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 99
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WILLIAM D. AYERS.
A native son of California, William D. Ayers was born at Stony Point, Sonoma county, March 21, 1869, the youngest of the seven children born to his pioneer parents, William and Martha (Wade) Ayers, natives of Ireland and Virginia respectively. A sketch of the former appears elsewhere in this volume.
The primary education of William D. Ayers was begun in Stony Point and continued in Petaluma, whither the family removed when he was eleven years of age. He was about seventeen years old when he entered the employ of the Wells-Fargo Company as a messenger, and for nearly twenty-five years he has continued with the same company. Year by year he was advanced to positions of greater trust and responsibility, and at one time his duties on the road took him as far east as Ogden, Utah, and as far north as Oregon. For a number of years he has been the efficient encumbent of the position of general manager of the company at Petaluma, his long training in the various departments of the company's business fitting him admirably to cope with any problem that might arise. Interests outside of his position with the express company have contrib- uted to his income for some time, one of which is the handling of dairy produce, eggs and poultry, and besides this he has bought and sold considerable real- estate. Considerable of his means has been invested in choice business prop- erty in Petaluma, besides which he owns a fine ranch of seven hundred acres in close proximity to town. From the foregoing enumeration it might be in- ferred that he is so absorbed in his personal affairs that he has no time for mat- ters of public import. This would be unjust, for he is intensely interested in the welfare of his home city and has served as school trustee for many years.
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The marriage of William D. Ayers occurred October 31, 1892, and united him with Miss Ada May Carlisle, who, like himself, was born in California. They have three children, William D., Jr., Mervin W. and Harry W. Mr. Ayers was made a Mason in Petaluma Lodge No. 180, and is a member of Petaluma Chapter No. 32, R. A. M., Mount Olivet Commandery No. 30, K. T., Islamı Temple, N. M. S., of San Francisco, and is also a member of the local lodge of Elks.
W. P. BARNES.
As one of those who has seen this part of California changed from a wild, rugged, uncultivated region to a fair garden spot dotted over by beautiful homes and productive ranches, mention should be made of W. P. Barnes. At the time of his birth his parents were living in Mercer county, Missouri, but when he was a child of three years, in 1850, the parents loaded their house- hold effects in a prairie schooner and started on the overland journey for Cali- fornia behind slow-plodding oxen. The father, Aaron Barnes, had been at- tracted hither by the extravagant stories of wealth in the mines, and conse- quently as soon as the long journey came to an end and he had settled his family in as comfortable quarters as the times and circumstances would per- init, he turned his attention to mining in Oregon gulch, in Butte county. It is reasonable to suppose that he met with more than average success, as he continued mining for about six years in that locality. In 1857 he came to Sonoma county and settled in Green valley, where as a rancher he rounded out a long and successful career, his death occurring in 1900.
As he was only three years old when he came to California W. P. Barnes has never known any other home than this. He followed the fortunes of the family until attaining his majority, working with his father on the home ranch after his school days were over, but at the age of twenty-one he started out independently. On a ranch of one hundred and sixty acres near Fulton which he purchased about that time, 1868, and which is still in his possession, he made his first attempt at ranching independently. This is now a rich, produc- tive piece of property, devoted to the raising of hay and grapes, and also to maintaining a large stock and dairy business. This initial purchase of land has been followed by many others in the course of his long residence in So- noma county, and at different times he has owned large herds of cattle and raised many fine blooded horses. These have since been disposed of, however, as has also the hotel of which he was at one time the proprietor in Cloverdale. At another time he was the proprietor of a grocery and wine store in Fulton, but this has also been sold. Besides the ranch which he owns near Fulton he also owns a forty-acre vineyard in Russian river township, and with these cx- ceptions his holdings are in town property, comprising four brick blocks in Sebastopol and twelve houses in Santa Rosa, all of which are rented and yield the owner a good annual income.
Mr. Barnes was first married in 1866 to Miss Elizabeth Ann Rader, a na- tive of Iowa, and ten children were born to then!, as follows: Carrie E., de- ceased; Lydia, Mrs. William A. Russell; Mary, Mrs. Ed Crone ; Cora, Mrs. A Lanciers : William A., of Santa Rosa ; Perry, a farmer near this city ; Charles,
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also a resident of Santa Rosa; Benjamin, deceased; Jesse, deceased; and Gussy, a rancher near Santa Rosa. Mr. Barnes' second marriage occurred in 1902 and united him with Mrs. Irene Butts, by whom he has one son, Fred erick.
