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 54
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LYMAN C. BYCE.
The subject of this sketch was born in Canada in 1852. His earlier years were spent amid the rigors of severe winters and toil incident to farm life, where he grew up into young manhood. Schooling was obtained by walking three miles to a little old log school house, the attendance being confined to the winter months, as the farming operations required the labor of old and young throughout the spring and summer months. Being raised in a country where the timber had to be cleared away to secure a patch of ground for a home and land for farming, his early days were naturally fraught with plenty of hard work and little opportunity for play. Naturally precocious and apt at learning, he greedily absorbed everything in the reading line that the home and its en- vironment could afford, which, coupled with his natural mechanical propensity, found him at an early age working out problems in the realm of invention that would do credit to those of more mature years. A workshop in the then un- developed section of country meant an improvised bench hewn from a stick of timber and erected in the shade of a tree or some rudely constructed outbuilding, but it is out of such surroundings that boys and men have arisen that have pro- duced some of the most marvelous mechanical devices and advanced ideas, astonishing to those whose lives have been cast in more pleasant places. So this boy, having but the poorest tools and few at that, principally a pocket knife
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to work with, his own initiative and originality became so strongly developed that we find him while yet very young the inventor of a potato digger, which has been successfully used throughout the United States and other countries, an improvement in fanning mills, a mold board for plows, a sewing machine, a conveyor for sawdust for mills, a gauge lathe for turning long slim handles for rakes and similar purposes, a log carriage for saw mills, a lumber tallying device for saw carriages, a kiln for drying starch, an acoustic telephone, a sur- geon's spring lancet, and other articles.
Throughout the varied experiences of a young inventor, working on the farm, going to school a few months in the year, there was still prominent above all other things-all other ideas and thoughts-the one thing he has so success- fully worked out and which has made his name known almost throughout the world. While not yet twelve years of age he became interested in his father's operations in hatching chickens by means of heat generated from decomposing horse manure and at once improvised a hatching machine, using dry goods boxes and a tin tank to contain water from which chickens were hatched. Although leaving the farm to take higher branches in school work and later taking up the study of medicine, there was still present the ever dominant thought of a perfected hatching machine, and hence every opportunity was used to experi- ment, oftentimes not under the most favorable circumstances, but with a deter- mination that knows no defeat he followed it up to a successful culmination, and when the history of future years is written, the name of L. C. Byce will appear among the benefactors of the race, as the man who gave to the world the method of modern successful artificial incubation of eggs.
In 1878 Mr. Byce established in Petaluma, Cal., a factory for building in- cubators and brooders and these successful hatching machines are known and used in all parts of the world. He is also known and acknowledged to be the founder of the great poultry industry of the Pacific coast.
It is the busy men who usually have the time to do things, so Mr. Byce has found time out of the vast fund of his knowledge to contribute articles to medical, scientific and mechanical journals, as well as articles of literary merit to popular magazines, and stories to boys' papers, and he is also a voluminous writer on the subject of artificial incubation and practical poultry raising, which have been eagerly sought hy the journals of this class in various parts of the world.
In 1888 Mr. Byce was married to Miss Lily C. Gray, a native of London, England, from which union two sons grace a home known far and wide as a model American home, richly endowed with kindness and hospitality.
Mr. Byce is a man of retiring disposition, though aggressive and brave in any cause which he believes to be right. Though often sought and urged to fill public positions he has always shrank from the notoriety which would naturally follow, preferring to do for his fellowmen and community what he can in the more modest way which is characteristic of the man. Not a few know what it is to receive encouragement and advice from him freighted with wisdom, as well as aid in a very substantial manner to assist them in attaining the object sought.
He is liberal to a fault, charitable, ever ready to help in time of need, and a great friend of boys many of whose careers he has helped to shape, temperate in all things, a close observer of the needs of the community, and a hearty par-
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ticipator in public and private enterprises. Mr. Byce is a member of the Con- gregational Church, and occupies a prominent piace in social and fraternal circles.
