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 55
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by the Exchange Bank. The vault is constructed of railroad iron and steel, and is practically indestructible. Besides the bank building Mr. Doyle has con- structed two large concrete buildings, both two stories, one on the old Atheneum corner, 80x200 feet, and the other on Fourth street, opposite the court house. In April, 1877, he was elected one of the city councilmen of Petaluma for a term of two years, and in 1878 was made chairman of the board.
In the summer of 1886 Mr. Doyle returned to Santa Rosa, and this has been his home ever since. In 1889, with the late Hollis Hitchcock, he established the Exchange Bank with a capital of $120,000, and has since been president of the institution. In 1909 the capital stock was increased to $300,000. Mr. Doyle is a man far above the average in energy and enterprise, and the possession of these qualities has made it possible for him to accumulate large holdings of real estate. In addition to the interests enumerated he owns other valuable property in Petaluma and Santa Rosa, and until recently owned a valuable cattle ranch of three thousand acres, which he maintained successfully with the assistance of his son, Fred Ross. This property was sold in 1911. Since coming to Santa Rosa Mr. Doyle has served one term as city councilman and also for one year was president of the board.
The marriage of Manville Doyle, May 22, 1859, united him with Mary E. Conley, who was born in Carthage, Ill., May 22, 1843, the daughter of William and Carolina Conley, natives of Maine and Indiana respectively. In 1852 the Conleys removed from Illinois to California across the plains and made settle- ment in Petaluma. Ten children were born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Doyle, but of the number only three are now living, as follows: Frank P .. who is cashier of the Exchange Bank, Santa Rosa; Nellie J., at home; and Fred Ross, who is now interested in horticulture at Fulton. Politically Mr. Doyle is a stanch Democrat, and while he has no desire to hold office, he is nevertheless keenly interested in matters of national and local concern, and for forty-five years has been an interested participant in affairs that came before the state committee.
CHARLES WADSWORTH LEWIS.
The only child of the late John Bacon Lewis, one of the hardy '49ers and subsequently a prosperous rancher of Lakeville, Charles Wadsworth Lewis has made the best of his inheritance and advantages. He was born on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco, November 29, 1853, and spent his boyhood days on the old Lewis farm near Lakeville, Sonoma county, receiving his early education in the public schools of that district. In 1868 he went to Connecticut, where he spent two years at the Stamford Military Academy and afterwards completed his education at Farmington, Conn. He was impelled by ambition and a deter- mination to make the most of his advantages, as well as to satisfy his father's desire, who having been deprived of higher education in his youth and early manhood, was anxious that his son should at least have all that the local schools could afford. He then learned the machinist's trade in Unionville, Conn., which he followed for a period of five years. Having spent his early life on the farm his tastes naturally reverted to agriculture and in 1875 he returned to California
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and embarked in the dairy business on the old home place at Lakeville, which occupation he followed for fifteen years. In 1890 he moved to Petaluma and engaged in the bicycle and repair business, having the agency of the Rambler, Racycle and Tribune bicycles, together with a splendid equipment for repair work. He erected a two-story building on his own property on Washington street, between the business portion of the city and the railway depots.
As one of the heirs to the old Lewis ranch of five hundred acres near Lakeville, which he manages and has fitted up as a dairy, with a good herd of cows as well as horses and machinery for operating the same, Mr. Lewis is meeting with the deserved success that has followed him in all his undertakings. At No. 5 English street he erected a modern residence and in the rear he built a shop which is equipped with modern wood working machinery.
In September, 1874, Mr. Lewis was united in marriage with Miss Julia A. Davis, at Unionville, Conn., and of this union four children, three daughters and one son, were born, viz .: John D., whose death occurred when he was ten years of age; Mabel, Mrs. Osmon, of Cloverdale; Elizabeth, Mrs. Leon Wallace, of Petaluma ; and Julia B., Mrs. Charles Cox, of Fruitvale. His second mar- riage took place in Petaluma March 24, 1904, when Miss Mary Elizabeth Good- win became his wife. She was the adopted daughter of William Mock, who was a graduate of West Point and whose sketch appears in another part of this work. Mrs. Lewis is a lady of much culture and refinement and her love of the beautiful is shown in a marked degree in her home and its surroundings. Mr. Lewis is a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood and in politics is a Republican. It may well be said of him that he is one of Petaluma's first citizens, liberal minded and progressive, a champion of every worthy cause, his charities being numerous, his kindheartedness and generosity being his leading characteristics.
