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 81
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A Democrat ever since he first began to vote. Mr. Palmtag has rendered conspicuous service to his party and township, county and state for many years, a service practically inaugurated
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
with his election as supervisor in 1884. of dis- trict No. 3 San Benito county. He is now serv- ing his fourth term of four years each as super- visor, and during that time he has been chairman of the board for six years. Many important innovations owe their origin to his suggestion and promotion, and the plans of the present court house were adopted and laid out during his administration. For the past five years he has been chairman of the town board of trustees of Hollister, and he is the originator of the present sewage system. For ten years he has been a member of the state central committee, and of the county central committee for several years, and has attended as a delegate many state and county conventions, as well as the national conventions at Cincinnati and Chicago. For twenty-six years he has been fraternally identi- fied with the Independent Order Odd Fellows, and for a time was treasurer of that organiza- tion. The influence of Mr. Palmtag has been exerted on the side of wise conservatism and genuine Democracy, and to no one is the town of Hollister more indebted for the support lent by public enterprise and large executive and financial ability.
NEIL STEWART.
The county of San Luis Obispo is the home of Mr. Stewart, and for years has been the scene of his activities. He was born in Scotland in 1837 and emigrated from that country to Canada in 1854, where he remained for a number of years. During the period of the Civil war he spent two years in Wisconsin. In 1866 he came to California via the Isthmus of Panama to San Francisco, and at first secured employment at Gilrov, next remaining for a year in San Fran- cisco. It was during 1808 that he identified him- self with the pioneers of San Luis Obispo county, settling on the coast near Cambria, where he acquired interests in dairying and stock-raising.
The present homestead of Mr. Stewart was acquired by him in 1883, when he purchased four hundred and seventy-five acres, forming a portion of the old Morro y Cayucos grant. From that time to the present he has made his
home on this ranch, and has given his attention to stock and dairy farming. His cattle are of the best grades of Durhams and Jerseys, includ- ing forty dairy cows. The butter manufac- tured is of the finest quality of the Jersey prod- tict, and commands the highest market prices at all times. Mr. Stewart's attention is of course largely concentrated upon the management of his dairy, but he has other interests which are not neglected. It has been his aim to place upon the ranch first-class improvements, such as will enhance the value of the property and also make it increasingly satisfactory as a home for his family. One of the noticeable improvements is the setting out of an orchard. An abundance of water is obtained from the springs on the ranch, and this he has utilized in his dairy, the water being piped from the springs on the hill, where it has a fall of over one hundred feet. Certain spots on the ranch give evidence of the presence of oil, but as yet no effort has been made to prospect for that product.
The political views of Mr. Stewart have been in harmony with the Populist doctrines and he aided in organizing this party in San Luis Obispo county. For more than fifteen years he has been a trustee of his school district and has meantime done all in his power to promote local educational matters. In the Presbyterian Church of Cayucos he is a ruling elder. After the or- ganization of the Farmers' Alliance in Fairview district he was chosen its president and filled the office with credit to himself. He assisted in organizing the San Luis Obispo Industrial Union, in which his wife owns some stock.
Prior to coming to the States, Mr. Stewart was married in 1866 to Miss Helen Cook of New Brunswick, who accompanied him to California immediately after their marriage, and has ever since been an invaluable assistant in all of his enterprises. They are the parents of ten chil- dren, one of whom is deceased. The oldest son, James, served under General Shafter in Cuba and under General Miles in Porto Rico. Later he was transferred to the Philippine Islands but is now at home. Dr. Mary J. Stewart, the sec- ond daughter of the family, is far removed from the okl home, being stationed in India as a medical missionary under the Presbyterian
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Board ai Missions The other members of the family are named as follows: Mrs. Flora E. Time Helen A., a graduate of the California State Normal at San José, and now a teacher in the Cayneos school; Amelia I., who is a trained nurse connected with the California Hospital of Los Angeles ; Alexander C., John N .. Catherine F. Jeanette and Charles W.
GEORGE WILSON ROWE.
