USA > California > Alameda County > Past and present of Alameda County, California, Volume II > Part 16
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the results of this study being evident in the excellent work she has done along medical lines. Dr. Sampson is a member of the Friends' Church and is well known in Berkeley, where her many sterling qualities of mind and character have won her an extensive circle of friends.
AUGUSTUS M. CHURCH.
Alameda county lost one of its public-spirited and progressive citizens and successful and prominent business men and California one of its pioneer settlers when Augustus M. Church died at his home in Oakland, September 1, 1889. He was a conspicuous figure in the early development of the state and was for many years asso- ciated with the interests of the bay country, his activities extending to many fields and touching closely business, political and social progress.
Mr. Church was born in Allen's Hill, Ontario county, New York, June 19, 1816, and was a son of Lovett and Sally (Boyd) Church. He spent the first fifteen years of his life in Richmond, New York, and then began his business career, finding employment in a hard- ware store in Canandaigua. He held this position for about one year and then entered the postoffice as clerk. He afterward became postmaster in Lockport, Niagara county, New York, and he dis- charged the duties of that position until 1834, when he became identified with the banking business through his connection with the bank conducted by L. A. Spaulding. After two years in this capacity he became clerk in the canal collector's office of Judge McKane and in the winter of 1837-38 went to Chicago, where he sold out a stock of goods for the Bank of Washtenaw, Ann Arbor, Michigan. When this work was accomplished he went to Ottawa, Illinois, and there became interested in the construction of the Illinois & Michigan canal and also in the general mercantile business. In the same year he removed to Berrien county, Michigan, and in the following autumn to Bellevue, Iowa, where he embarked in a mercantile enter- prise, in which he met with gratifying success, becoming one of the most prominent business men of the community. From Bellevue Mr. Church removed to Whitmanville, in Cass county, and con- ducted a hotel there until 1842, when he moved to St. Joseph, Mich- igan, and managed a hotel for a number of years, during which time he also engaged in trading. In 1845 he removed to St. Mary's
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Rapids, where for eighteen months he conducted a hotel, after which he returned to St. Joseph, Michigan, resuming his former business.
In the year 1849, attracted by the reports of the wonderful gold discoveries on the Pacific coast and of the quick fortunes to be made in the mines, Mr. Church joined a number of companions and equipped an outfit for the journey across the plains. On the 13th of August, 1849, the party arrived at Bear river and there called a halt for a brief rest, after which they proceeded to the mines on the Yuba river and Deer creek. In October Mr. Church and his comrades removed to the north fork of the Yuba and mined for a time at Good- year and Michigan bars. During this month three of the party pro- ceeded to the point where the town of Downieville, Sierra county, now stands. There in an incredibly short time they took out five hundred dollars worth of gold and with elated spirits returned to their companions on Goodyear's bar, having decided to locate there for the winter. They were prevented from doing any more work at their mine by the rain and snow which set in and accordingly returned to Sacramento to pass the rainy season. In the spring they returned to the location only to find that every vestige of gold was gone and there were no prospects either for the present or the future. Mr. Church then decided to return home and after disposing of all his effects found himself with eighteen hundred dollars more than when he first came to California. This, however, was later stolen from him, and eventually he returned to Michigan no better off than when he left the state.
