History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches, Part 84

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 84

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In 1910, Mr. Colby took charge of the Paso Robles golf links, with Mr. Bendelow, of Chicago; the latter laying them out and Mr. Colby putting in the ground and completing them. Now he is in charge of the links and gives instruction in the playing of golf to guests who come from all over the United States, Canada and Europe.

Mr. Colby owns a residence on Spring street. The family estate still in- cludes the ranch of a hundred sixty acres in Cholame, which is leased to other parties. He is recording secretary of the Independent Order of Forest- ers, is a very wide-awake Socialist and student of sociological affairs, and in matters religions follows the faith and form of worship of the Episcopal Church.

ALBERT HOLMES .- Hard work and good management bring suc- cess. This is evidenced in the progress made by Albert Holmes, a success- ful farmer in the Paso Robles section of the county. He was born in Cor- dova, Ill., October 28, 1884, a son of Gus Holmes, a native of Vermland, Sweden, born in 1854. The name was originally spelled Holm, but was changed for convenience when Gus Holmes came to the United States in 1871 and settled in Pennsylvania. In Sweden he had worked in the mines until he was twenty, and then was in the employ of the railroad for seven years, becoming conductor. From Pennsylvania he removed to Cordova, Illinois, thence to Iowa, and three years later to Roslyn, Wash., where he was employed in the coal mines until 1888. Then he came to San Luis Obispo County and was soon engaged in farming on rented land, and now owns forty acres at Linne, and another ranch, and is engaged in farming and rais- ing stock. He married Christine Nelson, who now is deceased.

Brought up in San Luis Obispo County and attending the schools in the district of Linne, Albert Holmes carly learned to handle horses and drive big teams. When he had reached his majority, he rented part of the Dresser tract for three years and raised grain; then leased four hundred acres of the West Coast Land Co. and ran it six years, accumulating equip- ment and stock, as well as experience, and establishing himself in the esti- mation of his fellow citizens. In 1914 he rented six hundred seventy acres of the Huntington place, and now operates two big teams and is putting in two hundred eighty acres of wheat and eighty of barley. He also operates a small twelve-horse combined harvester, and with two men cut over five hundred acres in 1916 in less than two months' time.

In San Luis Obispo occurred the marriage of Albert Holmes and Hattie Jackson, who was born near Cholame, a daughter of Milton B. and Julia (Sumner) Jackson, and a granddaughter of Andrew Jackson, who brought the family from Georgia and is now living in this county. To Mr and Mrs. Albert Holmes, six children have been born : Fhner, Pearl, Ruby. Helen, Elva and Lillie. Mr. and Mrs. Holmes are Republicans, and have won a place in the social life of the community, where they have lived for so many years.

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MRS. EMMA KUEHL. The wonderful executive ability shown by Women who, in America, and particularly in California, have invaded the Various departments of business enterprise until recently occupied almost exclusively by men, is illustrated in the career of Mrs. Emma Kuehl, the owner of a fine large ranch and one of the most up-to-date farmers in this section. Born in Nen-Stettin, one of the delightful cities of Pomerania, Ger- many, she was the youngest child of Julius Steffen, a merchant, whom she scarcely saw, for her father died when she was little more than a baby. Hler mother, also born in that section of Pomerania, was Bertha Bartz, a daughter of Gustav Bartz, a large farmer owning three hundred twenty acres of land.

When Mr. Steffen died, his wife continued the mercantile business, but turned the farm over to her eight children, three of whom are still living. Educated in the excellent public schools of Germany. Fraulein Steffen, in 1890, came to America, and settled in Watertown, Codington county, S. D., where, in the same year, she married Julius Kuehl, also a native of Neu- Stettin. They engaged in farming fifteen miles southeast of Watertown until 1896, when they removed to Paso Robles, and afterwards to Creston. There, for six years, they raised grain, and so well did they succeed that they bought a ranch of five hundred twenty acres two miles northwest of Union, which they operated until 1909, when it was sold and they purchased the present place of six hundred forty acres on Estrella Plains, ultimately selling two hundred thirty acres of the tract.

More than four hundred acres of fine farming land devoted to grain and stock raising are now registered under the name of Mrs. Kuehl. In the management of her extensive farming interests Mrs. Kuchl's two sons. William and Otto, ably assist her, Otto operating the home farm, while William is leasing and operating five hundred eighty acres near the home place. They both make their home with their mother. A daughter, Minnie, is now Mrs. Crinklaw, of Ventura county.

