USA > California > Sonoma County > History of Sonoma County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county, who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present time > Part 100
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still active, and his interest in the welfare of his fellow-citizens is as keen as it was in the days when he first came to make his home in this community, where he has won and retained the love and esteem of all. His associations with men of affairs in the different corporations he has been interested in have been most agreeable and pleasant, and with none of them has he ever had any difficulty nor misunderstanding. It is to men of his calibre and energy that Sonoma county owes its place today as one of the first counties of the state in its agricultural and horticultural returns.
JACOB CONKLE.
One of the comfortable, home-like and prosperous ranches in the vicinity of Healdsburg is that owned and occupied by Jacob Conkle, a man of kindly, genial disposition, as was also his aged father, who until his death, in April, 1911, made his home with his son on the ranch. A native of Ohio, Jacob Conkle was born in 1848, the son of William and Elizabeth (Ferguson) Conkle, born respectively in that state in 1822 and 1824. Besides Jacob, the parental family included three daughters, all of whom are married and settled in homes of their own. The eldest daughter, Christina, became the wife of Marion Lawthan, and is the mother of three sons, Charles, Edwin and Hiram. The second daughter, Josephine, became the wife of Ira Gaston, and they have two daughters, Eliza- beth and Adaline. The youngest daughter of the parental family, Adaline, be- came the wife of John Snyder, but no children were born of this union.
Jacob Conkle has never married, and since the death of his father has lived alone on his ranch. Altogether he owns six hundred and seventy-five acres of land, much of which is in timber, and from which in 1909 he cut and sold fifty cords of wood. Five acres have been cleared and set out to fruit trees, which are now in bearing and yielding excellent crops, and fifteen acres are in hay, this crop also yielding abundantly and adding considerably to the annual income from the property. Politically Mr. Conkle is a Republican.
JOHN CHRISTENSEN.
While the pioneers of early days did a noble part in paving the way for those who were to follow and continue the work which they started, the latter liave been faithful to the trust, so to speak, and but for their combined efforts present- day conditions could not be portrayed in the glowing colors we see today. With- out doubt one of the youngest ranchers in Sonoma county is Mr. Christensen, and it may be said with equal emphasis that it would be hard to find a more complete, up-to-date apple orchard than is his within a radius of many miles of Sebastopol, which is his postoffice and market town.
A native of Nevada, Mr. Christensen was born in Douglas county in 1881, the son of Lawrence M. and Annie (Christensen) Christensen, the father a na- tive of Denmark, but since 1866 a resident of the United States. In the same year that he came to this country he went to Nevada and settled on a farm near Reno. Washoe county, which continued to be the scene of his labors until locating
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in Douglas county, where he was living at the time of the birth of his son in 1881. When the latter was still a small child he was able to perform many duties on the home ranch, and year by year he undertook added duties, until at the age of twenty he was a full-fledged rancher. It was with the knowledge and experi- ence gained under the careful training of his father that he came to California in 1901 and on the Gold Ridge section, near Sebastopol, Sonoma county, pur- chased the twenty-acre ranch upon which he now resides. Here may be seen row upon row of as fine apple trees as one might wish to look upon, the most of them of the Gravenstein variety, although there is also a good representation of Kings, Spitzenbergs, Wagners, Roman Beauties, Baldwins and Bellflowers. Seven hundred trees of the orchard are old stock and in full bearing, while the remainder of the orchard, or six hundred trees, are young and just coming into bearing. Under present conditions he averages a crop of two thousand boxes of high grade apples, and from six to seven tons of dried fruit, representing the crops from eight acres, which is a remarkable showing and denotes beyond a question that Mr. Christensen has made a careful study of the special branch of agriculture which he has undertaken. A well-kept, up-to- date drying house forms a necessary equipment to the ranch, enabling him to prepare his own fruit for shipment direct to market. Mr. Christensen's accomplishment is another evi- dence that congenial work means success, a fact which is demonstrated anew from day to day.
Mr. Christensen's marriage occurred in 1907 and united him with Miss Lena Heitman, a native of Nevada, and two children. Lawrence M. and Annie L., were born to them. The latter died November 14, 1910.
