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 91
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
JOSEPH KNITTEL.
The ancestral history of the Knittel family, identified with the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, as far back as the records can be traced, began to be identified with the new world during the year 1826, when Frank Knittel, a stalwart young representative of the Teutonic race, immigrated to the United States and secured employment in Wisconsin. For a time he had his head- quarters in Milwaukee, but later he became a resident of Madison, the same state, where he and his wife, Lizzie (Suiter) Knittel, reared their children to industry and usefulness and labored unweariedly to provide them with the necessities of existence. In the family were Joseph, Anton, Jacob, Celia, Alice and Sarah. Anton, who is now sixty-three years of age, married Lida Sidel and lives in North Dakota. Joseph, who was born at Madison, Wis .. July 6. 1850, is now sixty years of age. Jacob married Mary Hassinger and has two children, John and Sarah. Among the sisters in the family Sarah married John Ortley and has two children, Alice and Margaret. The other sisters, Celia and Alice, are in Minneapolis and St. Paul respectively.
890
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
After having completed a common-school education Joseph Knittel re- mained in his native Wisconsin, for a considerable period, earning a livelihood, but saving little or nothing from his incager income. Hoping to do better elsewhere he removed to North Dakota in 1884 and settled in Burleigh county, where he took up a tract of raw land and also became identified with other activities than those of agriculture. For two years he held the office of county clerk and in other ways he wielded large influence, both as a Republican and as a private citizen. After twelve years in North Dakota he came to California and two years later removed to Alaska, being led thither by the excitement caused by the discovery of gold. For eleven years he endured the hardships of that northern country, returning to California in 1909 and settling in Sonoma county, where he invested his savings in a farmi of one hundred and sixty acres near Windsor.
In his removal to California during 1896 Mr. Knittel joined his wife, who had preceded him two years. She was formerly Otillia LaValley. They have one child, Lorene, a bright, attractive girl of eighteen years. The family have established a comfortable home on the farm and devote their attention to the care of the fruit and the poultry. Fifty-two acres are planted to a vineyard and cach season sees a large harvesting of choice grapes, which bring excellent prices in the markets. The apple orchard comprises two and one-half acres and in addition there are eight acres of prunes of the choicest varieties and two acres of peaches. The sale of the fruit nets the family a gratifying income in return for their care and cultivation. A specialty is also made of the poultry business, which is proving remunerative. While the care of the property de- mands scrupulous attention and unwearying industry, the returns are suf- ficiently large to encourage a continuance of the labor and a possible enlarge- ment of horticultural activities. In the attainment of his modest degree of success Mr. Knittel has had the practical assistance of his capable wife, who possesses a common-school education and a fund of common-sense and wise judgment of the greatest aid to their interests. A native of Iowa, Mrs. Knittel is a daughter of William Murty and a sister of James, Elizabeth, Eliza, Rebecca. Josephine, Margaret, Henrietta and Sarah Murty. All of the family are de- ceased with the exception of herself and three sisters, Sarah, Eliza and Henri- etta.
A. H. LATON.
Numbered among the prominent and substantial men of Sebastopol is A. H. Laton, whose residence here antedates its incorporation as a town, and as one of its incorporators and most indefatigable upbuilders a large share of the credit for its present high standing among the thriving towns of the common- wealth is due to him.
A native son of California, Mr. Laton was born in Analy township, Sonoma county, October 30, 1860, the son of M. F. and Elizabeth (Brians) Laton, pio- neer settlers in California who made their way across the plains with ox-teams in the year 1852. The long and trying journey came to an end and found them in Sonoma county, where, at Bodega, the father purchased a ranch upon which he lived a short time, when he sold out and later made his home with his son.
891
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
As one of the early settlers his death, July 1, 1908, was mourned deeply, for during his long residence here he had endeared himself to all classes of citizens, both old and young. His widow is still living at a good old age, making her home in Petaluma.
