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 87

Author: Gregory, Thomas Jefferson
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1190

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 87

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).

On receiving his honorable discharge with a record for fidelity and courage, Mr. Nolan settled in Boston, Mass., and for two years engaged in the trucking business, after which, in 1867, he came to California. Since then he has remained in the west. His friends and kindred in New England have become scattered or are dead. His father, Patrick, a native of Nova Scotia, and his mother, a native of Maine, both have passed into the silence of the grave. The ties that once bound him to the east are broken never to be reunited on earth and all of his interests are now associated with his western home.

For some time after coming to California Mr. Nolan worked on the Gualala river, but his principal occupation has been the cultivation of the soil. At this writing he owns thirty-five acres of valuable land situated near Occidental. Twenty-four acres have been placed under cultivation to fruit, mostly apples, Gravensteins, Spitzenbergs, Jonathans, Roman Beauties and Belleflowers, in the raising of which he is regarded as a local authority. The sale of his orchard products brings him a large income each year and enables him to enjoy comforts justly merited by long years of labor. When he came to the west he was un- married and it was not until some years later that he established domestic ties. During 1875 he was united in marriage with Josephine Chenoweth, a native

859

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY

of California and the daughter of western pioneers now deceased. Two sons comprise the family of Mr. and Mrs. Nolan. The elder, Walter, was born in 1876 and since about 1898 he has engaged in teaching, but recently his work has been interrupted by his determination to study for a university degree. At this writing he is a senior in the State University at Berkeley. The younger son, Albert Wallace, born in 1878, is a successful school teacher in his native county. Mr. and Mrs. Nolan are active members of the Methodist church at Occidental. The political affiliations of Mr. Nolan bring him into sympathy with Republican principles and he supports that party in the national elections, but in local cam- paigns he gives his support to the men whom he deems best qualified to represent the people efficiently, irrespective of their partisan ties.

JOSIAH HOWE WHITE.

From the year 1880, when he became a large landed proprietor of Sonoma county through the purchase of a ranch of about fifteen hundred acres in Vallejo township, until his demise at his residence in Alameda September 23, 1897, Josiah Howe White was inseparably associated with the agricultural, horticultural and material development of the county, whose progress his intelligence and capital aided and whose resources his keen discrimination grasped with unerring in- tuition. The possibilities of grape culture appealed to his imagination and he planted a vineyard of twenty acres, from which until his death he sold grapes each season with large profits. Stock-raising was also engaged in, the broad meadows furnishing hay of first-class quality, while the pastures gave support for the months of grass. During 1884 he purchased at quarantine in New York a large herd of Holstein Registered cattle, which he exhibited at various fairs and always won prizes. On the ranch he also carried many fine horses from Elec- tioneer-Wilkes stock, at the head of which was Hernani. In addition to the other activities pursued on the ranch a dairy was established with one hundred cows and for years the butter was shipped to Arizona, where the highest market prices were obtained.

The life of this honored citizen began in Westminster, Worcester county, Mass., February 3, 1838, and in that region his early years were happily and un- eventfully passed. The common schools gave him his primary education and at- tendance at an academy completed his course of study. At the age of fourteen years he went west as far as Illinois and visited relatives for eight months, after which he returned to New York state and remained in Jefferson county for seven months. Next he spent two years in Lancaster, Mass. Returning to Illinois during the fall of 1855, he secured employment in the engineering department of the Jacksonville & St. Louis Railroad and continued to fill the same position. until the panic of 1857 practically stopped all construction work. Next he served for one term as surveyor of Jersey county and after he came to California in 1860 he also followed surveying, his practical work being done in and around Sacramento. Next he secured a contract to build seven miles of the Central Pacific Railroad in Nevada.

