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 98
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Still a young man and a busy one, Captain Gustafson has been so provident as to invest in a fruit ranch of twenty-four acres at Graton, Sonoma county, where he resides, his family taking care of the place. All of the land is set to fruit, nearly one-half of it to apples of the Gravenstein variety principally. Here Captain Gustafson loves to spend all the time he can spare from his responsible duties as master of his vessel, taking the keenest enjoyment and delight in his surroundings.
Captain Gustafson's marriage united him with Miss Anna Pearson, a na- tive of Sweden, and to them were born two children, Gladys G. and Roy H. Captain Gustafson is a Master Mason, and a member of the California Asso- ciation of Masters and Pilots. Politically he is a Republican. A man of kindly and sympathetic nature, his liberality and interest in public-spirited measures are felt upon all sides.
JOHN KENNETH GIBERSON.
Numbered among the prominent and substantial men of Petaluma is John K. Giberson, a prosperous agriculturist, who has long been identified with the farming interests of this part of the county. . As a citizen he is held in high re- pute, and by his excellent character and straightforward business course in life has fully established himself in the esteem and confidence of his neigh- bors and associates. He was born in Hightstown, Mercer county. N. J., De- cember 24, 1862.
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Charles McChesney Giberson, the father of John K. Giberson, was also a native of New Jersey, born in Hightstown, August 25, 1834. At the time of the breaking out of the war between the north and the south he served as a government telegraph operator at Hightstown, and after the close of the war engaged for a number of years in building telegraph lines for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He had a congenial life companion in Meribah Jane Gravette, who was born in Clarksburg, N. J., July 16, 1838, and to whom he was married in Philadelphia, Pa., August 8, 1860. The parents came to Cali- fornia in 1870 and were farmers at Two Rock, Sonoma county.
John K. Giberson attended the elementary schools of Hightstown in his early boyhood, and completed his education in Sonoma county, Cal., whither the family reinoved in November, 1870. This has been his home ever since, and so satisfactory are his surroundings from every viewpoint that he has no desire to change his home place to any other part of the state or county. Ever since leaving school he has been interested in agriculture, and since 1872 has been engaged in farming two hundred and twenty acres with his uncle, Charles McChesney, in Two Rock. In April, 1911, he located in Petaluma, where he purchased a residence and four acres on Bodega avenue, and here he is now engaged in the poultry business.
During the summer of 1909 Mr. Giberson returned to New Jersey to claim his bride in Miss Kate L. Gravette, their marriage occurring in Trenton, N. J., June 2 of that year. She was born in Hightstown, N. J., October 5, 1862, the daughter of William LaRue and Hannah C. (Osborn) Gravette. Mr. Gravette rendered valiant service in the United States Navy during the Rebellion, serving until the close of the war, when he received honorable dis- charge. Politically Mr. Giberson upholds Democratic principles, and with his wife is a member of the Presbyterian church at Petaluma. Fraternally he is identified with Petaluma Lodge No. 139, I. O. R. M.
ELZI BROTHERS.
The opportunities which California offers to young men of determination and perseverance find appreciators in Anton J. and Joseph T. Elzi, natives of Canton Ticino, Switzerland, who have been residents of Sonoma county since 1881, since which time they have followed the dairy business in Sonoma and Marin counties. The year 1906 marks the date of the establishment of the dairy business which they are maintaining near Petaluma, on eighteen hun- dred acres of land which they lease from Mrs. Mabel Burdell Smith. Here two hundred and fifty cows of excellent breed find pasturage, besides a large number of stock, twelve head of work horses and colts. The brothers are mu- tually interested in the maintenance of the ranch enterprise carried on under their name and each year notes an increase in their business and a correspond- ing enlargement of income. They are botlı young men of push and determina- tion, and the progress which they are making is being watched with interest by their fellow-citizens.
Anton J. Elzi was born in 1868, and since thirteen years of age has been a resident of Sonoma county. He was married in San Francisco to Miss Reta
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Rasmussen, a native of Denmark, born in 1879. Four children have been born of this marriage, Alfred J., Clarence E., Anna C. and Lillian C. In their politi- cal proclivities both Anton J. Elzi and his brother are Republicans, and they have never departed from the faith of the Roman Catholic church in which they were rearcd. Joseph T. Elzi was born in 1872 and came to California in 1885, and is now actively associated with his brother in the maintenance of the clairy.