With the exception of a short period when his father was interested in a hotel in Winters, Yolo county, known as the Parker house, and the year which he spent in Alaska, the entire life of A. H. Laton has been passed within the limits of his native county. Here, too, he has been interested almost continu- ousiy in the lumber business, which has grown to large proportions, his being the only lumber yard in this section, and one of the largest in Sonoma county. In 1895 he came to Sebastopol and established the nucleus of the business which is his today, opening a small yard, which he has been obliged to enlarge from time to time to meet his growing needs. With the exception of one year which he spent in Alaska during the memorable gold excitement at Nome, his lumber business has received his personal attention since the day of its founding. His efforts have extended beyond the interests just mentioned, resulting in 1906 in the incorporation of the Laton Lumber and Investment Company, of which he himself is president and manager. This is one of the largest and most prom- ising enterprises undertaken in the town in recent years, and has every promise of a successful future. Among their holdings is a tract of eight hundred acres of timber land in the Russian river.
In his marriage in 1893 Mr. Laton was united with a native daughter of the state in Minerva M. Joy. Three children have been born to them, Anita D., Alfred J. and Burle C. Mr. Laton is a well-known figure in Masonic circles, being identified with the order in all of its various branches, and he also belongs to Santa Rosa Lodge No. 646, B. P. O. E. Probably none of the citizens of Sebastopol has watched the growth of the town with greater interest than has Mr. Laton. When he located here it was little more than a small village, which he assisted in developing by establishing the lumber yard of which he is now the proprietor, and upon the incorporation of the town he was elected one of the town trustees, by re-election serving altogether six years, and a part of this time was president of the board. In February, 1911, he organized the Sebastopol Times Company, which print a newspaper here, and is serving as president of the company.
JOHN McCANDLESS.
The spot familiar to the childhood memories of Mr. McCandless is the north of Ireland, whose shores are washed by the storm-tossed waves of the ocean and whose people have had an adventurous history since their ancestors fled thither to escape the religious persecutions in Scotland. County Donegal is his native place, and May 8, 1863, the date of his birth. The family of which he is a member lived and labored in Ireland for many generations, and his father, John, Sr., remained in his native land throughout the entire period of his industrious existence. The mother likewise remained in the old country until death. Primarily educated in the national schools, John, Jr., owes his education more to observation and self-culture than to the study of text-books.
892
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
Upon leaving school he served an apprenticeship to the trade of a carpenter, and thus gained a thorough knowledge of the occupation which he now follows.
A period of service as a member of the police force of Ireland gave Mr. McCandless a direct personal knowledge of the brutal oppression of the poor. His sympathies were aroused in behalf of the struggling and poverty-stricken tenants who were made the helpless victims of the greed of the rich. Unable to endure a condition which he was powerless to change he determined to seek a home elsewhere. At the age of twenty-six years he crossed the ocean to New York City, and thus began his association with the country of which he is now a patriotic citizen. For three years he worked at the carpenter's trade in Pater- son, N. J., and from there went back to New York City, where he enlisted in the Fifth Artillery for a period of five years. The course of his service brought him to California, and at Sacramento he aided in quelling the great railroad strike of 1894, during which four of his comrades were killed.
The marriage of Mr. McCandiess was solemnized in California in 1895, and united him with Miss Mary McCandless, who was born in Ireland and came to this country with her parents. The family settled in California, where the mother has continued to reside since the death of her husband. John Mc- Candless and wife have two children, namely: John Thomas, born in San Fran- cisco in 1896 and now a student in the Occidental schools; and Annie Maria, born in San Francisco in 1897 and now a pupil in the schools of the home town. During the year 1898 Mr. McCandless enlisted in the service of the govern- ment as a soldier of the Spanish-American war. Ordered to the Philippines, he remained in active service for three years and six months and returned to the United States under the command of General Taft. On his return in 1901 he was honorably discharged from the army and immediately afterward re- moved with his family to Occidental, where ever since he has made his home, being employed during all of this time as a bridge carpenter on the railroad. Notwithstanding his long service in the army he was fortunate in escaping un- scathed, his only serious injury occurring when he was stationed in the Philip- pines and resulting from the breaking of a leg which prevented him from taking part in the activities of the troops for some time. Ever since becoming a citizen of the United States he has been stanch in his allegiance to the Republican party, and has voted the ticket in local and general elections. In his home vil- lage he is well known and highly respected as a man of honor, a capable work- man and a loyal citizen to his adopted country.