When the great flood of 1861 broke the levee around Sacramento and im- mediate steps were necessary for the protection of the city. Mr. White took

860

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY

the contract for the rebuilding and that important task he discharged with marked success. Other contracts in the state kept him busily engaged and from 1864 until 1876 he made his headquarters in San Francisco, from which city he did a large business in surveying. Mining interests also engaged his attention to some extent. During 1877 he became interested in The Contention quartz mine at Tombstone, Ariz., and for years held a position as superintendent, meanwhile developing the plant into a very profitable investment and giving to it a large part of his time. He superintended the building of the quartz mill for that com- pany at Contention City on the San Pedro river. In mines as in survey work his judgment was excellent, his foresight unerring and his decisions prompt and ac- curate. Nor was he less forceful and efficient when he turned his attention to horticulture and agriculture. There seemed, indeed, no line of activity in which he was not interested and for which he did not possess ability in some degree. For several years he served as president of the Sonoma and Marin District Agri- cultural Society that held its annual fair in Petaluma. These positions he held with characteristic ability. An ardent Mason in fraternal connections, he identi- fied himself with the blue lodge in San Francisco and Mount Olivet Commandery, K. T., at Petaluma, and both of these organizations received the benefit of his philanthropies.

The family of which Mr. White was a member became identified with American history during the colonial and Revolutionary eras and contributed much to the early agricultural growth of New England. His parents, John and Lucy (Howe) White, were natives of Massachusetts, the former born in 1800 and the latter in 1806. Mr. White was married at Lakeville, November 14, 1879, to Miss Annie Daniels, who was born at Milton, Saratoga county, N. Y., the daughter of Seneca and Sarah (Starr) Daniels, both natives of that county also. During the early days Mr. Daniels brought stock from New York state to Cali- fornia across the plains, arriving at Sacramento in 1860. On the way Mr. Daniels had several encounters with the Indians, and the first winter was passed in Salt Lake, under the wing of Brighanı Young, who gave Mr. Daniels a fine mare that remained in the possession of the family until she died. Mr. Daniels' herd con- sisted of fine Devon cattle, which he brought to Oakland and located on one hun- dred acres of land which he had purchased on the east side of Lake Merritt. In 1864 he traded this property for two hundred and ten acres at Lakeville, where he engaged in raising Devon cattle. Mr. Daniels died in 1876, and in 1880 his widow sold the ranch to Mr. White, thereafter making her home in Alameda, where her death occurred in 1903. Five children were born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. White, as follows: Josiah Howe, Jr., member of the Hall-White Lithographing Company of Oakland; Edwin Dean, of the firm of Brown-White Company of San Francisco (he married Miss Edith Lewis of Petaluma and has one child, Edwin, Jr.) ; Alden Parsons, engaged in the timber business in Amador county: Edith, who graduated from the University of California in 1907 ; and Helen, who graduated from the Stanford University in 1911, the two last-mentioned now at home. After a life of mutual helpfulness and happiness Mrs. White was left a widow, since which time she has resided at Alameda, where she has all the comforts rendered possible by her ample means and where, surrounded by her children and ministered to by their affection, she is rounding

861

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY

out her useful and active life. She still owns and superintends the Lakeville raneh, besides attending to her other interests. In 1904 she built a large residence on the ranch, beautifully located on a hill in the vineyard, a spot which years ago the family had selected as a site for a residence. She has also set out a new vineyard of twenty-five acres of resistant yines.

DAVID BARTON ENGLISH.

One of the thrifty and enterprising agriculturists of Sonoma county is David Barton English, who though a recent settler on his property near Forest- ville, has been a resident of the state since 1853. He was born in Platte county, Mo., April 14, 1837, but he has little or no recollection of his parents, for death robbed him of their love and guiding care when he was a small child. How- ever, he remembers with kindly feeling his foster-parents, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Tripple, who after the death of his parents took him into their home and reared him as one of their own children.

David B. English was a youth of sixteen years when with a family by the name of Stewart he started on the overland journey to California, setting out on May 8, 1853, and reaching his destination five months later. The journey was a difficult one for the young traveller, for he was compelled to walk most of the distance as well as drive one of the teams. As soon as he reached his journey's end his fatigue was forgotten in the excitement of his mining prospects, but here, too, he was destined to reap his reward only after the hardest exertions. He undertook placer mining in Eldorado county, and as there was no water near the mine he had to carry the dirt in gunny sacks a considerable distance to the stream, where he worked it with a rocker. Notwithstanding the difficulty under which he had to labor, he continued his efforts in the mines for two years, after which he came to Sonoma county and hired out as a herder of sheep for some time.

After giving up sheep-herding Mr. English went to Napa county and was employed at farming until 1855, when he came to Sonoma county and pre- empted one hundred and sixty acres near Guerneville; later he took up a home- stead claim of one hundred and sixty acres adjoining, and made it his home for twenty-five years. Still later for five years he occupied a ranch he owned near Guerneville; this he sold and later returned to the home place, where he lived previously, until 1909, when he came to Forestville and took possession of the home he now occupies, consisting of the home and over an acre of land in the village.