For years Mr. Barnes was connected with the Fulton Wine Company, a corporation which is now controlled by the Asti Colony Company. On two occasions he was a candidate for supervisor from Santa Rosa district, but both times was defeated by the landslide against the Democratic party. For the past twenty years he has been a delegate to state and county conventions. He holds honorary membership in the Santa Rosa Lodge. of F. O. E., of which he is also the oldest member in point of years. He vividly recalls the appearance of Sonoma county at the time the family located here in 1857; it was an un- broken wilderness and many a time did he pass over with herds of cattle what is now the site of the thriving city of Santa Rosa. In those days he drove ox- teams in hauling lumber, and at one time he drove twenty-one yoke of steers in moving a large house. Few residents of this city have traveled over all parts of this state to the extent that Mr. Barnes has in the interest of the enterprises in which he has been engaged from time to time, and few if any are more ready to sound the praises of this city and county than is he.
1.EWIS M. BISH.
The earliest experiences of Mr. Bish are of a care-free life on his father's farm in Scotland county, Mo., where he was born in 1855. He well remembers the journey to Iowa when he was a child of six years, the family then settling in Bloomfield, Davis county, whence three years later they again started west- ward. this time with California as their objective point. The journey was made overland with horses, in three months and twenty-one days, the party consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Bish and Mr. Bish's five sons and two daughters. The mother of these children had died during the infancy of her son Lewis; she was a native of Ohio. The father was a native of Virginia and died in Cali- fornia at the age of eighty-three years.
Although Lewis Bish was about nine years old when he came to California he had had little opportunity for an education, and indeed after coming here the migrations of the family for a time militated against any satisfactory accom- plishments in this line. In 1871, when the family removed to Oregon and re- mained seven years, he had an opportunity for continued study and it is need- less to say that he employed his time to good advantage, the schools of Ashland. Ore., being considered as high class as any in the state. When Mr. Bish re- turned to California in 1879 he came to Santa Rosa and for a time was in the employ of Pleasant Wells, but soon afterward leased the ranch which is now his home, on Rural Route No. 6. Here he has seventy-five acres, all of which is income-producing, a part of the ranch being in hay, corn and fruit, while on the remainder he raises poultry on a large scale for the market. The prosecution of his own private interests does not consume all of his time, however, for as a live, active and interested citizen of his community he has given considerable time and effort toward the development of public improvements. None of these
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have been of more widespread benefit perhaps than the telephone line which he was instrumental in having established through Rincon valley. He has also served efficiently on the school board of his district, and has been an indefatigable worker in the cause of education, as he has in fact in every cause that is of an uplifting and beneficial character.
In 1891 Mr. Bish was united in marriage with Miss Bertha Norris, a native daughter of California, born in Sonoma county in 1874, on a ranch adjoining the one on which she now lives. The eldest of the four children of this mar- riage was Alta Lynn, born in 1892, and educated in the public school of Santa Rosa. Rena Marie, born in 1894, is now (1910) a second-year student in the high school of this place. Lewis M., born in 1898, and Charles M., born Febru- ary 14. 1901, are both students in the public schools. Politically Mr. Bish is a Republican. A very genial, considerate and tactful man, he represents first of all the successful rancher, and in no less degree the citizen of whom any com- munity might be proud.
EMIL E. DREES.
A native of the town towards whose upbuilding he has contributed so much, Emil E. Drees was born in Petaluma April 4, 1864, the son of August H. Drees, who came to California from Germany in 1852 and settled at what has since be- come the thriving town of Petaluma. For a time after locating here the father was engaged in a number of occupations, accepting any labor that offered fair remuneration, and subsequently he became interested in the hotel business, as half owner of the Franklin hotel on Main street. Later he sold this interest and bought a ranch west of town which he maintained for a time, but finally sold it and returning to Petaluma engaged in the produce business until his death in 1882. Besides handling all kinds of country produce, such as poultry and eggs, he also dealt in hides and pelts and game, and up to the time of his death carried on a lucrative business in dealing in these varied commodities.