FREDERICK THOMAS CULLEN.
A native of the East Frederick Thomas Cullen was born in Utica, N. Y .. January 26, 1874, the son of John L. and Frances (Ackerman) Cullen, the for- mer born in Ireland and the latter in New York state. Following the trade of contractor and builder, John L. Cullen, believing his opportunities would be greater in a new country, took his family to Nevada City, Nevada, in the year 1876 and the following year to Petaluma, Cal., where his son, apprenticed to the same trade as that of his father. has succeeded him with a goodly measure of success.
Frederick Thomas Cullen was one of seven children, all of whom were reared and educated in the public schools of Petaluma. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to the carpenter's trade and received good training from the start, as it was at this time the fair grounds were being remodeled, and his ser- vices were called for and highly approved. At the age of nineteen he became foreman for Camm & Hedges, which position he held for three years, then spent three years in, Arizona in the employ of the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad at bridge building, after which two years were spent in Butte, Mont., at his trade. In 1900, he returned to Petaluma, and launched out as a contractor and huilder of the very highest standard and his ability and art are shown in many of the most beautiful buildings in Petaluma, chief among which are the residences for Messrs. Brainerd, Dittman, Clamer, Webber and the Mckinley school building.
In this city Mr. Cullen was united in marriage to Miss Saralı Stephens, a native of Wisconsin, and four children have blessed their union, Frederick Stephen, Vivian Margaret, Dorothy and Richard. Although but thirty-seven years of age Mr. Cullen has made distinctive strides in his profession and dur- ing the eleven years of his residence in Petaluma has made for himself an en- viable position, bidding fair for a future of unusual success. As a member of the community and St. Vincent's Catholic church, his charities and good citizen- ship are favorably commended.
MRS. MARGARET T. DRAGO.
The estate known as the Drago ranchi forms one of the early cultivated places of Sonoma county and comprises four hundred and eighty acres lying in close proximity to Occidental. The house that Mrs. Drago occupies was erected more than sixty years ago and is one of the few remaining landmarks associated with an interesting period of Californian history. Notwithstanding its great age and long use, the building presents a neatness of appearance and solidity
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of construction not always to be found in houses of more recent date. It was during October of 1862 that Mrs. Drago began to reside in this historic struc- ture and since then she has witnessed the changes transforming the country from a wild region into a cultivated area. In the early days her table was abun- dantly provided with venison, bear-meat and other kinds of wild game that fre- quented the country and among her guests were not a few Indians, for the red men had not yet disappeared before the ambitious sway of the Anglo-Saxon.
Born in County Wexford, Ireland, in 1830, Mrs. Drago was a girl of fourteen years when she left her native land and went to London, England. During 1850 she crossed the ocean to the United States and landed at Boston, from the sail- ing vessel Grace. Finding employment, she remained in Boston seven years. From that city she removed to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where, August 21, 1859, she became the wife of John Morgan, a native of Ireland, born in 1823, and deceased in Sonoma county December 5, 1867. Four children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Morgan. The eldest, William N., was born in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and died in Sonoma county, Cal., at seventeen years of age. The second, John L., was born in Sonoma county in 1863 and still resides at his birthplace. The third child, Mary Jane, makes her home in Oakland, Cal. The youngest member of the Morgan family was Nellie W., born in Sonoma county in 1868 and married in 1891 to Robert Lee Adams, a native of this state and a resident of Point Richmond.
After the death of her first husband Mrs. Morgan remained a widow about two years and in 1869 became the wife of Nelson Drago, who was born in Que- bec, Canada, in 1832 and died in Sonoma county November 20, 1904. Surviving him are his widow and two sons, Frank and Nelson, Jr. The elder son, Frank, was born January 5, 1871, and grew to manhood at the old homestead, receiving fair advantages in the county schools. During 1901 he was united in marriage with Miss Agnes Mabel Glynn, who was born in San Francisco. Of their union two sons were born, namely: George Francis, who was born in 1902 and died in infancy ; and David Patrick, who was born September 5, 1903, and is now a pupil in the local schools. The youngest son of Mrs. Drago and his father's namesake was born March 10, 1872, on the ranch that has been his lifelong home. In the supervision of the large property Mrs. Drago has the assistance of her three sons and maintains improvements of a high character, including a large vineyard, a well-kept fruit orchard and a thrifty garden. Formerly she made a specialty of the dairy business, but of more recent years she has given atten- tion largely to the pasturage of sheep and the raising of lambs. Life's twilight finds her still busy and active, retaining full possession of her physical and mental faculties and enjoying the companionship of her children and a com- petency accumulated by years of self-sacrificing effort.
