USA > California > Alameda County > Past and present of Alameda County, California, Volume II > Part 14
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In his political views Mr. Smeaton is a republican, exercising his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of that party. In Masonry he is identified with both the York and Scottish Rites and also with the Mystic Shrine. He is a past commander of Ashland Commandery of Ashland, Wisconsin, and a popular mem- ber of the Athenian Club and the Commercial Club of San Fran- cisco. Mr. Smeaton is widely and favorably known for his straight- forward and honorable methods both in business and social relations and is numbered among the successful and representative citizens of Oakland, being highly esteemed for his sterling worth and as a promoter of all that tends to advance the general welfare.
EDWIN J. BOYES, M. D.
Dr. Edwin J. Boyes, who since 1893 has been engaged in the general practice of medicine in Oakland, was born in Toronto, Can- ada, April 30, 1864. He acquired his early education in the Model School in that city and later attended Normal School, after which he engaged in teaching in Toronto. Later he took a course in natural science at the Association of Civil Engineers and joined the engineer corps in the Northwest Territory. He was stationed in the wilderness, in the Hudson bay section, and assisted in preparing the first map of the northwest country. Having determined to study medicine, Dr. Boyes entered Trinity University, from which he was graduated in 1890. He also holds degrees from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Ontario and Victoria University. He came west in 1890 and settled on the old Comstock at Virginia City, Nevada, where he remained until 1893. He gained wide reputation for skill and had during these years the largest practice of anyone in the state, and although locating here over twenty years ago, some of his Nevada patients still come to him for his services. In the last named year he moved to Oakland, California, and here has since resided, being numbered today among the leading representatives of the medical fraternity in the city. He is senior consulting physi- cian of the Merritt Hospital and has been since its establishment. He also has a large and lucrative private practice, accorded him in recognition of his superior skill and ability. He is a member of the national, state and county medical societies and in this way keeps in touch with the most advanced medical thought of his profession. His personal characteristics have gained him the warm regard and
DR. EDWIN J. BOYES
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friendship of many, while in professional lines he has attained that eminence which comes only in recognition of merit and ability.
In Toronto in 1891 Dr. Boyes was married to Miss Mabel Walker, a daughter of Irving Walker, a leading dry-goods merchant of Toronto. Of this union two sons have been born: Bedford, a graduate of the University of California, and Gordon, a graduate of the Oakland high school.
GEORGE W. HEINTZ.
George W. Heintz, who embarked in the clothing business at Oakland in 1907, now conducts an exclusive establishment of that character at Nos. 1217 and 1219 Broadway. He was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, on the 24th of June, 1876, a son of Martin Heintz. In 1885 he removed with his parents to Pueblo, Colorado, and there attended the graded and high schools until seventeen years of age. Subsequently he spent five years in travel throughout the United States and in 1898 came to California, here acting as a clothing sales- man in the service of Brown Brothers of San Francisco until 1907. In that year he came to Oakland and embarked in the clothing busi- ness on his own account, occupying the second floor of the First National Bank building until 1909, when he removed to his present location at Nos. 1217 and 1219 Broadway. He enjoys a gratifying patronage as an exclusive clothier and has the agency for "Benjamin Clothes."
On the 11th of October, 1911, in Oakland, Mr. Heintz was united in marriage to Miss Georgia Wheeler. He is independent in politics and is identified fraternally with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias.
FRANK M. SMITH.
Among the many brilliant and able men in public life in Cali- fornia is numbered Frank M. Smith, who left the impress of a virile and forceful personality and an unusual political ability upon the legislative history of the state as a member of the thirty-ninth and fortieth general assemblies. In Oakland where he makes his home he is found always among the leaders in the promotion of con-
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structive and progressive projects for community advancement, and he is doing a great deal in the best interests of the city through his present service as city clerk. Mr. Smith was born in Albion, Men- docino county, California, in 1868 and is a son of George M. Smith, who came to this state in 1852. His maternal grandfather was a pioneer, arriving in California in 1848, and he afterward formed one of the famous vigilante committees which hanged Corey and Casey in San Francisco.
Frank M. Smith came to Centerville, Alameda county, when he was five years of age, and after he grew to maturity entered the contracting business, following in his father's footsteps. Through- out his entire business career he has been interested in this line of work and now controls an important patronage in Oakland. He is recognized as a farsighted, able and progressive business man and his integrity, ability and straightforward dealings have gained for him a high place in business circles.
