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 114
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Mr. Mancini had been a resident of California seven years before he felt financially able to assume the responsibilities of domestic life, his marriage at this time, in 1899, uniting him with Miss Rosie Virginia. Six children, all sons, have been born of this marriage, as follows: Silva, Joseph, Raenaldo, Paul, Fred and William. The parents are rearing their children in the faith of the Catholic Church, in which they themselves were reared from childhood. In his political views Mr. Mancini is independent.
WILLIAM COVEY.
As a well-known rancher of Sonoma county and a fine representative of the native-born sons of California, William Covey, of Sebastopol, is deserving of mention as one of those who have contributed to the upbuilding of this common- wealth. Not only is he a native son of the state, but he is also a native of Sonoma county, and here his entire life has been passed in agricultural pur- suits. Born near Forestville in 1874, he grew up in that vicinity and attended the public school of that place, in the meantime being initiated into ranch life by performing the duties that fell to his lot on the home ranch.
The father of our subject, Uriah Covey, was one of those noble pioneers whose early efforts helped to lay the foundation upon which has been reared this great Pacific commonwealth. He was born in Ohio April .25. 1832, and when he was a child of five years was taken to Missouri by his parents, and in the latter state grew to a stalwart young manhood on the home farm. It was while working in the fields that he made up his mind to come to the west, news of the gold find in California having fired him with an ambition that made his labors on the Missouri farm dull and unattractive. Leaving his parents to carry on the farm, he set out on the overland journey in 1852 and upon reaching his journey's end, went at once to the mines and for a year and a-half followed mining. At the end of this time he returned to Missouri to claim his promised bride in Miss Mary Salee, a native of Missouri, a marriage which resulted in the birth of two children. Shortly after his return to California the wife and mother passed away and on August 9, 1859. he married his second wife, who before her marriage was Miss Sarah Ann Purvis. Ten children were born of this marriage, and of the eight who attained maturity besides William we men- tion the following: Clara D. became the wife of D. F. Hutchinson and at her death in 1905 left seven children ; Ella became the wife of E. L. Ward, a resident of Humboldt county, and by him became the mother of four children; Daniel chose as his wife Laura Ross, and they with their seven children make their home in Lake county, Cal .; Philip married Miss Hotel, and they have three children, making their home in Bennett valley; Elizabeth L. became the wife of Samuel Barnum, of Forestville, where they with their five children make their home; Amanda E. became the wife of Alfred Ross, and they and their seven children live near Forestville; Harmon and his wife have four children : James W. married Annie M. Ridenhaur, and they with their one child make
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their home on the old Ridenhaur estate, of which James Covey is manager. Al- together the elder Mr. Covey made four trips to Missouri after coming to Cali- fornia in 1852. Upon his return to the state after one of these visits to his native state in 1868 he made his first purchase of land, consisting of one hun- dred and sixty acres of land in Sonoma county near Cloverdale. He had made his home on this ranch for two years when he traded the property for one hun- dred and seventy acres near Forestville, and later, in 1878, he bought eighty acres one mile from Forestville, where his wife resides. William Covey was a child of four years when his parents settled on this property and this has been his home ever since, he now managing and caring for the property for his mother. It was here that the earth life of Uriah Covey came to a close May 25, 1909, at which time he had attained the age of seventy-seven years and one month. In addition to the management of the home ranch and maintaining a dairy of fourteen cows, William Covey also has charge of a fifteen-acre fruit ranch near Forestville, this also being a part of the family estate.
In 1899 William Covey was united in marriage with Miss Hattie Ross, a native of Sonoma county, and they have one child, Irma Madeline. Politically Mr. Covey is a Republican, and while he is actively interested in whatever af- fects his party in any way, is not an office-seeker, and has never been before the public in this capacity.
AUGUST MOEBES.
The chicken-raising industry in Sonoma county has competent exponents in August Moebes and his partner, Joseph English, both of whom have had individual experience and their united efforts are therefore productive of very satisfactory results. August Moebes was born in the Fatherland in 1854, the son of Henry and Dorothea (Schroeder) Moebes, both natives of Germany, the former born in 1825. Eleven children were born to these worthy parents, four sons and seven daughters, of whom August was the eldest.
