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 78
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The records show that the first ancestor of the name in the United States was one John Sweet, who with Governor Winthrop came to Massachusetts and landed at Salem in 1630. In 1637 he went to Rhode Island and was one of the fifty who received a grant of land from Roger Williams, whose title was obtained from the Indians and from the crown of England. John and his good wife, Mary, were the parents of three children: John (2), James (2), and Meribah (2), (afterwards Renewed), whose descendants now are found in every state in the Union. The direct lineal ancestry of James Sylvester is as follows: John (I), James (2), Benoni (3), James (4). Job (5), Rufus (6), Samuel (7), Sylvester (8), James Sylvester (9).
Samuel C. (7), grandfather of James S. Sweet, was born in Kingston, R. I., and married Miss Hannah Perry, a daughter of the famous Perrys of English and American naval history, and to this union was born Sylvester D. (8), the father of the subject of this sketch.
Sylvester Damon Sweet was born in the county of Erie, in the state of New York, February 5, 1820, and died June 21, 1876, while on a visit to his relatives in Humphrey, Cattaraugus county, of the same state. His early educa- tion was obtained in the public schools of his own county, and he afterwards received the benefits of a higher course at an academy. His longing to come west brought him to settle in Walworth county, Wis., in 1843, and later to Fond du Lac county, where he took up considerable government land, owning at one time one of the finest farms in the county. In 1865 he moved to Ripon, where he was known as one of the most progressive and public spirited citizens, always taking an active part in social, moral, and religious affairs. He was known as a man of strict integrity, whose word was as good as his bond, and no worthy cause in charity was ever turned away from his door without a sympathetic hearing with his fullest measure of relief. His life was blessed by his union in marriage with Miss Julina Fairbank, daughter of Ellis Fairbank, a direct de- scendant of Jonathan Fairbank, the first emigrant of that name who settled in Dedham, Mass., in 1636, and whose original dwelling still stands, a monument to the memory of that early pioneer family. Mrs. Sweet passed to rest at San Diego, Cal., July 10, 1910, sweetly conscious of a life hereafter, and with an implicit faith that the Great Creator of all would still take care of her in the life beyond. She was a woman of excellent judgment in the affairs of life, kind and sympathetic to those needing assistance, and her deeds of charity were limited only by the resources at her command. Her friends were legion and her acts of kindness unnumbered. Such were the parents of James S. Sweet, and he for- tunately inherited many of the sterling qualities of his ancestors.
His early life on the farm taught him the necessity of labor and the happi- ness that comes from a love of doing. In his early school life he was known as a prodigy in spelling and in figuring. His advancement was so rapid that he found himself in the classes with others so big that he had to stand on a chair in order to read from the same book. His one delight was to go to school and the age of seventeen found him with a teacher's certificate and qualified to teach in a district school. His first effort in that line called him to take charge of the old Towne school, where he first attended in his early boyhood days. This term
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was so successful that his services were afterwards always in demand, and it has been his boast that he never saw a time when he could not find employment at his profession.
After completing his course at the first ward Ripon high school he entered Ripon College, and by teaching part of the time in district schools and by work- ing on the farin in the summer, he was enabled to secure means with which he laid a foundation for future educational work that has proved so valuable in later years. Besides his courses in the Ripon high school and in Ripon College he attended the state normal school at Oshkosh and later received the degrees of A. B. and A. M. from the National University of Illinois. His experience as an educator has been one of marked success and covering over forty years of actual work in the class room. His work on the Pacific coast began with the principalship of the Unionville public schools, Unionville, Nev., after which he accepted the principalship of the Winnemucca schools, later filling a similar position in the Independence schools of Independence. Ore., where he remained three years.
