USA > California > San Luis Obispo County > History of San Luis Obispo County and environs, California, with biographical sketches > Part 90
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In the same town with which he has thus become so prominently and en honor. Flentified. Ed. Holzinger married Miss Augusta Hansen, a nati of Selling- and the daughter of Hans Hansen, an early settler and a moder in that section who, in 1884, located near Creston. Herself an only child. she has had one son, Harold.
\ Republican in matters of national politics, and more than once a mojüber of the grand jury, Ed. Holzinger has been deputy county assessor for the past ten years. He was a school trustee at Creston for many years, serving as clerk of the board until two years ago, but after resigning he was re elected to that responsible office. Fraternally he is a member of the Woodmen of the World.
GUNDER GUNDERSON .- A resident of San Miguel since 1889 and one of the well-known and highly respected citizens of San Luis Obispo County, L Gunderson was born on June 10, 1860, in Arndal, Norway. His father, Gunder Gunderson, was a professional diver and successfully followed that vocation. Ile married Gunhild AAanensen and both are now deceased. G. Gunderson was reared in AArndal and attended school until he was fifteen, when he went to sea, sailing on deep water on the "Viga." "Landboe," "Hans Nielsen Hauge" and "Mississippi" ; and on the latter he came to New York. At that port he left the sea and arrived in San Francisco, on May 17, 1881. Next he went to Antioch and worked on the boats running on the bay, and the coasting schooners, after which he worked at the carpenter trade in the cities around the bay.
Desiring to become an owner of land, he came to San Luis Obispo County in 1889, and in the vicinity of San Miguel hunted up some govern- ment land and located a homestead of one hundred sixty acres sixteen miles northeast of the town and over the line in Monterey county. Here he erected a log house, fenced and broke the land, and began in the stock bust- ness. lle also set out a family orchard, and while improving his ranch he began working in the Southern Pacific Milling Company's warehouse in San Miguel, continuing for eighteen years, when he resigned to give all his atten- tion to his alfalfa ranch. He located four springs on his ranch, and piped the water into troughs for the stock. Fifteen years later he sold out and located in San Miguel, purchasing a tract of fourteen acres adjoining town. This he leveled and checked, and planted alfalfa on eight acres. He has a pumping pl: nt to supply water for irrigation, and raises alfalfa, hogs, cattle and poultry With success.
Vr. Gunderson was married in San Miguel to Miss Jessie J. Rader. Why was born in Cambria on June 15, 1873, and whose parents crossed the 11 th in 1849 with ox teams. They had one daughter, Evadne. Mrs. Gun- Un of pa sed away on November 9, 1914, leaving to mourn her loss a deyine husband and little daughter, besides a host of life-long friends. Som Ler death Mr. Gunderson has showered his love on his little daughter 3000 we thought is for her future and comfort. He is a member of the Udo Flow and of the Methodist Church, although he was reared a Lutheran, co le era trustee of the San Miguel church. He is a Republican in politics no wrong ade cate of the temperance cause. Ile is strictly a self-made mowy mod bas a boet of friends here in the county.
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GUSTAV W. FAST .- So long as the spirit of community enterprise is fed and fostered by the energy and intelligence of such young men as Gust W. Fast, so long will California never be wanting in her lead as a favored agricultural state, or as a commonwealth for unlimited commercial develop- ment. Born near De Witt, Jefferson county, Neb., Gustav was the son of Nicholas and Elise (Tiahrt ) Fast, natives of West Prussia, who emigrated to Nebraska while they were young and single, and were married in the Black Water State. After that they farmed in Jefferson county, Neb. In 1898. they brought their family to San Luis Obispo County, and there Mr. Fast engaged in farming ; but in 1909 they removed to Idaho, where they have since resided.
The second eldest of two boys and three girls, Gust was educated largely in San Luis Obispo County, from a youth aiding his parents in their farming operations, and choosing agriculture for his own occupation.
In 1913, he was married in Creston to Miss Elva Stone Jespersen, a native of this county, and a daughter of Hans I. Jespersen, who is elsewhere represented in this work; and after his marriage he entered into partnership with Mr. Jespersen, since which time they have been farming on a large scale. They operated 1,260 acres of the Estrella ranch until the fall of 1916, when they bought the present farm at Cholame. A description of their recent enterprises will be found in the sketch of Mr. Jespersen already referred to.