WILLIAM FREDERICK BOWMAN.
On Rural Route No. 3 from Petaluma may be seen the unpretentious but nevertheless thrifty ranch of which Mr. Bowman is the owner and proprietor. Here he is engaged in the dairy business, on a much smaller scale than formerly, but in the care of five cows he finds enough to occupy his time and to maintain himself and wife in comfort.
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A native of the east, W. F. Bowman was born in Boston, Mass., in 1845, and in that city of culture he received an excellent education, attending first the grammar schools and later the high school, from which he was graduated. With the splendid educational preparation which had been granted him he might have filled successfully any position in the commercial world that he had chosen, but he preferred agricultural life and it was to this that he turned his attention as soon as his school days were over. He had followed farming and dairying in the vicinity of Boston for a number of years when, in 1873, he determined to come to the west and locate. Setting sail from an eastern port, he made the voyage by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and without unusual delay or disaster he finally reached his destination, San Francisco. Five years were passed in the metropolis in the milk business before he finally took up his residence in Sonoma county, which he did after selling his business and goodwill in San Francisco for $3,000. Near Petaluma he purchased eighty acres of land upon which he estab- lished himself in the dairy business on a moderate scale, having twenty-five cows, and during the many years in which he continued the business as then started he laid by considerable means and is thereby enabled to live at the present time with less effort to provide for necessities of life than would have been pos- sible otherwise. He has disposed of a large part of his original acreage, now having only twenty-three acres, and caring for only five cows.
Mr. Bowman's first marriage united him with Miss Rebecca Lougheed, a union which resulted in the birth of two children, Charles J. and Rebecca, both of whom are married and have families. The daughter is the wife of Clayton Shader and the mother of five children, George W., William, Clayton, Gertrude and Florence. Some time after the death of his first wife, Mr. Bowman was married, July 3, 1894. to his present wife, who was formerly Mrs. Louise (Miller) Sunderhous. She was born in Basel, Switzerland, in 1855, the daughter of Jacob and Marie Louisa Miller, they too being natives of Switzerland. No children have been born to Mr. Bowman and his wife and they live quietly and alone on the ranch near Petaluma. Their lives, however, are not devoid of ac- tivities, for they are active workers in the Episcopal Church in which they hold membership, and are constantly helping and cheering those with whom they are brought in contact. Mr. Bowman has no inclination to recreation of an active kind, finding sufficient activity in the care of his ranch and in doing for his fellowmen and his community whatever benefit lays in his power. Politically he is a Democrat.
DAVID BOCK.
Coming to California in pioneer days, the late David Bock was for many years intimately associated with the agricultural interests of Sonoma county as an industrious and prosperous rancher. A man of energy and thrift, frugal and prudent, he was in truth the architect of his own fortune, by his persistency and perseverance obtaining a good annual income from his property.
A native of the east, David Bock was born in McKeansburg, Schuylkill county, Pa., in 1822, and died June 28, 1888. He was the son of Andrew Bock, whose father came from Germany and settled in Pennsylvania, and served in the Revolutionary war. David Bock learned the blacksmith's trade, after which he
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followed this until coming to the west in 1852. In April of that year he set out for California on a sailing vessel which made the perilous voyage around Cape Horn, but the vessel was sea-worthy and made the voyage in safety, con- suming nine months. In San Francisco, where the vessel landed her human freight, he remained one year working at his trade. Following this he farmed at San Leandro for one year, and in 1854 he came to Sonoma county and this was his home continuously thereafter until his death. Soon after locating here, in 1854, he selected and purchased the ranch upon which his life was thereafter passed, consisting of three hundred and sixty acres of land near Petaluma. Polit- ically he was a Republican.