After his return Mr. Church remained at home until the spring of 1851, when in company with Socrates Huff of San Leandro, with whom he had made the first trip, he again came to California. In the following winter with others he hunted in the hills back of Mission San Jose and from this expedition each of the party cleared three hundred dollars. In the following spring Mr. Church located a trading point at New Haven, now Alvarado, in partnership with Henry C. Smith, and while a resident of this locality was elected to membership on the board of supervisors, serving in 1852 and 1853, when Washington township was a portion of Santa Clara county. It was during Mr. Church's residence in New Haven that Alameda county was created out of portions of the counties of Contra Costa and Santa Clara, and he was elected the first county clerk and recorder of the new county. He was connected with these offices as chief and as deputy for nine years, and his able service was fol- lowed in 1867 by his election to the state legislature as representative from Alameda county. He served with the late John W. Dwinelle
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and during the period of his activity as a member of the assembly gave his influence always to measures of reform and advancement. In 1870 he again turned his attention to business, establishing a mercantile enterprise at Healdsburg, which he then believed would be the terminus of the San Francisco & North Pacific Railroad. However, upon the granting of the franchise for the continuation of the line to Cloverdale, the commercial prospects of Healdsburg were shattered, and Mr. Church returned to his ranch in Murray township, where he succeeded his former partner, Henry C. Smith, as justice of the peace, holding that office for four years at Liver- more. Mr. Church sold his estate in 1877 and took up his residence in the city of Oakland, where in the following year he was elected justice of the peace for Oakland township, an office in which he served with marked ability as he did in all others which he was called upon to fill.
In Berrien county, Michigan, in 1838, Mr. Church was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Cronkhite, a native of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Church became the parents of the following children : Helen White, deceased; Sarah, now Mrs. Gill, of Santa Barbara; William H., residing in Oakland; Rod W., of Piedmont, Alameda county, and Lincoln S., of Oakland. Mr. Church was well known in the Masonic fraternity and belonged also to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Society of California Pioneers. He died in Oakland, September 1, 1889, and was sincerely mourned by a wide circle of friends. His life was characterized by unfalter- ing loyalty in all of its important relations, and his honorable stand- ards, his stanch honesty and his singleness of purpose, influenced the history of California in many of its most important chapters.
WILLIAM R. GEARY.
William R. Geary, now filling the office of justice of the peace of Brooklyn township, is well known in business connections and has his office at No. 607 East Twelfth street, Oakland, where, as president, he controls the interests of the Alameda, Venice & Swim- ming Baths Company. He was born in Oakland, September 25, 1876, a son of Maurice and Luella (Yates) Geary. The father came to Oakland in 1875 and engaged in the teaming business to the time of his death, which occurred fourteen years later, in 1889. The son, reared in his native city, attended the public schools until
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fifteen years of age, after which he pursued a course in a business college at night. The day was devoted to work in a drug store until 1896, when he became collector and bookkeeper for the Hogan Lumber Company and so continued until 1902, when he resigned to become justice of the peace of Brooklyn township. He is now dis- charging the duties of that position in a fair and impartial manner, his course winning him high commendation. His business interests too are of growing importance. He was one of the organizers of the Alameda, Venice & Swimming Baths Company, of which he has been the president since the 23d of October, 1913. In business affairs he displays an initiative spirit, and his progressiveness is winning him growing success.
In Oakland Mr. Geary was united in marriage to Miss Adelaide S. Derby, the wedding being celebrated April 28, 1896. To them were born five children: Edwin W. and Henry T., aged respect- ively fifteen and thirteen years, now students in a parochial school ; Mildred E., eleven years of age, attending the College of the Holy Names; George T., six years of age, and William R., Jr., a year old. The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church, and Mr. Geary belongs to the Knights of Columbus, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Woodmen of the World. He is also con- nected with the Commercial Club and is in hearty sympathy with its purposes for the business development and substantial upbuild- ing of the city. In politics he is now a progressive and stands at all times for advancement in every relation of life.
GEORGE W. REED.
George W. Reed, one of the successful and prominent attorneys of Oakland and well known in professional circles as the senior member of the firm of Reed, Black, Nusbaumer & Bingaman, was born in Vassalboro, Maine, June 14, 1852. When he was four years of age he was brought to the Pacific coast by his parents and up to the age of twelve attended the public schools of Oakland. Later he was a student in the Brayton school and afterward enrolled in the University of California, being graduated from that institution in 1872, at the age of twenty. Following this he began the study of law and at the end of one year received the appointment of deputy county clerk under his brother, Charles G. Reed, a position which he held for four years. He resumed his law studies at the end of
Sesto. Reed
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that time and in December, 1879, was admitted to the bar of California.