By his marriage with Miss Augusta Gusta Mr. Moebes has two children, Marie and August. It was with the idea of giving his children a better outlook in life that he came to the United States in 1883, and in California he has real- ized his expectations in a greater degree than he had anticipated. Near the town of Sonoma he has a well-equipped chicken ranch. where every accessory usual to a well-appointed and up-to-date hatchery may be seen. The proprietors realize a profit of about $1,000 annually from the hatchery alone, while five hundred laying hens add considerably to this income. Much of Mr. Moebes' time is passed in San Francisco, where he has other business interests, hence the care and management of the chicken ranch devolves principally upon Mr. English.
Not unlike his partner in his nativity, Joseph English is a native of Ger- many, his birth occurring there in 1862. He is one of seven children (of whom five were boys) born to his parents, Mathias and Catherine (Schutenhelm) Eng- lish. The sons are Joseph, Mathias, Andrew, George and John, two of whom have established homes of their own, while three of the number are still single. The daughters are Barbara and Catherine. Joseph English is not identified by membership with any church organization, but believes in the Golden Rule as
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the best guiding principle in life and exemplifies this belief in his daily life. Politically he is a stanch Republican. Both Mr. English and Mr. Moebes are regarded as thoroughly reliable, enterprising business men and their efforts as chicken ranchers are watched with interest by their fellow-citizens. It is their intention to increase their capacity as rapidly as circumstances will permit, and judging from their success in the past, their future efforts may be assured also.
GIOVANNI MECCHI.
Yet another of the sons of Italy who have come to the United States in the hope of realizing their dream of independence is Giovanni Mecchi, now one of the well-to-do and progressive citizens of Fulton, Sonoma county, where he has made his home for many years. His earliest recollections are of a boy- hood home in Lucca, Italy, where he was born in 1867, into the home of Dome- nico and Adele (Bianchini) Mecchi, two other children, both daughters, also being born to these parents, Paquina and Argentina Mecchi.
Leaving his parents in their native land, in young manhood Giovanni Mecchi set sail from Italy for the United States, where, from authentic reports which had come to him from those of his countrymen who' had preceded him, he was confident that better conditions were open to the young man of energy than were possible in his native country. From the eastern metropolis at which his vessel landed him he made his way across the United States to California and in May, 1885, located in Sonoma county. Environment and language differed materially from anything with which he was familiar, but this he expected, and as rapidly as possible adjusted himself to his new surroundings, receiving com- panionship and encouragement from such of his countrymen as were living in the vicinity. After looking about for a suitable tract of land he finally selected the ranch which is his home today, a very desirable tract of eighty acres within easy access to the town of Fulton, which is his postoffice and market town. Knowledge of and familiarity with grape culture acquired in his native land have here been put to good account, for fifty acres of his land are under cul- tivation to the vine, and one hundred tons is an average year's yield. He finds a ready market for his fruit at the winery, for which he receives the uniform price of $16 a ton.
Mr. Mecchi has never formed home ties, but lives alone on his ranch near Fulton. It is not to be inferred from this that he is a recluse or disinterested in the welfare of those about him; on the contrary he is thoroughly wide- awake and ready at all times to forward and even inaugurate measures for the uplift of his fellow-citizens and the betterment of conditions in town and county.
EDGAR DANIEL ALDRICH.
There is probably no one in the section of country around Forestville, So- noma county, better informed in all phases of the lumber industry than is Mr. Aldrich, who from boyhood has been interested more or less in some branch of the business, and for years has been engaged in this business in Forestville. A native of the south he was born in Kentucky in 1850, the son of Lyman H. Aldrich, and his wife, the former born in Ohio, and the latter in Michigan in
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1817. The father is now deceased, but the mother is still living, at the remark- able age of ninety-three years. At the time of the birth of their son the parents were living in Kentucky, and from there, when he was six years old, they re- moved to Missouri, that state being their home until 1863, when they re- moved to Michigan. When he was seventeen years of age Edgar Aldrich was mustered in the regular army, becoming a member of Company K, at Covington, Ky., and was assigned to duty in the west, first going to old Fort Bridges, then to Wind River valley, Wyom., and from there to Fort Laramie. After receiving his discharge from the service at the latter place he returned to his home in Michigan and remained there for several years. The glimpse of the west dur- ing his military service had attracted him by its breadth and freedom and from that time forward he had a longing to take a part in the bounding possibilities which it offered. The year 1872 found him in Kansas, where he says it was necessary to shoot buffalo to clear the road for their ox-train. This was long prior to the advent of the railroad in the now thriving city of Wichita, the nearest railroad station being in Dodge county, to which point goods had to be hauled for shipment. Mr. Aldrich gained his first insight into the lumber business in the forests of Michigan, and in Wichita, Kan., he engaged in the lumber business until coming to California in 1885. Since that time he has been a resident of Sonoma county, and the greater part of this time has been interested in the lumber business in Forestville, a business in which he is now engaged on a large and successful scale.