This representative rancher and apple grower of Watsonville was born on his father's ranch in the upper end of the Pajaro valley. Monterey county, November 17, 1858, a son of William H. and Rhoda Ann (McFarland) Rowe, natives respectively of Plymouth, England, and Mis- souri, and the former one of the most promi- nent early pioneers of the valley. The boyhood and early youth of George Wilson Rowe were spent on the paternal ranch, and he was educated in the common schools and the Worcester Bnsi- ness College at San Jose. When twenty-one years of age he rented the home place with his twin brother, Charles William. Later he re- moved to one of his father's farms in Santa Cruz county, containing two hundred acres, and located near the town of Watsonville.
At the expiration of four years Mr. Rowe went to the Hernandez valley in San Benito county and engaged in the stock business, during which time he controlled about forty thousand acres well stocked with cattle. After two years he sold his squatter's claim and located on his father's ranch of three hundred acres in the Pajaro valley, where he engaged in general farming and stock-raising with considerable suc- cess. Like his brothers, he inherited a farm of two hundred acres from his father, one hundred and fifteen of which are in the Pajaro valley, and the remainder in the hills. This farm is well improved. and is one of the finest and most de- sirable properties in its neighborhood. Mr. Rowe lived on his farm for about seven years, and then removed with his family to Watson- ville, that his children might have better educa- tional opportunities. He is the owner of an apple orchard in the Pajaro valley, Santa Cruz county, for which he paid $20,000 for thirty-five
acres, and the crops therefrom last year were worth $5,000. The trees are ten years old, and are mostly Bellefleurs and Newtown Pippins. Mr. Rowe also leases a thousand acres in the hills of Monterey county, where he raises grain and cattle, three hundred acres being devoted to the former commodity. Ninety-five acres of the home ranch are set out in apples, Bellefleurs and Newtowns, the packing and shipping of which he personally superintends. Mr. Rowe has had a hand in promoting many important industries in his neighborhood, including the Watsonville Creamery, a paying industry, of which he is a stockholder and director.
November 2, 1882, Mr. Rowe was united in marriage with Eva Ryason, a native of Santa Cruz county, and daughter of J. M. Ryason. Of this union there are three children, Rhoda, George LeRoy, and Jessie, all of whom are liv- ing at home. Mr. Rowe is a Democrat in poli- tics, and although he has never been prominent in local political affairs, has been on the school board for seven or eight years. He is a member of the Red Men and the Grange. and is identified with the Native Sons of the Golden West. With his family he is a member of the Christian Church.
THOMAS BARRETT.
A practical experience of more than twenty years has placed Thomas Barrett among the front ranks of real-estate men in this part of California, and especially of San Luis Obispo county. To the prosecution of his particular oc- cupation Mr. Barrett brings the steady conserva- tism of the east, combined with the enthusiasm and adaptability of the west, as well as a general knowledge of men and affairs gained from long association with mining and other interests. He was born in New Jersey in 1840, and was reared and educated in Lake county, Ill. When nine- teen years of age, in 1859, he started out to carve his own fortunes in California, and fol- lowed the uncertain life of a miner for three years in the Sierra Nevada mountains, He af- terwards removed to Solano county, where he lived for seven years, and in 1870 located in San
Allan McLean
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Luis Obispo county, where he became interest- ed in sheep raising for a few years.
Politically Mr. Barrett is allied with the Dem- ocratic party, but has never had time or inclina- tion for official recognition. Fraternally he is associated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. The marriage of Mr. Barrett and Matilda Smith occurred in 1867, Mrs. Barrett being a native of Iowa. Of this union there is one son, Thomas, Jr.
ALLAN McLEAN.
The varied experiences which have given in- dividuality to the character of Mr. McLean have also stored his mind with a fund of valuable in- formation, which habits of close observation have enabled him to accumulate during his travels around the world. In the occupation that he has followed throughout much of his active career, that of school teaching, he has become known for efficiency and skill, but of more recent years he has devoted his attention to official duties and is now filling the position of auditor of Monterey county, his home being in Salinas.