In 1880 he entered the office of A. A. Moore as law clerk and held this position three years, after which he was admitted to partner- ship, the firm name being Moore & Reed. This became one of the important law firms of the city, the partners building up an extensive and profitable clientage. Their association was dissolved when Mr. Reed was elected to the office of district attorney in November, 1888. At the close of his first term he was reelected, serving in all four years and leaving the office with a record of unusually efficient and conscientious service. Subsequently Mr. Reed formed a partnership with Mr. Nusbaumer and the firm of Reed & Nusbaumer existed eleven years. The present firm is Reed, Black, Nusbaumer & Bing- aman, the other members being P. C. Black, E. Nusbaumer and J. W. Bingaman. This firm is connected through a large and con- stantly increasing patronage with some of the most important cases heard in the courts of California, and its strength and prominence are growing year by year. Mr. Reed has in the course of a long pro- fessional career attained a high place at the bar of California and is numbered today among its foremost representatives.
Mr. Reed became the father of three children : Mabel Linden; Clarence Munroe; and Russell Albert, who died at the age of twenty- one years. Mr. Reed gives his political allegiance to the republican party, and since he attained his majority has always lent his aid to the advancement of that party's principles. He takes a strong interest in public affairs and has held various important positions of trust and responsibility, serving in 1900 as a delegate to the national convention at Philadelphia which nominated William McKinley for president, and in 1904, in the same capacity, to the national conven- tion at Chicago which nominated Theodore Roosevelt. He was again a delegate to the national convention in Chicago in 1908 which nominated William H. Taft and in 1907 and 1908 served as chair- man of the republican county central committee. He was a strong supporter of Victor H. Metcalf when Mr. Metcalf ran for congress and was a member of his congressional committee. For several years he was chairman of the congressional committee of Joseph R. Knowland, who was a member of congress from the third district.
In educational matters Mr. Reed is also active, now serving as trustee for the Cogswell Polytechnical College of San Francisco, and he was a director of the California School for the Deaf and Blind at Berkeley for about ten years. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic organization, being a member of Sequoia Lodge, F. & A. M., and is Vol. II-11
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past exalted ruler of Oakland Lodge, No. 107, B. P. O. E. In the latter organization he acted as chairman of the building committee, which succeeded in the face of many obstacles in building the Elks Hall in Oakland. He belongs also to University Lodge, No. 144, I. O. O. F., and socially is affiliated with the State of Maine Associa- tion and the Commercial Club. He is a man of varied interests, all of which he has succeeded in making forces in progress, so that he stands today among the men of Oakland whose activities have influenced political, social and professional advancement.
H. L. WOOD.
H. L. Wood is president of the East Bay Home Builders, Incor- porated, and as such is contributing much to the substantial develop- ment and improvement of Oakland. He was born in Evansville, Indiana, January 25, 1877, and is a son of H. B. and C. M. Wood. In the acquirement of his education he passed through consecutive grades in the public schools until graduated from the high school of his native city with the class of 1896. He then went to Chicago, where he entered the wholesale dry-goods house of Carson, Pirie, Scott & Company, whom he represented as a salesman for three years. He then returned to Evansville, where he opened a retail grocery store, which he conducted until 1904. He then sold out and came to Oakland, where he purchased the business of the Sunset Cream & Butter Company in San Francisco. He remained there in active business until 1906, when he lost everything that he had in the fire.
Following that disaster Mr. Wood went to Vera Cruz, Mexico, where he purchased a ranch and thereon conducted a general mer- chandise store. At length oil was discovered upon his land and the sale thereof made him immensely wealthy, but when the revolution of 1910 broke out he had to leave that country. He was shot eight times while trying to get away from Mexico. Disposing of his oil interests to the Southern Pacific Railroad, he returned to Oakland, where he has since been engaged in the building business, and he has erected thirty homes which he has sold on the installment plan. On the 6th of December, 1913, he organized the East Bay Home Builders, Incorporated, of which company he is the president. One hundred business men of Oakland are interested in this company, ! which has been established upon a most substantial basis. Among
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them are some who represent every commodity in the building busi- ness, so that the company is in a position to build better homes for less money than any company or firm that ever entered the same line. Moreover, the men in control are thoroughly familiar with every phase of the business, and they have eliminated all promotion schemes or plans. The business has already been firmly established and is growing day by day. The officers of the company, which is capitalized for five hundred thousand dollars, are: H. L. Wood, president; A. G. Rhodes, first vice president; C. U. Henderson, sec- ond vice president; A. Alder, secretary ; W. P. Stone, treasurer, and Benjamin R. Aiken, attorney. On the board of directors are: H. P. Briggs, Thomas J. Thompson, A. G. Rhodes, W. P. Stone, A. Alder, H. L. Wood and C. U. Henderson.
