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 104
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While in Sacramento, in 1889, Mr. Loser was united in marriage with Mrs. Martha Strobel, a native of California and the mother of two children, both of whom are now married and in homes of their own. Lillian is the wife of Robert Surryhne, of Sebastopol, and the mother of one child, Norine. John Loser is married and has one son, John, Jr., and resides in San Francisco. Fraternally Mr. Loser is a Mason, and also belongs to the affiliated order, the Eastern Star. Mr. Loser is one of the best-known and most highly respected citizens in Sebastopol, whither he came and settled when there were only a few houses scattered about to denote that a settlement had heen started. The part which he has played in its advancement in the years that have passed is not inconsiderable, and as one of the town's upbuilders much credit is due him.
JAMES P. KELLY.
The history of the Kelly family dates back to Ireland, where, in County Cork, the name was well and favorably known through the long and honorable citizenship of the grandparents of the subject of this sketch, William and Ellen (Kinfick) Kelly. A happy and peaceful home life was shattered through the untimely death of the mother, when her only child, James W., was very young. The latter was born in January, 1841, and was about eleven years old when with his father he came to the United States, an ocean voyage of over thirty days finally landing them on these shores. For a time they made their home in Massachusetts, where the son attended school until 1854, after which he accepted a position in a lumber mill, this being his first attempt at self-support. Subsequently he made a number of removals toward the west, in 1856 going to Keokuk, Iowa, and later to Monroe county, Mo., where he carried on a farm until 1861. In the meantime the grandfather had gone to the Pacific coast, and in 1865 he was joined by his son, who was fortunate in finding agree- able and remunerative employment in the furniture factory of McDonald Broth- ers, under the direction of John Miller. The employment was agreeable but less exciting than the mining prospects which were then attracting so many young men to Nevada. Giving up his position with Mr. Miller he made plans to fol-
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low the life of the miner, but ill-health prevented their consummation, and he went to Portland, Ore., instead, and for a time was engaged in a furniture manufactory there. Subsequently he returned to San Francisco and resumed work with his old friend, Mr. Miller, remaining with him in the furniture factory until 1871. It was in that year that he came to Sonoma county and located on a ranch near Cloverdale, following this after one year by a resi- dence of two years on the old Carrillo ranch near Sebastopol. His residence on his present ranch dates from the year 1876, at which time he settled upon it as a renter, but subsequently purchased the property and brought it up to its present high state of development. It consists of three hundred and fourteen acres of fine land on the Santa Cruz and Sebastopol road, in the Lano school district. Here he has a vineyard of forty-seven acres, and seven acres of fruit, besides which he conducts a thriving, up-to-date dairy business.
The marriage of James W. and Mary (Pierce) Kelly was celebrated in San Francisco in 1867, the latter being a daughter of Patrick and Mary (Don- lon) Pierce, natives of County Roscommon, Ireland. Seven children were born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Kelly, as follows: William H., James P., Edward, John (now deceased), Frank, George and Thomas.
The second child in the parental family, James P. Kelly, was born in San Francisco March 5, 1870. As he was a small child when his parents removed to Sonoma county the greater part of his life has been passed within its con- fines, first in the vicinity of Cloverdale and later in Sebastopol. As soon as he was old enough he gave his assistance to his father in the management of the home farm, in fact he remained at home until he was twenty-six years old, at this age starting as an agriculturist on his own account. In this vicinity he rented what was known as the Solomon ranch, consisting of two hundred and twenty acres of rich land. He had carried on the ranch successfully for three years when, in 1899, County Assessor Frank E. Dowd appointed him deputy county assessor, a position which he has since filled through successive appoint- ments. Added honors came to him in April, 1910, when he was appointed to the highest office within the gift of his fellow-townsmen, being made mayor of the town of Sebastopol. In addition to the public duties mentioned he is also president of the Chamber of Commerce, and on his own account represents five well-known and reliable fire insurance companies, and is a representative of Rosenberg Bros. & Co., of San Francisco, one of the largest dried fruit firms on the Pacific coast.