The genealogy of the McLean family is traced back to the eleventh century in Scotland, where its members belonged to the noted clan Mc- Lean. Near the middle of the nineteenth cen- tury Donald McLean, father of Allan McLean, and a native of Glasgow, Scotland, crossed the ocean to America and settled in Canada. For his wife he chose Annie McEachern, who was born on the island of Mull, the largest of the Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. Prince Edward's Island is Allan McLean's native place and 1850 the year of his birth. His earliest recollections cluster about his island home, where, from lis- tening to the tales of mariners and watching the ships as they sailed out upon the deep, he came to have a love for the sea that has never left him. Indeed, this fascination proved so strong that he resolved to become a sailor, and all through his school life the ambition to lead a seafaring life clung to him. After graduat- ing from Normal School in 1866, he taught school for two years, and then secured employ-
ment as able seaman on a United States ves- sel. It was then his intention to remain a sailor until he had worked up to be sea captain, but after about three years he decided that for many reasons the life of a landsman was pref- crable, and so abandoned the sea. Meantime he had crossed the equator four times, had vis- ited the East Indies, England, Hindustan, the Fiji Islands, Sandwich Islands, and many other countries of the world.
After coming to California, about 1871, Mr. McLean resumed the occupation in which he had first engaged, and for about twenty-seven years he taught school in this state. During eighteen years of this time he had charge of schools in Monterey county, for four years taught in Ventura county, and for three years was one of the well-known educators of San Luis Obispo county. Among the last positions that he filled was the principalship of the Sole- dad public. school, in which office he continued for four years. For two years he was a member of the board of education of Monterey county. In 1898 he was elected county auditor with a majority of nine hundred and eighty, and has since given his time and thought to the duties of the office, having been re-elected to the same office in 1902 with a majority of about nine hun- dred. It has been his aim to keep the records of his office systematically and thoroughly, and no pains are spared to make his service accepta- ble to the people. The ticket on which he was elected, the Republican, represents his political views, he being a firm champion of the protec- tion of home industries, the continuance of the sound-money standard and the keeping afloat of the stars and stripes wherever they have once been planted.
The marriage of Mr. McLean was solemnized in 1877, in Monterey county, and united him with Miss Olive Flavilla Plaskett, who was born and reared in California and is the daughter of a stock-raiser. They have six children, namely: Cora, who married Charles Burks, of Spreckels. and has one son, Charles Allen Burks, born at Spreckels: Donald W., who married Meda Blomquist, daughter of Andrew Blomquist, of Jamesburg, Monterey county; Myrtle, Stella. Nellie and Mary.
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
R. M. SHACKELFORD.
A career which is worthy of emulation from ogany standpeints is that of R. M. Shackelford, who is affectionately called the "father" of Paso Robles, and who, in his capacity as superinten- dent of the warehouses of the Southern Pacific Milling Company, has not only given employ- ment to thousands, but has occupied the public eye as a humanitarian, and general promoter of all that is excellent. This much beloved citizen was born in Washington county, near Mackville, Ky., January 17, 1836, a son of James Shackel- ford, also born in Kentucky. A planter by occu- pation and a stonemason by trade, James Shackelford contracted for public buildings, afterwards engaging as a tobacco planter. He removed to Missouri in 1842, settling near Fayette, Howard county, but after the war tak- ing up his residence in Montgomery county, where he bought the farm upon which he died. The paternal grandfather was also born in Ken- tucky, and met death at the hands of an Indian, beside whose dead body his own was found at Halls Gap, Ky. He represented the first gen- eration of his family in America, his brothers, John, James and William, settling respectively in Virginia. Kentucky and Alabama. The mother of R. M. Shackelford was Sarah A., daughter of Beverly Dickerson, of Montgomery county, Ky., a planter who raised corn and tobacco in large quantities.
When eight years of age R. M. Shackelford went with the rest of the family to Missouri, and as he was one in a family of nine daughters and two sons, it became necessary for him to make an early start to support himself. His education was acquired under difficulties, for while in Missouri he had little opportunity to do anything but work around the home farm, and in later : cars he made up for lost time by attending night school after working in the mines during the daytime. He was sixteen years of age when he started to drive a bull team across the plains, and the memorable journey was begun March 14, 1852, and ended in Sacramento, September 23. 1852. Ile was variously occupied until 1857, in which year he became identified with the Marysville milling enterprise owned by .1. D.