THORWALD TRONDSEN.
In Christiania, Norway, Thorwald Trondsen was born November 27, 1859. the son of Tron Trondsen, who was an employe in the custom house in that city, and held this position until he retired from active business life on account of old age. He died at the age of ninety years, and his wife, Bergitta Mickelsen, died when in her sixty-eighth year. To these parents were born eight sons, three of whom are living at the present time, and of these, Thorwald is the youngest. As a boy he was sent to the public schools of his native place and there he received the rudiments of the education that has since stood him in good stead. Early in life he developed a love for the sea, and at the age of fifteen years we find him starting out as a sailor, commencing at the bottom of the ladder and working his way up gradually. His first adventure took him up and down the Baltic And White Seas in a trading vessel. Subsequently he went on the ship Marion to Brazil, then to St. Thomas and thence to New Orleans, at which place he left the ship to remain in the United States. This was in the year 1880. From year to year he grew more fond of the country which he had selected for his future home, admiring her freedom and the principles of democracy for which she stands. In 1894 he located with his family in Petaluma, which place he also made his headquarters, and where he owns a fine residence at No. 140 Howard street. as well as being the owner of other property in the same city. Before
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locating in California and settling in Petaluma, however, he made several trips that are worthy of mention in this record, in that they permit us to know some- thing of the spirit of the man and something of the work that he did before he arrived at that stage of achievement that is his today.
Shortly after arriving in America in 1880, Mr. Trondsen went to New York City, and for four years worked on steamers plying between Sandy Hook and New York. He then took a trip to the land of his nativity, Norway, and visited his home city of Christiania. Several months were spent in this trip, after which he returned to the United States, going almost immediately to San Francisco, Cal. After arriving in San Francisco he was employed until 1886 on the Goodall Perkins' steamer running out of San Francisco. In the year mentioned he bought a scow schooner engaged in freighting on the bay between Sacramento and San Francisco. After selling his first boat, the Energy, he bought the Plow Boy, one hundred and ten tons, and later bought the Fourth of July, of two hun- dred tons, and ran the two boats until after the fire. He then sold the Plow Boy to advantage and purchased the tug Sentinel. He is at present engaged in the freighting business between Petaluma and San Francisco. Mr. Trondsen is so well known in this particular line of work, because of his honesty and general good character, that he has all that he can do between these two points without going elsewhere for freight.
Mr. Trondsen was married in Oakland, Cal., to Miss Olava Johnson, a na- tive of Christiania, Norway, who came to San Francisco, Cal., in 1887. To this union three children were born: Ruth, a graduate of the Petaluma high school and Heald's Business College, Oakland, and now private secretary to Col. Love- land, in San Francisco; Norman, who is taking an electrical engineering course ; and Emily, at present attending Petaluma high school, being a member of the class of 1912. Mr. Trondsen is a member of the Master Mariners' Association of San Francisco, and also a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Pos- sibly no man of foreign birth in Petaluma, or in Sonoma county, has achieved such a measure of success as has Mr. Trondsen, and for many years to come his name will be actively associated with the business activities of this city and San Francisco.
GUSTAV SCHULTZ.
A native of Berlin, Germany, Gustav Schultz was born April 19, 1858, the son of Andrew and Mary (Fritchie) Schultz. At the age of twenty the father enlisted in the Germany army and became a police captain, serving continuously and conspicuously until 1860, when he was retired. His death occurred in 1870 and his wife died in 1884.
Gustav Schultz attended the local schools until he reached the age of four. teen years, when, according to the requirements of the country, he was set to a trade, being apprenticed to the car-builders' vocation in the railroad shops of his native country. He continued at this trade until 1874, when he left the land of his nativity and came to the United States, working at his trade in Chicago and other places until 1878, when he went to Colorado. As early as 1880 he came to California but did not remain long in the state, going to the southern states
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of the Union and following car-building with success. In 1907 he returned to San Francisco, where he held the position of foreman of the car department for the Western Pacific Railroad Company and later held a similar position with the Ocean Shore Road. In the spring of 1911 he located in Sonoma county, and purchased thirteen and one-half acres on the Baxter tract, three and one-half miles east of Sonoma. On this acreage he is engaged in general farming; one of his most recent enterprises is the digging of a ditch from the creek, which provides ample water for his ranch and has greatly benefited its general condi- tion.