In "California, Her Industries, Attractions and Builders," is the following- "In the great rustle and bustle of life there are modest, unassuming men who guide and control great enterprises, give tone and character to our leading in- dustries and fraternal organizations and become the leaders of society by com- mon consent. Their tact and ability are recognized and their counsel is sought in pushing and promoting business interests in all the commercial, mechanical, and educational projects of our country.
"Mr. Byce has already filled a station in life to entitle him to rank with the leading business men of the country, and as one of the big hearted, level headed. and efficient members of the community, has done more to promote and advance the great poultry industry of the Pacific Coast than any other person.
"He has a fine physical organization, a quiet impressive manner, genial, frank, firm in his convictions of right and duty, and a magnetism that gives him a popularity and the highest respect and esteem among his fellow citizens.
"He is a Past Master of Petaluma Lodge No. 180, F. & A. M., Past High Priest of Petaluma Royal Arch Chapter No. 22, Past Commander of Mt. Olivet Commandery of Knights Templar No. 20, Past Patron of Morning Star Chapter No. 61, O. E. S., Past Grand Patron of the Grand Chapter O. E. S. of Cali- fornia, Member of Petaluma Lodge No. 30, I. O. O. F., and of Relief En- campment No. 29. I. O. (). F., of Petaluma."
JAMES WILLIAM GRAY.
The history of the early American colonization of Sonoma county contains, among the names of dauntless pioneers, that of Isaac Gray, a hardy frontiersman and resourceful farmer, who was born in Indiana in 1840 of southern lineage and during boyhood immigrated with other members of the parental family to California in 1852, making a brief sojourn in Stockton and thence coming to this county as carly as 1854, when he was a lad of fourteen years. Settlers were few, ranches widely scattered and schools conspicuous by their absence, hence he had few opportunities to acquire an education. In spite of this handi- cap he became a man of keen observation and broad intelligence. Conditions were such that he could not accumulate wealth, but he reared his children in comparative comfort and gave them the advantages denied to his own early years. By his marriage to Clarissa Palmer, who was born in Indiana in 1848, he became the father of five children, namely: Edward A., who married Flora Coots and has three children, Walter, Clarence and Alvina; Franklin H .; James W., who was born in Sonoma county in 1871 and has spent his entire life within the boun- daries of his native township; Ella L., Mrs. C. O. Swanson, who has one son, Jesse ; and Rilla L., who married George Coster and has one son, Melvin.
The public schools of this county gave James William Gray an opportunity to acquire a knowledge of the elementary branches. Through all of his life he has remained in the same locality. Its gradual but steady development he has
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witnessed with deep interest. By personal efforts he has contributed to local advancement. Upon completing his schooling he took up agricultural activities and on November 20, 1902, he was united in marriage with Miss Lillian Goode, who was born in Manchester, England, in 1878, and by whom he has two chil- dren living, William L., a bright boy of five years, and Muriel, who is two years old. Virgil F. died when two years old. Mrs. Gray is a daughter of George Goode, a native of England, who became a farmer in North Dakota. He died in 1885, at the age of forty-eight years. His wife, who in maidenhood was Susan Help, was also a native of England, and now resides near Healdsburg. There were twelve children in the Goode family, namely: Thomas; George, who is married and lives in Washington; Alfred; Walter; Charles; Joseph ; Frederick ; Jolin; Clara, the wife of John Borden, of Idaho, and the mother of one child, Susanna ; Frances, who married R. D. Patterson, residing on Mill Creek, and has two children ; and Susan, who died at fourteen years of age. Mrs. Gray came to the United States with her parents in 1880, when she was two years of age, and was reared in North Dakota until 1894, when she came to Healdsburg.
