since the formation of the present partnership the firm have built up a splendid business, more extended mention of which appears in the ketch of Mr. Deiss.
Mr. Berkemeyer is prominent in lodge matters, and has passed all the chairs in the local lodge of the Knights er Cdumbus heas a member of the Portuguese lodge, I. D. F. S., and ot Herminh Song From 1895 1tl 1906, Mr. Berkemeyer also belonged to the volunteer fire department, If Cart No. 3. Since 1914 he has been treasurer of the Dem crabe county con tral committee. He is a member of the ( ath lie Church.
BAN RIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS
ANTHONY F. McCABE .- The late Anthony F. McCabe of the vicinity of Arroyo Grande was one of the upbuilders of San Luis Obispo County and dlanone of the pioneers of the state. He was born in Nova Scotia in 1828. mit ted in Arroyo Grande in 1902 .. His wife was born in the same place in Til, and is living in Arroyo Grande at the age of eighty-five.
Y carpenter by trade, Mr. McCabe followed his occupation in the East, amt so the early sixties came to California via Panama and worked in the same line in San Francisco. Ile returned to his eastern home in 1870, and elmed up his affairs; and with his wife and four children, he came back to thi- - tate and again took up his trade in San Francisco.
In 1871, in partnership with Mr. Murdock, he ran the Sulphur Bank Mines located on the banks of Clear Lake, between Lakeport and Lower Lake, Lake county. He later settled in San Luis Obispo County, where he again took up carpentering, and here he died at the age of seventy-four. He and his wife had four children : George W. ; Linas A .; Mrs. Bertha Howard; and Bessie, who married Dr. Bynum, of Lake county.
HARRY H. HOWARD .- A native son of the state and one of the repre- sentative business men of Arroyo Grande, where he conducts a livery and transfer business, Harry H. Howard was born in Sonoma county, October 30, 1873, a son of Martin and Nancy ( Bonee) Howard, the former a native of Kansas and the latter of Missouri. Both parents crossed the plains to this state. Martin Howard locating in Cloverdale, Sonoma county, after he had tried his hand at mining. There he followed farming, and later moved into Mendocino county, where he continued his vocation, and where he died. The mother crossed the plains when she was but five years old, and in this state was married to Mr. Howard. She is still living.
Harry H. Howard was reared on the ranch and attended the common schools of the state for a time, but had to go to work at an early age. In 1886, when thirteen years old, he assisted his grandfather, Hiram Bonee, to drive cattle, horses and goats from Mendocino county down into San Luis Obispo County, taking a month to make the journey. Mr. Bonee purchased one hundred acres of land from Steele Bros. near the station of Edna, and for ten years farmed with success.
Young Howard learned the trade of blacksmith, and in 1897 settled in Arroyo Grande, where for eight years he conducted a blacksmith shop in conjunction with a livery business. In 1905 he bought out the transfer busi- ness of Schow Bros. and has carried on the same ever since. He has thirty head of stock, and does general teaming and hauling throughout this section of the county, and has been meeting with success.
Mr. Howard married Miss Bertha McCabe, a daughter of a pioneer of Sin Luis Obispo County. She was born in Lake county. They have one son, Harold, attending the high school.
Mr. Howard is very much interested in the preservation of the data relat- me to the olden times in the state, for he realizes that, as the old-timers pass wer , much valuable data passes with them from mortal ken. He is a mem- lorat the Odd Fellows and of the Native Sons of the Golden West. In the Wormer lodge, he has passed all the chairs of the order. By his genial nature mid buisine's ability, Mr. Howard has built up a good business. He is highly respected in his section of this county, where he has many friends and is moning with well-deserved success.
J.J. Anderson
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JOHN S. ANDERSON .- Somehow or other, whenever you happen anywhere upon a Swede, there you will generally find a high degree of indus- try ; and, in most cases at least, and particularly in such as that of John S. An- derson, you will discover certain decidedly tangible evidences of reward for hard work and thrift. As an old settler who had much to do with making things as they are today, Mr. Anderson has toiled for years, and now in his later life he has the quiet, but deep satisfaction of having something to show for what he has attempted.
He began life on September 18, 1859, in delightful central Sweden, in the vicinity of the ancient town of Skara, and he had the good fortune to have as his mainstays and guides his father, Sven Anderson, a substantial farmer, and his mother, Maria Anderson, who are both now dead. Ten children were born to this Swedish couple; and four boys and one girl came to California. These are John S. ; Charles, a farmer at Willow Creek : llerman, a farmer at Bethel ; and Johnnie and Emma, who are with the subject of our sketch.
Born and raised on a farm, after attending the native school John S. Anderson served the regular time in the Swedish Army, and in the spring of 1883 came to America, to Minneapolis, where he found employment in Pillsbury's Flour Mills. Four years later he came to California, and soon after his arrival bought a farm of thirty acres in the Bethel district, on which he built himself a residence. With A. Johnson and J. Peterson he made brick in their own kiln, which they erected by the roadside on Peterson's place : and with these he built three houses, and helped construct the Swedish Lutheran Church at Templeton.