Two children-Gertrude and Elenor-brighten the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fast, and help make their hearth a center of hospitality to friend and stranger.
JAMES CONSTANTINE THRALLS .- If there be one class of per- sons in America whom everyone, high or low, and from the Government to the plainest citizen, loves to honor, it is such a veteran of the great Civil War as James Constantine Thralls, a fine old gentleman, every inch of him, with a lovely and splendid lady as his wife. The fourth youngest child, he first saw the light of day on December 1. 1843, at Saint Marys, Ind. His father, Jacob Thralls, was a Virginian by birth, who moved to Kentucky, where he married, and thence to Indiana to engage in farming. His mother was Mathilda Rhoades, one of the strikingly-fair daughters of far-famed Ken- tucky. The Thralls removed to Knox county, Mo., in 1857, and there the parents died. The mother, Mathilda Thralls, saw Abraham Lincoln on sev- eral occasions, and very interesting were some of her descriptions of the noted Abolitionist.
Of the twelve children, three are still living, two being in California : J. C. Thralls and Mrs. Virginia Hanes, who now makes her home with the subject of this review. A brother, George, was a member of the 3rd Mis- souri Cavalry from 1861 to 1863, when he died at Little Rock, Ark. James C. went to the public school at Edina, Knox county, Mo., and when only seventeen, at the first tap of the drum, in April, 1861, he entered the Missouri Home Guards as an enthusiastic volunteer. There he served for three months, when he enlisted in Co. B of the 3rd Missouri Cavalry and served for three years, in both Missouri and Arkansas, taking part in the engage ments of his regiment. At the Battle of Mt. Zion he was wounded through the right hand ; and what pluck and valor he displayed may be seen from the fact that he tied up the wound and went on fighting as before.
In 1864, he was mustered out, and returned to his home. For two years he farmed in Knox county, and at the end of that time moved to Loama, in Sangamon county, Ill. There he bought a residence and opened a carpen-
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ter's shop ; and he also ran a blacksmith shop. In 1883, the call of Kansas drew him to Oswego, Labette county, where he was active as a carpenter. plasterer and blacksmith, and from there he went to Gaylord, in Smith county, where he opened a general blacksmith business and again bought a nice home.
With the flood of tourists to California in 1896, James C. Thralls moved what was left of his effects, after he had sold his home and business; and fascinated by the smiling aspect of old San Miguel, he located there and once more established himself in the blacksmithing business, in which he con- tinned many years. In 1910, he disposed of his shop and business and retired to private life.
On September 25, 1865, Mr. Thralls had married, at an old Missouri home- stead in Knox county, Miss Mary Helen Hammond, who was born in Spring- field, Ill., a daughter of William and Emeline (Underwood) Hammond, natives of Kentucky and Tennessee, who had located in Sangamon county. Mr. Hammond was a carpenter and builder, and also a farmer, and finally he removed to Kansas with the Thralls : and there, at Gaylord, he died. In the Civil War, Mrs. Thralls' brother, Arthur C. Hammond, was a member of Company B, 30th 111. Reg., serving three years, when he re-enlisted until the close of the war.
Mr. and Mrs. James C. Thralls have been blessed with six children: Owen G., who is employed in the Southern Pacific car shop in San Francisco; Fred C., who is manager of the Ilardwood Floor Co., of Oakland, and resides at Alameda; Arthur, founder of Thralls & Co., merchants, San Miguel: Albert W., a clerk with Thralls & Co .: Bessie .A., now Mrs. L. F. Jones, of Alameda's social circles ; and Ethel L., who, as Mrs. A. L. Andrews, presides over a charming home at Guadalupe.
MILTON STEWART STEVENSON .- Although a newcomer to San Luis Obispo County, Milton S. Stevenson is not lacking in enthusiasm as to the county's possibilities, and particularly as to the section about San Miguel, where he owns a ranch of eight hundred acres of fine farming land. He was born in Des Moines, la., on July 23, 1892. a son of T. F. Stevenson, who was a native of Kentucky and went to lowa, where he became a prominent attor- ney and judge in Des Moines. Finally retiring to private life, he located in Los Angeles, where he and his wife, who was in maidenhood Miss Janet Stewart, a native of Ilinois, are living in the enjoyment of their surround- ings and in a climate that lengthens life materially.