In St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Wood was married to Miss Bertha Bridgeman on the 9th of May, 1903, and they have gained many friends during the period of their residence here. Mr. Wood be- longs to the Oakland Commercial Club, and he gives his political allegiance to the republican party. In his connection with the former he co-operates in all movements that tend to the upbuilding and substantial improvement of his city and manifests at all times a public-spirited devotion to the general good.
OTTO BECHTLE.
Among the men who by reason of their personal integrity, ability and business enterprise have come to be regarded as representative citizens and leading business men of Alameda is numbered Otto Bechtle, who since 1906 has been engaged in the manufacture of gas and electric fixtures in the city. He is a native of Germany, born in Wurtemberg, October 3, 1872, a son of Max Bechtle, a machinist by trade, who followed his chosen occupation in the fatherland until 1907, when he retired from active life. His wife, who was in her maidenhood Miss Christiana Geisert, also survives.
In the public schools of his native country Otto Bechtle acquired his education, laying aside his books in 1886 in order to learn the silversmith's trade, at which he became very proficient, following it in Wurtemberg until 1892. In that year he crossed the Atlantic to America and after his arrival in this country pushed westward to California, settling in San Francisco in December. In that city he engaged in the chandelier manufacturing business as an employe
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in the San Francisco Novelty Works, a connection which he main- tained for about one year, resigning his position in order to engage in the same line of work with the Thomas Day Company. He remained with that concern until 1906, when he came to Alameda, where he established himself in business as a manufacturer of gas and electric fixtures. Success has steadily attended his well directed labors since that time, and his business has expanded yearly, the entire credit for its rapid growth being directly due to Mr. Bechtle's enterprise, initiative and progressive spirit, guided and controlled by his excellent business ability. He has now a large and repre- sentative patronage, and this has been accorded to him in recognition of the fine quality of the goods which he manufactures and his straightforward and upright business methods.
Mr. Bechtle married Miss Elese Kurth, a daughter of John and Marianna Kurth, natives of Switzerland. Mr. and Mrs. Bechtle have four children : Freda, aged fourteen ; Otto, eleven and a half; Bertha, nine, and Albert, three. Always interested in the growth and welfare of his home city and anxious to do his part in promoting its advancement, Mr. Bechtle has identified himself with the North Side Improvement Club of Alameda and the Chamber of Com- merce. He is a member also of the Electric Association of Oakland and fraternally belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Red Men and the Loyal Order of Moose. He has made steady progress as the years have gone by and has achieved a measure of prosperity which is most creditable, as it has been gained by methods that have been ever honorable and upright, winning him the respect and good-will of his associates and friends.
FRED D. VOORHEES.
Among the foremost architects and engineers of Oakland is to be numbered Fred D. Voorhees, who for about twenty years has practiced his profession in this city. Buildings which owe their origin to his genius can be found on every hand in the city, but of late Mr. Voorhees has more closely confined himself to specializing in school buildings and also acts as consulting architect.