He cleared up his farm thoroughly, plowed it deep, and raised the finest of grain ; and later he laid out twelve acres of orchard, where he grew the most luscious fruit. To his disappointment, however, he found no sale for the prunes at that time; and so he afterwards grubbed out the trees. and raised grain instead. Little by little he bought more land, until he came to own a hundred eighty-two acres, and today he rents other lands. planting the same to barley and wheat. His ranch is beautifully located. overlooking the Salinas valley, and is one of the most fertile and well-tilled farms in this section. For fourteen years he ran a steam thresher. but recently he disposed of his interest in the machine.
Mr. Anderson finds permanent satisfaction in the work of the Swedish Lutheran Church at Templeton, where he has been a trustee for several terms, the treasurer for the last six years and secretary in former years. (1 national issues, he is a Republican of the progressive type.
ANDREW C. PETERSON .- Among our foremost and progressive uti zens, Andrew C. Peterson hokls the respect of all with whom he has ever been associated. He is a native of Denmark, born on the island of Lolland. March 12, 1846, the son of Christen Peterson, who owned and operated a grist mill in his native land: Andrew attended the public school until he was fourteen years of age, and then learned the miller's trade, serving an appren ticeship of three years, after which he worked in a mill in the town of Maribo. When twenty years of age, he decided to try his fortunes in the United States; and with his brother, left home and in due time arrived at hi- destination in Racine, Wis. His first work was on a farm, and then he wes em ployed for a few months in a wagon shop owned by Fiske Brothers Il went to Oconto, Wis., and for a time was employed in a saw mill Ging 20
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jo Lamont Hoy, he worked in a hotel for one year, and then moved to Nee- gumer, Glich remaining for five years, three of which were spent working un Aborel To These pened a boarding house with the money he had saved from The cardig -. erected the building and for a short time prospered ; but the Die x0 18-3 put him out of business and he lost all his money. He next cen to \Alltand. Wis., and then to St. Paul, Minn., working as a laborer at Jovilima be conid find to do.
Sir Petersom tired of the strenuous life in the middle West and came to San Francisco in the hope of finding more lucrative employment. He landed there in March. 1875, and in July of the same year he arrived in San Luis Om-po County. His first work here was for J. H. Orcutt, near Avila. In 1876, he thought he would try farming for himself and bought three hundred sixty-four acres of hill land in the Belleview district, and for the following ten years conducted a dairy. Moving to Irish Hill he leased land and for seven years continued his dairy business there. In 1895, he came to See Canyon and bought thirty-three acres of orchard and farm land, and remained there mutil 1907. In the meantime, by purchase, he added to his holdings one hun- dred forty-two acres of the Hampton place. Renting out his land in 1907, he moved to Oakland and lived retired for a time; but the call of the farm brought him back to his ranch in See Canyon in 1910, where he is now living among his pioneer friends, among whom he is highly respected.
Mr. Peterson was married to Annie K. Holtze, a native of the island of Lolland, who had come to Milwaukee, Wis., where their marriage occurred. They have two children, Albert James and Ella. In politics he is a Democrat, lint he has never cared to hold office, although, while living in this county, he consented to serve as a trustee of Irish Hill and Santa Fe school districts, stol has done much to maintain a high standard in those schools.
JOHN H. BRAINARD .- Many of the successful men in California have come from the East when very young, and have grown up with the spirit of development here and so have become a part of the ever-changing West. So better example is offered than in the life of J. H. Brainard of San Luis Claro. He was born in Lake county, Ill., March 7, 1856, and in 1864, when uff ogfit years of age, was brought by his mother to this state, coming by woy ol Panama. They lived in San Francisco, where for three years the For shiended school, and then went to Watsonville, where he completed his
This school days over, he went to work for wages. In 1875 he arrived Sme Ui- Obispo County, and the first three years he worked in a dairy, fer doviis for himself. In 1886 he went to the Estrella country and pio- pal D'al fortin between Hog and Keys canons. Here he owned six drei long deres, one hundred sixty of which was government land. This me 000 0 6 Condition when he arrived, and from time to time he added Th coronet ents until he got the land under cultivation. He raised grain mo To Throw egy three years, meeting generally with gratifying success. To work For only fifty cents for barley and eighty-five cents for wheat, TTore Were some good years when he got $1.47, $1.50 and $1.90 per one of the organizers of the Keys Canon district school, and von bo during the entire time of his residence there.
10 Ar D'e onard leased out the ranch and went to Mountain View, to make his home, and there he engaged in raising fruit.
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He later traded his fruit ranch for property in San Luis Obispo, and now owns some valuable lots in town. He erected three modern bungalows ou part of his property and has his own home near by, a fine two-story residence Since his return to San Luis Obispo he has sold his Keys Canon ranch.