In 1866 Mr. English was united in marriage to Miss Emily Beaver, a native of Indiana, theirs being the first marriage ceremony ever performed in Guerneville. No children were born of their marriage, but they have adopted two children, Ernest G. and Susie R., who bear their name and are the recipients of all the love and affection that natural parents could bestow. Politically Mr. English is a Republican, and twice he cast his vote for Abraham Lincoln. No one could be more enthusiastic for the advancement of Sonoma county and Cali- fornia than is Mr. English, this being especially noticeable along educational

862

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY

lines, for he is a firm believer in furnishing the best possible advantages for the rising generation. For five years he has acted in the capacity of school trustee of Miram district. He contrasts the advantages which the school boy of today has with those of his own school days, when he trudged to the log schoolhouse in Platte county, Mo., and conned his lessons sitting on the puncheon seat. Not only was the housing poor, but the instruction was meagre in the same propor- tion, the teacher, more often than not, being incompetent and unfitted for the task which he had undertaken. If there is one thing that stands out more clearly than another in the life of Mr. English, it is his uniform adherence to the Golden Rule in every transaction, whether large or small, reflecting an inner fineness of character and broad humanitarianism that places his fellow man on an equal footing with himself.

Mr. English has the distinction of building the first house on the site of what is now Guerneville in the summer of 1861, the structure being erected for R. E. Lewis, who has been dead a number of years. The following poem was written by Mr. English in 1907 and published in a newspaper in Guerneville :

REVERIES OF AN OLD MAN.

The recent snow storm reminds an old-timer of his childhood days, And how he one time enjoyed the snow in so many ways ; Of when he climbed the hill that he might go down sliding ; And of the many times, tucked in robes, he went sleigh riding .

Then for a change, by a short time, patiently waiting, The ice would form on lake and river. Oh! what fun a-skating! But time to the old man, now, has worked a mighty change, Which he sometimes thinks quite wonderful and strange.

Behold the old man now ; his steps are feeble, his head is bending low. Ask him what he finds, now, in the cloud-driven snow, That, now, he's grown quite old, with his blood running slow? Perhaps he will tell you he no longer delights in the snow.

Yet, while those desires have fled from him, others secm to enjoy Them about the same as he did, when he was a farmer's boy. And for their sakes he hails again, with returning joy, The falling snow, that gave him such pleasure when a boy.

Now, hearken, while he tells of his boyhood days once more, When he had naught but childhood's griefs in his heart's store ; How, then, he rode on horseback, upon a sack of corn, And on his way to mill, almost wished he'd never been born.

With pants too awful short, his shins so cold and bare. His pants and socks did not meet-neither had length to spare. With coarse brogans, all run down and over at the heel, Imagine, if you can, how comfortable one would feel.

863

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY

He suffered most between sock and pants, of course, Where each were drawing from each other as if trying for divorce. And yet he sat his steed in calm, stately repose,

While the frost was fearfully biting his defenseless nose.

Now he's living life o'er again, which was not complete,

For he suffered much, in those days, with frostbitten feet.

Now let this soliloquy end ; let the curtain fall

While he still believes that a boy's life might be the best of all.

He's watching now, with interest, the progressive boy of today,

And he's marking how different he's doing from that old way.

He's watching his progressive steps, and of his increasing desire,

While upon the rounds of ladder-fame he's climbing higher and higher.

And, too, he's questioning self, why he did not study while in school, But he'd rather sit in idleness upon the dunce's stool.

Now he's reminded of some wise saying, belonging to the past,

The truth dawns upon him : The last shall be first and the first shall be last.

Then, in his enthusiasm, he loudly proclaims with joy :

What would I not give to be again a simple farmer's boy !

That I might live my life o'er again, and improve the past,

For I have, by experience, found the philosopher's stone at last !

I've found that it is not he that wills, but he that joins the race

And fights manfully with obstacles in the way, face to face ; If great things one would achieve, he must not disdain to toil, For many of our Presidents, when young, were tillers of the soil.

HENRY PHILIP LICHAU, JR.