Mr. Kelly's marriage, December 20. 1896, united him with Miss Myrtle M. Matthews, a native of California, and two children, Lillian M. and James Rus- sell, have been born to them. Public duties and business associations do not consume all of Mr. Kelly's time and interest, and at least two social organiza- tions benefit by his membership, the Elks and the Native Sons, the latter of which he served as district deputy for one year.
WILLIAM S. LAMBERT.
The old-settled communities of the eastern and central states are largely populated by their native sons, but in the newer regions along the Pacific coast it is not a matter of everyday occurrence to find a farm cultivated by one who has spent his entire life thereon. Such, however. is found to be the case in the
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history of William S. Lambert, a well-known and prosperous rancher of Sonoma county and the present occupant of the homestead where he was born on the 10th of October, 1860. It has been his privilege to witness the trans- formation of the country from a wilderness bearing few indications of settle- ment to a cultivated region with every mark of prosperity and progress. In this slowly-wrought change he has been a factor, and as he looks back upon the past fifty years with its improvements and evolutionary growth he may well exclaim "All of which I saw and part of which I was," yet his part has been that of a progressive man, a capable rancher and a patriotic citizen, for he has avoided the notoriety of public leadership and the prominence associated with office-holding.
Early in the colonization of the new world the Lambert family became established in Virginia, and from the Old Dominion came Charles Lee Lam- bert to California in 1851, crossing the plains with an ox-team. Just before setting out on the long journey he was united in marriage with Margaret Lakey, a native of Indiana, and with his bride he arrived safely in Sonoma county, where he settled five miles from Healdsburg. Here he settled on land which he supposed belonged to the government, and acting on that belief he developed the claim, only to find later that it was owned by a private party. It then became necessary for him to buy the tract of two hundred and ten and one-half acres, and in doing so he paid $12.50 for the bottom: land and $2 per acre for the hill land. After having spent thirty-five years on the same place he passed away July 26, 1886; his wife had died in February, 1869. Their family com- prised four sons and four daughters and one of the daughters, Jane, was the first white child born on Dry creek; she became the wife of Jolin Lavell and died November 3, 1900, in the locality familiar to her earliest memories.
People familiar only with conditions as they now exist in Sonoma county cannot realize the en fronment in which William S. Lambert passed his early years, still less the situation of affairs during the first years of his father's residence here. Healdsburg had not yet sprung into existence. Villages were few, ranches isolated, schools widely scattered and facilities for marketing produce the most limited. Perhaps in no way did his father experience greater trouble than in his relations with the Spanish and Indians. The latter were untiring in their depredations, and he was constantly on his guard for possible dangers. On one occasion he assisted in hanging an Indian who had murdered a white man. Other exciting experiences gave color to his early residence in the county, ann; the memory of some of these incidents lingers in the mind of the son, who at that time was a mere child, but whose quick powers of observation and keen faculties enabled him to under- stand much that was going on around him, presumably only appreciated by older eyes and more mature minds. In 1888 he married Miss Ellen Kirby, a native of Illinois. Their only son, Ira, born January 5, 1889, completed a grammar- school education and a course in the business college at Santa Rosa.
In former years Mr. Lambert maintained active relations with the For- esters and the Native Sons of the Golden West. In politics he votes with the Democratic party, and gives his influence to the aid of its principles. The only office he has consented to hold is that of school trustee. It is his preference to keep aloof from offices and public positions and to devote his attention unre-
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servedly to private affairs, concentrating his attention upon his tract of thirty and one-fourth acres on Dry creek. There is a fine orchard on the farm, also a vineyard producing in grapes a value of between $800 and $900 per year, and bearing only the choicest varieties. Fruit is the main industry of the owner, and as a grower he is resourceful and skilled. The stock raised on the land is solely for his own use, and is therefore quite limited in quantity, but of the best quality obtainable. Perhaps no place in the region has been cultivated with greater profit in proportion to its size, and this gratifying condition is due to the owner's industrious application and sagacious management.
JAMES WILLIAM KELLY.
