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 72
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119
708
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
Sartori was reared to habits of industry and self-denial and was thoroughly pre- pared for the task of earning a livelihood. From boyhood he has been familiar witlı dairying and throughout all of his active life he has devoted himself to ranching, chickens and cows furnishing him with his principal source of revenue.
The capable woman who for years has been the companion of Mr. Sar- tori bore the maiden name of Adalini Lafranchi and was born in the village of Someo, Switzerland, December 4, 1871. They are the parents of eleven chil- dren, namely : Simon, Ernest, Victor, Flora, Isabel, Elsie, Evaline, Edna, Jose- phine and Dorothy (twins) and Ellen. As the children reach the necessary age they are sent to the country school near the ranch and are given every oppor- tunity for acquiring a good common-school education, it being the ambition of the father to prepare them for whatever responsibilities the world may hold in wait for their mature years. The parents of Mrs. Sartori were Joseph and Jane (Righetti) Lafranchi, natives of Switzerland and members of a substan- tial farming community in their native canton. Early in life, when fourteen years of age, Mr. Lafranchi left Europe and sailed to Australia, where he en- tered the mines. Not meeting with the desired luck there he returned to his native land and was later married. Subsequently he came to the United States, and in Arizona, near Prescott, he located ou government land. There he car- ried on agriculture successfully for a few years, when he sold out his holdings for $7,000 and came to California, in 1882. Near Santa Rosa, Sonoma county, he located on a ranch and became a permanent resident and respected farmer of this part of the state. In his family there are five children, Edward, Marino, Adalini, Olymphia and Clara. Edward married Lucy Puezzi and has three chil- dren, Victor, Edward and Edna. Marino married Emily Peterson and has three children, Everett, Loretta and Violet. Olymphia is the wife of Peter Gugliel- metti and the mother of four sons and four daughters, namely: Lillian, Colum- bus, Julius, Marino, Jennie, Emma, Esther and baby. Clara Lafranchi is the wife of Frederick Pedrotti and the mother of one son and three daughters. Mervin, Maria, Hazel, and Esther. For years the Sartori and Lafranchi families have been among the most highly respected residents of Sonoma county and they enjoy the esteem, not only of their countrymen living here, but also of all who hold in high regard the solid traits that form the foundation of their citi- zenship.
JOHN LESLIE.
Devotion to duty, the creed of ancestors in past generations, has been the keynote of the agricultural prosperity achieved by John Leslie, the prosperous farmer and influential resident of Russian River township, and the owner of an improved farm lying in the vicinity of Windsor, Sonoma county. The most noticeable attributes in the character of Mr. Leslie are his inheritance from Scotch progenitors and these he has supplemented with the American quality of ceaseless energy. When he came to this county in 1877 he was without means nor had he influential friends to aid him in securing land and making a start in the new location, but he possessed thrift, frugality and de- termination. In addition he has received the assistance of a capable wife who is both a wise counselor and an economical housekeeper. It has thus been
709
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
possible for him to accumulate a valuable farm and to rise to a place among the township's prominent citizens.
The family record includes the names of John W. and Margaret (Sine) Leslie, the former born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1784, and by his marriage the father of four children, namely: John, whose name heads this article and who was born in Perthshire in 1849; William, a gunner in the English army; Margaret, Mrs. Duncan McCall, who has one child, a daughter ; and Agnes, who is married and has six children, her home being in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The son first-named came to the United States in 1873 and settled in Sacramento, Cal., whence he removed to Sonoma county in 1877. In establishing a home of his own he married Agnes Clark, a native of Perth- shire, Scotland, and a daughter of John and May (Young) Clark, being one of four children. Her only brother, William Clark, married Jessie Robertson and has two sons, John and James. A sister, Gussie, married Alexander Stewart and has four sons and two daughters. The remaining member of the family was a daughter, May Clark. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie was blessed with five children, viz .: William, Thomas, Charles W., Margaret M. and Jeanette. The older daughter, Margaret M., Mrs. Robert Gibbons, has one child, Rosella E., who is the pet and pride of her grandparents.