GEORGE SUMNER WILLIAMS.
Indicative of the superior advantages of Sonoma county for making a com- fortable living as tillers of her soil, and at the same time enjoying congenial sur- roundings for rearing their families, is the fact that so many of her native-born sons and daughters make this their permanent home. Among this number may be mentioned George S. Williams, a well-known rancher in the vicinity of Forestville. Born in Santa Rosa May 18, 1865, he was one of a family of six children, four sons and two daughters, born to his parents, James M. and Rachel A. (Crowfoot) Williams, natives of Michigan and New York respectively. The father had covered the distance between Michigan and California a number of times before he came here for the last time in 1852, in which year he took up min- ing. Later years found him engaged in pursuits in which there were more de- pendable returns, and at the time of the birth of his son George S. was living in Santa Rosa. With his brothers and sisters George S. Williams was educated in the schools of Santa Rosa, after which he began his self-support by working as a cash-boy in a dry-goods store of that place, and later as clerk. Subsequently he engaged in the candy business in the same city, but gave this up to engage in ranching, coming at that time to his present ranch in the vicinity of Forestville.
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Here he has a fine ranch of forty acres, located one mile from town. One-half of his acreage is in grapes, while twelve acres are in peaches and apples, besides which he has an annual yield of about twelve tons of berries.
Mr. Williams' marriage occurred in 1890 and united him with Miss Jennie Winkler, a native of Green valley, and the daughter of one of the pioneer settlers of this part of Sonoma county. Seven children were born of this marriage, but the eldest, Rachel M., born in 1890, died at the age of two years and three months. Clayton Sumner was born in 1893 and is now attending college at Santa Rosa ; Howard O., born in 1896, is at home with his parents, as are also the other chil- dren; Arthur L., born in 1898, Alice and Alta (twins) born in 1901, and Georgia, born in 1907. None of the grandparents of these children are living, Mr. and Mrs. Williams having passed away in 1903 and 1887 respectively, and Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Winkler in 1901 and 1905 respectively. The elder Mr. Williams was a well-known figure in Masonic circles in Sonoma county, being the oldest member of that body in the county, and his son is no less interested in fraternal matters, being a member of Forestville Lodge No. 320, I. O. O. F., and also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. While he is deeply interested in political affairs he is not a partisan, and always casts his vote for the man whose qualifications best fit him for the position in question.
EDWIN M. PROSCHOLD.
Nature has liberally endowed Sonoma county with picturesque scenery and in no portion of the county is the environment more attractive than in the vicinity of Cazadero, where mountain and stream combine to lend beauty to the landscape and leave an impression of artistic charm in the mind of the observer. An ideal location for a summer resort has been utilized by Mr. Proschold at his home- stead on East Austin creek, where he has inaugurated a plan for accommodating resorters to the place, these plans including enlarged facilities for boating, bathing, fishing and hunting. The isolation of the spot rests the nerves weary of the city's hum of busy toil; the dense woods appeal to the sportsman and lover of game, and the waters with their abundance of fish form an attraction for the ambitious fisherman. It will be possible hereafter to entertain four hundred resorters and without doubt the spot will become increasingly popular as its attractions become more widely known and appreciated.
Born in San Francisco May 10, 1866, Mr. Proschold is proud of the fact that he is a native son of California. The ancestry is German, his parents, Charles and Maria (Tallmangrosse) Proschold, having been born in the Fatherland in the year 1819, but immigrating to the new world at an early age they spent their adult lives principally in the west. In the family were ten children, three of whom died in infancy, and those living are as follows: Edwin M., whose name intro- duces this article; George W., who married Tillie Mullen and has a son, Raymond G .; H. J., a physician by profession and the father of one son by his marriage ; Julia, Mrs. Charles Muhlbach, who has one daughter; Cora, Emily and Clara. Educated in the excellent schools of San Francisco, Edwin M. Proschold re- mained in that city until 1906, the year of his removal to Sonoma county. Dur-
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ing boyhood he served an apprenticeship to the printer's trade and eventually by promotions he rose to be foreman of the press-room in a large publishing house, where he continued in the same capacity for fourteen years, resigning in order to remove to a farm.