Mr. Smith is well and favorably known in public life in Cali- fornia, and has been for many years a powerful individual force in republican politics. In San Francisco he served four years as state wharfinger under Governor Pardee, but his most effective work in the public service was accomplished during his term in the state legislature. He was a member of the thirty-ninth and fortieth general assemblies and during that period was identified with the passage of a great deal of important legislation, securing many public improvements for Oakland and promoting the interests of the city whenever possible. He took a prominent part in the passage of the bill which gave the city its present improved waterfront and was identified with the East Oakland bill. He was the author of the bill providing for free text-books in the grammar schools and dur- ing the last term of his service was a member of the committee on education, accomplishing a great deal of farsighted, intelligent and constructive work in school interests throughout the state. He advo- cated the raising of the standard of efficiency in the grammar schools and the general adoption of that standard in county schools and was the father of the bill permitting local option in the matter of kinder- gartens. He introduced a bill for the improvement of the streets and sewers of Oakland, and, wherever it was consistent with the general interests of the state, advanced the claims of his city in a powerful and able way. He was found always progressive and modern in his views, which he was able to support by intelligent argument, and he had the additional advantage of being a powerful and eloquent speaker on the floor of the house. He made an enviable
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record in the state legislature and left behind him a reputation for political ability and integrity and constant and untiring work in the public service. Mr. Smith is now serving as city clerk of Oak- land and in his official and private capacities is a leader in all movements for municipal advancement, co-operating heartily in projects of civic improvement. As president of the local Improve- ment Club he is proving his energy, foresight and business ability, and he is well entitled to the place which he holds among the leading and representative citizens of Oakland.
Mr. Smith married Miss Ella R. Trefry, a daughter of J. A. Trefry, a pioneer in California, who served as deputy under Sheriff Harry Morse. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have four children: Ruth, who married George Ellis; Gertrude C., the wife of Herbert Town- send; Frank W. M., and Zebbie T. Mr. Smith is prominent in the Masonic fraternity and is past presiding officer of the local lodges of the Woodmen of the World and the Native Sons of the Golden West. His career in the public service has been varied in activity, high in its standards and important in its accomplishments and his life has brought him public honor, business prominence and that true success which lies in the respect, esteem and confidence of many friends.
HENRY Z. JONES.
Henry Z. Jones, a leading representative of real-estate interests in Oakland, here established himself in business twenty-three years ago and has enjoyed continued success. He was born in Somerset- shire, England, on the 4th of March, 1850, and in the acquirement of an education attended the public schools until sixteen years of age. Subsequently he was employed as clerk in a dry goods store of London, England, until twenty-two years old and then emigrated to the United States, settling in Warren, Ohio, where he acted as clerk in a general mercantile establishment for two years.
On the expiration of that period Mr. Jones came to California and located in San Francisco, there clerking in a dry goods store for a year and a half, while during the next thirteen years he was successfully engaged in the retail coal business. He then purchased thirty-five acres of land in Fruitvale (now Oakland) and took up his abode here, embarking in the real-estate business. He has sub- divided, owned and sold the following tracts: Silver Heights in
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San Francisco, fifteen acres; Allendale tract, thirty acres; Galindo tract, twenty-one acres; Allendale Annex, four acres; Florence Jones tract, fifteen acres; Bona Terrace, four acres; Jones Subdivi- sion Quigley tract, six acres; Jones Addition tract in San Francisco, ten acres; Westall tract, thirty-five acres; Jessie Jones tract, thirty acres; Laurel Grove Park, sixty-nine acres; Florence Jones No. 2, five acres; Boulevard Villa tract, fifteen acres, and Orange Grove, twelve acres. Mr. Jones has sold only his own properties and has disposed of them on the easy payment plan.
In April, 1887, in San Francisco, Mr. Jones was united in mar- riage to Miss Sarah M. Hillman, by whom he has four children, namely: Mrs. Abbie A. Biddall, of Oakland; Jessie A., a high- school student; Florence A., and Henry Z., Jr., who attend public school.
Mr. Jones gives his political allegiance to the republican party and in religious belief is a Protestant. He enjoys an enviable repu- tation as a reliable business man, public-spirited citizen and trust- worthy friend.
