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 59
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Owing to the number of mouths to be fed in the Nelson family, it fell to the lot of the chil- dren to assist in the general support, and it thuis happened that Henry, like the rest, had little chance of acquiring an education. He came to the United States in 1868, settling in Boone county, lowa, where he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land, and engaged in general farming and stock raising. Not entirely satis- fied with the prospects in Iowa, Mr. Nelson wisely concluded to come to the coast, and it is safe to surmise that he has never regretted this determination. With him from Sweden Mr. Nelson brought his wife, who was formerly Jo- hanna, of Sweden, a daughter of John Olson, a noinnfacturer of charcoal in Sweden, in which country his death occurred. Three daughters
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and two sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Nelson: Tilda, wife of W. A. Wilmer, living in Sạn Miguel, Cal .: Emma, wife of Victor Ander- son, a farmer near Paso Robles; Hilma, at home; Andrew Edward, living in Washington; and Martin, who is with his parents. Mr. Nel- son is a member of the Lutheran Church, and in politics is a Republican.
ROBERT J. HAZARD.
In the fall of 1877 Mr. Hazard bought two claims of one hundred and sixty acres each, of government land, situated on Old creek, San Luis Obispo county. At a later date he added to the property until he acquired four hundred and eighty acres, the extent of his present pos- sessions. Immediately after settling upon the farm he established a dairy, which he has since conducted, finding the business a profitable ad- dition to general farming. In addition, he has devoted attention to the culture of a vineyard, in which he has planted twenty acres and from which he makes large shipments of grapes to the market. Another valuable adjunct of his farm is the orchard of apricots, peaches and Englishı walnuts. The property lies six miles from Cay- ucos, which is the postoffice address of the owner.
A pioneer of 1850 in California, Mr. Hazard was born in Greenwich, R. I., in 1826, being a son of Thomas T. and Esther L. (Tillinghast) Hazard. His father was for years one the lead- ing public men of Rhode Island, where his entire life was passed. His claim to recognition was not based solely upon his service in the war of 1812. Many other things contributed to his popularity. In the Democratic party he was a power in his state, and for eighteen years he served as a member of the state senate, elected on the Democratic ticket. The first Jeffersonian Club ever organized in Rhode Island was the result of his influence and efforts. One of his brothers, Jeffery, was lieutenant-governor of Rhode Island. The Hazard family is of Eng- lish and Scotch descent and has been identified with Rhode Island from the first of its history, the original emigrants having come with Roger Williams, being driven out from Plymouth col-
ony on account of their religion. The Tillinghast family came to this country from England, and Mr. Hazard's grandfather, Thomas Tillinghast, a native of England, held a colonel's commission during the Revolutionary war, and was said to be the best recruiting officer in the colonial army.
At the age of sixteen Mr. Hazard went to Narragansett Pier and from 1842 to 1850 he re- mained in New York City, leaving there in January of the last-named year, en route for California, via the Isthmus of Panama to San Francisco. His first work was as a miner in Tuol- umne county, and at intervals during the next fifteen years he followed mining. In 1853 he went to Victoria, Australia, and engaged in min- ing for gold there and in New South Wales for nine months. Next he visited Peru and crossed the Andes to the Amazon river, but did not find the rich mines he sought. Returning to Cali- fornia, he mined in Eldorado and other counties. The fall of 1867 found him in San Luis Obispo county, where he began farm operations in Green valley. A year after his arrival he located a mill above Cayucos and started the first dairy at this place. Under the firm name of Hazard Brothers, a large dairy business was built up, and shipments of butter were made in barrels via schooner to San Francisco and other markets. From the Green valley Mr. Hazard removed to the Osos valley, where he engaged in stock- raising, and from the latter valley he came to his present location in Old Creek Central dis- trict.
Since coming to San Luis Obispo county it has been Mr. Hazard's aim to contribute his quota to the development of local resources and to aid in the public welfare. While he has no inclination toward public life or official service, yet he keeps posted concerning national ques- tions. In local matters, where the character of the man is more important than his opinions on tariff, expansion, the silver standard, etc., he votes independently. For many years he was a director in the Central school district, and he has assisted in building schools in five different clistricts. Fraternally he is a member of Cayu- cos Lodge No. 300, I. O. O. F. In 1856 he married Miss Elizabeth Frye, a native of Ger-
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many. They have five children, namely: Mary L., Mrs. R. Swain; Thomas T .; Robert D., who remains on the homestead; John, who lives in Grass valley; and Elizabeth M., Mrs. Kestel.