If one were to make a list of the citizens of Sonoma county who had meant most to her growth and upbuilding, the name of James W. Kelly would be fore- most of the number enumerated. One mile east of Sebastopol, on the Santa Rosa and Sebastopol road, may be seen the thriving ranch of three hundred and fifteen acres, of which he is the owner. His chief interest, perhaps, centers in his vineyard, which contains forty-five acres, thirty acres of which are in Zinfandel grapes, and the remainder in a variety of table grapes. In his or- chard of twenty-seven acres may be found almost every variety of fruit, includ- ing twelve acres of apples, peaches, French prunes, pears, plums and smaller fruits. One hundred acres are in hay and grain, the remainder of the land be- ing devoted to stock-raising, besides which he raises such horses as he requires upon the ranch. Some idea of the resources of the ranch may be obtained from the statement that during the year 1909 he gathered one hundred and twenty tons of grapes from his vines, and his crop of oats from seventy acres amounted to one thousand sacks.
A native of Ireland, James W. Kelly was born in County Cork, in Janu- ary. 1841, the only son of William and Ellen (Kinfick) Kelly, they, too, being natives of that county. Before he was old enough to realize his loss he was deprived of his best friend in the death of his mother. Thereafter the father did a noble part in supplying this loss to his only child, in addition to eking out a scanty livelihood on a small farm heavily mortgaged. With the idea of furnishing a better outlook for his young son, Mr. Kelly made arrangements to come to the new world, the year 1852 witnessing their immigration to the United States and settlement in Massachusetts. In that state the son received such education as he was destined to enjoy, going to school for about two years, when he undertook his own maintenance by working in a lumber mill. He continued at this for about two years, and in 1856 went to Keokuk, Iowa, from there going to Monroe county, Mo., a year later and remaining until 1861. In the meantime, in 1854. the elder Mr. Kelly had come to California, and was located in San Francisco, and there his son joined him in 1861. James W. Kelly was fortunate in finding employment readily, work awaiting him in the furniture factory of McDonald Brothers, where under the superintendence of John Miller he remained for about two years. An entire change of occupation and a new location was his next plan, which was to take up mining in Nevada. but the project which he had planned was not carried out owing to ill-health.
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From Nevada he went to Portland, Ore., and engaged in the manufacture of furniture, continuing this but a short time, however, for the year 1865 found him in San Francisco again in the furniture factory with his old friend, Mr. Miller, with whom he continued for about six years.
In the meantime, in 1867, Mr. Kelly was married to Miss Mary Pierce, the daughter of Patrick and Mary (Donlon) Pierce, natives of County Roscom- mon, Ireland. Coming to Sonoma county in 1871, Mr. Kelly located on a rented ranch near Cloverdale, remaining there for about a year, when he settled on another rented ranch in Santa Rosa township. His next removal, two years later, found him on the old Joaquin Carrillo property near Sebastopol, upon which he continued until 1876, when he took a lease of the property which has since become his by purchase. To the original tract he added by purchase of adjoining property from time to time, until at one time he owned altogether five hundred and forty acres, but of late he has reduced his acreage by the sale of land, and now has three hundred and fifteen acres in his ranch, which is admirably located six miles west of Santa Rosa and one mile east of Sebastopol. Mr. Kelly has not allowed his personal interests to consume all of his thought and energy, but has taken time to do his duty as a good citizen. Politically he is a Democrat, and on the ticket of this party has been elected to a number of offices, among them that of school trustee. His fraternal affiliations are with Evergreen Lodge No. 161, I. O. O. F., of Sebastopol; Santa Rosa En- campment No. 53, I. O. O. F .; the lodge of Woodmen of Santa Rosa, and the Sebastopol lodge of Chosen Friends. Seven children were born to Mr. Kelly and his wife, as follows: William H .: James P., deputy assessor of Sonoma county, and of whom a sketch will be found elsewhere in this volume; Edward T .; Frank; George Robert; Thomas E. and John Joseph, the last-mentioned deceased, having died at the age of eight years.