Mr. Schultz was united in marriage with Mary Nay, the ceremony taking place in San Francisco. He is a tireless worker and by his energy is bringing his place up to a high state of cultivation.
JOHN SKIFFINGTON.
The citizenship of America is essentially cosmopolitan, practically all of the countries of the world contributing at some time or other to its solidarity. The Republican form of government, with its broad constitution, its splendid insti- tutions and its humanitarian aspects is the form of government best calculated to draw from citizenship the highest success and the noblest achievements. It has been said that Ireland is the most useful country in the world today in that she is ever ready to send forth her sons and daughters to other lands, where their national characteristics are of great worth in the building up of cities and com- munities as well as in the establishing of nations. Whether this broad statement be true or not, we are not able to state, but certain it is that Ireland has mater- ially contributed to the prosperity of the American people in the manner just in- dicated. A splendid example of this is found in John Skiffington, a most estim- able and successful man, whose public spirit and enterprising energy have won for him a place in the regard of the people of Petaluma.
John Skiffington was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, April 22, 1833, a son of Frank and Mary (Toner) Skiffington, who brought their family to St. John, N. B., in 1840 and seven years later located in Hopkinton, Middlesex county, Mass. There they resided for a while, ultimately removing to California and spending their last days in this "sun kissed" land, whither their son had pre- ceded them. Mr. Skiffington received the education offered by the common schools of the day and on leaving school was employed in a shoe factory in Massa- chusetts until nineteen years of age. Many and varied had been the tales told by those returning from California concerning the discovery of gold and the many uses and opportunities of this western state. These stories burned into the heart of the ambitious young man and lured by the music of the adventure, he determined to journey westward himself. In 1852 he came to California, making the trip via the Nicaragua route and going directly to the mining districts. After spending a year in the mines in Yuba county, he returned to San Francisco and until 1858 was engaged in the draying business, after which he came to Sonoma county and purchased a farm in Petaluma township about three miles from the town. Here the young man engaged in general farming and dairying until
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1885, when he leased his ranch and located in Petaluma, building a fine residence on Sixth street.
The first marriage of Mr. Skiffington took place in San Francisco in 1861, when he was united with Miss Johanna Kennedy, a native of Ireland, who came to California in 1858, via the Panama route. After many years of happy mar- ried life Mrs. Skiffington died in February, 1907. They had one adopted daugh- ter, Ella B., now Mrs. Prendegast. The second marriage of Mr. Skiffing- ton united him with Mrs. Mary (McCarthy) Kelsey, the ceremony taking place in Petaluma. Mrs. Skiffington was the daughter of Patrick and Honora (Cain) McCarthy : after the death of the latter, the former brought his family to St. Louis, Mo., in which city he died. In 1853 Mrs. Skiffington came to San Fran- cisco, Cal., via the Nicaragua route and was educated at the school of the Sisters of Charity there, the institution being located on the present site of the Palace Hotel. Five Sisters were teaching in this school, Sister Frances being the Superior and continuing in this vocation until her demise. Mrs. Skiffington was first married in Nevada City, Nev .. to Richard Kelsey, a native of England, who first located in Alton, Ill., and in 1853 came to California.
He was engaged in mining with his brother Edward and they were con- sidered successful miners and business men of Nevada City, Nev., in which metropolis he erected a number of large buildings that were destroyed in the great fire of 1864. Mr. Kelsey located in Petaluma in 1873 and began farming in Vallejo township. He had a ranch of three hundred acres of good land, three miles southeast of Petaluma, at the time of his demise in 1889. Mrs. Skiffington has added sixty acres to the ranch since the death of her former husband and now owns three hundred and sixty acres. Of her union with Mr. Kelsey, five children are living: Richard, engaged in farming on the home place ; Mary, now Mrs. Davis, residing in Penn Grove; Thomas H., a traveling salesman, re- siding at Auburn, Cal .; Edwin Joseph, in partnership with his brother Richard on the home place; and Alice, who resides at home. Mr. Skiffington is en- joying the twilight of a useful life, spent in the service of others, and he enjoys the goodwill and respect of all who know him.