The childhood memories of Mr. Lichau are associated with the county of Sonoma, but he is of eastern birth and German extraction. His father, whose name he bears, was born in Hesse-Cassel, Germany, February 22, 1826, and died in California March 12, 1909, at the ripe old age of eighty-three years. During the temporary sojourn of the family in Massachusetts the elder son was born at Greenfield January 21, 1855, and the younger son, Albert E., was born April 18, 1856, after the arrival of the parents in California. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Mary Hockey, was born in England in October of 1830, but came to the United States at an early age. Albert E. married Mary E. Bee- son, who was born in Australia in 1851. They became the parents of five children, Chester, George R., Charles, Mabel G. and Annie E. George R. mar- ried Annette Ribbley and Mabel G. is the wife of Frederick Mitchell and the mother of three children. Claude, Frank and Fern.

Early in the year 1856 the family arrived in San Francisco after a tedious voyage from New England via the Isthmus of Panama, which they crossed on

864

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY

the backs of mules. A brief sojourn in San Francisco was followed by removal to Sonoma county, where land was taken up near Petaluma, but during the spring of 1869 removal was made to the northern extremity of Vallejo township, where the father remained until death and where his son and namesake still resides, occupying the old homestead nestling at the foot of the Sonoma mountain. When he was a boy he found one of his greatest pleasures in hunting and to this day he retains his fondness for the sport, although game is far less abundant now than in the pioneer era. Deer, Pacific wild cats, coons and bears were the ani- mals most frequently seen. At one time Mr. Lichau and his dogs chased an animal that had molested the turkeys. After running almost a mile the creature took refuge in a tree, perching on a branch one hundred and fifty feet above the ground. An old gun, bought in 1860, brought down the game, which proved to be a lynx weighing thirty pounds. One reason for the abundance of game was the fact that water always could be found on the ranch, there being not only three streams, but also forty-nine springs of pure water, an item of no small value in considering the attractions of the place.

The first home of the family was constructed out of hewn redwood timber, framed, mortised and pinned together without the use of nails. In this cabin, built in 1858, many social gatherings were held. Here was celebrated the first marriage performed in the neighborhood, the clergyman on the occasion being Rev. Noah Burton, who in 1880 united in marriage Henry Philip Lichau, Jr., and Emma Hockey at the same place. In 1882 Mr. Burton was appointed chap- lain of San Quentin prison, which at that time contained nineteen hundred in- mates, and he continued there as chaplain until his death. Near the Lichau ranch was a cemetery of two acres, donated by General Vallejo and containing all that was mortal of many of the earliest settlers.

Miss Emma Hockey was born in Devonshire, England, November 11, 1854, being the only child of Samuel and Johanna (Bowdege) Hockey, natives of Stockland, England, the father following the occupation of a butcher in his native land. Mr. and Mrs. Lichau are the parents of seven sons, namely: Harry P., Charles F. B., Archie C., Edward P., Arthur Lincoln, Ernest Albert and Elmer C. Archie married Alberta Belle Harvey, a native of Santa Barbara county, and they and their son, Beverly, make their home in Sonoma county. Charles F. B. married Jessie Farrer, a native of California, and they have two children, Raymond and Clarice. Politically Mr. Lichau always has been loyal to the tenets of the Republican party and fraternally he holds membership with the blue lodge of Masons at Petaluma. For two terms he has served as trustee of the Copeland school district.

Under the personal supervision of Mr. Lichau is a tract of one hundred and seventy-five acres, devoted to the raising of farm crops and to dairying and poultry-raising. Thirty head of fine milch cows and young cattle are carried on the ranch, besides several horses and a number of hogs. The cattle are of the Holstein breed, while the horses are Percherons, the head of the herd being a splendid stallion, Modoc Chief. Recently he sold one of his colts, Blanche, two years old, which gave promise of approaching an ideal perfection of the Perch- eron breed. The poultry yard has five hundred hens of the Andalusian blue breed, in the sale of which Mr. Lichau has been extensively engaged. Eggs bring

865

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY

$2.25 for a setting of fifteen. Hens sell at $2 each, while the cockerels bring from $5 up according to quality and markings. Orders for chickens and eggs come to Mr. Lichau from various parts of the state and those who have em- barked in the industry have only words of praise for the virtues of this beautiful fowl.

LEWIS WILLIAM RIDENHOUR.