Upon acquiring property of his own James William Gray secured for $3,000 cash the title to two hundred acres of land in Mendocino township near the city of Healdsburg. Almost all of this large ranch is still in native timber and there are also ten acres of bottom land. Along the side-hills the land is well adapted to horticulture and some has been planted to prunes and apples. A splendid start has been made in the fruit business, besides which the owner received an income of about $1,500 during the year 1910 for wood and tan-bark. So encouraging is the fruit business that he has planned to plant all the available land on the ranch to fruit in the near future, putting in the trees as rapidly as the work can be done, with due regard to careful planting and superior quality. Should the future continue to bring encouraging results he will in a few years be the owner of one of the best fruit farms in the township and his efforts in this direction have greatly enhanced the value of the tract. So great has been his interest in the development of the property that he has not found leisure for participation in public affairs and aside from voting the Republican ticket he has taken no part in local elections, yet he is a citizen of progressive spirit and especially loyal to all movements for the material upbuilding of the township and county. In religion he has been liberal, conceding to all the same freedom of opinion which he claims as his own right, but willing to aid church, missionary and charitable projects to such extent as his means permit.
FRANK H. DENMAN.
No more liberal, enterprising or public-spirited citizen has promoted the prestige of Petaluma and Sonoma county than Frank H. Denman, who is a native of the locality, born in Two Rock the son of that well-known pioneer settler, Hon. Ezekiel Denman, of whom a sketch will be found elsewhere. Frank H. Denman was educated in the public schools of Petaluma, a training which was followed by a course in the Oakland Military Academy, from which he graduated, after which he entered and graduated from the University of California in 1877 with the degree of Ph. B.
a & Bourke
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With the close of his school and university training Mr. Denman returned to the homestead ranch in Two Rock valley and assisted his father in his varied interests until his appointment in 1881 as county surveyor to fill a vacancy. So satisfactory were his services that in 1884 he was elected to fill the same office for another term, and as before, proved himself eminently qualified for the responsible duties which the office involved. His identification with financial affairs began in 1886, at which time he was elected cashier of the Bank of Sonoma County, and has filled this position continuously ever since. In January, 1911, the bank was converted from a state to a national bank, after forty-five years of usefulness under state supervision. The Sonoma County National Bank, as it is now known, increased its capital stock by $100,- 000, which was distributed to the stockholders of the Petaluma Savings Bank in lieu of their stock, and now all of the stock in the Petaluma Savings Bank is held in trust for the stockholders of the Sonoma County National Bank. In 1908, with George P. McNear and others, Mr. Denman took over the con- trol of the Petaluma Savings Bank and was elected its president, a position which he has since held with great efficiency. His financial ability and efforts are not confined to his home town, but extend to Santa Rosa, the Savings Bank of Santa Rosa profiting by his experience and knowledge as director.
Varied and responsible as are Mr. Denman's financial obligations, they do not limit his capacity, for he is no less interested in horticultural affairs throughout the county and state. While his home ranch near Petaluma is devoted entirely to dairying. he is extensively interested in fruit-raising in the Sebastopol district and also in the Placentia Fruit Company, the latter having one hundred and ten acres at Placentia, Orange county, set to oranges. This is one of the finest orange orchards in the Fullerton district, than which it would be difficult to speak more favorably, as this is known to be the finest late valencia orange growing section in the state.
In his marriage, which occurred in Santa Rosa, Mr. Denman was united with Miss Charlotte Edwards, who was born in New Jersey but has passed the greater part of her life in California, and is a graduate of the San Fran- cisco high school. Fraternally Mr. Denman is identified with the Elks and is a Mason of the Royal Arch degree.
A. E. BOURKE.
Synonymous with the name of A. E. Bourke is the Must Hatch Incubator Company, of which he is the president and general manager. Mr. Bourke be- gan experimenting with artificial incubation and artificial brooding about eigh- teen years ago, at which time he was a resident of Los Angeles, Cal. After ex- perimenting for about six years in Los Angeles, with an unusually large ex- penditure of money and sleepless nights and other disagreeable features that go hand in hand with such undertakings, he finally perfected an incubator and brooder and many other poultry appliances that have become famous the world over and in a great measure have made Petaluma the greatest poultry center in the world.
