USA > California > History of the State of California and biographical record of Coast Counties, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 56
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1822 removed to Detroit, Mich., where the grandfather applied his trade of blacksmith, and where the grandparents died at the ages re- spectively of eighty-one and eighty-four years. Mark Hudson, the father of Mark A., also learned the trade of blacksmith in his youth, and followed the same before removing to Iowa. In the town of Libertyville, in the latter state, he established a little shop, and had every pros- pect of a promising and successful career. While on a trip to New Orleans he died by drowning at Vicksburg, in December, 1844, at the un- timely age of thirty years. After his death his widow returned to Iowa, where Mark A. and his twin sister were born the following April. The mother was formerly Anna E. Baldwin, a native of England, and who came to the United States when nine years of age. Mrs. Hudson remained in Iowa until 1849, and came to California in 1852 with her second husband, Nehemiah Davis, and five children. They set- tled at Biddle's Bar, Butte county, Cal., and removed to Michigan Bluffs in the spring of 1853. About 1858 they came to Monterey county, where Mrs. Hudson bought a tract of land comprising four hundred acres, upon which she lived until her death in Watsonville at the age of seventy-one years. She was a good busi- ness woman, and managed to invest the large estate left by her husband to good advantage. She bought her land in this county for $10 an acre, and it increased enormously in value un- der improvement. Of the children born to Mark Hudson and his wife, Hon. William George is represented in the following biography; Victoria is the widow of John Burland of Wat- sonville; Jemima is the wife of Robert Burland of this county; the twin of Mark A. Hudson is Ann, the wife of Al White, superintendent of the water-works at Watsonville.
When seven years of age Mark A. Iludson came to California with his mother, and he re- mained at home and attended the public schools until 1865. That year he returned to the east and entered Bryant & Stratton Business College in Detroit. Mich., and upon graduating at the end of three years received a life scholarship. While in Detroit he bought soldiers' land war- rants in 1872, the land being located in Iowa
and Nebraska, which, had Mr. Hudson retained it, would have made him a millionaire. The climate was too cold for his residence in these states, so he sold his land cheap, and the day of his marriage in Windsor, Canada, July 17, 1867, took the train for California, where he became agent for the Pacific Steamship Com- pany at Watsonville, his term of service com- mencing in June, 1868, and continuing up to the present time. Mr. Hudson is the oldest man in the employ of the Steamship Company, and his lengthy service is the best indication of his faithfulness and many-sided ability. With his family he lives on the ten acres owned by the Steamship Company, and which contains the landing place for the steamers, known as Hud- son's Landing. Mr. Hudson is a Republican in political affiliation, and fraternally he is asso- ciated with the Red Men, and Watsonville Lodge No. 110, F. & A. M.
The wife of Mr. Hudson was formerly Emma Firby, a native of Ann Arbor, Mich., and born September 6, 1845. Her parents, Thomas and Elizabeth (Cheesman) Firby, were born in Eng- land, and came to the United States when young, the former being engaged in the soap and furni- ture business with successful results. The par- ents Firby died at the ages respectively of sev- enty-three and forty-one years. To Mr. and Mrs. Hudson have been born four children: Adelaide, the wife of James D. Trafton; Thomas IF., a rancher of this township: Mildred E., wife of Frank Blackburn; and Wallace Mark, who died at the age of three years. Mrs. Hudson is a member of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Hud- son is very popular with all classes in Watson- ville and the surrounding county, and has many friends all over this part of the state. He is rotund and jolly, and his happy optimisin creates an atmosphere in which it is pleasant to dwell.
IION. WILLIAM GEORGE HUDSON.
The reputation created and sustained by Hon. William George Hudson was one of the most admirable of any of the pioneer citizens and ranchers of the Pajaro valley, and his death. November 16, 1901, at the age of sixty-two years and nineteen days, left a void among the
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conservative element of the community. Mr. Hudson appeared upon the horizon of California possibilities in 1852, his family settling for a year at Biswell's Bar, and living between 1853 and 1859 in Michigan Bluff, Placer county. He was born in Michigan in 1838, a son of Mark and Anna E. (Baldwin) Hudson, and grandson of John and Emma Hudson, the grandparents being natives of England, and immigrants to the United States as early as 1816. The father and grandfather were blacksmiths, and the latter died from drowning while on a visit with his wife and children to New Orleans, in December, 1844. His wife was afterward married to Ne- hemiah Davis, with whom she went to Cali- fornia in 1852, and she subsequently became the owner of a large tract of land in the Pajaro valley. She was an excellent business woman, and invested the estate left by her husband to excellent advantage. Five children were born to her through her first marriage, of whom Hon. William George was the oldest. Victoria is the widow of John Burland, of Watsonville; Jemima is the wife of Robert Burland, of this county; and Mark A. and Ann are twins, the latter being the wife of Al White, superintendent of the Water works of Watsonville.