Milton S. Stevenson was educated in the public schools of Des Moines and took a two years' course at Drake University in Des Moines, after which he came to California and took a two years' course in the University at Red- lands, next spending a year in Los Angeles. In 1915 he came to San Luis Obispo County and purchased eight hundred acres of ranch land near San Mionel and began to improve it. He has sixty acres planted to alfalfa, and be a pumping plant with a twenty horse power engine to pump the water for irne, ting the land. Ile is here engaged in raising hogs, keeping the Poland- ( lama Forced exclusively, and is meeting with deserved success, being alive to the opportunities of his location.
Mr. Stevenson was united in marriage in San Diego with Miss Marian Rodel, who was born in Riverside. On national political issues, Mr. Steven- www -logi- himself with the Republican party.
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O. P. WAHLGREN .- From time immemorial the poet has sung of the pleasures of country life, depicting the charm of nature and the still greater satisfaction of the man who, having conquered the earth about him and made it subservient to his will, retires perhaps in the heat of the day or the quiet cool of the evening to his own meditations, or the society of friends or books. Just this delightful life, apportioned between the demands of the day's labor and the pursuit of study and literary tastes, no one knows better how to appreciate than O. P. Wahlgren, who owns a valuable farm adjoin- ing the town of Templeton, and never wants for agreeable mental occupation when the last stroke of farm work for the day has been done. A native of Elsborg, Sweden, where he was born on December 9, 1852, Mr. Wahlgren is the son of Anders and Brita (Larson) Wahlgren, farmer folks, who died in their native land. He was brought up on a farm, given a good educa- tion in the public schools, and at sixteen was apprenticed to a stone-cutter, where he learned the trade, together with masonry.
When he first came to the United States in 1880, O. P. Wahlgren ex- pected to make but a flying trip and to return to the Old World. He went to New Orleans and from there made his way to San Antonio, Tex., where he was employed for a year in railroad construction. He next turned up at Albion, la., from which place he drifted to Sioux City, where he followed the same railroad occupation, adding, after a while, street grading and farm- ing. To acquire the English language, he attended evening school and in this manner became proficient in its use.
In 1894, Mr. Wahlgren came to Templeton and purchased some land, to which he added from time to time, so that now he owns two hundred twenty acres adjoining the town on the west. These he has improved, fenced in and tilled, reserving a portion of the property for stock raising and the grow- ing of grain, as well as some poultry.
Mr. Wahlgren while in Iowa was a member of the Independent Order of Good Templars. In politics he is a Republican.
FRED A. DEAN .-- Another of the native sons who have made good with their chosen occupation is Fred A. Dean, who was born in Stockton on October 4, 1872. llis father, Lonis Dean, was born in Gottenberg, Sweden, was the son of a ship chandler there and followed the sea for years. Louis Dean went to sea at the age of thirteen, traveled all over the world and into the most famous ports, rounded the Horn in 1850, and left his ship at San Francisco, when he went to the mines in Calaveras county. There he mined for a time and then moved to Mendocino county ; and at Cuffey's Cove he teamed and got out lumber until March, 1886, when he drove overland to San Luis Obispo County.
Ile had married, in Calaveras county, Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth ( Fllis) Cottle, who was a native of Illinois, and had come to California across the plains with her first husband in 1850, traveling by ox teams to Calaveras county, where Mr. Cottle died. She had five children by her first marriage. From the second union only one child, a son, Fred A. Dean, was born. Mrs. Dean being an invalid when the family arrived here, her husband settled on a ranch two miles south of San Miguel, where he farmed and raised vegetables, and set out an orchard and vineyard : but as there was then no market, he let the vines and trees go back. He died here in December. 1902, his wife having passed away in March, 1900.
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Fred \. Dean was but one year okl when his parents went to Mendo- uno camffs, where they remained until 1886, when they came to this county ! and after completing the usual course at the San Miguel schools, he mitendel the San Francisco Business College in 1893. Returning to the ranch, ber helped run it, and before the death of his father became its owner. The fine property consists of sixty acres located on the state high- wat devoted to alfalfa and the raising of Berkshire hogs, about two hun- Ired being turned off yearly. The farm has a pumping plant run by elec- tricity, to pump water from the river for irrigation.