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In 1898 Mr. Bourke arrived in Petaluma with a cash capital of $10; a good wife, one of those wives that is willing to help, and four boys, babies, and started the manufacture of incubators, brooders and other poultry supplies, and also the hatching and raising of poultry. His plant, in the short space of four years, became one of the largest manufacturing and poultry plants in the world. In the spring of 1911 he concluded to discontinue the manufacturing end of his business, to enable him to devote his entire time and attention to the poultry end of his plant. Today, we find a poultry plant that covers four acres in the city of Petaluma, equipped with buildings and labor-saving devices that are a revelation to visitors. On this place are kept from nine to ten thou- sand laying hens ; a hatching capacity of a million and a quarter chicks per year and a brooding capacity of two hundred thousand chicks per year.
Mr. Bourke was the first man to ship day-old chicks by express to distant points ; he devising the proper method to ship them with the least danger of loss, and today the hatching industry is one of utmost importance in Petaluma. One may ask, "How can so many chickens be kept on such a small place and be healthy?" It will be easily understood by anyone visiting the place, for every- thing is built and arranged in the most scientific and sanitary manner, so that disease is almost impossible and should disease get among the fowls, it could and would be soon cured. One man can attend to eight times as many hens on this place as he could attend to on the ordinary poultry ranch. The work is always under cover, making it pleasant at all times of the year. There is no feed or water to be carried, as that is done automatically or by machinery. No man works more than nine hours a day at this plant. All the green food for the hens and growing chicks is raised on the place, and also alfalfa and veg- etables for several cows. The milk is used for the poultry. All the hauling is done by modern motor trucks, so no horses are necessary. The family garden is most complete, for in that garden is found every vegetable that one may desire, as well as all kinds of fruits and berries. This plant is the pride of Petaluma ; visitors to Petaluma are always directed to this wonderful poultry plant and are at all times welcome.
A. E. Bourke is a native of the south, his birth occurring in Louisiana in 1861. He came to California in 1872 and made his home in a number of places before finally locating in Petaluma in 1898. His marriage in 1890 united him with Miss H. DuChenneau, a native of Massachusetts, and four sons have been born to them, Leo, Alonzo, Ivan and Russell, all at home. The children are being educated at home under a private tutor, and they are receiving special in- struction in music and languages.
Fraternally Mr. Bourke is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, belonging to Petaluma Lodge No. 901, and he is also a member of the Independent Order of Foresters and Yeomen. That Mr. Bourke does not despise the days of small beginnings, is amply proven by a picture which he has in his possession, showing him as he made the journey from Los Angeles to Petaluma in a "prairie schooner" drawn by two horses. With a cash capital of $10 and a good knowledge of the chicken business he began the business
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which has made his name famous through the success of the Must Hatch products. Mr. Bourke is a genius in his line and much credit is due him for the present standing of Petaluma as the greatest chicken center in the world.
MANVILLE DOYLE.
As one of those courageous pioneers who unflinchingly took up the burden of life in the early days of California and profited by the crude conditions, none is more deserving of the esteem and grateful regard of later generations than Manville Doyle, who while working and delving in the creation of his own for- tune, had ever in mind the larger benefits which would accrue to those who were to follow, and in the evening of his well-spent life he is cheered by the thought that all that he has has been honestly accumulated, without cost or hindrance to any fellow-creature.
The records of the Doyle family show that it is of southern origin, coming of ¿bod old Virginia stock, and in that commonwealth the great-grandfather of Manville Doyle was born, reared and passed his later life. The grandfather, also a native of Virginia, in 1785 removed to Kentucky, rendered valiant service in the war of 1812, and rounded out his long and useful career in Lexington, Ky. It was in the last-named city that his son, Edward Doyle, was born in 1798. In young manhood, in 1824, he removed to the frontier of Illinois, settling in Ver- milion county, and four years later went to Sangamon county, in the same state. Another four years found him in Rushville, Schuyler county, Ill., where he made his home for fourteen years, after which he purchased a farm in the vicinity, and thereafter engaged in farming with very satisfactory results. On the break- ing out of the Black Hawk war, while he was residing in Sangamon county, he took an active part in the conflict. In his political leanings he was a Democrat, and for many years served as justice of the peace. In young manhood. before leaving the south, he had married Jane Dixon, who, like himself, was a native of Lexington, Ky., and who died on the Illinois farm in 1854, having been an active and life-long member of the Christian Church.