From the time of his majority Hon. William George Hudson made his home in the Pajaro valley, to which he removed with his mother in 1859, and where he bought land amounting to three hundred acres, which is now in the posses- sion of his widow. He was engaged in dairying and grain-raising for the first years of his resi- dence here, and later set out an orchard of twenty acres. In time great responsibilities came his way, induced by his superior business and executive ability. He was a director in the Bank of Watsonville, and of the Watsonville Savings Bank, and he was a director and vice- president of the Pajaro Valley Board of Trade. Ile was also vice-president and a director of the Watsonville Creamery. For many years he was deputy assessor of Pajaro township, but persis- tently refused to accept other office until 1804. when he was nominated for the assembly, served during the session of 1895, and was re-elected by a majority of two hundred and two Republi- can votes two years later, at the same time
Bryan carried the county by two hundred and eighty-five votes.
In 1876 Mr. Hudson was united in marriage with Luella Kittredge, born in Massachusetts October 12, 1849, a daughter of Henry and Mary (Gallier) Kittredge, natives respectively of Massachusetts and Maine. The father died at the age of thirty-five, while the mother came to California in 1867, and settled in Solano county, but at present is living with the widow of Mr. Hudson. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hudson: William George, an at- torney of Watsonville; Thomas Swan, manager of his mother's ranch; Mabel E .; Robert Henry and Frederick Cass. Mabel, Robert and Fred- erick are living at home. Mr. Hudson was one of the conservative and reliable men adapted to the developing conditions of the west, and he left the impress of his strength and ability upon the institutions and people with whom he came in contact. He belonged to Watsonville Lodge NO. 110, F. & A. M .: Temple Chapter No. 41. R. A. M .: Watsonville Commandery No. 22, K. T .; was past master of lodge, past high priest of chapter, and prelate of commandery for a number of years, and at the time of his deathı held the office of generalissimo. In the memory of those who knew and honored him, there is no farmer, politician, or citizen of whom his county had greater need.
HAZEN HOYT.
Much more than passing mention is due the career of Hazen Hoyt, for many years one of the foremost ranchers and orchardists of the Pajaro valley, and substantially identified with its ma- terial and moral growth. The death of this honored pioneer, July 9, 1902, called forth in- numerable expressions of regret from those who had come to regard him as an integral part of the community, and hosts of friends gathered to pay a tribute of respect to one whose character and attainments were worthy of admiration and emulation.
Like so many who have received their most emphatic impetus among the conditions of the new west, Mr. Hoyt was reared on a farm, and his youth was filled with struggle and depriva-
SAMUEL MORELAND
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
tion. His birth occurred on the farm in Bolton, Canada, February 10, 1831, a son of Amherst and Sallie (Chapman) Hoyt, natives of Massa- chusetts, the former born July 12, 1789, and died November 16, 1842; while the lat- ter was born August 30, 1793, and died November 16, 1851. On both sides of the fam- ily the ancestry is English. Eventually the par- ents removed from their Canadian home to Fremont county, Iowa, and Hazen remained under the paternal roof until 1852, in which year he crossed the plains and experimented for a time with mining in Placerville. His next ven- ture was the purchase of a farm of six hundred acres near Vacaville, Solano county, Cal., upon which he lived until disposing of his property in 1881. For the following two years he engaged with moderate success in the real-estate business in San Francisco, and in the spring of 1883 bought his present home of seventy-five acres in the Pajaro valley. Originally devoted exclu- sively to grain, this ranch was later planted in apples, four thousand trees being placed on forty acres of ground, the chief varieties being bell-flowers and Newton pippins.