HERBERT NELSON.
With his partner, R. G. Flint, of San Miguel, Mr. Nelson is engaged in the largest meat and general cattle business for miles around. He lias been a resident of Paso Robles since 1898, and is one of the town's most thrifty citizens. His youth was spent in Grafton county, N. H., where he was born March 31, 1852, a son of Nathan and Mary (Paddleford) Nelson, natives of New Hampshire, the former born in 1812. The family was established in New Hampshire by the paternal great-grandfather, Robert Nel- son, who was born in Shannon, Scotland, and came to the United States with his parents when four years of age, settling in Grafton county, N. H. The grandfather, Robert, was a native of the same state, and both grandfather and great- grandfather lived to advanced ages, the latter attaining to ninety-two years. The old home- stead reverted eventually to Nathan Nelson, who farmed and raised stock on the four hun- dred acres, and died in the midst of considerable success and prosperity. On the maternal side Herbert Nelson is identified with another old New Hampshire family, in fact one of the old- est families in the state. Philip Paddleford, the father of Mrs. Nelson, was a farmer and stock- raiser, who justly cherished a pride of birth re- sulting from his Puritan ancestry. Of the six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Nelson all at- tained maturity.
Herbert Nelson was the third in a family con- sisting of the two daughters and four sons, and in his youth had but scant educational opportu- nities. Nevertheless, later application has rem- edied the carlier deficiencies in schooling. At the age of seventeen he became an employe of the MeIndoe Lumber Company, at McIndoe Falls, Vt., and so apt was he at comprehending the intricacies of the business that his rapid promotion was a foregone conclusion. During the latter part of the four years' service with the lumber company he was engaged in super-
intending the loading of the cars, and he laid out additional yards for the company at Mount Tom, Mass.
Arriving in California, Mr. Nelson settled in San Francisco, and as a preliminary to better things drove a milk wagon for what is now the Guadaloupe Dairy, and at the end of eighteen months was able to buy a half interest in the grocery and meat business of Sommers & Co., which was then managed under the firm name of Dickson & Nelson. After eight or nine years in that business, Mr. Nelson sold out and re- moved to Monterey county, where he bought three hundred and twenty acres of land, of which he still owns one hundred and sixty acres. His land has been greatly improved, equipped with modern appliances, and has proved profitable and fertile. Two houses have been erected thereon, as well as large barns and convenient outhouses. In 1893 Mr. Nelson came to San Miguel and ran a stage from there to Cholame, a distance of thirty-three miles, continuing the same for a period of four years. The year 1898 found him permanently located in Paso Robles, where he has since engaged in a retail and wholesale meat business with Mr. Flint, he, however, being the general manager. Many things have come their way to stimulate nnusu- ally successful trade, among others being the re- construction of the coast line of the Southern Pacific Railroad, when they furnished meats to all the workmen. They ship to nearly all the small towns in the vicinity, and have a slaught- ering house of their own, which is strictly mod- ern. Incidentally Mr. Nelson engages in buying and selling stock outside of general business, and has thus added to his annual income. The firm have the only butchering business in the town, and are able to maintain two shops here.
The pleasant home purchased by Mr. Nelson on Oak street is presided over by Mrs. Lizzie Nelson, who was formerly Lizzie Pippy, a native of San Francisco and daughter of Harry Pippy, for many years captain on the high seas. Mr. Pippy was born in Nova Scotia and eventually retired to San Francisco, where his death oc- curred. He was a warm friend of Captains Howe and Williston. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Nelson, Mary and Alice, both
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of whom are living with their parents. Mr. Nelson is a Republican in political affiliation, and has served the community as city trustee for one term of four years.
JOSEPH K. OLIVER.