Emil E. Drees attended the schools of Petaluma with considerable regularity until he was fourteen years of age, when he became his father's assistant in the store, the two working harmoniously together until the death of the father ter- minated the association. An experience of four years in the store had made him familiar with the business, which the death of his parent left to his management, and although he was only eighteen years old at the time, the ability which he then displayed proved beyond question that youth is no bar to success when ability and determination are a part of the make-up. He is still proprietor of the business inaugurated by his father so many years ago, a business that has kept pace with the growth of the town.
Although Mr. Drees has a splendid reputation as a merchant and business man in his home town, he is even better known as the agitator and leader in the movement which has resulted in the good roads and sidewalks which the citizens of Petaluma refer to with such pride, and well they may, for it is conceded that no city in the state can surpass them in these respects. It was during his service of two terms as city trustee, beginning in the year 1892, that his initial efforts were exerted along this line, in the face of much opposition, and during his third term, following the incumbency of a political opponent, he brought
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to fruition the agitation and work of former years. In 1893, on the Democratic ticket, his fellow-citizens honored him further by making him their representative in the state legislature, representing the people of the sixteenth district. At the present time he is a member of the Freeholders board, who have under way the drafting of a new city charter for Petaluma, the old charter no longer filling the needs of a town of its present size.
In 1894 Mr. Drees was united in marriage with Miss Emma Gossage, a native of Petaluma and the daughter of Jerome B. Gossage, an early pioneer of the state, an account of whose life will be found elsewhere in this volume. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Drees, Alvin and Darrele. Fraternally Mr. Drees is associated with a number of orders, among them the Masons, Odd Fellows, Elks and the Yeomen.
HENRY ELPHICK, JR.
One of the young fruit-growers and progressive ranchers in Sonoma county is Henry Elphick, Jr., whose ranch of twenty acres near Sebastopol shows the work of a master hand, for everything about the place denotes that the owner is careful of details, the trees of his orchard showing the best of care, as do also the residence and ranch buildings.
Mr. Elphick takes pride in the fact that he is a native son of the Golden State, and also that he is a son of one of the state's worthy pioneers, Henry Elphick. The latter was a resident of Marin county, Cal., at the time of the birth of his son in 1874, and soon after that event he came to Sonoma county and near Sebastopol, at Pleasant Hill, purchased and settled upon what proved under his care to be one of the most profitable ranches in Sonoma county. Henry Elphick, Jr., was a small child when his parents removed to Sonoma county, and here his life has since been passed in the main, in his boyhood days attending the schools of Sebastopol and later working on the homestead ranch with his father. His first independent business venture was in Santa Cruz, where he was interested in the fruit business for about six years, after which he was in- terested in buying and subdividing land and putting it on the market. This latter business was conducted near Sebastopol, and consisted of buying large tracts of land, which he subdivided, and after improving the property, sold at a good profit. A number of pieces of property were thus handled, but he finally gave up this business and devoted all of his time to ranching on the property on which he now lives, which he purchased in 1906. Here he has twenty-four acres of fruit land, mostly in apples, ten acres in bearing, and ten acres in young trees which he set out himself since taking up his residence here. From the trees in bearing he shipped during the season of 1909 fifteen hundred boxes which brought $2,300, besides ten tons of dried fruit. The ranch is equipped with an excellent drier, and thus he is enabled to dry fruit for other parties not provided with driers, thirty thousand tons being an average year's output from this source alone. Besides his apple orchard, which includes Gravensteins, Belleflowers, Spitzenbergs and Kings, he also has a number of cherry trees that are good producers. As it now stands Mr. Elphick's ranch is without doubt one of the most valuable ranches in Sonoma county, the improvements alone amounting to over $4,000, and when the ten acres of young trees come into bearing it will be
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an exceedingly valuable ranch property, one of which the young owner may well be proud.
In 1900 Mr. Elphick was united in marriage with Miss Birdie Briggs, a native of Santa Cruz. Politically Mr. Elphick is a Republican, and fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias, holding membership in Santa Cruz Lodge. In addition to his valuable ranch property near Sebastopol, Mr. Elphick also owns property in Santa Cruz, Oakland and rich timber land in Sonoma county.