Mrs. Hoyt was formerly Phebe Root, a native of La Porte county, Ind., a daughter of Josiah and Nancy (Green) Root, natives of Connecti- cut, and married in New York. The Root fam- ily crossed the plains about 1853 and settled in Sonoma county, where the father died at the age of seventy-two, and the mother at the age of fifty years. Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt were the parents of eight children, the order of their birth being as follows: Asahel, a rancher and manu- facturer: Ernest, who is in the employ of his brother Asahel; Esther, who became the wife of C. W. Clough, of Watsonville; Wallace, a ranch- er near Castroville: Chester, who manages the home place and his own ranch in this county; Corell, living at home; Claude, in the news- paper business in Watsonville; and an infant who is deceased. Mr. Hoyt was a stanch be- liever in Republican principles, although he could in no sense be called a politician, although he served for eight years as public adminis- trator. As are his family, he was a member and active worker in the Christian Church, of which he was an elder and liberal contributor. Mr.
Hoyt was a generous and liberal-hearted man, and many unostentatious kindnesses are attrib- uted to him. He was very successful from a material standpoint. and his personal attributes were in accord with sterling western citizenship.
SAMUEL MORELAND.
This pioneer of the Pajaro valley was born in county Donegal, Ireland, and was a son of Sam- utel and Mary (Patton) Moreland. When twelve years of age he accompanied his parents to the United States and settled near Saginaw, Mich., where they spent their remaining years. At an early age he began to earn his own livelihood, his first effort in that direction being as an em- ploye in a saw mill. In time he became an ex- pert engineer and secured steady employment at fair wages. Having thus accumulated a neat little sum, he decided to come to California and purchase property in the state of whose attrac- tions he had so often heard. Crossing the plains in 1857, he came to Monterey county and bought oi Atherton and Spring one hundred and eighty and three-fourths acres in the beautiful Pajaro valley, three miles from Watsonville. The fact that the land was unimproved did not discourage him. With an ambitious spirit and cheerful faith in the future he began to work and after years of untiring application brought the land under a high state of cultivation. A neat set of farm buildings added to the value of the ranch, while the large crops of grain and vegetables raised each year offered abundant testimony to his skill as an agriculturist and his industry as a man. To some extent he also engaged in cattle raising, although this occupation was supple- mentary to general farming. Had his life been spared to old age, undoubtedly he would have become one of the wealthiest men in the rich and fertile Pajaro valley: but he died in 1875. when he was forty-one years and six months of age, just at a time when he was ready to sce the fruition of his high hopes. However, the land left by him to his widow has increased in value to such an extent that his estate has since become one of the most important for miles around, and furnishes constant evidence of his
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
keen foresight and wise judgment in making the investment.
The marriage of Mr. Moreland, in 1866, united him with Margaret S. Loftus, who was born in county Clare, Ireland, being a daughter of Patrick and Kittie (Flannery) Loftus, repre- sentatives of very prominent families of the county. After her mother's death, the father brought the family to Hartford, Conn., and there his death occurred. When a young lady, Miss Loftus learned of the beautiful climate of Cali- fornia and having friends in Santa Cruz decided to join them. Shortly after her arrival she met Mr. Moreland, whom she later married. Three children were born of their union, but two died in infancy and the third, Mary Josephine, when nineteen years of age. The latter was a young lady of great promise and talent, being an ex- cellent artist, a fluent writer and possessing poetic gifts. When sixteen she began to write poetry and some of her poems have since been published by her mother, in a souvenir edition. for presentation to friends. Her education was gained principally in Notre Dame College of San José, and it was during her attendance there that she was taken ill with measles and soon passed away.
The home of Mrs. Moreland is at No. 323 Rodriguez street, Watsonville. In 1899 she superintended the construction of a handsome building, costing $27,400, which she erected as a memorial to her husband. It had been her hope that her daughter might be spared to take charge of the school and promote its success for years to come. but this hope was doomed to disappointment. The school is known as the Moreland Notre Dame Academy and offers special inducements to parents desiring their children to receive a thorough classical, scien- tific and commercial education. Special atten- tion is given to moral training, refined manners and physical comfort. The building is equipped with the best heating and ventilating apparatus, as well as other modern improvements. Rates are very reasonable, thus affording people in moderate circumstances an opportunity to cdu- «ate their children which otherwise would be denied them. The school is a branch of the pioneer College of Notre Dame, San José.