Starr & Co., with whom he stayed for several years. He afterward established the Merchants' Forwarding Company, but sustained severe loss during the floods of 1862. He then started in freighting across country to Virginia City, Nev .. and while in the latter state was elected to the assembly convened directly after Nevada's in- auguration as a state.
In 1866 Mr. Shackelford located in Los Gatos. Santa Clara county, Cal., where he started and maintained a general merchandise store, and in connection therewith operated a lumber yard business. In 1869 he removed to Salinas, and with a partner bought twenty-two hundred acres on the Salinas river, called the San Lorenzo ranch, which he disposed of in 1873. During that year he removed to Hollister, San Benito county, and engaged in milling with a company in which he was interested, and which is now the Sperry Flour Company. Since 1886 he has been identified with Paso Robles, and has been the manager of the warehouses of the Southern Pacific Milling Company, an enormous responsi- bility requiring just such ability as is credited to Mr. Shackelford by all who know him. Forty-one stations located all along the line of the railroad handle about two hundred and fifty thousand tons of grain yearly, including wheat, barley and beans, and it is needless to say that several hundred hands are required to carry on the enterprise. It is worthy of note that the genial superintendent takes a personal interest in the young men who come under his direction, and many kindnesses are reported of him in con- nection with those who appealed to him for aid. His early struggles are never lost track of in the success which has crowned his mature years, and he honors all who are striving in the same way for influence and money, and general advance- ment. He is noted for paying good wages to all who work for him, and his employes feel that they are appreciated. One and all are enthusi- astic in their praise of their benefactor and friend.
In addition to his other responsibilities Mr. Shackelford is manager of the Salinas Lumber Company. When he first came to California he was a Democrat through and through, having been converted through Horace Greeley's articles
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
in the New York Tribune. His first presiden- tial vote was cast for John C. Fremont. He was a school trustee in Hollister from 1874 until 1886, and two weeks after arriving in Paso Robles was appointed to a similar position ; thus he has served continuously on the school board for nearly thirty years. He is the friend of edu- cation, and by his enthusiasm ou the subject has brought about many improvements in the localities in which he has lived. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, being a charter member of the latter organization at Hollister.
Mrs. Shackelford was formerly Mary L. Mc- Questin, a native of Galena, Ill., and of this union there have been born four children, of whom two are living: Otto, employed by the Southern Pacific Railroad in Nevada as a con- tractor and civil engineer; and Lulu, living at home. Mr. Shackelford is possessed of splendid personal attributes, and the kind of determina- tion which more than aught else has developed the latent resources of the west and established a precedent in business and citizenship.
ELMER P. ALEXANDER.
Gifted with the force of character, business capacity, and unswerving integrity which char- acterizes the successful men of the west, Mr. Alexander has before him a future rich with promise and prophetic of large worldly returns. One of the Native Sons of the Golden West, he was born in Sacramento, Cal., June 15, 1871, and his father, Judge John K. Alexander, is one of the most forceful and prominent of the law- yers of Monterey county. Elmer P. removed with his family from Sacramento to Salinas when in his third year, and his education was therefore partially acquired here, his graduation from the high school occurring in 1889. Sub- sequently he entered the Cogswell Polytechnic School of San Francisco, and graduated there- from in 1893. When twenty-one years of age he started out to become financially independent, and for some time was employed by the South- ern Pacific Milling Company. In August of 1897 he was appointed county tax collector to fill an unexpired term, and so satisfactory were
his services that his election to the position fol- lowed in 1898, and in 1902 he was re-elected. His administration has been well received throughout, and it is assured that should he de- vote his life to political office he will never re- sort to personal gain at the expense of public loss or confidence. His office as tax-collector is the result of his allegiance to Democratic issues and principles.
The union of Mr. Alexander and Mabel E. Chestnut occurred in 1896, and to them has been born one son, Ralston Carroll, who is four years old. Mrs. Alexander is a daughter of John T. Chestnut, one of the early settlers of Monterey county. Mr. Alexander is fraternally associat- ed with the Woodmen of the World and the Na- tive Sons of the Golden West.
WILLIAM T. SCOTT.