OSCAR F. ERICKSON .- Whoever has once enjoyed a vacation ramble in the valley, and among the mountains of picturesque Sweden might well be excused, despite an enthusiastic devotion to California, for wondering why anyone should leave that rich pastoral land, even for the treasures of the New World. The fact that Oscar F. Erickson, a native of that part of Scan- dinavia, not only came to America, but willingly remained in the Golden state, speaks for itself, for Mr. Erickson knows, if anyone does, all that goes to make up a delightful country. Born in Smaaland, Sweden, on February 23. 1851, the only son, of two children, he had the usual experience of a farm im in attendance at the public schools, and was married when he was but Weonly one years of age. His father was Erick Erickson, and he survived his Wife for many years. His mother was Karen (Monson) Erickson, and she

Of the twenty-seventh day of the most delightful month in Sweden, the co ukla . Tifffe. Mr. Frickson led to the altar Miss Wilhelmina Swansen, the 2wdtv 0000 carl Swansen, a prosperous farmer, and Inga Charlotta (Jacob- Samen Following his marriage, he took up farming, and owned amail op code on Smaaland, which, in time, he sold. In 1877. he came to Some of Bringing las wife and mother-in law with him, and there Mrs. Her father had passed away in Sweden in 1868. Is fun be ergles son - adapted to agriculture, but ten years later sold it

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in order to come to California, where he acquired, near the Bethel Schon. House, a hundred thirty acres.

On this little farm he tilled the soil for fourteen years, when he sold out and located about three and a half miles southwest of Paso Robles. There he has one of the finest displays of choice stock and some of the best-kept grain fields in the state. Four children of five born to this worthy couple Carl Frederick, in the hardware and implement business in Nevada ; Hilma, Mrs. A. T. Lovgren, resident of the Linne district ; Emily, who married Al bert Johnson, living near Templeton ; Esther, who became Mrs. Pike, of Pase Robles-still live to brighten Mr. and Mrs. Erickson's life. Albert L. Erick son died at the age of twenty-nine.

Once a trustee of the Swedish Lutheran Church in Templeton, and now a deacon, Mr. Erickson has been for years superintendent of the Sunday School, while his wife is prominent in the Ladies' \id Society. In politics M. Erickson is a Republican.

CHARLES SAMUEL LEWIS .- Whoever has strolled about the shady streets of comfortable-looking and comfortably-living Paso Robles must have been agreeably impressed with the many artistically designed and well-built residences there, particularly those of the modern bungalow pattern, some of which are the result of the fertile brain and architectural skill of Charles Samuel Lewis, the successful contractor and builder who has of late been making his mark there. Born in Anamosa, Jones county, la., on November 7, 1881, Mr. Lewis is the grandson of Charles Lewis, who was born near Philadelphia, a member of an old Quaker family, well-known in the City of Brotherly Love, and who became one of the earliest settlers at .\namosa. Just what type of man he was may be deduced from his own history and that of his descendants. All his sons graduated from the Ames Agricultural College. In time he moved to Orange City, Sioux county, la., and there he engaged so successfully in the real estate and land business that he was able, some eighteen years ago, to retire and make his way westward to the charm- ing residential city of Pasadena. The father of Charles, Il. P. Lewis, was born in lowa. He became a printer and for years edited the Sioux County Ilerald, after which he, too, removed to Pasadena, where he became the foreman of the News office. When he retired he removed to Paso Robles, taking his wife with him-formerly Miss Annie Buxton, a native of lowa.

Eight children were born to this couple, and Charles Lewis was the eld est of them all. It happened, therefore, that he was brought up in Orange City, la., and attended the public schools there ; and he went to Plankington. S. D., where he graduated from the high school. \t Moscow, Ida., he attended the State Agricultural College, and in 1904 he removed to Pasa- dena. There, for six years, he worked for D. M. Renton, and later he was with R. F. Foss. In 1911, he came to Paso Robles, and as he had studied electrical engineering, the manager of Paso Robles Hot Springs Hotel was fortunate to secure him as its engineer. After two and a half years in that berth he resigned to engage in contracting and buikling, and since 1914 the firm of Lewis Bros. (which includes his brother, Frank E. Lewis, who also learned his trade in Pasadena ) has been a leading force in the advancement of architectural taste in this vicinity. How well Charles improved under the instruction given him in architecture by the International Correspondence School, at Scranton, may be seen in the handsome Steiner residence, the

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Sanitarium, the Kirkpatrick and the Arthur Kitchen homes, and the Carl Carling and Frank Fleissig dwellings, all of which, with other places in the country, have been designed and built by him.