Mr. Aldrich was married in Michigan in 1871, to Miss Olive Bigford, a native of Branch county, that state, and the only child of that marriage, a daugh- ter, is now the wife of John H. Cole, and resides in Michigan. Mrs. Aldrich is now deceased. During his early years in California Mr. Aldrich combined ranching with his lumber interests, but as the latter increased in volume he re- linquished other business and concentrated his attention on his lumber business, in which he is now engaged. Politically he is a Democrat.
JOHN W. TURNER.
A successful and well-to-do horticulturist of Sonoma county is John W. Turner, who is prosperously engaged in his independent vocation on one of the most finely improved and most desirable ranches in the vicinity of Sebastopol. His specialty is the raising of a fine grade of apples and cherries. By birth Mr. Turner is an Englishman, and was born in 1867. In the locality of his birth he was reared and educated up to the age of seventeen years, when the family immigrated to America, in 1884, and the same year came to California. This was the second trip which the father, William Turner, had made to the state, having come here first during the period of the gold excitement, in 1854. Instead of following mining, however, he came to Sonoma county and near Stony Point became one of the first settlers, carrying on a large dairy industry. After spending a number of years in this locality he returned to England and con- tinued there until coming here with his family in 1884.
The first experience of the younger Mr. Turner in California was as a ranch hand in the employ of Hiram Meacham, at Stony Point, Sonoma county,
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continuing with this employer for three years, after which he took charge of his father's ranch, known as the Turner ranch, conducting it successfully for a number of years. Giving it up finally, he went to Oakland and for a time was on the police force of that city, later being engaged in railroad work for seven years, but at the end of this time he returned to Sonoma county and has ever since had charge of the old Turner ranch. Its location in the valley, five miles from Sebastopol, makes it well suited for the raising of fruits, and here he has one hundred and seventy acres under cultivation. Of this, eighty-five acres are in orchard set to Gravenstein apples, besides which he has forty acres in young trees, both bearing and non-bearing. Ten acres are in cherries of the choice Royal Ann variety. During the season of 1909 his apple crop amounted to five thousand boxes, while his yield of cherries amounted to six tons. In the mean- time many of the young trees have come into bearing. Since the year 1890 he has made a specialty of the raising of these two fruits. Besides the manage- ment of his ranch Mr. Turner is also the representative of the fruit packing firm of Garcia & Maggini, of Sebastopol.
In 1890 Mr. Turner was united in marriage with Miss Marie E. Black, whose mother was one of the earliest settlers in Sonoma county. One son, Shannon, has been born to them. Fraternally Mr. Turner is identified with the Woodmen of the World, holding membership in Athens Camp, of Oak- land.
WILLIAM MATHER.