G. B. LEVERONI.
For over forty years Mr. Leveroni has made his home in the vicinity of Petaluma, Sonoma county, towards whose upbuilding he has contributed in a quiet but nevertheless substantial way. He is one of the large number of for- eign-born citizens who have here found the combination of conditions which were lacking in their own countries to permit them to move forward and make the most of the latent possibilities within them. His earliest recollections are of a simple home in Italy, where he was born in 1850, and where his parents labored untiringly in tilling a small patch of ground to. provide for the neces- sities of their family.
When he was eighteen years old Mr. Leveroni came to the United States, coming to California during the same year, 1868, and soon engaged in garden- ing in San Jose. It was not until 1870 that he came to Sonoma county and established himself as a gardener in the vicinity of Sonoma, on the Col. Rogers place, where he made a specialty of raising vegetables. His years of effort were put to good account, and the luscious vegetables which he raised found a ready sale in the near-by markets. In 1909 he bought ten acres on San Antone creek, where he has a nice residence and improvements, located about five miles south of Petaluma.
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In Petaluma, in 1879, Mr. Leveroni was united in marriage with Miss Rosa Solari, and ten children have been born to them, as follows: Mary, Toney, David, Victor, Isadore, Manuel, Olivia, Anita, Genevieve and Florence. One of the sons, David, is married, and he and his wife, formerly Julia Bossi, have one son, David, Jr.
Mrs. Leveroni is the daughter of Joseph and Anna Solari, who were born in Italy. The six children born of their marriage were David, Victor, Toney, John, Rosa and Lena, and with them the parents came to California in 1870. Lena subsequently became the wife of James Hansen, and is now the mother of one son. It was nine years after her parents settled in California that Rosa Solari met and married Mr. Leveroni. They have a comfortable but unpretentious home on ten acres of land near Petaluma, upon the proceeds of which Mr. Leveroni has been able to provide a comfortable living for his large family. Three horses of high grade are being raised on the ranch. Mr. Leveroni and all of his family are communicants of the Roman Catholic Church in Petaluma, and owing to the fact that Mr. Leveroni has never taken out naturalization papers, he is not eligible to vote. In all other respects, how- ever. he is a loyal citizen of the United States and of California in particular.
HOYT BROTHERS.
To attain so honored a place in the community as have Henry A. and Frank L. Hoyt is to live worthily and improve the opportunities within reach of one's ability and industry. Without doubt the surroundings of their youth had much to do with formulating those principles of truth and honesty which have helped them in surmounting difficulties in their pathway to the attainment of the position they hold today, as the largest contractors and engineers in northern California.
So closely have the lives and interests of the brothers been associated, that it would be practically impossible to write the history of one without in- cluding the other. Through long residence in the east the Hoyt family was well and favorably known in that section of the country, especially in Saratoga county, N. Y., where for many years the father followed fine stock breeding as a means of support for his family. It was while the parents were living in that county that the birth of both sons occurred, both being born in Galway, Henry A. in 1877, and Frank L. in 1881. Every advantage for gaining good educations were given to both sons, the parents appreciating its value as im- perative to a successful future. A thorough public-school education in Sara- toga county was followed by a practical training along the line of work in which they are now engaged, a work for which they exhibited a predilection at an early age. In 1891, when the brothers were fourteen and ten years of age respectively, the parents removed from the east and located in Wisconsin. where in the town of Whitewater, their training was continued for a number of years, Henry A. following architectural designing and drafting, while Frank L. became proficient as a millwright and engineer. The preparation for their life work had been so thorough that when they united their forces they had a fund of knowledge and ability to draw upon that precluded any possibility of failure.