The Leslie homestead comprises one-half section of land, a portion of which is in timber and a considerable amount in pasture, furnishing grass for the live-stock kept on the farm, including a drove of two hundred sheep. The annual income from the sheep is large, as is also the income from the forty acres of fruit and the vineyard of twenty acres. It is the aim of the owner to cultivate a variety of crops, so that a failure in one might not seriously impair the annual revenue. During the season of 1909 he sold $500 worth of fruit and had an income of $600 from his sheep, besides which he had various other sources of income from the land, so that it brought him excellent interest on its value. Besides taking charge of his home place he has acted as sheep in- spector under appointment by the county board of supervisors and this respon- sible position he has filled with credit to himself. Reared in the Presbyterian faith in his old Scotch home, he has never swerved in his allegiance to the doctrines of the denomination, but ever has stood ready to contribute to its maintenance and promote its welfare to the extent of his ability. Since be- coming a citizen of our country he has identified himself with the Republican party and has given stanch support to its principles.
FRED WHITAKER.
The name of Whitaker is one well known in various sections of California, and covers a period which dates from the memorable year of 1849. The earliest member of the family of whom we have any definite knowledge was the Hon. John McCormick Whitaker, who was born February 11, 1801, in Clermont county, Ohio, and resided in his native state until 1827. In that year he went to Michigan and for nine years engaged in trading with the Indians. At the end of that time, in 1836, he became a pioneer settler in Iowa, where he cleared a home for himself and family from the wilderness, and for twenty-five years
710
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
was one of the most active and influential citizens of that commonwealth. For twenty years he served in the territorial legislature, and for seven years was locating agent, being appointed by the legislature to select and locate five hun- dred thousand acres of land donated to the state for internal improvements, but, by the constitution, devoted to the support of schools, the establishment of which he personally supervised. From Iowa he came to California in 1861. settling in San Luis Obispo county, where he made his home until his death in 1891, at which time he was ninety years of age. He was a man of exceptional executive and business ability, very successful from any standpoint from which his life might be viewed, and he was also a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity.
Among the children in the family of Hon. John McCormick Whitaker was James P. Whitaker, who was born in Clermont county, Ohio, October 13, 1824. He was therefore about three years old at the time his father removed with his family to Michigan, and there and in Laporte county, Ind., his early boy- hood was passed. He was abont twelve years old when, in 1836, removal was made to Van Buren county, Iowa, where they were among the very first settlers. The nearest neighbor was ten miles away, and game, which was abundant in the forest, formed the chief article of diet. Wild animals and Indians were a con- stant source of terror to the settlers, making it necessary to be on guard much of the time until conditions changed. It was on his wilderness farm in Iowa that the news of the finding of gold reached Mr. Whitaker in 1849, and during the same year he started on the overland journey with ox-teams for the eldo- rado. Mining absorbed his attention for two years, after which, in the spring of 1853, he located in Marin county and invested the proceeds of his mining venture in land. There on six hundred acres of land he successfully carried on farming, dairying and stock-raising until 1881, when he leased his ranch and purchased two hundred acres in Russian River valley, Cloverdale township, and at once began the improvement of his estate, erecting a commodious resi- dence and all the necessary barns and outbuildings usually seen upon an up-to- date, thriving ranch. This was known as the old Turner ranch, and here Mr. Whitaker engaged in grape-raising on an extensive scale. He himself super- intended and managed the ranch until 1883, when he suffered an accident that prevented him from continuing his former active labors. Finally he sold his fine property to the Italian-Swiss Company for $23,000, and with his family took up his abode in Cloverdale. It was there that he passed away March 26, 1891, his death closing a career that had been ennobling and uplifting. Observa- tion had led him to the conviction that intemperance was the greatest evil with which we as a nation had to contend, and as long as his health permitted he worked indefatigably to stem the corrupting tide, both by lectures and personal work.
The marriage of James P. Whitaker, September 28, 1858, united him with Miss Jane Carroll, who was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, and came to the United States with her parents when an infant. She received exceptional educational advantages in the public schools of New York City, and after com- ing to Sonoma county, Cal., in 1855, was engaged in teaching here until her marriage. Four children were born of this union, as follows: Gilbert, a resi-
713
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
dent of San Francisco; Lottie, the wife of Augustus Martin, of San Francisco ; Fred and Wallace J., the latter also a resident of San Francisco.