A. F. ST. SURE.
A. F. St. Sure, one of the prominent attorneys of Oakland, is a man to whom success has come as a result of unfaltering determina- tion, untiring industry, energy and enterprise, for he has worked his own way upward to the success which he now enjoys, never hav- ing failed to carry forward to completion any project which he undertook. His prominence in law and politics has followed closely upon a brilliant career as a journalist, and his success along all lines has been the result of the qualities in his character which make him today a leading and representative citizen of Alameda county. He was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, March 9, 1869, and is a son of Frank A. and Ellen ( Donoghue) St. Sure, the former a native of Sweden and the latter of County Cork, Ireland. The father emi- grated to America when he was still a child and located in Wisconsin and afterward in Tennessee, engaging in both states as a druggist and a miner. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having served as a captain in the Confederate army. His father, A. F. St. Sure, also took part in that conflict, but he served in the Union army, being a member of the medical staff under General Sherman.
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Mr. St. Sure of this review was brought to California by his parents before he was one year old and when he had reached the usual age entered the public schools of Oroville, which he left when he was thirteen in order to take a position in the office of the Oroville Mercury. He thus began a long period of identification with the newspaper business, learning printing in all of its branches and ris- ing from a humble position to that of foreman of the printing shop, an office to which he was promoted when he was eightcen years of age. He was afterward made a reporter and finally manager of the Mercury, with which he remained identified until 1891, when he came to Alameda. In February of that year he began the pub- lication of the Alameda Daily News, associating himself with R. H. Magill, Jr., and attempting the difficult task of conducting an uncompromising democratic journal in a republican community. He was afterward city editor of the Alameda Argus and when he resigned that position went to San Francisco, where he was con- nected with the Chronicle and the Call, later becoming identified with the Sacramento Bee. By a natural evolution he became inter- ested in politics and in 1891 began his public career as secretary of the Alameda county democratic convention. He was afterward appointed city recorder to fill out an unexpired term and was then elected to the position, which he held for four terms of two years each.
After taking office he found it necessary to know law and accord- ingly began the study of this profession, winning his admission to the bar in 1895. After passing his examination he began the practice of his profession and before the earthquake of 1906 was connected with the office of the attorney general in the Call building in San Francisco. After the fire he established a law practice in Oakland and there built up a large and representative patronage, his business growing as his ability and legal knowledge became more widely known. In 1911 he was appointed city attorney of Alameda and served as such for two and one-half years, his excellent record prov- ing conclusively his political ability, his conscientiousness and energy in the discharge of his duties. He is one of the well known and popular men in the Bay cities at the present time, and his prominence has substantial and worthy causes, based as it is upon a public recog- nition of the excellent work he has accomplished along many public and private lines.
Mr. St. Sure married Miss Ida Laura Pettes, a daughter of Wil- liam E. and Virginia T. Pettes, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Canada. Mr. and Mrs. St. Sure have two children :
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William Pettes, aged thirteen; and Joseph Paul, ten. Mr. St. Sure is a member of the Alameda County Exposition Commission and is active and prominent in all movements and projects for the general welfare. He is an enterprising and progressive citizen who takes a commendable interest in public affairs and during the period of his residence in Alameda has made a host of warm friends.
GEORGE SHELDON McCOMB.
George Sheldon McComb is now at the head of the real-estate firm of George McComb & Company, of Oakland, California, where it has secured an extensive clientage, although it has been in exist- ence for less than a year. Mr. McComb was born in San Francisco March 9, 1862. His father, John McComb, was born in New York in 1828 and was a son of John McComb, a native of Scotland. He married Elizabeth Milholland, who was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1823, a daughter of John and Mary Milholland. Both John McComb and Elizabeth Milholland were pioneer settlers of Cali . fornia, the former arriving in 1849 and the latter in 1850. Mr. McComb made the trip from New York by way of the isthmus of Panama and by steamer to the Pacific coast, while the lady whom he afterward married crossed the plains by ox team. For a time John McComb engaged in mining, but later returned to San Fran- cisco and took up journalism. Subsequently he became managing editor of the "Alta California," one of the oldest and most reliable commercial newspapers on the coast, and was associated with that paper for over thirty years. He next went to Folsom as warden of the state prison and was afterward transferred to the San Quentin prison as warden of that institution, where he remained in charge for eleven years. He afterward became secretary of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and after a life of activity and usefulness passed away in June, 1896, at the age of sixty-eight years. His widow lived to the advanced age of eighty-six years.