Without doubt it will achieve a success in the future worthy of the high aims of its founder. Under the supervision of the Mother Superior the children are carefully and wisely trained for the responsibilities of life. In the building there are accommodations for twenty-five boarders, in addition to which many children from the neighborhood attend as day pupils, thus neces- sitating the employment of a corps of proficient teachers, each of whom is thoroughly prepared to teach her special branch. Surrounding the stately building there are beautiful and well- kept grounds, whose attractions are enhanced by the many varieties of flowers. All in all. the high training given and the attractive appear- ance of the school justify the citizens of Watson- ville in maintaining a keen pride in this rising institution.
F. K. HOUGHTON.
Preceded by years of experience as a practical rancher, F. K. Houghton assumed control of the Park Hotel, San Miguel, July 14, 1902, his new venture being heralded with many predic- tions of success by those who were familiar with the personal characteristics of the new incum- bent. So far his expectations have been real- ized to a gratifying extent, and his town and the traveling public are doubtless the gainers by the change of occupation. A native of this state, Mr. Houghton was born March 29, 1858, and was educated for the greater part in San Francisco. His father, Samuel, a native of Virginia, was an extensive stock raiser in his native state, and after removing to the vicinity of Albany, Ore., in 1865, operated the first ferry boat across the river. Owing to the trying cli- mate he came to San Francisco, where he en- gaged in extensive stock-buying operations, and in 1874 located in San Miguel, where he bought a large tract of land. where he had on hand about ten thousand sheep and from one hundred to two hundred cattle. He lived to be seventy-six years of age, and died in 1807. His wife, for- merly Caroline Elizabeth Jenks, was born in England, and came to America with her parents when very young. She is the mother of six children, of whom F. K. is second.
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
From earliest boyhood F. K. Houghton was associated with stock affairs, and as he grew to maturity became of great assistance to his father. Upon the paternal ranch a specialty was made of draft horses, and large numbers were reared every year, besides various kinds of stock. In fact, Mr. Houghton has been a stock man all his life, prior to engaging in the hotel business. His ranch of two hundred and forty acres in Monterey county is devoted to hay and grain, and is well improved and productive. Mr. Houghton is a Democrat in political affiliation, but aside from the formality of casting his vote has attended strictly to his stock-raising and hotel business.
Through his marriage with Annie Kitchen, Mr. Houghton became allied with another family long associated with California, George Kitchen, the father of Mrs. Houghton, having crossed the plains with ox-teams in the days of gold, and located near Paso Robles, where he had large farming interests. His death occurred in Gon- zales, Cal. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Houghton: Pearl, Charles, Nellie and William.
J. J. HANDLEY.
During his active career in Santa Cruz county, J. J. Handley was known as a conscientious citi- zen and practical, enterprising farmer. A native of New York state, he was born in 1856, and was but eight years of age when his parents brought him to this county. He was reared to agricultural pursuits, and received a fair educa- tion in the public schools, after which he worked on several farms in the neighborhood of his father's home. In 1881 he became enrolled among the land owners of the county through his purchase of one hundred and twenty acres of land, upon which his wife now lives, and upon which he lived until his removal to San Francisco in 1900. He did not long remain in the northern city, for his death occurred Sep- tember 7, 1900. He was a stanch upholder of Democratic issues and principles, and held va- rious local offices, among them being that of trustee for many years. His name was a well- known one, and in his life he maintained the im-
pression of success established by his father, John Handley, who worked in the first tannery in Santa Cruz county.
Mr. and Mrs. Handley were the parents of six children, viz .: Josephine, Sarah, Edward, Wil- liam, Margaret and Ellen. Mrs. Handley, whose marriage occurred in Santa Cruz, July 31, 1870, was born in Ireland, and is Catherine, daughter of Patrick and Bridget (Diela) Dolen. Mrs. Handley has a pleasant home on the farm and is engaged in general farming and stock raising.
N. H. HAIGHT, M. D.
Though a comparatively new comer to Pa- cific Grove, Dr. Haight has already made his professional ability and general worth felt in the community, and is meeting with the success due so conscientious and painstaking an exponent of medical science. A native of Washtenaw county, Mich., he was born December 7, 1864, a son of Ira C. and Alzora E. (Greene) Haight, the latter of whom is still living with her chil- dren at Redlands.