While the parents were living in Marin county Fred Whitaker was born near Tomales, October 11, 1863. Although he was reared to a full knowledge of ranch life, his inclination tended in other directions, and in following the line of work for which nature intended him he is not only successful, but is happy and contented. While still a youth he showed a decided taste for things mechan- ical, and fitted himself for an engineer's position, and for the past fifteen years he had been the efficient engineer of the Cloverdale water works, and for a considerable time he has also been a member of the volunteer fire department. His thorough knowledge of the value of land has been put to good account of late years through the purchase and sale of numerous pieces of real-estate, among which was a tract which he purchased for $500 and sold for $5,000 twenty years later. Another was a tract of one hundred and thirty-two acres, for which he paid $200, and which he sold for $25 an acre. He has recently purchased a six- hundred acre tract of mountain and timber land, besides which he owns a like amount of land in Mendocino county. Fraternally he is a member and past grand of Cloverdale Lodge No. 193, I. O. O. F., and is also a member of Soto- yome Lodge, Foresters of America, of Healdsburg.
JOHN ANDERSON.
The entire period of his boyhood and early maturity was passed by Mr. Anderson in his native country, Denmark, where he was trained in the habits of industry, frugality and intelligent labor characteristic of his countrymen. Born in 1845, he was only a little less than thirty years of age when he bade farewell to the scenes and friends of youth and crossed the ocean to the new world, proceeding westward to California and taking up land in Sonoma county. Throughout the remainder of his busy and honorable career he remained a resident of this section of the state and identified himself closely with interests leading to the local upbuilding. Lying along the coast of the Pacific ocean stretch seven hundred acres of pasture and timber land, forming an estate known as Horse-shoe Bay farm, three miles below Stewart Point. Since his death, which occurred September 16, 1908, the family have remained on the old home- stead and have engaged in the summer-resort business, their picturesque estate offering exceptional advantages for camping grounds and the successful enter- tainment of summer visitors.
In addition to engaging in agricultural pursuits Mr. Anderson for sixteen years served as a justice of the peace and thus gained the title of Judge by which he was known throughout Sonoma county. As a justice he proved himself to be impartial, wise, tactful and the possessor of a broad knowledge of the law, such as is not often found in one untrained in the profession. When he came to the west he was a single man and it was not until a few years afterward that he established domestic ties. In his marriage he was unusually fortunate, for his wife proved to be a capable helpmate, devoted counselor and sagacious mother, ministering to his comfort until he passed away and ably superintending his estate subsequent to his demise. A native of Bodega, Sonoma county, she
714
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
borc the maiden name of Ella Samsel and was born in 1863, receiving a fair education in the schools of her home town and a thorough domestic training in a home where thrift and economy ruled.
Eight children comprised the family of Judge Jolin and Ella Anderson, namely: Carl L .; Eugene T .; John F. C .; Estelle, who married J. S. Wills, a native of Iowa; Freda C., who married Charles F. Branigan, a native of Texas; Hilda H., whose husband, M. J. Pellascio, was born in Swit- zerland, their union being blessed with two children, John C. and Letha L .; Florence, deceased; and Margaret E., who resides with her mother at the old homestead. Mrs. Anderson descends from old southern ancestry. Her father, Hiram Samsel, was born in Maryland in the year 1805 and during youth learned the blacksmith's trade, which he followed in the east as well as after his removal to the Pacific coast in the '50s, crossing the plains with ox-teams. Fraternally he was an active local lodge worker in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. When somewhat advanced in middle life he married Susan Goforth, who was born in Tennessee in 1838. Of that union there were three children, as follows: Charles E., who resides at Visalia; Isaac L., a resident of Oakland; and Ella, who became the wife of Judge Anderson. Mrs. Anderson's second marriage united her with Karl M. Nilsen, who was born in Laurvick, Norway, the son of Christian Nilsen, a merchant in that town, where Karl was reared and educated in the public schools. Like most of the young men of that vicinity he went to sea, and for many years he sailed on the large merchant marine vessels, which entered nearly every port of the world. On coming to the United States he enlisted in the navy, serving one term, and after his honorable discharge he located in Sonoma county, Cal., where he is engaged in farming on Horse- shoe Bay ranch. Beautifully located on the Pacific ocean, it affords a delightful view of the ocean and surrounding country, besides which it is heavily timbered with redwood, pine and oak. Mr. Nilsen is raising cattle and getting out rail- road ties and tan bark. In his religious belief he is a Lutheran, while his wife is an Episcopalian.