George S. McComb acquired his education in the public schools of San Francisco and of Oakland. He was a primary in the Lincoln school at the corner of Fifth and Market streets in San Francisco, afterward attended the Washington grammar school of that city and the high school of Oakland, but left school before his gradua- tion to accept a position in San Francisco as correspondent for the Western Associated Press of Chicago and New York. Having taken
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up the study of law, he was admitted to practice in San Francisco in 1891, but later accepted a position as court stenographer in the superior court of the state of California for the years 1891-2. He was elected clerk of the justices court of the city and county of San Francisco in 1901 and held that office for eleven years, retiring on the expiration of that period to enter the real-estate business in Oakland. He formed a partnership in August, 1913, with Leland Spencer, and they now conduct business under the firm style of George McComb & Company, of Oakland. Their business is one of growing importance and already they have a clientage which is enviable.
Mr. McComb was married in San Francisco, California, on the 28th of November, 1889, to Miss Josephine Silva, a daughter of Joseph T. and Alice E. Silva, and they have one child, Alice E. McComb.
In his political views Mr. McComb is a republican and has ever kept well informed on the questions and issues of the day. He holds membership with the Native Sons of the Golden West, having become a charter member and trustee of Stanford Parlor in 1886. He is also a member of the Knights of the Maccabees. For years he was prominent in connection with swimming and other athletic fea- tures of the Olympic Club of San Francisco, but his attention is more and more largely concentrated upon his business affairs which are of growing importance and volume, making him today one of the well known real-estate dealers of Oakland.
FRANK C. SULLIVAN.
Among the successful representatives of real-estate interests in Oakland is numbered Frank C. Sullivan, who has been continuously engaged in business here for the past seven years. His birth occurred in Contra Costa county, California, on the 24th of March, 1880. His father, Patrick Sullivan, came to California in 1849, settling in Contra Costa county, where he devoted his attention to farming and cattle raising until the time of his demise in 1882.
Frank C. Sullivan acquired his education in the graded and high schools of San Pablo, Contra Costa county, and following his gradu- ation became identified with agricultural pursuits, being actively engaged in farming until 1906. In that year he disposed of his interests and came to Oakland, embarking in the real-estate business,
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in which he has continued to the present time with gratifying suc- cess. He has the agency for Brookward Acres and other properties, all of which he is handling in a capable and resultant manner.
In Berkeley, California, on the 14th of May, 1906, Mr. Sullivan was united in marriage to Miss Alice Gallagher, by whom he has three children : Carmen, Alice and Virginia. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party and is a devout communicant of the Catholic church.
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WILLIAM HENRY FULCHER.
William Henry Fulcher, president of the Fulcher Concrete Block & Paving Company, is at the head of one of the younger enterprises of Oakland that promises to become one of the most important pro- ductive industries of the city. The old saying that necessity is the mother of invention has found verification through all the ages. There is no individual in the United States who does not recognize the fact that forest preservation has become imperative, and that other things must take the place of lumber as a building material. An understanding of this need has led William Henry Fulcher, in- ventor and mechanician, to perfect the Fulcher Concrete Block & Paving Machine for the manufacture of concrete monolithic build- ing blocks and cement brick, and today the business is one of grow- ing importance. Mr. Fulcher was born in San Francisco August 18, 1856, a son of William and Hannah (Dunphie) Fulcher. The father, born in Manchester, England, in 1825, was educated there and in 1853 arrived in San Francisco, where he became bookkeeper for a large wholesale flour mill. Later he mined in Sacramento county until his death, which occurred in 1872. His wife has also passed away.