A Republican who does something when it has to be done, and a mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce who makes his presence felt by modest but hard work, Mr. Lewis was conspicuous in his identification with the Upper Salinas Valley Fair of 1916, when he had charge of the laying out of the buildings and grounds.

Some years ago Charles was married in Los Angeles to Miss Venila E. Spicer, a native of Ripon, Wis., the Rev. Baker P. Lee officiating: from this marriage two charming children, Eleanor Clare, and Henry Spicer. have been born. While attending the Christ Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis contributed much to the fame of the church's choir, Mrs. Lewis singing soprano and her husband tenor, and quite natur- ally since their advent at Paso Robles they have done their part toward maintaining local musical standards. Mr. Lewis is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, the Foresters, and the Knights of Pythias, all of Paso Robles.

ARTHUR THRALLS .- With neither capital nor business backing be- hind him, but endowed with unusual tact, tenacity of purpose and native ability, Arthur Thralls has had phenomenal success as a merchant in the town of San Miguel. He was born in Sangamon county, Ill., on October 13. 1872, the son of James C. and Mary ( Hammond) Thralls, an interesting bio- graphical sketch of whom is a separate feature of this work. Arthur Thralls removed with his parents to Oswego, Labette county, Kan., where he at- tended the public school, and he afterward lived at Gaylord, in the same state. From a lad he made himself useful to his father, and worked with him at blacksmithing; and he also learned tinning, carpentering, decorating and painting. But he did not take to any of these occupations permanently : merchandising was destined to be his forte. For a while, however, his poor health conditioned his activity : and going to San Miguel, where his brother, F. C. Thralls, was residing, he spent the winter outdoors in the hills chopping trees and wood. Ilis next employment was with the San Miguel Flour Mills, and after that he was for a while with the S. P. Warehouse Co., still later returning to the mills.

Ile then ventured to invest in an ice-cream and confectionery stand. To which he had managed to get together the modest sum of twenty dollars. bit in three months he sold out, and for the third time was back in the dusty At the end of twenty-six months, he bought out another ice-cream (b -hment, and embarked in business for himself in what was certainly junyel form. It was the year of the dry season and, loading the ice-cream ulin? en a wagon, he traveled with it into and through Mariposa county. Toppløg at hotels and ranch houses.

Returning to San Miguel, he bought out the ice-cream and confectionery paw lo lout originally owned and then borrowed twenty dollars of the thirty- he Ats- le paid for the place ; and now success rewarded his energy to au Tres denne That he was able to pay off his debt, enlarge his business, and bmw mole add other lines of goods. Ile started in a mere corner, only in batrade-moll store, but later he secured the other half and soon took ma jamwon. Fred Metzler, although he maintained the firm name of Thralls

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& Co. They then purchased the present site, built their iron building, 32x100, and moved into it. Two years after this, Henry Twisselmann bought out Mr. Metzler, to remain a partner since of Thralls & Co. As their business increased they found it necessary to erect their imposing concrete building adjoining on Main street, 28x100 feet in size ; and they have added, besides, a rear warehouse, 50x100 feet, and also a plumbing and hardware shop, 25x150 feet in size. In the concrete building is located the branch of the Citizens Bank of Paso Robles.

During this time Mr. Thralls purchased a site and organized the Mission Warehouse Co., building upon the ground a corrugated iron building de- voted to storing hay. His partners in this enterprise are John Work, who serves as president, M. D. Sanchez and Ilenry Twisselmann, Mr. Thralls being director and manager. With such foresight had this under- taking been planned that the warehouse has a storage capacity of over 1,500 tons. In the store of Thralls & Co. referred to, now the largest mer- cantile establishment in the northern part of San Luis Obispo County, and all grown to its present proportions within the last sixteen years, there are departments for the sale of dry goods, groceries, clothing and furnishings, shoes, jewelry, hardware, furniture, harness, implements and plumbing. The firm also have their own vegetable gardens of twenty-four acres on the Salinas river, and from there they ship vegetables and fruit to Paso Robles and other points in the county, not less than five acres being devoted to straw- berries alone.