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The year 1901 witnessed the arrival of the Hoyt brothers in California, two years being passed in San Francisco and Tehama county before they came to Santa Rosa in 1903. The history of their success dates from the last-men- tioned year, and has been little short of phenomenal. It must not be supposed that their accomplishments have been confined to this city, or even in Sonoma county, but on the other hand are to be seen in every town of importance in northern California. A list of the more recent structures erected by the Hoyt Brothers is here given, which will indicate the character as well as the large amount of work which has passed through their hands in a comparatively short time. In Santa Rosa they have erected the Carithers building (in which their office is located), Grosse Building, Mailer-Barnett building, K. of P. Hall, C. F. C. Association warehouse, Rosenberg-Green building, besides twenty- five residences ; in Sonoma county, Felta school, Kenwood school and the Lam- bert school; in Sebastopol, the grammar school, Forsyth building and the Barnes building; in Cloverdale, the Chalfant Memorial Church and the Bank of Clo- verdale building; in San Francisco Hotel Leo (five stories) and the Albertson building ; near Truckee, the club house building for the San Francisco Fly- Casting Club; the Orland grammar school in Glenn county, the following four Carnegie Libraries: St. Helena, San Rafael, Lincoln, and Livermore; the United States government postoffice in Santa Rosa, the San Benito County Hall of Records at Hollister, and the Preston apartments in San Francisco, the latter a five-story structure costing $100,000. It is conservatively estimated that more than a half million dollars worth of work has been turned out by the brothers since they came to Sonoma county, a truly marvelous record, but one which has been faithfully and honestly earned.
Both of the brothers are married and established in homes of their own. Henry A. Hoyt was married in 1901 to Miss Ora Mabelle Smith, a native of Minnesota, and they have one child, Frances Louise. They have a beautiful and commodious home at No. 827 Spencer avenue. Frank L. Hoyt was married in 1906 to Miss Leah Louisa Barrows, a native of Colorado, and they make their home at No. 926 Humboldt street. Both of the brothers keep in touch with progress made in the line of their profession through their membership in the Builders Exchange of San Francisco and in the Chamber of Commerce of Santa Rosa.
HARDY R. HARBINE.
Another of the native sons of Sonoma county who is nobly acquitting hin- self as a rancher is Hardy R. Harbine, whose birth occurred on the ranch he now occupies near Forestville in 1868. Three years previous to his birth, in 1865, his parents, Leander and Elizabeth (Leggett) Harbine, had settled on this ranch, making it their home throughout the remainder of their lives, the death of the father occurring in 1888, while the mother died January 18, 1911. As a boy Mr. Harbine attended the public school of Forestville, receiving a fairly good education, and when the school was not in session and at other times when he was not preparing his lessons, he found ample exercise in doing the various chores that fall to the lot of farmers' sons generally. His was no exception, and in performing the tasks allotted him he acquired a knowledge
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and understanding of the principles of agriculture which in his later years he has found invaluable to him.
Until he was twenty-one years of age Mr. Harbine gave his services to his father in the care of the home ranch, after which he gave vent to a long- felt desire to try his luck in the mines, and from the year 1889 until 1905, or for about sixteen years, he followed the interesting life of the miner in San Diego, Trinity and Shasta counties. After the death of the father the mother continued the management of the ranch with the aid of her son, J. L. Harbine (now ranching near Occidental) until 1905, in which year Hardy R. Harbine undertook the supervision of the ranch. Here he has under his management one hundred acres of fine land, of which forty acres are in mixed fruits, twenty- two acres in Gravenstein apples principally, and a few winter-apple trees, four acres in berries, and on the remainder of the land he raises hogs and conducts a large hennery, having between three hundred and four hundred hens throughout the year. In addition to the care of the homestead ranch he cares for a ranch of his own comprising twenty-two acres.
Mr. Harbine's parents, Leander and Elizabeth (Leggett) Harbine, were natives of Pennsylvania and Iowa respectively. Although born in Pennsylvania the early years of Mr. Harbine's life were passed in Ohio, where he located. when quite a young boy, going there empty-handed and alone, and with no knowledge of the English language, his education and training thus far having been in the German language entirely. He was industrious and thrifty, a com- mon inheritance from his ancestors, and these obstacles did not long interfere with his progress. Subsequent years found him in Iowa, where he amassed a large fortune in the pork-packing business, but the ravages of the Civil war reduced him to straitened circumstances, and with the remnant of his once large fortune he came to California in 1861, coming by the water route. He first located in Petaluma, but subsequently bought the ranch which is now the home of his son, Hardy R. Not only was he known as one of the first pork- packers of Keokuk, Iowa, but he was also one of the pioneer hardware and furniture dealers in that city, and as one of the most substantial upbuilders of that city his departure for the west was looked upon as a direct loss to the community.
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