Mr. Dean was united in marriage in San Miguel, on April 27. 1903. with Miss Myrtle Crow, a native of Johnson county, Texas, and they have une child, a daughter, Bertha Elizabeth. He has been prominently identi- fied in politics in this section of the county, working for the interests of the Republican party, and for seven years served as deputy under Assessor John Il. Hollister, or until the death of Mr. Hollister. He was appor- tioned the territory from the Monterey county line to six miles south of Templeton, and from the coast to Shandon district, in all a territory nearly thirty by thirty miles. In 1912, Mr. Dean was a candidate for the office of supervisor.
Ile is a member of the B. P. O. Elks, San Luis Obispo Lodge No. 322. and of the Fraternal Brotherhood. He has served as a school trustee of the San Marcos district for years and has taken an interest in advancing the standard of the schools of the county. Mr. Dean is much interested, as are all the natives of the state, in the preservation of the stories of the lives of the pioneers who blazed the trail from primitive conditions to our present day prosperity.
JOSEPH EDWARD PALLA .- Modest in the extreme, and far from inclined to boast of all that he has accomplished since first he put his Shoulder to the wheel, Joseph Edward Palla is nevertheless a splendid sample of what a man may do through enterprise, hard work and perse- verance. Born in Pennsylvania on May 11, 1854, the son of John Palla, a very industrious native of Germany, and of Mary Palla, a typical Pennsyl- vania housewife, Joseph was fortunate in commencing his struggle with the world with an outfit of personal example, the force and value of which have never ceased to influence him in a marked degree. The second eldest of two boys and a girl, little Joseph came with his parents to Pleasanton, Linn county, Kan., where eventually they both died. As a boy he divided his time between the public schools and a farm, and in 1868, when only fourteen years of age, he set out to shift for himself on a trip to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Passing through San Francisco, he found work it dairving near Petaluma, and in that vicinity continued until 1888, in Somoma and Marin counties.
At the height of the Southern California boom, Mr. Palla came to Bringe county and bought a ranch of forty acres, five miles west of Santa Who There he sunk a well, put in a pumping plant, started a dairy, and planof the Surplus land to alfalfa. His next undertaking was the manage- men of the Robb skimming station, which he continued to superintend for I found, however, that he could not well attend to another's Intere -: while trying to develop his own; so he gave up the management of the stagionato devoted his whole time to his own ranch. He sold hay.
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cultivated sugar beets for the Huntington Beach Sugar Factory, and took the best possible care of the ten cows in his dairy.
In 1911, Mr. Palla sold out and came to San Luis Obispo County, where he located at Geneseo, buying there two hundred twenty-seven acres, nearly all of which was tillable soil. Once more he put in a pumping plant, dug a pit near the Huer-Huero river, and installed a system of irrigation, which soon enabled him to view thirty flourishing acres well seeded to alfalfa. Now he has a dairy of thirty-two Holstein cows, all high grade cattle; and an abundance of water (distributed through fifteen hundred feet of cement pipe sunk two feet under ground and continued from the end of the cement line with galvanized pipe) is forced to the house, twelve hundred feet away, at an elevation of nine feet above the source. Ile has also had an Artesian well bored four hundred sixty-five feet deep near his house which yields a flow of twenty-five gallons of water per minute, while in the dairy the most improved separator gathers the cream, which is shipped to Soledad.
Some years ago at Tulare, Joseph Palla was married to Miss Alice Crayne, a native of Ohio, by whom he has had three girls and one boy. Tootsie is Mrs. Francis Shimmin, of Paso Robles ; Helen is attending school in Berkeley; and Georgia and Brady are at home. These share with him, from time to time, his social life. He is an active member of Pixley Lodge No. 53, I. O. O. F., and of the Encampment. Mr. Palla has always been g.ad to serve his community ; and his services, particularly as school trustee in Orange county, are deeply appreciated. He is a Republican.
JAMES WIGHTMAN MARTIN .- The owner of one of the finest stock ranches on Paso Robles creek in the Templeton district, James Wightman Martin has added the most modern improvements to his estab- lishment and has thereby placed it among the most creditable of San Luis Obispo County farms. In the manufacturing city of Belfast, Ireland, in the year 1862, James was born, the son of John Martin, a merchant, and of Eleanor ( Wightman), a native also of that city. The father died when James was only three or four years old, leaving also a little daughter, Eleanor, now Mrs. McLennan of Monrovia. The lad was educated in the famous national schools of Belfast, and when fifteen years of age began to clerk in a local store.