ARTHUR A. MCCUTCHEON.
It would scarcely be possible to find in the United States greater extremes of climate than would be experienced in traveling from her most north-easterly state in mid-winter to Southern California. No one realizes this disparity more clearly than does Mr. Mccutcheon, who passed the early part of his life on the rock-bound coast of Maine. His birth occurred in the city of Bath, that state, December 7, 1837, and such educational advantages as his parents were able to give him were received in the schools of that city. From his earliest recollection he was made familiar with shipping and its allied interests, as this
893
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
was one of the chief industries of his home town, and it was quite natural that it would have attractions for a youth of his make-up. Having learned the ship .. wright's trade he followed it in the shipyards of his native state for a number of years, or until 1863, when he went to Vermont and remained there for the following ten years, being employed at various things in the ship-building line.
Mr. Mccutcheon's identification with California dates from the year 1873, coming overland to San Francisco. The recommendations of his long and faith- ful service in shipyards in the east proved of great advantage to him when lie came a stranger to this metropolis, and it was not long before he was filling a position at his old employment, a position which was both congenial and re- munerative. Both in San Francisco and Benicia, as well as in other shipbuilding cities along the coast, he worked at his trade altogether for about twenty years, when he gave it up and turned his attention to ranching. Since the year 1893 he has resided on the property which he then purchased, comprising forty acres. of choice land near Santa Rosa, on Rural Route No. 2. All of the land is under cultivation to grapes and fruit, and in all the country round about it would be difficult to find a ranch property more orderly and neat in appearance or an owner more contented and happy with his lot than is Mr. Mccutcheon.
In Maine, in 1857, Mr. Mccutcheon was married to Miss Elenora West. a native of Nova Scotia, and the only child born of this marriage was a son, Charles, who with his family resides in Kennett. Shasta county, Cal. Mr. Mc- Cutcheon's first wife survived her marriage ten years, after which, in 1880, he married his present wife, formerly Mrs. Elizabeth Sallon, a widow with one son. In his political sympathies Mr. Mccutcheon is a Democrat, and fraternally he is identified with the United Workmen of America. His interest in local affairs has led to his appointment as school trustee and also as road master, in both of which positions he has rendered good, faithful service, which is char- acteristic of the man and exhibited in whatever he undertakes.
SARTORI BROTHERS.
The identification of the Sartori family with the agricultural development of the United States began in the year 1870, when a sailing vessel brought to the shores of the new world an energetic young immigrant, Peter Sartori, who was born in Switzerland in 1839. Although born in Switzerland, much of the formative period of his life was passed in Australia, whither he emigrated at the age of fifteen years, and for seventeen years thereafter he delved in the gold fields of that rich store-house of wealth. It was following this experience that he again embarked on an ocean-going vessel, this time with the United States as his destination, and after a safe voyage he finally touched foot on the soil of his newly adopted home. From the point of landing he came direct to California and for a period was a resident of Duncans Mill, Sonoma county. During that time he followed the business for which his kinsmen are noted the world over, and in which he was as equally competent. Reference is made to the dairy busi- ness. Following his experience in Duncans Mill he continued the same business in Marin county for a number of years, later, in 1880, returning to Sonoma
894
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
county, and from that time until his death he was recognized as the most com- petent and best-informed dairyman in the Two Rock valley. He reached the age of seventy-one years, while his wife, before her marriage Addolodara Sartori, and born in Switzerland in 1847, died at the age of sixty-two years. Five chil- dren, two sons and three daughters, were born of the marriage of this worthy couple, as follows: Charles, Leo, Mary, Elvira and Elizabeth.