WILLIAM HENRY SCHIEFFER.
As the name might suggest, the Schieffer family is of German origin, and was established in this country by the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. He came to this country in 1850, when his son, Christian Henry, was eight years of age. His parents removing to Wisconsin, C. H. Schieffer grew to manhood on the home farm. When he was about twenty-one years old, or in 1863, he left home for New York City, and from there embarked on a sailing vessel for San Francisco. The voyage was made by way of Cape Horn, and after an exciting trip (mutiny on board being caused by the war) the boat finally landed at its destination in 1863. In San Francisco Mr. Schieffer formed the acquaintance of the lady who later became his wife, Miss M. A. Faulhaber, a native of New York. Besides William H. their family included six sons, three of whom are residents of Santa Rosa, and seven daughters, who are residents of San Fran- cisco, San Jose, Oakland, Cal .; and Tacoma, Wash.
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At the time of the birth of William H. Schieffer, September 8, 1871, the family were living in San Francisco, and there and in the schools of Oakland he was given an excellent education. His school training in those institutions was destined to be short, however, for at the age of thirteen years he removed with his parents to Windsor, Sonoma county, and some time later to Healdsburg, and finally to Santa Rosa, with which locality the greater part of his life has been associated. It is not unlikely that Mr. Schieffer inherited a love of artistic gardening from his German ancestors, for ever since he was a child, work of this character has engaged his attention. Before coming to Santa Rosa he had been employed at farming and gardening, and his experience and knowledge along this line was the means of his securing a position as gardener with Luther Bur- bank, the world-famed wonder-worker in plant life. He remained in the employ of Mr. Burbank at various seasons of the year for ten years, and then was similarly employed with R. W. Bell, also of Santa Rosa. Finally he bought out the nursery business of his employer, in 1896, and has continued the business ever since under the name of the Santa Rosa nursery. In 1909 he assumed other responsibilities by accepting the position of superintendent of the orchard ad- dition to Santa Rosa, a tract of three hundred and twenty acres, all of which is in walnuts of the Franquette variety. After filling the position for two years he resigned in order to give his entire attention to the care of his nursery busi- ness. This is probably the oldest enterprise of the kind in Sonoma county, it having been founded and in operation since 1876, at what has since become known as No. 808 Tupper street, but was then not in the city limits.
Mr. Schieffer's marriage, in 1906, united him with Della Amy Evans, a native of Nebraska, and the daughter of E. R. and Sarah A. (Given) Evans, natives of Iowa and Ohio respectively, and both of whom are still living. Two children, Harold and Gladys, have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Schieffer. Polit- ically Mr. Schieffer is a Democrat, but is not active in the ranks of his party, neither has he ever held, or had any desire to hold, public office; however, he never neglects his duty as a voter, casting his ballot for the best man, irrespective of the party nominating him. Mr. Schieffer's name appears on the member- ship roll of a number of fraternal orders, among them Lodge No. 53, I. O. O. F., the Encampment, the Maccabees, and the Yeomen, in all of which he is an active member.
LORENZ RAMBASH PETERS.
In Mr. Peters one distinctly sees all of those characteristics that have made the German citizen welcomed in every community in which he has elected to make his home. These have come to him through a long line of German antecedents, as well as training during the formative years of his life in the typical German home of his parents. They were Hans and Amelia (Schewhoff) Peters, natives and life-time residents of the Fatherland. In their home in Fohr Lorenz R. Peters was born in 1873, and in the excellent schools for which the Fatherland is noted, he received a good fundamental education. Reading and observation have since added immeasurably to his fund of information, especially has this been true since coming to the United States. This he did when a youth of seven-
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teen years, coming here alone and with no knowledge of the language of the country to which he had come. This inconvenienced him but a short time, how- ever, for he was apt and eager to learn and soon had a good working knowledge of the language, and every day added to his knowledge and understanding of the customs of the country also.