NATHANIEL A. GRIFFITH.
With Nathaniel Griffith agriculture is a science to be carefully studied, con- tinually improved and indefatigably pursued. No carelessness or laxity on his part is indulged in, thus preventing risks in the successful and complete utiliza- tion of the great forces of nature at his command. When he first located on his present ranch in Sonoma county he undertook the raising of grapes, with a few acres of mixed apples. The Gravenstein variety proving the best adapted to this soil, he gradually replaced the vines and other varieties of apples with Graven- steins, of which he is today the largest and most successful grower in this sec- tion of Sonoma county. All that is his today is the result of his individual effort after a careful and comprehensive study of the best method to pursue in the cul- tivation of the apple, and results are abundant evidence that he has made no mistake in singling out the Gravenstein variety as his specialty, in the cultiva- tion of which he is an authority throughout this section.
The earliest recollections of Mr. Griffith are of a home in Iowa, where he was born in 1850, the son of Thomas and Lucy (Bell) Griffith, the former a
715
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
native of Kentucky, and the latter of Indiana. The father is now deceased, but the mother is still living, having attained the good old age of eighty years. The early married life of the parents was passed on a farm in Wapello county, Iowa, and it was in this community that Nathaniel A. was reared and educated, and it was there too that he gained his first knowledge of practical agriculture. By the time he was twenty-four years of age Iowa seemed limited in its opportun- ities and in removing further west he found larger scope for his ambition. After an experience of nine years in Nevada he came to California, in 1883. At that time he purchased seventy-eight acres of land near Santa Rosa, but in the meantime has disposed of a portion of his land, now owning fifty acres. At the time of purchase the land was uncultivated and altogether unpromising in appear- ance, but he undertook the task of cultivation with a will, and while not altogether successful at first. has persevered until he is now one of the most successful ranchers in the county. In addition to twenty-four acres in grapes, he planted several acres to mixed apples, but study and experience proved beyond question the superiority of the Gravenstein, and the greater part of his ranch, thirty- five acres, is now in this variety of apple, one of the largest bearing orchards of this variety in the county. For several years he picked and marketed the fruit himself, but since then he has sold his crops on the trees to the packers, Frank Simpson & Co., of Los Angeles. The average returns from his apple orchard for the past few years have been $5,000, an excellent showing and one which is well deserved by this intelligent and thrifty rancher.
Mr. Griffith's marriage in 1882 united him with Miss Ida J. Fleming, a native of New Jersey. The eldest of the four children born of this marriage is Guy F., born in November, 1883, who is at home and assisting in the care of the home ranch; Grace M., born in May, 1885, is the wife of Charles B. Allison, of Santa Rosa; Alice F., born in July. 1886, is still at home, as is also Nellie B., born in 1890. Mrs. Griffith's parents were both natives of the east, the father born in New Jersey and the mother in New York state. Politically Mr. Griffith may be said to be independent, adhering to neither of the great polit- ical bodies, but voting for the man possessing the highest principles combined with his ability for the office in question.
CHARLES H. LEWIS.
As one of the successful ranchers in the vicinity of Petaluma, Sonoma county, C. H. Lewis is sustaining his part in the upbuilding of the community in which he has made his home for over thirteen years. As are many of the men who have come to this section of the country and made a name and place for themselves, at the same time assisted in building up the locality along sub- stantial lines, Mr. Lewis is a native of the east, his birth having occurred in Van Rensselaer county, N. Y., in 1841. The westward trend of immigration in the early '5os witnessed the removal of the Lewis family to Wisconsin, and the town of Racine was the scene of a happy home life for many years thereafter. There it was that the son, C. H., grew to a stalwart young manhood, strength- ening his muscles in working as a farm hand in the vicinity of his home when not attending school.