William H. Fulcher attended the public schools of Sacramento county to the age of fourteen years, after which he engaged in herd- ing sheep for a year and a half. Subsequently he took charge of a fruit-drying factory, remaining its manager to the age of twenty- one years. At that time he went to Folsom, California, where he engaged as blacksmith helper in the Folsom prison. Soon afterward he had charge of men in the contract to put up all doors in the prison, which work was successfully executed. When about twenty-five years of age his interest in all phases of mechanics led him to take up mechanical drawing at Sacramento and to continue his work in Oak-
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WILLIAM II. FULCHER
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land, where he completed the course. In 1880 he went to Tucson, Arizona, where he entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Rail- road Company as brakeman. He afterward became conductor, but resigned his position in 1886 and returned to California, settling at Lodi, where he became inspector of locomotives for the San Joaquin & Sierra Nevada Railroad Company, which has since been merged into the Southern Pacific. He filled that position for seven years, or until 1893, when he opened a hotel in Woodbridge, but the fol- lowing year sold out and organized a company for the manufacture of pottery at Stockton, California, where he continued until 1895. He built there the Stockton Terra Cotta Works, thus establishing the first plant making glazed pottery on the Pacific coast. Selling out, he came to Oakland and engaged as bridge tender for the South- ern Pacific Railroad until 1900, when he incorporated the National Ditching & Dredging Company, selling stock in an excavating ma- chine which he had invented. In 1904 he invented and exhibited a pulverizing machine, upon which he received a gold medal at the St. Louis World's Fair, and also a personal gold medal for his abil- ity. In 1906 he disposed of his interest in the ditching company and invented a mining machine which he sold.
He then turned his attention to the perfecting of a machine to manufacture concrete blocks and on the 22d of March, 1913, he organized the Fulcher Concrete Block & Paving Company under the laws of the state of Arizona. He complied with the law of Cali- fornia April 24, 1913, being authorized to do general contracting and manufacturing in all of its branches. He is now president and mechanical engineer of the company, with Dr. C. F. Allardt as vice president and D. G. Donahue as secretary, treasurer and attorney. Thoroughly understanding the fact that some other building mate- rial must supplant lumber, and also the fact that natural stone is too costly for the majority of builders, he set to work to study the prices of concrete manufacture and became impressed with the pos- sibilities in that line. He determined to find a way to manufacture concrete blocks and bricks very cheaply, and invented an automatic rotary press in such form that it not only turns out the finished prod- uct, but also produces it in such large quantities automatically as to render its cost non-competitive.
The machine which developed from the inventive genius of Mr. Fulcher will produce over thirty-six thousand standard sized bricks per day of eight hours, and by changing the molds in the machine will produce over seventy-two thousand building blocks of mono- lithic design, which have also been standardized to meet the univer- Vol. II-10
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sal requirements of the trade. These blocks can be laid on any curve or angle, the whole structure being laced and anchored together, forming a compact, air-tight wall, proof against fire, water and earthquake. Their system of interlocking the corners of the blocks not only insures the solidarity of the walls, but also largely does away with the need of reinforcing material and lessens the cost of concrete construction. The provision made for anchoring the ceiling and floor joists in the walls is another factor in securing rigidity of struc- ture. The adamant coat of plaster is applied directly on the blocks without the use of lathes and without the preliminary coating of rough plaster. This is a point worthy of notice, as it means consider- able saving in the building of a residence; moreover, the blocks themselves form a beautiful exterior finish which does away with the expense of painting. The company also manufacture a splendid imitation and substitute for Spanish tiling and tiling for bathrooms, kitchens, etc. They have also perfected plans whereby they can imitate in colored brick the Persian rugs, with the beautiful color- ings of the orient harmoniously blended. All their bricks are per- fect and they can be made in any shape and size desired. They are likewise able to reproduce all forms of natural stone in colors, glazed and otherwise. It is their contention that they are in a position to produce at least fifty per cent of the material that goes into the con- struction of a building at a saving of at least thirty per cent of the gross cost of construction. In addition to the cement blocks being used for the most handsome residences and public buildings, they can be utilized for paving, for riffraffing for river banks, for rail- road bridges, viaducts, dams, tunnels, piers, sewers and many other purposes, and can be manufactured at about half the cost of brick making. As a paving material the blocks leave little if anything to be desired, as they are cheaper than any other paving and last for many years. Already the blocks are coming into popular favor and the sale of the machine for manufacturing the same is constantly increasing. One fact notable is that the building blocks and brick made by the means of Mr. Fulcher's invention remain in perfect alignment after being laid for an indefinite period of time and can easily be removed for repairs. They also offer unusual resistance to the wear and tear of the elements and withstand enormous strain, as they are manufactured under great pressure and have a cohesiveness almost equal to that of the original rock.
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