The country home of Mr. Proschold is presided over by his capable wife, who was Miss Christina Lawson, a native of San Francisco, born in 1870. They are the parents of the following-named sons and daughters: Carlton G., who married Miss Margaret Cole, the daughter of Dr. William Cole; Edwin C., Mervin J., Ralph W., Ernest M., Cora E., Hazel M., Myrtle L., Olive A., Lillian C., Louise R., and Rosalie R., the last two being twins. The children have all had musical training and have a brass band of six pieces in the family. They have played and entertained in the various resorts and in the several towns and cities in the county, and as a musical organization are well and favorably known all over the county. Mrs. Proschold is the danghter of Henry Lewis and Louisa V. (Van Ecovan) Lawson, the former born in Germany during the year 1815, and the latter born in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1850. After the death of the wife and mother Mr. Lawson was again married, being united with Mrs. G. W. Hitch- cock, and by that union a son, George R., was born. Of the first marriage there were six children, namely: Joseph H., Henry, Mary, Christina, Louisa and Martha. Louisa, who is Mrs. Henry Jacob Murr, resides in Napa county, this state, and has four sons, Russell, Henry, Christopher and Volney. Martha was first married to M. J. Kelley, of San Francisco, and is now the wife of John Martin of Gilroy. To her first union one daughter was born, Jennie V. Kelley.
Since coming to Sonoma county in 1906 Mr. Proschold has given his atten- tion to the cultivation of his ranch of one hundred and twenty-three acres, on which he has planted a small vineyard and an orchard of three acres of choice varieties of fruit. A few head of stock are kept on the farm, but the chief sources of income are the fruits and the summer resort. The Democratic party has an earnest supporter in Mr. Proschold, who gives its men and measures his ballot at all elections and favors its principles as being those in his opinion best adapted to permanent national prosperity. Movements for the local upbuilding have his sympathy and aid, especially those directly appertaining to educational and agricultural activities.
JOHN KINDER SMITH.
The sheriff of Sonoma county, John K. Smith inherits qualities of heart and mind from ancestors who can trace their lineage back to the father of our country, Gen. George Washington, a record of which the family is justly proud. The immediate progenitor of our subject was John K. Smith, Sr., a well-known figure in the commercial and financial life of Illinois. His outlook in the middle- west for continued prosperity was bright indeed, but nevertheless when the news of the gold find in California was scattered broadcast over the country it found him ready to sacrifice the efforts of years to come to the far west and begin life anew in the midst of new conditions. With others of the family he crossed the plains in 1849 and settled in Sonoma county, Cal., where he was a pioneer in the lumber business, and from that time until the present the name has
Christian Stengel
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been held in high repute in business, political, social and fraternal circles through- out this part of the state.
At the time of the birth of John K. Smith, Jr., his parents were living in Colman valley,-Sonoma county, his birth occurring February 17, 1868. The free, outdoor life which ranch life made possible was the means of intensifying a natural love of nature and freedom, giving him a robust, healthy constitution of which he has always been proud. The schools of Santa Rosa furnished his edu- cational training, which continued until he was seventeen years old, when the restraints of school life could be endured no longer. Railroad life held an attrac- tion and fascination for him and though scarcely more than a boy he obtained a position with the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, where, when he was only seven- teen years old, he had risen to the position of conductor, a record quite unprece- dented in the annals of railroading. As soon as he was eligible to membership in the National Guard, at the age of eighteen, he joined its ranks, becoming a member of Company E, where his love of activity and adventure found a further enjoyable outlet.