All of the children were born and reared in California, and all are still residents of the immediate vicinity of the parental homestead in Sonoma county. Elvira is the wife of Paul Spelatta, a rancher near Petaluma, and they have one son, Henry. In all of the work connected with the maintenance of the home ranch in Sonoma county the father had the co-operation and practical assistance of his two sons as soon as they were old enough. It was this training under their father that made it possible for the sons to continue the work which the elder man laid down at his death, and today they are recognized as expert ranchers, men who are doing a noble part in maintaining the high supremacy which So- noma county has attained as an agricultural center. In the vicinity of Petaluma may be seen the fine ranch property of which they are the proprietors, com- prising five hundred acres, which is utilized almost entirely as grazing and hay land. Here sixty cows of excellent breed find pasturage, as well as five horses and twenty hogs. The raising of chickens is also an important feature of the ranch enterprise, and this as well as the dairy enterprise is being enlarged as rapidly as is consistent with circumstances. At the present time five hundred Leghorn chickens constitute their flock. The brothers work harmoniously to- gether, and with what they have already accomplished as a basis it is safe to pre- dict a doubling of their present fortune in a remarkably short time. The brothers are believers in the principles of the Republican party, and they find their church home in the Catholic Church of Petaluma, a faith in which they and their fathers before them for many generations were reared.
JAMES R. NESBITT.
In so far as Petaluma's reputation as a well-built and substantial city has to do with the cement and concrete work which forms so large an element of hier material foundation, much credit is due to James R. Nesbitt, a leading cement and concrete contractor and road builder of this city. He was born in the north of Ireland in 1857, and at the age of fifteen years came to make his home on this side of the Atlantic. The vessel on which he made the voyage landed its burden of human freight in the harbor of New York, and the young Irish immigrant passed his first year on this side in the Empire state, working at anything honorable that came his way. From New York state he went to Lexington, Ky., and there as in the east he was successful in finding employ- ment. During the year that he remained in that southern city he had charge of a herd of Durham cattle, very high blooded and valuable stock which brought the owner enormous prices. One of the bulls which weighed twenty-eight hun- dred and sixty pounds was sold in England for thirty-one hundred guineas or $15,500.
895
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
It was in 1876, after a varied experience in the eastern and southern sec- tions of the Union, that Mr. Nesbitt came to California, and here he has been contented to remain. Not only is he satisfied with the state in general as a desirable place in which to live and make a living for himself and family, but he is especially pleased with Petaluma in these respects, and here he has made his home ever since coming to the state, thirty-five years ago. For the first six- teen years of this time he was engaged in baling hay, working up a splendid business in this line, but he gave it up at the end of this time to take up work at his trade of cement contractor. With the growth and expansion of the young town this business became increasingly profitable, and the demand for his serv- ices soon placed his business on a firm foundation. Many miles of sidewalk on the best streets of the town were laid under his direct supervision, besides numerous curbs and gutters, all of which are in good condition and are a credit to Mr. Nesbitt as well as to the town. He has also built many miles of macadam road in this county as well as in Marin county. Besides work of the character mentioned, he also takes contracts for foundations of buildings, not- able among those which he has laid being the public library, the Doyle build- ing on Washington street and the Hill opera house.
In Petaluma, in 1879, Mr. Nesbitt was united in marriage with Miss Isabell Rice, a native of California, whither her father came in an early day, settling in Sonoma county. A large family of fourteen children were born of the mar- riage of Mr. and Mrs. Nesbitt, but of the number only nine are living, as fol- lows: Joseph, Hugh, Randolph. James, Isabell. John, Elizabeth, Sadie and Thomas. Fraternally Mr. Nesbitt is a member of the Eagles and Fraternal Brotherhood. He is a friend of education and advancement, and is one of the most thoroughly reliable, both as to character and attainment, of any of whom we have knowledge in the town.
RANSOM POWELL.