It was while the family home was in Sangamon county, Ill., that Manville Doyle was born January 19, 1831. The year after his birth removal was made to Rushville, Schuyler county, and there his early education was acquired. When he was thirteen years old his parents removed from town to the nearby farm on which their remaining years were passed, the mother dying in 1854, and the father in 1856. Manville Doyle was comparatively content with the prospects of an agricultural career in Illinois, and for a number of years worked side by side with his father in the management of the home place. In 1849, however, when the gold fever became prevalent over the entire country, two of his brothers fell victims and came to California in 1849. Manville was extremely anxious to bear them company, but his father persuaded him to wait a year, when he could go with his full consent. On March 10, 1850, with four companions, William Ewing, Zach Spriggs, Robert Smith and Isaac Snowden, he started across the plains with ox-teams, bound for California. When about half the dis- tance had been covered Mr. Doyle, annoyed by the slow progress that was being made, started ahead alone on a saddle horse, after purchasing a mule on which
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he packed his supplies. His course was by way of Sublette's cut-off, and he arrived in Sacramento August 8, 1850, having traveled practically alone after parting with his companions. After a short stay in Sacramento he started for Feather river, and became interested in mining claims in Butte and Plumas coun- ties. In November, 1852, Mr. Doyle returned to Illinois by way of Nicaragua and New York, and the following spring set out to cross the plains with a herd of cattle and horses. To assist him in this undertaking he had nine young men, Edward R. Wright, William Hyatt, Enos Hyatt, George B. Rogers, Elisha Moore, L. N. Breed, Andrew Lee, Henry Gammon and John Huff, and Mr. Doyle asserts that these young men were among the best that ever came to the west. Coming by way of Salt Lake and Truckee route, he arrived in Butte county about September 1, 1853, and for about four months pastured his cattle on Feather river. In January of the following year he removed his stock to the ranch of Gen. M. G. Vallejo, near Petaluma, Sonoma county, and for several months lived in the historic old adobe house. He then went to Clear Lake, Lake county, where he became one of the four original bachelors that gave the name to Bachelor valley, and remained there until December 14, 1855.
Coming to Petaluma on the above-mentioned date, Mr. Doyle established a livery business with C. I. Robinson, the partnership continuing about one year, when Mr. Doyle purchased the interest of his partner and extended the. business by the addition of a stage outfit. Besides the livery and stage business which he conducted he was also interested in mining in Washoe, to which he made two trips. Owing to ill-health, in 1864 he disposed of his livery business and went to Nicaragua, passing the winter there. Afterward he made his home in Peta- luma until January, 1869, when he went to Los Angeles on the steamer Senator, thence by way of Fort Tajon to Kern county, where some time and money was spent in unsuccessful mining ventures. June, 1870, found him in Illinois, besides which he traveled through several southern and western states, finally returning to California, and in the spring of 1871, associated with the late Judge A. P. Overton, he purchased a tract of land known as the Brush place, in Cloverdale, Sonoma county, upon which he made his home until May, 1874, when he settled in Santa Rosa. In recognition of his ability in financial matters, the year after locating here Mr. Doyle was elected a director of the Santa Rosa Savings Bank, retaining this position until 1889, when he disposed of his interest in the insti- tution. For about ten years, from March, 1876, until July, 1886, he made his home in Petaluma, and during that time gave his best efforts to forwarding many important enterprises. Among these may be mentioned the Petaluma water works, which in 1882 he purchased in company with William Hill and others, inaugurating a new service, installing a new plant and supervising the laying of about twenty miles of pipe. Without question this plant is one of the best in the state, and the reservoir, with a capacity of about three million gal- lons, is bricked, cemented and covered. Mr. Doyle is a one-fourth owner of the stock and is a director and vice-president of the company. In 1885, in company with Judge Overton, he erected a large brick block in the business section of Santa Rosa, which was destroyed in the earthquake in the spring of 1906. Mr. Doyle replaced this building by the Exchange Bank building, 58x80 feet, rein- forced steel construction, class A building, three stories, the first floor occupied
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