Two years later the plucky mother with her two children set sail for America and California, and located at Los Osos, where she had a sister, Mrs. Gibson, who afterwards became Mrs. White. Here it may be re- marked that two uncles of James, John and James Wightman, were pioneer merchants of San Francisco, John having come to the bustling town in 1849, and James following a couple of years later. His mother spent h r last days with him, and died at his present home near Templefun, to which he had come in 1887, purchasing a ranch of nine hundred acres from the West Coast Land Company.
With characteristic energy and good judgment, Mr. Martin improved the land, making there, in fact, a veritable transformation ; he broke the untilled ground, built a handsome residence, surrounded it with well made fences. farmed to grain and hay, and introduced thoroughbred cattle, whose brand- - JM, with a bar over the letters- came to be well known. Atter a while he sold three hundred acres, so that now he has six hundred acres, in part de-
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voted ax grain raising, while on the balance is raised the finest of Durham stock
At the nearby county seat, James was married to Miss Sarah Strahl, native of Idaho, who was reared and educated in her native state, and who became the mother of four children - - Eleanor, Mary, James and John Kenneth. These, with their parents, are members of the Presbyterian Church at Templeton.
OTTO WOLF .- The subject whons this narrative sketches was born, m San Francisco, hence all his ideas are typically western and he has im- bibed that generous, liberal spirit so conspicuous in all. Westerners. \ son of Albert Wolt, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this work, Otto Wolf was born on October 28, 1877, attended the public schools in San Francisco for a time and, after moving to San Luis Obispo County, went to the public school in Union district for eight or nine years, growing up on the home farm and learning the details so necessary for a successful career along those lines. He also learned blacksmithing in his father's shop on the ranch, work- ing there and at farming together with his father until 1909, when he became owner of his present place of one hundred sixty acres, besides which he has one hundred sixty acres adjoining, all located on Dry creek, about ten miles east of Paso Robles.
These he has well improved and stocked with teams and implements for a grain raising enterprise on a large scale. Ile leased and operated 2,000 acres of the Sacramento ranch for three years, and ran 1,200 acres of the Estrella ranch for a time, besides operating his own land, using three ten- horse teams, while he owns a combined harvester. Mr. Wolf makes a specialty of breeding high grade Norman draft-horses, having a very fine herd, and has done much to improve horses throughout this part of the county, where he has been actively engaged in the horse business for many years.
The ranch is equipped with fine large barns and modern residence, and a wind mill and gasoline engine for supplying water for the house and barns, all suitable for conducting his business : and every improvement seen on the Hace has been placed there by its owner, who takes pride in its well-kept appearance. He also raises many hogs, finding that a very profitable enter- Prise. While his own interests require most of his time, Mr. Wolf never ofelects the duties of a citizen, but co-operates with all movements that have Vor their aim and ultimate end the welfare of the people and the upbuilding the county. Politically he is a Democrat
JOHN McCULLOCH .- A resident of California since 1885 and of this comix since 1892. John McCulloch has been identified with commercial moterests of San Miguel and has become well known and influential. Ile born in New York City, a son of John McCulloch, a Scotchman, who totoe to America and settled in New York, where he passed his last days.
Ler an orphan when a child, John McCulloch was reared in Erie, Penn., Wier be Altended public school while living on a farm and making himself wwwetwill n eini. He remained in that vicinity until 1884; then, making up he said that he would come West where he felt opportunities were much ha Doo in tin congested Hast, he first stopped at Hillsboro, Tex., a year, vil ine Ste idll . : 188. came on to California. At Salinas he found employ- ment of @ fany ranch and later was engaged in that business on his own
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account in the Gavalon country. Selling out, Mr. McCulloch came to San Miguel and was employed in the Campbell livery stable for a time, and then he was engaged in the butcher business under the firm name of Forbes and McCulloch. During the association with Mr. Forbes, Mr. McCulloch bought and butchered the stock used in the market, while his partner had charge of the retail department. After some time he sold his interest to engage in the liquor business, but after a short time in that field, he sold out.
Meantime Mr. McCulloch had bought a lot and building in the central part of the business district of the town, and leased it out for two years ; and when his tenant's lease expired, he fitted out his present fine billiard parlor, to which he gives his attention. Hle conducts a very orderly and popular place, and as such it is well patronized, for its owner is well and favorably known throughout this part of the county, and has many friends. Hle is a successful business man and is self-made in every sense of the term. Start- ing in life with no guiding hand of father or mother, he has had to battle with the world on his own responsibility, and what he possesses has been made through his own endeavors.
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