The marriage of David Bock, in 1850, united him with Miss Lucy Renn, who was born in Sunbury, Montour county, Pa., in 1828, and who died in 1896. Eight children were born to them, five sons and three daughters, all of whom were born in California except the eldest. Named in the order of their birth they are as follows: Andrew, deceased: Edward H .; George L., deceased ; Walter B., deceased; John P .: Kate M .: Blanche E. and E. Josephine. The eldest daughter, Kate M., became the wife of W. H. Magoon, formerly postmaster at Stony Point, and an instructor in the schools of this county for many years ; he is deceased, and his widow is living at Stony Point. Edward H. married Miss Emma Colyar and has two sons, Lester and Harley. Walter B. chose as his wife Miss Anna Parks, by whom he has three children, Shirley, Charles and Clarence ; the family reside near Goshen, Cal. Since the death of the father John P. Bock and his sisters Blanche E. and E. Josephine have maintained the homestead ranch, property which their father purchased over fifty-six years ago. This now consists of two hundred and thirty-seven acres of land, of which twelve acres are in orchard, the balance of the land in hay and pasture, the latter supplying grazing for the twenty-six cows which comprise the dairy.
A department of the ranch enterprise which is of special interest to the present managers of the ranch is the hennery which forms such a large income from the property, the returns for the year 1909 amounting to $3,000. They have a cherry orchard of ten acres, principally Royal Anns, which they set out eight years ago. This is a splendid variety of cherry and bears bountifully. There are several old cherry trees on the ranch set out years ago by the father, and two of these are probably the largest cherry trees in the county. The ranch is located on the Bloomfield road, one mile west of Roblar station.
JAMES FRANKLIN ELPHICK.
From the age of ten years to the present time Mr. Elphick has been a resi- dent of California, and ever since carly manhood he has followed ranch pursuits, his tastes inclining him to make a specialty of the raising of fruit, in which he has been successful to an unusual degree. The place which he owns and occupies comprises eighty acres of valuable land lying near Penn Grove in the county of Sonoma. For a long period he has devoted his time and attention to the cultivation of the land, specializing with four acres of fruit of the very choicest varieties. Through intelligent care in the selection of his trees and vines and through wise management in the cultivation of the orchard as well as skill in the marketing of products, he has been rewarded with considerable
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financial success as well as a growing reputation in horticultural circles of the county.
Genealogical lore connected with the Elphick family indicates their long residence in the old town of Hastings, England, associated so inseparably with the history of the Norman Conqueror. Thomas Elphick was born at Hastings, October 13, 1821, and received a common-school education in the city where his boyhood years were passed. An early-formed decision to seek a liveli- hood in America led him in 1839 to bid farewell to the friends and environment of his childhood, after which he crossed the ocean to the United States. At the time of his emigration from the old country he was scarcely eighteen years of age and it was not until some time afterward that he established domestic ties through his marriage to Sarah Estherline, who was born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1820. His first employment in the new world was that of mining in Michi- gan, and later he secured work at South Bend, Ind., after which, in the spring of 1858, accompanied by his wife and children, he started across the plains for the west, bringing with him a large band of horses. The trip lasted five months and nineteen days, when the party landed at Woodland, Yolo county, Cal., with a loss of only eight out of the large drove of horses.
During the sojourn of the family in Ohio James Franklin Elphick was born February 28. 1848, and he was ten when he started for the west in a "prairie schooner," meanwhile aiding his father in the care of the horses and in the other work incident to such a tedious trip. Across the chasm of a busy half- century he recalls vividly some of the happenings of that journey, which made an indelible impression upon his mind. One of the amusing though dangerous incidents occurred in a camp one night, when a man was awakened by feeling something pulling at a toe. Hastily investigating the cause he raised the tent and found a black bear had been the intruder. Needless to say that the animal was dispatched in haste.
The other members of the parental family were Filora, Mary J., Sophronia. Amos F. and Thomas. Two children, Clarence and Herbert. were born to the union of Thomas Elphick and Anna Defreaze, while after her demise he married Elizabeth Doerson, by whom he had five children. Roy. Linn, Pearl, Blanche and Sarah Jane. Filora, Mrs. George Whitley, had three children, Harry, Frank and Ora. Mary became the wife of J. W. Morris and had a family of eight children, seven of whom attained mature years, namely : William, Ralph, Ed- win, Eben, Edward, Ida and Isabel. Sophronia married Thomas V. Barney, their union being childless. In 1877 James Franklin Elphick moved from Susan- ville to a farm in Sonoma county, where he still resides. To this place in 1880 he brought his bride, who was born at Petaluma in 1860 and bore the maiden name of Hester C. Blackburn. Five children blessed their union. Oscar, Frank, Mayze, Sidney J. and Lottie.