THOMAS BELL MILLER.
In Rhea county, Tenn., Thomas Bell Miller was born December 31, 1826, a son of James P. and Charlotte (Bell) Miller, the former a native of Virginia, who went to Tennessee in his youth, and the latter a native of the state of Tennessee. From 1830 to 1835 the Miller family resided in Alabama and then moved to Arkansas. In 1840 James P. Miller located in Newton county, Mo., and after two years lie returned to Benton county, Ark. In 1846 he enlisted in the Twelfth Regiment of United States Infantry, and served throughout the Mexican war with distinction, as lieutenant of his company. At the close of the war he returned to his family and in 1849, with his two sons, Thomas Bell and Gideon T., set out on the overland journey to California and located at what was afterwards known as Millerstown, near Auburn, Placer county. There he opened a general merchandise store and later went to Marysville, where he lo- cated on the Yuba river and continued his mercantile pursuits until 1850, when he returned to his family with the intention of bringing them to the coast, but his death occurred a short time afterward.
On the arrival of Thomas Bell Miller at Sacramento he proceeded to the mines in Placer county, near Auburn. There he was engaged until the spring of 1850, when he went to Nevada City, Nevada county, Cal. In that city he made quite a strike and became the owner of a very good mine. Leaving there, he went to the middle fork of the Yuba river, and was engaged with thirteen others in digging a large ditch into which they turned the middle fork of the river, thinking to find much gold in the bed thus made dry. The enterprise was a failure as far as finding gold was concerned and Mr. Miller went to Cache creek, Yolo county, abandoned mining operations and, for the winter, farmed at this place. Not satisfied with his location in Yolo county, in the fall of 1851 he came to Sonoma county and engaged in farming near what is now known as Sebastopol. In 1853 he went to Blucher valley, about three miles south of Sebas- topol, and there entered into farming operations. From there he went to Marin county, near Tomales, and remained until 1855. Near Healdsburg, on the Rus- sian river, he first purchased a settler's claim to one hundred and sixty acres of land, taking up his residence upon it, and later was compelled to purchase the claims of the grant holders. There and on the coast he engaged in farming and in stock-raising until 1874. In that year he sold out and came to Santa Rosa and later purchased three hundred and twenty acres of land on Santa Rosa creek in the Hall school district, about five miles west of Santa Rosa. From that date until his death Mr. Miller devoted his time and attention to the cultivation
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and improvement of his farm. Fifty-five acres were devoted to hop cultivation and there were two large hop-curing houses on the place, measuring 80x24, with twenty foot studding, the capacity of these dryers being four tons daily, which was considered very good at that time. A portion of the land was devoted to prunes, peaches, cherries, apples and pears. After his death the land was sub- divided and sold off in small tracts.
On April 17, 1853, Mr. Miller was united in marriage with Mary Ann King, daughter of James and Elizabeth (Hohn) King, natives of Virginia, who resided in Missouri before coming to California in 1850. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Miller there were born the following children: James P., a resident of Russian River : Charlotte E., the wife of E. H. Parnell, and residing near Graton ; Thomas Boone, an extensive hop-grower in Russian River township; Louisa H., the wife of Samuel Walter Purrington: Mary Alice, the wife of Alexander Ragle, of Eldorado county : Irene B., the wife of S. E. Ballard, of San Jose; Josephine, now Mrs. Spencer Grogan, of Santa Rosa; Laura E., widow of Thomas Bar- low, of Sebastopol: Henrietta, the wife of F. Byron Chenoweth, of San Fran- cisco : and Robert L., deceased. Politically Mr. Miller followed Democratic prin- ciples and religiously was a member of the Christian Church. His life was one that was an open book and of him it is said that he sincerely strove to do all the good in the world that he was able to. He died January 26, 1892, and his wife died January 9, 1904. Mrs. Miller was a very active member of the Chris- tian Church of Santa Rosa. She came across the plains with her father and brothers in 1850. They finally located in Marin county, where her marriage occurred.
HENRY E. LAWRENCE.