At Indian Valley, Monterey county, Mr. Thralls was married to Miss Ina May Young, by whom he has had one daughter, Leah. Doubtless some of his business success is due to this excellent woman, who has shared his joys and his sorrows. His mother still tells how fond Arthur was, when a mere child, of "playing store" with the other children, an imitation stroke of mercantile enterprise, employing currency made by her, in which the energetic lad was always more proficient than any of his playmates; for it was he who invariably secured the coveted money. In San Miguel Lodge No. 285, Mr. Thralls was made a Mason ; he is a member of the Eastern Star and San Miguel Lodge No. 340, I. O. O. F., and also of the Fraternal Brother- hood.

GUSTAV ROBERT FREDRICKSON. Prominent among all the clever workers of ancient times, figuring conspicuously in history, song and fairy tales, honored for his rugged honesty and esteemed for his skill so necessary to the comfort and welfare of his fellow-men, the shoemaker has been the handiworker sought by kings and the powerful of the earth, and his humble prosperity was the envy even of those who made pretense to a higher station. All of which may suggest, perhaps, why Gustav Robert Fredrickson, maker of shoes and harness at Templeton, and treasurer of its Board of Trade, has always been and continues to be popular in the com- munity of his adoption. Born at Stora-Tuna, Dilene, Sweden, on February 3, 1872, he was brought up as one of three children living in the family of Fredrick Fredrickson, his father, who was a farmer, and Henrika Charlotte (Holmsten) Fredrickson, who found her highest pleasure in making the old Swedish farm-house the cosiest and most attractive home in all its district.

In 1888, when booming California was being advertised even to the Old World, Fredrick Fredrickson brought his family to the Coast and to Chino, 39

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then to Riverside and, in 1889, to Templeton where he found employment with the Southern Pacific Railroad. Eventually he retired and died here ; and here were laid to rest the remains of his excellent wife. The other chil- dren are: AAlbion, who resides in Los Angeles, and Henry, who is in St. Joseph, Mo.

Gustav attended the public schools, and when ten years old was appren- tired to a shoemaker to learn that time-honored trade. He worked at it winters, and when only twelve years of age made his first pair of shoes, get- ting in when he could, until he was seventeen years of age, such additional schooling as the law required. On his arrival in California and Riverside, however, he found that laborers in the orchards rather than shoemakers were required, and so for nine or ten months he took to orcharding.

In August, 1889, when he arrived in Templeton, he engaged to work upon the railroad ; but only for a month. Then he established the business so long and so favorably associated with his name, beginning on a very small scale, and opening a shoemaker's shop in the harness store of F. W. Muggler. There he learned the harness-making trade, and worked at it, and when Mr. Muggler sold his establishment to T. F. Hood, Gustav continued in charge of the harness store. In 1892, he bought Mr. Hood out and, making no changes beyond a natural expansion of the business, remained at the old stand until he moved to his present corner in 1887; for having bought the corner lot, he moved a building onto it. He has made and repaired harness since 1892, his familiar sign being a guarantee for the quality of the wares so artistically displayed in his well-arranged windows.

At Los Angeles, some years ago, Gustav Fredrickson was married to Miss Ililma Nelson, a daughter of Henry Nelson, who came from Iowa, where she was born, and was one of the pioneers of this vicinity. One son, Melvin, is the issue of this marriage. Having taken a very active part in the local fire department, Gustav Fredrickson has been a member of the Board of Fire Commissioners, now serving as its chairman ; but it is as a very active worker in, and as treasurer of the Board of Trade, that he has perhaps con- tributed most in civic work. Always popular socially, he has also participated actively in the Fraternal Brotherhood.

JOHN ALBION KIMBALL .- John Albion Kimball was born in Port- land. Me., on March 1, 1865. His parents, Willard Snell and Sarah Annie Philbrick ) Kimball, natives of Augusta and Cooper's Mills, Me., respectively. were both descendants of the first Puritan Pilgrims who landed on Ply- month Rock.

John Albion Kimball was but nine years of age when he was brought to california by his parents, in 1874, and his education was obtained in the public -Wheels of this county, in several private schools and at the Hesperian Nrolemy, then located in San Luis Obispo. At the age of eighteen years, he ed the teacher's examination and taught in the public schools for two

E then read law with Adams & Gregg, of San Luis Obispo, for two løfter which he attended the University of Michigan, graduating from Jaw Hartment of the University in 1889, receiving the degree of LL. B. In m& Wantted to the practice of law in the State of Michigan in 1889, and fin de Supreme Court of California in the same year, after which he returned To Su Juk Obispo, and opened an office, later on associating himself with

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his brother, Frank Willard Kimball, under the firm name of Kimball & Kimball.