Conchology, the study of shells, for which California offers such exceptional opportunities, has a most enthusiastic and practical advocate in Joseph K. Oliver, probably the most expert in his line in the west. At first looked upon as little more than ornamental objects, shells were studied without reference to the animals of which they formed the framework or skeleton. but with the rise of geology and the dicovery that of all fossils shells are able to furnish the most definite information regarding the several strata, and consequently the history of bygone times, the shell and its occupant were viewed from an entirely different standpoint, and re- garded as a composite whole. Reduced thus to a science, conchology commands the attention of scientific minds of the very highest order, who determine within certain bounds whether a stratum is the remains of a land surface, a fresh water deposit, or the bed of a sea, as well as other calculi of equal value in the realms of knowledge.
Years of practical experience as an educator and student preceded the present important role of Mr. Oliver as a contributor of valuable scien- tific facts, duly recognized in the leading jour- nals of the country. He was born in Juniata county, Pa., in 1863, a son of B. F. and M. Oliver, and lived in his native county until 1881. His student life must have been characterized by strenuous activity, for he not only qualified as a teacher along general lines, but while yet in his teens had a sufficient knowledge of art to make his services as an instructor in ready de- mand. In Nebraska he taught one year in the Dodge county public schools, and for the follow- ing three years was an instructor in art, penman- ship and business forms in the Western Normal College. In 1884 he became associated with the art department of the Kansas Normal College at Fort Scott, and for nine years was head of what was the largest department of the kind in
the central states. During this period he added to his knowledge of art by studying a couple of years in Germany and Italy, attending also the Paris Exposition of 1889. In 1891 he was elected associate principal of the academical de- partment of the University of the Pacific at Pa- cific Grove, of which his brother was president, and remained in that capacity for three years.
Mr. Oliver became permanently interested in conchology in 1894. during which year he came to Monterey, and has since conducted his in- vestigations from this city. In 1898, in partner- ship with his brother, J. H. Oliver, he estab- lished the Los Angeles Curio and Shell Novelty Company, with headquarters on East Second street, Los Angeles, where are carried for re- tail and wholesale trade all manner of shell goods, moss and flower books, and innumerable objects of interest possible only in like surround- ings. The firm are the largest dealers in abo- lone shells and sea urchins in the world, their an- nual sales amounting to forty-five thousand ur- chins and fifty tons of shells. They are now preparing to fill a contract for twenty-five tons of the shells in six months. In addition, Mr. Oliver has the most complete line of curios, shells and Indian relics on the coast, and is sur- prisingly conversant with their respective merits and historical and scientific value.
In 1890, in Fort Scott, Kan., Mr. Oliver mar- ried Annie Bishop, a former pupil, and of this union there is one son, Myron Angelo, now ten years of age. Mr. Oliver has by no means confined his activities to his chosen occupation. Lut has entered enthusiastically into all efforts at general improvement of the town, particularly as regards educational and intellectual advance- ment. For many years he has been a member of the school board, and is ex-president thereof, and he was prominently connected with the organization of the Progressive Association. of which he is now president. Fraternally he is connected with the Pacific Grove Lodge. F. & .A. M., and he is chief ranger of the Independ- ent Order of Foresters. As a member of the Presbyterian Church Mr. Oliver has been secre- tary of the local board and superintendent of the Sunday school, which he has built up from an attendance of twelve to that of over a hun-
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dred. Step by step, aided solely by his own ability and resourcefulness, he has risen to an enviable position among the scientists of the country and the citizens of the west.
J. A. PATTEN.
The name of J. A. Patten, one of the promi- ilent merchants of San Luis Obispo, is asso- ciated with the labor organization known as the Industrial Commercial Union. Following close upon the failure of the Farmers' Grange, Mr. Patten, whose broad socialistic tendencies rec- ognized an opening for the betterment of labor conditions, organized in 1896 the above-men- tioned society of mutual help, which has stores in different parts of the state, and is fast going beyond the boundaries of the most sanguine expectations of its originator. According to the plan thought out by Mr. Patten anyone, how- ever meagre his resources, can become a stock- holder in the society by investing as low as $10, and by so doing can get his goods at as reason- able a figure as can the man who has a thousand dollars' worth of stock. This enables purchasers to lay in a stock of necessities and general goods at the lowest possible figure consistent with reasonable profit, and the success of the under- taking, in the face of the opposition necessarily encountered from regular dealers, argues that it is not only a possibility, but a permanent benefit.