The father of Mrs. Elphick, Charles Blackburn, like the father of Mr. Elphick, was born in England in 1821 and came to the new world in 1839. Immediately afterward he landed in California, where he lived during his re- maining years, being for a long period an honored resident of Sonoma county. The mother of Mrs. Elphick bore the maiden name of Jemima Richardson and was born in Illinois in 1825, coming to California in girlhood. There were ten children in the Blackburn family, namely: John S .; Charles, who married
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Laura Bennett; Allen, who married Anna Winquist and had two children, Wal- ter and Alma; Frank M., who married Cora Williams; Mary E., who died in infancy; Martha; Mary J .; Hester C., Mrs. Elphick; Emma H., who is unmar- ried ; and Lillie M., who married Harry Parsons and has five children ; Charles, Harry A., Russell, John B. and Gladys. Mary J. Blackburn was first married to George Faith, by whom she had a son, George, and later she was united with Samuel Rudd, their union being blessed with a daughter, Dora. Ever since attaining his majority Mr. Elphick has voted with the Republican party in national elections and has been firm in his allegiance to the principles for which the party stands. The community has in him a patriotic citizen, accommodating neighbor and loyal friend, and his long and honorable identification with the county has brought his name into permanent association with the local advance- inent.
ALEXANDER BENJAMIN.
The life which this sketch depicts began in Lansingburg, Rensselaer county, N. Y., January 16, 1834, and came to a close on his ranch in Sonoma county, Cal., near Santa Rosa, February 16, 1909. Between these dates is encompassed a record of usefulness and industry begun in the middle west and completed more fully in the Golden state.
Contributions from two sturdy nations blended in the subject of this sketch, his father being the son of English parents, while his mother was of Holland- Dutch extraction. Both were natives of New York state, and the early years of their married life were passed in Rensselaer county, N. Y., in the outskirts of Troy, Lansingburg being a suburb of that city. While Illinois was still in its infancy historically, in 1837 the father took his family to that frontier state, settling near New Salem, in Pike county. There he took up a farm and en- gaged in its cultivation for many years, besides which he carried on wagon- making and blacksmithing on the farm. In the meantime the son grew to be a sturdy boy and became a pupil in the public school in New Salem. When he was sixteen years old he started across the plains with his father, in 1852, but the father did not reach liis destination, his death occurring on the plains. After this bereavement the son resumed the journey alone, finally reaching Jackson- ville, Ore., where he spent three years engaged in harness and saddle making. He also engaged in mining with· fair success, after which, in 1856, he returned to his home in Illinois. Purchasing the old home farm of his mother, he con- tinned its cultivation for about two years, when, in 1858, he moved to Rock- port, Pike county, and for the following fifteen years was engaged in the meat packing business and in merchandising.
In 1872 Mr. Benjamin turned his face once more toward the setting sun, this time with California as the favored location. He came to Sonoma county that same year, but it was not until several years later, in 1877, that he selected and purchased the ranch with which so many years of his life were associated thereafter. This consisted of one hundred and three acres of land in Bennett valley, near Santa Rosa, for which he paid $35 an acre. Wheat and corn con- stituted his principal crops, while the raising of sheep and cattle proved equally
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remunerative. Since his death his widow has continued the policy which he had inaugurated, still raising grain extensively, as well as raising a band of sheep.
Before her marriage Mrs. Benjamin was Miss Maria Ducker. She is a native of Missouri, born at Independence Landing, Jackson county, July 15, 1837. Five children were born of this marriage, but of the number only three grew to years of maturity. The eldest of these, William Edward, was born January 25, 1858, in Pike county, Ill .; he is married, and with his wife and two children makes his home with his mother on the homestead ranch, having the care of its management. Eudora Ann was born October 8, 1860, and died at the age of three years. Charles Alexander was born in Illinois October 8, 1862, and died April 24. 1877. On her father's side Mrs. Benjamin is of Eng- lish descent, although he was a native of the south, his birth occurring in Ken- tucky in 1795. He lived to reach a good old age, passing away at the age of ninety-one years in 1885. The mother was a native of Illinois, born in 1800, and upon the birth of the following century she passed away, in 1900. Mrs. Benjamin came with her parents to the west in 1853, coming overland and making settlement in Jacksonville, Ore., and there she was married to Mr. Ben- jamin, September 21, 1854. Her parents ultimately came to California and settled in Sonoma county, near Petaluma, making their home there until 1865, when they moved to Rincon valley, near Santa Rosa, and continued there throughout the remainder of their lives.
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