The ranch of William Mather is conveniently located near Sebastopol, and is known as the Sebastopol nursery. Here a specialty is made of raising Burbank's Giant Crimson winter rhubarb and Gravenstein apples. A native son of the state, William Mather was born in San Francisco in 1863, but as he was left an orphan when he was three days old he has no personal knowledge of his progenitors. However, he found a kindly protector in Stephen C. Story, of Bennett, who gave him a home and superintended his education and train- ing until he was eighteen years of age. He made the best of the opportunities given him, so that when he had reached the age mentioned he was well equipped to take up the responsibility of his own support. Altogether he worked for wages for about six years, during which time he determined to specialize upon the cultivation of one or two products, and he is satisfactorily demonstrating the wisdom of his course in the raising of Burbank's Giant Crimson winter rhubarb and the Gravenstein apple. In speaking of the former, Mr. Mather says: "Several years ago I. saw the value in this most productive plant, and at once sought Mr. Luther Burbank, who perfected this wonderful creation, for instruction as to the culture in order to secure the most profit, following his advice in every particular." From February to May is the best planting season, about two hundred plants being the average per acre, and if the plants are in good condition by December they should yield from ten to fifteen pounds per hill. Three crops are generally gathered from the same plants before the first of March, which is the time when the common rhubarb finds its way into the market. One of the most favorable features of the raising of this commodity is the fact that it has a clear market, as other fruits and vegetables are out of
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season, and furthermore it finds a market three months earlier than the in- ferior grade of rhubarb, does not need peeling, and being heavier in saccharine, needs only about half the sugar ordinarily used in preparing this fruit for the table. Some idea of the large undertaking of which Mr. Mather is the pro- prietor may be realized when it is said that during the season of 1909 he cut over forty-five thousand rhubarb plants. Supplying the market with this fruit is but one feature of the ranch's output however, a large income being realized from the shipment of roots of the plant to all parts of the world, as well as the sale of Gravenstein apple trees, his apple nursery numbering from ten to thirty thousand trees of this special variety of apple.
In 1887 Mr. Mather was united in marriage with Miss Eliza C. Allen, a native of Illinois, and one son, Herbert R., has been born to them.
DAVENPORT COZZENS, JR.
It is a fitting recognition of the work of pioneers that their names should be perpetuated in the localities in which their efforts were expended, either in the names of streets, streams or towns, that they may receive due credit and appreciation at the hands of those who follow and continue the work which they have resigned to younger hands. This idea has been fittingly borne out in naming the village of Cozzens after its father and founder, Davenport Cozzens, Sr. A native of the Empire state, he was born in Brooklyn, the son of parents who were able to give their children every advantage for an education and advancement. Unlike many boys so fortunately situated Davenport Cozzens appreciated his opportunities and made them count to the greatest extent pos- sible. The public schools of Brooklyn furnished his primary education, after which he attended higher institutions of learning, and finally took a course in the military academy at West Point. The breaking out of the Mexican war about the time of his graduation found him enlisting his services in the cause of the United States. Instead of returning to the east after the close of the conflict he was attracted to California by the news of the recent discoveries of gold at Sutter's Mill, and was one of the earliest immigrants that landed in the port of San Francisco in the year 1849. In searching the records of the early history of this metropolis one may see the name of Davenport Cozzens mentioned as one of her earliest citizens and business men, he being one of the first to venture in the mercantile business. Later years found him in Sonoma county, and in Geyserville hie established the first general store in this section of country, this being the meeting place for ranchers from a wide radius. Abundant evidence has already been given of the remarkable push and enter- prise welded in the make-up of this old pioneer, but all has not been told until it has been said that he was the first man to set out vines and start a vineyard in this part of the state, and the wine press which was a later adjunct to his ranch was unquestionably the first in this country. A little settlement was the outgrowth of the industry which his activities created and about the year 1877 the town of Cozzens was incorporated and named in his honor, in recognition of his invaluable services. He lived many years after this, and he watched with pride and interest the steady growth of the little town. Here it was that his
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earth life came to a close after a long and useful experience, in 1908, his death being the cause of general mourning on the part of all citizens, both old and young, for all loved and revered him. In all his efforts and undertakings he had the encouraging support of his faithful wife.
On the homestead ranch near Geyserville, Sonoma county, Davenport Coz- zens, Jr., was born in May, 1853, and was reared and educated there and in Hopland. He remained in the vicinity of his birth until after attaining his majority, when, in 1875, he gave vent to the pioneer spirit which crowded up for recognition, in that year going to Nevada, where he opened and operated a hotel and also carried on mining. This dual occupation was carried on for a number of years, after which he returned to Sonoma county and has since been proprietor of a general store in Cozzens. Apart from any reflected light from his worthy father he is held in high esteem by his fellow-citizens, who recognize in him a man of true worth and ability, one who is endeavoring to help forward all good measures in his community.