Thirteen years have passed since the death of this well-known pioneer, who for over forty-four years had been a continuous resident of the ranch near Hil- ton which is now the property of his widow. A native of Missouri, Mr. Riden- hour was born in St. Louis county, in 1829, which at that time was sparsely populated by the white man, in fact his parents were credited with being the first white settlers in St. Louis county.

Lewis W. Ridenhour was a young man of twenty-one years when, in 1850, he set out for the gold-fields of California, full of hope and confidence that a quick fortune awaited him. The records do not state that he was more suc- cessful than the average miner, taking the losses with the gains, and it is safe to presume that his success was not all that he might have expected, for after work- ing in the mines in Placer county above Marysville for three years he gave up the life and settled down permanently to agriculture. It was then, in 1853, that he made the first purchase of land in Sonoma county, this being included in the ranch now occupied by his widow ncar Hilton. The original purchase, taken up under the homestead act, consisted of one hundred and sixty acres, and to this has since been added adjoining property from time to time, until the ranch now comprises nine hundred and forty acres. The residence which adorns the ranch is one of the most substantial in this part of the country and is in as good condi- tion today as when it was constructed fifty-three years ago. The lumber used in its construction he brought down on a raft from Green Valley creek, and the shingles, which he himself rived by hand, are still apparently none the worse for the exposure to the sun and weather of fifty years. Much of the land Mr. Riden- hour set out to hops, fruits and general garden produce. All of these various industries have since his death been maintained by his widow, under whose management they have prospered from year to year. Six and a-half acres are in orchard, thirty-four acres are in hops (which during the year 1909 netted an income of $962), seventy acres are in general farm produce, while the remainder of the land is in pasture and timber. The brickyard is leased for $1,000 a year. Of late, since 1905, the ranch has been carried on by James W. Covey, a son-in- law of Mrs. Ridenhour. As one of the earliest settlers in this part of Sonoma county Mr. Ridenhour could relate many thrilling stories of pioneer conditions, when bears and deers were so plentiful that he shot them to help clear the country of them, and panthers, smelling the blood of their slain forest com- panions, would come by stealth and run away with their carcasses. At one time Mr. Ridenhour was attacked by a brown bear and badly wounded, but he suc- ceeded in getting out of bruin's grasp after a hard fight and made his escape. Mr. Ridenhour lived to see all this unbroken wilderness give place to cultivated ranches, the homes of a contented, prosperous people. He passed away on the

866

HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY

old home ranch April 6; 1897, mourned as one of the true-hearted and depend- able citizens of the community in which he had lived for so many years.

Mr. Ridenhour's marriage, in June, 1856, united him with Miss Mary E. Heald, a native of Ohio, and the daughter of one of the pioneer settlers in Cali- fornia. When she was a child of three years her parents removed to Missouri, and from there seven years later, in 1851, they came to California and settled in Sonoma county. Harmon Heald, the father and founder of the city of Healds- burg, was a brother of Mrs. Ridenhour's father. He also came across the plains in the year 1851, and on the site of the city which now bears his name he opened a hotel and also ran a saw and grist mill.

Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ridenhour, but of the number only six are now living. William R., born in 1857, was married to Miss Elfa Catin, their union being blessed with two children, Pearl and Maud. Emily be- came the wife of T. P. Brown, of Santa Rosa, and five children, two sons and three daughters, were born to them, Thomas, Ralph, Georgie, Lilian and Lottie. Lewis E., born in 1861, and now residing in Hilton, by his marriage with Ida Dryden has seven children, three sons and four daughters, Guy, Robert, Philip, Virginia, Mildred, Clarine and Elenor. Ellen became the wife of W. W. Ger- man, and the mother of five children, four sons and one daughter, B. Louis, Roy, Alvin, Elbert, and Alnia, the family making their home in Ukiah, Mendocino county. Hilton B. chose as his wife Phoebe Tracy, and they have a son and daughter, Charles and Aline, the family residing in Suisun City, Solano county. Annie M. became the wife of James W. Covey, and they, with their only child, Anita Elizabeth, live on the old home place near Hilton, Mr. Covey being super- intendent and manager of the property.

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.

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 87

Author: Gregory, Thomas Jefferson Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic record company Number of Pages: 1190

Author: Gregory, Thomas Jefferson
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1190