In recording the lives of those who, having completed their allotted tasks in life, have gone to their reward, mention of Ransom Powell must not be omitted. A veteran of the Mexican war, one of the early pioneers of Califor- nia and for many years a prominent business man in Sonoma county, when death removed him from the scenes of earth on April 8, 1910, his loss was the cause of general mourning in the community which had known him so long. his residence in the vicinity of Healdsburg dating from the year 1856. A na- tive of Tennessee, he was born in Robertson county, January 11, 1824, the son of Reuben and Nancy (Ethridge) Powell, both of whom were born and reared in North Carolina. Subsequent years found Reuben Powell in Tennessee, where he owned a plantation, but in the year 1828, when his son was four years old, he removed to Franklin county, Ill., taking up land from the gov- ernment upon which he lived throughout the remainder of his life. He died in middle age, at the age of fifty-three years, while his wife was only forty years old at the time of her death.
The seventh child in order of birth among the twelve born to his parents, Ransom Powell was four years old at the time removal was made to Illinois. where the father died three years later. Subsequently he lived with his step-
896
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
mother three years, his father having been twice married. At the end of this time he went to Kentucky, where he began an apprenticeship of three years at the tailor's trade, after which he went to New Franklin, Howard county, Mo., opened a tailor shop of his own, and continued in the tailoring business until the breaking out of the Mexican war. Enlisting in Company G, Doniphan's Regiment of Cavalry, in 1846, he went to the scene of the disturbance that year, going through Santa Fe and El Paso, to Buena Vista, where Colonel Doniphan and his men joined General Taylor a few days after the battle at that place. On the way Mr. Powell and his comrades took part in a number of Indian skirmishes, and when about eighteen miles from Chihuahua met a force of seven . thousand Mexicans, which the little band of one thousand, only six hundred of them Americans, fought and conquered. With the expiration of his term of service, which was also the close of the war, Mr. Powell took the company's band of horses back to Howard county, Mo., after which, for a short time, he was engaged in business at New Franklin, Mo.
The news of the finding of gold in California was the means of bringing Mr. Powell across the plains in 1849. September of that year marking his ar- rival at Coloma. He engaged in mining on the American river until the rains set in and made further work impossible, after which he went to Sacramento and engaged in hauling freight from that city to the mines, on one load alone clearing $1,100. He continued in the freighting business throughout the win- ter, and in the following summer he returned to Howard county, Mo., where he had left his family, making the journey by way of the Isthmus. The year following his return he engaged in the dry-goods business, but in 1852 dis- posed of his interests in Missouri and again crossed the plains to the west. Misfortune overtook him on the way in the death of his wife. Completing the journey, he located on the Sacramento river, opening a wood yard in what is now Clarksburg, and continuing there for a number of years. Then, in 1856, he removed to Sonoma county, and in Healdsburg and vicinity the remainder of his useful life was passed. In partnership with John McManus he was for three years interested in an extensive mercantile business, at the end of this time disposing of his interest in the store. He then turned his attention to the real-estate business, buying and selling land throughout the county, and it is safe to say, that at times he had owned more land than any other one man in this section of the state. About three years, from 1889 until 1892, he owned and managed a hardware store, after selling which he purchased the ranch of fifty acres one mile west of Healdsburg which was his home throughout the re- mainder of his life, his death occurring at Rose Villa, as his place was known, April 8, 1910. Here as with every other industry he had been interested in from time to time, he put his whole thought and attention, and from a rough, uninteresting tract of land he evolved a garden spot that is now the home of his widow and one of the most productive fruit ranches in the county. Peaches, pears, apples, and prunes are grown, the last mentioned fruit yielding twenty tons from five hundred and fifty trees.
In Howard county, Mo., Mr. Powell was first married to Elizabeth Hults, who died while crossing the plains in 1852, leaving one son, Lory, who is now. a trader at Fort Sill. In 1853 Mr. Powell married Frances Ware, who passed away in 1857, leaving no children. A later marriage was formed with Mary
897
HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY
Capp, who died a few years later, leaving two children, John D., a dentist in Sacramento, and Nettie, the wife of T. S. Roscoe, a railway conductor. In the fall of 1872 Mr. Powell married Katie Beeson, who at her death in 1875 left a son, Jesse, who died in January, 1903. Subsequently, February 1, 1887, Mr. Powell married Louise E. Madeira who was born in San Francisco, the daughter of George Madeira, who was born in Galena, Ill., and came to California in 1852. He is now making his home with his daughter.
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.