Ira C. Haight was born in Steuben county, N. Y., and in his early life was a teacher by pro- fession. When comparatively young he came west to Illinois and Michigan, and in the border ruffian times was identified with such men as Jim Love and John Brown. He subsequently turned his attention to the mercantile business, in which he was engaged for the greater part of his life, although he was an extensive grower of oranges in Florida. In 1875 he came to Cali- fornia and bought a ranch which was then prai- rie, but which is now Brockton Square, one of the finest residence parts of Riverside. For many years he engaged in the cultivation of citrus fruits, and in 1888 moved to Redlands, and became active in the upbuilding of that town. He was postmaster of Redlands during Benjamin Harrison's administration, and was president of the Haight Fruit Company, of which his son, L. G., was manager. He died in the city for whose interest he had so zealously labored in 1807, at the age of sixty-seven years.
Dr. Haight was one in a family of four chil- dren, and was nine years of age when the fam- ily fortunes were shifted to California. He was
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
educated in the public schools, and studied med- icine in Riverside with Drs. Ways and Sherman, eventually entering the Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago, from which he was gradu- ated in the class of 1890. For the following eighteen months he was resident physician at the college hospital, and then located in Red- lands, in partnership with Dr. Hill for a year, and for two years practiced in Oakland. After removing to Sacramento, an arduous practice re- stilted in impaired health, and, in search of rest and recreation, he came to Pacific Grove in February of 1898. So impressed was he with the climatic and general advantages that he de- cided to make this his permanent home, and his subsequent recognition in both Monterey and Pacific Grove has more than justified his deci- sion.
In 1891 Dr. Haight married Sarah Van Siclin, who was head nurse in Hahnemann Hospital, Chicago, and whose term of service expired on the same day as the doctor's, which was also their wedding day. A Republican in politics, Dr. Haight has never sought or accepted official responsibility, evidenced particularly while liv- ing in Sacramento, when he refused to honor his appointment to the board of health. While liv- ing in Oakland he delivered a course of lectures before the nurses of the training department of Fabiola Hospital.
PATRICK JORDAN.
The oldest and most successful merchant now in business in Castroville is also one of the town's influential and prominent citizens, and for years has been identified with its substantial growth. A Californian by adoption, he was born near Quebec, Canada, November 14, 1842, upon the farm of three hundred acres owned and oc- cupied by his parents, James and Catherine (Bulger) Jordan. The father went to Canada from Ireland in 1832, married, cleared his farm, and prospered, and lived to be eighty-two years of age. His wife, who died at the age of forty- five, was the mother of twelve children, one of whom died in infancy. The children were, Mi- chacl, a resident of San Francisco; Patrick; Margaret, living in Canada; Mary; Moses, a
rancher in Monterey county; John; Catherine, the wife of Walter Gray, of San Francisco; James, the owner of the old homestead in Can- ada; Sarah; Bridget; and Anna, deceased at the ¿ ge of sixteen.
Patrick Jordan lived in Canada until his re- moval to California in 1869, during which year he found employment on a Santa Clara county ranch, remaining there for three years. His association with Castroville was inaugurated in 1873, when he embarked in the mercantile busi- ness on a small scale, but was soon able to in- crease his business to meet the growing demand for his commodities. He sustained a severe loss in 1890 through the burning of his store, but a larger and more modern edifice was soon erected in its place, the dimensions thereof being 25x60 feet. The store is well stocked with mer- chandise in demand by a cosmopolitan popula- tion, and a large share of the success of the enterprise is directly traccable to the genial man- ner, tact, obligingness and progressiveness of the enterprising owner.
The interests of Mr. Jordan have been by no means confined to his mercantile business. He is a stockholder and director in the First Na- tional Bank of Salinas, and one of the organizers of the co-operative creamery, of which he has been treasurer since its start in 1897. He is the possessor of one hundred acres of ranch land adjoining the village of Castroville, and has other property in the town. He has served for four years as county supervisor, and has ren- dered efficient work as a member of the school board. The marriage of Mr. Jordan and Jane Whalen, a native of West Canada, occurred in 1873. Of this union there is one son, James P.
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