Mr. Brainard married Miss Julia M. Bagley, a native of Missouri, and they have three daughters: Mrs. Laura Wilhite of Armona, Cal., Mrs. Mira Mauerhan and Mrs. Ina Tucker, both of San Miguel. They have two grand- children to brighten the family circle. Ever since becoming a property owner here, Mr. Brainard has been very much interested in the development of the county, and has co-operated with all movements to further that ambi tion. He has made a success of his labors, and is much respected by all with whom he has come in contact, both in a business and a social way. He is living retired, except that he gives some time to looking after his per sonal interests. He is a Republican in politics, but never has sought office.
CHARLES W. PALMER .- A well-known and successful man of affairs, who takes an active interest in and is prominently identified with the com mercial, political and social life of San Luis Obispo County, C. W. Palmer, county coroner, funeral director and embalmer, is a native of California, hav- ing been born in Marin county, May 10, 1872. His father, Wesley Palmer. was a native of New Jersey and a California pioneer of 1857. lle settled in Marin County, where he engaged in the dairy business until 1874. when he located in San Luis Obispo County, near Cambria, and continued ranching successfully. He also has ranch interests at Templeton, and is now en- gaged in the undertaking business at Paso Robles. His wife, Clara ( Tuttle ) Palmer, was born in New York.
The education of C. W. Palmer was received in the public schools of San Luis Obispo County and Heald's Business College in San Francisco, after which he was employed in Oakland with a grocery concern. Going to San Miguel, Mr. Palmer became manager of the Farmers' Alliance Warehouse Company in 1894, and held the position until the fall of 1898, when he re turned to San Francisco and was engaged with V. Gray & Co., where he learned undertaking and embalming. Mastering the details of the business, Mr. Palmer found an engagement in the United States Army transport seri - ice as embalmer, traveling between San Francisco and Manila during the Spanish-American War, after which he returned to San Luis Obispo County and, in partnership with his father, on March 1, 1900, opened funeral parlors in San Luis Obispo, in the Andrews Bank building, where he has continued successfully ever since. The parlors are equipped with every lachty and convenience for the sacred care of the dead, and his exceptional courtesy and thorough professional knowledge have won tor him substantial Tecce- nition in both city and county, where he is looked upon or une ut the leading citizens, a prestige which has grown from veir teyear Die w's elected county coroner in 1905; and during the ten wars on Mat office bus performed the duties in a most satisfactory manner, and has shown met executive ability in handling county affairs.
A Republican, Mr. Palmer has been prominent in tile courses of the party, while also active as a member of The Chamber of Commerce and Merchants' Association of San Luis Obispo, and a strong advocate of all public improvements. He is an active member of King David Lodge of Masons, Park Lodge No. 40, Knights of Bothias, the B. P. O Ilk Of ler
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY AND ENVIRONS
of the Fa-tern Star, Woodmen of the World, and the Modern Woodmen of Amerna, w all of which his participation is valued.
1o 1898, Mr. Palmer was married to Miss Hattie Wayland of Gilroy, California, whose parents, Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Wayland, were among the carly pioneers of that section, and later moved to the southern part of Mon- teres County, where they acquired a valuable stock ranch near the Stone Canon coal mine. Mr. and Mrs. Palmer have one daughter, Miss Helen Palmer.
JOHN LINCOLN OILAR .- One of the earliest settlers in San Luis Obispo County was John Lincoln Oilar, born October 17, 1814, at Dayton, (. His mother, Bathsheba ( McGilamery ) Oilar, was born in Virginia, No- vember 9, 1770, and died on July 28, 1862, at Lafayette, Ind., being over ninety-two years of age. His father, Henry Oilar, was born in Baltimore in 1776. He was frozen to death near Lafayette in 1839, while on his way to visit his son, Col. Henry Oilar, of the Blackhawk War.
John Lincoln Oilar married Katherine Wiggins, December 24, 1851, at Beardstown, Ill., she being his second wife. She was born in Kentucky, June 13. 1824, her father being Thomas Wiggins, a native of Charleston, S. C. When John L. Oilar was a boy of fifteen, he helped his father haul the lum- ber to build the first weather-boarded house in Chicago, in 1829. On his father's farm at Lafayette is now built Perdue University. In 1840 he was elected to the Indiana legislature and served one term. On April 28, 1854, lie started across the plains with an ox team, bound for California, and reached Suisun on August 25, 1854. In 1856 he returned for his wife and infant son, Marion, and the same year came back to California, making the trip both ways via Panama. It was probably at Panama that Mr. Oilar met John Slack, who had lost his gold when the "Yankee Blade" was run ashore, to which Mr. Slack refers in his own story.
In 1863 Mr. Oilar went to Virginia City, Nev., and for two years en- gaged in freighting for the mines, after which he returned to Chico. The son, Marion, died on November 7, 1865; and the youngest son, Henry Davis Oilar, was born at Chico, January 11, 1866. In 1867 Mr. Oilar settled on one hundred sixty acres of government land on San Bernardo creek, and for nineteen years resided there, building a fine house and carrying on a prosper- outs dairy and ranch business. There he helped organize Mountain View school, of which he was a trustee for six years. J. L. Rains was the first teacher employed.
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