The Patten family were early settiers in New York state and Illinois, and in the latter state James Patten, the father of J. A., at one time . owned ten acres of land in the heart of Chicago. He was an enterprising stockman and farmer, and served all through the Civil war as a veter- inary surgeon. On the maternal side Mr. Patten claims French descent, his mother, formerly Miss Coyea, belonging to a family who were great traders along the Mississippi river. J. A. Patten was born in Cherry Valley, Ill., in 1859. and spent his youth in Illinois, Wisconsin and lowa, in which states he attended the public schools and picked up a great deal of practical information. When quite young he learned to be a telegrapher in Chicago, and at the age of sixteen had qualified to fight his own battles.
For a time he engaged as shipping clerk with the wholesale rubber house of E. B. Preston & Co., and later went to Dakota, where he en- gaged in the grain business. Owing to some- what impaired health Mr. Patten resolved to come to California in 1888, and after settling in this town became bookkeeper for Thomas Pat- terson. He was later deputy treasurer of San Luis Obispo county, and afterwards kept books for Crocker Brothers. Since organizing the In- dustrial Commercial Union Mr. Patten has superintended the store of the union in San Luis Obispo. This work takes up the greater part of liis time, and his common sense business ideas are incorporated into every department of the vast enterprise.
In South Dakota Mr. Patten married Dora M. Terrill, who was born in Wisconsin, and whose father and brothers served the Union cause during the Civil war, the former in the capacity of commissioned officer. The uncle of Mrs. Patten, Edwin Terrill, has been county treasurer of Waupaca county, Wis., for over thirty years. To Mr. and Mrs. Patten has been born one son, Lloyd H.
WILLIAM O'BRIEN.
. In the business which he conducts, that of dealer in granite and marble. Mr. O'Brien was the pioneer at Watsonville, to which city he came in 1895. During the years that have since elapsed he has established a large trade, ex- tending a distance of four hundred miles through the surrounding country. His special- ties are Italian and Vermont marble and Ver- mont granite, while he also is building up a con- siderable trade in California granite. Among the most important contracts he has had may be mentioned those for the monument of C. P. Nance at Salinas, the vaults of J. Rogers, William Lund and Peter Cox, besides many equally fine, but smaller. Another market for his marble and granite is in use for substantial business blocks. An example of this is to be seen in the Ford block, with its front of marble. Ile is the owner of considerable property, in- cluding a beautiful residence on the corner of Fourth and Marchant streets, Watsonville.
Toco & bull
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Elmira, N. Y., is Mr. O'Brien's native town, and October 11, 1869, the date of his birth. His father, John O'Brien, a native of Ireland, came to the United States in his boyhood and settled in Elmira, where he learned the trade of marble and granite cutting and polishing. Later he bought out the men who had employed him, and ever since then has conducted business in the same line, occupying the same yards where he gained his primary knowledge of the busi- ness. It was under the supervision of this capa- ble and efficient workman that his son, William, learned the business, and not a little of his suc- cess may be attributed to the fact that his knowl- edge of the trade is thorough and accurate. At the age of twenty he began to work as a jour- neyman and continued in the east until 1895, when he settled in Watsonville. His life here has been pleasant and prosperous, its only sor- row having been the loss of his wife, nee Georgia Brown, who was born in Penn Yan, N. Y., and died at Watsonville in 1901, when only twenty-nine years of age. Her body was taken back to New York and interred in the cemetery near her former home. Three chil- dren survive her, Ethel, Mabel and William.
GEORGE W. LULL.