The only break in Mr. Sweet's educational career came at the close of his term at Independence. At this time he accepted a place as traveling agent for the Northwestern Manufacturing and Car Company, of Stillwater, Minn. Although quite successful in this line of work, his chosen profession seemed to have greater attractions for him, and he accepted a call to the principalship of the Ashland public schools, at Ashland, Ore. After holding this position for three years, his success was so marked that the board of regents of the state normal school called him to the presidency of that institution. Here did he again prove his resourcefulness and ability as an educator, and the school pros- pered as never before. In three years the old building was filled to its capacity, and President Sweet asked the state legislature to make an appropriation suf- ficient to put up a new and modern building, large enough to accommodate the teachers who wished to secure the valuable training they so much needed. This the legislature refused to do and he immediately sent in his resignation and accepted a position as instructor in literature and the sciences in the Santa Rosa high school of Santa Rosa, Cal.
After one year's work in the high school Mr. Sweet founded the Santa Rosa Business College, which institution has won a reputation for thorough and con- scientious work second to no other in the Unite :! States. Thousands of his students almost without exception are ready to testify, not only to his ability as an educator, but to his life of industry, integrity and morality. His is a life of continual activity, and now he is publishing a line of commercial college text books of which he is the author, and which are used in hundreds of the business colleges of the United States and Canada. These books, consisting of texts on bookkeeping, arithmetic, business correspondence and spelling, are unique, and thoroughly illustrate the individual methods that have made Mr. Sweet's educa- tional career so successful.
In his political sympathies Mr. Sweet has always espoused Democratic prin- ciples, although he never has sought or desired official position. However, in 1898, he was nominated and elected mayor of the city of Santa Rosa. His first term was so satisfactory that he was again elected for a second term in 1900. During the latter year he was also a delegate to the National Democratic con- vention held in Kansas City, when William Jennings Bryan was for the second
wo & Smith
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time nominated for president of the United States of America. Fraternally Mr. Sweet is a charter member of Santa Rosa Lodge, No. 646, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. Sweet is compiling a genealogical history of the "Sweet Family in America" which he expects to have ready for publication in the near future. This work will be the crowning effort of his life and will undoubtedly be an invaluable record of the members of this pioneer family, whose long line of pos- terity is one of unbroken family pride.
WILLIAM E. SMITH.
Family traditions indicate the colonial settlement of the branch of the Smith family represented by this resourceful farmer of Sonoma county, who hin- self owns Missouri as his native commonwealth and Ohio as the birthplace of his father, William, Sr., previous generations having been identified with regions still further east. The westward migration of the family kept pace with the agricultural development that constantly extended the limits of civilization into the wilderness and the prairie of the frontier. Born in 1840, William, Sr., fol- lowed the drift of emigration that characterized the middle of the nineteenth century and early in life he became a pioneer of Missouri, where he married at the age of about twenty years, his bride being a girl of eighteen. They became the parents of seven children, namely : Fillmore, who married Minnie Coles and had one daughter, Maude; William E., who was born in Marion county, Mo., in 1864, and came to California in 1875, settling in Sonoma county; Ira ; Warner; Cicero; Alice, Mrs. Chester Hickok, who has four children, Burnelle, Lillian, Ruth and Donnie; and Josephine, Mrs. Frank Phillips, who has two children, Charles and Fannie. The father of the family died in Sonoma county and the mother resides in Healdsburg.
Aside from the removal from Missouri to California there was nothing of note to individualize the boyhood of William E. Smith, who received his primary education in the former commonwealth and later completed his studies in western schools. During 1898 he was united in marriage with Miss May Hayes, who is a native daughter of California, born in Healdsburg in 1871, and educated in the local schools. Of this union there are two children, Haytivick and Jennie, born respectively in 1900 and 1903. Mrs. Smith is a daughter of James and Jennie (Brown) Hayes, pioneers of California, the former still a resident here, but the latter is deceased. Their family comprised three children, Bert, Clifton and May. The first-mentioned chose as his wife Miss Edna Jones, by whom he has two children. Clifton married Jacob Huffman and has a daughter, Dorothy.