Mr. Smith's marriage, October 15, 1893, united him with Miss Nellie E. Bither, the daughter of old California pioneers. Two children, both daughters, have been born of this marriage, Olivia E. and Janet T. Politically Mr. Smith is an advocate of Republican principles, and it was on the ticket of this party that he was elected to the office of sheriff of Sonoma county in 1906, a position which he has since filled to the entire satisfaction of those who placed him in office. It need scarcely be mentioned that Mr. Smith belongs to the Native Sons of the Golden West, an organization to which he is proud to be eligible, and in which he is an active member. Other organizations to which he belongs are the Free and Accepted Masons, in which he has attained the Knights Templar degree; Eastern Star; Odd Fellows, being identified with all its branches, including the Rebekahs; Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Eagles; and the Order of Railway Conductors. Personally Mr. Smith is high-minded and generous, loyal to friends, to his work and to the community in which he makes his home. The love of outdoor life which he learned as a boy has never departed from him, and nine months out of the twelve find him an interested and active participant in some of the wholesome open-air sports.
CHRISTIAN STENGEL.
Because he has directed his energies into wise and remunerative channels Christian Stengel has been enabled to retire from active business life, leaving to others the management of the large and varied agricultural interests which he gathered about him in Sonoma county. Caution and conservatism have played important parts in the career of Mr. Stengel, and he has therefore built substantially and well, inclining always to the practical and reliable in business and general affairs.
A native of the east, Christian Stengel was born in Baltimore City, Md.,
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March 15, 1840, and was a lad of seventeen years when, in 1857, he came to California by the Panama route. The vessel on which he made the voyage on the Pacific side landed at San Francisco, and from that metropolis he made his way to Sonoma county by sail boat and landed at Embarcadero. From there he made his way on foot to the Whetchic rancho, owned by his uncle, William Bihler, who was one of the pioneers of 1849. He made his home there for the following two years. A later experience was on the Gualla ranch, twenty miles north of Fort Ross, also in this county. Mr. Stengel clearly recalls the frontier conditions with which the settlers in that locality had to contend. As yet no wagon roads had been broken to guide the traveler from one settlement to an- other, and transportation of goods of all kinds was made over the mountains on the backs of mules and horses. They considered themselves fortunate to receive mail once a week, and to call upon a neighbor socially or otherwise meant a drive of at least six miles. Mr. Stengel has lived to see the railroad super- sede the mule and horse in transportation, mere settlements grow to thriving villages and cities, and the telephone and Rural Free Delivery to so transform agricultural life that it bears no shadow of resemblance to what it was half a century ago.
One of Mr. Stengel's first employers was his uncle, William Bihler, who owned many thousand acres of land in Sonoma county upon which he raised cattle and horses on a large scale. Naturally industrious and thrifty, Mr. Stengel laid by from his earnings whatever was not needed for the necessities of life, his object in so doing being to purchase land of his own. He had the satisfaction of making his first purchase of land in 1865, when with a partner, Adam Kniff, with whom he had been engaged in ranching and stock-raising, he bought nine hundred acres of land from his uncle. This proved the begin- ning of a series of purchases, and eventually they were the owners of four thou- sand acres of valuable land, besides two thousand acres of timber land in the mountains. On this land the partners engaged in the cattle and dairy business, maintaining one of the largest stock and dairy ranches in this part of the coun- try. They did their own butchering and supplied the lumber and mill camps with fresh meat throughout the season. Their dairy consisted of one hundred cows of the finest breed, and they always had as high as five hundred cattle at pasture. The cattle and dairy industry was a valuable one and probably formed the chief source of income to the owners, but nevertheless the timber interests were large and valuable, much of the land being heavily covered with valuable redwood.
After a business partnership which lasted over forty years, during which time both Mr. Stengel and Mr. Kniff amassed goodly fortunes, the ranch was sold in February, 1903, to the Bender brothers, since which time Mr. Stengel has lived retired from active business cares, during the summer months making his home in Santa Rosa at No. 418 B street, and spending his winters in his native city of Baltimore. The lesson of perseverance and strict attention to de- tails which has been the foundation of Mr. Stengel's success might well be copied by the rising generation and made to count in their behalf as notably
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as it did in his. If the cattle industry of Sonoma county is ever written up in detail Mr. Stengel's name will receive prominent mention as one of the first to inaugurate and make a success of that special branch of agriculture in the north- western part of the county.
ANTHONY McPEAK.