The proprietor of the Buena Vista ranch in the San Luis valley is one of the well-known residents of San Luis Obispo county. He came to California in 1870 from Missouri, where he was born, in Callaway county, April 8, 1846, being a son of James M. and Elizabeth ( Cris- well) Scott, natives of Kentucky and descen- dants of pioneer families of that state. The boyhood years of William T. Scott were marked by no notable events. The usual duties and en- joyments of farm-reared boys came into his ex- perience, with such educational advantages as district schools afforded.
When twenty-four years of age Mr. Scott sought a home for himself in California. and for a time remained in Guadaloupe, Santa Bar- bara county, where he assisted in surveying the Guadaloupe ranch and also platted the town of that name. On the completion of this work he established himself on a ranch near town and embarked in the breeding and raising of sheep. an industry that was then at its height through- out this section of California. From the first he met with a gratifying degree of success. llis flocks increased rapidly and he finally was the owner, at one time, of five thousand head. For four years he made his headquarters at the Casmalia rancho, but in 1883 disposed of his interests there and returned to his ranch at
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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD).
Guad loupe, where he resumed general ranch- ing pursuits. From Guadaloupe he came to the Buena Vista rancho, Belleview district, San Luis Obispo county, and purchased the property from W. H. Taylor. Various natural advan- ages and improvements combine to make the property valuable. It consists of three hundred and twenty acres, all under fence, and with run- ning water in every field. The latter improve- ment renders the land especially adapted to stock-raising. and we find that Mr. Scott handles large numbers of hogs and cattle. In 1901 he established a dairy.
Realizing the need of having banking facilities at San Luis Obispo, Mr. Scott joined with other prominent citizens in organizing the Commercial Bank, and he has since been one of its directors. In 1901 he was interested in establishing the San Luis Obispo Savings Bank, of which he was elected vice-president. In politics he is a Democrat. While living at Guadaloupe he served as trustee of the public schools for several years, and he was also justice of the peace there for three years. He is now a member of the county central committee of his party. Among the con- ventions which he has attended as a delegate was the one in Sacramento which nominated J. G. McGuire for governor. During the existence of the Grange he bore a prominent part in its workings. His marriage took place February 5, 1874, and united him with Miss Eliza M. Pack- wood, a native of California. Her parents were natives of Virginia and Illinois, and were mar- ried in Sacramento, Cal., in 1849. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have many friends throughout the San Luis valley, and are held in the highest respect for their many worthy attributes of mind and heart.
J. B. SCOTT.
On coming to Monterey county in 1868 Mr. Scott found the now thriving city of Salinas a mere hamlet, whose founding the preceding year had been due largely to the enterprise of A. Riker and Eugene Sherwood. The first man of means to invest his capital in the new town was W. Conklin, for many years the senior mem- her of the mercantile firm of Conklin & Samuels.
The second investors of capital were Vander- hurst, Sanborn & Co., which house still exists under the firm title of Vanderhurst-Sanborn Company, Incorporated. Having only limited means, Mr. Scott was not able at that time to invest in property or establish a growing busi- ness, but he was nevertheless closely identified with the growth of the town and has contributed his quota to its development. When the size of the village justified such a change, he strongly advocated its incorporation as a city, and had the satisfaction of seeing this measure pass the legis- lature March 4, 1872. Two years later, under act of re-incorporation, the city was enlarged to its present boundaries, and since then he and all public-spirited citizens have endeavored to promote its permanent and stable prosperity.
The early years of Mr. Scott were passed on a farm in Delaware county, N. Y., where he was born in 1843. After completing common-school studies he entered college and remained until his graduation in 1863. The Civil war was then at its height, and, inspired by a desire to serve the Union, he enlisted in Company E, Oue Hundred and Forty-fourth New York Infantry, in which he served until the close of the war. The most closely-contested battle in which he participated was that of Honey Hill, S. C. Dur- ing most of its service his company remained on the outside lines, and was in South Carolina when Lee surrendered. On being honorably discharged from the army he returned home and for three years taught school, then, in 1868, crossed the continent to California, settling in Salinas, where he still makes his home. For four years he was a clerk in the postoffice under J. H. McDougall, and afterward held the office of county auditor four years, filling both these positions with the greatest fidelity and intel- ligence.
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