In their church affiliations Mr. and Mrs. Smith are Baptists, interested actively in the progress of that denomination, yet sufficiently broad and liberal to extend sympathetic co-operation to all religious organizations. The Demo- cratic party has had the stanch support of Mr. Smith ever since he attained the voting age, yet he has not been partisan in his references and has never been solicitous of office for himself. In his relations with others he endeavors to follow the teachings of the Golden Rule and his life has been squared along principles of honor and integrity. Industry has guided his agricultural labors and economy has enabled him to attain a modest but well-deserved success. The farm which he owns and occupies lies near Healdsburg in Mendocino township
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and comprises one hundred and ninety acres, a portion of which is still in timber and pasture, while twenty acres is utilized for a meadow. Fruit cul- ture is made a specialty with every prospect of permanent success. Little by little trees and vines have been added to the original tract, until at this writing he has forty-five acres in vineyard and orchard. When the entire acreage comes into bearing the receipts from the property will be large, as indicated by the fact that six acres of orchard produced $700 in 1909 and about $1,000 in 1910, while sixteen acres of vineyard realized $935 in 1909. Unquestionably fruit is adapted to this particular locality and the property owners are justified in their efforts at expansion since their experimental labors have proved the wisdom of the work. This entire orchard and vineyard was hewed out of the redwood timber, having been accomplished by degrees. He has found that redwood, fir and oak land heavily timbered, when cleared makes especially good land for apples and grapes, which do well in the black loam. The grapes grow to large size, as may be realized when it is said that one bunch of Rose of Peru grapes measured nine inches across and was twelve inches long. Mr. Smith's grapes have the reputation of being the finest brought to Healdsburg, and for them he receives the very highest market price. His leading apple is the Arkansas black, a large red apple marketable as late as April without cold storage. His apples on exhibit at the apple show at Watsonville in 1910 took first prize. It can be truly said that it is to such men as Mr. Smith that Sonoma county is rapidly taking her place among the counties of the state for her great success in the development of the apple and vineyard industries. He has demonstrated the fact and now others are following in his footsteps.
ABRAHAM L. WOLFE.
When Mr. Wolfe came to California and settled on a ranch in the vicinity of Santa Rosa, he brought with him a record as an agriculturist of over thirty- five years in several states to the east, an experience varied as it was useful, all of which has been invaluable to him, even though the manner of farming differs materially in the different sections of country.
Abraham L. Wolfe was born in Franklin county, Ohio, April 7, 1848, the son of J. H. and Mary (Altman) Wolfe, the former born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1821 (dying in 1908), and the latter born in Westmoreland county, Pa., in 1819, and passing away in 1863. When he was about seven years of age the parents removed to Indiana, and he was still in that state with his parents when, at the age of sixteen, he responded to his country's call for men to come to her aid in putting down the rebellion. Under General Baker, in the One Hundred and Fifty-third Indiana Volunteer Infantry, he saw active service for ten monthis, after which he was discharged at Louisville, Ky., and mustered out at Indianapolis, Ind. From there he returned to his home and resumed farming, but in the fall of 1865 he sold out his interests there, and going to Illinois, re- mainedi there until removing to Iowa in March, 1866. His residence in the lat- ter state was of short duration also, for in the following year he disposed of his interests in Benton county, Iowa, and removed to Nebraska, in the latter
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state being associated with a Mr. Fritz for two years. Iowa once more claimed his attention for three years, after which he again returned to Nebraska and remained there continuously for almost thirty years, or until coming to Califor- nia in 1902. Having satisfied himself as to the possibilities and advantages of Sonoma county he shipped his household goods to Santa Rosa, and close to town he selected the ranch on which he has since lived, on Rural Route No. 5. His is one of the large ranches in this locality, comprising one hundred and forty acres, suitable for any crop the owner might favor, grains and fruits espe- cially, and he has fifty-five acres in grain. Much of the balance of the land is used for pasturage for the fine stock which he raises, in addition to which he raises hogs, horses and red-poll cows. One of the most valuable features about the ranch is the beautiful redwood grove that is on it, containing one thousand trees that are ready for mill, each tree being worth about $40. Another advan- tage of this ranch over many others is its proximity to the railroad, which simplifies the shipping problem considerably in doing away with the usual long hauls of produce to market. In the yard near the residence stands a large oak tree that in former days did service as a meeting house. According to local history the first religious services in Sonoma county conducted by white people were held under this tree, Rev. Mr. Hudson officiating.