Ever since coming to the United States in 1890 Mr. Peters has been a resident of Sonoma county, where he worked on ranches in the vicinity of Peta- luma for about ten years before undertaking the responsibilities of a ranch of his own. By carefully saving from his income whatever was not necessary for his support he accumulated a sum which made this step possible, and it was with commendable pride that he purchased the ranch upon which he now resides, nine miles from Petaluma and about one-half mile from Two Rock. Petaluma, however, is his postoffice, from which mail is delivered daily by carrier on Rural Route No. 4. Here he has seventy-five acres of rich land, of which twenty acres are in vineyard, while the remainder of the land is in hay and pasture, at least, such of it that is not used as pasturage for his six head of stock and that occu- pied by his chicken industry. Without question the latter is the most fruitful source of income on the entire ranch, four thousand laying hens constituting his flock at the present time, and it is his intention to devote more time and space to this industry as conditions make this possible, for he is convinced that this locality has no equal as a chicken-raising and egg-producing center.
Mr. Peters' marriage in 1900 was solemnized in Fohr, Germany, uniting him with Miss Amelia Hansen, who like himself was born in Germany in 1873. Three children have been born of their marriage, William, Chriska and Rosie. Politically Mr. Peters is a Republican, and with his wife is a communicant and member of the Presbyterian Church.
WILLIAM HENRY LOCK.
England contributed to the citizenship of California when William H. Lock came to this western country in young manhood to take up his permanent abode and identify himself with her best interests. Up to the present generation the Lock family had been residents of England continuously for many hundreds of years, passing their entire lives there, and William Henry Lock was the first to establish the name in the United States. Somersetshire, England, was the place of his birth, and October 19, 1860, the date of that event. His parents, George and Mary Ann Lock. were natives of that same section of England, and there their entire lives were passed, the father passing away in 1905, at the age of seventy-seven years, and the death of the mother occurring in February .. 1910, when in her eighty-third year.
The public schools of Somersetshire, England, directed the early educational training of Mr. Lock, and later he turned his attention to more practical affairs by working as a farm hand in the vicinity of his home. Interest in affairs of his native country did not prove deep or lasting enough at the time he was twenty years old to deter him from coming to the United States to cast his fortunes in with the new and growing states to the west, and the year 1880 found him land-
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ing on our shores at the port of New York. From there he went to Lacygne. Linn county, Kan., where he was interested in farming for a number of years, or until 1884, this year marking his advent in California. He came direct to Sonoma county, where for a time he worked on ranches in the employ of others, but finally, in 1888, was enabled to purchase property in Santa Rosa, and since 1902 has been the owner and occupant of his present ranch, within the limits of town, at No. 426 Hendley street. Here he has twenty acres of choice land, the resi- dence being surrounded by a five acre orchard of prune trees, a vineyard of five acres, while in the rear of these, ten acres are in grain. Taken as a whole this is one of the finest and most productive ranches in the vicinity, one of which the owner is justly proud.
For a wife Mr. Lock chose one of his countrywomen in Miss Julia Norris. who was born in Somersetshire October 9, 1861, their marriage occurring in Santa Rosa in August, 1889. Both of Mrs. Lock's parents were natives of Eng- land, and there too they passed away, the father at the age of fifty, and the mother when sixty-five years of age. Three children were born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Lock, but the eldest. Alfred George, who was born in 1891, died the following year. The others are Arthur George, born April 8, 1893, and Ethel Mary, born October 3. 1895, both of whom are students in the schools of Santa Rosa. Politically Mr. Lock votes the Republican ticket at national elec- tions, but in local matters he casts his ballot for the candidate best suited for the office, independent of the party. With his wife he is a member of the Episcopal Church of Santa Rosa, in the social and benevolent circles of which organization they are both active workers, as they are also in every project which has for its end the advancement of their fellowmen or the upbuilding of the community in which they live. Besides William H. Lock the parental family originally included four sons and two daughters, but of the number only two sons are living (one in Belleview, Cal., and the other still a resident of England) and one daughter, a resident of Australia. Other members of the family were also at one time residents of that island, Mr. Lock's uncles, William and Frederick Marsh. being the first to import English hares into that country and thus became the founders of what at one time was a thriving industry there.
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