716
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
Striking out in the world on his own behalf, Mr. Lewis went to Dane county, Wis., where he put his knowledge of farming to a practical test for two years, at the end of which time he removed to Mount Vernon, same county, and there started in the hotel business, a line of occupation for which he was so well fitted by a happy combination of personal qualities. Subsequently he re- moved to Brodhead, Green county, and there, too, he opened a hotel, in the maintenance of which he was no less successful than in his former location. Each removal tended to bring him a little nearer to his final goal, and his stay in Chillicothe, Mo., whither he went from Brodhead, Wis., proved his starting point for the far west, coming here in 1897, from which year also dates his resi- dence in Petaluma, Sonoma county. Here in tlie years that have since inter- vened he has won a place in the hearts of the citizens among whom he settled, for in him they have recognized a man of genuine worth and unimpeachable character. Since coming to California Mr. Lewis has followed the business with which he first became familiar as a boy, tilling the soil. Here he is super- intending the ranch of his son-in-law, Dr. Bennett, comprising one hundred and sixty acres near Petaluma, devoted to the raising of hay and grain.
While a resident of Dane county, Wis., in 1874, Mr. Lewis was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Wright, who was a native of that state, born in Waukesha county in 1855. One daughter, Grace, was born of this marriage, and she is now the wife of Dr. E. G. Bennett, of Petaluma. If Mr. Lewis may be said to possess a hobby, it is for the accumulation of Indian curios, and the visitor to his home is highly entertained in viewing the collection and listening to the owner's comments thereon. In the list may be counted sixty-five mortars and several hundred pestles of the old style, six matates, five flat and one on three legs; twenty-four stone axes, of which two are double grooved, and as an evidence of the rarity of the latter, it may be said that when Mr. Morehead, the well-known writer, viewed the collection, he made the statement that in all his life he had seen but four others besides those in Mr. Lewis' possession. The collection also includes an obsidian knife ten inches long; a bow and arrow which is a relic of the Modoc war and is supposed to be one hundred and fifty years old; two thousand arrow heads made of flint, some of which are barbed some with serrated edges like a saw, and still others are beveled; one hematite axe made by the Missouri Indians; one hundred and eighty stone plumb-bobs or sinkers made in the shape of the Caucasian plumb-bob; many fine sea shells and rare specimens of coral; twenty-four old hand-made candle-holders of brass and iron; and fifteen Indian baskets, water-tight, which were made by the In- dians in Modoc, Siskiyou and Del Norte counties. It was while living in Wis- consin that Mr. Lewis joined the Odd Fellows order, and he has been affiliated with the order ever since.
WILLIAM COMSTOCK.
The identification of the Comstock family with this country ante-dates the Revolutionary period, for the records show that the grandfather of William Comstock enlisted in the Continental army under Washington and was a gallant defender of the colonies rights. Fairfield county, Conn., has witnessed the
719
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
births and deaths of many generations of this family, and it was on a farm in that county that the grandfather was tilling the soil when called to the defense of his country. On this same farm his son, Watts Comstock, and his grand-son, William Comstock, were born, the birth of the latter occurring August 9, 1825.
William Comstock was reared on a farm and attended the district schools near his home. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather before him, he had settled down to farm life in the community in which he was reared, when the quiet routine of his daily life was disturbed by the news of the find- ing of gold in California. He was about twenty-three years old at the time, full of enthusiasm and hope that knows no such words as failure and disappoint- ment. He was not long in making up his mind to embark on the venturesome voyage that was to bring him to this eldorado of the west, and the year 1849 found him leaving the home of his forefathers for the port of New York, where he set sail for the Isthmus. The entire voyage lasted six months, but as soon as he reached California he lost no time in making his way to the north fork of the American river, where he had heard the prospects were exceptionally good. Subsequently he also followed mining on the Yuba river. Altogether he con- tinued mining for about two years, finally giving it up, in 1851, to take up ranching in Contra Costa county. From there he came to Sonoma county in 1856, and in 1871 came to Santa Rosa and purchased a ranch of two hundred and forty acres near town. Here he rounded out his long and useful life, and besides the wife and son who still mourn his loss, he left many friends who loved him for his many fine traits of character.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.