Although now in his eighty-fourth year Henry E. Lawrence is still as in- terested in the activities of the world at large as he was half a century ago, and he takes personal and intimate interest in affairs in Petaluma, with which he has been identified as a resident since 1875. Of English descent on the paternal side and German-French ancestry on the maternal side, Mr. Lawrence comes of a family long resident in Tennessee, and there too, in Robertson county, he was born January 17, 1828. His grandfather on the paternal side passed the greater part of his life in Tennessee, but when well advanced in years accom- panied his son James to Missouri and passed away in that state when over ninety years of age. James Lawrence settled near Independence, Mo., about the year 1833. and upon the farm upon which he later settled in Cass county he passed away in 1864. when he was sixty-five years of age. Politically he was a Demo- crat, but was not an active worker in the party, giving his energies to the duties of the home and farm, his chief source of income being from large numbers of fine stock which he raised. He was justice of the peace for many years. His marriage united him with Miss Elizabeth Damewood, who was also a native of Tennessee, and at her death, which occurred in Missouri in 1844, she left nine children. She was the daughter of Henry Damewood, of French descent.
Next to the oldest in this large family, Henry E. Lawrence was born in 1828 and was therefore five years old when removal was made to Missouri.
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His educational and agricultural training was acquired in the years which fol- lowed, and it was there too that the news of the finding of gold in California reached him. He was then a young man of twenty-one years, full of activity and eager for an opportunity to put his powers to a test. He found three congenial friends who were as anxious to test the validity of these reports as himself, and as soon as arrangements could be made they began the purchase of ox-teams and wagons and such other equipment in furnishings and supplies of food as the long journey made necessary. Altogether there were thirty-three wagons in the train, known as the Pleasant Hill train, Jim Hamilton being the captain. The entire party reached their destination, Sacramento, after the usual six months of travel, and there they dispersed, many with tears in their eyes, each taking his preferred course. For a time Mr. Lawrence engaged in mining near Mount Shasta, in Shasta county, going from there to Trinity county, and in the fall of 1850 came to Sonoma county, where for one year he worked on the ranch of J. M. Hudsmith. It was during this experience that he noted the scarcity of fine cattle in the west, and coincident with this discovery was the opportunity to form a partnership with Mark York in the importation of cattle to the west. Mr. York remained in California, while Mr. Lawrence returned to Missouri by way of Nicaragua. After securing the desired cattle he returned west, bringing them overland in 1852, and settled on a ranch near Stony Point, Sonoma county. In 1856 he again went east, making this trip also by way of Nicaragua, and in 1857 he made the return voyage across the plains with cattle. The partnership had been dissolved in 1856, and with the cattle which he brought with him Mr. Lawrence stocked a ranch in Marin county. There he was very successful in raising stock for many years, or until 1875. when he leased his ranch of fifteen hundred acres and stock for dairying purposes and removed with his family to Petaluma. In the years that have intervened between that time and the present he has not been idie, but on the other hand has turned his energies to account in a number of directions. Besides buying and selling considerable land on his own account, he has interested himself in every public enterprise inaugurated in the community in which he settled, among them the waterworks, in which he owned stock and was a builder, and directed its affairs until 1900. He was one of the organizers and stockholders and a director of the Exchange Bank and at one time vice-president of the Tomales Bank, in Marin county. He is also deeply interested in educational affairs, and has served efficiently on the school board of Petaluma. His real-estate holdings include considerable town and country property, among which latter was a ranch of three hundred and twenty- five acres near Petaluma which he deeded to his son, J. W. Lawrence.
The first marriage of Henry E. Lawrence occurred in 1860, near Spring- field, Mo., and united him with Keziah Hicklin, their marriage resulting in the birth of three children, as follows: Linnie B., the wife of T. B. Dalton, a rancher of Sunny Slope : Josiah W., a farmer near Petaluma; and Myrtle L., the wife of Lewis Winans, a grocer in Petaluma. Mrs. Keziah Lawrence passed away in 1898 and subsequently Mr. Lawrence married his present wife, who was then Mrs. Millie (Donley) Falkner. Politically Mr. Lawrence is a Democrat, but is not active in party ranks beyond casting his vote and endeavoring to put good, honorable men in office. Although advanced in years Mr. Lawrence is
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