In 1893 he went to San Francisco, where for the next five years he was again associated with his brother in the general practice of his profession. There the firm of Kimball & Kimball built up a large and lucrative practice, after which he returned to San Luis Obispo and retired from the profession.

Mr. Kimball always took an active interest in fruit culture, and in 1907 purchased forty acres of land on Vachell avenue. This was raw land, and on it he has developed one of the largest and finest commercial orchards in the county. It is called one of the "show places" of the county, and is absolutely free from tree disease. Mr. Kimball has been eminently successful in fruit culture, having created several new varieties, which he contemplates propa- gating in the near future; and he is now considered one of the foremost horticulturists in the state.

Mr. Kimball has always been an active Republican, although never an aspirant for office. He is a Mason, a member of Mount Moriah Lodge and Mission Chapter of San Francisco. His marriage was celebrated in that city, May 10, 1901, when he was united to Edith Nelson, a native of San Francisco, born December 16, 1875. She is a niece of the late Frank Pixley. Her father was George Henry Nelson, born in New York state, and her mother, Sarah Ann Van Reymegon Nelson, was a native of Bath, Me., and a descendant of old Puritan stock.

Two children blessed this union of John Albion and Mrs. Kimball, Roy John Albion and Charles Nelson.

RAMON N. BARBA .- The good blood of so many old and honorable families is so often represented in the rank and file of sturdy California citizenship that it is particularly interesting when two well-known families of pioneers are joined, as in the case of Ramon Barba, the enterprising young farmer and stockman at Creston, and his excellent young wife. Born in San Luis Obispo in 1882, Ramon's father is Refugio Barba, a native of Sonora, Mexico, who came to San Luis Obispo County when a young man, and followed the stock business here, riding the range in the vicinity of Paso Robles and eastward toward the Kern county plains. For four years he was located in San Luis Obispo, and then he moved to Paso Robles, where he engaged in ranching and stock-raising, finally buying a ranch, four miles west of Paso Robles, in the Manzanita country. For some time he farmed one hundred eighty acres there, and when he sold out he returned to Paso Robles where, at the age of seventy-six, he now resides.

Ramon's mother, on the other hand, had been Jacinta Sanavero, the daughter of a pioneer who settled at San Luis Obispo. Her father was born in Spain, of Castilian parents, and settled in San Luis Obispo County as a cabinet maker, and also manufactured caskets. In March, 1916, at the age of fifty-three, she died in Paso Robles, the mother of sixteen children, fourteen of whom are still living.

The third oldest of this vigorous family. Ramon Barba was educated in the Encinal and Bethel districts, and at the age of fifteen went to work on a farm, where he learned the stock business and the raising of grain. Ile proved a reliable boy, getting up at six o'clock in the morning and riding far after the cattle. In 1908, he began farming for himself, leasing land on the Ambrose estate in the Creston country, and there raising grain and stock.

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Ile controls about five hundred acres, and puts in about half of that area each year to grain.

On October 24, 1907, the marriage of Ramon Barba and Miss Hazel Willson was celebrated in old San Luis Obispo. The fair lady had been born in the Ilighland school district, the daughter of Henry Willson, a native of the same section. Her mother was formerly Miss Sarah Shepherd, a native daughter. Mrs. Barba was educated in the public schools. Two children have resulted from this union-Raymond and Dolly.

While not a politician in any sense of the word, Mr. Barba takes a live interest in political affairs, and in the exercise of his franchise generally votes according to Republican preferences.

THADDEUS SHERMAN .- With what pleasure Longfellow, when he was penning his famous and sympathetic sketch of the Village Blacksmith, would have looked upon Thaddeus Sherman, one of the finest old men in San Luis Obispo county, those who know this master pioneer of Paso Robles will readily discern. A native of Van Buren, Wayne county, Mich., where he was born far back on February 15, 1833, he grew up in the home of a shoe- maker, James Sherman, a New Yorker by birth, who followed the trade with his last until he died. His mother, Mabel Sherman, was one of those rare, old-fashioned souls whose home influence was worth far more than that of the plain public schools at the disposal of young Thaddeus.

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History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches, Part 84

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