S. T. DAKEN.
The practical and artistic are happily combined in the make-up of S. T. Daken, a well-known artist of Santa Rosa, and enable him to originate and carry to successful conclusion enterprises impossible for other professional mer. to even conceive. Reference is made to the new Daken Art Institute which is nearing completion, and is destined to be one of the most attractive and most beautiful art centers in this part of the state. It its erection the owner has in view the advancement of the community along artistic lines, through the ability to accommodate the traveling art exhibits, which are made up of the choicest works of the most celebrated artists all over the world. The enter- prise is a worthy one and is well deserving of the success with which it has met from the time of its inception.
The son of Henry and Deluska ('Weeks) Daken, natives of Canada and St. Louis, Mo., respectively, S. T. Daken was born in Bunker Hill, Macoupin county, Ill., in 1876. He has no personal recollection of his birthplace, for when he was a child in arms the parents came to California, so that practically his entire life has been passed within the confines of this western common- wealth. Settlement was first made in Sacramento, and between that city and San Francisco the years of his boyhood were about evenly divided. He was little more than a child when, at the age of nine years, he began to learn the trade of decorator and fresco painter, following this in San Francisco for many years. An interim of six years then followed when he was interested in the mines of Eldorado and Placer counties, and while the work was interesting and exciting, he did not feel justified in following it at the sacrifice of the line of work for which he was specially fitted. At the close of his mining experience he therefore returned to San Francisco and resumed work at his trade, com- bining with this, however, on his own account, painting from nature as his time would permit. Ultimately he gave up his position and devoted his entire time to painting and sketching, opening for the purpose a studio on Van Ness avenue in San Francisco which he continued for three years. Upon giving this
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up in 1906 as a result of the earthquake and fire, in the spring of that year he removed to Glen Ellen, Sonoma county, but did not remain there long, coming to Santa Rosa soon afterward in the same year. Here he opened an art school and conducted classes for some time, or until accepting his present posi- tion as art instructor in the Ursuline College of this city. As his time permits he paints from nature and that he is a natural genius with a most remarkable gift, a glance at his collection of pictures will prove. Many beautiful scenes from Sonoma county are shown, as well as from other parts of the state, in- cluding views from the famous Yosemite valley. The panel which he has named the Russian River from Gnernewood Heights is an exquisite and realistic reproduction of nature, one which he himself prizes above all of his other paint- ings. He has recently refused an offer of $1,500 for it. Among his private collection of paintings he has $75,000 worth of pictures from the brush of other artists, besides $16,000 of his own productions. Mr. Daken was married in 1904 and is the father of two children, Edna May and Sidney T.
JAMES WALTER GIBSON.
In a number of public capacities Mr. Gibson has fulfilled popular expecta- tions and proved himself not only capable, but a thoroughly public-spirited citi- zen of Glen Ellen. He is one of the native sons of the state who have developed reliable characteristics, and whose growth to manhood and on through middle age has been watched by a host of friends and well-wishers. Mr. Gibson bene- fits by the sterling qualities of English and German ancestors, his father being a native of England, and his mother the descendant of German ancestors. The elder Mr. Gibson was a young man when he realized that America held forth possibilities that the slower and more conservative country in which he had been born and reared did not have to offer and the year 1848 found him landing as an immigrant in San Francisco. His interests were confined to the metrop- olis and vicinity until about the year 1856, when he came to Sonoma county and a mile and a half north of what is now the site of Glen Ellen purchased a squatter's right to one hundred and sixty acres of land. He purchased the land in good faith, thinking the original right had been secured directly from the government by the previous owner, but later developments proved that it was grant land and in 1865 he was dispossessed of the land. Instead of contesting his right to the land he let it go and purchased what is now the eastern half of the town of Glen Ellen. Although the country round about was almost entirely unsettled, he still saw prospects of a coming settlement and here erected the Glen Ellen hotel, which was the first business building and the nucleus around which the town of Glen Ellen was later built up. In the town which he had done so much to advance during the thirty years of his residence in it, his earth life came to a close in 1887. His wife died in Glen Ellen in 1908, her residence in the state dating from the year 1850.
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