A native of Rockford, Illinois, he came with his parents to Cali- fornia when but six years of age and was educated in the Oakland and Vallejo schools. He began his career as an employe of the Mare Island navy yard at Vallejo in the civil engineering depart-
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ment. In 1893 he began his private practice in Oakland as civil engineer and architect. Among the early buildings for which he drew plans are the Reed block on Clay street, the Havens block, the Blake block on Eleventh street and the Woodman building on Twelfth street, also the Tutt building on Thirteenth street, the M. C. Chapman home and the famous home of W. Sharon at Piedmont. His later work includes the Pacific building on Sixteenth and Jef- ferson and the Powell hotel on Thirteenth and Webster streets. Of late years he has made a specialty of school buildings, having drawn the plans of the Manzinita school at Oakland and the Grove Street school, also of this city. He also made the plans for the addition to the Lafayette, Piedmont and Elmhurst schools and the Park and Division school and the Fifty-fourth and Market Street school. He also acted as architect for the Centerville and Vallejo high schools and also for schools in Richmond, California. On account of his ability along these lines he is often chosen as consulting architect by his fellow workers and also by intending investors and by public bodies, and has done work in that connection on the Lodi high school of Lodi, California, and the Elks building at Richmond, as well as for the supervisors of Alameda county. For a number of years he was architect for the Fruitvale school district.
Mr. Voorhees was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Hunger- ford Lewis. He is prominent in the Masons, being a Knight Tem- plar, a Shriner and a Scottish Rite Mason. He is also a member of the Elks at Oakland and a charter member of Oakland camp of the Woodmen of the World. He is a member of the Oakland Com- mercial Club and the Chamber of Commerce and his professional affiliation is with the American Institute of Architects. A man of progressive tendencies and public-spirited in the truest meaning of the word, he interests himself as deeply in matters of public import as in his own success, and his labors have been of distinct advantage to Alameda county and the city in which he makes his home.
CHARLES N. WALTER.
Charles N. Walter, assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Oakland, entered the employ of that institution in an humble capacity almost a quarter of a century ago and has worked his way upward to his present responsible position. He was born in Oakland on the 7th of March, 1872, his father being William A Walter, a
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native of New York. The latter became a California pioneer, crossing the plains to this state in 1852 and being here engaged in mining in the early days. Subsequently he became identified with the wood and coal business, conducting an enterprise of that char- acter at Oakland as the junior member of the firm of Shakespear & Walter. Later he was associated with the Wells Fargo Express Company at Oakland. As a member of the city council of Oakland he did valuable and efficient service, proving himself a public- spirited and enterprising citizen who had the best interests of his community at heart. His demise occurred in February, 1893.
Charles N. Walter obtained his education in the public schools of his native city and after putting aside his text-books spent two years in the office of Wells Fargo & Company. On the Ist of August, 1889, he entered the employ of the First National Bank as messenger boy and has since remained in the service of that financial institution, being steadily promoted as he has demonstrated his worth and ability until he now holds the important position of assistant cashier. He is a popular official of the bank and enjoys an enviable reputation as one of its able and valued representatives.
As a companion and helpmate on the journey of life Mr. Walter chose Miss Lucy L. Drake, a native of Colusa, California. Their children are four in number, namely: Elizabeth, Charles A., Ar- thur G. and Edward M. In Masonic circles Mr. Walter is promi- nent. On the 17th of March, 1894, he joined Oakland Lodge, No. 188, and has held all of the offices therein, serving as master in 1905 and now acting as secretary, while for two years he served as inspector of the district. He is likewise a member of Oakland Chapter, No. 36, R. A. M., and Oakland Lodge of Perfection, No. 2. For a period of thirteen years Mr. Walter acted as clerk of the local library board. He has spent his entire life in Oakland and well deserves representation among its substantial and progressive citizens.
HORACE E. SMITH.
Horace E. Smith is secretary of the Oakland Cremation Asso- ciation. He was born in Bristol, Vermont, October 27, 1849, and is a son of James Monroe and Martha (Lowell) Smith. At the usual age he entered the district schools, which he attended until eight years of age, when his parents left the Green Mountain state
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and with their family removed westward to Sycamore, De Kalb county, Illinois. There he continued his education in the public and high schools until he reached the age of fifteen years, when, in 1864, he entered the United States army as a private, becoming a member of Company D, One Hundred and Forty-first Illinois Infantry, with which he continued for six months.
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