Mr. Wolfe's marriage, in 1872, was with Miss Flora Courtright, who was born in New York state in 1854, that state also being the birthplace of her parents ; both of the latter are deceased. The only child of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe is Avery Madison, born in 1873, and now associated with his father in the care of the ranch. Politically Mr. Wolfe is a Democrat, and has often been a candidate on that party's ticket for local offices, in each and all of which he has served efficiently, both in California and in other states that have claimed his citizenship. From his earliest boyhood he has been identified with the German Lutheran Church, the faith in which his father was reared, and he has never departed from his early teaching, being associated with the church of this denomination at Santa Rosa.
GEORGE D. SANBORN.
A prominent business man and one of the foremost citizens of Sonoma county, George D. Sanborn is widely known as one of the leading real-estate dealers of Sebastopol. A man of excellent judgment, progressive and public- spirited, he possesses in a marked degree those sterling traits of character that make him an important factor in advancing the welfare of the community in which he resides.
Not only is Mr. Sanborn a native son of the state, but he is also a native of his home city, Sebastopol, born here in 1866, and educated in the public schools of this section also. His father, who was well known as a rancher in this part of Sonoma county, trained his son to a full knowledge of agricultural life, the two being associated in the maintenance of the home farm for a number of years, or until the son became interested in ranching on his own account. Purchasing a ranch in this locality, he carried on general farming and fruit-raising with
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splendid success for a number of years, or until 1899, when he changed the nature of his business entirely. It was in that year that he opened a real-estate office in Sebastopol, and the success that has followed his initial undertaking in this line is truly remarkable. More and more throughout the state of California the idea of dividing and subdividing the large ranch holdings held so long by a few comparatively speaking, is being accepted as the best method of solving the labor problem which more and more confronts the rancher who has to depend upon hired help. By dividing the land into smaller ranches such as a man and his family might possibly handle alone, this not only solves the problem men- tioned, but enables the man of small means to become a land-holder. Mr. San- born's efforts in the real-estate business have been exclusively of this character, buying large tracts or ranches, and after subdividing them, selling them in ten or twenty acre tracts. In this way, newcomers have been brought into the vicinity by the hundreds, and where formerly only one family resided, from eight to ten families now take pride in cultivating their ranches. Ten large tracts, all of them containing one hundred acres or more, have been thus pur- chased and subdivided by Mr. Sanborn, as follows: the Miller, Schuh and Atkinson ranches; Lankandt, Philbrook, James Elphick, Woodworth and Vol- kert tracts ; and Elphick, Hughes, Robinson and McDonald ranches. In this way Mr. Sanborn has been instrumental in bringing over two hundred families into the vicinity of Sebastopol, all of whom have become good, dependable citizens, and while he has made a financial success of the undertaking, has at the same time been a benefactor to the town and county.
Mr. Sanborn's accomplishments in the line above mentioned do not include all that he has done for the locality in which he lives. The financial circles of the town have benefited by his conservative judgment for many years, this being especially true during the two and a-half years that he was vice-president of the Bank of Sebastopol, now the First National Bank, of which he is still a director. He was filling the office of vice-president during the earthquake period and time of financial depression that followed, and it was owing in no small degree to his optimistic and conservative handling of the affairs of the institution that it passed through this troublous time unaffected by the conditions that prevailed so generally all over the country.
Mr. Sanborn's marriage in 1897 united him with Miss . Mary Graham, a native of Iowa, and one daughter, Elsie, has blessed their marriage. Mr. San- born's ability as a musician is too well known to need mention further than to say that he organized the Sebastopol band and for some time after its organization was its capable leader. Fraternally he belongs to the order of Elks, and socially he is a prominent member of the Native Sons of the Golden West.