The name of Mr. Lull is inseparably inter- woven with the history of the village of Cambria, as well as the larger possibilities of San Luis Obispo county. He was of eastern birth, the descendant of a colonial family of New England, and was born on the family homestead in New Hampshire May 28, 1830. At the time of the discovery of gold in California, he was just en- tering manhood, and was eager, ambitious and fearless. With a desire to see more of the world than was possible in his own home neigh- borhood, he made the long trip to the coast, and was so pleased with the opportunities offered by the west that in 1857 he settled in the state. Associated with G. E. Grant, of Oakland, he embarked in the stock business at Mission del Lorros. During the early part of the '6os he came to Cambria. Together with Mr. Grant, he engaged in the stock business on San Sim- eon creek. For a time all went well, but a dry
season destroyed the labor of the preceding years and caused a heavy loss of stock. Not long after the Civil war closed, he and Mr. Grant built a store on San Simeon creek and later put up a store in Cambria, which was the first building ever erected in this village. It will thus be seen that he is entitled to the title of pioneer. The county itself was very sparsely populated at that time. The nearest neighbor was often miles distant. Under these circum- stances he set himself to work to aid in promot- ing the growth of Cambria and the progress of the county. In a short time he dissolved his partnership with Mr. Grant, becoming the sole owner of the business.
After the fire in Cambria, the firm of Lull, Guthrie & Co. was organized and at a later date Mr. Minor was admitted into the partnership, without, however, making any change in the firm name. Scarcely a movement was projected for the benefit of the village or outlying country which failed to receive the warm sympathy and active support of Mr. Lull. His name was at the head of every enterprise. His counsel was given to those who sought the benefit of his wide experience. His ability as a financier was used not only for his personal benefit, but also to enhance the prosperity of his home town. Large herds of stock and large holdings of land gradually came into his possession, as a result of his wise judgment in investments and in the carrying forward of important enterprises. While Cambria was still known as Santa Rosa he was appointed postmaster, being the first to occupy the office. He always took a warm in- terest in Masonry and during his last years was a member of San Simeon Lodge No. 196, F. & A. M.
A useful life covering nearly sixty-nine years was brought to a close April 16, 1899, when Mr. Lull died in San Francisco. His body was interred in Cypress Lawn cemetery in San Mateo county, the funeral being conducted with Masonic honors. He was twice married. His first wife who was Miss Golf, a native of Lynn, Mass., died in early womanhood, leaving one daughter, Lizzie, now Mrs. Avery. of Lynn. In 1863 Mr. Lull was united in marriage with Mrs. Mary L. Inman, who survives him, and has
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charge of the various interests they had ac- quired. To her first marriage were born two daughters, one of whom is the wife of R. A. Minor, while the other married W. N. Water- man. A grandson of Mr. Lull, George Howe, was a member of the Third Artillery, serving in the Philippine Islands, where he died May 27, 1000. His remains were brought to the United States and conveyed to Lynn, Mass .. for inter- ment. . An adopted grandson, George S. Lull, has also seen active service in the Philippines, where he made an excellent record as a member of Company K, First California Regiment. Since his honorable discharge from the army and his return to the United States he has taken up the study of law, with the intention of making it his life work. He was a student of Stanford Uni- versity for two years before going to the Phil- ippines.
In summing up the history of Mr. Lull, it may be said that he was one of the best-known pioneers of San Luis Obispo county. He had reason to regard this county with special affec- tion, for his ample means were almost wholly acquired here. When he came to California he had but twenty-five cents with which to face the future in a strange country, among strangers. His large estate represented his unaided efforts after coming west, and proves what it is possible for a man to accomplish here who possesses en- durance, patience, foresight, energy and a calm and wise judgment.
JOHN W. PATTON.
The keen and far-seeing judgment which led Mr. Patton to cast in his destiny with that of the far west in the early and untried days of adven- ture also led him to make investments in prop- erty, large tracts of which he purchased in the days when prices of realty were low. By this course of action he became one of the extensive land owners of Monterey county, and at his death ranked mong the county's successful men. A native of Pennsylvania, born in 1833, he was a small child when his parents removed to Wis- consin, and there he became inured to the hard- ships of frontier life while still a mere boy. As he grew into manhood, the habits of self-reliance
and ambition, noticeable in his later years, began to influence him toward independent thought and action, and impelled him, in 1859, to seek a home across the mountains in the Pacific coast region. With a party of home-seekers he trav- eled overland to California, with ox-teams, and first settled in San Bernardino county, where he remained until the spring of 1862. At that time he came to Monterey county and settled in the Salinas valley, buying one hundred and sixty acres of land now occupied by Mr. Sterling. Few improvements had been made on the prop- erty, but during the five years he lived there he brought a large part under cultivation, crected some buildings, and made other im- provements of permanent value.
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