The name of McPeak needs no introduction to the residents of Sonoma county, for the strong and admirable characteristics of the family are rooted in the pioneer upbuilding of the state, and are now finding expression through the medium of the second and third generation of workers, equally reliant, force- ful and public-spirited. A native of Missouri, Anthony McPeak was born in Callaway county, in 1836, the son of Mathew and Mary A. (Powell) McPeak, both of whom were born in the south, the father in North Carolina and the mother in Virginia, and both rounded out their long and useful. lives in Sonoma county, Cal., the father dying in 1872 and the mother in 1877. Much of the earlier married life of this venerable couple was passed in Callaway county, Mo., and it was from there that they set out with ox-teams in 1852 for California with their family of eight children. Anthony was then sixteen years old, at an age when the novelty and excitement of such a journey appealed to him strongly, and he was also of an age to be of great assistance to his father in driving the teams and performing other duties that such an undertaking as an overland journey involves. After they reached their destination one of the first duties was the erection of a house for the accommodation of the family five miles north- west of Santa Rosa, and in this, too, Anthony assisted by hauling the redwood timbers of which it was constructed.
Altogether father and son worked together in the maintenance of the home until Anthony McPeak attained his majority in 1857, September 27 of that year marking the beginning of his independent ventures by locating on one hundred and sixty acres of government land, near Guerneville, where the Korbells now reside, and for which he paid the usual price of $1.25 an acre. The land was in its native wildness, but he industriously set to work to put the land in condition for cultivation, and during the fourteen years that he made it his home he worked a transformation that was truly wonderful. In 1871 he disposed of the land to Korbell Brothers and with the proceeds purchased the property upon which he now lives, near Hilton. The purchase originally consisted of six hun- dred and ninety-four acres, but in the meantime he has disposed of portions of it hy gifts to his children, until he now has two hundred and forty acres. During his early years on this property conditions were propitious for following sheep- raising, and he engaged in this business on quite a large scale for a number of years, having about eight hundred head, he being not only the largest sheep- raiser in this section of the country, but also the first to engage in the business. Of late years, however, he has developed his property into a summer resort known as the Cosmos farm, where woodland and cultivated fields combine to form an ideal spot in which to pass a term of quiet and rest. This is one of the largest and best-known places of the kind in the state, and all who are able to secure accommodations at Cosmos farm with its genial and hospitable proprietor
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are fortunate indeed. Much of the tract is in its native wildness, covered with large redwood trees, and the remainder of the land is in orchard, all of the small fruits grown in this part of the state being cultivated on a large and prosperous scale. Mr. McPeak has been an extensive traveler, having visited Oregon, Utah, Nebraska, Texas, Colorado and Arizona, but in none of these states has he found any location that equals his own in Sonoma county, and every visit to other sections of the country finds him returning to his garden-spot in this county, contented with his lot and happy in the thought that he was able to recognize its possibilities and persevere in working them out.
Mr. McPeak's marriage occurred April 18, 1864, and united him with Miss Melissa E. Bell, a native of the Empire state, born in Lewis county August 25, 1848. Her father, Henry Bell, was a native of Massachusetts, and her mother, in maidenhood Catherine Kiser, was born in Germany. Both parents are now deceased. Of the nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. McPeak four are deceased. Named in the order of their birth the children are as follows : Leonora, deceased ; Harmon P .; Presley P .; Henry Martin; Minnie; Mathew Lawrence; Wiley, Redman and Philip, the three latter deceased. Mr. McPeak finds his time fully and pleasantly occupied in the maintenance of his ranch and summer resort com- bined, besides which he raises stock and keeps enough cows to supply the needs of his table. His son, Harmon P., is interested with him in the care of the ranch and the resort, besides which he is interested on his own account in raising chick- ens on a large scale. Politically Mr. McPeak is a stanch Republican, his first vote having been cast for the martyred President Lincoln, and his last one for that no less loyal defender of right and principle, Theodore Roosevelt. Although deeply interested in public affairs Mr. McPeak has never cared for public office for himself, and has constantly turned a deaf ear to the importunities of his fellow-citizens to represent them in some position, any one of which his qualifi- cations would justify him in accepting. It would be hard to find anyone more intensely interested in the welfare of Sonoma county than is Mr. McPeak, who though seventy-four years old is vigorous and hearty, with many useful years before him.
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