JOHN WILSON.
The steps are long and weary that mark the immigrant's path from penury to prosperity and from self-sacrificing labors to contentment and competency. In the arduous struggle not a few are overcome by disaster and disappointment, but some there are who reap the reward of their painstaking efforts and enjoy the rich fruition of their unwearied efforts. It has been the privilege of Mr.
RESERVOIR OF THE SONOMA VALLEY WATER, LIGHT & POWER COMPANY Fed by Mountain Springs L. L. LEWIS, President
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Wilson to work his way upward from adversity to a fair degree of success. His early years in America were filled with toil and the keenest hardships, but ever the rosy-hued rainbow of hope flung its glittering banner before him and front each disappointment he rose with new courage to resume the difficult duties of the day.
Ireland is the native land of Mr. Wilson, and 1861 the year of his birth. He was the youngest in a family of eight children that gathered about the fire- side of his parents, John and Eliza (Blair) Wilson, both of whom passed their entire lives in the Emerald Isle. The father was a farmer all of his life, and when death came to him July 8, 1881, he was still mantaining a small farm in the country which had been his life-time home. With the exception of John Wilson and a brother who was killed as the result of a railroad accident, all of the children are residents of Ireland, four daughters and two sons.
Until he was twenty-three years of age John Wilson remained in his native land, the years counting little toward the betterment of his welfare, for when he came to the United States in 1884 lie was literally penniless. The vessel on which he sailed from Ireland landed him in the metropolis of New York, and for ten months thereafter he followed any honest employment that would provide him with the necessities of life. During this time he was enabled to lay by enough to pay his transportation across the country to California, going to Humboldt county and remaining there for five years. One year later he came to Sonoma county, and for about fifteen years he was employed as a farm hand before he purchased and undertook the responsibilities of a ranch of his own. The property which he selected consisted of two hundred and twenty acres of fine land near Santa Rosa, for which he paid $7,000. This was a part of a tract of four hundred acres for which the previous owner had paid $8,000, which shows the rapidity in the rise of real-estate values in a few short years. Shortly afterward Mr. Wilson sold the ranch at a profit of $4,000, and the present owners would not part with it today for $44,000. Subsequently Mr. Wilson bought twenty-five acres of the Coffee tract located three and a-half miles north of Santa Rosa, and here he makes his home. As rapidly as possible he is improving the ranch, at present having four acres in prunes, besides which he has two acres in pears, the remainder of the land being in barley and pasture. During the early years of his residence here he made a specialty of raising horses for the market. Politically Mr. Wilson is a Republican in national pol- itics, and in local matters he stands for the best man.
SONOMA VALLEY WATER, LIGHT & POWER COMPANY.
The Sonoma Valley Water, Light & Power Company was incorporated for the purpose of developing the water and power resources of Corriger creek, on Yulupa ranch, the property of L. L. Lewis, the president of the company. This ranch consists of about one thousand acres of land adjacent and above El Verano. Here he has built a reservoir of the capacity of twenty million gallons, fed by mountain springs; the water being piped through El Verano to Sonoma at a pressure of one hundred and twelve pounds to the square inch, sufficient for domestic and fire purposes. A perpendicular fall of sixty-five
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feet in the canyon creek from the falls is being developed for light and power purposes.
This property was purchased by Mr. Lewis many years ago with the water and light system in view and twelve years ago he came to live here, after a resi- cence of forty-seven years in Sacramento, coming here from New York state in 1859.
JOHN BAILIFF.
The record of the life of John Bailiff, who passed from the scenes of earth at his home near Santa Rosa, December 27, 1900, is a striking exemplification of the truth that industry, perseverance and determination, are uniformly re- warded by his success. Mr. Bailiff was one of the army of men who foresaw the result of patient application in the development of the boundless resources of California in the early days of the state, and from the beginning of his career adhered strictly to a well-matured plan to allow no opportunity to gain a com- petency to pass without an investigation.
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